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02 NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022

Bihar CM urges Centre to provide

Delhi court acquits woman accused of criminal breach of Vimukt caste body stages protest in Punjab's Faridkot over
trust in 22-year-old case: A Delhi court has recently acquitted reservation: The Vimukt caste body on Monday observed a Black
a woman accused of criminal breach of trust for allegedly Diwali and protested outside cabinet minister Baljit Kaur's house
misappropriating subscription collected and non-payment of in Faridkot against the abolition of 2 per cent reservation in gov-

special trains for Chhath Puja

money to the members from whom the money was collected
as subscription of the committee (money circulation scheme).
A case of criminal breach of trust read with Section 4 Prize
Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act was regis-
tered against her at the police station Prasad Nagar in the
year 2000. Chief metropolitan magistrate Siddharth Malik of AGENCIES
Tees Hazari Court acquitted Sushila from the offenses of PATNA, 25 OCTOBER
criminal breach of trust and the Prize Chits and Money Circu-
lation Schemes (Banning) Act. The court said that it is clear Bihar chief minister Nitish
that the committee run by the accused falls in the category Kumar on Tuesday appealed
of 'convention chit' and not 'prize chit'. The 'conventional to the Centre to provide spe-
chit' is not prohibited under the Act and the accused cannot cial trains for Chhath Puja for
be convicted for running the same. Further, the default in people wishing to go to their
payment of committee money in favor of a few members is
on account of non-payment of subscriptions by the members
native places for the festival.
Bihar appealed to the
who were duty-bound to pay the same regularly, the court ministry of railways to pro-
added. AGENCIES vide special trains for Chhath
Puja. The chief secretary of
Bihar on the instructions of
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar
spoke to the senior officials
of the Ministry of Railways
over the phone to increase
the number of special trains
in view of Chhath Maha-
parv," said an official press
release in Hindi.
"Chhath Mahaparv is the
most important festival of
Bihar. There is a large num-
ber of Biharis living outside
Bihar who return to the state
to attend the Mahaparv,"
the Chief Secretary said.
Notably, to manage the
extra rush of passengers in
the ongoing festive season,
Indian Railways is running
2,561 trips of 211 special
trains (in pairs) till Chhath
Puja this year.
Earlier this month, the
Ministry of Railways released
an official statement, stating
that the Indian Railways will
be running additional 32
special services to ensure
smooth and comfortable
travel for passengers during
this festive season.
Special Trains have been
planned to connect major
destinations across the coun-
try on railway routes, like
Darbhanga, Azamgarh,
Saharsa, Bhagalpur, Muzaf-
farpur, Firozpur, Patna, Kati-
har and Amritsar etc.
Earlier on October 4, Indi-
an Railways had notified 179
special services for the con-
venience of rail travellers.
Similarly, East Central
Railway (ECR) has notified 128
trips of 9 pairs of special
trains, Eastern Coastal Rail-
way (ECoR) has notified 94
trips of 6 pairs of special
trains, Eastern Railway (ER)
has notified 108 trips of 14
pairs of special trains, North-
ern Railway (NE) has notified
368 trips of 35 pairs of spe-
cial trains, North Central
Railway (NCR) has notified
223 trips of 8 pairs of special
trains.
Meanwhile, North East-
ern Railway (NER) has noti-
fied 34 trips of 2 pair special
trains, North Frontier Rail-
way (NFR) has notified 64 trips
of 4 special pair trains, North
Western Railway (NWR) has
notified 134 trips of 5 special
pair trains, Southern Railway
(SR) has notified 56 trips of
22 special pair trains, South
Eastern Railway (SER) has
notified 14 trips of 2 special
pair trains, South Central
Railway (SCR) has notified 191
trips of 19 special pair trains,
South Western Railway (SWR)
has notified 433 trips of 22
special trains, West Central
Railway (WCR) has notified
16 trips of 6 special pair
trains and Western Railway
(WR) has notified 306 trips
of 18 special pair trains.
Earlier, the Ministry state-
ment also read that "May I
Help You" booths are kept
operational at important
stations where RPF Person-
nel and TTEs are deputed for
ernment jobs for the community. The protesters said they were
on an indefinite protest and lit diyas with their blood. "Regarding
the Elementary Teachers Test in Punjab details of around 170
children from the Vimut caste have been scrutinised and they
are being harassed unnecessarily," said the protestors. The pro-
proper assistance and guid- testors said that too many conditions have been placed which
ance of the passengers. Med- the children aren't able to fulfil and this is one of the main rea-
ical Teams are available at sons for the protest. "We have lit blood lamps outside the house
major stations on call. Ambu- of cabinet minister Baljeet Kaur and we are sitting on a dharna
lance with the paramedical with our small children. People are celebrating Diwali but we are
team is also available. celebrating Black Diwali today," said the protestors. AGENCIES
A watch on any malprac-
tices - like cornering of seats,
over-charging and touting
activity etc. is being done and
TENDER
strictly monitored. Crowd
controlling measures by
forming queues at the ter-
minus stations under the
supervision of RPF staff for
orderly entry of passengers
in unreserved coaches is
being ensured.
Chhath Puja is one of the
most auspicious festivals in
Bihar, Jharkhand and East-
ern Uttar Pradesh. The four-
day-long festival starts with
the 'Nahai Khai' ritual and
ends with 'Usha Arghya'
(prayers to the rising sun).
People worship the Sun
God during the festival, which
will be celebrated between
October 28-31 this year.
The festival is dedicated
to Surya Bhagwan (Sun God),
which people believe sustains
life on Earth.

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JUSTICE ELUDES SRI KERALA GUV ISSUES KARMAN BECOMES INDIA'S

GERMAN PRESIDENT
LANKA’S TAMILS SHOW CAUSE NOTICE TO NUMBER ONE SINGLES
VISITS KYIV
TWO MORE V.C.S WOMEN’S TENNIS PLAYER

P7 P5 P10 P12

WEATHER
New PM Sunak pledges PM Modi, other Indian leaders hail
CLEAR SKY. The MAXIMUM AND MINIMUM Rishi Sunak's appointment as UK PM
TEMPERATURES WOULD BE AROUND 32 AND 15
DEGREES CELSIUS RESPECTIVELY.

RAINFALL: Nil
to clean up Britain mess pen, I think all of us will
have to acknowledge that the
RELATIVE HUMIDITY The new PM retained Jeremy Hunt as Chancellor of the Exchequer Brits have done something
Max.92% Min. 36% AGENCIES very rare in the world, to place
TEMPERATURE LONDON, 25 OCTOBER a member of a visible minor-
Max: 30.7°C (-1) Min: 14.0°C (-3)
ity in the most powerful

R
SUN RISES SUN SETS
06:29 hrs 17:42 hrs ishi Sunak became
MOON RISES MOON SETS Britain’s third
08:16 hrs 18:20 hrs
prime minister of
the year on Tues-
day, tasked with taming an
THUMBNAILS economic crisis that has
left the country’s finances
in a precarious state.
In his first speech at 10
Downing Street, the new
Prime Minister vowed to
“fix” the economic mis-
takes made by his prede-
cessor, Liz Truss and
pledged to earn the trust
of Britons amidst eco-
nomic and political tur-
moil.Mr Sunak, who is
the UK’s first leader of
colour, met King Charles
III at Buckingham Palace,
where the monarch offi-
The Golden Temple is illuminated on Tuesday. � ANI
cially asked the new leader
of the governing Conser-
`936.44 cr penalty on Google for anti-competi- vative Party to form a gov-
tive policies: The Competition Commission of ernment, as is tradition.
India (CCI) today imposed a penalty of Rs. 936.44 Mr Sunak retained Jere-
crores on Google for abusing its dominant posi- my Hunt as Chancellor of
tion with respect to its Play Store policies, in the Exchequer, retaining
the second anti-trust action against the global a key ally in his post as he
giant within a week. Last Thursday, the market reshuffled the Cabinet.
watchdog had fined Google Rs 1,300 crore Dominic Raab was named
($162 million) for anti-competitive practices deputy prime minister and
related to the Android mobile device ecosys- justice secretary. Ben Wal-
tem. The commission, in its fresh ruling today, lace was also retained as
directed Google to modify its conduct within a defence secretary, while
defined timeline. Suella Braverman returns
as home secretary.
The announcement
India logs 862 new Covid-19 infections in last 24 from 10 Downing Street
hours: India reported 862 fresh Covid cases and comes amid a string of exits
1,503 recoveries in the last 24 hours, informed from the cabinet, includ-
the Ministry of Health and Family Affairs on ing business secretary
Tuesday.India's active caseload currently Jacob Rees-Mogg and jus-
stands at 22,549 which accounts for 0.05 per tice secretary Brandon
cent of the total cases. A total of 1,503 Lewis. Both of them quit
patients recovered in the last 24 hours which shortly after Mr Sunak,
increased the total recoveries to 4,40,93,409 an Indian-origin Tory
on Tuesday. leader, made his address
Britain's King Charles III welcomes Rishi Sunak, ne-
wly elected leader of the Conservative Party. ��AP
as the UK PM.Soon after,
chief whip Wendy Morton,
work and pensions sec-
retary Chloe Smith and sec-
retary of state for Wales
Robert Buckland put in
their papers.
Mr Sunak clinched the
leadership position Mon-
day, seen by his party as
a safe pair of hands it
hopes will stabilise an
economy sliding toward
recession, and stem its
own plunging popularity,
after the brief, disastrous
term of Liz Truss.
Mr Sunak acknowl-
edged the scale of his chal-
lenge as well as the skep-
ticism of a British public
alarmed at the state of the
economy and weary of a
Conservative Party soap
opera that has chewed
through two prime min-
isters in as many months.
“I fully appreciate how
hard things are,” Mr Sunak
said outside 10 Downing
Street. “And I understand,
too, that I have work to do
to restore trust after all that
has happened. All I can say
is that I am not daunted.”
Acknowledging “difficult
decisions to come,” Mr
Sunak tried to draw a line
under the chaos that
engulfed Ms Truss and
her predecessor, Boris
Johnson.
He said his government
“will have integrity, pro-
fessionalism and account-
ability at every level.”
I fully appreciate how
hard things are.And I
understand, too, that I
have work to do to
restore trust after all
that has happened. All I
can say is that I am not
daunted.
RISHI SUNAK
Congratulations to Rishi
Sunak on becoming Prime
Minister of the United King-
dom. Together, I look for-
ward to enhancing our
cooperation on issues criti-
cal to global security and
prosperity, includ-
ing continuing our
strong support for
Ukraine
JOE BIDEN
US PRESIDENT
Congratulations to
@RishiSunak on taking
office as UK Prime Minis-
ter! I wish you to suc-
cessfully overcome all
the challenges facing
British society and the
whole world today. I’m
ready to continue
strengthening the UK-
Ukraine strategic
partnership
together!
VOLODYMYR
ZELENSKY
UKRAINE PRESIDENT
I look forward to our
further cooperation and
partnership in
NATO and G7 as
close friends
OLAF SCHOLZ
GERMAN
CHANCELLOR
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi has congratulated Rishi
Sunak on his appointment
as the next Prime Minister of
the United Kingdom, saying
he looked forward to work-
ing with the latter on glob-
al issues.
“Warmest congratula-
tions @RishiSunak! As you
become UK PM, I look for-
ward to working closely
together on global issues
and implementing Roadmap
2030. Special Diwali wishes
to the 'living bridge' of UK
Indians, as we transform
our historic ties into a mod-
ern partnership,” Modi tweet-
ed.
Several other senior polit-
ical leaders across the polit-
ical spectrum took to Twit-
ter to congratulate Sunak,
who will be the first Hindu
Prime Minister of the UK.
Union Finance Minister
SHADOWPLAY
Nirmala Sitharaman also
took to Twitter to write ''Con-
gratulations and good wish-
es @RishiSunak on becom-
ing UK PM.''
Senior Congress leader
and former Union Minister
P Chidambaram said there
was a lesson to be learned
from Sunak's election by
political parties in India that
practice majoritarian-
ism."First Kamala Harris,
now Rishi Sunak. The peo-
ple of the U.S. and the U.K
have embraced the non-
majority citizens of their
countries and elected them
to high office in govern-
ment. I think there is a les-
son to be learned by India and
the parties that practice
majoritarianism,” he tweet-
ed.
Congress MP Shashi Tha-
roor, who recently lost the
election for the party presi-
dentship, also welcomed
Sunak's election to the high
office, saying ''If this does hap-
office. As we Indians celebrate
the ascent of @RishiSunak,
let's honestly ask: can it hap-
pen here?''
"Truth is always stranger
than fiction. #Sunak, the
only one ever 2lose #PM
contest & then become PM
in 90 days. First Indian ori-
gin #PM of #UK. Reverse
imperialism of the nicest
kind. First ever Indian to
head a foreign govt on #Deep-
awali!!" tweeted Congress
leader Abhishek Manu
Singhvi.
Delhi Chief Minister
Arvind Kejriwal tweeted;
''Great News. Indians setting
their mark all over the globe.
My best wishes to Mr
@RishiSunak on becoming
the Prime Minister of the
United Kingdom. Wishing
him wisdom and strength to
lead the country success-
fully.''
Mehbooba Mufti, Presi-
dent of the J & K Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) said
it was a proud moment that
the UK would have its first
Indian-origin PM. ''While all
of India rightly celebrates, it
would serve us well to remem-
ber that while UK has accept-
ed an ethnic minority mem-
ber as its PM, we are still shack-
led by divisive & discrimi-
natory laws like NRC & CAA,''
she tweeted.

WhatsAppgoes offline Coimbatore blast: Police invoke

for millions in India UAPA; 75 kgs of explosives seized
INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
Millions of Indians were
unable to share videos and
photos after celebrating a
cracker of a Diwali as Meta-
owned WhatsApp on Tuesday
suffered a major outage in the
country, along with several
other nations across the globe.
Multiple users resorted
to other messaging platforms
like Telegram and even took
the SMS route as they were
unable to access WhatsApp
~ a popular platform for mil-
lions of businesses in the fes-
tive season -- and failed to send
videos, images and text on the
platform.
A Meta spokesperson said
in a statement that they are
"aware that some people are
currently having trouble send-
ing messages and we're work-
ing to restore WhatsApp for
everyone as quickly as pos-
sible".
According to website out-
age monitor website Down-
Detector, over 85 per cent of
people reported problems
while messaging, 11 per cent
while using the app, and 3 per
cent while using the website.In
India, the affected cities
included Mumbai, Delhi,
Kolkata and Lucknow, among
others.
People took to Twitter to
report their problems with the
app, including posting memes
and GIFs.Users in India faced
trouble while sending images
and videos.
SNS & AGENCIES
CHENNAI, 25 OCTOBER
Provisions of the Unlawful
Activities (Prevention) Act
(UAPA) have been invoked
against the accused in the
Coimbatore car blast case that
took place on early Sunday
morning, killing the driver,
officials said on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, security has
been increased in Coimbatore
with Rapid Action Force (RAF)
personnel deployed across the
city on Tuesday. The RAF has
been deployed to carry out
search and security operations
in public areas like bus stands
and railway stations.
The developments came
after 75 kg of explosive mate-
rial were seized from the homes
of all the accused, including the
deceased Jameesha Mubin.
Five youths~ Mohammed Talka,
Mohammed Azharuddin,
Security had been beefed up,
in Coimbatore on Monday. The
RAF team also now placed in
sensitive points. � ANI
Mohammed Navas Ismail,
Mohammed Riyas, and Firoze
Ismail were arrested late on
Monday night in connection
with the incident.
Talka is the son of Nawas
Khan, brother of the founder
of Al Uma and 1998 Coimbat-
ore serial blast accused, S.A.
Basha.
The car blast took place
when one of the two gas cylin-
ders in the car exploded.
However, at the site of the
blast near the Sangameswaran
temple in Ukkadam street,
police recovered marbles and
nails strewn around.
The NIA had, in 2019, inter-
rogated Mubin after it was
revealed that he was a Facebook
friend of Sri Lankan Islamic cler-
ic Zahran Hashim, considered
the mastermind of the Easter
day bombing in the island
nation. Hashim was the leader
of the National Thowheed
Jamaath and based in south The moon partially covers the sun during the partial solar eclipse, in the Capital on Tuesday.
A partial eclipse of the sun began in India on Tuesday evening. It was visible for the longest
India. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu
duration from Dwarka in Gujarat. The partial eclipse was visible over most of India including
Bharatiya Janata Party President some parts in the north-east. The ending of the eclipse will not be visible from India as it will
K Annamalai claimed that the be in progress after sunset. The duration of the eclipse from the beginning up to sunset time
incident was a terror attack with will be one hour and thirteen minutes in Delhi and one hour and nineteen minutes in Mum-
an ISIS link. He also ques- bai.In Chennai and Kolkata, the duration of the eclipse from the beginning up to sunset time
tioned the ruling Dravida will be 31 minutes and 12 minutes respectively.The eclipse is visible in the region covering
Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Europe, the Middle East, north-eastern parts of Africa, western Asia, the North Atlantic Ocean
government for state intelligence and the North Indian Ocean. India will witness a total solar eclipse on 2 August, 2027. � SUBRATA
failure for the blast. DUTTA

