Actor Diana Penty says the pandemic hasbeen nature’s way of telling humans tolearn the value of life

VALUE OF LIFE

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Man City’s 1-2 loss to Chelsea helpsLiverpool claim the Premier Leaguetitle after 30 years

LIVERPOOL EPL CHAMPS

SPORTS | P12

VOLUME 10, ISSUE 86 | www.orissapost.com BHUBANESWAR | SATURDAY, JUNE 27 | 2020

LEISURE | P2

After recent rise in virus cases in the US andelsewhere, governments imposed newrestrictions INTERNATIONAL| P10

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I doubt we can trust the Chinese. They say they would withdraw

as soon as achhe din comes

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Woman finds out she is a ‘man’PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Kolkata, June 26: For thirty years sheled a normal life with no complications,until recently, when doctors, whiletreating her for abdominal pain, dis-covered that she was a ‘man’ sufferingfrom testicular cancer.

Surprisingly, her 28-year-old sister,who underwent necessary tests fol-lowing the revelation, was also diag-nosed with 'Androgen InsensitivitySyndrome' -- a condition in which a per-son is born genetically male, but hasall physical traits of a woman.

The 30-year-old Birbhum resident,married for the last nine years, had vis-ited city-based Netaji Subhas Chandra

Bose Cancer Hospital with severe painin lower abdomen, following whichclinical oncologist Dr Anupam Duttaand surgical oncologist Dr SoumenDas conducted her medical tests, andfound out her true identity.

From her appearance, she is awoman. Starting from her voice, de-veloped breasts, normal external gen-

italia, everything is that of a woman.However, uterus and ovaries were ab-sent. She has also never experiencedmenstruation, Dr Dutta said.

It’s a very rare condition, and can befound one in every 22,000 people, he said.We conducted clinical examinations,after she complained of abdominalpain, and found out she has testiclesinside her body. A biopsy was con-ducted, following which she was di-agnosed with testicular cancer, alsocalled seminoma, Dr Dutta explained.

It was learnt, that the couple had triedfor babies a number of times but failed.The patient's two maternal aunts werealso diagnosed with Andro genInsensitivity Syndrome in the past.

Her chromosome complement was found to be ‘XY’ and not ‘XX’, as found in a woman

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, June 26: Marksfor the pending class 10, 12exams, which have beencancelled in view of theCOVID-19 pandemic, willbe awarded onbasis of marksscored by a stu-dent in his or herbest performingsubjects, accord-ing to CentralBoard of SecondaryEducation (CBSE)'s four-point assessment scheme.

The board notified thescheme after receiving a nodfrom the Supreme Courtwhich was hearing a petitionby a group of parents. As perthe scheme, results of class 10and 12 students, who havecompleted all their exams,

will be declared based on theirperformance in the exams.

For students who have ap-peared in the examinations inmore than three subjects, theaverage of the marks obtainedin the best three performing

subjects will beawarded in thesubjects whose ex-aminations havenot been con-ducted, CBSEExam Controller

Sanyam Bhardwaj explained.For students who have

appeared in the examina-tions in only three subjects,the average of the marksobtained in the best two performing subjects will beawarded in the subjectswhose examinations have not been conducted,Bhardwaj added.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, June 26: The aviationregulator DGCA said Friday it isextending the suspension of sched-uled international passenger flightsin the country till July 15 butadded that some internationalscheduled services on selectedroutes may be permitted on a caseto case basis.

Scheduled international pas-senger flights were suspended inIndia on March 23 due to the coro-navirus pandemic.

The competent authority hasdecided that scheduled interna-tional commercial passenger serv-ices to or from India shall remainsuspended till 2359 hrs IST of July15, 2020, said the DGCA circular.

However, international sched-uled flights may be allowed on se-lected routes by the competentauthority on a case to case basis,said the circular by the DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

Air India and other private do-mestic airlines have been operat-ing unscheduled internationalrepatriation flights under theVande Bharat Mission, which wasstarted on May 6 by the Central gov-ernment.

India resumed scheduled do-mestic passenger flights on May25, after a gap of two months.

No scheduledint’l flights tillJuly 15: DGCA

REUTERS

New Delhi, June 26: Days after a bor-der clash with China this month inwhich 20 Indian soldiers were killed,New Delhi told firms to find ways to cutimports from China. But two big in-dustries, automobiles and pharmaceu-ticals, say this is easier said than done.

Like many countries, India relies onChina for products such as electroniccomponents and drug ingredients be-cause it cannot make them or sourcethem elsewhere as cheaply, companyand industry figures say. Thus anymoves to curb imports or make them cost-lier without developing alternativeswill hurt local businesses.

India imported around $70.3 billionof goods from China in the fiscal yearto March 2019, and exported just $16.7billion - its widest trade deficit withany country.

The government is now consultingwith companies on tightening curbs on1,173 non-essential products, a tradebody official said on condition ofanonymity. They include toys, plastics,steel items, electronics and specific autocomponents - which feed vehicle man-ufacturing. “If things do escalate, thenIndia stands to lose a lot more than

China,” said the chief of corporatestrategy at one of India’s top 10 drug-makers. “We cannot afford this.”

“We cannot have a knee-jerk reac-tion, especially when we are emerg-

ing from the disruption caused bythe pandemic,” he said. Chinese sup-plies have also been a key factor inIndia’s booming drug industry, whichexports cheap generic medicines.

SHORT TAKES

3-day shutdown inparts of GajapatiGajapati: In view of the suddenrise in COVID-19 cases, Gajapatidistrict administration Fridayannounced a completeshutdown in several blocks andone gram panchayat of thedistrict. Collector Anupam Shahinformed that the shutdown willbe enforced from June 28 for aperiod of three days in twoblocks- Gosani and Gumma,Paralakhemundi town andRanipentha gram panchayat inKashinagar block. The districtadministration has formed 40teams comprising healthofficials to conduct door-to-doorsurvey to identify personssuffering from cold, cough, feverand other flu-like symptoms.

Govt quarantinemust for someBhubaneswar: TheBhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation (BMC) Fridayannounced that peoplereturning from five hotspotdistricts of Odisha would notbe allowed to stay in homequarantine in the slums ofBhubaneswar. BMCCommsisioner Prem Choudharytold the media that peoplecoming from Ganjam, Balasore,Cuttack, Gajapati and Jajpurnow cannot opt for homequarantine in slums of the cityand have to mandatorily go forinstitutional quarantine. P4

CBSE unveils 4-pointassessment scheme

Auto, pharma firms not ready to wean off China

‘Made in India’ logosin Xiaomi storesChinese handset maker Xiaomi hasbegun covering its retail store brand-ing with ‘Made in India’ logo in whitecolour amid fears of vandalism at outletsin the backdrop of the Sino-India bordertension, the All India Mobile RetailersAssociation (AIMRA) said. The associationhad written to Chinese mobile brands tohighlight the threat of vandalism at offlinestores by people amid calls for boycottingChinese products in certain sections.

NO ALTERNATIVESn Over a quarter of India’s auto part imports

- $4.2 billion - came from China in 2019

n Chinese supplies have also been a keyfactor in India’s booming drug industry,which exports cheap generic medicines

n Hence, any moves to curb imports ormake them costlier without developingalternatives will hurt local businesses

WE DON’TIMPORTBECAUSE WELIKE TO, BUTBECAUSE WEHAVE NO CHOICER C BHARGAVA | CHAIRMAN, MARUTI SUZUKI INDIA

MANISH KUMAR, OP

Bhubaneswar, June 26: All road-blocks have now been cleared to relo-cate tigress Sundari from SatkosiaTiger Reserve to Madhya Pradesh withthe National Tiger ConservationAuthority (NTCA) allaying fears of theMadhya Pradesh government.

Few days back, the state had raisedapprehensions against the reloca-tion of tigress Sundari and wrotetheir reservations against the moveto the NTCA after the Odisha gov-ernment decided to send the tigressback to MP.

“We had received the letter from theMP government raising their specificconcerns against the relocation. Wehave now had our communication withthem and the matter has been sorted out.We have told them that they can relo-cate the tigress anywhere in the stateas per their local assessment of habi-tat and safety,” a senior member fromNTCA told Orissa POST.

The officer also said that the futureof the next relocation has not been can-celled but put on indefinitehalt under the am-bitiousmaiden proj-ect of inter-state relo-cation ofthe tigersfor in-creasing

the population of tigers in Odisha.“The main motive for which a tigerand a tigress were released in the wildsof Satkosia has failed and thus thewhole project was put on hold,” he said.

The Odisha government said thatwithin one month, the tigress will beshifted to Madhya Pradesh. “The gov-ernment had earlier decided to shiftback the tigress and now within onemonth she is likely to be shifted backto the state as per the protocol under

strict monitoring and secu-rity,” PCCF (WildLife) HSUpadhay said.

The retur nwill mark the for-

mal culminationof the maiden ex-

periment of inter-statetranslocation of tigersto increase tiger pop-ulation in the country.

In the maiden phase, atiger named Mahaveer

and a tigress Sundari weresent from MP to Satkosia.

All decks cleared forSundari’s relocation

n Sundari was shifted from MP toSatkosia Tiger Reserve inOdisha June 28, 2018, and wasreleased in the wild July 6

n She was captured by Odishaforest officials November 6,2018, after it killed two peoplein the STR core area

The board notifiedthe scheme after

receiving a nod fromthe SC which was

hearing a petition bya group of parents

Mumbai: Actress Diana Penty says theCOVID-19 pandemic has been nature’s wayof telling humans to stop, adding that the out-break has taught her to value life.

“I think this pandemic has been nature’sway of telling us to just stop. We were mov-

ing at a pace too fast for our own good. Thistime, as tough as it has been, has given methe chance to disconnect and just be,”Dianasaid.

