cmyk
THE ASIAN AGE NATION| 3
Tharoor calls on Sonia:
Shashi-Gehlot contest
looming for Cong prez?
www.asianage.com RNI No. 57290/94, Regd No: DL-SW-05/4189/15-17
WINDOWS
Actress and Unicef goodwill
ambassador Priyanka Chopra
with Nobel laureate Malala
Yousafzai and Unicef
supporter Amanda Gorman
at UNGA. — PTI
Army Day’s parade
on Jan. 15 will be
shifted out of Delhi
New Delhi: After Air Force,
Indian Army has now decid-
ed to shift the Army Day’s
parade held every year on
January 15 in Delhi outside
the national capital. This is
part of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi initiative to
take major events and fes-
tivities out of the national
capital region to different
parts of the country. The
Army Day parade next year
in January will be held in
Southern command area.
This year, Indian Air Force
is celebrating its 90th Air
Force Day at Chandigarh on
8 October. The Air Force
Day parade and flypast will
he held in Chandigarh.
Full report on Page 4
Shivakumar quizzed
by ED in PMLA case
New Delhi: Karnataka
Congress president D.K.
Shivakumar on Monday
appeared before the ED here
for questioning in a money
laundering case. The ED had
issued him the latest sum-
mons after taking cognizance
of a CBI case against him
linked to alleged possession
of disproportionate assets.
Full report on Page 3
North Bengal varsity
V-C held in SSC scam
New Delhi: The CBI on
Monday arrested North
Bengal University vice-
chancellor Subires
Bhattacharyya in connec-
tion with the assistant
teachers’ recruitment scam
in West Bengal in 2016, offi-
cials said.
Full report on Page 3
COUNTERPOINT
WEATHER
Max: 33OC
Min: 27OC
RH: 65%
Rain: 50%
Forecast: Thunderstorms
ASTROGUIDE
Shubhakrut: Dakshinayana
Tithi: Bhadrapada Bahula
Dasami 9.24 pm
Star: Punarvasu till 9.04 pm
Varjyam: 7.37 am to 9.24 am
Durmuhurtam: 8.33 am to
9.21 am
Rahukalam:3 pm to 4.30 pm
SUNSET TODAY 6.20 PM
SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.09 AM
MOONRISE TOMORROW 1.35 AM
MOONSET TODAY 3.15 PM
All-woman SIT
to probe video
controversy at
Mohali campus
Chandigarh, Sept. 19:
The Punjab police on
Monday formed a three-
member all-women spe-
cial investigation team
to probe the allegations
levelled by students of
Chandigarh University
that a hosteller had
recorded several objec-
tionable videos of
women students in the
common washroom.
The SIT has been
formed under the super-
vision of senior IPS offi-
cer Gurpreet Kaur Deo,
police said.
The team will thor-
oughly probe the case
and no person involved
will be spared, Punjab
director-general of
police Gaurav Yadav
said, adding, “Investi-
gations are going on at
full pace.”
Protests rocked the
university campus in
Punjab’s Mohali on
Saturday night over the
issue. Some students
even claimed that the
videos recorded by the
woman student were
even leaked. They also
levelled allegations of
misbehaviour against a
warden.
The university author-
ities, however, dis-
missed these allegations
as “false and baseless”.
The police also said the
student appeared to
have shared a video of
only herself with a 23-
year-old “boyfriend”
and no objectionable
video of any other stu-
dent was found. — PTI
■ More on Page 4
5-judge bench to Amarinder joins BJP, merges his party too
fix guidelines on Son, daughter also join saffron party; BJP calls it ‘big moment in political history’
death sentences
PARMOD KUMAR
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
A three-judge Supreme
Court bench on Monday
referred to a five-judge
Constitution Bench the
framing of guidelines
spelling out the contours
of hearing the potential
mitigating circumstances
to be considered by
courts across the country
in deciding whether a
case falls under the
“rarest of rare” category
for imposing the death
sentence.
Noting that conflicting
rulings on the grant of
hearing to an accused
before imposing the
death sentence, a bench
of Chief Justice Uday
Umesh Lalit and Justices
S. Ravindra Bhat and
Sudhanshu Dhulia said:
“It is necessary to have
clarity in the matter on a
uniform approach on the
question of granting real
and meaningful opportu-
nity of hearing to the
accused in such cases,
As Biden vows to defend Taiwan,
China hits out over ‘splitting’ bid
Beijing, Sept. 19: China on
Monday made it clear to
Washington that it will
not tolerate any activities
aimed at splitting the
country and will take
“necessary measures” to
protect its sovereignty,
hours after President Joe
Biden again said the US
military would defend the
democratic and self-ruled
island if Beijing tries to
invade it.
Mr Biden said “yes”
when asked during an
interview broadcast on
Sunday on CBS News’ “60
Minutes” programme
whether “US forces, US
men and women, would
NEW DELHI TUESDAY 20 SEPTEMBER 2022
King Charles III and members of the royal family follow behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, draped in the
Royal Standard with the Imperial State Crown and the Sovereign’s orb and sceptre, as it is carried out of
Westminster Abbey after her state funeral in London on Monday. The Queen, who died aged 96 on September 8,
will be buried at Windsor alongside her late husband, Prince Philip, who died last year.
UK, world bid farewell to Queen
Big Ben tolls 96 times; 2,000 at Abbey; final rest at Windsor, next to Phliip
ADITI KHANNA
LONDON, SEPT. 19
The UK observed a two-
minute silence in a
poignant nationwide
tribute as a final farewell
to the country’s longest
serving monarch, Queen
Elizabeth II, at the con-
clusion of a majestic state
funeral ceremony at
Westminster Abbey here,
attended by thousands
and witnessed by mil-
lions on screens world-
wide.
The UK’s national
anthem, ‘God Save the
King’, rang out as the cof-
◗ OBSERVING THAT
there was an urgent
need to ensure that the
mitigating circum-
stances for conviction in
offences that carry the
possibility of a death
sentence are considered
at the trial stage itself,
the court had taken suo
motu note of the issue
reference to a larger
bench of five judges is
necessary.”
Observing that there
was an urgent need to
ensure that the mitigat-
ing circumstances for
conviction in offences
that carry the possibility
of a death sentence are
considered at the trial
stage itself, the court had
taken suo motu note of
the issue.
The court seeks to
develop the guidelines to
be followed by courts
across the country while
considering matters
which deal with death
■ Turn to Page 4
Joe Biden
defend Taiwan in the
event of a Chinese inva-
sion.”
Taiwan is a self-ruled
island off the coast of east-
ern China that Beijing
claims as part of its terri-
tory. The US has always
WORLD| 6
Pak court orders police
to drop terror charges
against Imran Khan
Flowers cover the hearse carrying the coffin of Queen
Elizabeth II as it arrives on Albert Road outside
Windsor Castle on Monday.
fin was lifted out for the resting place at St.
last leg of the journey to George’s
the late monarch’s final Windsor Castle, where a
YOJNA GUSAI
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Capt. Amarinder Singh,
80, a two-time former
chief minister of Punjab
and a scion of the erst-
while Patiala royal fami-
ly, on Monday joined the
BJP and also merged his
fledgling party Punjab
Lok Congress with the saf-
fron party. The BJP
termed Capt. Singh’s join-
ing the saffron fold as a
“big moment in India’s
political history”, and
said that he had always
Modi not behind raids on TMC: Didi
Targets Shah, says some BJP leaders ‘instigating’ Central agencies
RAJIB CHOWDHURI
KOLKATA, SEPT. 19
In a rare instance, West
Bengal chief minister
Mamata Banerjee on
Monday spared Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
in her attack on a section
of the BJP leadership for
the recent spurt in actions
by the Central investiga-
walked a diplomatic
tightrope over the sensi-
tive issue in bilateral ties.
The White House has
been quick to downplay
Mr Biden’s previous com-
ments on Taiwan, reiter-
ating that the US policy
hasn’t changed.
This is the second time
since May this year that
Mr Biden has replied
affirmatively to questions
on the US militarily inter-
vening to defend
Taiwan’s independence,
adding a military dimen-
sion to Washington’s
Taiwan policy much to
the chagrin of Beijing.
— PTI
DELHI AGE| 11
Kate hospitalised
after falling on the
set of Lee in Croatia
— AP
committal service will
conclude the public-fac-
ing aspect of the funeral
before a private burial
ceremony on Monday
evening.
The Queen’s final rest-
ing place will be by the
side of her late husband
of 73 years, Prince Philip,
in an enclave of the his-
toric chapel on her south-
east England estate of
Windsor.
The state funeral began
as chimes of the Big Ben
— AP fell silent and hymns
rang out as the coffin of
Chapel in the late monarch was
■ Turn to Page 4
Now is the time to do something for the coun-
something for the try. We have seen the
country. We have Congress, now it is time to
go to the party that has
seen the Congress, been doing so much for
now it is time to go to
the country and its securi-
the party that has
ty. It is a pleasure being
been doing so much
for the country and its
here,” Capt. Singh said
after joining the BJP at
security.
— Amarinder
the party headquarters.
Asked by reporters
Singh, about the speculation that
Former Punjab CM Capt. Singh’s wife,
Congress’ Patiala MP
Preneet Kaur, could also
“kept the nation above join the BJP, the former
all”. Punjab CM replied: “Yeh
“Now is the time to do ■ Turn to Page 4
tive agencies
in the state.
T h e
Modi had no hand behind
the misuse of Central
agencies against her party
Trinamul leaders since, she
Congress claimed, the CBI has been
supremo, taken out of the PMO’s
supporting a charge.
resolution tabled by the Ms Banerjee gave the
TMC in the Assembly con- clean chit to Mr Modi,
demning excesses by the who was her favourite tar-
Central agencies in the get till recently, on a day
state, asserted that Mr her party MLA and for-
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi participates in a snake boat race exhibition in
Punnamada Lake of Kerala on Monday. Mr Gandhi is in Kerala for the Bharat Jodo
Yatra.
Vol. 29 No. 213 | 16
NSCN (I-M) set to
resume dialogue
with Centre today
Team sent to Delhi to resolve friction
points, separate flag is still an issue
MANOJ ANAND
GUWAHATI, SEPT. 19
In a major development
in the ongoing Naga
peace process, the NSCN
(I-M) has agreed to
resume the peace talks
with the Centre and has
sent a team led by V.S.
Atem on Monday to New
Delhi to resume the dia-
logue on the remaining
contentious issues.
Saying that the NSCN
(I-M) team will meet offi-
cials of the Union home
ministry on Tuesday in
the national capital, secu-
rity sources told this
newspaper that
demand for a separate
the
flag for Nagaland still
remained a contentious
issue.
Indicating that the
NSCN (I-M) may agree on
all other points on which
a consensus was reached
in talks with then Naga
peace talks interlocutor
R.N. Ravi on October 31,
2019, the security sources
said that all the stake-
holders have agreed to
sort out their differences
in the larger interests of
the state.
The security sources
claimed that the home
ministry was also work-
ing on a new set of “for-
mulation papers” for
packaging a set of offers,
along with the old ones,
to facilitate the final
Union minister Kiren Rijiju welcomes former Punjab
chief minister Amarinder Singh as he joins the BJP in
New Delhi on Monday.
mer Cabinet colleague
Partha Chatterjee was
charge-sheeted by the ED
in the School Service
Commission jobs scam.
Pointing her fingers at
Union home minister
Amit Shah and West
Bengal’s Leader of the
Opposition Suvendu
Adhikari, the CM claimed
■ Turn to Page 4
— PTI
cmyk
PAGES | `5.00
◗ SAYING THAT the
NSCN (I-M) team will
meet officials of the
Union home ministry on
Tuesday in the national
capital, security sources
told this newspaper that
the demand for a sepa-
rate flag for Nagaland
still remained a con-
tentious issue
peace deal soon.
The decision of resum-
ing the dialogue came
after a meeting between
11 representatives of the
NSCN (I-M) and the 22-
member Naga Core
Committee comprising
MPs and MLAs of
Nagaland at
Chümoukedima
Dimapur on Saturday.
near
The co-convenor of the
core committee, Mr T.R.
Zeliang, told reporters:
“The NSCN has agreed to
resume talks on the con-
dition that they are based
on the Framework
Agreement and the for-
mulation papers submit-
ted to R.N. Ravi and A.K.
Mishra.”
Mr Mishra, a former
Intelligence Bureau spe-
cial director, has been
appointed the Centre’s
representative for hold-
ing talks with the NSCN
(I-M) since September
2021. Mr Ravi is now the
governor of Tamil Nadu.
■ Turn to Page 4
— G.N. JHA
Punjab CM will
hold floor test
Thursday amid
‘toppling’ claim
Chandigarh, Sept. 19:
Days after the AAP
accused the BJP of trying
to topple its government
in Punjab, chief minister
Bhagwant Mann on
Monday said a special
session of the state
Assembly will be called
on September 22 to bring
a confidence motion.
The ruling party had
recently claimed that at
least 10 of its MLAs were
approached by the BJP
with an offer of `25 crore
to each of them in a bid to
topple the six-month old
government.
With 92 MLAs, the AAP
has an overwhelming
majority in the 117-mem-
ber Punjab Assembly,
while Congress has 18,
SAD three, BJP two, and
BSP one. The Assembly
also has an an
Independent member.
“You must have heard
how they tried to contact
our MLAs and tried to
offer money and other
allurements in an
attempt to topple the
state government which
was elected with a huge
mandate,” Punjab chief
minister Mann said.
— PTI
 CITY
THE ASIAN AGE | TUESDAY | 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | NEW DELHI
SHORT
Fake passport racket
TAKES
busted, 4 arrested
New Delhi: With the arrest
of four persons , the Delhi
police IGI has busted a
gang for allegedly duping
people on the pretext of
sending them to foreign
country, the police said on
Monday. Twelve Indian and
seven Nepali passports, 35
PR cards and 26 visas of
different countries, along
with other incriminating
material have been recov-
ered, they said. The police
further said that the gang is
involved in making, fake
visas and other travel docu-
ments in connivance with
their accomplice based in
Delhi and Punjab.
According to the police a
case was registered at
Indira Gabdhi International
Airport police station on
the complaint of one
Gurnoor Singh in which he
had alleged that the
accused person Amit Gaur
contacted the complainant
through social media to
give references of the
clients for the tourist visa
and study visa of Australia.
— PTI
Man, aide murder
wife, arrested
New Delhi: A man along
with his associate was
arrested for allegedly
killing his wife after he had
suspicion over her charac-
ter, the Delhi Police said on
Monday. The accused per-
sons have been identified
as Shahden Malik (23) and
Md. Aasif (19), the police
said. According to the
police a PCR call was
recieved at Jafrabad police
station on Saturday regard-
ing murder of a lady.
Immediately a police team
reached the spot where one
lady was found lying dead
in a pool of blood in her
room. The deceased identi-
fied as Fatima (22), a resi-
dent of Vijay Mohalla,
Maujpur had her throat slit
with a sharp weapon and
there were also stabbing
injuries on her back, the
police said. During investi-
gation, it was found that
the deceased and her hus-
band Shahden Malik alias
Shan or Suhaib had been
residing as tenants in the
area for the last one and
half months. Shahden
was found missing which
raised suspicion over him,
they said.
— PTI
9th monkeypox
case in capital
New Delhi: A 30-year-old
Nigerian woman has tested
positive for monkeypox in
Delhi, making it the city’s
ninth and India’s 14th case of
the infection, officials said on
Monday. The woman was
admitted to the LNJP
Hospital here with blisters
and pus-filled lesions on geni-
tals on September 16. Her
test report came back on
Sunday, they added. Another
suspected patient, also of
Nigerian origin, was admitted
to the state-run hospital on
Sunday. His test reports are
awaited. — PTI
AIR QUALITY
INDEX INCHES
CLOSER TO POOR
New Delhi: Delhi’s air quali-
ty inched towards the poor
category on Monday, just
three days after the city
recorded its first good air
quality day this year. The
capital recorded a 24-hour
average air quality index of
182 at 4 pm on Monday. It
was 119 on Sunday, 70 on
Saturday and 47 on Friday.
With an AQI of 405
(severe), Anand Vihar was
the most-polluted place in
the capital. Mahesh
Palawat, vice-president (cli-
mate change and meteorol-
ogy), Skymet weather, said
a confluence of easterly
and westerly winds did not
let local pollutants dis-
perse. Calm winds allowed
accumulation of pollutants
in the morning. According
to the Ministry of earth sci-
ences’ air quality early
warning system for Delhi-
NCR, the air quality is likely
to remain in “moderate to
poor” categories on
Tuesday and in the poor
category on Wednesday.
Calm winds are likely to
prevail during night and
morning hours which is
unfavourable for effective
dispersion of pollutants.
According to decision sup-
port system of the Indian
Institute of Tropical
Meteorology, the transport
sector accounted for 14 to
22 per cent of the PM2.5
pollution on Monday. — PTI
Liquor scam: AAP Chandni Chowk facelift Ph-2 soon
MLA faces ED heat
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
MLA Durgesh Pathak on
Monday appeared before
the ED in connection with
the probe into the Delhi
excise policy which is
now scrapped by the
Kejriwal government.
An in-charge of MCD
polls in Delhi, Mr Pathak
appeared before the ED
for questioning in connec-
tion with the money laun-
dering case linked to
alleged irregularities in
the Delhi excise policy
case, the sources said.
With this, four AAP
leaders, including former
minister Satyendar Jain,
deputy chief minister
Mansih Sisodia and
Okhla MLA Amanatullah
Khan have been facing
the investigation from
the central probing
agencies.
Reportedly, Mr Pathak
was questioned about his
role in this case and his
purported links with the
former ECO of an enter-
tainment and event man-
agement company Vijay
Nair who is also an
accused in the case,” they
said.
Reacting to Mr Pathak’s
appearance before the fed-
eral financial probe
agency, Mr Sisodia said, “
The ED has summoned
AAP’s MCD poll in-charge
Durgesh Pathak today.
What has our MCD poll in-
charge to do with Delhi
Actor Jacqueline Fernandez arrives to appear before
the economic offences wing of the Delhi police in New
Delhi on Monday.
Jacqueline appears
before cops, grilled
for over 7 hours
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Bollywood
Jacqueline Fernandez on
Monday was questioned
actor
for over 7 hours in 200
crore extortion case in
connection with an inves-
tigation related to alleged
conman Sukesh
Chandrashekhar, officials
said.
This is the second time
that the actor has been
summoned for question-
ing by Delhi police for her
alleged role in the case,
officials said.
A senior police officer
said Fernandez has
joined the probe and is
being questioned at the
office of economic
offences wing on Mandir
Marg.
Last Wednesday,
Fernandez was quizzed
for over eight hours along
with Pinki Irani, the per-
son who allegedly intro-
duced the actor to Mr
Chandrashekhar.
Investigation
revealed that
Chandrashekhar had on
had
Mr
his birthday offered a
motorcycle to
Fernandez's agent
Prashant but he declined
Delhi sees 101 cases of dengue
in last one week, total tally 396
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Delhi has registered a
huge spurt in dengue
cases, with over 100 peo-
ple being diagnosed with
the infection in the last
one week, taking the tally
of the vector-borne dis-
ease in the city to nearly
400 so far this year.
According to a report
released by the MCD on
Monday, 152 cases have
been reported in this
month alone till
September 17.
The city had recorded
295 dengue cases till
AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak arrives at the office of ED in
New Delhi on Monday.
◗ REPORTEDLY, MR
Pathak was questioned
about his role in this
case and his purported
links with the former
ECO of an entertain-
ment and event man-
agement company Vijay
Nair who is also an
accused in the case
government’s excise poli-
cy? Is their target liquor
policy or MCD poll?” he
added.
Mr Sisodia also ques-
tioned the ED summons
and wondered whether
the agency was targeting
the liquor policy or MCD
polls.
“Now, the BJP-ED-CBI
alliance will contest both
the Gujarat and
Delhi (civic body) elec-
tions,” the AAP's chief
spokesperson Saurabh
Bharadwaj charged in a
tweet in Hindi.
He said the EDs sum-
mons to Pathak has made
— PTI
◗ INVESTIGATION HAD
revealed that Mr
Chandrashekhar had on
his birthday offered a
motorcycle to
Fernandez’s agent
Prashant but he
declined to take it
to take it. All the same,
Mr Chandrashekhar left
the two-wheeler and its
keys at Prashant's place,
police had said earlier.
The vehicle was seized,
they added.
Mr Chandrashekhar,
who is currently in jail
here, is accused of cheat-
ing many people, includ-
ing high-profile individu-
als such as former Fortis
Healthcare promoter
Shivinder Mohan Singh's
wife Aditi Singh.
On August 17, the
Enforcement Directorate
filed a chargesheet nam-
ing Fernandez as an
accused in a multi-crore
money laundering case
linked to
Chandrashekhar.
According to the ED,
Fernandez and another
Mr
Bollywood actor Nora
Fatehi received luxury
cars and other expensive
gifts from him.
September 9. In the last
one week, 101 fresh cases
have been reported.
Out of the 396 total
cases recorded till
September 17 this year, 75
were reported in August.
It is also the highest
number of dengue cases
logged during the January
1-September 17 period,
since 2017, when the corre-
sponding figure was 1,465.
No death has been
reported so far this year
due to the disease.
Ninety-two cases of
malaria and 17 case of
chikungunya have also
been reported this year.
— PTI
it clear that the MCD elec-
tions are going to be held
in Delhi.
The elections of the
Municipal Corporation of
Delhi (MCD) are likely to
be held by the end of the
year after completion of
delimitation
wards.
of
The ED had last week
270
conducted raids at 40 loca-
tions across the country
in connection with the
Excise Policy 2021-22 of
the Kejriwal government.
The CBI has filed an FIR
in connection with
alleged irregularities in
the policy and named
Delhi deputy CM as an
accused.
The Kejriwal govern-
ment withdrew the policy
in July after the CBI probe
was recommended by LG
VK Saxena into the
alleged irregularities in
implementation of the
policy but maintained
that the allegations were
politically motivated.
Ex-MLA threatens to blow Parl, held
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
The Delhi police’s crime
branch has arrested 56
year-old Kishor Samrite,
former Madhya Pradesh’s
Lanji MLA for threatening
to blow Parliament with
explosives. Police said
that Mr Samrite was
arrested from Bhopal and
he will brought to Delhi on
Tuesday and he will be
produced before the court.
According to Ravinder
Yadav, the special commis-
sioner of police, crime
branch, Mr Samrite had
sent one package to
Parliament containing
one threatening letter,
some flags, a copy of con-
stitution and some gelatin
sticks.
Bala Sahib
delegation
meets PM,
offers prasad
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
PM Narendra Modi met
with a Sikh delegation
from Gurdwara Bala
Sahib, which organised
an “Akhand paath” on
the occasion of his
birthday at his official
residence. PM Modi reit-
erated his government's
commitment to continu-
ously work for the wel-
fare of the Sikh commu-
nity.
The Sikh delegation
visited the PM and
offered prasad and bless-
ings from the gurdwara.
The Sikh delegation
honoured the PM by
tying a “pagdi” and
offering a “siropa” to
him. An “ardas”
(prayer) was also per-
formed for the PM 's long
life and good health.
Gurudwara Shri Bala
Sahib Ji in the national
capital had organised an
“akhand paath” on occa-
sion of the Prime
Minister’s birthday. The
“akhand paath” was
started on September 15
and culminated on the
day of the Prime
Minister’s birthday on
September 17.
Officials said that the
Prime Minister Modi
expressed his happiness
on meeting the delega-
tion and thanked them
for their wishes and
prayers for his well-
being.
Mr Modi said that he
was humbled and deeply
touched by their gesture
for making him feel a
part of the Sikh
Community. The Prime
Minister reiterated the
commitment of the gov-
ernment to continuously
work for the welfare of
the Sikh community.
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
The AAP government will
soon begin the second
phase of redevelopment of
Delhi’s iconic Chandni
Chowk, focussing on
reviving and beautifying
the historical architectur-
al character of the build-
ings in the area, an official
statement said on Monday.
Deputy chief minister
Manish Sisodia held a
meeting with public works
department (PWD) offi-
cials and directed them to
ensure a balance between
historic and modern
architectural designs dur-
ing the second phase of
redevelopment.
Mr Sisodia said the pub-
lic response to the first
Sisodia: 11 more hosps to
boost Delhi’s health infra
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Deputy chief minister
Manish Sisodia on
Monday said the 11
upcoming hospitals will
boost the health infra-
structure in Delhi and
help in efficiently fighting
emergencies like the
Covid pandemic.
Eleven new hospitals are
being constructed in
Delhi which will increase
the number of hospital
beds in Delhi government-
run hospitals by 10,000.
Mr Sisodia held a review
meeting with PWD offi-
“Samrite had threatened
that if his 70 demands
were not met, he would
blow up Parliament House
on September 30.
Accordingly a case was
registered at Parliament
Street police station in the
national capital and a
probe was initiated into
the matter,” said the
Special CP.
Mr Samrite, the former
MLA from Lanji con-
stituency of Madhya
Pradesh, Samrite, after
his education had first
joined NSUI, then Janata
Dal. In 2007 he joined
Samajwadi Party and won
by-elections from the
Lanji constituency.
“He remained an MLA
for 10-11 months. Samrite
has also been previously
Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a meeting with a Sikh delegation at 7 Lok Kalyan
Marg in New Delhi on Monday.
Cops can now obtain physical
samples of convicts for probe
AMRESH SRIVASTAVA
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
The Government on
Monday issued notifica-
tion for the rules under
the criminal procedure
(identification) act 2022,
which provides legal sanc-
tion to law enforcement
agencies for taking meas-
urements of convicts and
other persons for the pur-
poses of identification
and investigation of crim-
inal matters.
A notification issued by
the Union home ministry
which legally empowers
the police to obtain physi-
cal and biological samples
of convicts and detainees
for investigation in crimi-
nal matters.
According to the notified
rules, now even magis-
trates are empowered to
issue orders to take meas-
urements or photographs
of a person to aid the
probe of an offence.
phase of Chandni Chowk
redevelopment, where the
government focused on
decongesting the area and
beautify the main road
stretch of the market to
improve the shopping
experience of visitors,
was overwhelming.
“Historical places across
Delhi symbolize the coun-
try’s evolution over a peri-
od of time and the
Kejriwal government is
determined to preserve all
these places on priority.
“All the historical build-
ings should be revived
with their original fea-
tures,” the statement quot-
ing Mr Sisodia said.
The first phase of the
Chandni Chowk redevel-
opment project was com-
pleted in 2021 and now the
cials and
the health
depart-
ment and
reviewed
t h
progress of
e semi-permanent ICU hos-
Manish Sisodia c o n s t r u c -
tion works.
T h e
deputy CM directed offi-
cials to complete all con-
struction works on time
and ensure quality stan-
dards are maintained.
During the meeting, offi-
cials said construction of
most of the hospitals will
be completed by the end of
this year, whereas the
◗ KISHOR SAMRITE, the
former MLA from Lanji
constituency of Madhya
Pradesh, Samrite, after
his education had first
joined NSUI, then Janata
Dal. In 2007 he joined
Samajwadi Party and
won by-elections from
the Lanji constituency.
booked for several cases
like rioting, arson, extor-
tion etc,” said the Special
CP.
“A Special Court had also
awarded a 5-year punish-
ment to him,” the senior
official said.
According to sources, he
have people in several
department, who gives
Samrite information ,
which through RTI he
The notification said
that an authorised person
- which means a police
officer or a prison officer
of the central or state gov-
ernment - can take “meas-
urements” like finger-
impressions, palm-print
impressions,
impressions,
foot-print
photo-
graphs, iris and retina
scan, physical, biological
samples and their analy-
sis, behavioural attrib-
utes, including signa-
tures, handwriting or any
other examination
referred to in section 53 or
section 53A of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, 1973.
“The authorised user or
any person skilled in tak-
ing measurements or a
registered medical practi-
tioner or any other person
so authorised may take
the measurements of a
person arrested in a crim-
inal case provided that it
is taken with the prior
written approval of a
◗ THE PROJECT also
envisages unification of
the facade of heritage
buildings, colour and
signage scheme for
shops, facade illumina-
tion, and interpretation
of storyline of heritage
structures on various
spots.
government is all set to
begin its second phase
soon, it said.
The project includes con-
servation of heritage
structures as per original
material and construction
techniques, structural
retrofitting and restora-
tion, it said.
The project also envis-
ages unification of the
facade of heritage build-
remaining will be done by
mid-2023.
Of the 11 hospitals, four
will have a capacity of
3,237 beds while seven
pitals will have a capacity
of 6,838 beds, Sisodia said.
“These will prove to be
helpful in fighting situa-
tions like the Covid pan-
demic andemergency
cases efficiently. These
new hospitals will give a
boost to Delhi's health
infrastructure and mil-
lions of Delhiites will be
able to avail world-class
healthcare facilities,” the
minister said.
uses to blackmail people.
“He has been accused of
blackmailing business-
men and earlier, he had
also taken money from a
jeweller in Jabalpur after
blackmailing him,” said
the sources.
Last year in June,
Samrite was arrested on
charge of blackmailing and
extortion and he was sent
to jail on judicial remand in
Balaghat district.
A case against Samrite,
was registered at Bharveli
police station of the district
after a businessman Rajesh
Pathak had lodged a com-
plaint at superintendent of
police (SP) Balaghat office,
accusing the former MLA
of blackmailing and threat-
ening to get a fake case reg-
istered against him.
— PTI
police officer not below
the rank of SP ,” it said.
The Criminal
P r o c e d u r e
(Identification) Act 2022
has replaced the
Identification of
Prisoners Act, 1920.
Under both the 1920 and
the 2022 Act, resistance
or refusal to give data
“will be considered an
offence of obstructing a
public servant from
doing his duty”.
As per the notification,
the measurements of a
person “charged with vio-
lation of any prohibitory
order issued under sec-
tion 144 or section 145 or
arrested under section 151
of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1973 (2 of 1974)
shall not be taken unless
such person is charged or
arrested in connection
with any other offence
punishable under any
other law for the time
being in force”.
pg 2
ings, colour and signage
scheme for shops, facade
illumination, and inter-
pretation of storyline of
heritage structures on
various spots by using
plaques and QR codes to
enhance the visitor expe-
rience, the statement said.
Mr Sisodia, who also
holds the PWD portfolio,
said in the present situa-
tion, Chandni Chowk has a
blend of historic and mod-
ern architecture buildings,
but to provide a unified
look to the market, these
buildings require a facelift.
Mr Sisodia said during
the implementation of the
redevelopment plan, they
should ensure that incon-
venience is not caused to
owners of local shops and
historical buildings.
Man does not
want wife, kid
to perform his
funeral rites
New Delhi, Sept. 19: A
56-year-old
approached the Delhi
man
high court on Monday
for directions to ensure
that his wife, daughter
or son-in-law do not per-
form his last rites.
The petitioner, who is
suffering from a cardiac
ailment and has been
advised heart replace-
ment, claimed his family
treated him with cruelty
and brought him “a lot
of sorrow”, and so his
body should be handed
over to the person he
treats as his son. The
person, he said in the
petition, looked after
him well and “even
cleaned his defecation”
when he was bedridden.
In view of the acrimo-
nious relationship
between the petitioner
and his family members,
Justice Yashwant
Varma asked the Delhi
government counsel to
seek instructions on the
plea challenging the offi-
cial standard operating
procedure for mortuar-
ies which grant a right
over a dead body to the
relatives of the
deceased.
In his plea filed
through lawyers
Visheshwar Shrivastav
and Manoj Kumar
Gautam, the petitioner
said he is only seeking to
exercise his right to life,
fair treatment and digni-
ty as well as “rights with
respect to disposal of his
dead body”. “The
Petitioner was treated
very cruelly and badly
by Respondent no.l & 2
(wife and daughter) and
this brought him a lot of
sorrow. It is not known
when his end will come
and he does not want his
wife, daughter and son
in law to lay a claim on
his Dead Body” the plea
stated. — PTI
DU may hold
PG entrance
in 2nd week
of October
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
The entrance test for
postgraduate courses
at Delhi University is
likely to be held in the
second week of
October, a senior var-
sity official said on
Monday. The DUET
PG 2022 examination
will be conducted by
National Testing
Agency (NTA) in the
computer-based
mode.
Candidates have
expressed concerns
about the delay in the
examination, which
was expected to be
held in July.
The university has
received a communi-
cation from the NTA
regarding the tenta-
tive date for the PG
entrance, the official
said. The university
closed the application
for the DUET PG win-
dow on June 30. Like
last year, 50 per cent of
the seats are reserved
for the students of DU
while the remaining
seats will be filled up
through DUET.
Twenty-eight cities
have been selected as
examination centres
with one centre in
each state, varsity
officials said.
 NATION
THE ASIAN AGE | TUESDAY | 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | NEW DELHI
pg 3

