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A fter the district adminis- tration and police force of Hathras came under scanner in handling of the probe into rape and murder of a Dalit woman, the Yogi Adityanath Government on Friday sus- pended five policemen, includ- ing Superintendent of Police Vikrant Vir. The Government asked SP, Shamli, Vineet Jaiswal, to immediately take charge as new SP of Hathras. Facing criticism and calls for his resignation, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi said those “who even think of harming a woman’s self-respect will face total destruction”. An official communiqué released by the Government spokesman here on Friday night confirmed that on basis of primarily enquiry of the SIT, Yogi placed SP Vikrant Vir, then Deputy SP Ram Sabd, then SHO Dinesh Kumar Verma, senior Sub-Inspector, Jagveer Singh and head con- stable clerk Mahesh Pal under suspension. The Government also decided to conduct narco analysis and polygraph tests of both — the complainant and the accused — to extract the truth, the Government spokesman claimed. Sources said the surprising decision to conduct narco and polygraph tests on the com- plainant has been taken after villagers from a dozen hamlets of the Hathras district held a panchayat on Friday and claimed that all the accused were innocent and that the family members of the victims should be put through the narco test. They also demanded that the probe be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Speculation was rife throughout the day that the DM will also be shown the door after he was caught on camera on Thursday threaten- ing the family members of the victim. But he survived the purge, at least for time being. The police action to cre- mate the body of the victim at midnight without the consent of her family members created countrywide outrage and trig- gered demand for the resigna- tion of the Chief Minister. Several video and audio tapes have surfaced in which the family members of the vic- tim have been heard saying they are under threat from the police and attempts have been made to buy their silence by offering them compensation. M assive protest was held in Delhi over Hathras rape case. Congress general secre- tary Priyanka Gandhi attend- ed a prayer meeting at Valmiki mandir at New Delhi, while actress Swara Bhaskar and Left leaders protest at Jantar Mantar. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal joined the protest at Jantar Mantar to express solidarity with the victim. Addressing the gathering at the prayer meeting organ- ised by Valmiki community at the Prachin Bhagwan Valmiki Mandir at Panchkuian Road in central Delhi, Priyanka said every woman in this country needs to raise her voice and question the Government to seek justice for the daughter of Hathras. Meanwhile, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, senior lawyer Prashant Bhusan, CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechury, and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Saurabh Bharadwaj were among those who gathered at the Jantar Mantar on Friday evening, demanding justice for the Hathras victim. People gathered at the site wearing masks and raising slogans demanding res- ignation of the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and justice for the victim. At protest, Kejriwal said they have assembled here in grief. “I pray to God that our daughter’s soul gets peace. I request the UP Government with my folded hands to hang the guilty as soon as possible. The accused should get such a punishment that no one will dare commit such a crime again,” said Kejriwal. After sunset, the protesters lit up candles and stood hold- ing them in the dark at Jantar Mantar to mark their protest. Following the protest the Delhi Police also beefed up security at the Jantar Mantar. Besides ground force, senior police officials and paramilitary per- sonnel were deployed manage the crowd. Police said the protest site has been barricad- ed by the police to restrict the movement of protesters. On Thursday night, the Delhi Police had issued a noti- fication that no assembly would be permitted at the India Gate as CrPc section 144 has been imposed barring gathering of more than four people. However, gathering is permitted at Jantar Mantar. The protest was initially supposed to be held at the India Gate but was later shift- ed to the Jantar Mantar owing to the prohibitory orders. I ndia’s Covid-19 death toll crossed over one lakh mark while the number of positive cases raced towards six and a half million count on Friday. The data also revealed that 83.37 per cent Covid-related deaths and 76.62 per cent of the active cases are concentrated in just 10 States across the coun- try. India is the second-most- affected country by active and total cases after the USA and death toll is third highest glob- ally after the USA (2,12,912) and Brazil (1,44,767) . According to the Union Health Ministry data, the first Covid-19 death was reported on March 12, from south India. India’s Covid -19 causalities had crossed 100 on April 5, 1,000 on April 28, 10,000 on June 16, 20,000 on July 6, 50,000 on August 15 and 1,00,000 on October 2. The number of casualties was reported 66,462 till September 1. Maharashtra (9,011), Tamil Nadu (9,653), Karnataka (9,119), Andhra Pradesh (5,900) and Uttar Pradesh (5,917) are among the top five States in Covid-19 deaths in the country. As per the data, even though the coun- try is reaching 0.1 million deaths in 7 months, India’s Covid-19 death rate is among the lowest in the world. Country’s current case fatality rate, which is the proportion of people who die of a disease among the total number of patients diagnosed with the dis- ease, stands at 1.56 per cent. India’s Covid-19 tally had crossed the one lakh mark on May 19, 10 lakh on July 16, 20 lakh-mark on August 7, 30 lakh on August 23 and 40 lakh on September 5. T he police on Friday turned Hathras into an inaccessible fortress, blocked a TMC dele- gation from meeting the fami- ly members of the ganagrape victim and pushed and shoved media persons while preventing them from entering the village. The victim’s cousin report- edly told some media persons that that his uncle was beaten up by policemen and they were told not to interact with the media. Incidentally, the District Magistrate was caught on cam- era threatening the family members on Thursday. The phones of all the fam- ily members are switched off, allegedly on the direction of the officials. In a repeat of Thursday when the Uttar Pradesh Police used force to stop Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi from enter- ing Hathras, they meted out the same treatment to senior TMC leader Derek O’ Brien and two women MPs from the party. The three of them man- aged to reach Hathras, but were not allowed entry into the village. The police used force to prevent them from entering the village and O’ Brien fell down during the skirmish. In a statement, the party said the delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs was stopped by police around 1.5 kilometres from the victim’s home. “A delegation of Trinamool MPs has been stopped by the UP Police from entering Hathras. The delegation had travelled about 200 kms from Delhi. The Trinamool MPs were on their way to the village in Hathras, travelling separately, to express solidarity with the grieving family and convey their condolences,” the state- ment said. The delegation included Derek O’Brien, Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Pratima Mondal and Mamata Thakur (former MP). I n a major relief to thousands of Indian IT professionals, a federal judge in the US on Thursday blocked the enforce- ment of a temporary visa ban by the Trump administration on a large number of work permits, including the most sought after H-1B visas, ruling that the President exceeded his constitutional authority. The order by US District Judge Jeffrey White of Northern District of California applies to members of organisations that filed a lawsuit against the Department of Commerce and Department of Homeland Security — the US Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation, TechNet, and Intrax Inc. The ruling places an immediate hold on a series of damaging visa restrictions that prevent manufacturers from filling crucial, hard-to-fill jobs to support economic recovery, growth and innovation. Detailed report on P8 T ension ran high at the Bhadrak District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) on Friday over the death of a retired Army personnel during treatment as kin of the deceased alleged that he died due to medical negligence. Satyendu Mallick of Thakurapatna under the Dhusuri police limits in the dis- trict had been taken to the Dhusuri Community Health Centre by his family members after he fell into a pond. He was later shifted to the DHH as his condition deteriorated. However, his family mem- bers alleged that he died due to negligence on part of the doc- tor and manhandled some of hospital staffs. They also ran- sacked properties at hospital. Police reached the hospital and took stock of the situation. Cops were deployed in hospi- tal premises to avoid any fur- ther untoward incident.The hospital authorities refuted allegation of negligence during treatment. T he State registered 16 more Covid-19 deaths on Friday, taking the total toll to 875. While Khordha district regis- tered the highest six deaths, three more succumbed to the virus in Nayagarh district. Two deaths each were reported from Baleswar and Cuttack districts. One death each was reported from Bargarh, Jagatsinghpur and Kalahandi districts. The deceased in Khordha were a 75-year-old man, a 41- year-old man, an 82-year-old man and a 46-year-old man (all of Bhubaneswar), an 84-year- old woman and a 67-year-old man. The fatalities in Nayagarh were a 76-year-old man, a 62- year-old man and a 52-year-old woman. The deaths in Cuttack were of a 64-year-old woman and a 57-year-old woman. The casualties in Baleswar were a 60-year-old woman and an 80- year-old woman. The other deceased were a 47-year-old man of Bargarh, a 67-year-old woman of Jagatsinghpur and a 32-year- old man of Kalahandi.Meanwhile, the number of positive cases in the State rose to 2,26,334 with 3,600 new cases being record- ed from all 30 districts and the State pool on the day.Of the news case, 2,109 were detected from quarantine and 1,491 were local contacts. Khordha again reported the day’s highest 766 cases, Cuttack 358, Mayurbhanj 156, Jajpur 139, Kendrapada and Subarnapur 129 each, Sambalpur 126, Nabarangpur 116, Puri 115, Baleswar 107, Bargarh 106, Keonjhar 106, Angul 100, Balangir 99, Kandhamal 97, Sundargarh 89, Nuapada 84, Bhadrak 82, Nayagarh 74, Jagatsinghpur 73, Koraput 66, Kalahandi 51, Boudh and Dhenkanal 47 each, Malkangiri 46, Jharsuguda 41, Rayagada 32, Ganjam 31, Gajapati 19 and Deogarh 11. Besides, 158 positive cases were detected from the State pool.With 48,217 Covid tests done during the last 24 hours, the cumulative tests rose to 33,48,861 in the State. However¸ As many as 4,048 more patients recovered on the day taking the total recoveries to 1, 94,128. The highest 683 recovered in Khordha followed by Cuttack 466, Puri 195, Jajpur 176, Angul 167, Kandhamal 146, Kendrapada 142, Nabarangpur 133, Jagatsinghpur130, Bhadrak 118, Baleswar 115, Sambalpur 111, Mayurbhanj 108, Keonjhar 106, Nuapada 101Rayagada 99, Sundargarh 98, Jharsuguda 81, Koraput 64 , Subarnapur 61, Kalahandi 53, Malkangiri 48 , Nayagarh 46, Balangir 45 , Ganjam 39, Boudh 35, Dhenkanal 33, Deogarh 16, Gajapati 13 and State pool 313. S tate capital city Bhubaneswar on Friday reported 312 new Covid-19 cases, pushing the total tally to 22,547, out of which 3,514 were active cases.Out of the new cases, 254 were local con- tacts and 58 quarantine cases. continued on page2 N ormal functioning of the Orissa High Court (HC) will remain suspended till November 20 in view of the Covid-19 pandemic. A restricted functioning of the court by virtual mode or videoconferencing will remain in force during the period. Besides, subordinate courts and tribunals will also function with restrictions as issued by the High Court earlier. Notably, the High Court and its offices, subor- dinate courts and tribunals will remain closed on Saturdays throughout October. Since many offices of the High Court have remained closed, the cause list, order copies and next date for hear- ing of cases are being uploaded on respective websites. Meanwhile, the State Assembly has passed a Bill making provisions for pay- ment of court fees through electronic mode. P olice on Friday arrested a teacher of a Government high school in Sundargarh dis- trict for allegedly impregnating a Class-VII girl and then forc- ing her for abortion. The matter came to fore only after girl developed health complications following abor- tion and was admitted Bonei Subdivision Hospital (SDH). The accused Mangal Singh Mundari is a teacher of Hatia Pahada High School under the K Bolang police station.The girl had about six months of preg- nancy when Mundari arranged for an abortion. As she developed health problems, family members knew what had happened to her. Her father lodged a com- plaint in K Bolang police sta- tion on Thursday. A nshu Pragyan Das, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mahanadi Wildlife Division, Satkosia Tiger Reserve, has won the prestigious NatWest Group Earth Heroes Award. She will be conferred with award for her outstanding work in the protection of tiger habi- tat, harnessing the support of communities through eco- tourism enterprise and revival of endangered gharial, Gavialis gangeticus inMahanadi river- ine habitat at Satkosia. The award presentation event will be hosted online on CNBC/Network 18 on October 8 at 5.30 pm.The eight winners of award foryear 2020 will be felicitated in presence of Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, Assistant Secretary General, UN and Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Prof Ramesh Chand, Member NITI Aayog, among others.The Odisha Chief Secretary congratulated Das on the achievement.

