CMYK

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KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR

AS PUTIN COSIES MANN GOVT NOW 2ND T20I: INDIA TO

ZELENSKYY LAYS OUT
UP TO AUTOCRATS… CALLS ASSEMBLY FACE AUSTRALIA
HIS CASE AGAINST
SESSION ON 27 SEPT TODAY
RUSSIA TO UN
P7 P5 P10 P12

WEATHER
106 PFI activists held Big hint to Rajasthan CM: Rahul
One or two spells of rain/thundershower Gandhi says ‘one man one post’
very likely. Temperature likely to be in
the range of 34-27 degrees Celsius.

RAINFALL: NIL
in NIA’s largest raids
Around 100 locations raided across 15 states; Amit Shah chairs meet
AICC chief, his bete noire
Sachin Pilot could be installed
as the chief minister of the
state ahead of the assembly
RELATIVE HUMIDITY elections there. Amid hec-
Max.92% Min. 62% STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
These searches were con- the raids, following which tic political lobbying, indi-
TEMPERATURE ducted at the residential
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER and official premises of they were detained by the cations so far are that the con-
Max: 34.7°C (+2) Min: 26.7°C (+1) state police.PFI workers sat test will be between Mr
persons involved in "fund-

I
SUN RISES SUN SETS n joint pan-India raids
05:26 hrs 17:34 hrs
at about 100 locations
MOON RISES MOON SETS
in 15 states, the Nation-
01:59 hrs 15:38 hrs
al Investigation Agency
New moon on 26 September
(NIA), Enforcement Direc-
torate (ED), and state police
forces on Thursday arrest-
THUMBNAILS ed a total of 106 cadres of
the Popular Front of India
(PFI), a radical organisa-
tion, sources said on Thurs-
day.
The NIA conducted
raids on PFI at 93 locations
in 15 states ~ Kerala (39),
Tamil Nadu (16), Karnataka
(12), Andhra Pradesh (7),
Telangana (1), UP (2),
Rajasthan (4), Delhi (2),
Assam (1), Madhya Pradesh
(1), Maharashtra (4) Goa
(1), West Bengal (1), Bihar
(1) and Manipur (1), the
sources said.Meanwhile,
Union Home Minister Amit
Eric Falt, cluster director UNESCO with others Shah chaired a meeting
during a UNESCO representative visit in
with officials in connection
Kolkata on Thursday. �ANI
with raids by the NIA on
the premises linked to the
MOD signs ` 17 cr deal with BrahMos: Giving an PFI.
impetus to ''Aatmanirbharta'' in defence pro- The National Security
duction, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) today Advisor (NSA), Ajit Doval,
signed a contract with M/s BrahMos Aero- the Home Secretary, Ajay
space Pvt. Ltd. for the acquisition of additional Kumar Bhalla, the Direc-
dual-role capable Surface to Surface BrahMos tor General of NIA, Dinkar
missiles at an overall cost of Rs 1700 cr under Gupta and the Director of
the “Buy-Indian” Category. Intelligence Bureau of
India, Tapan Deka were
among those present in the
meeting with Shah.
The raids spread over
10 states and involving
the NIA, the ED and state
police forces have been
described by the agency as
the largest such investi-
gation till date against ter-
ror funding suspects.
The searches were con-
ducted at multiple locations
in the largest ever inves-
tigation process till date.
The operation started late
in the night around 1 am
and learnt to be conclud-
ed by 5 am involving over
1,500 personnel of state
police, Central Armed
Police Forces and officers
of NIA and ED.
Several incriminating
documents, more than
100 bile phones, laptops
and other materials have
been seized by the raiding
teams.These searches were
conducted at the resi-
dential and official premis-
ing terrorism, organis-
ing training camps and
radicalising people to
join proscribed organi-
sations” said officials.
es of persons involved in
"funding terrorism, organ-
ising training camps and
radicalising people to join
proscribed organisations".
“In a major action across
10 states, NIA, ED and
state police have arrested
more than 100 cadres of
PFI,” sources said earlier
today.
At least four activists of
the Popular Front Of India
(PFI) were detained by
officials of the NIA in sep-
arate raids in Indore and
Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh,
including PFI MP head
Abdul Karim Bekriwala,
PFI Indore unit head Mum-
taz Quereshi and PFI trea-
surer Mohammad Javed
Belim.Meanwhile, more
than 50 members of the PFI
protested against the raids
outside the party office in
Tamil Nadu’s Dindigul dis-
trict earlier today.
The PFI and SDPI work-
ers staged a protest in Kar-
nataka's Mangaluru against
on the road in protest
against the NIA raid at the
party office in Chennai.
NIA earlier this month
also raided 40 places in
Telangana, Andhra Pradesh
in a PFI case and detained
four persons.
The agency had then
conducted searches at 38
locations in Telangana (23
in Nizamabad, four in
Hyderabad, seven in Jag-
ityal, two in Nirmal, one
each in Adilabad and
Karimnagar districts) and
at two locations in Andhra
Pradesh (one each in
Kurnool and Nellore dis-
tricts) in the case relating
to Abdul Khader of Nizam-
abad district in Telangana
and 26 other persons.
In the operation, NIA
had seized incriminating
materials, including digi-
tal devices, documents,
two daggers and Rs 8,31,500
cash.As per NIA, the
accused were "organising
camps for imparting train-
ing to commit terrorist
acts and to promote enmi-
ty between different groups
on the basis of religion".
(With input from our cor-
respondents)
Congress leader Rahul Gand-
hi addresses a press confer-
ence during Bharat Jodo
Yatra, in Ernakulam. � ANI
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
Rahul Gandhi on Thursday
said that the Congress will
adhere to the ‘one man one
post’ principle as per the
Udaipur declaration, in a
not-so-subtle hint to
Rajasthan chief minister
Ashok Gehlot.
“I think we have made a
commitment in Udaipur
and hope that it will be ful-
filled,” Rahul Gandhi said in
response to media queries
in Ernakulam on Thursday.
The party, meanwhile,
issued a notification setting
in motion the process for
electing the new president
of the grand old party who
will replace its longest-serv-
ing head, Sonia Gandhi.
Describing the post of
Congress president as an
"ideological post", Mr Gand-
hi on Thursday said the
position "represents a set of
ideas and belief system and
vision of India". What we had
decided in Udaipur. 'One per-
son, one post' is a commit-
ment of Congress and I
expect that commitment
will be maintained (on party's
presidential post)," he added.
Rajasthan chief minis-
ter Ashok Gehlot, who is
reluctant to give up his post,
is said to be under pressure
from the party high com-
mand to file his nomination
for the presidentship and had
earlier indicated that he
would prefer to retain the post
of chief minister even if he
wins the contest for party
president.
It is being speculated
that if Gehlot becomes the
Gehlot and party MP from
Kerala, Shashi Tharoor.
Ashok Gehlot is in Kerala
to meet Rahul Gandhi. Before
going to Kerala, he met Con-
gress interim chief Sonia
Gandhi onWednesday and the
meeting lasted for two hours.
Sources said that Sonia
Gandhi has asserted that
the poll will be fair and she
will not endorse any candi-
date. Apparently, the issue
of Rajasthan was also dis-
cussed in the meeting, but
there is no official word on
it.The Congress' central elec-
tion authority on Thursday
issued a notification for the
Congress president polls.
According to the notifi-
cation, while the nomination
forms will be available from
Thursday, the filing will be
held between September
24 and 30.Scrutiny of nom-
ination will take place on
October 1, and the same
day, a valid candidate list will
be published. The last date
of withdrawal is October 8
following which, a final list
will be brought out. While the
poll will be held on October
17, counting will take place
on October 19.
(With agency inputs)

India objects India strongly denounces Russia-Ukraine war at UNSC

to ‘Khalistan’
referendum
in Canada
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
India today strongly object-
ed to the referendum on
‘Khalistan’ conducted by
radicals in Canada, won-
dering how such an exercise
was allowed to take place in
a “friendly nation”.
“A farcical exercise was
held by extremist and rad-
ical elements in Canada.
We have taken up the mat-
ter with the authorities in
Canada. They have assured
us that they respect the sov-
ereignty and territorial
integrity of India and don't
recognise the so-called ref-
erendum,'' Ministry of Exter-
nal Affairs (MEA) spokesper-
son Arindam Bagchi said
at a media briefing.
However, he added that
it was deeply objectionable
that such an exercise was
allowed to take place.
“We will continue to press
Canada to act in such mat-
ters,” the spokesperson said.
Over 100,000 Canadian
Sikhs took part in voting
for the “Khalistan” referen-
dum in Brampton, Ontario
on 19 September which was
organised by the pro-Khal-
istani group Sikhs For Jus-
tice (SFJ).
EAM takes up with British foreign
secy attacks on Indian community
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
External Affairs Minister S Jais-
hankar today took up with the
new Foreign Secretary of the
United Kingdom James Clev-
erly the attacks on members
of the Indian community in
the UK over the past few
weeks and urged the latter to
take steps to ensure the com-
munity's welfare.
“Shared my concern about
the security and welfare of the
Indian community in the
UK. Welcomed his assur-
ances in that regard,” Mr
Jaishankar tweeted.
He said he also discussed
with the British leader glob-
al issues, including Indo-
Pacific, Ukraine, and the
United Nations Security
Council.“Discussed taking
forward Roadmap 2030.
Appreciate his (Cleverly) com-
mitment to deepening our
partnership,” the foreign min-
ister tweeted after the meet-
ing which took place on the
margins of the UN General
Assembly in New York.
Ministry of External Affairs
(MEA) spokesperson Arindam
Bagchi, when asked about the
violence and vandalisation of
Hindu premises in the east-
External affairs minister S
Jaishankar meets UK Foreign
Secretary James Cleverly in
New York on Thursday.� ANI
ern England city of Leicester,
said India was in touch with
the UK authorities over the
violence.He also drew atten-
tion to the statement issued
by the Indian High Com-
mission in London which
stated that the mission had
“strongly” taken up the issue
with the UK government and
called for protection for those
affected by the violence.
Disturbances in the city of
Leicester first began last
month after an India and
Pakistan cricket match, as
per the police.On August 28,
fans from Hindu and Muslim
communities reportedly
clashed after India secured a
win against Pakistan in the Asia
Cup T20 tournament in Dubai.
In its strongest denunci-
ation of the Russia-Ukraine
war, India on Thursday
“strongly” called for an end
to the armed conflict and
said the situation was a mat-
ter of “profound concern”.
Speaking at the UN Secu-
rity Council, External Affairs
Minister S Jaishankar said,
“The trajectory of the Ukraine
conflict is a matter of profound
concern for the entire inter-
national community. The
outlook appears truly dis-
turbing.”
“India is strongly reiterating
the need for an immediate ces-
sation of all hostilities and a
return to dialogue and diplo-
macy. As Prime Minister
Narendra Modi has empha-
sized, this cannot be an era
of war,” he said.
“Even in conflict situa-
tions, there can be no justi-
fication for violation of human
rights or international law.
Where any such acts occur,
they must be investigated
objectively and indepen-
dently,” he said in some of the
sharpest comments from the
country on the subject yet.

‘Ensure fair, development-oriented approach’:

SC appoints ex-SC judge to conduct IOA elections
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Supreme Court on Thurs-
day appointed former apex
court judge Justice L.
Nageswara Rao to prepare
electoral rolls, conduct elec-
tions, and amend the consti-
tution of the Indian Olympic
Association (IOA).
A Bench of Justices D.Y.
Chandrachud and Hima Kohli
directed on Thursday: “For-
mer judge of Supreme Court
Justice L. Nageswara Rao to
take up the assignment to
ensure a fair and development-
oriented approach to Olympic
sports in India.”
Noting that national games
are being conducted after a
gap of seven years, it asked Jus-
The Bench said all logistical
arrangements will be made
available to Justice Nageswara
Rao (photo) by the Joint Sec-
retary, Ministry of Youth
Affairs and Sports, and these
will be reimbursed by the IOA
tice Rao to lead the election
process so that elections are
held by 15 December, and also
asked him to prepare a road
map for amending the IOA's
Constitution. The Bench said
all logistical arrangements
will be made available to Jus-
tice Rao by the Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Youth Affairs and
Sports, and these will be reim-
bursed by the IOA.
The top court also allowed
the IOA's current Secretary
General, Rajeev Mehta andVice
President Adille Sumariwal-
la to participate in the meet-
ing with the International
Olympic Committee sched-
uled on 27 September.
Earlier this week, the apex
court had said that it will
appoint an independent per-
son to run the IOA adminis-
tration and also directed the
Sports Ministry to interact
with the International Olympic
Committee.
The apex court had stayed
the Delhi High Court order,
directing the Committee of
Administrators to take con-
trol of the IOA governance. The
Sports Ministry had submit-
ted before the court that it
could lead to suspension due
to third party interference.
On 8 September, the Inter-
national Olympic Committee
issued a final warning to the
IOA to sort out the gover-
nance issues and hold elec-
tions by December. It told
IOA, if it fails, then it would
ban India.
After the ouster of Narinder
Batra as IOA President, the
IOC's executive board, which
met in Lausanne (Switzer-
land), decided not to recog-
nise any acting/interim Pres-
ident, and said it will deal with
Mehta as the main point of
contact.

CMYK
 CMYK

02
Will stop drinking and selling Darjeeling tea till they give 20
percent bonus at one go
AJOY EDWARDS, PRESIDENT, HAMRO PARTY / GTA SABHASAD
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022 WHILE STATING HIS RESTAURANT GLENARY’S WILL NOT SELL TEA UNTIL BONUS FOR TEA WORKERS IS PAID

THE ROLLING HILLS

Siliguri in dengue
grip: Doctors
urge early tests
ed. Dengue can affect both chil-
dren and adults. I must say
apart from the clinical part,
awareness among people is the
key to fight dengue," he said.
A sudden onset of high
fever, headache, a transient
body rash, nausea and vom-
iting bodyache are the most
common symptoms of dengue.
"If the person has loss of
PHOTO: MERINA SHARMA appetite, vomiting, and fatigue
with fever, he/she should be
SANKHA GHOSH every day with symptoms of hospitalized immediately,"
SILIGURI, 22 SEPTEMBER dengue. In many private hos- Dr Sen added.
pitals, the number of patients Dengue virus, one of the

A
mid a steep rise in the
number of dengue
cases, which has
caused four known
deaths in Siliguri, doctors
have advised people to under-
go the dengue test (NS1) with-
out wasting time if they have
admitted for treatment of
dengue has almost doubled
over the past fortnight, it is
learnt. As a few deaths occurred
due to the dengue shock syn-
drome (DSH), Dr Sen, who is
also the secretary of the asso-
ciation of physicians of North
most dreadful human
pathogens, is a regular phe-
nomenon in India. The virus
is transmitted to humans
through the bite of the Aedes
mosquitoes, namely Aedes A view of Kurseong and its adjoining areas as seen from the view point at Tingling near Mirik in Darjeeling in this recent photo. ��DEEP MILAN PRADHAN
aegypti and Aedes albopictus.
Reports of last month at the

Dengue fight: Plot owners get SMC notices

fever. The experts have flagged
concerns on the dengue shock
syndrome and underlined
that any delay in treatment
might complicate the situation.
The Siliguri Municipal
Corporation reported a record
86 dengue cases today, taking
the cases to 781 since January
. Ward 5 registered the high-
est 13 cases, six cases were
found in ward 14, and five cases
in ward 4, among other wards.
"If a person has fever, he
or she should immediately con-
duct an NS1 test, considering
the fever cases might be
dengue. In case of fever, they
should also undergo a com-
plete blood count (CBC). We
should not take fever cases
lightly, given the latest trend,"
said senior physician Dr
Shankha Sen.
There are two diagnostic
tests for detecting the presence
of the dengue virus in humans.
The NS1-Elisa (antigen) test
is done when fever is between
one and five days old. The Mac-
Elisa (IgM) test is conducted
for longer fevers. The CBC
indicates the count of white
blood cells, red blood cells and
platelets.
Hospitals across the town
have had patients coming in
Bengal, pointed out its dan-
gers.
"DSH is a dangerous com-
plication that is associated
with a very high mortality
rate as the blood pressure
drops drastically and organs
start to collapse.
On the other hand, the
dengue hemorrhagic fever
can lead to lethal complica-
tions--it is characterised by
severe plasma leakage, severe
bleeding and severe organ
involvement manifested as
elevated liver enzymes,
impaired sensorium and
myocarditis. If there is bleed-
ing or a falling blood platelet
count, transfusions may be
required, especially in haem-
orrhagic fever," he said.
According to Dr Sen,
patients should be under
proper monitoring with reg-
ular measurement of blood
pressure and pulse rate. He said
people should use mosquito
nets at night and mosquito
repellents during daytime
and wear full sleeve clothes.
"There is no specific treat-
ment for dengue. Paracetamol
helps reduce fever and pain.
Supportive treatment with
oral or intravenous fluids to
prevent dehydration are need-
health department suggested
that dengue serotypes-2 and
3 were mostly dominating
Darjeeling district this year.
The virus responsible for
causing dengue is called the
dengue virus (DENV ) and
there are four DENV serotypes-
DENV 1, DENV 2, DENV 3 and
DENV 4. DENV is an RNA
virus with four distinct
serotypes and each capable of
causing disease.
According to experts, the
secondary DENV-2 is the most
virulent strain and is more like-
ly to result in severe disease
compared with other serotypes,
while primary DENV-1 cases
are more overt, and primary
DENV-2 and DENV-3 cases are
usually silent. Each of the
serotypes has multiple genet-
ic groups.
Experts have underlined
that due to the emergence and
spread of new Dengue
serotypes and the lack of pro-
tective vaccines, vector con-
trol is the only way for glob-
al management of mosquito
borne diseases.
Rapid urbanisation, poor
town planning, and improp-
er sanitation are the major risk
factors for the multiplication
of such mosquitoes.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SILIGURI, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Siliguri Municipal Cor-
poration (SMC) has served
notices to 89 owners of vacant
plots in view of the rising
dengue cases in the last few
days. The civic body said it has
also collected Rs 50,000 as con-
servancy charges from the
owners for cleaning their plots.
The conservancy depart-
ment has come under fire
after local residents alleged
inaction when it came to
cleanliness of such plots of land
in several wards.
"We have already served 89
notices so far to owners of
vacant land where puddles and
bushes have developed and
waste has been lying uncleared
after identifying them. We are
cleaning them so that mosquito
breeding grounds inside the
plots are destroyed. At the
same time, many such plots
have been cleaned. We have
asked the boroughs to iden-
tify all such land and issue
notices to the owners for
cleanliness," said the member
of the mayor-in-council, con-
servancy, SMC, Manik De.
In some cases, 'SMC Land'
boards are put up where the
civic body has failed to trace
the owners.
Many such plots and locked
properties have turned into
mosquito breeding sites.
Sources said 42 notices
had been issued and 30 plots
cleared under borough-1,
eight notices served and seven
land cleaned under borough-
II, three notices issued and all
of them cleaned under bor-
ough-III, 15 notices served and
14 land cleaned, and 21 notices
were served and 16 cleaned
under borough-V.
Boroughs are clusters of
wards, and five boroughs of
SMC cover all the 47 wards.
Ward numbers 1-5, and
ward numbers 45 to 47 are
under borough-I, while wards
from 6-15 are under borough
II.Wards 16-24 and 28 fall under
borough-III, and wards 25-27
and ward 29-35 are under
borough IV, while ward 36-44
are under borough V.
"We have realised con-
servancy charges of Rs 50,000
so far. The process is under-
way to identify more such
vacant land," said an official
of the conservancy depart-
ment.
The civic body is also
putting up boards on the sites
of locked properties where
the owners could not be
contacted.
"There are many owners
who stay out of Siliguri.
They purchased the land
long ago, but never cleaned
it. In some cases, we could
not contact them. Therefore,
the corporation has put up
banners as 'SMC Land' so
that the owners visit the
corporation," sources said.
Meanwhile, the corpo-
ration has increased the
number of vector control
teams in dengue-hit wards,
including 4, 5, 9, 22 and 42.
Twenty new teams have
been set up with two mem-
bers in each team for spray-
ing, Mr De said.

Min Ghatak plans welfare schemes for tea workers Amit Shah to inaugurate Sikkim
MANAS R BANNERJEE
SILIGURI, 22 SEPTEMBER
Minister in Charge for Labour
Department Moloy Ghatak is
scheduled to arrive here on a
two-day visit to the North
Bengal tea belt tomorrow.
Official sources said Min-
ister in Charge of Public Health
Engineering Pulak Roy will
accompany Mr Ghatak, while
both the ministers will visit tea
plantations in Alipurduar area
tomorrow and discuss drink-
ing water supply in tea areas
there.
Minister Ghatak may also
distribute I-Cards to tea work-
ers in the Alipurduar tea plan-
tation area tomorrow.
According to official sources,
Mr Ghatak will visit the tea belt
on 23 and 24 September with
a view to introducing some wel-
fare schemes in the interest of
tea workers.
The State Labour Depart-
ment has targeted seven tea
gardens in the Terai, the Dooars
and another one in the
Kurseong sub-division for
implementing welfare schemes
in the first phase, it is learnt.
Notably, the state has tar-
geted setting up 20 public
health centres with ambu-
lance facility in the tea area,
apart from setting up of at least
50 crèches for tea workers.
After landing at Bagdogra
Airport, Mr Ghatak and his
team is scheduled to visit Tri-
hana TE near Siliguri, and
head for the State Guest House
tomorrow. He would then go
to Banarhat in Jalpaiguri.
"After visiting the areas there,
he would go to Dhumchipara
in Alipurduar where he will dis-
tribute departmental I-Cards
among tea workers and then
return to Birpara. The next day,
he will hold a meeting with PHE
officials and then members of
the Tea Advisory Council
(TAC), and then he is sched-
uled to visit Simulbarie and
Manabari, and on his way
back he would visit the
Bagrakote tea area," a source
said.
ALC issues advisory on
Hill tea bonus
It is learnt that after the tea
bonus meeting for workers
under the Gorkhaland Terri-
torial Administration (GTA)
ended inconclusively yester-
day, Mr Ghatak has asked
Additional Labour Commis-
sioner (ALC) Md Rizwan to
issue an advisory.
"The department had to
issue such an advisory because
there was no position to ready
an agreement from technical
point of view," a source said.
Notably, seven operating
trade unions abstained from
yesterday's meeting in Silig-
uri, demanding one-time pay-
ment of 20 percent bonus for
Hill tea workers, since work-
ers in the Terai and the Dooars
have already started receiving
bonus at the rate of 20 percent.
Mr Rizwan has mentioned
that since both the parties were
not able to shift their stand,
"the Minister in Charge, Labour
Department Moloy Ghatak
through the ALC North Ben-
gal Zone advised the follow-
ing…" "Finally it was advised
that 20 percent bonus (bonus
8.33 + 11.67 Puja ex-gratia) to
be paid in two installments and
first installment of 15 per-
cent shall be paid before Durga
Puja that is 28 September
2022, and the remaining 5
percent shall be paid before
Diwali that is 21 October this
year."
Significantly, Mr Rizwan
also mentioned that industrial
peace, harmony and disci-
pline in the estates should be
ensured and if any of the
management failed to dis-
burse the bonus within the stip-
ulated time and violated the
decision, appropriate action
will be initiated by the Labour
Department.
Dairy Cooperative Conclave
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SILIGURI, 22 SEPTEMBER
Union Home Affairs and Coop-
eration Minister Amit Shah is
all set to inaugurate the 'East-
ern and North-Eastern Zones
Dairy Cooperative Conclave'
at Gangtok in Sikkim on 7
October, the chairman of the
National Cooperative Dairy
Federation of India (NCDFI),
Mangal Jit Rai, said today.
According to Mr Rai, the
theme of the conclave is
"Resilient Eastern and North-
Eastern Zones Dairy Cooper-
atives-Exploring the Chal-
lenges and Opportunities",
and that it is aimed at strength-
ening the cooperative ecosys-
tem in the Eastern and North-
Eastern regions for the larg-
er benefit of the local com-
munities.
The conclave will be attend-
ed by the Chairman, Nation-
al Dairy Development Board,
Anand Gujarat, representatives
from NABARD, NCDC, IRMA,
Dairy Farmer Leaders (Chair-
men/Directors) and Manag-
ing Director of the Coopera-
tive Milk Unions and State
Dairy Federations from East-
ern and North-Eastern states
of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam,
Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripu-
ra, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and
West Bengal.
Sikkim Chief Minister PS
Tamang (Golay) will be the
guest of honour at the func-
tion, while Minister of State
for Cooperation BL Verma
and other senior officials of the
Ministry, top dignitaries of
the Sikkim Government,
including ministers, will active-
ly participate in the conclave,
Mr Rai said.
Mr Rai further said that tak-
ing inspiration from the Prime
Minister's 'Digital India',
NCDFI has initiated an online
marketplace called 'NCDFI
eMarket' to provide trans-
parent and fair dealings to trade
bulk commodities to member
dairy cooperatives with the
patronage of the National
Dairy Development Board.
Dairy product prices con-
cluded at NCDFI eMarket
become benchmarking and the
Ministry of Animal Husbandry
collecting these prices week-
ly, officials said.

