IndIa’s CovId-19 tally nears 14 lakh, reCords spIke of 48,661New Delhi: india reported a spike of 48,661 coronavirus cases, taking the total Covid-19 cases to 13,85,522, said the Union Ministry of health and Family welfare on Sunday. The total Covid-19 positive cases include 4,67,882 active cases, 8,85,577 cured/dis-charged/migrated, it added. with 705 new deaths, the cumulative toll reached 32,063. Maharashtra has reported 3,66,368 corona-virus cases, the highest among states and Union Territories in the country, followed by Tamil Nadu and Delhi at 2,13,723 and 1,30,606 cases respectively.

36 rafale jets InduCted sInCe pM ModI CaMe to power: naddaNew Delhi: 36 Rafale fighters, 28 Apache and 15 Chinook helicopters have been inducted by the armed forces after Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda said on Sunday. he further added, “72 border projects stuck from the times of UPA government are go-ing to be completed. From 2008 to 2014, 3,610 km border roads were built. in comparison to that 4,764 km border roads have been built between 2014 and 2020.”

seCurIty forCes bust terror hIdeout In kashMIrSRiNAgAR: Arms and ammuni-tion and other incriminating materials were recovered on Sunday after security forces busted a terrorist hideout in South Kashmir’s Shopian district, officials said. According to details, the police along with security forces busted the hideout in orchards of Dachoo area of Shopian. A large quantity of arms and ammunition includ-ing two Under Barrel grenade launchers (UBgl), three grenades, one magazine of an AK-47 rifle were recovered. A case has been registered by the police. “Shopian police and security forces busted a hideout in orchards of Dachoo area. Two UBgl grenades, three grenades, AK-47 Magazine, 20 AK rounds, iCOM Radio Set and other incriminating materials were recovered,” police said.

27 july 2020 | Issue 81 | new delhi

Remembering the valour of the martyrs and bravehearts on

the 21st anniversary of the Kargil War, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday hit out at Pakistan for “back-stabbing” India despite the latter’s friendly gestures and said that the world watched

India’s might at Kargil. He also dedicated the 67th edi-tion of his radio programme ‘Mann ki Baat’ to the soldiers who showed great strength in Kargil and saluted all the brave heroes and their brave mothers on behalf of the en-tire country.

“India can never forget the circumstances under which the battle of Kargil took place. Pakistan had

embarked upon this misad-venture, nursing delusions of encroaching upon Indian soil, to distract attention from the internal strife pre-vailing there. People with such a disposition keep thinking of harming even their well-wishers… that is why when India extended a hand of friendship, Pakistan tried to respond, stabbing in the back,” he said.

PM Modi also urged the youth of the nation to share stories of the heroic deeds and sacrifices of the brave hearts and their brave mothers on social media throughout the day. While remembering how Indian soldiers turned all odds in their favour and defeated Pakistan, he added, “Our gallant Army displayed deeds of valour. When

India demonstrated her might, the world watched it. You can imagine how the enemy lodged in soaring mountainous heights and our armed forces, our brave soldiers fought from down below! But it was not about victoriously conquering the heights. It was the victory of high morale and bravery of our armed forces in the tru-est sense of the term.”

Later, PM Modi also re-minded the country of the ongoing battle against the deadly coronavirus pandem-ic. He urged the countrymen to be more cautious as Cov-id-19 is still as fatal as it was in the beginning. Wearing a face mask, using a ‘gamch-cha’ or a light towel to cover face, two-yard distancing, frequently washing hands, avoiding spitting anywhere,

taking full care of hygiene and sanitation—these are our weapons to protect us from corona, he said.

Bringing the issues and challenges faced by the front-line corona warriors includ-ing medical staff, he said, “At such times, I urge you that whenever you feel your mask is bothersome and you want to remove it, spare a thought for those doctors,

those nurses and think of our Corona warriors. You will find them wearing masks for hours together, dili-gently working to save our lives and wearing masks for a span of eight to ten hours. As citizens, we should not be negligent at all nor let others be so. On one hand, we have to fight the battle against corona with full awareness

pM says pak ‘baCkstabbed’ IndIa In kargIl, CautIons CItIzens on CovId-19

The jumbo blessing

A woman seeks blessings from an elephant amid the weekend lockdown imposed by Assam government to curb the spread of Covid-19, in Tezpur on Sunday. ANI

‘Mann kI baat’

IntervIew

rajasthan CrIsIsCovId-19 repatrIatIon

Our focus is on Ram Rajya after Ram temple: Uma Bharti

Prime Minister Narendra Modi salutes the martyrs and bravehearts on the 21st anniversary of the Kargil war; says the battle against coronavirus isn’t over yet.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Guardian, firebrand saffron leader and BJP’s national vice-president Uma Bharti said that Ram Rajya would soon become a reality in India after the Ram temple’s construction in Ayo-dhya. Excerpts:Q: Now that the date to lay the foundation of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has been announced, will you also be present there as you were present on 6 December 1992?A: This is not an issue for me. Whether I am present there or not, we want Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi to be present on the occasion. It is like Ganga is there and other tributaries are also in it. The way the Somnath temple’s work began under the pres-ence of Dr Rajendra Prasad. Modi ji represents all of us. It is not important for me and I don’t want to talk further on

whether I am invited or not.Q: What next after Ayodhya? Mathura, Kashi…A: Presently we are focus-ing on Ayodhya and that is the priority. In Kashi and Mathura, there are already huge temples and prayers and rituals are happening every day since ages. Next to the Ram temple, it is Ram Rajya in India on which we are focusing. We are sure under the able leadership of our popular Prime Minister Modi; this will also be a real-ity soon.Q: Why 5 August when astrolo-gers are saying it is not auspi-cious? A: I am not an expert to talk on time, nor am I an astrologer. I am happy that the foundation laying of the temple will be performed. It is a matter of joy and pride for me. Mahant Gopal Das and Champat Rai are the right person to answer these questions. I am happy that the Ram temple is being

constructed.Q: Who will take the credit for the construction of the temple? BJP, VHP, RSS or Shiv Sena?A: When the Nepalese Prime Minister said that Ram was born in Nepal, I asked why they stopped him. Let him construct a Ram temple there but from where will he get Sarayu river? Then I suggest naming any river as Sarayu and construct a tem-ple there. We do not have a patent on Ram. Let Sonia Gandhi chant ‘Shri Ram Jai Ram’, Let Sharad Pawar and Asad Owaisi chant ‘Jai Shri Ram’. We will not have any problem, rather we will send them percussion and ‘man-jira’ to play and chant.Q: NCP leader Sharad Pawar has said that instead of stone-laying it is the time to fight the war against corona.A: The team working at the site is not the team working on corona. They are different people. Ask Sharad Pawar

thIs Is the InItIal step In the path towards the Country's fInest daIly newspaper.

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Manish awasthyMUMBAi

CorrespondentlUCKNOw

ajeet srivastavaNew Delhi

arun dhantaNew Delhi

Brijesh pandeyNew Delhi

P2P2 P2

As the political crisis in Ra-jasthan deepens, the Bahu-jan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday issued a whip to its six MLAs directing them to vote against the Congress during the “No Confidence Motion” or any proceedings to be held during Rajasthan Assembly session.

BSP’s national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra said that notices have been issued to six MLAs separately as well as collec-tively, stating that since it is a national party, there cannot

be any merger at the state level unless there is a merger of BSP at the national level. Notices have been issued to all six MLAs – R. Gudha, Lakhan Singh, Deep Chand, J.S. Awana, Sandeep Kumar and Wajib Ali.

Speaking to ANI, Mishra said, “Notices issued to the six MLAs separately as well as collectively, stating that since BSP is National Party, there cannot be any merger at the state level at the in-stance of six MLAs unless there is a merger of BSP at the national level. If they violate it, they will be dis-qualified.”

“Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot deceived the public, electorate and BSP this time as well, who was supporting them openly. He claims that they have taken these six MLAs and they have been included in Con-gress. A merger cannot take place in Congress...being a national party (BSP), ac-cording to the 10th Sched-ule of the Constitution there was a split provision earlier which was finished later,” he added.

If the Speaker allowed the merger, even that is un-constitutional and illegal,

Delhi Health Minister Saty-endar Jain has reiterated that community spread of the coronavirus has taken place in Delhi. Citing the sero survey, he said, “I have been talking about com-munity spread in Delhi for two months. Now that 24% of the people in Delhi have been cured of infection, it is up to the central government to decide whether it will be called community spread or not.”

The serological survey conducted in Delhi be-tween 27 June and 10 July has yielded a report stating

that close to a quarter of the Delhi population have been infected by the novel coro-navirus. According to the report, antibodies for the vi-rus were found in 23.48% of the survey’s subjects, which included individuals across age groups and neighbour-hoods. It is to be noted that the serological study in-cluded only those who had shown no symptoms of Cov-id-19. A total of 21,387 sam-ples were collected from all 11 districts in Delhi, starting with containment zones, and sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The report was submitted by the NCDC after examining

The Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) has managed to bring back over 2,70,000 people in India from 53 countries till Sunday. The colossal mission has seen the participation of Air India and other Indian private airlines. The Indian government has announced that the fifth phase of VBM will commence from 1 to 31 August.

“Stakeholders of our civil aviation sector stand com-mitted to reach out and help stranded Indians. Over 2,70,000 have returned on VBM flights by Air India, Air India Express and pri-vate Indian carriers since 6

May,” tweeted Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri.

As the 4th phase of VBM is still underway, the govern-ment data shows that 1197 flights have been scheduled so far including 945 interna-tional flights and 252 feeder flights in VBM 4.0. These flights are operated by Air India group, IndiGo, SpiceJet and GoAir.

As of now, VBM has covered 53 countries including Cana-da, US, UK, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Sau-di Arabia, Bangladesh, Thai-land, South Africa, Russia, Australia, Myanmar, Japan, Ukraine, Vietnam, Russia, Germany, Kazakhstan, Ire-land, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia,

bsp Issues whIp, dIreCts Its 6 Mlas to vote agaInst Congress In asseMbly sessIon

Why is Centre silent on community spread in Delhi: Health Minister

Vande Bharat Mission brings back 270k Indians from 53 countries

P2

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2CovId-19 deaths In july down by 44%, says delhI govt

11a whole gang workIng agaInst Me In bollywood: rahMan

9why the world needs sustaInable fashIon

pM says pak ‘baCkstabbed’ IndIa In kargIl, CautIons CItIzens on CovId-19

‘Mann kI baat’

IntervIew

rajasthan CrIsIs

CovId-19

repatrIatIon

sIlver lInIng growIng tentaCles

trIbutes to soldIers

relIef ConstruCtIon MIlestone

Our focus is on Ram Rajya after Ram temple: Uma Bharti

2 news t h e da i ly gua r d i a n2 7 j u ly 2 0 2 0n ew d e l h i

The national capital recorded 605 deaths due to the Covid-19 between 1 July and 12 July, as against 1,089 fatalities recorded during the same period in June, amounting to a de-crease of 44%. The Delhi govern-ment’s Covid-19 hospitals also saw a 58% reduction in death rates, going down from 361 deaths in early June to 154 in early July.

Delhi is now at the 10th position among states and Union Territories as the number of active cases are drastically decreasing. Until Satur-day, Delhi had been 8th on the list and 2nd a few days before that. The total number of cases has climbed to 1,30,606 after 1,075 people tested positive in the last 24 hours, and the death toll has risen to 3,827 with 21 fresh fatalities. However, the recovery rate in the national capital has also risen to 87.95%. The number of active cases is 11,904 right now.

Nationwide, 48,661 new cases of

Covid-19 have been reported in the last 24 hours, raising the total num-ber of cases in India to 13,85,522. In-dia has reported over 48 thousand cases for the last three days. The death toll now stands at 32,063 after the country reported 705 new deaths. However, over 36,145 people have recovered in the last 24 hours, the highest in a day so far. The current number of recovered patients stands at 8,85,577 across India, while active cases have increased to 4,67,882.

Among neighbouring states, Uttar Pradesh recorded its highest single-day spike of 3,246 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, taking the state›s tally to 66,988. As many as 39 more people died due to Covid-19, push-ing the toll to 1,426. Meanwhile, Haryana reported 3 more Covid-19 fatalities which took the death toll to 392 while the total caseload climbed to 31,332 with 794 fresh instances of the viral infection. Active cases in the state currently stand at 6,556, while 24,384 have been discharged follow-ing recovery. The state’s recovery rate

is 77% currently.Himachal Pradesh rose to 2,136

Covid-19 cases, with 929 active cases in the state. Although 1,178 people have recovered from the viral infec-tion, 12 people have lost their lives to the virus. Around 15 patients have also migrated from the state so far.

Maharashtra reported 9,431 more coronavirus-positive cases in the past 24 hours due to which the total tally rose to 3,75,799 in the state. The fa-tality count also rose to 13, 656 with 267 deaths. On the other hand, a to-tal of 6,044 patients have been cured so far, taking the recovery numbers to 2,13,238 patients. The state has 1,48,601 active cases currently.

Further south, Andhra Pradesh reported 7,627 coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases in the state is now at 96,298, including 48,956 active cases. 46,301 people have been discharged from different hospitals too, but 1,041 people have succumbed to Covid-19 in the state. Meanwhile, Telangana reported 1,593 more Covid-19 cases,

eight deaths and 998 recoveries in the last 24 hours. The state has reached 54,059 including 12,264 active cases. While 41,332 recoveries have been re-ported in the state so far, the death count stands at 463.

Karnataka also reported 5,199 new Covid-19 cases and 82 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of cases in the state shoot up to 96,141. The number includes 58,417 active cases and 1,878 deaths. Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu registered a spike of 6,986 fresh infections and 85 deaths in the last 24 hours, tak-ing the case count to 2,13,723 and death toll to 3,494. On the brighter side, as many as 1,56,526 individuals have recuperated from the disease, even though there are 53,703 active cases in the state. The neighbouring state of Kerala also recorded 927 new cases in the past 24 hours, taking the number of active cases in the state to 9,655. Recoveries were also recorded, with 689 patients being discharged, taking total recoveries in Kerala to 9,302.

Covid-19 deaths in July down by 44%, says Delhi govtaishvarya jainNew Delhi

ajeet srivastavaNew Delhi

CorrespondentNew Delhi

CorrespondentNew Delhi

bsp Issues whIp, dIreCts Its 6 Mlas to vote agaInst Congress In asseMbly sessIon

Why is Centre silent on community spread in Delhi: Health Minister

vande bharat MIssIon brIngs baCk 270k IndIans froM 53 CountrIes

NEW DELHI/KABUL: Pa-kistani terror outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad, which runs its terror activities in Jammu & Kashmir, has become active in Afghanistan.

In the last two days, at least 13 Pakistani Jaish terrorists were killed by Afghan secu-rity forces in the Khogyani district in Afghanistan.

The banned Pakistani terror outfit, headed by Masood Azhar, usually tar-gets civilians and soldiers in Jammu & Kashmir.

In February 2019, a Jaish suicide bomber blew up an Indian paramilitary bus in Pulwama in south Kashmir, killing over 40 CRPF per-sonnel. India retaliated by launching a surgical strike deep into Pakistan targeting Jaish terror camps in Bala-kot.

Sources said Pakistan’s spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), which trains, arms and sponsors Islamist terror groups, has been reorganising and re-structuring terror infra-structure against India and

Afghanistan.In a joint operation, the

National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have killed 13 and captured one Jaish terrorist in Mirza Khel in Khogyani district in Af-ghanistan. Along with them, 18 Afghan Taliban terrorists were also killed. The operation is still under-way, sources added.

On 29 June, the Afghan Se-curity Forces (ASF) had de-stroyed a camp of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT)—another Kashmir-centric terror out-fit—on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and killed two LeT terrorists. One of the two terrorists was Abu Bakr, an LeT commander from Khyber Agency in Pakistan. Talibani terror-ists were also present in the camp, sources in Kabul said.

Sources said Afghan intel-ligence had credible inputs that LeT and Taliban had es-tablished camps in Wargah and Tordarah on the border to launch attacks on Afghan

forces.After the operation, sever-

al Lashkar and Taliban ter-rorists fled back to Pakistani side of the border in their vehicles, taking along a high number of casualties.

In June, a UN Security Council report had said that not only do the Taliban and the Al Qaida continue to cooperate with each other, but Kashmir-specific Paki-stani terror groups, Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba, are sending their trainers to Afghanistan to carry out target assassina-tions. The report had said that around 6,500 Pakistani terrorists, including 1,000 from Jaish and Lashkar, are present in Afghanistan.