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  • ����� ��������

    After the district adminis-tration and police force ofHathras came under scanner inhandling of the probe intorape and murder of a Dalitwoman, the Yogi AdityanathGovernment on Friday sus-pended five policemen, includ-ing Superintendent of PoliceVikrant Vir. The Governmentasked SP, Shamli, VineetJaiswal, to immediately takecharge as new SP of Hathras.

    Facing criticism and callsfor his resignation, UttarPradesh Chief Minister Yogisaid those “who even think ofharming a woman’s self-respectwill face total destruction”.

    An official communiquéreleased by the Governmentspokesman here on Fridaynight confirmed that on basisof primarily enquiry of the SIT,Yogi placed SP Vikrant Vir,then Deputy SP Ram Sabd,then SHO Dinesh KumarVerma, senior Sub-Inspector,Jagveer Singh and head con-stable clerk Mahesh Pal undersuspension.

    The Government alsodecided to conduct narcoanalysis and polygraph tests ofboth — the complainant andthe accused — to extract thetruth, the Governmentspokesman claimed.

    Sources said the surprisingdecision to conduct narco andpolygraph tests on the com-plainant has been taken aftervillagers from a dozen hamletsof the Hathras district held apanchayat on Friday andclaimed that all the accusedwere innocent and that thefamily members of the victimsshould be put through thenarco test.

    They also demanded thatthe probe be handed over to

    the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI).

    Speculation was rifethroughout the day that theDM will also be shown thedoor after he was caught oncamera on Thursday threaten-ing the family members of thevictim.

    But he survived the purge,at least for time being.

    The police action to cre-mate the body of the victim atmidnight without the consentof her family members createdcountrywide outrage and trig-gered demand for the resigna-tion of the Chief Minister.

    Several video and audiotapes have surfaced in whichthe family members of the vic-tim have been heard sayingthey are under threat from thepolice and attempts have beenmade to buy their silence byoffering them compensation.

    ����������� �������

    Massive protest was held inDelhi over Hathras rapecase. Congress general secre-tary Priyanka Gandhi attend-ed a prayer meeting at Valmikimandir at New Delhi, whileactress Swara Bhaskar and Leftleaders protest at Jantar Mantar.

    Delhi Chief Minister

    Arvind Kejriwal joined theprotest at Jantar Mantar to express solidaritywith the victim.

    Addressing the gatheringat the prayer meeting organ-ised by Valmiki community atthe Prachin Bhagwan ValmikiMandir at Panchkuian Road incentral Delhi, Priyanka saidevery woman in this countryneeds to raise her voice andquestion the Government toseek justice for the daughter ofHathras.

    Meanwhile, Bhim Armychief Chandrashekhar Azad,senior lawyer Prashant Bhusan,CPI(M) leaders Brinda Karatand Sitaram Yechury, and Aam

    Aadmi Party (AAP) leaderSaurabh Bharadwaj wereamong those who gathered atthe Jantar Mantar on Fridayevening, demanding justicefor the Hathras victim.

    People gathered at the sitewearing masks and raising slogans demanding res-ignation of the Uttar PradeshChief Minister and justice forthe victim.

    At protest, Kejriwal saidthey have assembled here ingrief. “I pray to God that ourdaughter’s soul gets peace. Irequest the UP Governmentwith my folded hands to hangthe guilty as soon as possible.The accused should get such apunishment that no one willdare commit such a crimeagain,” said Kejriwal.

    After sunset, the protesterslit up candles and stood hold-ing them in the dark at JantarMantar to mark their protest.Following the protest the DelhiPolice also beefed up securityat the Jantar Mantar. Besidesground force, senior policeofficials and paramilitary per-sonnel were deployed managethe crowd. Police said theprotest site has been barricad-ed by the police to restrict themovement of protesters.

    On Thursday night, theDelhi Police had issued a noti-fication that no assemblywould be permitted at theIndia Gate as CrPc section 144has been imposed barringgathering of more than fourpeople. However, gathering ispermitted at Jantar Mantar.

    The protest was initiallysupposed to be held at theIndia Gate but was later shift-ed to the Jantar Mantar owingto the prohibitory orders.

    ����� ��������

    India’s Covid-19 death tollcrossed over one lakh markwhile the number of positivecases raced towards six and ahalf million count on Friday.

    The data also revealed that83.37 per cent Covid-relateddeaths and 76.62 per cent of theactive cases are concentrated injust 10 States across the coun-try. India is the second-most-affected country by active andtotal cases after the USA anddeath toll is third highest glob-ally after the USA (2,12,912)and Brazil (1,44,767) .

    According to the UnionHealth Ministry data, the firstCovid-19 death was reportedon March 12, from south India.India’s Covid -19 causalities hadcrossed 100 on April 5, 1,000on April 28, 10,000 on June 16,20,000 on July 6, 50,000 onAugust 15 and 1,00,000 onOctober 2. The number ofcasualties was reported 66,462

    till September 1. Maharashtra(9,011), Tamil Nadu (9,653),Karnataka (9,119), AndhraPradesh (5,900) and UttarPradesh (5,917) are among thetop five States in Covid-19deaths in the country. As perthe data, even though the coun-try is reaching 0.1 milliondeaths in 7 months, India’sCovid-19 death rate is amongthe lowest in the world.Country’s current case fatalityrate, which is the proportion ofpeople who die of a diseaseamong the total number ofpatients diagnosed with the dis-ease, stands at 1.56 per cent.

    India’s Covid-19 tally hadcrossed the one lakh mark onMay 19, 10 lakh on July 16, 20lakh-mark on August 7, 30 lakhon August 23 and 40 lakh onSeptember 5.

    ����� ��������

    The police on Friday turnedHathras into an inaccessiblefortress, blocked a TMC dele-gation from meeting the fami-ly members of the ganagrapevictim and pushed and shovedmedia persons while preventingthem from entering the village.

    The victim’s cousin report-edly told some media personsthat that his uncle was beatenup by policemen and they weretold not to interact with themedia. Incidentally, the DistrictMagistrate was caught on cam-era threatening the familymembers on Thursday.

    The phones of all the fam-ily members are switched off,allegedly on the direction of theofficials. In a repeat of Thursdaywhen the Uttar Pradesh Policeused force to stop Congressleader Rahul Gandhi andPriyanka Gandhi from enter-

    ing Hathras, they meted out thesame treatment to senior TMCleader Derek O’ Brien and twowomen MPs from the party.

    The three of them man-aged to reach Hathras, butwere not allowed entry into thevillage. The police used force toprevent them from entering thevillage and O’ Brien fell downduring the skirmish.

    In a statement, the partysaid the delegation of TrinamoolCongress MPs was stopped bypolice around 1.5 kilometresfrom the victim’s home.

    “A delegation of TrinamoolMPs has been stopped by theUP Police from enteringHathras. The delegation hadtravelled about 200 kms fromDelhi.

