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KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR

U.S. GOVERNOR LALU GETS BAIL MESSI PIVOTAL

‘TARGET CHINA
LINKS TRUMP TO IN CHAIBASA FIGURE IN
BEYOND THE
KIDNAP PLOT TREASURY CASE EASY GAME
BORDER’
P10 P5 P7 P12

WEATHER
RBI sees 9.5 pc GDP India’s active Covid-19
Generally cloudy sky. One or two spells
of thundershower. Temperature will be
in the range of 33-26 degrees Celsius. contraction in FY21 cases fall below 9 lakh
RAINFALL: 5.4 mm SNS & AGENCIES
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Central bank holds benchmark interest rates, signals more easing ahead NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
Bengal adds 3,573 new cases
Max.95% Min. 60% PRESS TRUST OF INDIA The number of active Covid- KOLKATA 9 OCTOBER: ples of 42,532 people
By all indi-
TEMPERATURE MUMBAI, 9 OCTOBER 19 cases in the country has were tested for the virus
Max: 33.9°C (+1) Min: 26.6°C (+2)
cations, the
deep con- fallen below the nine lakh- West Bengal today re- today. The positivity rate

T
SUN RISES SUN SETS he Reserve Bank of
05:32 hrs 17:16 hrs
India (RBI) left key
MOON RISES MOON SETS interest rates unc-
12:32 hrs 23:33 hrs
hanged on Friday
Next moon quarter on 10 October
but signalled more easing
ahead to support an econ-
omy that it sees contract-
THUMBNAILS ing 9.5 per cent in the cur-
rent fiscal.
The six-member Mon-
etary Policy Committee,
with three newly inducted
external members, voted
unanimously to retain the
benchmark repurchase or
repo rate at 4 per cent wh-
ile keeping its policy stance
accommodative, implying
it could ease again.
The central bank had
slashed the repo rate by 115
basis points since late Ma-
The mortal remains of Union minister Ramvilas rch before hitting a pause
Paswan on the way to his native place in Bihar, button in August.
after his demise on Thursday evening. At Jan- To bring down borrow-
path in New Delhi on Friday. �SUBRATA DUTTA ing cost, RBI announced a
number of unconvention-
al steps, including dou-
Goyal given additional charge: Railway Minis- bling of the size of open-
ter Piyush Goyal was on Friday given addition- market bond purchases to
al charge of the Consumer Affairs, Food and Rs 20,000 crore, offer to
Public Distribution ministry, a portfolio held by
the late Lok Janshakti Party leader Ram Vilas
buy state debt, and easing
a corporate cash crunch
Paswan. A Rashtrapati Bhavan communique on through a Rs 1 lakh crore
of targeted long-term funds
Friday said President Ram Nath Kovind, on the
advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, available on tap.
directed that Goyal be assigned the ministry Besides supporting eco-
in addition to his existing portfolios. nomic activity, the measures
are aimed at ensuring the
government's record bor-
HAL staff held for passing secrets to Pakistan: rowing programme goes
A Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) emp- through smoothly.
loyee has been arrested for supplying sensi-
tive details to Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelli-
RBI Governor Shaktika-
nta Das said the econom-
gence (ISI) agency, Maharashtra police said. ic growth, which slumped
Police said Deepak Shirsat (41), an assistant to a negative 23.9 per cent
supervisor at HAL, was “honey trapped” by a
Pakistani national posing as a woman on social
in the April-June quarter, will
turn positive only in the final
media. The man was supplying information January-March quarter. “By
about Indian fighter aircraft and their sensi- all indications, the deep
tive details, along with information related to contractions of Q1 2020-21
HAL's unit at Ojhar near Nashik. (April-June) are behind us;
silver linings are visible in
the flattening of the active
caseload curve across the
country,” he said.
Barring the risk of a sec-
ond wave of infections, the
economy appeared poised
to begin a recovery, he said,
noting food grain produc-
tion was set for record highs
and factories and cities
were coming back to life.
With macro indicators
pointing to a recovery, “GDP
growth may break out of
contraction and turn pos-
itive by Q4 (January-Mar-
ch),” he said. “For the year
2020-21 as a whole, there-
fore, real GDP is expected
to decline by 9.5 per cent,
with risks tilted to the down-
side,” he said.
After the sharp contrac-
tion in Q1 of FY21, the
MPC expects growth to
come in at (-)9.8 per cent
in Q2, (-)5.6 per cent in Q3
and 0.5 per cent in Q4.
In a video live stream, Das
said RBI will “continue with
the accommodative stance
of monetary policy as long
as necessary ~ at least dur-
ing the current financial
year and into the next year
~ to revive growth on a
durable basis and mitigate
the impact of Covid-19,
while ensuring that inflation
remains within the target
going forward”.
RBI saw inflation easing
close to the targeted range
of 4 per cent, plus or minus
2 pr cent, in the fourth-quar-
ter ending March.
The governor noted that
the recent pick-up in infla-
tion is due to supply dis-
ruption and higher markups
during the lockdown. Going
forward, as supply chains
are restored, inflation could
ease to 4.5-5.4 per cent in
the second half of FY21.
In a bid to provide easy
liquidity conditions, RBI
announced Open Market
Operations (OMO) worth
Rs 20,000 crore, which will
be used for buying Gover-
tractions
of Q1 2020-21 (April-
June) are behind us; sil-
ver linings are visible in
the flattening of the
active caseload curve
across the country... GDP
growth may break out of
contraction and turn
positive by Q4 (January-
March)
SHAKTIKANTA DAS
RBI GOVERNOR
nment of India securities.
OMO will also beextended
to state development loans.
This will ease the state's bor-
rowing programmes amid
lower collection of GST.
RBI also announced on
tap TLTRO (Targeted Long
Term Repo Operations)
with tenors of up to three
years for a total amount of
up to Rs 1 lakh crore at a flo-
ating rate linked to the pol-
icy repo rate. The scheme
will be available up to March
31, 2021.
In order to facilitate
higher credit flow to the retail
and SME segments, RBI
decided to increase the de-
finition of 'Regulatory Retail'
threshold from Rs 5 crore
to Rs 7.5 crore in respect of
all fresh as well as increme-
ntal exposures. This may
incentivise banks to lend to
this sector more.
The RBI also rationalised
risk weightage on home
loans. All new housing loan
risk will be linked only to
the loan to value ratio. The
lower the ratio, the lower the
risks and borrowers will
get the interest rate bene-
fits from institutions.
mark for the first time in a
month; active cases now
comprise merely 12.94 per
cent of the total caseload,
the Union Health Ministry
said on Friday.
The country added
another 70,496 new infec-
tions during the last 24
hours, taking the total case
count past the 69 lakh
mark, to 69,06,152. The
death toll due to the infec-
tion surged to 1,06,490
with 964 deaths reported
in the last 24 hours
The health ministry
noted that the declining
trend of the percentage of
active cases is supported
by the rising percentage of
recovered cases. Recover-
ies in India have exceeded
new cases for three con-
tinuous weeks, it said.
“Presently, the active
cases stand at 8,93,592 and
comprise merely 12.94 per
cent of the total positive
cases of the country, dem-
onstrating a steady falling
percentage of the total
cases,” the ministry said.
The country had 8.97
lakh active cases on Sep-
tember 9, it said.
A total of 59,06,069 peo-
ple have recovered from
Covid-19 in the country so
far and recoveries exceed
active cases of infection by
50,12,477, according to the
ministry. The higher num-
ber of recoveries has aided
the national recovery rate
to further improve to 85.52
per cent, the ministry said.
A total of 78,365 patients
recovered and were dis-
charged the previous day,
while 70,496 fresh infections
were reported in the pre-
corded 3,573 fresh Covid
cases and 62 deaths due
to the infection.
Till now, 2,87,603 peo-
ple have been detected
Covid positive, 5,501
died and 2,52,806 recov-
ered, of which 3,069
patients were discharged
from hospitals in the
last 24 hours, taking the
discharge rate to 87.90
per cent. Currently, there
are 29,296 active Covid
cases in the state. Sam-
vious 24 hours, according
to official data updated at
8 a.m.
“New recoveries in India
have exceeded the new
cases of Covid-19 for three
continuous weeks. The
new cases during these
three weeks have displayed
a steady trend of decline,”
the ministry underlined.
The ministry said 78
per cent of the 70,496 new
cases registered the previ-
ous day were reported from
10 states and UTs ~ Maha-
rashtra, Karnataka, Ker-
ala, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil
Nadu, West Bengal, Odisha,
Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh
and Delhi.
Maharashtra continues
to report a very high num-
ber of new cases with more
than 13,000 cases, followed
by Karnataka with more
than 10,000 cases, it said.
Also, 964 case fatalities
were reported the previous
day. Of these, nearly 82
per cent are concentrated
in 10 states and UTs ~
Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Tamil Nadu, West Bengal,
is 7.97 per cent.
Kolkata registered
772 cases and 13 deaths
and neighbouring district
of North 24 Parganas
recorded 751 cases and
13 deaths in the last 24
hours.
The Covid bed occu-
pancy rate is 37.59 per
cent while 2,421 people
are in government quar-
antine centres, 82,401
in home quarantine and
1,376 in safe homes. SNS
Uttar Pradesh, Andhra
Pradesh, Delhi, Madhya
Pradesh, Punjab and Ker-
ala, it added.
More than 37 per cent
of the new fatalities were
reported from Maharash-
tra (358 deaths), according
to the ministry.
69,06,151
8,93,592
70,496
78,365
1,06,490
UNION HEALTH MINISTRY
FIGURES AS OF 8.00 A.M.
FRIDAY 9 OCTOBER 2020

HDIL promoters
booked for loan fraud
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
The CBI has booked HDIL pro-
moters Rakesh Wadhawan
and Sarang Wadhawan, along
with former PMC Bank chair-
man Waryam Singh and other
directors of the firm, in an
alleged Rs 200-crore loan
fraud in Yes Bank involving
Mack Star company, officials
said Friday.
It is alleged that loans ta-
ken for Mack Star were trans-
ferred to settle HDIL liabili-
ties to Yes Bank without inti-
mation to its majority stake-
holder and investor Ocean
Deity Investment Holdings Ltd
(ODIL) in a conspiracy orches-
trated by the HDIL promot-
ers, directors and auditors.
Sources in the agency said
the role of formerYes Bank pro-
moter Rana Kapoor and other
senior executives of the bank,
not named as accused in the
FIR, is likely to come under
scanner in the case.
After registering the case,
the CBI on Friday searched the
residences of Rakesh Wad-
hawan and his son Sarang
and former PMC Bank chair-
man Singh in Mumbai, they
said.
The agency also carried out
searches at nine other premis-
es in Mumbai, including two
offices of HDIL, auditor com-
pany Ashok Jayesh and resi-
dences of other HDIL Direc-
tors Lakhminder Dayal Singh,
Amanpreet Singh and Senior
Vice President Venkataward-
han N Iyenger, all named
accused in the FIR, they said.
Bhima Koregaon: NIA files charge-sheet
against eight; Fr Stan Swamy arrested
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI, 9 OCTOBER
The National Investigation
Agency (NIA) on Friday filed
a charge-sheet against eight
people, including activists
Gautam Navlakha and 82-
year-old Father Stan Swamy,
for their alleged involvement
in inciting a mob to violence
in Bhima Koregaon near Pune
on January 1, 2018, officials said.
Swamy, who said he has ne-
ver been to Bhima Koregaon,
was arrested from his home in
Ranchi on Thursday evening
and brought to Mumbai where
he was produced before a co-
urt on Friday and remanded
to judicial custody till October
23. He is possibly the oldest per-
son to be charged under the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Father Stan Swamy
Act (UAPA), officials said.
NIA officials said investi-
gations established Swamy
was actively involved in the
activities of the CPI (Maoist).
Barring one person ~ Milind
Teltumde, who is absconding
~ all other named in the ch-
arge-sheet for allegedly con-
spiring against the government
are in judicial custody.
NIA spokesperson and De-
Gautam Navlakha
puty Inspector General of
Police in the agency, Sonia Na-
rang, said the charge-sheet was
submitted before a designat-
ed court here.
Besides Navlakha and
Swamy, the others named in
the charge-sheet are Delhi
University associate professor
Hany Babu, Goa Institute of
Management professor Anand
Teltumbde, and Jyoti Jagtap,
Sagar Gorkhe and Ramesh
Gaichor, activists of the Bhima
Koregaon Shaurya Din Prerna
Abhiyaan group.
They were arrested during
the course of the investigation
into the violence on January
1, 2018 in which one person
was killed and several injured
after clashes at the 200th
anniversary celebrations of the
Battle of Koregaon near Pune.
Navlakha and Teltumbde
had surrendered before the NIA
in April this year.
The NIA charge-sheet aga-
inst the eight does not men-
tion human rights activist
Sudha Bharadwaj, who has
been in jail since 2018. She was
arrested by Pune Police in
the case along with Vernon
Gonsalves and Arun Ferreira
in August 2018.
Coronavirus did not
start in Wuhan, it
was only reported
there first: China
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
BEIJING, 9 OCTOBER
China on Friday claimed that
the coronavirus broke out in
various parts of the world last
year but it was the only one to
have reported and acted first,
refuting the widely-held view
that the deadly contagion orig-
inated in Wuhan before turn-
ing out to be a pandemic.
China, besides denying US
allegations that Covid-19
emerged from a bio-lab in
Wuhan, also rejected that it
emanated from a wet market
in the central Chinese city
from bats or pangolins before
We all know that the epide-
mic broke out in various
places in the world at the
end of last year, while
China was the first to
report the outbreak, identi-
fied the pathogen and
shared the genome
sequence with the world
HUA CHUNYING
CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY
SPOKESPERSON
The US is the worst affect-
ed country with over 7.6 mil-
lion cases and more than
2,12,000 deaths. China has

WFP wins Nobel Peace Prize as world hunger surges
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME, 9 OCTOBER
The United Nations' World
Food Programme won the
Nobel Peace Prize on Friday
for its efforts to fight hunger
in regions of conflict and hard-
ship around the globe.
From air-dropping food in
South Sudan to creating an
emergency delivery service
to keep aid flowing despite
coronavirus travel restric-
tions, the Rome-based organ-
isation has long specialised in
getting assistance to some of
the world's most dangerous
and precarious places. It pro-
vided assistance to almost
100 million people in 88 coun-
tries last year.
“With this year's award,
the (committee) wishes to
turn the eyes of the world to
the millions of people who suf-
food security an instrument
of peace. The head of the org-
anisation said his entire team
deserved the award.
“I know I'm not deserving
of an award like this, but all the
men and women around the
world in the World Food Pro-
gramme and our partners
who put their lives on the line
every day,” David Beasley told
The Associated Press by phone
from Niger. Beasley said he
found out about the award from
a WFP media officer who had
just been informed by the AP.
The organisation has long
been headed by an American,
In this file photo taken on February 06, 2020, a World Food Pro- and US President Donald Tru-
gramme (WFP) aircraft makes a drop of food aid near a village in mp nominated the former
Ayod county, South Sudan. �AFP Republican governor of South
Carolina for the post in 2017.
fer from or face the threat of nouncing the award in Oslo. The Nobel Committee said
hunger,” said Berit Reiss-An- TheWorld Food Programme that the problem of hunger has
dersen, the chair of the Norwe- plays a key role in multilater- again become more acute in
gian Nobel Committee, an- al cooperation on making recent years, not least because
of the coronavirus pandem-
ic that has added to the hard-
ship already faced by millions
of people around the world.
In 2019, 135 million people
suffered from acute hunger, the
highest number in many years,
it said. Most of the increase was
caused by war and armed con-
flict. The coronavirus pan-
demic has contributed to a
strong upsurge in the number
of victims of hunger in the
world. In total, WFP estimates
that 690 million people suffer
some form of hunger in the
world today. The Nobel Com-
mittee called on governments
to ensure that WFP and other
aid organisations receive the
financial support necessary to
feed millions in countries such
as Yemen, Congo, Nigeria,
South Sudan and Burkina Faso.
A logistics juggernaut, WFP
this year created a global em-
ergency delivery service for
humanitarian aid. Officials
said the unprecedented effort
involved nearly 130 count-
ries and was key in ensuring
that aid for the pandemic kept
flowing in addition to assistance
for other crises, like the drugs
and vaccines needed to com-
bat other diseases.
There was no shortage of
causes or candidates on this
year's list, with 211 individu-
als and 107 organisations no-
minated ahead of the 1 Feb-
ruary deadline. The award
comes with a gold medal and
a 10-milion krona ($1.1 mil-
lion) cash prize that is dwarfed
by the funding that WFP req-
uires for its work. So far in 2020,
the organisation has received
almost $6.4 billion in cash or
goods, with more than a third,
over $2.7 billion, coming from
the United States.
infecting humans.
Chinese foreign ministry
spokesperson Hua Chunying
told a media briefing that “the
coronavirus is a new kind of
virus as more and more facts
emerge as reports reveal, we
all know that the epidemic
broke out in various places in
the world at the end of last year,
while China was the first to
report the outbreak, identified
the pathogen and shared the
genome sequence with the
world.”
Hua's comments came in
response to US Secretary of State
Mike Pompeo's allegations of
a cover-up by the ruling Com-
munist Party of China. The
statement also came as the
World Health Organisation
(WHO) is gearing up to probe
the origin of the coronavirus.
According to Johns Hopkins
Coronavirus Resource Center,
the contagion has infected
over 36 million people and killed
more than 1 million across the
world.
reported 90,736 cases and
4,739 deaths due to Covid-19.
The WHO has given to Bei-
jing a list of global experts to
be sent to China to probe the
origin of the coronavirus, Hong
Kong-based South China Morn-
ing Postreported on Thursday.
The WHO is awaiting its
approval.
In August, a two-member
team from theWHO, which vis-
ited China, completed the
groundwork for the probe into
the animal source and reser-
voirs of the Covid-19 which first
emerged inWuhan in Decem-
ber last year.
Hua, while refuting Pom-
peo's charge of a cover-up, said
that Chinese scientists first
identified the person-to-per-
son transmission due to coro-
navirus on January 19. After
thorough research and inves-
tigation, China closed Wuhan
city to the outside world and
placed rigorous measures in
isolatingWuhan city and Hubei
province, she said.

CMYK
 CMYK

02 SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020

The law and order situation in West Bengal is very alarming...
WEST BENGAL GOVERNOR JAGDEEP DHANKHAR
CITING SOME INCIDENTS INCLUDING THE RECENT ARREST OF AL QAEDA ASSOCIATES AND MAOISTS

TENDER
Governor slams Four Covid patients BSF apprehends
three Bangladeshis,
die in Siliguri one Bengal tout

Bengal law and STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

SILIGURI, 9 OCTOBER
KOLKATA, 9 OCTOBER

Three Bangladeshis, includ-

ing a woman, and a sus-

order situation
A 75-year-old person of
Banarhat in Jalpaiguri district
died at the designated hos-
pital for Covid-19 patients at
Dhankhar handed over assistance to Galwan martyr’s family Matigara in Siliguri. The per-
son had been admitted in the
hospital on 3 October, sources
said.
A 55-year-old resident of
Kalimpong, who had been
admitted in the hospital on
5 October, also died there last
night.
Another patient, a 45-
year-old resident of North
Dinajpur district, also died
there. She had been admit-
ted there on 1 October.
A 69-year-old resident of
Siliguri who had tested pos-
itive for the virus also died in
the North Bengal Medical
College and Hospital today.
131 new Covid cases in
MANAS R BANNERJEE (Top) The Governor hands Darj district
SILIGURI, 9 OCTOBER over assistance to the Galwan
martyr’s family in Alipurduar. Meanwhile, Darjeeling
Containment zone in Siliguri.
(FILE PHOTO)
119 new cases in Malda
On the other hand, Malda dis-
trict reported another 119
cases of Covid-19 in tests
conducted at the VRDL in the
Malda Medical College and
Hospital and through rapid
antigen tests, sources said. A
total of 28 cases were detect-
ed in Bamongola and 12 in
Ratua-I, while the remaining
cases were from different
blocks of the district.
pected tout from Bengal's
Nadia district have been
apprehended by BSF troops
in North 24 Parganas, when
they were trying to sneak into
the neighbouring country,
an official of the paramili-
tary force said here on Fri-
day. All four were nabbed on
7 October 7 as they were
attempting to cross the Ich-
hamati River, the BSF
spokesperson said.
Two of them hailed from
Bhola and Jessore in the
Bangladesh, and the woman
is a resident of Dhaka.
Upon interrogation, they
revealed that they had ille-
gally entered India in search
of work nine months ago, the
BSF official said. PTI

W
est Bengal Gov-
ernor Jagdeep
Dhankhar has
expressed
unhappiness over the Trina-
mul Congress-led state gov-
ernment for allegedly not
following protocol after no
state government official
turned up when he met fam-
ily members of Indian Army
man Bipul Roy, who made the
supreme sacrifice at Galwan
Valley in Ladakh, in his village
in Bindipara in Alipurduar dis-
trict.
Mr Dhankhar and his wife,
Sudesh Dhankhar, were
accompanied by Lieutenant
General Anil Chauhan, the
Commander of the Eastern
Command of the Indian Army
and his wife Anupama
Chauhan, to Roy’s house
where they paid homage to
the martyr, offered condo-
lences and expressed heart-
felt gratitude for his sacrifice
in the line of duty.
The Governor, on behalf
of Raj Bhawan, handed over
financial assistance of Rs 5.5
lakh each to Roy’s widow and
his mother.
“The Indian Army prides
itself on being a close knit fam-
ily bound by camaraderie
and considers it as its bound-
en duty to look after its per-
sonnel and their families,” the
Army later said in a release.
On his return journey, Mr
Dhankhar interacted with
media persons in Siliguri.
“It is unexpected. There was
no one present as a repre-
sentative of the state gov-
ernment as the Constitu-
tional Head of the state is pre-
sent. This is not appropriate.
It is required of the admin-
istration to be present. The
absence is not adorable,” he
said.
(R) The Governor in Siliguri on
Friday. � SNS
The Governor touched
upon several subjects relat-
ed to the law and order situ-
ation in West Bengal, and
questioned how democracy
could be ensured and how free
and fair elections can be con-
ducted in the state. He also
highlighted “targeted killings,
doubts about freedom of the
Press, the state government’s
attitude with alleged politi-
cal vendetta and a lack of good
governance in West Bengal.”
“The law and order situ-
ation in West Bengal is very
alarming,” Mr Dhankhar said,
citing some incidents, includ-
ing the recent arrest of a
group of people from Mur-
shidabad who were alleged-
ly associated with Al Qaeda
and even Maoists.
“I am not concerned about
politics and political attitude
of the government, but I am
concerned about governance
and rule of law,” the Gover-
nor said, adding, “A rape inci-
dent is happening every hour
in Bengal.”
“All opposition parties
want free and fair polls in Ben-
gal without violence,” he said,
when he was asked to com-
ment on whether President's
rule is needed to conduct
violence-free polls.
He also hinted at a plan to
conduct polls “systematical-
ly” in Bengal “so that the
image of the state is not
maligned in the international
arena.”
Expressing shock over the
absence of the District Mag-
istrate and the Police Chief,
Mr Dhankhar did not hesitate
to sat that they had been
working here politically and
violating protocols. He cited
examples of how he had
sought few clarifications from
Nabanna. “I invoked Article
266 and asked the CM; nobody
listens. I did not get a single
reply,” he said.
Mr Dhankhar also
expressed doubts on the 'free-
dom of Press' in West Bengal,
categorically differentiating
the positive role of journal-
ists, and raised questions on
such freedom.
He also pointed out how
a Hindi daily interviewed
him and later did not publish
his interview.
On the Hill affairs after the
Union Home ministry called
a tripartite meeting in Delhi
on 7 October, where the state
did not take part, Mr Dhankhar
said: “Bharat badal raha hai.
India is changing under the
leadership of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. When Arti-
cle 370 has been abrogated
and Ram Temple issues have
been sorted out, all issues will
be resolved gradually under
the leadership of PM Modi.”
The Governor will be vis-
iting Darjeeling soon, it is
learnt.
Mr Dhankhar also said
that a portrait of Prince Chila
Roy, the younger brother of
King Naranarayan of the Koch
Dynasty, will be unveiled at
Raj Bhawan soon after the por-
traits of Syama Prasad
Mukherjee and Atal Bihari Vaj-
payee were unveiled after he
was appointed the Gover-
nor.
district today recorded 131
fresh Covid-19 cases, includ- 60 more cases in South
ing 53 in the Siliguri Munic- Dinajpur
ipal Corporation area (SMC),
four in Darjeeling Munici- South Dinajpur recorded 60
pality, 15 in Kharibari, new Covid cases today. The
nine in Kurseong Municia, fresh cases have taken the dis-
four in Sukna, 18 in Mati trict’s Covid tally to 5699 now.
gara, three in Mirik, Also, the number of patients
13 in Naxalbari, three in who recovered has gone up
Phansidewa, three in Pul- to 5380, with 26 patients dis-
bazaar/Bijanbari and six in charged from the Covid hos-
Takdah, sources said. pital today, officials said. The
A total of 34 cases were sep- number of active patients in
arately detected in SMC areas the district is 280 presently,
that fall under Jalpaiguri dis- they added.
trict, the sources added. On the other hand, the rate
Also today, 63 patients of infection in Balurghat
who recovered from the virus Municipality has gone up, with
were discharged from either 16 new cases detected today.
home isolation or Covid hos- With this, the total number
pitals in the district, officials of patients in the municipality
said. has gone up to 1018.
THE ODISHA STATE POLICE HOUSING &
WELFARE CORPORATION LTD.
(A Government of Odisha Undertaking)
JANAPATH, BHOINAGAR, BHUBANESWAR-22
Ph.: 0674-2541545, 2542921, Fax: 0674-2541543
E-mail: ophwc.od@nic.in Website: www.ophwc.nic.in
e-Procurement Notice No.-19/OPHWC/2020-21
CAPTION-CAD-564 INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
1. The Chief Engineer (OSPH&WC), Odisha, Bhubaneswar, invites
percentage rate bid in Double Cover system in ONLINE MODE
only, for the work as detailed below:
2. Nature of work Building works.
3. No. of works 06 Nos.
4. Bid Cost Rs. 11,800 (to be paid online).
5. Value of tender Rs. 51.00 lakh to 8.00 cr.
6. Class of contractor ‘B’ Class to ‘Super’ Class.
7. Availability of bid 19-10-2020 to 03-11-2020.
documents in the website
8. Last date / time of receipt 03-11-2020 up to 5-00 p.m.
of bids in the portal
9. Date of opening bid 04-11-2020 at 11-30 a.m.
10. The bidders have to participate in ONLINE bidding only.
Further details can be seen from the website:
https://tendersodisha.gov.in Any addendum / corrigendum /
cancellation of tender can also be seen in the said website.
N.B.: The quoted rate should be all inclusive but excluding G.S.T. as
applicable under works contract.
Sd/-
OIPR-12025/11/0027/2021 Chief Engineer (OSPH&WC), Odisha

OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE ENGINEER

BJP agitates L.I. DIVISION, CUTTACK
against alleged CAPTION-CAD-558
E-mail: eeolic_ctc@yahoo.in

corruption of e-Procurement Notice

RCCB officials
in Raiganj
RAIGANJ, 9 OCTOBER
In protest against the alleged
corruption like misappro-
priation of funds and ille-
gal transfer of staff, the BJP
members staged an agita-
tion in front of the Raiganj
Central Cooperative Bank at
Ukilpara in Raiganj of North
Dinajpur district this after-
noon. They submitted a
memorandum to the Chief
Executive Officer of the
bank Mr Suman Sarkar.
They demanded the CEO
bring in transparency in
the bank, otherwise they
threatened to launch a
movement.
The President of North
Dinajpur BJP committee
Mr Biswajit Lahiri said: “ The
officials of RCCB sanctioned
multi-crore loans to a sec-
tion of businessmen with-
out proper documentation.
We think there was a dis-
honest attempt of the bank
officials behind this RTGS
of funds. On the other hand,
a section of staff who
were not working with the
instruction of ruling party
leaders were transferred to
faraway places during Covid
crisis. We protested these
activities. ” SNS
Bid Identification No. 12 / OLIC(CTC) / Dt.: 08-10-2020
The Executive Engineer, Lift Irrigation Division, Cuttack, on behalf of
Odisha Lift Irrigation Corporation Limited, Bhubaneswar, invites
Percentage Rate bids in online mode for Installation of 200mm dia
Tube Wells in different Blocks of Cuttack & Jagatsinghpur District from
reputed drilling contractors having experience in similar nature of
works. The proof of registration from the appropriate authority shall be
enclosed along with the bid.
1. Numbers of Packages : 9 Numbers.
2. Estimated Cost : Rs. 7.37 to 16.39 lakh.
3. Tender Paper Cost : As per DTCN.
4. Date & time of publication : 12-10-2020 from 11-00 hours.
5. Date & time of closing : 22-10-2020 at 17-00 hours.
6. Date & time of opening of bid : 27-10-2020 at 11-00 hours. NOTICE NOTICE
7. The bidders have to participate in online bidding only. E-Tender is being invited from E-Tender is being invited
Further details can be seen from the website: the bona fide contractors vide from the bona fide contrac-
www.tendersorissa.gov.in N.I.T. No.: 06 / BG CFC & tors vide N.I.T. No.: 07 / 15th
Addendum / corrigendum / cancellation of tender if any, can be seen in PBG ISGP & 4rth. SFC / F.C. / PBKGP / 2020-21
the said website. PBKGP / 2020-21 Dated: 08-
Dated: 08-10-2020 Last date
Sd/- 10-2020 Last date of submis-
Executive Engineer
of submission bids: 17-10-
sion bids: 17-10-2020. The 2020. The intending tenderer
OIPR-32238/11/0007/2021 intending tenderer may visit
may visit the website, namely
the website, namely – – http://wbtenders.gov.in &
http://wbtenders.gov.in &
other details can be seen
other details can be seen from
from the office Notice Board
the office Notice Board of the
of the undersigned.
undersigned.
Pradhan
Pradhan
Phansidewa Bansgaon Phansidewa Bansgaon
Kismat Gram Panchayat
Kismat Gram Panchayat
Phansidewa, Darjeeling
Phansidewa, Darjeeling

CMYK

THUMBNAILS
An artisan works on clay
sculptures of goddess
Durga at a workshop,
ahead , in Siliguri on Fri-
day. �AFP
HC says pay back Vibgyor
depositors: A Division
Bench of Justice Joymalya
Bagchi and Justice Jay Sen-
gupta of Calcutta High
Court on Friday directed
that necessary arrange-
ments be made the deposi-
tors in the Vibgyor group
of companies who had
invested upto Rs 5,000 to
be given given back their
investments through pro-
posed scheme of disburse-
ments of Justice (retired)
S P Talukdar Committee
before Durga puja. The
company which had a liabil-
ity of about Rs 318 crores
in the market had handed
over assets to the tune of
Rs 350 crores to the com-
mittee. The compnay had
ensured that payments
beyond Rs 5,000 will be
made from the sale pro-
ceeeds of the property.
Extremely ill depositors
can make pryaers to the
committee for prece-
dence, it was directed. SNS
Grandfather kills baby in
Kalna: A two year-old girl-
child was strangled to
death allegedly by her
grandfather in Kalna town
on Thursday night and
after the accused fled the
town a complaint in this
regard was registered with
the Kalna PS on Friday.
Sunil Mohali of Madhuban
locality within Ward No: 12
of Kalna Municipality area
had married his girlfriend
Puspa of the same locality
three years ago. The mar-
riage however didn't have
the approval of Asraf –
Sunil’s father and he also
had asked Sunil to drop
Puspa and her daughter at
her father’s place, alleged-
ly, which however he
refused to do. SNS
Puja grants: Two PILs filed
in HC: Two Public Interest
Litigations (PIL)s were
filed in Calcutta High Court
today and the petitioner in
both the cases is CITU
leader, Sourav Dutta. One
PIL challenged the decision
of the state government
to give a puja grant of Rs
50,000 to every Durga
Puja committee of the
state, while the other PIL
challeneged the state's
decision to pay a sum of Rs
1,000 to the priests of the
state. SNS
Custody fled arrested:
Police on Friday arrested
three of the four undertri-
als who had fled from cus-
tody in Siliguri on Thurs-
day. The four, who had
been arrested in connec-
tion with thefts, had given
police the slip on Sevoke
Road in Siliguri as they
were being taken in a vehi-
cle to the Jalapaiguri
court. Two police consta-
bles have also been 'closed
' for failing to perform
their duties. Police said
they first found Rakesh
Mistry at Sevoke Road.
Two more, Md Mksbul and
Md Sultan, were picked up
from Samarnagar. The
search is on for the fourth
one, Pranesh Adhikary. SNS
Nocturnal area domination plan rolled out in Junglemahal
TIRTHANKAR MITRA
KOLKATA, 9 OCTOBER
Even as chief minister, Mama-
ta Banerjee left Jhargram after
cautioning the men in uniform
to preempt a return of Maoists,
decks are being cleared to
implement a plan to ensure
domination of the forested
areas of Junglemahal after
dark.
Though the Maoists pres-
ence had been scotched ever
since the Trinamul Congress
dispensation assumed office,
the plan chalked out for ‘area
domination’ seeks to keep
them on the run after receiv-
Bengal staring at tsunami
of Covid-19 infections?
Dr Sukumar Mukherjee, member of the GAB set up by govt voiced these concerns
SUBHENDU MAITI
KOLKATA, 9 OCTOBER –
B
engal stares at the
prospect of a ‘Tsuna-
mi of Covid-19 infec-
tions’ after the Durga
puja festival leading coron-
avirus-affected patients with
moderate and severe symp-
toms to die at homes if prop-
er precautionary measures
are not taken immediately.
These fears were expressed
by none other than Dr Suku-
mar Mukherjee, veteran gen-
eral medicine expert and a
prominent member of the
Global Advisory Board (GAB)
formed by Mamata Banerjee
government, to guide the lat-
ter on how to fight the pan-
demic ravaging Bengal since
the end of March.
There has been a regular
surge in the number of Covid-
19 affected cases and deaths
since last week raising eye-
brows of the medical com-
munity and state adminis-
tration led by the chief min-
ister Miss Mamata Banerjee
hardly two weeks ahead of
Durga puja in the state.
According to the daily bul-
letin released by the state
health department on Thurs-
East-West Metro: Tunneling
work till Sealdah station complete
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 9 OCTOBER:
The city’s transportation land-
scape today achieved yet
another milestone with the
completion of the East-bound
tunnel from Esplanade to
Sealdah Station.
The occasion was a reason
to rejoice for Kolkata Metro Rail
Corporation Limited (KMRCL)
as the entire stretch of the East-
ward metro line from Salt
Lake SectorV to Howrah Maid-
an across the river Hooghly is
now connected.
According to KMRCL, the
East-bound tunnel is 2.45km,
passing below the existing
north-south line at a depth of
21 metres from ground level.
The circular tunnel is 5.8m in
internal diameter and is built
with high grade concrete seg-
mental liners of 275 mm
thickness. Special design was
made to provide adequate
engineering protection against
any water ingress during the
operational phase. After the
Anandapur molestation case:
Cops file 150-page chargesheet
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 9 OCTOBER:
Kolkata police today filed a
150-page charge sheet against
the Anandapur molestation
and assault case accused,
Abhishek Pandey, at Alipore
Court today.
The alleged victim,
the woman, too was found
implicated as police slapped
charges against her in
the charge sheet submitted
for deliberately “giving
false information and har-
bouring offender, to the
police.
The charge sheet was
filed under sections 307
(attempt to murder), 354(
assault and criminal force to
outrage a woman’s modesty),
323( punishment for volun-
tarily causing hurt),
325(, same) 336( rash
and negligent act causing
hurt or death), 279 ( rash
driving) and 338 ( same as 336)
of the Indian penal
code (IPC), a senior officer
ing reports that a handful of
these insurgents sneaking
through the jungles under
cover of darkness and dis-
rupting normalcy.
Days before the chief min-
ister's visit, handwritten posters
of CPI(Maoist) put up at
Belpahari area of Jhargram,
once a hotbed of insurgency
are pointers to a renewed
bid of Left Wing Extrem-
ists(LWE) making their pres-
ence felt. Apart from reports
of state intelligence agencies
that LWE activists are seeking
to regain lost ground in Jhar-
gram, an assertion from a
BJP MP from Jharkhand,
Congress will raise issues like price rise, unemployment which is due to
the failure of the state government in Bengal rally...
day, Bengal has
recorded the highest spike
in the number of 3556 Covid-
affected patients in a single
day since the end of March.
While speaking to The
Statesman Dr Mukherjee said
today, “We are awaiting a
‘tsunami of Covid-19 infections
in our state immediately after
the Durga Puja and it will be
very difficult to manage the
situation. The situation may
lead patients with moderate
and severe symptoms to die
at their homes if they don’t get
hospital care.”
“Political rallies, pre-Puja
shopping and irresponsible
crowd without following any
social distancing are aggra-
vating the ‘tsunami of infec-
tions’ here in the state. All of
us have seen what is hap-
pening in Kerala, a state with
the highest literacy rate in the
The Metro tunnel from Sealdah to Esplanade being completed
in Kolkata on Friday.� SNS
breakthrough, the TBM Urvi
will again be launched at
Sealdah to complete the
remaining stretch of 800m of
the west-bound tunnel till
Bowbazar.
The German borer’s jour-
ney till Sealdah Station was
full of challenges. It is said to
have crossed 25 buildings in
severe condition and around
670 structures. Meanwhile, the
metro authorities decided to
run 146 daily service from
Monday to Saturday at an
interval of 8 minutes in the
morning and evening peak
said.
The charge sheet also
slapped charges under sec-
tions 201(Giving false infor-
mation) and 212 ( harbour-
ing offender) of the IPC
against the woman alleged-
ly molested and assaulted by
the accused and later turned
out to be an acquaintance of
the accused and was to marry
him.
About 32 witnesses have
deposed in the case.
The charge sheet also
entails Nilanjana who had suf-
fered a grievous leg injury
when the accused ran her over
in a bid to flee the spot in his
car.
The charge sheet notwith-
standing, the investigation
into the case is yet to be over,
said an officer.
Because the test identifi-
cation parade is still to be con-
ducted and there could always
remain a possibility to file sup-
plementary charge sheets
later in the case, said the
officer.
Kumar Hembram that Maoists
are active in and around the
jungles of Jhargram has set
alarm bells ringing.
Such ‘domination’ deploy-
ing Counter Insurgency
Force(CIF) personnel of the
state government is likely to
begin at dusk and continue till
sunrise when free movement
of the Maoists would be dif-
ficult sans the cover of dark-
ness.
Once the Maoists dig in
their heels in the forests,
familiar territory to them, it
is apprehended that they will
venture into the nearby villages
for provisions and swell their
CMYK
CONGRESS STATE IN-CHARGE JITIN PRASADA
AS CONGRESS IS GEARING UP FOR A RALLY IN KOLKATA
country. It had garnered world-
wide appreciation after com-
mendable prevention and
control of the pandemic. But
the pandemic is getting worse
in Kerala after the Onam fes-
tival there,” the veteran gen-
eral medicine specialist said.
“Serious Covid patients
are waiting to get a berth in
the critical care unit (CCU) in
a private hospital for two to
three days nowadays. Just try
to understand the situation
after the Puja when the situ-
ation will worsen. We on
behalf of the GAB have briefed
the chief minister everything
urging her to arrange more ICU
facilities. We need at least
2000 ICU beds against the
existing 1200 only in both
government and private
healthcare facilities,” accord-
ing to Dr Mukherjee.
“The pandemic is also rav-
hours instead of 122 services
running presently.
The additional metro ser-
vices will be started from 12
October. About 64 services will
be run from 18 October
between 10.10 am to 9.30 pm
instead of 58 services being
run now.
Coming Monday, the last
metro will leave from both
ends - Dum Dum and Kavi
Subhash at 8.30 pm instead
of 8.00 pm and from Noapara
at 8.25 pm from Monday to
Saturday and at 8.23 pm on
Sundays.
SOCIAL DISTANCE?
Bus passengers crowding together without social distancing in Kolkata on Friday.
ranks, if their previous modus
operandi is anything to go by.
The CIF's primary task is
to "cleanse" the forests lest
Maoists set up base. The
forests have to be made out
of bounds for them as other-
wise ", brainwashing" of the
local populace will follow, a
senior officer requesting
anonymity said.
The death of top Maoist
leader, Kishenji in an encounter
at Burishol in November 2011
marked the beginning of a long
lull in the activities of LWE in
Junglemahal. But some senior
officers are of the view that ever
since the CIF has not been on
CMYK
aging other districts apart
from Kolkata, Howrah, Hoogh-
ly, South and North 24 Par-
ganas. Massive awareness
campaign on using masks,
hand sanitization and social
distancing during and after the
festivals should be launched
to fight the disease,” he added.
Different doctors’ bodies
like Association of Health
Service Doctors (AHSD), West
Bengal Doctors’ Forum etc
have already requested the
chief minister urging her to
take strong precautionary
measures during the festi-
vals to prevent the spread of
the killer viral disease other-
wise the healthcare system will
collapse in the state.
“The Covid situation in
our state is very alarming.
Doctors and other medical staff
like us who are getting exposed
to coronavirus patients since
March are also feeling fatigued.
I don’t know how long we
will be able to attend patients,”
said Dr Rahul Jain, a critical
care expert, who attends to
around 40 to 45 Covid patients
daily at Belle Vue Clinic.
Around 50 doctors have
succumbed to Covid infections
so far in the state.
(REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE)
Allow public
performances:
Hooghly
artists to DM
HOOGHLY,9 OCTOBER
The unorganised cultural
district artists today sat on
demonstration in front of the
DM office demanding per-
mission and relaxation
towards cultural perfor-
mance in the public places.
The artists claimed, for the
last seven months, all cultural
public performances were
stopped due to pandemic
and lockdown.
However, with the ongo-
ing unlocks, many relax-
ations are being granted.
CM Mamata Banerjee
had tweeted “To return to
Normalcy, Jatras plays, OATs,
cinemas and all musical
dances, recital and magic
shows shall be allowed to
function with 50 partici-
pants or less from 01 Octo-
ber, subject to adherence to
physical distancing norms,
wearing of masks and com-
pliance to precautionary
protocols." SNS
its toes, a viewpoint not under-
scored by any major untoward
incident.
Stretched over parts of the
districts of Midnapore(West),
Purulia and Bankura, the
forested terrain of Junglema-
hal was a secure base of
Maoists who shot political
opponents and escaped to
their jungle hideouts during
the later years of Left Front dis-
pensation.
A clutch of development
projects of the Trinamul Con-
gress government coupled
with sustained CIF opera-
tions turned out to be a long
haul to restore normalcy.
SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020
BURNING ISSUE
BJP activists during a candle light rally protesting against TMC and police excesses on them in
Kolkata on Friday. �BISWAJIT GHOSHAL
ZSI compiles list of new species
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 9 OCTOBER
Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)
has compiled images and
information of about 360
new species, 4 subspecies
and 4 fossil species as well as
116 species recorded for the
first time from India into a
book called “Animal Discov-
eries 2019: New Species and
New Records” and 62 species
of Skinks known from India
belonging to 16 genera in
“Skinks of India” that were
released by Babul Supriyo
MoS for Environment, For-
est and Climate Change today.
Of the discoveries, 294
species are invertebrates and
74 are vertebrates.
Insects outnumbered other
groups in general and inver-
tebrates, fish diversity is high
with 38 new species and 5 new
records. The biodiversity
hotspots of India have once
again proved as the never-end-
ing treasure house for species
richness where several species
have been newly described.
The current discoveries
have updated the Indian fau-
��ANAGHA BANIK
Hit by Covid blues, Bengal
couple sells baby for `4,000
INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 9OCTOBER
Parents of an eight-months-
old girl child sold her off for
just Rs 4,000 in West Bengal's
Midnapore district due to
severe monetary crisis amid
the continuing pandemic that
hit the nation eight months
back, police said.
Police said preliminary
investigation suggested that
the family was dealing with
acute poverty during the
Covid-19 outbreak that start-
Insects outnumbered
other groups in gener-
al and invertebrates,
fish diversity is high
with 38 new species
and 5 new records.
nal diversity to the extent of
1,02,161 species equivalent
to 6.52 per cent of the glob-
al share.
The “Skinks of India” is the
first monograph on this group
of lizards, which are found in
all kinds of habitats in the
country, from the Himalayas
to the coasts and from dense
forests to the deserts.
This book also gives a
phylogenetic and biogeo-
graphical analysis of the dis-
tribution of these lizards in
all 11 biogeographic zones of
India and a detailed account
on the historical studies on
this group of lizards from
the British era to the present
times. On the occasion, anoth-
er book named “Plant Dis-
coveries, 2019” of Botanical
Survey of India (BSI) was
also released.
Sons rescue 81-yr-old
father, killed in cave-in
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
BISHNUPUR, 9 OCTOBER
Two middle-aged brothers
died while rescuing their
father who got trapped under
debris following a collapse of
their two-storeyed mud house
at a village in Bankura after
midnight.
The fire brigade rescuers,
the police and the locals
managed to rescue the 81
year-old Anil Biswas, the
trapped father of Santosh
Biswas (56) and Bikash Biswas
(52).
The mangled bodies of
Santosh and Bikash were
recovered with the help of
earth moving machines.
The house collapsed and
subsequently the pillars fell
on them while they were try-
ing to bring out their father
from inside the house. The
father however remained
unhurt.
The mishap occurred at
Supur village in Joypur PS area
Later the uncle of the
infant managed Rs
4,000 and got her
back from the person
she was sold to
ed livelihood opportunity cri-
sis with repeated lockdowns
since March.
During the interrogation
the parents admitted that it
became really difficult for
them to make both ends meet
owing to almost no-income.
The incident was report-
03
Ramnabagan
sanctuary
to get hyenas
& wolves
BURDWAN, 9 OCTOBER
Ramnabagan wildlife
sanctuary in Burdwan is
all set to introduce hyenas and
wolves in the sanctuary, said
state forest minister Rajib
Banerjee.
The minister said: “We
spoke with the Central Zoo
Authority (CZA) and there is
plan to introduce hyenas
and wolves which are com-
mon animals in South Ben-
gal forests. Also, crocodiles
and wild cats would be
accommodated.”
The minister further
added, “We also have plans
to erect a central park
on one acre within the
sanctuary.”
The mini zoo within the
Ramnabagan sanctuary
spread over 14.31 hectares
and the forest patch is under
the control of divisional
forest officer, Burdwan
(East). SNS
The house collapsed
and subsequently the
pillars fell on them
while they were try-
ing to bring out their
father from inside the
house. The father
however remained
unhurt.
in Bishnupur at 1:15 am today.
Jhumki, Bikash’s daughter,
testified “My uncle made one
SOS call and vacated us. Then
he accompanied by my father
went to rescue grandfather and
both were buried as the entire
house caved in shortly.”
The house was nearly 70
year-old but ill maintained,
according to the Fire Brigade
officials.
“The bodies of the broth-
ers were sent for postmortem
and we have initiated an
independent probe into the
incident,” said Priyobrata
Bakshi, SDPO, Bishnupur.
ed from Harijon Pally area in
the district. Police said later
the uncle of the infant some-
how managed Rs 4,000 and got
her back home on Thursday
from the person she was sold
to. He handed over the baby
to the officials of state child
welfare department.
After necessary medical
tests, the baby was kept in
Vidyasagar Girl's Home in
Midnapore town. Later, the
officials of Kotwali police sta-
tion took the parents into
custody for interrogation.
04
Rahul Gandhi created a facade of being a supporter of farmers’ rights but
was exposed, as he conducted the protest sitting on a sofa atop a tractor.
MADHYA PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER SHIVRAJ SINGH CHOUHAN
SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020 ACCUSING CONGRESS LEADER RAHUL GANDHI OF MAKING A MOCKERY OF A PROTEST FOR FARMERS’ RIGHTS

MLA’s intercaste
wedding: Madras Priest dies after Farm Laws : AAP demands all party meet
HC rules out STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE by deputy Leader of Opposition (Amarinder) should bear in with farmer organisations as well
abduction
CHENNAI, 9 OCTOBER
being attacked by CHANDIGARH, 9 OCTOBER

Even as the CM is yet to set a

The state of Tamil Nadu,
infamous for casteism and
caste-related violence, is in
the news again.
The affair and subsequent
wedding of Kallakkurichi
MLA Prabhu, a Dalit, with a
Brahmin girl, has now turned
deadline for convening a spe-
Bibi Sarabjit Kaur Manuke, the
AAP MLAs said the special
Assembly session be convened
so that the farmers, and other
mind that they would no longer
fall to his political maneuvers.
The AAP MLAs said farmers,
farm laborers, book-keepers,
as all other stakeholders to
come out with a solution which
was acceptable to all. In a state-
ment, the SAD president said
land grabbers
Rajasthan CM condemns the act, main accused has been arrested
cial session of Punjab Assem-
bly against the new farm laws,
the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on
Friday demanded Amarinder
all sections could be saved
from ruining.
Addressing the ‘dharna’
Manuke alleged Amarinder
‘arhtiyas’, transporters, small
shopkeepers are fighting a big
battle for survival.
The AAP leaders alleged
“farmer organisations have
rightly rejected the secretary level
talks offered by the Union agri-
cultural ministry as a bureau-
Singh to call an all party meet- had played a pivotal role in clear- Amarinder Singh along with crat cannot offer anything on
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA gress rule. ing on the issue and convene ing the passage for the three anti- Akali Dal’s Badals and BJP’s the table and had called the farm
JAIPUR, 9 OCTOBER The main accused, “There is no fear of law the session before 15 October. farmers Agriculture Ordinances Modi, under a deep conspira- leaders only to explain the cen-
Kailash Meena wanted among criminals who are MLAs belonging to AAP brought in by the Narendra cy, were trying to mislead the tre’s point of view,”.

into a legal battle with the girl's
parents approaching the
Madras High court with a
habeas corpus petition.
But Madras High Court on
Friday allowed Kallakurichi
MLA Prabhu to leave with his
wife Soundharya, after she was
produced before the bench.
The court ruled that the
19-year-old woman is an
A
priest died after being
set on fire allegedly by
five people who want-
ed to encroach on
temple land in Rajasthan's
Karauli district, police said on
Friday.
Chief minister Ashok
Gehlot condemned the inci-
dent and said that the main
accused has been arrested,
to encroach upon the
temple land
bers on Friday.
The chief minister termed
the incident extremely unfor-
tunate and condemnable,
and said the guilty would not
be spared.
“The Rajasthan govern-
roaming freely under Congress
rule. People are living in fear
while criminals have no fear.
This is the situation when the
chief minister himself is hold-
ing the home portfolio,” BJP
state president Satish Poonia
told reporters.
Poonia also formed a three-
member committee which
will visit Sapotra.
staged a dharna (sit-in) out-
side the Assembly to make
these two demands. They said
Amarinder Singh should imme-
diately convene an all-party
meeting, in which representa-
tives farmers' organisations,
farm experts and other stake-
holders should be invited. Led
Modi-led government which
was aimed at ruining the farm-
ing fraternity, besides demol-
ishing the federal structure of
the country. She accused the CM
of misleading the gullible peo-
ple of Punjab, especially the
farmers, by holding pseudo
rallies, saying that he
farmers and other sections of
society to derail the ongoing
farmers’ struggle across the state.
Meanwhile, Shiromani Akali
Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir
Singh Badal on Friday urged PM
Narendra Modi to address the
grievances of the farming com-
munity by holding direct talks
Madhya Pradesh CM Shiv-
raj Singh Chouhan today
accused Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi of making a mockery
of a protest for farmers’ rights,
and said that Gandhi did not
even know whether onions
grew above the ground or
beneath.

