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KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR

JAISHANKAR TO VISIT RAISING A TOAST CONSTANT FIELDING

BIDEN IMPLORES
RUSSIA AMIDST TO IAN JACK PRACTICE DID THE
VOTERS TO SAVE
CONFLICT IN UKRAINE TRICK, SAYS RAHUL
DEMOCRACY FROM LIES
P5 P7 P10 P12

WEATHER
Gujarat to go to polls in No corrupt person should get
political-social support: Modi
two phases on 1 & 5 Dec
Partly cloudy sky. Temperature likely to be in
the range of 31-22 degrees Celsius.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

RAINFALL: NIL
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Max.86% Min. 40%
TEMPERATURE Gujarat is expected to witness a triangular contest between the BJP, Congress & the AAP Calling for an adminis-
Max: 32.6°C (+1) Min: 22.0°C (0)
trative ecosystem that
SUN RISES SUN SETS NIKHIL VYAS of 4,90,89,765 voters, which has zero tolerance for
05:42 hrs 16:58 hrs NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER includes 2,53,36,610 males corruption, Prime Min-
MOON RISES MOON SETS and 2,37,51,738 females. ister Narendra Modi today

A
13:55 hrs 00:37 hrs
Full moon on 08 November
ssembly elections in
Gujarat will be held
in two phases on 1
December and 5
THUMBNAILS December and the result will
be declared on 8 December
along with the outcome of the
Himachal Pradesh Assembly
polls, the Election Commis-
sion of India (ECI) announced
today.
The Assembly polls in
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's home state of Gujarat
are expected to witness a
triangular contest between
the ruling BJP, Congress and
the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
Announcing the election
Former Navy Chief Admiral L Ramdas with his wife schedule for Gujarat at a
Lalita Ramdas joined Rahul Gandhi's 'Bharat Jodo press conference here, Chief
Yatra' in Hyderabad on Thursday. � ANI Election Commissioner (CEC)
Rajiv Kumar said the term of
the 182-member Gujarat
Jharkhand CM seeks 3-week time from ED :Jhar- Assembly ends on 18 February
khand chief minister Hemant Soren on Thursday next year.
sought three weeks' time to appear before the On allegations of delay in
Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection announcing the polling dates
with the Prevention of Money Laundering case for Gujarat, the CEC said
pertaining to illegal mining and extortion in Jha- there is no delay in the
rkhand and Bihar. Sources in the ED claimed th- announcement as there are
at Soren has written a letter to the probe age- still 110 days left for the term
ncy seeking time to attend a few programmes. of the state assembly. Mul-
Soren was summoned by the ED to join the inv- tiple factors, including weath-
estigation on Thursday, but he skipped the er, were taken into account
questioning. before finalising the poll
dates, the CEC said.He said
the poll panel has announced
the poll dates 110 days ahead
of the expiry of the Gujarat
assembly. “There will be a 72
days gap between the count-
ing of the result and the
expiry of the Assembly in
the state,” the CEC said.
On charges of EVM tam-
pering, he said: “Actions and
outcomes speak louder than
words. At times, parties crit-
ical of the poll panel have got
surprise results in polls. Some
have questioned EVMs, but
they are silent when they
win polls through the same
EVMs.”He said: “The first
phase of Assembly polls in
Gujarat will be held on 1
December and second phase
on 5 December and count-
ing of votes will be held on 8
December.”
In the first phase, polling
will be held for 89 seats while
the second phase will be
held for 93 seats.The CEC said
notification for the first phase
of polls will be issued on 5
November while notifica-
tion for the second phase will
be issued on 10 November.
According to the latest elec-
toral rolls, Gujarat has a total
The CEC said as many as
3,24,422 people would be
first-time voters in the Gujarat
Assembly polls.
“For a better voting expe-
rience, 1,274 polling stations
will be managed entirely by
women and security staff. The
Public Works Department
will welcome voters at 182
polling stations. For the first
time, 33 polling stations will
be set up and managed by the
youngest polling staff,” the
CEC said.
“The date of counting for
Gujarat Assembly polls will
coincide with Himachal
Pradesh on 8 December. The
entire process of Assembly
elections is to be completed
on the 10 December,” he
said. On allegations of delay-
ing polling dates due to the
PM's visit to Gujarat, the
CEC said, “Recently a very
tragic incident occurred there
( Morbi bridge collapse)-
one of the reasons why we
delayed. Also, there was state
mourning in the state yes-
terday; so multiple factors.”
After the announcement
of the poll dates, the Model
Code of Conduct has come
into effect in Gujarat.
said institutions acting
against the menace need
not be defensive and
must ensure that no cor-
rupt person, howsoever
powerful he might be, was
allowed to go scot-
free.“No corrupt person
should get political-social
support, every corrupt
person should be put in
the dock by society. It is
necessary to create such
an environment,” he said
addressing a programme
markingVigilance Aware-
ness Week of the Central
Vigilance Commission
(CVC).
The PM emphasised
that there was no require-
ment for institutions act-
ing against the corrupt
and corruption like the
CVC to work on any polit-
ical agenda but to work
towards making the lives
of ordinary citizens sim-
STAR POWER
PM Narendra Modi attends the programme marking
Vigilance Awareness Week of CVC on Thursday. � ANI
pler.Touching upon what
he called a worrying
trend, Mr Modi said: “We
have seen that many
times the corrupt people
are glorified in spite of
being jailed even after
being proven to be cor-
rupt.”“This situation is not
good for Indian society.
Even today, some people
give arguments in favour
of the corrupt who have
been found guilty.”
The PM declared that
for a developed India,
trust and credibility were
critical and claimed that
previous governments
not only lost people’s
confidence but also failed
to trust people. The lega-
cy from the long period
of slavery of corruption,
exploitation, and con-
trol over resources, unfor-
tunately, received more
strength after the inde-
pendence. This severely
harmed at least four gen-
erations of this country,
he said. “We have to
change this decades-long
way fully in the Azadi ka
Amrit Kaal,” he added.
Recalling his clarion
call from the ramparts of
Red Fort for a decisive bat-
tle against corruption,
Mr Modi pointed out
two key reasons for cor-
ruption that hindered
people’s progress i.e. lack
of amenities and unnec-
essary pressure from the
government.

SC orders status quo on environmental release of

GM mustard: The Supreme Court on Thursday
ordered status quo on the decision of the Genetic
Bypolls: Voting held in 7 constituencies across 6 states
Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) allowing STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE stituencies where the polling cials said 16.89 per cent
the environmental release of genetically modified NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER was held are Andheri East polling was recorded till 1 p.m.
(GM) mustard for seed production and testing. The from Maharashtra, Adampur in Andheri East Assembly seat
apex court has scheduled the next hearing in the Voting for by-elections for from Haryana, Munugode in Maharashtra, 44.05 per cent
matter on November 10. The bench queried the seven assembly constituen- from Telangana, Gola polling was recorded till 3 p.m.
Centre's counsel on the current status in connec- cies across the states of Gokranath from Uttar in Gola Gokranath from Uttar
tion with the environmental release of GM mus- Maharashtra, Haryana, Bihar, Pradesh and Dhamnagar Pradesh, the voters' turnout
tard. Telangana, Odisha and Uttar from Odisha. was 52.13 per cent till 3 p.m.
Pradesh were held on Thurs- The two Assembly con- in Dhamnagar from Odisha
day amid tight security and stituencies of Bihar where the while 69.21 per cent polling
Actor Rajnikanth greets Bengal governor La Ganesan's elder brother on his 80th
SC rejects review plea of death row convict in Red the counting of votes will be polling was held are Moka- was recorded till 5 p.m. in
birthday in the presence of Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, in Chennai. � ANI
Fort attack case: The Supreme Court on Thursday conducted on November 6. ma and Gopalganj. Adampur from Haryana.
affirmed the death penalty for Lashkar-e-Taiba The voting was held from According to poll offi- The contest in Telan-
(LeT) terrorist Mohammad Arif alias Ashfaq for car-
rying out the December 2000 Red Fort attack.
7 am to 6 pm.
The Bharatiya Janata Party Party (SP), and the Biju Jana-
cials, in the Bihar bypoll,
the overall voters' turnout was
gana's Munugode Assem-
bly constituency is crucial for UNSC: India India rejects China-Pak
is in a fierce contest with ta Dal (BJD) in the Assembly recorded at 52.38 per cent. all major parties in the State- abstains on
statement on J&K, CPEC
Rejecting Arif's review petition, a bench headed by
regional parties such as the bypolls in seven con- Sixty per cent polling was the ruling Telangana Rash-
Chief Justice U.U. Lalit said, "affirm the view taken
by this court...reject the review petition". In the Telangana Rashtra Samithi stituencies spread across six recorded by 3 p.m. in the by- tra Samithi (TRS) and Oppo- Russian motion
Red Fort attack three people, including two Army (TRS), the Rashtriya Janata states. election to Munugode Assem- sition parties BJP and Con- UNITED NATIONS, STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
jawans, were killed. Dal (RJD), the Samajwadi The seven assembly con- bly seat in Telangana. Poll offi- gress. 3 NOVEMBER NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER

India has abstained on yet India today rejected the

SC accepts
proposal to
conduct IOA
polls on 10 Dec
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
The Supreme Court onThurs-
day accepted former apex
court judge Justice L.
Nageswara Rao’s proposal to
conduct elections to the
executive committee of Indi-
an Olympic Association (IOA)
on 10 December.
A bench comprising jus-
tices D.Y. Chandrachud and
Hima Kohli said: “Justice L.
Nageswara Rao, former judge
of this court, has submitted
a note dated 2 November. The
note indicates the compre-
hensive exercise which has
been carried out by the for-
mer judge of this court on an
expedited basis.
The Bench said there is
a broad consensus in terms
of the note submitted by
Justice Rao that the elec-
tions should be held on 10
December, 2022.Solicitor
General Tushar Mehta rep-
resented the Centre before
the apex court. AGENCIES
FACT FILE
TOTAL CASES
4,46,57,149
ACTIVE CASES
16,098
NEW CASES
1,321
NEW RECOVERIES
1,457
TOTAL DEATHS
5,30,461
UNION HEALTH MINISTRY FIGURES AS OF
8.00 A.M. THURSDAY 03 NOVEMBER 2022
Imran Khan wounded in leg in ‘assassination bid’
DAWN/ANN
ISLAMABAD, 3 NOVEMBER
Seven people, including
former Pakistan prime min-
ister Imran Khan and other
party leaders, were injured
and a party worker was
killed in a gun attack on the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf
(PTI) chief’s container as
his convoy reached
Wazirabad’s Allah Wala
Chowk on Thursday.
The Punjab police said
the deceased has been
identified as Muazzam
Nawaz.“It was a clear assas-
sination attempt. Khan
was hit but he’s stable.
‘BJP seeking to topple govts in T’gana, AP, Delhi, Raj’ Indian Army registers IPR
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD, 3 NOVEMBER
Terming the alleged attempt
to poach four Telangana Rash-
tra Samithi as “organised
crime” Telangana chief min-
ister K Chandrasekhar Rao
today alleged that the BJP
was planning to bring down
four elected state govern-
ments in Telangana, Andhra
Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan,
and appealed to the Chief
Justice of India and other
Supreme Court judges to take
required steps in the MLA
poaching case in order to
save democracy.
“This is kind of open pur-
chase of MLAs and dethron-
ing of governments. They are
openly saying in this video they
have dethroned eight gov-
ernments and how we (they)
conducted the operations.
The accused who was cau-
ght after firing at former
Pakistan PM Imran Khan, in
Video grab shows Imran
Wazirabad on Thursday.
Khan being assisted after
the shooting incident.
There was a lot of bleeding,”
Fawad Chaudhry told PTI leadership would have
Reuters. “If the shooter been wiped out.”The Pun-
had not been stopped by jab police confirmed that
people there, the entire a party worker, who was in
Now we are in the process of
dethroning four governments
that is Telangana, Delhi,
Andhra (Pradesh) and
Rajasthan,” said the chief
minister.
Mr Rao referred to the
Allahabad High Court’s land-
mark judgment against the
then Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi and made it clear he
expects the apex court to step
in. He said he has sent the video
footages to judges, political par-
another resolution involv-
ing Ukraine, this time a
motion sponsored by Rus-
China-Pakistan joint
statement issued at the
end of Pakistan Prime Affairs spokesperson
the city to welcome the Imran Ismail, the party sia at the UN Security Minister Shehbaz Arindam Bagchi said .
caravan ~ which was there
for the party’s second iter-
chief reportedly “received
three to four bullets in his
Council (UNSC).
Only China voted with
Sharif's visit to Beijing
and the “unwarranted
On the two nations
inviting third countries
ation of its “Azadi” mar-
ch~was killed in the attack.
leg” while Javed was grazed
by a bullet, according to
Russia on Wednesday on
the resolution calling for
references” made in it
about Jammu and Kash-
to invest in CPEC, the
spokesperson said India
Meanwhile, a suspect was Hammad Azhar. an inquiry into what mir and the China-Pak- has consistently con-
also taken into custody Following the incident, Moscow alleged was a joint istan Economic Corri- veyed its protests and
from the site.The injured Imran Khan was immedi- bio-warfare programme dor (CPEC). concerns to China and
include PTI leaders Ahmed ately shifted to a vehicle and run by the US and Ukraine “We have consis- Pakistan over the CPEC,
Chattha and Chaudhry evacuated to a hospital ~ in violation of the Biolog- tently rejected such which included pro-
Yousuf, and party workers in Lahore, according to ical Weapons Convention. statements in the past. jects in the sovereign ter-
Omer Meyer and Rashid. Reuters ~ while other All the 10 non-perma- The union territory of ritory of India that were
Senator Javed, who was injured people were taken nent members abstained Jammu and Kashmir under forcible and ille-
also wounded and had by ambulances to the near- and the only negative votes and the Union territo- gal external occupa-
blood stains on his clothes, by Wazirabad Institute of from the US, Britain and ry of Ladakh are and will tion. “Any third party
told Geo News from the hos- Cardiology.According to France did not amount to always be integral and involvement in the so-
pital: “Several of our col- rescue officials and PTI, ten vetoes because the reso- inalienable parts of called CPEC is illegal, ille-
leagues are wounded. We people were injured due to lution automatically failed India. No other coun- gitimate and unac-
heard that one of them is the firing, including the without getting the mini- try has a locus standi,” ceptable,” the
dead.”According to PTI’s PTI officials. mum of nine votes.AGENCIES Ministry of External spokesperson added.
of new combat uniform
ties, media houses and vigi- racy. You have become Prime
lance commission.The evi- Minister twice. What more
dence was first submitted to do you want? Nobody rules for
Telangana High Court by 1000 years. Fraudsters are
police and then it was sent taking your name and that of STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE The new Digital Patt- Indian Army can enforce
across the country, said the Amit Shah.”He said the NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER exclusive rights to the design
chief minister. accused had taken names of
ern Combat Uniform and can file infringement
The original footage ran to BJP leaders like BL Santosh, The process for registration of for Indian Army sol- suits by way of a civil action
three hours. A video clip of Amit Shah and JP Nadda. the new Camouflage Pattern diers was unveiled on before a competent court of
Prime Minister Narendra Modi The accused had multiple and Design of Improved Com- 15 January 2022 law. Remedies against infringe-
before the West Bengal polls ID cards, Aadhaar cards and bat Uniform to establish own- ments include interim and per-
where he claims 40 TMC MLAs PAN cards. One of the arrest- ership of Indian Army has easier to maintain. The uni- manent injunctions as well as
were in touch, was played ed spoke to Tushar (Vella- been completed by the Con- form’s uniqueness is evident damages.
first and then a clip of the three pally)who contested against troller General of Patents, with the inclusion of gender As part of the process of
accused in the MLA poaching Rahul Gandhi in Kerala. The Designs and Trademark, specific modifications for introduction of the new pat-
case who described their chief minister had also alert- Kolkata, the Ministry of women’s combat uniform. tern uniform, a total of 50,000
modus operandi in toppling ed his Delhi counterpart Defence said today. "The exclusive ‘Intellec- sets have already been pro-
governments. Arvind Kejriwal that 24 MLAs The new Digital Pattern tual Property Rights (IPR)’ of cured through Canteen Stores
Mr Rao appealed to the have been bought. He alleged Combat Uniform for Indian the Design and Camouflage Department (CSD) and deliv-
Prime Minister to stop the top- that the central government Army soldiers was unveiled on Pattern now rests solely with ered to 15 CSD Depots (Delhi,
pling of governments saying: was under “extra-constitu- 15 January 2022 (Army Day). the Indian Army, and there- Leh, BD Bari, Srinagar, Udham-
“Modiji request I am your tional forces.” He said he wait- The improved uniform has a fore manufacturing by any pur, Andaman & Nicobar,
political colleague... Over ed for the Munugode bypoll contemporary look and func- vendor who is not authorised Jabalpur, Masimpur, Naran-
eight years I have worked
along with you. But stop this
to end otherwise the BJP
would say this was done to
tional design. The fabric has
been made lighter, stronger,
to do so will be illegal and is
liable to face legal repercus-
gi, Dimapur, Bagdogra, Luc-
know, Ambala, Mumbai and
dethroning, follow democ- influence the election. breathable, quick drying and sions," the Ministry said. The Khadki).

CMYK
 CMYK

02
After people have voted us to power, we will go to every
remote place to know of people's problems
ANIT THAPA, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, GORKHALAND TERRITORIAL ADMINISTRATION
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022 ON HIS VISIT TO THE HIGHEST POINT IN BENGAL AND A TOURIST SPOT, SANDAKPHU

Tension after Amid dengue, SMC worker dies of fever

Nisith men clash STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SILIGURI, 3 NOVEMBER

Amid the raging dengue out-

break in Siliguri, a conser-

with TMC group vancy worker of Ward 28, suf-

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SILIGURI, 3 NOVEMBER
A group of Trinamool Congress
activists went on the back
foot after BJP supporters
fought them back when the for-
mer tried to heckle Union
Minister of State for Home
Affairs Nisith Pramanik at
Singimari Amtala in Sitai in
Cooch Behar district today.
According to the police,
as the Cooch Behar MP was
on his way to a BJP support-
er's house, a group of people
waved black flags at him from
the roadside around 1.30 pm
today.
"Union Minister Pramanik's
convoy was so long, com-
prising at least 40 vehicles, in
which many BJP supporters
were ready to fight back,
apprehending attacks on the
MP," a party source said.
According to a report pre-
pared by a senior police offi-
cer, which was sent to the
Cooch Behar SP, some sup-
porters of the MP, who were
on motorcycles, snatched the
black flags and assaulted them
with fists and blows.
"Two persons, Joydeep
Mandal and Pratam Barman,
sustained minor injuries in the
incident," a police officer said.
Following the incident, an
angry mob damaged motor-
cycles, allegedly belonging to
people who waved the black
flags.
"The police immediately
dispersed the crowd. The MP
left that place. The situation
is normal now," said additional
SP KS Raj.
According to the police, as Cooch Behar MP
and union minister of state Nisith Pramanik
was on his way to a BJP supporter's house,
a group of people waved black flags at him
from the roadside around 1.30 pm today,
while some supporters of the MP, who were
on motorcycles, snatched the flags and
assaulted them with fists and blows
bly segment, MR Pramanik was
on his way to visit the house
of one their party activists,
who was seriously injured
and admitted to a district
hospital following an alleged
attack perpetrated by the Tri-
namool Congress a few days
ago in Sitai.
"Three BJP workers were
injured in that incident when
my party organised the Bijaya
Sammilani in each block," he
said.
Asked to comment, Mr
Roy further said: "The reason
behind the attack on leaders
is to terrorize the common peo-
ple as well as to see that gen-
eral BJP supporters do not
move out of their homes to sup-
port us."
It may be noted here that
the present TMC leadership,
including North Bengal Devel-
opment minister Udayan
Guho, has been criticising Mr
Pramanik on several issues in
their party's programmes, at
a time when the BJP leader-
ship has showcased the Cooch
According to Cooch Behar Behar MP as a Rajbanshi
district BJP president Sukumar leader, to garner the vote bank
Roy, who is an MLA from in North Bengal, according to
Cooch Behar (Uttar) Assem- a political observer.
fering from fever, died at the
North Bengal Medical Col-
lege and Hospital (NBMCH)
here today.
Thirty-six-year-old Dilip
Rout had been admitted to the
NBMCH on Monday, family
sources said.
A resident of Ambedkar
Colony, Routh had been work-
ing under borough IV. He is sur-
vived by his wife, three chil-
dren and mother.
According to family mem-
bers, he had developed fever
on 31 October.
Sources at the NBMCH
said his cause of death was
hepatic encephalopathy-a
nervous system disorder
brought on by severe liver
disease. The family members
said around 15 units of blood
had been required during his
treatment.
A resident of the ward Om
Prakash said residents there
did not have the habit of using
mosquito nets.
Many houses had fresh
stagnant water on their premis-
es today, while a look at the
high drains in front of the The drain filled with garbage at Ambedkar Colony in Ward-28, where the conservancy worker died of fever. ��PULAK KARMAKAR
lane of the colony reflected that
they were not cleaned regu- Sources said 48 new cases
larly. were recorded in the SMC
Ward councillor Samprita area today. Dengue cases in
Das, who rushed to the area, the region for the month of
however, said no dengue case October have crossed figures
had been reported from the recorded in recent years,
area so far. according to official data.
"We are taking adequate Sources have said that the
steps to keep the disease at Siliguri Municipal Corporation
bay," Ms Das said. (SMC) has recorded a higher
Sources said at least 21 number of cases as compared
persons suffering from dengue to the same period in the last
and fever have died in the Silig- seven years. In the year 2019,
uri Municipal Corporation the region had witnessed
area so far with 3939 dengue the highest number of cases
cases reported till today since in the past few years, with
January this year. around 1500.

