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

VOL.16, ISSUE 196 | Friday, 16 July, 2021 | New Delhi | Pages 12 | Rs 3.00PUBLISHED FROM DELHI | KOLKATA

MILLENNIUMPOST.IN

No Half Truths

Mamata to visit Delhi amid fresh buzz over anti-BJP front Likely to meet Sonia Gandhi, other Oppn party leaders

OUR CORRESPONDENT

IMPHAL/ NEW DELHI: The Manipur High Court has ruled that denying livelihood by linking employment of people to their getting vaccinated is an illegal act of the state and that such a measure would trample upon the freedom of the individual to get vaccinated or choose not to do so, reported LiveLaw.in on Thursday.

According to the report, the Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kumar and Justice Kh. Nobin Singh ruled that restraining peo-ple who are yet to get vaccinated from opening institutions, orga-nizations, factories, shops, etc., or

denying them their livelihood by linking their employment, be it

NREGA job cardholders or work-ers in government or private proj-

ects, to their getting vaccinated would be illegal on the part of the state.

The Court was hearing a PIL petition challenging the Notifica-tion dated June 30, 2021, issued by the home department of Mani-pur government, which stated that the state government pro-posed to relax curfew/contain-ment zone orders in the future in a calibrated manner by assess-ing the Covid infection scenario. Further, it said that while open-ing up, without compromising public health safety, the govern-ment considered it prudent to prioritize the opening of insti-tutions, organizations, factories,

shops, markets, private offices, etc., where employees and work-ers were Covid vaccinated. The government further stated that this would also apply to NREGA job cardholders and workers of Government/ private projects.

Prima facie, the Court found that the notification was an attempt to make vaccination mandatory as it favored those who are vaccinated, not only in terms of prioritising the opening up of their institutions, organ-isations, etc. but also by linking vaccination as a condition prec-edent for employment of NREGA job cardholders and workers in government and private projects.

Further, the Court opined that the notification of the govern-ment of Manipur was in accor-dance with the policy of the Central government, seeking to promote Covid vaccinations. The objective of the government is to ensure a degree of immunity in the people, at least to the extent of preventing dire consequences, if infected. However, the Court further observed that the ground reality is quite different as there is abounding ignorance amongst the people as to the side effects of the vaccination and in con-sequence, apprehensions of the risks that may ensue upon being vaccinated. Continued on P4

Denying livelihood by linking employment to people getting vaccinated is illegal act: Manipur HC

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Amidst strong speculations of anti-BJP polit-ical parties uniting, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will visit New Delhi later this month during the Monsoon Session of Parliament and meet several leaders in the national Capital.

She would also call on President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi.

When asked about her visit, Banerjee on Thursday, said: “I have not visited Delhi since the Assembly elections in the state were over. I usu-

ally go once when Parliament remains in session as I get the opportunity to meet old

and new friends. This time, it did not happen yet due to the state’s Covid condition. Now, I will go as the situation in the state has improved.”

Though there is a strong buzz that she may go to Delhi on July 25, Banerjee did not confirm the date of her visit. She further stated: “I also would meet the President and the Prime Minister as I am going after the elections.”

Banerjee would meet Con-gress president Sonia Gandhi, Samajwadi Party chief Akh-ilesh Yadav, Delhi Chief Min-ister Arvind Kejriwal and NCP chief Sharad Pawar during her visit. Continued on P4

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Cen-tre has told banks they can use social media apps such as WhatsApp along-side SMS and email to send pension slips to pensioners after their account is cred-ited, according to an offi-cial order.

It said the decision was taken in order to ensure ease of living of the pensioners.

Banks may also use social media apps What-sApp etc in addition to SMS and email, said the order issued by the Department of Pension and Pensioners’ Welfare.

A meeting was held with the Central Pension Pro-cessing Centres (CPPCs) of pension-disbursing banks last month wherein the issue of providing the breakup of the monthly pension to the pensioners was discussed, it said.

The banks were impressed upon to under-take this welfare measure as this information is required by pensioners in connec-tion with Income Tax, Dear-ness Relief payments and DR arrears among others, the order said.

The banks welcomed the idea and expressed their willingness to provide the information, it said.

Continued on P4

Pensioners may now

get slip from banks through WhatsApp 

City: Pg 2Local court upholds validity of clubbed FIR in Delhi riots case

Nation: Pg 5Congress may pick Kamal Nath to head party

Film: Pg 12‘The character comes with a lot of responsibility’

CityBUILDING OWNER HELD 2Nation‘ANALYSE INFRASTRUCTURE NEED’ 6edit A DIFFERENT KIND OF RACE 7internationalLEBANON PM-DESIGNATE STEPS DOWN 8businessMARKETS SOAR TO RECORD HIGH 10sport‘89 WYATT’ POWER CRUSHES INDIA 11

In today’s paper

...

‘Sedition law colonial, why don’t you drop it’OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Concerned over enormous misuse of the colonial era penal law on sedi-tion, the Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre as to why it was not repeal-ing the provision used by the British to silence people like Mahatma Gandhi to suppress the freedom movement.

Agreeing to examine the pleas filed by Editors Guild of India and a former Major General, challenging the con-stitutionality of Section 124A (sedition) in the IPC, a Bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana said its main con-cern was the “misuse of law” and issued the notice to the Centre.

The non-bailable provision makes any speech or expres-sion that brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Gov-ernment established by law in India a criminal offence pun-ishable with a maximum sen-tence of life imprisonment.

“Mr Attorney (General). We want to ask some ques-tions. This is the colonial era law and the same law was used by the British to suppress the freedom movement. It was used by the British to silence Mahatma Gandhi, Gokhale and others.

“Is it still necessary to keep this in statute even after 75 years of Independence,” asked the Bench which also com-prised Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy.

Observing that the provi-sion on sedition has been put to enormous misuse, it also referred to alarming misuse of Section 66 A of the Infor-mation Technology Act even after the top court set it aside long back and observed: “It can be compared to a carpen-ter, asked to cut a wood, cut the entire forest.”

“A factionist can invoke these types of (penal) provi-sions to implicate the other group of people,” the CJI said, adding that if a particular party or people do not want to hear a voice, they will use this law to implicate others.

The Bench wondered at the continuance of the sedi-tion law in statute book for the last 75 years and said: “We do not know why the govern-ment is not taking a decision. Your government has been getting rid of stale laws.”

The Bench said it was not blaming any state or govern-ment, but unfortunately, the executing agency misuses these laws and there is no accountability.

In a hearing, conducted through video-conferenc-ing, the Bench added that if a police officer in a remote village wanted to fix a person then he can easily do so by using such provisions.

Moreover, said the Bench, there was very low percent-age of convictions in sedi-tion cases and these are the issues which are needed to be decided.

The CJI, on being told that another Bench headed Justice U U Lalit has been hearing a similar plea which has been fixed for further consideration on July 27, said he would take a call on posting of the matters and notify the date of hearing.

Attorney General K K

Venugopal, who was asked to assist the Bench in deal-ing with the case, defended the provision and said it be allowed to remain in the stat-ute book and the court may lay down guidelines to curb the misuse.

Senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Edi-tors Guild of India, said a sep-arate plea has been filed by the journalists’ body challenging the validity of Section 124A (Sedition) of the IPC and that plea can also be tagged along with the present one.

He said that besides chal-lenging the validity, the Guild has also sought framing of guidelines to curb misuse. Continued on P4

IS THIS LAW STILL NEEDED AFTER 75 YRS OF INDEPENDENCE: SC

Highlights » The non-bailable provision makes any speech or expression that brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt or excites or attempts to excite

disaffection towards the Government established by law in India a criminal offence punishable with a maximum sentence of life imprisonment »Observing that the provision on sedition has been put to enormous misuse, it also referred to alarming misuse of Section 66 A of the Information Technology Act even after the top court set it aside long back and observed: “It

can be compared to a carpenter, asked to cut a wood, cut the entire forest”

» “A factionist can invoke these types of (penal) provisions to implicate the other group of people,” the CJI said

» The petition said there is need to take into account the “march of the times and the development of the law” before dealing with Section 124A

India records 41,806 fresh Covid cases; 581 new fatalities ‘Unprecedented’ the way UP govt controlled 2nd wave: PM

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: India recorded 41,806 new Coronavirus cases, taking the infection tally to 3,09,87,880, while the active cases increased to 4,32,041, according to the Union Health ministry data updated on Thursday.

The death toll climbed to 4,11,989 with 581 fresh fatalities.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday praised the Uttar Pradesh government for its handling of the Covid crisis and said the way it had con-trolled the second wave of the infection was “unprecedented”.

The Prime Minister, who arrived at his Parliamentary constituency on Thursday morning, also appreciated the Yogi Adityanath-led gov-ernment for working with a development-oriented approach rather than one based on corruption and nep-otism and bringing in rule of

law in the state.He inaugurated and laid the

foundation stones of multiple development projects worth more than Rs 1,500 crore at the IIT-BHU ground in Varanasi.

Describing the efforts of the government in combating COVID-19 as “commendable”, Modi said Uttar Pradesh’s pop-ulation is more than a dozen big countries but the way it has

controlled the second wave of Coronavirus and stopped its spread is “unprecedented”.

Earlier, even minor prob-lems assumed monstrous pro-portions due to the shortage of health facilities and the lack of willpower, he said.

The people of Uttar Pradesh, the Prime Minister said, had seen an era when there were problems in tackling

diseases such as encephalitis. “And this (Covid) is the big-

gest problem the world is fac-ing in 100 years. It is the biggest pandemic, and hence efforts made by Uttar Pradesh to tackle the Corona are commendable.”

Modi, who is on a one-day visit to the city, said the last few months had been very dif-ficult for humanity. Continued on P4

ARMY CHIEF TAKES STOCK

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thurs-day lashed out at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) after its committee, probing alleged incidents of post-poll violence in the state, accused the state government of showing “appalling apathy” towards the victims of the post-poll violence.

Banerjee accused the com-mittee of leaking its probe report to media and called the move a “political vendetta.”

“The NHRC should have respected the court. Instead of leaking the findings to the

media, it should have first sub-mitted the same to the court,” she said.

She further said she is well aware of those who submitted the report. “If you ask me to give details about those people, I will say that the court will state their identity,” Banerjee said.

She also hit out at the BJP for giving “biased statements” in connection with the subju-dice matter.

The Chief Minister also maintained that her govern-ment will file a response when the court asks them to. She accused Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi of ‘maligning’ the state, “using impartial agencies

to settle political scores.” “What would you call it other than political vendetta of the BJP? It is yet to digest defeat (in the Assembly polls) and that is why the party is resorting to such tricks,” Banerjee said.

The NHRC panel has rec-ommended a CBI inquiry into “grievous offences like murder and rape,” in its report to the Calcutta High Court, adding that the cases should be tried outside of the state.

The NHRC committee con-stituted by its chairperson had submitted a report before the High Court on cases of alleged human rights violations in post-poll violence on June 13.

The TMC leader also hit out at the situation of law and order in Uttar Pradesh. “Modi knows very well that there is no rule of law in UP. How many human rights commission has he sent there?…So many incidents, from Hathras to Unnao, have taken place,” she said. She main-tained that the central agency is maligning Bengal and said that the violence took place before the polls were held when the law and order was under the Elec-tion Commission. The leaked NHRC report mentioned some of the senior leaders as “notori-ous criminals” and also recom-mended cases to be probed by the CBI. Continued on P4

Political vendetta: Mamata hits out at NHRC for ‘leaking’ report over post-poll violence in Bengal

Modi, who is on a one-day visit to the city, said the last few months had been very difficult for humanity

CHANDIGARH: The Sirsa police on Thurs-day arrested five people days after lodging an FIR, which included a sedition charge, over an alleged attack on the Haryana dep-uty speaker’s car during a farmers’ protest.

The incident had taken place on Sun-day and police had booked over 100 people, mostly unidentified, for sedition, obstruct-ing public servants in discharge of their duty,

murderous attempt on an elected representa-tive and damaging public property.

Meanwhile, to protest the arrests, a group of farmers sat on a dharna near Baba Bhu-man Shah Ji Chowk in Sirsa, demanding that they be released.

Police, however, said the arrests were made after they were identified based on the video footage of the incident. MPOST

Five held for attack on Haryana Dy Speaker’s car, FIR mentions sedition

A health worker collects swab sample of a passenger for Covid-19 test, at Majestic bus stand in Bengaluru, on Thursday PTI

Pandemic did not impact my Olympic preparation

PV Sindhu

‘IT IS FOR THE STATE TO EDUCATE PEOPLE ABOUT THE ADVANTAGES OF VACCINATION’

A beneficiary adjusts the face mask of her child before receiving a vaccine dose, at SKM Hall in Patna, on Thursday PTI

Mamata Banerjee speaks during a press conference in Kolkata on Thursday PIC/MPOST

Army Chief General MM Naravane on Thursday witnessed the firing of various artillery guns, including those being developed by domestic manufacturers, in Rajasthan’s Pokhran. He also visited Jaisalmer military station where senior commanders briefed him about operational preparedness of the Army in the region, considered crucial for the border with Pakistan, officials said PTI

The court observed that there is a possibility complainants

giving ‘untrue’, ‘exaggerated’ and ‘motivated accounts’

He allegedly confessed to modifying the

building to increase production and storage, thereby risking safety of

workers

SOARING

A pump attendent fills petrol in a car at a refilling station as petrol prices soared to Rs 101 on Thursday PTI

Local court upholds validity of clubbed FIR in Delhi riots case

‘Is criticising govt policy, narrative now sedition?’

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi forest department officials have com-pleted a survey and submitted a recommendation to construct a wildlife corridor on the Sura-jkund-Pali road close to the Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctu-ary, the first such passage in an urban setting in India.

According to Bombay Nat-ural History Society’s Delhi head, Sohail Madan, around five leopards have died in the last five years on the roads pass-ing through or abutting the wildlife sanctuary.

The forest department esca-lated the need for the wildlife corridor after a two-year-old female leopard got mowed down by a vehicle on Pali road at the Delhi-Haryana border on June 28.

Officials from the Delhi forest department took up the matter with their Haryana counterparts, who have also accorded priority to the issue.

“After the June 28 incident, we asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) to con-duct a feasibility survey for constructing a safe passage for wild animals on the Pali-

Surajkund road. The DMRC has suggested constructing an underpass,’’ a forest department official said.

“Earlier this week, we sub-mitted a recommendation in this regard to the chief wild-life warden. The issue is being taken up on priority,’’ he said.

Since the small stretch of the Surajkund-Pali road where the June 28 incident took place falls in Delhi, the city govern-ment will construct the cor-ridor and there will be no involvement of Haryana in it, the official said.

Madan said a better option

for wildlife corridor would be an elevated road which will give wild animals a passage at the ground level.

The wildlife sanctuary cov-ering 32.71 sq km area on the Southern Delhi Ridge of Ara-valli hill range at Delhi-Hary-ana border lies in southern Delhi and northern parts of Faridabad and Gurgaon dis-tricts of Haryana.

It is part of the Northern Aravalli leopard wildlife cor-ridor, which extends from the Sariska National Park in Rajas-than to Delhi Ridge.

There are three major

roads with heavy traffic flow around the wildlife sanctu-ary — Surajkund-Faridabad road, Gurgaon-Faridabad road and Mehrauli-Badarpur road, according to officials.

Another road connecting Chhatarpur in South Delhi to Mangar village in Faridabad cuts through the sanctuary.

Whenever any leopard goes towards Faridabad, it uses a stretch of Gurgaon-Faridabad road and Pali road south of the wildlife sanctuary, officials said, adding that Delhi and Haryana forest departments are looking to build several wildlife corri-

dors in that region.The Bombay Natural His-

tory Society (BHNS) has identified three spots on Gur-gaon-Faridabad road and Pali road where animals were killed while crossing the road.

“At these three places, the Gurgaon-Faridabad road and Pali road run along the wall of the sanctuary. Leopards, who have found a habitat in the sanctuary, cross the Gur-gaon-Faridabad road to drink water from a water body on the other side. This is where these accidents take place,” Madan added.

A recommendation has been submitted to construct it close to Asola Bhatti Wildlife Sanctuary

ARNABJIT SUR

NEW DELHI: Former JNU PhD scholar Sharjeel Imam has now asked a Delhi court whether the speeches he delivered in Aligarh Muslim University and in Jamia during last year’s anti-CAA protest movement can at all be termed as sedition — if they are trying to merely “crit-icise the government policy or political narrative”.

Sharjeel made these argu-ments before a Delhi court pre-sided by Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat for bail in FIR 22/20, which attracts Section 124A (Sedition), among other IPC sections, for the abovemen-tioned speeches.

In addition to this case, Shar-jeel is also under judicial cus-tody with regard to his role in the alleged “larger conspiracy” behind the Delhi riots, which attracts the stringent UAPA.

Advocate Tanveer Ahmed, on behalf of Sharjeel, argued that sedition cannot be invoked against his client as there was nothing communal or violent in his speeches and that they were simply opposing certain government policies.

“Where is the call of vio-lence? How does sedition come into play?...Somebody is trying to criticise the Constitution as it is not sedition….somebody is trying to criticise the government policy or political narrative, can only be booked under sedition for oblique motives and nothing else. That is what is apparent on the face of it,” Ahmed submitted.

The counsel told the court that he believed that being a

student of modern history, “he is fully enabled to express his views as a citizen of this coun-try as to whether a positive discrimination or affirmative action is per se discriminatory or not”.

He argued that the prosecu-tion has not taken the full context and background of the speech into consideration and has only cut and pasted certain excerpts from the speech in the FIR.

Sharjeel’s lawyer added that his speeches had nowhere called for secession from the country and had only called for blocking roads or carrying out chakka jam.

Advocate Ahmed submitted that the speeches only called for people to come together and carry out a civil rights movement.

Meanwhile, ASJ Rawat asked, “You’re saying that he gave inflammatory speeches against the government. Is it only against the government?” The court also asked as to how can four cases be registered against Sharjeel on the basis of the same speeches. The matter will now be heard next on August 2.

Meanwhile, Sharjeel has also moved a bail plea under the UAPA case, which will be heard on August 6.

DELHI POLICE BANS DRONES TILL I-DAYNEW DELHI: Delhi Police Commissioner Balaji Shrivas-tava has directed in an order that in view of certain criminal and anti-social elements or terrorists inimical to the country, who may pose a threat to the safety of the general public, dignitaries and vital installations by use of para-gliders, para-motors, among other aerial objects, flying of such sub-conventional aerial platforms is hereby prohibited across the NCT of Delhi on the occasion of Independence Day. The ban will remain in force for 32 days — from today (Friday) until August 16, the order said.

CHILD SOLD FOR Rs 70,000 BY FIVE, INCLUDING 4 WOMEN, RESCUEDNEW DELHI: For just Rs 70,000, a child was being sold by five people, including four women, in North Delhi. Police have arrested all the accused and rescued the child who was kidnapped by the accused. Police said that three years old boy was kidnapped from his house in the Timarpur area. During the probe, the child was recovered from the Jahangirpuri area. A 70-year-old woman identified as Raj Rani and her daughter Anuj Rani were arrested. Later, Seema, Sarvesh and Sunita were arrested. “Sunita, who is neighbour of the complainant, had kidnapped the child and handed it over to him. Sarvesh has assured her of paying Rs 70,000 instead of a child,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (North) Anto Alphonse said.

ARNABJIT SUR

NEW DELHI: While setting aside an earlier order direct-ing registering of a separate FIR in a case pertaining to the Delhi riots, a Delhi court has noted that the accused have already been investigated and chargesheeted as part of one FIR and there is no need for another one, while also observ-ing that there is a possibility complainants giving “untrue”, “exaggerated” and “motivated accounts”.

While making these obser-vations, Additional Sessions Judge Vinod Yadav has also stated in his order that it was apparent that IPC sections 397 (Robbery or dacoity with an attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and section 307 (Attempt to murder) should have been invoked in the matter.

“This Court is not aware as to whether the said sections have been invoked against the accused persons in the chargesheet or not,” ASJ Yadav said, adding that it was also not clear as to whether on the com-plaint dated July 25, “which dis-

closes a completely different cause of action”, whether an FIR has been registered or not; “however, both the aforesaid actions are liable to be taken by the police in the mater”.

As per case records, the matter pertains to one Moham-mad Salman, represented by Advocate MR Shamshad, whose house in West Karawal Nagar was looted, vandalised and the items inside it were set on fire by a mob on February

25 last year. In addition to this, the mob also attempted to kill his family of three following which they fled the house and took shelter on the roof of their building.

Salman had also named four persons in his complaint to police on March 18, nam-ing four persons, Anil Byaji, Deepak, Yogesh Negi, Sand-eep and Balkishan. However, Salman’s complaint was tagged with another complaint, that

of one Satya Narayan Dubey, whose house situated nearby was vandalised by a mob on the same day.

In addition to pleading that his complaint with far more serious allegations should be made into a separate FIR, Salman also claimed that his subsequent complaint of July 25 wherein he alleged facing threats from the accused also went unheeded.

After a court ruled in favour

of Salman to file a separate FIR, police had filed a revision petition challenging the order. Hence, while setting aside the earlier order, ASJ Yadav noted that since the accused persons have already been investigated and chargesheeted in Dubey’s complaint, there is no need to file another FIR. However, while Dubey’s case is that of vandalism, the court noted that the police is liable to invoke section 397 and 307 of IPC in Salman’s complaint.

Millennium Post had earlier this year reported Salman’s case and that of many others like him, for whom clubbed FIRs have become a massive road-block on the path to justice, as part of an investigative series on Delhi riots.

MANY SUCH RIOTS PLAINTS CLUBBED

City Briefs

Highlights » While Habib was supplying goods at the base’s canteen, he came in contact with one army official » The information so provided to him (Habib), is being further passed on to his Pakistani handlers » He had sent several documents containing vital information to his handler before as well

2 millenniumpostCitympFRIDAY, 16 JULY, 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

NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Thursday said it will hear the bail application of former Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) student leader Umar Khalid, arrested under the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the north-east Delhi riots conspiracy case, on July 27.