    The Trinamool MPs wereon their way to the village inHathras, travelling separately,to express solidarity with thegrieving family and conveytheir condolences,” the state-ment said.

    The delegation includedDerek O’Brien, Dr KakoliGhosh Dastidar, PratimaMondal and Mamata Thakur(former MP).

    ��� � �������

    In a major relief to thousandsof Indian IT professionals, afederal judge in the US onThursday blocked the enforce-ment of a temporary visa banby the Trump administrationon a large number of workpermits, including the mostsought after H-1B visas, rulingthat the President exceeded hisconstitutional authority.

    The order by US DistrictJudge Jef frey White ofNorthern Distr ict ofCalifornia applies to membersof organisations that filed alawsuit against theDepartment of Commerceand Department of HomelandSecurity — the US Chamberof Commerce, NationalAssociation of Manufacturers,National Retail Federation,TechNet, and Intrax Inc. Theruling places an immediatehold on a series of damagingvisa restrictions that preventmanufacturers from fillingcrucial, hard-to-fill jobs tosupport economic recovery,growth and innovation.

    Detailed report on P8

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    Hydropower proliferationin the name of ‘cleanenergy’ has severely impact-ed existing land-use, dis-turbed forest biodiversity andfragmented the forest land-scape in the remote, ecologi-cally vulnerable KinnaurDivision of Himachal Pradeshin the fragi le WesternHimalayas.

    The findings are part ofthe study titled “Mitigation orMyth? Impacts ofHydropower Developmentand Compensator yAfforestat ion on forestecosystems in the highHimalayas”. The study, con-ducted between 2012 and2016 and its findings appear-ing in the latest issue of ‘LandUse Policy’ journal, alsofound fault with the relatedcompensatory afforestationplantations.

    E n v i r o n m e n t a l i s t sManshi Asher and PrakashBhandari, associated with theHimdhara EnvironmentResearch and ActionCollective, in their study saidthat they found that of the

    area of ‘forest land’ diverted tonon-forest activities between1980 and 2014, 90 per centwas transferred for hydro-electric projects (HEP) andtransmission lines (TL), lead-ing to change in land-use,fragmentation of forests andloss of biodiversity in thevulnerable Kinnaur region.

    “We found that the ‘com-pensatory afforestation’, car-ried out as a ‘mitigation’ mea-sure for loss of forests and amandatory condition for for-est clearance for forest diver-sion has not been able to ful-fil its stated objective and fur-ther, maybe leading to changein composition of forests.

    “While plantation workwas undertaken only in 12per cent of the proposed areathis was ridden with issueslike abysmally low presenceof surviving saplings (upto 10per cent) interspecies con-flict, infringement on localland usage, and vulnerability

    to disasters ,” said theresearchers.

    The study also criticallyexamines the role of state-ledinstitutions and global greengrowth policies in drivingand legitimizing these devel-opments in the name of ‘mit-igation’, ultimately causingmore harm to fragile localecosystems and communi-ties dependent on these.

    Moreover, these planta-tions may be causing furthernegative impacts like inter-sp ec ies conf l ic t andencroachment on local forestaccess and use, noted theresearchers. They have nowsought an independent,holistic and multidiscipli-nary inquiry into the impactsof these interventions andhighlight “the need to con-front the current notion of‘mitigation’, the costs ofwhich are being transferredto vulnerable ecosystems andpeople dependent on them.”

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    If everything goes as per plan,India might have an effectiveCovid-19 vaccine by early nextyear but the initial availabilityof doses will not be enough forthe entire population in thecountry, All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS)Director Dr Randeep Guleriasaid on Friday.

    “It is hard to say when avaccine will be available in thecountry and that it depends ona lot of factors - from the ongo-ing trials to the effectiveness ofthe vaccine against Covid-19infections.

    “If all things go as planned,the vaccine could be availablein the market by early nextyear,” the AIIMS director saideven as global experts in a sur-vey conducted by researchersat McGill University in Canadasaid that an effective vaccine isnot likely to be available for thegeneral public by June nextyear.

    Highlighting the next bigchallenge after the vaccine isready, Guleria said, “The sec-ond challenge after the vaccineis deemed effective is produc-tion and distribution on sucha large scale.”

    When asked how theCovid vaccine will be distrib-

    uted among Indians consider-ing the shortfall, the AIIMSdirector said discussions on thematter have already startedand indicated that “vaccineprioritisation” model will befollowed.

    Explaining the model,Guleria said those groups withthe highest risks will be pri-oritised over others.

    “There are two groups thatwill be prioritised. Those whohave a higher risk of infectionincluding healthcare workersand other corona warriors.And those who have higherchances of mortality,” Guleriasaid.

    “If we prepare a priority listand follow it effectively, thenthe vaccine distribution can bedone equitably.”

    When asked how doctorswill determine the long-termeffects of the vaccine, DrGuleria said that the phase 1,2 and 3 human trials of the vac-cine are being conducted par-allelly to “compress” the timeneed to study it.

    In this process, the long-term side effects can also bestudied over a comparativelyshorter period of time, he said.“And people who receive thevaccine after it is available willalso be closely monitored todetermine if they are facing anylong-term side-effects,” he said.

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    Operational readiness of thetroops posted on the tenseLine of Actual Control (LAC)in Ladakh will get a majorboost with the opening of theall-weather Atal Tunnel nearRohtang pass, Manali onSaturday. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will inauguratethe tunnel which reduces thedistance between Manali andLeh by more than 46 km.

    Defence Minister RajnathSingh along with HimachalPradesh Chief Minister JairamThakur on Friday inspected allthe aspects related to the for-mal opening of the nine kmlong tunnel after reachingManali.

    Prior to leaving Manali, theDefence Minister took to socialmedia and said, “Leaving forManali on a two-day visit toHimachal Pradesh. I shall visitthe @DRDO_India’s Snow &Avalanche Study establishment,interact with troops and reviewthe preparations at the ‘AtalTunnel, Rohtang’ today. PMShri @narendramodi will inau-gurate the ‘Atal Tunnel’ tomor-row.” Rajnath also visitedDefence Research andD e v e l o p m e n tOrganisations(DRDO)Snowand Avalanche Study estab-lishment during his two-dayvisit.

    Atal Tunnel, constructedby the Border RoadsOrganisation(BRO),is the

    longest highway tunnel in theworld (above 10,000 feet). The9.02 km long tunnel connectsManali to Lahaul-Spiti valleythroughout the year. The val-ley earlier was cut off for aboutsix months every year due toheavy snowfall at the Rohtangpass.

    With the opening up of thetunnel, the armed forcesbesides the local population inLahaul-Spiti and Ladakh willget the much-required essentialitems throughout the year.Earlier, the army used to startits winter stocking for Ladakhin the four-month window insummers as all the approachpasses like Rohtang and Zojilain Kashmir get blocked due tosnow from October onwards.

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    In good news to personswith disabilities for mobil-ities, particularly those fromthe poor strata needingmotorised tr icycle, theDepartment of Empowermentof Persons with Disabilities(DEPwD) under the UnionSocial Justice andEmpowerment Ministry hasdecided to bear the entire costof the vehicle.

    In other words, the ben-eficiary does not have toscout for the cost difference of�12,000, which is almost one-third of the total cost ofmotorised tricycle, eitherfrom his own resources orfrom MP/MLA funds.Needing to bear the cost dif-ference used to deprive themof getting the tricycle underthe Assistance to DisabledPersons for Purchase/Fittingof Aids & Appliances Scheme(ADIP Scheme) of theMinistry.

    However, recently the(DEPwD) submitted before aParliamentary Panel on SocialJustice and Welfare that it

    intends to bear the entirecost of the motorized tricycleto be provided under theADIP scheme.

    The Department’s deci-sion came following repeatedrecommendations from theparliamentary panels in thepast.

    “The Committee noteswith satisfaction that theDepartment has nowexpressed its intent to complywith the Committee’s longpending demand and wouldconsider it during appraisal of

    the ADIP Scheme. “TheCommittee strongly recom-mends that the issue be pre-sented for approval during thesaid appraisal and all the pro-cedural prerequisites for revi-sion of cost norms be readiedin right earnestness. TheCommittee desires to beapprised of the progress madein this regard,” said the reportsubmitted in the Parliamentrecently.

    A large number of bene-ficiaries come from poor anddeprived sections of the soci-

    ety and are not in a positionto meet the cost difference.This negates the benefit whichis provided by the govern-ment in the form of two-thirdportion of the cost of tricycle,said the panel headed by LokSabha MP Rama Devi.

    As the next financial yearis approaching now, theCommittee is optimistic thatthe Department would sin-cerely take up this issue andbring it to the desired con-clusion to mitigate the plightof PwDs in need of motorizedtricycle, said the report.

    The United NationsConvention on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities,which India ratified in 2007,talks about the right to per-sonal mobility for personswith disabilities. State partiesare supposed to facilitateaccess to quality mobilityaids, devices, assistive tech-nologies and forms of liveassistance and intermediaries(like personal assistants, inter-preters and service animals),including by making themavailable at affordable cost, asper the Convention.

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    When the Rights of Personswith Disabilities(RPWD) Act, 2016 came intoenforcement, the persons withmultiple sclerosis (MS) werehopeful of leading a dignifiedand less agonised life, given thatdisability was brought under itsambit.

    However, much to theirdisappointment, despite fouryears into the Act came intobeing, the sector has realised thatit does not ensure them disabil-ity certificates on ground. Thereare systemic barriers such asnon-availability of neurologistsin the assessment panel, makingthem wait in long lines in theextreme hot or cold weather(making their symptoms worse).

