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National

- J&K polls to be held in 3 phases from Sept. 18

- Aattam top film, Kantara’s Rishab the best actor as regional movies steal the show at National Film Awards

- On the right path

- IMA announces 24-hour withdrawal of health services

- Modi speaks to Yunus, calls for safety of Hindus

- At Maha Vikas Aghadi meet, Uddhav makes push for decision on CM face

- ‘Maharashtra polls to be held later due to J&K security needs’

- L-G govt. in J&K reshuffles 198 officers in 12 hours; NC seeks EC intervention

- LS election results show BJP stalled Congress in Haryana: Satish Poonia

- Haryana Congress chief dismisses notions of ‘divisions’ within party

- J&K parties welcome Assembly polls, regret delay in Statehood

- Cong. effects changes in Jharkhand, J&K, Maharashtra units

- Manoj Sinha gives nod for transfer of evacuees’ land

- Widow of poll official killed while on duty gets solatium

- Calcutta High Court raps police over R.G. Kar Hospital vandalism

- SC has campaigned for UCC, but refused to enforce it

- NDA members get into a huddle after PM’s ‘secular civil code’ pitch

- ISRO successfully launches earth observation satellite

- Jurisdiction of courts defined by Constitution: Dhankhar

- Aadujeevitham bags top honours at 54th Kerala film awards

- Women in grief across the country, says Priyanka

- Ambedkar supported UCC, says Naqvi

- Modi speaks to Yunus, calls for safety of Hindus in Bangladesh

- 14256

- NWMI issues guidelines to boost equity in newsrooms

- Centre approves reshuffle in senior bureaucratic posts

- ‘Centre’s claims on demonetisation’s success an eyewash’

- Efficacy of Chaturmasya

- Swamy moves Delhi HC on Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship

- Centre launches Krishi-DSS, a digital platform on farming

- Cabinet gives nod to three Metro rail projects

- The Hindu’s chief illustrator wins global cartoon contest

- RSS affiliate takes out march to protest atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh

Sreeparna Chakrabarty

NEW DELHI

This will be the first Assembly election in a decade and since the revocation of Article 370 Haryana to vote in a single phase on October 1; counting of votes for both Assemblies on Oct. 4 Lok Sabha voter turnout in J&K was encouraging, says CEC; heavy security deployment expected

The first Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election in a decade will be held in three phases on September 18, 25 and October 1, the Election Commission (EC) announced on Friday. This will also be the first Assembly poll in J&K since the revocation of Article 370 in 2019.

Haryana will vote in a single phase on October 1, and the counting of votes for both Assemblies will be held on October 4.

“People in Jammu and Kashmir opted for ballots instead of bullet and boycott [during the recent Lok Sabha election]. The Valley reached a new peak, witnessing a 30-point jump in poll participation from 2019,” Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said at a press conference to announce the poll dates.

J&K voters last went to the polls to elect an Assembly in a five-phase exercise in November and December 2014.

While upholding the scrapping of Article 370 last year, the Supreme Court had directed that Assembly polls be held in J&K by September 30. Asked why the poll body overshot the top court’s deadline, Mr. Kumar said the EC had considered several factors, including the weather, the December 2023 amendment to reserve seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes, and the Amarnath Yatra, which ends on August 19.

Mr. Kumar noted that conducting the Assembly election in J&K requires a considerable deployment of Central and State police forces to ensure peaceful, free and fair elections with fearless participation of voters, especially in vulnerable areas.

“Mobilisation, deployment and disengagement of these forces with minimum criss-cross movement and optimal utilisation involved complex planning and detailed analysis, carried out over several rounds of consultations with the senior officers of the Ministry of Home Affairs/[Central Armed Police Forces] CAPFs/Police Nodal Officers of the State/UT,” he added.

Slew of transfers

Asked about the series of transfers and postings which took place in the J&K administration late on Thursday evening and Friday morning just hours before the poll date announcement, Mr. Kumar said that the government was permitted to transfer officials until the Model Code of Conduct comes into effect. However, he promised that the EC will intervene if any official who has been transferred is found interfering in the free and fair conduct of the polls, and will not allow the level-playing field to be disturbed.

The simplification of the voting process for Kashmiri migrants, which had been initiated during the Lok Sabha poll, will continue in the Assembly election as well, he added.

J&K has 87.09 lakh voters, of which 44.46 lakh are men, and 42.62 lakh are women, while 3.71 lakh are first-timers. The first phase of voting will take place in 24 Assembly constituencies, while 26 seats will go to the polls in the second phase, and 40 seats in the third phase.

Haryana poll

In Haryana, 2.01 crore voters — including 1.06 crore men, 95 lakh women, and 4.52 lakh first-timers — will exercise their franchise in 90 Assembly constituencies.

The last day to file the nominations of Haryana is September 12, the date of scrutiny is September 13, and the date of withdrawal of candidatures is September 16.

The current Haryana Assembly’s term ends on November 3.

In 2019, the BJP had won 40 of the 90 seats and formed the Haryana government in alliance with the Jananayak Janta Party.

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

Malayalam film Aattam, directed by Anand Ekarshi, won the Best Film, Best Editing and Best Screenplay awards.SWAROOP KUMAR

The National Film Awards for 2022, announced on Friday, was dominated by regional movies, with Aattam (The Play) in Malayalam being adjudged the Best Feature Film. Rishab Shetty won the Best Actor award for his role in Kantara (Kannada), and Nithya Menen and Manasi Parekh shared the Best Actress award for Thiruchitrambalam (Tamil) and Kutch Express (Gujarati) respectively.

Aattam was also declared the best in the editing (Mahesh Bhuvanend) category and for screenplay (Anand Ekarshi) jointly with Hindi film Gulmohar (Arpita Mukherjee and Rahul V. Chittella); Kantara also won the award for the Best Popular Film Providing Wholesome Entertainment.

The Best Choreography award went to Jani Master and Sathish Krishnan for their work in Thiruchitrambalam.

The award for Best Direction went to Sooraj R. Barjatya for Uunchai: Zenith (Hindi). Pavan Raj Malhotra won the Best Supporting Actor award for Fouja (Haryanvi) and Neena Gupta won the Best Supporting Actress award for Uunchai: Zenith in the feature films category.

Fouja was also adjudged the best in the debut film category.

Gulmohar got the Best Hindi Film award as well, while Niki Joshi won the Best Costume Designer award for Kutch Express.

The Best Production Design award went to Ananda Addhya for Aparajito: The Undefeated (Bengali), which also got the award for best make-up (Somnath Kundu). The Best Lyrics award went to Naushad Sadar Khan for his work in Fouja.

Multiple awards for PS-1

A.R. Rahman won the award for Best Music Director (background music) for Mani Ratnam’s Ponnyin Selvan-Part 1 (Tamil), which was also selected as the best Tamil film and won awards for the Best Cinematography (Ravi Varman) and the Best Sound Design (Anand Krishnamoorthi).

Pritam won the Best Music Director (songs) award and Arijit Singh was adjudged the Best Male Playback Singer for the song, “Kesariya”, both for Brahmastra-Part 1: Shiva.

The Best Female Playback Singer award went to Padma Shri awardee Bombay Jayashri for “Chaayum Veyil”, a song in Saudi Vellaka CC 225/2009, which also won the award for the Best Malayalam Film.

Brahmastra-Part 1: Shiva has been adjudged the best film in the Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming & Comic category.

Ayena: Mirror (Hindu/Urdu) bagged the award for Best Non-Feature Film.

Interstellar itinerary

ISRO’s Small Satellite Launch Vehicle-03 (SSLV-D3) lifts off from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Friday. ANI (Report on Page 4)ANI

IMA announces 24-hour withdrawal of health services

Bindu Shajan Perappadan

New Delhi

Demand for justice: Doctors protesting at the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in New Delhi on Friday. Sushil Kumar Verma SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has announced a 24-hour withdrawal of health services by all doctors of modern medicine across the country, irrespective of the sector and place of work.

Emergency and casualty departments will function but no outpatient services and elective surgeries will be available, it said.

The withdrawal of services is from 6 a.m. on Saturday to 6 a.m. on Sunday.

Doctors are protesting against the rape and murder of a young doctor at the R.G. Kar Hospital in Kolkata on August 9. In a release issued on Friday, the IMA said that the incident has brought to fore the two dimensions of violence in the hospital – one, a crime of barbaric scale due to the lack of safe spaces for women and the other, the hooliganism that followed due to the lack of an organised security protocol.

‘Shocked the nation’

“The crime and the vandalism have shocked the conscience of the nation. Today, both the medical fraternity and the nation are victims,’’ said IMA national president R.V. Asokan.

“The 36-hour duty shift that the victim was in and the lack of safe spaces to rest warrant a thorough overhaul of the working and living conditions of the resident doctors,’’ the IMA stressed.

Dr. Asokan said that doctors were also seeking meticulous and professional investigation of the crime and rendering of justice. “We also want proper identification of those who vandalised the hospital and punishment. Appropriate and dignified compensation should be given to the bereaved family.’’

Delhi Medical Association president-elect Girish Tyagi said, “We are with the resident doctors as they are not getting the proper working conditions. In case their demands are not addressed in the next phase of the strike, emergency services will also be shut down.”

Meanwhile, the Central government on Friday said that “in the event of any violence against any healthcare worker while on duty, the head of institution shall be responsible for filing an institutional FIR within a maximum of six hours of the incident.’’

The government noted that the order was issued in view of the fact that violence had become common against doctors and other healthcare staff in government hospitals.

Modi speaks to Yunus, calls for safety of Hindus

Kallol Bhattacherjee

NEW DELHI

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke to Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the new interim government in Bangladesh, and reiterated his call for safety and security of “Hindus and all other minority communities” in the neighbouring country.

The two leaders spoke for the first time against the backdrop of the fastmoving developments in Bangladesh.

“Received a telephone call from Professor Muhammad Yunus. Exchanged views on the prevailing situation. He assured protection, safety and security of Hindus and all minorities in Bangladesh,” Mr. Modi said on X.

At Maha Vikas Aghadi meet, Uddhav makes push for decision on CM face

Abhinay Deshpande

Mumbai

MVA leaders Uddhav Thackeray and Sharad Pawar during a party workers meet in Mumbai on Friday. Emmanual YoginiEMMANUAL YOGINI

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray on Friday said that the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) should decide its chief ministerial candidate ahead of the upcoming Maharashtra Assembly election, rather than basing the decision on which party wins the most seats.

While he expressed support for “any CM candidate endorsed” by the Congress and NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar), the two parties instead stressed the need to focus on removing the BJP-led Mahayuti coalition from power in the State.

Speaking at the first joint meeting of party workers of the Opposition alliance in Mumbai, Mr. Thackeray, who resigned as Chief Minister following a rebellion in his party in June 2022, remarked that while the Lok Sabha election was about safeguarding democracy and the Constitution, the Assembly election is about “defending Maharashtra’s self-respect”.

“I will support anyone chosen by the Congress and NCP (SP) as the CM candidate of MVA,” Mr. Thackeray said.

He also stressed that the chief ministerial candidate should be determined first, and that the MVA should not “go by the logic of the party that secures the most seats in the election”. “This policy is detrimental as it would lead to one party trying to defeat the other’s candidate to maintain upper hand in the alliance,” he said.

With the election for the 288-member Maharashtra Assembly expected in October or November, Mr. Pawar stressed the importance of a single-point agenda to bring about a change in the State government.

“If the situation has to improve in the State, we must have a single-point agenda to change the government in Maharashtra,” Mr. Pawar said.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole stated that while the decision on MVA’s chief ministerial face will be left to top leaders, the primary goal is to remove the Mahayuti government from power.

‘Maharashtra polls to be held later due to J&K security needs’

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

CEC Rajiv Kumar says next set of dates will be announced after elections in Haryana and J&K; bypolls in Wayanad and other constituencies to follow

1 of 2

2 of 2 Some States experienced floods… Let people have some breathing space. We will hold the bypolls within the stipulated six months Rajiv Kumar Chief Election Commissioner

Maharashtra, which had gone to the polls along with Haryana in 2019, will have its Assembly election later this time due to the security requirements for the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly election, dates for which were announced on Friday.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar noted that J&K had not been in the picture five years ago.

“Last time, Maharashtra and Haryana Assembly elections were held together. At that time, J&K was not a factor, but this time, there are four elections this year and fifth election immediately after this. Depending on the requirement of forces, we have decided to conduct two elections together,” he said.

Besides J&K and Haryana, elections are due in Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Delhi. The terms of the Haryana and Maharashtra Assemblies end on November 3 and 26,respectively, while Jharkhand’s term concludes on January 5, 2025.

Many factors

The CEC said that the next set of State elections would be announced after the completion of the polls in J&K and Haryana.

A string of festivals, as well as the fact that Booth Level Officers were not being able to complete their job in Maharashtra due to monsoon rainfall were the other factors behind the decision, he said.

As far as bypolls to the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat and 46 Assembly constituencies were concerned, he said that the weather was the main issue in some States, adding that bypolls cannot be held in a piecemeal fashion.

“We saw a big disaster [landslide in Wayanad] in the Lok Sabha seat. We cannot have bypolls there now. Some States were experiencing floods… Let people have some breathing space. We will hold the bypolls within the stipulated six months,” he said.

L-G govt. in J&K reshuffles 198 officers in 12 hours; NC seeks EC intervention

Peerzada Ashiq

Srinagar

Manoj Sinha ANI

The J&K Lieutenant Governor’s (LG) administration’s unprecedented reshuffle of at least 198 upper and middle-rung officers in 12 hours in the civil administration and police department on Friday raised many eyebrows, especially from the National Conference (NC).

J&K has been witnessing a major administrative revamp since Thursday in the security set-up. IPS officer Nalin Prabhat has been appointed as the next Director General of Police (DGP) and Nitish Kumar has been appointed as the new CID chief.

Besides, the L-G administration, in a series of transfer orders, transferred 198 officers, which include five deputy commissioners and 10 Senior Superintendents of Police. 83 police officers have been reshuffled and posted to new areas.

This came a day after senior IPS officer Nalin Prabhat was appointed as Special DG of J&K Police. He will assume the role of the force’s chief following the retirement of R.R. Swain on September 30.

‘Politically motivated’

The NC has termed these transfers politically motivated. “That the J&K administration had to call officers in the secretariat and police HQ to work on Independence Day to order this massive reshuffle tells me they had absolutely no clue that the Election Commission would announce poll dates today. All the more reason that the EC’s SVEEP [Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation] should look at this transfer order from the prism of a free and fair poll. The NC suspects a biased intent on the part of the L-G administration,” NC vice president and former J&K Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said.

NC general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar said the move seems intended to “undermine the integrity of the electoral process, which restricts such transfers to prevent the ruling party from gaining an undue administrative advantage over the Opposition”.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also seemed to agree with the sentiment and issued a statement. “Around 150-200 transfers happened abruptly and arbitrarily. The L-G administration’s behaviour is full of prejudice and bias in favour the BJP. Our concern is that elections should be conducted free, fair and transparent,” PDP leader Iltija Mufti, daughter of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, said.

LS election results show BJP stalled Congress in Haryana: Satish Poonia

Nistula Hebbar

NEW DELHI

Satish Poonia -

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “ready for polls” as it seeks a third term in Haryana, said the party’s election in-charge in the State, Satish Poonia.

Mr. Poonia said the results of the Lok Sabha election, in which the BJP and the Congress won five seats each, prove that the ruling BJP is still in the game.

Haryana Assembly polls

The Election Commission of India on Friday announced dates for a single-phase Assembly election in Haryana scheduled for October 1, with results to be declared on October 4.

“We are ready. The basic work required for going into polls is done. Our main platform will be the work done by the BJP-led Haryana government in the last 10 years and the kind of transparency with which it was done,” said Mr. Poonia, who was the BJP’s State president in Rajasthan before his present assignment.

The BJP, which held all the 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, saw its tally halve this year, a situation that Mr. Poonia said is akin to a “glass half-full” for the party. “Before the Lok Sabha polls, everyone was sure that the Congress would sweep all the 10 seats in Haryana. But the fact that the BJP managed to win five seats and stall the Congress, along with the fact that we had leads in 44 Assembly seats, are to our advantage,” he said.

While admitting that there is a polarisation between the Jat and non-Jat voters in the State, with the BJP getting much of the non-Jat vote, Mr. Poonia said the Haryana government’s recent decision on Minimum Support Price (MSP) for 24 crops was “historic” and will be beneficial to the farmers.

He added that the middle class and OBCs, especially after the National Commission for Backward Classes was given constitutional status, have benefited from the BJP governments at the Centre and in the State.

Asked about the opposition to the Agnipath scheme in the State that sends many young people to the armed forces, Mr. Poonia said recent announcements that Agniveers (short-term recruits) will get preference in paramilitary and other jobs have blunted the Opposition’s charge on the matter.

Haryana Congress chief dismisses notions of ‘divisions’ within party

Vikas Vasudeva

CHANDIGARH

Chaudhary Udaybhan

Factionalism in the Congress’s Haryana unit could hurt the main Opposition party’s ambitions to wrest power from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the State’s Assembly election, due to be held on October 1.

For the Congress, which has been out of power for a decade, the election is a battle to revive the party in the State. Upbeat after its performance in the recent Lok Sabha poll, in which it won five parliamentary seats of the nine it contested in the State, the Congress has stepped up its campaign.

Though the party’s campaign has gathered momentum, senior leaders — including Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Lok Sabha MP Kumari Selja, and Rajya Sabha MP Randeep Singh Surjewala — are each holding a spree of separate rallies and events under different titles across the State, fuelling the perception among voters that the Congress is a ‘divided house’. Factionalism is also seen as the main reason why the party has not had any block or district committees in the State for the last nine years.

‘No conflict’

The Congress is pitching the multiple rallies as a positive development. “There’s no question of the party’s working as a divided house,” Congress State chief Chaudhary Udaybhan told The Hindu on Friday. “All leaders are campaigning to strengthen the party, ours is a democratic party. There may be differences but there’s no conflict. The leaders are trying to present their claim for the Chief Minister’s post through their rallies,” he added.

The upcoming poll is largely being seen as a direct contest between the BJP and the Congress, though the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) are also in the fray.

With the Congress struggling to get its house in order, the BJP has been taking potshots at its main challenger, with the ruling party’s leaders mocking the Congress over its “infighting” and several Chief Ministerial candidates.

Some political observers also say that the Congress’s factionalism may prove costly in the fight.

J&K parties welcome Assembly polls, regret delay in Statehood

The Hindu Bureau

SRINAGAR

The Election Commission’s (EC) decision to hold the first-ever Assembly election in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) was widely welcomed by the political parties on Friday. However, the leaders regretted the Centre’s delay in restoring Statehood ahead of the polls.

“People of J&K have been waiting for this day for a long time. Our party was prepared for the elections. People will come out and use their votes in the right direction. The EC should ensure the security of mainstream political parties, especially those opposed to the BJP,” former Chief Minister and National Conference vice-president Omar Abdullah said.

Dawn of hope

Mr. Abdullah suggested holding talks with the Congress to discuss “concrete proposals and ideas” on a pre-poll alliance.

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti, the daughter of PDP president Mehbooba Mufti, expressed hope that the elections will bring “redressal to people’s issues and end babudom”.

J&K came under direct Central rule in 2018 after the BJP-PDP coalition fell apart. It is after a gap of 10 years that J&K will see three-phase Assembly elections next month.

‘Mockery of powers’

Questioning the delay in restoring Statehood, Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said “recent moves by the Union government have only added to the powers of the L-G there, making a mockery of the powers of a duly elected State government”.

CPI(M) leader M.Y. Tarigami said the election notice has sent a wave of satisfaction among people in J&K. “We expect a level playing field, especially security to candidates. We expect impartial process,” he said.

However, J&K Peoples Conference leader Imran Ansari termed the upcoming election an “eyewash”. “Dates have been issued but the powers are there with L-G and then holding elections is of little significance,” he said.

Cong. effects changes in Jharkhand, J&K, Maharashtra units

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

Tariq Hameed KarraMukhtar Khan

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday effected a reshuffle in the election bound States of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and Jharkhand while making two appointments to the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

While the election schedule for J&K has been declared, dates for Jharkhand and Maharashtra are yet to be announced.

On the day when J&K election schedule for J&K was announced, Mr. Kharge appointed Tariq Hameed Karra as Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chief, replacing Vikar Rasool Wani. Two leaders from Jammu region, Tara Chand and Raman Bhalla, have been made working presidents, a release from general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal said.

In Jharkhand, Keshav Mahto Kamlesh has been named the new PCC chief in place of Rajesh Thakur. Rameshwar Oraon has been made the leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Jharkhand Assembly. The Congress president has also appointed Syed Muzaffar Hussain as working president of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee.