■ MP discusses prez polls with Cong chief

SHORT TAKES
Odisha BJP leader
Bishnu Sethi dies
Bhubaneswar: Deputy leader
of the Opposition in the
Odisha Legislative Assembly
and state’s firebrand BJP
leader Bishnu Charan Sethi
passed away on Monday due
to multi-organ complicatio-
ns. He was 61. Sethi breathed
his last while undergoing
treatment at the AIIMS,
Bhubaneswar, informed the
medical’s additional superin-
tendent Pravash Ranjan
Tripathy. The top BJP leader,
who was known for his artic-
ulate performances on the
flood of the Assembly and
putting the government in
embarrassing situations over
alleged governance failure,
worsening law and order and
delay in delivery of public
services; was put under
intensive care at the premier
hospital for the last one
month after suffering from
kidney complications.
According to sources, Sethi
was suffering from chronic
renal problem as well as
some other related ailments
and was undergoing dialysis.
Tharoor meets Sonia;
will he take on Gehlot?
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
As reports of Congress
MP Shashi Tharoor con-
testing the Congress pres-
ident polls gained momen-
tum, he met partychief
Sonia Gandhi on Monday
in the national capital.
After the meeting, Mr
Tharoor sped away in his
car avoiding the media
waiting for him. Sources
said that Mr Tharoor is all
set to contest the Congress
president elections slated
for next month.
This can very well be a
battle between Mr Thar-
oor and Rajasthan çhief
minister Ashok Gehlot for
the party chief ’s post. The
latter’s name has been
doing the rounds for the
last couple of weeks as
one of the candidates.
Insiders claim that the
discussion was about the-
upcoming president elec-
tions and also on the can-
didature of Mr Tharoor, to
which Mrs Gandhi insist-
ed that the party elections
should be free, fair and
open to all. She added that
the decision to contest or
not to contest theelections
should be that of Mr
Tharoor as anybody from
the party can contest.
Reacting to the develop-
ments, communications
incharge of the party Jai-
ram Ramesh said, “Anyb-
ody who wants to contest
is free and welcome to do
so. This has been the con-
sistent position of the
Congress president and
Rahul Gandhi. This is an
open, democratic and
transparent process.
Nobody needs anybody’s
nod to contest.” Reports
say that the Gandhis are
not keen to contest, but
the chorus that Mr Gand-
hi should take over as
party chief is growing day
by day. The nominations
will be done between
September 24 and 30. The
election,if required, will
be held on October 17 and
the results will be
declared two days later.
Earlier in the day, Mr
Tharoor also endorsed a
petition by a group of you-
ng party members seeking
“constructive reforms”.
Shivakumar grilled in PMLA case
Karnataka Cong chief quizzed in 2 sessions, allowed to go for lunch
AMRESH SRIVASTAVA
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Karnataka Congress pres-
ident D.K. Shivakumar on
Monday appeared before
the Enforcement
Directorate (ED) for ques-
tioning in a money laun-
dering case.
The agency had issued
him the latest summons
after taking cognisance of
a CBI case against him
linked to the alleged pos-
session of disproportion-
ate assets, the sources in
the agency said.
The agency had sent him
the summon last week to
appear before the Delhi
office on September 19.
The sexagenarian
Congress leader reached
the office of the federal
agency at A.P.J. Abdul
Kalam Road around 12 pm
and was interrogated by
the agency sleuths in two
sessions and was allowed
to go out for lunch too.
Karnataka Congress chief D.K. Shivakumar arrives at
the ED office in New Delhi on Monday. — PTI
Soon after receiving the am ready to cooperate but
ED’s summon on the timing of this sum-
September 15, he had said mon, and the harassment I
that he was not aware of am put through, is coming
the case for which he was in the way of discharging
asked to appear before the my constitutional and
agency. political duties,” Mr
“In the midst of the Shivakumar had then
#BharatJodoYatra and the tweeted.
Assembly Session, they The ED had arrested Mr
have again issued me an Shivakumar on
ED summon to appear. I September 3, 2019, in
another money launder-
ing case but then he was
granted bail by the Delhi
high court in October that
year.
In May this year, the
agency filed a charge
sheet against him and
other accused in this case
under the Prevention of
Money Laundering Act
(PMLA) which was regis-
tered after taking cogni-
sance of an income-tax
(I-T) department charge
sheet filed against him.
The I-T department also
filed the charge sheet
against Haumanthaiah —a
close associate and staffer
at the Karnataka Bhavan
in Delhi — and others.
According to the
sources, the I-T depart-
ment found cross-border
hawala transactions along
with a network of people
and premises across Delhi
and Bengaluru to trans-
port and utilise the unac-
counted cash.