N Dinajpur CPM marches to DM BSF, BGB discuss border issues in

office over Centre fund ‘misuse’
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
RAIGANJ, 22 SEPTEMBER
Protesting alleged misappro-
priation of funds of the NREGA
and Indira Awas Yojana by
different gram panchayat
boards under the Trinamool
Congress, the CPI (M) North
Dinajpur committee today
gheraoed the office of
the District Magistrate of
North Dinajpur, Arvind
Kumar Meena, at Karnajora in
Raiganj.
State leader of the CPI (M)
Sujan Chakraborty and anoth-
er member of the state CPI (M)
committee, Palas Das, led the
protest rally today.
Given the rally today, ade-
quate police arrangement
was made in front of the office
of the DM. The CPI (M) lead-
ers and activists started from
the Siliguri More in Raiganj on
foot and reached Karnajora
near the DM's office, where
police intercepted them by
putting up bamboo barri-
cades. However, the protest-
ers broke the barricade and
scuffled with the police and
managed to reach a place
very near the DM office and
started sloganeering there.
Police then used water
canon to disperse the mob.
However, no injuries were
reported in the incident.
"We have collected some
data from Bazargaon-1 and
Bazar Gaon-2 gram panchayats
in Karandighi, where without
digging up ponds, several
crores of rupees under the
NREGA fund have been
grabbed by members of the
TMC led board. In Sitgram in
Raiganj, NREGA fund was
embezzled by TMC members
too. In addition, several crores
of rupees of the central fund
was pocketed in the name of
afforestation and Indira Awas
Yojana. On 8 August, we had
met the District Magistrate with
some documents and had
appealed to him to take steps
against such panchayat mem-
bers and officials. However,
nothing happened," the Sec-
retary of the North Dinajpur
CPI(M) committee Anowarul
Hoque said.
"We held a protest at the
DM office today. If no steps are
taken, we will start a contin-
uous movement against both
the TMC and the adminis-
tration," he added.
sector commander-level meeting
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
MALDA, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Sector Commander-level
meeting between the Border
security Force (BSF) and Bor-
der Guard Bangladesh (BGB)
was held at the Border Out-
post Mahadipur, under the BSF
70 Battalion, Sector Head-
quarters Malda under the
South Bengal Frontier yes-
terday.
In the meeting was attend-
ed by officers of the BSF and
BGB under the leadership of
Sudhir Hooda, Deputy Inspec-
tor General, Sector Head-
quarters, Malda, and com-
manding officers of all the Bat-
talions under Sector Malda of
the BSF and Sector Rajshahi
of the BGB. The meeting was
followed by a friendly football
game between the two forces
in the evening, a press release
issued by the BSF South Ben-
gal Frontier said.
"In the opening address,
BSF officials extended a warm
welcome to the BGB delega-
tion, and that both the sector
commanders reiterated that
a Coordinated Border Man-
agement Plan (CBMP) is an
instrument that has been
developed by both the secu-
rity forces for effective border
management," a source said.
"Both the commanders
discussed various agenda
points of the border. The com-
mander of the BGB Sector
expressed his heartfelt grati-
tude for the special hospital-
ity extended to the BGB del-
egation on their arrival in
India," the BSF said, adding
that the officials expressed
hope that regular and fre-
quent meetings at all levels
should continue, and that
they would help resolve bilat-
eral issues and strengthen
existing cordial relations.
"Later, the meeting was
followed by a friendly football by the Sector Commanders of of 3-1. The match ended with
match between the BSF foot- BSF and BGB, along with offi- the final speech by Shri Sud-
ball team and the BGB foot- cers of the forces. Around hir Hooda, DIG, Sector Head-
ball team at the sports ground 4,500 people enjoyed the quarters Malda, in a cordial and
of Piasbari High School, Malda. match. The match was won by friendly atmosphere," the BSF
The match was inaugurated the BSF football team by a score said.

CMYK

THUMBNAILS
DVC wins inter CPSU
chess: Team DVC
emerged as the champi-
ons in the men's team
event of 28th Inter
CPSU Chess Tourna-
ment, held on 20-21
September in Shillong,
organised by NERLDC,
POSOCO, under the aegis
of PSCB, MoP, GoI. There
were twelve participat-
ing teams from various
PSUs of the power sec-
tor. Team DVC compris-
ing Naveen Kumar, Arup
Kumar Banerjee, Rajib
Lochan Choudhary,
Rupesh Kr Mahato and
Ajay Satish Topp,
remained undefeated in
the tournament, notch-
ing up four victories
and a draw. SNS
Nurse dies of unknown
fever: A staff nurse of
Serampore Walsh Hospi-
tal on last Wednesday
succumbed to unknown
fever. Unconfirmed
reports of her death
due to dengue created
panic. District CMOH
Rama Bhuiya said it was
sad that they lost a ded-
icated nurse staff at
such a tender age. SNS
DA arrear case: HC warns Bengal babus of contempt
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Calcutta High Court
on Thursday directed chief
secretary HK Dwivedi and
state finance secretary,
Manoj Pant to file affidavits
on why contempt of court
proceedings should not be
initiated against them for not
honouring its judgement
directing the state govern-
ment to clear dearness
allowance (DA) arrears to
employees within three
months.
Earlier on Thursday, a
Division Bench of Justice
Harish Tandon and Justice
Rabindranath Samanta dis-
missed the state govern-
ment's review petition to
reconsider its 20 May judge-
ment directing the state
government to clear the
pending DA arrears to the
employees within three
months. The deadline
expired on 19 August.
MGNREGA workers observe
Action Day, file complaints with police
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
The NREGA workers across
the country are observing
Action Day to revive proper
functioning of MGNREGA
from September 21 to 23.
The NREGA workers are
mobilising to raise their
demands of adequate fund-
ing, timely payment of wages
and others.
In Bengal, the Paschim
Banga Khet Majoor Samity
(PBKMS) has been associat-
ed with the labour move-
ment for more than three
decades. In these circum-
stances the association feels
that this deprivation on the
workers is inhumane and
unconstitutional. The Sami-
ty also feels that the pro-
gramme officers of NREGA
projects in various blocks of
the state have resorted to
Robot with social advice to revellers: Quit smoking
ASHOK CHATTERJEE
KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
Dakshinpara Durgotsav Com-
mittee in Kolkata has roped
in a robot to build awareness
on anti-smoking. The com-
mittee, which has roped in Tolly
actresses Ritabhari
Chakraborty and Monami
Ghosh as brand ambassadors,
is giving out a social message
of quit smoking through their
theme.
The organizers are also
planning to include Anna-
purna, the robot, as a mem-
ber of the club and keep her
around during the Puja days.
The robot has been named
so as it was first used for food
delivery in 2019 during Puja
at Lake Mall and secondly for
its association with Durga
Puja (Annapurna is another
name for Durga).
Talking about the robot,
Annapurna, Arijit Hajra, CEO
of a start-up lab, which built
Tallah Bridge opens for public after 2.5yrs
While inaugurating the Tallah Bridge, Mamata Banerjee said the new connector with higher load capacity will ease traffic congestion
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
C
hief minister Mama-
ta Banerjee today
inaugurated the
much-awaited Tallah
Bridge and presented it as a
pre-puja gift to the people of
north Kolkata while seeking
a vacant plot from the railways
for accommodating around
145 poor families of the area,
who need to be rehabilitated.
“There are 145 poor fam-
ilies in the area, who need to
be rehabilitated. There is a
vacant plot with the railways
that we want to purchase. I
would request the railways to
give permission to us. If we get
this land then we can accom-
modate these poor families.
Else, we would have to shift
them to the Khalpar (canal side)
road as we don’t possess any
vacant land in the area. Money
would not be any problem in
this issue. This is my com-
mitment so that these poor
families can live peacefully,”
said Miss Banerjee during the
inauguration.
Earlier, it was decided to
demolish Chitpore Bridge
after the opening of Tallah
Before the state govern-
ment could weather this
jolt, another shock came in
the afternoon in a contempt
of court petition filed before
the same Bench against the
state government by the
Confederation of State Gov-
trickery to make innocent
workers work, knowing that
they cannot pay wages to
them.Under the leadership of
PBKMS, complaints were filed
in various police stations
under sections 417 (cheating)
and 418 (cheating despite
knowing the loss) of the IPC
against the programme offi-
cers of the NREGA project in
different blocks of Purulia,
Nadia, West Medinipur and
North 24-Parganas districts,
today.On behalf of the sami-
ty, a complaint has been filed
against Nagendra Nath Sinha,
secretary, rural development
department, central govern-
ment at Madhyamgram PS. “At
most of the rural thanas they
have received our documents
and complaints and have
asked for some additional
documents before they reg-
ister the FIRs. The central
government is determined
it, said, “Annapurna is east-
ern India's first semi-
autonomous semi-humanoid
butler robot. We name most
of our products from mytho-
The state government is misusing the money on clubs, kehla (sports) and
mela (fairs) and then large amounts are looted by Trinamul leaders.
Bridge. The Chitpore Bridge
currently stands in a deplorable
condition. It reportedly wors-
ened after Tallah Bridge was
closed and the entire traffic load
shifted to Chitpore Bridge.
The KMDA and urban devel-
opment department have
been identifying land for
accommodating these people.
While inaugurating the
new Tallah Bridge, Miss Baner-
jee said it will ease traffic con-
gestion in the area and is
wider with higher load capac-
ity. The new bridge is four-lane,
instead of two, with a length
of 750 metre while the Chit-
pore ramp is 300 metre.
Miss Banerjee further
lamented that the state gov-
ernment had to pay Rs 90
crore to Indian Railways for
demolishing the Tallah Bridge
though she had expected that
the money would have been
waived off as it was for a social
cause. The state government
had to pay Rs 504 crore for
building the new Tallah Bridge
and earlier Rs 445 crore was
spent for constructing Maa Fly-
over and another Rs 100 for
Kamalgazi Flyover.
Reiterating the importance
given in the last 11 years for
ernment Employees, the
original petitioner in the
matter, for missing the dead-
line for clearing the DA
arrears.
On the contempt petition,
the Division Bench of Jus-
tice Tandon and Justice
to kill the programme. We
are pushing it back. The delay
in payment problem exists in
most of the states,” said Anu-
radha Talwar of PBKMS, who
was present at Madhyam-
gram thana.Local sources
said that victims of this situ-
ation, the workers have decid-
ed to block roads in various
districts tomorrow.“Thou-
sands of NREGA workers from
13 states, namely Andhra
Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,
Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,
Odisha, Rajasthan, Telan-
gana, Uttar Pradesh and West
Bengal are carrying out Kaam
Do Abhiyaan and staging
demonstrations, rally, public
meetings against the blatant
violation of law by the cen-
tral government in making
MGNREGA payments,” said
NREGA Sangharsh Morcha in
a release.
logical characters to make
the names popular globally.”
Talking about how the
robot came into being, Hajra
said he was asked by a client
CMYK
RAISING HER VOICE IN FAVOUR OF DEMAND BY STATE EMPLOYEES FOR DA
upgrading infrastructure, Miss
Banerjee said new flyovers, four
airports and 26 helicopter
services have been planned.
The state government has
planned to build a host of fly-
overs, which would be con-
structed after funds are avail-
able. Tallah to Dunlop, Pikepara
to Sealdah and Airport Gate
to Jessore Road and VIP Road
connector are some of the
flyovers in the pipeline, she said.
Next, the state government has
already come up with Cooch
Behar airport and it is now
being expanded, she said,
adding that new airports are
coming up in Balurghat, Malda,
Samanta directed Dwivedi
and Pant to file affidavits by
4 November on why they
should not face contempt of
court proceedings and post-
ed the next hearing for 9
November.
Meanwhile, the state gov-
ernment has started prepa-
rations for approaching the
Supreme Court challeng-
ing the Calcutta High Court's
Thursday order.
Meanwhile, the Confed-
eration of State Govern-
ment Employees too filed a
caveat in the apex court for
making it party in any case
filed by the state government.
"Since the beginning,
the main intention of the
state government is how to
delay the DA arrears pay-
ment. They have the right to
approach the Supreme
Court. But we are also ready
to fight in the matter till the
end," confederation presi-
dent Shyamal Kumar Mitra
said.
Train services affected
following Kurmi agitation
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
Services of several trains were
affected today after Kurmis
continued blocking tracks
in Purulia and West Midna-
pore for a third consecutive
day, today, pressing for their
demand for the Scheduled
Tribe status.
As the agitation continued
for the third day with thou-
sands of protestors blocking
the trains and many of them
even lying on the tracks, ser-
vices of trains had to be can-
celled, short-terminated or
short-originated from vari-
ous stations following the
stir by the Kurmi members
of the tribe. According to the
South Eastern Railway
08647/08648 Adra-Barab-
hum-Adra MEMU Passenger
and 08651/08652 Adra-Barab-
hum-Adra MEMU Passenger
to create an automation sys-
tem for the kitchen-to-cus-
tomer process. The non-fund-
ed start-up spoke to a multi-
national in China, which is into
CMYK
HOOGHLY MP LOCKET CHATTERJEE
Andal and Purulia.
Speaking at the programme
Miss Banerjee also expressed
her ire at the manner in which
footpaths were being occupied
by new shopkeepers every
day, thereby congesting the
area.
“I am against hawker evic-
tion. But how is it possible that
at a place, which had 10 shops,
suddenly 10 more appear?
Administration knows, local
leaders know, but no one acts.
Things can’t go in this man-
ner. This is why I wanted
hawkers to be provided some
kind of identity cards. Enough
is enough,” she added.
Govt denying legitimate rights of people: CPM
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
With the Calcutta High Court
today dismissing a review
petition of the state govern-
ment towards clearance of
dearness allowances (DA)
arrears, the CPM hit out at the
Mamata Banerjee-led gov-
ernment for allegedly mount-
ing endless efforts to con-
stantly deprive government
employees of their legitimate
rights.
The state has yet again
landed itself in trouble as its
decision to petition the court
for reviewing of an earlier order
to clear DA arrears within three
months, yielded zero results.
This further put the state
government in a quandary
while the Trinamul Congress
leaders claim that the diffi-
culty arises from the alleged
fund crunch.
The CPM central com-
mittee member, Sujan
Chakraborty, said, “The way
were cancelled today while
18011/18013 Howrah-Adra-
Chakradharpur-Bokaro Steel
City Express is to remain
cancelled tomorrow.
The stir also caused diver-
sion of 12802 New Delhi-
Puri Express and 18478 Yog
Nagari Rishikesh - Puri Express
and short termination or
short origination of
08652/08651 Asansol – Barab-
hum - MEMU passenger
train.In South Eastern Rail-
way, several trains have been
cancelled since Tuesday while
many of them had to be
diverted through other routes.
Following the agitation, at least
140 mail/ express and pas-
senger trains have been can-
celled. Apart from this, 69
trains have been short-ter-
minated/ short-originated, 65
trains have been diverted
and 3 trains have been
rescheduled.
robots for technology sharing.
But they instead asked the
start-up to sell their products
in India as Indians would not
be able to make a robot.
Hajra said it hurt his self-
esteem and he resolved to
make a robot indigenously.
“We made it in five months
and launched it,” he said.
This year, at BGBS, the
department of science and
technology selected seven
innovations and of them two
were from the lab, Annapur-
na being one of them.
The little-over-5-feet tall
general purpose robot is fit to
be used at hospitals, restau-
rants and at malls.
“We are making the world
first robot renting platform so
that there is greater awareness
in people and they can use it
at a nominal price. We are giv-
ing it on rent. We are in the
process of creating a family
of Annapurna,” said the inno-
vator.
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022
Mamata begins her Puja inaugurations
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
Chief minister Mamata Baner-
jee today urged state fire and
emergency services minis-
ter Sujit Bose, who patronis-
es the Durga Puja at Sreebhumi
Sporting Club to take adequate
measures to ensure that the
road does not get blocked
amidst the huge turn-out of
Puja revellers.
Miss Banerjee kicked off her
Puja inaugurations with Sreeb-
humi, followed by FD Block
in Salt Lake and Tala Pratyoy
in north Kolkata, today.
Addressing Bose as "Sujit
Babu" she reminded him that
being a public representative
it will be his responsibility to
ensure normal movement of
traffic and to see to it that peo-
ple do not get disturbed due
to the huge gathering of pan-
dal hoppers.
“There is a lot of excitement
among people about Sreeb-
humi Puja and revellers gath-
er in large numbers. Ade-
the West Bengal government
is functioning, it is embar-
rassing. Every state govern-
ment in the country recog-
nizes DA as a legitimate right
of the government employ-
ees but in Bengal, the state
is mounting relentless efforts
to deprive employees of the
same. The court has today reit-
erated its stance that DA has
to be cleared and there’s no
way out.”
The Calcutta High Court
bench comprising justices
Harish Tandon and
Rabindranath Samanta reject-
APPRECIATING ART
Eric Falt, cluster director along with other members during their UNESCO Walk, Through Durga
Puja Art 2022 Installations at Town Hall in Kolkata on Thursday. ��BISWAJIT GHOSHAL
Dessert carnival
to revive lost
recipes
DEBAJYOTI
CHAKRABORTY
KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
To revive the lost desserts
of Bengal, Bangla Misti
and Bakery Academy is
hosting a carnival of tra-
ditional and lost Bengali
sweets (harano o sabeki
misti) in Kolkata on Maha-
laya.
Bengal’s portfolio of
sweets or misthannyo is
large from dry, syrupy,
payesh to multiple varia-
tions of pithe.
Many of them still exist
but many have gone off the
shelves. State tourism min-
ister Babul Supriyo said that
he is delighted that such
a carnival to revive the
glorious heritage of lost
sweets of Bengal will be held
at Kolkata on the day of
Mahalaya.
quate steps should be taken
to ensure normal movement
of people, who visit the other
Pujas. Gourab (Gourab Shar-
ma), commissioner of Bid-
hannagar Commissionerate
should inform me if the road
gets blocked and I will exclude
Sreebhumi from the list of
Biswa Bangla Sharad Samman
awards,” she said.
Addressing a gathering,
she said, alluding to the Bid-
hannagar MLA: “Proper care
should be taken that peo-
ple’s right to free movement
is not curtailed. Puja does not
ed the state government’s
petition to review its May 20
order. The court had earlier,
upholding an order of the state
administrative tribunal(SAT),
directed the state govern-
ment to clear, within three
months, all DA arrears since
July 2009 when the revision
of pay and allowances came
into effect in West Bengal. The
state government, through a
writ petition in the high court
had challenged that SAT order
which directed it to pay DA
at par with the Centre in
three installments. After today,
the state will now be explor-
ing options to approach the
Supreme Court.
The senior TMC MP Souga-
ta Roy said that the opposi-
tion parties must understand
that the state is not being able
to pay the DA because of a
financial crunch and not
because it doesn’t wish to. “The
only option that now remains
is to approach the Supreme
Court,” he said.
Grandsons nabbed for couple murder: Police today arrested
two youths, Mojammel Sheikh (21) and Sohail Rana (20) on
charge of killing their grandparents who were found dead
yesterday at Rajdharpara area, under Berhampore police sta-
tion in Murshidabad. Sources said the couple’s suspected
murder was over property dispute within the family.
03
mean that people are incon-
venienced, cannot catch flights
in time or unable to move freely
on roads due to bottlenecks,
which need to be addressed.”
To drive home the message
that ministers are also pub-
lic servants and should keep
that in mind and ensure that
nothing is done which
infringes on others’ movement.
She told Bose, “When you
are the minister, you must be
for the commoner.”
Meanwhile, Miss Banerjee
expressed her displeasure
over a foul smell emanating
from an open vat adjacent to
the pandal at FD Block. She
told Bidhannagar mayor Krish-
na Chakraborty that such a
thing was not desirable.
Mamata, while speaking at
the FD block Puja function said
that she was impressed by the
idol and the miniature instal-
lations and thanked the artist
for doing a great job.
Banerjee’s last destination
for Puja inaugurations for
the day was Tala Pratyoy.
Locket supports
state employees’
DA demand
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
HOOGHLY, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Hooghly MP Locket
Chatterjee today lashed out
at the state government for
misusing the money and
depriving its employees of
their justified demand for DA.
The Bharatiya Janata Party
leader said this while hand-
ing over an ambulance to a
club in Kalampur, kalitala vil-
lage at Singur.
Chatterjee, raising her
voice in favour of the justi-
fied demand of state employ-
ees for dearness allowance,
said it is ridiculous that the
state government employees,
have to take legal recourse.
The state government is mis-
using the money on clubs,
kehla (sports) and mela (fairs)
and then large amounts is
looted by Trinamul lead-
ers,” said Chatterjee.
IANS
04
Today again the time has come to save democracy, secular-
ism, the Constitution and the country from the BJP-RSS.
CPI-M GENERAL SECRETARY SITARAM YECHURY
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022 SPEAKING DURING A RALLY IN PATNA, BIHAR

THUMBNAILS
Rahul for Opp strategy to T20: Cops lathi-charge unruly
ticket seekers, seven hurt
tackle ‘divisive forces’ STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD, 22 SEPTEMBER
the last international match
hosted by Hyderabad was in
ple fainted. Around 20 people
were injured among which
SNS & AGENCIES He also pointed out that December 2019 there has been seven were sent to a private hos-
KOCHI, 22 SEPTEMBER each and every Congress Seven people were injured quite a bit of interest among pital in Secunderabad for treat-
worker can contest and asked today when police resorted to cricket fans over the T-20 ment. This included two police

Delhiites experience
heavy monsoon rain, in
the capital on Thursday. �
SUBRATA DUTTA
Narmada compensation:
The Supreme Court has
declined to entertain a plea
seeking to modify its 2017
order for payment of final
compensation of Rs 60 lakh
to the families affected by
the Sardar Sarovar project
on the river Narmada. IANS
C
ongress leader Rahul
Gandhi, who is lead-
ing the 'Bharat Jodo
Yatra', on Thursday
called on opposition parties
to chalk out a strategy to tack-
le the present divisive forces
in the country.
I do think that the oppo-
sition has to come out with a
strategy. They have to come
together to fight the ideolog-
ical, financial, and institu-
tional power that has now
come up in the country,"
Gandhi said while interacting
with the media here on the 12th
day of his yatra in Kerala.
He also pointed out that
that he differs with the Left on
how they view politics.
“I am getting handshakes
from a good number of peo-
ple who support the Left here
as they know inside their
hearts what I have raised
about hatred is right," he said.
Gandhi, however, side-
stepped numerous questions
on if he will contest for the Con-
gress President's post.
"I have answered this ques-
tion in detail in my last press
conference and it can be
checked up... hence I will not
say again," he said.
He also said that the post
of the Congress President "is
not an organisational post
but it is an ideological post".
"It represents a set of ideas,
a value system, and a vision
of India," he added.
which other parties has such
a feature.
"Not a single party has
that feature and hence it's good
that if there is going to be a
contest," he said.
To a question on the nation-
wide raids taking place at the
offices of Popular Front of
India and arrests, he said: "All
forms of communal violence,
regardless of from where it
comes should be combated."
The yatra, which entered
Kerala on September 11 from
neighbouring Tamil Nadu,
will exit the state on Septem-
ber 30, after covering 453 km
through 43 Assembly and 12
Lok Sabha constituencies in
19 days.
lathi charge to control the
crowd that had gathered to pur-
chase the tickets at Secun-
derabad Gymkhana for the T-
20 match between India and
Australia at Rajiv Gandhi Inter-
nation Cricket stadium in
Uppal slated for 25 September.
After the ruckus the state
sports minister held a review
meeting with Hyderabad Crick-
et Association president
Mohammad Azharuddin and
police where it was decided that
7,000 tickets would be sold
online today evening.
There was complete dis-
order at the Gymkhana where
HCA had set up counters for
the tickets to be sold which led
to the unfortunate event. Since
match. For the past few days
a large number of people have
been gathering at the
Gymkhana ground but HCA
has been unable to provide clar-
ity about availability of tickets
till yesterday night. People
had tried to book online tick-
ets on 15 September but the
site had shut down within
minutes.
Today people had started
gathering at about 5 am to buy
tickets offline. At some point
people became impatient and
started jumping over the gates.
There was a stampede like sit-
uation and police resorted to
lathicharge to bring the situ-
ation under control. This led
to minor injuries and many peo-
constables. A ground staff Ran-
jitha fainted and two women
constables were seen trying to
revive her. She was later admit-
ted to the hospital.
Telangana sports minister
V Srinivas Goud had earlier
warned the HCA against sell-
ing tickets in black for the T20
match between India and Aus-
tralia. He said the govern-
ment will examine the num-
ber of tickets sold as against
the stadium's seating capac-
ity. HCA which has a history
of mismanagement, infight-
ing and corruption was blamed
for the chaos by cricket fans
as video footage of the lath-
icharge and injured people
went viral.