CWC appointment

Two leaders from Maharashtra have been appointed to the Congress Working Committee.

While former Maharashtra PCC chief Balasaheb Thorat has been made a member of the highest decision making body, Mohd Arif Naseem Khan has been appointed as special invitee to the CWC.

Manoj Sinha gives nod for transfer of evacuees’ land

The Hindu Bureau

SRINAGAR

The J&K Lieutenant Governor’s administration on Friday approved the transfer of evacuee land, left behind by migrating locals in 1947, and conferring proprietary rights in favour of displaced persons of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir and Pakistan.

J&K L-G Manoj Sinha, who heads the administrative council, approved the proposal for transfer of evacuees’ land conferring proprietary rights to the displaced persons of 1947, 1965, 1971 and West Pakistan. “This decision will confer absolute proprietary rights over evacuees’ land to displace persons,” an official spokesperson said.

The L-G administration has directed the Custodian department “to transfer the land in favour of the displaced persons in a time-bound manner”. The Custodian General has been asked to ensure proper safeguards to prevent any misuse particularly unauthorised encroachments on the evacuees’ land.

The administration has issued directions for time-bound processing of applications of 30 days. “The entire process is expected to be completed within six months, providing relief to displaced persons,” the spokesperson said.

The total quantum of transferred land shall be as per the land ceiling provided by the Cabinet Order of 1954 and the ceiling under the Jammu and Kashmir Agrarian Reforms Act, 1976.

“The decision fulfils demands of all connected families, which have been requesting for ownership rights for the past many decades. The government has always remained committed to provide benefits to the displaced persons,” the spokesman said.

Widow of poll official killed while on duty gets solatium

Press Trust of India

Ramgarh

The widow of a government school teacher, who died in a road accident during Lok Sabha poll duty, has received a cheque of ₹15 lakh as compensation from the Election Commission (EC), an official said.

The cheque was handed over to Neetu Singh, the widow of Shailendra Kumar Singh, by Ramgarh Deputy Commissioner Chandan Kumar during Independence Day celebrations in Jharkhand’s Ramgarh town on Thursday.

Road accident

Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar and Deputy Development Commissioner Robin Toppo were also present.

The DC said that Singh was posted in the Government Upgraded High School in Sangrampur village in Gola block of Ramgarh and was killed in a road accident while he was on duty during the parliamentary elections.

Calcutta High Court raps police over R.G. Kar Hospital vandalism

Shiv Sahay Singh

Kolkata

Court says incident reflects absolute failure of the State machinery, questions urgency of renovations done at the hospital, counsel for Bengal government says crime spot was not damaged; Chief Minister says CBI must solve the case by tomorrow

In solidarity: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee takes part in a rally in Kolkata on Friday. K.R Deepak DEEPAK KR

Coming down heavily on the Kolkata Police over the vandalism at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in the early hours of Thursday, the Calcutta High Court on Friday said the incidentwasan “absolute failure of State machinery”and that the Central Bureau of Investigation was at its liberty to visit the hospital premises and make an assessment.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and leaders from the Opposition parties hit the streets to protest against the rape and murder of a doctor at the hospital on August 9 and the subsequent vandalisation of the hospital.

Petitions were filed before the Division Bench ofChief JusticeT.S. Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya, alleging that the scene of the crime — the seminar hall on the fourth floor of the hospital where the doctor was raped and murdered — had been compromised after the mob attack. Allegations were also raised that renovations were done in the hospital to destroy the crime scene.

The State government’s counsel told the court that the point of occurrence had not been damaged or destroyed. On the issue of vandalism, the counsel said it was difficult to contain the 7,000-strong mob that the demonstration had turned to.

“If 7,000 people gathered, it was hard to believe that State police did not know. For all and sundry, you pass 144 (CrPC). When so much commotion is going on, doctors on strike, you should have cordoned off the entire area... Absolute failure of State machinery,”Chief Justice Sivagnanam observed.

In its order, the court directed the appropriate police authorities and the person in charge of the administration of the hospital to file separate affidavits narrating the true state of affairs and all matters incidental and connected with as far as the vandalism was concerned.

The High Court also expressed anguish over renovation in the building and said, “What was the urgency?... We will shift patients to other hospital, close the (R.G. Kar) hospital. That will be the best.” It directed the media and persons known to the victim not to circulate photographs or any information related to the victim’s identity.

The court noted that the CBI had presented in a sealed cover documents thatcontained the first information report registered by the agency onAugust 13.

‘Solve the case’

Ms. Banerjee demanded that the CBI solve the case by Sunday.

“We have given the inquiry to the CBI. They should solve the case by Sunday and hang the accused,” she said. Challenging her political opponents, the Chief Minister said that she was born out of protests and the Opposition could not corner her.

“Attempts are being made to hide the truth by circulating fake news on social media... We want the truth to come out but some quarters are peddling lies to mislead people,” she said.

Leaders of Opposition parties, particularly the BJP, held protests across the State, while the Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist) observed a 12-hour strike on Friday.

Vineet Kumar Goyal, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata, told presspersons that about 25 persons have been arrested for the August 15 violence. The police admitted to an assessment failure on their part to estimate the number of protesters outside the hospital and expressed concerns about the rumours going the rounds.

An inquiry report by the National Commission for Women in the rape and murder of the trainee doctor referred to lapses in security and poor infrastructure at the hospital.

SC has campaigned for UCC, but refused to enforce it

Krishnadas Rajagopal

NEW DELHI

Court’s support: As late as in 2019, the SC recorded that no action has been taken to secure for the citizens a UCC.Sushil Kumar VermaSUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

The Supreme Court has pushed for a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) over the years, calling it “desirable”, but refused to “enforce” it.

The apex court has held that Article 44, which enjoins upon the state to endeavour to secure to its citizens a UCC, corresponds to Part IV or the Directive Principles of State Policy, which are only guidelines and do not create any justiciable rights in favour of any person.

But this has not stopped the court from blaming successive governments for not taking effective steps to make UCC into a reality. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for a “secular civil code” in his Independence Day address has brought the issue into focus.

Looking back

The court’s largest Bench in history has a paragraph devoted to the UCC. Justice S.M. Sikri, on the 13-judge Bench in the Kesavananda Bharati case in 1973, reminded the then government that the state should endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout the territory of India.

But the court had also held back, observing that “desirable as it (UCC) is, the government has not been able to take any effective steps towards the realisation of this goal”.

“Obviously no court can compel the government to lay down a UCC even though it is essentially desirable in the interest of the integrity, and unity of the country,” Justice Sikri had opined.

The court’s awareness of its limitation in enforcing a UCC could be seen clearly voiced by Justice E.S. Venkataramiah in the 1982 Constitution Bench judgment of National Textile Workers versus P.R. Ramakrishnan.

“Would this court enforce a UCC in respect of all citizens, without the aid of an appropriate legislation even though the concept of equality is enshrined in the Constitution and Article 44 specifically requires the state to endeavour to secure for all citizens a UCC? It may not do so,” Justice Venkataramiah observed.

The only solution

The judge suggested that the only solution was “to appeal to the appropriate organs of the State to do their assigned job in the best interests of the community”. The Supreme Court cannot find a solution to all problems.

Three years later in 1985, another Constitution Bench in the Shah Bano case rued how UCC remained a “dead letter”. It said there was no official activity for framing a common civil code for the country. “It is the state which is charged with the duty of securing a uniform civil code for the citizens of the country and, unquestionably; it has the legislative competence to do so,” the court said.

In Sarla Mudgal, a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court made a direct exhortation to the government to implement the UCC. “We request the Government of India... to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code,” Justice Kuldip Singh wrote.

As late as in 2019, in Jose Paulo Coutinho, Justice Deepak Gupta recorded that no action has been taken to secure for the citizens a UCC.

But there are also judgments which had advised restraint, and that UCC was not to be implemented in one go. In Pannalal Bansilal judgment, the court said a one-stroke implementation “may perhaps be counter-productive to the unity and integrity of the nation”.

NDA members get into a huddle after PM’s ‘secular civil code’ pitch

Nistula Hebbar

New Delhi

TDP chief had told a delegation that his party would not be part of anything that diluted the rights of minorities.FILE PHOTO

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi foregrounded the issue of a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) — albeit in a new formulation as a “secular civil code” — leaving allies like the Janata Dal (U) and the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) wary and worried, the members of the ruling alliance met at BJP president J.P. Nadda’s residence for a coordination meeting on Friday.

According to senior BJP sources, the NDA resolved that regular meetings of alliance partners should take place on a monthly basis and issues resolved within that forum.

A case in point is the “secular civil code”. By mentioning it in his Independence Day address, Mr. Modi has signalled his interest in moving forward on the proposal.

However, TDP chief N. Chandrababu Naidu had categorically told a delegation of Muslim community representatives that his party would not be part of anything that diluted the rights of minorities, while JD(U) working president Sanjay Jha said that nothing concrete had yet been presented before allies.

BJP leaders called for the NDA meeting after the announcement, also keeping in mind that when the Waqf Amendment Bill was cleared by the Union Cabinet, its allies had not raised any strong objections. However, during the debate in Parliament, the TDP’s Harish Balayogi sought to refer it to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for further consideration. The Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) and Jana Sena Party are also in favour of a JPC, it is said.

At the meeting, the BJP was represented by Union Ministers Kiren Rijiju, Bhupender Yadav, L. Murugan, and party general secretary Arun Singh, apart from Mr. Nadda. The other NDA constituents in attendance were HAM(S) chief and Union Minister Jitan Ram Majhi, Apna Dal leader Anupriya Patel, Mr. Jha for the JD(U), TDP leader Pemmaseni Chandrasekhar, Praveen Nishad from the NISHAD party, JD(S) leader H.D. Kumaraswamy, Chirag Paswan from the LJP, Jayant Chaudhary of the RLD, BDJS leader Thushar Vellappally, New Justice Party leader A.C. Shanmugam, and G.K. Vasan of the Tamil Maanila Congress.

ISRO’s SSLV-D3 successfully launches earth observation satellite EOS-08 into orbit

Hemanth C.S.

Bengaluru

Sky high: ISRO’s SSLV-D3 blasts off with Earth Observation Satellite EOS-08 in Sriharikota on Friday. PTIR SENTHILKUMAR

The Indian Space Research Organisation on Friday launched the EOS-08 Earth Observation Satellite on board the Small Satellite Launch Vehicle (SSLV-D3) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota. The SSLV-D3, in its final development flight, lifted off from the first launch pad of SDSC at 9.17 a.m.

Seventeen minutes later, the EOS-08 satellite was injected into a 475-km circular orbit as intended. “The third developmental flight of SSLV, the SSLV-D3 with the EOS-08 satellite, has been successfully accomplished. The rocket has placed the spacecraft in a very precise orbit as planned. I find that there are no deviations in the injection conditions. The current indication is that everything is perfect,” ISRO Chairman S. Somanath said after the launch.

EOS-08 is a first-of-its-kind mission built on a standard ISRO’s Microsat/IMS-1 bus with a suite of advanced payloads for observation in the IR range, novel GNSS-R Payload and SiC UV dosimeter.

The satellite boasts a host of new technological developments in satellite mainframe systems like an Integrated Avionics system — Communication, Baseband, Storage and Positioning (CBSP) Package, Structural panel embedded with PCB, embedded battery, Micro-DGA (Dual Gimbal Antenna), M-PAA (Phased array antenna) and Flexible solar panel & Nano star sensor etc., for on-board Technology Demonstration. It carries three payloads, namely Electro Optical Infrared Payload (EOIR), SAC, Global Navigation Satellite System — Reflectometry payload (GNSS-R), SAC and SiC UV Dosimeter, LEOS. The EOIR payload is to image in the Mid-Wave IR (MIR) band and long-wave IR (LWIR) band during day and night. GNSS-R payload is to demonstrate the capability of using GNSS-R-based remote sensing to derive applications like Ocean Surface Winds, soil moisture, cryosphere applications over the Himalayan region, flood detection, etc.

The spacecraft has a mission life of one year.

Jurisdiction of courts defined by Constitution: Dhankhar

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

The Vice-President said that it was worrying that a person holding a constitutional position was asking the Supreme Cpourt to “give wings to a narrative” aimed at destroying India’s economy.PTIATUL YADAV

In an apparent attack on Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar, without naming him, said on Friday that it was extremely worrying that a person holding a constitutional position was asking the Supreme Court to “give wings to a narrative” aimed at destroying the country’s economy.

Mr. Dhankhar was likely referring to Mr. Gandhi’s recent statement urging the Supreme Court to take suo motu cognisance of the recent Hindenburg report that targets Madhabi Puri Buch, the Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Board of India. The Congress termed Mr. Dhankhar’s statement a “troll” against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Mr. Dhankhar, speaking at the National Law University here, asked students to rebuff and neutralise forces that keep partisan or self-interest above that of the nation.

“Jurisdiction of institution is defined by the Indian Constitution, be it legislature, executive, or judiciary. Jurisdiction of courts is decided. Look around the globe, look at the Supreme Court in the U.S., the highest court in the U.K. or other formats. Has there been suo motu cognisance even once? Has a remedy been created beyond what is provided in the Constitution? The Constitution provides original jurisdiction, appellate jurisdiction. It provides review also,” he said.

He said he got worried when “a person holding a constitutional position, just last week, declared in a well-publicised media; I would say campaign, beseeching the Supreme Court to suo motu invoke jurisdiction to give wings to a narrative aimed at destroying our economy”.

The Congress said the Vice-President was targeting the Prime Minister. “Mr Dhankhar, It is not right to troll PM Modi like this. I understand your pain — terrible unemployment, back-breaking inflation, declining income, helpless farmers, tax burden, increasing poverty, the gap of economic inequality and Tughlaq decrees instead of policy-making. How can one remain silent after seeing all this,” asked Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate in a social media post.

The Hindu Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram

Aadujeevitham, based on a real-life saga of human resilience in the face of unimaginable suffering, garnered nine awards including the top honours of Best Director for Blessy and Best Actor for Prithviraj Sukumaran at the 54th Kerala State Film Awards. Kaathal-The Core, Jeo Baby’s sensitive take on homosexuality, won the award for Best Film as well as Best Story.

Urvashi, who subtly portrayed the inner turmoil of a woman in dealing with unforeseen circumstances in Ullozhukku, shared the acting honours with Beena R. Chandran, who portrayed a woman who goes through a series of unfortunate events in Fazil Razak’s Thadavu. Mr. Fazil also won the award for the best Debutant Director.

The other awards won by Aadujeevitham include Best Popular Film, Best Adapted Screenplay for Blessy, Best Cinematography for K.S. Sunil, Special Jury Award (actor) for K.R. Gokul, Best Sound Mixing award for Resul Pookutty and Sarath Mohan, Best Makeup Artist for Ranjith Ambady, and Best processing lab/colourist for Vaishal Shiva Ganesh.

Rohith M.G. Krishnan won the Best Original Screenplay Award for Iratta.

Women in grief across the country, says Priyanka

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

Crimes against women in West Bengal, Bihar, Uttarakhand, and Uttar Pradesh have shaken the country, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Friday. When there was a need to send a tough message with regard to women’s security, attempts were made to protect the accused, she said.

“The cruelty against women has shaken the entire country. At this time, women across the country are experiencing grief and anger. Whenever such incidents happen, women see what the governments are doing. How serious are their words and measures,” Ms. Vadra said.

She said political protection and leniency shown to the accused, and repeated granting of bail or parole have “let women down”. In a post on X, she asked, “When government statistics show 86 rapes taking place every day, from whom should women expect protection?”

Ambedkar supported UCC, says Naqvi

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

Describing the proposed “secular civil code” as an inclusive reform, BJP leader and former Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi on Friday said illustrious personalities like Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in the Constituent Assembly were in favour of a “uniform secular civil code”.

Speaking to the mediapersons, Mr. Naqvi said there was a need to remain “conscious and cautious” of the “conspiracy of communal confusion on secular civil code”. The country had been waiting for the constitutional guidelines of “uniform secular civil code” to become a reality, but “this inclusive reform has been a victim of communal” objections, he said.

Modi speaks to Yunus, calls for safety of Hindus in Bangladesh

Kallol Bhattacherjee

New Delhi

PM reiterates India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful, and progressive Bangladesh ; Chief Adviser tells Modi that his government is committed to safeguarding every citizen of the country

Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited Muhammad Yunus to the Voice of Global South Summit to be hosted by India on Saturday.AFPINDRANIL MUKHERJEE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday spoke to Muhammad Yunus, Chief Adviser of the new interim government in Bangladesh, and reiterated his call for safety and security of “Hindus and all other minority communities” in the neighbouring country.

The two leaders spoke for the first time against the backdrop of the fast-moving developments in Bangladesh. A statement from the press wing of the Chief Adviser said that Mr. Modi invited Professor Yunus to the third Voice of Global South Summit to be hosted virtually by India on Saturday.

“Received a telephone call from Professor Muhammad Yunus. Exchanged views on the prevailing situation. Reiterated India’s support for a democratic, stable, peaceful and progressive Bangladesh. He assured protection, safety and security of Hindus and all minorities in Bangladesh,” Mr. Modi said in a post on X.

The telephone call took place a day after Mr. Modi made a forceful mention of the minority communities in Bangladesh amid reports that they have been targeted following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government.

The statement from the Chief Adviser’s press wing informed that Mr. Modi expressed his willingness to work for the benefit of the people of Bangladesh.

It also said that the reports of violence against minority communities were “exaggerated”, adding, “The Chief Adviser has told Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his government is committed to safeguarding every citizen of the country including the minorities when the Indian Prime Minister raised the issue of protection of the minorities.”

Professor Yunus told Mr. Modi that the situation in Bangladesh had been “brought under control and life is becoming normal across the country”.

He described the change of government through the student movement as the “Second Revolution” in Bangladesh and pledged that his government would “fulfil the desire of the democratic aspirations of the students and people. The Chief Adviser said his government is committed to making all state apparatus fully functional and effective and ensuring human rights for every citizen in the country”.

India’s relation with Bangladesh has been on top of New Delhi’s neighbourhood activities as the collapse of the Hasina government has hindered much of the essential activities between the two sides like trade and visa activities. Though the External Affairs Ministry on Friday argued that trade was slowly returning on track, it said that granting of Indian visa to citizens of Bangladesh would have to wait till the situation normalises.

(set by Afterdark)

1 of 4

2 of 4

3 of 4

4 of 4 Scan to play

Across

9 Greed of a new vicar exposed at the beginning (7)

10 Fictional captain visiting a new engineering plant (7)

11 Increase in tax collection at first time split into three (7)

12 Laugh at thief in Delhi, primarily trying ludicrous efforts (7)

13 Root vegetable, tuber cultivated with sage (5,4)

15 Bay is quiet and away (5)

16 British American vessels capsize at the boarding point (3,4)

19 Pass with support at English institution (7)

20 Men with child at Indian state struggle initially (5)

21 Infection caught by elderly on rise reportedly by touching sulphur (4,5)

25 Concerning story, losing heart in struggle for rescue (7)

26 Auditor's more reserved with bank employee (7)

28 Users in trouble at dawn (7)

29 Second team, overcoming heat edges away at beach (7)

Down

1 An insect becomes million insects all over island (6)

2 Bleaching pool first and adding a fish (6)

3 Relative can be heartless or pleasant (4)

4 1000? Scratching head to pay for metal container (6)

5 A controlled substance found at northern Indian town kept on ice mostly (8)

6 Fish smell, nose is troubled; inhaling oxygen (5,5)

7 Tired of store stocking egg disorganised (8)

8 Writer is in trap, he is getting a drug as a remedy for grief (8)

14 Cooking method for say, chapati set, south comes first (10)

16 Support for sitting in vehicle is upside down, needs top reportedly (8)

17 Surprising lack of temperature in the middle for bird (8)

18 Select one fish across river to get another fish (8)

22 Grasshopper on pea tree (6)

23 Dried grape is growing almost (6)

24 Scream at new hires stuck at the back (6)

27 Attack Sri Lankan Army with mortars basically (4)

NWMI issues guidelines to boost equity in newsrooms

The Hindu Bureau

Chennai

The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) has introduced a new set of guidelines aimed at improving workplace conditions in newsrooms across the country. These guidelines are designed to address the need for enhanced safety and equity for journalists, reinforcing the importance of protecting their rights as both individuals and professionals.

According to the guidelines released on Thursday, reports from network members highlight widespread problems, including humiliation and harassment, where abusive behaviour from senior staff is often tolerated and justified by claims of past experiences. Disparaging comments based on personal attributes such as caste, gender, and sexuality are also common, with women and persons from the LGBTQIA+ community facing the brunt of these attacks.