Nadda meets RSS Revolt brews in EC seeks limits

chief, other leaders
New Delhi: BJP president
J.P. Nadda on Monday met
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
and some other senior RSS
leaders at Udasin Ashram,
Sangh’s temporary office.
RSS top brass, including Mr
Bhagwat have been camping
in the national capital after
the recently concluded three
day long co-ordination
meeting of the RSS and its
affiliates, including the BJP,
in Chattisgarh’s Raipur. The
meeting comes close on the
heels of major organisational
changes in the BJP, includ-
ing dropping of its senior
leader Nitin Gadkari, from
the party’s parliamentary
board. The meeting has also
come at a time when Asse-
mbly elections are due in
Jogi party; JCC
legislature wing
leader expelled
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
RAIPUR, SEPT. 19
The fledgling Janata
Congress Chhattisgarh
(JCC), founded by for-
mer chief minister late
Ajit Jogi, on Monday
faced revolt in the party
following the expulsion
of its legislature wing
leader Dharamjit Singh.
In a late night develop-
ment on Sunday, Mr
Singh was expelled from
the party for “acting
against the ideology of
the party’s founder Ajit
ED files charges
against Partha,
aide in SSC scam
CBI arrests V-C in same case
RAJIB CHOWDHURI
KOLKATA, SEPT. 19
The Enforcement Directo-
rate (ED) on Monday cha-
rgesheeted former West
Bengal minister Partha
Chatterjee, his close
friend Arpita Mukherjee,
TMC MP Mahua Moitra kicks the ball during the final of the Krishnanagar MP Cup and six others under the
football tournament on Monday. — PTI Prevention of Money
Laundering Act (PMLA)
in the School Service
in the teacher recruit-
ment scam in West
Bengal. The attached
on donations to
parties, writes
to law ministry
New Delhi, Sept. 19: The
Election Commission
has proposed bringing
down anonymous politi-
cal donations from
`20,000 to `2,000 and cap
cash donations at 20 per
cent or at a maximum of
`20 crore to cleanse elec-
tion funding of black
money, sources said on
Monday. Chief election
commissioner (CEC)
Rajiv Kumar has written
a letter to Union law
minister Kiren Rijiju
recommending a slew of
amendments in the
Representation of the

‘Make Rahul Cong’s prez

states like Gujarat, Karnata-
ka, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh,
MP and Telangana and there
is also a buzz of reshuffle in
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s council of ministers.
Jogi”. Commission (SSC) jobs properties are found to be People (RP) Act, sources
JCC MLA Pramod scam. beneficially owned by in the government said.
Sharma, one of the two The Central agency sub- Partha Chatterjee and The proposals are
MLAs now left with the mitted the charge sheet, Arpita Mukherjee. With aimed at ushering in

Patnaik raises DA
party, on Monday said
that he “desperately”
wanted to leave the reg-
ional outfit and dared
again’ chorus grows louder containing statements of
43 witnesses and details
of 31 life insurance poli-
cies and 201 shell compa-
this, total attachment and
seizure is `103.10 crore in
this case.”
The list of attached
reforms and transparen-
cy in donations received
by political parties, and
also the expenditure

of govt staff by 3% ◗ AFTER RAJ, C’garh

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the
festive season, the Odisha
government on Monday
announced a major hike in
dearness allowance (DA) for
the state government
employees. As per the latest
notification, the dearness
allowance has been hiked by
3 per cent. Chief minister
Naveen Patnaik approved
the proposal for hike in the
dearness allowance for the
state government employ-
ees. With this, the dearness
allowance of the employees
has been increased to 34 per
cent from existing 31 per
cent. The hike in dearness
allowance will be applicable
retrospectively from
January 1, 2022, the latest
Odisha government
notification read.
LUMPY DISEASE:
his leadership to expel
him.
“I challenge JCC presi-
dent Mr Amit Jogi to
expel me from the party.
I am desperate to leave
the party,” Mr Sharma,
who shared dais with Mr
Singh at the latter’s
press conference on
Monday, said.
JCC spokesman
Bhagwan Nayak told
this newspaper that the
party had received
reports of Mr Singh hob-
nobbing with “another
political party”, leading
to his removal from the
party.
Elgar case: HC
denies bail to
DU Prof Babu
Mumbai, Sept. 19: The
Bombay high court on
New Delhi, Sept. 19: The
“Make Rahul Gandhi
AICC president again”
chorus is growing louder
in the Congress with half
a dozen state units so far
seeking his elevation to
the top post, even as
uncertainty and suspense
persisted over whether he
would take on the mantle.
After Rajasthan, Chhatti-
sgarh and Gujarat units of
the Congress passed reso-
lutions that Mr Gandhi
should be made party
chief, the party’s Tamil
Nadu, Maharashtra and
Bihar units also followed
suit on Monday.
This comes days after
the party said the Pradesh
Congress Committee dele-
gates would pass resolu-
tions authorising the inc-
oming Congress president
to appoint state chiefs and
AICC delegates.
Along with the resolu-
and Gujarat units passed
resolutions that Rahul
Gandhi should be made
party chief, the party’s
Tamil Nadu, Maha
and Bihar units also
followed suit on Monday
tion on appointing state
chiefs and AICC dele-
gates, the state units are,
one after another, also
passing resolutions seek-
ing Gandhi's elevation to
the top post.
It started with Congress
units in Rajasthan and
Chhattisgarh, the only
two states where the party
is in government on its
own. Also, the Gujarat
Congress on Sunday
demanded that Rahul
Gandhi be made the
party's national president.
The Tamil Nadu
Congress Committee on
Monday adopted a unani-
mous resolution urging
Rahul Gandhi to lead the
party "for the victory of
secular, democratic
forces" in the 2024 Lok
Sabha election.
At the party's state gen-
eral council meeting held
in Chennai, a resolution
proposed by TNCC
President K S Alagiri,
seeking Rahul Gandhi to
assume the office of All
India Congress Committee
(AICC) President was
passed unanimously.
Bihar Congress and
Maharashtra Congress
also passed such resolu-
tions. While some politi-
cal analysts see the pass-
ing of such resolutions as
an initiative to reaffirm
loyalty to the Gandhi fam-
ily, others see it as a gen-
uine attempt to convince
Rahul Gandhi to take on
the party reins. — PTI
nies, before a PMLA
judge at the Bankshall
court on the 58th day after
the arrest of the two main
accused.
The charge sheet had so
many volumes that it had
to be brought in four steel
trunks to the court. It
claimed that unemployed
and poor people were
appointed as directors of
the shell companies
against monthly salaries
anything in between
`5,000 and `10,000.
The ED estimated the
scam to be around `103.10
crore which is the total
amount of seized assets
and properties of the
Behala West TMC MLA
and his aide, who are now
in the CBI custody and
jail custody respectively.
In the chargesheet, the
ED stated that it “has pro-
visionally attached prop-
erties worth `48.22 crore
properties of `48.22 crore,
which were also men-
tioned in the charge sheet,
includes 40 immovable
assets like a farmhouse,
flats, and a land at a prime
location in Kolkata
totalling `40.33 crore and
`7.89 crore of deposits in
35 bank accounts.
The ED’s chargesheet
coincided with the arrest
of another accused,
Subires Bhattacharya, by
the CBI in the same case.
Prof. Bhattacharya is
the vice chancellor of
North Bengal University
and acted as one of the
close aides of Partha
Chatterjee when he was
the state education minis-
ter. He earlier worked as
SSC chairman from 2014
to 2018.
Prof. Bhattacharya will
be produced before a spe-
cial judge of the CBI at
Alipore court on Tuesday.
incurred by candidates
trying their luck at the
hustings, they said.
The move comes in the
backdrop of the poll
panel recently delisting
284 defaulting and non-
compliant registered
unrecognised political
parties (RUPPs), declar-
ing more than 253 of
them inactive.
The income-tax depart-
ment recently raided a
number of such entities
across the country on
charges of tax evasion
after the EC shared its
report with its adminis-
trative authority, the
CBDT.
According to the fresh
proposals, the sources
said, the poll panel has
batted for lowering the
threshold limit for cash
donations made to politi-
cal parties from `20,000
to `2,000. — PTI

MP govt orders inquiry into

Monday rejected the bail

MLA BRINGS COW plea filed by Delhi

University’s associate

IN RAJ HOUSE
Jaipur: A BJP legislator on
Monday brought a cow out-
side the Assembly premises
to draw state government’s
attention towards the lumpy
skin disease. BJP MLA from
Pushkar Assembly con-
stituency Suresh Singh
Rawat reached there with a
cow and started moving
towards the Assembly prem-
ises. However, as the legisla-
tor was talking to the media
persons, the cow went
berserk due to the excessive
noise and ran away from the
spot. The legislator’s sup-
porters were seen trying to
catch hold of it. The seventh
session of the Rajasthan
Legislative Assembly
resumed on Monday. Holding
a stick in his hand, the MLA
told reporters that cows are
suffering from lumpy skin
disease but the state gov-
ernment is in a deep slum-
ber. “To draw attention
towards lumpy disease, I
brought a cow to the Vidhan
Sabha (campus),” Mr Rawat
said. As the cow ran away,
he said, “See, the ‘gau mata’
is also angry with the gov-
ernment.” He demanded
from the government that
arrangements should be
made for medicines and vac-
cines etc. To take care of
cows who are affected by
the disease. Inside the
House, three Rashtriya
Loktantrik Party (RLP) MLAs
sat on a dharna in the Well
of the House and raised slo-
gans. These MLAs were car-
rying posters in their hands
saying ‘Gomata kare pukar,
hum bachao sarkar’. — PTI
professor Hany Babu, an
accused in the 2017
Elgar Parishad case, not-
ing prima facie allega-
tions against him were
true and that he was an
active and prominent
member of the banned
Communist Party of
India (Maoist).
A division bench of
Justices N.M. Jamdar
and N.R. Borkar said the
appeal filed by 54-year-
old Babu, arrested in
July 2020 in the Elgar
Parishad-Maoist links
case, against the special
court order refusing him
bail was dismissed.
— PTI
‘Yuva tourism clubs key to
revival of tourism in India’
SHASHI BHUSHAN
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Union minister of
tourism and culture G.
Kishan Reddy on
Monday said that if
India needs to achieve
its immediate goals of a
five trillion economy
and its long term goals
of a developed nation
then tourism has a very
important role to play.
Mr Reddy appealed
that just like NSS, NCC
we need to work on
making “yuva tourism
clubs” at all levels and
states need to work on a
war footing for estab-
lishing these tourism
PM’s ‘morphed’ photograph
AGE CORRESPONDENT Narottam Mishra ord-
BHOPAL, SEPT. 19 ered the cyber cell of
the Madhya Pradesh
The Madhya Pradesh police to track the cre-
government on ator of the edited
Monday ordered a photo and take neces-
probe into a purported sary action against the
“morphed” photo- guilty in the incident.
graph in which PM “It is a very serious
Narendra Modi was matter since the inci-
seen taking a picture dent involved the PM
of the cheetahs during of the country. I have
his visit to Kuno ordered the cyber cell
National Park in MP to find out the manipu-
on September 17 with- lator of the photo-
out removing the lens graph and take neces-
cover of the camera. sary action as per the
State home minister law”, Mr Mishra said.
c l u b s of products and experi-
which will ences. The rich heritage
familiarise of India, one of the
the youth world’s oldest civilisa-
with the tions, is an all-embrac-
concept of ing confluence of festi-
“Dekho vals, religions, tradi-
G. Kishan A p n a tions, and customs.”
Desh”. “For any global
Reddy
Mr Reddy tourist, India is not just
was speaking at the sec- a place to see and visit,
ond day of the national but a destination to
conference of state experience and be
tourism ministers at transformed for life. If
Dharamshala in India needs to achieve
Himachal Pradesh. its immediate goals of a
Mr Reddy said, “With five trillion economy
the pandemic behind and its long-term goals
us, the tourism industry of a developed nation
is all set for a revival. As then tourism has a very
a travel destination, important role to play,”
India offers a diversity he added.
 NATION
THE ASIAN AGE | TUESDAY | 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | NEW DELHI
pg 4

SHORT
SP suspended in MP
TAKES J&K religious leaders Army Day
Parade to
for abusing students
Bhopal: SP of Jhabua district
in Madhya Pradesh Arvind
seek imams’ release be shifted
out of Delhi
Tiwari was on Monday sus-
pended for abusing students
Positive response from L-G Sinha, claim the leaders AGE CORRESPONDENT
of a local college. Chief minis-
ter Shivraj Singh Chouhan
YUSUF JAMEEL
SRINAGAR, SEPT. 19 ‘Real Hindutva agenda’: Mufti slams NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19

After Air Force, Indian

Centre over hymn in Valley schools
ordered his suspension after
an audio in which the police A five-member delegation Army has now decided
officer was heard using filthy of religious leaders repre- to shift the Army Day
language against the students senting different Islamic Srinagar, Sept. 19: PDP in a tweet. Parade held every year
surfaced and later found to be organisations on Monday president Mehbooba She posted a on January 15 in Delhi
authentic in a forensic test, met Jammu and Kashmir Mufti on Monday said video on her outside the national cap-
officials said here. Mr lieutenant governor Manoj authorities in Kashmir timeline in ital.
Chouhan first asked the state Sinha here to seek the were directing students in which school This is part of Prime
director general of police to release of eight clerics some schools to sing Mehbooba staff were Minister Narendra
transfer the police officer arrested by the police on Hindu hymns, which Mufti making stu- Modi’s initiative to
immediately and later ordered the charges of hate speech exposes “the real dents recite take major events and
his suspension after the foren- and anti-national Hindutva” agenda of the the famous bhajan Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav with party workers after being stopped festivities out of the
sic test of the audio. “I will harangue last week. BJP-ruled Centre. “Jailing ‘Raghupati Raghav Raja during their march towards UP Assembly on the first day of monsoon session in national capital region
not tolerate such behaviour Talking to reporters after religious scholars, shut- Ram ....” in a classroom. Lucknow on Monday. — PTI to different parts of the
by a police officer to the stu- the meeting, one of these ting down Jama Masjid “Refusing these rabid country.
dents. I ordered his suspen- leaders Ghulam Rasool and directing school kids dictates invites PSA & The Army Day Parade
sion”, the chief minister said
in a video statement. The inci-
dent happened on Sunday
night. The students called the
Hami said that the L-G
gave a patient hearing to
them and assured all possi-
ble help. “We raised several
here to sing Hindu hymns
exposes the real hindutva
agenda of GOI
Kashmir,” Mehbooba said
in
UAPA. It is the cost that
we are paying for this so
called ‘Badalta J&K’,” she
added. — PTI
Namibian cheetahs at MP’s next year in January
will be held in Southern
command area. This
year, Indian Air Force is
SP from a local police station
pleading him to provide secu-
rity to them saying that goons
had entered the college hos-
issues particularly the
arrest of imams and
preachers at our meeting
with the L-G and we
produce.”
Last week, three clerics,
Abdul Rashid Dawoodi,
Jammu and Kashmir (JeI)
and Sarjan Baktari, a fire-
brand priest, were
Kuno adapting well: Officials celebrating its 90th Air
Force
Chandigarh
October.
Day
on
at
8

tel. The police officer was
however heard in the audio
using foul languages against
them and threatening them to
lock up in the police station.
INDIA LOGS 4,858
received a positive
response from L-G Sinha.
Hopefully these religious
leaders will be released
soon”, he said, adding “We
also raised the issue of the
Valley’s fruit growers, who
are facing problems in
transportation of their
patron Tehreek-e-Soutul
Awliya, Moulana Mushtaq
Ahmad Veeri and Abdul
Majeed Dar Al-Madni of
Jamiat-e-Ahle Hadith and
Faheem Muhammad
Ramzan, Gazi Moinuddin
and three more activists of
the Jamaat-e-Islami
detained on charges rous-
ing anti-Indian sentiments
“which has the potential of
creating law and order
problems”. Some of them
were subsequently booked
under J&K’s stringent
Public Safety Act and shift-
ed to a jail in Jammu.
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
BHOPAL, SEPT. 19
Eight Namibian cheetahs
brought to Kuno national
park in Sheopur district
in Madhya Pradesh are
adapting well to their new
home. An official of
A Namibian cheetahs at
Kuno national park.
They were famously
known for hunting togeth-
er and spending time
together when they were
in Namibia. “The two sib-
lings were also seen hav-
ing fun together in the
enclosure in the park and
inspecting the fencing of
their enclosure together,
The Air Force Day
parade and flypast will
he held in Chandigarh.
While the parade will be
held at Air Force Station
Chandigarh, the fly past
and aerial display will
be conducted on the
banks of the Sukhna
Lake so that a large

COVID-19 CASES, Plea in SC seeks ban Militancy

Cheetah Conservation
Fund (CCF) which is coor-
anxiety, CCG coordinator
Susane Yanetti told this
every now and then”, vet-
erinary doctors who were
number of people can
witness it.

