www.freepressjournal.in | twitter.com/fpjindiaREG. NO. MCS/048/2018-20; RNI NO. 1541/1957 I M.P.C.S office Mumbai-400001

WEATHER 310C. 250C.

Sunrise: 06:16 am Sunset: 07:13 pm

CURIOUSER AND CURIOUSER IN J&K

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY Develop the spirit of worshipping work and you will find yourself

happy, with Bhagwan ever present right in front of you.

Sri Ma

PRIYANKA NAVALKAR Mumbai

A slew of forwarded messages have been doing the rounds on social media platforms like WhatsApp, LLM Twitter, wherein a user is asked to down-load an 'oximeter' mobile appli-cation used to measure their oxygen level.

Maharashtra Cyber has issued

an advisory stating that such ap-plications are not to be complete-ly trusted as they may not meet standards or be certified by med-ical authorities.

Moreover, these apps, which ask for access to the camera, media files and fingerprint scan-ner, can be another cyber crimi-nal ploy to commit data theft, warn experts.

According to police, people are

mostly tempted to download these apps which they consider to be quick and zero-cost op-tions, as compared to actual oximeters available at a local pharmacist or online. The price of these devices ranges from Rs 500 and Rs 5,000, so users are sorely tempted to go in for a cheaper product or experiment with smartphone apps.

CONTD. ON NATION

Maharashtra Cyber warns such applications may leave user vulnerable to data theft

SCRIPTS AND OPPORTUNITIES TOOK ME EVERYWHERE: ADITI See Glam

Take a deep breath, do not download that oximeter app

DIRECT D-ST ACCESS PLAN CAUSES FLUTTER, BROKERS MOVE FM See Money

Vol. 64 No. 80 | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020 | 14 Pages | EDITIONS : Mumbai*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, E-Paper

Fast News

CHINESE VIVO GETS IPL CAKE KUSHAN SARKAR / NEW DELHI: The Indian Premier League's Governing Council on Sunday decided to retain all its sponsors, including Chinese mobile company VIVO. The Chinese sponsorship became a bone of contention after the violent clashes in eastern Ladakh in June. The BCCI was expected to relook at the matter in view of the change in the dynamics of the relations between the two countries.

"All I can say is that all our sponsors are with us. Hopefully you can read between the lines," an IPL GC member told PTI on condition of anonymity after Sunday's meeting.

As IPL title sponsor, VIVO will pay around Rs 440 crore per year, a five-year deal that ends in 2022. It would have been difficult for the Board to get new sponsors at a short notice, given the current financially difficult environment.

THREE VENUES: The tournament will be played from September 19 to November 10 at three venues in the UAE -- Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi -- subject to government approval, which is expected in the next couple of days.

"The 53-day tournament will witness 10-afternoon matches starting at 15:30 IST while the evening matches will start at 19:30 IST," stated a release from the BCCI.

"The Standard Operating Procedure is still being drafted but there would be any number of COVID replacements this year," a BCCI official indicated.

WOMAN’S IPL: In another major decision, the GC also approved the women's IPL, a development first reported by PTI after speaking to BCCI president Sourav Ganguly on Sunday.

Forced out of India due to the rising coronavirus case count, the IPL will allow unlimited COVID-19 replacements, considering the delicate health situation across the globe.

"The final will be played on November 10 -- the week Diwali is celebrated -- making it lucrative for the broadcasters," the GC member said. It is expected that the squad strength in terms of playing members will be 24 for the eight franchises.

"Also the BCCI has received presentations from a Dubai based group on creating a medical facility in the UAE. The BCCI is also in talks with the Tata Group for creating a bio-bubble," the official said.

FPJ NEWS SERVICE New Delhi

The most powerful person in the country after Prime Minister Modi – Union Minis-ter Amit Shah -- has tested positive for coronavirus, a re-affirmation of the truism that corona seems to spare none – whatever their position or status in life.

As social media was swamped with get well messages, cynics pointed out that if Shah can get infected despite being en-sconced in a sanitised environment and af-ter religiously adhering to all the rigours of protocols laid down by his ministry and ICMR, can the common man keep himself insulated from the pandemic?

The Union minister took to twitter to in-form about his health and requested all those who have come in contact with him in the last few days to get themselves tested for coronavirus. Incidentally, on July 29, he had attended the Union Cabinet meeting chaired by PM Modi, which had cleared the new education policy.

As per ICMR guidelines, contact tracing

will be undertaken and that includes all those who recently came in contact with Shah; however, it is unclear whether all cabinet ministers will be tested for coron-avirus or not. Sources said that social dis-tancing was strictly followed in the Cabinet meeting and all ministers were wearing masks.

CONTD. ON NATION

Home minister tests positive, hospitalised at Medanta in Gurugram; on July 29, he had attended the Union Cabinet meeting chaired

by PM Modi; contact tracing will be undertaken but unclear whether all ministers will be tested; Shah was on Ayodhya list of

invitees along with several ministers, Bhoomi Pujan will be impacted

SWAPNIL MISHRA Mumbai

Three weeks after landing at Nanavati Hospital, thespian Amitabh Bachchan was discharged from Nanavati Hospital on Sunday after he tested negative for coronavirus. He was dropped off at his bungalow Jalsa in an ambulance. Howev-

er, his son and actor Abhishek is yet to be discharged, owing to comorbidities. Daughter-in-law Aishwarya and grand-daughter Aradhya are already back home.

Abhishek tweeted, “My father, thankfully, has tested negative on his latest Covid-19 test and has been discharged from the hos-pital. He will now be at home and rest. Thank you all for all your prayers and wishes for him.”

He further added, “I, Unfortunately due to some comorbidities, remain Covid-19 positive and remain in hospital. Again, thank you all for your continued wishes and prayers for my family. Very hum-bled and indebted. I’ll beat this and come back healthier! Promise.”

On July 11, Amitabh was rushed to the hospital after he showed mild symptoms of coronavirus and tested pos-itive, following which he was kept in the isolation ward. Since Bachchan suffers from asthma, there was every reason to feel concerned.

CONTD. ON NATION

Bade Miyan is back home, Chhote Miyan on the way

SWAPNIL MISHRA / Mumbai

While the Covid recovery rate in the state is a healthy 62 per cent (2,76,809 people have recovered so far) and the fatality rate is below 4 per cent, there has been a 23 per cent rise in the number of deaths in July.

State officials and doctors attribute this rise to delay in treatment, comorbidities and other factors. Health experts say the state govern-ment needs to create more awareness about corona in rural areas, so that the stigma surrounding the infection is eradicated and people come forward if they show symptoms and obtain timely treatment.

Clinical and Public Health Nutritionist Dr Subhasree Ray said, there are many factors causing the increase in daily deaths, such as the movement of migrants from the city to rural areas, lack of awareness among the rural population on the prevention and symptoms, thus de-laying early testing and missing the window of opportunity to avail of early treatment.

“The other possible reason could be stigma and fear of being tagged as 'Covid-19' positive, which restrains people from getting tested, even though they have symptoms. The state government should create more awareness in areas where cases and deaths are highest,” she said.

CONTD. ON NATION

...Even as recovery rates were a robust 62%OUR CORRESPONDENT

Lucknow

The coronavirus outbreak has gripped the country's most pop-ulous state ahead of the founda-tion laying ceremony of the proposed Ram Temple on Au-gust 5.

Adding to the Yogi govern-ment woes is the death of Cabi-net minister for technical edu-cation Kamal Rani Varun (62) on Sunday, who was under-going treatment for coron-avirus at a Lucknow hospital since July 16.

To make matters worse, state BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh tested positive soon after the minister’s death. Health minis-ter Jayraj Singh and his family are already recuperating at the hospital.

Another Yogi Adityanath cabi-net minister, Mahendra Singh, has also tested positive, creating doubts about PM’s attendance at the ground-breaking ceremony.

The State’s Covid-19 tally has crossed 92,900 and capital Luc-know is posing a major chal-lenge to the administration. Luc-know is logging around 400 cases daily for the past few days.

CONTD. ON NATION

Minister's death casts shadow on bhumi-puja

SHAH CHECKS IN, SHAHENSHAH OUT

In State, deaths rate crept up by 23% in July

FPJ NEWS SERVICE New Delhi

Having engaged India in pro-tracted talks, China has not only fortified its positions at strategic heights but is also refusing to ac-knowledge the standoff in Pan-gong Tso.

Earlier, there was a marked re-luctance to vacate the spurs (re-ferred to as 'Fingers') located along the banks of the high-alti-tude Pangong Lake in eastern Ladakh. Not just that, makeshift tents had mushroomed along the

rivulets and the contours of the spurs, unmindful of Indian sensi-bilities.

But, now, the Chinese are as-siduously refusing to be drawn into even discussing the disen-gagement at this prickly point of friction.

Their about-turn seems to sug-gest that they were never serious about holding onto the other points of friction, where they had transgressed into the Indian side.

Rather, these were red herrings that the Chinese had successfully

used to distract the Indians from their main agenda -- the sinister in-tent to change the status quo at Pangong.

The developments on the ground have been accompanied with noises in public domain -- mostly emanating from the Chi-nese Ambassador and the For-eign Office spokesperson in Bei-jing -- that the process of disen-gagement was complete. Implicit in this is the loaded and provoca-tive suggestion that there would be no further retreat.

CONTD. ON NATION

China not even ready to discuss Pangong standoff

STAFF REPORTER Mumbai

A team of four personnel from Bi-har Police, which is currently in Mumbai to probe the death of ac-tor Sushant Singh Rajput, will now also look into the alleged sui-cide of the actor's former manag-er Disha Salian, for any connec-tions or leads. Salian had jumped off the building days before Ra-jput's suicide. Meanwhile, Patna City Police Superintendent of Po-lice (SP) Vinay Tiwari arrived in the city on Sunday, to supervise the quartet.

Twenty-eight-year-old celebrity manager Salian had allegedly jumped off the 12th floor of a Malad high-rise on June 8. Salian was at her fiance's house when the incident occurred and no sui-cide note was recovered from the spot. Malvani Police had regis-tered an Accidental Death Report in the matter.

Sources said, Bihar Police would soon contact their Malvani counterparts for the case files. Rumours about Mum-

bai Police not co-operating with the Bihar Police team were quashed by a senior Mumbai Po-lice officer.

Social media is abuzz with con-spiracy theories about Disha Salian; A BJP MLA from Andheri has even written to Mumbai Po-lice asking them to investigate whether Salian had attended a party at Rajput's house. There has also been speculation that case files of Salian are 'missing' or have been 'deleted'. It is under-stood that Salian was very ambi-tious and high-spirited but upset after recent professional setbacks.

CONTD. ON NATION

MLA'S POSERS Mumbai Bharatiya Janata Party

General Secretary and Andheri MLA Ameet Satam on Sunday sought the contents of Disha Salian's autopsy report, the probe into the circumstances leading to her death, including whether she had attended a party, and if so then who others were present at that gathering. Satam has further demanded details of her phone calls/messages 24 hours prior to her death, the mobile tower locations to ascertain who all were present and whom she met before her death. He has also asked if the statement of Sushant's sister was recorded to ascertain whether Rajput was scared of something after Disha's death and whether he had mentioned that to her (the sister). "Did Sushant use different SIMs from June 8 to 14? If so, why?" the BJP MLA has further demanded. Yet another poser is: "Why was Rajput’s body taken to Cooper Hospital, and not to Bhabha or any other hospital in Bandra close to the location of

CONTD. ON NATION

Rajput's former manager Disha Salian had jumped off building days before the actor's suicide

BIHAR COPS TO PROBE EX-MANAGER’S DEATH

1 LAKH CASES IN 2 DAYS

Corona virus has thus far infected 17 lakh persons with more than 1 lakh patients being added to the tally in just two days. It took 185 days to cross the 17-lakh mark after the first case was reported in Kerala in January this year. The country had crossed the one lakh-mark in 110 days. More than 60 % of the total cases and over 50% of the total deaths were recorded in July.

Disha Salian

FPJ NEWS SERVICE: Incorrigible Pakistan bowler Shoaib Akhtar cannot stay off the news pages. But even making an allowance for his penchant for making outrageous statements, Akhtar seems to have surpassed himself this time.

He has claimed that he turned down a 175,000-pound contract to play county cricket for Nottinghamshire, so that he could fight in the ‘Kargil War’.

The cricketer boasted that he was even willing to die for his country. (The Kargil conflict had erupted in 1999 when Indian forces had to evict Pakistan Army backed insurgents from strategic heights.)

“I had a 175,000-pound contract with Nottingham. Then, in 2002, I had another big contract. I left both when Kargil happened,” Akhtar was quoted as saying by ARY News.

“I stood on the outskirts of Lahore. A general asked me what I’m doing there. I said a war is about to start and we’ll die together. I left

county [cricket] twice like this and the counties were shocked. I wasn’t concerned about that. I called up my

friends in Kashmir and told them I am ready to fight.

“When the planes (from India) came and downed some of our

trees -- that was a big loss for us. They dropped 6-7 trees and we are really putting a lot of focus on trees now. I was very hurt about this. I was feeling dizzy when I woke up that day and my wife told me to calm down. But

until the next day when I saw the news, that continued. I know the inside story of what happened on the next day, I’m from Rawalpindi and I know GHQ.”

In a career spanning over a decade, Shoaib Akhtar picked up more than 400 international wickets and was recognised as one of the fastest bowlers in the history of cricket. But the Kargil bouncer really went over the head.

TAILPIECE

SHOAIB GOES OVER THE TOP WITH KARGIL CLAIM

KARNATAKA CM TESTS +VE: Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday said he has tested positive for Covid-19. “I have tested positive for coronavirus. Whilst I am fine, I am being hospitalised as a precaution on the recommendation of doctors. I request those who have come in contact with me recently to be observant and exercise self quarantine,” the veteran BJP leader wrote on Twitter. FOREIGN ARRIVALS: The Home Ministry has issued new guidelines for international air passengers coming to India. All travellers should submit self-declaration form on the website newdelhiairport.in at least 72 hours before travel. They should give an undertaking on the website that they would undergo mandatory quarantine for 14 days i.e. 7 days paid institutional quarantine at their own cost, followed by 7 days isolation at home with self-monitor-ing. Travellers may, however, seek exemption from institutional quaran-tine by submitting a negative RT-PCR test report on arrival. TN GUV POSITIVE: Tamil Nadu Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Sunday tested positive for COVID-19 days after 87 persons posted at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai had contracted the contagious infection. He has been advised home quarantine. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, which crossed 2.5 lakh positive cases on Saturday, also recorded the death of 98 persons.

2THE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

MUMBAI: Aurangabad district in Marathwada regionrecorded the highest rainfall in Maharashtra in the last 24hours, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said onSunday. In the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am onSunday, Aurangabad received 86 mm downpour, Solapur-

42 mm, Pune-26 mm, Ahmednagar-23 mm and Hingoli-17 mm, it said. The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavyrainfall in Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune,Kolhapur, Sangli, Beed, Latur and Osmanabad districtsfrom Monday to Wednesday. -Agencies

Rains lash Aurangabad, Solapur and Pune

Teaching in the mothertongue or regional

language will help studentsin remote villages whereEnglish is not well-known.Children from remote districtsusually struggle with English.However, our schools have adiverse population wherekids in a single classroomcome from different cultures,religions and backgrounds.How manymothertongues orregionallanguagesareteachersgoing toteach in?

—MMiihhiirr YYaaddaavv,, travel photographer

I t's not a bad idea to have mother tongue or local regional language as themedium of instruction in schools all across. However, the English language asthe medium of instruction too cannot be completely removed from lower classes.There needs to a balance I feel. Parents opt for English medium schools for areason. It is good that the government has not made it mandatory, so schoolscan opt for this after consulting their respective PTAs. I feel it will give a boostto the regional or Indian languages, which have taken a backseat over the pastfew decades. —BBrriijjeesshh RRaammeesshh,, Malad resident

No, I don't thinkit's the right

way forward. A freeeducation systemcannot flourishwithout a freesociety. India’spolitical economyhas simply notmade qualityeducation a top

priority. What has changed in the lastcouple of decades is the explosion ofaspiration and demand for education. Butthat demand has yet to be channelizedinto institutional change. —KKeettaann SSaawwaanntt,,

public relations

Yes, it’s the correct move,but every new thing has a

few bumps down the road.While it is a welcome move toboost the regional languageknowledge, students shouldbe given a choice as to whichlanguage they want to pursue.It will encourage students tolearn as many languages aspossible. —AAppoooorrvvaa SSaalluunnkkhhee,,

engineer

The moveencourages Indian

languages and willreduce the hegemonyof English. But, whatabout the manydialects? This movemay still lead tofurther propagationand entrenchment of

official state languages. Endangereddialects spoken by a small number willsuffer. Also, nowadays, people are alwaysmoving, so is the move practical, becausein a classroom there could be students ofdifferent mother tongues. There’sdefinitely a lot of things to consider whileevaluating the policy.

—PPrraajjvvaall MMaaddhhaavv,, consultant

The move will create scope forstudents to learn their mothertongue and understand theirculture, and thereby becomeacquainted with knowledge, art andcrafts associated with the language.The move may also create a new setof jobs based on regional craftforms. —DDiiwwaakkaarr MMaarrllaa, retired banker

B asic educationor

understanding ofregional language isimportant but not acompulsion.Regional languagesshould be a part ofthe curriculumalong with foreign languages (likeEnglish) to allow students to express invarious ways and especially theirknowledge shouldn't be limited. Teachingin mother tongue in particular can pose aproblem for those who come frommultilingual or intercultural families.English and other necessary foreignlanguages shouldn’t be compromised on.

—TTaannmmaayyii SSaavvaaddii,, writer and researcher

On July 29, the Centre cleared the new National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Aclause in the NEP, calling for the mother tongue or local language to be used as themedium of instruction `wherever possible’ at least until Grade 5, but preferably tillGrade 8 and beyond, has sparked debate. While some educationists have welcomedit, others say the emphasis on mother tongue or regional language as a medium ofinstruction at least till Class 5 might create obstacles for students, as highereducation is entirely in the English language. FPJ asked its readers -- Though notmandatory, the National Education Policy recommends that schools teach in themother tongue or regional language at least till Grade 5, and preferably till Grade 8.Is this the correct way forward for our schools? Here’s what a cross-section ofMumbaikars had to say:

I feel this is not the correctway at all. In fact, doingso will ensure students areleft behind in their careerpaths during the laterstage of their lives. Instead,the education policy shouldfocus on teaching foreignlanguages like French,Spanish, Arabic to youngstudents in state board schools. Theselanguages are widely used in many parts ofthe world. Doing so will better their chancesof landing jobs in such countries, and therebybring in more money to India in the longterm. —MMeehhjjaabbeeeenn AArrssiiwwaallaa,,

Mazgaon resident

It's true that English isthe need of the hour,but at the same timewe should not forgetthat it's not a nativelanguage everyone iscomfortable with. Ifwe start teachingeverything in Englishfrom the beginning,then it will not be

easy for everyone to cope with it. Thosefrom poorer backgrounds and those fromthe ruler areas will find it most difficult. It'salways better to start early.

—CChhaannddrraasshheekkhhaarr CChhooggllee,, Virar resident

SHOULD REGIONAL LANGUAGES BE USED AS A MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION?

Ithink Iwouldhavelearnedmylessonsfaster inthe earlyyears if I

had been instructed in mymother tongue. But thenagain, I wouldn't have such agood hold on the Englishlanguage if I did not speak inEnglish right from childhood.Moreover, I believe thatthough children will be atease if they are taught intheir own regional languages,the challenge lies ahead,because our entire educationsystem is in English at leastafter Grade 12.

—LLaayyllaa SSiinngghhaanniiaa,, quality assurance analyst

RONALD RODRIGUES | Mumbai

Education begins outside schooland learning beyond a classroom.This practice has been welladopted in Rishi Valmiki EcoSchool (RVES), Goregaon (west),which serves to support childrenwho cannot afford mainstreameducation in budget schools. Thisschool provides them a platformto learn and complete basiceducation from Nursery toStandard 10, all while takingthem beyond the confines of theirclassroom by interacting withwildlife and the environment.In its first batch of Standard 10,Kasim Ansari, Pralhad Pawar andJuhi Yadav have topped theschool by securing highpercentage in the SecondarySchool Certificate (SSC) boardexamination results this year.Ansari, who scored 82 per cent,said, "My father is a tailor andcannot afford to fund myeducation in a budget school. Isecured admission in RVES inStandard 2. Since then, I havedeveloped a thirst for learning. Iwould attend school for six hoursevery day and then sit forrevision classes in the afternoonconducted by my teachers."Ansari, who migrated to Mumbaifrom Jharkhand, said he neverthought a school could be sointeresting and supportive. Ansarisaid, "We have separate classeson wildlife subjects and naturestudies every day apart from theusual state board syllabus. I studyabout birds, trees, animals andwater bodies every day. I take my

friends on nature walks andexplain to them unique featuresof the flora and fauna. I want tobecome an Indian Forest Serviceofficer and work towards forestconservation."Started in 2010, this schoolbegan functioning out of fourclassrooms in a municipal schoolat Motilal Nagar, Goregaon(west). Nikita Pimple, principal ofthe school, said, "My parentswere into education and socialwork. We started this school outof just four classrooms. Today, wehave 567 students from Nurseryto Standard 10 managed by anenthusiastic team of 45 people,including teachers, faculty andadministration staff. We are alsorenting two more rooms nearbyto cater to the increasing numberof students."The school teaches wildlifesubjects, nature studies,environment conservation, lifeskills and scientific conceptsthrough activity based learning.Pimple explained. "We wantstudents to think beyondacademics and learn abouteverything that is around them.We have separate exams onwildlife subjects and naturestudies. It is not about scoringmarks, but about understandingconcepts and applying what theylearn to serve the community atlarge." Pimple added, "Most ofthe kids live in slum settlementsand cannot afford to pay fees ofbudget schools. We aresupporting every student withthe funds donated by wellwishers."

MUMBAI

POLITICS DIFFERENT FROMDEVOTION, CHIDES AWHAD SANJAY JOG | Mumbai

The Maharashtra govern-ment has set up a 11-memberBroadband Mission commit-tee chaired by the chief sec-retary to bridge the digital di-vide and make broadbandservices available and afford-able to all citizens of thecountry. In all, 63,663 villages in the

state are expected to have ac-cess to broadband services by2022. This will include theavailability of high broad-band speeds, acceleratedfiberisation, enhanced con-nectivity and improved qual-ity of service by increasingtower density and the rolloutof 5G network and strength-ening of 4G network.The state Director Informa-

tion Technology Ranjit Ku-mar, in a notification, said,“For effective implementa-tion of the mission and pro-liferation of broadband, thestate broadband committeehas been formed.”He further said the state

broadband committee willadvise, either suo moto or on

a request from the GoverningCouncil or Steering Commit-tee, on matters related to theaccomplishment of the objec-tives of the mission concern-ing the state. It will facilitatethe implementation of theguidelines issued by the Gov-erning Council or SteeringCommittee, enabling the ex-pansion of broadband servic-es for the socio-economic de-velopment of the state.The committee will address

all matters regarding Broad-band Readiness Index (BRI),including monitoring andevaluating the work of themission pertaining to thestate.The Department of Infor-

mation Technology Officersaid that the central govern-

ment has set up a NationalBroadband Mission to pro-mote digital connectivity, e-governance, transparency, fi-nancial inclusion and ease ofdoing business. For India,connectivity is the key re-quirement across all infra-structure sectors, such as wa-ter, electricity, communica-tion, gas, highways, ports andairports. “Maharashtra gov-ernment has taken a slew ofinitiatives to promote digitalconnectivity and, thereby,bridge the digital divide be-tween rural and urban aswell as rich and poor. As perthe mission, the state govern-ment will leverage BharatNetto provide connectivity to de-velopment institutions, suchas hospitals, police stations,panchayat offices, schoolsand colleges and angan-wadis, amongst others, fromthe BharatNet network. Thisinitiative will go a long wayin the delivery of e-gover-nance services, such as e-health, e-education, e-com-merce, and cashless transac-tions in rural areas,’’ he not-ed.

GOREGAON'S UNDERPRIVILEGEDSTUDENTS GET SCHOOLED WITH A

GROUNDING IN ENVIRONMENT

Learning beyonddefined ‘margins’

SANJAY JOG | Mumbai

Ahead of the ground-breaking ceremony forAyodhya’s Ram Mandirslated for August 5, Ma-harashtra Housing Min-ister Dr Jitendra Awhadtook a swipe at theBharatiya Janata Party(BJP), saying that the saf-fron party politicised theRam Janmabhoomi issueand made every attemptto take mileage and as-sume power. In the nameof Ram, BJP sold waterand bricks.Dr Awhad, who is Na-

tionalist Congress Party(NCP) chief SharadPawar’s close confidant,said doing politics in thename of Lord Ram is dif-ferent and devotion is dif-ferent. “For the last 40years, BJP has been do-ing politics in the nameof Ram. They also soldwater and bricks inRam's name,’’ he added.He further noted thatthey alone cannot have aclaim on Lord Ram.“I believe that Ram is

hidden in those who havesincerity in their minds,have intimacy with theirparents, and have the ide-al of limits set by Pu-rushottam Shri Ram-chandra,” said DrAwhad. He reiteratedthat devotion to Ram isdifferent from doing poli-tics in the name of Ram. “If they want to do Bhu-

mi Pujan, let them do it.We have nothing to say,”the minister said.

Dr Awhad’s move to cor-ner BJP comes days afterPawar took a dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,saying that some peoplethink building a templewill eradicate COVID-19.“We always think aboutwhat should be priori-

tised. As of now, our pri-ority is to help those in-fected with coronavirusrecover. Some peoplethink that the virus willgo away after the templeis constructed. That'swhy they would have or-ganised the programme. I

am only getting to knowabout this from you peo-ple,” Pawar said.Pawar had told the Free

Press Journal that hewould not go to Ayodhya,as he was busy with theeffort to contain thevirus.

State Housing Minister Jitendra Awhad takes a jibe at the Bharatiya JanataParty, saying that they sold water and bricks in the name of Lord Ram

Shiv Sena rebuts claim ofRam temple trust chairmanMUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Sunday stronglyrebutted the charge made by the Ram MandirNirman Trust President Mahant Nritya GopalDas that the party had yet to deposit Rs 1 crorefor the temple construction, as had beenannounced by Chief Minister UddhavThackeray. Shortly after Das' statement to sometelevision channels, Sena MP Anil Desaiannounced that the party had alreadydeposited Rs 1 crore in the name of the trust inState Bank of India last week, on the occasionof Thackeray’s birthday on July 27.Desai recalled that on his March 7 visit,

Thackeray had announced that Shiv Senawould contribute Rs 1 crore towards theconstruction of Ram Temple. "Shiv Sena hasfulfilled its commitment and deposited theamount in the name of the trust on the CM’sbirthday. This has been confirmed by the Trusttreasurer and trustee," he noted. He informedthat the treasurer had also thanked CMThackeray for his contribution. Further, heexpressed the hope that the treasurer andtrustee would inform Das about the receipt ofRs 1 crore from the Shiv Sena and thereby clearthe confusion, if any. -Sanjay Jog

PRATIP ACHARYAMumbai

Known as the home of OliveRidley turtles in Maharashtra,Velas is now struggling to keepitself afloat for three months.Situated in Ratnagiri district, juston the shoreline of the ArabianSea, it is a coastal village nearly225 kilometres from Mumbai.Velas is known for the annualRidley turtle festival. Turtles,between the months ofNovember and March, nest onthese beaches, following whichthey breed and lay eggs.However, since 2019, due toextreme weather conditions, thebreeding period has beendelayed. The state was severely batteredby Cyclone Nisarga on June 3.With Mumbai escaping the heat,its adjoining districts, especiallythe coastal areas, were not very

lucky, Velas being one of them.The village has a population ofnearly 350 households. Thecyclone heavily affected thecoastal district and nearly 70 percent of its trees were uprooted. The local villagers are mainlyinvolved in agriculture, whichmainly includes coconuts,mangoes and betel nuts. With thecyclone destroying almost 70 percent of the crops, the localvillagers are now struggling tomake ends meet. "More than 70 per cent of thetrees and crops in the village haveeither been uprooted or destroyedby the cyclone. It will take aminimum of 10 years to justregrow the trees. Now, we arestruggling to earn a rupee," statedSunil Shankar Darde, a local

resident. The villagers stated that, on June3, authorities of local districtoffices notified them to vacatetheir huts only one and half hoursin advance. The villagersabandoned their shelters,including their cattles and tookshelter in a nearby village.However, safe houses were alsobattered by the cyclone and theirroofs were blown away. "Our cattles and shelters wereseverely affected. We lost our keyto survival. It has been close totwo months. we are yet to receiverelief from the government," saidDarde. The villagers claim that the lossesincurred in Velas is approximatelyRs 10,000 crores and a team ofgovernment employees hasalready inspected the village.However, villagers are yet to hearfrom them."After the cyclone passed and the

situation became normal, a teamof government officials visited ourvillage. They assessed the lossesand took note of the magnitudeof the destruction. They also filedpaperworks. However, we are yetto hear from them. We are alsounsure how they are going toprovide us relief packages," statedAradhya Padlekar, anothervillager. Apart from agriculture, tourismalso plays an important part ingenerating revenue for thevillagers. However, with thecurrent COVID-19 pandemic,resumption of tourism is still indoubt.Meanwhile, various NGOs andcivic volunteer groups haveextended their support to thevillagers.