COP27: India to pitch for financial aid, stress on lifestyle changes
ASHA RAMACHANDRAN
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
As world leaders gather at
Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt
next month for the United
Nation’s annual climate sum-
mit, Conference of Parties
(COP27), the focus would
mainly be on “loss and dam-
age” as a major topic while on
the agenda would be issues
such as mitigating emissions,
adaptation and resilience,
while calling for increased
funding and collaboration
for essential climate solu-
tions.
India, which this year faced
the impact of climate change
in the form of a record hot sum-
mer, followed by widespread
drought and unprecedented
monsoon accompanied by
catastrophic floods, will be
joined by several developing
countries to seek compensa-
tion at the summit being held
under the aegis of the UN
Framework on Climate Change
(UNFCC) on November 6-18.
At the same time, recog-
nizing the impact of lifestyle
on climate change, India will
project “LiFE” (Lifestyle for the
Environment) as a theme of
the country’s pavilion at the
COP27 summit. This is to
draw attention to the unsus-
tainable consumptive lifestyle
of the rich nations that is one
of the factors for the cumu-
lative historical emissions of
greenhouse gases (GHGs)
that led to climate change.
“Loss and damage will be
a major topic for discussion
at COP27 at Sharm El Sheikh
in Egypt in November this
year,” Union environment
and forests minister Bhu-
pender Yadav has said. “The
maximum impact of the cli-
mate crisis is being borne by
the countries, which have no
role in global warming,” the
� India, which this year faced the impact
of climate change in the form of a record
hot summer, followed by widespread
drought and unprecedented monsoon
accompanied by catastrophic floods
Loss and damage will be a
major topic for discussion
at COP27 at Sharm El Sheikh in
Egypt in November this year
BHUPENDER YADAV
UNION ENVIRONMENT AND FORESTS MINISTER
minister said addressing an events like cyclones, droughts
event organised by the Fed- and heatwaves as well as
eration of Indian Chambers slow-onset changes such as
of Commerce and Industry sea level rise, desertification,
(FICCI) here last month. glacial retreat, land degrada-
“Loss and damage” is a term tion, ocean acidification and
used in UN climate negotia- salinization. In some cases,
tions to refer to the conse- damages may permanently
quences of climate change that alter some places. For exam-
go beyond what people can ple, rising seas encroaching
adapt to. It implies the social on low-lying islands or drought
and financial impacts of cli- shrinking freshwater resources
mate change that cannot be and turning once-productive
avoided. Loss and damage farmland into barren land.
are generally understood to Developed nations had at
result from extreme weather the COP15, held in December
2009 at Copenhagen, Den-
mark, pledged to mobilise
100 billion dollars a year in pub-
lic and private finance by
2020 to help developing
nations transition to clean
energy and adapt to extreme
weather caused by climate
change. The accord also called
for the establishment of a
new Green Climate Fund. So
far, only 20.1 billion dollars
have been contributed towards
adaptation. The Paris Agree-
ment at COP21, on 12 Decem-
ber, 2015, agreed to address
“loss and damage”. Howev-
er, it left many questions
unanswered.
The Paris Agreement set the
goalposts to limit global warm-
ing to well below 2 degrees Cel-
cius compared to pre-indus-
trial levels. While it is an
urgent imperative, for coun-
tries to achieve this requires
both political and financial will.
India is one of the few coun-
tries, which have achieved
this target by increasing the
use of non-fossil fuels. "We
have achieved our target nine
years before schedule," the
environment minister said
at the FICCI meet. “India had
committed to achieving 40 per
cent of its installed electrici-
ty capacity from non-fossil
energy sources by 2030. The
country achieved this target
in November 2021 itself.”
Yadav said India has updat-
ed its nationally determined
contributions in keeping with
the promises made by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi at
COP26 in Glasgow. According
to the updated NDC, India now
stands committed to reduc-
ing the emissions intensity of
its GDP by 45% by 2030, from
the 2005 level, and achieving
about 50% cumulative elec-
tric power installed capacity
from non-fossil fuel-based
energy resources by 2030.
Matrimonial dispute row: SC
denies DNA testing of 2 kids
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI , 25 OCTOBER
The Supreme Court has
quashed the order of the
Telangana High Court allow-
ing DNA testing to determine
the paternity of two children
in a matrimonial dispute by
stating that it would violate the
Right To Privacy of the per-
sons subjected to such tests.
A bench of Justices Anirud-
dha Bose and Vikram Nath said
in its order that just because
something is permissible
under the law cannot be
directed as a matter of course
and a direction to that effect
would be “invasive to the
physical autonomy of a per-
son”.“Merely because some-
thing is permissible under
the law cannot be directed as
a matter ofcourse to be per-
formed particularly when a
direction to that effect would
be invasive to the physical
autonomy of a person. The
consequence thereof would
not be confined to the ques-
tion as to whether such an
order would result in testi-
monial compulsion but
encompasses the right to pri-
vacy as well. Such direction
would violate the privacy right
of the persons subjected to
such tests and could be prej-
udicial to the future of the two
children who were also sought
to be brought within the ambit
of the trial court's direction,"
the top court said while set-
ting aside the Telangana High
Court's verdict.
The High Court on Feb-
ruary 20, 2017, had ordered a
DNA test on the claim made
by the mother of these chil-
dren that she had been "forced
to cohabit and develop a
physical relationship" with
her brother-in-law.
04
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022
THUMBNAILS
Burglar nabbed in Najaf-
garh area: A notorious
burglar, who used to steal
things from schools in
Delhi's Najafgarh area, has
been arrested by police,
officials said on Tuesday.
The accused was identi-
fied as Manoj Kumar, 32, a
resident of Dwarka Mor
area and he was previous-
ly found involved in more
than 10 cases of robbery
and burglary. Police said
that they have also recov-
ered two LED televisions,
which were recently
robbed, from the posses-
sion of the accused.IANS
India's tally of Monkeypox
now stands at 19 after a
Nigerian tests positive:
India's tally of Monkeypox
cases now stands at 19
after another Nigerian citi-
zen tested positive for the
virus in Delhi. According to
the sources, "the latest case
is of a Nigerian who is admit-
ted at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash
Hospital (LNJP) in Delhi,
patient is stable and under
treatment." The majority of
cases are of African origin
with symptoms like light
fever, mouth ulcers, genital
ulcers, weakness, skin
lesions, body aches, and eye
irritation. ANI
Firecracker ban: Norms flouted with impunity AAP MLA Naresh Balyan blames
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
The people of Delhi cele-
brated Diwali with a 'bang' this
year, despite a ban on burst-
ing firecrackers.
Despite a complete ban on
firecrackers in the national cap-
ital, the Fire Department
received as many as 201 calls
during Diwali, officials said on
Tuesday.
"A total of 201 calls on fire
incidents were received in
Delhi, yesterday during Diwali,"
said the Director, of Delhi
Fire Services, Atul Garg. Ahead
of the festival, the Fire chief
had said that the department
was prepared to fight fires
through drones with which
they could access high-rise
buildings. Fire tenders were
deployed near congested
areas.
Meanwhile, on Monday
evening a fire broke out at an
apartment in a residential
society in Greater Noida West
on Diwali evening, officials said.
The fire broke out in the flat
located in Vedantam Society
in Gaur City 2 area, under Bis-
Three killed after being hit by train Delhi court directs ‘no coercive’ action against forensic
in Delhi, fourth has narrow escape scientific officer in rape case registered in Goa
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
Three persons were killed
after being hit by a train in the
Badli area of Outer North
Delhi, police said on Tuesday,
adding that a fourth one had
a narrow escape.
The three were killed after
they tried to run away from a
train but were hit by another
coming from the opposite
direction. The fourth man
had a narrow escape as he sat
down between the two tracks
and didn't move.
A senior police official said
that an information was con-
veyed by Station Master Badli
at about 5.35 p.m. that three
persons were run over between
Badli yard and Holambi.
A police team was imme-
diately sent to the spot and it
NGT junks plea to promote ‘anti-air
pollution device’ under ‘Make in India’
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
The National Green Tribunal
(NGT) has refused to hear a
plea seeking directions from
the Centre to test the effi-
ciency of a device claiming to
capture ultra-fine particu-
lates, including PM1 and
PM2.5-1, and to declare it as
a part of the "Make in India"
and "National Clean Air Pro-
gramme" initiative, if it qual-
ifies for the requisite test and
guidelines.
"We are unable to entertain
such application. Role of the
Tribunal is to adjudicate on
substantial question of envi-
AQI ‘very poor’ in Delhi after Diwali
On Monday, the AQI was registered at 312, which was the lowest in four years and the second-best in seven years for a Diwali day
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
D
espite Delhi's blan-
ket ban on the stor-
age, sale and use of
firecrackers on
Diwali, the Air Quality Index
(AQI) of the national capital
stood at 323 on Tuesday under
the "very poor" category.
On Monday, the AQI was
registered at 312, which was
the lowest in four years and
the second-best in seven years
for a Diwali day.
As per data, the AQI last year
was 382, 414 in 2020 and 337
in 2019.
At around 6 a.m. on Tues-
day, the number increased to
323, while the PM 2.5 levels
were five to six times higher
than the national standard.
Meanwhile, the air quali-
ty also slipped into the "very
poor" category in neigh-
bouring Gurgaon, Noida and
Faridabad.
The level of AQI between
zero to 50 is considered "good";
100 is "satisfactory"; 101 to 200
is "moderate"; 201 to 300 is
"poor"; 301 to 400 is "very
poor"; while 401 to 500 falls
in the "severe" category.
"A total of 201 calls on fire incidents were
received in Delhi, yesterday during Diwali," said
the Director, of Delhi Fire Services, Atul Garg.
rakh police station limits,
prompting relief operations at
the site, according to police
officials. According to a police
official, intense vigilance was
mounted by Delhi Police to
thwart the selling and burst-
ing of crackers from the begin-
ning of this month. As per data,
the police prosecuted 150
people involved in the illegal
sale of firecrackers and seized
about 17,357 kg of crackers
from them between October
was found that three had died.
"Three dead bodies were
found lying at some distance
from Badli station towards
Holambi. The deceased were
identified as Mohammed
Hafiz, Mohammedd Shahrukh
and Riyazul," the police said.
The police said that all
three were working as labour-
ers in the Badli Industrial area
and residing on rent in Rana
park, Village Siraspur.
The police said that enquiry
has revealed that the deceased
along with their fourth friend
ronment and not to test devices
of commercial enterprises," the
tribunal bench headed by its
Chairperson Justice Adarsh
Kumar Goel said in a recent
Despite the blanket ban,
the national capital witnessed
bursting of crackers all through
Monday night.
Several videos of people
bursting firecrackers were
doing the rounds on social
media, leaving a question on
1 and October 24. Apart from
this, 23 people are who were
caught bursting crackers are
facing police action.
According to a source,
due to the ban on the sale of
firecrackers in the capital
city, people bought them
from the border areas and
along the areas of the Nation-
al Capital Region (NCR).
Most of the firecrackers were
brought from the neigh-
bouring states.
Mohammed Ehsaan went to
a nearby park and were return-
ing to their residence when they
met with the incident.
"While crossing the railway
track, they saw a train com-
ing down the line, but simul-
taneously Shatabdi Express
came from another direction.
Three tried to run away but col-
lided with the other train,
whereas Mohd Ehsaan sat
down between the two tracks
and survived," the police said.
All four of them in the 19
to 21 age group. The relatives
of the deceased have been con-
tacted and were likely to reach
Delhi by Wednesday.
"Dead bodies have been
shifted to the Sabzi Mandi Mor-
tuary. No foul play suspect-
ed so far. We have initiated pro-
ceedings under section 174
CrPC," the official said.
order while disposing of the
plea.
According to the appli-
cant Mirza Mohammad Arif,
he is an expert on the subject
The day after Diwali has recorded the
lowest pollution in the last five years.
the implementation of the ban
imposed by the Delhi gov-
ernment and the Delhi Police
failing to stop the violations.
Meanwhile, 201 emer-
gencies and fire-related calls
were received by the fire
department on Monday, 32 per
20 fire incidents in Gurugram on
Diwali, no casualties reported
AGENCIES
GURUGRAM, 25 OCTOBER
The Gurugram Fire Department
registered 20 fire incidents
during Diwali as the city res-
idents burst firecrackers across
the day, a Gurugram Fire Ser-
vice official informed on Tues-
day.
The majority of the cases
were addressed quickly and
there were no reports of any
casualties so far, he said.
"A total of 20 calls related
to fire incidents were received
in Gurugram during the Diwali
celebration. All the reported
incidents were minor as we
barely use four or five fire ten-
ders in any incidents," Lalit
Kumar, a fire official told agen-
cies. In one such incident, a fire
broke out in three mobile
shops at Sector-56 HUDA mar-
ket. A fire also broke out at an
apartment in a residential
society located on the Sohna
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
A Delhi Court recently direct-
ed Delhi police not to take any
coercive action against the
accused in a zero FIR relat-
ed to a rape case lodged at
Verna police station in Goa.
"Zero FIR has not been offi-
cially received at Rajiv Chowk
Metro station police sta-
tion," officials said.
In a case originally reg-
istered at Goa's Verna police
station on Oct 18, Addi-
tional Sessions Judge Rajin-
der Singh of Patiala House
Court directed the Rajiv
Chowk Metro station police
not to take any coercive
action against the accused
till the next date of hearing.
A woman registered a Zero
of control of air pollution and
has invented 'POLRED', a
device to control air pollution.
Arif claims POLRED is the
first device in the world to cap-
DELHI ENVIRONMENT MINISTER
cent higher than previous
year. "Many fires resulted
from lighting diyas and a
large number of instances
were of garbage catching fire,
probably because crackers
fell on them," said a fire
department official.
Road in Gurugram under
Sohna fire station, prompting
rescue operations at the site,
according to police officials.
In other incidents, fires
were reported in Basai Indus-
trial Area, Udyog Vihar Phase-
4 and Manesar Industrial Area.
Apart from this, a fire broke
out in residential areas, includ-
ing New Palam Vihar, Mian-
wali Colony, Bhim Nagar and
Rajiv Nagar, the officials added.
However, the officials have
not commented on the cause
of these fire incidents. The
fire incidents were also report-
ed in scrap material which
was lying in vacant plots.
"In view of Diwali, we had
stationed several fire tenders
along with fire personnel to deal
with fire incidents. However,
no major fire incident was
reported during Diwali cele-
brations. We will inquire about
the cause of such fire incidents,"
Kumar said.
FIR in Goa's Verna police sta-
tion against a Scientific Offi-
cer, working at a Forensic lab,
in Goa and accused him of
rape.
"The victim alleged that
ture ultra-fine particulate
matter such as PM1 and PM2.5-
1 and has been granted patent
by more than 50 countries in
addition to India.
The petitioner sought direc-
tions to the Council of Scien-
tific and Industrial Research's
National Physical Laborato-
ry to monitor and test the
efficiency of the installed
POLRED devices in the pilot
project for four to eight weeks
and submit a report to the NGT.
He also sought to direct the
respondents to conduct a
pilot project using the required
number of POLRED units and
direct if it qualifies the requi-
site test and guidelines.
GOPAL RAI
Delhi Environment Minister flags off 150
mobile smog guns to curb air pollution
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
Delhi Environment Minister
Gopal Rai on Tuesday flagged
off 150 mobile smog guns
from Delhi Secretariat, in view
of the pollution in the nation-
al capital.
"The day after Diwali has
recorded the lowest pollu-
tion in the last five years.
There has been a reduction of
30 per cent in pollution com-
pared to last year itself," he said
while sharing the figures from
the last five years. The envi-
ronment minister congratu-
lated the citizens for their
efforts towards keeping pol-
lution under control.
"The festival of Diwali was
celebrated with great pomp
yesterday, but I want to con-
gratulate the people of Delhi
that due to your efforts, the level
of pollution has not increased
today compared to every year.
Today is the lowest level of pol-
lution in the last five years. Last
BJP for WhatsApp’sglobal outage
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) law-
maker Naresh Balyan blamed
the BJP for WhatsApp's glob-
al outage and alleged that
"WhatsApp is down because
BJP is losing Gujarat".
Taking to Twitter, the AAP
leader made a scathing alle-
gation about the saffron
party linking it to the
Gujarat Assembly polls. He
tweeted, "Whatsapp is
down, because BJP is los-
ing Gujarat."
WhatsApp seemed to
be partially restored in
India and Android and
iOS users were able to send
and receive messages on
the popular instant mes-
saging app that went down
for almost two hours on
Tuesday.
Users of the Meta-owned
instant messaging and voice
call platform had reported
they could not send group
and well as personal chats
during the outage. Users of
the accused made sexual
relations with her on the
pretext of marriage. The vic-
tim is working at Gurugram.
Both are from the same field,"
an official statement said.
11-year-old climate activist’s phone
snatched while doing FB live in Noida
AGENCIES
GREATER NOIDA, 25 OCTOBER
Child environmentalist
Licypriya Kangujam, was tar-
geted by two bike-borne youths
in Greater Noida West on
October 23 while she was
filming the preparations and
Diwali lightings in the area via
Facebook live.
The activist was online
through a Facebook live out-
side Nirmala Aspire Housing
society, when two miscreants
snatched her mobile.
"It's very urgent. My mobile
phone was just snatched away
(10 minutes ago) by two bike-
borne thieves while I was
going live on my facebook in
front of the Bellana Street
year it was 462, but today it has
come down to 323, that is, there
is a shortfall of about thirty per
cent," he said.
On the incidents of burn-
ing of firecrackers, Gopal Rai
further added that some peo-
ple did burst crackers, it is
expected that gradually aware-
ness will increase in them
too. Since the AQI in Delhi is
still 323 and it is increasing with
increasing frost. That's why
efforts are continuing.
"Today we are starting 150
mobile smog guns. Last year
we started 10 such smog guns.
Out of these 150 mobile smog
guns, two smog guns will be
installed in every assembly of
Delhi i.e. total 70 assemblies
and the rest will be installed
at pollution hot spots. A
mobile smog gun will hold
seven thousand litres of water
and will cover an area of ten
km on one side," he added.
On the incidents of stub-
ble burning in Punjab and the
questions being raised by the
WhatsApp Web were also
affected in the outage.
Meta had earlier acknowl-
edged the disruption and
said it was working to fix the
outage.
"We're aware that some
people are currently having
trouble sending messages
and we're working to restore
WhatsApp for everyone as
quickly as possible," a Meta
spokesperson said.
According to the Zero FIR,
registered in Goa's police
station, both the victim and
the accused were known to
each other from January 2017
to August 2022. The victim
alleged that the accused
induced her to befriend him.
He further induced her to
meet him at Rajiv Chowk
Metro station where he force-
fully caught hold of her hand
and kissed her. The woman
alleged that the accused took
her to Madhya Pradesh and
Gurugram and forced her
into physical intimacy in a lieu
of marriage, which he later
refused. The zero FIR was reg-
istered on October 18 at
Verna police station in Goa
and was subjected to trans-
fer to the Rajiv Chowk metro
station police station.
market, Greater Noida, Sec-
tor 16B opposite Nirala Aspire.
Kindly help me!," the 11-year-
old tweeted while tagging
Noida Police.
Kangujam is an environ-
mental activist from India
and the founder of 'The Child
Movement'. She has been
opposition BJP, Gopal Rai
said, "Punjab government
has made efforts despite the
Center not cooperating and
its effect is also visible. Last
year, on the day of Diwali, there
were 3032 incidents of stub-
ble burning in Punjab, stub-
ble was burnt at 228 places in
Haryana and 123 in UP".
Gopal Rai further added
that this year, only 1019 inci-
dents of burning of stubble in
Punjab have been registered
on the day of Diwali, while this
figure has increased in
Haryana and UP. Stubble
was burned at 250 places in
Haryana this year and 215 in
UP.
When asked about experts
linking the reduction in pol-
lution levels in Delhi with
the direction of the wind and
questions being raised by
many opposition leaders, he
said, "We are thankful that the
wind is blowing, but it is
entirely cannot be linked to
the winds".
Several other countries
have also reported the issue
with WhatsApp, according
to trackers.
According to DownDe-
tector, a website that reports
on outages and other problems,
many users reported using
WhatsApp since 3:17 AM EDT
(12:30 pm IST) per the
DownDetector tracker.
Affected regions
based on DownDe-
tector's heat map
include major cities
like Mumbai, Delhi,
Kolkata, Bengaluru,
Chennai, and Hyder-
abad as well as Nagpur
and Lucknow among
others.
On October 5 2021,
Instagram, WhatsApp and
Facebook stopped working
for over six hours. It took over
six hours for Facebook to
resolve the issue that the
company claimed arose due
to a faulty configuration
change. The WhatsApp out-
age affected an estimated 3.5
billion users across the globe.
However, the Investigation
Officer (IO) of Delhi police told
the Court that the Zero FIR
has not been officially
received at the Rajiv Chowk
metro station police station.
"Therefore he is not aware of
the facts of the case," he
added.
The court directed the
Delhi police to interrogate and
record the statement of the
complainant. Meanwhile,
no coercive action shall be
taken till the next date of the
hearing.
"In the meantime, no
coercive action shall be taken
against the accused in the
present matter, " the court
ordered on October 18.
The court has listed the
matter on November 3, 2022,
for further hearing.
advocating climate change,
environmental protection
since the age of six. She also
gave a speech on climate
change at the International
Seminar on Climate Protec-
tion in Madrid, Spain 2019,
after which her popularity
increased.