351 arrested for human

adult who has willingly cho-
sen to marry the 35-year-
old legislator and that the case
of abduction filed by her
father does not hold.
The court on Thursday
directed the respective police
to produce Soundarya, the
wife of Prabhu after the girl’s
father moved petition.
A temple priest and
AIADMK party member S
Swaminathan had
approached the Madras High
Court on Monday alleging that
his daughter had been abduct-
ed by the Dalit MLA and was
forced to marry him. He fur-
ther stated in his petition
that he was threatened by the
MLA's family when he ques-
tioned and filed the petition
asking for his daughter to be
produced before the court.
The two-member bench
of Justices MM Sundresh
and D Krishnakumar issued
the instructions to the pub-
lic prosecutor based on the
plea.
Soundharya came to court
with her husband and told the
bench that she is an adult and
nobody compelled her to
get married. SNS
while the opposition BJP
attacked the government say-
ing the law and order has
deteriorated and people are
under fear in the state.
The incident occurred on
Wednesday in Bukna village
where five accused caught the
priest Babu Lal Vaishnav near
an agriculture farm and set him
on fire after pouring petrol on
him.
He was admitted in a cru-
cial condition to SMS hospi-
tal in Jaipur where he died on
Thursday night.
“The main accused, Kailash
Meena, has been arrested,
while another accused was
rounded up,” Superinten-
dent of Police, Karauli, Mridul
Kachhawa, said.
The SP said a case of
attempt to murder was reg-
istered at Sapotra police sta-
tion and it was converted
into a murder case after the
death of the priest.
The accused wanted to
encroach upon the land of the
temple, the police said.
Deputy Superintendent
of Police Kaila Devi, Mahaveer
Prasad, said that the body was
handed over to family mem-
ment is with the grieving
family. The main accused in
the incident has been arrest-
ed and action is being taken.
The guilty will not be spared,”
Gehlot tweeted in Hindi.
Such acts have no place in
a civilised society, he said.
BJP leaders in New Delhi,
including Union minister
Prakash Javadekar, cited the
ghastly murder to attack the
Congress over the recent
crimes, including rapes, in the
western state.
Taking a swipe at Con-
gress leader Rahul Gandhi,
Javadekar said, “Instead of
going to different places on
political tourism, he should
take cognizance of heinous
crimes against women and
apologise to the people of
Rajasthan that their govern-
ment has failed.”
Action should be taken
against the culprits, he said.
“Law and order in
Rajasthan has gone for a toss,”
the minister alleged refer-
ring to the Karauli incident.
The BJP leaders in the
state charged that the law
and order situation has wors-
ened in the state under Con-
“The fact-finding com-
mittee comprises Jaipur MP
Ramcharan Bohra, party's
national secretary and former
MLA Alka Gurjar and former
state president of Bhartiya
Janta Yuva Morcha Jitendra
Meena. The committee will
visit Sapotra and submit a
report to the state president,”
BJP spokesperson and MLA
Ramlal Sharma said.
Condemning the incident,
former chief minister Vasund-
hara Raje said in a statement
that the way the crime graph
is rising in the state, it is clear
that no woman, child, elder-
ly person or Dalit is safe in the
state.
“The Congress govern-
ment of the state should now
wake up from slumber and get
the family justice by strictly
punishing the culprits,” she
said. Rajasthan Congress chief
Govind Singh Dotasra said the
police have already caught the
main accused.
Vaishnav's family members
have demanded action against
the SHO, investigation by a
deputy SP rank official, com-
pensation and government job
for a family member.
trafficking in Haryana
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 9 OCTOBER
After the US government deport-
ed more than 70 residents of
Haryana in May for having ille-
gally migrated to the United
States from its border with
Mexico, 351 persons have been
arrested for human traffick-
ing and immigration fraud.
Haryana home minister,
Anil Vij on Friday said 370 FIRs
have been registered for immi-
gration fraud and for sending
people abroad through illegal
means. The police have arrest-
ed 351 persons in this regard
and have recovered a cash
amount of Rs 1.04 crore from
their possession.
As most of the 76 Haryana
residents who were deported
from the US were victims of
human trafficking, a ‘Special
Investigation Team’ (SIT) has
been constituted at the state-
level which will monitor and
investigate such cases to put an
end to immigration frauds in
the state. The SIT headed by an
Inspector General of Police
Bharti Arora includes six other
IPS officers Nazneen Bhasin,
Rahul Sharma, Himanshu Garg,
Lokendra Singh, Shashank
Kumar and Mohit Handa. This
team is probing cases pertain-
ing to fraud, worth lakhs com-
mitted against youth on the pre-
text of sending them abroad.
“There are several such
fraudsters in the state who
were sending youth by illegal
means to countries like Amer-
ica, Malaysia, Mexico, Dubai etc.
There are a total of 421 people
No. A-35014/01/2020-CHS-V
from Haryana who have been
sent back to India by the gov- GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
ernments of these countries,” Ministry of Health & Family Welfare
Vij said. The minister said the (CHS Division)
Special Research Team has Room No. 752, A-Wing
Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi-110011
received 646 complaints in the
Applications are invited for filling up of various posts in the Teaching, Non-Teaching,
past four months, of which Public Health and GDMO Sub cadres of Central Health Service under the Ministry of
370 complaints have been filed Health & Family Welfare at various CGHS Clinics / Institutes on deputation basis
and 276 complaints have been from amongst the officers holding analogous posts under Central Government
(including Ministries of Railways and Defence) or State Governments or Union
sent to their concerned districts Territories and by Short Term Contract from the suitable officers holding analogous
for investigation. posts under the statutory bodies, autonomous bodies, semi-Govt. organisations, uni-
versities or recognized Research Institutions under Central / State Governments.
2. The details of posts proposed to be filled, eligibility criteria and desirable
qualifications / experience etc. can be viewed in the Ministry’s

KCR’s daughter contests bypolls, website: https://www.mohfw.gov.in

3. Applications of suitable officers, who can be released in the event of their

BJP says TRS using money power

selection, may be forwarded through proper channel in the prescribed proforma
to Under Secretary (CHS-V), Room No. 752, A-Wing, Ministry of Health & Family
I, SMT. Saraswati Rani Welfare, Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi-110011 within forty-five days from the date
Paul, spouse of No. JC- of publication of the advertisement in the Employment News. Advance copies of
748107-Y Rank Ex Sub name the applications will not be entertained. Applications received after the last date
late Bhagirath Pal, resident STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE be counted on 12 October. Reddy. or without requisite documents or otherwise found incomplete will not be consid-
of Vill.: Rathgara, P.O.: ered.
UNIVERSITY OF Pathai, Dist.: Birbhum IT IS notified for the infor- HYDERABAD, 9 OCTOBER Around 24 voters have test- Although BJP holds the Sarita Nair
I, KANCHNA Kumari, (W.B.), Pin-731234 have mation that my Original
NORTH BENGAL spouse of JC-669549W ed positive and Election MP seat most of the local Under Secretary to the Govt. of India
change my name from Smt. Qualifying Examination
P.O.: NBU
Sub/Clk Hari Nibasam, Saraswati Rani Paul to Certificate-cum-Marksheet After the debacle in Lok Commission allowed them bodies are controlled by TRS Tel # 2306 3068
resident of Vill.: Satlakha, davp 17101/11/0012/2021
Dist.: Darjeeling-734013 P.O.: Rahika, Dist.:
Saraswati Pal, vide affidavit of 10th of year 2017, Roll No. Sabha election last year K to cast votes either through and its ally AIMIM also has
dated 25.09.2020 before the 6107977 issued by CBSE has
B.SC. (HONOURS) Madhubani, State: Bihar, Executive Magistrate, Suri. been actually damaged.
Kavitha Rao, the daughter postal ballots or supplied a strong presence which is
ADMISSION PIN-847238, have changed
NOTIFICATION Sangram Keshari of Telangana CM K Chan- PPE to come and cast their likely to work in favour of
my name from Kanchna I AM MD. Mudassar Nazar Nayak, near Omkarnath
Online applications are Kumari to Kanchana Laskar, S/o. Md. Abdul Temple, Kopanda, Jajpur
drasekhar Rao is out to votes between 4 p.m. and Kavitha Rao.
invited for admission to Sharma, vide affidavit secure her lost prestige 5 p.m. However, local BJP Meanwhile, days after
the first Semester of 3 Wodud, Vill.: Paltadanga, Road, Jajpur-755019,
dated 05 Oct., 20 before
years B.Sc. (Honours) in the Notary Public at
P.O.: Sondalia, P.S.: Shasan, Mob.: 8327778972. through MLC election from MP Arvind Dharmapudi Andhra Pradesh chief min-
Anthropology Course for N 24 Pgs., declare that in my
Siliguri. Nizamabad, voting for alleged Covid protocols ister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy
the Session 2020-21 from all my education certificate, ALL
13.10.2020 to 14.10.2020 Votar I.D., Aadhaar, PAN, which was held today were violated. He also met Punjab National Bank
(please visit our website: I, URMI Purkayastha by Passport, OBC, Ration Card CLASSIFIED though her arch rival and alleged “Money flowed like officials in New Delhi dur-
the affidavit of Serampore my father’s name has
https://www.nbu.ac.in
Executive Magistrate on recorded as Md. Abdul Odut ARE local BJP MP Arvind water” in this election. ing his last visit to meet the
for details of online
Admission procedure). 13.07.16 declare that Urmi
Purkayastha, Urmi Saha,
Laskar & Md. Abdul Odut. By
Judicial Magistrate (1st
CARRIED Dharmapuri alleged the It was Dharmapuri who Prime Minister CBI booked
Registrar ruling TRS has used money had defeated the sitting rebel party MP Raghu
University of Urmi Saha Purkayastha & class) at Barasat Court vide FREE OF COST
North Bengal Urmi Purkayastha Saha, affidavit (Sl. No.- 3615) on
ON OUR to garner support for her. MP K Kavitha Rao in the Lok Ramakrishna Raju and con-
W/o. Somnath Saha is the 14.02.2020 I have declared
Advt. No.: 332/R-2020
same & one identical that my father’s actual WEBSITE The polling for the bypoll Sabha elections from ducted raids at his property
Date: 10.10.2020
person. name is Md. Abdul Wodud. for Nizamabad Local Bod- Nizamabad seat. in connection with a fraud
ies Constituency passed However, this time TRS case involving the bank. The
off peacefully with 823 out has considered the MLC loan default is worth about
of total 824 votes polled. The election as prestige fight as Rs 826.17 crore.
polling was conducted with even the TRS working pres- The agency held raids at
strict adherence to the ident Rao’s brother KT 11 locations including
guidelines issued in view of Rama Rao has seen to it that Hyderabad, Mumbai and
KOLKATA CHANDIGARH RAIPUR & CHATTISGARGH
the Covid-19 pandemic the party threw its full West Godavari. His wife
Statesman House, SCO 56-57 (First Floor) Mr. Manish Saluja with only those wearing weight behind the candi- and daughter too have
Near G.P.O, Sectro-17D 53, Sahid Samarak Complex mask and normal body date. In case of Lok Sabha been booked in this case.
4, Chowringhee Square Bombay Market, G.E. Road,
Chandigarh-160017 temperatures allowed inside elections the TRS had Raju had been issuing a
Kolkata-700 001 Raipur 492001
Mob: 09779188811
Tel: (033) 22127070-76, Email:
Tel.: 5035985, (M): 9425202097 polling stations. Apart from alleged Congress had helped series of statements against
Email: manish_saluja@yahoo.com K Kavitha Rao from TRS two the BJP candidate to win. the party and even sought
(033) 41071700 chandigarh@thestatesmangroup.com
Fax: (033) 2212-6181 / 7107-1780 RANCHI
other candidates,V Subhash The vacancy was caused by security from Lok Sabha
Email: BHUBANESWAR Reddy from Congress and the disqualification of the Speaker Om Birla. He has
11/C, Road#1, Ashoknagar,
classified@thestatesman.net / Ranchi - 834 002
P Lakshmi Narayana from sitting member of the Leg- been show caused by the
Plot 3A, Zone B, Sector A, BJP are in the fray. Votes will islative Council R Bhoopathi party.
statesmandisplay@gmail.com Fax: (0651) 2247054
Mancheswar Industrial Estate,
Email:
Bhubaneswar- 751 010. binodenarayansingh@yahoo.co.in
DELHI Tel: (0674) 2588060/61/

Statesman House,
148, Barakhamba Road,
62/2586371,
Telefax: 0674-2588061
Email:
ASSAM & TRIPURA
Fallguni Bhattacharya
‘High profile suicides
give disturbing cues
Dr. Tarini Bose Commercial
New Delhi-110 001 thestatesmanbbsr@thestatesman.net Complex 3rd floor, Maligaon,
Tel: (011) 2331 5911 Chariyali, Guwahati- 781001
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SILIGURI
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Centre, P.O. Satellite Township,
Siliguri-734015
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Office: The Statesman Ltd.
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Tel: (0353) 2524077
SHIMLA
The Statesman Ltd.
Cabin No. 305, P. C. Chambers
Near Jodha Niwas
The Mall Shimla-171001, H.P.
Mob: 09418027177
Email:
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AIR-SURCHARGE; Kathmandu - Re. 2, Eastern Region - Re. 1
All other stations in India - Re. 1
The Statesman Limited,
2nd Floor, UNI Building,
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MUMBAI
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Tel: (022) 2202 1045
Fax: 2204 4877
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thestatesman.mumbai@gmail.com
CHENNAI
Fagun Mansion (4th floor)
26, Ethirai Road, Chennai-600 008,
Tel: (044) 28278037, 28279984
Fax: 28224800
Email:
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LUCKNOW
2/2, Butler Palace (Near Jopling
Road), Lucknow-226 001,
Ph.: (0522) 2206705, 9696000004
Email:
achal.khosla@gmail.com
Mob: 9005999018
to the predisposed’
Email: fbhatta@gmail.com
Siliguri Branch
BIHAR POSSESSION NOTICE
Mr. Neeraj Kumar / Ravi Kumar
C/o. Abhya Sharma (for immovable property)
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Health Authority.
North Jai Prakash Nagar
SHIMLA, 9 OCTOBER Talking to The Statesman Whereas,
Road No. - 5, P.O. Ashina Nagar The undersigned being the Authorised Officer of the Bank of India under the Securitisation and
Patna - 800025 on the increasing number
Suicide by former Gover- of suicides, Dr Pathak said Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 and in exercise of
Mob: 9430213484
Email: powers conferred under Section 13(12) read with Rule 3 of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules,
nor and ex-CBI Director, most of the suicides are
thestatesmanbihar@gmail.com 2002 issued a Demand Notice dated 01-01-2020 calling upon the Guarantor / Mortgagor Shri Nand
Ashwani Kumar at his res- understandable. He said Kishore Nangalia, S/o. Shri Matadin Nangalia (loan account M/s. A N Enterprise) to repay the amount
GUJRAT idence in Shimla earlier people resort to extreme
mentioned in the notice being Rs. 3,10,09,919 (Contractual dues up to 31-12-2019) (Rupees three
this week has baffled the steps when they are facing
Reyna Desai, 310 Shan Complex crore ten lakh nine thousand nine hundred and nineteen) within 60 days from the date of receipt of
entire state, as much as it survival crisis, when the
(Oposite Of M. J Library, the said notice.
Beside Sakar 4), Elis Bridge, has shaken the mental future seems bleak or when The borrower having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the borrower and the
Ahmedabad - 380006. health professionals in they are confronted with public in general that the undersigned has taken possession of the property described herein below
Ph.: 079-26579115/09824022296 Himachal Pradesh, who negative events. Besides
Email: reyna.desai@gmail.com
in exercise of powers conferred on him under Sub-Section (4) of Section 13 of Act read with Rule 8
find it an incident giving dis- when the basic needs are of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002 on this the 08th day of October of the year 2020;
NAGPUR turbing cues to common not fulfilled a person is The borrower in particular and the public in general is hereby cautioned not to deal with the
people. likely to resort to extreme property and any dealing with the property will be subject to the charge of the Bank of India for an
Sarabjit Ahluwalia
Flat No. 101, Bindra Mansion “Suicide by the distin- step. amount Rs. 3,10,09,919 and interest thereon from the NPA date of the account.
21, Kadbi Chowk guished people like Ashwani He said when esteem of The borrower's attention is invited to provisions of Sub-Section (8) of Section 13 of the Act, in respect
Nagpur - 440014 Kumar two days back and the person is at stake, he may of time available, to redeem the secured assets.
Ph.: 9822221418
Email:
by ex Chairman of HP Pub- be compelled to take as Description of the immovable property:
lic Service Commission harsh a step as suicide. EQM of 66 Decimal of vacant land demarcated by compound wall situated at near Goodrick School
sarabjit. ahluwalia1@gmail. com
Major General (retd) Chan- Majority people don’t con- under SMC area P.O.: Sevoke Road, P.S.: Bhakti Nagar, P.S.: Jalpaiguri, Siliguri-734001, Mouza:
PUNE der Mohan Sharma two sult a psychologist or a Dabgram, JL No. 02, Khatian No. 90/1 (RS) and 99 (LR), Plot No. 53 (RS) and 19 (LR), BLLRO Office
Rajganj, Dist.: Jalpaiguri in the name of Mr. Nand Kishore Nangalia.
Nitin Akolkar years ago in Shimla are two psychiatrist, which can
34/3, Suwas Building very tragic incidents. How- actually prevent this. Bounded:
Beside Hotel Laxman, Prabhat Road ever, it also remains a mat- “But these two cases On the North by : 30 ft. wide pucca road.
Pune-411004, Maharashtra.
ter of psychological inves- are unclear. There is a pos- On the South by : Land of Ram Kumar Agarwal.
Ph.: 9822331346
Email: nitin.akolkar@gmail.com tigation when high profile sibility of depression affect- On the East by : Land of Donar.
people end their lives like ing the two and their unwill- On the West by : Land of Santosh Kumar Gupta.
this,” said Dr Sanjay Pathak, ingness to seek psycho- Authorized Officer
Chief Executive Officer of logical or psychiatric help,” (Bank of India)
Himachal Pradesh Mental he said. Date: 08-10-2020

