RNI NO.: DELENG/2005/15351REGD. NO.: DL(S)-01/3420/2018-20

VOL.16, ISSUE 213 | Monday, 2 August, 2021 | New Delhi | Pages 12 | Rs 3.00PUBLISHED FROM DELHI | KOLKATA

MILLENNIUMPOST.IN

No Half Truths

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on August 5 the pleas, including the one filed by senior journalists N Ram and Sashi Kumar, who have sought an inde-pendent probe by a sitting or a retired judge into the alleged Pegasus snoop-ing matter.

According to the cause list uploaded on the apex court website, a bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justice Surya Kant would

hear on August 5 three separate peti-tions seeking probe into the reports of alleged snooping by government agencies on eminent citizens, politi-cians and scribes by using Israeli spy-ware Pegasus.

On July 30, the top court had said it would hear next week the plea filed by Ram and Kumar in the matter.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the senior journalists, had told the court last week that the plea needed an urgent hearing in view of its wide ramifications.

According to the plea, the alleged snooping represented an attempt by agencies and organisations to muzzle the exercise of free speech and expres-sion of dissent in India.

The petition also seeks a direction to the Centre to disclose if the govern-ment or any of its agencies obtained licence for Pegasus spyware and used it, either directly or indirectly, to con-duct surveillance in any manner.

The petitioners have claimed that investigations involving several lead-ing publications Turn to P4

Pegasus issue: SC to hear pleas seeking probe on Aug 5

City: Pg 3UG registrations at DU to begin today, 1st cut-off by Sept

Film: Pg 12Richa comes out in support of Shilpa Shetty

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: Over 24,000 chil-dren in the age bracket of 14-18 years committed suicide from 2017-19, with failure in examina-tion being the reason in over 4,000 such cases, according to govern-ment data.

The consolidated data of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on children's suicide was recently presented in Parliament.

According to the data, as many as 24,568 children, includ-ing 13,325 girls, aged 14-18 years, died by suicide between 2017-19.

In 2017, as many as 8,029 chil-dren in the age group of 14-18 years died by suicide. The num-

ber rose to 8,162 in 2018 and then further increased to 8,377 in 2019, it said.

The highest number of deaths by suicide among children in this age bracket was reported from Madhya Pradesh at 3,115 followed by West Bengal at 2,802, Maha-rashtra at 2,527 and Tamil Nadu at 2,035.

Failure in examination was given as the reason behind the sui-cide of 4,046 children, while mar-riage-related issue was the reason behind the suicide of 639 children, including 411 girls, according to the data.

About 3,315 children died by suicide for reasons related to love affair, while illness was given as

reason behind the suicide of 2,567 children.

Physical abuse was given as reason for 81 children's death.

Death of a dear person, drug abuse or alcohol addiction, illegiti-mate pregnancy, fall in social rep-utation, unemployment, poverty and ideological causes or hero-worshipping were other reasons given for the death of these chil-dren by suicide.

Raising alarm over the prob-ability of worsening of situation due to COVID-19 pandemic, child rights activists stressed on inclu-sion of life skill training in school curriculum and making mental health part of mainstream health-care and wellness agenda.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Centre has no plans to order an inquiry by a neutral agency like the CBI into the recent fatal clashes along the Assam-Mizoram border but is trying to defuse the situation as early as possible in a peaceful manner.

Two senior government functionar-ies said the Central government does not want to take any decision that may further escalate the ground situation.

They said the Central government wants a peaceful resolution of the cur-rent border dispute between Assam and Mizoram and Union Home Minister Amit Shah is in regular touch with the two Chief Ministers —Himanta Biswa Sarma (Assam) and Zoramthanga (Mizoram).

Zoramthanga also tweeted, “I still hope for an amicable solution to the #Assam-MizoramBorderTension from the Central Government.”

He also tagged Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi, Union Home Minister Shah, and the chief ministers of Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura and Sikkim in the tweet.

Assam CM Sarma responded through a tweet: “Our main focus is on keeping the spirit of North-East alive. What hap-pened along the Assam-Mizoram bor-der is unacceptable to the people of both states. Honble CM @ZoramthangaCM had promised to call me post his quaran-tine. Border disputes can only be resolved through discussion.”

Asked whether a neutral probe agency like the CBI will be given the task to probe the July 26 clashes which killed five Assam police personnel and a civilian, the two functionaries said so far no decision has been taken in this regard. Besides, there has been no formal request from either of the state governments for a probe by a neutral agency, they said. Turn to P4

Centre trying peaceful solution; no plans for CBI probe

CityMINOR GIRL KIDNAPPED, GANG-RAPED BY 4 3

NationMANDAVIYA HITS BACK 5

edit

NUGGETS OF HOPE 7

international‘MYANMAR ELECTIONS WILL BE IN 2 YRS’ 8

businessPSBS MOBILISE `58,700 CR IN FY21 10

sportZVEREV FOLLOWS UP WIN WITH OLY GOLD 11

In today’s paper

...

I will continue to shoot in three events, including 25m

Manu Bhaker

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Unnao rape survivor has moved a Delhi court alleging harassment by the per-sonal security officers (PSOs) deputed on the directions of the Supreme Court for her protection.

District and Sessions Judge Dharmesh Sharma has directed the investigating officer of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to submit an impact assess-ment report in this regard with the assistance of the local police.

"Application has been moved on the behalf of the complainant that she and her family members were harassed by the PSOs who are deputed as per the direction of the Supreme Court, in a sense that they are not allowing her to enjoy her liberties," the judge said on July 31 through video-conferencing.

He further said that a sealed envelope was also received from the police in which certain alle-gations were levelled against

the complainant and her family members.

"It is directed that this appli-cation be taken up for consider-ation," the sessions judge added.

The woman was kidnapped and raped by expelled BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar in 2017 when she was a minor.

The case was transferred from Unnao to Delhi and was probed by the CBI.

On August 1, 2019, the apex court had directed that the survi-vor, her mother, and other mem-bers of the family be provided security by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

On December 20, 2019, Sen-gar was sentenced to jail for the "remainder of his natural biologi-cal life" in the rape case.

On March 4, 2020, Sengar, his brother, and five others were con-victed for the death of the rape survivor's father in judicial cus-tody and were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment.

Unnao rape survivor alleges harassment by PSO, moves court

ASSAM-MIZORAM DISPUTE

COVID- 19

FAILURE IN EXAMINATION WAS REASON BEHIND SUICIDE OF 4,046

Over 24,000 children died by suicide from 2017 to 2019, claims NCRB data

NEW DELHI: In signs of acceleration in eco-nomic activity, India's tax collections on goods sold and services rendered returned to over Rs 1 lakh crore in July after the second wave of Covid-related restrictions caused a blip in the previous month.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) mop-up grew 33 per cent year-on-year in July to over Rs 1.16 lakh crore, indicating that the economy is recov-ering at a fast pace. In July 2020, the collection was Rs 87,422 crore.

This is the second-highest collection so far this fiscal after a record Rs 1.41 lakh crore mop-up in April.

The finance ministry in a statement said robust GST revenues are likely to continue in the coming months as well. See page 10

NEW DELHI: 7,832 Public Interest Litigations (PILs) regarding the violation of fundamental rights have been filed in various high courts across the country since 2019, according to gov-ernment data.

While some high courts have not main-tained a separate record of such PILs, data of some other HCs was available without a year-wise breakup.

The data was shared by the government in Rajya Sabha last week as part of a written response to a question on the details of PILs filed particularly regarding the violation of fun-damental rights in the Supreme Court and var-ious high courts during the last two years and the current year.

On the number of such PILs in the Supreme Court, the answer stated the "information is not maintained in the manner as sought for". MPOST

Business : Pg 9PM Modi to launch digital payment solution e-RUPI

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: India will always be a voice of modera-tion, an advocate of dialogue and a proponent of interna-tional law, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Sunday as the country takes over the presidency of the United Nations Security Coun-cil for August.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bag-chi described it as a "momen-tous day" and referred to the Sanskrit phrase 'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' (the world is one family) to describe India's

worldview."As we take over UNSC

Presidency for August, look forward to working produc-tively with other members. India will always be a voice of moderation, an advocate of dialogue and a proponent of international law," Jaishankar tweeted.

Bagchi said India's tenure at the UN Security Council has been guided by five 'S' — 'Sam-man (respect), Samvaad (dia-logue), Sahyog (cooperation), Shanti (peace) and Samriddhi (prosperity)'. The first working day of India's Presidency will be Monday, August 2. Turn to P4

India takes over UNSC presidency for August

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Abhishek Banerjee, Trinamool Congress all-India general secretary, will meet party leaders in Tripura on Monday to discuss the blueprint that will be followed in the state. There is enthusiasm among Trinamool Con-gress (TMC) leaders and workers in Tripura over Banerjee’s trip.

Banerjee’s visit to the state comes days after the Tripura government stopped a 23-mem-ber team of Prashant Kishor’s Indian Political Action Committee (I- PAC), which had gone there to conduct a survey for Trinamool Con-gress. The police raided the hotel where the team members had put up and allegedly kept them under house arrest last Sunday. The police had filed cases under the Disaster Management Act against them. Two state ministers Bratya Basu and Moloy Ghatak and state INTTUC presi-dent Ritabrata Banerjee went to Tripura to take stock of the situation. They met I- PAC mem-bers. They were joined by party MPs, Derek O’ Brien and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. The leaders alleged that the state government had taken the coercive measures as they were mortally scared of Trinamool Congress. Turn to P4

Abhishek to visit Tripura today

GST collections at over Rs 1.16 lakh cr in July

Violation of fundamental rights: 7,832 PILs filed in

HCs since 2019

MAJESTIC

A mahout rides an elephant near the Ajmer Fort, in Jaipur, on Sunday PTI

EAM Jaishankar says India will always be a voice of moderation

India records single-day rise of 41,831 new

cases, 541 deathsOUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: India saw a single-day rise of 41,831 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 3,16,55,824, while the cumulative vaccine doses administered in the country has crossed 47 crore, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.

The death toll climbed to 4,24,351 with 541 daily fatalities.

Registering an increase for the fifth consecutive cases, the active cases have climbed to 4,10,952 and comprises 1.30 per cent of the total infections, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.36 per cent, the data updated at 8 am showed.

An increase of 2,032 Covid cases has been recorded in the total number COVID-19 case-load in a span of 24 hours.

Also, 17,89,472 tests were conducted on Saturday, tak-ing the cumulative tests con-ducted so far for detection of COVID-19 in the country to 46,82,16,510, while the daily

positivity rate was recorded at 2.34 per cent .

Weekly positivity rate was recorded at 2.42 per cent, according to the health ministry.

The number of people who have recuperated from the dis-ease surged to 3,08,20,521, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.34 per cent, the data stated.

Cumulative vaccine doses administered so far has reached 47.02 crore under the nationwide vaccination drive.

The 541 new fatalities include 225 from Maharash-tra and 80 from Kerala and 68 from Odisha.

Guts & Glory: Sindhu wins historic Olympic bronze

OUR CORRESPONDENT

TOKYO/NEW DELHI: Reigning world champion PV Sindhu on Sun-day became only the second Indian and the country's first woman to win two Olympic medals, secur-ing a bronze after a straight-game win over world no.9 He Bing Jiao of China in the badminton women's singles third-place play-off.

Sindhu, who has returned with medals from each of the big-ticket events such as the Commonwealth and Asian Games and the BWF World Tour Finals in the last five years, outwitted Bing Jiao 21-13, 21-15 to add a bronze to the silver that she had secured at the 2016 Rio Games.

Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the first and only other Indian to win two individual Olympic medals, follow-ing up his bronze at 2008 Beijing with a silver at the 2012 London edition.

Up against an opponent, who had beaten her nine times so far in the last 15 meetings, Sindhu showed great determination to outplay Bing

Jiao with her aggression to scoop India's third medal at Tokyo.

Weightlifter Mirabai Chanu has already gone back after collecting a silver, while boxer Lovlina Borgo-hain is assured of at least a bronze so far. Sindhu showed great forti-tude as she recovered from her pain-

ful semi-final loss to world no.1 Tai Tzu Ying and produced an aggres-sive show at the Musashino Forest Plaza on Sunday.

The country erupted in joy with the sports fraternity hailing her feat and President Ram Nath Kovind lauding her for setting "a new yard-

stick of consistency, dedication and excellence".

"P V Sindhu becomes the first Indian woman to win medals in two Olympic games. She has set a new yardstick of consistency, dedi-cation and excellence. My heartiest congratulations to her for bringing glory to India," Kovind tweeted.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed Sindhu as "one of our most outstanding Olympians".

"We are all elated by the stel-lar performance by @Pvsindhu1. Congratulations to her on winning the Bronze at @Tokyo2020. She is India’s pride and one of our most outstanding Olympians," Modi said in a tweet.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also congratu-lated Sindhu.

The CM tweeted 'Extremely proud of @Pvsindhu1 for win-ning the bronze medal at #Olym-pics2020..' 'Your passion, hardwork and dedication will serve as an inspiration for all. My heartiest con-gratulations to you!,' she said.

WITH AGENCY INPUTS

SINDHU BEATS BING JIAO 21-13, 21-15 TO BECOME INDIA’S 1ST WOMAN TO WIN 2 OLYMPIC MEDALS

Pusarla V Sindhu poses for photographs while standing on the podium after receiving the bronze medal in women's singles badminton event at the Summer Olympics 2020, in Tokyo on Sunday PTI

TOKYO/NEW DELHI: A determined Indian men's hockey team advanced to the Olympic semifinals for the first time in 49 years, beating Great Britain 3-1 in the quarter-finals here on Sunday, a tri-umph which leaves the side within touch-ing distance of a medal that has proved elusive for over four decades.

The eight-time former Olympic cham-pions scored three field goals through Dil-preet Singh (7th minute), Gurjant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) to seal the win. Great Britain's lone goal was scored by Sam Ward from a penalty corner in the 45th minute.

India will take on world champions Belgium in the semifinal on Tuesday.

India's last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in 1980 Moscow Games but there were no semifinals in that edition as only six teams participated in the event. See P11

Men's hockey team in semi-finals for 1st time in 49 years

It was found that the man had ‘cheated’ an IndusInd Bank ATM staffer of Rs 9 lakh ‘for securing a job for him at the airport’

‘CBSE’s attitude towards the students who are privately enrolled in class 10 examination is prima facie violative of the Article 14 of the Constitution of India’

ADMIRATION

Bhartiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait addresses during a tribute meeting of former head of 360 villages late Ram Karan Solanki, at Palam village on Sunday PTI

Heatwave, delayed monsoon & record rain - July sees it all

Yamuna rises again in Delhi, gets closer to ‘danger’ markOUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The water level in the Yamuna in Delhi increased again and was recorded at 205.30 meters on Sunday morning, just below the danger mark of 205.33 meters, as rains continued to lash Delhi and upper catch-ment areas of the river, offi-cials said.

According to the officials, over 100 families living in the Yamuna floodplains have been moved to higher areas over the last few days.

On Friday, the Delhi administration had sounded a flood alert and expedited efforts to evacuate people from vulnerable areas, as the river in the capital breached the danger mark of 205.33 metres amid heavy rains in the upper catch-ment areas.

The water level was recorded at 205.30 metres at the Old Railway Bridge at 9 am.

On Friday, the Yamuna had breached the danger mark and swelled to 205.59 metres by 9 pm. It had receded to 204.89 metres on Saturday evening, according to the Delhi flood control room. All six districts, through which the Yamuna

flows in Delhi, are now on high alert and each has already evacuated hundreds of people from the banks to resettlement camps.

With Haryana discharg-ing more water into the river from the Hathnikund Barrage, the Delhi Police and the East Delhi district administration have been evacuating people living on the floodplains of the Yamuna in the capital. A flood alert is declared when the Yamuna crosses the “warning mark” of 204.50 metres.

The Delhi flood control room reported a discharge rate of 17,827 cusecs from the Hathnikund Barrage in Hary-ana’s Yamunanagar district at 9 am.

Normally, the flow rate at the Hathnikund barrage is

352 cusec, but the discharge is increased after heavy rainfall in catchment areas. One cusec is equivalent to 28.32 litres per second.

A Met Department offi-cial said “moderate to heavy” rains are predicted in north-west India over the next few days, which is likely to increase water levels in the rivers flow-ing through the region.

In 2019, the flow rate had peaked to 8.28 lakh cusec on August 18-19, and the water level of the Yamuna had hit the 206.60 metre-mark, breach-ing the danger mark of 205.33 metres.

In 1978, the river had swelled to the all-time record water level of 207.49 metres.

In 2013, it had risen to 207.32 metres.

NEW DELHI: Twelve people who posed as executives of Ama-zon have now been arrested for allegedly cheating foreign-ers on the pretext of provid-ing them technical support, the Delhi Police said on Sunday. The accused were identified as Mandeep Singh (39), Sattick Chakraborty (24), Harpreet Singh (30), Nitin Choudhary (26), Jobin George (25), Hanu-mantu Rao (38), Mohit Gupta (30), Nitesh Kumar (32), Sub-hodeep Bhattacharya (20), Mou-mita Majumdar (25), Diksha Khetarpal (28) and Shaba Kha-tun (25), they said.

Cops said they were informed about some people running an international online cheating racket from Ramphal Chowk, Dwarka Sector-7. The accused were using Voice over Internet Protocol calling bypassing the legal international long distance gateways. They were cheating people based in USA or Canada, they said. “On Saturday, police conducted raids after which 12 were apprehended,” Deputy Com-missioner of Police (Dwarka) San-tosh Kumar Meena said.

They sent fake pop-ups, like “ransomware detected, security warning” etc. to US residents on their computers. They instructed their targets to call on a num-ber specified on the pop-up in order to pay for technical sup-port to resolve the threat of the e-commerce account, they said.

The victims were made to pay money through gift cards which were redeemed in the US-based bank accounts of the accused’s overseas contacts, police said. MPOST

TWO MINORS INJURED IN ROOF COLLAPSE IN GREATER NOIDAGR NOIDA: Two minors have been injured after a portion of the roof of their house collapsed on Sunday morning due to heavy rain in the Dankaur area of Greater Noida. According to police, the injured are identified as Saniya (5) and Farhaan (02). Saniya use to study in class 1 in the nearby area. At the time of incident, both the children were sleep-ing. Arvind Pathak, Station House Officer of Dankaur police station said that the incident took place around 6 am, when it was raining heavily. “Police got the information about incident after ten minutes and a team along with the fire department reached the spot and started a rescue operation,” he said. “Police took them to a nearby hospital for medical attention and now their condition is stable,” he added. Cops said that Saniya received injuries in her head and stom-ach while Farhaan also received injury in head and shoulder.

RAINS BRING TEMPERATURE DOWN IN CITY, SAYS IMDNEW DELHI: Heavy rains lashed parts of the na-tional capital on Sunday bringing the mercury down, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The Safdarjung Observatory, considered the official marker for Delhi, recorded 28.2 mm rainfall, while the Ridge station registered 126.8 mm rainfall from 8.30 am on Saturday to 8.30 am on Sunday, of-ficials said. The maximum temperature was recorded at 32.1 degrees Celsius, two notches below the sea-son’s average, they said. The minimum temperature settled at 24.8 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average. The relative humidity in the morning was recorded at 100 per cent.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The CISF has apprehended an alleged con-man, possessing fake IDs of the Civil Aviation Ministry and the AAI, from the Delhi airport who duped people on the promise of providing them jobs at the facility, officials said on Sunday.

Akash Babu was inter-cepted and detained on Sat-urday morning from the foyer area of the terminal-III of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Aiport as his behav-iour was found suspicious, a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) spokesperson said.

“He produced two air-port photo ID cards of differ-ent agencies which seems to be forged. One of the identity card was of the Ministry of Civil Aviation while the other one was of air traffic control service of the Airports Author-ity of India (AAI),” the spokes-person said.

His phone call records

were scanned and after con-tacting the dialled numbers, it was found that the man had “cheated” an IndusInd Bank ATM staffer of Rs 9 lakh “for securing a job for him at the airport.”

The man was handed over to the Delhi Police for further investigation on the basis of the complaint of the bank employee, he said.

The CISF is deployed at the IGI Airport to provide a counter-terror protection to the facility that is used by lakhs of passengers everyday to travel to international and domestic destinations.

RAHUL SINGH

NEW DELHI: A 14-year-old student of Class 9 at a private school was allegedly abducted from Khoda area of Ghaziabad and gangraped by four youth. While police have arrested three accussed in connection with the incident, the victim has been sent for medical examination, police said.

As per reports, the victim was known to one of the four accussed, identified as Karan and he called her to a nearby temple to meet on July 27. However, he called three of his friends with a car and they lured the girl for a drive but kidnapped her and took her to an apartment in Kondli area in New Delhi where all the four accussed took turns to rape her.

The accussed later dropped the girl at the main road in Khoda and threatened her with dire consequences if she tells about the incident to anyone and also snatched her mobile phone.

However the girl rushed to her house and narrated the ordeal to her parents. The fam-ily who immediately reported the matter to police alleged that cops at Khoda police station pressurised them to remove name of a particular accussed from their complaint if they want their FIR to be registered.

“Its heart-wrenching how police behaved with us when we reported the incident to them. Twice they tore our complaint while for nearly 6-7 times we were turned away from the police station. Later, we reached

out to senior police officials to seek justice,” said one of victim’s family members.

Abhay Kumar Mishra, circle officer, Ghaziabad police said that while an FIR has been reg-istered inder relevant sections of gangrape, three accussed have-been arrested by police.

“All the three accussed have been presented before the court and sent to jail. The girl has been sent for medical exami-nation. While the family has alleged police for negligence, we have called them to police station to record their state-ments but they have not come. Initial findings do not indicate a lag in police behaviour in the probe. However investiga-tion is under way and proper actions will be taken accord-ingly,” added Mishra.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has granted time to the Central Board of Secondary Education to respond to a plea concerning the methodology of assessment of private class 10 students after the examina-tion was cancelled on account of COVID-19 pandemic earlier this year.

Justice Prateek Jalan, hear-ing a petition moved by the mother of a private class 10 student, passed the order after time was sought by the counsel for the Central Board of Sec-ondary Education (CBSE).

“Rupesh Kumar, learned counsel for the Central Board of Secondary Education, seeks ten days’ further time to take instructions on the method-ology for assessment of pri-vate candidates for the class 10 examinations,” the judge recorded in the order dated July

29 as he listed the matter for further hearing on August 23.