18 FATALITIES
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
With 4,858 new coronavirus
infections being reported in a
day, India’s tally of Covid-19
dinating the project to
introduce the felines in
on crutches
on unqualified docs in J&K, says
the 748 sq km wildlife
sanctuary told this news-
paper on Monday that the
eight cheetahs are doing
of ayurveda, others DGP Dilbag
fine. “All the eight chee-
tahs are doing fine. They
are healthy and adapting
newspaper. They were
doing fine now, she said.
“The eight cheetahs
were trying to have a feel-
ing of the new environ-
ment when they first set
foot in Kuno National
Park. They were found to
be alert to every sound.
doing health checkups of Since 2006, Air Force
the cheetahs in their quar- Day parade and flypast
antine enclosures created
inside the 500-hectare
enclosure in the park,
said. “The change in
was held at Hindan Air
Base in Delhi NCR.
Earlier it was held in
Palam Air Base, in
behaviour of the chee-
tahs, if it happens, in
their name home will be
Delhi. Every year IAF
would celebrate Air
Force Day in different

cases rose to 4,45,39,046,
while the active cases
increased to 48,027, accord-
ing to the Union Health
Ministry data updated on
Monday. The death toll has
climbed to 5,28,355 with 18
fatalities, which includes eight
deaths reconciled by Kerala,
the data updated at 8 am
stated. The active cases com-
prise 0.11 per cent of the total
infections, while the national
Covid-19 recovery rate has
increased to 98.71 per cent,
the health ministry said. An
increase of 105 cases has
been recorded in the active
Covid-19 caseload in a span of
24 hours, it said. The daily
positivity rate was recorded
at 2.76 per cent, while the
weekly positivity rate was at
1.78 per cent, according to the
health ministry. The number
of people who have recuper-
ated from the disease surged
to 4,39,62,664, while the case
fatality rate was 1.19 per cent.
According to the ministry,
216.70 crore doses of vac-
cines have been administered
in the country so far under
the nationwide Covid-19 vac-
cination drive. India’s Covid-19
tally had crossed the 20-lakh
mark on August 7, 2020, 30
lakh on August 23, 40 lakh on
September 5 and 50 lakh on
September 16. It went past 60
lakh on September 28, 70
lakh on October 11, crossed
80 lakh on October 29, 90
lakh on November 20.
PARMOD KUMAR
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
The Supreme Court on
Monday sought Centre’s
response to a plea by
Mumbai based
“Association of Medical
Consultants” (AMC), chal-
lenging the provision of
the National Commission
for Indian System of
Medicine Act, 2020 and
National Commission for
Homoeopathy Act, 2020,
that permits people not
possessing recognised
medical qualification but
were enrolled as practi-
tioners in the state regis-
ter when two laws came
into force, to practise
ayurveda and homoeopa-
thy.
A bench comprising
Justice Hemant Gupta
and Justice Sudhanshu
Dhulia sought Centre’s
response as AMC
contended that the excep-
tions carved out
under Section 34 of the
National Commission for
Indian System of
Medicine Act, 2020
and National
Commission for
Homoeopathy Act, 2020
violated Article 14 (right
to equality), Article 19
(Freedom of speech and
expression) and Article 21
(protection of life and
personal liberty).
SC refuses probe
into KP’s killing
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
The Supreme Court on
Monday refused to enter-
tain a plea seeking an
investigation into the
killing of an advocate
Tika Lal Taploo in
Kashmir valley in 1989 by
militants.
The bench of Justice
B.R. Gavai and C.T.
Ravikumar refused to
hear the matter saying it
had not entertained a sim-
ilar matter that came
before it recently.
“We are not inclined. We
have not entertained a
similar petition in the
past. We are very sorry”,
the Court said while
granting liberty to the
petitioner to avail alter-
nate remedies.
Appearing for AMC, advo-
cate Sunil Fernandes
sought the quashing or
setting aside or modifica-
tion of Section 34 (Rights
of Persons to practice) of
the National Commission
for Indian System of
Medicine Act, 2020 and
that of the National
Commission for
Homoeopathy Act, 2020.
AGE CORRESPONDENT
SRINAGAR, SEPT. 19
Jammu and Kashmir
police chief Dilbag
Singh on Monday
claimed that militancy
in the Union Territory is
diminishing fast and
that it will pop off soon.
“Militancy and terror-
ism in J&K are on
crutches. The terrorists
who are still around will
soon be either arrested
or killed,” he said on the
sidelines of an official
event in the eastern
town of Kishtwar. He
said that in the Kishtwar
district itself, there are
just one or two militants
active. The DGP said
that the people of J&K
particularly the youth
have realised the folly of
guns. He said the
avenues of career build-
ing are being made
available to the youth
and the means of enter-
tainment revived again.
Replying to questions,
he said that the sepa-
ratist amalgam All
Parties Hurriyat
Conference “is nowhere
in J&K now.” He added,
“However, a new chapter
of the Hurriyat has been
opened in Pakistan to
provoke the people of
J&K.”
to the new home very
well”, CCF president Dr
Laurie Marker told this
newspaper. The cheetahs
were a little stressed on
their arrival in the park
on September 17 due to
■ Woman student among 3 sent to 7-day police remand
3-woman SIT formed to probe
Chandigarh varsity video case
Chandigarh, Sept. 19: The
Punjab police on Monday
formed a three-member
all-women special investi-
gation team to probe the
allegations levelled by stu-
dents of Chandigarh
University that a hosteller
had recorded several
objectionable videos of
women students in the
common washroom.
Also, a court in Mohali’s
Kharar sent the three
accused, including the
woman student, to seven-
day police remand.
Protests rocked the univer-
sity campus in Punjab’s
Mohali on Saturday night
over the issue. Some stu-
dents even claimed that the
videos recorded by the
But, they were very quiet
in their enclosures”, a
CCF official said. Two sib-
lings of the same litter are
among the eight cheetahs
brought to Kuno National
Park.
woman student were even
leaked.
Police had earlier said the
arrested student shared a
video of only herself with
a 23-year-old “boyfriend”
and no objectionable video
of any other student was
found.
The university authori-
ties too rejected as “false
and baseless” reports that
claimed videos of several
woman students in the var-
sity hostel were made and
leaked on social media and
distraught students had
attempted suicide after the
episode.
The students, however,
had accused the university
authorities of “suppress-
ing facts” and held a fresh
discernible after some-
time”, Yanetti said.
Eight cheetahs, five
females and three males,
were flown from Namibia
to Kuno National Park on
September 17.
protest on Sunday evening,
which continued till late
night. Punjab director gen-
eral of police Gaurav
Yadav said the SIT has
been formed under the
overall supervision of
Additional DGP
(Community Affairs
Division and Women
Affairs) Gurpreet Kaur
Deo.
The team will thoroughly
probe the case and no per-
son involved will be spared,
Yadav said, adding,
“Investigations are going
on at full pace.”
The SIT comprises
Ludhiana Superintendent
of Police (Counter
Intelligence) Rupinder
Kaur Bhatti as the in-
parts of the country.
◗ THE ARMY Day
Parade on January 15
next year in January
will be held in Southern
command area
charge, while two members
include Kharar-1 Deputy
Superintendent of Police
Rupinder Kaur and DSP
(anti-gangster task force)
Deepika Singh. The SIT
will function under the
supervision of DIG
(Rupnagar Range)
Gurpreet Singh Bhullar
and Mohali SSP Vivek
Sheel Soni, and it can co-
opt any other member,
based on functional
requirements, officials
said.
The woman student was
arrested shortly while her
alleged boyfriend was
nabbed from Shimla in
Himachal Pradesh on
Sunday.
— PTI

Amarinder joins BJP, merges his party
■ Continued from Page 1
zaroori hai kya jo husband
kare wohi wife kare” (It is not
necessary for the wife to do
what the husband does).
Meanwhile, Capt. Singh’s
son and former Congress
leader Raninder Singh and
daughter Jai Inder Kaur also
joined the BJP on Monday.
Capt. Singh, who was uncer-
emoniously removed from the
CM’s post by the Congress
high command last year,
which was followed by his exit
from the party he was associ-
ated with for five decades,
stressed how India was “
hemmed in by two hostile
nations (Pakistan and China)”
and how Punjab, being a bor-
der state, plays a great role in
maintaining the nation’s secu-
rity. He also talked about ris-
ing cross-border security
threats in Punjab and said he
wants to protect the state as
well as the country, adding
that the BJP is the party that
takes the issue seriously.
Capt. Singh was accompa-
nied by PLC office-bearers at
the BJP headquarters, who
also joined the saffron fold.
Union ministers Narendra
Singh Tomar ans Kiren Rijiju,
former PCC chief and now
BJP leader Sunil Jhakar, and
BJP Punjab unit chief
Ashwini Sharma were present
on the occasion.
Welcoming the former
Congress stalwart, Mr Tomar
said even when he was in the
Congress, Capt. Singh shared
the motto of “desh pratham”
(country first), and then the
party, which is the motto of
the BJP. The Union minister
claimed that Capt. Singh’s
joining the BJP was an indica-
tion that he favours peace and
security in Punjab.
“Capt. Singh’s thoughts have
been similar to that of the
BJP, as the BJP is the only
political party which consid-
ers the nation first and the
party after that. Amarinder
Singh has also maintained
this view all his life… The BJP
will be strengthened in Punjab
with his joining. This will be a
historic step,” Mr Tomar said.
Before joining the party,
Capt. Singh met BJP president
J.P. Nadda and Union home
minister Amit Shah.
Welcoming Capt. Singh,
Union minister Kiren Rijiju
said Punjab was a state which
needs to be handled with
utmost sincerity. “Though he
was in a different party (when
CM), but I remember on many
occasions when I engaged
with him, he never brought
politics before national securi-
ty… This is an important mile-
stone in India’s political histo-
ry,” said Mr Rijiju.
UK, world bid final adiue to Queen
■ Continued from Page 1
carried into Westminster
Abbey on Monday morn-
ing.
In the congregation of
around 2,000 made up of
world leaders, royalty from
the UK and overseas and
community leaders, India
was represented by
President Droupadi
Murmu and foreign secre-
tary Vinay Kwatra.
The Big Ben, the iconic
London landmark housed
in the Elizabeth Tower
named after the late
Queen, tolled every minute
96 times to mark each year
of the late sovereign’s life
as a procession led by King
Charles III entered the his-
toric 11th century Abbey.
The coffin, draped with
the Royal Standard, was
adorned with flowers from
the King’s royal homes and
a personal note “in loving
him and the Instruments of
State — made up of the
diamond-encrusted
Imperial State Crown and
the orb and sceptre which
were gifted to the Queen at
her coronation in the same
Abbey in 1953.
“Here, where Queen
Elizabeth was married and
crowned, we gather from
across the nation, from the
Commonwealth, and from
the nations of the world, to
mourn our loss, to remem-
ber her long life of selfless
service, and in sure confi-
dence to commit her to the
mercy of God our maker
and redeemer,” said Very
Reverend Dr David Hoyle,
the Dean of Westminster
who led the service.
“With gratitude we
remember her unswerving
commitment to a high call-
ing over so many years as
Queen and Head of the
With admiration we
recall her life-long sense of
duty and dedication to her
people. With thanksgiving
we praise God for her con-
stant example
of Christian faith and
devotion. With affection we
recall her love for her fam-
ily and her commitment to
the causes she held dear,”
he said.
The hour-long service
included a collection of
traditional hymns and new
pieces of choral music, cre-
ated especially for the occa-
sion.
Lessons from the Bible
were read by
Commonwealth secretary-
general Baroness Patricia
Scotland and British
Prime Minister Liz Truss,
following which came the
hymn, ‘The Lord’s My
Shepherd’ which had also
been sung at the wedding
Elizabeth and Prince
Philip in 1947.
“Her Late Majesty
famously declared in a 21st
birthday broadcast that
her whole life would be
dedicated to serving the
nation and
Commonwealth. Rarely
has such a promise been so
well kept. Few leaders
receive the outpouring of
love we have seen,” said
the Archbishop of
Canterbury Justin Welby
in his sermon.
“The grief of this day —
felt not only by the late
Queen’s family but all
round the nation,
Commonwealth and world
– arises from her abundant
life and loving service, now
gone from us. She was joy-
ful, present to so many,
touching a multitude of
lives… All who follow the
Queen’s example, and
faith in God, can with her
say: ‘We will meet again’,”
he concluded, in the words
of the late monarch’s mem-
orable Covid-19 pandemic
lockdown broadcast.
As the clock struck 11 am
local time, the Queen’s eld-
est son and heir Charles
followed the coffin —
which had been Lying-in-
State at Westminster Hall
since last Wednesday — in
solemn procession, accom-
panied by his sons Princes
William and Harry and sib-
lings Princess Anne and
Princes Andrew and
Edward.
Prince William’s chil-
dren, nine-year-old Prince
George and seven-year-old
Princess Charlotte were
among the youngest mem-
bers of the royal proces-
sion, who walked between
their parents — the Prince
and Princess of Wales.

5-judge top court bench to fix and devoted memory” from Commonwealth. of the then Princess inspiration of trust and — PTI

death sentences guidelines
■ Continued from Page 1
sentences. It has sought
assistance from attorney-
general K.K. Venugopal and
had also issued notice to the
National Legal Services
Authority (NALSA).
The top court took suo
motu cognisance of the mat-
ter while considering the
plea of a man challenging
the death penalty imposed
by a lower court and upheld
by the Madhya Pradesh high
court. The matter was titled
“Framing Guidelines
Regarding Potential
Mitigating Circumstances to
be Considered While
Imposing Death Sentences”.
The purpose of taking the
suo motu cognisance was to
examine as well as institu-
tionalise the process
involved in collecting data
and information in order to
decide the award of the
death penalty. Additionally,
the court had also decided to
examine how the courts,
which deal with death sen-
tence matters, can develop a
comprehensive analysis of
the nature of the crime and
the accused.
The process was initiated
after an application was filed
by the anti-death penalty
body, Project 39A of the
National Law University
(NLU), Delhi. The plea said
that in the context of death-
eligible cases, mitigation is
an exercise of collection,
documentation and analysis
of a wide range of informa-
tion like historical, cultural,
social, familial and individ-
ual factors and any other rel-
evant factors that influence
an individual’s perception,
response, and their under-
standing of the world and
people around them.
NSCN (I-M) set to resume
dialogue with Centre today
■ Continued from Page 1
Mr Zeliang said their
meeting with the NSCN
(I-M) was focused on con-
veying what Union home
minister Amit Shah had
told the committee at a
meeting in New Delhi on
September 12. The NSCN
(I-M) delegation, he said,
was unhappy with Mr
Mishra for omitting some
important political points
that Mr Ravi had included
in his formulation papers
earlier.
Stressing the need for
signing the final agree-
ment before the Assembly
elections due in February
2023, he clarified: “Our
role is to act as facilita-
tors of the peace process
and convey the feeling of
the Nagas and the Centre
to each other. We are not
at all involved with the
negotiations.” It is signifi-
cant that the working
committee of the Naga
National Political Groups
(NNPGs) was ready to
sign the final agreement
at any time.
Modi not behind raids on TMC: Didi
■ Continued from Page 1
a group of BJP leaders
have been dictating to the
Central agencies and
urgedMr Modi to control
them.
She said: “The CBI is no
more under the ministry
of the PM. It now works
under the Union home
ministry. There were 21
raids by the ED in
Kolkata, 108 cases were
filed by the CBI and ED in
the last one month. But I
do not believe that Mr
Modi is behind all these. I
do not want talk much
about him since he
had a birthday a few days
ago.”
The Trinamul Congress
chief added: “This is a
plan of the Central gov-
ernment and some senior
Bharatiya Janata Party
leaders who are doing all
these ahead of the next
Lok Sabha election in
2024. I urge the PM to
look into them. As you
(BJP) are evil, so I am the
remedy. Anyway, I am not
labelling the CBI as bad.
But its probe should be
impartial. I have no prob-
lem if its probe remains
impartial.”
She also sought a probe
by the Central agencies
into state BJP leaders for
the recovery of their ill-
gotten wealth from their
residences. The House
witnessed another rare
gesture when Ms
Banerjee went in front of
the Opposition benches
and greeted the
Bharatiya Janata Party
MLAs with folded hands.
Mr Adhikari, who was
present, also reciprocat-
ed the gesture.
The government resolu-
tion was passed by 189-64
votes.
 EDIT
THE ASIAN AGE | TUESDAY | 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | NEW DELHI
pg 5

Subhani

20 SEPTEMBER 2022

Telangana Liberation Day:

Decoding future in the past
T
he politics of the present day must be focused strongly on the
future. Today’s leaders must think of ways to make our present,
and our future, the tomorrow that will be more glorious and bet-
ter. Political parties fighting over policies, programmes,
schemes and activities that will make our people happier, more
secure, freer, prosperous and developed, with everyone enjoying higher
standards of life, access to all basic needs would be welcome.
But the last fortnight, Telangana fought over the past. Over 74 years ago,
a fascinating chapter of India’s independence and unification into a mod-
ern nation was scripted, when the Iron Man of India, and its unifier on the
historical scale of a Garibaldi or Bismarck — Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel —
brought Hyderabad state into the Union.
It is ridiculous to try to whitewash history. Or change the states motiva-
tions, character, politics and proven actions of its dramatis personae to
suit current day narratives.
Sardar Patel had no option left but to use military might to bring the tru-
ant Nizam of Hyderabad to his knees. The action, known as Operation
Polo, was aimed at completing the nation, with the Sardar having united
over 850 princely states into the Union.
As the Indian Army Its purpose was national integration but the
entered the state, action before Hyderabad could be integrated
and finally the capi- into India was of liberation. The Nizam and his
tal city, the fighting tyrannical Razakar force had unleashed an
people of Hyderabad array of unforgivable crimes of oppression and
heinous attacks on the common people.
Mend Pak ties, keep China LETTERS
STUDENT DEATHS
Of late, we find the IIT,

in check to raise India heft

queued to wave at As the Indian Army entered the state, and Madras, to be the site of
their liberators, and finally the capital city, the fighting people of the mysterious deaths of
celebrate their free- Hyderabad queued to wave at their liberators, several students. The latest
dom. Hyderabad and celebrate their freedom. Hyderabad
became free, unlike the rest of India, a year, a to join this sickening band
became free, unlike month and two days later. leading role “in injecting
India must ensure is a 20-year-old fourth-year
the rest of India, a The BJP has been for long seeking and stability in a world of
SCO is not hijac- aerospace engineering stu-
year, a month and demanding the celebration of September 17 as change and disorder”. That
ked by China to Russia is globally seen as dent from Odisha. There
two days later. asoliberation day. The TRS has promised to do
once Telangana was formed but went back
on its promise, creating a political fault line to be president exploited.
K.C. Singh forge an anti-West
front or hobbled
causing the current disor-
der is left for others to con- has been a spate of com-
The BJP, which had earlier promised to start the celebrations after it
by multiple bilater-
nect to the Chinese injunc- plaints against the IIT of
came to power in the state, decided to use the Central government to go tion.
ahead with it this year, ahead of a crucial and potentially tight election to al differences. Prime Minister
harassment of students
state Assembly next year. Narendra Modi sensibly who belong to lower
The TRS refused to be part of the BJP event, and created its own parallel told President Vladimir castes. Worse, these com-