CBI court sends former bank cashier to jail NFR records growth Pupils take part in
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SILIGURI, 3 NOVEMBER
The Special CBI Court in Silig-
uri has sentenced a former
bank employee, Subhas Chan-
dra Roy, four years' rigorous
imprisonment for misappro-
priation of more than Rs
73,000 from several savings
bank accounts of customers
as well as from the bank's
funds where he would work.
Sources said Mr Roy used
to work at the Sukna branch
of the Uttarbanga Kshetriya
Gramin Bank near Siliguri as
a senior clerk-cum-cashier.
A complaint had been
lodged on 26 September, 1995
and charge sheet filed on 21
December, 1996.
He had falsified and forged
signatures of customers of
the bank and also illegally
altered figures in the cash
token book of the bank.
in freight handling BSF vigilance week
The sources said that Mr
Roy had allegedly cloned the
thumb and finger prints and
signatures of customers and
withdrawn Rs 73,710 belong-
ing to around 10-12 customers
during the period 1994-1995.
He had allegedly withdrawn
money from the account of
even a dead person who hailed
from Gulma tea plantation
nearby.
The withdrawal of the
amounts was neither record-
ed in the passbooks of cus-
tomers of the accounts of the
bank. A charge sheet in the case
was filed in 1996. Mr Roy had
been terminated by the bank
in 1996.
Meanwhile, apart from Mr
Roy, there were two accused
in the case, including an offi-
cial of the bank and another
person Patrash Tirkey. The
official has died and the court
acquitted Mr Tirkey today.
The Judge of the Special
(CBI) Court in Siliguri, Man-
abendra Mohan Sarkar, con-
victed Mr Roy today and sen-
tenced him to four years in
prison.
The lawyer representing Mr
Roy, Asim Chakraborty, how-
ever, said they were not sat-
isfied with the judgment and
will move the high court.
Advocate Arun Lama assist-
ed him.
"Mr Roy has been falsely
implicated in the case. He
was innocent and a victim of
a conspiracy. We are not sat-
isfied with the judgment and
will appeal in the high court,"
Mr Chakraborty said.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SILIGURI, 3 NOVEMBER
The NF Railway has been
continuously registering a
steady growth in freight
unloading, the NFR said today.
During April to October of the
current financial year, 8317
freight carrying rakes were
unloaded, an increase of 10.13
percent in comparison to the
corresponding period of last
year. A total of 1218 freight car-
rying rakes were unloaded
grains, fertilizer, cement, coal,
vegetables, auto, tank, con-
tainer and other items during
the month and unloaded them
in different goods sheds with-
in its jurisdiction," the NFR said
in a statement.
During October, 673 rakes
of freight carrying trains were
unloaded in Assam out of
which 329 were loaded with
essential commodities. A total
of 111 rakes in Tripura, 25 STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
rakes in Nagaland, eight rakes SIIGURI, 3 NOVEMBER
in Manipur, six in Arunachal
Pradesh and eight rakes in The Vigilance Awareness Week
Mizoram were unloaded dur- is being organised in the Bor-
ing the month. Moreover, 224 der Security Force (BSF) North
freight rakes inWest Bengal and Bengal Frontier and all its
163 freight rakes in Bihar were establishments, including the
also unloaded during the BSF School at Kadamtala near
month within the jurisdic- Siliguri since 31 October. The
tion of NF Railway. programme will end on 6 competition on the theme of
"Improved terminal han- November. "Corruption free India for a
dling facility and improve- "The entire programme is Developed Nation" was organ-
ment in mobility due to being conducted under the ised at the BSF Senior Sec-

BJP, Congress allege foul play

during the month of October, enhanced maintenance efforts dynamic leadership of Shri Ajai ondary Residential School,
as compared to 1176 rakes dur- and continuous monitoring at Singh, the Inspector General Kadamtala, yesterday, the BSF
ing October 2021, thus regis- all levels resulted in reduction of the BSF, North Bengal Fron- said.
tering a steady monthly in turnaround time and tier, in connection with aware- "This competition was

in Malda ZP seat rework

increase. increased unloading," said ness against corruption," a BSF attended by the students of the
"NF Railway has trans- Sabyasachi De, the Chief Pub- officer said. school in the presence of BSF
ported goods like FCI rice, lic Relations Officer of the NF A debate, essay writing officials and teachers of the
sugar, salt, edible oil, food Railway. and cartoon/poster making school," the officer said.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE "No rules were followed in

MALDA, 3 NOVEMBER
The BJP and the Congress
party have alleged anomalies
in the re-arrangement of the
Malda Zilla Parishad election
seats.
According to the BJP, the Tri-
namool Congress president of
the district has pressured the
administration to prepare the
roster to serve the party's per-
sonal interests.
"We will not accept that seat
distribution, which is illegal.
If necessary, the Congress will
take the Election Commission
to court," a BJP leader said.
On the other hand, a Tri-
namool Congress leader said
that the opposition parties have
"no ground under their feet"
and that is why they have
been making such comments
"out of desperation."
In the 2018 panchayat elec-
tions, the number of seats in
the Malda Zilla Parishad was
38. This time, the seats have
been rearranged and increased
to 43 in the draft list.
The BJP and the Congress
have alleged that the law was
not followed during the re-
arrangement of the seats.
According to the North
Malda organizational district
president of the BJP, Ujjal
Dutt, the Malda TMC president
had prepared the roster by
mounting pressure on the
administration to serve his own
interests.
the Zilla Parishad seats 10 WHO’S THE CULPRIT?
and 11. Also, it is normal for
Gram Panchayats to fall with-
in a Zilla Parishad constituency,
but in that case this rule was
ignored.
We have written to the
Election Commission in this
regard," he said. Incidental-
ly, in the 2018 panchayat elec-
tions, voting was held in 37 of
the 38 seats in the Zilla Parishad.
Out of those 37 seats, TMC
bagged 29, BJP won six and
Congress won two seats. The
TMC formed the Zilla Parishad As the number of seats in the Malda Zilla
board with a single majority. Parishad has been increased to 43 from the
Former Congress MLA of
Harishchandrapur, Mostak earlier 38, the BJP said the TMC president of
Alam, said, "If the Election the district had pressured the administra-
Commission favours any polit- tion to prepare the new roster to serve the
ical party, I will take the Elec-
tion Commission to court.
party's personal interests. On the other
We have no objection to which hand, the TMC said the opposition parties
party people vote for. had been acting out of desperation
But we will not accept the
way the Trinamool will dis-
tribute seats illegally."
The TMC hit back at the
allegations and district party
president Abdur Rahim Boxi
said that even if the admin-
istration and political leaders
want to make the roster, they
cannot do anything because
the roster is made according
to the rules.
"The opposition has no
ground under its feet and is,
therefore, making such Members of Himalayan Nature and Adventure Foundation (HNAF), a group of environment activists, protest the cutting of
comments out of despera- branches of trees on Hill Cart Road in Siliguri on Thursday. According to HNAF members, unidentified persons had trimmed the
tion," he said. trees in the dark of the night. ��PULAK KARMAKAR

CMYK

THUMBNAILS
BJYM members protest
against high dengue
cases on Thursday. �
BISWAJIT GHOSHAL
Grievance camp at Metro
Rail Bhavan: A grievance
camp was organized at
Metro Rail Bhavan today
by the city Metro railway
authorities to create
awareness amongst
commuters as well as
staff against corrupt
practices. The initiative
comes as a part of the
‘Vigilance Awareness
Week’ being observed by
Kolkata Metro Railway
from 31 October to 6
November. SNS
NRC is BJP’s
election weapon:
Cong’s Adhir
BERHAMPORE, 3 NOVEMBER
The BJP (Bharatiya Janata
Party) uses NRC (nation-
al register of citizens) as a
political tool to win elec-
tions, alleged the state
Congress president, Adhir
Chowdhury, here today.
Normally, the NRC and
CAA (Citizenship Amend-
ment Act) remain shelved
but the BJP-led Union gov-
ernment rolls out citizen-
ship agenda only when an
election is round the cor-
ner, said Chowdhury, also
the MP from Berhampore
and leader of the Congress
party in Parliament.
Addressing a party rally
here this afternoon at Tex-
tile College crossing, the
Congress leader alleged
that the CAA was passed in
violation of the Constitu-
tion of India. “Modi (PM
Narendra Modi) has no
power to take away your cit-
izenship. We all are citizens
of India,” he said, assuring
the Congress supporters of
their citizenship rights.
Taking a dig at the Tri-
namul Congress party,
Chowdhury remarked that
on the issue of NRC and
CAA both TMC and BJP
were on the same boat. The
TMC MPs in Parliament did
not vote against citizenship
amendment bills, thus
helping the BJP to pass
the CAA, he alleged.
Significantly, most of
the political parties includ-
ing the Congress, TMC and
BJP were found to have
played the NRC card dur-
ing previous elections in
Murshidabad. SNS
Green cracker makers
to get helping hand
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 3 NOVEMBER
The state environment depart-
ment is mulling over plans to
encourage the production of
green crackers in the state,
informed the state environ-
ment minister, Manas Ran-
jan Bhunia, today.
The decision comes con-
sidering the fact that there are
fewer manufacturing units of
green crackers in the state. The
department is now asserting
on the production of green
crackers in the state to reduce
dependence on the other
states.
“We are aware that there
are shortcomings in terms of
firecrackers and there are
fewer green cracker manu-
facturing units here,” said
the state minister addressing
the media.
“We are focusing on this
area now and will work on this
for one year. Those who are
interested can apply for pro-
duction of green crackers
and after thorough verifica-
tion, we will give the per-
mission. Why should we be
dependent on green crackers
from outside? Let it be pro-
duced in Bengal,” added the
minister.
Interestingly, in an analy-
sis at the integrated com-
mand and control centre,
the noise level during day-time
was observed to be higher than
that of night time.
The observation was based
on the data from 150 sta-
tions being monitored every
15 minutes.
Modi (PM Narendra Modi) has no power to take
away your citizenship. We all are citizens of India.
Mamata, Stalin at
Bengal guv's event
Apart from Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, megastar Rajinikanth was also present
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
WEST BENGAL, 3 NOVEMBER
W
est Bengal chief
minister Mama-
ta Banerjee, Tamil
Nadu chief min-
ister MK Stalin and megastar
Rajinikanth were among the
celebrities who attended the
birthday celebrations of the
elder brother of West Bengal
Governor L Ganeshan.
The birthday function was
held at Ram Theater audito-
rium near Kodambakkam.
BJP former national secre-
tary and senior leader from
Tamil Nadu, H Raja also par-
ticipated in the function.
After the West Bengal gov-
ernor, Jagdip Dhankar became
the Vice-President of the coun-
try, the incumbent Manipur
governor, L Ganeshan was
given additional charge of
West Bengal.
Ever since Ganeshan
assumed office, there has
been a marked bonhomie
with the chief minister Mama-
Cops stage arrest to rob
man in Ekbalpore
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 3 NOVEMBER
Men in uniform on a looting
spree! Weird it may sound but
that was what unfolded today
following the arrest of six
persons, today.
The persons nabbed
included two cops for alleged-
ly trying to loot money from
a person after kidnapping
him when he was on the way
to the bank to deposit cash.
According to police, the
incident under Ekbalpore
police station happened at
Diamond Harbour Road on
Wednesday morning, when
a person carrying a bag
allegedly containing cash of
Rs 33 lakh was heading
towards a nationalized bank
to deposit the same. Some per-
sons claiming themselves as
cops from the Ekbalpore PS
intercepted him midway and
wanted to know on what was
in the bag?
They even asked the per-
son concerned to open the bag
and when they saw wads of
cash, they had taken him to
a guest house on Diamond
Harbour Road and started
questioning him.
The two cops in action
there, according to the com-
plaints, were in the rank of con-
stables and had reportedly
joined by four others. Among
them were two civic cops, who
According to the WBPCB,
the finding, even true for
Kolkata, hinted at ambient
noise due to honking or con-
struction being more preva-
lent than firecracker noise on
Diwali night this year.
As the air quality in the city
degrades with the onset of win-
ter due to various factors,
the state PCB is to expand the
water sprinklers to the six non-
attainment cities, including
Kolkata, Howrah, Haldia, Bar-
rackpore, Durgapur, Asan-
sol. The water sprinkling vehi-
cles are to be rolled out from
15 November onwards to
curb the pollution.
Apart from this, the depart-
ment along with the state
pollution control board is
also planning to gear up and
work on the action plan for
next year’s Puja.
For this, the department
officials along with the state
PCB are to organize intensive
awareness programs from
the month of December in the
districts involving the dis-
trict magistrates, block devel-
opment officers, SPs and
NGOs.
STATE CONGRESS PRESIDENT ADHIR CHOWDHURY,
ta Banerjee, which was noted
with interest by the social
and political circles of West
Bengal. It may be recalled
that Mamata and Jagdip
Dhankhar were fighting with
each other most of the time.
The BJP, which got a drub-
bing in the 2021 Assembly elec-
tions in Bengal, is at logger-
heads with the Mamata Baner-
jee government. Mamata
Banerjee-led government has
also claimed themselves to be
from the same thana, assault-
ed him for not coming up with
a satisfactory explanation.
According to the com-
plaint, the two cops had then
arrested him allegedly after
committing defalcation of
cash worth Rs 15 lakh from
the bag.
According to police, the
owner of the cash arrived
and owned the money and
that the person ‘arrested’ was
his employee.
The Ekbalpore Police,
reportedly after a nudge from
the top, claimed a source,
launched an investigation
into the incident and arrest-
ed the two cops along with four
persons in connection with
kidnapping and robbery,
under IPC Sections194 for
fabrication of evidence and
extracting false statements and
Sec 164, under Prevention
of Corruption Act.
A departmental inquiry
was also initiated against
them, an officer at Lalbazar
requesting anonymity
claimed.
AFFORDABLE MEAL
Minister Aroop Biswas inaugurated a Maa canteen at MR Bangur hospital in Kolkata, on Thursday. � SNS
TMC’s outreach mission runs into rough weather
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
HOOGHLY, 03 NOVEMBER
With the panchayat election
in view, the Trinamul Congress
(TMC) has initiated Cholo
Gramme Jai programme to
reach out people at their
doorsteps with more assurance
and promises for new bene-
ficiary schemes.
However the TMC leaders
on the move, were perturbed
by the repeated questions
put up by the rural popula-
tion on the now-halted MGN-
REGA scheme and their held
CMYK
ADDRESSING A RALLY
been bogged down by cor-
ruption cases and continuous
raids by the Enforcement
Directorate and the CBI.
However on Wednesday,
immediately after arriving in
Chennai, Mamata Banerjee
called on the chief minister of
Tamil Nadu, MK Stalin. The
Tamil Nadu government is
fighting a battle with gover-
nor RN Ravi, and the DMK has
written to all the opposition
Wonder if masterminds will
ever be nabbed: High Court
judge on WBSSC scam
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 3 NOVEMBER
Justice Abhijit Gangopad-
hyay of the Calcutta High
Court, who has been in the
headlines because of his
judgements in the multi-
crore West Bengal School
Service Commission (WBSSC)
scam, said on Thursday that
at times he wonders whether
the real masterminds behind
the teacher recruitment scam
will be nabbed during his life-
time.
"Everyone knows who are
the real culprits behind the
scam. At times, I wonder
whether the real master-
minds behind the scam will
be nabbed during my lifetime.
However, I feel the Central
Bureau of Investigation (CBI)
and the Enforcement Direc-
torate (ED) will surely be
able to track the real cul-
prits," Justice Gangopadhyay
said during his interaction in
the court with a citizen of
Kolkata.
The citizen, Sunil Bhat-
tacharya, introduced himself
as a resident of Naktala, adja-
cent to the residence of for-
mer state education minis-
ter Partha Chatterjee, who is
currently in judicial custody
as the prime accused in the
teacher recruitment scam.
“Although, currently I stay
up dues.
With the panchayat elec-
tion round the corner, the TMC
is not ready to leave any
ground for the opposition
parties, hence, at the directive
of the party chief Mamata
Banerjee the district TMC
has initiated Cholo Gramme
Jai to reach out to people at
block and booth levels.
The Arambagh MP Aparu-
pa Poddar, under the banner
of Arambagh Block Mahila
TMC, initiated Cholo Gramme
Jai programme at Mayapur and
Arandi Anchal, Haripal MLA
CMYK
parties to sign a memorandum
to be submitted to the Pres-
ident Droupadi Murmu for
recalling the present governor.
Political analyst Bhaskar
Sinha Roy sees this visit as a
personal one. “She has per-
sonal rapport with Mr Stalin
and his family. She accepted
the invite of the new gover-
nor on a personal note and
extended the courtesy. There
is no political motive behind
this. Unlike the previous gov-
ernor, L Ganeshan has not tried
to do anything which is extra-
constitutional. The relation
between the chief minister and
governor is ‘normal’,” said
Sinha Roy.
Analyst Udayan Ban-
dopadhyay, who has been
following the developments,
said, “This is what is needed
for the smooth functioning of
the democratic practices. The
new governor has started on
a cordial note and the CM has
also reciprocated. The earli-
er bitterness was also because
of the previous governor.”
in Bhubaneswar, I am origi-
nally a resident of Naktala. The
entire locality was aware of
Partha Chatterjee's extrava-
gant lifestyle, his pets and a
separate flat dedicated to
them. Only the police seemed
to not know anything. Sir, you
are doing a great job. You are
the pride of Bengal. Even my
92-year-old mother often
speaks about you often,"
Bhattacharya told Gan-
gopadhyay.
In reply, Gangopadhyay
made his observations on
the masterminds behind the
scam, which has created rip-
ples in the legal and political
circles of the state. During the
course of conversation, Gan-
gopadhyay also said that the
matters of pride for West
Bengal have been tarnished
to a great extent. “Few years
back when I was travelling
from Puri to Kolkata, one of
my fellow passengers told
me that in West Bengal one
has to pay for college admis-
sion, which is not the case in
Bhubaneswar. We must
restore the pride of Bengal.
Let us all try for that,” he said.
Dr karabi Manna at Natun-
bazar anchal and other local
leaders at Goghat.
The leaders reassured their
commitment to serve them in
a better way, to take initiative
to make available the bene-
ficiary schemes to those still
deprived.
However, the rural popu-
lation which benefited max-
imum from MGNREGA
scheme, are deprived of 100
days work and the payment
in return for nearly a year.
The affected people
demanded that the central
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022
Protests outside Khadya Bhavan
for food sub inspector jobs
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 3 NOVEMBER
Parallel to the protests by
School Service Commission
(SSC) and Teacher Eligibility
Test ( TET ) candidates
demanding jobs in teaching
positions, a new bout of
protests today broke out in
Kolkata, outside Khadya Bha-
van, where candidates
demanded recruitment in
the position of food sub-
inspectors (SI) in the state food
and supplies department.
Kolkata, of late, has become
the centre stage of protests
against the state government
over several issues, mainly con-
cerning the education sector
where rampant corruption
has doomed the future of
several candidates who are sit-
ting on the roads, awaiting
recruitment. Adding to this,
a fresh bout of protests broke
Private hospitals asked to display
duty hours of govt docs on roster
SUBHENDU MAITI
KOLKATA, 3 NOVEMBER
In a bid to streamline a sec-
tion of errant government
doctors, who attend to patients
in private hospitals ignoring
official duty schedules in
public healthcare units, the
health department has issued
several advisories on Wednes-
day.
Swasthya Bhaban, state
health department head-
quarters at Salt Lake, has
directed the private hospitals
to take clearance of con-
cerned doctors before engag-
ing the latter as medical con-
sultants in the respective
healthcare units.
According to the advisory,
managements of respective
private hospitals have also
been asked to put up public
notices giving details about
exact time and days when the
government hospitals’ doctors
would be available for patients
at OPDs of these healthcare
units.
The health department
threatens to take legal action
if the management fails to fol-
low the advisory.
Sources at Swasthya Bha-
scheme be promptly initiat-
ed and their pending dues
cleared.
Arambagh MP Aparupa
Poddar assured the affected
people by saying that the
TMC had put up a strong
fight against the Modi-lead BJP
government to re-initiate the
MGNREGA scheme and
release held-up funds.
The Haripal MLA Dr kara-
bi Manna said all the benefi-
ciary schemes initiated by
the state government are run-
ning smoothly and blamed
Centre the stoppage of funds.
outside Khadya Bhavan, today,
at Mirza Ghalib Street, where
the protestors alleged that
about 857 candidates await
recruitment in the position of
food SI in the food and sup-
plies department of the state
government.
On enquiring, it was learnt
from the protestors that the
food and supplies depart-
ment had issued a notifica-
tion in 2017 regarding the
examination for recruitment
in the position of food SI.
The written examination took
place in 2018. The merit list
was published in 2020, Decem-
ber. The recruitment, although,
was supposed to begin in
February 2021, it got delayed
due to some candidates, who
did not clear the examination,
moving the court. Legal dis-
putes delayed the recruit-
ment but it however soon
began. About 957 candidates
ban said that the government
has been giving non-prac-
ticing allowance (NPA) to
doctors of public healthcare
facilities who do not opt for
private practices. On the other
hand, a large number of gov-
ernment doctors, mainly
medical teachers in different
super specialist departments
attend to patients in private
hospitals, clinics or diagnos-
tic centres who do not take
NPA.
These doctors are never
allowed to go for private prac-
tices or perform surgeries on
patients in private hospitals
during their official duty hours
between 9 am to 4 pm daily,
as per the health department
rules.
Education dept launches new
portal for SVMCM scholarship
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 3 NOVEMBER
The Higher education depart-
ment today launched the
Swami Vivekananda Merit-
cum-Means Scholarship
(SVMCM) application portal
(2022-23) virtually from Bikash
Bhavan, Salt Lake, on Thurs-
day.
The portal was launched
by the minister of school and
higher education depart-
ment, Bratya Basu in the
presence of vice-chancellors
of several universities and
department officials.
Students from Class XI to
research scholars can avail of
this facility, said the depart-
ment officials. One of the
criteria for availing the schol-
arship is that the family annu-
al income of the student has
to be less than Rs 2.5 lakh and
the students in HS should have
60 per cent marks to avail
scholarship for UG courses.
In 2021-22, expenditure on
the scholarship has been Rs
1281.63cr with 8,53,204 stu-
dents availing of the facility.
For girls there has been a
separate component in
SVMCM Scholarship,
Kanyashree 3, where they
will need to have min 45 per
cent marks. Last year, 2021-
22, scholarship was given to
33,493 students, said an offi-
cial.
The official said that the
portal is where the student can
apply, and will get their ver-
ification, sanction and dis-
bursement to their bank
account with just a click.
03
were supposed to be recruit-
ed but only 100 got recruit-
ed, according to a protestor
at the spot.
“There are about 857 can-
didates who are now await-
ing recruitment. We are
protesting peacefully but will
not withdraw the protest till
our recruitment begins. We
have been waiting for a long
time,” said one of the pro-
testors.
An official in the food and
supplies department, request-
ing anonymity, said that the
department does not make any
direct recruitment. All recruit-
ment is done through the
state Public Service Com-
mission (PSC).
The state administrative tri-
bunal had asked the PSC to
start recruitment by form-
ing a revised panel but that
decision was challenged in
court by the PSC.
Till the time the commis-
sion sends the names for
recruitment, the hands of the
department are tied, the offi-
cial said.
It may be recalled that the
Calcutta High Court, in August
this year, had pulled up the
West Bengal government over
what it called a “lackadaisi-
cal” approach in a case relat-
ed to irregularities in the
recruitment of food inspec-
tors in the food and supplies
department.
But a section of government
doctors do rampant private
practices ignoring their offi-
cial duty hours regularly. This
practice is commonplace in
almost every government
medical college and hospital
across the state.
A medical officer attached
to a medical college hospital,
said, “Minimum weekly duty
hours of a government doc-
tor are 40 to 48. It’s true that
a section of doctors do not
meet up the duty schedules
and are eager to go for private
practice. There are also many
doctors doing private practices
even after enjoying a non-prac-
ticing allowance.”
A medical teacher of a
premier government med-
ical college in the city request-
ing anonymity said that they
are deprived of getting legit-
imate DA for years incurring
huge loss of Rs 25000 to Rs
30000 per month. “We do
private practice after official
duty hours in hospital. But it’s
not clear who is there at
Swasthya Bhaban to give
clearance for attending
patients at private hospitals.
What are the criteria to get the
clearance?”
The official also informed
that from last year, the depart-
ment has also included stu-
dents doing their BEd and
D.El.Ed regular courses.
Apart from students of
state and state-aided insti-
tutions, ICSE and CBSE will
also be eligible for this grant.
Another added feature
has been that, from now
onwards the verification can
be done by the head of the
institutions.
Minister Bratya Basu, said,
“The portal will be a great help
for students who come to
our office to get NOC. The
applications can now be done
through the portal. This por-
tal will not only be a trans-
parent process but also a
faster way to get issues
addressed.
This portal is a process in
the direction of chief minis-
ter Mamata Banerjee, who has
insisted on the use of tech-
nology for the benefit of the
people.
Very soon we will also be
coming out with a portal for
the college teachers and non-
teaching staff.”
The minister added that the
department will start Dig-
iLocker for Madhyamik and
Higher secondary students
where certificate and mark
sheets can be procured.
On being asked if the por-
tal is in response to the spate
of recent irregularities in the
education department, Basu
said that the department had
started work on it for more
than 1.5 years and has no rela-
tion to the recent happenings.
04 SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022
People have started raising doubts over the Congress high
command amid the tussle between Gehlot and Pilot.
UNION MINISTER GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT
SLAMMING RAJASTHAN CM FOR LOSING FOCUS ON THE GOVERNANCE OF THE STATE

THUMBNAILS
Munugode: High turnout Clash between Kerala Guv, LDF govt escalates
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

IMD predicts heavy rain in
South TN: The Indian Meteo-
rological Department (IMD)
has predicted heavy to very
heavy rains at isolated
places in some southern dis-
tricts of Tamil Nadu on Fri-
day. The districts that are
likely to be affected by this
heavy rainfall, are -
in high-stakes battle
TRIVANDRUM, 3 NOVEMBER
The tussle between Raj
Bhavan and LDF govern-
ment in Kerala escalated
Though polling ended at 6 pm, there were long queues before polling stations further on Thursday as gov-
ernor Arf Mohammed Khan
ANINDITA CHOWDHURY TRS is hoping that Congress will raked up gold smuggling
HYDERABAD, 3 NOVEMBER hold on to its vote bank or it controversy to target chief
will fall in its kitty instead of that minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