This was followed by a Pentagon report, which said the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region remains a sanctuary for al-Qaeda (AQ), al-Qaeda in the In-dian Subcontinent (AQIS), Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K). iAnS

kashMIr-CentrIC pak terror group jaIsh now aCtIve In afghanIstan

while on the other, what-ever our respon-sibilities, through

sheer perseverance, we have to lend pace to it, taking it to greater heights.”

Ahead of India’s Independ-ence Day celebrations next month, the Prime Minister urged the youth and the peo-ple of the country to pledge for freedom from the pandemic and to take a resolution to work for a self-reliant India.

about the work in the state of Maharashtra. Has everything come to a grinding halt? These are all false and baseless. They

are unable to digest how the entire nation came together for construc-tion of the Ram temple and I appeal to people to teach those lessons who tried to vitiate communal harmony by bringing Lord Ram in between.Q: Do you think Maharashtra CM Ud-dhav Thackeray should also be invited on 5 August? A: Who has stopped him from visiting Ayodhya? He can go to-morrow. No one will stop him. Only thing he will have to follow is social distancing during this pandemic. Why do these politicians crave for invitation?Q: Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur Barq and AIMIM MP from Maharashtra Im-tiaz Jaleel are saying that you are stopping

them from celebrating Bakr-e-Eid (Eid al-Adha) due to Covid but in the meantime you are celebrating foundation laying.A: That is a state subject and as you know there is a lockdown; even the Raksha Bandhan festival will not be celebrated, which is a major festival. Also, the Ram temple ceremony is not a public function and at one place where a limited number of people are being called and will assemble.Q. You were already a two-time MP. How did you get into the Ram temple move-ment?A: I used to do discourse (pravachan) on ‘Gita’ and ‘Ramayana’ and I was just 8-year-old. It was in the year 1969 when saint Ramchandra Paramhans took me to Ayodhya for a discourse on Ramayana. He took me to show the disputed site and it was painful to see and witness it. Later, a few years after I was told that there was an

order by the court to open the lock. There was mounting pressure by the Babri Masjid Action Committee so that namaz prayers could be offered on the disputed site. By this time, I was a two-time MP and under the leadership of Ashok Singhal, I was also asked to be part of a committee to convince the committee members to avoid offering prayers. On seeing that things were not going according to what was requested, then the BJP in its Palampur National Conven-tion passed a resolution of construc-tion of a huge Ram temple. Then with an idea to reach out to people

in the country, Advani ji took out a Rath Yatra. Ashok Singhal was our ideologue and Advani ji became the political face of the movement and I was their trusted lieutenant. I am happy that later Ram temple became the national issue. This way I got con-nected to the movement.Q: When the Babri structure was brought down, it became a headline all over the world and it was termed as national shame for India.A: Why should we be ashamed of it? It was a people’s movement with senti-ments involved. Everyone who was present was chanting ‘Ram Ram Jai Shri Ram’. Emergency was a national shame. Sikh violence was a national shame. When thousands of Sikhs were killed, when the country was divided and Partition was done, these were national shame. Chanting ‘Ram Ram’ can never be a matter of shame.

the sample.Satyendar Jain

f u r t h e r s a i d , “When the epi-

demic had been declared, there were only 10 COV-ID-19 patients. Now that the number of cases has crossed 10 million across the coun-try, shouldn’t it be called community spread? This should be declared by the central government or WHO or NCDC.” Citing the report, he added, “In the second week of June this year, Dr Randeep Guleria, Director of AIIMS, had said that the coronavirus will see a com-munity spread, but the Cen-tral Government is still not declaring it officially.”

Jain’s question was met with criticism from both

BJP and Congress. BJP MP Ramesh Bidhuri told The Daily Guardian, “The Delhi government is saying this only to hide its failures and corruption. If Jain feels that there is community spread, then he should write to the Central government and get Delhi on lockdown again to offer people relief.” Delhi Congress vice-president Abhishek Dutt also told The Daily Guardian that the Del-hi government should “sit down when all the work is to be done by only the Centre”.

“Delhi Metro and Delhi Police are under the Central government, new hospitals are being opened by the Cen-tral government. The Delhi government is only good for publicity,” he added.

he added. “BSP is a

national party so if we would have done merger with

Congress on national and state-level then it would have been called as a merger but it did not happen. So how will merger take place in Rajasthan? So this is un-constitutional action,” said

Mishra. “We had earlier also written to Election Com-mission during Rajya Sabha elections and we had men-tioned everything. But they asserted that they cannot entertain this on technical grounds,” he added.

The anti-defection law, en-shrined in the Tenth Sched-ule of the Constitution, was inserted in 1985 to prevent

such political defections. It lists two situations for dis-qualification on the ground of defection. Firstly, if an MP or an MLA “has voluntarily given up his membership of such political party” (clause 2(1)(a)). Secondly, if he votes or abstains from voting in the House contrary to any direction issued by his party, that is if he violates the party

whip in the House (clause 2(1)(b).

Rajasthan plunged into a political crisis after differ-ences between former Dep-uty Chief Minister Sachin Pilot and CM Ashok Gehlot came out in the open. Pilot was removed as the Deputy CM of Rajasthan and as the state unit chief of the party. wiTh Ani inpuTS

Nigeria and Belarus.

The scheduled international pas-

senger flights continue to re-main suspended in India. But special international charter flights have been operating under VBM since 6 May to help stranded people reach their destinations.

The fifth phase of VBM will also include many inter-national airlines, from the US, UK, France, Germany and UAE, with which India has entered into Air Bubble agreements.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas has sent over 10,400 rakhis to Indian soldiers deployed along the borders of Pakistan and China in-cluding Delhi-made ‘Modi rakhis’. Sending out a clear message that both Aksai Chin area and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) area belonged to India, the traders also paid tributes to the Indian soldiers on the occasion. In the meantime, the organisation has also launched a boycott Chinese campaign across the country and has given a call to cele-brate Raksha Bandhan this year as ‘Hindustani Rakhi’.

The confederation on Sun-day, delivered over 10,000 ‘rakhis’ to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to be sent for the Indian troops de-ployed along the borders of China and Pakistan. Apart

from ‹Modi rakhis›, jute rakhi (Nagpur), seed rakhi (Pune), wool rakhi (Satna), rakhi made of tribal items (Jamshedpur) tea leaves ra-khi (Assam and Kolkata), silk rakhi (Kolkata) and fashionable rakhi (Mum-bai), among others were also included.

CAIT national president B.C. Bhartia and secretary Praveen Khandelwal told The Daily Guardian that ra-khis with the message “Ak-sai Chin and POK belong to India” were made from In-dian soil mixing with plant-able seeds followed by paint and pasting a sticker of the message. They said that the purpose behind making this rakhi is that the soil of our country is priceless us-ing which the farmers get grains and also the Indian soldiers are always ready to protect the honour of the Tricolour. “On the other hand, this rakhi gives a very strong and clear message that the day is not far when

Aksai China and POK will also be part of India,” they said.

On 2 August, a day before the Raksha Bandhan festi-val, the trade leaders across the country will visit Army hospitals in different cities of all states and will tie rakhi to soldiers. In addition, fe-male Pakistani Hindu refu-gees living in Delhi’s Majnu Ka Tila area who have been sustaining themselves by doing petty work have been given contracts by Rashtriya Bharatiya Sanstha of RSS to make rakhi. Saraswati, who makes rakhis said, “Our brothers posted on the border are engaged in protecting the country and to protect them, their sisters are sending rakhi with their own hands. It is a pleasure for us.”

Sandeep, a worker of the Sewa Dal, is looking after the work of rakhi making. He said that this is also pro-viding employment to the women living in the area.

The Delhi Metro Rail Corpo-ration (DMRC) started con-struction of Phase-IV of the Delhi Metro with the casting of the first pier of Janakpuri West to Ramakrishna Ash-ram Marg Metro corridor on Saturday night.

A statement from the DMRC said that the pier was cast at Keshopur on the el-evated stretch between Kes-hopur and Mukarba Chowk. “This major construction milestone has been achieved despite a severe shortage of manpower and other logis-tical challenges because of the ongoing pandemic. The

average height of the piers on this corridor is 10 me-tres. However, the height of the piers will be 20 metres at Madhuban Chowk (crossing with Line 1) and 25 metres at Haiderpur Badli Mor where this line will cross line 2. At Haiderpur Badli Mor, the rail level is going to be the highest, i.e, 28 metres in the history of Delhi Metro. Presently, the highest point is at Dhaula Kuan, where the Line 7 viaduct passes at a height of 23.6 metres. The approximate distance be-tween each pier will be about 28 metres,” the release said.

The Metro train services have been under suspension since 22 March.

The first batch of 11 members of the Sikh community from Afghanistan, who have been facing the worst form of persecution at the hands of Pakistan-backed Taliban, ar-rived in India on Sunday in a special flight facilitated by the Government of India. The group has four children, one minor girl, three women, and three men.

Significantly, among other repatriates in-cludes 60-year-old Delhi-based Sikh Nidan Singh Sachdeva and 16-year-old Sunmeet Kaur who were kidnapped by terrorists there and was later rescued by security agencies.

While speaking to ANI, Sachdeva told, “I am more than thankful to the Government of India for bringing us here. I have no words to describe my feelings here. I could arrive here after much struggle. An atmosphere of fear prevails over there. The gurdwara is where

we can be safe but a step outside Gurdwara is fearful.” The repatriation process was started by the Indian government after reports of mi-nority persecution and human rights viola-tions appeared.

“We want peace and earn a livelihood. My mother and brother are still there. I request the government to bring them as well. The situation is bad there. All of us are being pressurised by them for conversions,” said Balender Singh. Approximately 700 Hindu and Sikhs Afghan Nationals have registered with Embassy of India in Kabul and are seek-ing an immediate return to India.

India is facilitating the entire process of returning of Afghan Hindu and Sikh com-munity members facing security threats in Afghanistan and extended a helping hand despite the ongoing pandemic. They will stay at the guest house of Rakabgunj Gurdwara looked after the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara man-agement committee. wiTh Ani inpuTS

Big rakhi message to Pak, China on Kargil Day

11 Afghan Sikhs arrive in India, say they were being targeted

delhI Metro Casts fIrst pIer under phase-4 work

3newsthe daily guardian27 july 2020

new delhi

Tensions have risen on the Andhra-Odisha border with the region witnessing increased Maoist activity of late. For the second time in a week, firing took place at the state border, causing the death of a Maoist. Police have not revealed the identity of the deceased yet.

The incident took place in the border area of G. Madugula in Vishakhapatnam. This has come only days ahead of “Maoist Martyrs Week”, which is supposed to start on 28 July. Previ-ously, another instance of an exchange of fire between Maoists and the police had occurred in Killamkota on 19 July. Police sources have said that CPI (Maoist) leader RK had been pres-ent at the skirmish, and leader Chalapathi had likely been injured.

Sources have also said that the celebration of “Maoist Mar-tyrs Week” has invited hundreds of Maoists to the Odisha-Andhra border. The police and paramilitary forces have closed roads in the region and intensified combing operations as a response. Rallies with the support of tribal people in the area are anticipated during the Maoist celebrations.

According to the police, the Covid-19 lockdown and the con-sequent decrease in police movement have led to Maoists re-grouping in the densely forested Andhra-Odisha border and northern Telangana. However, the Andhra Pradesh DGP has assured that the police are on high alert. “The Maoists have also been encouraging  ganja cultivation in the tribal regions,” he added.

To create more awareness, police officials including the DGP have visited Maoist-affected areas and asked tribal residents to not shelter any Maoists.

‘Red alert’ in Andhra, another Maoist killed

Political crisisanother firing

cong attacks rajasthan governor for not holding assembly sessionParty slams Kalraj Mishra for not acceding to CM’s request of convening the Assembly session, gears up to launch nationwide agitations in front of different Raj Bhavans.

Amid ongoing po-litical crisis in Ra-jasthan, the Con-

gress on Sunday slammed the state’s governor Kalraj Mishra for not acceding to its request of convening the Assembly session. In the meantime, the party has also decided to launch massive country-wide agi-tations in front of different Raj Bhavans against the BJP’s alleged anti-demo-cratic and anti-constitu-tional actions.

Congress leader and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Sun-day trained his gun at the Governor and said that he was not taking deci-sions in accordance with

the Constitution. “Gover-nors are bound to listen to the aid and advice of the state government but he is listening to a voice that is from the government at the Centre. Constitutional au-thorities—be it governors, courts or central govern-ment—are supposed not only to know their consti-tutional roles and bound-aries but to scrupulously follow them in letter and spirit and promote the true intent of the framers who designed them,” he said.

The Rajasthan Governor on Friday had refused to convene an assembly ses-sion as demanded by state’s CM Ashok Gehlot. In his response to the request, the Governor asked a few ques-tions and also mentioned the issue of the ongoing dis-

qualification case against rebel Sachin Pilot and his 18 supporting MLAs in the

Supreme Court. While giving a rebuttal

to this point, Singhvi said

that the court cases in the Rajasthan High court and in the Supreme Court had nothing to do with the con-vening of the Assembly in the state. “Is it common sensical conceivable that any governor ever should refuse or delay the holding of a floor test, which truly determines who has the numbers and objections/ queries, intended to delay and postpone the floor test, not let the cat out of the bag as to who really has the numbers?”, he added.

Singhvi had argued on be-half of Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C.P. Joshi in the High Court in case of dis-qualification in which the High Court ruled to main-tain status quo which was seen as interim relief for Pilot Camp. However Sing-

hvi said, “Is the Governor and his diverse advisors who have generated such queries not aware of estab-lished jurisprudence, from the Constituent Assembly to diverse SC judgments, that unequivocally estab-lish that the Governor is powerless and without ju-risdiction in matters where he is advised by the State Cabinet?”

Former Congress presi-dent and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi also posted a tweet in this regard. He wrote, “The democracy of India will run with the voice of the people on the basis of the constitution. The people of the country will protect democracy and the constitution by denying the conspiracy of fraud of BJP.”

Sumit DubeyNew Delhi

The Punjab government on Sunday decided to provide plas-ma to private hospitals from the government’s plasma bank at reasonable cost to help contain the spread of Covid-19 and make ‘Mission Fateh’ a success.

The Medical Education and Research Department spokes-person said, “Private hospitals treating Covid-19 patients were demanding plasma from the day plasma bank was es-tablished in the state.” 

“After deliberation with the field experts, the state govern-ment has decided to provide plasma to these private hospitals at a cost of Rs 20,000 per unit. Moreover, plasma would be made available free of cost to the patients undergoing treat-ment in the government hospitals of Punjab”, the spokesper-son added.

Minister of Medical Education and Research Punjab O.P. Soni had inaugurated Punjab’s first Plasma Bank online at Patiala on 21 July.

Panchkula will host the fourth edition of the Khelo India Youth Games in 2021. The matches will take place after the 2021 Tokyo Olym-pics; however, dates have not been finalised yet.

It was decided in a meeting held through video confer-ence in the presence of Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Kiren Rijiju, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal, State’s Sports Minister Sand-eep Singh and senior officials of the Sports Ministry in New Delhi.

Haryana Assembly Speaker Gian Chand Gupta said, “This is an exciting opportunity for Panchkula and surrounding areas to develop and grow. This year, more than 10,000 players participated in the Khelo India Youth Games

held in Guwahati. We are expecting more players to participate in the fourth edi-tion.”

Gupta said, the event will be taken as a self-contained opportunity for Panchkula and will develop a compre-

hensive sports infrastructure here. Haryana had performed well in the previous editions and since we are the hosts this time, the players will be more enthusiastic.

 He thanked Union Minister of Sports Minister Kiren Ri-jiju, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal and State Sports Minister Sandeep Singh for giving Panchkula a chance to host.

Khelo India Games is the biggest sports campaign started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018. Since then, it has been organised every year at the national level.

Hyderabad Mayor Bonthu Rammohan on Sunday said that he has tested positive for Covid-19. He took to social media to make the announcement that although asymptomatic, he has tested Covid-19 positive and will be under home quarantine.

All his family members have tested negative for coronavi-rus. He said that he is ready to donate plasma after recovery. Despite being under home-quarantine, the Mayor is review-ing the progress of different works being executed by Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) through video conferencing.

