01 -15 October 2020 The Asian Independent

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Vol : 04 : #52 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

Black day in the history of

India's judiciary : Owaisi

Hyderabad : All India

Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen

(AIMIM) chief Asaduddin

Owaisi on Wednesday termed

the special CBI court’s verdict

acquitting all the accused in the

Babri Masjid demolition case

as a black day in the history of

Indian judiciary.

Terming the judgment as

’obnoxious’, the Hyderabad

MP said the verdict satisfied

the collective conscience of the

Hindutva ideology and its followers.

"Where will rule of law go?

Today as an Indian Muslim, I

feel the same sense of shame,

helplessness and humiliation

which I felt on December 6,

1992 when the Babri Masjid

was demolished," he told

reporters. He said that those

who created the issue of Ram

Mandir, took out Rath Yatra to

create havoc around the country

and presided over the demolition

of Babri Masjid have

gone scot free and have been

rewarded with this judgment.

"As as Indian Muslim, I

have not got justice on this

issue since 1950," he said.

Owaisi also wondered what

message the judgment would

send. "If you use brute force, if

you use violence, you will be

rewarded. Law has become a

farce now. You can kick the

law and you will be rewarded

for it," he said.

Owaisi strongly disagreed

with the court’s observation

that there was no spontaneity

or conspiracy behind the demolition

of Babri Masjid. He

pointed out that the Central

Bureau of Investigation (CBI)

in its chargesheet had mentioned

that BJP veteran L.K.

Advani and others conspired

on December 5 at the house of

Vinay Katiyar where Advani

told then Uttar Pradesh Chief

Minister Kalyan Singh not to

resign till the Babri Masjid was

demolished. Owaisi also pointed

out that the Supreme Court

in its judgment on a civil dispute

had called the demolition

of Babri Masjid a calculated

act of destroying a place of

worship.

Owaisi alleged that Advani,

Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma

Bharati became famous and

were politically rewarded for

demolishing Babri Masjid.

"The whole world saw who

assembled the people there and

at whose instance and in whose

presence the mosque was

demolished," he said.

The Hyderabad MP said the

CBI must appeal against this

judgment to protect its independence.

He also urged the All India

Muslim Personal Law Board

(AIMPLB) to go for an appeal.

On the statement of the acquitted

persons that Kashi and

80 people detained over

Hathras gangrape protest

New Delhi : Delhi Police

on Wednesday detained at

least 80 persons who staged a

protest over the Hathras gangrape

case. This includes 36

men and 44 women.

"Today around 11.30 pm,

members of different parties -

AIDWA, DSDU, AISA

AIMSS - tried to reach UP

Bhawan, SP Marg to stage a

protest demanding harsh punishment

for accused persons in

Hathras gangrape case. We

have detained 80 people in this

connection," said a senior

police officer. Police said that

as the protestors have violated

order u/s 144 CrPC in force and

other laws regarding Covid-19,

FIR u/s 188 IPC, 3 Epidemic

Act & 51(b) Disaster

Management Act, PS

Chanakyapuri has been registered

against the protesters.

The gangrape victim

died in Delhi’s Safdarjung

Hospital on Tuesday. She

had suffered multiple

fractures, paralysis and a

gash in her tongue in the

horrific assault that drew

parallels to the 2012

Nirbhaya gangrape.

Her body was brought

to her village in Uttar Pradesh

around midnight. The victim’s

family alleged that the police

officials cremated the body at

night without the family’s consent.

Mathura are next on their agenda,

Owaisi said, "Not only

Kashi and Mathura, but now

dispute will start where

mosques are standing for 400

years because these people

have been rewarded. Their

intentions and beliefs have

been strengthened now, and

definitely they will go ahead."

Owaisi also blamed the

Congress for Wednesday’s

judgment, saying, "Had the

Congress removed the idols

kept there in 1949, this judgment

would not have come. If

Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

had not opened the locks of

New Delhi : India and China

on Wednesday agreed to hold a

meeting soon between the senior

commanders of their armies

for an early disengagement

along the Line of Actual

Control (LAC), where the two

countries are locked in a faceoff

since June this year. New

Delhi and Beijing held their

19th meeting of the Working

Mechanism for Consultation

and Coordination (WMCC) on

India-China border affairs on

Wednesday.

Both sides agreed that the

next, i.e., the seventh round of

meeting of senior commanders

should be held at an "early date

so that both sides can work

towards early and complete

disengagement of the troops

STALIN: CBI's failure to prove Babri

demolition a planned move a shame

Chennai : Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) President

M.K.Stalin on Wednesday said the Central Bureau of

Investigation’s (CBI) failure to prove the destruction of Babri

Masjid as a planned act is a shame for the country’s rule of law.

Stalin said the Supreme Court had said that the entire structure

of the mosque was brought down in a calculated act of

destroying a place of public worship.

Despite this, if the CBI has not been able to prove the criminal

intent in demolishing the Babri Masjid, it is a shame for

the country’s rule of law. He also said the CBI has turned itself

into a caged parrot of the ruling BJP government.

Babri Masjid and had the

Congress protected the

mosque, this judgment would

not have come," Owaisi said.

India, China agree to hold early meeting

for disengagement along LAC

along the LAC in accordance

with the existing bilateral

agreements and protocols, and

fully restore peace and tranquility".

The Indian delegation was

led by Joint Secretary (East

Asia) of the Ministry of

External Affairs. The Director

General of the Boundary &

Oceanic Department of the

Chinese Ministry of Foreign

Affairs led the Chinese delegation.

An official statement issued

by the Ministry of External

Affairs in New Delhi said that

the two sides reviewed the current

situation along the LAC

and had "frank and detailed discussions

on the developments

since the last meeting of the

WMCC on August 20".

Both India and China

attached importance to the

meetings between the two

Defence Ministers and the two

Foreign Ministers held earlier

this month.

They also noted that the

agreement between the two

Foreign Ministers should be

"sincerely implemented to

ensure disengagement at all the

friction points along the LAC"

2

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 ASIA

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Hathras gang-rape brings spotlight

back on crime against women

New Delhi : As the pyre for the

body of the Hathras gangrape victim

was set alight amid heavy police presence

in her hometown, a young journalist

was seen arguing with a policeman.

As the confrontation between the

journalist and the policeman reaches

its peak, the background fire, which

was dimly lit in the mobile video, too

blazed high at midnight.

Back in Delhi, various political parties

and activists staged a protest trying

to march towards UP Bhawan in

the capital. At least 150 protesters

were detained by Delhi Police. Not

just on the roads, the cry for justice

could be heard on various social media

platforms as well where prominent

personalities raised their voice against

injustice. Congress General Secretary

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra switched from

Hindi to English several tmes while

tweeting on the Hathras case.

"I was on the phone with the

Hathras victim's father when he was

informed that his daughter had passed

away. I heard him cry out in despair,"

she tweeted. In a series of tweets and a

video message, she was seen asking

questions from the Uttar Pradesh

Chief Minister and on the role of the

state police.

As the comparisons were drawn,

the brutality of the gang-rape was

compared to the Nirbhaya case, the

horrific incident of December 16,

2012 which evoked nationwide outrage.

Visuals of protesters being

Hathras protest: 13 Youth Cong

leaders sent to jail in Lucknow

Lucknow : Thirteen Youth Congress

leaders, who participated in protests over the

Hathras gang-rape and murder in Lucknow

on Wednesday, were sent to jail. A large

number of Congress leaders, including state

party President Ajay Kumar Lallu, had been

detained while they were on their way to lay

siege to the Chief Minister's residence.

They were taken to the Eco garden from

where they were released late on Wednesday

evening. The Youth Congress leaders, however,

were sent to jail.

dragged into police vans looked like a

replica of what happened after

Nirbhaya's death.

Not just politicians and activists,

several film stars and cricketers also

raised questions on women's security

after condemning the Hathras incident.

"Angry & Frustrated! Such brutality

in Hathras gangrape. When will

this stop? Our laws and their enforcement

must be so strict that the mere

thought of punishment makes rapists

shudder with fear! Hang the culprits.

Raise ur voice to safeguard daughters

and sisters-its the least we can do,"

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar

tweeted.

Cricketer Virat Kohli also demanded

justice for the victim and called the

incident beyond cruelty.

"What happened in Hathras is inhumane

and goes beyond cruelty. Hope

the culprits of this heinous crime will

be brought to justice," Virat tweeted.

In November 2019, the gang-rape

and murder of a 26-year-old veterinary

doctor in Shamshabad, Telangana,

sparked outrage across India. All four

accused were shot dead by police after

they allegedly tried to flee.

"Was naive to think that tough laws

& capital punishment can deter

rapists. Nirbhaya & Hathras have shattered

this belief. Unless India reforms

its medieval mindset towards women,

nothing will change. This will require

action & leadership, not cliches & partisanship,"

former Union Minister

Milind Deora said in a tweet.

Despite strict laws and an example

that how Nirbhaya's gangrape convicts

were hanged, Delhi saw 908 rape

cases till August 15 this year. In 2019,

the rape cases reported during the

same period were 1,402

Rs 91 lakh cash seized from

car in JHARKHAND

Ranchi : Police seized Rs

91 lakh from a car in

Jharkhand's coal city of

Dhanbad on Wednesday.

According to police, based on

information the car was

stopped at national highway 2

situated under Barwadda police

station of Dhanbad district.

During search operation, police

seized a bag with cash worth Rs

91 lakh. Police detained three

people including the driver and

is interrogating them. The

Income Tax (IT department

team has also reached to interrogate

the detained people. The

vehicle has a West Bengal

number. The car was going to

West Bengal from Bihar.

According to police, the

detained persons have not

given satisfactory answers on

the source of the money. The

interrogation is ongoing.

Team AI :

Devinder Chander

Editor-in-chief

Columnists

V.B. Rawat

Farzana Suri

Arun Kumar

Rahul Kumar

Harminder K. Bhogal

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'Promotion of Khalistan': HC junks

PIL for action against Twitter

New Delhi : The Delhi High Court

on Wednesday refused to entertain a PIL

that sought action against social media

giant Twitter on the charge of involvement

in a conspiracy to promote the

Khalistan movement of radical Sikhs.

A Division Bench of Justices Hima

Kohli and Subramonium Prasad

declined the petition on the ground that

petitioner Sangeeta Gupta had not made

a representation to the central government

and instead directly approached

the court. "Merely because you say

something is in public interest doesn't

mean you don't approach the government

first," the court said.

When the petitioner's counsel said

that a member of Parliament had raised

the issue, the court questioned: "Are you

the gentleman's lawyer? We don't propose

to entertain this petition without

you making a representation first to the

authority concerned." The plea contended

that some "promoted handles" on

Twitter were used for promoting the

agenda for a separate Khalistan.

"... Respondent No 5 (Twitter India)

deliberately and knowingly in order to

create rift in society deliberately promoted

the prohibited content of the

Sikhs For Justice."

"... in the absence of any law to deal

with offensive and hate messages, platforms

like Twitter are knowingly promoting

messages that are against the

law of the land and, therefore, the

Respondent needs to explain circulation

and promotion of prohibited content...,"

the plea added. The plea had sought

court directions to the Ministry of Law

and Justice, Information Technology

Ministry and the National Investigation

Agency (NIA) to formulate a mechanism

to check the content and advertisements

promoting anti-national agenda

and hatred among communities.

"The brazen attack on the sovereignty

and integrity of India on Twitter is to

the detriment of citizens as a whole.

Hence the present PIL," the plea said.

The petitioner also sought an NIA

inquiry as many users promoting the

cause of Khalistan were stationed outside

India.

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ASIA

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

3

CBI books Hyderabad firm

for Rs 166 crore loan fraud

Hyderabad : The Central Bureau of

Investigation (CBI) has filed a case against

Hyderabad-based Chadalavada Infratech

Ltd for a Rs 166.93 crore loan fraud.

The federal agency has charged the firm

with criminal conspiracy, cheating and

criminal misconduct on a complaint by an

official of the State Bank of India (SBI).

The FIR was registered against the firm,

its Managing Director Chandalavada

Ravindra Babu, and unknown public servants

and private persons on the complaint

of Debasish Bhattacharjee, Deputy General

Manager, State Bank of India's Stressed

Assets Management Branch, Hyderabad.

According to the agency, a written complaint

was received on March 13 requesting

for registering FIR in respect of loan

account of CITL and its directors and others

for the alleged offence of fraud committed

by siphoning off and diversion of

funds in a criminal conspiracy to cheat

with criminal misconduct, thereby causing

wrongful loss to the bank to the tune of Rs

166.93 crore

The offence was allegedly committed

between 2010 to 2018. The FIR was registered

on Monday, with the CBI officials

saying that there was delay in verification

of the complaint due to Covid-19.

The accused allegedly entered into

criminal conspiracy with unknown officers

of the SBI and committed fraud upon the

bank. According to the complaint,

Managing Director Chandalavada

Ravindra Babu and Chadalavada Venkata

Subba Rao (now deceased) had availed

financial credit limits by way of fundbased

limits and non-fund-based limits to

the tune of Rs 281.23 crore at the SBI's

Nacharam Industrial Area Branch,

Hyderabad for execution of power infrastructure

projects as EPC contractor in various

states.

The accounts of the company were running

irregular since January 1, 2011 and

became NPA on April 15, 2011. The

accounts of the company were migrated to

SBI, SAM Branch, Secunderabad on

September 22, 2019 for restructuring/rehabilitation

of the unit.

Even after the account became NPA and

bad performance by the company, the first

restructure was approved by the bank on

April 17, 2014 and again the second

restructure was sanctioned by the bank on

December 11, 2015, without taking any

additional fund-based exposure by retaining

the cash credit limit at the existing level

and enhanced BG limits and allowing the

company repayment relaxations, said the

complainant. The fraud came to light when

the bank conducted a forensic audit of the

loan account. It revealed that the company

made payments to certain parties directly

and indirectly, and also found irregularities

in issuance of Letters of Credits and quid

pro quo transactions amounting to diversion

and misappropriation of funds

It is alleged that the MD/Directors of the

company cheated the bank and fraudulently

obtained the credit facilities. The loans

proceeds were diverted to certain accounts

without utilising them for the purpose they

were sanctioned.

The case was registered and the agency

is probing the matter further.

Hathras' 'Nirbhaya' was killed

by UP govt, says Sonia Gandhi

New Delhi : "Is it a crime to be a daughter of a poor family?"

asked Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi in a video statement

on the Hathras gangrape. She alleged that the issue was

sought to be hushed up while referring to the victim as "Hathras'

Nirbhaya".

"I want to say that Hathras' Nirbhaya did not die. She was

killed by an oppressive government, by its administration, by the

indifference of the Uttar Pradesh government," alleged Sonia

Gandhi in a strongly-worded statement.

She alleged that while the victim did not get justice while she

was alive, she was not allowed to be handed over to her family

even when she was dead. Gandhi, in an emotional statement,

claimed that the "crying mother" was robbed of her chance to bid

a "final goodbye". The Congress chief called it an "utter sin".

"The girl's body was cremated forcefully. A person has dignity

even after death. Our Hindu faith speaks of it. But that child

was cremated like an orphan by the force of the police. What

kind of justice is this? What kind of government is this? You

think you will do anything and the nation will just watch?

Absolutely not. The country will speak up against your injustice,"

remarked Gandhi.

She said that she on behalf of the Congress party stands with

the bereaved family with their demand for justice.

The 19-year-old Dalit victim, who was gangraped and left

paralysed by four upper caste men, died a fortnight after the

attack in a Delhi hospital on Tuesday.

Babri case: Court rejects

newspaper reports and

cassettes as EVIDENCE

India successfully test-fires

BRAHMOS MISSILE

Bhubaneswar : India on Wednesday successfully test-fired an

extended- range supersonic cruise missile BrahMos with an

indigenous booster from a test facility off the Odisha coast. The

missile was launched around 10.30 am from a mobile launcher at

the Integrated Test Range (ITR) in Balasore district, sources said.

An Indo-Russian joint venture, BrahMos missile has a strike

range of about 400 km.

"Congratulate @DRDO_India on the successful test-firing of

an extended range BrahMos supersonic cruise missile. The missile

with an indigenous booster will further strengthen India's defence

capability," tweeted Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

It is the second time that the extended-range version of

BrahMos has been test-fired.

BrahMos missile was originally built with a range of 290 km.

New Delhi : A Special CBI court hearing

the Babri mosque demolition case of

December 6, 1992, acquitted all the 32

accused on Wednesday saying it was spontaneous

and not a planned move.

In the verdict, special CBI judge S.K.

Yadav observed that the evidence against

the accused was based on newspaper

reports.

Those acquitted in the case that lasted

28 years include former Deputy Prime

Minister L.K. Advani, former Union

Ministers M.M. Joshi, Uma Bharti, former

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh

and Mahant Nritya Gopal Das, among others.

The verdict came less than a year after

the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya

title dispute, which paved the way for the

construction of a Ram temple at the

Ayodhya site.

In the 2300-page order, the court concluded

that the authenticity of audio, video

provided by the CBI could not be established

during the trial, and the audio of the

speeches, placed on record as evidence,

were not clear.

The court noted that it could not be

established whether one of cassettes,

marked in the seizure memo, in somebody's

custody, was sealed or open?

The CBI produced 351 witnesses and

600 documents as evidence before the

court and charges were framed against 48

people. Of these 16 died during the course

of the trial.

The court said all the evidence has been

reviewed and the charge against the

accused could not be proved.

The court noted that the accused wanted

to save the structure as Ram Lalla statues

were inside, and the leaders who were

present on the dais made several attempts

to persuade the 'kar sewaks' from pulling

down the structure. The court noted lakhs

of kar sewaks reached the disputed site and

the police could not control them.

The court observed the people who

pulled down the Babri mosque were "antinational

elements". In the Ayodhya verdict

the apex court had called the demolition of

the mosque a violation of the rule of law.

4

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 ASIA


Indian Navy exercises with

Russia, 'Quad' countries

New Delhi : The Indian Navy has

conducted exercises with Russia and

'Quad' countries - an informal security

forum comprising India, the US, Japan

and Australia - in a message to China

on getting a wider footprint in the

Indo-Pacific region.

The Indo-Pacific region is seen

from the west coast of India to the US.

The Indian Navy carried out a

three-day bilateral maritime exercise

with Japan in the north Arabian Sea

from September 26, 2020 to

September 28, 2020. It was the fourth

edition of India-Japan Maritime bilateral

exercise JIMEX, which is conducted

biennially. The last edition of

JIMEX was conducted in October

2018 off Visakhapatnam in India.

Naval cooperation between India

and Japan has increased in scope and

complexity over the years. Advanced

level of operations and exercises took

place during three days. It is indicative

of the continued upswing in Indo-

Japanese defence relations and continued

efforts by both governments to

work closely for a more secure, open

and inclusive global commons, in

accordance with international regulations.

The helicopter carrier of Japan

JS Kaga took part in the recent exercise.

The Kaga and its sister ship the

Izumo are being converted into aircraft

carriers that will carry US-built

maritime planes, the F35-B. India,

Japan, China and South Korea are the

countries now involved in what is seen

Mathura court DISMISSES

Sri Krishna Janam Bhoomi case

Mathura : Close on the

heels of the Ayodhya verdict

early Wednesday, all eyes were

fixed on the likely outcome of

the case filed in a Mathura civil

court to settle a dispute

between the local Shahi Masjid

Idgah management and Sri

Krishna Virajman, represented

by Ranjna Agnihotri and eight

others who had filed a fresh 57

page petition on September 25.

Civil judge senior division

Chaya Sharma heard the arguments

by the petitioners for

more than an hour. Later in the

evening, the court dismissed

the case, there being no adequate

reasons or justifications

to consider the case afresh.

Karunesh Kumar Shukla,

one of the signatories to the

plaint, said the court had dismissed

the case for insufficient

ground. Counsel for the petitioners

Hari Shankar Jain said

they would now move the

Allahabad High Court. Jain

said they had all the relevant

supporting documents and their

in strategic circles as the Asian carrier

race. The Australian Navy and Indian

Navy carried out passage exercise in

the East Indian Ocean Region from

September 23 to September 24. The

exercise involved participation of

HMAS Hobart from the Australian

side and Indian naval ships Sahyadri

case was strong.

The petitioners wanted

the October 12, 1968 agreement

cancelled and the

decree of July 20, 1973 also

cancelled. They said the

agreement was wrong.

The Sri Krishna Janam

Bhoomi complex stands on

13.37 acres of land which

was purchased in auction in

1815 by Raja Patni Mal of

Banaras. Later a Sri Krishna

Janam Bhoomi Trust was

established on October 12,

1968. A large crowd had

collected at the Mathura district

and civil court premises.

Security was tightened at

the Idgah Mosque and the

Sri Krishna Janam Bhoomi

complex. Inspector General

Satish Ganesh alongwith

senior police and administrative

officials, including

Mathura SSP Dr Gaurav

Grover and SP Rohit Mishra

reached Mathura to oversee the

security arrangements. Police

pickets were deployed at all

entry points to Mathura.

Meanwhile, saffron activists

rejoiced and distributed sweets

as both Sadhvi Rithambhara

and Vijay Bahadur Singh of

Mathura were acquitted in the

Babri Masjid case on

Wednesday. Singh said it was

the victory of truth.

and Karmuk. In addition, an Indian

maritime patrol aircraft and helicopters

from both sides carried out coordinated

exercise.

The exercise, aimed at enhancing

interoperability, improving understanding

and imbibing best practices

from each other, involved advanced

surface and anti-air exercises including

weapon firings, seamanship exercises,

naval manoeuvres and cross

deck flying operations.

To boost mutual confidence and

cooperation, a bilateral maritime exercise

between Indian Navy and Russian

Navy took place in the Bay of Bengal

on between September 4 and

September 5.

"The exercise was aimed at imbibing

best practices between the two

navies," Indian Navy spokesperson

Commander Vivek Madhwal told

IANS.

He also said that the exercise

helped to further boost mutual confidence

and cooperation between the

two Navies and would reinforce the

longstanding bond of friendship

between the two countries.

The exercise is known as 'Indra

Navy' and is the 11th edition. It is a

biennial bilateral maritime exercise

between Indian Navy and Russian

Navy. Indian Navy units undertook

Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with

units of US Navy - Nimitz Carrier

Strike Group as they transited through

Indian Ocean Region on July 20.


NEWS

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

5

Sacked municipal employees

protest in GURUGRAM

Gurugram : More than 500

contractual employees of the

Municipal Corporation of

Gurugram (MCG), including

sanitation workers, drivers,

clerks, guards, water pump

operators, peons, gardeners,

helpers and surveyors who

were suddenly sacked by the

MCG over the last four days,

staged a protest here on

Wednesday.

The layoffs took place

because the MCG reportedly

had excess staff.

Some of the sacked employees

staged a demonstration on

Wednesday under the banner of

the Municipal Employees'

Union of Haryana at the MCG

office located at Sector-34 in

Gurugram.

"They were contractual

employees. The terminated

workers were not skilled

enough to perform the assigned

duties. These employees were

sacked on the findings of the

joint committee of the department,

which had studied the

requirements. New posts will

Yogi calls up Hathras

VICTIM'S FATHER,

announces Rs 25L aid

be sanctioned soon depending

upon the recent requirement of

the civic bodies," a senior

MCG official said on condition

of anonymity. The fired

employees said that some of

them had been working with

the civic body from the past

several years and during these

hard times of the Covid-19 pandemic,

they have lost their

employment.