Two months post-Cyclone Nisarga...

Velas wails for help

More than 70 per cent of the trees andcrops in the village have either been

uprooted or destroyed by the cyclone. Itwill take a minimum of 10 years to just

regrow the trees.

-SUNIL SHANKAR DARDE, RESIDENT

“ “By 2022, 63,663 villagesto get broadband access

MUMBAI: Shiv Sena in itsmouthpiece Saamna said onSunday that the corona crisis hasled to 10 crore people gettingunemployed and economicleadership is more importantthan leadership in the battlefield."Millions aresittingunemployedtoday.Innumerableclaims ofinflation, poverty andunemployment have erupted insociety. Economic leadership ismore important than leadershipin the battlefield," Shiv Sena said."The stoves of 40 crore familieshave been extinguished. What isthe solution to their problems?

Bhumi pujan of Ram temple willbe done, BJP needs Rajasthan, itwill happen. Rafale aircraft fromFrance also came to Ambala. Buthow are those who lost jobs inthis period coping with thesituation? Will the rulers ever tell

them?" itadded.Shiv Sena saidthat if thecorona crisis isnot addressed

properly there may be protestson the ground against PrimeMinister Narendra Modi."How long will people spendtheir days on mere hopes andassurances? In the last 15 years,not a single problem of peoplehas been removed. Netanyahu,

Prime Minister of Israel, is afriend of Prime Minister NarendraModi. Due to the economic crisisand corona related atrocities, theIsraeli people have starteddemonstrating on the streetseverywhere. The people of Israel

are demanding the resignation ofPrime Minister Netanyahu. Thesame time can also come inIndia," it contended.Shiv Sena further said: "Colleges,factories, shops are closed. Malls,restaurants are closed. Localtrains, public transport are at astandstill. Agricultural productsare lying down. Wherever wego, there is nothing to hear orsee except for despair. InMaharashtra, ST employees arenot paid. Its provision will bemade at the government level.Government employees will alsobe paid their salaries by takingloans." It further questionedwhether Prime Minister's Rs 20lakh crore package benefittedanyone. -Agencies

‘Centre must address unemployment’

State HealthMin’s motherpasses awayMUMBAI: Maharashtra HealthMinister Rajesh Tope's mother,Sharadatai Tope passed away onSaturday night following aprolonged illness.Taking to Twitter, Tope wrote(roughly translated from Marathi),"My mother Sharadatai AnkushraoTope, 74, passed away due to along illness. she was undergoingtreatment at the Bombay Hospitalfor the last one month." ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackeraycondoled the demise of SharadataiTope. "Saddened to hear about thedemise of Health Minister RajeshTope's mother Shri Sharadatai.Even after being in that hospitalfor a few months, Rajesh Tope Jitook care of Maharashtra byfighting against corona. May thesoul of Sharadatai Tope attaineternal peace," he tweeted(roughly translated from Marathi).Tope's mother was earlier alsoadmitted to hospital in March fora month. Last month, she wasagain admitted to BombayHospital.

-Agencies

THE FREEPRESSJOURNALMUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

MUMBAI4, including 2 brothers, held for raping woman in Bhiwandi THANE: Four people, including two brothers, were arrestedfor allegedly gang-raping a 42-year- old woman in Bhiwandiin Thane district, police said on Sunday. The incidenthappened in the intervening night of July 31 and August 1when the woman went looking for a job in one of thegodowns situated in Charnipada area of the powerloom

town, an official said. "She was abducted from near therailways tracks there, taken to the bushes nearby and rapedat knife-point. Passersby alerted Narpoli police. BrothersMonty Varte and Vishal Varte, and Kumar Rathod and AnilShyam Gupta were arrested between Saturday and Sunday,"he added. –Agencies

INSPIRING LIVES

Pocket of affluence in cityhas highest growth rate

PRATIP ACHARYAMumbai

The wards which have ahigh-density population andcovers some of the city’smost affluent areas have be-come the wards with thehighest Covid-19 growthrate and lowest rate of dou-bling in the city.Of all the 24 wards of theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC), the Dand R Central (RC) wardsare leading with a growth of1.5 per cent each. D ward covers the affluentareas of Grant Road,Walkeshwar, Breach Candyand Malabar Hills. Thegrowth rate of the ward is1.5 per cent and the doublingrate stands at 45 days, whichis the lowest in the city. Thisward has so far reported4,423 cases with 934 activecases.D ward has reported 449cases in the last one week, ofwhich more than 90 per cent

were reported from highris-es and residential towers ofthe posh localities. A BMC health officialfrom D ward told that mostof the new cases are the get-ting infected by the asymp-tomatic patients who wereclose contacts of previouslyinfected patients. "Out of all the freshly re-ported cases, 95 per cent ofthe cases are coming outfrom high rises and residen-tial towers. Many of the so-cieties violated lockdownnorms and allowed out-siders inside the buildingsdue to which both the do-mestic help and their em-ployers have turned out tobe carriers of the virus,"stated Harshad Kale,Deputy Municipal Commis-sioner (zone 1). "Also people have now be-come more proactive as theyare getting their tests donewhen they sense any symp-toms, this is helping us inthe process of contact trac-

ing very much," stated Kale. Meanwhile, Mumbai's Rcentral (C) ward which cov-ers the Borivli area in northMumbai's suburban belt hasbecome the new COVID-19hotspot in the city. Thisward has as many as 723buildings sealed, which isthe highest in the city. RCward has 1,241 active cases

and total 5,532 cases. Borivli has comparativelymore people living in build-ings than slums. Both theeast and western sides ofBorivli have densely popu-lated residential apartmentsand housing societies. RC ward officerBhagyashree Kapse toldFPJ that people have been

violating lockdown norms,which has led to the spike inthe number of cases. "Most of the high-risk con-tacts have been on streetsand on the society premisesdespite knowing that theycan be potential carriers ofthe virus, which is whythere have been widespreadinfections," she stated. Also, she highlighted thatmore than 700 buildingshave been sealed in her areaand 98 per cent of the casesare being reported fromhigh rises. The growth rate of RCward is 1.5 per cent and thedoubling rate stands at 47days."Cases will fall becausemost of these patients areasymptomatic and will re-cover soon. Also to containthe spread, BMC has nowtaken to sealing entirebuilding premises and strin-gent lockdown policies arealso being applied" statedthe ward officer.

D, R central wards are growing @ 1.5 per cent each

PRATIP ACHARYA / Mumbai

It was just another 'regular' day in thelockdown when 17-year-old RaghavRuia saw the garbage collector of hishousing society in a miserable stateas he did not have enough money totreat a kin of his, who needed imme-diate medical attention. The manwent door-to-door telling residentsthe story of his predicament and bythe end of the week, had earned near-ly Rs 3 lakh in donation. This incident brought home toRaghav the impact of story-telling onsomeone's life and pushed him to cre-ate an independent online platform,to provide recognition for such he-roes, who would go unsung. From a bhajan singer, vegetable sell-er to social workers to daily-wagelabourers, Raghav's platform high-lights how the good deeds of everyone in society go a long way. Raghav set up www.un-sungheroesonline.org and www.thes-tudenthouse.org, where he specifical-ly pushes students to kickstart theirown projects and get their researchfunded. His website has got 42,000hits, averaging 3,000 daily. From helping students chase their

dreams to highlighting the unsung he-roes of the society, the teen is using hisinternet platform to motivate his peers. "There are a lot of people doinggood for society. We highlight thoseunsung heroes and make sure theirstories reach the youth, so that itcan inspire them to do similarly,"

Raghav told FPJ. "Often there are students who wantto get their projects started or funded.Through our website, we help themwith logistical support to help kick-start their venture," he says. Raghav is a Class 12 student at theBD Somani school. Apart from help-ing students with their projects andhighlighting stories of heroes in thecity, Raghav also mentors junior stu-dents. Students seeking counsellilngfor their studies and co-curricularsget registered on the website and getexpert help. "At this age, students are often con-fused and lose their way. So, we con-nect them with a career counsellor ormentor when they approach us,"Raghav said. However, his endeavours are notjust confined to his website. He hasalso put social media platforms togood use to extend his youth outreachand presently has a dedicated team of27 working for him. "I believe that in today’s world,proactivity is the best quality a stu-dent/human being can cultivate.With so much changing around us, itis imperative for all of us to be‘proactive’ in adapting to thischange," states the 17-year-old.

17-yr-old sets up digital platformto herald city's unsung heroes

There are a lot of people doing goodfor society. We highlight those unsungheroes and make sure their stories reach

the youth so that it can shape theirthought process and push them to do

something similar–Raghav Ruia

SWAPNIL MISHRA / Mumbai

There were 9,509 new coronacases and 260 fatalitiesrecorded in the state in thelast 24 hours, and the overallcounts currently stand at4,41,228 and 15,576 respective-ly. However, the recovery ratein Maharashtra has now in-creased to 62.73 per cent, with9,926 patients being dis-charged on Sunday, increas-ing the total number of thosecured to 2,76,809 until now. Of the 260 deaths, 121 werein the Mumbai MetropolitanRegion, followed by 69 inPune, 21 in Nashik, 14 inLatur, 13 in Akola, 10 in Au-rangabad, nine in Kolhapurand three in Nagpur.According to the publichealth department of theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation, in the city, therewere 1,105 new cases and 49deaths reported on Sunday,taking the progressive countto 1,16,451, with 6,444 deathsso far. However, there areonly 21,412 active cases andmore than 88,299 recoveries(nearly 76%) till date.While the number of casesin Mumbai and other citiesin the MMR have fallen, thisnumber has risen in Pune

district and other parts ofthe state in the last fewweeks. Officials attribute theuptick to the weak health in-frastructure and lack oftracking and tracing con-tacts. “Pune city and the dis-trict administration initiallyfailed to ramp up facilities tocope with the spike after un-locking measures were be-gun. Now they are setting upjumbo hospitals and acquir-ing private hospitals. Nagpurhas an adequate number ofbeds, but has no bed manage-ment plan and or propertracking of contacts. This isalso the case in other dis-tricts where the number isrising, whereas in the MMR,there was speedy manage-ment of additional beds, re-

sulting in a fall in numbers,”a state government officialsaid.State surveillance officerDr Pradeep Awate said, “InPune, there is more (case)growth in the rural parts ascompared to the city becauseof the movement of peoplefrom the outskirts of Punecity. We have been focusingon Pune and other districtslike Jalgaon and Au-rangabad, which have highgrowth rates, by strengthen-ing the infrastructure. We ex-pect the infection curve tostabilise by August-end evenin these areas.”So far, a total of 22.55 lakhtests have been conducted inthe state, of which nearly 20per cent were positive.

ARD

58,226 1,07,958

DASHB ARD

DD

58,226 1,07,958

DR ASHBAD

,07,958

AIBMUMesCas Dea

2,182

RATHARASAHMshtDea

3,950

4,41,2281,16,451

6,444 15,576

Good news and bad: 9,926recoveries, 9,509 new cases

A girl ties ‘rakhi’ to her brother to celbrate Rakshabandhan. –BL SONI

Leakage from aModified Flat

Q: I am an original allottee of a 652sq.ft 1BHK MIG flat at Sion whichconsists of 154 members. Somemembers' flats have been convertedinto 2BHK and shifted the originaltoilet, kitchen and bathroom bymanaging committee member. Is thechange legal?

I have not been issued a share certifi-cate. No loan was taken for the flat.Society has not replied to my dozensof letters for over 2 years. I have notbeen paying festival/welfare duesfor over 3 years after reading yourcolumn that it cannot be mademandatory. On the arrears, I havebeen being levied cumulative inter-est. Recently over Rs 5000 receivedfrom BMC has not been paid to me,instead adjusted against the arrears.Deputy Registrar MHADA has notacted, just forwarded the complaintto the Secretary who is not respond-ing. What can I do in the above mat-ters?

A: If for the conversion of 1BHKinto 2BHK permission has beentaken from Society, also fromBMC through a BMC approvedarchitect and the work has to becompleted under hissupervision. If there is noleakage from the bathroom, so,shifted in the new flat, then it issafe and legal.

If such a change is not done withthe BMC's permission throughBMC approved architect underhis supervision and if thechange causes leakage to lowerflat from the bathroom, then youmake a complaint against suchflat owner to your BMC WardOffice, and make your societyparty to the complaint.

Be persuasive with your complaint,by making an RTI application toInformation Officer (IO) of theWard Officer (WO) of your BMCward, asking IO to give you theinformation on action taken byWO on your complaint.

If WO has not taken any actionwithin one month of yourcomplaint, then make aLokshahi Din Complaint, toZonal Deputy MunicipalCommissioner (ZDMC). ZDMCwill take a hearing in his office,

in presence of AssistantEngineer of Building andFactory Department of yourBMC Ward Office, and ZDMCwill see to it that within a monthof hearing your complaint isredressed.

If society has not given your sharecertificate for more than twoyears, then with xerox copy ofyour several complaints made toyour society, under Bye-law No.174(A)(ii), make a complaintagainst your society to DeputyRegistrar of Co-operativeSocieties of your area for notgiving you a share certificate.

As a contribution to the festivalcannot be levied, and you havenot paid the same, it cannot beshown as society's dues. UnderBye-law No. 174(A)(xii) make acomplaint against your societywith proof, for askingfestival/welfare charges insociety's bill, to DeputyRegistrar of Co-operativeSocieties of your area,

For non-payment of Society's dues,fine on the due amount is 21 percent per annum, simple interest.For charging compound intereston your society's dues, underBye-law No 174(A)(xxii), withproof make a complaint againstyour Society to DeputyRegistrar of Co-operativeSocieties of your area.

Your refund from BMC Taxreceived by your Society ifadjusted against your legitimatedues to the society, then it is inperfect order. However, if thatrefund amount is adjustedagainst illegal dues likefestival/welfare charges, thenunder Bye-law No. 174(A)(xii),

with a proof make a complaintagainst your society to DeputyRegistrar of Co-operativeSocieties of your area.

I have asked you to make severalcomplaints against your Societyto Deputy Registrar. As stated byme above, for each case make adifferent complaint and not onesingle complaint. This isbecause, when you makedifferent compliant letter foreach complaint, they areeffectively redressed by puttingeach complaint in a differentfile, and it is administrativelyeasy to redress the complaints.

When you make a complaintagainst the Society to DeputyRegistrar of Co-operativeSocieties of your area, then withhis covering letter he ordersyour society to take properaction on your complaint, whenhe forwards your complaint tothe society.

If no action is taken by yourSociety on your forwardedcomplaint within a month ofreceiving the complaint by yoursociety, then with xerox copy ofDeputy Registrar’s letter andxerox copy of your complaintforwarded by him to yourSociety, you should make afollow-up complaint to DeputyRegistrar, on which he will takefurther action.

When you make a follow-upcomplaint to Deputy Registrar,meet him and he will takefurther action of calling ameeting in his office with youand society's office bearers, tosort out your complaint.

Answers provided by experts of Moneylife Foundation.

Your HousingProblems & Solutions

Send your queries regarding ‘housing woes’ to sachin@fpj.co.in. You can also visit https://www.moneylife.in/lrc

Excessive Maintenance

ChargesQ: I stay in Borivali and

had given my flat onrent from 2006 to2012, for which thesociety had wronglycharged 100 percent non-occupancycharges. Severaltimes I had request-ed them to chargethe correct non-oc-cupancy charges of10 per cent, but theywere not convinced

housing for Monday 3 August_MUMBAI 3 8/1/2020 6:27 PM Page 1

After Chase the Virus, now it’stime for BMC to Chase the PatientSTAFF REPORTER / Mumbai

First, the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation(BMC) embarked on a 'Chasethe Virus' campaign, to pur-sue aggressive door-to-doortesting for coronavirus. Now,it is time to move on to thenext phase, which it is callingits 'Chase the Patient' policy. This new chase entails pa-tients being approached bytheir local ward officials whowill directly send them tohospitals as per their need. The civic body has alreadydecentralised the bed allot-

ment systems. Each ward of-fice has now war roomswhich carry out this process. "Each ward has a 30 dedi-cated helplines for Covid pa-tients. They can get directlyget in touch with the doctorsthrough the helplines, follow-

ing which their conditionwill be assessed," stated Mu-nicipal Commissioner IqbalSingh Chahal. "If it is found that the symp-toms of the patients have in-tensified, then he or she maybe transferred to a dedicatedCovid hospital by the BMCsambulance" Chahal said. Under this new pro-gramme, if a patient is foundto be severely ill, then theycould be isolated at home andwill be provided dedicatedoxygen supply and a hospitalbed, according to a BMCstatement.

Imbibing spirits can imperil the fleshSWAPNIL MISHRA / Mumbai

A recent paper from the Tata MemorialHospital, Mumbai, published in a reput-ed Indian medical journal, has conclud-ed that alcohol consumption dramati-cally increases the risk of cancer.The report points at alcohol consump-tion being one of the leading risk factorsfor multiple health issues, especiallynon-communicable diseases and infec-tious diseases (HIV, viral hepatitis, andtuberculosis). Alcohol consumption isestimated to be the third-most importantmodifiable risk factor for death and dis-ability worldwide. With 1.4 lakh deathsannually, alcohol-induced liver cirrhosismakes up the biggest burden posed by al-cohol use. Almost one lakh deaths thatoccur on Indian roads each year are in-directly related to alcohol abuse.According to Dr Pankaj Chaturvedi,Deputy Director at Center for CancerEpidemiology, Tata Memorial Hospital,until now, there was conflicting evi-dence of alcohol being a directcausative agent for cancers in Indianmedical literature. For conclusive an-swers, they performed a systematic re-view and meta-analysis of 29 eligible

studies, involving 2,86,986 subjects. “Thefindings suggest that alcohol users are2.15 times more at risk of cancer com-pared to non-users. This can be attrib-uted to its solvent property, which as-sists the carcinogen in permeating thecells lining the upper aero-digestivetract. The pooled analysis of all prospec-tive studies demonstrated a 152 per centhigher risk of cancer among alcoholusers, while the retrospective studiesfound an increased risk of 232 per cent,”he said.Dr Hitesh Singhavi, Research Fellowand the first author of the paper, saidonce the alcohol is metabolised in thebody, the byproduct acetaldehyde is re-sponsible for the carcinogenic effect,which also reduces immunity, leading tothe initiatiation of carcinogenesis at

various sites. Malabsorption, especiallyof folate, in the presence of alcoholleads to initiating colon cancer. It mayalso manipulate hormonal levels inwomen to influence breast cancer. “The pattern of alcohol consumptionis diverse in India, making it a uniquesubset to analyse. It has also been foundthat Indians drink a higher concentra-tion of alcohol by weight, especially onan empty stomach, thus making themmore vulnerable to alcohol-related toxi-cities,” he said.Dr Rajesh Dixit, Director at Center forCancer Epidemiology, Tata MemorialHospital, said they have analysed therelationship, specifically between alco-hol users and oral cavity cancer, whichis the one of the most common life-threatening malignancies in India. “Wefound that alcohol raises the risk oforal cancer by 200%. This result con-cluded that alcohol independently in-creases the risk of oral cavity cancers,”said Dr Dixit.To conclude, there are no safe levels ofalcohol consumption and its consump-tion increases the overall risk of canceramong Indians, particularly doublingthe incidence of oral cavity cancer.

Alcohol ups risk of oral cavity cancers by 200%: Study

Covid-19 count in Maha Police at 9,566MUMBAI: The total number of COVID-19 cases in theMaharashtra Police force stands at 9,566, informed the police onSunday.Out of the total cases, 7,534 have recovered and 1,929 are active.The death toll stands at 103. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Police saidthat as many as 2,19,975 cases were registered under Section188 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), since March 22, for theviolation of coronavirus guidelines and norms. –Agencies

Image for representational purpose only.

In this initiative, patientswill be approached bytheir local ward officialsand who will directlyallot them hospitals as

per their need

AMRAVATI: The number of COVID-19cases in Maharashtra's Amravati districtrose by 131 to 2,359 on Sunday, ahealth official said. A total of 93

patients were discharged in the day,taking the number of recovered cases to1,669, he said, adding that the districtnow has 629 active cases. –Agencies

Covid-19 cases in Amravati rise to 2,359MUMBAITHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

MAHARASHTRA INDUSTRIALDEVELOPMENT CORPORATION

(A Government of Maharashtra Undertaking)E Tender Notice No.16/2020-2021 (Mumbai)

E Tenders are invited for below work from registered con-tractors

The blank tender forms for above works will be availablefrom 03/08/2020 to 17/08/2020 on MIDC’s Websitehttp://www.midcindia.org.Interested agencies may upload their queries before

06/08/2020. Answers to the queries / MIDC Clarification willbe available from 10/08/2020 on Website of MIDC.

Sr.No.

Name of Work EstimatedCost

1. Minor repairing and strengthening ofbridge near Hikal Company in MahadIndustrial Area..

Rs.44,58,309.00

2. M & R to Roads in Badlapur Indl.Area...Pot hole filling by asphaltictreatment.

Rs.44,53,605.00

3. M&R to Water supply scheme forNagothane Industrial Area.... Repairs& overhauling of clarifloculators atWater Treatment Plant-Nagothane.

Rs.40,78,889.00

4. M&R to EDS at Mahad Industrial Area…(Yearly maintenance work)Removing Choke ups, Cleaning ofDrainage Line & attending emergencywork on effluent collection line inMIA...

Rs.16,94,963.00

5. M & R to Non residential Building inMahad Industrial Area …. Housekeeping to MIDC office and CFCBulding in Mahad Industrial Area…

Rs.15,50,064.00

6. M & R to water supply scheme inMahad Industrial area.…. Removingsludge and providing & applyingDisinfection by Nontoxic Chemicals toGSR and HSR in Mahad IndustrialArea.

Rs.15,07,000.00

7. M&R to Ratnagiri water supplyscheme for 2020-2021… Yearly mait-enance of weirs at Harcheri, Nivsar,Ghativale, Asode and Anjanari weirs.

Rs.17,47,759.00

8. M & R to UDDS in Badlapur Indl.Area….Replacing old damaged HDPEline with higher dia of HDPE pipelineincluding reconstructing damagedchambers.

Rs.44,47,884.00

SWEETY ADIMULAM / Mumbai

In the light of the coronavirus crisis, theBrihanMumbai Sarvajanik GaneshotsavSamanvay Samiti (BMSGSS) has formed atask force comprising 500 Covid warriors tohelp people during Ganesotsav. The volun-teers will be actively assisting the corpora-tion in undertaking various Covid-relatedcampaigns across Mumbai, said NikhilMorye, an active member of the committee."The 500 volunteers will conduct blood andplasma donation camps, arrange sanitisa-tion and fogging in residential areas if need-ed, create awareness among citizens aboutCovid and help positive patients to recover fromthe mental stress once they return to their houses.Besides, many Ganesh mandals also planning toorganise yoga and gymnasium sessions online, "said Morye. He asserted that the COVID task force will re-main active even after Ganesh festival gets over. In Mumbai, there are about 12,500 sarvajanik

Ganesh mandals and two lakh idols are installed bypeople in their houses every year. Morye stated thatto identify the volunteers easily and accessible,they will have a common costume and an identifi-cation pass with their numbers. A list will also beavailable with BMC and local police stations. "In Mumbai, Ganpati festival is celebrated withmuch fanfare, however, due to Coronavirus this

year no celebration will be held. But sinceevery area has their own mandal, the taskforce will act as a mediator to inform peoplewhere they should go and avail the treat-ment, where are the Covid care centres,how they can get an ambulance service inan emergency etc. There is still a lot of con-fusion, the Ganpati mandal volunteers willtry and provide prompt help to the dis-tressed citizens, " he explained.The corporation has reportedly askedmandals at containment zones to immerseGanesh idols at artificial ponds and lakes.Morye informed that previous year, thenumber of artificial immersions spots

were 34 and this year to avoid the crowd onseashores, the number of artificial lakes would goup by 300. "As all mandals and societies may im-merse idols in artificial ponds at their places. Af-ter immersion, the dissolved idol clay needs to bedisposed of properly and BMC will do that work,while the COVID task force volunteers will also co-ordinate, " he stated.

Ganesh mandal sets up taskforce to help BMC fight CovidSarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvay Samiti's 500 volunteers to undertake various campaigns across Mumbai

Website to help migrantworkers get their jobs back

STAFF REPORTER / Mumbai

Anticipating hurdles for mi-grant workers to get back towork, with many of themhave returned to their na-tives during the lockdownand finding that their oldjobs no longer exist, a uniqueplatform has been launchedto connect them withprospective employers. A website, www.kaamwa-pasi.com launched a weekago, was ideated to do justthis. Virat Tandon, groupCEO, MullenLowe LintasGroup, said that the initia-tive will help largely the com-munity of workers – mi-grant, semi-skilled and un-skilled – who had left thecities during the lockdownand returned to their natives.For the initiative, the compa-ny has partnered with Zee,Axis Bank, Radiocity, Airtel4G and Razorpod.“We anticipated that busi-

nesses too will have a toughtime reopening — restau-rants, factories and construc-tion sector will find it diffi-cult to find cooks, labourersand masons,” says Tandon.The platform will enrolworkers and a technology en-gine will match the require-ment with their skills and lo-cation. At present, workerswill require an internet con-nection and a smartphone tobe able to access the website,which is in Hindi. The com-pany is also working on

launching a toll-free numberon which workers can enrol,so that those who do not haveinternet connectivity or asmartphone can also benefit.“We understand that anyonewho wants to enrol may not beeducated and we have madethe website very simple anduser-friendly,” says Tandon. At present, the company isgetting employers to registerby sending emails and throughnetworking so that the plat-form can have ample jobs toprovide for enrolling workers.

SWEETY ADIMULAM / Mumbai

In our good old days, renting acycle on hourly basis by pay-ing a few bucks was so easy.However, with the passing oftime, the trend of renting cy-cle eventually vanished.Based on the same concept,now a 19-yr-old Mumbai-based college girl namedAnahita Hirani has startedan initiative 'Cyc it Up' givingan opportunity to rent out cy-cles on hourly and daily basis. The thought-provokingstart-up was launched duringthe pandemic. She stated thatriding helps one to ease stressand lose weight faster thanany other best outdoor activi-ty since gyms are shut."When lockdown was easedand jogging, cycling was al-lowed, I went with my friendson Carter Road Promenade.There were several peopletaking a walk, and it waswhen I thought that manymight be wanting to take aride on a cycle but may not beable to do so because theymight not be having it. Cy-cling is fun and for such peo-ple, I am offering them cycleson rent option," she asserted. Further explaining aboutthe one-month-old initiative,Anahita said that 69 people sofar have rented cycles fromher on hourly and daily basisand the response has beenpromising. The 'cycles onrent' service is available cur-rently only in Bandra, Kharand Santacruz. For one hour,'Cyc it Up' charges Rs 120 andRs 100 for geared and non-geared cycles respectivelyand Rs 350 for 24 hrs. She has

total seven cycles as of now."On social media, I have pro-moted the concept and withzero investment started theinitiative. I was looking forpeople who can offer their cy-cles on rent and in return I of-fered them 30 per cent cutagainst every booking andthere has been a good re-sponse. Those who haveshown interest in giving theircycles are making some mon-ey out of it which was earlierjust rusting in their backyard.They are happy, I paid oneowner Rs 1,000. If a cycle isbooked for particular hours,the owner will get a 30 per centshare out of it," she informed.Hirani said that she takesAadhar as proof. Meanwhile, those who rent-ed cycles have appreciatedthe initiative. Those whoused the service stated, "Thecycles are in a really goodcondition and the wholeprocess is very convenientand accessible. Hope to con-nect with them more often."

‘Cyc it Up’: Satiate your cycling craving

19-yr-old Mumbai girloffers bicycle on rent

MBMC’s doubling ratedips, recovery at 80%SURESH GOLANI / Bhayandar

In a welcome respite andmuch-needed relief for citi-zens as well as the civic ad-ministration, the rising tra-jectory of Covid-19 positivecases in the twin-cities hasstarted dipping.After the first positive casewas reported on March 27,the number climbed to 2,152till June 20, and reached 4,314on July 5, clocking the dou-bling time at fifteen days. On Saturday, 149 more peo-ple tested positive. Althoughthe latest additions catapult-ed the total number of cumu-lative positive patients to8,463, the coronagraph clear-ly shows a significant decel-eration in the doubling timefrom 15 to nearly 30 days.Another encouraging andhealthy sign of the MBMCgetting a handle on thingscan be gauged from the factthat the recovery rate hasbeen hovering above 80 percent. With more than 1,000 re-covering from the infection

in the past five days, the totalnumber of patients dis-charged from designated hos-pitals has crossed the 6,800-mark to reach 6,825, thuspulling down the number ofactive cases to 1,360. Whilethe recovery rate stands ataround 81 per cent, the casefatality rate is pegged at 3.3per cent, which still remainsa cause of concern as theMBMC has reported analarming 278 deaths. As per MBMC records,16,605 people were under ob-servation, even as a total of26,219 swab samples havebeen sent for testing so far,out of which 16,999 testednegative, 8,463 positive andreports of 757 people werestill awaited. The higher positivity ratiois also a matter of concern forthe district authorities. Nev-ertheless, healthcare infra-structure is being upgradedevery passing day to controlthe death rate and for furtherpreparations in case of anyeventualities, an official said.

THE FREEPRESSJOURNALMUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

MUMBAITHANE: A 52-year-old policeman was injured after two personsattacked him with a knife in Bhiwandi town of Maharashtra'sThane district, an official said on Sunday. The incident occurred on Saturday, and the accused were arrestedearly on Sunday, the official said."The policeman, Praful Dalvi, attached to the Bhoiwada police

station, was alerted about two persons thrashing a man in nearbyBhandari Compound area," Thane police spokesperson SukhadaNarkar said. "Dalvi rushed to the spot and tried to broker peace.However, the duo attacked him with a knife, in which he wasinjured. The policeman was rushed to a hospital, where he iscurrently undergoing treatment," she added. - AGENCIES

Policeman injured in knife attack, two held

NIA raids DU Prof HanyBabu’s Noida residence

BHAVNA UCHILMumbai

A team of the National In-vestigation Agency (NIA)on Sunday morning con-ducted a search at the resi-dence of Delhi Universityprofessor Hany Babu inNoida, an accused in con-nection with the Bhima Ko-regaon case.His wife Jenny Rowena,an English faculty at Miran-da House, Delhi said thataround 10 men from theNIA and the local policecame to their residence at7.30 am and seized some pendrives, a hard-disk andsome leaflets and bookletsof the Committee for theDefence and Release of GNSaibaba, of which Babu isthe national convener. “Most of the things theyseized were already hereduring the previous raid,”she said and alleged that theseizures were not made us-ing proper procedurewherein hash values aregiven for the data, so thattheir integrity is estab-lished. The search, she said, wasfor certain things related to

the Defence Committee,such as cash ledgers whichBabu maintained and abooklet published by thecommittee. This is the second raid atBabu’s house, the earlierone being in September lastyear. In the raid that lastedsix hours, they had takenhis laptop, phone, hard disk,pen drives and three books.That time that agency hadnot got a search warrant.On Sunday, they had one. Rowena continues tospeak to the media thoughwell-wishers advise her not

to do so. “If things happento us, do we change our pol-itics and become anotherperson. If people don’tspeak out, things will keephappening,” she said.GN Saibaba’s wife Vasan-tha called the raid a “ha-rassment” and an attemptto intimidate. The leafletsand booklets seized by theDefence Committee, shesaid, were distributed pub-licly and only contain a pro-file of GN Saibaba and thelapses of the judgmentthrough which he was con-victed.

4 days after HC rejects his bail,GN Saibaba’s mother passes away

BHAVNA UCHILMumbai

With professor GN Saiba-ba’s mother GokarakondaSuryavathi, 74, passingaway on August 1, four daysafter the Bombay HighCourt denied the formerDelhi University professor atemporary bail of 45 days,his lawyer questioned whythe state government whichclaims to have an Ambed-karite ideology, opposed theplea.“They have no sympathyleft for a mother on death-bed who wanted to see herson, who was 90 percent dis-abled and whose health haddeteriorated, that too dur-ing this pandemic time,”says GN Saibaba’s advocateNihalsing B Rathod. ProfSaibaba who is serving alife term in a Nagpur prisonfor Maoist links has been avocal advocate of the rightsof Dalits, adivasis and otheroppressed communities. An affidavit Rathod hadfiled before the Bombay

High Court had said thatSaibaba’s mother, a cancerpatient had suffered a para-lytic attack after undergo-ing chemotherapy sessionsand was admitted in hospi-tal. “The matter happenedto be heard the same daythat his mother was admit-ted and we had informedthe court about her condi-tion through the affidavit,”he says. Arguing the plea, Rathodhad told a division bench ofJustice AS Chandurkar andAmit Borkar that a mothercannot be denied the oppor-tunity to see her son beforeshe closes her eyes. The plea

was opposed by the state’sspecial public prosecutorstating that Saibaba’s broth-er and brother’s wife werethere to take care of themother and that his paroleplea seeking release to beable to tend to his motherhad already been rejected. The court in its order re-jecting the interim bail didnot mention any observa-tion on the plea of lettingSaibaba see his mother. Theorder said that from the re-ply of the chief medical of-ficer of Central Prison,Nagpur it finds that appro-priate medical aid is beinggiven to Saibaba and that it

did not find merits in the ap-plication.In a statement after the de-mise of her mother-in-law,Saibaba’s wife Vasanthaand daughter Manjeerasaid, “I feel extremely sad-dened by the loss of thiskind and caring woman andeven deeply disappointed inmyself that I could not ful-fill her final wish of lettingher meet her son. I knewher from my childhood andshared everything with herlike dear friends.” Thestatement further said thathis mother was desperatelywaiting to be reunited withher eldest son. Vasanthaand her daughter who livein Delhi and could not go toHyderabad to visit her dueto quarantine restrictions. Telangana convener ofCommittee for Defence andRelease of GN Saibaba K.Ravichander called it "inhu-man" that Saibaba’s plea tobe able to see his mother insuch conditions, was deniedand questioned if the judi-ciary had lost its entity.

Govandi housewife sharesPIN with fraudster, loses Rs 2L

PRIYANKA NAVALKAR Mumbai

A 46-year-old Govandi-based housewife was dupedto the tune of Rs 2 lakh af-ter she received a call froma man posing as a bankagent and sought her debitcard details on the pretextof changing her card's PINamid a slew of cyber crimefrauds. While police havebooked the accused, theyhave sought the Call DataRecords (CDR) to nab him. In the month of May, thecomplainant, an accountholder in a nationalisedbank, had applied for a newdebit-cum-ATM card as theold one had expired. Subse-quently, 20 days later, a newcard was delivered to her inJune and in a bid to activateand reset the ATM PIN, shevisited a nearby ATM cen-tre. However, since her mo-bile number did not matchthe registered number atthe bank, she was unable toreset the PIN. Since the pan-demic induced lockdownwas underway, the com-

plainant decided to pursuethe matter later.On July 29, however, shereceived a call from a man,who introduced himself asan agent of the bank, whilethe caller ID on the phoneread as 'Deepak Manager'.This agent told the womanthat he was calling regard-ing inactivity of her debitcard since the last twomonths, which made herbelieve his credibility. "Theman also told me that dueto the Covid pandemic andone of the bank staff beinginfected with the virus, all

the formalities of renew-ing the card and otherbank activities were car-ried out online. He then of-fered to do the verificationand update my debit cardPIN online, to which Iagreed," said the woman inher complaint.

The woman then sharedher bank account's privydetails like card number,CVV number, its expirationdate, account number, thePIN for online bankingamong others. She receivedover eight One Time Pass-words (OTP) on her mobile

phone, which the womanshared with the bank'sagent in a bid to completethe verification process andupdate the debit card PIN. In a series of transac-tions, the woman lost Rs2,00,037 and informed theagent about the same. Be-fore hanging up the phonecall, the man told her thatthe debited amount will becredited in her account as areversal within 30 minutesand she should not worry.After waiting for a couple ofhours when the reversal didnot come through and themobile number used by theagent was inactive, thecomplainant realised shewas duped. The woman then ap-proached Shivaji Nagar Po-lice and lodged a complaint,after which police bookedthe unidentified accusedunder relevant sections ofthe Indian Penal Code andInformation TechnologyAct for cheating. Policehave sought the detailsfrom the bank and are in-vestigating the matter.

ELGAR PARISHAD - BHIMA KOREGAON CASE

C YBERThe Other Virus:

FRA DSUWith cyber scamsters upping their game amid the COVID-19 pandemic, The Free Press Journal brings you a series of reports on the different cons you need to guard against to foil their scams.

the COVID-19

p

Man booked for stabbingfriend over trival issue

Married man heldfor raping teen on pretext of marriage

STAFF REPORTERMumbai

Juhu Police have arrested a20-year-old man for allegedly killing his friend,Ganesh Babu Devendra, 24,over a trivial issue in NehruNagar on Saturday night.The arrested accused, ShivaRama Keshava Devendraalias Shiva, stabbed Ganeshin the stomach with a sharp weapon after a verbalaltercation between the duo. Police booked Shiva underrelevant sections of the In-dian Penal Code for murder. According to the police,Shiva and Ganesh, both res-idents of Nehru Nagar area,worked in a garment facto-ry. The duo were in Kandi-vali on Saturday evening,

when the duo got in a fight,which escalated and contin-ued all the way from Kandi-vali to Juhu. When the duoreached Nehru Nagar, Shi-va held a grudge overGanesh and hurled abuses,following which he stabbedhis friend with a sharpweapon.Soon after the incident,Shiva escaped and fled thespot. The locals, who spot-ted Ganesh bleeding,rushed him to a local hospi-tal, where he was declareddead on arrival. Juhu Policewas informed about the in-cident and an AccidentalDeath Report (ADR) wasrecorded. Meanwhile, Shiva washeld from Milan Subwayand arrested.

SURESH GOLANI / Mumbai

The Thane (rural) police onFriday arrested a 26-year-old married man on chargesof raping his 19-year-old girlneighbor on the false pre-text of marriage. Both, thevictim and accused stayedin a sprawling slum clusterin Bhayandar (west). How-ever, the action by the copsfollowed hours after the girlhad to be hospitalised aftershe con-sumed apoison-ous sub-stanceallegingpoliceapathy.Her con-dition isnow stable. The matter stoked a majorcontroversy after the girl’smother levelled serious alle-gations against a lady policeofficer for not taking theircomplaint seriously andfavouring the culprit (namewithheld) who works assalesperson at a local wineshop. However, Deputy SP-Shashikant Bhosale clari-fied that following a com-plaint lodged by the girlsfamily, a missing person re-port was promptly regis-tered on 26, July. In his official statement

Bhosale said, “The accusedwas arrested and bookedunder sections 376 (Rape)and 506 (criminal intimida-tion). In response to com-plaints of ill-treatment met-ed out by the police person-nel, a probe was on and SP-Dr. Shivaji Rathod has di-rected strict action againstanyone found guilty of mis-behaving with the com-plainant.” "The accused was remand-

ed tofourdays po-lice cus-tody af-ter hewas pro-ducedbeforethe Dis-

trict Sessions Court, Thaneon Saturday," confirmedSenior Police Inspector-Chandrakant Jadhav. The authorities of the mu-nicipal hospital in MiraRoad are also under thescanner for denying treat-ment to the girl. While leg-islator Geeta Jain, who metthe girl, has demanded a de-tailed probe, local social ac-tivists have sought the in-tervention of the statewomen commission in thematter. API-Kamble is con-ducting further investiga-tions into the case.

SACHIN GAAD Mumbai

Cyber crimes have been onthe rise amidst the lock-down and each day, scam-sters seem to vary theirgame. Now, experts arewarning about a new trend -audio deep fake - whichcould be used to imperson-ate people's voices for dup-ing them. Like the video deepfakesused to manipulate videosto tarnish the image of peo-ple, audio deepfakes manip-ulate their voices, to createan entirely new version, inorder to cheat them. Again, just like videodeepfakes, the audio deep-fake also uses Artificial In-

telligence (AI) to clone aperson's voice. Now thesevoice samples can be used toconvince people to transfertheir money where theyshouldn't, according to cy-ber expert Ritesh Bhatia. Such software using AI iswidely available in marketsfor a song and can createidentical voice samples ofany person. While the sam-ple created by the softwareis still not perfect andsounds robotic, a junior em-ployee could easily get introuble after receiving a di-rect call from his 'boss',added Bhatia.This software is so power-ful that it just requires 20-30second voice samples of thetarget and the software will

do the rest of the hard work.All that the fraudster has todo is, insert text in order toget the target's voice samplefor the text. The more datathe fraudster enters in thesoftware, the better thequality of the deep fake au-dio, said a cyber expert. In the case of executives oflarge firms, their audiosamples can be created easi-ly from learning calls,speeches and interviews,said a cyber expert. In such cases, "When youreceive a call from a personasking for money, even ifhis voice sounds familiarand there is an emergency,I would advise you to callthe actual person for assur-ance and only then trans-

fer the money," Bhatia rec-ommended.Last year, the senior offi-cial of a UK energy firmtransferred $240,000 to aHungarian company afterreceiving a call, purported-ly from the company's CEO,ordering him to transferfunds.Amid the pandemic, whenthe entire country is underlockdown to prevent thecoronavirus from spread-ing, people have begunworking as well as beenshopping online. Accord-ingly, fraudsters have madethis an opportunity to makemoney and are duping peo-ple with various new tricksand using audio deepfakesto extort money.

Soundalike scams: Experts voice concern over audio deepfakes

STAFF REPORTERMumbai

A 54-year-old woman,booked for fabricating astay order of the BombayHigh Court order to pre-vent a property from beingseized, has been denied an-ticipatory bail by a sessions court.The complaint againstJayashree Parekh, her hus-band Vasant Parekh - aPune-based businessman,their son Vipul and an advo-cate was registered upon anorder of the Bombay HighCourt in February this year.The forgery was done toprevent the attachment of aproperty after defaulting ona loan of Rs. 2 crore fromTata Capital Financial Serv-ices Ltd. The Deputy Regis-trar of the HC filed the com-plaint of cheating and for-gery on the family in whichthey are accused of conniv-ing with their advocate andgetting an order typed by atypist as purportedlypassed by Justice GS Patel.The order dated Dec 1, 2019states there is an ‘interiminjuction’ until Feb 6, 2020.

Using the fake order whichstates there is a stay on theattachment of their proper-ty, they had prevented offi-cials from seizing it.The woman had soughtprotection from arresttelling the court in her pleathat she had only studied upto 12th std and was falselyimplicated in the case. Herhusband was already in jailand a chargesheet had beenfiled by the police againstthe co-accused.The court noted in its orderdenying her anticipatorybail that the statement of herson shows that she and herhusband had been to theiradvocate on the day that thefabrication took place. Fur-ther, she had herself paid thelegal fees to the advocatefrom her own account. Additional Sessions JudgePrashant Rajvaidya whilerejecting the plea said thatthe nature of the offence isserious as there are allega-tions of preparation of falseand fabricated interim stayorder of the High Court. Italso observed that thewoman is one of the benefi-ciaries of the act.

AGENCIES / Mumbai

Bollywood actor Ak-shay Kumar equippedthe Mumbai Policewith health-trackingdevices which willhelp them deal betterwith the COVID-19 sit-uation, Maharashtraminister AadityaThackeray has said."Earlier today, @ak-shaykumarji handedover fitness- healthtracking devices to@MumbaiPolice. Itgives a constant read-ing of oxygen, bodytemp and heart rate,helpful in Covid bat-tle. Last month, Ak-

shay ji gave it to @nashikpolice," the tourism ministertweeted on Saturday.Thackeray said Kumar had always supported armedforces and the police in various states."I'm thankful to him for his concern for our Covidwarriors," he tweeted.Thackeray added that he discussed about givingsome of these trackers to the Brihanmumbai Munici-pal Corporation (BMC).He tweeted a picture of the actor handing over thetrackers to Mumbai police commissioner ParambirSingh.Mumbai Police are worst-hit by the COVID-19 pandem-ic in the state, with over 56 of its personnel having suc-cumbed to the infection so far, an official said on Sunday.

Akshay Kumar hasgiven fitness trackers toMumbai cops: Aaditya

IF YOU FALL VICTIM TO CYBER FRAUD:Immediately alert the local police station or

call the 24x7 Cyber Helpline-- 982081000. Alsoalert your bank and fill out a dispute form.

The woman put faith in the trickster after he correctly informed her about the inactivity in her account sincethe new debit card was delivered two months ago; he informed her that banking activity had now moved online

Woman booked forforging HC order

denied pre-arrest bail‘State showed no sympathy to mother on deathbed who wanted to see her son,’ says his lawyer

Jenny Rowena, wife of DU Prof Hany Babu

2 held with illicit booze in Bhayandar; brewers elusiveSURESH GOLANI /

Mumbai

Is the district authority of Thanewaiting for a replay of a Malad-likehooch tragedy of 2015 or the recentincident in Punjab which claimedmore than 80 lives due to consump-tion of illicit liquor? Undeterred bythe police crackdown on their activ-ities, the notorious liquor mafia, ap-pear to have brazenly continuedwith their nefarious activities, amidthe deadly coronavirus pandemic. In brazen violation of the ongoinglockdown in the twin-city, a duolanded in police custody after they

were caught red handed whiletransporting illicit liquor in anauto-rickshaw near Morwa villagein Bhayandar on Friday night. The vehicle and the illicit liquormanufactured in a haath-bhatti(manual brewing unit) was seizedby the police team. The accused duowho have been identified as- PratikChorat, 22 and Ashirwad Patil, 39 -both residents of Morwa have beenbooked under section 65-A of theBombay Prohibition Act. This apartfrom relevant sections of the IPCand the stringent Epidemic Act andMaharashtra Covid-19 regulations,police said.

However, the actual source of theillicit liquor is yet to be ascertainedeven as the mastermind of the rack-et continues to remain elusive.While the excise department con-tinues to play blind, the Thane (rur-al) police led by SP Dr. ShivajiRathod and Additional SP- SanjayKumar Patil have been busting illic-it liquor brewing units and takingaction against bootleggers, whowere found to be ferrying and sell-ing country made liquor. Severalcases have been registered at policestations in both the divisions sincethe nationwide lockdown was im-posed in March, this year.

K RAVEENDRANThiruvananthapuram

The plot around gold smug-gling kingpins SwapnaSuresh and Sarith as well asSivasankar, the former prin-cipal secretary of Chief Min-ister Pinarayi Vijayan, isthickening further with therevelations that Swapnafunctioned as an intermedi-ary between the governmentof Kerala and sources in theUAE, including official cir-cles in that country. There have been many

deals and transactions be-tween the two sides in recenttimes, in which Suresh was aconstant factor. These in-clude UAE contributions forwelfare measures in the stateas well as disaster reliefmeasures, for which‘madam’ is believed to havereceived a share as ‘cut’. Some of these were routed

through the UAE consulatewhile the others were inde-pendent of the diplomaticchannels. This adds a veryserious dimension to the in-volvement of the state gov-ernment, which could alsothrow light on links withSivasankar. The interrogations by the

customs team have revealedthat Swapna used her cloutwith the UAE authorities tosettle cases involving Malay-ali businessmen in the coun-try. She got large amounts asgratification in these deals. Customs had reportedly got

early inklings of Swapna’sdeal-making operations inthe first round of interroga-tion itself. According to re-ports, she told the interroga-tors about a sum of 1.85 lakhdollars for her efforts in thisrespect. She is believed tohave told them that this wasby way of her share in theUAE contributions for build-ing charity houses in thestate. Sarath, her co-accusedin the sensational gold smug-gling case, was a partner inthese deals as well. Apparently, Swapna sought

Sivasankar’s help in account-ing for these monies, forwhich he organised the serv-

ices of his chartered ac-countant. This is the samechartered accountant inwhose joint name Swapnaopened a bank locker, as ad-vised by Sivasankar. TheNIA investigators had seizedover one crore rupees andone kg gold from the locker. Meanwhile, the state Vigi-

lance Commission hassought the the state govern-ment’s nod to probe Siva san -kar on separate complainsreceived from OppositionLeader Ramesh Chennithalaand an activist in Ernakulamabout irregular appoint-ments as well as suspiciousdeals by the top bureaucrat. NIA conducts searches, arrests 6The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Sundayconducted searches at six lo-cations in Kerala in connec-tion with the high-profilegold smuggling case. Theagency also made six fresharrests in the matter in thepast three days. According tothe NIA, it conducted search-es at six places including theresidences of accused JalalAM and Rabins Hameed inthe Ernakulam district, andthe residences of Ramees KT,Mohammed Shafi, Said Alaviand Abdu PT in the Malap-puram and seized 2 harddisks, 1 tablet PC, 8 mobilephones, 6 SIM cards, 1 digitalvideo recorder, and 5 DVDsbesides documents.Union Minister observes fastUnion Minister V Mu-

raleedharan on Sunday ob-served a day-long fast at hisresidence in New Delhi de-manding the resignation ofKerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan over thegold smuggling case. The fastwas part of intensifying theBJP's protests against theKerala government over therecent gold smuggling in-volving diplomatic baggage.The Minister of state for

External Affairs and Parlia-mentary Affairs alleged thechief minister had allowedhis office to be used by thosewho indulged in "anti-nation-al activities and betrayed thenation."

LAW KUMAR MISHRAPatna

On Sunday, Patna MunicipalCorporation and state healthdepartment officials sani-tised the 10, Circular Roadbungalow of RJD leadersLalu Prasad and Rabri Devias 13 members in the resi-dential office of the Yadavswas found to be Covid-19 pos-itive.Their two former minister

sons, Tejashwi Prasad Yadav,who is the leader of opposi-tion in Bihar assembly, andTej Pratap Yadav, stay in thebungalow. Rabri Devi hasbeen advised home isolationas a precautionary measure. Meanwhile, national secre-

tary-general of JDU, RCPSingh, an MP, his wife andsix members in his officialbungalow near the VIPStrand Road area which isclose to Raj Bhawan, havebeen admitted to AIIMShere. They tested coron-avirus positive on Saturday.Singh had been engaged inthe virtual rallies organisedby JDU for the last 15 days.

The party has cancelled itsproposed mega rally sched-uled for August 7. Two other JDU MLAs, Lal-

lan Paswan and SunilChaudhury, too have beenrushed to AIIMS after con-tracting the virus. Last week, Sunil Kumar

Singh, a BJP legislator, haddied of coronavirus.In a tweet, District Magis-

trate of Patna K Ravi de-clared that he has been hit bycoronavirus and has goneinto a fortnight of isolationhanding over the charge tohis junior colleague RichiPandey. Earlier, BJP's Bettiah dis-

trict unit president fell vic-tim to the virus attack anddied in Bettiah sadar hospi-tal.

State BJP president SanjayJaiswal, the vice-president,and 75 office bearers whohad attended the party's vir-tual rallies, too were hit bythe virus and were admittedto hospitals. Moreover, threecabinet colleagues of thechief minister have alsobeen treated for Covid-19 inAIIMS. Over 55,000 people in Bihar

have been found coronaviruspositive with Patna, Gaya,and Bhagalpur having thehighest numbers. In Patna,594 fresh cases were detectedon Sunday. According to official

sources, 28 staff membersand one doctor in Patna Med-ical College Hospital, 12 inIGIIMS have tested positive.Since March, 14 doctors fromdifferent hospitals have dieddue to Covid-19. All parties have urged the

Election Commission topostpone the elections. BiharPradesh Congress Commit-tee president Madan MohanJha too demanded resched-uling of the elections slatedfor October-November.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1SHAH CHECKS IN, SHAHENSHAH OUTShah reassured the nation that his health is fine and he is beingadmitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors. He was admittedto the Medanta Hospital in Gurugram at around 4:30 pm.

"On getting initial symptoms of coronavirus, I got the test done andthe report came back positive. My health is fine, but I am beingadmitted to the hospital on the advice of doctors. I request that all thosewho have come in contact with me in the last few days, please isolateyourself and get your inquiry done," Shah said in a tweet.

The entry to the Medanta hospital has reportedly been barred fornow; Shah is in a room on the 14th floor under Dr Sushil Kataria's care.A team of doctors led by AIIMS director Randeep Guleria visited thehospital to see Shah.

Shah was on the list of Ayodhya invitees for the Bhoomi Pujan that isslated to take place on August 5; several cabinet ministers, who havecome in close contact with Shah in recent meetings, are also on theinvitee list for the event. To that extent, the Bhumi Pujan will beimpacted. Scores of politicians wished him a speedy recovery with BJPleaders Ravi Shankar Prasad and Ram Madhav exuding hope that thathe would return to serve the nation with the "same boundless energy"soon. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alsowished the home minister a speedy recovery. Union Minister Gen VKSingh said, "You have defeated many adversities in life, and I am sureyou will overcome this one too. I wish you a speedy recovery." Amongothers who wished him were Mamata Banerjee and Congress leaderAbhishek Manu Singhvi.

BJP leader Babul Supriyo was the first to admit that he had met Shaha day before and has been advised by doctors to isolate himself. Supriyosaid he will be staying away from his family members for the next fewdays and undergo a Covid-19 test as well. Union Home Secretary AjayKumar Bhalla has isolated himself and will also be tested.

Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda, Harsimrat Kaur, Vijay Rupani and JitendraSingh were among the first few leaders from the NDA who tweetedpraying for Shah's recovery. "Amitji, your perseverance and willpowerhas been an example for every challenge. You will definitely win overthis big challenge of corona virus, I believe so. You are healthy as soonas possible, this is my prayer to God," tweeted defence minister RajnathSingh. There is strict protocol in place at PM's residence as well for thelast few months. Temperature checks, Aarogya Setu checks, no use ofinternal cars to ferry people, are some of the measures that have beenadopted and are being followed, sources said.

Bade Miyaan's back home, Chhote Miyaan...“His health condition is now stable and he tested negative, so hehas been discharged. All his health parameters are normal; however,follow-ups will be conducted,” said hospital sources.

Bachchan was more than rattled by his experience in the isolationword: accustomed to mass adulation and fawning of fans, in hisown words, he found the faceless and detached doctors and healthstaff, going about their work like robots, a surreal experience. Infact, known for his grace and poise, he lost his temper with trollswho had lampooned him and made remarks which earned him thesobriquet 'an angry old man.' His outburst -- Thok do S**** Ko -- alsodid not go down with his legion of fans.

The other day, Big B had gone out of the way to debunk rumoursthat he had tested negative. But on Sunday, he was more thanforthcoming and informed his fans that he was returning hime,having trumped coronavirus. “I have tested negative and beendischarged. I am back home in solitary quarantine. Grace of theAlmighty, blessings of Ma Babuji, prayers & duas of near & dear &friends fans EF .. and the excellent care and nursing at Nanavatimade it possible for me to see this day,” he tweeted.

Last Monday, his daughter-in-law and actor Aishwarya and hisgranddaughter Aaradhya were discharged. Abhishek had thentweeted: “Thank you all for your continued prayers and goodwishes. Indebted forever.. Aishwarya and Aaradhya have thankfullytested negative and have been discharged from the hospital. Theywill now be at home. My father and I remain in hospital under thecare of the medical staff.”

Amitabh had recently thanked his followers in his blog and said itwas the love of his fans that kept him going. Talking about goingthrough all his fan mail on social media, he wrote, “BUT ... amongstall this there is the EF and their love ... this is looked forward to withhappy expectation .. what is so and so going to send me today ..which prayer , which heavenly body, which inspirational writing ofverse shall it be .. .I receive all in the limited time I am given to behere .. and it is the best time of the day ...My love to all of you forthat .. I see you, feel you, by my side.”

Bihar cops to probe ex-manager’s deathSo far, Bihar Police have recorded the statements of at least 10witnesses, including Rajput's former girlfriend Ankita Lokhande, andsought details from the bank to probe the money-laundering anglein connection with the late actor's suicide on June 14.

Tiwari is likely to hold a meeting to decide the future course ofdirection. "If need be, we will trace the concerned person and recordher statement. In the past week, our team has obtained thestatements of many people related to this case. The police will alsorecord the statement of Rajput's flatmate Siddharth Pithani, who hascharged that he was pressured to give a false statement against thelate actor's girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty," he said.

The four-member police team has already requested MumbaiPolice for documents related to the probe, including reports from theforensic laboratory, the inquest and the post-mortem examinationand sought the relevant CCTV footage. Further, they have asked fordetails of all those examined by Mumbai Police and their statements.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear, on August 5, a plea by RheaChakraborty that seeks to transfer the financial irregularities casefrom Patna to Mumbai.

MLA’S POSERSthe deceased? Has reinvestigation into the preserved viscera ofSushant been ordered?" Satam's letter has come two days afterLeader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis and others demanded a CBIprobe into the case.

Minister's death casts shadow on...On Sunday, 346 news cases surfaced in Lucknow, taking the totaltally to 8,686. Most guests would be landing in Lucknow and thenproceed to Ayodhya by road.

The temple town itself is struggling with the virus which hasalready infected one of the main priests and several securitypersonnel deployed on the Ram Janmabhoomi campus. Over 86new cases have surfaced in Ayodhya, taking the total count to1,334. While several opposition leaders have questioned the timingof the Ayodhya event, neither the Yogi government, nor the Modidispensation, have indicated any change in plans.

Both the Congress and the Samajwadi Party have harped on thedeteriorating pandemic situation in UP.

“Patients are not getting corona reports even after a week ofgiving the samples and those who are corona positive are notgetting beds in hospitals. Corona is at its peak in Lucknow andacross the state, but the Yogi Government and his officers aremisleading the people by making wrong statements,” PriyankaGandhi Vadra said on twitter.

In State, death rates crept up by 23% in JulySo far,15,316 people have lost their lives to the SARS-CoV-2 virus,with 6,857 of these deaths occurring in July, well over the 5,569recorded in June. “On at least 21 days in July, more than 200 deathswere reported across the state. Daily, there were at least 221patients succumbing to the virus on average in July, as compared to186 in June,” said an official.