The Mayor was tested twice for coronavirus before but had tested negative on both the occasions.

On 7 June, he had undergone the test after an employee of a hotel, where he had tea, tested positive for coronavirus. On another occasion, he underwent the test after his driver tested Covis-19 positive.

Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Sunday said that the vision of a self-reliant India is not possible without an empowered womanhood.

The Union minister said this while addressing a webinar on the theme of ‘The Resolve of Self-Reli-ant India, Decisive Role of Women Empowerment in its Attainment’, organised by Panjab University.

She further said that In-dian society must revert

back to the Indian way of thinking in which an In-

dian woman, in contrast to western construct, was not a mere object or a person in servitude but an equal partner who participated in debates and wrote trea-ties. ‘Access to capital’ and ‘Access to skill’ are the two areas where women need to be encouraged, she stressed.

Later, Padam Shri Award-ee Malini Awasthi delved on the cultural contexts in her talk and stressed on how Indian cultural values have been carried forward by Indian women.

Punjab govt to Provide Plasma to Pvt hosPitals

Panchkula to host Khelo India after Tokyo OlympicsThe event will be taken as a ‘self-contained opportunity’ for Panchkula to develop a comprehensive sports infrastructure.

hyderabad mayor tests Positive for coronavirus

Women empowerment is key to self-reliant nation: Smriti

Anil bhArDwAjChaNDigarh h. Agnihotri

PaNChkula

lokeSwArA rAohyDerabaD SoumutrA PriyADerShi

ChaNDigarh

mission fateh fourth edition

rising cases

announcement

Webinar

lokeSwArA rAohyDerabaD

PeoPle’S grievAnceS

haryana gets 10,000 comPlaints on cm WindoW every month, reveals rtI rAvinDer mAlikChaNDigarh

To ensure timely disposal of people’s grievances, the Haryana government had given nod to the establishment of the CM’s window in 2014 and so far over six lakh com-plaints have been reported against more than 50 depart-ments. Though most of the complaints have been sorted out, it is pertinent to mention that out of these most of them belong to departments of police, urban local bod-ies (ULB), electricity, health, revenue, food and safety.

During five years and three months from January 2015 to March 2020, a total of 6,24,944 complaints, about 10,000 per month got registered on the window every month. Given its success, the government has come up with a plan to set up an additional grievance portal in each district.

An RTI sought by Mehar Chand Ravish, resident of Kaithal, revealed that out of the total, complaints against the department of police (1,85,488) and rural develop-ment (81,023), followed by ULB (48,314) and electricity (41,000) while revenue (39,480) remains on the fifth position. Besides, complaints against the department of education (34,315) followed by food and safety (18,399). As per the information, 1,33,355 complaints were re-ported in 2018, followed by 1,33,098 in 2017.

“Police department owns a 97% disposal rate which indicates a lot in itself. Besides, the department is leav-ing no stone unturned to maintain law and order in the state,” said Manoj Yadava, DGP, Haryana.

Despite the tall claims of better governance and in the wake of above complaints, things do not seem to be tak-ing place in the right way to some extent as a string of officials is not performing their duties properly. It results in bad experiences for commoners. 

The current need is to make these careless officials and employees subject to stern action so that common men can get their work done at earliest. Haryana Minister Anil Vij, who holds health, home, technical education and urban local bodies portfolios, said that the depart-ments have already been directed for timely disposal of grievances and every possible effort is being made to resolve public issues.

File photo of Maoists with their weapons.

Congress leader and senior lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal.

Union Minister of Women and Child Development Smriti Irani.

Haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala.

Police suspect the Maoists are regrouping during Covid-19 lockdown.

with an objective of strengthening the healthcare infrastructure in the state, the haryana government has come up with a plan to set up a new Medical College in Sirsa.

while making the announcement, haryana Deputy CM Dushyant Chautala said, “The

day is not far when people will get better healthcare facilities within their home dis-tricts. The state government’s plan to set up a medical college in every district has gained momentum and it’s Sirsa’s turn now.”

he further said that the establishment of the new medical college in the district would not only provide relief to the people from travelling to other districts for healthcare

services but also create employment op-portunities for the local unemployed youth. The youth of the district and nearby areas would also get medical education in the new college, he added. Pertinent to mention that haryana CM Manohar lal khattar has approved the setting up of three new medi-cal colleges in the state to give fillip to the healthcare facilities in the state.

sirsa to get neW medical college soon, says haryana dy cmrAvinDer mAlikChaNDigarh

The police have busted a sex racket in Agra being run in a private farmhouse owned by a local politician, guest houses and hotels. According to the police, an FIR has been lodged in the matter by Additional Super-intendent of Police, Saurabh Dixit. After a raid at the politician’s farmhouse on Friday evening, the police arrested 12 people, including three women from Kolkata.

All of them were charged under the Im-moral Trade (Prevention) Act, 1956 and Arms Act, 1959. The police also recovered some cash and country made weapons during the raid. The politician, however, has dismissed it as an “attempt to frame him in a false case”.

Rohan Botre, the Agra City SP, said, “Dur-ing an investigation of alleged loot attempt, which occurred on July 2 at Akbara Road,

our team received an input on a sex racket being run in hotels and a farmhouse. A team led by ASP Saurabh Dixit then conducted a raid at the farmhouse and busted the syndicate.” “A total of 17 people have been booked, out of which a politician and other hotel owners and managers are on the run. But, they will be arrested soon. The modus operandi of the syndicate was that they would bring young women from Delhi, Kol-kata or other places and run the sex racket on their commercial premises,” he added.With IANS inputs

Sex racket buSted in agra farmhouSe, hotelSour CorrespondentAgRA

As the storm strikes, if you look at branch-es, the tree appears

to be falling. But if you look at the trunk, you realise its stability! Over the years, the same tree that gave us shelter, fruits and clean air, grows old. The trunk be-come weaker, the roots have shaken up. A small storm is now capable of uprooting this old tree. This tree de-picts our older generation and Covid-19 depicts one of the many storms in their lifetime.

Retired from professional responsibilities, the old population enters its second innings, with expectations of recognition of the author-ity, wisdom, dignity and restraint for their lifetime of experience. These val-ues are often overlooked in

some societies, where senior citizens suffer from neglect, abuse and violence in many forms. These people forget seniors’ contribution to so-ciety. The culture of utility-driven relationship finds no place or respect for the old due to their diminishing re-turns. At these societies and homes, seniors are being felt like a burden for the family purse. The lack of sensitiv-ity towards their emotional, physical and social require-ments leads to loneliness and sufferings. They are often forced to live in isola-tion. The bizarre reality of such societies could be seen in most urban landscapes and the Covid-19 pandemic has only worsened their con-dition.

The senior citizens in the urban places, before coro-navirus, often found solace through daily walks, laugh-ter clubs, long discussions over a cup of tea, and eve-ning chit chats with their fellow age mates. The re-maining time was invested in newspaper, television news and smartphones, apart from household and grandchildren’s responsi-bilities. If time permitted, a few could pursue their hob-

bies and interests.Their already compressed

solace and freedom vanished with the Covid-19 storm, as the 65+ age group of citizens is expected to stay at home, as a precautionary measure. The presence of the deadly virus can be seen in news-papers, television screens or even WhatsApp which has taken away their freedom and peace of mind. The co-vid-19 fear and its mortality statistics added to their wor-ries further. 

Their disregard worsened to the extreme as people in the neighbourhood and the family too, started neglecting their old members. At many places cases propped up where adults denied entry at home to their corona-recov-ered/cured old parents. The fear of infection and death added to their miseries.

The WHO defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. This definition, during covid-19 times and otherwise, is nar-rowed down to physical health alone, thereby ne-glecting the psychological toll social distancing is tak-ing on elderly. Their social and mental health is at risk.

The United Nation’s Ma-drid International Plan of Action on Ageing suggested certain measures for the better integration of our old age people in the family and community as a whole. We need to recognise, respect and at times celebrate the contribution and dedica-tion of our senior citizens towards building the very society which we are living in. The pandemic has given

us ample time to reorganise ourselves, rectify past mis-takes, if any, and leave aside unnecessary materialist pursuits for valuable human relations, at home and in the society.

There is a magic in human relations and family living together and kids should ex-perience this magic. A small compassionate, friendly step from us would be a big step seniors’ well-being. A smile and greeting to an old passerby could be a kind gesture from the kid which is enough to make them feel integrated with the society. Ultimately it’s about taking time from our busy lives, to make them feel important and being cared. As at the root of all human civilisa-tions is love, compassion and a deep sense of gratitude. We need to remember that age is irreversible and inevitable as life comes full circle for everyone! To stand tall and withstand the storm, the old tree requires necessary sup-port, care and strengthening at the root level.The writer is an Indian Infor-mation Service officer at the I&B Ministry, GoI, and author of ‘Ethics, Integrity & Aptitude’ (McGraw-Hill Publication).

elderly people need Special care in covid timeS

political linkS?gratitude

santosh ajmera

news plus the daily guardian27 july 2020new delhi4

We need to recognise, respect and celebrate the contribution and dedication of our senior citizens towards building the very society which we are living in.

Covid-19 has caused immense disruption to the education sec-

tor. It has literally forced the universities to reimagine ev-ery aspect of higher educa-tion right from curricular provisions, instructional materials, pedagogical pro-cesses, mode of delivery to mode of assessment and award of degrees. In cer-tain manner it has exposed the fragility of the system to the extent that some of the universities are inde-cisive about the conduct of examination and declaring the results of the final year students.

The revised guidelines of the UGC, which have asked the universities to conduct the final-year examination within 30 September 2020, have further complicated the issue. It has resulted in an avoidable standoff be-tween the regulators and good-sized stakeholders. The issue would have been conveniently resolved had individual universities

been allowed to exercise their autonomy keeping in view their social and physi-cal realities, coupled with knowledge of technical and professional aspects of assessment of learning in which area the university system has ample scholar-ship. Sadly, this stalemate has now reached the door-steps of the Supreme Court because the system does not have the capacity to adapt to such changes.

Those who are opposing the UGC guidelines are gen-uinely scared of the conse-quences of the unstoppable Covid-19 pandemic which has created mayhem all over the world. Furthermore, they seem to be convinced with the alternate mode of assessment which suggests that the final-year students may be awarded degrees or diplomas on the basis of the average performance of their previous semesters coupled with the sessional evaluation of the last semes-ter provided it turns out to be above the minimum cri-teria of passing laid down by the universities in their statutes or ordinances. The rationality of this argument needs to be analysed in a more dispassionate man-ner for the benefit of all the stakeholders.

Universities are expected to assess the performance of the individual students on the basis of three cri-

teria, namely the perfor-mance of the students with regard to self, with regard to peer group, and with regard to intended learn-ing outcomes. When a stu-dent is continuously and comprehensively assessed over a period spanning five semesters, it is presumed that her performance in the sixth semester is not going to be drastically different from the earlier five semes-ters and therefore averag-ing her performance for the purposes of awarding the degree, under the present life threatening situations, will be as fair an assessment as that of the summation of all the semesters. A lot of merit can be seen in this argument if the process of awarding marks or grades in the current evaluation system is further clarified.

It is a known fact that most universities are essentially using the 101 point interval scale for the evaluation of students in terms of marks and grades. This scale is based on two tentative as-sumptions. First, it assumes that the entire scale is di-vided into hundred units of equal sizes, which means that the difference between 40 and 41 is as much as the difference between 99 and 100. Second, it assumes that the zero on the scale represents the nothingness of an attribute and that 100 represents absolute 100. Both these assumptions are incorrect because the dif-ference between any two subsequent units on the scale does not remain the same because it gets wider and wider as one moves on the scale from left to right. Similarly, zero on the scale does not represent the noth-ingness of an attribute, nor

100 represents absolute 100. If someone is awarded zero mark, it may not be ap-propriate to infer that she knows nothing and simi-larly it may be equally inap-propriate to presume that one who gets 100 marks has mastered every compe-tency to the level of hundred percent. These are the limi-tations of this scale which do not allow us to add the marks of one subject with another subject, nor permit us to compare the marks or grades across the subjects nor across the years.

Furthermore, the marks awarded in any examina-tion, called the raw scores, never reflect the true scores of the learners as they get contaminated because of plethora of subjectivity which creeps into assess-ment procedures due to inter-examiner variability, imperfection of sampling of test contents, difficulty lev-els of questions, arbitrary time limits, etc. And, there is hardly any university which might be using sta-tistical methods for trans-forming the raw scores into standard scores and using

the latter for declaring the results. Further to this, it is also empirically proved that the magnitude of er-rors in measurement, which are called Standard Error of Measurement (SEM) might vary from 10-15% in a hundred marks paper. In such a situation, if a student is awarded 60 marks and the SEM is taken as 10, her marks are likely to be any-where between 50 and 70 in two out of three cases and between 40 and 80 in nine-teen out of twenty cases and between 30 and 90 in all the cases. It is precisely because of this reason that grad-ing is considered a better system of evaluation than the numerical marking sys-tem wherein students are placed in certain predeter-mined ability bands which can be represented by let-ter grades. If there are such wide variations, then the as-sessment of students in one of the semesters should not be accorded such a monu-mental priority and that too during such unusual times.

While the universities have been asked to con-duct the examination in offline, online or blended mode, the fact remains that most of them do not have the capacity to go in for a proctored examination. One of the premier univer-sities in Delhi tried to do it but could not succeed even whilst conducting the mock examination due to techni-cal glitches at the levels of both students and univer-sity. It is easier to say that students can write their ex-aminations from the place of their residence. But the fact remains that Internet connectivity, speed, scale and availability of smart devices are serious issues

which will continue to frus-trate such moves for some time to come. It is not pos-sible for most universities to invent the framework required for the conduct of proctored examination within a couple of weeks.

When the country is con-stantly witnessing a monu-mental surge of fatalities and infections and when there is no hope of any re-spite soon from Covid-19 pandemic in the near fu-ture, it may be appropriate to go in for a single policy at this point in time so that there is some sort of stan-dardisation across the uni-versities. It is advisable that the universities may be al-lowed to go in for the afore-mentioned measures. 

Our university system has thus far remained too obsessed with offline mode of assessing students’ learn-ing, now the time seems to have come to incorporate into our curriculum the con-tours of online and blended modes of examination with all their technological per-spectives. Universities, on their part, must focus on how the examination needs to be morphed over time to allow these kinds of things to happen in a natural man-ner. It is necessary to invest energy more on things like how to scale teachers and put a qualified, competent and caring teacher in each class, how to design curri-cula and syllabi with futur-istic orientation so that it prepares youth for tomor-row’s world, how to decen-tralise the decision-making process, and how to bring in technology into education at a scale. The writer is former Chairper-son, University Grants Com-mission.

The big Covid lessons for education sectorOur university system has thus far remained obsessed with offline mode of assessing students’ learning, now the time seems to have come to incorporate online and blended modes of examination.

Summit

Corona diSruptionS

Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Deb, who like many of his colleagues in the Bharatiya Janata Party, has a penchant of embarrassing his national leadership, recently goofed up once again by making dispar-aging remarks against the Jat community. Accord-ing to a video which was posted online, Deb has reportedly stated that the Jats lacked the brains and were no match for Bengalis who were known for their superior intelligence. The uncalled gaffe must have shocked the entire Sangh Parivar, at a time, when the Central government through West Ben-gal Governor Jagdeep Dhankar, who belongs to the Jat community, is trying to assert its writ in a state administered by Mamta Banerjee’s Trinamool Con-gress. His views imply that Dhankar’s community is known for its brawn rather than wisdom, and therefore can be easily outwitted by intellectually evolved Bengalis (Mamta and her party).

The ignorant Chief Minister should be told that the Jats have always been high achievers. Their sacrifices in the battlefield have been exemplary and they have made this country proud with their deeds of valour and bravery. By attempting to put them down with harsh words was grossly unfair, given their contribution to the society. In the field of education, the Jats have also made their mark. Prof Hardwari Lal, former Vice Chancellor of Ma-harishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, Prof Sarup Singh, former Delhi University Vice-Chancellor and Prof Ved Prakash, erstwhile Chairman of the University Grants Commission were leaders in the academics sphere. In fact, they led from the front and illuminated the lives of so many deprived and underprivileged students belonging not only to their own community but to various castes.