“Most importantly it's taught me tovalue life, the people I love and the worldaround me. I’m grateful to have thethings that I have, and I’ve learnt notto take anything for granted,” sheadded.

Amid lockdown, Diana has come outwith an initiative called The Khaki

Project to extend help and support toMumbai Police, who have

been in the forefrontin the city’s fight

against thecoronavirus

outbreak.On the

workfront, shewill nextbe seen in

the roman-tic drama

Shiddat.Talking about

the film, she said,“Shiddat is a beautifulstory of love and the

strong bonds betweenpeople. It is pure andintense and also veryrelatable. I am usu-ally not a love storykind of person, butwhen I heard thescript, it moved mea lot.” IANS

Mumbai: Actor AbhishekBachchan has a special requestto his Dhoom 3 co-star AamirKhan. He says he would like tobe directed by the latter oneday.

“Dhoom gave me the once ina lifetime opportunity to workwith @_aamirkhan and if given

another opportunity I wouldn’tact with him, I want to be di-rected by him!!! So Aamir, ifyou’re reading this, kindly con-sider my request,” Abhishekposted on Instagram.

He also recalled shootingwith him during Dhoom 3.

“Aamir was so warm and forth-coming as a co-actor. Very help-ful and accommodating. I canonly imagine what a wonderfuldirector he must be. Apart fromhis great talent he is so down toearth and fun loving on set de-spite what scene we would do.

“One of my fondest mem-ories was when we shot a fewscenes in Six Flags amuse-ment park in Chicago. Thepark was shut and it wasjust the unit that was allowedin. The minute Aamir and Iwould get the shortest ofbreaks, we’d run off the theclosest roller-coaster and askthem put it on just for us.What a luxury!Good times,”Abhishek added. IANS

P2 IAN RETURNS AS HAMLET ON STAGE

leisureMore than 50 years after appearing asWilliam Shakespeare’s young prince,veteran star Ian McKellen will be essayingthe role of Hamlet on stage again. The 81-year-old actor has been announcedas the lead in an age-blind production at Theatre Royal Windsor.

FRANCIS DENIES WINONA’S CLAIMSLegendary director Francis Ford Coppola hasdenied Winona Ryder’s claim that he askedKeanu Reeves and other actors to insult heron the set of Bram Stoker’s Dracula back in1992. Ryder claimed that Coppola told actorsto shout offensive comments at her to makeher cry while filming.

SATURDAY | JUNE 27 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

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AQUARIUSToday is reserved for out-lining projects that willultimately shape yourfuture. You may want tochalk out a plan for your education,job, or even a relationship. Later in theday, you may get lucky with suddenand unexpected profits. If you're aprofessional, there are rewards galore,expects Ganesha.

PISCESIf legal hassles have beentroubling you of late, theyare likely to reach a satis-factory conclusion today,says Ganesha. Your finances look good.Family matters will keep you busy in theafternoon. Your evenings are likely to befilled with music or dance classes.

SAGITTARIUSYour nerves are taut, andyou are more aware thanever of things aroundyou. Your spiritual sidegets a major boost today. On the careerfront, expect it to be busy day givinginterviews for better prospects. In theevening, your charm might just have afew women dangling by your side atplaces you party.

LIBRAFor every matter, thereis a particular solutionunique to it. With yoursystematic approach tothings, you are a firm believer of thisstatement. And it is a good thing too,since today, this habit shall help you grabthe limelight at work, says Ganesha.

SCORPIOYou will tackle work andcommitments with arenewed zeal today, saysGanesha. Your enthusi-asm will catch on at the workplace, conta-gious and inspiring as it is. On the careerfront, things will look up later in the dayand opportunities will shower a plenty.

LEOToday, you will thinkwith your heart, notwith your mind, saysGanesha. While that is agood thing sometimes, it may blur youranalytical logic. If you happen to be inthe business of money-lending, you canbe assured of a fantastic afternoonwherein you will rake in profits.

VIRGOLady Luck is your datefor the day today.Good tidings beartheir way to you fromdistant lands, and may be across theseas too. Chances are you make take aninitiative to let the cat of love out of thebag. Your outlook will be free of confu-sion today, says Ganesha.

GEMINIThere are chances thatyou will take a break fromthe routine to rechargeyour batteries today, feels Ganesha. In theafternoon, children will bring home delightand joy. Second half of the day willstrengthen your financial position.

CANCERToday, your loved oneswill prove again howmuch they love you. It'shigh time you stoppeddoubting the intentions of your familymembers. It's time to start over, startafresh and start giving back the love andtrust that your loved ones give you.

ARIESToday, love will be adelightful thing for you.You would want to spendall your time with friends and family, notto forget your Lhasa Apso. This doesn'tgo down well with your peers, who maythink you're a shirker, says Ganesha.

FORTUNE FORECAST

TAURUSThere is a bright chancethat you will have a boththoughtful and rewardingday today, predicts Ganesha. Do not getupset should things not work in yourfavour; keep in mind that today is notapocalypse.

CAPRICORNYour extraordinary senseof humour will keepthose around youamused throughout theday, so much so that they will look for-ward to spending more time with you inthe future as well, says Ganesha. Also,your ability to solve problems with easewill impress many.

BREVITY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTSCROSSWORD

SUDOKU

SOLUTIONS

CRO

SSW

ORD

SUD

OKU

CHECK FOR SOLUTIONS OF THE PUZZLES TOMORROW

postTo solve the Sudoku puzzle, each row, column and box must contain the numbers 0 to 9 and the letters A to E.

VIDEO STREAMING AT THE FOREFRONTNew Delhi: Video streaming is at theforefront of the new normal, as a re-sult of home sheltering worldwidein the last six months. Accordingto a new report, Indian consumersare engaging with online video foran average of 5 hours and 16 minutesevery day— which is the highestamongst the surveyed countries —even as the global video consumptionaverage has quadrupled in the lastsix months.

“As people worldwide were forcedto stay at home during the pandemic,online video has taken a whole new

role as a top source of entertain-ment, social interactions and in-formation. In fact, the global averageof four hours and three minutesper day of online video viewing isa dramatic increase compared to asingle hour average measured inthe State of Online Video 2019 studyjust six months ago. In fact, over 85per cent of people globally nowwatch up to six hours of online videoper day,” a market research report

by Limelight Networks said.While most Indian users (about 43

per cent) watch online video for 4-6

hours, the country has the largest per-centage (7.1 per cent) who watchmore than 12 hours per day. Thelowest average viewing hours is inSouth Korea, closely followed byFrance and the UK.

The report also found that as peo-ple age, online video viewing hoursdecrease, as younger people takemore online classes, video chat withfriends and play video games.

Given the significant increase in

viewing hours per day, it's not sur-prising that more than 70 per centreported a spike in the amount oftime they watched online video inthe past two months. The largest in-crease was in India (about 85 percent) and lowest in South Korea (7.4per cent). The report also showsthat around 68 per cent Indians saidgoing virtual has allowed them to domost activities (work, school, hobbies)they did pre-COVID-19.

“During COVID-19, 89 per centof people have used video to com-municate. Video chat is most popularin India, where the majority of peo-ple (65 per cent) use it multiple timesa day. A whopping two-thirds (64.3per cent) of Indian consumers hadtheir first esports experience dur-ing the pandemic. With other liveevents cancelled as well, more thantwo-thirds (68.8 per cent) of Indianrespondents also attended their first

virtual concert. Exercising is alsogoing virtual as athletic facilities re-main closed. Yoga has also beenpopular in India as it helped peopleto maintain physical fitness dur-ing the lockdown. In line with thistrend, 55.6 per cent Indians saidthat they had participated in an on-line fitness class and another 26.8 percent plan to so in the next sixmonths,” Limelight Networks saidin its How Video is Changing theWorld report.

In the last two months there wasa rise in people attending onlineauctions. In fact, nearly one-thirdof people recently attended theirfirst online auction, added the report.Online classes also have many, in-cluding professionals, hooked on-line.

“Beyond entertainment and so-cial interactions, streaming en-ables easier access to critical in-formation. Doctor’s visits haveshifted to telehealth appointmentswith 49 per cent of people open tothe idea, 22 per cent of people say-ing they've recently met virtuallywith their doctor and another 27 percent planning to in the next 6months,” the report revealed. IANS

‘Pandemichas taught

me to value life’

Mumbai: Actress-producerAnushka Sharma says she al-ways wanted to show strong, in-dependent women through cin-ema and her latest productionventure, Bulbbul, is a step in thatdirection.

“The idea that Clean SlateFilmz (her production house,which she runs with her brotherKarnesh) would one day createa genre of our own was neveran intentional move. We, how-ever, always wanted to create astyle of storytelling that cele-brates women and their spirit. We

always wanted to show strong, in-dependent women to audiencesthrough cinema and Bulbbul isour new offering in this regard,”she said.

Anushka stressed that the por-trayal of women ‘in our cinemahas always been skewed and lop-sided’, adding: “I felt that as an ac-tress and I decided that I will cor-rect this as much as I can throughmy productions.”

“We are really proud thatBulbbul is being loved by the au-dience because Karnesh and Ireally put our necks on the line

to make projects that we hopewill be clutter-breaking. The factthat people have called each andevery attempt of ours as daringand adventurous is validationenough for us,” she said.

