· 2021. 3. 21. · and engineers. if delhi can have good schools, so can punjab and only aap can...

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With the “letter bomb”dropped by Mumbai’s

former Police CommissionerParam Bir Singh having tunedinto the first-ever major polit-ical crisis for the 16-month-oldMVA Government inMaharashtra, the ruling ShivSena on Sunday appeared to bedepending heavily on NCPpresident Sharad Pawar toresolve the explosive situationarising out of Singh’s allegationthat State Home Minister AnilDeshmukh had asked arrestedpolice officer Sachin Vaze tocollect �100 crore every monthfrom restaurants, bar and othersources in the metropolis.

Terming the allegationsmade by the former policechief as “very serious” andindicating that the NCP wouldtake a call on Deshmukh’s res-ignation in a day or two,Pawar — who is considered thearchitect of the MVAGovernment — talked with theleaders of three constitutingparties at his New Delhi resi-dence in the evening to tide

over the crisis.While NCP leaders Ajit

Pawar, Jayant Patil, Praful Pateland Surpriya Sule were presentat the meeting, Sanjay Raut isrepresenting the Shiv Sena.Senior Congress leader KamalNath is attending the meetingon behalf of his party.

Deshmukh is not neededto put in his paper, NCP leaderand Minister Jayant Patil toldthe media after the meeting atPawar’s residence in Delhi.

Pawar will meet ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayin Mumbai on Monday to dis-cuss the way out.

Earlier in the day, talking tomedia persons in Delhi, Pawarsaid, “Singh has made seriousallegations against Deshmukh.But he has not given substan-tial proof to back his allegation.I have to talk to our HomeMinister to listen to his side ofthe story. I would like ChiefMinister Thackeray to order athorough probe into the formerPolice Commissioner’s allega-tions against the HomeMinister.

“Prior to this Press confer-

ence, I spoke to the ChiefMinister. We will take a deci-sion on Deshmukh after con-sulting all stakeholders in theGovernment. The ChiefMinister has all the powers totake a decision in this regard.He can take a decision afterholding a proper enquiry intoallegations against Deshmukh.”

Alluding to Singh’s claimthat he had briefed the NCPchief and other party Ministersabout the “several misdeedsand malpractices” beingindulged in by the HomeMinister, Pawar said, “Singhhad met him. He spoke abouthis transfer. He also spoke tome about the interference inthe functioning of his depart-

ment. Beyond this, he did nottell me anything else.”

On the issue of reinstate-ment of Vaze in June last year,Pawar said, “The power toreinstate Vaze was very muchwith the Police Commissioner(Singh) himself.”

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As Uttarakhand hostsMahakumbh amid sharp

surge in daily Covid cases inthe country, the Centre hasdirected the State Governmentto strictly follow all the strin-gent measures to ensure thatthe largest religious congrega-tion does not turn into “super-spreader event.”

The warning comes in thewake of the UttarakhandGovernment’s decision to liftCovid restrictions for the gath-ering at a time when a surge ininfections is being reportedfrom several other States.

Alluding to the high-levelCentral team’s concerns about

the State Government’s laxity inhandling the congregation, theCentre noted that numerouspilgrims are expected to arriveat the Mahakumbh from the 12States which are witnessingincrease in infections.

In a letter to UttarakhandChief Secretary, Union HealthSecretary Rajesh Bhushan“strongly” highlighted the con-cerns raised by the Centralteam and about the “need forstringent measures to controlthe spread of Covid-19 duringthe ongoing Kumbh”.

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The last Sunday before thefirst round of Assembly

elections saw Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah launchinga frontal attack on ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeefrom twin rallies of Bankuraand Egra.

Taking on Mamata’s “khelahobey” (game is in the offing)slogan, the Prime Minister saidthe Trinamool Congress’“khela” only revolved aroundcorruption, syndicate andtolabaji (extortion) but thatkhela will not be allowed tocontinue once the BJP comes topower in Bengal. The PM wasaddressing a rally at Bankura.

Poking fun at the CM, hesaid, ‘Didi …. O … Didi weknow that you are a big playerbut I can assure you that

enough is enough, there will beno more khela of corruption,syndicate and tolabaji as theBJP will bring in the realchange in Bengal, not the onebrought by you 10 years ago.’

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Continuing to attack thenational BJP leadership

and the turncoat leaders likeSuvendu Adhikari, who hadrecently left the TMC to jointhe saffron outfit, Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onSunday said the people wouldnever support the “gaddarsand they would be thrown outof Bengal along with theirmasters who are goons comingfrom outside Bengal”.

Addressing a mammothelection rally at Contai in EastMidnapore, Mamata said, “Iwas a donkey not have under-stood the real face of these gad-dars (traitors) … a straightfor-ward person that I have alwaysbeen, I trusted them andallowed freedom and in returnthey looted the people.”

In an apparent reference toAdhikari, Mamata said, “Theyhave misappropriated thou-sands of crores… I am told ascam only in the cooperativebank where they functioned aschairman amounts to �5,000crore … and now to save theseill-gotten money they have fledto the BJP.’

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Rapidly modernising itsArmed forces and flexing

its muscles in several regions,including the Line of ActualControl (LAC) and India-Pacific, China has emerged asthe strongest force in the world.

The USA, which has thelargest defence budget, standssecond. India is at the fourthposition behind Russia.

These facts have emergedin a study conducted by a UK-based defence website MilitaryDirect. In its report released onSunday, the study said

“The USA, despite theirenormous military budgets,comes in 2nd place with 74points, followed by Russia with69, India at 61 and then Francewith 58. The UK just aboutmakes the top 10, coming in9th place with a score of 43,”

said the report.The study said the ultimate

military strength index wascalculated after taking intoconsideration various factorsincluding budgets, number ofinactive and active militarypersonnel, total air, sea, landand nuclear resources, averagesalaries, and weight of equip-ment.

China has the strongestmilitary in the world with 82out of 100 points in the index,it noted. “Based on these scores,

which account for budgets,men, and things like air andnavy capacity, it does suggestthat China would come out astop dog in a hypothetical superconflict,” it said.

The world’s biggest militaryspender with a budget of $732billion per year is the USA, itnoted, adding that Chinacomes second with $261 bil-lion, followed by India at $71billion.

“China would win by sea,USA by air and Russia byland” in this hypothetical con-flict, it said. “The USA wins inan aerial war with 14,141 totalairships versus Russia with4,682 and China with 3,587.The Russian Federation wins ina land war with 54,866 vehiclesversus USA with 50,326 andChina with 41,641,” it men-tioned.

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The mystery shrouding thealleged murder of Thane-

based businessman MansukhHiran, whose Scorpio ladenwith gelatin sticks was recov-ered from near the residence ofindustrialist Mukesh Ambanion February 25, turned murki-er on Sunday as MaharashtraAnti-Terrorism Squad (ATS)arrested a bookie and a con-victed policeman.

The ATS identified thepersons arrested as convictedconstable Vinayak B Shinde(51) and cricket bookie NareshR Gor (31).

The arrests of Shinde and

Gor come a day after the UnionHome Ministry asked the NIAto take over the investigationsinto the murder of Hiran,whose body was recoveredfrom the marshy Reti-Bundercreek Mumbra in the neigh-bouring Thane district onMarch 5.

Shinde and Gor are said tobe accomplices of Sachin Vaze,who is currently in the custodyof the NIA in the explosiveSUV planting case.

Shinde is a dismissedpoliceman, who has been con-victed in the case involving thefake encounter of RamnarayanGupta, alias Lakhan Bhaiya.

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Amid a surge in Covid-19cases, the Rajasthan

Government has decided toimpose night curfew in eightcities from 11 pm to 5 am andordered closure of markets by10 pm from Monday.

The Government has alsomade it mandatory for peoplecoming to Rajasthan fromother States to carry a Covid-19 negative test report fromMarch 25. If they do nothave the negative test report,they will have to stay in quar-antine for 15 days.

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New Delhi: Lok Sabha SpeakerOm Birla was admitted to theAIIMS Covid Centre here forobservation on March 20 aftertesting positive for coronavirus,and he is presently stable.

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Kolkata: TMC MP SisirAdhikari on Sunday joined theBJP in presence of HomeMinister Amit Shah. Adhikari,a father figure in EastMidnapore’s politics, is father ofSuvendu Adhikari.

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) National Convener

Arvind Kejriwal said that theAAP is the only party that canprovide free education, healthservices and 24-hour electric-ity in Punjab.

Addressing the KisanMahapanchayat in Moga(Punjab) on Sunday, he saidthat during the Punjab elec-tions four years ago, CaptainSahab also made many promis-es to the people and farmers ofPunjab but none of those ful-filled.

“The AAP Government inDelhi fulfilled every singlepromise. At least 73 per cent ofthe people receive zero elec-tricity bills in Delhi. If the peo-ple of Delhi can receive zeroelectricity bills, so can the peo-ple of Punjab. If it is possible inDelhi, why cannot it be possi-ble in Punjab?” he said.

“I promised the people tochange the face of schools inDelhi before Assembly election.Now the children from mar-ginal backgrounds in Delhiare studying in schools thathave the amazing infrastruc-ture, they are becoming doctorsand engineers. If Delhi canhave good schools, so canPunjab and only AAP canchange the face of schools inPunjab,” he said.

Talking about farmers’issue, Kejriwal said that “It isdue to his support with thefarmers and his refusal to con-

vert Delhi stadiums into jails.The Centre brought in a bill inthe parliament to curb thepowers of the AAPGovernment and to give allpowers to Lieutenant Governor.

The AAP convener salutedthe farmers of Punjab for lead-ing the movement against thethree black laws of the Centreand assured them that theAAP is with them at every stepof their movement. He said thathe will not let the BJP take anyunruly action against the farm-ers till the time he is in Delhi.

Referring a recent mediasurvey, he said that if the elec-tions happen today, the peopleof Punjab prefer AAP overany other party. “The AAP willcreate a new Punjab togetherwith the people of the state,” hesaid.

"The AAP fought electionsin Surat for the first time andwon 27 seats whereas Congresswon zero seats. The people ofSurat told me to give a messageto the farmers of Punjab thatthe entire Surat is standing with

them. I spoke to MamataBanerjee Ji a few days back, andshe told me that the farmers ofWest Bengal are with the farm-ers of Punjab. This is not amovement of just one or twostates, this is a movement of thefarmers of India and every cit-izen of India, this is a move-ment of each and every patri-ot and of every child in thiscountry," said Kejriwal.

“Farmers from Punjabwere the first to raise a protestagainst the farm laws. Theywere the first to start a move-ment against the laws and theytook this movement to Delhi.Now, farmers from the wholecountry are standing with younow,” he said.

Accusing the BJP for tryingto defame the farmers andtheir movement, he said they(BJP leaders) called themKhalistanis terrorists.

“The AAP has registered70 complaints against all theBJP leaders who defamed andabused the farmers. I am cer-tain that all of them will bepunished as soon as the deci-sion comes. The farmers of ournation have only and onlybeen deceived by everyGovernment and every party inthe last 70 years. The partiespromised jobs to the childrenof the farmers but did not ful-fill those promises as well. TheGovernment wants to handover the practice of farming totheir capitalist friends afterthe implementation of thesefarm laws," he added.

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Following the rise in Covid-19 cases, the Delhi prison

authorities have geared up tohouse the returning inmateswho were granted parole lastyear.

According to jail officials,it will be difficult to maintainsocial distancing with the surgein the number of Covid-19cases in the prisons.

The official said the situa-tion could be more difficult tomanage when the inmates,

who were granted parole dur-ing the pandemic outbreak lastyear, would return.

There are a total of 18,900inmates in the Delhi Prisonscomprising Tihar, Rohini andMandoli jails. However, theintake capacity of Delhi PrisonsDepartment is 10,026 inmates.

The number of inmateswill pass the 20,000-mark asmore will come after theiremergency parole lapse, asenior jail official said.

Meanwhile, the jail author-ity asserted that all steps are

being taken to keep the Covid-19 situation under control.

“The last time an inmatewas tested positive for coron-avirus was on January 14. Afterthat, three more persons werefound positive, but their con-dition was detected before theyentered the jail.

“No jail staff has beenfound Covid-19 positive afterJanuary 9. Thus, the Covid sit-uation inside the jails is verymuch under control. We willcontinue to take all the pre-cautions, including wearing

masks, maintaining social dis-tancing and quarantining thenew inmates,” Sandeep Goel,the Director General, Prison.

The jail authorities are alertand conducting tests as per theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) guidelines,another official said.

A total of 1,184 convictsand around 5,500 under-trialswere released last year underthe department's decongestiondrive amid the pandemic out-break. The vaccination processin the jails has already been

started. Almost all jail staff andsecurity personnel havereceived their jabs.

Around 20 inmates havereceived their first jab of Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccinationdrive for the prisoners startedlast week, officials added.

Delhi reported 813 coron-avirus cases on Saturday. Theactive cases have risen to 3,409from 3,165 a day ago. The pos-itivity rate has also breachedthe 1 per cent-mark after overtwo months, according to offi-cial data.

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Aminor fire broke out at a food court inAmbience Mall in southwest Delhi's

Vasant Kunj area on Sunday. The fire depart-ment said that no one was injured in the inci-dent.

"A call regarding the fire was receivedaround 11.20 am after which six fire tenderswere rushed to the spot, said the Delhi FireService (DFS).

According to Ingit Pratap Singh, theDeputy Commissioner of Police (DCP),Southwest district, a fire broke out in a restau-rant on the third floor of the mall. A short cir-cuit in the air-conditioning system is suspectedto be the cause of fire.

Even before the fire tenders reached thespot, the mall's fire safety drill was able to con-trol the blaze, he said, adding that no injurieswere reported.

The fire was brought under control by11.40 am and the cooling process was under-way, the DFS officials said.

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Afree health check-up camp was organ-ised by Kailash Super Speciality hos-

pital in Noida on Sunday.The doctors from cardiology,

orthopaedics, gynaecology, general physi-cian and dietitian examined various peo-ple during the one-day health camp.

According to officials, around 130 res-idents came for their check up in the camp.

"The residents of the area had appre-ciated our efforts to provide free healthcheck up and lots of people, from all agegroup, living in the nearby areas came herein the camp," said Shiv Bharadwaj, organ-iser of the health camp.

"During the camp, the hospital author-ities also provided free check up for bloodsugar, blood pressure, ECG, oxygen leveland other important tests," saidPuspendra, Advisor to Kailash SuperSpeciality hospital.

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The seventh week of the ‘SwitchDelhi’ campaign will focus on

creating awareness among owners ofthe commercial fleet vehicles com-prising two-wheelers, three-wheel-ers, cab aggregators, goods carriers,freight vehicles, thereby targeting alarge group to adopt and promoteelectric vehicles in the nationalCapital.

Transport Minister, KailashGahlot said “To encourage and pro-mote a smooth transition of com-mercial vehicles to electric vehicles,the Delhi Government has takenmany progressive steps under theDelhi Electric Vehicle policylaunched in August 2020. Delhitoday provides the most favourablepolicy framework across India for

commercial vehicles for transition toEVs”.

Switch Delhi is an eight-weekmass awareness campaign by theDelhi Government to sensitise everyDelhiite about the benefits of switch-ing to ‘Electric Vehicles’ (EVs) to theenvironment as well as to make themaware of the incentives and infra-structure being developed underDelhi’s EV policy.

Highlighting the steps taken bythe Kejriwal Government to ensurethe effortless and rapid transition ofcommercial vehicles to electric vehi-cles, Gahlot, said, “The DelhiGovernment is offering the mostgenerous financial incentives acrossthe entire range of vehicles that fleetcompanies utilise. All the categoriesof vehicles, two-wheelers, three-wheelers, four-wheeler freight vehi-

cles, goods carriers, electric rick-shaws, electric carts, electric-cars areeligible to avail huge financial incen-tives under the Delhi EV policy.”

Gahlot added, “By switching toan electric vehicle, the fleet ownerswould not only take a step towardsensuring the better air quality in thenational capital but can save moneyannually. A two-wheeler fleet ownercan save up to �22,000 annually byswitching to electric.”

The Minister further said thatmany fleet companies are eager tosupport CM’s vision of makingDelhi the EV capital of India.However, they were struggling totransition their fleet to an electricvehicle due to lack of financing.Taking this into consideration, theDelhi Government has taken a pio-neering step in reducing the rate of

interest by introducing the interestsubvention scheme of five per centwhich will be offered through theDelhi Finance Corporation (DFC).

“This scheme is at the advancedstage of drafting and will beannounced soon. This scheme canbe availed by all range of vehiclesand will ensure easy access offinance to fleet companies willing toupgrade their fleet to electric,” hesaid.

“Fleet vehicles ply for the max-imum duration on the streets ofDelhi and can contribute signifi-cantly to bring down the pollutionlevels in the National Capital byswitching to EVs”. Currently, there isa restriction on goods carriers to plyon the roads of Delhi during peakhours to avoid congestion,” he said,adding that to incentivise this tran-

sition, the Delhi Government hastaken the most progressive stepunder the Delhi electric vehicle pol-icy to allow electric good carriers toply on the streets of Delhi during allhours.

The Delhi Government hasurged the fleet companies in Delhito plan a time-bound transition oftheir entire fleet to electric vehicles.“Fleet operators must show theircommitment to the vision of greenDelhi and making Delhi the EV cap-ital of India by pledging to upgrade50 per cent of the entire fleet to elec-tric vehicles by 2023 and 100 per centfleet by 2025,” Gahlot added.

The Switch Delhi campaignaims at informing, encouraging,and motivating each person in Delhito switch from polluting vehicles tozero-emission electric vehicles.

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Violators of traffic rules at 20intersections in the city will no

longer be able to get away from theproverbial long arm of the law.

The Gurugram DevelopmentAuthority Mahanagar (GMDA)has installed CCTV cameras atthese junctions in order to nab vio-lators at these spots.

Under this initiative, the chal-lans for traffic violations such asjumping traffic signals, zebra linecrossing, driving without seat belts,without helmet pillion riders andothers will be issued with the helpof CCTV cameras if someone dis-obeying traffic rules.

The Gurugram traffic policealong with the GMDA have stat-ed this initiative at 20 busy trafficpoints in Gurugram.

The development authorityhas designed Zebra crossings andstop lines at all intersections of thedistrict. After they are made, thechallan for jumping the red lightwill be issued.

According to traffic officials,traffic fines will be issued fromApril. In such a situation now, themotorists have strictly to follow the

rules while driving. If the rules areviolated, they will be caughtthrough the third eye.

Traffic officials informed thatIf any vehicle is found at or beyondthe stop line, the CCTV camerasinstalled at the junctions will clicktheir pictures. Shortly thereafter,the challan will arrive on thephone of the vehicle owner.

"Under the Smart City projectin the district, CCTV cameras arebeing installed on the streets andsquares of the entire city. It willhelp the district police to takeaction not evem on traffic violatorsbut also on criminals and anti-social elements," said KK Rao,commissioner of Gurugram police.

"These cameras have beenattached to the IntegratedCommand and Control Center atthe GMDA office at Sector-44.Where the authorities and policepersonnel monitor them," said asenior GMDA official.

These cameras are equippedwith modern facilities whichinclude — scan the number plateof the vehicles, measure the speedof the vehicle, park the vehicle atZebra crossing, detect wrong park-ing and recognise the face.

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From Page 1A high-level Central team led by NCDC

Director visited Uttarakhand on March 16-17to review the medical and public health mea-sures undertaken by the State for the KumbhMela in Haridwar.

