![?=BQ =4F34;78
Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman on Monday
announced an ambitious C6
lakh crore National
Monetisation Pipeline (NMP)
aimed at unlocking value in
infrastructure assets across
sectors ranging from power to
road and railways as well
Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in
New Delhi.
The Finance Minister had
announced the monetisation
plan in her annual Budget
speech in February.
Sitharaman said the asset
monetisation did not involve
selling of land and it is about
monetising brownfield assets.
Projects have been identified
across sectors, with roads, rail-
ways and power being the top
segments.
“NMP estimates aggregate
monetisation potential of C6
lakh crore through core assets
of Central Government over
the four-year period from FY
2022 to FY 2025,” she said.
“Ownership of assets will
remain with the Government
and there will be a mandatory
hand-back.”
Asset monetisation will
unlock resources and lead to
value unlocking, she said.
Union Budget 2021-22 had
identified monetisation of
operating public infrastruc-
ture assets as a key means for
sustainable infrastructure
financing. Towards this, the
Budget provided for prepara-
tion of a “National
Monetisation Pipeline” of
potential brownfield infra-
structure assets. NITI Aayog in
consultation with infra line
ministries has prepared the
report on NMP.
The aggregate asset
pipeline under NMP over the
four-year period is indicative-
ly valued at C6 lakh crore. The
estimated value corresponds to
14 per cent of the proposed
outlay for Centre under the
National Infrastructure
Pipeline (C43 lakh crore).
The end objective of this
initiative is to enable “infra-
structure creation through
monetisation” wherein the
public and private sector col-
laborate, each excelling in their
core areas of competence, so as
to deliver socio-economic
growth and quality of life to the
country’s citizens, she added.
In the railways sector, as
many as 400 railway stations,
90 passenger trains, 741-km
Konkan Railways and 15 rail-
way stadiums and colonies are
planned to be monetised for an
estimated C1.2 lakh crore.
Monetising 28,608 circuit
kilometres of power transmis-
sion lines is estimated to gen-
erate C45,200 crore and anoth-
er C39,832 crore will come
from 6 GW of power genera-
tion assets.
The telecom sector will
give C35,100 crore from mon-
etising 2.86 lakh km of
BharatNet fiber and 14,917
signal towers of BSNL and
MTNL.
Close to C29,000 crore each
is estimated from
monetising warehouses and
coal mines.
?=BQ =4F34;78
As India is engaged in a big
rescue operation to bring
out its citizens from strife-
torn Afghanistan, External
Affairs Minister S Jaishankar
will brief Parliamentary leaders
of various political parties on
August 26 about the situation
there.
This forthcoming all-party
interaction comes at the direc-
tion of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi, Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi
said here on Monday. He said
the physical briefing will take
place at 11 AM on Thursday in
Parliament House Annexe.
“Floor leaders of political
parties would be briefed by
EAM @DrSJaishankar on the
present situation in
Afghanistan, on 26th August,
11am in Main Committee
Room, PHA, New Delhi.
Invites are being sent through
email. All concerned are
requested to attend,” Joshi
tweeted.
“In view of developments
in Afghanistan, PM @naren-
dramodi has instructed that the
MEA brief Floor Leaders of
political parties. Minister of
Parliamentary Affairs
@JoshiPralhad will be intimat-
ing further details,” Jaishankar
tweeted earlier.
Sources said the first ever
briefing of this sort is expect-
ed to focus on India’s
evacuation, and Afghanistan
situation.
?=BQ =4F34;78
The third wave of Covid-19
could hit the country any-
time between September and
October, an expert panel set up
by an institute under the
Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) has predicted. It has
called for significantly ramping
up the vaccination pace as well
as health infrastructure facili-
ties in the country.
The committee of experts
also said that children will have
a similar risk as adults since
pediatric facilities, doctors and
equipment like ventilators,
ambulances, etc, are nowhere
close to what may be required
in case a large number of chil-
dren becoming infected.
The report, which has been
submitted to the Prime
Minister’s Office, observed that
only around 7.6 per cent (10.4
crore) people are fully vacci-
nated in India. If the current
vaccination rate is not
increased, India can witness six
lakh cases per day in the next
wave, the report said.
“Leading experts have
repeatedly warned of an immi-
nent third Covid-19 wave in
India. Epidemiologists predict
a series of surges till we achieve
herd immunity through infec-
tion or vaccination and the dis-
ease becoming endemic,” the
report said.
The NIDM report quoted
the prediction of experts from
IIT Kanpur which suggested
three likely scenarios for the
third wave based on the level of
unlocking. In scenario one, it
said that the third wave could
peak in October with 3.2 lakh
positive cases per day.
In scenario two, with the
emergence of new and more
virulent variants, the third
wave could peak in September
with likely five lakh positive
cases per day.
?=BQ =4F34;78
Private weather forecaster
Skymet on Monday down-
graded its forecast for the
southwest monsoon this year.
Skymet said it believes that
there is a 60 per cent chance of
a below-normal monsoon,
which is now forecast to be at
94 per cent of the long-period
average of 880.6 mm rainfall.
The forecast for the June-
September period has an error
margin of plus or minus four
per cent. As per the India
Meteorological Department
(IMD) data, of the 36 sub-divi-
sions in India, deficiency of
rainfall recorded in 25 sub-divi-
sions so far. India received
594.5 mm rainfall as against the
normal of 652.2, a deficiency of
almost 9 per cent so far.
The Skymet Weather said
in terms of geographical risk,
Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha,
Kerala, and North-East India
are likely to be hit with deficient
rain. The chance of drought
over Gujarat and West
Rajasthan appear imminent.
However, the spatial distribu-
tion of rainfall over the rainfed
areas of Maharashtra, Madhya
Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh has
been adequate.
Accordingly, food produc-
tion in the agri bowl of the cen-
tral parts may not be stressed
and skewed.
According to Jatin Singh,
Managing Director, Skymet,
“The weakness in the monsoon
could possibly be attributed to a
prolonged negative phase of
Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) in
the Indian Ocean and extended
break conditions in July and
August.Thereisstillnoclearsig-
nalabouttheemergenceofIOD
in September”.
?=BQ =4F34;78
An 11-member delegation
from Bihar led by Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar on
Monday called on Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
demanded a caste-based census
across the country.
In a U-turn, the BJP too
seemed to revisit its stated
policy of not holding caste
census. Senior BJP leader from
Bihar and Rajya Sabha member
Sushil Modi on Sunday said his
party has always supported
the caste-based census and
been part of the resolution
passed in the Bihar Assembly
in favour of a caste census.
The leaders of all
10 main political parties hav-
ing members in the Bihar
Assembly were part of the del-
egation.
Replying to a written query
in the Lok Sabha on July 20,
Union Minister of State for
Home Nityanand Rai said the
Central Government has decid-
ed as a matter of policy not to
enumerate caste-wise popula-
tion other than SCs and STs in
the census.
Given the OBC pitch of the
BJP and Assembly polls in UP
early next year, Sushil Modi’s
statement signifies the ruling
party’s reversal of its policy on
caste-based census.
Asked about the Prime
Minister’s stand on the issue,
the Bihar Chief Minister said
Modi did not “deny it” (caste
census) and heard out every-
one.
He said the leaders of all
political parties from Bihar
put their views on the caste-
based census before the Prime
Minister.
“During the meeting, we all
urged the PM to reconsider the
Union Government’s decision
not to hold caste-based census
except for SCs and STs. The
Prime Minister assured us to
think over our demand,”
Kumar told newspersons.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav,
son of former Bihar CM Lalu
Prasad, who represented the
RJD in the delegation, said,
“Now, we are waiting for the
decision of the PM on our
request.”
BJP’s another ally Aapna
Dal too had sought a caste-
based census as Samajwadi
Party leader Ramgopal Yadav
during the debate over 127
Constitution (amendment)
Bill on OBC in the Rajya Sabha
last month called for the caste
census.
Maharashtra and Odisha
too have requested the Centre
to collect caste details in the
forthcoming census.
BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal on Monday inau-
gurated India’s first smog tower
at Connaught Place. The smog
tower will significantly reduce
air pollution levels.
Kejriwal said experts will
study the performance of the
tower so that similar towers can
be set up in Delhi.
The smog tower is powered
by 40 huge fans and
5,000 filters and
cleans 1,000 cubic metres of air
per second.
Chandigarh/New Delhi:
Punjab Congress president
Navjot Singh Sidhu’s two advis-
ers came under severe attack
from the Opposition and with-
in the party on Monday for
their recent controversial
remarks on Kashmir and
Pakistan, with Congress MP
Manish Tewari asking if such
people should be kept in the
party.
Amid mounting pressure,
Sidhu met the two advisers at
his Patiala residence on
Monday, but it was not imme-
diately known what was dis-
cussed or decided there.
Tewari’s open criticism
came a day after Punjab Chief
Minister Amarinder Singh
asked Sidhu to “rein in” his
advisers and described their
remarks as atrocious and ill-
conceived comments that were
potentially dangerous to the
peace and stability of the state
and the country.
In a tweet, Tewari said, “I
urge Harish Rawat, AICC Gen
Secy in-charge Punjab to seri-
ously introspect that those who
do not consider JK to be a
part of India and others who
have ostensibly Pro-Pakistan
leanings should be a part of
Punjab Congress.”
The CM has described the
remarks by Sidhu’s advisers as
atrocious and ill-conceived
comments that were potential-
ly dangerous to the peace and
stability of the State and India.
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New Delhi: Amid deepening
crisis in Afghanistan after the
Taliban took over the war-
torn nation, a large number of
Afghan refugees in India vocif-
erously protested in front of the
UNHCR office here on
Monday demanding release of
“support letters” from the UN
agency to migrate to other
countries for better opportu-
nities.
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New Delhi: Three copies of
Sikh scripture Guru Granth
Sahib and 75 people, including
46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus,
are being evacuated from war-
ravaged Afghanistan on an
IAF plane, people coordinating
the evacuation efforts with the
Indian Government said on
Monday. Nearly 200 more
Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are
still stranded in Afghanistan.
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Ahead of an emergency G7
meeting on Afghanistan,
the Taliban on Monday warned
that there will be “conse-
quences” if the US and the UK
sought an extension to the
August 31 deadline for the
US-led troop withdrawal from
the war-torn country.
Speaking to Sky News in
Doha, Qatar, Taliban
spokesperson Dr Suhail
Shaheen stated that the month-
end deadline was a “red line”,
as any extension would imply
an extended occupation of the
country.
He said the timeline had
been laid out by US President
Joe Biden and threatened “con-
sequences” if the US and the
UK sought an extension to that
deadline.
“It’s a red line. President
Biden announced that on
August 31 they would with-
draw all their military forces. So
if they extend it that means
they are extending occupation
while there is no need for
that,” Shaheen said.
“If the US or UK were to
seek additional time to con-
tinue evacuations — the answer
is no. Or there would be con-
sequences. It will create mis-
trust between us. If they are
intent on continuing the occu-
pation it will provoke a reac-
tion,” he said.
The warning came as
British Prime Minister Boris
Johnson convened an emer-
gency G7 meeting on Tuesday
in his role as current Chair of
the Group of Seven countries
— Canada, France, Germany,
Italy, Japan, the United States
and the UK.
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Stern action will be taken against doctors in
Government hospitals in Uttarakhand if they prescribe
branded medicines to patients coming to hospitals instead
of generic drugs, Director General Health Tripti
Bahuguna said on Monday.
She asked all chief medical officers to ensure that doc-
tors in hospitals under their jurisdiction prescribe only
generic medicines to the patients.
Bahuguna also asked them to take stern action against
doctors who do not do this. Jana Aushadhi Kendras, sell-
ing generic medicines that are far cheaper than brand-
ed drugs, have been opened across the country to give
economically weaker sections access to quality treatment.
The Government
keeps issuing orders
from time to time
asking doctors to pre-
scribe generic medi-
cines but it has been
found they continue
to prescribe branded
medicines violating
the orders, the DG
health said in her let-
ter to the CMOs.
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The State Government has
yet again extended the
Covid-curfew from August 24
to 6 am on August 31.
As in the past phases of the
Covid curfew, a maximum of
50 people will be allowed with
Covid negative test
report in marriage functions
while 50 people at the most will
be allowed in one funeral pro-
cession.