Ramanathapuram, Nagapat-
tinam, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur,
Sivaganga and Myladuthu-
rai. The IMD officials said
that an upper cyclonic cir-
culation that lies over south
Tamil Nadu and its neigh-
bourhood and extends up
to upper tropospheric areas
is expected to bring in
rains. IANS
Shunned by hospital,
woman delivers twin babies
at home, dead: In a heart
wrenching incident, a
woman and her new-born
twins died, after the dis-
trict hospital authorities
refused to admit her for
delivery here. Thirty-year-
old Kasturi from Tamil Nadu
and her two new-born
babies died at her residence
in Tumakuru city. Protest-
ing the hospital's apathy,
the locals staged a protest
and demanded suspension
of the concerned doctors
and staff. The family and
relatives of the woman also
refused to cremate the
bodies until action is taken
against the guilty. IANS
M
unugode in Nal-
gonda district of
Telangana saw a
high percentage
of polling despite the high
drama, accusations and counter
accusations by the three key
political parties and scuffles
between the cadres of BJP and
TRS that constituency wit-
nessed on polling day. How-
ever, the day ended with BJP
blaming the election com-
mission for failing to rein in the
ruling TRS who they alleged
lured voters with money and
liquor, the same allegation
that TRS echoed but at BJP.
Till 5pm Munugode record-
ed 77.55 per cent polling as par-
ticularly as women voters
voted with visible enthusi-
asm. Though polling ended at
6 pm but there were reports of
long queues in front of polling
stations and those who were
handed tokens would be
allowed to exercise their fran-
chise.
According to CEO Vikas
Raj around 42 non voters were
identified and were sent out and
even on poll day Rs2.99 lakh
of cash was seized. After polling
got over BJP state president
blamed the chief electoral offi-
cer, the police officials alleg-
ing they were under control of
chief minister K Chandrasekhar
Rao and turned a blind eye
when the party submitted evi-
dence of TRS distributing
money, gold and liquor to lure
voters. However, he claimed the
BJP would win Munugode.
TRS leaders submitted a com-
plaint to chief electoral officer
Vikas Raj during the day alleg-
ing that BJP was illegally dis-
tributing hundreds of crores
of liquor and money to voters
violating the election code of
conduct and sought his inter-
vention.
A scuffle broke out between
BJP and TRS party cadres near
Sarampet polling station in Mar-
riguda mandal in Munugode
and later at Chandur but police
swiftly dispersed the workers.
There was a controversy after
BJP candidate posted a pho-
tograph of him casting vote on
Twitter but soon TRS social
media convenors pointed out
that he was enrolled at Nakrekal
Assembly constituency and
enquired if he indulged in
bogus voting. The BJP candi-
date then deleted his post.
Congress candidate Sravanthi
Palvai complained to CEO
that a morphed video of her
meeting Telangana chief min-
ister K Chandrasekhar Rao
was doing the rounds. The
of BJP.The Left parties who have
a sizeable presence in
Munugode have declared their
support for the TRS.
But tension ran high in
Munugode since last night as
BJP candidate K Rajagopal
Reddy also staged a sit in
demonstration at the office of
the returning officer alleging
the presence of outsiders in the
Assembly constituency, a
charge denied by the TRS.
Telangana BJP president Bandi
Sanjay Kumar then tried to
reach Munugode, leaving party
head quarters at midnight
along with supporters. He was
detained by police at the out-
skirts of Hyderabad while he
was on his way to Munugode
Assembly constituency before
polling began while alleging that
TRS leaders who were non
locals had stayed back in the
constituency. Initially, the
attempts by police officials to
stop him at Malakpet and
Vanasthalipuram were not
fruitful before the convoy was
stopped at Abdullapurmet on
Hyderabad-Vijayawada. But the
BJP leader and his supporters
sat on the road, resisting arrest.
Governor Khan said
though he has never inter-
fered earlier, the alleged
"patronising" of smuggling
activities by the Chief Min-
ister’s Office(CMO) and
people close to the CM are
grounds enough for him to
interfere now.
“I have never interfered.
But now I see all smuggling
activities are patronised
by the office of the Chief
Minister (CMO). But if the
state government, the CMO
and the people close to
CM are involved in smug-
gling activities, definitely
there are grounds for me to
interfere,” governor Khan
told media persons in New
Delhi.
By raking up the diplo-
matic gold smuggling and
the alleged involvement the
CM’s office in it, the Gov-
ernor has made the hard-
est attack against the gov-
ernment and the chief min-
ister, ever since the clash
between the governor and
the LDF government has
started.
By this, the governor
has put the office of the chief
minister under the shadow
of suspicion.
He also referred to the
name of Swapna Suresh, key
accused in the gold smug-
gling case and questioned
her appointment to a gov-
ernment post.
"Who invited the woman
to the hill station? Didn't
the controversial woman
pay visit to Chief Minister's
office?
“Suspension of the Chief
Minister's former principal
secretary is also being dis-
cussed by the public," he
added.
"I don't understand how
the CM's office is con-
nected with all the illegal
actions in the state," he
further sad
Speaking at a convention
organised here against the
moves of the Governor in
the higher education ,
organised by Education
Protection Committee,
Chief minister Vijayan on
Wednesday launched an
all-out attack against the
Governor by alleging that
he was trying to imple-
ment RSS agenda in the
state's universities,as per
reports.
Responding to this ,Khan
said, “They (Left govern-
ment, CM) are saying I am
doing this (action against
VCs) to bring RSS people.
If I have nominated even
one person, not just of RSS,
any person, on my own
using my authority, then I
will resign.”
“Will he (CM) be able to
resign if he is not able to
prove it?
“People sitting in the
CMO dictate Kannur Uni-
versity VC to appoint their
relatives — underqualified
and unqualified.” he added.

Rahul turns Potharaju during Bharat Jodo Yatrain Telangana
SNS & AGENCIES
HYDERABAD, 3 NOVEMBER
Congress leader Rahul Gand-
hi donned the role of Pothara-
ju symbolically whipping
himself during Bharat Jodo
Yatra in Telangana's San-
gareddy district on Thurs-
day.
Participating in Bonalu, a
traditional festival of Telan-
gana, along with party MLA
Jagga Reddy, Rahul Gandhi
whipped himself.
Potharaju is a character in
annual Bonalu processions
taken out in Telangana. He is
considered to be the broth-
er of seven sister goddesses
-- different forms of the god-
dess 'Mahankali'.
Leading the procession,
Potharaju carries a whip and
lashes against his body to
the sound of drum beats.
During his Yatra, the Con-
gress MP has been interact-
ing with local people, danc-
ing with local cultural artists
or playing with children.
A day after playing crick-
et with children during the
yatra, Rahul Gandhi turned
Potharaju much to the excite-
ment of other leaders and
workers walking with him.
Former Chief of Naval
Staff Admiral Ramdas and his
wife and social activist Lali-
ta Ramdas also joined the
yatra.
On the ninth day of his
march in Telangana, the yatra
entered Sangareddy district.
Telangana Pradesh Con-
gress Committee (TPCC) chief
A. Revanth Reddy, Congress
Legislature Party leader Mallu
Bhatti Vikramarka, MP Uttam
Kumar Reddy and several
other leaders and scores of
party workers were partici-
pating in the yatra.
The foot march will con-
tinue in Telangana till Novem-
ber 7 with one-day break on
November 4.It will cover a total
distance of 375 kms in 19
Assembly and seven Parlia-
mentary constituencies in
the state. From Telangana, the
yatra will enter Maharashtra
on November 7.
Madras HC to declare court
premises plastic-free on 10 Nov
SNS & AGENCIES
CHENNAI, 3 NOVEMBER
The Acting Chief Justice of
Madras High Court, Justice
Raja will declare the court
premises plastic-free on
November 10. The Acting
Chief Justice will inaugurate
five 'Manjappai' or yellow
cloth vending machines and
also a plastic bottle crushing
unit. The five yellow cloth
vending machines will be
positioned at five locations in
the court premises. The deci-
sion of the Madras High Court
came after an order by Justices
S. Vaidyanathan and P.T. Asha
while hearing a case related
to the ban on single-use plas-
tic. The court directed the bar
councils of Tamil Nadu and
Puducherry and all the bar
associations to make the
courts plastic-free.
7 killed in two road acci-
dents in Telangana: Seven
people were killed and four
were injured in two sepa- TENDER
rate road accidents in Telan-
gana on Thursday. The acci-
dents were reported from
Sangareddy and Vikarabad
districts. The collision
occurred on the national
highway. The injured were
admitted to hospital. IANS

Two former Congress

NOTICE
Public Notice is hereby given that, my
client Raju Thadani, Father Sadhuram
Thadani, Partner of company M.R.
Construction, Address – 5/17, Buro
Shibtala Main Road, Sahapur, Sahapur,
Kolkata-700038, W.B.
The said area belongs to Falta Police
Station,
Banganagar,
J.L. No.-124,
Banganagar-II
Mouza-
Gram
Panchayat, Dist.: South 24 Parganas, L.
R. Khatian No. 2118, L.R. Dag No. 01044,
Shali 142 decimal land are going to buy
my client. The said 142 decimal land is
included in the records in the name of
Ramtech Industries Pvt. Ltd. If there is
any objection in this regards within 15
days of the publication of this notice,
shall meet the undersigned person
with appropriate supporting docu-
ments, otherwise all objections to
bringing the period shall be deemed to
be legally inadmissible.
Chandra Sekhar Mondal
Advocate
Phone: 9051013289
Enrollment No.-F/1257/18
KOLKATA
Statesman House,
4, Chowringhee Square
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P.S.: Beleghata, Kolkata-
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SILIGURI
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VIDE affidavit 18-4-2022
before the Metropolitan
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Ritendu Majumdar declare
that my daughter Ritika
Majumdar's gender wrong-
ly recorded in ICSE
Examination 2021 as "Male"
instead of "Female". The
correct particulars are
Ritika Majumdar, D/o.
Ritendu Majumdar and
Keya Majumdar, Gender –
"Female".
e-TENDER
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Municipality has invited e-
Tender against
N.I.e.T. No.: WBMAD 50 (DEV /
MDF / K.M) 2022-2023.
Tender Id No.:
2022_MAD_418330_1.
N.I.e.T. No.: WBMAD 51 (DEV /
15th FINN.COMM / K.M) 2022-
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Tender Id No.:
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leaders join BJP in Karnataka
SNS & AGENCIES
BENGALURU, 3 NOVEMBER
Book your
advertisements in Ahead of the assembly elec-
tions in Karnataka, two for-
The Statesman
mer Congress leaders on
now at your Janata Party (BJP).
comfort
Former Congress MP S.P.
Muddahanumegowda, actor-
from any where, politician Shashi Kumar, and
retired IAS officer B.H. Anil
JUST CALL
Kumar were the prominent
faces among the new entrants
US AT : in the saffron party.
They were welcomed by
9 8 3 0 7 8 0 9 24 Karnataka Chief Minister
Basavaraj Bommai and BJP's
98308 74087 state unit president Nalin
Kumar Kateel.
Speaking on the devel-
opment, Bommai said: "It is
All an indication of the political
Advertisements winds blowing in favour of the
are carried
BJP in the state.
"Despite serving the Con-
Free of gress party for several years,
cost on they are now convinced that
our website their services will not be
https://epaper
.com
IIMC NE campus in
Aizawl inaugurated
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
GUWAHATI, 3 NOVEMBER
President of India, Droupa-
di Murmu today inaugu-
rates the permanent North-
east campus of Indian Insti-
tute of Mass Communica-
tion (IIMC), a premiere and
autonomous journalism
institute under the Union
information & broadcasting
ministry, at Mizoram Uni-
versity premise in Tanhril
locality near Aizawl.
Mentionable is that the
IIMC NE campus began
functioning in 2011 from a
temporary building and the
construction work started in
2015. The permanent cam-
pus on eight acres of land
provided by Mizoram Uni-
versity has separate admin-
istrative and academic build-
ings along with hostels and
staff quarters.
Earlier on her arrival at
Lengpui airport, President
Murmu was accorded a
warm reception by Mizoram
Governor Hari Babu Kamb-
hampati, State chief minis-
ter Pu Zoramthanga and
top government officials.
It’s her maiden visit to the
recognised in that party...
and they have decided to
join the BJP and serve the
state," he added.
The entry of leaders like
Muddehanumegowda and
Shashi Kumar is expected to
boost the BJP's chances in the
assembly elections sched-
uled to be held in Karnataka
in the first half of 2023.
Former Congress MP from
Tumkur, Muddehanu-
megowda was forced by his
party to vacate his seat for JD-
S supremo H.D. Devegowda
in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
While Devegowda lost the
poll, the Congress did not keep
its word of sending Mudde-
hanumegowda to the Rajya
Sabha.Actor Shashi Kumar
was prolific in the 90s and rep-
resented the Janata Dal-Unit-
ed in the Lok Sabha from Chi-
tradurga in 1999.
Subsequently, he joined the
Congress and thereafter the
Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S).
frontier State in northeast
India after assuming office.
She is scheduled to address
a special session of Mizoram
assembly tomorrow morn-
ing. President Murmu, who
arrived in Nagaland from
New Delhi on Wednesday,
visited the Kohima war
cemetery and left a wreath
in memory of the heroes who
gave the ultimate sacrifice
while doing their duties in
and around the capital city
during the second World
War.
In the Battle of Kohima
that began on 4 April 1944,
the British and Indian sol-
diers fought against the
Japanese forces.
Later the President vis-
ited Kigwema, a tradition-
al Angami Naga village and
held an interaction with
women members of self-help
groups.
Inhabited by nearly 7,500
people, the Kigwema vil-
lage is around 15 kilometers
away from Kohima. The
local council honoured her
with customary presents
and having the women's
group perform a tradition-
al song.
 05
Education of women will increase their
participation in workforce
PRESIDENT DROUPADI MURMI
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022
ADDRESSING A CONVOCATION OF MIZORAM UNIVERSITY

THUMBNAILS
BJP looks defensive, but Jaishankar to visit Shinde group
MLAs ‘in touch’,
Russia amidst claims
may thank AAP for victory conflict in Ukraine Thackeray camp
JALGAON, 3 NOVEMBER

After 27 years in power, BJP faces a degree of anti-incumbency in Gujarat Shiv Sena (UBT) Deputy
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Leader Sushma Andhare on
RATHIN DAS of the saffron party. NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER Thursday claimed that some
AHMEDABAD, 3 NOVEMBER Signs of the BJP sensing 'rebel' MLAs belonging to
danger was evident when External Affairs Minister S Jais- Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's

A worker spraying water to
reduce dust and pollution
in the capital on Thursday.
� SUBRATA DUTTA
Swami security: The Cen-
tre on Thursday apprised
Delhi High Court that appr-
opriate security arrange-
ments for former BJP
Rajya Sabha MP Subraman-
ian Swamy were ensured
at his residence consider-
ing that he is a 'Z' catego-
ry protectee. The govern-
ment submitted that the
security agencies were
satisfied with the arrange-
ments made to ensure
Swamy's safety. IANS
W
ith the countdown
for the Gujarat
assembly elections
starting, this is the
first time in last 27 years that
the ruling BJP appears to be
on the defensive.
Despite the Chief Elec-
tion Commissioner categor-
ically denying that deferring
the announcement of the
poll time-table was not to
facilitate BJP leader and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi to
inaugurate new projects before
the Model Code of Conduct
(MCC) sets in, there seems to
be few takers for the claim.
With a huge difference of
nearly seven per cent in the
vote shares of ruling BJP and
Congress in the last election
held in 2017, the saffron party
should not have any cause for
concern.
The BJP had polled about
48 per cent of all votes in
2017 while the Opposition
Congress scored 41 per cent,
sufficiently higher than its
traditional permanent vote
share of around 32 per cent.
But inflation, unemploy-
ment, hospital fires, recruit-
ment scams and repeated
examination paper leaks
topped with Covid-19 relat-
ed issues have certainly gen-
erated a fair measure of anti-
incumbency against the BJP,
a phenomenon unthinkable
when Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi was the chief min-
ister in Gujarat.
En masse shift of such
anti-incumbency votes to the
Congress, in the opposition
for last 27 years, could have
been a danger signal for the
ruling BJP but entry of the Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) is likely to
neutralise the contest in favour
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi warned his party cadres
not to think that the Congress
is idle, saying the opposition
party is holding secret meet-
ings in the villages.
This had the twin objective
of asking the BJP cadres not
to be complacent about the
rural scenario and also a feel-
ing that urban vote share has
not been dented due to mul-
tiple reasons like shortage of
vital drugs and injections dur-
ing the Covid-19 pandemic,
hospital fires claiming lives.
The Morbi hanging bridge
collapse came as a bolt from
the blue but people being
forgetful and immune to such
tragedies, it may cost the BJP
only a few seats in the region
while AAP’s aspirations would
see it romp home.
hankar will visit Russia on 7-
8 November to meet his coun-
terpart Sergey Lavrov and
other Russian leaders to
review bilateral ties as well as
global developments amid the
ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Announcing the visit, Min-
istry of External Affairs (MEA)
spokesperson Arindam Bagchi
said the visit was in contin-
uation of the regular exchange
of visits between the two
countries.
Apart from the Russian for-
eign minister, Mr Jaishankar
will meet the Russian deputy
prime minister and the min-
ister of trade and industry. Jais-
hankar last visited Russia in
July 2021, followed by Lavrov's
visit to New Delhi this year.
During the talks between
the two sides, India is likely
to again urge Moscow to
return to the path of diplo-
macy to resolve the ongoing
conflict.
Earlier this month, Jais-
hankar had also said that
targeting infrastructure and
causing civilian deaths was
not acceptable in any part of
the world.
Despite Western pressure,
India has so far not directly
condemned Russia for the mil-
itary offensive in Ukraine
while maintaining that the war
was not in anyone's interest.
India has, meanwhile,
increased its oil imports also
from Russia.
Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena
are "in contact" with her party.
Among them is Sanjay
Shirsat who is said to be dis-
gruntled and feeling uncom-
fortable with the Shinde
group, according to Andhare.
The firebrand leader's
comments came during a
media interaction in Jalgaon
where she is participating in
the Mahaprabodhan Yatra.
“We have not cut off the
cords with the rebels. Some
MLAs are very upset there and
are in touch with us,” said And-
hare, indicating that there
may be 'home-coming' to
the Thackeray group.
Slamming the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), she said that
the party is misusing central
agencies like the Central
Bureau of Investigation and
Enforcement Directorate
against Opposition parties,

Money laundering case: Soren AAP tried, tested alternative while no action is taken against
corrupt leaders in the BJP.
Andhare said that the

seeks 3-week time from ED
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
Jharkhand Chief Minister
Hemant Soren on Thursday
sought three weeks' time to
appear before the Enforce-
ment Directorate (ED) in con-
nection with the Prevention of
Money Laundering case per-
taining to illegal mining and
extortion in Jharkhand and
Bihar.
Sources in the ED claimed
that Soren has written a letter
to the probe agency seeking time
to attend a few programmes.
Soren was summoned by the
ED to join the investigation on
Thursday, but he skipped the
questioning.
The federal agency had also
written a letter to Jharkhand
Police Commissioner for appro-
priate security arrangements
ahead of his questioning.
"There was a cheque signed
by Mr Soren which was found
18 caught with
fake documents
by us during the recent raid. He
also allegedly misused his posi-
tion and granted a lease," the
sources said.
Recently, the ED had filed
a Prosecution Complaint
(charge sheet) before a Special
Ranchi court against Pankaj
Mishra, Bachhu Yadav and
Prem Prakash, all said to be close
to the Jharkhand CM.
The court has already taken
the cognisance of the
chargesheet.
During investigation of the
case, as many 47 searches were
conducted throughout India on
‘Not receiving any instructions
several dates resulting in the
seizure of cash amounting to
Rs 5.34 crore, freezing of bank
balances amounting to Rs
13.32 crore, freezing of an
inland vessel MV Infralink -III,
reg. No- WB 1809, 5 number of
stone crushers, two nos. of
Hyva trucks besides the seizure
of incriminating documents
along with two numbers of AK
47 Assault Rifles, the probe
agency said.
Earlier, the ED had arrest-
ed Pankaj Mishra, Bachhu
Yadav and Prem Prakash who
are in judicial custody.
The ED initiated money
laundering investigation on
the basis of the FIR registered
by Barharwa Police Station,
Sahibganj District, Jharkhand
under various sections of IPC,
against Mishra and others.
Later, several FIRs regard-
ing illegal mining lodged under
IPC, Explosive substances Act,
Arms Act have also been taken
into the ambit of scheduled
offence.
Till date, the ED has iden-
tified POC relating to illegal min-
ing to the tune of more than
Rs 1000 crore in this case.
PMLA Investigation revealed
that Mishra, who enjoys polit-
ical clout being the represen-
tative of the Chief Minister, con-
trols the illegal mining busi-
nesses as well as inland ferry
services in Sahebganj and its
adjoining areas through his
accomplices.
“He exercises considerable
control over the mining of
stone chips and boulders as well
as installation and operations
of several crushers, set up
across various mining sites in
Sahebganj. Proceeds of crime
amounting to Rs 42 crore
acquired by Mishra have been
identified till date,” said the ED
official.
Further investigation in the
matter is on.
for Himachal: Kejriwal
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 3 NOVEMBER
Aam Admi Party (AAP) nation-
al convener and Delhi Chief
Minister Arvid Kejriwal on
Thursday took out a road
show in Solan. Accompanied
by Punjab Chief Minister
Bhagwant Mann they cam-
paigned for their party can-
didate Anju Rathore.
Addressing the people
Kejriwal said that the people
of Himachal Pradesh so far had
no third alternative and had
to choose between Congress
and BJP.
However, now the people
of Himachal Pradesh have
an option of a tried and test-
ed party that has been per-
forming well in Delhi and
Punjab, he added.
“People have preferred
AAP in Delhi twice consecu-
tively. This shows that they
liked the functioning of our
party. Congress got zero votes
while BJP got three seats and
eight seats later in the next elec-
tions. Now Himachal Pradesh
has got an honest party as a
Kejriwal. In Punjab too our
party has been successful,
he asserted.
Launching a scathing
attack on both BJP and Con-
gress he accused both parties
of having robbed the state turn
wise.
Appealing to people to
vote for his party he asked
them to give his party five years
and if they are not satisfied
with their party, they will not
ask them to support the party
again.
“The elections can change
the future of the state and its
people. If people want schools,
and good heath institutions
support BJP and Congress
they will only get corruption.
Corruption will end if AAP
forms the government in the
state,” he said.
“AAP has given 11 guar-
antees to the people of the
state. Each and every guar-
antee will be fulfilled if his party
forms the government in the
state,” he claimed.
“People of the state have
faith in the guarantees of
AAP,” said AAP State President
Surjeet Thakur. He informed
that Delhi Deputy CM and
Education Minister Manish
Sisodia and Punjab CM Bhag-
want Mann will also hold
Shinde government is mak-
ing announcements on farm-
ers' issues, but they remain
in the air as there are no ben-
efits seen at the ground-level.
Several other Sena (UBT)
leaders have also claimed
that several of the 'rebel' leg-
islators who joined Shinde en-
masse in June have opened
communication channels
and want to return.
However, Shinde group
leaders have pooh-poohed the
contentions and dared the
Sena (UBT) to name any such
MLAs.
It may be recalled that
after a chunk of 50 MLAs led
by Shinde switched camps, the
erstwhile Maha Vikas Agha-
di government of Shiv Sena-
Nationalist Congress Party-
Congress led by ex-CM
Uddhav Thackeray collapsed.
Amidst high political
drama, on June 30, a new
regime led by Shinde as the
CM, and BJP's Devendra Fad-
navis as the Deputy CM took
office on June 30.
In early-August, the Shinde-
Fadnavis cabinet was expand-
ed with 9 MLAs from each side,
taking the strength to 20,
though there is no represen-
tation to the group of inde-

during Agniveer
recruitment
from Vijay Mallya’, lawyer to SC third alternative,” claimed they should vote for AAP. If they road shows in Himachal. pendents or smaller parties
supporting them.