In just 22 days, there were 5,000 deaths recorded in Maharashtra,pushing the toll past the 15,000-mark, whereas the first 5,000 deathswere reported 93 days after the outbreak of the pandemic. Thecurrent Covid fatality rate (CFR) is 3.55 per cent, less than thenational CFR, which is 2.13 per cent. However, Mumbai still has thehighest CFR, at 5.67 per cent. “The government is focusing onreducing the CFR but daily deaths are increasing. They should comewith more strategies to control deaths and cases,” said a member ofthe state task force. Of the 15,316 deaths, 9,766 deaths are from theMumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), followed by Pune (2,830),Nashik (1,215), Aurangabad (611), Akola (260), Kolhapur (255), Latur(245), Nagpur (85) and 49 deaths were of people from other states.“Seventy per cent of all patients who succumbed to coronavirus hadcomorbidities and in most cases, it has been noted that patientsabove 50 years of age have comorbid health conditions and lowimmunity. It has also been noted that oxygen levels of such patientsmay suddenly drop below normal and lead to hypoxia, causingdeath,” said a senior official from the state health department.

China is not even ready to Discuss Pangong standoffIt is apparent that the military level talks are intended to keep the Indians boggeddown while the PLA continues to operate with impunity, building up in-depth areasof Pangong and activating several supply bases in Aksai Chin, capable of rushing introops for hostile action at short notice (ref: India Today).

On Sunday, the fifth round of talks between the Indian Army Leh CorpsCommander, Lt Gen Harinder Singh, and his Chinese counterpart, Maj Gen Lin Liu,were a similar exercise in futility. Experts say that China will make its next movejust before winter sets in and India must refurbish its requirements in a highaltitude, extremely cold and hostile environment to meet all exigencies.

Senior government sources told NDTV, ''We now need more of everything,clothing for individual soldiers, shoes, and additional stocks.''

The Army has rushed thousands of additional troops to forward locations alongthe border. The IAF has also moved air defence systems as well as a sizable numberof its frontline combat jets and attack helicopters to several key air bases. However,China is capable of springing a surprise as they did in 1962, when they distracted uswith skirmishes in Galwan, incidentally the site of the recent bloody standoff.

Take a deep breath, do not download that oximeter appDr Deepak Baid, president, Association of Medical Consultants, said, "Oximeterapps available on mobile phones are useless. Firstly, an oximeter cannot work oncamera but only on a radio frequency, that too, infrared. If one puts their finger onthe camera to get an oxygen saturation reading, it will be the same as putting theirbedsheet or the wall before the camera -- utterly useless. Any app which uses a

camera and a flash as a measuring apparatus is unreliable."While not all phones have these oximeter apps, a few high-end phones and

smartwatches do measure oxygen saturation using infrared and these can betrusted, added Dr Baid.

There are reports of a number of Covid-19 deaths being caused by low oxygensaturation levels. Tapping into the latent fear in public minds about their ownblood oxygen levels, a number of oximeter apps have surfaced on the internet. Asenior cyber official said, "These applications mostly do not meet standardrequirements, nor do they take into account the varying medical status of peopleas per their medicinal intake. None of these applications have been recommendedor passed by any medical institutes or health organisation, to support the findingsof these apps."

Balsing Rajput, superintendent, Maharashtra Cyber, said, "One should alwayscheck the credentials and then download the application. With regard to theoximeter app, we have already issued an advisory and warned citizens of the risksthat come therewith."

The official added that while there could be safe oximeter apps too, one cannotoverlook a rise in the fake apps being developed in a bid to steal data. "Privateinformation like biometric data, access to camera media files and text messagescould be largely misused by phishing, banking frauds and extortion, besides datatheft, warn police.

There was a message asking users to instal an app for measuring oxygen level,blood pressure and heart rate, which provided a link and advised to consult adoctor if the reading was below 90. However, after the application was found tobe fake and untrustworthy, it was taken down from the Google Playstore.

FROM PAGE 1

CHANDIGARH: The death toll in the Punjab hooch tragedy rose to 104 on Sun -day with 18 more people reported dead. 17 of the 18 deaths were reportedfrom the worst-hit Tarn Tar an and 1 from Gurdaspur's Batala. Punjab CMAmarinder Singh’s media advi s er Raveen Thukral tweeted the death toll in thetragedy went up to 104 with 80 casualties in Tarn Taran and 12 each in

Gurdaspur’s Batala and Amritsar. Till Saturday night, the authorities reported 86casualties in the tragedy unfolding in the 3 districts since Wednesday. Earlier inthe day, Tarn Dy Commissioner Kul w ant Singh had said the death count in thedistrict was updated on the basis of the information “received from the field” asthe victims’ last rites had already been performed by families. —Agencies

Death toll in Punjab spurious liquor tragedy rises to 104NATIONTHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

6Corona strikes Patna politicsMANY BIHAR NETAS HAVE CONTRACTED INFECTION; LALUBUNGALOW SANITISED EVEN AS 13 OF ITS STAFF TEST +VE

A security man inspects the Samrat Ashok hall at Gyan Bhavan inPatna. The two Houses of Bihar legislature will meet here on Monday for a truncated, 1-day monsoon session, probably the lastfor the state assembly, as its term expires in November. —ANI

Swapna brokereddeals, made millionsGold smuggling kingpin wasintermediary between sourcesin Kerala govt and links in UAE

UP govt decides on CBIprobe into lab technician

kidnap, murder caseLUCKNOW: The UttarPradesh Chief Minister's Of-fice (CMO) has said that onthe request of Sanjeet Ya-dav's family, the state govern-ment has decided to recom-mend a Central Bureau of In-vestigation (CBI) inquiryinto his kidnapping case. Sanjeet was abducted,

killed and his body wasthrown in Pandu river bykidnappers on June 26-27,said the police.

Vizag crane crash:3 killed on way tovictim’s funeralAGENCIES / Visakhapatnam

Tragedy struck a family forsecond time in 24 hours, asthree persons were killed inan accident in AndhraPradesh's Srikakulam dis-trict on Sunday while theywere on their way toVisakhapatnam to attend thelast rites of a relative whowas killed in crane crash atthe Hindustan Shipyard Lim-ited (HSL) on Saturday. The car in which they were

travelling rammed into a sta-tionary truck at Kanchili inSrikakulam district.

AGENCIESNew Delhi

An advocate has written toChief Justice of India SABobde seeking early hearingof pleas challenging the prac-tices of polygamy and 'nikahhalala' among Muslims. A three-judge bench com-

prising the CJI and JusticesBR Gavai and Surya Kant, onDecember 2, 2019, directed itsregistry to list the matter im-mediately after the wintervacations before an appropri-ate bench.Advocate Ashwini Upad-

hyay said the matter de-serves to be heard at the ear-liest as the issue is of publicimportance, gender justice,gender equality and dignityof women.The Supreme court had in

July 2018 considered the pleaand referred the matter to aconstitution bench that hasbeen already asked to hear a

batch of similar petitions. According to the petitioner,

a ban on polygamy has longbeen the need of the hour inthe interest of public orderand health.Govt can’t acquireJayalalithaa’sassets: Niece in HCContending absence of legalpowers for the government toacquire ancestral properties-- immovable and movable --for memorial purposes aswell as other aspects like pro-cedural infirmities, J Deepa,the niece of late Tamil NaduChief Minister andAIADMK General Secretary

J Jayalalithaa, has movedthe Madras High Court. She has petitioned the

court against the TamilNadu government's move toacquire Veda Nilayam -- thePoes Garden residence ofJayalalithaa. The High Court had recent-

ly held that Deepa and herbrother J Deepak are the le-gal heirs of Jayalalithaa inrespect of the latter's ances-tral and self-acquired proper-ties. Deepa said the Poes Gar-den residence was purchasedby her grandmother NRSandhya alias Vedha Jayara-man in 1967.The residence was named

as "Veda Nilayam" after hergrandmother. Deepa has alsocontended the acquisition ofVeda Nilayam will hamperthe proceedings of JusticeArumugaswamy Commis-sion enquiring into the sus-picious death of Jay-alalithaa. She also said theTamil Nadu government in-stead of completing the con-struction of the memorial atMarina, is trying to acquireher ancestral property andconvert it as a memorial.

Didi urged to withdrawAugust 5 lockdown

PREMA RAJARAM / Kolkata

The Hindu Jagran Manch has written toWest Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee to reconsider and withdraw thelockdown announced for August 5,which happens to be the day of founda-tion stone-laying ceremony of RamMandir in Ayodhya. The BJP too hadquestioned the announcement of lock-down in the state on that day.The letter, signed by Nabendu Kumar

Bandhopadhyay, secretary, administra-tive relation, Hindu Jagran Manch,South Bengal, states that "inclusion ofsuch a sacred day in the lockdown calen-dar will certainly bring about too muchmental pain and agony for our numerousHindu brothers and sisters who are defi-nitely not going to be able to offer puja orto observe various rituals as they wishto, due to such proposed lockdown.” The letter has also been sent to Prime

Minister Narendra Modi, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah and West BengalGovernor Jagdeep Dhanker. The state administration, as of now,

will go ahead with the lockdown onWednesday, after changing the datesthree times on a single day.

N CHITHRA / Chennai

Tamil Nadu Governor BanwarilalPurohit on Sunday tested positive forCovid-19 days after 87 persons posted atthe Raj Bhavan in Chennaihad contracted the conta-gious infection. He has beenadvised home quarantine.The Governor underwent

tests at the Kauvery Hospitalin Alwarpet where it was con-firmed he had contracted the infection.“He is asymptomatic and clinically

stable. He underwent further tests andassessment. As the infection is mild, hehas been advised home isolation andwill be monitored by the medical teamof Kauvery Hospital,” its executive di-rector Dr Aravindan Selvaraj said in ahealth bulletin in the evening.A few days ago 87 persons including

security personnel posted at the RajBhavan had tested positive for Covid-19.Chief Minister Edappadi K

Palaniswami called the Governor overphone to wish him a speedy recovery.

Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu, whichcrossed 2.5 lakh positive cases on Sat-urday, also recorded the death of 98 pa-tients on Sunday.In a related development, the CM

warned private hospitals ofaction in case of complaintsabout over-charging for treat-ment of Covid-19. The hospi-tals must display the govern-ment approved treatmentcost. On Saturday, a private

hospital in Chennai, Be Well Hospital,was str ipped of Covid-19 treatment tagafter it came to light a patient wascharged Rs12.20 lakh for 19 days.

TN Governor tests +ve,advised home quarantine

CUDDALORE: High tensionwas witnessed in TamilNadu's Cuddalore after clash-es broke out on Saturdaynight. Boats, huts and two-wheelers were set ablaze inCuddalore around midnight.The clashes were allegedlybetween two groups whichheld political enmity since lo-cal body polls.About 25 fishing boats, huts

and 2-wheelers were burnt inThazhungada fishing village.Huts and shops were ran-

sacked and vehicles damagedand torched. The murder of alocal leader triggered the is-sue is what the initial reportscoming from police suggest.One man was killed in the

clashes and several injuredwere taken to the Cuddaloregovernment hospital.The police picked up 50

men from the village for mur-der and rioting. There was amassive police deployment atthe village currently. The in-vestigation is still underway.

Violent clashes in TN’sCuddalore; boats, huts,2-wheelers set ablaze

Lawyer writes to CJI seekingearly hearing of petitions

POLYGAMY, ‘NIKAH HALALA’

Lawyers desirous of sharing important judgements, with a wordcount of up to 200, can send them to fpjcitydesk@gmail.com.Newspieces that meet all the requisite criteria, as per the editor’sdiscretion, will be published in The Free Press Journal.

K’taka CM BSY tests +ve “I have tested positive for coronavirus.Whilst I am fine, I am being hospitalisedas a precaution on the recommendationof doctors. I request those who havecome in contact with me recently to beobservant and exercise self quarantine,”Karnataka CM BS Yediyurappa tweeted.

3 capital woes:Amaravati tillers pin

hope on judiciaryAMARAVATI: With Jagan MohanReddy-led government completingthe legislative process for trifurca -tion of Andhra capital, thousandsof farmers of Amaravati whosedreams of a bright future layshattered have pinned their lasthopes on the judiciary. The farm -ers in 29 villages resumed theirprotest after Governor Biswabhu -san Ha ri chandan cleared the 2disputed Bills to create 3 capitalcities and abolition of the AndhraPradesh Capital Region Develop -ment Authority (APCRDA). After agap of 3 months due to Corona -virus induced lockdown, farmersreturned to the streets to opposeYSR Congress Party (YSRCP) govt’splan to trifurcate the state capital.

NEW DELHI: PM Modi and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin exchan -ged Friendship Day greetings on Sunday, hoping that the relationsbetween the two nations will grow even stronger in the times tocome. "Happy #FriendshipDay to our dear friends in #India,"tweeted President Rivlin in English as well as in Hindi. He also

shared a picture of him with Modi, apparently taken at the Rashtr -apati Bhavan. The Israeli president had visited India in November,2016. Modi responded by thanking Rivlin. "Greetings to you as wellas to the wonderful people of Israel. May the India-Israel friendshipgrow even stronger in the times to come," the PM tweeted.

PM Modi, Israel Prez Rivlin exchange Friendship Day greetings NATIONTHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

7

AGENCIES / Srinagar

Former J&K CM Dr FarooqAbdullah on Sunday de-manded a probe by a retiredjudge of the Supreme Courtinto the exodus of KashmiriPandits from the Valley inearly 1990s. At a webinar, theNational Conference Presi-dent blamed the then Gover-nor, Jagmohan for engineer-ing the exodus of the localPandit community by prom-ising to bring them backwithin three months afterrestoring peace in Kashmir.

Kashmir was in the throesof a bloody insurgent vio-lence in early 1990s.

Some prominent membersof the Pandit community, in-cluding state BJP chief TikaLal Taploo, retired judgeNeelkant Ganjoo — who hadsentenced JKLF founderMaqbool Bhat to death, poetand activist Sarvanand Koul'Premi' and many others

were killed by militants atthe beginning of separatistviolence.

Abdullah claimed the probeinto the exodus of KashmiriPandits by an honest, retiredSupreme Court judge wouldclear many misconceptionsabout the exodus.

Citing many examples oflocal Muslims standingalongside their Pandit broth-ers to dispel the impressionthe community had con-spired to throw the Panditsout of the Valley, he said:“Kashmir is never going tobe complete unless the Kash-miri Pandits come back andlive in peace with us.”

NEW DELHI: The Union Home Ministryhas informed a department related StandingCommittee of Parliament it needs threemore months to frame the rules of the new-ly passed CAA. A senior official said theMinistry had raised the issue before theStanding Committee in its recent meet andsaid it was, however, not known whether the

Ministry has got permission for extension. The official said the additional time has

been sought to frame the rules citing theMinistry’s busy schedule in other worksamid Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown forthe last few months. The committee, howev-er, was informed by the Ministry the CAArules will be framed very soon.

DEEPAK PATEL / New Delhi

Aviation security regulatorBCAS has issued guidelinesfor drone operating systems,which act like cockpits on theground to remotely pilot theunmanned aerial vehicle.

The BCAS has listed outrules to be followed for cybersecurity, storage facility,training and backgroundcheck of staff for drone oper-ating systems or remotely pi-loted aircraft systems.

A remotely piloted aircraft(RPA), its associated remotepilot station, its requiredcommand and control links

and any other componentsconstitute a remotely pilotedaircraft system (RPAS).

"Ensure that CCTV cam-eras are installed insideRPAS and the storage facility.The capacity to retainrecording of minimum 30days shall be in place for allcategories of RPAs except formini and micro," said theguidelines of Bureau of Civ-il Aviation Security (BCAS).

An RPA or drone is in nanoor mini category if it hasweight less than 250 grams. Ifits weight is between 250grams and 2 kg, it is in themicro category.

AGENCIESNew Delhi

Recoveries among Covid-19patients in India crossed the11 lakh-mark on Sunday withover 51,000 patients recuper-ating in a 24-hour span, thehighest recorded so far, push-ing the recovery rateto 65.44%, the Union healthministry said on Sunday.

There are  5,67,730 activecases of the coronavirus in-fection, which is the "actualcaseload" of Covid-19 for thecountry presently and ac-count for 32.43% of the totalcases. All active cases are un-der medical supervision ei-ther in hospitals or in homeisolation.

With 51,225 patients curedand discharged in a day, In-dia’s total recoveries havesurged to 11,45,629 and ex-ceeded active cases of Covid-19 by  5,77,899 as on date,while the case fatality ratehas further dropped to 2.13%.

In its most recent update,the union health ministryplaced the total cases at17,50,723 and the death toll at37,364. States, UTs to allow patientsto use smartphonesThe Centre has written to allstates and Union Territoriesstating that smartphonesand tablet devices should beallowed for hospitalisedCovid-19 patients so they caninteract with family andfriends through video confer-encing, which would provide

them psychological support.Though mobile phones are

allowed in hospital wards,the missive was issued fol-lowing some representationfrom the kin of patients al-leging otherwise.Hyderabad airport gets massfever screening system Hyderabad's Rajiv GandhiInternational Airport(RGIA) has received a Unicef-funded mass fever screeningsystem to further enhancethe efficacy of screening ofpassengers in view of Covid-19 pandemic, the airport op-erator announced on Sunday.

The Union Health and Fam-ily Welfare Ministry, in coor-dination with the Asian De-velopment Bank, has provid-ed state-of-the-art thermal

scanner funded by the Unit-ed Nations Children's Fund(Unicef). The system will beused by the ministry officialsat the airport. The new ther-mal scanner is a ceilingmounted mass fever screen-ing system capable of scan-ning, detecting and trackingfebrile persons with elevatedskin temperature. Telangana reports 1,891 newcases,10 deathsAs many as 1,891 more Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths werereported in Telangana onSaturday. With these new cas-es, the total cases havereached 66,677 including18,547 active cases. While47,590 recoveries have beenreported in the state so far,the death toll stands at 540.

Covid recovery rate 65.44%,fatality rate drops to 2.13%With 54,735 cases in a day, India’s coronavirustally climbs to 17.5 lakh; death toll rises to

37,364, including 853 fatalities in last 24 hours

Indian Youth Congress activists in PPE kits display placards and‘papad’ during a protest over rising corona cases, near UnionHealth Minister Harsh Vardhan’s house in Delhi on Sunday. —PTI

AGENCIESChennai

The Centre will not imposeany language on any statethrough the new NationalEducation Policy (NEP) 2020,Union Minister for Educa-tion Ramesh Pokhriyal Nis-hank said on Sunday.

Nishank's clarification,through a tweet in Tamil,comes against the backdropof opposition to NEP inTamil Nadu on the groundsthe policy allegedly imposedHindi and Sanskrit.

In his tweet to formerUnion Minister from thestate Pon Radhakrishnan,Nishank said he was lookingforward to the guidance ofthe ex-central minister in im-plementing NEP in TamilNadu. “I once again like to in-sist that the Central govern-ment will not impose any lan-guage on any state,” he said.NEP misses fundamentalgoal of human development,expansion of knowledge:

Congress: The Congress onSunday said the new Nation-al Education Policy missesthe fundamental goal of hu-man development and expan-sion of knowledge, noting itis high on "catchwords" and"verbosity" but lacks criticalfinances and a coherent road -map for implementation.

It alleged the policy has cir-cumvented parliamentaryoversight and there has beenno discussion with the acade-mia except the RSS.

Addressing a press confer-ence in Delhi, Congressleaders MM Pallam Raju,Rajeev Gowda and Randeep

Surjewala said the NEPseeks to create a digital di-vide between the poor andthe rich as it promotes pri-vatisation of public educa-tion and "this will lead to itgoing out of reach of themiddle class and the disad-vantaged in society".Will lead to privatisation,commercialisation, commu-nalisation of education: CPI The Communist Party of In-dia (CPI) has stated the NEPwill lead to privatisation,commercialisation and com-munalisation of Indian edu-cation system. D Raja, Gen-eral Secretary, CPI said theparty believes the NEP willdeprive access of educationto the socially disadvantageand poorer section. “We can-not accept this new educa-tion policy. It was neitherdiscussed in Parliamentproperly not with the stategovernments. Education ison the concurrent list. It isan assault on federal polityof our country,” said Raja.

FAST NEWS

COVID-19 DIGITAL PUSH

ANANYA SENGUPTANew Delhi

In the past four months whenthe entire country was in thecoronavirus-induced lock-down, the Railways has digi-tised over 12 lakh documentslike letters, bills, office or-ders, project drawings andover 4 lakh files, scrappingtheir manual handling andreducing not just physicalcontact between officials butalso operational costs.

The use of Railways’ e-of-fice has grown manifoldsince the pandemic hit thecountry — the number of e-receipts increased from 4.5

lakhs during March 2019 toMarch this year, to 16.5 lakhsin April-July this year; thenumber of e-files rose from1.3 to 5.4 lakh during thesame periods respectively.

The e-office platform pro-vided by RailTel is a cloud en-abled software developed bythe National InformaticsCentre and aims to providereliable, efficient, and effec-tive ways of handling office

files and documents. “Due toavailability of e-office, maj -ority of file work in Railwayscan continue smoothly with-out physical presence in offi -ces, a boon in a time of crisislike this,” RailTel CMD,Puneet Chawla told PTI.

He said it was a big chal-lenge for them team to com-plete the work during thelockdown as resource move-ment was restricted. "Wecouldn't visit the division of-fices and the implementationwork needed to be done re-motely and it was very timeconsuming as well. Trainingof officials to handle the plat-form is crucial," Chawla said.

India to bring back700 Sikhs torturedin Afghanistan

NEW DELHI:India is prepar-ing to bring back 700 moreSikhs tortured in Afghani -stan. The Sikhs will be brou -ght back in several batches.After the CAA was passed,first batch of 11 Sikhs rea ch -ed India on July 26. The firstbatch of returnees recieved awarm welcome by the BJPleaders at the airport.

The first batch of the Sikhfamilies are living in a gurd-wara in Delhi. The DelhiSikh Gurudwara Praband-hak Committee is lookinginto the living arrangementsfor them.

BJP National SecretarySardar RP Singh told IANSon Saturday, “After the firstbatch, around 700 more Sikhsare willing to come fromAfghanistan. The Indian em-bassy in Afghanistan is intouch with them. We areworking out on bringingthem back to India. Relativesof most of them live in TilakNagar, so there will be noproblem in making livingarrangements for them.”

BAHRAICH: Over 60 villages inBahraich district of Uttar Pradeshhave been inundated following the re-lease of water by Nepal from its threebarrages into rivers, a district ad-ministration official said on Sunday.

The release of about 3.15 lakh cusecwater into rivers from Sharda, Giri-japuri and Saryu barrages has affect-ed over 1.50 lakh people and damaged171 houses, he said, adding NationalDisaster Response Force personnelhave been deployed in the area to res-cue people.

“Following the release of lakhs ofcusec of water by Nepal, at least 61villages in the district have been in-undated. The administration is pro-

viding relief to the affected people,"Additional District Magistrate JaiChandra Pandey said.

He added 61 villages located in

Kaisarganj, Mahsi and Mihipurvatehsils with a population of over 1.50lakh have been affected. “The condi-tion is very bad in seven villages. Asmany as 131 kutcha houses have beendamaged. 23 flood posts have beenmade. 1 motorboat, 179 boats, 1 pla-toon of flood PAC and NDRF havealso been pressed into service,”Pandey said.Rhino calf separated from motherrescued in AssamA new born rhino, separated from hismother, was rescued by forest guardsin the Kaziranga National Park amidthe floods in Assam, a forestspokeperson said.

The 3-4-day-old rhino calf was res-

cued from Mohpo-ra village in theKaziranga rangearea on Sundaymorning, he said.The baby rhinowas taken to a res-cue centre at theCentre for WildlifeRehabilitationand Conservationat Panbari area ofthe Park. Meanwhile, 56,89,584 people havebeen hit in floods, which havewreaked havoc in 30 districts of As-sam since May 22, and 109 peoplehave lost lives in flood incidents.

Houses are seen submerged in floodwa-ters following heavy monsoon rain, inGopalganj district, on Monday. —PTI

Cong leadersbusy fightingTwitter wars

AGENCIES / New Delhi

Amid rag-ing debateon socialmedia be-tween theCongressleaders closeto RahulGandhi andthe seniorsover the UPA’s performanceduring its 10-year rule, theparty has cautioned seniorleaders to desist from mak-ing remarks on social mediaand asked them present theirviews at the appropriate par-ty fora.

Responding to a questionduring a press conference, inDelhi on Sunday, Congresscommunication departmentchief Randeep Surjewalasaid, “I will advise friendswho are playing twitter-twit-ter to stop making commentson social media. We have in-ternal democracy. Presentyour views at appropriateparty fora.”

In this time of crisis, seniorleader who have worked inthe government and the or-ganisation should stand to-gether with Sonia Gandhi,Rahul Gandhi and Manmo-han Singh. “It’s the responsi-bility of senior leaders toguide youngsters, promotethem and also make way forthem,” said Surjewala.

� Have all preparations for the Au-gust 5 ceremony done?� Almost everything has been done.Vedic scholars from Kashi and Delhihave already arrived in Ayodhya.Pandal is getting the final touch now. � Many seers have questioned thetiming of the event saying there is nomuhurt (auspicious day) for ‘bhoomipujan’ on August 5. � For the service of Lord Ram,everyday is auspicious. Whatever ishappening, is happening due toRam’s blessings only. It is not right tocreate controversy over it.

� Common devotees of Ram can’t attend the ceremony. What are yourdirections to them?� Considering today’s situation(pandemic), devotees can worship athome. A ‘bhakt’ can reach the Godonly by ‘puja’, ‘archana’ and ‘tapa -sya’. People should pay tributes toRam Lalla from their home only. � A senior Trust member Kamesh-war Chaupalji had last week saidabout putting “Time Capsule” in thefoundation. The next day, anothertrustee Champat Rai dubbed it as“fake news”. Do you agree the rowhad dented the image of the Trust?� I have no idea about it. There areways to tell future generations aboutthe 500-year-old history of this tem-ple. We would explore each.

� Congress alleges BJP is influenc-ing the Temple Trust and it was theBJP which pressured the trust to goback on the Time Capsule proposal.� BJP is doing its own work andseers and saints are doing their own.There is no pressure from the BJPover the Trust. Be it Congress or anyother party, all indulge in politicalgimmicks. The trust would do what-ever it deems fit.� Many people including NCP chiefSharad Pawar and MaharashtraChief Minister Uddhav Thackerayhave questioned the bhoomi pujantiming amid pandemic. Do you thinkit is the right time for the ceremony? � We had deferred the foundationstone laying ceremony several timesdue to the corona pandemic. We can’tleave our religious traditions in thescientific age. All rules laid down bythe administration would be fol-lowed. Very few people would attendthe rituals. Had things beenfavourable, every village would havebeen represented in Ayodhya today.We have urged devotees to lit 5 diyasat home and 5 at the temple on thebhoomi pujan day.� AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisihas said the PM of a secular countryshould not attend the Ayodhya ceremony. What is your opinion?� People should read the history ofliberation of Somnath Temple and itsconstruction. Not only the deputy

prime minister Vallabhbhai Patel,even President Dr Rajendra Prasadhad attended the event, along withhis wife, and worshiped there.

The PM belongs to everyone. Thecourt has delivered its verdict. Mus-lims in India and abroad have wel-comed the court decision and urgedthe temple construction should beginas early as possible. The Prime Min-ister has respected all religions fromtime to time. Now, it’s the time for‘bhakts’ of Ram Lalla. How is the so-called secularism violated here?

No pressure from BJP, PM belongs toeveryone: Ram Temple Trust chairmanShri Ram JanmabhoomiTeertha Kshetra Trustchairman Mahant NrityaGopal Das is ecstatic.

After all, his long wait forthe beginning of

construction of the RamTemple will end on

August 5. He still faces acourt case in the 1992

Babri mosque demolitionbut overseeing the

temple’s construction isno small feat either.Excerpts from his interview with FPJ’sKanchan Srivastava.

� BJP has found a new poster boy of“Hindutva” in UP CM Yogi Adityanath.With the BJP's original Hindutva mascotKalyan Singh slipping into politicalretirement, Yogi has emerged as muchyounger and stronger Hindu icon.

� Two brothers aged over 70-year-oldcarried water from over 150 rivers toAyodhya on Sunday. Radhey ShyamPandey and Shabd Vaigyanik MahakaviTriphala have been collecting waterfrom 8 rivers, 3 seas, and soils from 16places of Sri Lanka since 1968.

� Bachcha Lal, a handloom weaver inVaranasi, has made a special mask withsilk and cotton for PM Modi. The 72inches long and 22 inches wide maskhas ‘Jai Shri Ram, Ayodhya PavitraDham’, embroidered on it. MMeeaannwwhhiillee,,tthhee AAyyooddhhyyaa rraaiillwwaayy ssttaattiioonn iiss rreeaaddyy ffoorraa RRss110044..7777 ccrroorree mmaakkeeoovveerr..