She is happy that Bulbbul isgarnering a good responseamong viewers and positive re-views: “Karnesh and I aren’tscared storytellers. We makeeach project thinking we havenothing to lose. We are non-con-formists and that's what hasreally, really helped us to ex-plore and create.” IANS

Anushka on Bulbbul: Wanted to showstrong women through cinema

Abhishekwants to bedirected byAamir

NEW NORMAL

P3 FIGHTING VIRUS Officials of state Vigilancedepartment donate Rs 13 lakhto the CMRF through ChiefSecretary Asit Tripathy inBhubaneswar, Friday

TACKLING COVID-19

Collector Bhawani SankarChayani inaugurates asanitisation tunnel set up bythe Inner Wheel Club at theCuttack collectorate, Friday

downtown

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SATURDAY | JUNE 27 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: As manyas 13 political parties Friday stageda protest near Master CanteenSquare here against the ruling NDAgovernment at the Centre and theBJD-ruled Odisha government fortheir alleged failure in managingCovid-19.

The agitators raised slogans andhighlighted the issues of livelihoodsecurity during and after the lock-down. The members also metGovernor Ganeshi Lal and sub-mitted their memorandum.

Parties like Congress, CPI, CPM,CPI (ML), Samajwadi Party, AamAadmi Party, RJD, NCP, BSP, AllIndia Forward Bloc and oth-ers par ticipated in the protest.

They alleged that com-munity transmission hasalready started as the Covidtest of returnees is not beingdone properly. The incentives ofRs 2,000 as announced by the stategovernment to people on completionof their quarantine period, is alsonot being given.

Odisha Pradesh Congress

Committee(OPCC) pres-

identNiranjanPatnaiksaid theUnion and

state gov-ernmentsare wasting

money with-out any tangible results

with regard to coronavirus pan-demic.

Congress leader and Jatni MLA

Suresh Routray said that the gov-ernment is not conducting ade-quate number of tests against thedeadly virus which results in a sur-feit of Covid-19 cases in the stateevery passing day. “The ChiefMinister had announced in Aprilthat 15,000 samples will be tested inthe state every day, but unfortu-nately the number does not evencross 4,000 a day,” he added.

The political parties throughtheir memorandum to the Governorurged the government to distribute10 kg ration to Covid-affected peo-

ple, Rs 7,500 to the affected familiesfor six months and job to the migrantworkers returned from other states.

The leaders alleged large-scale ir-regularities in the running of TMCsand massive corruption in pro-curement of masks, PPE, testing kitsand other covid equipment.

Reacting to the allegations, BijuJanta Dal (BJD) leader PramillaMallick said that Congress has al-ready lost the plot and is resortingto such tactics only to remain inmedia glare.

Similarly, BJP general secretaryPrithviraj Harichandan said thatwhen the country is limping backto normalcy and witnessing a steadygrowth in recovery cases of Covid,the Congress and the Left parties aretrying to mislead people by creat-ing panic.

Protest erupts in City over Covid management

Thestate govt is not

conducting enoughtests which eventuallyresults in a surfeit of

Covid-19 cases in Odisha

SURESH ROUTRAY ICONGRESS LEADER

PCC PRESIDENT FINEDMeanwhile, Odisha PradeshCongress Committee (OPCC) presi-dent Niranjan Patnaik was Fridayfined Rs 500 for violating socialdistancing norms during thedemonstration staged near MasterCanteen Square participated by 13opposition political parties.

Leaders of 13 political parties hold a demonstration at Master Canteen Squarein Bhubaneswar, Friday OP PHOTO

FESTIVAL AMID PANDEMIC

1) The three chariots of Lord Jagannathand his siblings parkednear Srigundicha temple inPuri, Friday. The chariotswill be pulled back toSrimandir on the occasionof Bahuda Yatra

2) People buy Mahaprasadfrom a special counter nearSrigundicha temple

3) Saradhabali in front ofSrigundicha temple looksempty in the absence ofdevotees due to the

Covid-19 restrictions

1

2

3

OP PHOTOS

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP) Abhay,Friday, issued an order saying nopolice personnel, except officials de-ployed for checking law and orderduring the nine-day long Rath Yatra,will be permitted to enter Puritown on the pretext of official dutytill July 4.

The decision has been taken inview of the recent incident of anIIC from Jajpur district violatingCovid-19 guidelines.

“Possibility of some officersalone or with family visiting Purion the pretext of official work or oth-erwise for darshan cannot be totallyruled out. Hence, it is hereby laiddown that other than officers postedin Puri district and those deputedfor L&O duty, no officer will bepermitted to go on official duty toPuri till July 4,” said a statementissued by the Police Headquarters,Cuttack with approval from DGPAbhay.

In case of urgency and if the

duty cannot be postponed, per-mission will be taken from statePolice Headquarters via ADG (Lawand Order) for visit to Puri, thestatement added.

Notably, Puri police had arrestedthe Barchana IIC Deepak Jena,April 20, 2020, for flouting lock-down norms.

Jena had forcefully entered theSrimandir despite the temple re-maining out of bounds for devoteesdue to the nationwide lockdowninduced by Covid-19. A servitor ofPuri temple also helped him enterthe 12th century shrine.

Cops from other distscan’t enter Puri: DGPPOST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, June 26: The CuttackMunicipal Corporation (CMC) hasintroduced several measures toimprove garbage disposal systemin the Silver City here. The civicauthorities have planned to de-ploy at least six battery-operatedvehicles for door-to-door collec-tion of garbage.

“We are giving importance todoor-to-door collection of garbageto keep the city clean. In the firstphase, at least six battery-oper-ated vehicles will be used to collecttrash from ward no. 27, 28 and 44,”said an official of the CMC.

The municipal corporationFriday launched a campaign tomake people aware of the newgarbage disposal system. CMCDeputy Commissioner SanjibitaRay inaugurated the awarenessdrive at Vikash Bhawan here.

“We will create awarenessamong the residents of the city forsegregation of garbage at source.People will be urged to keep theirdry and wet waste separately forproper management of garbage inthe city,” said the official.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: If every-thing goes as per plan, the civilconstruction and installation ofequipment for the cardiac care hos-pital at Jharsuguda will be com-pleted by March 2021.

Health & Family Welfare MinisterNaba Kishore Das and ChiefSecretary Asit Tripathy reviewedthe progress of the work at LokSeva Bhawan here, Friday.

Additional Chief SecretaryHealth & Family Welfare PKMohapatra outlined the issues fordiscussion.

National Health Mission DirectorShalini Pandit said, “The hospitalis being set up on Public PrivatePartnership (PPP) mode. TheMahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL)is providing financial support forconstruction of the facility and in-stallation of equipment. The re-quired land of 5.05 acre has beenprovided by district administra-tion.”

Care Hospital has been selectedas the PPP partner through an ap-propriate bidding process for op-eration and management of thehospital. It will be a 100-bed spe-cialised cardiac care hospital inwhich around 50 per cent of the bedswill be available for the patients hav-ing Biju Krushak Kalyan Yojana

(BKKY) cards, she said. The super specialty hospital will

have facilities like radiation on-cology, linear accelerator, branchytherapy, nuclear medicine, PETCT, MRI, CT Scan, mammography,X-Ray, CR System, ultrasound andblood bank.

Review showed, presently theconstruction work has been expe-dited. The Odisha State MedicalCorporation (OSMC) has alsostarted the process for procure-

ment of the equipment. The sug-gestions for dedicated electricity andwater supply for the hospital wasalso discussed in the meeting.

During the meeting, Das directedthe officials to ensure construc-tion of residential quarters for doc-tors and paramedics on the hospi-tal premises itself. JharsugudaCollector and executive engineerwere directed to prepare separateestimates for the quarters.

The Chief Secretary emphasised

on quality service, day-to-day op-eration, management and upkeepof the hospital. He directed thePPP cell functioning under theFinance department to work out def-inite procedures for these re-quirements as per the conditionsof PPP agreement.

Tripathy also ordered to put inplace definite institutional frame-work for operation and manage-ment before completion of the construction.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: Chairinga state-level natural disaster com-mittee meeting, Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik Friday instructedthe officials to strictly follow theStandard Operating Procedure(SOP) to tackle natural calamities.

The Chief Minister emphasisedon advance planning, quick res-cue and restoration efforts to dealwith natural calamities. “The stategovernment has taken several re-sult-oriented measures to lessenthe threat from natural disasters.Our preparedness should be dy-namic, collective and participatoryin nature,” he said.

Stating that Odisha remains thefirst state to institutionalise com-munity-based preparation, he said,“Our experience in community-based management has been alsohelped a lot in Covid management.”

Stating that since Odisha is anatural calamity-prone state, Naveensaid, “Despite facing several threats

due to natural disasters, we areprepared to tackle any kind of situation.”

“We have always been learningfrom past disaster experiences andmake an endeavour to bring im-provement in our preparations forthe future eventualities. We havebeen praised by all sections forlearning from our experience andsubsequent preparedness,” he stated.

The southwest monsoon has setin on time this year in Odisha.Besides, the period from June toOctober is crucial for the stateowing to the fact that several nat-

ural disasters like droughts, cy-clones and floods may occur, theChief Minister said, adding, “Weneed to augment our resources andreview our preparedness to tacklesuch natural disasters.”

Mentioning about Covid-19, theChief Minister said the day-to-daylife of the people has been severelyaffected due to the pandemic dur-ing last three months. Odisha isnow in a better position because ofthe steps taken to contain the spreadof the disease, he pointed out.

Naveen thanked the people ofthe state for their cooperation in thefight against coronavirus.

Revenue and DisasterManagement Minister SudamMarndi apprised the meeting aboutthe various steps taken by the stategovernment to tackle disasters likeCovid, Amphan, Bulbul and locustinvasion. Members of the Councilof Ministers, Leader of theOpposition, MPs, and MLAs tookpart in the meeting through video-conferencing.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, June 26: Orissa HighCourt, Friday, granted interim bailto Uliburu mining scam prime ac-cused Deepak Gupta for 30 days.

Though Gupta had applied forregular bail, the court has grantedhim an interim bail.