Meanwhile the members of

the union submitted a memorandum

urging the Additional

Municipal Commissioner,

Gurugram to fulfill their

demands.

"In these times of Covid-19

pandemic, when we require

staff for fieldwork, the corporation

has fired around 557

employees. The area of

Gurugram MCG has increased,

and the organisation is already

suffering a staff crunch," the

official added.

"No sanitation worker

should be fired from the job.

During the lockdown, these

employees worked hard day

and night, and sacking them in

such a situation is unjust. We

are fighting for our rights and if

our demands are not met this

protest will soon convert into

huge determination. The government

should re-employ

them," Municipal Employees

Union of Haryana President

Rajesh Sarwan said.

Karnataka police

seize 6,000

marijuana plants

Lucknow : Amid an uproar over the cremation of the body of

a Dalit gang-rape victim early on Wednesday, Uttar Pradesh

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath spoke to the 19-year-old

woman's father in Hathras district and offered his condolences.

He also announced a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the

bereaved family, apart from a job to one of its members. The

family would also be given a house.

The victim's father sought the harshest punishment for the

four accused arrested for the crime reported on September 14.

The young woman had died in a Delhi hospital on Tuesday and

her body was allegedly cremated forcibly by Hathras police on

the night of September 29-30.

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Avanish Awasthi said that

the Chief Minister assured the woman's father of the most stringent

action against

the culprits and all

possible help to the

family. Earlier in the

day, the CM set up a

Special Investigation

Team led by Home

Secretary Bhagwan

Swaroop to probe

and submit a report

on the crime in seven

days.

Yo Yo Honey Singh: There

has been a lot of change in

Punjabi, Hindi rap

New Delhi : Rap superstar Yo Yo Honey

Singh has been around for a decade and a

half now, and he says there has been a lot of

change in Punjabi and Hindi rap during this

tenure. "Evolution happens in everything,

be it music, lifestyle or writing -- anything.

Evolution comes with time and it would be

good if you adapt yourself with the evolution,"

Honey Singh told IANS.

With time, Honey Singh says he has

changed himself, too. "When I first sang in

2005, it was an English R&B and not exactly

a rap, which was 'Khadke glaasy'. In 2007

and 2008 I started Punjabi rap. It was a

regional album called 'Chandigarh De

Nazaare'. Since then, it has been over 12

years. There has been a lot of change in

Punjabi and Hindi rap. I have changed with

that change. Change is always good," he

said. Honey Singh recently came out with

his new track "Billo tu agg". The song is the

latest in the non-film circuit that Honey

Singh has collaborated on with Singhsta,

after "Makhna".

Bengaluru : As part of widespread

hunt for ganja (Marijuana) growers, the

police in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district

raided sugarcane fields where ganja was

stealthily grown and seized more than

6,000 ganja plants.

The widespread hunt for the ganja

growers or stockists has commenced after

the Bengaluru police had seized 1,350 kg

of ganja from a sheep farm about a month

ago. Kalaburagi is 626 km from

Bengaluru.

The police are on the lookout for both

owners of this field where ganja was

allegedly grown - Hanumanta Raya

Nayak and Bhima Raya Nayak who are on

the run after their fields were raided.

The police said that the Kalabaurgi

which shares borders with Telangana and

Maharashtra makes it ideal choice for

drug smugglers to hide and transport from

here. "Hyderabad city is very near to this

district. The city also has a large population

of IT employees. Thus storing or

growing ganja becomes ideal here.

Besides this, transporting drugs especially

ganja from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh,

Telangana and Maharashtra becomes very

easy as it is well connected with these

states," a police officer said.

Speaking to IANS from Kalaburagi

Superintendent of Police, Simi Mariam

George said that the field is located in the

middle of the forest area and only a narrow

path leads to this field. "All the surrounding

fields grow sugarcane and that is how,

their ill-act was concealed all these years,"

she said. She added that the district police

have formed special squads across the district

under every deputy superintendent of

police officer, to gather information to nab

such people across the district.

6 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 ASIA


Meet this Hyderabadi running

'RICE ATM' to feed hungry

Hyderabad : The Covid-19-induced

lockdown saw many heroes emerging in

different parts of the country who went

all out to feed the hungry and help the

needy. Here is one hero from Hyderabad

who is still continuing the work, providing

succour to families still reeling

under the impact of lockdown.

Ramu Dosapati's 'Rice ATM' works

round-the-clock and anyone who has

nothing for the

next meal can

reach his residence

in L.B.

Nagar to get a

ration kit comprising

rice

and few other

groceries.

For the last

170 days, this

MBA graduate

has been distributing

ration

kits among the

needy every

day. Men and

women can be seen queuing up at a

kirana shop in front of his apartment to

collect rice.

A HR manager in a software firm,

Dosapati has so far helped 15,000 families,

spending about Rs 5 lakh from his

own pocket. It is only for the last one

month that inspired by his work, people

have come forward to make some contribution.

"I advise them to start similar work

in their respective areas. There is a lot to

do in every area because there are people

who cover 15-20 km distance to

come to our ATM. Hyderabad has over

one crore population and I want to see

that no one sleeps hungry," Dosapati

told IANS.

He recalled that he was inspired by a

watchwoman who bought chicken

worth Rs 2,000 during the lockdown for

distribution among migrant labourers

going hungry. "I thought when a watchwoman

drawing a meagre salary of Rs

6,000 can do this to help those in distress,

why a HR manager earning Rs 1.5

lakh per month should sit at home and

bother only about his family."

He was quick to draw Rs 1.5 lakh

from his account to start the work on

April 13. Later, he also withdrew Rs

3.20 lakh from his Provident Fund

account. Dosapati started his 'Rice

ATM' on April 13 and initially started

distributing the kits among the migrant

workers. He used to go around with

ration kits and distribute them among

families who were starving.

From migrant workers to domestic

servants, people doing menial jobs, and

from auto rickshaw, cab drivers to private

school teachers, all have availed

the services of 'Rice ATM'

Though named 'Rice ATM', it has

been distributing kits comprising essential

commodities like rice, edible oil,

daal, chilli powder, turmeric, sugar and

tea. The kits are meant for three categories.

For migrant and daily wage

workers, Dosapati is providing a kit

which will suffice for five days for a

family of four. The idea, he says, is to

make sure that after five days, they go

out for work. The 15-day kit is meant

for people like private school teachers,

workers in hotels, delivery boys, drivers

and private employees not receiving

salaries or having no work. For poor

families tested positive for Covid-19, he

is giving one month kit, which costs Rs

3,500 each. These kits are also being

given to women deserted by their husbands

and having to take care of children

with no source of income.

Some youth joined him as volunteers

in helping him in packing the ration kits.

Instead of using single-use plastic,

Dosapati is using cloth bags for the

packing. Each bag costs Rs 18 but the

family receiving the kit can use the

same for a couple of years.

According to him, 99 per cent of the

beneficiaries till May end were migrant

workers. In June, the 'Rice ATM' helped

people doing menial work and running

petty shops who were not earning anything.

"In July, our next target group

was autorickshaw and cab drivers,

delivery boys, workers in cinema theatres,

beauty parlours, gyms etc. Last

month, we had more private school

teachers and cultural artistes coming to

us," he said.

As some people like teachers feel

embarrassed to stand in queues, he is

ensuring the delivery through a nearby

kirana shop or through volunteers.

"Every day, 150 to 170 people come

to our ATM. I know 10 per cent of them

may not be really needy but I don't want

90 per cent to suffer because of them.

No one returns empty-handed and later

those 10 per cent also realise that what

they are doing is not good."

Dosapati also recalled that some

families, which received the help during

lockdown, came back later to contribute

rice as they were impressed by his work.

Two-thirds of US voters don't

expect winner on election night

Washington : Two-thirds or 66 per

cent of the US voters do not expect the

result of the November 3 election to be

declared on the same night, according to

a new poll.

The Politico/Morning Consult poll

released on Monday showed that only

20 per cent believed the winner will be

declared on November 3 itself.

Also, 19 per cent said they think the

election will be resolved within a week,

while and 26 per cent others said it will

be between two and seven days after the

polls close, the poll showed.

An additional 21 per cent of voters

believe the period of uncertainty will

stretch past one week.

A majority of voters or 53 per cent in

the Politico/Morning Consult poll said

they were either very or somewhat concerned

that President Donald Trump

would prematurely declare victory for

the election.

One-third of respondents expressed

the same concerns about his rival,

Democratic presidential nominee Joe

Biden. Meanwhile, an NBC News/Wall

Street Journal poll showed Biden ahead

of Trump nationally by a margin of 51

per cent to 43 per cent.

Indian visitor

accused of bribing

Dubai policeman

Dubai : An Indian visitor to Dubai,

who was caught not wearing a mask

and flouting the city's Covid-19 rules,

has been accused of offering a 3,000-

dirham bribe to a policeman, it was

reported. The Dubai Court of First

Instance

heard on

Monday that

the incident

took place

during a

national sterilisation

programme

in

April, reports

Gulf News.

A policeman,

who was patrolling the Jebel Ali

area, saw the 24-year-old Indian

defendant and a woman outside a

hotel. Both were not wearing a face

masks, failing to comply with the precautionary

measures imposed to curb

CovidD-19 spread.

"I stopped them as they weren't

wearing a mask and were moving

around without a permit, violating the

movement

restrictions in

place," he

added. Upon

stopping them,

"he begged me

to let him go

and offered me

3,000 dirhams

to leave him

without legal

action", the

policeman added.

The Dubai Public Prosecution has

charged the defendant with offering a

bribe to a policeman on duty.


ASIA

Delhi hospital doctors halt OPD

services to protest assault

New Delhi : Barring emergency cases,

the Resident Doctors Association (RDA) of

Delhi government's Maharishi Valmiki

Hospital on Tuesday announced all essential

and non-essential services provided by

its members had been withdrawn to protest

against an assault on a doctor.

The RDA said it protested the hospital

administration's action not to lodge an

institutional FIR against a patient and her

attendant for assaulting an on-duty doctor

on Saturday.

The RDA formally informed the hospital

Medical Superintendent about the

protest through a notice. The notice read:

Activists demand death

penalty for Hathras

GANGRAPE accused

Agra : Social activists and women's groups have protested and

demanded firm action against four men accused of gangraping a

19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh. The victim on

Tuesday succumbed to her injuries in a Delhi hospital.

The young victim was allegedly gangraped in a field by four

goons of the so-called "higher castes" on September 14. She was

admitted to the Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College of Aligarh

Muslim University. But her condition deteriorated as her spinal

column had been damaged resulting in paralysis of the lower body.

She was later shifted to the Safdarjang Hospital in Delhi. All the

four accused are in police custody. Protesters have demanded death

penalty for all four. Some activists however expressed reservation

that because she was a Dalit, no one would come from the Delhi

elite as in the Nirbhaya case to light candles or demonstrate for justice

in her case. From Priyanka Gandhi to Akhilesh Yadav, opposition

leaders as well as Bhim Army activists have criticised the Yogi

Adityanath government in UP for atrocities against women.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet condoled

the death of the Hathras gangrape victim, and said "no hope" is left

from the "insensitive government". "A Dalit daughter, who was

victim of gangrape and brutality ultimately died. I condole her

death. No hope is left with present insensitive government."

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was a matter of

shame for the country and demanded hanging of the guilty.

Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of Population Foundation

of India and public health expert, said "we strongly condemn the

horrific rape and murder of the young, Dalit woman from Hathras,

UP. Violence against women is a fundamental violation of

women's rights, dignity, and agency and is a clear manifestation of

our regressive social and gender norms."

Muttreja told IANS on phone that the Hathras incident was a

reminder that gender-based violence against women, particularly

of marginalised and vulnerable classes remains a harsh fact of our

everyday lives. "While the media and public campaigns tend to

focus on extreme and public incidents of violence, the reality is

that women continue to experience discrimination and violence in

all spheres of life.

There is a strong and pervasive culture of silence around gender-based

violence which leads to rape, and violence against

women being unreported. It is clearly time to act - it is our collective

responsibility to eradicate this culture of violence."

"Since no confirmation has been made till

date, we are left with no alternative but to

withdraw resident doctors from essential

services from 10 a.m. today, for which intimation

was given to you on September 26

and again on September 28."

"We are disheartened by the way this

issue is being handled. The doctor concerned

is under severe mental stress, and

things may worsen for him if he doesn't get

institutional support on priority," it said.

"Who will be responsible if something

goes wrong with the resident doctor? We

don't want the patients to suffer and want to

resume duties at the earliest, but not at the

Kathmandu : Nepal's Ministry of

Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has

issued new guidelines for foreign tourists

aimed at minimising the spread of Covid-

19 during mountaineering and trekking

activities, the media reported on Tuesday.

According to one of the most important

guideline, tourists must secure an entryvisa,

or an entry-permit in absence of visaprovision

in their countries in co-ordination

with respective agencies, The

Himalayan Times reported.

Travellers must also carry a PCR test

report conducted not more that 72 hours

ago, proving that the person was Covid-19

negative. Along with the report, the person

must have booking-documents for the hotel

wherein they will stay for at least seven

days in quarantine and also provide papers

showing that he/she has an insurance of

$5,000. In addition to the above mentioned

conditions, the traveller must also undergo

a PCR test at their own expense on the fifth

day of being quarantined and if the result is

positive, the person must stay in quarantine

for as long as they do not test negative.

The Ministry further said that the

trekking or mountaineering agency must

insure travellers from Nepal against coronavirus

for a sum of 100,000 NPR prior to

applying for permit, reports The

Himalayan Times.

Travel enthusiasts must also abide by all

the protocols laid out by the Health

cost of threat to our lives, integrity, and

respect towards the profession," the RDA

warned. Meanwhile, RDAs of various government

hospitals also expressed their solidarity

with the victim doctor. The RDAs

of Safdarjung Hospital, Lady Hardinge

Medical College, Baba Sahib Ambedkar

Medical College and Hospital, and Guru

Teg Bahadur Hospital extended support to

the protest by the doctors and also the

demand to lodge an institutional FIR in the

case of assault.

"We condemn the assault, extend our

deepest support and stand unanimously and

in solidarity with the protesting Resident

Doctors Association of Maharishi Valmiki

Hospital and demand immediate appropriate

action by the authorities against the

accused," the RDAs said.

The doctors' associations are furious

that the FIR in the case was lodged in the

name of an individual rather than the institution,

which allegedly goes against the

directions of the Delhi and central governments.

On Saturday, Dr Rahul Jain was

allegedly assaulted by a patient, identified

as Priyanka, and her attendant Naresh

when the doctor asked them to come by

turn in the operation theatre. He had also

asked them to wear masks.

Later, Dr Jain lodged an FIR against

both at the Bawana police station under

Sections 186, 188, 353, 332, 506 and 34 of

the IPC and other relevant laws.

Ministry. Meanwhile, eight-time Everest

climber Pemba Sherpa criticised the new

guidelines, saying there will be no trekkers

and mountaineers in the upcoming season.

"They won't come here to stay at a hotel

for a week even after having a negative

PCR report," Sherpa said while asking the

government to review its decision.

Nepal opened Mount Everest and other

Himalayan peaks on July 30 after a nearly

five-month closure due to the Covid-19

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

7

Versatile Kannada writer-critic

G.S. Amur passes away

Bengaluru : Noted Kannada writer and critic Dr G.S. Amur

died here on Monday due to age-related ailments. He was 95.

Amur passed away in his sleep at his residence, a family

member told reporters. The litterateur,

known for his proficiency

in both Kannada and

English, was a recipient of several

prestigious honours,

including the Sahitya Akademi

Award, the Rajyotsava Award

and the Bharatiya Bhasha

Award.

Born in Bommanahalli of

Dharwad district in 1925, he

started his career as an English

professor and taught in various

universities of Karnataka and

Maharashtra. As a noted critic of English literature, he wrote

extensively about the works of late R.K. Narayan and Raja Rao,

both hailing from the state.

His much-acclaimed books in Kannada include "Are

Kannada Kadambariya Belavanige", "Arthaloka", "Vyavasaya"

and "Kaadambariya Swaroopa". Amur's English works included

"Forbidden Fruit, Views on Indo-Anglian Fiction" and "Colonial

Consciousness in Commonwealth Literature".

His works on the poetry of Jnanapeetha awardee, the late Da.

Ra. Bendre, and on the works of A. N. Krishnaraya, Sriranga and

on the evolution of the Kannada novel are highly acclaimed and

enjoy a vast readership even to this day.

He received the Sahitya Academy award in 1996 and the

highest literary award of Kannada, the Pampa award, in 2006.

It was just over a week ago that the Karnataka State Road

Transport Corporation (KSRTC) announced this year's

Nrupatunga award for lifetime's work in literary criticism to

Amur. In his condolence message, Chief Minister B.S.

Yediyurappa said: "Amur had equal command over English and

Kannada. He was the leading figure in critiquing modern

Kannada literature."

Nepal issues new guidelines

for MOUNTAINEERING,

trekking ACTIVITIES

pandemic. All spring season expeditions

that usually last from March to May were

suspended in the wake of the pandemic.

The government had halted the issuance

of climbing permits for expeditions and

cancelled issued permits for the spring season

2020 on March 13.

An expedition to Everest usually takes

45 to 90 days, a short climbing window,

depending on favourable weather, and generally

falls after mid-May.

8 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 ASIA


South Central Railway ships

3 cr litres milk from AP to Delhi

Secunderabad : The South Central

Railway (SCR) has so far shipped 3

crore litres of milk from Andhra

Pradesh's Renigunta to New Delhi via

"Doodh Duronto Special" trains amid

the Covid pandemic, a railway official

said. "Doodh Duronto Special, introduced

during the lockdown period

from Renigunta to Hazrat Nizamuddin

to supply milk to the people of the

nation's capital, crossed the 3 crore

litres mark on Monday," SCR

spokesman Ch. Rakesh said.

"Transportation of milk from

Renigunta to New Delhi plays an

important role in balancing the milk

supply across the nation," he added.

Rakesh said that the milk to be

transported was sourced by a National

Dairy Development Board (NDDB)

unit from more than 3,000 pooling

points spread across 13,000 villages in

and around the state's Chittoor district.

Introduced on March 26, Doodh

Duronto Specials ran on alternate days

till July 15, when they started operating

daily.

Each milk train has six tankers of

40,000 litres capacity each, totalling

2.4 lakh litres milk per train. To reach

the 3 crore litre milestone, the railway

zone operated 126 trains, ferrying 751

tankers.

In addition to milk, the train, via

Kacheguda in Hyderabad, also used to

add some parcel vans, ferrying other

commodities, which were transported

to several other places.

Lufthansa cancels all

flights between Germany

and India from Sept 30

New Delhi : Airline major Lufthansa

said on Tuesday that it will cancel all

planned flights between Germany and

India from September 30 to October 20.

According to the airline, the move

comes after Indian authorities rejected

Lufthansa's planned flight schedule for

October. "Lufthansa had applied for the

continuation of special flights it was granted

to operate until the end of September,"

the airline said in a statement.

"This application process is necessary

since India has, so far, not accepted the

invitation by the German government to

discuss the details regarding a temporary

travel agreement between both the countries,"

it said. Lufthansa was operating

these flights under the 'Air Bubble' agreement

between India and Germany. India

had formalised an 'Air Bubble' agreement

with Germany in July 2020. This type of

arrangement allows nationals of both the

countries to travel in either direction. As

per the statement, Lufthansa had originally

scheduled flights for October in order to

continue connecting Delhi, Mumbai and

Bengaluru with Europe and other regions

in Lufthansa's worldwide network.

"The October schedule would also have

seen the addition of flights to and from

Chennai, one of the most important cities

in southern India," it said.

The airline urged India to work together

with the German government in order to

establish a temporary travel agreement

between both the countries.

"Such an agreement is necessary to

address the urgent need of tens of thousands

of Indians and foreign nationals for

travel to and from India and would also

help balance the interests of both the countries'

airlines. "As visa issuance is restarting

and demand for flights to and from

India is increasing, it is regrettable that

Lufthansa is currently being unnecessarily

restricted in its ability to serve its loyal

Indian customers and enable their desired

travel," the airline said. However, aviation

regulator DGCA in a statement said that

there are restrictions in place for Indian

nationals desiring to travel to Germany

which was putting Indian carriers at a significant

disadvantage, resulting in

inequitable distribution of traffic in favour

of Lufthansa. "As against Indian carriers

operating 3-4 flights a week, Lufthansa

operated 20 flights a week. In spite of this

disparity, we offered to clear seven flights

a week for Lufthansa, which was not

accepted by them. Negotiations continue,"

the DGCA said. Earlier, Lufthansa had said

that it will operate 160 flights between

India and Germany in September.

This would have been a four-fold

increase in flights to and from Delhi,

Mumbai and Bengaluru.

Lufthansa has been operating flights

from India for several months between

Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru and its hubs

in Frankfurt and Munich.

Amazon introduces

new way to make people

pay with their palm

San Francisco : Amazon on Tuesday introduced a contactless

way for people to use their palm to make everyday activities

like paying at a store, presenting a loyalty card, or entering

a location like a stadium.

Called, Amazon One, the service uses custom-built algorithms

and hardware to create a person's unique palm signature.

"We'll start in select Amazon Go stores, where Amazon One

will be added to the store's entry gate as a convenient choice for

customers to use to enter the store to shop," Dilip Kumar, Vice

President Physical Retail & Technology at Amazon, wrote in a

blog post. He said that in most retail environments, Amazon One

could become an alternate payment or loyalty card option with a

device at the checkout counter next to a traditional point of sale

system.

"Or, for entering a location like a stadium or badging into

work, Amazon One could be part of an existing entry point to

make accessing the location quicker and easier," Kumar said.

Starting Tuesday, customers can use Amazon One as an entry

option at two Amazon Go stores in Seattle, US.

"It takes less than a minute to sign up at these Amazon Go

stores using an Amazon One device," Kumar said.

"Once you're enrolled, to use Amazon One to enter these

Amazon Go stores, you'll just hold your palm above the Amazon

One device at entry for about a second or so, and be on your

way." Amazon One is likely to be added as an option in additional

Amazon stores in the coming months.

"And, we believe Amazon One has broad applicability

beyond our retail stores, so we also plan to offer the service to

third parties like retailers, stadiums, and office buildings so that

more people can benefit from this ease and convenience in more

places," he said.

www.theasianindependent.co.uk ASIA 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 9

In Gujarat a young Dalit activist

lawyer Devji Maheswari, belonging to

BAMSCEF was killed in Surat by the

Brahmin goon who was warning him

against his facebook posts not to speak

up against Brahmanism but then there

are other angles also which are mostly

related to land disputes, many time

ignored by the activists. Fact is that

Devji Maheshwari was a lawyer supporting

many of those people from SC-

ST communities whose cases were not

being taken up by the caste Hindu

lawyers and this assertion of the young

Ambedkarite pose threat as they cant

tolerate it. They fear that the growth of

such people will threaten their ‘dominance’.

Brahmanism is nothing but

birth based privileges and act of intimidation

and dominance through ‘knowledge’.