SDPI, PFI permanent ban in
offing: K'taka Home Minister
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, 22 SEPTEMBER
Karnataka Home Minister
Araga Jnendra stated on Thurs-
day that the procedure to
impose permanent ban on PFI
and SDPI, that have been giv-
ing tacit support to terrorist
organisations, has begun at the
Central government level.
These two organisations are
found to be having connec-
tion with terror organisations
not in Karnataka, but in other
places of the country. Now, the
procedure to ban them has
begun, he reiterated.
"Everyone knows about
the misdeeds that SDPI and PFI
organisations are indulging
into. The world should know
how they manage to get funds
and who backs them. To clean
the mess, that had been cre-
ated by them, raids were very
much necessary," the minis-
ter opined.
These organisations have
grown to this proportion only
with the direct and indirect sup-
port of the Congress party all
these years. If these organisa-
tions have to be cut to size, one
should not look at the religion,
caste, loss or profit. Everyone
should cooperate, he said.
Meanwhile, security has
been tightened at the residence
of Home Minister Araga Jna-
nendra in the backdrop of
NIA raids on SDPI and PFI
offices and their leaders.
The NIA sleuths have taken
Azeez Abdul Shukur Hon-
navar from Sirsi, PFI district
President of Kalaburagi Ejaj Ali,
Shahid Khan, President of
SDPI in Shivamogga, Chi-
tradurga, Chikkamgalur, for-
mer Mysuru president
Maulana Mohammad
Kaleemulla and Imamuddin
from Davanagere and Abu
Tahir from Harihara town.
SDPI leader Ataullah Jokat-
te said three leaders have
been arrested. Ashraf A.K.,
Mohiyuddin Haleyangadi and
Nawaz Kavur have been
detained by NIA, he said.
NIA raids: PFI calls dawn-to-dusk hartal in Kerala
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 22
SEPTEMBER
The Popular Front of India (PFI)
has called for a dawn -to -dusk
hartal in Kerala on Friday in
protest against the massive
raids by the National Inves-
tigation Agency(NIA) and
Enforcement Directorate (ED)
in its offices and residences
of its leaders in 11 states and
arrests of its around 106
activists across the country
over charges of terror fund-
ing and money laundering
“A hartal will be observed
in the state on September 23
against the RSS-controlled
fascist government’s attempt
to silence dissenting voices
using the central agencies,”
said a statement from A Abdul
Sathar, state general secretary
NIA seals PFI’s Hyderabad office
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
HYDERABAD, 22 SEPTEMBER
Continuing the crackdown on
PFI activists in both Telugu
states the National Investi-
gation Agency today sealed
the organisation’s office in
Chandrayangutta area of
Hyderabad. A team from NIA
searched the premises and
seized some electronic gad-
gets from the office in the early
hours and then sealed the
office premises with a note
of PFI
PFI's National Executive
Council (NEC) condemned the
raids and the 'unjust arrests
and the harassment' of its
leaders across India and the
to the owner asking him to
approach the special NIA
court in Nampally. The state
police are also extra cau-
tious for tomorrow appre-
hensive that there might be
protests after Friday prayers.
Yesterday, BJP state chief
Bandi Sanjay Kumar had said
that PFI was trying to convert
India into an Islamic nation
and TRS and AIMIM were
helping it to spread its foot-
print in Telangana.
'witch-hunting' against the
members and supporters of
the organisation.
“NEC has condemned the
national wide raids by the
NIA and ED and the unjust
arrests and the harassments
of its National and state lead-
ers across India and the witch-
hunting against the mem-
bers, and supporters of the
organisation,” PFI’s National
Executive Council (NEC) said
in a statement.
It said that the Front will
“never ever surrender” on the
action taken by a “totalitari-
an regime”.
As part of the massive, multi
agency crackdown on the
popular Front of India(PFI)
across the country, the NIA and
ED conducted raids at the
PFI offices across Kerala and
also the residences of the out-
fits leaders in the state. The
NIA arrested 22 people who
are national and state leaders
of the Popular Front in Ker-
ala. Eight of them have been
taken to Delhi
PFI national president
OMA Salam, state president
Mohammad Basheer,
Pathanamthitta district sec-
retary Sadiq Muhammad,
Mundakkayam native
Najimuddin, PFI leader P
Koya, national vice president
Abdul Rahman Kalamassery
, PFI Idukki district secretary
Zainuddin are o the promi-
nent leaders in NIA cus-
tody.TFI state committee
member Yahya Thangal was
taken into custody from Tris-
sur.
The raids were conduct-
ed after deploying the CRPF,
without informing the state
government and the Kerala
police. It is learnt that the raids
were conducted to details of
terror funding, money laun-
dering and training camps for
terrorist activities.

Indians held captive in Actress abduction:

NOTICE
That my client Sri Bholanath Bhajan, S/o.
Late Jadu Nath Bhajan, of 33, Maniktala, P.O.:
Makhla, P.S.: Uttarpara, District: Hooghly,
Pin-712245, lodged General Diary having No.
894 on 13-06-2022 at Uttarpara P.S. regarding
lost of original Sale Deed executed on 12-05-
1950 and registered at Sub-Registry Office
Serampore and recorded in Book No. I,
Volume No. 25, Pages from 239 to 245, being
No. 1938 for the year 1950, in connection with
property at 33, Maniktala, within the ambit
of Ward No. 22 of the Uttarpara-Kotrung
Municipality, P.O.: Makhla, P.S.: Uttarpara,
District: Hooghly, Pin-712245. If anybody has
any knowledge about such deed please
inform me at the following address.
Arindam Datta
Advocate
High Court, Calcutta
26, Charakdanga Street
P.O.: Uttarpara
Dist.: Hooghly, Pin-712258
M: 9830345683
I, SHRI Amitava either “Sen”
Mukherjee, S/o. late Asit “Mukherjee”. Sanhita Sen
Ranjan Mukherjee, by faith and Sanhita Mukherjee are
Hindu, residing at 12/3, the names of one and same
South Avenue, Modern Park, person who was my wife.
Kolkata-700075, do hereby By an affidavit at the 10th
declare as follows: My wife 1st Class
Sanhita Mukherjee died on Magistrate Court, Alipore
11-11-2021. Before marriage dated 20-04-2022, I declare
her surname was “Sen”. In myself as the sole legal heir
Myanmar: OPS asks Kerala HC dismisses
survivor's plea
the Court of 1st Class
Judicial Magistrate at
Kolkata on 19-09-2022 that
my name has been wrongly
recorded all documents of
PM to intervene STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE Principal Sessions Judge, the
Madhyamik Pariksha Ayan
Kumar Chakraborty, S/o. INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE KOCHI, 22 SEPTEMBER case was also transferred to
Kamal Kanti Chakraborty CHENNAI, 22 SEPTEMBER her court and claimed that
instead of Ayan
Chakraborty, S/o. Kamal Kerala High Court on Thurs- such transfer of case by
Chakraborty. That the both Deposed AIADMK leader and day dismissed a petition administrative order was not
names Ayan Chakraborty,
S/o. Kamal Chakraborty and former Tamil Nadu Chief moved by the survivor in the legal
Ayan Kumar Chakraborty, Minister O. Panneerselvam on 2017 actress abduction and The case was being heard
S/o. Kamal Kanti
Chakraborty is one and
Thursday sought Prime Min- sexual assault case seeking by the Ernakulam Principal
same identical person. ister Narendra Modi's inter- transfer of the case back to District and Sessions Court,
vention in securing the release the Special Court from the Dis- presided by Judge Honey M
of Indians held in captivity in would be grateful if you could trict and Sessions Court. Varghese.
a remote Myanmar village. kindly intervene in the mat- Rejecting the plea,a Sin- The case was transferred
In a letter to Prime Min- ter personally and take this up gle bench of Justice Ziyad Rah- from the CBI Special Court to
ister Modi, the former chief at the highest level in Myan- man AA said that the survivor the District and Sessions
minister said that on the pre- mar to secure the safety and might be ‘influenced’ by the Court, Ernakulam, when
text of jobs in the software security of Indians and arrange ongoing ‘media trial’ in the judge Honey M. Varghese,
industry, 300 Indians were for their safe return back to case. was transferred as the sessions
taken to a remote place in India," the letter read. The survivor in the case judge.
Myanmar and held hostages. Tamil Nadu Chief Minis- had filed a petition at the High This is the second time that
Of the 300 Indians, 60 are ter M.K. Stalin has already writ- Court stating that she was not the survivor has moved the
from Tamil Nadu. ten a letter to the Prime Min- satisfied with the trial pro- HC against the judge, and both
VACANCY IN KGCH He said that the arrested ister with the same request. ceedings being conducted times, her petition has been
BMC, KOLKATA
KGCH, Applications are
I, "ANURADHA Panja", Indians are being inflicted with As many 300 Indians were by Judge Honey M Varghese. rejected. With this order, the
W/o. "Swapan Kumar electric shocks in their private recruited for skilled software The survivor, in her plea trial will be continued before
invited for the post of
Panja", of Vill & P.O.:
Warden in Kolkata Garrison parts if they refuse to do ille- jobs in Thailand but when they had alleged that actor Dileep, Sessions Judge Honey M
Mohistikari, P.S.: Haripal,
Children Hostel at
or Ballygunge Maidan Camp,
Dist.: Hooghly (W.B.) have gal software jobs. landed in Thailand, they were the eight accused in the case, Varghese. The case pertains
changed my name from
Kolkata. Eligibility:
"Anuradha" to "Anuradha OPS said that the family of abducted by a group who had close ties to the trial to the alleged abduction and
Preferably above 35 yrs. of
age, Single Lady, previous
Panja" vide an Affidavit No. the abducted Indians are liv- took them to a remote area judge,Honey M Varghese and molestation of an actress
2030 dated 14-09-2022
experience as Warden,
sworn before the 1st Class
ing in constant fear and called of Myanmar. Some of the her husband. She further who worked in Malayalam,
English speaking. upon the Prime Minister to captives have sent across said that when judge Honey Tamil, and Telugu films inside
Judicial Magistrate at
Emolument: Fixed Salary,
messing & lodging facility. Chinsurah, Hooghly. intervene in the matter and videos depicting the poor M Varghese was transferred a running car on the night
Judicial
# Interested applicants to
I, AYAN Chakraborty, S/o. to secure their release. "I condition they are in. to a particular court as the of 17 February 2017.
apply within 7 days of the
advertisement through Kamal Chakraborty, R/o.
e-mail. Mob.: 9056167167, E- Vill.: Andul Chowdhurypara,
P.O.: Andul-Mouri, P.S.:

False documents to avail EWS quota

some official records my of my deceased wife m a i l :
167medregt@gmail.com Sankrail, Howrah-711302,
wife’s surname appears as Sanhita Mukherjee. declare vide an affidavit in
Chairman, KGCH

will lead to termination: Govt

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE the person who seeks bene-
KOLKATA SILIGURI MUMBAI
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER’ fit of reservation, his/her par-
Statesman House, Spencer Plaza 5, Kasturi Buildings, Jamshedji Tata ents and siblings below the age
4, Chowringhee Square 18/19, 1st Floor, If a person avails the benefit of 18 years as also his/her
Road, Mumbai-400 020
Kolkata-700 001
Burdwan Road M-9212192123, Tel : (022) 35775450 of 10 per cent reservation spouse and children below the
Apurba Chakravarty, M : 9830045650,
Uttarsarathi Guha Mojumder, Above Vishal Mega Mart Email:
under EWS category for a job age of 18 years. "To make it
M : 9831528760 Siliguri-734005, West Bengal on the basis of wrong infor- clear, it is stated that whether
delhistatesman@gmail.com mation or documents, his the children are not living
For Advertisement : Ph.: 9832082429
mumbai@thestatesmangroup.com services will be terminated, the with parents or separated
statesmandisplay@gmail.com Email:
thestatesmanclassified@gmail.com sil_statesman@yahoo.co.in government has warned. from parents, property/
delhistatesman@gmail.com delhistatesman@gmailcom LUCKNOW Issuing clarifications on income of parents shall be
For Editorial : the issue of the EWS reserva- taken into account for com-
journo71@gmail.com 2/2, Butler Palace tion, the Centre said that the tion of certain issues. The It also said that the appoint- putation of family income."
HYDERABAD
Near Jopling Road) term family will include the Central Information Com- ing authority should verify the It said that the threshold
DELHI The Statesman Limited
Lucknow-226 001, parents even if the beneficiary mission in a hearing held on veracity of the income and income of Rs 8 lakh for the pur-
Statesman House, 2nd Floor, UNI Building,
M-9212192123 is separated from parents. April 27, also directed it to take asset certificate submitted pose shall include income
148, Barakhamba Road, A.C. Guards, Hyderabad-500004,
New Delhi-110 001 Email: Earlier, the Department necessary action to place in by the candidate through the from all sources including
Mob: 9866323009,9212192123 of Personnel and Training the public domain FAQs on certificate issuing authority. salary, agriculture, business,
Tel: (011) 2331 5911, 43043793 Email: delhistatesman@gmail.com delhistatesman@gmail.com
delhistatesman@gmail.com
had issued guidelines pro- EWS reservation to assist the "If the income & asset cer- profession, etc. for the finan-
hyderabad@thestatesmangroup.com viding for 10 per cent reser- information seekers in future. tificate is found to be fake, the cial year prior to the year of
Hiten Rathore
RANCHI vation to Economically Weak- Subsequently, the DoPT services of the temporarily application. The income for
hiten.statesman@gmail.com BANGALORE
Mob: 9212192123 11/C, Road#1 Ashoknagar, er Sections (EWSs), who are issued detailed FaQs. It said appointed person shall be this purpose will be gross
No. 68, First Floor, Gold Tower not covered under the reser- that the appointment is pro- done away with." income taken into account for
BHUBANESWAR Ranchi-834002
50 Residency Road vation scheme for visional and is subject to the Clarifying on whether in the purpose of Income Tax.
Plot 3A, Zone B, Sector A, Mancheswar Bangalore-560025. Mobile : 9212192123 SCs/STs/OBCs in respect of income and asset certificates case of applicants(s) not liv- The property held by a
Industrial Estate, Bhubaneswar-751010. Tel.; 080-9212192123 Email: direct recruitment in civil being verified through the ing with parents or separat- "Family" in different loca-
M-09438838880 delhistatesman@gmailcom posts and services in the Cen- proper channels and if the ver- ed by parents, property or tions or different places/cities
Email: delhistatesman@gmail.com
statesmanbbsr@gmail.com tral government. ification reveals that the claim income of parents shall be would be clubbed while apply-
Delhistatesman@gmailcom bangalore@thestatesmangroup.com ranchi@thestatesmangroup.com
However, it received a to belong to EWS is fake, the taken into account for com- ing the land or property hold-
AIR-SURCHARGE: Kathmandu - Rs. 2, Eastern Region - Re. 1 number of references from var- services will be terminated putation of family income, the ing test to determine EWS sta-
All other stations in India - Re. 1 ious Ministries, Departments forthwith without assigning DoPT said that term "family" tus, it said.
and individuals for clarifica- any further reasons. for this purpose will include (Representational image)