One of the key aspects of these guidelines is adherence to legally sanctioned work hours. According to the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code, 2020, journalists should work no more than 144 hours over four consecutive weeks, with at least one day off each week. Any work beyond this limit should be recognised as overtime. The guidelines also stress the importance of fair and regular salaries.

Key recommendations

Employees should receive a minimum of 30 days of paid leave annually, encompassing various types such as earned, casual, sick, and festival leave. The guidelines also cover health-related leave, including mental health and menstrual leave, and ensure compliance with legal provisions for maternity, paternity, and childcare leave.

Establishment of independent, professional human resources departments is emphasised. The guidelines recommend setting up legally required internal committees to address sexual harassment.

Additionally, grievance redressal mechanisms must address complaints of toxic behaviour within newsrooms, ensuring confidentiality and involving neutral fact-finding processes. Management should enforce a zero-tolerance policy for such behaviour and take disciplinary action against violators, regardless of their position or popularity. Addressing these issues is crucial for fostering a respectful, transparent, and equitable work environment, essential for journalists to effectively fulfil their roles, the guidelines suggest.

Centre approves reshuffle in senior bureaucratic posts

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

Vivek JoshiKAMAL NARANG

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Friday approved a series of postings and reshuffle in senior bureaucratic positions in various departments and Ministries.

Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official Vivek Joshi of Haryana cadre, serving as Secretary, Department of Financial Services, under the Finance Ministry, has been made Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training; and Rajesh Kumar Singh (IAS) of Kerala cadre, serving as Secretary, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, has been appointed as an Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Defence (Defence Ministry).

Mr. Singh will take over as Secretary, Department of Defence, on completion of the tenure of incumbent Aramane Giridhar on October 31. The government has extended his tenure, beyond superannuation, till October 31, 2026. Secretary (Minority Affairs) Katikithala Srinivas (IAS) of Gujarat cadre has been posted as Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs; Manoj Govil (IAS) of Madhya Pradesh cadre, who is Secretary in the Corporate Affairs Ministry, as Secretary, Department of Expenditure; and Vandana Gurnani (IAS) of Karnataka cadre as Secretary (Coordination) in the Cabinet Secretariat.

Chandra Sekhar Kumar (IAS) of Odisha cadre, Special Secretary in the Panchayati Raj Ministry, has been appointed as Secretary (Minority Affairs); Neelam Shammi Rao (IAS) of Madhya Pradesh cadre, who was the Central Provident Fund Commissioner, as Secretary, National Commission for Minorities; and Punya Salila Srivastava (IAS) of Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, currently Special Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office, as Officer on Special Duty, Department of Health and Family Welfare. She will take over as Secretary on superannuation of the incumbent, Apurva Chandra.

Deepti Gaur Mukherjee (IAS) of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Chief Executive Officer of the National Health Authority, has been made Secretary (Corporate Affairs).

‘Centre’s claims on demonetisation’s success an eyewash’

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

Jairam RameshManvender Vashist Lav

The government’s assertion that the number of counterfeit notes detected has fallen is an “eyewash,” the Congress said on Friday.

“Eight years after the non-biological PM ground the economy to a halt through demonetisation, it appears that counterfeit notes have become rife once again — The number of counterfeit ₹500 notes of the new series that have been detected has nearly quadrupled between 2018-19 and 2023-24. The number of fake ₹2,000 notes has tripled since 2020-21,” Congress general secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said.

“While the Government can claim that the overall number of counterfeit notes detected has fallen, this is an eyewash,” he added. He posted a screenshot of a Rajya Sabha reply given by Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary which stated that the measures taken have resulted in a decrease in the number of pieces of denomination-wise counterfeit notes detected/reported in the banking system from 3,17,384 in the year 2018-19 to 2,22,639 in the year 2023-24.

“If neither black money nor counterfeiting has been curbed, what has demonetisation achieved?” Mr. Ramesh asked.

Efficacy of Chaturmasya

Those devotees desirous of learning the origin of Chaturmaysa and the important role a grihastha has to play in hosting sanyasis and serving them would be glad to know that the practice dates back centuries. Chaturmaysa is the four months of vrata, when even sanyasis are permitted to remain in one place, which finds references in the Narada Parivrajaka Upanishad, said Dr. Sudha Seshayyan in a discourse.

Typically, sanyasis should spend only one day in a village, since desire might raise its head and nullify their asceticism. He should be a wanderer on earth with no fixed desires. He may live for one day in a village, two days in a hamlet, three days in a town, and five days in a city. The only time he is permitted to stay for four months is when it is raining, a system that continues to be practiced by our saints to this day.

During varsha ritu, when the sky is dense with clouds and heavy rainfall occurs, a sanyasi is permitted to stay for months at a stretch in one place. Apart from the difficulty posed by the rain to mobility, walking might pose harm to small creatures like crabs and rodents which come out of their dwellings during this period. Forced to stay in one place, a symbiotic relationship develops between the sanyasis and grihasthas. The sanyasi becomes the Acharya and the ordinary man burdened by concerns for his family and material concerns, becomes the sishya.

The mutual coexistence also helps the grihastha control his indriyas by following food restrictions. It is also Vishnu’s favourite time, as He takes rest during this phase.

Swamy moves Delhi HC on Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship

BJP leader Subramanian Swamy on Friday moved the Delhi High Court seeking directions to the Union Home Ministry to decide on his representation seeking cancellation of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Indian citizenship. Mr. Swamy also sought a direction to the Ministry to furnish a status report on the representation made by him against Mr. Gandhi. The petition said Mr. Swamy had recently written a letter to the Ministry on Mr. Gandhi “voluntarily disclosing” to the British government that “he is a citizen of British nationality, amounting to holding a British passport”. The petition is likely to come up for hearing next week.

Centre unveils new system to study weather, crop patterns

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

The Union Agriculture Ministry launched a digital geo-spatial platform, Krishi-Decision Support System (DSS), here on Friday which will share real-time data-driven insights on weather patterns, soil conditions, crop health, crop acreage, and advisories with all stakeholders such as farmers, experts, and policymakers. The Ministry said the system was “a significant milestone” in the country’s agricultural innovation landscape.

The platform provides seamless access to comprehensive data, including satellite images, weather information, reservoir storage, groundwater levels, and soil health information.

“With crop mapping and monitoring, we will be able to understand cropping patterns by analysing parcel-level crop maps over different years. This helps in understanding crop rotation practices and promotes sustainable agriculture by encouraging the cultivation of diverse crops,” the Ministry said.

The platform can also be helpful in monitoring drought, it said.

Cabinet gives approval to three Metro rail projects

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

The Union Cabinet on Friday gave approval to three new Metro rail projects, including the Bengaluru Metro Phase-3 which is estimated to cost ₹15,611 crore.

The other two are the Thane Integral Ring Metro project at a cost of ₹12,200 crore and the extension of the Pune Metro at a cost ₹2,954.5 crore.

Civil enclave at Bihta

The Cabinet also approved a new civil enclave for Bihar at Bihta at an estimated cost of ₹1,413 crore to help with capacity constraints at the Patna airport.

The passenger building at the Bihta Indian Air Force base will be able to handle 3,000 passengers in peak hours and cater to 50 lakh passengers per annum, the Civil Aviation Ministry said in a statement, adding that it can be expanded to cater to 1 crore passengers per annum.

The apron at the civil enclave will have 10 parking bays capable of handling A320 family of aircraft and Boeing 737s.

The Cabinet also approved the expansion of the existing civil enclave at the Bagdogra IAF base.

Soumyadip Sinha, chief illustrator at The Hindu, has won the gold medal and a cash prize of $2,000 in the International Cartoon Contest Boycott Genocide-2024. Artists from 55 countries participated in the contest that had “Condemning the Israeli regime’s participation in the Paris 2024 Olympics” as one of its themes. Mr. Sinha’s cartoon depicted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu using a rifle to vault over a mass grave of Gazans to reach Paris. The jury members of the contest were from Italy, Poland, Malaysia, Venezuela, Brazil, Turkey, China, Egypt, and Iran.

RSS-affiliate takes out protest march

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj and Jawaharlal Nehru University Vice-Chancellor Santishree D. Pandit on Friday participated in a march organised in Delhi under the banner of Nari Shakti forum, an RSS-backed organisation, to protest against the violence against Hindus in Bangladesh.

Regional

- Illegal mining, encroachments, deforestation pose threat to Aravali range as natural green wall

- Stalin targets winning 200 seats in 2026 T.N. election

- Oppn. slams Nitish govt. over rape, murder of minor

- Acquitted former Bihar MLA Anant Singh walks out of jail

- BSP to go solo in J&K, ally with INLD in Haryana: Mayawati

- ED arrests two more in West Bengal PDS ‘scam’

- HC summons Rane over plea challenging LS poll victory

- Oppn. BJD, Cong. to boycott orientation of MLAs in Odisha

- The journey of Bengaluru’s waste

- Seeding a greener future

- Divided by borders, rivers, and polarising politics

Illegal mining, encroachments, deforestation a threat to Aravali as natural green wall

Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR

Significant loss: A hill in the Aravali range damaged extensively by illegal mining. Special arrangementSpecial arrangement

The Aravali range that stretches from Gujarat to Delhi through Rajasthan, considered the natural green wall in the north-western part of the country, is facing a severe threat from illegal mining, deforestation, and human encroachments, which have led to environmental degradation as well as depletion of groundwater reserves in the region.

The destruction of the hills has also led to loss of vegetation and soil cover, upsetting the area’s biodiversity, according to a scientific study on the land use dynamics of the Aravali range post-1975, published in the journal, Earth Science Informatics.

Rajasthan occupies 80% of the world’s oldest hill range, while other States — Haryana, Delhi, and Gujarat — have 20% share in the terrain. With a length of 692 km and a width variation of 10 km to 120 km, Aravali forms an ecotone zone between Thar desert and the Gangetic plain, in a semi-arid environment. The range comprises over 500 hillocks, and the altitude of its highest peak, Guru Shikhar in Mount Abu, is 1,722 metres.

The entire ‘green wall’ is threatened by illegal land encroachments in Haryana, illegal mining in Rajasthan, and illegal tourism and hotel construction work in southern Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Laxmi Kant Sharma, professor and head of the Department of Environmental Science at Central University of Rajasthan, presented the findings of the study towards the end of June, at the International Union of Forest Research Organisations (IUFRO) World Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. The conference witnessed the participation of over 4,200 scientists from 102 countries, and saw an exchange of ideas on climate change, loss of biodiversity, and environmental pollution.

Mr. Sharma said a series of studies conducted by him, through the application of remote sensing techniques over the last 10 years, had found that in addition to a risk to the biodiversity of the area, the livelihood of communities dependent on the ecosystem of the Aravali range was under serious threat.

“Our discussions at the IUFRO conference underscored the urgency of implementing sustainable practices and policies to protect and restore the Aravalis,” Mr. Sharma said, adding that the participants in the session addressed by him laid emphasis on getting global cooperation and ensuring strong local action to preserve the ancient hill range for future generations.

Change in forest area

Mr. Sharma said the Aravali range had recorded a change in the forest area significantly. From 1999 to 2019, the forest area decreased up to 0.9% of the total area, which is 75,572.8 sq. km. Until 1999, 29,915 sq. km of the range was covered with dry deciduous forest. This was reduced to 29,210 sq. km in 2019, resulting in the disappearance of 705 sq. km area of the forest.

While human settlements constantly grew from 4.5% in 1975 to 13.3% in 2019, waterbodies — comprising 1.7% of the area in 1975 — increased to 1.9% in 1989, followed by their continuous reduction. On the other hand, the mining area increased continuously from 1.8% in 1975 to 2.2% in 2019. Jaipur, Sikar, Alwar, Ajmer, Bhilwara, Chittorgarh, and Rajsamand districts have intensive mining activities.

The study recorded the enhanced vegetation index (EVI) to identify the condition of biomass, while noticing its least value of zero to minus 0.2 in the upper central Aravali region, falling in Nagaur district. The EVI is a spatial tool in remote sensing that can be used to estimate the biomass and carbon sequestration potential of forests. It is also used to monitor the health of forests over large areas by detecting changes in vegetation.

High rates of carbon flux

Regions in upper and lower Aravali range had high positive rates of carbon flux as they received high rainfall and had protected areas. In contrast, areas with a negative rate of carbon flux in the main middle range are near Thar desert. Carbon flux refers to the amount exchanged between carbon stocks over a specified time, as it records the movement of carbon between land, oceans, atmosphere, and living beings.

The study noted that the presence of two wildlife sanctuaries, Todgarh-Raoli and Kumbhalgarh, in the central Aravali range had a positive impact on the eco-sensitive zone with minimum forest depletion. It determined waterbodies, dense forests, open forests, agricultural land, and barren land as resilience indicators. The study, which was conducted for the entire Aravali range, found that its southern part was greener than the middle and upper parts because of the presence of more protected regions and less populated areas with minimum chances of anthropogenic disturbances. The height of the Aravali peaks, comprising Mount Abu, is maximum in this region.

According to the study, the forest area of the central ērange decreased by 32%, along with a significant increase in land under cultivation between 1975 and 2019. Most of the central area had the least self-recovery in nature.

Drone survey

“The Aravali range’s significance for conserving biodiversity, human livelihoods, desertification protection, and ecosystem services is critical,” Mr. Sharma said, while recommending a comprehensive light detection and ranging (LiDAR)-based drone survey for the Aravali region. The LiDAR survey targets an object or a surface with laser and measures the time for the reflected light to return to the receiver.

The survey is widely used in remote sensing to examine the surface of the earth and its objects with 3D dimensions.

It will facilitate the identification and mitigation of illegal mining activities and enable authorities to take prompt enforcement actions to curb environmental degradation.

Mr. Sharma said the establishment of an independent Aravali Development Authority, comprising experts from diverse fields, would help devise and implement strategies for the sustainable preservation of the hill ecosystem.

Besides, a ban on all forms of mining within the Aravali region would safeguard the remaining hills from further depletion and exploitation and preserve their ecological balance and biodiversity.

Stalin targets winning 200 seats in 2026 T.N. election

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

At a meeting of district secretaries, the DMK president urges party members to start preparing the ground for the Assembly election and ensure that the government’s achievements reach people

Clear goal: M.K. Stalin, Duraimurugan, T.R. Baalu, K.N. Nehru, Kanimozhi Karunanidhi and I. Periyasamy releasing the book Then Thisaiyin Theerpu at Anna Arivalayam in Chennai on Friday.B. Jothi RamalingamJOTHI RAMALINGAM B

DMK president and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Friday told the party district secretaries to work hard in the next two years with the 2026 Assembly election in mind. The target is to win 200 out of the 234 seats, he said.

At a meeting of the district secretaries held at the party headquarters in Chennai, DMK general secretary Duraimurugan released a book written by Mr. Stalin, titled Then Thisaiyin Theerpu. Treasurer T.R. Baalu received the first copy of the book.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Stalin said, “I have compiled the efforts of our party in achieving success in the Lok Sabha election in this book. Our [DMK-led] alliance had won 39 out of 40 seats in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and all the 40 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. No party had ever achieved this success. Even the DMK had never achieved such victories in consecutive Lok Sabha elections.” Starting from the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the DMK had been winning elections consistently, including the recently held Vikravandi Assembly by-election,” the CM said, expressing the hope that the party would win the 2026 Assembly election.

‘Work hard for 2 years’

“We should work hard for two years, focussing on the 2026 election. Our target is to win 200 seats. Our government is implementing schemes aimed at benefiting at least one person in every household. I urge the party members to start preparing the ground for the 2026 election and ensure that the achievements of our government reach the people,” he said.

The DMK chief thanked the district secretaries for their efforts in the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The meeting passed resolutions thanking the Union government for its decision to release a commemorative coin to mark the birth centenary of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, and condemning the Centre for not allocating funds for railway and other infrastructure projects in Tamil Nadu.

The DMK president also warned his party councillors involved in alleged anti-party activities of stringent action. He directed the district secretaries to take strict action against councillors if they were involved in anti-party activities, sources said.

RJD, Cong. slam Nitish govt. over murder of minor

The Hindu Bureau

Patna

Nitish Kumar

The Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and Congress have slammed the Bihar government over the alleged murder and gang rape of a 14-year-old Dalit girl in Muzaffarpur district four days ago.

On August 12, the girl’s body was found in a pond. According to her family, the main accused, Sanjay Rai, had threatened to kidnap the girl and rape her if the family did not let him marry her.

So far, no arrest has been made in the case. The police have lodged an FIR against Mr. Rai and his five friends under Sections 103 (1) (punishment for murder), 70 (2) (gang rape of a woman under 18) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and under Sections 4 and 6 of the POCSO Act. Several sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, have also been invoked.

‘Accused absconding’

Senior Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur, Rakesh Kumar said that the main accused is absconding. “We are in the process of attaching his property. We will arrest him soon,” the officer said.

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Tejashwi Yadav posted a message on X saying the morale of “State-protected criminals and rapists” has increased under the “patronage” of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Speedy probe sought

Congress legislative party leader Shakeel Ahmad Khan called for a speedy investigation and demanded compensation of ₹1 crore for the victim’s family. “Kolkata has not been out of our minds yet and Bihar has witnessed another highly condemnable, heinous incident of brutality — gang rape and murder of a Dalit minor girl. It has been four days, but no Minister of the State and official of the State government has visited the victim’s family so far,” he said in a statement.

Amit Bhelari

Patna

Anant Singh THE HINDU

Jailed in an Arms Act case, gangster-turned-politician Anant Singh walked out of Bihar’s Beur Jail on Friday. The Patna High Court on Wednesday set aside the conviction of the former MLA in two cases of similar nature that earned him sentences of 10 years.

A large number of supporters and well-wishers were present to greet him outside the jail.

Mr. Anant faced disqualification following the first order of conviction passed in June 2022 in a case lodged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act after an AK-47 rifle, ammunition, and two hand grenades were recovered from his home in 2019. The second case, in which the order was passed in 2022, related to the recovery of an INSAS rifle in 2015.

Seeks CBI probe

“I got justice and it feels good to be out of jail. Now, action should be taken against Lipi Singh, who framed me. I urge Chief Minister Nitish Kumar to hand over the case to the CBI so the truth can come out,” Mr. Anant, known as Chote Sarkar, said while interacting with the media.

Ms. Lipi, former Sub-Divisional police officer of Barh in Patna district, is the daughter of former MP and BJP leader R.C.P. Singh. She along with another IPS officer had raided the house of Mr. Anant in which the arms were recovered.

Mr. Anant earlier came out on parole for 15 days during the Lok Sabha election and campaigned for JD(U)’s Munger seat candidate Rajiv Ranjan Singh.

His wife, Neelam Devi, had contested the bypoll to the Mokama seat in November 2022 on a Rashtriya Janata Dal ticket and won the election.

BSP to go solo in J&K, ally with INLD in Haryana: Mayawati

Press Trust of India

Lucknow

Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Friday said her party will contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir on its own and in a tie-up with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana.

Soon after the Election Commission (EC) announced the poll dates, the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister took to social media and welcomed the much-awaited election in Jammu and Kashmir.

Assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir after nearly a decade in three phases from September 18, setting the stage for the people of the Union Territory to elect their first government since the scrapping of Article 370 in 2019.

The EC also declared elections to the 90-member Haryana Assembly, to be held on October 1. Results for both the polls will be declared on October 4.

“Elections hold a significant role in a democracy as they offer solutions to numerous issues. Therefore, the announcement of the long-awaited Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir today is welcomed. This will allow political and democratic activities to take root there, as per the Constitution. The BSP will contest this election alone,” Ms. Mayawati posted in Hindi on X.

‘Strong alliance’

In a separate post, the BSP president said, “We welcome the announcement of single-phase Assembly elections in Haryana. The BSP’s strong alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal is already active on the ground, and committed to fighting this election with full strength and forming our coalition government in the State.”

ED arrests two more in West Bengal PDS ‘scam’

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested two persons, including a local Trinamool Congress leader, on a money laundering charge in connection with the alleged public distribution system (PDS) ‘scam’ in West Bengal, allegedly involving ₹10,000 crore.

The accused have been identified as Alif Noor and Anisur Rahaman, a block president of the Trinamool Congress. The agency had secured their custody till August 12 and then got it extended by another four days on the orders of a special court in Kolkata.

The probe is based on various First Information Reports registered by the State police alleging unauthorised possession of ration meant for delivery through PDS and bogus procurement of paddy.

Modus operandi

During the investigation, the ED purportedly detected three modus operandi for generation of the proceeds of crime related to the alleged scam, including the siphoning of PDS ration and diversion to the open market, mixing of old wheat flour in the fresh lot meant for PDS distribution, and bogus paddy procurement at the minimum support price.