The State Government has been advisedto follow scrupulously the SOPs issued by theMinistry and display signage to disseminatethe main points of these SOPs; increaseawareness of self-reporting, especially amonglocal population, in case of symptoms sug-gestive of Covid-19; and set up system for gen-erating early warning signals in areas with sus-ceptible population by monitoring trend ofARI/ ILI cases through EmergencyOperational Centres.

Last week, Prime Minister NarendraModi during his meeting with the State ChiefMinisters had also pointed out that “Tier-2 andTier-3 cities are being affected. In the firstphase, we could contain the spread as the infec-tion did not spread to the villages. But now asthe small cities are being infected, villages needto be protected more.”

On Sunday, the country recorded 43,846fresh infections in the last 24 hours, crossingmore than 1.5 lakh cases in the last four days.

“It has been noted that there is the poten-tial of an upsurge in cases in the local popu-

lation after the auspicious Shahi Snan days atthe Kumbh Mela,” the letter said.

The Secretary also noted that as per thereport of the Central team, 10-20 pilgrims and10-20 locals are testing positive every day. “Thispositivity rate has the potential to rapidly leadto an upsurge in cases, given the expected largefootfall during Kumbh Mela,” he said.

The State has been informed that the dailytesting numbers reported in Haridwar (50,000Rapid Antigen tests and 5,000 RT-PCR tests)are not enough to effectively offset the hugenumber of expected pilgrim footfalls. It hasbeen advised that the share of RT-PCR testsbeing conducted at present needs to be sig-nificantly increased as per the ICMR guide-lines to ensure that the pilgrims and local pop-ulation are appropriately tested.

The Centre also advised the State toincrease awareness, especially among thelocal population, in case of symptoms sug-gestive of Covid-19; and set up a system forgenerating early warning signals in areas withsusceptible population by monitoring the trendof cases through emergency operational cen-tres.

The Ministry has also advised the State totarget significantly enhanced testing in poten-tially high transmission areas and continueperiodic testing of frontline workers before andafter the auspicious ‘Snan’ days at the Kumbh.

“In case of surge in cases or super spread-er events, promptly send the samples forgenome sequencing in consultation with theNCDC,” Bhushan said.

From Page 1China wins in a sea war with

406 ships versus Russia with 278and the USA or India with 202, itsaid.

The report comes in the back-drop of growing maritime prowessof China besides its rapid advancesin space-based weapons and ongo-ing modernisation. Its forces haveover the years become more tech-nology intensive.

At home, with sustained driveto achieve self-reliance and indi-genisation in weapon manufac-turing, India’s imports in the lastnine to ten years dropped by morethan 33 per cent. Moreover,Russia, the main supplier of armsto India, suffered in the processbesides the US which had emergedas a big supplier of arms to Indiain the last one decade.

Noting these points in itsreport last week, the reputed inter-

national organisation StockholmInternational Peace ResearchInstitute (SIPRI) also said thedecline took place due to anattempt by to reduce its depen-dence on Russian arms and com-plex procurement processes.

Its arms imports reduced by 33per cent between 2011-15 and2016-20, the report said. It may bementioned here, at present, morethan 70 per cent of inventory in theIndian Armed forces is of erstwhileUSSR and Russian origin.Moreover, the US in the last onedecade had supplied arms andammunition worth over 15 billiondollars.

Attributing this reduction inimports to an attempt to reduce itsdependence on Russian arms andcomplex procurement processes,the SIPRI report said, “Russia wasthe most affected supplier,although India’s imports of USarms also fell by 46 per cent,” thereport said, adding that India isplanning large-scale arms importsin the coming years from severalsuppliers.

From Page 1Pointing at the large crowd

he said, ‘The presence of somany people shows that ‘Didijacchhee … BJP ashcchhe (Didiis going BJP is coming).Vouching for the ‘ashol pori-borton’ (real hange) he said that‘real change will mean aGovernment which is poor-friendly, where development isthe sole agenda and not cor-ruption, where the corrupt andtolabaj are sent to jail.

In a sorry reference to thelanguages being used by vari-ous politicians that inspiredpoll graffitis showing the ChiefMinister playing football withthe Prime Minister’s head Modisaid, ‘Election posters are show-ing you (Mamata) are playingfootball with my head … butmy point is you can kick myhead I will not protest ... youcan keep your foot on myhead I will not protest but I willnot let you kick ‘vikas (devel-opment)’ ... I will not let youkick the dreams and future ofthe youth and the people ofBengal.’

Referring to the strongwords being used by the ChiefMinister against him he said ‘oflate you (Mamata) are takingout your entire frustration onme as you have become awarethat you are losing the polls …so much so that you don’teven want to see my face …you may not see my face but letme tell you that the candidateslike the BJP’s Chandana (adaily wager’s wife) we are send-ing will ensure that you have tosee their faces for years tocome.’

He said the BJP ran onschemes whereas the TMC ranon scams. ‘The TMCGovernment never touches ascheme where there can be noscam --- that is cut money ---

so they are blocking the Centralschemes like Ayushman Bharator Kisan Sanman Nidhi etc.’

Asking the people ofBengal to get prepared for wit-nessing steady development inthe coming 25 years --- there-by asserting that his partywould come to power for thosemany years’ --- Modi said,‘together Left, Congress andTrinamool have wasted thedreams of several generationsin Bengal … but now we willensure that the future of thepresent day youth is not wast-ed.’

Saying that Mamata hadalready started crying foulabout faulty EVMs (electronicvoting machines), because sheknew that her defeat wasinevitable, he said, ‘anticipatingdefeat, Didi has already start-ed questioning the EVMswhich had brought her topower 10 years back.’ The ChiefMinister has been telling thepeople to remain alert againstprogrammed EVMs.

At Egra in East Midnapore,Amit Shah was equally aggres-sive questioning the ChiefMinister’s justification of minorthefts by grassroots politicians.Referring to the Chief Ministerhe said, ‘She said people whotake Rs 500 are called thieves… but for the poorest of thepoor it becomes very difficultto pay that Rs 500.’ Mamata hadearlier said that the BJP was thebiggest tolabaj which stolethousands of crores and not themere Rs 500 that some grass-roots people took as bribe.

Asking the people tomuster courage and go out tovote, Shah said ‘till today theTMC had been looting voteswith the help of its goons as wehave seen in the panchayatelections but this time roundthings will be different as thesegoons will be taken to task (dinmey tare dikhenge) … you goout to cast your vote withoutfear.’

FromPage 1Raising once again the injury

she suffered during a campaign atNandigram, Mamata said, ‘Theywould injure my one leg and ren-der me immobile so that they canget advantage in the campaign butI can play even with one leg … andcan hit so many goals as you willsee after the elections.’

Referring to the alleged ‘tricky’EVMs (electronic votingmachines), Mamata said, ‘theEVMs should be tested 30 timesbefore the start of the polls toensure there is no foul play. But, Ifany machine develops faults, pleaseremain calm until it is repaired.’

She said, ‘Ensure the EVMs arerestarted every time and ensurethat they are tested repeatedlyeven if that means spending ofmore time … otherwise you willcast your vote in the TMC and the

vote will land up in BJP’s account.’In a counterattack on the BJP

leadership, particularly PrimeMinister Narendra Modi for call-ing the TMC a party of tolabaj(extortionists), she said ‘before call-ing the TMC a party of tolabaj youshould first reply to the peopleabout what happened to the fundsthat you received in the PM Caresfund … you should reply to thepeople as to what happened to theBSNL, SAIL, Air India, LIC andthe fate of notebandi during whichyou claimed that all black moneywill be flushed out.’

She said, ‘The BJP has alreadymade tall promises but deliverednothing but here we have deliveredthrough Kanyashree, SwasthyaSaathi, Sabuj Saathi (free cycle),free ration etc … we promise todeliver free ration to every house-hold after we come to power.’

From Page 1“In his letter, Singh has alleged that

the Home Minister had told Vaze thathe had a target to accumulate Rs 100crore a month. But he has not said as tohow the money was supposed to be col-lected and who the money will begiven to,” he said.

Alleging that an attempt is beingmade to ‘destabilise’ the MVA by the BJP,Pawar suspected the role of former ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavis behindthe ‘letter bomb’ drama that unfolded onSaturday morning.

Pawar wanted to know, ‘How comethe letter surfaced in the media afterFadnavis reached New Delhi. The ChiefMinister should appoint an officer withan unimpeachable reputation to inves-

tigate Singh’s allegation. An attempt isbeing made to destabilise the MVAGovernment. But, the MVAGovernment is stable. The currentdevelopments will not have any bearingon the stability of our Government.’

Later, in a series of tweets put out byhis official handle, Pawar said, ‘An indepth enquiry should be conducted byan officer or an individual who enjoysutmost respect of the police adminis-tration and the public at large.’

‘My suggestion to the@CMOMaharashtra is that Julio FrancisRibeiro, former Police Chief ofMaharashtra and former CP of Mumbai,should be assigned this responsibility,’Pawar tweeted.

‘He has a great reputation and if heaccepts this responsibility then thetruth will definitely come to the fore and

the public at large will start believingmore in the Police and in the govern-ment in particular,’ Pawar added.

Meanwhile, the MaharashtraCongress-one of the constituents in theMVA Government -asked its partnersShiv Sena-NCP not to ‘buckle’ under thepressure brought to bear in on them todestabilise the State Government.

Congress state general secretary &spokesperson Sachin Sawant said sincethe last over six years, the BJP-ledCentre has been making attempts toundermine all Opposition parties’Governments in different states.

‘Administrative officers under thejurisdiction of the State are being pres-sured with the help of the Central inves-tigation agencies and there are manyexamples like Vinod Rai before thecountry,’ Sawant said.

From Page 1Bhaiya was killed in a fake

encounter on November 11, 2006.In 2013, a Mumbai sessions courthad awarded life sentences to 21people, including 13 MumbaiPolice personnel, convicted in thecase.

Shinde has been on parole.The investigations by the ATs

have revealed that Shinde was inregular touch with Vaze andhelped the latter in his activities.

Both Shinde and Gor will beproduced before a court in Thaneon Monday.

Though the NIA has takenover the investigations into themurder of Hiran, the ATS is con-tinuing its investigations into thecase. Additional Director Generalof Police Jai Jeet Singh, who headsthe ATS and Deputy InspectorGeneral Shivdeep Lande, arecamping in Thane ATS unit aresupervising the probe.

From Page 1Passengers will also be

examined at airports, busstands and railway stations.

The decisions were takenin a review meeting chaired byChief Minister Ashok Gehlot.

The night curfew will beimposed in Ajmer, Bhilwara,Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur,Sagwada (Dungarpur) andKushalgarh (Banswara) from11 pm to 5 am.

The night curfew will notbe applicable to those factorieswhich have continuous pro-duction and have a system ofnight shifts.

Also IT companies, restau-rants, medical shops, offices-related to essential and emer-gency services, wedding cere-monies, medical institutes, busstands, railway stations andairports will be exempted fromthe night curfew.

A total of 476 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported inRajasthan on Sunday, while twomore people succumbed tothe disease.

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Three Indo-Tibetan BorderPolice (ITBP) personnel

who helped reunite a stranded70-year-old man with his fam-ily in Karnataka after about

three decades have been award-ed the top commendation ofthe paramilitary for undertak-ing the humanitarian task.

The decorated troops,posted with the 36th Battalionof the border guarding Force at

Lohaghat in Uttarakhand,chanced upon KenchappaGovindappa at a roadsideeatery in nearby Chalti villageof the State when one of themstopped there for refreshmentsearly this year.

Constable Riyaz Sunkadnoticed the precarious condi-tion of the septuagenarian anddescribed the incident to histwo seniors in the battalionwho also hailed fromKarnataka- Head ConstablesPremananda Pai and SharanaBasava Ragapur.

Pai and Ragapur later wentto the eatery as they were alsoproceeding on leave. The duofound the old man was in a badphysical shape and was in anemotional shock as he waslost for years and could not getin touch with his family or rel-atives.

The man was unable tocommunicate his plight to thelocals as he was conversant onlywith Kannada and did notknow Hindi. He used to sleepat a bus stop behind the eateryeven during winters.

The two ITBP jawanssought more information fromthe eatery owner and wereinformed that Kenchappa hadcome to this location on a truckmany years back and that hewas not paid any money.

For survival, the manhelped in the daily chores of theeatery owner in lieu of food.

The two Head Constableslater made a video with theman at the eatery and uploaded

it on social media platformslike Facebook following whichthey received a call from anadvocate who knewKenchappa’s family that lived inKalghatagi village of Dharwaddistrict in Karnataka.

The two ITBP men thenembarked on an over 2,000 kmjourney to Karnataka beforetaking Kenchappa to Delhiwhere he was lodged in a hotel,got him a good bath and shave,bought new clothes for himand got into a train toKarnataka.

The two ITBP personnelhanded him over to his familywho were elated to see him.

Kenchappa had six chil-dren, four sons and two daugh-ters, and he had left his homesometime in 1991 in search ofa job.From Karnataka, he prob-ably reached Maharashtra andlater to Chalti in Uttarakhandwhere he suffered penury forthree decades.

The ITBP headquarters inrecognition of this humanitar-ian deed early this monthawarded the Director Generalcommendation role and silverdisc insignia, meant for ren-dering exceptional service, tothe three personnel who joinedthe paramilitary force around2002-2003.

According to the citation,they were awarded the top cat-egory force honour “for exem-plary humane approach and agreat sense of responsibility byreuniting an old man with hisfamily by taking him fromChalti to Dharwad”.

“The force is proud of thethree men who did a humani-tarian task beyond the call oftheir official duty and reaf-firmed the values that the forcestood for,” said ITBPspokesperson Vivek KumarPandey.

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Aadhaar is no longermandatory for pensioners

to get Jeevan Pramaan, the dig-ital life certificate that isrequired to collect their pen-sions.

According to the new rulenotified by the Government,Aadhaar verification has alsobeen made voluntary for itsinstant messaging solution‘Sandes’ and attendance man-agement at public offices underthe Aadhaar Authentication forGood Governance (SocialWelfare, Innovation,Knowledge) Rules, 2020.

“Aadhaar Authenticationin Jeevan Pramaan is on a vol-untary basis and user organi-zations shall provide alternatemeans of submission of LifeCertificate. NIC shall complywith provisions of Aadhaar Act2016, Aadhaar Regulation2016 and the O.Ms (officialmemorandum), circulars andguidelines issued by UIDAIfrom time to time,” a notifica-

tion by the Ministry ofElectronics and IT datedMarch 18 said.

Digital Life Certificate forpensioners scheme was intro-duced to address the woesthat pensioners faced as theywere required to be presentbefore pension disbursingagency or had the life certifi-cate issued by authority wherethey served earlier and deliv-ered that to the disbursingagency.

The digital life certificatehelped pensioners from phys-ically travelling to the respec-tive organisation.

However, many pensionerscomplained about problemsin getting pension due non-availability of Aadhaar cards ortheir fingerprints becomingunreadable.

While some Governmentorganisations provided analternate way of issuing pen-sion in 2018, the notification tomake Aadhaar voluntary forthe digital life certificate hasbeen issued now.

Simultaneously, theElectronics and IT Ministryhas made Aadhaar optional forusers of instant messagingsolution, Sandes app, devel-oped by the NationalInformatics Centre.

“Aadhaar Authenticationin Sandes is on a voluntarybasis and user organisationsshall provide alternate meansof verification. NIC shall com-ply with provisions of AadhaarAct 2016, Aadhaar Regulation2016 and the O.Ms, circularsand guidelines issued byUIDAI from time to time,” aseparate notification datedMarch 18 said.

Developed under projectname Government InstantMessaging System, the app isused within public depart-ments.

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All-India Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) chief Dr

Randeep Guleria on Sundaywarned that there was nothingto stop the second wave ofCovid-19 in India from beingas severe as the first unless peo-ple follow appropriate behav-iour and are quickly vaccinat-ed.

“The recent spike in infec-tions is likely being caused byslip-ups in precautionary mea-sures and variants of the virus,”he said. The cases could spreadeven more rapidly if basic pro-tective steps like wearing masksand rigorous contact-tracingare not followed.

“There is a loss of Covid-appropriate behaviour. Nowpeople feel that the pandemicis over because vaccines arehere. So they fail to wear masks.We see large crowds gathering- again without masks. Many ofthese crowded events havebecome super-spreadingevents,” Dr Guleria said to anews channel.

“The other issue is that weare becoming lax in the basicprinciple of testing, tracking,and isolating than what wewere doing six months ago. Thethird point is that the virusitself is mutating and some ofthe variants are more infec-tious,” he said.

India added 43,846 newcoronavirus infections in thepast 24 hours alone, settinganother highest daily-high innearly four months, amid a

worrying surge. This rise hasprompted states like Punjab,Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,and Tamil Nadu to considerrevert to school closure,restricted public gatherings,and other measures, includinglockdowns in worst-hit dis-tricts.

The daily rise in infec-tions today was the highestrecorded in 112 days, while thenumber of fatalities has risen to1,59,755 with 197 daily newfatalities, the data updated at 8am showed. Maharashtra,Punjab, Kerala, Karnataka, andGujarat are the five states that

have recorded the highest sin-gle-day surge since yesterday,government data show.

The number of cases andmortality could both rise in thesecond wave, according to DrGuleria.

Referring to the vaccines,he acknowledged that somestudies show vaccine efficacyfalling 10-20% when it comesto the South African variant ofCovid-19. “As we go alongwith vaccinations, other vari-ants may appear. We will haveto be ready to tweak the vac-cines...it is not a cause of con-cern since we do not have

enough data. But we need to bevigilant,” he said.

“There may be variants inIndia. If the variants are of clin-ical significance - causing moreseverity or more number ofinfections, that is a cause ofconcern. We know that thevirus will undergo mutation,”he said.

Containment zones needto be developed, he said, addingthat aggressive testing andquarantine must be followed.Mere night curfews and week-end lockdowns may not alonestop the chain of transmission,he said.

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Aperson cannot donateblood for the next 28 days

after taking the last dose ofCovid-19 vaccine, according toa recent order by the NationalBlood Transfusion Council(NBTC) under the UnionHealth Ministry.

As approved in the 30thmeeting of the governing bodyof the NBTC held on February17, the deferral criteria forblood donation post Covid-19vaccine was finalised as “28days post vaccination deferralafter the last dose of Covid-19vaccination irrespective of thetype of the vaccine received.”

The order implies that thedonor has to wait for 28 daysafter taking the second dose ofthe vaccine, which means thathe or she cannot donate for 56days after taking the first jab.

The order was issued byNBTC director Dr Sunil Guptaon March 5. According to theUnion Health Ministry, twodoses of the vaccine need to betaken by an individual 28 daysapart to complete the immunisation schedule.

Protective levels of anti-bodies are generally devel-oped two weeks after receivingthe second dose, it has said.

Two vaccines — Oxford’sCovishield manufactured by

Serum Institute in the countryand Bharat Biotech’s Covaxinhave been approved by theNational Drug Regulator forrestricted emergency use inIndia.

The countrywide vaccina-tion drive was rolled out onJanuary 16 with healthcareworkers (HCWs) getting inoculated and vaccination ofthe frontline workers (FLWs)started from February 2.

The next phase of COVID-19 vaccination commencedfrom March 1 for those whoare over 60 years of age and forpeople aged 45 and above withspecific co-morbid conditions.