T
one; but with an entirely different nomenclature and narrative. he presence of
The stand of the MIM chief and Hyderabad parliamentarian Asaduddin Chinese Pres-
Owaisi was the bravest — he not only publicly acknowledged the ident Xi Jinping
Hyderabadi public desire in 1948 to join India but also condemned the and Russian
Nizam and the Razakars. P r e s i d e n t
It was a brave acknowledgement wherein lies the scope for future recon- Vladimir Putin dominated
ciliation. all attention at the 22nd in-
Let us stop distorting history for our petty political needs. person summit of the
Shanghai Cooperation
Organisation in
Direct tax kitty shows revival Uzbekistan’s Samarkand
on September 15-16, while
normally the agenda is set-
tled by the host nation. The
Taliban and installed a US-
aligned government in
Kabul in late 2021, the
organisation lost impetus
as the threat perception of
its then six members abat-
ed. But for China, its west-
ern frontier became the
door to cooperation and
commerce with Central
Asia and beyond. The Belt
and Road Initiative was
announced in 2013 to cre-
ate a maze of hub-and-
emerged immediately
when Pakistan’s foreign
minister Bilawal Bhutto
Zardari said Pakistan
would take a call whether
to attend the summit in
India or do so at what level.
India-Pakistan differences
were on full display in
Samarkand as the PMs of
the two nations abjured
any contact. China, on the
other hand, wants to shape
the organisation as a plat-
Putin on camera that
“today’s era is not an era of plaints indict professors.
war”. Mr Putin’s response Some of these instances
was halting and indicative
that after Mr Xi’s querying, did end in suicide, as per
he felt cornered. It sal- cases filed against the pro-
vaged India’s reputation fessors with the police. The
globally as till now the
Indian reluctance to point cases should not be
a finger at Russia’s brushed under the carpet
Ukraine misadventure,
besides buying discounted
oil, was seen as oppor-
and all student deaths at
the institute need to be
tunism and not strategic
investigated thoroughly

T
he direct tax collection numbers released on Sunday are yet another SCO was meeting after a
indication of economic revival in the country. The direct tax collec- three-year hiatus, when
tions for the FY 2022-23, as on September 17, 2022, show that net col- the Ukraine war since
lections are at `7,00,669 crore, compared to `5,68,147 crore in the corre- February 2022 and the
sponding period of the preceding financial year, representing an increase Covid-19 pandemic world-
of 23 per cent. Of this, the cumulative advance tax collections till date grew wide since 2019 have
by 17 per cent indicating a better performance of businesses in the coun-
try.
caused major disruptions
in global supply chains,
This is the first time the direct tax collection has crossed the six-lakh fig- and food and energy infla-
ure. While it was `5,68,147 crore in the same period of fiscal 2021-22, tion, so the distraction was
`3,27,174 crore in the same period of 2020-21, inevitable.
India’s economy `5.5 lakh crore in the same period of 2019-20 Iran became the ninth
was $2.702 trillion period stood at `5.5 lakh crore and `5.25 lakh member of the SCO. In
in 2018 and grew by crore in the April-September 2018-19. India, there was much
If one correlates the growth in the size of the speculation over whether
30 per cent over the Indian economy and its corresponding direct Prime Minister Narendra
next five years to collection by taking the pre-Covid fiscal of 2018- Modi and Chinese Presi-
$3.535 trillion in 19 as the base year, one could find that the dent Xi Jinping would hold
2022 — translating direct tax collection by September is in tune a direct bilateral meet,
given that China had days
into an average with the economic growth. India’s economy
was $2.702 trillion in 2018 and grew by 30 per earlier shown some flexi-
annual growth of six cent over the next five years to $3.535 trillion in bility to mutually with-
per cent. Similarly, 2022 — translating into an average annual draw troops from the
the direct tax collec- growth of six per cent. Similarly, the direct tax Gogra-Hot Springs sector
of the Line of Actual
tion grew by 33 per collection grew by 33 per cent in 2022 at `7 lakh
crore compared to `5.25 lakh crore in 2018. Control.
cent in 2022 at `7 The numbers hint that the economy has fully Second, there was also a
lakh crore recovered from the Covid impact but the gov- buzz over whether he
ernment should not become complacent would engage Pakistan’s
because the real picture will emerge only when it finds out the inflation-
adjusted growth rate. While the Centre has been taking many reform-ori-
Prime Minister Shehbaz
Sharif. The raison d’etre of
ented steps such as Gati Shakti and nudging state governments towards the organisation at its
fiscal consolidation, India is still far away from achieving its real econom- birth was to fight terror-
ic potential. ism, extremism and sepa-
ratism, the last a Chinese
dictum over its One-China
policy. The Taliban seized
control of Kabul in 1996
and Afghanistan became a
sanctuary of Al Qaeda and
its affiliates. Russia and
China, and the Central
Asian nations, sought to
counter the terrorism and
THE ASIAN AGE drugs emanating from
Afghanistan. The SCO was
born in June 2001, months
KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAR
Editor Printer & Publisher before the terror attacks on
the United States on
THE ASIAN AGE office is located at: September 11, popularly
New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: known as 9/11. In 2004, the
(011) 23211124.
Published and Printed on behalf of and for
Regional Anti-Terrorist
◗ Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Structure (RATS) was cre-
ated. Thus, the SCO’s ini-
Delhi 110 002 at BFL Infotech Ltd., C-9, Sector-III, Noida -201301.
◗ London: Quickmarsh Ltd, 8th Floor, Block 2, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London, SE1 7NQ. tial focus was on security.
RNI Registration number: 57290/94
Once the US deposed the
spoke connectivity for
Chinese trade, energy
flows and soft power pro-
jection. Russia, as the past
regional hegemon, resent-
ed the Chinese intrusion
into its area of influence
but chose to blend its
Eurasian Economic Union
(EEU) vision into the
Chinese construct.
India also could hardly
ignore the new organisa-
tion as it had strategic
interests. Any develop-
ments in Central Asia
would impact India. After
the late-1980s withdrawal
of the Soviet Army from
Afghanistan, India and
Iran used the Tajikistan
route to supply military
and civilian aid to the
Ahmed Shah Masood-led
Northern Alliance in
Afghanistan to help
counter the Taliban. India
joined the SCO in 2017, but
at the insistence of China
only alongside Pakistan.
This hampered the
counter-terrorism role of
RATS and SCO as Pakistan
had always aided and abet-
ted terror in the region and
provided sanctuary to the
Taliban’s top leadership.
This was underscored by
China again vetoing, a day
after the SCO summit, the
listing by the 1267 Al Qaeda
Sanctions Committee of
the UN Security Council of
Lashkar-e-Tayyaba mili-
tant Sajid Mir, a master-
mind of the 26/11 Mumbai
terror attack.
Significantly, at Sama-
rkand, the SCO’s chair-
manship passed to India
for the coming year. India
will have greater freedom
to shape its agenda, but
geo-political factors will
constrain the organisa-
tion’s growth. One blip
form to counter the United
States regionally.
Sino-Indian distrust was
also on full display as
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi correctly avoided a
bilateral meeting with
China’s Xi Jinping. Past
encounters haven’t led to
any strategic re-calibration
by China. Unless China
accepts India’s rise and
stops using India’s neigh-
bours and keeps the Line of
Actual Control unsettled to
put pressure on India, any
long-term friendship is
impossible. External
affairs minister S.
Jaishankar is in the United
States this week and the
next to attend the UN
General Assembly in New
York and hold bilateral
talks with US secretary of
state Antony Blinken in
Washington. In New York,
he will encounter his
Chinese colleague at group
meetings of Brics and per-
haps for bilateral
exchanges. As Henry
Kissinger once wrote, sum-
mits between leaders must
follow thrashing-out of
mutual concerns at lower
levels and not as instru-
ments for instant peace.
In the context of the
Ukraine war, the most
watched bilateral meetings
were of the Russian
President with the Indian
and Chinese leaders.
President Xi Jinping took
the lead in cornering Mr
Putin on Ukraine by
shrewdly amending the
past narrative about a “no-
limits” friendship or seek-
ing to work together to
achieve a “just and reason-
able” international order.
Now China plans to work
with Russia, omitting the
togetherness, and play a
independence. This will
strengthen Mr
Jaishankar’s hands as he
confronts Washington
about its ill-advised move
to upgrade Pakistan’s F-16
fleet.
But the real game is for
influence in the Central
Asian region, which Mr Xi
underscored by coming to
Samarkand via
Kazakhstan. After this
year’s drought, China is as
concerned about food secu-
rity as energy indepen-
dence. Connectivity via its
BRI running through
Central Asia provides it
safe continental links, not
as easily disrupted as its
maritime ones via the
Pacific. The Central Asian
nations also want to insu-
late themselves from
Russian imperial over-
reach, like the one attempt-
ed in Ukraine. Perhaps Mr
Modi had this in mind
when seeking connectivity
and marketing India as the
new start-up mecca and
manufacturing hub. But
that again ignores the fact
that India-Pakistan ties
have worsened after the
abrogation of Article 370 in
J&K, which was a core BJP
policy thrust domestically.
As the only democracy in
the SCO, besides a dysfunc-
tional Pakistan, and as the
next chair India must
ensure the group is not
hijacked by China to forge
an anti-West front or hob-
bled by multiple bilateral
differences. Improving
relations with Pakistan
will also be a good starting
point.
The writer is a former
secretary in the external
affairs ministry. He tweets
at @ambkcsingh.
and quickly.
Tharcius S. Fernando
Chennai
CHEETAH HYPOCRISY
AMID THE excitement over the
arrival of the cheetahs from Namibia
at Madhya Pradesh’s Kuno National
Park, villagers in its surrounding are-
as in Sheopur district have a variety of
concerns, including possible eviction
from their land, besides the fear of the
big cat itself. Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday released eight chee-
tahs brought from Africa into a quar-
antine enclosure at KNP as part of a
project to revive the population of the
animal, which had become extinct in
India in 1952. But in order to accommo-
date his 300-strong entourage, scores of
trees in the park were cut down. So
much for conservation!
Sankar Paul
Chakdaha, West Bengal
‘TALIBAN’ IN PAK
IT APPEARS that a number of
Pakistanis share the worldview of
their next-door neighbours, the
Taliban of Afghanistan. The Pakistan
football team beat the Maldives by
seven goals in the SAFF Women’s
Championship in Nepal, but instead of
applauding their unique milestone or
asking them questions related to soc-
cer, a reporter criticised the players
for wearing shorts instead of leggings.
The team’s coach was so flummoxed
by such an impertinent question that
he did not have a ready answer. While
this may only exhibit the bigoted and
absurd mindset of the reporter, the
fact that he represents a large section
of citizens is alarming in and of itself.
D.B. Madan
New Delhi
Every Monday the best letter of
the week wins `500. Email:
asianage.letters@gmail.com.