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

BHOPAL, 3 NOVEMBER
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
attachment of his properties
will begin.
The top court had said: "In
Relief of Srinagar: Tributes Rape victim dies in

paid to Maj Somnath Sharma

The Army has nabbed at least
18 candidates with fake doc-
uments so far during the ongo-
ing recruitment process for the
Agniveer scheme at Bhopal.
The suspected youth have
been handed over to the local
police for further investiga-
tion into the matter.
According to the police, 15
suspects, all belonging to
Uttar Pradesh, were appre-
hended yesterday. They appar-
ently produced fake domicile
certificates of Madhya Pradesh
in an attempt to get recruit-
ed in this ongoing drive,
which is meant for residents
of nine MP districts only.
Police said the youths
were caught after they cleared
the physical exam and pro-
ceeded for document verifi-
cation in the next step.
Fugitive businessman Vijay
Mallya's lawyer, facing extra-
dition, told the Supreme Court
on Thursday that he has been
incommunicado for a long
time and requested the court
to discharge him from rep-
resenting Mallya in the mat-
ter.
A bench comprising Jus-
tices D.Y. Chandrachud and
Hima Kohli asked the lawyer
to provide Mallya's email and
residential address in the UK
to the court registry. Counsel
submitted that he wants to be
discharged from the case
since he is not receiving any
instructions from Mallya.
The top court permitted the
lawyer to initiate the proce-
dure for withdrawing his legal
representation for the fugitive.
The bench was informed that
the top court had also direct-
ed the central government to
take steps to secure the pres-
ence of Mallya in India.
The court was considering
a plea filed by Mallya in rela-
tion to a monetary dispute with
the State Bank of India.
In July, the Supreme Court
sentenced Mallya to four
months' imprisonment for
contempt of court in 2017, as
he suppressed information
from the court. The top court
also ordered Mallya to deposit
USD 40 million -- which he
had transferred to his family
members in violation of the
court orders -- failing which
the circumstances, in order to
maintain the majesty of law,
we must impose adequate
punishment upon the con-
temnor and must also pass nec-
essary directions so that the
advantages secured by the
contemnor or anyone claim-
ing under him are set at naught
and the amounts in question
are available in execution of
the decrees passed in the con-
cerned recovery proceedings."
The bench noted that
Mallya never showed any
remorse nor tendered any
apology for his conduct, as it
imposed a sentence of four
months and fine of Rs 2,000
on him. It added that in case
the amount of fine is not
deposited within the time
stipulated, Mallya would
undergo a further sentence of
two months.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, 3 NOVEMBER
A wreath laying ceremony by
Indian Army was organised
in the honour of Major Som-
nath Sharma, the first Param
Vir Chakra of Indian Army at
Saviours of Kashmir War
Memorial located at Srinagar
International Airport.
Maj Somnath Sharma of
the 4th battalion, the Kumaon
Regiment led ‘D’ Company
of his battalion at Budgam
against the raiders approach-
ing Srinagar from North on
3 November 1947. Despite
being heavily outnumbered
and coming under heavy
fire, D company under the
leadership of Maj Sharma
foiled the enemy’s advance
towards Srinagar airfield dur-
ing the crucial hours. In this
decisive battle of 1947, Maj
Sharma along with one Junior
Commissioned Officer and
20 other ranks made the
supreme sacrifice. For his
ultimate courage, leadership
and dedication beyond the
call of duty, Maj Sharma was
conferred with the country’s
first and highest war time Gal-
lantry Award, the Param Vir
Chakra, posthumously.
On behalf of Lt General
ADS Aujla, GOC, Chinar
Corps, Colonel Manoram
Yadav, Officiating Com-
mandant, The Jammu and
Kashmir Light Infantry Reg-
imental Centre, laid the
wreath at the Saviours of
Kashmir War Memorial.
Rajasthan: A woman who
was allegedly gang raped in
Rajasthan's Ajmer district
last month, died during
treatment at a hospital on
Wednesday, police said. ANI
I, No. – 5349945F, HAV.
RUDRA BAHADUR
RANA, C/O 1/4 GR,
declares that in my Army
record my daughter's
name & DOB wrongly
entered as Khim Kla Rana
& DOB-21-05-1996, her
correct name is
KHIMKALA RANA &
DOB: 21-05-1998, vide
affidavit on 03-11-2022,
Notary Public at Siliguri.
I, No.-5349945F, HAV.
RUDRA BAHADUR
RANA, C/O 1/4GR,

Delhi-NCR AQI plunges
to ‘severe’ category
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
People of Delhi and the Nation-
al Capital Region (NCR) on
Thursday woke up with com-
plaints of choking and 'eye
burning' due to smog and air
pollution leaving people gasp-
ing for breath.
Arjun Prajapati, a resident
of Noida, alleged that despite
ban being imposed by the gov-
ernment, there was unre-
portedly a huge amount of
cracker sales made across
Delhi and NCR region.
"Despite the government's
ban, so many firecrackers
were sold leading to this con-
dition post-Diwali. There is so
much difficulty in breathing
that I cannot even breathe.
There is burning in the eyes.
Pollution is increasing. The
government should take cog-
nizance of it," he said.
The Air Quality Index (AQI)
in the national capital at 8 am
was at 364 (in the 'Very Poor'
category) and at 7 am the
recorded AQI stood at 408
('Severe'). Unfavorable mete-
orological conditions with
slower wind speed and sud-
den spike in farm fire incidents
are attributed to the dip in air
quality.
Apart from this, elder peo-
ple are complaining of res-
piratory illness as the city
reels under smog.
"Amid the baseload of the
pollution, we suffer difficul-
ty in breathing, burning in the
nose. When we came here for
a morning walk, the whole area
was covered in smog," an
elder person said.
The National Capital
Region (NCR) witnessed bad
air as Noida, which is part of
the national capital region,
slipped to an AQI of 393, in
the 'very poor' category, while
Gurugram's AQI stood at 318
and continued to remain in
the 'very poor category.
Supreme Court orders status quo on
environmental release of GM mustard
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
The Supreme Court on Thurs-
day ordered status quo on the
decision of the Genetic Engi-
neering Appraisal Committee
(GEAC) allowing the envi-
ronmental release of genet-
ically modified (GM) mustard
for seed production and test-
ing. The apex court has sched-
uled the next hearing in the
matter on November 10.
A bench comprising jus-
tices Dinesh Maheshwari and
Sudhanshu Dhulia ordered
status quo on the GEAC's
decision of October 18 2022,
and subsequent decision of
the Ministry of Environment
and Forests of October 25, to
allow environmental release
of genetically modified mus-
tard/ HT mustard /DMH 11
in 5 states on an interim
application filed by Aruna
Rodrigues in her pending
writ petition.
Advocate Prashant
Bhushan, representing
Rodrigues, contended that
the apex court in 2012 con-
stituted a technical expert
committee with broad terms
of reference to examine in
detail the matter of genetically
modified crops in India.
The bench queried the
Centre's counsel on the cur-
rent status in connection
with the environmental release
of GM mustard.
The counsel after taking
instructions informed the
court that GM mustard seeds
were going to be planted in
facilities of Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR).
The bench told the Cen-
tre's counsel to ensure that "no
precipitative action is taken"
until the application is heard
and scheduled the matter for
consideration on November
10.
Bhushan said that the
committee called HT crops
"unsustainable" and "unsuit-
able" for India and noted
that the herbicide sprayed on
HT crops caused cancer, and
it had recommended that
non-GMO alternatives were
available in the country.
He added that the com-
mittee recommended a "total
ban" on all HT crops on "pre-
cautionary principle" as no
long-term safety studies were
done on the impact of edible
GM crops in India on human
health, animal health, and
bio-diversity.
Citing apex court orders
passed in 2016 and 2017,
Bhushan said the submis-
sion of the Centre was record-
ed that as of that time no deci-
sion had been taken to release
GM mustard in the environ-
ment and if such a decision
were to be taken it would be
placed before the court.
declares that in my Army
record my wife's name &
DOB wrongly entered as
Bhim Kla Rana, DOB:
17-12-1976, her correct
name is BHIMKALA
RANA & DOB: 19-12-
1976, vide affidavit on
03-11-2022, Notary
Public at Siliguri.
KAMDHENU UNIVERSITY
Our Motto: Welfare of all living beings
(Established under Gujarat Act No. 9 of 2009)
Address: 4th Floor, Block No. 1, Karmayogi Bhavan
Sector: 10 A, Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India-382010
Recruitment Advertisement (04/2022)
The Kamdhenu University invites applications in the pre-
scribed proforma for the posts of Professor, Associate Professors
& Assistant Professor in various disciplines of Veterinary,
Dairy & Fisheries Science Faculties.
For more details & latest update please visit website of
Kamdhenu University i.e.:
https://www.kamdhenuuni.edu.in
The application must reach the office of The Registrar,
Kamdhenu University, 4th Floor, Block No. 1, Karmayogi
Bhavan, Sector-10 A, Gandhinagar, Gujarat-382010 by
R.P.A.D. / Speed Post only on or before the last date prescribed
i.e. 19-12-2022 in the advertisement.
(I/c) Registrar
Date: 02-11-2022 INF/1911/22-23
06 SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022
Incorporating and directly descended from
THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818
Sanctions on Russia
T
he emerging consensus among policymakers
that wide-ranging economic sanctions on Russia
by the West are likely to stay in place for several
years, if not decades, ought to give New Delhi pause
for thought. Advocating a long view, analyst Amit Bha-
ndari of the think-tank Gateway House in a recent
essay for the Indian Council on Global Relations writ-
es: “Given Russia’s critical global role as a supplier of
key commodities and military hardware, India shoul-
d pursue long term solutions to continue this trade.”
The sanctions regime in place against Russia to punish
it for its invasion of Ukraine prohibits a wide range of
transactions, from the sale of technology and equip-
ment to provision of financial services to the targeted
entities which are usually individuals and companies
linked to the Russian government. Indeed, many of
Russia’s defence manufacturers have been under US
sanctions since 2014. While India does not recognise
unilateral sanctions, those imposed without the imp-
rimatur of the United Nations, what makes Washing-
ton-led sanctions on Russia effective is the central
role played by the US dollar in international finance.
“Commercial enterprises violating these sanctions
lose access to the US financial system, finishing them
off as viable businesses. Unilateral sanctions imposed
by the USA work,” asserts Bhandari. It is an accepted
fact of international relations that sanctions once im-
posed tend to stay for a long time ~ Iran has been un-
der some form of sanctions since its 1979 Islamic rev-
olution, while socialist Venezuela has faced US puni-
tive measures including sanctions for the past 20 ye-
ars. What that tells us is once Washington identifies a
strategic adversary, by definition a long-term threat
to core American interests, it starts putting in place
mechanisms that will incrementally help it achieve
its objectives. A “profoundly dangerous” Moscow is, by
this yardstick, as confirmed in the recently released US
National Security Strategy document, the primary tar-
get of an American squeeze which is just about begin-
ning. There is a school of thought which believes that
Russia, however, is no pushover ~ it is, experts say,
much larger than either Iran or Venezuela, is less like-
ly to suffer the intended economic collapse sanctions
are structured to engineer and remains a major player
in the global economy. The Indian dilemma is that
any attempt to reduce Russia’s role in commodity ma-
rkets (oil and gas, food, fertilisers, and minerals) will
impact its current and future requirements adversely.
A twin solution is suggested by Bhandari to counter
this from coming to pass. In the short term, India sho-
uld develop an expertise on sanctions ~ how they
work and finding workarounds. Because not every en-
tity operating out of Russia has been sanctioned, a lot
of trade is still possible. Additionally, he recommends
New Delhi moves immediately to create its own finan-
cial architecture distinct from the SWIFT network
used for international payments. In the long run, India
needs to create its own benchmarks and commodity
exchanges for petroleum and other commodities to
enable resource trading on an Indian exchange, in
Indian currency, using Indian financial architecture.
These are eminently sensible recommendations to
insulate the country from coercive tactics such as
sanctions on Russia that are against India’s interests.
Midterm poll
U
S President Joe Biden’s popularity ratings are
hovering at 41 per cent in the latest nationwide
tracker poll, which is not good news for the
incumbent and the Democratic Party he leads given
there are just about five days left to go for mid-term el-
ections in America. But it is not unexpected news. A
historical analysis of midterm polls over the past four
decades by William A. Galston, Senior Fellow of Gover-
nance Studies at the US-based Brookings Institute,
suggests the results of the forthcoming elections are
shaping up to be in line with the outcome of most
midterms held within two years after an incumbent
President’s first victory. Over this period, there have
been four midterms conducted under what Galston
terms “normal circumstances” and two in contexts
shaped by “extraordinary but transitory factors”. In
the normal midterms, all four US Presidents had expe-
rienced significant declines in their job approval to
the low-to-mid 40s. Their parties saw their share of
the Congressional vote decline to around 45 per cent
and all endured significant seat losses. The two unusu-
al midterms during the past four decades were both
conducted in the shadow of war ~ the 1990 Gulf War
gave George H W Bush a huge but fleeting boost in
his job approval while the 9/11 terrorist attacks did
the same for his son President George W Bush. In both
cases, their popularity helped them avoid the losses
US Presidents usually experience during their first
midterm poll. With President Biden’s approval ratings
in the low 40s and the Democrats’ share of the popular
vote, according to the most recent polling figures, at
around 45 per cent, psephologists project a loss of 40
House seats (plus-minus 10) for the ruling party. But
that would still be within the benchmark established
over the past 40 years. An emphatic electoral defeat for
the Biden Administration certainly seems to be on the
cards bar a last-minute miracle, but it is unlikely to
lead to any cataclysmic change in the American polit-
ical scenario or in US foreign policy. What it does indi-
cate, however, is that an aging Mr Biden will have his
task cut out in securing renomination as his party’s
candidate for the next presidential election. This ex-
plains his laser focus over the past few days of cam-
paigning on the “threat to democracy” posed by for-
mer president Donald Trump-backed Republican can-
didates in the midterms who, Mr Biden said, still re-
fuse to accept that he won the 2020 presidential elec-
tion fair and square. Political commentators are pret-
ty much unanimous in saying Mr Biden is calculating
that the Democrats, riven as they are between the
moderate and radical wings of the party, will once
again unite behind him as a leader acceptable to both
factions as they did in the run-up to 2020 if the spectre
of a Trump return is given a fillip by the midterm
results. Especially, if “election denier” Republican
candidates win big.
Digital University~I
We have not thought of an equally good alternative to the classroom lecture — the discussion
method that has been at the heart of the teaching-learning experience. No instructional
technology has been developed to replace cooperative learning that takes place in group
projects, field studies, recitals, and presentations. It is generally agreed that students do
not learn merely from the textbooks; if so, teachers would not be required. Only when
textbooks and supplementary study materials are brought to bear upon a topic to be discussed
in the classroom does the teaching-learning process become live
I
n view of the UGC Chair-
man’s latest announcement
of a digital university to be
set up in the coming acade-
mic session, it is time to mention
that the spectre of Coronavirus
haunted the policy makers of
education for more than two
years and it is, undoubtedly, edu-
cation technology that came to
their rescue. Microsoft Teams,
Zoom, Skype, Google Hangout
and other apps helped all to co-
mmunicate and exchange knowl-
edge with each other. The univer-
sities also embraced these solu-
tions, but the time has come to
ask if India can come up with the
concept of a digital university, as
visualised by the National Policy
of Education (NEP 2000), thereby
providing learners a new experi-
ence of learning?
It sounds exhilarating to
think of attending a class when-
ever one wants to because of pre-
recorded sessions, asking the tea-
cher questions and receiving ans-
wers instantly as the teacher is
logged on at the same time. Also,
it could be a moment of enjoying
financial relief because one does
not have to travel or stay at some
hostel.
The plan to set up digital
universities is premised on the
National Education Policy’s ob-
jective of enhancing the gross en-
rolment rate in higher education
in the country from the current
26 per cent to 50 per cent by
2035. However, on the basis of
global experience, it is feared that
the quality of education delivered
by such universities may have to
be compromised.
The concept of digital uni-
versities has been developed for
students to obtain almost imme-
diate feedback from teachers
through emails or online discus-
sions. When the term came into
existence it applied to things that
were simulated by the computer,
like virtual memory. Now this
came to be applied to things that
physically exist and are created
by means of computers.
In fact, the concept of digital
universities first came with the
idea for a wireless university at
the BBC. In the tele-university
concept, courses were taught on
the radio and television in the
name of “university on air” which
came to take the shape of an
open university.
Online courses mean that
students will learn in their own
time by reading course materials,
working on course activities,
writing assignments, and inter-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Political game
SIR, The letter of Arun ber 2) made interesting
Gupta (‘Stubborn’, Novem- reading. Notwithstanding
Vol. CXXXXXVI 257
A MEMBER
OF THE
ASIAN VOICES
Constitution
making in
Sri Lanka
W
e had constitutions since
1931 when Sri Lanka (then
Ceylon) was a colony of the
British. What we have to
see now is whether the constitutions
enacted thereafter have been benefi-
cial to the country and its people or
were they enacted to enhance the
powers of the leaders. The British Gov-
ernment established the Donough-
more Constitution in 1931, giving us
adult franchise without gender bias,
the first country to win this in Asia. The
British gave us this constitution on
behalf of the country and its people.
This was indeed a significant mile-
stone in our history of governance.
With the establishment of the State
Council, and all ethnic communities
getting together as a nation, the lead-
ers were able to work together for the
development of the country for the
benefit of the people.
The second constitution came in
1947 was the Soulbury Constitution
drafted by Sir Ivor Jennings, who later
became the first Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Ceylon. This constitution
gave us the Houses of Parliament ~ the
House of Representatives and the Sen-
ate which was the upper House. In the
House of Representatives there were
positions to which unelected persons
acting with teachers and other classroom lecture ~ the discus- It may be important to
students through teleconfer- sion method that has been at the recognise that some subjects
ences. Digital classroom environ- heart of the teaching-learning ex- may not be taught online in a
ments will be accessible to any perience. No instructional tech- digital university because the of eminence could be nominated.
student provided he or she has nology has been developed to electronic medium does not per- These positions as well as the majority
access to a computer or internet replace cooperative learning that mit the best method of instruc- of places in the Senate were given to
connection. This may allow a dy- takes place in group projects, tion. supporters of the ruling parties so that
namic interaction with teachers field studies, recitals, and presen- Examples are hands-on sub- the original intentions the those who
and among the students them- tations. It is generally agreed that jects, such as public speaking, drafted the constitution were violated
selves. The synergy that may exist students do not learn merely surgery, dental hygiene and spor- as is usual in Sri Lanka.
in student-centred digital class- from the textbooks; if so, teachers ts where physical movements The next constitution was in 1972,
es is one of the most vital traits would not be required. Only contribute to the achievement of replacing the Dominion status of Sri
of the digital learning format. when textbooks and supplemen- the learning objectives. Hybrid Lanka and establishing a Socialist De-
Virtual Global University in tary study materials are brought courses may represent a solution, mocratic Republic with a ceremonial
thus making that area of the
Germany offers a graduate pro- to bear upon a topic to be discus- President replacing the Governor-Gen-
gramme in informa- sed in the class- course more accessible to a eral. The name of the country was also
tion and manage- room does the greater number of people who changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka. But
ment where stud- teaching-learning would otherwise have difficulty it was during this time that a worst
ents can have access process become getting to the campus. change was brought in ~ that of replac-
to a wide network of live. This is further An online curriculum should ing the members of the then very com-
people and interac- accentuated thro- reflect the use of dialogue among petent Ceylon Civil Service (CCS) with
tions. They are able ugh projects and students and group discussions. outsiders as Secretaries of Ministries.
to work at their own assignments fol- Quality education may be pro- The government also replaced the
pace. Hence, the im- lowed by term-end vided in a digital university only if CCS with the Sri Lanka Administrative
portance of the de- examinations. the curriculum is developed or Service (SLAS). This change helped the
velopment of such Lack of access, converted to meet the needs of government to bring in persons from
skills including cre- whether it be for the online medium. outside to positions of Ministry Secre-
AK
ativity, communica- GHOSH economic or logis- The task of access both to taries, with persons such as Prof. HA
tion, and knowledge tic reasons, may the curriculum products and cur- de S Gunasekera and Doric de Souza
application. The writer, a former
Associate Professor, exclude otherwise riculum experts is an important being brought in because of their
However, the Department of English,
Gurudas College, Kolkata, is
eligible students issue for the success of a digital political alignments.
fact remains that a presently with from the digital university. As the students can- The significant aspect as far as
digital university RabIndra Bharati University courses. This is an not have access to the entire cur- these constitutions were concerned,
cannot provide face important issue in
to face interactions. So, the stu- rural and lower socio-economic
riculum products, it is likely that
scientific visualisation is used as
was that they did not affect the peo-
ple adversely.
dents would be deprived of op- neighbourhoods. Internet access an educational tool. Curriculum The Government that came into
portunities for better communi- may pose a significant cost to the may not be easily updated nor power in 1970 (with the world’s first
cation and deeper understand- users in a digital university. Both very interactive. Use of email woman Prime Minister), which enact-
ing. Their computer literacy may students and facilitators must be may be effective for exchange of ed the 1972 constitution did away with
also deter them from adoption of able to use a variety of search en- information. Video conferencing the Senate which really helped the
new technology that may lead to gines and be comfortable navi- over the internet may not be a country to save a fair amount of other-
incomplete learning and low per- gating on the web, as well as be practical substitute. wise unnecessary expenditure. That
formance. familiar with newsgroups, FTP From the administrative government brought in people from
The performance of many procedures and e-mail. Even the point of view, the question of outside to positions in the Administra-
students at DeVry University in most sophisticated technology is accreditation becomes pertinent. tive Service. Some were very compe-
the US was examined some time not hundred per cent reliable. Where would the credits go? How tent persons, sometimes more com-
ago. The university offers online At the same time, to success- can Intellectual Property Rights petent than many of the officers from
and contact versions of all its fully participate in an online pro- be maintained? How will the the SLAS!
courses, using the same text- gramme of a digital university, issue of faculty control over con- With a change of government in
books, assessments, assign- students must be well-organised, tent and curriculum be preser- 1977 which brought in the UNP with a
ments, and lecture materials for self-motivated and possess a ved? These questions must be ad- large majority, its leader JR Jayewar-
each format. high degree of time management dressed initially. dene, decided to introduce a constitu-
Even though the courses are skills. An online teacher must The students may not be tion similar to those of France and the
seemingly identical, the students compensate for lack of physical able to reach dramatic moments United States.
who enrolled online performed presence by creating a support- that occasionally result in witti- But unlike in those countries, his
worse. As a result, the online stu- ive environment in a digital class- cism, humour and other such constitution of 1978 was drafted to
dents would be more likely to room where all students feel elements that help to enhance enable him to retain absolute power
drop out. The hardest hit would comfortable participating. the joy of the teaching-learning as the Executive President. He made
be the unwilling few and those Computer-related frustra- process. If a colourful presenta- use of the provisions of the constitu-
who enter the virtual classes with tion and the fear to face new thi- tion using PowerPoint fails to tion to hold a referendum to get the
low grades in their previous exa- ngs on the part of teachers may lead to a lively classroom discus- term of Parliament extended.
minations. make them unacceptable to stu- sion, it will be of no use. But the The next President did not abuse
The weaker students would dents. Digital class environment teacher on the dais in front of the power vested in the position except
be the worst sufferers. An over- means transfer of traditional pe- many students can do wonders. to antagonize many persons including
whelming advantage to student dagogy towards an electronic It is always challenging for the some of his cabinet colleagues.
learning by thrusting information pedagogy in which the teacher teacher in traditional mode to get At the presidential elections that
technology has not been per- becomes a facilitator of the learn- his point across without facial followed, the candidates promised
ceived as yet, when simple chalk- ing process. This new pedagogy gestures and vocal cues. He can to abolish the Executive Presidency,
and-talk methods could have presupposes that the teacher create classroom animation ~ the but when elected they did not keep to
done equally well. should be qualified in new tech- thrill of being with the students ~ their promise perhaps out of greed to
We have not thought of an niques. For many, it may be a which is absent online. enjoy the powers and privileges of the
equally good alternative to the threatening experience. (To Be Concluded) presidency.
editor@thestatesman.com
his attempt to a hold brief started her ‘agitation’. Was it
for Mamata Banerjee, it is illogical for Ratan Tata to CAB WOES
now amply clear that the demand land of his choice
Singur agitation was politi- when hundreds of crores SIR, Passengers arriving at Howrah station in the
cal rather than for the wel- were being invested? evening are facing a lot of difficulties boarding both
fare of farmers. The hapless farmers yellow as well as app-based cabs.
At that point of time, were the sole losers. Not The traditional yellow taxis come in a trickle to pre-
the Nano factory was des- only their sons lost the op- paid counters making passengers queue for more than
perately needed for Bengal portunity to become skilled an order.
which remained devoid of workers of Tata but they lost Consequently, most of the passengers, who are
any industry worth its name their land under heavy con- exhausted after their rail journey, leave the counters in
for long. crete too. disgust to look for an app-based taxi. But online cabs
A factory under the Tata 997 acres of land was have gone the yellow taxi way.
banner could have opened indeed the crux of the mat- The fare of Rs 200-230 in the morning surges to
the floodgates for ancillary ter. This tiny amount of land Rs 350-380 in the late evening. Drivers cancel the book-
as well as other big indus- paved the way for the rise of ing once they find the route distant or unprofitable. Both
tries to make forays in Ben- a political party and scuttled police and transport officials need to look into the mat-
gal. In order to fulfill her the industrial development ter to address the travellers’ travails.
political goals Mamata Ban- of our state. Yours, etc., Naushad Shahid,
erjee placed the gun on a Yours, etc., Ajoy Maitra, Kolkata, 2 November.
handful of farmers and Kolkata, 2 November.