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On the World Water Day onMonday, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi will launchthe “Jal Shakti Abhiyan: Catchthe Rain” campaign. The ‘his-toric’ MoU to implement theKen Betwa Link Project, thefirst project of the national per-spective plan for interlinking ofrivers, will also be signed byUttar Pradesh and MadhyaPradesh chief ministers at theevent.

The PMO said in a state-ment that the campaign will beundertaken across the countryin both rural and urban areaswith the theme “catch the rain,where it falls, when it falls” andit will be implemented fromMarch 22 to November 30 - thepre-monsoon and monsoonperiod in the country.

It will be launched as a ‘JanAndolan’ (public movement)to take water conservation atthe grassroot level throughpeople’s participation. It isintended to nudge all stake-holders to create rainwaterharvesting structures suitableto climatic conditions and sub-soil strata, to ensure properstorage of rainwater, the PMOsaid.

After the event, gram sab-has will be held in all grampanchayats of each district(except in poll-bound states) todiscuss issues related to waterand water conservation. Gram

sabhas will also take ‘JalShapath’ (oath) for water con-servation, it added.

The Ken Betwa link pro-ject agreement heralds thebeginning of inter-state coop-eration to implement thevision of former PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayeeto carry water from areas thathave surplus water to droughtprone and water deficit areasthrough the interlinking ofrivers, the PMO said.

This project involves trans-fer of water from Ken to BetwaRiver through the constructionof Daudhan Dam and a canallinking the two rivers, thelower Orr project, Kotha bar-rage and Bina complex multi-purpose project.

It will provide annual irri-gation of 10.62 lakh hectare,drinking water supply to about62 lakh people and also gen-erate 103 MW of hydropower.

The PMO said the projectwill be of immense benefit tothe water starved region ofBundelkhand, especially to thedistricts of Panna, Tikamgarh,Chhatarpur, Sagar, Damoh,Datia, Vidisha, Shivpuri andRaisen of Madhya Pradeshand Banda, Mahoba, Jhansiand Lalitpur of Uttar Pradesh.

It will pave the way formore interlinking of river pro-jects to ensure that scarcity ofwater does not become aninhibitor for development inthe country, the PMO said.

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Three years down the line,India has marked a key

milestone in universalising pri-mary healthcare with the tar-get of operationalising 70,000Ayushman Bharat-Health andWellness Centres (AB-HWCs)by March 31 being realisedahead of time. AyushmanBharat- Health and WellnessCentres (AB-HWC) werelaunched in April 2018.

The Union HealthMinistry on Sunday said tilldate, about 41.35 crore peoplehave accessed care in these AB-HWCs and about 54 per centof them are women, the min-istry said.

The feat of scaling up pri-mary health care facilities atthis pace despite the COVID-19 pandemic was enabled by ahigh degree of coordinationbetween the Centre and statesand union territories, foresightin planning, flexibility in adap-tation, standardisation ofprocesses, and regular interac-tions at all levels for monitor-ing and prompt redressal ofissues, it said.

This is testimony to theprocess of effective decentral-isation and cooperative feder-alism, the ministry said.

By December 2022, asmany as 1,50,000 sub-healthcentres and primary healthcentres in urban and ruralareas were targeted to be trans-formed to AB-HWCs anddeliver comprehensive prima-ry health care that includes pre-ventive and health promotionat the community level withcontinuum of care which is freeand close to community inrural and urban areas.

“This mission modeapproach also aimed at realis-ing India’s vision of universalhealth coverage,” the state-ment said.

Apart from expanding andstrengthening the existingreproductive and child healthservices and communicablediseases services, the func-tional AB-HWCs provide ser-vices related to non-commu-nicable diseases (NCDs) andare gradually adding otherprimary health care services

for mental health, ENT, oph-thalmology, oral health, geri-atric and palliative health careand trauma care, etc., it stat-ed.

“HWCs demonstrate ahigh potential for positiveoutcomes in terms of genderequity for care seeking, andpromoting wellness as a criti-cal component of primaryhealth care. To date, about41.35 crore people haveaccessed care in these AB-HWCs. About 54 per cent ofthem are women,” it said.

Preventive health care isthe essential component ofthe services delivered throughHWCs. The identified indi-viduals with the chronic con-ditions are put on treatmentwith necessary follow-up.

So far, 9.1 crore screeningsfor hypertension, 7.4 crorescreenings for diabetes, 4.7crore screenings for oral can-cer, 2.4 crore screenings forbreast cancer and 1.7 crorescreenings for cervical cancerin women have been done, theministry highlighted.

Tele-consultation servicesare another key component ofHWCs. More than 9.45 lakhtele-consultations have beendone at the HWCs, it said.

“About 75 per cent of totalNCD screenings have beenconducted during thisCOVID-19 period (between1st February 2020 to till date)itself, showing the confidencereposed by people in these AB-HWCs during the presentpublic health challenge,” theMinistry said.

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Patients with low vitamin Dlevels who are hospitalised

for Covid-19 may have alower risk of dying or requir-ing mechanical ventilation ifthey receive vitamin D sup-plementation of at least 1,000units weekly, according to astudy.

“Given how common vit-amin D deficiency is in theworld and the United States,we believe that this researchis highly relevant right now,”said co-author Sweta Chekuri,M.D., of Montefiore HealthSystem and Albert EinsteinCollege of Medicine in theBronx, New York.

Research has shown thatvitamin D supplementationcan prevent inflammation inother respiratory diseases,but there have been limitedstudies examining the role ofvitamin D supplementation inCovid-19.

The purpose of the studythat was presented virtually atENDO 2021, the EndocrineSociety’s annual meeting, wasto determine whether beingsupplemented with vitamin Dbefore being admitted to thehospital with Covid-19 result-ed in less severe Covid-19 dis-ease in patients with a low vit-amin D level.

The researchers studied124 adult patients with lowvitamin D that was measuredup to 90 days before theiradmission for Covid-19. Theycompared the patients whowere supplemented with atleast 1,000 units of vitamin Dweekly to those who had notreceived vitamin D supple-ments in terms of whetherthey were mechanically ven-tilated or died during admis-sion.

They found that patientswho were supplemented wereless likely to be mechanicallyventilated or to die following

admission, though the findingwasn’t statistically significant(37.5 percent of patients whowere not supplemented vs.33.3 percent of those whowere) They also found thatmore than half of those whoshould have been supple-mented were not.

“Though we weren’t ableto show a definitive link tosevere Covid-19, it is clearthat patients with low vitaminD should receive supplemen-tation not only for bonehealth, but also for strongerprotection against severeCovid-19,” said co-authorCorinne Levitus, D.O., ofMontefiore Health Systemand Albert Einstein College ofMedicine. “We hope thisresearch will encourage clin-icians to discuss adding thissupplement with theirpatients who have low vita-min D, as this may reduce theodds of people developingsevere Covid-19.”

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Scientists from JawaharlalNehru Centre for Advanced

Scientific Research, anautonomous institute of theDepartment of Science &Technology (DST) have founda method to mimic nature’sown process of reducing car-bon dioxide in the atmosphere,namely photosynthesis, to cap-ture excess carbon dioxide inthe atmosphere.

This artificial photosyn-thesis (AP) harnesses solarenergy and converts the cap-tured carbon dioxide to carbonmonoxide (CO), which can beused as a fuel for internal com-bustion engines.

In artificial photosynthesis(AP), scientists are essentiallyconducting the same funda-mental process in natural pho-tosynthesis but with simplernanostructures. However, thereare plenty of hurdles to over-

come as a successful catalyst tocarry out AP.

The scientist designed andfabricated an integrated cat-alytic system based on a metal-organic framework (MOF-808)comprising of a photosensitiz-er (molecules which absorblight and transfer the electronfrom the incident light intoanother nearby molecule) thatcan harness solar power and acatalytic centre that can even-tually reduce CO2.

The work described abovehas been accepted for publica-tion in the journal ‘Energy &Environmental Science’ ofRoyal Society of Chemistry,UK.

The scientists have immo-bilized a photosensitizer, whichis a chemical called rutheniumbipyridyl complex and a cat-alytic part which is anotherchemical called rhenium car-bonyl complex ([Re(CO)5Cl]),inside the nanospace of metal-

organic framework for artificialphotosynthesis. Both thesemolecular entities stay in closeproximity in the confinednano-space of a porous metal-organic framework systemresulting in excellent Co2uptake capability at room tem-perature. This synthetic strat-egy empowers efficient solarlight-driven photocatalysis.

The developed catalystexhibited excellent visible-light-driven CO2 reduction to COwith more than 99% selectivi-ty. The catalyst also oxidizeswater to produce oxygen (O2).The photocatalytic assembly,when assessed for CO2 reduc-tion under direct sunlight in awater medium without anyadditives, showed superior per-formance of CO production.Being heterogeneous, the inte-grated catalytic assembly can bereused for several catalyticcycles without losing its activ-ity.

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Mainpuri (Uttar Pradesh): Ina tragic incident, a youngwoman was allegedly shot deadby a married man in the NaglaLalman village after she refusedto continue her relationshipwith him.

The accused has beenarrested by the police and sentto judicial custody after beingproduced in court.

Kalpana, 21, was foundshot dead in the field on Fridayevening, around 300 metersfrom her house, after she hadgone to relieve herself.

Police said that the suspect,Ajab Singh, 28, allegedly shother after heated argumentsover her recent engagementwith another person.As thewoman was not ready to con-tinue her four year old rela-tionship with him, he got furi-ous and reportedly shot herdead with a country-madeweapon.

Mainpuri Superintendent

of Police Avinash Pandey saidthat during interrogation, AjabSingh told police that he calledthe woman on the night of theincident but she disconnectedthe call and when he again triedto connect with her, her cellphone was busy.

Next morning, the womanasked him to meet her in thefields.

Ajab reportedly tried toconvince her not to marry butshe refused and even asked himto end their relationship.

After hearing this, Ajab gotaggressive and shot her deadwith a country made weapon,which he had recently bought.

Ajab even made a plan toput the blame on the girl'sbrothers by trying to give it acolour of honour killing.

Ajab initially told the policethat the woman's brother,Avadhpal, had seen him withhis sister in the fields and hadkilled her. IANS

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Uncertainty is staring at theApril 6 election to Kerala

Legislative Assembly as Leaderof the Opposition RameshChennithala alleged on Sundaythat he has solid proof of theinclusion of more than four lakhnew and fake voters in theState’s voters’ list.

“I have met the ChiefElection Commissioner andhanded over the relevant doc-uments to him. We have sub-mitted details of inclusion ofmore than 2.5 lakh fame votersin 60 assembly constituencies.The remaining details in 69 con-stituencies would be handedover to the ECI on Monday,”said Chennithala in a speciallyconvened media meet onSunday.

The Leader of the

Opposition said that at no pointof time in Kerala’s history theState has seen voters’ list beingmanipulated in this scale.

“Everything associated withthe CPI(M) and the LeftDemocratic Front is embroiledin corruption. Even on thisSunday morning, all Churchesin Kollam district read out pas-toral message from the Bishopalleging massive corruption inthe deep sea fishing deal signedbetween the Government ofKerala and a US based compa-ny. The deal will throw hun-dreds of thousands of fishermenin the State to deep seas,”charged Chennithala.

He also accused the mediain the State of playing as cam-paign managers of ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan andthe CPI(M). The three opinionpolls, which do not have any

credibility or reliability, held bythree different media housesclaim that the CPI(M)-led LDFwould win big majority in theupcoming election.“Interestingly, all the three opin-ion polls were held by the sameagency for the three differentmedia houses. How can oneinfer from the opinion of 10,000persons in the State the resultsof 140 assembly constituen-cies?” asked Chennithala.

The Leader of theOpposition said that the KeralaGovernment has spent Rs 200crore on advertisements in thelast one month.

“The State has made use ofRs 57 crore from KeralaInfrastructure Investment FundBoard (KIIFB), a StateGovernment owned financialinstitution, to finance this mediashow,” he said.

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It is very rare to see KawdiarPalace in

Thiruvananthapuram, fromwhere Balarama Varma, rulerof the princely State ofTravancore administered hiscountry and its people till1947, hosting a public function.The sprawling Palace with 150rooms where the members ofthe erstwhile royal familyreside, played host to a bookreleasing function on Sunday.

Gowri Lakshmi Bayi,whom old timers address asThampuratti (Malayalam forHer Highness), who is also thematriarchal head of the fami-ly, released a book “The Sunwhich gives the Word”authored by ParappanangadiUnnikrishna Panikkar, Sanskritand Vedic Scholar.

What made the eventunique was the decision ofLakshmi Bayi to play host to abook releasing function. Theprincess, herself an author ofrepute having published 12books on Kerala’s rich cultureand tradition, was charmed bythe contents of “The Sun whichGives the Word”, a collection of

articles focussing on Indiansystem of knowledge includingastrology.

“These are articles on var-ied topics like history, philos-ophy, literature, music, topicalissues and of course astrology.All these articles were writtenduring the lock-down period in2020 when I was forced torestrict myself to my house,”Panikkar told The Pioneer.

There are articles on theimportance and significance oflearning Sanskrit whichaccording to Panikkar wouldsoon emerge as a global lan-guage. He also discusses vari-

ous Ramayanas and differentkinds of temple worshippingthat include the controversialSabarimala issue. “We have tounderstand the pluralisticnature of different templeswhich are not mere prayerhalls but buildings with life,”said the author.

A learner even at the age of75, Panikkar’s passion forknowledge and information isawesome, according to lateAkkitham AchuthanNamboodiri, the JnanapeethAward winning poet of Kerala.He had referred Panikkar whotravels around like an evange-

list propagating the impor-tance of Sanskrit and Indiansystem of knowledge.

Panikkar, who is passion-ate about Kalidasa, KumaranAasan, Vallathol NarayanaMenon and UlloorParameswara Iyer is equally athome with Uroob, Thakazhi,Kesava Dev, Sanjayan andVKN . “We do not have titanslike them now because thenew generation do not showany interest in learningSanskrit. See SubramanyaBharati of Tamil Nadu. Hehad assimilated the spirit ofKumara Sambhavam andVikramorvaseeyam and that isreflected in Bharati’s words”said Panikkar.

He said he was equallymoved by books like A Historyof Hindu Chemistry by ProfPraphulla Chandra Ray ,Sciences of the Ancient Hindusby Dr Alok Kumar and RemoteViewers: The Secret History ofAmerica’s Psychic Spies by JimSchnabel. He said his friendsencouraged him to publish thepostings he had made in hissocial media as a book and thatresulted in publishing the book.

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In the world of Tamil cinema,he is known as Ulaga

Naayagan (Tamil for Leader ofthe World). But it will beknown only on May 2 whetherhe would emerge as TamilNaayagan. Yes, Kamal Haasan,the national award winningfilm actor is having baptism byfire at Coimbatore SouthAssembly constituency wherehe is engaged in a four corneredcontest.

Kamal Haasan, founder ofthe Makkal Neethi Meiam,who has been projected as thechief ministerial candidate ofthe front led by him is engagedin a battle royal at this con-stituency. A rank outsider, theactor has two powerful rivals inVanathi Srinivasan, president ofthe Mahila Morchcha who hasbeen fielded by the AIADMK-led front and Mayura SJayakumar of the IndianNational congress.

Though there are two morecontestants, R Duraisamy of theAMMK and Abdul Wahab ofthe NTK, their presence isonly of academic interest. The

fight for the cup is betweenKamal Haasan, Vanathi andJayakumar. Coimbatore is tra-ditionally a AIADMK strong-hold and that is the reason whythe DMK granted the same tothe Congress party.

Jayakumar had polled42,369 votes in the 2016 assem-bly election which was won bythe AIADMK’s K Arjunan by amargin of more than 14,700votes. While Jayakumar had thesupport of the DMK, theAIADMK and BJP had con-tested separately. WhileArjunan polled 59,788 votes,Vanathi had to contend with33,113 votes. Since theAIADMK and BJP have cometogether this time, Vanathimay walk away with morevotes and emerge as winner (atleast on paper).

Vanathi’s advantage is thatshe is from Coimbatore andbelongs to the powerfulGounder community. “Thoughwe claim that the Dravidamovement has got rid ocasteism in Tamil Nadu, thetruth is that ours is the mostcaste-ridden society in India,”said Govindarajan Satyamurti,veteran journalist and com-

mentator. He said Goundersand Naidus constitute a majorportion of the population. Bothare affluent and entrepreneurs.Most of the educational insti-tutions are owned by theGounders, the community offormer union minister andCongress leader CSubramanian,” saidSathyamurti.

Vanathi has been activelyinvolved in the constituencysince 2016, said Indumathi, adanseuse of repute. “Thoughshe was in Chennai most of thetime, we have never missed heras she rushes to Coimbatore toattend to each of our needs,”said Indumathi. Vanathi hastaken a cue from her leaderslike Smriti Irani and has estab-lished herself as part and par-cel of the Kongunadu region towhich Coimbatore belongs.

This is where KamalHaasan lags behind. “ThoughVanathi does not have the haloof a film artist, her image as thesister/ aunty in the neighbour-hood is likely to play in herfavour,” said Jayakumar, anentrepreneur in Coimbatore.He disclosed that the Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises

of which he is a part, was get-ting back to normalcy after thelock down due to Covid-19.

But Haasan draws hugecrowd wherever he goes. He isyet to establish himself as anarticulate speaker, an essentialquality for the public activist.While Vanathi and Jayakumarcan eclipse all their rivals in pub-lic speeches (an important qual-ity in Tamil Nadu), KamalHaasan may have to work over-time to overcome the handicap.‘But these are all small issues.Haasan will hands down in thiselection and he will decide thefuture chief minister of theState,” said Selvaraj, one of hisaides.

Is the crowd around Haasanhas turned up only because ofhis image as a mega star in Tamilcinemas? “We could see thesame huge crowds during thepublic rallies and election cam-paigns addressed by Vijayakanthin 2016. But when results wereannounced Vijaykanth , whowas introduced as KaruppuMGR (Black MGR) could notsave his security deposit atVirudachalam, his home con-stituency,” said KolahalaSrenivas, commentator.

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New Delhi: India's massiveevacuation programme trig-gered by the Covid-19 pan-demic has brought back over 67million from abroad.

In a tweet, Civil AviationMinister Hardeep Singh Purisaid: "It is not just a mission thatbrought back stranded & dis-tressed citizens from around theworld, but Vande Bharat hasbeen a Mission of hope & hap-piness; of letting people knowthat they will not be left behindeven in the most testing times.""67.5 million & continuing togrow..." India had commencedone of the world's largest evac-uation operations from May 7,2020 to bring back its strandedcitizens from abroad. The planhad originally envisaged to bringback more than 1,90,000 Indiannationals.

Initially, Air India and itssubsidiary Air India Expressplayed a key role in the opera-tions. Afterwards, other air car-riers were allowed to take partin the programme. Besides, aer-ial evacuation, even naval shipswere used to bring back Indiancitizens. IANS

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Home Minister Amit Shah onSunday released the BJP’s

election manifesto that not onlytargets women, youth and theHindu community at large butalso tends to take on ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee’s‘Bengal versus outsiders’ rhetoric.

In what looked like a counterploy against TMC’s policy paper--- wooing the women with apocket money of Rs 500 to beginwith --- Shah said the women ofBengal would not only be pro-vided free travel in governmenttransport but also they would get“free education from KG to PG.”Besides, he said the newGovernment would ensure 33percent reservation for women inthe government jobs.