W
e like to think India is in some way dif-
ferent from the rest of South Asia, but
we’re really not. On the meaningful
indicators, there’s little to separate
Indians from Bangladeshis or Pakistanis. For
instance, our per capita income is quite similar. In
Aakar Patel 2021, the three nations had an income per person of
$2,503 for Bangladesh, $2,277 for India and $1,537 for
Pakistan. For comparison, Kenya was at $2,006 and
South Africa was at $6,900. Now look at China
($12,556), South Korea ($34,757) and Japan ($39,285).
They are clearly in a different league while we in
South Asia are clubbed together.
Can the whole Let’s take human development indicators. The
United Nations describes its Human Development
Index as a summary measure of average achieve-
ment in key dimensions of human development: a
of South Asia long and healthy life, being knowledgeable and
have a decent standard of living.
The health dimension is assessed by life
work as one to expectancy at birth, the education dimension by
the years of schooling for adults aged 25 years and
above and expected years of schooling for children
develop itself? of school entering age. The standard of living
dimension is measured by gross national income
per capita. In 1990, just 32 years ago, Bangladesh’s
life expectancy at birth was 56 years and mean
years of schooling 3.3 years. Pakistan’s was 60
years and 2.3 years, while India’s was 58 years and
2.8 years. In 2021, this has become 72 years and 7.4
years for Bangladesh, 67 years and 6.7 years of
schooling for India and 66 years and 4.5 years for
Pakistan. Nepal at 68 years and 5.1 years, and Sri
Lanka 76 years and 10.8 years can be seen for com-
parison. The world average was 72 years of life
expectancy at birth and 8.6 years of schooling,
meaning that with the exception of Sri Lanka, all
South Asian nations are below the world average.
In 1990, China’s was 68 years and 4.1 years of
schooling. Today it is 78 years and 7.6 years, and it’s
the average income that takes China over the
world average for its HDI.
To the outsider looking at such things, it won’t
seem India is different from Pakistan or
Bangladesh. Confronted with the hard data, we
would have to agree with them, even if we may
have some philosophical idea of difference.
If we accept that we are similar, if not the same,
we must turn to why it is that we haven’t been able
to grow faster and make lives better for our people
since 1947. Is it, as often assumed, the “system” that
is the problem? Again, here if we examine the his-
tory of South Asia, we find that in the 75 years we
have experimented with every possible type of sys-
tem but we remain poor and clubbed together.
We have dabbled in parliamentary democracy
that has been dominated by one party (India under
Congress and under BJP since 2014), that has been
comprised of various factions (1979, then 1989, 1998
and under Atal Behari Vajpayee), and that has
derailed itself with authoritarianism (1975-77). We
have tried military dictatorships (Pakistan in the
1960s, 1980s, 2000s; and Bangladesh in the 1970s and
80s). We have tried dynastic democracy (Gandhis,
Bhuttos, Mujib-Hasina, Zia-Khaleda), we have
tried “merit” democratic leaders (Morarji, Shastri,
Vajpayee, Sharif, Modi, Gujral, Gowda). We have
tried managing the economy through central plan-
ning (India in 1950s and 60s), through licence raj,
through “liberalisation”. We have returned to the
same things we were doing before (import substi-
tution in India in the 1970s and today). We have cre-
ated sectors where we are leaders (India 30 years
ago in IT/BPO, and Bangladesh today in gar-
ments). We have developed nuclear weapons and
we have spent large sums on our militaries.
Pakistan uses 17 per cent of its government spend-
ing on the Army, India and Bangladesh use nine
per cent. We’ve tried to be strong and we’ve tried to
be defiant. We have joined Western alliances
(Pakistan in the 1960s), we have remained non-
aligned (India in 1950s) and we have tried a patch-
work of things in between.
But the end result is the numbers we see at the
top of this column. There must be something we
are missing. What is it?
The World Bank says that intraregional trade
between Bangladesh, India and Pakistan accounts
for five per cent of our total trade, compared to
Southeast Asia, where the number is five times
higher. Trade here is $23 billion, though it could be
five times more. The problem is purely man-made.
The World Bank says “border challenges mean it is
about 20 per cent cheaper for a company in India to
trade with Brazil instead of a neighbouring South
Asian country” and that the main problem is “a
broad trust deficit throughout the region”.
This is the one thing that we haven’t tried. We
have not opened ourselves to each other and
returned to the sort of geography and economy that
we had before 1947. Is it possible that we can do
that, and what are the effects it can have on our
societies? I do not know if by doing this we can
repeat what China, Japan and South Korea did, but
I do know it removes the one restraint we have put
on ourselves and can remove ourselves.
The fact that it is not even discussed widely today
in the region, despite all three states being democ-
racies, tells us something about how blind we have
become to our condition. And how satisfied our
political parties are with the way that things con-
tinue to remain all across South Asia as we enter
the second quarter of the twenty-first century.
The writer is the chair of Amnesty International
India. Twitter: @aakar__patel
 WORLD
THE ASIAN AGE | TUESDAY | 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | NEW DELHI
SHORT
LONGEST SINGLE
TAKES
SPACE TRIP
COSMONAUT DIES
Moscow, Sept. 19: Valery
Polyakov, the Soviet cosmonaut
who set the record for the
longest single stay in space, has
died at the age 80, Russia’s
space agency announced on
Monday.
Polyakov’s record of 437 days
in space began on January 8,
1994, when he and two others
blasted off on a two-day flight
to the Soviet space station Mir.
IRAN PREZ FOR
U.S. GUARANTEES
ON NUKE DEAL
New York, Sept. 19: Iranian
President Ebrahim Raisi dema-
nded US “guarantees” it will
not withdraw again from a
nuclear deal if it is revived
ahead of his debut visit to the
United Nations.
With Western hopes fading
for restoration of the landmark
2015 agreement with world po-
wers, the hardline cleric said in
a US television interview that
he would still back a “good deal
and a fair deal.”
But he said: “It needs to be
lasting. There needs to be guar-
antees.” “We cannot trust the
Americans because of the
behaviour that we have already
seen from them.”
I.S. KNIFEWOMAN
SENTENCED TO
NINE YEARS
Bellinzona, Sept. 19: A Swiss
woman was given a nine-year
jail term on Monday for slashi-
ng two people in the name of
the Islamic State group but her
sentence was suspended so she
can undergo psychiatric treat-
ment. The criminal court jud-
ges found the woman, who can-
not be named for legal reasons,
guilty of two counts of attemp-
ted murder. She was also found
guilty of terrorism-linked
charges.
She had “no respect for
human life”, court president
Fiorenza Bergomi said.
She had “acted in cold blood,
had planned her actions and
decided what weapon to use,
and where to buy it”.
IRAN POLICE FIRE
TEAR GAS AT
PROTESTERS
Tehran, Sept. 19: Iranian police
fired tear gas to disperse a
protest in the western, mainly
Kurdish city of Sanandaj,
where hundreds rallied to dec-
ry the death of a young woman
while in police custody in Teh-
ran last week, reports said.
The case of the 22-year-old
Mahsa Amini, who was detai-
ned last Tuesday after Iran’s so-
called “morality police” found
fault with her headscarf, or
hijab, has set off a public out-
cry in the country, mainly on
social media. Police said she
died of a heart attack and have
denied any allegations of tor-
ture or abuse. Police also
arrested several people from
about 500 protesters.
HURRICANE NEARS
DOM. REP. AFTER
PUERTO RICO
Havana, Sept. 19: Hurricane
Fiona bore down on the Domin-
ican Republic on Monday after
knocking out the power grid
and unleashing floods and
landslides in Puerto Rico, whe-
re the governor said the dam-
age was catastrophic.
No deaths have been reported,
but authorities in the US terri-
tory said it was too early to esti-
mate the damage from a storm
that was still forecast to unlea-
sh torrential rain across Puer-
to Rico on Monday.
Up to 30 inches was forecast
for Puerto Rico’s eastern and
southern regions. It’s impor-
tant people understand that
this is not over, said Ernesto
Morales, a meteorologist.
RATTLED TAIWAN
HIT BY MORE
AFTERSHOCKS
Taipei, Sept. 19: Aftershocks
struck southeastern Taiwan on
Monday, including a 5.5-magni-
tude earthquake that was felt
in the capital Taipei, a day after
a more powerful tremor killed
one person and injured around
150 others.
The latest quake hit around 10
am (0200 GMT), 66 kilometres
(41 miles) south-southwest of
the coastal city of Hualien at a
depth of 13 kilometres, the Uni-
ted States Geological Survey
(USGS) said.
Taiwan’s central weather
bureau put the magnitude at
5.9.
Rural and sparsely populated
southeastern Taiwan has been
rattled by a series of jolts since
Saturday.
UK, world bid adieu India, Pak fans’ clash
to Queen Elizabeth II escalates in Leicester
Ex-monarch buried at Windsor Castle’s St George’s Chapel
Windsor Castle, United
Kingdom, Sept. 19: Britain
said farewell to Queen
Elizabeth II on Monday at
a historic state funeral
attended by world leaders,
before a ceremonial jour-
ney past hundreds of tho-
usands of mourners to
her final place of rest.
Huge crowds gathered in
London to watch as the
queen’s flag-draped coffin,
topped with the Imperial
State Crown, her orb and
sceptre, was carried slow-
ly to a gun carriage from
parliament’s Westminster
Hall where it had lain in
state since Wednesday.
To the tune of pipes and
drums, the gun carriage
— used at every state fun-
eral since Queen Victori-
a’s in 1901 — was drawn by
142 junior enlisted sailors
in the Royal Navy to
Westminster Abbey.
The thousand-year-old
church’s tenor bell tolled
96 times at one-minute in-
tervals — one for every
year of her life — and
stopped a minute before
the service began at 11:00
am (1000 GMT).
In his funeral sermon,
Archbishop of Canterbu-
ry Justin Welby praised
the queen's life of duty
and service to the UK and
Commonwealth.
“People of loving service
are rare in any walk of
life. Leaders of loving se-
rvice are still rarer,” he
told the 2,000 guests, who
included US President Joe
Biden and Japan’s Empe-
ror Naruhito.
The coffin was then bor-
ne, to the rhythmic strains
of funeral marches, on
three-hour journey throu-
gh the streets of London
and on to Windsor Castle,
west of the capital.
All along the route, a sea
of arms were raised aloft,
clutching mobile phones,
to record the choreograph-
ed display of military pre-
cision.
The last chants of “God
save the queen” were he-
ard as onlookers scattered
flowers on the road, and
muffled church bells rang
in the distance.
Army veteran Robert
MacDonald, 48, was amo-
ng the dense crowd lining
the three-mile (five-kilo-
metre) Long Walk leading
up to Windsor Castle.
“I was in the infantry for
26 years, so the queen was
‘Russians struck near N-plant’
Kyiv, Sept. 19: A Russian
missile struck close to a
nuclear power plant in so-
uthern Ukraine on Mond-
ay, not damaging its three
reactors but hitting other
industrial equipment in
what Ukrainian authori-
ties denounced as an act of
“nuclear terrorism”.
The strike follows warn-
ings from Russian Presi-
dent Vladimir Putin of
possible stepped-up attac-
ks on key Ukrainian infra-
structure after his forces
suffered humiliating battl-
efield setbacks. The mis-
sile struck just 300 metres
(yards) from the Pivdenno-
ukrainsk nuclear plant,
also known as the South
Ukraine Nuclear Power
Plant, according to Ukra-
inian nuclear operator En-
ergoatom.
Black-and-white CCTV
footage released by Ukrai-
ne’s ministry of defence
showed two large fireballs
erupting one after the
other in the dark followed
by incandescent showers
of sparks. A time stamp
on the video read 19 min-
UAR TO LAUNCH
FIRST LUNAR
ROVER IN NOV.
Dubai: The United Arab
Emirates will launch its
first lunar rover in
November, the mission
manager said.
Hamad Al Marzooqi
told the National, a state-
linked newspaper, that
the “Rashid” rover,
named for Dubai's ruling
family, will be launched
from the Kennedy Space
Centre in Florida
between November 9 and
November 15. The exact
date will be announced
next month. The rover is
to be launched aboard a
Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket.
— AP
Bidens remember
the queen
For US President Joe
Biden, it was the crum-
pets. For first lady Jill
Biden, it was the tea.
Joe and Jill Biden hel-
ped honour Queen Eli-
zabeth II by sharing
memories of
their tea time
last year
when she in-
vited them
to join her
at Windsor
Castle.
Spotlight on queen
as VIPs lie low
For United States
President Joe Biden
and other Presidents,
Prime Ministers and
world dignitaries,
there were no red-car-
pet arrivals, no big
speeches and no news
conferences as they
gathered for Monday’s
state funeral for
Queen Elizabeth II.
‘Few receive the outpouring
of love we have seen’
Archbishop of Canterbury Justin
Welby has said “few leaders
receive the outpouring of love
we have seen” for Queen
Elizabeth II. He said the queen
“was joyful, present to so many,
touching a multitude of lives.”
my boss. I came to... pay
my respects and salute
one last time as the hearse
passed by,” he said.
On the Long Walk, the
military cortege passed by
the late queen’s Fell pony,
Carltonlima Emma, stand-
ing without a rider. It was
met at the castle by her
last two corgi dogs, Muick
and Sandy.
The queen — the longest-
serving monarch in Brit-
ish history — died at Bal-
moral, her Scottish High-
land retreat, on Septemb-
er 8 after a year of declin-
ing health. Her eldest son
and successor, King Cha-
rles III, dressed in ceremo-
nial military uniform, fol-
lowed the solemn proces-
sions in London. — AFP
Olga Valkova (L) and her husband Alex Vashchenko (R),
visit her brother Leonid Kandaurov (C), in liberated
Kharkiv region after six months and 11 days.
utes after midnight. The
ministry and Energoatom
both called the strike
“nuclear terrorism”.
The Russian defence mi-
nistry had no immediate
comment. The nuclear pl-
ant is Ukraine’s second-
largest, after the Zaporizh-
zhia plant that has repeat-
edly come under fire. The-
ir reactors are of the same
design. The Zaporizhzhia
GLOBAL | INITIATIVE
Help a world that’s on fire: Bill Clinton
New York, Sept. 19:
Former President Bill Cli-
nton is calling on govern-
ments, businesses, philan-
thropies, and other promi-
nent institutions to draw
together and “help a world
that is on fire” as he recon-
venes the Clinton Global
Initiative, the meeting of
international leaders, for
the first time since 2016.
Interest in the two-day
meeting has been so
intense that the Clinton
Foundation had to turn
away more than 1,000 po-
tential attendees.
It is convening a spectr-
THE FINAL JOURNEY
A view of the State Funeral Service for Britain’s Queen
Elizabeth II, at Westminster Abbey on Monday.
Prez Murmu, FS
attend funeral
London, Sept. 19: Pres-
ident Droupadi Murmu
and Foreign Secretary
Vinay Kwatra formed the
official Indian delegation
at the state funeral of
Queen Elizabeth II at
Westminster Abbey in
London on Monday.
The President and the
Foreign Secretary arrived
at the Abbey in a processi-
on alongside other Comm-
onwealth heads of state
and government, includi-
— AFP
plant, the largest in Euro-
pe, has been occupied by
Russian forces since the
early days of Moscow’s ne-
arly seven-month invasi-
on. Repeated shelling cut
off its transmission lines,
forcing operators to shut
down its six reactors to
avoid a radiation disaster.
Russia and Ukraine have
traded blame for the
shelling. — AP
Biden will host Replenishment Conference tomorrow
um of luminaries, includ-
ing Jordan’s Queen Rania
Al Abdullah, Barbados Pr-
ime Minister Mia Mottley,
BlackRock CEO Larry
Fink, Nobel Peace Prize
winner Malala Yousafzai
and actor and water access
activist Matt Damon.
Clinton, President of the
US from 1993 to 2001, said
he has been amazed by the
massive response. The wo-
rld’s on fire in a lot of dif-
ferent ways, he said. But
there are a lot of things
that businesses, non-gove-
rnmental groups and gov-
ernments working togeth-
— AFP
Paris metro station
honours Elizabeth II
A Paris metro station
on the Champs-
Elysees has been
renamed Elizabeth II
for the day as a tribute
to the British queen
during her funeral.
ng the President of Tanza-
nia Samia Suluhu Hassan
and Singapore President
Halimah Yacob.
Earlier, the President
met with Bangladesh Pri-
me Minister Sheikh Hasi-
na and her sister, Sheikh
Rehana, before joining the
2,000-strong congregation
at the Abbey.
Murmu arrived
London on Saturday on a
in
three-day visit to attend
the state funeral. — PTI
UKRAINIAN
STRIKE KILLS 13
IN DONESKT
Moscow, Sept. 19: Kre-
mlin-backed authorities
in the east Ukrainian city
of Donetsk said on Mond-
ay that a strike by Ukra-
ine’s forces in the Russi-
an-controlled city had left
more than a dozen people
dead.
“Initial information
shows that as a result of
punitive shelling... in the
Kuibyshevskyi district (of
Donetsk), 13 civilians
died. The number of peo-
ple injured is being deter-
mined,” the Moscow-bac-
ked mayor of the city wr-
ote in a social media state-
ment carried by Russian
news agencies.
Donetsk, with a pre-war
population of around one
million people, has been
partially controlled by
Moscow-backed separatis-
ts since 2014. — AFP
The Clinton Global Initiative began in New York City on
Monday.
er can do to help with a lot
of these problems.
The Clinton Global Initi-
London, Sept. 18: The UK
police are calling for calm
after clashes between fans
following an India-
Pakistan Asia Cup cricket
match at the end of last
month spilled over into
serious disorder on
Saturday and the early
hours of Sunday in the
city of Leicester in east-
ern England.
Reports circulating on
social media claimed the
spark this weekend was a
protest march, with foot-
age showing police attem-
pting to hold back two sets
of crowds as objects such
as glass bottles were thro-
wn, and some people cou-
ld be seen carrying sticks
and batons.
“We have had numerous
reports of an outbreak of
disorder in parts of the
east Leicester area of the
city,” Leicestershire Poli-
ce temporary chief con-
stable Rob Nixon said in a
Twitter video.
“We have got officers
there, we are taking con-
trol of the situation, there
are additional officers en
route and dispersal pow-
ers, stop search powers,
have been authorised.
Please do not get involved.
We are calling for calm,”
he said.
The local police force
said that its officers
attended in large numbers
as dispersal and stop and
search powers were
authorised in an effort at
restoring calm to the area.
A large number of people
were searched and two
men remain in custody —
one on suspicion of con-
spiracy to commit violent
disorder and another on
suspicion of possession of
a bladed article.
Several incidents of vio-
lence and damage have
been reported to the
police and are being inves-
tigated. “We are aware of
a video circulating show-
ing a man pulling down a
flag outside a religious
building on Melton Road,
Delete terrorism
charges against
Imran: Top court
Islamabad, Sept. 19: In a
major relief to former
Pakistan Prime Minister
Imran Khan, a top court
on Monday ordered police
to drop terrorism charges
against him for making
threatening remarks aga-
inst a female judge and
officials of the Islamabad
Police during a rally here
last month.
During a rally here on
August 20, Khan had
threatened to file cases
against top police officia-
ls, election commission
and political opponents
over the treatment meted
out to his aide Shahbaz
Gill, who was arrested on
charges of sedition.
The 69-year-old chair-
man of Pakistan Tehreek-
e-Insaf (PTI) party had
also taken exception to
Additional District and
Sessions Judge Zeba Cha-
udhry, who had approved
Gill’s two-day physical
remand at the request of
the police, and said she
should “prepare herself
as action would be taken
against her.”
Hours after the speech,
Imran was booked under
the Anti-Terrorism Act
for threatening police,
judiciary and other state
institutions at his rally.
The former PM had chal-
lenged the case in the
— AP
sative, or CGI, has helped
more than 435 million peo-
ple in more than 180 coun-
Indian mission flays
fight, temple attack
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Following an outbreak of
communal violence in the
British city of Leicester
over the weekend, India
on Monday said it “stro-
ngly condemns the viole-
nce perpetrated against
the Indian community in
Leicester and vandalisa-
tion of premises and sym-
bols of Hindu religion.”
It added that New Delhi
had strongly taken up this
matter with the British
authorities. This comes
even as President Droup-
adi Murmu was in Lond-
on during the weekend to
attend the funeral of Qu-
een Elizabeth II.
● A LARGE number of
people were searched
and two men remain in
custody — one on sus-
picion of conspiracy to
commit violent disor-
der and another on
suspicion of possession
of a bladed article.
Leicester. This appears to
have taken place while
police officers were deal-
ing with public disorder
in the area. The incident
will be investigated,” Lei-
cestershire Police said.
“We are continuing to
call for dialogue and calm
with support from local
community leaders. We
will not tolerate violence
or disorder in our city. A
significant police opera-
tion will remain in the
area in the coming days,”
the police said.