    Not ready to give up, thestakeholders in the sector, underNGO Multiple Sclerosis Societyof India (MSSI), have nowlaunched a campaign#ReassessMS, seeking re-assess-ment of the MS guidelines underthe RPWD Act to make it moreinclusive.

    The assessment guidelinescurrently directly address the

    benchmark disability caused byPrimary progressive MS.

    “However, primary pro-gressive MS is only 15 per centof worldwide cases of S. As aresult the MS persons are find-ing it difficult to get the certifi-cates. People don’t know aboutMS, they know about cancer andHIV, but not so much aboutMS”, pointed out RenukaMalaker, National Secretary,MSSI.

    We don’t have data for Indiaand there is also a stigma, espe-cially towards women, she saidadding there are many cases

    where people get divorced afterthey are diagnosed.

    “MS affects mostly womenin the age group of 20-35,” shepointed out. The RPWD Actdoes not take into consideration‘Remitting Relapsing’ type of MSwhich might have invisible dis-ability such as motor and sen-sory impairment, speech, blad-der and bowel dysfunction,fatigue or depression

    The certificate would enti-tle the PMS to educationalscholarship schemes, rebate inincome tax, reservation inGovernment jobs, free travel in

    state buses, loans for setting upbusinesses and more.

    “If a person, who is com-pletely normal, suddenly hassevere seizures, numbness,blindness or other neurologicalissues, the chances of them hav-ing MS is really high. It is cru-cial to take an MRI to find outwhich part of the brain is affect-ed,” said Dr M Netravathi, asenior neurologist fromNIMHANS.

    Bipasha Gupta , chairpersonof MSSI, Delhi said, expandedDisability Status Scale (EDSS) isa method of quantifying dis-ability in MS. “This certificatefrom a Neuro Doctor should beenough for availing Disabilitycertificate during assessment,”she stressed.

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    Khadi and Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC)rolled out multiple employ-ment generation activities inJammu and Kashmir to cele-brate 151st birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi on Friday.

    Under KumharSashaktikaran Yojana, KVICChairman VK Saxena distrib-uted electric potter wheels to100 potter families in Baramullaand launched the training ofartisans in willow work, a pop-ular local art. He also inaugu-rated training of artisans inCrewel embroidery and SozniEmbroidery in Ganderbal andPulwama districts.

    The activities are part of the150 mega events organized byKVIC across the country to cel-ebrate 151st Gandhi Jayanti.These activities are expected tocreate a livelihood for over 500people in the State.

    The KVIC Chairmaninstructed the local KVIC offi-cials to initiate the process forsetting up two SFURTI clustersin Jammu & Kashmir for theembroidery work and for mak-ing paper mache, the peculiarKashmiri handmade paperproduct. He lauded the artisansof J&K saying they had thecapacity and the talent of pro-ducing some very unique prod-ucts including pottery.

    “Gandhi ji had alwaysemphasized on empoweringthe Kashmiri people throughKhadi. Our Prime Minister toohas a special place for Kashmirin his heart and KVIC is work-

    ing to fulfill this dream of thePrime Minister by creating sus-tainable employment opportu-nities in the state. Several artforms of Kashmir like Creweland Sozni embroidery,Pashmina shawls, paper macheand its pottery are interna-tionally acclaimed. By provid-ing artisans proper training,advanced equipment and mar-keting platform, these productscan definitely make them aat-manirbhar,” Saxena said.

    In Nagpur, Minister ofMSME Shri Nitin Gadkarilaunched an initiative to asso-ciate Divyang people withAatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyanby distributing mobile Khadiselling units in hisParliamentary Constituency.Gadkari distributed E-rick-shaws to 5 divyang peoplethrough video-conference.These beneficiaries will be ableto sell various Khadi productslike Khadi fabric, readymadeclothes, food items, food spicesand other locally made prod-ucts in nearby villages. Another5 mobile Khadi selling units willbe distributed in the next fewdays.

    Gadkari lauded the initia-tive of KVIC saying this wouldempower the Divyang peopleby creating sustainable liveli-hood opportunities. At thesame time, he said, this willincrease the sale of Khadi andthus prompt higher productionby Khaid artisans. He saidefforts will be made to distrib-ute at least 500 such mobile sell-ing units to divyang people inevery district of India.

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    The NIA has filed a charge-sheet against three personswho allegedly underwent train-ing in Pakistan to carry out ter-rorist attacks in India on theinstructions of Pakistan-basedterror group Lashkar-e-Tayyaba (LeT).

    The agency filed thecharge-sheet in the SpecialNIA Court, Jammu, againstthree accused persons--Muneeb Hameed Bhat, JunaidAhmad Mattoo and UmerRashid Wani of Kulgam districtof Jammu and Kashmir underSection 120-B (criminal con-spiracy) of Ranbir Penal Codeand relevant Sections ofUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act.

    The case relates to subver-sive activities of terrorist out-fit LeT whereby it was moti-vating youth such as accusedMuneeb Hameed Bhat andothers to join the Pakistan-based terror outfit and orga-nized their travel to Pakistanfor terrorist training on thebasis of valid travel docu-ments on the recommendationof separatist leaders, the NIAsaid in a statement.

    Investigation by NIAestablished that LeT terroristJunaid Ahmad Mattoo moti-vated accused MuneebHameed Bhat to join LeT andgo to Pakistan for terroristtraining. Another LeT terror-ist Umer Rashid Wani gavehim funds to meet the expens-es of his Pakistan visit, theagency said.

    In July-August 2017,

    accused Muneeb Hameed Bhatvisited Pakistan on valid trav-el documents for terroristtraining with the assistance ofseparatist leaders. He wasimparted weapons trainingand also training for usingsecret social media chat plat-forms.

    After returning fromPakistan, he remained con-stantly in touch with LeT han-dlers in Pakistan and activemilitants of Kulgam area onsecret messaging platforms forcarrying out subversive andterrorist activities in KashmirValley. He was working as asleeper cell of LeT and furtherintended to join the militantranks of the banned terroristorganisation LeT.

    Investigation has alsoestablished that during theyear 2016 to 2018, manyKashmiri youth were sent byseparatist leaders to Pakistanon valid travel documents forgetting terrorist training withactive assistance of the com-manders of militant groups.These youth got terrorist train-ing in the terrorist camps ofPakistan for a period rangingfrom five to 15 days.

    After returning, they areinitially used as sleeper cells bymilitant organisations and sub-sequently recruited for activemilitancy, it further said.

    Accused Junaid AhmedMattoo and Umer RashidWani were killed in separateencounters in Jammu andKashmir in 2017 and 2018respectively. Further investi-gation in the case is continu-ing, it added.

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    The CBI has filed a freshcharge-sheet againstGokulnath Shetty, the PunjabNational Bank DeputyManager who allegedly helpeddiamond traders Nirav Modiand Mehul Choksi in the�13,000-crore fraud, and hiswife for amassing dispropor-tionate assets worth �2.63crore.

    The agency has chargedShetty and his wife AshaLatha Shetty, a clerk in IndianBank, under corruptioncharges for amassing assetsworth over �4.28 crore duringthe check period 2011-17when the scam was underwayat the Brady House branch ofPNB in Mumbai where he wasposted.

    Of the total assets, theCBI alleged they could notprovide satisfactory explana-

    tion for assets worth �2.63crore, which were 2.38 timesdisproportionate to theirknown sources of income.

    As part of the probe, theCBI looked into the relation-ship between Shetty andModi-Choksi duo duringwhich it also unearthed theassets amassed by the retireddeputy manager and a primeaccused in the PNB scam.

    The agency had regis-tered a separate FIR inNovember, 2018 againstShetty and his wife to probeallegations of disproportion-ate assets.

    The CBI probe revealedthat against a genuine income of Rs 72.52 lakh dur-ing the check period, theShetty couple had assets intheir as well as family mem-bers’ names primarily in theform of residential flats in Mumbai,

    the CBI alleged.In its charge sheet filed

    before a Mumbai special courtrecently, the agency has saidthat they had purchased a flatworth �46.62 lakh inGoregaon and paid advancebooking amount for threemore flats in various localitiesof Mumbai and neighbouringareas.

    In addition, the agencyalso detected fixed deposits,bank balance and recurringaccounts of over �75 lakh.

    After computing invest-ments, income and expendi-ture, the CBI concluded thatShetty and his wife allegedlyamassed disproportionateassets worth �2.63 crore dur-ing the check period.

    The CBI has already filedcharge sheets against Modiand Choksi in which role ofShetty, presently in judicialcustody, was also spelt out.

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    Seeking to allay concerns offarmers over a new set oflegislations amid continuingprotests by Opposition parties,Union Minister of State forWater Resources and SocialJustice and EmpowermentRatanlal Kataria has said thatthat there will be a four-foldincrease in per capita incomein the next 10 years in thecountry due to these Bills.

    Hitting out at Congressand other Opposition parties,he said they are trying to cre-ate misunderstandings aboutthe farm bills passed byParliament. He also attackedCongress for the burning of atractor by protesters from theiryouth wing.

    Kataria said the UPA gov-ernment could not do anythingabout these legislations duringits tenure. Now, when the NDAGovernment has passed thesebills for agricultural reforms ,they have started opposition,which is completely baselessand meaningless. He accused theOpposition of creating a mis-understanding among peopleabout the minimum supportprice (MSP) mechanism and themandi system and categorical-ly said that both will stay.