The notice to CBSE in the petition was issued in June when the court granted six weeks’ time to the education body to clarify its stand.

In her petition, Payal Bahl has submitted that while stu-dents have been declared as “Pass” after the announce-ment of cancellation of exami-nations, CBSE has not issued any notification regarding its policy on how marks are to be awarded to private students.

CBSE’s attitude towards the students who are privately enrolled in class 10 examina-tion is “prima facie violative of the Article 14 of the Constitu-tion of India” and takes away “their equal opportunity of proceeding with further edu-cation”, she contended.

It is highlighted that CBSE has already notified that assess-ment of regular class 10 stu-dents was to be based on internal assessment.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The National Green Tribunal has directed the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to identify, initiate prosecution and stop polluting activities and recover compen-sation from violators at Ghazi-pur Murga Mandi. A bench headed by NGT chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel also asked the Delhi Pollution Con-trol Committee (DPCC) to take steps to prevent slaughtering of chickens in a haphazard manner, management of waste generated in the process of slaughtering of chickens and dressing/cutting and selling of fish.

It appears to be appropriate to require the DPCC, in coor-dination with other authorities concerned, to identify the vio-lators, initiate prosecution, stop polluting activities and recover compensation for the past viola-tions, following due process of law, the green panel said.

The tribunal said effluent generated in the process needs to be treated and treated waste needs proper utilisation/disposal through an appropriate convey-ance system. Silting norms need to be evolved and followed in the complex, which is in the vicin-ity of Ghazipur landfill site and residential area, it said.

“A joint committee compris-ing of CPCB, DPCC and District Magistrate (East) may verify the ground situation and furnish an action taken report in the mat-ter within three months,” the bench said.

The DPCC will be the nodal agency for coordination and compliance, the NGT said, add-ing that the joint committee may

hold its first meeting within 15 days from today and may under-take visit to the site.

While directing that other proceedings may be conducted online, the green panel asked the committee take stock of the situation with reference to ear-lier reports also and ascertain updated remedial action in the matter.

“The report may inter-alia mention the level of water and air pollution, status of waste management, action plan of the individual units…The Com-mittee may also report whether the existing operators will shift to new complex and impact thereof. The report may be filed by e-mail,” the bench said.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Agro Chem Federation of India (ACFI) on Sunday demanded investiga-tion into spurious pesticides seized recently in Hirankudna village of Najafgarh in the national capital, saying such illegal activities need to be checked in the interest of farm-ers and consumers.

A special team of Delhi Police, which seized the spu-rious pesticides stock on July 30, brandished logos of big MNCs including Syn-genta, Bayer, Crystal, Dha-nuka Agritech, Adama, PI, FMC, Shriram and UPL, it said.

“A detailed complaint and FIR are yet to be filed by the legal authorities. We vehe-mently demand from the cur-rent regulators and authorities at higher levels to enquire and

investigate into it,” ACFI said in a statement.

Such fraudulent activ-ity in the heart of the capi-tal within a few kilometers from the Lutyens zone ques-tions the governance struc-ture and the fringe elements supporting the illicit trade, it said.

Further, ACFI said such spurious pesticides not only harm the soil health and endanger the consumer’’s health badly, but also put an immense drain on the farm-ers’’ pocket.

The sale of fake pesticides to farmers lead to revenue loss to the companies and the gov-ernment, it said.

“This is a heinous crime under the law of the land and should attract strong penal pro-visions which are cognizable offenses and non-bailable, it added.

CISF nabs man with fake civil aviation

min, AAI IDs at IGIA

ACFI now demands probe into spurious

pesticides unit busted

Minor girl kidnapped, gangraped by four, three held in Ghaziabad

HC notice to CBSE on plea over assessment of pvt std 10 students

NGT asks DPCC to stop polluting activities at Ghazipur Murga Mandi

12 held for cheating

foreigners

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: July was mete-orologically peculiar for Delhi as it witnessed five heatwave days, the maximum since 2012, an unusual two-week-delayed monsoon, and rainfall that broke records of nearly two decades. The month started with the national capital recording three heatwave days on the trot.

The mean maximum tem-perature for July was 36.5 degrees Celsius against the long-period average of 35.5 degrees Celsius. The weather office has had a hard time accurately predicting when the monsoon would reach the Capital and came under sharp criticism when the wind sys-tem repetitively gave Delhi a miss despite favourable conditions.

Despite the monsoon embracing Delhi only on July 13, making it the most delayed in 19 years, the city recorded 16 rainy days in the month,

the maximum in the last four years. Three rainy days were recorded before the monsoon reached the city, according to India Meteorological Depart-ment data.

The Safdarjung Observa-tory, considered the official marker for the city, received 507.1 mm rainfall this July, which was nearly 141 per cent above the long-period aver-

age of 210.6 mm. It was also the maximum rainfall in the month since July 2003, and the second-highest ever.

In 2013, Delhi had received 340.5mm rainfall. The all-time record is 632.2mm precipita-tion in July in 2003, according to the IMD.

Overall, Delhi has gauged 570.1mm rainfall so far since June 1, when the monsoon sea-

son starts, against the normal of 281.9mm — which is an excess of 102 per cent.

Of the 16 rainy days in July, Delhi received heavy rainfall on three occasions — July 18-19 (69.6mm), July 26-27 (100mm) and July 29-30 (72mm).

Most of the 100mm rain-fall recorded on July 26-27 occurred in just three hours. It was also the maximum rainfall

in 24 hours in the month of July in eight years. In 2013, Delhi had received 123.4mm rainfall on July 21.

Besides, heavy rainfall events were also observed at the Ridge observatory on July 15 (107.4mm) and the Palam observatory on July 20 (67.6mm) and July 28 (68.7mm).

Rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm is moderate, between 64.5 mm and 115.5 mm is heavy, between 115.6 and 204.4 is very heavy. Anything above 204.4 mm is considered extremely heavy rainfall.

The IMD measures mon-soon performance in five cat-egories — large excess (rainfall is above 60 per cent of normal), excess (20 per cent to 59 per cent more than average), nor-mal (minus 19 to 19 per cent of normal), deficit (minus 20 per cent to minus 59 per cent) and large deficit (60 per cent below normal).

THE MONTH WAS METEOROLOGICALLY PECULIAR FOR DELHI

City Briefs

The pesticides that were seized on Jul 30, brandished logos of big MNCs

2 millenniumpostCitympMONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021 | NEW DELHI

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Delhi/New Delhi only

Printed and Published by Jaiyendra Kumar Sharma on behalf of Front Row Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at The Indian Express Pvt. Ltd., A-8, Sector-7, Noida-201 301 (U.P.) and published from First Floor, Pratap Bhawan, 5 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002. Editor: Durbar Ganguly. Email: editor@millenniumpost.in, Tel. No. 011-47777500

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REPRESENTATIVE PIC/PTI

3millenniumpost

The administration has introduced cycles for its staff in a bid to minimise noise pollution due to vehicles and reduce

carbon footprint

Govt reserves 20 pc doses of Covishield, 40 pc doses of Covaxin for 1st shot

Several villages have now given at least one dose of the vaccine to 100 per cent of

the population

OUTLAWS

People flout COVID-19 lockdown protocols at Connaught Place Central park on Sunday PTI

City mpNEW DELHI | MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021

UG registrations at DU begin today, 1st cut-off by Sept 10

Over 80% of rural Gurugam has got one dose

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: While the Delhi Sports University will take another two to three years to be fully functional, its vice-chancellor Karnam Malleswari plans to have courses that will help students branch out in various sports-related fields.

It has been a little over a month since Malleswari, 2000 Olympics bronze medal winner in weightlifting, was appointed as the V-C of the varsity. She has been functioning out of a temporary office in the Thya-graj Stadium.

“We plan to have 2000 students in the varsity — 1000 male students and 1000 female students,” she told in an interview.

“All of them won’t reach the Olympics. Some will reach nationals, some internationals but only selected athletes will reach the Olympics. So for the remaining students, we need to have such courses that will help

them in their future course.”Malleswari, the first Indian

woman to win an Olympic medal, said the varsity could have courses in sports med-icine, sports training, sports management which will help the students in their future endeavours.

Asked what drew her to the concept of the varsity and why she agreed to come on board, she said, “I was told sports will be given more importance. I read their Act. It’s my dream to work at the grassroots level and I felt this would help me fulfill my dream.

“If any child reaches the national camp, they get every kind of support but at the grass-roots level, there is an issue.”

Elaborating further, she said that sportspersons strug-gled a lot before they reached the national level and that is the reason “we are not getting medals in Olympics”.

“See the examples of China and Russia. In weightlifting, they will have at least 15 chil-dren for each of the categories and there will be minor differ-ences between them. Some of them would be playing in the Asian Championships, some in

other events,” she said.Significantly, while review-

ing the course development and progress of the Delhi Sports University, he had said in June, “The Delhi Sports Uni-versity shall be a unique insti-tution in the world of sports, and shall confer degrees up to the PhD level. Till now, irre-spective of the accolades they win in sports, sportspersons need to choose another dis-cipline to get an academic degree. Otherwise, applying for a job becomes difficult. “Now, sportspersons will not need a degree in any other dis-cipline. They shall be conferred degrees based on their sport-ing performance. A team of the university shall decide on the course structures, after due con-sideration of various sports.” But of course, both Chief Min-ister Arvind Kejriwal and his deputy have publicly said that the goal of the varsity is to cre-ate a pool of Olympics-ready athletes.

Courses designed to secure sports careers for 100s: V-C

DSU not just to churn out Olympians: Karnam Malleswari

PIYUSH OHRIE

GURUGRAM: Even as the Covid vaccination drive con-tinues across Gurugram, rural areas of the district have now shown more enthusiasm for getting the jab than those in the urban centres of the district.

Fresh data now shows that in Gurugram, 80.5 per cent of the 5.15 lakh rural population have received at least one dose. And even though the percent-age of people who have received both doses in rural parts is just close to 25 per cent, several vil-lages in the district have now given at least one dose of the vaccine to 100 per cent of the population such as Hamirpur, Khaintawas, Aklimpur, Nur-pur, Khuntpur and Meako.

Significantly, in urban Gurugram, as many as 73 per

cent of the population has received at least one dose and close to 23 per cent people have received both doses.

There are 193 villages in Gurugram district that com-prises Gurugram city, Sohna, FarrukhNagar and Pataudi. The second wave of COVID-19 in April and May had badly hit several parts of rural Guru-gram. The setbacks caused during the second wave of COVID-19 had prompted offi-cials to take several measures to ensure that a large number of residents in these parts received their COVID-19 vaccinations at the earliest.

To begin with, officials undertook door-to-door cam-paigns to convince citizens in rural parts to come forward and get the jab. To make sure that there were no connectivity

issues, a large number of vacci-nation centres were also set up.

In addition to this, inno-vative steps like arranging a shuttle service for people to go to and from vaccination cen-tres has also been undertaken by officials. Moreover, special ambulances for vaccinations

have also been arranged.A large number of civil

defence volunteers have also been deployed at vaccination centres to ensure that residents who are coming to the centres do not face inconveniences.

“Rural Gurugram has set a positive trend of ensuring that a large number of its resi-dents are vaccinated. Contrary to baseless rumours and hesi-tancy, citizens in Gurugram vil-lages have been proactive and making sure that they receive the COVID jab at the earliest. On our part, we have ensured that there are adequate vaccina-

tion centres for people to come and get vaccinated,” said Dr MP Singh Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Gurugram.

The district has been report-ing low Covid cases throughout July after coming out of the sec-ond wave. It also saw as many as 10-15 days straight of no Covid deaths being reported.

The death toll from the virus here has reached 920 now and with nine new Covid cases reported on Sunday eve-ning, the tally of cases here is now over 1.8 lakh. There are less than 100 active infections in the district now.

DELHI DIVISION ACHIEVES 2.15 MT FREIGHT LOADING IN JUL THIS YR: NRNEW DELHI: Ashutosh Gangal, General Manager Northern Railway has informed that the Delhi Division of Northern Railway has achieved best ever overall freight loading of 2.15 MT during the month of July, 2021 (previous best was 2.15 MT during Oct, 2020) which is also 20.57% higher than Last year (1.78 MT). Food grain loading was 0.72 MT during July, 2021 which is 5.88% higher than July, 2020 (0.68 MT). Con-tainer loading was 0.72 MT during July, 2021, which is 31.38% higher than July, 2020 (0.55 MT). POL loading was 0.53 MT in July, 2021, which isv23.87% higher than July, 2020 (0.43 MT). Loading of other commodi-ties was 0.12 MT which is a 92.80% increase against Last year (0.06 MT). Automobile Loading increased by 96.15% over Last year from 26 to 51 rakes.

LAST DATE TO SUBMIT ONLINE FORMS FOR VARIOUS PROGS EXTENDED: IPUNEW DELHI: Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha Uni-versity has extended the last date for submission of online forms for admissions in various programnmes during the academic session 2021-22. The university has extended the last date for submission of online forms for CET/non-CET based admissions upto August 7. Similarly, the university has also extended the last date for sub-mission of admission forms for National Level Test in various programmes upto August 10. The prospective candidates are advised to visit the university’s website www. ipu.ac.in wherein the link for submission of online application forms has been provided.

NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded 85 new Covid cases on Sunday. With this, the tally of COVID-19 cases in the national capital has reached over 14.36 lakh, while the death toll mounted to 25,054. One fatality has been recorded in the last 24 hours, according to the latest bulletin issued by the health department.

As many as 83 patients recov-ered in the last 24 hours, it said. The COVID positivity rate in the national capital stood at 0.12 per cent. The case tally stands at 14,36,350 in the national capi-tal, including 14,10,714 patients who have either been discharged or have migrated or recovered. The number of active cases is 582, of which 172 are in home isolation. Meanwhile, The Delhi health department on Sunday issued fresh orders asking district authorities to restrict 20 per cent doses of Covishield and 40 per cent doses of Covaxin for the first shot, officials said. The remain-ing doses will be reserved for the second shot till the supply situ-

ation improves, an official said.“We have issued fresh orders

today (Sunday). The first and second dose of Covishield and Covaxin will now be adminis-tered in 20:80 and 40:60 ratio, respectively, at government centres,’’ the official said. The Delhi government had on July 22 ordered that only the second dose of Covishield vaccine will be administered at government inoculation centres till July 31 due to limited supply.

Also, only 20 per cent of the Covaxin stock was being used for the first dose due to its ‘’irregular delivery cycles’’. The cumulative number of doses administered in the city so far has reached 1,01,04,760, of which 26,71,681 are second doses. MPOST

Positivity up to 0.12%, 85 new cases, 1 death

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Uni-versity will commence the registration process of nearly 70,000 seats for undergradu-ate courses from Monday. The last date of registrations will be August 31.

According to university officials, the admission portal is likely to go live by 3 pm on Monday.

Much like the portal for postgraduate admissions, this will also be interactive and have an Artificial Intelligence-enabled chatbot to solve the queries of the students. Like last year, the admission pro-cess will be completely online and students won’t be required to visit the university for any formalities.

The first cut-off list is likely to be announced between Sep-tember 7-10, according to offi-cials. The university will open the window for updation of marks at a later stage, they said.

“While CBSE, ISC boards have declared results, there are many state boards that are yet to announce results. We will provide the students the option of updating their marks at a later stage and a special win-dow will be opened for it,” a DU official said.

Even this year, students will

not have to choose their course or college while filling the form, like last year. Once a student fills the form, they will be eligi-ble for admission to every col-lege and course, provided they meet the eligibility criteria, offi-cials said.

For colleges like St Stephen’s and Jesus and Mary, they will have to fill separate forms for the respective colleges but only after they have filled the com-mon form for the university.

Every year, DU receives the maximum applications from students of Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

Last year, over 2.85 lakh applicants were from CBSE, followed by over 12,000 appli-cants from Board of School Education, Haryana and Coun-cil for Indian School Certificate Examinations (ISC).

Most of the courses will have merit-based admissions

while some courses have an entrance-based process. The entrance test will be conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) between September 26 and October 1, the varsity said.

This year, the cut-offs are expected to be higher than last year as more than 70,000 students scored above 95 per cent this year in CBSE Class 12 Boards. And given that a majority of DU applicants are from CBSE schools, the win-dow of opportunity of tens of thousands will get narrower.

Last year, Lady Shri Ram College had the highest cut-off of 100 per cent in as many as three top courses. In addi-tion, as many as 30 undergrad-uate programmes had a cut-offs above 99 per cent.

The registration process for postgraduate courses, MPhil and PhD courses commenced online on July 26.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi zoo was reopened to the public on Sunday, three and a half months after it was temporar-ily shut due to a surge in coro-navirus cases during the second wave. The facility had earlier remained closed for over a year due to the pandemic and bird flu and was reopened on April 1.

“The zoo opens today. Rain could not deter the spirit and enthusiasm of the people, espe-cially the young ones. We are trying our best to make their visit worthwhile,” Zoo Director Ramesh Pandey said.

The zoo will operate in two shifts — from 8 am to noon, and 1 pm to 5 pm. Visi-tors are required to buy tick-ets online on the zoo’s website or at the entry gates using QR codes.

The administration has also introduced cycles for its staff in

a bid to minimise noise pollu-tion due to vehicles and reduce carbon footprint.

According to Pandey, the zoo had recorded only 124 animal deaths, the lowest in

the last three years, while it remained closed to the public in 2020-21.

There are 94 species and 1,162 animals in the zoo at present. “We are moving

towards having 100 species soon,” he said.

The Delhi zoo is likely to get three lions for breeding pur-poses from Gujarat under an animal exchange programme and three tigers from Nagpur and Chennai.

It got an Ostrich from the Chhatbir zoo in Chandigarh around four months ago. No animal exchange programme has been conducted since then due to the pandemic.

City Briefs

With state boards left to declare results, special window will be made available

Highlights » Another road cave-in was reported along a portion near Mangolpuri due to which traffic had to be diverted » The repair work was of complex nature due to the underline pipeline, the PWD said » The PWD had said that the cavity happened because of a leak in an underground Delhi Jal Board line

Sinkhole under IIT flyover repaired in record time: Jain

‘Grey Line extension, Pink Line segment

of Delhi Metro to be opened on August 6’

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A massive sink-hole on the road under IIT-Delhi flyover, which appeared on Sat-urday after rains, was repaired overnight, restoring vehicular movement in the area, officials said on Sunday. The repair work was completed in “record time” by workers of the Delhi Jal Board and the Public Works Depart-ment, they said.

“The tireless efforts of our @DelhiJalBoard officials have restored the broken water pipe-line before yesterday midnight under the IIT flyover. There-after, our @pwddelhi officials worked round the clock and repaired the sunken road under the IIT flyover in record time,” PWD Minister Satyendar Jain said in a tweet.

Jain said the water supply in the affected areas was restored by midnight by the Delhi Jal Board. A senior PWD official said efforts were initiated immediately to repair the cavity on the road.

Since the cavity was 40 feet long and 12 feet wide, mainte-nance work needed to be done very carefully, he said. On Satur-day, a portion of the road under the IIT-Delhi flyover had caved in following rains in the national capital. The Delhi Traffic Police had asked commuters to take alternate routes.

The PWD official on Sunday said the repair work was of com-plex nature due to the underline pipeline but it was done speedily in view of the obstructed traffic.

The PWD had said that the cavity happened because of a leak in an underground Delhi Jal Board (DJB) line. However, this monsoon, four road cave-ins have been reported so far,

including this one and one more on Sunday.

Sunday morning’s showers led to extensive waterlogging at several road stretches across the city and affecting traffic move-ment and yet another road cave-in was reported along a portion near Mangolpuri, due to which traffic had to be diverted.

“Efforts are still on for repair-ing the side lane on Outer Ring Road,” the PWD official said.

While the crossing has been reopened for regular traffic, asso-ciated deep sewer work by the DJB is underway at the at-grade road towards IIT-Delhi, police said in a statement.

Only one lane would be available for traffic coming from Adchini on Aurobindo Marg, the police statement said.

“Due to the current scenario, vehicles coming from AIIMS on Aurobindo Marg and seeking to turn right towards IIT can take a left turn on Outer Ring Road, take a U-turn under Panchsheel flyover/Panchsheel Crossing and use the IIT flyover to cross over towards IIT-Delhi.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Najafgarh-Dhansa Bus Stand extension of the Delhi Metro’s Grey Line and the Trilokpuri section of the Pink Line between the Mayur Vihar Pocket 1 and the Trilok-puri Sanjay Lake Stations were inaugurated and thrown open to commuters on August 6, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation said.

While the inaugural function was held online in the morning, passenger services commenced at 3 PM on both the sections, DMRC said.

“The approximately one kilo-metre (891 metres) long Najaf-

garh-Dhansa Bus Stand section will take the Metro further into the interior areas of Najafgarh,” a press note said. It further added that the Trilokpuri section will connect the entire 59 kilometre long Pink Line and will connect important landmarks of the city such as the Anand Vihar Rail-way station, Anand Vihar ISBT, Nizamuddin Railway station, markets in South Extension, INA, Lajpat Nagar etc.

With the opening of these sections, the Delhi Metro net-work will become 390 kilometres long with 286 metro stations, Anuj Dayal, Executive Director (corporate communications), DMRC, said.

Delhi zoo reopens for public after being temporarily shut during Covid 2nd wave

REPRESENTATIVE PIC

FILE PHOTO/PTI

Indian and Chinese armies set up hotline for Sikkim sector

Maharashtra sees 157 Civid deaths

CONFIDENCE-BUILDING MEASURE

4 millenniumpostNationmpMONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021 | NEW DELHI

MUMBAI: Maharashtra on Sunday reported 6,479 fresh COVID-19 cases and 157 fatal-ities, taking the tally of infec-tions to 63,10,194 and the toll to 1,32,948 while 4,110 patients recovered, the state health department said.

With the new additions, the tally of recoveries in Maharash-tra now stands at 60,94,896, leaving the state with 78,962 active cases with a recovery rate of 96.59 per cent. The case fatal-ity rate is 2.1 per cent, it said.

Mumbai reported 328 new cases and 10 deaths, which raised the overall case-load to 7,35,107 and the count of fatali-ties to 15,899, the department said in a statement.

Mumbai division reported 998 cases during the day and 17 deaths, taking the tally to 16,41,493 and the toll to 34,365.

Nashik division saw 985 new cases including 873 cases in the Ahmednagar district.