Raising a toast to Ian Jack
BENJAMIN ZACHARIAH
A
t our last meeting, a pleasantly
rambling conversation at a
café on Highbury Corner, Ian
Jack and I had started talking
about family histories and of writing
about them. This week I was supposed
to meet him in London. I was on my
way to London when I received a short
text message from him: plans had
changed, and he wouldn’t be able to
meet me, he had collapsed on the
island of Bute and had had to be air-
lifted to Paisley, where he was now in
hospital. Would I also tell my aunt? I
did; two days later she texted me back:
‘Ian died’.
It is widely known that you only
really get to write about someone you
know well after he’s dead. You can then
write down all the things you wouldn’t
have told him, because they were too
sentimental, too intense, or too per-
sonal even to tell someone you were
close to; then you will delete them
from your piece, and write a com-
monplace article instead, telling of
their achievements and positive char-
acter traits. And if, as in this case, the
person was also something of a public
figure, you will take your place along-
side the obituary-writers who will tell
of similar things.
Left to myself, though, this is how
I would start my story: When newspa-
pers were still an important part of the
intellectual landscape of all literate
people, there was a Scotsman who
used to write about India and Britain.
He was a journalist with an historian’s
temperament, but fortunately he’d
never been to university, and he dis-
trusted academic writing. He man-
aged, when he was still a foreign corre-
spondent, to get expelled from India
during the Emergency. He used to be
married to my aunt, which complicat-
ed the family’s stories because her sis-
ter was also married to an Ian who
wrote for newspapers. He was fasci-
nated by the age of steam; his
metaphors were built of steamships
and railway journeys. When my sister
and I were still very young, he’d make
up stories for us, or little rhyming
poems, populated by personifications
of Bengali sweets (the adventures of
Satyajit Rabri, the travels of Laxmi Lad-
doo), illustrated in pen and ink; or he
would do a quick pen-and-ink sketch
of a steamship of the Cunard line on
an Atlantic crossing to New York.
When benefactors become villains
RAFIA ZAKARIA
I
n recent years, as Pakistan has
hurtled from one catastrophe to
another, remittances sent by Pak-
istani workers living abroad have
been a source of some small amount
of stability. When foreign investments
have seemed scant and aid packages
have dried up, workers sending money
back to families, investing in and pur-
chasing assets in their home country
has served as a reliable source of for-
eign exchange.
Now this once reliable source of
money entering the country also
appears to be threatened by both
global and domestic conditions.
According to the Economic Outlook
Report issued by the Ministry of
Finance, the first 10 months of 2022
have seen foreign remittances drop by
3.6 per cent to $7.7 billion.
Some analysts forecast that Pak-
istan’s removal from the Financial
Action Task Force ‘grey list’ will lead to
better numbers in the remainder of
the year as foreign investment sees an
uptick. This prediction, however, does
not seem to account for the current
political upheaval in the country fol-
lowing the murder of journalist Arshad
Sharif in Kenya and the initiation of
the latest long march and sit-in led by
PTI chief Imran Khan.
The removal of Pakistan from the
grey list may not deliver the country
from its deep economic woes. For
starters, the continuing catastrophe
created by the floods and their after-
CROSSWORD
As lightly as he held on to nostal-
gia, Ian keenly felt the romance of the
Indian Railways. He once wrote a
poem based on an Indian Railways
timetable involving the 41 Up and 59
Down trains (and he probably knew
exactly why they were so named). He
could lyrically describe the waiting
rooms in small railway stations across
India, and speak with genuine affec-
tion about Barkakhana Junction,
where you would change to a third-
class train with wooden slats for
benches and sit next to a man and his
goat for the last leg of the journey to
McKluskieganj. It was in keeping with
his spirit of respect for the industrial
age that he taught me what a Meccano
set was.
That, I think, would be a more
personal way of framing his life and
career. Ian Jack was born to Scottish
parents in Lancashire in 1945; his par-
ents moved back to Scotland when he
was about the age I was when I met
him, and he served his apprenticeship
as a journalist in Scotland, working for
the Glasgow Herald before moving to
London in 1970 to the Sunday Times,
for whom he went to India as a for-
eign correspondent in 1976. He helped
set up, and he edited, the Independent
on Sunday, from 1992 to 1995; when I
arrived in England in the autumn of
1994, I stopped in London, and Ian
gave me a short tour of its premises.
math means that much of the influx
of cash seen in recent months will
have to be utilised to stabilise the agri-
cultural sector.
Second, while removal from the
list means that Pakistan can issue
bonds, the otherwise underwhelming
performance of the majority of sectors
in the country, along with the contin-
uing threat of political instability,
means that Pakistan will not be able
to capitalise on these developments in
the manner that would have been
possible even a few weeks ago.
With few assurances about who
will retain power in Islamabad and
what they will do, one cannot fault for-
eign investors for being wary about
putting their money in a country that
seems to be jumping headlong into
YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required. (By arrangement with The Independent, London)
Standing high up over the London
docklands in the post-Thatcher real-
estate speculative landscape around
the Canary Wharf building that
housed the iOS, he looked out of one
window, towards the East India Com-
pany’s docks. ‘This’, he said, ‘is the
avenue of the rise of capitalism’. And,
looking out in the opposite direction:
‘this is the avenue of the decline of
capitalism’. As a long-term follower of
and writer on the life and work of
George Orwell (we discussed, a few
years later, the circumstances that had
turned Orwell into an informer for
British intelligence, betraying his com-
rades and betraying a slight tendency
to anti-Semitism that most of his fans
have chosen to overlook), Ian used the
term ‘capitalism’ as mild criticism. But
he also counted the Indian capitalist
G.D. Birla as a close-enough personal
acquaintance to have visited his house
on several occasions.
Then, from 1995 until 2007, Ian
edited the literary magazine Granta.
That a journalist by training should
have spent so large a proportion of his
career (a word he would have used
with irony) editing a literary journal
was not contradictory at all for a man
of his abilities. Ian Jack was more of
an essayist than a journalist, though
he began to write at the tail end of an
era when the two genres were closer to
one another, and a felicity with lan-
even more uncertainty than before.
Remittances received from migrant
workers living abroad make up almost
8.5 per cent of Pakistan’s GDP. Unlike
money from the World Bank, Asian
Development Bank and foreign govern-
ments, remittances do not add to debt
and do not need to be paid back.
For this reason, the comparison
of remittance amounts to these other
forms of capital inflow is inaccurate.
While the money coming in from
these other sources may prevent initial
shocks from the reduced remittances,
it is unlikely to do so in the long term.
If anything, it will draw even more
attention to whether Pakistan is going
to be able to service its existing debts.
It is possible that a reduction in
the official numbers for remittances
ACROSS
9 Old skeptic is one of six (7)
10 A new note delivered
`for receiver (7)
11 I’m beginning to
enjoy getting dressed
outside, it’s alleged (7)
12 Transfer around one
thousand, counted in tens (7)
13 Old toilet-trained
literary parvenu (9)
15 Marks’s partner
uncovered small change (5)
16 Start to consider
problem about losing
1,000 alpaca? (7)
19 In the past, resented
lunatic eating insects (7)
20 Layabout led astray in
CMYK
guage was not considered either pre-
tentious or an impediment to preci-
sion. The best of his long-form and
less ephemeral writing is to be found
in three collections of essays, Before
the Oil Ran Out (1987), The Country
Formerly Known as Great Britain
(2009), and Mofussil Junction (2013).
It was part of his remit, and of his
personality, to take writing very seri-
ously and to treat writers as slightly
ridiculous. After his twelve years at
Granta, he gave himself the well-
earned luxury of being a columnist for
the Guardian with slightly more time
for his own interests. One of the prod-
ucts of those interests was to have
been a history book, on shipbuilding
on the Clyde; it is still unfinished. His
sense of historical detail dated back to
an age before historical writing had
become more formulaic than the lurid
detective fiction of the 1950s. If there
were signs that history as a discipline
was losing its way then, it was those
outside the profession who were often
the first to notice.
Among Ian’s self-assigned tasks
was to take his educational duties as
avuncular figure by marriage serious-
ly; and this role he performed in a
pretty ruthless fashion. Aged ten, I
received from him Raymond Briggs’
Cold War comic-book album (there
was no such thing then as a ‘graphic
novel’), When the Wind Blows, which
narrates the slow and inevitable
deaths of an elderly couple, who had
survived the Second World War, to
post-nuclear attack radiation. I also
remember an impromptu quiz on
Beatles lyrics, after an idle remark on
my part that
I remembered all their lyrics: he
finally caught me out on ‘Her name
was McGill, she called herself Lil, but
everyone knew her as Nancy’. He once
wrote about me that I knew the works
of P.G. Wodehouse and the English
geographies they contained far better
than I ought to have without having
been to England; and I cannot recall
whether this was in part due to one of
his presents to me, N.T.P. Murphy’s In
Search of Blandings, about Wodehou-
sian geography, or whether that book
was his present to me to supplement
the knowledge he thought I had
already acquired. On my first trip to
England in 1989, he took me to meet
Hunter Davies, the official biographer
of the Beatles; we discussed Davies’
remark in the book about John
reflects not an actual decrease in the
amounts but rather a turn towards
unofficial means of transmitting
money such as hawala and hundi sys-
tems. The current political turmoil in
the country has created serious
doubts about the legitimacy and relia-
bility of procedures, whether it is legal
or financial institutions.
Undoubtedly, some migrant
workers may be reconsidering
whether they should send money
home via official financial channels
susceptible to government policies
changing without notice. Anything at
all can happen in Pakistan and that
uncertainty can direct many people to
use unofficial means.
It is beyond ironic, of course, that
the feudals, industrialists and politi-
cians that ply power in Pakistan
(between runaway trips to Dubai and
London) have invested much of their
money outside the country. Knowing
that their fortunes cannot be seized by
the country affords this class of people
endless solace.
They may not be dual nationals
but they know they can buy foreign
citizenship with their money. This
loophole allows them to present
themselves as true patriots of the Pak-
istani people who have chosen to stay
in the country as opposed to all the
middle classes who have left.
The truth is far from this. Middle-
class Pakistanis who have had to leave
the country and go elsewhere for jobs
are hardly traitors. Proof of this lies in
the fact of the remittances themselves:
centre of Beirut (5) refusal to drink coffee
21 Mum’s three sons from the south (6)
touring public school (9) 3 Clear out, getting rid
25 Leader of council of small stuff (4)
ushered back outside 4 Surrounded by a fog
with plan to make a enveloping first bit of
passionate speech (7) descent (6)
26 Examination of tart, 5 Imagine old man
turned over and stealing unknown
covered in honey (7) quantity of paper
28 Having enough money (8)
for alcohol? (7) 6 Put aside large
29 Quite a few leavers on building designed
a spree (7) primarily to support
farm animals (10)
7 Piece of music in
DOWN Omen maybe brought
1 Presided over police up as a reminder (8)
department that’s 8 Part of house finally
rotten (6) being fit on
2 Native American’s completion (5,3)
CMYK
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022
Lennon sending a postcard with Mus-
solini’s picture on it back to Brian
Epstein in England from India during
the Beatles’ Rishikesh sojourn with
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I asked to see
the postcard – and it wasn’t a picture
of Mussolini, it was of Subhas Chandra
Bose, in a uniform he had plagiarised
from Mussolini.
If you travelled with Ian, or
recounted to him a railway journey,
there was a good chance that he
would tell you the histories of specific
bridges in the industrial landscape
that you had passed on the way. In
1985, Ian bought us all tickets from the
small town of Starnberg to the smaller
town at the end of the line, Tutzing,
just for the joy of travelling on a Bavar-
ian local train. The tickets, in those
days, were cardboard rectangles with
printed station names, and had to be
physically clipped; the journey was the
point, der Weg ist das Ziel.
For a few years, our communica-
tion and meetings were very sporadic.
Those were the years he was raising a
family, and I was starting an academic
career that I found increasingly sti-
fling. When we reconnected properly
in the early 2000s, I told him that aca-
demic writing was a dead end: few
people read it, academics wrote badly,
and the whole venture of academics
had been fatally compromised in a
number of ways. He looked at me
rather as one looks at a backward child
who has just stumbled upon the self-
evident, and promised to read my first
novel when it was written (it still isn’t).
One of the privileges given to me
as ex-nephew and fellow-writer in
recent years was the occasional gate-
crashing of the regular meetings in
London of the two Ians, my father and
Ian Jack, ex-husbands of the two
Bagchi sisters, who would talk of
newspapers, people they had known
together, and the changes that the
world had been through. Our conver-
sations in post-pandemic times were
punctuated by a sense of wonder that
the primary job of any writer now was,
allegedly, to offend no one, even those
who had been waiting to be offended
without offering the writer the cour-
tesy of reading their work. On the 31st
of October, my father’s birthday, we
raised a toast (Scotch, of course) to Ian
Jack, and to the lives he had lived.
(The writer is a historian, currently studying
the politics of the uses of history.)
these Pakistanis are choosing to send
the money that they earn back home
to pay for school fees, necessary med-
ical procedures, the upkeep of parents
and siblings, investment in property
or in a business, etc. They too have the
option to put away money in ‘foreign’
bank accounts but they put their faith
in Pakistan.
Despite this, they are often por-
trayed as traitors simply because they
have taken jobs abroad.
Such is the trickery of the very
rich in Pakistan that they manage to
turn the poor against the people who
have just a little bit more. In this way,
Pakistan’s very wealthy continue to
insulate themselves from economic
shocks: whichever government is in
power makes sure to provide the par-
ticular people (all too often perceived
to be thieves) it has assembled in its
cabinet with a cut that can be safely
stowed abroad.
Remittances are wanted in Pak-
istan but the workers who produce the
mare treated with ignominy and disre-
spect and labelled traitors for having
left the country. In the meantime, the
real traitors who are fixtures regard-
less of whichever political party is in
power, fill their coffers with money
borrowed in the name of the country.
Pakistan has many tragedies playing
out these days; the inability to distin-
guish between the real thieves and the
real benefactors is just another one of
them.
Dawn/ANN.
NO-292242
14 Damaged condition of
patients before and
after a doctor has
seen them?
(3-7)
16 It’s naive to refrigerate
unfinished food (8)
17 Spy enigmatic clue?
Just a bit (8)
18 Bug in the house – it’s
muted, curiously (4,4)
22 Reveal sources of new
material in University
Challenge (6)
23 Regularly re-enact our
rep performance again (6)
24 It’s shrewd to stifle a
triumphant cry on
one’s own (6)
27 Winger went to ground
easily in the US (4)
07
100 YEARS AGO
OCCASIONAL NOTE
Calcutta is destined to be the Charing
Cross of the world, in civil aviation,
according to Mr. Villiers, who has a good
claim to speak with authority on the sub-
ject. No doubt he is right, but the prospect
is slow in coming, and we have grown so
accustomed to indefinite prophecies of
future development in air navigation that
such forecasts hardly have a thrill left in
them. The only promising scheme at pre-
sent before the public which might enable
Calcutta to fulfil its role as a main station
on the air route from England to Australia
is Commander Burney's project, the
prospects of which do not appear yet to
be definitely determined and which in any
case could not come to maturity for sever-
al years. Meantime why should Calcutta
depend on London schemes? A recently
published report showed that civil avia-
tion in India is not so unprogressive as
might have been imagined, and amongst
other points to which the Air Board has
given attention is the old idea of an air ser-
vice between Calcutta and Rangoon. From
Mr. Villiers' lecture it appears that such a
scheme, which would reduce to a matter
of hours a journey of two or three days by
sea, affords a good example of the direc-
tions in which civil aviation should be spe-
cially useful. There is no immediate
prospect, however of getting even this
local service.
NEWS ITEMS
LORD INCHCAPE IN
INDIA
BOMBAY, NOV 3
Lord Inchcape, Chairman of the Indian
Retrenchment Committee, accompanied
by Lady Inchcape and the Hon. Elsie
Mackay, arrived in Bombay this morning
in the mail steamer Morea. Sir Arthur
Froom and other P. and O. officials met his
lordship on board. Soon after landing,
Lord Inchcape left for Delhi in a special
train from the mole station. Lord Inchcape
was very busy throughout the hour and
thirty minutes that elapsed between the
arrival of the Morea and the departure of
his train, bidding good-bye to fellow pas-
sengers and discussing things with the P.
and O. officials. I managed, however, to
secure an interview with his lordship
before he left to undertake his task of
putting India's finances in order. When
pressed he declined altogether to discuss
the subject.
MR. COTTON
ENTERTAINED AT
BOMBAY
BOMBAY, NOV 3
At a reception accorded by the Western
India National Liberal Association at the
Taj Mahal Hotel this evening to Mr. H.E.A.
Cotton, president of the Bengal Legisla-
tive Council, Sir Dinshaw Wacha, the pres-
ident of the Association, referred to Mr.
Cotton's father, the late Sir Henry Cotton,
who was held in high esteem by the peo-
ple of India. It was a curious coincidence,
observed Sir Dinshaw, that the son of so
popular a father was going to be the presi-
dent of the Bengal Legislature and he felt it
a peculiar pleasure to welcome Mr. Cot-
ton. Mr. Cotton said that, having been
associated with India for a long time, he
had learnt to look upon India in the same
way as he did upon his own country.
DEATH OF
CALCUTTA
BARRISTER
The death occurred early yesterday morn-
ing in the Presidency General Hospital, of
Mr. Reginald Praunfield, a well-known
member of the Calcutta Bar. Mr. Braun-
field was admitted to the hospital at 2 P.M.
the previous day in an unconscious con-
dition, and died fifteen hours later from
cerebral haemorrhage. Mr. Braunfield was
born in India in 1842. He took his M.A.
degree in England and was called to the
Bar in April, 1869, at Lincoln's Inn. A few
years later he returned to India and was
admitted to the Calcutta High Court in
February, 1877. At the time of his death he
was the senior member of the Calcutta
High Court Bar. The late Mr. Braunfield
was for thirty years a commissioner of the
Calcutta Corporation. He was also Presi-
dent of the Indian Seamen's Union.
IS ENVER PASHA
REALLY DEAD?
The vexed question of Enver Pasha's death
cannot yet be regarded as conclusively set-
tled. There is a growing volume of opinion
on the frontier which discredits the whole
story of Enver's death and looks forward
to his reappearance in the near future. The
fact that those who support this theory are
at a loss to explain his disappearance since
July last from the central Asian area does
not appear to shake their confidence,
declares the Pioneer. But the fact remains
that this belief prevails and, in view of its
persistence, it cannot be lightly rejected
on the principle of the wish being father
to the thought. In this connection it is
interesting to note that recent reports indi-
cate a recrudescence of rebel activity
against the Bolsheviks in trans-Caspia.
08
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022
THUMBNAILS
UCO Bank announces finan-
cial results: UCO Bank has
made net profit of
Rs.504.52 cr during the quar-
ter ended September 2022
as against net profit of
Rs.205.39 cr in the quarter
ended September 2021 reg-
istering a growth of
145.64%. On the other hand,
operating profit of the bank
for the quarter September
2022 stood at Rs. 1189.78
crore as against Rs. 1334.15
cr for the quarter ended
September 2021. SNS
ITC strengthens 360-degree
water stewardship inter-
ventions: ITC Limited, one
of Indias leading multi-busi-
ness conglomerates, has
forged as many as 50 Pub-
lic-Private Partnerships
(PPPs) with the govern-
ment and other institutions
as part of its integrated
and holistic initiatives to
achieve water security and
rural empowerment across
India. ITC's 360-degree
water stewardship pro-
gramme is in alignment
with the government's key
water initiatives including
'Jal Shakti Abhiiyan'. 'Atal
Bhujal Yojana' and 'More
Crop Per Drop'. IANS
‘We must become a
quality-conscious nation’
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
Union Minister for Commerce
and Industry Piyush Goyal
today said India needed to
become a quality-conscious
nation and adopt quality as an
integral part of the process of
laying the foundation of
becoming a developed nation
by 2047.
''Until India becomes a
leader in quality, it will not be
able to become a developed
economy,'' he said addressing
Bank of England makes biggest SC asks AIIMS to examine health of
interest rate hike in 30 years DHFL ex-CMD, seeks report within week
AGENCIES
LONDON, 03 NOVEMBER
The Bank of England made
its biggest interest rate increase
in three decades Thursday,
joining the U.S. Federal
Reserve and other central
banks worldwide in rapid
hikes as it tries to beat back
stubbornly high inflation
fueled by Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine and the disastrous
economic policies of former
Prime Minister Liz Truss.
The central bank boosted
its key rate by three-quarters
of a percentage point, to 3%,
after consumer price inflation
returned to a 40-year high in
September. The aggressive
move comes even as the bank
predicted a two-year eco-
India’s services sector recovers some
growth momentum it lost in September
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
Services activity in India recov-
ered some of the growth
momentum lost in the prior
month with October's Pur-
chasing Managers' Index
(PMI) printing coming at 55.1
as against a six-month low of
54.3 in September.
The indices vary between
0 and 100, with a reading
above 50 indicating an over-
all increase compared to the
previous month, and below
50 an overall decrease.
Favourable demand for serv-
ices continued to underpin the
FM launches biggest-ever
coal mine auction
Sitharaman said that twelve states were to benefit directly from the auction
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
U
nion Finance Min-
ister Nirmala
Sitharaman today
launched the
biggest-ever coal mine auc-
tion of 141 mines, saying a fast-
growing economy like India
needed greater investment
in coal production and gasi-
fication projects.
Launching the 6th round
of coal mine auction of the
Ministry of Coal, she observed
that India was at present the
best investment destination
in the world.
The minister claimed that
due to policy consistency and
the transparent process of
the present government, coal
imports for the power sector
have come down by 41 per
cent. The finance minister
said that twelve states were to
benefit directly from today’s
auction.
Complementing the Coal
the inaugural session of the
Bureau of Indian Standards
seminar on emerging global
trends in laboratories of
Atmanirbhar Bharat.
To become a global man-
ufacturing power, Goyal said,
India would have to expand
its manufacturing ecosystem
and also implement high-
quality standards for the goods
and services that it offered.
He said the Bureau of Indi-
an Standards (BIS) was a very
important element in this
entire ecosystem. He also
nomic contraction through
June 2024, which would be the
longest recession since at
least 1955, according to the
Office for National Statis-
tics.
“If we don’t take action to
bring inflation down, it gets
worse,” Bank of England Gov.
Andrew Bailey told reporters.
“There’s no easy outcome in
this sense.” Even so, the cen-
tral bank should not increase
its key rate too far, he said,
but with uncertainties ahead,
policymakers will “respond
forcefully” if needed.
The interest rate decision
is the first since Truss’ gov-
ernment announced 45 bil-
lion pounds ($52 billion) of
unfunded tax cuts that
sparked turmoil on finan-
increase in new business and
output at the start of the third
quarter of the current finan-
cial year.
"Buoyed by the ongoing
Ministry for the recent ini-
tiatives to unlock the coal
sector, Sitharaman said that
mining sector reforms were
providing the right fillip to
India's fast-growing economy.
The Finance Ministry would
''Until India becomes a
leader in quality, it
will not be able to
become a developed
economy,'' he said
addressing the inau-
gural session of the
Bureau of Indian Stan-
dards seminar on
emerging global
trends in laboratories
of Atmanirbhar
Bharat.
lauded BIS for playing a cat-
alytic role in the success of the
Make in India programme.
Emphasising the need for
BIS to reassess its own process-
es and reorient itself to be in
sync with modern require-
ments, Goyal said all three pil-
lars of BIS --standards creation,
ensuring adequate lab testing
facilities across the country,
and certification of products
and processes -- have to
become much more con-
temporary and technology-
driven.
He said that a mapping of
India’s laboratory infrastruc-
ture has been done. This would
help in assessing the critical
gaps in testing infrastructure
across the country.
cial markets, pushed up mort-
gage costs and forced Truss
from office after just six
weeks. Her successor, Rishi
Sunak, has warned of spend-
ing cuts and tax increases as
he seeks to undo the damage
and show that Britain is com-
mitted to paying its bills.
“High energy, food and
other bills are hitting people
hard. Households have less
to spend on other things.
This has meant that the size
of the UK economy has start-
ed to fall,” the bank said in
its November monetary pol-
icy report.
The rate increase is the
Bank of England’s eighth in
a row and the biggest
since 1992.
recovery in new work, service
providers again took on extra
staff, with an improvement in
business confidence also sup-
porting hiring activity.
5G wireless fibre presents significant opportunities in regions such as India and
other developing economies that have just started to deploy 5G networks.
be extending all help for coal
gasification and incentives
in commercial mining, she fur-
ther added.
Addressing the function
Coal, Mines & Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi
Asia stocks fall after Fed says
more US rate hikes likely
AGENCIES
BEIJING, 03 NOVEMBER
Asian stock markets tumbled
Thursday after the Federal
Reserve added to recession
fears by saying it wasn’t fin-
ished raising U.S. interest
rates to cool inflation.
Hong Kong’s benchmark
lost 3.1%. Shanghai, Seoul
and Sydney also followed Wall
Street lower after the Fed on
Wednesday raised its key rate
to the highest level in 15 years.
Oil prices declined while the
euro stayed below 99 cents.
Wall Street’s benchmark
S&P 500 index plunged 2.5%
after the Fed raised its short-
term lending rate by 0.75 per-
centage points, three times its
usual margin, for a fourth
time this year.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell
reinforced expectations of
more rate hikes, saying “we
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
The Supreme Court on
Thursday asked the direc-
tor of the AIIMS Delhi to form
a team of doctors to exam-
ine the health of former
Dewan Housing Finance
Ltd (DHFL) CMD Kapil Wad-
hawan, accused of money
laundering in the multi-
crore Yes Bank fraud case,
and sought a report within
a week.
Senior advocate Mukul
Rohatgi, representing Wad-
hawan, submitted before a
bench comprising Justices
K.M. Joseph and Hrishikesh
Roy that his client has under-
gone five surgeries and
sought his immediate release
on medical grounds. Addi-
The latest results also
showed mild accelerations
in inflation rates for input
costs and output charges," S&P
Global India said in a state-
ment. The headline index
was above the neutral 50.0
thresholds for the fifteenth
month running and outpaced
its long-run average. Accord-
ing to survey participants,
sustained increases in new
business boosted service out-
put.
At the sub-sector level,
consumer services led the
growth of business activity, new
orders and employment.
Finance and insurance came
PHOTO SUBRATA DUTTA
said the Coal Ministry was
exploring alternative method-
ologies for enhanced use of
coal. He said the Finance Min-
istry has extended Rs. 6000
crore incentive for coal gasi-
fication and Rs. 250 crores for
have a ways to go.” He said it
would be “very premature” to
consider pausing.
“Recession risks are rising,
but that is the price the Fed is
prepared to pay to get infla-
tion under control,” said James
Knightley, Padhraic Garvey
and Chris Turner of ING in a
report. The Hang Seng in Hong
Kong shed 488 points to
15,338.85 and Sydney’s S&P-
ASX 200 fell 1.9% to 6,855.40.
The Shanghai Composite Index
slipped 0.2% to 2,997.46. Japan-
ese markets were closed for a
holiday. The Kospi in Seoul
declined 0.6% to 2,322.11.
New Zealand and Southeast
Asian markets also fell.
The Fed and central banks
in Europe and Asia have raised
rates aggressively this year to
stop inflation that is running
at multi-decade highs. Investors
worry that might tip the glob-
al economy into recession.
tional Solicitor General S.V.
Ra j u , re p re s e n t i n g t h e
Enforcement Directorate,
said he can be looked after
in jail and opposed granti-
ng bail to Wadhawan.
The ED arrested Kapil
Wadhawan and his brother
Dheeraj Wadhawan under
the provisions of the Pre-
vention of Money Laun-
dering Act (PMLA), after
registration of a CBI FIR.
Rohatgi pressed that his
client is entitled to go for
treatment of his choice and
requires constant medical
attention which is not pos-
sible in jail.
Noting that it is trying to
balance both claims, the
bench said, "We feel that the
applicant must be taken
immediately and examined
in second place in the rank-
ings for these three meas-
ures, while the statement said
that transport, information and
communication were at the
bottom.
"The October results show
us that service providers had
no trouble securing new work
in October, despite lifting
their charges again. Hence, the
sector remained firmly inside
expansion territory as business
activity and payroll numbers
were raised to support strength-
ening demand," said Pollyan-
na De Lima, Economics Asso-
ciate Director at S&P Global
Market Intelligence.
CRISTIANO AMON
PRESIDENT AND CEO OF CHIP-MAKER QUALCOMM
the exploration process. Dur-
ing the biggest auction under-
taken so far, today 141 mines
pertaining to eleven states
have been auctioned.
Joshi said that previously
auctioned mines have start-
ed production and hoped
that 10 to 15 million tonnes
of coal would be produced
from new mines by next year.
As per the review done the
other day, the Ministry of
Coal was anticipating 900
million tonne coal production
this year, he added.
Altogether, 133 coal mines
were put up for auction in the
6th round of commercial auc-
tions, out of which 71 are
new coal mines and 62 coal
mines are rolling over from ear-
lier tranches of commercial
auctions. Additionally, eight
coal mines under the sec-
ond attempt of the fifth round
of commercial auctions were
included for which single
bids were received in the first
attempt.
‘India aims to convert energy
challenges into opportunities’
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
Petroleum Minister Hardeep
Puri on Thursday said that as
India is facing certain chal-
lenges, the Central govern-
ment's attempt is to convert
these challenges into oppor-
tunities.
"India today is clearly an
India in transition," he said
while addressing the India
Chem 2022, organised by
industry body FICCI and Min-
istry of Chemicals and Fer-
tilisers.
by doctors of various disci-
plines on the basis of med-
First in 20 years, currency in circulation
declines in busy Diwali week: SBI
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
In a remarkable development
for the first time in 20 years,
currency in circulation declined
during this year's busy Diwali
week.
Innovations in technology
have changed the Indian pay-
ment system over the years and
`crosses 83 against dollar
after US Fed rate hike
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
The rupee on Thursday crossed
the 83-mark against the US dol-
lar, hours after the US Fed hiked
interest rates for the fourth time
this year. It touched 83.08
before ending the day at 83.02.
The rupee had earlier
opened at 83 against the dol-
lar.
The US Federal Reserve
on Wednesday raised key rates
by 75 basis points, the fourth
such hike by it this year, to cur-
tail rising inflation.
The chairman of US Fed,
Jerome Powell, was quoted as
Puri while speaking on the
high global energy prices,
stated that "we have been
able to navigate global prices.
Clearly when prices are high,
the situation will be infla-
tionary".
The minister further stat-
ed: "We are taking corrective
measures including the new
pipeline and other innovative
steps like introduction of
solar cooker, which in the
coming months will make a
major impact in lowering the
demand for domestic kitchen
energy because it will feed on
ical reports".
It added that to facilitate
the Indian cash-led economy
now has changed to a smart-
phone-led payment economy,
said SBI Research in its latest
Ecowrap report.
"The success of the digital
journey is primarily due to the
relentless push by the Gov-
ernment to formalize and
digitalize the economy. Fur-
ther, the interoperable pay-
saying by reports that the
bank is firmly committed to
lowering inflation.
The aggressive rate hike
by the Federal Reserve will put
further pressure on the stock
markets globally, especially
on rising economies like India.
The already weakened
rupee too is likely to be impact-
ed. While the rupee has crossed
the 83 mark against the US dol-
lar on quite a few occasions
this week in anticipation of the
US Fed announcing a rate
hike, now that it has actually
happened, the domestic cur-
rency may weaken further, as
was visible on Thursday.
the natural sunlight."
He highlighted that Indi-
an economy is growing at a
rate of 7 per cent, and ener-
gy is a critical driver of growth.
"Our refining capacity,
which currently stands at
about 252 million metric per
annum and is likely to go up
to about 400 million metric
tonnes per annum in the
coming years. We are also
transiting from the fossil fuel
based energy to a greener
energy including solar, wind
and compressed biogas," he
added.
a proper report, the direc-
tor of AIIMS should consti-
tute a team of doctors
required to carry out eval-
uation and a report should
be submitted in the court
within a week.
The apex court has sched-
uled the matter for further
hearing on November 10.
The CBI had registered
the case in connection with
alleged suspicious loans
granted by Yes Bank and
the quid pro quo between
its co-promoter Rana Kapoor
and the Wadhawan broth-
ers.
The investigation agen-
cies have alleged that Rs
3,700 crore was invested by
Yes Bank in short term non-
convertible debentures of
DHFL between April and
ments systems like UPI, Wal-
lets and PPIs have made it sim-
ple and cheaper to transfer
money digitally, even for those
who don't have bank
accounts," the report authored
by Group Chief Economic
Advisor Soumya Kanti Ghosh
said.
"Over the years, the system
has expanded rapidly with
new innovations like QR code,
NFC etc, and has also seen the
swift entry of big tech firms in
this industry," Ghosh added.
The rise in digital pay-
ments, the report said, is a win-
win for both RBI and the gov-
ernment, as it results in sav-
ing of seignorage costs and also
a less cash economy.
 CMYK