Additional Sessions Judge Amitabh Rawat has sought a reply from the prosecution on Umar’s bail plea by the next day of the hearing.

Senior advocate Trideep Pais is representing the accused in the case.

Khalid along with several others has been booked under the anti-terror law in the case. Notably, they are accused of

being the “masterminds” of the February 2020 violence, which had left 53 people dead and over 700 injured.

Besides him, Jamia Mil-lia Islamia student Asif Iqbal Tanha, JNU students Natasha Narwal and Devangana Kalita, Jamia Coordination Commit-tee members Safoora Zargar, former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain and several others have also been booked under the stringent law in the case.

Recently, the Delhi High Court had granted bail to Tanha, Narwal, and Kalita in the case, saying the State blurred the line between the right to protest and terrorist activity in anxiety to suppress dissent. MPOST

Umar Khalid’s bail plea in UAPA case taken up

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Police have now booked Habib-Ur Rehman, a vegetable ven-dor arrested from Pokhran, under the Official Secrets Act, for allegedly passing on docu-ments related to national secu-rity and sovereignty of India to Pakistan’s ISI. He is also accused of getting an army man at the Pokhran Base to help him get the documents.

Police have also arrested the Indian Army Naik Clerk for allegedly helping Habib in this illegal activity.

Special CP (crime) Praveer Ranjan said Habib was in the trade of supplying fruits and vegetables to different ven-dors including the army base at Pokhran, Rajasthan. “While he was supplying goods at this canteen, he came in con-tact with one army official. Initially, the said army officer was posted at Pokhran, Rajast-han and later on transferred to another State — but that does not affect the exchange of any vital, crucial inside information reaching the arrestee,” he said.

It was further disclosed by Habib that the information so provided to him (Habib), is being further passed on to his Pakistani handlers.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (crime) Monika Bha-radwaj said for all the services, he was being paid in cash by his handlers and the same was being further transferred by him and his associates to the bank accounts of his associate army officer by wire transfers to his bank accounts through some hawala traders.

“The recovered documents were provided to by the above

army official and he was to send, convey these recovered documents to his handler. In the past also, he had sent sev-eral documents, a CD contain-ing vital information of Army and other information to his handler and received a hand-some remuneration for the same,” she said.

As per the official, in 2019, he had visited Pakistan. Both Paramjeet and Habib were arrested by a team led by inspector Pankaj Arora. As per the official, documents have been verified and authenti-cated by the Army headquar-ters, which confirmed the authenticity and informed that the documents contain highly secret information related to their activities.

Habib was initially in Bikaner and later shifted based to Pokhran in 2009 where he started to supply vegetables, fruits and other articles as a contractor, police said. Later he started to supply vegetables, fruits, ice and other articles to the Pokhran Army base camp on a contractual basis,” they added.

Army man at Pokhran base and fruit vendor arrested under OSA

Shoe-factory blaze: Police now arrest building owner

ABHAY SINGH

NEW DELHI: Nearly a month after a fire incident inside a fac-tory at Paschim Vihar killed several people, Delhi Police have now said that the facto-ry’s owner has surrendered at a police station in Outer Delhi. The investigation in the case has revealed that the owner, who just wanted to earn profits, led the lives of his workers at risk.

The incident was reported on June 21, when several fac-tory workers were trapped in the blaze. Few were lucky to escape but some were reduced to ashes or their body parts were found. Deputy Commis-sioner of Police (Outer) Par-vinder Singh said the accused Pankaj Garg was absconding after the incident. Later he sur-rendered on July 14, he surren-dered at Paschim Vihar police station.

The accused disclosed that due to competition in the shoe

market, he wanted to become the lead seller, supplier of shoes. Thus he overloaded the godown and put extra iron gates on win-dows and doors of the godown and to increase storage space made modifications inside the building. “Only one entry, exit gate was in operation and other gates were closed with iron gates and could not be opened. Fire extinguishers and fire alarm were also not installed in the godown to minimise expendi-ture,” the official said.

During enquiries it was

come out that godown was overloaded and fully covered with the iron gates, bars and only one entry, exit gate was available.

“No emergency fire exit was made in the building and no fire safety equipment was available. It has been revealed that many iron slabs were made in con-tinuation on all floors for the storage of material, objects in the godown,” the official said. The victims were stated to be present on the top floor and witnesses stated that stairs were also obstructed by the luggage, another material and no free exit was available from the top floor.

The accused Garg modified his godown building for the sake of storage of a large num-ber of articles, materials, objects which congested all floors and at the time of the incident, vic-tims, workers were trapped on the floors and no NOC was granted by the Fire department.

Nominate nodal officers to check mosquito breeding at offices: SDMC to govt

departments and agenciesNEW DELHI: The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has asked HODs of various government departments and agencies such as PWD, DDA and DMRC to nominate nodal officers to check mosquito breeding at their office premises to prevent vector-borne diseases, officials said on Thursday.

According to the municipal officials, SDMC commissioner Gyanesh Bharti has issued an advisory on prevention and con-trol of vector-borne diseases such as dengue, malaria and chikungunya.

Calling for prevention of mosquito breeding at source (office buildings), Bharti asked all the HODs of various agencies including the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, Delhi Jal Board, Delhi Development Author-ity, Delhi Police, Public Works Department, CPWD to nomi-nate the nodal officers to ensure preventive measures, the offi-cials said.

An SDMC statement quoted

Bharti as saying, “DBCs are unable to enter in the building premises due to the Covid pan-demic, hence all the agencies concerned are asked to depute one or two dedicated staff to check water tanks, coolers and other water holding containers on the premises to keep mos-quito-free environment.” MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The planning body of the DDA on Thursday approved plans for multi-modal integration (MMI) projects for three Delhi Metro stations, offi-cials said.

MMI seeks to integrate dif-ferent modes of transportation in an urban hub.

The decision was taken dur-ing the 63rd Governing Body meeting of the Unified Traffic and Transportation Infrastruc-ture (Planning and Engineering) Centre or UTTIPEC, chaired by Lt Governor Anil Baijal.

After detailed deliberations, the Delhi Development Author-ity’s planning body also approved plans for certain areas, which aim at improving walking infra-structure customised to specific needs of the respective areas, officials said.

Walk plans of INA Market and metro station; ITO junc-tion; Hauz Khas-IIT Delhi; Delhi University (North Campus and South Campus); Kamla Nagar and Lajpat Nagar, areas were approved, they said.

In another decision, plans for the MMI projects for Nawada Metro Station, Uttam Nagar West Metro Station and Janak-puri East Metro also got the go-ahead.

Status of implementation of other projects earlier approved by the Governing Council were also reviewed, official said.

DDA approves multi-modal integration plans for 3 Metro stns

Forest dept sets ball rolling for first urban wildlife corridor

WEATHER » The maximum tem-perature in the na-tional capital settled at 36.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday, two notches above normal, the IMD said.The minimum tem-perature recorded at Safdarjung Observa-tory here was 23.4 degrees Celsius in the morning, four notches below normal, it said

3millenniumpost City mpNEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021

‘L-G rejected our prosecutors, forcing police’s lawyers on us’

Nearly all dists reporting daily positivity below 1%

Amid protests, desperate cries, lathicharging, Khori being razed

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Almost all the districts of Delhi recorded less than one per cent positivity rate between June 25 and July 12, with some districts even record-ing zero Covid cases on some days, according to official data.

Barring a single day on June 26, on which the West district recorded a positivity rate of 2.06 per cent, the positivity rate has remained below the per cent mark, it showed. The reason for the increase is the addition of 170 positive rapid antigen tests conducted in the prior week. The lowest positivity rate in the west district was recorded on July 10 at 0.02 per cent, data showed.

Central Delhi recorded the lowest positivity rate on June 25 at 0.02 per cent when only one

sample out of the 6,209 tests came back positive for the infection.

The New Delhi district recorded the lowest positivity rate of 0.06 per cent on two days — July 5 and July 11. East district recorded the lowest positivity rate on July 5 at 0.03 per cent while the highest was 0.15 per cent on June 25. North district recorded the highest positivity rate at 0.75 per cent on July 3 while the lowest was recorded at 0.02 per cent on July 4. The northeast district recorded zero cases on July 11 out of 3,930 tests while the highest was on June 28 at 0.13 per cent. The north-west district had the highest positivity rate of 0.36 on June 29 while the lowest was on July 11 when it recorded zero cases

out of 4,318 tests, data showed.Shahdara district had the

lowest positive rate on June 30 at 0.03 per cent while the high-est was 0.22 per cent on July 8. South district had the highest positivity rate of 0.43 per cent on June 26 and the lowest on 0.07 per cent on July 10.

Southeast district had the lowest positivity rate of 0.02 per cent on July 3 and the high-est of 0.30 per cent on June 26. Southwest district recorded the highest positivity rate of 0.26 per cent on June 26 and the lowest of 0.06 per cent on July 8.

On Wednesday, the city reported 72 new cases and one more death. Active cases here are now at 671 and the death toll has risen to 25,022.

NO CHILD TO BE DENIED ADMISSION FOR LACK OF TC, SAYS DEPUTY CMNEW DELHI: Children in the Capital will not be denied admissions due to lack of transfer certificate, Delhi’s Education Minister Manish Sisodia said at a press brief-ing on Thursday. “If any child of Delhi wants to leave a private school and take admission in a government school, he/she will not be denied admission due to lack of a TC,” he said. Several schools in the Capital have been holding back Transfer Certificates of students and asking parents to deposit the full fee first.

HC REFUSES TO ENTERTAIN PLEA TO REDUCE COVISHIELD DOSAGE INTERVAL NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Thursday re-fused to entertain a plea seeking reduction of the 12-16 week interval for the second dose of Covishield vaccine to eight weeks for persons over 50 years of age and those having comorbidities. “We are not inclined to issue notice. We will dismiss with costs,” said a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh on a PIL by Dr Siddharth De.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Chief Minis-ter Arvind Kejriwal on Thurs-day sought that the country’’s highest civilian award, Bharat Ratna, be given to noted envi-ronmentalist Sunderlal Bahu-guna posthumously.

The environmentalist, known for his pioneering role in the chipko movement in Uttarkhand, died on May 21.

Kejriwal said he will write a letter to Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi in this regard.

He made the remarks at an event at the Delhi Legislative Assembly to pay condolence to Bahuguna. Saplings were planted and a portrait of Bahuguna was unveiled at the event.

The Chief Minister noted that

Bahuguna was known all over the world and every moment of his life inspires people.

Started by Bahuguna at the foothills of the Himalayas in 1973 in Uttarakhand, then a part of Uttar Pradesh, the Chipko move-ment was a forest conservation movement in India.

It later became a rallying point for many environmen-tal movements all over the world.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday interacted virtually Tokyo-bound athletes from the Capital, three of whom had received financial assis-tance from the Delhi govern-ment for training. Three out of four players representing the country in the Olympic Games have received financial assistance for sports training under Delhi Government’s Mission Excel-lence Scheme, the State gov-ernment shared in a statement.

During the interaction, Vice-Chancellor of Delhi Sports Uni-versity, Karnam Malleshwari, was also present and interacted with the athletes. Malleshwari and Sisodia both encouraged the players, took stock of their preparations, and conveyed their best wishes to the players to win medals for the country.

“We are certain that all our athletes will perform their best in the games. Play without any stress, and focus on the field. The prayers of all the people of Delhi and the country are with our athletes,” Sisodia said.

The Four players from the Capital — Manika Batra, Deepak Kumar, Amoj Jacob and Sar-thak Bhambri are representing India in Table Tennis, Shoot-ing, and Track and Field events respectively. Three players out

of the four have been part of the Mission Excellence of Delhi Government.

During the interaction, the players mentioned that they have received immense help all through their training under the State Government scheme. Through it, the Delhi Govern-ment provides financial assis-tance of up to Rs 16 lakh for training of all those players who perform well in sports.

“The vision of CM Arvind Kejriwal has been realised. Delhi Government not only rewards the players who win medals, but also makes them worthy of win-ning medals by helping players during the days of their struggle and training,” Sisodia said.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chan-cellor, while wishing the players, said that they should remember their training and give their best. Sharing her experience as a for-mer Olympic athlete, she said that players should focus just on their game to perform well.

CM Kejriwal pitches for Bharat Ratna to

Sunderlal Bahuguna

Dy CM, DSU V-C wish Tokyo-bound athletes good luck and fortune

PIYUSH OHRIE

FARIDABAD: On Thursday, as the Faridabad Municipal Cor-poration continued demolish-ing Khori village, their exercise was this time faced with angry protesters who had tried to bar-ricade the entry points to their village, widespread protests and desperate appeals from residents.

This, however, did not deter the authorities from continuing their operation on orders of the Supreme Court, as the earth-movers and bulldozers broke the barricades assisted by law enforcement officials who were lathicharging resisting residents,

including women.Thursday’s demolition drive

hit commercial establishments in the village as well.

The confrontation between residents and the public agen-cies began when in order to stop officials from entering Khori,

certain residents had barricaded the entry and exit points of the 190-acre village. But by 10:30 am the earthmovers entered Sardar chowk and Islam chowk where they began razing structures. On their way in to Khori, law enforcement officials lathich-

arged protestors.Several public officials could

also be seen brushing aside the pleas of hundreds of women, who, with folded hands, urged the authorities to not destroy their homes. There were cer-tain incidents in which the law enforcement officials were seen physically assaulting protes-tors who tried hard enough to save their homes from getting destroyed.

Significantly, media persons were prohibited from reporting the drive from the area where the demolition was taking place. Law enforcement officials claimed there were instances of stone-

pelting in the village and that media persons were prohibited from entering the area due to security reasons.

“I am financially not strong and I only depend on my liveli-hood from this place which is now destroyed. Where will I and my family go now? Incidents, where people like us are lathi-charged for saving our homes, give us a feeling that life is and will always be unfair to poor people. They will continue to be exploited by the rich, “said Rameena, a resident of Khori.

With a few days left to comply with the Supreme Court order of razing all the illegal structures at

Khori, the process of destruction began from early morning and continued till evening.

Though an official number of structures destroyed have still not been given by the officials, according to locals there were more than 600 structures that were destroyed.

While displaced villagers have been promised govern-ment flats under the EWS cat-egory in the Dabua Colony and Bapu Nagar areas but for this, the state government has placed a slew of riders, any one of which could prevent tens of thousands from even applying for the reha-bilitation programme.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Delhi Jal Board Vice-Chairman Raghav Chadha inspected the inflow of water supply and took stock of the preparations to increase water production at the Haiderpur Water Treatment plant which is the second largest water treat-ment plant in Asia. The plant is run by the DJB and is the largest in the country, Chadha inspected the plant to examine the posi-tive impact of water released by the Haryana Govt on the water production capacity.

The Haryana govt was put under pressure by the petition filed in the Supreme Court which led to the release of 16,000 cusecs of water by the Haryana govt. two-three days back. It takes around three days for the water to reach all the water treatment plants of the Capital and an extra

day or two to reach all the house-holds, he said. More than 200 MGD of water alone gets filtered and treated at the Haiderpur Water Treatment Plant which further reaches the households.

The two big water channels in the Capital — CLC (Car-rier Lined Channel) and DSB (Delhi Sub-Branch) have started receiving Yamuna water in good proportions and it will directly create a positive impact on our water treatment and produc-tion capacity, the DJB said in a statement.

“Wazirabad Barrage from where raw water from the riv-ers is transported through dif-ferent channels will soon see a spike in the water levels. Delhi Jal Board’s engineers and offi-cers are present at the different water treatment plants not only in Delhi but also in Haryana to monitor the flow of water there,” the Vice-Chairman added.

He also said that the water output of three water treatment plants in Delhi saw a drop of 120 MGD due to reduction in water supply by the Haryana govt.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi gov-ernment, in a statement, has said that the Central government had openly come out against farmers protesting against its three farm laws as the L-G’s office refused to approve Delhi government’s prosecutors in the farm pro-tests cases.

The State government in a statement on Thursday said that

LG Anil Baijal has refused to let the panel of lawyers constituted by the Kejriwal Government to appear in the cases related to the farmer’s bill movement. The L-G has asked Delhi government to put Cabinet’s approval on the panel of lawyers suggested by the Delhi Police instead, the statement mentioned.

A panel of lawyers was con-stituted by the Kejriwal govern-ment to ensure a fair trial of

the cases registered against the farmers protesting against the agricultural laws. Delhi Police, who are investigating the cases registered against the farmers, want to appoint a panel of its own lawyers. The Delhi govern-ment has argued in the Delhi riots cases as well that prosecu-tors and investigators from the same agency defies principles of natural justice.

The State’s Home Minister

Satyendar Jain rejected the Delhi Police’s proposal of appointing lawyers of their favour follow-ing which the L-G asked the Delhi government to call for a Cabinet meeting and has pres-sured the government to take a decision in favour of the Delhi Police’s lawyers. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has called for a meeting to discuss the matter on Friday.

The Delhi Police had sent a list of lawyers who will most likely favour them, for Jain’s approval. After inspecting the list of lawyers sent by the Delhi Police, the State Home Minister rejected it. Jain then sent a list of lawyers deliberated upon by the government to the LG who

refused to give it a nod.Farmers have been protest-

ing against the three farm laws made by the Central Government for several months and Delhi Police has registered several cases against the agitating farmers. After the protests took a vio-lent turn on Republic Day, sev-eral more cases were registered by the Delhi Police against the protesters. However, the Delhi Police continue to probe these cases, with not much progress towards trial as of yet.

A similar tussle between the L-G and the Delhi government had erupted when for the first time, the Delhi Police had sought its own set of prosecutors for the Delhi riots cases.

MEDIA WERE PROHIBITED FROM REPORTING THE DRIVE FROM THE AREA

Delhi’s water supply situation to improve soon: Raghav Chadha

City Briefs

ACTIVE CASES

671DEATH TOLL

25,022

DELHI COUNT

COVID-19

‘New Excise Policy will help minimise corruption, provide fair competition’

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Delhi govern-ment Thursday told Delhi High Court that its new Excise Policy 2021-22 aims at minimizing corruption and providing fair competition in liquor trade and that all apprehensions against it were only fanciful.

The AAP government also said that there was full-scale assault on it on the issue and that a reply would be filed to make its stand clear.

Several petitions have been filed challenging the new Excise Policy before the high court which had earlier refused to pass any stay order.

When the fresh pleas came up for hearing on Thursday, a bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice and sought reply from Delhi government and Central government.

It did not pass any order on staying the policy or extending the July 20 deadline for apply-ing for tender under the policy.

When one of the counsel opposing the policy submitted that in the new policy which divides Delhi into 32 zones, only 16 players could be per-mitted in the market and would lead to monopoly, the bench said such control was for pub-lic welfare and not for those in liquor business.

Control is for public wel-fare and not for you to run your business. It is for public at large. It is not meant for you to run

your business or put you in dif-ficulty, the bench said.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing Delhi government, submitted that there is a full-scale assault on us. I will put in a reply. The policy minimises corruption, gives fair competition.”

Since the court heard the first challenge to the policy on July 12, eight petitions have come before different benches, Singhvi along with Delhi gov-ernment standing counsel Santosh Kumar Tripathi said adding that petitions are by persons well-versed in liquor business.

The court was hearing a fresh challenge to the New Excise Policy by Ashiana Tow-ers and Promoters Pvt Ltd and Rajiv Motors Pvt. Ltd , which alleged that it is illegal, unfair, arbitrary and violative of the Delhi Excise Act of 2009.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi gov-ernment launched the Pneumo-coccal Conjugate Vaccination Program in the Capital on Thursday at a polyclinic in the Paschim Vihar area. While flag-ging off the programme, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that children in the city were being vaccinated for 12 diseases but now pneumonia vaccine will also be included in the list. The vaccine that usually costs between Rs 1,500 to 6,000 will be administered for free at the State government’s centres and each child will get three doses at specified time periods.

The vaccine will protect chil-dren from diseases like Pneu-monia, Meningitis and Sepsis.

“Earlier children under the age of 5 were gravely affected by Pneumonia, there were even deaths recorded, this vaccine

will protect children from death. Not only Pneumonia, but the vaccine will also protect chil-dren from diseases like Menin-gitis and Sepsis,” Kejriwal said at the launch.

He added that the first vac-cine was administered at the center in Paschim Vihar on the launch day and that there are 600 such centres where the vaccination will be held for children.

The vaccine will be admin-istered in 3 doses, given at

1½ months age, 3½ months age and 9 months age of the child. “This is a very expen-sive injection. It costs between Rs 1,500 to Rs. 6,000 and each child needs three doses. Natu-rally, it is unaffordable for the common public, so the Delhi Government will provide it for free at its centres. This a step forward toward Delhi Gov-ernment’s resolve to improve and strengthen the healthcare system and infrastructure of Delhi,” he added. MPOST

Govt rolls out pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for children

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has slapped a demand notice of Rs 412.70 crore on the Cen-tral Public Works Department for outstanding service charge dues, official document shows. Following the demand notice, the CPWD has asked its officials for a detailed reconciliation between its divisions concerned and the NDMC over the issue. In an office memorandum to various divisions issued on July 14, CPWD director (finance) Samsher Ali said that priority should be given towards pay-ment for electricity and water.However, the document does not show the time period of the outstanding dues.