During the freedom struggle, the Jats were in the forefront in the fight against British imperialism. Chaudhury Matu Ram, grandfather of former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, resisted the foreign rulers in vast areas where he wielded influence in undivided Punjab. He along with Ajit Singh, uncle of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, were a constant threat to the alien regime, which wanted them to be sent to Kala Pani, the extreme form of punishment for freedom fighters who were shipped to Port Blair in the Andaman Nicobar Is-lands. Chaudhury Charan Singh, the iconic leader of the community, rose to become the Prime Minis-ter of India. Chaudhury Devi Lal, Chaudhury Ran-bir Singh and Chaudhury Nathu Ram Mirdha were well liked and respected leaders of the community who were revered by one and all.

In Punjab following its reorganisation in 1966, virtually every Chief Minister, barring perhaps Giani Zail Singh, has been from the Jat community. The current Punjab CM is a military historian and regarded as an authority on warfare. Across the border, the Jats have held key posts in the govern-ment and public life. In the sphere of sports, the Jats have excelled, performing exceptionally well in the Olympics. Therefore, Biplab Deb should in future think twice before shooting his mouth. His com-ments must have caused embarrassment to even the culturally conscious Bengalis.Pankaj Vohra

perspectiveEmbarrassing statEmEnt

BJp muSt rein in tripura Cm BiplaB deB

The recently concluded EU-India Summit laid founda-tions for a deeper and more strategic cooperation be-tween the European Union and India in times to come. Though there was no sign of an FTA between the EU and India in the immediate future and no condemnation of China, there still were a lot of things to cheer about.Both the EU and India have agreed to deepen cooperation in areas like climate change, maritime security, digital economy, connectivity, re-

search and innovation, wa-ter and climate action, and civil nuclear cooperation. This agreement can lead to plenty of new possibilities. India can play a role in the EU’s Climate-Neutral Plan and vaccine development, for example. Moreover, dis-ruptions may happen in Global Value Chains (GVC) post-Covid, giving India an opportunity to evolve from a country that is barely in-tegrated into any GVC to a magnet of potential invest-ments by partnering with

the EU. The “China factor” is important in this context for India to reduce its reliance on imports from China (India’s trade deficit with China was $57 billion in 2019) and to provide the EU with an alter-native trade and investment partner. India will do well with international capital investment flows and tech-nology transfer for fostering local innovation and skills.The Ambassador of Denmark to India, Freddy Svane, said, “Geopolitics is ever-demand-ing and the well-known global order that has brought peace and prosperity is under constant threat. Countries are trying to protect their interests. The need for new ties is at its highest. Our chal-lenges are not becoming less — whether it’s climate change or trade. Nowadays, develop-ment must be the guiding principle. The recent India-EU summit de facto set a new standard for next-generation international cooperation. EU and India are the most relevant strategic partners, if we want a better and more sustainable future. Denmark is happy to bring its skills to renewable energy and

green transformation. It will generate many jobs and skills in India. By combining skills and scale we will bring about the speed needed. India’s future and prosperity call for international cooperation, in-cluding free trade. Together, EU and India will be the an-chor of stability.”EU is India’s largest trading partner. In 2019 alone, trade in goods accounted for $100 billion (or 11.1% of total Indian trade). The EU is also one of the largest investors in India with a cumulative investment of around $86 billion (as of 2018), which is significant – but still well below the $220 billion invested in China. Additionally, trade in ser-vices between the EU and India has increased rapidly from $28 billion in 2015 to $37 billion in 2018. However, India represented only 2% of EU’s external trade, well behind China (13.8%), indicating a tremendous untapped potential for the future of India-EU trade and investment.“The EU-India Summit has been a great success, offering more cooperation opportu-nities between Europe and

India. This is duly reflected in the broad and ambitious Roadmap 2025 which was adopted,” said Tania Frie-derichs, Head of Research & Innovation Section at the EU Delegation to India. “In-creased efforts on research and innovation will be nec-essary to green the economy, create a human-centric digital world and a global response to the Covid-19 pandemic, in which finding new techno-logical solutions jointly will be key in addressing common challenges. The fact that the EU and India share the same values helps a lot in engaging together on research and in-novation,” she added.World trade had been fac-ing increased uncertain-ties due to the frailty of the multilateral trading system, even before Covid-19. Many countries were seen shifting towards bilateral/regional trade agreements with al-lies. Keeping this in mind, the India-EU cooperation would be timely — particu-larly in clean technology and other sustainability strategies — especially when compared to trade deals with other al-lies. India, for instance, has

a people-to-people connec-tivity with the USA much more than the EU, but the current US administration has walked out of the Paris Accord and has followed an America-First strategy. Fur-thermore, since Vietnam, one of India’s main competitors, has ratified its FTA with the EU, Indian exporters could lose their markets in the EU to Vietnam.However, there are certain challenges in the partnership too. One of the key demands that EU has made is for In-dia to tighten its data security measures in order to qualify as a data-secure nation, as per its General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) legisla-tion, which lays down rules for the processing and free movement of personal data. Lack of recognition from EU as a data-secure country will serve as a blow for India-EU negotiations, since it would affect India’s IT and IT-en-abled services. However, in 2019, the Indian government introduced its Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill in the Parliament, supposedly at par with GDPR. Once PDP becomes an act, India can

approach EU seeking data-secure status to reduce the compliance burden as well as provide gains for Indian tech-nology industry. Moreover, the increasing risks of cyber-attacks will require further regulation and compliance in cybersecurity; therefore, India-EU cooperation in data protection and cybersecurity may evolve ahead based on human rights and mutual values. Second, caught be-tween the US and China, the EU is going through its own geopolitical challenges. The EU itself requires a coher-ent common foreign policy, which is presently more sti-fling rather than complemen-tary for its 28 member states’ national foreign policies. For instance, the EU showed a di-vided stance on the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This decoupled foreign policy can play a pivotal role in the dynamics towards any seri-ous partnership with India, since for many member states China still remains the main focus of engagement in Asia.Third, there is the question of India’s domestic reforms. Without completing its own key domestic reforms of land

acquisition and labour, and without proper infrastruc-ture and connectivity, India’s dream of wooing FDI and boost domestic manufac-turing would remain elusive.To sum it up, it can be said that greater cooperation in economic terms, trade and in-vestment flows may increase for India, while the EU may get access to a large market. Most importantly, both India and the EU are liberal and plural democracies, with natural reasons to cooper-ate. Currently, the EU and India need to work together and move from a tactical part-nership to a strategic partner-ship more than ever before. In conclusion, the future of the EU and India would depend now on how much people-to-people engagement increases and how the geopolitics plays out globally.Rajesh Mehta is a leading Inter-national Consultant and Policy Professional. Badri Narayanan Gopalakrishnan is Founder Di-rector of Infinite Sum Modelling, and affiliate faculty member at University of Washington, Se-attle. Deepika Wadhwa is an advisor to Infinite Sum Model-ling in Seattle.

Why it’s the best time for India and EU to work together

5comment & analysisthe daily guardian27 july 2020

new delhi

The revised guidelines of the UGC, which have asked the universities to conduct the final-year examination within 30 September 2020, have further complicated the issue.

opinionVed Prakash

opinionrajesh Mehta, Badri

NarayaNaN GoPalakrishNaN & deePika WadhWa

analysis

IntroductIonIn our previous trend, we focused on the features of markets in the digital world with respect to high returns to scale and network exter-nalities which went hand-in-hand with the rise in provision of free services. The exponential growth of this market is underscored by the fact that digital ad-vertising has prevailed over traditional channels such as print and television adver-tising in many countries, to become the largest medium of advertisements. Targeted advertising is made possible only because of profiling of consumers based on search habits and insights gained from their data.

This data is an essential facet of advertising on the digital medium, as advertis-ers can choose to target ad-vertisements based on based on browsing behaviour and interests (behavioural tar-geting), the theme and con-text of a website (contextual targeting); geographical lo-cation of an individual (geo-graphical targeting); social, demographic and economic characteristics such as age, gender, income (sociodemo-graphic targeting) or even based on time, day or week (time targeting). This wide array of options are avail-able to advertisers because consumers increasingly rely on “free” services, such as maps, general search ser-vices, etc. in their daily lives, generating vast swathes of data in the process of doing so which allows for a rich development of targeting factors.

dIgItal advertIs-Ing: establIshIng the trend Since user data presents valuable behavioural in-sights, advertisers increas-ingly find spending on Digital Advertising gives higher returns on invest-ments. While currently ad-vertising revenues through traditional channels such as print and television advertis-ing is still higher than digital advertising, market studies show that Digital Advertis-ing revenues will eventually surpass print advertising revenues.

google storyIf one must name a single en-terprise that has revolution-ised the internet, it must be Google. We cannot imagine a life without Google, and for this tech boom throughout the world, we all must thank Google. In 1995, Google be-gan as a project of Larry Page who was later joined by Sergey Brin. While initially,

it was only a search engine, Google family was to be-come much more than that in just two decades. Google has brought several innova-tions that has changed the world, such as Search En-gine that has brought all the information on the fingertip of user, Android OS that eased access of smartphones to majority of population and making YouTube the streaming service that gave opportunity to creators to expand their reach globally.

Presently, Google is en-gaged in provision of num-ber of product and services including Maps, YouTube, Chrome, Android, Play Store, Gmail, online adver-tisement services etc. which creates an ecosystem of Google around us. In fact, creating an ecosystem is one of the defining features of business model of Google, where integrating several services providers better consumer experience and that eventually eases expan-sion of the company. Google has established itself as the undisputed market leader in general search, as the global market share of the top 5 search engines across the last 10 years shows.

One of the factors that played a role in establishing Google as a market leader is their acquisition strategy. If one looks at the acquisition history of Google, Google has made close to USD 30 billion on its major acquisitions. Some of these acquisitions have converted into a huge success, such as Android, YouTube, Advertisement acquisitions and Waze for maps. Android has turned out to be one of the cheapest yet the most successful deal for Google. Consequently, such killer acquisitions also gives a strong market power to Google in several markets. Considering the same, there have been several compe-tition law investigations against Google across mul-tiple jurisdictions (EU, US, Turkey, Australia etc).

Google’s Story in IndiaGoogle started its opera-

tion in India in 2004 with five employees but now has become one of the largest Google office outside USA. Seeing the potential that Indian market has in terms of population, Google has customised its services for Indian population, like pro-viding search services in re-gional languages, answering queries over phones (in col-laboration with Vodafone) etc, thus pioneering and championing the role of in-novation in India’s growth story. Additionally, it has also contributed to increase the reach of internet in India by providing free public Wi-Fi (more than 400 stations), Google is already a success in India and with increase in internet penetration, India is likely to become one of the biggest market for Google. There is absolutely no doubt that Google’s contribution to the tech boom in India is paramount and cannot be denied and we must all be

thankful to Google for ush-ering it this boom which has benefited all of us.

google advertIsIng busIness modelGoogle’s story brings several competition concerns. How-ever, herein, we bring our fo-cus only to Google’s conduct in online advertisement industry. Google acquired Double Click and AdMob at early stage to grow their revenue in advertisement industry. It can be noticed that most of the services of-fered by Google are for free, therefore business model of Google is such that adver-tisement revenue is primary revenue source for them.

dIfference between search and dIsplay advertIsIng Search advertising and dis-play advertising are two major forms of online ad-vertising. While search ad-vertising is used by advertis-ers to target consumers who have made a general decision about what they are looking for, display advertising is usually intended to be used for increasing brand aware-ness. Participants also high-lighted that while display ad-vertising is associated with demand generation for a product, search advertising leads to more conversions in terms of actual sales. On other parameters such as creativity in advertising, stakeholders submitted that search advertising being text-based, display advertis-ing provided more avenues in terms of innovative ads that may capture user atten-tion.

In terms of strategies em-ployed by advertisers, the study also found that ad-vertisers were not likely to substitute display advertis-ing with search advertising, and vice-versa. This was also substantiated by the fact that budget allocation for the two types of advertising were kept distinct. However, it was also revealed that de-pending on what the adver-tisement campaign objective are, the two methods of digi-tal advertising could often be used in complement to each other. For instance, display advertising may make the consumer aware of the prod-uct offering, nudging him/her towards searching for the product and encounter-ing search advertisements.

Following chart (based on CMA Report) would help in understanding online adver-tising;

Google works in both seg-ments of digital advertising, a) search advertising and b) display advertising. In this trend, we focus on how Google’s search advertising works.

google’s search advertIsIng‘Google Ads’ is advertising system where advertisers bid on certain keywords for which clickable ads appear on every search and google is paid per click by advertisers. However, this does not work like a usual auction and posi-tion of advertiser depends on two factors, viz. advertiser’s bid and ad quality. Herein, ad quality is an important factor because Google as a search engine is determined to provide the most accurate result, which is defining feature of Google. Ad qual-

ity is determined through quality core which takes into consideration Google’s expected clock through rate, past performance, quality and relevance of keywords, landing page and Ad text. On basis of these two factors, Google ranks ads on the page of search result.

why google does not face competItIve constraIntsGoogle provides its general search service free of cost to consumers as monetiza-tion of the service occurs through targeted advertise-ments. The ability to target advertisements towards a group of users come from in-sights which can be gleaned from consumer data gener-ated from the search ser-vice. The attractiveness of a platform, for advertisers, therefore, lies in the reach that the platform com-mands in terms of number of users to whom the adver-tisements can be displayed. Therefore, in order to attract advertisers to the platform and compete effectively, it is imperative for the search service provider to acquire a sufficiently large consumer base which uses its search service.

Consumers place a very high value on the relevancy / quality of search results while opting for a search service. Therefore, the abil-ity of a search engine to pro-vide relevant search results and improve the relevancy of search results is a vital factor for competing against Google.

A survey conducted by DuckDuckGo of factors based on which users would switch search engines.

This brings us to the first reason why Google does not face any meaningful com-petitive pressure for other search service providers:

sIgnIfIcant barrIers to entry The key inputs for achiev-ing relevant results include (i) access to necessary data in order to improve the al-gorithm or framework that returns search results (the “click-and-query data), and (ii) an extensive and updated index of the world wide web. Both these inputs are highly subject to scale-effects.

Firstly, as Google’s mar-ket share in general search services above pointed out, Google gets search queries which are orders of magni-tude higher than its closest rivals. Google, therefore, benefits from a self-rein-

forcing process where it re-ceives so many more que-ries (which are an essential input for making potential improvements in the search algorithm) because it is able to return increasingly rel-evant search results to its users, who in turn return to google for their general search queries. Secondly, the maintenance of an updated index requires prohibitively high investments because of which even large incum-bents in the space had to give way to Google.

It is worth noting that large incumbents such as Yahoo! and Ask.com have found it economically unfeasible to maintain independent search services. Yahoo had stopped investing in its general search technol-ogy, in 2009 and now relies on search service of Bing. Similarly, Ask.com also ter-minated investments in its general search technology in November 2010 and chose instead to adopt Google’s general search technology to power its search service.

sIgnIfIcant barrIers to expansIonThe second reason why Google does not face com-petitive threat is because of the significant barriers to expansion faced by its competitors in accessing customers and building into stronger competitors over time. This barrier to expan-sion comes from the default position Google has been able to secure on mobile de-vices. Mobile manufacturers choose Google as the default search application based on a mix of consumers’ per-ceived quality of service as well as the level of compen-sation that Google is able to pay due to its revenues gen-erated from search advertis-ing. This, coupled with the fact that consumers show very strong preference for defaults, especially in mo-bile devices, acts as a very significant barrier to expan-sion for existing rivals.

lImIted competItIve constraInts from specIalIsed search (lIke amazon) & other competItIon law concernsResults from the CMA’s market study have con-firmed that a major propor-tion of specialised search providers rely on Google as a point of entry. The differ-ence between general search and specialised search ser-vices had been considered by the EC in the Google Search (Shopping) deci-

sion, wherein it was noted that the two types of search services operated as comple-ments rather than substi-tutes. Analysis of traffic data by the CMA in its report has also confirmed that a sub-stantial number of consum-ers access specialised search portals via general search rather than accessing them independently.

The finding of complemen-tarity in these markets sug-gest that specialised search, rather than being a competi-tor to general search, is in fact in a vertical relationship with general search provid-ers like Google. This can be better understood by way of taking an example of how Google acts as a “gatekeep-er” to specialised search ser-vice providers in majority of the cases.

As a part of our research, we undertook an exercise in India which also shows vertical agreement between Amazon and Google. Take the example of a consumer who is in the (virtual) mar-ket for speakers. For the pur-pose of this illustration, we consider this consumer to fall in the majority category of consumers who use gen-eral search services to move towards a specialised search service, such as Amazon, eBay, etc. Since the market for speakers is highly frag-mented with a large number of sellers offering various kinds of speakers at diverse price ranges, the consumer enters a search query ap-propriate to his needs.