The High Court directed Guptato submit Rs 1 crore in cash througha nationalised bank, Rs 2 crore forbail bond and his passport follow-ing which the court will grant himregular bail. Besides, the courthas ordered Gupta not to go outsideKeonjhar without the court’s per-mission. The court also directedhim to appear before it physicallyon the date when the hearingswould take place even during theinterim bail period.

The HC has also told Gupta to sur-render in the court after completionof the interim bail period of onemonth.Gupta had applied for bailin High Court for five times and inthe Supreme Court twice but his

plea was rejected every time.Notably, Gupta had the power

of attorney of an iron ore mine atUliburu in Keonjhar, lease of whichwas with BK Mohanty. Leaseholderof the mine Mohanty illegally ex-tracted iron ore beyond the per-missible limits in the mining planfollowing which Gupta and sev-eral others were arrested by stateVigilance department September4, 2013 for his alleged involvementin the scam.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: In viewof the Covid-19 pandemic, theOdisha School EducationProgramme Authority (OSEPA)has urged all district educationofficers (DEOs) to implementVidyaDaan programme.

The OSEPA directed the DEOsto implement VidyaDaan, a na-tional programme, urging indi-viduals and organisations to con-tribute contents for e-learning inschools. Under the programme, e-learning contents will be invitedfrom experts, teachers, individu-als and organisations for schooleducation on DIKSHA and in orderto leverage its potential uses byour students and teachers.Contributions can be made by in-dividual, educationists, subject ex-perts, colleges, universities, insti-tutions, schools, offices, governmentand non-government organisations.

Cardiac care hosp at Jharsuguda by March MAHANADI COALFIELDS LIMITED PROVIDES FINANCIAL AID FOR CONSTRUCTION OF THE FACILITY

FILLIP TO HEALTH INFRA

Health Minister Naba Das, Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy and additional chief secretary(Health) PK Mohapatra at the meeting OP PHOTO

CMC to revampgarbage disposal

HC reprieve for Uliburumining scam accused

The HC directed Gupta to submit `1 crore incash, `2 crore for bailbond and his passport

CM for quick relief, rescue ops

n It will be a 100-bed specialised cardiac carehospital in which around50% of beds will be available for the patientshaving BKKY cards

n The super specialty hospital will have facilitieslike radiation oncology, linear accelerator, branchytherapy, nuclear medicine,PET CT, MRI, CT Scan, mammography, X-Ray, CRSystem, ultrasound andblood bank

n Health Minister directs officials to ensure construc-tion of quarters for healthstaff on hospital premises

Naveen forsmooth conductof Bahuda Yatra POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik Fridaydirected the officials concernedto ensure smooth conduct ofBahuda Yatra, Sunabesha,Adharapana and Niladri Bije incompliance with the direction ofSupreme Court and Covid-19 guidelines.

Reviewing the preparedness forBahuda Yatra in Puri, Naveenthanked the servitors, police, dis-trict administration, temple ad-ministration, Health departmentand Puri citizens for smooth com-pletion of Rath Yatra and soughtsame cooperation during Bahuda Yatra.

Naveen urged the officials con-cerned to ensure timely comple-tion of all rituals involving onlythose sevayats who were testedCovid negative. He directed foraggressive surveillance for symp-toms and ramping up testing inPuri town.

Information and Public Relation(I&PR) department was asked toensure the live telecast of BahudaYatra, Sunabesha, Adharapanaand the Niladri Bije rituals onvarious TV channels.

“As I said earlier, the world iswatching Puri. We must put ourbest efforts, to ensure all precau-tions are taken,” he said.

Law Minister Pratap Jena, ChiefSecretary Asit Tripathy, DGPAbhay, SJTA Chief AdministratorKrishan Kumar and other seniorofficials attended the meeting.

2 enter Gundicha temple in guise of servitorsPOST NEWS NETWORK

Puri, June 26: The Kumbharpadapolice here Friday detained twopersons as they entered theGundicha temple under the guiseof servitors.

According to sources, the duomanaged to gain entry into theshrine during ‘Mangal Alati’ of the

deities in the morning. “Their un-usual behaviour forced us to thinkotherwise and we informed the po-lice,” said a servitor.

Later, Kumbharpada police of-ficials reached the spot and took theduo into custody.

“Smruti Ranjan Mohanty ofMarkandeswar Sahi and AjayKumar Mohapatra of Kumbharpada

area have been detained at the po-lice station for interrogation. Acase (159/20) has been registered inthis regard,” additional superin-tendent of police (ASP) Arun KumarJena said.

Later in the day, the security per-sonnel nabbed another man whilehe was entering the Gundicha tem-ple with a ‘forged’ entry pass.

THE DECISION WAS TAKENIN VIEW OF THE RECENTINCIDENT OF AN IIC FROM

JAJPUR VIOLATING COVID-19 NORMS

THE POLICE OFFICERFORCEFULLY ENTEREDSRIMANDIR FLOUTING THE

LOCKDOWN NORMS

DEOs told toimplementVidyaDaan

downtownSATURDAY | JUNE 27 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR P4

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Bhubaneswar, June 26: Thestate’s COVID-19 tally crossed the6,000-mark Friday with 218 morepeople, including seven NDRF per-sonnel, testing positive for the in-fection, a health department offi-cial said.

With these fresh patients, thetotal number of coronavirus casesin the state has gone up to 6,180, hesaid. Of the fresh cases, 191 werereported from quarantine centreswhere returnees have been stayingfor preliminary observation.

Seven National Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) personnel, who hadreturned from cyclone Amphanrestoration work in West Bengal,were also in quarantine facilitiesand tested positive for COVID-19,while the remaining cases weredetected during the contact-tracingexercises, the official said.

A total of 289 personnel of dis-aster response teams of NDRF,Odisha Disaster Response Force(ODRAF) and Odisha Fire Servicesand nine Border Security Forcejawans have been infected with thevirus in the state, he said.

The highest number of freshcases excluding NDRF personnelwas reported from Ganjam districtat 49. Jagatsinghpur (29), Gajapati(27), Bhadrak (25), Khurda (17),Sundargarh (11) and Puri (10) wereamong the districts where newcases were found.

Ganjam is the worst-hit districtwith 1,137 cases, and the local ad-

ministration has declared a four-day shutdown in BerhampurMunicipal Corporation (BMC) areabeginning Saturday, the officialsaid. The shutdown will be im-posed to carry out contact tracingand door-to-door survey, DistrictCollector VA Kulange said, addingthat 70 teams have been formedfor these purposes. They will ex-amine the health condition of cit-izens and take stock of the homequarantine status, he said.

However, emergency medicalservices and milk delivery havebeen kept out of the purview ofthe shutdown, the Collector pointedout. With fresh patients, the statehas now 1,865 active cases, while4,291 people have recovered from thedisease. As many as 17 personshave so far succumbed to the dis-ease in the state, while seven oth-ers, who had tested positive for theinfection, died due to ‘non-COVIDreasons’, the official said.

The state Thursday conducted4,773 tests, added the official.

Meanwhile, the BhubaneswarMunicipal Corporation (BMC) said16 persons were tested positive forthe viral infection under its juris-diction Friday.

“Of the positive cases, two werefrom home quarantine and 14 werelocal contact cases,” the civic bodysaid, adding that 11 persons whowere earlier tested COVID-19 pos-itive have recovered and were beingdischarged from the COVID care fa-cilities. With this, the Capital cityhas 132 active corona cases.

State’s COVID tallycrosses 6,000-mark

1,865ACTIVE CASES

4,291TOTAL RECOVERIES

17DEATHS 4,773

TOTAL TESTS THURSDAY

POST NEWS NETWORK

Barang, June 26:Senior forest of-ficer Bimal Prasanna Acharyawill take over as the deputy di-rector of Nandankanan ZoologicalPark (NZP) here, an official said Friday.

Acharya, who served as the di-visional forest officer (DFO) ofDhenkanal, will replace JayantKumar Das. Das will join as the gen-eral manager (operations) ofOdisha Mineral Bearing AreasDevelopment Corporation.

As many as eight DFOs havebeen transferred and three assis-tant conservators of forest (ACFs)have been elevated to the post ofDFO, Thursday, an official said.

NZP gets newdeputy director

The floodwater released from Hirakud dam into Mahanadi river reaches Jobra barrage in Cuttack, Friday OP PHOTO

IN SPATE

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26:Environmental activists in the statehave opposed the latest EIA(Environmental Impact Assessment)draft notification-2020 issued bythe ministry of environment, for-est and climate change (MoEFCC),saying it goes against the country’sstance on biodiversity and mili-tates against the agreements Indiasigned as part of the Paris ClimateAccord.

Several green activists and expertshave sent their objections to theministry, stating that the draft pro-poses to fundamentally alter India’scurrent environmental rules andregulations, assessment and publicparticipation and goes against thelegal conventions under environ-mental laws. While the draft EIA willencourage violations, if imple-mented it will result in an expo-nential increase in GHG emissionsand other pollutants released byindustries. The deadline for objec-tion ends on June 30, 2020.

According to the latest draft, therules will be relaxed to ease work-

ing of ongoing projects and other191 projects which are set for ap-proval in near future.

However, the ministry has in-stead decided to relax norms onclearances and simultaneously hasinitiated the ‘Unleashing Coal’ cam-paign, auctioning 50 more new coalblocks to private players in theheart of the country. Such coal-bearing re gions in Odisha,Maharashtra, Chhattisgarh andMadhya Pradesh are rich in biodi-versity and home to indigenouscommunities.

Archana Soreng of Khadiya Tribe

in Odisha, research officer atVasundhara Odisha, said, “A flurryof environmental clearances willhave catastrophic effects on wildlifecorridors and well-being and ten-urial rights of adivasis and forestdwellers in India. Forest and na-ture are the source of life and iden-tity of adivasis and forest dwellingcommunities. Unlike others, who seeforest and nature as commercialcommodities."