THUMBNAILS
Four children die in wall
collapse in UP's Etawah:
Four children died and two
others injured after a wall
of their house collapsed
due to heavy rainfall in
the Chandrapura village in
the Civil Line area of Uttar
Pradesh's Etawah on
Thursday. Uttar Pradesh
Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath has expressed
grief over the deaths in
the incident. The chief
minister has announced a
relief amount of Rs 4 lakh
from the Disaster Relief
Fund to the next of kin of
the deceased. IANS
11-year-old rape survivor
delivers baby in UP's
Unnao: An 11-year-old rape
survivor has given birth to
a baby boy at the district
hospital in Uttar Pradesh's
Unnao district. The health
of the new born is being
monitored in the NICU of
the hospital, said doctors.
Initially, the police and
medical staff at the CHC
(Maurawan) did not
believe that the girl could
be pregnant and thought
that her belly was swollen.
Both the mother and child
are healthy. IANS
Pakistan committed ‘grievous violation of minority
rights’: India slams FM Bilawal over remarks at UN
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
India's Joint Secretary of
UNES (UN Economic and
Social), Srinivas Gotru on
Wednesday slammed Pak-
istan's Foreign Minister Bilaw-
al Bhutto Zardari's remarks on
minorities and the Kashmir
issue and said that it is iron-
ic that Islamabad who itself
have "committed a grievous
violation of minority rights,"
is speaking about the rights
of minorities.
While speaking at the UN
High-Level Meeting on the
Rights of Minorities, an Indi-
an diplomat said, "It is iron-
ic that Pakistan is speaking
about the rights of minorities.
For a country that has even
stopped publishing its data to
hide its same shameful record,
it is amazing that they have
even brought up this sub-
11 Cong MLAs
suspended
GANDHINAGAR, 22 SEPTEMBER
As many as 11 Congress
MLAs were on Thursday sus-
pended for the day from the
Gujarat Assembly after they
created a ruckus demanding
a debate on caste-based cen-
sus and OBC reservation in
local bodies.
When the house was dis-
cussing the amendment bill
on Gujarat National Law
University, a senior Con-
gress leader demanded for a
debate on OBC reservation
in local bodies. Speaker
Neemaben Acharya turned
down the request saying that
the party should have moved
a request for it earlier. Since
the house is in the middle of
a discussion, a sudden debate
was not possible, he assert-
ed.At this, 11 Congress MLAs
rushed into the well demand-
ing caste base census and
OBC reservation in local
bodies. IANS
VP Dhankhar calls for strengthening space for discussion, dialogue in public realm
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
Suggesting that '‘intolerance
of others’ point of view is
antithetical to the vision of free
exchange of thought’', Vice
President Jagdeep Dhankhar
today called for strengthen-
ing the thriving space for dis-
cussion and dialogue in the
public realm.
Recalling that India has a
great heritage of debate, dis-
cussion, and knowledge-shar-
ing, he said that lessons can
be drawn from the past to uplift
the quality of discussions in
the public domain, especial-
ly in legislatures.
Dhankhar added that in the
‘'race for one-upmanship and
under the constant glare of the
public eye, debates – tele-
vised or on social media – are
turning into cacophonous
fighting arenas’'.
Inaugurating the third edi-
tion of a national colloquium
Mann government now calls
Assembly session on 27 Sept
The CM said they will move SC against Governor’s cancellation of permission for special session
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 22 SEPTEMBER
E
ven as Punjab Cabinet
on Thursday recom-
mended the Gover-
nor for calling the state
Assembly session on 27 Sep-
tember, the Chief Minister
Bhagwant Mann said the state
government will approach
the Supreme Court against the
"arbitrary and anti-democratic
decision" of the Governor to
cancel the permission of hold-
ing a special session of the
Assembly today after giving
permission for it.
Announcing the state gov-
ernment decision to sum-
mon the session of state
Assembly on 27 September to
discuss various issues per-
taining to Punjab, the CM
said it is an unfortunate move
and they will move to the
Apex court against this irra-
tional decision.
Mann said Governor Ban-
warilal Purohit's decision will
be challenged in the Supreme
ject. It has a long history of hav-
ing committed a grievous
violation of minority rights that
the world has ever seen."
Gotru said that Pakistan
continues to commit grave vio-
lations of the rights of Sikhs,
Hindus, Christians, and
Ahmadis. He also said that in
Pakistan, 1000s of women
and children, particularly
girls from minority commu-
nities, have been subjected to
abductions, forced marriages
and convergence.
"The entire Union Terri-
tories of Jammu and Kashmir
Bangladeshi hacktivist group targeting
Indian government websites, servers
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
Cyber-security researchers on
Thursday said they have dis-
covered a hacktivist group
from Bangladesh that is tar-
geting the Indian govern-
ment's websites and servers.
The group called Mysteri-
ous Team Bangladesh (MT) is
using DDoS (Distributed Denial
of Service) attacks against
domains and subdomains of
several state governments and
a web server hosted by the Indi-
an government, according to
the team from cyber-securi-
ty firm CloudSEK.
"Websites belonging to
governments of Assam, Mad-
hya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh,
Gujarat, Punjab and Tamil
Nadu were affected," the
researchers added.
This came to light when a
member of the group made a
post claiming to have launched
an HTTP flood DDoS attack on
‘Lokmanthan’ in Guwahati, he
called upon the media to take
the initiative, introspect and
“pass on the mike and let
unique, original and mar-
ginalised voices come to the
mainstream”.
Calling for healthy, open-
minded discussions, the vice
president said it was “time to
step out of our echo chambers
A historic milestone in the internal security of the country
has been crossed.
CONGRATULATING JOINT FORCES FOR UPROOTING MAOISTS FROM JHARKHAND
Court for safeguarding the
democratic rights of the peo-
ple and federal rights of the
states.
Accusing Punjab Congress
of supporting ‘Operation
Lotus’ of the Bharatiya Jana-
ta Party (BJP), Mann said it is
ironic that Congress which is
the biggest victim of this
undemocratic operation is
standing by the side of the saf-
and Ladakh were, our and will
always be an integral and
inalienable part of India, irre-
spective of what the repre-
sentative of Pakistan believes
or covets. We call on Pakistan
to stop cross-border terrorism
so that our citizens can exer-
cise their right to life, and lib-
erty. We hope that they will
desist from attempts to abuse
and politicize such meet-
ings," he added.
Earlier, Pakistan's Foreign
Minister at the UN made false
claims that India is trans-
forming into a Hindu
supremacist state and raked
the issue of Kashmir.
According to Internation-
al Forum for Rights and Secu-
rity (IFFRAS), Pakistan is mov-
ing in an increasingly con-
servative Islamist direction,
and the situation for Hindus,
Christians and other religious
minorities, especially that of
government websites. Similar
posts were seen on multiple
platforms including Facebook
and Telegram. The members
of the group primarily reside
in the Chittagong area of
Bangladesh and either study
in college or have recently
graduated. Hacktivism appears
to be their predominant moti-
vation and the group "major-
ly operates and communi-
cates via Facebook, Telegram
and Twitter", said the team.
"Through meticulous analy-
sis and profiling of multiple
groups, it can be rightly con-
cluded that such hacktivist
groups collaborate among
each other excessively to con-
duct nefarious attacks, DDoS
being the primary one, followed
by defacing attacks," said Abhi-
nav Pandey, Cyber Threat
Researcher at CloudSEK.
"'Raven Storm' has been the
most prevalent tool employed,
for such impactful DDoS
attacks, by such hacktivist
– caused by both social struc-
tures and social media algo-
rithms – and let our mind
breathe. We must revive the
art of listening; we must redis-
cover the art of dialogue.”
The vice president under-
lined the role of the intelli-
gentsia in Indian society, refer-
ring to how sages advised
kings historically on issues of
UNION HOME MINISTER AMIT SHAH
fron party.
He said Congress, Shiro-
mani Akali Dal and BJP are
hand in glove for this sinister
move aimed at toppling the
democratically elected gov-
ernment of Punjab. Mann
said Congress and BJP have
marginalized regional par-
ties adding that now they
want that power should remain
confined between them only.
women, has worsened.
The situation faced by the
Hindu and Christian groups
in Pakistan is bad in general,
but women from these com-
munities are the worst victims
of discriminatory attitudes
of the authorities, political
groups, religious parties, the
feudal structure and the Mus-
lim majority.
Religious minority women
and girls are abducted, forcibly
converted, married and
abused, and their families
are unsuccessful in their
attempts to challenge these
crimes using legal avenues,
reported IFFRAS.
While the abductions,
forced conversions, forced
marriages, the fate of reli-
gious minority women and
girls is often sealed as the exist-
ing laws or handling of such
cases through legal recourse
is unavailable or ineffective.
groups," Pandey informed.
One of the co-founders of
Mysterious Team Bangladesh
has been recognised as Taskin
Ahmmed.The rest of the group
primarily consists of students
or recent graduates between
the age of 20 to 25 years that
previously operated under
hacker organisations, like Elite
Force 71, Bangladesh Cyber
Anonymous Team, and Taskin
Vau.They are predominant-
ly motivated by hacktivism and
have associations with an
Indonesia-based hacktivist
group, "Hacktivist of Garuda".
DDoS attacks can leave
websites more vulnerable as
some security features may
be offline due to the attack.
Damaged infrastructure
can cause the collapse of ser-
vices provided by the website.
Websites become vulnera-
ble to further attacks. Loss of
data, and credentials being
compromised, said
researchers.
policy and ensured harmony
and stability in society.
Calling upon intellectuals
to speak upon prevailing
issues, he said that “if our intel-
ligentsia decides to opt for
silence in the current times,
then this very important sec-
tion of society is bound to be
silenced forever. They must
freely practice dialogue and
The CM, however, said
AAP has taken birth from an
anti-corruption crusade and
the party under leadership of
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal is gaining momen-
tum with every passing day.
He said they will oppose every
anti-democratic move and
will not be threatened by
pressure tactics. Mann said
Punjab will send a message to
Manish Tewari to contest
Congress president poll?
SNS & AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
With Congress preparing to
elect the successor of party chief
Sonia Gandhi, former union
minister Manish Tewari is the
latest among the list of con-
tenders speculated to be in the
fray.
The party today issued an
official notification announc-
ing the schedule for the elec-
tion to the post of party pres-
ident. The elections are slat-
ed to be held on October 17
at all Pradesh Congress Com-
mittees with results being
announced on October 19,
immediately after the count-
ing of votes.
Sources close to the Sri
Anandpur Sahib MP said on
Thursday that he is consider-
ing throwing his hat in the ring
after Sonia Gandhi made it clear
that anybody can run in the
How PFI spread its wings across country
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
In a major crackdown on the
Popular Front of India (PFI),
the National Investigation
Agency (NIA) and the Enforce-
ment Directorate (ED) on
Thursday raided premises
linked to PFI in 10 states across
the country and arrested more
than 100 top PFI leaders and
functionaries.
An official said that the
agency had learnt that the PFI
was indulging in terror fund-
ing besides imparting training
to the youth in order to radi-
calise them.
"We have seized incrimi-
nating documents, digital
devices, cash to the tune of Rs
10 lakh along with weapons.
We have learnt that camps
were organised where con-
spiracies were hatched to carry
out terror-related activities in
the country," said a source.
What is PFI?
The Popular Front of India
deliberation so that societal
morality and propriety are
preserved”.
Underscoring the prima-
cy attached to the Freedom of
Expression in the Constitution
and the rich quality of Con-
stituent Assembly debates,
Dhankhar said they are a tes-
timony to the importance of
free-spirited and healthy dis-
cussion that India has long
cherished. “Freedom of expres-
sion is the nectar of democ-
racy”, he said.
The Vice President called
upon the intellectuals from the
civic society to play a proac-
tive role in ensuring the har-
monious balance of the three
branches of the state – Leg-
islature, Executive, and Judi-
ciary – through deliberative
mechanisms. “Democratic
values and human rights will
certainly blossom with intel-
ligentsia adopting the proac-
tive stance of dialogue and dis-
cussion”, he added.
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022
the entire country that in
democracy people and not any
individual is supreme.
Meanwhile, AAP legislators
on Thursday held a‘ Shanti
March’ (peace march)from
Punjab Assembly towards
Governor's house to protest
cancellation of the special
Assembly session summoned
to bring a confidence motion.
Holding banners that said,
‘Killer of Democracy’ and
‘Congress-BJP killing democ-
racy’, 'Stop Operation Lotus',
AAP's Members of Legislative
Assembly (MLAs) and work-
ers raised slogans against the
Opposition parties.
MLAs said Opposition par-
ties including Congress, Shi-
romani Akali Dal and Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), who have
welcomed the Governor's
decision to cancel the special
Assembly session scheduled
for today, were working togeth-
er to weaken democracy as
they are baffled by the extra-
ordinary functioning of the AAP
government led by Mann.
poll.
Tewari's consideration to
contest comes amid the reports
of several party top leaders
being in the fray.
Tewari is part of the G-23,
a group of dissenters who had
written to Sonia Gandhi seek-
ing reforms in the party.
Interestingly, he is the only
leader from the group con-
sidering to contest for the
post after the exit of veteran
leader and group member
Ghulam Nabi Azad on August
26 this year. The leader from
Jammu and Kashmir had
stepped down terming the
organisational election process
of the Congress as "a farce and
a sham"."The entire organi-
sational election process is a
farce and a sham. At no place
anywhere in the country have
elections been held at any
level of the organisation. Hand-
picked lieutenants of the AICC
Sources have claimed
that the Centre has
decided to ban PFI for
its alleged involvement
in terror activities. A
high-level meeting was
held between Union
Home Minister Amit
Shah and top agency
officials on this count
on Thursday.
was established in 2006 in
Kerala. E. Abubacker, the chair-
man of PFI, is also a resident
of Kerala. The organisation
established its headquarters in
Kozhikode, which was later
changed to Delhi. PFI nation-
al general secretary Nasarud-
din Elamaram is also a found-
ing member of the outfit.
A number of radical groups,
which were active in southern
India, wanted to form a group.
These highly-radicalised groups
decided to come on a single plat-
J&K HC notice on release of report on
stampede deaths in Vaishno Devi temple
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, 22 SEPTEMBER
In a significant development,
a division bench of the J&K
and Ladakh High Court on
Thursday sought reply with-
in one month from the UT gov-
ernment and the Vaishnode-
vi Shrine Board into a Public
Interest Litigation (PIL) seek-
ing that the report of the
three member committee
that probed death of 12 devo-
tees and injury to several
others in a stampede at the
Vaishnodevi shrine on 1 Jan-
uary be made public.
After listening to senior
advocate AV Gupta with advo-
cate HA Siddiqui and a bat-
tery of lawyers appearing for
the petitioner as well as the
submissions made by the
additional advocate general
Raman Sharma, the Bench
headed by Chief Justice Pankaj
AAP takes out ‘Shanti March’
against Governor’s move to
cancel Assembly session
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 22 SEPTEMBER
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legis-
lators onThursday held a‘ Shan-
ti March’ (peace march)from
Punjab Assembly towards Gov-
ernor's house to protest can-
cellation of the special Assem-
bly session summoned to
bring a confidence motion.
Holding banners that said,
‘Killer of Democracy’ and ‘Con-
gress-BJP killing democracy’,
'Stop Operation Lotus', AAP's
Members of Legislative Assem-
bly (MLAs) and workers raised
slogans against the Opposition
parties.
They alleged the Opposi-
tion is trying to halt the progress
of the state government by
working clandestinely against
the AAP in Punjab. MLAs
dubbed the Governor Ban-
warilal Purohit's decision of
withdrawing his earlier order
calling the special session as
a "mockery of democracy"
MLAs said Opposition par-
ties including Congress, Shi-
romani Akali Dal and Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP), who have
welcomed the Governor's deci-
sion to cancel the special
has been coerced to sign on
lists prepared by the coterie that
runs the AICC sitting in 24 Akbar
Road," Azad had written in his
resignation letter to Sonia
Gandhi.He had also hit out at
Rahul Gandhi in his letter.
Rahul Gandhi, who is cur-
rently on his Bharat JodoYatra
is not likely to file nominations
for the election.Rajasthan
Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot
is one of the top picks of the
Gandhi family as the succes-
sor to Sonia Gandhi, in case
Rahul abstains from the race.
On September 19, Shashi
Tharoor met Sonia Gandhi
at her residence in the nation-
al capital where he expressed
his wish to contest the polls
to "make internal democracy"
in the party stronger. Gandhi
giving her nod to the Thiru-
vananthapuram MP, said that
anybody can contest elec-
tions.
form.
"The National Develop-
ment Front of Kerala, Kar-
nataka Forum for Dignity, and
Manitha Neethi Pasari of Tamil
Nadu came together to form
the PFI after dismantling their
individual outfits," the offi-
cial said.
According to sources, the PFI
has now spread its network to
two-dozen states across the
country.
The sources said that in the
name of fighting for Muslim
rights, the PFI won the trust of
many Muslim youth who joined
the outfit in different capaci-
ties. It rapidly started opening
office in different states where
further recruitments were
made.
The PFI has also spread its
netwrok overseas. The agen-
cies have learnt that PFI receives
funds from Muslim countries
in the name of donation.While
the PFI members claim that they
use these funds to fight for the
rights of Muslims and Dalits,
Mithal and consisting of Jus-
tice Sindhu Sharma directed
the Registry that keeping in view
the public interest involved in
the matter to re-notify on 28
October the PIL filed by advo-
cate Sheikh Shakeel Ahmed.
Sheikh Shakeel in the PIL
has sought directions to the
UT Administration and Shri
Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine
Board to fix accountability of
the delinquent officers who
05
Assembly session scheduled
for today, were working togeth-
er to weaken democracy as they
are baffled by the extraordinary
functioning of the AAP gov-
ernment led by CM Mann.
But their nefarious agenda
will be thwarted by the dedi-
cated soldiers of AAP and its
supremo Arvind Kejriwal, AAP
MLAs said.They accused Con-
gress of being a ‘B-team’ of the
BJP and working deceitfully for
the saffron party. They are the
killers of democracy. They said
that the governor has can-
celled the assembly session at
the behest of BJP and Oppo-
sition leaders are also dancing
on the tunes of BJP to safeguard
their positions amid threats of
CBI and ED raids.
The AAP MLAs said the
Mann government will sum-
mon a special Assembly ses-
sion on September 27 to dis-
cuss various issues pertaining
to the state. The government
will also approach the Supreme
Court against the arbitrary
and anti-democratic decision
of the Governor to cancel the
permission without taking
consent of the Council of Min-
isters, as per the law.
Import of
cattle banned
in J&K
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, 22 SEPTEMBER
To prevent spread of Lumpy
Skin Disease (LSD), the Jammu
and Kashmir government on
Thursday imposed complete
ban on import of bovine ani-
mals from neighbouring states
and inter-district movement
of bovines within the UT for
any purpose, till 25 October.
This government order has
been issued in the wake of
spread of LSD in J&K and
some states of the country as
a measure of abundant pre-
caution and in view of decla-
ration of whole UT of J&K as
"Controlled Area" for Lumpy
Skin Disease vide S.0 424,
dated 5.9.2022 and in exercise
of powers conferred under
Section 10 of the Prevention
and Control of Infectious and
Contagious Diseases Act, 2009.
the agencies have found that
they use these funds to carry
out terror activities.
Central agencies NIA and
ED on Thursday conducted
raids across 11 states, includ-
ing Assam, Bihar, Kerala, Andhra
Pradesh, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,
Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil
Nadu and Rajasthan, and
arrested more than 100 sus-
pected PFI activists for alleged-
ly supporting terror activities
in the country.
"Twenty persons each were
arrested from Karnataka and
Maharashtra, followed by Tamil
Nadu (10), Assam (9), Uttar
Pradesh (8), Andhra Pradesh
(5), Madhya Pradesh (4), Pud-
dicherry (3), and Rajasthan
(2)," said an NIA source.
Sources have claimed that
the Centre has decided to ban
PFI for its alleged involvement
in terror activities. A high-
level meeting was held between
Union Home Minister Amit
Shah and top agency officials
on this count on Thursday.
remained remiss in perfor-
mance of their duties on the
fateful night when the pilgrims
lost their lives.The lawyers
claimed that accountability
was not fixed for the reasons
best known to the authorities
at the helm of affairs. The
Senior Counsel further sub-
mitted that the aforesaid
panel was directed to submit
its report within weeks’ time
to the J&K government.
06 SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022 Vol. CXXXXXVI 224

Incorporating and directly descended from

The Lankan Crisis A MEMBER
OF THE

THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818

The South Asian regional chief of the World Bank had said that ‘Sri Lanka is an exciting ASIAN VOICES
Tragedy & Turmoil country with an exciting future‘. In 2015, the World Bank report glowingly described
Regenerative
Sri Lanka as ‘a development success story‘ applauding its economic growth and consequent
I
n death, 22-year-old Mahsa Amini symbolizes the
raging turmoil in Iran that is helmed by Islamist
hardliners. She had travelled to Tehran to visit rel-
reduction in poverty rates farming to
better protect
T
atives when outside a subway station, the “morality he economic crisis of Sri that rose to 60.8 per cent in July
police”, so-called, arrested her on a charge of having Lanka may be summari- and 64.3 per cent in August. Food
failed to fully cover her hair. Pulled into a police van,
she was dead three days later. Amini’s death in Tehran
sed as a paradox: from
prosperity to decadence,
inflation spiked to 90.9 per cent
in July.
soil, food

has ignited a wave of protests across the beleaguered
country. It has exposed the anger among Iranian
women about their treatment under a theocratic
regime and brought to surface what has been
described as an instance of “unprecedented willing-
ness” to defy the government. “Many people are
pointing out that the victim could be my daughter,
my sister, my wife,” said Hadi Ghaemi, the executive
director of the New York-based Center for Human
Rights in Iran. “This has shaken people, specifically
that every time a woman leaves home, she might not
come back.”
As the country’s hardline President, Ebrahim
Raisi, met world leaders in New York for the UN Gen-
eral Assembly session, extraordinary scenes have
unfolded in his country, with women removing their
headscarves and even burning them in front of cheer-
ing crowds. This combination of viral videos and
pent-up anger represents a potential “George Floyd
moment” for Iran, Ghaemi said. The regime has now
been “forced into a corner given how innocent this
woman was, and there was no ground for having
treated her so violently.”
President Raisi has ordered an investigation into
Amini’s death and has expressed condolences to her
father through a phone call. “I learned about this inci-
dent during by trip to Uzbekistan and I immediately
ordered my colleagues to investigate the matter spe-
cially. I assure you that I will demand this issue from
the responsible institutions so that its dimensions
are clarified.”
There is little doubt that a cornered President has
sought to defuse tensions. The President emphasized
that he considers all Iranian girls as his own children.
“Your daughter is like my own daughter, and I feel
that this incident happened to one of my loved ones.”
Eyewitnesses, who were also in the van, told Amini’s
father that she was beaten up inside the police vehicle
on the way to the detention centre, according to
human rights groups. Iranian authorities said, how-
ever, that she died after a heart attack and called the
incident “unfortunate”. Her father contradicted this,
saying that she did not suffer from any illness.
She was in perfect health, he told an Iranian news
outlet. Advocates of women’s rights have battled the
theocracy from its earliest days after the 1979 Islamic
Revolution. They have protested against the manda-
tory veil or hijab, along with laws that have rendered
women as second-class citizens. Iran's regime must
realise that people will not tolerate such excesses;
after all, women and the men who cherish them as
fathers, spouses and siblings far outnumber the
zealots who make up the orthodoxy that creates such
aberrations as the country’s “morality” police.
Land for Welfare
or, as put succinctly by a business
daily, from promise to dystopia.
Sri Lanka is an island nation,
formerly known as Ceylon and
thereafter officially declared as
the Democratic Socialist Repub-
lic of Sri Lanka. According to the
World Bank’s estimates, in 2020,
there were 21.9 million people in
Sri Lanka with life expectancy of
76.98 years.
Sri Lanka began with a sense
of optimism at the time of inde-
pendence in 1948. It was a nation
of much promise bestowed with
essential ingredients for rapid
economic development not shar-
ed by most Asian countries ~ a
strategic location in the Indian
Ocean, an open economy with
vibrant exports sector, a high
level of education, no reported
incidence of extreme poverty or
inequality, well developed physi-
cal infrastructure and a presum-
ably efficient administrative
apparatus. Well into the 1950s, it
was ranked as one of the most
prosperous Asian countries.
Sri Lanka’s per capita inc-
ome and other development
indicators placed it well above its
South Asian neighbours, as well
as countries such as Republic of
Korea and Thailand. The coun-
try’s economy was backed by a
large foreign exchange reserve
and a solid budgetary position.
This country moved through
a succession of constitutional
reforms ~ from a colonial system
to parliamentary democracy. We
may recall that this country had
introduced universal suffrage as
early as in 1931. In the words of
former Prime Minister of Singa-
pore, Lee Kuan Yew Ceylon was
Britain’s “model Commonwealth
country”.
Such early promise, howev-
er, proved to be misplaced as
about the early 1960s, the growth
of Sri Lanka’s per capita income
fell behind those of the fastest
growing South Asian economies.
The development indicators of
Sri Lanka such as adult literacy,
life expectancy and infant mor-
tality although well above many
Asian countries, were no longer
such an outlier.
It is in the background of its
unrealized potential and its on-
going liberalisation experience in
The country faces an un-
precedented oil crisis as it is
unable to pay for imports. Sri
Lanka is also unable to service
external debt of over $51 million,
the main creditors being China,
Japan, and India.
As Sri Lanka suspended ser-
vicing external debt, this affect-
ed the series of bonds issued in
global capital markets. It is un-
derstood that international sov-
ereign bonds worth $1 billion
dollars have matured. The Asian
Development Bank, Japan and
China are the largest lenders in
this group.
Sri Lanka was once a model
for emerging market economies
and grew at an average rate of 6.2
per cent between 2010 and 2016.
Such growth dipped to 3.1 per
cent in the next three years and
the World Bank has forecast that
the nation would grow at 2.4 per
cent in 2022, which appears
higher contribution of industry economy. Such a rise in tourist highly unlikely given the eco-
to GDP than agriculture which inflows led to increased flow of nomic crisis.
contributed 20 per cent of GDP. foreign exchange and generated The country faces a fiscal
The economic changes of the lib- attractive avenues of employ- deficit amounting to 13 per cent
eralisation process continued to ment for the country. In 2018, the of its Gross Domestic Product.
have important socio-cultural country recorded a 46.1 per cent The chronic foreign exchange
impacts too and the service sec- of growth in tourism as com- shortage has led to skyrocketing
tor, driven by tourism, soon out- pared to 2010. inflation.
paced industry. Emboldened by such increa- Sri Lankans have no access
Such structural changes, ses in tourism revenue, the Ra- to petrol and suffer 15 hours of
however, were not supported by japaksa government announced power cuts. UNICEF has repor-
its national financial counterpart, a significant tax cut in 2019 whi- ted that most children in Sri
as the country depended heavily ch led to an estimated revenue Lanka go to bed hungry. Prices of
on debt providers such as the loss of over 1.4 billion US dollars. essentials shot up as much as 200
IMF, the World Bank and on other On the other hand, thanks to its per cent in 2022, the currency has
developed countries, implying restricted tariff policy, the trade plunged 33 per cent against the
that increased dependency and deficit widened. This started the dollar. The country is nearly ban-
foreign debt, urban- economic misma- krupt and has suspended its $7
ization, higher ex- nagement process billion in foreign loans out of its
that would contin- total foreign debt of $51 billion.
pectations and glob-
alization had started ue to cost the Sri Lanka would be an inter-
to shape the future country dearly in esting case study of how a coun-
direction of Sri Lan- days to come. The try glowingly described as a
ka. It is noteworthy country’s annual model for economic growth in
that domestic re- imports being $3 Asia with admirable human
sources were inade- billion more than development indicators, which
quate to meet the its exports led to a had introduced its liberalisation
rising demand of the severe erosion of policy in the late 1970s reduced
country’s structural its foreign curren- itself to a bankruptcy, thanks to
NANDITA
reforms; savings fell CHATTERJEE cy reserves. In late economic mismanagement and
behind investment 2019, the island short-sighted structural changes,
and there was little The writer is a retired nation had $7.6 over-dependence on service and
private or commen-
IAS officer
billion in currency industry particularly in the
surate public invest- reserves; this drop- tourism sector, dependency on
ment to support the nation’s ped to $250 million in 2022. In imports for basic essentials,
ambitious industrialisation pro- two consecutive years, the for- neglect of the agricultural sector,
cess. By 2009, Sri Lanka had de- eign exchange reserves declined
veloped a bad reputation as an by 70 per cent causing its worst
introducing tax cuts at the cost
of depletion of revenue and con-
C
hina has 18 per cent of the
world’s population, but less
than 9 per cent of the world's
cropland and only one-third
of the global average availability of
freshwater on a per capita basis. But
despite these severe resource cons-
traints, China has made remarkable
progress in agriculture. For example,
between 1949 and 2020, China’s total
grain production increased six-fold
and per capita grain availability more
than doubled.
More importantly, China is the
world’s largest agricultural producer
and has a self-sufficiency rate in the
production of key staples such as rice
and wheat of more than 95 per cent.
Yet China faces serious challenges
on the agriculture front. Years of inten-
sive farming have damaged the agro-
ecosystems that play a critical role in
China’s food systems. About 40 per
cent of China’s arable land has been
degraded and more than 20 per cent is
contaminated by high levels of heavy
metals such as cadmium, copper, lead
and zinc. Over-use of fertilizers and
pesticides has contributed to soil de-
gradation, and agriculture is now the
largest source of water pollution in the
country. Organic matter levels in the
rich black soils of Northeast China
have declined by more than 75 per
cent since the 1950s and are estimated
to be dropping by 1-2 millimeters per
year. Moreover, climate change is
straining China’s agricultural produc-
tion systems, as the severe drought
this year amply illustrates.
In order to ensure the country’s
food security in the coming decades
and protect the natural resource base
upon which farming depends, a shift
toward sustainable and regenerative
agriculture is imperative. Sustainable
agriculture is already a familiar con-
cept in China, whereas regenerative
agriculture is a more recent concept
that is gaining increasing currency
around the world and is being cham-
pioned by farmers, academics and
corporations alike. Regenerative agri-
culture goes a step beyond sustainable
agriculture in that it is aimed at regen-
erating degraded soils and other re-
sources. It is commonly associated
with practices such as no till/mini-
mum tillage, cover crops, diverse crop
rotations, reduction of agrochemical
inputs and well-managed grazing,