Similarly, all social, political,
entertainment and cultural pro-
grammes along with other gath-
erings and large congregations
will remain prohibited till fur-
ther orders though any of these
will be allowed with the rec-
ommendation from the autho-
rised level.
Those arriving from other
states will need to register on
the smart city portal and need
a Covid negative report if they
lack a full vaccination certifi-
cate. All the other restrictions
and relaxations have remained
unchanged from the previous
phase of the Covid-curfew.
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The Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) said the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) is getting
insecure of its rising popular-
ity in Uttarakhand.
The party has alleged that
some BJP activists have start-
ed venting their aggression by
smearing the stickers and
posters and destroying
hoardings of AAP during
night.
These posters mentioned
the free electricity promise by
the Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal.
The party has also released
a CCTV footage claiming that
the man in the video is smear-
ing stickers of AAP pasted on
a car during the night.
One of the spokesmen of
the party in Uttarakhand,
Sanjay Bhatt said that BJP has
given their party workers com-
plete freedom to cause harm to
AAP’s party members in every
way but BJP will face its con-
sequences in the Assembly
elections next year.
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Following incessant rains, a lake has formed in
Bhararigad due to the breaking of rocks in the Malupati
area of Munsiyari in Pithoragarh district. Locals fear that
if the lake breaches its bounds, three to four villages may
be in danger. In the district, 10 roads are closed due to
the debris. The Jauljivi-Munsiyari road, which was closed
on Friday night, was reopened by the Border Roads
Organisation (BRO). According to locals, heavy rain
caused rocks to break near Malupati in Munsiyari’s Harkot
Gram Panchayat. This has formed a lake at the site.
If there is a breach in this lake Rumalkhet, Malla and
Talla Bhadeli could suffer considerable damage. After the
information about the formation of the lake, the revenue
department team has been sent to the spot. It is worth
mentioning that Malupati, Malla and Talla Bhadeli are
disaster prone areas.
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Forest and Environment
Minister Harak Singh
Rawat launched the Nature
Vidya web portal on Monday.
The portal offers a wide
range of simple tools for nature
educators to engage children
outdoors, covering topics such
as ecology, garbage, climate
change etc.
This website not only helps
prepare for any future school
disruptions, but also makes
available sophisticated tools in
Hindi to grassroots teachers for
the first time.
Environment education is
considered to be the founda-
tion for building strong lead-
ership and independent obser-
vation skills in children.
In India, several southern
States, including Kerala,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu as well
as Gujarat, have strong collab-
orations between civil society
organisations and state educa-
tion departments for outdoor
nature and environment
education.
When environment edu-
cation is approached system-
atically, children learn to solve
local problems and develop
independent thinking leading
to more localised careers.
Although eco-clubs have been
formed in all the Government
schools of Uttarakhand, there
is limited exposure of teachers
and students to modern nature
and environment education. A
major limitation has been the
lack of Hindi resources for
teachers.
To address these lacunae,
Nature Science Initiative (NSI)
in collaboration with JBGVS
has initiated the bilingual
Hindi-English website Nature
Vidya that caters exclusively to
environment education.
Rawat also released a Hindi
book on the peepal tree and its
ecology, called ‘Rahasmayee
Bagicha’, authored by Shruthi
Rao. This book helps children
learn important ecological con-
cepts by observing fig trees like
the Peepal.
They learn about the value
of friendships in nature to sus-
tain life, and understand how
fig trees like the Peepal are
important keystone species.
Principal chief conservator of
forest (head of forest force)
Rajiv Bhartari was also present
on the occasion.
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VPaQPVTR[XPcTRWP]VTTcRCWXb
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The Delhi High Court on
Monday asked the National
Tiger Conservation Authority
(NTCA) to consider as repre-
sentation a plea seeking to
stop the alleged illegal con-
struction of bridges and walls
within tiger breeding habitat of
Corbett Tiger Reserve.
A bench of Chief Justice
DN Patel and Justice Jyoti
Singh asked the NTCA to
decide the representation at the
earliest in accordance with the
law, rules, regulations and gov-
ernment policy applicable to
the case and disposed of the
petition.
The court said if any
reports are to be called by the
NTCA from other authorities,
it shall be done immediately
and the representation be
decided expeditiously.
The court was hearing a
petition by lawyer Gaurav
Kumar Bansal on the issue of
alleged rampant illegal con-
struction going on
in tiger breeding habitat of
Corbett Tiger Reserve in
Uttarakhand.
The plea submitted that the
illegal construction of bridges
and walls in the breeding habi-
tat shall not only disturb the
whole ecology of Corbett Tiger
Reserve, but it is also against
the provisions of the Wildlife
Protection Act and the Forest
Conservation Act.
“Not only illegal construc-
tion of more than four bridges
near Kalagarh forest rest house
and wall is going on but the for-
est officials are also actively cut-
ting trees and shrubs in tiger
breeding habitat,” the plea
claimed.
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- 1. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday announced an ambitious C6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP) aimed at unlocking value in infrastructure assets across sectors ranging from power to road and railways as well Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in New Delhi. The Finance Minister had announced the monetisation plan in her annual Budget speech in February. Sitharaman said the asset monetisation did not involve selling of land and it is about monetising brownfield assets. Projects have been identified across sectors, with roads, rail- ways and power being the top segments. “NMP estimates aggregate monetisation potential of C6 lakh crore through core assets of Central Government over the four-year period from FY 2022 to FY 2025,” she said. “Ownership of assets will remain with the Government and there will be a mandatory hand-back.” Asset monetisation will unlock resources and lead to value unlocking, she said. Union Budget 2021-22 had identified monetisation of operating public infrastruc- ture assets as a key means for sustainable infrastructure financing. Towards this, the Budget provided for prepara- tion of a “National Monetisation Pipeline” of potential brownfield infra- structure assets. NITI Aayog in consultation with infra line ministries has prepared the report on NMP. The aggregate asset pipeline under NMP over the four-year period is indicative- ly valued at C6 lakh crore. The estimated value corresponds to 14 per cent of the proposed outlay for Centre under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (C43 lakh crore). The end objective of this initiative is to enable “infra- structure creation through monetisation” wherein the public and private sector col- laborate, each excelling in their core areas of competence, so as to deliver socio-economic growth and quality of life to the country’s citizens, she added. In the railways sector, as many as 400 railway stations, 90 passenger trains, 741-km Konkan Railways and 15 rail- way stadiums and colonies are planned to be monetised for an estimated C1.2 lakh crore. Monetising 28,608 circuit kilometres of power transmis- sion lines is estimated to gen- erate C45,200 crore and anoth- er C39,832 crore will come from 6 GW of power genera- tion assets. The telecom sector will give C35,100 crore from mon- etising 2.86 lakh km of BharatNet fiber and 14,917 signal towers of BSNL and MTNL. Close to C29,000 crore each is estimated from monetising warehouses and coal mines. ?=BQ =4F34;78 As India is engaged in a big rescue operation to bring out its citizens from strife- torn Afghanistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will brief Parliamentary leaders of various political parties on August 26 about the situation there. This forthcoming all-party interaction comes at the direc- tion of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said here on Monday. He said the physical briefing will take place at 11 AM on Thursday in Parliament House Annexe. “Floor leaders of political parties would be briefed by EAM @DrSJaishankar on the present situation in Afghanistan, on 26th August, 11am in Main Committee Room, PHA, New Delhi. Invites are being sent through email. All concerned are requested to attend,” Joshi tweeted. “In view of developments in Afghanistan, PM @naren- dramodi has instructed that the MEA brief Floor Leaders of political parties. Minister of Parliamentary Affairs @JoshiPralhad will be intimat- ing further details,” Jaishankar tweeted earlier. Sources said the first ever briefing of this sort is expect- ed to focus on India’s evacuation, and Afghanistan situation. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The third wave of Covid-19 could hit the country any- time between September and October, an expert panel set up by an institute under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has predicted. It has called for significantly ramping up the vaccination pace as well as health infrastructure facili- ties in the country. The committee of experts also said that children will have a similar risk as adults since pediatric facilities, doctors and equipment like ventilators, ambulances, etc, are nowhere close to what may be required in case a large number of chil- dren becoming infected. The report, which has been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, observed that only around 7.6 per cent (10.4 crore) people are fully vacci- nated in India. If the current vaccination rate is not increased, India can witness six lakh cases per day in the next wave, the report said. “Leading experts have repeatedly warned of an immi- nent third Covid-19 wave in India. Epidemiologists predict a series of surges till we achieve herd immunity through infec- tion or vaccination and the dis- ease becoming endemic,” the report said. The NIDM report quoted the prediction of experts from IIT Kanpur which suggested three likely scenarios for the third wave based on the level of unlocking. In scenario one, it said that the third wave could peak in October with 3.2 lakh positive cases per day. In scenario two, with the emergence of new and more virulent variants, the third wave could peak in September with likely five lakh positive cases per day. ?=BQ =4F34;78 Private weather forecaster Skymet on Monday down- graded its forecast for the southwest monsoon this year. Skymet said it believes that there is a 60 per cent chance of a below-normal monsoon, which is now forecast to be at 94 per cent of the long-period average of 880.6 mm rainfall. The forecast for the June- September period has an error margin of plus or minus four per cent. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, of the 36 sub-divi- sions in India, deficiency of rainfall recorded in 25 sub-divi- sions so far. India received 594.5 mm rainfall as against the normal of 652.2, a deficiency of almost 9 per cent so far. The Skymet Weather said in terms of geographical risk, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Odisha, Kerala, and North-East India are likely to be hit with deficient rain. The chance of drought over Gujarat and West Rajasthan appear imminent. However, the spatial distribu- tion of rainfall over the rainfed areas of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh has been adequate. Accordingly, food produc- tion in the agri bowl of the cen- tral parts may not be stressed and skewed. According to Jatin Singh, Managing Director, Skymet, “The weakness in the monsoon could possibly be attributed to a prolonged negative phase of Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) in the Indian Ocean and extended break conditions in July and August.Thereisstillnoclearsig- nalabouttheemergenceofIOD in September”. ?=BQ =4F34;78 An 11-member delegation from Bihar led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and demanded a caste-based census across the country. In a U-turn, the BJP too seemed to revisit its stated policy of not holding caste census. Senior BJP leader from Bihar and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Modi on Sunday said his party has always supported the caste-based census and been part of the resolution passed in the Bihar Assembly in favour of a caste census. The leaders of all 10 main political parties hav- ing members in the Bihar Assembly were part of the del- egation. Replying to a written query in the Lok Sabha on July 20, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said the Central Government has decid- ed as a matter of policy not to enumerate caste-wise popula- tion other than SCs and STs in the census. Given the OBC pitch of the BJP and Assembly polls in UP early next year, Sushil Modi’s statement signifies the ruling party’s reversal of its policy on caste-based census. Asked about the Prime Minister’s stand on the issue, the Bihar Chief Minister said Modi did not “deny it” (caste census) and heard out every- one. He said the leaders of all political parties from Bihar put their views on the caste- based census before the Prime Minister. “During the meeting, we all urged the PM to reconsider the Union Government’s decision not to hold caste-based census except for SCs and STs. The Prime Minister assured us to think over our demand,” Kumar told newspersons. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, son of former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad, who represented the RJD in the delegation, said, “Now, we are waiting for the decision of the PM on our request.” BJP’s another ally Aapna Dal too had sought a caste- based census as Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav during the debate over 127 Constitution (amendment) Bill on OBC in the Rajya Sabha last month called for the caste census. Maharashtra and Odisha too have requested the Centre to collect caste details in the forthcoming census. BC055A4?AC4AQ =4F34;78 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday inau- gurated India’s first smog tower at Connaught Place. The smog tower will significantly reduce air pollution levels. Kejriwal said experts will study the performance of the tower so that similar towers can be set up in Delhi. The smog tower is powered by 40 huge fans and 5,000 filters and cleans 1,000 cubic metres of air per second. Chandigarh/New Delhi: Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu’s two advis- ers came under severe attack from the Opposition and with- in the party on Monday for their recent controversial remarks on Kashmir and Pakistan, with Congress MP Manish Tewari asking if such people should be kept in the party. Amid mounting pressure, Sidhu met the two advisers at his Patiala residence on Monday, but it was not imme- diately known what was dis- cussed or decided there. Tewari’s open criticism came a day after Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh asked Sidhu to “rein in” his advisers and described their remarks as atrocious and ill- conceived comments that were potentially dangerous to the peace and stability of the state and the country. In a tweet, Tewari said, “I urge Harish Rawat, AICC Gen Secy in-charge Punjab to seri- ously introspect that those who do not consider JK to be a part of India and others who have ostensibly Pro-Pakistan leanings should be a part of Punjab Congress.” The CM has described the remarks by Sidhu’s advisers as atrocious and ill-conceived comments that were potential- ly dangerous to the peace and stability of the State and India. 8`gef_gVZ]dC'=Tc ^`_VeZdReZ`_a]R_ 3RZHUURDGVUO VWDWLRQVDLUSRUWV WHOHFRPFRDO PLQHVVWDGLXPV DPRQJWKHSODQ HQWUHFDOOVDOOSDUWPHHW RQ$IVLWXDWLRQRQ$XJ ;RZdYR_Rce` ScZVW]VRUVcd New Delhi: Amid deepening crisis in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the war- torn nation, a large number of Afghan refugees in India vocif- erously protested in front of the UNHCR office here on Monday demanding release of “support letters” from the UN agency to migrate to other countries for better opportu- nities. 2WXYR_cVWfXVVd ac`eVdeZ_Wc`_e `WF?94C`WWZTV New Delhi: Three copies of Sikh scripture Guru Granth Sahib and 75 people, including 46 Afghan Sikhs and Hindus, are being evacuated from war- ravaged Afghanistan on an IAF plane, people coordinating the evacuation efforts with the Indian Government said on Monday. Nearly 200 more Afghan Sikhs and Hindus are still stranded in Afghanistan. CWaTTBXZWbRaX_cdaT R^_XTb$_T^_[T QTX]VU[^f]X]Ua^ :PQd[^]805PXaRaPUc ?C8Q ;=3= Ahead of an emergency G7 meeting on Afghanistan, the Taliban on Monday warned that there will be “conse- quences” if the US and the UK sought an extension to the August 31 deadline for the US-led troop withdrawal from the war-torn country. Speaking to Sky News in Doha, Qatar, Taliban spokesperson Dr Suhail Shaheen stated that the month- end deadline was a “red line”, as any extension would imply an extended occupation of the country. He said the timeline had been laid out by US President Joe Biden and threatened “con- sequences” if the US and the UK sought an extension to that deadline. “It’s a red line. President Biden announced that on August 31 they would with- draw all their military forces. So if they extend it that means they are extending occupation while there is no need for that,” Shaheen said. “If the US or UK were to seek additional time to con- tinue evacuations — the answer is no. Or there would be con- sequences. It will create mis- trust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occu- pation it will provoke a reac- tion,” he said. The warning came as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson convened an emer- gency G7 meeting on Tuesday in his role as current Chair of the Group of Seven countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States and the UK. 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She asked all chief medical officers to ensure that doc- tors in hospitals under their jurisdiction prescribe only generic medicines to the patients. Bahuguna also asked them to take stern action against doctors who do not do this. Jana Aushadhi Kendras, sell- ing generic medicines that are far cheaper than brand- ed drugs, have been opened across the country to give economically weaker sections access to quality treatment. The Government keeps issuing orders from time to time asking doctors to pre- scribe generic medi- cines but it has been found they continue to prescribe branded medicines violating the orders, the DG health said in her let- ter to the CMOs. 2TeZ`_hZ]]SVeRV_RXRZ_de 8`geU`TdhY`U`_`eacVdTcZSV XV_VcZT^VUZTZ_Vd+@WWZTZR] ?=BQ 347A03D= The State Government has yet again extended the Covid-curfew from August 24 to 6 am on August 31. As in the past phases of the Covid curfew, a maximum of 50 people will be allowed with Covid negative test report in marriage functions while 50 people at the most will be allowed in one funeral pro- cession. Similarly, all social, political, entertainment and cultural pro- grammes along with other gath- erings and large congregations will remain prohibited till fur- ther orders though any of these will be allowed with the rec- ommendation from the autho- rised level. Those arriving from other states will need to register on the smart city portal and need a Covid negative report if they lack a full vaccination certifi- cate. All the other restrictions and relaxations have remained unchanged from the previous phase of the Covid-curfew. 2^eXSRdaUTfTgcT]STS cX[[0dV X]D´ZWP]S ?=BQ 347A03D= The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is getting insecure of its rising popular- ity in Uttarakhand. The party has alleged that some BJP activists have start- ed venting their aggression by smearing the stickers and posters and destroying hoardings of AAP during night. These posters mentioned the free electricity promise by the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The party has also released a CCTV footage claiming that the man in the video is smear- ing stickers of AAP pasted on a car during the night. One of the spokesmen of the party in Uttarakhand, Sanjay Bhatt said that BJP has given their party workers com- plete freedom to cause harm to AAP’s party members in every way but BJP will face its con- sequences in the Assembly elections next year. %-3LQVHFXUHRILWVJURZLQJ SRSXODULWLQ8¶NKDQG$$3 ?=BQ ?8C7A060A7 Following incessant rains, a lake has formed in Bhararigad due to the breaking of rocks in the Malupati area of Munsiyari in Pithoragarh district. Locals fear that if the lake breaches its bounds, three to four villages may be in danger. In the district, 10 roads are closed due to the debris. The Jauljivi-Munsiyari road, which was closed on Friday night, was reopened by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO). According to locals, heavy rain caused rocks to break near Malupati in Munsiyari’s Harkot Gram Panchayat. This has formed a lake at the site. If there is a breach in this lake Rumalkhet, Malla and Talla Bhadeli could suffer considerable damage. After the information about the formation of the lake, the revenue department team has been sent to the spot. It is worth mentioning that Malupati, Malla and Talla Bhadeli are disaster prone areas. =RVW`c^VURe3YRcRUZXRUa`dVdUR_XVce`gZ]]RXVd ?=BQ 347A03D= Forest and Environment Minister Harak Singh Rawat launched the Nature Vidya web portal on Monday. The portal offers a wide range of simple tools for nature educators to engage children outdoors, covering topics such as ecology, garbage, climate change etc. This website not only helps prepare for any future school disruptions, but also makes available sophisticated tools in Hindi to grassroots teachers for the first time. Environment education is considered to be the founda- tion for building strong lead- ership and independent obser- vation skills in children. In India, several southern States, including Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu as well as Gujarat, have strong collab- orations between civil society organisations and state educa- tion departments for outdoor nature and environment education. When environment edu- cation is approached system- atically, children learn to solve local problems and develop independent thinking leading to more localised careers. Although eco-clubs have been formed in all the Government schools of Uttarakhand, there is limited exposure of teachers and students to modern nature and environment education. A major limitation has been the lack of Hindi resources for teachers. To address these lacunae, Nature Science Initiative (NSI) in collaboration with JBGVS has initiated the bilingual Hindi-English website Nature Vidya that caters exclusively to environment education. Rawat also released a Hindi book on the peepal tree and its ecology, called ‘Rahasmayee Bagicha’, authored by Shruthi Rao. This book helps children learn important ecological con- cepts by observing fig trees like the Peepal. They learn about the value of friendships in nature to sus- tain life, and understand how fig trees like the Peepal are important keystone species. Principal chief conservator of forest (head of forest force) Rajiv Bhartari was also present on the occasion. 4]eXa^]T]cTSdRPcX^] _^acP[P]SQ^^Z [Pd]RWTSQhX]XbcTa CWT_^acP[^UUTabPfXSTaP]VT^U bX_[Tc^^[bU^a]PcdaTTSdRPc^ab c^T]VPVTRWX[SaT]^dcS^^ab R^eTaX]Vc^_XRbbdRWPbTR^[^Vh VPaQPVTR[XPcTRWP]VTTcRCWXb fTQbXcT]^c^][hWT[_b_aT_PaTU^a P]hUdcdaTbRW^^[SXbad_cX^]bQdc P[b^PZTbPePX[PQ[Tb^_WXbcXRPcTS c^^[bX]7X]SXc^VaPbba^^cb cTPRWTabU^acWTUXabccXT ?C8Q =4F34;78 The Delhi High Court on Monday asked the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) to consider as repre- sentation a plea seeking to stop the alleged illegal con- struction of bridges and walls within tiger breeding habitat of Corbett Tiger Reserve. A bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh asked the NTCA to decide the representation at the earliest in accordance with the law, rules, regulations and gov- ernment policy applicable to the case and disposed of the petition. The court said if any reports are to be called by the NTCA from other authorities, it shall be done immediately and the representation be decided expeditiously. The court was hearing a petition by lawyer Gaurav Kumar Bansal on the issue of alleged rampant illegal con- struction going on in tiger breeding habitat of Corbett Tiger Reserve in Uttarakhand. The plea submitted that the illegal construction of bridges and walls in the breeding habi- tat shall not only disturb the whole ecology of Corbett Tiger Reserve, but it is also against the provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act and the Forest Conservation Act. “Not only illegal construc- tion of more than four bridges near Kalagarh forest rest house and wall is going on but the for- est officials are also actively cut- ting trees and shrubs in tiger breeding habitat,” the plea claimed. 72PbZb=C20c^STRXSTaT_aTbT]cPcX^]^]P[[TVPcX^] ^UX[[TVP[R^]bcadRcX^]Pc2^aQTccCXVTaATbTaeT