Ashish Birulee, photojournalistand a co-founder of Adivasi LivesMatter, said, “EIA will affect adivasicommunity because all the proj-

ects will be built after displacing adi-vasis from their land on which theyhave been living for long. The adi-vasi community has been depend-ent on resources from forests. Theygo foraging for fruits, firewood,leafy vegetables and medicines.Their self-reliant livelihood will becompletely ruined.”

Meher Abadian, a veterinarian,said “I am not sure what message thegovernment is trying to send to usthrough this shoddy draft. This willresult in a huge loss of biodiversity,damage ecosystems and aggravatingman-animal conflict and pushingwildlife towards extinction.”

Shweta Agrawal, an environ-mentalist, said #DraftEIA2020 relieson self-compliance - it assumes thatviolators will report themselves,this is an upside-down logic! Thisdraft is a mockery to the process ofenvironmental protection. It mustbe revoked. We’ve had 63 footballfields’ equivalent forest land beingchopped everyday for three con-secutive years (2014-17) in the nameof #development due to industry-friendly clearances. We don’t wanthistory to repeat itself, she added.

Greens seek scrapping of EIA draft note 2020

NGT seeks action planon elephant corridorsPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: TheNational Green Tribunal (NGT)has asked the state government tofurnish an action plan relatingto the notification of the 14 pro-posed elephant corridors in the state.

This comes against a decade-long petition before the tribunalwhich had demanded early noti-fication of the demarcated ele-phant corridors in the state whichare used by jumbos to avoid man-elephant conflict.

“We direct the state respon-dents to place before us an actionplan with specific timelines, ifnot already prepared within a pe-riod of two months in accordancewith observations and recom-mendations made in the reportsubmitted by the Asia NatureCo nservat ion Foundation(ANCF),” the NGT order said.

In 2017, the NGT had prohib-ited such activities in highly eco-sensitive zones. This was followedby a direction to expedite demar-cation of the corridors and theprocesses for formal notificationwithin a specific time.

The state government had iden-tified 14 elephant corridors in thestate with the help of Asia NatureConservation Foundation (ANCF)which was entrusted with the taskof examining the ground reality

in jungles with regard to jumbomovement and the area whichneeded to be demarcated.

The government had made aninterim identification of the pathbut a formal notification in this re-gard was due. Experts claim thatwhen the elephant corridors areformally demarcated, hazardousactivities would come down, re-ducing interference in jumbo movement.

“Once the notification is outand the corridors legally pro-tected, mining, and other harm-ful activities cannot take placeon such areas protecting the jum-bos from such hurdles which oth-erwise come in the way of theirnatural movement, leading tohuman-elephant clashes,” SankarPrasad Pani, a lawyer with NGTsaid. The petition in the NGT saidthat there was a subsisting causeof action because of the continuingdelay in the notification of ele-phant corridors though they havebeen identified and surveyed bythe Principal Chief Conservatorof Forests (Wildlife) and ChiefWildl i fe Warden, Odisha.According to data given by theCentre, Odisha has an estimatedelephant population of 1976 (by2017), the highest in east centralregion. According to the govern-ment, more than 250 elephantsdied in Odisha over last threeyears due to several reasons.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: The cap-ital city witnessed a sharp increasein cyber frauds. The rise in suchcases followed imposition of a na-tion-wide lockdown to stem thespread of coronavirus. The fraud-sters also followed different typesof tactics to fleece their targets.

Five cyber frauds worth over Rs15 lakh came to notice in the cityover past seven days. PradiptaKumar Mishra of Pokhariput areaunder the Airport police limits wasduped by cyber criminals to thetune of Rs 15 lakh. The miscreantscalled Mishra through a customercare number of Paytm, an Indiane-commerce payment system, andtold him that the bank accountlinked to his Paytm account hadexpired due to the non-submissionof KYC details.

They asked him to give them allthe details related to his bank ac-count. Subsequently, they with-drew Rs 9.80 lakh from the accountof Mishra who gave his bank ac-count details. Another victim iden-tified as Sanjeeb Kumar Biswal ofSailashree Vihar under

Chandrasekharpur area was alsoduped by cyber fraudsters in a sim-ilar manner. Biswal lost around 2lakhs after he shared his PAN,Adhar and bank account detailswith the miscreants.

Two other persons in Khandagiriarea have lost Rs 46,000 and Rs37,000 respectively. They sent theKYC details of their bank accountsto the fraudsters after the latterfooled them by saying that Paytmaccounts have expired.

Meanwhile, cyber fraudstersduped a woman of around Rs 60,000

on the pretext of winning somecoupon for the use of her creditcard. The lady was identified asMadhumita Pattnaik of JaydurgaNagar under Laxmisgar police sta-tion. The conmen asked the lady tosend them her 16 digit credit cardnumber, CVV and the OTP whichshe sent accordingly. Later, she wasshocked to receive shopping billsworth Rs 60,000 while the transac-tion was conducted through hercredit card. Police have been in-vestigating the three cases by reg-istering cases in this regard.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: TheBhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation (BMC) Friday an-nounced that people returning fromfive hotspot districts in the statewould not be allowed to stay inhome quarantine in Bhubaneswar.

BMC Commissioner PremChoudhary told media that peoplecoming from Ganjam, Balasore,Cuttack, Gajapati and Jajpur can-not opt for home quarantine inslums of the city and have to manda-torily go for institutional quarantine.

“After the relaxation in lockdownconditions and opening up of eco-nomic activities in Bhubaneswar,people have started coming fromother districts to work and theymostly reside in slum areas. It is ob-served that few returnees fromother hotspot districts (districtshaving more number of positivecases) to Bhubaneswar have beenfound positive for COVID-19,” a no-tification from BMC said.

It added, “Such returnees, ifasymptomatic, can affect many oth-ers as social distancing is practicallynot possible in slum areas becauseof small houses and high populationdensity. Therefore, in larger publicinterest, the returnees from thesedistricts to slum areas of BMC willbe kept in institutional quarantinefor the specified period of 14 daysfrom the date of return from otherdistrict,”The BMC said the infor-

mation of such returnees will becaptured by active slum surveil-lance teams on a daily basis. Thezonal deputy commissioners ofBMC shall obtain this from the slumsurveillance teams and take stepsto shift them to the institutionalquarantine centres.

“The zonal deputy commission-ers shall obtain such informationfrom slum committees also aboutthe returnees from these districts.

As soon as reports of such returneescome to the notice of ZDCs from anyother source also, they should shiftthem to the quarantine centres,”

The BMC Commissioner in apress conference said till now thecity has seen 274 infection casesout of which 138 have recoveredwhile three have died. “Close to8681 people have returned to thecity post lockdown curbs. At pres-ent, 2,791 are under quarantine inthe city while many others havecompleted their home quarantineas per norms,” he said.

Labour Commissioner Anu Gargmeanwhile asked people in the cityto ensure they take preventive meas-ures to tackle COVID 19. “Casesare rising but the preventive meas-ures are going down. Please continueto do this. I want to request all pri-vate hospitals that please abide bythe norms issued by the health de-partment. You have to ensure thatyou train your staff in infectioncontrol and prevent the infections,”she said.

No home quarantine for hotspot returnees

5 cyber frauds of around `15L

Odisha has an estimated elephant population of1976 (by 2017),the higest in east centralregion

People coming fromGanjam, Balasore,Cuttack, Gajapati andJajpur cannot opt forhome quarantine in slumsand have to mandatorily go forinstitutional quarantine

The information ofsuch returnees will becaptured by active slum surveillance teams

The zonal deputy commissioners of BMC shall obtain thisfrom the slum surveillance teams and take steps to shift

them to the institutional quarantine centres

POST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, June 26: RevenueDivisional Commissioner, (Central,Anil Kumar Samal Friday directedthe departmental officers to ex-pedite expansion work of the SCBMedical College and Hospital cam-pus. A meeting in this regard wasconvened Friday.

Samal directed the officials tostart the eviction drive and getall the quarters under several de-partments vacated by July 7.District Collector Bhabani ShankarChayani said the district admin-istration will start the rehabili-tation drive in sweeper and Beheracolonies after discussing withthem. The district administrationwill give Rs 50,000 as compensationmoney to each family in both thecolonies.

SCB expansion tocommence soon

BSCL projects to be designed on nCoV crisisPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, June 26: With nosigns of improvement in Covid-19pandemic, the Smart City propos-als for the Capital city are likelyto align its projects in conformitywith the steps to tackle the pan-demic, as directed by the Uniongovernment.

The Centre has directed theSpecial Purpose Vehicles (SPVs)of smart cities to develop futureprojects in view of the pandemic.These include IT-based psycholog-ical support systems to Covid-19patients, smart surveillance sys-tems for crisis management, pro-vision for online education to chil-dren studying in municipal andgovernment schools, mobile healthclinics and use of social media an-alytics for better understandingcitizen perception among others

“The need for smart cities tobuild greater resilience has beenvoiced by stakeholders with thegoal to align their project imple-mentation with theemergent situa-tion and the‘new nor-mal’ ex-pected inthe future.The SPVswere sug-gested to in-corporate innovativepractices in the plan which notonly cater to demands of the cur-rent crisis but are promising intimes to come,” the Centre wrote tothe smart cities.

The 16th Board of DirectorsMeeting of Bhubaneswar SmartCity Limited (BSCL) held here,Thursday, on the eve of the fifth

anniversary of the Smart CitiesMission discussed the same.

Among discussions , the board ap-proved budget for the financial year2020-21, draft accounts, HR and ac-counts policy were also passed forthe SPV in BSCL.