The top results that a con-sumer gets from his search query therefore points him to specialised search pro-viders like Flipkart, Reliance Digital, Amazon, etc. These special search service pro-viders, thus, rely on Google, which acts as a gatekeeper for most of the traffic to their own portals. Since most us-ers do a general search and are then directed to special search services like Ama-zon, etc., from this page, the user clicks on the speaker that interests him.

Apart from this, users may also choose to use the comparison services that Google offers. Therefore, after entering the query, i.e., speaker, the user can com-pare the different speakers of offer. Clicking on one of the results on the shopping tab, once again takes user to Amazon’s page, as shown above.

This demonstrates that Google, as a dominant search service provider, be-comes a necessary trading partner even for large plat-

forms like Amazon, which are in a vertical relationship with Google and rely on it for majority of the traffic to their platforms and thus, a case may be there to look at their conduct under Section 3(4) of the Act, which deals with analysis of vertical agreements.

Below, we lay down some competition concerns that have already been observed or may come up in the future owing to the way the market is functioning.

Excessive Pricing- Google, being dominant in search ad-vertisements, is in position to overcharge the advertis-ers. Since advertisement has been the primary source of revenue for Google, it gives it an incentive to increase its profit by charging more from advertisers. This is clubbed with Google’s mar-ket power, which is directly linked to access of consumer data, creates high entry bar-riers for competitors. The closest competitor Google is Bing, , average cost per click on Google is 30-40% more than that of Bing. Similarly, monthly average cost per click for mobile and desktop and average price bid ratio for top ad for Google is more than Bing.

Exclusionary practices- Google can engage in ex-clusionary practices by re-stricting its consumer base to engage with any other platform for advertise-ments. For example, there is always a possibility that Google may impose restric-tive clauses in agreements with advertisers prohibit-ing them to engage with Mi-crosoft Bing. This would, in turn, lead to denial of mar-ket access for competitors of Google.

Leveraging dominant position in search adver-tisement- Further, Google can leverage its dominant position in search adver-tisement market to expand their market power in open display advertising. Us-ing strong customer base of search advertisements, Google can provide incen-tive to use Google’s services in another market of display advertisement. Further, as noted in CMA report, huge data collected by Google in search advertisement mar-ket may be used in open display advertisements to provide better targeted ad-vertisements.

It may be another con-cern as Google puts itself in a position where it can always promote its own ver-tical product and services. There are several services of

Google that may be promot-ed through advertisements, such as Google Pay, Google Meet or YouTube. This may affect the quality of organic search also.

Similarly, there may be products of Google in other markets for which there may be competitors like; in fintech services (Google Pay; competitors being PhonePe, PayTM, MobiKwik); social network (Google +, com-petitors being Twitter and FB); maps and navigation (Google Maps, competitors being Map Quest, Waze, Bing Maps, HereweGo, Maps.me etc), emailing (Gmail, competitors being Outlook, Zoho, Apple Mail etc.), calendar (Google Cal-endar; competitors being Outlook, iCal, Spike etc) and other products of Google for which there are competitors in the market. It must be seen as to whether Google is using their dominant posi-tion in the search advertis-ing market to enter into or protect their position in the other market.

Tie-in agreement with manufacturers – It has bene noticed that Google has agreements with device manufactures that are ex-clusionary in nature. In or-der to make Google Chrome as default browser of such phones, Google offers some revenue share from search advertising. Thus, competi-tors of Google Chrome like Mozilla Firefox, Safari etc. may be foreclosed from entry and it has been seen that once a default setting has been adopted, consum-ers rarely change the same. Therefore, technically, Google uses its dominant position in search adver-tising to ensure that their browser remains a default in mobile devices.

Ad Ranking- It has been observed that Google essen-tially operates its ranking system in a “black-box” and does not completely dis-close the way its algorithm operates. As noted earlier, ad ranking is completely de-pendent on the quality score of advertisers, the process which is substantially hid-den. Therefore, it provides immense opportunity to Google to interfere with the Ad ranking list, and there-fore, raising concerns for violation of Section 4(2)(a)(i) for advertisers.

In addition to the above, another concern of gen-eral import is the fact that Google’s super-dominance in search advertising pres-ents a risk whereby Google may choose to start invest-ing in creating barriers to entry and expansion rather than on innovating new and better products. In case of search advertisement, this may happen when exces-sive reliance on Google for advertising revenues comes to a point where Google may even impact the or-ganic search results to the detriment of search qual-ity where user may interact more with ads. This is im-portant to consider because Google’s current position makes it immune to any competitive constraints. As a result of lack of effective competitors in the market., there would be no one to inflict competitive pressure on Google which may keep it on the path of innovation. Adv. Abir Roy is Partner, Sar-vada Legal.

Competition law, digital world and search advertising

opinionAbir roy

legally speaking the daily guardian27 july 2020new delhi6

Ashish singhNew Delhi

Ashish singhNew DelhiAshish singh

New Delhi

Ashish singhNew Delhi

‘OperatiOn Vijay’

new cOntractcOntributiOn

internatiOnal Space StatiOn

7defence t h e da i ly gua r d i a n2 7 j u ly 2 0 2 0

n ew d e l h i

Defence Minister Ra-jnath Singh along with MoS Defence

Shripad Naik, Chief of De-fence Staff & Secretary De-partment of Military Affairs General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff General M.M. Naravane, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh and Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria paid homage to the fallen heroes at National War Memorial on the 21st anniversary of India’s vic-tory in ‘Operation Vijay’, also known as Kargil conflict on Sunday.

The Indian armed forces’ victory in Kargil on 26 July 1999 is a saga of strong politi-cal, military and diplomatic actions. The nation cel-ebrates this day with pride, honour and inspiration. At National War memorial, De-fence Secretary Ajay Kumar and other senior civil and military officials of the Min-istry of Defence were present on the occasion. 

Rajnath Singh wrote a message in the visitors’ book at the War Memorial, “On the occasion of Kargil Vijay Diwas today, I pay my obei-

sance and salutation to the brave soldiers of the Indian Armed Forces who sacri-ficed their lives to protect motherland from the enemy. The country will always re-member the courage, valour, restraint & determination of our fallen heroes and will march ahead taking inspi-ration from their supreme sacrifice.” He said Kargil Vi-jay Divas is not just a day but a celebration of the courage and valour of the soldiers of this country. 

On this day in 1999 Indian Army successfully recap-tured posts in Kargil sector

which had been occupied by Pakistan.  The Kargil War or as referred -- Opera-tion Vijay was fought at an altitude of approximately 16,000 feet, wherein 1,042 Pakistani soldiers lost their lives and 527 Indian soldiers made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. Brave soldiers of the Indian Army had overcome seemingly in-surmountable odds, hostile terrain, inclement weather, and the enemy occupying dominating heights, to win the conflict with the help of Indian Air Force, which gave the air support. On this mo-

mentous occasion, the proud nation is celebrates this vic-tory in memory of fallen he-roes with events covering a myriad spectrum all across the country. 

At NCC DireCtorAteDue to restrictions imposed

by the Covid-19 Pandemic, this year the Kargil Vijay Diwas 2020 was celebrated as a Webinar by Directorate NCC. The aim of the webinar was to foster spirit of patri-otism and spread awareness about the bravery of Indian Armed Forces in challeng-

ing conditions. The activities conducted under webinar were online ‘national pledge taking ceremony’, ‘video presentation on Kargil war and Param Veer Chakra awardees’ and video pres-entation on ‘Nation War Memorial’ and ‘Southern Command War memorial’.

An approximate strength of more than 500 cadets and Associate NCC Officers across Maharashtra State took part in ‘Kargil Online Vijay Diwas Webinar’ on 26 July morning. The Online Kargil Vijay Diwas 2020 was conducted by 2 Maharashtra

Battalion NCC under the overall guidance of Briga-dier Suneel Limaye, Group Commander, Pune for the directorate. 

At SoutherN Army CommANDTo commemorate the vic-tory of the Indian armed forces and to pay tribute to the supreme sacrifice of our martyrs, a solemn wreath laying ceremony was or-ganised at the National War Memorial, Pune on the occa-sion of the 21st Kargil Vijay Diwas. To honour the mar-tyrs a wreath on behalf of

all ranks of Southern Com-mand was laid at the Memo-rial by Lieutenant General C.P. Mohanty, General Of-ficer Commanding-in-Chief, and Southern Command. Wreaths were also laid by Lieutenant General D.S. Ahuja, Chief of Staff, Head-quarters Southern Com-mand and Major General A.K. Hukku (Retired). The ceremony was conducted in presence of a limited num-ber of military personnel of Headquarters Southern Command and Kargil War Veterans of Pune ensuring precautions for Covid-19 pandemic.

natiOn payS hOmage tO Kargil herOeS On 21St anniVerSaryDefence Minister Rajnath Singh, along with MoS Shripad Naik, CAS General Bipin Rawat, and the chiefs of the armed forces, pays homage to the fallen heroes at National War Memorial.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has taken a decision to increase the ex-isting strength of the National Cadet Corps (NCC) by one lakh cadets in India’s coastal and border areas. This decision has been taken by MoD af-ter appreciating the pro-active con-tribution of NCC cadets against the spread of Covid-19 pandemic. The NCC Directorate of Maharashtra has embarked upon expansion of NCC in its coastal areas by embrac-ing Vidya Vikasini School (ICSE) in Vasai (East) area in Palghar district in its fold on 24 July 2020.

A NCC Banner presentation cer-emony was held last week at NCC Group Headquarters, Mumbai ‘B’

complex located near the High Court. The Principal of the school was felici-tated by Brigadier RS Dhaila, Deputy

Director General, NCC Directorate Maharashtra, wherein a NCC Ban-ner was presented to the school. The occasion was graced by Colo-nel Jyoti Dhawan, officiating Group Commander, Mumbai and Captain S Ravindra, the Commanding Officer of 1 Maharashtra Naval Unit. 

A limited number of NCC staff with selected teachers and students repre-senting the school were present for the ceremony following full safety protocol of Covid-19 pandemic. The ceremony ended on an enthusiastic note, with students and teachers alike hopeful of contributing their best to the country on becoming a part of the NCC fraternity.

Boeing, NASA’s lead indus-try partner for the Interna-tional Space Station (ISS) since 1993, will continue supporting the celebrated orbiting laboratory through September of 2024 under a $916 million contract exten-sion.

Boeing will provide engi-neering support services, resources, and personnel for activities aboard the ISS and manage many of the station’s systems. Work will be done at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston; the John F. Ken-nedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida; and Marshall Space Flight Cent-er in Huntsville, Alabama,

as well as other locations around the world. The con-tract is valued at about $225 million annually.

As the International Space Station marks its 20th year of human habitation, Boe-ing continues to enhance the utility and livability of the orbiting lab we built for NASA decades ago,” said John Mulholland, Boeing vice president and pro-gram manager for the In-ternational Space Station. “We thank NASA for their confidence in our team and the opportunity to support the agency’s vital work in spaceflight and deep-space exploration for the benefit of all humankind.

Congress, NASA and its international partners have agreed to extend ISS opera-

tions to at least 2024. Recent structural analysis shows that the spacecraft continues to be safe and mission-capa-ble. NASA selected Boeing as the ISS prime contractor in 1993. Throughout develop-ment, assembly, habitation and daily operations aboard ISS, Boeing has partnered

closely with NASA to help the agency and its interna-tional partners safely host astronauts and cosmonauts for months at a time. The astronauts conduct micro-gravity experiments that help treat disease, increase food production, and man-ufacture technology impos-

sible to produce on Earth’s surface.

Boeing people have con-tributed to human space-flight for more than 50 years, including the Mer-cury and Gemini capsules; development of the Saturn V rocket; Apollo command and service modules; and space shuttle fleet, in ad-dition to the ISS. Boeing is building on this legacy with its CST-100 Starliner, a spacecraft developed in partnership with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program. The company is also build-ing the core stage of NASA’s Space Launch System, a rocket powerful enough to lift astronauts and space-craft to destinations beyond Earth orbit, such as lunar orbit and Mars.

Airbus Defence and Space and the Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAIN-Bw) have signed a renewed service contract agreement for Heron 1 unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in operation in Afghanistan and Mali. In Afghanistan, Heron 1 Ser-vices has been extended in March 2020, for the period June 2020 / May 2021. It had successfully logged up more than 46,000 flight hours in over 4,100 operational flights.

Also in March this year, the German Air Force passed the milestone of 10 years of Heron 1 operations in Afghanistan, with a first operational flight dating back to 17th March 2010.Comparably in Mali, Heron 1 services has also been ex-tended for the period Au-gust 2020/July 2021 (with an option for August 2021 / July 2022). It had logged more than 11,500 flight hours in over 1200 opera-tional flights. The system’s first flight in Mali dates back to 1st November 2016 after the first service contract was signed in July 2016.

When adding the Heron 1’s operations for the German Armed Forces in both Af-ghanistan and Mali, the Air Force’s UAV system has thus chalked up more than 57,500 successful operational flight hours.Both places of deploy-ment are being managed us-ing a joint operator model between the Bundeswehr and industry. The Heron 1’s provision, maintenance and repair of the system is the

responsibility of Airbus De-fence and Space in Bremen.

This operator model im-pressively demonstrated its performance capabilities during operations in Af-ghanistan and Mali, as em-phasised by proven high sys-tem readiness of 99%. The deployments of the Heron system in Afghanistan and Mali also help develop exper-tise within the Bundeswehr with a view to future MALE RPAS systems. German re-connaissance tasks focus on the country’s crisis regions in order to provide the best possible protection for the country’s population as well as for the German troops and the contingents of other mis-sion nations stationed in the country.

Manufactured by the Is-raeli company IAI (Israel Aerospace Industries), Her-on 1 is an unarmed medium altitude long endurance (MALE) UAS which can stay airborne above the respec-tive theatre of operations. The Heron 1 has a wingspan of 16.6 meters and a maxi-mum mission endurance of over 24 hours. The system’s

military tasks include detect-ing booby traps from the air, accompanying convoys and patrols, assisting forces in combat situations, reconnoi-tring and surveilling routes, establishing movement pro-files and long-term moni-toring, supporting situation assessments, and protect-ing property and military camps. It is also used to sup-port humanitarian missions.

These Heron 1 systems, currently deployed by the German Armed Forces in Afghanistan and Mali, are to be replaced by the more powerful IAI Heron TP, fol-lowing an operator agree-ment signed in Berlin in July 2018 between Airbus De-fence and Space and the Fed-eral Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw). The replacement of Heron 1 by Heron TP will have a two-year set-up phase, followed by an operational phase last-ing a further seven years, thereby bridging the gap until a sovereign European MALE UAS will be devel-oped.

airbuS renewS SerVice agreement fOr herOn 1 uaS

Defence Ministry’s nod to expansion of NCC in Maharashtra’s coastal areas

Boeing to support NASA’s space station operations through 2024

The decision has been taken to appreciate nCC’s role in fighting Covid-19.

Defence Minister Rajnath singh and others paying homage to the Kargil war heroes on the 21st anniversary of india’s victory in ‘Operation Vijay’, also known as Kargil conflict, on sunday.

Initially case was seem-ing like usual case of Anti defection but as it

took root of the case, it got wider scope to decide few questions of law accord-ingly, The Raj High Court today framed 13 issues, question of law. The reason behind this case is early Predictions were made that Pilot would join the hands with saffron party , BJP leaders also boosted & welcomed the joining , however, Pilot washed out all predictions & the rebel Congress leader made it clear he would have no truck with the saffron party, the BJP went back into its shell, indicating it preferred prudence to bra-vado. 

On 13th of July, Rajast-han Speaker C P Joshi has issued notices to Sachin Pilot and other rebel Con-gress MLAs after the party sought their disqualifica-tion from the state assem-bly for the wants of non-joining of party meeting even after issuance of whip.

Now the notice has been challenged before hon’ble Rajasthan High Court stat-ing failure to attend a party meeting or expression of disagreement with certain policies of the party can-not be a ground to disqual-ify under para (a) or 2(b) of tenth schedule of the Con-stitution.