12 all-women battalions forwomen’s safety would also be cre-ated by the new Government, hesaid. The widow pension wouldbe increased to Rs 3,000 permonth.

Incidentally the TMCGovernment had been runningmultiple women-centric schemeslike Kanyashree, Rupashree ---some helping women with Rs25,000 after they attain the age of18.

In an apparent bid to counterBanerjee’s “Maa Canteen” schemethat aims at cheap meals for Rs

5 the BJP manifesto offers threefree meals per day from theGovernment sponsoredAnnapurna Canteens --- all forRs 5.

Besides stopping infiltrationcompletely the first Cabinetmeeting would clear AyushmanBharat and CtizenshipAmendment Act, Shah saidadding apart from this eachrefugee family will get Rs 10,000per year for 5 years.

Alleging that even the poormembers of the scheduled casteand scheduled tribes have toshell out Rs 500 for procuringcaste certificates Shah said hisparty manifesto promises toimplement a scheme wherebySC/ST certificates would be giventhrough electronic process leav-ing no room for corruption.

I an apparent bid to appeal tothe Bengali sentiment ShahBengali would be made a medi-um of instruction in technicaland medical courses besideswhich efforts would be made topromote Bengali as an officiallanguage in the United Nations.This apart a Tagore Prize --- beequivalent to the Nobel Prize --- named after Poet LaureateRabindranath Tagore. Apart fromthis Bengali to be made manda-tory in all official documents.

A super highway linkingKolkata and Siliguri would be

named after Netaji SubhasChandra Bose apart from whicha Netaji foundation would be cre-ated to spread information abouthis life and deeds world over.

The new Government willalso set up two more AIIMs andEklavya model residential schoolsin every tehsil for the tribal stu-dents. Rs 20,000 crore fundwould be created to developschool infrastructure.

A master plan worth Rs22,000 crone would be created forKolkata to launch it in the classof international cities. A worldclass Mahanayak Uttam KumarFilm City will come up atSonarpur in South 24 Parganas“which will restore the Bengalicinema to its old glory andpride,” Shah said.

Besides the banks of HooghlyRiver would be decked up forregular Ganga Aarti pro-grammes. Namami Gange pro-ject to be fast tracked inBaranagar, Bally and Howrah:Amit Shah. The Aadi Ganga bythe iconic Kalighat Temple ---that has been reduced to a sew-erage canal --- would be cleanedup and sewage disposal would bebanned in the canal. Besides Rs2,500 crore would be spent topromote Ganga Sagar as a worldclass pilgrimage destination.

Durga Puja festival inKolkata too would be given a

world-class look helping a steadyinternational tourist inflow to thecity. “After we come to powerDurga Puja will be an interna-tional affair and no one will haveto take permission from HighCourt to organize Durga Puja,”Shah said.

Apart from starting KisanSanman Nidhi the fisher folkwould be given an yearly Rs 6,000for their development. For the teaworkers in North Bengal ---where the BJP won all the sevenseats --- their daily wage wouldbe raised to Rs 350. He said “Rs18,000, which Mamata didi didnot give to farmers since 3 years,would be transferred to 75 lakhfarmers’ bank accounts withoutany cut.

New tourism policy would beframed for Bengal with 9 newtourist circuits being createdShah said adding the hospitalityindustry would be allowed tofetch loans worth Rs 50 lakh witha tax holiday. Bengal would bepromoted within top 3 states inease of doing business hesaid.

Referring to corruption hesaid the new Government wouldconduct probe the alleged mis-appropriation of Amphan, Aailaand Bulbul cyclone relief funds.Besides, a special task forcewould be created to investigatescams perpetrated by the sandand coal mafia.

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Putting up a brave front in front of a hand-ful of party leaders left behind in her camp

former J&K Chief Minister and PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) Chief MehboobaMufti on Sunday decided not to appear beforethe Enforcement Directorate in New Delhion March 22.

PDP Chief was summoned by theEnforcement Directorate investigating casesunder the provisions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act , 2002 (15 of 2003).

A senior party leader in Srinagar Sundaytold The Pioneer, "PDP Chief MehboobaMufti has decided not to appear before theEnforcement directorate in New Delhi onMarch 22 in connection with a money laun-dering case".

"She has duly informed the ED officialsclaiming it was not possible for her due to cer-tain prior commitments to make it to NewDelhi at such a short notice. She has alsorequested them to explore the option of ques-tioning her through video conferencing", asenior PDP leader said.

Earlier on Saturday Mehbooba herselfhad dropped clear hints when she wasasked to comment on the ED summons andwhether she would be visiting New Delhi toappear before the ED officials.

"The matter is sub judice but let me tellyou i am not afraid of anyone or anything. Iam not hiding from any one", Mehbooba toldreporters on the sidelines of a politicalmeeting in Kulgam on Saturday.

On Friday Delhi High Court had alsorefused to stay the summons issued by theEnforcement Directorate

Soon after the ED summons were servedto her in the first week of March she had chal-lenged the validity of the summons and askedthe court to quash the summons.

In her petition, Mehbooba said she hadnot been informed if she is being summonedas an accused or as a witness.

“GOI’s tactics to intimidate & browbeatpolitical opponents to make them toe theirline has become tediously predictable. Theydon’t want us to raise questions about its puni-tive actions & policies. Such short-sightedscheming won’t work,” Mehbooba had tweet-ed soon after receiving the ED notice.

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offset the long-runningChinese economic and mili-tary influence. It is a welcomedevelopment for the Stateswho have long been buriedunder the weight of China’sdebt diplomacy and militarydominance but were unable toarticulate their displeasure forfear of a punitive backlash.

While strategic commen-tators remained sceptical ofBiden’s resolve in reining inthe Chinese economic andmilitary muscle-flexing inthe region, the historic sum-mit has put at bay some ofthose scepticisms, at least fornow. The Quad’s messagehas not been lost on part ofother regional democracies,such as South Korea.

So, what does the Quadmean for Indo-Australianrelations?

India’s External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar hasexpressed “great satisfaction”in how the Australia-India tieshave deepened in the wake ofthe pandemic. Since June2020, when the inauguralModi-Morrison virtual sum-mit transpired, the compre-hensive strategic partnershiphas not only deepened but alsobecome the fulcrum of theQuad’s new avatar for ensur-ing a safe, open and secureIndo-Pacific regional architec-

ture. It is a double delight howthe Quad and Australia-Indiabilateral business and tradeties have assumed a mutuallycomplementary character.

Engagements on both thefronts will chart a parallelcourse and should not beseen in isolation. PeterVarghese, the author of IndiaEconomic Strategy report, hadobserved much before theCOVID outbreak: “…thestronger that (Australia-India)broader relationship, the bet-ter the prospect of an econom-ic strategy. India should not beseen only as a geopoliticalpartner.” Now, New Delhi alsosees Australia not only as aneconomic partner but also asa geopolitical one.

The Department ofForeign Affairs and Tradeobserves that India’s youngpopulation and diversifiedgrowth trajectory present sig-nificant opportunities in var-ious sectors. Both sides haveformalised over 20 MoUs lastJune, covering some of theseareas. Their two-way tradehas risen from $13.6 billion to$30.4 billion in 2018 but it isstill below the full potential.By 2035, both sides aim todouble the bilateral trade andAustralia seeks to bring Indiain its top five trading partners(currently eighth).

Ambassador AnilWadhwa’s Australia EconomicStrategy report, launched afew months ago, could nothave come at a more oppor-tune time. The report hasidentified 12 key sectors interalia, mining, services and star-tups, pharmaceuticals, health-care and medical technologies,education and skills, agribusi-ness, power and renewableenergy and tourism. Thereport very nicely comple-ments the recommendationsof Varghese’s India Strategyacross 10 sectors. The MutualLogistics Support Agreementand Island Support Agreementto use Andaman & Nicobarand Cocos (Keeling) Islands inthe maritime domain, andIndia’s decision to includeAustralia into the Malabarnaval exercise, assume greatersignificance in the context ofthe Quad’s emergence.

In sum, Australia andIndia are now well-positionedto play their long-due leader-ship roles in the Indo-Pacificand, broadly speaking, ininternational affairs. Thisgreat opportunity emerging ata historic high in bilateral rela-tions should not be missed.

(The author is the CEO,Institute for Australia IndiaEngagement, Brisbane. Theviews expressed are personal.)

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The inaugural virtualsummit of the Quadmembers should beseen as a watershed in

the history of the formation,since its inception in 2007. TheQuad’s evolution has beenimpeded for long by India’s andAustralia’s hesitation in formal-ising the grouping, owing to theirbilateral sensitivities towardsChina. But not anymore. In thewake of Australia’s trade tensionswith China triggered by the for-mer’s demand for an inquiry intothe origins of the COVID-19outbreak and, on the other hand,India’s military confrontation inDoklam and Ladakh with China,their strategic cooperation hasgrown manifold in recentmonths. Their newfound will-ingness to stand up to China’sirridentist claims, Hong Kongand Xinjiang crackdown andperiodic diplomatic bellicosityand bluster in bilateral dealingshas underpinned Quad’s fruitioninto a formal entity.

The Quad summit agendawas consciously kept quite wide,including the COVID-19 strat-egy, vaccine production, climatechange, supply chain disrup-tions, critical and emerging tech-nologies and maritime security.The rationale being to downplayany “anti-China” posturing thatBeijing may find disturbing anddisruptive for the Indo-Pacific.

The burgeoning quadrilater-al vision was carefully articulat-ed in the first-of-its-kind jointop-ed by US President Joe Bidenand the three Prime Ministers —Narendra Modi, Yoshihide Sugaand Scott Morrison. But for thewatchers of international politics,the op-ed is a significant docu-ment for its “between-the-linesmessage”. For instance, the ref-erence to “a group of democra-tic nations” in the second para isa veiled countervailing democ-ratic pushback to China’s author-itarian international conductunder the garb of “peaceful rise”.

In particular, the op-ed’sbroad emphasis on making ajoint effort to tackle the pandem-ic is a clever strategy to win thehearts and minds of the AseanStates, Pacific Island countriesand the Indian Ocean littorals to

SOUNDBITE�� Sir — It refers to the editorial ‘When the spir-it dies’ (March 20). What a tragedy for RitikaPhogat’s family to see their 17-year-old tal-ented wrestler ending her life like this. I con-cur with the editorial view that had she notbeen a cousin of celebrity wrestlers Geetaand Babita Phogat, her suicide might nothave made such major news.

The irony is that our society has a neg-ligent attitude towards mental health issues.Such issues are often stigmatised in India,leading to many sufferers not seeking help.More than 2 lakh people die by suicide inIndia each year and despite many celebri-ties, including leading cricketers, openlytalking about mental health issues, it stillremains a social stigma and we continue topay a heavy price. We have very few psy-chiatrists. But more than that we, as a soci-ety, need to drastically change our approachtowards mental illness and accept it for thefact that it is. The ongoing pandemic hasexposed the vulnerability of young peopleand it’s high time we started providing themall kind of support to make them feel bet-ter. The Government must open more col-leges for imparting mental health educationand encourage young students to take it upas a career.

India’s National Mental Health Survey,2016, found that close to 14 per cent ofIndia’s population requires active mentalhealth interventions. About two per cent suf-fers from severe mental disorders. Despitethe findings, a huge number of those suf-fering from mental health conditionsremains undiagnosed. Of those who go fora diagnosis, very few receive treatment.

Bal Govind | Noida

�� Sir — This refers to the editorial‘Judgemental hai kya? (March 20). I concurwith the editorial view that the commentmade by Uttarakhand Chief Minister TirathSingh Rawat is shameful, to say the least. Itis an attempt to deride women wearingunconventional clothes. Nobody has theright to decide what a woman should wear.Rawat’s comments reek of a patriarchal

mindset and male chauvinism. We must not target women wearing

ripped jeans or any other choice of cloth-ing. Violence against women remains oneof the most widespread and persistinghuman rights abuses in the world, stemmingfrom deep-rooted notions of women’sunequal status. Women in India continueto be oppressed and ill-treated. They are seenas dependent, weak, exploited and face gen-der discrimination in every sphere of life.The violence that threatens the well-being,dignity and rights of women, extendsacross social, cultural, economic and region-al boundaries. Politicians must refrainfrom making such misogynistic remarks.

Yashi Bairagi | Ujjain

�� Sir — A drone attacked a refinery inRiyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. This is

a new type of hi-tech terrorism. The UNand world leaders must find a way to stopsuch attacks immediately by having aninternational-level meeting with world’s topscientists. According to a UN SecurityCouncil report prepared and presented bya panel of experts in January 2019 onYemen, Houthi rebels have been using smalland medium-sized UAVs for reconnais-sance, surveillance and suicide attack.

The Indian Government must remainalert as terrorists can use drones to attackour security and other installations. Theycan also target the DRDO and other labs.It seems that in future, militants andjihadis will use drones to attack theGovernment installations and buildings.

PN Sreelekha | Secunderabad

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American author, screenwriter, and oceanactivist Peter Benchley’s bestselling novel‘Jaws’ was published in 1974. In 1975, it

was turned into a film. For years various cul-tural critics, most famously the Slovenianphilosopher Slavoj Zizek, have deconstructed‘Jaws’ to mean more than just a story about afictional tourist spot, Amity Island, being tor-mented by a shark.

Peter Biskind in his 1999 book ‘Easy Riders,Raging Bulls’ writes that, since the novel and itsfilm adaptation arrived during a particularlysevere economic and political crisis in the US,‘Jaws’ immediately struck a chord with an audi-ence disoriented by the apparently indefinablenature of the crisis.

In 2012, Zizek saw the shark as a combina-tion of prejudices and fears that are encapsu-lated into a single definable entity, so that abemused polity is able to clearly perceive it asthe cause of society’s dread. To Zizek, the sharkof Amity Island can thus be understood as ametaphor of any community seen to be exist-ing outside the homogeneity of the majoritycommunity and is thus suspect. These can beimmigrants such as Muslims in Western coun-tries (and now in India), non-Muslims inMuslim countries, non-Whites in White-major-ity societies and so on.

For Zizek, the fictional shark was like theJewish community in Nazi Germany. An exis-tentialist enemy created to explain the humili-ation that Germany had to face after its defeatduring World War-I. With the formation of theJew as an entity that was diseasing the nation-al body, an enemy was created and then“unmasked” to give the disoriented polity a faceto channel its anger at. Maybe this is exactly whatthe minority Ahmadiyya community faced inPakistan as well when the country lost its east-ern wing in 1971 after a devastating civil war.

Others have delved deeper still to catch themetaphors in the seas of Amity Island. A recentvideo-essay on the academic website Then &Now sees the shark just as Zizek had understoodit. Despite the shark attacks, the character ofLarry Vaughn in ‘Jaws’ refuses to close downAmity Island’s beaches because it would be badfor the economy. So the essay sees MayorVaughn as a metaphor for unrestrained andamoral capitalism.

The island’s chief of police, Martin Brody,who insists that the beaches must be closed, isseen as symbolising the rational State, where-as marine biologist Dr Hooper represents sci-ence. But since science in this context can onlyhelp explain the malaise, and can’t eradicate it,enter Quint, a veteran shark hunter. Quint isuncouth and a loner.

He symbolises the excesses of behaviour thatare often understood to exist outside the normsof “civilised” societies. But it isn’t Quint who killsthe shark. He is an outsider. In fact, he gets killedby the dreaded predator. It is Brody (the State)who kills the shark.

‘Jaws’ surfaced in the 1970s, when the Statewas still seen as having control over political,economic and social outcomes. But the 1970swere also a decade when, because of certainunprecedented global events and economic

stresses, the State began to strug-gle to control these outcomes. So‘Jaws’ reinforced the trust in a fal-tering State by making the policechief kill the shark.

The Indian film ‘Deewar’(1975) makes a similar reinforce-ment. Released during intensepolitical turmoil in India, thefilm’s three main charactersinclude a downtrodden motherand her two sons. One son growsup to become a police officer whilethe other, still vexed by the man-ner in which society had treatedhis mother, becomes an amoral“angry young man.” He climbs hisway to the top of the criminalunderworld just so he can build agrand house for the mother. Themother disapproves, and decidesto stay with her other son, thehonest police officer. The angryson is eventually shot dead by hisbrother.

In her 1996 book ‘Ire In TheSoul’, Indian film critic NikhatKazmi describes the mother in‘Deewar’ as a metaphor of BharatMaata (Mother India) or thenational personification of Indiaas mother goddess. The goddesssides with the police officer whosymbolises the State. The angryson is the culmination of thewayward and amoral impulsesthat can ruin societies. He is thuseliminated by the State.

The British documentary film-maker Adam Curtis, in his 2016film ‘HyperNormalisation’, is of theview that, as the State failed tocontrol the outcomes of increas-ing economic upheavals, it beganto outsource its responsibilities tothe private sector. This led to glob-alisation. John Hardy, in a 2008essay for ‘E-InternationalRelations’, writes that globalisationcast aside the homogenising ten-dency of modern economics witha more heterogeneous processthat interlinks internationaleconomies, further shrinking therole of the State in an increasing-ly interdependent world.

The receding State and ascentof the private sector is satirised inthe 1988 film ‘They Live’, in whicha man stumbles upon a pair ofglasses with which he can seethrough the illusions of capitalism.For example, when, after he wearsthe glasses, he sees a harmless bill-board of a brand and can only seethe word ‘obey.’

Years later, in the TV series‘Breaking Bad’ (2008-2012), theState is entirely cast aside. In theseries, a “normal” middle-classman who has cancer, decides tomake and peddle crystal meth.The State cannot fully pay for hismedical expenses. He starts to sellmeth so that he can save enoughmoney for his family. Much of the

series is him battling other (butdarker) forces of cynicism, where-as his brother-in-law, a policeman,is brutally assassinated by thosewho are also peddling meth. TheState thus dies in the crossfirebetween two tendencies of amoralprivate enterprise gone wrong.

In Pakistan, between 2007and 2014, when Islamic militantswere running wild, explodingbombs and assassinating oppo-nents at will, one often heard com-mentators warning that the Statewas failing. The 2013 Urdu film‘Waar’ tries to reinforce the mes-sage that the State was still strong.Interestingly though, the sameyear, another film ‘Chambaili’does not see militants as the ene-mies of the State, but “corruptpoliticians.”

‘Chambaili’ is a middle-classpolitical fantasy in which a patri-otic/pro-State movement emergesagainst corrupt politicians andfeudal lords. This is based on thenarrative formed in 2011 by ImranKhan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf(PTI). If seen in the context of thesymbology of ‘Jaws’, one can con-clude that Brody, in this case, is theamalgamation of pro-PTI urban-ites and the State (mainly the mil-itary-establishment) retaliatingagainst “corrupt” intruders (theshark) disturbing the calm seas ofmiddle-class righteousness.

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The Syrian civil war fin-ished 10 years lastweek, and it’s time to

stop it. At least half a millionSyrians are dead, a quarter ofthe pre-war population is liv-ing like refugees abroad andanother quarter has been dis-placed inside Syria. Over 30per cent of the country’shousing stock is destroyed orbadly damaged — and wehave known who won the warfor at least four years now.

More fighting cannotchange anything. All the bigcities are back under theregime’s control, as is at least80 per cent of the territoryand of the population that’sstill within the borders.

The Russian militaryintervention in 2015 turnedthe tide, the remaining rebelsare all crammed into oneprovince, Idlib, and localceasefires have silenced theguns in most places.