THUMBNAILS
Pushpender Verma gets
Cong ticket from Hamir-
pur seat: After a lot of
delay Congress party on
the last date to file nomi-
nations by candidates on
Tuesday announced the
name of Pushpender
Verma for the Hamirpur
assembly seat. Verma a
doctor by profession is
the son of former Indus-
tries Minister Ranjeet
Singh Verma and was
posted in Medical College,
Hamirpur and has sought
voluantry retirement to
join politics. SNS
Mann, Amarinder congrat-
ulate Sunak: Punjab Chief
Minister Bhagwant Mann
on Tuesday congratulat-
ed UK’s first Indian-origin
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
and expressed hope that
under his leadership, the
relations between the UK
and Punjab will become
stronger. “This news
received on the night of
Diwali added to the joy
and excitement of
Diwali…From me and
entire Punjab, congratula-
tions to @RishiSunak for
being elected Prime Minis-
ter of UK and hope that
under your leadership,
the relations between
the UK and Punjab will be
stronger,” said Mann in a
tweet in Punjabi. SNS
Punjab’s Air Quality
Index remained ‘poor’:
Punjab government on
Tuesday claimed reduced
levels of pollution this
Diwali with the average
Air Quality Index (AQI)
reduction of 16.4 per
cent from last year and
31.7 per cent as com-
pared to 2020. The envi-
ronment minister
Gurmeet Singh Meet
Hayer said due to con-
stant efforts of the Pun-
jab Pollution Control
Board and appeals by
Chief Minister Bhagwant
Mann, this year's air quali-
ty improved as compared
to last years on the day
of Diwali. SNS
Ban on ‘Pashu Mela’ at Pushkar
irks camel rearers of Rajasthan
YASHPAL GOYAL
JAIPUR, 25 OCTOBER
Camel rearers in Rajasthan are
furious against the state gov-
ernment’s decision to go with-
out 'Pashu Mela' (cattle fair) dur-
ing this year’s Pushkar Fair.
The prohibition is imposed in
viewoftheprevalentLumpySkin
Disease in bovines and Glan-
ders in horses.
Camel rides are the main
attraction at the famous annu-
al Pushkar Fair for both domes-
ticandoverseastourists.Thefair,
to be held in the holy month of
'kartik', will commence Novem-
ber 1. For the last two years, the
Wheel of fortune turned full
circle: Bommai on Sunak
getting UK's top chair
SNS & AGENCIES
BENGALURU, 25 OCTOBER
Karnataka Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai on Mon-
day expressed happiness
after Indian-origin British
Conservative party politi-
cian Rishi Sunak made his way
to the post of UK Prime Min-
T’gana Govt-Guv standoff
over bills pending assent
Governor’s reservation about one particular bill had led to the logjam, according to sources
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD, 25 OCTOBER
T
here is a fresh stand off
between Telangana
governor Dr Tamilisai
Soundararajan and
the state government, this
time, over eight pending Bills
which are awaiting governor’s
assent after being passed in the
recent session of the Assem-
bly.
The governor, in reply to crit-
icism by TRS leaders over the
delay, said she has extensive
powers and approving the
Bills passed by the state leg-
islature comes under her
purview.
Six of the eight bills are
amendments of existing acts
but two new bills include set-
ting up of a common recruit-
ment board for the faculty of
various universities and the
upgradation of the forest col-
Swapna releases pics of
Kerala ex-Speaker after
he threatens legal action
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
T’PURAM, 25 OCTOBER
Swapna Suresh, prime accused
in the gold smuggling case, on
Tuesday released pictures of
P Sreeramakrishnan, former
Speaker of Kerala Assembly
and top CPI -M leader, through
Facebook.
She released the pictures,
soon after Sreeramakrishnan
threatened legal action against
her. Releasing seven pictures
of Sreeramakrishnan, Swap-
na Suresh dared him to file
defamation against her if he
can, saying that it would help
her to share the rest of the evi-
dence before the court
Pushkar Fair could not be held
due to the covid-19 pandem-
ic. Camel Safari and Horse
Safari are the main attractions
for foreign tourists.
The Government of
Rajasthan has recently direct-
ed the Ajmer district adminis-
tration to notify the cancellation
of 'pashu mela' (cattle fair) on
the scheduled dates of Novem-
ber 1-10 next month.
"Except for the cattle fair, the
religious and cultural events will
be held and the fair preparations
are in full swing in Pushkar, a
famous tourist place for pushkar
lake and the sole Brahma tem-
ple", Ramesh Borana, vice-
ister. Talking to reporters at
Shiggaon in Karnataka's
Haveri district, Bommai said
the British people had ruled
India for over 200 years, and
they would have never expect-
ed such a "big development".
"Today, Indians are on all
fronts, and have got elected
as MPs in several countries.
Now, Rishi Sunak has got
elected as the new UK Prime
Minister. The wheel of for-
tune has turned complete-
ly," he opined.
Sunak, who has roots in
India, is married to Akshata
Murthy, daughter of Infos-
ys founder Narayana Murthy.
Sunak is all set to become
the first Asian and Indian-ori-
gin Prime Minister of the
UK in his second attempt at
the top post.
Warmest congratulations @RishiSunak! As you become UK
PM, I look forward to working closely together on global
issues and implementing Roadmap 2030....
lege and research institute
into a full fledged forest uni-
versity.
During an informal chat
with the media yesterday on
the occasion of Diwali Dr
In her recent revelation,
Swapna said former state
minister Kadkampally Suren-
dran, presently a legislator, and
Sreeramakrishnan used to
send her lewd messages and
ask her to come to them. In
contrast, former state finance
minister Thomas Isaac
dropped indirect hints to her.
Sreeramakrishnan, earli-
er on Tuesday, denied Swap-
na's claims that she was asked
by him to come to his official
residence alone and that they
have had drinks together
many times. He also said he
will speak to the party and take
legal steps besides dealing
with this politically.
chairman of state Fair Author-
ity, told The Statesman.
Meanwhile,HanwantSingh,
Director of Lokhit Pashu-Palak
Sansthan, said it was an injus-
tice to the camel rearers to bar
them from the annual fair where
they could do some trading. The
cattle can be prohibited from
the fair as the threat of the
Lumpy Skin Disease has not yet
receded. "Already Rajasthan's
camel species are in danger
and their plight is serious owing
toalegislationpassedbythepre-
vious BJP government in 2015.
Camel breeders and NGOs are
demanding repeal of the
Rajasthan Camel (Prohibition
of Slaughter and Regulation of
TemporaryMigrationorExport)
Act, 2015 so that they could con-
tinue their trade in other states
and conserve its population,"
Singh said while interacting
withTheStatesmanonWednes-
day.
The Rajasthan Camel (Pro-
hibition of Slaughter and Reg-
ulation of Temporary Migration
or Export) Act, 2015 was enact-
ed to continue the trade of
camels in other states and con-
serve their population.
‘Life is incomplete without spirituality’
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
Vice President Jagdeep
Dhankhar today emphasised
the need for developing a
spiritual mindset among indi-
viduals, families, and society
as a whole to root out impro-
priety, immoral conduct, and
negativity from the nation.
Opining that “life is incom-
plete without spirituality”, he
said the technological trans-
formation currently underway
across the world will have a bet-
ter impact on people’s lives if
it is infused with spirituality.
The Vice President made these
remarks while addressing the
85th Anniversary of Brahma
Kumaris and Diwali Celebra-
tions at Brahma Kumaris
World Headquarters in Mount
Abu.
Praising the New Education
Policy for laying emphasis on
Soundararajan said she would
act within her purview and soon
take a decision on the pend-
ing bills. She also clarified she
was not against anybody.
According to sources her reser-
Lingayat seer suicide case takes
political turn, police begin probe
SNS & AGENCIES
RAMNAGAR, 25 OCTOBER
Police in Karnataka have
started a probe into the sui-
cide of a 45-year-old Lin-
gayat seer in Ramnagar dis-
trict after preliminary inquiry
revealed that he was being
harassed by a local politician,
sources said on Tuesday.
Basavalinga Sree com-
mitted suicide on Monday in
the premises of the Kunchu-
gal Bande Mutt.
He had spoken to the
politician over the phone for
three hours before ending his
life, the police sources claimed.
A three-page suicide note
has been recovered, the con-
tents of which is still under
wraps.
Centre causing irreparable
damage to federal structure
of country, says Punjab CM
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 25 OCTOBER
Punjab Chief Minister Bhag-
want Mann on Tuesday said
irreparable damage being
caused to the federal struc-
ture of the country by those
at the helm of affairs at the
Centre by usurping the rights
of the states.
The CM, while presiding
over a state level function to
mark Vishwakarma Day here
at local Ramgarhia College in
Ludhiana, this is against the
basic spirit of democracy
and cannot be tolerated at any
cost.
Mann said in a democra-
cy Opposition and Treasury
benches are also important
adding that in a democratic
set up the views of everyone
should be taken into con-
sideration. The CM lament-
ed that divisive forces are try-
ing to create a wedge between
people on lines of caste, reli-
gion, language and others in
the country. He said that
this is not in the interest of
our nation for which the
Indian civilisational values, he
observed that “the right edu-
cation, right thinking, and the
right knowledge can only
make us powerful as a nation”.
Mentioning a series of affir-
mative steps and farsighted ini-
tiatives in recent years, the vice
president said that India is on
the move like never before and
urged the media to highlight
NARENDRA MODI
PRIME MINISTER
vation about one particular bill
had led to the logjam. How-
ever, the delay over pending
bills had left the ruling party
upset with many TRS leaders
criticising the governor.
“The government makes
many decisions for the welfare
of the people and development
of the state but the files per-
taining to these are being
delayed. She is governor of
Telangana and not governor
of some other country like
Pakistan,” Telangana Assem-
bly’s deputy Speaker T Padma
Rao Goud had said last week.
Similar charges were also
echoed by Legislative Coun-
cil chairman Gutha Sukender
Reddy.
The relations between the
ruling TRS and the governor
have soured in recent times.
On completing three years in
office Dr Soundararajan had
claimed that the TRS govern-
The seer was actively
involved in an agitation against
the garbage mafia and took
part in many anti-government
protests.
ethos of communal harmo-
ny, brotherhood and frater-
nity must be strengthened.
He said following the foot-
steps of Lord Vishwakarma,
the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP)
government will overhaul
the entire system in the state
to ensure its progress and
prosperity of people. He said
the earlier governments had
mercilessly plundered the
wealth of the state during
which they had caused
irreparable damage to it.
Mann said that now with
the blessings of Lord Vish-
wakarma he is trying to repair
the damage done to the state
by ensuring its complete
revamp.
and “celebrate the rise of
India”. Referring to the role of
the Rajya Sabha as the ‘House
of Elders’, Dhankhar said that
India's constitution makers had
envisioned that the Upper
House, with its conduct and
farsightedness, will provide a
new direction to the country.
He also urged the parlia-
mentarians to set examples for
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022
ment was indulging sexism,
humiliating the first woman
governor by denying her the
opportunity to hoist the flag
on Republic Day or address the
Legislative Assembly and
Council.
The governor had also sat
on a file on new entrant to TRS,
Padi Kaushik Reddy’s nomi-
nation as MLC under gover-
nor’s quota forcing the gov-
ernment to send him to the Leg-
islative Council under MLA
quota.
In Chennai, the governor
had recently remarked that her
visit to floodhit Bhadrachalam
forced the chief minister who
was sleeping in his bungalow
to rush to the temple town.
The TRS has charged the
governor who previously was
the BJP state president of
Tamil Nadu, of using her Con-
stitutional office for the pur-
pose of politics.
Basavalinga Sree
committed suicide in
the premises of the
Kunchugal Bande
Mutt.
There were also talks about
the seer being blackmailed by
alleged audio and video clips.
Police sources said that the
political leader will be sum-
moned for questioning soon.
The seer had built many
education institutions for
poor children, as well as a hos-
tel for students.
JD (S) leader and former
MLA H.C. Balakrishna said on
Tuesday that the seer had
done a commendable job in
the region.
Slain Bajrang Dal activist's family
seeks police protection in K'taka
SNS & AGENCIES
SHIVAMOGGA, 25 OCTOBER
Slain Bajrang Dal activist
Harsha's family has asked
the police for protection from
anti-social elements, who
were giving life threats to
them in Karnataka's Shiva-
mogga district.
Ashwini, Harsha's sister,
said on Tuesday that the
bike-borne miscreants, who
killed her brother, would not
spare his friends as well.
A group of nine persons
wielding weapons created a
ruckus and gave life threats
to Harsha's family members
late Monday evening. They
also assaulted a person, whose
brother was involved with
Hindu organisations.
"The authorities should
protect our family. We had lost
Harsha eight months ago.
There have been many stab-
bing incidents reported in the
region since then," she said.
The BJP is ruling at the Cen-
tre and in the state. Shiva-
mogga Assembly constituency
is represented by the BJP, she
added."But, when will we
get protection? Harsha was
the common public through
exemplary personal and col-
lective conduct worthy of
emulation by others.
Dhankhar termed spiritu-
ality as an essential part of
India's education that “makes
a person complete'' and laud-
ed Brahma Kumaris for pro-
moting spirituality and Dhar-
ma (righteousness) across the
world.
Describing Brahma
Kumaris as an epicenter of
Indian cultural values, he said
“the noble thoughts of world
welfare and world happiness
emanate from here.”
He also praised Brahma
Kumaris for planting over two
million saplings to combat
climate change and called it
'‘an organisation of unparal-
leled dimensions that exem-
plifies the virtues of not only
humanity but entire living
beings on the planet’'.
Kerala governor issues
show cause notices to two
more VCs, citing SC verdict
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
T’PURAM, 25 OCTOBER
Kerala Governor Arif
Mohammed Khan, in his
capacity as chancellor of the
universities in the state, has
on Tuesday issued show
cause notices to Vice Chan-
cellors of two more univer-
sities asking them to explain
as to why their appointment
should not be considered as
"void ab initio" in the wake
of a recent Supreme Court
order.
Notices have been sent
to Sree Narayana Guru Open
University vice chancellor
PM Mubarak Pasha and Dig-
ital University of Kerala vice
chancellor Saji Gopinath .
They have been asked to sub-
mit their replies before 5 pm
on 4 November.
Mubarak Pasha and Saji
Gopinath were appointed as
the first vice chancellors of the
respective universities in
2020. With this, the total
number of vice chancellors,
who were served show cause
notices by the Governor, in
his capacity as Chancellor, rose
to 11.
In the show cause notice,
the Governor told Gopinath
and Pasha that they were
appointed based on the rec-
ommendation of the gov-
ernment and not on the basis
of the recommendation of a
search cum selection com-
mittee as prescribed in the
UGC regulations.
Citing Supreme Court rul-
targeted and killed. He was
killed because of his associ-
ation with Hindu organisa-
tions and Hindutva work. If
he is killed, where is the pro-
tection for us?" Ashwini asked.
Meanwhile, BJP MLA and
former Minister K.S. Esh-
warappa said that the incident
was a failure of the police
department. He also chided
that Congress and other par-
ties were silent over the inci-
dent. "This emboldens them
and makes them think that
they are supported by the Con-
gress," he added.
"The goondas should be
tamed by their community
elders, leaders and religious
heads. Not all Muslims are into
Devotees take holy dip in Sangam
in view of partial solar eclipse
SNS & AGENCIES
PRAYAGRAJ, 25 OCTOBER
In view of the partial solar
eclipse, devotees took a holy
dip at Triveni Sangam in Praya-
graj on Tuesday.
Devotees were seen chant-
ing and penancing at the banks
of the Sangam.
Ram Das Mourya, a devo-
tee said, "It is the belief that one
gets spiritual benefits by tak-
ing a holy dip in Sangam on
the day of a solar eclipse. One
can get blessings of God."
Due to the partial solar
eclipse, temples are also closed
05
ing,Governor Arif Mohammed
Khan, in his capacity as Chan-
cellor of the universities in
the state, has on Sunday
asked the vice chancellors
of nine universities in the
state to resign from their posts
before 11.30 am on Monday.
Since none of the vice chan-
cellors complied with his
directive, the Governor on
Monday issued show cause
notices to all these nine vice
chancellors asking them to
submit their replies by 3
November.
The apex court had on 21
October quashed the appoint-
ment of APJ Abdul Kalam
Technological University Vice
Chancellor Dr Rajasree M S,
observing that as per the Uni-
versity Grants Commis-
sion(UGC) rules, the search
committee constituted by
the state should have rec-
ommended a panel of not less
than three suitable persons
among eminent people in
the field of engineering sci-
ence to the chancellor but
instead it sent only one name.
The apex court had held that
a Vice Chancellor selection
committee constituted con-
trary to the UGC regulations
or appointment made on the
basis of a single name panel
shall be "illegal and void ab
initio".
The Raj Bhavan took the
stance that the judgement of
the apex court is applicable
to all vice chancellors appoint-
ed in violation of UGC regu-
lations.
Meanwhile, Kannur uni-
versity vice chancellor
Gopinath Ravindran said he
didn't understand why the
governor gave him a show
cause notice.
"I don't understand why
the governor gave me a show
cause notice. How do I answer
why I was appointed? The
showcase should be given
by the people who appoint-
ed me.I did not hire myself.
This should be asked of the
person who gave me the job,”
Gopinath Ravindran said.
this. A few are attempting to
destroy the harmony and
they should be effectively
dealt with."
The former Minister also
said that Harsha's sister and
family members were like
his own family and all pro-
tection would be ensured to
them.
Eshwarappa represents
the Shivamogga Assembly
constituency. The Hindu
organisations and activists are
demanding that the ticket
for the Shivamogga con-
stituency must be given to
Harsha's sister.
The former BJP Minister
added that he will abide by
the party's decision.
in Prayagraj on Tuesday.
"The sutak period started
at 4 am this morning. All the
temples and maths will remain
closed. They will open in the
evening. During the period of
eclipse, people should do bha-
jan kirtans," said priest Gopal.
Meanwhile, the doors of Kedar-
nath and Badrinath temples
remained closed on Tuesday
in view of the partial solar
eclipse. After the eclipse, puja
will be performed in the
evening, the Chief Adminis-
trative Officer of the Shri Kedar-
nath-Badrinath Temple Com-
mittee said.
06 NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022
Incorporating and directly descended
from THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818
Britain's leader
W hile the romance of the Rishi Sunak story ~
of a son of Asian immigrants and a practis-
ing Hindu becoming Prime Minister of the
former colonial power that once ruled India ~ fasci-
nates many Indians, the reality may well be a tad dif-
ferent. It is a series of incidents that have brought
Mr Sunak to 10 Downing Street, and very likely the
most important of these is the fact that his Conserv-
ative Party appeared to have run out of viable options
after Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, in quick succession
but for different reasons, self-destructed. The Con-
servatives have a mandate to rule until January 2025,
and none of their MPs was keen on the election that
Labour leader Keir Starmer demanded as the only
way out of the governance mess they had created.
Thus, the priorities of Tory MPs would have been,
first, to stay in their seats for as long as they could,
and second, to use the next two-plus years to ensure
they have a better chance in 2025 than they would
now if elections were held. A subdued for now but
potent section of Conservatives believes Mr Sunak
neither ~ all, defeated by Ms Truss a few weeks ago ~
nor from voters, who had picked Mr Johnson in 2019.
Thus, while he has in keeping with the certitudes of
parliamentary democracy been picked by his party’s
MPs, and almost certainly because he was the best of
a bunch of not-so-great alternatives, his acceptabili-
ty among many Conservatives, and indeed many
Britons, remains questionable.
It could therefore be argued that Mr Sunak has
little to lose and everything to gain from the situation
that has pitchforked him to the country’s top job.
The UK’s economy is in the doldrums, inflation has
reached record levels, an energy crisis looms, a war
rages on the continent, and the global outlook is
gloomy. Post-Brexit, even the safety net that Europe
may have provided has disappeared. Thus, Mr
Sunak’s supporters could well believe that from here
there is no place to go but up.
But his greatest challenge will remain a deeply
fragmented party, because once the euphoria of the
appointment ends, and it will very soon, Mr Sunak
will face the daunting task of Cabinet formation. Mr
Johnson, Ms Truss, and Ms Penny Mordaunt, who
withdrew from the leadership race at the last mo-
ment, each have supporters, and many will have
ambitions. For now, the party will unite behind Mr
Sunak ~ he himself has spelt the alternative out as
political death ~ but very soon, Tory MPs being polit-
ical animals will begin to jockey for spoils, and a few
setbacks could easily see the mood change. Finally,
there is the Johnson factor. The former Prime Minis-
ter may still be a relative pariah to the Tories, but he
must nurture the hope that time will heal wounds
and desperation will force his party to see the politi-
cal virtue of having him as its leader.
Video gaga
I
n a recent essay, new media scholar Joshua Foust
asserts that video game censorship is the authori-
tarians’ latest tool to muzzle speech globally. The
“Blitzchung affair” of 2019, he argues, highlighted
how video games pose unique challenges to free
speech. In October that year, a professional e-sports
player known as “Blitzchung” was being interviewed
on a livestream discussing a match he had just won
in Taiwan as part of a tournament for the game
Hearthstone. Wearing a gas mask and goggles and
speaking to the official Taiwanese Hearthstone stre-
am, Blitzchung repeated a popular slogan of protest-
ers in Hong Kong who had at the time taken to the
streets to protest China undermining the island’s
independence: “Liberate Hong Kong, revolution of
our time.” Blitzchung, whose real name is Ng Wai
Chung and who is from Hong Kong, writes Foust,
“quickly found himself in the crosshairs of Activision
Blizzard, the company behind Hearthstone. Blizzard
shut down the stream, suspended and punished Blit-
zchung, and wrote a formal apology in Chinese on
Weibo (but never released it in English)”.
Blizzard declared Blitzchung to be in violation
of player rules that forbid conduct that could be
offensive or might harm the company’s image,
banned him from competing for a year, and
demanded he forfeit thousands of dollars in prize
money. The company also fired the two journalists
who were interviewing Blitzchung and banned them
from covering future Activision Blizzard events.
Western companies complying with censorship
demands as a cost of doing business isn’t new but,
argues Foust, the role of video games as an important
venue for speech and a central battleground for
free speech remains underappreciated. For exam-
ple, the “chat” features of video games or the narra-
tives created by video game designers are increas-
ingly subject to restrictions and/or censorship by
national governments ~ and not just the West-
decried “authoritarian” ones ~ the world over. That
these “censorship demands” will, going forward,
shape the future of the digital entertainment industry
is a certainty. Digital entertainment is consumed by
more than three billion gamers and that number is
growing exponentially.
But the censorship-free speech binary posited
by some scholars elides the issue of regulatory and
oversight issues in national jurisdictions. Taking the
position that neither robust, independent oversight
mechanisms nor a regulatory structure is required, as
extreme free speech proponents often do, is both
unrealistic and a little disingenuous. For, the potency
of transnational information flow in fourth genera-
tion warfare and the sheer size of the online video
gaming industry makes it unsustainable for matters
to carry on as before. When national security con-
cerns, which in the contemporary world are often
premised on conflicting ideological positions, clash
with free speech rights in video game narratives and
chats, there is no alternative to engagement with
national governments whatever one’s view on their
mode of governance. Saying it’s just a game won’t
cut it anymore.
Ups and Downs~I
The leadership of the Congress party was, to some extent, responsible for the rapid
growth in power and influence of the Muslim League; they underestimated the ability
of the League to exploit Muslim fears about Hindu domination and refused to recognise
it as an organization representing Muslim interests. It was this implicit psychological
rejection which led the League to make extreme demands to justify its existence
T
he demise of Queen
Elizabeth ll in August not
only denotes the end of
an era in Britain’s post
War history but also the begin-
ning of a new phase in Britain’s
relations with India, the Com-
monwealth, and the rest of
the world.
India has been celebrating
75 years of independence. How
have Indo-British relations evo-
lved over the last seven-and-a-
half decades? Was India’s mem-
bership of the Commonwealth
the result of Jawaharlal Nehru’s
own sentimental attachment to
Britain, or was it a part of
Britain’s imperial design to keep
its former colonies united by a
common allegiance to the
crown? These and other similar
questions need a re-look to dis-
pel some misperceptions.
Partition and the indepen-
dence of India were preceded by
decades of agitation launched by
the Indian National Congress
(INC) against the British, first for
Swaraj and ultimately for out-
right independence.
The Congress accused the
British government of following
a policy of ‘divide and rule’ to
perpetuate its rule in India, both
officially ~ through the resolu-
tions of the Congress Working
Committee ~ and unofficially
through the statements of indi-
vidual leaders.
Two decades after India’s
independence, Krishna Menon
told Michael Brecher in 1968:
“Pakistan really was the result of
the Indian struggle led by the
Congress… So far as the British
are concerned, it is their classic
imperial solution.”
But this is too simple an
argument which does not recog-
nize the socio-economic causes
that ultimately led to the parti-
tion of India.
There is no doubt that Brit-
ain’s policy of ‘divide and rule’
was formulated with the idea of
perpetuating its rule in India and
that many, though not all, British
functionaries ~ political leaders
and bureaucrats whether work-
ing in London or in India as
well as some of the Governors-
General and provincial Gover-
nors working in India ~ actively
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Workers’ plight
SIR, As the Qatar World Cup the sub-continent are treat-
looms, a section of the inter- ed there ~ the kafila system,
national media is talking low wages, dismal working
about the way workers from conditions and lack of infra-
Vol. CXXXXXVI 249
A MEMBER
OF THE
ASIAN VOICES
Scrapping VAT
on basic goods
L
awmakers need to take a closer
look at the bill filed in the
House of Representatives two
weeks ago seeking to exempt
basic commodities from the 12-per-
cent value-added tax (VAT). Spon-
sored by the progressive Makabayan
bloc of party list lawmakers Rep.
Arlene Brosas of Gabriela Women’s
Party, Rep. Raoul Manuel of
Kabataan, and Rep. France Castro of
the Alliance of Concerned Teachers,
the measure notes that removing the
VAT on these products will greatly help
consumers, especially during this time
of rising inflation. Inflation heated up
to a four-year high of 6.9 percent in
September, according to the Philip-
pine Statistics Authority, and this was
driven mainly by high prices of
food items.
This is the same level last seen in
October 2018. The sad news is that
inflation is not easing anytime soon.
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor
Felipe Medalla says that inflation is
expected to peak this month or in
November as it is likely to be exacer-
bated by a renewed weakening of the
peso against the dollar, which contri-
butes to the further erosion of Filipino
consumers’ buying power.
The greenback is trading near P60
pursued that policy which be- The suggestion that the par- men in India ~ to boost the Mus- to $1. Private economists are less opti-
comes clear from a careful study tition of India was the result of a lim League’s stand for a separate mistic, predicting inflation to remain
of the Transfer of Power volumes policy of ‘divide and rule’ has homeland, ultimately made par- elevated through the first quarter of
edited by Nicholas Mansergh et generally been resented by the tition inevitable. 2023. The House bill wants to exempt
al , and from the memoires and British ‘official class’. The leadership of the Con-
biographies of many of the par- During the debate on the gress party was, to some extent,
ticipants in the decision-making Indian Independence Bill, Lord responsible for the rapid growth
process. Listowel, the Secretary of State in power and influence of the the following essential items from
During the tumultuous years for India, said in the House of Muslim League; they underesti- VAT: bread; sugar; cooking oil; canned
preceding India’s partition, rela- Lords that when it became clear mated the ability of the League pork, beef, fish, and other marine
tions between the Congress and the Cabinet Mission Plan for one to exploit Muslim fears about products; instant noodles; biscuit;
the British Indian government Indian Union would never be Hindu domination and refused laundry soap; detergents; firewood;
were particularly bad especially accepted and that there was no to recognise it as an organization charcoal; candles, and drugs classified
in 1942 when the INC refused to alternative form of government representing Muslim interests. as essential by the Department of
support the govern- to which Hindus It was this implicit psycho- Health.
ment’s war efforts ~ and Muslims logical rejection which led the “Removing the 12-percent VAT
at a time when would give their League to make extreme deman- on basic goods consumed by poor
British forces had consent, “we had ds to justify its existence as an families on a regular basis will dramat-
suffered military re- either to agree to organisation representing Mus- ically ease their economic suffering
verses in Southeast implement their lim interests. amid skyrocketing prices, massive job-
Asia and Japanese separation, or to In the final analysis, the par- lessness, and depressed wages,”
forces were close to remain indefinite- tition of India was the result of according to Brosas. The VAT was first
the Indian border ~ ly in control of the attempts made by a section imposed under Executive Order No.
and intensified its India.” of the Muslim elite ~ represented 273 in July 1987, which was issued by
movement demand- One should by the Muslim League ~ to move then President Corazon Aquino.
ing the British remember that In- out of the political-economic sys- The country’s biggest business
ARUN KUMAR
should quit India, BANERJI dia was the bright- tem to be dominated by the group is backing the proposed legisla-
while the Muslim
League continued The writer is Professor
est jewel in the
British crown, and
Hindu elite after the transfer of
power, and to create for them-
tion, noting that it will help not only
consumers, but the private sector as
(Retired) of International
its policy of passive Relations and a former Dean, it would have been selves opportunities for autono- well. George Barcelon, president of the
support to the gov- Faculty of Arts, a lasting achieve- my and self-assertion. Philippine Chamber of Commerce and
Jadavpur University
ernment. ment for the Bri- The INC committed a series Industry (PCCI), tells the Inquirer that
INC’s ‘Quit In- tish if they could of tactical mistakes during 1939- lifting the 12-percent VAT on essential
dia’ movement led to a policy of transfer power to a united India, 46 - by resigning from the provin- goods will help ease Filipinos’ suffer-
reprisals by the British. The Hin- as indeed they proposed to do cial ministries in 1939, refusing ing from the unabated increase in the
dus in general, and the Congress through their successive efforts the Cripps offer in 1942 and prices of basic commodities.
in particular ~ as it was led most- in 1942 and 1946. launching the ‘Quit India’ move- The lifting of the VAT, Barcelon
ly by the Hindus ~ became sus- But it was already too late as ment that landed most promi- adds, will also help local businesses
pect in the eyes of the British differences between the Muslim nent Congress leaders in jail, and sell more of their products, as high
while many British officials such League and the Congress had gave the Muslim League the prices make most people spend less,
as Sir George Cunningham, then become deep-rooted making opportunity to increase its influ- hence pulling down their revenues.
the Governor of the NWFP con- cooperation between them diffi- ence among the Muslims. The PCCI official predicts that
sidered the Muslims to be solidly cult, if not impossible. Even Finally, it was Nehru’s de- local businesses will be able to lower
anti-Japanese. Mahatma Gandhi, who was nunciation of the grouping their prices with the tax removal since
The anti-Congress bias of opposed to the idea of partition scheme of the Cabinet Mission the VAT is factored into the final price
the British started developing said in his statement of 4 June Plan (1946) that provided Jinnah of a product and passed on to the con-
when they realised that the Con- 1947: “The British government is with an ‘incomparable wedge to sumer. Sugar, for example, sells now
gress was trying to develop an all- not responsible for partition. The press openly for Pakistan’, Mich- for P100 a kilo, and removing the VAT
India nationalism that would Viceroy had no hand in it. In fact, ael Brecher wrote later. Jinnah will lower this by P12.
threaten the British Raj, and they he is as opposed to partition as withdrew the League’s accep- Aside from consumers, Barcelon
turned to the Muslims to thwart the Congress itself. But if both of tance of the Cabinet Mission says small and medium food-related
that possibility. us, Hindus, and Muslims, cannot Plan and threatened to use vio- businesses, in particular, will benefit
The provision for a separate agree on anything else, the lence to achieve his goal of an from such a move.
electorate for Muslims (1909) was Viceroy is left with no choice” independent Pakistan. One potential beneficiary is the
motivated by the idea of driving a (cited in V.P. Menon; Transfer of The ‘Direct Action’ Plan of bakery sector. Last week, local bakers
wedge between the two commu- Power in India, 1957, p.382, ital- the Muslim League and commu- pressed the Department of Trade and
nities. ics added). nal violence resulting from it Industry (DTI) to heed their request
Once the decision was taken Most Indians regard it as a made partition inevitable. In ret- for a P4 increase in the price of bread
by the British government to placatory statement without rospect, it seems that the rejec- due to the rising cost of raw materials.
classify the electorate based on much substance, but it has some tion of the ‘grouping’ scheme of Philippine Baking Industry Group
‘religion’, the theory of two natio- truth; it is equally true that the the Cabinet Mission Plan was a president Jerry Lao says that due to ris-
ns became a logical corollary, nefarious role played by a section right decision because, if imple- ing production costs, there is no more
to be followed by the demand for of the Conservative Party’s lead- mented, it would have weakened incentive for them to keep on making
a separate homeland for the ership, from Winston Churchill the Centre and led to Balkaniza- the two bread products commonly
Muslims. downwards ~ and their hench- tion of India. bought by consumers ~ Pinoy Tasty
editor@thestatesman.com
structure for the workers. ers, how they are paid, the
NOT TRUE
The Indian media, how- final amount they receive,
ever, is mostly silent. Per- how they are housed and SIR, This refers to the
haps this is a reflection on our everyday interactions report “CPI-M drove
how we treat our construc- with them says a lot about out Tatas, not me
tion workers in India and us, as a people and a soci- says Mamata” pub-
their living conditions. ety. lished today. It will
How we treat our work- The casualness with be a blatant lie if
which workers are mistreat- Mamata Banerjee
ed is problematic and reflec- says that she did not
tive of our society. Perhaps, drive out Tata from
it is time to engage in more this state. Any sane
empathy for the Indian person will acknowl-
worker on our home soil. edge it was due to
If every homeowner, Mamata Banerjee’s movement that the Nano project
developer, architect, contra- did not take off in Singur. Whether 997 acres of Singur’s
ctor, politician, and neigh- land were forcefully captured or not is a different matter.
bour took small steps by But it cannot be denied that Tata was forced to leave
providing better housing, Bengal due to Mamata Banerjee’s dogged and unsparing
sanitation, education, and attitude towards the project. It is true that the shut-
childcare to the workers on down of industries started during 34 years of Left rule in
their construction sites, Bengal. One after another, industries closed down due to
there is a chance of better- the militant acts of CITU. CPI-M’s misrule gave impetus
ing the conditions of our to Mamata’s Singur movement which ultimately gave
people. Only then can we her a dividend and she was able to acquire the throne of
complain about how Qatar Bengal in 2011.
is treating our people. Yours, etc., Mihir Kanungo,
Yours, etc., Kolkata, 20 October.
Shovanlal Chakraborty,