HC summons Rane over plea challenging LS poll victory

The Bombay High Court on Friday issued summons to BJP Lok Sabha MP Narayan Rane on a petition challenging his election to Parliament from the Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in the recent poll. The petition was filed by Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Vinayak Raut.A Single Bench of Justice Sarang V. Kotwal asked Mr. Rane and other respondents to reply to the petition and listed the matter for further hearing on September 12.

Appearing for Mr. Raut, advocate Asim Sarode contented that Mr. Rane, his son Nitesh Rane, and their campaigners had breached the model code of conduct.

Oppn. BJD, Cong. to boycott orientation of MLAs in Odisha

The Opposition parties, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress, on Friday announced the boycott of an orientation programme of MLAs in the Odisha Assembly over its proposed inauguration by Central Ministers. The two parties alleged that the Mohan Majhi-led Bharatiya Janata Party government was trying to politicise the programme, “which is in the State domain and there is no need of involving Central Ministers”. In a letter addressed to Speaker Surama Padhi, BJD chief whip Pramilla Mallick said the Chief Minister is supposed to be ahead of the Central Ministers in the established protocol and the move undermines the dignity of the CM.

From homes early in the morning to Mittanaganahalli on the far side of Bengaluru, mixed waste from the city makes a long journey. Shreyas H.S. chronicles the process, following the stakeholders involved in the task from start to finish

1 of 5 Dump yard: Garbage, collected from different wards in Bengaluru, being dumped in the Mittanaganahalli landfill. There is often a long queue of compactors and the vehicles have to wait for hours to unload at the site. SUDHAKARA JAIN SUDHAKARA JAIN

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4 of 5 Garbage being shifted from a tipper to a compactor. SUDHAKARA JAIN SUDHAKARA JAIN

5 of 5 A large lake-like structure, which is filled with leachate and mixed waste, at the Mittaganahalli landfill. (Left) BBMP workers clearing waste from a street. SUDHAKARA JAIN SUDHAKARA JAIN

In the bustling tech hub of Bengaluru, residents strive to maintain pristine homes, quite unaware that their tidy spaces come at a hidden cost. The burden of keeping countless households clean and smelling fresh is quietly borne by the labour of people and the earth itself; both stretched to their limits to manage the ever-growing waste.

On the far side of the city at Mittaganahalli, about 360-370 compactors turn up every day carrying 3,200 metric tonnes of unsegregated garbage (both dry and wet) to dump at the 50-acre landfill. Located about40 km away from the Central Business District (CBD) is the only active landfill for the mixed trash generated from 198 wards of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The rubbish and stench may be out of people’s homes, but they travel throughthe city to land at Mittaganahalli.

The longjourneyof the muck begins from the homes around 8 a.m. every day.Even before that, workers who collect it from homes and black spots (public places where people discard garbage) gather at a designated place in every ward around 6.30 a.m., along with auto tippers, to mark their attendance. For every auto tipper, two workers are assigned: one to collect the rubbish from homes and streets and another to drive the vehicle.

The Hindu followed the journey of the trash, along with the stakeholders involved in the entire chain.

All mixed up

In ward number 177, on a Tuesday morning, the auto tippers dispersed to collect wet and mixed waste from homes after completing formalities. The tipper has a dedicated space to put the wet ones and two more sacks for the mixed.

BBMP rules mandate residents to segregate wet and dry garbage. While wet trash is collected daily, dry junk is picked up by vehicles handled by the Dry Waste Collection Centres thrice a week.

At a house in J.P. Nagar 3rd phase, when the worker opened the dust bin, he saw both wet and dry garbage mixed. He left the bin and moved on to another residence.Worker Ramayya (name changed) complained that despite informing the resident about the need for segregation, nothing had changed. “The simple task of dumping wet refuse in one bin and dry in another is not carried out by some residents in the area which is known to be populated by educated people,” he lamented.

On the first trip, the tippers collect only wet waste, and on the second trip, the mixed one is picked up. After this, the vehicles travel again to collect the rubbish from the black spots. From 6 a.m. to 1 p.m., those who work under the contractors are engaged in collecting junk.

The residents place the bins filled with wet waste on the streets for collection. A few come out of the homes, hearing the whistles blown by the workers. Vegetables, meat, and food rejects are key components of wet garbage. Each auto tipper in 177 wards collects refuse from about 1,200 houses. There are about 17 autos assigned for this ward. In the 2012 survey, 750 residences were demarcated as one block and assigned to one auto. Now, the number of homes has increased. Ramayya, while collecting the waste, said he also had the responsibility of collecting the leaves and other rubbish swept aside by pourakarmikas in the morning. As soon as the tippers are filled with garbage, the same will be transferred to compactors.

Unbearable stench

Ningappa (name changed), another worker, said the worst part of this work was having to bear the stench constantly. “We have masks given by the BBMP, but it is difficult to work wearing masks as they do not allow us to breathe properly as we work,” he said.

Anand Reddy, a wet waste contractor, said, “This ward is far better than other wards in the city as 60% of the households segregate. While the wet garbage collected from the homes is transported in compactors to processing units, the mixed one is sent to landfill. Many say contractors are minting money, but many challenges make this job hard.”

Mr. Reddy said some people who do night shifts or wake up late do not give away their waste in the morning when the vehicles arrive at their doorstep. They pack both wet and dry rubbish in one plastic bag and carelessly hurl them somewhere outside, resulting in hundreds of black spots in each ward. On the other hand, Prajwal M., a resident of Jayanagar, complained that some auto tipper workers, despite residents handing over to them the segregated waste, mixed them with dry ones.

Anitha S.R., a resident of J.P. Nagar, said in her area, the workers promptly collect the segregated rubbish. The workers even arrive in the afternoon topick up leftover trash on the streets swept by the pourakarmikas, she added.

Tippers to compactors

A black spot welcomed The Hindu team at the transfer point. Even around 9.30 a.m., citizens were seen throwing the garbage near the compactor. Ganganna, the driver of the compactor, said, “On several occasions, I asked them not to dump rubbish near the vehicle as it is a violation of the BBMP rules. In response, the residents question my authority to stop them. I am an ordinary driver who earns ₹15,000 per month. Most of my life is spent with the rubbish and unbearable stench. After a certain point, I stopped talking to these people. It is pointless.”

Ganganna said near most of the transfer points, black spots have surfaced.

There are three compactors in ward 177, two for wet and one for mixed. The auto tippers make multiple trips to compactors to transfer the garbage. The compactor can carry waste up to 10 tonnes to 12 tonnes. Every time the tipper arrives, the driver has to operate the vehicle to stuff the rubbish.

This process is undertaken till 1 p.m. and then starts the long journey of the compactor.

City to landfill

The fully loaded compactors are set on their journey to the landfill at Mittaganahalli from their respective wards. Navigating the city traffic on the Airport Road is another herculean task.

As the trucks move through the city, the leachate leaks through the tiny gaps and falls on the roads. The commuters in other vehicles moving near the trucks grimace and pinch their noses, unable to bear the stench emanating from the waste. The trucks have to move slowly on the roads to avoid accidents as many accidents involving the trucks had earlier raked up controversy.

Ganganna said, “We have to be extra cautious while driving. If I start my journey at 1 p.m., I reach the landfill around 3.30 p.m. The travel time is two and a half hours. Before 4 p.m. we have to reach because, after that, the movement of heavy vehicles is restricted. We are always anxious to reach the destination on time.”

The landfill

It’s a different world, a world of waste, at the landfill. The stench is so strong that one can sense the landfill 1 km away.

From the gate to the large dumping pits at the site, compactors stand in a queue waiting for their turn to dump the mixed waste consisting of food, plastic, cardboard, clothes, plates, paper and just about everything one can imagine. The vehicles have to wait for hours to unload the junk at the site. Ganganna, who arrived at 3.30 p.m., managed to unload the vehicle around 7 p.m.

The vehicle, before dumping, has to pass through a weighing bridge to weigh the garbage. After weighing, the vehicle is allowed to move to the dumping site, where one can see heaps of trash in large pits.

While a large portion of the landfill has an asphalted road in bad condition, a small portion is not asphalted as it is private land. The vehicles get stuck here sometimes during the monsoon. This further delays the journey. The BBMP dumps mud on the slushy stretch to facilitate the smooth flow of vehicles.

Even after dumping the waste, the vehicles have to be parked on the premises as heavy vehicle movement is allowed inside the city only after 10 p.m. Ganganna said, “We have to endure the foul smell from 3.30 p.m. to 10 p.m. inside the landfill. Now garbage and the smell have become my companions.”

The landfill has a large lake-like structure which is filled with leachate and mixed waste, exposing chinks in trash management. An employee at the site said the leachate has no doubt mixed with water going to the households in the area.

The leachate treatment plant at the site treats 1 lakh litres to generate 80,000 litres of water, which can be used for non-drinking purposes. On the other hand, the BBMP is also constructing a methane plant to produce methane from the waste.

The landfill is now left with five acres of land for dumping the garbage underground. About 45 acres of land is exhausted. The ground level in this area is slowly coming down as waste is composted. In about a year, the landfill may be shut for use, said an employee.

A full circle

An IT employee, whose 1.5 crore house stands 300 metres from the landfill, is now ready to sell it at a throwaway price. But there are no takers for obvious reasons. The trash generated from the homes is also impacting the lives of the better off and real estate in the area, besides causing environmental hazards and heaping misery on the likes of Ramayya, who is spending a lifetime with trash. The flats here are sold at ₹50 lakh despite the market price being ₹80 lakh.

But 45 km away, people who throw mixed waste at black spots may have absolutely no idea what people are undergoing at Mittaganahalli.

Seeding a greener future

Equipped with global recognition, teams of farmers from Andhra Pradesh, under the auspices of AP Community-Managed Natural Farming, are set to visit Global South countries to upskill their counterparts in natural farming techniques, writes P. Sujatha Varma

1 of 4 Messengers of natural farming: Farmers showing the crops grown using the Pre-Monsoon Dry Sowing (PMDS) model at Tippanagunta village of Bapulapadu mandal in Andhra Pradesh’s Krishna district. (Below) Aruna, the Regional Project Coordinator of RySS, interacting with farmers as they prepare ‘Dhrava Jeevamrutham’, a natural fertilizer, at a field in Arugolanu village under Bapulapadu mandal. (Bottom) A farmer arranging a temporary fence made with a jute rope along the bund of his field at Arugolanu village. G.N. RAORAO GN

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The rattled bones one gets from a wobbly tractor ride for 2 kilometres on a narrow mud road on a hot and sweaty day are worth the pain when the destination presents a visual treat of lush green fields in organised layouts.

The palpable shift from the cacophony of city life in Vijayawada to the serenity of cultivating crops in harmony with nature in agricultural fields on the outskirts of Tippanagunta village under Bapulapadu mandal of Krishna district in Andhra Pradesh seems a welcome change.

“This patch of land is brought under the Pre-Monsoon Dry Sowing (PMDS) model with 32 varieties of crops,” says Atkuri Dhana Lakshmi, pointing to the farmland she has acquired on lease. Clad in a pastel pink cotton sari and her head covered with the loose end (pallu) of it, the 44-year-old tenant farmer from Tippanagunta village, along with others of her like, is growing pulses, vegetables and cereals on 2.5 acres of land.

Showing a bundle of freshly-harvested jeeluga, also known as dhaincha (Sesbania aculeata) , a leguminous green manure crop that fixes nitrogen in the soil, placed on the bund in a row of other crops like red gram and cereals, she says it is only recently that she stopped using chemical fertilizers, herbicides and insecticides and made the switch to natural farming.

“It took some time for me to get convinced about natural farming but no regrets whatsoever,” she says citing its multiple benefits like improved yield, increased income with a minimum cost of production, elimination of chemical inputs and reduced water consumption.

Natural farming got an impetus in the State with the intervention of Rythu Sadhikara Samstha (RySS), a farmers’ empowerment cooperation, the implementing agency of the Andhra Pradesh Community-Managed Natural Farming (APCMNF).

“We encourage farmers to undertake the PMDS model as it provides green cover to the land for all the 365 days of the year. It also improves the soil fertility besides serving the bigger cause of environment conservation,” says R. Aruna, the Regional Project Coordinator of RySS.

APCMNF supports smallholder farmers to switch from chemically intensive agriculture to natural farming through practices such as using organic residues and minimising tillage to improve soil health, re-introducing indigenous seeds and diversifying crops including trees.

Launched in 2016 by the Government of Andhra Pradesh, the agency aims to find a sustainable solution to farmers’ distress caused by the economic crisis in agriculture and climate change.

The APCMNF is aggressively promoting the PMDS model, as it enables the farmer to take home three crops in a year, even in rainfed conditions in semi-arid areas. This is a paradigm shift since, in normal conditions, farmers in rainfed situations grow only one crop and leave the land fallow for the rest of the year. This mode of agriculture is based on scientific principles and comes into play in the non-farming season or whenever there is no crop cover on the land.

“Additionally, we get financial benefits by selling vegetables and grass from the PMDS fields, which give us income throughout the year,” says Padma Ragam, another farmer from the village.

In the abutting farm, a group of workers from West Bengal are seen transplanting paddy seedlings into puddled and levelled ground. “Due to severe shortage of farm labour in the State, owners of farmlands rope in migrant workers from West Bengal and Odisha,” informs Aruna.

At Arugolanu, a neighbouring village, Sobhilam Chalam Prasad has widened his farm bunds and taken up boundary plantation, a low-cost technique that has the dual benefits of soil and water conservation and a means for sustainable agricultural intensification.

“It helps to increase crop yield without expanding farmlands. The border crops of horticulture and vegetables will not only prevent pest attacks on the paddy sown in the field but it will also bring additional income,” explains Chalam Prasad.

Nurturing change agents

A few yards from his farmland is the Arugolanu High School campus where students are groomed as change agents by engaging them in developing Nutri Gardens of ATM (Any Time Money) and ‘Suryamandalam’ models.

A Nutri Garden is a low-cost, scientific model of a kitchen/homestead garden with a variety of nutritious vegetables, fruits and medicinal plants produced throughout the year organically to ensure the nutritional security of the growers in rural areas.

The Suryamandalam model is one where vegetables and leafy greens are grown on 5 to 10 cents of land using only organic fertilisers.

“The objective is to eradicate malnutrition and achieve the goal of nutritional self-sufficiency among kids. Each bed of crop has been allocated to students of different classes and this has triggered a very healthy competition among them,” K. Naga Malleswari, Additional Krishna District Project Manager, RySS, says with a smile.

Farmers are constantly educated on the preparation of natural fertilisers and growth promoters such as Beejamrutham, Dhrava Jeevamrutham, Ghana Jeevamrutham, Saptha Dhanyankura Dravanam, Dasaparni Kashayam, Agnastram, Neemastharam and Brahmastram, besides the use of concoctions prepared using fermented buttermilk, seed palletisation (covering the seed with layers of bio-stimulant, fine clay, ash and water to help the seed stay viable for longer duration when sown in dry atmospheric situations), egg amino acid and chilli garlic solution.

They follow the basic principles of natural farming by keeping the soil covered with crops around the year, sowing diverse crops including trees, keeping the soil covered with crop residues in the absence of living plants causing minimal disturbance to soil and minimising tillage.

After attending a series of sessions by a wide network of ‘internal community resource persons’ at the village level, ‘master community resource persons’ at the mandal and district levels and ‘regional project coordinators’ of the thematic leads at the State level, the farmers practising natural farming techniques now prefer to use only indigenous seeds, try and integrate animals into farming and use biostimulants as catalysts to trigger soil biology.

Thatti Satyavathi recognised the usefulness and growing demand for these natural fertilizers and growth promoters among farmers in the village. She therefore opened a mini Non-Pesticide Management (NPM) shop where stocks of the growth promoters stored in large-size drums get empty within no time.

“Initially, I started preparing them for my personal use alone. But after seeing the good result they yielded, I decided to scale up the production and sell them to farmers,” she says. Satyavathi now earns an additional income of anything between ₹3,000 and ₹5,000 every month.

At Kanugolu village, senior citizens Chalamalasetti Anuradha, Chalamalasetti Padmavathi and Vaddi Seetha Mahalakshmi, all three from the same family, have groomed a 365-day kitchen garden using natural farm techniques on a small piece of land acquired on lease.

“Ever since we started this kitchen garden, families in the vicinity have stopped buying vegetables from shops and local vendors. There is high demand for our farm products,” says Anuradha with a chuckle.

The trio, which started growing vegetables in a small way for their own consumption, is almost indispensable now for families living around.

World’s largest programme

APCNF is recognised as the world’s largest agroecology programme, currently reaching over a million smallholder farmers, predominantly women, across 5,00,000 hectares in Andhra Pradesh.

“The success of this programme relies on four main factors—delivery through an established network of women collectives, farmer-to-farmer learning mode via ‘Champion Farmers’, progressive technology and government ownership,” says T. Vijay Kumar, Executive Vice-Chairman of RySS.

Prior to APCNF, Vijay Kumar served as the CEO of Andhra Pradesh’s flagship poverty alleviation programme, Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), which mobilised 11.5 million rural women into credit-based self-help groups (SHGs). Today these collectives serve as the key pillar for APCMNF, making it a community-powered women-led movement.

Insisting that natural farming is regenerative agriculture that blends sustainable innovation with tradition by focusing literally on the regeneration of the soil and of the planet’s ecosystems, Vijay Kumar explains that hitherto, efforts were made to supply nutrients to the soil externally as it was believed that plants deplete them from the soil. “But the reality is that plants feed the soil and in return, they take these nutrients, available in abundance in the soil,” he says, insisting that there’s no need to add even 1 gram of urea for the next thousand years.

“Science tells us this. But, it is hard for people to accept this change, as they want to stick to the assumption that we provide food to plants,” he says with a wry smile. During the time of M.S. Swaminathan, popularly known as the Father of India’s Green Revolution, this concept did not exist and it started only 20-30 years ago, he says.

“When you gain new scientific knowledge, you should put it into practice. Science keeps changing and we should keep pace with it. Plants are soil engineers, as they increase the soil’s porosity. We at APCMNF have gone deep into this science like nobody else has,” he asserts.

Global recognition

The scientific research and the profound impact it created for the large community of natural farmers in the State has brought global recognition to APCMNF, which was the joint recipient of the 2024 Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity, a €1 million prize award given by Portugal-based Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in recognition of outstanding contributions to climate action and solutions that inspire hope and possibility.

A team of representatives from APCNF and officials of the Agriculture Department received the award presented in Lisbon at a function held on July 12, 2024.

Soil scientist Rattan Lal, USA/India and a conglomeration of NGOs called Sekem (Egypt) share this year’s Gulbenkian award with India’s APCNF.

Champion farmer

Nettem Nagendramma from Ghantapuram village in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, recognised as the ‘Champion Farmer Coach’ by the APCMNF for the pivotal she played in mobilising SHG members into natural farming, was part of the delegation to Lisbon, where she shared her success story in natural farming.

“A team from RySS visited our village in 2016 to explain how women members of Self-Help-Groups (SHGs) were now diversifying into natural farming and supplementing the income of their spouses. I did not pay heed to it,” she recounts.

Subsequently, in 2018, representatives of APCMNF caught her attention and she decided to give it a try in an 800 square meters of land.

“It did not take long for me to realise the difference natural farming can make. Besides improved crop yield, the food produced has higher nutrition density and offers better health benefits. I observed a marked improvement in the health of my nine-year-old anaemic daughter,” she says with a glint in her eyes.

She scaled up the cultivation area and received increased yield, compared to chemical farming and at a lower cost and shared the surplus produce with other SHG members and neighbours who were convinced of the benefits of natural farming.

In 2019, Nagendramma was appointed as a trainer to mobilise more farmers to adopt natural farming and in 2023, she was elevated to the Model Master Trainer position and tasked with mentoring other trainers across the district. Today, Nagendramma, along with her husband, practices natural farming on two hectares and earns more than 50% of the village’s average farmer income.

Currently, the APCNF is implementing natural farming in 4,116 gram panchayats and 7,746 village organisations through 2.31 lakh SHGs across 662 mandals of Andhra Pradesh. The government aims to reach out to all the 8 million farmer households in Andhra Pradesh in the next 10 years and inspire the programme’s replication in other States too.

The model is already being incubated across 12 States in India. The programme receives funding from Central schemes like Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, Paramparagat Krishi Vikas Yojana and Bharatiya Prakriti Krishi Padhati. The recently announced National Mission of Natural Farming is also expected to provide funds from this year.