- 3. 347A03D=kCD4B30H k0D6DBC !#!! dccPaPZWP]S 2 E 8 3 ( ?=BQ 347A03D= Terming the new vehicle scrappage policy of the Central Government imprac- tical for transport operators, various transport associations in Dehradun alleged that this policy is meant to benefit only automobile manufacturers and companies. Talking about the policy, Ashok Grover from Dehradun Truck Association said after the implementation of the policy, all 15-year-old commercial vehicles and 20-year-old pas- senger vehicles will be dis- carded which will affect the operators of more than 68 per cent of total commercial vehi- cles in the State that use old vehicles. “This policy is not practical and certainly not beneficial for commercial vehicle owners. The Central Government says that this policy will help in elim- inating all the unfit vehicles from roads that cause pollution too but it is actually to boost the manufacturing and sale of new automobiles,” stated Grover. He said if the Government goes ahead with this policy, thousands of people associated with the operation of com- mercial vehicles will become unemployed across the State. President of Dehradun Mahanagar City Bus Seva Mahasangh Vijay Vardhan Dandriyal also stated that the new scrappage policy is made to benefit the automobile man- ufacturers as scrapping of more vehicles will increase the sales of new vehicles. “There is nothing benefi- cial in the policy for commer- cial vehicle owners. A vehicle owner generally gets 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the total price of the vehicle after the scrappage but as per the poli- cy, this amount has been reduced to four to six per cent,” stated Dandriyal. He also stated that the proper operation of vehicles depends on their regular main- tenance rather than their man- ufacturing age. “I have recent- ly written to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways mentioning how this scrappage policy will severely affect the commercial vehicle owners and made some recommenda- tions too,” said Dandriyal. Pankaj Arora, the president of Doon Auto Rickshaw Union also said that they are against this policy and if required, they, along with other associ- ations, will protest against the Government. However, the president of Uttarakhand Vikram Jankalyan Sewa Samiti, Rajendra Kumar said that his association sup- ports this policy. “No matter how well maintained you keep your vehicle, it has the limited ability to run on roads proper- ly. I think this policy has all the good points and will be bene- ficial environmentally and eco- nomically too,” stated Kumar. Besides this, many associ- ations of commercial vehicles in the State are still baffled about the policy and stated that they will focus on it when the Uttarakhand Government will issue an order related to the policy. ?=BQ 347A03D= The Monsoon session of Uttarakhand assembly started on a sombre note on Monday with the members paying homage to Indira Hridayesh, former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and five other leaders. Speaking on the motion of condolence, which was the only business of the house on the first day of the session, the Chief Minister and Leader of the House Pushkar Singh Dhami said death of Indira Hridayesh has created a void in the State Assembly. Remembering his personal experiencewithher,theCMsaid Hridayesh never changed her approach of dealing with people even when she was in power or outside it. He said Indira Hridayesh holds the record of winning the Vidhan Parishad in UP by biggest margin. Paying rich tributes to for- mer UP CM Kalyan Singh, Dhami said he dedicated his life to be the voice of the poor and backward and provided a crime and corruption-free Government in UP. He said Kalyan Singh sac- rificed his Government for the cause of Ram temple in Ayodhya. The CM also paid homage to Gangotri MLA Gopal Singh Rawat, Srichand, Ambrish Kumar, former Education Minister Narendra Singh Bhandari and Bachi Singh Rawat. President of Uttarakhand BJP and Haridwar MLA Madan Kaushik said Indira Hridayesh never discriminated with anyone on the basis of political affiliations. He said the late Ambrish Kumar was a real leader. Chakrata MLA, Pritam Singh who replaced Indira Hridayesh in the position of Leader of Opposition (LoP) became emotional while remembering her and said he is feeling uncomfortable while sit- ting on her chair. He said that she started her political career in 1974 and represented UP Vidhan Parishad four times. The Ministers and many mem- bers of the house also paid trib- utes to the late Indira Hridayesh and other leaders. The house also observed a silence of two minutes as a mark of its respect to the departed leaders. `_d``_DVddZ`_`WF¶YR_U2ddV^S]jSVXZ_d 7ULEXWHVSDLGWR,QGLUD+ULGDHVK.DODQ6LQJK %DFKL6LQJK5DZDW*RSDO6LQJK5DZDW1DUHQGUD 6LQJK%KDQGDUL$PEULVK.XPDU 6ULFKDQG ?=BQ 347A03D= TheCongress party would try to corner Pushkar Singh Dhami Government in the Assemblybyraisingtheissuesof Land laws and the Uttarakhand Char Dham Devasthanam Management Board. The party is bringing two Private Member Bills on these issues. Kedarnath MLA, Manoj Rawat would bring Private Member Bill on Land laws while Dharchula MLA Harish Dhami would bring Private Bill on Devasthanam manage- ment board. These bills are expected to be tabled on Friday. Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Uttarakhand Assembly Pritam Singh, told media persons outside the Vidhan Sabha that the bringing Private Member Bill is right of the MLAs. He said the Congress party wants discussion on these issues as the people of the State want to know the standpoint of the BJP Government on Land Laws and Devasthanam Management board. The LoP said the BJP Government first made amendments in Uttarakhand (Uttar Pradesh) Zamindari Abolition and land manage- ment act and then following a public uproar, has set up a committee. He added a similar thing occurred in the Char Dham Devasthanam management board where a committee has been appointed after protest by the Teerth Purohits. “The BJP Government made Gairsain a commissionerate but went back onitsdecision.ThisGovernment first takes a decision and then does a rollback,” he said. RQJWRFRUQHU*RYW RQODQGODZV 'HYDVWKDQDPERDUG AcZgReVV^SVc3Z]]de`SVeRS]VU Sj4`_X=2d`_eYVdVdfS[VTed ?=BQ 347A03D= The members of Uttarakhand Assembly paid homage to the Pioneer of the world famous Chipko movement and noted environ- mentalist Sundarlal Bahuguna before the start of the Monsoon Session on Monday. Memberspaidtheirrespects to the departed soul by paying floraltributestoBahugunainthe gallery of the Assembly. Assembly Speaker Prem Chand Agarwal held a small pro- gramme in his office before the commencementofthesessionin which Rajiv Nayan and Madhu Pathak, the son and daughter of Bahuguna were honoured. Agarwal said Sundarlal Bahuguna had dedicated his entire life for environmental protection, saving the Himalayas and Rivers and gen- erating love in people for the trees. He said that Bahuguna would always act as a source of inspiration for the society. Chief Minister Pushkar SinghDhami,CabinetMinisters Banshidhar Bhagat, Arvind Pandey, Dhan Singh Rawat, president of Uttarakhand BJP Madan Kaushik, MLAs Deshraj Karnwal, Sanjay Gupta, Rajkumar Thukral and others were present on the occasion. Df_URc]R]3RYfXf_RcV^V^SVcVU ?=BQ 347A03D= Though long traffic jams on several main roads have become a regular thing during every Vidhan Sabha Session in Dehradun, the State Government never attempts to make the situation better for the general public during that period. Every year, police claim to make arrangements to ensure smooth flow of traffic during every State Assembly Session but traffic chaos continues to make the public suffer on the roads during these sessions. This was stated by locals while expressing their sentiments on facing traffic issues on various roads of the city on Monday due to the monsoon session of Vidhan Sabha. According to local resident Sanskar Kandari, it took him over one hour to reach Dharmpur from Mohkampur due to the diversions and con- gestion on the roads. He said, “What is the use of traffic plan- ning if the commuters have to suffereverytime?Inoticedmul- tiple police personnel on some roads while there were none at others to manage the traffic. Why do the authorities not plan responsibly despite observ- ing the same issues during every session for years.” Some senior citizens also complained about inconve- nience due to traffic conges- tion. A 63-year-old Dalanwala resident, Dharam Singh Chauhan said he and his wife had an appointment with a doctor located at Saharanpur Road on Monday and it took them over 40 minutes to reach the place due to heavy traffic. On the question of what he expects from the authorities, Chauhan responded that if the authorities would have been even slightly considerate of the public’s suffering during State Assembly Sessions, they must have done something to tackle this long ago. Locals alsocomplained that several commuters like office goers and students who use publictransportationhavetosuf- fer more as they have to travel more to avail the facility of pub- lic transport like e-rickshaws, autorickshaws,Vikramsandcity buses. “I had to pay extra bucks to an autorickshaw driver reach my office near IT Park from Prince Chowk and I was still 30 minuteslateduetotrafficatvar- iouscrossingsalongthewaylike Survey Chowk and Sahastradhara Crossing. The governmentshouldalsobeboth- eredaboutthepublicduringthe Vidhan Sabha session,” stated a local resident, Seema Khulbe. 0f^P]fXcWWTaRWX[S_PbbTbcWa^dVW PQPaaXRPSX]VTaTRcTS^]cWTPX]a^PS ]TPaEXSWP]BPQWP ?X^]TTa_W^c^ CA05582270B0:4B?D1;82BD554A ?=BQ 347A03D= Uttarakhand Chief Minister Puskhar Singh Dhami went to Narora in Bulandshahr district of Uttar Pradesh (UP) on Monday to participate in the funeral of former UP Chief Minister Kalyan Singh. He offered floral tributes to the departed leader. He said that Singh was an able admin- istrator and an efficient politi- cian. Dhami said that Kalyan Singh was a source of many leaders like him. Dhami was accompanied by union minister of state for tourism and defence, Ajay Bhatt, Cabinet Minister Dhan Singh Rawat and president of Uttarakhand BJP Madan Kaushik. 5YR^ZReeV_Ud Wf_VcR]`W R]jR_DZ_XY ?=BQ 347A03D= After playing the free elec- tricity card the former chief minister and head of campaign committee of Congress in Uttarakhand Harish Rawat has now said when elected to power in the State, the Congress Government would provide a cooking gas subsidy of C200 per month. This subsidy amount would be transferred to the bank accounts of the women of the State, he said. The former CM took to social media to make the announcement on the day of Rakshabandhan. He said he is pained by the increasing prices of the cook- ing gas. “The burden on the sisters has increased due to increasing prices of cooking gas. When our Government is formed a subsidy of C200 per month would be transferred to the bank accounts of the women. I know this annual subsidy of C2,400 per year is very less in view of the burden loaded by the NDA Government. I will also work to increase this sub- sidy with betterment of the financial condition of the State,’’ he said. 9RcZdYCRhRe h``dh`^V_hZeY XRddfSdZUj`WWVc B0HB2=66ECF8;; ?AE8342:8=660B BD1B83H5C!4E4AH =C7CF4= ?=BQ 347A03D= The State health department reported only 22 new cases of the novel Coronavirus and 24 recoveries from the disease in Uttarakhand on Monday. No death from the disease was reported in the State on the day. The cumulative count of Covid-19 patients in the State is now at 3,42,771 while a total of 3,29,030 patients have recov- ered from the disease so far. In the State, 7377 people have lost their lives to Covid-19 till date. The recovery percentage from the disease is at 95.99 while the sample positivity rate on Monday was 0.18 per cent. The State health depart- ment reported six new patients of Covid-19 from Dehradun, five from Pauri, two each from Nainital, Rudraprayag and Udham Singh Nagar and one each from Champawat and Tehri on Monday. No new cases were reported from Almora, Bageshwar, Chamoli, Pithoragarh and Uttarkashi on the day. The State now has 313 active cases of Covid-19. Dehradun with 104 cases is at the top of the table of active cases while Chamoli has 40 active cases. In the ongoing vaccination drive 92,786 people were vac- cinated in 959 sessions in the State on Monday. QHZFDVHV UHFRYHULHVLQ6WDWH VXRGRTTZ_ReZ`_TR^aRZX_W]`adZ_5``_ ?I(?6D1B75D54!1;8F13391D54 ?=BQ 347A03D= The much hyped mega vac- cination campaign under- taken by the Dehradun admin- istration on Monday failed miserably as only 28 per cent of the target was achieved. The health department had planned to vaccinate 1 lakh peo- ple on the day but could admin- ister only 28,148 people on the day. In their enthusiasm the authorities had invited Chief Minister Puskhar Singh Dhami and Union Minister of State Ajay Bhatt in a ceremony organ- ised to launch the campaign at Government primary school, Rajiv Nagar on Monday. In the camp the CM reiter- ated the commitment of his Governmenttocomplete100per centvaccinationoftheadultpop- ulation in the next four months. He said Bageshwar and Rudraprayag districts have achieved the target of cent per- cent vaccination. The CM also thanked the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing the required number of vaccine doses to Uttarakhand. Union Minister of State for Defence and tourism Ajay Bhatt said the maximum number of vaccina- tion has been done in India. Health Minister Dhan Singh Rawat and others were present on the occasion. BRaP__PVT_^[XRhT[XRXcbXgTSaTb_^]bTUa^R^TaRXP[caP]b_^acd]X^]b