Let’s feel good, sure, but
Rishi is a British dish
ATANU BISWAS
T
his Diwali is illuminated with
added lights and the aroma of
sweets for British Indians, for
sure. As soon as ‘Dishy’
Rishi’s premiership was confirmed at
2:00 BST on 24 October, one of my
acquaintances living in Warwick – a
‘Basu’ – was the first to send me a
WhatsApp message full of thrill and
ecstasy. As September’s loser
emerged as October’s winner, I
remember one of my favourite BBC
sitcoms – ‘Citizen Khan’. In an inter-
esting episode of this TV series in
2014, Mr. Khan, a Pakistani immi-
grant to Britain living at Sparkhill in
East Birmingham, was seen to be furi-
ous over East European immigrants
in Britain, for they were eating up jobs
meant for ‘British Pakistanis’, as per
Mr. Khan’s interpretation.
There is enough reason to
believe that such Mr. Khans are not
just fairy-tale-type characters. They
certainly exist in British society. And
they are now an integral and impor-
tant part of that society as well.
Research shows there is enough evi-
dence that Citizen Khan and his fel-
low British Asians played a significant
role in instrumenting ‘Brexit’ – some-
thing whose effect might have got
confounded at this time mostly by the
dual effect of the Covid pandemic
and Russia’s Ukraine invasion and
weak leadership, but Brexit would
haunt Britain for another 50 years, at
least.
Well, Mr. Khan, Mr. Sharma, Mr.
Senaratne, Mr. Mahbub Latif Bablu,
and so on – comprising more than 6
per cent of the UK’s population, would
now be happy enough as Indian-origin
Rishi Sunak has become a resident of
10 Downing Street. A triumph out of
the colonial legacy, for sure. “Pretty
astounding” and “a ground-breaking
Justice eludes Sri Lanka’s Tamils
SMRUTI S PATTANAIK
O
n October 6, the United
Nations Human Rights
Commission (UNHRC)
passed a resolution against
Sri Lanka with 20 countries voting in
favour, 20 against and seven abstain-
ing. Since the end of the war against
the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
(LTTE) in 2009, this is the 10th resolu-
tion that has been passed against Sri
Lanka to fix accountability for human
rights violations committed during
the last stages of the war. In Septem-
ber this year, the Tamils marked 2,000
days of protest seeking justice for
their loved ones who disappeared
during the war and after.
It is important to note that while
the international community had
expressed its willingness to extend
help for rehabilitation and post-war
reconstruction in the May 2009
UNHRC resolution; in 2012, they
realised that Sri Lanka was not sin-
cere in fulfilling its obligations. India,
which supported Sri Lanka in the
2009 resolution, by then had realised
that the Sinhala nationalist govern-
ment under President Mahinda
Rajapakse was not interested in a
political solution to the ethnic crisis
that saw 30 years of civil war, and so
in the 2012 UNHRC resolution, it
voted against.
Following the war, reports
emerged of shelling in the no-firing
zone, and after much international
hue and cry, the Sri Lankan govern-
ment constituted the Lesson Learnt
and Reconciliation Commission and
submitted its report after due deliber-
ation. Though the Tamils were not
satisfied with the commission’s
report submitted in 2011, as it largely
exonerated the security forces from
CROSSWORD
milestone” for the immigrant Indian
community’s achievements, as it is
seen by even Joe Biden. Well, at 42,
Sunak is the youngest British prime
minister for more than two centuries.
He is the first Hindu premiere of
Britain, and the first British prime min-
ister of colour. These are certainly very
important issues in the context of the
heterogeneous and multi-dimension-
al character of today’s post-Brexit UK,
where even the skin colour of Archie,
Harry and Meghan Merkle’s baby, gets
into the news for the wrong reasons.
Sunak became an MP from Rich-
mond in North Yorkshire in 2015 –
just seven years ago. Less than three
years ago, in December 2019, a poll
was conducted by Tim Bale, a profes-
sor of politics at the Queen Mary Uni-
rights violations during the war, a
panel appointed by the then UN sec-
retary-general Ban Ki-moon found
serious human rights violations and
recommended the appointment of an
independent commission to investi-
gate.
In 2013, the Sri Lankan govern-
ment appointed a Presidential Com-
mission to Investigate into Com-
plaints Regarding Missing Persons to
look into the cases of missing persons
from January 1983 to May 2009. While
more than 20,000 complaints were
received, it failed to address account-
ability for war crimes, nor did it bring
to light the cases of those who had
disappeared. The poorly staffed Les-
YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required. (By arrangement with The Independent, London)
versity in London, in which Conserv-
ative Party members were asked who
should take over were Johnson to step
aside. “Just five out of 1,191 named
Rishi Sunak,” Professor Bale said,
“and I’m not sure that all of them
spelt his name correctly” (on the day
he was chosen, the BBC’s scroll kept
calling him Risha Sunak). Then, Sajid
Javid’s resignation as Chancellor of
the Exchequer in February 2020 gave
Sunak, Javid’s deputy, the unique
chance to be Boris Johnson’s pan-
demic-period Chancellor – a crucial
time for the country and a crucial
time period for his own political lime-
light. It’s a fairy-tale end for ‘Dishy
Rishi’, who once admitted he had ‘no
working-class friends’.
What about Sunak’s achievement?
son Learnt and Reconciliation Com-
mission was not in a position to
investigate each case and fix respon-
sibility.
In 2015, Sri Lanka co-sponsored
Resolution 30/1 on the promotion of
reconciliation. The UNHRC resolu-
tion asked the government to set up
special tribunals or courts with inter-
national judges and reparations for
victims. The issue of appointing
judges from other countries to the
independent commission became
controversial. In 2018, after a lot of
reluctance and division within the
coalition government, the govern-
ment appointed the Office on Miss-
ing Persons. But with a change of gov-
ACROSS tongue-twister (10)
15 A desperate man
1 Calls from UN medics
embraces a
to drop restrictions
complicated, ghastly
at last (6)
theme (5,7)
4 Experimental
variables left out,
18 Stomachs bowls of
cereal? (12)
causing friction (8)
21 Face masks – hot
9 One with booster
issue dividing unruly
leaves Zoom lecture
cabals (10)
(6)
10 Function boring girl
22 Party men handled
access (4)
in charge of stars (8)
24 Loaded back-up,
12 Notice James Bond,
losing good
say, chasing
megawatts supply
European (4)
13 Rabbit and white
(4,4)
25 Primate and bishop
horse featuring in
Who has seen such a meteoric rise in
his career? “And it matters. It matters,”
as US president Joe Biden explained it.
But would that really help Britain’s Citi-
zen Khans, besides just giving a “feel-
good” factor? Not quite sure though.
Priti Patel’s tough stance on immigra-
tion was a hallmark of her time in
charge of the Home Office. Then, within
her brief tenure, Liz Truss’ Home Secre-
tary Suella Braverman said that a trade
deal with India would only increase
migration to the United Kingdom. Did-
n’t she defend her comment that “Indi-
ans comprise the largest group of peo-
ple who overstay their visas in the UK”?
Across the Atlantic, Indian-origin
Kamala Harris is now the second most
powerful person in the US behind the
president. It is not clear though how
Kamala Harris as the US vice president
was of additional help to India or the
Indian diaspora in that country, except
for that “feel-good” factor.
There may be important politi-
cal consequences also. Interestingly, a
YouGov poll at the end of 2021
showed that British Indians continue
to display a preference for the Labour
party, although the gap in support
between the Labour and the Conserv-
ative party has been reducing. While,
in 2010, 61 per cent of British Indians
supported Labour and 24 per cent
supported the Tories, just four in 10
British Indians identify with the
Labour party now, while three in 10
support the Conservatives. With the
political allegiance of the Indian dias-
pora in Britain changing rapidly, will
this become further helpful for the
Conservatives with Sunak at the
helm? This might become important
in the next general election after two
years, if not earlier.
There might be enough reason
for the Indian diaspora to get excited
to see an Indian-origin person
becoming a resident of 10 Downing
ernment in 2019, newly elected Presi-
dent Gotabaya Rajapaksa, brother of
his predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa,
categorically stated he would not
honour the previous government’s
international commitments to fix
accountability for human rights vio-
lations. In 2020, President Gotabaya
said all those missing were dead and
the relatives would be issued death
certificates.
It is important to bring closure to
the issue of the disappeared, but the
families will not accept they are dead
without proof. While the issue of fix-
ing accountability for war crimes and
missing persons has not made any
progress, the government has not
taken any steps to resolve the political
aspect of the conflict either. After
2013, there has not been an election
to the Northern Provincial Council.
The previous Mathripala-Wickramas-
inghe government’s promise to intro-
duce a new constitution to address
the political grievances of the Tamils
and the preservation of their language
was scuttled by the Buddhist clergy
and ultra-nationalists.
The acrimonious relations
between the then president Mathri-
pala Sirisena and prime minister
Ranil Wickramasinghe almost made
the government non-functional. It
only managed to dilute some of the
powers of the directly elected Execu-
tive Presidency and transfer them to
the Prime Minister’s Office and Par-
liament. That became a root cause of
the political fallout between Sirisena
and Wickramasinghe. The ethnic
issue has festered since. The post-war
period saw attacks on Muslims by
radical Buddhist groups in which the
state was complicit. This period also
witnessed the radicalisation of Mus-
lims which precipitated in the Easter
leading a blessing (6)
26 Outline a method to 5 Oddly, Bella Hadid’s
get ahead of the
pack (4,4)
27 Digital opponents so
transfixed by doctor 6 Unprofessional team
(6)
DOWN 7 I translated Kant with
1 New beard wash
scrubbing face of 8 New firm right to
baby boomers? (8)
2 “Old Conservative
caught riding social 11 Broadcast “Mayday!”
worker,” reveals
insider (8)
3 Some said that’s a
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022
Street, particularly during the 75th
year of India’s Independence. It
should also be stimulating for the Cit-
izen Khans – the Asian-origin people.
However, Sunak was born British,
and he didn’t have an Indian pass-
port at any time. Despite being of
Indian origin and holding a US green
card and having a billionaire Indian
wife whose ‘non-dom’ tax status cre-
ated ire in the UK a few weeks ago,
Rishi Sunak is British. It may well be
that the Rishi Sunaks and Priti Patels
are more British than the Boris John-
sons or Liz Trusses, who knows!
“One of the best things about
being Chancellor is working in some
of Britain’s most historic buildings.
This week I went to the balcony
where Churchill made his victory
speech 75 years ago today. It remind-
ed me that when Britain comes
together, we can overcome anything,”
said a May 2020 tweet from the
Churchill fanboy Sunak.
There is another side to the story
of Sunak’s elevation. It’s certainly a
matter of coincidence that the
British Indians got a chance to cele-
brate the festival of light with added
rigour this year. But to be honest, an
Indian-origin prime minister was
something inevitable for Britain –
today or tomorrow. Asian-origin
politicians – Rishi Sunak, Sajid Javid,
Priti Patel, Suella Braverman and
Rehman Chishti – were knocking at
the No. 10 door for some time. As
France is now paying the price of its
colonizing history in its socio-politi-
cal structure, Britain was also des-
tined to pay the price of Kohinoor in
this way, at least.
In the meantime, this Diwali,
Britain’s post-Brexit post-pandemic
politics has changed. Forever.
The writer is Professor of Statistics,
Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.
bombing.
Given the dire economic situa-
tion, the current government’s priority
is now focused on reviving the bank-
rupt economy. President Ranil Wick-
ramasinghe, the sole representative of
his party, the United National Party,
has been elected with the support of
the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. He
is not in a position to address the eth-
nic issue as the common people con-
tinue to face economic hardship, and
the situation will not improve as there
will be budget cuts. It has been more
than 70 years since Sri Lanka’s inde-
pendence from Britain. The Tamils,
who occupied important government
positions during the British era and
were highly educated, have lost their
privileges through state-sponsored
marginalisation, discrimination and
pogroms. The end of the war against
the LTTE terrorists is projected as a
defeat of the Tamils who should not
be given any political concessions as
they have lost. The economic path to a
political solution, through the devel-
opment of infrastructure with the
belief that economic prosperity will
erase the ethnic grievances, has landed
Sri Lanka in acute debt and the conse-
quent crisis. Nine UNHRC resolutions
on Sri Lanka only show that nothing
has changed in the country. Sinhala
nationalism that was weaponised
against the Tamils has left very little
space for political solutions. And it is
only through international pressure
that the Sri Lankan state will deliver
equality to its Tamil citizens. There is
an urgent need for reconciliation and
healing the wounds of the past to
ensure that the future is free from the
guilt of majoritarian subjugation and
injustice.
The Kathmandu Post/ANN.
NO 2920233
relief (4) 14 Wild cat and otter
inspiring artist to get
beginning again and clay (10)
again, and so on 16 At Cannes, I, Robot
(4,4,4) cut short a
monsieur’s bottle of
at EU? Rishi’s wine (8)
selection (10) 17 German ties
underwear (1-7)
English opening (6) 19 Exploited unlimited
jabs and took drugs
split EE’s company (6)
bonus? (6) 20 Coal scattered about
sewer (6)
out of bounds again 23 Profound cut
and again, and so on ultimately derailing a
(4,4,4) small hospital (4)
07
100 YEARS AGO
OCCASIONAL NOTE
Further tribulation for the operatives in
the shipbuilding trade is foreshadowed
by the figures shown by Lloyd's annual
report which has just been issued. The
tonnage afloat - twenty-seven millions -
is found to be the largest on record, and
this unprecedented total has coincided
with a no less unprecedented depression
in trade. Naturally freights came down
to a minimum from which they are slow-
ly recovering, but they are still so low that
few shipowners can afford to pay the
prices at present demanded by ship-
builders, and the result is that the new
tonnage for the year is 22 per cent
beneath that of last year. This of course
means further reductions in wages, or
establishment, or both, on the part of the
shipbuilding yards, until a point is
reached at which wages - which con-
tribute 75 per cent of the total cost of
turning out a vessel - have come down to
a remunerative level. A few months ago,
even after drastic reductions in wages, a
well-known shipping firm expressed the
opinion that British shipbuilding costs
would require to be further lowered by at
least 30 per cent. Reuter is silent as to
Lloyd's remarks upon German ship-
building, but, in connection with the
"paralysis" which has overtaken the
efforts of Germany to repay her debts to
the Allies, it may be pointed out that last
year she put into the water a larger vol-
ume of tonnage than at any previous
period in her history.
NEWS ITEMS
VERDICT OF
“EGYPT” COURT
OF INQUIRY
The Imperial Merchant Service Guild
and Mercantile Marine Service Associa-
tion, in deference to the wish of the cap-
tain of the Egypt, have not proceeded
with their intention of appealing to the
High Court as regards the Egypt findings,
but they have addressed representations
to the Board of Trade that the severity of
the judgment of the Court is unprece-
dented and wholly unwarranted, and
means that in the event of loss of life in
future arising from the failure of the
human element and consequent panic,
masters and officers of ships will be liable
to be branded with what amounts to a
charge of manslaughter. The Board of
Trade has replied that the case is not one
in which the powers of the Department
under the Merchant Shipping Act of 1894
should be exercised.
JUDGES CONVICTION
FOR BRIBERY
ALLAHABAD, OCT 25
At the Allahabad High Court, today,
before the Chief Justice and Mr. Justice
Figott, the hearing was commenced of
an appeal preferred by the Central
Provinces Government against the
acquittal by the Session Judge of Akola of
Mr. Har Prasad Bhargava, Subordinate
Judge of Akola, who was convicted of
bribery by the Magistrate and sentenced
to two years' rigorous imprisonment and
a fine of Rs. 14,000. It was alleged that
the Subordinate Judge in the course of a
civil case modified an order attachment
before judgment, receiving Rs. 2,000 as a
bribe, and he was convicted as above.
The Central Provinces Government, not
satisfied with the result, appealed
against the acquittal to the Judicial Com-
missioner of the Central Provinces, but,
on a motion of the Sub-Judge, the Gov-
ernment of India transferred the case to
the Allahabad High Court for disposal.
INDIAN STUDENTS
HOSTEL IN LONDON
LONDON, OCT 25
The Indian Students Union Hostel is
acquiring a block of six freehold houses in
Gower Street to replace the existing tem-
porary quarters at the Shakespeare Hut,
the site of which has been sold. Two hous-
es will be resold and the net cost of pur-
chase, remodelling and equipping the
other four will be pound 20,000. Of this
amount pound 6,000 has been subscribed.
The management is appealing for the
remaining pound 14,000. If this is
obtained, it is estimated that the annual
grant of pound 1,000 by the Indian Nation-
al Council of the Young Men's Christian
Association, with the revenue from the
hostel restaurant and small annual sub-
scriptions, will suffice to meet all needs.
THE NEAR EAST
PEACE CONFERENCE
A message from Lausanne states that the
confidence of the local authorities in the
prospects of the Near East Conference
being held there is evident from the fact
that they are already taking steps to ensure
the smooth working of the arrangements
for the diplomatic representatives and
newspaper correspondents, and premises
are being secured for the holding of the
meetings of the conference and various
commissions and sub-commissions
which are the usual offshoots of such bod-
ies. Adequate accommodation is being
arranged for the delegates and others, and
every provision will be made for proper
and convenient communication, includ-
ing aerial, telegraphic and telephone.
08
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022
THUMBNAILS
Airlines' Passenger Load
Factor slips substantially on
Diwali: Most airlines record-
ed lower occupancy on
Diwali day on October 24,
with their passenger load
factor slipping considerably
in to the range of 65 to 70
per cent as against 80-85
per cent during recent
days.Leading Indian carrier
Indigo on Monday wit-
nessed PLF of 64.5 per cent
while Vistara and Air India
recorded the PLF of 63 per
cent and 67.3 per cent,
respectively, on Monday, on
the day of Diwali
celebration. IANS
India wins post of Chairper-
son of ICAO's Air Transport
Committee: India won a
coveted position in the
International Civil Aviation
Organisation (ICAO) with its
representative Shefali
Juneja unanimously elected
Chairperson of the Air
Transport Committee,
after 28 years. Union Minis-
ter Scindia on Tuesday
termed this as good news.
"Great News! This solidifies
India's position in the glob-
al aviation ecosystem, and
strengthens our journey
towards becoming the
largest civil aviation mar-
ket," he said.IANS
Wheat procurement, MSP fell in
current Rabi season 2022-23: Govt
`37,865
worth MSP was given to farm-
ers in 2022-23,
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
Wheat procurement as well
as its minimum support
price (MSP) to farmers and
also number of farmers ben-
efiting from minimum price
fell in 2022-23 Rabi market-
India Space Congress 2022 enables startups
to partner in $1.5tn space economy
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
With a view to nurture the
growing interest of deep space
tech startups in India, India
Space Congress, 2022 (ISC'22)
announced a number of ini-
tiatives to showcase excellence
by engaging with 'iDEX 75
Space Challenges' which was
announced by Prime Minis-
ter during the Defence Expo,
partnering with Microsoft to
extend Founders Hub bene-
fits to the 15 shortlisted start-
ups.
As part of the Founders hub
program, 15 selected startups
may apply to Founders Hub
and avail up to $150,000 worth
of free Azure credits. Five
finalists of Space Tech start-
ups will be pitching their ideas
Meta must cut 20 pc jobs, reduce spending on metaverse: Key investor
AGENCIES
SAN FRANCISCO, 25 OCTOBER
In a sharp criticism of Meta
CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a key
long-term investor in the
company has said that the
social network needs to reduce
more headcounts and stop
spending too much on meta-
verse to get its "mojo back".
In an open letter on Medi-
um addressing Zuckerberg,
Altimeter Capital Chair and
CEO Brad Gerstner said that
Meta needs to re-build con-
fidence with investors, employ-
ees and the tech community
in order to attract, inspire, and
retain the best people in the
world. "In short, Meta needs
to get fit and focused."
On metaverse, he said that
Markets dip nearly 300 points
after seven-day rallying streak
The most active stocks on the 30-share sensitive index were South Bank, BoI, MCX, J&K Bank & BHEL
AGENCIES
MUMBAI , OCTOBER 25
I
ndices of Indian markets
fell on Tuesday after gain-
ing for seven consecutive
days as BSE Sensex dipped
287.70 points to 59,543.96
while Nifty50 went down by
74 points to settle at 17,656
level.
The stocks on Indian bours-
es rallied in the morning trade
and declined after that, pick-
ing up cues from volatile Chi-
nese markets which reeled
under the anticipation that
Chinese President Xi Jinping's
new leadership team might
prioritise the state at the
expense of the private sector.
The most active stocks on
the 30-share sensitive index
were South Bank, Bank of
India, MCX, J&K Bank and
BHEL which moved 10.79
per cent, 10.15 per cent, 9.10
per cent, 7.35 per cent and 7.32
per cent respectively.
BSE MidCap went up by
111.02 points to 25,040.86
levels with IGL, IOB, Torrent
Power, Bharat Forge Max
crore
`85,604
worth MSP was given to
farmers in 2021-22.
ing season due to prevailing
geopolitical tensions.
According to official
sources, wheat procurement
in the current season of
2022-23 fell by 56.64 per
cent compared to 2021-22
season.
In 2022-23 Rabi season,
to the industry leaders and
investors at the session 'Pitch
Right for Skyrocketing Startups'
on October 27, 2022. A specially
curated mentorship engage-
ment with senior executives
of leading companies is in
store for the startups.
Anil Prakash, DG - SIA-India
said, "SIA-India welcomes
these engagements to help
startups to launch their ambi-
tion to the next orbit with sure
chances of success. With iDEX
people are confused by what
the metaverse even means.
"If the company were
investing $1-2 billion per year
into this project, then that con-
fusion might not even be a
problem. You would simply
do R&D quietly and investors
would focus on the core busi-
ness and the breakthroughs
in AI," he noted.
Instead, the company has
announced investments of
$10-15 billion per year into a
metaverse project that large-
ly includes AR/VR/immer-
sive 3D/Horizon World and
that it may take 10 years to yield
results.
"An estimated over $100 bil-
lion investment in an unknown
future is super-sized and ter-
rifying, even by Silicon Valley
Fighting climate change remains one of Apple's most urgent
priorities and moments like this put action to those words.
Health, Canara Bank as some stocks in Nifty were Eicher
of the most active stocks while Motors and Larsen & Toubro
BSE LargeCap dipped 26.49 while Britannia, Kotak Bank
points to 6,858.17 with PNB and Nestle India were laggards.
Bank, Zomato, Tech Mahin- Stock indices during the
dra and Maruti as some of the auspicious hour of the Muhu-
active stocks. rat trading on Diwali eve went
Some of the most active up as Sensex surged 562 points
wheat procurement
in the current season
of 2022-23 fell by
56.64 %
compared to 2021-22
season.
In 2022-23 Rabi sea-
son, wheat procure-
ment was only
187.92
crore
lakh metric tonnes
(LMT) down by 56.64
per cent from 433.44
LMT procured in
2021-22.
wheat procurement was only was 55.76 per cent less
187.92 lakh metric tonnes than Rs 85,604 crore worth
(LMT) down by 56.64 per cent MSP which was given in
from 433.44 LMT procured 2021-22.
in 2021-22. Resultantly, due to
Similarly, in the current reduced procurement, the
Rabi season of 2022-23, Rs number of farmers who ben-
37,865 crore worth MSP efitted from it, also came
was given to farmers, which down during the current
will not only pave way for delib-
erations but will also pro-
vide a learning curve to stake-
holders."
The three-day India Space
Congress 2022 is going to
witness 500 plus delegates, 180
Speakers, 35 thematic ses-
sions from 20 nationalities. The
platform is to open dialogue,
and Microsoft onboard, we discuss business models, talk
look forward to the beginning about regulatory challenges
of a partnership that will reap and possible learnings from
benefits to the deep tech other geographies, generate
space startups. These alliances interest in the new entrepre-
will work towards fostering, neurs - all this towards the goal
incubating and hand holding of making 'Atmanirbhar
promising startups." Bharat' a reality. Speakers
He further added, "The from 30 countries will indulge
India Space Congress will in intense discussions and will
have on the same platform touch upon various aspects
decision makers, industry of space segments and build
stakeholders and policy mak- up a new age space ecosys-
ers. The three-day congress tem in the country.
standards," Gerstner wrote. more than $5 billion per year.
He said that in order to Zuckerberg has lined up $10
achieve profits, the company billion in investment for his
needs to reduce headcount metaverse dream.Gerstner
expense by at least 20 per said that in the last 18 months,
cent by January 1, 2023, reduce Meta stock is down 55 per cent
annual capex by at least $5 bil- (compared to an average of
lion from $30 billion to $25 bil- 19 per cent for its big-tech
lion and limit investment in peers).
metaverse/Reality Labs to no "Meta's core business is one
300
points
to 59,869.22 and Nifty50 rose
157 points to 17,733.40 level
on Monday.
The special trading window
marks the beginning of Sam-
vat 2079, and buying assets is
considered auspicious on
this day.
Rabi season.
While in 2021-22, 49.20
lakh farmers benefited from
higher wheat procurement,
in 2022-23 only 17.83 farm-
ers could benefit through
procurement.
Sources pointed out that
reduced wheat procurement
in the 2022-23 Rabi season
was due to increase in mar-
ket prices as well as demand
and supply mismatch owing
to the prevailing geopoliti-
cal situation, arising out of
Russia-Ukraine war.
They added that the mar-
ket price remained contin-
uously higher than the MSP
throughout the procure-
ment period across the coun-
try.
This would help farmers
get higher remuneration for
their produce, sources point-
ed out.
Observers said that due
to fairly good rainfall con-
dition, it's expected that
wheat production and pro-
curement in the next Rabi
season shall remain nor-
mal.
48 lakh Demat accounts opened in India
during July-September quarter: CDSL
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
The consistent increase in the
number of new demateri-
alised accounts in India indi-
cates that people here are
increasingly participating in
stock markets.
As many as 48 lakh Demat
accounts were opened in dur-
ing the July-September quar-
ter of the financial year 2022-
23, Central Depository Services
(India) (or CDSL), Asia's first
and only listed depository,
has said recently. Notably,
CDSL has become the first
depository to register 7 crore
Demat accounts in the month
of August 2022.
Last week, the depository
announced its audited con-
of the largest and most prof-
itable in the world with over
$45 billion in operating prof-
its last year alone. Moreover,
Meta has industry leading
capabilities in key future tech-
nologies like artificial intelli-
gence and immersive 3D that
will help drive new products
and future growth," Gerstner
TIM COOK
APPLE CEO
The stocks on Indian
bourses rallied in the
morning trade and
declined after that,
picking up cues from
volatile Chinese mar-
kets which reeled
under the anticipation
that Chinese President
Xi Jinping's new lead-
ership team might pri-
oritise the state at the
expense of the private
sector.
"The initial months of
Samvat 2079 are likely to be
highly volatile with alterna-
tive bouts of selling and buy-
ing in the mother market US,
which will have repercus-
sions on other markets includ-
ing India," said V K Vijayaku-
mar, Chief Investment Strate-
gist at Geojit Financial Services.
He said investors can
approach Samvat 2079 with
cautious optimism and remain
invested in high-quality stocks
and buy on declines in per-
forming sectors like bank-
ing, capital goods, telecom and
autos.
EPFO: 986,850 subscribers added
under provident fund in August
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
A total of 986,850 people sub-
scribed to employee provident
fund during the month of
August, an 11 per cent decline
in comparison to the previous
month, data released by the
Ministry of Statistics and Pro-
gramme Implementation on
Tuesday showed.
Since April 2018 the Min-
istry has been bringing out
employment-related statis-
tics in the formal sector cov-
ering the period September
2017 onwards, using the infor-
solidated and standalone
financial results for the half-
yearly year that ended Sep-
tember 30, 2022.The consol-
idated total income of the
depository rose 7 per cent
year-on-year to Rs 316 crore,
whereas net profit declined 8
per cent to Rs 138 crore dur-
ing the first half of 2022-23
noted.Meta has abundant
financial resources to invest
and or return to shareholders,
he added.At Meta, the num-
ber of employees is up over
three times, from 25,000 to
85,000 employees in just the
last four years."After all, why
not hire more people and
invest in more things when the
cost of capital was near zero
and growth seemed unlimit-
ed?" Gerstner asked Zucker-
berg.On reducing headcounts,
he said that Meta and other
large companies have made
it very difficult for startups to
hire."We are confident that
these employees will find
replacement jobs and quick-
ly be back to work on impor-
tant inventions that will move
us all forward," Gerstner said.
Govt raises over `254 cr from
sale of scrap in just three weeks
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
Minister of State for Person-
nel, Public Grievances and
Pensions Jitendra Singh said
on Tuesday the government
had earned Rs 254.21 crore
from scrap disposal as he
reviewed the progress after
three weeks of Special Cam-
paign 2.0 being implement-
ed in all government offices
of India.
In addition, 3,05,268 pub-
lic grievances have been
redressed, 5,416 MPs' refer-
ences replied and 588 rules
eased, Singh said on Tues-
day. The Special Campaign
2.0, being undertaken from
October 2-31, has complet-
ed two weeks of implemen-
tation.
In the period October 2-
25, Special Campaign 2.0 has
been implemented in remote
outstation offices, foreign
missions and posts, attached
mation on the number of
subscribers who have sub-
scribed under three major
schemes -- the Employees'
Provident Fund (EPF) Scheme,
the Employees' State Insurance
(ESI) Scheme and the Nation-
al Pension Scheme (NPS).
From September 2017 till
August 2022, a total of
5,81,56,630 new subscribers
joined the EPF scheme, data
showed.
In the case of ESI, the total
number of newly registered
employees and paying con-
tributions during August was
1,462,145.
(April-September), data
showed.During the July-Sep-
tember quarter, total consol-
idated income rose 3 per cent
year-on-year to Rs 170 crore,
whereas net profit declined 7
per cent to Rs 80 crore.
"We are happy to present
the performance of CDSL for
the second quarter of this
financial year, on the auspi-
cious occasion of Dhanteras,
the first day that marks the cel-
ebration of Diwali," said Nehal
Vora, MD and CEO after the
earnings."We at CDSL, in line
with the spirit of Diwali, strive
to empower the Niveshaks
(i.e., Investors) through our
services to help them transcend
into an #AtmanirbharNiveshak
(Self-sufficient investor). With
this belief, we at CDSL wish
Government extends deadline
for ethanol production scheme
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 25 OCTOBER
The government has extend-
ed the deadline for the scheme
which provides financial aid
to molasses-based distiller-
ies for enhancing ethanol
production, by six months till
April 21, 2023.
The decision has been
taken to improve produc-
tion and supply of ethanol
under the Centre's Ethanol
Blended with Petrol (EBP) pro-
gramme.
The Department of Food
and Public Distribution had
earlier asked all distilleries to
enhance ethanol produc-
tion to make the programme
successful.
and subordinate offices and
citizen-centric 'swachhata' ini-
tiatives.
The Special Campaign 2.0
in its third week, was holis-
tic in size and scale and had
witnessed widespread par-
ticipation from thousands
of officials and citizens who
came together create a move-
ment for Swachhata in gov-
ernment offices.
Cabinet ministers, min-
isters of state and secretaries
participated in the Cam-
paign, providing leadership
and guidance in implemen-
tation. In three weeks, the
department of posts has con-
ducted the cleanliness cam-
paign in 17,767 post offices,
the Ministry of Railways has
conducted in 7028 railway sta-
tions, department of phar-
maceuticals in 5,974 campaign
sites, department of defence
in 4,578 campaign sites and
the ministry of home affairs
in 4,896 campaign sites.
Since September 2017,
7,22,92,232 new subscribers
have joined the ESI scheme.
Further, data showed that
65,543 subscribers were added
to the National Pension
Scheme during August, and
37,85,101 joined and con-
tributed to the NPS since Sep-
tember 2017.
"The present report gives
different perspectives on the
levels of employment in the
formal sector and does not
measure employment at a
holistic level," the ministry said.
The next report is due for
release on November 25, 2022.
to renew our commitment to
providing convenient, depend-
able, and secured digital serv-
ices."The financial perform-
ance during the second quar-
ter, Vora said, continued to be
strengthened by the firm's
sustainable long-term strat-
egy of investing in the digital
eco-systems and robust tech-
nology to provide all market
participants with an easy and
secure platform.
"Today using CDSL's serv-
ices, the investors have the
power to hold, operate and
monitor their investments
safely, from the comfort of their
homes. Additionally, our serv-
ices like e-AGM, e-voting, etc.
empower the shareholders
to connect with the compa-
nies conveniently," Vora added.
Through the EBP, gov-
ernment aims to reduce pol-
lution and increase value
addition in the domestic
sugar industry.
It has scaled up blending
targets from 5 per cent to 10
per cent under it.