Pune division reported 2,332 cases during the day, including 642 in Satara, 673 in Solapur and 544 in Pune districts. Kolhapur divi-sion added 1,665 fresh cases, including 480 from the Kol-hapur district, to its tally. Aurangabad division reported 82 cases, Latur division 350, including 202 in the Beed dis-trict, 54 in the Akola division and 13 in the Nagpur division, the department said. MPOST

BENGALURU: Karnataka on Sunday reported 1,875 fresh COVID-19 infections and 25 deaths taking the total cases and toll to 29,06,999 and 36,587 respectively, the Health depart-ment said. There were 24,144 active cases in the state while as many as 1,502 patients recov-ered in the state taking the total recoveries to 28,46,244.

Dakshina Kannada district in coastal Karnataka emerged as the number one COVID-19 hotspot on Sunday with the maximum 410 fresh infections and six fatalities.

With 409 fresh COVID-19 cases, Bengaluru Urban district stood second. However, with eight fatalities, the city topped among the rest of the districts of the state. The city has so far reported 12,27,748 infections and 15,880 deaths. There were 8,553 active cases.

Other districts in the state too reported infections includ-ing 162 in Udupi, 146 in Mys-uru, 108 in Hassan, 83 in Kodagu and 65 each in Shiva-mogga and Chikkamagaluru.

According to the media bulletin, there were fatalities in nine districts including Benga-luru, Dakshina Kannada, Has-san and Kolar. AGENCIES

NEW DELHI: 'Muslim Wom-en's Rights Day' was observed by different organisations across the country on Sun-day to mark the enactment of the law against triple talaq with victims of the "social evil" hailing the government for the legislation in their interaction with three Union ministers.

Minority Affairs Minis-ter Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Women and Child Develop-ment Minister Smriti Irani and Labour Minister Bhu-pender Yadav attended the "Muslim Women Rights Day" programme here, an official statement said.

The Union ministers also interacted with several Muslim women, who were triple talaq victims, it said.

The Muslim women thanked Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi for bringing the law against the criminal prac-tice on August 1, 2019 which has made the social malprac-tice a criminal offense, it said.

The Muslim women, while interacting with the ministers, said the Modi government has strengthened "self-reliance, self-respect and self-confi-dence" of the Muslim women of the country and protected their constitutional, funda-

mental and democratic rights by bringing the law against tri-ple talaq.

Addressing the Muslim women on the occasion, Irani said August 1 is a day to salute the struggle of Muslim women against triple talaq.

She said the Ministry of Minority Affairs, the Ministry of Women and Child Develop-ment and the Labour Ministry will work unitedly to encour-age entrepreneurship among Muslim women.

Muslim women have immensely benefitted through schemes such as 'Mudra Yojana', 'Jan Dhan Yojana', 'Stand Up India' and 'Poshan Abhiyan', she said.

On the occasion, Yadav said the Modi government has ensured dignity of Mus-lim women by bring the law against triple talaq, Yadav said.

The Modi government's decision to provide quota for OBC and economically back-ward section in medical/den-tal studies will also benefit poor sections of the Muslim community, he added.

In his remarks, Naqvi said the law against triple talaq has proved to be a "big reform" to ensure constitutional rights of Muslim women. There is a significant decline in triple talaq cases across the country after the law came into effect, he said. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: In a confidence-building measure, the Indian and the Chinese armies on Sunday activated a new hot-line in the North Sikkim sector to facilitate their local com-manders to speak directly and address any issue or differences on the ground along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), offi-cials said.

The establishment of the hotline between the Indian Army in Kongra La in North Sikkim and China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) at Khamba Dzong in the Tibetan Autonomous Region came a day after the two armies held a nine-hour meeting with a focus on the disengagement process in remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh.

The Indian Army said the hotline has been established to further the "spirit of trust and cordial relations along the bor-ders". The setting up of the hot-line coincided with PLA Day.

It said the inauguration of the new hotline was attended by ground commanders of the

two armies and a "message of friendship and harmony" was exchanged through it.

"A hotline was estab-lished between Indian Army in Kongra La, North Sikkim and PLA at Khamba Dzong in Tibetan Autonomous Region to further the spirit of trust and cordial relations along the bor-ders. The event coincided with the PLA Day on August 1," it said in a statement.

The two sides have already have hotline facilities for ground commanders in east-ern Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh sectors.

"The armed forces of the two countries have well-established mechanisms for communication at ground commanders level. These hot-lines in various sectors go a long way in enhancing the same and maintaining peace and tranquillity at the borders," the Army said.

"The inauguration was attended by ground command-ers of the respective armies and a message of friendship and harmony was exchanged through the hotline," the Army

said.Officials said with the set-

ting up of the hotline, the ground commanders will be able to speak directly and resolve any differences if they crop up.

In May last year, both the armies had a face-off in North Sikkim's Naku La, a region located at an altitude of 16,000 feet.

The establishment of the hotline assumed significance as it came amid a continued standoff between the two

armies in a number of friction points in eastern Ladakh.

In the 12th round of high-level military talks, India on Saturday pressed for an early disengagement of troops and weapons in the remaining fric-tion points such as Hot Springs and Gogra.

There was no official com-ment on the outcome of the negotiations that took place at the Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the LAC in eastern Ladakh.

Ahead of the talks, there

were expectations of a break-through in the disengagement process in Gogra and Hot Springs.

A statement on the talks is expected on Monday.

India has been insisting that the resolution of the outstand-ing issues, including at Dep-sang, Hot Springs and Gogra, is essential for the overall ties between the two countries.

The border standoff between the Indian and Chi-nese militaries erupted on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas and both sides gradually enhanced their deployment by rushing in tens of thousands of soldiers as well as heavy weaponry.

As a result of a series of mil-itary and diplomatic talks, the two sides completed the with-drawal of troops and weap-ons from the North and South banks of Pangong lake in Feb-ruary in line with an agreement on disengagement.

Each side currently has around 50,000 to 60,000 troops along the LAC in the sensitive sector.

CHANDIGARH: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and JD-U leader K C Tyagi on Sun-day met INLD president Om Prakash Chautala at his resi-dence in Gurgaon in Haryana to enquire about his well-being and also discussed political matters.

The meeting with the lead-ers of the Janata Dal (United), a BJP ally, comes at a time when the 86-year-old INLD chief is batting to forge a "third front" at the national level.

Bihar Chief Minister Kumar and JD-U general secretary Tyagi met Chaud-hary Om Prakash Chautala at his Gurgaon residence and enquired about his well-being and discussed political mat-ters, senior Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leader Abhay Singh Chautala tweeted.

The three leaders also had lunch together.

O P Chautala, who is a for-mer chief minister of Haryana, had on Tuesday said that he will contact opposition leaders soon to forge a "third front" at

the national level and had also revealed his plans of meeting Kumar and Tyagi over lunch.

Kumar and Tyagi had ear-lier closely worked with O P Chautala's father and former deputy prime minister late Devi Lal. O P Chautala had last week asserted that the biggest need today is to get rid of the "anti-people" and "anti-farmer" government at the Centre.

The BJP is the ruling party at the Centre and has alliance governments with the JJP in Haryana and with JD(U) in Bihar.

He had said before Septem-ber 25, the birth anniversary of Devi Lal, he will try to meet opposition leaders and urge them to come on one platform.

On Tuesday, O P Chau-tala while referring to his announcement of a lunch meeting with Kumar, had said, "He will have lunch with me at my residence on August 1. When two political leaders sit together, then political issues are naturally discussed," he had said replying to a query. MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR: The CID wing of Jammu and Kashmir Police has ordered the denial of security clearance required for passport and other government services to all those involved in stone-pelting or subversive activities.

In an order issued on Sat-urday, the senior superinten-dent of police (SSP), CID, Special Branch (SB), Kashmir, has directed all the field units under it to ensure that the per-son's involvement in law and order, stone-pelting cases, and other crime prejudicial to the security of the state be specifi-cally looked into during ver-ification related to passport, service and any other verifi-cation related to government schemes.

The same must be corrobo-rated from the local police sta-tion records, the order read.

The SSP also said digital evidence like CCTV footage, photographs, videos and audio clips, quadcopter images avail-able in the records of the police, security forces, and security agencies be also referred dur-ing the verification.

Any subject found involved in any such cases must be denied the security clearance,

the SSP, CID-SB, Kashmir said.Reacting over the devel-

opment, National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah said on Sunday that an adverse police report cannot be a substitute for being found guilty in a court of law.

“An ‘adverse police report’ can not be a substitute for being found guilty in a court of law. A year and a half ago J&K police were able to cre-ate an ‘adverse police report’ to justify my detention under the Public Safety Act that would never have stood up to legal challenge,” the NC leader wrote on Twitter.

He was referring to his PSA detention after the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status in August 2019.

The former chief minister of the erstwhile J-K state said guilt or innocence must be proven in court and should not be based on unproven police reports.

“They did the same with scores of others, many of whom had these police reports tossed out by the courts. An executive order cannot replace a court of law. Guilt or innocence must be proven in court & not based of vague unproven police reports,” he added.

CHANDIGARH: Schools in Punjab will start conducting physical classes right from pre-primary levels from Monday, state School Education Minis-ter Vijay Inder Singla said on Sunday. The government had already allowed reopening of schools for classes 10 to 12 from July 26. On Saturday, the state government had allowed reopening of schools for all classes from August 2 as it fur-ther relaxed Covid restrictions in the wake of declining cases.

"Following the approval of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in view of the present Covid situation, the Educa-tion Department is all set to reopen schools for all classes from August 2 onwards," said Singla in an official statement here. The minister said the tim-ing of schools will remain the same which is from 8 am to 2 pm. Parents will have to provide written consent before sending their wards to schools, he said.

Singla said the reopening of schools would play an impor-tant role to assess the learning of students during the pan-demic as the teachers were able to contact the students through virtual classes only. AGENCIES

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday said it was mandatory for people coming from Kerala, to the state to carry a negative RT-PCR test report or vaccination certificate of two COVID doses from August 5, in the wake of aspike in infections in the neighbouring state.

Addressing reporters, Med-ical and Family Welfare Min-ister Ma Subramanian said, "From August 5, concerned district administrations have been directed to intensify sur-veillance and allow people from Kerala to enter the state if they possess an RT-PCR neg-ativity certificate."

Officials in the bordering districts have also been asked to allow people if they have nec-essary documents to show that they have received two doses of the COVID vaccines.

On the serosurvey results released on Saturday, Subrama-nian said special focus would be on those districts which have reported people with low resistance power to the virus.

"Virudhunagar has high-est seropositivity rate of 84 per cent, Chennai 82 per cent. But, in Erode district, it is less. Spe-cial focus will be given to dis-tricts where people have low resistance against the virus, by increasing vaccine doses and enhancing medical infrastruc-ture..," he said. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

THIRUVANANTHA-PURAM: Kerala recorded 20,728 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday, pushing the infec-tion caseload to 34,11,489, while 56 more deaths took the toll to 16,837. It is for the sixth day running that the state has recorded more than 20,000 fresh cases. Since July 27 there have been 1,28,373 more infec-tions in the state.

As many as 17,792 people have been cured of the infec-tion since Saturday, taking the total recoveries to 32,26,761, leaving 1,67,379 active cases,a state government release said.

Malappuram accounted for the most number of cases (3,770), followed by Thris-sur 2,689, Kozhikode 2,434, Ernakulam 2,246, Palakkad 1,882, Kollam 1,336, Kannur 1,112, Thiruvananthapuram 1,050, Alappuzha 1,046 and Kottayam 963.

Of the new cases, 68 are health workers, 77 had come

from outside the state and 19,960 were infected through contact with the source of contact being not clear in 623 cases, the release said.

In the last 24 hours,1,70,690 samples were tested and the Total Positivity Rate (TPR) was found to be 12.14 per cent.

So far, 2,73,87,700 samples

have been tested, it said.There are currently 4,61,133

people under surveillance in various districts.

Of these, 4,32,537 are in home or institutional quaran-tine and 28,596 in hospitals.

There are 678 areas in the state with a TPR of above 10 per cent, the release said.

The border standoff between the Indian and Chinese militaries erupted on May 5 last year following a violent clash in the Pangong lake areas

A passenger reacts as a health worker collects her swab sample for COVID-19 test, at Dadar railway station in Mumbai,

1,875 fresh infections,

25 deaths in Karnataka

20,728 fresh cases in Kerala, 56 deaths

Indian cricketer Sanju Samson receives a dose of Covid-19 vaccine during a free vaccination camp at St. Joseph's Higher Secondary School in Thiruvananthapuram, on Sunday

Three Union ministers interact with triple talaq victims

‘MUSLIM WOMEN’S RIGHTS DAY’ OBSERVED Nitish meets INLD chief O P Chautala

Passport: J&K Police to deny security clearance

to stone pelters

Union Ministers Smriti Irani, Bhupender Yadav (L) and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (R) during the Muslim Women Rights Day, in New Delhi

Schools in Punjab set to reopen from Aug 2: Singla

Abhishek to visit Tripura today

Banerjee will meet the local leaders. The leaders have already sent reports from different districts to Banerjee. Youth Trinamool Congress leaders, Debangshu Bhattacharya, Sudip Raha and Jaya Dutta reached Tripura on Sunday.

Meanwhile, reacting to the I-PAC controversy, Tripura CM Biplab Deb had said he believed in the motto of ‘atithi devo bhava’ but the state doesn’t meddle in police work. Deb said he had respect for Mamata Banerjee and all were wel-come in the state.

After becoming the all-India general secretary of Trinamool Congress, Baner-jee had said the party was not interested in winning two or more MLA or MP seats in a state, rather it would go to those states where it had a chance of winning the Assembly election.

Tripura will go for an Assembly elec-tion in 2023. The people had voted for BJP in 2018 and put an end to the CPI(M) rule. “In the past five years, people are fed up with the BJP government. Under such a situation, Trinamool Congress will go all out to strengthen the party’s organisa-tion in Tripura,” analysts said.

Pegasus issue: SC to hear pleas seeking probe on Aug 5

around the world have revealed that several Indians, including journalists,

lawyers, ministers, opposition politi-cians and activists, have been identified as potential targets for surveillance using the Pegasus software.

Besides the plea filed by Ram and Kumar, two separate petitions on the issue have been filed in the apex court by advocate M L Sharma and John Brittas.

In his plea, Sharma has sought a court-monitored probe by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the reports of alleged snooping.

An international media consortium has reported that over 300 verified Indian mobile phone numbers were on a list of potential targets for surveillance using Israeli firm NSO’s Pegasus spyware.

Centre trying peaceful solution

“Both the state governments are cooperating and the central government is assured that there will be no more bor-der flare-ups,” one of them said.

Following the July 26 violence, both Assam and Mizoram Police registered separate cases naming each others’ political leaders and police and civil officials.

While the Assam Police has named several police officers of Mizoram and served summonses to them and to the state’s lone Rajya Sabha MP K Vanlal-vena, the Mizoram Police registered a case against civil and police officers of Assam and also named CM Sarma in the FIR.

The two functionaries cited a num-ber of measures taken to lower the ten-sion along the Assam-Mizoram border.

The chief secretaries and DGPs of the two states on July 28 attended a meeting chaired by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla where the decision to deploy a neutral central force (CRPF) at the clash site was taken.

Prior to that, both the chief secre-taries met in Delhi for a bilateral meet-ing. Subsequently, advisories were sent by the central government to both the states asking them to maintain peace and normalcy along their inter-state border.

The two functionaries insisted that the July 26 violence was an “isolated inci-dent” and there is no possibility of a simi-lar flare-up in the future.

Five Assam Police personnel and a civilian were killed and over 50 others including a superintendent of police were injured when the Mizoram Police opened fire on a team of the Assam officials on July 26 following clashes along the two states’ border.

While the Mizoram government claimed that a 509 square- mile stretch of the inner-line reserve forest notified in 1875 under the Bengal Eastern Fron-tier Regulation of 1873 belongs to it, the Assam side insisted that the constitu-tional map and boundary drawn by sur-vey of India in 1993 was acceptable to it.

After a massive tussle in 2018, the border row resurfaced in August last year and then in February this year.

India takes over UNSC presidency

India began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member of the UNSC on January 1.

It is India’s seventh term on the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member. India has previously been a member of the UN Security Council in 1950-51, 1967-68, 1972-73, 1977-78, 1984-85, and 1991-92.

Following its election to the global body, India said that it will promote responsible and inclusive solutions to international peace and security and would pitch for a new orientation for a reformed multilateral system.

From Page 1TN makes RT-PCR

report must for travellers from Kerala

5millenniumpost Nation mpNEW DELHI | MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021

Govt: Cumulative vaccine doses administered in India cross 47 cr

Rahul slams govt alleging shortage of vaccines

60,15,842 DOSES GIVEN IN THE LAST 24 HOURS

AAISHA SABIR

NEW DELHI: If voted to power in the Goa Assembly elections 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party will rectify meter defects and power theft at first followed by reducing lobbying in Dis-coms, a senior official in the Power Department of the Delhi government said.

Earlier in the week, Delhi Power Minister Satyendra Jain and his Goa counterpart Nilesh Cabral engaged in a discus-sion on AAP’s promise of free electricity up to 300 units if it emerges victorious in the 2022 Assembly polls there.

The party has pre-planned its immediate moves in the

power sector, provided it is able to form government there. “Right after forming the government in 2015, rig-orous CAG audits of Discoms and rectifying meter defects to reduce power theft was the first step,” a senior official aware of the intricacies of the matter told Millennium Post.

If power theft and power loss are removed systematically and permanently, the state will increase its supply organically, the official said, pointing out what had happened in the Cap-ital when the AAP government swung into action.

A similar pattern may be followed if the party manages to get a majority in Goa in

2022, with resources already being poured into fervently towards election efforts. In addition, the Aam Aadmi Party also plans to open the market to Discom competition, which it insists will efficiently remove the lobbying that may be going on currently.

During the debate which took place in Panaji last week, Nilesh Cabral claimed that free power which is being prom-ised by AAP puts a huge bur-den on the state exchequer. He had even stated that the cur-rent Goa government will not provide free electricity but that it will continue to supply it at highly subsidised rates.

A second official in the

Delhi power department explained that in the Capi-tal when the AAP govern-ment came to power it started off with a short-run subsidy, which did not go to the power discoms, but to Delhi Transco, which is the State Transmission Utility (STU) of Delhi - leav-ing the money with the gov-ernment and within the power sector.

The lack of funds at Trans-co’s disposal was one of the main reasons behind fre-quent power outages in the state, another official said, adding that troubleshooting this was a key reason for fewer power cuts in the Capital over the years.

How AAP plans free electricity in Goa –correct meter defects, cut out lobbyists

PATIALA: PSPCL CMD, A.Venu Prasad, said that Shanan Power House Jogindar Nagar of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited has cre-ated a history. A.Venu Prasad disclosed that Shanan Power House has broken the all time monthly generation record (since its commissioning i.e 1932) by generating 83.168 MUs in the month of July, 2021. He said that previous generation record was 82.054 MUs in the month of July, 1997. He also said that Shanan Power House has also created history by achieving monthly Plant Load Factor of 101.62% for the first time.

He said that during the ongoing paddy season, when there was an acute shortage of

power, Shanan Power House is generating 4 MW more power over and above its installed capacity of 110 MW.

In a message, CMD A.Venu Prasad appreciated the hard work, dedication and devo-tion of officers/employees of Shanan Power House for the achievement. MPOST

‘Shanan Power House has created history’ It has broken all time monthly

generation record: A Venu Prasad

A.Venu Prasad, PSPCL CMD

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SHIMLA: Slashing of man-power deployments from 1200 to 800, restricting entry of vis-itors, social distancing, ther-mal scanning at gates and glass -shield partitions for the mem-bers in the House may just be some routine measures at the state Assembly in the Covid time as it begins its fortnight-long monsoon session on August 2. But, there is going to be something noteworthy in the House.

“We will have drone surveil-lance for the first time to meet the present day needs of the security, especially when the deployment of manpower has been cut down,” said Speaker Vipin Singh Parmar here.

Yet, all eyes are, however, on the absence of six-time for-

mer Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, who died last month creating a biggest vacuum in the state politics, almost after a 60-year-long political inning. His seat, next to Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mukesh Agnihotri is going to make the members and media corpos remember his great persona.

The nine-time MLA was one of the country's towering political figures, who dom-inated the scenes (not alone the Congress) in Himachal Pradesh in different roles –as five-time MP, three time Union minister, four-time PCC presi-dent and a veteran parliamen-tarian. He never missed the House sittings, even during the snowfall days, though he hardly chose to participate in the debates proactively as his earlier days in the opposition or

leader of the House (the CM).“We will remember Virb-

hadra Singh ji’s services to the state fondly as his absence from the House will definitely be an emotional issue for all of us,” admits Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur.

Leader of Opposition Mukesh Agnihotri, who owe much of his rise in the politics to Virbhadra Singh said “no one ever will be able to forget

what Raja Sahib has done for the state and its people. We all bow our heads to such a legend and mass based leader,” he said.

The death of BJP’s senior leader from apple belt –Jubbal Kotkhai Narinder Bragta will also find mentions in the obit-uaries in the House on Day 1.

Speaker Vipin Singh Par-mar said he will seek the opin-ion of the House to adjourn the business for the day after obituary references in the hon-our of the departed leaders like former Chief Minister Virb-hadra Singh and former min-ister Narinder Bragta.

The House is likely to wit-ness stormy debates on Covid situation in the state, rain and flash floods, losses and inability of the state govern-ment to accelerate the pace of development.

How Himachal Assembly looks in absence of Virbhadra Singh

NEW DELHI: Former Mani-pur Congress president Gov-indas Konthoujam joined the BJP on Sunday, saying he was impressed with the Modi gov-ernment's development work for the region.

He joined the BJP in the presence of Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh, state BJP chief A Sharda Devi, Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni and the party's in-charge for the state Sambit Patra, among others.

A six-time consecutively elected MLA from the Bishnu-pur seat, Konthoujam had quit the Congress a few days back and his decision to join the saf-fron party would be a boost to it ahead of the assembly elec-tions in the state early next year.

The chief minister, who was also in the Congress before joining the BJP, called Kon-thoujam a friend and asserted that more leaders will be join-ing the party.

People of Manipur like the Modi government's agenda for the entire northeast's develop-ment, he said, noting that the presence of five ministers from the region in his dispensation showed the attention and care it had given to the place. Mani-pur was associated with fre-quent blockades, violence and strikes but since the BJP came to power in the state in 2017, progress and peace have pre-vailed, he added. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party’s National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal met party’s Punjab state leaders and MLAs on Sunday to discuss upcoming state Assembly elections. The AAP convenor and the state leaders discussed their strate-gies and areas that require more focus from the party.