CEREMONY SNIPPETS

People should read the history of liberation of Somnath Temple and its construction. Not onlythe deputy prime minister Vallabhbhai Patel, even President Dr Rajendra Prasad had attendedthe event, along with his wife, and worshiped there.

SONIA GANDHI DISCHARGED FROMGANGA RAM HOSPITAL

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted to a privatefacility in Delhi on July 30, was discharged on Sunday, hospital

authorities said. The Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) had earlier saidshe was admitted for "routine tests and investigations". "CongressPresident Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted on July 30, 2020,evening at 7pm, to the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, has beendischarged today at 1 pm. Her condition at the time of dischargewas stable," Dr DS Rana, Chairman (Board of Management), SGRH,was quoted as saying in a health bulletin. Meanwhile, she condoledthe demise of former Arunachal governor RD Pradhan on Sundayand said the country has lost a brilliant and versatile public servantfor whom the interest of the nation was always supreme.

SPG REPATRIATES 200 MEN IN VIEW OFCUT IN NUMBER OF PROTECTEES

The Special Protection Group (SPG) has ordered a megarepatriation of over 200 personnel to their respective securityforces in view of its charter being recently amended to protect onlythe Prime Minister, official sources said. Top officials in the securityestablishment told PTI the elite organisation with an estimatedstrength of about 4,000 commando-trained personnel has decidedto gradually shift its personnel to their parent organisations andbetter utilise their services in various internal security duties. TheSPG, in the coming days, will gradually send back more personneland will only operate with about 50-60 per cent of its sanctionedstrength to secure Prime Minister Narendra Modi, they said.

SUB-TREASURY ACCOUNTANT SUSPENDEDFOR `̀2 CRORE ILLEGAL WITHDRAWAL

Asenior accountant of the sub-treasury in Kerala’Thiruvananthapuram has been suspended, pending enquiry, for

allegedly illegally withdrawing around Rs two crore recently fromthe District Collector's account. The Finance Department said M RBijulal had illegally withdrawn the money from the Collector's acco -unt and deposited it in his personal account and also of his wi fe. Hehas been suspended, pending an enquiry, the department said.

VADA AT `̀15, COFFEE AT `̀20 AT COCHINAIRPORT AFTER PMO INTERVENES

Tongue-tickling crispy vada and hot pazhampori (banana fritters) willnow be available for Rs15 each at the Cochin International Airport(CIAL) in Kerala, thanks to intervention by the Prime Minister’s office.Earlier, the beverages and snacks were priced at Rs 100. The changecame about after a not-so happy customer, Shaji Kodankandathil, shotoff a letter to the Prime Minister and others to help end the practice ofovercharging at airports. “I was travelling to Delhi in April last year.When I ordered a black tea at the airport, I was asked to part with Rs100 for a tea bag and boiled water in a paper cup. When asked aboutthis, the shop owner told me they were bidding these shops atexorbitant prices so they are forced to fleece,” said Kodankandathil,alawyer, adding he found the explanation quite outrageous.

74 IPS TRANSFERS IN GUJ; AHMEDABAD,SURAT GET NEW POLICE CHIEFS

In a major reshuffle, the Gujarat government has transferred 74 IPSofficers and appointed new police chiefs of Ahmedabad, Surat andVadodara. The order was issued late Saturday night, a day afterAhmedabad Police Commissioner Ashish Bhatia was appointed asthe state director general of police (DGP). As per the order, SanjaySrivastava, a 1987-batch IPS officer and DGP-CID (crime andrailways), has been appointed as the police commissioner ofAhmedabad. Special Commissioner of Police (crime), Ahmedabad,Ajay Kumar Tomar, a 1989-batch IPS officer, has been made thepolice commissioner of Surat, replacing R B Brahmbhatt, who hasbeen appointed as the police commissioner of Vadodara.

FORMER SPEAKER OF GOA ASSEMBLY ANANT SHET DIES

Former speaker of Goa Assembly and BJP leader Anant Shet diedon Sunday morning at a hospital near here, a party leader said.He was 59. Shet breathed his last at the state-run Goa MedicalCollege and Hospital near Panaji where he was admitted afterprolonged illness. He is survived by his wife and son. He wasspeaker of the Goa Legislative Assembly from January 12, 2016 toMarch 14, 2017. He represented the Mayem Assembly constituencyin North Goa district from 2007 to 2017.

SNAKE SLITHERS UP MAN’S JEANS, HESTANDS STILL FOR 7 HOURS!

In an incident that has sent shock waves across the district, a man inSikandarpur village in Uttar Pradeshs Mirzapur district woke up torealise that a cobra had slithered into his jeans while he was asleep.The incident took place last week but came to light after a video of thesame went viral on social media. Lovekesh Kumar, labourer who wasinstalling electricity poles and wires, had gone to sleep during lunchtime and when he woke up with the cobra in his pants, he slowly stoodup and held on to a pole. Reports claim Kumar stood holding the polefor almost seven hours till a snake charmer was called in. —Agencies

NEP: Nishank clears the air

SC judge should probeexodus of Kashmiri

Pandits: Farooq Abdullah

MHA seeks 3 more months for CAA rules

BCAS security norms fordrone operating systems Rlys moves 5L files, 12L documents online

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Release of water by Nepal inundates 61 UP villages

The digitisation has scrappedmanual handling and

reduced not just physicalcontact between officials

but also operational costs.

Letters to the editor should be sent to: The Free Press Journal, Free Press House, Free Press Journal Marg, 215 Nariman Point, Mumbai. 400021; Fax: 22874688, e-mail: mail@fpj.co.in; Type letter, leave space, write your views and name. Letters may be edited for clarity and space.

EDITTHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

SINCE 1928

FOUNDER EDITOR: S SADANAND

It isn’t that there is a dearth of news. We are in the throes of the first globalpandemic in almost a century, and the COVID-19 crisis shows little sign ofrespite. There is the clash with China on the borders that left soldiers on

both side dead; and that crisis is under discussion with both sides makingvague statements. There are floods in various parts of the country which whencombined with COVID-19, has left relief and rehabilitation in tatters. Thenthere is the tattered economy which shows no signs of reviving—every expertis talking of a bumpy economic road over the next few quarters. These are the‘in your face’ stories. Beyond these are the agrari-an distress, state level political upheavals, defor-estation, spike in ‘gaurakshak’ attacks, and theoverall crumbling public health infrastructure.And, yet the media of India—the fourth pillar ofdemocracy—is focused, to a large extent, on theconspiracies surrounding the death of film starSushant Singh Rajput. It began with his death, and for fans and others to

lash out at someone—anyone. The first targets ofthe attack were those who used family names andconnections to get their breaks. The avalanche ofhatred and nastiness posted on online forums, andmicroblogging platforms was obscene, to say theleast. And, then began the attacks on the women inhis life—former and current. Then, his home stateBihar, which is poised for an election in the middleof a pandemic, got involved. Politicians of all huesand shades talking about how Sushant Singh Ra-jput was a victim—not of suicide but of murder.And, right now, his psychiatrist, breaking all codesof privacy, has outed his medical condition and hismedication. And, in all this, the media is not justthe observer of events, but often the prime instiga-tor. By, the coverage, you would think that Sushant

Singh Rajput was the only case of death by suicidein India. But, that is not the case. In 2018, therewere 1,34,516 deaths by suicide in India, accordingto the National Crime Records Bureau—an average of 360 people every daydied of this cause. Maharashtra leads the states with almost 18,000 suicides,with Tamil Nadu a distant second, with almost 14,000 cases. The rate of suicideis a statistic that looks at suicide rate per 100,000—in India this figure stands at10.2. We have one of the highest rates of suicide in the world, and they are fora variety of reasons. 30% of the total suicides were attributed to family prob-lems; almost 18% to illness and so on. One figure that stood out was 4% of vic-

tims succumbing to suicide due to failed love affairs. More than twice as many men committed suicide as compared to women—

68.5% to 31.5%—and most women in this grouping were there because of mar-riage/family/infertility issues. 66% of all victims of suicide are in two majorage groups—18 to 30 year olds, and 31 to 45 year olds. Most of the men who dieddue to suicide, were daily wagers, self-employed, and unemployed. Around10,300 farmers also committed suicide. From all the data that is available, onereason that stands out clearly, is economic instability, income fluctuations, andpoverty. Since the first farmer committed suicide due to the inability to repayhis debt, in 1995, there have been close to 4 lakh farmer suicides in India. If thisissue had a fraction of the attention that Sushant Singh Rajput’s death has at-tracted, and the zeal with which Alia Bhatt and Rhea Chakraborty were beingcrucified, by the media, was applied to farmer suicides and its causes, maybewe wouldn’t have a farmer suicide issue in India.The media has been plunging new depths with each crisis. Each time that you

think that they cannot sink any lower, they promptly go ahead and prove youwrong. With a vulture-like delight, news casters, prime time anchors, failed ac-tors, has-been producers, and a bevvy of other failures have dotted our screensto dissect the life and times of Sushant Singh Rajput. If the media had paid thismuch attention to him when he was alive, maybe he would not have needed the

nepotistic system to get the roles that he wanted.The role of the media in promoting star kids is notdiscussed. Producers often cast the young next gen-eration, because they know that the unimaginativeIndian media will build stories around star kids,while ignoring newcomers. A star kid as your castmember is wroth crores of free publicity. So, while we can mourn Sushant Singh Rajput’s

death as a waste of talent, and rail at the nepotisticsystem that may have prevented him from gettinghis dues—the fact remains it is not just the indus-try to blame. The media needs to take a long hardlook at itself. Its paid news models act as a barrierfor young talent to get promoted—whether it is filmtalent or business talent. The media’s desire to bebrokers of events, rather than recounters of it,leads to them being part of the power systems,rather than checking it. Every powerful film criticis also an industry insider. And, the cost of dissentis being cast out of this inner circle. The mainstream media takes its cues from social

media trends, and the stories that it covers get backon social media to be discussed and debated, to beconsidered valid. And that means that those storiesthat attract interest, because of a celebrity orsleaze factor, end up hogging the news cycle to thedetriment of everything else. Issues of importanceget left out. Media coverage is driven by the inter-ests of ratings, and not public interest. News is nei-

ther about screaming panellists, nor screeching spokespeople. It is about get-ting go the heart of an issue for the greater public interest. And, this is some-thing that the mainstream Indian media, in the last few decades, has mostlyfailed at.

The writer works at the intersection of digital content, technology, and audiences. Sheis a writer, columnist, visiting faculty, and filmmaker.

Curiouser andcuriouser in J&KThe Jammu and Kashmir administration had egg on its

face when contrary to its claim in the apex court thatthe Congress leader, Saifuddin Soz, was not under de-

tention, photographs appearing in national dailies the verynext day established just that: That he was indeed underhouse arrest in Srinagar and the security forces forcibly pre-vented him from leaving. Aside from making a patently un-truthful claim on oath before the highest court in the land,what was shocking was that the authorities actually delud-ed themselves that they could get away with it without any-one coming to know the actual situation. Responding to a pe-tition filed by the wife of the 83-year-old Kashmiri leader,who had challenged her husband’s ‘illegal detention’, theSupreme Court heard the J and K counsel who said that Sozwas a ‘free man’. Those tell-tale photographs showed he wasnot. Period. However, the court disposed of the petition onthe basis of the factually wrong claim of the J and K ad-ministration. They say a clever lie is one that is hard to be de-tected. But a more important question arising from Soz’s in-formal detention is whether he can cause any trouble evenif he were to be allowed to move about freely? For someonewho for long was a second-string leader in the National Con-ference before joining the Congress a few years ago, Soz, apart of the so-called Kashmir mainstream, never enjoyedmuch of a following in the Valley. He can hardly inspire thepeople in Kashmir at this late stage in his political career toagitate against the nullification of Article 370. In fact, part ofthe trouble in Kashmir is that leaders like Soz had becomeirrelevant in the Valley, with the initiative having passed tothe pro-Pakistan elements and their jihadi masters. Forwhatever it is worth, Soz and other so-called mainstreamleaders ought to be actively engaged by the authorities insearch of the elusive solution to the current impasse in theaffairs of Kashmir. With the first anniversary of the passageof the law neutralising Article 370 on August 5, which creat-ed two separate Union Territories out of the erstwhile J andK State, the authorities might be on extra alert to prevent anuntoward incident. But keeping leaders like Soz in the loop,talking peace with them at the local level, could be helpfulrather than shutting them completely out of process of de-cision-making. Detaining them further adds to the alien-ation of the Kashmiris. It is true that Pakistan is a huge trou-ble-maker but we cannot win the battle for the hearts andminds of young Kashmiris without ensuring that they haveaccess to decent education, job opportunities, cultural andsocial freedoms available elsewhere in the country. Themore we deny them ordinary, everyday freedoms the morethey rebel. Co-opting leaders like Soz in the healing processwill be a better strategy than holding them prisoners in theirown homes. Meanwhile, five days ahead of the anniversaryof the virtual abrogation of Article 370, Sajad Lone, thechairman of the People’s Conference was ‘freed’ with thecondition that he can neither step out of home nor speak tothe media. ‘Freedom’, then, in the Kashmir context, has anOrwellian ring about it. The authorities, stuck in the Kash-mir cul-de-sac, are clueless how to find an honourable exit.

Amar Singh died embittered, dejectedIndependent Rajya Sabha member, Amar Singh, who died

in a Singapore hospital after a prolonged kidney ailmenton Saturday, was one of the more colourful politicians

who at one time exercised a disproportionately high influ-ence in the fragmented national polity. Given his gift of thegab, his ability to befriend VVIPs from the diverse worlds ofBollywood, finance, sports, and even media, Singh oftenthrust himself in the centre-stage of national events. Likewhen in 1999 he foiled Sonia Gandhi’s ascent to the primeministerial gaddi after her claim in the forecourt of Rash-trapati Bhavan that ‘I have 272 MPs’. She never forgave thataudacity. Not unlike a whole host of political operatorswhich abound in all parties, Singh’s too was a rags-to-richesstory. Starting out as a Youth Congress worker in Calcutta inthe early 70s, he came into his own only when he embracedthe Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh. And wouldeventually come to lead him by the nose, stitching up al-liances, wheeling-and-dealing freely exploiting Mulayam’sposition as UP Chief Minister and later as Defence Minister.He was a quintessential political-fixer which every party val-ues for their ability to get things done uninformed by anyqualms. Ultimately, his ‘success’ proved his undoing, jealouscolleagues and rival operators exposing his unseemly side.Amitabh Bachchan, whom he claimed to have given a sec-ond life after rescuing him from near-bankruptcy from hismaiden foray into business dumped him like a hot potato. Sodid his wife, Jaya, who owed her Rajya Sabha membershipto him. In the end the only one who stuck by him was JayaPrada, a former actor who too joined Samajwadi Party onlyto leave it with her patron and contest unsuccessfully on theBJP ticket against Singh’s bitter foe Azam Khan in Rampur.Actually, Singh’s and Khan’s video and audio tapes, going ateach other with no expletives spared, reveals their true faces.In his last years, Singh was marginalised by the SamajwadiParty. Khan, meanwhile, as its Muslim face, still holds swayin the Yadav-centric outfit.

Ratings, not public interest, drive news

Impact of EIARecent modifications to theEnvironment (Protection)Act, 1986 like "post factoclearance" in whichbusiness giants can carryon their development workwithout waiting forenvironment clearance andif they violate law caneasily escape by payingenvironment compensationor fine, and anotherprovision of reducingfrequency of inspectionfrom twice in an year toonce has diluted the veryessence of the law. Suchprovisions are not onlycreating threats forenvironment but alsolivelihood of tribals andvulnerable groupsdependent upon forestareas too. EIA must notincrease discretionarypower of authority orregularise large scaleenvironment violation,rather promote balancedgrowth, encourage publicparticipation in decision-making process and stresstowards more sustainabledevelopment of forests.

Sonal Kumar Mahato

Hooch tragediesIllicit liquor traders exploitthe gullible by offeringemployment opportunitiesas well as servingdangerous spirits mixedwith methanol. Whenhooch tragedies take place,all too familiar inquirycommissions are formed to'look-into' the causes andremedies with no tangibleoutcome. The governmentmust nationalise sale ofliquor, control freeavailability of rectifiedspirit and break thebootlegger-politician-police-criminal mafia-nexus.

Ganapathi Bhat

Banking on banksRef: Revisit all bank chargeson deposits; August 1,2020.Correct analysis by MadanSabnavis. Banks operate onpublic money, doling outloans to unscrupulousbusinessmen and yetinterest rates on savingsaccounts have been broughtdown to an abysmal 2.5-3%.How much more will theysqueeze the common man?Banks must stop looting thepeople. It's time thedepositors get their due.They have been taken forgranted for far too long.

Melville X. D'Souza

This past week saw the near simul-taneous publication of two booksby senior former Central

bankers. Former RBI Governor UrjitPatel published his book called Over-draft which is dedicated to the Indiansaver. It was much awaited from some-one who was otherwise extremely reti-cent even while in office. Within a weekof its publication it became one of thetop-ranking non-fiction books. Therewas much buzz about its content, sincePatel had chosen to be silent and almostinvisible to the public eye since he leftthe Reserve Bank of India abruptly inDecember 2018. The other book is by for-mer RBI Deputy Governor ViralAcharya, who left six months later,without completing his full tenure asper his appointment. His book is titledQuest for Restoring Financial Stabilityin India, and is actually a collection ofhis writings and speeches, with a newlywritten long preface. Together thesetwo were known as hawkish, but deter-mined to clean up the banking system.In many ways they were continuing aclean-up tradition established by for-mer Governor Raghuram Rajan. Patelhad served as Raghuram Rajan’sdeputy. In some ways this trio had animage of being too academic, stronglyintellectual, and outsiders to the sys-tem, who were “inflexible” and notpragmatic. Whether these adjectiveswere unfair is a debate for another day.Acharya was in the eye of the storm,

due to a strongly worded, controversialspeech he gave just a couple of monthsbefore Patel’s abrupt departure. In thatspeech he emphasised the importanceof nurturing the autonomy of the Cen-tral bank. He famously concluded hisspeech with this ominous warning,“Governments that do not respect Cen-tral bank independence will sooner orlater incur the wrath of financial mar-kets, ignite economic fire, and come to

rue the day they undermined an impor-tant regulatory institution”. In the cur-rent preface to his new book too he reit-erates that excessive monetary andcredit stimulus during the earlier partof this decade had endangered finan-cial stability. Acharya also says thatGovernor Patel had quit prematurelybecause of attempts to undermine theautonomy of the Reserve Bank of India.One of the key issues described in

some detail in Patel’s book is the dilu-tion of the Insolvency and BankruptcyCode process that he instituted to tack-le the problem of rising bad loans.Rather than depend on a case-by-caseapproach and negotiations betweenbanker and borrower, wherein both par-ties had incentives to “ever green”loans, the RBI insisted on transferringbad debt cases to the IBC process, evenwith one day of default. This was the fa-mous February 2018 circular, which cre-ated quite a stir. The strict rule meantthat defaulting promoters risked losingcontrol of their companies to new own-ers or to liquidation. It also put pressureon banks to prevent such cases landingup in the IBC process. The circular waschallenged and eventually struck downby the Supreme Court. After this thebanking system is back to a case-by-case approach and this has been a set-back to the speedy resolution of non-performing assets (NPA) cases. Thismeans that if the NPA is not resolved,the provisioning will keep mounting,and more and more capital will getstuck on the balance sheets of banks.Hence unless extra capital is injectedinto the bank, its capacity to make freshloans for new borrowers and new proj-ects gets constrained. Also, a largerNPA ratio means that the bank needs toreap profits from a smaller portion ofthe loans, which means that it has tocharge higher interest rates. Thus, thenon-resolution or tardy resolution of

NPAs has implication for the bankingsystem as a whole and financial stabili-ty too.As if in tandem with the two books by

these Central bankers, comes the re-port by RBI on Financial Stability. Oneof the most sobering conclusions ofthis report is that the gross NPA ratio inIndia’s banking will rise by a full 4 per-centage points from 8.5 in March 2020 to12.5 percent in March 2021. That meansan estimated 4 lakh crore of loans aregoing to turn bad in this year. Ofcourse, this is the year of the pandemicand recession. Despite measures likeeasy liquidity, monetary easing, andgenerous moratoriums for loan repay-ments, the RBI expects a surge in thegross NPA ratio. If the downturn ismore severe, the stress test conductedby RBI officials indicates that the ratiomay rise to 14.7 percent. Such a highNPA ratio will seriously endanger fi-nancial stability.Since nearly three fourth of Indian

banking is in the public sector, a rise inNPAs will call for the need to recapi-talise banks. This has to come from theCentre’s fiscal resources which are al-ready stretched owing to falling GSTand income tax revenues, and a shrink-ing base of nominal national income.There are also other competing de-mands on the fiscal system, for clearingpending payments to enterprises, taxrefunds, direct cash payment to poorhouseholds and GST compensation to

be paid to States, as per the agreed for-mula. As bank balance sheets getstretched, it can make the depositorsnervous, and they may make a run onthe bank. This can put severe stress onbank liquidity, and the panic can spreadlike a contagion. Similarly, non-bank fi-nance companies which also face risingNPAs may find it unable to inject freshcapital, causing the NPA problem toworsen. This can have a domino effect,as was seen in September 2018 with thefailure of ILFS. Systemically largebanks and non-banks need extra vigi-lance and supervision from the bankregulator i.e. RBI, to prevent such spill-over alarms. The solution to restoringfinancial stability and earning the con-fidence of depositors and savers is speltout in both Acharya’s and Patel’s books.It calls for instilling market discipline(i.e. IBC process for NPA resolution),early recognition and disclosure of de-faults, refusing too much forbearancein diluting treatment of defaulting bor-rowers, and to keep adequate ammuni-tion in the RBI balance sheet to dealwith sudden shocks, abrupt reversals ofcapital flow, or emergency rescues. Thetwo books and the RBI report are time-ly and cautionary reminders about pay-ing attention to the financial stability ofthe Indian economy.

The writer is a senior economist and SeniorFellow, Takshashila Institution

Syndicate: The Billion Press

A larger NPAratio meansthat the bankneeds to reapprofits from a

smallerportion of theloans, whichmeans that ithas to charge

higherinterest rates.Thus, the non-resolution or

tardyresolution ofNPAs hasimplicationfor thebanking

system as awhole andfinancial

stability too.

Risks to financial stability

Frame of ReferenceHarini Calamur

LETTERSTO THEEDITOR

Media dissects the life of Sushant Singh Rajput with a vulture-like delight

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls the statue in the US capitol building of Father Damien, a canonized saint in the Catholic Church, a part of“white supremacist culture.” Father Damien died of leprosy after spending his life serving others who had the disease.

John Gage

I love St. Damien, visited the memorial dedicated to him in Leuven (Belgium).I think AOC could have been more careful, but she meant something different from what is inferred here.I wish bishops went on rapid response videos like this to denounce attacks on living human beings.

Massimo Faggioli, Historian and theologian

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questioning why there aren’t more women statues in the rotunda, using Hawai‘i as an example and suggestingthere should be a statue for Queen Lili‘uokalani, who was the only queen regnant and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

Michelle Broder Van Dyke, Freelance reporter from Hawai‘i

AOC has a problem with the fact that American history was forged by White Men, so now she's attacking the statue of a Catholic saint,Father Damien of Molokai. AOC if you wonder why it's always men who are celebrated, look at how your communist SQUAD is trying todestroy America.

Irene Armendariz-Jackson, Candidate in the Republican Primary for Texas’ 16th Congressional District

ONE FLEW OVER THE NEST #FatherDamienstatue

Fiscal PrudenceAjit Ranade

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Rather than justice for all, we are evolvinginto a system of justice for those who can afford it. We have banks thatare not only too big to fail, but too big to be held accountable.

— Joseph E. Stiglitz

MONDAY’S SWIPE

TAILPIECE

SLEEPING LIONS, TERRIBLE PAIN: A NEW WORLD WITHOUT TOURISM

With no American visitors to show around the D-Day beaches or theLoire Valley's chateaux, and no work on the immediate horizon,Paris tour guide Linda Zenou frets about how she'll pay off a loan

and continue to care for her ailing mother.In Australia, the government of Queensland, home to the Great Barrier

Reef, barred visitors from Sydney starting Saturday because of a growingoutbreak in the country's largest city. Queensland tourism official BrettKapernick predicted the cost for some businesses would be a 40 per centplunge in revenue. "With this pandemic, the situation becomes fluid andtherefore evolves weekly," Kapernick said. "A week ago, we didn't thinkwe'd be facing a border closed to Sydney." For growing numbers of busi-nesses and individuals who depend on the global tourism industry, thequestion is not so much when the coronavirus might take its boot off theirthroats but whether they'll still be around when business picks up.In trying to fend off the virus, countries that put up entry barriers to

tourists have done so at a mounting and terrible cost to themselves andothers. The result is an ever-evolving global mishmash of restrictions andquarantines and zero long-term visibility for businesses trying to make pay-roll and for everyone from trinket sellers to luxury hotels.As the Indonesian resort island of Bali tentatively opened to domestic vis-

itors Friday, the beaches of Da Nang, Vietnam, were deserted. On Portugal'sAlgarve coast, catastrophe also looms for the staffs of empty hotels, barsand restaurants losing hope that tourists will return quickly enough to keepthem afloat. In a region almost entirely reliant on tourism, the unemploy-ment rate has already jumped by 230 per cent.Animals have South Africa's world-famous wildlife parks largely to them-

selves because of lockdown rules that barred international tourists andmade it illegal for South Africans to travel between provinces for leisure. Atthe Kruger National Park, lions sleep undisturbed on the roads and roamaround empty lodges.The bright spots, where they exist, are few and far between. Among

them: locals who are unable or reluctant to travel are rediscovering attrac-tions where foreign tourists used to jostle for elbow space.At the Louvre Museum in Paris, it's now possible to calmly contemplate

the works. That's a rare treat for Parisians but a nightmare for tour guideswho gathered in protest again this week, dressed in black and wearingmasks, to demand more financial help. Zenou, the 60-year-old guide whousually leads groups all over France, was among them.

- AP

ARIES: Today you there will be lot of workpressure and you will have very little timefor your children. Don’t take decisions onyour own, rather them with higher authority.

TAURUS: Overseas connections likely toestablish and will give a boost to yourcareer. New projects come your way, sodon’t worry about money problems.

GEMINI: Happy atmosphere at home willboost your enthusiasm. Profits are there inspeculation. Some good changes can beexpected in job.

CANCER: You might get disturbed aboutthings at work as they may not go per yourexpectations. Those in politics may find itdifficult to handle the current situation.  

LEO: Minor health problems are likely tooccur today. Be cautious while driving. Youwill be little tensed before presenting yourideas to your seniors.

VIRGO: Anonymous petitions could botheryou. Cold and cough will crop up. You arelikely to land a legacy in politics, social workor business.

LIBRA: Librans spend lavishly on clothesand utensils. The time is also right for thoseinterested in theatre or other forms ofperforming arts.

SCORPIO: Persistence and dedication willhelp you avoid or prevent maritalproblems. Relationship between childrenand parents will be good.

SAGITTARIUS: Your professional ambitionssoar to a new high thanks to the planetaryinfluences. Business meetings are likely toset the stage for new ventures.

CAPRICORN: There will be differences withfriends or associates. You should controlyour emotions; otherwise, you may facetroublesome situations in your love life.

AQUARIUS: Recovery of debt is likely. Yourintelligence will impress your seniors in yourprofession. You will find gains and progressfrom overseas sources.

PISCES: Health condition of one of yourfamily member may be a cause of concernfor you. It will be a stressful day for you atwork.

GUIDING LIGHTDivine message of Raksha Bandhan

— By Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj ji

The festival of Raksha Bandhan is a many-hued festival imbued with lot of colour,sweetness, myths and spiritual significance.

As per tradition, on the auspicious occasion ofRaksha Bandhan sisters apply 'tilak' or red goldenmark on the forehead of their brothers and also tiea golden-red thread or colorfully decorated 'rakhi',round their wrist besides offering them sweets astoken of their love and affection.Tying rakhi to abrother's wrist is commonly believed to be a cere-monial expression of a sister's hope that her broth-er would protect or help her in the time of need.However, it is well worth considering, how a smallbrother or one living far away can come to the sis-ter's rescue in the time of distress? It is thus obvi-ous that the significance of this festival is differentfrom what is generally believed.This festival isalso known as the I Punyapradayak Parva (merit-giving) or Vishtodak Parva (vice-eliminating festi-val). The brahmans i.e. the priests have from timeimmemorial carried on the practice of tying rakhiround the wrists of their yajmans (religious be-lievers as their patrons) as a symbol of purifica-tion. It is obvious that it is a very ancient festivaland its real significance lies in pointing to the vice-

less and pure love between a brother and sister,and in reminding all thereby to observe brah-macharya or chastity. That is the reason why thisfestival has been given the other symbolic names,mentioned above. Applying the tilak or red mark on the brother's

forehead is also indicative of the sister suggestingto her brothers to be soul-conscious for it is in thespace between the eye-brows that the soul is locat-ed. Then again 'mauli' (a red and saffron colouredthread) that is tied around the brother's wrist, isalso meant to serve as constant reminder of thatbond of purity. Similarly, sweetening of the broth-er's mouth by the sister is also symbolic of her pi-ous wish that the brother succeeds in overpower-ing vices especially lust, or a token of the sister'ssincere wish that he succeeds in his noble under-taking. Hence, Raksha Bandhan conveys the di-vine message of achieving victory over man'sgreat enemy, sex-lust, by strict observance of con-tinence through soul-consciousness and it inspireshuman beings to make a sacred "deed of covenant"to lead a life of purity in thought, speech and ac-tion and thereby attain divine wisdom, peace andprosperity.