Other donors include KfW Bank Germany, which extended a 90 million euro loan to the government of Andhra Pradesh for supporting APCNF’s work during 2020-2027, Azim Premji Foundation which has been extending financial assistance for programme management and technical support during 2017-27 and Co-impact, an international donor assisting in systems change for deepening natural farming in Andhra Pradesh and seeding it outside the State during 2022-2027. “Delegations from 45 countries have visited the State to see our work. Many nations are eager to embrace natural farming and we are equipping our farmers to spread the seeds of our success far and wide,” says Vijay Kumar.

The first batch of farmers from Andhra Pradesh will leave for Zambia this August-end to share their knowledge and upskill their counterparts in that country, while another group is headed to Indonesia later this year.

The demand for a Union Territory in Murshidabad, West Bengal, has put the focus on illegal immigration from Bangladesh. Shiv Sahay Singh visits the district to understand the porous nature of the border and the geographic difficulty in erecting fences. Meanwhile, the allegation of a demographic change in religion swirls, aiding both the BJPand the TMC

1 of 4 The char lands beyond the Charbhadra outpost, under 146 Battalion of the BSF, where farmers and fishermen cross the India-Bangladesh border for their livelihoods. SHIV SAHAY SINGH SHIV SAHAY SINGH

2 of 4 The deployment of the BSF should be 150 yards from the zero line as per the BSF Act, 1986, so that the interest of farmers can be protected. Julfikar Ali Kakmarichar border protection committee

3 of 4 Usually, the hilsa comes after July. The best time for a catch is at night, but many times people from Bangladesh get away with what is caught in our nets Mukbul Haque Fisherman, Murshidabad

4 of 4 A villager who crossed a river and the Charbhadra border outpost in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district to work on his field. SHIV SAHAY SINGH SHIV SAHAY SINGH

Three days before violent protests erupted in Bangladesh forcing a regime change, India’s Border Security Force (BSF) declared a state of high alert along the river Padma, a geographical and political line between the two countries.

Pushing his bicycle, Mukbul Haque, 34, crosses the border outpost (BOP) at Kakmarichar in Murshidabad, beyond the line of BSF deployment. Here, amid a vast web of chars (river islands made of silt) and water bodies, he risks hours of torrential rain to spread fishing nets in the Padma, but was not sure if his efforts would yield a catch of hilsa. “Usually, the hilsa comes after July. The best time for a catch is at night, but many times people from Bangladesh get away with what is caught in our nets,” says Haque.

A pack of jackals runs past the thick vegetation and a board by the West Bengal Forest Department declares that gharials are being bred in the water. On his return to the border outpost, Haque hands over a diary to the sentry at the gate. The sentry records all the items that he is carrying. To cross the border outpost, Mukbul carries his Aadhaar card, a diary to keep a record of articles brought back in, and a fisherman’s card issued by the local panchayat, all carefully wrapped in a plastic pouch in the pocket of his wet shirt.

A few kilometres from the Kakmarichar border outpost lies the Bamnabad outpost, where a group of farmers are hurriedly returning before dusk. Most of them are carrying cattle fodder from their fields to their homes. Rabindranath Mondal, a middle-aged farmer carrying cattle fodder on a buffalo cart, complains they have to wait in long queues every day to go to the fields and return from there. “We need permission for everything. Even to go and urinate in our fields,” says Charaduddin Molla, another farmer, looking tired.

The Kakmarichar border outpost falls under Sahebnagar gram panchayat of Jalangi block of Murshidabad district that has a porous border with Bangladesh. The gram panchayat stands out in the State for having a border protection committee. Over the past few years, the committee, led by a villager, Julfikar Ali, and the local panchayat, has been raising the issue of better management of the border with authorities at the State and the Centre. Earlier this year, hundreds of villagers from Sahebnagar gram panchayat wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding the setting up of an integrated check post (ICP) at Kakmarichar BOP and a border haat in the region.

“Hundreds of acres of land of farmers are located beyond the BSF deployment. They should be deployed 150 yards from the zero line as per the BSF Act, 1986, so that the interest of farmers can be protected. It is also in national interest that we don’t leave our land unprotected and unguarded,” Ali says.

A senior official of the BSF posted in Murshidabad district emphasises that the border between India and Bangladesh passing through the district is not a classic border with fencing on either sides and border guards stationed next to the fence. The riverine nature as well as pressure of the population on both sides of the border makes guarding it a challenge.

Large parts of Jalangi block in Murshidabad are manned by 146 Battalion of the BSF. Of the 43-km border manned by the battalion, about 70% is riverine and the border guarding force has to survey char land of about 25 sq. km.

A political playground

The office of Sahebnagar gram panchayat is located about three kilometres from Kakmarichar BOP. Mazibur Rahaman Biswas, the pradhan (head) of the gram panchayat, agrees with Ali that an ICP is required because their border outpost (Kakmarichar) is located midway between the integrated check post at Petrapole in North 24 Parganas and the land custom point of Mahadipur in Malda in the south.

“There are no jobs here. If an ICP and a border haat is set up, then people can get some work,” the pradhan says. The 43-year-old tech-savvy village head says of the 26,000 people in the gram panchayat, about 4,000 are registered as migrants working in other States.

Both Biswas and Ali recall former Congress MP Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury promising a 4-km bridge over the Padma that would help the ICP at Kakmarichar when it was set up and rue the fact that with his defeat, the people of the district have lost a voice in Parliament. In the midst of their parleys, a middle-aged man approaches the pradhan with a bunch of documents. The man mumbles that he is there for a “citizen card”. The pradhan snaps at him, saying, “I cannot commit any illegality”.

Rivers have shaped the geography and politics of the region, but now politics is veering towards the issues of demography and infiltration.

Adding fuel to the debate, Nishikant Dubey, Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Godda in Jharkhand, raised a demand on July 25 in the Lok Sabha that a Union Territory be formed with Malda and Murshidabad, the Muslim-dominated districts of Bihar, and the Santhal Parganas region of Jharkhand. Two days later, Murshidabad BJP MLA Gauri Shankar Ghosh brought out a rally in the district with hundreds of BJP workers supporting the idea of a Union Territory.

The rally which went through the heart of Murshidabad town raised slogans against the Trinamool Congress government describing it “anti-Hindu” and sought action against Trinamool MLA Humayun Kabir for making communally charged comments. Days later, Ghosh was joined by Baharampur BJP MLA Subrata Maitra who also backed the demand of a Union Territory. “We are doing what people want us to do. There is no rule of law in Murshidabad and things can only be controlled if the Centre takes over the administration. If Kashmir and Ladakh can be made Union Territories why not Murshidabad,” says Ghosh. Surrounded by a posse of security personnel, the Murshidabad MLA claims that he has been raising the demand for Union Territory status since 2022.

In the recently concluded Lok Sabha poll, the Trinamool Congress won all the three seats in Murshidabad (Jangipur, Baharampur, and Murshidabad), but the BJP managed a lead in three Assembly seats, including Murshidabad, Jangipur, and Burwan, a change from the party’s 2021 Assembly poll when it had won two Assembly seats. Ghosh, who had won the Murshidabad Assembly seat in 2021 by a slim margin of 2,490 votes, says in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll, the BJP candidate secured a lead of 7,961 votes from the Assembly segment.

Amid the raging debate about the division of West Bengal, the BJP legislators joined hands with Trinamool legislators on August 5 and supported the resolution in the State Assembly opposing any division of the State. Both BJP’s Gauri Shankar Ghosh and Trinamool’s Humayun Kabir were not seen in the House during the debate.

Communalisation of land

Murshidabad is the only district in West Bengal where the Muslim population, at 67%, is significantly higher than the Hindu population, as per the last Census in 2011. With massive out-migration of people for work, it is an economically poor district of the State; it has one of the highest numbers of child marriages in West Bengal. The NFHS-5 points out that 55.4% of women, between 20 and 24 years, are married before 18 years here.

The demands of creating a Union Territory on the grounds that the region has a high Muslim population has created further schisms. In the last week of July when rallies were held in Murshidabad demanding Union Territory status, scores of houses were washed away by the Ganga in Chachanda gram panchayat of Shamsherganj block of the district. Amid the demand for a long-term solution to the perennial problem of river erosion, some political groups alleged discrimination on rehabilitation based on communal lines. Experts say that engaging in the debate of a changing demography and illegal immigration from across the porous border with Bangladesh should be looked at in both the historical and geographical context of the region.

On the map, Murshidabad district looks like an isosceles triangle sharing an international border of 125.35 km with Bangladesh, of which 42.35 km is on land and the remaining is riverine. Padma river flows through the entire eastern boundary, separating Murshidabad from Rajshahi district of Bangladesh.

After crossing a stream emerging from the Padma at Charbhadra BOP there are several forward posts of the BSF regulating the movement of farmers who go out for daily agriculture work beyond the BOP. A sentry deployed at a forward post on a Sunday afternoon says that about 320 farmers have crossed in the morning and will return in the evening.

Jute crops stand tall in the fields and thick vegetation makes it difficult to see beyond a few metres on the char. Like all other farmers and fisherman, Gholam Mustafa complains about the daily checks he faces when he goes to cultivate his jute crops. Asked if there is infiltration, the farmer says, “There are people in the village who have come from the other side, but that is the government’s problem, not mine”. The BSF personnel say that they use drones and sometimes horses to guard the char lands and are hoping that a fencing along the border will be erected soon. At Charbhadra BOP, the border guarding force have elaborate maps of the chars and villages located beyond the BOP: Muslimpara, for instance, has a population of 1,800 and is 100% Muslim; Hindupara with a population of 200 has 100% Hindus; Natunpara with a population of 2,400 has both Hindus and Muslims.

The office of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) located in the heart of Baharampur town almost 50 km from the BOP has an old political map of West Bengal amid photographs of Lenin, P. Sundarayya, and other communist leaders

Zamir Molla, the district secretary of the party, points to the map and explains how the Padma serves as the boundary of the district in the east and the Bhagrirathi or Ganga fed with a feeder canal from the Farakka barrage flows through the western side of the district reaching Kolkata, to flow into the Bay of Bengal. “The claims that the Muslim population is increasing and the Hindus decreasing does not have much basis and is only part of the narrative of the BJP,” Molla says.

As two party workers are typing out a document explaining the party’s dismal performance in the recent Lok Sabha poll, the CPI(M) leader says while there is no demographic change, the election was contested on communal lines. “We were confident Mohammad Salim would win from Murshidabad. But after comments by TMC’s Humayun Kabir targeting Hindus, the Hindu who we thought would vote for us voted for the BJP. A similar situation happened for Adhir Chowdhury where Muslims did not vote for him,” the CPI(M) leader claims. Molla says that except the Katra Masjid riots of 1998 the district has not seen major riots.

Communal flare-ups, however, are not uncommon in Murshidabad, which often makes headlines for political violence. Shaktipur, a village located on the bank of the Bhagirathi, witnessed a communal flare-up during the Ram Navami festival in 2024. On April 17, crude bombs were hurled on the road outside the house of Sumanta Ganai in Shaktipur market. Several people were injured in the incident and a video of the attack triggered panic.

Ganai, who works as a homoeopathy practitioner and sells ayurvedic products of Patanjali, has not repaired the window panes of his kitchen that were damaged in the attack. “There were attacks twice in the area, particularly on my house during Ram Navami this year and in June 2022 after Nupur Sharma’s [former BJP spokesperson] remarks,” he said.

Sumanta insists that we meet Dayal Mondal, the local president of the Ram Navami Utsav Udjapan Committee. Like other parts of the State, Ram Navami processions started in the area in 2016. Sumanta and Dayal say Hindus in the area have come together after the attack and add that a petition has been filed in the Calcutta High Court demanding an investigation by the National Investigation Agency in the attack on the Ram Navami procession. “Why can the Chief Minister not take action against her own party leaders like Humayun Kabir who is making remarks against Hindus?” Dayal says. Along the banks of the river, outside the sanctum of a small temple, stands a 15-foot clay idol of Lord Ram; his devotees say they intend to make the Ram Navami procession bigger in 2025.

The idea of a Union Territory

One of the most well-known scholars from Murshidabad, Shakti Nath Jha, lives on the banks of the Bhagirathi in Baharampur town of the district. The river literally flows only a few feet away from the hibiscus trees of his garden. A leading expert on the Baul and Fakir traditions of West Bengal and Bangladesh, the 83-year-old is preparing a statement where the Bauls would reject the idea of a Union Territory carved out of Malda and Murshidabad on religious lines.

According to the academic, for the past several decades Baul Fakirs, who deny anything beyond the grasp of five senses and denounce organised religion, have been targeted by both Hindus and Muslims in the region. He says recently he had to call a police station and seek their intervention, when a group of Muslims tried to stop a performance of Baul Fakirs in the district.

Jha is fond of quoting one line of Lalon Fakir, a 19th century Baul and an icon of Bengali culture, whose songs reflect the philosophy of Baul Fakirs. “Everyone wonders, ‘What’s Lalon’s faith?’ Lalon says, “I’ve never ‘seen’ the face of faith with these eyes of mine!” Lalon was born in Kushtia (now in Bangladesh) in undivided Nadia district, just about 100 km from Murshidabad.

Edit

- The essence of India’s inflation problem

- Ensuring social justice in the bureaucracy

- letters to the editor

- Regional troubles

- Apathy continues

- Violence and vigil in Kolkata

The essence of India’s inflation problem

1 of 2 Pulapre Balakrishnan Honorary Visiting Professor of the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram

2 of 2 M. Parameswaran Professor of the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram

The Economic Survey that preceded this year’s Union Budget presentation makes a suggestion which has implications for inflation control. It is that the price of food be taken out of the inflation target that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is mandated with. In technical jargon, this would amount to targeting ‘core’ instead of ‘headline’ inflation, which is the practice now. To appreciate fully the implication of such a move, were it to be implemented, would require recognition of two aspects. These concern the recent experience with inflation in India and the current policy for inflation control.

Food price and inflation trajectory

First, of late, food price inflation has been very high by historical standards. In June, the year-on-year increase in the price of food was close to 10%. Food price inflation has been elevated since 2019. Note that this is before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, not to mention the Ukraine war, implying that domestic factors are at work. With food inflation high and food accounting for a large part of the consumer price index, overall inflation has been higher than usual too.

Now to the second aspect that needs to be understood. Since 2016, by an act of Parliament, controlling inflation in India has been hived-off to the RBI, which is expected to control it through variations in the interest rate, a practice termed as ‘inflation targeting’. The term conveys a sense of both capacity and precision, that a central bank can choose the level of inflation. Actually, this is far from assured. The RBI has missed the targeted 4% every year in the past five years. In the United Kingdom, the Bank of England’s record has been patchy too. Finally, in the United States, where the Federal Reserve aims at 2% inflation, it shot up to over 8% in 2022. Since then it has plummeted to a level close to the target. In all these economies, the recent trajectory of inflation has been undergirded by fluctuations in the price of food globally.

Two questions arise when we consider the suggestion made in the Economic Survey. First, is the move to remove the price of food from the inflation target justifiable in terms of the goals of economic policy? Second, is the RBI likely to be any more successful in controlling core inflation than it has been in its efforts to control headline inflation? The answer to both the questions is ‘no’. India is an economy in which the share of food in household expenditure is close to 50%. This is very high by international standards. For instance, in the U.S., it is less than 10%.

Generally the food share is taken as a proxy for the standard of living — and, therefore, of poverty. A high share of food in a household’s expenditure leaves it vulnerable to a rise in the price of food. Given this, to ignore changes in the price of food, by adopting an inflation target which excludes it, amounts to ignoring what matters most to a very large section of the Indian population. A technical justification is given to such a proposal by asserting that food price fluctuations are ‘transitory’, that is, increases are inevitably followed by a downward movement. Well, this certainly is not true for the Indian economy.

Food price inflation has not been negative in any of the 13 years since 2011-12, the base year for the current consumer price index. In fact, it may be said that “India has a food inflation problem”, and the assertion that food prices may be ignored as the spikes are only transitory is not credible.

Targeting core inflation

This takes us to the second issue — whether the RBI can be expected to be any more successful if it were to confine itself to targeting core inflation. This question may be answered quite easily. In the past 13 years, the annual average core inflation has been within the targeted 4% in only one year, that too barely.

This does not surprise us, for our statistical investigation yielded two reasons why this must be so. First, a rise in the RBI’s repo rate does not dampen core inflation as claimed. In fact, increasing it is seen to lead to a rise in the inflation rate. This is not without economic logic. As the higher interest rate chokes-off demand, which is how it is meant to work, firms may well raise prices to guard their profits. After all, firms face a double whammy now. Working capital costs would have increased and revenues fallen as aggregate output contracts. We found something else to be the case — that food price inflation is a determinant of core inflation, which, again, is only to be expected. After all, food prices determine wages, which are a part of a firm’s costs, the other being materials. So, wages rise as there is food price inflation.

The finding that food prices affect core inflation renders this measure of it without operational significance. It also leads to a deeper understanding. As labour enters all lines of production to a greater or lesser extent, changes in the price of food determine the inflation rate across an economy. Monetary policy working via changes in the interest rate cannot control inflation as the central bank has no control over the price of food.

If all this is so widely known among discerning economists, why does economic policy in India have to persist with the idea that inflation can be left to the central bank? This is because of an ideological shift that occurred globally after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The view that got installed was that production was to be left to the market and inflation alone was to be controlled by the central bank.

Since 1991, all political parties in India have been eager to demonstrate that they follow closely practices adopted in the West, no matter that they may be irrelevant or, worse still, damaging, to this country. Leaving food price inflation out of the inflation target is one such practice.

Focus on agricultural production

The rising price of food lies at the core of India’s inflation. The proposal to take the price of food out of the official measure of it is no solution to the ongoing inflation. For reasons explained here, if for whatever reason the price of food was to keep rising, as it has for the last five years, the RBI will not be able to control core inflation either. The current inflation in India can only be handled through supply-side measures that raise the yield in agriculture. The challenges are serious, though not insurmountable for a country that ended chronic food shortage over half a century ago. But success would require a comprehensive approach to agricultural production, one that keeps costs in check so that supply is forthcoming at a steady price as the population and economy grow.

Taking food inflation out of the inflation target without any plan for its control would leave India defenceless against an ever-present threat to the standard of living of its population. The Economic Survey suggests that the adverse welfare effect of food price inflation may be taken care of by income transfers to households. However, if food prices keep rising faster than the overall inflation rate, as they are right now, such transfers would absorb a rising share of the Budget, leaving less and less for public goods. This is undesirable. There is no alternative to controlling the rise in the prices of all goods, which currently is the avowed policy.

Ensuring social justice in the bureaucracy

Vivek Katju a retired Indian Foreign Service officer

During his parliamentary address on July 29, 2024, the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, regretted that there were no Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) officers among the 20 who assisted in framing 2024 Budget proposals. He said that there was only one officer from the minorities and another from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category involved in the exercise. His purpose in doing so was to highlight that those who originally belong to poor and deprived sections of society do not have a role in the framing of a crucial aspect of government’s economic policy. He couched his assertions in colourful political language.

The Union Finance Minister also responded to Mr. Gandhi’s charge by pointing to the absence of persons from these traditionally deprived backgrounds in the the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust and the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. A serious issue was converted into political tit for tat.

Upper caste domination continues

These political charges and counter-charges missed the real reason for the absence of SC/ST officers in the Budget-making exercise. The cause is the continuing domination of the so-called upper castes at senior levels of the civil service. This was evident from the answer by Minister of State Jitendra Singh to a parliamentary question on December 15, 2022.

This daily in a report carried the next day, quoted Mr. Singh as saying, “Out of a total of 322 officers currently holding the posts of Joint Secretaries and Secretaries under Central Staffing Scheme in different Ministries/Departments, 16, 13, 39 and 254 belong to SC, ST, Other Backward Classes (OBC) and General category, respectively.”

Mr. Singh further clarified that the number of Secretary and Joint Secretary-level officers stood at 4% and 4.9%, respectively. Clearly, there is an absence of reserved category officers in sufficient numbers at policy suggestion levels in the government. Unless this situation is remedied, Rahul Gandhi displaying photographs will only remain empty political gestures, for there is no reservation for promotions in Class A services.

In order to increase the representation of SC and ST officers at the senior-most positions in government, a complete departure from the traditional concept of the age of retirement would be necessary. This writer had advocated a new approach to retirement in an article in these columns in September 2012. If the Leader of the Opposition is truly interested in ensuring social justice in the civil services, he should, at least, ponder over the ideas presented in the subsequent paragraphs.