Following this, the BSCL inits meet with Board of Directorsapproved extension of ninemonths to IBI Group as project

management consultant (PgMC)with the Smart City for smooth

execution of technology-based proj-ects. Panned under ‘Pan City SmartSolution’ some of these projectsinclude Intelligent City Operationsand Management Centre (ICOMC);Common Payment Method andTraffic Management Project.

“We have directed the BSCL to ex-pedite its work with various ongo-ing projects during post Covid-19 sit-uation and to complete

infrastructure projects includingSmart Parks so that it may be putto efficient public use,” stated BSCLChair man, Suresh ChandraMahapatra.

Housing and Urban AffairsMinister Hardeep Singh Puri advisedsmart cities quickly implement cycling-friendly initiatives in response toCovid-19. Floating ‘Cycles4changeChallenge,’ the ministry suggested theSPVs to explore low-cost interven-tions such as pop-up cycle lanes, non-motorised zones and community-ledcycle rental schemes. The meet thussaw BSCL Chairman directing theCapital Region Urban Transportauthorities to deploy more cyclesacross all the cycle docking sta-tions across the city so that peoplecan use them as means of transport,physical exercise and last mile con-nectivity and reduce dependency onoverburdened public transports.

stateSATURDAY | JUNE 27 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR P5

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POST NEWS NETWORK

Malkangiri, June 26: Migrantworkers from Odisha who returnedto the state from various parts of thecountry in the wake of the coron-avirus outbreak are being traffickedby labour contractors to neigh-bouring Andhra Pradesh.

This has been happening evenas the administration is yet to iden-tify the returnees and map theirskills for their employment in thestate, a report said.

The administration has spentlakhs of rupees for transportationof the stranded migrant workersfrom other states.

With COVID-19 infections surg-

ing day by day the trafficking ofmigrant workers has become acause of concern for the admin-istration. Surprisingly, the labourtrafficking has been going onwithout the knowledge of thelabour department and localsarpanchs.

Some families of Sindhiguda vil-lage in Mathili block alleged toldmedia persons that two middlemenforcibly took away seven youthsfrom the village June 19 to AndhraPradesh where they will be engagedin a bore well company. The healthcondition of the youths is not known,the villagers said.

The seven youths were identi-fied as Purna Durua, Surya Durua,Lakh Durua, Sitaram Madkami,

Kuduku Madkami, Smaru andPardeshi of Kasarbhata andSindhiguda villages.

Despite opposition by the fam-ily members of the youths, the mid-dlemen took them and assured thatthey will come back soon.

Locals alleged said if the vehiclein which they were transported tothe neighbouring state had beenchecked, the middlemen and theworkers could have been caught.

Mahupadar outpost police said thematter will be investigated and theyouths will be brought back.

Sarpanch Shivshankar Duruasaid the youths were taken with-out his knowledge. Now, projectsworth Rs 50 lakh under MGNREGSare being executed, he added.

Middlemen traffic returneemigrants to Andhra PradeshWITH COVID-19 INFECTIONS SURGINGDAY BY DAY THE TRAFFICKING OF WORKERS HAS BECOMEA CAUSE OF CONCERNFOR MALKANGIRI ADMINISTRATION The family members of the youths who were taken to the neighbouring state

POST NEWS NETWORK

Chhatrapur, June 26: Worriedover the sharp rise in COVID-19cases in Berhampur MunicipalCorporation (BeMC), the Ganjam dis-trict administration has announceda four-day complete shutdown ofthe municipal area. The shutdownwill come into effect June 27 and con-tinue till June 30. Officials are hop-ing that the shutdown will preventthe spread of infection.

“The move is to contain the spreadof coronavirus,” Ganjam CollectorVijay Amruta Kulange said in avideo message, Thursday.

Kulange said during the fourdays 70 medical teams from the dis-trict health department will do ac-tive contact tracing, symptom iden-tification and health checking ofpeople in isolation wards and homequarantine through door-to-doorsurveillance.

During the shutdown emergencyservices will remain functional.Also delivery of milk to houses hasbeen permitted.

Kulange urged the people to co-operate with the medical teamsduring the health screening pro-cedure. The medical teams will reg-

ister the names of the people withfever, cough, diabetes and diarrhoeasymptoms and will take appropri-ate steps accordingly.

Ganjam district tops the COVID-19 infection list in Odisha with 1,138cases. The district reported 49 newcases Friday. Among those hit by thevirus, 13 are healthcare workers.

Eight of them are from Aska, threefrom BeMC and one each fromKodala and Kabi Surya Nagar.

Among those who tested posi-tive for the disease Friday, four havetravel histories. Two have recentlyreturned from Mumbai while onehas come back from Surat and theother one from Pune.

DGP SUSPENDS RAPE ACCUSEDBIRAMITRAPUR IICPOST NEWS NETWORK

Sundargarh, June 26:DGP Abhaysuspended Biramitrapur policestation inspector-in-charge AnandChandra Majhi Friday for im-pregnating a minor and later forc-ing her to undergo terminationof pregnancy.

The girl had come to witness afair at Biramitrapur which wascancelled due to the lockdownMarch 25. She failed to returnhome and was roaming near thebus-stand when a police patrollingteam noticed her and brought herto the police station.

The IIC took the girl to the upperfloor and raped her. Police offi-cials dropped the girl at her homethe next day. The girl was thenregularly called to the police sta-tion and raped by the IIC and otherpolice officials for three months.

The girl visited BiramitrapurCHC June 16 after she fell sick.The IIC also terminated her preg-nancy, without even informingthe Child Welfare Committee. Acase was registered against theaccused police officials.

4-day shutdown in Silk City VIRUS CONTROL STRATEGY

During the four days, 70 medicalteams from the district healthdepartment will do active

contact tracing, symptomidentification and health

checking of people inisolation wards and

home quarantinethrough door-to-door

surveillance

The medical teams will register thenames of the people with fever, cough,

diabetes and diarrhoeasymptoms and will take

appropriate steps accordingly

During the shutdownemergency services will

remain functional, whilehome delivery of milk has

been permitted

Ganjamdistrict tops

the COVID-19infection list in

Odisha with1,138 cases

POST NEWS NETWORK

Kendrapara, June 26: Farmersin Kendrapara district are a worriedlot after the year’s first floodwaterwas released from Hirakud damThursday.

From past experience, they saythe floodwater released intoMahanadi will reach Mundali inCuttack by Saturday and then itwill reach their district. This sea-son, they fear, the embankmentsthat have gone weak may not standthe floodwater. If the embankmentsgets breached somewhere, hugedamage to farmlands and openareas in the lower end is inevitable,they apprehend.

There are seven rivers and 27distributaries in Kendrapara district.These rivers and rivulets get waterfrom the Mahanadi and Brahmanisystems as well as from theBaitarani.

Once the water flowing in theMahanadi system reaches the dis-trict, rivers like Mahanadi, Luna,Chitratpola, Paika, Birupa andGobari, and canals like Kendraparacanal, Gobari canal, Pattamundaicanal will swell.

The farmers’ rough estimate saysthe floodwater will affect 50, 000hectares of agricultural land wherekharif cultivation has just started.

According to Laxmikant Swain,a farmer of Mahakalapara block,after cyclone Amphan and mon-soon rain farmers have alreadyprepared beds for kharif paddy.At some places, farmers have evenbegun paddy transplantation. At thesame time, some riparian farm-ers give importance to growingvegetable. At this time if floodwa-ter comes, it will damage the crops.

Swain alleged that at places thereare no embankments and at placesthe embankments are not strongenough to withstand the force offloodwater. If the farmlands getinundated, in the absence of anyfacility to drain out the accumu-lating water, it will stand for days

together. “Most farmers have taken loans.

And they are now worried abouthow they will repay the loans in-case their crops go waste,” Swainadded.

Farmer Niranjan Parida ofKansara village under Kandraparablock said this year many labour-ers who returned from other stateshave tried their hands at cultivation.If the floodwater causes damage totheir crops, it will be from fryingpan to the fire like situation forthem.

Local farmers’ leader GayadharDhal said, “The water resources de-partment has not yet carried out em-bankment strengthening exercises.Similarly, the branch canals arecovered with weeds. No steps fortheir resurrection have been taken.The department has identified 24such points where the embank-

ment may breach owing to flood-water. Since the branch canals arechocked with weeds, the floodwa-ter will hit hard the farmers ofupper end.”

This apart, 55 revenue villageswill bear the brunt as there are noembankments in the downstreamof Mahanadi system. While, cy-clones Phani and Amphan havealready broken the farmers’ back-bone, if the floodwater causes dam-age to crops, it will only be a laststraw, he added.

When contacted, water resourcesdepartment executive engineer,Prabodh Kumar Rout, said theweak embankments have beenidentified and they are being re-paired. The floodwater will not af-fect the crops as it has been esti-mated by the farmers as the releaseof water will continue only for a fewdays, he observed.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Kendrapara, June 26: Already on theverge of extinction, the fishing cat isgoing to see more of its species at theBhitarkanika National Park (BNP) asthe state government has launched aproject for its conservation.

Classified under the Schedule I ofthe Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, thereare 20 fishing cats at BNP as per the 2019

census. According to environmentalist

Hemant Kumar Rout, various reasonshave pushed this animal to near-ex-tinction. Starting from sea coast erosionto infiltration, encroachment and ille-gal construction in BNP area havewidely been responsible for bringingdown their numbers.

In the last 10 years, prawn gheries haveextensively damaged rivers, rivulets

and the environment. The chemicalgas emitted from these gheries hasplayed a major role in reducing thenumber of aquatic animals. In 2018,as many as 307 dolphins were sightedhere. The last census put their numberat only 62. “If the biodiversity of the BNPis not protected, our next generation willfind them only in pictures,” Routwarned.