NDMC asks for Rs 412 cr outstanding from CPWD

CM Kejriwal has called a Cabinet meeting today to discuss the issue

NO PLANS YET TO REOPEN SCHOOLS: CM KEJRIWALDelhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Thursday ruled out the reopening of schools in the national capital in the near future in view of the coronavirus pandemic. “Like we are seeing trends internationally that there will be a third wave of COVID-19. So, until the vaccination process is complete we would not like to take risk with children. So, there aren’t any plans to reopen schools as of now,” Kejriwal told reporters. He was respond-ing to a question about whether schools in Delhi will begin to reopen like in other states. However, the Delhi government has allowed auditoriums to reopen for a special PTM session to beheld next week

Highlights » Delhi Police, who are investigating the cases registered against the farmers, want to appoint a panel of its own lawyers » The Delhi govt has argued in the Delhi riots cases as well that prosecutors and investigators from the same agency defies principles of natural justice » The State’s Home Minister Satyendar Jain rejected the Delhi Police’s proposal of appointing lawyers of their favour

Three of the four Delhi athletes on

their way to Tokyo this year were given financial assistance by the Delhi govt during training

EMERGENCY COVID RESPONSE PACKAGE DISQUALIFICATION OF TURNCOATS

PM TO INAUGURATE PROJECTS WORTH RS 1,100 CRORE IN GUJARAT TODAY GANDHINAGAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually inaugurate and dedicate to the nation a host of projects worth over Rs 1,100 crore, including a new-ly-built five-star hotel atop the redeveloped Gandhi-nagar railway station, on Friday, said Gujarat govern-ment officials on Thursday. The luxury hotel, having 318 rooms, is spread across 7,400 square meters and has been built at a cost of Rs 790 crore, said SS Rathore, Managing Director of Gandhinagar Railway and Ur-ban Development Corporation Ltd (GARUD), at a press meet in Gandhinagar.

SECURITY FORCES BUST LeT MODULE, ARREST 3 IN J&K'S BANDIPORASRINAGAR: Security forces busted a terror module of Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) outfit by arresting three militant associates in Bandipora district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Thursday. A terror module of proscribed terror outfit LeT was busted by arresting three militant associates and recovering incriminating material including arms and ammunition from their possession, a police spokesman said. He identified the arrested as Suhaib Ahmad Malik alias Asif and Aejaz Ahmad Najar — both residents of Gundpora, and Touseef Ahmad Sheikh, a resident of Chittay-banday, Bandipora. Incriminating material, arms and ammunition, including a pistol, fake SIM cards, forged documents etc were recovered from their possession, the spokesman said.

Nation Briefs

4 millenniumpostNationmpFRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

Sedition law colonial

The Bench was hearing the fresh plea by former Army officer, Major-General S G Vombatkere (Retd), challenging the Constitutional validity of Section 124A (Sedition) of the IPC on grounds that it causes a “chilling effect” on speech and is an unreasonable restriction on free expression, a fundamental right.

The Bench, referring to the cre-dentials of Vombatkere, said that he gave his entire life to the country and his motive in filing of the case cannot be questioned.

His plea said Section 124A is wholly unconstitutional and should be “unequivocally and unambigu-ously struck down”.

The petitioner contends that a statute criminalising expression based on unconstitutionally vague definitions of ‘disaffection towards Government’ etc. is an unreason-able restriction on the fundamental right to free expression guaran-teed under Article 19(1)(a) and causes constitutionally impermis-sible ‘Chilling Effect’ on speech,” the plea said.

The petition said there is need to take into account the “march of the times and the development of the law” before dealing with Sec-tion 124A.

Earlier, a separate Bench had sought response from the Centre on the plea challenging validity of sedition law, filed by two journalists

— Kishorechandra Wangkhem-cha and Kanhaiya Lal Shukla — working in Manipur and Chhattisgarh respectively. For-

mer Union minister Arun Shourie on Thursday moved the Supreme Court seeking that the sedition law be declared unconstitutional as it has come to be “heavily abused” and cases are being filed against cit-izens for “exercising their freedom of speech and expression”.

Mamata to visit Delhi

Banerjee’s visit to New Delhi gains significance as the Opposi-tion political parties would come together to form an anti-BJP front to defeat the saffron camp in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

It was on June 22 when a discus-sion among leaders from several anti-BJP parties at Pawar’s resi-dence took place and it was decided that a “vision document” eyeing the 2024 Lok Sabha polls would be scripted.

Banerjee had even said while addressing the media at the state Secretariat: “Country is not only run by the BJP. There are many states where the government is of the Opposition political par-ties. They (BJP) are in government today. They may not be in power in 2024. The rules that they are fram-ing now, would get changed after they get removed from power.”

Again, meetings of election strategist Prashant Kishor with Pawar and Congress president Sonia Gandhi and former party chief Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Vadra has led to

strong buzz over the formation of an anti-BJP front..

Mamata hits out at NHRC

Commenting on the same, MP Kalyan Banerjee said: “The report is full of lies and there is not an iota of truth in it. The NHRC did not visit the houses of Trinamool Congress supporters who had been beaten up by BJP activists during the election. Not a single untoward incident happened after Mamata Banerjee took oath for the third consecutive time as the Chief Minister on May 5. The incidents took place at a time when the law and order was under the Election Commission.”

State Forest minister Jyotipriya Mallick said: “I challenge such alle-gations. There is not even a single general diary against my name in any police station. All these are nothing but BJP’s vendetta politics. If needed, a defamation suit will also be filed.”

Udayan Guha, Jiban Saha, Sheikh Sufiyan, Jyotipriya Mal-lick, Partha Bhowmick and Shaukat Mollah have been named as “noto-rious criminals” in the report.

Meanwhile, the NHRC on Thursday rejected as “baseless and factually incorrect” allegations that a report prepared by its committee probing the incidents of post-poll violence in Bengal has been leaked by the rights panel.

It said in a statement that the panel had submitted its report to the Calcutta High Court on July 13.

Since the report is already avail-able with all the concerned parties as per the directives of the court,

“there is no question of leakage at the level of the NHRC,” the rights panel said.

41,806 fresh Covid cases

Meanwhile, wicketkeeper-bats-man Rishabh Pant and throwdown specialist Dayanand Garani tested positive for COVID-19, while three others were placed in precaution-ary isolation as the dreaded virus hit the Indian cricket team ahead of next month’s Test series against hosts England.

Bowling coach Bharath Arun, reserve wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha were put in isolation for hav-ing come in contact with Garani along with standby opener Abhi-manyu Easwaran, whose inclusion had raked up a recent storm. Gara-ni’s Covid report came on Thursday morning. The team will undergo daily Covid tests from now on.

It is learnt the Arun, Easwaran and Saha have all tested negative but have to follow the UK govern-ment’s Health Safety Protocol for the 10-day isolation period.

“The four personnel will undergo 10-day isolation and will remain in their respective rooms in the team hotel in London,” the BCCI said. The Board said that all travelling family members and caretakers with the team have also been administered the second dose of COVID vaccine earlier this month in London.

PensionersAccordingly, all pension dis-

bursing banks should issue pen-sion slips to pensioners after the credit of pension on their registered mobile numbers through SMS and email (wherever available) also, said the recent order.

The pension slip should provide the complete detail of the monthly pension paid along with a break-up of the amount credited and tax deductions etc. if any, it said.

Denying livelihood

Significantly, the Court opined: “It is for the state government to dispel such fears by educating people as to the advantages of get-ting vaccinated and erase their apprehension of the adverse con-sequences of getting vaccinated. Without addressing this issue, the state cannot seek to impose con-ditions upon the citizens so as to compel them to get vaccinated, be it by holding out a threat or by put-ting them at a disadvantage for fail-ing to get vaccinated.”

However, the Additional Advo-cate General, Manipur, submit-ted that the impugned notification was merely an expression of inten-tion by the government as to what it proposes to do once relaxation of the curfew/containment zone orders is resorted to.

To this, the Court, by way of abundant caution, made it clear that the impugned notification shall not be given effect to, even if the state resorts to any further relax-ations, until the next date of hear-ing and sought the reply of the state to properly explain the situation.

AGENCIES

From Page 1

AYODHYA: A court here has summoned Shri Ram Janmb-hoomi Teerth Kshetra secre-tary Champat Rai and three others in connection with a land deal for the Ayodhya temple.

The plea in this regard was filed in the Faizabad District Court by Shiv Sena leader Santosh Dubey and Shankra-charya Swami Avimukteshwa-ranand of Varanasi, challenging the sale of the land belonging to a temple adjacent the Ram Janmbhoomi site.

The counsel for the peti-tioners, Tarunjeet Varma, said about 300-year-old Fakire Ram Mandir, having 30,830 sq feet area, was sold to the Ram Janmbhoomi trust by Mahant Raghuvar Sharan on the con-sent of priest Kripa Shankar Das and patron Ram Kishor Singh in March this year for Rs 3.71 crore.

"We have raised objection

before the court that no one has the right to sell the temple as its ownership belongs to the deity and no one can sell the prop-erty or donate it, said Varma

We have also demanded that the sale deed made on March 27 and mutation ordered in favour of Mahant Raghuvar Sharan be cancelled, Varma said.

A prayer has also been made not to demolish the tem-ple. The court has fixed August 6 as the next date of hearing.

NEW DELHI: The weather remained mostly dry in north India barring a few places in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan which received light to moder-ate rains on Thursday.

In Telangana, normal life was thrown out of gear at sev-eral places in Hyderabad and some districts of the state fol-lowing heavy rains.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said very heavy to extremely heavy rain-fall was observed at isolated places over Telangana while Assam and Meghalaya, sub-Himalayan west Bengal and Sikkim, west Uttar Pradesh, west Madhya Pradesh, Konkan and Goa and coastal Karnataka also received heavy showers.

In Telangana's Hyderabad, several residential colonies faced inundation and residents had a tough time trying to bail

out water from their houses.Jagtial, Nirmal and other

districts in the state have also witnessed heavy rains, with riv-ulets and other water bodies were in spate at some places.

Light to moderate rains also occurred at a few places in Uttar Pradesh in the past 24 hours, with Jansath (Muzaffar-nagar) receiving 13 cm rainfall followed by 10 cm in Meerut, 9 cm in Kanth (Moradabad) and 7 cm in Baghpat.

The weather department has predicted rain or thunder-showers at isolated places over the state on July 16. Light to heavy rainfall was also recorded at several places in Rajasthan, with the weather department predicting an increase in rain activities in eastern parts of the state within the next few days. Pali recorded a maximum tem-perature of 43.8 degrees Cel-

sius, Barmer-Sawaimadhopur 41.1 degrees Celsius each, Bikaner 40.9 degrees Celsius and Dholpur 40.2 degrees Cel-

sius. The temperatures in the other northern states of Pun-jab and Haryana hovered below normal limits at most places.

After receiving rains in the past two days, mainly dry weather prevailed in most parts of the two states, except Karnal in Haryana where heavy rains (49) mm lashed during the day.

In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a maximum of 35.4 degrees Celsius while Ludhiana recorded a high of 33.7 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the Meteoro-logical Department issued a fresh warning for heavy rains in Himachal Pradesh.

It issued a yellow warning for heavy rains, thunderstorm and lightning in the plains, low hills and mid hills on July 16 and 17, and an orange warning for very heavy rains, thunder-storm and lightning in plains, low hills and mid hills on July 18 and 19.

The Met department issues colour-coded warnings to alert

people ahead of severe or haz-ardous weather which has the potential to cause "damage, widespread disruption and/or danger to life."

Several parts of Him-achal Pradesh received light to moderate rains, with Malan in Kangra district gauging 54 mm of rainfall, followed by 32.5 mm in Baijnath in Kangra district. Officials said the death toll due to landslides and flash floods triggered by the recent rains in Himachal Pradesh have risen to 13 so far.

The IMD has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places over coastal Karna-taka, and heavy rainfall at iso-lated places over Uttarakhand, Bihar, Andamanand Nicobar Islands, Assam and Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Gujarat, Rayalas-eema, among others. AGENCIES

NEW DELHI: Farmers from 22 states will participate in the protests planned outside parlia-ment from July 22 to demand scrapping of the contentious farm laws and for a legal guar-antee on MSP, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said on Thursday.

The umbrella body of over 40 farmer unions has planned that around 200 farmers will hold protests outside parliament every day during the monsoon session. The leaders have not commented on whether they have permission to hold dem-onstrations outside parliament but have maintained that the protests will be "peaceful".

"The Samyukta Kisan Mor-cha's call for Parliament March from July 22 till August 13 has received an overwhelming and enthusiastic response from across the country," it said in

a statement.Besides Punjab and Hary-

ana, a large number of farm-ers from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana, Odisha, West Bengal, Assam, Tripura, Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Him-achal Pradesh and Rajasthan will participate in the protest, SKM said

Special marches by women on July 26 and August 9 will also see huge participation from across India, including the northeastern states, it said.

"The parliamentarians shall see farmers from all over India march in a disciplined man-ner to parliament to place their demands and have their voices heard," SKM said.

Extending their support to the farmers' movement, Punjabi

artists, including Gul Panag, Amitoj Mann and Babbu Mann, performed on Thursday for the protestors camping at the Sin-ghu border, the statement said.

They also appealed to the Indian citizens to extend their solidarity with the farmers' movement.

"It is noteworthy that all sec-tions of the country are coming out in support of the farm-ers and it is unfortunate that the Union government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unable to do justice to the farmers and stand with them," the statement said.

Thousands of farmers from across the country have been agitating at the Delhi borders against the three farm laws that they claim will do away with the Minimum Support Price sys-tem, leaving them at the mercy of big corporations. MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday asked states and union territories to conduct a quick gap analysis for var-ious infrastructure compo-nents under the Emergency COVID-19 Response Pack-age and stressed on effective advance preparations for effi-cient clinical management of the infection. The Union health ministry reviewed preparations under the recently approved Rs 23,123 crore "India COVID-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package (ECRP): Phase II" with health secretaries and senior officials of all states and UTs through a video conference.

The Cabinet approved the new scheme for financial year 2021-22 on July 8.

This package aims to accelerate health system pre-paredness for immediate responsiveness for early pre-vention, detection and man-agement with a sharp focus on health infrastructure develop-ment, including paediatric care and with measurable outcomes.

During the review meet-ing, states and UTs were guided on policies and guide-lines from the Union health ministry on different aspects of Covid management, which would help them in strengthen-ing their healthcare infrastruc-ture to streamline COVID-19 response.

The states and UTs were requested to send their expen-diture proposals at the earliest to enable expeditious approval and sanctioning from the Union government, the health ministry said in a statement.

They were advised to con-duct a quick gap analysis for various infrastructure compo-nents under the second phase of the Emergency COVID-19 Response Package (ECRP), including their IT infrastruc-ture readiness.

The focus on the need for ramping up test, track, treat and isolate strategy, requirement for scaling up testing capacity, additional beds, including for paediatric care and makeshift hospitals in sub-district levels,

ensuring availability of critical drugs, testing kits and PPEs, enhancing oxygen availability and strengthening home and village, community isolation centres and Covid care centres were highlighted during the meeting.

The final year MBBS stu-dents, UG interns and PG resi-dents may be utilised under the supervision of the faculty as per the National Medical Commis-sion Guidelines for providing services of mild Covid man-agement through tele-consul-tation, the states and UTs were told.

Similarly, final nursing graduates may be utilised for full-time Covid nursing duties at government facilities under

the supervision of a senior fac-ulty as per the Indian Nurs-ing Council Guidelines and support of remuneration and incentives to these human resources for health under the ECRP-II may be leveraged by states effectively in the times of need, the Centre said.

It was also pointed out that procurement of drugs for effec-tive Covid management is an essential component of ECRP-II; guidelines on procurement and buffer stocks have already been shared with states, which may be adopted for this pur-pose. Guidance can be tweaked to local needs and states must come up with their own assess-ments based on stocks and costs involved.

Analyse infrastructure need, Centre to statesHealth ministry reviews preparations under recently approved Emergency COVID-19 Response Package

DHIRENDRA KUMAR

NEW DELHI: In the latest development in the matter of disqualification of sitting MPs for switching their side, the Lok Sabha Secretariat on Thursday issued letters to Sisir Adhikari, Sunil Kumar Mondal, and K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju in response to petitions received under the anti-defection law by Trinamool Congress and YSR Congress Party.

As per sources, all the three MPs have been asked to give their response on petitions, which have been submitted by their parties to Lok Sabha

Speaker Om Birla, within 15 days of the receipt of letters.

The Lok Sabha Speaker has issued notices to Adhikari and Mondal after Sudip Bandyo-padhyay, Leader of the Trin-amool Congress (TMC) in Lok Sabha, had urged Om Birla to take action on the petitions he had earlier filed seeking dis-qualification of Sisir Adhikari and Sunil Mondal, who had joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) before the recent Bengal assembly polls.

Mondal, who was elected to Lok Sabha from the East Burdwan seat on TMC ticket, had joined the BJP in the pres-

ence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah in December last year. Sisir Adhikari, who did not formally join BJP but shared the dais with Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi during the assem-bly election campaign, is the MP from Contai in East Mid-napore district.

In the matter of Krishna Raju, the Lok Sabha Speaker has issued notice to the rebel MP on the petition submitted by YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) seeking the Speaker’s interven-tion over the disqualification of the rebel MP from Narsapuram constituency and cancellation of his parliamentary membership.

Rebel MPs of TMC, YSRC get LS Speaker’s notice

NEW DELHI: The Union Health Ministry on Thursday raised with the states the issue of violations in COVID-19 norms in many parts of the country, especially hill stations, and impressed upon them the need for focussed public health mea-sures to check the pandemic.

In a letter to all states and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said complacency at this juncture has the potential to result in another surge in COVID-19 cases.

"Violations of Covid norms have been observed in various parts of the country, especially in hill stations, public transport and markets. Needless to say, such complacency at this junc-ture has the potential to result in another surge in cases," he said and reiterated the need for focussed public health measures by the states and UTs.

It is imperative to adhere to the guiding principles of COVID-19 containment and management with a special focus on the five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccinate and adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour, Bhushan said.

"Focussed and sustained high levels of testing, relentless contact tracing, comprehensive vaccination and ensuring strict adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour at all crowded places and potential super-spreader events are of the essence," he added.

The letter comes a day after the Union Home ministry raised the issue of violations of COVID-19 norms observed in several parts of the coun-try, including hill stations, and asked states and union territo-ries to take action against offi-cials responsible for ensuring compliance to guidelines. MPOST

Centre raises Covid norm violations with states

Primary health officials being escorted by Indian Army jawans for door-to-door vaccination against Covid-19, in the remote forward villages near LoC in Jammu PTI

Farmers from 22 states will take part in protests outside Parl: SKM

Land deal: Faizabad court summons Ram temple trust secy, three others

Weather mostly dry in N India, rains lash parts of southern states

Petitioners have demanded that the sale deed made on March 27 and mutation ordered in favour of Mahant Raghuvar Sharan be cancelled

Policemen hold an umbrella as they cross a road during monsoon rain, in Mumbai, on Thursday PTI

5millenniumpost Nation mpNEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021

Sedition law: Oppn leaders and activists laud SC’s observations

Congress may pick Kamal Nath to head party

HOPE IT IS ‘THROWN OUT’

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: With Rahul Gandhi not ready to accept the top post of the Congress and adamant on his stand to appoint a leader from out-side the Gandhi family for the party chief, speculations are very strong that Gandhi fam-ily’s trusted lieutenant Kamal Nath may be picked to head the Grand Old party.

The speculations about the selection of Kamal Nath for the top role intensified after the former Madhya Pradesh CM had a closed-door meeting with party’s interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.

However, Nath has denied such rumours saying that talk about him becoming Congress president is rubbish.

“I keep meeting Gandhi and keep discussing various issues related to the party,” Kamal Nath said.

As per political experts, the meeting may not be a routine one as the meeting of Congress Working Committee (CWC) is scheduled to happen soon over

giving a final shape to party’s organisational structure.

After the CWC meeting,

the process to elect a new party president would start and it’s expected that the AICC session is likely to happen in August, the party sources said.

As per party insiders, Kamal Nath may be appointed as working president of Con-gress as he is not keen on the post of treasurer.

Kamal Nath, 74, is one of the senior most politicians in Congress and a trusted lieuten-ant of the Gandhi family.

It was his ‘loyalty' to the party that the high command preferred him over Jyotiraditya Scindia that led to collapsing of his government in Madhya Pradesh after Scindia switched to the BJP along with a large number of Congress MLAs.

The former Union Min-ister and nine-time MP has a good rapport with leaders across parties. Besides, he has close ties with members of the “G-23” in the Congress, who wrote to Sonia Gandhi last year calling for sweeping changes, including collective decision-making and “full-time, visible leadership”.

Former Madhya Pradesh CM had a closed-door meeting with Sonia Gandhi

THIRUVANANTHA-PURAM: Amid concerns of identifying a cluster of Zika virus in the capital city, five more people, including four women, have tested positive for the infection in Kerala, taking the caseload in the state to 28.

Of the fresh cases, two were natives of Anayara here, where a cluster of the disease had been identified within a three-kilometre radius, Health Minister Veena George said on Thursday.

The other infected people were those hailing from East Fort, Kunnukuzhi and Pattom here and all the samples were tested at the National Virol-ogy Institute at Alappuzha, she said. AGENCIES

Five more test positive for Zika virus

in Kerala NEW DELHI: The Centre on Thursday launched a cam-paign to ramp up COVID-19 vaccination among tribal peo-ple with focus on dispelling myths, misconceptions and fear about vaccines by involv-ing traditional leaders and local influencers.

The Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Fed-eration (TRIFED), under the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, will implement the campaign, which started from Bastar in Chhattisgarh and Mandla in Madhya Pradesh on Wednes-day, in association with the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisa-tion (WHO).

According to officials, the campaign aims at creat-ing awareness on vaccination among around 50 lakh trib-als and forest dwellers across

states. Under the campaign, more than 50,000 villages in 309 districts will be covered.

Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the cam-paign presents an opportunity to build strong relationship with scheduled tribes.

"There are lot of myths and misconception regarding COVID-19 vaccination. This campaign focuses on remov-ing these hindrances. This is the time we increase awareness

about vaccination in view of a possible third wave," he said.

"We won't wave for third wave, but will build a protec-tive shield around our people," Munda added.

The campaign focuses on busting myths and miscon-ceptions like the vaccine is not meant for children and women and that a vaccinated person cannot be infected again.

“We need to send out the correct message that vaccina-tion protects from severe dis-eases and death... Many people think vaccination reduces stamina which may have an affect on their livelihood or they will have to abstain from alcohol after taking the shot,” an official said. “Some people deny the existence of Covid and call it simple ‘cold and cough’. Most villagers and daily wagers think they already have the immunity,” he added. MPOST

Centre launches campaign to ramp up vaccination among tribals

NEW DELHI: WhatsApp banned two million Indian accounts while it received 345 grievance reports between May 15 and June 15, the company said in its maiden monthly compliance report as mandated by the IT rules.