Kejriwal took stock of the performance of AAP’s MLAs in Punjab and took stock of village and booth level prog-ress report from each constit-uency. In the meeting, AAP’s Punjab State Convenor and MP Bhagwant Mann said that the party will improve on its lack-

ing from 2017 and fight the 2022 elections strongly. Several MLAs recommended that the party should think of naming a CM face soon, to which the CM agreed and an announce-ment is expected soon from the party.

The party will rise above politics and serve the farmers of the country who have been distressed because of the farm laws, the CM apprised the local leaders.

The attendees of the meet-ing included Mann, Punjab’s Leader of Opposition and MLA Harpal Singh Cheema, Pun-jab-unit Incharge and MLA Jarnail Singh and Punjab-unit Co-Incharge Raghav Chadha.

The discussion revolved around the strategy for 2022 Punjab elections with the CM taking stock of the work done at each booth level. “Every-one honestly explained their metrics like a family and explained how they were work-ing towards improving on areas they were lacking in the past. The party will work on the issues on which it was lacking during the 2017 election and we will fight the 2022 elections strongly,” Mann said.

“All the MLAs are very happy because of our perfor-mance in the state. Kejriwal is very happy with how the MLAs of AAP who have been elected by the people of Punjab are

working as per the wishes of people of Punjab,” he added.

The leaders also talked about the farmers' issues at length and stated that the Delhi Government has taken a reso-lution to get the 3 Farm Laws repealed.

“We should rise above poli-tics and help the farmers who have been distressed for a long time now. The Delhi Gov-ernment is already working towards that cause. We hope to do so in Punjab as well,” Mann said in a statement.

Kejriwal is the chief and AAP is in the opposition in Punjab so he will be regularly visiting the state in the coming days, he added.

NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sun-day attacked the government alleging a shortage of Covid vaccines with Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya hitting back, accusing him of indulg-ing in "petty politics".

July has gone, but vaccine shortage has not, Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi using the hashtag 'WhereAreVaccines'.

He also tagged a montage of media reports on alleged vac-cine shortage.

The former Congress chief also tagged his tweet earlier in July in which he had said July has come, vaccines have not.

Tagging Gandhi's tweet, Mandaviya said over 13 crore vaccine doses have been administered in July and the vaccination programme will be speeded up further this month.

"We are proud of our healthcare workers for this achievement. Now you should also be proud of them and the country," the health minister tweeted in Hindi.

"Have heard that you are also among the 13 crore people who have been administered vaccine doses in the month of July," Mandaviya said.

"But you did not say a word about our scientists, did not appeal to the public to get themselves vaccinated. This means that you are doing petty politics in the name of vaccina-tion. Actually, the shortage is

not of vaccines, but there is lack of maturity in you," he said.

The Congress has been rais-ing the issue of shortage of vac-cines in country and has urged the central government to speed up inoculations, saying it is the only way to stop the third wave of COVID-19. The BJP has hit back at the opposition party, accusing it of encourag-ing vaccine hesitancy. MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The cumula-tive COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the coun-try has crossed 47 crore with 60,15,842 doses being given in the last 24 hours, the Union health ministry said on Sunday.

More than three crore bal-ance and unutilised COVID-19 vaccine doses are still available with the states and union ter-ritories and private hospitals to be administered.

About 49,49,89,550 vac-cine doses have been pro-vided to states and UTs so far, through all sources and a fur-ther 8,04,220 doses are in the pipeline. Of this, the total con-sumption, including wastage is 46,70,26,662 doses (accord-ing to data available at 8 am Sunday).

Cumulatively, 47,02,98,596 vaccine doses have been admin-istered through 55,71,565

sessions, according to the pro-visional report till 8 am.

Cumulatively, 15,61,40,811 persons in the age group 18-44 years across all states and UTs have received their first dose and 86,68,370 have received their second dose since the

start of the third phase of the vaccination drive.

In total, 10,63,39,854 per-sons in the age group of 45-59 years have taken the first dose and 3,91,28,126 have received their second dose since the start of phase-3 of the vaccina-

tion drive.According to ministry

data, 7,60,38,913 individuals aged over 60 have received the first dose and 3,65,19,484 have taken the second dose.

The Union government is committed to accelerating the

pace and expanding the scope of COVID-19 vaccination throughout the country.

The new phase of universal-isation of COVID-19 vaccina-tion commenced from June 21.

The vaccination drive has been ramped up through availability of more vaccines, advance visibility of vaccine availability to states and UTs for enabling better planning by them, and streamlining the vaccine supply chain. As part of the nationwide vaccination drive, the government of India has been supporting the states and UTs by providing them Covid vaccines free of cost.

In the new phase of the universalisation of the Covid vaccination drive, the Union government will procure and supply (free of cost) 75 per cent of the vaccines being pro-duced by the vaccine manufac-turers in the country to states and UTs.

Kejriwal discusses Punjab elections

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya hits back

Ex-Manipur Cong chief joins BJP

JP Nadda greets former Manipur Congress chief Govindas Konthoujam in New Delhi

A beneficiary receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine inside a car at a hotel in Patna, on Sunday

July has gone, but vaccine shortage has not, Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi

Rahul GandhiMansukh Mandaviya

Fortnight-long state Assembly session begins on August 2

Virbhadra Singh

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Directorate of Family WelfareDelhi state Health Mission

GNCT of Delhi

FREEDeworming

Tablet

Deworming Tablet would be administered to children at Home “Free of Cost” byASHA or Anganwadi worker

Ensure administration of deworming tablet to all children in 1-19 years age group during the Campaign for “Worm Free Delhi”

1&2 lky

2&19 lky

nd2 August 2021 onwardsNational Deworming Campaign

Let’s continue our fight against worm infestationin children even during the pandemic

Undernutrition and anemia

Do you know that worm Infestation in children may lead to :-

Impaired physical and mental development

Practices in addition to Deworming that help reduce worm infections

Always use Toilets

Wash your hands with soap, especially before eating and after using

the toilet

Do not move around bare

footed

Keep nailsclean & short

Drink clean water

DIP

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9/21

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CONSEQUENCE

A rescue operation being carried out for the people stranded after a cloudburst, in Lahaul & Spiti district, Sunday PIC/PTI

MUMBAI MAN ASSAULTED, MADE TO EAT GARBAGE: 1 HELD, 1 ON THE RUN MUMBAI: One person has been arrested and a hunt was on for another in a case where a man was as-saulted with iron rods and made to eat garbage from a bin in Jogeshwari in Mumbai, a video of which had left netizens fuming on social media. The incident had taken place last month and a Crime Branch Unit X team nabbed one of the accused, Abdul Khalid Malik Shaikh (47), from near a railway station, an official said. Shaikh is a history-sheeter who has been ex-terned two times earlier and has now been charged with attempt to murder in this incident by Meghwadi police, the official added.

MAOIST LEADER SURRENDERS BEFORE ODISHA POLICE BOLANGIR (ODISHA): A Maoist leader, who hails from Chhattisgarh, surrendered before the Odisha Police here on Sunday in presence of DIG (northern range) Deepak Kumar. The surrendered Maoist, iden-tified as Aitu Korsa, has several criminal cases filed against him in the state, including IED explosion and murder, Kumar said. Aitu was one of the prominent cadres of the CPI(Maoist) in both KKBN and Balangir-Bargarh-Mahasamund divisions, he said. The Odisha government’s surrender and rehabilitation policy for Maoists is encouraging the cadres to surrender and join the mainstream, said the DIG (northern range).

Nation Briefs

6 millenniumpostNationmpMONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021 | NEW DELHI

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Six people were killed and four others injured in two incidents of house collapse due to heavy rains in Madhya Pradesh on Sunday, while some parts in Rajasthan faced a flood-like sit-uation due to torrential rains, putting lives and property at risk. The India Meteorological Department has issued a ‘red alert’ for Rajasthan and Mad-hya Pradesh, forecasting very heavy to extremely heavy rains on Monday.

Delhi witnessed extensive waterlogging and traffic jams in several parts of the city as rains continued to lash the national capital. The Safdarjung Obser-vatory, considered the official marker for Delhi, recorded 28.2 mm rainfall, while the Ridge station registered 126.8 mm rainfall from 8.30 am on Sat-urday to 8.30 am on Sunday.

The maximum temperature was recorded at 32.1 degrees Celsius, two notches below the season’s average. The weather office has forecast a generally cloudy sky with heavy rains on Monday.

Parts of Paschim Medini-pur and Howrah districts in West Bengal witnessed inunda-tion as additional water is being discharged from Damodar Val-ley Corporation (DVC) dams after heavy rains. At least 212 relief camps have been set up in Paschim Medinipur, offer-ing shelter to over 12,000 peo-ple as water having breached embankments entered their

homes. In Howrah, vast stretches of Udaynarayanpur and Amta, including medical facilities, lay submerged with the NDRF and the SDRF car-rying out relief operations on war-footing.

Several arterial roads, including the Udayanarayan-pur-Tarakeswar stretch, have gone under water, virtually cut-ting off link between Howrah

and Hooghly districts.In Madhya Pradesh, six

people were killed and four others injured in two incidents of house collapse due to heavy rains in Rewa and Singrauli dis-tricts. Some 300 people from Tyonthar area of Rewa district had to be moved to safety after incessant rains caused flooding.

According to the IMD, showers ranging from 115.6

mm to 204.5 mm or above along with thunderstorms and lightning are very likely at isolated places in Gwalior, Shivpuri, Guna, Ashok Nagar, Datia, Sheopur, Morena, Bhind, Neemuch and Mandsaur.

Several areas in Himachal Pradesh received light to mod-erate rains, while the MeT Department has issued a fresh yellow weather warning till

August 5. Nadaun received 35 mm rain, followed by Dalhou-sie 34 mm, Chamba 19 mm, Kasauli 17 mm and Paonta Sahib 14 mm. Parts of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana also received light to moder-ate rains. In UP, rainfall was recorded in Sonbhadra, Praya-graj, Chitrakoot, Moradabad, Mahoba and Pratapgarh. Hisar, Karnal and Rohtak in Haryana, and Patiala in Punjab received 22 mm, 32 mm, 0.4 mm and 7 mm rain, respectively.

Battered by torrential rains, some places in Rajasthan are facing a flood-like situation.

According to the weather office, 240 mm rainfall, the highest in the state, was recorded at Makrana in Nagaur from Saturday to Sunday morning, while Hurda in Bhil-wara recorded 215 mm rains.

Many other areas in Nagaur, Tonk, Jaipur, Bhilwara and Ajmer also recorded heavy to very heavy rains during this period. Sawaimadhopur, Van-asthali (Tonk), Chittorgarh, Ajmer, Kota and Dabok also recorded 38 mm, 27 mm, 23 mm, 16.2 mm, 7 mm and 6.2 mm rains till Sunday evening.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

LUCKNOW: Ahead of the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday praised the Yogi Adityanath government for taking the state to the top spot in terms of law and order. Addressing a function after laying the foundation stone of the Uttar Pradesh State Institute of Forensic Sciences here, Shah said BJP governments work for the development of the poorest people.

"For six years till 2019, I travelled a lot in UP. Hence, I know the earlier UP very well. There was an atmosphere of fear in western UP because of which people were leaving the area, women felt unsafe, the land mafia was grabbing the land of the poor people, incidents of firing in

broad daylight and riots were rampant, Shah said.

In 2017, the BJP promised that we will make UP a developed state and also revamp its law and order.

Today in 2021, I can say with pride that Yogi Adityanath and his team have taken UP to the top spot in

terms of law and order, he added.

Shah said, The BJP governments do not work on the basis of caste, families, or for the people who are close to them. The BJP governments work for the development of the poorest person and to revamp law and order.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has asked the DoPT to file an affidavit giving the total number of vacancies noti-fied and reservations given in accordance with the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act for the Civil Services Exam (CSE) 2020.

The court was hearing two pleas by the disability rights organisations, which have alleged that seats for visually-impaired and people with mul-tiple disabilities have not been reserved in accordance with the Rights of Persons with Disabili-ties (RPWD) Act of 2016.

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh granted time to the Depart-ment of Personnel and Train-ing (DoPT) to file an additional affidavit before August 2, the next date of hearing in the matter.

"The DoPT will clearly highlight in the affidavit the total number of vacancies noti-fied and the reservations given in accordance with Section 34(1) of the Right of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 as also the details of 251 vacan-cies for which it is stated that no reservations can be made," the bench said. Central govern-ment standing counsel Abhay Prakash Sahay, appearing for the DoPT, submitted that the final vacancies notified for the CSE 2020 are 836, out of which against 251 vacancies, there can be no reservation.

As against the remaining 585 vacancies, 24 have been reserved and thus the reserva-tion is in accordance with the mandate of Section 34(1) of the Act, that is, 4 per cent, he said.

The high court had earlier sought responses of the Cen-tre, Union Public Service Com-mission (UPSC) and the DoPT on the plea seeking quashing of the notice announcing the civil services preliminary and an interim stay on declaration of the results on the ground that inadequate number of seats have been reserved for persons with visual and mul-tiple disabilities.

Petitioner organisation Evara Foundation has con-tended that due to inadequate number of advertised vacan-cies for visually-impaired and those having multiple disabili-ties, fewer candidates belong-ing to these two categories would qualify for the main examination.

It has also said that the number of seats reserved for visually-impaired, deaf, hard of hearing and locomotor dis-abilities is not in accordance with the RPWD Act. The foun-dation has sought a direction to the UPSC and the Centre to "amend the impugned notifi-cation by earmarking not less than eight seats for blind/low vision and multiple disabilities category each in the impugned notification". MPOST

SRINAGAR: The recent killing of terrorist Shakir Altaf Bhat and subsequent finding that he had left the country on a valid passport for studies in Pakistan in 2018 and returned as a ter-rorist set alarm bells ringing in the security establishment in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said here on Sunday.

Security agencies made a quick estimate of passports issued between 2015 and 2019, and found that out of the 40 youths who had gone to Ban-gladesh or Pakistan for studies, 28 had infiltrated back into the country as trained terrorists, the officials said.

This is in addition to over 100 Kashmiri youths who trav-elled to Pakistan on valid visas for short durations, and have either not come back or disap-peared after their return in the last three years.

The security agencies fear that they could be possible sleeper cells of terror groups operating from across the border.

The July 24 encounter in the heights of Bandipora led to the killing of three terrorists, including Bhat, a resident of the

same district.Security agencies believe

that Bhat had targeted to assas-sinate Usman Majid, a former militant-turned-politician who has withstood at least three such bids in the past. Between April 1 to 6 of last year, some youths hailing from Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag districts of south Kashmir were seen as part of the infiltrating groups of terrorists and all of them had travelled to Pakistan on valid documents and never returned thereafter, they said.

A massive exercise was undertaken by the security agencies along with the immi-gration officials at Wagah bor-der as well as at the New Delhi airport during which it was found that at least 40 youths who had travelled to either Bangladesh or Pakistan for studies were missing with their families not knowing about their wards, they said.

As a precautionary mea-sure, even the youths from the valley who travelled on valid visas for a duration of over seven days over the last three years were questioned, the offi-cials said. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: In a veiled attack on the BJP, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said the language of intimidation will not be tol-erated and a befitting reply will be given to those speaking it.

He made the statement in the wake of BJP legislator Prasad Lad's reported remarks that if needed, the Shiv Sen-aBhavan, the headquarters of Thackeray-led party in central Mumbai, would be demol-ished. However, he had later retracted the remarks and expressed regret saying they were presented out of context

by the media.Speaking at the inaugu-

ration of the BDD Chawls

redevelopment project here, Thackeray referred to his three-party MahaVikasAghadi (MVA) dispensation as a triple seat government (with NCP and Congress being the other constituents).

Recalling a dialogue from Hindi blockbuster Dabangg - Thappad se darnahilagta (not scared of being slapped) - the chief minister said, Nobody should speak the language of slapping us as we will give back such a tight slap that the other person will not be able to get back on his feet.

Asking the beneficiaries of the chawls redevelopment proj-ect not to fall prey to allure-

ment once the project gets over, he said, "Marathi culture must be protected in the redeveloped constructions at any cost as the chawls had a historic legacy, where revolutionaries had laid down their lives and also were witness to the Samyukta Maha-rashtra movement.

NCP chief SharadPawar, who was also present at the event, said the legacy of BDD Chawls should be protected and the Marathi-speaking peo-ple must stay back in the rede-veloped houses, which would be given as part of the project being overseen by Maharash-tra Housing and Area Devel-opment Authority (MHADA).

OUR CORRESPONDENT

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sun-day said doors of his party are open to all small parties for an alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year and he will try that all such political outfits come together to defeat the BJP.

He also asked the Congress and the BSP, which have been attacking the Samajwadi Party (SP) on various issues, which side they are on.

These parties should decide whether their fight is with the BJP or SP, Yadav told PTI.

On possible alliances for the upcoming state polls, the SP president said, "Doors of our party are open for all small parties. Many smaller parties are already with us. More will come with us."

In an interview to PTI, he also lashed out at the Centre over the Pegasus spying row.

"They (NDA) have over 350 seats in the Lok Sabha. The BJP

is ruling in many states. Why and what was the government trying to find through snoop-ing? They are helping 'videshi-takatein' (foreign forces) with this act," Yadav said.

Asked about his uncle Shivpal Yadav's PragatisheelS-amajwadi Party, which is also preparing to contest the polls on all seats, Yadav said, "We will try that all parties unite to defeat the BJP."

On BhagidariMorcha' led by Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party

(SBSP) in which AIMIM leader AssaduddinOwaisi also took part, he said, "There have been no talks with them till now."

The SP president also asked the other opposition parties, the Congress and the Bahu-janSamaj Party (BSP), to decide which side they were on.

"These parties should decide whom they are fight-ing, he said.

BSP chief Mayawati has often targeted the Samajwadi Party in her tweets. While accusing the BJP of using gov-

ernment machinery to ensure its victory in the recent pan-chayat polls, she had said these tricks were similar to the meth-ods used by the previous SP government.

Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu has also attacked the SP and had said the party leaders' statements reflected frustration and disappointment as people have rejected them.

About caste conferences, including Brahmin Sam-melans, organised by BSP and other parties, Akhilesh Yadav said SP also used to arrange such meetings.

"Our backward sammelans and other such meets are on. Before the start of the second (Covid) wave, the party had done three-day camps covering 150 assembly constituencies.

"The party will be taking out a yatra on August 5 on the birth anniversary of party ideo-logue Janeshwar Mishra. From August 15, more yatras will be taken out exposing the BJP misrule," he said.

Rain in MP: 6 killed as 2 houses collapse ‘Youths visiting Pak on valid papers infiltrating

back as terrorists’

Shah lauds Yogi, says UP on top in law and order situation

‘Doors of SP open to small parties for 22 polls’ ‘Give no. of vacancies,

reservations as per RPWD Act for 2020 CSE’

‘Language of intimidation won't be tolerated’

AHMEDABAD: As may as 1,101 hospitals in Gujarat still do not possess any valid fire safety certificates issued under the Gujarat Fire Prevention and Life Safety Measures Act, as per the affidavit submitted by the state government in the Supreme Court recently.

The apex court is hearing a suo motu PIL (Public Inter-est Litigation) on the issue of proper treatment of COVID-19 patients and dignified handling of dead bodies, which will come up for hearing on Monday.

In the affidavit, Additional Chief Secretary, Urban Devel-opment and Urban Housing Department, Mukesh Puri said that as of date, there are 5,705 hospitals in Gujarat, of which 4,604 possess fire NOCs (No Objection Certificates) under the 2013 Act but 1,101 hospi-tals do not possess these NOCs.

The NOC is issued by authorities concerned after

applicant hospitals comply with fire safety measures.

Detailing the action taken, the government said authorities had issued show-cause notices to over 1,500 non-compliant hospitals, disconnected the water supply of 30 hospitals, partially sealed 185 hospital premises for want of fire safety certificates.

These premises were reopened only after ensuring their due compliance, it said.

As per the affidavit, only 47 hospitals are currently treating COVID-19 patients in Gujarat, and all of them possess the req-uisite fire NOCs.

"Though the Hon'ble Court vide its order dated December 18, 2020, had issued directions in the context of COVID hospi-tals, as on date, there are 5,705 hospitals in the state, of which 4,604 are possessing fire NOC under the 2013 Act," the affi-davit said, adding fire safety

certificates to more than 2,500 hospitals have been issued or renewed since December 2020.

As of January 15, 2021, there were 328 dedicated COVID hospitals in Gujarat, of which 261 were found to possess valid fire NOCs. As on date, out of these 328 hospitals, 298 have valid fire NOCs. For the remaining 30 hospitals, show-cause notices were issued, the affidavit said.

The government also said that "due to measures like mock drills, an inspection of hospital

premises by fire officers, train-ing etc., "nine incidents of fire were controlled and (fire) extin-guished at the incipient stage preventing the loss of property and lives during the peak of sec-ond COVID wave in Gujarat".

Two of these fires were reported in Ahmedabad on May 7 and May 17, two in Surat on April 25 and May 10, two in Rajkot on May 7 and May 20, two in Jamnagar on May 14 and May 18, and one in Bhavnagar on May 12, it said.

The state government has also submitted before the Supreme Court a copy of a report by the Commission of Inquiry headed by Justice DA Mehta (retired) on the fire at Shrey Hospital in Ahmedabad and Uday Shivanand Hospital in Rajkot and mentioned the steps taken by the state gov-ernment, in a sealed cover, the government said.

At Shrey Hospital, eight

COVID-19 patients were killed in a fire on August 6, 2020. A fire at Uday Shivanand Hospital killed five COVID-19 patients on November 27 last year. In Bharuch, 18 people, including 16 patients died in a fire that occurred at a COVID-19 hos-pital on May 1 this year.

The Gujarat government has also clarified a notification issued by it on July 8, 2021.

The notification directed that no coercive action should be taken against the buildings having no Building Use (BU) permission till three months from December 31, 2021, which is the last date of applicability of the Gujarat Epidemic Diseases COVID-19 Regulation, 2020.