A
biding by the certitudes of a market economy,
as recommended to the Bengal Left by Amartya
Sen at the peak of the Singur/Nandigram
upheaval, the state government has resolved to effect
large-scale sale of land to fund the state’s schemes
on public welfare. Hopefully, this will mark a turn-
around in public policy, chiefly to ensure the fulfill-
ment of the Benthamite doctrine of the “greatest good
of the greatest number”.
Towards that noble end and to address the igno-
ble potential for recurrent strife, the government has
resolved to sell off 32 land parcels across the state
through e-auction. The objective is to generate Rs
8,000 crore to fund its projects on welfare. The crisis
in the state’s torpid economy has deepened as the
Centre has stopped releasing funds for several
schemes. And in terms of the state’s own revenue, the
government is yet to attain pre-pandemic levels of
Rs 5,500 crore a month.
It is pretty obvious that Nabanna has decided on
the outright sale to garner the prevailing market price.
This is an option that the long-term lease route does-
n’t quite envisage. The initiative is not bereft of paral-
lels. It bears recall that a decade ago, the state gov-
ernment had auctioned unused land yielded by
Kolkata’s tram depots. It is pretty obvious that the
state government is desperately in need of funds. The
land parcels identified for auction are integral to the
state’s landscape.
The government spends nearly Rs 28,000 crore
annually to implement its welfare schemes. It is fer-
vently to be hoped that the new plan of action will not
hit the reefs owing to disputes over acquisition. The e-
auction procedure will cover Chowbagha Road in
Kolkata, and areas in Alipore, Durgapur, Dankuni,
Burdwan and several others. Welfare schemes,
notably Lakshmir Bhandar (a direct benefit transfer
scheme to benefit 1.7 crore women) are especially
industry that the economy of Sri
Lanka continued to grow even
during its period of severe con-
flict, thereby underscoring its
potential for accelerated growth.
The crucial liberalisation
process initiated in 1977 was
often nipped in the bud by in-
complete reforms, by political
unrest, by external shocks, and
sometimes, by a combination of
all three.
The following 33 years saw
Sri Lanka as a free trade-oriented
liberal country in South Asia
which had moved from a pre-
dominantly agricultural econo-
my to an exaggerated emphasis
on industry for export. Such stru-
ctural changes leading to sectoral
reorientation was the most out-
standing feature of the last three
decades. While the agricultural
sector declined with such liber-
alisation losing its dynamism,
export-led industrialisation was
promoted as the harbinger of
income and employment oppor-
tunities.
Consequently, post liberali-
sation, the economy witnessed
notable structural changes from
being predominantly agricultural
to being more diversified. The
most dramatic outcome of the
structural changes, especially
between 1950 and 2010, was the
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
economy with a complex tariff economic crisis. To add fat to the tinuous erosion of foreign although the specific practices fol-
structure that discouraged for- fire, in April 2019, churches and exchange reserves. lowed vary from place to place, dep-
eign traders, and which relied on luxury hotels in Colombo were The nation needs to embark ending on the ecological and socioe-
imports even for basic necessi- targeted in a series of suicide on a remedial process of : conomic conditions of a particular
ties. The country’s dependency bombings, abruptly halting the * Significant macroeconomic area. But how can we promote sus-
on borrowings were exaggerated upsurge in tourism. reforms such as robust tax mea- tainable and regenerative agriculture
as the country, keen to rebuild Hopes of revival were rudely sures, institutional changes, across China? One of the best ways to
after the Civil War in 2009, started interrupted by the Coronavirus greater exchange rate flexibility, do so is to repurpose agricultural sup-
to focus on large infrastructure pandemic. Compared to 2.33 rationalization of expenditure port. China has already made signifi-
projects. Such dependency on million tourists in 2018, the and widening of revenue base. cant progress in this area, such as
infrastructure, while helping the island nation saw only 0.91 ml * Renewed emphasis on trade through the reform of fertilizer poli-
economy in the short run, led to tourist arrivals in 2021. Tourism and commercial policy, rational- cies, the subsidies for returning straw
large borrowings and thereby revenue declined from $4.4 bil- ization of the tariff structure, to the land to augment soil with orga-
triggered a debt trap. lion in 2018 to $6.33 million in introduction of VAT and empha- nic matter, and measures to promote
Between 2009-2012, the is- 2021. Workers’ remittances ~ sis on the role of foreign the use of organic manures, recycling
land nation recorded an annual another source of foreign excha- trade zones that had worked of agricultural wastes and the use of
growth rate of over 8 per cent nge ~ also declined to their low- well earlier. low-toxicity bio-pesticides.
(which fell thereafter), largely est level of $5.14 million in 2021. * Regulated growth of Infrastruc- Yet more can be done by repur-
driven by non-structural short The decision in 2021 to ad- ture towards objectives of effi- posing agricultural support to pro-
term and non-tradable sectors opt organic farming and ban ciency and equity. mote sustainable and regenerative
such as construction, transport, chemical fertilisers to conserve * Strengthen historic strengths in practices-such as incentivizing the use
banking and real estate. The foreign exchange reserves also education and health. of cover crops, minimum tillage, diver-
South Asian regional chief of the hurt the economy. This culminat- * Start dialogue with IMF for re- se crop rotations and the integration
World Bank had said that “Sri ed in declining agricultural yields scheduling of debt. At the start of of animal and arable production ~
September, IMF approved a staff
Lanka is an exciting country with and acute food crisis resulting which can foster a circularity of nutri-
an exciting future”. In 2015, the in an emergency being declared level deal of $2.9 billion for Sri ents and reduce pollution from ani-
World Bank report glowingly in 2021. Lanka. Hopefully, this bailout mal wastes. Also, ecological compen-
described Sri Lanka as “a devel- The war in Ukraine has also package should booster investor sation policies for agriculture need to
opment success story” applaud- disturbed supply chains aggra- confidence and improve credit be integrated into current ecological
ing its economic growth and con- vating problems for the food sec- ratings. compensation regulations. Provinces
sequent reduction in poverty tor. In May 2022, the country’s * Introduce a balanced sectoral such as Zhejiang and Jiangsu are
rates. The island nation also usable foreign reserves reached approach so that agriculture is already experimenting with this. China
launched its “Vision 2025” its lowest level $50 million amid not subjected to continuous has a large network of demonstration
Post the civil war era which spiraling external debts. neglect. farms, including some ecological far-
ended in May 2009, the country An attempt to impose ban * Try to ensure self-sufficiency in ms, which provide an excellent oppor-
also witnessed a resurgence in on imports to tide over this situa- essentials such as alternate tunity to test and adopt regenerative
tourism, after opening up the tion has led to spiraling Inflation sources of energy. approaches in these farms.
editor@thestatesman.com

Fifth-largest?
critical as the Government of India has not been increase in exports vis-a-vis
releasing funds for the 100 days’ rural job scheme in imports. The unemploy-
ment rate shot up to a dan-
West Bengal. The reason proffered by the Centre is
gerous 8.3 per cent which is
corruption, which it alleges is almost endemic. Funds SIR, India has overtaken the ainst $570 billion in March the highest in the past 12
have been withheld for the Pradhan Mantri Awas United Kingdom to become 2021 signifying the pressure months.
Yojana (theoretically to take care of housing) and the the fifth largest economy in of additional repayment to In light of the above,
Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (village roads) the world (in terms of share the creditors despite being the fifth lar-
over alleged rechristening of the schemes by the state in world’s GDP) which is The rupee is rallying at gest economy in the world,
government. being celebrated across the about 80 against the US dol- India's ability to expend on
While there has been an increase in revenue gen- government. However, these lar and anticipated increase pro-public measures like
eration compared to the pandemic period, it is yet celebrations have briefly in interest rate by US Fed is health, education and pub-
to reach the pre-pandemic levels, going by the pro- given a miss to the following adding to the worries on the lic services is severely con-
gigantic economic issues. import front. strained.
jections of the state’s finance department. The state Retail inflation at 7 per India’s foreign exchange The economy is getting
spends Rs 1,097 crore every month to operate the cent is not only above RBI's reserves declined to $553 engulfed in a crisis that is
Lakshmir Bhandar scheme. Ever since August 2021, threshold limit but is unlike- billion on September 2 from becoming ever more com-
when the scheme was introduced, it has been an ly to come down any time $620 billion in February prehensive; and there is no
additional burden on the exchequer. The Chief Min- soon due to decrease in indicating mounting pres- solution to it within the
ister is said to have advanced instructions to expedite kharif sowing area India’s sure on the rupee. parameters of neoliberalism.
the e-auction procedure so that the state can replen- external debt rose to $620.7 The trade deficit is Yours, etc., S K Khosla,
ish its kitty sooner rather than later. billion in March 2022 ag- widening owing to lower Chandigarh, 16 September.