THUMBNAILS
Resident doctors and nurs-
ing staff of the govern-
ment-run Hindu Rao Hos-
pital hold placards during a
demonstration demanding
for their salaries to be paid
on time, in New Delhi on
Friday. � AFP
SC on CLAT: The Supreme
Court on Friday refused to
either cancel the Common
Law Admission Test (CLAT)-
2020 or stay the coun-
selling process and asked
the five candidates, who
were seeking quashing of
the exam alleging technical
glitches, to give their
grievances within two
days to the redressal
committee. PTI
Gold smuggling case: Ker-
ala chief minister's former
principal secretary M Siva-
sankar on Friday appeared
before the Customs, inves-
tigating the Kerala gold
smuggling case for interro-
gation. The interrogation
which started at 11 a.m.
on Friday, lasted till
around 10 in the night. SNS
Lalu gets bail in
Chaibasa case
RANCHI, 9 OCTOBER
The Jharkhand High Court on
Friday granted bail to RJD
chief Lalu Prasad in a fodder
scam case related to Chaibasa
treasury, observing that he has
served half of the five-year
sentence awarded to him.
The case pertains to fraud-
ulent withdrawal amounting
to Rs 33.67 crore from the
Chaibasa treasury in undivid-
ed Bihar, when Prasad was the
chief minister. The leader, how-
ever, will have to remain in jail
as he is serving time in anoth-
er case related to Dumka trea-
sury, which involves embez-
zlement of around Rs 3.13
crore. Justice Aparesh Kumar
Singh asked Yadav to submit
two personal bonds of Rs 50,000
each and deposit a penalty of
Rs 2 lakh to secure bail.
The court also sought
Prasad’s medical report from
authorities of Rajendra Insti-
tute of Medical Sciences in
Ranchi, where he is undergo-
ing treatment for various ail-
ments, and details of everyone
he has met since his admission
to the hospital. Lawyer Kapil
Sibal, along with advocate
Devarshi Mandal, pleaded bail
for Lalu as he has completed
serving half the jail term. PTI
Poor performance of the MNREGA
triggers reverse migration, says study
MANOJ CHAURASIA
PATNA, 9 OCTOBER
Even as the Nitish Kumar gov-
ernment claims to be working
hard to provide job opportunities
to over three million migrant
workers who returned homes
after being left jobless due to
Corona-induced lockdown, the
ground situation in Bihar
remains very alarming.
According to a study con-
ducted by a group of Non-Prof-
it Organisations, the Mahatma
Gandhi National Rural Employ-
ment Guarantee Act (MNREGA)
has failed to serve purposes to
the returnee migrants so far. The
study was conducted last month
in twin states of Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh. According to the study,
although the government has
increased MNREGA allocation,
this is not reaching those most
in need. The major factors com-
ing on the way, according to the
study, are corruption, delay in
non-payment of remunera-
tion, low job allocation, and loans
that the community has taken
from non-institutional sources.
The study said despite the gov-
ernment’s good intention and
Ram Vilas Paswan to be
accorded state funeral
Paswan’s mortal remains to be flown to Patna for his funeral, Ravi Shankar Prasad to represent Central govt
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
U
nion Minister Ram
Vilas Paswan would
be accorded a state
funeral, and Law
and IT Minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad would represent the
Central government at the
ceremony in Patna, an official
statement and sources said on
Friday.
Paswan (74) died at a pri-
vate hospital here on Thurs-
day evening after recently
undergoing a heart surgery.
The funeral is likely to take
place in Patna on Saturday. His
mortal remains would be
flown to Patna in a special air-
craft, the sources said.
At a specially convened
meeting of the Union Cabinet
this morning, it was decided
that Prasad would represent
the government of India and
the Union Council of Minis-
ters at the funeral of the vet-
eran leader, they said.
The Cabinet condoled the
demise of the Minister for
Consumer Affairs, Food and
Public Distribution and
observed a two-minute silence
in his memory, according to
the statement.
“The Cabinet approved a
state funeral to be accorded
for Shri Ramvilas Paswan,” the
statement said.
The Cabinet also passed a
resolution which said, “The
Cabinet expresses profound
sorrow at the sad demise of Shri
Death of Dalit leader Paswan brings
element of uncertainty in Bihar polls
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
The death of Union minister
Ram Vilas Paswan introduced
another element of uncertain-
ty in the Bihar Assembly poll
matrix after his Lok Janshakti
Party’s decision to fight the
election independently had
already opened up the race.
Political watchers believe
that a lot will depend on how
LJP’s core Dalit voters relate with
his son and political heir Chi-
rag Paswan at a time when the
demise of his father is bound
to trigger sympathy among
them. A Bihar leader, who did
not wish to be named, said the
lack of any rival young Dalit
leader with state-wide visibil-
ity may help the 37-year-old Lok
Sabha MP, also the LJP president.
“Much will depend on how
Chirag Paswan positions him-
self. His father had a grass-
roots appeal and spoke the
lingo of the masses. They will
now pay more attention to him
than ever,” he said.
One party which will be
wary of any likely impact of the
veteran Dalit leader’s death on
its fortune is chief minister
Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), which
was already in the line of LJP's
budgetary allocations, migrants
are getting into debt bondage
and children are at high risk of
child labour.
The study said only 20-50%
job card holders have been
able to access MGNREGA work
which is leading to distress
migration. “In Bihar, in most
locations only 50 per cent of fam-
ilies have job cards and those
who don’t have them, are not
interested in getting them issued
because of their previous expe-
rience of non-payment or delay
in payment. In Uttar Pradesh,
even in areas where job card
holders are significantly high,
job allocation is very low. In both
the states, communities are
dependent on verbal requests
for job demand which cause a
lacuna for corruption,” the
study said.
The study added that the
migrants are at high risk of
debt bondage and trafficking
because in all locations, a sig-
nificant number of families
have taken loans from non-insti-
tutional credit sources. It is
foreseen that if they are unable
to pay loans, then they would
fall into debt bondage.
The real danger to India isn't that our PM doesn't understand. It's
the fact that nobody around him has the guts to tell him.
Ramvilas Paswan, Union Min-
ister for Consumer Affairs,
Food and Public Distribu-
tion. In his passing away, the
nation has lost an eminent
leader, a distinguished par-
liamentarian and an able
administrator.”
“The Cabinet extends its
heartfelt condolences to the
bereaved family on behalf of
the Government and the entire
nation,” it added.
Born on July 5, 1946, in Sha-
harbanni in Bihar's Khagaria
district, Paswan was educat-
ed at Kosi College, Khagaria
and Patna University. He
obtained degrees in Master of
Arts (MA) and Bachelor of
Law (LLB). He was also con-
ferred the Degree of D.Litt.
(Honoris Causa) by Bundelk-
hand University, Jhansi.
Paswan was one of the
most popular leaders from
fire over a range of issues.
Only on Thursday, hours
before Ram Vilas Paswan
breathed his last, the LJP had
released a letter his son had writ-
ten to BJP president J P Nadda
in which he had accused Kumar
of “insulting” his father and
claimed that there is a “wave”
of disaffection against him
among voters in Bihar. The
JD(U) chose not to react to the
allegations. The death of the 74-
year-old leader, who was iden-
tified with the state's Dalits for
over five decades, so near the
polls will mean that none of the
LJP’s rivals will like to attack the
party and its young president.
The LJP has been projecting
itself as a post-poll BJP ally
and a strong supporter of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi while
training its guns on the JD(U),
the saffron party’s ally in the three
phase elections starting from
28 October. Though the BJP has
maintained its faith in Kumar’s
leadership, it will be now dou-
bly cautious in going after the
LJP as the PM often trusted Ram
Vilas Paswan to voice his gov-
ernment’s views, at times even
informally, over Dalit issues.
The BJP leadership had cul-
tivated him as a trusted ally over
the years, and it may not like
In Bihar, the study was con-
ducted in various districts, such
as Sitamarhi, Gaya, Rohtas,
East Cahmparan, West Cham-
paran, Muzaffarpur, Purnia,
Katihar, Kishanganj, Araria,
Saharsa, Khagaria, Begusarai,
Nawada and Nalanda where
huge number of migrant work-
ers have returned after lockdown.
“The payment rates under
MNREGA are substantially less
than the market rates. Sec-
ondly, contrary to the market,
payments are not prompt and
faultless. The job cards remain
with the PRIs (Panchayati Raj
Institutions) and Rozgar Sevaks
who often misuse them. There
is no work on demand as max-
imum work is done by machin-
ery and whatever is left, is allot-
ted to the labourers known to
the PRI heads,” said the study
conducted in Sitamarhi dis-
trict by Adithi, an NGO. It said
despite all the hype about
MNREGA in these trying times,
it has been able to make only
a marginal dent on the vul-
nerability of the target groups.
A majority of needy persons have
remained aloof from it due to
loopholes and faults in admin-
TAKING A DIG AT PM NARENDRA MODI ON HIS WIND TURBINES SUGGESTION
Athawale sole representative of NDA
allies in Modi govt after Paswan's demise
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
Following the death of LJP
leader and Union minister
Ram Vilas Paswan, Ramdas
Athawale of Republican Party
of India (RPI) is the lone
member from the BJP allies
in the NDA government at
the Centre.
However, there is no rep-
resentation from BJP allies
in the Union Cabinet.
Athawale is Minister of State
for Social Justice and Empow-
erment.
Arvind Sawant (Shiv Sena),
Harsimrat Kaur Badal (Shi-
romani Akali Dal) and Ram
Vilas Paswan (Lok Janshak-
Bihar and enjoyed strong
mass support. He was elect-
ed to the Bihar Legislative
Assembly in 1969 as a mem-
ber of the Samyukta Socialist
Party.
Thereafter, he was elected
as a member of the sixth Lok
Sabha from Hajipur con-
stituency in 1977 with a record
margin. He was re-elected to
the seventh Lok Sabha in 1980
and the eighth in 1984.
Paswan was re-elected to
the ninth Lok Sabha in 1989
and appointed as the Union
to sour its relationship with
his party, now being helmed by
his son, who is also an ardent
pro-Modi voice.
Chirag Paswan, serving a sec-
ond term from Jamui, has
already announced that his
party will contest on all the seats
where the JD(U) is in con-
tention but not against the BJP.
The JD(U) and the BJP had
announced that they will fight
on 122 and 121 seats in the polls
to the 243-seat Assembly. The
JD(U) has given seven of its seats
to former CM Jitan Ram Man-
jhi’s party and the BJP has given
11 from its quota to Vikassheel
Insaan Party. Since its found-
ing in 2000, the LJP has contested
the Bihar Assembly twice with-
out entering into an alliance with
a bigger party and fetched more
than 11 per cent votes.
The LJP is relying on its tra-
ditional formula of backing
influential upper caste candi-
dates besides those from its tra-
ditional voters in a large num-
ber of seats. The party is bank-
ing on anti-Nitish Kumar vot-
ers, including those who have
traditionally voted for the NDA
despite their reservations with
the CM. The death of its pop-
ular founder has made things
trickier for all concerned.
istering this scheme.
According to the research,
due to poor financial conditions,
almost all families have taken
loans from SHGs or local money
lenders, relatives or others often
on high interest rates and this
has put additional burden on
them due to no earnings.
Nothing better remains the
condition of returnee migrants
in districts like Gaya and Rohtas
where the study was conduct-
ed by Centre DIRECT, another
prominent NGO working in
the state. The area comprises
35 per cent of migrant popu-
lation households of which 25
per cent of them came back
home during the lockdown.
Out of that, 62 per cent of them
went back to their old desti-
nations over the last one month
“Only 15 per cent of MGN-
REGA card holders received
work so those who had gone
back to their home towns dur-
ing lockdown are again migrat-
ing significantly due to poor per-
formance of the MNREGA
scheme. This is affecting the SC,
ST and Dalit community mem-
bers including the Musahar
community,” said the study.
CONGRESS LEADER RAHUL GANDHI
ti Party) were from the BJP-
led NDA alliance in the
Union Cabinet when the
Modi 2.0 government
returned to power in 2019 fol-
lowing Lok Sabha elections.
While the Shiv Sena quit
the NDA in late 2019, SAD
left the alliance recently over
farm bills.
Another key NDA ally,
the JD (U) had kept itself out
of the government.
Besides Prime Minister
Modi, a total of 57 ministers
-- 24 Cabinet, nine Ministers
of State (with Independent
charge) and 24 Ministers of
State -- had taken oath as
members of the Union Coun-
cil of Ministers on May 30,
minister for labour and wel-
fare. In 1996, he became the
minister for railways and con-
tinued to hold the post till 1998.
He later served as the min-
ister for communications
from October 1999 to Sep-
tember 2001, when he was
made the minister of coal
and mines, a portfolio he held
till April 2002.
After the 2004 Lok Sabha
elections, Paswan joined the
United Progressive Alliance
government and was made the
minister of chemicals and
BJP leader’s car hit by
truck; alleges murder bid
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
9 OCTOBER
BJP national vice president
AP Abdullakutty's car was hit
by a truck in Malappuram on
Thursday night, while he was
on his way to Kannur from
Thiruvananthapuram. Abdul-
lakutty alleged that the inci-
dent was an attempt to mur-
der him.
The BJP leader has alleged
that he was verbally abused
by a group of people at a
restaurant at Veliancode in
Malappuram district and his
car was later hit near Ran-
dathani by a truck at 10 p.m.
SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020
2019.
Following the resigna-
tions of Sawant and Badal and
the death of Paswan, there
are 21 Cabinet ministers.
With the recent death of
Minister of State for Railways
Suresh Angadi, the number
of ministers of state has also
come down to 23.
As per the Constitution,
the total number of Union
ministers, including the
Prime Minister shall not
exceed 15 per cent of the total
number of members in the
Lok Sabha.
PM Narendra Modi can
have as many as 80 minis-
ters in the 543-member Lok
Sabha.
fertilisers and minister of
steel.
He was elected to the 16th
Lok Sabha in 2014 and served
as the minister of consumer
affairs, food and public dis-
tribution. In 2019, he was
elected to Rajya Sabha and con-
tinued as the minister of con-
sumer affairs, food and pub-
lic distribution.
Paswan was considered
the voice of the oppressed and
always championed the cause
of marginalised sections of the
society, the resolution said.
on Thursday. The car was
damaged in the rear, how-
ever,Abdullakutty escaped
unhurt.
"Initially when we
stopped at a restaurant few
people verbally abusedus.
Later our vehicle was chased
by another vehicle and hit
by a truck. I have filed a com-
plaint," Abdullakutty said
The police have said that
two cases have been regis-
tered ~ one regarding the
accident and the other for
threatening and verbal abuse,
and that the truck driver
has been arrested. Police
said a detailed probe will be
held into the two incidents.
Jammu and Kashmir
HC directs CBI probe in
Roshni Land scam
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, 9 OCTOBER.
In a major development, the
multi-crore Roshni Land
scam in which top politi-
cians, bureaucrats and influ-
ential people were allowed to
grab prime lands at throwaway
price was on Friday transferred
by the J&K High Court to the
CBI for indepth probe.
The order was issued by a
division bench consisting of
Chief Justice Gita Mittal and
Justice Rajesh Bindal. The
court had earlier reserved
the judgment on an appli-
cation seeking CBI probe
into the infamous Roshni
land scam in which top big-
wigs were allegedly involved.
The Public Interest Liti-
gation (PIL) into the scam was
filed by a senior lawyer Sheikh
Shakeel Ahmad on behalf of
Professor SK Bhalla in 2011
and it is almost after ten
years of twists and turns that
the High Court has ordered
the CBI to investigate the
scam.
The court ordered that
the CBI will constitute a spe-
cial team headed by an offi-
cer of the rank of SP to probe
the scam and file the status
report in the court after every
eight weeks.
The court also ordered
the chief secretary, revenue
secretary and divisional com-
missioners of Jammu and
Kashmir valley to submit the
relevant record to the CBI with-
out any delay.
The court took a serious
view on the reported more
than 2,50,000 acre of gov-
ernment land under illegal
occupation in J&K.
The investigating agency
of J&K had been going slow
in investigating the scam and
out of 17 FIRs filed in the mat-
ter; challan was presented in
the court in only two cases.
The Roshni Act was formed
on the plea to earn revenue
05
for constructing hydroelec-
tric power projects in J&K and
hence the name was “Rosh-
ni”. However, the collection
was very small.
The Act provided transfer
of ownership rights of state
land to its occupants, subject
to the payment of a cost, as
determined by the govern-
ment. It was expected that
state government would earn
Rs 25,000 crore by transfer-
ring 250000 acres of state
land to existing occupants at
market rates. Several amend-
ments made in the Act from
time to time to benefit influ-
ential persons.
Initially the cutoff during
the Farooq Abdullah gov-
ernment was 1990. In 2005,
Mufti Sayeed’s PDP-Congress
coalition government relaxed
the cutoff year to 2004. Dur-
ing the Congress tenure of
Ghulam Nabi Azad, the cut-
off was relaxed further to
2007.
Advocate Ankur Sharma,
during the course of pro-
ceedings sought transfer of the
case to the CBI as the Anti-
Corruption Bureau (ACB)
was going slow in the inves-
tigation. “The conduct of
ACB is “suspect” and we can’t
have suspects investigating
the suspects”, he further sub-
mitted, adding “since bene-
ficiaries include Ministers,
politicians, IAS and KAS offi-
cers, the ability of the ACB is
crippled from within,” he
claimed.
While referring to CAG’s
Report of 2014, he submitted
that an estimated loss of Rs
25,000 crore has been caused
to the J&K exchequer by crim-
inal and wrongful imple-
mentation of the Roshni Act.
“Given its nature and quan-
tum, Roshni scam is unprece-
dented in the history of J&K
and finds no parallel in mod-
ern democracies as such CBI
enquiry is imperative”, he
further said.
06 SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020
Incorporating and directly descended
from THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818
Dissent restrained
W
hile there will be many, especially com-
muters between Delhi and Noida who were
inconvenienced by the blockade that
formed part of the Shaheen Bagh protests early this
year, who will welcome the manner in which the
Supreme Court has sought to circumscribe street
protest within the bounds of civic duty, there are
aspects of the judgment that merit serious consid-
eration. While the court is quite right to assert that
the right to dissent ~ and to protest ~ is part of the
Constitutional scheme, its effort to use the doctrine
of reasonable restraint to delineate the form this
dissent may take raises eyebrows. On the face of it,
the Court’s observation that the method of protest-
ing against colonial rule cannot be equated with
dissent in a self-ruled democracy may seem unex-
ceptionable. However, in making this observation,
their Lordships appear to have overlooked an
important point ~ the laws used to regulate protest
belong to colonial times; they are therefore loaded
in favour of the state, and against the conscientious
objector. For instance, Section 144 of the Criminal
Procedure Code that proscribes unlawful assembly
is over a century and a half old and was brought
on the statute book to quell dissent. When juxta-
posed with the Court’s observation that protest
should be carried out only in designated spots, it
boils down to circumscribing dissent to those spots
where the administration chooses not to enforce
Section 144, and only when it chooses not to do so.
A prime example of this is New Delhi’s Boat Club,
which was the capital’s pre-eminent protest site for
the first few decades of the republic until the gov-
ernment of P V Narasimha Rao decided the Cen-
tral Vista lawns were too sensitive to be used for
this purpose. When the Supreme Court disagreed
some years ago, the government promptly clamped
Section 144 in the area, as it did in the area around
India Gate. While central squares of every major
city in the world, including some that are not even
true democracies, are protest sites, New Delhi’s pro-
testers have been elbowed aside to a cul-de-sac
behind Jantar Mantar, with alternate sites offered at
Ramlila Grounds and at Burari on the city’s out-
skirts. The rules governing use of these sites are
amorphous enough to be tweaked by administra-
tions to discomfit protestors, with the ultimate
weapon in the form of Section 144 always being
available to stop them. It is these facts the apex
Court appeared to have overlooked when in
upholding the right to protest, it sought to shrink
the space available for it to “designated spots”.
The other, more worrisome, feature of the
Court’s ruling is that it appears to suggest a shift
from a centrist-liberal approach in judicial thinking
on the right to dissent to a conservative-rightist
one. In considering the weight they gave to restraint
vis-à-vis a Constitutional right, their Lordships
would have done well to recall the words of a great
jurist, Oliver Wendell Holmes, who famously said:
“It there is any principle…that more imperatively
calls for attachment than any other it is the princi-
ple of free thought ~ not free thought for those who
agree with us but freedom for the thought we hate.”
Anwar’s turn?
M
alaysia’s fractious politics seem destined
for another twist with opposition leader
and former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar
Ibrahim claiming he has been granted an audience
by the country’s monarch ~ and constitutional head
~ to evaluate his claim that a “substantial majority”
of legislators support his bid for Prime Minister-
ship. Reports suggest that the King had sought
assurances of support before agreeing to an audi-
ence, and the fact that he has granted one suggests
Mr Anwar may have the numbers that he claims. If
so, this development will come as a severe setback
to incumbent Prime Minister Muhyiddun Yasin,
who came to power last March after a coalition led
by Dr Mahathir Mohamed and formed with Mr
Anwar’s support collapsed due to defections. Under
Malaysia’s Constitution, the King has absolute
power to appoint as Prime Minister the person who
he believes enjoys a majority in Parliament. Mr
Ibrahim’s aides say the monarch is a meticulous
person and would not have granted an audience
without being reasonably certain that the claimant
had the numbers. While Mr Anwar has not spelt
out whose support he enjoys and exactly how he
has made up the numbers to claim a majority in
the 222-member House, reports suggest his sup-
port has been in place since last month but could
not be presented to the King because of the latter’s
indisposition. While Mr Muhiyuddin had not react-
ed to the political developments, his ability to fight
back to save his government has been affected
because he was forced to quarantine himself after a
Cabinet colleague tested positive for Covid-19.
Should the 73-year-old Mr Anwar succeed in
proving his majority, the victory will be bittersweet.
For he is a man many Malaysians believe should
have been Prime Minister decades ago, and cer-
tainly after Dr Mahathir, under whom he served
with considerable distinction as Deputy PM from
1993 to 1998. Instead sharp differences erupted
between the two men at the height of the Asian
financial crisis, leading to Mr Anwar’s removal from
office and subsequent arrest on multiple charges
including sodomy. After fighting off legal challenges
and prosecutions, Mr Anwar returned to active pol-
itics and agreed to support Dr Mahathir for interim
Prime Ministership in 2018 on the condition that
the office would later come to him. But that did not
happen, and the crafty nonagenarian stayed on as
Prime Minister for nearly two years. While Dr
Mahathir at 95 remains active in politics, his many
efforts to return to power since March have been
thwarted by potential allies who accuse him
of going back on his word. Next week may well
decide if his former deputy will finally head
Malaysia’s government.
Facts vs Falsehood
Despite many contradictions, the relationship between Gandhi and Bose was marked
by deep love, affection and respect
E
very leading personality
runs the risk of being mis-
interpreted and criticized.
Mahatma Gandhi had
been enmeshed in controversies
ever since he put his hand to the
racial politics of Natal in South
Africa and until he was assassi-
nated. There have always been
critics who have viewed Gandhi’s
approach as naïve, utopian,
escapist, negative and irrelevant.
Critics hardly consider the fact
that Gandhi lived and expressed
his philosophy through his
actions and his writings. As he
was a practical idealist, he never
did or said or wrote anything that
he had not practiced, and he also
never expected another person to
do anything which the man did
not believe in.
Mahatma Gandhi was essen-
tially a dynamic person who went
through an evolutionary process
of change in his life. His policy
was never static. He once said: “I
am not at all concerned with
appearing to be consistent. In my
search after Truth I have discard-
ed many ideas and learnt many
new things. Old as I am in age, I
have no feeling that I have ceased
to grow inwardly, or that my
growth will stop at the dissolu-
tion of the flesh.” Gandhi often
learnt from his critics ~ changing,
improving and modifying his
position time to time. He modi-
fied action in accordance with his
expanding view of Truth. His
character lay in his refusal to
change unless convinced.
Some of his critics also
learned from Gandhi. Among
those personalities Narendra
Deva, Subhas Chandra Bose and
B R Ambedkar reassessed their
positions during Gandhi’s life-
time. Others, like Jinnah, did so
later to some extent. Gandhi re-
corded his contradiction with any
personality without expressing
any wrath. But in some cases his
contradictions with some per-
sonalities were subjects of pub-
lic discussion.
Relation of Subhas Chandra
Bose with Gandhi was more
complex than that of a mere crit-
ic. Gandhi and Bose, two worthy
sons of Mother India, were leg-
endary personalities, gigantic in
their political, moral and ethical
stature. Though their dream was
to free India from the British,
they differed in the means they
wanted to adopt. Young Bose,
deeply influenced by the Russian
revolt and rise of the Japanese
empire, was a firebrand nation-
alist who believed in the tradition
of Tilak and Aurobindo. Gandhi,
on the contrary, belonged to the
tradition of discussion and talks
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Tame the dragon
SIR, Your editorial “Troubled
strait” (7 Oct) is brilliant. On
the one hand, China does
not recognise Taiwan as an
independent nation and, on
the other, it has with its eco-
nomic might, virtually com-
pelled many other countries
not to recognise Taiwan as a
separate nation.Taiwan,
according to China, is its re-
negade province and must
be brought under control of
Vol. CXXXXXIV 240
A MEMBER
OF THE
ASIAN VOICES
China to advance
on great journey
in new era
C
hina has embraced its 71th an-
niversary of founding, after win-
ning a series of remarkable fig-
hts against the COVID-19 epidemic
and floods, which helped it turn crises
into opportunities and successfully re-
sponded to changes. Withstanding the
tests, China is now standing on a new
point of history, from which billions of
Chinese people, with confidence and
pride, will embark on a great journey
in the new era.
Human history, like a river, runs
forever, witnessing both peaceful
moments and great disturbances. The
heroic Chinese people is never afraid
of rains and storms, and will always
proceed against challenges.
Since this year, facing a severe sit-
uation and unprecedented challenges,
the Communist Party of China (CPC)
Central Committee with Comrade Xi
Jinping at the core has led the Chinese
with British like his mentor Despite many contradictions, the in telling them that they were people from all ethnic groups to tackle
Gokhale and Tagore. Bose was a relationship between them was wrong. It is a fact that many fugi- difficulties, with strong leadership and
left oriented leader. Gandhi had a marked by deep love, affection tive revolutionaries felt free to brilliant governance, nurturing new
moralistic approach towards and respect towards each other. meet and hold talks with him and opportunities in crises, and seeking
nation building. Bose admired Gandhi and called argue with him fearlessly. Ever chances among changes.
The biggest divergence was him Bapu. He also hailed Gandhi after the death sentence for three As a result, China secured stable
about India’s stand with respect as the ‘Greatest Indian’ who arou- young heroes ~ Bhagat Singh, performance of reform and opening-
to world politics. Gandhi had a sed the mass movement. Rajguru and Sukhdev ~ in the up, and a successful ending of its 13th
moralistic stand of opposing the Bose’s broadcasts from S-E Lahore conspiracy case was pro- Five-Year Plan. It is expected to
Nazi regime. Bose, on the con- Asia often invoked Gandhi’s nounced on 7 October 1930 by a achieve a final victory over poverty,
trary, was more pragmatic and name and sought his blessings controversial three-member spe- and finish building a moderately pros-
wanted to work with Germany for the struggle. It was in the for- cial tribunal established by the perous society in all respects.
and Japan to destabilize the ties that Bose addressed Gandhi British, the imperative to save In face of the sudden COVID-19
British. Bose was not averse to as the ‘Father of Nation’ in a their lives became a national outbreak, billions of Chinese people
the idea of violence for indepen- broadcast from Azad Hind Radio issue. launched a breathtaking war against
dence. He was a deep believer in on 6 July 1944. Obliviously de- The general perception was the virus under the strong leadership
aggressive nationalism. But lighted at the ‘Quit India’ Move- that Mahatma Gandhi, who was of the CPC Central Committee, withs-
Gandhi never subscribed to the ment, Bose said in his Azad Hind thought to be the tallest national tanding an arduous test of history, ac-
principle that the end justified Radio message from Berlin on leader of India at that time, could hieving major strategic results, mak-
the means. To him, Gandhi’s birthday have achieved that imperative. ing another magnificent feat in the
the means were as in 1943 that, “The Gandhi tried his best to save their history of human beings’ fight against
important as the service which lives, but in vain. Subhas Chan- diseases, and building a great spirit of
ends. In his words: Mahatma Gandhi dra Bose wrote in his book ~ The combating the COVID-19 epidemic,
“They say ‘means has rendered to Indian Struggle ~ ‘Pressure was which features putting people's lives
are after all means’. India and to the brought to bear upon the Mahat-
I would say ‘means cause of India’s ma to try to save the lives of these
are after all every- freedom is so young men (Bhagat Singh and his
thing.’ As the unique and unpar- two comrades); and it must be first, nationwide solidarity, sacrifice,
means, so the end. alleled that his admitted that he did try his very respecting science, and a sense of mis-
There is no wall of name will be writ- best. On this occasion, I ventured sion for humanity.
separation between ten in gold in our the suggestion that he should, if China has become the first major
means and end.” JAYDEV national history for necessary, break with the Viceroy economy to return to growth since the
Gandhi used JANA all times.” Bose’s on the question, because the exe- COVID-19 pandemic, and is leading
the tools of Satya- broadcast on the cution was against the spirit, if the world in both epidemic prevention
The writer is a retired
graha and Non-Vio- IAS officer occasion of Kastur- not letter, of the Delhi Pact ( and economic recovery, which
lence to mobilize ba’s death in prison Gandhi-Irwin pact).’ However, demonstrates the outstanding effi-
the masses as he was deeply moving. Gandhi was greatly distressed by ciency of the country’s governance
believed that only mass partici- The INA formation which his failure. system. The indomitable Chinese peo-
pation could bring the British entered to fight in Myanmar and Gandhi was misunderstood. ple once again defeated hardships and
down. The Netaji Research Bu- N-E India bore names such as His failure provided a potent left a glorious page in the history.
reau, Kolkata, has brought out an Gandhi, Nehru and Azad. weapon in the hands of his critics Salute to the great People’s Republic
invaluable publication entitled During an interaction, who used it to malign him. They of China, and salute to the great Chi-
Crossroads. The book provides a American journalist Louis Fisch- charged Gandhi with the allega- nese people. Time records history and
great deal of information on the er asked Gandhi what he tion that he did not play his role heralds future direction. In the past,
Gandhi-Bose debate. thought of Bose’s action to seek
However, despite wide dif- help from Germany during WW-
in this case and for not stipulat-
ing the revocation of the death
the Chinese people have made
numerous struggles and realized incal-
ference, the two retained a sense 2. Gandhi had replied that ‘Bose sentence against Bhagat Sigh at culable dreams; today, the country is
of appreciation for one another. was a patriot among patriots.’ the time of the Delhi Pact. But going through a series of remarkable
In the words of Professor Sugata Gandhi wrote in Harijan: ‘Netaji they failed to understand that fights with the strong leadership of the
Bose, the noted historian and was like a son to me.’ Gandhi had more to gain by sav- CPC and the solidarity of the people.
grandnephew of Subhas Chandra Bhagat Singh was an Indian ing the lives of Bhagat Singh and Thanks to long-term and unre-
Bose: “The difference between socialist revolutionary whose two his comrades. If he had succeed- mitted efforts, the Chinese nation will
Mahatma Gandhi and Subhas acts of dramatic violence against ed in saving their lives, it would put an end to absolute poverty, a prob-
Chandra Bose is highly exagger- the British in India and execution have been seen as the victory of lem that has bothered it for thousands
ated by the people of India and at the age of 23 made him a folk nonviolence over violence and of years, and finish building a moder-
more particularly by the people hero. In the words of Jawaharlal moral victory of Gandhi over the ately prosperous society in all respects.
of Bengal. The parting that took Nehru: “Bhagat Singh did not revolutionaries. This is a result of the persevere strug-
place in 1939 was a temporary become popular because of his However, one can hardly gles of the Chinese people, and will
one and if we study the relation- act of terrorism but because of he afford to ignore a vital question: inspire the nation to sail for farther
ship between Gandhi and Netaji, seemed to vindicate, for the How could anybody who believ- goals.
we will find that it was one that moment, the honour of Lala ed in violent armed revolution The closer the country gets to its
have faith in Gandhi, who was a goal of national rejuvenation, the
was marked with deep mutual Laipat Rai, and through him of
respect.” the nation. He became the sym- leader of non-violent Satyagraha? more difficulties and challenges it will
In 1939, Bose was elected bol, the act was forgotten, the Why should they expect Gandhi encounter. At a time when the two
president of the Indian National symbol remained, and within a to save the revolutionaries from centenary goals converge, the country
Congress (INC) by defeating Pat- few months each town and vil- hangman’s noose? Gandhi did all must understand and grasp domestic
tabhi Sitaramayya who was sup- lage of the Punjab, and to a lesser that was within his power to save and international situations in a
ported by Gandhi himself. That extent in the rest of the northern the revolutionaries. Just as a dialectical manner, enhance the
was the first time in the past two India, resounded with his name.” father loves all his children, awareness for opportunities and risks,
decades that Gandhi’s authority It is wrong to say that Gand- including disobedient ones, cherish present development results
had been challenged within the hi viewed those who took to arms Gandhi too cared for the welfare and consolidate development mom-
INC. When Gandhi started his in the fight for India’s freedom of all sections of society. This rare entum, and pool resources and con-
anti-untouchability programme with venomous and hateful eyes. trait made Gandhi the Father of centrate on managing its own affairs
on a nationwide scale in 1913, Rather, he had respect for them the Nation in the true sense of well, so as to progress courageously on
that was not supported by Bose. though he had also no hesitation the term. the great journey in the new era.
editor@thestatesman.com
India’s Arunachal Pradesh as
southern Tibet and above all
The police verification and
medical test were complet-
is very human.
Once again, in today’s
th ago (11 September). To
the extent it is humanly pos-
the mainland, if needed by deems the whole of the ed by December 2018. The paper (8 October ) the clues sible we solvers would ap-
force. China has desisted South China Sea as its fief- School Education Depart- published and the grid don’t preciate a reduction in the
from direct onslaught on dom where small littoral ment was supposed to issue match. The clues in fact frequency of errors. Maybe
Taiwan ~ although threats states also stake their justi- the appointment letter with- were from Tuesday’s cross- once every two months, ins-
are being made ~ as the USA fied claims. A tense situation in 15 days of completion of word. tead of monthly.
has stood solidly by the is prevailing in this part of the medical test. But it has The last time this hap- Yours, etc., Ramakrishnan,
island nation. It is an act of the world as an outcome of not been issued. I would like pened was not even a mon- Delhi, 8 October.
blatant Chinese expansion- China’s evil designs. That to request the honourable
ism. Not only Taiwan, India must stop. A collective effort Education Minister and
and Bhutan are also targets is direly imperative to tame other officials through your KUDOS, BRICKBATS
of such expansionism. It the Dragon. esteemed daily to kindly SIR, Apropos the report “Anarchists out to create com-
claims a large territory of Yours, etc., Aranya Sanyal, take necessary action to munal frenzy, caste violence: Adityanath”, I would like to
Bhutan to be its own, views Siliguri, 8 October. issue us appointment letters say that the UP Chief Minister is supposed to give pro-
at the earliest. tection to all citizens, poor or rich living in UP under his
LONG OVERDUE Yours, etc., Lokanwita administration. While he deserves credit for any thing
SIR, In terms of Adv No. Adhikary, Village Thuba, good that happens in his State, he must equally accept
2(2a)/2016 of West Bengal North 24 Parganas, responsibility for all the bad things that are happening
Public Service Commission 7 October. increasingly under his rule. If Yogi Adityanath wants to
for the appointment of Pass make UP a decent state, free from all criminal activities,
PUZZLING
Graduate Teachers for Arts he has to do it the same way others do. Merely becoming
(Bengali Medium) in Gov- SIR, To err is human and we a good boy in the eyes of the Prime Minister will not be
ernment high schools under crossword addicts now have suffice as he has to be an ideal Chief Minister in the eyes
the School Education dep- to accept that The Statesman of the people of his own state.
artment, we passed the exa- (and the person in charge of Yours, etc., A K Deb Biswas, Hooghly, 6 October.
mination on 15 March 2018. the daily crossword puzzles)