When contacted, divisional forest of-ficer (DFO) Bikash Ranjan Dash saidglobally the population of this ani-mal is abysmally low. If the sur-rounding atmosphere of BNP deltais considered, their number must havebeen more.

Fishing cats are great hunters. Theyprefer catching fish in water. Theirpaws and sharp teeth make them potenthunters. The state government has re-cently emphasised on its conservation,Dash said.

Fishing cats are double the size ofcommon house cats. Apart from fish,they also prey on snakes, frogs, birdsand feed on carcasses of other ani-mals.

They are good swimmers. They breedall year round and spend most of thetime in dense vegetation areas closeto water bodies.

State starts fishing cat conservationin Bhitarkanika National Park

Endangeredspecies

The fishing cat isclassified under

the Schedule I ofthe WildlifeProtection

Act, 1972

Its paws and sharp teeth make ita potent hunter andthe animal prefers

hunting fish

A good swimmer, thefishing cat also preys onsnakes, frogs, birds andfeeds on carcasses of otheranimals

Double the size of thecommon house cat, thefishing cat breeds allyear round and spendsmost of the time indense vegetation areasclose to water bodies

Coastal farmers in fear afterrelease of Hirakud floodwater

The floodwaters willswell water in Luna,Chitratpola, Paika,Birupa and Gobari, andcanals like Kendraparacanal, Gobari canal,Pattamundai canal

POST NEWS NETWORK

Joda, June 26: A rural road proj-ect being laid under the PradhanMantri Gram Sadak Yojana(PMGSY) through a forest land hastriggered a controversy in Champuarange of Keonjhar district.

People of Jamirta and Kamalpurvillages have strongly opposed con-struction of the road on a forestland. They have also alleged that thecontractor was messing up the con-struction work.

Reports said the rural develop-ment department has awarded thecontract to a person to lay 8.76-kmroad from Jurudi to Kamalpur. Thecontractor has started construc-

tion from Panpokharia. The roadis laid through a patch of forestland. The project entails 16 cul-verts and some bridges.

“Instead of executing the workproperly, the contractor has botchedit up. Old culverts and bridges arebeing repaired. Soil is being dug outfrom private land and forest land andused in the road work while mur-ram should have been used,” vil-lagers of Kamalpur alleged.

Digging or making use of forestland is in complete violation of theForest Conservation Act. Any workon forest land needs the permis-sion of the forest department.

Villagers including PrasantGhana, Mitrabhanu Behera,

Kamalakant Behera, BholanathGhana, Sarat Ghana and NiranjanGhana questioned the durability ofthe road project for which crores ofrupees are being spent.

The villagers had opposed thesubstandard work June 22, alleg-ing that the contractor had threat-ened them through hooligans.

Similarly, people of Jamirta ac-cused the contractor of laying theroad on the forest land.

Balibandh forester KhageswarBarik said that no permission wasgiven to the contractor to use the for-est land and the matter will be in-vestigated. DFO Santosh Joshi said,“The allegation will be probed, if theforest land has been dug out.”

PMGSY road on forest land riles locals

Illegal cattle traderacket bustedPOST NEWS NETWORK

Nayagarh, June 26: Amid alle-gation of illegal cattle trade goingunchecked in Nayagarh district,the police seized seven trucks andtwo pickup vans with 88 cattlenear Kantilo in Nayagarh district,Friday.

According to the police, the ve-hicles were on their way to WestBengal when a patrolling teamseized them. Police also arresteda cattle transporter and driverand the duo is being interrogated.

Locals claimed that many trucksare engaged in illegally traffick-ing cattle to the neighbouring stateon a daily basis. They said that inspite of repeated appeals and com-plaints, the police have not initi-ated any action against the illegalcattle traders.

All the rescued bovines weresent to an animal home in the district.

A few days back, the Odishapolice had seized two pick-up vanscarrying 25 cattle heads fromChoudwar in Cuttack district. Thepolice had also arrested some localyouths in this connection.According to sources, the cattlewere being sent to Bhadrak andBalasore districts.

LIVELIHOOD MATTERS

A man tending his herd of goats and sheep out of Sambalpur town OP PHOTO

WORDSWORTH

power post P6

T he COVID-19 pandemic has made friends of erstwhile foes! Urjit Patel,who left 18 months ago after a fractious tenure as RBI Governor, is backas chairman of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy(NIPFP). In 2018, he had resigned barely four days before a crucial meetingof the board of RBI that would have discussed the central bank’s simmer-ing differences with the Modi sarkar. Patel replaces former bureaucratVijay Kelkar who helmed NIPFP for six years and will have four-year tenure.

Why has the government brought back an economist with whom it hadmajor differences, and whose tenure at the RBI was marked by a runningbattle between Patel and the Finance Ministry on various issues? Clearly,much has changed since then. The economic slowdown coupled now withthe havoc wreaked by the coronavirus outbreak has limited the options ofthe government. Its present set of advisers on matters economic has not beenable to chart a new course. So, the government has been forced to fall backon those people who it had once forcefully ejected because their ideas didnot match those of the ruling dispensation, or they were unwilling to do thegovernment’s bidding.

It appears that the Modi sarkaris now trying to make the best outof an unhappy situation. Clearly, theCentre wishes to draw upon Patel’sexperience as it navigates policyin these turbulent times. Apparently,there is also mounting pressure to bring back Raghuram Rajan, Patel’s pred-ecessor at the RBI who too had quit because he couldn’t get along with thepowers that be, most notably on the issue of demonetisation. Hopefully,Patel’s second innings with the Modi sarkar will be a smoother affair.

NITI Aayog hires domain expertsPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of adding domain experts to the

bureaucratic mix is alive. After last year’s hiring of eight domain expertsas joint secretaries through the UPSC, not much was heard about lateral entry– until now.

The NITI Aayog, the premier government think tank, has reportedly re-cruited 38 experts through lateral entry at the level of director and deputysecretary. Their expertise ranges from economics and finance, trade and com-merce, and data management and analysis, to rural development and in-frastructure connectivity. Letters of appointment were issued to the ap-pointees in March. While 20 appointees have already joined NITI Aayog, thecoronavirus outbreak has delayed the joining of the rest.

Interestingly, unlike the lateral entrants hired through UPSC and who havethe same privileges as career civil servants, the officers appointed on con-tract basis will not be entitled to residential accommodation, official trans-port, leave encashment or any other allowances/facilities as admissible toa regular government employee.

No foreign training for babusThe coronavirus pandemic is affecting all sorts of activities. Facing a fi-

nancial crunch during the raging coronavirus pandemic, the Modi sarkar hasdecided to discontinue foreign training for bureaucrats the current financialyear. The government has removed the international component from the train-ing programme, citing financial austerity in the wake of the pandemic.

According to sources, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT),issued a circular directing all cadre-controlling authorities and centraltraining institutes to not conduct foreign training in FY 2020-2021. Besidesthe tight fiscal situation, the government also felt that the decision was nec-essary from the health and safety points of view as well.

The circular further states that if there is “an urgent need to send civilservants overseas, the authorities will need to seek permission from the DoPT”.

With the COVID-19 pandemic showing no sign of a let-up, the governmenthas a huge task on its hand and clearly needs to use its straitened resourcesfor fighting the deadly virus.

Share a babu experience! Follow dilipthecherian@twitter.com.Let’s multiply the effect

T he Supreme Court has askedthe government to treat awrit petition filed in thecourt seeking setting up of expertpanels to find ways of enhancingIndia’s rank in the Rule of LawIndex as a “representation” andrespond within six months. For, itis not a judicial issue, but a matterfor government consideration.

In the Rule of Law Index 2020prepared by the World Justice Project(WJP), India is given THE 69th rankamong 128 countries and jurisdic-tions. WJP is an independent, multi-disciplinary organisation workingfor promoting the Rule of Law (ROL)worldwide. It is a quantitative as-sessment tool designed to providea detailed and comprehensive pic-ture of the extent to which those whogovern various countries are boundto act according to laws and regu-lations and prescribed proceduresand adhere to the rule of law inpractice. An independent judiciary,individual freedom, and free pressare considered essential ingredi-ents of ROL.

Effective Rule of Law preventsarbitrary decisions, and can re-duce corruption and protect peoplefrom injustices. Whether it can

combat poverty as claimed by its ad-vocates may be disputed by wel-fare theorists. But, it is to be acceptedas the foundation for justice, equalopportunity and peace underpin-ning development, and fundamentalrights for all citizens. It guaran-tees an accountable governmentthat holds law as supreme.

Rule of Law is being discussedfrom the days of Plato and Aristotle.As a political concept, it can betraced to 16thCentury Britain as aright of subjects against the di-vine right of kings. Its originatorwas Sir Edward Coke, Chief Justicein the reign of James I. To JohnLocke, freedom in society meansbeing subject only to laws madeby a legislature that apply to every-one equally. British jurist AV Diceypopularised the concept of Ruleof Law as the corner-stone of par-liamentary democracy.

Under Rule of Law, all membersof a society, including the govern-ing group, are considered equallysubject to existing law of the landthe contents and processes of whichare publicly disclosed. Equalityand openness are two essentialcharacteristics of the Rule of Law.The term is closely associated with

“constitutionalism” – a politicalsituation and not any specificlaw.ROL is not just a weapon againstunquestionable State dominationor against the whims and fanciesof the ruling groups; it is also ashield protecting the civil society.It has grown in various forms apartfrom legal and procedural codeslike permitting judicial activism,public interest litigation, suomotojudicial intervention on press re-ports and so on thus making justicemore easily available and accessi-ble to the citizens.