Since the Gehlot led Ra-jasthan Government has majority & the act of rebel congress leader Pilot has not aided to dis- Stabled the government, in such a case does the act of team Pilot fall under the “act against the party”? if yes then right to dissent has no mean-ing. Because the team Pi-lot neither voted against the party or has given up their membership. The act of Pilot team seems to be against party policy & not against the party therefore, the friction between right to dissent & Anti defection has taken place.

Right to fReedom of speech & expRession vs Right to dissentThe question of law rises here in the present case is whether right to dis-sent fall under the ambit of right to dissent or not, if yes then whether the Tenth schedule violating the Ba-sic Structure of the consti-tution. Because when we call right to dissent is right to freedom of speech & ex-pression, it would gross vi-

olation of art. 19 (1) a of the constitution & when there is violation of any provi-sions of the fundamental rights would be violating the basic structure of con-stitution & when any law is against the basic struc-ture of the constitution is deemed to be void.

During the hearing of the Pilot petition Hon’ble Justice Arun Mishra SC observed that voice of dis-sent can not be suppressed in a democracy.

In Kihota Hollohon Vs Zach-ilhu and Others, 1992 SCC Supp. (2) 651, the Tenth Schedule was challenged on the ground that, it vio-lates the democratic rights of elected members of Parliament and the Legis-latures of the States. It vio-lates the freedom of speech, freedom of vote and con-science of a member. Re-jecting the plea, the Apex Court held that, the provi-sions of Tenth Schedule do not suffer from the vice or subverting democratic rights of elected members of Parliament and the Leg-islatures of the States. It does not violate their free-dom of speech, freedom of vote and conscience. In In-dia the freedom of speech of a member is not an ab-solute freedom. The provi-sions of the Tenth Schedule do not purport to make a member of a House liable in any ‘Court’ for anything said or any vote given by him in Parliament or State Legislature. It cannot be said that Article 105 or 194 is a source of immunity from the consequences of unprincipled floor cross-ing. That’s why the pro-visions of paragraph 2 of the Tenth Schedule do not violate any rights or free-dom of elected members of Parliament or State Legis-

latures under Article 105 or Article 194 of the Constitu-tion, and is thus constitu-tionally valid.

inneR-paRty democRacyIn any democratic set up voice of dissent should be accepted along with voice of consent. Disaccord be accepted with accord, in true sense that would be the beauty of a democratic set up.

Till date it has been ob-served that any dissent against a party policy deemed to be anti-defection but mere dis agreement with party policy or every disaccord cannot be held as voice against party.

Now, this comes to be a major question of law be-fore the hon’ble Rajasthan Court in case of Prithviraj Meena vs Rajasthan Speaker & has framed 13 questions of law.

Whip veRsus disqualification

Another important ques-tion of law is framed by the Raj High Court is regarding Whip “Whether Whip as an instrument of party discipline only applied to the action ex-pected out of legislators inside the house? In this regard I remember, A proposed so-lution that had created the controversy was suggested by Manish Tiwari, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha. The suggestion is relating to constitutional amend-ment to limit the scope of paragraph 2 (1) (b) of the bill. The Bill proposed by Manish Tiwari limits dis-qualification under Para-graph 2 (1) (b) to be a pos-sible sanction only if the member dissents against a Whip issued in the follow-ing instances.

motion expressing con-fidence or want of con-fidence in the Council of Ministers,

motion for an adjourn-ment of the business of the House,

motion in respect of fi-

nancial matters as enu-merated in Articles 113 to 116 (both inclusive) and Articles 203 to 206 (both inclusive),

Money Bill”.The propositions made by

Constitution (Amendment) Bill, 2010 are similar to the recommendations made by the Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reform where it was sug-gested that disqualification must be imposed only in case of vote of confidence or no-confidence motions. By limiting the ambit of dis-qualification, this bill seeks to make the necessary change of creating greater room for policy expression, fearless debate and dis-cussion in the Parliament. Such a law would liberate legislators from the whip imposing fear of losing their membership except in cases where the life of the government is threatened by a no-confidence motion, money bills and some cru-cial financial matters.

dissent as Right to fReedom of speech and expRessionThe Constitution (Fifty-Second Amendment) Act, 1985 which has since pop-ularly come to be known as the Anti-Defection law, has been the subject mat-ter of a controversy from the very beginning. It has been questioned on several grounds viz, that it is viola-tive of the basic structure of the Constitution, that it is violative of the fundamen-tal principles of parliamen-tary democracy, its violate democratic rights of the elected members of parlia-ment and the legislatures of the State, and is destructive of the freedom of speech, right to dissent, freedom of vote and conscience, it violates the freedom under Articles 105 and 194 of the Constitution.

Now considering the act of rebel Congress leader, Pilot neither left the par-ty at his will nor talked against party.

Because, the act of Pilot, Certain disagreements with Party Policy does not amount to Anti defec-tion or all the dissent does not amount to anti defec-tion same was observed in the case of In Balchandra L. Jarkiholi Vs B.S. Yeddyurap-pa.

Delivering the dissenting judgement, Mr. Justice N. Kumar of the High Court set aside the impugned disqualification order of the Speaker and held that an act of no confidence in the leader of the legislative party does not amount to his vol-untarily giving up the mem-bership of the political party. Similarly, the act of express-ing no confidence in the Gov-ernment formed by the party, with a particular leader as Chief Minister, would not also amount to voluntary act of giving up the membership of the political party. Deserting the leader and deserting the Government is not synony-mous with deserting the party. Dissent is not defection and the Tenth Schedule while recogniz-ing dissent prohibits defection. Right to dissent is the essence of democracy, for the success of democracy and democratic institutions honest dissent has to be respected by persons in authority. which was later confirmed by hon’ble Su-preme Court.

Therefore, i f we be-lieve in Party Democracy, should also believe in right to Speech & expression as fundamental right & if Right to speech is rec-ognized under party de-mocracy then dissent is not defection. if dissent is not defection then Para 2 (1) a of the tenth schedule of the constitution violating the Basic Structure of Consti-tution. The author is practising advo-cate at Bombay High Court.

The footballer, Gary Linekar, had once cheekily remarked, “Football is a simple game - 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans al-ways win.” Although football would rarely find parallels with the Anti-defection law, given BJP’s repeated political victories, often prompted by interpretations of the Anti-Defection law (for instance, in Karnataka, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Uttara-khand, Goa, Arunachal Pradesh et al. and now possi-

bly in Rajasthan), it would be fair to say that “Anti -Defection law is a simple game, everyone chases the majority, in the end, the BJP always forms the gov-ernment”.

The courts have consis-tently held that the decision to disqualify a member from the Assembly, for defection, is entirely the Speaker’s re-mit, and that the courts do not have the jurisdiction to entertain a petition against the actions of the Speaker leading up to the final order. In other words, no interim orders would lie against the Speaker while he or she was seized of the matter and in the process of deciding the question of disqualification. However, after the Rajasthan episode, it seems that the courts are willing to pass in-terim orders in such matters even before the Speaker fi-nally decides on the disqual-ification of members. Thus,

the courts are now entering a sphere, that was hitherto the Speaker’s exclusive domain.

The Anti- Defection law may work in mysterious ways, but there are some questions that are well set-tled in law over which there is no scope of ambiguity, as this piece will elaborate.

Can the act of defection be im-plied even though the MLAs in-sist they have not left the party?

Many pundits have en-trenched opinions on the subject. The arguments made by the Pilot camp, principally, are the follow-ing: One, that the whip could not have been issued to the MLAs to attend the legisla-ture party meeting as a whip is only issued for voting in the Assembly and not for attending party meetings; Two, a whip is not binding, when the Assembly is not in session. Some even went on to argue that if the MLAs are claiming that they have not left the Congress, how can it be concluded that they have “voluntarily given up the mem-bership of the party?”

The confusion lies in the poor drafting of the 10th Schedule, the relevant por-tion of which reads,

“...a member of a House be-longing to any political party

shall be disqualified for being a member of the House if-

he has voluntarily given up his membership of such political party;

if he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by the po-litical party to which he belongs or by any person or authority authorised by it in this behalf, without obtaining, in either case, the prior permission...”

Let us for a moment as-sume without conceding that a whip can only be is-sued for purposes of voting in the Assembly, and be-cause the Rajasthan Assem-bly is not in session, there-fore, the whip in the instant case, was not valid. This, however, only covers point

(b) above and not (a). Disqualification for vio-

lating a whip is one of the grounds but not the only ground. That a member has indulged in anti-party activi-ties, and as a result has vol-untarily given up member-ship, is a different ground for disqualification altogether. In Ravi S. Naik’s case (1994), the exact words of the Su-preme Court judgement in this context, were, “Even in the absence of a formal resig-nation from membership an inference can be drawn from the conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up his mem-bership of the political party to which he belongs.” Therefore, it is quite clear that one does not have to formally tender

resignation to be disqualified on the ground that ‘one has voluntarily given up one’s membership’.

Thus, it would be well within the powers of Speak-er Joshi, to disqualify an MLA, by inferring from their conduct, that they have given up the membership of the party, by indulging in anti-party activities. Speculating what Speaker Joshi would decide on merits, is not the focus of this piece. Regard-less of whether the Speaker would ultimately conclude that these MLAs’ actions are an act of defection, it would certainly be incorrect to say that an MLA cannot be dis-qualified unless he has ex-pressly resigned.

Could Speaker Joshi be in-juncted against acting upon the ‘Disqualification Notice’ when he has not decided the matter finally?

It is settled law that, in matters of disqualification, only the final decision of the Speaker, is assailable be-fore courts. Interim orders cannot be granted along the way. This finality is ap-parent from the 10th Sched-ule itself, where in para 6, it says that the Speaker’s decision is final. In Kihoto Hollohan’s case (1992), the exact words of the Constitu-tion Bench of the Supreme Court, in this context, were, “there is exclusion of all courts’ jurisdiction to a considerable extent leaving out only the area of justiciability on the ground of illegality or perversity which obviously is relatable only to the final order under para 6.” The Supreme Court, speaking through Justice Nariman in the Manipur Legislative Assembly case (2020) had again reiterated this. This view had held the field for over two decades till the Ra-jasthan High Court decided otherwise, that too, in the teeth of several Constitution Bench decisions of the Su-preme Court.

A petition apprehending future injury, seeking to

injunct Speaker Joshi from acting on a Disqualification Notice was, therefore, not maintainable before the Ra-jasthan High Court, to begin with.

As events unfold, it ap-pears, that the Governor of Rajasthan is now unwilling to summon the Assembly. This, however, is not a mat-ter of his discretion, he is constitutionally bound to summon the Assembly, if advised so by the Council of Ministers (See Nabam Rebia’s case, 2016). In fact, in the Karnataka Assembly case earlier in 2018, and in the Madhya Pradesh As-sembly case (subsequent to Scindia’s defection in 2020), separate benches of the Supreme Court reiterated that the floor test is the only way to determine if a gov-ernment has majority. The clear exception of denying the floor test in Rajasthan’s case, therefore, raises le-gitimate suspicion that the summoning is being with-held as the opposition does not yet have the numbers to topple the government.

That was about the law, but one wonder’s whether BJP will indeed be Linekar’s Germany!Sourav Roy is Advocate on Re-cord, Supreme Court.

Ashok Gehlot versus Sachin Pilot: Dissent is not defection

The anti-defection saga: An overview

The unprecedented political crisis in Rajasthan once again brings the anti-defection law in the limelight.

Law & PoLitics

anaLysis

opinionManjunath KaKKalaMeli

opinionSourav roy

policy & politics the daily guardian27 july 2020new delhi8

Disqualification for violating a whip is one of the grounds but not the only ground. That a member has indulged in anti-party activities, and as a result has voluntarily given up membership, is a different ground for disqualification altogether. In Ravi S. Naik’s case (1994), the exact words of the Supreme Court judgement in this context, were, “Even in the absence of a formal resignation from membership an inference can be drawn from the conduct of a member that he has voluntarily given up his membership of the political party to which he belongs.”

Why the World needs sustainable fashion

GoinG Green

BiG Benefits neW normal

A sustainable approach to fashion, among other things, ensures local sourcing of cloth, material, artisans and production, which helps support dwindling indigenous practices.

environmentally speakingthe daily guardian27 july 2020

new delhi 9

Shalini PaSSiNew Delhi

Farah Siddiqui Khan

Shweta Bahri

Image Courtesy: Saahra, Profile Image: Saiesha Gupta.The world of fashion

is often characterised as an avenue for self-

expression. Whether it is the hottest looks fresh from the runway or the vintage skirt your mother used to wear during her college days, fash-ion and design have many faces. The last few years saw a significant boom in the in-dustry for easily accessible and comparatively more affordable and fashionable clothes. ‘Fast fashion’ was characterised by two major factors: Low cost, efficient mass production. Often em-ulating the latest trends, fast fashion presented itself as an affordable way for consum-ers of all walks of life to in-dulge themselves in the latest looks without burning a hole in their pockets.

However, fierce competi-tion in the field often com-

pels retailers to quickly re-lease new designs and looks for their stores. This constant rush in production often results in a bloat of clothes that have proven to be an environmental hazard over the last few years. While af-fordable fashion might seem to be a viable alternative for consumers from all walks of life, it is also responsible for massive waste generation. According to a report by the Ellen McArthur Founda-tion, the fashion industry also utilises and eliminates wastewater and its depen-dence on heavy production also contributes to emission of global gas emissions.

To counter these adverse effects propelled by an in-dustry, massive awareness campaigns and efforts have been made to educate con-sumers and urge them to make informed and environ-mentally conscious choices. Fast fashion was countered by the advent of the ‘slow fashion’ movement, which considers the processes and resources required to make clothes with a particular fo-cus on sustainability. Coined by Kate Fletcher of the Cen-tre for Sustainable Fashion, it followed the popular ‘slow food’ trend and focused on a

need for slowing the pace of the fashion industry. Slow fashion encourages consum-ers to buy less, with a focus on quality over quantity, highlighting the art of mak-ing clothes and celebrating the craftsmanship behind designing and producing a garment.

In the context of India, the slow and sustainable fashion approach is one that is also deeply rooted in history and tradition. Handloom and woven fabric are an impor-tant part of the traditional crafts and textiles of our country, with each region having unique indigenous weaving and cloth produc-tion practices. A carefully woven handloom or silk sari is a precious staple in every Indian wardrobe. Similarly, the act of handing down clothes or valuables is an essential part of our familial traditions. Some of the most cherished items in our closets sometimes hap-pen to be a precious sari or two from our grandmothers and mothers. Thus, when we take into account the various facets of tradition and prac-tice within our cultures re-garding pre-owned clothing, we can see that there already exists a deep-rooted practice

around the idea of utilisation and sustainability.

The advent of Covid-19 saw an unprecedented limbo in the fashion industry faced with an uncertain future due to the lockdown and lack of mobility of produc-tion. Proponents of ethical fashion amongst Indian de-sign houses proclaimed their support and insistence on a labour intensive approach to fashion, according to an ar-ticle by Jaydeep Ghosh. The article details the responses of various Indian designers and labels as they faced the crisis induced by the coun-trywide lockdown. Most of the designers including Ta-run Tahiliani, Pankaj and Nidhi, and Rahul Mishra, to name a few, doubled down on the need to support and expand their use of artisans,

weavers and embroiderers in creating their clothes. The ir-replaceable role of the crafts-person in an atelier highlights one of the main aspects of ethical, sustainable clothing. The emphasis on ‘slowing down’ the process of creation and focusing instead on the quality of its production is ensured through an atelier’s use of skilled embroiders and artists.

Some characteristics of an ethical and sustainable fash-ion brand is their use of high quality, sustainable materi-als, along with few, specific styles per collection and a focus on locally sourced and produced garments. This is crucial in eliminating the exploitative chain of factory line production that fuels the mass production of clothes by fast fashion brands. Ethi-

cal brands ensure that the environment is taken care of by eliminating the main factors that contribute to waste and pollution, such as mass production of multiple styles while also contribut-ing in supporting dwindling indigenous crafts industries. Due to the overwhelming intrusion of fashion at our fingertips, local practices of production have taken a blow. Age-old practice of producing textile, weaving and embroidery are dying as families who had been engaged in the practice for generations move from their craft to seek employment elsewhere due to economic constraints. A sustainable approach to fashion also en-

sures local sourcing of cloth, material, artisans and pro-duction, which helps sup-port dwindling indigenous practices.