And we will have to see how the

functioning of such dominance continue

to happen in different parts of India

and state after state are competing to

oppress the Dalits and Adivasis as

police remain mute or have their sympathies

with the dominant goons.

Though violence against Dalits particularly

Dalit women continues to

come in from different parts of the

country yet the supreme irony is that

there has rarely been any outcry in public,

political parties or media. Gujrat,

Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,

Karnataka, Bihar, Haryana, Uttar

Pradesh, Odisha have some of the

biggest cases of violence. It is not that

elsewhere it is not happening but the

numbers and intensity might be a bit

low. Many times, reports don’t come in

the media from far away places where

social ostracisation is a powerful tool.

The Brahmin accused of Gujarat

Dalit lawyer activist’s murder had

reportedly ‘warned’ him not to write

against Brahmanism and Brahmins but

this activist continued and paid the

price. Ofcourse, as I said, it is not merely

writing but also the work of legal aid

being provided by the lawyer to the

Dalits, which made him unpopular

among the Savaranas. So the

Ambedkarite pay the price of standing

up for the principles or their beliefs and

Speak against the caste

violence against Dalits

pledge continue to fight.

Now we come to another story and it

is a horrific tale of brutalities of the

Savarna goons, the Thakurs in

Hatharas, four of whom, as accused in

the FIR, raped her, cut her tongue,

broke her neck and left her bleeding.

The village is dominating by Thakurs,

followed by Brahmins and the Valmikis

are just about 15 families who continue

to get harassed by the Savaranas.

This incident has got not much outcry

in the media. Ofcourse, a few

papers send their reporters got it reported

and felt they have done their duty.

Others are still busy with Bollywood’s

trail with Drugs and Justice for Sushant

Singh Rajput. The girl is fighting for

her life and we have not seen a single

protest, dharana, candle light and even

words of sympathy. Why is this happening

? We blame media but what

about our own conscious. I am not

seeking response from people in Delhi.

What I say is that in the area these

things happen, people become mute

and dont take side. Women remain

inside home and their first loyalty is

their family followed by their castes. So

it is not the matter of a girl being tortured

and brutalised by dominance of

the brute caste forces who

today can do anything.

is now leading in such violence

against Dalits and those

who are accused enjoy the patronage of

the political parties and power.

Unfortunately, the Dalit MPs in these

parties too behave the foot soldiers of

the brahmanical order. The local

Member of Parliament is Rajvir Diler

whose father himself was a MP for this

constituency. Rajvir, prior to becoming

Member of Parliament, was also an

MLA.

During 2017 Vidhansabha election,

Rajvir Diler was BJP’s Iglas candidate

as it was a Reserved constituency.

During his campaigning, Rajvir would

keep a tea glass in his pocket and whenever

people would offer him tea, he

accepted. They did not serve tea to him

on their pots. He would not enter into

their homes and even touch the

feet of people younger to him.

When asked about whether he

does not feel humiliated and to

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

social and human rights activist

challenge this order, Rajvir said

that ‘ it was our parampara, i.e. tradition’

and we must respect it’. Yes, BJP

was respecting the ‘tradition’ and

Rajvir also did not want to hurt the

Savarna votes in the region as beautifully

captured by the journalist Alok

Sharma, of Times of India in his report

from the ground on February 8th, 2017,

” Rajvir Diler is a candidate from Iglas,

which is just 300 kms away from Delhi

and it is not difficult to understand why

he is averse to breaking the caste barriers.

His constituency is Jat dominated

with about 90,000 of them, who will

decide the winner.”

For the sake of vote, Rajvir Diler is

ready to go to any length including

humiliating his ownself but more than

that, it is basically his Valmiki community,

one of the most marginalised and

ostracised, who get more hurt and

humiliated. He touches the feet of

Mohan Singh, a Jat Pradhan seeking his

forgiveness and say,” Main aapke pair

padhta hun, mujhe meri galti to batao.

Main ek gaon ka chowkidar banana

chahta hoon, Vidhayak nahi.. ( I bow to

your feet.. tell me my mistake. I want to

just become a chowkidar of the village

and not an MLA)

He further emphasise: main ek bhangi

ka beta hun. mere pita bhee yehee

karatey the, main apnee maan maryaada

khatm nahee kar sakata, zamana

chahe badalata rahe’.. ( I am son of

sweeper, I cant do away

with tradition whether the

times are changing.)

This was 2017 when

Rajvir Diler fought for the

MLA election and he won

from there. BJP was happy

with his ‘performance’

and sticking to ‘tradition’ rewarded him

with a Lok Sabha ticket from the same

area and 2019 brought Rajvir into Lok

Sahba. He is an honorable Member of

Parliament but we have not heard anything

from him so far about the highly

atrocious violence on his community

girl.

Just as I write this, the news flash

coming that the Dalit girl who was

raped by the Savarna goons in Hatharas

died in All India Institute of Medical

Sciences where she was referred just a

couple of days back from Aligarh

where she was treated earlier.

Our police, our administration, our

political parties, our leaders have

become heartless and people are counted

as per votes. Some votes are expensive

while others are taken for granted.

Politics of representation will also

come and now time has come when

such leaders need to be questioned and

boycotted.

Many friends wrote in support of

Rajvir Diler that time that what is happening

in Manu’s India but i felt that

such netas must not be respected.

Rather I would prefer much like our

Gujrati brother Devji Maheshwari. It is

important now to realise that somebody’s

becoming a MP or an MLA or a

mantri does not give a thing to community.

If you become all this after humiliating

your community then far superior

than you are those ideological

youngs who swear by Phule-

Ambedkar-Periyar and fight their battle

honorably even if they dont have four

wheeler or police escort with them.

It is time when people will have to

decide whether we need just those who

are serving them or those who want to

raise people’s issues. Ofcourse, those

who don’t want to break the ‘boundaries’

of ‘manuwad’ can not really help

the Dalits. Rajvir Diler and many like

him may become even Ministers but if

they cant stand up with their community

and speak up against this caste violence

unleashed by the Manuwadis. Let

him speak up for the right of this girl

who have been brutally raped and murdered

by the manuwadi gangsters. Will

he stand and speak ?

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social

and human rights activist. He blogs

at www.manukhsi.blogspot.com

twitter @freetohumanity

Email: vbrawat@gmail.com

NASA TARGETS

HALLOWEEN for next

manned SpaceX mission

Chennai : As part of its plan

Washington : NASA and

SpaceX now are targeting

October 31 for the launch of the

agency's SpaceX Crew-1 mission

with astronauts to the

International Space Station.

The US space agency had earlier

targeted October 23 for the

launch of the mission which

comes after the SpaceX Demo-2

test flight which flew astronauts

Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to

the space station. The new target

date which falls on Halloween

will deconflict the Crew-1 launch

and arrival from upcoming Soyuz

launch and landing operations,

NASA said on Monday.

While a Soyuz capsule launch

is scheduled for October 14, a

Soyuz departure from space station

is set to take place on

October 21. NASA said the additional

time is needed to ensure

closure of all open work, both on

the ground and aboard the station,

ahead of the Crew-1 arrival.

The Crew-1 mission will take

astronauts Michael Hopkins,

Victor Glover, and Shannon

Walker of NASA and Soichi

Noguchi of the Japan Aerospace

Exploration Agency (JAXA) to

the station on the SpaceX Crew

Dragon spacecraft on a Falcon 9

rocket from Launch Complex

39A at NASA's Kennedy Space

Centre in Florida. The launch will

be the first time an international

crew will fly aboard a NASAcertified,

commercially-owned

and operated American rocket

and spacecraft from American

soil. Following the launch, the

Crew-1 astronauts are scheduled

to arrive at the space station for a

six-month science mission

aboard the orbiting laboratory.

NASA said it is in the final

stages of the data reviews needed

ahead of certification following

the agency's SpaceX Demo-2

test flight.

Agnikul Cosmos signs up

with Alaska Aerospace

to TEST ROCKET

to launch its rocket from foreign

rocket ports, Chennai-based

small rocket-maker Agnikul

Cosmos Private Ltd on

Wednesday said that it has

signed an agreement with the

Alaska Aerospace Corporation.

In a tweet, Agnikul Cosmos

said: "It's exactly 1 year since

we presented our #MadeInIndia

solution to honourable PM Shri

@narendramodi ji. Today, humbled

to take our homegrown

product further as a global solution

to customers across the

world. Thank you, Alaska

Aerospace."

As per the agreement,

Agnikul Cosmos will testlaunch

its 'Agnibaan' rocket

from Alaska Aerospace's Pacific

Spaceport Complex Alaskar on

Kodiak Island in the US.

Agnikul Cosmos, which is

developing a small rocket with a

capacity to carry 100 kg satellite

into low earth orbit, said that the

ability to launch from high latitude

launch ports is a significant

advantage.

"Our first preference is to use

Indian rocket ports at Sriharikota

or the upcoming one at

Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil

Nadu (both belonging to the

Indian Space Research

Organisation). If the customer

prefers the launch to happen

from some other country, we

will ship the rocket and

launch from there," Srinath

Ravichandran, co-founder

and CEO Agnikul Cosmos

had told IANS earlier.

In July 2020, Agnikul

signed an MoU with Italian

company Leaf Space for

ground station services.

Ravichandran had said the

company has signed up with

a launch port in south

Australia and is exploring

four to five launch ports

across the world.

The company is hopeful of

signing a satellite launch contract

in 2021 and the debut

launch of its 'Agnibaan' rocket is

planned for 2022.

10 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 ASIA


Winning amount in horse

race, GAME of chance

will not ATTRACT GST

New Delhi : The winner of a horse race or

any game of chance will not penalised by

way of extra taxes as GST levy with the

Appellate Authority of Advance Ruling,

Maharashtra ruling that winner of a game is

not rendering any service or making any supply

and the prize money is outcome of an

event where results are not universal.

In general parlance, the order means that

prize money from winning a derby or any

other game where outcome is not known,

will not be subject to Goods and Service Tax

(GST). This is expected to give a big boost to

the operation of such games.

The AAAR said that in a horse race, there

are two separate transactions: participation in absolutely absent in the present situation and activities carried out by the horse owners i.e.

races organised by horse racing clubs against participation and winning are two separate by providing horses to race clubs for organising

horse race events, and the prize money

entry fee payable by the horse race owner, events/transactions, the AAAR said.

which is supply of service by the race conducting

entity to such aspiring horse race Rulings) had ruled that the amount of prize Mohan Senior Partner, AMRG & Associates.

Earlier, the AAR (Authority for Advance received by such horse owners,” said Rajat

owners and thereby, attracts GST. But the money received from the events conducting “It would give relief not only to winners

second element, where a race participant is entities would be covered under supply category

of the GST law and would be liable to of chance, whereby such a person is not pro-

of horse races but also any winner of a game

supplying horses for the event, delineates in

detail how there is no element of service be taxed at 18 per cent.

viding any supply for the said financial benefit,”

he added.

when the respondent’s horse wins the race The implication of the AAAR order is that

and gets the prize.

in all games of chance, including various While the AAAR has given relief to the

Thus, there is no direct nexus between the online games that are getting popular now, winner of a derby, it said that since there is

activities carried out by the horse owners viz. the winning amount would not attract GST. no taxable supply (by the participant), the

by providing thoroughbred horses to race “This order by Maharashtra AAAR is a assessee will not be eligible to avail ITC

clubs for organising horse race events, and fair and equitable order for all the horse owners.

AAAR held that prize money received ply including the entry fee, the training

(input tax credit) in respect of any input sup-

the prize money received by such horse owners.

The clause of direct and immediate link by horse owners is not exigible under GST charges paid to the horse trainers and the

between the supply and consideration is laws as there is no direct nexus between the charges paid to the jockeys etc.

INDIAN-AMERICAN

RUNNING for

Lt. Governor of Virginia

Washington : Puneet Ahluwalia, an Indian-American business

consultant, is running

for the Republican nomination

for Lt. Governor

of Virginia, saying the

state needs a new leadership

to attract investment,

jobs, growth and

wealth, it was reported.

"Virginia is in trouble

right now, and we're

running out of time as

Democrats offer the

same old tired promises,"

The American

Bazaar reported on

Saturday citing the 55-

year-old as saying while

announcing his run.

"Virginia needs new

ideas and a business

environment that will

attract investment, jobs,

growth and wealth," said the Delhi-born Ahluwalia in a note to his

supporters.

"Virginia needs to support its hard-working and courageous

police, protect 2nd Amendment rights, and stand up for law and

order." A Delhi Public School (DPS) alumnus who immigrated to

the US in 1990, Ahluwalia serves as a consultant to international

businesses on client acquisition, marketing, and strategic affairs

with The Livingston Group.

"I wasn't born an American, my wife and I are Americans by

choice," wrote Ahluwalia. "I am not a politician; I am a proud

American living the American dream."

Ahluwalia, who has been active in the the Republican Party politics

for over two decades, also serves on the Northern Virginia

Republican Business Forum.

Shehbaz arrested because he

stood by Nawaz Sharif : Maryam

Islamabad : PML-N Vice President

Maryam Nawaz has condemned the arrest

of Shehbaz Sharif, her uncle and Leader of

the Opposition in Pakistan's National

Assembly, saying he was being "punished"

for standing by his brother former Prime

Minister Nawaz Sharif's side.

She made the remarks while addressing a

press conference on Monday evening following

Shehbaz Sharif's arrest by the

National Accountability Bureau (NAB)

after the Lahore High Court rejected his bail

plea in a money laundering case, Dawn

news reported.

He was taken into custody from the

court's premises, where a large number of

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's (PML-N)

workers and supporters had gathered.

"I don't have a grain of doubt that

Shehbaz Sharif was not arrested for corruption

or accountability. A reference against

him was ongoing and he was arrested in the

middle," Maryam told reporters at the conference.

"He not only did not leave his brother's

side, but he showed loyalty and commitment

to his brother and his cause and did not

waiver for a second. His wife and children

were made absconders, (his son) Hamza is

in jail and has corona.

"Despite this, he stands with his brother

unwaveringly," she added.

After the arrest, Nawaz Sharif took to

Twitter to condemn the development, saying

"this puppet government has endorsed

the resolution adopted by the opposition's

(multi-party conference)", Dawn news

reported.

"Shehbaz Sharif had already said all of

the (MPC's) decisions would be implemented

whether he is in prison or outside. No

one should be mistaken that such disgraceful

tactics will make us bow down," the former

premier added.

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ASIA

Was MUGHAL Rule the

period of India’s Slavery?

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

11

Yogi Adityanath, should

immediately resign as his Govt.

has failed to take strict actions

to protect SC/ST women in UP

When James Mill periodized the Indian

History into Hindu Period, Muslim Period

and British period, he not only gave the tool

to British to pursue their policy of ‘divide

and rule’, he also gave the potent weapon to

the future pursuers of communal politics to

intensify the divisive policies in the future.

The Muslim communalists later claimed that

India was ruled by Muslims and Hindu communalists

claimed that Muslims are foreigners

and this has been the land of Hindus from

times immemorial.

One was reminded of the deep penetration

of this communal view of History when,

Yogi Adityanath, the CM of Uttar Pradesh

announced that the upcoming Mughal

Museum in Agra to be recast as Chatrapati

Shivaji Maharaj Museum. As per him such a

historical museum is a reflection of subservient

mentality and the symbol of ‘mentality

of slavery’. The Mughal Museum’s

foundation was laid by Akhilesh Yadav, the

earlier Chief Minister of UP. The Museum

was to come up near Taj Mahal in Agra and

was to show the cultural aspects and armaments

of Mughal kings. The aim was to give

a boost to tourism industry in UP.

Same Taj is downgraded now by the

Hindu communalists. One P.N.Oak has been

trying to propagate that it was Tajomahlaya,

Shiv Tample, which was converted into

Mausoleum by Shahjahan. The fact as

recorded by Tavernier, a French Jeweller his

travelogues tell us that Shahjahan built it in

memory of his wife Mumtaj Mahal. The

same is also inferred from the account books

of Shahjahan’s Court, which give a details

break of regular expenses for the construction

of this tomb. The land was acquired

from Raja Jai Singh with due compensation.

As Yogi came to power he omitted Taj

from the places of importance in UP. His

recent utterances that remembering Mughals

is symbol of slave mentality are in tune with

the communal ideology which regards Islam

as alien religion and Muslims as foreigners.

As such we see that Indian History has been

looked up in three particular ways. One was

the Gandhi-Nehru, Indian nationalist interpretation

where India is a place of rich diversity.

The Muslim kings who ruled parts of

India ruled here and lived here as the part of

the land. Most of the Muslim kings respected

the diverse religious tradition prevailing

here.

Mahatma Gandhi points out, “the Hindus

Dr Ram Puniyani

flourished under Moslem sovereigns and

Moslems under the Hindu. Each party recognized

that mutual fighting was suicidal and

that neither party would abandon its religion

by force of arms. Both parties, therefore,

decided to live in peace. With the English

advent quarrels recommenced.”

Similarly Jawaharlal Nehru in his book

Discovery of India shows the thick interaction

between Hindus and Muslims leading to

what he famously termed as ‘Ganga Jamani

Tehjeeb’, the beautiful portrayal of this is

seen in the serial Shyam Benegals’ ‘Bharat

Ek Khoj’.

Does this period, in which some parts of

the country were ruled by Muslim Kings,

(not only Mughals, there were the ones’ from

others dynasties also Ghulam, Khaljis,

Gazanavid’s. and in South Bahamanis,

Haider and Tipu) are a period of slavery?

While some kings like Mahmud Gazanavi,

Mohammad Ghori, Ghengis Khan did plunder

for wealth, the kings who ruled here

became the part of this land. They presided

over a system of exploitation, like any other

king, in which the producer was the farmer.

This was true of any king, anywhere for that

matter.

This period in no way can be called a period

of slavery of the country. Country’s slavery

begins with the British, who ruled here

and plundered our wealth and implemented

the policy of super exploitation of peasantry.

Shashi Tharoor has done a good job (An Era

of Darkness) in showing as to how India contributed

nearly 23% of global GDP and

British brought it down to mere 3% by the

time they left. On the plus side of British rule

was that while social structure did not

change in pre British period, during British

rule social changes towards democratic society

did start taking place with the introduction

of railways, communication, modern

education, modern Judiciary etc.

The communalists, Muslim and Hindus

take off from the British in interpreting the

History as a fight between Hindus and

Muslims, and twisting it in a way where their

own selves are shown to be the real owners

of the land and also victims of the other community.

The British plunder and impositions

are hidden under the carpet in their scheme

of understanding.

At yet another level Ambedkar sees the

Indian History primarily as the clash

between the values of equality of Buddhism

against the caste and gender hierarchy inherent

in Brahmanism.

All Hindus kings were not great and all

Muslims kings were not villains. Akbar and

Dara Shukoh stand out as upholders of diversity,

picking up from other religions, while

Shivaji ensured that the taxation on poor

peasants is curtailed.

As such the real heroes of Independent

India are those who contributed to building

of Modern India. The three major streams of

this are Gandhi, who united the country in

the bond of anti colonial struggle, Ambedkar

who endeavoured for social equality and

democratic rights, and Bhagat Singh who

stood for for the cause of poor while giving

fighting against British rule in India. It is

these values which should inspire the modern

India and not the values of Kings, which

are essentially based on social inequality and

taxation of peasants. All the positive developments

strengthening pluralism and diversity

with equality are the principles and values

we need to look up to in times to come.

Mughal museum was just a small attempt

to uphold the cultural background of our

lived past and in no way symbol of subservience

or of slave mentality.

Unfortunately we are living in times where

full attempts are going on to erase the symbols;

like this upcoming Museum along with

changing the names of cities (Allahabad,

Faiazabad, Mughal Sarai), the Muslim contribution

to Indian culture.

New Delhi : In the past few years the number of new cases

of rape of young women have increased fourfold in Uttar

Pradesh. The Yogi Adityanath’s government should take the

accountability of deteriorating law and order in Uttar Pradesh

which has failed to protect young girls and has not been able

to provide any security to them in Uttar Pradesh. Many media

houses have been questioned for mentioning the caste of the

girl but one cannot not mention that it is a result of a very brutal

caste based violence.

Dalit women are often subjected to the most brutal violence

in this country so much so that the mainstream media also

does not cover it because it is not relevant for them to cover

these issues. When it comes to caste based violence in India

Dalit women are the most vulnerable because the violence

against them are culturally and politically motivated. It is a

revenge against the entire spectrum of why a woman has

raised her voice, these therefore are tools to suppress her voice

all together. The upper caste men often wants to teach the

Dalit woman a lesson which is deterrent in nature so that other

Dalit women do not challenge their authority.

This is why according to reports 4 Dalit women are raped

every day. In Uttar Pradesh itself that data shows that the

Scheduled Caste and Schedule Tribe (Prevention of atrocities),

Act, 1989 has become a tool to appease the vote banks

and it so far is remembered during the time of caste baste conflicts

that is why the SC/ST Commission in Uttar Pradesh has

been without any head for more than 8 months while the pending

application of atrocities have been piling up at the centre

of a state which is home to 22 per cent of Dalits in India.

In the wake of this case suddenly the Yogi government is

now concerned for the SC/ST entrepreneurs, churning out

new policies for them from their bag over last week. We

demand that Yogi Adityanath, the CM of Uttar Pradesh should

immediately resign as his government has failed to take strict

actions to protect SC/ST women in his state severely.

On behalf of : Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar Manch

(DASAM); National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM-

Delhi); Institute for Democracy and Sustainability Delhi;

Delhi Solidarity Group (DSG); People’s Resource Centre

(PRC); Shaheri Mahila kamgaar Union; National Domestic

Workers Union; Rehabilitation Research Initiative (RRI); Lok

Theatre India (LTI); Community for Social Change &

Development (CSCD); Sewerage or Sambandh Karmchari

Manch (SSKM)

On kanshi TV

channel 772.

SATURDAY at

6 :00 pm

SUNDAY at

6 :00 pm

Ambedkarites News and Views

by

BUDDHIST INTERNATIONAL MEDIA

Mob : 07411 251 804, 07847 307 059

12 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 BUSINESS


Printing ‘Best before date’ on

sweets must from Oct 1

New Delhi : While buying sweets, you must now check the

‘Best before date’ as it has been made compulsory for the sweetmakers

to mention it on the product. The new norm will be in force

from October 1.

It means the shopkeeper has to inform the customer that till

what date the dessert will remain edible.

However, it will not be mandatory to write the date of manufacture

of the product, as the Food Safety and Standards Authority

of India (FSSAI) has left it to the will of the manufacturers.

Federation of Sweets and Namkeen Manufactures (FSNM) director

Feroze Naqvi said that this has brought great relief to the confectioners,

but will also face difficulties in writing ‘Best before

date’ as it is not practical.

In a September 25 order, the FSSAI has made it mandatory

from October 1 to write ‘Best before date’ on sweets plates in

shops for the open sale of sweets, but there will be no restriction

on the date for making sweets. The FSSAI has stated in the order

that it would be optional to write the date of making.

Naqvi told IANS over phone from Mumbai, “FSSAI has

accepted half of our point that it is no longer mandatory for us to

write a manufacturing date. However, the best before date will be

effective from October 1. However, we are also in talks on this.

We have put our problems in front of the FSSAI.”