Police had imposed simi-
Imran Khan
● ANNOUNCING THE
verdict, the bench ord-
ered that after removal
of charges under Secti-
on 7 of the Anti-Terror-
ism Act, that proceed-
ings on the other sec-
tions in the case would
continue in the rele-
vant forum.
Islamabad High Court
(IHC) where a two-mem-
ber bench headed by
Chief Justice Athar
Minallah heard the case.
Announcing the verdict,
the bench ordered that af-
ter removal of charges
under Section 7 of the
Anti-Terrorism Act, that
proceedings on the other
sections in the case would
continue in the relevant
forum. — PTI
tries since it was estab-
lished in 2005.
It previously required
attendees to create a Com-
mitment to Action, a mea-
surable project that addre-
sses a global issue, though
for this year that require-
ment has been waived.
Those commitments oft-
en unite new partners and
encourage cooperation be-
tween the public and pri-
vate sectors.
President Joe Biden will
host The Global Fund’s
Seventh Replenishment
Conference in New York
on Wednesday. — AP
pg 6
According to media
reports, hooligans report-
edly vandalised the prem-
ises of a temple in Leic-
ester and pulled down a
saffron flag following ten-
sion simmering over the
last three weeks after
India defeated Pakistan in
their inaugural encounter
of the cricket Asia Cup in
Dubai late last month.
Leicester is home to a la-
rge British Indian-origin
community.
The Indian High Comm-
ission in London said,
“We have strongly taken
up this matter with the
UK authorities and have
sought immediate action
against those involved in
these attacks.”
lar dispersal orders earli-
er this month after a few
days of unrest believed to
involve local Hindu and
Muslim groups in the
wake of India versus Pak-
istan match in Dubai on
August 28.
On Friday, Chief Const-
able Nixon said there had
been a total of 27 arrests
as part of the policing op-
eration in the east Leice-
ster area and even issued
a message of thanks to the
community for continu-
ing to work together to
call for calm in the area.
“I don’t think anyone
saw the confrontation (on
Saturday) as a likely out-
come and police had been
given reassurance things
were calming down a lot,”
said Sir Peter Soulsby,
Leicester city mayor.
“It’s mostly young men
in their late teens and ea-
rly 20s and I have heard
suggestions people have
come in (to the city) from
outside,” he said. — PTI
AMERICAN FREED
BY TALIBAN IN
SWAP, SAY KIN
Washington, Sept. 19: An
American contractor
held hostage in Afghan-
istan for more than two
years by the Taliban has
been released in excha-
nge for a convicted Tal-
iban drug lord jailed in
the United States, acco-
rding to the man’s fami-
ly and US officials.
Mark Frerichs, a Navy
veteran who had spent
more than a decade in
Afghanistan as a civili-
an contractor, was abdu-
cted in January 2020 and
was believed to have
been held since then by
the Taliban-linked Haqq-
ani network.
Negotiations for his
release had centred on a
deal that would also in-
volve the release of Bas-
hir Noorzai, a notorious
drug lord and member of
the Taliban who told
reporters in Kabul on
Monday that he had
spent 17 years and six
months in US captivity
before being released.
The exchange is one of
the most significant pri-
soner swaps. — AP
SHOOTING: PIO
STUDENT DIES
IN CANADA
Toronto, Sept. 19: A 28-
year-old Indian student
has succumbed to the
injuries sustained dur-
ing a shooting rampage
in Canada’s Ontario pr-
ovince that also claimed
two other lives, includi-
ng that of a police con-
stable, police said.
Satwinder Singh, who
was injured in the shoot-
ing last Monday in Milt-
on, died at the Hamilton
General Hospital with
his family and friends by
his side, the Halton Re-
gional Police Service
(HRPS) said in a state-
ment on Saturday.
Singh was an internat-
ional student from India
who was working part-
time at MK Auto Repairs
at the time of the shoot-
ing, the statement said
on Saturday. “The HRPS
would like to express he-
artfelt condolences to
the family and friends of
the victim, and the com-
munities impacted by
this tragedy.” — PTI
 TUESDAY | 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | NEW DELHI
quick SBI asks exporters to trade
BITES with B’desh in rupee, taka
INDICATORS % NIDHI VERMA &
Sensex 59,141.23 0.51
Nifty 50 17,622.30 0.52
S&P 500* 3,863.74 -0.25
Dollar (`) 79.81 -0.02
Pound Sterling (`) 90.61 0.14
Euro (`) 79.54 -0.05
Gold (10gm)* (`) 49,571▼303 0.61
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 91.35 0.00
IN 10-Yr bond yield 7.279 0.18
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 3.50 0.053
* As of 8:30 PM IST
IBBI permits
splitting of firms
under insolvency
In a move that will provide bet-
ter market-linked solutions for
stressed firms, the Insolvency
and Bankruptcy Board of India
has amended its regulations to
allow sale of one or more assets
of an entity undergoing insol-
vency resolution process,
besides other changes. Also, the
Committee of Creditors can now
examine whether a compromise
or an arrangement can be
explored for a corporate debtor
during the liquidation period.
Dish TV chairman
Jawahar Goel
quits board
Direct-to-Home operator Dish
TV said its chairman Jawahar
Lal Goel has resigned from the
board of the company. The
company's largest shareholder
Yes Bank Ltd (YBL) and the pro-
moter family led by its chairman
Jawahar Lal Goel were engaged
in a legal battle over board rep-
resentation in Dish TV. YBL,
having over 24 per cent share,
was pushing for reconstitution
of the Dish TV board and
removal of Goel.
FinMin calls PSU
bank chiefs’ meet
over vacancies
The finance ministry would
review vacant positions and
monthly recruitment plan of
public sector banks (PSBs) and
financial institutions in a meet-
ing on Wednesday, sources
said. The meeting would also
review the procurement of
banks and financial institutions
through the Government e-
Marketplace (GeM) portal. The
virtual meeting will be chaired
by financial services secretary
Sanjay Malhotra.
Tata Motors rolls
out synthetic oil
for BS-VI engines
Tata Motors launched a syn-
thetic engine oil developed
specially to boost the perform-
ance of the BS-VI diesel
engines. By enhancing engine
life and reducing friction
between the moving parts, the
5W30 synthetic engine oil
improves their reliability, dura-
bility and improves emission
compliance besides increasing
the vehicle's uptime on the
road, the automaker said
in release.
Printed & Published by
K. Sudhakar on behalf of
Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited.
Printed at BFL Infotech Ltd, C-9 Sector
3, Noida-201301. Published at 219, N D
Tiwari Bhawan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay
Marg, New Delhi-110002.
Editor: Kaushik Mitter, RNI
Registration number 30074/09,
Air surcharge Re 1. © All rights
reserved. Reproduction in whole or
in part without written permission of
The Editor,
Financial Chronicle ® is prohibited.
„Dwindling forex reserves of neighbour a risk
NUPUR ANAND
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
Top lender State Bank of
India has asked exporters
to avoid settling deals with
Bangladesh in the dollar
and other major curren-
cies as it looks to curb
exposure to Dhaka's falling
reserves, according to an
internal document and a
source.
Bangladesh's $416-billion
economy is battling rising
prices of energy and food
as the Russia-Ukraine con-
flict widens its current
account deficit, and dwin-
dling forex forces it to turn
to global lenders such as
the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
"The country is facing a
shortage of foreign curren-
cy due to higher import
bills and weaknesses of
Bangladeshi taka against
RBI spending more forex than during taper tantrum
IRA DUGAL
MUMBAI, SEPT. 19
India's central bank is
using up its foreign
exchange reserves at a
quicker pace than during
the taper-tantrum period
in 2013 as it tries to prevent
an overshoot in the rupee,
but a larger pool of
reserves may allow it to
support the currency for
some more time, econo-
mists said.
The Reserve Bank of
India has sold a net of $38.8
billion from its forex
reserves between January
Google faces pressure to
curb illegal lending apps
NUPUR ANAND &
IRA DUGAL
MUMBAI, SEPT. 19
Alphabet Inc's Google has
been asked by the Indian
government and the cen-
tral bank to introduce
more stringent checks to
help curb the use of ille-
gal digital lending appli-
cations in India, accord-
ing to sources.
Even though Google
doesn't fall under the
Reserve Bank of India's
(RBI) ambit, the US tech
giant has been called sev-
eral times in the last few
months to meetings by the
central bank and the gov-
ernment and urged it to
introduce tougher checks
and balances that can help
in weeding out such apps,
according to four sources.
Indian regulators have
already asked lenders to
step up checks against
illegal lending apps,
which became popular
during the pandemic.
Regulators seek to control
the proliferation of such
apps that engage in
unscrupulous activities
such as charging exces-
sive interest rates and fees
Volkswagen targets $75 bn Oil ministry seeks review Ola to slash 10% engg.
valuation for Porsche IPO of windfall tax on crude jobs to cut redundancy
MONICA RAYMUNT
SEPT. 19
Volkswagen AG is looking
to raise as much as 9.4 bil-
lion euros ($9.41 billion)
from the initial public
offering of its iconic
sports-car maker Porsche
AG in what could be
Europe’s largest listing in
more than a decade.
The German carmaker
said late on Sunday it is
seeking a valuation of 70
billion to 75 billion euros
for the listing, below an
earlier top-end goal of as
much as 85 billion euros,
with the deal going ahead
at a time of deep market
upheaval.
Amid the stock market
slump, the plan to list is
getting a boost from firm
commitments of key cor-
nerstone investors. Qatar
dollar in recent times," the
SBI said in an August 24
letter sent to its branches
and seen by Reuters.
The SBI did not immedi-
ately respond to an e-mail
seeking comment.
The decision not to
increase exposure to the
dollar and other foreign
currencies in relation to
Bangladesh stemmed from
the current economic situ-
ation and the neighbouring
nation's shortage of for-
RBI $ sales/purchases
RBI has been selling
dollar to defend the rupee
0 tion in the spot market, the
-10
-20
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun July
Note: Positive value indicates $ purchases,
negative $ sale
and July this year, data
released on Friday showed.
A net of $19 billion was
sold in July alone, the most
or in recovery practices
not authorised by the RBI
or violate money launder-
ing and other government
guidelines.
Google said that last
year it revised its Play
Store developer program
policy for financial servic-
es apps, including requir-
ing additional require-
ments for personal loan
apps in India effective
September 2021.
"We have removed over
2,000 personal loan apps
targeting India from the
Play Store for violation of
the Play policy require-
ments," a Google
spokesperson said, adding
that such steps are taken
if its policies are violated.
"We will continue to
engage with law enforce-
ment agencies and indus-
try bodies to help address
this issue," the spokesper-
son added.
While the central bank
requires that any lending
apps listed on app stores
be backed by regulated
entities, it is up to Google
to enforce this and moni-
tor compliance.
Google has also been
asked to look at curtailing
Investment Authority, Nor-
way’s sovereign wealth
fund, T. Rowe Price and
ADQ are set to subscribe
to preferred shares of as
much as 3.7 billion euros,
the manufacturer said.
“We are now in the home
stretch with the IPO plans
for Porsche and welcome
the commitment of our
cornerstone investors,”
VW’s chief financial offi-
cer Arno Antlitz said. The
offer period will start on
Sept. 20 with a planned
trading start on Sept. 29.
During meetings with
potential investors, VW
pitched the listing as a
chance to invest in a com-
pany that combines the
best of carmaking rivals
like Ferrari NV and luxu-
ry brands such as Louis
Vuitton.
—Bloomberg
eign currency, the bank
said in its circular.
"However exposure in
Indian rupee and taka will
continue," it added.
Bangladesh's foreign
exchange reserves
declined to $37 billion by
Friday from $48 billion a
year earlier, according to
data from the central bank,
which provides import
cover of just five months.
Finance ministry offi-
cials have said Bangladesh
recent data available, and
intervention remained
heavy in August when the
rupee fell below 80 against
the dollar, traders said.
Alongside its interven-
central bank's forward dol-
lar holdings have fallen to
$22 billion from $64 billion
in April.
In 2013, the RBI had sold a
net of $14 billion in the
Source: RBI June to September period
after the so-called taper
tantrum—when US
Treasury yields spiked
after the Federal Reserve
said it would slow its pace
the rise of such apps via
other distribution chan-
nels such as websites and
other means of down-
loads, according to anoth-
er industry source who is
directly involved.
Google is also starting to
act on complaints recei-
ved from industry bodies.
"Earlier Google would
not respond to complaints
on individual apps. Now
they are more proactive
and do look into it when a
complaint is flagged to
them," said one of the
industry sources directly
involved in the matter and
who has been briefed
about discussions.
The government and the
RBI are in the process of
preparing a white list of
approved lending applica-
tions. The central bank
has also laid down norms
to ensure that a borrower
must deal directly with a
bank for lending and
recovery which can help
to keep the third-party
recovery agents away.
Google dominates Ind-
ia's app market with 95
per cent smartphones
using its Android plat-
form. — Reuters
AMMAR ZAIDI
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
The oil ministry has
sought a review of the
two-and-a-half-month old
windfall profit tax on
domestically produced
crude oil saying it goes
against the principle of
fiscal stability provided in
contracts for finding and
producing oil.
The ministry in the
August 12 letter, reviewed
by PTI, sought exemption
for fields or blocks, which
were bid out to companies
under production sharing
contract (PSC) and rev-
enue sharing contract
(RSC), from the new levy.
It stated that companies
have been since the 1990s
awarded blocks or areas
for exploration and pro-
duction of oil and natural
gas under different con-
is seeking a $4.5 billion
loan from the IMF, in
excess of its maximum
entitlement of $1 billion
under the IMF Resilience
and Sustainability Trust.
A source said SBI did not
want to increase its expo-
sure to Bangladesh.
"We have an approximate
exposure of $500 million to
Bangladesh and have taken
the decision not to grow it
further aggressively, and
maybe, even reduce it as
needed, with the news sur-
rounding the economy,"
added the source.
Bangladesh wants to cut
dependency on the dollar,
commerce minister Tipu
Munshi said last week, and
it does not see a problem in
dealing in local currencies.
Last week,
Bangladesh central bank
the
freed up banks to do trans-
actions in Chinese yuan.
— Reuters
of bond buybacks—had
put pressure on emerging
economy currencies,
including the rupee.
"The starting point of
India's foreign reserves
was at a much higher level
in this cycle compared to
the taper tantrum, provid-
ing a much thicker cushion
to withstand global volatili-
ty/ shocks," said Radhika
Rao, senior economist at
DBS Bank.
India's forex reserves
have fallen to a two-year
low of $550 billion from a
peak of $642 billion in
October 2021. — Reuters
Oyo seeks to resurrect IPO
SARITHA RAI
SEPT. 19
Oyo Hotels, the once high-
flying Indian startup, is
reviving plans for a stock-
market debut after cost
cuts and a recovery in
travel helped it reduce
losses.
The hotel-booking com-
pany filed fresh financial
documents on Monday
and is now targeting an
initial public offering in
early 2023 provided that
the stock market contin-
ues to hold up and eco-
nomic conditions
improve, according to peo-
ple familiar with the mat-
ter. Oyo, formally known
as Oravel Stays Ltd, is
internally working
toward a January IPO as
executives are encouraged
by a pick-up in demand,
they said.
Oyo had filed prelimi-
nary IPO documents in
2021, only to shelve the list-
ing plan earlier this year
after the prolonged pan-
demic hurt its growth and
forced the company to cut
thousands of jobs. It dis-
closed its latest financials
in an IPO filing addendum
on Monday, with the num-
bers showing narrower
losses and a rebound in
sales for the year through
March 2022 and the follow-
ing three months.
tractual regimes, wherein
a royalty and cess is levied
and the government gets a
pre-determined percent-
age of profits.
The ministry, according
to the letter, was of the
opinion that the contracts
have an in-built mecha-
nism to factor in high
prices as incremental
gains get transferred in
form of higher profit
share for the government.
Emails sent to the oil
ministry as well as the
finance ministry for com-
SEBI PUTS
GO DIGIT’S
IPO ON HOLD
FC BANKING BUREAU
MUMBAI, SEPT. 19
In a surprise move, the
Securities Exchange
Board of India (Sebi)
has kept the proposed
initial share sale of
Canada-based Fairfax
Group-backed Go Digit
General Insurance Ltd
in "abeyance." However,
the markets regulator
did not specify the rea-
sons for putting the ini-
tial public offering (IPO)
on hold.
Said a market expert,
“It is very rare for Sebi
to put an IPO in
abeyance. It either
rejects or approves
IPOs, but its very unusu-
al to put an IPO in
abeyance. Either the
papers of Godigit are
incomplete or they have
violated the regulations
necessary for IPO.”
Go Digit had filed pre-
liminary IPO papers
with the Sebi on August
17. Cricketer Virat Kohli
and his wife Anushka
Sharma are among the
investors in the firm.
Go Digit is one of the
first non-life insurers in
India to be fully operat-
ed on the cloud and has
developed application
programming interface
(API) integrations with
several channel part-
ners.
The Bengaluru-based
company has a track
record of delivering
growth, with gross writ-
ten premium (GWP)
growing at a compound
annual growth rate
(CAGR) of 53 per cent
from fiscal 2020 to 2022.
Last month, HDFC Bank
announced that it will
pick up a 9.94 per cent
stake in Go Digit.
Ritesh Agarwal
The startup is now focus-
ing on four main regions:
India, Malaysia,
Indonesia and Europe,
where it manages vaca-
tion homes. It has cut
down operations in mar-
kets it previously consid-
ered crucial, such as the
US and China, where its
employees now measure
in the single digits, one of
the people said.
Oyo, valued at $9 billion
according to researcher
CB Insights, may have
trouble attaining that
level given rapidly erod-
ing investor sentiment.
But the company
appeared determined to
rein in costs and improve
the bottom line, which
would appeal to markets,
said Manav Thadani, co-
founder and chairman of
hospitality industry con-
sultancy Hotelivate.
"Nobody expected the
turnaround after a series
ments remained unan-
swered.
According to oil min-
istry calculations, the let-
ter said, the new levy in
the case of PSC and RSC
results in a situation
where the operator ends
up paying much more
than the windfall gain
itself.
Besides, the contracts
specifically provide for fis-
cal stability for the con-
tracting parties, it said,
adding any change of law
or rule or regulation that
adversely changes expect-
ed economic benefits to
parties can lead to seeking
revision and adjustments
to the terms of the con-
tracts.
Requests have already
been received for such
revisions or amendments
to the contracts.
— PTI
Bengal picks Adani to
build `25,000-cr port
RAJIB CHOWDHURI
KOLKATA, SEPT. 19
The Mamata Banerjee
government on Monday
selected Adani Group to
build and run the pro-
posed Tajpur deep sea
port for an investment of
Rs 25000 crore in East
Midnapore of West
Bengal.
This is the biggest proj-
ect for Adani Ports and
Special Economic Zone
Ltd (APSEZ), a sub-
sidiary of the business
conglomerate, in the state
after its recent deal of Rs
298.26 crore for mechani-
sation of berth no 2 at
Haldia Dock Complex
under Syama Prasad
Mookerjee Port, Kolkata.
The state government
said that the cabinet
"accorded approval for
Issuance of Letter of
Intent by West Bengal
Maritime Board for
development of the
Tajpur Port to the suc-
CBI files charge sheet against
Rana Kapoor, Gautam Thapar
FC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 19
The CBI has on Monday
filed a chargesheet against
Rana Kapoor, former MD
and CEO of the Yes Bank,
and Gautam Thapar,
Avantha Group promoter
and chairman of Gurgaon-
based Oyster Buildwell
Private Limited, for caus-
ing an alleged loss of near-
ly Rs. 466.51 crore to Yes
Bank. The CBI had regis-
tered the case in June last
year against them on a
of Covid-related chal-
lenges to be so quick and
so robust," Thadani said.
"It's good to see they've
given up expansion in
China and the US and are
now targeting niche mar-
kets. They are focusing on
performance."
Oyo and founder Ritesh
Agarwal are trying to pull
off a successful IPO after
a series of setbacks in
their efforts to change the
hotel and lodging indus-
try. SoftBank Group Corp
founder Masayoshi Son
was an early and enthusi-
astic backer, and the
Japanese conglomerate
holds about 47 per cent in
the Gurgaon-based start-
up. The 28-year-old
Agarwal owns about one-
third.
Oyo reported a loss of
Rs 1,890 crore ($237 mil-
lion) for the year through
March 2022, nearly halv-
ing from the previous 12
months. The numbers
were restated from previ-
ously undisclosed figures.
The annual loss before
interest, taxes, deprecia-
tion and amortisation
shrank to Rs 480 crore
from Rs 1,870 crore. For