    “As a result of the three billspassed in terms of agrarianreforms and labour reforms,directly and indirectly the cur-rent per capita income in thecountry will increase upto10,000 USD dollars in the nextfive years from present percapita income 2500 USD,” headded.

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    CHENNAI: M Gopalakrishnan,former chairman and managingdirector of Indian Bank, passedaway on Thursday at Chennai.He was 86 and was ailing forsometime.

    Goapalakrishnan shot intofame along with two prominentpolitical leaders in Tamil Naduwho made him issue bank loansworth thousands of crores, mostof which ended up as NonPerforming Assets. While thepolitical leaders escaped scotfree, Gopalakrishnan ended upas the victim and he was con-victed in some of the cases toundergo rigorous imprison-ments.

    He was out on bail on med-ical grounds.Goplakrishnan wasalso the president of YadavaMaha Sabha. Chief MinisterEdappadi Palaniswami, deputychief minister O Panneerselvamand DMK leader M K Stalincondoled his death terming himas the great son of TamilNadu. PNS

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    In the case of the daughter'sdeath, the people of the uppercaste are gradually coming for-ward. On Friday, a panchayat ofpeople from 12 villages held invillage Baghna. In this pan-chayat, people have raised thedemand from the side of theaccused that the entire caseshould be investigated by theCBI.

    At the same time, the narcotest of the people of the accusedside and the daughter sideshould be done, so that the factscan be revealed and the inno-cents can get justice.

    It is important to mentionthat the activism of political par-ties has increased with regard tothe incident of Hathras. Section144 has been imposed inHathras after protests by Rahuland Priyanka Gandhi. A largenumber of policemen have beendeployed on all the routes goingto the village of victim and the

    village has been converted intoa cantonment.

    Piyush Mordia, IG, AligarhRange, says that section 144 hasbeen implemented to maintainlaw and order in Hathras. Thepaths leading to the victim's vil-lage have been sealed. Policepatrolling has been increased inview of the protests.

    On the other hand, theincident with the girl has nowstarted to be mobilized. Afterthis, tension has also deepenedin the area. Officials are alsofeeling the smell of tension. Thisis the reason that a lot of policeforce has been deployed in thearea as a precaution.

    Ever since the incident, theother party has declared itselfinnocent and is also becomingunited. This type of fragrance isalso seen in the surrounding vil-lages. Tension is increasing inthe area. Former BJP MLARajvir Singh Pehalwan hasalleged that the girl was killedby her brother and mother.

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    �#+8)4,��;"�/�4"9�3"03'"�&����&�90�' �'"4�����"1"�G'���&�,&%3�"��&0��0��4"''09�5"&�,��'&$"�����%����� �&��� ��0�3�/�0%�,"��0�����30��'"�04�3"�2"��� ��%&��&0���/�04��0�G1&0'"�2"�

    '&,�����(�'&%�*�&1"��&�/�J�*K20%%"%0���" ���"���� �&=�/���&����"�������5&�������&1"����/04������%����� �&�9&������0�'&�"2"'"5���&0��0�,��&�" �5/���"��('����H� �J�K��&5���/?

    ALIGARH: The Aligarh MuslimUniversity offices will now open asusual, on all working days from Mondayto Saturday, with immediate effect. Thisdecision has been taken after an officeorder from the Ministry of HomeAffairs, Government of India and anadvisory issued by the Government ofUttar Pradesh, easing out the preven-tive measures taken earlier to check thespread of COVID-19.

    The notice, issued by the Registrar,Mr Abdul Hamid (IPS), urged all theheads of departments and offices toensure social distancing and wearing ofthe mask as per various directives of theGovernment of India.The notice furtherdirected all the bonafide students of theuniversity to continue their studies inan online mode and not to plan to cometo AMU hostels till further informationto be given on AMU websites .

    ALIGARH: The online internationalconference on 'The Role of Faith inFacing Crises: What Religion can offerto the Post-Covid World' organised bythe Dara Shikoh Centre for Inter-FaithUnderstanding and Dialogue, AligarhMuslim University (AMU) was con-cluded with experts speaking on howfaith can provide spiritual support asCovid-19 takes a heavy toll on mentalhealth.

    Speaking on the occasion, Dr ZafarMahmood, President, Zakat Foundationsaid that the faith leaders have theauthority to impact the behaviour andattitudes of billions of people. Their insti-tutions are among the oldest and mostlong-standing and provide essential ser-vices to billions of people around theglobe, making them essential partners innormal times as well as in an emergency.

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    Tw e n t y - t w o - y e a r - o l dRifleman Shubham Sharma,who made the supreme sacrificein the line of duty in NorthKashmir's Nowgam sector onOctober 1 was cremated withfull military honors in his nativevillage of Shakhian Chak in RSPura area of Jammu on Friday.

    There were emotionalscenes at the soldier's residenceas his body, wrapped in aTricolour, was brought by Armypersonnel. Ignoring SOP'sannounced by the districtauthorities to contain the spreadof Coronavirus, thousands ofpeople converged near his resi-dence in Suchetgarh area to paytheir tributes to the son of thesoil.

    Large number of young-sters, holding tricolor in theirhands, escorted his mortalremains chanting patriotic slo-gans to the cremation groundwhere people from differentwalks of life including localpoliticians, senior army and

    police officers paid their glow-ing tributes. R

    In Srinagar, the top brass ofthe Chinar Corps also paid abefitting tribute to HavaldarKuldeep Singh and RiflemanShubham Sharma at BB Cantt.

    Lt-Gen BS Raju, ChinarCorps Commander and allranks paid homage to the brave-hearts on behalf of the proudnation.

    In a brief statement theIndian army said, “Late HavildarKuldeep Singh and LateRifleman Shubam Sharma weredirecting their own retaliatoryfire from a forward post on theLine of Control in Kupwara dis-trict, in response to an unpro-voked Ceasefire Violation byPakistan.

    They both laid down theirlife in the line of duty as a result

    of a direct hit by enemy fire andsuccumbed to their injuries”.

    Late Havildar KuldeepSingh was 37 years old and hadjoined the Army on 26 Aug2002. He belonged to VillageRaju Dwakhari of Dasua Tehsil,Hoshiarpur District in Punjaband is survived by his wife,Rajwinder Kaur, a son and adaughter.

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    The Trinamool Congress onFriday hit out at the YogiAdityanath Government forperpetrating a “jungle raj” inUttar Pradesh shortly after itsMPs including its leader inRajya Sabha Derek O’ Brienwere allegedly heckled nearHathras and stopped by thepolice administration fromentering the village of the Dalitgirl who was reportedly gang-raped. The woman succumbedto her injuries a couple of daysago.

    Condemning the incidentof his party MPs being shovedand heckled near Hathras,TMC general secretary ParthoChatterjee said “what is goingon in that State? Are we inIndia? Are we in a democracyor in a jungle raj where MPs areheckled and pushed around for

    just going to inspect the verac-ity of an incident which is wellwithin their rights as parlia-mentarians.

    “Who gave the police offi-cers the audacity to hecklemembers of Parliament? Thestate government, which isbusy hushing up the matterafter having failed to protect aDalit girl, is now using bruteforce against opposition andthat too the MPs.”

    Those who were project-ing themselves as champions of“Beti Bachao” (save daughtercampaign) were now “trying tointimidate the family membersof a victim girl. A jungle rajprevails in Uttar Pradesh. It's ashame,’ he said adding theTMC would continue itsprotest against the BJP’s anti-people ways.

    This, even as televisionfootages showed the four-

    member TMC team beingshoved around by the police. Somuch so that O’Brien fell to theground receiving minorinjuries. Subsequently TMCMP Mamata Bala Thakur her-self a member of Matua (SC)community exploded sayingone of the TMC MPs wereinappropriately touched andeven lathi-charged.

    “We were going to meet thefamily of the victim by main-taining all t he protocols … wewere not in a crowd but goingindividually …in fact the policecreated all t he crowd breakingthe protocol … the police werenot allowing us. When weinsisted, the women policepersonnel pulled at our blous-es and lathi-charged at our MPPratima Mondal. She fell down.The male police officerstouched her. This is shameful,”she said

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    Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinhawhile launching the J&KGovernment’s ambitious- Back to Village-3 programme from Shirmal, Shopian onFriday urged the misguided youth toshun violence and return to the main-stream.

    “The Government is ready to help allwith jobs and entrepreneurial opportu-nities”, Sinha added.

    Paying glowing tributes to MahatmaGandhi on the occasion of his 151st birthanniversary, LG Manoj Sinha said theday,also celebrated as the InternationalDay of Non-Violence, is an opportuni-ty for the people of India to reflect uponhis commitment to the principle ofnon-violence.

    He said the people of J&K, especial-ly the youth, want to tread the path of

    progress & development and the gov-ernment is committed to making J&K arole model of development and pros-perity. ‘We will empower youth andstrengthen PRI's', Lt Governor main-tained.

    Speaking on the Back to Village-3program, the Lt Governor called it abridge between the public and theadministration. Sharing his dream ofmaking villages equally developed as thecities, he said that the government is per-sistently delivering services and helpingthem join the mainstream. ‘Efforts arebeing made to make villagesAtmanirbhar’, he added.

    On ‘Apple Town’ Shopian, the LtGovernor said that officials have beendirected to focus on the local apple pro-duction and processing with specialattention on building storage capacity andother allied activities.

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    Having witnessed 1,305staggering Covid 19-trig-gered deaths during the pastthree days, Maharashtra logged424 more deaths on Friday,while 15,591 more tested pos-itive for Coronavirus in variousparts of the state.