Yet there is no peace,because neither the rebels inIdlib nor their foreign back-ers are willing to recognisethe victory of long-rulingdictator Bashar al-Assad andhis Baath Party. You can seewhy, because this is a regimethat pitilessly tortures andmurders those who defy it,and in a world where divinejustice prevailed it wouldsurely have been destroyed.

Unfortunately, this is notthat world. Assad came downwith Coronavirus a few daysago, but he’s very unlikely todie from it (he’s only 55), andit’s hard to think of anythingelse that might change theoutcome.

Indeed, even Assad’sdeath might not do the trick.It’s a whole regime with deeproots, not just one man, andit has survived lost wars,attempted coups and rebel-lions for almost 60 years.

Moreover, the only plausiblesuccessor to the ruling BaathParty at this point is themurderous Islamist fanaticsof the al-Qaeda affiliates whocontrol Idlib.

The real reason Assadhas won the war is thatenough people in Syriabelieve the Islamist jihadiswould kill them if they cameto power. All the religiousminorities, Shia Muslim,Christian and Druze, believethat, plus anybody secularand anybody who works forthe Government, includingteachers. They think of thejihadis as an Islamic versionof the Khmer Rouge, andthey’re not far wrong.

The jihadis didn’t domi-nate the original uprising in2011, but Assad is not stupid.He immediately freed around6,000 Islamists from his jails,in the hope that they wereruthless enough to win con-

trol of the opposition andfrighten people into backinghim instead. It worked.

Foreign countries, someignorant, some naive andsome “soft” Islamists them-selves (Turkey, Saudi Arabia,Qatar), poured in guns andmoney, and the Syrian

Islamists did take over therevolt. That drove a lot ofSyrians to Assad’s side — andthen Russia sent its air forcein to save him in 2015. By2017, the war was effectivelysettled — but it did not stop.

It slowed down almost toa stop after Assad hadregained control of every-thing except Idlib province(occupied by Turkey) andthe sparsely populated east ofthe country (partly held byKurdish and Americantroops). But the anti-Assadforeigners won’t acknowledgehis victory.

The US actually strength-ened its already savage sanc-tions against Syria last year, soAssad’s key supporters are stillscraping by but everybodyelse is on the brink of starva-tion. The Syrian pound isworth less than a fifth of itsvalue a year ago, and 80 percent of the population is liv-

ing below the poverty line.The US sanctions can go

on forever at no cost to theUS, while American politi-cians feel virtuous and Syrianssuffer, but there is a way toend this. It has to start withaccepting that Assad will stayin power, because that’s theonly way that other countriesget any leverage.

What price would Assadpay for an end to sanctionsand renewed internationalrecognition as Syria’s leader?Quite a lot, because it wouldenable him to start rebuildingthe country, however slowly,and free him from the isola-tion he has endured for thepast decade.

He could be told that theprice includes an amnesty forall Syrians, including thosewho fought against him,except for those who actual-ly committed war crimes.Many of the refugees would-

n’t go home anyway becausethey don’t trust him, butinternational supervision andguarantees for those whotake up the offer could prob-ably be negotiated.

Turkey would try to blockthe deal, but Russia would goalong with it and put pressureon the Turks. Syria would stillbe a police State, but mostpeople would be back in theirhomes (some measuresrequired to ensure that thosewho fled recover their prop-erty), and all the childrenwould be back in school(most haven’t been inside aneducation institution, for thepast five years).

It would be somethinglike the aftermath of theSpanish Civil War, in otherwords, except with moreinternational involvementand less vengeance against thelosers. No promises, but it’scertainly worth a try.

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Gwynne Dyer’s new bookis ‘Growing Pains: The

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Mandalay: A peaceful march at dawn onSunday by medical professionals inMyanmar's second biggest city kicked offanother day of protests around the coun-try against last month's coup. Security forcesshot dead at least one person at a rally elsewhere.

With public protests getting ever moredangerous, anti-coup demonstrators inMandalay acted early to minimize the riskof confrontation with security forces.

The independent AssistanceAssociation for Political Prisoners hadverified 247 deaths nationwide linked to thepost-coup crackdown. The actual total,including cases where verification hasbeen difficult, is probably much higher, itsaid.

It also has confirmed that 2,345 peo-ple have been arrested or charged, with1,994 still detained or sought for arrest.

About 100 doctors, nurses, medical stu-dents and pharmacists, wearing the longwhite coats, lined up on a main road inMandalay to chant slogans and proclaimtheir opposition to the Feb. 1 coup that top-pled the elected civilian government ofAung San Suu Kyi.

The army takeover reversed the slowprogress towards democracy that beganwhen Suu Kyi's National League forDemocracy party won a 2015 election after

five decades of military rule.Mandalay has been a major center of

opposition to the takeover. But in recentweeks, the numbers of protesters has fall-en off in the face of lethal use of force bypolice and soldiers firing live ammunitioninto crowds.

Engineers in Mandalay on Sundayheld what has been dubbed a “no-humanstrike,” an increasingly popular tactic thatinvolves lining up signboards in streets orother public areas as proxies for human pro-testers.

While Mandalay's early morning marchwas unmolested by security forces, at leastone protester was shot dead in Monywa,another central Myanmar city, according tothe online news site Myanmar Now andnumerous social media posts.

Myanmar Now, citing a doctor inMonywa, identified the victim as Min MinZaw, who was shot in the head as he washelping assemble barricades for Sunday'sprotest.

Virtually all the dead since the couphave been shooting victims, and in manycases, have been shot in the head.

The resistance cause over the weekendreceived support from demonstrations inseveral places abroad, including Tokyo,Taipei in Taiwan and on Times Square inNew York City. AP

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Manila (Philippines): The Philippine defense chiefon Sunday demanded more than 200 Chinese ves-sels he said were manned by militias leave a SouthChina Sea reef claimed by Manila, saying their pres-ence was a “provocative action of militarising thearea.”

“We call on the Chinese to stop this incursionand immediately recall these boats violating our mar-itime rights and encroaching into our sovereign ter-ritory,” Lorenzana said in a statement, adding with-out elaborating that the Philippines would uphold itssovereign rights.

A government watchdog overseeing the disput-ed region said about 220 Chinese vessels were seenmoored at Whitsun Reef, which Beijing also claims,on March 7.

It released pictures of the vessels side by side inone of the most hotly contested areas of the strate-gic waterway.

The reef, which Manila calls Julian Felipe, is aboomerang-shaped and shallow coral region about175 nautical miles (324 kilometers) west of Batarazatown in the western Philippine province of Palawan.

It's well within the country's exclusive economiczone, over which the Philippines “enjoys the exclu-sive right to exploit or conserve any resources,” thegovernment watchdog said.

The large numbers of Chinese boats are “a con-cern due to the possible overfishing and destructionof the marine environment, as well as risks to safe-ty of navigation,” it said, although it added that thevessels were not fishing when sighted.

Philippine military chief Lt. Gen. CirilitoSobejana said the military's “utmost priority remainsto be the protection of our citizens in the area, par-ticularly our fishermen, through increased maritimepatrols.”

When asked if the Philippines would file aprotest, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. Tweeted,

“only if the generals tell me.” AP

Manila: The Philippine Government expressedconcern after spotting more than 200 Chinese fish-ing vessels it believed were crewed by militias at areef claimed by both countries in the South ChinaSea, but it did not immediately lodge a protest.

A government body overseeing the disputedregion said late Saturday that about 220 Chinese ves-sels were seen moored at Whitsun Reef on March7. It released pictures of the vessels lying side by sidein one of the most hotly contested areas of the strate-gic waterway.

The reef, which Manila calls Julian Felipe, is aboomerang-shaped and shallow coral region about175 nautical miles (324 kilometres) west of Batarazatown in the western Philippine province of Palawan.It's well within the country's exclusive economic zone,over which the Philippines “enjoys the exclusive rightto exploit or conserve any resources,” the agency saidin a statement.

The large numbers of Chinese boats are “a con-cern due to the possible overfishing and destructionof the marine environment, as well as risks to safe-ty of navigation,” it said, although it added that thevessels were not fishing when sighted.

When asked if the Philippines would file aprotest, Foreign Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr.Tweeted, “only if the generals tell me.” C h i n e s eEmbassy officials did not immediately issue any com-ment. China, the Philippines and four other gov-ernments have been locked in a tense territorialstandoff over the resource-rich and busy waterwayfor decades. AP

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Bangladesh has ruled outany security threat to Prime

Minister Narendra Modi's two-day visit to the country laterthis week and said “few” leftwing and hardline Islamistgroups are against his trip butthere is “nothing to worry”about them.

Prime Minister Modi willvisit Bangladesh from March26 to 27 to attend the celebra-tions of the golden jubilee ofthe country's independenceand the birth centenary of itsfounder ‘Bangabandhu' SheikhMujibur Rahman.

This would be his first tripto a foreign country since theoutbreak of the coronaviruspandemic.

“We are proud to invitehim (Modi) to Bangladesh…people are with us (the gov-ernment),” Bangladesh ForeignMinister Dr AK Abdul Momentold reporters on Saturdaynight.

Momen said “only a fewcan oppose this visit and letthem do it”. “There is nothingto worry about (theirprotests),” he added.

“Bangladesh is a democra-tic country where people havethe right to express their opin-ion and the government is not

worried about it,” he said,adding that the protesters are“few in number” and just tak-ing the advantage of the “free-dom of expression”.

Prime Minister Modi andheads of state and governmentfrom Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutanand the Maldives will be amongthe distinguished foreign gueststo join the celebrations underseparate schedules.

Momen said authoritieshave taken every required stepto ensure security of all visitingforeign dignitaries.

Some hardline Islamists,left leaning groups and civilsociety members recentlystaged demonstrations againstModi's visit, referring to India'snew citizenship law.

Meanwhile, Junior ForeignMinister Shahriar Alam urged“those who are giving differentopinions to show respect forthe invited guests if they haverespect for the Bangabandhu asFather of the Nation and lovefor the country”.

He specifically asked thegroups and figures associatedwith the OppositionBangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) to refrain from “exhibit-ing double-standards by oppos-ing Modi's visit since they triedto appease him during his firstterm of the government”.

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Pope Francis on Sunday urged more efforts toensure all people have access to drinking

water. Francis lamented that far “too many people

have access to (only) a little water and that (which)is possibly polluted.” He encouraged all to“reflect on the value of this marvelous and non-substitutive gift of God,” adding that water “isn'tsome good of commerce but “fount of life andof health.” “It is necessary to assure the everyonehas potable water and to hygienic services,''Francis said in his traditional Sunday noonremarks to the faithful.

“I thank and encourage all who, from vari-ous professions and responsibilities, work for suchan important aim,'' the pope added. In particu-lar, he cited those in his homeland, Argentina,who are working on such water projects.

The World Health Organization says some2 billion people use a source of drinking waterthat is contaminated with feces.

Vatican City: Pope Francis on Sundaydenounced racism, likening it to a virus thatlurks in waiting and only to emerge and showthat “our supposed social progress is not as realor definitive” as people think.

Francis tweeted on racism on the date thatthe United Nations marks as International Dayfor the Elimination of RacialDiscrimination.

The pope likened racism to a “a virus thatquickly mutates and, instead of disappearing,goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting.” “Instances of racism continue to shame us, forthey show that our supposed social progress isnot as real or definitive as we think,” Francistweeted, adding the hashtags #FightRacism#FratelliTutti. “Fratelli Tutti'' is the title of theencyclical, or special teaching document,which the pope issued last year in the midst ofthe COVID-19 pandemic to press for solidar-ity, brotherhood and care for the environmentworldwide.

In his tweet, Francis cited no particularinstance of racism or place.

Throughout his papacy, he has championedthe rights of people who are marginalised insocieties, including migrants. AP

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Beijing: India, Pakistan, Chinaand other members of theShanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) will hold ajoint anti-terrorism exercisethis year, the eight-memberbloc said.

The decision to hold thejoint exercise “Pabbi-Antiterror-2021” was announced duringthe 36th meeting of the Councilof the Regional Anti-TerroristStructure (RATS) held inTashkent, Uzbekistan on March18.

At the meeting, representa-tives of the SCO member statesalso approved the draft programof cooperation for 2022-2024 tocounter-terrorism, separatismand extremism.

“Decisions have been madeto improve cooperation betweenthe competent authorities of the

SCO member states in identi-fying and suppressing channelsthat finance terrorist activities,”China's state-run Xinhua newsagency reported, quoting aRATS statement.

Delegations of the compe-tent authorities of India,Kazakhstan, China, the KyrgyzRepublic, Pakistan, Russia,Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and theRATS Executive Committeeattended the meeting, Xinhuareported. RATS, headquar-tered in Tashkent, is a perma-nent organ of the SCO whichserves to promote cooperationof member states against ter-rorism, separatism and extrem-ism. The SCO is an economicand security bloc in whichIndia and Pakistan were admitted as full members in2017. PTI

Kabul: State media reportedthat US Defence SecretaryLloyd Austin arrived on Sundayin Kabul on his first trip toAfghanistan as Pentagon chief,amid swirling questions abouthow long American troops willremain in the country.

State-owned Radio andTelevision Afghanistan andpopular TOLO Televisionreported Austin's arrival inKabul from India. He wasexpected to meet with seniorAfghan government officials,including President AshrafGhani.

President Joe Biden saidlast week in an ABC Newsinterview that it will be “tough”for the US to meet a May 1deadline to withdraw troopsfrom Afghanistan. But he saidthat if the deadline, which is laidout in an agreement between

former President DonaldTrump's administration andthe Taliban, is extended, itwouldn't be by a “lot longer.”

In response, the Taliban onFriday warned of consequencesif the US doesn't meet thedeadline.

Suhail Shaheen, a memberof the Taliban negotiation team,told reporters that if US troopsstay beyond May 1, “it will bea kind of violation of the agree-ment. That violation wouldnot be from our side. ... Theirviolation will have a reaction.”

Austin was expected tomeet with Ghani and the newlyappointed defence chief ArmyChief of Staff Gen. Yasin Zia,who was appointed actingdefence minister this week.Washington is reviewing theagreement the Trump admin-

istration signed with the Talibanlast year.

In a sharply worded letterto Ghani earlier this month, USSecretary of State AntonyBlinken said it is urgent to makepeace in Afghanistan and alloptions remain on the table. Healso warned that it is likely theTaliban would make swift ter-ritorial gains if US and NATOtroops withdrew. United Statesspends USD 4 billion a year tosustain Afghanistan's NationalSecurity Forces.

The Taliban warnedAmerica against defying theMay 1 deadline at a press con-ference in Moscow, the day aftermeeting with senior Afghangovernment negotiators andinternational observers to try tojumpstart a stalled peaceprocess to end Afghanistan'sdecades of war. AP

Kuala Lumpur: North Koreandiplomats vacated their embassyin Malaysia and were expelledon Sunday, after the two nationscut diplomatic relations in a spatover the extradition of a NorthKorean criminal suspect to theUnited States.

The North Korean flag andembassy signage were removedfrom the premise in a KualaLumpur suburb. Two buses fer-ried the diplomats and theirfamilies to the airport, wherethey were seen checking in fora flight to Shanghai.

Malaysian Foreign MinisterHishammuddin Hussein saidthe expulsion was in response toPyongyang's “unilateral andutterly irresponsible decision”on Friday to sever diplomaticties.

“This action is a reminderthat Malaysia shall never toler-ate any attempt to meddle in ourinternal affairs and judiciary,disrespect our governance sys-

tem and constantly createunnecessary tensions in defi-ance of the rules-based inter-national order,” he said in astatement.

Ties between North Koreaand Malaysia have been virtu-ally frozen since the 2017 assas-sination of the estranged halfbrother of North Korean leaderKim Jong Un at Kuala LumpurInternational Airport.

Two days after KualaLumpur extradited a NorthKorean man to the U.S. To facemoney laundering charges, afurious North Korea on Fridayannounced it was terminatingties with Malaysia. Malaysiadenounced the decision and ina tit-for-tat response, gave NorthKorean diplomats 48 hours toleave.

Kim Yu Song, the chargéd'affaires and councilor in KualaLumpur, said Malaysia had“committed an unpardonablecrime.” Echoing Pyongyang's

earlier statement, he accusedMalaysia of being subservient tothe U.S. And being part of a U.S.Conspiracy aimed at “isolatingand suffocating” his country.

“The Malaysian authoritydelivered our citizen to the U.S.In the end, thus destroying thefoundations of the bilateral rela-tions based on respect of sov-ereignty,” he said in a short state-ment outside the embassy,before heading to theairport.

North Korea has called themoney laundering charges an“absurd fabrication and (a)sheer plot” orchestrated by theU.S. And warned Washingtonwill “pay a due price.” Some experts say cutting tieswith Malaysia was NorthKorea's way of showing angerwith President Joe Biden'sadministration, without jeop-ardizing an eventual return tonuclear negotiations withWashington. AP

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Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga pledged onSunday to do his utmost to prevent a resurgence of the

coronavirus ahead of the Olympic torch relay and hisupcoming visit to Washington.

Suga was addressing his ruling Liberal DemocraticParty's annual convention, just hours ahead of the plannedlifting of a virus state of emergency in the the Tokyoregion.

Suga said after the state of emergency is lifted is “anextremely important time” for virus prevention.

“We must not put our guards down ... To prevent theinfections from rebounding,” he said.

Suga on Thursday announced that the monthslongemergency measures for Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba andSaitama would end at midnight Sunday, a move under-scoring his government's eagerness to minimize burdenson businesses and keep the economy going, despite con-cerns raised by experts about the potential for an upsurge.

The lifting of the measure comes just days before theOlympic torch relay starts from Fukushima, northeast ofTokyo and the site of the 2011 nuclear crisis, as a sym-bol of reconstruction.

Suga renewed his pledge to achieve the Olympics inJuly as “a proof of the victory against the coronavirus,”after its one-year postponement due to the pandemic.Olympic officials decided Saturday to bar spectators fromabroad. “We will deliver courage and hope from Japanto the world,” Suga said.

Brazzaville (Republic of Congo):Republic of Congo pressed aheadSunday with an election in whichPresident Denis Sassou N'Guessois widely expected to extend his 36years in power, while the leadingopposition candidate remainedhospitalized with Covid-19.

The watchdog groupNetBlocks reported an internetblackout that began in the CentralAfrican country around midnighton election day, and the govern-ment issued no statement on GuyBrice Parfait Kolelas' illness.

While the constitution allowsfor an election to be delayed if acandidate is unable to participatein the vote, polling stations inBrazzaville opened at 8 a.M. Asscheduled, observers said.

Kolelas, 61, had skipped hisfinal campaign event on Fridayafter telling some reporters a dayearlier that he feared he had malar-ia.

A video circulating on socialmedia Saturday showed Kolelaswearing an oxygen mask and witha blood pressure cuff on his arm as

he lay in a hospital bed.“My dear compatriots, I am in

trouble. I am fighting death,” thecandidate says in a weak-soundingvoice after removing his oxygenmask. “However, I ask you tostand up and vote for change. Iwould not have fought for nothing.”

Campaign spokesman CyrMayanda told The Associated Presson Sunday that Kolelas' conditionwas stable, but that plans wereunderway for a medical evacuationto France for furthertreatment.

Kolelas placed second toSassou N'Guesso in the country's2016 presidential election withabout 15 per cent of the vote.