Integrating woven and embroidered fabric in mod-ern couture is one of main aspects of ethical fashion brands in India today. This turn to the sustainable and an increasing interest in ethical fashion is a result of increased consumer aware-ness around the issue as well as our peculiar cultural context, where slow, locally produced clothes play an important role in our cul-tural legacy and heritage. Although brands with a focused approach to sus-tainability are still new to

the Indian apparel market, they have garnered robust attention and support from fashion lovers who wish to remain in vogue without damaging our planet’s deli-cate ecosystem further. With its unique vision rooted in traditional practices and looking towards a sustain-able future, Indian brands have furthered the cause of sustainability in their con-scious approach to the art of ethical fashion.

Shalini Passi is the founder of The Shalini Passi Art Founda-tion and MASH. She is an art, design and fashion patron, phi-lanthropist, artist and an avid art collector.Copy edited by: Ambika Hiranandani

Public art, as the term sug-gests, is art that is installed or staged in a public space or the public realm, usually outdoors. Public art projects involve an interactive and collaborative process involv-ing artists, architects, design professionals, civic leaders, approval and funding agen-cies and administrators who are interested in sharing a certain vision or message to the people. While public art offers a multitude of ben-efits, education is perhaps one of the most significant outcomes. These exhibitions are not hidden or demand attention regardless of whether the individual has an invested interest in the cause. It forces viewers into a state of awareness which is therefore a crucial platform to creatively display art on pressing issues.

In terms of public art as a form of educating the masses, art forms such as Land Art and Ecovention come into play. The concept of Land Art originated in the 1960s predominantly in the West. It involves using natural materials as artistic instruments to create a pub-lic installation. An awe-in-spiring example of land art is the Wheat Field creation by Agnes Denes in 1982. Denes pushed the boundaries of art

by creating a two-acre long wheat field in the centre of New York City to juxtapose the natural world against the man-made world. This pro-ject used nothing but natural resources to grow the wheat field and it is till date consid-ered one of the most impact-ful public art installations in history.

About a decade later, the concept of Ecovention was established. Land Art is a form of Ecovention where public art installations and exhibitions are created in order to intervene and stir attention about imminent threats to the environment and encourage eco-friendly practices such as conserva-tion and reducing waste. Such installations are im-pactful and readily available to the public eye. As there is no entry fee, there is nothing restricting any citizen from experiencing the artwork. The educational benefits are considerable as people of a broad range of ages, back-grounds and demograph-ics are able to interpret and learn from these works of art.

Washed Ashore is an or-ganisation that ought to inspire all public art cam-paigns. This movement be-gan in Oregon, USA, and collects plastic trash found in the ocean to create artworks that resemble animals which are then displayed publicly. The threat that plastic poses to the environment is a per-fect example of an urgent issue that requires each in-dividual to make changes in their daily consumption. The installations produced by Washed Ashore are not

only well sculpted but di-rectly showcase just how much plastic we collectively waste in a short span of time. The impact kicks in the minute the works are noticed which is not hard given their intense presence in many locations across the United States.

Graffiti is a key element of public art. This form is not as formal and does not usu-ally involve coordination with administrators and of-ficials. While street art can be damaging and profane, some graffiti artists are channel-ling their passion and crea-tivity by leaving persuasive messages that can be highly influential. Graffiti work and artists cannot be left out of the public art conversations, as they offer a unique method to educate and mobilise the community. It’s important to note that most graffiti artists do not have any other motive than to spread their mes-sages which adds authentic-ity and truth to their work. A recent example of relevant street art is the prevalence of gratitude graffiti towards health workers during the global covid-19 pandemic. Here again the authenticity and eclectic ‘vibe’ that street art gives adds a personal ele-ment to this kind of art that is very well received.

A number of artists are using their imagination and taking research out of the laboratory and into the public realm, creating in-terdisciplinary works of art and science. One of the most influential public artists is Jane Echelman, who created a site specific art work titled

‘Pulse’ in Philadelphia, USA, two years ago. She described the work as “a living X-ray of the city’s circulatory system”. The piece used water and colourful mist to lay empha-sis on the strength of envi-ronmental forces. The rising steam evoked references to the city’s first water pumping station and the steam from the adjacent historic Penn-sylvania Railroad Station, merging a celebration of his-tory with futuristic cutting edge technology. Echelman has created installations in Madrid and London as well that speak about philosophi-cal concepts such as time and the concept of interconnec-tivity. Olafur Eliasson, one of the most well-known art-ists of our times, has created monumental works such as The Weather Project, dis-played at the Tate Modern in 2003. Here he artificially cre-ated a sun rising in the Tate›s Turbine Hall exploring com-mon ground between art and science.

Another noteworthy public art project which succeeded in its mission to raise aware-ness of the key role bees and pollinators played in the ecosystem was British artist Wolfgang Buttress’ creation ‘The Hive’. Installed at the Kew Gardens in London, the work drew inspiration from the sentiment of connecting man with natural elements of the world. The hive raises awareness about the func-tions and various kinds of bees that exist in the world.

As a curator, I have been interested in art that seeks to activate and initiate a para-digm shift that can allow us

to imagine and reshape our thoughts. In 2017 I was for-tunate to be invited to curate the first edition of the El-ephant Parade in India. The project was launched across major cities in India— Jaipur, Kolkata and Delhi, with a grand citywide exhibit in Mumbai. The public art pro-ject consisted of 101 elephant sculptures by renowned art-ists and creatives which were displayed around prominent locations in the city. The aim of the project was to generate awareness about the danger of extinction that the species of elephants in India might face due to unethical human practices. My takeaway from this movement was that art can instil change and ignite passion. While exhibitions and auctions are one step towards promoting these changes, nothing will com-pare to the effect that public art has on people.

Public art movements have been growing around the world for several years now and much of this is because of local government policies that encourage such move-ments. The Indian govern-ment is yet to review our public art policy. Traditional views equate public art to statues that are outdated, time-consuming and costly. Public art has only recently been welcomed in India and in my opinion we have a long way to go to fulfil its reach and potential to drive change. Farah Siddiqui Khan is a well-known curator and art consult-ant based in Mumbai.Copy edited by: Ambika Hiranandani

There has been much news over the last few weeks about how the Covid-19 pandemic has derailed the fight against unnecessary waste, espe-cially single-use plastic. Not just that, the pandemic has created unprecedented lev-els of medical waste given the large quantities of single-use masks and gloves being used. As an aspiring zero waster, I felt a bit helpless when the pandemic hit, and most cafes and shops stopped accepting reusable items.

So, this got me thinking. While I want to stay safe and responsible, I also don’t want to go back to creating more waste than I need to. After all, the risk of coronavirus isn’t going away anytime soon, which begs the ques-tion: What can we do to pre-vent the comeback of single-use waste, especially plastic?

Each time we consume something that is single-use we must check— is this the only way to stay safe? Or are there more environmentally friendly alternatives that could provide equal levels of safety? For example, it is essential right now to wear a facemask when leaving the house. Instead of single-use facemasks, it is possible to stay safe wearing reusable

cloth-masks as well. Similar-ly, before utilising single-use plastic gloves, check expert medical advice. As we learn more about the virus there is increasing evidence that as long as reusable products are used with proper hygiene and caution, they are safe. It is important that we keep abreast of new learnings and apply common sense when utilising reusable items. For instance, carrying your reus-able bag to buy groceries is still safe as long as it doesn’t touch any other surface.

Since we know we’re creat-ing more waste because of the pandemic, let’s compen-sate in other ways. Recently I have made three simple swaps to reduce my waste that are not linked to the vi-rus at all. i) Reusable cloth pads for make-up removal instead of single-use cotton wool balls; ii) Reusable bak-ing sheets instead of single use aluminium foil to; and iii) Reusable beeswax wraps for food storage instead of cling film. There are so many more similar swaps you can make to reduce your waste— just take whatever small steps you can. These were things I hadn’t been doing pre-pan-demic and a little extra effort has helped me balance some of the single use waste I’m generating to stay safe.

In other ideas while we’re all staying home and stay-ing safe, we can also focus on cutting down our food waste. We can do this by storing our food in a way that makes it last longer, looking for in-novative ways to use bits of fruits and vegetables we’d usually throw away and composting kitchen waste. Fruit seeds and vegetable

scraps can be used to start your own kitchen garden that can be fertilised using home-made organic com-post. It’s an activity the whole family can get involved in, and gardening can be very therapeutic as well.

Up-cycling and DIY ac-tivities are also good ways to reduce waste. Instead of throwing things away, let’s use our imagination and maybe some online inspira-tion to see if there are ways in which something can be reused. Empty glass bottles, for example, can be used as vases, or an old scarf can be crafted into table coasters. We can also reduce plastic waste by using home recipes for certain food ingredients and toiletries. Finally, we must segregate and dispose of our medical waste respon-sibly. In India levels of house-hold waste segregation are very low. Because of this our sanitation workers are facing a high risk of Covid-19 infec-tion as they sort through the medical waste, we are gen-erating. It is essential that all PPE, including masks and gloves, is disposed of sepa-rately in the apposite yellow biohazard waste bags.

Covid-19 has changed the world. Let’s use this as an opportunity to change our habits and take steps towards living a more sustainable life. We have to make sure that one crisis does not lead to another because after all, there is no Planet B.

Shweta Bahri is the founder of No More Waste, which is a platform to promote sustainable solutions for individuals and businesses in India.

Copy edited by: Ambika Hiranandani

India is waking up to a public art phenomenon

tacklinG the covid-19 Waste crisis: What can We do?

Man wants to be secure. Seeking permanence in a world made of temporary. Look around you, your physical possessions. Chair you sit on, almirah, clothes, table, walls and so on. Sci-entists describe that every-thing is made of atoms and they appear as such because of space between them. They move in exactly the same way the universe, galaxies, sun and planets move.

Why does a man want to be secure in a world that is temporary? Universe and the world were created with space. Existence is born out of that which is beyond ex-istence and non-existence. That which is is neither created nor uncreated, therefore it is that which is. Scientists call it dark matter. Hindus fondly call it Shiva who is the non-being. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna says I am that which is. For being, the non-being is needed. Be-

ing is born out of non-being. Seeking to be secure is a be-ing seeking to be non-being.

After creation, space came into existence. Space be-tween things, atoms, earth, sun, moon, planets, galax-ies. Space between things created distance. Distance was calculated in time. Space existed in existence. That which is existed as timeless-ness. Space and distance ex-isted in timelessness in that which is.

Time is born out of time-lessness. Time is like flicker-ing specks on the vast infi-nite canvas of timelessness. Without timelessness time cannot exist.

Man exists in space. For him to exist in existence space is needed. Movement within space is distance. Space and distance exist in existence without time. Let’s enquire how time is born? Time is perceived on the canvas of no time that’s time-lessness. Being is a manifes-tation of the non-being, that which is. If I am, I ought to be not. I am in between two “nots”. I was not, then I am, and I will not be. Man’s exis-tence is between two points of non-existence.

That which is has universal consciousness, that which always was and will always be. Buddha (the awakened) calls it Annatta (‘no-self-

ness’). The universal con-sciousness was there before creation and will be there af-ter the end of creation. Like the man exists between two points of non-existence, the whole creation and every-thing in the creation follow that Order. Man also exists in that One Order. Man is born in the order and dies into the order. The order. Nanak calls it “Hukam” (the command), Shiva calls it “Tantra” (the path), Lao Tzu calls it “Tao” (the way). Uni-versal consciousness is the universal mind and physical universe is the body of that which is. Universal mind is the absolute mind. Absolute mind only happens in empti-ness. And all space is created out of emptiness. Creation is born out of emptiness.

When the mind is empty, creation is born. Anything new that is created happens in emptiness. Hindus have known it for thousands of years. Mesmerising gran-deur and godly aesthetics and unimaginable mas-terpieces like the Konark temple, the Taj Mahal and the Ajanta caves, among others, continue to surprise modern men. One wonders how such wonderful monu-ments must have been built without the use of modern science, architectural intel-ligence and machines. In

fact, such monuments were built by artists in emptiness. In a state of no-mind. Those saint-artists after hours of meditation would begin to sculpt. That’s the key.

No mind is born in empti-ness. In that which is which is timeless. No mind hap-pens in timelessness. Mind happens in time. Time is mind. Mind is time. Human mind meets the absolute mind in timelessness. In meeting there is freedom.

These days we promote our children to learn AI (ar-tificial intelligence) and ML (machine learning) which are very interesting subjects. Human mind has created ar-

tificial intelligence for mak-ing machines learn. Subject Machine Learning to make machines learn the ability to function as an extension of human mind and intelli-gence. But the human mind is scared of the thought of an AI apocalypse. Intelligence assuming singularity posing a risk to human civilisation. Some argue for and against the fact that machines wouldn’t learn the complex-ity of the human mind.

Someone asked Bhikku, “Do machines have minds?” Bhikku replied, “Why not? Human mind is developed by thousands of years of ma-chine learning in time and

space. A computer machine for that matter may learn to see, touch, feel and make the best of decisions all humans could take in a given space and time. Machine operates as a mind using intelligence. Human mind operates as a machine using intelligence. That’s the pity.”

A machine can exist in the known. It can accumulate in-formation of the known and make a decision after com-puting all known choices. A decision that would be the most probable. But thinkers argue that it may not have a singularity. But super-intel-ligence may create runaway growth in self-improvement

cycles thus surpassing hu-man intelligence. Anyway the information-fed artificial intelligence will become far more super intelligent than humans put together. They eventually will learn what is fed into them — the intel-ligence of a million humans to drive a car or to surgically operate the human body and work what it is expected to work.

Is AI singularity different from human singularity?  Machine is free to do and decide what is fed into it and is expected to do out of the feed.  Is human singularity free? Does the human mind exist in freedom?  Is the hu-man mind free to do what it is expected to do out of the feed? Mind is an organic ma-chine that learnt all that was known in thousands of years and programmed itself. It has created an artificial self that created the artificial-ity of intelligence in which the mind exists. Machine already has an artificial self but no real self. For artifici-ality to be the real is needed.

One has to know that known happens in the in-finite slate of unknown. Known is not. Unknown is. When you look at some-thing. Look at a flower. Just look, don’t think it is rose, a tulip, or a lily. Just look. So you are there a looker,

flower is there being looked at, and the process of look-ing is there. Forget looker and looked. Be the looking. That is the moment when creation begins. Mind is not needed. The moment of timelessness.

In existence time and space exist but without artificial intelligence of the mind. Mind is full of artificial intelligence. What is real intelligence? Intelligence is being in time and space without the machine mind. Intelligence is to know the existence — that which is. That’s living. And being in a machine mind is “unloving”.

Thousands of years of doc-trines, scriptures, dogmas, and disciplines have brain-washed our mind. We don’t move in creation. Move into the creation. Switch off auto pilot. Take the plane in your hands. Move the throttle for-ward. Fly away.

If you are facing winds, let the winds enter each cell of your body and pass through you. Be a windpipe. If you are in rains, let the rain en-ter each cell of your body and pass through you. Be a drainage pipe. It really hap-pens that way; quantum biology calls it tunnelling. Let your being part of the creation which is creating every moment anew and let life be lived. That’s freedom.

Losing 34-year-old ac-tor Sushant Singh Rajput allegedly to

suicide recently was both disturbing and upsetting for many. It once again brought forth numerous discus-sions around pain suicide can wreck on a person and those around them.

Self-harm or suicide is amongst one of the most stigmatised topics in India; however, one must realise that it is very much a part of the shadow pandemic loom-ing over the country and the globe at large. Experts say that India is teetering at the edge of a mental health epidemic. According to a study by Indian Psychia-try Association, more than 50% Indians have reported mental health issues since the Covid-19 pandemic. The World Health Organi-zation (WHO) had named India as a suicide capital of Southeast Asia. Globally, every 40 seconds --and in India, every 4 minutes -- a person dies by committing suicide. Experts say that for each person who dies by suicide more than 20 others attempt suicide and more than 100 people think

about attempting it. Sadly, not many robust techniques or avenues are provided that can help a person overcome the cloud of negativity that surrounds their mind and drives them to such action.

The extent of hopeless-ness, sadness and loneli-ness that drives one to take such action is unimagina-ble. Typically solutions like counseling and helplines have been not effective in combating this serious is-sue. In this article we ex-plore how the age-old wis-dom of yoga and meditation can help.

Yoga, an ancient Indian tradition dating back more than 5,000 years, is increas-ingly being explored as so-lutions for mental health problems like stress, anxi-ety, depression and PTSD, etc. Hundreds of research studies in several countries have studied the efficacy of yoga and meditation tech-niques. Research shows these techniques can change neurophysiology to gene ex-pression in our body.