- 4. ]PcX^]# 347A03D=kCD4B30H k0D6DBC !#!! :_RWZcdeh`^V_`WWZTVcd ac`^`eVUe`T`]`_V]cR_ ?=BQ =4F34;78 Ensuring gender parity in the armed forces, a selection board of the Indian Army on Monday cleared the way for the promotion of five women offi- cers to colonel (Time Scale) rank. This is the first time that women officers serving with the Corps of Signals, Corps of Electronic and Mechanical Engineers (EME) and the Corps of Engineers have been approved to the rank of colonel, officials said here on Monday. Previously, promotion to the rank of colonel was only applicable for women officers in the Army Medical Corps (AMC), Judge Advocate General (JAG) and the Army Education Corps (AEC). The widening of promo- tion avenues to more branch- es of the Indian Army is a sign of increasing career opportu- nities for women officers, offi- cials said here while announc- ing the latest decision. Combined with the deci- sion to grant permanent com- mission to women officers from a majority of branches of the Indian Army, this step defines the Indian Army’s approach towards a gender- neutral Army. The five women officers selected for Colonel Time Scale rank are Lt Col Sangeeta Sardana from the Corps of Signals, Lt Col Sonia Anand and Lt Col Navneet Duggal from the Corps of EME and Lt Col Reenu Khanna and Lt Col Ritcha Sagar from the Corps of Engineers. These officers have completed 26 years of “reck- onable service.” This comes days five after the Supreme Court allowed eli- gible women to take the exam- ination for admission to National Defence Academy (NDA). The top court, how- ever, said that the result of the examination would be subject to final adjudication of the petition. It is the first time ever that women candidates will appear for the NDA entrance examination since it was founded in 1954. The three Services chiefs last week visited the NDA to take stock of the creation of infrastructure catering to the possible entry of women cadets. Incidentally, the three chiefs including Army chief M M Naravane, Admiral Karambir Singh and IAF chief R K S Bhadauria are from the same batch of the NDA. Plans are already afoot since last few months to create infra- structure for women cadets, sources said. ?=BQ =4F34;78 After Zydus Cadila, the phar- ma firm from Gujarat that was authorised by the DCGI for its needle-free ZyCoV-D Covid- 19 vaccine for children aged 12 years and above, it is learnt that the top drug regulator is likely to give approval to the Covaxin vaccine of Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech soon for kids for emergency use. The administration of two doses of Covaxin vaccination has been completed among children and blood samples have been sent for the third time to check the effectiveness in terms of producing antibodies among children, according to a news agency which has quoted a source in the Union Health Ministry. A total of 90 children were subjected to Covaxin trials in Karnataka. However, the trial will take 210 days to complete. As it will take another 5 to 6 months from now, they can’t wait till then in the current cir- cumstances to release the vac- cination for children, sources added. “Final report will come on the 210th day. The Government and DGCI can take calls any day after the 56th day of the trial Emergency use. However, the study period will be there for 210 days. Before also, while releasing Covid vaccines for adults the government of India and DCGI did not wait till the completion of 210 days. Vaccines were released earlier,” they said. Cheluvamba Hospital in Mysuru attached to Mysore Medical College and Research Institute (MMCRI) entrusted with the conducting of Covaxin’s Clinical trials on chil- dren has sent third blood sam- ples of children to designated laboratories. It is one among the five medical institutes identified in the country, which had got the institutional ethics committee approvals for Covaxin’s clinical trials on children. The trials are being done in the monitoring of principal investigator and Associate Professor, department of Paediatrics Dr. Pradeep N. The Covid vaccination trail for children comprises admin- istration of two vaccinations between 0 and 28th day along with blood sampling. On the 56th day, there will not be vac- cination but blood samples will be collected. There will be another blood sampling on the 118th and also on 210th day of the trail. DGCI will give approvals in a phased manner first starting with children aged 12 years and above in the first phase. The approvals will be given for release of vaccines for 6 to 12 years of children and later for children aged between 2 to 6 years. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The United States has approved a record number of Indian student visa applica- tions in 2021. This comes despite the many challenges that people are facing in trav- elling abroad. As per the US embassy, more than 55,000 stu- dents and exchange visitors have or will board planes to study in the United States this year. The statement by the US embassy in India comes amid reports of students in several other countries struggling to get their visas although the classes have begun. “This year, more than 55K students are boarding planes to study in the United States, an all-time record in India,”the US embassy India tweeted. The second wave of Covid- 19 forced the Mission to delay the commencement of its stu- dent visa season by two months. “More students are being approved every day. The US Mission looks forward to another great student season as it facilitates study for spring semester students over the coming few months,” the US mission in India said in a state- ment. In July, the resumption of visa services allowed after declining in COVID-19 cases. “The U.S. Embassy and Consulates opened additional hours for visa appointments and made every possible effort to ensure timely arrival for academic programs for as many students as possible. Ultimately, these efforts paid off, as more students than ever before received visas to study in the United States,” the US embassy added. The Covid-19 pandemic created tremendous logistical challenges for the U.S. Mission’s consular teams. Embassies and Consulates typically begin interviewing fall semester stu- dents for a given year in May, but the second wave of Covid- 19 forced the Mission to delay the commencement of its stu- dent visa season by two months. In July, as soon as conditions allowed for the resumption of visa services without endan- gering applicants’ health and safety, consular teams worked not only to match, but surpass, their pre-Covid workload New international student enrollment in the United States dropped 43% in fall 2020 from the year prior, months after Covid sent the world into lock- down. Similarly, the number of new students who actually made it onto campus in person declined by 72 per cent. ?=BQ =4F34;78 The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Centre, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana Governments to find a solution to the nine-month- long road blocks due to the protests by farmers. A Bench headed by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said that while farmers have the right to protest, roads cannot be blocked indefinitely. “They might have right to a place to agitate but roads cannot be blocked like this,” said Justice Kaul, adding that Central gov- ernment and concerned States to devise a solution. “You have to find a solu- tion. The solution lies in the hands of Union of India and concerned States,” the Court said. The apex court was hear- ing a plea by a resident of Noida seeking relief against road blockade by protesting farmers against the controversial farm laws for the past nine months. The petitioner, Monicca Agarwal contended despite various directions passed by the apex court to keep public roads clear, they have not been fol- lowed. The petitioner said that being a single mother with medical issues, it has become a nightmare for her to travel from Noida to Delhi. The UP Government, in its response, informed the Court that it is in the process of requesting farm- ers to clear the area for smoother traffic. In an affidavit filed before the top court, the Uttar Pradesh P Government said that it is trying to convince farmers about how protests by blocking roads is not permitted as per the Supreme Court’s earlier judgments. Efforts are under- way to “make farmers under- stand the grossly illegal act of blocking roads”, the affidavit said. “At present, there are about 800-1000 protestors in the area, however, a crowd of up to 15,000 protestors collect on their call within hours from adjoining towns and villages,” said the UP Government. CWTD?6^eTa]T]c X]XcbaTb_^]bT X]U^aTScWT2^dac cWPcXcXbX]cWT _a^RTbb^U aT`dTbcX]VUPaTab c^R[TPacWTPaTPU^a b^^cWTacaPUUXR B2PbZb2T]caTD?6^ecc^ UX]Sb^[dcX^]c^a^PSQ[^RZb RPdbTSQhUPaTab´_a^cTbc 2^ePgX]YPQU^aZXSb[XZT[hc^VTc3268]^S DBP__a^eTbaTR^aS]dQTa^U eXbPbU^a8]SXP]bcdST]cbX]!! ?=BQ =4F34;78 Multi-storied buildings constructed with Thermocol or Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) could be the future earthquake-resis- tant buildings, researchers at IIT Roorkee have found. EPS, which is used as a composite material in core of reinforced concrete sandwich, could resist earthquake forces on up to four-storey buildings, they found after testing a full- scale building and a number of wall elements constructed with thermocol sandwiched between two layers of concrete at the National Seismic Test Facility (NSTF) of the Department of Earthquake Engineering, IIT Roorkee. The project was developed under the Fund for Improvement of ST Infrastructure (FIST) pro- gramme of the Department of Science Technology (DST). Research scholar, Adil Ahmad who conducted the tests, evaluated the behaviour of the constructions under lat- eral forces, as earthquakes cause a force predominantly in lateral direction. The investi- gation was supplemented with detailed computer simulation of a realistic 4-storey building. Prof. Yogendra Singh, super- vising the research, shared that the analysis shows that a four- storey building constructed with this technique is capable of resisting earthquake forces, even in the most seismic zone (V) of the country, without any additional structural support. They attributed this earth- quake resistance capability to the fact that the EPS layer is sandwiched between two lay- ers of concrete having rein- forcement in the form of weld- ed wire mesh. The researchers said that the force being applied on a building during an earth- quake arises due to the inertia effect and hence depends on the mass of the building. Thermocol resists earthquakes by reducing the mass of the building. Besides resisting earth- quakes, the use of expanded polystyrene core in concrete walls of a building can result in thermal comfort. The core pro- vides the necessary insulation against the heat transfer between building interior and exterior environment. This can help in keeping the building interiors cool in hot environ- ments and warm during cold conditions. India suffers a large variation of temperature in different parts of the country and during different seasons of the year. Therefore, thermal comfort is a crucial consider- ation along with structural safety. The technology also has the potential of saving con- struction material and energy, with an overall reduction in carbon footprint of buildings, said the researchers. 8]SXPbdUUTabP[PaVT ePaXPcX^]^U cT_TaPcdaTX] SXUUTaT]c_Pacb^UcWT R^d]cahP]SSdaX]V SXUUTaT]cbTPb^]b^U cWThTPa CWTaTU^aTcWTaP[ R^U^acXbPRadRXP[ R^]bXSTaPcX^]P[^]V fXcWbcadRcdaP[ bPUTch ?=BQ =4F34;78 The All India Gem Jewellery Domestic Council (GJC) onMondayclaimedthatbarring big corporates, most jewellery shops remained shut in response to a nationwide strike call given by 350-odd jewellery associations to protest the new gold hallmarking rules. The Government, however, claimed that there was no impact as a very small section of jewellers closed their shops. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs released photos of big corporate jewellery showrooms like Tanishq, Kalyan Jewellers, Malabar Gold and Diamonds, PC Jewellers, PP Jewellers, Heera Panna Jewellers, Anand Jewellers, Kunal Jewellers, Caratlane, Shree Ganesh Jewellers, Talwarsons Jewellers, Lalchand, Epari Sadashiv Jewellers, Caratlane — which remained open in different parts of the country. The jewellery bodies are against the Government’s Hallmarking Unique ID (HUID) system which they said has nothing to do with the puri- ty of gold but is just a tracking mechanism. GIC has claimed that there has been a very strong response to a nationwide strike against the HUID system. Shops are closed for a day. “Big corporates in the jew- ellery sector never participate in such strikes. Mostly individual and family-run jewellery shops in all four zones are shut for a day,” GIC said. However, in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, shops were shut till 12.30 pm due to the Onam festival, the jewelers body said. The Ministry said the said call of strike was itself based on untenable grounds and an attempt was made to misinform fellow jewellers about the vari- ous provisions of hallmarking scheme. The ministry also released letters of jewellers’ bodies — All India Jewellers and Goldsmith Federation (AJGF), Swanakaar Sabha, Gems and Jewellery Manufacturer Association Organisation (GJMA), Sarva Swarnkaar Samaj Netrutva Vikas Sanstha which opposed the strike and supported the Hallmarking Unique ID (HUID) system. “As expected, the misguid- ed attempt by these limited set of persons to disrupt the normal functioning of jewellery busi- ness today, has failed miserably,” the ministry said. ?C8Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court Monday said that demo- lition of all unauthorised structures standing on Aravali forest land in Faridabad’s Khori village has to continue, even as the municipal corpo- ration informed it that some farmhouses have already been razed there. The apex court, while hearing an application filed by owners of some marriage halls which have received notices from the civic body, said that Faridabad Municipal Corporation has to proceed and demolish the unautho- rised structures as per law. A bench comprising Justices A M Khanwilkar and Dinesh Maheshwari said that as per previous order of the apex court, the intervenors are supposed to make repre- sentation to the concerned authority which will consid- er them. “Let the corporation decide on your representation and after that is