(Spiritual organisations keen to be featured in this space contact : features@fpj.co.in)

YOUR DAY By Nilikash P. Pradhan

THE FREEPRESSJOURNALMUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

ETCETERANEW YORK: Scientists have developed a new printing process that advances 3D capabilities and aims to improve quality of products usedin business, industry and at home. Called injection printing, the technology David Kazmer from University of Massachusetts-Lowellpioneered is featured in the academic journal Additive Manufacturing. The invention combines elements of 3D printing and injectionmolding, a technique through which objects are created by filling mold cavities with molten materials. The marriage of the two processesincreases the production rate of 3D printing, while enhancing the strength and properties of the resulting products. —IANS

New technology can advance 3D printing, improve products

BEAT THOSE LOCKDOWN BLUES

I am 25 years old. I moved out ofmy house last year to an apart-ment close to my parents. Beingalone is stressful. I cannot evenvisit them because their socie-ty has strict rules and they arealso a little old. I constantlyworry about how they are far-ing. I talk to them once a day. Ihave been managing on myown so far, but I can feel myselfslipping into depression likethe old days. I used to spiralinto anxiety, self-pity and usedsocial situations to cheer up. Itry to keep abreast of the cur-rent situation, but then feelmore fear seeing the news. Ibarely eat anything and don’tknow what to do.g The current situation has thepotential to trigger underlyingpsychological issues, especiallydepression and anxiety. The ideaof being locked up in your housewithout having to meet or seeanyone could get overwhelming.I would recommend you to starttherapy sessions so that you areable to handle the onset of de-pressive symptoms better. Atherapist would be able to equipyou with helpful tools to sustainthe current lockdown in ahealthy manner, both physicallyand mentally.

One of my dear friends passedaway due to COVID-19 and Ihave been feeling very lowsince then. I’m worried abouthis wife and children; theycouldn’t even see him. Manypeople and families have beenshattered...thinking about itmakes me feel low. Since I livein a joint family with elders, Icannot go out and help withcharity work. Work is alsoslow, so my thoughts don’tleave me. When will all of thisget over? g I am hearing that emotionallylast few weeks have been verychallenging for you. It is quitedevastating for the families whohave lost someone to COVID-19and are unable to meet the per-son for one last time. Your needto help others is quite noble andcan be channelised effectively byworking from home with someNGO or COVID-19 specific or-

ganization. Not all volunteersare needed on the ground. Withsome research you can surelyfind something to work upon andcontribute. To counter negativethoughts you can invest time ineither finding an avenue to pro-vide services or brainstormingways to help other like-mindedpeople.

I’m 22. Last year, I came out tomy extended family as bisexu-al. This happened accidentallybecause of an incident. My par-ents had known for a while andthey didn’t understand or nec-essarily agree, but gave mespace and respected my deci-sion. My dad still doesn’t like totalk about it. However, my un-cle came to stay with us for thelockdown and he’s extremelyconservative. He degrades andhumiliates me. I feel scared, an-gry and ashamed and havestopped talking to my friends. Idon’t know what to do since weare in the same house and noone stands up for me.g The entire process of comingout to your parents and family isemotionally quite draining. Youbare yourself completely, hopingthey will understand and acceptyou for who you are. I am sorrythat your uncle doesn’t believethat an individual has a right toexpress and experience life asper their liking. At times con-fronting such behaviour oftenhelps bring some peace. Alongwith your parents make it apoint to bring it to your uncle’snotice that you do not stand for such treatment towards your-self. In case you find no supportremember you are yourstrongest ally.

Pandemic problems

Dr. Anjali ChhabriaConsultant Psychiatrist

Each machine at Serum Institute India canmake 500 vials a minAt the state-of-the-art facilities of the Serum Institute In-dia, each machine is capable of producing 500 vials perminute—or 30,000 vials in an hour, said its CEO AdarPoonawalla. The Pune-based organisation has tied up withBritish pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to producethe Oxford vaccine, said a media report quoting Poon-awalla. The company has plans to make about 60-79 mil-lion doses a month after getting necessary government ap-provals. The doses will be distributed in India and otherlow-and-middle-income countries, he said.

US signs $2.1-bn deal with Sanofi, GSKFrench drug maker Sanofi and British pharmaceutical gi-ant GlaxoSmithKline will provide the US governmentwith 100 million doses of an experimental coronavirusvaccine, the Trump administration has said. This comesclose on the heels of an assessment that fatalities in thecountry will rise in the coming days. As per the agree-ment, the US will pay the drug makers up to $2.1 billion tosupply it with enough vaccines for 50 million people, withthe option to buy another 500 million doses, Reuters re-ported. The purchase is a part of the Trump administra-tion’s programme—Operation Warp Speed—to push aCOVID-19 vaccine into the market by the end of 2020, saidthe news agency.

Mandatory BCG can slow down virus growthAmid a search for the perfect vaccine to fight the coron-avirus, scientists now claim that early BCG vaccinationmay be helpful in taming the Covid-19 spread. Countrieswith mandatory BCG vaccination until at least the year2000 tended to exhibit slower infection and death ratesduring the first 30 days of the outbreak. Their findingssuggest that national policies for universal BCG vaccina-tion can be effective in the fight against Covid-19 - an as-sociation that merits clinical investigation. The re-searchers further estimated that only 468 people wouldlikely have died from Covid-19 in the US as of March 29 -which is 19 per cent of the actual figure of 2,467 deaths bythat date - if the US had instituted mandatory BCG vacci-nation several decades ago.

CORNERPunny ornothing!

Did you knowabout theclaustrophobicastronaut?He just neededa little space!

—Compiled by Dipthi Bhat

Disclaimer: This is ajoke and no ill will is

intended againstanyone.

CORONA VACCINE TRACKER

AGENCIES New York

Frontline health workers fromBlack, Asian and minorityethnic backgrounds faced

much higher risks of testing posi-tive for COVID-19 than individualsin the general community duringthe peak of the deadly respiratorydisease, new research has found. The findings demonstrated how

the COVID-19 pandemic and sys-temic racism are inextricablylinked and need immediate atten-tion. Black, Asian, and minorityethnic healthcare workers ap-peared to be disproportionately af-fected, with a nearly two-fold high-er risk compared with white health-care workers, according to thestudy conducted by a team led by re-searchers at Massachusetts Gener-al Hospital (MGH) and published inThe Lancet Public Health. Among 2,035,395 individuals in

the community and 99,795 frontlinehealthcare workers who voluntari-ly used the app developed by ZoeGlobal Ltd. with scientific inputfrom MGH and Kings College Lon-don, 5,545 new reports of a positiveCOVID-19 test were documented be-tween March 24 and April 23. Also, frontline healthcare work-

ers who reported inadequate avail-ability of personal protective equip-ment (PPE) such as masks, gloves,and gowns, had an especially ele-vated risk; however, adequate avail-ability of PPE did not seem to com-pletely reduce risk among health-care workers caring for patientswith COVID-19. "Our results underscore the im-

portance of providing adequate ac-cess to PPE and also suggest thatsystemic racism associated with in-equalities to access to PPE likelycontribute to the disproportionaterisk of infection among minorityfrontline healthcare workers," saidsenior author Andrew T. Chan,chief of the Clinical and Transla-tional Epidemiology Unit at MGH. The study's findings bring greater

awareness to the importance of en-suring an equitable supply chain ofPPE and of developing additionalstrategies to protect all frontlinehealthcare workers. —IANS

COVID-19 pandemic and systemic racism are inextricably linked

Black, Asian, and minority ethnic healthcare workers affected, says study

AGENCIES Washington D.C

Apessimistic attitude towards lifemay put you at a greater risk of dy-ing earlier, suggests a new study. The

new QIMR Berghofer Medical Research In-stitute study has found that people who arestrongly pessimistic about the future are atgreater risk of dying earlier than thosewho are not.The researchers also found, however, that

being an optimist did not extend life ex-pectancy.The lead researcher, Dr JohnWhitfield from QIMR Berghofer's GeneticEpidemiology group, said study partici-pants who scored higher on pessimism in a questionnaire were likely to die on aver-age two years earlier than those with low scores."We found people who were strongly pes-

simistic about the future were more likelyto die earlier from cardiovascular diseasesand other causes of death, but not fromcancer. Optimism scores, on the otherhand, did not show a significant relation-ship with death, either positive or nega-tive," Dr Whitfield said.

—ANI

AGENCIES New York

Researchers have revealed that well-being strategies such asbreathing exercises can improve mental health in college stu-dents and manages stress and anxiety. The research team

evaluated three classroom-based wellness training programs thatincorporate breathing and emotional intelligence strategies, find-ing that two led to improvements in aspects of well-being. The most effective programme led to improvements in six areas,

including depression and social connectedness. The researchers,who reported findings in the journal Frontiers in Psychiatry, saidsuch resiliency training programmes could be a valuable tool foraddressing the mental health crisis on university campuses. "Student mental health has been on the decline over the last 10

years, and with the pandemic and racial tensions, things have onlygotten worse," said study lead author Emma Seppala from the YaleUniversity in the US. For the findings, the research team conducted the study, which

tested three skill-building training programs on 135 undergraduatesubjects for eight weeks (30 hours total) and measured resultsagainst those of a non-intervention control group. They found that a training programme called SKY Campus Hap-

piness, developed by the Art of Living Foundation, which relies ona breathing technique called SKY Breath Meditation, yoga pos-tures, social connection, and service activities, was most beneficial.

—IANS

Pessimistic outlook on lifelinked to shorter lifespan

Breathing exercises can helpstudents manage stress

FPJ - SUDOKU - 57 Level: easy

WHAT TO DO: Fill in the grid sothat every row, every columnand every 3x3 box contains thedigits 1 to 9. Every puzzle hasonly one correct solution.

4174 / © 2020 Amrita Bharati, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan

NO. The phoenix (or phoinix) is a fabulousor mythical creature that is found in Greek,

Roman, Egyptian, Russian, Arabic and othermythologies.

It is a large, majestic bird and looks like aheron, eagle or peacock. Since it is associatedwith the sun and fire, it has a plumage of thesame colours as that of fire i.e. red, gold,orange, yellow, etc., according to most mythsabout the bird.

The phoenix is an immortal bird. After livinga long life (from five hundred to a thousandyears), the phoenix creates a funeral pyre, setsit on fire, dies in it and is turned to ashes.Or it simply bursts into flames and is reducedto ashes. From these ashes, the phoenix isreborn as a phoenix chick. Other myths suggestthat the phoenix rises gloriously from the ashesand then flies away.

Because of its ability to resurrect, the

Did the Phoenix ever exist?

phoenix is seen as a symbol of hope andredemption. Perhaps the phoenix represents thebelief that the end is only the beginning.

The phoenix has a melodious cry. Somemyths state that a phoenix’s tears have powerfulhealing properties and if a phoenix is nearby,you cannot tell a lie. According to some legends,only one phoenix existed at any given time.

Some writers have used the phoenix as asymbol of eternal love and loyalty in theirwritings. Famous literary examples of the phoenixinclude Fawkes, Dumbledore’s phoenix, in theHarry Potter series. Edith Nesbit’s children’snovel The Phoenix and the Carpet is about aphoenix’s friendship with a family of children.

OUR legs contain a larger number ofbones than our feet.False. The maximum number of bones inour body is found in our hands and feet.

While the legs contain 6 bones, our feetare made of 54 bones. Similarly, there are54 bones in the wrist, palm and fingers ofthe hand.

FAQ

TRUE OR FALSE?

DENNIS THE MENACE

BLONDIE / Dean Young & Mile Gersher

BRINGING UP FATHER / FRANK JONSON

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates announced the start-upoperations of its first nuclear power plant in capital AbuDhabi. The milestone achievement was announced through atweet by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE

prime minister on Saturday, Xinhua news agency reported.Situated 280 km away from Abu Dhabi, the project isexpected to cover 25 percent of the country's energy needs,and prevent 21 million tons of carbon emissions each year.

UAE is first Arab nation to open a nuclear power plantWORLDTHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

VICTORIA’S CRIPPLING CURBS

‘UK prince helped Epstein’• Philippines Covid cases top 1 lakh

• South Africa hits 500,000 infections

• Kuwait resumes commercial flights

• Death toll in Brazil rises to 93,563

• Ukraine's count reaches 72,168

• Scores rally in Berlin against curbs

DASHBOARD

Pompeo: China floutingrights of coastal states

AGENCIESWashington

US Secretary of StateMichael Pompeo on Sundayexpressed support toEcuador for raising voiceagainst China who violatesthe sovereign rights and ju-risdiction of coastal states."It is time for China to stopits unsustainable fishingpractices, rule-breaking,and willful environmentaldegradation of the oceans.We stand with Ecuador andcall on Beijing to stop en-gaging in illegal, unreport-ed, and unregulated fish-ing," Pompeo tweeted.A press release by the USDepartment of State said,"The People's Republic ofChina subsidises the world'slargest commercial fishingfleet, which routinely vio-lates the sovereign rightsand jurisdiction of coastalstates, fishes without per-mission, and overfishes li-censing agreements." "The

Ecuadorian governmenthas done just that in raisingthe alarm about the hun-dreds of PRC-flagged ves-sels fishing near Ecuador'simportant Galapagos ma-rine reserve and harvestingendangered sharks for theirfins, along with many otherprotected species." "We firmly supportEcuador's efforts to ensurePRC-flagged vessels do notengage in illegal, unreport-ed, and unregulated fishingand stand with States whoseeconomies and natural re-sources are threatened byPRC-flagged vessels' disre-gard for the rule of law andresponsible fishing prac-tices," Pompeo added.Meanwhile, the top US of-ficial also urged Hong Kongto reverse a decision to sus-pend its legislative electionsamid a resurgence of thecoronavirus, saying the de-lay would be another blowto its autonomy from Bei-jing.

SL port workers endstir against India deal

AGENCIESColombo

Workers at the strategicColombo Port called offtheir strike on Sunday fol-lowing a meeting withPrime Minister MahindaRajapaksa, a day after theydemanded a "writtenpledge" from the Sri LankanPresident that the country'slargest port's Eastern Con-tainer Terminal would notbe handed over to India.At least 23 trade unionslaunched the strike on Fri-day demanding the sale ofthe Eastern Container Ter-minal (ECT) to India be ter-minated, and its operationsare taken over by the SriLanka Ports Authority.The previous Sirisena gov-ernment signed a "memo-randum of cooperation"(MOC) with India and Japanfor a tripartite effort to de-velop the ECT which is lo-cated just next to the USD500 million Chinese-run

Colombo International Con-tainer Terminal (CICT).It was, however, not clearwhat prompted the workersto end their strike.Earlier this month, theprime minister told re-porters that no final deci-sion had been made yet tohand over the developmentof the ECT to India."This was a diplomaticagreement with Indiasigned by the lastgovernment,” he had said.

TAGENCIES/ Melbourne

Worst-hit by the COVID-19 pandem-ic, Australia's Victoria state was toenter a State of Disaster from Sun-day, with its capital city of Mel-bourne moving to Stage 4 restric-tions with stronger rules in a bid tolimit the movement of people andthe spread of the virus.These changes, announced by Vic-torian Premier Daniel Andrews, willbe in place for at least the next sixweeks until September 13, reportsXinhua news agency."The current rate of communitytransmission—mystery cases thatcannot be traced back to work orhome—is far too high," he.Victoria recorded 671 new casesovernight, taking the total number ofcases within the southeastern stateto 11,557, of which 6,322 are active.Seven more people died, bringingthe total death toll to 123."We must do more. We must goharder. It's the only way we'll get tothe other side of this," the state pre-mier said.Under the State 4 restrictions, Mel-bourne residents can only go shop-ping or do exercise for a maximum ofone hour per day and no more than 5

km from where they live.Shopping will be limited to one per-son per household per day.There will also be an 8 p.m.-5 a.m.curfew every day, beginning from

Sunday.During these hours, the only rea-sons to leave home will be work, med-ical care and caregiving, and publictransport services will be reduced.

At the same time, Andrews an-nounced that regional Victoria willreturn to Stage 3 "Stay at Home" re-strictions from Monday midnight.Businesses will also return to Stage3 restrictions, with restaurants andcafes only offering delivery and take-away. Beauty and personal services,entertainment and cultural venueswill need to close, and communitysports will need to stop.Andrews said the government willkeep reviewing and realigning therestrictions in line with the advice ofhealth experts.Meanwhile 12 new cases were diag-nosed in the neighboring State ofNew South Wales (NSW) in the 24hours, bringing the total number ofcases within the state to 3,595.The NSW government strongly en-couraged people to use masks inhigh-risk public settings such as onpublic transport or in supermarkets."People should continue to main-tain their physical distance. Howev-er, if you find yourself in a situationwhere you can't maintain your phys-ical distance you should wear amask," NSW Premier Gladys Bere-jiklian said.Australia has 17,282 coronaviruscases, with 10,201 deaths.

AGENCIES/ Washington

The Republican Party's voteto nominate President Don-ald Trump as its candidatefor the November electionswill be held in private, with-out press in attendance, themedia reported on Sunday.A Republican NationalConvention spokeswomangave coronavirus healthguidelines as the reason, theBBC reported.The party was "workingwithin the parameters setbefore us by state and localguidelines regarding thenumber of people who canattend events", the spokes-woman said on Saturday.The 336 party delegateswill meet on August 24 in thecity of Charlotte, North Car-olina to formally renominateTrump.They will cast proxy votesfor some 2,500 official dele-gates.

Trump is the party's soleremaining nominee, and hisrenomination will officiallylaunch his re-election bid.Saturday's decision marksa significant change for theconvention, which histori-cally has worked to draw me-dia attention to spread partymessaging to the public, saidthe BBC report.Trump had switched the lo-cation of the convention toJacksonville, Florida, afterthe Democratic governor ofNorth Carolina insisted inMay on limiting the crowdsize, on the grounds of socialdistancing.

A cyclist passes a group of policemen and soldiers patrolling the Docklands area of Melbourne after the announcement of new restrictions on Sunday —AFP.

Meanwhile, supporters of aparty react at a rally ahead ofthe parliamentary polls —AFP

Australian state announces ‘state of disaster’ following surge in Covid-19 cases

The current rate of communitytransmission—mystery cases that cannot betraced back to work or home—is far too high

—VICTORIAN PREMIER DANIEL ANDREWS

Press barred, renominationof Trump to be a quiet affair

WASHINGTON: PresidentDonald Trump insists thatschools reopen so studentscan go back to theirclassrooms, but theMaryland private schoolwhere his son Barron isenrolled is among thoseunder county orders to stayclosed. MontgomeryCounty Health Officer Dr.Travis Gayles said his orderto stay closed for in-personinstruction through October1 and to conduct onlineclasses only will bereevaluated before October1 to determine whether itshould be extended,terminated or amended.So far, more than 1.57 lakhpeople have succumbed tothe highly contagiousCovid-19 infection.

Prez can’t keepson’s school open

S’pore Hindutemple priestheld over theft

AGENCIES/ Singapore

The chief priest of Singa-pore's oldest Hindu templewas arrested on charges of"criminal breach of trust",according to police.The Sri Mariamman Tem-ple had lodged a complaintafter finding out that somegold ornaments, which werein the custody of the priest,had gone missing, the tem-ple said in a statement onSaturday. It did not identifythe 36-year-old priest."Gold ornaments, whichare frequently used forprayers, are kept under thecustody of the chief priest,"it said. The priest was ques-tioned and he later returnedall the missing items, thetemple said.

AGENCIES/ Kabul

Pakistan-origin intelligencehead of terror group IslamicState's Khorasan unit (ISIL-K) has been killed by specialforces near the east-ern town of Jalal-abad, according tothe Afghan securityagency.Zia-ur-Rehmanknown as Assadul-lah Orakzai waskilled during an op-eration near Jalalabad, closeto Pakistan border, the Na-tional Directorate of Securi-ty said in a statement on Sat-urday.Orakzai was the head of in-telligence for Islamic State'sKhorasan branch, which is

active in South Asia and Cen-tral Asia. He was involved inseveral deadly attacksagainst both military andcivilian targets inAfghanistan, it said. "The to-

tal number of Pak-istani foreign terror-ist fighters inAfghanistan, posinga threat to bothcountries, is estimat-ed at 6,500,” it said.Meanwhile, a sui-cide car bomb and

gunmen attacked a prison ineastern Afghanistan on Sun-day, killing at least one per-son and injuring 20 others,Afghan officials said. Thescene of the attack was Jalal-abad, capital of Nangarharprovince

Pak-origin intel chief of IS-Khorasan killed

6,500Number ofPak terroristsactive inAfghanistan

6,500Number ofPak terroristsactive inAfghanistan

AGENCIES / London

The UK's Prince Andrew lobbied theUS government for a favourable pleadeal for late American financier andsex offender Jeffrey Epstein in rela-tion to the latter's 2008 underageprostitution cases, unsealed courtdocuments have claimed.The documents are from a now-set-tled 2015 defamation lawsuit filed byVirginia Giuffre, who has hasclaimed that she was traffickedwhen she was 17 and was forced intosexual encounters with the Princein London, New York and on a pri-vate Caribbean island owned by Ep-stein, the Metro newspaper reportedon Saturday. The Prince has repeat-edly denied the allegations.

In the documents, unnamed Ep-stein victims have claimed that herelied on the Duke of York and otherpowerful friends to get a reductionin his sentence. Epstein served 18months in prison after striking adeal with authorities in 2008 admit-ting soliciting a minor forprostitution.A US district had ordered the pa-pers released but two depositionsgiven by Epstein's former girlfriendGhislaine Maxwell, who is current-ly in custody, in the civil lawsuit in2016 were not produced after herlawyers appealed against the ruling.An unnamed friend told the Metronewspaper: "This allegation is astraightforward untruth. No ifs, nobuts."

Global coronavirus numbers reached18,118,726 by Sunday evening, with690,514 people falling prey to theinfection. So far, 11,395,050 people haverecovered. US tops the unwelcome listwith 4,781,939 cases and 1,58,081deaths. Source: worldometer

17,282Cases in Aus 11,577

in Victoria

AGENCIES / Tel Aviv

Thousands of protesterstook part in anti-govern-ment protests outside the of-ficial residence of PrimeMinister Benjamin Ne-tanyahu on Saturdayevening (local time).According to The Times of

Israel, it is the biggest rallyto be held in the capital sincethe recent start of anti-gov-ernment protests.As per reports, some 10,000people took part in protestsat Prime Minister's resi-dence.Around a thousand peopledemonstrated outside Ne-tanyahu's private home inthe coastal town of Cae-

sarea. Besides these, thou-sands protested against thepremier at bridges and high-way overpasses across thecountry.Police arrested four peopleearlier in the day for "accost-ing demonstrators at a pairof protests in the south andin Haifa arrested a man whothrew a rocket at protesters,injuring a woman," reported

Times of Israel."The Israel Police won't al-low anyone to turn theprotest into a display of vio-lence against police officers,citizens or property. Violentriots, violating law and [pub-lic] order and vandalism willbe dealt with firmly and en-forced accordingly," policewas quoted as saying in astatement.The prime minister is fac-ing charges of bribery, fraudand breach of trust. Thepresence of his co-accusedwill also be required.Netanyahu has beenprobed within simultane-ously several cases on cor-ruption and bribery for a fewyears now.

Protests against IsraeliPM rock Jerusalem

AGENCIESBrasilia

Facebook has said it hasobeyed a Brazilian judge'sorder for a worldwide blockon the accounts of 12 of Pres-ident Jair Bolsonaro's sup-porters who are under inves-tigation for allegedly run-ning a fake news network.Supreme Court JusticeAlexandre de Moraes saidFriday night that the compa-ny had failed to fully complywith a previous ruling or-dering the accounts to beshut down, saying they werestill online and publishingby changing their registra-tion to locations outsideBrazil.Facebook issued a state-ment saying it complied dueto the threat of criminal lia-bility for an employee inBrazil. But it called the neworder "extreme".

FB bows toBrazil judge,blocks 12accounts

AGENCIES / Phoenix

A wildfire burning near the US Arizona-Utah state line has now spread to 11,168acres, authorities said, adding that theblaze would get extreme due to dry fuel,high heat and erratic winds.The blaze, dubbed "Pine Hollow Fire", wascaused by lightning on Wednesday nightand then was fueled by dry grass, brush andwoodland, InciWeb, an interstate incidentinformation system, reported on its officialwebsite on Saturday.It added that complex terrain and badweather hampered efforts to contain thefire, reports Xinhua news agency.Some 208 firefighters are battling theblaze, the report said.So far there is no report of damage or in-juries, while the fire was zero per cent con-tained.The fire, burning about 1.6 km south ofthe Arizona-Utah state line, forced authori-ties to cut roads to the North Rim of GrandCanyon National Park, evacuated a camp-ground nearby and requested tourists tosuspend their trips to the area.The recent spell of hot and dry weather inmany US Western states have led to severalactive wildfires. Last year, Australia wasravaged by the worst wildfires seen indecades.

Wildfire near Arizona-Utahsweeps through 11,000 acres

Big increase in Amazon firesBrasilia: Official figures from Brazil have shown abig increase in the number of fires in the Amazonregion in July compared with the same month lastyear, it was reported on Sunday. Satellite imagescompiled by Brazil's National Space Agencyrevealed on Saturday that there were 6,803 - arise of 28 per cent, the BBC reported. The latest figures raise concerns about a repeat

of the huge wildfires that shocked the world inAugust and September last year.President Jair Bolsonaro has encouraged

agricultural and mining activities in the Amazon.But under pressure from international investors

in early July his government banned starting firesin the region.

AGENCIESCape Canaveral

Two NASA astronauts re-turned to Earth on Sundayin a dramatic, retro-stylesplashdown, their capsuleparachuting into the Gulf ofMexico to close out a testflight by Elon Musk's SpaceXcompany.It was the first splashdownby US astronauts in 45 years,with the first commerciallybuilt and operated space-

craft to carry people to andfrom orbit. The return clearsthe way for another SpaceXcrew launch as early as nextmonth and possible touristflights next year.Test pilots Doug Hurleyand Bob Behnken rode theSpaceX Dragon capsule backto Earth less than a day afterdeparting the InternationalSpace Station and twomonths after blasting offfrom Florida. The capsuleparachuted into gulf waters.

SpaceX & NASA rewrite history

INSEPARABLE TILL DEATH

Lion duo at Los Angeles Zoo euthanizedAGENCIES/ Washington

Two African lions Hubertand Kalisa, both 21 years-oldand long time companions atthe LA Zoo were humanelyeuthanized due to age-relat-ed illness.CNN reported that the duospent many years together,never having cubs with eachother but companionsnonetheless. However, theirpartnership came to end onThursday after the Los An-

geles zoo made the decisionto humanely euthanize thetwo."Hubert and Kalisa are aniconic part of the L.A. Zooexperience, and our staffand guests have beentouched by their loyal com-panionship," Denise Verret,director of the L.A. Zoo, wasquoted as saying in a state-ment."Their longevity is truly atestament to the level of ex-pert care our veterinary and

animal care teams providefor our elderly animals.These lions will remain apositive part of our history,and they will be greatlymissed" the Zoo directorsaid.According to the zoo offi-cials, the average life ex-pectancy for African lions,whose population in the wildis estimated between 23,000to 39,000, is mid-teens in thewild, whereas in captivity is17 years.

AGENCIES/ Mexico City

Mexican police and militaryforces said Sunday they havearrested the leader of theSanta Rosa de Lima gangwho spread violencethrough north-central Mexi-co and fought a years-longbloody turf battle with theJalisco cartel.The armed forces and offi-cials in the state of Guanaju-ato said they had capturedJosé Antonio Yépez Ortíz,better known by his nick-

name "El Marro," whichmeans "The Sledgehammer."Yépez Ortíz was unusualamong gang leaders becausehe posted videos with emo-tional calls to his followers.The calls included one inJune showing him appear-ing to cry after several of hissupporters and relativeswere arrested. In anothervideo, he threatened to joinforces with the Sinaloa car-tel to defeat Jalisco, anothergang, said sources in the po-lice department.

Mexico arrests violent donknown for emotive videos

PHOTO FINNISH

Finland's Prime Minister SannaMarin, 34, announced Sundaythat she has married her long-time partner Markus Raikkonen,eight months after becomingthe head of government

AGENCIES/ Mumbai

The Asian Infrastructure Invest-ment Bank (AIIB) is in discussionwith the Indian government for fi-nancing a USD 8-billion schemefor improving health infrastruc-ture at the district level to makethe country better prepared forthe future healthcare challenges.The Beijing-based multilateral

funding agency had earlier ap-proved a financial assistance ofUSD 1.2 billion for India to fight

the COVID-19 pandemic."The Government of India has

discussed about its ambitiousscheme of strengthening thehealth infrastructure. It entailsbuilding health infrastructure inevery district including upgradingof testing facilities with the Indi-

an Council of Medical Research(ICMR)," AIIB Vice President D JPandian told PTI in an interview.It is a USD 8-billion project, he

said, adding that the World Bankand Asian Development Bank arealso involved in the discussionwith the Health Department of theGovernment of India.The Finance Ministry is trying

to put up a financing plan for thisambitious scheme and the minutedetails are being worked out, hesaid.