SATURDAY INTERVIEW
‘Target China beyond the border’
A
n expert on China and Tibet
affairs, VIJAY KRANTI is an
author, traveller, photograph-
er, media educationist, and
former staffer of BBC World, Deutsche
Welle (German) and Radio Voice of
America. Between 2003 and 2010, Kran-
ti travelled incognito on a tourist visa
deep into Tibet and China on eight
separate occasions. Equipped with his
camera, he captured vivid details of Chi-
nese suppression of Tibetan people, arts,
culture, and religion besides their devel-
opment of military infrastructure along
borders with India. While doing so he
narrowly survived the scrutiny of sus-
picious Chinese authorities on many occa-
sions. He has penned about a dozen books.
In an interview with DIPANKAR
CHAKRABORTY, Kranti talks about
China and Tibet, his association with
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama,
and the current standoff between India
and China in Ladakh and its impact on
global strategic equations. Excerpts:
Q.You are among very few Indians who
have toured incognito deep into Tibet
and in some parts of China.How easy or
difficult was it to do so?
A. Since the beginning of this cen-
tury, China got keen to make billions of
dollars through tourism in Tibet. So I
planned my tours in a way to cover
almost entire Tibet and some parts of
China as an ordinary tourist who had
the keen eyes of a journalist. In all I have
travelled about 5,000 kms within Tibet
and China. It was a perfectly legal way
every time, but still there was a great risk
of meeting similar fate as that of Sarabjit
or Jadhav.
Q. Do you find any correlation between
what you saw in Tibet then and what is
happening today at Galwan or all along
the LAC?
A. Sure. All through these eight
years of my travels inside Tibet, my one
consistent observation was that China
was desperately developing roads and
military establishments all over Tibet,
especially along borders with India. They
were also developing new townships
and railways. But one could easily make
out that it was not for the convenience of
the colonised Tibetan subjects. It was too
obvious to miss that the entire exercise
was to create facilities for other military
purposes and to develop new towns for
settling millions of new citizens from
China to change the demography of
Tibet. On one of my early visits I saw
dozens of Tibetan labour groups digging
a trench parallel to the 500 km long road
from Dram (Nepal) to Shigatse in Tibet.
It must have been for optical fibre.
Unfortunately India remained sleepy
along its Himalayan borders in the past
seven decades.
India, B’desh must look to Nepal for clean power
PRAMOD RIJAL
P
rogress towards a renewable
energy-driven economy contin-
ues to face a predictable stum-
bling block globally - over-reliance
on the use of fossil fuels. Despite the great
advances made in the renewable ener-
gy sector, both developed and develop-
ing economies are reluctant to switch to
renewable sources due to concerns it may
detract them from their growth targets.
In South Asia, big economies like
India, Bangladesh and Pakistan rely most-
ly on fossil fuels, including coal, diesel and
gas-powered thermal plants which gener-
ate most of their electricity. The World
Bank’s Sustainable Energy for All database
shows that India has only a 36 per cent
share of renewable sources in its energy
consumption, while the same for
Bangladesh is 34 per cent. Pakistan has less
than 30 per cent renewable sources in
energy.
On the other hand, smaller
economies like Nepal and Bhutan have a
bigger share of renewable sources in their
energy consumption. This is not necessar-
ily due to high generation of renewable
energy, but rather due to increased reliance
on traditional biofuels, like wood, dung,
crop residue and charcoal, for cooking and
heating purposes in the rural areas.
CROSSWORD
Q. Why has China started this
confrontation with India at this
juncture? Where is the present standoff
between India and China heading to?
A. To me this all appears more relat-
ed to China’s internal political situation,
especially the fresh power struggle with-
in the Chinese Communist Party, rather
than any major dispute with India. In his
hurry to install himself as lifelong
supreme leader of China like late Chair-
man Mao, Xi Jinping has started a cam-
paign of purging his opponents in the
CCP. In recent months he has dismissed
and arrested over 200 senior functionar-
ies of the party as well as military offi-
cers. All of them are known supporters of
senior and rival leaders like Jiang Zemin,
Hu Jintao and Zhu Rongji. Mao achieved
the same goal by using youths and
school-level ‘Red Guards’ in a decade-
long ‘Cultural Revolution’. This ended up
with almost every potential opponent of
Mao in CCP either dead, arrested or
politically demolished, unable to pose
any threat to his leadership. Today, Xi is
using the legal machinery under his offi-
cial control as the General Secretary of
CCP, Chairman of Central Military Com-
mission and President of China in the
name of ‘fighting corruption’.
Q. If Xi is involved so deeply in an
internal power struggle then why do we
see PLA’s misadventure on Indian
borders, especially in Ladakh?
A. His plans of confronting India in
Ladakh and other places along the LAC
went haywire as his assessment of India’s
military capabilities proved to be wrong.
He was hoping to emerge as a victorious
‘national hero’ after ‘winning back’
China’s ‘lost land’ from India. His fresh
aggressive actions in the South China
Sea, East China Sea and Hong Kong etc.
too were aimed at diverting attention of
the people of China from his misadven-
tures in the CCP and economic failure
due to the Wuhan virus Covid-19.
Q. Many global players like the USA,
Australia, Japan and other nations like
Taiwan, Vietnam etc. have started
challenging the might of China in the
wake of Beijing’s aggressive attitude.
What international implications do you
see for China and India in near and
long future?
A. China’s belligerence on the mili-
tary front against all these countries and
the enormous damage caused by the
Wuhan virus on the life and economy of
these countries has brought them
together. Earlier China used to threaten
them separately and could get away with
it. Soon you will start seeing the impact
of economic, political and military deci-
sions which these and many other coun-
tries have already started taking against
China independently or in tandem with
each other.
With rapid urbanisation, there is a
steady rise in the domestic consumption of
electricity for cooking, heating, and more
recently, transportation across South Asia.
Besides this, growing industrialisation in
the region means annual demand for elec-
tricity will only increase in the future. It can
only be ironic then that most of the elec-
tricity produced in the region is from fossil-
fuelled plants.
In India, most of this comes from
thermal plants that produce approximate-
ly 64 per cent of the total electricity con-
sumed. India’s rich coal mines are deplet-
ing while 269 thermal plants across the
country continue to pollute the air and
soak up India’s scarce river basins. The fact
that thermal plants in water-scarce Maha-
rashtra state have been shut down for
months due to lack of water points to an
urgent need for India to strike a balance
between its energy security, water security
and international commitments on reduc-
ing emissions.
A 2019 study conducted by the Inter-
national Centre for Integrated Mountain
Development (ICIMOD) has linked high
emission of greenhouse gases in South
Asia with accelerated melting of
Himalayan glaciers and changing mon-
soon circulations and distribution of rain-
fall in the region.
Luckily, there are silver linings point-
YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required. (By arrangement with The Independent, London)
CMYK
Q. How is this going to impact Xi
Jinping’s position?
A. First, the resolve of most coun-
tries world over to reduce their depen-
dence on business with China and Chi-
nese products has already led to cancel-
lation of business orders in China. Hun-
dreds of thousands of production sites
have either stopped production or are
working in minimal production mode.
Process of laying off labour has already
started. As a result 10 to 30 million
migrant workers have already left for
their homes in remote areas. This is
result of non-coordinated efforts among
various countries. You just wait for an
orchestrated economic push from some
newly forming anti-China blocs of coun-
tries and you will see the ‘Red Pie’ crum-
bling. The very first victim is going to be
Xi Jinping himself whom the CCP and
public opinion is going to lynch — at
least politically.
Q. Any chances of a public uprising in
China in a situation like this?
A. No one should be surprised if a
1989 Tiananmen Square-type uprising
happens in a very new form all over
China. In 1989, it happened despite the
fact that there was no internet and Chi-
nese people relied exclusively on Party-
controlled information. Moreover that
youth generation was made up of poet-
ic-revolutionaries who would paste
hand written poems on walls to express
their anger. But the new Chinese gener-
ation is internet-savvy and has tasted
blood of prosperity, luxury and personal
comfort. Their aspirations come from
Deng’s dictum ‘Being Rich is a Virtue’.
Their uprising will crush anyone - even
Xi Jinping or the CCP - who comes in
the way of their personal and collective
interests.
Q. Today Chinese think tanks are
warning India of ‘repeating 1962’ and
the Indian establishment is repeatedly
saying that 'today’s India is different
from India of 1962’.What does it mean?
ing towards gradual improvements global-
ly, following the Paris Accord on reducing
the impacts of climate change. Both the
developed and developing countries are
slowly but surely making efforts to increase
the ratio of clean energy sources in their
overall production and consumption. Solar
and wind technologies, in particular, have
seen great improvements over the past
decades. The price of generating electricity
from solar and wind technologies is grad-
ually decreasing, and they have now
become as cost-efficient as hydropower.
However, while solar and wind can prove
useful complementary sources, they can-
not become a reliable alternative as
demand for electricity is not subject to the
availability of sunlight or steady wind flow.
This means clean and reliable hydroelec-
tricity produced by countries like Nepal
and Bhutan can offer a viable alternative
for the South Asian region.
According to a report published by
the Central Electricity Authority of India,
the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have
a combined power deficit of 588
megawatts, which peaks during the
evenings, especially in the summer.
Increasing domestic and foreign invest-
ments in these states indicate that they will
require more electricity in the coming
years. Hence, timely investment in cross-
border energy infrastructure will go a long
8
ACROSS
Not fantastic entertaining
SOLUTION FOR
Duke's circle at first – horrible
03 OCTOBER experience! (6)
9 Range in both directions (3)
10 See 23 Down
11 Surgery that's good for
swimmer (4)
12 Lake island has bridge across,
Patient A maintaining (7,3)
13 Harriet's underwear
enthralled long-legged
individual (10)
15 Sam left struggling for aid (4)
17 Boy brings in ‘Works of
Shakespeare' (7)
19 Large half-open building is a
feature of garden (7)
22 Brad and Angelina initially in
love (4)
24 Unusually debonair, one
CMYK
A. We must understand that when
China attacked India in 1962, not only
was India militarily unprepared and
weak, it also had no friends who could
stand by her in the war. Even USA that
could have helped India in a big way due
to its strong allergy to Communism,
could not do much because of the
Cuban nuclear crisis at its own door step.
Today not only is India well prepared
militarily, it has a slew of friends across
the globe who will join hands with India
to settle their own scores with China.
Q. Do you think the stalemate at
Galwan and the subsequent occupation
of vantage positions by Indian forces
on top of the hills overlooking Chinese
deployments can be the game-changer?
A. Yes, sudden drop in China’s arro-
gance vis-à-vis India in Ladakh following
occupation of vantage heights in Ladakh
by Indian Army gives that impression.
By occupying these heights, the Indian
Army has practically undone most of
advantages that PLA had acquired by
quietly advancing in Galwan and most
other areas. These occupations have
practically brought almost entire fortifi-
cations of PLA on the front as well as
backup positions under direct scrutiny
and hitting capability of Indian Army.
This practically means freezing PLA in
current positions at least until a full-
blown war takes place. Actually Xi’s PLA
was so overconfident about their mili-
tary superiority over India that they were
hoping to conquer Galwan and adjoin-
ing Ladakhi areas in a jiffy. They had
plans to further secure their grip on
already occupied Aksai Chin and to
make fresh advances towards Siachen to
make it difficult for Indian forces to
maintain their hold on it. But they are
stunned by the Indian Army’s resolute
response. This has turned the tables on
PLA and Xi, who were hoping to use
their Ladakh victory to score points vis-
a-vis Xi’s political rivals inside China.
Now Xi will surely have to face music on
this and many other accounts in the
forthcoming 20th Congress this October.
Q.Why is there not much discussion on
a nuclear-China and a nuclear-India?
Are there chances of a nuclear faceoff
between the two in the light of present
conflict?
A. Let us not forget that in present
world situation, nuclear weapons have
become too prolific to be an asset. They
are useful only till they are not used. No
sensible leader, who cares even an iota
for the future of his country, will make
the first strike. India has already gradu-
ated its nuclear policy from ‘no use’ to
‘no first use’. And China cannot afford to
make a first strike on India, or for that
matter, on any other country like Japan
or Taiwan. Doing so will be like issuing
an open license to all those nuclear pow-
way in ensuring that these Indian states
do not miss out on their growth potential.
The Power Trade Agreement signed
between India and Nepal sometime back
will enable India to import the required
electricity from Nepal and meet its
increased demand.
Bangladesh’s need to switch to renew-
able energy sources is even more urgent.
Thermal plants powered by coal, diesel
and natural gas account for 93 per cent of
the total electricity generated in the coun-
try. In 2018, Dhaka admitted that its natur-
al gas reserves which help to produce more
than 60 per cent of the country’s electricity
may be gone within the next decade. For
this reason, Bangladesh aims to increase
the power consumption from renewable
sources to 10 per cent by next year and
continue to expand it in the following
years.
Unlike India, Bangladesh has less
potential to expand its renewable energy
sources through solar and wind technolo-
gy, due to lack of sufficient open spaces.
Therefore, importing hydroelectricity from
Nepal using Indian transmission systems
offers a more viable alternative.
Bangladesh’s interest in Nepal’s hydropow-
er sector is, therefore, timely and will ben-
efit both countries. The two countries have
already signed an agreement to this effect
with informal conversations with India
northerner (10)
26 I'm going to charge Heather
which will create resentment
(3-7)
28 African people essentially
keep quiet (4)
30 Fiat car has a little difficulty
in reverse (4)
31 Resort in South America's
quiet (3)
32 Kind of place in Africa that's
good to visit (6)
DOWN
1 Dance in bar naked (4)
2 Top university city worried
when river's rising (3,5)
3 Returns from setting up
latest celebrity (6)
4 English writer picked up pay-
off (7)
5 Police ran Vice with a
SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020
ers who just can’t afford to live in a world
where China comes victorious over
another country after a nuclear attack. If
China fires one, it will get back a shower
from India and many others who are not
even directly provoked.
Q. You have closely worked with the
Dalai Lama for almost five decades.
What future do you see for him and the
Tibetan people in the changing India-
China relations?
A. Dalai Lama has been making all
possible efforts to establish peace and
understanding between China and Tibet
while no government of the world stood
by him. But the havoc created by the
Chinese Wuhan virus on people’s safety
and the world economy and the Beijing
leader’s decision to pick up a fight with
so many countries across the world has
changed the world in a big way. You may
soon see a host of countries standing up
for the freedom of China’s colonies like
Tibet, East Turkistan (Xinjiang), South
Mongolia and Hong Kong only to ensure
an utterly weak China. Dalai Lama can
now hope for a free Tibet sooner than
he could anticipate.
Q. If you were to advise the Indian
government on China affairs, what
major points would you suggest to
ensure that the border dispute is settled
once and for all?
A. One basic suggestion is that GOI
and people of India should stop remain-
ing focused only on the border dispute
and confrontation. At best, India can
only defend its current positions by
remaining vigilant, tense and paying
ever increasing costs. In the new emerg-
ing world scenario, India must identify
China’s vulnerable points and hit where
it hurts China most and costs India less.
One area is raising cases of human rights
of people of Tibet, East Turkistan, South
Mongolia and Hong Kong on world
forums. Second, India should stand up
and join hands with countries like Tai-
wan, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand
and all others who feel threatened by
China and are willing to have India as a
leading partner in challenging China on
all possible fronts. Third, join hands with
other countries to stop China from
usurping most UN and other interna-
tional forums. Fourth, take QUAD seri-
ously and develop Andaman & Nicobar
Islands as a joint military hub to tame
China in the Malacca Strait and high
seas. Fifth, challenge China on the diplo-
matic table by demanding parity and
reciprocity on issues like opening Indian
Consulate office in Lhasa, equal freedom
for Indian media within China, Tibet,
Xinjiang etc. and in the field of import-
export. India only needs to shed its iner-
tia and change its gears. Doors of a new,
assertive, self-confident and self-respect-
ing India will open up.
expected to make progress in the coming
days.
Long-term energy cooperation
between Nepal, India and Bangladesh
could prove to be an attractive prospect
for all three countries. For landlocked
Nepal, it offers a lucrative market and
opportunity to balance its trade deficit
while for both India and Bangladesh, it
offers a secure line of supply amid uncer-
tainties in their domestic energy markets.
But mere technical feasibility and comple-
mentary needs will not be sufficient. There
has to be a political environment of trust
among the participating countries that can
encourage the private sector to invest in
such a project.
Recent diplomatic tensions between
India and Nepal over disputed border ter-
ritories certainly do not help this cause.
Both India and Nepal need to bilaterally
resolve any irritants that could jeopardise
their mutual economic and strategic
interests.
Robust energy trade between Nepal,
India and Bangladesh will not only reduce
the carbon footprint in South Asia, but it
will also help to create many clean jobs
that can contribute to reverse out-migra-
tion of thousands of people from these
countries. India and Bangladesh have an
opportunity to come clean on their energy
dilemma, and the good news is they need
not look further than Nepal for an answer.
The Kathmandu Post/ANN.
NO 28099
6
difference (8)
Could be no team folds (6)
7 Drive or sweep? Somerset's
opener lost (4)
14 A love for prince shown in
islander's greeting (5)
16 At end of term like to have
time in country (5)
18 Cross note party people
penned (8)
20 For one about the nun,
condemned DCI, not PC (4,4)
21 Tree in clump (a pine) gets
pulled up (7)
23/10 Show alien forms at
work (4,2,4)
25 Deserted since sailor toppled
memorial (6)
27 Cumbrian border – pull over
and have a breather (4)
29 On rising picked up a robe (4)
07
100 YEARS AGO
OCCASIONAL NOTE
The know-alls in the Labour party
at Home are at loggerheads with the
Labour men in Poland. Messrs. Hen-
derson and Co. are issuing mani-
festoes urging Labour to refuse to
assist the Poles against the Bolshe-
viks - because, presumably, the latter
are considered to be Labourites. The
Polish working-men very properly
want to know why they are not enti-
tled to English labour support and
the Henderson group will find
themselves hard pressed to furnish
an answer. It is to be hoped that the
continuous attempt to grapple, in
however unsatisfactory a manner,
with foreign problems will ultimate-
ly conduce to the growth of a more
reasonable spirit in regard to them
on the part of English Labour. At
present the more impressionable
Labour leaders are always open to
capture by one party or the other to
non-English disputes. Often - as in
the case of the Dyer controversy in
India - it is the party which takes the
trouble to obtain their ear and pour
into it a distorted version of the
facts. Only time can rectify this
impressionableness and promote
that sense of fairness which, to do
them justice, is in general character-
istic of the older English political
parties in regard to great controver-
sies of which they know, and admit
they can know, very little.
NEWS ITEMS
BOMBAY SHOPS
CLOSED
Mills, factories and workshops were
all closed today out of respect to the
memory of Mr. B.G. Tilak, today
being the tenth day after his death.
Millhands and factory labourers
were seen bathing in the sea at
Chowpaty at all hours of the day.
After their baths they proceeded in
large batches to the spot where the
body of Mr. Tilak was cremated and
a good deal of demonstration of
their reverence for the deceased
was seen. The public condolence
meeting at Madhav Baug was very
largely attended and special
prayers were offered at Hindu tem-
ples by Hindus and at mosques by
many Mahomedans. Several bazars
and most of the shops in the Indian
quarter of the town were closed. No
business was transacted at Share-
bazars, Javer Bazars, and the cotton
market. All the demonstrations
were peaceful in character.
INDIAN
TELEGRAPH
ASSOCIATION
The annual meeting and dance of the
Indian Telegraph Association was
held at the Dalhousie Institute on
Monday night. There was a large
gathering. Reading the report the
Secretary said that the Association
membership stood at 1,857 against
1,620 of the previous year. In the
Mutual Benefit Fund there were 1,348
members over last year's member-
ship of 1,280. The question of feder-
ating with the All-India Railway
Workmen's Association had been
under the consideration of the Cen-
tral Committee for some time and
the General Secretary had already
discussed the matter with the Man-
aging Committee of the Railway
Workers' Association. The Associa-
tion felt that federation may even be
extended to the Posted Union after it
had sufficiently established itself.
AUXILIARY
MILITARY FORCE
IN INDIA
The Pioneer understands that a Bill
to provide for the creation of an Aux-
iliary Military Force in India will
shortly be published. It is proposed
to invite Europeans to enroll them-
selves voluntarily, but it will be
obligatory on those who join to
undergo certain specified training.
The belief prevails among the
authorities familiar with the facts
that substantially a smaller force will
be forthcoming than would have
been secured but for Mr. Montagu's
decision that compulsion must not
be applied to Europeans in India.
RUSH FOR GOLD
People were under the impression
that Government was going to give
sovereigns at ten rupees, and as they
did not get them there is a great rush
to collect the gold coin as well as to
hoard Bombay Mint gold. It is
believed that banks will endeavour to
procure sovereigns from Egypt, Aus-
tralia and other sources. It is also
understood that banks will have to
bring a large stock of gold to supply
the market after the last sale of Gov-
ernment gold. Some leading
financiers, interviewed, expressed the
opinion that the Government has
made a mistake in advertising the sale
of gold. It will, they argue, tighten up
the money market at a juncture when
credit is disturbed in the bazars.
08
Measures announced by the RBI should help bring
down interest rates in the market
SANGITA REDDY
SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020 FICCI PRESIDENT

THUMBNAILS
Vedanta delisting: Vedanta
Ltd stepped closer to
being delisted from Indian
bourses after 137.74
crore shares were ten-
dered at the close of the
buyback offer made by
the promoters. The shares
tendered are more than
the 134 crore shares out
GST e-invoicing to be
ONGC sees `6,000-7,000 crore extended to biz with
loss in natural gas business
over `100 cr turnover
Government-mandated rates are way below the cost of production, ONGC director (finance) says PRESS TRUST OF INDIA have to generate separate e-
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER way bills.
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA formula. able to participate in the price “The e-invoicing system can
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER NEW RATE TO HIT REVENUE “Ministry is seized of the discovery auctions, he said. The GST e-invoicing system also eventually dispense with
� ONGC has matter. They are favourably This would create com- will be extended to business- the present system of filing

of the public holding of
169.73 crore that the pro-
moter group headed by
billionaire Anil Agrawal
needed for delisting of
the company. According
to data available from
stock exchanges, 137.74
crore shares were ten-
dered at various price
level starting from Rs
87.25 a share. PTI
Coal R&D website: The
government on Friday
announced the launch of a
website for entities
involved in research and
development in the coal
sector. The website, which
has been designed and
developed by Coal India
subsidiary Central Mine
Planning and Design Insti-
tute, was launched by coal
secretary Anil Kumar Jain.
“The website will help in
disseminating and promot-
ing the knowledge and
research work in the coal
sector,” Jain said. The web-
site broadly displays the
guidelines for implement-
ing coal research projects
with various forms. PTI
Blue Star: Air conditioning
and commercial refrigera-
tion major Blue Star Limit-
ed has launched a wide
range of new products
and solutions with virus
deactivation technology.
The company's new range
of products and solutions
with virus deactivation
technologies have the
capability to deactivate
viruses, including Covid-19
(SARS-CoV-2), with up to
99.9 per cent efficacy
when air passes through
these systems, it said. SNS
Samsung solutions: Sam-
sung has launched a range
of "Back to Business" solu-
tions for retail as well as
commercial establish-
ments. These new solu-
tions include outdoor dis-
plays and video conferenc-
ing solutions that will help
businesses resume normal
operations and work
smartly, integrating safe-
ty measures as well as
addressing remote work-
ing requirements of their
workforce, the company
said. SNS
Realme launch: Smart-
phone maker realme has
announced the launch of a
number of smart lifestyle
products as part of its
"Leap to the Next Gen"
programme. Realme smart
TV SLED 4K(55”), realme
100W Soundbar, realme 7i,
64MP quad-camera phone,
and realme 7 Pro Sun
Kissed edition were
unveiled as part of this,
according to a company
statement. SNS
Adani price cut: Adani Gas
on Friday cut CNG and
piped cooking gas prices in
various geographical areas
in sync with the recent
reduction in natural gas
rates. Rates have been
reduced in Uttar Pradesh,
Haryana and Gujarat, the
company said. PTI
I
ndia's top oil and gas
producer ONGC today
said it is losing Rs 6,000-
7,000 crore in natural gas
business after the govern-
ment-mandated rates for
the fuel dropped to a decade
low.
The government-man-
dated rates are way below
the cost of production of
$3.5-3.7 per million British
thermal unit, Oil and Natur-
al Gas Corp (ONGC) director
(finance) Subhash Kumar
said. Every dollar reduction
in gas price leads to a revenue
loss of about Rs 5,200 crore
and a Rs 3,500 crore on
profit.
“Our losses will be in the
order of Rs 6,000-7,000 crore
in the current fiscal,” he said.
ONGC has been incurring
losses on the 65 million stan-
dard cubic meters per day of
gas it produces from domes-
tic fields after the govern-
ment in November 2014 intro-
duced a new gas pricing for-
mula that had “inherent lim-
itations” as it was based on
Industry welcomes RBI’s
focus on reviving growth
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
Corporate India has wel-
comed RBI's resolve to con-
tinue with an accommoda-
tive monetary policy stance
and focus on reviving growth.
RBI's six-member mone-
tary policy committee today
voted unanimously to retain
the repo rate at 4 per cent while
keeping its policy stance
accommodative.
The central bank sees the
economy contracting 9.5 per
cent in the current fiscal.
CII director-general Chan-
drajit Banerjee said addi-
tional measures announced
by the RBI to support growth
in the form of liquidity sup-
port, reviving exports, cred-
it support, and improving
ease of doing business are
expected to give the much-
Tata Steel production
falls by 3.45% in Q2
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
Domestic steel giant Tata
Steel today said its consoli-
dated steel production fell
by 3.45 per cent to 7.26 mil-
lion tons (MT) in the second
quarter of the current finan-
cial year. The company's
output in the year-ago peri-
od was at 7.52 MT, Tata
Steel Ltd said in a regulato-
ry filing.
During July-September
2020, Tata Steel India's pro-
duction stood at 4.59 MT, as
against 4.50 MT in the cor-
responding quarter of the
previous fiscal.
In Europe, Tata Steel
Europe produced 2.15 MT
steel in the quarter under
review, as compared to 2.45
MT in the same period of
2019-20.
Tata Steel South East Asia
produced 0.52 MT of steel in
been incurring
losses on the 65
million standard
cubic meters per
day of gas it pro-
duces from
domestic fields
after the gov-
ernment in November 2014 introduced a new gas pric-
ing formula.
� The price, according to this formula, is revised twice
a year and the rate for the period beginning 1 October
has been cut by 25 per cent to $1.79 per mmBtu.
� ONGC chairman and managing director Shashi
Shanker said the current gas price does not cover cost
and the company has made representations to the min-
istry of petroleum and natural gas for suitable amend-
ments to the formula.
pricing hubs of gas surplus firm's request and a floor
countries such as the US, price would be set to check
Canada, and Russia. losses.
The price, according to ONGC chairman and man-
this formula, is revised twice aging director Shashi Shanker
a year and the rate for the peri- said the current gas price
od beginning 1 October has does not cover cost and the
been cut by 25 per cent to $1.79 company has made repre-
per mmBtu. sentations to the ministry of
He, however, hoped the petroleum and natural gas for
government will act on the suitable amendments to the
needed impetus to drive the are welcome words in support
"three-speed" recovery which of an economy that is look-
the central bank expects. ing to rebound from a pan-
Ficci president Sangita demic, said Ashutosh Bish-
Reddy said while the policy noi, MD & CEO of Mahindra
repo rate was not cut by the Manulife Mutual Fund.
RBI, several other measures Reliance Home Finance
were announced that should CEO Ravindra Sudhalkar said
help bring down interest rates RBI's stance to rationalise
in the market. risk weightage on home loans
Assocham secretary-gen- is a welcome move. With all
eral Deepak Sood said new housing loan risk now
Reserve Bank Governor linked only to loan to the
Shaktikanta Das' dared-to-be- value, the rates will contin-
optimist approach shows his ue to be in check and hence
steely resolve to face the encourage new buyers, he
unprecedented situation aris- added.
ing out of the Covid-19 pan- Sunteck Realty CMD
demic. Kamal Khetan said the
What is notable in this announcement of rational-
edition of RBI's monetary ising risk weightage on home
policy announcement is its loans is a targeted interven-
emphatic commitment to tion and comes at a time
"public good" and its intent when the property sector is
to remain accommodative making significant recovery
for such public good. These across all segments.
Mahindra arm
buys stake in
Great Rocksport
July-September, as against
0.57 MT in the correspond-
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
ing quarter of last fiscal. Mahindra Group firm Mahin-
The company's consoli- dra Holidays & Resorts India
dated sales during the quar- Ltd (MHRIL) today said it has
ter under review was about acquired 6.67 per cent stake
12 per cent up at 7.86 MT, in adventure-based activi-
from 7.02 MT in the same ties provider Great Rock-
period a year ago. sport Pvt Ltd. The company,
During July-September however, did not disclose
2020, Tata Steel India's sales the financial details of the deal.
stood at 5.05 MT, as against MHRIL has acquired a
4.13 MT in the same quar- strategic minority stake (6.67
ter last year. In Europe, it sold per cent) in Great Rocksport,
2.26 MT of steel as com- it said. “Our strategic invest-
pared to 2.29 MT. ment in Rocksport will help
In South East Asia, the enhance outdoor experience
company sold 0.55 MT steel offerings at our resorts. Our
in the quarter under review members and their families
as against 0.60 MT in the will also have access to spe-
same period of the previous cially curated Rocksport pro-
fiscal. grammes in the cities,” MHRIL
During the quarter under MD & CEO Kavinder Singh
review, the company's busi- said. MHRIL looks forward to
ness in India remained pos- working with the Rocksport
itive in terms of production team towards creating unique
as well as sales, the figures and immersive experiences,
showed. he added. PTI
inclined and a committee
has been constituted to look
into this,” he said.
Prices have to be remu-
nerative if the domestic out-
put has to be raised, he said.
“There is talks of a floor
price and changes in the for-
mula itself by linking the rate
to relevant market bench-
marks such as JKM. I cannot
comment on what shape it will
take but we are certainly
hopeful,” he said.
While the $1.79 per mmBtu
rate applies to gas produced
from fields given to the com-
pany on a nomination basis,
ONGC has pricing freedom on
blocks or areas it had won in
auctions since 1999.
Shanker said the market-
ing freedom granted by the
government earlier this week
would help monetise gas dis-
coveries in such blocks.
The new policy allows affil-
iates to bid for the gas to be
produced from such blocks.
ONGC group companies,
which have been using import-
ed LNG as fuel, would now be
RBI move to ease liquidity condition
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI, 9 OCTOBER
The Reserve Bank of India
today said it will conduct on-
tap targeted long-term repo
operations (TLTRO) worth Rs
1 lakh crore to ensure com-
fortable liquidity condition in
the banking system.
As a special case, the cen-
tral bank also announced
open market operations
(OMOs) in state development
loans (SDL) in the current
financial year.
It has been decided to con-
duct on-tap TLTRO with tenors
of up to three years for a total
amount of up to Rs 1 lakh crore
at a floating rate linked to the
policy repo rate, RBI Gover-
nor Shaktikanta Das said while
announcing the monetary
policy earlier in the day.
Liquidity availed by banks
under the scheme has to be
deployed in corporate bonds,
commercial papers, and non-
Sebi tells listed companies to
disclose forensic audit info
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, 9 OCTOBER
In order to address the gaps
in availability of informa-
tion, markets regulator the
Securities and Exchange
Board of India has asked list-
ed companies to make dis-
closures about initiation of
forensic audit to stock
exchanges.
The move comes after
Sebi's board last month
approved a proposal in this
regard.
The listed entities will
make disclosures about the
fact of initiation of forensic
audit along with the name of
the entity initiating such
audit and reasons for the
same, if available, to stock
exchanges, the Sebi said in a
notification issued on Thurs-
day.
Further, the companies
petition and help realise bet-
ter prices for ONGC. The
group companies would also
save by replacing imported fuel
with domestically produced
gas, he said.
Most of ONGC's current
production is from nomina-
tion fields and the company
is hoping to add 15 million
standard cubic meters of out-
put from KG basin using the
pricing freedom it has.
Rates according to the cur-
rent formula are revised every
six months. Prices effective 1
October have been cut to
$1.79 per mmBtu. This price
is the lowest that ONGC got
since 2010 when the govern-
ment had moved towards
deregulating gas pricing.
The current formula takes
into account the volume-
weighted annual average of
the prices prevailing in Henry
Hub (US), National Balanc-
ing Point (the UK), Alberta
(Canada), and Russia with a
lag of one-quarter. Prices are
set on 1 April and 1 October
each year.
convertible debentures issued
by entities in specific sectors
over and above the outstanding
level of their investments in
such instruments as on 30 Sep-
tember 2020, he said.
The liquidity availed under
the scheme can also be used
to extend bank loans to these
sectors, Das said.
In view of the borrowing
requirements of the Centre and
states in the second half of
2020-21 and the likely pick-up
in demand for credit as the
recovery gathers strength, on
tap TLTROs are intended to
enable banks to conduct their
operations smoothly and
seamlessly without being hin-
dered by illiquidity frictions,
the Governor said.
He said banks that had
availed of funds earlier under
TLTRO and TLTRO 2.0 will be
given the option of reversing
these transactions before
maturity.
The scheme will be avail-
will be required to disclose
about final forensic audit
report, other than for foren-
sic audit initiated by regula-
tory or enforcement agen-
cies, on receipt by the list-
ed entity, along with com-
ments of the management, if
any.
In addition, the Sebi has
made certain changes in rules
for listed entities, which list
their non-convertible debt
securities, with regard to
maintenance of asset cover
and intimation about doc-
uments to debenture
trustees.
Under the norms, listed
entities will have to maintain
100 per cent asset cover, or
asset cover as per the terms
of offer document, sufficient
to discharge the principal
amount at all times for the
non-convertible debt secu-
rities issued.
es with over Rs 100 crore
turnover from 1 January 2021,
for B2B business transaction,
a top government official
said today.
Finance secretary Ajay
Bhushan Pandey said the e-
invoicing system can even-
tually dispense with the pre-
sent system of filing GST
returns for smaller business-
es and micro, small and
medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Under goods and services tax
(GST) law, e-invoice for B2B
(business to business) trans-
actions have been made
mandatory for companies
with turnover of over Rs 500
crore from 1 October.
Pandey, who is also the
revenue secretary, said by 1
January 2021, it will be avail-
able to taxpayers having
turnover of more than Rs 100
crore a year, and for all tax-
payers for B2B transactions
from 1 April 2021.
The e-invoicing replaces the
physical invoice and will soon
replace the existing e-way Bill
system and taxpayers will not
able up to 31 March 2021, with
flexibility with regard to
enhancement of the amount
and period after a review of
the response to the scheme,
he said.
The Governor further said
in order to impart liquidity to
SDLs and thereby facilitate effi-
cient pricing, it has been
decided to conduct OMOs in
SDLs as a special case during
the current financial year.
This would improve sec-
ondary market activity and
rationalise spreads of SDLs over
Central government securities
of comparable maturities, he
added.
The regulator has removed
the framework that said main-
tenance of 100 per cent asset
cover will not be applicable
in case of “unsecured debt
securities issued by regulat-
ed financial sector entities eli-
gible for meeting capital
requirements as specified by
respective regulators”.
Further, the listed entities
will have to promptly for-
ward to debenture trustees a
half-yearly certificate regard-
ing maintenance of 100 per
cent asset cover, or asset
cover as per the terms of
offer document, in respect of
listed non-convertible debt
securities, by the statutory
auditor along with the half-
yearly financial results.
The submission of half-
yearly certificate is not applic-
able where bonds are secured
by a government guarantee,
the Sebi said.
GST returns for smaller busi-
nesses and MSMEs because
e-invoice will pre-populate
their returns and they have to
simply pay the taxes. The
returns will be automatically
generated for all supplies for
which e-invoice have been
issued,” Pandey said after
reviewing the status of e-
invoicing system implemen-
tation.
Within seven days of the
rollout of e-invoicing system
Invoice Reference Number
(IRN) generation has grown by
163 per cent and have touched
the count of 13.69 lakh IRNs
on 7 October.
Under e-invoicing, tax-
payers have to generate invoic-
es on their internal systems
(ERP/accounting/billing soft-
ware) and then report it online
to the "Invoice Registration Por-
tal (IRP)". The IRP will validate
the information provided in
the invoices and return the dig-
itally signed e-invoices with
a unique "Invoice Reference
Number (IRN)" along with a
QR code to the taxpayer.
In September this year,
the RBI had increased the
investments permitted to be
classified as held-to maturi-
ty (HTM) from 19.5 per cent
to 22 per cent of NDTL (net
time and demand liabilities)
in respect of statutory liq-
uidity ratio (SLR) securities
acquired on or after 1 Sep-
tember 2020 up to 31 March
2021.
The governor today said in
order to provide certainty to
banks as regards their invest-
ments and to foster orderly
market conditions while ensur-
ing congenial financing costs,
it has been decided to extend
the dispensation of the
enhanced HTM limit of 22 per
cent up to 31 March 2022, for
securities acquired between
1 September 2020 and 31
March 2021.
The move will help banks
to plan their investments in
SLR securities in an optimal
manner, he said.
MG unveils
its flagship
Gloster SUV
in India
MUMBAI, 9 OCTOBER
MG Motor India has launched
its MG Gloster as India’s “first
autonomous (Level 1) pre-
mium SUV” at a starting price
of Rs 28.98 lakh, the 96-year
old parent company MG Motor
announced to the media.
Created in the UK in 1924
by a Morris car salesman Cecil
Kimber, MG cars added to
the Morris Garages, renowned
worldwide for their sports
cars, roadsters, and cabriolets
(cars with a retractable top).
MG cars are a favourite among
the British royal family and
Prime Ministers.
Its Gloster launch in India
was preceded by advertising
during the Indian Premier
League that is being telecast
to record viewership. MG
Motor India has a car manu-
facturing plant at Halol in
Gujarat.
The four premium MG
Gloster models (Super, Smart,