The new IT rules require large digital platforms –with over five million users –to pub-lish compliance reports every month, mentioning the details of complaints received and action taken.

"Our top focus is preventing accounts from sending harmful or unwanted messages at scale. We maintain advanced capabil-ities to identify these accounts sending a high or abnormal rate of messages and banned two million accounts in India alone from May 15-June 15 attempting this kind of abuse," WhatsApp said on Thursday.

WhatsApp clarified that more than 95 per cent of such

bans are due to the unauthor-ised use of automated or bulk messaging (spam).

"We expect to publish sub-sequent editions of the report 30-45 days after the reporting period to allow sufficient time for data collection and valida-tion," WhatsApp said in the report.

The Facebook-owned com-pany explained that the num-ber of accounts banned have risen significantly since 2019 as the sophistication of systems has increased, and "so we are catching more accounts even as we believe there are more attempts to send bulk or auto-mated messages".

The vast majority of these accounts are banned proac-tively, without relying on any user reports, it added.

About eight million accounts are banned/disabled globally on an average per month.

WhatsApp said besides the behavioural signals from accounts, it relies on avail-able "unencrypted informa-tion" including user reports, profile photos, group pho-tos and descriptions as well as advanced AI tools and resources to detect and prevent abuse on its platform.

In the report, WhatsApp said it had received 345 reports in total, cutting across catego-ries such as ban appeal, account support, product support, safety issues and others.

Against this, 63 accounts were "actioned" by WhatsApp during May 15-June 15, 2021.

WhatsApp said user reports received by the platform via the grievance channel/s are evalu-ated and responded to.

Majority of users who reach out to WhatsApp are either aiming to have their account restored following an action to ban them or reaching out for

product or account support, it added.

'Accounts Actioned' denotes reports where What-sApp took remedial action based on the report. Taking action denotes either banning an account or a previously banned account being restored as a result of the complaint.

The IT rules –which came into effect on May 26 –man-date that significant digital plat-forms include the number of specific communication links or parts of information they proactively remove by using automated tools. Other plat-forms like Google, Koo and Twitter have already submit-ted their compliance reports. Instagram and Facebook have also submitted their reports.

The IT rules have been designed to prevent abuse and misuse of digital platforms, and offer users a robust forum for grievance redressal. AGENCIES

WhatsApp banned 2 mn Indian accounts during May15-Jun 15 It received 345 grievance reports, the company said in its

maiden monthly compliance report as mandated by IT rules

Arjun Munda

PLANNING STRATEGY

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal presiding over the review meeting of MICADA at Chandigarh on Thursday mpost

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Several Oppo-sition leaders and civil society activists on Thursday hailed the Supreme Court for ask-ing the Centre whether the sedition law was still needed 75 years after Independence and expressed the hope that it would be "thrown out".

Concerned over the "enor-mous misuse" of the colonial-era penal law, a Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana asked the Centre why it was not repealing the provision used by the British to "silence" people like Mahatma Gandhi to suppress the free-dom movement.

The bench, which agreed to examine pleas challenging the constitutionality of section 124A (sedition) in the IPC, also issued notice to the Centre. We do not know why the govern-ment is not taking a decision. Your government has been get-ting rid of stale laws," it said.

Reacting to the Supreme Court terming the sedition law

colonial and asking whether it was still needed 75 years after Independence, former Con-gress chief Rahul Gandhi said, "We welcome this observation by the Supreme Court."

Some leaders, including Tri-namool Congress MP Mahua Moitra and Swaraj India presi-dent Yogendra Yadav, pointed out that about 100 farmers in Haryana were charged with sedition, among other charges, in connection with an attack on the state deputy speaker's car during a farmers' protest.

Moitra said she was finally hoping "this archaic law mis-used by GoI will be thrown out".

"Ironic that Haryana police charge over 100 farmers with sedition after alleged attack on BJP leader's vehicle while SC questions why we have this out-dated law!" the Lok Sabha MP said on Twitter.

On the Supreme Court ask-ing the Centre whether it was necessary to keep the sedition law in the statute books, Yadav said. "Yes, that's the question.

Case in point: Yesterday, sedi-tion case was registered against farmers in Sirsa for breaking the windshield of a minister's vehicle!"

That's what this law is being used for, he alleged.

Former law minister Ash-wani Kumar did not directly comment on the Supreme Court's observation but tweeted that the sedition charge against Haryana farmers is an insult to India's democratic traditions.

"Government should with-draw the charges immediately

and unconditionally," he said.Activist and lawyer

Prashant Bhushan said, "Kudos to the SC & the CJI for stand-ing up to the Govt on the gross misuse of this colonial law of sedition to silence dissent."

According to Congress leader Jaiveer Shergill, the British used the sedition law to silence Mahatma Gandhi and the BJP is "using it to kill principles of transparency and accountability espoused by Mahatma Gandhi".

In a tweet, he said, "28% rise per year in registration of sedition cases since 2014 –well thought strategy to kill freedom of speech!"

Actor and Shiv Sena leader Urmila Matondkar said, "'Do we still need it after 75 years of Independence?' Honorable #SupremeCourt has referred to #Sedition law as 'Colonial'."

Filmmaker and former MP Pritish Nandy also reacted to the Supreme Court asking the Centre whether the sedi-tion law was needed and said, "Good point, Supreme Court.

Gone hoarse saying this."He added that we want to

remove all traces of British rule but won't give up this terrible law under which our freedom fighters were jailed.

The Supreme Court bench, which also comprised Justices A S Bopanna and Hrishikesh Roy, said, "Mr attorney (gen-eral), we want to ask some questions. This is the colonial era law and the same law was used by the British to suppress freedom movement."

"It was used by British to silence Mahatma Gandhi, Gokhale and others. Is it still necessary to keep this in statute even after 75 years of indepen-dence?" it asked.

Observing that the provi-sion on sedition has been put to "enormous misuse", it also referred to alarming misuse of Section 66 A of the Infor-mation Technology Act even after the top court set it aside long back. and observed: It can be compared to a carpenter, asked to cut a wood, cut the entire forest.

SHIMLA: Invoking strong measures to maintain law and order, Himachal Pradesh police has decided to disarm all the tourists, primarily those com-ing from Punjab, with lethal weapons and creating seri-ous law and order problems at tourist destinations of Shimla, Manali and Dharamshala.

The orders came from the Director General of Police San-jay Kundu following an inci-

dent at Manali where four Punjab tourists attacked locals with swords and resorted to rowdyism, blocking the traffic in the main market. Four per-sons were arrested following the incident as one person, a local, was injured in the attack with lethal weapons following a road rage and chaos. Kundu in an official communication to all Superintendents of police has asked for dealing with anti-

social elements coming to the state in the grab of tourists sternly and checking their vehi-cles at the entry points.

“It has been observed that due to the sudden influx of tourists in the State, some incidents of road rage are occurring. Some anti -social elements are visiting the state as tourists and carrying lathies, sticks, swords and other weap-ons with them which is preju-

dicial to the good public order in the State,” he wrote.

There is every chance that all these weapons brought with them by these anti-social ele-ments can be used to commit crime in the State.

One such incident at Manali has already shocked the entire administration and there was a demand for preventive actions and strict checking of the per-sons coming to the state. MPOST

Police to disarm tourists coming to Himachal Pradesh with lethal weapons

As per political experts, the meeting may not be a routine one as the meeting of Congress Working Committee (CWC) is scheduled to happen soon over giving a final shape to party’s organisational structure

If someone violates the noise rules and creates excessive noise, complaint may be lodged at :

Department of Environment, Government of NCT of Delhi

BEWARE OF THE HARMFUL EFFECT OF NOISE POLLUTION

BEWARE OF THE HARMFUL EFFECT OF NOISE POLLUTION

Helpline No.: 155271, Website: ngms.delhi.gov.in and Green Delhi App

WE CAN REDUCE NOISE POLLUTION BY FOLLOWING THE TIPS BELOW:

Ÿ Say no to crackers during festivals & Important occasions

Ÿ Do not Honk! Unnecessarily

Ÿ Do not use horn in identified silence zones

Ÿ Use the acoustic enclosure with DJ sets

Ÿ Use of silencers in automobiles

Ÿ Shut the door/ barricade the area when using noisy machines

Ÿ Use the sound limiters with DJ and public addressing system

Ÿ Follow the noise rules and limits of noise level

Ÿ Go Green by planting trees

DIP

/Sha

bdar

th/D

/004

2/21

-22

FOUR DIE OF ASPHYXIATION IN WELL KOLLAM: Four people cleaning and deepening a well died of asphyxiation, police here said on Thurs-day. An official of the Fire and Rescue Department trying to rescue the victims fell unconscious due to the asphyxiation but was saved, they said. Narrating the sequence of the incident to the news agency, the po-lice said, “One of the four got into the well to clean it and got suffocated. Seeing this, the three others went in and met with the same fate. All of them died in the well.” The names of the deceased were Somarajan (56), Rajan (36), Manoj (34) and Sivaprasad (25), they said.

MAN HELD FOR KILLING HIS GIRLFRIEND’S STEPMOTHER PALGHAR: A train ticket led police to the alleged murderer of a woman whose body had been found in Maharashtra’s Palghar district last week, an official said on Thursday. Ismail Maqsood Khan, 30, was ar-rested from Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh two days ago, he said. The decomposed body of Mehbuba Bibi Saju Shaikh, resident of Kelicha Pada in Naigaon town, was found on July 9. She had been strangulated, said senior inspector Vilas Chougule of Valiv police station. From a train ticket found at the scene of offense, the police zeroed in on Khan and found that he had fled to UP. He was arrested from the village near Baghpat where he was living, the official said. Probe revealed that Khan, who was working in Saudi Arabia, met the woman through a social media app and the two fell in love.

NON-PAYMENT OF VIRUS ALLOWANCE

Nation Briefs

6 millenniumpostNationmpFRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Civil Aviation has issued draft rules to ensure ease of using drones in India on the basis of “trust, self-certification and non-intrusive monitoring”, an official statement said on Thursday.

The number of forms to be filled to operate drones in the country have been reduced to six in the draft ‘Drone Rules, 2021’ in comparison

to 25 forms mentioned in the Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS) Rules, 2021, it said.

The Drone Rules, 2021, once notified, will supersede the UAS Rules, 2021, which

came into force on March 12 this year.

The fee, according to the draft rules, has been reduced to nominal levels and de-linked from the size of the drone, the statement said.

The draft rules have also abolished the requirement of various approvals, including certificate of conformance, cer-tificate of maintenance, import clearance, acceptance of exist-ing drones, operator permit, authorisation of R&D organisa-

tion and student remote pilot licence, it said.

Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said the draft rules mark a “stark shift” from the UAS Rules, 2021.

“Drones are bringing the next big tech revolution around the globe with reduced costs, resources and time taken for operations. It is upon us to ride on the new wave and facilitate its uptake, especially among our startups,” he said on Twitter.

AHMEDABAD: At least 450 intern doctors of three civil hospitals attached to medi-cal colleges run by a Gujarat government-controlled entity went on an indefinite strike on Thursday, claiming that they had not been paid the "Covid allowance" promised by the government.

The agitating intern doc-tors belong to medical colleges run by the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Soci-ety (GMERS) in Sola area of Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar and Valsad.

After completing their MBBS course, medical stu-dents are required to undertake internships at hospitals before they are granted permission to start their own practice.

According to the agi-tating students, the state government had in April announced that intern doc-tors of government and GMERS-run medical colleges will get Rs 5,000 as monthly Covid allowance over and above their stipend for the months of March till June for COVID-19 duty. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Alcohol con-sumption was associated with 62,100 or five per cent of newly diagnosed cancer cases last year in India, according to a study published in The Lancet Oncology journal which shows alcohol use is on the rise in the country.

Globally, the researchers found that more than 740,000 or four per cent of new cancer cases in 2020 may be attributed to alcohol drinking.

The study estimates that men accounted for 77 per cent (568,700 cases) of alco-hol-associated cancer cases, compared with women, who accounted for 23 per cent of cases (172,600).

Cancers of the oesophagus, liver, and breast accounted for the largest number of cases.

Based on data from previ-ous years, it shows that in 2020, there were more than 6.3 mil-lion cases of mouth, pharynx, voice box (larynx), oesopha-geal, colon, rectum, liver, and

breast cancer.These cancers have well-

established causal links to alcohol consumption, and the estimates of the direct associa-tions with alcohol in the new study are the first of their kind for 2020.

"Trends suggest that although there is a decrease in alcohol consumption per per-son in many European coun-tries, alcohol use is on the rise in Asian countries such as China and India, and in sub-

Saharan Africa," said Harriet Rumgay of the International Agency for Research on Can-cer (IARC), France.

"In addition, there is evi-dence that the COVID-19 pan-demic has increased rates of drinking in some countries," Rumgay said.

The researchers call for greater public awareness of the link between alcohol and cancers and increased govern-ment interventions to reduce its consumption in worst-

affected regions.The study highlights the

contribution of even rela-tively low levels of drinking to rates of cancer, which is con-cerning, but also suggests that small changes to public drink-ing behaviour could positively impact future cancer rates.

Alcohol consumption has been shown to cause DNA damage through increased pro-duction of harmful chemicals in the body, and affect hormone production, which can con-tribute to cancer development, according to the researchers.

Alcohol can also worsen the cancer-causing effects of other substances, such as tobacco, they said.

In the new study, research-ers established levels of alcohol intake per person per country for 2010, to allow for the time it takes for alcohol intake to affect possible cancer development.

They then combined them with new cancer cases in 2020 to estimate the number of alcohol-associated cancers in each country.

NEW DELHI: The Indian Medical Association has sought removal of the provision of one-week elective posting of medical interns in AYUSH medicine from the draft regu-lation for Compulsory Rotating Internship, calling it "superflu-ous" and an attempt to initiate "mixopathy".

The National Medical Com-mission (NMC) came out with a draft regulation on internship that stated that a week's train-ing must be part of the rota-tional schedule in any of the Indian systems of medicine or AYUSH as an elective.

In a letter to the NMC, the IMA warned that the one-week period exposure especially in another system of medicine will only pave the way for a "half-baked mixopath, which is disastrous for the country".

Holding that the IMA strives for "purity" of profes-sion, the medical body sought removal of the provision and said it can be replaced by one or two-week posting in Family

Medicine along with Bioethics.The IMA said it is not pru-

dent for an intern trained in modern medicine to partake and practice a system of medi-cine which he or she has not learned at the under graduation level. "IMA fully opposes the inclusion of one-week exclusive elective posting which is con-trary to the established norm, superfluous and an attempt to initiate mixopathy. IMA strives for purity of profession," the medical body said.

"AYUSH and its compo-nents are vast subjects, work-ing there for a week the intern will not learn any new skill, and there is no clarity who shall be their mentor, and will they be assessed by NMC fac-ulty norms or not. What is the objective, roll or compe-tency will be learned which will augment his competen-cies... Are we adding engineer-ing and agricultural science too for a week as it will make him a perfect human being?" it asked. AGENCIES

NEW DELHI: Diamantaire Mehul Choksi has landed in Antigua and Barbuda, where he has been staying since 2018 after leaving India, after 51 days of custody in neighbouring Domi-nica for illegal entry which his lawyers claim was a kidnapping plan, local media reported.

Choksi, 62, was given bail by Dominica High Court to travel back to Antigua for seek-ing medical help from a neurol-ogist based there. AGENCIES

Choksi lands in Antigua and Barbuda after

getting bail

Gujarat: 450 intern doctors go on strike

‘Alcohol drinking linked to over 62K new cancer cases in India last year’Cancers of oesophagus, liver, breast accounted for the largest number of cases

IMA seeks removal of one-week posting

provision for medical interns in Ayush med

Globally, the researchers found that more than 740,000 or four per cent of new cancer cases in 2020 may be attributed to alcohol drinking

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A Trinamool Congress parliamentary party delegation, comprising six MPs, met the Election Commission here on Thursday demanding that the bypolls in six vacant West Bengal Assembly seats be held at the earliest.

In a memorandum submitted to the poll body, the party stated that with the decreasing number of coronavirus cases in the state, conditions are conducive for conducting the bypolls with Covid appropriate protocols in place.

The number of COVID-

19 cases is at least 17 times lower now with fewer than 831 cases reported till July 14. There has been a steady decline in the number of daily cases recorded...

Hence, it is conducive to hold the bye-polls to the aforementioned constituencies at this time. Going by the steady decline, it is expected that by the time the bye-elections are announced and conducted, the number of daily cases will decrease further. During this time, appropriate Covid safety norms as may be prescribed by the Election Commission of India (ECI), may be adopted during campaigning, the

party said.The Trinamool Congress

(TMC) is keen on the bypolls as West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who lost the Assembly election from Nandigram, will have to get elected in the next six months to continue as the chief minister. In that case, the bypolls must be conducted by November 5.

After the election results, Sovandeb Chattopadhyay, the TMC MLA from Bhabanipur constituency, had vacated the seat to allow Banerjee to contest from there. Banerjee had won from Bhabanipur twice since 2011.

TMC MPs meet EC for early bypolls on 6 vacant WB Assembly seats

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday raising her concern over the inadequate and irregu-lar supply of vaccines to Bengal at a time when it has emerged as a topper among other states in terms of inoculation drive with minimum wastage.

Banerjee also stated in her two-page letter that the state has received only 25 lakh doses of vaccines in the month of July when the Health minis-try claimed that it had sent 75 lakh jabs.

“Unfortunately, only 25 lakh doses have arrived so far this month. Hence, we would ear-nestly request you to kindly give necessary instructions so that supply in our state is increased and a substantial portion of the population is vaccinated before the third wave sets in,” she wrote.

“The Prime Minister has stated during a programme in Uttar Pradesh that the state is best in inoculation drive. But Bengal did the best in this con-nection with minimum wastage. It is minus 6 percent in Bengal. Some states are getting vaccines in excess while others are being deprived. I have no objection if UP is given more. But why should Bengal get deprived of getting vaccines to financial issues related to devolution funds and GST compensation? It is unethical that just because of a BJP-run state, it will get more vaccines,” Banerjee said while addressing a Press con-ference at Nabanna.

She also stated in her letter to the Prime Minister that as per the state’s assessment, there is a need for around 11.5 crore more doses of Covid vaccine to cover everyone in the eligible categories and going by the cur-rent level of supply, it may take

rather a longer period before everyone is covered.

In this connection, she maintained: “They should give at least 1.5 crore to 2 crore to Bengal every month. Even if we get that number, then also it would take six months to ensure vaccination for all.”

Stating that at present 3 lakh doses are getting administered every day, she further said the state has the capacity to vacci-nate 10 lakh people in a day. But it can be done only if the Centre provides adequate doses. She also stated about the problems being faced by private hospi-tals in carrying out inoculation drives as vaccines are not being supplied in sufficient quantities.

She also wrote to the Prime Minister in this connection and stated: “Currently, we are administering around 3 lakh doses of vaccine every day in our state and it is becoming very difficult to maintain this level due to irregular supply. We have a capacity that we can vaccinate more than 10 lakh people every day provided sufficient quantity of vaccine is made available.”

Banerjee further wrote: “Bengal government is giving topmost priority to Covid vacci-nation to ensure the maximum coverage with minimum wast-age. The state has started vacci-nation from January 16 and till date has already administered 2.5 crore doses (with 1.81 crore of first doses and 0.70 crore as

second doses).” This comes when the Centre has provided only 2.12 crore doses while the state directly purchased 18 lakh vaccines.

“As per the information received from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Government of India state has been allocated 73 lakh doses of Covid-19 for the month of July. But unfortunately, only 25 lakh doses have been received till date in the current month,” the letter further read.

Soon after returning to power, Banerjee had written to Modi on May 5 requesting to ensure free-of-cost Covid vaccine for all in the country besides introducing a trans-parent policy for distribution of vaccine and oxygen to the states. She had also accused the Centre of sending only 1.5 lakh vaccines then to Bengal when it had sought three crore doses.

Again on May 20, she wrote to the Prime Minister urging him to arrange vaccines for state and Central government employees, engaged in priority sectors, for which still there is a need for at least 20 lakh doses.

With her relentless efforts, the state government has become successful in bring-ing down the Covid positivity rate to 1.5 percent that was 33 percent during the eight-phase election. The discharge rate has also gone up to 98 percent on Thursday.

Currently, around 3L doses were being administered every day on an average, & ‘irregular supply’ is affecting pace of the drive, CM wrote

Mamata writes to PM Modi seeking more Covid vaccines

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech lauding Uttar Pradesh’s law and order situation and its fight against Covid as a ‘polit-ically biased’ opinion, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday said the BJP-run state is “out of the rule of law”.

When it comes to Covid management, Banerjee gave ‘grade-B’ to Uttar Pradesh rec-ollecting the incidents of dump-ing of bodies of Covid victims into river Ganges.

“Prime Minister is well aware of the situation in Uttar Pradesh... But they have no choice appreciating it, as it is their baby,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said reply-

ing to a question regarding the Prime Minister’s praises for Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Earlier, the Prime Minister on Thursday said: “UP stood up and battled the virus efficiently. Despite being India’s most populous state, the manner in which Uttar Pradesh handled and controlled the pandemic is worthy of praise. UP’s handling of the second wave of Covid has been unparalleled”.

Reacting to the same, Banerjee said: “In reply to the question about such a state-ment (Prime Minister’s speech), I must say ‘speech is silver and silence is golden.’ There is no rule of law in UP. Incidents like that of Unnao to Hathras took place. Even journalists were not spared. But, how many teams

of different commissions and investigating agencies have been pressed into action there? Instead, they always defame Bengal. They are labeling pre-poll violence, when the admin-istration was in the hands of the Election Commission. Basically people are being misled”.