BIZ BUZZ

Telecom regulator poses more questionsto Airtel, Voda Idea on priority plansNEW DELHI: Not satisfied with responses submitted by BhartiAirtel and Vodafone Idea on priority plans, regulator Trai hasshot off additional "technical" queries to both the telcos andasked them to explain their stand on August 4, a source said.The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) wants thetwo companies to substantiate their claims that thecontentious priority offerings, which are under the regulator'slens, have neither deteriorated experience of other networkusers nor violated any norms. Another source said that BhartiAirtel has been asked over two dozen questions, including iflimits for data speeds have been set for platinum and non-platinum users, and about the levels of throughput forplatinum users. Trai sent out fresh set of questions to bothBharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea on July 31, and the operatorshave been asked to respond to the questions on August 4.Trai has said it is desirable that points raised in thequestionnaire be covered in a presentation scheduled on theissue on the same day. The regulator has asked thecompanies to back their claims via data, the source said. A Trai official said that the previous responses received fromcompanies were "vague" and gave no real assurance toaddress regulator's concerns over whether network preferenceto specific customers resulted in deterioration of services forother non-premium subscribers. 6----------------------------------------------------------------------------‘Compute tax demand for all assesseesby Aug 31, dispose of pending appeals’NEW DELHI: With tepid collections proving to be a challengein meeting tax revenue goals, CBDT Chairman P C Mody hasset monthly targets for field formations for disposing ofappeals and asked them to compute taxes for all assesses byAugust-end. In a letter to Principal Chief Commissioners ofIncome Tax, Mody said that many taxpayers are waiting tofile applications under 'Vivad Se Vishwas' scheme, but theyare also waiting for correct demand to be intimated to them.6----------------------------------------------------------------------------Discoms' outstanding dues to powergencos rise 47% to Rs 1.33 L cr in JuneNEW DELHI: Power producers' total outstanding dues owedby distribution firms rose over 47% year-on-year to Rs 1.33lakh crore in June 2020, reflecting stress in the sector.Distribution companies (discoms) owed a total of Rs 90,655crore to power generation firms in June 2019, says PRAAPTI(Payment Ratification And Analysis in Power procurement forbringing Transparency in Invoicing of generators).6----------------------------------------------------------------------------US generics business to continue itsgrowth momentum: Cadila HealthcareNEW DELHI: Pharma firm Cadila Healthcare is bullish aboutits growth momentum in the United States driven by newproduct launches and expansion in overall product offerings.According to the its annual report for fiscal year 2019-20, thecompany is planning to introduce additional "topical,transdermal and injectable products" in coming years.6----------------------------------------------------------------------------PE investment in warehousing segmentfalls 92% in Janury-June: Report NEW DELHI: Private equity (PE) investment in warehousingand industrial space segment plunged 92% to USD 102million (around Rs 750 crore) during the first six months ofthis year as investors turned cautious because of COVID-19pandemic, according to Colliers International. Investment andleasing activity are likely to remain muted over the next yeardue to slower decision-making by investors because of thepandemic, but the long-term outlook for the segment remainspromising, Colliers International said in a report.6----------------------------------------------------------------------------Lupin recalls 35,928 bottles of genericantibiotic drug in the USNEW DELHI: Drug major Lupin is recalling 35,928 bottles of ageneric antibiotic drug in the US market followingunfavourable result in retention samples, the US healthregulator said in a report. As per the latest EnforcementReport of the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), theMumbai-based company is recalling Cefdinir for oralsuspension USP, 250 mg/5mL, packaged in 60 ml bottles.6----------------------------------------------------------------------------‘Nationalised system to market economyshift causing RBI-government tensions’MUMBAI: A shift to being a market-based economy from a nationalisedsystem has led to simmering tensionsbetween the Reserve Bank and thegovernment and questions over thecentral bank's independence, former RBIdeputy governor Viral Acharya has said.The economist, who went back toteaching in the US after his surpriseresignation from the RBI ahead of histerm's end last year, said India continuesto be in his heart and he would like to "give back" to thecountry in the future as well. Acharya, who resigned afterrun-ins with the government last year, said the dip in financialsavings is also another reason which can explain thedisagreements between Mint Road and North Block. It can benoted that a slew of central bank governors in recent timeshave flagged the issue of autonomy, and pointed to instanceswhere there were disagreements both in rate setting - wherethe government wants an accommodatory stance - and alsoregulatory aspects.6----------------------------------------------------------------------------NITI Aayog for creation of Dak BankNEW DELHI: In a bid to further deepen financial inclusion inthe country, the NITI Aayog has suggested the creation of aDak Bank -- postal bank -- by merging the regional ruralbanks, among other recommendations to the government. Ina recent presentation to the Prime Minister's Office and theFinance Ministry, the NITI Aayog has suggested the over 1.5lakh post offices in the country should be made outlets forthe proposed Dak Bank, sources said.

MONEY THE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

AGENCIESMumbai

The Finance Ministry may soonhave a decision to make, whetherto encourage retail investors par-ticipation in the stock marketthrough direct trading or to dis-courage them as seems to be thecase with recent diktats on mar-gins and intra day trading by theregulator, Securities and Ex-

change Board of India (SEBI)which have introduced a sense ofunease among the broking com-munity and retail investors.Stock brokers have petitioned

the Finance Ministry and SEBI oncirculars which if implemented isfeared that it will have the effect ofreducing trading volumes drasti-cally and wipe out number of bro-kers.The SEBI circulars coincide with

an important new trend in theform of an unplanned and sudden

entry of millions of new retail in-vestors in the stock markets dur-ing the lockdown and Covid 19phase. Many of them have eitherbecome unemployed or have re-duced income and have startedhome while they were sitting athome during the lockdown andnormal economic activity was cur-tailed.The circulars come at the fag end

of the extension given to SEBI

Chairman Ajay Tyagi. He got a six month extension in

his tenure which was to end onMarch 1. It is not known whetherhe will get a further extension af-ter August. The Indian Administrative Serv-

ice (IAS) officer of HimachalPradesh cadre has served a three-year tenure following which an-other six months extension wasgiven by the government.

Fin panelchief sets8% Indiagrowthagenda

NEW DELHI: India needs to grow much faster over the next 10 years with the useof technology and reforms in order to become an important global player, 15thFinance Commission Chairman N K Singh said on Sunday.To achieve the potential growth rate of 7-8%, India has to improve factorproductivity and reduce incremental capital output ratio, he said.Singh said technology, coupled with significant reforms in areas like health,education and maintenance of infrastructure, can make a decisive difference."If we wish to become important global player, we have to obviously grow muchfaster over the next 10 years than we did in the past decade," he said.

State-owned Indian Oil Corp Ltd has hiked theprice of aviation turbine fuel by 1,304.25 rupeesper kl, or 3.1%, to 43,932.53 rupees per kl in Delhi,with corresponding changes in other states, asper information on the website of the country'slargest fuel retailer. This is the fifth consecutive

increase in jet fuel prices in the last two months.With this price increase, jet fuel is priced at43,213.19 rupees per kl in Mumbai, 48,656.15 ru-pees per kl in Kolkata, and 45,022.57 rupees per klin Chennai. Public sector fuel retailers used to re-vise jet fuel prices once a month.

IOC hikes jet fuel price by 3% to Rs 43,932.53/kl in Delhi

Brokers wary of direct D-St access plan, move SEBI, FM

SWEETS SALES DURING RAKSHA BANDHAN MAY BE HALVED FROM RS 10,000 CR LAST YEAR

INDORE:The country's sweets industrywould suffer an estimated financial loss ofRs 5,000 crore during this Raksha Band-han festival due to the coronavirus pan-demic, an industry association claimed.A national federation of sweet makers

says that sales of sweets on this RakshaBandhan are expected to be halved due tothe alleged mismanagement of the ad-ministration in different states in addi-tion to the epidemic hitting customers.This may cost the sweets industry aboutRs 5,000 crore.

The director of the Federation of Sweetsand Namkeen Manufacturers, Feroz H.Naqvi, on Sunday told PTI, "Sweets wortharound Rs 10,000 crore were sold acrossthe country on Raksha Bandhan last year.

This figure expected to come down toaround Rs 5,000 crore this time.""The purchasing power of the cus-

tomers is already affected due to the eco-nomic crisis arising out of Covid-19.There has been a lot of confusion in manydistricts of Madhya Pradesh, UttarPradesh and some other states aboutopening of sweet shops on Saturday andSunday falling just before Raksha Band-han (Monday). As a result, sweets couldnot be manufactured and stocked ade-quately to meet the festive demand."

Sweets industry braces for bitter taste

FPIs invest Rs 3,301 cr in Julyas market soars

NEW DELHI:Foreign portfolio in-vestors (FPI) remained net buyersfor the second consecutive monthin July by pumping in Rs 3,301crore in Indian markets amidhopes of a coronavirus vaccine.According to the depositories

data, a net sum of Rs 7,563 crorewas invested in equities while Rs4,262 crore were withdrawn byFPIs between July 1-31. The net investment during the

month stood at Rs 3,301 crore. Inthe previous month, FPIs put in anet Rs 24,053 crore in Indian mar-kets.Some factors that led to invest-

ment include surge in marketswhich provided FPIs good profitbooking opportunity, improve-ment in sentiment on the back ofrising hopes of a coronavirus vac-cine, said Himanshu Srivastava,associate director - manager re-search, Morningstar India.

IOCL to invest Rs 13,805 cr to setup Odisha plant

Covid cess cuts liquor sales up to 60%

BHUBANESWAR:Indian OilCorporation Ltd (IOCL) will in-vest Rs 13,805 crore to set up aplant in Odisha's Paradip to man-ufacture raw materials for thetextile sector, an official said.The project is expected to be

completed by 2024, he said. Theparaxylene (PX) and purifiedterephthalic acid (PTA) plant willbe integrated with the IOCL's re-finery facility in the port town ofJagatsinghpur district."The integrated paraxylene

(PX) and purified terephthalicacid (PTA) complex plant inParadip will be set up at an esti-mated investment of Rs 13,805crore to facilitate textile sector,"the official said.The project will generate ap-

proximately five million man-days of employment over thethree-year plant construction pe-riod, he said.

NEW DELHI: States which im-posed more than 50% COVID-cess on liquor after the resump-tion of retail trade post lock-down witnessed an average 59%decline in sales in May and Junedue to higher tariffs, a report bytrade association CIABCclaimed.States as Delhi, Andhra

Pradesh, Odisha, J&K and Pud-ducherry, which had imposed aCOVID-cess of 50% and above re-ported a decline of 66% in May

and 51% in June compared to theyear-ago period, the report byConfederation of Indian Alco-holic Beverage Companies (CIA-BC) said.While, states as Arunachal

Pradesh, Meghalaya, Rajasthan,West Bengal, Kerala and Jhark-hand, which had imposed aCOVID-cess between 15-50% re-ported an average decline of 34%in sales, the report stated.However, states where up to

15% additional cess was im-

posed, witnessed only 16% de-cline in May and June, which in-cludes Uttarakhand, UP, Telan-gana, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh,Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Maha-rashtra, Assam, Chandigarh,Madhya Pradesh, Goa and Pun-jab.While pan India, there was a

decline of 25% and 15% respec-tively in May and June this year,totalling to 4.37 crore cases. Itwas 5.87 crore cases in 2019 inthe same month.

8The agency hadapproved $1.2 billion

to fight Covid in India

Beijing-based AIIB plans to invest in upcoming$8 bn health infrastructure build-up in India

AGENCIESMumbai

The percentage of first-time buyers and additionalcar buying have increased in the midst of theCOVID-19 pandemic as customers prefer personalmobility over public transport, according to a seniorofficial of Maruti Suzuki India.The company also believes that while vehicle sales

have improved in July, the outlook for festive seasonwill depend on how the health crisis pans out, andthe long-term vehicle demand will also depend a loton the fundamentals of the economy."First-time car buying is up and replacement buy-

ing is down, which means exchange is down. Howev-er, additional car buying is also up because of thefunctionality requirement," Maruti Suzuki IndiaExecutive Director (Sales and Marketing) ShashankSrivastava said.Explaining reasons behind the development, he

said, "That means people are preferring personaltransport over public transport. At the same timetheir income levels are also probably going to be sup-pressed for sometime. Therefore, the trend is to-wards what we call 'telescoping of demand down-wards', that is logical and intuitive. It is also reflect-ing in the data which we have so far." The company had witnessed the share of first-time

buyers going up by 5.5% to around 51-53% in the firstquarter of this fiscal as compared to the fourth quar-ter of 2019-20.MSI has also seen enquiry levels reach 85-90% of

pre-COVID levels with higher share in mini and com-pact segments at around 65% against around 55%earlier.

In July, sales of MSI's mini segment cars compris-ing Alto and S-Presso grew by 49.1% at 17,258 units asagainst 11,577 units in the same month last year butthat of compact segment consisting of models likeWagonR, Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire wasdown 10.4% at 51,529 units as against 57,512 units inthe year-ago month. The company's overall domestic passenger vehicle

sales in July grew by 1.3% at 97,768 units as com-pared to 96,478 units in July 2019.When asked if July sales data indicate recovery in

the automobile market, Srivastava said, "There is re-lief and optimism based on July numbers...It does in-dicate restoration of normalcy in terms of produc-tion, supply chain and that is the defining charac-teristic of July (sales)." Srivastava, however, cau-tioned that the July numbers were over a low base oflast year "which is way off the high levels we haveseen in the past".

Automakers battling the pandemic-inducecd slump are using ingenious ways to keep sales ticking

First-time buyers crowd Maruti outlets

Escorts bets on agri business division todrive overall performance this fiscal

MUMBAI: Farm equipment and en-gineering major Escorts Ltd ex-pects to do comparatively betterthis fiscal than last year, driven byits agri-business division despitethe impact of the coronaviruspandemic, according to a seniorcompany official.With strong demand for tractors

continuing from rural markets,the company is optimistic that inspite of the supply-side con-straints witnessed in the firstquarter of this fiscal, it would beable to catch up in the remainingmonths to post better than indus-try sales, which is expected to riseby single digit."With all verticals put together,

driven by agri division which is al-most 80% of the topline, overallwe should be better than lastyear...Overall our expectation isthat it will be a positive year, maynot be the best year but it will bebetter than last year definitely,"Escorts Ltd Group CFO BharatMadan said.

In the first quarter of the fiscal,he said despite the supply-sideconstraints due to lockdown thecompany was able to enhance itsmarket share in the tractor seg-ment. Escorts Ltd had sold 18,150tractors in the quarter ended June30 as against 21,051 tractors in thecorresponding period last fiscal.In July the company restricted

production to around 60-65% ofcapacity impacted by localisedlockdown and COVID-19 cases insuppliers and at its factory, afterreaching 90-95% capacity in June.Its total tractor sales in July

grew by 9.5% at 5,322 units asagainst 4,860% in the same monthlast year. Domestic sales were at4,953 units as against 4,505 units inthe year-ago month, up 9.9%."Hopefully by August things will

become normal and lockdown ar-eas are also opened," Madan saidadding, "we expect production tocome back. We should be able togain some market share this yearand do better than the industry".

Toyota looks to battle pandemic, forex riskwith localisation of products, technologiesNEW DELHI: Toyota KirloskarMotor (TKM) is looking at en-hancing localisation of its prod-ucts as well as technologies as itaims to de-risk its business fromforeign exchange fluctuations aswell supply chain challenges, ac-cording to a senior company offi-cial.The company, which is a joint

venture between Japanese automajor Toyota and the KirloskarGroup, is increasing local contentin car manufacturing as well asplanning to produce hybrid sys-tems in the country."We are looking at localisation

not only because of Made in Indiainitiative. Backward integrationalso insulates from exchange ratefluctuations and makes supplychain shorter," TKM Senior VicePresident (Sales and Service)Naveen Soni told PTI in an inter-view.As part of the process, the com-

pany is constantly trying to in-crease local content in its prod-

ucts, he added."It is an ongoing process. The en-

gine for Innova Crysta is nowmanufactured locally. Almost 85%of the components used in the en-gine are locally manufactured. Wehave gradually increased localisa-tion in gear boxes and other criti-cal components," Soni said.The auto major also plans to lo-

cally manufacture hybrid systemsin the country. TKM currently im-ports such systems.As part of Toyota's global collab-

oration with Suzuki Motor Corp,the systems could also be suppliedto Maruti Suzuki India.The company, however, did not

elaborate on the exact plans."There's nothing we can share

publicly at this moment, beyondwhat's been publicly announcedto date. As a matter of policy wedo not discuss future product andinvestment plans," Soni said.He further said: "Having said

that, we have always intended andaimed at creating competitive, re-liable and scalable value-chain bybuilding local capabilities be it forthe traditional internal combus-tion engine, electrified power-train or any other technology."Even Toyota's alliance with Suzu-ki focuses to strengthen the com-petitiveness of both the compa-nies by applying their strongpoints and learning from eachother, he noted."However, a more comprehen-

sive road map and conducive poli-cy environment would help us toeffectively plan the long-termproduct strategy," Soni said.A hybrid vehicle has more than

one source of power. Usually, itcombines a conventional combus-tion engine with an electric motor

Renault lines up newmodels, takes rural road

AGENCIES / New Delhi

French automaker Renault aimsto drive in new models and focuson sales initiatives, especially inrural areas, as it looks to strength-en its position in India, whichcontinues to remain one of thetop ten markets for it globally, Re-nault India Operations CountryChief Executive Officer and Man-aging Director VenkatramMamillapalle said.The company recently intro-

duced automated manual trans-mission (AMT) trims for entrylevel Kwid and new entrantTriber, in addition to the manualtransmission variants.The company is now gearing up

to further bolster its product port-folio."We will soon launch Duster

with an all-new turbo engine(petrol), making it the most pow-erful SUV in its segment," he said.Furthermore, the company is

readying an all-new product forIndia market, he added."True to our product strategy,

Renault's new offering will be adisruptor that will cater to the

evolving customer expectations,while establishing the expertiseof India's design, technical andmanufacturing prowess on theglobal map," Mamillapalle noted.India is one of the key markets

for Groupe Renault and has beenpart of the top ten global marketson a cumulative sales basis for thelast few years."We have some of the most pop-

ular global products in our port-folio, led by Kwid, which is one ofthe top cars for the group global-ly," he added.Having introduced Triber re-

cently and with Kwid still receiv-ing a robust response, Renaultsaw its sales surge 75.5% in Julyto 6,422 units as compared with3,660 units in July 2019.Robust response to AMT ver-

sions of Kwid and Triber havealso helped the company shore upadditional volumes.Elaborating on the company's

mid-to-long term strategic plan tostrengthen rural markets forgrowth, Mamillapalle said lastyear the company initiated an ac-tivity which targeted 330 ruraltowns across the country.

8The company isincreasing local content

in car manufacturing andplanning to produce hybridsystems in the country.

5.5%— Rise in number of first-time buyers at MSIL53%— Share of first-time buyers in Q1 this fiscal

1.3%— Rise in Maruti Suzuki sales during quarter

NEW DRIVE

THE FREEPRESSJOURNAL | MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 03, 2020

CONTINUED DEPENDENCE ON AGRICULTUREMAKES FARMERS POORERJUAN F MORENO, CEO, Sexing Technologies:Our foremost responsibility is to feed thegrowing population in the world. We havearound 7 billion people on the earth andwe are heading to 10 billion. Even as thepopulation grows, we cannot make moreearth to produce more food products. So,we will have limited space on earth to pro-duce more food. We bear the responsibility of feeding

the 10 billion people that will be in thisworld. To accomplish this task, we have tolook at increasing productivity. To in-crease productivity, we will have to look atvarious technologies that are available tous. The greatest technology that hu-mankind has seen is artificial insemina-tion (AI). The product can be delivered tothe farmer in a very simple way througha little plastic straw. This will help in giv-ing birth to milch animals which offerhigher yields.

ARUN RASTE, Executive Director, NDDB: Excessive dependency on agricultureleads to low income among farmers espe-cially in a country like India, where farm-ers are dependent on agriculture. Theshare of agriculture in gross value added(GVA) is 17.2 per cent now. It was 18.5 percent about ten years ago. About 50 percent of the population is contributingonly 17.2 per cent. That means that such asituation will make people poorer if theycontinue to remain dependent on agri-culture. We need to increase the produc-tivity of agriculture and allied sectors. The share of livestock in agriculture is

going up which includes dairy, poultry,

fishery and others. It has gone up from 21per cent a decade ago to around 29 percent. In economic terms, of the total GVAof 4 per cent, the livestock share has goneup to 5 per cent. Of that, around 61 percent is dairy, 21 per cent is meat, 6 per centis dung and rest is honey, wool and others. Livestock has an inverse relationship

with poverty. More animals a farmer has,it is easy for him to come out of poverty.We have a population of 1.3 billion peo-

ple and 536 million animals. From 536 mil-lion animals, only 302 million are bovineanimals. In India, 85 per cent of small and mar-

ginal farmers own 75 per cent of bovine an-imals. If you are talking of livestock, it ismore equitable than agriculture in India.

KV SHAJI, Deputy Managing Director,NABARD:Around 85 per cent of small and

marginal farmers own only 47 per cent offarmland in India. Land in India is notequally distributed in the country. In thecase of small and marginal farmers, it isskewed. If the farmer has to become self-sufficient, then farming alone cannothelp. This is where the role of animal hus-bandry comes into play. The value of milk is higher compared to

the value of rice and wheat put together.Animal husbandry is more or less like arisk mitigation factor for agriculture. It willhelp in improving the cash flow of farmers. Animal husbandry’s value can only be

realised over a period of time. Thus, thereis a need for capital. To meet the capitalneeds of agriculture, NABARD — alongwith the government — is coming outwith various schemes. Earlier, the Kisancredit card was limited to crops but nowhas been extended to animal husbandry

as well. So, farmers can avail Rs 1.6 lakhcredit without any collateral.There are schemes for entrepreneurs

as well to help them with their start-ups.

TECHNOLOGY-INTERVENTION IN ANIMAL HUSBANDRYJUAN F MORENO: We are very fortunate toassociate with BAIF in India. This collab-oration was established due to the associ-ation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foun-dation. We founded and collaborated with

BAIF to establish a sex sorting laboratoryin India. It has now been operating forover a year and a half. We have been ableto deliver half a million sex semen straws.From this sex semen straws around1,50,000 calves are born in India. It is ex-citing to see the technology come into op-eration in the country.

BAIF has some incredible logistical sys-tems to deliver the sexed semen — not justin Pune, but in different states in India. We are into the production of sexed-se-

men. Using this technology, we can pro-vide semen that will enable the birth of90-95 per cent female calves as against theoriginal ratio of 50 per cent male and 50per cent female.

WHAT IS SLOWING DOWN CREDIT FLOW? ARUN RASTE: The credit flow is only 12 percent in animal husbandry. There is a hugegap in terms of the credit that flows intoanimal husbandry which includes cow,sheep, goat, pig, fish and others. We needto augment the flow of credit to this sec-tor. While NABARD is offering full-fledged support, the transmission level islow among banks.

KV SHAJI:Historically, the interest sub-vention part was skewed towards work-ing capital needs. Thus, there is a report-ing problem there. Yet another problem is the accessibili-

ty and availability of loans. A farmer usu-ally does not have collateral. So, we are ad-dressing this issue with the credit guar-antee/ enhancement. If a farmer is goingin for an investment activity up to Rs 2crore, the government is guaranteeingthat to the banker. So, the banker is com-fortable. The government will be bearingthe guarantee fee as well.In case, there is an issue with cash flow

from the farmer’s side then the govern-ment will step in.In the case of interest rate subvention,

there are subventions in short-termloans. Now, the government has initiated

subventions for long-term loans as well.So, it is available at a cheaper rate. In the next one or two years, the credit

flow to the sector will improve as the avail-ability and accessibility factor will be ad-dressed. Like the PSB-59-minute portal forMSMEs (https://www.psbloansin59min-utes.com/home), there will be one for agri-culture as well. This on-demand agricul-ture loan will be under a self-sufficient In-dia (Aatma Nirbhar Bharat) package. The farmers can choose the bank and thebank cannot refuse the loan as the government will be guaranteeing theloan. This will empower the farmers.

WHAT LIES AHEADARUN RASTE: We require sex sorting goingforward. We are trying to develop thattechnology indigenously. This would bethe requirement of the country. Along with AI, animal health is also a

concern. The industry should be worriedabout animal health. Indian Immunologi-cals Ltd (IIL), which is NDDB’s subsidiary,is one of the largest producers of vaccines.IIL produces 240 million doses of FMD(foot and mouth disease) vaccine. Butthere are not many agencies in India whoare present in the animal vaccine busi-ness. So if severe acute respiratory syn-drome (SARS) or COVID-19 equivalent ill-nesses suddenly emerge among animals,there will be very few who can deal with it.Thus, there is a need to have this infra-structure in place. In addition, there is aneed for more research in this industry.

KV SHAJI: We need a technology whichagri entrepreneurs can avail of andNABARD should be able to provide themwith capital. NABARD in associationwith other institutions has set-up incuba-tion centres at five locations. Then there is an agriculture infra-

structure fund which is a large fund,where we are contemplating an outlay ofRs 1 lakh crore. This will benefit all themigrants that returned to their respectivevillages. In case, any of these migrantswish to become entrepreneurs, the fundwill be made available for their needs. It is our duty to ensure that people

are not distressed during this time of thepandemic.

For most farmers, agricultural (crop) incomes have been a cause for concern for ages due to its unstable nature. Thus, depending exclusively on agriculture is notadvisable. However, animal husbandry and allied activities could support the farmer and help add some level of stability in income flows.

The key to achieving the target of doubling farmers’ income is only possible by strengthening livestock farming along with crop farming. To learn more about waysto improve the productivity of livestock and other concerns in the animal husbandry business, SIES and Free Press Journal in association with NSE, NCDEXInvestor (Client) Protection Fund Trust, and East West Seed organised a webinar titled ‘Animal Husbandry - Economics and Fallacies’. The panellists for thesession were Juan F Moreno, CEO, Sexing Technologies (BAIF); Arun Raste, Executive Director, NDDB; and KV Shaji, Deputy Managing Director, NABARD.

It was moderated by RN Bhaskar, consulting editor and the welcome address was made by Dr Vaneeta Raney, head BMM, SIES College of Arts, Science & Commerce.

Given below are edited excerpts with editorial support from Jescilia K.

AFTER MILK, IT IS ANIMAL HUSBANDRYTHAT DRIVES AGRICULTURE IN INDIA

Trial runs in Haridaspur-Paradeep Railway lineThe much awaited Haridaspur-Paradeep Railwayline work is almost complete. The trial runs ofgoods trains were started on July 31, 2020. EastCoast Railway appreciates the aspirations of thepeople of the area in and around this line forhaving passenger train services. ECoR stated thattrial runs of goods trains are necessary for the lineto settle for safe train running. ECoR wants toinform the public that for passenger trains runningmany other safety works and passenger facilitiesare essential to be done.

ANIL R MENON

In the last two articles, the four ‘C’sto survive these challenging timeswas written about. It should be re-

membered that survival must be theimmediate short-term strategy withrevival being the next medium andlong-term strategies. It is to survivein the short term that many of mymentees have successfully applied theseven 'C’ model with good results.Let me reiterate the first four ‘C’

mentioned in the previous two arti-cles for the benefit of all — cash, costs,communication and focus on customers.It is all about conserving cash, look-ing at eliminating and reducing costsand communication to all stakehold-ers. The fourth ‘C’ that is customers —

business owners should reach out totheir existing customers to sell newproducts. It is important to reach outto customers whom we had lost overthe years and re-establish relations.An alternative strategy as suggestedby the great management consultantAnsoff would be to reach out to newcustomers with existing products.This has been implemented by mydear mentee Krishna Rana of Plat-inum Industries. During the lock-down period, Rana and his sales teamprepared a list of potential clients.Then Platinum Industries arrangedindustry-specific seminars from aninternationally renowned scientist inthat field who spoke about the latestdevelopments in the field. This had a

ripple effect. Not only all potentialcustomers are made aware of the lat-est technological global innovationsit also helped establish Platinum In-dustries as a renowned brand. It wasa masterstroke by the Platinum salesteam as it created a win-win situationfor all. In future, all customers in-cluding potential customers couldconnect with Platinum making it eas-ier for the sales team to approachclients for potential sales. It needs to be remembered that the

lockdown was the best period tolaunch these seminars as one couldget the undivided attention of allbusiness owners and key manage-ment involved in sales. We can dis-cuss more such cases in the comingweeks. I would like to attend this week’s ar-

ticle by mentioning that it is chal-lenging times for all. However pleaseremember that running and growinga business needs three skills — IQ (Intelligence Quotient), SQ (Social Quo-tient) and EQ (Emotional Quotient). Thisis the period where all three will be

tested. But a business person shouldalways remember the following threebusiness rules :

Rule No 1:This too shall pass.