Eligibility and age factor

General category candidates between the ages of 21 and 32 years are currently eligible to appear for the civil services examination. They are allowed six attempts in all. SC/ST candidates are permitted to take the examination till the age of 37 years and there is no restriction on their number of chances. For OBC candidates, the upper age limit is 35 years and they are allowed nine attempts. The upper age limit for Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) is 42 years. They have unlimited chances if they are SC/ST and nine if they are from other categories.

This means that SC/ST and PwBD candidates, irrespective of how well they perform as civil servants, are unable to reach the top because they generally join late and retire before reaching the top. They have to retire at lower or middle levels. This is the obvious implication of Jitendra Singh’s answer. The fact is that the civil service is a race in which those who join at a young age remain around to reach the top even if their performance is not as good as those who join later. This is simply because of the age factor. Logically, the government’s focus should be on the official’s efficiency and competence and not on when he/she made it to the civil services within the prescribed age limits.

If this proposition is accepted, it follows that the present retirement pattern should yield to a fixed tenure of years for every entrant to the civil service, irrespective of his age of entry within the prescribed limits. A possible fixed tenure could be 35 years.

If it is considered that persons should not be working in their seventies, then the present age limits can be lowered to ensure that all candidates would retire by the time they reach around 67 years of age. The average age of men and women is rising in India. Besides, stringent medical fitness examinations can be conducted annually after the age of 62. This age is being mentioned because even today, some officers’ tenures take them to this age. Indeed, some persons who are holding responsible positions today, after their retirement from government service, are well into their seventies.

Have a committee

It is only if a fixed tenure is prescribed for all officers, irrespective of their age of entry, that SC/ST and OBC officers in larger numbers will fill the senior-most positions in government. That will contribute to a dream of Viksit Bharat, with social justice for all. As a beginning, the Leader of the Opposition should press for an independent and multi-disciplinary committee with adequate SC/ST, OBC and PwBD representation to examine this proposal with an open mind.

Independence Day speech

It is irrelevant how ‘long’ the Prime Minister speaks on Independence Day, but how ‘relevant’ it is for the people of the country (Page 1, “PM calls for ‘secular civil code’ in Independence Day speech”, August 16). India is a country of multi religions, multi languages, multi regions and multi customs. ‘Unity in Diversity’ is the hallmark of its ethos. In simple terms, the top leader should concentrate on the real development of the nation — by uniting the people after fulfilling their aspirations for an ‘acche din’. What is needed is a peaceful co-existence of people with different faiths.

A. Jainulabdeen,

Chennai

A few months into the government’s third term after forming a coalition government, the top leader talking about a ‘secular civil code’ — which is a Uniform Civil Code (UCC) — is not what the Prime Minister of a secular nation should be doing on Independence Day. Striking a discordant note that is aimed at bringing people of different religions under a so-called one-size-fits-all code is a flawed idea, leave alone building a consensus on. It seems that the leader is speaking on behalf of the ruling party, and under the illusion that the coalition partners are extending support to a UCC. Instead of talking about the struggles in our Independence and energising people about nation building on a special day, choosing the ramparts of Red Fort for a sharp political agenda is sad.

Prabhu Raj R.,

Bengaluru

The speech sounded more like a speech made at an election rally. While his call to implement a ‘secular civil code’ is most welcome, the timing and venue have been inopportune. The finalisation of this sensitive issue should be based on a broad consensus by way of widespread deliberations/discussions involving all. Although the Prime Minister is fully justified in taking credit for fulfilling a number of electoral promises, the speech failed to send out a strong message to address the core issues that haunt the aam aadmi.

An august occasion of national importance calls for remembering and recounting the struggles and sacrifices of countless freedom fighters who have laid down their lives for the nation. The fact that the venue of such an event was also used to target the Opposition has sullied the sanctity of the solemn occasion.

B. Suresh Kumar,

Coimbatore

The addition of the word ‘secular’ to the issue of a common civil code is interesting — perhaps to gain wider public acceptability. It may also be an attempt to disarm the Opposition.

Dr. D.V.G. Sankara Rao,

Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh

Crimes against women

The recent heinous crime in West Bengal, of the torture and murder of a woman doctor, raises concerns about moral decay in our society. In his Independence Day speech, the Prime Minister has rightly emphasised the need for strict laws and swift justice to prevent such crimes. It is crucial to create an atmosphere of fear by imposing severe penalties on perpetrators of crime.

Every section of society must unite to voice opposition against these crimes and enhance community awareness for the protection of women.

Dr. Pawan Kumar,

Janakpur, Gaya, Bihar

Sports promotion

Winning six medals and standing 71 in the Paris Olympics evoke mixed feelings. But how can we expect a much better performance by India when sports is not promoted well from the school level? Moreover, job worries and financial stability are the main concerns for many.

Amisha Bharti,

Harmu, Ranchi, Jharkhand

Regional troubles

Thailand’s royalty-military establishment thrives on instability

Thailand’s youngest Prime Minister, 37-year-old Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was elected by the Parliament on Friday after the constitutional court ousted Srettha Thavisin. Ms. Paetongtarn is the youngest daughter of former Thai Prime Minister and tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra, and the fourth member of her family to hold the position. Mr. Thaksin was removed in a coup in 2006, while Ms. Paetongtarn’s uncle Somchai Wongsawat was dismissed by the constitutional court in 2008, and her aunt Yingluck Shinawatra was also dismissed, again by the same court, in 2014. The latest change of Prime Minister mirrors several such sudden dismissals of the past that are attributed to Thailand’s conservative establishment. Mr. Srettha was among more than a dozen Prime Ministers appointed since 2001. Significantly, the court held Mr. Srettha guilty of ethical violations for appointing a Cabinet Minister who had been convicted for attempting to bribe a judge overseeing Mr. Thaksin’s corruption cases more than a decade ago. Mr. Srettha was himself only elected in 2023, when the reformist Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the elections, was disqualified from forming a government and banned for suggesting changes to the strict laws governing criticism of the monarchy. As a result, Ms. Paetongtarn’s chances of a smooth term in office, and making radical changes to the system seem bleak. Her most important task would be to help nudge Thailand’s sluggish economy back into shape while averting the fate of her predecessors. Given her age and lack of experience, she is expected to be guided mainly by her father, who is back after his exile in the UAE over corruption charges, following a compromise with the establishment.

The developments come at a time of instability in India’s Indian Ocean neighbourhood to the east — the ouster of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sent the country into a period of uncertainty, which the interim government must contend with. The developments follow a spurt in violence between militant groups and Myanmar’s embattled junta that imperil India’s investments as well as peace along the border with India’s north-east. With Sri Lanka also heading for presidential elections in September, Thailand’s crisis has cast another shadow over plans to hold the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok on September 4. Many agreements to be adopted on digital payment mechanisms, connectivity, and maritime cooperation have already been negotiated, and it is to be hoped that the summit will now not need to be put off. While Ms. Paetongtarn’s election may suggest some stability in the short term, New Delhi must keep its shock absorbers on, to deal with other surprise crises and seemingly chronic instability in the neighbourhood.

Apathy continues

Africa is not getting mpox vaccines despite the disease’s endemicity

The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared mpox to be a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) for the second time in two years following its outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and its spread to over a dozen countries in Africa. The multi-country outbreak in Europe, in 2022, had led to a declaration of a PHEIC. WHO’s announcement comes a day after the Africa CDC declared the outbreak to be a public health emergency of continental security (PHECS), also marking the first time a regional and global health emergency has been declared for a disease outbreak. If this is first such declaration in Africa of a PHECS since 2017, it is also the first time that WHO has declared a PHEIC for a disease outbreak in Africa on the very first time the emergency committee met to decide on the matter. Though WHO claimed in August 2014 that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa was declared a public health emergency in the very first meeting of the emergency committee, an Associated Press investigation revealed how WHO resisted calling it a public health emergency for a few months. In the second Ebola outbreak in Africa in 2018-19, WHO declared it a public health emergency only when the emergency committee met for the fourth time.

If the 2022 mpox outbreak in the U.K, that spread to over 100 countries, was caused by the milder clade 2b virus — primarily affecting men who have sex with men, with limited cases among children and adolescents — the current outbreak is driven by a new and more lethal clade 1b, spread effectively through sexual and non-sexual contact. There have been 2,863 confirmed cases and 517 deaths this year, primarily in the DRC. The clade 1b emerged in the DRC in September 2023, with human-to-human transmission ongoing since then. In the DRC, around two-thirds of infections are in children under 15 years. Vaccines are again in acute short supply. As against 10 million doses needed to control the outbreak, just about 0.21 million doses may be supplied immediately. Even when vaccines were used to blunt transmission in Europe and the U.S. earlier, vaccines were not supplied to Africa despite mpox being endemic there for years. Currently, only the DRC and Nigeria have granted emergency use authorisation for the vaccine. The regulatory hurdle can be sidestepped if the company expresses interest for WHO’s emergency use listing, which will allow international agencies to supply the vaccine to all African countries. Even then, Africa will have to wait till the end of 2025 for the 10 million doses.

Violence and vigil in Kolkata

The brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor inside a government hospital in the city has brought people across the country out on the streets in outrage. The incident shows multiple lapses by the hospital administration and the West Bengal police. It also exposes the terrible conditions in which trainee doctors work. Shrabana Chatterjee, Moyurie Som , and Shiv Sahay Singh report on the incident and its aftermath

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2 of 5 The ‘Reclaim the Night’ protest in Kolkata on August 14. About 500 meters away, a mob vandalised the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, where a trainee doctor was raped and murdered. Shrabana Chatterjee Shrabana Chatterjee

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4 of 5 The gate of the emergency building of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, which was forced open by the mob. Shrabana Chatterjee Shrabana Chatterjee

5 of 5 It takes a year to prepare for NEET after we get our MBBS degrees. We get paid ₹50,000 a month to work long hours in horrible conditions. First-year postgraduate trainee doctor

Trigger warning: This article has disturbing details about rape and murder.

At the stroke of the midnight hour, on the eve of India’s 78th Independence Day, tens of thousands of women gathered across the streets of the country. With anger that bubbles up only after a ferment, they protested the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital a week earlier. This mass outrage was not just about the crime, but alsoabout the larger lack of safety of women and doctors across India, where there are more than 80 rapes every day on average, as per the National Crime Records Bureau data of 2022. A common refrain was: “What freedom do Indian women really have?”

On August 14, WhatsApp was flooded with messages calling women to gather at midnight across different cities. The protesters marched to chants of ‘Reclaim the Night’, a reference to the fact that the 31-year-old doctor was attacked in the middle of the night while she was taking a break from duty, and also to the 1970s movement, where women occupied public spaces at night, marching against sexual violence and for gender equality. At least 50 protest marches have been held since the incident on August 9.

For many, the mass demonstrations were reminiscent of 2012. Then too, a young woman who had stepped out at night was raped and murdered in New Delhi. Then too, thousands took to the streets demanding justice for the victim, as well as safe public spaces.

“The ‘Nirbhaya’ incident (as the rape and murder in Delhi is often referred to) occurred 12 years ago,” said Indrani Banerjee, a social worker. Wearing a T-shirt with ‘Feminist’ inscribed in bold letters, she was protesting at Kolkata’s Jadavpur area. “Has anything changed since then?”

Going on the rampage

That night, hundreds of people, including doctors, gathered outside the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital too, in peaceful protest. However, a few minutes past midnight, mayhem broke out. A mob of about 100 people tore through the police barricades erected outside and chased away doctors who were about to join the midnight march.

According to witnesses, the mob comprised intoxicated young men, who went on the rampage. They smashed medical equipment including ventilators, broke hospital beds, and tore posters demanding justice for the victim, which had been put up on the gate of the emergency wing. It was in the seminar hall on the fourth floor of the same building that the trainee doctor had been sexually assaulted and killed on August 9.

Terrified health workers, protesters, and journalists scrambled for safety. A second-year postgraduate trainee doctor said he ran into an auditorium with many others. They stacked up heavy furniture against the door of the room to prevent the mob from barging in.

“When the mob entered the premises, we ran for our lives,” he recalled. “We were unable to contact many of our friends. Those men did not spare patients or doctors; they beat everybody up. We didn’t recognise any of them.”

As chaos ensued, a person in the crowd shouted at the female doctors gathered there: “The girls should return to their hostels immediately. It is dangerous out here.”

Outside the hospital, the police used tear gas shells to disperse the mob, much like in 2012. Several personnel were injured in the clash. The pungent smell of tear gas lingered in the air around the hospital as the mob tried to regroup at several key intersections of R.G. Kar Road.

The situation was defused a couple of hours later when the Kolkata Commissioner of Police, Vineet Kumar Goyal, arrived with a large contingent of police and Rapid Action Force personnel. “What has happened here is because of a malicious media campaign against the Kolkata Police,” Goyal alleged.

Hours after the incident, the Kolkata Police claimed on social media that the scene of crime had not been tampered with. “Don’t spread fake news. We will take legal action,” the police handle posted on X. This sparked more anger on social media. One user posted, “Find the rapists, murderers and the goons and take legal action (rather) than issuing threats online.” By the night of August 16, the State Police had arrested 25 people for vandalism at the hospital.

No room to rest

On August 9, after a gruelling 36 hours of duty, the female doctor, a second-year postgraduate trainee in the chest department of R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital, had gone to the seminar hall at about 2 a.m. to take a break, said the former principal of the hospital, Dr. Sandip Kumar Ghosh. Many departments do not have designated on-duty rooms for doctors to rest after long hours of work, several doctors said. This leaves them with no choice but to sleep in patient beds, waiting rooms, or empty halls.

The previous night, the trainee doctor had spoken to her parents on the phone. “She was in good spirits as usual,” they said.

On the morning of August 9, her semi-naked body was found on a blue mattress in the seminar hall. It bore multiple injuries and signs of sexual assault and torture.

At 10.53 a.m., the victim’s parents received a call from an assistant superintendent informing them that their daughter was unwell.

“My wife started crying inconsolably. She suspected that something grave had happened to our daughter,” the victim’s father said.

After an agonising wait, they received another call 22 minutes later. The caller claimed that the trainee doctor had died by suicide within the hospital premises. The shocked parents rushed to the hospital.

The inquest report, which was prepared at 4.40 p.m. on August 10, at the direction of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Sealdah, revealed gruesome details of the incident. It pointed to 10 injuries on the victim’s body including bleeding from the vagina, both eyes, and mouth; and injuries on the face, neck, nails, right hand, left leg, and stomach.

In their petition to the Calcutta High Court demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the parents said that they were not allowed to see their daughter’s body for three hours and alleged that the delay was intentional.

While speaking at a press conference on August 9, Dr. Ghosh revealed the identity of the victim, which is prohibited by law. To the protesting doctors, he said, “It was irresponsible of the girl to go to the seminar hall alone at night.”

His comment sparked outrage. Under pressure from the protesting doctors, Dr. Ghosh resigned on August 12. However, hours later, he was reappointed as the principal of the National Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata.

Soon after the incident, the hospital administration allegedly started renovating the building where the rape and murder had occurred.Allegations that there were attempts to cover up the crime gained ground.

In its August 13 order, a division bench of the High Court noted that it was disturbing that a case of unnatural death had been registered by the police on August 9 at the Tala Police Station. Despite the victim being a trainee doctor, the principal or the hospital had not lodged a formal complaint with the police, the court observed. “This, in our view, was a serious lapse, giving room for suspicion,” it noted.

On August 16, the High Court rapped the State government and asked what the urgency was in reassigning a new posting to the principal, who has been accused of several lapses. The Court directed that Dr. Ghosh be sent on leave and not be appointed as principal of any other medical college and hospital. The Court also asked the State government about the renovation at the hospital. The State government’s counsel told the Court that allegations that the place where the incident took place was demolished were incorrect.

The accused, a civic police volunteer

Within 12 hours of the crime, the Kolkata Police arrested Sanjoy Roy, 35, a civic police volunteer since 2019. Roy was active with the Police Welfare Association. He lived in the barracks of the Calcutta Police’s 4th battalion and used a motorbike marked ‘police’. He had “no business” to be in the seminar hall that night, the police said. Roy was arrested and later handed over to the CBI.

The Mamata Banerjee-led government began appointing civic police volunteers about 10 years ago, to assist the police. Civic police volunteers are expected to have studied at least until Class VIII. They are paid ₹9,000 a month. Over the years, the force has been growing.

“Civic police volunteers have helped the Trinamool Congress (the party in power) get more footing in the Bengal regime. There is no permanent work, only contractual, so they remain loyal to the ruling party. There is no proper process for appointment. No norms are followed. That is why the party can appoint their own cadre. It also uses the civic volunteers to conduct election work,” said Biswanath Chakraborty, a professor at Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata.

The strength of the Kolkata Police is 37,000. Of them, 7,200 are civic police personnel. The police have been hesitant to admit that the accused had any association with the force. When asked about the job profile of the accused, the Kolkata Police Commissioner merely said, “To us, he is a criminal of the highest order”.

Even after the arrest of Roy, there has been widespread speculation that multiple people may have been involved in the crime given the horrific nature and extent of the victim’s injuries.

People began sharing the names of doctors of the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital as some of the other accused, online. Soon, misinformation was rife. The family of a medical intern from a village in West Bengal was forced to lodge a police complaint when his name began doing the rounds as an accused person.

“Rumours are being floated that someone is associated with the crime. He is an intern and comes from a small place... This is pathetic. I cannot on the basis of some rumours arrest an intern. It is against my conscience,” said Goyal. He added that the police never said that there was only one person involved in the crime. Scientific evidence requires time, he added.

Misinformation is not the only problem online. Many doctors have been sharing photos and videos of the victim on social media, which is also in violation of the law.

‘This could have been me’

Since August 9, postgraduate trainee doctors everywhere have decided to stop work and seek justice for the victim and security for doctors in hospitals. Medical services across several hospitals in West Bengal have been severely affected. Despite pleas from the State government, the trainee doctors have refused to resume work.

On average, nearly 2 lakh patients visit the out-patient departments (OPD) and 12,000 patients are admitted every day in State-run hospitals in West Bengal. R.G. Kar Hospital, which has about 1,600 beds, treats over 3,600 patients in the OPD every day. It admits 245 patients daily. In certain parts of the State, people have been losing patience with the disruption of medical services and have started holding demonstrations outside State-run health facilities. With the postgraduate trainee doctors on strike, the State is finding it difficult to keep hospitals functional.

The anger of medical personnel is not confined to Kolkata. The Indian Medical Association, the largest organisation of medical staff in the country, has announced a nationwide strike from August 17 to August 18. Most hospital departments will be closed in both public and private hospitals on that day, it said. Only essential services will remain operational.

Far away from the protests, in the suburbs of Kolkata, journalists have been flocking to a quiet neighbourhood. A memorial with the photograph of the victim with her face blurred and name scratched out has come up near her house.

“If we take any compensation from the government, our daughter will not get peace,” the victim’s father said. The victim’s mother believes that the mob attack at the hospital on August 14-15 was an “attempt to destroy evidence.”

Banerjee visited the victim’s house on August 12 and demanded the death penalty for the culprits. The Chief Minister had made controversial statements following earlier incidents of rape. In 2012, she called the rape of a woman in the bustling Park Street in Kolkata “a staged incident”. In 2013, when protests broke out against the abduction, gang rape, and murder of a college student in Kamduni, she described the protesters as “Maoists”. This time, Banerjee assured the family that the case will be handed over to the CBI if the Kolkata Police fails to crack it. On August 13, the High Court transferred the case to the CBI.

However, on August 14, when protests started gathering momentum and women called for a march to ‘reclaim the night’, Banerjee saw it as a ploy to remove her from power, similar to what she said had unfolded in neighbouring Bangladesh. When the mob ransacked the hospital, she said that “Baam and Ram (the Left and the Bharatiya Janata Party)” had joined hands to do this.

Banerjee holds the portfolio of both the Home and Health Ministries. This is the first time in her 13-year-long regime as Chief Minister that the Opposition has demanded in one voice that she resign. At the time when the Chief Minister was meeting family members of the victims, a number of women postgraduate trainee doctors sat in protest at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital.

A first-year postgraduate trainee doctor from Rajasthan said, “Such violence against women is common in my State. My parents and I thought Kolkata would be a better option for me since it is often said that this is a safe city for women. That belief has now completely vanished.” When crime records for 2022 came out earlier this year, Kolkata was declared the safest city for women.

“My parents are asking me to return home,” said a postgraduate trainee doctor in chest medicine, who had graduated with an MBBS degree from Madras Medical College, Chennai. “They are saying an MBBS is enough, and I should not risk my life for a postgraduate degree.”

The trainee doctors said they worked hard to clear the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and are now forced to slog for a low salary. “It takes a year to prepare for NEET after we get our degrees. We get paid ₹50,000 a month for long hours of work in horrible conditions,” said a first-year postgraduate trainee doctor.