The government said this notification didn't mean any relaxation in the issuance of a fire safety certificate and the statutory compliance with the fire safety norms under the Fire Safety Act, 2013. MPOST

1,101 hospitals in Guj do not have valid fire safety certificates: Govt tells SC

Some parts in Rajasthan face flood-like situation due to torrential rains

SC is hearing a suo motu PIL on the issue of proper treatment of COVID patients

A connecting bridge in between Tamar Police Station area and Bundu police station area collapsed due to heavy rain near Ranchi on Sunday PTI

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav during an interview, in Lucknow on Sunday PIC/PTI

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray during the foundation stone laying of the BDD chawl redevelopment project at Worli in Mumbai, Sunday PIC/PTI

Home Minister Amit Shah with Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Aditiyanath during laying the foundation stone of Maa Vidhyavasini Corridor and various other development projects in Mirzapur, Sunday PIC/PTI

7millenniumpost Editorial mpNEW DELHI | MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021

Log on to write letters to the editor or send them to letter2editor.mp@gmail.com. You can also send your comments to The Editor,

Millennium Post, Pratap Bhawan, 5 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002

DearEditor

On July 28, the minister of social justice and empowerment in response to a written question in Rajya Sabha said that around 67,000 were engaged in manual scavenging before a ban came into effect in December 2013. He also told the Parliament that no death has been reported due to manual scavenging during the last five years. However, earlier this year during the budget session, the concerned ministry informed Lok Sabha that as many as 340 people died while cleaning sewers and septic tanks during the last five years as per the cases reported by the states and UTs up to December 31, 2020. Maximum cases were reported from UP at 52 deaths followed by Tamil Nadu (43), Delhi (36), Maharashtra (34), and 31 each in Gujarat and Haryana. The 2020 answer gives state-wise details of deaths and compensation paid. The two different responses in Parliament create an artificial difference between manual scavengers and sewage cleaners which is misleading. Those who die inhaling noxious fumes in the sewers cannot be distinguished from those who clean dry latrines which. Despite being banned, such practices continue to exist in some pockets of the country. Both are engaged in the same job of cleaning human body wastes. For the record, manual scavenging was outlawed in India in 1993. In 2018, Raman Magsaysay award recipient Bezwada Wilson said that Safai Karamchari Andolan, the NGO he runs, had gathered evidence that at least 1,790 such deaths had occurred over the past two decades.

— KHOKAN DAS, KOLKATA via email

EDITORIALNuggets of hope

Two of the greatest challenges faced by the Indian education system has been that of accessibil-ity and affordability. University Grants Commis-sion’s Academic Bank of Credit scheme seeks to

facilitate wider and more comprehensive accessibility by providing students greater choice and flexibility in pursu-ing their higher education. It has to be acknowledged that the higher education scenario in India remains in a dis-mal state. It is important to understand that when we refer to the performance of higher education, it is not limited to the handful of prestigious universities but includes all the higher education institutes from small towns and cit-ies across India. The conduction of degree level courses is marred by grave inconsistencies. In many of the ill-per-forming states, teacher-education ratio, attendance of stu-dents or even conduction of regular classes remain far behind what could be called satisfactory. It is really shock-ing that in large parts of rural India, higher education is perceived as a non-rewarding course of action, and voca-tional courses or competitive exams completely outshine higher education options. This badly affects the overall sen-timent towards quality research, weakening a fundamental pillar upon which the aspirations of a developing country like India could be based upon. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the higher education system is in ailing condi-tion across India and awaits transformative reforms. One is bound to find nuggets of hope in the provisions of New Education Policy 2020. One of the provisions that are being launched as a scheme is the Academic Bank of Credit that could introduce transformative changes in degree edu-cation. The scheme bears the outlook of a bank account where students can store the credits they would earn dur-ing their studies and use those for admission in courses as per their requirements. The scheme aims to facilitate multi-disciplinary higher education by allowing students’ mobil-ity across higher educational institutions through credit recognition, credit accumulation, credit transfer and credit redemption. Simply put this will allow students to switch colleges and courses and even resume their studies after a gap period. ABC could herald a shift from a monolithic to an interdisciplinary education system. The scheme, at least in its structure, seems to drive inclusion and greater acces-sibility. Higher education in rural and semi-urban areas is considered an option that could be skipped for other pref-erences offering immediate rewards. It is a time-demanding and costly affair that prevents a lot of students from brav-ing to enter into the higher education system, as immedi-ate livelihood needs and low and unsustainable income of families might be acting as a deterrent for them. This has undoubtedly been preventing meticulous minds from tak-ing lead into crucial areas of research and innovation. The greater flexibility allowed under ABC has the potential to ward off such anomalies by providing flexibility in the edu-cation system. Delhi University Teachers Association has raised its apprehension around the scheme saying it might dilute the degree education. While the apprehension is valid for varsities like Delhi University, JNU etc., it doesn’t offer an alternative solution to the overall ailing higher education system. DUTA has also apprehended that such a scheme would reduce universities to “mere degree distri-bution shops”. It has rightly raised the concern that such a system is prone to misuse by way of outsourcing admis-sions and examinations to agencies. So, clearly, the scheme has the potential for good and bad as well, as it is with any other scheme. What is important is that the government is showing intent to address some of the lingering issues in the education system. Another concern of DUTA is that the digital system of credits will reduce the role of teach-ing staff. The criticism seems to be generic to any disruptive tech-based initiative. Furthermore, how effective a policy is or not, is always just half part of the discussion. Implemen-tation strategy and the approach that the leadership takes are the other parts. Here comes in picture the beauty of a rules-based democratic order. The potential for misuse has to be minimised at the best possible scale by devising legal or administrative provisions. The legitimacy of the critical voices needs to be recognised and their concerns should be addressed through clearly laid out provisions without leaving much to the discretion of the administration. The National Education Policy is a defining document that has been reworked after 34 years. The particular aspect in ques-tion will shape the course of higher education for decades to come. Any vulnerable spot in the scheme is the last thing that we would like to live with. Academic Bank of Credit potentially offers some hope and opportunity. Let us make it foolproof by smoothening the edges to ensure that the opportunity is not lost.

millenniumpost.in

AMBIGUOUS DATA

Unresolved differences

On emerging concerns

Cartographic confusion between land and waterfronts leaves the Assam-Mizoram border in a shared yet disagreeable situation; mixing up cultural and political boundaries

Besides discussing high-stakes Afghanistan and the Quad, Blinken held talks with Jaishankar on human rights in context of domestic and congressional assertions

Cachar district, once termed as an ‘island of peace’ by former PM Indira Gan-

dhi, is now a victim of ‘bor-der politics’. I am a resident of this part. Gunning down of six policemen by defenders of the state of Mizoram, and injuring some 60 on the shad-owy slopes of Lailapur reserve forests, well inside Mizoram, on the ominous day of July 26 by firing automatic weap-ons after the trigger was first pressed by Assam Police, left people of Cachar and Barak Valley in a state of shock and grief. Assam police ran over an empty post of Mizoram Police on the elevated hillocks of Lailapur. The Superintendent of Police, Cachar was heard praying for a ceasefire from his Mizoram counterpart. The whole situation showed deadly provocation and an ongoing tiff on who occupied whose land and who damaged whose property, blaming each other as ‘first aggressors’. It’s quite ironic that even 75 years after independence, Northeast of India has been witnessing fre-quent border skirmishes over the last five years or so at many frontiers including Assam-Meghalaya, Assam-Arunachal, Assam-Nagaland and now at Assam-Mizoram border at the green and peaceful hamlet of Lailapur.

The Central Government, through its rather late inter-vention, made both Assam and Mizoram agree to the presence of neutral Central forces in the Lailapur area, manning the entire border of 146 kilome-tres. The dispute on demar-cation continues since 1875 when, for the first time, Lus-hai Hills was demarcated from Cachar. Again, back in 1933, the demarcation of Lushai Hills from Manipur created an issue with Mizo chiefs as Manipur accepted the far eastern part of Lailapur as the border between Cachar and Manipur, on which Mizoram stakes its claim even

today, as there are natural rivu-lets flowing down from Lushai Hills. The 1875 demarcation, based on the policy of natural waterfronts, was unilaterally altered by the British in 1933, which the Assam government presently insists upon. This policy of natural waterfront once led the colonial rulers to include Lushai territory within Cachar, as Lushais drank water from a river which, according to colonial rulers, merged into the river Barak. This gave the colonial rulers the justification to include much of the terri-tory of Lushai Hills within the Cachar district. Jumping to the present, this near ancient understanding of the border between southern Cachar and Mizoram, based on water-fronts, could not give a linear demarcation over undulat-ing spaces, as it left out cer-tain forest areas, hillocks, rivers and land stretches without any border markers. The only bor-der sign that remains in Laila-pur is the entry check gate of Mizoram.

Cartographic confusion between land and waterfronts leaves the Cachar-Mizoram border in a shared yet dis-

agreeable situation, mixing up two kinds of boundaries — the cultural and the politi-cal — that cast omen over the slightly elevated topography of Lailapur, typical of Barak-Surma landscapes. In the jun-gles, beyond the border check gate of Mizoram at Lailapur, Mizos do not extend their cul-tural boundary, while the stat-ist political boundary extends into ‘un-demarcated’ hills on both sides of the national highway.

Private ownership over these ‘un-demarcated’ land either by Mizos or by Ben-galis from Cachar with their tenures in two different states of Mizoram and Assam, only builds a proposition of ‘claim rights’ by way of occupancy. Interestingly, the nature of possession and land use in the hillocks around the Lailapur border remain largely ‘non-agricultural’, which then could only be used for the collec-tion of forest products by local communities on the border. In a sense, the presence of the state is limited to Macadam Road that is called the national highway, leaving the ‘un-demarcated’ elevated spaces

to private occupancy, periodic renewal of leases and an open interpretation not to be given by users but by their respective states. This is how the political boundary is made by rulers over the economic and cul-tural boundaries. This is how the colonial concept of ‘natu-ral boundary’ is turned into a rather conflicted interpretation of the ‘un-demarcated’ border spaces by instituting a deliber-ate difference between cultural and political boundaries.

Firepower-based conflict of claims and counter-claims over the village tract of Laila-pur is a state-sponsored con-flict propelled by a politics of framing the border. While the border is framed by demar-cating inside from outside, the confusion between land and water, cultural and political boundary, refuses to shift to a much more non-linear nation space of a common country that we, the people, presently inhabit. This brings out a beau-tiful point that people belong to the land and it is not the other way around.

To whom do these ‘un-demarcated’ areas of Lailapur then belong? Untying a deeply divisive and relativistic answer, tied mostly to the colonial and pre-colonial narratives, now poses a big challenge to a pos-sible agreement on a common border sans all past baggage.

For instance, Lushai raids on tea gardens of Southern Cachar in the mid 19th cen-tury and taking away of slaves, as recorded in both oral history and in a chronicle like ‘Tripura Rajmala’, create an extension of the so-called imaginary slavery system called ‘Bawi’ as practised by Mizos unto plains of Southern Cachar. As in Pla-to’s apologia, can the so-called ‘slaves’ released in Mizoram by the colonial rulers in the late 19th century be the undoc-umented ‘illegal immigrants’ belonging to a demarcated border? Or, could the slave-owning people belong to the

demarcated land, and the land belongs only to the imagined slaves and peoples who now can be colourfully labelled as ‘Bangladeshi’? Then, whom does the border belong to, especially when it lies on ‘un-demarcated’ land? Is it just the case of constructing a border in which some people are to be cast first as ‘videsi’ or the outsiders and then are to be purged and displaced after cap-turing the land? Any state can capture any ‘un-demarcated’ land in a competitive manner, but the “videsi-Bangladesi-desi” logic of Lailapur-Vairengte vio-lence shows fixed targets and targeters, both of whom con-struct an imagined ringside on an ‘un-demarcated’ border.

As the friendly match started by Assam turned bloody unlike other occasions, the towels are now thrown by calling the other side foreign-ers and infiltrators. Gates of death only turn those Bangla-deshi Assam Police officials into ‘Indians’, a rare tribute by Assam chief minister to slain Bengali Muslim policemen from Barak Valley and Bar-peta. Posthumous ‘desiization’ of slain Assam police and ordi-nary citizens who are injured by an otherwise virile public discourse of native/immigrant tenor established the lie of the border by attributing the clash to illegal Bangladeshi settlers. The other home truth is the scene of firing that involved suspected militias who might have infiltrated from Myanmar and carried out the mayhem with local collaborators.

At the end of the day, hard-ening soft borders between states only brings out the weak-nesses of the respective people of the states, none of whom are autochthons. It is their poli-tics of constructing a claim on the ‘un-demarcable’ and ‘un-demarcated’ border that the post-colonial Indian state finds very difficult to settle, because of centuries of ethnocentricity.

Views expressed are personal

PRASENJIT BISWAS

KV PRASAD

The trajectory of the bilateral Compre-hensive Global Stra-tegic Partnership

between India and the United States remains on an upward curve. Last week, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken conducted a quick review of the engage-ment that spans across several sectors.

In terms of outcomes, the formal discussions were more in the nature of assess-ing policy framework and its direction as the Biden admin-istration continues to read-just America’s priorities in the post-Trump era to take for-ward the commitment of the Democratic Party.

There were no deliverables. During his 24-hour sojourn in New Delhi, Secretary Blinken ticked all the boxes from the to-do list — Afghanistan, COVID-19 management, cli-mate change, Indo-Pacific, Quadrilateral security dia-logue. India also didn’t shy away from engaging with Washington on human rights and democratic values.

Blinken’s maiden visit to India in his new role comes two months after Exter-nal Affairs Minister Jaishan-kar went to Washington DC. Blinken became the second high-ranking member of the Biden cabinet to visit India, after Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin in March this year. In between, came a quick call-on by John Kerry —the US President’s special envoy on climate change.Afghanistan

Like most other countries in the region, India is tracking developments in the war-torn country where the landscape is changing at a fast clip. Taliban

is making a determined push militarily to expand its hold on districts amid an estimate that half of Afghanistan’s 400 districts are under its shadow. The end of the discussion artic-ulation reflected convergence, with both sides emphasising that a negotiated settlement is the preferred route to the seat of power in Kabul.

With the Americans on course to end their ‘forever war’ by September 11, it is anybody’s guess whether the Ashraf Ghani government in Kabul can hold on to the position even as the Taliban emphasised his leadership was not acceptable. Considering India’s experience when the Taliban controlled the levers of power in Afghanistan, devel-opments in the country remain a matter of concern.

There is a debate whether India has opened a dialogue with the Taliban or should it do so at all. The safety of its people in Afghanistan remains high. Over the last two decades, India invested funds for development projects gen-erating goodwill among the

people, a factor that is loathed by Pakistan.

Now with the US exit-ing from Afghanistan, would Washington exert greater influence on Islamabad as it rolled out another Quad diplo-matic platform with Afghani-stan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan on regional connectivity? The development comes around the time the United States, China and Russia included Pakistan in the extended Troika for a peaceful settle-ment in Afghanistan.Quad and Indo-Pacific

Without a formal struc-ture as of now, both these fora — the Quadrilateral (Quad) Security Dialogue and evolv-ing Indo-Pacific are comple-mentary to each other. Early into his presidency, Biden moved the pieces on Quad with leaders of partner coun-tries — Australia, India and Japan. By announcing a point-person for Indo-Pacific, the President underscored conti-nuity in foreign policy.

The United States is pre-paring to host the first in-person summit meeting of

Quad leaders this autumn, an event that is certain to irri-tate China. At its last meeting, the Quad leaders decided to produce COVID-19 vaccines with Japan and the US funding production facilities in India, and Australia taking care of the logistics of reaching the consignments across the vast region.

The emphasis of both sides for a free, open, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific and a promise to work together to turn that vision into reality would take a lot of work from all sides including countries in Southeast Asia and Africa, besides those in the Pacific region. The Secretary of State Blinken and Defence Secre-tary Lloyd have been travel-ling to countries in the region to provide a concrete shape to the idea. On the bilateral front, the United States is to host the 2+2 Dialogue of Ministers of Defence and Foreign Affairs later this year.Human Rights

On the eve of the visit, the United States sent a categori-cal message — the intention of Secretary Blinken to have a conversation with India on the issue of human rights amid a perception that there is a ‘backslide’ in democratic practices here.

India came prepared to engage with Washington and the post-meeting press con-ference was an indicator that the issue figured with each side stating its position. Aware of the sentiments and that the pushback by New Delhi could point to developments back in the United States, the Secretary of State pointed to challenges the United States is facing, characterising that the path of democracy was a ‘work in progress’.

Human rights keep crop-ping up on the agenda inter-mittently from Washington. It is not always that such conver-sations held inside the room are mentioned in the open. Human rights watch groups remain ever so active with the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour presenting period reports to the US Congress including India.

It is important to under-stand the current political landscape in the United States. The situation there is quite dif-ferent in the post-Trump era. President Biden is conducting affairs of the state when the Republicans remain aggressive and sections of his Democratic Party are pushing a progres-sive agenda.

The Biden administration continues to negotiate with the Republicans to rebuild the United States through a trillion-dollar infrastructure spending, creating more jobs at home, dealing with China and reconfiguring the US econ-omy. These tasks are to be bal-anced with the priorities of the progressive Democrats who advocate better daily wages, improved working conditions for the workforce, racial jus-tice etc.

The progressive on Capitol Hill includes two of the most prominent Indian Americans — Rohit ‘Ro’ Khanna (Cali-fornia) and Pramila Jayapal (Washington State) — who raise issues like farmers’ agi-tation in India, situation in Jammu and Kashmir etc. The Human rights talk during Sec-retary Blinken’s visit should be seen in the context of domestic and congressional assertions. As the saying goes, all politics is local.

Views expressed are personal

Ironically, NE border skirmishes continue after 75 years of independence

Blinken’s maiden visit to India in his new role comes two months after Jaishankar visited Washington DC

At the end of the day, hardening soft borders between states only bring out the weaknesses of the respective people of the states, none of whom are autochthons

Human rights issues keep cropping up intermittently on the agenda of Washington. It is not always that such conversations held inside the room are mentioned in the open

8 millenniumpostWorldmpMONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021 | NEW DELHI

Afghan forces battle to thwart Taliban assaults on key cities

KABUL: Afghan government forces struggled against Tali-ban assaults on several major cities Sunday as the insurgents stepped up a nationwide offen-sive that saw a key airport in the south come under rocket fire overnight.

Hundreds of commandos were deployed to the western city of Herat while authorities in the southern city of Lashkar Gah called for more troops to rein in the assaults.

Fighting has surged across the country since early May when US-led foreign forces began a final withdrawal from Afghanistan that is now almost complete.

After seizing large tracts of rural territory and capturing key border crossings, the Tali-ban have started assaulting pro-vincial capitals with gruelling onslaughts.

Flights out of Kandahar, Afghanistan's second-largest city and the former stronghold for the insurgents, were halted after rockets struck the airport before dawn.

Airport chief Massoud Pash-tun said two rockets had hit the

runway and repairs were under-way with planes likely to resume service later on Sunday.

The facility is vital to main-taining the logistics and air support needed to keep the Taliban from overrunning the city, while also providing aerial cover for large tracts of south-ern Afghanistan.

The attack came as the Tal-iban inched closer to over-

whelming at least two other provincial capitals, including nearby Lashkar Gah in Hel-mand province.

"Fighting is going on inside the city and we have asked for special forces to be deployed," Ataullah Afghan, head of Hel-mand provincial council, told AFP.

Afghan security forces have increasingly relied on air strikes

to push the militants back from cities even as they run the risk of hitting civilians in heavily populated areas.

"The city is in the worst con-dition. I do not know what will happen," said Halim Karimi, a resident of Lashkar Gah, a city of 200,000 residents.

"Neither the Taliban will have mercy on us, nor will the government stop bombing."

Further west in Herat, fight-ing continued on the city's out-skirts overnight with air strikes targeting Taliban positions, fol-lowing another day of dramatic clashes between the insurgents and Afghan security forces bol-stered by local militia fighters.

Herat provincial governor's spokesman Jailani Farhad said around 100 militant fighters had been killed in the attacks.

Both the Taliban and gov-ernment forces tend to exag-gerate their claims of casualties inflicted on the other's forces and true counts are difficult to independently verify.

On Sunday, the Ministry of Defence said that hundreds of commandos had been sent to Herat to help beat back the insurgent assault. "These forces will increase offensive opera-tions and suppress the Taliban in Herat," the ministry tweeted.

As fighting raged, President Ashraf Ghani again slammed the Taliban for failing to mar-shal their negotiating power to reach a peace deal.

"We want peace but they want us to surrender," Ghani said at a cabinet meeting. AGENCIES

Flights out of Kandahar, the former stronghold for the insurgents, were halted after rockets struck the airport before dawn

Evictions looming, Biden fails to get Congress to extend banWASHINGTON DC: A nationwide eviction morato-rium is set to expire after Presi-dent Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress worked furiously but ultimately failed to align on a long-shot strategy to prevent millions of Americans from being forced from their homes during a COVID-19 surge.

More than 3.6 million Americans are at risk of evic-tion, some in a matter of days, as nearly 47 billion in federal housing aid to the states dur-ing the pandemic has been slow to make it into the hands of renters and landlords owed payments.

Tensions mounted late Fri-day as it became clear there would be no resolution in sight. Hours before the ban was set to expire, Biden called on local governments to take all possible steps to immediately disburse the funds. Evictions could begin as soon as Monday.

There can be no excuse for any state or locality not accel-erating funds to landlords and tenants that have been hurt during this pandemic, Biden said in a statement.

Every state and local gov-ernment must get these funds out to ensure we prevent every eviction we can, he said.

The stunning outcome, as the White House and Congress each expected the other to act, exposed a rare divide between the president and his allies

on Capitol Hill, and one that could have lasting impact as the nation's renters face wide-spread evictions.

Biden set off the scram-ble by announcing he would allow the eviction ban to expire, rather than challenge a recent Supreme Court ruling signal-ing this would be the last dead-line. He called on Congress on Thursday to swiftly pass legisla-tion to extend the date.

Racing to respond, Demo-crats strained to rally the votes early Friday. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi implored col-leagues to pass legislation extending the deadline, calling it a moral imperative, to protect renters and also the landlords who are owed compensation.

Congress must meet the needs of the American peo-ple: both the families unable to make rent and those to

whom the rent is to be paid, she said an overnight letter late Thursday.

But after hours of behind-the-scenes wrangling through-out the day, Democratic lawmakers had questions and could not muster support to extend the ban even a few months. An attempt to simply approve an extension by con-sent, without a formal vote, was objected to by House Republi-cans. The Senate may try again Saturday.