He said that printing the best before date for sweets is not

practical as there is a large range of sweets on which it would be

difficult to change the date repeatedly. He said that the order

regarding the open sale of sweets came in February, which was

extended twice in the coronavirus period, but now from October

1, it has been made mandatory to write the best before date on

sweets packs. This order of FSSAI is only for the open sale of

sweets. Naqvi said that this order will be applicable for unpacked

sweets whereas for food items like packaged sweets, namkeen, it

is mandatory to write the period of manufacture and the date till

it is best for the consumption.

Profit booking, global cues subdue

markets, BANKING stocks fall

Mumbai : Profit booking,

along with volatile global cues,

subdued the Indian equity markets

on Tuesday, with both the

BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty50

closing on a flat-to-negative note.

Segment-wise, heavy selling

was witnessed in banking,

FMCG, infra, pharma and energy

stocks. However, metals, IT and

auto stocks gained. On the global

front, Asian markets ended on a

mixed note after a mildly higher

opening on Tuesday ahead of the

first US presidential debate later

in the day, with investors also

remaining cautious over the

global economy’s prospects as coronavirus

deaths surpassed the 1-million mark worldwide.

Similarly, European shares slipped as

investors awaited the first US presidential

debate, and eyed progress of a fiscal stimulus

package in Washington.

The BSE Sensex closed at 37,973.22,

lower by 8.41 points, or 0.02 per cent, from

the previous close of 37,981.63.

The Nifty50 on the National Stock

Exchange closed at 11,222.40, lower by

New Delhi : Government

agencies procured paddy worth

Rs 10.53 crore at minimum

support price (MSP) in just two

days in Punjab and Haryana

after the procurement operations

commenced in both the

states on September 26, as per

an official statement. The procurement

of paddy during the

Kharif Marketing Season

(KMS) 2020-21 started from

September 26, and up to

September 27, 5,637 MT having

MSP value of Rs 10.53

crore at MSP of Rs 1,868 per

quintal has been procured from

390 farmers in Haryana and

Punjab, the Union Ministry of

Agriculture and Farmers

Welfare said in a statement on

Monday.

The Centre has allowed five

states to procure 13.77 lakh

tonnes of pulses and oilseeds in

the current Kharif season

(2020-21), said the statement.

The five states are Tamil Nadu,

Karnataka, Maharashtra,

Telangana and Haryana.

The KMS 2020-21 has just

begun and the government will

continue to procure crops from

the farmers at MSP as per its

existing schemes like the previous

seasons, said the statement.

The procurement of paddy

for the remaining states has

been allowed to commence

from Monday.

Based on the proposal from

the states, approval has been

accorded to Tamil Nadu,

Karnataka, Maharashtra,

Telangana and Haryana for the

procurement of 13.77 lakh

5.15 points, or 0.05 per cent, from its previous

close. “Investors took some profits

due to recent gains in the markets, reflected

in a negative advance decline ratio,”

said Deepak Jasani, Head of Retail

Research at HDFC Securities.

“Some sector and stock rotation seems

to be happening. Nifty could face resistance

from the 11,306-11,322 band in the

near future.” Vinod Nair, Head of Research

at Geojit Financial Services, said: “After a

gap-up opening, the benchmark indices

Paddy worth Rs 10.53 cr purchased

only in 2 days in Punjab, Haryana

tonnes of pulses and oilseeds

for KMS 2020-21, as per the

statement.

For the other states/Union

Territories, approval will be

accorded on receipt of proposals

for Kharif pulses and

oilseeds and procurement will

be made as per the Price

Support Scheme (PSS) if market

rates go below their MSP,

the ministry said.

As per reports, up to

September 24, the government

through its nodal agencies has

procured 34.20 MT of moong

having MSP value of Rs 25

lakh, benefiting 40 farmers in

Tamil Nadu.

Similarly, 5,089 MT of

copra (the perennial crop) having

MSP value of Rs 52.40

crore has been procured, benefiting

3,961 farmers in

grew volatile, before ending the

day flat. Global markets were

also undecided and slightly

negative for the day as the outcome

of the first US presidential

debate was awaited.”

“With increasing infections

and chances of location-specific

lockdowns, Indian indices

were also uncertain. Indian

markets are awaiting a trigger

in the form of confirmation of a

stimulus package by the government

to boost economic

activity. Till then, expect

volatility.” According to Angel

Broking Head Advisory Aamar

Deo Singh, the “Markets gave up the initial

gains of the day, with the benchmark index

Nifty50 ending the day flat, to close at

11,222, down 5 points, with mixed global

cues.” “Advances and declines were evenly

poised with interesting tussle between

bulls and bears. Amongst the top 3 Nifty

gainers, were Hindalco, Ultratech and Hero

Motocorp whereas Bharti Infratel, ONGC

and Indusind were the top 3 Nifty Losers.

Nifty continues to trade sideways within

the range of 11,000-11,400.”

Karnataka and Tamil Nadu

against the sanctioned quantity

of 95.75 LMT for Andhra

Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil

Nadu and Kerala. The procurement

of cotton for the 2020-21

season shall commence from

October 1, 2020 and the Cotton

Corporation of India (CCI) will

start the purchase of FAQ grade

cotton from October 1

onwards, as per the statement.

Rs 140-cr MoU inked

for modernising Cochin

Fisheries Harbour

Kochi (Kerala) : The Marine Products Export Development

Authority

(MPEDA) is set

to work with the

Cochin Port Trust

(CPT) to modernise

Cochin

Fisheries Harbour

at a cost of Rs 140

crore. A special

purpose vehicle

(SPV) is being

launched to

implement the

development plans.

MPEDA Chairperson K. S. Srinivas signed a memorandum

of understanding (MoU) with his CPT counterpart A. M. Beena

and the funds for it will be raised from various Central government

schemes. The 1928-founded CPT runs the harbour which

facilitates the berthing and landing of more than 500 vessels.

Commissioned in 1978, the harbour has a daily average landing

of 250 tonne fish. The MPEDA-CPT agreement will see a

host of infrastructure facilities which include air-conditioned

auction halls, besides a packing hall and bays for loading and

unloading. It will also have an ice plant, a reverse osmosis plant

and a rainwater harvesting system besides automation equipment

such as tripods, conveyor belts and pallet jacks for easier

and better movement of fish within the harbour.

Electrical substations, an effluent treatment plant, a retail

market, fish-dressing unit and net-mending area, besides offices,

dormitories, a food court, canteen, drivers’ waiting area and

parking lots for vehicles will also be part of the harbour.

Srinivas pointed out that the MPEDA had proposed to the

Centre in February this year to renovate 25 select fishing harbours

across the country and the DPR (detailed project report)

for Kochi was readied with Ernst and Young as the consultants.

“These 25 major fishing harbours contribute a lion’s share of

landings in the country for export. At present, India’s value addition

of marine products is a mere 5 per cent. We must increase it

manifold given that the figure for South-East Asian countries is

50 per cent,” said Srinivas.

The MPEDA’s pact with CPT comes when India has 50 major

and 100 minor fishing harbours together contributing 65 per cent

in quantity and 45 per cent in value of the country’s seafood

exports. The MPEDA formed in 1972 under the Union Ministry

of Commerce is a coordinating agency with Central and statelevel

establishments engaged in fishery production and allied

activities.


HEALTH

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

13

New York : In a big breakthrough,

researchers have found that people who

have had a bout of seasonal or common

cold in the past may get protection from

Covid-19.

The study, published in the journal

mBio, also suggests that immunity to

Covid-19 is likely to last a long time --

maybe even a lifetime.

The study showed that the Covid-19-

causing virus, SARS-CoV-2, induces

memory B cells, long-lived immune

cells that detect pathogens, create antibodies

to destroy them and remember

them for the future.

The next time that pathogen tries to

enter the body, those memory B cells

can hop into action even faster to clear

the infection before it starts.

Because memory B cells can survive

for decades, they could protect Covid-

19 survivors from subsequent infections

for a long time, but further

research will have to bear that out, the

researchers said.

The study is also the first to report

cross-reactivity of memory B cells --

meaning B cells that once attacked

cold-causing coronaviruses appeared to

also recognise SARS-CoV-2.

Study authors believe this could

mean that anyone who has been infected

by a common coronavirus -- which

is nearly everyone -- may have some

degree of pre-existing immunity to

Covid-19.

"When we looked at blood samples

from people who were recovering from

Covid-19, it looked like many of them

Common cold in past may give

protection from Covid-19

had a pre-existing pool of memory B

cells that could recognise SARS-CoV-2

and rapidly produce antibodies that

could attack it," said lead study author

Mark Sangster from the University of

Rochester in the US.

The findings are based on a comparison

of blood samples from 26 people

who were recovering from mild to

moderate Covid-19 and 21 healthy

donors whose samples were collected

six to 10 years ago -- long before they

could have been exposed to Covid-19.

From those samples, study authors

measured levels of memory B cells and

antibodies that target specific parts of

the Spike protein, which exists in all

coronaviruses and is crucial for helping

the viruses infect cells.

The Spike protein looks and acts a

little different in each coronavirus, but

one of its components, the S2 subunit,

stays pretty much the same across all of

the viruses.

Memory B cells can't tell the difference

between the Spike S2 subunits of

the different coronaviruses, and attack

indiscriminately.

The study found that was true for

beta coronaviruses, a subclass that

includes two cold-causing viruses as

well as SARS, MERS and SARS-CoV-

2.

"Now we need to see if having this

pool of pre-existing memory B cells

correlates with milder symptoms and

shorter disease course -- or if it helps

boost the effectiveness of Covid-19

vaccines," the authors wrote.

Regeneron says its COVID-19

treatment reduces viral levels,

IMPROVES SYMPTOMS

The drug is part of a class of biotech therapies known as monoclonal antibodies

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc on

Tuesday said its experimental two-antibody

cocktail reduced viral levels and improved

symptoms in non-hospitalized COVID-19

patients, enhancing its chances of becoming

a treatment for the disease that has killed

over a million people worldwide.

"We hope these data will support an

EUA" (emergency use authorization) from

the US Food and Drug Administration,

Regeneron Chief Scientific Officer George

Yancopoulos said on a conference call.

The FDA can authorise emergency

use of a drug before completing

its review for a formal

approval. The treatment, REGN-

COV2, is also being studied for

use in hospitalised patients, and

for prevention of infection in

people who have been exposed to

COVID-19. Regeneron declined

to comment on when those trial

results are expected.

"It is unclear, though possible, that

the Regeneron cocktail could work in a

hospital setting where the patient is already

severely ill and has a high viral load,"

Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said in a

research note.

Yancopoulos said that in order for REGN-

COV2 to be used in the studied patient population

-- people with mild-to-moderate

COVID-19 - routine diagnostic tests would

be needed. Therapeutic use "is going to

depend on having the right diagnostic tools

available," he said. Shares of Regeneron

were up 2% at $585.40 after hours. Trial

results for the first 275 patients showed the

biggest effect in patients who did not create

high levels of their own antibodies against

the virus. That suggests the REGN-COV2

could help patients whose own immune system

is not strong enough to combat the virus,

Regeneron

said. The

drug is part of a class of biotech therapies

known as monoclonal antibodies. Several

companies are using the technology to manufacture

copies of human antibodies to the

new coronavirus. Regeneron believes its

dual-antibody formula will limit the ability

of the virus to escape detection and attack.

Eli Lilly & Co earlier this month released

data showing that one of its monoclonal antibodies

lowered patient virus levels and could

reduce the need for patients to be hospitalized.

Regeneron tested two different doses of

REGN-COV2 in two patient populations:

those who had mounted an effective immune

response on their own (seropositive), and

those whose immune response was not yet

adequate (seronegative).

In seronegative patients, the median time

to symptom relief was 13 days for the

placebo group, 8 days for the high-dose

group and 6 days for the low-dose

group.

Regeneron said REGN-COV2

rapidly reduced virus levels in

seronegative patients. In addition,

patients with higher virus

levels at the start of the trial had

correspondingly greater reductions

in viral load with REGN-

COV2, which is given by intravenous

infusion. "The data are

favorable for seronegative patients,"

Yee said.

The US government in June awarded

Regeneron a $450 million supply contract

for up to 3,00,000 doses of the antibody

cocktail.

Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG last

month agreed to boost overall manufacturing

capacity for REGN-COV2 by at least threeand-a-half

times. Under the deal, Regeneron

would handle US sales of the treatment and

Roche would be responsible for the rest of

the world.

COVID-19 may cause global tsunami

of mental health PROBLEMS

New York : Researchers, including one of Indian-origin, have

found that Covid-

19 pandemic will

cause a global

tsunami of mental

health problems.

Mental

health problems

were already a

leading cause of

suffering and the

most neglected

health issue globally

before the pandemic," said study author Vikram Patel from

Harvard University in the US. "The pandemic will, through worsening

the social determinants of mental health, fuel a worsening of

this crisis," Patel added.

The study, scheduled to be presented at the ESCMID

Conference on Coronavirus Disease (ECCVID) in the US,

revealed that the pressures on mental health, that already existed in

abundance before this global pandemic, are increasing at an alarming

rate. There are so many issues which affect large sections of

the population, including worries about jobs and income security,

social exclusion, school closures and working from home creating

huge pressure on families," Patel said.

"There are also disruptions to medical services and care, potential

domestic violence situations, and the varying levels of fear

people have of being infected by this new virus," he stressed.

The pandemic threatens to reverse years of global development,

including in the countries that can least afford to start going backwards.

In August 2020, World Bank President David Malpass predicted

as many as 100 million people will be pushed back into

extreme poverty. As a result of the global economic recession, the

mental health tsunami is going to sweep through all countries, rich

and poor. "The 2008 recession, which largely affected only the US,

was followed by a wave of 'deaths of despair' in the US, driven by

suicide and substance use," Patel said.

He pointed out that Covid-19 arrived, there was already a global

mental health crisis. According to the researchers, the relative

burden of mental and substance use disorders increased by nearly

50 per cent in the past 25 years. "These disorders now account for

one in every ten years of lost health globally and suicide rates in

young people are rising in many countries," the study authors

wrote. "I believe the pandemic presents a historic opportunity to

reimagine mental health care, by realising the science which

demonstrates that we must reframe mental health beyond a narrow

focus on diagnoses, doctors and drugs," Patel concluded.

14 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 HEALTH


Even low ALCOHOL use during

pregnancy bad for child’s brain

Heavier alcohol use during early pregnancy associated with rule-breaking behaviour and aggression

Sydney : Researchers have found

that even low levels of alcohol consumption

during pregnancy can have an

impact on a child’s brain development.

The study, published in the American

Journal of Psychiatry, said that it is also

associated with greater psychological

and behavioural problems in youth

including anxiety, depression and poor

attention.

“Our research found that even small

amounts of alcohol consumed while

pregnant can have a significant impact

on a child’s brain development,” said

study lead author Briana Lees from the

University of Sydney in Australia. For

the findings, the researchers investigated

whether any alcohol consumption in

pregnancy was related to psychological,

behavioural, neural and cognitive differences

in children aged nine to ten years.

With a sample of 9,719 youth, this is the

largest study to investigate the impact of

low-level alcohol use during pregnancy.

Low levels of drinking were considered

one to two drinks per occasion with

a maximum of six drinks per week.

In the study, 25 per cent of children

had been exposed to alcohol in utero (in

the womb), 60 per cent of these children

had been exposed to low-level alcohol

use, and 40 per cent had been exposed

to heavier levels. Heavier exposure

London : Using weighted

chain blankets may lead to better

sleep maintenance, a higher daytime

activity level, and reduced

symptoms of fatigue, depression

and anxiety among insomnia

patients with psychiatric disorders,

says a study.

The researchers found that

participants in the weighted blanket

group were almost 26 times

more likely to experience a

decrease of 50 per cent or more

in their insomnia severity compared

with the control group, and

they were nearly 20 times more

likely to achieve remission of

their insomnia.

Positive results were maintained

during a 12-month, open

follow-up phase of the study.

"A suggested explanation for the calming

and sleep-promoting effect is the pressure

that the chain blanket applies on different

points on the body, stimulating the sensation

of touch and the sense of muscles and joints,

similar to acupressure and massage," said

principle investigator Mats Alder, consultant

psychiatrist at the Karolinska Institutet in

Stockholm, Sweden. "There is evidence suggesting

that deep pressure stimulation

increases parasympathetic arousal of the

autonomic nervous system and at the same

time reduces sympathetic arousal, which is

being three or more drinks per occasion

or seven or more drinks per week.

Children who were exposed to low

levels of alcohol in-utero at any time

during pregnancy experienced more

psychological/emotional problems

(including anxiety, depression and

being withdrawn) and behavioural problems

(including poor attention and

being impulsive) than unexposed children.

There was a 25 per cent increased

likelihood of an attention deficit hyperactivity

disorder (ADHD) diagnosis in

children who were exposed to slightly

heavier levels of alcohol (approximately

36 drinks) in the first 6-7 weeks of

pregnancy.

Heavier alcohol use during early

pregnancy was also associated with

rule-breaking behaviour and aggression,

with a 30 per cent higher risk of the

child being diagnosed with the oppositional

defiant disorder than unexposed

youth.

“Generally, the more a child was

exposed to alcohol in utero the more

severe the outcomes were,” Lees said.

“This research highlights the importance

for women to be aware of the

effects that even low levels of drinking

can have on the brain development of

babies,” she said.

Weighted blankets found to improve

SLEEP of insomnia PATIENTS

considered to be the cause of the calming

effect." The study, published in the Journal

of Clinical Sleep Medicine, involved 120

adults previously diagnosed with clinical

insomnia and a co-occurring psychiatric disorder:

major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder,

attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,

or generalised anxiety disorder.

Participants were randomised to sleep for

four weeks at home with either a chainweighted

blanket or a control blanket.

Participants assigned to the weighted

blanket group tried an 8-kg chain blanket at

the clinic.

Ten participants found it

to be too heavy and received

a 6-kg blanket instead.

Participants in the control

group slept with a light plastic

chain blanket of 1.5 kg.

Change in insomnia severity,

the primary outcome, was

evaluated using the Insomnia

Severity Index.

Wrist actigraphy was used

to estimate sleep and daytime

activity levels.

Nearly 60 per cent of

weighted blanket users had a

positive response with a

decrease of 50 per cent or

more in their Insomnia

Severity Index score from

the baseline to the four-week

endpoint, compared with 5.4 per cent of the

control group. Remission, a score of seven or

less on the Insomnia Severity Index scale,

was 42.2 per cent in the weighted blanket

group, compared with 3.6 per cent in the

control group.

After the initial four-week study, all participants

had the option to use the weighted

blanket for a 12-month follow-up phase.

Participants who switched from the control

blanket to a weighted blanket experienced a

similar effect as patients who used the

weighted blanket initially, said the study.

Before vaccine comes,

global death toll may

hit 2 million: WHO

The number of Covid-19 deaths is fast

approaching one million - nine months after

the outbreak started in China

Geneva : The World Health Organization (WHO) warned that

the global coronavirus

death toll

could hit two million

before an

effective vaccine is

widely used.

WHO emergencies

head Mike

Ryan on Friday

said the figure

could be even higher

without concerted

international action, the BBC reported. The number of Covid-19

deaths is fast approaching one million - nine months after the outbreak

started in China. Ryan also urged Europeans to ask themselves

whether they had done enough to avoid the need for lockdowns.

He questioned whether all the alternatives had been implemented,

like testing and tracing, quarantine, isolation, social distancing,

wearing masks and hand-washing.

Earlier, Spain's capital Madrid brought another eight districts

under tougher coronavirus restrictions, which now affect a million

people in the city.

In France, staff from bars and restaurants in the southern city

Marseille protested against the closure of their workplaces which

was brought in on Saturday.

And in the UK, tougher restrictions were announced in several

regions as new daily infections rise.


HEALTH

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

15

‘Vitamin D cuts complications,

risk of death in Covid patients’

Being vitamin D sufficient also helps fight consequences from being

infected by other viruses causing upper respiratory tract illnesses

New York : A new research adds to

the growing body of evidence that

patients with sufficient levels of

Vitamin D are less likely to experience

complications and die from Covid-19.

According to the study, published

in the journal PLOS ONE, hospitalised

Covid-19 patients who were

vitamin D sufficient, with a blood

level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D of at

least 30 ng/mL (a measure of vitamin

D status) had a significantly decreased

risk for adverse clinical outcomes and

death.

In addition, they had lower blood

levels of an inflammatory marker (Creactive

protein) and higher blood levels

of lymphocytes (a type of immune

cell to help fight infection).”This

study provides direct evidence that

vitamin D sufficiency can reduce the

complications, including the cytokine

storm (release of too many proteins

into the blood too quickly) and ultimately

death from Covid-19,” said

study author Michael F. Holick from

the Boston University in the US.

For the findings, a blood sample to

measure vitamin D status (measured

serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D)

was taken from 235 patients were

admitted to the hospital with Covid-

19.

These patients were followed for

clinical outcomes including clinical

severity of the infection, becoming

unconscious, having difficulty in

breathing resulting in hypoxia (low

oxygen level) and death.

The blood was also analysed for an

inflammatory marker (C-reactive protein)

and for numbers of lymphocytes.

The researchers then compared all of

these parameters in patients who were

vitamin D deficient to those who were

vitamin D sufficient.

In patients older than 40 years they

observed that those patients who were

vitamin D sufficient were 51.5 per

cent less likely to die from the infection

compared to patients who were

vitamin D deficient.

Holic believes that being vitamin D

sufficient helps to fight consequences

from being infected not only with the

coronavirus but also other viruses

causing upper respiratory tract illnesses

including influenza. “There is great

concern that the combination of

influenza infection and a coronal viral

infection could substantially increase

hospitalizations and death due to complications

from these viral infections,”

Holick noted.

Earlier this month, another study

published in the journal JAMA

Network Open, revealed that that vitamin

D deficiency may raise the risk of

getting novel coronavirus.

New analytical model

detects mutations in

breast cancer : Study

Study published in the journal EMBO Molecular

Medicine included results from over 3,200 patients

London : Researchers have

developed a computational

model which is effective in

detecting and identifying

genetic mutations in breast

tumours.

The study included results

from over 3,200 patients with

breast cancer.

The researchers used RNA

sequencing, a sensitive, precise

tool which has very gradually

started to be applied clinically,

although not yet for breast cancer.

The study, published in the

journal EMBO Molecular

Medicine, used breast tumours

for analysis from the unique

Swedish SCAN-B project.

"We hope that SCAN-B

RNA sequencing will be in

clinical use as early as next

year, mainly to help in the identification

of which breast

tumours are high-risk and

which are low-risk," said study

researcher Lao Saal from Lund

University in Sweden.

"The aim is for the patient to

know, already a week after surgery

to remove the tumour,

which personalised treatment is

best suited to the individual,"

Saal added.

When the Lund

team analysed the

genetic mutations in

the breast tumours of

the patients in the

study, they found that

almost 87 per cent

had at least one mutation

for which potential

drugs already

exist. They then followed

the patterns of

mutations in the

tumours and related

them to patient outcomes.

"We observed that 34 per

cent of them had a mutation in

a specific gene, PIK3CA, and

that in general these patients

had a good prognosis," wrote

the study researchers.