She further said: “Can they (Uttar Pradesh government) show any record about the number of people who died due to Covid? They even did not ensure cremation of Covid patients in a respectful man-ner, instead they dumped the bodies in holy Ganga. The bod-ies floated down the river and reached Bihar and Bengal. Go and enquire how many bod-ies were lifted from the river in Bihar?”

‘PM’s praise for UP’s Covid handling & law and order politically biased’

Aviation ministry issues draft rules to ensure ease of using drones

OUR COZRRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: As the Taliban makes rapid advances across Afghanistan, the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) has said the activities of terrorist outfits remained a key factor of instability in the country and called on all par-ties concerned to refrain from actions that could lead to unpre-dictable consequences.

The SCO also called for increased cooperation of all interested states and global organisations under the cen-tral coordinating role of the UN for the "stabilisation and devel-opment" of Afghanistan.

At a meeting in Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe on Wednes-day, the foreign ministers of India, China, Pakistan, Russia and other member countries of the eight-nation grouping car-ried out a detailed deliberation on the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan as the US withdraws its forces from the country.

The SCO also reaffirmed its position that there is no alter-native to settling the conflict

in Afghanistan through politi-cal dialogue and pitched for an inclusive Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace process, a position that is similar to that of India's.

In a joint statement follow-ing the meeting, the SCO con-demn the ongoing violence and terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and particularly expressed con-cern over the increasing con-centration of various terrorist, separatist and extremist groups in the northern provinces of the country. "We condemn the ongoing violence and terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, whose victims are civilians and repre-sentatives of State authorities, and call for their early cessa-

tion. We note that the activ-ity of international terrorist organizations remains a key fac-tor of instability in that coun-try," the SCO said. The meeting of the foreign ministers took place under the framework of the SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group.

"We are deeply concerned by the growing tension in Afghan-istan's Northern Provinces caused by the increased con-centration of various terrorist, separatist and extremist groups. We consider it important to step up joint efforts by SCO member states to counter terrorism, sep-aratism and extremism," the SCO said.

The SCO also offered to

assist Afghanistan in becom-ing a country free of terrorism, war and drugs.

"We urge all parties involved in the conflict in Afghanistan to refrain from the use of force and actions that could lead to destabilization and unpredict-able consequences in areas along Afghanistan's borders with SCO member states," it said.

"The SCO member states confirm their readiness to fur-ther develop cooperation with Afghanistan in combating secu-rity challenges and threats in the region, above all terrorism and drug-related crime in all their forms and manifestations, and to jointly confront 'double stan-dards' in addressing these tasks," according to the statement.

Terrorist activities key factor of instability in Afghanistan: SCO

‘Deeply concerned by growing tension in Afghanistan's Northern Provinces’

NEW DELHI: External Affairs Minister S Jaishan-kar on Thursday met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in Tashkent and discussed the fast-evolving situation in Afghanistan in the face of withdrawal of US forces from the country.

Jaishankar said he reiter-ated India's support for peace, stability and development of Afghanistan. The meeting took place on the sidelines of a multilateral connectivity conference.

"Pleased to call on Presi-dent @ashrafghani. Discussed the current situation in and around Afghanistan. Reiter-ated our support for peace, stability and development of Afghanistan," the external affairs minister tweeted.

Jaishankar travelled to Tashkent after a two-day visit to Tajikistan's capital Dushanbe where he attended a crucial meeting of the for-eign ministers of the Shang-hai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). AGENCIES

EAM meets Afghan Prez; discusses situation

Supporters of the Taliban carry the Taliban's signature white flags in the Afghan-Pakistan border town of Chaman, Pakistan PIC/PTI

West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee speaks during a press conference, in Kolkata PIC/PTI

7millenniumpost Editorial mpNEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 16 JULY, 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

Unchecked population growth is a problem that needs resolution, but not in the manner proposed by the Uttar Pradesh government. The population growth rate has been tapering off nicely since the past few decades and will reach the optimum without any extraordinary measures being taken. The measures proposed are likely to cause more harm than good. As can be seen, China has now realised that not having children is far easier than having them. There are some practical difficulties in enforcing the two-child norm which will have to be sorted. While state governments of Uttar Pradesh and Assam are at the forefront of this move, isn’t it curious that the Centre is silent?

Ace West Indies cricketer Chris Gayle recently became the first-ever cricketer in the history of cricket to score 14,000 runs in the T20 format. The 41-year-old achieved the amazing milestone of his cricketing career during the third T20I against Australia, at Gros Islet. He scored 67 runs off 38 balls with the help of seven sixes and four boundaries in the match and clinched the Man of the Match award. The explosive batsman — undoubtedly one of the best of present time — should be hugely congratulated for this stupendous achievement. Congrats Chris.

— ANTHONY HENRIQUES, MUMBAI via email

— SOURISH MISRA, KOLKATA via email

EDITORIALA different kind of race

On July 14, 2021, ISRO successfully conducted the third long-duration ‘hot test’ of the liq-uid propellant Vikas engine for its Gagan-yaan programme. With the 240 second test

out of the way, a major milestone along the way to tak-ing Indian astronauts into space has now been fulfilled. The Gaganyaan mission was originally planned for 2022, aimed at coinciding with India’s 75th year of indepen-dence. However, since then the timeline has been pushed back due to a series of events, not the least of which is a raging pandemic. Before the actual manned mission into space can be launched, two unmanned space flights have been scheduled as demonstration flights with the first one likely to take off sometime towards the end of this year. In the meantime, ISRO is engaged in interna-tional collaborative efforts to ensure that Indian astro-nauts are trained and kitted out for space. The Russian space agency ROSCOSMOS is involved in training the four Indian air force pilots that will eventually take on the mission of the manned flight whenever it happens in the near future. A Russian company by the name of Zvezda has been contracted to manufacture the required space suits for the Indian scientists. In April, ISRO also signed an agreement for cooperation with the French space agency CNES for everything from specialised fire-proof carry bags to specialised medical instruments as part of the Gaganyaan mission. India has reportedly also approached Australia for the use of Cocos Island terri-tory as a ground station for the mission. This growing model of international collaboration is not just limited to the Gaganyaan project. In 2018, India and France agreed to a number of plans for joint space exploration with spe-cific plans for interplanetary missions to both Mars and Venus. Much like the other major countries with space programmes, India is now in the midst of an ambitious space race with ever-escalating goals in this next chapter of human space exploration. Aside from the Gaganyaan mission, India is also planning another mission to the moon by the name of Chandrayaan-3. Unlike the second Chandrayaan, the next mission will not be an orbiter but will rather have a lander and a rover. Further out into the future with an as yet unknown timeline, India also plans to have its own space station. The plan describes a 20-tonne station 400 km above the earth where scientists can spend 15-20 days at a stretch and perform micro-gravity experiments. But this space race isn’t just about science and experiments. A major difference between this space race and the one that took place in the 20th century is that it is an open market that goes beyond the participation of a few superpowers and that it decidedly leans to a purpose beyond pure scientific curiosity and national pride. Those are still, of course, factors which is why China is trying so hard to not only beat India with its space achievements but also the US. But beyond pride, this time humanity seems to be going to space for practical reasons, specifically monetary reasons. Space is huge and filled with opportunities. Resources beyond measure and new living spaces await those with the will and funding to reach out and that is what is happening right now. Space itself is becoming an industry and it is rightly going beyond just token participation for private industries. Consider the aim of Richard Branson’s com-pany Virgin Galactic that just recently saw its first suc-cessful flight with the billionaire aboard. Branson, no matter how niche it may be now, is leaning towards kick-starting the space tourism industry. For now, of course, the scope is limited and space travel obviously isn’t for everyone. A flight on Virgin Galactic can set you back a cool USD 250,000 and the price will likely shoot up in the short term. But the point is that this is a beginning and only a very small part of something much bigger. Private industries are now coming forth for everything from space construction to space mining. The ambition of going to the moon is no longer about just getting there to plant a flag but rather to set up bases and more per-manent habitations for research, resource extraction, etc. The future of space exploration, thus, as can already be witnessed, will be driven by private-public collaborations and money-making enterprises and India can ill afford to be late to this party. There is definitely a first-mover advantage for getting into an industry that will be worth trillions in the near future. Luckily, India recognises this. Though India is unlikely to have its version of SpaceX any time soon, in 2020, the Union Cabinet approved new draft legislation that would allow private sector participa-tion in collaboration with ISRO and independently.

millenniumpost.in

INAPPROPRIATE MOVES?

LAUDABLE ACHIEVEMENT!

Ending the monotony

Strengthening old ties

Creativity of inmates could be utilised to transform their lives and create an ambience of infotainment, provided the authorities are willing to do so

The strong bilateral and multilateral engagements between India and Russia could be extended to 2+2 dialogue, and consensus on Indo-Pacific could be achieved

Olympic wres-tling medalist Sushil Kumar has demanded a TV

set in his cell. He is in deten-tion at Tihar Jail on charges of murder and has been allotted a separate cell instead of the jail barracks due to security reasons. As Sushil is finding it difficult to spend time in jail, he has written a letter to the jail administration, requesting them to provide him with the facility of television.

As per the Nelson Man-dela Rules 2015, inmates can be allowed to watch TV in prison. The provision for watching TV in jail is also included in the Model Prison Manual, 2016 and Delhi Prison Manual, 2018. In fact, barracks in prisons around the world usually have a provision to pro-vide TV sets so that inmates can stay connected to the out-side world. News, information, education and entertainment have been recognised as the basic needs of inmates, but provisioning of all such facili-ties is subject to the “good con-duct” of inmates. It should be noted that the provisioning is in terms of “facility” and not as a “right”.

Actually, spending free time in jail is a challenge for inmates. The problem is even greater for undertrials as there is no pressure on them to do any work and their stay in the jail is also uncertain. They don’t seem to care about anything else other than getting out of jail.

Jail is a state subject in India. Every state has the right to decide what facilities should be provided to inmates, which TV channels are allowed to be shown and for how many hours. There is a provision of running TV for 24 hours in some jails while some others confine it to limited hours to avoid addiction. The truth is that there are both sour and sweet experiences in this regard. Tinka Tinka has been closely monitoring the impact of TV in jail.

An inmate, who had served a 21-year sentence in a jail in Maharashtra, had once shared with me that when he went to the jail, he didn’t have access to TV. For many years, he felt that Sholay was still the most popular film. When TV was introduced to the barracks, he came to know that the world he had left outside had gone far ahead. Facilities of news-paper, TV, telephone or even writing or receiving a letter in the jail keep an inmate updated to a great extent. Owing to the ban on visitations in jails in the wake of COVID-19, the interaction of inmates with the outside world has reduced substantially. In the present circumstances, the facility of telephone has been improvised. In Uttar Pradesh, inmates get to make 5- to 10-minute calls, which was only two minutes before the pandemic.

Whether an inmate can be allowed to write letters or get access to pen and paper, also depends entirely on his/her “good conduct” and is decided at the discretion of the super-intendent. Corrupt practices

sometimes flourish under the guise of such “good conduct”.

In the case of Sushil Kumar, it is up to the jail administration how it reacts to this demand from a legal perspective.

It is surprising that to date, some of the state governments have not considered how unin-terrupted viewing hours could disrupt the mental and physi-cal health of inmates. A female prisoner in a jail in Uttar Pradesh had once shared that watching soap operas for long hours has filled her mind with more negativity. Many petty criminals learn new formu-las of committing crimes just by watching TV programmes. Although crime shows are prohibited in prisons, many TV serials are weaved on the basic pattern of crime. Lack of proper control over facilities and absence of proper supervi-sion of the content can defeat the whole purpose of a prison.

In a sense, the very mean-ing of a jail is to restrict movement and other rights, especially concerning commu-nication needs. A jail is consid-ered to be a place to go through

a prescribed punishment for a crime, but sometimes the jail authorities limit the pur-pose of prisons to discipline and counting of inmates. Jail authorities seldom pay atten-tion to ensure that prisoners do not lose their identity and they have the option of improving their skills. Prison staff auto-matically develop the habit of judging everyone on the same scale. Before coming to jail, every person had their own abilities which can be given a new face during the time avail-able in jail, but what happens is just the opposite. Instead of converting this free time into an occasion of learning, pris-ons either make inmates do mundane tasks or engage them in works that have nothing to do with the personality, educa-tional qualification and inter-ests of the prisoner. Outsiders often believe that one who has gone to jail, will come out as a reformed person. The change only comes when an environ-ment of change is created and also the inmates themselves are willing to bring a change. Clearly, every prison has sev-

eral mini prisons within it that go unnoticed. Unless both the prison administration and the inmates take a vow to improve the situation, no outside power can do so.

Within the rigid frame-work in a jail, jail radio can be seen as a worthwhile alterna-tive. The first jail radio in India came in Tihar itself in 2013. Later in 2019, when Tinka Tinka started jail radio in Dis-trict Jail in Agra, the coun-try’s oldest prison building, its model was devised keeping in mind the needs and well-being of inmates. This year, Tinka Tinka started radio in the jails of Haryana. Seven jails already have 47 inmates as trained radio jockeys. These RJs prepare content for their respective jails, keeping in mind the taste, demands and welfare of inmates. These are original and self-made, and inculcate better communica-tion skills among prisoners. Jail radio provides inmates a platform to bring out their cre-ativity. Such is the power of this self-made content, that gradu-ally, inmates have started giv-ing preference to their own jail radio instead of watching bor-rowed, ready-made TV pro-grammes. Recently, two songs were released from Central Jail, Ambala and District Jail, Rohtak. These were deeply appreciated even by the for-mer Union Health Minister, Harsh Vardhan. Armed with a pen, paper and microphone in their hands, jail inmates are creating a world of informa-tion, knowledge and entertain-ment for their prison on a daily basis — something which is pure, more relevant and in the interest of inmates. Life seems beautiful without the race of TRP and profits. This is the reason that jails must initiate the process to provide suitable learning and performing plat-forms to all inmates, including Sushil Kumar. Several experi-ments can be initiated, pro-vided jails are ready to listen and execute them.

Views expressed are personal

VARTIKA NANDA

KV PRASAD

It is time to reaffirm the age-old India-Russia ties as both countries pre-pare to hold the annual

summit later this year. Over the past few months, the for-eign ministers, S Jaishan-kar and Sergey Lavrov, have been reviewing the trajectory of the special and privileged partnership.

Discussions between the two countries during the global health pandemic took precedence as the nature of the virus and its spread continue to trouble the entire world. New Delhi’s appreciation for the way Moscow responded with support during the bru-tal second wave in India in the form of consignments of much required relief and vac-cine underscored the strength of this relationship.

The bilateral component of the arrangement, spread-ing across fields like traditional military supplies, space and nuclear cooperation, is now expanding in another impor-tant direction — a 2+2 dia-logue of foreign and defence ministers. At present, New Delhi has such an arrangement with the United States, Japan and Australia all of which are members of Quad.

The strong nature of engagement in these fields notwithstanding, both sides have different perceptions on Indo-Pacific and interpreta-tion of the construct. It was time to reiterate to Moscow that, for India, the construct is a multi-polar and inclusive arrangement with ASEAN at its centre. It was at the June 2018 Shangrila Dialogue that Prime Minister Naren-dra Modi outlined New Del-hi’s Indo-Pacific vision, and

expanded its contours through Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative later at the East Asia Summit. India prefers a more active par-ticipation in the region.

“Changes in the capabilities and interests of major players naturally lead us to reassess the global arena. Whether it is Europe, the Middle-East, Africa, Eurasia, the Arctic or the Indo-Pacific, new devel-opments have redefined our understanding of the land-scape, as also of its risks and opportunities. None of us can afford to be in denial of these shifting realities. After all, international relations can never be change-proofed… That is certainly the case with the Indo-Pacific, whose dis-connection was an outcome of a certain moment of his-tory…Both our interests and our reach today extend well into the Pacific…our major

partners are located there, and indeed, cooperation with the Russian Far East is one nota-ble example. The reality is that there is a vast global common whose safety, security, ecology, environment and activities are increasingly a shared responsi-bility.” EAM Jaishankar noted at an event.

India and Russia strive to maintain the ties built over decades amid an altering geo-political landscape, particularly the emergence of a multi-polar world with which countries are seeking to strike a balance. Besides bilateral and UN-bod-ies, both countries are today engaged in a number of inter-national fora. New Delhi and Moscow are members of G-20, BRICS, Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the East Asia Summit, to name a few.

At the UN, Russia, as one of the P5 countries, remains sen-

sitive to India’s concerns. Also, as New Delhi prepares to take the presidency of the Secu-rity Council during August, it shared its plans and ideas with Moscow. India is currently the Chair of BRICS and the other grouping, Russia-India-China. Earlier this month, Russia updated its National Security Strategy, revising its 2015 doc-ument in the backdrop of cur-rent developments. Strategic analysts observe that while it contains a list of countries that are not friendly, it also main-tains Moscow’s view of build-ing upon bilateral relations with China, India and those in the Commonwealth of Inde-pendent States. The reiteration also includes multilateral fora like SCO and BRICS.

India joined SCO in 2017 and, in the following year, PM Modi participated in a sum-mit in China. The grouping

also includes Pakistan. EAM Jaishankar was attending a meeting of foreign ministers in Tajikistan which is sched-uled to hold a summit during September this year.

The sojourn of the EAM, earlier this month, offered an opportunity to focus on regional and global issues including the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan which is drawing global attention as Taliban continues its march towards Kabul.

The ground situation in the war-torn country is changing with the Taliban taking an offensive stance. With the United States sticking to its accord with the Taliban to start withdrawing its armed forces from Kabul, countries in the region in particular, and the world in general, are focus-ing on the next steps. India expressed concern over the level of violence in Afghani-stan, underscoring the need for a legitimate government in Kabul.

“The situation in Afghan-istan occupied a lot of our attention because it has a direct implication for regional secu-rity. We believe that the imme-diate need of the day is really a reduction in violence and, if we have to see peace within Afghanistan and around Afghanistan, it’s important for India and Russia to work together”, Jaishankar noted.

As for the government there, it feels that both Russia and China have considerable influence to make the Taliban negotiate for the future of the people in Afghanistan even as the world watches the situation turning turbulent with each passing day.

Views expressed are personal

Sushil Kumar’s demand for a TV set in his cell should be considered as provisioning of ‘facility’, if not a ‘right’

The sojourn of EAM offered an opportunity to focus on the rapidly evolving situation in Afghanistan

Such is the power of this self-made content, that gradually, inmates have started giving preference to their own jail radio instead of watching borrowed, ready-made TV programmes

India and Russia strive to maintain the ties built over decades amid an altering geopolitical landscape, particularly the emergence of a multi-polar world

The Executive Engineer Jal Shakti Division No.II Una , on behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh, invites the offline bids from the eligible contractors on or before 26/07/2021 up to 17.00 Hrs IST (GMT + 5:30 Hrs) which shall be opened on 27-07-2021 at 11:30 AM.

Sr.No. Description Estimated Cost Bid security Time Cost of Bid

1 C/O LIS for village Samoor and Sanhal from Samoor Khad (RWHS-III) in Distt Una (HP) (SH:- C/o Rain water harvesting structure FLD at boul in Tehsil & Distt Una (HP)

4,99,490/- 9,990/- Three Months 250

The tender forms and other detailed conditions can be downloaded from the website www.hptenders.gov in. Executive Engineer No 2407/2021-2022 JS Division No II Una

HIMACHAL PRADESH Annexure-BJAL SHAKTI VIBHAG

NOTICE INVITING TENDERS

millenniumpost NO H ALF TR U THS

millenniumpost.in

I, Bhawana Pant Alias Sambhawana Pant D/o Shri Govind Ballabh Pant R/o Usha Upreti near MVM School Jajardewal, Pithorgarh Uttarakhand-262501. That I have changed my name from Bhawana Pant allied Sambhawana Pant for all purposes in future.

CHANGE OF NAME

The tender invited by the Executive Engineer, Jawali Division HP PWD Jawali on behalf of the Governor of Himachal Pradesh vide this office letter No. PWJ/CB/T.A/NIQ/2021/6761-70 dated 07.06.2021 and published in weekly GIRI RAJ on 28.04.2021 vide Advertisement No. 1365/2021-22 schedule to be opened on 14.07.2021 at 11.30 AM respectively is hereby postponded due to Administrative/ Techanical reason.Now the application for purchase of tender will be received on 09.08.2021 and tender form can be obtained from this office 10.08.2021 and tender will be opened on dated 11.08.2021. The other terms and conditions of the tender shall remain unchanged

Executive Engineer Jawali Division HPPWD

No 2438/2021-2022 Jawali On behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh

HIM SUCHANA AVAN JAN SAMPARK

Himachal Pradesh Public Works Department

CORRIGENDUM

8 millenniumpostWorldmpFRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

Dispiriting setback: COVID-19 deaths, cases rise again globally

WASHINGTON DC: COVID-19 deaths and cases are on the rise again globally in a dispir-iting setback that is triggering another round of restrictions and dampening hopes for a return to normal life.

The World Health Organiza-tion reported Wednesday that deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline. It recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a 3 per cent increase from the week before.

Cases rose 10 per cent last week to nearly 3 million, with the highest numbers recorded in Brazil, India, Indonesia and Britain, WHO said.

The reversal has been attrib-uted to low vaccination rates, the relaxation of mask rules and other precautions, and the swift spread of the more-contagious delta variant, which WHO said has now been identified in 111 countries and is expected to become globally dominant in the coming months.

Sarah McCool, a profes-sor of public health at Georgia State University, said the com-bination amounts to a "recipe for a potential tinderbox. "It's important that we recognise that COVID has the potential for explosive outbreaks,'' warned Dr. David Dowdy, an infectious

disease specialist at Johns Hop-kins University. Amid the surge, the death toll in hard-hit Argen-tina surpassed 100,000. Daily Coronavirus deaths in Russia hit record highs this week. In Belgium, COVID-19 infec-tions, driven by the delta variant among the young, have almost doubled over the past week. Britain recorded a one-day total of more than 40,000 new cases for the first time in six months.

In Myanmar, crematoriums are working morning to night.