the three months through
June 2022, earnings on
that basis were Rs 10.57
crore, while the net loss
was Rs 350 crore.
— Bloomberg
Bengaluru, Sept. 19: Ola
will cut about 200 engi-
neering jobs to reduce
redundancy across its two
main businesses of ride-
hailing and electric vehi-
cle manufacturing, the
SoftBank Group-backed
company said on Monday.
The company said it is
focussed on being a "verti-
cally integrated mobility
company" and is centralis-
ing operations to build a
structure to strengthen
relevant roles and func-
tions.
"Ola is building on com-
mon capabilities and syn-
ergies across functions as
it strengthens its play
across two-wheelers, four-
wheelers, cell research
and manufacturing," the
company said in a state-
ment.
To that end, said Ola, it
pg 7
cessful bidder: M/s
Adani Ports and Special
Economic Zone (SEZ),
who were the highest bid-
der (H-1) against the
Request For Proposal
floated for the develop-
ment of the port…"
It added, "The port
would entail an invest-
ment of Rs 15,000 crores.
The related port led infra-
structure development
would involve another Rs
10,000 crores. Overall, the
project would involve an
investment of Rs 25,000
crores. It would create 25
thousand jobs directly
and more than one lakh
jobs indirectly."
The government said,
"This deep sea port will
...provide quick access to
the world markets to
Bengal based industries.
In fact, all the Eastern
states and North East
India will be benefited
from the dramatically
improved connectivity of
the port.”
complaint from Yes Bank.
"It was alleged that the
company, in connivance
with others, had commit-
ted criminal breach of
trust, cheating, criminal
conspiracy and forgery for
diversion/misappropria-
tion of the public money,
during the period from
2017 to 2019," the CBI said.
The probe found that the
borrower company had
availed of credit facilities
from Yes Bank and divert-
ed the same to its holding
company. and group firms.
US 10-YEAR YIELD
RISES TO 3.5% FOR
1ST TIME SINCE 2011
MARCUS WONG &
MICHAEL MACKENZIE
SEPT. 19
The 10-year Treasury
yield rose above 3.50 per
cent for the first time
since 2011, with the bond
market extending its
bearish run ahead of
another jumbo rate hike
expected this week by the
Federal Reserve to bring
down inflation.
The 10-year yield
jumped as much as 6.6
basis points to 3.516 per
cent, breaking above a
psychological level that
held in mid-June. Selling
pressure was focused
more on the policy sensi-
tive two-year note, with
the benchmark rising as
much as 7.5 basis points
to 3.94 per cent, marking a
fresh high since October
2007.
Traders have wagered
that another three-quar-
ter point hike at this
week's Fed review is
largely a done deal. Talk
has emerged of a 100-
basis point move to rein
in price pressures that
have shown little signs of
easing even after the
recent round of rate
increases. — Bloomberg
plans to boost its engineer-
ing workforce to 5,000 over
the next 18 months from
around 2,000 currently, as
part of an "influx of hir-
ing" for roles in vehicle
engineering, sourcing,
product management and
data science.
Ola, which pipped Uber
Technologies to take a
majority share of India's
ride-hailing market, start-
ed manufacturing e-scoot-
ers last year and plans to
start producing electric
cars in 2024.
However, its scooter busi-
ness came under scrutiny
earlier this year when Ola
recalled more than 1,400 of
the vehicles after one of
them caught fire.
The company also post-
poned plans to go public in
the first half of this year.
— Reuters
 GAMES
THE ASIAN AGE | TUESDAY | 20 SEPTEMBER 2022 | NEW DELHI
SHORT TAKES
Snake outside
Johnson’s room
Lucknow: In India to take part
in Legends League Cricket T20
league, former Australia pacer
Mitchell Johnson spotted a
snake in his hotel room here on
Monday. Johnson shared a
photo of the snake on his insta-
gram account, asking fans to
help him identify what type it
was. “Anyone know what type
of snake this is?? Just hanging
out in my room door,” he wrote
in an instagram post.
“Found a better pic of this
snakes (sic) head. Still unsure
what it is exactly. Interesting
stay so far in Lucknow, India,”
he wrote in another post.
Johnson, 40, is playing for
Jacques Kallis-led India
Capitals and featured in the
game against Gujarat Giants in
the Legends League Cricket on
Saturday. The left-arm quick
played in 73 Tests, 153 ODIs and
30 T20Is for Australia.
Johnson, who is representing
India Capitals in the tourna-
ment, dismissed Gujarat Giants
skipper Virender Sehwag on
Saturday, but the latter won the
match by three wickets. — PTI
Praggu posts 3
wins before losing
New York: India’s teenaged
Grandmaster R.
Praggnanandhaa began his
campaign in the star-studded
Julius Baer Generation Cup
online rapid tournament, the
seventh leg of the $1.6 million
Meltwater Champions Chess
Tour, with wins over veteran
Vasyl Ivanchuk and Jan Kryzstof
Duda of Poland. He then beat
another veteran Boris Gelfand
in the third round before losing
to American 15-year old
Christopher Yoo on Monday.
The 17-year old Chennnai prodi-
gy came up trumps against 53-
year old Ukrainian legend
Ivanchuk in a battle of genera-
tions to pick up three points.
World champion Magnus
Carlsen has made a strong start
and has a one-point lead after
the opening day of the event.
IDCA unveils India
jersey for T20 CT
New Delhi: Indian Deaf Cricket
Association (IDCA) unveiled the
new jersey of the specially-
abled Team India for the Deaf
International Cricket Council
(DICC) T20 Champions Trophy
here on Monday. The
Champions Trophy scheduled
to be held in Sharjah, UAE, from
October 1 to 9.
Captain Virender Singh was
upbeat about India’s chances at
the tournament. “We are all
prepared for the event and
hopefully we will return with
the winners trophy from
Sharjah. We are ready to put
our best foot forward,”
Virender said.
Team head coach M. P. Sharma
echoed the same feeling. He
said, “ I am happy with the
team’s combination. They are
very hard working and talented
players.”
Five team — India, Australia,
South Africa, Bangladesh and
Pakistan — are taking part in
the Championship Trophy.
IDCA, backed by Board of
Cricket Control of India, has
recently got shot in arms after
Hero MotoCorp joined the body
as their ‘Social Cause Partner’.
Pol takes point
as Marquez falls
Aragon: A dramatic and com-
plicated Aragon GP saw Marc
Marquez’s first race back cut
short after a promising start
while Pol Espargaro worked
hard to overcome adversity and
end in the points.
A lightning start from Marc
Marquez saw the Repsol Honda
Team rider jump from 13th on
the grid to sixth within the
opening corners. His race would
sadly not go much further as a
rear end slide at Turn 3 caused
contact with Fabio Quartararo.
This in turn left a piece of
Quartararo’s bike lodged in the
rear end of Marquez’s Honda
which caused a subsequent
mechanical issue and contact
with LCR Honda’s Takaaki
Nakagami. As a result, Marquez
pulled into the pits at the end
of the first lap — ending his
return race early.
Espargaro walked away from a
complicated weekend in
Aragon with a single point for
15th place. Taking evasive
action to avoid Nakagami on
the first lap left the Repsol
Honda Team rider playing
catchup for the rest of the race.
Published by K. Sudhakar for and on
behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings
Limited at Jawaharlal Nehru National
Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay
Marg, New Delhi 110 002. and Printed by
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Sector – III, Noida – 201301.
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per copy.
MIDDLE MUDDLE Real
win at rivals
Atletico in derby
India look to lock middle-order, 6th bowler ahead of T20 WC
Mohali, Sept. 19: India
will look to sort out their
combinations, especially
in the middle-order,
while giving a final
shape to their plans and
preparations for the T20
World Cup when a three-
match home series
against Australia begins
here Tuesday.
Though a few fast
bowlers will be rested
over the course of six
games before the World
Cup — three matches
against South Africa to
follow after the Australia
series — India have a full
strength squad at their
disposal to finalise com-
binations.
The T20 format is a lot
about being flexible but
as he mentioned ahead of
the first T20, India skip-
per Rohit Sharma would
like to get ‘all the
answers’ from his play-
ers before the flagship
ICC event in Australia.
Though India did bat
well in the Asia Cup,
they did resort to a lot of
changes during the tour-
nament. Their lack of
depth in the bowling
department was also
exposed but Harshal
Patel and Jasprit
Bumrah are now back to
bolster the attack.
Rohit has made it clear
that K. L. Rahul will be
his opening partner in
Australia but there is a
possibility that Virat
Kohli gets to open along-
side him. With the star
batter scoring a memo-
rable hundred in his last
T20 innings, there will
always be a temptation to
make him bat at the top.
The top-four are pretty
much sorted but the jury
is still out on the role of
wicketkeepers Rishabh
Pant and Dinesh Karthik
in the playing eleven.
With Ravindra Jadeja
injured, will India keep
the left-handed Pant over
Karthik who is a desig-
nated finisher in the
squad?
Karthik, who hardly
got to bat in the Asia
Cup, would be hoping for
substantial game time
over the next two weeks.
Deepak Hooda played
all the Super 4 games in
the UAE but lack of clar-
ity remains over his role
in the side.
Jadeja’s injury during
the Asia Cup upset the
bowling balance of the
team. From six bowling
options, India were
forced to play with five
bowlers.
Australia, on the other
hand, have come to India
without few of their
main players including
David Warner (rested).
Mitchell Starc, Marcus
Stoinis and Mitchell
Marsh, who are nursing
minor injuries ahead of
the World Cup, have also
stayed back in Australia.
The focus will be on
skipper Aaron Finch,
who recently retired from
ODIs after a prolonged
lean patch. He will be
aiming for a bagful for
runs ahead of the World
Cup at home. — PTI
Live on TV
FIRST T20
India vs Australia
from 7.30 pm on Star
Sports 1, HD
Athletes not robots, Vinesh slams critics
New Delhi, Sept. 19: Firing
a salvo at the “so called
fans and experts” on social
media, star Indian wrestler
Vinesh Phogat denounced
the negative criticism
hurled at her during the
World Championship, say-
ing the “athletes are not
robots.”
Vinesh also exhorted fel-
low athletes to keep work-
ing hard so that this
uncalled for criticism cul-
ture ends.
On a road to redemption,
Vinesh became the first
indian woman wrestler to
win two World
Championship medals
when she grabbed a 53kg
bronze in Belgrade last
week.
However, her manner of
defeat against Mongolia’s
Khulan Batkhuyag (0-7) in
the Qualification round,
evoked sharp criticism on
social media platforms.
Vinesh, though, made a
strong come back as she
WILL TAKE BRAVE
MAN TO WRITE
OFF KOHLI: FINCH
India vice-captain
K. L. Rahul at a net
session in Mohali
on Monday. — BCCI
No one is perfect and I am
working on strike-rate: KL
Mohali, Sept. 19: Numbers
can be deceptive and not
always tell the whole story,
feels Indian vice-captain
K. L. Rahul, whose endeav-
our ahead of the T20 World
Cup is to improve his
strike-rate in the power-
play overs.
Rahul has copped a fair
bit of criticism of late for
his strike rate and the styl-
ish batter believes that it is
difficult to maintain the
same tempo throughout an
innings.
“It is something that
every player works
towards (strike-rate). No
one is perfect. Everyone is
working towards some-
thing,” said Rahul, who
batted at a strike-rate of
122.22 during the Asia Cup
in UAE.
won her two repechage
rounds and then the
bronze play-off without
conceding a single point.
The 28-year-old is not
someone who holds back
and she came out with a
long statement, that gave a
sense of how hurt she was
by the criticism.
“Athletes are humans and
while being an athlete is a
huge part of who we are, it
doesn’t mean we work like
robots every time a tourna-
ment is announced. Not
sure if this culture is in
every country or this is
just India where we have so
many experts sitting at
home,” Vinesh wrote in
her post.
“Every individual, pro-
fessional or not, has chased
hardships, struggles and
challenges through their
journey.
“Difference is the world
does not comment and crit-
icise them, thinking they
are experts on those profes-
However, Rahul’s career
T20I strike-rate is 140 plus
across 61 games but it is
primarily because he
makes it up during the
back-10 of an innings.
“Strike-rates are taken
on an overall basis,” he
said and the gave his
rationale behind the argu-
ment.
“You never see that a bat-
ter has played at a certain
strike-rate (throughout).
Whether it was important
for him to play at a strike-
rate of 200 or whether the
team could have still won
with the batter playing at
100 or 120, these things are
not always analysed. So
when you look at (overall),
it looks slow,” Rahul said.
But Rahul is working on
his strike-rate.
sionals and their careers.
But we have many who
consider themselves as
experts on sports who
think they know the
efforts, the hardships and
what goes into training an
athlete.”
Vinesh questioned the
unrelenting scrutiny on
“It is something I am
working on. Obviously, the
goals have been defined to
each player in the last 10-12
months.
“Everyone has a clear
understanding as to what
is expected out of him. I
am just working towards
how can I better myself as
an opening batter,” said
the India vice-captain
ahead of first T20 against
Australia.
Rahul is happy to be a
part of a dressing room
that allows players to
learn from their mistakes.
“The most important
thing for the player in the
room is what captain and
coach and teammates
think of him and we know
what is expected out of
each person.” — PTI
Vinesh Phogat
athletes. “Why are we as
athletes answerable to
them about every detail
when all athletes get back
is comments on how they
should train, what they
should do instead of sup-
port and encouragement
when times are tough.
“It is very discouraging
Mohali, Sept. 19:
Australia skipper Aaron
Finch on Monday said it
will take a very brave
man to write Virat Kohli
off and what the former
India captain has
achieved in the last 15
years is just “ridicu-
lous”. Kohli overcame a
prolonged lean patch at
the Asia Cup earlier this
month and also scored
his 71st international
century. The hundred
was his first since
November 2019.
“It will be a very brave
man to write Virat Kohli
off. At any stage, he has
shown for 15 years now
that he is one of the
greatest players of all
time,” Finch said here.
“Particularly in T20
cricket, he’s someone
who has developed and
grown his game over
such a long period that
you always plan and pre-
pare the best when
you’re coming up against
him.
“He is super and has 71
international centuries.
That’s just ridiculous,”
Finch said in a virtual
media interaction.
Finch will be in focus
during the series after he
announced his retire-
ment from ODIs follow-
ing his struggles with the
bat.
He will be expected to
be at his best ahead of
the T20 World Cup at
home.
“Over a long period of
time, you get pretty com-
fortable with criticism
but in T20 cricket, I feel
my form has been really
good for quite a while
now. I think if you sepa-
rate the ODI form and
the T20 form, then
they’re totally different,
they’re two different for-
mats of the game,” said
Finch.
Australia will go about
their plans here with one
eye on the World Cup at
home. — PTI
INDIA HAVE EDGE
● Tuesday's clash between
India and Australia will be
the 24th T20 match
between the two teams and
eighth match on Indian soil.
● India have won 13 and
Australia nine in 23 previ-
ous encounters. One match
did not produce a result.
● The Men in Blue have
won two and lost three in
the last five matches
played against the T20
World Champions.
● Australia recorded a 12-
run victory over India when
two teams met last time in
T20 International cricket.
● India ranked top in ICC
rankings and have won 114,
lost 57, tied three and
abandoned five in 170
matches played so far.
● Australia on the other
hand, have won 85, lost 71
and tied three and aban-
doned three in 162 matches
played so far. The Twenty-
20 World Champions are
ranked sixth in the latest
ICC rankings.
— S. PERVEZ QAISER
when people assume they
can comment on when ath-
letes should stop or end
their career, when they
should play and not play.
“A win always does not
mean that an athlete has
done anything extra
extraordinary and a loss
does not mean that the ath-
lete has not tried during
that game. Winning and
losing is a part of every
athlete’s journey and the
athletes try hard each
time.”
She also said the critics
have no idea about the
efforts and resources that
go into the preparations of
an athlete. “It is very easy
to comment on these
things because for them
it’s just one day of their
life after watching a match,
what they don’t realise is
these things can seriously
drag along and affect the
athletes state, their mood
especially in difficult
times.”
SPANISH | LEAGUE
Madrid (Spain), Sept. 19:
Rodrygo and Federico
Valverde scored to earn
Real Madrid a 2-1 win over
neighbours Atletico
Madrid in a heated derby
on Sunday to return to the
top of La Liga.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side
have started their title
defence in perfect fashion,
with a 100 percent record
from six games. This vic-
tory took Real two points
above Barcelona, who had
leapfrogged into first on
Saturday.
The game was marred by
racist chants aimed at
Real Madrid’s Brazilian
forward Vinicius Junior
outside the stadium before
the game, sparked by criti-
cism of his dancing goal
celebrations and a subse-
quent debate over whether
that criticism was racist.
Fans also threw objects
at Vinicius after a Real
goal and aimed racist
chants at him in the clos-
ing stages.
After another Brazilian,
Rodrygo, broke the dead-
lock in the 18th minute, he
danced in celebration
with Vinicius, to the cha-
grin of Atletico’s enraged
supporters. Some threw
objects, including lighters,
at the duo.
“Derbies are always
important but today was a
bit different for what hap-
pened during the week,”
said Rodrygo.
“We responded on the
pitch, and I only talk for
Real Madrid’s Rodrygo (right) celebrates after scoring
against Atletico Madrid during their Spanish league
match in Madrid on Sunday. Real won 2-1.
MESSI STRIKES EARLY AS
PSG STAY ON FRENCH TOP
Paris, Sept. 19: Lionel
Messi struck after five
minutes as Paris Saint-
Germain edged Lyon 1-0
to regain top spot in the
Ligue 1 table ahead of
Marseille on Sunday.
Neymar set up the
Argentinian with his
seventh assist in eight
Ligue 1 games.
The victory pulled PSG
two points clear of
Marseille who had taken
top spot earlier with a 1-1
draw at home against
Rennes.
Lorient, 3-1 winners
over Auxerre, are three
points adrift of the lead-
NAPOLI MAKE TITLE STATEMENT
AT MILAN TO KEEP ITALIAN LEAD
Milan (Italy), Sept. 19:
Napoli announced their
bid for the Serie A title
with Sunday’s 2-1 win at
AC Milan which main-
tained their league lead,
while the crisis at
Juventus deepened follow-
ing a humiliating defeat at
Monza.
A Matteo Politano penal-
ty 10 minutes after half-
time and Giovanni
Simeone’s header with 12
minutes remaining gave
Napoli a statement win at
the San Siro, one managed
without injured star strik-
er Victor Osimhen and
suspended coach Luciano
Spalletti not on the bench.
Napoli sit top of the pile
on goal difference from
Atalanta, 1-0 winners at
Roma, and a point ahead
of Udinese, who beat Inter
Milan 3-1 in Sunday’s
early match to win their
fifth match on the bounce.
They are also three
pg 8
● The game was
marred by racist
chants aimed at Real
Madrid’s Brazilian
forward Vinicius Junior
outside the stadium
before the game,
sparked by criticism of
his dancing goal
celebrations and a
subsequent debate
over whether that
criticism was racist.
myself. I am very happy to
play well and to score
another goal.”
Madrid were missing the
injured Karim Benzema
while the hosts picked
Antoine Griezmann in the
starting line-up for the
first time this season, and
they were on top in the
opening stages.
Spurred on by the rowdy
atmosphere, Diego
Simeone’s side pressed
high up the pitch and put
Los Blancos on the back
foot, with Felipe heading
over and Dani Carvajal
deflecting a Yannick
Carrasco shot into the
side netting.
Geoffrey Kondogbia
launched an effort at goal
which missed narrowly,
but with Atletico domi-
nant, Madrid landed a
sucker-punch. Aurelien
Tchouameni scooped a
delightful pass over the
defence and Rodrygo
smartly dispatched it past
Jan Oblak. — AFP
— AP
ers. Lens dropped to
fourth after being held to
a goalless draw in
Nantes.
“PSG played a great
game tonight, against a
difficult team which was
waiting for us,” said PSG
coach Christophe
Galtier, adding, “We
scored a good goal and
could have scored others.
We were much more bal-
anced, Neymar in partic-
ular gave us a balance
which was really neces-
sary. Even if we were less
mobile in the second half
we still had a lot of
chances.” — AFP
points ahead of champi-
ons Milan who drop down
to fifth after their first
defeat of the season.
“This is not just about
quality, this is a deter-
mined team which is capa-
ble of sacrifice,” said sub-
stitute Simeone to DAZN.
“All this team wants to
do is to give its all and get
better day by day.”
Simeone’s first Serie A
goal for Napoli ended a 22-
match unbeaten run for
Milan, who levelled in the
69th minute through
Olivier Giroud and were
unlucky to lose after hit-
ting the woodwork late on
through Pierre Kalulu.
ATALANTA KEEP PACE
Atalanta are level with
Napoli after Giorgio
Scalvini’s beautifully hit
low strike 10 minutes
before the break earned
them the three points.
— AFP