Leicester violence called
for a mature response
ANGSHUMAN KAR
O
ver the weekend, the UK
police made 47 arrests in
Leicester following a series
of violent clashes mostly
among the Hindu and Muslim youths
in the city after a defeat of Pakistan by
India in a cricket match in Dubai on
28 August. While the arrests of 47 sus-
pects involved in the clashes is
indicative of good governance and
looks like a reassuring step for restor-
ing normalcy in Leicester, a city
known for being the most multicul-
tural in the UK, the clashes among
the diasporic Hindu and Muslim
communities demand serious exam-
ination of the entire chain of events.
Leicester is a city where the Hin-
dus and the Muslims have, by and
large, been living in peace for long.
The recent violence was triggered by
the march of a group of young Hindu
boys on Melton Road of Leicester
who, reportedly, were shouting slo-
gans like ‘Pakistan Murdabad.’ Video
footage of this celebration became
viral on social media resulting in stray
incidents of violence in the city. The
next Saturday again saw another
march of Hindu youths on the street
with slogans like “Jai Shri Ram,”
which, unfortunately is losing its
sacred identity and has become a war
cry for far-right Hindus. This march
allegedly threatened Muslim resi-
dents and shop owners of the city.
Some such videos became viral again
on social media resulting in the van-
dalism of a Hindu temple and a series
of clashes between the two commu-
nities for quite some time.
The arrest of 47 young men who
were allegedly involved in the clashes
is indeed important in this context.
It not only proves good governance
on part of the local administration
but also is in tune with the condem-
nation of the “shocking scenes of
unacceptable incidents of violence”
As Putin cosies up to autocrats…
BARBARA YOXON
R HELEN BOYLE
ussia is planning to buy “mil-
lions” of Soviet-era weapons
from North Korea, a recent
US intelligence report
revealed. Britain’s defence intelli-
gence has also confirmed that Russia
is already using Iranian-made drones
in Ukraine.
The revelations follow a series of
diplomatic exchanges between Russ-
ian president Vladimir Putin and
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to
celebrate North Korea’s Liberation
Day on August 15. The two leaders
proposed a new strategic and tacti-
cal cooperation, and stressed the tra-
dition of friendship between them,
part of a recent Putin offensive to cre-
ate and strengthen alliances with key
authoritarian states.
In just a few days Putin has met
China’s president Xi Jinping and
Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi, as well
as promising a major trade delega-
tion to Iran. Putin also promised to
do everything he could to make Iran a
full member of the Shanghai Coop-
eration Organisation, a political and
security alliance that includes Russia,
China, Uzbekistan and Pakistan.
As Russia becomes isolated from
the west following its invasion of
Ukraine, the Kremlin is becoming
more ideologically extreme, and is
seeking to improve its cooperation
with rogue regimes, particularly
North Korea and Iran. This alliance,
which is likely to include China,
could pose a real threat to the west
in the coming years.
Moscow enjoyed a close diplo-
matic relationship with Pyongyang
during the cold war, and the Soviet
Union was one of North Korea’s most
important economic partners. The
relationship changed dramatically in
CROSSWORD
by Jonathan Ashworth, an opposition
Labour MP in Leicester and his claim
that all in the city “are united in call-
ing for calm, peace and harmony.” It
is also deeply assuring that following
the incidents of clashes and the van-
dalism of a Hindu temple, leaders of
the two religious groups have called
for an immediate end to “provocation
and violence.” Leaders of both com-
munities assembled on the steps of a
mosque to make a plea to both com-
munities to restore peace and order
in the city.
Pradip Gajjar, the president of
the city’s Iskcon Leicester Hindu tem-
ple, said in a joint statement that they
were “saddened and heartbroken to
see the eruption of tension and vio-
lence.” He also emphatically under-
lined that “physical attacks on inno-
cent individuals and unwarranted
damage to property are not part of a
decent society and indeed not part of
our faiths.”
Whereas these responses are
welcome moves in restoring peace
and normalcy in Leicester, the reac-
tion of the Indian High Commission
to the incident was not wise, nor in
1991 when the Soviet Union col-
lapsed. Russia, no longer a commu-
nist country, focused on forging a
positive relationship with western
democracies.
It prioritised economic relations
over ideological ones, and sought to
develop closer ties with the United
States and South Korea. This dam-
aged its relations with Pyongyang,
and North Korea shifted its focus to
developing a closer relationship with
China.
When Putin came to power in
2000, he made attempts to renew
Russia’s diplomatic relationship with
North Korea. Kim Jong-Il, Kim Jong-
Un’s father, even visited Russia on a
few occasions.
However, the relationship was
hindered by Russia’s deeply pragmat-
ic approach to foreign policy. To
maintain friendly relations with the
west, Kremlin continued to condemn
SOLUTION FOR 16 SEPTEMBER
ACROSS
1 Drunk with hat
4 American spies
9 What a landlady uses
10 Old boy supplants
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required. (By arrangement with The Independent, London)
CMYK
tune with recent peace-making and
peace-keeping strategies adopted
across the globe. The High Commis-
sion issued a statement condemning
the “vandalisation of premises and
symbols of Hindu religion” and
declaring that they “have strongly
taken up this matter with the UK
authorities and have sought immedi-
ate action against those involved in
these attacks.”
This statement of the Indian
High Commission has not been wel-
comed by the Muslims of the UK.
Zara Mohammed, secretary-general
of the Muslim Council of Britain, in a
letter to the High Commission
expressed the grievance of the Mus-
lims of Britain over this ‘biased’ and
‘partial’ condemnation of the vio-
lence of Leicester, “Whilst it is right
that we condemn the desecration of
Hindu symbols, you must represent
all Indians and also condemn the
deliberate targeting, intimidation and
instances of assault of Muslims and
Sikhs.”
In fact, despite the joint state-
ment issued by the community lead-
ers, the notion of harmony between
Pyongyang’s nuclear programme.
This made it impossible for the
two states to develop meaningful
diplomatic relations. Russia’s eco-
nomic and political isolation follow-
ing its invasion of Ukraine provided a
fresh opportunity for the two regimes
to renew their ties.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union,
North Korea has become increasingly
reliant on Beijing, with the vast
majority of its trade and energy com-
ing from China.
However, this relationship is not
free from political tension. China’s
key goal in the Korean Peninsula is to
avoid the collapse of North Korea’s
autocratic regime and prevent a
reunification with South Korea.
This would be unacceptable to
China, because it fears that a united
Korea would bring greater US
involvement in the region. As a result,
China has been pressuring
country girl (6)
11 Unusual play with Act
1 rewritten (8)
getting very quietly
13 Parliamentary
half cut (5)
procedures that
maybe passed before
suppress account by
field officer finding
breakfast! (5,3,7)
15 Plants that can make
food (8)
you smart? (8,7)
18 Salve for state burial
by implication involves
the Queen discarded
one litre in a
deception (7,8)
(8)
20 Dick has to check over
rector’s hedge (6)
artist in heart of
22 Son comes in to
CMYK
Indian Hindus and Muslims has
received a jolt from the High Com-
mission’s reaction to the incident and
the counter-attack that it produced.
Actually, apparent harmony and fra-
ternity that exist on the surface in
Hindu-Muslim relations in Britain at
large as also in Leicester in particular
is fraught with tensions of multiple
kinds. In fact, the relationship
between the Hindus and Muslims in
Indian diaspora started deteriorating
significantly after the demolition of
the Babri Masjid.
Aminah T. Mohammad’s essay,
“Relationships between Muslims and
Hindus in the United States: Mlec-
chas versus Kafirs?” also attests to the
fact. He, however, has pointed out
partition as another major factor
behind the widening of the gap
between the two communities, “But
tensions between these immigrants
do not disappear...since in many
cases Sikhs and Hindus, who retain a
nostalgia for Urdu, are people who
have lived through partition or whose
family has lived through partition
and who have not necessarily, like
Pakistanis, overcome the trauma of
Pyongyang to become more moder-
ate, hoping to stabilise the regime.
The strained relationship
between Beijing and Pyongyang is
one reason why Kim Jong-Un is likely
to embrace the opportunity to get
closer to Moscow and become more
independent from Beijing. Another is
that a closer relationship with Russia
could result in subsidised energy and
increased technological, scientific
and commercial cooperation.
Some commentators argue that
Russia’s turn to North Korea is a posi-
tive sign. They claim that Russia’s plea
for weapons means that the military
and economic sanctions against
Kremlin are working. Unable to buy
arms from other countries, Vladimir
Putin is turning to North Korea and
Iran, whose artillery is widely
believed to be inaccurate and unreli-
able. While this is true, a closer rela-
tionship between the world’s most
reform illegal veto in make garden feature
electoral system (11,4) (7)
23 Good-natured pollster 4 Report of small glass
embraces birds (8) bottle in papers (4)
24 Examines balls 5 Remember what a
after dropping second babysitter might do
base (5) (4,2,4)
6 Head is an attractive
DOWN woman (7)
1 Downtime Alison 7 Trojan arrested in
arranged in flat (3-11) Brasilia Cathedral (5)
2 Medley in grass serve 8 Hounds your
Rafael inspired tormentors after
originally (9) lesson (7,7)
3 Musician with yen to 12 Heard cleric cry loudly
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022
the biggest tragedy that affected the
subcontinent in the twentieth centu-
ry.” Whatever the reasons are, the
incidents of conflicts between the
Hindus and the Muslims of Indian
origin in diaspora are not only deadly
for the host countries but also for
India.
Statistical records and data have
already proved that the Indian dias-
pora significantly contributes to the
development of the homeland by
supplying financial resources, infor-
mation, and technology. These
resources are not religion specific.
Both the communities (as also the
Sikhs) have immensely contributed
to the development of India. In this
context, the role of High Commis-
sions and embassies in making the
diaspora contribute to the develop-
ment of the homeland has also been
acknowledged by diaspora scholars
and researchers.
Dilip Ratha and Sonia Plaza, for
instance, have written, “Steps that
could improve embassies’ engage-
ment with diasporas include out-
reach programmes to gain more
information, the training of embassy
staff for contacting diaspora mem-
bers and facilitating investment and
trade contacts, and the use of
embassies as a vehicle for marketing
investment and financial instruments
as diaspora bonds.” Any biased atti-
tude like the one shown by the Indian
High Commission in regard to vio-
lence in Leicester could be damaging
to the prosperity of India as a nation-
state.
In short, if India has to progress
and become a developed country by
2050 (as dreamed of by the Prime
Minister), the state should prove itself
secular and neutral not only in India
but also abroad.
The writer is Professor, Department of
English and Culture Studies, and Director,
Centre for Australian Studies, the University
of Burdwan.
dangerous autocracies should be a
stark warning to the west. Russia’s
interest in North Korea and Iran
might be self-interested, it also sig-
nals that Moscow is no longer con-
cerned with maintaining diplomatic
relations with the west, and that it
may be positioning the Shanghai
Cooperation Organisation as a rival
to Nato.
This autocratic bloc is almost
certainly going to include China,
whose relations with Russia deep-
ened in the wake of the invasion of
Ukraine. There is some evidence that
Putin’s strategy is already working. In
June, both Russia and China vetoed a
UN resolution to impose new sanc-
tions on North Korea as a result of its
nuclear activities.
This was an unprecedented
move from two permanent members
of the UN Security Council, who have
condemned North Korea’s activities
in the past. It signals a renewed effort
to counter the global influence of the
US and its allies who are, once more,
seen as enemies rather than partners.
To counter a growing alliance of
authoritarian regimes, the first step
for the west is to acknowledge this is
not necessarily a sign of Russian
weakness, and not to rule out talks
with the Kremlin.
While diplomatic engagement
with these states might become
increasingly difficult, engagement is
preferable to a policy of isolationism,
which risks encouraging more auto-
cratic cooperation. The west must
remain robust in its defence of
democratic values and position itself
as a necessary economic and strate-
gic partner to autocratic regimes, or
risk driving them further away.
The writer is Lecturer in International
Politics, Lancaster University. This article was
published on www.theconversation.com
NO 292200
in quick service (10)
14 Unaware of patent
involving light metal
(9)
16 Doctor’s operation
after face-lift for
Candy? (7)
17 Spooner’s call for
additional wine
creates distress (7)
19 Chemical
on egg – quite the
reverse (5)
21 Troubles racialist
oddly ignored (4)
07
100 YEARS AGO
OCCASIONAL NOTE
With an Irish Parliament and an Irish
Executive in existence, such enthusiasts
as Mrs. Despard and Mrs. Gonne
McBride ought to be happy at last, but
they are not. There is a type of mind
which cannot be happy unless it is
"again' the Government." Whether it be
one kind of Government or another
makes no great difference. In the old
days Mrs. Gonne McBride was taken
quite seriously, and made a rather pic-
turesque figure in the role of a daunt-
less heroine striving against a tyrannical
Government. The effect of the perfor-
mance, however, is entirely spoiled by
its repetition against the Dail. It is the
Dublin Government now which has to
be bear the denunciations of Mrs.
McBride and her friends. The "scene"
which led to the expulsion of these
ladies from the visitors' gallery of the
Irish Parliament was occasioned by dis-
orderly protests against the Irish Gov-
ernment's treatment of prisoner. Con-
sidering the crimes of which the irregu-
lars in Ireland have been guilty, it is sur-
prising that these people should excite
the sympathy of any of the Irish people,
men or women. The incident, however,
indicates that the new Dublin Govern-
ment will have a task not much easier
than that of the old Castle administra-
tion in dealing with the irreconcilables.
NEWS ITEMS
PROTECTION
FROM PRESS
ATTACKS
SIMLA, SEPT 22
The bill to protect Indian Princes
against attacks in the Press, to which the
Viceroy referred in opening the autumn
session of Legislature, will be intro-
duced in the Assembly tomorrow. This
bill proposed to provide penalties of fine
and imprisonment, which may extend
to five years, or both, for the editor,
printer, publisher or author of any
offending book, newspaper or other
document. It makes clear that com-
ments expressing disapprobation of any
action taken by a ruling Prince or his
administration are outside the purview
of the measure. Subsidiary matters pro-
vided for in the bill are the power to for-
feit the offending publications, or to
detain them in course of transmission
through the post, and the status of the
courts by which offences may be tried.
WEDDING OF LADY
MADRAS, SEPT 22
A very pretty wedding took place at St.
Stephen's Church, at Ootacamund on
Wednesday afternoon, when Lady
Helen Boyle was married to Captain
Barlow. The church was beautifully dec-
orated and the service was fully choral.
The bride, who was given away by her
brother, Lord Shannon, looked charm-
ing in deep cream georgette draped and
trimmed with pearls. Her train of cream
georgette was lined with yellow. She
wore an exquisite lace veil and carried a
sheaf of arum lilies. The small page and
flower girl who followed the bride wore
pretty Kate Greenaway costumes in
mauve and purple. Captain Allfrey was
the best man. A reception was held at
Government House, at which H.E. Lord
Willingdon made a short and cordial
speech.
MAHSUD'S
ABORTIVE RAID
PESHAWAR, SEPT 22
The efficiency of the special measures
recently organised in the Dera Ismail
Khan district is exemplified in the
accounts received of a raid committed
on September 11 by a gang of 40 Mah-
suds on the village of Kot Musa. Two
herdsmen and 60 animals were carried
off by the raiders in their first attack and
another Mahomedan villager was seized
later. Pursuit parties were promptly
organised. After the country operations
had lasted 24 hours, Major Hennessy,
with a party of the Frontier Constabu-
lary, came up with the gang, just as they
were entering the hills of the Indepen-
dent territory. In the fight which ensued
all the three captives were released. One
Mahsud was killed, two others were
wounded and abandoned by the gang
and a third wounded man got away
with his companions.
SHOOTING AFFRAY
AT RAMBAGAN
For the fourth time in the course of the
last six months, pistol shots were tried
by armed ruffians in Calcutta yesterday
morning. Inspector Hamid, of the
Muchipara thana, with Sub-Inspector R.
Singh, raided the house of a woman at
Rambagan in quest of a man named
Gopal, who is alleged to be connected
with an extensive theft of jewellery. No
sooner had the police entered the house,
than a man named Gopen, alleged to be
an associate of Gopal, fired two shots
from a pistol, injuring the Sub-Inspec-
tor slightly. Gopal and Gopen were
arrested before they could escape and
were handed over to the Jorasanko
police, who have the inquiry in hand.
08
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022
THUMBNAILS
Air India & Willis Lease inks
agreement: Air India has
signed a definitive sale and
lease back agreement with
Willis Lease Finance Corpo-
ration for 34 CFM56-5B
engines installed on its Air-
bus A320 family fleet. The
engines will be covered
under Willis Lease's Con-
stantThrust programme,
which will deliver signifi-
cant reliability and cost
savings versus a traditional
MRO shop visit programme.
This is the first Constant-
Thrust sale and leaseback
agreement for aircraft
engines by any Indian
carrier. IANS
Bank of England raises
interest rates: The Bank of
England has raised UK
interest rates by 0.5 per-
centage points to 2.25 per
cent in an attempt to com-
bat soaring inflation amid
the cost of living crisis, the
media reported. That's the
seventh consecutive
increase in Bank Rate in a
row, but a smaller rise than
many investors had
expected, The Guardian
reported. Today's rate rise
-- the second 50bp increase
in a row -- shows that the
Bank is trying to prevent
inflation becoming persist-
ently embedded, despite
concerns over the
economy. IANS
Enforcement agency attaches assets Draft telecom bill proposes exemption
worth `2,748 cr in ABG Shipyard case
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Enforcement Directorate
(ED) has attached assets worth
Rs 2,747.69 crore in the ABG
Shipyard Limited case.
The attached assets include
Shipyard at Surat and Dahej
located in Gujarat, agricul-
tural lands and plots, various
commercial and residential
premises in Gujarat and Maha-
rashtra and bank accounts
owned by ABG Shipyard Ltd,
its group companies and other
related entities. ED has traced
movable and immovable assets
totalling Rs 2,747.69 crore
belonging to ABG Shipyard Ltd,
its group companies, Berma-
co Energy Systems Ltd.,
Dhananjay Datar, Savita
Involve consumers in detecting India sends first consignment of plant-based meat products to US
fake products: CBIC member
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
Emphasising on making the
consumer aware about illic-
it and fake products and pre-
vent their sale, Central Board
of Indirect Taxes and Cus-
toms (CBIC) member, Sandeep
Kumar on Thursday said that
enforcement agencies must
use digital tools to seize coun-
Need to strengthen laws to fight menace against illicit trade & smuggling: Ex-VP Naidu
US: Federal Reserve hikes interest
rate by 0.75pc to tackle inflation
The hike takes the central bank's benchmark lending rate to a new target range of 3 per cent-3.25 per cent
AGENCIES
WASHINGTON, 22 SEPTEMBER
T
he US Federal Reserve
for the third time
approved an interest
rate hike by 0.75 per
cent in an aggressive move to
tackle the inflation that has
been affecting the US econ-
omy.
The hike takes the central
bank's benchmark lending
rate to a new target range of
3 per cent-3.25 per cent, which
is the highest fed funds rate
since the global financial cri-
sis in 2008, reported CNN. "At
today's meeting, Federal Open
Market Committee raised its
policy interest rate by 3/4
percentage points, bringing tar-
get range to 3-3.25 per cent,"
Jerome Powell, chair of US Fed-
eral Reserve said.
"We're moving our policy
stance that will be sufficient-
ly restrictive to return infla-
tion to 2 per cent," he added.
This new hike will also
likely cause economic pain for
millions of American busi-
nesses and households by
pushing up the cost of bor-
rowing for things like homes,
cars, and credit cards, as per
from interception for press messages
Dhananjay Datar, Krishna
Gopal Toshniwal, Viren Ahuja
and attached them under the
provisions of Prevention of
Money Laundering Act (PMLA),
terfeit products.
Speaking at FICCI
MASCRADE 2022 summit,
Kumar added that consumer
awareness is paramount in
ensuring that fake or illicit
products are not purchased
by them.
He suggested industries
and corporates to involve
citizens and harness their
potential in detecting fake
reported by CNN.
Consumer inflation in the
US declined marginally in
August to 8.3 per cent from 8.5
per cent in July but is way above
the 2 per cent goal. Several sen-
ior top bankers recently said
that another interest rate hike
is imminent. Raising interest
rates is a monetary policy
instrument that typically helps
suppress demand in the econ-
omy, thereby enabling the
inflation rate to decline, accord-
ing to US Economics at S&P
Global Market Intelligence.
According to the official
statement released by the
2002.
The agency initiated a
money laundering investiga-
tion on the basis of the First
Information Report (FIR) dated
products.
He said that citizens should
also be encouraged to report
incidents of fake and illicit
products being sold in mar-
kets to enforcement agencies.
Consumers should also
reject such products, he
added.
Former Vice-President M.
Venkaiah Naidu, who was
the chief guest in the con-
ference, said that illicit trade
is being undertaken by India's
"immediate neighbouring
countries".
He suggested that strong
action must be taken against
such forces.
FICCI President Sanjiv
Mehta said that a counter-
attack should be launched on
fake products.
Investors could look at target maturity funds from a passive owner-
ship stand point as well as funds like medium duration and dynamic
bond funds.
CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER (DEBT) & HEAD PRODUCTS, KOTAK MAHINDRA ASSET MANAGEMENT COMPANY
Federal Reserves, the Russia-
Ukraine war is causing tremen-
dous human and economic
hardship. The war and relat-
ed events are creating addi-
tional upward pressure on
inflation and are weighing
on global economic activity.
The Committee is highly atten-
tive to inflation risks.
"The Committee seeks to
achieve maximum employ-
ment and inflation at 2 per cent
over the longer run. In sup-
port of these goals, the Com-
mittee decided to raise the tar-
get range for the federal funds
rate to 3 to 3-1/4 per cent and
February 7 registered by the
Central Bureau of Investiga-
tion (CBI) against ABG Ship-
yard Ltd and others.
"Investigation by ED
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
In a move to boost exports
of unique agr icultural
processed food products,
the centre through the apex
export promotion body --
Agricultural and Processed
Food Products Export Author-
ity (APEDA) --- facilitated
the export of the first con-
signment of plant-based
meat products under the
Vegan food category from
Nadiad in Kheda district in
Gujarat to California in the
United States.
With the growing popu-
larity of vegan food products
in developed countries, plant-
based food products have a
huge export potential in the
international market due to
the high nutrient value of
vegan food products. Due to
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
Former Vice President M
Venkaiah Naidu today said
that it is imperative for all
stakeholders to reform, per-
form and transform in order
to end the menace of coun-
terfeiting and smuggling.
“There is a need to strength-
en the existing laws. Unless
all of us join together, the fight
against illicit trade and smug-
gling cannot be won,” he
emphasised.
Addressing the 8th edition
of FICCI-CASCADE
‘MASCRADE 2022’, Naidu
asserted that sharing of ideas,
experiences and sharing of
views in formulating a
more effective legisla-
tion with implementa-
tion is required to cre-
ate awareness and
industry to play a crit-
ical role in this. “Trans-
formation of the sys-
tem, society, governance,
anticipates that ongoing
increases in the target range
will be appropriate. In addi-
tion, the Committee will con-
tinue reducing its holdings of
Treasury securities and agency
debt and agency mortgage-
backed securities, as described
in the Plans for Reducing the
Size of the Federal Reserve's
Balance Sheet that was issued
in May. The Committee is
strongly committed to return-
ing inflation to its 2 per cent
objective," it added.
According to the state-
ment, the Committee will
continue to monitor the impli-
cations of incoming infor-
mation for the economic out-
look.
The Committee would be
prepared to adjust the stance
of monetary policy as appro-
priate if risks emerge that
could impede the attainment
of the Committee's goals. The
Committee's assessments will
take into account a wide range
of information, including
readings on public health,
labour market conditions,
inflation pressures and infla-
tion expectations, and finan-
cial and international devel-
opments.
revealed that ABG Shipyard Ltd
and its Chairman and Man-
aging Director Rishi Kamlesh
Agarwal availed various cred-
it facilities and loans from a con-
sortium of Banks led by ICICI
Bank, Mumbai on the pretext
of meeting its capital require-
ments and other business
expenses but ABG Shipyard Ltd,
misappropriated the credit
facilities availed from the con-
sortium and diverted the funds
for the purposes other than its
actual cause in the garb of var-
ious loans, advances and
investments to various relat-
ed entities incorporated in
India and abroad that even-
tually caused monetary loss to
the tune of Rs 22,842 crores to
the consortium," said the ED
in a statement.
its rich fiber and lesser cho-
lesterol contents, vegan food
products are becoming alter-
native food products across
is required for the happi-
ness of the people and is
required to create awareness
among the consumers,” he
added.
Former Vice President also
stated that it is imperative to
protect the rights of the con-
sumers. “Consumer aware-
ness has to be taken as a
mission with a passion for the
sake of the nation and then
the real change will come,”
said Naidu, adding, India is
on the move and one of the
fastest growing economies in
the world and we must all join
together to end the menace
of counterfeiting and smug-
gling.
Sandeep Kumar, mem-
ber, Central Board of Indirect
Taxes and Customs said,
“Due to technology advance-
ments, the industry today has
the opportunity to create
tools that can empower con-
sumers to take on smug-
gling and counterfeiting.
This, along with strong
LAKSHMI IYER
`falls to record low vs $
after US Fed hike
AGENCIES
MUMBAI, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Indian rupee closed at
a record low of 80.86 to the
US dollar, down from 79.9750
in the previous session. It was
the biggest single-day fall
for rupee since February 24.
The rupee had opened at
a record low of 80.2850 against
the dollar, down from 79.9750
in the previous session.
The US Federal Reserve
had raised the repo rate by
75 basis points, in line with
expectations. The Fed also
hinted that more rate hikes
were coming and that these
rates would stay elevated
until 2024.
Most Asian currencies
opened weaker, with the Chi-
nese yuan slipping below
7.10 against the dollar.
Swastika Investmart,
Research Head, Santosh
Meena said it was apparent
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Centre has released the
draft of the Indian Telecom-
munication Bill 2022, which
proposes to give exemption to
press messages that are intend-
ed to be published in India of
correspondents accredited to
the Central or state govern-
ments from being intercept-
ed.
In another significant
clause, the draft bill, released
late Wednesday, proposes to
waive off fees and penalty of
telecom and internet service
providers.
The exemption for press
messages though won't be
given in case of any public
emergency or in the interest
of public safety, sovereignty,
integrity or security of India,
the globe.
The first shipment that was
exported to the US from
Nadiad has vegan food prod-
enforcement can make a big
difference on the ground.
The fight against illicit trade
has to become a mass move-
ment.”Sanjiv Mehta, presi-
dent, FICCI said, “Strong
cooperation between dif-
ferent stakeholders and inno-
vative action is required to
free India of illicit trade.
Smuggling and counterfeit-
ing is all-pervasive and indus-
try, government and socie-
ty directly bear its brunt.” He
further added that the Con-
sumer Protection Act is a
stepping-stone towards
empowering the consumers.
Anil Rajput, chairman,
FICCI CASCADE said, “Smug-
gling is the deadliest form of
Illicit trade. Besides causing
severe damage to the excheq-
uer, in the form of loss of rev-
enue, proliferating terror-
ism by allowing terror groups
to get funds, and impacting
consumer health and safety,
it also leads to large scale
unemployment by export-
from the recent action and
commentary of the US Fed-
eral Reserve that it was still
far away from the end of the
rate hike cycle.
He added: "We reckon
that the rupee is expected to
remain under pressure despite
the improvement in domes-
tic economic prospects..."
Speaking on the move-
ment of rupee in the days to
come, he said technically,
the USD-INR (US dollar and
Indian rupee) pair saw a
breakout of ascending triangle
formation that may lead to
further weakness in the rupee
towards the 81.5-82 zone,
however, 81 will be an inter-
mediate and sacrosanct sup-
port level for the rupee.
Some forex traders said the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
may have stepped in to arrest
the decline of local curren-
cy, however, the interven-
tion was not too aggressive.
friendly relations with for-
eign states, public order, or to
prevent incitement to an
offence, the draft read.
The draft bill was put up on
social media by Minister for
Telecomminication Ashwini
Vaishnaw.
Public comments have
been sought on it.
The last date for seeking
comments on the draft legis-
lation is October 20.
Stressing on
exploring new
foreign desti-
nations, APEDA
Chairman M
Angamuthu
said his organi-
sation is work-
ing towards
the promotion
of plant-based
meat products
in a big way
without dis-
turbing the
conventional
animal-based
meat export
market.
ucts like momos, mini
samosas, patties, nuggets,
spring rolls, burgers, etc. The
logistics support was provided
ing jobs out of the country."
During the event, FICCI
CASCADE-TARI report ‘Illic-
it Markets: A Threat to Our
National Interests’ was
released. The study examines
the size and scale of illicit mar-
kets in five key Indian indus-
tries and assesses its impact
on individual industries,
employment, government
tax collection, and the over-
all economy.
According to the study,
the illicit market in 5 Key
Indian industries, including
mobile phones, FMCG-house-
hold and personal goods,
FMCG-packaged foods,
tobacco products, and alco-
holic beverages is valued at
Rs 2,60,094 crore. The com-
bined FMCG industry —
household and personal
goods, and packaged foods
— accounts for 3/4th of the
total illicit value of goods in
these industries. The study
finds that illicit trade leads to
an estimated legitimate
Sensex
slumps
337 points
MUMBAI, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Indian stock market's
benchmark Sensex fell 337
points on Thursday after the
US Federal Reserve hiked inter-
est rate by 75 basis points and
signaled that the borrowing
costs would be increased fur-
ther in the coming months. The
30 stock S&P BSE Sensex closed
337.06 points or 0.57 per cent
down at 59,119.72 points
against its previous day's close
at 59,456.78 points. Earlier,
the Sensex started the day in
the red at 59,073.84 points
slumped to a low of 58,832.78
points. The Sensex rose to a high
of 59,457.58 points in the intra-
day.
The markets fell sharply
for the third consecutive ses-
sion. The Sensex had lost
262.96 points or 0.44 per cent
on Wednesday The broader
Nifty 50 of the National Stock
Exchange fell 88.55 points or
0.5 per cent to 17,629.80 points
against its previous day's close
at 17,718.35 points. The Nifty
had lost 97.90 points or 0.55
per cent on Wednesday. The
stock markets slumped across
the world after the US Feder-
al Reserve on Wednesday
increased its policy interest rate.
It also proposes refund of
fees if an internet or telecom
service provider offers to sur-
render the license.
The draft bill says that the
Centre may "waive off in part
or full any fee, including entry
fees, license fees, registration
fees or any other fees or
charges, interest, additional
charges or penalty" for any
licence holder or registered
entity under the telecom rules.
by the Kheda district admin-
istration.
Stressing on exploring
new foreign destinations,
APEDA Chairman M Anga-
muthu said his organisation
is working towards the pro-
motion of plant-based meat
products in a big way with-
out disturbing the conven-
tional animal-based meat
export market.
The APEDA has planned
to promote a variety of vegan
foods products, including
pancakes, snacks, cheese,
etc, to countries like Australia,
Israel, New Zealand, and
others in the coming months.
In order to ensure seam-
less quality certification of
products to be exported, the
APEDA has recognised 220
labs across India to provide
services of testing a wide
range of products to exporters.
employment loss of 15.96
lakh, with the combined
FMCG industry accounting
for about 68.5% of job loss-
es.
The estimated tax loss to
the government due to illic-
it goods in these industries
is Rs 58,521 crore, with two
highly regulated and taxed
industries, tobacco prod-
ucts, and alcoholic beverages,
accounting for nearly 49% of
the overall tax loss.
In terms of the percentage
of the illicit market, the
FMCG-household and per-
sonal goods industry is ahead
of the other four sectors at
34.25%. This means that out
of every 100 household and
personal goods, nearly 34
were traded illegally. The sec-
tor is followed by FMCG-
packaged foods industry at
25.09%, tobacco products
industry at 20.04%, alcoholic
beverages industry at 19.87%,
and mobile phones industry
at 7.56%.

You have all seen the appalling images from Pakistan. This is happen-
ing at just 1.2 degrees of global warming...We are headed for over 3 degree
Puerto Rico struggles to reach areas cut off by Fiona: Hurri-
cane Fiona left hundreds of people stranded across Puerto Nine killed as Iran protests
Rico after smashing roads and bridges, with authorities still
spread over woman's death
struggling to reach them four days after the storm smacked
the U.S. territory, causing historic flooding. AP
Demonstrations began as an emotional outpouring over the death of Mahsa Amini
ASSOCIATED PRESS
DUBAI, 22 SEPTEMBER
C
lashes between Iran-
ian security forces
and protesters angry
over the death of a 22-
year-old woman in police
custody have killed at least nine
people since the violence
erupted over the weekend,
according to a tally Thursday
by The Associated Press.
The scope of Iran’s ongo-
ing unrest, the worst in sev-
eral years, still remains unclear
as protesters in at least a
CMYK
UN SECRETARY-GENERAL ANTONIO GUTERRES
Protesters chant slogans during a protest over the death of a
woman who was detained by the morality police, in downtown
Tehran, Iran. � AP
dozen cities — venting anger
over social repression and
the country’s mounting crises
— continue to encounter
security and paramilitary
forces.
An anchor on Iran’s state
television suggested the death
toll from the mass protests
could be as high as 17 on
Thursday, but did not elabo-
rate or say how he reached that
figure. “Unfortunately, 17
people and police officers
present at the scene of these
events lost their lives,” the
anchor said, adding official sta-
tistics would be released
later.Widespread outages of
Instagram and WhatsApp,
‘Apologies if I crossed
any line’, Imran Khan
tells Islamabad court
INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
ISLAMABAD, 22 SEPTEMBER
In a surprise move, PTI Chair-
man Imran Khan finally apol-
ogised on Thursday before the
Islamabad High Court (IHC),
as the hearing started in a con-
tempt of court case against
him for making controversial
remarks about Additional
District and Sessions Judge
Zeba Chaudhry during a rally
in Islamabad on August 20,
media reports said.
Khan appeared before the
court amid strict security,
Geo News reported.
The court on Thursday
was set to frame charges
against the former Prime
Minister during the hearing.
However, Khan offered apol-
ogy at the outset of the hear-
ing.“I apologise if I crossed
any line. It won't happen
again. I never intended to hurt
the sentiments of the court,"
Khan said while assuring the
court of never committing
“such an act again”, the report
said. He also requested the
court to allow him to apolo-
gise to judge Zeba Chaudhry
in person.IHC Chief Justice
Athar Minallah said that the
court is not framing charges
against Khan on Thursday.
“The court values your
statement [made] before the
court. You understood the
gravity of your statement,
we appreciate that,” Minal-
lah said, directing the PTI chair
to submit a written affidavit
CMYK
WARNS AGAINST GLOBAL WARMING
which protesters use to share
information about the gov-
ernment’s rolling crackdown
on dissent, continued on
Thursday. Authorities also
appeared to disrupt internet
access to the outside world,
a tactic that rights activists say
the government often employs
in times of unrest.
In a country where radio
and television stations already
are state-controlled and jour-
nalists regularly face the threat
of arrest, the paramilitary
Revolutionary Guard urged the
judiciary on Thursday to pros-
ecute “anyone who spreads
fake news and rumors” on
social media about the unrest.
In a surprise move, PTI
Chairman Imran Khan
finally apologised on Thurs-
day before the Islamabad
High Court (IHC), as the
hearing started in a con-
tempt of court case against
him for making contro-
versial remarks about
Additional District and
Sessions Judge Zeba
Chaudhry during a rally in
Islamabad on August 20,
media reports said
of what Khan said in the
court, Geo News reported.
The court recorded his
statement and adjourned the
hearing till 3 October.
On August 23, a larger
bench of the IHC issued a
show-cause notice to Khan
after taking up contempt of
court proceedings against
him for threatening an addi-
tional sessions judge during
the rally. The controversial
comments against the ses-
sions judge were made when
Khan was protesting against
the treatment of his close
aide Shahbaz Gill under police
custody after Gill was arrest-
ed in a sedition case.
09
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022
Around 200 stranded
whales die in Australia
ASSOCIATED PRESS years to the day after the largest
HOBART, 22 SEPTEMBER mass-stranding in Australia’s
history was discovered in the
A day after 230 whales were same harbor.
The demonstrations in found stranded on the wild and About 470 long-finned pilot
Iran began as an emotional remote west coast of Australia’s whales were found on 21 Sep-
outpouring over the death of island state of Tasmania, only tember, 2020, stuck on sand-
Mahsa Amini, a young woman 35 were still alive despite res- bars.
held by the country’s moral- cue efforts that were to con-
ity police for allegedly violating tinue Thursday.
its strictly enforced dress
code. Her death has sparked
Half the pod of pilot whales
stranded in Macquarie Harbour
TENDER
sharp condemnation from were presumed to still be alive
the US, the European Union on Wednesday, the Depart-
and the United Nations. ment of Natural Resources
The police say she died of and Environment Tasmania
a heart attack and was not mis- said.But pounding surf took a
treated, but her family has cast toll overnight, Tasmania Parks
doubt on that account. Inde- and Wildlife Service manager
pendent experts affiliated Brendon Clark said.
with the U.N. said Thursday The whales beached two
that reports suggested she
was severely beaten by the
morality police, without offer-
ing evidence. They called for
an impartial investigation to
hold perpetrators accountable.
The protests have grown
in the last four days into an
open challenge to the gov-
ernment, with women remov-
ing and burning their state-
mandated headscarves in the
streets and Iranians setting
trash bins ablaze and calling
for the downfall of the Islam-
ic Republic itself. “Death to the
dictator!” has been a common
cry in the protests.
Khmer Rouge
tribunal ends
work after 16 yrs,
three judgments
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHNOM PENH, 22 SEPTEMBER
Cambodia’s U.N.-backed
Khmer Rouge tribunal on
Thursday rejected the appeal
of a genocide conviction by
the communist group’s last
surviving leader in what is
expected to be the special
court’s last session.
The historic international
court issued its ruling on an
appeal by Khieu Samphan,
who served as head of state
in Cambodia’s 1975-79
Khmer Rouge government.
He was convicted in 2018 of
genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes
and sentenced to life in
prison.The tribunal spent
$337 million and 16 years to
convict just him and two
other defendants in con-
nection with a reign of ter-
ror that caused the deaths
of an estimated 1.7 million
people.
Khieu Sampan denied
having had any real say in
policies when the Khmer
Rouge sought to establish a
utopian agrarian society,
causing their countrymen’s
deaths from execution, star-
vation and inadequate med-
ical care. The tribunal’s only
other conviction was that of
Kaing Guek Eav, also known
as Duch, who was com-
mandant of Tuol Sleng prison.
Duch was convicted in 2010
of crimes against humani-
ty, murder, and torture and
died in 2020 at age 77 while
serving a life sentence.