Lawmakers were livid at prospect of evictions in the middle of a surging pandemic.

Housing is a primary social indicator of health, in and of itself, even absent COVID, said Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cor-tez, D-N.Y. A mass eviction in the United States does repre-sent a public health crisis unto itself. AGENCIES

Europe's vaccine passes reveal some pockets of resistance

VERONA (Italy): Shouts of Liberty! have echoed through the streets and squares of Italy and France as thousands show their opposition to plans to require vaccination cards for normal social activities, such as dining indoors at restaurants, visiting museums or cheering in sports stadiums.

Leaders in both countries see the cards, dubbed the Green Pass in Italy and the health pass in France, as necessary to boost vaccination rates and persuade the undecided.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi likened the anti-vac-cination message from some political leaders to an appeal to die.

The looming requirement is working, with vaccination

requests booming in both countries.

Still, there are pockets of resistance by those who see it as a violation of civil liberties or have concerns about vac-cine safety. About 80,000 peo-ple protested in cities across Italy last weekend, while thou-sands have marched in Paris for the past three weekends, at times clashing with police.

European nations in general have made strides in their vac-cination rates in recent months, with or without incentives. No country has made the shots mandatory, and campaigns to persuade the undecided are a patchwork.

Denmark pioneered vac-cine passes with little resis-tance. Belgium will require a

vaccine certificate to attend outdoor events with more than 1,500 people by mid-

August and indoor events by September.

Germany and Britain

have so far resisted a blan-ket approach, while vaccina-tions are so popular in Spain that incentives are not deemed necessary.

In France and Italy, demon-strations against vaccine passes or virus restrictions in general are bringing together otherwise unlikely allies, often from the political extremes.

They include far-right par-ties, campaigners for economic justice, families with small chil-dren, those against vaccines and those who fear them.

Many say vaccine pass requirements are a source of inequality that will further divide society, and they draw uneasy historic parallels.

We are creating a great inequality between citizens,''

said one protester in Verona, who identified himself only as Simone because he said he feared for his livelihood.

We will have first-class cit-izens, who can access public services, the theater, social life, and second-class citizens, who cannot. This thing has led to apartheid and the Holocaust."

Some protesters in Italy and France have worn yellow Stars of David, like those the Nazis required Jews to wear during World War II.

Holocaust survivors call the comparison a distortion of his-tory. They are madness, ges-tures in poor taste that intersect with ignorance,'' said Liliana Segre, a 90-year-old Holocaust survivor and Italian senator for life. AGENCIES

European nations in general have made strides in their vaccination rates in recent months, with or without incentives

‘Myanmar elections will be in 2 years’NAYPYITAW: Six months after seizing power from the elected government, Myanmar's mili-tary leader on Sunday repeated his pledge to hold fresh elec-tions in two years and cooperate with Southeast Asian nations on finding a political solution for his country.

We must create conditions to hold a free and fair multiparty general election," Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing said during a recorded televised address. "We have to make preparations. I pledge to hold the multiparty general election without fail.

The military authorities would accomplish the provi-sions of the state of emergency by August 2023, he said.

The state of emergency was declared when troops moved against the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1, an action the generals said was permitted under the military-authored 2008 constitution. The military claimed her landslide victory in last year's national

elections was achieved through massive voter fraud but it has produced no credible evidence.

The military government officially annulled the elec-tion results last Tuesday and appointed a new election com-mission to take charge of the polls.

The military takeover was met with massive public pro-tests that resulted in a lethal crackdown by security forces who routinely fire live ammu-

nition into crowds.As of Sunday, 939 people

have been killed by the authori-ties since Feb. 1, according to a tally kept by the independent Assistance Association for Polit-ical Prisoners. Casualties are also rising among the military and police as armed resistance grows in both urban and rural areas.

Moves by The Association of Southeast Asian Nations to broker a dialogue between the

military government and its opponents have stalled after an agreement at an April summit in Jakarta to appoint a special envoy for Myanmar.

The envoy still hasn't been named amid criticism of lack of commitment from Myan-mar's rulers, and reluctance by its neighbours to interfere in a member's affairs. Ahead of a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers hosted by Brunei this week, Min Aung Hlaing pushed back at the criticism, saying Myanmar is ready to work on ASEAN cooperation within the ASEAN framework, including the dialogue with the ASEAN special envoy in Myanmar.

The country is also strug-gling with its worst COVID-19 outbreak that has overwhelmed its already crippled health care system. Limitations on oxygen sales have led to widespread allegations that the military is directing supplies to govern-ment supporters and military-run hospitals. AGENCIES

Senate advances nearly $ 1 tn infrastructure plan

WASHINGTON DC: The Sen-ate convened for a rare weekend session with Majority Leader Chuck Schumer encouraging the authors of a bipartisan infra-structure plan to finish writing their nearly USD 1 trillion bill so that senators can begin offer-ing amendments.

Several senators had pre-dicted that the text of the bill would be ready for review late Friday or early Saturday, but it was not done when the Senate opened for business late on Sat-urday morning. Nor was it ready when the chamber recessed after four hours of minimal activity on the floor. Rather, the work was still taking place behind the scenes and it was unclear when votes would occur.

Schumer, D-N.Y., said he understood that completing the writing of such a large bill is a difficult project, but he warned

that he was prepared to keep lawmakers in Washington for as long as it took to complete votes on both the bipartisan infrastructure plan and a budget blueprint that would allow the Senate to begin work later this year on a massive, USD 3.5 tril-lion social, health and environ-mental bill. The longer it takes to finish, the longer we will be here, but we're going to get the job done," he said.

The bipartisan plan calls for 550 billion in new spending over five years above projected fed-eral level. A draft bill circulating Capitol Hill indicated it could have more than 2,500 pages when introduced. It's being financed from funding sources that might not pass muster with deficit hawks, including repur-posing untapped COVID-19 relief aid and relying on pro-jected future economic growth.

Among the major invest-ments are 110 billion for roads and bridges, 39 billion for pub-lic transit and 66 billion for rail. There's also 55 billion for water and wastewater infrastructure as well as billions for airports, ports, broadband Internet and electric vehicle charging sta-tions. A bipartisan group of sen-ators helped it clear one more hurdle Friday and braced to see if support could hold dur-ing the next few days of debate and efforts to amend it.

Schumer wants the voting to be wrapped up before senators break for their August recess.

We may need the weekend, we may vote on several amend-ments, but with the cooperation of our Republican colleagues, I believe we can finish the biparti-san infrastructure bill in a mat-ter of days, Schumer said Friday night. AGENCIES

US Navy says drone strike hit oil tanker off Oman, killing 2

DUBAI: US Navy explosive experts believe a drone strike targeted an oil tanker that came under attack off the coast of Oman in the Arabian Sea, kill-ing two on board, the American military has said.

The strike Thursday night on the oil tanker Mercer Street marks the first-known fatal attack after years of assaults on commercial shipping in the region linked to tensions with Iran over its tattered nuclear deal. While no one has claimed responsibility for the attack, Israeli officials alleged Tehran launched the drone strike.

While Iran did not directly acknowledge the attack, the strike comes, as Tehran now appears poised to take an even tougher approach with the West as the country prepares to inaugurate a hardline prot g of Supreme Leader Ayatol-lah Ali Khamenei as president.

The American nuclear-pow-ered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the guided missile destroyer USS Mitscher were escorting the Mercer Street as it headed to a safe port, the US Navy's Mideast-based 5th Fleet said in a statement early Saturday.

US Navy explosives experts are aboard to ensure there is no additional danger to the crew, and are prepared to support an investigation into the attack, the 5th Fleet said. Initial indications clearly point to a (drone)-style attack." The 5th Fleet statement did not explain how it deter-mined a drone caused the dam-age, although it described its explosive experts finding clear visual evidence that an attack had occurred aboard the Mer-cer Street. The U.S. military's Central Command did not immediately respond to ques-tions on the evidence. AGENCIES

Sri Lanka lifts inter-provincial travel ban

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka on Sunday lifted its three-month-long inter-provincial travel ban, as the Coronavirus vaccina-tion drive picks up pace in the country.

However, the travel per-mission as of now will only be extended to government employees on official duty. While public buses resumed services on Sunday, public trains will resume services on Monday.

Officials said over-crowding in the services will be strictly prohibited.

"We will allow buses to take passengers strictly limited to their seating capacity," said State Public Transport Minis-ter Dilum Amunugama.

The inter-provincial travel will be permitted only to those on official duty, said senior health official Asela Gunawardena.

President Gotabaya Raj-apaksa last week ordered the resumption of full state services from Monday (August 2). He cancelled circulars permitting work from home for govern-ment employees, in view of the widening vaccination drive.

This will be the first time public transport will be oper-ational since late April. The tough travel restrictions were implemented after a tremen-dous spike in cases follow-ing the Sinhalese New Year in mid-April.

Meanwhile, public health officials remain wary of the government opening up ser-vices, as the country continues to record high number of daily virus cases, fuelled by the delta

variant of COVID-19, which was first identified in India.

The number of daily cases has exceeded 2,000 every day in the last week, with nearly 250 deaths in this period.

Sri Lanka on Sunday morn-ing began rolling out the sec-ond dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which was stalled after India's Serum Institute could not meet supply orders.

Under the global COVAX facility, Sri Lanka received 724,000 vaccine doses from Japan on Saturday.

"We have opened up centres working 24 hours of the day from this morning to admin-ister the second jab of Astra-Zeneca," said Head of COVID Prevention National Commit-tee, Army Commander General Shavendra Silva. AGENCIES

Nepal Cabinet expansion likely by Monday

KATHMANDU: Nepal's newly-appointed Prime Min-ister Sher Bahadur Deuba and CPN-Maoist Centre chief Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Pra-chanda' have agreed to expand the Cabinet by Monday, a media report said on Sunday.

The ruling parties are doing the homework to appoint lead-ers from their own party in the government. The extension will take place on Sunday or by Monday, My Republica newspa-per reported, citing its sources.

It said a meeting was held at the prime minister's residence in Baluwatar where the two lead-ers agreed to expand the gov-ernment to include CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal's side "as much as possible".

At present, besides Deuba, there are four Cabinet minis-ters and one minister of state in the Cabinet.

CPN-UML leader Madhav Nepal, however, is reluctant to join the government right now in the wake of struggle within the party.

In such a case, the Nepali Congress will have eight minis-ters, the Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party seven each after the Cabinet expan-sion, the paper said.

Citing its sources, it said that in the remaining three places, the leaders close to Madhav Nepal, but with independent status will be made ministers.

Nepal's Constitution allows only 25 Cabinet ministers.

NC leaders Pushpa Bhusal, Narayan Khadka, Man Baha-dur BK, Kishor Singh Rathore and Bahadur Singh Lama are likely to be inducted in the Cabinet. AGENCIES

6 killed, 7 hurt as bus falls into ditch in B’deshDHAKA: Six people have died and seven others were injured as a speeding truck fell into a ditch in Bangladesh's Madari-pur district, according to media reports on Sunday.

The truck was carrying roof-casting material from Barguna to Dhaka when it tipped over near the Arial Khan Bridge Toll Plaza in Shib-char on Saturday night, the Dhaka Tribune quoted Offi-cer-in-Charge, Shibchar High-way Police Mohammad Ali as saying.

The driver lost control of the vehicle after hitting the rail-ing of the bridge, killing two people on the spot.

Eleven people were sent to nearby hospitals in critical condition, of whom four died receiving treatment, The Daily Star reported.

The truck driver is said to have escaped unhurt and the police are on the lookout for him. Investigation is on. AGENCIES

Gen. Ajmal Omar Shinwari, spokesperson of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces, (ANDSF) speaks during press a conference in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday PTI

President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting with governors PTI

A medical worker, right, administers a shot of a Coronavirus vaccine to Gloria Raudjarv, 13-year-old girl, at a vaccination center inside a sports hall in Estonia's second largest city, Tartu, 164 km. south-east from Tallinn, Estonia PTI

The driver lost control of the vehicle after hitting the railing of the bridge, killing two people on the spot

However, the travel permission as of now will only be extended to government employees on official duty

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

9millenniumpost Business mpNEW DELHI | MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Auto majors, including Maruti Suzuki India, Hyundai and Tata Motors, on Sunday reported high double-digit growth in their domestic passenger vehicle sales in July riding on stabilisation of macro-economic factors and better consumer sentiments.

Similarly, Honda, Nissan, MG Motor and Skoda also reported healthy growth in their sales last month leveraging on improved market mood amid prevailing lower coronavirus infection rate, despite supply constraints of semi-conductors.

The country’s largest car-maker Maruti Suzuki India’s (MSI) domestic sales increased by 39 per cent to 1,41,238 units last month as against 1,01,307 units in July 2020, the company said in a statement.

While sales of mini cars comprising Alto and WagonR stood at 19,685 units as com-pared to 17,258 units in the same month last year, those of compact segment, including models such as Swift, Celerio, Ignis, Baleno and Dzire, rose to 70,268 units as against 51,529 cars in July last year.

MSI said its sales of its util-ity vehicles, including Vitara Brezza, S-Cross and Ertiga, stood at 32,272 units last month as compared to 19,177 in the year-ago month.

Rival Hyundai Motor India reported 26 per cent jump in its domestic sales at 48,042 units as against 38,200 units in July 2020, driven by strong perfor-mance of newly launched model

Alcazar and other products like Creta, i20 and Venue. “A positive growth momentum is clearly visible in the passenger vehicle industry with the stabilisation of macro-economic factors, good monsoons and increase in con-sumer shift towards personal mobility,” Hyundai Motor India Ltd Director (Sales, Marketing & Service) Tarun Garg said.

Homegrown auto major Tata Motors also continued its impressive growth momentum in the passenger vehicles seg-ment posting domestic sales of 30,185 units in July, as com-pared to 15,012 units in the same month last year.

Another player, MG Motor India reported a two-fold increase in retail sales at 4,225 units last month as compared to sold 2,105 units in July 2020. The company also recorded its highest-ever bookings and retail sales of ZS EV in July.

“A lot of people ask about EV potential in India and my typi-cal answer is: People are ready and they need good solutions/ options from OEMs (original equipment manufacturers).

One proof point: We booked all-time high 600+ ZS EV in July alone!!,” MG Motor India President and Managing Direc-tor Rajeev Chaba said in a tweet.

Elaborating on the overall sales in July, MG Motor India Director (Sales) Rakesh Sidana said the Hector and ZS EV fur-ther gained momentum during the month.

“However, the severe short-age of chips is expected to con-tinue for some time and will lead to supply constraints. While we expect overall consumer demand to rise, we should also remain cautious of the poten-tial threats posed by the third wave,” he added.

Honda Cars India Ltd (HCIL) also reported a 12 per cent rise in domestic sales at 6,055 units in July as against 5,383 units in the same month last year.

“We achieved our produc-tion ramp-up from last week of July and have streamlined sup-plies in line with market activ-ity. Barring few locations, dealer outlets were mostly operational last month, albeit with lesser

capacity,” HCIL Senior Vice-President and Director (Market-ing & Sales) Rajesh Goel noted.

He added that the market sentiment has improved amid prevailing lower coronavirus infection rate. “We expect the upcoming festive period will help the industry to maintain this momentum.”

Goel, however, said the com-pany would keep a closer watch on the challenges related to the pandemic and rising cost of acquisition of cars due to price hike from this month. Nissan India also reported a multi-fold jump in its domestic sales at 4,259 units in July, up from 784 units in same month of last year.

“Customer sentiments have improved with opening of most of the markets,” Nissan Motor India Managing Direc-tor Rakesh Srivastava said, add-ing that in July the company achieved its highest sales in the past three years. “We have increased the production of Magnite with the plants start-ing third shift operations and are able to serve the pending bookings earlier,” he said.

Although the challenge of shortage of semi-conductors and components is continu-ing, the company’s endeavour is to reduce the waiting period of Magnite further, he added.

Skoda Auto India reported over three-fold increase in sales in July at 3,080 units compared to 922 units in July 2020, fuelled by its new com-pact SUV Kushaq, which was launched with the vision of sub-stantially growing its volumes in India.

NEW DELHI: India’s fuel demand picked up in July as easing of pandemic-related restrictions accelerated eco-nomic activity, helping petrol consumption reach pre-Covid levels, preliminary sales data showed on Sunday.

State-owned fuel retailers sold 2.37 million tonnes of pet-rol in July, up 17 per cent from the year earlier period. It was 3.56 per cent higher than pre-Covid petrol sales of 2.39 mil-lion tonnes in July 2019.

Sales of diesel - the most used fuel in the country - rose 12.36 per cent to 5.45 million tonnes over the previous year, but was down 10.9 per cent from July 2019.

This is the second straight month that showed a rise in consumption since March.

Fuel demand had recovered to near-normal levels in March before the onset of the second wave of COVID-19 infections led to the re-imposition of lock-downs in different states, stalling mobility and muting economic activity.

Consumption in May slumped to its lowest since August last year amid lock-

downs and restrictions in sev-eral states. Fuel demand showed signs of resurgence in June after restrictions began to be eased and the economy gathered pace.

On July 30, S M Vaidya, Chairman of India’s largest oil firm IOC, had stated that pet-rol consumption has risen over pre-Covid levels as people prefer personal transport over public

transport.Diesel sales, he said, were

likely to return to pre-pandemic levels by Diwali in November if a third wave of Covid infections does not lead to reimposition of lockdown.

ATF consumption, which had seen the most severe fall as air travel was restricted begin-ning March 2020, is likely to

return to normal by the end of the current fiscal in March, he had said.

Consumption of LPG, the only fuel which showed growth even during the first lockdown because of free supplies by the government to the poor, rose 4.05 per cent year on year to 2.36 million tonnes in July. It was up 7.55 per cent over July 2019.

With airlines yet to resume full-scale operations because of travel restrictions around the globe, jet fuel sales at 2,91,100 tonnes was up 29.5 per cent year on year but 53.1 per cent lower than July of 2019.

India’s oil demand had dropped by 0.5 million bar-rels per day in 2020, led by a steep weakening in trans-portation fuel, mainly in April-June 2020.

Extended lockdown mea-sures, coupled with limita-tions on mobility, diminished oil product requirements. Pet-rol and jet fuel recorded his-torical declines compared with the same period in 2019. Diesel was down, in line with weak-ness in industrial activity, as well as in road construction and agriculture. PTI

Automobile cos post double-digit domestic sales growth in July

Fuel demand picks up in July, petrol at pre-Coronavirus pandemic level

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Prime Minis-ter Narendra Modi will launch e-RUPI, a person and purpose specific digital payment solu-tion, on Monday via video con-ferencing, his office said.

Underlining that Modi has always championed digital ini-tiatives, the Prime Minister’s Office said over the years, sev-eral programmes have been launched to ensure that the benefits reach its intended beneficiaries in a targeted and leak-proof manner, with lim-ited touch points between the government and the beneficiary.

The concept of electronic voucher takes forward this vision of good governance, it said.

In its statement, the PMO said e-RUPI is a cashless and contactless instrument for digi-tal payment.

It is a QR code or SMS string-based e-voucher, which is delivered to the mobile of the beneficiaries, the statement said.

The users of this seam-less one-time payment mech-anism will be able to redeem the voucher without a card, digital payments app or internet bank-ing access, at the service pro-vider, it said.

It has been developed by the National Payments Corporation

of India on its UPI platform, in collaboration with the Depart-ment of Financial Services, Min-istry of Health & Family Welfare and National Health Authority.

The statement said e-RUPI connects the sponsors of the services with the beneficiaries and service providers in a digi-tal manner without any physi-cal interface.

It also ensures that the pay-ment to the service provider is made only after the transaction

is completed.Being pre-paid in nature,

it assures timely payment to the service provider without involvement of any intermedi-ary, the statement said.

The PMO said it is expected to be a revolutionary initiative in the direction of ensuring a leak-proof delivery of welfare services.

It can also be used for deliv-ering services under schemes meant for providing drugs

and nutritional support under Mother and Child welfare schemes, TB eradication pro-grammes, drugs and diagnostics under schemes like Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, fertiliser sub-sidies etc.

Even the private sector can leverage these digital vouchers as part of their employee welfare and corporate social responsi-bility programmes, the state-ment said.

PM Modi to launch digital payment solution e-RUPIIn its statement, the PMO said e-RUPI is a cashless and

contactless instrument for digital payment

Highlights » It is a QR code or SMS string-based e-voucher, which is delivered to the mobile of the beneficiaries, the statement said » Users of this seamless one-time payment mechanism will be able to redeem the voucher without a card, digital payments app or internet banking access, at the service provider » It also ensures that the payment to the service provider is made only after the transaction is completed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

The statement said e-RUPI connects the sponsors of the services with the beneficiaries and service providers in a digital manner without any physical interface

ATF consumption, which had seen the most severe fall as air travel was restricted beginning March 2020, is likely to return to normal by the end of FY22 in March, IOC Chairman S M Vaidya had said

NEW DELHI: Domes-tic equity markets would be driven by macroeconomic data, quarterly earnings, and RBI interest rate decision this week, analysts said.

Global trends and the pace of vaccination would also guide the local equities, they added.

“In the week ahead, the key event in the domestic market will be the announcement of RBI’s monetary policy deci-sion. To give a view on eco-nomic recovery, the market awaits the release of manu-facturing and service PMI data,” said Vinod Nair, Head of Research at Geojit Finan-cial Services.

Among major earnings announcements, HDFC, PNB, Adani Ports and Spe-cial Economic Zone, Bank Of India, Bharti Airtel, State Bank Of India, and M&M would release their financial results.

Nirali Shah, Head of equity research, Samco Secu-rities, said, “The RBI’s MPC meeting is scheduled for the coming week. Auto sales num-bers, PMI figures along with the result season will continue to drive stock specific move-

ments on D-Street.”“Macroeconomic data,

pace of vaccination and global trends would be major driver

for markets. Auto companies are going to remain in focus as they are going to declare their monthly sales number,” Rahul Sharma, Co- Founder, Equity99, said.

Last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark dipped 388.96 points or 0.73 per cent. “In our view, progress of mon-soon, corporate earnings and COVID-19 trends will remain in focus in the near term,” said Binod Modi, Head Strategy at Reliance Securities. PTI

Macro data, RBI policy to drive markets this week, say analysts

NEW DELHI: PHD Cham-ber of Commerce and Indus-try (PHDCCI) on Sunday urged the government to bring petroleum products in the ambit of goods and ser-vices tax (GST) soon, as high inflation in the fuel products is not only stoking overall prices but also increasing the cost of raw materials for manufactured items.