In Indonesia, which recorded almost 1,000 deaths and over 54,000 new cases Wednesday, up from around 8,000 cases per day a month ago, people near Jakarta are pitching in to help gravediggers keep up. As the diggers are too tired and do not have enough resources to dig, the residents in my neighbour-hood decided to help, Jaya Abi-din said. Because if we do not do this, we will have to wait in turn a long time for a burial."

In the US, with one of the

highest vaccination rates in the world, newly confirmed infec-tions per day have doubled over the past two weeks to an average of about 24,000, though deaths are still on a downward trajec-tory at around 260 a day.

The spike has led to addi-tional restrictions in places like Sydney, Australia, where the 5 million residents will remain in lockdown through at least the end of July, two weeks lon-ger than planned. South Korea has placed the Seoul area under

its toughest distancing rules yet because of record case levels.

Parts of Spain, including Barcelona, moved to impose an overnight curfew. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said masks will be required on buses and trains even after other restric-tions in England are lifted next week. Italy warned all those going abroad that they might have to quarantine before returning home.

Seven months into the vac-cination drive, global deaths are down to around 7,900 a day, after topping out at over 18,000 a day in January, according to Johns Hopkins data. Cases are running at around 450,000 a day, down by half since their peak in late April.

The World Health Organi-zation’s emergency commit-tee warns that new concerning variants of COVID-19 were expected to spread around the world, making it even harder to halt the pandemic.

“The pandemic is nowhere near finished,” the committee says in a statement, highlight-ing “the strong likelihood for the emergence and global spread of new and possibly more danger-ous variants of concern that may be even more challenging to control.” AGENCIES

WHO experts warn of ‘strong likelihood’ of more dangerous Covid variants

Manuela Meneses, 13, is inoculated with a dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine at the Jose Maria Torrijos school, in Panama City PTI

More than 30 dead, dozens missing in heavy Europe floods

BERLIN: More than 30 peo-ple have died and dozens of people were missing Thursday in Germany and neighbour-ing Belgium after heavy flood-ing turned streams and streets into raging torrents, sweeping away cars and causing build-ings to collapse.

Storms across parts of western Europe in recent days caused rivers and reservoirs to burst their banks, resulting in several flash floods overnight as rain-soaked soil failed to absorb any more water.

Authorities in the western German region of Euskirchen said eight deaths had been reported there in connection with the floods. Rescue oper-

ations were hampered by the fact that phone and internet connections were down in parts of the county, which is southwest of Cologne. Offi-cials said 18 people had died in Ahrweiler county, south of

Euskirchen. Up to 70 people were reported missing after several houses collapsed over-night in the village of Schuld in the Eifel, a volcanic region of rolling hills and small valleys southwest of Cologne. AGENCIES

Over 30 people have died and dozens of people were missing in Germany and neighbouring Belgium

Damaged houses are seen at Ahr river in Insul, Germany, Thursday PTI

UK gets Malta to permit

India-made AstraZeneca vax travellers

LONDON: In a case of much back and forth, the UK govern-ment claims it has managed to get the authorities of Malta to permit travellers from Britain who have been vaccinated with doses of the Oxford/AstraZen-eca vaccine made in India.

The European Union (EU) country was in the headlines as a couple told the The Daily Tele-graph' that they were prevented from boarding a plane to visit their son in Malta because their batch of the vaccines was made in India. UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was confronted about the issue and he stressed that Malta was "not right" to block travel as it was the same product as the one produced in the UK. The Maltese authorities have amended their travel advice so anyone who has an Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine in the UK (regardless of manufacture loca-tion) is able to travel without being turned away with all vac-cines having gone through rig-orous safety and quality checks, Shapps said on Twitter. AGENCIES

Lebanon PM-designate Hariri steps down

BEIRUT: Lebanon's Prime Minister-designate Saad Hariri stepped down Thursday, nine months after he was named to the post by the parliament, citing key differences" with the country's president.

The development is likely to plunge the country further into chaos and uncertainty. Lebanon is going through an unprecedented economic cri-sis, described by the World Bank as one of the worst in the world in 150 years.

It is clear that we will not be able to agree with the pres-ident, Hariri said, after a 20 minute meeting with President Michel Aoun.

Hariri met Wednesday with Aoun after weeks of a stalemate in renewed efforts to resolve the political dead-lock and following a quick trip to Cairo, a close ally. He proposed a new 24-minister Cabinet and said he expected a response from Aoun by Thursday. AGENCIES

Summon House session on July 18: Nepal govt to President

KATHMANDU: Nepal's new government on Thursday rec-ommended President Bidya Devi Bhandari to summon the new session of the House of Representatives on July 18, according to a Cabinet minister.

A Cabinet meeting chaired by newly-appointed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba decided to summon the meeting of the reinstated House on July 18, Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand told reporters.

This would be the first meeting of the lower house of parliament after it was uncon-stitutionally dissolved by Pres-ident Bhandari for the second time in five months on May 22 at the recommendation of then Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli.

A five-member Constitu-tional Bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Cho-lendra Shumsher Rana on Mon-day reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives for

a second time in five months.The bench issued a manda-

mus to appoint then 75-year-old Opposition Leader and Nepali Congress chief Deuba as the Prime Minister and also ordered a new session of the House of Representatives on July 18.

Deuba took the oath of office and secrecy on July 13 along with four new minis-ters - two each from Nepali Congress and CPN-Maoist Centre. AGENCIES

Cases surge to 6-month high in TokyoTOKYO: New Coronavirus cases surged to 1,308 in Tokyo on Thursday, a six-month high, as fears rise of a possible dra-matic increase that could flood hospitals during the Olympics that start in eight days.

Tokyo is under a fourth state of emergency, which began Monday and requires restau-rants and bars to close early and not serve alcohol through the Olympics, which start July 23.

Thursday’s tally is the high-est since 1,485 were recorded on Jan. 21, when Japan was under an earlier state of emer-

gency, and is also a jump from Wednesday’s 1,149. Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike noted that the largest increase in serious cases and hospitalizations was among people in their 50s and younger who are largely unvaccinated.

She expressed concern about the impact on the medical sys-tem as infections are propelled by the more contagious delta strain of the virus. “We need to stay on alert,” Koike said, urg-ing people to minimize outings and stick to basic anti-infection measures to overcome this very difficult situation.” AGENCIES

Medical personnel walk by as they wait for the arrival of international passengers at Narita International Airport Thursday, east of Tokyo PTI

Nine killed in renewed strikes on Syria's last rebel enclave

BEIRUT: At least nine civilians were killed, including three children, when Syrian govern-ment rockets hit two villages in the last rebel stronghold in northwestern Syria, rescue workers and a war monitor said Thursday.

The Syrian Civil Defence team that operates in oppo-sition areas, known as White Helmets, said guided mis-siles struck in Ibleen, a vil-lage in southern Idlib, killing

a woman, her daughter and a child and injuring four others. All were from the same family, the White Helmets said.

In eastern Idlib, at least six were killed, including a child, when rockets hit an area where a quarry is located near Foa, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Those killed were stone cutters, the Obser-vatory said. The White Helmets also reported the strike, but

said two children were among those killed.

The discrepancy in the number of casualties in a cease-fire zone could not be immedi-ately reconciled.

Violence has been rising in recent weeks in the last-rebel enclave between government and allied forces and insurgents on the edge of the territory, that is home to nearly 4 million peo-ple, despite a truce brokered in March 2020. AGENCIES

China ready to seek mutually acceptable solution: Wang

TO ISSUES REQUIRING 'URGENT TREATMENT' AT BORDER

BEIJING: With India firmly conveying to China that the prolongation of the existing sit-uation in eastern Ladakh was visibly impacting the bilat-eral ties in a “negative man-ner”, Beijing on Thursday said it is ready to seek a mutu-ally acceptable solution to the issues that require “emergency response” through negotiation and consultation.

During their hour-long in-person meeting on the side-lines of an SCO conclave in Dushanbe on Wednesday, External Affairs Minister S Jais-hankar also told his Chinese counterpart and State Coun-cilor Wang Yi that any unilat-eral change in the status quo along the Line of Actual Con-trol (LAC) was “not acceptable” to India and that the overall ties can only develop after full resto-ration of peace and tranquillity in eastern Ladakh.

The meeting in Tajikistan’s capital took place amidst a stale-mate in the disengagement pro-cess between the two militaries in the remaining friction points in eastern Ladakh after they withdrew troops and weapons from the Pangong Lake areas in February following series of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the standoff since May last year.

In a statement posted on its website on Thursday on Wang’s

talks with Jaishankar, the Chi-nese Foreign Ministry said, the minister stated the over-all situation in the border area has de-escalated after the with-drawal of troops from the Gal-wan Valley and Pangong Lake areas. However, the relations between India and China are still at a low level which is not in the interest of either side, Wang said. While reiterating China’s oft-repeated stand that it was not responsible for the China-India border stand-off, Wang, however said that “China is ready to find a solu-tion acceptable to both sides on the issue that needs emergency response through negotiation and consultation.”

“The two sides must place the border issue in an appro-priate position in bilateral relations, expand the positive momentum of bilateral cooper-

ation and create favourable con-ditions for resolving differences through negotiation,” he said.

The nature of China-India relations is how two adjacent developing countries look at each other, co-exist in harmony and help each other succeed, he said. “China’s strategic assess-ment of China-India relations has not changed. China and India pose no threat but offer development opportunities to each other. The two countries are partners rather than rivals or enemies,” the Chinese foreign minister said.

The principles of China-India relations should still be mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity, mutual non-aggression, non-interfer-ence in each other’s internal affairs, and mutual respect for each other’s core interests, he said. AGENCIES

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi at bilateral meeting PTI

9millenniumpost Business mpNEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021

NEW DELHI: Minister for MSME Narayan Rane on Thurs-day launched Khadi’s two new exclusive product range – Khadi cotton babywear and unique Khadi handmade paper slip-pers – at Khadi India’s flagship showroom in Connaught Place, New Delhi. Minister of State for MSME, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma and Chairman KVIC Vinai Kumar Saxena were pres-ent on the occasion. Both the ministers spent more than one-and-half hours in the CP show-room and appreciated Khadi’s range of products available.

The new products include Khadi’s first ever cotton cloth-ing for babies. To begin with, KVIC has launched sleeveless vests (jhablas) and frocks along with bloomers and nappies for new-borns and up to 2 years old babies. KVIC has used 100 per cent hand-spun and hand-woven cotton fabric that is soft on the tender and sensitive skin of the children and prevents them from any rashes or skin irritation.

The ministers also launched Khadi’s handmade paper “use & throw” slippers which has been developed for the first time in India. These handmade paper slippers are 100 per cent eco-friendly and cost-effective. The

Handmade paper used in mak-ing these slippers is completely wood-free and made of natural fibres like Cotton & Silk rags and agro waste. These slippers are weightless and best suited for travel and indoor usage like in home, hotel rooms, hospitals, places of worship, laboratories, etc. It is also effective from the hygiene point of view.

While Khadi cotton baby-wear are priced uniformly at Rs 599 per piece; the handmade paper slippers cost a meagre Rs 50 per pair. The two new prod-ucts can be purchased at Khadi showroom in Connaught Place as well through KVIC’s online portal www.khadiindia.gov.in.

While launching the new Khadi products, Rane empha-sized on aggressive marketing of eco-friendly and sustainable products. “By capturing big-ger market share in this sector, KVIC can create more employ-ment opportunities and increase its consumer base by a big mar-gin,” the minister said.

KVIC Chairman Saxena said that the handmade paper “use & throw” slippers have been developed by KVIC with the objective of supporting hand-made paper industry and cre-ating sustainable employment for artisans. MPOST

OUR CORESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment has borrowed and given to the states Rs 75,000 crore to make up for the shortfall in their revenues because of the GST implementation.

The Finance Ministry in a statement said the amount released is about half of the Rs 1.59 lakh crore that was agreed to be borrowed in the current fiscal by the Centre and passed on to the states and Union Ter-ritories on a back-to-back basis to meet their resource gap.

The amount released is in addition to the normal GST compensation that is paid bi-monthly to states out of the col-lections made from the levy of a cess on luxury and sin goods.

“The Ministry of Finance has released today Rs 75,000 crore to the States and UTs with legislature under the back-to-back loan facility in lieu of GST compensation. This release is in addition to normal GST com-pensation being released every 2 months out of actual cess collec-tion,” the statement said.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet said, “Almost 50 per cent of the total shortfall for the entire year released in a single instalment”.

The Centre has estimated the shortfall in GST compen-

sation payable to the states in the current fiscal at Rs 2.59 lakh crore, of which about Rs 1.59 lakh crore would have to be bor-rowed this year.

The Centre expects to collect over Rs 1 lakh crore through cess on luxury, demerit and sin goods, which will be given to the states to compensate them for the shortfall in revenue arising out of the GST implementation.

Hence, the remaining Rs 1.59 lakh crore would have to be borrowed to meet the promised compensation to states under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime.

The ministry said in the May 28 GST Council meeting, it was decided that the central government would borrow Rs 1.59 lakh crore and release it to states and UTs with the legisla-ture on a back-to-back basis to meet the resource gap due to the short release of compensation on account of the inadequate amount in the compensation fund.

“This amount of Rs 1.59 lakh crore would be over and above the compensation, in excess of Rs 1 lakh crore (based on cess collection), that is estimated to be released to States/UTs with

Legislature during this financial year. The sum total of Rs 2.59 lakh crore is expected to exceed the amount of GST compensa-tion accruing in FY 2021-22,” the ministry said.

All eligible states and UTs (with the legislature) have agreed to the arrangements for the funding of the compensa-tion shortfall under the back-to-back loan facility, the ministry said. “For effective response and management of COVID-19 pandemic and a step-up in capital expenditure, all States and UTs have a very important role to play.

For assisting the States/UTs in their endeavour, Ministry of Finance has front-loaded the release of assistance under the back-to-back loan facility dur-ing FY 2021-22 Rs 75,000 crore (almost 50 per cent of the total shortfall for the entire year) released today in a single instal-ment. The balance amount will be released in the second half of 2021-22 in steady instalments,” it added.

The release of Rs 75,000 crore being made now is funded from borrowings of the Centre in 5-year securities, totalling Rs 68,500 crore and 2-year securi-ties for Rs 6,500 crore issued in the current financial year, at a weighted average yield of 5.60 and 4.25 per cent per annum,

respectively.“Government of India’s

release of Rs 75,000 crore to States and UTs under the back-to-back loan facility in-lieu of GST compensation not to change the GoI’s borrowing programme in the first half of 2021-22,” the statement said.

Icra Chief Economist Aditi Nayar said, “The release of these funds from the Government of India’s borrowings raised so far, corroborates the infer-ence that healthy tax and non-tax revenues have boosted the cash flows of the central government”.

Last year too the Centre had borrowed and released to the states Rs 1.10 lakh crore towards GST compensation. Besides, Rs 70,000 crore was released from the compensation fund. For fis-cal 2020-21, about Rs 63,000 crore GST compensation was pending to the states/UTs as of March 30, 2021.

Deloitte India Senior Direc-tor M S Mani said, The release of the compensation shortfall amounts committed to states would alleviate the fiscal posi-tion of states; however, the recovery of the amounts bor-rowed to make the payments would necessitate the exten-sion of the period during which the compensation cess is levied beyond 2022.

NEW DELHI: The country’s exports rose by 48.34 per cent to $32.5 billion on account of healthy growth in shipments of petroleum products, gems and jewellery, and chemicals, leather and marine goods, according to the data released by the Commerce Ministry on Thursday.

Imports in June too rose by 98.31 per cent to $41.87 bil-lion, leaving a trade deficit of $9.37 billion as against a trade surplus of $0.79 billion in the same month last year.

During April-June 2021, the exports increased by 85.88 per cent to $95.39 billion. Imports expanded to $126.15 billion during the first three months of the fiscal as against $60.44 billion in the same period last year, the data showed.

Trade deficit during the quarter was aggregated at

$30.75 billion as against $9.12 billion during April-June 2020.

Oil imports in June were $10.68 billion, which were 116.51 per cent higher com-pared to $4.93 billion in June

2020.During April-June 2021,

the imports stood at $31 bil-lion as against $13.08 billion during the same quarter pre-vious fiscal. PTI

Centre releases `75,000 crore to states as GST compensationFinance Ministry said amount released is about half of the Rs 1.59 lakh

crore that was agreed to be borrowed in the current fiscal by the Centre

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in a tweet said, “Almost 50 per cent of the total shortfall for the entire year released in a single instalment

MSME Min Narayan Rane launches Khadi Babywear products

MoS for MSME, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma & Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena were present on occasion

Exports up 48.34%; trade deficit at $9.37 bn in June

Apr-

2020-21

June

June 2021

Apr-June

2021-22

India's Merchandise TradeUS $ Billion

June 2020

Exports Imports TradeBalance

Exports Imports TradeBalance

Source: Ministry of Commerce & Industry KBK graphicsInfo

-9.3

7

0.7

9

48.34% 98.31% 85.88% 108.72%

51.3

2

-30.7

5

126.1

5

-9.1

2

95.3

9

60.4

4

32.5

0

41.8

7

21.9

1

21.1

1

KOLKATA: A prime railway land near the iconic How-rah station will be offered on 99-year-lease for residential-cum-commercial development as the national transporter looks to raise funds, officials said on Thursday.

The land parcel, having an area of 88,300 sq metres, is located along the Hooghly riv-erbank and will be put under the hammer with a reserve price of Rs 448 crore, they said.

“Rail Land Development Authority has invited bids for leasing vacant railway land at Salt Golah in Howrah. It is sit-uated along a 20-metre-wide highway, around 1.5 km from the Howrah station,” an official said. “The initial feedback from local developers in the pre-bid meeting was encouraging. The deadline for bid submission is August 29,” he said.

The Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) is a statutory authority under the Railway Ministry for the development of railway land. PTI

Rly offers land near Howrah at ̀ 448 crore

NEW DELHI: Kickstarting the process for LIC disinvest-ment, the government has invited bids from merchant bankers and legal advisors for advising it on the proposed mega initial public offer.

The Department of Invest-ment and Public Asset Man-agement (DIPAM) would appoint up to ten merchant

bankers and one legal firm for assisting and advising on the stake sale.

The last date for putting in bids is August 6, as per a notice issued by DIPAM.

Last week, the Union Cab-inet approved an Initial Pub-lic Offer (IPO) of LIC and the modalities such as issue size, pricing and timing would be

decided by a panel headed by Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman.The listing of LIC will

be crucial for the govern-ment to meet its disinvest-ment target. The government aims to mop up Rs 1.75 lakh crore in the current fiscal from minority stake sales and privatisation.

Of the Rs 1.75 lakh crore, Rs 1 lakh crore is to come

from selling the government’s stakes in public sector banks and financial institutions. The remaining Rs 75,000 crore would come as CPSE disin-vestment receipts.

So far, in the current fiscal, the government has mopped up over Rs 7,500 crore from sale of SUUTI stake in Axis Bank and OFS of NMDC. PTI

LIC IPO: Govt invites bids from merchant bankers, advisors

NEW DELHI: The Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM) on Thurs-day said it has submitted a mem-orandum to a parliamentary panel suggesting changes in the pesticide management bill that can help achieve the “national objective” of Atmanirbhar Bharat and safety from haz-ardous impacts of the pesticides.

The parliamentary stand-ing committee on agriculture is examining the pesticide man-agement bill, 2020. The bill, introduced in Rajya Sabha on March 23 last year to replace The Insecticides Act, 1968, was referred to the parliamentary panel on June 3.

“They have invited objec-tions and suggestions from the stakeholders and general pub-lic and are conducting hear-ings. Swadeshi Jagran Manch has given its memorandum to the committee on the issue,” SJM’s co-convenor Ashwani Mahajan said in a statement.

The bill seeks to regulate the manufacture, import, sale, stor-age, distribution, use, and dis-

posal of pesticides, to ensure the availability of safe pesticides and minimise the risk to humans, animals, and the environment.

Flagging “shortcomings and gaps” in the bill in its mem-orandum to the parliamen-tary panel, the RSS affiliatesaid that the proposed law does not include “sufficient provi-sions” to safeguard domestic manufacturing.

“On the contrary, there still exist many provisions, which promote the interest of import-ers and foreign interests,” it said, suggesting that the bill should provide the registration com-mittee with “right to refuse” registration for import of ready-made pesticides if they are already registered and manu-factured in India.