Ethnic group says Myanmar air
attack kills 80 at celebration
It was the anniversary celebration of the Kachin ethnic minority’s main political organization
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BANGKOK, 25 OCTOBER
A
ir strikes by Myan-
mar’s military killed
as many as 80 people,
including singers and
musicians, attending an
anniversary celebration of
the Kachin ethnic minority’s
main political organization,
members of the group and a
rescue worker said.
The reported attack comes
three days before Southeast
Asian foreign ministers are to
hold a special meeting in
Indonesia to discuss widen-
ing violence in Myanmar.
The number of casualties
at Sunday night’s celebra-
tion, held by the Kachin Inde-
pendence Organization in
the northern state of Kachin,
appeared to be the most in a
single air attack since the mil-
itary seized power in Febru-
ary 2021 from the elected
government of Aung San Suu
Kyi. Initial reports put the
death toll at around 60, but later
tallies raised it to about 80.
Japan steps up push to get
public buy-in to digital IDs
ASSOCITED PRESS
TOKYO, 25 OCTOBER
Japan has stepped up its push
to catch up on digitization by
telling a reluctant public they
have to sign up for digital IDs
or possibly lose access to
their public health insurance.
As the naming implies,
the initiative is about assign-
ing numbers to people, sim-
ilar to Social Security numbers
in the U.S. Many Japanese
worry the information might
be misused or that their per-
sonal information might be
stolen. Some view the My
Number effort as a violation
of their right to privacy.
So the system that kicked
off in 2016 has never fully
caught on. Fax machines are
Qatar's residents squeezed as World Cup rental demand soars
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DOHA, 25 OCTOBER
Where to sleep? It’s among the
biggest questions facing fans
traveling to tiny Qatar for the
World Cup amid a feverish rush
for rooms in Doha. Some will
sleep on cruise ships. Others
will camp in the desert. Oth-
ers will fly in from Dubai and
elsewhere.
But in the run-up to the
world’s biggest sporting event
in the world’s smallest host
country, the struggle for hous-
ing is hardly limited to tourists.
Qatar’s real estate frenzy has
sent rents skyrocketing and
priced long-term residents
out of their own homes, leav-
ing many in the lurch.
“Landlords are taking full
It was impossible to inde-
pendently confirm details of
the incident, though media
sympathetic to the Kachin
posted videos showing what
was said to be the attack’s after-
math, with splintered and
flattened wooden structures.
The military government’s
information office confirmed
in a statement late Monday
that there was an attack on
what it described as the head-
quarters of the Kachin Inde-
pendence Army’s 9th Brigade,
calling it a “necessary oper-
ation” in response to “terrorist”
acts carried out by the Kachin
still commonplace, and many
Japanese conduct much of
their business in person, with
cash. Some bureaucratic pro-
cedures can be done online,
but many Japanese offices
still require “inkan,” or seals
for stamping, for identifica-
tion, and insist on people
bringing paper forms to offices.
Now the government is ask-
ing people to apply for plas-
tic My Number cards equipped
with microchips and pho-
tos, to be linked to drivers
licenses and the public health
insurance plans. Health insur-
ance cards now in use, which
lack photos, will be discon-
tinued in late 2024.
People will be required to
use My Number cards instead.
That has drawn a backlash,
advantage of the situation
and there’s nothing in place
to support the people who
already live here,” said Mari-
am, a 30-year-old British res-
ident whose landlord refused
to renew her annual contract
in September, then quadru-
pled her monthly rent — from
5,000 Qatari riyals (some
$1,370) to 20,000 riyals ($5,490).
Unable to afford the increase,
she had no choice but to move
out and is now staying at a
friend’s place.
ADVERTI“It’s really demor-
alizing,” she said, giving only
her first name for fear of
reprisals, like other renters
interviewed in the autocrat-
ic nation. Others spoke on the
condition of anonymity for the
same reason.Residents in the
The Budget has three objectives:responsible cost-of-living relief;strengthening the
economy; and beginning the hard yards of Budget repair...
SAYING THAT INFLATION IS THE PRIMARY INFLUENCE ON THE BUDGET WHICH HE WILL HAND DOWN AT NIGHT
group.It called reports of a high
death toll “rumors,” and
denied the military had
bombed a concert and that
singers and audience mem-
bers were among the dead.
The United Nations’ office
in Myanmar said in a state-
ment that it was “deeply con-
cerned and saddened” by
reports of the air strikes.
“What would appear to
be excessive and dispropor-
tionate use of force by secu-
rity forces against unarmed
civilians is unacceptable and
those responsible must be
held to account,” it said.
with an online petition
demanding a continuation of
the current health cards draw-
ing more than 100,000 sig-
natures in a few days. Oppo-
nents of the change say the
current system has been work-
ing for decades and going
digital would require extra
work at a time when the pan-
demic is still straining the
medical system.
But the reluctance to go dig-
ital extends beyond the health
care system. After numerous
scandals over leaks and other
mistakes, many Japanese dis-
trust the government’s han-
dling of data. They’re also
wary about government over-
reach, partly a legacy of author-
itarian regimes before and dur-
ing World War II.
country, where expats out-
number locals nine to one, say
the surging demand and short-
age of rooms ahead of the
World Cup has empowered
landlords to raise rents by
over 40% in many cases on
short notice, forcing tenants
to pack up and face an uncer-
tain future.
The Qatari government
acknowledged the “increased
demand for accommodation”
and encouraged tenants who
believe they have been
wronged to file a complaint
with the government’s rental
disputes committee.
Some 1.2 million fans are
expected to descend next
month on the Gulf Arab
sheikhdom, which has never
before hosted an event on
Envoys representing West-
ern embassies in Myanmar,
including the United States,
issued a joint statement say-
ing the attack underscores
the military regime’s “disre-
gard for its obligation to pro-
tect civilians and respect the
principles and rules of inter-
national humanitarian law.”
Myanmar has been
wracked for decades by rebel-
lions by ethnic minorities
seeking autonomy, but anti-
government resistance
increased markedly nation-
wide with the formation of an
armed pro-democracy move-
ment opposing last year’s
military takeover.
The Kachin are one of the
stronger ethnic rebel groups
and are capable of manufac-
turing some of their own
armaments. They also have a
loose alliance with the armed
militias of the pro-democra-
cy forces that were formed in
2021 in central Myanmar to
fight army rule.
Sunday’s celebration of
the 62nd anniversary of the
Japan Cabinet minister resigns over Unification Church ties
ASSOCITED PRESS
TOKYO, 25 OCTOBER
Japan’s economy minister
submitted his resignation
Monday over ties to the Uni-
fication Church after facing
mounting criticism in a widen-
ing controversy involving
dozens of governing party
lawmakers.
Daishiro Yamagiwa’s res-
ignation is a further blow to
Prime Minister Fumio Kishi-
da’s government, which has
been rocked by his party’s close
ties to the controversial South
Korean-based church fol-
lowing the assassination of
former leader Shinzo Abe in
July.
Yamagiwa faced opposition
lawmakers’ growing demands
for his resignation after he
repeatedly said he did not
remember his past atten-
the scale of the World Cup.
Local organizers have
sought to dispel fears of an
accommodation crisis, point-
ing out that Qatar has set
aside 130,000 rooms, available
through the official website.
The rooms, which are in hotels,
resorts, specially built hous-
AUSTRALIAN TREASURER JIM CHALMERS
founding of the Kachin Inde-
pendence Organization, which
included a concert, was held
at a base also used for mili-
tary training by the Kachin
Independence Army, the KIO’s
armed wing. It is located near
Aung Bar Lay village in
Hpakant township, a remote
mountainous area 950 kilo-
meters (600 miles) north of
Myanmar’s biggest city, Yan-
gon. Hpakant is the center of
the world’s biggest and most
lucrative jade mining indus-
try, from which both the gov-
ernment and the rebels derive
revenue.
As many as 80 people were
killed and about 100 were
injured in Sunday’s attack
on the first day of a three-day
celebration of the KIO’s found-
ing, a spokesperson for the
Kachin Artists Association
told The Associated Press by
phone. He said he first heard
there had been 60 deaths,
but was later told by sources
close to Kachin Indepen-
dence Army officials that
about 80 people had died.
dance at church meetings
during overseas trips and
posing for group photos with
church leader Hak Ja Han
Moon and other executives.
Kishida on Tuesday
appointed former Health Min-
ister Shigeyuki Goto to take
Yamagiwa’s place as the econ-
omy minister.
Kishida said Goto is a vet-
eran politician who is “high-
ly capable of giving explana-
tion” and has ”passion” for eco-
nomic and social reforms.
Kishida said he expected him
to play a central role in coor-
dinating and achieving key pol-
icy goals, including a major
economic package that Kishi-
da plans to announce later this
week. Goto’s appointment is
to be official after a palace cer-
emony later Tuesday.The
Kishida government’s sup-
port ratings have nosedived
ing and three cruise ships at
the port, start at around $80,
they say, although it’s not
clear how many low-budget
options there are. A price ceil-
ing applies to 80% of the
rooms, the government said
in a statement to The Associ-
ated Press. It did not respond
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022
Israeli troops raid gunmen’s
hideout; 5 Palestinians killed
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NABLUS, 25 OCTOBER
Israeli forces raided a strong-
hold of an armed group in the
occupied West Bank’s second-
largest city, blowing up a
bomb lab and engaging in a
firefight, the military said
Tuesday. Five Palestinians
were killed and 20 were
wounded, according to the
Palestinian Health Ministry.
The overnight raid in the
old city, or kasbah, of Nablus,
was one of the deadliest in the
West Bank in 2022 and comes
at a time of escalating tensions.
Television footage showed
flames and smoke rising in the
night sky over Nablus. The
army said it used shoulder-
launched missiles. Local res-
idents reported a large explo-
sion that rocked the old city
and surrounding neighbor-
hoods.
The target of the raid was
a group of Palestinian gunmen
calling themselves the Lions’
Den. The group was respon-
sible for the recent fatal shoot-
ing of an Israeli soldier and sev-
eral attempted attacks, the
army said.
over his handling of the scan-
dal and for holding a highly
unusual state funeral for Abe,
one of Japan’s most divisive
leaders who is now seen as a
key link between the govern-
ing Liberal Democratic Party
and the church. Abe sent a
video message in 2021 prais-
ing Hak Ja Han Moon at a
meeting of the church affili-
ate the Universal Peace Fed-
eration.
Since the 1980s, the church
has faced accusations of devi-
to questions about whether
and how the cap has been
implemented, and the ceiling
— which is about $780 for a
five-star resort room — can go
higher, depending on the
room’s amenities.
Many long-term occu-
pants in hotels and apart-
ments say they’re being dri-
ven out to make room for
players, staffers and fans.
“You’re committed to either
staying and paying the extra
or leaving and not knowing
whether you’re going to have
anywhere to live,” said a
British teacher whose land-
lord hiked his rent by 44%.
The teacher sold all his fur-
niture and is now crashing at
a friend’s place, worried sick
about his future.
The five men killed in the
raid were in their 20s and
30s, the Health Ministry said.
Several of the wounded were
in serious condition, the min-
istry said.
Israel’s caretaker prime
minister, Yair Lapid, con-
firmed that Wadie Houh, a
leader of the Lion’s Den group,
was killed in a shootout with
Israeli troops overnight. In
remarks at a conference, he
said the operation was “an
accurate and deadly strike at
the heart of terror infra-
structure trying to carry out
attacks.” Palestinians in the
West Bank and Gaza Strip
staged a general strike in
protest of Tuesday’s killings.
Stores remained shuttered
throughout the day in Nablus,
Ramallah, Gaza City and other
Palestinian cities.
Elsewhere in the West
ous business and recruitment
tactics, including brainwashing
members into turning over
huge portions of their salaries
to it.
“I just submitted my res-
ignation” to Kishida, Yamagiwa
told reporters Monday. He said
he routinely discards docu-
ments and therefore could not
clearly verify past contacts with
the church and only provid-
ed explanations after reports
of his past church ties surfaced.
“As a result, I ended up
causing trouble to the admin-
istration,” Yamagiwa said. “I
attended the church’s meet-
ings a number of times and
that provided credibility to the
group, and I deeply regret
that.” He pledged to stay away
from the church in the future.
A governing party survey
in September found nearly half
of its about 400 lawmakers had
Other renters renewing
their leases reported signs
appearing on their apart-
ments marking the build-
ings as “chosen by the gov-
ernment to host the 2022
World Cup guests and events.”
The notice, seen by the AP,
orders tenants to vacate so
the building can be handed
over for maintenance ahead
of the tournament.
Local organizers have
signed a deal with French
hospitality company Accor to
set aside some 45,000 rooms
for fans.
Omar al-Jaber, the exec-
utive director of housing at
Qatar’s Supreme Committee
of Delivery and Legacy, said
the government played no
role in contract terminations
09
Bank, the army said troops
fired at a suspect who threw
an explosive at them during
an arrest raid near the village
of Nebi Saleh. The Palestin-
ian Health Ministry reported
the death of 19-year-old Qusai
al-Tamimi.
Ongoing Israeli arrest raids
in the West Bank pose a seri-
ous challenge to the Palestinian
self-rule government, which
administers just over one-
third of the territory.
Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas relies on
security cooperation with
Israel, particularly against
his Islamic militant rivals, to
remain in power. At the same
time, this cooperation is
deeply unpopular among
Palestinians who chafe against
Israel’s open-ended occupa-
tion, now in its 56th year.
Younger Palestinians are
particularly disillusioned.
Small bands of gunmen have
formed in some areas, first in
the Jenin refugee camp, a
stronghold of militants, and
now in Nablus. These groups
challenge the Palestinian
Authority and carry out attacks
against Israeli targets.
ties to the church, including
Cabinet ministers, many of
whom shared the church’s
conservative views and sent
messages or attended church
meetings, though not as fol-
lowers of the church theolo-
gy. Kishida has pledged to cut
all such ties, and recently
said he instructed the gov-
ernment to probe the church,
with the possibility of revok-
ing its legal status.
Media surveys show many
Japanese want a clearer expla-
nation of how the church
may have influenced party
policies.
Kishida said he accepted
Yamagiwa’s resignation
because “as prime minister,
I have to prioritize our work
to push forward economic
measures, an extra budget
and support for victims of
the church problems.”
affecting long-term tenants.
“To be honest with you,
we are not controlling what
happens in the market,” he
told the AP. A 48-year-old
French pilates instructor said
that when she signed her
lease a year ago, her landlord
promised he wouldn’t kick her
out during the World Cup. Yet
just days before her lease
renewal, she got a devastat-
ing message: Her landlord
couldn’t rent her the place for
“personal reasons.” The next
day, her friend saw her room
advertised on Airbnb for
nearly $600 more a month
than she had paid. “You’re
kicking out long-term resi-
dents for a one-month event?”
she said. “People are angry.
It’s very disruptive.”
10 NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022
WEATHER
CITY MAX(°C) MIN(°C)
SINGAPORE 29 25 R
HONG KONG 24 21 H
TOKYO 18 11 H
LONDON 19 13 R
DUBAI 34 24 S
SAN FRANCISCO 19 09 H
NEW YORK 20 13 H
MOSCOW 6 2 CL
S= sunny, CL= clear,
H=hazy, R= rainy...
THUMBNAILS
The city landmark, a weath-
er vane in the form of an
angel fixed atop a spire of
the Saints Peter and Paul
Cathedral, is silhouetted
against the sun during a
partial solar eclipse in St.
Petersburg, Russia. The
photo was taken through a
telescope with a H-alpha
narrow spectrum filter. � AP
Australian govt flags vap-
ing crackdown: Australia's
Health Minister Mark But-
ler on Tuesday flagged a
government crackdown
on the black market vap-
ing industry, revealing
that the federal govern-
ment will bolster the regu-
latory framework around
e-cigarettes. Under Aus-
tralian laws, it is illegal to
use, sell or buy nicotine e-
cigarette products with-
out a prescription from a
doctor. About 1.1 million
people in the country use
vaping products. IANS
Canadian PM greets Sikhs
for celebrating Bandi
Chhor Divas: anadian Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau
has greeted the Sikh com-
munity on the occasion of
Bandi Chhor Divas. In an
official statement issued
on Monday, he said: Today,
we join Sikh communities
in Canada and around the
world to celebrate Bandi
Chhor Divas. Sikhs com-
memorate the story of
Guru Hargobind Sahib Ji,
who was imprisoned in
1619 at Gwalior Fort. IANS
Adidas ends partnership with Ye over antisemitic remarks
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON, 25 OCTOBER
Adidas has ended its part-
nership with the rapper for-
merly known as Kanye West
over his offensive and anti-
semitic remarks, the latest
company to cut ties with Ye
and a decision that the Ger-
man sportwear company said
would hit its bottom line.
“Adidas does not tolerate
antisemitism and any other
sort of hate speech,” the com-
pany said in a statement Tues-
day. “Ye’s recent comments
and actions have been unac-
ceptable, hateful and dan-
gerous, and they violate the
company’s values of diversi-
ty and inclusion, mutual
respect and fairness.”
The company faced pres-
sure to cut ties with Ye, with
celebrities and others on
Prosecutor: Women’s stories show Weinstein’s predatory power
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES, 25 OCTOBER
A prosecutor at Harvey Wein-
stein’s sexual assault trial told
jurors Tuesday that the
accusers who will testify will
tell uncannily similar stories
of themselves as young aspir-
ing women who were cornered
in hotel rooms by a man who
at the time was the definition
of Hollywood power.
“Each of these women
came forward independent of
each other, and none of them
knew one another,” Deputy
District Attorney Paul Thomp-
son said during his opening
statement at Weinstein’s Los
Angeles trial.
The 70-year-old former
movie mogul, already serving
a 23-year sentence in New
York, is charged with multi-
ple counts of rape and sexu-
al assault in California.
The defense countered in
its opening statement that
the incidents either did not
happen or were consensual
sex that the women rede-
fined in the wake of the
German president visits Kyiv
as West mulls rebuilding plan
Eight months of pummeling by the Kremlin’s forces has ruined homes, public buildings, power grid
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KYIV, 25 OCTOBER
G
ermany’s president
arrived in Kyiv on
Tuesday for his first
visit to Ukraine since
the start of Russia’s invasion,
as Western countries mulled
a massive plan for Ukrainian
rebuilding when the war even-
tually ends.
President Frank-Walter
Steinmeier said after arriving
that “it was important to me