"In 3 per cent of the patients

we found mutations in another

gene, ERBB2, which was associated

with a worse prognosis,"

they added. The results of the

study add another dimension to

how RNA sequencing can be

used as a potential future 'clinical

tool'.

Rheumatoid arthritis

linked to 23 per cent

higher diabetes risk

London : People suffering

from rheumatoid

arthritis may be at 23

per cent increased risk

of developing Type-2

diabetes, says a new

study.

The study, presented

at the European

Association for the

Study of Diabetes

(EASD), being held

online this year from

September 21-25, may

indicate that both diseases—rheumatoid

arthritis and diabetes—

are linked to the body’s

inflammatory response.

“This finding supports the

notion that inflammatory pathways

are involved in the

pathogenesis of diabetes,” said

the authors of the study conducted

by Zixing Tian and

Adrian Heald of University of

Manchester in Britain and their

colleagues.

“Agents that reduce systemic

inflammatory marker

levels may have a role in preventing

type 2 diabetes. This

may involve focussing on

more than one pathway at a

time,” the researchers said.

Inflammation has emerged

as a key factor in the onset and

progression of Type-2 diabetes,

and rheumatoid arthritis

is an autoimmune and inflammatory

disease.

The team suggests that the

systemic inflammation associated

with rheumatoid arthritis

might therefore contribute to

the risk of an individual developing

diabetes in the future.

The researchers conducted

a comprehensive search of a

range of medical and scientific

databases up to March 10, for

cohort studies comparing the

incidence of diabetes among

people with rheumatoid arthritis

to the diabetes risk within

the general population.

Statistical analyses were

performed to calculate the relative

risks. The eligible studies

identified comprised a total of

1,629,854 participants.

The authors found that having

rheumatoid arthritis was

associated with a 23 per cent

higher chance of developing

Type-2 diabetes, compared to

the diabetes risk within the

general population.

“We suggest that more

intensive screening and management

of diabetes risk factors

should be considered in

people with rheumatoid arthritis,”

the researcher said.

16 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 NEWS


SKY is the LIMIT for little

Maths Wiz - Neev Lukhi

Kids have many dreams.

Maths has always been my

favourite subject; hence it was

more of a hobby and I dreamt

of doing something big in

Maths. Chess is another such

hobby cum dream. I have travelled

places for playing chess

tournaments and won loads of

trophies. I love playing and

watching cricket. Going out

cycling with family and

friends is what I cherish a lot

too. My name, Neev, means

foundation. I believe, to do

My name is Rayan

Sangwanand I am 12 years old

while I am writing this. I

always wanted to be an entrepreneur

so I thought maths

would help me on the way to

be an entrepreneur. So I started

abacus and the teachers in abacus

told me a lot of things like

how to do sums mentally.

The sums I do are complicated

so people would be

amazed with what I could do

with an abacus. I really

enjoyed doing it. I have started

high school and my teachers

are really amazed what I can

do. Abacus is like a gift to me

because it has helped me to be

confident. I once preformed in

a function and a lot of people

were there. My main teacher

in abacus is called Dr. Rashmi

something better and big (in

Maths), your foundation

should be very strong. Yes,

Abacus can help you achieve a

solid base.

My journey with Abacus

started 2 years back. I started

doing Maths on my fingers

using the Abacus technique,

progressed to using the

Abacus tool and then doing all

Maths sums mentally visualizing

an Abacus tool. Within 2

years, I was able to complete

all my levels in Abacus.

Rayan Sangwan

Mantri. She is a nice person

and she helped me a lot. She

once told me to be confident in

abacus and that has helped me

a lot to be good at it.

My hobby is cricket

because it's a fun sport and I

There is a lot of

practice taken by

Rashmi Mantri and

whole Abacus team.

Their teaching technique

is awesome.

They make sure each

and every kid attain a

certain level of proficiency

before moving

to the next level. At

times I was stuck at a

particular level for

many weeks. It was

frustrating and I

almost thought of

quitting. My teachers

encouraged me and

gave more guidance. I

realized it was for a

purpose to master that level

and I continued my journey

ahead. Mental Abacus has

helped me with improved focus

and concentration. Mental theory

enhances visualization

skills. Mental Abacus is nothing

short of any brain exercise.

This helps with confidence

building and positive attitude.

Here's hoping that my

Maths journey continues with

the upward trajectory that

Abacus has given me a kickstart

with.

really enjoy it. I have determination

to be an entrepreneur

and that's what I am going to

do in the future. But for now I

will have to focus on my studies

which is what my mother

always tells me.

Our Abacus Journey

Hello

We are twin sisters, Himani

and HimanshiKhokher and we

are ten years old. We like to

sing and dance, our favourite

sport is badminton and we also

enjoy swimming, reading and

playing. We have 5 people in

our family, our mum, our dad,

Hello

We are twin sisters,Himani

and HimanshiKhokher and we

are ten years old. We like to

sing and dance, our favourite

sport is badminton and we also

enjoy swimming, reading and

playing. We have 5 people in

our family, our mum, our dad,

our big sister and us.

We have been doing abacus

since April 2016 so we have

been doing it for4 years now

and it has helped us a lot in

school. Our school teacher is

very impressed by our abacus

skills and we are the best at

maths in the class. We use

our big sister and us.

We have been doing abacus

since April 2016 so we have

been doing it for 4 years

nowand it has helped us a lot

in school. Our school teacher

is very impressed by our abacus

skills and we are the best

at maths in the class. We use

mental theory in school and

we use itin many other places

too, we also went to the British

talent show Little Big Shots to

show off our abacus skills. We

also got a big trophy in the

Little Big Shots studio. We

really enjoy abacus.

Thank You!

Our Abacus Journey

mental theory in school and

we use it in many other places

too, we also went to the British

talent show Little Big Shots to

show off our abacus skills. We

also got a big trophy in the

Little Big Shots studio. We

really enjoy abacus.

Thank You!

Tashvi's Abacus Journey

My name is Tashvi Prashant, I am

12 years old, I go to Gryffe High

School in Houston, studying in S2. I

have a little brother, Havish who is

8-year-old and he is in P5. My hobbies

are cooking, baking music (I

play Piano) and art.

When I grow up, I really want to

become a surgeon. In primary

school I was in the bottom level in

maths group and I wanted to get to a

higher-level group, so my parents

introduced me to abacus classes. At

the beginning of my abacus classes

it was fun and easy, but as I progressed

on the levels got harder, but

I didn't give up and I got to level 8!

Apart from my weekly onetime

abacus class I had to do abacus

and mental theory daily at

home. It took me around 3 years to

reach level 8 in which the

BYITCSupermaths team was

incredibly supportive in every

aspect of my learning. Abacus

technic has helped me do my

maths a lot quicker and it also

helped me move up to the level in

maths group at school.

After finishing all the levels in

abacus, I feel very accomplished

and I think abacus is extremely

helpful.

At the end I would like to thank

all the team at BYITC Supermaths

and Dr Rashmi Mantri for helping

me to complete my abacus journey

and now I can proudly say that

NEVER GIVE UP!!!


On 29th September 2020 India has

once again failed Dalit Women and

Girls in upholding their rights and safety;

we have lost another young life to

the savage brutal gangrape and murder.

This brutal incident occurred on 14th

September in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh

and once again exposes the harsh realities

of caste based sexual assault faced

by Dalit women and girls in this country.

Victim was dragged with the dupatta

around her neck into the field where

she was gang raped; suffered severe

spinal cord injury, severely beaten up

and also got deep cut in her tongue as

she fought back the rapist. She was not

in a situation to give her statement till

23rd September 2020 due to the severe

injuries that paralyzed her condition.

The level of brutality and inhumanity

continues even after the demise of the

victim, as the UP police forcibly cremated

the body in the early morning

around 3 AM on 30th September.

Victim’s body was burnt by the police

against the will of the family members

and not letting them take her home one

final time. Beside this, the police locked

family members and locals inside the

house as per the statement of family

members of the deceased.

Rising Atrocities:-

Such ghastly incidents of violence

are perpetrated everyday against women

and minors and especially during the

Pandemic and the Lockdown. The state

of Uttar Pradesh has witnessed several

cases of atrocities against Dalit women;

with Lakhimpur Kheri leading in the

graph of violence. In the past 60 days

more than six atrocities were reported in

the district against Dalit women and

minor girls. Similarly in Saharanpur

district, six cases of abduction and rape

have been reported where NDMJ has

intervened. These gruesome incidents of

sexual violence reflect the real picture

of Indian society constructed on violent

casteist patriarchal structure.

It should be noted that the crime rate

against Dalits in Uttar Pradesh has been

rising exponentially in the last few

years. As per the NCRB report of 2018,

Uttar Pradesh tops the list of number of

crimes committed against Dalits including

Dalit women in 2018. Also, Uttar

Pradesh has recorded the maximum

number of cases of rape (526), attempt

to rape (48), incidences of kidnap and

abduction of Dalit women (381) and

incidences of assault (711) in the year of

2018 under the SC/ST (PoA) Act. As per

the compiled data of the NCRB reports

of 2014-18, Uttar Pradesh has witnessed

the maximum number of atrocities

against Dalit women in India and an

increase of 15% in the number or rape

cases against Dalit women from 2015-

18. 7,920 number of atrocities against

Dalit women have been registered under

the SC/ST (PoA) Amendment Act in

Uttar Pradesh from 2014-18. A big

majority of this figure has been for the

cases of assault (3,421) and rape (2,410)

NEWS

of Dalit women. Attempt to rape (219)

and kidnap and abduction (1,870) also

form a major form of violence committed

against Dalit women in Uttar

Pradesh from 2014-18.

Hathras Incident: –

On 14th September 2020, Dalit girl

had gone to the fields to collect fodder

for cows with her mother. Her mother

was working around 100 meters away

from the girl when four accused namely

Sandeep alias Chandu s/o Narendra;

Lavkush s/o Ramesh Singh, Ravi s/o

Attar Singh and Ram Kumar alias Ramu

s/o Rakesh Singh all resident of village

Bugadhi under PS Chandpa District

Hathras Uttar Pradesh from the dominant

caste attacked the girl and gang

raped her before strangling her. The victim,

once she recovered a little, gave her

statement to the police mentioning the

names of three accused and explaining

the whole incident. The girl was admitted

to the District Hospital, Hathras with

grave injuries on her spine, abdomen,

and mouth on 14th September and was

transferred to Aligarh’s Jawaharlal

Nehru Medical hospital following that.

The doctors of Aligarh Medical Hospital

have stated that she was brought in with

severe trauma and a paralysed condition

of the lower body because of the spinal

cord injury. She was brought in to

Safdarjung Hospital on 28th September

2020 and breathed her last on the morning

of 29th September 2020.

Police Apathy and State

Response:-

We hold the Police and the State

responsible for their inaction to register

complaints and not arresting the

accused in time. They have further

inflicted mental as well as physical torture

upon the survivors and the families.

Every case reveals the state machinery

has turned a blind eye toward the cases

through its apathetic response, violated

rights of victims to access justice and

have nullified the Human dignity. In the

Hathras case, the victim’s brother mentioned

that no arrest was made by the

police even after 10 days of the incident

being reported.

The fourth accused was arrested and

sent in judicial custody only on

26/9/2020. There was no effort made by

the police to provide the safety and protection

to the family of the deceased.

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

AIDMAM & NDMJ CONDEMNS RISING

ATROCITIES AGAINST DALIT WOMEN AND MINOR

GIRLS IN THE STATE OF UTTAR PRADESH

17

This became the root cause of threatening

and criminal intimidation mounted

upon the survivor family by the accused

and their community.

Key Demands :-

1. AIDMAM & NDMJ calls upon the

State to uphold the rights of Dalit

Women and Minors;

2. Strict implementation of the Rule of

Law in the State of Uttar Pradesh

and throughout the Indian State;

3. Calls for strict implementation of the

SCs and STs POA Act, POCSO Act

and Rules in cases of violence and

discrimination against SC and ST

communities especially Minors;

4. Fast track all cases of sexual assault

on Dalit women and girls under the

POA and POCSO Acts in conjunction

with IPC Sections;

5. The non-bailable offense clause

under the POCSO and POA Act

should be followed in letter and

spirit;

6. Provide relief and rehabilitation to

survivors of caste and gender based

violence as per the POA Act.

7. In the Lakhimpur cases FIR should

include the names of all the accused

as identified by the survivors and all

accused should be arrested;

8. Police officials in Lakhimpur cases as

well as in Hathras case should be

booked under section 4 of the SCs and

STs POA act for negligence in duty;

9. In Lakhimpur and Hathras cases of

atrocities compensation, relief and

rehabilitation should be provided to

the family as per the SCs and STs

POA Act.

10. Strict follow-up of the State and district

vigilance and monitoring committees

should be carried out in

Uttar Pradesh as well as the entire

Indian State.

China restricts climbing

'WILD GREAT WALL'

Authorities are also proactively scouring

social media to see if any "wild Great Wall"

expeditions are being organised.

"This year's National Day holiday lasts

eight days and the number of visitors to

explore the 'wild Great Wall' is bound to

increase," Yu Hankuan, Director of the

Yanqing District Cultural Relics

Administration told the Global Times.

Hankuan added that some sections of the

Great Wall are very steep - and it is possible

for tourists to get lost or fall off.

The parts of the Great Wall that are usually

visited by tourists is just a small section of

Beijing : As China approaches the busiest to visit. China is banking on the holiday to the famous landmark, which stretches for

holiday season, Beijing authorities have boost its badly hit tourism industry. thousands of kilometres.

warned that it will punish those who plan to Beijing reminded the public that trespassers

on these parts of the Great Wall could Chinese tourists travel abroad over the eight-

Typically, hundreds of thousands of

climb the "wild Great Wall".

This refers to parts of the Great Wall that be fined between 200 and 30,000 yuan day holiday period - but this year, with travel

restrictions in place, its likely that domes-

are unrestored and aren't officially open to (£3,430; $4404)

tourists - people can be fined if they flout It will also be stepping up security, with a tic tourism will soar.

rules, the BBC reported. Rules will be Beijing Daily report saying that all 131 China has appeared to largely recover

enforced more strictly over Golden Week, guards usually stationed along the Great from the virus, and many restrictions have

with thousands of domestic tourists expected Wall would be on duty over Golden Week. been lifted.

Kathmandu leads with highest

number of Covid cases in Nepal

Kathmandu : Of the 1,559 new cases of Covid-19 recorded

across Nepal on Wednesday, 902 cases were detected in the capital

alone, health officials said.

This accounts for 57.86 percent of the total cases detected across

the country. According to the latest data released by the Ministry of

Health and Population (MoHP), a total of 697 people in

Kathmandu, 93 in Bhaktapur and 112 in Lalitpur were diagnosed

with the Covid-19. With this, the number of people infected with

the novel coronavirus in the Valley has reached 23,960.

The MoHP also recorded three cases of fatality linked with

Covid-19 in Kathmandu Valley on Wednesday. A 54-year-old man,

a 34-year-old and a 86-year-old woman from Kathmandu district

succumbed to Covid-19. A total of 140 people have died of Covid

in Kathmandu Valley as of Wednesday afternoon, a report said.

The three districts in Kathmandu Valley -- Kathmandu,

Bhaktapur and Lalitpur -- are among the districts with the highest

numbers of Covid cases in Nepal in recent weeks.

18 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 NEWS


New Delhi : Despite the nationwide

protests on September 25th,

President Ramnath Kovind gave

assent to the three farm bills on

Sunday 27-September 2020, recently

passed by the parliament. The three

bills were the Farmers’ Produce Trade

and Commerce (Promotion and

Facilitation) Bill, 2020, Farmers

(Empowerment and Protection)

Agreement on Price Assurance and

Farm Services Bill, 2020, and

Essential Commodities (Amendment)

Bill 2020.

The President didn’t pay any heed

to the irregularities brought by the

members of parliament and the partisan

manner in which the Deputy

chairman conducted the business in

Rajya Sabha. President should have

used his powers to ask the government

to reconsider but he chose to

stand with the government. We are

deeply disappointed and outraged at

this murder of democracy and violation

of every possible procedure and

conversion of parliament into a rubber

stamp. After the dubious proceeding

of passing the bills by voice vote, it

should have been discussed, debated,

and sent to the parliamentary committee

for further analysis and adding

necessary amendments, affirming the

security and benefit of the farmers.

Farmers’ Produce Trade and

Commerce (Promotion and

Facilitation), Act

The Farmers’ Produce Trade and

Commerce (Promotion and

Facilitation) Act, promotes private

Bhumi Adhikar Andolan

markets for the trading of agricultural

produce. The central government is

calling it favorable for farmers as they

will now be able to sell their produce

wherever they want, but the question

is how many farmers sell their products

in distant markets and have

enough resources to do so? More than

80% of the farmers do not have landholdings

of more than 2 Hectares and

the act does not have any clause for

regulating the prices outside the

Agricultural Produce Market

Committee (APMC), commonly

known as ‘Anaj Mandi’ or ‘Krishi

Mandi’. There are close to 7000

APMCs in the country with their own

ecosystem of trading and employment.

This act allows middlemen or

traders or private companies to bypass

the APMCs and buy it directly from

farmers or other trading centers. The

APMC’s will not shut immediately

but eventually, they will, as most of

the trade will be happening outside of

these. The APMCs are also those marketplaces

where farmers can sell their

crops on Minimum Support Price, so

it’s a direct threat to the MSP as well.

This act will certainly benefit the private

companies and traders as now

they will not need any license for buying,

they will not have to pay the taxes

to the states for buying and it will also

provide them with the potential of

regulating the prices of the agricultural

goods.

Farmers (Empowerment and

Protection) Agreement on Price

Assurance and Farm Services, Act

The Farmers (Empowerment and

Protection) Agreement on Price

Assurance and Farm Services act will

clear the way for contract farming,

and now private companies will be

able to make direct contacts with the

farmers. Again, there are no price regulations

for directly buying from

farmers. This might benefit the farmers

in the beginning but with time,

companies will be setting up the rates

as per their will and can also influence

the farmers for growing particular

crops, posing a serious threat for the

indigenous crops.

Essential Commodities

(Amendment) Act, 2020

The third act Essential

Commodities (Amendment), Act 2020,

removes the cereals, pulses, oilseeds,

edible oil, onion, and potato from the

list of essential commodities. This act

will also promote hoarding of goods as

it says that stock limits can only be

imposed if the retail price of non-perishable

goods (cereals, pulses, oilseeds,

etc) increases above the average

by 50% and the retail price of perishable

goods (fruits, vegetables, etc)

increase above the average by 100%.

The act is set to become a foundation

for the private companies for regulating

the prices as per their whims

& fancies. The Amendment will deregularise

the production, storage,

movement, and distribution for these

food commodities, also posing a serious

threat to the food security of

Indian citizens. The farmers have

already begun protesting nationwide,

right after these were passed from the

parliament. Bhumi Adhikar Andolan

vows to continue challenging the acts

and its implementation on the ground

and will also explore legal ways to

challenge this since it impinges upon

the federal character and takes away

the right of the State legislatures to

make the laws.

Sanjeev Kumar

Secretary

Dalit Adivasi Shakti Adhikar

Manch (DASAM)

Britain's economy

shrank by nearly 20%

in second quarter

London : Britain's economy

shrank by a record 19.8 per

cent in the second quarter,

entering recession over the

coronavirus lockdown, but the

contraction was less severe

than first thought, official data

showed on Wednesday.

The fall was the biggest

since the Office for National

Statistics (ONS) records began

in 1955. Other data has suggested

Britain is on course for

its biggest annual fall since the

1920s. Britain's economy had

already shrunk by 2.5 per cent

in the January-March period as

the country entered lockdown

in late March, CGTN reported.

Output has rebounded in

recent months but the recovery

looks to be fading with rising

coronavirus cases and forecasts

of a jump in unemployment as

the government scales back job

support.

"The renewed Covid-19

restrictions will probably mean

that GDP stagnates in Q4, leaving

economic activity

marooned 5.5 per cent short of

its pre-crisis level," Ruth

Gregory of consultancy Capital

Economics said.

"And the risk now is that

renewed containment measures

send the recovery into reverse,"

she added. Britain has suffered

Europe's highest

death toll from

COVID-19, with

more than 42,000

fatalities.

Compared with a

year earlier, Britain's

second quarter output

tumbled 21.5 per cent

- the same as in Spain

- while France reported

a 19 percent drop.

The statistics

office said differences

in how countries estimated

public sector

activity " especially

whether they focused

on money spent or

used the ONS's approach of

looking at the extent of disruption

to normal services " complicated

international comparisons.

Nonetheless, it said

Britain's economy shrank more

than any other Group of Seven

economy in the first half of

2020.

There have been some bright

spots in the recovery.

Retail spending exceeded

pre-pandemic levels in July and

August "driven by a boom in

online shopping, groceries and

home improvement " and figures

on Wednesday showed the

biggest annual rise in house

prices in more than four years.

Strongest season for Indian and

Southeast Asian art online

New Delhi : Christies

Asian Art Week New York

achieved a total of

$82,830,875 with 90 percent

by value, 84 percent sold by

lot, and 175 percent hammer

above low estimate across

the eight live auctions. It

saw a global participation

with bidders from 41 countries

across five continents.

Additionally, unique visitors

from over 110 countries

visited the sale pages leading

into the week. During

the week 13 records were

achieved and 13 lots exceeded

$1m across all geographies of

Asian art. Online sales continue

through October 1.

The top lot of the week was

a rare and magnificent gray

schist triad of Buddha

Shakyamuni that sold for

$6,630,000 and set the world a

uction record for a Gandharan

work of art. Other notable

results included a woodblock

print by Katsushika Hokusai,

"The Great Wave," which

achieved $1,110,000 and set

the record for the print by the

artist; a rare and magnificent

bronze figure of Shiva

Tripuravijaya, South India,

circa 1050, that sold for

$4,350,000 and established the

record for a South Indian

sculpture; an important painting

by Tyeb Mehta, Untitled

from 1974 that sold for

$1,110,000; and a Northern Qi

grey limestone figure of

Buddha that realised

$2,550,000. Deepanjana

Klein, International Head of

Classical and Contemporary

Indian and South Asian Art,

said: "This season was the

strongest in over a decade for

Indian and Southeast Asian

art. We are incredibly proud

that the week 's top three

prices were for classical

Indian and Gandharan works

of art with records set for a

South Indian sculpture with

the bronze figure of Shiva

from the Alsdorf collection

selling for $4.3m and a record

for a Gandharan work of art

set by the magnificent schist

relief that sold for $6.6m.

"Additionally, the modern

and contemporary sales collectively

set eight new artist

records. These exceptional

results and participation

demonstrate the resilience of

the market and growing

breadth and depth of the collector

base in the field. The

success of this week of sales is

owed to the strength of our

global team of specialists."

Tina Zonars, Co-Chairman

of Asian Art, Christie's, said:

"The strong sell through rates

and prices realised not only

show the robustness of the

market, but also our expertise

in curating sales that meet

current market demands

across all collecting categories

of Asian art.

Exceptional prices were

achieved throughout the week

for Chinese paintings, stone

sculpture, bronzes, Qing

imperial porcelains, Japanese

and Korean works of art, and

classical Chinese furniture,

demonstrating the expansion

of the market and the depth of

our buying audience. The

overall success of the week is

a testament to Christie's teamwork

and innovation especially

during this unprecedented

time."