A teary-eyed second year postgraduate trainee doctor who was working that night in the same hospital in a different building heard about the incident after completing 30 hours of duty. “It could have been me, instead of her,” she said, her voice shaking.

Business

- Job opportunities dwindling in the well industrialised State of Gujarat

- ‘SEBI’s Buch earned revenue in potential violation of policy’

- Regulatory curbs fail to dampen NBFC gold loans in FY25

- Indian grants, credit worth $4-5-bn given to Bangladesh at risk

- SBI raises loan rates by 10 bps, EMIs swell

- Sensex climbs 1.68% on U.S. rate-cut hopes

- Bank of Baroda inaugurates ‘phygital’ branch in Hyderabad

- RBI approves ex-SBI official Sukumaran Nair as TMB CEO

- FinMin eases forex norms to boost cross-border M&As

Job opportunities dwindling in the well industrialised State of Gujarat

Mahesh Langa

GANDHINAGAR

A silent crisis: The government told the Assembly last December that 2.38 lakh educated youth in Gujarat were unemployed. REUTERSAMIT DAVE

On July 9, a crowd of more than 1,500 youngsters turned up in Gujarat’s Ankleshwar after they learnt of opportunities at a private firm, which had organised walk-in interviews for 10 vacancies at a hotel. The crush of job aspirants almost went out of control and a hotel railing broke amid frantic jostling among the applicants. Fortunately, a stampede like situation was avoided with only a few applicants sustaining minor injuries.

The video of applicants jostling and pushing to get inside the hotel went viral on social media platforms offering a view from the ground on job prospects in Gujarat, one of the most industrialised States with a large industrial base.

The principal opposition Congress party shared the video of the overcrowding, taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the “Gujarat model” over the incident.

Political slugfest

“Gujarat model of Narendra Modi. A huge crowd of unemployed people gathered for a hotel job in Bharuch, Gujarat. The situation became such that the railing of the hotel broke and the Gujarat model was exposed. Narendra Modi is imposing this model of unemployment on the entire country,” the Congress said in an X post.

The incident in Ankleshwar, a hub of more than 1,000 chemical and pharmaceutical factories, brought into sharp focus, the government’s much touted claim of being the State with the least unemployed in India and the largest job producer.

To be sure, Gujarat is among the States with the lowest unemployment rates, ranking fourth from the bottom across all age groups for 2022-23, data on unemployment rates across the country, shared in the Lok Sabha by the Minister of Labour and Employment Mansukh Mandaviya, show.

Gujarat’s unemployment rate of 5.1% for the 15-29 years age group, for instance, is less than Delhi’s 6.1%, Maharashtra’s 10.9%, Karnataka’s 8.5%, and much lower than Andhra Pradesh’s 15.7%. For the 15-59 years age group, Gujarat’s unemployment rate of 1.8% is lower than Delhi’s 2%, Maharashtra’s 3.4%, Karnataka’s 2.6%, and Andhra Pradesh’s 4.4%.

In the State assembly last year, the State government provided data on unemployed youth who have registered in the various districts. A total of 2.38 lakh educated youth in Gujarat are unemployed and have registered themselves for employment with various government departments, as per the government’s submission.

Responding to questions by Congress MLAs in the Assembly in 2023, the State government said that 2,38,978 educated unemployed had registered in the last two years in a total of 29 districts, and 10,757 partially-educated unemployed had also registered, taking the number of educated unemployed people to 2,49,735.

Despite claims and counter claims, job supply is not able to match demand in Gujarat. Take for example, Surat’s diamond sector. Recently, Diamond Workers’ Union began a helpline for those facing job related stress. “Within 24 hours of launching the helpline, we received as many as 400 calls from distressed diamond workers,” said Bhavesh Tank, president of the union for Surat city.

He said, major concerns for callers were unemployment, rising cost of living and depression due to financial constraints and job uncertainty.

Mr. Tank asserted that in the last 18 months, as many as 60 diamond workers committed suicide due to either job loss or financial distress.

In December 2023, the Gujarat Subordinate Services Selection Board had received an overwhelming response with more than one lakh applicants competing for almost 2,500 technical posts across various departments.

The notified posts included diverse roles like sterilizer technician, graphic designer, machine supervisor, land surveyor, junior process assistant, and many more.

‘No service sector’

“In Gujarat, it’s a unique situation. On the one hand, there are low level jobs like security guards, drivers, supervisors, etc, but native Gujaratis are not interested,” said a government official, speaking on condition of anonymity. “So, bulk of them are filled with migrants from U.P., Bihar and Rajasthan. Even at industrial sites like Kandla Port, Alang shipyard, Dahej or Vapi industrial sites, daily wagers are mostly migrants. For natives, they want either government jobs or high paying ones that are not there in the market since service sector is still evolving here.”

The paucity of good jobs is also reflected in large number of youth wanting to go abroad, even illegally, as seen in the case of illegal immigrants who were returned from France when their flight was caught.

According to another official, Gujarat initially did not focus on developing service sectors like IT and mostly focused on industrialisation, which had helped in job creation. But now there was stagnancy in industrial jobs, and particularly, wages had not risen due to overall slack in factories, the official said.

‘SEBI’s Buch earned revenue in potential violation of policy’

Reuters

MUMBAI

Public documents show Agora Advisory, 99% held by Ms. Buch, earned revenue likely breaching policy barring officials from receiving other fees

Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chief Madhabi Puri Buch continued to earn revenue from a consultancy firm during her tenure, potentially breaching rules for regulatory officials, according to public documents reviewed by Reuters.

Hindenburg Research has alleged a conflict of interest in Ms. Buch’s investigations surrounding the Adani Group due to her previous investments. The allegations against the Gautam Adani-led conglomerate, made in January 2023, triggered a big drop in share prices of flagship Adani Enterprises and other group firms which later recovered, prompting an ongoing probe by SEBI.

Ms. Buch, had in a statement, denied allegations of a conflict of interest and termed them an attempt at “character assassination”.

Separately, the U.S. short-seller, in its latest report, highlighted two consultancy firms operated by Ms. Buch and her husband — Singapore-based Agora Partners and India-based Agora Advisory.

Ms. Buch joined SEBI in 2017 and was appointed to the top position in March 2022. In those seven years, Agora Advisory Pvt. Ltd.. in which Ms. Buch has 99% holding, earned a revenue of ₹37.1 million, according to public documents from the Registrar of Companies, analysed by Reuters.

Ms. Buch’s holdings potentially violate a 2008 SEBI policy that bars officials from holding an office of profit, receiving salary or professional fees from other professional activities. Ms. Buch in her statement said the consultancy firms had been disclosed to SEBI and that her husband used these firms for his consulting business after retiring from Unilever in 2019.

Ms. Buch and the SEBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to e-mails seeking comment.

According to company records for the financial year ended March 2024, Ms. Buch still holds shares in the Indian consulting firm.

The documents, reviewed by Reuters, do not detail the business undertaken by the consultancy nor is there any available information to suggest these revenues had any link to the Adani Group.

Subhash Chandra Garg, a former top Indian bureaucrat and a SEBI board member during Ms. Buch’s tenure, described her equity in the firm and its continued business operations as a “very serious” breach of conduct.

“There was no justification for her to continue to own the firm after she joined the board. She could not have been allowed even after making disclosures,” Mr. Garg said. “This makes her position completely untenable at the regulator,” he added.

Ms. Buch has not clarified whether a waiver was granted to retain her shareholding in the Indian firm.

Regulatory curbs fail to dampen NBFC gold loans in FY25

Piyush Shukla

Mumbai

Non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) will likely post a robust growth of almost 15% in gold loan business in FY25 despite the recent regulatory actions taken by the Reserve of India (RBI), experts say.

“We have always been guiding for 15% AUM (assets under management) growth on a yearly basis, but due to robust growth in Q1FY25, we are being asked why we are not revising the guidance. We would like to revise after Q2. Things are looking very bright,” George Alexander Muthoot, MD of Muthoot Finance, told businessline.

Muthoot Finance’s consolidated AUM grew 28% year-on-year in Q1 to ₹98,048 crore. Its average loan-to-value ratio (LTV) was 68% according to current gold prices.

Norm ‘violation’

NBFCs’ optimism comes despite the RBI scrutiny. In March, the RBI had barred a major NBFC IIFL Finance from sanctioning gold loans as it did not follow the 75% LTV norm, and the regulations that disallow gold loan NBFCs from disbursing more than ₹20,000 in cash.

“Whatever irregularities were there in some companies, they were flagged by the RBI and action taken. Focussed and serious players like us in gold loans will not have any adverse impact. It is good to see RBI taking action against erring companies,” Muthoot said.

The majority of NBFCs that extend gold loans have moved away from disbursing cash of more than ₹20,000, said the chief of another large NBFC.

Anything over ₹20,000 is transferred through online banking channels like IMPS or RTGS, he said.

Raman Agarwal, director at NBFC industry body FIDC, says the RBI’s action against IIFL Finance was a ‘one-off event’ and the gold loan business of NBFCs will continue growing in double digits.

A Crisil Ratings analysis of gold loan NBFCs accounting for over 90% of the industry AUM indicated that previously up to 95% of gold loan disbursements by NBFCs was in cash, essentially to provide quick service to borrowers.

Since the RBI action, NBFCs transitioned to digital channels with only a slight increase in turnaround time, which has helped them maintain their edge over banks.

Experts also say gold loan NBFCs must assess LTV ratio regularly and conduct timely auctions if gold prices drop sharply.

The margins of gold loan NBFCs are also likely to be static due to intense pricing wars in the lower-ticket credit segment, the experts added.

(The writer is with The Hindu businessline)

Indian grants, credit worth $4-5-bn given to Bangladesh at risk

Amiti Sen

New Delhi

New Delhi hopes to convince new government in Dhaka not to reject India-funded projects.ANI

India is worried about the fate of $4-5 billion it has disbursed to Bangladesh for various development projects. It is not certain whether the interim government in Dhaka will honour the sovereign guarantees, sources have said.

“New Delhi will try its best to ensure that the interim set-up in Bangladesh and the subsequent government that takes over after the proposed elections do not reject the development projects funded by India. Already $4-5 billion has been disbursed as credit and grants.

“The lines of credit are backed by sovereign guarantees and if these are rejected, India may be forced to write them off,” a source told businessline.

$8-bn lines of credit

Over the last eight years, India extended three lines of credit to Bangladesh worth $8 billion and additional grant assistance for several infrastructure projects, according to a Ministry of External Affairs note.

The sectors include roads, railways, irrigation, shipping and ports. “The problem is many of these projects and lines of credit were criticised by Opposition parties and others in Bangladesh, alleging corruption,” the source said.

Tricky situation

Delhi’s continued sheltering of Sheikh Hasina, who fled to India on August 5 after anti-government agitators targeted her residence, has made the situation trickier. “None of the European countries where Ms. Hasina reportedly sought asylum has given a positive response yet. In case the new government in Bangladesh wants to try her for murder charges and asks India for extradition, the situation could get even more uncomfortable.”

Oil payments stuck

It is not just credit and grants given for development projects that have come under shadow but payments due to Indian oil companies for supplies may also be at risk.

“Bangladesh has been struggling to pay its foreign suppliers of oil, including India, because of its foreign exchange crisis. Indian suppliers are now left high and dry as they do not know when they will get the due payments,” the source said.

Interestingly, Bangladesh had asked India for $2 billion earlier this year to help pay the oil dues, but the deal never got finalised, the source added. “If India had agreed to the $2-billion loan then the amount at risk would have been even higher.”

(The writer is with The Hindu businessline)

SBI raises loan rates by 10 bps, EMIs swell

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

State Bank of India, the country’s biggest lender, raised the Marginal Cost of Fund-based Lending Rate (MCLR) by 10 basis points, across tenors, making most of the consumer loans costlier.

This is the third time in a row the bank raised MCLR.

The benchmark one-year tenor MCLR, used to price most consumer loans such as auto and personal, is now pegged higher at 8.95% against the earlier rate of 8.85%, as per the information on its website.

The three-year MCLR is 9.10%, while the two-year is now 9.05%, up 10 bps.

Among others, the rates of one-month, three-month and six-month tenors are in the range of 8.45-8.85%. The MCLR on overnight tenor will be 8.20% against 8.10%. The new rates are effective from August 15. The move comes days after the RBI kept benchmark lending rate unchanged at 6.5%.

Sensex climbs 1.68% on U.S. rate-cut hopes

The Hindu Bureau

MUMBAI

Key benchmark equity indices on Friday gained more than 1.5% led by technology and auto stocks following global cues.

The S&P BSE Sensex rose 1,331 points, or 1.68%, to 80,437. Top gainers included Tech Mahindra (4.02%), Tata Motors (3.47%), M&M (3.45%), TCS (2.91%), HCL Tech (2.65%) and UltraTech Cement (2.6%).

The NSE Nifty-50 index surged 397.40 points, or 1.65%, to 24,541.

“Indian front-line indices traded significantly higher on Friday mirroring the positive global market sentiment,” said Avdhut Bagkar, Technical and Derivatives Analyst, StoxBox.

“Gains were broad-based as midcap and smallcap indices moved higher.

“This upbeat market mood was primarily driven by reduced volatility, stemming from increased expectations of a U.S. rate cut in the September session.”

Bank of Baroda inaugurates ‘phygital’ branch in Hyderabad

Bank of Baroda (BoB) inaugurated a ‘phygital’ branch at Chanda Nagar in Hyderabad. Phygital branches merge the familiarity of brick-and-mortar establishments with the efficiency of cutting-edge technology, the lender said in a release on ED Sanjay Vinayak Mudaliar opening the branch. This is the second such facility of the bank in India. BoB opened its first phygital branch on July 20 at Horniman Circle in Mumbai. It plans to open seven such branches.

RBI approves ex-SBI official Sukumaran Nair as TMB CEO

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has approved the appointment of Salee Sukumaran Nair as MD and CEO of Tamilnad Mercantile Bank for a period of three years from the date of assuming charge, subject to shareholders approval. In a filing, TMB said RBI, vide its letter dated August 16, approved the appointment. Mr. Nair was formerly SBI Deputy Managing Director and Chief Credit Officer. He succeeds S. Krishnan who resigned last year citing personal reasons.

FinMin eases forex norms to boost cross-border M&As

The Finance Ministry on Friday issued a notification amending Foreign Exchange Management (Non-debt Instruments) Rules, 2019, attempting to simplify regulations for FDIs and overseas investments. The amendments allow cross-border share swaps and provide for issue or transfer of Indian company equity instruments in exchange for foreign firms’ equities. Changes include enabling FDI in white label ATMs to boost financial inclusion.

Foreign

- ‘Constructive’ talks aimed at Gaza ceasefire wrap up

- Pakistan records Asia’s first cases of mpox; European agency urges caution

- Tempest in Tokyo

- Thai lawmakers elect Shinawatra heiress Paetongtarn as PM

- Ukraine asks civilians to evacuate Pokrovsk as Russia Army closes in

- U.S. renews support for Myanmar opposition as China’s Wang meets junta

- At least 80 killed in strike by Sudan rebel group

- Croatia to reintroduce compulsory military draft as tensions soar

- Security forces used ‘unnecessary’ force in Bangladesh: UN

- Modi stresses need to de-escalate situation in call with Netanyahu

- Brawl breaks out in Turkish parliament over ousted MP

- ‘It’s scary’: Israeli frontline city in fear as Hezbollah targets oil storage facility

- China’s growing driverless robotaxi fleet sparks wariness, wonder on streets

- Mexico reveals new evidence of ‘death flights’ during ‘dirty war’

- Workers stand-off

- At Tower of London, new Ravenmaster vows survival of U.K.

‘Constructive’ talks aimed at Gaza ceasefire wrap up

Associated Press

JERUSALEM

Following the two-day talks, mediators will meet in Cairo next week to seal a deal to stop fighting ; the push for an end to the war comes as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza climbs past 40,000

On the move: A child peeks out from the window of a car as Palestinians flee Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Friday.AFPEYAD BABA

Mediators to the Gaza War cease-fire talks said on Friday the two-day talks wrapped up and they aim to reconvene in Cairo next week to seal a deal to stop the fighting.

In a statement on Friday, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar said talks were constructive and conducted in a positive atmosphere. They presented both parties with a proposal and hope to continue working on the details of the implementation in the coming days.

Best hope

The new round of talks began on Thursday and was aimed at halting the 10-month war and securing the release of scores of hostages, with a potential deal seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict.

Hamas, which did not participate directly in the talks, accuses Israel of adding new demands to a previous proposal that had U.S. and international support and to which Hamas had agreed in principle.

Both sides have agreed in principle to the plan President Joe Biden announced on May 31. But Hamas has proposed amendments and Israel has suggested clarifications, leading each side to accuse the other of trying to tank a deal.

Israel’s demands

Hamas has rejected Israel’s demands, which include a lasting military presence along the border with Egypt and a line bisecting Gaza where it would search Palestinians returning to their homes to root out militants.

On Friday, mediators said it presented a bridging proposal to both parties consistent with the plan laid out by Mr. Biden. This proposal builds on areas of agreement and bridges remaining gaps, that allow for a swift implementation of the deal.

The new push for an end to the Israel-Hamas war came as the Palestinian death toll in Gaza climbed past 40,000, and fears remained high that Iran and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon would attack Israel in retaliation for the killings of top militant leaders.

International mediators believe the best hope for calming tensions would be a deal between Israel and Hamas to halt the fighting and secure the release of Israeli hostages.

International diplomacy to prevent the war in Gaza from spreading into a wider regional conflict intensified Friday, with the British and French foreign ministers making a joint trip to Israel.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy and French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné appeared hopeful after meeting Friday with Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.

Mr. Lammy said Israeli officials told them they were hoping they were on the verge of sealing a deal.

‘Counting on allies’

Mr. Katz said in a statement that he told his British and French counterparts that if Iran attacks Israel, Israel expects its allies not just to help it defend itself, but to join in attacking Iran back.

Pakistan records Asia’s first cases of mpox; European agency urges caution

Press Trust of India

Islamabad

At least three patients with mpox virus have been found so far in Pakistan, it emerged on Friday as the government decided to strengthen the screening system at the airports.

The mpox detection in Pakistan is the first in Asia and it might be more easily transmitted. The World Health Organization has declared the spread of mpox a global health emergency.

All three patients belong to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in the northwest, the militancy-whacked region bordering Afghanistan.

Salim Khan, the director general of health services for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that two patients were detected on their arrival from the United Arab Emirates, while a third patient‘s samples had been sent to the National Health Institute in Islamabad for confirmation.

Officials said that all three patients were being quarantined and their contact tracing was going on.

China takes steps

China announced on Friday it will begin screening people and goods entering the country for mpox over the next six months.

People travelling from countries where virus outbreaks have occurred, who have been in contact with mpox cases or display symptoms should “take the initiative to declare to customs when entering the country”, China’s customs administration said in a statement.

Meanwhile, The European Union health agency on Friday urged its member states to get ready for more cases of a deadly strain of mpox, a day after Sweden announced the first case outside Africa.

Pakistan’s advisory

Pakistan’s Ministry of Health also issued an advisory on the disease on Thursday, which states that “the screening system at airports and entry points is being further strengthened.” Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Health Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed Bharath says that federal hospitals have been instructed to take precautionary measures and the Ministry of Health and Border Health Services are “alert to deal with any kind of situation.”

The WHO declared the outbreak of mpox in parts of Africa as a cause of international concern and a threat to public health.

The highly contagious disease, formerly known as ‘monkeypox’, killed at least 450 people in the Republic of Congo. It is caused by the monkeypox virus, which belongs to the same group of viruses as smallpox but is less harmful.

The virus was originally transmitted from animals to humans, but now it is also transmitted from humans to humans.

Tempest in Tokyo

Pedestrians use umbrellas to shelter from the rain while walking across Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo on Friday, as Typhoon Ampil approaches the Japanese capital. The storm casued the cancellation of hundreds of flights and trains and left over 2,000 homes without power. AFPRICHARD A. BROOKS

Thai lawmakers elect Shinawatra heiress Paetongtarn as PM

Agence France-Presse

Bangkok

Paetongtarn Shinawatra

The 37-year-old daughter of billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra became Thailand’s Prime Minister Friday, the third member of the influential but divisive clan to lead the country.

Paetongtarn Shinawatra — the youngest leader in Thailand’s history as a constitutional monarchy and the second woman premier after her aunt Yingluck — assumes office after two court rulings that threw the kingdom’s politics into turmoil.

She will hope to avoid the fate of her father and aunt, both of whom were ousted as Prime Ministers by the Army during a two-decade power struggle between Mr. Thaksin and the kingdom’s conservative pro-military, pro-royalist establishment.