10
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022
WEATHER
CITY MIN(°C) MAX(°C)
SINGAPORE 30 26 H
HONG KONG 32 27 CL
TOKYO
LONDON
DUBAI
24
20
39
SAN FRANCISCO 23
19 H
14 H
29 S
14 S
NEW YORK 23 10 H
MOSCOW 14 8 H
S= sunny, CL= clear,
H=hazy, R= rainy...
THUMBNAILS
Models wear creations as
part of the Roberto Cavalli
women's Spring Summer
2023 collection presented
in Milan, Italy, Thursday,
Sept. 22, 2022. �AP
UK to probe tech giants’
dominance in Cloud market:
The UK's communication
regulator Ofcom on Thurs-
day announced a probe
into the dominance of
Amazon, Microsoft and
Google in the country's 15
billion pound Cloud services
market and if the competi-
tion concerns are identi-
fied, it could lead to fur-
ther action against the
tech giants. Ofcom also
kicked off a probe to look
at digital services such as
WhatsApp, Zoom and smart
speakers, as online and tra-
ditional networks con-
verge. "The way we live,
work, play and do business
has been transformed by
digital services. But as the
number of platforms, dev-
ices and networks that ser-
ve up content continues to
grow, so do the technolo-
gical and economic issues
confronting regulators,"
said an Ofcom official. IANS
Donald Trump accused of vast fraud in New York suit
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK, 22 SEPTEMBER
Former president Donald
Trump padded his net worth
by billions of dollars and habit-
ually misled banks and others
about the value of prized assets
like golf courses, hotels and his
Mar-a-Lago estate, New York’s
attorney general said Wednes-
day in a lawsuit that seeks to
permanently disrupt the
Republican’s ability to do busi-
ness in the state.
Attorney General Letitia
James dubbed it: “The art of the
steal.” The lawsuit, filed in
state court in Manhattan, is the
culmination of the Democrat’s
three-year civil investigation into
Trump and the Trump Orga-
nization. Trump’s three eldest
children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and
Eric Trump, were also named
as defendants, along with two
longtime company executives.
In its 222 pages, the suit
struck at the core of what
made Trump famous, taking
a blacklight to the image of
wealth and opulence he’s
embraced throughout his
Constitution stops Charles becoming green king
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LONDON, 22 SEPTEMBER
On a blustery November day
last year Britain’s future king
stood before world leaders to
deliver a rallying cry that they
should “act with all despatch,
and decisively” to confront a
common enemy.
The clarion call ~ in the vast,
windowless hall of a Glas-
gow convention centre at the
opening of the U.N. climate
conference ~ concerned an
issue long dear to the heart of
the then-Prince Charles.
Climate change and loss of
biodiversity were no different
from the Covid-19 pandem-
ic sweeping the globe, he
said. “In fact, they pose an even
greater existential threat, to
the extent that we have to put
ourselves on what might be
called a war-like footing.”
He warned leaders that
time was running out to
reduce emissions, urging
them to push through reforms
that are “radically transforming
our current fossil fuel-based
economy to one that is gen-
Ukraine’s Zelenskyy lays out
his case against Russia to UN
Russia has violated core tenets of the United Nations with its war in Ukraine: US president Joe Biden
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNITED NATIONS, 22 SEPTEMBER
U
kraine’s president
laid out a detailed
case against Russia’s
invasion at the Unit-
ed Nations and demanded
punishment from world lead-
ers in a speech delivered just
hours after Moscow made an
extraordinary announcement
that it would mobilize some
reservists for the war effort.
Buoyed by a counterof-
fensive that has retaken swaths
of territory that the Russians
seized, Volodymyr Zelenskyy
vowed in a video address
Wednesday that his forces
would not stop until they had
reclaimed all of Ukraine.
“We can return the Ukrain-
ian flag to our entire territo-
ry. We can do it with the force
of arms,” the president said in
a speech delivered in Eng-
lish. “But we need time.”
Video speeches by Zelen-
skyy in an olive green T-shirt
have become almost com-
monplace. But this speech
was one of the most keenly
EU talks up Russia sanctions, but consensus may prove elusive
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BRUSSELS, 22 SEPTEMBER
The European Union appears
determined to respond to
new Russian attempts to
annex parts of Ukraine with
more sanctions, but finding
a consensus among mem-
ber countries is becoming
increasingly difficult as mea-
sures meant to punish Moscow
bite into their own economies.
The 27-nation bloc has
imposed six rounds of sanc-
tions on Russia since President
Vladimir Putin ordered his
forces into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Banks, companies and mar-
kets have been hit — even parts
of the sensitive energy sector
— and more than 1,200 offi-
career ~ first as a real estate
developer, then as a reality TV
host on The Apprentice and
later as president.
It details dozens of instances
of alleged fraud, many involv-
ing claims made on annual
financial statements thatTrump
would give to banks, business
associates and financial mag-
azines as proof of his riches as
he sought loans and deals.
For example, according to
the lawsuit, Trump claimed his
Trump Tower apartment ~ a
three-story penthouse replete
with gold-plated fixtures ~
was nearly three times its actu-
uinely renewable and sus-
tainable.”
“We need a vast military-
style campaign to marshal
the strength of the global pri-
vate sector,” he said, adding
that the trillions at business-
es’ disposal would go far
beyond what governments
could muster and offered “the
only real prospect of achiev-
ing fundamental economic
transition.”
It was a fierce call to arms
quite unlike the gentle appeal
delivered by his mother, Queen
Elizabeth II, in a video mes-
sage that evening.
For decades, Charles has
been one of Britain’s most
prominent environmental
voices, blasting the ills of pol-
lution. Now that he’s monarch,
he is bound to be more care-
ful with his words and must
stay out of politics and gov-
ernment policy in accordance
with the traditions of Britain’s
constitutional monarchy.
“Charles will have very lit-
tle freedom of maneuver now
that he is King,” said Robert
Hazell, an expert on British
anticipated at the U.N. Gen-
eral Assembly, where the war
has dominated.
The topic popped up in
speeches by leaders from all
over the world who deplored
the invasion not least because
they said it was not consistent
with the cornerstone princi-
ples of the United Nations —
including respect for sover-
eignty.
“It’s an attack on this very
institution where we find our-
selves today,” said Moldovan
President President Maia
Sandu, whose country borders
cials been targeted with asset
freezes and travel bans.
What could have taken
years to agree on in the past
was achieved in just over
three months — relative light
speed for the EU. But Euro-
pean economies already bat-
tered by the COVID-19 pan-
al size and valued the property
at $327 million. No apartment
in New York City has ever sold
for close to that amount, James
said. Trump applied similar
fuzzy math to his Mar-a-Lago
estate in Palm Beach, Florida,
the lawsuit alleged, by valuing
the private club and residence
as high as $739 million ~ more
than 10 times a more reason-
able estimate of its worth.
“This investigation revealed
that Donald Trump engaged
in years of illegal conduct to
inflate his net worth, to deceive
banks and the people of the
great state of New York,” James
constitutional affairs at Uni-
versity College London.
“All of his speeches are
written or vetted by the gov-
ernment,” Hazell added. “If he
makes an impromptu remark
which seems at odds with
government policy, the press
will pounce on him to point
out the inconsistency, and
the government will rein him
in; he will have to be far less
outspoken than he has been
in the past.”
Still, many say it’s unlike-
ly he will abruptly stop dis-
cussing climate change and
the environment – not least
CMYK
We are deepening our links with fellow democracies like India, Israel, Indonesia
and South Africa... We are building new security ties with our friends
. UK PRIME MINISTER LIZ TRUSS
Ukraine.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s
address, too, focused heavily
on the war in Ukraine.
“This war is about extin-
guishing Ukraine’s right to
exist as a state, plain and sim-
ple, and Ukraine’s right to
exist as a people. Whoever
you are, wherever you live,
whatever you believe, that
should make your blood run
cold,” he said. “If nations can
pursue their imperial ambitions
without consequences, then
we put at risk everything this
very institution stands for.
demic are now fighting high
inflation, with skyrocketing
electricity and natural gas
prices.
The spur for the EU to act
again was the announcement
that Russian-controlled regions
in eastern and southern
Ukraine plan to hold refer-
endums on becoming part of
Russia. This could allow
Moscow to escalate the war,
especially after Putin’s deci-
sion to call up 300,000 mili-
tary reservists.
EU foreign policy chief
Josep Borrell said Wednesday
that “Russia, its political lead-
ership, and all those involved
in organizing these ‘referen-
da’ as well as in other viola-
tions of international law and
said at a news conference.
James said the investigation
also uncovered evidence of
potential criminal violations,
including insurance fraud and
bank fraud, but that her office
was referring those findings to
outside authorities for fur-
ther investigation.
Trump, in a post to his
Truth Social platform, decried
the lawsuit as “Another Witch
Hunt” and denounced James
as “a fraud who campaigned
on a ‘get Trump’ platform.”
Trump’s lawyer, Alina
Habba, said the allegations are
“meritless” and that the law-
suit “is neither focused on the
facts nor the law ~ rather, it is
solely focused on advancing
the Attorney General’s politi-
cal agenda.”
In the lawsuit, James asked
the court to ban Trump and his
three eldest children from
ever again running a compa-
ny based in the state.
She is also seeking pay-
ment of at least $250 million,
which she said was the esti-
mated worth of benefits derived
from the alleged fraud.
because they are issues that
are above political ideology.
Australia’s Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese said last
week that it would be “perfectly
acceptable” for the monarch
to advocate for climate action,
even though his role is meant
to be apolitical.
“It’s important that the
monarchy distance from party
political issues,” Albanese
told Australian Broadcasting
Corp. “But there are issues like
climate change where I think
if he chooses to continue to
make statements in that area,
I think that is perfectly accept-
CMYK
Everything.”
The war will remain front
and centre at the gathering on
Thursday, when the Security
Council plans to take up the
issue. Russia hasn’t yet had its
turn to speak at the gathering.
Putin, who is not attend-
ing the General Assembly, has
said he sent his armed forces
into Ukraine because of risks
to his country’s security from
what he considers a hostile gov-
ernment in Kyiv; to liberate Rus-
sians living in Ukraine —
especially its eastern region of
the Donbas — from what he
views as the Ukrainian gov-
ernment’s oppression; and to
restore what he considers to
be Russia’s historical territo-
rial claims on the country.
Zelenskyy’s speech was dis-
tinguished by its context. It took
place after Moscow’s extraor-
dinary mobilization announce-
ment. It was the first time
Zelenskyy addressed the world’s
leaders gathered together since
Russia invaded in February. And
it wasn’t delivered at the ros-
trum where other presidents,
prime ministers and mon-
international humanitarian
law in Ukraine will be held
accountable.”
“Additional restrictive mea-
sures against Russia will be
brought forward as soon as
possible in coordination with
our partners,” he said in a state-
ment after chairing an emer-
gency meeting of EU foreign
ministers on the sidelines of
the U.N. General Assembly in
New York.
But political declarations
by officials based in Brussels
are the easy part. Agreeing on
new measures has proven
exceedingly difficult. Energy
interests are notably hard to
overcome. Hungary has led
resistance to sanctions that
might hit its supplies from Rus-
Leicester unrest culmination of growing
tension between Hindu, Muslim communities
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
LEICESTER, 22 SEPTEMBER
The unrest in Leicester, which
erupted last weekend, was
the culmination of several
weeks of growing tension
between parts of the Hindu
and Muslim communities in
the English city, the media
reported.
It reportedly began after a
cricket match between India
and Pakistan, at the end of
August, reports the BBC.
Whether the match
inflamed existing tensions or
served as an opportunity for
outside instigators is now the
subject of intense speculation.
A total of 47 people have
been arrested, 20 over the
weekend and some have been
sentenced for possession of
weapons.
The fight has spilled online
as well, says the BBC.
Claims of attacks on peo-
ple because of their religion
have gone viral, though many
are unverified and, in one
able.”
“It should be something
that’s above politics, the need
to act on climate change,” he
added.
Keeping mum on climate
may be particularly tricky for
Charles in light of the current
Conservative government’s
ambivalent stance.
While the government says
it remains committed to the
goal of cutting greenhouse gas
emissions to “net zero” by
mid-century, the adminis-
tration led by new Prime Min-
ister Liz Truss is encouraging
more North Sea oil drilling and
reversing a ban on fracking in
a bid to boost the domestic
energy supply.
Britain’s government for-
mally confirmed Thursday it
was lifting a 2019 ban on
fracking ~ or hydraulic frack-
ing, the controversial method
of extracting shale gas — in
England. Officials brushed
away criticism from envi-
ronmental groups and argued
that the move would reduce
U.K. dependence on inter-
national gas prices, which
ADDRESSING THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
archs speak ~ but instead by
video after Zelenskyy was
granted special permission to
not come in person.
Putin’s decree Wednesday
about the mobilization was
sparse on details. Officials
said as many as 300,000
reservists could be tapped. It
was apparently an effort to seize
momentum after the Ukrain-
ian counteroffensive.
Zelenskyy didn’t discuss
the developments in detail. But
he suggested any Russian talk
of negotiations was only a
delaying tactic, and that
Moscow’s actions speak loud-
er than its words. “They talk
about the talks but announce
military mobilization. They
talk about the talks but
announce pseudo-referen-
dums in the occupied territories
of Ukraine,” he said. Zelenskky
asserted that Moscow wants
to spend the winter preparing
its forces in Ukraine for a new
offensive, or at least prepar-
ing fortifications while mobi-
lizing more troops in the
largest military conflict in
Europe since World War II.
sia, but it isn’t alone in hesi-
tating.
The last round of sanctions
was announced on May 4, but
only agreed on four weeks later,
as concerns over oil divided
member countries. Rather
than a new set of sanctions,
a “maintenance and align-
ment” package was sealed in
July, mostly to close loop-
holes on measures already
agreed upon.
That said, the mayor of
Moscow was one of 54 more
people whose assets were
frozen and Sberbank ~ a major
Russian financial institution
~ was also targeted.
Meanwhile, technical work
on a seventh package has
quietly continued.
case, confirmed by police not
to have happened.
On Wednesday, officers
urged people not to share
unverified claims on social
media.
Leicester Magistrates' Court
heard one man sentenced
for carrying a knife had been
influenced by social media, the
BBC reported.
Footage shared by both
Hindus and Muslims on social
media, allegedly taken during
the unrest in the past few
weeks, shows groups from
both sides, masked men bang-
ing on people's windows in
have soared amid Russia’s
war on Ukraine.
Truss’ government also
announced a new round of
licensing for companies to
search for oil and gas in the
North Sea.
Energy Secretary Jacob
Rees-Mogg has said Britain
should keep burning the fos-
sil fuels at its disposal.
“We need to be thinking
about extracting every last
cubic inch of gas from the
North Sea,” he said in a recent
radio interview, citing the
need for energy security.
In the past Rees-Mogg has
spoken out against building
more on-shore wind farms in
Britain and questioned the
effect that rising carbon diox-
ide emissions are having on
the climate, even though
experts say the warming effects
of increasing CO2 levels are
clear.
As environment secretary
in 2014, Truss called large-scale
solar farms “a blight on the
landscape” and scrapped sub-
sidies for farmers and
landowners to build them.
No let-up in Ukraine
hostilities despite
prisoner exchange
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KYIV, 22 SEPTEMBER
Russian missile strikes in the
southern city of Zaporizhzha
left one person dead and five
others wounded, Ukrainian
officials said Thursday, while
officials in the Russian-con-
trolled city of Donetsk said
Ukrainian shelling killed at least
five people.
It was a stark signal that hos-
tilities haven’t diminished
despite a high-profile prisoner
swap just hours earlier.
Zaporizhzhia Gov. Olek-
sandr Starukh said Russian
forces targeted infrastructure
facilities and also damaged
nearby apartment buildings.
Kyrylo Tymoshenko, the
deputy of the Ukrainian pres-
ident’s office, said a hotel in
the central part of the city was
struck and rescuers were on
the scene trying to free peo-
ple trapped in the rubble.
The Zaporizhzhia region is
one of four in which Russia is
planning to hold referen-
dums starting Friday on
becoming part of Russia, but
the city itself is in Ukrainian
hands.
Meanwhile, Donetsk city
mayor Alexei Kulemzin said
at least five people where
killed when Ukrainian shelling
Thursday hit a covered mar-
ket and a passenger minibus.
Just hours before the lat-
est attacks, a high-profile
prisoner swap saw 215 Ukrain-
ian and foreign fighters
exchanged ~ 200 of them for
a single person, an ally of
Hindu-majority areas and
pulling down religious deco-
rations, and others marching
down predominantly Mus-
lim-populated streets, chant-
ing 'Jai Shri Ram', the BBC
reported.
One video posted online
shows a man climbing on to
the roof of a Hindu temple, on
Belgrave Road, and pulling
down a religious flag.
In another video, shared by
the temple itself, on its Face-
book page, a group of men set
one of the temple's flags alight.
According to Leicester-
shire Police, a significant
6.8 magnitude tremor
shakes Mexico, 1 dead
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MEXICO CITY, 22 SEPTEMBER
A powerful earthquake with
a preliminary magnitude of
6.8 struck Mexico early Thurs-
day, causing buildings to
sway and leaving at least one
person dead in the nation’s
capital.
The earthquake struck
shortly after 1 a.m., just three
days after a 7.6-magnitude
earthquake shook western
and central Mexico, killing two.
The U.S. Geological Sur-
vey said Thursday’s earth-
quake, like Monday’s, was
centered in the western state
of Michoacan near the Pacif-
ic coast. The epicenter was
about 29 miles (46 kilometers)
south-southwest of Aguililla,
Michoacan, at a depth of
about 15 miles (24.1 kilome-
ters).
Michoacan’s state gov-
ernment said the quake was
felt throughout the state. It
reported damage to a build-
ing in the city of Uruapan and
Russian President Vladimir
Putin. Among the freed fight-
ers were Ukrainian defenders
of a steel plant in Mariupol dur-
ing a long Russian siege and
10 foreigners, including five
British nationals and two U.S.
military veterans, who had
fought with Ukrainian forces.
A video on the BBC news
website Thursday showed
two of the released British men,
Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pin-
ner, speaking inside a plane.
It said they had arrived in
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
“We just want to let every-
one know that we’re now out
of the danger zone and we’re
on our way home to our fam-
ilies,” Aslin said in the video,
as Pinner added: “By the skin
of our teeth.”
The speed with which the
Russian missile attack came
after the swap suggested that
the Kremlin was seeking to dis-
pel any notion of weakness or
waning determination to
achieve its war aims following
recent battlefield losses and set-
backs that gravely undercut the
aura of Russian military might.
Those losses culminated
Wednesday in Putin’s order for
a partial mobilization of
reservists Wednesday to bol-
ster his forces in Ukraine that
sparked rare protests in the
Russia and was derided in the
West as an act of weakness and
desperation. The partial call-
up was short on details, rais-
ing concerns of a wider draft
that sent some Russians
scrambling to buy plane tick-
ets to flee the country.
number of those arrested in
the disorder were not from the
city.
On Monday, Temporary
Chief Constable Rob Nixon said
they had seen "a group of peo-
ple from other cities come to
our city to disrupt and cause
harm".
Some activists speculate
Hindu nationalist groups from
India are also involved, BBC
reported.
Violence between Hindus
and Muslims is extremely
rare in the UK, especially in
Leicester, which is known for
its particularly strong sense of
cohesion. There's long been
solidarity between Hindus
and Muslims in the UK, as two
diasporic minority commu-
nities that, in Britain, face
similar problems of racism and
discrimination.
In a joint statement deliv-
ered on the steps of Leicester's
Jame Masjid mosque, on Tues-
day, community leaders from
both faith groups stressed
this point.
some landslides on the high-
way that connects Michoacan
and Guerrero with the coast.
President Andrés Manuel
López Obrador said via Twit-
ter that it was an aftershock
from Monday’s quake and
was also felt in the states of
Colima, Jalisco and Guer-
rero.
Mexico City Mayor Clau-
dia Sheinbaum said via Twit-
ter that one woman died in
a central neighborhood when
she fell down the stairs of her
home. Residents were hud-
dled in streets as seismic
alarms blared.
The earthquake rattled an
already jittery country. Mon-
day’s more powerful quake was
the third major earthquake to
strike on Sept. 19 — in 1985,
2017 and now 2022. The 2017
and 2022 Sept. 19 quakes
came very shortly after the
annual earthquake drill con-
ducted every Sept. 19 to com-
memorate the devastating
1985 temblor that killed some
9,500 people.