NEWS

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

19

India does not need

more Smart Cities, says

Urban Affairs Secy

New Delhi : Even as work is underway

on building 100 Smart Cities

across the country, there is no need for

more as learnings from the ongoing

mission can be replicated for other

cities and towns in the country, a top

official of the Union Ministry of

Housing and Urban Affairs said on

Tuesday.

"Learnings from 100 Smart Cities

Mission is very important... people

often ask me about the next round of

Smart Cities and I tell them that it is not

required because we can utilise the

learnings from our ongoing mission,

replicate the same and move ahead,"

Housing and Urban Affairs Secretary

D.S. Mishra said at a webinar on

"Digital Transformation of Smart Cities

in India and path ahead".

Quoting examples of various smart

cities - Indore, Bhopal, Chennai,

Coimbatore, Hyderabad and others, he

said: "We have learnt a lot of things that

can be replicated in shoring up infrastructure

in other cities to achieve our

goal of improving our citizens' lives

and promote ease of living, be it in

terms of health, education, public transport,

safety and surveillance and other

such aspects."

Highlighting the three main goals of

Smart Cities Mission, Mishra said: "It

is about improving liveability, economic

ability and sustainability... for this we

are conducting all sorts of new experiments

in our smart cities - building

basic infrastructure using technology to

provide better facilities and sustainable

solutions to people."

"We are focusing on capturing the

data and using it as an open source to

further improve the living standard of

people and how we can make our cities

climate resilient," he added.

Mishra also informed that work is

likely to be soon completed on 33 of the

49 Integrated Command and Control

Centres (ICCC) that were turned into

Covid-19 war rooms.

"In cities where the infection was

rapidly spreading, the ICCCs helped

track movement of each and every

patient, tracing their contacts, supplying

things to their homes, ensuring

cleanliness and overall logistics together

with predicting requirement of number

of beds, masks, sanitisers and others,"

he said.

"All this information was smoothly

compiled with the help of our integrated

command and control centres and

has been documented. We have also

uploaded it on our ministry's website."

The Housing and Urban Affairs

Secretary also gave examples of proper

management using technology in case

of recent floods in Vadodra, cyclone in

Vizag and holding the Kumbh Mela

with the help of ICCC.

About digital transformation in the

recent years, he said: "There is a new

thinking which has introduced the concept

of Smart Cities in India which is

all about further improving the lives of

our citizens, leading to quality of life

and promoting ease of living through

optimal use of all resources available at

our disposal."

Mishra further said that the Prime

Minister, while giving a call for

Aatmanirbhar Bharat, talked about

three things - healthy individual,

healthy society and healthy economy,

and to accomplish all these three, it is

needed to optimally utilise all the

resources available. "For this we need

to use technology in a big way and so

Smart Cities concept can help us learn a

lot in this behalf."

He also said that the Ministry of

Housing and Urban Affairs is documenting

most information - be it related

to smart road construction, water supply,

sanitation, mobility etc.

Terming digital transformation as a

positive aspect of Covid-19, the

Secretary said: "It is during the lockdown

that we realised that life has to go

on and for that it was only due to digital

medium that we contacted people be

it for sanitation, logistics, tracking

patients and others... such exercises

were possible only via digital medium."

He also said that the pandemic has

also brought a lot of challenges, and

one big challenge is about how to make

public transport in such a way that people

can be saved from infectious diseases

like Covid-19.

In his address, Pradeep Aggarwal,

Chairman, ASSOCHAM National

Council on Real Estate, Housing and

Urban Development, said: "The epidemic

of Covid-19 has given us an

opportunity to think once again on the

Smart City Mission and build sustainable

cities which can fight such epidemic

like situations. It has made us

realize that we will need to strengthen

the health and education facilities of

such cities."

Acid reflux medicines may

raise diabetes risk: Study

How to manage

stretch marks during

and post-pregnancy

Beijing : Researchers have

found that regular use of acid

reflux drugs, known as proton

pump inhibitors (PPIs), is linked

to a heightened risk of developing

type 2 diabetes.

And the longer these drugs

are taken, the greater the risk

seems to be, the findings, published

in the journal Gut show,

prompting the researchers to

advise that people taking these

drugs for two or more years

should have regular blood glucose

check-ups to screen for diabetes.

PPIs are used to treat acid

reflux, peptic ulcers, and indigestion.

They are among the top

10 most commonly used drugs

worldwide.

"Long-term use has been

linked to an increased risk of

bone fractures, chronic kidney

disease, gut infections and stomach

cancer," said study authors

from the Seventh Affiliated

Hospital in China. In 2014, the

global prevalence of type 2 diabetes

was 8.5 per cent, and the

researchers wanted to find out if

the widespread use of PPIs and

the high prevalence of diabetes

might be linked.

They drew on information

supplied by 204, 689 participants

(176,050 women and

28,639 men) aged 25 to 75.

According to the researchers,

participants were also asked

whether they had used PPIs regularly

in the preceding 2 years:

regular use was defined as 2 or

more times a week.

During the average tracking

period of around 9 to 12 years

across all three groups, 10,105

participants were diagnosed with

type 2 diabetes. After taking

account of potentially influential

factors, including high blood

pressure, high cholesterol, physical

inactivity and use of other

medication, those who regularly

used PPIs were 24 per cent more

likely to develop type 2 diabetes

than those who didn't.

And the longer these drugs

were taken, the greater was the

risk of developing diabetes: use

for up to 2 years was associated

with a five per cent increased

risk; use for more than 2 years

was associated with a 26 per cent

increased risk.

Further analysis showed that

diabetes risk among PPI users

wasn't affected by sex, age, family

history of diabetes, smoking,

alcohol intake, diet, physical

activity, high cholesterol or regular

use of anti-inflammatory

drugs. But it was higher among

participants who weren't overweight

or who had normal blood

pressure. For comparison, the

researchers also looked at the

potential impact of H2 blockers,

another type of drug used to curb

excess stomach acid production.

Regular use of these drugs

was associated with a 14 per cent

increased risk. Similarly, longerterm

use was associated with a

higher risk while longer time

since stopping was associated

with a lower risk, the study

noted.

New Delhi : Stretch marks

are a common annoyance during

and post-pregnancy and the easiest

and most convenient way of

reducing these marks is by following

a pregnancy skincare

regimen, health experts have

said. Stretch marks often appear

on the belly, thighs, breasts, and

hips, during their second

trimester as during pregnancy

the skin undergoes several

changes.

Along with the appearance of

stretch marks, the skin tends to

sag and become dry and itchy

due to lack of moisture.

However, the best part is that

with early intervention, these

skin changes may fade or disappear

after childbirth.

"Skin tends to change during

pregnancy, which means regular

skincare routine probably won't

be very effective. Hence, understand

the nourishment that skin

requires during this phase and

choose a regimen accordingly,"

said Dr Prathibha Babshet,

Ayurveda expert, R&D, The

Himalaya Drug Company.

For pregnant mothers,

Babshet shared an essential twostep

skincare routine for stretch

marks during and post-pregnancy.

First, massage gently before

bedtime: A massage is the most

effective way to reduce stretch

marks. Indulging in a light massage

every night before bed

helps in building skin elasticity

while increasing blood flow.

"The increase in blood flow also

results in a lightening of the

marks. New moms can include

this as part of their bedtime routine

with an oil specially formulated

for stretch marks; preferably

olive, wheat germ, almond,

and sesame," she said.

Then, moisturise after a

shower. When the moisture level

in the skin is maintained, it not

only results in soft and supple

skin but also helps reduce itchiness

and the appearance of

stretch marks, according to the

expert. Babshet also added that

opting for a cream with a herboil-butter

complex helps provide

deeper moisturisation, especially

when used after a shower.

"A blend of almond oil, wheat

germ oil, olive oil, mango butter,

kokum butter, and shea butter,

and herbs like centella, pomegranate,

and licorice helps firm

up sagging skin and reduces the

appearance of stretch marks naturally,"

she said.

The experts also stressed that,

apart from a good skin care regimen,

it is equally important to

take care of your health and

body. "It is advisable to eat a

healthy diet and exercise regularly.

Drinking enough water

also helps keep the skin hydrated.

Avoid eating junk food and

eliminate caffeine from your

diet," Babshet noted.

20 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 NEWS


EU mulling legal

options if UK breaches

BREXIT TREATY

Brussels : The European Union (EU) has reiterated of

mulling legal options if the UK breaches the Brexit Withdrawal

Agreement with the controversial Internal Market Bill, which

will override some parts of the deal, it was reported.

The remarks were made by Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President

of the European Commission for Interinstitutional Relations,

after a meeting with

UK Cabinet Office

Minister Michael Gove

on Monday, Euro

News said in a report.

"The Withdrawal

Agreement is to be

implemented, not to be

renegotiated, let alone

unilaterally changed,

disregarded or disapplied,"

Sefcovic was quoted as saying to reporters.

"It cannot be stressed enough that the (Ireland/Northern

Ireland) Protocol is specifically designed to protect the Good

Friday (Belfast) Agreement and the achievements of the peace

process, including avoiding a hard border on the island of

Ireland," he added.

The Good Friday Agreement refers to a pair of deals signed

on April 1998 that ended most of the violence of the Troubles,

a political conflict in Northern Ireland that had been ongoing

since the 1960s.

It served as a major development in the Northern Ireland

peace process of the 1990s.

Sefcovic further said that the EU has given the UK until the

end of the month to withdraw the Internal Market Bill and that

it is "considering all legal options available" and will "not be

shy" in using them if London fails to do so.

In a statement issued after the meeting, the UK’s Cabinet

Office said: "The measures set out in the Internal Market Bill

are designed to create a ’safety net’ to ensure the communities of

Northern Ireland are protected.

"The UK is clear that those measures would not be withdrawn."

The Internal Market Bill proposed by the Johnson-led

government would override that part of that agreement when it

came to goods and would allow the UK to modify or re-interpret

"state aid" rules on subsidies for firms in Northern Ireland,

in the event of the two sides not agreeing a future trade deal.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said that the bill would

provide belt-and-braces protection against extreme interpretations

of the Brexit protocol, adding that the law-breaking powers

will only be used in extreme circumstances.

Meanwhile, his government has agreed to table an amendment

to the bill, giving MPs a vote before its powers are used.

The UK left the EU on January 31, having negotiated and

signed the withdrawal agreement, which is now an international

treaty, with the bloc, the BBC reported.

The two sides are now in the closing weeks of negotiations

for a post-Brexit trade deal before the transition period ends on

December 31.

New Delhi : Mukesh Ambani,

Chairman of India’s most valued firm

Reliance Industries, continues to top

the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List

2020 for the ninth consecutive year,

with a total wealth of Rs 6.58 lakh

crore. His total wealth has surged by

73 per cent in the last 12 months, propelling

him to become the richest individual

in Asia and fourth richest person

in the world.

Indians with more than Rs 1,000

crore wealth cross the 828-mark in the

2020 edition of the rich list.

London-based Hinduja brothers

(SP Hinduja, along with his three

brothers) with a joint wealth of Rs

1.43 lakh crore bagged the second

position. HCL Founder Shiv Nadar

with a wealth of Rs 1.41 lakh crore

ranked third, followed by Gautam

Adani and family at fourth spot and

Azim Premji at fifth spot.

Radhakishan Damani, the founder of

Avenue Supermarts, debuted in the top

10 wealthiest individuals ranking in

the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List

2020. "A 28 per cent of the upswing in

wealth on the list has been bestowed

by Mukesh Ambani, bespeaking

Ambani’s meteoric success post diversifying

from oil to telecom and retail.

A further 21 per cent of the additional

wealth has been generated by pharma,

mainly on the back of the rise in

healthcare spends and a realigned priority

towards personal healthcare

stimulated by the Covid-19," Anas

Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief

Researcher, Hurun India said.

With rising new wealth creators

such as innovative startups, family

businesses with strong professional

management, investors who believe in

the India story, and a demographic

advantage that is inferior to none, the

India’s wealth creation story is still yet

to reach the half-way mark, the report

said. "Assuming that for every one

Kashi- Mathura : Will Temple

Politics be Revived?

When Babri Mosque was being

demolished in broad day light, the slogan

being chanted by the leaders was, Yeh to

Kewal jahnki hai, Kashi Mathura Baaki

hai (This is the beginning, Kashi Mathura

are next on the line). Supreme Court

despite giving the same land to those who

demolished the Mosque did call it a

crime. The Ram Temple was used to the

hilt for electoral purpose and for dividing

the society along religious lines. The faith

that Lord Ram was born precisely at that

spot was constructed. This constructed

faith formed the base of politics and later

the judgement of the Courts.

Having achieved this milestone of

religious nationalism, now what next? As

such there is no dearth of divisive issues,

issues based around identity, issues which

demonise the religious minorities, marginalise

them and give a boost to sectarian

nationalism, some of these are permanently

on the agenda like, love jihad, (added on by

land jihad, corona jihad, civil service jihad

etc.) holy cow, large families, Uniform Civil

code among other. There is a regular addition

to such issues, through which the majoritarian

politics aims to show the majority community

as the victim of minorities.

In that sense the issue of Kashi and

Mathura are potent issues, which can add on

to the already existing plethora of identity

issues. In Kashi, abutting the wall of

Vishwanath Temple is Gyanwapi Mosque.

Some say this was built at the time of Akbar

and others say it was Aurangzeb during

whose reign it was built. In Mathura, Shahi

Idgah mosque stands next to Krishna janma

Bhumi Temple. As per the section of Hindu

belief the Holy Trio is Ram, Shiva and

Krishna which are the most important

deities. So the places of importance become

Ram (Ayodhya), Shiva (Varanasi) and

Krishna (Mathura) which are the three major

places to be retrieved.

While the current narrative being popularized

is that scores of temples have been

destroyed by the invading Muslim rulers of

these at least three have to be retrieved as per

Hindu Nationalists. There have also been

talks and formulations floating that Jama

Masjid in Delhi and Jama Masjid in

Ahmadabad are also the places, which have

been built on Hindu places of worship. The

temple destructions have been dealt with by

Hurun rich lister

we have found, we

have probably

missed two, it is

likely that India

today has 2,000

individuals with Rs

1,000 crore," continued

Anas

Rahman Junaid,

MD and Chief

Researcher, Hurun

India.

The cut-off for

the top 10 rose by 6

per cent to Rs 76,000 crore this year, a

10 per cent increase compared to the

previous year. The cumulative wealth

of IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich

Listers have increased by 20 per cent

compared to that of last year. 84 indi-

Ram Puniyani

many scholars of History and Archaeology.

Temples have been destroyed for political

rivalry, assertion of one s rule and for wealth.

It is not only Muslim kings who destroyed

Hindu temples, some of them gave generous

donations to Hindu temples. Firmans of King

Aurangzeb tell us of scores of temple where

he gave donations, to recount just couple of

them- Kamakhya Devi in Guwahati,

Mahakal in Ujjain, and Lord Krishna in

Vrindavan. He also destroyed a mosque in

Golconda when the local ruler refused to

give him the tribute for three consecutive

years.

D. D. Kosambi points out (Quoted in

Religious Nationalism , Media House 2020,

page 107) that Raja Harshdev of 11th

Century Kashmir who appointed a special

officer, Devottapatna Nayak, to uproot gold,

silver and precious stones studded idols during

his regime.

Richard Eaton tells us about rival Hindu

kings destroying the defeated opponents

Kuldevata (Clan god) Temple to build temple

of their own clan God. In Srirangatnam

Maratha armies destroyed the Hindu temple

and Tipu got it repaired! Somehow selective

communal historiography has ensured the

temple destruction becoming a major seed of

divisive politics in India.

If we go a bit further back into history the

clash between Buddhism and Brahmanism

led to destruction of thousands of Buddha

Viharas. Recently while levelling the ground

for Ram Temple ground breaking many remnants

of Buddha Vihar were found. Historian

Dr. M.S. Jayaprakash points out Hundreds

of Buddhist statues, stupas and viharas have

Mukesh Ambani tops IIFL Hurun Rich List

for 9th straight year with Rs 6.58L Cr asset

viduals have

migrated from

India and are NRIs.

19 saw their wealth

double year on

year.

All three of

Udaan founders

became the highest

gainers in terms of

wealth as compared

to the 2019 edition -

- with increase of

274 per cent in each

of their wealth.

Chigurupati Krishna Prasad of

Granules India, also registered a 218

per cent jump in the wealth to Rs

3,500 crore. With a wealth of Rs 4,500

crore, Ritesh Agarwal (26) of Oyo

Rooms is the youngest person on the

been destroyed in India between 830 and

966 AD in the name of Hindu revivalism.

Both literary and archaeological sources

within and outside India speak volumes

about the havoc done to Buddhism by

Hindu fanatics many Hindu kings and

rulers took pride in demolishing Buddhist

images aiming at the total eradication of

Buddhist culture.

In this backdrop where do we go from

here after we have seen the mayhem created

around Lord Ram Temple in Ayodhya?

The social and political fallout of the whole

issue has pushed our democracy several

steps backwards. It has relegated the religious

minorities in to the cocoon of second

class citizenship.

As Akhil Bhartiya Akhada Parishad has

declared that it will initiate the campaign for

liberation of Kashi and Mathura, it has also

said that in due course the arms of Sangh

Parivar will be asked to join in. At the

moment RSS is saying that it is not keen on

the issue, but it seems it is a matter of time

when it will jump into the Kashi-Mathura

fray and deepen the impact of the campaign

to be launched by Akhada Parishad. Already

calling the mosques as two symbols of slavery

, BJP leader and rural development and

panchayat raj minister in Karnataka K.S.

Eshwarappa had said on August 5 that a

symbol of slavery disturbs our attention and

points out that you are a slave . He reiterated

his stance and said, All Hindus across

the world have a dream that those symbols of

slavery should be removed on the lines of

Ayodhya. The masjids in Mathura and Kashi

will be destroyed too and temples will be

rebuilt.

As such legislation is in place which

states, prohibit conversion of any place of

worship and to provide for the maintenance

of the religious character of any place of

worship as it existed on the 15th day of

August 1947, and for matters connected

therewith or incidental thereto.

Temple politics has dragged us into the

politics, which is against plural, democratic

ethos. The success of right wing forces to

increase their clout through Ram Temple

campaign may further, prompt them to go in

this direction, which is detrimental to the

progress and development of the country.

The hope is that the majority people oppose

such issues being rekindled again.

list and with a wealth of Rs 5,400

Crore, Dharam Pal Gulati (96) of

MDH is the oldest on the list. Nearly 5

per cent of the list (40 individuals) is

comprised of women. 10 out of these

40 women are self-made.

The richest woman in the list is

Smita V Crishna, of Godrej with Rs

32,400 crore, followed by Kiran

Mazumdar-Shaw, of Biocon with a

wealth of Rs 31,600 crore.

Being home to 217 individuals that

comprise 26 per cent of the list,

Mumbai is the residential capital of

India’s wealthy, followed by New

Delhi and Bengaluru. In the year 2020,

Mumbai registered an increase of 41

individuals from the rich list, while

New Delhi lost 5 of them. More than

half of the new additions in IIFL

Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 are

contributed by top three cities this year

-- this was 36 per cent last year.

Further, with 248 and 128 entrants

respectively, Maharashtra and Delhi

are the preferred states of residence for

individuals in IIFL Wealth Hurun

India Rich List 2020.


Tribute to Jaswant Singh

Jaswant Singh was

the most modern man in

the wrong party which

really never respected

him or cared for him.

Ofcourse, he was the

founder of the party and

its top leader when politics

was not a game of

just ‘managers’ and

‘dealers’. A former army

officer, Jaswant Singh

was never a mass man

and remained Anglican

and royal all his life

time, not at all compromising

with the privacy of his life. The one commonality

between him and his leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee was their liberal

lifestyles and any poet, intellectual or shayar would have loved

their evenings with them. Vajpayee trusted #Jaswantsingh

tremendously as he became finance minister in his cabinet. But

unfortunately, for a party which lacked credible leaders and

effective administrators who respected the knowledge of others

too, it was not the right quality and that is the reason that as

Vajpayee went into oblivion after demitting the office, slowly his

generation leaders too who he trusted the most, were systematically

sidelined in the party. Perhaps, being gentle, soft spoken,

sober and intellectually countering the opponents were not the

need of the party where fuming loudmouths with invectives and

innuendoes against the opponents are considered the best quality

these days. Jaswant was perhaps the only one among the top

leadership of the BJP who did not have a formal RSS background

and never even pretended to do that.

During his tenure as India’s foreign Minister, we saw the

hijacking of IC-814 from Kathmandu to Delhi on December

24th, 1999 by the Talibani terrorists. They first landed the plane

in Amritsar and then forced flew it to Kandahar in Afghanistan.

That was the time when there was no relationship and the Taliban

was brutally ruling. Whatever, we say, there is a reality that government’s

come under deep pressure from the people and they

have to listen to the voices of the people. People started protesting

and given the nature of the Taliban, it would have blown out

the plane. Ofcourse, the government completely failed in tackling

the issue militarily as it was possible when the plane landed

in Amritsar. It should not have allowed it to fly and once the mistake

was done and the plane was in the home territory of the people

who were ruling as per their fancies, the government had little

option. As a foreign Minister, Jaswant Singh had to bear the

‘cross’ of the shame of releasing the dreaded terrorist as demanded

by the Taliban and had to go with him to handover to Taliban.

We don’t know whether there was any ransom paying or not. The

entire thing actually made Jaswant the villain in the eyes of the

people later who released a dreaded terrorist responsible for

attack on Indian Parliament and continued to create a terror network

against Indian interests in Pakistan while those the real

leaders were never in picture. It is those who can negotiate in

such situations and minimise the damage bear the brunt. Jaswant

Singh paid for the folly of his colleagues in Defence, home and

Civil Aviation Ministry who had no clue how to handle the issue

and whose inefficiencies actually escalated the crisis.

Though never a mass leader, Jaswant Singh represented Lok

Sabha for four terms and Rajya Sabha for five terms between

1980 to 2014. The last time he represented Lok Sabha was not

from his native place in Rajasthan but Darjeeling in West Bengal

in 2009-2014 where those demanding a separate state for

Darjeeling thought he would support their demand in parliament

but perhaps that was not to happen. It is true, Jaswant Singh had

understanding of various issues and their political complexities

and that is why his book on Jinnah, India, Partition and independence

in 2010 became highly unpopular as he blamed Nehru,

Patel and Congress for the partition and exonerated Jinnah. The

book appreciating Mohammad Ali Jinnah found himself in turmoil

as the party took action against him. Opponents too used

this time unfortunately we never developed this understanding to

debate historical figures honestly and have grown up vilifying all

those who we disagree with, whether this side or that side.

Jaswant Singh was in the death bed since 2014 but an active

Jaswant would have been a great asset for all the democratic and

liberal forces as the one thing he never left was his liberal attitude

and never bending to extremist thoughts.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat

NEWS

S P Balasubrahmanyam who had the

world record of singing more than 40000

songs in 16 different languages of India

represented the idea of ‘India’, very much

under attack. The film Industry in Bombay

was actually Hindustani and not really

Hindi, because I believe it was build mostly

by those whose mother tongue was neither

Hindi nor is the cities original mother

tongue is Hindi, it is Marathi or Mumbai

Hindi. Obviously, Bombay was a very cosmopolitan

city but when the name was

changed for the purpose of respecting the

local sentiments, then one can not say anything

as name changing is the new culture

in the world. That is a long debated issue

and need not be discussed here.