09
When in politics words like killing and burning are used,when
politicians say such words, their followers get licence …
PAKISTAN DEFENCE MINISTER KHAWAJA ASIF
AFTER THE ATTACK ON FORMER PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022

N Korea keeps up its missile Pope presses Muslim dialogue

in first papal visit to Bahrain
barrage with launch of ICBM ASSOCIATED PRESS
VATICAN CITY, 3 NOVEMBER
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sis-
tani, one of the world’s pre-
eminent Shiite clerics.
The launches are the latest in a series of N Korean weapons that have raised tensions in the region Pope Francis is bringing his Francis will meet again
ASSOCIATED PRESS according to South Korea’s to maintain a normal flight fol- message of dialogue with the this week in Bahrain with al-
SEOUL, 3 NOVEMBER military. lowing a stage separation. Muslim world to the kingdom Tayeb, as well as other promi-
It wasn’t immediately clear The Japanese government of Bahrain, where the Sunni- nent figures in the interfaith

A
larms blared from cell-
phones, radios and
public loudspeakers
and fishermen hurried
back to shore in northern
Japan on Thursday after North
Korea fired an interconti-
nental ballistic missile above
its eastern waters, adding to
a recent barrage of provoca-
tive weapons demonstrations
that officials say may culmi-
nate with a nuclear test in com-
ing weeks.
The ICBM test, which was
followed by two short-range
ballistic launches into the
sea, was swiftly condemned
by North Korea’s neighbors and
the United States, which said
it is willing to take “all neces-
sary measures” to ensure the
safety of the American home-
land and allies South Korea and
Japan.
The Biden administration
also warned of unspecified
“additional costs and conse-
quences” if North Korea goes
on to detonate a nuclear test
device for the first time since
September 2017.
The launches are the lat-
est in a series of North Kore-
an weapons tests in recent
months that have raised ten-
sions in the region. They came
a day after the North fired more
than 20 missiles, the most it
has launched in a single day
ever.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs
of Staff said it detected that
North Korea fired an ICBM
from an area near its capital,
Pyongyang, at about 7:40 a.m.
and then two short-range
missiles an hour later from the
nearby city of Kaechon that
flew toward its eastern waters.
The longer-range missile
appeared to be fired at a high
angle, possibly to avoid enter-
ing the territory of neighbors,
reaching a maximum alti-
tude of 1,920 kilometers (1,193
miles) and traveling around
760 kilometers (472 miles),
whether the launch was suc-
cessful.
Japan’s military announced
similar flight details. It also said
it lost track of one of the
North Korean weapons, appar-
ently the ICBM, after it “dis-
appeared” in skies above
waters between the Korean
Peninsula and Japan. South
Korea said the short-range
missiles traveled about 330
kilometers (91 miles), falling
closer to North Korea’s east-
ern coast.
Choi Yong Soo, a South
Korean navy captain who
handles public affairs for
Seoul’s Defense Ministry, did-
n’t answer directly when asked
about the possibility of the
ICBM launch being a failure,
saying that it is still being
analyzed.
Citing anonymous mili-
tary sources, South Korea’sYon-
hap news agency reported
that the missile possibly failed
initially feared North Korea
fired a missile over its north-
ern territory but later adjust-
ed its assessment. Japanese
Chief Cabinet Secretary
Hirokazu Matsuno said the
alerts were based on a tra-
jectory analysis that indicat-
ed a flyover.
The office of Japanese
Prime Minister Fumio Kishi-
da broadcast the “J-Alert”
warnings through television,
radio, mobile phones and
public loudspeakers to resi-
dents of the northern pre-
fectures of Miyagi, Yamagata
and Niigata, instructing them
to go inside strong buildings
or underground.
There have been no reports
of damage or injuries in the
regions where the alerts were
issued. Bullet train services in
some areas were temporari-
ly suspended following the mis-
sile alert before resuming
shortly.
led government is hosting an
interfaith conference on East-
West coexistence even as it
stands accused of discrimi-
nating against the country’s
Shiite majority.
Human rights groups and
relatives of Shiite activists on
death row have urged Fran-
cis to use his visit, which
begins Thursday, to call for an
end to the death penalty and
political repression in Bahrain.
But it’s not clear if Francis will
publicly embarrass his hosts
during his four-day visit, the
first of any pontiff to the
island nation in the Persian
Gulf.
The 85-year-old pope, who
has been using a wheelchair
for several months because of
strained knee ligaments, said
Thursday he was in “a lot of
pain” as he headed to Bahrain,
and for the first time greeted
journalists travelling with
him while seated rather than
walking through the aisle.
Francis has long touted
dialogue as an instrument of
peace and believes a show of
interfaith harmony is need-
ed, especially now given Rus-
sia’s war in Ukraine and region-
al conflicts, such as in Yemen.
On the eve of the trip, Fran-
cis asked for prayers so that
the trip will promote “the
cause of brotherhood and of
peace, of which our times
are in extreme and urgent
need.” The visit is Francis’ sec-
ond to a Gulf Arab country, fol-
lowing his 2019 landmark
trip to Abu Dhabi, where he
signed a document promot-
ing Catholic-Muslim fraternity
with a leading Sunni cleric,
Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayeb. Al-
Tayeb is the grand imam of Al-
Azhar, the seat of Sunni learn-
ing in Cairo. Francis followed
that with a 2021 visit to Iraq,
where he was received by
field who are expected to
attend the conference, which
is similar to one hosted last
month by Kazakhstan that
Francis and el-Tayeb also
attended. Members of the
regional Muslim Council of
Elders, the spiritual leader of
the world’s Orthodox Chris-
tians, Patriarch Bartholomew,
a representative from the
Russian Orthodox Church
and rabbis from the United
States are all expected, accord-
ing to the Bahrain program.
The trip will also allow
Francis to minister to Bahrain’s
Catholic community, which
numbers around 80,000 in a
country of around 1.5 million.
Most are workers hailing from
the Philippines and India,
though trip organizers expect
pilgrims from Saudi Arabia and
other neighboring countries
will attend Francis’ big Mass
at the national stadium on Sat-
urday.

Germany’s Olaf Scholz makes
difficult visit to assertive China
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BERLIN, 3 NOVEMBER
Chancellor Olaf Scholz is
making his first visit to China
as German leader this week,
a diplomatically delicate trip
while Germany and the Euro-
pean Union work on their
strategy toward an increasingly
assertive and authoritarian Bei-
jing.
Scholz’s messages will face
close scrutiny. While his near-
ly year-old government has sig-
naled a departure from pre-
decessor Angela Merkel’s firm-
ly trade-first approach, he is
taking a business delegation
and his trip follows domes-
tic discord over a Chinese
shipping company’s invest-
ment in a German container
South Koreans ashamed over safety failures in Halloween tragedy
about everything, but we don’t
do so, and I think that’s the
terminal. The leader of Europe’s
biggest economy will meet
President Xi Jinping and Pre-
mier Li Keqiang during Friday’s
one-day visit. With China still
imposing tough COVID-19
restrictions, his delegation
won’t stay in Beijing overnight.
Scholz’s visit, the first
recently by a major EU leader,
comes just after Xi was named
to a third term as head of the
ruling Communist Party and
promoted allies who support
his vision of tighter control over
society and the economy. It
is also accompanied by rising
tensions over Taiwan and fol-
lows a U.N. report that said
Chinese human rights viola-
tions against Uyghurs and
other ethnic groups may
amount to “crimes against
Nam, 60, who runs a jewelry Suk Yeol acknowledged that
shop in Seoul. “I feel really sorry South Korea lacks studies on
humanity.”
A senior German official,
who briefed reporters on con-
dition of anonymity in line with
department rules, charac-
terized the visit as “an
exploratory trip” to find out
“where China stands, where
China is going and what forms
of cooperation are possible
with this specific China in the
current global situation.”
The official pointed to
China’s “particular respon-
sibility” as an ally of Russia to
help end the war in Ukraine
and press Moscow to tone
down its nuclear rhetoric; to
concerns over tensions in
Taiwan and the broader region;
to Germany’s desire for a
“level playing field” in eco-
nomic relations.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, 3 NOVEMBER
When Kim Kap Soo watched
live broadcasts of the har-
rowing Halloween party crush
that killed more than 150
people in Seoul last weekend,
there was shock and sadness
— but also the embarrassed
realization that this wasn’t
the first time he’d seen South
Korea suffer a devastating
disaster as a result of official
incompetence and safety fail-
ures.
“My heart is aching very
much. We are among the
world’s 10 largest economies,
and I totally don’t understand
how this can happen in our
nation,” said Kim, 73, a retired
environmental engineering
researcher. “Our public insen-
sitivity to safety is too severe.
We should always be careful
biggest problem.”
The crowd crush Satur-
day in Itaewon, a popular
nightlife district, has caused
an outpouring of public sym-
pathy toward the dead, most-
ly in their 20s and 30s, and
demands for accountability for
the tragedy.
But many also share a
strong feeling of embarrass-
ment and anger that their
country, a cultural and eco-
nomic powerhouse that has
risen from war, poverty and
dictatorships, still ignores
safety and regulatory issues.
Similar crowd crushes have
happened in other developed
countries in recent years, but
the death counts there were
much smaller than in Itaewon,
where 156 people died and 187
were injured.
There are growing ques-
tions here about why South
Korea hasn’t learned its lessons
since the 2014 sinking of the
ferry Sewol, which killed 304
people — mostly teenagers on
a school trip. That disaster also
prompted national soul-
searching on the country’s
failure to enforce safety and
regulatory rules.
“When it comes to public
safety, I think we aren’t an
advanced nation at all, though
we might have grown eco-
nomically,” said Park You
and guilty for those young vic-
tims because we all failed to
protect them.”
From K-pop superstars
BTS and Netflix’s megahit
drama “Squid Game” to Sam-
sung-made smartphones and
Hyundai cars, South Korea’s
recent cultural and econom-
ic achievements have been
remarkable.
But there’s a dark side to its
breakneck rise from the
extreme poverty of the 1950
and 60s: Critics say basic safe-
ty practices, social safety nets
and minority voices have
been largely overlooked.
Not much has changed
since the ferry sinking, these
critics say, citing a series of
smaller deadly incidents such
as fires and boat accidents.
On Tuesday, President Yoon
crowd management and
ordered officials to formu-
late effective crowd control
methods based on high-tech
resources such as drones.
Police also said they don’t
have guidelines to deal with
crowd surges at events that
have no official organizers, like
the Halloween festivities in Itae-
won.
Park Sangin, a professor at
Seoul National University,
said the Itaewon crush showed
that South Koreans haven’t
done much to improve systems
and policies to prevent sim-
ilar man-made disasters like
the ferry sinking.
He said South Koreans
have focused instead on find-
ing, criticizing and punishing
anyone responsible each time
an incident occurs.

As Israel’s far right parties celebrate, Palestinians shrug

ASSOCIATED PRESS
RAMALLAH, 3 NOVEMBER
The apparent comeback of for-
mer Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu and the dramat-
ic rise of his far-right and
ultra-Orthodox allies in Israel’s
general election this week
have prompted little more
than shrugs from many Pales-
tinians.
“It’s all the same to me,” Said
Issawiy, a vendor hawking
nectarines in the main al-
Manara Square of Ramallah,
said of Netanyahu replacing
centrist Yair Lapid and poised
to head the most right-wing
government in Israel’s histo-
ry.
Over the past month,
Issawiy had struggled to get
to work in Ramallah from his
home in the city of Nablus after
the Israeli army blocked sev-
eral roads in response to a wave
of violence in the northernWest
Bank. “I’m just trying to eat and
work and bring something
back to my kids,” he said.
Some view the likely victory
for Netanyahu and his open-
ly anti-Palestinian allies, includ-
ing ultranationalist lawmak-
er Itamar Ben-Gvir who wants
to end Palestinian autono-
my in parts of the occupied
West Bank, as a new blow to
the Palestinian national pro-
ject. The sharp rightward shift
of Israel’s political establish-
ment pushes long-dormant
peace negotiations even fur-
ther out of reach and deepens
the challenges facing 87-year-
old President Mahmoud Abbas,
whose autocratic Palestinian
Authority already seemed to
many Palestinians as little
more than an arm of the Israeli
security forces.
“If you want to use the
metaphor of a ‘nail in the cof-
fin of the Palestinian Author-
ity,’ that was done earlier,” said
Ghassan Khatib, a former
Palestinian peace negotiator
and Cabinet minister. “This
election is another step in
that same direction.”
During his 12 years in
power, before being voted
out in 2021, Netanyahu showed
scant interest in engaging
with the Palestinians. Under
his leadership, Israel vastly
expanded its population of
West Bank settlers — now
some 500,000 — and retroac-
tively legalized settler out-
posts built on private Pales-
tinian land.
The measures have
entrenched Israel’s occupation,
now in its 56th year since
Israel captured the territory
during the 1967 Mideast war.
Palestinians see succes-
sive Israeli governments as
seeking to solidify a bleak sta-
tus quo in the West Bank:
Palestinian enclaves divided
by growing Israeli settlements
and surrounded by Israeli
forces.
“We had no illusion that this
next government would be a
partner for peace,” said Ahmad
Majdalani, a minister in the
Palestinian Authority. “It’s the
opposite, we see a campaign
of incitement that began more
than 15 years ago as Israel drift-
ed toward extremism.”
The Gaza Strip’s militant
Hamas rulers said the election
outcome would “not change
the nature of the conflict.”
But for the first time, surg-
ing support for Israel’s far
right has made the Jewish
supremacist party of Ben-
Gvir the third-largest in the
Israeli parliament.
Ben-Gvir and his allies
hope to grant immunity to
Israeli soldiers who shoot at
Palestinians, deport rival law-
makers and impose the death
penalty on Palestinians con-
victed of attacks on Jews. Ben-
Gvir is the disciple of a racist
rabbi, Meir Kahane, who was
banned from parliament and
whose Kach party was brand-
ed a terrorist group by the Unit-
ed States before he was assas-
sinated in New York in 1990.
On the campaign trail,
Ben-Gvir grabbed headlines
for his anti-Palestinian speech-
es and stunts — recently bran-
dishing a pistol and encour-
aging police to open fire on
Palestinian stone-throwers in
a tense Jerusalem neighbor-
hood.
Some Palestinians have
found reason for optimism.
After Tuesday’s elections, they
say, Israel will no longer pre-
sent to the world the telegenic
face of Lapid. A win for extrem-
ism in Israel, some say, could
bolster the moral case for
efforts to isolate Israel, vin-
dicating activism outside the
moribund peace process.
“It will lead to some inter-
national pressure,” said Mah-
moud Nawajaa, an activist
with the Boycott, Divestment
and Sanctions movement, or
BDS, which calls for an eco-
nomic boycott of Israel as
happened to apartheid-era
South Africa in the 1980s.
“Netanyahu is more hon-
est and clear about his inten-
tions to expand settlements.
The others didn’t say it, even
if it was happening,” Nawa-
jaa added.