PHDCCI President San-jay Aggarwal said the Whole-sale Price Index (WPI)-based inflation has been in a dou-ble-digit growth trajectory for the past three months, stoked by high prices of fuel and power.

He added that high com-modity prices are posing a serious challenge to the small businesses to operate in the dif-ficult pandemic times.

These are impacting the cost of production and reduc-ing price-cost margin of the producers and affecting their competitiveness in the domes-tic and international markets, Sanjay Aggarwal said. PTI

Bring petro products

under GST: PHDCCI

NEW DELHI: India’s crude steel production rose by 21.4 per cent year-on-year to 9.4 million tonnes (MT) in June, according to the World Steel Association.

The crude steel output was 6.9 MT steel in the same month a year ago.

“The production for the 64 countries reporting to the World Steel Association (worldsteel) was 167.9 MT on June 2021, an 11.6 per cent increase compared to June 2020, “ the global indus-try body said in its latest report.

China remained the global leader in the production of steel in June, registering 1.5 per cent year-on-year growth in output at 93.9 MT during the month compared to 91.6 MT in the same month last year.

Japan’s steel output increased to 8.1 MT from 5.6 MT in June 2020. The US produced 7.1 MT steel in the month under review. Its output was at 4.7 MT in June 2020.

While Russia’s output in June was at 6.4 MT, South Korea pro-duced 6 MT, Germany 3.4 MT, and Iran 2.5 MT.

Turkey and Brazil both pro-duced 3.4 MT and 3.1 MT of crude steel respectively in June 2021.

With members in every major steel-producing country, Brussels-based worldsteel rep-resents steel producers, national and regional steel industry asso-ciations, and steel research insti-tutes. Its members represent around 85 percent of the global steel production. PTI

NEW DELHI: Billionaire Gau-tam Adani’s ports-to-energy conglomerate has floated a new subsidiary that will set up refin-eries, petrochemical complexes and hydrogen plants - busi-nesses that will directly compete with Mukesh Ambani’s RIL.

Adani Enterprises in stock exchange filing said it has incor-porated Adani Petrochemicals Ltd (APL) as a wholly-owned subsidiary to “carry on busi-ness of setting up refineries, petrochemicals complexes, spe-cialty chemicals units, hydrogen and related chemical plants and other such similar units”.

The conglomerate has oper-ations spanning sea ports to airports to electricity genera-tion and transmission, renew-able energy, mining, natural gas, food processing, defence and infrastructure. And now it is foraying into petrochem-icals and other related areas, which will directly compete with Ambani’s Reliance Indus-tries Ltd (RIL). RIL is the larg-

est producer of petrochemicals in the country and amongst the top 10 in the world. It also owns and operates the world’s largest oil refining complex. In June, Ambani announced a mega Rs 75,000 crore investment in set-ting up four ‘giga factories’ to make solar modules, hydrogen, fuel cells and to build a battery grid to store electricity over the next three years. The solar mod-ules will enable 100 gigawatts of solar energy by 2030.

Adani, who earlier this year took his spot behind Ambani as Asia’s second-richest man, has previously announced plans to become world’s largest renew-able energy producer by 2030. He has got France’s TotalEn-ergies SE as partner in Adani Green Energy Ltd - the group’s renewable arm. The Adani Group had in January 2019 signed an initial pact with Ger-man chemical giant BASF for investing about 2 billion euros in a chemical factory at Mundra in Gujarat. This was expanded

in October that year by involv-ing Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) of UAE and Borealis AG.

The four partners completed a joint feasibility study for a $4 billion chemical complex in Mundra which was to comprise of a propane dehydrogenation plant, a polypropylene produc-tion and an acrylics value chain complex, according to a BASF press statement of November 5, 2020. This project was how-ever put on hold due to Covid.

Adani Enterprises in April this year incorporated a wholly-owned arm ‘Mundra Petrochem Ltd’ with the aim to “set up var-ious feedstocks (coal, petcoke, coke, limestone, salts, sand, tar, oil, LPG, LNG, Ethane, LPG, green fuels etc) based refinery, petrochemical and chemical plants in a phased manner in India and and to undertake all such activities associated with land acquisition, design and engineering, procurement... and other undertakings”. PTI

‘India’s crude steel output up 21.4% at 9.4 million tonnes in June’

China remained the global leader in the production of steel in June, registering 1.5% year-on-year growth in output at 93.9 MT in June

Adani floats new subsidiary to foray into petrochemical arena

Adani Petrochemicals Ltd (APL) will directly compete with richest Indian Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries

ICA- T9244(3)/2021

ICA- T9246(3)/2021

Notice Inviting Tender No:- WEBEL/IT Park/BN-9/Misc./07/IDM/21-22/19. dt. nd29.07.2021 (Re-Tender 2 call)

For “Misc. works, General cleaning and supply of labour at BN-9 IT Park , Salt Lake, Sector-V”.

Estimated Value Put to Tender- Rs.4,87,919.05 (Including GST).

Due date of Submission: 14 days from the date of advertisement.Time of Completion: 90days

The tender documents and other details are available at the official website of WBEIDCL

and can be viewed by typing the respective NIT No. as

above in the “Tender Search” section of the website.For details or contact :033-2357-6022

www.webel-india.com

29.07.2021(B)

WBEIDC Ltd.(A Government of West Bengal Undertaking)

Webel Bhavan, Block-EP&GP, Sector-V, Bidhannagar, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 091.

Notice Inviting Tender No: WEBEL/IT Park/BN-9/Misc./07/IDM/21-22/19. dt.

nd29.07.2021 (Re-Tender 2 call)For “Misc. works, General cleaning and supply of labour at BN - 9 IT Park , Salt Lake, Sector - V”.

Estimated Value Put to Tender- Rs.4,87,919.05 (Including GST).

Due date of Submission: 14 days from the date of advertisement.Time of Completion: 90days

The tender documents and other details are available at the official website of WBEIDCL

and can be viewed by typing the respective NIT No. as above in the “Tender Search” section of the website.

For details or contact : 033 - 2357 - 6022

www.webel-india.com

4 x 5cm

ICA- 1055(2)/2021

ICA- T9248(3)/2021

For details please contact --- 9433193820 / 8336037257

Expression of Interest for “Selection of agency for removal of debris, site cleaning

(Ph-II)” Value put to tender--- Rs. 4.93 Lakhs.

Notice Inviting EoI No. 07/Webel/IDM/RJH-II/Cleaning / 2021-22/22. dt.29.07.2021

and supply of labours for various site activities for IT Park at New Town, Rajarhat

instructions thereon.Interested bidders are to download the same and submit offline as perTender Document is available at website: https://www.webel.in/tenders.

30.07.2021(B)

WBEIDC Ltd.(A Government of West Bengal Undertaking)

Webel Bhavan, Block-EP&GP, Sector-V, Bidhannagar, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 091.Notice Inviting EoI No. 07/Webel/IDM/RJH-II

/Cleaning / 2021-22/22. dt.29.07.2021

Tender Document is available at website: https://www.webel.in/tenders.

For details please contact --- 9433193820 / 8336037257

Interested bidders are to download the same and submit offline as per instructions thereon.

Expression of Interest for “Selection of agency for removal of debris, site cleaning and supply of labours for various site activities for IT Park at New Town, Rajarhat (Ph-II)” Value put to tender--- Rs. 4.93 Lakhs.

4 x 4cm ICA- T9250(3)/2021

Due date of Submission: 13-08-2021 (12:00 PM).

For “Scanning & Digitization using High End Book Scanners, Image Editing and implementation of Search & Retrieval Software for Old Documents of Town Hall Library, Kolkata Municipal Corporation for Archival purpose.”.

Notice Inviting e-Tender No.WEBEL/EOT/COM/21-22/00026 Dated: 30/07/2021

For details or contact 033-23392270/033- 23392387.Interested parties may go through website andhttps://wbtenders.gov.in https://www.webel.in

30.07.2021©

WBEIDC Ltd.(A Government of West Bengal Undertaking)

Webel Bhavan, Block-EP&GP, Sector-V, Bidhannagar, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 091.

For “Scanning & Digitization using High End Book Scanners, Image Editing and implementation of Search & Retrieval Software for Old Documents of Town Hall Library, Kolkata Municipal Corporation for Archival purpose.”.Due date of Submission: 13-08-2021 (12:00 PM).

https ://www.webel.inFor details or contact 033-23392270 /

Notice Inviting e-Tender No. WEBEL/ EOT/COM/21-22/00026 Dated: 30/07/2021

Interested parties may go through websitehttps://wbtenders.gov.in and

033- 23392387.

4 x 4cm

https://wbtenders.gov.in and https://www.webel.in

ICA- T9253(3)/2021

ICA- T9257(3)/2021

VODAFONE ARBITRATION AWARD

10 millenniumpostBusinessmp MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021 | NEW DELHI

NEW DELHI: As many as 479 infrastructure projects, each worth Rs 150 crore or more, have been hit by cost overruns totalling more than Rs 4.4 lakh crore, according to a report.

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementa-tion monitors infrastructure projects worth Rs 150 crore and above. Of the 1,770 such proj-ects, 479 reported cost overruns and 541 were delayed.

“Total original cost of implementation of the 1,770 projects was Rs 22,78,368.23 crore and their anticipated completion cost is likely to be Rs 27,19,218.09 crore, which reflects overall cost overruns of Rs 4,40,849.86 crore (19.35

per cent of original cost),” the ministry’s latest report for June 2021 said.

According to the report, the expenditure incurred on these projects till June 2021 is Rs 13,22,374.82 crore, which is 48.63 per cent of the anticipated cost of the projects.

However, the report said the number of delayed proj-ects decreases to 396 if delay is

calculated on the basis of latest schedule of completion.

Further, for 979 projects nei-ther the year of commission-ing nor the tentative gestation period has been reported.

Out of 541 delayed proj-ects, 109 projects have over-all delay in the range of 1-12 months, 119 (13-24 months), 192 (25-26 months) and 121 projects (61 months and above). zzThe average time overrun in these 541 delayed projects is 45.76 months. Reasons for time overruns as reported by various project implementing agencies include delay in land acquisi-tion, delay in obtaining forest and environment clearances, and lack of infrastructure sup-

port and linkages.Delay in tie-up for project

financing, delay in finalisation of detailed engineering, change in scope, delay in tendering, order-ing and equipment supply, and law and order problems, among others, are the other reasons, the report said. The report also cited ‘state-wise lockdown due to COVID-19’ as a reason for the delay in implementation of these projects.

It has also been observed that project agencies are not reporting revised cost estimates and commissioning schedules for many projects, which sug-gests that time/cost overrun figures are underreported, it added. PTI

NEW DELHI: Notwithstanding economic disruptions caused by the pandemic, public sector banks (PSBs) have managed to raise a record Rs 58,700 crore from markets in FY2020-21 through a mix of debt and equity to enhance capital base.

This included Rs 4,500 crore raised by Mumbai-based Bank of Baroda from qualified insti-tutional placement (QIP). Pun-jab National Bank mobilised Rs 3,788 crore through share sale on private placement basis during the financial year ended March 31, 2021.

At the same time, Bengal-uru-based Canara Bank raised Rs 2,000 crore from QIP, as per data collated from regula-tory filings. Series of successful

QIP reflect confidence of both domestic and global investors in PSBs and their potential, said a senior official of a public sec-tor bank.

In addition, 12 PSBs raised funds from Tier I and Tier II bonds taking the total fund mobilisation to Rs 58,697 crore, highest amount garnered in any financial year.

Various reforms undertaken by the government including recognition, resolution and recapitalisation resulted in progressive decline in non-performing assets (NPAs) and subsequent rise in profit.

NPAs of PSBs had declined to Rs 7,39,541 crore as on March 31, 2019, Rs 6,78,317 crore on March 31, 2020 and further to

Rs 6,16,616 crore as on March 31, 2021 (provisional data). Pro-vision Coverage Ratio (PCR) at the same time increased sequen-tially to a high of 84 per cent.

As a result, PSBs in aggregate recorded a profit of Rs 31,816 crore, highest in five years, despite 7.3 per cent contrac-tion in economy in 2020-21 due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The primary reason for PSBs to post such a Rs 57,832-crore turnaround from a loss of Rs 26,015 crore in 2019-20 to a combined profit of Rs 31,816 crore was the end of their legacy bad loan problem.

At the same time, compre-hensive steps were taken to con-trol and to effect recovery in NPAs, which enabled PSBs to

recover Rs 5,01,479 crore over the last six financial years.

Overall credit growth of Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) has remained positive for 2020-21 despite contraction in GDP (-7.3 per cent) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As per the RBI data, gross Loans and Advances of SCBs increased from Rs 109.19 lakh crore as of March 31, 2020 to Rs 113.99 lakh crore as of March 31, 2021.

Further as per RBI data of loans to agriculture and allied activities, micro, small and medium enterprises, housing and vehicles have witnessed a year-on-year growth of 12.3 per cent, 8.5 per cent, 9.1 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively during the year. PTI

NEW DELHI: As many as 12 firms have raised a staggering Rs 27,000 crore through IPOs route in the first four months of the ongoing fiscal, and the pipeline is pretty strong for the remaining part of the year too.

Further to this, initial share sales of four other companies Devyani International, Wind-las Biotech, Krsnna Diagnostics and Exxaro Tiles are schedule to open on August 4.

Hemang Kapasi, Head of Equities at Sanctum Wealth Management, said that as many as 40 IPOs are inpipeline look-ing to raise Rs 70,000 crore.

Further, a lot of retail inves-tors associated brands are going to list on the Indian bourses. The initial share sales of Paytm, Mobikwik, Policy Bazaar, CarTrade Tech, Delhivery and Nykaa will keep inves-tors busy in the current fiscal, Kaushlendra Singh Sengar, founder and CEO at INVEST19, said.

He further said the main reason for opting the IPO route is the recent bull run in the Indian markets. The bull mar-ket has facilitated companies to raise funds from equity market at high valuations. The com-panies are diluting their stakes

at higher valuations which pushed promoters to file their preliminary papers with capi-tal markets regulator Sebi, he added.

Sandeep Matta, founder, TRADEIT Investment Advi-sor, said “exuberant equity bull run, higher participation of first-time investors, expecta-tion of quick money, rewarding exit for existing investors, access to unconditional money are the major reasons behind companies going public”. According to an analysis of data available with the stock exchanges, 12 companies have raised Rs 27,052 crore through

IPOs in the first four months (April-July) of the current fis-cal 2021-22.

Apart from these, Power-Grid InvIT, the infrastructure investment trust sponsored by the Power Grid Corporation of India, mopped up Rs 7,735 crore through its IPO. This comes following a fund raising of Rs 31,277 crore by 30 firms in the entire 2020-21. The fun-draise numbers look high compared to last couple of financial years when capi-tal markets were subdued. In 2019-20, a total of 13 companies collected Rs 20,352 crore through IPOs, while

14 firms had floated IPOs in 2018-19 to raise Rs 14,719 crore. The financial year 2017-18 saw 45 main-board IPOs col-lectively mobilising Rs 82,109 crore.

Adding depth to the IPO markets, companies from diverse sectors like, technol-ogy, specialty chemicals, dairy, pharmaceutical have made their way to the IPO space during the period under review.

Also, many tech startups are opting for the IPO route, which is a great thing for the industry, because it sets a benchmark, Prateek Singh, founder and CEO of LearnApp.com, said.

“Right from seed funding to an IPO is a full cycle for a startup and it is very encouraging to see that kind of growth. It also goes to show that startups are a great place to invest and grow your wealth which is an encourag-ing sign,” he added.

Sengar of INVEST19 believes that investors have started considering IPOs as an asset class that generate bumper returns on listing if they are lucky enough to get allotment.

Therefore, initial share sales are receiving tremen-dous applications from the investors and IPOs have been

subscribing multifold times. This has pushed companies to raise funds through IPO, he added.

Companies like Tatva Chin-tan Pharma Chem, Rolex Rings, G R Infraprojects, Clean Science and Technology, Shyam Metal-ics and Energy, India Pesticides, Dodla Dairy, Glenmark Life Sci-ences and Zomato subscribed in the range of 29 times to 180 times. Interestingly, the ongoing financial year saw most of the IPOs opening with a premium over the issue price suggesting strong investors appetite.

In fact, all the companies, which got listed in the current

fiscal, are trading above their issue price, giving smart returns in the range of 14 to 110 per cent, since listing, to investors.

Of the total Rs 27,000 crore mopped up during the period under review, digital food delivery platform contributed immensely.

A total of Rs 9,375 crore raised by Zomato claims almost 35 per cent of the total funds garnered. Other big ticket IPOs were — Sona BLW Precision Forgings, which collected Rs 5,550 crore, Macrotech Devel-opers (Rs 2,500 crore) and Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (Rs 2,144 crore). PTI

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: In signs of accel-eration in economic activ-ity, India’s tax collections on goods sold and services ren-dered returned to over Rs 1 lakh crore in July after the second wave of Covid-related restric-tions caused a blip in the pre-vious month.

Goods and Services Tax (GST) mop-up grew 33 per cent year-on-year in July to over Rs 1.16 lakh crore, indicating that the economy is recovering at a fast pace. In July 2020, the collection was Rs 87,422 crore.

This is the second highest collection so far this fiscal after a record Rs 1.41 lakh crore mop-up in April.

The finance ministry in a statement said robust GST rev-enues are likely to continue in the coming months as well.

The gross GST revenue col-lected in the month of July 2021 is Rs 1,16,393 crore of which Central GST is Rs 22,197 crore, State GST is Rs 28,541 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 57,864 crore (including Rs 27,900 crore collected on import of goods) and Cess is Rs 7,790 crore (including Rs 815 crore collected on import of goods).

The revenues for the month of July 2021 are 33 per cent higher than the GST revenues in the same month last year and include GST returns filed between July 1-31 as well as

IGST and cess collected from imports for the same period.

GST tax collections had topped Rs 1 lakh crore market for 8 straight months before the onset of the second wave of COVID-19 infections led to the re-imposition of lockdowns in different states, muting eco-nomic activity.

“GST collection... dropped below Rs 1 lakh crore in June 2021 as the collections dur-ing the month of June 2021 predominantly related to the month of May 2021; and dur-

ing May 2021, most of the states/UTs were under either com-plete or partial lockdown due to COVID. With the easing out of COVID restrictions, GST col-lection for July 2021 has again crossed Rs 1 lakh crore, which clearly indicates that the econ-omy is recovering at a fast pace. The robust GST revenues are likely to continue in the com-ing months too,” the ministry said in a statement.

In the current fiscal, GST mop-up touched a record high of over Rs 1.41 lakh crore in

April, but fell to over Rs 1.02 lakh crore in May after the out-break of second wave. In June, collection slipped below the psy-chological Rs 1 lakh crore mark to Rs 92,849 crore followed by a sharp rebound in July to Rs 1.16 lakh crore.

The GST collections in July 2021 are primarily for sup-plies and sales made in June, when the states were easing the lockdown restrictions. In the months of April and May, most states were under different lev-els of lockdown, which reduced

business activity.Deloitte India Senior Direc-

tor M S Mani said the sharp increase in the collections indi-cates the resumption of eco-nomic activities in June and will raise expectations of bet-ter collections in the coming months. The improvement in GST collections both on domes-tic transactions and imports, accompanied by the fact that major producing states have shown significant increases, would indicate that the eco-nomic activities have resumed across the country,” Mani said.

Shardul Amarchand Man-galdas & Co Partner Rajat Bose said collections are higher on the back of economic revival due to the unlocking of busi-nesses in June. “If the country is able to resist the third wave, the GST collections should increase from hereon, Bose said.

EY Tax Partner Abhishek Jain said this collection num-ber is a definite indicator of eco-nomic recovery and the uptrend is expected to continue in the coming months.

Singhania’s GST Consul-tancy Co Partner Aditya Sing-hania said “with simultaneous increase in vaccination, easing out of Covid restrictions, data analytics in place, sequential spurt in e-waybill generation, GST rate rationalisation on cards, etc, we may see accel-eration in revenue from GST in coming months”.

NEW DELHI: Indian govern-ment’s appeal against a verdict of an international arbitra-tion tribunal that overturned its demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes from Vodafone Group Plc has been transferred to a senior court in Singapore and hearings are scheduled in September, sources said.

An international arbitration court had on September 25 last year rejected tax authorities’ demand for Rs 22,100 crore in back taxes and penalties relat-ing to the British telecom giant’s 2007 acquisition of an Indian operator.

The government in Decem-ber applied in Singapore to set aside the award primarily on jurisdictional grounds. The pro-ceedings have been transferred to a senior court, with a hear-ing date set for September, two sources with knowledge of the matter said. The appeal was filed in the Singapore court as the Southeast Asian nation was the seat of arbitration.

The government has simi-larly challenged the order of a three-member tribunal at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague that asked India to return $1.2 billion, plus inter-est and cost, to British oil and gas company Cairn Energy plc.

The government had used a 2012 law, that gave tax authori-ties the power to reopen past cases, to seek taxes from Voda-fone and Cairn over alleged cap-ital gains made several years ago.

Both Vodafone and Cairn had challenged the tax demands under bilateral investment pro-tection treaties and initiated the arbitration. India lost both arbitrations.

Sources said the govern-ment believes that taxation is not covered under investment protection treaties with vari-ous countries and the law on taxation is a sovereign right of the country.

While the treaties are pri-marily aimed at protection of investments, the tax is levied on “returns” earned by entities.

The 2012 law, commonly referred as retrospective tax law, was enacted after the Supreme Court in January that year rejected proceedings brought by tax authorities against Voda-fone International Holdings BV for its failure to deduct with-holding tax from $11.1 billion paid to the Hutchison Telecom-munications in 2007 for buying out a its 67 per cent stake in a wholly-owned Cayman Island incorporated subsidiary that indirectly held interests in Voda-fone India Ltd.

The Finance Act 2012, which amended various provisions of the Income Tax Act 1961 with retrospective effect, contained provisions intended to tax any

gain on transfer of shares in a non-Indian company, which derives substantial value from underlying Indian assets, such as Vodaone’s transaction with Hutchison in 2007. It sought to subject a purchaser, such as Vodafone, to a retrospective obligation to withhold tax.

Using that law, tax authori-ties in January 2013 slapped Vodafone with a tax demand of Rs 14,200 crore, including principal tax of Rs 7,990 crore and interest but no penalties. In February 2016, it updated the tax demand to Rs 22,100 crore plus interest.