The registration commit-tee should also have the right to refuse the registration for import of ready-made pesti-cides if the committee is sat-isfied that alternatives are available in the country, the SJM suggested. PTI

RSS-affiliated body SJM suggests changes in

pesticide management bill

GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGALABRIDGED NOTICE INVITING

e-TENDER NO: WBNKDA/11/EE-I /NKDA /2021-22e-Tender has been invited on 13/07/2021for the following work: Roof Covering of Bio-Methanation Plant with Zinc Aluminium steel sheet over steel structural framework including rooftop SPV Power plant at Action Area - IC, New Town, Kolkata.. Estimated Amount: Rs. 68,27,989.00 Last date & time of submission of technical and financial bid (On-line): 27/07/2021 upto 6.00 P.M. Details available on Website https:// wbtenders.gov.in & www.nkdamar.org and the office notice board of NKDA Executive Engineer -I

Newtown Kolkata Development Authority

GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGALPress Notice

E-Tenders are hereby invited from bonafide contractors having requisite credentials and machineries for the following works up to 3 pm. of 09/08/2021

Sl.no NIT No. Name of the work Tender Cost

1 NIT 1/ DYO of 2021-22 Construction of Stadium at Seleta within Raghunathpur-I block

Rs.197.11 Lakh

Details of timings, eligibility criteria etc. pl. visit www.wbtenders.gov.in. Memo No 1011/ICA/PURU Sd/- dated: 15/07/2021 District Magistrate Purulia

GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGALWEST BENGAL HOUSING INFRASTRUCTURE

NOTICE WBHIDCO Ltd. Invites application for the post of Senior Accountant (3 posts).Last date of submitting applications : 31/07/2021 upto 4.00 pm. For further details please visit website www.wbhidcoltd.com

-Sd- Jt. Managing Director (Admn)

GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGALCooch Behar Zilla Parishad Cooch Behar

Notice Inviting Tender (in Brief) Following E-Tender is hereby invited on behalf of Cooch Behar Zilla Parishad for Preparation of DPR vide NIT No. WBZP/33/ DE-ET/COB/2021-22(2nd Call) for which last date of sub-mission of Technical & Financial bid – 22.07.2021 (up to 6.00 p.m). For details the website https://wbtenders.gov.in may be accessed. Detail notice displayed on the notice board of this Parishad. Sd/- Additional Executive Officer

Cooch Behar Zilla ParishadCooch Behar

KMDA TENDER NOTICE e-NIT No : SE(FAWS)/T-02 of 2021-

22 e-Tender is invited by Superintending Engineer, (FAWS) 83/1A, Vivekananda Road, Kolkata-700006, from reliable, experienced and resourceful Agencies for the work, Name of Work, Estimated Amount, Earnest Money, Time of Completion, Shifting of ferrule connection from dilapidated or existing D.I./C.I./A.C. pipe to the newly laid D.I. Pipes along with temporary and permanent road restoration for both bituminous and concrete road as existed in complete as per tender specifications within Nabagram, Kanaipur. Rishra, Rajyadharpur, Raghunathpur & Peariyapur Gram Panchyet area for Trans-Municipal Water Supply Scheme of Dankuni, Uttarpara, Rishra, Konnagar, Serampore, Baidyabati & Champdani Municipality and adjoining Peri-Urban areas., Rs.9,03,75,000/-, Rs.10,00,000/-, 06 Months, Last date & time of Online Bid submission: 23.08.2021 upto 6.00 pm., For details contact the above office or visit both websites. www.kmdaonline.org (KMDA-221) www.wbtenders.gov.in

ICA- T8329(3)/2021

ICA- T8335(2)/2021

ICA- T8338(3)/2021

ICA- T8342(2)/2021

ICA- T8349(3)/2021

ICA- T8353(3)/2021

ICA- T8360(2)/2021

ICA- T8362(3)/2021

ICA- T8370(2)/2021

ICA- T8373(3)/2021

ICA- T8377(3)/2021

ICA- T8380(2)/2021

ICA- T8382(5)/2021

ICA- T8384(2)/2021

ICA- T8388(2)/2021

ICA- T8390(3)/2021

ICA- T8386(2)/2021

GOVERNMENT OF WEST BENGAL AbridgeTender Notice Assistant Engineer (A-I), Coochbehar(A-I) Sub-Division, Coochbehar invites Tender vide N.I.T. No. 02 of 2021-22 for repairing of pipeline of DTW in the district of Coochbehar. Last date of Application for purchase of Tender documents: 26.07.2021 upto 16.00 Hours. Details will be available from the office on all working days from 10:30 Hours to 16.00 Hours

10 millenniumpostBusinessmp FRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

MUMBAI: The January-June period of 2021 saw 20 per cent rise in deals to a record high of $43 billion besides creation of 10 new unicorns, despite the devastating second wave of the pandemic, according to a report.

The period saw completion of 856 deals worth $43 billion with an average deal size of $50 million, the report by Grant Thornton said.

While in volume terms, it is 42 per cent more than the year-ago period’s, in value terms is is higher by 20 per cent over last year, which is a record, it said.

The private equity inflows into the tech space saw 10 new unicorns being created during the first half (H1) of 2021. Of these, five are from the e-com-merce space, taking the over-all tally well past 100 in the country.

The deal street was led by higher number of private equity deals and 221 merger and acquisitions (M&As) aggre-gating to $24.4 billion, which is 36 per cent higher than that in H1 of 2020. The Adani Group has been one of the most active acquirers with the acquisition of five companies above $200

million value.Domestic M&As accounted

for 76 per cent of the M&A vol-ume, making it the highest in the past 11 years. In contrast, cross border saw lowest deal volumes over the past decade.

In H1, the banking and financial services sector emerged as the second-high-est contributor to deals after the energy and natural resources sector, wherein the Adani Group has been the key player.

The deal tally was led by Piramal Capital acquiring Dewan Housing Finance for $5.1 billion under the Insol-

vency and Bankruptcy Code, making it the largest M&A deal in H1. There were 44 deals worth $2.5 billion in the tech space making it the most active sector. Key driver of M&A in this sector was Wipro’s acquisi-tion of Capco for $1.45 billion.

The period also saw the world’s largest edtech acqui-sition with Byju’s acquiring Aakash Educational Services for $1 billion.

Another major highlight was Tata Group inking a $1.2 billion deal to buy Bigbasket, the largest e-grocery player.

The H1 saw 635 PE deals

amounting to $18.5 billion, compared to 440 deals worth $17.6 billion in H1 2020. Over 50 per cent of PE and venture capital (VC) deals were into e-commerce, e-gaming, con-sumer tech, health tech, ed-tech and fintech sectors.

Blackstone’s additional investment into Mphasis, and others investments in Swiggy, Byju’s, Dream 11, FirstCry, Mesho, Infra.market etc, as well as NIIF’s investment into Manipal Hospitals and multiple PEs buyout of Zydus Cadila’s animal health business, made the sector very active. PTI

NEW DELHI: The Income Tax Department is charting the path of “cautious optimism” as it is witnessing robust growth in tax collections at one hand with different variables at play in the economy on the other amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chair-man J B Mohapatra said on Thursday.

He was speaking at ‘The Chairman Speaks’ session that is part of a maiden pub-lic communication webinar ‘Samvaad’ with various stake-holders involved in direct taxes administration.

The department is geared up to take on the challenge of domestic resource mobilisa-

tion in these uncertain times, he said.

“While we have robust growth figures in tax collection at this moment, we are pur-suing the course of cautious optimism.

“As we celebrate the growth in revenue, we are also aware

not to lose sight of the hun-dreds of variables presently at play in the economy and that we are still in the middle of a global pandemic,” Chairman Jagannath Bidyadhar Mohapa-tra said.

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) frames policy for the tax department and functions under the Union finance ministry.

“The department has been able to achieve significant growth in our tax collections as compared to the last year,” the CBDT chief said.

Our first quarter advance tax collections for this year have grown by over 146 per cent. The gross direct tax col-lection as of June 15 has seen a

57 per cent jump over the same period last year, CBDT Chair-man said.

The net direct tax collec-tions, Mohapatra said, as on June 15 have seen a jump of 100.4 per cent as compared to the same period last year.

He said these results are the “outcome of several reforms taken over the course over several years” in the IT Department.

He gave the example of dispute resolution scheme ‘Vivad se Vishwas’, the black-money declaration scheme brought out by the govern-ment some time back and the recently-introduced face-less assessment and faceless appeal scheme. PTI

NEW DELHI: ITC Ltd has aug-mented its capability in emerg-ing modes such as e-commerce and modern trade channels with “sharp-focused investments” and is also accelerating inno-vation with platform centricity and “digital-first” brands in the wake of the COVID-19 pan-demic, according to the compa-ny’’s annual report for 2020-21.

Witnessing a shift in con-sumer behaviour after the pandemic, the Kolkata-based diversified firm has also enhanced its play in the mar-ket, reaching out to customers through e-commerce channel partners, its own ITC e-Store and even engaged D2C chan-

nels such as Dominos, Swiggy, Zomato and Dunzo.

Besides, the company is also working on cutting-edge digi-tal technologies including arti-ficial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML) and industrial internet of things (IoT) to enhance productivity, driving efficiency and reducing costs.

“The pandemic boosted the e-commerce channel as con-sumers sought to fulfil their needs from the safety of their homes during the lockdown period.

“Significant increase in inter-net penetration, the growing popularity of digital payments, attractive loyalty programmes,

a wide assortment of products and faster deliveries continue to drive the rising salience of this channel,” the company’’s direc-tors said in the report.

The impact of these multi-dimensional interventions are evident in the substan-tial margin expansion of 640 basis points (bps) in segment Ebitda over the past four years, it added.

Ebitda stands for earnings before interest, tax, deprecia-tion and amortisation.

The company witnessed doubling of its business from the e-commerce channels in the pandemic-hit FY21, which contributed to 5 per cent of its

FMCG (fast-moving consumer goods) segment revenue.

Stating that the “pandemic has given wings to the trend of digitalisation that was already gathering momentum”, the report said.

It added that accelerated dig-ital transformation is integral to the company’’s future-ready

strategy and is increasingly being harnessed to enhance competitive advantage.

Cutting-edge digital tech-nologies are being increasingly deployed across key touch points spanning consumer experience, smart and agile manufacturing and supply chain operations, employee experience and intelli-

gent insights platforms, it added.“Foundational initiatives

such as the ‘’DigiNext’’ and ‘’Young Digital Leaders Forum’’ have been implemented towards steering your company through its digital journey and fostering a data driven and ‘’digital first’’ culture across the organisation,” the directors stated.

Anticipating the increase in consumer preference for ‘’con-tactless shopping’’ and home delivery, ITC “proactively engaged” with e-commerce platforms and aligned the sup-ply chain to deliver the right SKUs (stock-keeping units) and product assortments.

“The rapid growth of mod-

ern trade and e-commerce channels, ‘’out-of-home’’ and ‘’on-the-go’’ consumption and the growing importance of chemists and speciality outlets in recent years, has warranted crafting of differentiated mar-ket/outlet specific strategies to seize the emergent opportuni-ties,” it said.

While, engagement with direct-to-consumer (D2C) channels such as Dominos, Swiggy, Zomato and Dunzo has augmented product availability.

“During the lockdown phase, in tune with the trends of increased at-home consump-tion, need for sanitizing prod-

ucts in the ‘’health and hygiene’’ space and the consumer need for health and wellness con-tent, purposeful communica-tion sharply focused on these need spaces were rolled out,” said ITC.

Through its innovative model ‘’ITC Store on Wheels’’, it is directly covering over 900 residential complexes across 13 cities.

Besides online, ITC has also worked to enhance its direct and indirect reach, which has been stepped up significantly.

“Market and outlet cover-age were expanded to 1.3x and 1.1x, respectively, compared to pre-COVID-19 levels. MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: RBI Governor Shak-tikanta Das on Thursday said financial inclusion will continue to be a policy priority for the central bank to make the post-pandemic recovery more equi-table and sustainable.

The Reserve Bank of India will very soon be coming out with the first financial inclusion index, which will assess progress in terms of access, usage and quality, Das said, while speaking at the Economic Times Finan-cial Inclusion Summit.

It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that the financial ecosystem (including the digital medium) is inclu-sive and capable of effectively addressing risks like mis-selling, cybersecurity, data privacy and promoting trust in the finan-cial system through appropriate financial education and aware-ness, he added.

Since the start of the last decade, financial inclusion has been a key focus area for the RBI to help formalise the economy by ensuring that banks reach the people. Technological advances made it easier and the govern-ment also gave it a greater thrust with the launch of the PM Jan Dhan Yojana scheme.

In order to make the post-pandemic recovery more inclu-sive and sustainable, FI would continue to be our policy pri-ority, Das said. To measure the extent of financial inclusion in

the country, it has been decided to construct and periodically publish a financial inclusion index (FII), he said, adding an announcement was made some time back about such an index.

The index will have param-eters across the three dimen-sions, including access, usage and quality, he said, adding work on FII is underway and the index will be published very shortly by the Reserve Bank .

Das said financial inclusion is a key driver of sustained and balanced economic growth, which helps reduce inequality and poverty, and while we have

made tremendous strides on this aspect, the pandemic has created newer challenges and complexities.

The financial system will have a crucial role to fulfil the aspirations and needs of our economy on the mend, he said.

During the pandemic, the RBI’s efforts on financial inclu-sion have helped in enabling the government to provide timely support through cash transfers under the Direct Benefit Trans-fer schemes, Das said, adding Rs 5.53 lakh crore was transferred digitally across 319 government schemes spread over 54 minis-

tries in FY21.Meanwhile, the taper-

ing of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic coupled with aggressive vaccination has brightened the near-term pros-pects of the Indian economy, though a solid increase in aggre-gate demand may take some time, said the Reserve Bank of India on the state of economy.

Attributing the rise in inflation to the supply side disruptions on account of the pandemic and hardening of commodity prices in the inter-national market, the RBI article opined that these factors should

ease over the year as supply-side measures take effect.

“The tapering of the sec-ond wave, coupled with an aggressive vaccination push, has brightened near-term pros-pects for the Indian economy.

“While several high-fre-quency indicators of activity are recovering, a solid increase in aggregate demand is yet to take shape,” said the article written jointly by RBI Deputy Governor M D Patra and other officials.

The RBI, however, said views expressed in the article are those of the authors and do not neces-sarily represent the views of the Reserve Bank of India.

On the supply side, agri-cultural conditions are turn-ing buoyant with the revival in the monsoon but the recovery of manufacturing and services sectors has been interrupted by the second wave.

“The economy is strug-gling to regain the momentum of recovery that had started in the second half of 2020-21 but was interrupted by the second wave. “The pick-up in infla-tion is driven largely by adverse supply shocks due to disrup-tions caused by the pandemic, including increases in margins and taxes,” it said.

There are also specific demand-supply mismatches as in the case of protein-rich food items, edible oils and pulses, which are being addressed by specific supply-side measures, the article said.

MUMBAI: Benchmark indi-ces Sensex and Nifty on Thurs-day raced to close at life-time high levels on the back of gains in index majors HDFC Bank, L&T and HCL Tech amid signs of recovery in earnings.

Investors’ wealth rose by Rs 2,22,763.25 crore in three days of market rally, with the bench-mark Sensex closing at an all-time high on Thursday.

The 30-share BSE index rose by 254.80 points or 0.48 per cent to close at its life-time high of 53,158.85. It touched a record intra-day peak of 53,266.12.

The broader NSE Nifty rose by 70.25 points or 0.44 per cent to a record of 15,924.20. It hit a record intra-day peak of 15,952.35.

HCL Tech was the top gainer in the Sensex pack, rally-ing over 5 per cent, followed by L&T, Tech Mahindra, HDFC Bank, UltraTech Cement, ITC and Tata Steel.

On the other hand, Bharti Airtel, M&M, Asian Paints, Titan and Sun Pharma were among the laggards.

Sectorally, BSE realty, capi-tal goods, IT, industrials, metal,

basic materials and bankex ended up to 4 per cent higher.

On the other hand, oil and gas, telecom, energy and auto indices declined up to 0.87 per cent.

Broader midcap and small-cap indices rose up to 0.43 per cent.

Realty stocks witnessed sus-tained rebound due to better-than-expected improvement in operational performance of real estate companies in the first quarter of FY22.

HCLT, L&T, Tech Mahin-dra and Wipro were among top Nifty gainers, while ONGC, Eicher Motors, Coal India and Bharti Airtel were laggards.

In forex market, the rupee pared some of its initial gains to settle 5 paise higher at 74.54 against the US dollar on Thursday amid a firm trend in domestic equities.

Meanwhile, international oil benchmark Brent crude declined 0.70 per cent to $74.24 per barrel. PTI

‘Financial inclusion to remain policy priority after pandemic’ Tapering of second wave of Covid coupled with aggressive vaccination has brightened near-term prospects of the Indian economy, says RBI

Reserve Bank Governor Shaktikanta Das

Highlights » Since the start of the last decade, financial inclusion has been a key focus area for the RBI to help formalise the economy by ensuring that banks reach the people » Technological advances made it easier and the government also gave it a greater thrust with the launch of the PM Jan Dhan Yojana scheme » The financial system will have a crucial role to fulfil the aspirations and needs of our economy on the mend, he said

During the pandemic, the RBI’s efforts on financial inclusion have helped in enabling the government to provide timely support through cash transfers under the Direct Benefit Transfer schemes, Das said

Markets soar to record high on rally in IT, finance

NEW DELHI: Power giant NTPC on Thursday said its group companies in this fiscal have achieved the cumulative power generation mark of 100 billion units faster than the pre-vious fiscal.

Last year, the group gener-ation had crossed the 100 BU mark on August 7, 2020, NTPC said in a statement.

NTPC Group companies recorded a generation of 85.8 BU in the first quarter from April to June 2021, register-ing an increase of 26.3 per cent from 67.9 BU generated in the corresponding quarter last year. NTPC’s generation increased by 19.1 per cent to 71.7 BU in the period under consideration, compared to the 60.2 BU generated a year ago.

According to the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) data, the 2600-megawatt (MW) NTPC Korba plant in Chattis-garh has emerged as the top-performing thermal power plant in India with 97.61 per

cent Plant Load Factor (PLF) between April to June 2021.

Further, NTPC Singrauli unit 4 of 200 MW in Uttar Pradesh has achieved 102.08 per cent PLF, the highest in the country, from April to June 2021.

With a total installed capac-ity of 66,085 MW, NTPC Group has 71 power stations including 29 renewable projects.

The group has over 20 GW of capacity under construction, including 5 GW of renewable energy projects. MPOST

Rupee settles 5 paise higher at 74.54 against the US dollar

‘Record $43 bn worth deals closed in first half of 2021’

ITC augments investment in e-comm, accelerates digital transformationThe pandemic boosted the e-commerce channel as consumers sought to fulfil their needs from the safety of their homes during the lockdown period

The company witnessed doubling of its business from the e-commerce channels in the pandemic-hit FY21

NEW DELHI: IT major Wipro on Thursday reported a 35.6 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 3,242.6 crore for the June 2021 quarter. Wipro had registered a net profit (attrib-utable to equity holders) of Rs 2,390.4 crore in the year-ago period, as per Indian Account-ing Standards (Ind-AS).

Its revenue from operations increased by 22.3 per cent to Rs 18,252.4 crore in the reported quarter from Rs 14,913.1 crore in the same period last fiscal, Wipro said in a regulatory filing.

Wipro - which gets the bulk of its topline from IT services - said it expects revenues from that unit to be in the range of USD 2,535 million to USD 2,583 million in the September 2021 quarter. This translates into a sequential growth of 5-7 per cent.

Wipro’’s IT services segment revenue was at USD 2,414.5 mil-lion in the first quarter of FY22, a rise of 12.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter and 25.7 per cent year-on-year. The company had given a guidance of 2-4 per cent growth in the June quarter.

“Despite the severe onslaught of the pandemic, we delivered our best-ever quarter, with secular growth across all SMUs, Sectors and GBLs. Our sequential revenue growth of 12.2 per cent was well ahead of the top-end of our guidance range, both organically and with Capco,” Wipro CEO and Man-aging Director Thierry Dela-porte said.

Wipro remains focused on deepening its customer relation-ships, investing in talent and capabilities for the future, and winning market share, he added.

The company’’s IT services workforce crossed the milestone of the 2 lakh mark with the total headcount at 2,09,890. In June 2021, Wipro issued its first-ever dollar-denominated bond offer-ing of USD 750 million with a 5-year tenor. PTI

NEW DELHI: Emphasising on the importance of skill devel-opment, Prime Minister Nar-endra Modi on Thursday said skilling, re-skilling and up-skilling of people needs to be expedited as there is going to be a huge demand for this due to fast-changing technology.

He said that skill develop-ment of the new generation is a national need and is the foun-dation of Aatmnirbhar Bharat.

Speaking on the occasion of the World Youth Skill Day, he also called for giving momen-tum to the Skill India Mission by capitalising on the gains of last six years.

“Learning should not stop with earning. Only a skilled person will grow in today’s world. This is applicable to both

people and countries,” Modi said while exhorting the stake-holders to continuously skill, re-skill and up-skill.

“This needs to be expedited as there is going to be a huge demand for re-skilling due to fast changing technology,” he said.

He added that India pro-viding smart and skilled man-

power solutions to the world should be at the core of our strategy of skilling youth.

The Prime Minister said that more than 1.25 crore young persons have been trained under Pradhanmantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna.

He said that the skilled workforce has helped India in fighting an effective bat-tle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Further, talking about ‘Going Online As Leaders’ (GOAL), he said it is helping the tribal population with areas like art and culture.

In the coming days, we need to make such campaigns more widespread and make ourselves and the country Aatmanirbhar through skilling’’, he added. PTI

NTPC group achieves power generation

mark of 100 bn unitsNTPC’s generation increased by 19.1 per cent to 71.7 BU in the period under consideration, compared to the 60.2 BU generated a year ago

Wipro Q1 net profit

rises 35.6% at `3,242.6 crore

‘Huge demand for skilling, re-skilling, up-skilling due to fast changing tech’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Pursuing course of cautious optimism amid COVID-19 pandemic, says CBDT chairman

Net direct tax collections, Mohapatra said, as on June 15 have seen a jump of 100.4% as compared to same period last year

DELHI JAL BOARD GOVT OF NCT OF DELHIOFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (SW) -I

OVER HEAD TANK OPP. BHARTI COLLEGE JANAKPURI; NEW DELHI-58. e-mail: eesw1janakpuri@gmail.com

STOP CORONA-WEAR MASK, FOLLOW PHYSICAL DISTANCING, MAINTAIN HAND HYGIENE Press NIT No. 12 SW-I(2021-22)

S. No

Name of work Estimate Cost (in Rs.)

Date of release of tender in E-procurement solution

Last date/time of receipt of tender through e procurement Solution

1 Improvement of water supply by replacement and Providing Laying 100 mm dia water line in Gali No. 39/5 to 39/7 and Gali No. 39/9 and Gaili No. 9 and 9A Indra Park in Dwarka Assembly Constituency AC-33 under EE(SW)-I

44,65,305/- 2021_DJB_205748_1 14.07.2021

29.07.2021upto 30.00 PM

Further details in this regard may be seen at httbs://govtprocurement.delhi.gov.inISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER) Sd/- Munish KumarAdvt. No. J.S.V./2021-22/180 Executive Engineer(SW) -I

11millenniumpost Sport mpNEW DELHI | FRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021

‘89 Wyatt’ power crushes India as women lose T20I series to England

CHELMSFORD: Opener Danni Wyatt smashed an unbeaten 89 off only 56 balls to overshadow an elegant 70 by Smriti Mandhana as England claimed an easy eight-wicket victory over India Women in the third T20 International to wrap up the series 2-1 here.