CMYK

10 SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022
WEATHER
CITY MAX(°C) MIN(°C)
SINGAPORE 32 27 R
HONG KONG 31 28 R
TOKYO 27 17 CL
LONDON 19 12 R
DUBAI 39 27 S
SAN FRANCISCO 19 15 H
NEW YORK 28 15 H
MOSCOW 22 12 H
S= sunny, CL= clear,
H=hazy, R= rainy...
THUMBNAILS
A boat transports fish to a
processing ship, in San
Raimundo settlement lake,
Carauari, Brazil, on
Thursday. Pirarucu fishing
is done once a year. � AP
US reports 25,000 weekly
child Covid cases: Almost
25,000 child Covid-19
cases were reported in
the US in the week ending
October 27, according to
the latest report by the
American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) and the
Children's Hospital Associa-
tion. Nearly 14.9 million
children in the country
have tested positive for
Covid-19 since the onset
of the pandemic, Xinhua
news agency quoted the
report as saying. IANS
Texas reports spike in
number of kids treated
for flu, RSV: Hospitals in
Texas are reporting an
influx of children infected
with flu, respiratory syn-
cytial virus (RSV) and other
illnesses. More than 500
children were treated in
just a 24-hour period on
Tuesday at the emergency
room of Cook Children's
Hospital in Fort Worth.
Much of the same is hap-
pening at hospitals across
northern Texas, CEO of
Dallas-Fort Worth Hospital
Council said. IANS
Germany urges western Balkan leaders to resolve conflicts
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BERLIN, 3 NOVEMBER
German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz on Thursday told lead-
ers of six Balkan countries that
aspire to join the European
Union that “it is high time to
overcome regional conflicts”
and stand together as Russia
wages war in Ukraine.
Scholz and the European
Union’s top officials joined
leaders from Serbia, Kosovo,
Bosnia, Montenegro, North
Macedonia and Albania for a
meeting at which they are
expected to sign agreements
on easing regional travel
arrangements and mutual
recognition of academic qual-
ifications. They are also expect-
ed to discuss energy issues.
Scholz highlighted the
need to deliver on the coun-
tries’ longstanding desire to
After six years, UN climate summit returns to Africa
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOMBASA, 3 NOVEMBER
The U.N. climate summit is
back in Africa after six years
and four consecutive Europe-
based conferences.
The 27th annual Confer-
ence of the Parties of the U.N.
Framework Convention on
Climate Change — better
known as COP27 — will be held
in the resort city of Sharm el-
Sheikh in Egypt and begins next
week. It’s been branded as
the “African COP”, with offi-
cials and activists hoping the
conference’s location will
mean the continent’s interests
are better represented in cli-
mate negotiations.
Hosts Egypt say the meet-
ing represents a unique oppor-
tunity for Africa to align cli-
mate change goals with the
continent’s other aims, like
improving living standards
and making countries more
resilient to weather extremes.
Organizers expect over 40,000
participants, the highest num-
ber ever for a climate summit
Biden implores voters to save
democracy from lies, violence
He said that Trump’s false claims about a stolen poll have ‘fueled dangerous rise of political violence’
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, 3 NOVEMBER
W
arning that
democracy itself is
in peril, President
Joe Biden called on
Americans Wednesday night
to use their ballots in next
week’s midterm elections to
stand up against lies, vio-
lence and dangerous “ultra
MAGA” election disruptors
who are trying to “succeed
where they failed” in sub-
verting the 2020 elections.
This is no time to stand
aside, he declared. “Silence is
complicity.” After weeks of
reassuring talk about Amer-
ica’s economy and inflation,
Biden turned to a darker,
more urgent message, declar-
ing in the final days of midterm
election voting that the nation’s
system of governance is under
threat from former President
Donald Trump’s election-
denying lies and the violence
Biden said they inspire.
The president singled out
UN Security Council denies Russia call for bio weapons probe
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS, 3 NOVEMBER
The U.N. Security Council
on Wednesday overwhelm-
ingly rejected Russia’s attempt
to establish a commission to
investigate its unfounded
claims that Ukraine and the
United States are carrying
out “military biological” activ-
ities that violate the conven-
tion prohibiting the use of bio-
logical weapons.
Russia only got support
from China in the vote on its
resolution, with the U.S.,
Britain and France voting
“no” and the 10 other coun-
cil nations abstaining. The
resolution was not approved
because it failed to get the min-
imum nine “yes” votes required
for adoption.
The 2-3-10 vote reflected
the council’s continuing oppo-
sition and skepticism about
Russia’s actions since its Feb.
24 invasion of Ukraine. The
council has been paralyzed
from taking any action against
join the EU, which he said “is
in our interest.”
But, with tension brewing
again between Serbia and
Kosovo this week, he said
that the nations themselves
need to overcome problems
that have slowed their path to
the EU and pointed to “a
sense of urgency.”
on the continent.
Ever since the conference’s
first iteration in Berlin in 1995,
the U.N. climate summit con-
tinues to rotate annually
among the five U.N. classified
regions: Africa, Asia, Latin
America and the Caribbean,
central and eastern Europe, and
western Europe. It’s the fifth
time that an African nation has
held the U.N. climate summit,
with Morocco, South Africa and
Kenya all serving as former
hosts.
The first African summit,
held in Marrakech in 2001,
passed landmark accords on
climate funding and made
other key decisions on land use
and forestry. The following
three meetings on the conti-
nent had some success on
issues like adapting to cli-
mate change, technology and
sowing the seeds for the Paris
Agreement in 2015 years ear-
lier. Marrakech is also the last
African city to host the event,
having hosted a second COP
in 2016, that aimed to imple-
ment some of the Paris goals.
“ultra MAGA” Republicans —
a reference to Trump’s “Make
America Great Again” slogan
— calling them a minority but
“driving force” of the Repub-
lican Party.
Pointing in particular to last
Friday’s attack on House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s hus-
band, Biden said that Trump’s
false claims about a stolen elec-
tion have “fueled the dan-
gerous rise of political violence
and voter intimidation over
the past two years.”
“There’s an alarming rise
in the number of people in this
Russia’s military offensive
because of Russia’s veto power.
Russia circulated the draft
resolution and a 310-page
document to council mem-
bers last week alleging that mil-
itary biological activity is tak-
ing place at biological labo-
ratories in Ukraine with sup-
port from the U.S. Defense
Department.
Russia’s deputy ambas-
sador Dmitry Polyansky said
after the vote that his gov-
ernment was “extremely dis-
appointed” that the council
“Russia’s brutal war of
aggression against Ukraine
forces us to stand together to
preserve Europe’s freedom
and security,” Scholz said. “It
is high time to overcome
regional conflicts that have
continued for far too long —
conflicts that divide you and
hold your countries back on
The Paris Agreement, con-
sidered a major success of
the U.N. climate summits,
saw nations agree to limit
warming to “well below” 2
degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees
Fahrenheit), with an aim of
curbing it to 1.5 degrees Cel-
sius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
And although experts don’t
expect agreement between
countries to reach the same
scale as Paris, hopes on the con-
CMYK
Lebanon is still counting on the help of all Arab brothers.
country condoning political
violence or simply remaining
silent,” Biden added. “In our
bones we know democracy is
at risk, but we also know this:
It’s in our power to preserve
our democracy.”
The president’s speech —
focused squarely on the rite
of voting and the counting of
that vote — amounted to a plea
for Americans to step back
from the inflamed rhetoric that
has heightened fears of polit-
ical violence and challenges
to the integrity of the elections.
Biden was straddling two
did not respond positively to
its request to establish a com-
mission. Its proposed reso-
lution called for the Security
Council’s 15 members to carry
out the investigation of Rus-
sia’s complaint, as allowed
under Article VI of the bio-
logical weapons convention,
and present a report with
recommendations to the
council by Nov. 30.
Polyansky claimed “West-
ern countries demonstrated
in every way that the law does
not apply to them” and “are
your European path.”
“The normalization process
between Serbia and Kosovo
in particular must speed up,
so let’s get it done,” he added.
Serbia doesn’t recognize its for-
mer province’s 2008 declara-
tion of independence.
Alongside regional recon-
ciliation and cooperation,
“the challenges of irregular
migration, corruption and
organized crime are crucial
issues for all of us,” Scholz said,
adding that the Balkan coun-
tries’ commitment to align visa
policies with those of the EU
is “essential in this context.”
Germany and others have
been pushing Serbia in par-
ticular to tighten its entry
policies as an increasing num-
ber of migrants have tried to
reach wealthier western Euro-
pean countries via the Balka-
ns in recent months.
tinent are high for the upcom-
ing conference. Mithika Mwen-
da, who heads the Pan African
Climate Justice Alliance, told
The Associated Press that the
summit “presents a unique
opportunity to place Africa at
the center of global climate
negotiations” and hoped the
conference “truly delivers for
the African people.”
Mwenda said that the “spe-
cial needs and circumstances”
CMYK
LEBANESE PRIME MINISTER NAJIB MIKATI
CALLING FOR JOINT ARAB EFFORTS TO SAVE CRISIS-HIT LEBANON
roles, speaking as both a pres-
ident defending the pillars
of democracy and a Democ-
rat trying to boost his party’s
prospects against Republi-
cans.
He called out the hun-
dreds of candidates who have
denied the 2020 election result
and now refuse to commit to
accepting the results of the
upcoming midterms.
“This driving force is try-
ing to succeed where they
failed in 2020 to suppress the
rights of voters and subvert the
electoral system itself,” Biden
said. “That is the path to
chaos in America. It’s unprece-
dented. It’s unlawful. And it
is un-American.”
The speech came days
after a man seeking to kidnap
House Speaker Pelosi severe-
ly injured her husband, Paul
Pelosi, in their San Francisco
home in the worst recent
example of the political vio-
lence that burst forth with the
Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection at the
Capitol and has continued with
ready to trample any norm,
to flout any rule,” accusing
them of a “colonial mentali-
ty.”
U.S. Ambassador Linda
Thomas-Greenfield coun-
tered that the United States
voted against the resolution
“because it is based on dis-
information, dishonesty, bad
faith, and a total lack of respect
for this body.”
Before the vote, Russia’s
Polyansky called the resolu-
tion “a considerable mile-
stone” that would show
whether the Security Coun-
cil was prepared to act in line
with international law giving
state parties to the biological
weapons convention the right
to seek an investigation at the
Security Council.
Russia’s initial allegation of
secret American biological
warfare labs in Ukraine in
March has been disputed by
independent scientists,
Ukrainian leaders and officials
at the White House and Pen-
tagon.
With Bolsonaro tamed in defeat, Brazil steps back from brink
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RIO DE JANEIRO, 3 NOVEMBER
In the run-up to Brazil’s pres-
idential election, many feared
a narrow result would be con-
tested and spell the death
knell for Latin America’s largest
democracy.
So far, however, the worst
fears have been averted,
despite a nail-biting victory
for former leftist President
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva over
far-right incumbent Jair Bol-
sonaro, and ongoing protests
by some of Bolsonaro’s sup-
porters across the country.
The conservative leader’s
allies quickly recognized da
Silva’s victory, the military
stayed in the barracks and vig-
ilant world leaders swooped
in to offer support for da Silva
and nip in the bud even the
thought of anything resem-
of the continent need to be con-
sidered as it attempts to both
increase access to electricity
for millions of people while
addressing climate change
and limiting the use of fossil
fuels. He added negotiations
must prioritize how vulnera-
ble countries will adapt to
climate change, address com-
pensation from high-pollut-
ing countries to poorer ones,
known as “loss and damage”,
alarming, though less-spec-
tacular incidents.
Election workers nation-
wide have questioned whether
to go back to work following
increased intimidation and
harassment ahead of Election
Day. At least five people have
been charged with federal
crimes for harassing workers
as early voting has gotten
underway.
Reports of people watch-
ing ballot boxes in Arizona,
sometimes armed or wearing
ballistic vests, have raised
serious concerns about voter
intimidation. Election offi-
cials nationwide are bracing
for confrontations at polling
sites. A flood of conspiracy the-
orists have signed up to work
as partisan poll watchers.
Biden also aimed to get ahead
of conspiracy theories about
the ongoing vote, saying Amer-
icans were voting early, by mail
and by absentee ballot and it
would take time to tally them
“in a legal and orderly man-
ner.”
Multiple bodies found after
boat capsizes off Greek island
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ATHENS, 3 NOVEMBER
At least five children are
among the 22 people con-
firmed dead in the sinking of
a sailboat that had been car-
rying migrants, Greece’s coast
guard said Thursday, while a
search and rescue operation
continued for a further 34
people still reported miss-
ing.
Only 12 people, all men,
have been found alive since
the sailboat sank in the treach-
erous waters between the
islands of Evia and Andros, east
of the Greek capital, in the early
hours of Tuesday. The initial
nine survivors had been found
on rocks on an uninhabited
islet, and had told authorities
they had been on a sailboat
carrying a total of about 68 peo-
ple that had set sail from
Izmir on the Turkish coast.
They said the boat capsized
bling the Jan. 6 insurrection
that overtook the U.S. Capi-
tol.
“All of Bolsonaro’s escape
valves were shut off,” said
Brian Winter, a longtime Brazil
expert and vice president of
the New York-based Council
of the Americas. “He was pre-
vailed upon from all sides
not to contest the results and
burn down the house on his
way out.”
Although Bolsonaro has
refused to congratulate da
and seek avenues for financ-
ing for both a move to clean-
er energy and building
resilience to climate change.
Many developing countries
look to the U.S. and much of
Europe, who have contributed
the largest share of emissions
over time, to pay for damage
caused by climate change.
So far, pledges by rich
countries on climate finance,
such as the $100 billion-a-year
promise to help poorer nations
meets their climate goals,
have not been met. The Egypt-
ian organizers said the sum-
mit should focus on how
countries can implement
pledges made in previous
years. “Africa’s hopes for
COP27 is that there has to be
progress on a new goal on
financing,” said Jean-Paul
Adam, who heads the climate
change division at the U.N.
Economic Commission for
Africa, adding there needs to
be “clarity as to what will be
provided as grants and what
will be provided as conces-
sional loans and the remain-
Russians try to subdue Ukrainian
towns by seizing mayors
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KYIV, 3 NOVEMBER
Not long after Russian tanks
rolled into Ukraine, soldiers
broke down the office door of
Melitopol Mayor Ivan Fedorov.
They put a bag over his head,
bundled him into a car and
drove him around the south-
ern city for hours, threaten-
ing to kill him.
Fedorov, 34, is one of over
50 local leaders who have
been held in Russian captiv-
ity since the war began on Feb.
24 in an attempt to subdue
cities and towns coming
under Moscow’s control. Like
many others, he said he was
pressured to collaborate with
the invaders.
“The bullying and threats
did not stop for a minute.
They tried to force me to con-
tinue leading the city under
the Russian flag, but I refused,”
Fedorov told The Associated
Press by phone last month in
Kyiv. “They didn’t beat me, but
day and night, wild screams
from the next cell would tell
me what was waiting for me.”
As Russians seized parts of
eastern and southern Ukraine,
civilian administrators and
others, including nuclear
power plant workers, say they
and sank in rough seas. The
initial rescue operation was
conducted in gale-force winds
seas in the Kafireas Strait
between the two islands, an
area notorious for rough seas.
The coast guard said Thurs-
day that a total of 22 bodies
had been retrieved from the
sea, including five children —
three boys and two girls — and
six women.
The sinking was the latest
in a series of recent deadly ship-
wrecks of boats carrying
migrants through Greek seas.
Silva, Brazil’s institutions gen-
erally seem to have held up.
Bolsonaro gave a video
statement Wednesday call-
ing for an end to the protests
by his supporters. “I know
you’re upset. I’m just as sad
and upset as you are. But we
have to keep our heads
straight,” he said. “Closing
roads in Brazil jeopardizes
people’s right to come and go.”
That leaves a more vexing
challenge: how the 77-year-
old da Silva, universally known
as Lula, unites a deeply divid-
ed country, rights a wobbly
economy and delivers on the
outsize expectations spurred
by his return to power.
One thing is clear, if any-
one can do it, it’s the charis-
matic da Silva — whose polit-
ical skills are admired even by
his detractors.
“That’s what we need,
der being dealt with through
prudential private sector
investment.”
The onus is also on indus-
trialized countries to rapidly
reduce emissions so that the
global climate goal of limiting
warming to 1.5 degrees Cel-
sius can be achieved, Mwen-
da said. African countries
account for just 3% of total
global greenhouse gas emis-
sions but experts say they are
highly vulnerable to the
impacts of climate change in
large part because they lack
the ability to quickly adapt to
the warming climate.
The climate conference
will be a real test of world lead-
ers’ commitment to address-
ing climate change, said Landry
Ninteretse, regional director
for the environmental group
350Africa.org.
“We are tired of years of
empty talk and broken promis-
es,” said Ninteretse. “We are
now demanding nothing else
but robust funding mecha-
nisms that address loss and
damage in a fair, accessible and
have been abducted, threat-
ened or beaten to force their
cooperation — something
that legal and human rights
experts say may constitute a
war crime. Ukrainian and
Western historians say the
tactic is used when invading
forces are unable to subjugate
the population.
This year, as Russian forces
sought to tighten their hold on
Melitopol, hundreds of resi-
dents took to the streets to
demand Fedorov’s release.
After six days in detention
and an intervention from
PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy,
he was exchanged for nine
Russian prisoners of war and
expelled from the occupied city.
A pro-Kremlin figure was
installed.“The Russians can-
not govern the captured cities.
They have neither the per-
sonnel nor the experience,”
Fedorov said.They want to force
public officials to work for
them because they realize
that someone has to “clean the
streets and fix up the destroyed
houses.” The Association of
Ukrainian Cities (AUC), a
group of local leaders from
across Ukraine, said that of
the more than 50 abducted
officials, including 34 mayors,
at least 10 remain captive.
A separate search and res-
cue operation was being con-
ducted in the eastern Aegean
off the island of Samos, which
lies near the Turkish coast, for
seven people still missing
after a dinghy reportedly car-
rying 12 people capsized on
Monday. Four people, who the
coast guard said were all
Palestinians, were rescued
on Monday and one body
was recovered on Tuesday.
Thousands of people flee-
ing conflict and poverty in
Africa, Asia and the Middle East
attempt to enter the European
Union through Greece each
year.
Most make the short but
often perilous crossing from
the Turkish coast to nearby
Greek islands in often unsea-
worthy inflatable dinghies.
Others opt to attempt to cir-
cumvent Greece in over-
crowded sailboats and yachts
heading straight to Italy.
someone not only who can
address inequality but also
inspire our emotions and
ideas,” said Marcelo Neri,
director of the Getulio Vargas
Foundation’s social policy
center and a former Strategic
Affairs Minister for da Silva’s
handpicked successor, Dilma
Rousseff.
In many ways, the con-
servative movement Bol-
sonaro helped ignite — if not
the politician himself — has
emerged stronger from the
vote,Winter said. His allies were
elected as governors in sev-
eral key states and his Liber-
al Party has become the largest
in Congress, curtailing da
Silva’s ability to advance his
own agenda after a decade-
long malaise that has left mil-
lions of Brazilians hungrier
than when da Silva last held
office in 2010.
transparent way.”
Ninteretse agreed that “the
biggest emitters must commit
to rapidly cut emissions” and
“help the nations most vul-
nerable to climate change” by
financing climate initiatives.
Past COPs have seen dis-
agreements and hardline posi-
tions emerge as national inter-
ests clash, a concern for those
hoping tangible results will
come out of the negotiations.
“The discussions tend to be
protracted, uncompromising
and acrimonious at times,” said
Mwenda, a veteran of the cli-
mate negotiations circuit.
“But in 2015, the world rati-
fied the Paris Agreement,
which was a major milestone.”
But the success of the COP
in Paris was the exception,
rather than the rule, experts
say, with a lot of work still to
do to address climate change.
“Negotiations have lasted
three decades but the impacts
of the climate crisis, manifested
by floods, droughts, among
other extremes, persist,”
Mwenda said.