WJP index is based on the resultsof a survey of over 130,000 house-holds and 4,000 legal practitionersand experts to measure how theRule of Law is perceived and ex-perienced worldwide. Countriescovered have different politicaland juridical systems, economicstanding, ethnic-social character-istics, historical background, pop-ulation complexion, and domesticand international problems. But,these are not taken into account inthe preparation of the index as inany such global index which goesby scores given on the specific in-dicators used in the project.

Denmark, Norway, Finland,

Sweden, Netherlands, Germany,New Zealand, Austria, Canada,and Estonia are the top 10 whileZimbabwe, Pakistan, Bolivia,Afghanistan, Mauritania,Cameroon, Egypt, DemocraticRepublic of Congo, Cambodia, andVenezuela are the bottom 10 coun-tries in the index, repeating the2019 record. Noteworthy is the re-moval of the US from top 20 andSpain getting an elevation. Francedeclined from 17 to 20 in rank. TheUK stands at rank 13.On the whole,the global trend is found to be de-clining in the past three years. Lastyear, the fall was in fundamentalrights, absence of corruption, andparticularly on constraints on gov-ernmental power.

The question whether the pan-demic may be used as an excuse forrestrictions on personal freedomand economic activities has arisenas a political issue in some coun-tries. The foundations of the ROLare strong enough in our countryto survive the threats from the pan-demic which are temporary.

INFAThe writer is a former

Director, ICSSR, New Delhi.

Rule of Law in season of pandemic

WAKE UP INDIA D

elhi-based ObserverResearch Foundation hassaid that today China isleading the world in a

number of technologies such as ingenetics, hypersonics (faster thansound), 5G Internet and facialrecognition though ArtificialIntelligence. In coming times, thetechnologies of 5G, ArtificialIntelligence, Internet of Things(self-operation of machines throughinternet such as self-opening ofa door after recognising face ofthe person), 3D Printing (manu-facture of clone of an object suchas a chocolate) and robotics will de-termine which country will dom-inate the world.

Here, China is fast attaining as-cendancy. Inventors file applicationsfor the grant of patents before theWorld Intellectual PropertyOrganisation (WIPO). The inven-tor gets the global right on thesaid technology after such filing.The numbers of patents filed byChina exceeded those filed by theUS for the first time in 2019.

The US had been leading in thissince inception of the WIPO. Chinahad filed merely 300 applicationsin 1999. This has increased to 59,000in 2019, surpassing the 58,000 ap-plications filed by the US. In par-allel, the Chinese company Huaweihas filed the highest number ofpatents filed by a company for thethird year in a row. China has al-ready become the technology guruof the world.

A paper published in theHarvard Business Review ofMarch 2014 has said that this tech-nological progress of China isbuilt upon the two legs of finan-cial support by the government andpolitical determination. Althoughthe authors have expressed doubtthat China will be able to becomethe world leader in technologybecause of political intervention,the record of the last 20 yearsclearly shows that political in-tervention has had a beneficialand salutary impact on China'stechnological advancements. Itshould be obvious that the polit-ical intervention will have a neg-ative impact if that leads to ha-rassment of honest researchers fornot toeing their ideological line;but will have a positive impact if

it leads to the removal of inefficientresearchers. The question is notof the fact of political interfer-ence but of the nature of politicalinterference.

How should we then deal withChina's technological prowess? Anumber of Indian companies, es-pecially startups like Ola, are rid-ing on Chinese investments. Thesecompanies are remitting profits toChina. Tencent is a major Chineseinvestor in India. Some 47 per centof its profits come from India. Wecan certainly stop taking theseinvestments. But that will notsolve anything.

The impact of such a move willdepend on our nerves. TakingChinese investments can be ben-eficial if Ola can absorb the tech-nology and develop an indigenousclone that then threw Ola out. Onthe other hand, Indian economywill suffer if we become perpetu-ally dependent on Chinese ag-gregation technology. The Chineseexperience illustrates the matter.The Harvard study says: "In 2002,the [Chinese] government launchedan open bidding process for windfarm projects to encourage com-petition among turbine makers.Foreign imports soon floodedChina's fledgling market... Thegovernment then required state-owned enterprises to source 70per cent of their components fromdomestic firms. By 2009, six of thetop 10 wind turbine firms wereChinese." So, the question is not

whether we take Chinese invest-ment or not. The question is howwe ride upon them.

Trade is similarly placed. Ourcost of production of, say, autoparts is higher than China. Wecan stop these imports. In thatcase, if we are unable to upgrade,our auto manufacturers will haveto buy more expensive home-madeparts. The cost of cars in Indiawill increase and become a burdenon our consumers. We will alsobe thrown out of the world mar-ket. On the other hand, if we up-grade and make parts as cheap asChina, then we will win. So, onceagain, the question is not whetherto trade with China or not. Thequestion is whether we can re-duce our cost of production andcompete with China.

We will have to solve the un-derlying issues. We must have thenerve to put Chinese investmentson their head just as China didwith wind turbines; and we re-duce our cost of production.

Facing the technological chal-lenge will require action both onfinancial and political fronts. TheEconomic Survey published bythe Ministry of Finance notedthat India's expenditure onResearch and Development hasremained flat at 0.7 per cent of GDPwhile Korea and Israel are spend-ing 4.6 per cent and China 2.1 percent. The total expenditure by Chinabecomes 15 times that of India oncewe account for its GDP being about

5 times that of India. The main rea-son for our low investment is the con-sumption by our government. Ourgovernment revenues are beingused to pay hefty salaries to thegovernment servants. The averagesalary of government servants inChina is about 1.5 times their percapita GDP of China while it isabout 4.6 times in India.

My assessment is that our gov-ernment has had little money leftfor research or for other neces-sary expenditures such as defenseafter the Fifth Pay Commission. Idaresay that the government ser-vants are eating away the sover-eignty of the country by capturinggovernment revenues and pre-venting investments in researchand defense. I am cognizant thatlarge numbers of government ser-vants, especially in the armedforces, are honest and diligentlyserving the country. However, thatdoes not obviate the collective im-pact of the high salaries paid tothem in comparison to the GDP percapita of the country.

The second cause of our tech-nological backwardness is thedecadent state of government-funded universities and researchinstitutions. A few years ago, Ihad the occasion to ask a univer-sity professor how he spent histime after retirement. He replied,"I have got used to not workingfor the last 40 years. The time justpasses by." Remember thatAmerican lead in technologies issubstantially supported by theiruniversities. Chinese universitiesare also playing the same role.Our universities, however, aremainly busy distributing certifi-cates so that the students get gov-ernment jobs and get used to "notworking" like themselves.

India needs to wake up. This isnot the time to shout about thearm-twisting and manipulationsby China. That is geopolitics. Wehave to set our own house in order.The government will have to stoppandering to the government ser-vants and increase outlay in re-search; and enforce accountabilityin the government-funded uni-versities and research institutions.

The writer is formerlyProfessor of Economics at

IIM, Bangalore.

LOL

FOCUS

SPECTRUM

The average salary of government servants inChina is about 1.5 times the per capita GDP ofChina, which is about 4.6 times in India. Myassessment is that our government has had little money left for research or for other necessary expenditures such as defense afterthe Fifth Pay Commission

Urjit is back, Rajan likely

BULL

Ablonde and a redhead have aranch. They have just lost theirbull. The women need to buy another,but only have $500. The redhead tellsthe blonde, "I will go to the marketand see if I can find one for under thatamount. If I can, I will send you atelegram." She goes to the market and finds onefor $499. Having only one dollar left,she goes to the telegraph office and

finds out thatit costs one dollar

per word. She isstumped on how to tell the blonde tobring the truck and trailer. Finally, shetells the telegraph operator to sendthe word "comfortable." Skeptical, the operator asks, "Howwill she know to come with the trailerfrom just that word?" The redheadreplies, "She's a blonde so she readsslowly: 'Come for ta bull.'"

SATURDAY | JUNE 27 | 2020 | BHUBANESWAR

What men call knowledge, is thereasoned acceptance of falseappearances. Wisdom looksbehind the veil and sees.

SRI AUROBINDO

SOCIETY

THE GOVERNMENT

WILL HAVE TO STOP

PANDERING TO THE

GOVERNMENTSERVANTS AND

INCREASE OUTLAY IN

RESEARCH; ANDENFORCE

ACCOUNTABILITYIN THE

GOVERNMENT-FUNDED

UNIVERSITIESAND RESEARCH

INSTITUTIONS

BharatJhunjhunwala

WISDOM CORNERThere are three gems upon this earth: Food, Water and Pleasingwords – Fools consider pieces of rocks as gems.

CHANAKYA

There is no God higher than truth. Even if you are in minority of One,the Truth is always the Truth.

MAHATMA GANDHIThere is something splendid about innocence; but what is bad aboutit, in turn, is that it cannot protect itself very well and is easilyseduced.

IMMANUEL KANT

NATION

Readers of Orissa POSTare most welcome to contribute letters(200 words), articles andcolumns (between 750-1250words). Contributors arerequested to send theircontact numbers and fullpostal address/email ID. They may alsosend in their valuable comments, opinionand suggestions, preferably by email, to: edit@orissapost.com

B-15, Rasulgarh Industrial Estate,Bhubaneswar-751010

LettersTO THE EDITOR

ROL IS NOT JUST A WEAPON

AGAINST UNQUESTIONABLE

STATE DOMINATION OR

AGAINST THEWHIMS AND

FANCIES OF THERULING GROUPS; IT

IS ALSO A SHIELDPROTECTING THE

CIVIL SOCIETY

Dr S. Saraswathi

Students, reading

Sir, Most children now have less of reading ability. So muchso, students of Class VII are unable to read, say, Class III text-books. There is no reading atmosphere in schools, communi-ties, and families. In the past, most of primary and upper pri-mary schools were paying attention to enhance the reading abilityof children. Today, 30 per cent o