in this phase of air attacks with
drones, cruise missiles and
rockets to send a signal of sol-
idarity to Ukrainians.”
Eight months of pummel-
ing by the Kremlin’s forces has
ruined homes, public build-
ings and the power grid. The
World Bank estimates the
damage to Ukraine so far at
350 billion euros ($345 billion).
The German president,
whose position is largely cer-
emonial, made it to Ukraine
on his third try.
In April, he was planning
With Sunak as PM, almost two-thirds
of public want general election: Poll
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
LONDON, 25 OCTOBER
With Indian-origin Rishi Sunak
taking charge as the British
Prime Minister, calls for the
general election are getting
louder with almost two-thirds
of voters wanting it before the
end of the year, a poll has
found.
Some 62 per cent of peo-
ple said they wanted to see a
general election be held in
2022, once Rishi Sunak had
taken office as Prime Minis-
ter, polling company Ipsos has
found.
At the beginning of August,
51 per cent of people told Ipsos
they would back a general elec-
tion. The latest figures came
from a survey of 1,000 adults
between October 20 and 21.
Sunak, who is expected
to go to Buckingham Palace
to meet King Charles III, ruled
out an election quickly after
social media urging Adidas to
act. It said at the beginning
of the month that it was plac-
ing its lucrative sneaker deal
with the rapper under review.
Adidas said Tuesday that it
conducted a “thorough review”
and would immediately stop
production of its line of Yeezy
products and stop payments
to Ye and his companies. The
sportswear company said it was
expected to take a hit of up to
#MeToo movement. Wein-
stein, prosecutor Thompson
said, lorded his status as “the
most powerful man in Hol-
lywood” over them, talking
about the female A-list actors
whose careers he had made
before growing aggressive.
Thompson played a video
presentation with composite
photos of the women who will
testify and quotes from prior
testimonials. Most were aspir-
ing actors. One was an aspir-
ing screenwriter who thought
she was going to pitch him a
script.
All will testify that Wein-
stein ignored clear signs that
they did not consent, the
prosecutor said, including
“their shaking bodies, their cry-
ing, their backing away from
him, their saying ‘no.’” Four
women whom Weinstein is not
charged with assaulting in
the case will also testify about
what he did to them to demon-
strate his propensity for such
acts, Thompson said.
Weinstein attorney Mark
Werksman told jurors that
what Weinstein did with the
to visit the country with his
Polish and Baltic counter-
parts, but said his presence
“apparently … wasn’t want-
ed in Kyiv.” Steinmeier has
been criticized in Ukraine for
allegedly cozying up to Rus-
sia during his time as Ger-
many’s foreign minister.
Last week, a planned trip
was put off because of secu-
rity concerns.
Steinmeier’s visit came as
Ukrainians are bracing for
less electric power this win-
ter following a sustained Russ-
ian barrage on their infra-
he was announced as the
new Conservative leader.
"Certainly, he said that
there will be no early gener-
al election," Simon Hoare, a
senior MP who supported
Sunak, told reporters.
In the UK, the next gener-
al election due to take place
under the law is January 2025,
but the Prime Minister has the
power to decide a date any
time before then.
The proportion of calls by
the UK public calling for a gen-
eral election has increased
since Liz Truss announced her
resignation on October 20, the
Evening Standard reported.
Also, opposition parties
have ratcheted-up their elec-
tion calls, claiming Truss's suc-
cessor has "no mandate".
Boris Johnson loyalist
Nadine Dorries said it will be
"impossible" to avoid a gen-
eral election in the weeks
ahead, as Rishi Sunak was
250 million euros ($246 mil-
lion) to its net income this year
from the move.
The move by Adidas, whose
CEO Kasper Rorsted is step-
ping down next year, comes
after Ye was suspended from
Twitter and Instagram this
month over antisemitic posts
that the social networks said
violated their policies.
He recently suggested slav-
ery was a choice and called the
women was considered
acceptable, “transactional”
behavior in Hollywood, where
young women were seeking
roles and other advantages by
having sex with the powerful
movie magnate.
“You’ll learn that in Hol-
lywood, sex was a commod-
ity,” Werksman said.
The accusers Weinstein is
charged with assaulting are
expected to be identified only
as Jane Doe in court, but they
include Jennifer Siebel New-
som, an actor and docu-
mentary filmmaker who is
married to California Gov.
I am more convinced than ever that we need to be bold and confront the
problems we face... our country continues to battle through a storm.
structure in recent weeks.
Citizens in the southern city
of Mykolaiv lined up for water
and essential supplies Tues-
day as Ukrainian forces
advanced on the nearby Russ-
ian-occupied city of Kherson.
In Berlin, meanwhile, Euro-
pean Union leaders brought
together experts to start work
on a “new Marshall Plan” for
the future rebuilding of Ukraine
— a reference to the U.S.-
sponsored plan that helped
revive Western European
economies after World War II.
German Chancellor Olaf
named as Prime Minister-
in-waiting.
"I think everybody who
I've spoken to, the public,
have said we should be hav-
ing a general election,"
Labour's deputy leader Angela
Rayner told local media.
Another Ipsos poll, taken
between October 19 and 20,
said that Sunak will begin his
premiership trailing opposi-
tion leader Sir Keir Starmer.
It found that 36 per cent
of people thought Sunak
would make a good prime
minister -- a higher total than
any other Conservative but
slightly behind Sir Keir's total
of 46 per cent. Sunak will
make a bad Prime Minister
with 32 per cent of the peo-
ple saying that about him
while 28 per cent think Sir Keir
would do a bad job. Around
54 per cent of Conservative vot-
ers thought Sunak would do
a good job as Prime Minister.
COVID-19 vaccine the “mark
of the beast,” among other com-
ments. He also was criticized
for wearing a “White Lives
Matter” T-shirt to his Yeezy col-
lection show in Paris.
Ye’s talent agency, CAA, has
dropped him, and the MRC stu-
dio announced Monday that it
is shelving a complete docu-
mentary about the rapper.
The Balenciaga fashion
house cut ties with Ye last
week, according to Women’s
Wear Daily. JPMorganChase
and Ye have ended their busi-
ness relationship, although
the banking breakup was in the
works even before Ye’s anti-
semitic comments.
In recent weeks, Ye also has
ended his company’s associ-
ation with Gap and has told
Bloomberg that he plans to cut
ties with his corporate sup-
pliers.
Gavin Newsom. Siebel New-
som had not yet met Newsom
and was an aspiring actor in
2005 when, according to his
indictment, Weinstein raped
her at a Beverly Hills Hotel.
Without using her name,
both sides said she would
testify. Werksman called her
a very prominent citizen of Cal-
ifornia.”
“She’s made herself a
prominent victim in the
#MeToo movement,” he
added, “otherwise she’d be just
another bimbo who slept with
Harvey Weinstein to get ahead
in Hollywood.”
Scholz said the meeting aims
to discuss “how to ensure
and how to sustain the financ-
ing of the recovery, recon-
struction and modernization
of Ukraine for years and
decades to come.”
Scholz, who co-hosted the
meeting with European Com-
mission President Ursula von
der Leyen, said he’s looking for
“nothing less than creating a
new Marshall Plan for the
21st century — a generational
task that must begin now.”
Even so, one of Moscow’s
allies on Tuesday urged Rus-
sia to step up the pace and scale
of Ukraine’s destruction.
Ramzan Kadyrov, the
regional leader of Chechnya
who has sent troops from the
region to fight in Ukraine,
urged Moscow to wipe off
the map entire cities in retal-
iation for Ukrainian shelling
of Russia’s territory. Author-
ities in Russia’s Kursk and
Belgorod regions that bor-
der Ukraine have repeatedly
reported Ukrainian shelling
Russian court rejects Griner appeal against 9-year sentence
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW, 25 OCTOBER
A Russian court on Tuesday
upheld the nine-year prison
sentence handed to American
basketball star Brittney Griner
for drug possession, rejecting
her appeal.
Griner, an eight-time all-
star center with the WNBA’s
Phoenix Mercury and a two-
time Olympic gold medalist,
was convicted Aug. 4 after
police said they found vape
canisters containing cannabis
oil in her luggage at Moscow’s
Sheremetyevo Airport.
The Moscow region court
ruled Tuesday to uphold the
sentence. In the ruling the
court stated, however, that the
time Griner will have to serve
in prison will be recalculat-
ed with her time in pre-trial
detention taken into account.
One day in pre-trial detention
will be counted as 1.5 days in
prison, so the basketball star
will have to serve around
eight years in prison.
UK court to hear Uyghur
demands to ban Xinjiang cotton
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON, 25 OCTOBER
A Uyghur organization and
a human rights group are tak-
ing the U.K. government to
court to challenge Britain’s
failure to block the import of
cotton products associated
with forced labor and other
abuses in China’s far west-
ern Xinjiang region.
Tuesday’s hearing at the
High Court in London is
believed the first time a for-
eign court hears legal argu-
ments from the Uyghurs over
the issue of forced labor in
Xinjiang. The region is a
major global supplier of cot-
ton, but rights groups have
long alleged that the cotton
is picked and processed by
China’s Uyghurs and other
In a statement to The Asso-
ciated Press, Elizabeth Fegen,
who represents Siebel New-
som and two other Wein-
stein accusers, called the
comments “despicable, des-
perate, dishonest.”
“The defense is callously
engaging in misogynistic
name-calling and victim-
shaming — but survivors will
not be deterred,” she added.
Werksman said Siebel New-
som and many other women
in the case had contact, and
even initiated dealings, with
Weinstein in the years after the
encounters, often referring to
him affectionately.
In an attempt to head off
this strategy, Thompson told
jurors that they would hear
from a psychologist who will
dispel rape myths. Key among
them is the idea that a sexu-
al assault victim would not
have further contact with
their assailant.
Werksman said that Wein-
stein’s consensual acts were
transformed in October 2017
with “the asteroid called the
#MeToo movement.”
FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER LIZ TRUSS
AS SHE WISHED HER SUCCESSOR RISHI SUNAK SUCCESS
that damaged infrastructure
and residential buildings.
“Our response has been too
weak,” Kadyrov said in a state-
ment posted on his messag-
ing app channel. “If a shell flies
into our region, entire cities
must be wiped off the face of
the Earth so that they don’t
ever think that they can fire
in our direction.”
Ukrainian authorities,
meanwhile, sought to ease
public fears over Russia’s use
of Iranian drones to strike
the country’s infrastructure,
claiming increasing success
in shooting them down.
Ukraine’s forces have shot
down more than two-thirds
of the approximately 330 Sha-
hed drones that Russia has fired
through Saturday, the head of
Ukraine’s intelligence ser-
vice, Kyrylo Budanov, said
Monday. Budanov said Rus-
sia’s military had ordered
about 1,700 drones of differ-
ent types and is rolling out a
second batch of about 300 Sha-
heds.
Griner took part in the
Moscow Regional Court hear-
ing via video call from a penal
colony outside Moscow where
she is imprisoned.
Griner’s February arrest
came at a time of heightened
tensions between Moscow
and Washington, just days
before Russia sent troops into
Ukraine. At the time, Griner
was returning to Russia, where
she played during the U.S.
league’s offseason.
Griner admitted she had
the canisters in her luggage
Turkic Muslim minorities in
a widespread, state-sanc-
tioned system of forced labor.
The case, brought by the
Munich-based World Uyghur
Congress and the Global
Legal Action Network, a non-
profit, is one of several sim-
ilar legal challenges aimed at
putting pressure on the U.K.
and European Union gov-
ernments to follow the lead
of the United States, where
a law took effect this year to
ban all cotton products sus-
pected of being made in Xin-
jiang.
Researchers say Xinjiang
produces 85% of cotton grown
in China, constituting one-
fifth of the world’s cotton.
Rights groups argue that the
scale of China’s rights viola-
tions in Xinjiang – which the
“He became the smolder-
ing, radioactive center of it,”
Werksman said. “He is Hol-
lywood’s Chernobyl.”
He said that there was
suddenly “a new word” for the
women, “victim.”
The AP does not typically
name people who say they
have been sexually abused
unless they come forward
publicly. Siebel Newsom’s
identity was first reported by
the Los Angeles Times, and her
attorney has told the AP and
other news outlets that she is
among the women Weinstein
is charged with sexually
assaulting who will testify
during the trial.
Confusion arose when
Thompson during his open-
ing statement made no men-
tion of one accuser who had
been set to testify as recent-
ly as last week. Weinstein
was indicted on 11 counts
overall, four of which involved
the woman who was not
mentioned. The district attor-
ney’s office did not address
why the woman was not ref-
erenced.
Ukraine cites success in downing
drones, fixes energy sites
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KYIV, 25 OCTOBER
Ukrainian authorities tried to
dampen public fears over
Russia’s use of Iranian drones
by claiming increasing suc-
cess Monday in shooting
them down, while the Krem-
lin’s talk of a possible “dirty
bomb” attack added anoth-
er worrying dimension as
the war enters its ninth month.
Ukrainians are bracing
for less electric power this win-
ter following a sustained
Russian barrage on their
infrastructure in recent weeks.
Citizens in the southern
Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv
lined up for water and essen-
tial supplies Monday as
Ukrainian forces advanced on
the nearby Russian-occu-
pied city of Kherson.
Ukraine’s forces have shot
down more than two-thirds
of the approximately 330
Shahed drones that Russia has
fired through Saturday, the
head of Ukraine’s intelli-
gence service, Kyrylo Budanov,
said Monday. Budanov said
Russia’s military had ordered
about 1,700 drones of differ-
ent types and is rolling out a
second batch of about 300 Sha-
but testified that she inad-
vertently packed them in
haste and had no criminal
intent.
Her defense team pre-
sented written statements
saying she had been pre-
scribed cannabis to treat pain.
The nine-year sentence
was close to the maximum of
10 years, and Griner’s lawyers
argued after the conviction that
the punishment was excessive.
They said in similar cases
defendants have received an
average sentence of about
U.N. says may amount to
“crimes against humanity” –
means that numerous inter-
national fashion brands are
at high risk of using cotton
tainted with forced labor
and other rights abuses.
Gearóid Ó Cuinn, the
Global Legal Action Net-
work’s director, said the
group submitted almost 1,000
pages of evidence -- includ-
ing company records, NGO
investigations and Chinese
government documents -- to
the U.K. and U.S. govern-
ments in 2020 to back its
case. British authorities have
taken no action so far, he said.
“Right now, U.K. con-
sumers are systematically
exposed to consumer goods
tainted by forced labor,” Ó
Cuinn said.
Brazilian voters attacked by
misinformation days before vote
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIO DE JANEIRO, 25 OCTOBER
Brazilian voters are being
bombarded by online mis-
information less than a week
before they pick their next
leader.
People on social media
say, wrongly, that the leftist
candidate in Brazil’s presi-
dential election plans to close
down churches if elected.
There are lies that Luiz Iná-
cio Lula da Silva wants to let
men use public-school
restrooms next to little girls.
And they’re falsely alleging that
right-wing President Jair Bol-
sonaro has made comments
confessing to cannibalism
and pedophilia.
Baseless and politically
motivated rumors are whip-
ping through social media in
Latin America’s largest democ-
racy, roiling Brazilian politics
much as U.S. politics has
been roiled. The onslaught of
fake rumors helped prompt
Brazil last week to enact what
some experts call the strictest
heds. “Terror with the use of
‘Shaheds’ can actually last for
a long time,” he was quoted
as saying in the Ukrainska
Pravda newspaper.
Both Russia and Iran deny
that Iranian-built drones
have been used but the tri-
angle-shaped Shahed-136s
have rained down on civilians
in Kyiv and elsewhere.
“First of all, we have to be
able to counter the drones,”
U.S. House of Representa-
tives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said
Monday at a press conference
in Zagreb with Croatia’s leader.
“It is a dangerous technolo-
gy and it must be stopped.”
Britain’s Ministry of
Defense said Russia was like-
ly to use a large number of
drones to try to penetrate
the “increasingly effective
Ukrainian air defenses” — to
substitute for Russian-made
long-range precision weapons
“which are becoming increas-
ingly scarce.”
A dirty bomb uses explo-
sives to scatter radioactive
waste in an effort to sow ter-
ror. Such weapons don’t have
the devastating destruction
of a nuclear explosion, but
could expose broad areas to
radioactive contamination.
five years, with about a third
of them granted parole.
Before her conviction, the
U.S. State Department
declared Griner to be “wrong-
fully detained” — a charge that
Russia has sharply rejected.
Reflecting growing pressure
on the Biden administration
to do more to bring Griner
home, U.S. Secretary of State
Antony Blinken took the
unusual step of revealing
publicly in July that Wash-
ington had made a “sub-
stantial proposal” to get Griner
home, along with Paul Whe-
lan, an American serving a 16-
year sentence in Russia for
espionage.
Blinken didn’t elaborate,
but The Associated Press and
other news organizations
have reported that Washing-
ton has offered to exchange
Griner and Whelan for Viktor
Bout, a Russian arms dealer
who is serving a 25-year sen-
tence in the U.S. and once
earned the nickname the
“merchant of death.”
St. Louis: Two
killed in school
shooting
ST. LOUIS, 25 OCTOBER
An armed former student
broke into a St. Louis high
school Monday morning
warning, “You are all going
to die!” before fatally shoot-
ing a teacher and a teenage
girl, and wounding seven oth-
ers before police killed him
in an exchange of gunfire.
The attack just after 9
a.m. at Central Visual and Per-
forming Arts High School
forced students to barricade
doors and huddle in class-
room corners, jump from
windows and run out of the
building to seek safety.
The shooter was a 19-
year-old who graduated
from the same school last
year. AP
limits on speech in the coun-
try’s young democracy.
It’s a conundrum posed by
social media across the world,
especially in countries wran-
gling with the intersection
between modern technolo-
gy and free speech. Brazil
has adopted a particularly
heavy-handed approach.
Experts say that in doing so,
authorities have raised ques-
tions about the country’s
commitment to free speech.
“What is happening in
Brazil, on Facebook, on
YouTube and other platforms
looks awfully similar to what
was happening in the U.S.
around the 2020 election,” said
Vicky Wyatt, a campaign
director at the U.S.-based
activist group SumOfUs. “An
individual post might not
have that much reach, but
cumulatively over time, hav-
ing this constant drip-drip has
negative consequences.”
Overall, conservative chan-
nels produce more content –
and more false, problemat-
ic content, too.
 NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 26 OCTOBER 2022 11
Neutralisation of vehicles,
containers, premises, and protective
garments from pesticides