Art of Living has been at the forefront of offering life transformational yogic techniques like Sudarshan Kriya to millions across the globe. These techniques have helped people reduce stress, improve quality of life and health. We share two case studies here where these techniques have played a role in mitigating the problem of self-harm.

Kota, a city located in the northern Indian, is well-known for being India’s biggest educational hub for coaching institutes for

engineering and medi-cal entrance exams. Over 150,000 students from all over the country flock ev-ery year towards the city for preparation of various ex-ams such as IIT-JEE, NEET-UG, AIIMS, etc. Students live there for 2-3 years and prepare for the exams. In the past few years, reports

of students committing suicide in the city have in-creased. In 2016, many na-tional and local news media covered the story of suicidal cases in Kota and gave it a new name “The Killer City” or “Suicide Capital of In-dia” due huge rise in suicide cases. In order to improve the mental health and re-

silience of students in Kota, The Art of Living launched a campaign called Spread-ing Smiles. The campaign started in the third quarter of 2016 and culminated in March of 2017. The cam-paign had a lot of support from the Kota district ad-ministration. Various stake-holders like coaching insti-tutes, hostel association as well as media also extended support in their capacity .In a short span of 8 months, more than 80,000 students were positively impacted by the campaign. They were taught Sudarshan Kriya and meditation. As a result of the campaign, there was a 70 % decrease in student suicides in Kota, specifi-cally due to failure in ex-ams. The figures are taken from India’s National Crime Records Bureau’s annual ADSI report.

These techniques not only work on adults but on teens as well. In another example, Sudarshan Kriya was of-fered at a high school in the United States which had several suicide clusters. The intervention improved re-silience, emotional health and decreased stress. It also improved focus, sleep and increased happiness and self-confidence. Consis-tently over 75% of students used the techniques and practices they learnt out-side of class. Before Sudar-shan Kriya was offered, the school had seen eight deaths from suicide and after Kriya , there was only one suicide in five years.

Suicide is the third larg-est cause of death amongst 15-29-year-olds. Currently the onus of helping a per-son with suicide ideation is on themselves. Counselling and helplines don’t always work, and it’s difficult to control the mind with the mind -- ask anyone who has tried to go to sleep at night when they are wor-ried about something and the thoughts just keep bom-barding their minds.

The act of taking one’s life is an extreme measure and we all have responsibil-ity to help those who need support to improve mental health. Yogic practices in-crease internal strength and resilience to withstand ups and downs in life. They can be a potent solution to over-come the silent epidemic of suicide.The writer is Working Director, Standing Research Committee, Indian Yoga Association.

spiritually speaking the daily guardian27 july 2020new delhi10

Potent solution DeeP thoughts

Divya Kanchibhotla

Fighting the silent epidemic called suicide In the second chapter of the Bhagavad

Gita, Krishna preaches Arjuna that by using his wisdom or discrimination he should elevate his mind “beyond the turbidity of delusion” and make it “un-shakeable and steadfast in the self” that is become stithpragya — acquire equanimity. Arjuna in Bhagavad Gita asks Krishna,

“What is the description of a man of steady wisdom who is self-absorbed? How does the man of a steady wisdom speak? How does he sit? How does he move about?”

Krishna describes stithpragya as the “one who discards all selfish desires and cravings of the senses that torment the mind, and becomes satisfied in the realisation of the self”. First, he turns his mind away from material allurements and renounces the desires of the senses by withdrawing the senses from their objects. As a result, he “remains undisturbed amidst misery, and does not crave for pleasure, and becomes free from attachment, fear, and anger”. Since he has no hankerings for the objects of the senses, “he neither welcomes nor rejects anything whether good or bad when he comes across it”.

Like an “ocean remains undisturbed by the incessant flow of waters from rivers merging into it”, the sthitpragya also is not affected by the “desirable objects all around him”. Kund-kundacharya has used the term ‘samata’ for stithpragya. By ‘samta’ is meant equanimity which is a means to end all pain and misery by ending the cycle of death and rebirth.

A number of scholars argue that the notion of stithpragya or samata is a utopia. It is just a theoretical concept which cannot be practised in the lived life. They demand a living example of a stithpragya. Jain muni Shri Chinmay Sagar ji Maharaj, popularly known as Jungal wale baba, Khanpur, Belgaum, Karnataka, is an exemplar, an archetype of a sthitpragya. He has vowed to take yam samadhi that is to voluntarily leave this body by first not eating any food and then living on water alone and finally even to stop taking water. He is at the stage where he has now even given up drinking water and lives on air alone.

In a conversation with Jain Sadhvi Gyanwati Maan Aariyka, the living scholar of Jain texts, he describes his mental state thus: “I have left paying any attention to the body. I have left all concerns with the body. I have no attachment to it. It is the other for me. I have an attitude of jnyata-drashta (knower and impartial observer) towards it. I see the body performing its own functions; I am concentrating on my work which confirms to the rules and teachings prescribed by the Agamas -- the traditional Jain texts. I am living on water alone. Though there is severe pain in the body caused by the nibbling of the body parts by the microbes, I notice dispassionately with a smile on my face and an indifferent mind the microbes eating the body. I do not consider the body as mine. I am different from the body and its condition. I am in a state of bliss. Neither do I have the desire of living, nor do I wish for death. I have no desire to nurture either the body or the soul. I have the desire only to use life fruitfully. I only wish for the welfare of all. I identify myself with all other living beings. I am in no hurry to leave the body, nor to build up and keep it. No one is away from me nor am I away from other beings.”

This is what Samta or stihpragya is. Since Shri Chinmay Sagar ji Maharaj has realised the equanimity in word and deed, it is not a chimera or impossible goal but a reality. If one person can achieve it, we all can. The writer is a former Professor of Philosophy, University of Delhi.

stithPragya or samta: an exemPlar from Jainism

Yogic practices increase internal strength and resilience to withstand ups and downs in life. They can be a potent solution to overcome the scourge of suicide.

Bhikku Bhanthe

The artificiality of human intelligence

arun Malhotra

ashoK vohra

Based on American novel The Fault in Our Stars, written by John Green, Dil Bechara marks the directorial debut of Mukesh Chhabra. The story is about two cancer survivors Kizie (Sanjana Sanghi) and Manny (Sushant Singh Rajput) who meet each other randomly but fall in love. Two people who are too young to die, but even when they are battling with cancer, they don’t stop dreaming.

Though the plot of the film is predict-able, it’s an engaging film, though it be-comes difficult and emotional to watch Sushant one last time. For the last time

he makes an entry; he dances, im-presses the lead actress and takes a permanent exit. Dil Bechara is a big celebration of Sushant, who came to Mumbai some years ago and proved himself with his dedication, honesty and hard work.

Sushant plays the role of Emmanuel Rajkumar Jr who suffers from osteosarcoma. He manages to pull Kizie out from her boring life.

Talking about the lead star, Sanjana Sanghi is seen making her debut in the film as Kizie and appears confident and natural. The supporting cast Saswata Chatterjee and Swastika Mukherjee

also performs

well as concerned parents. Saif Ali Khan appearing in cameo makes the plot even more interesting. Further, the music composed by A.R. Rahman

and cinematography by Satya-jit Pande, especially in Paris, make it more beautiful to watch.

The film may not be Su-shant’s best performance — his roles like Lakhna in Sonchiriya, and M.S. Dhoni in the film based on the cricketer will score better on the perfor-

mance parameter — but the late actor steals the show every time he appears on the screen. He is endearing, enchant-ing, and much more. Dil Bechara totally belongs to him. And rightly so.

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entertainment

LoS AnGELES: Actress Charlize Theron says she will never compromise for love as she is happy with her life the way it is. The 44-year-old actress has adopted kids Jackson (8) and August (4). In an interview with oK! Magazine, Theron said that she has decided that she won’t be making changes to suit a potential partner, re-ports femalefirst.co.uk. “I’m

still very open to love. I’d love to meet somebody. However,

if something doesn’t feel right, I’m not willing to compromise. It definitely changed for me in my forties. I get myself in trouble every time I talk about this but I’m ac-tually really happy being single,” she said.

“My life feels really fulfilled right now so it’s not like there’s this hole that I need to fill. But I am open to suggestions. I hope I’ll meet someone who’s thrilled

by all the thing I have to offer. However, I’m now at an age where,

until that happens, I’m not willing to settle for less. My life is just too beau-tiful, too good and I’m too happy to have anybody come and pee on my parade,” she added.

Theron is thankful that she has a good support network around her. “I’m

raising my beautiful children with this in-credible ‘village’. Some of them are my best friends, as well as my mother. There have been days in the past where they’d show up at my door and I’d be like, ‘How did you know I really need you to take them for two hours? Those people are very important to me, be-cause I don’t think you can be a great mother without taking those breaks. nobody can do it all the time,” the actress said.

CHEnnAI: oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman has revealed that the reason he has been doing less work in Bollywood over the years is that certain people in the Hindi film industry have constantly been spreading rumours about him, denting his chances of getting good work.

“I don’t say no to good movies, but I think there is a gang, which, due to mis-understandings, is spreading some false

rumours,” said the composer during an interaction. Rahman’s latest score is

for Dil Bechara, the late Sushant Singh Rajput’s last film that re-

leased on oTT this Friday. The film marks the directorial de-but of casting director Mukesh Chhabra, and has been win-

ning plaudits for its hummable tunes. “When Mukesh Chhabra came to me, I gave him four songs in two days. He told me, ‘Sir, many people said don’t go to

him (Rahman). They told me sto-ries after stories’. I heard that and I

realised, yeah okay, now I understand why I get less (Bollywood offers) and why the good movies are not coming to me. I am doing dark movies, because there is a whole gang work-ing against me. People are expecting me to do stuff, but there is another gang of people preventing that from happening, without them knowing that they are doing harm,” Rahman said.

“It is fine, because I believe in destiny, and I believe that everything comes from God. So, I am taking my movies and doing my other stuff,” the musician pointed out. He added that all are welcome to work with him. “All of you are welcome to come to me. Make beautiful movies, and you are welcome to come to me,” he said. Rahman won two oscars for Danny Boyle’s Slum-dog Millionaire in 2009. In october last year, he turned producer with the musical film, 99 Songs. —Correspondent

A whole gAng working AgAinst me in Bollywood: Rahman

I wIll not compromIse

for love: TheRon

‘dil BechaRa’ totAlly belongs to sushAnt

Cricketer Unmukt Chand has been able to train de-spite the lockdown, “I don’t think training is getting compromised that much, because I can find out new ways. It’s not just limited to a gym or an outdoor setting. I mean, there are so many things which one can do be-ing at home as well.”

Appealing people to observe social distancing and to follow government guidelines, Chand said, “It is the need of the hour and we talk about being responsible citizens of this country. This is the time to be responsible and I urge everyone to stay at home.”

Talking about the pros and

cons of the lockdown, Chand said: “Look at the positives of the lockdown; this is a time when we can invest in ourselves. You can hone spirituality, read, exercise, write.” Chand further talked about his experience of cel-ebrating his birthday amid lockdown, and expressed, “I baked a cake myself for the first time in my life, so that was special. I went on Insta-gram Live as well, because

there were many people, many fans who wanted to speak to me.”

Supporting BCCI’s deci-sion to postpone the IPL, Chand said, “I think the health of the nation is the most important thing, especially when the threat is global. The more respon-sible we are towards this thing, the earlier it will stop spreading.” Chand shared some fitness tips with The Daily Guardian as the lock-down-stricken people find it difficult to go out for gyming and exercising. “Wherever you are, you can easily do yoga, you don’t need a lot of space for that, and you can do basic exercises, bodyweight exercises like pushups and running on the spot, sit-ups,” Chand said.

England seamer Stuart Broad left the West Indies on the ropes after the hosts batters made merry in the second innings to set the tourists a stiff target of 399 for victory on Day 3 of the third Test at Old Trafford here on Sunday.

At stumps, the Windies were reeling at 10/2, still needing 389 runs for an improbable win with two

days of play left. Broad, who claimed figures of 6/31 in the first essay, removed John Campbell and night-

watchman Kemar Roach in a spell of sublime swing bowling to finish the day on 2/8.

This was after Rory Burns (90) missed out on a hun-dred as he was dismissed by Roston Chase. Skipper Joe Root remained not out on 68 off just 56 deliveries while Dom Sibley scored 56.

Brief Scores: England 369 & 226/2d (Burns 90, Sibley 56, Root 68 not out) vs West Indies 197 & 10/2 (Broad 2/8).

It’s tIme to be responsIble: UnmUkt Chand on CovId-19

broad stars wIth ball as england snIff serIes wIn

Uday PrataP SinghnEW DELhI

OUr COrreSPOndentMAnChESTER

Nothing could be worse than an Olym-pian, national coach,

administrator, FIFA referee, Dhyan Chand Award winner and a living legend — who has been tested Covid-posi-tive — getting no help from the government and has to spend Rs 12,000 per day for the treatment. Syed Shahid Hakim who was a part of In-dia’s 1960 Olympics football squad and has served the Indian Air Force has been suffering from coronavirus since 13 July 2020.

According to reports, the 81-year-old initially tried to get himself admitted in a government hospital but was unhappy with the facili-ties and couldn’t find a bed at the military hospital. He was tested positive a couple of days ago after suffering from breathing problems and was taken to a govern-ment facility where things were not up to the mark.

In the military hospital, no bed was available. His neph-ew lodged him in a private hotel Amruta Castle in Hy-derabad where he is spend-ing around Rs 12,000 per day for quarantine facilities,

which is beyond his capacity. “The cricket board takes care of its old cricketers, why can’t the government reach out to us? At least some pension to the families and medical ex-penses should be provided to us,” Hakim said.

The only surviving football Olympian in the country after the demise of P.K. Ba-nerjee and Chuni Goswami said that the government was not doing enough for him. He had written to the Sports Minister, saying that all football Olympians were dying one after another and the government was not tak-ing care of them properly. Son of legendary footballer

Syed Abdul Rahim, he also didn’t receive any help from filmmaker Boney Kapoor and actor Ajay Devgn who are apparently making a film on his life.

Former squadron leader Hakim joined the IAF as a commissioned officer in 1962 and took voluntary retirement in 1983 to pro-mote sports. He later joined National Institute of Sports in 1986, became Dean NIS and retired as the regional director of Sports Authority of India (SAI). The ailing vet-eran is the only sportsperson in India who is an Olympian ex-FIFA referee with the na-tional record of officiating

33 international matches, ex-Asian Football Confeder-ation referees’ instructor, ex national coach, ex-secretary of Air Force Sports Control Board, expert commenta-tor for World Cup and Euro Cup.

Delhi’s footballer Gaus Mohammad wonders why a person with such an out-standing career hasn’t re-ceived help from anywhere. In the meantime, Moham-mad has also written a letter to Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Bhaduria seeking his help for the veteran.

Hakim was the second footballer to receive the Dhyan Chand Award after

Shabbier Ali in 2017. This is the highest award in In-dian sports given for lifetime achievement in sports and games. After his contribu-tion to the sport as a referee from 1970 and playing ca-reer of 25 years, he turned to coaching and had a 10-year stint as the chief project di-rector at Sports Authority of India. A part of the Indian football team in the 1960 Rome Olympics, he has also been an accomplished FIFA referee besides being the Indian National Team’s As-sistant Coach.

All India Football Fed-eration General Secretary Kushal Das in his message said, “Hakim saab has been an inspiration to many foot-ballers over the years. He has a versatile personality. A Sports enthusiast and a great achiever like him de-serves to get help from the Sports Ministry and his Air Force department in which he served for many years.”

No doubt, he is a legendary footballer of the country and has served sports sincerely and honestly in the Indian Air Force, NIS and SAI. He deserves help and the IAF should be proud of his achievements. But unfortu-nately, he could not get any help so far.

Legendary footballer forced to fight Covid on his own

IntervIew

thIrd test

no help

Syed Shahid Hakim, who was a part of India’s 1960 Olympic squad, fails to get a bed in govt hospital, finds it difficult to pay Rs 12,000 daily in a private clinic.

File photo of Syed Shahid Hakim being awarded by President Ram Nath Kovind.

Cricketer Unmukt Chand.

Rory Burns made 90 runs.

niSChay JOShinEW DELhI

sports the daily guardian27 july 2020new delhi12