Rule No 2: Running a business is ajourney with highs and lows. En-joy the journey with happiness.

Rule No 3: If you survive these toughtimes, a businessperson in futurecan look back. At this challengingperiod, you can set an exampleand be an inspiration to otherbusinesspersons (in the presentand future).

Next week we shall discuss the remaining 'C's. Till then please applythe model and let me know your feed-back at anilrmenon1@gmail.com .

Menon is a business coach and has ayoutube channel menonmantras where

videos are uploaded for the benefit of thebusiness community and employees.

This too shall passSurvival is short-term strategy; revival is long-term strategy

RPF distributes grocery kit to visuallyimpaired persons

In the wake ofthe coronaviruspandemic, RPFMumbaiDivision ofCentral RailwaydistributedGrocery Kit tovisuallyimpairedpersons on July24, 2020. Thisfood kit

consisted of Wheat flour, Rice, Toor Dal, Sugar, Rajma, Groundnut,Edible oil, spices blend and Tea Powder. RPF team also distributedWheat flour (5 kg bag each) to 102 Differently-abled and visuallyimpaired persons on 29.07.2020 at Badlapur, Ambernath,Ulhasnagar and Vithalwadi stations. RPF team from Badlapur withthe help of an NGO (Yuva Foundation) and with voluntarycontribution distributed Grocery Kit to 125 visually impaired personson July 30, 2020. Grocery kit consisted of 3 kg Wheat flour, 3 kgRice, 1 kg Dal, 500 g Sugar, 1 litre oil, 100 g Tea Powder, 100 gturmeric powder, 100 g spice, 1 kg salt and 1 soap at Vanganistation.

Despite lockdown, WR achieves earningsof more than Rs 2800 cr from goods traffic

Western Rly has continued with itstransportation of essential commoditiesthrough its parcel special trains and goodstrains. Inspite of labour constraints due topandemic Covid-19, during the lock down andcurrent situation, WR has left no stoneunturned to keep the chain of supply moving.This could be made possible only through theconcerted efforts of the officers and staff ofWestern Railway. Since 22nd March, 2020,total 10,488 rakes of goods trains wereloaded till 31st July, 2020, while the earningsfrom the loading of goods traffic over WR, hasbeen Rs 2809.64 crore. Loading in the 10,798rakes included various essential commoditiestotaling to 22.1 Million Tonnes. Total 21,157

Freight trains were interchanged with other Railways, including10,561 trains handed over and 10,596 trains taken over at differentinterchange points of Western Railway, said Sumit Thakur- ChiefPublic Relations Officer of Western Rly.

WR sells scrap worth Rs. 45 cr. overIndian railways during lockdown throughe-auctions

While the deadlyCoronavirus Pandemiclockdown broughteverything to a haltand adverselyaffected the earningsof railways due tonon operations oftrains in full capacity,

the wheels of striving for the best at Western Railway has alwaysbeen running. In another new achievement unlocked by WesternRailway, the Materials Management department of W.Rly initiatednew ways to enhance the earning through sale of unserviceablematerial (scrap) released from various activities of the railway duringthe harsh times of Coronavirus Pandemic. Western Railway has soldscrap materials worth Rs. 45 crore in the lockdown, which is thehighest among all railway zones under the dynamic leadership &able guidance of Alok Kansal- General Manager of Western Rly & J PPandey - Principal Chief Materials Manager of WR. GM Kansal hascongratulated PCMM Pandey & his entire team of dedicated warriorsfor this commendable performance.

HUDCO Signs MoU with YEIDAM. Nagaraj,CMD Housing& UrbanDevelopmentCorporation(HUDCO) andDr. ArunvirSingh, CEO,YamunaExpresswayIndustrial

Development Authority (YEIDA) signed an MoU for providingfinancial assistance to the tune of over Rs 4000 crore for variousprojects adjoining the up-coming International Airport at Jewar,Uttar Pradesh. These would include land acquisition, development ofindustrial estates, electronic city, housing projects and associatedinfrastructure development on both sides of Yamuna expresswayover the next 3 years.

Odisha CM inaugurates Plasma Bank atIspat General Hospital of SAIL

A Plasma Bank was inaugurated on-line by Naveen Patnaik, ChiefMinister of Odisha at Ispat General Hospital of SAIL, Rourkela SteelPlant (RSP) on 31st July. The Plasma Bank, set up in association withGovernment of Odisha would go a long way in treatment of thecritically ill COVID-19 patients. It is noteworthy that this is one ofthe many exemplary initiates taken by SAIL, Rourkela Steel Plantunder the guidance of Minister of Petroleum & Natural Gas andSteel, Govt. of India, Dharmendra Pradhan to fight the pandemic.Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has been stressing on strengtheninginfrastructure and expanding services in SAIL’s hospitals. Since theoutbreak of the pandemic, he had instructed to create facilities forCOVID-19 testing and treatment at Ispat General Hospital for thepeople of the region. Earlier in the month of April, a COVID SampleTesting Lab was established in IGH which has proved to beimmensely beneficial in containing the spread of the disease.

: Leaders were unhappy in Congress meetingThe Thursday meeting of Congress MPs with SoniaGandhi ended with no solution and during the fivehours meeting, many leaders were reportedlylevelled different charges from corruption to cut offfrom voters. Leaders were unanimous in completeintrospection of the party but no one had anysuggestions on how will it be done. Some youngleaders bat for Rahul Gandhi but some kept quit.

: Interviews for Chairman, SAIL on August 10The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) isexpected to hold interviews for the post ofChairman, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) onAugust 10, 2020. As many as seven candidates arewhispered to have been shortlisted for the same.

whispersinthecorridorsDr Suresh Mehrotra

— Correctness of this content is the responsibility of the author.

CORPORATE GALLERY

merican comedian and TV show host Ellen DeGeneres may be ready tosay goodbye to her talk show as an investigation into toxic workplaceclaims is underway. According to Fox News, as per a new report, the 62-year-old talk-show host has been in talks with top executives from Warner

Bros. and Telepictures, the company that produces the show, to let them knowshe is considering pulling the plug entirely. An insider at Telepictures revealed toDaily Mail, "She feels she can't go on and the only way to recover her personalbrand from this is to shut down the show." —ANI

ATHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

Ellen to pullthe plug onher show?

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

diti Rao Hydari has appeared in sever-al South Indian films over the pastcouple of years but her release countin Bollywood has been rather low. The

actress insists says it is not the languageor film industry, but the film that mattersmost to her. "More than often I am told that now I amfocusing on my career in South and have leftMumbai. But I have not gone anywhere.Scripts and opportunities took me every-where. Why should I say no to a film if thestory is exciting? I think we are a generationof actor for whom the length of the role doesnot matter but substance does," Aditi said. Her last assignments in Bollywood were asupporting role in Padmaavat and a star-ring role in Daas Dev. Both films released in2018. In roughly the same amount of time,she had done five films down South, acrossTamil, Telugu and Malayalam languages. Her upcoming Hindi film is The Girl On A

Train, starring Parineeti Chopra, while shehas two Tamil and one Telugu film lined upfor release. "I look for something in which Iam artistically challenged while trying outsomething new. For instance, look at my rolein the film Padmaavat. When Sanjay (LeelaBhansali) sir called me, he told me thatamong all the four characters in the film, myrole would be smallest. 'But he promise you,the story will be incomplete without yourcharacter', he added. Eventually, when Istarted receiving good words for the charac-ter of Mehrunisa, I was happy. For me, theimpact of my character matters," sheclaimed. —IANS

‘Scripts andopportunities

took meeverywhere’

A

ismayed by media's irresponsi-ble coverage on mental healthand the online trolling and at-tacks on Rhea Chakraborty, late

actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s thera-pist Susan Walker broke down her si-lence and spoke to veteran journalistBarkha Dutt. Walker said that the lateactor was suffering from depressionand bipolar disorder and Rhea was his'strongest support'.Who is Susan Walker? According toher LinkedIn profile, Susan Walker Mof-fat is a clinical psychologist, psy-chotherapist and hypnotherapist whopractices in Mumbai. Walker has stud-ied from the London University and is aconsulting psychologist for the Ameri-can Consulate, the British Consulateand the American School of Bombay.She also regularly comments on psycho-logical issues for the press and is amember of the Bombay Psychologicalsociety.Susan Walker was Bollywood actorSushant SIngh Rajput's therapist. Shesaid that she met the actor and his girl-friend several times in November andDecember 2019. Walker again communi-cated with Rhea in June this year."In light of the misinformation and

conspiracy theories currently ragingon social media about Sushant SinghRajput and Rhea Chakraborty, I havedecided it is my duty to make a state-ment," she said. "Sushant was suffer-ing from bipolar disorder, a severemental illness that can be crippling foran individual during an episode. Thesymptoms of which can include severeanxiety, major depression and some-times disordered thinking and para-noia. The continuing, appalling stigmaaround mental illness makes it very dif-ficult for patients and their families toreach out. This has to stop. Mental ill-ness is no different than cancer or dia-betes. It can affect anyone, regardless ofclass, financial status and so on. In away that cancer can," she added.The therapist also said that Rhea wasSushant's strongest support and caredfor him. She added that Rhea was"somewhat of a mother figure" toSushant and "she completely filled thatrole with love, encouragement and pa-tience"."Sushant was suffering terribly dur-ing his bouts of depression and hypo-mania. Rhea was his strongest support.From the first time I met them as a cou-ple, I was impressed by the degree ofconcern, love and support she showed.It was very evident how close they were.Rhea took care of his appointments andgave him enough courage to attend, de-spite his being so fearful that someonewould find out," she said.

—FPJ Web Desk

Says the late actor suffered from depression

and bipolar disorder

ou have turned directorwith Raat Akeli Hai. Whatprompted it?I have been a successful

writer and casting directorand associate on many films andso the next transition wasto turn to film direc-tion. So I haveturned directorwith Raat AkeliHai.

Please tell usabout the film...NawazuddinSiddiqui playsa stylish andblatant copnamed Jatin Ya-dav in this murdermystery. The moviealso stars RadhikaApte, Shweta Tripathi, IllaArun, Aditya Shrivastava, ShivaniRaghuvanshi, Nishant Dahiya andTigmanshu Dhulia. Nawazuddin isassigned the task of investigatingthe murder of a wealthy politician.The family members of the politi-cian continue to call it an acci-dent, but Nawazuddin is con-vinced that there's more to thecase. During the investigation, hesort of falls for Radhika, who isone of the suspects. The film has

been shot on the exotic locales ofKanpur.

How did you cast for the film?I have been a successful castingdirector for many years and have

friendly relations with starslike Nawazuddin, Radhi-

ka Apte and Tigman-shu Dhulia and theyreadily agreed todo my film. We

completed thefilm in no time.

How was theexperience of di-recting your firstfilm?

It was great andgot to know more

about film-makingand my actors co-oper-

ated whole-heartedly, forwhich I am thankful to them.

Were you okay with a Netflix re-lease?Yes. The theatres are in lockdownand will remain so for quite awhile and hence I was ready to sellmy film to Netflix at a good price.

What next?I will announce my next soon.

D

Sushant’stherapist

makes startling

revelations

Sean Penn marriesgirlfriend Leila George

merican actor Sean Pennis married again. Theactor appears to havetied the knot with 28-

year-old girlfriend LeilaGeorge. According to Page Six, the59-year-old star has taken hisromance with Leila George to thenext level, as per the couple's closefriend. Philanthropist Irena Medavoyannounced the special and excitingnews that that the couple recently tiedthe knot.Medavoy, the wife of 'Black Swan'producer Mike Medavoy, congratulated

the couple on Friday night (local time), saying "We are so happy for@leilageorge #seanpenn getting married. We love you." Continuing,"We are over the moon to [see you] find your soulmate, true partner."You are meant to be together. God Bless you both and the family youhave joined. Introducing Penn's #marriage." Medavoy also posted anInstagram story of what appears to be the ring, an oval sapphire. Thecouple has been dating since 2016. —ANI

Kim focuses on family amidKanye's breakdown

merican reality TV star KimKardashian's marriage toKanye West may be goingfrom a tough phase, but

the mother of four is choosingto focus on the well-being of therest of her family to cope.According to Page Six, the 39-year-old star recently put out apost on Instagram wherein sheshared photos from a birthday partyshe threw for her grandmother —Mary Jo. Kim's granny celebrated her86th birthday the same week whenWest called out both Kim and hermother Kris Jenner during a bipolarepisode.Kardashian shared alongside several photos of the festive familygathering, "Happy 86th birthday to my grandma Mary Jo." The TV staradded, "Last week we celebrated my sweet grandma and she hasn'tleft her house since January. First, she was sick and then COVIDlockdown. So we got her best friends tested and driven up from SanDiego to celebrate MJ. We even had her favourite piano player andsinger from San Diego come to perform. It was such a magical day andgrandma you deserve the best!" —ANI

Jessica, Justin welcome second childmerican actor Jessica Biel and singer husband JustinTimberlake have welcomed their second child together.According to E!News, Justin's friend and collaborator BrianMcKnight told Hollywood Life that the pair welcomed a "new

baby" this summer.While the pair has yet to publiclyshare the baby news, Daily Mailreported in July that the 38-year-oldactor gave birth to a boy. At thistime, other details, like thenewborn's name, his birth date and more — are unknown. The long-timecouple is already parents to 5-year-old Silas RandallTimberlake. The outlet hasreached out to the couple'srespective representatives forcomment, and have yet toreceive a response. As perE!News, the news of thecouple's new-born comes afew months after rumoursswirled online that there wastrouble in paradise. —ANI

Lights, cast, camera!

Says Aditi Rao Hydari andadds that for her the film mat-ters and not the film industry

Writer and casting director, Honey Trehan,makes directorial debut with Raat Akeli

Hai. Here, he speaks to SANDEEPHATTANGADI about his new role as a

director, casting for the movie and more

t has been over three monthsthat Irrfan Khan passed away.Radhika, who co-starred withthe late actor in his last re-

lease, has an interesting anecdoteas she recalls working with him. Radhi-ka Madan opened up on the bond sheshared with Irrfan on the sets of theirfilm, Angrezi Medium, and shared howshe used to call him "papa" or "dad". Inthe film, Irrfan played Radhika's father. "I never addressed him as sir, I alwaysaddressed him as 'papa' or 'dad'! Hewould just smile. I remember when Ifirst met him and I called him 'dad', in-stead of feeling weird about it, he gaveme a big hug. I will always rememberhim as 'dad'," Radhika said. "I feel sograteful that I got the opportunity tojust stand in front of him and sharescreen space. I learnt so many thingsfrom him as an actor and as a person.Working with him was a big tick on mywish list," she said. Irrfan breathed his last in Mumbai onApril 29 after battling colon infection.

—IANS

iddhant Chaturvedi says his heart is like a typewriter and it does not delete. Sid-dhant took to Instagram, where he shared a picture of himself, where he is seenshirtless cleaning his typewriter. Alongside the picture Siddhant, who rose to

fame as MC Sher from Gully Boy, wrote: "My heart's a typewriter. Itdoesn't delete. Yours is a phone. Factory Reset on Repeat."

He recently penned a heartfelt poetry on his journey to suc-cess on social media. Two days ago, the actor took to Insta-gram, where he posted a picture of himself in what seemslike a backseat of a car. He is seen dressed in a black turtle-neck top paired with a brownish overcoat and sunglasses. On the professional front, Siddhant teams with Deepika in

an untitled upcoming film that also stars Ananya Panday.With Katrina Kaif, he will share screen space in the horrorcomedy Phone Bhoot. Ishaan Khatter is also a part of theproject. He will also be seen in the sequel of the 2005 hit, Bunty Aur

Babli. While Phone Bhoot, produced by Farhan Akhtarand Ritesh Sidhwani, is scheduled for a 2021 release,

the team of Bunty Aur Babli 2, also featuringSaif Ali Khan and Rani Mukerji, will resumeshooting presently. —IANS

I

Radhika calledIrrfan papaeven off sets

SSiddhant’s heart is like a typewriter

A

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O: IN

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SIDD

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EDI

Hollywood Talk

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Y

SILVERSTONE: LewisHamilton won a record sev-enth British Grand Prix indramatic fashion after hisMercedes suffered a last lappuncture here on Sunday.Hamilton extended his For-

mula One world champi-onship lead to 30 points afterhe limped to the finish line inan astonishing climax to arace he had dominated frompole position.Red Bull's Max Verstappen

finished second and will re-gret a chance to finish firsthad he not pitted for freshtyres in a bid to steal an extrapoint for the fastest lap, withFerrari's Charles Leclercthird.Hamilton's teammate Valt-

teri Bottas failed to score after

also suffering a late punctureand finishing 11th.Hamilton and Bottas had

been formation flying for 50 ofthe 52 laps until tyre dramastruck, as per a report on For-mula One's official website.

AGENCIESLondon

The only time Pierre-EmerickAubameyang

looked uncertain waswhen it came to col-lecting the FA Cup.Two goals from the

forward had turned aroundthe final for Arsenal, sealing a2-1 victory over Chelsea onSaturday in the first cup finalto be staged without fans.The coronavirus restric-

tions also meant there was noPrince William at WembleyStadium to hand over the sil-verware in the royal box.So Aubameyang had to pick

up the cup himself on the fieldas captain. Taking the base aswell, no wonder Aubameyangdropped it."I saw him walking with the

bottom bit attached," Arsenaldefender Rob Holding said,"and I was like, 'You need totake that off !'" The cup wassoon raised aloft, with goldstreamer showering the Arse-nal squad in a mostly-empty90,000-capacity stadium afterthe 139th final of the world's

oldest football competition."He needs more experience

with trophies, we can get himmore used to that," Arsenalmanager Mikel Arteta said.

"He knows what I thinkabout him. I want to build thesquad around him. I think hewants to stay and it is justabout getting the deal done."

SPORTSTHE FREEPRESSJOURNAL

MUMBAI | MONDAY | AUGUST 3, 2020

“You have to expect thingsof yourself before you can

do them.”– Michael Jordan

SILVERSTONE: India's Jehan Daruvala jumped six placesin an action-packed final three laps to finish fourth in thesprint race here on Sunday, his best result so far in the FIAFormula 2 Championship. It was a much-needed result forDaruvala, who had to endure slow starts in the earlier racesdue to clutch issues including the feature race on Saturday,when he finished 12th after starting seventh on the grid. Inthe sprint race, he started 12th.The Indian driver, who is a Red Bull junior, overtook thefeature race winner Nikita Mazepin on the final lap to secureeight points from the weekend, taking his overall tally to 18points after four rounds of the Championship.

Healy unhappy as women'sIPL dates clash with WBBLNEW DELHI:Australia women's cricketer Alyssa Healy has expressedher unhappiness regarding the proposed dates of the women's IPL,which is expected to be played during men's edition of the cash-richleague, slated to begin from September 19 in the UAE. The 13th editionof the men's IPL was shifted to the UAE due to rising COVID-19 casesin India and it was reported that women's IPL will be held somewhere inthe same window, preferably November. "Look the Governing Councilwill take these decisions. It is not an individual's decision." a BCCIfunctionary in the know of development, told IANS.

Daruvala finishes creditablefourth in sprint race Ireland pacer reprimanded for

abusing England’s Bairstow

NEW DELHI: India all-rounder Hardik Pandya onSunday expressed his gratitude to everyone whowished him and his family after the birth of his firstchild.Hardik had earlier announced on his socialmedia handle on Thursday that he and NatasaStankovic were blessed with a baby boy. Hardikthanked everyone for their wishes and wrote on hisTwitter handle: "Thank you all for the lovely wishesfor our baby boy. It means a lot to us."

SILVERSTONE: Comeback man NicoHulkenberg's British Grand Prix ended before therace could start on Sunday due to a technical snagthat saw him not being able to start his car.The German driver - who has not driven in F1since the end of last season - was called up byRacing Point as a last-minute replacement forSergio Perez, who tested positive for COVID-19late on Wednesday.

CHENNAI: Indian athlete Gomathi Marimuthu haschallenged the four-year ban, handed to her forfailing a dope test, at the Court of Arbitration forSport (CAS). Gomathi was stripped of the goldmedal she won at the 2019 Doha Asianchampionship in the 800m event and banned forfour years by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) afterher 'B' sample also returned positive for anabolicsteroid nandrolone. "An appeal has been filed withCAS as per procedures.”

DUBAI: Ireland fast bowler Josh Little has beenreprimanded for using "inappropriate" languageagainst Jonny Bairstow during the second ODI againstEngland in Southampton.Little breached Article 2.5 of the ICC Code of Conductfor Players and Player Support Personnel, whichrelates to "using language, actions or gestures whichdisparage or which could provoke an aggressivereaction from a batter upon his/her dismissal during anInternational Match". It was a Level 1 breach.

Thank you for the wishesfor our baby boy: Hardik

Hulkenberg's comeback raceends before it starts

Gomathi approaches CAS,appeals against doping ban

German legend Oliver Kahnbats for stricter FFP rules

LEEDS: Former German and Bayern Munichgoalkeeper Oliver Kahn believes that UEFA'sFinancial Fair Play rules need to be examined afterManchester City had their two-year European banoverturned at the Court of Arbitration for Sport(CAS)."I don't know the situation exactly now inMan City or Paris Saint-Germain or other clubs butI think we should take this Financial Fair Play inthe future more seriously, because if we don't dothat, we don't need it," Goal.com quoted Kahn assaying.

SPORTS CAFE

RACE RESULTS1) Hamilton Mercedes 2) Verstappen Red Bull3) Leclerc Ferrari4) Ricciardo Renault5) Norris McLaren6) Ocon Renault7) Gasly Alphatauri8) Albon Red Bull9) Stroll Racing Point10) Vettel Ferrari

Printed and Published by Girdharlal Lakhotia for the Proprietors, Indian National Press (Bombay) P. Ltd., at Journal Press, Free Press House, Free Press Journal Marg, 215, Nariman Point, Mumbai-400 021. Tel: 22874566, Advt. Dept. 22872289. E-mail: mail@fpj.co.in • OFFICE: Indore: 3/54, Press Complex, A. B. Road, Indore-452 008, Tel: 2555111-2, Fax: 2558555, New Delhi: 1/8 INS Bldg., Rafi Marg, New Delhi-110 001; Tel.: 23718853; Kolkata: Tel.: 22875645; Chennai: Tel: 28217766; Bhopal: Tel: 2660570, 4271345. Air Surcharge Rs. 2.00 only. Managing Editor: Girdharlal Lakhotia. Editor: S. S. DHAWAN. Reg. No. MCS/048/2018-20; RNI No. 1541/1957

WHAT’S ON06.00: NBA Live; Sony Six07.00: UFC CLASSICS; SONY 222.00:WWE; SONY TEN 3 23.00: NBA LIVE; Live on Sony Six

THIS DAY, THAT YEAR

FPJ SPORTS DESKMumbai

The much-awaited IndianPremier League is almosthere, while the franchiseshave been given their guide-lines, Free Press Journal,Mumbai along with ABP

Network presented a debate, ‘Should theIPL go ahead this year,’ which evokedmixed reactions.It was eight eminent people from differ-

ent walks of life came together (online)and expressed their views on this cash-rich league.It was Dr. Shashank Joshi who was

against the league being conducted dur-ing this pandemic, and two of the threejudges Poonam Dhillon and Dinkar Gup-ta IPS, DGP, Punjab Police stood by Dr.Joshi's view and agreed that this was notthe time to go ahead.Dhillon was bang on target while draw-

ing the attention of Djokovic's exhibitiontournament during which he tested posi-tive of the deadly COVID-19 virus.The IPL moves overseas for the third

time and 13th edition goes to the UnitedArab Emirates in the month of Septem-ber (19) onwards. But it still begs the ques-tion -- The coronavirus poses a threat to

the world and with no vaccine for thevirus as yet, should any of the countriestake the responsibility of being the hosts?The first round of debate ended with 'a-

gainst the motion' speaker turning thetide in his favour.Dr Shashank Joshi, a member of

COVID-19 taskforce in Maharashtra Gov-ernment, expressed his views against themotion - should IPL be held at all?“As cricket is a congregation sport,

there is a high risk of COVID-19 trans-mission”, said Joshi, adding that BCCIshould have waited for six more months."If you feel cricket is a bigger priority

than saving lives, God help you," saidJoshi.Among the panelists, Joshi was the only

one against the motion. In support of IPLbeing held this year, former India crick-eter and head coach of Zimbabwe nation-al team, Lalchand Rajput believes IPL

must be conducted in a safer environ-ment. He said, "The UAE governmentmust have precautions for the players."Neeraj Kumar, former police commis-

sioner of Delhi, said holding IPL will be amorale booster. While the sporting worldhas been on a long break, the "govern-ment is helping in returning to normal inphases," he said.He further added that the mental state

of players is being affected due to nocricket in play.Kumar was struck with a question of

betting on such anticipated sportingevents. With a break in sports, betting

events took the drain. But as they return,questions of betting events returningtook surface. Speaking about the same,Kumar said, "IPL may attract betting butsuch people anyways look for reasons tobet."Jatin Paranjpe, BCCI national selector,

and a former Indian cricketer believesthe board has made a calculated move re-garding IPL 2020 being held in UAE. "IPLis a flagship brand. BCCI has balancedout financial and medical risk and hastaken a calculated move. Building of abubble is possible. It's a well-thought de-cision," he said.Ashish Shelar, a BJP politician and for-

mer Sports Minister of Maharashtra,took the debate by force in support of IPLbeing held in UAE this year. Shelar be-lieves sportsmen belong on the field.“With a massive break in cricket due tothe ongoing coronavirus pandemic, IPL is

needed for viewer entertainment”, saidShelar, adding that "many allied indus-tries are also waiting."Supporting the move, Shelar, who was

also the president of the Mumbai CricketAssociation, said the UAE government isready to take the responsibility. He also

believes that India will benefit if IPL isconducted this year despite the pandem-ic.Shelar, a lawyer by profession, cited the

example of small scale and film indus-tries starting again. He believes that withproper safety norms and precautions,conducting the IPL is necessary.However, Dr Joshi, the only person

against the motion, was quick to counterall the aforementioned points. He citedthe example of sports' biggest brand,Tokyo Olympics, which is postponed to2021.He even brought up the argument of

Aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) Bharat - aterm announced by PM Modi during oneof his speeches. Joshi believes if we wantIPL, it should be held in India.Joshi concluded his argument and said

going ahead with IPL is a 'reckless andrestless behaviour'.Coming on to the jury members, Poon-

am Dhillon and Dinkar Gupta, the formerquestioned the panelists asking, "Who istaking responsibility of the players?"Dhillon believes conducting IPL 2020 is

commercially driven.Gupta, on the other hand, agreed with

Joshi. He believes we need to wait be care-ful as COVID-19 in India has still notreached its peak.

FPJ conducts virtual debate to let viewers know whether decision to go ahead is right or wrong

IS IPL MOREIMPORTANTTHAN SAVINGLIVES?

“As cricket is a congregation sport, there is ahigh risk of COVID-19 transmission...and ifyou feel cricket is a bigger priority thansaving lives, God help you," — Dr. Joshi

"IPL is a flagship brand. BCCI has balanced outfinancial and medical risk and has taken acalculated move. Building of a bubble is possible.It's a well-thought decision," — Jatin Paranjpe

FABULOUS BRACE!Aubameyang’s double helps Gunners

gun down Chelsea in FA Cup final

Mercedes British driver Lewis Hamilton punctures near the finish of theFormula One British Grand Prix at Silverstone motor racing circuit on Sunday

Hamilton secures seventh British GP despite puncture

1998: The Oval staged the first competitive match to beplayed under floodlights in London, which promptedChristopher Martin-Jenkins to write: "The surprise, perhaps, isthat it has taken English cricket so long to appreciate thateven in a fickle climate the idea of playing at night, sosuccessful overseas since Kerry Packer set the trend in 1978,was feasible here too." But what remained unfeasible wasSurrey lifting their poor form in the 40-over tournament. Theylost to Sussex by eight wickets.

PICTURE OF OVAL GROUND IN 2020

Consent form necessary for players before they start training

BAIDURJO BHOSENew Delhi

The Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) on Sunday issued theStandard Operating Procedures(SOP) to the state associations forthe resumption of cricket. Whilethese will help the state bodiesrestart cricketing activities, all playerswill have to sign consent formsbefore getting back to training.In the 100-page SOP, accessed byIANS, the BCCI has touched onprinciples while returning to training,ground and practice facilitiespreparation with an eye on thepandemic, gymnasium protocols,physiotherapy and medical protocolsas well as protocols to manage asuspected COVID-19 case.It also has the consent form wherethe players have to acknowledgethat there is risk associated withresuming training and that the playerhas been informed about theprotocols in place and theprecautions taken by theassociation.The player also needs toacknowledge that the associationcan't guarantee complete eliminationof risk despite taking necessaryprecautions and that the player iswilling to resume training.

This is our e-Paper version and not a replica of Printed version of “The Free Press Journal”.