    After it recorded 430, 481and 394 deaths respectivelyon Tuesday, Wednesday andThursday respectively,Maharashtra did not see any letup in the continuing trend ofsubstantial deaths on the fourthconsecutive day, a day when424 more people died of Covid-19. In essence, the Coronavirushas claimed a total 1732 livesduring the last four days.

    With 424 deaths reportedon Friday, the Covid-19 tollwent up from 37,056 to 37,480.

    With 15,591 fresh infec-tions, the total number ofinfected cases jumped from14,00,922 to 14,16,513.

    On a day when 13,294

    people were discharged fromvarious hospitals in the state,the number of people dis-charged from various hospitalsafter full recovery since the sec-ond week of March this yearwent up to 11,17,720.

    The recovery rate in thestate rose from 78.84 to 78.91per cent.

    Of the 424 deaths report-ed on Friday, Raigad districttopped the list with 90 deaths,followed by 46 deaths in Pune,42 each in Mumbai and Satara,29 in Nagpur, 24 in Nashik, 20each in Solapur and Sangli, 19in Thane and 10 deaths inPalghar.

    In the lower range, therewere eight deaths inOsmanabad, 7 each inKolhapur and Bhandara, 6 inLatur, 5 each in Jalgaon,Aurangabad and Yavatmal, 4each in Ahmednagar,Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri andBeed, 3 each in Hingoli,Nanded, Wardha andChandrapur, 2 each in Dhule

    and Gondia and one death eachin Nandurbar, Parbhani, Akolaand Buldhana. In addition,two persons from outside thestate died in Maharashtra.

    With 42 deaths, the Covid-

    19 toll in Mumbai rose from8,972 to 91014, while theinfected cases shot up by 2,440to trigger a jump in the totalnumber of infections from207,620 to 2,10060.

    Meanwhile, the mortalityrate in the state stood at 2.65per cent. The number of “activecases” in the state rose mar-ginally from Thursday’s figureof 2,59,006 to 2,60,876.

    Pune district, infected casescontinued to be the worst-affected city-district inMaharashtra, inched closer to3 lakh infection mark, as thetotal number of cases toucheda final figure of 2,98,227, whilethe total number of deaths inPune increased from 5858 to5904.

    Thane district remainedon the third spot --after Puneand Mumbai – with 1,90,779total cases, while the pandem-ic toll rose from 4919 to 4938.

    Out of 69,60,203 samplessent to laboratories, 14,16,513have tested positive (20.35 percent) for COVID-19 untilFriday.

    Currently, 21,94,347 peopleare in home quarantine while29,051 people are in institu-tional quarantine.

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    A“minor” explosion wasreported at a 370 MW gaspower plant of the state-runKarnataka Power CorporationLtd in Bengaluru early onFriday, leaving 15 personsinjured, including two critical-ly, an official said.

    Speaking to IANS,Karnataka state Fire andEmergency Services DirectorK. Shiva Kumar said that theblast occurred in the KPCL'sCombined Cycle Power Plantin Yelahanka at around 3 a.m.on Friday while engineers werecarrying out tests in a gas tur-bine chamber.

    “The plant was supposed tocommence its operations inDecember. All day, they hadtested. But when they were test-ing, variations in pressure wereobserved. This incidentoccurred when KPCL engi-neers were conducting severalchecks to test the turbine,” heexplained.

    According to him, soonafter the incident took place,the KPCL had already sta-tioned two fire tenders, andalso sought the help of the RailWheel Factory, which has a

    foam tender there.Before the fire services

    reached the spot, they were tak-ing precautionary steps toextinguish fire, he added.

    District Fire officer,Kishore, told IANS that theyreceived a call from the plant at3.30 a.m., and fire fightersrushed to the spot.

    “Four fire tenders, twowater pumps and two onefoam tender were rushed to thespot, along with senior officials,including the Director. TheRail Wheel Factory had imme-diately rushed one foam tenderfrom its side, but we did not useit,” he said.

    Kishore said that thedepartment used foam tenderto extinguish fire. “This was amedium range fire incident...had it not been controlled intime, it had the potential tocause a major loss,” he said.

    He added that the prima-ry reason was an electric shortcircuit that resulted in theminor explosion where oil wasstored.

    A highly-placed source,who was present at the scene,said that there was a snag in thefunctioning of the turbine dueto high pressure, which result-

    ed in the heat blast.“The chamber is fully auto-

    matic. Chances of a fire acci-dent are minimal in this cham-ber. The turbine functions onthree important materials -natural gas that is used to heatand convert water intosteam. Thus converted steam

    helps to rotate turbines to pro-duce electricity. Lastly, oilpumps used as coolant as tur-bines produce high tempera-ture heat.

    “During one of such exper-iments, due to high pressure,the oil supply pipe opened upand due to heat and presenceof natural gas, it producedhighly combustible heat flamewhich caused the blast, injur-ing 15 engineers who wereworking there,” the sourceexplained.

    The source further addedthat though the entire chamberis automatic, there is need toknow how it has failed.

    “The entire turbine cham-ber is automatic. And it is self-efficient to extinguish any fireon its own, as the moment, fireand heat sensors send signals,CO2 (carbon dioxide) gas ispumped automatically to putout the fire,” he said.

    ������ �*��

    Nine people, including threewomen, were arrested bythe Assam police for lynchingtwo persons including awoman on suspicion of “witch-craft”, police said on Friday.

    Superintendent of PoliceDebojit Deuri said that twopersons, including a woman,were hacked to death, behead-ed and set afire by a mob oversuspicion of practising witch-craft (black magic) in CentralAssam's Karbi Anglong district.

    “On suspicion of witch-

    craft a mob lynched RamawatiHalua, 50 and Bijoy Gour, 45,following the death of a teenagegirl in Rohimapur village underDokmoka police station areaearlier this week,” the districtpolice chief told the media.

    After the death of theteenage girl in Rohimapur,another girl in the same villagealso accused the duo of per-forming 'black magic' on her,leading to her falling sick.

    According to the police,after the illness of the secondgirl, the agitated villagers killedthe duo and took their bodies

    to a nearby hill before behead-ing the bodies near a burial siteand setting them afire.

    Police continued theirsearch to nab the remainingaccused involved in the mur-der, which took place on theintervening night ofWednesday and Thursday.

    The Rohimapur village isdominated by the Adivasi (ortea tribe).

    Witchcraft (black magic),an unscientific social belief,claims a dozen lives in Assam'stea belt and tribal areas everyyear on an average.

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    Gandhinagar: Gujarat Leaderof Opposition Paresh Dhananiwho was detained by theAmreli police on Friday forholding a protest demandingtotal school fee waiver by thegovernment, reiterated hisdemands and continued his'dharna' inside the police lock-up.

    He said he will continue toprotest demanding total feewaiver even if he is hanged forthe sake of 1.5 crore students.

    The Congress has beendemanding total school feewaiver in the wake of theCovid outbreak due to whichschools were shutdown andeducation was imparted

    through digital mode.“Why did the Gujarat gov-

    ernment announce only a 25per cent cut in school fee whenthe Gujarat High Court had leftthe decision on the governmentto decide on the school feeissue? When the schools havenot been functional, why levyschool fees at all? The govern-ment is sitting in the lap of pri-vate educational institutes andacting on their behalf. TheGujarat government shouldwaive the entire term fee ofmore than 1.5 crore students ofthe state and arrange for thesalaries of the private schoolteachers,” said Paresh Dhanani. IANS

    ������ �.��.

    Jammu & Kashmir reported1,090 fresh Covid cases onFriday taking the total tally ofthe Union Territory past77,000.

    Out of 1,090 new cases onFriday, 603 were reported fromJammu while 487 were report-ed from Kashmir as the totalnumber of Covid infectedpatients reached 77,253 in J&K,

    a statement issued byInformation and Public Relations departmentsaid.

    Out of these, 59,952 haverecovered completely while1,212 have died including 14deaths on Friday.

    The total number of activecases in J&K are reported to be16,089 of which 9,153 are fromJammu and 6,936 are fromKashmir. Kolkata: West Bengal Bharatiya

    Janata Party (BJP) leaderAnupam Hazra tested positivefor Covid-19 on Friday, healthofficials said.

    The BJP leader had devel-oped certain symptoms and hissamples were tested for coron-avirus. He has been admitted toa private hospital here, after thereport came positive.

    Recently, Hazra wasappointed as a national secretaryof the party.

    A few days ago, he made acontroversial statement by say-ing he would hug Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee if he testsCovid positive. After that theTrinamool Congress had lodgeda police complaint against Hazrafor maligning the image of apublic figure, who is a woman,and for violating theConstitution. IANS

    Amaravati: Andhra PradeshChief Minister Y.S. JaganMohan Reddy initiated theprocess of distributing landthrough Recognition of ForestRight (RoFR) to 1.53 lakh trib-als from 3 lakh acres of forestland on Friday.

    Reddy launched the distri-bution of documents (pattas)through a video conferenceon the occasion of MahatmaGandhi's birth anniversary.

    Each of the eligible tribalswill get ownership of at leasttwo acres of land, which will bedistributed through digitizedsurveys.

    Reddy saw the problems

    the tribals faced during hismore than 3,000 km padayatraand promised to help them.

    “Tribals kept waiting allthese years, fighting for theirrights. For the last ten years(2009 to 2019), the previousgovernments did not take anysteps to address their griev-ances. Today, we fulfilled thepromise and made sure thatthese tribals get their land,” saidReddy.

    The government will alsodistribute pattas to DKT lands,other than the forest landswhich are also cultivated bythem.