The opposition figure has beenparticularly critical of the incum-bent leader in recent days, declar-ing that Republic of Congo hadbecome “a police state.” Sassou N'Guesso is the third-longest serving president in Africa,ruling from 1979-1992 and thenagain since 1997 in this nationoften overshadowed by its vastneighbor Congo. AP

Istanbul: Turkey's weeklyregional Covid-19 figures keepincreasing as the country keepsrelaxed restrictions in place fornow.

Health ministry statisticsreleased late Saturday showedthe rate of infection as morethan 251 cases per 100,000 inIstanbul, the country's largestcity — up 41% since last week.That means about 40,000 newinfections in Istanbul alone,which has quadrupled fromnumbers first released six weeksago.

The government has divid-ed its 81 provinces into four riskcategories and said it wouldevaluate restrictions at a locallevel every two weeks. The lat-est figures show many citiesturning “very high-risk” or“high risk.”

Turkey's presidentannounced this week thatrelaxed restrictions, like in-restaurant dining and reducedcurfews, would continue “forsome more time” despite risinginfections, but said toughermeasures could be broughtback.

According to measuresannounced in early March,weekend curfews remained inplace in “very high-risk” citiesand Sunday lockdowns contin-ued in “high risk” cities.Restaurants are open for indoorand outdoor dining in all the cat-egories other than “very high-risk,” and nighttime curfews areapplied across the country.

The seven-day average ofinfections across the country hasclimbed over 18,000, hittingdaily rates last seen in December.The number of patients in crit-ical care and deaths are also ris-ing. The total reported death tollin Turkey is 29,959.

Facing an economic down-turn, the government has beenunder pressure from businessowners to resume operationsduring the pandemic. AP

Beirut: Artillery shells fired from gov-ernment areas hit a hospital in a rebel-controlled town in northwestern Syria onSunday, killing at least five civilians andwounding medical staff, rescuers andactivists reported.

The shells landed at the entrance andin the courtyard of the hospital inAtareb, a town in rural western Aleppo,according to the Britain-based SyrianObservatory for Human Rights. Thehospital is located underground, a tac-tic used by the opposition to avoid tar-geting in the conflict-prone area.

The explosion killed at least fivecivilians, including a child and a woman,and injured medical staff, according tothe Syrian Civil Defense volunteers,known as the White Helmets. A videoposted on the local health directorate'sFacebook page showed debris and bloodstains at the entrance of the hospital.

Fadi Hakim, a spokesman for theSyrian American Medical Society, whichsupports the hospital, said the structur-

al damage includes destruction of theorthopedic clinic and the emergencyroom.

“The hospital has been evacuated forthe moment,” he said. Hakim said hecould confirm only four killed, includ-ing a child, and 15 injured, five of themmedical staff.

Attacks on hospitals are common inthe Syria conflict, and are mostly blamedon government and allied forces. Thehealth directorate in the rebel-con-trolled northwest said the attack Sundaywas the first on a medical facility in theregion since February 2020.

The U.S.-based Physicians forHuman Rights has documented 598attacks on at least 350 separate healthcare facilities in Syria since March 2011,the vast majority of them allegedlycommitted by the Syrian governmentand allied forces, including Russia. In thesame 10-year period, at least 930 med-ical personnel were killed, the rightsgroup said. AP

Islamabad: Pakistan imposeda complete ban on travel from12 countries, including SouthAfrica, Rwanda and Tanzania,in a bid to curb the spike ofcoronavirus cases as the coun-try on Sunday recorded 3,667new cases, taking the nationaltally to 626,802.

The Civil AviationAuthority (CAA) notified afresh list of countries cate-gorised into A, B and C afteremergence of South Africanand Brazilian strain of thevirus and imposed a completeban on travel from 12 coun-tries, categorised as C.

The travel restrictions anda ban on inbound passengersfrom 12 countries will remaineffective from March 23 toApril 5.

Botswana, Brazil,

Columbia, Comoros, Ghana,Kenya, Mozambique, Peru,Rwanda, South Africa,Tanzania and Zambia havebeen placed in category C.

The CAA in its notifica-tion said there will be a com-plete travel ban on inboundtravel to Pakistan from categoryC countries, including with-drawal of exemptions earlierprovided to certain categoriesof travellers like Pakistani pass-port holders.

The temporary measure isbeing introduced in continua-tion to the steps being taken tocurb the spread of COVID-19in Pakistan, it said.

The CAA also updated itscategory C, for inbound trav-ellers and shifted the UnitedKingdom from category C tocategory B.

The CAA said the inter-national travellers from cate-gory A countries do not requireCOVID-19 PCR (polymerasechain reaction) test beforeentry into Pakistan.

Australia, Bhutan, China,Fiji, Japan, Kazakhstan, Laos,Mongolia, Mauritania,Morocco, Myanmar, Nepal,New Zealand, Saudi Arabia,Singapore, South Korea, SriLanka, Tajikistan, Trinidad andTobago and Vietnam have beenplaced in category A.

The international travellersfrom countries not specified incategory A require COVID-19test before commencement oftravel to Pakistan.

The notification said allcountries which are not spec-ified in A and C fall in catego-ry B. PTI

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Turkish police on Sunday detained a promi-nent pro-Kurdish party politician who was

staging a days-long protest in parliament. Hewas released after questioning several hourslater.

Omer Faruk Gergerlioglu, from thePeoples' Democratic Party, or HDP, refused toleave parliament after he was stripped of hisstatus and immunity as lawmaker onWednesday.

The party said around 100 police officersentered parliament to detain him. Video of hisdetention showed police officers dragging himaway.

The party, which is in the throes of a gov-ernment crackdown, said Gergerlioglu wasdetained as he was performing his ablutionsfor morning prayers.

“The police insisted on detaining him, andtook him away in his pajamas and slippers,”the HDP said in a statement.

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Over 750 global buyers fromabout 52 countries, includ-

ing the UK and Europe, areparticipating in a two-day foodand beverage show -IndusFood 2021, TradePromotion Council of India(TPCI) said on Sunday.

The show, which startedfrom March 20, aimed at show-casing huge potential exists inthe sector for global anddomestic players.

TPCI said the fair attractedmaximum buyers from GCC(Gulf Cooperation Council)region from where more than150 buyers attended the show.It was followed by over 100 play-ers from CIS (Commonwealthof Independent States) coun-tries, Europe (80) and Africa(80) and over 40 from the USand Latin America.”The expect-ed business negotiation worth800 million to 1 billion USD isexpected to have been negoti-ated so far during the show,” itsaid.

Vivek Agarwal, Chairman

- Food and BeverageCommittee, TPCI said therecent rise in trade of value-added food and beverageproducts has generated unfore-seen opportunities for foodand beverage companies.

“This has increased therelevance of both global valuechain frameworks and pro-duction networks in the foodprocessing sector. This editionis being conducted with strictsafety protocols and we arehappy to have taken this step toset up the fair in physical for-mat despite lingering chal-lenges,” he said.

IndusFood 2021 also wit-nessed participation from dif-ferent states, including Odisha,Haryana and Tamil Nadu, TPCIsaid.A memorandum of under-standing was inked between theJammu Kashmir Trade pro-motion Organisation (JKTPO)and the council. It was signedby JKTPO Managing DirectorAnkita Kar and TPCI Founderand Chairman Mohit Singla toincrease cooperation in thesector.

�� 0<*,�>,00.

Ahangover from Trump-eratariff disputes could

become even more painful forAmerican whiskey distillersunless their entanglement in atrans-Atlantic trade fight isresolved soon.

Bourbon, Tennesseewhiskey and rye whiskey wereleft out of recent breakthroughsto start rebuilding U.S. Traderelations with the EuropeanUnion and the UnitedKingdom in the wake ofDonald Trump’s presidency.

Tariffs were suspended onsome spirits, but the 25% tar-iffs slapped on Americanwhiskey by the EU and UKremain in place.

And the EU’s tariff rate isset to double to 50% in June inthe key export market for U.S.Whiskey makers.A leadingspirits advocate is imploringtop U.S. Trade envoy KatherineTai to not leave whiskey pro-ducers behind.

�� -./��.01,

Aadhaar is no longermandatory for pensioners

to get digital life certificate,Jeevan Pramaan, that isrequired to collect their pen-sions, according to the new rulenotified by the government.

The government has alsomade Aadhaar verification vol-untary for its instant messagingsolution ‘Sandes’ and atten-dance management at publicoffices under the AadhaarAuthentication for GoodGovernance (Social Welfare,Innovation, Knowledge) Rules,2020.

“Aadhaar Authenticationin Jeevan Pramaan is on a vol-untary basis and user organi-zations shall provide\ alter-nate means of submission ofLife Certificate. NIC shall com-ply with provisions of AadhaarAct 2016, Aadhaar Regulation2016 and the O.Ms (officialmemorandum), circulars andguidelines issued by UIDAIfrom time to time,” a notifica-tion by the Ministry of

Electronics and IT dated March18 said.

Digital Life Certificate forpensioners scheme was intro-duced to address the woes thatpensioners faced as they wererequired to be present beforepension disbursing agency orhad the life certificate issued byauthority where they servedearlier and delivered that to thedisbursing agency.

The digital life certificatehelped pensioners from phys-ically travelling to the respec-tive organisation.

However, many pension-ers complained about problemsin getting pension due non-availability of Aadhaar cards ortheir fingerprints becomingunreadable.

While some governmentorganisations provided an alter-nate way of issuing pension in2018, the notification to makeAadhaar voluntary for the dig-ital life certificate has beenissued now.

Simultaneously, theElectronics and IT Ministry hasmade Aadhaar optional for

users of instant messaging solu-tion, Sandes app, developed bythe National InformaticsCentre.

“Aadhaar Authenticationin Sandes is on a voluntarybasis and user organisationsshall provide alternate means ofverification. NIC shall complywith provisions of AadhaarAct 2016, Aadhaar Regulation2016 and the O.Ms, circularsand guidelines issued byUIDAI from time to time,” aseparate notification datedMarch 18 said.

Developed under projectname Government InstantMessaging System, the app isused within public depart-ments.

Proof of concept for theapp is done by more than 150organizations including NitiAayog, MeitY, CBI, MEA,Indian Railways, Indian Navy,Indian Army, National SecurityCouncil Secretariat (NSCS),Intelligence Bureau, BorderSecurity Force, Central ReservePolice Force, Department ofTelecom, Home Ministry, etc.

�� -./��.01,

Gold imports, which have abearing on the country’s

current account deficit (CAD),fell 3.3 per cent to USD 26.11billion during April-February2020-21, according to thecommerce ministry data.

Imports of the yellowmetal stood at USD 27 billionin April-February 2019-20.

The decline in goldimports has helped in narrow-ing the country’s

trade deficit to USD 84.62

billion during the 11-month ofthe current fiscal, as againstUSD 151.37 billion a year ago.

India is the largest importerof gold, which mainly caters tothe demand of the jewelleryindustry.

In volume terms, the coun-try imports 800-900 tonnes ofgold annually.

To promote the export sec-tor, the government hasreduced the import duty in thisBudget on the metal to 7.5 percent.

However, it also attracts

agriculture infrastructure anddevelopment cess at the rate of2.5 per cent.

Gems and jewelleryexports declined 33.86 per centto USD 22.40 billion in April-February 2020-21.

The imports of goldjumped to USD 5.3 billion inFebruary as compared to USD2.36 billion in the same monthlast year, the data showed.

Silver imports during the11 months have dipped by70.3 per cent to USD 780.75million.

�� *+�,

Saudi Arabia’s state-backed oilgiant Aramco announced

Sunday that its profits nearlyhalved in 2020 to USD 49 bil-lion, a big drop that came as thecoronavirus pandemic roiledglobal energy markets.

Saudi Arabian Oil Co.Released its annual financialresults a year after the pan-demic sent the price of oilcrashing to all-time lows aspeople stopped moving aroundthe world to stem the spread ofthe virus.

In recent weeks, however,the price has edged up asmovement restrictions ease,commerce increases and morepeople get vaccinated againstCOVID-19. Still, analysts cau-tion that a peak in demand maystill be far off.

Despite the 44 per centdrop in net income, Aramcosaid it would stick to itspromise of paying quarterlydividends of USD 18.75 billion— USD 75 billion a year — dueto commitments the company

made to shareholders in therun-up to its initial publicoffering. Nearly all of the div-idend money goes to the Saudigovernment, which owns morethan 98 per cent of the com-pany.

Aramco’s policy to pay div-idends significantly higher thanits 2020 free cash flow of USD49 billion stands in sharp con-trast to other oil giants thathave cut payouts.

Seeking a cash infusion topay the billions of dollars in theface of declining revenue,Aramco recently has issuedinternational bonds.

The public figures, obliga-tory ever since the mostlystate-owned company listed asliver of its worth on Riyadh’sTadawul stock exchange in2019, offers valuable insightinto the health of the region’slargest economy. Despite SaudiCrown Prince Mohammed binSalman’s efforts to diversifythe economy away from oil, thekingdom remains heavilydependent on oil exports to fuelgovernment spending.

�� *+�,

Surge in the Covid cases aswell as global bond yields

might dampen the key equityindices next week, analystscontended.

Accordingly, marketwatchers, said that the upswingseen late on last Friday onaccount of rejig in internationalindex weights might not sus-tain in the coming week.

“Nifty has showed remark-able bounce from the intradaylows on March 19. One willhave to watch as to whether thisuppishness continues early nextweek even after the FTSE rebal-ancing is done with,”

“US Bond yield moves willbe one of the important factorsto track. 14,919 remains astrong resistance for the Niftywhile 14,529 could be a sup-port.”

Last week, the key domes-tic indices posted losses amidhigh volatility as markets closedin the red on 4 out of 5 trad-ing sessions.

Factors such as resurgenceof Covid-19 cases in various

part of the country madeinvestors jittery.

“The Federal Reserve couldremain a source of angst formarkets in the week ahead,with chairman Jerome Powellscheduled to testify twicebefore Congress and more thana dozen other Fed speechesexpected,”

Besides, a contraction inIIP data for January and spikein India’s inflation had also trig-gered selling.

A sharp increase in the UStreasury yields and firm crudeoil prices did not help investors’sentiment.

“The market may remainvolatile in the near term givenconcerns over rising bondyields, increasing commodityprices and risk of increase ininflation,” said SiddharthaKhemka, Head - RetailResearch, Motilal OswalFinancial Services.

“In addition, resurgenceof Covid cases continues toworry the market and hence itmay continue with its rollercoaster ride.”

Furthermore, the issues

surrounding higher US yieldswill continue to be material tothe markets in the comingweeks, said Joseph Thomas,Head of Research, EmkayWealth Management.

Higher US bond yieldsdrive away foreign capital fromemerging markets’ asset class-es to the more lucrative trea-sury bills.

“The Fed sees growth andinflation, so the yields will gohigher -- this is somethingthat is heard on the streetagain and again,” Thomas said.

“This may have conse-quences for equities, though ina limited way, in the comingdays. The trajectory of the USmarkets will be closely fol-lowed.”

According to Rohit Singre,Senior Technical Analyst atLKP Securities: “Once niftycross above 14,800 zone bull-ish piercing pattern will getactive and we may see a goodmove towards immediate hur-dle zone of 14,900-15,000, sup-ports still at 14,650-14,580zone holding above said levelsstructure can be positive.”

�� -./��.01,

Budget airline GoAir onSunday announced its

‘Summer Sale’ with bookingperiod starting from March 22-26.The travel period for theoffer commences from March22 - June 30 and comes withspecial features.

According to the airline,these features have been craft-ed after analysis of customers’needs.”The first and foremostfeature is 5 kg extra baggageallowance without any extracost. It has been noticed thatcustomers are facing the quin-tessential challenge of optimalbaggage and extra baggage thisseason is the ideal option forthem,” the airline said.“Customers will also have thebenefit of any number of datemodifications to their ticket,free of cost. This feature willenable our esteemed customersto plan and re-plan their sum-mer travel with complete peaceof mind.”

�� -./��.01,

Despite price hikes, the pas-senger vehicle and two

wheeler segments are experi-encing sustainable demandrecovery, India Ratings andResearch (Ind-Ra) said in areport.

Notably, the domestic auto-mobile industry’s sales vol-umes (excluding CVs) grew 10per cent YoY in February 2021,recording positive growth forthe seventh consecutive month.

Segment wise, PV and 2Wsales volumes were up 18 percent and 10 per cent YoY,respectively, in February 2021.

However, segments such as3Ws and CVs are still catchingup.

“Ind-Ra opines steadygrowth of PVs and 2Ws overDecember 2020 to February2021 -- after the festive seasonended in November 2020 --despite the price hikes taken byoriginal equipment manufac-turers (OEMs) suggests a sus-tainable demand recovery forthe sector amid improvingmacroeconomic fundamen-tals,” the report said.

“Exports volumes also con-tinued the growth trend inFebruary 2021, up 9 per centYoY, mainly led by 17 per cent

YoY growth in 2W exports.”According to the report,

PVs continue to lead thedomestic revival, benefittingfrom the increased consumerpreference for personal mobil-ity.0Besides, the domestic PVmarket continues to see anincreasing shift towards utilityvehicles (UVs).

“A sustained high demandfor UVs, sales volume up 45 percent YoY in February 2021,translated into 2 per cent YoYgrowth in UV sales volumeduring 11MFY21.”

Furthermore, passengercars also continued to see pos-itive growth in February 2021,

led by 8 per cent YoY growthin the sales volume of compactcars.“2Ws, albeit growing 10per cent YoY in February 2021,are impacted more by theincreased cost of ownershipamid price hikes by OEMscoupled with historically highfuel prices in India.”

“This is apparent in the 3per cent YoY decline in salesvolume of the more price --sen-sitive entry -- level motorcyclesunder 110cc. Overall, motor-cycles and scooters sales grew11 per cent and 10 per centYoY, respectively in February2021.”

In addition, the report said

that retail sales in February2021 were a mixed bag -- PVsgrew 11 per cent YoY but 2Wsand CVs declined 16 per centand 30 per cent YoY.

“Although retail sales have,for the most part, laggedbehind wholesale dispatches in11MFY21, a sustained uptick indemand across most segmentsover December 2020-February2021 suggests that consumersentiments are improving.”

“While concerns over thenear-term supply-side con-straints remain, barring a majorglobal crisis, the domestic autoindustry’s demand revival islikely to continue into FY22.”

�� -./��.01,

The chemical sector isexpected to grow at 1.2x-

1.3x of the GDP multiplier inFY22, India Ratings andResearch (Ind-Ra) said.

Accordingly, the ratingsagency has assigned the sectoran improving outlook for FY22.It expects favourable marketconditions across the broadchemical subsectors, along witha healthy rebound in end-userindustries, following the Covid-19 led business disruptions in1HFY21. “Ind-Ra expects GDPgrowth to rebound to 10.4 percent in FY22, and the chemi-cal sector to grow at 1.2x-1.3xof the GDP multiplier.Chemical sector participantsare impacted by a varyingdegree of end-market demandpressure,” the agency said in areport.

According to the report,issuers catering to the auto, tex-tiles and construction sectorsand in the certain bulk com-modities space are expected towitness an extended recovery

cycle throughout FY22, where-as those catering to pharma,agrochemicals and personalcare are already witnessing ademand surge.