DR TAPAN KUMAR litres of water), which is washed off Containers emptied of mercury- pesticides (thiram, carbaryl) are neu-
MAITRA with water in one hour after its appli- containing pesticides are neutralized tralized using a 1 per cent solution of
cation. with one of the following means: a 30% potassium permanganate acidified

N
eutralization is conducted
with substances detoxicating
the pesticides. Vehicles, con-
tainers and garments are
neutralized in the open air on a special
site with a paved surface and a sewer
for water. The neutralizing means after
their use and the washing water are
drained off into special cesspits at least
one metre deep. The pits are dug at
places where the groundwater table is
at least two metres from the surface,
subject to approval by the local health
authorities. As the cesspit is filled, each
layer is treated with a paste of slaked
lime. As soon as the pit is filled up to
0.5 m from the surface, it is covered
with soil.
Vehicles and apparatus used for
work with pesticides must be neutral-
ized at least twice a month with a
bleaching lime paste (1 kg of lime per 4
Metal and glass containers (bar-
rels, cans, drums, jars) contaminated
with organophosphorus, organochlo-
rine compounds, and derivatives of
dinitrophenol and other pesticides are
neutralized with alkaline solutions
(soda, wood ash, lime). The contain-
ers are filled with a 5 per cent solution
of caustic or washing soda and left
standing for 6-12 hours, and are then
repeatedly washed with water. When
wood ash is used, the containers are
filled with it, water is added to form a
paste, the contents are mixed and left
standing for 12-24 hours, after which
the contents are poured into a cesspit.
The external parts are washed with
brushes, or rags wetted in the same
solution. Sacks are wetted for 4-5
hours in a 2 per cent solution of soda
ash and are then boiled in a soap and
soda solution for 30 minutes.
solution of iron(III) chloride; a 0.2 per
cent solution of potassium perman-
ganate acidified with hydrochloric acid
(5 ml/litre); the paste "Pereguda" (a
mixture of pyrolusite and 5 per cent
hydrochloric acid in the proportion
1:2); a paste of lime chloride (1 kg per 4
litres of water). A container is filled
with one of the solutions and left
standing for 5-6 hours. It is next treat-
ed with a 1 per cent solution of potas-
sium permanganate and in 24 hours is
washed with warm soapy water (a 4
per cent solution of soap in a 5 per
cent soda solution).
Sacks that had been used for grain
treated with mercury-containing pes-
ticides are wetted in a 1 per cent solu-
tion of potassium permanganate, and
are then washed in a soap and soda
solution.
Containers emptied of carbamine
with hydrochloric acid (5 ml/litre) or a
paste of lime chloride.
Containers emptied of
dichloroethane, methyl bromide, or
me-thallyl chloride are neutralized by
thorough ventilation to remove the
residues of these pesticides, and then
by treatment with steam (120-130 °C)
until the odour of the pesticide van-
ishes.
The neutralized containers are
handed in to the basic stores. It is
strictly prohibited to use containers
emptied of pesticides for storing food
products, potable water, and fodder.
Premises contaminated with pes-
ticides are cleaned and the floors in
them washed with a solution of soda
ash (200 g of ash per pail of water), and
then with a 10 per cent solution of lime
chloride. Sections of soil contaminated
with pesticides are neutralized with
lime chloride and dug over.
Special outer garments contami-
nated with toxicants lose their protec-
tive properties and may be a source of
poisoning, therefore they must also be
neutralized. Washing of these gar-
ments must be centralized in special
laundries. The garments must be
delivered to a laundry in closed boxes.
It is prohibited to wash protective
outer garments near wells, rivers, lakes
and other sources of water. The gar-
ments are neutralized by soaking them
in detoxifying solutions and then
washing in hot water. Garments cont-
aminated with or-ganochlorine pesti-
cides are soaked in a hot 0.5 per cent
soda solution for six hours; the solu-
tion must be stirred and changed three
times. They are next washed in a soap
and soda solution. Garments contam-
inated with mercury-containing
preparations are soaked in a hot 1 per
cent solution of soda for 12 hours, and
then washed three times for 30 min-
utes each time in a soap and soda
solution with the addition of alkyl
sulphonate.
Protective garments contaminat-
ed with organophosphorus and other
pesticides are neutralized in a soap
and soda solution for 6-8 hours, after
which they are washed two or three
times in a hot soap and soda solution.
Rubber shoes, gloves, and aprons
must be treated with a lime chloride
paste or a 3-5 per cent solution of soda
ash and washed with water.
The author is associate professor and
former head, department of botany,
Ananda Mohan College

Swarms of advanced UAVs to Content creators have a field day

collect key environment data

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

M
eta (formerly Facebook)
highlighted its commit-
ment to creators in West
Bengal and across the
country, by organizing its first ‘Creator
Day’ in Kolkata. The company also
highlighted all the ways in which Indi-
an cricket fans can support the Indian