RBI policy measures buoy rate sensitive shares
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
MUMBAI, 9 OCTOBER
Stock market benchmark the
Sensex rallied 327 points
today as financial stocks
advanced following the RBI's
accommodative policy stance
and steps to boost liquidity to
the banking sector.
Extending its gains for the
seventh straight session ~ the
longest winning streak in
almost a year ~ the 30-share
BSE Sensex rose by 326.82
points or 0.81 per cent to fin-
ish at 40,509.49 points.
The broader NSE Nifty
rose by 79.60 points or 0.67 per
cent to 11,914.20 points with
banking, IT and infrastructure
stocks rising up to 4 per cent.
RBI Governor Shaktikan-
ta Das' comments on expec-
tation of GDP turning posi-
tive in the January-March
quarter of the current finan-
cial year fuelled the market
rally, traders said.
"Indian indices took a leap
today following the positive
announcements of TLTRO &
OMO, which will help in main-
taining a good level of funds
available at cheap rates from
the RBI to the industry,” Vinod
Nair, head of research at Geo-
jit Financial Services, said.
The RBI in its monetary pol-
icy today announced that it
will conduct on-tap targeted
long-term repo operations
(TLTRO) worth Rs 1 lakh crore
to ensure comfortable liq-
uidity condition in the bank-
ing system.
As a special case, the cen-
tral bank also announced
Sharp and Savvy) are being
priced in India between Rs 28
lakh and Rs 50 lakh for a range
from two-wheel to four-wheel
with regards to rationalisation per cent. The central bank also drive options.
SENSEX JUMPS 327 PTS of risk weights for all new During the week, the Sen- unveiled a number of uncon- The Gloster launch comes
� Extending its gains for the seventh straight session ~ housing loans until 31 March sex advanced 1,812.44 points ventional measures to boost as a boost for India’s auto-
the longest winning streak in almost a year ~ the 30-share 2022, was a shot for retail or 4.68 per cent while the liquidity and support eco- mobile industry at a time of
BSE Sensex rose by 326.82 points or 0.81 per cent to fin- banks and housing finance Nifty gained 497.25 points or nomic activity while ensuring industry downturn due to the
ish at 40,509.49 points. companies, Paras Bothra, 4.35 per cent. the government's record bor- pandemic and when foreign
president of equity research, Deepak Jasani, head of rowing programme goes car makers have been recent-
� The broader NSE Nifty rose by 79.60 points or 0.67 Ashika Stock Broking, stated. retail research, HDFC Secu- through smoothly. ly grumbling at heavy taxes,
per cent to 11,914.20 ICICI Bank was the top rities, said banks and hous- The RBI's intent to support particularly for the luxury car
points. gainer in the Sensex pack, ing finance stocks rose post the economy even in the wake segment.
rising around 3 per cent. Axis the RBI MPC meet outcome of rising inflation is comfort- Its Gloster models such as
� Rate-sensitive bank- Bank, HDFC twins, SBI, L&T, even as the rates have been ing, Jasani commented. the Savvy trim priced at Rs 35.38
ing and financial stocks ONGC and Infosys were kept unchanged and stance Asian shares inched close lakh, offers Autonomous Level
ended on a positive note, among the gainers. remains accommodative. The to two-and-a-half years highs 1 features (enabled by
with the BSE bankex and On the other hand, Sun MPC announced multiple today as revived hopes for a advanced driver assistance
finance rising up to 2.64 per Pharma, Asian Paints, Nestle steps to keep interest rates on US stimulus deal eclipsed system or ADAS), including for-
cent. India, UltraTech Cement and long duration bonds under weaker-than-expected jobs ward collision warning, auto-
HUL declined. check. data, while mainland Chi- matic emergency braking,
Among sectoral indices, The RBI today left key nese markets jumped after a lane departure warning, auto-
open market operations and financial stocks ended on realty, healthcare, FMCG and interest rates unchanged but week-long holiday. matic parking assist and adap-
(OMOs) in state development a positive note, with the BSE basic materials fell up to 1.58 signalled more easing ahead Meanwhile, the rupee tive cruise control.
loans (SDL) in the current bankex and finance rising up per cent. to support an economy that strengthened by 8 paise to close Car deliveries will begin
financial year. to 2.64 per cent. Broader mid-cap and it sees contracting by 9.5 per at 73.16 (provisional) against from Navratri, according to MG
Rate-sensitive banking Positive announcements small-cap indices fell up to 0.42 cent in the current fiscal. the US dollar today. Motor India. SNS

Odisha clears five
industrial projects
Since March Odisha has attracted investment of over Rs 24,000 cr
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
BHUBANESWAR, 9 OCTOBER:
the industries be motivated to
source power from the GRID
instead of setting up CPPs. He
2.5 MTPA capacity initiated by
M/s. OCL India Limited (OCL)
to be set up in Cuttack district
SILIGURI SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020 09
Odisha Ministers, MLAs have no
access to CM: AICC leader
Odisha govt writes to centre
against BJP MP Aparajita
'Democracy has been murdered, few officers have taken over'
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
BHUBANESWAR, 9 OCTOBER:
and the earnest repeated
appeals made by Prime
Mi n i s t e r re g a rd i n g t h e
BHUBANESWAR, 9 OCTOBER: sector was given a boost with The bureaucrat-turned-MP same”, Mishra said.
the call of 1000 industries in Aparajita Sarangi who is “I would not have
Democracy has been ‘mur- 1000 days during the Congress the national spokesperson brought this to your notice,
dered’ in Odisha, Ministers, rule, he noted. of the BJP has courted con- had this been the first occa-
MLA’s and PRI members do There were 2.5 lakh troversy yet again by vio- sion where the MP had bla-

O
disha continued to
beat the market
slowdown caused
by the global pan-
demic in attracting invest-
ment with five new investment
proposals envisaging invest-
ment of Rs. 1851.96 crore
being cleared by the govern-
ment today.
The state level single win-
dow authority committee
meeting held on digital mode
under the Chairmanship of
Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy
approved projects related to
the metal and metal down-
stream and cement sector.
Principal Secretary Indus-
tries, Hemant Kumar Sharma
presented details of the invest-
ment proposal for consider-
ation.
Tripathy suggested that
also called for appropriate
mechanisms for scientific use
of water in slurry pipelines
through recycling.
The projects included a
2.0 MTPA pellet and grinding
plant initiated by M/s Narb-
heram Power and Steel Pvt.
Limited with an investment
of Rs 350 crores to be set up
in Keonjhar district, expansion
of M/s Viraj Steel & Energy Pvt.
in Sambalpur district with
investment of Rs 261.71, expan-
sion of BR Sponge and Power
Ltd in Sundergarh district , revi-
sion of M/s. Nu Vista Limit-
ed (Erstwhile Emami Cement)
Cement grinding capacity
from 1.5 MTPA to 2 MTPA in
Kalinga Nagar, Jajpur envis-
aging investment of Rs 598.62
crores.
A cement grinding unit of
at a cost of Rs 441.43 crores.
CMD IDCO, Sanjay Kumar
Singh, IPICOL MD Nitin
Bhanudas Jawale and other
officers were present.
Yesterday CM Naveen Pat-
naik had inaugurated two
industrial projects and con-
ducted ground breaking cer-
emony of 10 other units
totalling an investment of Rs
8796 crore.
Since the lockdown in
March, the Odisha government
has succeeded in garnering
investments to the tune of Rs
24,185 crore involving 35
industrial proposals.
CM Naveen Patnaik
claimed that recent indicators
suggest that Odisha’s econo-
my is coming back to track and
industries are on a revival
path.
not have access to CM Naveen
Patnaik . A handful of bureau-
crats have taken over, charged
AICC leader in charge of
Odisha Dr A Chella Kumar.
People of the state need to
ponder on what is the use of
voting for a BJD candidate who
cannot even meet the CM , let
alone, raise their concerns or
problems, remarked the AICC
leader at his maiden press con-
ference here today.
The newly appointed AICC
leader in charge of the state
is on his first visit to Odisha .
He toured Tirtol assembly
segment yesterday where a by-
poll is scheduled for 3 Novem-
ber.
“ I will refrain from talking
about PM Modi and the BJP
and focus on Odisha”, he said
while maintaining that both
the BJD and BJP had crushed
democracy .
He conceded that the Con-
gress vote percentage in the
state had eroded and that
mistakes done in the past
are to be rectified.
Dr Chella Kumar asserted
that the Congress, unlike the
BJD, is committed to democ-
racy .
The debt burden of the
state was Rs. 18,100 crore in
the yeaer 2000, today it has
risen to Rs. 1,30000 crore, he
said.
Major industries like
Rourkela Steel Plant, NALCO,
HAL were all set up during
Congress regimes. The MSME
MSME’s established but now lating COVID-19 protocol tantly violated Covid guide-
majority of them are closed, on her birthday. lines. In addition to repeat-
he said. Nine spinning mills It is pertinent to note ed advisories, warnings
were there, all are closed now. here that Bhubaneswar MP and booking of at least
Unemployment rate is as Sarangi had been penalized three cases against MP for
high as 23.8 % more than the in June last for attending a violation of Covid guide-
national average of 23.5%. Fif- gathering and violating lines, there is no improve-
teen lakh people are forced social distancing norms. ment in behaviour,” Mishra
migrants. Minister of State (Home) noted in the letter.
The recent NCRB report Dibya Shankar Mishra has “Such irresponsible
places Odisha at the top in written a letter to Union behaviour on the part of
cyber crime, second in atroc- Minister of State (Home) a people’s representative
ities against women, he point- Nityanand Rai in this regard. will demotivate the Covid
ed out. “The video footage clips Warriors and is an insult
Even during the pandem- clearly show the MP being to all those who have lost
ic, large scale corruption has surrounded by hundreds of their lives” added the Min-
taken place in purchase of women who are neither ister.
medical equipment and the wearing masks (except one) Reacting to it, BJP MP
case is pending with the nor maintaining social dis- said “ did the Minister write
Lokayukta, he said. tance and indulging in song to the CM when a COVID
Chella Kumar alleged that and dance with utter dis- positive Minister and MLA
figures relating to the pan- regard to Covid guidelines attended the funeral and
demic are fudged to claim issued under the National cremation of late Pradip
credit. Disaster Management Act Maharathy” .

Cong dares Odisha CM to book
IOCL for filling station blast
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
BHUBANESWAR, 9 OCTOBER:
Former law minister and vet-
eran Congress leader Naras-
ingha Mishra demanded that
a case of ‘criminal negligence’
be registered against IOCL for
the unprecedented blast and
fire at a LPG filling station in
the heart of the state capital here
in which one person died and
several others were injured.
Why has Chief Minister
Naveen Patnaik remained silent
, he has not even condemned
the incident, said Mishra before
adding that it was clearly anoth-
er instance of the bonhomie
between the BJD and BJP at the
expense of people of the state.
Nobody knows how many
5T secretary V Kartikeyan Pandian , Works Secretary K Kumar, RDC A Samal and others review people were there at the time
the grand plan for development of Cuttack, particularly transforming SCB Medical College & of the blast on 7 October after-
Hospital to a world class medical institute, making the Taladanda canal embankment road to noon. There is no clear picture
be a three lane road, beautification like parks, walking tracks etc were discussed. � SNS
as to how many died , he
charged.
The first thing that the
police ought to have done is
to register a case against the
IOCL. But it did not do so, he
noted. Instead, they have reg-
istered a case against 'unknown
persons' to bid time and delay
the entire process till public
attention gets deflected, he
alleged.
The Chief Minister who is
the home minister should
have directed the police to
institute the case and book those
responsible for the incident, said
Mishra.
The silence of the CM is
appalling, he remarked while
pointing out at the complete
lawlessness in the state that has
resulted in the ignominy of
Odisha topping the list of cyber
crime , second in crime against
women as per National Crime
Record Bureau.
Odisha COVID death toll rises to 991
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE 85.25 per cent recovery rate. 49 per cent growth had been
BHUBANESWAR, 9 OCTOBER: Odisha currently has 28,811 recorded in the last month.With
active cases, which 11.61 per cent addition of 132 covid deaths in
Odisha on Friday reported of total positive cases regis- the current month, a 13 per cent
steep single day fatality of 17 tered in the State. At present the growth in fatality rate has been
coronavirus deaths pushing country has 8,93,592 active recorded in the current month.
the death toll to 991 while the cases comprising 12.94 per- Of the 2,697 fresh cases
caseload climbed to 2,46,839 cent of the total caseload. reported today from all the 30
with the detection of 2,697 new The State’s share is 3.58% in districts,1,576werereportedfrom
infections in the past 24 hours. the country’s confirmed virus various quarantine centres,
Since the past one week, the caseload while the active cases and the rest 1,121 were detect-
state has witnessed a period of are 3.23 per cent of India’s total ed during contact tracing.
welcome slowdown in the active cases.The number of cured Khurda, of which state
spread of the novel coronavirus patients accounts for 3.68 per capital Bhubaneswar is a part,
epidemic after almost a fort- cent of the country's total recov- accounted for the maximum
night-long spell of 4,000-plus ery. Odisha has so far reported number of new cases at 482,
growth of daily infections. The 0.93 per cent of the country's followed by Cuttack at 234,
positive cases have now climbed Coronavirus deaths. Nuapada at 153 and Mayurb-
down to the 3,000-plus mark. More than 36,64,678 sam- hanj at 134.
Despite the spike in deaths, ple tests have been conduct- Khurda district with 42,762
the case fatality of 0.40 per cent ed in the state so far, includ- positive cases has emerged as
in Odisha is considerably on a ing 45,169 on Thursday. the COVID hotspot of the State.
lower side in comparison to The pandemic’s growth rate In the gender-wise breakup
national average of 1.54 per in October is to the tune of 10 of the infected persons, 67 per
cent case fatality rate.The State’s per cent, marking slowdown of cent are men while women
recovery rate (87.90%) is mar- the COVID graph in compari- constitute 33 per cent of total
ginally higher than the country's son to September. A whopping patients.

Ganjam Covid model praise @UniofOxford ? Cycles4 Change Challenge

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
BHUBANESWAR, 9 OCTOBER:
A day after the Odisha gov-
ernment went all gun blazing
highlighting the purported
Oxford study in Ganjam’s turn-
around in COVID manage-
ment, eyebrows are being
raised over the authenticity of
the study.
The Chief Minister’s Office
(CMO) and Ganjam Collector
yesterday in their respective offi-
cial twitter handles claimed
Oxford University’s note of
appreciation for the success-
ful infection control strategy in
the southern district.
The CMO had removed the
tweet later.When asked, Gan-
jam Collector Vijay Amruta
Kulange said “the tweet post-
ing was based on a news report
of a web portal. The adminis-
tration is yet to receive Oxford
university study. We are in
touch with Oxford in this
regard”.
“Ganjam earned praise from
@ UniofOxford for its suc-
cessful model of COVID infec-
tion prevention. The district
excelled in COVID management
by empowering Sarpanchs,
forming committees in vil-
lages for intensive screening and
by ensuring proper health-
care”, CMO tweet, now removed,
stated.
“Ganjam model of COVID
management got recognized
by @UniofOxford for success-
ful infection prevention strate-
gies. Our gratitude and appre-
ciation to Team Ganjam”, Gan-
jam Collector Collector Kulange
stated in his official twitter
handle.
Because of orchestrated
endeavour at the grass roots with
Sarpanchs leading from the front
of COVID management, the
pandemic’s growth has been flat-
tened, Collector Kulange
said.While Ganjam district
reported an overall confirmed
caseload of 20,550, it now has
only 237 active cases and the
recovery rate is 97.5 per cent.
The turnaround was made
possible due to a holistic and
multi-pronged strategy, which
is now being widely acclaimed
asthe“GanjamModel”inOdisha.
The meticulous manage-
ment of returnees, COVID test-
ing strategy, health infrastruc-
ture and community involve-
ment implemented by a ded-
icated team of Officers, doctors
and ground level workers has
contributed to contagion’s
graph flattening in Ganjam.
The strategy adopted was
two pronged – firstly, the focus
was made on awareness of
social distancing norms and sec-
ondly, dedicated efforts were
made to gear up health infra-
structure.
Ganjam had become the first
district in Odisha to promul-
gate Section 144 of CrPC to
restrict gathering five or more
people in public areas. All the
Tahasildars of the district were
declared as Incident Com-
manders under Epidemic Dis-
eases Act to enforce the guide-
lines issued by the District
Magistrate from time to time.
Directions were given to
both the police districts of this
district to give necessary sup-
port to the Incident Com-
manders in their enforcement
activities. The focus of the
enforcement was on crowded
places like markets, religious
Institutions, playgrounds and
public Institutions.
Ganjam was also the first dis-
trict in Odisha to enforce com-
pulsory wearing of masks by
levying a fine of Rs.200/- on not
wearing a mask. The effective
management of migrant
returnees also put brakes on the
spread of virus infections.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
BHUBANESWAR, 9 OCTOBER:
To promote cycling as a means
of public transport in the city
here, Bhubaneswar Munici-
pal Corporation and
Bhubaneswar Smart City Ltd
organised a ‘Cycles4Change’
challenge.
At least one thousand
enthusiasts took part in it
and pedalled for 12 km from
Si s u b h a v a n S q u a re t o
Dhauli.
Bhubaneswar was one of
the 95 cities in India to have
registered for the India
Cycles4Change Challenge, Ministry to promote cycling. to boost the habit of cycling.
which is an initiative of Smart BMC Commissioner Prem Many of the participants
Cities Mission of the Union Chandra Choudhury said vowed to use cycles every
Housing and Urban Affairs that the initiative was aimed Friday.