“Most companies benefitedfrom stable and lower feedstockprices, even as the prices of finalproducts increased during2HFY21, supporting margins.India’s push for self-sufficiencycoupled with efforts towardssupply chain diversificationaway from China is enablinglarge capex, which remains amonitorable,” the report said. Inaddition, the agency expectschemical producers to generatestrong cash flows from opera-tions, given the volume uptickacross end-user industries, high-er realisations and stable feed-stock prices. “This would helplimit the use of external debt forlarge capital budgets, as cashflows will be directed towardsbusiness expansions, leading toonly moderate deterioration incredit metrics during the expan-sion phase, largely within therating headroom available formost issuers,” it said.

�� -./��.01,

Rise in input costs haveexerted pressure on the

profitability of cement manu-facturers, which is bound toadversely reflect in its Q4FY2021 performance, ICRAsaid in a note.

Input costs have risen overthe last few months as theprices of major input materials- coal, pet coke and diesel - areon an upward trend, resultingin higher power, fuel andfreight expenses.

“The rise in these costs,which account for 50-55 percent of total costs, has beenexerting pressure on the prof-itability of the industry players,”the note said.

On the input costs front,the note cited that the increasein coal prices in recent monthsis majorly driven by higherdemand from China and otherAsian countries.

“The prices of diesel andpet coke increase in line withcrude oil prices. The recent

surge in oil prices led to anincrease in pet coke prices by73 per ceny YoY and 29 percent QoQ in Q4 FY2021 anddiesel prices by 20 per centYoY and 10 per cent QoQ,” itsaid.

Consequently, cementcompanies have undertakenprice hikes by around 7 percent YoY in March 2021 to passon the increase in the power,fuel and freight expenses.

According to the note, therecent increase in cementprices are likely to sustain in thenear term supported by signif-icant uptick in constructionactivity driven by healthy ruralhousing demand and infra-structure led demand.

Besides, in an attempt topreserve liquidity during theCovid-19 pandemic, playershave deferred capacity addi-tions in FY2021 as against theearlier estimates of around 20million MT, and actual addi-tion is estimated to be in therange of 14-16 million MTPA,the note said.

�� -./��.01,

Global rollout of Covid-19vaccines along with the

Centre’s initiatives is expectedto boost exports in the comingmonths, EEPC India said.

“Given the initiativesannounced by the governmentand the speedy rollout of vac-cination, we expect the growthto return in the comingmonths. There is also a grad-ual recovery in global tradewhich will have a positiveimpact on the export sector inIndia,” said the Chairman ofEngineering Export PromotionCouncil of India (EEPC),Mahesh Desai.

Last month, India’s mer-chandise exports rose margin-ally to $27.93 billion from$27.74 billion recorded inFebruary 2020. Accordingly,the share of engineering itemsin total merchandise exportswas 23.49 per cent during thisperiod.

“Lower exports duringFebruary 2021 could be partlyattributed to the base effect asshipments had seen a suddensurge in the correspondingperiod last financial year.However, drop in shipments iscertainly a cause of concern forexporters,” Desai said.

Besides, the EEPC Indiacited that China, Singapore,Germany, Thailand and Italywere among the nine countriesthat saw high double-digitgrowth in demand for Indianengineering goods in February2021.

Exports to China, India’ssecond largest export destina-tion, recorded a positive growthin both monthly as well ascumulative terms.

“While shipments to Chinajumped 68 per cent to $235.58million in February, exportsduring April-February of FY21saw a stellar year-on-yeargrowth of 114 per cent to$4276.49 million,” the EEPCanalysis report said.

�� -./��.01,

Positive annualised growth inexports and imports for

three straight months has takenIndia’s trade deficit figures topre-Covid levels, AcuiteRatings & Research said.

In its report on theFebruary Trade Balance, theratings agency said that bulk ofnormalisation is likely to havebeen driven by the sharpincrease in global commodityprices, especially in the last 4-5 months.

“Going forward, as activi-ty levels pick up further, thewidening of India’s trade deficitwould get reinforced,” it said.

India’s merchandise tradedeficit has eased to $12.6 billionin February 2021 from $14.5billion in January but printedhigher than $10.2 billion post-ed during the correspondingperiod of last year.

“The sequential modera-tion in merchandise tradedeficit in Feb-21 was accom-panied by a marginal increasein exports along with a mar-

ginal decline in imports vis-a-vis the previous month,”.

“This appears to be in linewith the usual seasonal trend.”

Earlier, official data showeda rise in India’s February mer-chandise exports to $27.93 bil-lion from $27.45 billion inJanuary and $27.74 billionreported for the correspondingperiod of 2020.

“This happens to be a 21-month high print on outboundshipments.”In terms of imports,India’s inbound shipments inFebruary 2021 increased by6.96 per cent to $40.54 billionfrom $37.90 billion during thecorresponding period of 2020.

On a sequential basis, theystood lower than January’simport bill of $41.99 billion.

“The relatively highergrowth in imports in the last 3-months also signals that incre-mentally India’s domesticdemand is on the path ofrecovery, with support fromfavorable statistical base effectand accommodative monetaryand fiscal policies.”

In the near term, the report

cited some minor disruption toexternal trade can be expectedon account of the fresh wave inCovid infections, globally aswell as in India.

On a sequential basis, theystood lower than January’simport bill of $41.99 billion.

“The relatively highergrowth in imports in the last 3-months also signals that incre-mentally India’s domesticdemand is on the path ofrecovery, with support fromfavourable statistical base effectand accommodative monetaryand fiscal policies.”

In the near term, the reportcited some minor disruption toexternal trade can be expectedon account of the fresh wave inCovid infections, globally aswell as in India.

“However, the impact islikely to be limited as the samecould get offset with ongoingrapid progress in vaccination inseveral countries -- in justabout 3 months, nearly 2.8 percent of the world populationhas received at least one doseof Covid vaccine.”

�� *+�,

Sustained foreign inflowsalong with a slew of upcom-

ing IPOs are expected tostrengthen the Indian rupeeduring the week ahead.

Accordingly, these factorsare expected to push the rupeebeyond its current 52 weekhigh mark.

This might lead RBI toabsorb dollars to keep therupee in check.

“Rupee hasn’t shown anysigns of weakness. Largeinflows on the back of numer-ous bunched up IPOs in Marchhave helped the local currency.Rupee has now emerged as thebest performing currency inthe last 1 month. Rising yieldsand inflation remain the keyrisk for the currencies,” SajalGupta, Head, Forex and Ratesat Edelweiss Securities toldIANS.

“Next week’s range isexpected from 72.40 to 72.80.”

Last week, the rupee closedflat at 72.57 to a USD.

“Huge line up of IPOs,robust FPI inflows on account

of rejig in international indexweights, international debtfund raising by corporate issupporting the rupee,” saidDevarsh Vakil - Deputy Headof Retail Research at HDFCSecurities.

“We expect the rupee tostrengthen and attempt to sur-pass 52 week highs of 72.26 thisweek.

At that point of time, RBIwill intervene and absorb dol-lars near 72 levels and will stopit from appreciating further. Onthe downside, 73.6 will remaina strong barrier for a fewweeks.”

India’s central bank isknown to enter the markets viaintermediaries to either sell orbuy US dollars to keep therupee in a stable orbit.

“There are still speculationsover an early US Fed rate hike,which are keeping the dollarbulls active.

At the same time, coron-avirus spreading rapidly hasgiven rise to fears of regional orpartial lockdowns and this willput upside pressure towards72.95,” said Rahul Gupta, HeadOf Research-Currency, EmkayGlobal Financial Services.

“However, the increase inthe covid vaccination drivemay keep the risk appetiteintact.”

According to GaurangSomaiya, Forex & BullionAnalyst, Motilal OswalFinancial Services: “US 10-year yield has been on the riseand will continue to be infocus as further gains couldstrengthen the dollar.

For the week, the USD-INR(Spot) to trade with a pos-itive bias and quote in therange of 72.20 and 73.20.”

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The last one year of the pan-demic brought a major changein the way we live, eat and trav-

el. Going further, one of the prima-ry changes expected in the post-COVID world will be focussedmainly on food safety. While theworld will vouch for healthier foodoptions, there will be precautionarysteps to ensure that it is safe to con-sume. In the Indian context, one hasto be careful about food and waterbeing safe in most of the cities.

One of the most sure-shot meth-ods to ensure the availability ofdrinkable water is sustainable usageof the same. In a general situation,some of the widely-preferred con-cepts are desalination, storm-waterharvesting and ensuring optimumuse and reuse of water. However, itis different in a corporate kitchensetup. The premium food servicecompanies follow a zero-compro-mise rule on quality, and hence,invest in water-treatment plants forprocessing vegetables and salads tobe served raw as well as for otherusage in food production. However,small-time caterers don’t usuallyhave the capital to invest in some-thing of a similar format, ultimate-ly resulting into risking the health ofthe employees to germs and infec-tions.

Here are a few ways in which

corporate kitchens can ensure a sus-tainable use:�Dish washers are installed inmajority of corporate kitchens, andconsumption of water in the samemachine is the highest among allother operations. Using economysetting and washing fully loadeddishwashers and full utilisation ofdishwasher racks will make it moreefficient with the water it is alreadyusing.

�Washing dishes or cutlery underrunning tap needs to be avoided.Rather, use sink filled with soapywater method to soak dirty platesand then rinse in another sink ofclear water.

�In bulk pot wash areas, the use ofrinse faucets with shower headwould save unnecessary wastage ofwater. Avoid drying of dirty pots in

pot wash, which uses more waterthan required to clean.�Using solar heater to use hotwater to clean pots, pans and dish-es would help in saving water asthese equipment are greasy andrequire hot water for removal ofstains.

�Using recyclable and compostabledisposable plates and cutlery isanother effective way to save waterin corporate cafeterias.

�Strictly avoid thawing frozen foodunder running tap as it’s a criminalwaste of water; rather, follow wellplanned thawing procedure. Usingrefrigerators would solve the pur-pose.

�Reducing water wastage by time-ly maintenance of kitchen taps andpipeline would help.

�In bulk cooking, some practices aretraditionally used where water con-sumption is high. For example, boil-ing of rice or vegetables in largequantity of water and then drainingthe leftover. However, rice can becooked through absorption methodas well where no water is wasted inany form. Stock balance post boilingof vegetables can be used in cookingpreparations as base stock which willadd flavour.

�Use combi-ovens having steamfunction. They would be helpful tocook vegetables or meat with mini-mum usage of water.

�Creating ‘water efficiency champi-ons’ among the staff and rewardingthem for their achievements in sav-ing its consumption would be high-ly beneficial.

�Large corporates can also installrecycled water treatment plants androute kitchen waste water throughthese system to use it for restrooms,gardens, irrigation, etc.

Ensuring sustainable usage ofwater is a must and of growing con-cern. The corporate kitchens mustadhere to all possible means.

(The writer is the Director ofCulinary Innovation, Elior India.)

Gone are the days when themost popular as well as the

only way of dating someone was‘meeting in person’ over a cup ofcoffee or a lunch/dinner date ata restaurant, watching a movietogether, sitting by the beach orgoing for a long drive. Today, dat-ing is much easier with theadvent of dating apps. The mil-lennials are spending more timein finding partner with a similarvibe and getting to know eachother by forming emotional con-nections over deeper conversa-

tions.Over time, with evolving

behaviour of people and theincreasing popularity of onlinedating, there are many trends thatare playing a significant role ininfluencing the dating ecosystem.A dating platform, QuackQuack,shares some key insights into thedating behaviour of men andwomen today. Here are the high-lights of the report:

�While dating, the majority ofthe users are looking for emo-

tional attachment than physicalconnection, which means peopleare gradually moving beyondcasual dating approach and arelooking for an emotional connec-tion. However, emotional attach-ment is more important towomen compared to men.Around 73 per cent of women incomparison to 55 per cent of menprioritise emotional attachment.

�Meeting in person is the pre-ferred choice for most of the peo-ple as they seek to make real con-

nections. On the contrary, 46 percent of youngsters (<20) prefervirtual dating.�People want to keep their optionsopen as a majority of them wouldcontinue using the dating app evenafter finding a partner. Additionally,men are most likely to do so (73 percent) as compared to women (54per cent).

�The majority of people don’tthink a virtual date is enough todecide their partner. They want tomeet their date in person.

Speaking about the survey,Ravi Mittal, founder of the datingplatform, says, “The dating behav-iour of millennials and Gen Z hasevolved, more so with the adventof online dating and also becauseof the pandemic. Longer chat con-versations, meeting over a movieor Netflix and chill are some of thecommon trends.”

“Talking about the report,from mixed reactions regardingwho is more committed to theirpartner — men or women — to themajority of people finding foodtaste as a sign of compatibility, ithas some interesting insights,”adds he.

Further, the survey also high-lights what people find most irri-tating while talking to someone ona dating app and the majority ofpeople agree to “not getting aresponse from the person youexpected” as the most irritatingpart. Also, among online daters, 76per cent of men as compared to 57per cent of women feel meetingnew people is the best way to getover toxic relationships as theyhave more choices to choose fromand find compatible partners.

Buying or renting a property is anever-ending altercation,

although it always depends on thebudget. According to a study, 79.4per cent of Indians prefer living inrented accommodations. So if youare also planning to rent a house andcannot travel to check the locationor its condition, here are five apps tohelp you from the comfort of yourspace.

!��!��It is a premium property consul-

tant firm founded by millennialswho are shaping the real estate sec-tor by using technological solu-tions. OwnersTown is trying to cre-ate a seamless ecosystem for prop-erties and requirements for theowners. Through the app, one canbuy, rent or sell the property.Whether you own one property ormultiple properties, this app takesthe hassle out of managing themwith its unique property manage-ment solution. It’s fast, simple andeffortless. It is available in sevencities: Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata,NCR, Delhi, Chennai, Ahemdabad.

<<��The app is free for android

users. It allows you to browse prop-erties for rent, along with high-qual-ity pictures, videos and maps. It isbest known for numerous options itprovides, with listings across thecountry. It also promises instant con-tact between landlords and interest-ed tenants through phone calls,

texts or e-mail.

��This app helps you to find an

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�� When a student from India leaves home to pursue the

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Nowadays, it has become a trend to talk aboutmorality and values. Some people talk about

it because they want to wear it as a mask so thattheir real identity cannot be visible to the people.This works as long as people do not realise thatthere is a mask behind, a hidden personality thatis completely opposite of what can be called ‘moral’.On the other side of the line are some people whohave been able to transform themselves to someextent and are desirous of further change becausethey know that life without moral principles is justexistence. They understand that life withoutmorals is accompanied by pricks and twitches ofthe conscience and is not only devoid of real hap-piness but it is a life of increasing burdens andinner damnation. Then, there are others, who haveattained considerable height on the upward pathof moral uprightness and they do not relish evena vague remembrance of their nasty or filthy past.They aspire to fly high as a free bird into the vastsky, up and above the morally polluted world. Itis these enlightened and uplifted souls that are thehope of the world. They give guidance and sus-tenance to those who yearn for a life of purity andpeace.

However, the main problem that we are fac-ing today is thatthere is a class ofintellectuals whogive more impor-tance to materialprogress, scientif-ic development,new devices andmany other thingsthan to moral val-ues. This does notmean that thereshould not be anyeffort for materialprogress. But whatneeds to beemphasised is thatmoral test must beapplied in theareas of research, development and progress aswell. For example, invention of nuclear weaponswas once considered as the latest development inthe field of scientific weapons. Much industrialprogress has been achieved all over the world inlast few decades, but it was achieved at the costof environment, without applying moral tests.Hence, as a consequence of all this, humankindis today faced with a grave threat to its environ-ment and also to its survival.

Just as all periodicals and films enjoy the free-dom of expression but these have to pass the testrelating to obscenity and vulgarity, similarly, allpolicies, plans and developmental projects shouldbe subjected to the test of morality. If they leadto depravity of human character, if they promoteviolence, increase strife and tension, provoke peo-ple, then they should be rejected. If a film violatesthe sense of dignity towards women and is offen-sive against their modesty or if it is liable to dis-turb communal harmony or create enmitybetween castes, then it is not certified as fit.Similarly, if certain laws, acts, pronouncements,policies or plans violate universal moral, human,social or environmental values, then they alsoshould be struck down.

Truth is always a moral entity. Hence, any idea,tenet or belief that violates universal moral val-ues and leads to anger, greed, exploitation, injus-tice or cut-throat competition, is not true eventhough it appears to be so. We should, therefore,examine whether our world-view, our belief-sys-tem and our concepts lead to a moral order or tomoral anarchy, turmoil and struggle for survival.Do they give rise to noble sentiments or to utter-ly selfish, egoistic and vicious tendencies. Weshould discard these if they are prone to lead toour moral downfall and should try to rediscoverour real identity. The ultimate goal of our lifeshould be to live a life of harmony and peace. Weshould not fully and finally accept anything unlessit passes this acid test.

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One of the biggest chal-lenges being faced byIndia today is the issue of

early child marriages. As perUNICEF, approximately one infour young women in the coun-try are married or are in unionbefore they turn 18. While mar-riage is often considered a happyunion, for thousands of adoles-cent girls, it is a nightmare thatdawns on them against theirwishes. Before they start under-standing their existence, they areforced to adopt an identity thatrequires them to transform asper our rigid patriarchal set-up.The practice is more prevalentin India’s rural, remote areasthan its urban counterparts.

Poonch, the border district,located approximately 250 kmfrom the Jammu city in J&K, hascurrently seen an increase in thecases of early child marriages.Afsana, a resident of Manjiarivillage in Mendhar tehsil,Poonch, was forcefully marriedat the age of 16. “All my dreamswere shattered the day my par-ents fixed my marriage. Irequested them to let me appearfor my Class 10th exams, butthey assured me that I can con-tinue studying after my weddingand that I will have full supportof my in-laws. Nothing of thatsort happened as my weddinghit the rock bottom soonerthan expected,” said Afsana.

Soon after her marriage,she was faced with physicaland mental torture. Her hus-band remarried, leaving Afsanato return to her parent’s house.With meagre resources, theyhave been trying to sustaintheir daughter who stays unwellfor most of the time. “My very

existence has been shattered bythis unfortunate nuptial. Mycase is pending in the court forthe last six years. I am consid-ered neither a bachelor nor amarried woman now,” sharedshe.

Under the Prohibition ofChild Marriage Act (PCMA),2006 of the Indian law, themarriage of a girl under the ageof 18 and a boy under the age of21 is considered a legal offense.But even so, most children areforcefully married at an earlyage. According to 2011 Census,about 102 million girls weremarried before the age of 18, ofwhom 46 per cent were marriedeven before the age of 15.

As per the statistics, howev-er, the newly formed UnionTerritory of J&K has shownmassive improvement in con-trolling the menace of earlymarriages. A comparisonbetween National Family HealthSurvey (NFHS)- 3 with NFHS 4shows that the percentage ofchild marriage among 15-19years old girls has considerablydeclined from 5.6 to 2.6. Theground reality, however, paintsa picture different from whatdata claims as lives of many girlsare being ruined by early mar-riages.

Cross border firing is thebiggest concern for parents. Asthe district is located near theline of control, the strategiclocation plays a major role inprevalence of this evil practice.Tension on the border directlyimpacts the future of the adoles-cent girls here. Seeing manyyoung girls become victims ofcross-border violence, manyparents fear that this violence

might impact lives of theirdaughters as well. It might makethem disabled for life. They con-sider getting their adolescentdaughters married to be thesafest option. If only!