11
A classic tale brought to life
TAPATI CHOWDURIE
S
oughandika Haranam by the
playwright Kavivara
Viswanathan was recently
staged at Chidakash Kalalaya
Art Space Spanda in Boral as Bharat-
barsha abounds in ancient Indian
tales and legends. Sayak Mitra dug
deep to find one among them and
worked committedly to present a one-
act play on it.
The physical world and its five
elements or the Panca Bhuta, as we all
know, are Akasa (Space), Vayu (Air),
Agni (Fire), Apa (Water) and Ksiti
(Earth). It is an established fact that
without Vayu, movement or activity is
not possible. So it is a component that
aids Universal Creation. Similarly, in
the physical plane of this Earth, Vayu
is the driving factor of motion and
activity. Ayurveda says that in the
physical structure of the human plane
there are five types of Vayu, which are
Prana, Apana, Vyana, Udana and
Samana, regulated by the practice of
Yoga. Hanumana, a mythical charac-
ter, had mastered through intense
Yoga and meditation the art of
acquiring control over all the five
physical Vayus. That is the
absolute truth or
Suddha
Satwa,
Feast in store for theatre-lovers Scary clowns mark return to
ANIT MUKERJEA
A
t one time Bengali theatre, to
some extent influenced by the
West, was amongst the most
popular performing art forms
and drew audiences in droves to
Rangmahal and Star Theatre in North
Kolkata’s College Street, which provid-
ed the desired ambience for staged
performances. Such popular plays as
Setu, Ek peyala Coffee, Utpal Dutt’s
Tin Poishar Pala, Tiner Talwar, Bimal
Kar’s Kori Diyeh Kinlam, Sab Thik Hai
et al were presented at these theatres.
A theatre festival, which was once a
crowd puller, is something quite
unheard of these days, what with high
tech calling the shots. Such a festival
calls for a celebration.
Chetana, the acclaimed theatre
group, will complete 50 years on 22
November. Chetana started its jour-
ney with the legendary production,
'Mareech Sangbad', written and
directed by Arun Mukhopadhyay. The
play will also complete its 50th year.
'Mareech Sangbad' is considered to
be one of the major plays written in
contemporary India.
"Class and class struggle as devel-
oping forms of social relations and
consciousness, which are embodied
and carried out by actual agents in
society, are dramatized at their best
by the narrative multi-dimensionality
of Mareech Sangbad", writes Himani
Banerjee in her introduction to the
English translation of the play.
Mareech Sangbad has been trans-
lated into many languages and per-
formed nationally and international-
ly. Including remarkable plays like
Jagannath, Teesta Paarer Brittanto,
Mephisto, Ghasiram Kotwal, and Don:
Taake Bhalo Laage, Chetana has pro-
duced 40 full-length plays and 12 short
plays in its 50 illustrious years. To com-
memorate this historical moment,
Chetana has organized a theatre festi-
val from 18 to 23 November.
The festival will feature the
restaging of Mareech Sangbad with an
ensemble of eminent thespians of the
Bengali stage. Debshankar Haldar,
Anirban Bhattacharya, Anirban
Chakraborty, Meghnad Bhattacharya,
Kaushik Chattopadhyay, Shubhasis
Mukhopadhyay, Shantilal Mukhopad-
which the choreographer has discov-
ered through research.Suddha Satwa
describes Hanumana’s
Absolute Oneness with the
Universal Creator,
attained by intense
control of his mind.
A Preksanaka and
a Vyayoga in dramatic
category ending within
one Act; the playwright
has artfully manifested
the elemental nature
of this Vayu by mak-
ing it the chief gov-
erning factor in the
development of
spectacle in the
play. Vayu car-
ries the
intoxicat-
ing smell
of the
hyay, Supriyo Dutt and Biplab Ban-
dopadhyay will be part of this distin-
guished cast.
Jagannath, another landmark
production first staged in 1977, will
also be remounted on this occasion.
"The play ( Jagannath) provides a
depth and concreteness to one’s
understanding of class and class poli-
tics away from economic reduction-
ism and orthodox communist dogma-
tism." After a long sabbatical, produc-
tions of Mephisto, Ghasiram Kotwal,
and Don: Taake Bhalo Laage, directed
by Suman Mukhopadhyay and Sujan
Mukhopadhyay will also be show-
cased at this festival.
Mephisto, first staged in 2002,
and directed by Suman Mukhopad-
hyay, was a united response of the
theatre fraternity against the Gujarat
riots. The latest staging of the play in
2019 was done with an ensemble of
contemporary stage actors. The play
is a rereading of Klaus Mann's Ger-
man novel written in the context of
the rise of the Nazi regime.
Ghasiram Kotwal, the contempo-
rary classic by Vijay Tendulkar, is a
runaway success with Sujan
CMYK
celestial flower Sougandhika unset-
tling Draupadi. Her intense
yearning for the flower made her
plead with Bhima to bring it for
her. Viswanathan has intensi-
fied this section of the play
with Srngara Rasa to
establish the union of
Rasa (ascension of sen-
timents) and Bala
(physical force or ener-
gy).
Bhima’s lack of
sound judgement is
depicted through his
rash decision of going
to Gandhamadan Par-
vat to get the desired
flower for Draupadi’s
sake, without even con-
sulting his elders. To pro-
vide advice to Bhima,
Hanumana uses
the guise of an
elderly wise
guide. He
knew that
Bhima was
approach-
ing Amara-
vati, a par-
adise for
the
nymphs
and celes-
tial beings
of Gand-
harva,
Kinnari,
Raksak
Mukhopadhyay's dazzling staging.
Don: Taake Bhalo Laage is an adapta-
tion of the musical, The Man of La
Mancha, based on Don Quixote by
Cervantes, and is the testimony of a
victimized artist against the intoler-
ant state power. Rani Creusa, a play
by Bratya Basu, and directed by Sujan
Mukhopadhyay, is a study of the
dichotomies of social and political
relations in the backdrop of ancient
Greek mythology.
The Bikram Dasgupta Founda-
tion has extended its generous sup-
port for the festival. The festival will
be inaugurated by eminent and
revered theatre veterans Rudraprasad
Sengupta, Bibhas Chakraborty, Manoj
Mitra, Ashok Mukhopadhyay, and of
course, the man who gave birth to the
institution named Chetana, Arun
Mukhopadhyay. The theatre festival
revival, marking 50 years of Chetana’s
completion in the sphere of stage
histrionics, hopes to bring back audi-
ences to be entertained by this spe-
cial event.
(The writer is a freelance contributor.)
CMYK
and Yaksa - a dangerous place for any-
one without proper knowledge of
safety measures applicable there. He
offers his knowledge to make Bhima
realize the importance of intellect
along with brute force, which Bhima is
abundantly endowed with.
Hanumana’s knowledge and wis-
dom connects him to the Absolute
Reality or the Universal Creator. His
guidance helped Bhima break
through the shackles of his limited-
ness of physical strength and emo-
tions to achieve transcendence.
Hanumana helped Bhima reach
his Universal Self through the
darsan of Viswarupa. This
helped him realize his true self
and gain wisdom to overcome
the overpowering presence of
emotions and physical force.
An ancient play presented
in this fashion to a modern audience
was exotic. It was interesting simply
because now-a-days people know
so little of ancient knowledge.
Built on a simple idea of
equipping oneself with
proper knowledge
before embarking on
a mission just
depending on
physical might
is a folly. It is
an important les-
son to be learnt.
tradition
MADELINE STEINER
T
he scary clown has become a
horror staple. Featuring Art the
Clown as the main villain,
Damien Leone’s new film “Terri-
fier 2” is so gruesome that there are
reports of viewers vomiting and passing
out in the theatre. And every Halloween,
you’ll see vicious clowns stalking haunt-
ed house attractions or trick-or-treaters
dressed as Pennywise, the evil clown
from Stephen King’s “It.”
It can be hard to imagine a time
when clowns were regularly invited to
children’s birthday parties and hospital
wards – not to terrorize, but to delight
and entertain. For much of the 20th cen-
tury, this was the standard role of the
clown.
However, clowns have always had a
dark side. Before the 20th century, clowns
in American circuses were largely con-
sidered a form of adult entertainment.
In my own research on the history
of the 19th-century circus, I spend a lot
of time in archives where I regularly
come across vintage photos of clowns.
Now, I don’t consider myself afraid
of clowns. In fact, I always try to remind
folks that today’s clowns are serious
artists with an enormous amount of
training in their craft. But even I have to
admit that the clowns I come across
from old circuses give me the heebie-
jeebies.
For most of the 19th century, cir-
cuses were relatively small, one-ring
events where audiences could hear per-
formers speak.
These shows were rowdy affairs in
which audiences felt free to yell, boo
and hiss at performers. Typically, clowns
would engage in banter with the stoic
ringmaster, who was often the target for
the clowns’ pranks. Borrowing comedic
traditions from the blackface minstrel
show, circus clowns used puns, non
sequiturs and exaggerated burlesque
humour.
One very popular clown act, which
Mark Twain depicted in “The Adven-
tures of Huckleberry Finn,” involved a
performer disguised as a drunken cir-
cus patron who shocked the audience
by entering the ring and clumsily
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 04 NOVEMBER 2022
Sanskrit literature is
so vast and its
writers are so
many that more
than a per-
sona is
needed
to
attempting to ride one of the show’s
horses before dramatically revealing
himself to be part of the show. Famous
19th-century clown Dan Rice was
known for including local gossip and
political commentary in his perfor-
mances and impersonating prominent
figures in each town he visited.
The jokes they told were often
misogynistic and full of sexual double-
entendres, which wasn’t a problem
because circus audiences at this time
were mostly adult and male. Back then,
circuses were a stigmatized form of
entertainment in the U.S., considered
disreputable for their association with
gambling, grift, scantily clad female per-
formers, profanity and alcohol. Church
leaders regularly warned their congre-
gations not to attend the circus. Some
states even had laws banning circuses
altogether.
Clowns played a part in the circus’
seedy reputation.
Showman P.T. Barnum noted that
part of the appeal of the circuses “con-
sisted of the clown’s vulgar jests, empha-
sized with still moren vulgar and sug-
gestive gestures.” Clowns also subverted
gender norms, with many appearing in
drag, often exaggerating the female fig-
ure with cartoonishly big fake breasts.
In the early 19th century, some cir-
cuses also featured a separate tent that
contained a “cooch show.” Male patrons
were invited, for a fee, to watch women
dance and strip.
unearth the great wealth that lie hid-
den.
Piyal Bhattacharya and his disci-
ple Sayak Mitra need to be con-
gratulated for embarking on a
work such as Soungandhika
Haranam.
Sankar Baidya, Rudra Prasad
Roy, Subhendu Ghosh, Avik Roy and
Biplab Mishra were the nats or male
dancers. The female dancers or natis
were Pinki Mondal, Shreetama
Chowdhury, Sarmishtha Sengupta
and Supriya Baidya.
Sayak Mitra was the Director and
Scenographer. He was also the
designer.
Lights were designed by
Soumen Chakravarty. Sudipta Gupta
used her creativity in designing the
puppets who were characters in
the play - a rather unique
device. The props were
designed by Pinki Mon-
dal and Subhendu
Ghosh, while Sayak
Mitra himself
was the Cos-
tume
designer.
The writer
is a senior
dance crit-
ic.
Circus historian Janet Davis notes
that some of these performances
included clowns in drag “playing gen-
der-bending pranks on dumbfounded
men who expected to see nude
women.” In a shocking revelation, Davis
also notes that at some cooch show per-
formances, gay clowns had sexual
encounters with male audience mem-
bers “during and after anonymously
crowded scenes.”
These clowns, suffice it to say,
weren’t for kids.
It wasn’t really until the 1880s and
1890s, when entertainment impresarios
like Barnum made efforts to “clean up”
the circus to draw in a larger audience,
that clowns truly became associated
with children.
After circuses started traveling by
railroad, they could carry more equip-
ment, allowing them to expand from
one ring to three. Audiences could no
longer hear performers, so the clown
became a pantomime comedian, elimi-
nating any potentially vulgar or sugges-
tive language. Circus owners, aiming to
make as much money as possible, tried
to court a broader audience, including
women and children. That necessitated
the removal of any scandalous acts and
strict monitoring of their employees’
behaviour.
(The writer is Postdoctoral Fellow of History,
University of SouthCarolina. This article was pub-
lished on www.theconversation.com)
 ‘VIRAT KOHLI'S T20 WORLD CUP STA-
TISTICS ARE SUPER FREAKISH’
India's star batter Virat Kohli's majestic form has left everyone in awe,
former Australia all-rounder Shane Watson has called the "Chasemaster's"
statistics in the T20 World Cup "super freakish". Virat has scored 220 runs
in the tournament in four innings at an average of 220.00. Three fifties
have come out of his bat, including a top-class 82* against Pakistan. He
is the leading run-scorer in the tournament so far. "He is a freak and
For more updates www.thestatesman.com
THUMBNAILS
Satwik-Chirag sail into pre-quarters, Saina
Nehwal crashes out in Hylo Open: Indian men's
badminton duo of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and
Chirag Shetty continued their winning
juggernaut at the Hylo Open, defeating Chinese
Taipei's Yang Lee and Chen Lu in Saarbrucken,
Germany on Wednesday. The Satwik-Chirag
team, which last week won the French Open,
overcame a deficit in the first set to defeat the
Chinese Taipei team 19-21, 21-19, and 21-16 in
61 minutes. Yang Lee, who won the gold medal
in men's doubles at the 2020 Summer Olympics
in Tokyo, was paired with Chen Lu rather than
his customary partner Chi-Lin Wang. ANI
India to play Myanmar, Kyrgyz Republic in AFC U-
17 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers: India have been
drawn in Group F of the AFC U-17 Women's
Asian Cup Qualifiers Round 1, where they were
clubbed alongside Myanmar and host Kyrgyz
Republic after the draw was held on Thursday in
Kuala Lumpur. The Road to Indonesia 2024
campaign starts with 29 teams competing in
eight groups in Round 1, with the top team
from each group advancing to the Round 2
Qualifiers. "Round 2 will have two groups with
the top two teams from each group joining the
three highest-seeded sides from the AFC U-16
Women's Championship Thailand 2019 -
defending champions Japan, DPR Korea and
China PR - and Indonesia in the Finals," All India
Football Federation (AIFF) said. Thailand will host
Group A with Malaysia, Northern Mariana Islands
and Indonesia as their challengers while Group B
will see Australia, Chinese Taipei, Mongolia and
Bhutan vying for the top spot. Group C has
Vietnam, Uzbekistan, Palestine and Bahrain with
Bangladesh, hosts Singapore, United Arab
Emirates and Turkmenistan in Group D.
T20 World Cup: Pak
defeat South Africa
Shadab, Iftikhar, Shaheen keep Pakistan's slim semifinal hopes alive
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
SYDNEY, 3 NOVEMBER
S
hadab Khan produced
a brilliant all-round
show while Iftikhar
Ahmed and Shaheen
Shah Afridi played their roles
to perfection to keep Pak-
istans slim semifinal hopes
alive in the Men's T20 World
Cup with a 33-run victory
over South Africa via DLS
method in a rain-reduced
Group 2 match at the Sydney
Cricket Ground on Thurs-
day.
The victory for Pakistan,
who made 185/9 in 20 overs
and restricted South Africa to
108/9 in 14 overs as per the
adjustments by the DLS
method, in Super 12s also
meant that they maintained
their perfect record over the
Proteas in the history of Men's
T20 World Cups with their
fourth victory in as many
meetings. Pakistan are now in
third place in Group 2 points
table, pushing Bangladesh
to fourth place.
On a chilly evening, South
Africa made early strikes to
push Pakistan on the back foot.
Captain Babar Azam (6),
Mohammad Rizwan (4) and
Shan Masood (2) fell to Lungi
Ngidi, Wayne Parnell and
One lakh children to be trained in football, as
Kerala gears up to welcome FIFA World Cup
AGENCIES
T’PURAM, 3 NOVEMBER
Ahead of the FIFA World Cup
to be held in Qatar from
November 20 to December 18,
the Kerala government has
announced a basic football
training progamme for one
lakh school students across the
state.
State Sports Minister V.
Abdurahman announced the
scheme named 'One million
goals' which is being imple-
Printed and Published by SUMAN BHATTACHARYA on behalf THE STATESMAN LTD, Spencer Plaza 18/19, 1st Floor, Burdwan Road, Above Vishal Mega Mart, Siliguri-734005, West Bengal ��Editor: RAVINDRA KUMAR ��Managing Editor: ARYA RUDRA ��Printed at Siliguri Press Private Limited, Paribahan Nagar, Matigara Industrial Area, Dist- Darjeeling, Siliguri-734010.  The Statesman Ltd. RNI NO. WBENG/2017/75529 Vol 5 Issue 263
those statistics are super freakish. It's incredible that you can bat in
such a high-risk format and score consistently. It's ridiculous," said Shane
Watson.
Constant fielding practice did the trick, says Rahul
S S RAMASWAMY
MELBOURNE, 3 NOVEMBER
Two close matches, both against
South Asian rivals, and India kept
their nerves intact to close out
both in the ICC men’s T20 World
Cup in progress now in Australia.
Rohit Sharma and his men
in blue needed to up their ante
when they took on Pakistan at
the Melbourne Cricket Ground
in their campaign opener here
on October 23.
They did that admirably and
the team carved out a nerve-
wracking last-ball victory, bounc-
ing back from a difficult 31 for
4 to chase down Pakistan’s 159
for 8 after surviving anxious
moments, Virat Kohli playing a
fantastic knock of 82 not out.
They won quite comfort-
ably against the Netherlands in
Sydney, a game they were expect-
ed to cruise through, but then
tasted their first defeat against
South Africa on the bouncy
and chilly conditions in Perth
on October 30.
India’s previous record against
Bangladesh, 10-1 in their favour,
and their overall superior strength
put them as favourites against
Shakib Al Hasan and his men.
Shakib had told the media a day
ANI before the game at the Adelaide
Anrich Nortje respectively. looked absolutely impossible
Young right-handed bat- at one point.
ter Mohammad Haris, who While Iftikhar scored 51
had earlier come into the from 35 deliveries, hitting
squad as a replacement for three fours and two sixes at
Fakhar Zaman in the 15-man a strike rate of 145.71, Shadab's
squad, entertained a near knock proved to be the game-
full-house crowd for some changer for Pakistan as he
time with his 11-ball knock of smashed 52 from just 22 deliv-
28, laced with two fours and eries, including three fours and
three sixes at a strike-rate of four sixes at a strike-rate of
254.55 before being trapped 236.36. The duo's efforts
lbw by Nortje. helped Pakistan get a very chal-
Iftikhar stepped up to res- lenging total.
urrect Pakistan's innings as he In reply, Shaheen dis-
built a 52-run stand with missed Quinton de Kock and
Mohammad Nawaz (28 off 22 Rilee Rossouw cheaply in the
balls) and then established a first three overs. But captain
crucial 82-run stand off just Temba Bavuma shrugged off
35 balls for the sixth wicket with his lean form with a 19-ball
Shadab, who struck the sec- 36, hitting four fours and a six
ond fastest fifty by a batter from to lead the chase well until
the country in T20Is, to take Shadab arrived in the eighth
Pakistan to 185/9, which over.
mented by the State Direc- ing camps will continue to get
torate of Sports and Youth professional training.
Affairs and Sports Council The campaign will be assist-
with help from educational ed by former footballers from
institutions and local self gov- the state who have been
ernments."Students aged selected as 'One Million Goal'
between 10 and 12 years will ambassadors in each of the
be given football training as part 14 districts to lead the train-
of the 'One Million Goal' pro- ing programme.
gramme which will run from The minister also pointed
November 11 to 20. A total of out that a special scheme
100 children each will be trained called 'Goal' will be launched
in 1,000 centres for 10 days," later wherein similar training
said Abdurahman. He added will be provided to five lakh
that those who excel in the train- children.
Oval last night that while India
had come to win the World Cup
his team had not, adding if
Bangladesh win it will be a huge
upset. Bangladesh very nearly
did that after starting off in
blistering style with Litton Das
blasting all the bowlers to notch
up his fifth in just 21 balls. It need-
ed a special fielding effort from
the team’s vice captain K L
Rahul to bring India back into
the game after a rain interrup-
tion.
Rahul, who re-found his
touch with the bat and made 50
in 32 balls when India batted first,
Tristan Stubbs and Hein-
rich Klaasen, who came in as
David Miller was ruled out to
back spasms, hung around to
hit some boundaries. But the
pressure of a high asking rate
was always going to be huge
as Shaheen, Mohammad
Wasim, Naseem Shah and
Haris Rauf picked up wickets
in impressive fashion for Pak-
istan to stay alive in the race
for the semifinals.
Pakistan now need to win
their next match against
Bangladesh at Adelaide on
Sunday and then hope that
either India or South Africa lose
their final Group 2 matches
to Zimbabwe and Nether-
lands respectively.
South Africa now need to
defeat the Netherlands at Ade-
laide on Sunday, with their
match happening before the
Pakistan-Bangladesh clash on
the same day to be in the rec-
koning for the last-four stage.
Brief scores: Pakistan 185/9
in 20 overs (Shadab Khan 52,
Iftikhar Ahmed 51; Anrich
Nortje 4/41, Wayne Parnell
1/31) beat South Africa 108/9
in 14 overs (Temba Bavuma
36, Aiden Markram 20; Sha-
heen Shah Afridi 3/14, Shadab
Khan 2/16) by 33 runs (via DLS
method).
Fan will now be
remembered
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 3 NOVEMBER
East Bengal, going up against
Chennayin FC in the Indi-
an Super League at Salt Lake
stadium tomorrow, will
respectfully remember Jay
Saha, the fan fan who died
of a heart-attack during the
previous week's lost derby,
it was said today.
Players' shirts will have
his name stitched across
the chest, black armbands
will indicate the team's grief
and the giant screen will be
used to convey their con-
dolences.
For East Bengal, talking
about that was a break today
from having to explain, day
in and day out, why they were
doing so badly in the tour-
nament. Not that Chen-
nayin FC are an upper-storey
team.
Placed seventh current-
ly, just two notches above East
Bengal, Chennayin FC worry
their rivals as they have
quite a few Kolkata players
in their ranks.
ran in from the deep and hit the
stumps at the non-striker’s end
with a direct hit even as Das was
struggling to make his ground
on a call for a second run from
fellow-opener Najmal Hossain
Shanto.
Das’s dismissal triggered a col-
lapse from which Bangladesh
did not recover and then a fine
last over from Arshdeep Singh
stopped them short of the
revised target of 151 by five
runs. sked in the post-game
media conference about his
game-changing direct hit at
the stumps, Rahul said that it
Kapil, Sparsh end their campaign at 2022 Asian Elite Boxing
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 3 NOVEMBER
Indian boxers Kapil Pokhariya
and Sparsh Kumar bow out of
ASBC Asian Elite Boxing Cham-
pionships after losing their
respective Round of 16 bouts
in Amman, Jordan on Thurs-
day. According to information
SMAT 2022: Himachal Pradesh beat
Punjab by 13 runs to reach final
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 3 NOVEMBER
An attacking half-century (51
off 25) from Sumeet Verma fol-
lowed by a three-wicket haul
(3/25) from Rishi Dhawan
helped Himachal Pradesh
reach the finals of Syed Mush-
taq Ali Trophy (SMAT) 2022
with a 13-run victory over
Punjab in the first semifinal
at the Eden Gardens, here on
Thursday.
Put in to bat first, Himachal
posted a strong total of 176/7
from their 20 overs on the back
of fifty from Sumeet and
Akash Vasisth's impressive
43. In reply, Punjab kept los-
ing wickets at regular inter-
vals and were restricted to
163/7 in 20 overs, falling short
of the target by 13 runs.
Chasing a challenging tar-
get, top-scorer Shubman Gill
(45 off 32) looked solid at the
top but he didn't get much sup-
port from others. However,
once Gill got out in the 10th
over Punjab were left in a
PKL 9: Win over Randhir’s Bengaluru Bulls will give
us lot of confidence, says Steelers coach Manpreet
AGENCIES
BENGALURU, 3 NOVEMBER
The Haryana Steelers head
coach Manpreet Singh termed
his team's thrilling 29-27 vic-
tory over Bengaluru Bulls in
the Pro Kabaddi League (PKL)
Season 9 as a result of work-
ing on their mistakes and
expected it to be a confi-
dence-builder for his team.
Speaking about their vic-
tory on Tuesday, Manpreet
Singh said, "A team will always
go through ups and downs in
a league. We have lost a lot of
close games in this competi-
tion, but we worked on our mis-
takes and now we are on the
right side of the result and the
win has come against a good
team in the tournament."
The head coach also heaped
praise on Bengaluru Bulls'
head coach Randhir Singh, "I
have a lot of respect for Rand-
hir Singh. He is a really good
person and a good coach. He
helps people a lot. He has pro-
duced a lot of good players as
Registration No.KOLRMS/55/2016-2018 MH/MR/South-67/2012-2014
was all a result of constant field-
ing practise that the Indian
team does during training.
“If you come to the ground,
you'll obviously see that we all
train very hard on our fielding.
We work on our throwing. We
work on moving quickly. We work
on running faster.. And I think
when you keep working hard,
it sometimes comes off. And
today was one such time where
the ball came to me, I threw the
ball and hit the stump,” said
Rahul.
He was clearly under pres-
sure to rediscover his batting
touch although as the team’s vice-
captain he had some extra cush-
ion. The team backed him fully,
as indicated by head coach
Rahul Dravid on the eve of the
match.
“Today was an opportunity
for me to stand up and do well.
I got a good start. So I contin-
ued. I think every innings is
important especially in a big tour-
nament like this. So that is the
only doubt that is in your mind.
But at least I don't get frustrat-
ed or I didn't feel like my form
or my confidence was low. I just
didn't get the runs. And it hap-
pens in the game. You're not
always going to keep scoring
runs. It's what you feel if you're
received here, Kapil (86 kg), who
was making his international
debut, was up against Iran's
Pouria Amiri.
The boxer from Uttarak-
hand started the bout in an
attacking fashion and domi-
nated his opponent to com-
fortably win the first round.
His Iranian opponent
spot of bother at 61/3. Anmol-
preet Singh (30) then took Pun-
jab over the 100-run mark and
the identical cameos of 29 off
15 from skipper Mandeep
Singh and Ramandeep Singh
lower down the order kept the
hope alive.
However, Rishi Dhawan,
who was the pick of the
bowlers for Himachal, struck
at crucial intervals to push Pun-
jab back. After removing
Abhishek cheaply in the fourth
over, he returned to break
the fourth-wicket partner-
ship at 37 and then again
lent a crucial blow by dis-
missing Ramandeep on the
last ball of the penultimate over.
Punjab needed 29 off the
final over and skipper Man-
deep's six and a four didn't
prove enough for the team.
Earlier, Abhishek Sharma
struck twice to have Himachal
down to 51/3 at the start of
the ninth over. But, Verma and
Vasisth's 46-run stand for the
fourth wicket put the innings
back on the right track. Verma
well. So, for us to win against
Randhir Singh's team will give
us a lot of confidence."
The match between Patna
Pirates and U Mumba will be
a cracker of a contest as both
sides are in stupendous form.
While raider Sachin will lead
the charge for the Pirates, U
Mumba's defender Rinku will
SILIGURI
FRIDAY, 04 NOVEMBER 2022
feeling confident and you know
that good innings will come
and it's around the corner,”
said Rahul.
“And I knew in my heart that
I was seeing the ball well. What-
ever I need to do, my process-
es were right. So I knew the
good knock or good contribu-
tion for the team is coming,” he
added.
About the way India got back
into the game after Bangladesh
had set off at break neck speed
thanks to Das who was run out
for 60 in 27 balls, Rahul said that
the team always knew they
could bounce back after the
power play overs.
“Obviously the first six overs
didn't go according to our plan.
I think Litton really played an
exceptional knock. And who
knows, innings like those real-
ly put pressure on the fielding
and the bowling team because
he played proper cricket shots.
And he hit our bowlers off their
good length and off their best
ball. So that kind of innings
really puts you under pressure.
But we all knew that once the
power play is over we can pull
things back,” he said.
“Even without the rain, I
think we could have put pres-
sure on the opposition once the
showed his experience and
came back strongly in the sec-
ond round with a flurry of
relentless punches. Kapil tried
to counter-attack but conced-
ed a lot of punches in the
process. Pouria continued to
control the bout against a tired
Kapil and secured a comfort-
able 5-0 win.
was more aggressive and hit
three sixes and as many fours
in his 25-ball knock that came
at a strike rate of 204. He took
Mayank Markande to the
cleaners with 4, 6, 6 off suc-
cessive deliveries at the start
of the 10th over before wel-
coming Harpreet Brar back
into the attack with a six and
a four more.
His fifty came off just 23
balls but Verma fell soon after,
having contributed 37 in that
lopsided partnership. There-
after, Vasisht took charge and
along with Pankaj Jaiswal (27
off 16) stitched a 47-run stand
to set up HP for their match-
winning total.
Brief scores: Himachal
Pradesh 176/7 in 20 overs
(Sumeet Verma 51, Akash
Vasisht 43; Abhishek Sharma
2-20, Sanvir Singh 2-17) beat
Punjab 163/7 in 20 overs
(Shubman Gill 45, Mandeep
Singh 29 not out, Raman-
deep Singh 29; Rishi Dhawan
3-25, Mayank Dagar 2-27) by
13 runs.
pose a strong challenge for the
Patna side.
The Dabang Delhi K.C.
and Jaipur Pink Panthers will
be desperate to end their los-
ing streaks when they face off
against each other. Naveen
Kumar will be the key player
for Delhi, while Jaipur will
bank on their star raider Arjun
12
power play was done.We all knew
that. We were confident about
that,” he noted.
Incidentally when rain inter-
rupted with Bangladesh on 66
for no loss after seven overs chas-
ing India’s challenging total of
184 for six, India were behind
their rivals on the DLS count.
Luckily for India play could
commence after a 45-minute
delay and India bowled pur-
posefully and fielded brilliant-
ly to turn things around against
Bangladesh who panicked and
lost a clutch of wickets soon after
the rain break.
The victory has put India well
on course for a berth in the semi-
finals from Group 2.
With Pakistan’s victory over
South Africa at the SCG in a rain-
interrupted game tonight, Rohit
and his men are comfortably
perched on top of the group table
with 6 points from three victo-
ries. They conclude their league
engagements with a match
against Zimbabwe at the MCG
here on November 6. It is the last
group 2 game. South Africa, who
are in second place with five
points, play against Nether-
lands on the same day in Ade-
laide in the first match while Pak-
istan take on Bangladesh in the
second match there.
Late on Wednesday night,
Sparsh (51kg) went down fight-
ing and lost the bout 1-4 against
the Olympic bronze medallist
and reigningWorld Champion
Saken Bibossinov of Kaza-
khstan.The competition is wit-
nessing the participation of
267 boxers from 27 top boxing
nations.
Punjab FC
announce squad
for I-League
2022-23
campaign
AGENCIES
MOHALI, 3 NOVEMBER
RoundGlass Punjab FC on
Thursday announced their
squad for the I-League 2022-
23 season here on Thursday.
In a press conference
attended by players Luka
Majcen, Bikash Yumnam,
Deepak Devrani and Kiran
Kumar Limbu, head coach
Staikos Vergetis said that
team will try different tac-
tics with the squad in
upcoming season.
The team has been train-
ing under the Greek coach's
guidance for over a month
and has so far played seven
friendlies.
Speaking to the media,
coach Staikos said, "We
have had a good pre-season
so far and have been able
to try different tactics with
the squad.”
Deshwal.
The Puneri Paltan will be
hoping to continue their form
after registering a victory
against Delhi in their last
game. However, the Pune side
will face stiff competition
from U.P. Yoddhas' raiders
Pardeep Narwal and Suren-
der Gill.