decided, we will consider what course of action can be adopted. Today, all unauthorised structures are being demol- ished and that has to contin- ue,” the bench told the coun- sel appearing for the owners of some marriage halls. The counsel appearing for the municipal corporation told the bench that they have filed a compli- ance report in the matter on Monday and as far as repre- sentation is concerned, there is already a direction by the court and the authority will consider it in accordance with law. “We have already demol- ished few farm houses,” the lawyer appearing for the civic body said. When the bench said it would hear the matter after two weeks, the counsel appearing for marriage hall owners submitted that in the meantime, the authority should not demolish their structures while they consider their rep- resentation. The bench told the coun- sel that they can make repre- sentations and the authority will consider it. “If it is unauthorised, it has to be demolished as per the present law and legal position. The corporation has to proceed. Let them proceed,” the bench observed and posted the mat- ter for hearing on September 6. BcaXZTPVPX]bcV^[SWP[[PaZX]Vad[Tb PbdRRTbbR[PXbYTfT[[TahQ^Sh 0aPeP[X)3T^[XcX^]^U X[[TVP[bcadRcdaTc^ R^]cX]dTbPhbB2 CWTa^R^[PSTQdX[SX]VbR^d[SQT TPacW`dPZTaTbXbcP]cUX]SbBcdSh ?C8Q =4F34;78 The Supreme Court Monday said it would consider list- ing pleas related to conferring of senior designation to lawyers by the some high courts by using arbitrary and discrimi- natory secret voting as a norm and mentioned that “some development” might take place in a week to two. A bench headed by Chief Justice N V Ramana took note of the submissions of senior advocate Indira Jaising, on whose PIL the apex court had come out with a slew of guide- lines for designating lawyers as seniors in 2017. Jaising has sought urgent listing of her fresh miscella- neous application alleging that some high courts have been using secret voting process as the norm for conferring senior designation which is “arbitrary and discriminatory” and should be declared so. The designation of lawyers should be on the basis of marks given by the designated committee and the voting should be resorted to only when it is unavoidable, she said, adding that some high courts use the voting method as a norm and not an excep- tion. There are some problems about senior designation in various courts. The SCBA (the Supreme Court Bar Association) has also requested for senior des- ignation. I want to take this up, said the CJI. The bench, also compris- ing Justices Surya Kant and Aniruddha Bose, referred to the demise of senior advocate Soli Sorabjee, who was one of the members of the apex court's panel for taking initial decisions on applications of lawyers for grant of senior designation and said that a new appointment has to be made. You know one of our seniors Soli has passed away. We have to replace, the bench said, adding that a three-judge bench would hear the case. B2c^R^]bXSTa[XbcX]V_[TPbaT[PcTSc^ R^]UTaaX]V^UbT]X^aSTbXV]PcX^]c^[PfhTab CWTB210cWT Bd_aTT2^dac 1Pa0bb^RXPcX^] WPbP[b^ aT`dTbcTSU^a bT]X^a STbXV]PcX^]8 fP]cc^cPZTcWXb d_bPXScWT298
- 5. ]PcX^]$ 347A03D=kCD4B30H k0D6DBC !#!! B0D60AB4=6D?C0 Q :;:0C0 Talibs as they call them there are pretty honest people … I thought they would be ferocious raw-flesh eaters like … but what I saw … they were pretty humble … sweet-tongued and most impor- tantly hospitable. That is how Tamal Bhattacharya one of the evacuees from war-torn Afghanistan who late on Sunday evening returned to Kolkata depicted the “good Talibans” so to say. Tamal who hails from Nimta area of North 24 Parganas was among the 150 peo- ple who were allegedly abducted by the Taliban militia before being released later. “It was not abduction as such … we were detained and taken to a location where our identity proof and other documents were checked by the Talibs, said this teacher from an international school in Kabul. “The only offensive thing about them was perhaps their automatic rifles … otherwise they looked pret- ty calm, friendly and behaved well and respectfully with the women in the group,” he said. On the dread of being shot he said “we had initial apprehensions but things turned out to be quite opposite … in fact we told that the Taliban people apprehending attacks on us and so they had decid- ed to shift us to safer places … a school in this case … as Taliban apprehended that many splinter groups could attack the us they took our charge to protect us … they hosted us in a school and even played cricket with us … one of them even asked me to teach him English … then they treated us to Kabuli Pulao before seeing us off.” On the general atmosphere in Kabul, Bhattacharya the only son of his aged parents said “there is ten- sion … roads are empty, shops are closed but nothing like the way we thought earlier happened … there was no mass killing etc.” On the most remarkable change he witnessed in Taliban 2.0 he said jeans and western attires vanished overnight from the shops and women went behind the burqa as immediately as the prices of gen- eral products including eatables came down with their quantity increasing by almost 50 percent. “We loved taking Nan and mutton in the food corners which came for about Rs 160/- per plate. Now with the coming of Talibans the price had not only come down but also the quantity had increased by half … this is because the traders are not allowed to make extra profit or cheat people,” he said. Abhijit Ghosh from Behala said he and the entire lot of for- eigners with him passed dreadful nights. “I was working at a NATO base as a cook … my employers immediately shifted us on priority basis after the Talibans entered … we heard that some people were being searched for … the people who had backed the western forces.” On whether he would return to Afghanistan again he said he would prefer not to “but for that our Government has to make some arrangement for us … I am the only bread-earner in my house … I will expect that the government does something for us or else I will have to go out.” But the family of Sanghamitra Dafadar from Behala is not as lucky as the Bhattacharyas or Ghoshs. Sanghamitra a mother of two children has been working as a nurse in Kabul. “We are in touch with my daughter through face- book. She is in trouble and we are worried … her job has gone and being a woman she cannot go out of her house … her elder son is 19- year-old and he has to be sent out to bring daily ration … one day he was caught by t he Talibans and they were asking him to join his ranks … they told him that ‘you are handsome and well built … why don’t you join us … he ran back home saying he would first take permission from his family … since then he has not come out of his house … I heard that they will be evacuated soon … but how soon we do not know,” Ruby Dafadar her mother said. ?=BQ 90D In a swift operation jawans of the special operations group of Jammu Kashmir police on Monday evening gunned down two terrorists in Khad Mill ground at Aloochi Bagh in Srinagar. Inspector General of Police, Kashmir range Vijay Kumar told reporters, the two terrorists killed in the operation have been identified as Abbas Sheikh and Saqib Manzoor. Names of both these ter- rorists had figured in the list of most wanted terrorists issued by the Jammu Kashmir police in the first week of August 2021. IGP said, Abbas Sheikh used to claim he was chief of TRF (The Resistance Front) but in reality both the slain terror- ists were associated with LeT. Claiming it to be a big suc- cess for the security forces, Kumar said, after confirming the information about their presence in the area 10 plain clothes policemen from Srinagar police launched the operation. As they zeroed in on the location of the terrorists they challenged them, warned them. In response the terrorists fired back on the policemen and during retaliatory firing both the terrorists were killed in the operation. ?=BQ 90D After eliminating 100 ter- rorists including several top commanders of Lashkar-e- Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen since January this year the Indian Army has once again appealed to the local youth on the path of terrorism to surrender and join the mainstream. The passionate appeal was made by Lt-Gen YK Joshi, Goc-in-C Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur on the occasion of 23rd anniver- sary of homecoming of 23 boys who “were forced to pick up arms'', but were rescued by the Army in the Gurez sector and handed over to their fam- ilies later in 1998. The youth on the path of terrorism will be given a second chance to come back and inte- grate with their families and join the mainstream and lead a normal life, like these indi- viduals had done, two decades back, Army Commander said. Lt-Gen Joshi along with other senior officers interacted with these youth and their families after felicitating them at a simple ceremony at Mansabal Lake park in Central Kashmir's Ganderbal district. Highlighting the role of the parents the Army commander said, parents have an impor- tant role to play, in ensuring that their children do not fol- low the path of violence, which only brings pain and misery, not only for the ones who join terrorism, but also their imme- diate and extended families. He said, the Army is steadfast in its resolve of ethical conduct and ensuring full support to those who want to leave the path of violence. Defence PRO in Srinagar Col Emron Musavi said, the rescued boys are now leading normal, happy lives and are married and have families of their own, with children, who themselves nurture dreams of having successful careers, and being responsible citizens of the country. Sharing background of the event, Defence PRO Col Musavi said,On 23 Aug 1998, a group of 23 young Kashmiri boys was apprehended, while attempting to cross the LC. These young boys were being compelled into a path of mili- tancy through false promises by a fellow Kashmiri by the name of Abdul Hamid @ Bambar Khan, a resident of Ganderbal, into joining terrorist tanzeems and were being taken to POK. Over a period of 10 days from 04 Aug to 14 Aug 1998, Bambar Khan, with the help of local OGWs, had collected these 23 young boys, all with- in 18 years of age, either by force or through radicalization and had kept them in the dense jungles of Ajas. Thereafter the group moved across the Shamsha Bari range into Gurez Tulail Valley, with the aim of going across the LC, into POK. They were then to be trained there in terrorist activ- ities and thereafter reinfiltrate back into Kashmir and indulge in terror acts, at the behest of the masterminds in Pakistan, the Defence PRO said. On 23 August 1998, information was received by the Brigade Headquarters, that a large number of youths were seen in the jungles near the Kishenganga River. An operation was launched. It was led by (then Captain) and now Brigadier Budhwar. This group of youths was sighted in the lower reach- es of the forest. The soldiers held fire, as the terrorists accompanying these youths, had run away taking cover of the thick foliage and vegetation. These young boys on seeing the Indian Army soldiers, shouted for help and immediately sur- rendered. The troops quickly took control of the situation and helped them to cross the river, which was in spate and escorted them to Gurez, where they were medically examined and were given food, water and warm beds to sleep. Thereafter they were brought to HQ 15 Corps in BB Cantt and were reunited with their parents, Col Emron Musavi said. ?=BQ ;D2:=F Central public sector under- taking (PSU), National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), has snapped 275 megawatt power from Uttar Pradesh from midnight of August 20 for not clearing dues that were outstanding for more than 45 days. In a communication to the UP Power Corporation Limited, the Central PSU informed it that it would reg- ulate 275.60 MW from August 20 to 29. The action is a follow- up on NTPC’s warning to UPPCL on August 12 that it would regulate the supply of 5,512 MW power from its gen- erating stations from August 20 as it had not cleared outstand- ing dues for more than 45 days. The Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation has sought and received state government guarantees for PFC-REC loans of nearly C4,900 crore for pay- ment of outstanding dues of central generating stations, independent power producers and renewable energy genera- tors. As of July 31, the UPPCL’s pending dues to power gener- ation companies have risen to C24,461 crore, out of which dues of Central generating sta- tions amount to C4,270 crore, while that of independent power producers are of C4,675 crore. Dues payable to renew- able energy generators are C388 crore, while those of state gen- erating stations are C15,128 crore. ?A0344?B0G4=0Q 0;860A7 Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that for- mer Chief Minister Kalyan Singh was a developing man as well as a patriot and a devotee of Ram. He strengthened the organization of the BJP and took the party forward. Chief Minister Yogi came to Aligarh on Sunday. Here he paid homage to the mortal remains of former Chief Minister Kalyan Singh at Ahilyabai Holkar Stadium and told in detail about Kalyan Singh's struggle and achievements by holding a press conference. The Chief Minister said that today every Ram devotee is a staunch national devotee and is mourning the physical death of a Ram devotee. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh is no more with us. His mortal remains were brought to the district Aligarh, which was his 'Karmabhoomi' and 'Janmabhoomi'. The attach- ment that his supporters fol- lowers have for their late leader for six decades! All of us are getting to see a vision of him here. Kalyan Singh has a rela- tionship of about nine decades in the district. In public life, he spent about seven decades in the district Aligarh. Drawing inspiration from Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay, he made programs, made plans and realized the fear-free riot-free vision. The work done by him will always be unforgettable for the administration. Even in the present times, all of us are learning from his work and efforts. Aligarh is fortunate, today the people of Aligarh are feel- ing proud that among them for the son of Mother India, who took the state forward with complete transparency, and purity. Hundreds and thou- sands of people present here today have had the opportuni- ty to live and interact with him in close time. :D0A274;;0??0=Q 274==08 There is a cure for the prob- lem of suicidal tendencies, a disturbing trend which has claimed many young lives in India. say Dr Jayant Athavale, a hypno-therapist and Sean Clarke, a researcher based at Maharshi Adhyatma Vishwa Vidyalay, Ramnadhi, Goa. The National Crime Records Bureau states that 1.39 lakh Indians committed suicide in the year 2019, out of which 67 per cent was in the 18-45 age group. The treatment is based on a system of knowledge dating back to thousands of years and was culled out of the price- less Vedic and Sasthras. “All these years, we did not have sci- entific monitoring equipment to study changes that took place in the mind and body to make a foolproof observation. With modern gadgets which could measure changes in ener- gy levels in body and mind, it is time for us to tell the world that, yes, we can completely cure the tendency to commit suicide,” Sean Clarke, a former Indian Navy officer who left his job to pursue his passion in research. According to Dr Athawale and Clarke, practicing spiritu- ality and the ‘personality defects removal process’ can help prevent suicide. The sci- entists make it clear that this is not a new finding but a scien- tific truth explained in Vedas and Sasthras. Chanting the name of God is an easy yet potent spiritual practice that can generate tremendous amount of positive energy to overcome defects in a person’s mind, Clarke told The Pioneer. This finding was substan- tiated with Universal Aura Scanner, developed by Dr Mannem Murthy, a former scientist with the Department of Atomic Energy. The Aura Scanner is capa- ble of detecting variations in energy generated during any phase of one’s life. “We found that persons chanting Om Namo Bhagawate Vasudevaya or Shri Gurudev Datta gener- ate positive energy and act as powerful protection against distress. Daily chanting of these slokas or the one which is comfortable to the chanter helps to increase the positive energy within oneself and this nullifies the possibility of neg- ative energies,” said Clarke. A person’s capacity to face stress depends on how much energy he has available to face it, said Dr Athawale. “When there are more personality defects and unfinished busi- ness, the mental energy at his disposal is less. Unfinished business refers to unpleasant incidents in the past like a failed relationship or childhood trau- ma which causes anxiety. Many problems have a spiritual root cause, destiny or karma being one of them,” said Dr Athawale. Dr Murthy and his daugh- ter Geetha , working on Aura Scanner with which they mea- sure the amount of positive energy generated/released dur- ing recitation of vedic hymns say that the chanting could result in exciting results. “Hymns or mantras are having high positive energy and by chanting them repeti- tively one can increase the energy field or their vibration. Mantras refuel the enrgy,” said Geetha. According to Clarke, per- sons belonging to Christianity and Islam could recite hymns like Hail Mary or Allah based on their beliefs and the result would be the same. “The fact is that chanting make a differ- ence and we have been observ- ing this for the last four decades,” he said. #eVcc`cZdedXf__VU U`h_Z_DcZ_RXRc Lucknow:: Amid chants of ‘Jai Shri Ram’ and recitation of ‘shlokas’, the mortal remains of former Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party’s Hindu mascot Kalyan Singh (89) were consigned to flames on the banks of the river Ganga near Narora in Bulandshahr in the presence of several Union min- isters and numerous VVIPs on Monday. The cremation of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement champion was carried out with full state honours at Bansi Ghat and Kalyan Singh's son and Etah MP Rajveer Singh lit the pyre. Rajveer was assisted by his son and UP minister Sandeep Singh. The family members and supporters of the departed leader participated in the cremation and bid adieu to Babuji -- as Kalyan Singh was fondly known. Around 20 priests performed the rituals which went on for about 30 minutes and the pyre was lit at around 4 pm. Earlier, Singh’s mortal remains were brought from Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar Stadium in Aligarh to his native village in Atrauli. Kalyan Singh breathed his last due to sepsis and multi-organ failure at Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences in Lucknow on Saturday, where he had been admitted for 48 days. The UP Government had announced three days’ state mourning and declared Monday as a public holiday. On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi rushed to Lucknow to pay his tributes to Kalyan Singh where he was joined by Defence Minister and Lucknow MP, Rajnath Singh. The mortal remains were taken to the Vidhan Bhawan and BJP State office from the residence of Kalyan Singh before being airlifted to Aligarh and kept at Ahilyabai Holkar Stadium for people to have darshan. Union Ministers Rajnath Singh, Smriti Irani, Ashwani Choubey, Ajay Bhatt, Mahendra Nath Pandey, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya, UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh along with others gave ‘ahuti’ on the mortal remains. Earlier these leaders along with former Union Minister Uma Bharti and several UP Ministers and senior BJP leaders paid floral tributes at the cremation ground. Security forces also pre- sented a guard of honour before the body was taken for cremation.Earlier, the funeral procession from Atrauli to Narora, covering around 29 km, took over two hours as people thronged the roads at several places to pay their respect to the great leader of the region. PNS 1b]iebWUci_e^WedbQcd_cebbU^TUb 0bRXT]RTb_XaXcdP[R^Q^U^aRdaX]VbdXRXSP[cT]ST]Rh C=A067D=0C70Q D108 In a new revelation in the draft charges filed before a special court in Mumbai, the NIA has said that the accused in the Elgaar Parishad- cum-Bhima-Koregaon riots case had recruited students from various universities, including the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS) for terror activities. “...you accused no 1 to 10 along with the wanted accused no 17 to 22 being the active members of the banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoists) and its frontal organisa- tions recruited students from vari- ous universities, including Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Tata Institute for Social Sciences (TISS) for commission of terrorist activity,” the NIA stated in the draft charges filed before the court of Special Judge D E Kothalikar last week. The alleged recruitment of the students of JNU, TISS and other uni- versities is one of three fresh reve- lations that have been made by the NIA in its draft charges which will be formalised and formally framed against the 22 accused in the much- discussed sensational case. The other two new revelations are: the NIA – which had earlier said that the accused in the case had con- spired to wage a war against the Government of India – has for the first time said that the accused had also conspired against the Maharashtra government. “The accused no 1 to 10 along with the deceased accused number 16 (Father Stan Lourduswamy of Tamil Nadu who died in Mumbai while in custody on July 5, 2021) and abscond- ing accused 17 to 22 being the active members of the banned terrorist organisation CPI (Maoists) and its frontal organisations had conspired wage a war against the Government of India and the State Government..,” one of the draft charges said, adding that they conspired to overthrow the governments at the centre and in the state (both BJP). One of the draft charges throws up the connection of Nepal and Manipur. “For the purpose ( of waging the war against the Government of India and the state government) conspired to demand and organise Rs 8 crore for annual supply of M-4 (sophisticated weapon) with 4,00,000 rounds and other arms and ammunition through a designated supplier from Nepal and Manipur and conspired to over- awe the Government of India and state government by means of crim- inal force, show of criminal force, thereby committed the offence pun- ishable under section 121 A of the Indian Penal Code,” another charge in the draft charges said. Interestingly, the much-dis- cussed sensational allegation – that the Pune police had made in the ini- tial weeks of investigations in the case— that the weapons and ammu- nition required to be procured by the accused were linked to a conspira- cy aimed at “assassinating” Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At that the Pune police had talked about an allegedly incrimi- nating letter recovered from the lap- top of Human Rights activists Rona Wilson Jacob on April 17, 2018 which the investigators suspected might be Rona himself. Addressed to one comrade Prakash, the pur- ported letter States: “We are think- ing along the lines of another Rajiv Gandhi-type incident. It sounds suicidal and there is a good chance we might fail but we feel the party must deliberate over our proposal. Targeting his road shows could be an effective strategy. We collectively believe that survival of the party is supreme to all sacrifices”. Among other things, the pur- ported letter had stated: “Modi-led Hindu fascist regime is bulldozing its way into the lives of indigenous adi- vasis, in spite of big defeats like Bihar and West Bengal. Modi has suc- cessfully established BJP govt in more than 15 states. If this pace con- tinues then it would mean immense trouble for the party on all fronts. Greater suppression of dissent and a more brutal form of Mission 2016 (OGH). Com. Kisan and few other comrades have proposed concrete steps to end Modi-raj”. “Defeating Hindu fascism has been our core agenda and a major concern for the party.... We are try- ing to consolidate ties with like- minded organisations, pol. parties, representatives of minorities across the country,” the letter had stated. The arrested accused in the cases are: Sudhir P. Dhawale, Vernon S. Gonsalves (both of Mumbai), Arun T. Fereira of Thane, Sagar Gorkhe of Ahmednagar, Ramesh Gaichor of Pune, Surendra P. Gadling, Shoma K. Sen, Mahesh S. Raut (all of Nagpur), Anand B. Teltumbde of Yavatmal, all in Maharashtra. Two are from New Delhi - Rona J. Wilson and Gautam Navlakha, P. Varavara Rao of Hyderabad, Sudha Bharadwaj of Faridabad, Hany Babu M. Tharayil of Trichur, and the late Fr. Stan Lourduswamy of Tamil Nadu, who died on July 5 in Mumbai while in custody. The absconding- accused are: Milind Teltumbde alias- es Dipak and Sahyadri of Yavatmal, Prakash Goswami aliases Navin and Ritupan Goswami of Assam, Kishan Bose aliases Prashanto of Kolkata, Mupalla Laxman Rao, alias Ganpati, Chandrashekhar, Manglu, and Deepu. It may be recalled that the scanned copies of 10 “incriminating” letters were among the virtual and physical documents recovered by the investigators during their simulta- neous raids conducted by the inves- tigators on April 17 2018 ahead of the arrest of Wilson and other accused in the case. 4;600A?0A8B7031780:A460=A8C20B43A05C270A64B 9^TYQ^UfQSeUUcWYfU]YhUT bUQSdY_^QR_edDQYRQ^VYWXdUbc 2^[[TVTbcdST]cbfTaTWXaTSU^acTaa^aPRcXeXcXTb)=80 I_WYbUQSXUc1YWQbX`Qic X_]QWUd_;QiQ^CY^WX GVeVcR_]VRUVcTcV^ReVUhZeYWf]]DeReVY`_`fcd 5d]TaP[_a^RTbbX^]^UU^aTaD?2WXTUX]XbcTa:P[hP]BX]VWPc=Pa^aPX] 1d[P]SbWPWa^]^]SPh ?C8 D]X^]7^TX]XbcTa0XcBWPWfXcWD?2WXTUX]XbcTaH^VX0SXchP]PcWP]S? 2WXTUX]XbcTaBWXeaPYBX]VW2W^dWP]SdaX]VU^aTaD?2WXTUX]XbcTa:P[hP] BX]VWbUd]TaP[X]0[XVPaW^]^]SPh ?C8 =C?2Rdcb!$F^UD?³b _^fTa^]]^]_PhT]c^USdTb