As per Kirpal Singh, a mem-ber of the Child WelfareCommittee, Poonch, “Whileunderage marriages are nowrare in the rest of J&K, Poonchhas seen an increase in thenumber of cases in the last oneyear. In 2020, 35 cases of childmarriage were reported ofwhich 30 were stopped by thecommittee. Five marriages werealready solemnized. Similarly,we have received 10 cases in thelast two months. As per the

observed pattern, such cases aremore common in border areasbecause of cross border bomb-ing and fear of insecurity.”

Bringing focus on the igno-rance and lack of knowledgeregarding consequences of childmarriages among villagers,Kirpal informed the writerabout the awareness campsorganised in the area. Accordingto him, divorce cases are risingbecause girls are married tooearly, which makes them unableto perform the roles and respon-sibilities expected by their in-laws and husband.

On the other hand, parentshave their own concerns otherthan cross-border firing. They

are not comfortable sendingtheir daughters to senior sec-ondary schools or degree col-leges which are quite far fromtheir place of residence. Theyare also worried about financialresources and the increasingcases of sexual harassment.“The incidences of rape haveincreased all over the country.After watching such horrificnews, we cannot sleep at night.To save our daughters andhonor of our families, we feelgetting them married on time isthe only option,” shared manyparents.

According to another mem-ber of the Child WelfareCommunity, Nimarata Lodhra,

Poonch, has the highest numberof early age marriages comparedto other areas. Most of thesecases are from Tehsil Mendharand Haveli, where in most of thegirls get married at an early ageof 15. Along with physical dam-age, young girls often get sub-jected to psychological abuse,leading to negative impact ontheir overall health.”

Nafisa Kausar of Ari villageof Mendhar Tehsil, welled upwith tears while recalling herexperience of child marriage.Despite requesting her parentsto wait till her graduation, shewas forced into a marriage in2017. “My family began to pres-surise me. I was tortured bothmentally and physically. Theywould hide my books andwould beat me for persistenceefforts to educate myself. Thepressure was so intense that mylittle rebellion died quite soon,and I gave up. The entire inci-dent has left a scar on my soul,”she shared.

Dr Rubina Shafiq, a gyne-cologist in the district believesthat early marriage pushes sev-eral girls into depression. Thencomes the health implications asearly age pregnancy is one of themain reasons for high maternalmortality rate. Many girls diewhile giving birth to the child.Postpartum psychosis is anoth-er serious issue that affects theyoung girls due to early moth-erhood.

Zuber Ali, a volunteer withJammu and Kashmir VoluntaryHealth and DevelopmentAssociation, said, “Until a fewyears ago, marriage of girlsbetween the age of 15 and 16was quite common in severalareas of this erstwhile state.Today, the number of cases hascertainly decreased.”

The government initiativesand work of the non-govern-ment organisations have creat-ed a certain level of awarenessamong girls and their parents.They are now taking a stand forthemselves and prefer to studybefore marriage. But there is stilla long way to go to ensure nogirl has to face what Afsana andNafisa had to go through.

(The article has been writtenunder Sanjoy Ghose MediaAward 2020.)

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Compared to the rest of the world,today, India is still a ‘young’ coun-

try. However, recently, India has beenclassified as an ‘ageing country’ by theUnited Nations with 8.6 per cent of thetotal population over 60 years of age.By 2050, the number of senior citizensin the country is expected to be around30 crores, which will be approximate-ly one-fifth of the total population(Source CII). To put it in perspective,the elderly population in 2050 wouldhave increased three times, comparedto the same in 2011 (when it was 10.4crores). Hence, there is an urgentneed to plan for eldercare, both froma government and private sector per-spective.

For many decades, eldercare homesmeant institutional care for the poorand destitute, typically not well-run andill-maintained. But a lot has changedin the last decade. The concept ofsenior living homes has undergonetransformational changes. In most ofthe Western countries, seniors prefermoving into professionally-run homespost retirement because residentialcare offerings over there are far evolvedand holistic. Various formats of seniorcare exist and elders can choose tomove into a certain set up dependingon their current age, health conditionand social needs.

There are Continuing CareRetirement Communities (CCRCs), aresidential option for elders, that pro-vide flexible housing options, variousend to end services as well as 24*7health and wellness care. Independentliving facilities are where the seniorslive independently and also get accessto a range of services. Assisted livingfacilities provide elders with round-the-clock help with activities of daily liv-ing (ADLs), such as eating, bathing,brushing, dressing etc, along with awell-defined emergency response sys-

tem. And there are also nursing carehomes for skilled nursing needs.Dementia care homes specifically caterto all stages of dementia and memorycare requirements and are typicallysmaller with specialised staff. Palliativeand hospice care can be offered in allformats.

As part of Indian culture, we havebeen wired to believe that taking careof the elderly is only an individual fam-ilies’ responsibility, not the govern-ments’ or the communities’ at large.When it comes to deciding on elder-

care homes for one’s parents, it is neveran easy choice but one makes as a lastresort, which is often accompanied byguilt and judgement. In our country,socio-economic patterns are changing,and we will continue to see that in thefuture. Life expectancy will be on therise, mobility and migration (withinIndia and going abroad) will lead tomore elders living in empty nests andparticipation of women in the work-force will continue to increase. On theother hand, neurological conditionssuch as dementia are on the rise and

we will increasingly not have resourcesto look after the elderly at home. Thepandemic has also shown us that lifeis unpredictable.

Well established social norms ofelder care are already beginning to bealtered in the country. The childrenwho have moved away from theirhomes are constantly looking foroptions to provide a safe and secureenvironment for their parents andmake their lives more comfortable intheir absence. Home care servicescontinue to be the top choice for chil-

dren staying in the same city but forthose in different locations, a reliableresidential care facility is becoming thenorm. The stigmatisation of seekingprofessional care for elderly parents isbeginning to be questioned. Eldercarehomes will increasingly become anactive choice by the elders for them-selves, since parents don’t want to bea burden on their children.

The next few years will be animportant period for this sector. As theindustry evolves, there will be varioustypes of eldercare homes available interms of care offerings, size, location,ownership, management and facilities.In addition, the availability of trainedcaregivers and professionals will becomecritical. The staff at such eldercarehomes will need to be trained in geri-atric and memory care. There will be aneed for more nursing institutes, andspecial courses and certification for geri-atric care.

A study shows that taking intoaccount the drivers of future demand,the need for senior living facilities maywitness an 8-10 fold increase over thecurrent base. There is a need for the pub-lic and private sector to work together,and the CII Taskforce on Senior Careand ASLI (Association of Senior Living)is already a step in that direction. Thepolicies also need to be in place to clear-ly define standard regulations to qual-ify to be called as an eldercare home.There is also a need to lay down indus-try protocols for health, personal care,complaints and protection, environ-ment, staffing, management and admin-istration of the eldercare homes. Thegovernment, private sector and thesociety should join hands to ensure thatthe elders are able to lead dignified,happy and independent lives.

(The writer is a Dementia Specialistand the CEO and co-founder of EpochElder Care.)

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To inflict maximum damageto the rival teams during theT20 World Cup, aggressive

India skipper Virat Kohli is plan-ning to open with flamboyantRohit Sharma in the ICC tourna-ment, scheduled to be held incountry later this year.

Kohli expressed his desireafter he opened with Rohit in thefinal T20 against England onSaturday. They added 94-run forthe first wicket in quick time.

“I am going to open in IPL aswell. I have batted in differentpositions in the past. But I feel wehave a solid middle order now. So,I will definitely like to partnerRohit at the top going into the T20World Cup,” Kohli said at the post-match presentation.

“Two best batsmen in theteam, one can play second fiddleif the other gets going. That caninflict a lot of damage to the oppo-sition team. Other guys also feel alot more confident when one of usis still in and is set.”

Talking about the partnershipwith Rohit which set laid thefoundation of a big total, Kohlisaid, “Today Rohit and me wereboth positive in our intent. Weknew we could trust each otherand one of us can play second fid-

dle if one takes off.”“Today it was classic Rohit

Sharma. And then Surya comingin at three and taking the game

even further away. Then Hardikfinishing it. Augurs well for theteam,” said Kohli who remainednot out on 80 from 52 balls.

Kohli, who was named playerof the series for scoring 231 to topthe run chart at an average of115.50, said it was a completegame for the team.

“It was a complete game for us.Totally outplayed the opposition.Even with so much dew coming in,like last game we've defended thetotal again. Despite Rishabh andIyer not getting a chance (to bat)we put on 225,” said the captain.

“It’s a testimony to our battingdepth.”

Talking about other players, hesaid, “Also how Shreyas batted inthe last game and the responsibil-ity he showed in the first game.Ishan (Kishan) was brilliant. Iwas particularly pleased withSurya.”

“Bhuvi coming back and bowl-ing like that. Still have Jassi (JaspritBumrah) to come back. Don’thave much in terms of negatives.Pant showed a lot of maturitythrough the series as well.

“Confidence level of (Shardul)Thakur after that series inAustralia is sky high. With the ball,his strength is his belief. Propercricketer. Giving us runs with thebat as well.”

He said the T20 World Cupsquad is more or less sorted out.

“Just found out we might havesome more (T20Is).”

�� 1.��+��

An injured Jofra Archer was onSunday omitted from a 14-mem-

ber England squad for the three-match ODI series against India start-ing in Pune on Tuesday.

England captain Eoin Morgan onSaturday had revealed that Archer waslikely to pull out of the ODI series andthe ensuing IPL as the star pacer'selbow injury has worsened.

A statement from the Englandand Wales Cricket Board said that“Archer is returning to the UK for fur-ther management and investigation ofhis right elbow injury.

“He has been deemed unfit forselection for the ODI series that fea-tures matches on 23, 26 and 28March," the ECB said.

Three additional players — JakeBall, Chris Jordan and Dawid Malan— who were a part of the just-con-cluded T20I series, which India won3-2, will travel with the squad as cover.

England ODI Squad: EoinMorgan (captain), Moeen Ali,Jonathan Bairstow, Sam Billings, JosButtler, Sam Curran, Tom Curran,Liam Livingstone, Matt Parkinson,Adil Rashid, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes,Reece Topley, Mark Wood.

�� 1.��+��

Star England pacer JofraArcher will miss the begin-

ning part of this year’s IndianPremier League, the Englandand Wales Cricket Board(ECB) said on Sunday.

Archer, a Rajasthan Royalsplayer, was on Sunday omit-ted from a 14-memberEngland squad for the three-match ODI series againstIndia starting in Pune onTuesday due to a worseningelbow injury.

"The ECB medical teamwill assess the player and,together with Jofra, develop atreatment plan and a return-

to-play schedule in duecourse. As a consequence,Jofra will miss the start of thisyear’s Indian Premier League,”it said in a statement.

“Archer’s elbow issue hasdeteriorated over the course ofthe T20 International seriesand made it increasingly chal-lenging for him to maintainperformance levels.”

England captain EoinMorgan on Saturday revealedthat Archer was likely to pullout of the upcoming IPLstarting on April 9 as the starpacer’s elbow injury has wors-ened.

Having missed the finalTest because of his trouble-some elbow, Archer returnedin the T20I series, claimingseven wickets, which includ-ed a career-best 4/33 in thefourth game.

�� -./��.01,

Skeet shooter GanematSekhon won her maiden

senior ISSF World Cup medalafter a dominant India claimedboth the Gold on offer by somedistance in the men’s andwomen’s 10m air pistol teamevents respectively here onSunday.

Sekhon bagged thewomen’s skeet bronze on thethird competition day of thetournament.

Before that, the terrifictrio of Yashaswini SinghDeswal, Manu Bhaker andShri Nivetha won the top prizein the women’s team 10m airpistol event.

Then, the team of YouthOlympics and Asian GamesGold medallist SaurabhChaudhary, Abhishek Vermaand Shahzar Rizvi bagged theyellow metal in the men’sevent, comfortably beatingVietnam 17-11 in the final.

The Indian women shot 16in the Gold medal round tofinish way ahead of Poland’sJulita Borek, Joanna IwonaWawrzonowska and AgnieszkaKorejwo, who managed 8 atthe Dr Karni Singh ShootingRange.

The home team topped thesecond qualification with atotal score of 576 while thePolish women shot 567.

In the first qualification,the Indians aggregated 1731,

following scores of 290, 287,288, 287, 293 and 287 over sixseries.

Poland’ sequence of scoresread 286, 283, 286, 286, 286and 287 for a total of 1701.

In the men’s final, Vietnamwere represented by DinhThanh Nguyen, Quoc CuongTran and Xuan Chuyen Phan.

Chaudhary and Co. Ledthe qualification part two witha total score of 579 while theVietnamese managed 565.

The Indian men aggregat-ed 1750 in the first qualifica-tion while Vietnam scored1708.

Later in the day, the 20-year-old Sekhon, ranked 82 inthe world, shot 40 to clinch thebronze medal on the shotgunrange.

The other Indian in the

six-women final, Karttiki SinghShaktawat, settled for thefourth position after animpressive start, shooting 32.

Occupying the secondposition for a long time,Sekhon missed three birdssuccessively to bow out, leav-ing Great Britain's Amber Hilland Zoya Kravchenko ofKazakhstan to fight for thegold medal in an exciting finalwhere nobody was willing togive an inch.

Hill held her nerves toeventually run away with thegold medal after a shoot-offwith Kravchenko.

However, in the men’sskeet final, Gurjoat Khangurafinished sixth with a score of17. Khangura also qualified insixth place for the final.

Denmark’s Jesper Hansen

(58) won the Gold medal inmen’s skeet ahead of UAE’s BinFutais Saif (51) and Qatar’smultiple Dakar Rally champi-on Nasser Saleh al-Attiyah(44).

Ganemat was third in thequalification with 117, whileShaktawat was fourth with116.

India’s Parinaaz Dhaliwalwas ninth with 108.

In 2018, Sekhon hadbecome the first Indian femaleskeet shooter to win a medal atthe ISSF World Championship,as she claimed the Bronzemedal in the junior event inSydney, Australia.

Having started shooting onthe insistence of her fatherAmrinder Singh Sekhon in2015, the youngster complet-ed her hat-trick of silvermedals in the senior NationalShooting Championship whenshe won the Silver medal in the2018 championship in Jaipur.

In the selection trials heldat KSSR in January, Sekhonhad topped qualifying with ascore of 120, which was ahuge six points ahead of sec-ond place finisher.

In the finals of that trials,the Chandigarh-based womanshot 55, which was a clear fourpoints ahead of second-placedZahra Deesawala.

Sekhon also competed inthe 2018 Asian Games inIndonesia, where she finished10th.

�� 0*��-</

Indian women dished out asuperb batting effort but their

bowling colleagues failed tostep up as South Africa womenregistered a series-clinchingsix-wicket win in a last ballthriller in the second T20International here on Sunday.

Shafali Verma (47) blastedsix fours and two sixes in her31-ball innings and forged a 79-run stand with Harleen Deol(31) to set the foundation whileRicha Ghosh provided the latecharge with a 26-ball 44 not outto help India post a competitive158 for 4 after being put in tobat.

Chasing the target, LizelleLee smashed a 45-ball 70 stud-ded with 11 fours and a six,while Laura Wolvaardtslammed an unbeaten 39-ball53 as South Africa romped

home in the last ball.Defending the total, left-

arm spinner RajeshwariGayakwad got rid of AnneBosch (2) early but Lee starredin two crucial partnerships,adding 58 with skipper SuneLuus (20) and then 50 withLaura to keep them in thehunt.

Once Luus was run out byDeepti Sharma (0/31) and Leewas caught and bowled byRadha Yadav (1/25), Laura took

the onus on herself to take theteam home.

Defending 19 off 12 balls,Harleen dismissed du Preez(10) in the first ball but she con-ceded two fours, leavingArundhati Reddy nine todefend in the last over.

Needing six off last twoballs, Reddy bowled a no ballwhich changed the complexionof the game as Laura took theteam home in the last ball.

Earlier, opener Shafali set

the platform while Ghosh pro-vided the finishing touch asIndia Women posted a compet-itive 158 for 4.

Invited to bat, skipperSmriti Mandhana (7) onceagain fell early as she chased anoutside delivery from Ismailonly to edge it to the keeper inthe second over.

Shafali, who looked watch-ful initially, smashed three foursin the fourth over to put thebowlers under pressure.

New batter Harleen Doel,who scored a fifty in the firstT20I, sent Khaka across thebackward point for her firstboundary as India scored 31 forone in the first five overs.

Shafali then welcomedNadine de Klerk with a straighthit across the fence beforeunleashing a massive heave fora six as India ended the pow-erplay at 41 for one.

�� -./��.01,

DelhiJapanese player Nozomi Okuharadefeats Thailand's Pornpawee

Chochuwong, 21-12, 21-16 in the women'sfinal of the All England Open inBirmingham on Sunday.

Okuhara, who is playing her third Thaiplayer in three days, looked in completecontrol throughout the match and need-ed only two games to clinch victory.

With all three doubles matches beingan all-Japanese affair, the win means thatJapan wins four of the five titles on offeron Sunday.

It is the second All England Open titlefor the 26-year-old, who last won it in 2016.

It is also the second title for the Rio

2016 Bronze medallist in the two WorldTour tournaments she has participated insince the resumption of play following theglobal pandemic. It certainly bodes well forher Olympic aspirations.

In the men's final, Lee Zii Jia ofMalaysia defeats defending championViktor Axelsen in a grueling match toclinch the men's championship 30-29, 20-22, 21-9.

The 22-year-old is the first Malaysianto win the All England Open since LeeChong Wei in 2017. It was a huge win forhim, reflected in his winning cheer afterclinching the match winning point.

The victory is only his second WorldTour title after winning the 2018 ChineseTaipei Open.

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KOHLI WANTS TO PARTNER ROHIT IN T20 WC�� 1.��+��

India vice-captain Rohit Sharmafeels it is still too early to

finalise the team’s batting line-upfor the upcoming T20 World Cupand skipper Virat Kohli openingalongside him in the seriesdecider against England was onlya tactical move.

Before Rohit’s media interac-tion, Kohli said that he will openin the upcoming IPL and wouldalso like to bat at the top of theorder in the T20 World Cup athome later this year.

“It is still long time to go forthe (T20) World Cup, so earlydays to talk about how our bat-ting will look like. We have to sitand analyse what suits the teamthe most,” said Rohit after theseries win on Saturday.

“Today was a tactical movebecause we wanted to play anextra bowler and wanted to leaveone batsman out. Unfortunatelyit was KL (Rahul) which was verytough.”

India replaced an out-of-form Rahul with pacer TNatarajan to have an extra bowl-

ing option for the crucial game.“KL has been one our key

players in limited overs, especial-ly in this format. Looking at cur-rent form, the team managementdecided to go with the best 11.Having said that, it doesn’t sendany signal that KL will not beconsidered or anything like that.

“"This was just for one par-ticular game. Things mightchange as we go closer to WorldCup.”

Before the series, Kohli hadsaid that Rohit and Rahul wereIndia’s first-choice opening pair.

“We do understand his(Rahul’s) ability and his contribu-tion at the top, what he’s done forus. So, yeah, I'm not going to ruleout anything or neither will I saythat this is the preferred battinglineup for a World Cup.

“There is still a good amountof time left with IPL in between.And then, I’m hearing, therewill be a few T20s as well beforethe World Cup. So, you know,good enough time for us, at thatpoint in time to judge what willbe the best possible eleven for us,”added Rohit.

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· 2021. 3. 21. · and engineers. if delhi can have good schools, so can punjab and only aap can...

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