In the late 1970s and early 80s when

cinema was going through a new patch,

and though Mohammad Rafi had passed

away and Kishore da was there, many new

singers emerged to give play back to new

actors but they were no match to the old

trio of Rafi, Kishore and Mukesh. Every

one of them was trying to copy them. Yes,

many became popular but two outstanding

personalities actually provided us some of

the most melodious songs of all times in

the Hindustani Cinema and they were the

spiritual voice from Kerala and I call him

the golden voice and he is legendary

Yesudas. Yesudass sang a very limited

number of songs for the Hindustani films

like Chitchor, Dada, Chhottee see baat,

Swami, Sawan ko Aane Do and so on.

However, he remained a favorite of music

director Ravinder Jain who introduced him

to Hindi world with ‘Gori Tera gaon bada

pyaara’. Almost all the songs that Yesudas

sang became super duper hit such as aaj se

pahle, aaj se jyada khushi aaj tak nahi mili,

jab deep jale aanaa, jab saanjh dhale aana,

kaa karoon sajni aaye naa balam.

SPB’s entry into Hindustani

films happened in the 1981s with

Kamal Hasan’s remake of old Telugu film

with Kamal Hasan and Rati Agnihotri in

the lead while the music of the film was

composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal. Film

‘Ek Duje ke liye’ became one of the

biggest hits of all times and it was not

merely the new actor Rati Agnihotri but

because of the melody of the voice of SP

Balasubrahmanyam. What a class ? For us,

who were coming to teen age that time, it

was a treat. ‘ Tere mere beech me, kaisa hai

ye bandhan.. anjaana’, or mere jeevan

saathi pyaar kiye jaa or hum bane tum bane

ek duje ke liye.

Later on we had listened to his voice for

various Salman Khan films which were

super duper hits of his time like ‘ maine

pyaar kiya’ and I am sure any one who listens

‘ aate jaate.. hanste gaate, socha tha

mane man me kai baar’, can list fall in love

with the voice of SPB. Whether you like

the films or not, his voice was energetic,

versatile and youthful. There are many

other songs in the same film. Perhaps he

became the voice of Salman Khan in

Badjatya’s film who could define the

romantic and flamboyant mood of the

actor. Whether it is Maine Pyaar kiya or

Hum Apke hain Kaun.

What is important for me is that the way

SPB sang these songs turned them classic.

Hindi speaking Bihari-UP wallahs won’t

do that kind of hard work though want to

now ‘dominate’ the industry. Pick up any

song and how much

‘lachak’ exists in the

voice of SPB.

If Yesudas is spiritual,

SPB is definitely versatile

and perhaps after Kishore Da, he was

the only one who could sing in such diversities

with that ease. SP

Balasubrahmanyam became a legend in his

lifetime as he started his acting career

much before many of us were born. He was

not merely a playback singer but an actor

and producer too but of course we will

remember him mostly for his melodious

songs. When we pay tribute to SP

Balasubrahmanyam and his versatility, it is

important for the Hindi speaking people to

respect the contribution of the non Hindi

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

21

Tribute to S P Balasubrahmanyam :

Music and art transcends

regions and boundaries

Chandigarh : Punjab Chief Minister

Amarinder Singh on Tuesday sought

inputs and suggestions from legal

experts, including legal representatives of

the farmer unions, on the next course of

action for protecting the interests of the

farmers against the Centre's new farm

laws.

He has directed Advocate General

Atul Nanda to collate and consider all

such suggestions, which may be received

on a specially created email id -

agri.law@punjab.gov.in.

The directives were issued by the

By Vidya Bhushan Rawat

social and human rights activist

Chief Minister during a high-level meeting

with top government officials to

deliberate on all aspects of the issues arising

out of the three Central acts on agriculture,

which were recently passed by

Parliament and notified after the

President's assent.

According to a spokesperson of the

Chief Minister's Office, during the course

of the meeting, all suggestions given by

leaders of various farmers' unions earlier

in the day, were discussed.

The meeting also mulled the legal

options available before the state.

speaking people to Bombay cinema. It is

time, we do not use cinema to spread

hatred. Dont destroy it. We know this

Bombay Cinema may have loads of problems,

nepotism and so many things but it

also gave us Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar,

Devanand, Shailendra, Sahir, Mazruh,

Kaifi Azami, Rahi Masum Raja, Kishor,

Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mahmood, Sachin Dev

Berman, Naushad, Lata Mangeshkar,

Yesudas,

SP Balasubrahmanyam and many more.

While we may or may not watch the

movies but it is sure that the songs and

lyrics have given life to millions of people

all over the world. They gave hope, they

shared pain, they gave a reason to live. As

I said, most of them did not have Hindi as

their mother tongue and yet the compositions,

the films actually became the voice

of the nation.

We must respect people’s languages.

Don’t impose them. Art and culture bring

people together. Art is creator so dont use it

for division and destruction purposes. The

world of art transcends all the boundaries

and though the Bombay cinema respects

diversity yet it still has not been able to

grapple with caste and color prejudices and

on that we can speak on some other time.

There is no doubt that on Hindu Muslim

relations, on secular values, cinema has

produced some of the superb films but

when the issue of Dalit identity, women’s

challenge to male dominance or political

issues of the marginalised people are yet to

take shape in the cinema world and for

their proper representation, this world will

have to open up its spaces for the aspiring

Ambedkarite film makers, writers and

actors. It will ultimately bring inclusion in

the industry. At the moment, my point is

that the current attempt to defame the tinsel

world of Mumbai is not with good intention

but to only hurt its diversity which we

hope will not succeed.

Once again, we hope people will realise

how inclusion and diversity pays. If this

had not happened through cinema, we in

North India would not have ever gotten the

opportunity to enjoy the serene voices of

Yesudas, SP Balasubrahmanyam and many

others. Let us celebrate diversity and inclusion

in the successes of late S P

Balasubrahmnayam and Yesudas in the

Bombay cinema or Hindustani cinema.

S P Balasubrahmanyam will always

remain alive through his lively and energetic

youthful songs. Our tribute to this

legend.

Punjab CM seeks inputs on protecting farmer interests

22 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 WORLD


POEM

HOW TO BUILD A

BETTER WORLD

I lay awake

Thinking how to build

A better world

Can you make right

What is wrong

With a song?

I hear the voices crying out

To save the world

And a counter refrain

That the world can save itself

What about climate change

Fires burning, hurricanes roaring

And still some ask,

“What has changed?”

Men subjugating men

And we turn a blind eye

Yes, people are

Clamouring for change

But the words are lost

For those in power

Have become deaf

Prophets have come and gone

Still the world remains the same

Irrfan's wife Sutapa appeals

to legalise CBD oil in India

Mumbai : Sutapa Sikdar, wife of late actor

Irrfan Khan, has made an appeal for the legalisation

CBD oil in India. Sutapa took to her unverified

Instagram account on Tuesday to present her

viewpoint. Sharing a photograph of the London

hospital where Irrfan Khan underwent cancer

treatment, Sutapa wrote on Instagram: "London

revisit looking at his hospital room from outside

like everytime I did while he was there

#walkingalone #wishyouwerethere #cancerpain

#LegalizeCBDoilinindia."

Irrfan passed away on April 29 this year after

battling cancer for almost two years.

On Monday, singer Sona Mohapatra spoke

about the benefits of CBD oil, which she came to

know during her sister's cancer treatment last

year. Sona shared a note on her verified

Facebook page: "The TV stories feel like a farce

esp CBD oil and ganja and Whatapp chats

being talked about with such fervour.

I discovered what the former was when my

sister went through multiple surgeries for cancer

last year. Was told of how magical the healing

and pain alleviating this could be for her

recovery.

Unfortunately we couldn't find any easily in

Mumbai. Cannabis has been the base of all

Ayurveda till the British banned it I've learnt,

thus taking away most of its efficacy."

Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor was

recently summoned by the Narcotics Control

Bureau as part of the agency's probe into actor

Sushant Singh Rajput's death. Shraddha was

called in by NCB after her alleged chat with

Sushant's former manager Jaya Saha, asking

for CBD oil, came to fore.

Each person on this earth

Have to look inside

Their heart and soul

To find the beauty

And compassion

In one’s self

And that is the only way

We can save our humanity

And make the world

A better place

– Jayanta Guha

Saguenay, September 20, 2020

Akshay Kumar, Vaani Kapoor

to shoot in London for

'Bell Bottom' after Glasgow

London : Akshay Kumar and Vaani Kapoor have finished their

Glasgow schedule for the upcoming film, Bell Bottom. They are

now set to shoot in London.

Akshay posted an Instagram picture featuring his wife Twinkle

Khanna and son Aarav, who are currently with him in the UK,

along with the cast and crew of the film.

"So many happy faces in one frame...that's the result of a good

schedule. Goodbye Glasgow, hello London

#BellBottom@_vaanikapoor_ @ranjitmtewari @jackkybhagnani

@deepshikhadeshmukh @pooja_ent @emmayentertainment

@onlyemmay@madhubhojwani @nikkhiladvani@aseemarora,"

he wrote in the caption.

"Bell Bottom" is a spy thriller film directed by Ranjit M.

Tewari, set in the 1980s. It also stars Lara Dutta and Huma

Qureshi and is slated for an April 2021 release.


WORLD

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

23

Constance Galeo Mogale is an experienced

South African land activist who

has played leading roles in several campaigns

and initiatives. She led a grassroots

movement called the Land Access

Movement of South Africa (LAMOSA),

A federation of communities claiming

land through Restitution, an organisation

that challenged the Restitution of

Land Rights Amendment Act of 2015.

She has a proven record in mobilisation,

and have extensive experience on participatory

research She currently coordinates

the Alliance for Rural Democracy

(ARD,) a loose network of organisations

campaigning for land rights and livelihoods

in South Africa. She is also holding

a Post Graduate Diploma in economic

Management Science in the

University of Western Cape and currently

a 2018 Cohort of Atlantic fellowship

programme, a partnership of Nelson

Mandela Foundation and Columbia

University in the USA. She is currently

pursuing a master’s degree in Economic

Management Science. In a wide ranging

conversation with Vidya Bhushan

Rawat, Ms Mogale explained various

issues of land rights, gender issues and

racism in South Africa and why she

feels so much about them.

She says that , “The need for radical

social movements arises from the

betrayal of promise by the current

Government, which failed to transform

the skewed patterns of land ownership

and reversing the legacy of the History

of Dispossession The bitter colonial history

of dispossession in South Africa

tells us that land was taken from as far

as the 1800. in 1913 Africans were cordially

allocated 7% percent of their

country. 93 percent of it was handed to

349,837 colonial settlers. When this

land was found inadequate for Africans

the Tom lion Commission was appointed

in 1916 and it was because of its findings

that 20 years later, the colonial parliament

passed the Native Trust Land

Act 1936 which added 6 percent to the 7

percent allocated to Africans in

1913.This left the colonial settlers with

87 percent.

In 1950 the colonial parliament

passed a law called Group Areas Act

1950 to remove those Africans who

were too close to “European” land. This

was to intensify colonial racism, which

in 1948, colonial Prime Minister Daniel

Malan named “apartheid” (race separation).

When the situation did not change

and the revolutionary movements in

South Africa resorted to the armed

struggle; the apartheid colonialist

regime resorted to creating “tribal

republics” for Africans where they

would “rule themselves.” They were

nine “republics” called “Homelands.”

They were called Ciskei, Kwa-Ngwane,

Lebowakgomo, Kwa-Ndebele, Venda,

Kwa-Zulu, QwaQwa, Transkei, and

Bophuthatswana.

But maybe the reconciliation argument

from the moderates, ANC ruling

party could be, let us talk the here and

now as it its complicated to resolve

issues of 100 centuries ago. we need to

bite what we can chew and talk the land

rights now! The South African government

land reform programme was supposed

to deal with this injustice and provide

redress, they failed! Only about 9%

of the land was redistributed in 26 years

since 1994 Many South Africans are

frustrated by this slow pace hence the

call for radical transformation on land

and economic assets.

Unfortunately, there is a very big

generational gap and knowledge deficit

between land activists since economic

factors are dominating the narratives.

In CONVERSATION with

Constance Galeo Mogale

Constance Galeo Mogale explains Racism, Land Reforms and why

she passionately speaks for Food Sovereignty in South Africa

The young activists are following the

trends, ANC and other political movements

has gave up its liberation agenda,

they are now economist activists who

are promoting agenda of accumulation

and pushing up the bank balance. It is

difficult for social movement to function

without capital and funding. So, the

state of social mobilisation is very weak

and co-opted.

On the question of Women

There are various spaces created for

women only organising, for example we

have different movements having

women’s leagues, young adults’ forums

and so forth. These spaces assisted a lot

in trying to outroot the silent voices of

women from the male dominated

spaces, however without strategic integration,

it will always be ‘US and

Them” We must also take into account

that women are just not homogenous,

they are part of communities from different

classes, different positions of

privilege, ethnicity, race and all. The

question is whose voice is louder and

why? To answer the question posed here

correctly, perhaps we need to categorise

these women spaces to be able to do justice

in unpacking it.

Generally, women continue to play a

vital role in the struggle for social justice

in South Africa, yet their contribution is

still unappreciated, and they are still

marginalised. The reason is that most

women themselves are still abiding by

patriarchal systems and the social stereotypical

defined gender roles. If you look

at the contribution of women in all big

movements, the churches, and the social

groups, they are underestimated.

Their contribution is in terms of

numbers, their double reproductive role

and care work, yet their mindset and

attitude are still one that is submissive to

the masculine gender, to serve and to do

the spadework. South Africa is often

referred to as the “rainbow nation” to

describe the country’s multicultural

diversity, especially in the wake of

apartheid. The World Bank classifies

South Africa as an upper-middleincome

economy, and a newly industrialized

country. Its economy is the second-largest

in Africa, and the 34thlargest

in the world. In terms of purchasing

power parity, South Africa has

the seventh-highest per capita income in

Africa. However, poverty and inequality

remain widespread.

The Land Question in South Africa

Landless is increasing, the trend is

moving towards prioritising commercial

production as opposed to social housing

and social production. This trend has

made the South African government

vulnerable during COVID19, and the

social safety nets of the country are generally

weak to cope during disasters.

This question is almost a follow up of

the first question in the history of land

dispossession.

South Africa’s total land surface is

472,281 square miles. But from the

early 1800 to 1969 through what the

apartheid colonialist regime called

Promotion of Bantu Self-Government

Act No. 46, nine “Bantu Republics,”

established and allocated 68,264 square

miles of South African territory. The

remaining 404,017 square miles with all

its mineral and agricultural wealth and

other national resources remained under

the control of the minority white population,

many of whom still have the

arrogance to claim that they did not take

land from anyone. They found it

“empty!” Oh! well, maybe they thought

it was empty because Africans did not

have boundaries, border gates, it as a

free access to those who use it. We lost

freedom of movement and were

deprived of scarce natural resources.

I am an advocate of rural land, but

landlessness in South Africa is more visible

in peripheries of big cities and economic

hub provinces such as

Johannesburg, Durban, Capetown and

Eastern Cape. Whereas I sometimes

question the kind of reforms we are

advocating for as South Africans, I am in

full solidarity with the urban movements

who continue to occupy land even if it

means that they face the barrel of the gun

from the SAPS, the Anti–Land Invasion

Unit, the JMPD, the Red Ants and the so

called Law Enforcement in

Johannesburg, Durban, East London and

Cape Town. These poor law-abiding citizens

are criminalised for losing patience

with the collapsing property redistribution

system. They are impoverished people

who continue to face evictions

throughout the country.

The rural areas are so impoverished

that people want to be closer to the

cities so that they can improve their

lives. When they occupy unoccupied

land is because they seek to survive and

to thrive, but most of the time they do

not yield the expected results. We have

seen now during COVID-19 era how

black people who occupied land in

search of economic opportunities struggled

to put food on their tables.

Is the government redistributing

land to the people or not? If yes, how

much land has been allotted to people

particularly those of African origin.

Government has not done well in

Redistributing land to the black dispossessed

people of our country. Statistics

shows that ever since 1994, only 9% of

the land was distributed, owing to the

failed promise of 1994 ANC Manifesto,

which promised to distribute 30% of the

total surface area in 5 years, that was in

1999. The goal post shifted from 1999

to 2014 and still the Government failed,

by 2014 only 4% of the land was redistributed,

and mostly for urban housing

and urban claims which was mostly

done through cash compensation rather

than land. This is because of an everchanging

policy framework which

regressed from Reconstruction and

Development Programme in 1994 to

Growth, Economy and Redistribution

Framework (GEAR) which was hailed

by many economists but was highly criticized

by labour movements and many

CSO’s. GEAR was the Government

five-year plan that focused on privatization

and the removal of exchange controls,

which was never evaluated to date.

This affected land reform policies

where we saw the changes of

Redistribution Policy from Settlement

and Acquisition grants to Land for

Redistribution and Agricultural policy

which favoured commercial farming and

monopolising of the industry. South

African Government has no law which

regulates redistribution and guiding officials

on who is supposed to benefit, what

land for what purposes. The policies proposed

e.g. Proactive Land Acquisition

Strategy (PLAS) has turned South

African beneficiaries into tenants, and

LRAD has left many farmers indebted as

grants were badly managed by Land

Bank, one of State-owned enterprises.

Is there any law that prohibits people

from amassing huge agricultural

land, basically, the upper limit of having

land. Like in India we have Land

Ceiling laws which make land above a

certain limit as unlawful but then

there are lots of gaps as people can

acquire huge lands in the name of

religious places, institutions as well as

cow shelters.

We need a Land Redistribution Act

and Subdivision of Agricultural Land

Act in South Africa.

There is nothing in place for now.

Policies such as land ceiling, Limitation

of foreign ownership of land in South

Africa, have since been proposed in

2005 Land Summit Resolution, but have

never been implemented. In

Redistribution, every new minister coming

to power has proposed their own

new policies such as Proactive Land

Acquisition Strategy and LRAD, but

these are not monitored and no one can

hold the Government accountable, since

these are just voluntary policies and not

proclaimed acts of the law.

There are 2 progressive reports that

was developed through appointment of

High Panel On High Level Panel On

The Assessment Of Key Legislation

And The Acceleration Of Fundamental

Change, led by the former Deputy

President, Kgalema Motlanthe and the

second one was appointed by the current

President himself, Hon President

Ramaphosa called Key Advisory Panel

o land Reform which also presented

very progressive recommendations, but

all those progressive reports are overshadowed

by the debate to expropriate

land without compensation.

How did you come in the Land

Rights movement and when?

I was born in the farming families

who were dispossessed of their land and

forcefully removed to further arid areas

where farming life was impossible.

Every evening, there was a group of

male elders who used to gather in our

house to discuss their fate, and to plan

on how to react to the current challenges

of livelihoods. My Grandmother was

compensated with a 21 hector smallholding

but she was never allowed to

occupy it, she settled in the village

which was 30 km’s away where everyone

was given 450sqm yard, so it meant

that the livestock would be taken care of

by family uncles and she had no access

or control to that wealth.

In 1991, when I was completing my

matric in Ramatlabama, I saw on television

that the same group of strategists

who always met at my Grandma’s house

were occupying the land forcefully in

Ventersdorp. This activism was inspired

by the release of Tata Nelson Mandela in

prison. Many other dispossessed communities

around the country were also going

back to their land forcefully, supported

by organisations such as Black Sash, The

South African Council of Churches,

Legal Resources Centre etc. It was in

those years that the Bantustan system

was also attacked, and that inspired me to

join those elders in their movement

building. Shortly after that, a movement

called the Land Access Movement of

South Africa was born, and when they

formalised in 1999, I was recruited as the

National Organiser in 1999.

What was your childhood about.

Your parents and village?

My childhood life was that of a rural

girl. I know all the chores of being a

rural young girl who must walk more

than 5 km to fetch water and wood. In

the compensatory land of

Vrischgewaagd where water was nonexistence,

as girls we used to take laundry

and take a journey to the nearest

stream to wash clothes.

See Page 24

24 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 WORLD


Chinese espionage case : Delhi

court denies bail to journalist

New Delhi : A Delhi court on

Tuesday dismissed the bail application

filed by freelance journalist

Rajeev Sharma, who was arrested for

allegedly working for Chinese intelligence.

Denying him bail, Chief

Metropolitan Magistrate Pawan Singh

Rajawat noted that if a journalist, who

is an important brick in the fourth pillar

of democracy, decides to act with

the intention to destabilise and negatively

impact the sustainability and

survival of democracy, it would be

darkest day in the free press movement.

"The preliminary electronic evidence

collected by the investigating

agency points towards involvement of

the accused in commission of offence

under the Officials Secrets Act. I am

satisfied that if accused Rajeev

Sharma is released on bail at this

stage, he may attempt to hamper the

investigation. Accordingly, bail application

stands dismissed," the court

order said.

On September 14, Delhi Police's

Special Cell had arrested Sharma, 61,

for allegedly working for Chinese

intelligence. During the search of his

house, a laptop, some confidential

documents related to Indian defence

and incriminating papers were seized.

He is currently in judicial custody.

Sharma had moved the court seeking

bail on the grounds that he is suffering

from various ailments, which include

acute sinus problems, has undergone

two surgeries for sinus and is at a high

risk of Covid-19. The prosecution had

vehemently opposed his bail plea,

claiming that the accused received

huge sums of money from some companies

and cash was collected on

behalf of the accused from such companies.

The Additional Public Prosecutor

further submitted that the source of

secret documents found in the possession

of the accused is yet to be established,

and his alleged foreign handlers

are also to be traced.

The present case was registered on

the basis of secret inputs received

from Indian intelligence agencies

about links of Sharma with foreign

intelligence officers and that he was

receiving funds, through hawala and

Western Union monet transfer, from

his foreign handlers for conveying

sensitive information on national

security and foreign relations.

A case under Sections 3 (possession

of any sketch, plan, model, article,

note, document or information,

which relates to munitions of war), 4

(Communications with foreign

agents) and 5 (Wrongful communication

of information) of the Official

Secrets Act was registered on

September 13 and Sharma arrested the

next day.

On interrogation, Sharma allegedly

disclosed his involvement in the procurement

of secret and sensitive information

and conveying the same to his

Chinese handlers Michael and

George, based in Kunming, China,

through different digital channels. He

is also said to have further disclosed

that he was about to send these recovered

secret documents to his handlers.

After Sharma's arrest, Chinese

woman Qing Shi and her Nepalese

partner Sher Singh alias Raj Bohra

were also arrested as they were found

supplying Sharma with huge amounts

of money, routed through hawala

channels, for conveying sensitive

information to Chinese intelligence.

We used to collect dry cow dung to

make fire, although at that time cows

were kept far away from the village, and

owners would deny us access, but we

were fortunate because my grandmother

owned livestock.