Braja Juba
Raja�
TAPATI CHOWDURIE
I
t is well-known that Kerala Kala-
mandalam was set up by Vallathol
Narayana Menon along with
Mukunda Raja for the revival of
the Kerala performing arts in 1930.
However it is also common knowledge
that Champakulam in Kuttanad, Ker-
ala abounded in Kalaris to teach
Kathakali long before Keraka Kala-
mandalam came into existence.
It was at this place that the leg-
endary guru, Guru Gopinath was born
Story of a struggle
ANIT MUKERJEA
W N
hen offbeat cinematic
ideas moving away from
the mainstream explore
possibilities through cellu-
loid exposure, they target an audience
seeking change from mundane pot-
boilers. Avik Roy’s Master Moshai
(Tutor) which premiered at the Indira
Cinema, Kolkata on September 16
delves into the burning issue of mental
pressure and the emotional state of a
weak student of maths who is con-
stantly grilled and scolded for failing
in the subject.
Master Moshai marks the third
film of Avik Roy, the other two being
Siddhanto (Decision) and Reen (loan).
Roy graduated from a theatre actor to
assistant director and is now an inde-
pendent film maker. Adapted from a
short story by Saurab Mukhopadhyay,
Master Moshai follows a narrative
structure, tracing the travails, ordeals
and trials of a weak maths student who
finally hits the jackpot. Not only does
he prove his excellence by scoring in
exams, but he also turns the tables on
his maths mentors by tutoring them.
The film opens with an award cer-
emony where the grown-up Anirud-
dha Sanyal, the erstwhile weak maths
student (played by Kaushik Sen) is
felicitated by none other than the
Chief Minister who showers him with
praise. When Aniruddha is asked to
express his reaction on receiving the
award, he feels he is not worthy to
receive it; it ought to have gone to his
Master Moshai who died suddenly of a
malignant illness. Almost the entire
film is in flashback as Aniruddha
recounts the saga of his evolution from
a struggler in a subject he hated to
becoming an expert under his new
tutor.
Despite some technical glitches,
Master Moshai sustains audience
interest by the strong content of the
subject matter and the message in the
film. The images on the screen lack
sharpness of focus, the dialogues seem
Linking up with heritage
through dance
in 1908. He was introduced to
Kathakali in a Kalari set up in the
doorstep of his house under
Gurunatha Aasan. Young Gopinath cel-
ebrated his Arangetram - first stage
appearance - when he was 13. Later he
came to be greatly influenced by Val-
lathol Narayana Menon when he
joined Kerala Kalamandalam for
higher studies. Subsequently he
had partnered Ragini Devi in dis-
tant Bombay to showcase
the beauty
of
Kathakali,
earning rave
reviews. In 1935, the
duo was invited to per-
form in Santiniketan by
Rabindranath
Tagore. Guru Gopinath had
stayed there for three days.
Seeing Guru Gopinath’s
innovative style of dance which
was deeply rooted to Kathakali,
the poet was deeply convinced
that this was a style worth look-
ing into. The style fitted into his
vision of creating dance move-
ments for his compositions.
Shantideb Ghosh, instrumental in
the development of Rabindra Nritya,
heard about Kathakali and at the
behest of Gurudev visited Vallathol’s
Kerala Kalamandalam, where he spent
three months and learnt Kathakali
Kalasams and a few Hastabhinayas
that could be used in the compositions
of Tagore. This was the beautiful
friendship, exchange and Bengal’s
assimilation of Kerala's performing
arts.
Guru Gopinath’s style of dance,
which was much later named Kerala
Natanam, was taught by Balakrishna
Menon, the guru's talented student,
who had made Bengal his home. He
was on the faculty of Rabindra Bharati
University and was associated with
“Children’s Little Theatre” from its for-
mative years. The Artistic Director of
Natyanova, Priyadarshini Ghosh had
the good fortune of being trained
under him.
Further exposure of Natyanova to
Kerala Natanam happened when
Mohana Iyer, Repertory and Co-Direc-
loud, and the colour tones a bit faded
and obscure. This may partly be attrib-
uted to the poor projection system of
the auditorium.
But a plus point in the film is the
background musical score that
enhances the mood, and lends the film
the desired edge.
Master Moshai serves as a strong
moral lesson for both students and
guardians who tend to pressurise their
wards, often culminating in cases of
suicide.
CMYK
Sajani
tor of Natyanova travelled to Trivan-
drum to imbibe Guru Gopinath’s style
of dance. With help from Guruji’s
youngest daughter, Vinodini Sasimo-
han, Rajalakshmi teacher - a direct dis-
ciple of Guru Gopinath - taught
Mohana the basics - Chuvadugals and
two pieces of the legendary guru’s
compositions.
Thus enriched Natyanova held a
lec/dem followed by the repertory
members of Natyanova presenting
chuvadugals and tirmanams of the
Guru Gopinath style and presented
Vasantutsavam, one of the great guru’s
earliest compositions, which used to
be performed by Thankamani
Gopinath - his dance and life partner -
who was well versed in Mohiniattam
and Guru Gopinath’s style of dance.
This was followed by Mandira Dance –
a composition of Balakrishna Menon.
Sparsh Studios was the venue. In spite
of torrential rains interested people
braved the weather to be present for
this memorable event.
Odissi performer-teacher
Odissi dancer Madhulita Mohapa-
tra who has made Bangalore her
adopted home, where she runs her
school Nrityantar, recently celebrated
a mega festival showcasing her quali-
ties as a teacher. She herself has been
schooled under Guru Gangadhar
Pradhan and his ace pupil Aruna
Mohanty.
New discovery Niladri Ghosh as
the young Aniruddha Sanyal excels in
his role, moving between shadow and
light in symbolising the early struggles
to achieve success. Both Amit Kumar
Ganguly as the cane-wielding maths
tutor and Pallav Kirttyania projecting
the humane facet bring out the con-
trasts in characters. Mention must be
made of Gourinath Banerjee as the
senior maths class teacher who effec-
tively projects both the tormentor in
his mild reproaches as well as the sym-
CMYK
Vasantautsavam by Natyanova troup
Shivam Dhimahi
She has also taken the trouble of
learning Guru Kelucharan Mohapatra’s
style of Odissi dance.
She chose to make her students
open their innings with a dance piece
based on verses written by Sanskrit
scholar Pandit Nityananda Mishra,
“Divya Kshetra Jagabbath Puri Dham”
extolling the qualities of Lord Jagannath
in Puri. The piece described the Jagan-
nath temple as the crest jewel of all
temples, adorned with Nilachakra (the
blue discus) at the top , mounted with
the flag called Patita Pavana (the purifi-
er of the fallen). Nilachakra is the most
revered iconic symbol signifying Lord
Jagannath’s blessings and protection.
Everything about the temple, to its last
detail was described. It was almost like
a guided tour of the temple through
Odissi dance. Music of the piece was set
to ragas Kirwani and tala Ektali.
Madhulita Mohapatra is a stickler
for making her students perfect in the
nritya elements, which is why her stu-
dents performed Pallavis in various
ragas in the festival.
‘Sajani’ choreographed by Mad-
hulita was a true confession of a Sakhi
to Radha about Krishna’s sad state of
mind in her absence. The imagery of
the lyric was expressed beautifully.
Composer Binod Bihari Panda’s music
resonated in the minds of the people
for a long time.
Jayadeva’s famous astapadi ‘Dhira
Samira’ showed wrathful Radha hurt
Bankim’s classic comes alive
DILIP GUHA
avapalli Natya Sanstha
(NNS), a leading amateur
Bengali theatre group in the
capital, brought to the stage
Anandamath”, a play based on a novel
by Rishi Bankim Chandra Chatterjee.
Navapalli always tries to furbish their
productions with theatrical innova-
tions and experimentations and the
play Anandamath (written in 1882) was
one such bold attempt. Directed by
Biswajit Sinha and scripted by Soma
Sinha and Biswajit, the patriotic play
was presented at Bipin Chandra Pal
Auditorium on 18 September.
This mega venture of Navapalli
coincides with “Azadi ka Amrit Mahot-
sav”, an initiative of the Government of
India to celebrate and commemorate
75 years of Independence.
The script is based on the most
powerful and significant novel written
by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, in the
background of the lesser known
‘Sanyasi Rebellion’ of the 18th century
and the great famine of the 1770s in
Bengal during the period of Company
Rule in India. It depicts the untrained
yet disciplined sanyasi soldiers fight-
ing and trying to beat the experienced
East India Company forces.
Director Sinha said, “Anandamath
is an apt production in this milieu of
the festival of the awakening of the
nation, the elixir of inspirations of the
warriors of the freedom struggle, their
sacrifice and martyrdom that made
freedom a reality.”
The dramatic version is in ten acts.
The sanyasis of Anandamath are not
true sanyasis, but common people who
take on the symbols of sanyasi and
leave their households to rebel against
the British forces. The main protago-
nists are Satyananda Maharaj, the role
played by Prodip Ganguly, the head of
Anandamath, and his two disciples,
namely Jibananda, played by Palash
Das and Bhavananda, played by
Seshadri Mitra
Palash Das and Seshadri Mitra sat-
SILIGURI, FRIDAY 23 SEPTEMBER 2022 11
when her beloved Krishna enjoys
affectionate moments with other
gopis oblivious of her existence. In
this astapadi with a deep message
where the sakhi takes on the role
of Radha’s mentor and helps her
to unite with the supernatural
soul of Krishna has been well
defined.
Dance composed by Mad-
hulita was performed with
subtlety of expression by
Paridhi Joshi. It was breath-
less in its beauty.
'Dekhago Radha Mad- �Dhira Samire by
Paridhi Joshi
hava Chali’ based on the
poem of 17th century poet
Shri Banamali Das that
expressed the joy of devotees
on seeing the eternal lovers
together was presented by the
talented duo Angeleena Avni
and Prisha Sinha.
Meghna Das, a seasoned
dancer, presented a piece where she
portrayed Yashoda as a mother
harassed by her over-active mischie-
vous son. A mortal mother has practi-
cal problems and naturally asks her
immortal son for all kinds of explana-
tions. Uthilu ede begi kahinki re, a tra- watch. Anjali Raj Urs, Sahana
ditional Odiya poem, set to music by Raghavendra Maiya and Nandhana
Shri Binod Panda, had dance choreog- Shashikumar were the performers.
raphy by Sahana Das . The abhinaya Hari Smarane Mado in praise of
piece was emoted most touchingly. Lord Vishnu is based on the popular
Shiva Dhimahi – a group dance by devarnama, Hari Smarane Mado
the repertory members of Nrityantar Niranthara by Purandhara Dasa, urg-
paid tribute to the Lord of dance, ing constant meditatation of Hari to
Nataraja. Nataraja’s matted locks hold- get salvation to redeem oneself.
ing river Ganga and wearing the moon Popular stories where devotees
crescent on his head was described in have sought shelter under the protec-
the Odissi vocabulary. Other miracles tion of Hari were enacted to an appre-
of Shiva were eloquently described too. ciative audience.
The tandava dance of Shiva was shown Dancers Srudhi KV, Mini Somaku-
in all its glory. mar, Dr. Anupama Kumar, Swetapad-
The rhythm of the piece was maMishra, Madhurima Chakraborty,
uniquely created by Guru Dhaneswar Rajitha Shekhar and Gayatri Atchanta
Swain. Music composition was by were all senior disciples of Madhulita
Sukanta Kundu. Script and inputs by who performed the dance.
Pandit Shri Nityananda Mishra gave It was a beautiful evening. Afi-
the piece its richness. Dance chorogra- cionados savored stories from our
phy was again by Madhulita Mohapa- great mythology and legends of past
tra. Dayanand Akilesh, K Reddy, Tara days. But what we missed was the link
Ramakrishnan, Leah Rachel & Kriti ingof our great past to contemporary
Sengupta mesmerized the audience. thoughts and secular topics. .
Darbari Pallavi presented in pol-
ished Odissi dance was a pleasure to The writer is a senior dance critic.
isfy their director’s brief, etching out
their respective characters with cred-
itable flair. Soma Sinha, as Shanti,
shows the potential of her character’s
transformative moment, with her voice
and body movements projecting the
climactic import of each scene. Other
supporting characters perform well. It
is worthwhile to mention Debabarta
Sarkar and Tushar Chanda.
Anandamath is an exhilarating
and stirring play that will leave one
inspired by the bravery of its charac-
ters. The patriotic song Vande Mataram
(I revere thee, mother) originated from
the pages of this masterpiece, sung by
the novel’s idealistic and nationalist
saints fighting for their motherland’s
freedom.
The play is a well-knit version of a
classical novel in Indian Literature, pre-
sented by a band of gifted actors, aes- skillful utilization of the play’s main
thetically executed and heightened by hymn “Vande Mataram” in different
the spectacular presentation alongside ragas and using various instruments.
 HOPE TO DO WELL
New Delhi, Sep 22 (IANS) Manik Ohlan who represented India in
3X3 Asia Cup, is quite excited and hoping that his team will
SILIGURI
FRIDAY, 23 SEPTEMBER 2022 12
perform well at the National Games in Gujarat. Representing
Delhi, the ace basketball player and his team qualified for the
3X3 format at the upcoming National games which will
be held in Gujarat. Manik Ohlan was also part of the
15-day camp at IG stadium for north zone senior nation-
als and qualified for the senior national tournament
which will be held in Udaipur in November.

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

THUMBNAILS IPL to return to pre-Covid home India A beat Kiwis A by seven

Gaurika winner of 13th leg
of WPGT: Gaurika Bishnoi's
strong finish in the second
and away format in 2023
round proved crucial as the
final round of the 13th Leg
of the Hero Women's Pro
Golf Tour at the DLF Golf &
Country Club, here was can-
celled on account of rain.
Gaurika, who closed her sec-
ond round with a hat-trick of
birdies and carded 3-under
69 finished at 2-over 146 as
the tournament was decided
on the basis of 36 holes.
Federer to team up with
Nadal for final match: The
20-time Grand Slam champi-
on Roger Federer will team
with longtime rival and
friend Rafael Nadal on Friday
at the Laver Cup in what the
former World No. 1 con-
firmed on Twitter would be
his final tour-level match.
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
The Indian Premier League
(IPL) will return to its origi-
nal form pre-Covid-19, home-
and-away format from the
2023 season, BCCI president
Sourav Ganguly confirmed in
a letter addressed to the state
associations.
Since the outbreak of
Covid-19 in 2022, IPL has
been either played outside of
India or in limited venues in
the country for the last three
editions due to the restrictions.
However, with the pan-
demic situation improving
with each passing day, and
things "going back to nor-
malcy", the IPL will return to
its old format in which each
team plays one home and one
wickets in first One-Day game
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, 22 SEPTEMBER
a 1-0 lead in three-match
series.
ducting a full-fledged domes- In the morning, where the
tic season for the first time Right-arm pacers Shardul pitch had good pace and
since 2020 and all multi-day Thakur and Kuldeep Sen bounce, Thakur, who missed
tournaments will also return shared seven wickets between the bus for India's squad in
to the traditional home and themselves as India A beat New Men'sT20World Cup to be held
away format. Zealand A by seven wickets in next month in Australia, cas-
"I am happy to share with the first unofficial One-Day tled Chad Bowes with the
you that we are going back game at the MA Chidambaram one swinging in late and had
to normalcy. You must be Stadium in Chennai on Thurs- wicket-keeper Dane Cleaver
aware that this year we will day. caught off a short ball at fine
be having the as-usual full- Electing to bowl first after leg to end his first spell of four
fledged domestic season for winning the toss, India A were overs with two wickets while
away match. all age groups and the games straightaway on top of the conceding just seven runs.
"The next season of men's will be hosted all over the match as Thakur (4/32) and Kuldeep, who was recent-
IPL will also go back to the country," the letter further Sen (3/30) wreaked havoc on ly a net bowler for the Indian
home and away format with read. New Zealand A batting line- team in Men's T20 Asia Cup
all ten teams playing their "It is really heartening to up, who were soon bowled out in the UAE, took his first wick-
home matches at their des- see the support that the BCCI for 167 in 40.2 overs. et by trapping Joe Carter lbw
ignated venues," Ganguly has received from all its mem- In reply, collective contri- and two balls later, had Rachin
wrote in the letter to state units. bers over the past few years. butions with the bat, led by Ravindra caught behind. He
The letter also gave infor- I am sure the pandemic is Ruturaj Gaikwad (41) and increased troubles piling on
mation about the ongoing behind us, and we all now look Rajat Patidar (45 not out), New Zealand 'A' by havingTom
domestic season. forward to a more certain meant India A chased down Bruce caught at slip as the vis-
Notably, the BCCI is con- future," it added. the total in 31.5 overs to take itors became 27/5 in 7.3 overs.

East Bengal
Indian team gears up to FC Bengaluru United record strong win 3-0
5-0 win over Young Challengers
avenge Mohali debacle INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
BANGLORE, 22 SEPTEMBER
in from a short corner to set
it up for Irfan to head it in and
get the defending champi-
one with theYC keeper, but was
unable to finish it off. Soon after
Jairo tried to lob the ball over
Indians reached Nagpur for the 2nd T20I encounter with Australia today Defending champions FC
Bengaluru United kept up
ons on the scoreboard. Irfan
nearly had another goal in the
the YC keeper in the 59th
minute only to see the ball sail
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE their winnings ways in the next minute, only to see his shot over the bar.
NAGPUR, 22 SEPTEMBER ongoing BDFA Super Divi- hit the goalpost. In the seventh A good run by Selwyn
sion Championship with a minute it was Aenam in the Miranda on the left flank in the

B
oth India and Aus-
tralia had started the
current three-match
T20I series with the
intention of finding the right
combination for the upcom-
ing T20 World Cup. But after
the first match at Mohali, the
Indians reached Nagpur for
the second T20 encounter
with more headaches and
unanswered questions rather
than solutions.
Going into the opening
match, the Indian team man-
agement wanted some more
inputs on the opening and
middle order batting and
the quick bowling options as
senior pacer Jasprit Bum-
rah is still not ready to play
while senior bowler Mohd
Shami had to withdraw from
the series due to a Covid
positive test before the start
of the series.
Though former India skip-
per Virat Kohli struck his
71st international century
in the match against
Afghanistan in Asia Cup
Super Fours, the batting still
did not have a settled look as
opener K.L Rahul had just
returned from a lengthy
injury break. The question of
the all-rounder in the absence
of Ravindra Jadeja too was
looking.
The first T20I match
against Australia was to pro-
vide some answers to these
conundrums. But that did not
happen in the end as India
lost the match by four wick-
ets to concede a 0-1 lead in
the three-match series.
The Indian batters -- espe-
cially opener Rahul and all-
rounder Hardik Pandya --
played brilliantly and sensi-
bly to help the team post
207/6 in 20 overs with K.L
Rahul anchoring the innings
with 55 and Hardik Pandya
giving it a late impetus with
a brilliant unbeaten 71,
Suryakumar Yadav propelled
the team ahead with a 25-ball
46 as India posted a big total
for the Aussies to chase.
While the batters did well,
the bowling -- with the excep-
tion of Axar Patel (4-0-17-3)
-- was not that effective, and
Harshal Patel and Bhu-
vneshwar Kumar leaked runs
as Australia rode on a blaz-
ing 20-ball 60 by Cameron
Green and a vital 21-ball 45
by wicketkeeper Matthew
Wade. Agreed that the Mohali
pitch was totally benign and
did not offer the bowlers an
iota of assistance, still 207 was
a defendable total, as skip-
per Rohit Sharma said after
the match.
The Indian bowlers were
totally ineffective in death
overs and the team did not
help its cause much with
some atrocious efforts on
the field, dropping four catch-
es in all.
The result is that the team
think tank involving skip-
per Rohit Sharma and coach
Rahul Dravid along with
senior players is left with
the massive problem of
putting right the bowling
department.
Either they have to send
sparkling 5-0 win over Young middle of the action once 66th minute was followed by
Challengers. again - this time his cross-in a shot on target, only to have
Under sunny skies at the was put away by Jairo to get it deflected by the YC keeper.
Bangalore Football Stadium, FCBU up 2-0. FCBU contin- The ball landed straight at
FCBU kept up the pressure ued to dominate and control Lyngdoh's feet and he didn't
from the start; the goalscor- most of the possession, cre- make any mistake to get FCBU
ers for FCBU were IrfanYarwad ating half chances. In the 25th up 4-0. Eleven minutes later,
(5, 25), Jairo Rodrigues (7), minute, a beautiful shot from Franklin secured his first goal
Chesterpaul Lyngdoh (66) and Shajan Franklin cleanly split of the game through a corner
Shajan Franklin (77). theYC defence to set up an easy as FCBU went up 5-0. FCBU
Much like their earlier finish for Yarwad. continued to create a few
games, FCBU started creating It was a similar script in the more chances but were unable
chances from the get-go and second half with FCBU dom- to see them through; the score-
Bumrah a chance to tighten were soon rewarded with a goal inating possession and con- line ended with a strong 5-0
the bowling attack or find a within the first five minutes. trol. There was an early chance win for the defending cham- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
good death bowler to replace Aenam Jyrwa crossed the ball for Aenam as he went one on pions. KOLKATA, 22 SEPTEMBER
Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Bhubaneswar has in recent East Bengal and Aryan Club,
times conceded too many who share a ground on the
runs when bowling at the Maidan, played a friendly
death and is on the verge of today at the All - India Foot-
losing his reputation as a ball Federation's Centre of
good death overs bowler. Excellence in Salt Lake City,
After being expensive in the red-and-gold outfit win-
back-to-back matches against ning 3 - 0. Preparing for the
Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Calcutta Football League's
Asia Cup, Bhuvneshwar super six matches, when the
Kumar finished his cam- teams would meet one anoth-
paign with a superb perfor- er again, East Bengal failed
mance against Afghanistan. to score any goals in the pre-
However, he undid that when break action. But they had
he conceded 16 runs in the Lima, Eliandro and Haokip
19th over and 15 in the 17th striking later on and the first
at Mohali. With Harshal Patel, goal came off a 40 - yard
playing his first match on drive. Aryan Club never gave
return from injury, giving up and East Bengal were said
away 22 runs in the 18th not to know how many for-
over, India conceded 53runs eigners they would be allowed
in overs 17th to 19th, mak- to field in a local league
ing Australia's job easier match.

‘Vietnam friendlies a good opportunity for Osaka withdraws from Women’s Indian Open from Oct 20
Indian players to prepare for Asian Cup’ Tokyo; Haddad Maia 19th on the Ladies European

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

GURUGRAM, 22 SEPTEMBER
Gaurika Bishnoi's strong fin-
ish in the second round proved
crucial as the final round of the
13th Leg of the HeroWomen's
Pro Golf Tour at the DLF Golf
& Country Club, here was can-
celled on account of rain.
Gaurika, who closed her sec-
ond round with a hat-trick of
birdies and carded 3-under 69
finished at 2-over 146 as the
tournament was New Delhi,
Sep 22 (IANS) Former India cap-
tain and the new co-opted
Executive committee member
of the AIFF, Bhaichung Bhutia
has said that national men's
football team's two-friendly
matches inVietnam, scheduled
on September 24 and Sep-
tember 27, will be a good
opportunity for the players to
prepare for the Asian Cup next
year.
The Blue Tigers have trav-
elled to Vietnam for a two-
match tour. They will play the
Hung Thinh Friendly Foot-
ball Tournament against Sin-
gapore and hosts Vietnam.
Twenty years ago, Bhutia was
the captain when India won
the historic 2002 LG Cup inViet-
nam.
"I think it's great for our
national team that they are
going to play some matches
there. I think it will be a good
tour. Vietnam are a very good
team. So are Singapore. It's going
to be a useful experience for
the players," said Bhutia.
Early this week, the AIFF
Executive Committee endorsed
the Technical Committee's
recommendation to extend
senior men's team head coach
Igor Stimac's contract till the
end of the AFC Asian Cup
2023.
The former Blue Tigers
striker feels the extension will
give the required time to both
players and the coach to build
the team chemistry.
"It is a very sensible deci-
sion taken by the committee
because we are not left with too
much time before we plunge
into the Asian Cup battle. The
extension will help coaches and
the players feel more com-
fortable and will give them
ample time to build on what
through to quarterfinals
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
TOKYO, 22 SEPTEMBER
Reigning champion Naomi
Osaka withdrew from the
Toray Pan Pacific Open ahead
of her second-round match
against No.16 Beatriz Had-
dad Maia due to illness.
Haddad Maia advanced to
the quarterfinals by walkover
and will face No.4 seed Veroni-
ka Kudermetova, who dis-
patched qualifier Fernanda
they have been doing for the Contreras Gomez 6-0, 6-1
last three to four years. So in just 56 minutes.
hopefully, I think this match "I am really sorry that I am
and the preparation for the Asia not able to compete today,"
Cup will now be much better," Osaka said in a statement.
he said. "It's an honour to be able
At the same time, Bhutia has to play at the Toray Pan Pacif-
urged everyone in the Indian ic Open in front of the amaz-
football community to treat the ing fans here in Japan. This
FIFA U-17 Women's World has and always will be a spe-
Cup with "utmost priority". cial tournament for me and
The 16-team champi- I wish I could have stepped
onships, where India are placed on court today, but my body
in Group A with the US, Moroc- won't let me. Thank you for
co and Brazil, is almost knock- all your support this week and
ing on India's door and will I will see you next year."
begin in 20 days from now, on A champion in 2019 when
October 11. "The U-17 World the tournament was tem-
cup is a priority right now and porarily held in Osaka, the for-
is very important. Everybody mer No.1 advanced to the sec-
is looking forward to some ond round this year after
creditable performance from Daria Saville was forced to
our girls. I think that should be retire in the first round due
given the top priority as it is start- to knee injury.
ing in the next few weeks," the Osaka's withdrawal was
former captain said. a tough turn of events for the
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 22 SEPTEMBER
A strong field of past cham-
pions and current winners
from the Ladies European
Tour (LET) are confirmed
for the Hero Women's Indi-
four-time champion. Prior to an Open 2022, which returns
the tournament, Osaka told to action for the first time since
reporters that she felt fit and 2019.
healthy again after her injury- With a prize purse of
plagued season. $400,000, the event will be
"I think of course the year staged at the picturesque
has been not the best year for DLF Golf and Country Club
me but I think overall I've in Gurugram from October
learned a lot about myself," 20-23.
Osaka told reporters before The event, which could not
the tournament. be held in 2020 and 2021
"I'm happy to be healthy because of the Coronavirus
because in Europe I did injure pandemic, is coming back
myself and that was the first with one of the strongest
injury that took me that long fields in its history.
to get healed. At least five past champi-
"I think life is ups and ons have already sent in their
downs and this one was more entries and more are likely to
down than up but overall I'm come through. Additionally,
happy with where I am right a host of winners in the 2021
now." and 2022 seasons have entered
the event, which will see par-
ticipation of 114 golfers from
as many as 20 countries from
around the world.
The field also includes
Aditi Ashok, India's first and
only Women's Indian Open
winner, who has since grad-
uated to the LPGA. Aditi rep-
resented India with great dis-
tinction at the 2020 Tokyo
Olympics in 2021, where she
lost out on a medal by a soli-
tary stroke. She holds the
Women's Indian Open dear
to her heart, as it is an event
she has played since her
amateur days.
The $400,000 event comes
at the business end of the sea-
son and offers a chance to
many players to secure their
status for 2023 or improve their
ranking ahead of the next sea-
son.
All the top Indians led by
Aditi have confirmed their par-
ticipation. The line-up
includes Tvesa Malik, who was
Tour Order of Merit last sea-
son; Diksha Dagar, the 2019
South African Open Cham-
pion and 2022 Deaflympics
gold medallist, Amandeep
Drall and Vani Kapoor. Other
prominent Indian names
expected in action are Ridhima
Dilawari, Gaurika Bishnoi
and Neha Tripathi.
Hero MotoCorp, Chair-
man & CEO, Pawan Munjal,
said, "The Hero Women's
Indian Open, a flagship event
in Asia, is one of the biggest
and most popular golf tour-
naments in the region. We are
delighted to be back, and I am
pleased to know that some of
the most talented names on
the Tour will be here in India.
Our Indian women golfers are
making rapid strides with
some great performances in
the International Tours. This
will be one of the most excit-
ing editions of Hero Women's
Indian Open. I would like to
thank the Ladies European
Tour and the Women's Golf
Association of India for their
continued support of the
event."
Among the former Cham-
pions who have sent in their
early entries is the defending
Champion from 2019, Chris-
tine Wolf; 2018 winner Becky
Morgan; 2017 winner Camille
Chevalier; 2016 Champion
Aditi Ashok and 2011 winner
Caroline Hedwall.

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