    As many as 19,919 tribal

    families are set to benefit from31,155 acres of DKT lands.

    He said the state govern-ment would also provide finan-cial assistance to the tribals tocultivate crops.

    Deputy Chief Minister andTribal Welfare Minister PamulaPushpa Sreevani said Reddy isgiving more land to tribalsthan what his late father andformer Chief Minister Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy had distrib-uted.

    “While YSR (Reddy'sfather) gave RoFR pattas for1.30 lakh acres of land to56,000 tribals in the past, thisgovernment, under the leader-

    ship of CM Jagan, will distrib-ute pattas for nearly 3 lakhacres to 1.53 lakh beneficiaries,”she said.

    Likewise, Sreevani said thegovernment has deposited Rs2,136 crore into the bankaccounts of 18.4 lakh tribalsunder 15 welfare schemes suchas rythu bharosa, pension,vahana mitra, ammavodi andvidya deevena in the past oneyear.

    “The government is takingevery initiative to improve theliving standards of tribals andsetting up educational institu-tions and health facilities forthem,” she said.

    Besides RoFR, Reddy hasalso laid the foundation stonefor a tribal engineering collegeat Kurupam, a medical collegein Paderu and also seven superspecialty hospitals under theIntegrated Tribal DevelopmentAgency (ITDA).

    “Aiming to provide bettereducation facilities in the trib-al areas, we have taken variousmeasures in setting up a med-ical college which will be builtat Paderu at a cost of Rs 500crore, said the CM.

    He said work on the tribalengineering college inKurupam village will also startsoon. IANS

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  • How many peopleremembered onSeptember 26 (lastSaturday) that it wasthe 200th birthanniversary of IshvarchandraVidyasagar — as the correct Englishrendering of his name, as spelt inBengali, would be? One of thegreatest Indians ever born, muchhas been written about his contri-butions as a scholar, educationist,social reformer and writer. Asearly as 1841, Sanskrit College —now Sanskrit College andUniversity — in Kolkata (thenCalcutta), had conferred upon himthe honorific title of Vidyasagar(Ocean of Learning) for his vastknowledge of classical Sanskrittexts and philosophy. He wrote twobooks on Sanskrit Grammar —Samagra Byakaran Kaumudi andUpakramonika — in Bengali, andtranslated several books fromSanskrit into Bengali.

    Instead of seeking laurels forhimself, he dedicated his life tospreading education. In 1864,Calcutta Training School, estab-lished by Thakurdas Chakrabortyin 1859, came to be known as theMetropolitan Institution, which, inturn, was subsequently recognisedby the University of Calcutta (NowKolkata) as an affiliated college —the first Indian-managed privateinstitution to be given this status.Saradaranjan Ray, a great mathe-matician whose exploits as a bats-man led him to be called “WGGrace of Bengal”, was an early prin-cipal; Surendranath Banerjee, stal-wart national leader and a founderof the Indian National Congress,was a teacher. The institution,which owed its remarkable growthand expansion mainly to the tire-less efforts of Isvarchandra, wasnamed Vidyasagar College in 1917.

    An educationist described byRabindranath Tagore as Bengal’sfirst Shikshaguru (preceptor ofeducation), Vidyasagar had alsoopened schools in villages becausehe believed that sans education thecountry could neither progressnor become independent. His spe-cial emphasis was on children’s andwomen’s education. Even now,many children learn the alphabetsand the fundamentals of Bengalilanguage from his primerBornoporichoy (Introduction toLetters) first published in 1855. HisKathamala (Garland of Stories) isperhaps the best-known collectionof folk tales — each with a moral

    message — for children.Compiled from several Englishsources, Bodhoday (Dawn ofUnderstanding) was meant toinitiate the readers, particularlyboys and girls, into a rational sys-tem of knowledge, providingbasic ideas about animate andinanimate objects, vegetation,humankind, the senses, shapesand forms of objects, countingnumerals, buying and selling,monetary systems and proper-ty and labour.

    His efforts to promotewomen’s education, manifestedamong other things in the open-ing of a number of schools forthem, was based on his firmbelief that women were equal tomen but suffered grave injusticesand inequalities. This, he felt,had to be fought. His unflaggingstruggle for legalising widowremarriage, in support of whichhe cited Hindu scriptural texts,particularly the Parasarsanghitaand the Manusanghita, led to thepassage of the Hindu Widows’Remarriage Act (Act XV) onJuly 16, 1856. His exertions ledto the enactment of the FemaleInfanticide Prevention Act (ActVIII) on March 18, 1870, and theAge of Consent Act (ACT X) onMarch 19, 1891. The title of thefirst of the above two Actsspeaks for itself; the second,passed a little more than sixmonths before his death, raisedthe minimum marriageable ageof girls from 10 to 12 years. His

    best efforts failed to get an Actenacted for banning hyperga-mous polygamy, especially of theKulin Pratha or the Kulin sys-tem. Under it, descendants of thefive Brahmin families fromKannauj, brought to Bengal atthe time of king Laxman Sen(1178-1206), commanded greatvalue in the marriage marketand had numerous wives, someof them mere girls. But themoral stigma the evil acquired,thanks to the campaign led byVidyasagar, tapered it down toan end.

    Vidyasagar was a rationalhumanist whose cerebral psychewent with limitless compassionand a generosity of spirit thatinstinctively prompted him tohelp out the straitened and suf-fering. This had led him to becalled “Karunasagar” or “DayarSagar” (both meaning an Oceanof kindness) — KarunasagarVidyasagar is the title of IndraMitra’s well-researched biogra-phy of him — by public acclaim.The cue perhaps came from thefamous poem dedicated to himby Michael Madhusudan Duttwhom he had bailed out whenthe iconic Bengali poet was insevere financial distress.

    It would be worthwhile toquote the first four lines of thepoem rendered in English alpha-bet for this column: “Vidyarsagar tumi bikhyato Bharate/Karunar shindhu tumi, shei janemone,/ Deen je, deener bondhu!

    Ujwal jagate/ Hemadrir hem-kanti, amlan kirone.” Its roughEnglish translation would be,“You are famous in India as anOcean of Learning/ That you arean Ocean of Kindness is known/Only to the poor, friend of thePoor! Shining worldwide/ In theunfading golden light of thegolden mountain.”

    Vidyasagar wrote the firstdefinitive grammar that gaveform, structure and a highlySanskritised but intelligible andfluent mode of expression to theBengali language. Earlier, the lat-ter was used mainly inChandidas’ songs on the lovebetween Radha and Krishna,Krishnadasa Kaviraja’sChaitanya Charanamrita, ahagiography on the life of themedieval saint, ChaitanyaMahaprabhu, versified rendi-tions of the Mahabharata andthe Ramayana in Bengali byKashiram Das and KrittibasOjha respectively, Ramprasad’sdevotional songs,Bharatchandra’s poetry andRamram Basu’s prose.

    The groundwork laid byVidyasagar was built upon bythe chaste literary language ofBankimchandra Chattopadhyay,the distinct style evolved byRabindranath Tagore, the use ofcolloquial Bengali by PearyChand Mitra, author of AlalerGharer Dulal (A WealthyFamily’s Pampered Boy), andthe easy prose of KaliprasannaSingha’s Hutom PyancharNaksha (Sketch by the Owl),both, in their own ways satiricaldepictions of affluent mid-19thcentury Kolkata, andUpendrakishore Ray’s simplelanguage meant for children.The result of the interactiveand mutually influencing stylesand forms led to the emergenceof Bengali as a powerful medi-um of complex and varied artic-ulation in diverse areas likecriticism, analysis and argu-mentation.

    An important result of thiswas the emergence of the essayboth as a literary format and atool of discourse. BesidesRabindranath Tagore andBankimchandra Chattopadhyay,its two other important expo-nents were Akshay Kumar Boraland Ramendra Sundar Tribedi.Vidyasagar’s two tracts support-ing widow remarriage were out-standing pieces, which weremore in the nature of longessays than books. It was not justthe essay. The evolved Bengalilanguage made possible the pro-duction of path-breaking worksin it in social, political, philo-sophical, theological and cultur-al domains, which made a sig-nificant contribution to theunfolding of the BengalRenaissance.

    Like the European

    Renaissance, which stretchedfrom the late 14th to the late 18thcentury, the Bengal Renaissance,which had unfolded from thefirst half of the 19th century andwaned gradually in the firsthalf of the 20th, was the resultof a multiplicity of factors — thecoming of British rule; the intro-duction of Western educationthrough the medium of theEnglish language; the creation ofa strong zamindari systemthrough the implementation ofPermanent Settlement; the riseof a trading class from the ranksof the banyas (agents) of the EastIndia Company and its ser-vants, who and others benefit-ted from the expansion of tradeand commerce under Britishrule; and the rise of a growingbureaucracy to cater to theadministrative needs of the EastIndia Company’s expandingregime.

    A critically important factorwas the emergence of theBhadralok. In Elite Conflict in aPlural Society: Twentieth CenturyBengal, JH Broomfield hasdescribed the Bhadralok as “asocially privileged and con-sciously superior group, eco-nomically dependent on landedrents and professional and cler-ical employment.” He carefullydistinguished between theBhadralok and the middle class.According to him, the Bhadralokwere upper and not middleclass, if class was taken as a sta-tus group after Talcott Parsons.For the category did not includemany middle-class elements inthe Marxian sense of the latterbeing an economic group, whileencompassing persons fromboth higher and lower classes.