LEISURE
10 MINUTE CROSSWORD BEETLE BAILEY/Mort Walker NEED TO KNOW
Ambulance Life Care 2284-6940 Howrah 2666-8111; Behala Police Toll Free No. 1073
FD Block Association (Amb) Peoples Blood Bank 2497-6285 Transport Deptt. No.
9830452536, 9830181286 2455-5164/ 5557 6451-6718
Happy Calcuttans 24400160 RK Mission Seva Pratisthan Civic Services
City Point Nurses Centre 2475-3636/39 Kolkata Municipal CESC Fault Reporting
2567-4113, 9831142623 Corporation: 2286-1000 1912 and 4403-1912
People’s Relief Committee Police/Fire Water: 2543-1602
2280-4943/9444 Lalbazar (Police Control Trains
Room) 22143230 Calcutta Telephones Howrah Station Old Complex
24 hrs Medical Oxygen S. P. (North 24-Pgns) Changed Number 1331/1332 (Auto Telephone
Delivery 25423005 Announcement Numbers), 1310, 2638-
BOC India Ltd. 9831277777 S.P. (South 24-Pgns) 2479- 1951,1952,1953 7412/3542/2581 (manual).
3333/1311 Sealdah: 2350-3535/3537
Blood Banks Bhawani Bhawan Taxi Refusal Shalimar Station: 2668-1121,
24791761/9, 24791933 Eastern Railway and South-
Ashok Laboratory 24720333 Fire Service Station Salt SMS 575756: Complaint and Eastern Railway: 139.
Central Blood Bank 23510619 Lake: 2357-5293; registration

RED EYE/Bill Yates & Mel Casson SUDOKU

ACROSS DOWN
1 Stronghold (4) 1 In irregular spells (8)
3 Did extremely well in 2 No longer working (7)
(Informal) (4) 3 Flight company (7)
7 Taught (7)
8 Corrosion (4) 4 Result (5)
9 Not restricted (12) 5 Plant with showy flowers
11 Affectedly genteel (4)
(Informal) (2-2-2) 6 Worship (5)
13 Paradise (6) 10 Disconcert (8)
16 French girl (12) 12 Furniture item (7)
19 As well as (4)
20 Rustic (7)
14 Vesuvius, for example (7)
15 Transform (5)
DADDY DAZE/John Kovaleski
21 Operator (4)
22 Unemployment benefit 17 Book of maps (5)
(Informal) (4) 18 Simple card game (4)
SOLUTIONS TO YESTERDAY’S CROSSWORD irections Make a 2 to
7 letter word from the
letters in each row.
ACROSS 10 Sorbet, DOWN 10 Scrapheap, Add points of each
1 Manga, 11 Story, 1 Mildew, 12 Greens, word, using scoring
directions at right, 7-
4 Knees 16 Briefs, 2 Native, 13 Device, letter words get 50- Sudoku is a number-placing
(Manganese), 17 Pariah, 3 Arthritis, 14 Crocus, point bonus. "Blanks"
puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with
used as any letter
7 Plot, 18 Meditate, 20 4 Koi, 15 Fairly, have no point value. several given numbers. The
8 Tailspin, Cure, 5 Ensure, 19 Ant. All Judd’s words are
object is to place the numbers 1
in The Official
9 Weaver, 21 Spent, 6 Spider, Scrabble Players to 9 in the empty squares so
22 Pushy. Dictionary(Merriam-
that no row, no column and no
Webster) and OSW
Official Scrabble answer to 3x3 box contains the same
By arrangement with The Independent rabble and Scrabble Tiles are registered trademarks. All Words(Chambers).
number. The difficulty level
Figures in parentheses denote
rights in the game are owned in the U.S.A by Hasbro Inc., Judd’s solution previous
in Canada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by J.W. increases through the week.
the number of letters in the words required Spear & Sons Limited, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.
tomorrow.
10-25-12
puzzle

10
WEATHER
CITY MAX MIN
SINGAPORE 29°C 25°C
HONG KONG 26°C 20°C
TOKYO 18°C 12°C
LONDON
DUBAI
11°C
30°C
09°C
25°C
SAN FRANCISCO 13° C 04° C
NEW YORK 17° C 09° C
MOSCOW 10° C 09°C
S= sunny, CL= clear,
H=hazy, R= rainy...
THUMBNAILS
A trainer from the canine
service of Russia’s Aeroflot
carrier trains a sniffer dog
to detect Covid in bioma-
terial from infected people
in Moscow's Sheremetye-
vo Airport on Friday. � AFP
Polish minister tested +ve:
Poland's opposition says
the country's education
minister-designate visited
his grandmother in the
hospital, in breach of rules
designed to control the
spread of Covid. Two days
later, lawmaker Przemys-
law Czarnek tested positiv-
e, forcing many staff and
patients at the hospital to
go into quarantine. AP
Prisoners clash in Manila:
Nine prisoners were killed
when rival gangs clashed
with knives in one of the
Philippines' most overcro-
wded prisons, officials
said. It was not immediate-
ly clear what set off the
violence between the Spu-
tnik and Commando gangs
before dawn at New Bilibid
Prison in Manila. AP
Scholarship fund for
women of colour : Rapper-
singer Megan Thee Stallion
has launched a scholarship
fund to support women of
colour pursuing an associ-
ate's, bachelor's or post-
graduate degree in any
field. AP
Spain's king
and PM visit
Barcelona
amid protest
Police set up road-
blocks and heavily
patrolled the streets
around the train sta-
tion where the
monarch and PM
attended the Barcelona
New Economy Week
innovation awards
BARCELONA, 9 OCTOBER
Several thousand Catalan
separatists are protesting
the visit of Spanish King
Felipe VI and Prime Minis-
ter Pedro Snchez to Barcelona
amid continued tensions
between the restive region
and national authorities.
Police set up roadblocks
and heavily patrolled the
streets around the train sta-
tion where the monarch and
prime minister attended the
Barcelona New Economy
Week innovation awards on
Friday.
The visit by Spain's heads
of state and government
comes less than two weeks
after Catalonia's regional
chief, Quim Torra, was
removed from office by
Spain's Supreme Court. The
court ruled him unfit to hold
office for having violated
election laws when he refused
to remove a banner from pub-
lic buildings supporting
imprisoned Catalan sepa-
ratists during an official elec-
tion campaign.
Some small groups of
protesters gathered to burn
photos of the king on Thurs-
day night.
But there were no report-
ed major clashes with police
like the ones that occurred
when Snchez held a Cabinet
meeting in Barcelona in
December 2018.
Catalonia's separatist
movement, which is sup-
ported by roughly half the 7.5
million residents in the
region, wants to create a
republic for the wealthy
northeast corner of Spain. AP
SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020
Trump says he’s ready for rallies, feels perfect
H Physician Conley says Trump showing no evidence of illness progressing or adverse reactions to the aggressive course of therapy prescribed by his doctors
H
CL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
H
S WASHINGTON, 9 OCTOBER
H for the virus — which would
P
H resident Donald Trump
R insisted on Thursday
that he is ready to
resume campaign ral-
lies and feels “perfect” one week
after his diagnosis with the
coronavirus that has killed
more than 210,000 Ameri-
cans, as his doctor said the pres-
ident had ”completed his
course of therapy” for the dis-
ease.
The president has not been
seen in public — other than
in White House-produced
videos — since his Monday
return from the military hos-
pital where he received exper-
imental treatments for the
virus. On Thursday, his physi-
cian, Navy Cmdr. Sean Con-
ley, said in a memo that Trump
would be able to safely “return
to public engagements” on Sat-
urday, as the president tries to
shift his focus to the election
that’s less than four weeks
away, with millions of Amer-
icans already casting ballots.
While Trump said he
believes he’s no longer con-
tagious, concerns about infec-
tion appeared to scuttle plans
for next week’s presidential
debate.
“I’m feeling good. Really
good. I think perfect,” Trump
said during a telephone inter-
view with Fox Business, his first
since he was released from a
three-day hospital stay Mon-
day. “I think I’m better to the
point where I’d love to do a rally
tonight,” Trump said. He
added, “I don’t think I’m con-
tagious at all.”
NATURE’S DELIGHT
A person feeds peanuts to a grey squirrel in Washington Square Park on Friday in New York City.
� AFP
European countries grapple with rising cases
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON, 9 OCTOBER
More than 1,800 students and
staff from universities across
the north-east of England,
currently under tougher
localised lockdowns, tested
positive for coronavirus over
the past week.
Newcastle University said
1,003 students and 12 mem-
bers of staff were confirmed
to have been infected with
coronavirus in the past week,
compared with 94 last Friday.
At Northumbria University,
there were also 619 new cases
and Durham University con-
firmed 219 cases in students
in the last week.
Most universities are plan-
ning to switch to online teach-
ing for at least three weeks,
except in cases where in-per-
son lessons are essential.
Newcastle University said
“the overwhelming majority
of cases” were from “social and
residential settings” and said
appropriate measures were
being taken to protect every-
one on campus.
“We expected to see cases
rise in light of the increase in
cases both locally and nation-
ally and all HE (higher edu-
cation) institutions have to
manage this on an ongoing
basis, a spokesperson said.
Durham University has
asked students living in two
colleges to remain on campus
for the next week following the
sharp rise in cases and
Northumbria University said
it was “continuing to make
extensive efforts” to provide
support for its self-isolating
A group of murals encouraging Philadelphians to vote, called
“To The Polls,” are displayed in Love Park during early voting at
City Hall on Saturday, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. � AFP
The Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention says
individuals can discontinue iso-
lation 10 days after the onset
of symptoms, which for Trump
was 1 October, according to his
doctors. Conley said that
meant Trump, who has been
surrounded by minimal staffing
as he works out of the White
House residence and the Oval
Office, could return to hold-
ing events on Saturday.
He added that Trump was
showing no evidence of his ill-
ness progressing or adverse
reactions to the aggressive
course of therapy prescribed
by his doctors.
Earlier this week, the pres-
ident’s doctors suggested they
would work closely with mil-
itary medical research facili-
ties and other laboratories on
“advanced diagnostic test-
ing” to determine when the
president was no longer con-
As virus fills French ICUs anew, doctors ask what went wrong
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS, 9 OCTOBER
During a single overnight
shift this week, three new
Covid patients were rushed
into Dr Karim Debbat's small
intensive care ward in the
southern French city of Arles.
It now has more virus patients
than during the pandemic's
first wave and is scrambling
to create new ICU beds else-
where in the hospital to accom-
modate the sick. Similar scenes
are playing out across France.
Covid patients now occu-
py 40% of ICU beds in the Paris
region, and more than a quar-
ter of ICUs nationwide as
weeks of growing infections
among young people spread
to vulnerable populations.
Despite being one of the
world's richest nations
and one of those hardest hit
when the pandemic first
washed over the world
students with online concierge
services or food parcels deliv-
ered by staff and the stu-
dents' union. Meanwhile,
Leeds University said 555 stu-
dents and three staff members
tested positive between28
September and 4 October.
“We are acutely aware that
behind each number is an indi-
vidual with their own needs
and concerns, and ensuring
the safety, health and wellbeing
of everyone is our absolute pri-
ority,” said the university's
Vice Chancellor Professor .
CMY K
It's despicable, so beneath the office of the presidency and the American
are sick & tired of it. They know who this man is, it's got to stop
tagious, but did not elaborate.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the gov-
ernment’s top infectious dis-
ease expert, said two negative
PCR lab tests 24 hours apart
are a key factor in determin-
ing whether someone is still
contagious.
“So, if the president goes 10
days without symptoms, and
they do the tests that we were
talking about, then you could
make the assumption, based
on good science, that he is not
infected,” Fauci said Thursday
on MSNBC.
While reports of reinfection
are rare, the CDC recom-
mends that even people who
recover from Covid continue
to wear a mask, stay distanced
and follow other precautions.
It was unclear if Trump, who
eschewed mask-wearing in
most settings, would abide by
that guidance. The White
House, meanwhile, contin-
A man wearing a protective face mask passes a board displaying his government's handling
information how to restrict the spread of coronavirus, in cen-
tral Nottingham in England on Friday. ��AFP
France hasn't added signifi- learned their lessons from pital system.
cant ICU capacity or the staff the first wave. It's very tense,
needed to manage extra beds, we don't have any more places, considered an important indi-
according to national health Debbat told The AP.
agency figures and doctors at
multiple hospitals. Like in in Arles is converting recov- tive health authorities have
many countries facing resur- ery rooms into ICUs, delay- been at protecting at-risk
gent infections, critics say ing non-urgent surgeries and populations. And France's
France's leaders haven't directing more and more of numbers aren't looking good.
Spain considers state of
emergency for Madrid:
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro
Snchez is holding an emer-
gency Cabinet meeting on
Friday morning to consider
declaring a state of emer-
gency for Madrid and its sur-
rounding region in order to
impose stronger anti-virus
restrictions on the reluctant
regional governors.
The meeting comes a day
after a Madrid court struck
down a national government
order that imposed a partial
CMY K
US DEMOCRATIC PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE JOE BIDEN
SLAMMING DONALD TRUMP FOR HIS REMARKS ATTACKING KAMALA HARRIS
ued to decline to share when
Trump last tested negative In 25th
Amendment
help pinpoint when he was
infected. Strategic commu- bid, Pelosi
nications director Alyssa Farah
said that information was
mulls Trump’s
Trump’s “private medical his- fitness to serve
tory.”
Trump’s campaign and the WASHINGTON, 9 OCTOBER
White House were already
drawing up plans for Trump House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
to resume campaigning, eye- is questioning President
ing a visit to Pennsylvania on Donald Trump's fitness to
Monday and Michigan on serve, announcing legisla-
Tuesday ahead of what was to tion Thursday that would
have been next Thursday’s create a commission to
debate. But the Commission allow Congress to inter-
on Presidential Debates vene under the 25th Amend-
announced that event would ment to the Constitution
be held “virtually” in order to and remove the president
“protect the health and safe- from executive duties.
ty of all involved.” Trump Just weeks before the
swiftly rejected that offer, and election, Pelosi said Trump
his campaign later called on needs to disclose more
the commission to delay the about his health after his
final two debates by a week to Covid diagnosis. She noted
alleviate concerns about an in- Trump's strange tweet halt-
person contest. ing talks on a new coron-
Over the objections of some avirus aid package he sub-
aides, Trump returned to the sequently tried to reverse
Oval Office on Thursday, even course and said Americans
though a workspace had been need to know when, exact-
set up in the residential sec- ly, he first contracted Covid
tion of the White House. Aides as others in the White House
were discussing a potential became infected. On Friday,
photo opportunity with the she plans to roll out the leg-
president at the White House islation that would launch
either Thursday or Friday but the commission for review.
plans had not been finalized, The public needs to
according to two White House know the health condition
officials not authorized to of the president, Pelosi said,
publicly discuss internal delib- later invoking the 25th
erations. Only a few senior Amendment, which allows
aides, medical staff and secu- a president's cabinet to
rity personnel have laid eyes intervene when a presi-
on the president since he dent is unable to conduct
returned to the White House the duties of the office. AP
on Monday afternoon.
US, Russia said to be close to
deal on N-warhead freeze
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, 9 OCTOBER
leader Vladimir Putin have
signed off on the freeze, but
negotiators still need to iron
US and Russian negotiators out details, including com-
have agreed in principle to con- pliance and verification issues.
tinue freezing their nuclear wa- The person spoke to reporters
rhead stockpiles in a bid to sal- after the last round of US-Rus-
vage their last remaining arms sia arms control talks in
control pact before it expires Helsinki this week.
next year, a person familiar The person, who was not
with the talks said Friday. authorized to discuss the ne-
The person said it's not yet gotiations publicly and spoke
clear if the agreement for a on condition of anonymity,
freeze will succeed or trans- said follow-up discussions
late into an extension of the
New START treaty that expires
between Washington and
Moscow would take place
in February. But, if it works,
the person said an agree-
next week. The Russians have
been told that if a freeze is not
ment could be announced
before the Nov. 3 presidential
agreed to in the coming weeks,
the United States may hard-
election with an eye toward
extending the accord and
en its conditions.
Word of a potential freeze
eventually bringing China comes as Trump is seeking for-
into it, a longtime Trump eign policy victories during
administration demand. a difficult reelection camp-
The person said President aign against former Vice Pres-
Donald Trump and Russian ident Joe Biden, who has
his staff to high-maintenance
Covid patients.
Asked about extra medics
to help with the new cases, he
said simply, We don't have
them. That's the problem.
When protesting Paris pub-
lic hospital workers con-
fronted French President
Emmanuel Macron this week
to demand more government
investment, he said:
It's no longer a question of
resources, it's a question of
organization. He defended
of the crisis, and noted $9.3
million in investment
promised in July for the hos-
ICU occupancy rates are
cator of how saturated the hos-
The Joseph Imbert Hospital pital system is and how effec-
lockdown in the Spanish cap- Merkel discusses virus
ital and its suburbs. surge:Chancellor Angela
The ruling sided with Merkel is meeting with the
regional officials who had mayors of Germany's largest
appealed the application of cities as coronavirus cases
stricter measures against one rise in metropolitan areas.
of Europe's most worrying Germany's disease con-
virus clusters. trol center reported 4,516
The judges said that trav- new cases overnight Friday.
el restrictions in and out of the Merkel's meeting by video
cities might be necessary to conference with 11 mayors will
fight the spread of the coro- discuss slowing the spread of
navirus, but that under the cur- the virus.However, many cities
rent legal framework they have reached the critical warn-
were violating residents' fun- ing level of 50 new infections
damental rights. per 100,000 residents.
Michigan guv links Prez
to foiled kidnapping plot
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DETROIT, 9 OCTOBER
Michigan Governor Gretchen
Whitmer linked a plot to kid-
nap her to President Donald
Trump, arguing on Thursday
in a speech hours after arrests
were announced that Trump's
words had been a “rallying cry”
for extremists.
Whitmer, a Democrat, said
the Republican president has
spent the last seven months
of the coronavirus pandem-
ic “denying science, ignoring
his own health experts, stok-
ing distrust, fomenting anger
and giving comfort to those
who spread fear and hatred
and division.”
She singled out Trump's
debate comments, when he
didn't condemn white
supremacist groups and told
one far-right extremist group
to “stand back and stand by.”
“Hate groups heard the
president's words not as a
rebuke, but as a rallying cry,”
Whitmer said.
“When our leaders speak,
their words matter. They carry
weight. When our leaders
meet, encourage or fraternize
with domestic terrorists, they
legitimize their actions and
they are complicit. When they
stoke and contribute to hate
speech, they are complicit.”
There's no indication in the
criminal complaint that the
men arrested were inspired
vowed to extend New START
even without Chinese par-
ticipation.
An announcement ahead
of the election could raise eye-
brows, coming as US intelli-
gence officials say Russia
favours Trump and has been
working to denigrate Biden.
The person familiar with
the negotiations said Nov. 3 was
not a drop-dead date for a
freeze agreement with Russia
and stressed that the Trump
administration would con-
tinue to negotiate no matter
what the result of the election.
But the person said the US
would be looking for additional
Russian concessions should
negotiations drag out beyond
the vote. Currently, the US envi-
sions a broad cap on nuclear
warheads under which the
numbers of multiple weapons
systems could be adjusted
with some flexibility.
Bar or restaurant?
The big issue
in Brussels
A waiter serves beers at a
bar on the eve of the
mandatory closure of bars
in Brussels. � AFP
BRUSSELS, 9 OCTOBER
New coronavirus restric-
tions put a spotlight on two
Belgian classics this week:
Beer and surrealism.
Since bars in Brussels
were forced to close as of
Thursday for at least a month
to deal with a massive surge
in cases but restaurants were
allowed to remain open, the
big question on the streets
is: when is a bar a bar and
when is a bar a restaurant?
And more importantly,
does the distinction really
help contain the pandem-
ic? It is all very reminiscent
of surrealism master Rene
Magritte, who painted a pic-
ture of a pipe and wrote
under it Ceci n'est pas une
pipe (This is not a pipe,)”
because, of course, it is an
image of a pipe.The Treach-
ery of Images, as the paint-
ing is called, also applies to
Brussels watering holes these
days. To stay open and in
business, bars will have to
prove that they are not bars.
by Trump. Authorities also
have not publicly said whether
the men were angry about
Whitmer's coronavirus orders,
which sharply curtailed busi-
nesses and individuals in an
effort to slow the spread of the
virus. Democrat Joe Biden
sought to tie Trump to the plot
as well, pointing to the pres-
ident's tweet earlier this year
to “LIBERATE MICHIGAN.”
Whitmer's coronavirus
response has faced criticism
from conservatives, and the
GOP-led Michigan Legislature
sued her in May to try to
invalidate her stay-at-home
order and other measures.
The arrests and Whitmer's
comments come less than a
month before the presiden-
tial election in a key battle-
ground state, where recent
polls show Biden has a lead.
Six men were charged in
federal court with conspiring
to kidnap the governor in
reaction to what they viewed
as her “uncontrolled power”,
according to a federal com-
plaint.Separately, seven oth-
ers were charged in state
court under Michigan's anti-
terrorism laws for allegedly tar-
geting police and seeking a
“civil war”. White House press
secretary Kayleigh McEnany
criticized Whitmer's remarks.
“President Trump has con-
tinually condemned white
supremacists and all forms of
hate,” she said.
UK govt
prepares jobs
support if
firms forced
to close
LONDON, 9 OCTOBER
The British government is
on Friday set to announce fur-
ther support for firms to
retain staff in the coming
months if they are forced to
close as a result of the impo-
sition of further lockdown
restrictions.
With the government
expected to tighten restrictions
over the coming days to deal
with a sharp spike in new coro-
navirus infections, there are
growing concerns that the
economy will suffer during the
winter and that hundreds of
thousands of jobs may be lost.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak
said he understood how peo-
ple are worried about the
coming winter months. He is
being urged by businesses,
politicians and unions to
accompany any lockdown
restrictions with a financial
support package to prevent
mass unemployment.
Specifically, he is being urged
to back local job retention pro-
grams, whereby the govern-
ment steps in to pay the lion's
share of the salaries of work-
ers who are forced to go idle.
A national program that has
helped keep a lid on unem-
ployment is due to stop at the
end of October.
The Chancellor will be
setting out the next stage of
the Job Support Scheme later
today that will protect jobs and
provide a safety net for those
businesses that may have to
close in the coming weeks and
months,” a Treasury
spokesman said.
New figures released Fri-
day show that the British
economy's bounce back from
recession slowed significantly
in August. The Office for
National Statistics said the
economy expanded by only
2.1% in August from the
month before. That was way
down on the 6.4% expan-
sion in July and substantial-
ly lower than the 4.6% antic-
ipated in financial markets.
The hospitality sector was
one that performed well,
boosted by many people's
decision to take their holidays
in the UK instead of going
abroad, as well as the gov-
ernment's dining discount
scheme during the month.
Under the Eat Out to Help Out
program, sitting customers
could receive a 50% discount
on food and non-alcoholic
drinks at participating restau-
rants between Monday and
Wednesday up to $ 13 per per-
son.However, at the end of
August the economy was still
9.2 per cent smaller than
before the pandemic. AP
 CMY K

11
I think this is the first time in my life I've been without words.
I was just so shocked and surprised
HEAD OF THE UN WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME, DAVID BEASLEY
AFTER HIS ORGANISATION WAS AWARDED THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE SILIGURI, SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020

THUMBNAILS
Cars crowd during morn-
ing rush hour after a we-
ek-long ‘golden week’
holiday in Shanghai on Fri-
day. �AFP
Pak bans Tik Tok: Pakista-
n's telecom watchdog on
Friday banned the popular
Chinese video-sharing app
TikTok after getting num-
erous complaints against
its immoral content. The
regulator took the step
after a final notice was
given to TikTok to comply
with the instructions for
development of an effec-
tive mechanism for a pro-
a ctive moderation of its
unlawful online matters. AP
Venezuelans once again fleeing on foot as troubles mount
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PAMPLONA, 9 OCTOBER
Eleazar Hernndez slept on a
sidewalk amid a light drizzle,
temperatures that dipped
close to freezing and the roar
of passing trucks.
The 23-year-old Venezue-
lan migrant was trying to
make it to the Colombian city
of Medellin with his wife, who
is seven months pregnant.
But the couple had run
out of money for transporta-
tion by the time they reached
Pamplona, a small mountain
town over 300 miles (482 km)
away from their final desti-
nation. Unable to buy a bus
ticket, Hernndez pinned his
hopes on catching a ride on
the back of a truck. It was the
safest way to cross the Paramo
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict:
Russia to sponsor truce talks
de Berlin, a freezing plateau
located at 13,000 feet (4,000
meters).
My wife can barely walk,
said Hernndez, who had spent
four days sleeping on Pam-
plona's sidewalks.
We need transport to get
us out of here. After months
of lockdowns that halted one
of the world's biggest migra-
tion movements in recent
years, Venezuelans are once
again fleeing their nation's eco-
nomic and humanitarian cri-
sis.
Though the number of
people leaving is smaller than
at the height of the Venezue-
lan exodus, Colombian immi-
gration officials expect 200,000
Venezuelans to enter the coun-
try in the months ahead,
enticed by the prospects of
adverse conditions than those
who fled their homeland
before Covid. Shelters remain
closed, drivers are more reluc-
tant to pick up hitchhikers and
locals who fear contagion are
less likely to help out with food
donations.
We hardly got any lifts
along the way, said Anahir
Montilla, a cook from the
Venezuelan state of Guarico
who was approaching Colom-
bia's capital after traveling
with her family for 27 days.
Motorcyclists queue to fill the tank of their bikes in a gas station
Before the pandemic, over
in Caracas on Friday. Venezuela launched this Monday a plan to
5 million Venezuelans had
distribute gasoline according to the registration numbers of left their country, according
the vehicles, a measure in response to the severe fuel shortage to the United Nations. The
in the Caribbean country. � AFP poorest left on foot, walking
through a terrain that is often
earning higher wages and ilies. scorching but can also get
sending money back to The new migrants are frigidly cold.
Venezuela to feed their fam- encountering decidedly more As governments across
South America shut down
their economies in hopes of
stopping the spread of Covid,
many migrants found them-
selves without work. Over
100,000 Venezuelans returned
to their country, where at
least they'd have a roof over
their heads.
Today, official land and
bridge crossings into Colom-
bia are still closed, compelling
migrants to flee through ille-
gal pathways along the porous
1,370-mile border with
Venezuela.The dirt roads are
controlled by violent drug
trafficking groups and rebel
organizations like the Nation-
al Liberation Army.
The return of Venezuelan
migrants is already happen-
ing even though the border is
closed, said Ana Milena Guer-
French hostage released
after four years in Mali
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAMAKO (MALI), 9 OCTOBER
rero, an official for the Inter-
national Rescue Committee,
a humanitarian non-profit
organization helping migrants.
What's more, many are
now forced to walk within
their own country for days to
reach the border due to gas
shortages that have diminished
transportation between cities.
One lengthy stretch of road
connecting the border city of
Cucuta to Bucaramanga fur-
ther inland used to be home
to 11 shelters for migrants.
Most have been ordered to
close by municipal govern-
ments trying to contain coro-
navirus infections.Before the
pandemic broke out, Douglas
Cabeza had turned a shed
next to his house in Pam-
plona into a shelter that housed
up to 200 migrants a night.

Protest in Indonesia: Prot-

ests in many Indonesian
cities turned violent on
Thursday as thousands of
enraged students and wo-
rkers criticized a new law
Putin issued a statement calling for a break in the fighting between Armenian & Azerbaijani forces A 75-year-old French aid
worker held hostage for four
years by Islamic extremists in
ASSOCIATED PRESS Lebanon's Armenians. Mali arrived Friday in France
MOSCOW, 9 OCTOBER Red, blue and orange ~ and says she wants to return
Armenian flags are flown on to her aid work with mal-