My parents were both migrant workers

in Johannesburg, my mother was a

live-in domestic worker and my father

was a petrol attendant. My father was

originally from Lichtenburg,

Botshabelo near Lichtenburg and my

mother were from Goedgevonden near

Ventersdorp. Their communities where

forcefully removed, my father’s family

was removed to Ramatlabama near

Botswana and my mother’s family was

removed to Vrischgewaagd near

Delareyville where I was schooled until

Grade 8and went to my father’s village

to do my High School in Batloung.

I am very thankful for my childhood

because I became a resilient young

mother, who acquired survival strategies

from both of my grandmothers. I

know how to use little water and recycle

it for other uses, I save my own seed for

next planting, I preserve summer vegetables

for winter consumption, I know

how to manage livestock and have

inherited livestock from my grandmother,

I bring valuable advice to other subsistence

farmers but I also gained a lot

of knowledge from framer activist in

other parts of the world.

Did you ever face racism? If yes,

what was it about?

Everyday, in one way or another. I

never wanted to narrate many stories

because they open healed wounds, but

also make me seem like I am looking

for pity. Landlessness is equal to racism,

the fact that it is only black people who

are still denied their rights to land is

racism. But perhaps that could be too

general. It is not only racism, but class

segregation and gender. I felt it more

when I moved to Johannesburg, working

as a head of the black owned movement

called Land Access Movement of

South Africa. Discrimination as black

commuting girl: It was difficult for me

as a rural undergraduate girl and having

to prove my ability to manage and run

the movement effectively as a black

woman with a rural background and

having no social class or standard in the

city. I stayed in my aunt’s house in

Soweto commuting to work by taxis,

having to wait in the queue as early as

5.30 to be able to reach my office at 8

Continue Page 23

In Conversation with Constance Galeo ...

am. The taxis in Soweto operate from

4.30 am to 8 pm and after hours, you

need a private shuttle to go home. It

meant that I could not attend most meetings

outside the vicinity of the city centre

and could not participate in important

decision-making spaces attended by

other fellow white directors, yet I sat in

the board of Directors of the former

National Land Committee who were

80% white and I was the only black

South African woman in the board.

The salary survey showed that I was

less-paid Director, which to me was

okay because I knew that I am in a

deficit of Educational qualifications.

With the salary I received I had to build

a home for my parents and my siblings,

who acquired a site in Dobsonville, and

we lived in a shack at that time. I also

happened to have 3 children whose

father abandoned me, so after the building

of my Parents house, I had to prioritise

their education and take them to

school, that meant surplus money that I

could have saved for my own education

went to their education. I managed to

build my own house, and now I graduated

in 2018 and have applied to do my

master’s degree.

I believe that white privilege must

deal with it in the same way that I had to

deal with my circumstances of rurality

and blackness. I am not complaining,

rather I am counting myself one of the

few fortunate ones, because some are

still trapped in these Poverty circles,

caused by various reasons and without

some saints giving them a break through

it means their coming generations will

still find themselves in the same situation.

When you get a decent income, but

you have to support your siblings, you

have to build a home, you have to carry

the cost for funerals and orphans in your

family etc, when are you getting a break

through?

Has racism finished from South

Africa or it still exists?

Unfortunately, yes! Racism still

exists in South Africa, as it is so visible

that it is in our faces and we must gather

courage to speak out about it, because

keeping silent means we perpetuate it

and we lose our own voices. Policies

still favours the rich, there are clear

cracks of divide between white and

blacks in terms of redistribution of

wealth and capital, by both the state and

the financial sector. The income disparities

between black and white and the

resilience in times of disasters by white

led companies versus black led companies.

It is a fact that white people inherited

generational wealth of capital and experience,

therefore they are mostly debt

resilient, but also if you look at the

financial systems such as insurance

companies, banks and the mortgage

companies have always treated black

people with contempt and trapping them

into debt by making them pay premiums

that they can never sustain.

Black farmworkers and domestic

workers who work in private homes are

enduring racism attacks and falsely

accused every day. It is so bad in a way

that the media has chosen to report these

cases in isolation and selectively, as if

black lives do not matter.

We all talk a lot about the land

reforms but when Zimbabwean

President Robert Mugabe wanted to

legally acquire land from the powerful

white farmers, there was a hue

and cry. I am sure there are similar

situations in your country. Is there a

resistance from the Western governments

and organisations about radical

land reforms in your country? I

mean how long can we have this

unequal order where some people

have thousands of hectares of land

while many others do not even have

space for their livelihood.

Regarding the Zimbabwe Fast Track

Land Reform, the outcry was coming

from the exempted blacks who signed

up for western methods of politics, as

South African we still regard Mugabe as

the best African leader ever, especially

when coming to decisiveness and clarity

on matters of land reform and

Zimbabwe systems of education. Robert

Mugabe, like U Tata Nelson Mandela

was never a saint, but for lack of better

role models they were the best.

Our current Governments are continuing

to reverse the gains made on land

reform and transformation, they could

not distribute the land and now they

have discovered mineral wealth in the

over-populated communal land. They

are making laws that will empower the

apartheid appointed traditional leaders

to make decisions around mining on

behalf of people, no Prior and Informed

consent. In recent years, there has been

an unexpected onslaught against the

land rights of rural people in South

Africa. This threat comes from new

government policies and laws that set

the apartheid-era homelands or

Bantustans apart from the rest of South

Africa as zones of chiefly sovereignty

and undermine the citizenship rights of

the people living within them. Urgent

interventions are necessary to stave off

imminent and irreversible dispossession.

New laws and policies betray this

promise, however, and further dispossess

the very people who bore the brunt

of the Land Acts and the brutal forced

removals that culminated in the consolidation

of the Bantustans. These laws

and policies seek to separate the former

Bantustans from the rest of South Africa

as zones of autocratic chiefly power, in

the process transferring ownership and

control of land that ordinary people

have inherited over generations to traditional

leaders. President Zuma sees traditional

leaders as important strategic

partners who can deliver the rural vote

at a time when support for the ANC is

declining in the major cities, including

Johannesburg.

Driving these laws and policies is the

irony that some of the former

Bantustans, once assumed to be the least

valuable land, have been found to hold

massive reserves of valuable minerals –

platinum in North West and Limpopo,

coal and iron in Mpumalanga and

KwaZulu-Natal and titanium along the

Wild Coast of the Eastern Cape. The

poorest South Africans live on some of

the richest land, but for many this has

proved to be a curse, rather than an

opportunity.

The primary beneficiaries of South

Africa’s new mining rush are not the

people, but mining companies and politically

connected elites, including traditional

leaders. Recent law specifies that

the state will grant mining rights only to

companies with black economic

empowerment partners. It is an open

secret that officials often dictate who

such partners should be. The scale and

spread of mining investments by senior

politicians and their close associates is

no secret, and we continue to mobilise

rural citizens to defend their land rights

against these big giants.

How powerful are the religious

groups in your country in the social

movements. Is it good or bad?

Sometimes, people feel that radical

religious groups dilute the revolutionary

spirit. What is there in your country?

Religious groups are still powerful in

terms of numbers and influence.

However, because most of the formally

recognised churches that survived

apartheid have been intellectually weak

because the South African Council of

churches is in alliance with elite unions

such as COSATU and Government. We

have seen stalwarts joining Government

as Ministers, and these churches have

enjoyed foreign funding at the favour of

Governments. That paralysed their

objective voice, but we have also experienced

activist voices of stalwarts like

Bishop Tutu, Barbara Hogan, Moletji

Mbeki, and others.

We have heard you speaking so

powerfully about Food sovereignty

issues which were resisted at the

Global Land Forum in Antigua by the

international organisations. Why are

you so passionate about Food

Sovereignty and what is its difference

with Food security?

So, the terminology and language

used in big forums and especially where

the world bank and IMF are participating

shapes narratives in a way that

defeats the indigenous ways of survival.

To me Sovereignty means autonomy but

interdependence of systems to survive

without depending on a system that is

designed to exclude the majority from

their own production spaces.

The fundamental difference between

Food Security and Food Sovereignty is

that Food Security seeks to address the

issue of food and hunger through the

current dominant food regime, whereas

Food Sovereignty challenges this paradigm

and seeks to build alternatives,

and attempts to address the root causes

through a bottom-up approach.

Food Security could mean adequate,

but does not address access and control,

it monopolises access, through big

supermarket led redistribution where

those who have no income stands to

lose. whereas food sovereignty means

people are in control and can choose

what they eat, their access depends on

the amount of work and labour they provide.

This is very powerful.

In conclusion, the most worrying

factor is the minimal role played by the

state, which should be a referee in the

fight between big companies and the

communities. They are fence sitting and

thus giving institutions such as banks

and bank companies a leeway to abuse

power and repossess land if people

struggle to pay. On the other hand, small

scale farmers inability to manage their

group dynamics contribute to their

inability to use the land productively.

There is no Institutional support on

Governance and Management for

groups, Lack of farming skills on the

part of black farmers, Inability of the

poor people to raise “own contribution ”

money and thus lost the opportunity to

benefit from the programme.


Venkiah Naidu tests Covid-19

positive, in home quarantine

New Delhi : Vice President M. Venkiah Naidu, who had

presided over proceedings

of the Rajya Sabha

in the recently-concluded

Monsoon Session, has

tested positive for coronavirus,

it was announced

on Tuesday.

The Vice President's

Secretariat, in a tweet,

said that the Vice

President, who underwent

a routine Covid-19

test on Tuesday morning, has tested positive. "..He is however,

asymptomatic and in good health. He has been advised home

quarantine. His wife Smt. Usha Naidu has been tested negative

and is in self-isolation," it said. Naidu has become the highest

constitutional authority to test positive for Covid-19. With a

spike of 70,589 coronavirus cases and 776 deaths in 24 hours,

India's tally on Tuesday breached the 61 lakh-mark to reach

61,45,291 cases. Out of these, 9,47,576 are currently active;

51,01,397 have been discharged, while 96,318 lost the battle

against the viral disease.

J&K Police file chargesheet

against 4 Lashkar terrorists

Srinagar : The J&K Police on Tuesday submitted a

chargesheet in a case pertaining to an incident dated April 3,

when Handwara Police along with the army and the CRPF

arrested four terrorists and three terrorist associates of proscribed

terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

The police said that after the conclusion of investigation, the

chargesheet has been filed before the competent court under various

sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act

(UAPA) and the Arms Act.

The police said the chargesheet has been filed against four

terrorists identified as Parvaiz Ahmad Chopan, Mudasir Ahmad

Pandith, Mohd Shafi Shiekh and Burhan Din Wani alias Burhan,

and three terrorist associates identified as Azad Ahmad Bhat,

Altaf Ahmad Baba and Irshad Ahmad Chalkoo.

The chargesheet has filed against them for their role in hatching

a criminal conspiracy to carry out terrorist acts, harbouring

terrorists and giving support to LeT.

Patna : Parting ways with the

Mahagathbandhan in Bihar, the Rashtriya Lok

Samta Party (RLSP) of former MP Upendra

Kushwaha on Tuesday announced to join hands

with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Janvadi

Party (Socialist) to contest the Assembly elections.

Kushwaha, a former Union Minister of

State, announced the coalition in the presence of

the BSP and JP-S

state unit chiefs in

Patna. He said the

coalition will contest

all the 243 seats

in the Assembly.

Kushwaha said

that he would welcome

other likeminded

political

parties to come on

board, if they

wished. Earlier, Jan

Adhikar Party

President Rajesh

Ranjan alias Pappu

Yadav said that Kushwaha should come with

him. Kushwaha formed the new political front

after his talks with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar

and Leader of Opposition and RLD leader

Tejashwi Yadav on seat-sharing failed to bear

fruit. Lashing out at Nitish Kumar, the RLSP

chief said: "In the last 15 years, Nitish Kumar

has just saved his own chair and nothing else.

And to achieve it, he made several compromises.

His claims on development in all sectors in Bihar

Jaipur : After the news of

four elephants that died in

Hathi Gaon, Jaipur, came to

light, activists have turned to

the Forest Department and

Rajasthan Government for

answers. There has been no

income for the elephant owners

or exercise for elephants due to

the pandemic that has affected

tourism, as noted in statements

by the department.

Unconvinced by this

response, local organisations

and activists led by Help in

Suffering and Angel Eyes are

organising a nationwide digital

protest and a protest rally at

Albert Hall and a candle-light

vigil at Amer Fort on October

1.

A recent Animal Welfare

Board of India (AWBI) report

cites that "Out of 102 elephants,

19 captive elephants

were observed to be blind,

either unilaterally (right or left

eye) or bilaterally (both eyes),

rendering them unfit for any

work, as the safety of the elephant

and the people are at high

risk if such wild ani-mals are

used at public places and for

rides. Moreover, of the 91 elephants

screened for tuberculosis

(TB), 10 elephants were

found to be positive for tuberculosis."

Yet they were allowed to

interact with other elephants

and tourists, and were used for

rides. TB is a zoonotic disease

RLSP, BSP and JP-S join hands

for Bihar Assembly polls

WORLD

01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020

putting humans and animals at

risk. Two out of four elephants

in question had tested reactive

for tuberculosis (TB) in 2018

during the AWBI inspection,

but were declared TB-free by

the Rajasthan Forest

Department in 3-5 months,

while actually it takes at least

6-12 month intensive treatment

for any elephant to recover

from TB. These are alarming

facts.

Neither the Forest

Department, the Animal

Husbandry department, nor the

owners are taking responsibility

for the deaths, and yet these

animals continue to be owned

despite their Schedule 1 status

as per the Wild Life

(Protection) Act, 1972.

Managing Trustee, Help in

Suffering, Timmie Kumar said

"The owners of the elephants

and the Forest Department

want us to believe that the elephants

suffered health issues as

they were not getting sufficient

exercise as compared to before

the lockdown as tourism has

come to a standstill.

They are playing the sympathy

card hoping that once travel

and tourism resume, the

tourists will have bought into

their lies. Unfortunately, the

elephant owners have very

large egos. When they were

approached by local volunteers

to offer help for food, they flatly

refused. "

Mariam Abuhaideri, coorganiser,

Help in Suffering,

said "In just a matter of months,

the elephants have perished due

to negligence and lack of adequate

care. Going up the hill to

Amer on hot tar roads is bad for

the elephants and their feet.

Their eyesight gets affected,

they get ankush wounds, skin

gets discoloured, and they don't

get enough water to drink

25

Jaipur activists strive for better

conditions for elephants

are just false and nothing else. The ground reality

is completely different from what he is claiming."

Kushwaha also alleged that the education sector

in Bihar was at its lowest whereas the crime

graph and corruption was the highest. "Nitish's

rule is similar to that of the RJD government's 15

years," he remarked. Kushwaha also attacked the

Rashtriya Janata

Dal, alleging

that the opposition

party was

"run by an

undermatriculate".

"We have two

CMs (Lalu

Prasad and

Rabri Devi) who

failed to ensure

matriculation by

their sons

Tejashwi and Tej

Pratap. Now,

they have given the party command to one of

them," the former MP said. "I asked top RJD

leaders for a change in party leadership but they

turned it down. Hence, I decided to part ways

with the Grand Alliance," Kushwaha claimed.

"On the other hand, the saffronisation of

Nitish Kumar and his Janata Dal-United is complete.

I even have doubts that the RJD is also

under the influence of BJP and Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh," the RLSP chief said.

New Delhi : Warning Beijing against

advancing its untenable unilateral interpretation,

India on Tuesday said that it has never

accepted the 1959 definition of the Line of

Actual Control (LAC) with China. In response

to queries on a recent media report quoting a

Chinese Foreign Ministry statement regarding

China's position on the LAC, the

official spokesperson of the Ministry

of External Affairs, Anurag

Srivastava, said, "India has never

accepted the so-called unilaterally

defined 1959 Line of Actual Control

(LAC). This position has been consistent

and well known, including to

the Chinese side." Under various bilateral

agreements, including the 1993 Agreement on

Maintenance of Peace and Tranquility along the

LAC, the 1996 Agreement on Confidence

Building Measures (CBMs) in the military

field, the 2005 Protocol on Implementation of

CBMs, the 2005 Agreement on Political

Parameters and Guiding Principles for

Settlement of the India-China Boundary

Question, both India and China have committed

to clarification and confirmation of the LAC to

reach a common understanding of the alignment

of the LAC.

In fact, the two sides had engaged in an exercise

to clarify and confirm the LAC up to 2003,

because the elephant owners

have primitive thinking.

Numerous studies confirm that

captive elephants develop high

levels of stress. There is a direct

link between captivity and poor

health. The conditions at Hathi

Gaon are appalling, to say the

least, and all in the name of

heritage and business."

Protesters will gather at

Albert Hall at 4 PM, followed

by a vigil and gathering at

Amer Fort at 6 PM.

"We urge the government of

Rajasthan to protect and not let

the elephants die constantly in

the name of heritage and

tourism , there have been 20

odd elephants who have died in

the past few years and 4 of

them in the recent months.

What is the purpose of the forest

department if they cant protect

Wildlife?" wonders

Abhishek Singh, Founder of

Angel Eyes.

India has never accepted

1959 definition of

LAC with CHINA: Govt

but this process could not proceed further as the

Chinese side did not show willingness to pursue

it, Srivastava said.

"Therefore, the insistence now of the

Chinese side that there is only one LAC is contrary

to the solemn commitments made by

China in these agreements," he said. The Indian

side, Srivastava said, has always

respected and abided by the LAC.

As Defence Minister Rajnath Singh

stated in the Parliament recently,

"It is the Chinese side, which by its

attempts to transgress the LAC in

various parts of the Western Sector,

has tried to unilaterally alter the

status quo." The spokesperson said that in the

last few months, the Chinese side has repeatedly

affirmed that the current situation in the border

areas should be resolved in accordance with

the agreements signed between the two countries.

In the agreement reached between the

External Affairs Minister and his Chinese counterpart

on September 10, the Chinese side had

reiterated its commitment to abide by all the

existing agreements.

Srivastava said that India expects "the

Chinese side will sincerely and faithfully abide

by all the agreements and understandings in

their entirety and refrain from advancing an

untenable unilateral interpretation of the LAC."

26 01-10-2020 to 15-10-2020 WORLD


Myanmar sparks outrage after it demonstrates

'FABRICATION OF FACTS' at UNGA

Dhaka : Bangladesh is "outraged" to

witness Myamar's another "blatant demonstration

of falsehood and fabrication of

facts" in the ongoing UN General

Assembly (UNGA), and shared the situation

on the ground before the international

community.

"Bangladesh strongly rejects baseless

accusations and falsification and misrepresentation

of facts that Myanmar made in

the UNGA," a senior official in Dhaka told

UNB conveying what Bangladesh exactly

responded to Myanmar's propaganda.

Bangladesh, through the UN, has urged

the Myanmar government to abandon its

policy of lies and propaganda and demonstrate

genuine political will to take back

Over 2.83 lakh people still

affected by Assam floods

Guwahati : Though some respite

in rain has led to a further improvement

in the flood situation in Assam,

2.83 lakh people in eight of the

state's 33 districts were still affected

as on Wednesday, disaster management

officials said. Assam State

Disaster Management Authority

(ASDMA) officials said that of the

affected people, 2,08,481 people

were in central Assam's Nagaon district,

where 117 relief camps have

been set up.

The officials said that in the third

wave of floods, over 26,652 hectares

of crop lands and low-lying areas in

432 villages in these eight districts -

- Nagaon, Biswanath, Hojai,

Morigaon, Dibrugarh, Goalpara,

Golaghat and West Karbi Anglong -

- have been inundated.

Around 45,000 domesticated animals

as well as wild animals, including

rhinos in sanctuaries and national

parks, were also affected due to

the flood, which also damaged many

roads, bridges, embankments, government

buildings and schools, they

added.

The Brahmaputra was flowing

above the danger level at

Neamatighat in Jorhat, Dhubri and

Sonitpur districts while two of its

tributaries, Jia Bharali and Kopili,

crossed the danger mark in Sonitpur

and Nagaon districts, respectively.

The ASDMA officials said that

Assam, until early August, witnessed

devastating floods that killed

120 people in 22 districts, while 26

others were killed in landslides since

May 22. With a respite in monsoon

rains, the situation significantly

improved in the first week of August

even as 57 lakh people were affected

in 5,378 villages in 30 districts.

According to the India

Meteorological Department (IMD),

Assam witnessed 11 per cent excess

rainfall (1,651.1 mm against average

1,486.2 mm) in the four-month

(June-September) monsoon period.

In September so far, the state

recorded 37 per cent excess rainfall

(373.8 mm against average 272.4

mm).

their own nationals with safety, security

and dignity, said the official, Dhaka tribune

reported.

Myanmar at the UNGA claimed that

Bangladesh is harbouring terrorists in Cox's

Bazar Rohingya camps but it rejected such

"baseless" allegations. Bangladesh, under

the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh

Hasina, maintains a zero-tolerance policy

to terrorism, terrorists financing and other

drivers of terrorism, said another official.

"We don't allow our territory to be used

by any terrorist. Myanmar needs to look at

its own mirror," the official said, mentioning

that this is what Bangladesh's reply to

Myanmar during the general debate at the

UNGA. Bangladesh also pointed out "concocted

and misleading" statement of

Myanmar on the development in Rakhine

State, particularly in the repatriation

process.

Myanmar's Minister Kyaw Tint Swe, in

his speech at the UNGA, on Tuesday said

bilateral cooperation is the only way to

effectively resolve the repatriation issue

between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

Bangladesh strongly disagreed on such

a notion reminding Myanmar that the

Rohingya issue is not a bilateral one but it

is Myanmar's internal problem.

Bangladesh highlighted Myanmar's

track record of inhumane treatment of ethnic

minorities, including Rohingyas, saying

it is nothing new for Myanmar.

Bangladesh said it is Myanmar's State

policy of deliberate exclusion and persecution

on their own people that instigated

insurgency and turned Myanmar into the

breeding ground of organized crimes.

Bangladesh took the floor to reply

Myanmar's "propaganda" and said a deadly

conflict is going on in Rakhine State

ignoring the UN call for ceasefire simply to

implement Myanmar's "genocidal campaign"

against its own people, said the official.

On January 16, 2018, Bangladesh and

Myanmar signed a document on "Physical

Arrangement", which was supposed to

facilitate the return of Rohingyas to their

homeland.

Nepal Army chief selfquarantines

after staff

tests Covid-19 positive

Kathmandu : Purna Chandra Thapa, Chief of Army Staff

(CoAS) of the Nepali Army (NA), has gone into self-quarantine

after a staff member at his official residence tested positive for the

novel coronavirus.

According to the NA's public relations directorate, the CoAS

went into quarantine on Sunday as per the Health Ministry protocols,

The Himalayan Times reported on Monday.

The staff member has tested positive the previous day.

Thapa and Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokharel had selfquarantined

earlier after a staff at the Covid-19 Crisis

Management Centre had contracted the virus.

On Monday, the country's overall caseload increased to 74,745

after 1,351 new infections were reported in 24 hours, The

Himalayan Times quoted the Health Ministry as saying in its latest

update. Meanwhile, with the emergence of four new fatalities,

Nepal's Covid-19 death tally jumped to 481.

Ministry spokesperson Jageshwor Gautam urged the public to

not take the pandemic casually and adopt necessary precautionary

measures to ensure safety from the virus as cases of infection are

being regularly reported from across the country.

01 -15 October 2020 The Asian Independent

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