    As a status group, theBhadralok constituted an elite,which, in turn encompassedseveral elites comprising land-lords, businessmen, governmentemployees as well as profession-als like lawyers, doctors, andteachers. They became flag bear-ers of the Bengal Renaissancethrough not only their person-al achievements but contributionto processes like the spread ofeducation which extended thereach of the Renaissance. Theirrole in this context was muchgreater than that of Europe’semerging bourgeoisie in further-ing the European Renaissance.

    The many-splendouredachievements of the BengalRenaissance transformed theprovince’s intellectual life andwas instrumental to the adventof modernity in Bengal, andthen India. Vidyasagar’s strivingsin multiple fields were a signif-icant factor in its waxing. He wasone of the greatest Indians whoever lived.

    (The writer is ConsultantEditor, The Pioneer, and anauthor)

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    Anew poll has revealed thatDemocratic presidentialnominee was leading USPresident Donald Trump inNew Hampshire, a swing statewhere former Secretary of StateHillary Clinton won against theincumbent leader in the 2016election.

    Released on Thursday, theEmerson College poll foundthat 45 per cent of the state’svoters backed the former VicePresident, while 45 per centsided with Trump, The Hillnews website reported.

    While 1 per cent of the vot-ers were undecided, 2 per centsaid they would vote for some-one else.

    Biden leads among womenin New Hampshire with 55 percent, while Trump garnered 42per cent of the female votes.

    Among the male voters,the two rivals were tied at 49per cent.

    In the poll, the Presidentwas ahead of Biden among theage group between 45-64 with50 per cent.

    But among all other agegroups, the former VicePresident was leading.

    Biden also earned thebacking among independentsat 54 per cent.

    According to CBS/YouGovpoll released on Sunday, Trumpand Biden were also neck-and-neck in the swing states ofGeorgia and North Carolina.

    In Georgia 47 per cent oflikely voters support Trump,versus 46 per cent for Biden,while in

    North Carolina, 48 percent of likely voters supportedthe former Vice President, ver-sus 46 per cent for thePresident. Meanwhile, an NBCNews-Marist poll also released

    on Sunday found Biden lead-ing Trump in two other swingstates of Wisconsin andMichigan.

    Last month, the CBS NewsTracker revealed that the statesof Florida and Texas remaintight battlegrounds in theNovember 3 presidential elec-tion, reports Politico news.

    In the 2016 election,Trump won both the states.

    No Democratic presiden-tial candidate has won Texassince Jimmy Carter in 1976.

    The swing states areFlorida, Arizona, Georgia,Iowa, Maine, Michigan,Minnesota, Nevada, NewHampshire, North Carolina,Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

    ������ ���*�

    North Korean leader KimJong-un inspected floodrecovery efforts at a border vil-lage along with his sister, KimYo-jong, in her first publicappearance after two months,state-media reported on Friday.

    According to the report inPyongyang’s state-run KoreanCentral News Agency (KCNA),Kim Jong-un inspected thereconstruction site in Kimhwacounty, where he was briefedabout damage to dwellings,farms, transportation, thepower grid and telecommuni-cations.

    “Hearing the report thatabout 88 per cent of the totalconstruction project has nowbeen done for nearly 1,000families, he said with great sat-isfaction that the People’s Army

    is making world-startlingachievements under the ener-getic leadership and meticulousguidance of our Party,” YonhapNews Agency quoted theKCNA report as saying.

    The leader stressed that“this year has been the one ofunprecedented hardships but itwill be a year of great victorywith particularly great worth ofstruggle”, the report furthersaid. Without providing a dateof their visit, the North’s offi-cial newspaper RodongSinmun published a photo ofthe leader and his sister, dressedin a beige trench coat.

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    The Taliban has said that itdoes not feel the need for amediator for the Afghan peacenegotiations, adding thatresolving a 40-year conflictrequires patience instead, themedia reported.

    The statement onThursday by Talibanspokesman MohammadNaeem came as US SpecialRepresentative for AfghanistanReconciliation ZalmayKhalilzad arrived in Doha,where the talks are takingplace, to “meet with partnerson Afghan-owned, Afghan-ledpeace negotiations”, TOLONews reported.

    In a statement, Naeem saidthat the Afghan conflictrequires important, ongoingdiscussions, and stated thatboth sides of the negotiationsshould demonstrate patiencefor a positive outcome.

    “If we hurry and expect to

    resolve all the issues in 20days or a month, I think thiswill not bring us to our objec-tives.

    “We will not allow anyoneto interfere in our internalaffairs,” the spokesman added.

    Contact groups comprisingTaliban and Afghan govern-ment delegates have failed tofully agree on the proceduralrules. This delay has prolongedthe time before an official face-to-face talk between both nego-tiation teams is possible.

    Meanwhile, Khalilzad’s tripto Doha has also sparkedmixed reactions in Kabul, saidthe TOLO News report.

    “I see this stalemate as a bitartificial because we witnesseda controversy over the releaseof prisoners, but it was resolvedon the 11th of September, nowI think the solution to this issuehas been scheduled for a cer-tain date,” said Abdul KarimKhurram, former chief of staffto former President Hamid

    Karzai.“This indicates that we,

    the people of Afghanistan, can’treach an agreement withoutforeign pressure,” saidMohammad Alam Ezedyar,the first deputy of theMeshrano Jirga (Senate).

    But critics have suggestedthat a mediator might be need-ed in the negotiations, as thecontact groups of both sides ofthe Afghan peace talks havediscussed the rules many timesover the last 20 days but havenot reached an agreement.

    The procedural rules forthe negotiations have over 20articles. The two sides haveagreed on 18 of them.

    According to negotiatorsfrom both sides, two articles arestill disputed: the foundation-al religious jurisprudence forthe talks, and the recognitionof February’s US-Taliban dealas the overarching authority towhich these Afghan peacenegotiations are subject.

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    Retail giant Walmart hasagreed to sell its Britishchain of supermarkets, Asda, tothe investors behind an inter-national group of gas stationsand food shops in a deal thatvalues the company at 6.8 bil-lion pounds (USD 8.8 billion).

    Brothers Mohsin andZuber Issa, along with investorsTDR Capital will acquire amajority of Asda, whileWalmart will retain a minori-ty stake and a seat of theboard, the parties said in a jointstatement issued Friday. Detailsof the deal weren’t released.

    The agreement comesmore than a year after regula-tors rejected U.K. Supermarket

    chain Sainsbury’s bid to acquireAsda amid concerns themerged company would havetoo big a share of the country’smarket. Asda has seen its for-tunes improve during the pan-demic, with shoppers stockingup on extra groceries.

    The new owners pledgedthat Asda would remain basedin the English city of Leeds, andcommitted to keeping priceslow amid tough economic con-ditions and potential new tar-iffs on EU-imported foods fol-lowing Brexit.

    The Issa Brothers are thefounders of Euro Garages,which has more than 6,000 gasstations and convenience storesin Europe, North America andAustralia.

    Kathmandu: In a bid to revivethe hard-hit tourism industry,Nepal on Friday announcedthat foreign tourists havingCovid-19 negative report willnot be required to quarantinethemselves for seven days fromOctober 17. The move cameafter mounting pressure fromtravel and tourism entrepre-neurs to open up the country’stourism sector for internation-al visitors, as the industry ispassing through a difficult timedue to months-long lockdown.Earlier, a seven-day hotel quar-antine was mandatory for allthe tourists coming to thecountry. Foreign trekkers andmountaineers wishing to visitNepal from October 17 maywalk free without staying inquarantine if they produce aPolymerase Chain Reaction(PCR) negative report, said anofficial at the Department ofTourism, Ministry of Tourismand Civil Aviation.

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    The United Nations has reg-istered a maritime delin-eation deal reached betweenTurkey and Libya’s U.N.-backedgovernment, the TurkishDefense Ministry announcedFriday.

    Last year, Turkey and theGovernment of NationalAccord, or GNA, which isbased in Tripoli, reached amemorandum of understand-ing demarcating their mar-itime boundaries. T h eagreement, which would allowthem to lay claim to largeareas of the Mediterranean Seaand potential energy deposits,was denounced by Greece,Cyprus and other nations.

    “The U.N. Has registeredthe maritime jurisdiction dealas agreed between Turkey andLibya,” the ministry announced

    on its Twitter account. “ Our deep ties with Libya

    based on over 500 years of his-tory will continue to strength-en.” Greece and Cyprus haveprotested the deal, whichadded tension to an ongoingdispute over oil-and-gasdrilling rights in the easternMediterranean.

    Turkey and the GNA alsosigned a security and militarycooperation agreement lastyear. Turkey earlier this yearsent troops, Syrian mercenar-ies and other military supportthat helped the GNA repel anassault by the rival, eastern-based Libyan National Armyand shifted the tide of the con-flict.

    “We will continue to pro-vide training and advisory ser-vices to the U.N.-recognized,legitimate government ofLibya,” the ministry said.

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    British Prime Minister BorisJohnson and EuropeanCommission President Ursulavon der Leyen on Saturday will“take stock” of negotiations ona post-Brexit free trade dealand to “discuss next steps,” offi-cials said.

    The announcement byboth sides came as they werewinding up another weeklongsession of detailed negotia-tions on a rudimentary freetrade agreement that shouldcome in force once a Brexittransition period ends Dec.

    31.Little progress has been

    made on such a deal since theU.K. Left the bloc at the end ofJanuary.

    Both sides have acknowl-edged that time is running outif they are to achieve an agree-ment before the current Brexittransition periodcomes to anend at the end of the year.

    Jo