S
warms of advanced unmanned
aircraft are set to carry out aerial
surveys of Antarctica - gather-
ing crucial data on changes to
the region's environment and wildlife -
as part of new research with engineers
from the University of Sheffield.
The exciting new project, involv-
ing researchers from the University's
Department of Automatic Control and
Systems Engineering, will advance
swarm aircraft technology to conduct
survey missions and mapping of large
areas in Antarctica, quickly and with
less human resource.
The British Antarctic Survey will
test the new technology - using the
unmanned aircraft to gather environ-
mental data, such as monitoring
wildlife, ice accumulation and weather
conditions.
Aside from Antarctica, the aircraft
will also be tested in the UK to help
detect wildfires. This will build on pre-
vious research with the Lancashire Fire
& Rescue Service that used unmanned
aircraft to detect wildfires as early as
possible to limit their devastating
impact.
The swarm will be made up of
ULTRA UAVs - the largest commercial
UAVs in the UK. The new research will
advance the technology onboard the
aircraft, to control their sequencing
during the flights and to develop the
unmanned aircraft's ability to detect
and navigate around obstacles and to
dynamically change their flight path.
Lyudmila Mihaylova, professor of
signal processing and control at the
University of Sheffield, said about the
project: "This is very exciting research
that will develop the use of unmanned
aircraft vehicles in swarms and to be
used in innovative ways to protect our
environment.
"In this project, the consortium
partners aim to perform several live
demonstrations of swarming
unmanned aerial vehicles for survey
missions in Antarctica and fire detec-
tion in the UK.
"Our expertise at the University of
Sheffield will be to develop the algo-
rithms to programme the aircraft to
move together and to follow the
planned flight path to complete the
surveys. We will develop computer
vision algorithms that will enhance the
vehicles' autonomy, especially during
landing, and automatic recognition
software for use in unmanned aerial
vehicles.
"We have some of the world's
leading experts in control and systems
engineering at the University of
Sheffield, so this is a great opportunity
to work with innovating companies as
well as organisations that protect our
precious environment."
The project is being led by Win-
dracers together with the University of
Sheffield, University of Bristol, Helix
Technologies and Distributed Avion-
ics.
team at the ICC Men's T20 World Cup.
Creator Day is Meta's annual flag-
ship event to celebrate creators, and
provides an opportunity for them to
create, collaborate and learn from
each other. The 2022 version of the
event will take place across 5 cities -
Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Chen-
nai and Delhi. At the event, in a first,
Meta provided the fans an opportunity
to meet and interact with their favorite
creators.
In the run up to the event, cre-
ators Mahamuda Khatun, Praveen
Sethia, Pawan Kumar, Puja Kumari,
Sneha Kumari, Aisha Madhi, Happy
Prince and Trina Saha were ambas-
sadors for Creator Day, with them fea-
turing on outdoor ads that were visible
in different parts of the city. Over 300
creators finally attended the event and
had the opportunity to sit through ses-
sions on collaborating with other cre-
ators in the best possible way, on
brand partnerships, making the best
reels and on creator wellbeing.
While Creator Day was an occa-
sion for Meta to highlight the way Ben-
gali trends like 'Kacha Badam' became
popular across the globe, the way
gaming creators like Gyan Gaming
have grown because of Reels and how
music from artists like Iman 'Reels squad' to Australia, which is a creators, said, "The energy and cre-
Chakrabarty are driving trends on group of creators selected to be part of ativity I see from creators in Kolkata is
Reels. It was also an occasion to unique experiences, who in this case admirable and inspirational. I regular-
underline Meta's latest partnership will create content with cricketers ly scroll through your Reels on Insta-
with the International Cricket Council across the teams participating at the gram and Facebook, and am
(ICC), for the ICC Men's T20 World World Cup. All this content can be impressed with the communities
Cup, which gives creators a global viewed using #ReelsSquadIndia. you're building." The next cities where
stage to perform and showcase their Actor Koel Mallick was also pre- 'Creator Day' events will be organized
talent. As a part of it, Meta is sending a sent at the event and engaged with the are Chennai and Delhi.
 ‘I AM NOT RETIRED, THE CHANCES
OF RETURN ARE VERY HIGH’
The 23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams on Monday
said she has not retired from tennis yet and that the chances
of her returning to the court are "very high" after she previ-
ously indicated that she would step away from the sport after
the recently concluded US Open. "I am not retired," Williams
said at a conference in San Francisco while promoting her invest-
ment company. "The chances (of a return) are very high. You
can come to my house, I have a court," she added.
For more updates www.thestatesman.com
THUMBNAILS
Ronaldo back for training
with Manchester United:
Manchester United manager
Erik ten Hag held talks with
beleaguered striker Cristiano
Ronaldo at Carrington on
Tuesday and the talismanic
Portuguese star returned to
training with the first-team
squad afterward. Ronaldo
was dropped for United's 1-1
draw at Chelsea and made to
train away from the squad
after refusing to come on in
last Wednesday's 2-0 win over
Tottenham at Old Trafford.
Yuvraj Singh supports 'Cricket
for Blind'; becomes brand
ambassador: The Cricket
Association for the Blind in
India (CABI) on Tuesday
announced cricketer Yuvraj
Singh as the brand ambas-
sador for the 3rd T20 World
Cup for the Blind to be held in
India from 6 to 12 December.
T20 WC: Australia
thrash Sri Lanka
With this win, Australia is in fourth position in the points table with 2 points,
one place below Asian champions Sri Lanka, who are in third with two points
AGENCIES
PERTH, 25 OCTOBER
A
quickfire half-cen-
tury from all-rounder
Marcus Stoinis and
his 69-run partner-
ship with skipper Aaron Finch
helped defending champi-
ons Australia register a cru-
cial seven-wicket win over
Sri Lanka in their Group 1,
Super 12 match of the ongo-
ing ICC T20 World Cup at Perth
on Tuesday.
With this win, Australia is
in fourth position in the points
table with 2 points, one place
below Asian champions Sri
Lanka, who are in third with
two points. Chasing 158, Aus-
tralia did not get a chance to
hit boundaries easily as Lankan
bowlers troubled them with
their line and lengths. More
than four overs went by when
opener David Warner was
caught by skipper Dasun
Shanaka while attempting to
drive. Spinner Maheesh Theek-
shana had given Lanka their
first wicket at 26 runs and the
southpaw was back in the
pavilion for 11 off 10 balls.
Mitchell Marsh joined
skipper Aaron Finch at the
crease. Australia finished the
powerplay without scoring
even a single four or six, for
the first time in their T20I his-
tory. In six overs, Australia was
at 33/1, with Marsh (1*) and
Finch (9*) at the crease.
In the second ball of the 8th
Ganguly
in old role
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 25 OCTOBER
If Sourav Ganguly has had
evasively to say over the
past few days what he is going
to do now that the Board of
Control for Cricket in India
has got rid of him, the Inter-
national Cricket Council
has turned out to be a bridge
too far and even the presi-
dency of the Cricket Asso-
ciation of Bengal is elusive,
the Maidan today came by
an answer: the former
national cricket captain will
return to ATK Mohun Bagan
as a director. Not a big deal,
that, though. It was a posi-
tion he was obliged to move
out of when the Indian
Super League football fran-
chise became part of the sta-
bles which also had the Luc-
know outfit of the Indian Pre-
mier League, sparking off the
possibility of a conflict-of-
interest controversy. He
was the board chief at the
time. Ganguly, who had
promised to rise to greater
heights after finding himself
out of the BCCI, was today
said to have visited Mohun
Bagan's ground.
Printed and published by VINEET GUPTA for THE STATESMAN LTD, Statesman House, 148 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi ��Editor: RAVINDRA KUMAR ��Managing Editor: ARYA RUDRA ��Printed at Vibha Publication Pvt Ltd, D-160 B, Sector 7, NOIDA 201301 (UP). ��The Statesman Ltd. RNB REG. No. M-8905,RNI No. 507/57
Arshdeep’s meteoric rise bodes well for India in future
S S RAMASWAMY
SYDNEY, 25 OCTOBER
When Arshdeep Singh bowled
the first few overs and bagged
the prized wickets of Pakistan
skipper Babar Azam and his
opening partner Mohammed
Rizwan to give India a splen-
did start in the ICC Men’s T20
World Cup at the jam-packed
Melbourne Cricket Ground, it
was hard to digest the fact that
this youngster had made his
international debut just a few
months ago.
The lanky Guna (MP)-born
youngster, who had an impres-
sive IPL season for Kings XI Pun-
jab that ensured his call-up for
T20 duty at the national level,
had made his India debut just
over three months ago in
Southampton against Eng-
land.
But the Indian team man-
agement, including captain
over, Marsh broke the bound-
ary drought by smashing
Wanindu Hasaranga for a
four and six. With that six, Aus-
tralia crossed the 50-run mark
in the 8th over.
Finch also let his arms
loose at the first ball of the next
over, launching a huge slog
over wide-long on. Just when
it seemed Aussies were accel-
erating, Marsh gave a catch
to Bhanuka Rajapaksa at long-
off. Dhananjaya de Silva sent
Marsh back for 17 off 17 balls.
Australia was 60/2 at this
point in 8.3 overs.
Glenn Maxwell joined
Finch. He swung things in Aus-
tralia's favour by smashing
Hasaranga for two sixes and
a four in the 10th over, which
gave away 19 runs in total. At
the end of 10 overs, Australia
was at 85/2, with Maxwell
(22*) and Finch (23*).
Maxwell had injected some
life into the game, but was
struck in the throat in 12th over.
In the next over, Chamika
Sultan of Johor Cup hockey: Indian
team wins 5-1 against Japan
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
JOHOR, 25 OCTOBER
The Indian junior men's hock-
ey team returned to winning
ways with a strong perfor-
mance against Japan, win-
ning 5-1 in their third game at
the 10th Sultan of Johor Cup.
For India, it was captain
Uttam Singh (3'), Rohit (12'),
Johnson Purty (21'), Boby
Singh Dhami (31') and Aman-
deep Lakra (51') who found the
back of the net, while Ikumi
Saeki (15') scored the lone
goal for Japan.
Having lost 4-5 to South
Africa in their previous match,
the Indian juniors maintained
their chances of advancing to
the next round by winning
against Japan.
After a delayed start, India
got out of the blocks very
quickly, as captain Uttam
Singh (3') arrowed it home
past the Japanese goalkeeper
after a spell of domination. And
even though Japan threatened
with a couple of penalty cor-
ners right after, India's defence
weren't allowing them any
space. India absorbed the pres-
sure from Japan before Rohit
(12') fired home a penalty cor-
Rohit Sharma and head coach
Rahul Dravid, must have been
mightily impressed by this
left-arm pacer as he has fig-
ured in most of the T20Is that
the country has played since
his debut on July 7.
In his short international
stint, the 23-year-old bowler,
who plays for Punjab in domes-
tic cricket, has grabbed 22
wickets in 14 T20Is at an econ-
omy rate of 8.13 and a strike
rate of 13.6.
To see that he has played
just six first class games in his
fledgling career so far but has
become an integral part of the
India’s T20 outfit not only
Karunaratne picked up his
wicket after Ashen Bandara
caught him near the bound-
ary rope. The all-rounder was
dismissed for a quickfire 23
off 12 balls, reducing the
Aussies to 89/3 in 12.2 overs.
Marcus Stoinis was next up
at the crease. Australia reached
the 100-run mark in 13.4
overs. Finch had kept one
end steady with his patient
approach while Stoinis feast-
ed on the bowling of Shana-
ka and Hasaranga, smashing
them for fours and sixes eas-
ily.
Hasaranga, a star for SL all
this while suffered the worst,
smashed for 19 runs in his 15th
over.
At the end of 15 overs,
Australia was at 126/3, with
Finch (27*) and Stoinis (34*)
at the crease. Stoinis contin-
ued to assault the Lankan
bowlers, forming a 20-ball
50-run partnership. He also
brought up his half-century
in just 17 balls, the fastest by
ner to give his side a 2-0 lead.
However, just before the hoot-
er, Japan pulled one back
through Ikumi Saeki (15'), who
converted a penalty corner to
make it 2-1. In the second
quarter, both teams traded
blows in the first few minutes,
playing with a lot of energy,
before India regained their 2-
goal lead as Johnson Purty
(21') found the back of the net
with a crisp shot from the top
of the circle. India continued
to pile on the pressure in search
of another goal, but they went
into the half-time break with
the score reading 3-1 in their
favour.
India started brightly in
the second half, as Boby Singh
Dhami (31') added a fourth, fur-
ther extending the advantage.
indicates that he has been
highly impressive but also is
a pointer to how keen was the
team to hone into a left arm
pacer who can bowl well both
in power play and at the end
of an innings. On Sunday,
Arshdeep trapped Azam leg
before for a duck with a full
length ball that the Pakistan
captain tried injudiciously to
flick to leg off the first ball the
Indian youngster delivered
in the high-octane contest at
the cauldron-like MCG.
He then followed it up with
another big wicket in his sec-
ond over, that of wicket keep-
er Mohd Rizwan, with a short
ball that the batter hooked to
long leg fielder Bhuvneshwar
Kumar to provide India with
a dream start by reducing
Pakistan to a sorry 15 for 2.
With Bhuvneshwar (3-0-14-
0) too utilizing the seaming con-
ditions to a nicety, Pakistan tot-
an Aussie in T20I history.
The duo helped Australia
win the match with 21 balls
to spare and seven wickets in
hand. Australia finished at
158/3 in 16.3 overs, with Stoi-
nis having scored 59* in just
18 balls with four fours and
six sixes and Finch unbeaten
at 31* off 42 balls at the other
end. Both had a partnership
of 69 runs in just 25 balls.
Theekshana, Dhananjaya,
Karunaratne took a wicket each
for SL.
Earlier, Australian bowlers
made a great comeback after
a 69-run stand for the second
wicket between Pathum Nis-
sanka and Dhananjaya de
Silva to reduce Sri Lanka to a
modest 157/6 in their Group
1, Super 12 match of the ICC
T20 World Cup in Perth on
Tuesday.
A 69-run stand for the sec-
ond wicket between Nissan-
ka (40) and de Silva (26) kept
the Lankans in a good posi-
tion but the Aussies made
comeback with some quick
wickets, exploiting the
Lankans' tendency to hit loose
shots. However, Charith
Asalanka (38*) made sure his
side finished on a decent
note.
Brief Scores: Sri Lanka:
157/6 (Pathum Nissanka 40,
Charith Asalanka 38*, Glenn
Maxwell 1/5) lost to Australia:
158/3 in 16.3 overs (Marcus
Stoinis 59*, Aaron Finch 31*,
Chamika Karunaratne 1/20).
The Indian Colts were in the
ascendency and were domi-
nating proceedings.
Right after, Japan earned a
fifth penalty corner, but a bad
trap allowed the Indian defence
to pounce and clear their lines.
Japan did step it up in the
final minutes of the quarter, but
India kept them out, main-
taining the 3-goal lead and
playing most of the game in the
opposition's half. In need of a
quick goal in the final phase of
play, Japan went on the attack
from the start, but India dug deep
and controlled the situation well.
From then on, India controlled
proceedings and closed out the
game comfortably, register-
ing a 5-1 win. India will take on
Australia in their fourth game
on October 26.
tered to 32 for 2 after six overs
of power play, the sort of score
the Indian think tank would
have liked before the game
began. Pakistan recovered
later to 159 for 8 that India
chased down in a memorable
way and won on the last ball
in dramatic fashion to send the
team’s fans into a frenzy.
Arshdeep followed his
splendid first spell of 2-10
with a stint of 1-22 in the last
two overs when batters kept
swinging their arms at every-
thing bowled at them.
In the final analysis
Arshdeep also played a key role
in India’s heart-stopping last
ball victory, along with man
of the match Virat Kohli and
Hardik Pandya, who came up
with a superb all round display.
What Arshdeep brings to the
attack is variety in a largely right-
handed pace attack. He swings
the ball well and also hits the
PV Sindhu enters top five
in BWF World Rankings
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
KAULALUMPUR, 25 OCTOBER
Commonwealth gold medal-
list PV Sindhu climbed up a
spot to enter the top five in Bad-
minton World Federation
(BWF) World Rankings on
Tuesday.
On the other hand, ace
shuttler Prannoy HS also
jumped a spot to become
world number 12 in the rank-
ings. In doubles, the men's dou-
bles pair of MR Arjun and
Dhruv Kapila (jump two spots
to become world number 19),
women's doubles pair Treesa
Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand
Premier League: Aston Villa
appoint Emery as head coach
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
LONDON, 25 OCTOBER
Aston Villa have appointed
Unai Emery as their new head
coach, the club announced in
a statement on Tuesday.
Emery, who had a spell as
Arsenal's manager from 2018
to 2019, replaces Steven Ger-
rard, who was sacked last
week.
The 50-year-old Unai will
begin his new role on Novem-
ber 1 after his work permit for-
malities are completed, mean-
ing his first match in charge will
be at home to Manchester
United on November 6.
Unai joins from Villarreal,
whom he led to Europa League
success by beating Manches-
ter United in the final in 2021
as well as the semifinals of the
PKL 9: I am looking to cross 1600 points in
Kabaddi League, says raider Pardeep Narwal
INDO-ASIANNEWSSERVICE
BENGALURU, 25 OCTOBER
The U.P. Yoddhas picked up a
comprehensive 41-24 victory
over Tamil Thalaivas in the vivo
Pro Kabaddi League Season 9
at the Shree Kanteerava Indoor
Stadium in Bengaluru on Sun-
day, but the team had more rea-
sons to celebrate as their star
raider Pardeep Narwal became
the first player to surpass 1400
raid points in the history of the
competition.
Speaking after achieving
this feat, Narwal said, "In the
beginning of my vivo PKL
career, I just wanted to get
selected in one of the teams. I
didn't know that I would per-
form so well in the competition.
However, I want to keep going
and cross 1600 points within
this season."
The U.P. Yoddhas' Head
Coach Jasveer Singh said, "Scor-
ing 1400 points is a huge
achievement and he's been in
good rhythm. I expect him to
keep playing well in the rest of
the tournament. I would like
to congratulate Pardeep for
achieving the 1400 mark on
behalf of the entire team as well."
Matches on Wednesday:
block hole regularly. He can
also bowl the odd bumper to
unsettle the batsman as he did
to Rizwan.
In the long history of Indi-
an cricket there have not been
many left handed medium
fast bowlers of quality. The
bowlers who readily come to
mind are Karsan Ghavri in
the 1970s and then Zaheer
Khan, Ashish Nehra, Irfan
Pathan and R P Singh….all in
the first decade of the new mil-
lennium. But once that quar-
tet disappeared from the scene,
India have not found anoth-
er left arm bowler who has
impressed as much at the top
level as Arshdeep has done so
far in his short career.
His present job is to show
the sort of brilliance and focus
that he essayed against Pak-
istan in the rest of the World
Cup that concludes on Novem-
ber 13.
(jumped four spots to become
world number 27) and mixed
doubles pair of Ishaan Bhat-
nagar and Tanisha Crasto
(jumped two spots to become
world number 29) all achieved
their career-best ranks.
"@Pvsindhu1 back in top-
5 @PRANNOYHSPRI on the
verge of entering top-10 Dou-
bles pairs @arjunmr/@dhru-
vkapilaa, #Treesa/#Gayatri &
#Ishaan/#Tanisha achieve
their new career-high rank
#HappyDiwali indeed! #BWF-
WorldRankings #Indiaon-
theRise #Badminton," tweet-
ed the Badminton Association
of India (BAI) Media.
Champions League last season.
A highly experienced top-
level coach who has managed
over 900 games, Unai has also
previously managed in the
Premier League during a spell
with Arsenal, leading the Gun-
ners to a Europa League final.
He has also enjoyed notable
U Mumba will be looking
to bounce back into form after
facing a tough 32-42 loss against
Bengaluru Bulls in their last
match. However, the Gujarat
NEW DELHI
WEDNESDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2022
Postal Reg. No. DL (ND)-II/6088/2018/-19-20
Karman becomes India’s
number one singles
women’s tennis player
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
SAGUENAY, 25 OCTOBER
Karman Kaur Thandi is now
India's number 1 women's
singles tennis player, follow-
ing her recent triumph at the
W60 ITF event in Saguenay,
Canada on Sunday.
She has displaced resident
Ankita Raina. This victory is the
biggest singles title win of Kar-
man's career so far and it has
pushed her 91 positions up in
the latest Women's Tennis
Association (WTA) rankings to
the 217th position, as per
Olympics.com. Olympian Anki-
ta is now placed at 297th posi-
tion after slipping down 13
places. Rutuja Bhosale, who is
down nine spots to 411, Riya
Bhatia, at world number 490
after slipping down five places
and Sahaja Yamalapalli, up by
20 spots to world number 508,
are the top five women's sin-
gles players in India. Karman
accomplished her career-best
196 ranking in 2018. The win
at Saguenay is Karman's third
success at Sevilla and Paris Saint
Germain. In Seville, he won
three successive Europa League
titles between 2013 and 2016
before going on to lift a Ligue
1 championship in France as
well as two French Cups, two
French League Cups and two
Trophe des Champions.
Giants have been in prime
form, registering consecutive
victories in their last two games.
Dabang Delhi K.C. will take on
the Bengal Warriors in the last
12
singles title and second this year.
She had won a W25 tournament
back in June at Gurugram.
Karman won her maiden sin-
gles title in Hong Kong in 2018.
In the final match against
Canada's Katherine Sebov,
Karman Kaur bounced back
from being a set down to win-
ning the title by 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.
Earlier in the tournament,
Karman had caused an upset
by defeating the second seed
Robin Anderson (USA) in the
first round and Japanese Ena
Shibahara, one-half of the
French Open 2022 mixed dou-
ble champions in the second
round. The year 2022 has been
great for the Indian, who was
ranked outside 400 back in Feb-
ruary.
Last month, Karman had
shocked France's Chloe Paquet,
then world number 109 in the
opening round of the WTA
Chennai Open 2022 and earned
acclaim for her great perfor-
mance against former Wim-
bledon finalist Eugenie
Bouchard in the second round.
Victorious
Sermon fancied
GAUTAM BANERJEA
KOLKATA, 25 OCTOBER
Victorious Sermon is expect-
ed to win the Monsoon
Cup, the plum event, on the
concluding day of the Mon-
soon Season here. CS Jodha
will ride the S Habbu trained
runner in a close contest of
four runners.
Selections:
2.00 p.m.: OASIS 1, Nova
2.
2.30 p.m.: BIG BROWN
1, Stormwatch 2.
3.00 p.m.: MAGENTO
1, Tahoe 2.
3.30 p.m.: RANDOLPH
1, Toronero 2.
4.00 p.m.: VICTORIOUS
SERMON 1, Psychic Force
2.
4.30 p.m.: BAHULEYAN
1, Dubai Dunes 2.
Day's best: Randolph.
match of the Bengaluru leg. Both
teams will be hoping to get back
into winning ways after facing
losses in their respective pre-
vious matches.