Vodafone challenged this tax demand by bringing an arbitration proceeding under the Netherlands-India Bilateral Investment Treaty. The arbitra-tion tribunal unanimously ruled in Vodafone’s favour.

As per the award, the gov-ernment has to reimburse Voda-fone 60 per cent of its legal costs and half of the 6,000-euros cost borne by Vodafone for appoint-ing an arbitrator on the panel.

Sources said the Govern-ment of India’s liability came to Rs 85 crore in legal cost.

In the separate case of Cairn, India has been asked to pay with interest the value of shares it sold, the dividend it seized, and tax refunds it withheld to recover part of tax demand from the British firm.

Cairn Energy, which gave the country its biggest oil dis-covery, was in March 2015 slapped with a demand for Rs 10,247 crore tax on alleged capital gains it made when it in 2006 reorganised its India business before listing of the local unit. PTI

GST mop-up at over `1.16L cr in July; 2nd highest this fiscal

GST mop-up grew 33 per cent year-on-year in July to over Rs 1.16 lakh crore, indicating that the economy is recovering at a fast pace

Highlights » The GST collections in July 2021 are primarily for supplies and sales made in June, when the states were easing the lockdown restrictions » Gross GST revenue collected in the month of July 2021 is Rs 1,16,393 crore of which Central GST is Rs 22,197 crore, State GST is Rs 28,541 crore, Integrated GST is Rs 57,864 crore and Cess is Rs 7,790 crore » The GST collections in July 2021 are primarily for supplies and sales made in June

In current fiscal, GST mop-up touched a record high of over Rs 1.41 lakh crore in April, but fell to over Rs 1.02 lakh crore in May after second Covid wave. In June, collection slipped below Rs 1 lakh crore mark to Rs 92,849 crore

India’s plea against verdict in senior court, hearing in Sept

The government had used a 2012 law, that gave tax authorities the power to reopen past cases, to seek taxes from Vodafone and Cairn over alleged capital gains made several years ago

479 infrastructure projects show cost overruns worth `4.4 lakh crore

NEW DELHI: The Reserve Bank of India’s new directions on raising interchange fee and making available the facility of bulk clearing round the clock have become effective from Sunday onwards.

The RBI in June raised the interchange fee for finan-cial transactions from Rs 15 to Rs 17, while for non-financial transactions the increase was done from Rs 5 to Rs 6.

These new rates have become applicable from August 1, 2021, as per the RBI’s direction.

An interchange fee is a fee charged by banks to the mer-chant who processes a credit card or debit card payment.

Besides, National Auto-mated Clearing House

(NACH) has been made avail-able on all days of the week, effective August 1, 2021.

NACH, a bulk payment sys-tem operated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) facilitates one-to-many credit transfers such as pay-ment of dividend, interest, sal-ary and pension.

It also facilitates collection of payments pertaining to elec-tricity, gas, telephone, water, periodic instalments towards loans, investments in mutual funds and insurance premium.

During the bi-monthly monetary policy review in June, RBI Governor Shakti-kanta Das had announced that in order to further enhance the convenience of customers, the NACH will be available on all

days of the week.The facility was available

only when banks were open, usually between Monday to Friday. Auto-debit instruc-tions given by the bank account holder were not processed on days the bank were closed like Sundays, bank holidays and even gazetted holidays.

Further, since most compa-nies use NACH for salary cred-its these also did not happen on bank holidays.

Meanwhile, ICICI Bank has revised charges for cash withdrawals from ATMs, cheque books and other finan-cial transactions from August 1. The revised charges will be applicable for domestic savings account holders including sal-ary accounts. PTI

RBI’s new rules on interchange fee, 24/7 bulk clearing facility functional

NEW DELHI: The number of patents granted has increased from 6,326 in 2015-16 to 28,391 in 2020-21, while trade marks registration has risen from 65,045 in 2015-16 to 2,55,993 in 2020-21, the Commerce and Industry Ministry said on Sunday. It also said that while 4,505 copyrights were granted in 2015-16, a total of 16,402 were given in the last fiscal.

It added that the govern-ment is committed to bolstering the ecosystem of patents, design, trademarks, GI (Geographical Indication) systems to encour-age innovation, research and development in the country.

“The number of patents granted has gone up from 6,326 in 2015-16 to 28,391 in 2020-21, while Trade Marks regis-tration has shot up from 65,045 in 2015-16 to 2,55,993 in 2020-21,” it said.

The pendency in the IPR (intellectual property rights) department has come down drastically, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said. “Every application is now processed online from start to finish, hearings are conducted on phones, people do not have to travel to patent offices now,” he said. PTI

Patent approvals

rise to 28,391 in 2020-21

PSBs mobilise `58,700 cr from markets in FY21

NEW DELHI: Foreign portfo-lio investors (FPIs) pulled out a net Rs 6,105 crore from the Indian capital markets so far in the ongoing financial year amid the pandemic and resul-tant restructions in many parts of the country.

The equity benchmark BSE Sensex has jumped 3,077.69 points or 6.21 per cent during April-July this fiscal.

Reflecting an upbeat senti-ment in the market, the bench-mark had reached its all-time high of 53,290.81 on July 16, 2021. It closed at its lifetime high of 53,158.85 on July 15.

According to the deposito-

ries data, Rs 6,707 crore were withdrawn on a net basis from equities during the initial four months of this fiscal. At the same time, a net sum of Rs 602 crore were invested in the debt segment. This took the total net withdrawl to Rs 6,105 crore dur-ing the period under review.

The data showed that FPIs were net sellers in all the months barring June when they had

invested Rs 13,269 crore.The net outflow stood at Rs

9,435 crore in April, Rs 2,666 crore in May and Rs 7,273 in July.

“What is encouraging dur-ing the first four months is the fact that the number of new investor registrations in India is up 2.5 times year on year as per data released by the NSE,” said S Ranganathan, head of research at LKP Securities.

Market experts noted that the financial year started with a surge in COVID-19 cases and the consequent restrictions imposed by various states which dented investors’ sentiment. PTI

FPIs pull out net `6,105 crore from capital markets so far in this fiscal

IPOs fundraise tops `27K crore in 1st four months of ongoing fiscal‘Further as many as 40 initial public offers (IPOs) are lined up for rest of the year looking to raise Rs 70,000 crore’

11millenniumpost Sport mpNEW DELHI | MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021

Indian men’s hockey team beats Great Britain 3-1

QUALIFY FOR OLYMPIC SEMI-FINALS AFTER 49 YEARS

TOKYO: A determined Indian men's hockey team advanced to the Olympic semifinals for the first time in 49 years, beating Great Britain 3-1 in the quar-terfinals here on Sunday, a tri-umph which leaves the side within touching distance of a medal that has proved elusive for over four decades.

The eight-time former Olympic champions scored three field goals through Dil-preet Singh (7th minute), Gur-jant Singh (16th) and Hardik Singh (57th) to seal the win.

Great Britain's lone goal was scored by Sam Ward from a penalty corner in the 45th minute.

India will take on world champions Belgium in the semifinal on Tuesday.

India's last of the eight Olympic gold medals came way back in 1980 Moscow Games

but there were no semifinals in that edition as only six teams participated in the event.

For a country that gave the world stalwarts like Major

Dhyan Chand and Balbir Singh Senior among others, it has been especially painful to watch the hockey teams' Olym-pic debacles before this edition.

The last time India fea-tured in the semifinals of the Olympics was in 1972 Munich Games where they lost 0-2 to arch-rivals Pakistan. AGENCIES

The 8-time former Olympic champions scored 3 field goals through Dilpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh and Hardik Singh

Zverev follows up win over Djokovic with Olympic goldTOKYO: Alexander Zverev followed up his comeback win over Novak Djokovic by win-ning the gold medal in men's tennis at the Tokyo Olympics.

The fifth-ranked German overwhelmed Russian oppo-nent Karan Khachanov 6-3, 6-1 at the Tokyo Games on Sunday for the biggest title of his career.

The 6-foot-6 (1.98-meter) Zverev controlled the match with his big serve and a con-fident two-handed backhand, never really giving the 25th-ranked Khachanov a chance.

Zverev's previous best per-formance was reaching the final of last year's U.S. Open, where he wasted a two-set lead in a five-set loss to Dominic Thiem.

IOC president Thomas Bach watched his fellow Ger-man win the title as a group of about 10 anti-Olympic protesters across the street from the Ariake Tennis Park made themselves heard inside Center Court. Play was not interrupted.

Meanwhile, a Swiss tennis player won gold in singles at

the Olympics and it’s not Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka.

Belinda Bencic accom-plished something Saturday that her better-known fellow Swiss players never managed.

And she’s not done yet.The 12th-ranked Bencic

beat Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 at the Tokyo Games for the first major title of her career and she’ll also contest the wom-

en’s doubles gold medal match on Sunday.

Bencic and Swiss partner Viktorija Golubic face the top-seeded Czech team of Bar-bora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova.

“It’s unbelievable to have two medals, to have one gold and the other still to be decided,” Bencic said.

“I will give all the energy that I have left in me.” AGENCIES

Not Federer, not Wawrinka: Bencic gets gold for Switzerland

Simone Biles opts out of

floor exercise final at

OlympicsTOKYO: Simone Biles will not defend her Olympic gold medal on floor exercise.

USA Gymnastics announced Sunday that the six-time Olympic medalist has opted not to compete on floor, where she won gold in Rio de Janeiro and placed second in qualifying last week.

Jennifer Gadirova of Brit-ain will replace Biles in the finals, which are scheduled for Monday.

USA Gymnastics said Biles has not decided whether to par-ticipate in the balance beam final, which is scheduled for Tuesday. She earned bronze on the event in Brazil five years ago.

Biles has already chosen not to compete in the uneven bars and vault finals, set for Sunday evening at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. She was not expected to medal on bars, but is the Olympic cham-pion on vault. Biles is deal-ing with a mental block that in gymnastics is referred to as the twisties. AGENCIES

India's Hardik Singh (8) celebrates with his teammates after scoring on Britain goalkeeper Oliver Payne during a men's field hockey match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, in Tokyo, Japan PTI

Alexander Zverev, of Germany, poses with the gold medal in the men's single of the tennis competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, in Tokyo, Japan PTI

Italian Jacobs takes gold in Olympic 100-meter race

TOKYO: Marcell Jacobs won the men’s Olympic 100-meter race Sunday night, crossing the line in 9.8 sec-onds to bring the marquee sprint gold to Italy for the first time.

Even in a race with no clear favorites, Jacobs was a surprise. He topped Amer-ica’s Fred Kerley and Can-ada’s Andre DeGrasse to take the spot held for the past 13 years by the now-retired Usain Bolt. Jacobs’ victory came on quite a night for Italy. Only a few minutes before his stunner, countryman Gianmarco Tamberi tied Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim for gold in the high jump. Tamberi, writhing on the ground, kicking his feet up in jubilation needed some-one to hug and found him when Jacobs, of all people, crossed the line first.

Earlier, Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela broke a 26-year-

old world record in the tri-ple jump with a leap of 51 feet, 5 inches (15.67 meters).

The Jacobs victory left everyone outside Italy and maybe some in the country, as well letting out a collec-tive Who?

He was born in El Paso, Texas the son of an Amer-ican father and an Italian mother. He moved to Italy as a young boy when the U.S. military transferred his dad to South Korea. He was a long-jump specialist for years, and his biggest major success was an indoor 60-meter win at European champions.

Now, he’s on the same list with Bolt an Olympic sprint champion. His path was made that much eas-ier when American Tray-von Bromell, who came into Tokyo with the world’s lead-ing time and as the odds-on favorite, didn’t even make the 100-meter final. AGENCIES

Boxing: Satish Kumar’s debut Olympics ends

with loss to JalolovTOKYO: A badly bruised Satish Kumar (+91kg) put up a gutsy performance against reigning world champion Bakhodir Jalolov but it was not enough to upstage the rampaging Uzbek as the Indian boxer made a quar-terfinal exit from the Olym-pic Games here on Sunday.

Taking the ring with mul-tiple stitches on his forehead and chin after sustaining cuts in the pre-quarters, Satish lost 0-5 but the scoreline was not reflective of his brave performance.

Satish, a two-time Asian Games bronze-winner and multiple-time national champion, had scripted history by just qualifying for the Games as he was the first super heavyweight from India to achieve the feat.

“He is a bit low right now but when he settles down, he will realise how big it was for him to fight it out with those cuts,” Indian Boxing’s High Performance Director San-tiago Nieva said.

“The fight he gave despite the blows is praiseworthy. Every punch that Jalolov connected added to his pain, he was feeling it all through. The Uzbek boxer is a special talent,” he said.

The 32-year-old Army man stood his ground in the biggest bout of his career, occasionally managed to land a shot with his right hand but Jalolov dominated the pro-ceedings all through, relying on his imposing demeanour and excellent counter-attack-ing game to sail through.

What stood out about the Commonwealth Games sil-ver-winner was his resolve to fight it out. The former kabaddi player from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr did not hesitate to launch attacks despite the risk of his cuts opening up. Satish’s fore-head cut did open up even-tually during the third round but he fought through even with that.

“Satish was seriously injured with 13 stitches above his eye and on his chin. That he still decided to fight against the No. 1 boxer shows his courage and patriotism,” Boxing Federa-tion of India President Ajay Singh said. AGENCIES

COURT NOTICE(U/o 5 Rule 20 CPC)

IN THE COURT OF Sh Ashish Kumar SharmaCivil Judge(Senior Division),

KrishnaVs.

Genral Public CNR No.

HRJR02-000684-2019Next Date:-01-09-2021

That pass a decree in favour of the plaintiff and against the defendantsPublication issued to:Genral PublicDistt. JhajjarIn above titled case, the defendant (s)/ respondent(s) could not be served. It is ordered that defendant(s)/ respondent(s) should appear in person or through counsel on 01.09.2021 at 10:00 am.For details logon to https://highcourtchd.gov.in/?trs = district notice & district = Jhajjar* Sd/- Ashish Kumar Sharma

Civil Judge(Senior Division),Dated 27-07-2021 Jhajjar

RENSIL D’SILVA ON HOW PANDEMIC SHAPED ‘DIAL 100’

12 millenniumpostLeisure

Entertainmentmp

MONDAY, 2 AUGUST, 2021 | NEW DELHI

Actor Shahid Kapoor is eagerly waiting to start work on Raj Nidimoru and DK’s web

series with Vijay Sethupathi, going by his latest social media post. Sha-hid took to Instagram and shared a short clip of himself and shared that he was waiting to work with Vijay, with a playful dig at his co-star Raas-hii Khanna.

Shahid wrote, “Waiting on set call me soon @rajandk … cant wait to share the frame with @ vijayseth-upathi, sorry @raashiikhanna, I’ve got too used to having you around on set.” The series is yet to be titled.

Raj and DK’s The Family Man, starring Manoj Bajpayee received rave reviews and the second sea-son released this June. Earlier, this month, Raj and DK had dropped a photo featuring Manoj Bajpayee and Shahid Kapoor with the caption, “And this happened.”

Expressing his excitement on col-laborating with Raj and DK, Shahid had earlier said, “I have been keen to collaborate with Raj and DK for a while. My favourite Indian show on Amazon Prime Video is The Family Man. I couldn’t think of anyone bet-ter for my digital debut than them. I loved the story idea when I first heard it and since then it has been an exciting ride so far.” AGENCIES

On Mrunal Thakur’s birthday, the makers of Dulquer Salmaan’s

untitled film shared her first look as Sita. The film will see Dulquer playing the role of Lieutenant Ram. The untitled movie will mark Dulquer and Mrunal’s first film together. Sharing the poster, Mrunal Thakur wrote, “Here’s a gift from me to you on my spe-cial day! Here to conquer your hearts with the lovely Dulquer Salmaan.”

Last week, the makers also shared Dulquer’s look from the film. Director Hanu Raghavapudi said the actor “poured life into this charac-ter with sheer hardwork.”

Mrunal last featured in Toofaan, which starred Far-han Akhtar in the lead role. In the film, Mrunal played the character of Ananya. On Sun-day, Farhan shared some stills from the film to wish his co-star. “Happy birthday Mrunal Thakur. Wish you all you can ever want and more. Stay your amazing self, always. Big hug,” he captioned the photo.

Rahul Bose, Satyajeet

Dubey, Pulkit Samrat, Tahir Raj Bhasin and others wished Mrunal on her birthday too. “Charisma. Talent. Hard work. Hello 3-In-1. May every day be as luminious for you as your birthday. Happy birth-day,” Bose’s wish read. Satyajeet shared an adorable picture and wrote, “Keep soaring and shin-ing you beautiful soul! Love you meri jaan and extremely proud of you. Wishing you the bestest year ahead.” Pulkit Samrat’s wish read, Tahir also shared a picture and wrote, “Have never enjoyed mak-ing faces at a co-star after 15 costume changes this much. May you continue to keep it

crazy play big and stay real. Love and light.” AGENCIES

Mrunal to play Sita in Dulquer’s upcoming filmSharing the film’s poster, she wrote, ‘Here’s a gift from me to you’

Shahid excited to work with Vijay Sethupathi

Shahid shared that he was waiting to work with Vijay

Richa comes out in support

of Shilpa Shetty

Ever since Shilpa Shetty’s husband Raj Kundra has been

booked in a porn case, the actor has been attract-ing unwarranted atten-tion from trolls. Earlier this week, Hansal Mehta tweeted in favour of Shilpa. Now on Saturday, Richa Chadha reacted on trolls against Shilpa and expressed that women are always blamed for men’s mistakes. “We’ve made a national sport out of blam-ing women for the mistakes of the men in their lives. Glad she’s suing,” Chadha’s tweet read.

On Friday, Hansal Mehta wrote, “If you can-not stand up for her at least leave Shilpa Shetty alone and let the law decide? Allow her some dignity and privacy. It is unfortu-nate that people in public life ultimately are left to fend for themselves and are proclaimed guilty even before justice is meted out.”

“This silence is a pattern. In good times everybody parties together. In bad times there is deafening silence. There is isola-tion. No matter

what the ultimate truth the damage is already done,” he continued.

“This vilification is a pattern. If the allegations are against a film person there is a rush to invade privacy, to pass sweeping judgement, to character-assassinate, to fill ‘news’ with trashy gossip – all at the cost of individuals and their dignity. This is the cost of silence,” the film-maker concluded.

Shilpa’s mentor and producer Ratan Jain also came forward in support of the Hungama 2 actor.

“As much as I know Shilpa, she will not do something like that at all. I can’t really say, how much did she really know

about her husband’s busi-ness, but I don’t think she was involved in it. Any family person should not do this kind of work and jitna main Shilpa ko jaanta hoon woh aisa kaam nahi karegi.” AGENCIES

Richa reacted on trolls against Shilpa and expressed that women are always blamed for men’s mistakes

Hansal Mehta also supported her and tweeted, ‘If you cannot stand up for her at least leave Shilpa Shetty alone and let the law decide?’

Rasika Dugal remembers Lootcase on its first anniversary

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Amid her dream run of exciting projects in 2020, actor Rasika

Dugal starred in Lootcase, which was one of the first Hindi movies to stream dig-itally after the coronavi-rus pandemic. The said film marked the first time Dugal

ventured into the comedy genre and it now completes a year. Having received tre-mendous acclaim for her per-formance in it, the versatile actor celebrates the anniver-sary with a special post on Instagram.

In the caption space, she writes, “#1YearOfLootcase... last time ...

‘ bag ?!!!’” Taking a walk down the

memory lane, Rasika says, “ Lootcase felt like a breath of fresh air after the emo-tional intensity of the other projects I had done that year. I really enjoyed the quirky

and intelligent humour of the script. It was a relief to turn up on set and just have some fun. Also, I was thrilled to be in a film which has a lip synced song. And to get to dance to it ! Before this, I was beginning to wonder if my career would be devoid of this quintessen-tial bollywood experience 😄”

Rasika solidified her rep-utation as a powerhouse performer with Rajesh Krish-nan’s Lootcase which centres around the twists that unfold after her husband Nandan Kumar (Kunal Kemmu) finds a suitcase full of cash. Rasika

essays the role of his wife, Lata, who

is upright and righteous and loathes the idea of black money.

Rasika solidified her reputation as a powerhouse performer with the film

In the caption space, she writes, ‘#1YearOfLootcase... last time ... ‘ Bag ?!!!’’

Hashmi is gearing up for his face off with none other than Salman Khan in ‘Tiger 3’

Emraan

MUMBAI: The coronavirus pandemic triggered the feeling of isolation in people, some-thing which served as the per-fect backdrop for the upcoming crime thriller ‘Dial 100’, says the director of the film Rensil D’Silva.

The events in the movie unfold overnight as police officer Nikhil Sood, played by Manoj Bajpayee, gets a call on the police helpline from a woman (Neena Gupta), who wants to commit suicide. As secrets from the past are revealed, Nikhil races against time to save his family.

The germ of the idea for ‘Dial 100’, which takes its title from the police emergency service number, stems from the personal experience of the writer-director when he was in the advertising industry in the 1990s.

“I had spoken to a writer, who was trying to meet me and couldn’t. One night he got drunk and said to me over the phone ‘you don’t value tal-ent’. And that he doesn’t want to meet anyone as the world doesn’t understand him.

“He said he was going to burn all his work and when the last paper burnt he was going to kill himself. I got worried and told him ‘’Don’t do this’’, but he

slammed the phone. Next day, I tried to look for news about someone jumping. But I never found out what happened later,” D’’Silva, known for helming the film ‘Kurbaan’ and TV series ‘24’, said in an interview.

The phone call set the tone

for ‘Dial 100’, he said, adding that the concerns around men-tal health struggles amid the coronavirus pandemic com-pelled him to weave a plot around it.

“I didn’t get the story that time. Around last year, because

of the pandemic I was listen-ing to people feeling isolated, depressed, there were talks about mental health issues. The story came and I felt it was the right time to tell it,” he said.

“The challenge was to tell the story and something more about mental health... I try to find projects that challenge me on various levels.”

As part of his research for the film, the director said he studied the kind of calls the emergency call centre received and how they were addressed.

“They have trained officers, who know how to deal with such calls. There is a strategy. I found this world interesting,” he said. PTI

‘Felt it was the right time to tell the story’

The idea for ‘Dial 100’ stems from the personal experience of the writer-director when he was in the advertising industry in the 1990s