Having already lost the three-match WODI series by the same margin, the Indian women under Mithali Raj and Harmanpreet Kaur have now lost four successive white-ball series with two at home against South Africa.

India posted 153/6 in their 20 overs after winning the toss and England chased the target down in 18.4 overs to clinch the rubber.

With the series locked at 1-1, it was Indian vice-captain Man-dhana, who was at her graceful best during the 51-ball knock which had eight fours and two

sixes. She pulled the pacers effortlessly, played some lovely lofted inside out shot off spin-ners while adding 68 runs with

skipper Harmanpreet (36 off 26 balls), who looked in some sort of form.

Young Richa Ghosh smashed

four boundaries towards the end in her 13-ball-20 which took the score past the 150-run mark.

While India had defended

148 in the previous game, their spinners were taken to task by Wyatt who smashed as many as 12 boundaries and a six.

She got fantastic support from ICC's No.1 ranked all-rounder Nat Sciver, who chipped in with a 42 off 36 balls after having bowled eco-nomically to take 1 for 16 in four overs. However the eve-ning belonged to Wyatt, who simply smashed an out of form Radha Yadav (0/37 in 4 overs) and Poonam Yadav (0/32 in 4 overs). In fact, Wyatt came out of her crease to counter Poo-nam's loopy slow deliveries smashing her all over the park.

The chase became a cake-walk in 18.4 overs. The twin series loss after the South Africa home series defeat has been a big setback for the women's team which is set to play the 50-over World Cup in New Zea-land early next year. AGENCIES

India posted 153/6 in their 20 overs after winning the toss and England chased the target down in 18.4 overs to clinch the rubber

ECB chief executive says no strict bubble for India-England series

LONDON: ECB's chief execu-tive Tom Harrison on Thurs-day said a strict bio-bubble will not imposed for the upcom-ing India-England Test series despite multiple COVID-19 cases in both teams in the lead up to the contest beginning August 4.

Two positive cases were detected in the Indian camp ahead their practice game in Durham while England had to field a back squad in the series against Pakistan after finding multiple positive cases in the squad following the preceding series against Sri Lanka.

In general, the cases too are rising in the UK with more than 42,000 infections reported on Wednesday.

Harrison feels players and other stakeholders have to learn to live with COVID-19.

"We're in a different sce-nario to 12 months ago or even six months ago really with respect to how we cope with Covid. We're really try-ing to learn how we live with it and create safe environments for people as opposed to bio-secure environments," Harri-son was quoted as saying by

Cricbuzz."There's a huge difference

between the two. Players are just fed up with bio-security and bubbles and that language we have become so used to using. It's had such a detrimen-tal impact on mental health for players, time away from fam-ilies. We are just not able to operate that kind of environ-ment going forward.

"We have to learn to cope with Covid. We're going to be living with it now for the fore-seeable future so mitigation is the word as opposed to preven-tion. We think we've built in enough protocols now just to try and mitigate the impact of frankly inevitable infections."

Harrison said it is impor-tant to ensure that entire squad need not be replaced like it pretty much happened in the

series against Pakistan."I think that is where we are

trying to ensure that we don't have instances where entire squads are taken out of circu-lation because of one or two local infections.

"So we're working very hard to make sure those protocols are in place for the remainder of the season. We've communi-cated these protocols to the var-ious camps and various teams and also the international and county environment," said Harrison.

Even the close contacts have to isolate for 10 days as per gov-ernment guidelines.

Can that time period be reduced?

"We talk to government all the time. The reality is that the guidelines are set down by Pub-lic Health England so we don't have the ability to create new guidance just for cricket that isn't sanctioned by PHE or cen-tral government.

"So we are living with the current guidelines but it isn't impossible to operate within the context of those guidelines to have a successful environ-ment," he added. AGENCIES

Harrison feels players and other stakeholders have to learn to live with COVID-19

England's Heather Knight lifts the series trophy with team-mates after winning the third IT20 cricket match against India at The Cloudfm County Ground, in Chelmsford, England PTI

Warwickshire skipper Rhodes to lead 'County Select XI' vs IndiaDURHAM: Warwickshire cap-tain Willfred Rhodes will lead a 14-member Select County XI in a three-day warm-up game against India at the Riv-erside Side ground here from July 20-22, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Thursday.

Former England bowler and current Young Lions (A team) head coach Richard Dawson will oversee a "Select County XI to play India at the Emirates Riverside in a three-

day match, starting on Tues-day 20 July."

In earlier years, this team was commonly called "Com-bined Counties" which always

had a first-class fixture against the touring countries.

The match will be played behind closed doors with Indian contingent already reporting multiple COVID-19 positive cases including first team keeper Rishabh Pant.

The Select County XI squad also includes recent Test debutant James Bracey and Nottinghamshire opener Haseeb Hameed, who made his Test debut against India in 2016. AGENCIES

IOC guidelines for medal ceremony: Participants to wear mask all times

TOKYO: Athletes, presenters and volunteers will not pose for group photographs and wear masks on the podium during Tokyo Olympics medal ceremo-nies, the International Olympic committee said on Thursday, announcing a series of health-safety measures keeping in mind the COVID-19 pandemic.

That athletes and medal pre-senters would be required to wear masks was made clear in the guidelines released in June.

According to the new guide-lines, additional podium mod-ules will be placed between gold and silver medallists and gold and bronze medallists to allow for social distancing. "All the presenters will be vaccinated, and there will be only one IOC member and one Interna-tional Federation representa-tive at each event." "A series of changes have been approved in order to respect the Tokyo 2020 health measures, with the aim of making the experience safe for everyone involved while also preserving the essence of this unique moment, when Olympi-

ans savour and celebrate the pin-nacle of their sports career," IOC said in a statement. The IOC said that the athletes, medal pre-senters and volunteers "will be clearly and thoroughly briefed before the ceremonies on the guidelines they will need to fol-low." IOC president Thomas Bach had on Wednesday said that athletes at the Tokyo Olym-pics will have to put their medals around their necks themselves to protect against spreading the virus. AGENCIES

No group photographs on podium

This could be a historic Olympics for India: Bindra

S KANNAN

NEW DELHI: Abhinav Bin-dra, Indian's lone Olympic gold medallist in an individual sport, has been following the progress of the country's ath-letes closely. He quit the sport after the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he finished fourth in air rifle.

Since then, Bindra has set up world class high perfor-mance centres in a few cities and become a motivational speaker.

In fact, he offered to all Indian athletes wanting guid-ance in any form, as he has rich experience of competing in five Olympics.

Speaking to Millenium Post, Bindra was excited about the Tokyo Olympics, starting on June 23.

"I am really excited about the upcoming Olympics in these very exceptional times. The Olympic Games are not just a sporting event, where 206 nations come together along-side one refugee team come together, live together in peace and in harmony and yet com-pete intensely, " said Bindra

"Talking about competi-tion, I am so excited about the prospects of our Indian athletes and our teams which is the big-gest ever in our history where 126 athletes will be compet-ing in various disciplines. More

than just the biggest number, it is the first time in our history we have such a large group of athletes who go into the Tokyo Olympics almost starting as favourites. Not only in shoot-ing but in a lot of sports too, they start as favourites," felt Bindra.

"This could be a historic Olympic Games for India," he stressed.

Having offered to be a men-tor and ready to talk to any Indian athlete wanting advice, Bindra is also well versed with stress and strain and the men-tal aspect that is involved with competing at the highest level. The Tokyo Olympics will be an exceptional Games as it is being held with Tokyo declar-ing s state of Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I am really looking for-ward to the performance of our young shooters. The young

shooting athletes represent the confidence of India and have a lot of self belief. They have done well in previous compe-titions and go into the Olym-pics with confidence. Shooting is my sport, so I will be closely following it. There is a lot to look forward to," said Bindra.

Asked about the other sporting disciplines India will be competing in, Bindra, the 2008 Beijing Olympics gold medallist was upbeat.

"We have a very good pros-pect in women's weightlifting early on in the Games (Mira-bai Chanu) as well as wrestling and badminton. India has done very well in badminton in the previous Olympics and we also have a fencer (CA Bhavani Devi) representing the coun-try for the first time," rattled off Bindra.

"We have for the first time a woman sailor is competing at the Olympics. It is good to see new Indian athletes in new disciplines qualifying for the Olympics. Of course, this time, the Games are being held with-out spectators. I would request everyone at home to follow the Indian athletes, cheer for them and send them all posi-tivity through your messages. I am sure this will be a very encouraging Games for India as the athletes have worked hard through professionalism," concluded Bindra.

Speaking to Millenium Post, Bindra was excited about the Tokyo Olympics, starting on June 23

Pandemic did not impact my Olympic

preparation, says SindhuHYDERABAD: World champion PV Sindhu says that the forced break dur-ing the COVID-19 pandemic has actually made her a bet-ter player because it gave her ample time to work on her technique and skills.

The Rio 2016 silver med-alist's Olympic preparations last year hit a roadblock as the pandemic brought all the sporting action to a standstill but Sindhu said it was like a blessing in disguise for her.

"I think the (break dur-ing) pandemic was very use-ful because I got to learn more and focus more on my tech-nique and skills so I would say definitely it has (helped)," the Indian badminton superstar said in a virtual interaction.

"It did not impact my prep-aration much for the Olympics because I think I've got enough time. Generally it's more like when you go for a tournament come back and train."

"Most of the time, we don't have enough time to train. So I think this was the first time that we've got enough time to actually train and get ready for the Olympics.

"I don't think it has impacted on my preparations -- not at all. In fact, I've actu-ally learned a lot more, and I'm prepared for it."

The world number seven is the lone Indian to have qualified for the women's singles in Tokyo Olympics and finds herself in an easy group J with lower-ranked Polikarpova Ksenia of Israel and Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi. AGENCIES

Tokyo Olympics bound badmiton player PV Sindhu and coach P Gopichand at Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad, Thursday PTI

Olympic: IOC president

Bach meets with Tokyo governor

TOKYO: IOC president Thomas Bach met with Tokyo governor Yuike Koike on Thursday, eight days before the Summer Olympics are set to open in the Japanese capital.

On the third straight day of meetings with Japanese lead-ers and Olympics organisers, Bach sought to reassure Japan that rules were being followed and that all safety precautions were being taken. Bach visited the Athlete's Village earlier on Thursday before meeting Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

Tokyo imposed a state of emergency earlier this week, and will be in effect through-out the entire duration of the Olympics, which open on July 23 and close on Aug. 8. AGENCIES

According to the new guidelines, additional podium modules will be placed between gold and silver medallists and gold and bronze medallists to allow for social distancing

Deepak Hooda quits

BarodaVADODARA: Experienced batsman Deepak Hooda has expectedly left the Baroda cricket team after a fall-out with skipper Krunal Pandya last season.

He has been granted NOC by the Baroda Cricket Asso-ciation. The development was confirmed to PTI on Thursday by BCA secretary Ajit Lele.

In January, the BCA had suspended Hooda, who had stormed out of the state team's camp before the start of Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, dur-ing last domestic season on charges of "indiscipline" and "bringing disrespect to the game." Hooda had claimed that Krunal had misbehaved with him. AGENCIES

12 millenniumpostLeisure

Entertainmentmp

FRIDAY, 16 JULY, 2021 | NEW DELHI

ALEN PAUL

Internet and social media is a place where individuals create fake identities for themselves -

sometimes to escape their sad reali-ties while other times to create an

impression on others about how perfect their lives are. This tan-

gled web of weirdness, myster-ies, fun and lies often make us

question the validity of the world we live in.

To understand this com-plicated world of Inter-

net as well as its use and misuse, in an entertaining way,

OTT platform ‘SonyLiv’ and Bollywood pro-ducer Dinesh Vijan’s Mad-dock Films’ digital content vision ‘Outsider Films’ have col-laborated to introduce us to ‘Chutzpah’.

A brand new web series full of web commotion and different

emotions of humans, ‘Chutzpah’ nar-rates the story of five individuals who are connected to each other through the Internet. The series takes a deeper look at their lives and how they come across new and unknown people every now and then on social media. It focuses on the power of social media along with the digital influence on today’s youth.

Directed by Simarpreet Singh and written by Mrighdeep Singh Lamba and Amit Babbar, this quirky web series features actors like Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh, Tanya Man-iktala, Elnaaz Norouzi, Gautam Mehra, Kshitij Chauhan and Varun Tewari in the lead roles. It will release on July 23 on ‘SonyLiv’.

During a virtual press conference held recently, actor Varun Sharma, who essays the role of Vikas in the series, interacted with ‘Millennium Post’ to throw more light on his character.

So far, the audience has witnessed the ‘Roohi’ star portraying light and fun-type characters in his films, but this particular one has much more to it. Speaking about his character briefly, Varun shared, “My character is fun-loving and stupidly smart. Like my previous characters, this one is also funny but with a differ-ent shade of an emotional touch that will be relatable to the youth. Through the journey of Vikas, I hope to make everyone laugh and be emotionally connected.”

“It is a blessing to make peo-ple laugh and bring smiles to their faces. I’m very excited to be a part of a path-breaking show that highlights the duality of a human in two differ-ent worlds - reality and social media - where two identities of every indi-vidual clash in the wild universe of the web,” admitted Sharma on being a part of the upcoming fun drama.

He added, “Through our charac-ters and their story angles, I feel the cast of ‘Chutzpah’ has tried to bring a different spectrum of energies in this roller-coaster drama, which makes it much more wild and quirky for the viewers to enjoy. My transition from films to OTT, that too with this show, makes me lucky as I have attempted to experiment with a completely new genre here.”

MUMBAI: Amazon Prime Video today announced the world premiere of Ama-zon Original Movie ‘Shershaah’. The announcement marks the first ever col-laboration between Amazon Prime Video and Dharma Productions. The highly anticipated war drama is inspired by the life of Kargil war hero, Captain Vikram Batra (PVC), essayed by Sidharth Malhotra. Adding to the var-ied library of phenomenal offerings on Amazon Prime Video, ‘Shershaah is the 9th Hindi language Bollywood direct-to-service offering following successful releases of ‘Gulabo Sitabo’, ‘Shakuntala Devi’, ‘Chhalaang’, ‘Coolie No. 1’, ‘Dur-gamati’, ‘Hello Charlie’, ‘Sherni’ and the upcoming film ‘Toofaan’.

Directed by Vishnu Varadhan and jointly produced by Dharma Productions and Kaash Entertainment, Shershaah is slated to be the biggest Bollywood war drama of the year.

Fans in India and across 240+ countries and territories worldwide can enjoy this exciting film starting 12th August only on Amazon Prime Video.

The film stars Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani in lead roles and Shiv Pan-ditt, Raj Arjun, Pranay Pachauri, Him-manshu Ashok Malhotra, Nikitin Dheer, Ankita Goraya, Anil Charanjeett, Sahil

Vaid, Shataf Figar and Pawan Chopra in pivotal roles.

“Shershaah is the true story of a war hero whose indomitable spirit and bravery brought victory to our nation. His sacri-fices are invaluable and his life is an inspi-ration for generations to come.

We are extremely glad to have found a home for what I believe is a true cinematic marvel, in Amazon Prime Video, and are excited to mark the beginning of a new chapter in our relationship with them. Shershaah is our homage to the valour of our soldiers and I hope every viewer’s heart swells with pride watching this film,” said Karan Johar, Dharma Productions.

“We knew Shershaah would be a spe-cial film from the minute the Batra fam-

ily approached us to tell the story of Captain.”

said Apoorva Mehta, CEO, Dharma Pro-

ductions. MPOST

LOS ANGELES: ‘After Yang’ actor Sarita Choudhury, Nicole Ari Parker of ‘Empire’ fame, and Karen Pittman, best known for ‘The Morning Show’, have signed on to star in HBO Max’s ‘Sex and the City revival’.

Titled ‘And Just Like That...’, the series will see franchise leads Sarah Jessica Parker, Cyn-thia Nixon, and Kristin Davis

reprise their characters, Car-rie Bradshaw, Miranda Hobbs, and Charlotte York from the popular romance comedy drama series that aired on HBO in 1998.

The revival will see Parker, Nixon and Davis begin a new journey in life as three friends who are now in their 50s.

According to ‘Deadline’,

Choudhury stars as single, self-made powerhouse Manhattan real estate broker, Seema Patel. Parker will play Lisa Todd Wex-ley, a Park Avenue mother of three and documentarian. Pitt-man will be seen in the role of Dr Nya Wallace, a brilliant Columbia Law professor.

“Everyone at ‘And Just Like That ‘ is thrilled to have these amazing and vibrant actors join the ‘Sex and the City’ family. Each of them will add their unique spark and big heart to these new characters and the stories we are about to tell,” executive producer Michael Patrick King said.

Parker, Davis and Nixon are also attached to execu-tive produce the 10-episode series that started produc-tion in New York last week.

Other original cast members Chris Noth, Mario Cantone, will also return for the revival drama. PTI

MUMBAI: On July 15, Bol-lywood star Taapsee Pannu announced her maiden pro-duction feature film ‘Blurr’, which is to be made under her banner ‘Outsiders Films’.

Billed as an ‘edge-of-the-seat thriller’, ‘Blurr’ will be directed by Ajay Bahl, known for films like ‘BA Pass’ and ‘Section 375’.

Pannu, who made the film announcement on ‘Twitter’, said she has backed the project along with ‘‘Zee Studios’ and ‘Echelon Productions’.

“Here is the first one of the slate. The chill to match the thrill - ‘Blurr’! ‘Zee Stu-dios’, ‘Outsiders Films’ and ‘Echelon Productions’ come together for an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Directed by Ajay Bahl,” she tweeted.

Ajay has co-written the story of ‘Blurr’ with Pawan Sony. Param Gill and Kabir Lal are credited as co-producers.

Taapsee, known for her critically-praised perfor-mances in Hindi films such as ‘Pink’, ‘Mulk’, ‘Manmarziyaan’ and ‘Thappad’, has teamed with producer Pranjal Khand-hdiya to start ‘Outsiders Films’.

In an interview with a leading news organ-

isation, the 33-year-old actor said the decision to foray into film production was organic.

“I have been very sure that direction is not my cup of tea. Production was some-thing I thought I could pull off. Being an actor, I love to act but I could not divert my attention and focus to something else

when I am on a set,” she had admitted. Pannu added, “So the day

when I have a partner who could handle the ground-work, while I concentrate on my acting job, is when I would partner with and then start production. That is when Pranjal came in.”

Pannu said she is excited about expanding her horizons as a producer.

“I did not think twice when Pranjal asked me if I would like to partner with him and there onwards, I have really never been stressed about the practicality of things and happily jumped into this new tag of being a producer,” she revealed.

The actor said she started the production house with the intent to champion proj-ects she strongly believes in.

“One thing Pranjal and I have maintained is that I will only produce the kind of films I will be a part of. This does not mean I have to be part of every film I produce. It means the kind of films I will produce are the ones that people know me for as an actor. That continuity and consistency will be there because I can-not greenlight a film unless I believe I am an audience to it,” she said.

The Delhi-born actor also said ‘Outsiders Films’ is an apt name for her pro-duction house. AGENCIES

MUMBAI: Kriti Sanon, who is set to star in the multi-lingual period saga ‘Adipurush’, said playing the iconic character of goddess Sita comes with a lot of responsibility, something the

team of the film is aware of.Directed by Om Raut,

the film is an on-screen adaptation of the Hindu

epic ‘Ramayana’ and features Prabhas as

Lord Ram and Saif Ali Khan

in the role of

Lankesh.Lately,

several artistes faced online trolling and

call for boycott for their projects on social media with users alleg-ing the makers of hurting their religious sentiments, be it the title change of Akshay Kumar’s film from ‘Laxmi Bomb’ to ‘Lax-mii’ or the controversy around a scene in the web series ‘Tandav’.

Sanon said that the team of ‘Adipurush’ understands the importance of depicting the story with sensitivity.

“We have to stay within a certain boundary and realise the weightage and the responsibil-ity that come with the character that you are playing. Thankfully, I am in the hands of a brilliant director, someone who has done all the research on the subject and of all characters,” revealed the ‘Raabta’ star.

The 30-year-old Bollywood actor also said that Raut, who also directed 2020 period block-buster ‘Tanhaji’, is an ‘extremely aware’ filmmaker.

“I know he has written the film and the character

so beautifully. He guides everyone so well that I do not see any-thing going wrong. When

you do some-thing

with

all purity and honesty, it shows on screen. I hope people feel it has been done well,” she shared.

The film, produced by Bhushan Kumar’s ‘T-Series’, went on floors earlier this year.

Sanon, who has shot con-siderable portions for the film, said it was a delight to work with Raut, Prabhas and Khan, who are all her first-time collaborators.

“Everyone is amazing, warm and so correct for the part. I shot with Prabhas at the begin-ning of my schedule. My next schedule was with Saif. Both are quite different personalities but extremely entertaining in their way,” admitted Kriti. PTI

KRITI ON PLAYING SITA IN ‘ADIPURUSH’

‘The character comes with a lot of responsibility’

Amazon collaborates with Dharma for ‘Shershaah’

The war drama is inspired by the life of Captain Vikram Batra (PVC), essayed by Sidharth Malhotra

‘Sex and the City’ revival adds Sarita, Nicole Ari Parker to castThe revival will see Parker, Nixon and Davis begin a new journey in life as three friends who are now in their 50s

Taapsee announces first production venture ‘Blurr’

‘Vikas is fun-loving and stupidly smart’Varun Sharma gets candid about his character in

SonyLiv’s upcoming fun drama ‘Chutzpa’

Lately, several artistes faced

trolling and call for boycott for their projects on social media with users

alleging the makers of hurting their religious

sentiments

Fans in India and across 240+ countries and territories worldwide can enjoy this exciting film starting August 12 on Amazon Prime Video

Billed as an ‘edge-of-the-seat thriller’, ‘Blurr’ will be directed by Ajay Bahl, known for films like ‘BA Pass’ and ‘Section 375’

Sanon said that the team understands the importance of depicting the story with sensitivity