they say will cripple labour
rights and harm the envi-
ronment.Clashes between
demonstrators and police
broke out near Jak- arta's
presidential palace . AP
Lithuanian diplomats:
Lithuania said Friday it had
decided to recall five diplo-
mats from Minsk, the capi-
tal of Belarus, with a
government spokes-
woman saying Belarus had
demanded that 11 diplo-
mats be sent home. Last
week, Lithuania recalled its
ambassador to Belarus for
consultations under pres-
sure from Minsk. AP
Pak journalist: A Pakistani
court has restrained the
Federal Investigation Age-
ncy from arresting a phys-
ically challenged journalist
over his alleged objection-
able tweets.The Islamabad
HC issued the orders on a
petition filed by journalist
Rana Mohammad Arshad,
directing that no adverse
action shall be taken
against the petitio-
ner,the Dawn reported. PTI
Typhoon to hit Japan: A
slow-moving typhoon off
Japan's southern coast
has triggered gusts and
rain across a large part of
the country and could
bring heavy rains to the
Tokyo region next week,
though it was not expect-
ed to make landfall. AP
R
ussia moved to stop the
worst escalation of
fighting in the sepa-
ratist region of
Nagorno-Karabakh in more
than a quarter-century by
offering to host cease-fire talks
on Friday.
Late Thursday, Russian
PresidentVladimir Putin issued
a statement calling for a break
in the fighting between the
Armenian and Azerbaijani
forces that have raged for near-
ly two weeks over the region.
The Kremlin said Putin's ini-
tiative followed a series of calls
with Armenian Prime Minis-
ter Nikol Pashinian and Azer-
baijani President Ilham Aliyev.
The latest outburst of fight-
ing between Azerbaijani and
Armenian forces began Sep-
tember 27 and marked the
biggest escalation of the
decades-old conflict over
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The region lies in Azerbai-
jan but has been under con-
trol of ethnic Armenian forces
backed by Armenia since the
end of a separatist war in 1994.
The Kremlin said Putin
proposed calling a cease-fire
to exchange prisoners and
collect the bodies of dead sol-
diers, adding that the top Azer-
baijani and Armenian diplo-
mats were invited to Moscow
for consultations.
The Russian Foreign Min-
istry said they confirmed their
attendance Friday, but there
was no immediate comment
from Armenia or Azerbaijan to
the Russian initiative.
Azerbaijani officials and
Nagorno-Karabakh separatist
authorities said heavy shelling
Child refugees from the Nagorno-Karabakh region sit and smile in Dilijan, some 120kms from
Yerevan on Friday. � AFP
continued overnight.
Fighting with heavy artillery,
warplanes and drones has
engulfed Nagorno-Karabakh
despite numerous interna-
tional calls for a cease-fire.
Both sides have accused each
other of targeting residential
areas and civilian infrastruc-
ture.
On Thursday, a historic
cathedral in the town of Shusha
in Nagorno-Karabakh came
under shelling, a shell pierc-
ing its dome and damaging the
interior. No one was hurt in the
attack, but hours later more
shelling wounded two Russ-
ian journalists inspecting the
damage. The Azerbaijani mil-
itary denied targeting the
cathedral.
According to the Nagorno-
Karabakh military, 376 of its ser-
vicemen have been killed since
Sept. 27. Azerbaijan hasn't
provided details on its military
losses. Scores of civilians on both
sides also have been killed.
Stepanakert, the capital of
Nagorno-Karabakh, has been
under intense shelling. Resi-
dents are staying in shelters,
some of which are in the base-
ments of apartment build-
ings. Facing international calls
for a cease-fire, Azerbaijan
made its acceptance condi-
tional on Armenia's with-
drawal from the region.
Armenian officials say
Turkey is involved in the con-
flict and is sending Syrian
mercenaries to fight on Azer-
baijan's side. Turkey has pub-
licly backed Azerbaijan in the
conflict but has denied send-
ing combatants to the region.
In an interview with CNN
Arabic aired Thursday, Azer-
baijan's president admitted that
Turkish F-16 fighter jets have
stayed on in Azerbaijan weeks
after a joint military exercise,
but insisted that they have
remained grounded. Armen-
ian officials had earlier claimed
that a Turkish F-16 shot down
an Armenian warplane, a claim
that Turkey and Azerbaijan
have denied. Aliyev's office
said French President
Emmanuel Macron called him
Friday to discuss the conflict,
but wouldn't give any details
of the conversation.
The call follows Macron's
conversation with the Armen-
ian prime minister late Thurs-
day. Macron's office voiced
hope that a truce could be nego-
tiated soon, noting that it was
coordinating its efforts with the
Kremlin.
Armenia-Azerbaijan con-
flict draws in fighters from
Mideast: For the past two
weeks, Raffi Ghazarian has
been glued to the TV at home
and at work watching news
about the fighting between
Armenian and Azerbaijani
forces.If it goes on, the 50-year-
old Lebanese of Armenian
descent says he's ready to
leave everything and volunteer
to defend his ancestral land.
Some from Lebanon's large
ethnic Armenian population
have already travelled to join
the fight, according to mem-
bers of the community,
although they say the numbers
are small. The new eruption of
violence in the Caucasus region
strikes close to home for
balconies, windows and roofs
of buildings in Bourj Ham-
moud, Beirut's main Armen-
ian district. Anti-Turkish graf-
fiti in English and Armenian
mark walls all over the streets.
Fighting has raged since Sep-
tember 27 in the separatist
region of Nagorno-Karabakh,
leaving several hundred dead.
The enclave lies within
Azerbaijan but has been under
the control of ethnic Armen-
ian forces backed by neigh-
boring Armenia since 1994,
when a truce ended a years-
long war that killed an estimate
30,000 people.On the other side
of the latest fighting, Turkey has
sent hundreds of Syrian oppo-
sition fighters to back its ally,
Azerbaijan, according to a Syr-
ian war monitor and three
Syria-based opposition activists.
Lebanese-Armenians have
been sending money and aid
as well as campaigning in the
media in support of ethnic
Armenians in the enclave,
which they refer to as Art-
sakh.
The support they can give
is limited -- Lebanon is pass-
ing through a severe economic
crisis, and banks have imposed
tight capital controls.Lebanon
is home to one of the largest
Armenian communities in the
world, most of them descen-
dants of survivors of the 1915
genocide by Ottoman Turks.
An estimated 1.5 million
died in massacres, deportations
and forced marches that began
in 1915 as Ottoman officials
worried that the Christian
Armenians would side with
Russia, its enemy in World
War I.
nourished children despite the
ordeal.
Relatives enveloped Sophie
Petronin in a huge embrace
after she descended from the
plane at the Villacoublay mil-
itary airport southwest of
Paris, where she was greeted
by French President
Emmanuel Macron. Macron
expressed joy and relief at her
release, thanked the Malian
authorities and promised
that the French military would
continue its fight against ter-
rorism in the West African
region.
Petronin was released with
three other hostages from
Mali and Italy this week. Bells
tolled in the Italian hometown
of a priest also released.
Petronin said she had been
treated relatively well during
captivity. Her account con-
trasted with that of fellow
ex-hostage Soumaila Cisse, a
prominent Malian politician
who recounted months of
arduous conditions before a
precarious trip to their extrac-
tion point, arriving in Mali's
capital 48 hours after first
being released.
I hung on I prayed a lot
because I had a lot of time,
Petronin told reporters at the
French Embassy in Bamako.
I transformed detention ... into
a spiritual retreat, if one can
say that.” Petronin was
released alongside Italian
hostages the Rev. Pierluigi
Maccalli and Nicola Chiacchio,
and Cisse, a prominent Malian
politician. There was no imme-
diate information about the
five other foreign hostages that
the Islamic militants from
French President Emmanuel
Macron (R) stands next to
French aid worker Sophie
Petronin (C) who is wel-
comed by her family after
suspected jihadist hostage-
takers freed the 75-year-old
from nearly four years of cap-
tivity in Mali upon her arrival
at the Villacoublay military
airport near Paris on Friday.
JNIM are believed to still
hold. Freedom for the four
came just days after the Malian
government released nearly
200 militants and sent them
by plane to northern Mali,
fuelling speculation of an
imminent prisoner exchange
that some fear could further
destabilise the country.
It was not immediately
known whether a ransom
was paid, though extremist
groups have long funded
their operations with such pay-
ments from European gov-
ernments.
Cisse, who had been kid-
napped earlier this year while
campaigning for re-election
as a legislator, told Mali's
state broadcaster ORTM that
after months of captivity
things began to move quick-
ly at end of September.
He said late Thursday that
he had made a proof of life
video on 26 September, and
earlier this week he was freed.
Still, security conditions pre-
vented them from reaching
the northern town of Tessalit
for two more days.

BLESSING IN DISGUISE US military blindsided by Trump's Kyrgyz president

new Afghan troop withdrawal
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, 9 OCTOBER
The US military was blindsided
on Thursday by President
Donald Trump's assertion
that all US troops will be out
of Afghanistan by the end of
the year, with US officials say-
ing they are not aware of such
a plan and have gotten no actu-
al order to accelerate the more
gradual pullout they've been
executing.
Trump's comments, laid
out in a confusing progression
of comments and a tweet,
alarmed Pentagon and State
Palestinian protesters pray amidst tear gas smoke fired by Israeli security forces to disperse a demonstration against the expan- officials who fear that putting
sion of settlements, near the village of Beit Dajan, east of Nablus, on Friday. � AFP a definitive date on troop
withdrawal could undercut
negotiations to finalize a peace
deal between the Taliban and
the Afghan government.
They also fear a hasty with-
drawal could force the US to
leave behind sensitive military
equipment. And they con-
tinue to stress that the Taliban
has still not met requirements
to reduce violence against
the Afghans, a key element of
the US withdrawal plan.
The Taliban welcomed
Trump's announcements,
which started with a tweet on
Wednesday saying “we should
have the small remaining
number of our BRAVE Men and
Women serving in Afghanistan
home by Christmas”.
He reinforced early with-
drawal plans on Thursday
morning, in a Fox Business
Channel interview that under-
stated the number of troops
currently in Afghanistan.
Multiple US officials, speak-
ing on condition of anonymi-
ty to discuss sensitive troop
details, said they know of no
plan for either new deadline.
Instead, they pointed to com-
ments Wednesday by Nation-
al Security Adviser Robert
O'Brien, who told an audience
in Las Vegas that “as of today,
there are under 5,000 and
that will go to 2,500 by early
next year”.
declares state of
emergency
amidst protests
MOSCOW, 9 OCTOBER
The embattled president of
Kyrgyzstan ordered a near-
ly two-week state of emerge-
ncy Friday in the capital in
a bid to end the political tur-
moil that has been sparked
by a disputed parliamentary
election.
President Sooronbai Jeen-
bekov decreed that the state
of emergency, which starts at
8 p.m. Friday and runs thr-
ough 8 a.m. on Oct. 21, could
include a curfew and travel
restrictions. He also ordered
the military to deploy troops
to Bishkek, the capital, to
enforce the measure.
It was unclear whether

China joins COVAX alliance for global distribution of its Covid vaccines
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
BEIJING, 9 OCTOBER
China has officially joined the
World Health Organization's
COVAX alliance to equitably
distribute Covid vaccines
around the globe, ending spec-
ulation that it plans to supply
them on its own to develop-
ing countries to improve its
image dented by the pan-
demic since it emerged in
Wuhan in December last year.
According to the WHO,
countries should join the
Covid Vaccine Global Access
Facility (COVAX Facility) by Sep-
tember 18 but not later than
October 9 with upfront pay-
ments. On October 8, China
and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance,
signed an agreement, offi-
cially joining COVAX, Chinese
Foreign Ministry spokesper-
son Hua Chunying said in a
statement on Friday.
This is an important step
China has taken to uphold the
concept of a shared commu-
nity of health for all and to hon-
our its commitment to turn
Covid vaccines into a global
public good, she said, appar-
ently refuting reports that
China plans to distribute the
vaccines to developing coun-
tries on its own ahead of devel-
oped countries.
Hua later told a media
briefing that China is finalis-
ing the modalities of its par-
ticipation with officials of Gavi
and agreed to buy 15 COVAX
vaccines to administer them
to the Chinese population.
As far as I know, many Chi-
nese vaccine companies have
expressed willingness to join,
and technical experts from both
sides are currently in close com-
munication about develop-
ment, certification, supervi-
sion and other aspects,” she
said.
China has been in com-
munication with COVAX par-
ties and will purchase vaccine
for 15 million people in China,
this is based on the consen-
sus reached by both sides and
this is a good result for both,
she said.
Purchase of this percent-
age only accounts for one per
cent of the national popula-
tion but it demonstrates our
support to the programme,”
Hua said, adding that any
larger purchase by China to
cover its 1.4 billion population
would deprive the vaccine
opportunity to people from a
number of countries.
If the participating popu-
lation in China is too large then
vaccines for other countries will
be less. This is clear math. The
15 million is an appropriate
number. This shows China's
participation in this pro-
gramme and accommodates
the interests of other countries,”
she said.
Hua, however, did not
directly respond to questions
whether China would also
simultaneously provide the
vaccine to countries of its
choice.According to Gavi, total
commitments from govern-
ments as well as from organ-
isations such as the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation
have reached USD 1.8 billion.
For its part, Gavi has wel-
comed China's participation.
“Delighted to welcome China
to the #COVAX Facility! This
announcement gives even
more momentum to our mis-
sion to ensure future #Covid
vaccines are distributed equi-
tably because no one is safe
until everyone is safe,” Seth
Berkley, chief executive of
Gavi, tweeted.
WHO announced in August
that 172 economies are now
engaged in discussions to
potentially participate in
COVAX, a global initiative
aimed at working with vaccine
manufacturers to provide
countries worldwide equi-
table access to safe and effec-
tive vaccines, once they are
licensed and approved.
China has already promised
access and loans for potential
vaccines to a number of lower
and middle-income nations
a move the Chinese leadership
may see as a better bet for its
diplomatic agenda than join-
ing the WHO-backed scheme,
South China Morning Post
reported on September 23.
Hua said , China continues
to focus on ensuring that
developing countries have
equal access to appropriate,
safe and effective vaccines. To
that end, we have solemnly
pledged to make vaccines
developed and deployed by
China a global public good,
which will be provided to
developing countries as a pri-
ority”.
police and the military would
comply with the order.
Jeenbekov has faced calls
to step down from hundreds
of protesters who stormed
government buildings the
night after Sunday's parlia-
mentary vote was reported-
ly swept by pro-government
parties. The demonstrators
also freed former President
Almazbek Atambayev, who
was sentenced to 11 years in
prison in June on charges of
corruption and abuse of
office that he and his sup-
porters described as a polit-
ical vendetta by Jeenbekov.
The turmoil marks a third
time in 15 years that protesters
have moved to topple a gov-
ernment in Kyrgyztsan, a
Central Asian nation of 6.5 mil-
lion. AP

CMY K
 LIFE'S LIKE THAT
Luis Suarez (in photo, left) has said Barcelona
CMYK
SATURDAY 10 OCTOBER 2020
SILIGURI
12
treated him so unfairly he spent days in tears
before his departure for Atltico Madrid. Suarez
scored Uruguay's first goal from the spot in
the 2-1 home victory against Chile in the open-
ing round of the South American World Cup
qualifiers on Thursday.

For more updates www.thestatesman.com Registration No.KOLRMS/55/2016-2018 MH/MR/South-67/2012-2014

THUMBNAILS
Coe's tip: World Athletics
president Sebastian Coe said
competitors should be able
to "take the knee" on the
podium at the Tokyo
Olympics, following an outcry
Kings XI have task cut out against KKR
Focus on CSK's batting struggles
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
ABU DHABI, 9 OCTOBER
It will not be an easy
task for a struggling

K as Dhoni's men take on RCB

over moves to ban protests.
Coe said protests must be
carried out with respect for
other competitors.
Legal action: Cristiano Ronal-
do and other Juventus play-
ers could face legal action for
rejoining their national teams
despite coronavirus rules
after two positive cases at
the Italian champions. Ronal-
do featured for Portugal in
their 0-0 draw against Spain.
Euro Nations: Liverpool for-
ward Xherdan Shaqiri will fly
to Spain for Switzerland's
Euro Nations tie after testing
negative for Covid-19. The
28-year-old had been self-iso-
lating, along with team-mate
Manuel Akanji, after testing
positive for the coronavirus.
League postponed: The
draft for Sri Lanka's Pre-
mier League has been post-
poned as the nation bat-
tles to contain its biggest
coronavirus outbreak. Chris
Gayle, Darren Sammy, Dar-
ren Bravo, Shahid Afridi and
Shakib Al Hasan are among
those likely to participate.
Sehwag angry: Virender
Sehwag has lashed out at
ings XI Punjab will have KXIP side to stand up
to play out of their skins to the challenge
to get their stuttering thrown by an all-
campaign back on track
when they face fancied Kolkata
round KKR team, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA for too many runs and the
Knight Riders in the Indian which is a fine blend DUBAI, 9 OCTOBER skipper will expect him to do
Premier League here on Saturday. of youth and experi- the same against a formidable
Smarting from a 69-run ence. Chennai Super Kings will take RCB batting unit. Yet, Dhoni
drubbing at the hands of Sun- on Royal Challengers Banga- would prefer the pacers --
risers Hyderabad, it will not be lore in an intriguing mid-table Deepak Chahar, Sam Curran
an easy task for a struggling KXIP game with some confidence after Indian Premier League clash and Shardul Thakur -- to pro-
side to stand up to the challenge his swashbuckling innings of 81 here on Saturday with both vide early breakthroughs and
thrown by an all-round KKR against Chennai Super Kings two teams battling inconsistency. stem the run flow. However, the
team, which is a fine blend of days ago. After a string of poor CSK all-rounder Kedar Jad- CSK bowling will be up against
youth and experience. scores that led to him being to contribute anything sub- Tamil Nadu will be high on con- hav's selection will be under the a strong RCB batting line-up
Following five losses and a replaced by Tripathi at the top, stantial with the bat. fidence after bowling out Mahen- scanner after his failure in the led by captainVirat Kohli, who
solitary win, Kings XI Punjab are Sunil Narine seems to be redis- And though he came in to dra Singh Dhoni in their last defeat to Kolkata Knight Rid- returned to form with a fine
currently placed at the bottom covering his old touch with bat at number seven in the last match. Kings XI Punjab will again ers. The Super Kings sank to a Kings XI vs KKR: Match knock against Rajasthan Roy-
of the table with two points, both bat and ball, and evi- game with not many overs rely on their trusted opening pair 10-run loss on Wednesday, begins at 3.30 pm IST. als. Though the Kohli-led team
whereas the Knight Riders are dence of that was his outing remaining, Karthik has also of captain KL Rahul and Mayank choking inexplicably with Jad- faltered in the subsequent
fourth with six points from against CSK. The experienced failed to perform while batting Agarwal. If Chris Gayle recov- hav's approach to batting bench Jadhavafterhis prolonged match against Delhi Capitals,
three wins. Notwithstanding a Eoin Morgan is a huge presence at the number three position at ers from his food poisoning, he attracting criticism from all struggle, they have the option they will look for an improved
couple of reverses, KKR are in the middle-order which also the start of the tournament. will make his first appearance quarters. It remains to be seen of recalling Ruturaj Gaikwad or performance against CSK.
gradually has Nitish Rana, However, his captaincy has in the ongoing IPL and that will if the Super Kings opt to jetti- picking N Jagadeesan, who Kohli aside, young Devdutt
emerging as a Kings XI vs KKR: Match always on the been excellent in the game be a huge boost for KXIP. son the 35-year-old given the has been warming the bench Padikkal has looked in good
strong con- begins at 3.30 pm IST. lookout to against CSK, especially the Themis-firingGlennMaxwell team's propensity to give play- since the 2018 season. While touch, while AB de Villiers has
tender for a impress the team bowling changes the out-of- is likely to make way for Gayle. ers a long rope. worries remain on the batting been a key player for RCB over
third IPL title, management favour India player effected Nicholas Pooran's exploits Despite ShaneWatson find- front, the CSK bowling has got the years. If the big-hitting
with many of their players strik- with his performances with duringCSK'schase.Inpacebowl- with the bat is a positive for KXIP ing his range in a 10-wicket win better and they did well to Aaron Finch can provide a
ing form as the tournament the bat. And then there is Andre ing, they have the young duo and he will again look to play over Kings XI Punjab and Faf restrict KKRin theprevious game rapid start at the top, it would
approaches the half-way stage. Russell, who has not set the tour- of Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Shiv- his shots freely. Death bowling du Plessis's consistency at the with influential all-rounder serve RCB better. It is the bowl-
Shubman Gill has already cre- nament ablaze in the manner am Mavi, besides the seasoned is a major concern for KXIP and top, the middle-order contin- Dwayne Bravo returning to ing which would worry Kohli.
ated an impression as an open- in which he is expected to. world number one Pat Cum- they would need to get it right ues to remain a concern for CSK his wicket-taking ways. Karn Leg-spinnerYuzvendra Chahal
er and now KKR have found The biggest cause of concern mins. While in spin, Narine against a strong KKR batting line- with skipper Mahendra Singh Sharma, who came in for Piyush has, as always, been the lead-
another option at thetop in Rahul for KKR is the form of their cap- has Varun Chakravarthy for up. Dhoni himself not being at Chawla did well to pick up a cou- ing bowler while Washington
Tripathi, who will enter the tain Dinesh Karthik, who is yet company, and the player from his best. If they do decide to ple of wickets while not going Sundar has been frugal upfront.

Chennai Super Kings bats-
men, saying some of them
think of themselves as
being holders of govern-
ment jobs. The MS Dhoni-led
side suffered their fourth
defeat of the Indian Pre-
mier League season on
Wednesday.
Oz buzz: Cricket Australia
interim chief executive offi-
cer Nick Hockley is looking
forward to hearing how
experts cover a "com-
pelling" four-match Test
series against India. There
will also be three one-day
games and as many Twen-
ty20 Internationals.
Pant praised: Rishabh Pant
has vastly improved his bat-
ting and he is a major asset
for the Delhi Capitals, says
Brian Lara. Pant has been in
good form in the current
edition of the Indian Pre-
mier League, scoring 171
runs in the five matches he
has played so far.
Metro station: A Metro sta-
tion close to Vivekananda
Yuva Bharati Krirangan in
Kolkata has been named
Indian Football Association
Salt Lake Stadium. IFA sec-
retary Joydeep Mukherjee
said he was happy that "a
big honour" had been
accorded to the institution.
Kenin, 21, will face unseeded Swiatek, 19, in French final
AGENCIES
PARIS, 9 OCTOBER
Sofia Kenin (in photo, bottom)
entered 2020 with an 11-11
record in Grand Slam action.
Never had made the quarter-
finals at any clay-court tour-
nament until this trip to Roland
Garros and lost her only tune-
up match on the surface 6-0,
6-0 last month. Look at the 21-
year-old American now.
Already the owner of a major
trophy from this year's Australian
Open, the No. 4-seeded Kenin
moved into the French Open
final by beating No. 7 Petra Kvi-
tova 6-4, 7-5 Thursday. Kenin
will carry a 16-1 mark in Grand
Slam action this season into Sat-
urday's championship match
against Iga Swiatek of Poland.
I'm going to be, like, an
'underdog,' Swiatek said, using
her fingers to make air quotes.
Swiatek is just 19. She's
ranked 54th. She's never won
a tour-level title. She'd never been
past the fourth round at a Slam.
And she's been as dominant as
can be so far at the French Open.
Swiatek became the lowest-
ranked women's finalist at
Roland Garros since the WTA
computer rankings began in
1975, advancing with her lat-
est lopsided win, this one 6-2,
6-1 against Argentine qualifi-
er Nadia Podoroska.
It seems unreal. On one
hand, I know that I can play great
tennis. On the other hand, it's
kind of surprising for me. I
never would have thought that
I'm going to be in the final. It's
crazy, Swiatek said.
“I just kept believing in
myself. It's amazing for me. She
has won all 12 sets she's played
in the tournament and dropped
merely 23 games.
Kvitova, a two-time Wim-
bledon champion, came in
having won every set, too. But
she hadn't played anyone close
to Kenin's caliber.
The lefty from the Czech
Republic had grabbed 77% of
her service games in the tour-
nament, but Kenin stole two of
the first three. Part of it was strong
returning. More of it was the
manner in which Kenin was
moving Kvitova around, push-
ing her this way and that and
pinning her to the baseline
with well-struck forehands and
backhands.
Also working in Kenin's
favor was an ability to sense
where a ball was headed and
use her speed to track it down,
repeatedly stretching points
that seemed lost.
Eventually, that appeared to
make Kvitova play as if she felt
that she needed to try to do more,
maybe do too much, because
she would cut off points early
by attempting to end them
and, too often, she would miss
the mark. By the end, Kvitova
produced 31 unforced errors,
to 20 for Kenin, whose shouts
of Come on! grew louder as the
end grew closer. Her intensity
also came through when she
chucked her red-white-and-blue
racket.
Archer shines as RR restrict DC to 184/8
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
SHARJAH, 9 OCTOBER
An aggressive bowling display
coupled with some good field-
ing saw Rajasthan Royals restrict
Delhi Capitals to a below-par
184 for eight in an Indian Pre-
mier League match here on Fri-
day. Desperate to snap their
three-match losing streak, RR
opted to field and the bowling
unit delivered with Jofra Archer
(in photo) (3/24) taking three
wickets and spinner Rahul
Tewatia (1/20) and Kartik Tyagi
(1/35) capturing one each.
Playing his first IPL match
this season, AndrewTye also took
one wicket but he conceded 50
in his four overs. The Capitals'
posted the lowest first innings
total at the ground this season.
The two run outs of the dan-
gerous Shreyas Iyer (22 off 18)
and Rishabh Pant (5) also
proved crucial. Shimron Het-
myer smashed a 24-ball 45, stud-
ded with five sixes and a four
to emerge as the top-scorer for
Delhi. Marcus Stoinis (39 off 30)
too chipped in.
Archer was the pick of the
bowlers as he dismissed open-
er Shikhar Dhawan (5) in the
second over for his first wick-
et in the Powerplay this year.
Skipper Iyer then smashed
two fours off pacerVarun Aaron
(0/25 in 2 overs) and then
Prithvi Shaw (19 off 10) deposit-
ed him into the stands afterTyagi
dropped the opener in the
previous ball.
However, Shaw couldn't
stay longer as Archer induced
a top-edge from the batsman
and then completed the catch
as DC slipped to 42 for two.
YoungYashasvi Jaiswal then run
out Iyer with a brilliant direct
throw with Delhi slumping to
51 for three at the end of pow-
erplay.
Brief scores: Delhi Capitals
184/8 in 20 overs (Shimron
Hetmyer 45; Jofra Archer 3/24).

Djokovic's medical Messi penalty gives Argentina winning start

timeout 'just a sly ploy'
AGENCIES
PARIS, 9 OCTOBER
Injury worries clouded Novak
Djokovic's (in photo)hopes of
a second French Open title as
he said he had suffered neck
and shoulder problems dur-
ing his laboured quarter-final
win over Spain's Pablo Carreno
Busta on Wednesday.
The 33-year-old top seed
walked out onto a chilly Court
Philippe Chatrier with the
back of his neck taped and he
also needed treatment on his
upper arm during the match.
It looked as though Carreno
Busta was primed to cause an
upset when he won the first
set, but Djokovic survived to
win 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 and move
into his 10th French Open
semi-final today when he will
play Greek fifth seed Stefanos
Tsitsipas.
"I definitely didn't feel
great coming into the court
today. Few
things happened in the
warmup," said the world No.
1, who looked constrained,
especially on his trademark
backhand early on.
"I had to deal with those
physical issues. As the match
went on, I felt better, didn't feel
as much pain. Especially for
set and a half, he was the bet-
ter player, dictating the play.
"I didn't have much of
energy really happening in
my legs or movement or game
itself."
Asked exactly what the
problem was, he said: "I had
some neck issues and some
shoulder issues. I don't want
to get really too much into it.
I'm still in the tournament, so
I don't want to reveal too
much."
It was Carreno Busta who
Djokovic was facing in the
fourth round of the US Open
a month ago when he struck
a female line judge in the
throat with a ball that he had
swatted away in frustration,
ending in his disqualification.
The Spaniard accused
Djokovic of gamesmanship on
Wednesday as he felt the Serb
did not have any genuine
health issues. "Each time he
is in trouble, he usually does
it... " Carreno Busta said. "Every
time a match gets complicat-
ed, he asks for medical assis-
tance. He has been doing this
for a long time."
AGENCIES
BUENOS AIRES, 9 OCTOBER
Argentina got theirWorld Cup
qualifying campaign off to the
perfect start onThursday when
Lionel Messi's (in photo) early
penalty gave them a 1-0 win
over Ecuador in a lacklustre
match in Buenos Aires.
The Argentine Football
Association piped fan noise
around the empty Bombon-
era stadium and the chants of
"Messi! Messi!" were vindi-
cated as early as the 12th
minute when he put Argenti-
na ahead from the spot after
Lucas Ocampos was fouled
inside the penalty area.
Argentina had lost just one
of their last eight World Cup
qualifiers against Ecuador and
although they could not add
to the scoreline, they never
looked in danger of losing a
scrappy game against limited
opponents. "It was important
to start with a win because we
know how difficult the quali-
fiers are and all the matches are
going to be as hard as this one,"
Messi said. With the South
American qualifiers twice
pushed back from the sched-
uled start in March, it was
almost a year since either team
had played a full internation-
al and Messi said that inaction
contributed to the poor spec-
tacle.
"We hoped the level of play
would be different but it's
been almost a year since we
played together, this was our
first game back and the ner-
vousness makes it complicat-
ed," the Barcelona striker said.
The three points, however,
were more than welcome for
a side who had not won a
major title since lifting the
Copa America in 1993.The win,
which extended Argentina's
unbeaten run to eight games
under coach Lionel Scaloni, was
also positive given that seven
of the starting line-up had
never played a World Cup
qualifier previously. Argentina's
next game is onTuesday against
Bolivia in La Paz, while Ecuador
return home to face Uruguay,
who beat Chile 2-1 in their open-
er earlier on Thursday, the
same day.
The top four teams in South
America's 10-team group qual-
ify automatically for Qatar
2022 and the fifth-placed side
go into an inter-regional play-
off. Belgium halted In Brussels,
a late equaliser from the penal-
ty spot earned Ivory Coast a 1-
1 draw with a second-string Bel-
gium side in a friendly on
Thursday, ending a run of 12
successive victories for the
top team in the world rankings.
Michy Batshuayi convert-
ed from close range to give Bel-
gium a 53rd-minute lead but
Franck Kessie equalised for the
visitors from the spot with
four minutes remaining.
England win
In London, three England play-
ers scored their first interna-
tional goals to give Gareth
Southgate's experimental team
a comfortable 3-0 win overWales
in a friendly at Wembley Sta-
dium on Thursday.
In-form Everton striker
Dominic Calvert-Lewin netted
in the 26th minute before sec-
ond-half goals from Conor
Coady and Danny Ings secured
the win in the warm-up game
for Nations League matches
against Belgium and Den-
mark.
It was the first time three
players have scored their first
England goals in the same
game since June 1963 against
Switzerland. England host Bel-
gium on Sunday and Den-
mark on Wednesday in the

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CMYK