- 6. your service”, parades and yel- low-ribbon symbolism had become the societal norm, and the shift was palpable as the Vietnam Veterans earlier had not been showered with the same fervour, dignity and fan- fare coming home from a war thattheyhadclearlylost.Thebill for the Vietnam war (like for Afghanistan now) had been prohibitive and the economic consequencesofthesamewere feltbytheentirecitizenry—the inevitabilityofthesamewiththe recent Afghan war, with an estimatedpayoutof$6.5trillion by2050intermsofjustthecost of interest towards borrowed money for Afghanistan opera- tions will haunt and pinch for long. What the US got for its military operations in 20 years is the shameful return of the “enemy” even before the last American troop had flown away. Special permissions are believed to have been sought from the Taliban to ensure the safe passage of the retreating American soldiers! Unquestionably, the American Militaryisdefeatedonceagain, this time by the disorderly assemblageoftheincongruous- ly armed and trained Taliban militia. Authoritariancountrieslike China or Pakistan have their ownsuppressiveandrepressive formulas to hide their failures andmyth-maketheirMilitary’s prowess by simply denying the truth. While the 1962 Indo- Chinawarisareality,butsowas inglorious fate of the Chinese Militaryin1967(NathuLaand ChoLaclashes)justasitdidnot own up to its losses in Galwan Valleyrecently,tillalmostayear later!TheSino-VietnameseWar (1979) that led to a spectacular performance from the numer- ically and materially inferior Vietnamese forces is brushed aside in the Chinese narrative. In Pakistan, despite the repeat- ed disgrace of the 1965 Indo- Pakwar,evenworsefatein1971 and the more recent Kargil war, the bloated and over-enti- tled Pakistani Military remains beyond questioning. Murmurs of sub-optimal performance aside, no one can openly doubt thePakistaniMilitaryasitcon- trols all the essential levers of governance and perception management. In 2021, the post- Afghanistan optics and per- ceptions of the American Soldier will require a lot more than just Hollywood produc- tions,Congressionalbravadoor flag-wavingceremonies—hard questions will follow and daily imagesoftheturbanedTaliban mocking its might will impact the institution of the US Military, psychologically and permanently.America’slongest war (Afghanistan) and its sec- ond longest war (Vietnam), as also its unsettled status in the Middle Eastern theatre, will be in sharp contrast to the glories of the “Greatest Generation” of World War II, or the soon thereafter Korean War. The hollowness of George Bush’s Texandrawlatthejointsession oftheUSCongress20yearsago, before sending the American troops to Afghanistan, “The course of this conflict is not known, yet its outcome is cer- tain”, will haunt and traumatise the American soldier and nationalconscienceimmeasur- ably.TheentireedificeoftheUS Military from its intelligence assessment, firepower, plan- ning,cutting-edgetechnologyto the‘GIJoe’imagerywillbeshat- teredbeyondimmediaterepair. (The writer, a military vet- eran, is a former Lt Governor of AndamanNicobarIslandsand Puducherry.Theviewsexpressed are personal.) ?@@?C9D9?554C´E9DI949F5BC9DIµ Sir — As it becomes increasingly evident that it would be impossible to dislodge the saffron party from power if the Opposition parties continue to tread the lone path, the mounting efforts by a few leaders to resurrect a united Opposition appear fully justified. Just as the British extended their unwelcome stay in the country to have an uninterrupted reign of nearly 200 years over it, a divided Opposition is only strengthening the hands of the Modi Government. Of course the general elections are yet a few years away, but to have envisaged a unit- ed front to challenge the might of the BJP in the country at this stage speaks for the seriousness of the venture. In Goa too, there are sufficient hints of a combined Opposition being envi- sioned to topple the BJP in the ensuing Assembly polls. But these have been more of plans than anything concrete being attempted. Somehow in Goa, as elsewhere in the country, an ‘Opposition- combine’ is only thought of at the last moment after all available options have been exhausted for parties that consti- tute the Opposition. But, as a stop-gap arrangement, nothing much can be expected to come of these endeavours. Such ‘provisions’ need to be made much earlier which also gives the electorate suf- ficient time to adjudge the new alliance. Pachu Menon | Goa C5@1B1D5D9=5J?59CµDC5@1B1D9C= Sir — The Northeast is tired of asking for a separate time zone. Many politicians from the Northeast have tabled the request for a separate time zone over the years but to no avail. The Centre is under the impression that setting up an inde- pendent time zone in the Northeast would brew separatist tendencies in the people. However, it’s worth noting that Russia has nine different time zones while the US has six and barely do they have any such tendencies. On the other hand, China’s policy to adhere to only one time zone for enhanced national unity has backfired on them quite often. In winters when the sun sets by 4 pm in the Northeast, offices and indus- tries have to remain open till 6 pm which means unnecessary consumption of electricity. In summers when the sun rises by 4:30 am, nearly five hours of natural daylight is wasted by the time people go to their offices. The tea gar- dens in Assam follow a schedule which is one hour ahead of the Indian Standard Time (IST) to put the daylight hours to better use. It is a humble request to the Government to facilitate a separate time zone to the Northeast for the greater good of the region as well as the country. Noopur Baruah | Tejpur =582??21µCB565B535D?167819CD1 Sir — Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president Mehbooba Mufti has asked the Centre to take a lesson from Afghanistan. This is a highly derogato- ry statement coming from the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir. This is also a veiled instigation from her to the terrorists to follow the footsteps of the Taliban in Kashmir. Of course, nothing better can be expected from a person who called terrorists the ‘sons of soil’. The statements and remarks of Mehbooba have taken her to a new low. On one hand she asks the youth not to pick up arms while on the other she cites examples of Taliban who took over Afghanistan at gunpoint. She cannot eat the cake and have it too. The Indian army is capable of deal- ing with worst case scenarios and has proved its mettle by making Kashmir a safer place to live in. Mehbooba wants the Centre to return what it snatched from them. She must realise that what was given was only a temporary arrange- ment. One can’t go on saying ‘temporary’ permanently. Mehbooba has drawn ref- erence to the talk of India and Pakistan for ceasefire to happen. She cannot feign ignorance to the fact that Pakistan has violated ceasefire pact several times. KV Seetharamaiah | Hassan A 2 A 6 C H : E 9 A 2 D D : @ ? gggTQYi`Y_^UUbS_] UPRTQ^^ZR^SPX[h_X^]TTak /CWT3PX[h?X^]TTak X]bcPVaPR^SPX[h_X^]TTa 347A03D=kCD4B30H k0D6DBC !#!! % BT]Sh h^daU UTTSQPRZc c^) [TccTabc^_X^]TTa/VPX[R^ ATP[XPVTb^UcWTDBca^^_bU[hX]V^dcfXcW^dcX]U^aX]VP]hQ^ShUa^ cWT1PVaPPXaQPbTPaT]^cTgPRc[hWTa^XRSTb_XcTcWTXaa^P]cXRXbTS[^^Z F74=C7438= 0=33DBC= 05670=8BC0= D=34AC74 C0;810=34B B4CC;4B4A8DB @D4BC8=B= ?4A5A0=240=3 ?BH2745C74 04A820=B;384A F8;;14 0F:F0A3;H D=0E8301;4 9DBC0B8C70B 144=B5AC74 05670=0AH B;384A ;4CC4AB CC C74438CA 28?@945BB8=67 0 UcTa cWT CP[XQP] aTcda]TS c^ _^fTa f^T]bbdQYdVPcX^]fPbQTX]VbTT]Pb cWT^bcUTPaTSPUcTaPcWP]SfWPcXb WP__T]X]V X] 0UVWP]XbcP] Xb ]^ SXUUTaT]c F^T]RP]]^[^]VTaT]Y^hcWT[XQTachcWTh SXS d]STa cWT aTVXT ^U cWT _aTeX^db 6^eTa]T]cCWThPaT]^[^]VTaT]cXc[TSc^ TSdRPcX^]T_[^hT]cX]ST_T]ST]ccaPeT[ P]SPaTU^aRTSc^[XeTd]STacWTbWPS^f^UP P[TR^d]cTa_Pac1PbXRP[[hcWTXaX]ST_T]ST]c TgXbcT]RTXbP[^bc_WT]^T]^]P]SX]^aSTa c^QTPQ[Tc^ZTT_QaTPcWX]VcWThdbcU^[ [^ffWPcTeTaad[TbcWTCP[XQP]U^aRT^]cWT BcaXRc X_[TT]cPcX^] ^U cWT BWPaXP d]STa cWT CP[XQP] [TPSTabWX_ fX[[ RPdbT 0UVWP]XbcP]c^QTR^TPbTeTaT[hP[TS^ X]PcTS]PcX^]BdRWPbXRZ_PcaXPaRWP[T] cP[XchfX[[b]PcRWPfPhf^T]bUaTTS^P]S aXVWcbfWXRWPaTP[aTPShT]SP]VTaTS0UVWP] f^T]PaTd]STaUTPaP]SXbTahP]SWT]RT cWThPaTSTb_TaPcT[hcahX]Vc^U[TTcWTXa^f] [P]S7^fXa^]XRXbXccWPcP]PcX^]fWXRW^]RT fPbcWTT_Xc^T^UUTP[T[XQTachP]S^S Ta]XbPcX^]Xb]^fX]cPccTab.CWTfWTT[b^U cXTX]0UVWP]b^X[WPeTaTPRWTSc^cWTcX_ fWTaTf^T]PaTQTX]VcWa^f]X]c^_PcaX PaRWP[[daRWPVPX] :XacXFPSWPfP]| :P]_da 1VWXQ^g_]U^RUQbdXURbe^d ,PDJHLVVXHVIRU 5DPERV*,-RHV N umbers of 300,000 trained andwell-equippedAfghan soldiers,upagainstaragtag militiaof75,000-oddTalibanis,are bandied with the additional ele- ment of considerable airpower at the Afghan Military’s disposal. To rub in the humiliation, even the essentiallycluelessJoeBidencom- mented: “The Afghan military gaveup,sometimeswithouttrying tofight.”Whilethebleakcommen- taryonAfghantroopsistrue,how- ever, the spin doctors in Washington DC have successful- ly managed to deflect the much- needed criticism of the perfor- mance of the world’s most power- ful military against a motley mili- tia — despite the $2 trillion bill, nearly 2500 American soldiers returning in body bags, and the unprecedented access to all forms of military wherewithal, air cover and unanswerable military con- duct. When the din and dust on Afghanistan under the Taliban doessettle,seriousquestionsonthe performance and psyche of the Americansoldierwillbeawkward- ly unavoidable and embarrassing, justasithasbeensofortheAfghan Army soldier. Never mind the actual reality of Vietnam earlier or Afghanistan today(as,indeed,manyfailuresin between), the creatively posited virility, ‘heart’ and moral purpose of the quintessential American Rambos dominate the popular imagination. This manufactured reel-lifestoriestellthetalethatthe ignorant public wants to believe, notnecessarilyaccept.Thepioneer “American spirit” that tamed the wilderness of tropical rainforests and soggy rice fields in Vietnam, to the dustbowl swirls around the sun-baked Afghan swathes, is deceptively charming, but often incomplete.Realimagesoftheflee- ingAmericansescapingclumsilyin a helicopter from rooftops in SaigonorthatofAmericantroops flying out without informing any- body from Bagram Airforce Station, are not exactly in the mould of Captain America! This sophistry of perception creationowesalottoReganism-era which rescued, resuscitated and reconstructedtheimageforthebat- tered American soldier, after the defeat in Vietnam. 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- 8. «$QGWKH DOOIHOOGRZQ 0B4?0A0C4BC0C48BC74340=35?4?;45=AC7 14=60;F770E4=CB44=34E4;?4=C5A$H40AB 0B:8=65AB4?0A0C4BC0C4738B=C8;;460; °F4BC14=60;19??A4B834=C 38;8?67B7 C7419?8B4=2DA068=64;44=CBC 38E83414=60;05C4A8CB7D8;80C8=6 34540C8=C740BB41;H4;42C8=B °C2A09H0B0170? BD:74=3DB4:70AAH W hile writing the chapter on Babri Masjid titled, ‘When It All Came Crashing Down’ in my book, ‘Not Just A Civil Servant’, I did face a dilemma. Kalyan Singh was understood to be the ‘real cul- prit’ behind this demolition but I had some first-hand knowledge about what had happened on the day of demolition. I wondered whether that should be shared with the readers. There was noth- ing illegal about what I wrote but the dilemma was on account of being privy to some private conversations and whether I should release such private con- versations into the public domain with a view to placing certain facts before the public. Babri Masjid was a bone of contention between the Hindu and the Muslim communities since the 19th century. Although the disputed structure was apparently built during 1520-29 CE by Mir Baqi on the orders of the Mughal Emperor, Babar. The mosque was locat- ed on a hill known as ‘Ramkot’. The Hindus believed that Baqi had destroyed a pre-existing temple of Rama at the site. They also believed that Rama was born here. This belief emanates from the doc- uments of Sawai Jai Singh. In fact, in the Kapad-Dwar collection in the City Palace Museum of Jaipur, there is a sketch map of the Babri Masjid site. The map portrays an open courtyard and a built structure resembling Babri Masjid with three domes. The courtyard is men- tioned as ‘Janmsthan’ and shows a ‘Rama Chabutara’. In 1853, a group of Hindu ascetics occupied the site and claimed ownership over the structure. In 1855, after a Hindu-Muslim clash, a boundary wall was constructed to avoid further disputes. Accordingly, the Muslims offered prayers in the inner courtyard and the Hindus on the raised platform. The dispute acquired a legal dimen- sion when in 1877, Syed Mohammad Asghar, the guardian of the structure, filed a petition with the Commissioner of Faizabad requesting for restraint on Hindus who had raised a Chabutara on the spot regarded as the birthplace of Ram. In December 1949, Akhil Bhartiya Ramayan Mahasabha organized a 9-days recital of the ‘Ramcharitmanas’ just outside the mosque. On the morning of 23rd December, 1949, the event’s organ- isers announced that the idols of Rama and Sita had appeared miraculously and exhorted Hindus to come for ‘darshan’. Given the sensitivity of the issue, the Government declared the mosque a dis- puted area and locked the gates. The unlocking of the gates took place in the year 1986 when all Hindus were given access to the site. A massive campaign was subsequent- ly launched to build a Rama temple on the site. It was against this background that ,URQLFDOOZKDWHPHUJHGLQWKH6XSUHPHRXUWMXGJPHQWLQZDVWKHVROXWLRQ WKDW.DODQ6LQJKKDGEHHQZRUNLQJRQDQGWULQJWRFRQYLQFHYDULRXVSDUWLHV :0;H0=B8=67 703C0:4== 78B918= C74A867C 40A=4BC74 F0B24AC08=;H 2=24A=43 01DCC74A0 0=38A8BBD4 1DC= 0BBD8=6 5582474034 78B8=C4=C8=B 2;40AC ?AE8347=4BC 0=3?DA?B45D; 6E4A=0=24 74F0B:44= =2=E4H8=60 4BB064C70C 7440=C 1DB8=4BB78B E8B8=F4=C D2714H=3 C740=38A 0 DQRIWKHQDWLRQ·VPRVWQRWDEOHDFKLHYHPHQWVRYHUWKHSDVWIHZ GHFDGHVKDYHHPHUJHGRXWRIVRPHRIWKHELJJHVWKHDOWKFDUH FKDOOHQJHV)RUH[DPSOHWKHFRXQWU·VLPSUHVVLYHLPPXQLVD WLRQSURJUDPPHVWRGDLQFOXGLQJWKHUHVSRQVHWR29,'DUHURRW HGLQWKHHDUOOHVVRQVOHDUQWGXULQJWKHHUDGLFDWLRQRIVPDOOSR[DQGWKHQ ODWHUWKHHOLPLQDWLRQRISROLR6RDVZHFRQWLQXHWRLQWHQVLI29,' LPPXQLVDWLRQGULYHVLQUXUDODUHDVLWLVLPSRUWDQWWRUHIOHFWRQRXUKLV WRUDQGUHDOL]HWKDWZHDUHHIILFLHQWOHTXLSSHGWRKDQGOHWKHFKDOOHQJHV WKDWOLHDKHDG7KHJRYHUQPHQW·VIRFXVDIWHUZDVWKHHUDGLFDWLRQ RIYDFFLQHSUHYHQWDEOHGLVHDVHVVXFKDVVPDOOSR[DQG,QGLDSODHGDQ LPSRUWDQWUROHLQWKHJOREDOFDPSDLJQZLWKVXSSRUWIURP,QWHUQDWLRQDO 7XEHUFXORVLVDPSDLJQ,7