MPs approved Ms. Paetongtarn of the Pheu Thai party as premier by 319 votes to 145, House of Representatives Speaker Wan Muhamad Noor Matha said on live TV. Ms. Paetongtarn said she was “very honoured and happy”.

“I really hope that I can make people feel confident. I hope to improve the quality of lives and empower all Thais,” she told reporters.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet — like Ms. Paetongtarn, the child of a previous premier — sent congratulations. China also congratulated Ms. Paetongtarn.

Ms. Paetongtarn’s elevation to the top job came about after the Constitutional Court sacked previous Premier Srettha Thavisin for appointing a Cabinet Minister with a criminal conviction.

Ms. Paetongtarn helped run the hotel arm of the family’s business empire before entering politics in late 2022, and she was a near-constant presence on the campaign trail during last year’s general election.

Ukraine asks civilians to evacuate Pokrovsk as Russia closes in

Associated Press

Kyiv

Ukraine servicemen walk among sunflowers, to their position outside the town of Pokrovsk, amid in Donetsk region.REUTERSSTRINGER

Military authorities in the eastern Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk on Friday urged civilians to speed up their evacuation because the Russian Army is quickly closing in on what has been one of Moscow’s key targets for months.

Pokrovsk officials said in a Telegram post that Russian troops are “advancing at a fast pace. With every passing day there is less and less time to collect personal belongings and leave for safer regions.”

Ukrainian troops have been trying to divert the Kremlin’s military focus away from the front line in Ukraine by launching a bold cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk region.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned on Thursday that Pokrovsk and other nearby towns in the Donetsk region were “facing the most intense Russian assaults.”

The urgency of the evacuation of civilians from Pokrovsk has underscored the high-stakes gamble Ukraine is making by taking the war into Russia with its ongoing Kursk assault, which started Aug. 6.

The attack is perceived a daring attempt to change the dynamics of the two-and-a-half year conflict, but it could backfire and leave Ukraine's shorthanded defence on the front line at the mercy of Russia's push.

U.S. renews support for Myanmar opposition as China’s Wang meets junta

Agence France-Presse

Washington

The U.S. on Friday promised to keep supporting Myanmar’s democratic opposition, after China endorsed the transition plans of the ruling military junta.

Two senior U.S. officials met virtually with the shadow National Unity Government — which consists mostly of lawmakers ousted in a 2021 coup — as well as key ethnic rebel groups including the Karen National Union.

The U.S. officials “commended the groups on their collaborative efforts to work on establishing a path toward an inclusive federal democratic Burma,” the State Department said, using Myanmar’s former name.

The U.S. officials “reiterated that the United States will continue to expand direct support and assistance to pro-democracy actors” including to “develop concrete steps towards a full transition to civilian governance that respects the will of the people of Burma,” it said.

The U.S. officials in the meeting were Tom Sullivan, who is a senior advisor to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and Michael Schiffer, the top official for Asia at the US Agency for International Development.

Beijing is a major ally and arms supplier to the junta, whose chief, Min Aung Hlaing, met earlier this week with China’s visiting foreign minister, Wang Yi.

Mr. Wang voiced support for promises by the junta for a transition that includes elections.

At least 80 killed in strike by Sudan rebel group

Agence France-Presse

Port Sudan

Sudanese paramilitary forces killed at least 80 people in a southeastern village, a medical source and witnesses said on Friday, in an attack that followed U.S.-sponsored talks aimed at ending 16 months of devastating war.

The assault by Rapid Support Forces (RSF) occurred in Jalgini village in the State of Sennar on Thursday morning.

Ceasefire talks began on Wednesday in Geneva, hosted by U.S., Saudi and Swiss mediators, though the Sudanese Army refused to take part.

Previous rounds of negotiations in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia have failed to produce an agreement to end the fighting.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which since April 2023 has been battling Sudan’s regular Army, captured the Sennar state capital of Sinja in June.

Since then, fighting in Sennar has displaced nearly 726,000 people, according to UN agency the International Organization for Migration.

Many of them had fled the war in other parts of the northeast African country.

Croatia to reintroduce compulsory military draft as tensions soar

APFrancois Mori

Croatia will reintroduce a two-month compulsory military service starting January 1 next year. The move comes amid heightened tensions in Europe following the Russian aggression against Ukraine as well as an apparent arms race and military build-up in the Balkans which went through a bloody war in the 1990s. ap

Security forces used ‘unnecessary’ force in Bangladesh, says UN

AFPLUIS TATO

The United Nations human rights office said on Friday there were strong indications that the Bangladeshi security forces used unnecessary force in tackling the student-led uprising that ousted premier Sheikh Hasina. More than 450 people were killed in the weeks of protests leading up to her ousting on August 5. afp

Modi stresses need to de-escalate situation in call with Netanyahu

APSanal M Sudevan _11657@Chennai

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday stressed the need for de-escalation of the situation in West Asia during a telephonic conversation with his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu and reiterated their call for immediate release of all hostages and continued humanitarian assistance. pti

Brawl breaks out in Turkish parliament over ousted MP

AFPADEM ALTAN

A brawl broke out in Turkiye’s parliament after MPs discussed the fate of Can Atalay, a jailed opposition figure controversially stripped of his parliamentary status. Scuffles broke out after Alpay Ozalan, an MP from Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party, walked to the rostrum and shoved Ahmet Sik to the ground, who supported Atalay. afp

‘It’s scary’: Israel’s frontline city in fear as Hezbollah targets oil storage facility

Agence France-Presse

Haifa

Site has been made secure by emptying some tanks, assure officials; the information vacuum around the nature of substances handled at industrial zone fuels concerns; the fact that the area sits next to one of the largest ports in the eastern Mediterranean stokes fears of environmental disaster

The Israeli port city of Haifa, amid regional tensions during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. AFPMENAHEM KAHANA

The smell of fuel wafts from storage tanks to Dovi Sonny’s apartment — a long-time irritant, and now a major worry after Hezbollah revealed that the facility in northern Israel was in its sights.

Sonny, 66, has no idea what would happen should a rocket hit one of the towering circular containers about 100 metres (yards) from his building in Haifa.

He, like everyone else in the port city, just 30 kilometres (less than 20 miles) from the Lebanese border, has been left in the dark about the risks from the industrial area — and so fears the worst.

Both the tanks and his apartment block featured in drone footage released by Hezbollah, the Lebanese armed group that has been exchanging rocket fire with Israel since the start of the war in Gaza.

“When we hear the [rocket] sirens... it’s scary,” says Mr. Sonny, a guitar repairman with silver skull bracelets, tapping his chest with his fist to evoke a pounding heartbeat.

“During the Gulf War, one missile fell not far from here. And all the houses... It’s truly scary,” says Mr. Sonny, who also plays bass in a rock band.

His neighbourhood of Kiryat Haim is part of the Haifa municipality, but cut off from the city by a large industrial zone that includes an oil refinery, a commercial port and an oil storage facility.

There are dozens of immense tanks, one of which looms close to his block behind a chain-link fence.

‘Residents don’t know’

Hila Laufer, a Kiryat Haim resident and former Haifa city councillor with the Green Party, is not assuaged by official reassurances that the site was made secure by emptying some tanks.

“The residents don’t know how many are really full and how many are empty,” she tells, pointing at the row of tanks closest to apartment blocks.

“And they don’t even have the energy to investigate this matter, because they don’t really believe that we will ever be able to move the oil from here,” she said.

She recalls Haifa’s past grassroots campaigns to relocate the industrial area away from residential areas, mostly without success.

“For years, we have been shouting exactly about this situation that we are currently living in. What will happen when the day comes and we are attacked from the north, from Iran, from all?”

The Israeli army said it had ordered changes in all industrial areas in the north, without giving details.

“As a precaution, it was decided to monitor, examine and limit the transportation of materials in several factories in the north,” it said when asked about the Haifa industrial area, adding that “the directive does not refer to a total cessation of activity”.

It said the Home Front Command, which is responsible for civil protection, “maintains constant contact” with all the facilities, including “daily examinations” to keep “a complete picture ... of the inventory of hazardous materials”.

Tashan, the state-owned company responsible for the oil storage site, did not respond to AFP requests for comment.

The private Basan Group, which is in charge of the adjacent oil refinery, closer to downtown Haifa, said it was applying army directives.

‘A big bomb’

The information vacuum around the nature and quantities of substances handled at Haifa’s industrial zone had already fuelled concerns before the war.

Independent media Mekomit denounced a culture of “repression” and “concealment” that it said could bring about an incident like the Beirut port explosion of 2020.

An enormous explosion of ammonium nitrate fertiliser that had been stored haphazardly for years in the Lebanese capital’s port killed more than 220 people and devastated a wide area of the city.

Raja Zaatry, a Haifa city councillor, remembers the battle with private and government companies to get ammonia stocks relocated to the Negev desert.

“Haifa municipality demanded and forced these factories to reduce the amounts and especially in the areas that are near the neighbourhoods,” he says.

Even then, Mr. Zaatry, like Mr. Sonny and Mr. Laufer, admits he does not know exactly what happens in the industrial area.

“I don’t know exactly what are the materials, but we know it’s dangerous materials and it’s also making pollution. And in case of war, it can become a big bomb,” he says.

The fact that Haifa’s industrial area sits next to one of the largest ports in the eastern Mediterranean also stokes fears of environmental disaster, Mr. Laufer said.

In the meanwhile, despite the smell and the fear of explosion, Sonny says he will stay put because “it’s our home”.

One of his biggest regrets is the music gigs cancelled because of the war.

“There is no music, there is no rock and roll,” he says.

China’s growing driverless robotaxi fleet sparks wariness, wonder on streets

Agence France-Presse

Wuhan

A driverless robotaxi autonomous vehicle developed as part of tech giant Baidu’s Apollo Go self-driving project, in Wuhan, China. AFPPEDRO PARDO

Turning heads as they cruise past office buildings and malls, driverless taxis are slowly spreading through Chinese cities, prompting both wariness and wonder.

China’s tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into self-driving technology in recent years in an effort to catch industry leaders in the United States.

Now the central city of Wuhan boasts one of the world’s largest networks of self-driving cars, home to a fleet of over 500 taxis that can be hailed on an app just like regular rides.

At one intersection in an industrial area of Wuhan, AFP reporters saw at least five robotaxis passing each other as they navigated regular traffic.

“It looks kind of magical, like a sci-fi movie,” a local surnamed Yang said.

But not everyone shares Yang’s awe.

The debate around safety was sparked in April when a Huawei-backed Aito car was involved in a fatal accident, with the company saying its automatic braking system failed.

A minor collision between a jaywalker and a Wuhan robotaxi last month re-ignited concerns.

Taxi drivers and workers in traditional ride-hailing companies have also raised fears of being replaced by artificial intelligence — although the technology is far from fully developed.

Five to 500

Wuhan’s driverless cabs are part of tech giant Baidu’s Apollo Go project, which first received licences to operate in the city in 2022.

Initially only five robocars ferried passengers around 13 square kilometres of the city of around 14 million.

Baidu says the taxis now operate in a 3,000 square kilometre patch — more than a third of the total land area of Wuhan, including a small part of the city centre.

In comparison, the U.S. leader Waymo says the largest area it covers is 816 square kilometres, in Arizona.

When a car reaches its pickup point, riders scan a QR code with their phones to unlock the vehicle — with the front seats blocked off over safety concerns.

The fares are currently heavily discounted, with a thirty-minute ride taken by AFP costing just 39 yuan ($5.43) compared with 64 yuan in a normal taxi.

“They are stealing our rice bowls, so of course we don’t like them,” Wuhan taxi driver Deng Haibing said, using a popular Chinese term for livelihoods.

Taxi drivers fear

Mr. Deng said he fears robotaxi companies will push traditional drivers out of business with subsidised fares, before raising prices once they achieve domination — similar to the strategy employed by ride-hailing apps in the 2010s.

“Currently the impact isn’t too big because robotaxis aren’t fully popularised and can’t drive everywhere yet,” Mr. Deng said.

The robotaxi fleet is a tiny fraction of the tens of thousands of taxis and ride-hailing cars in Wuhan.

More and more Chinese cities are rolling out policies to promote self-driving services though, part of a national push for tech supremacy.

Baidu and domestic rival Pony.ai have for years tested models of varying autonomy levels in industrial parks around the country.

Shanghai issued its first batch of provisional permits for fully driverless cars last month, and the capital Beijing has approved fully autonomous robotaxis in suburban areas. The southwest city of Chongqing and southern tech hub of Shenzhen also have pilot projects underway.

Technology-wise, there’s still a long way to go before self-driving taxis become ubiquitous though, according to Tom Nunlist, tech policy analyst at Trivium China.

“Everybody seems to think autonomous driving is inevitable at this point, and frankly, I don’t know that it is,” he said. “Presently fully autonomous driving tech is simply not ready for large-scale deployment.”

Mexico reveals new evidence of ‘death flights’ during ‘dirty war’

Associated Press

MEXICO CITY

A visitor looks at an exhibit during the inauguration of a memorial to victims of Mexico’s ‘dirty war’ in Mexico City.FILE PHOTOCristina Baussan

More evidence has emerged that Mexican authorities disposed of the bodies of dissidents in “death flights” during the country’s 1965-1990 “dirty war.”

Mexico’s governmental truth commission said in a report on Friday that recollections by witnesses and documents leaked over the years described the chilling last moments of the victims. The executions were part of an effort by the Mexican government at the time to eliminate leftist social and guerrilla movements.

The victims, who have not been identified or counted, were pulled one by one to a bench at a military airfield near Acapulco. They believed they were going to have their photographs taken, but were instead shot in the back of the head, and their bodies dumped by plane out in the Pacific ocean.

According to testimony by Gustavo Tarín, who served in a military police unit at the time, the same pistol was used so often in the killings that soldiers came up with a nickname for it: “the sword of justice.”

Mr. Tarín said that as many as 1,500 people may have been killed that way. Some of the victims may have been dying, but not yet dead, when they were pushed out of the planes.

Military aviation mechanic Margarito Monroy said he participated in 15 of the flights, and that female victims were sometimes offered release, or the release of their husbands, if they had sex with soldiers, though he never saw any of them released.

The truth commission located log books for about 30 flights by one plane from the base between 1975 and 1979. And in a two-decade-old witness statement from a man who claimed to be an armed forces deserter, another 25 flights by another plane are mentioned.

That statement, which had long been held in the archives of a now-deceased rights activist, included a list of 183 names of likely victims on the “death flights.” Several of those names match people who disappeared during the government counter-insurgency campaign.

The victims of the “death flights” were just one small part of a bigger strategy of repression. Overall, the commission cited evidence that nationwide there were about 4,500 identified victims of severe abuses during the so-called “dirty war.” It documented 1,450 were killed and another 517 simply disappeared without a trace.

Seaside stand-off

Workers on strike from BHP’s Escondida copper mine, camping close to Coloso port, owned by the copper company, in Antofagasta, Chile. A three-day strike, which started on Tuesday after failing to reach a deal over pay, was halted on Friday.REUTERSCRISTIAN RUDOLFFI

At Tower of London, new Ravenmaster vows survival of U.K.

Agence France-Presse

London

Tower of London’s new Ravenmaster Yeoman Warder Barney Chandler looks at a raven. AFPBENJAMIN CREMEL

As a marine commando, Michael Chandler knew all about daunting missions, but in his new role of Ravenmaster at the Tower of London, legend would have it that the survival of the United Kingdom now rests in his hands.

King Charles II, who reigned from 1660 to 1685, is thought to have been the first to insist on the protection of the ravens at the legendary 900-year-old Tower.

That followed the monarch learning of an ancient prophecy stating that if the ravens ever left the fortress, it would collapse, dooming the kingdom too.

Since then, members of the Yeomen Warders — the ceremonial guards responsible for securing the tower, in particular the Crown Jewels — have taken care of the birds.

The warders, commonly known as Beefeaters and led by a “Ravenmaster” since the late 1960s, must ensure that at least six birds live in the tower at all times, according to the rules laid down by Charles II.

Michael “Barney” Chandler, 57, is only the sixth person to take on this solemn role, starting back in March.

Chandler, who served in Iraq and Afghanistan when in the Royal Marines, had no particular interest in birds before arriving at the Tower of London 14 years ago.

“I fell in love with the ravens,” he added, praising their intelligence. “They’re individuals, they are characters, just like us,” he said.

Sports

- Paris-bound Paralympics team gets warm send off

- Ishan in top form as he powers Jharkhand to a 52-run lead over Madhya Pradesh

- Could have competed till 2032 under different circumstances, says Vinesh in emotional post

- Korean raider Lee set to return to PKL with Patna Pirates

- Pragg stutters in blitz also, stays at bottom

- Darke’s unbeaten century carries Australia-A to facile win over India-A

- Sumit and Bhagyashri named flag-bearers for Paralympics OC

- Smith eyes an IPL comeback after a stellar show in MLC

- Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella suspended for doping violation

- South Africa 111 for one in second essay after bowling out WI for 144

- Requiem for a dream: making peace with mortality in sport

- STACKING UP

- ‘The Vaseline incident is something you have to live with; one of those things you can’t undo’

- Defying gravity

Paris-bound Paralympics team gets warm send off

Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI

A vibrant inspirational song released as the anthem for the contingent; Sports Ministers confident that the 84-member contingent, the biggest ever, would win more than 25 medals in French capital

All set for the action: Members of the Indian Paralympic team with Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for sports Raksha Khadse, and PCI president Devendra Jhajaria. Special Arrangement Special Arrangement

The Union Sports Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya urged the Paris-bound Indian Paralympics contingent to come up with its best performance ever.

In a warm send off ceremony in the Capital, Mandaviya and the Minister of State for Sports, Raksha Khadse, were unanimous in addressing the athletes as the “pride of the nation” and expressed confidence that they would continue to script inspiring stories.

The president of the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI), double Paralympic gold medallist Devendra Jhajaria, was confident that the 84-member contingent, the biggest ever, would win more than 25 medals in Paris. “We had 56 athletes in Tokyo, competing in 12 disciplines. Now, we are competing in three more disciplines. We have 47 first timers. Many have already reached Paris and are training,” said Jhajaria.

Avoid pressure

With his vast experience, spread across many years in Paralympics, Jhajaria told the athletes not to be weighed down by the pressure of expectations.

“Don’t come under pressure. You have to give your best. Once you do that, medal will be assured”, he said, equally confident that India would finish among the top-20 countries in the Games.

“Your journey is very inspirational. For most of us, it is a learning experience”, said Raksha.

“At the government, we do everything we can to support you. The government is with you. Am sure you will get more than 25 medals. And when you come back, there should be regional language interviews of our champions so that their inspirational journey reaches the people”, said Ms. Raksha.

“You have the ability to challenge the challenge, and convert adversity into a favourable situation. Despite all the struggle, you don’t complain to God, but prove to the world that anybody can do anything. You are the pride of the nation”, said Mandaviya.

The minister was particular in bringing forth the role of the parents of the athletes and the early coaches in shaping their career, saying that they deserved the credit for putting their wards on right track and backing them.

Flag-bearer Sumit Antil, athletics chief coach Satyanarayan and many others were also felicitated on the occasion. A vibrant inspirational song was also released as the Paralympic anthem for the contingent.

Ishan in top form as he powers Jharkhand to a 52-run lead over Madhya Pradesh

Sports Bureau

1 of 3 Century-makers: Ishan Kishan (Jharkhand, 114); Shubham Khajuria (J&K, 147 batting); Sahab Yuvraj (Railways, 105 n.o.). Special Arrangement

2 of 3

3 of 3

Ishan Kishan marked his return to red-ball cricket with a superb 114 (107b, 5x4, 10x6) against Madhya Pradesh on day two of the all India Buchi Babu invitation cricket tournament at Tirunelnelvi on Friday.

Jharkhand took a 52-run first-innings lead at the end of the day’s play, riding on the 109-run fifth-wicket partnership between Kishan and Aditya Singh.

Earlier this year the Jharkhand wicketkeeper was removed from the BCCI’s annual central contract for not prioritising domestic cricket.

Given the circumstances, Ishan’s innings carry immense significance. He started his innings cautiously, but once he found his rhythm, he unleashed a flurry of boundaries.

His drives straight down the ground and square of the wicket to the pacers were skilful. He was confident while dancing down the track to the spinners and smashing sixes. In the 109-run partnership, Ishan’s contribution alone was 87, showcasing his dominance.

Dheeru Singh (147, 277b, 25x4) and Lakshay Sangwan (75, 141b, 10x4, 1x6) helped Haryana post 419 in its first innings against Mumbai at Coimbatore. Mumbai ended the day at 133 for four, trailing by 286 runs.

Shubham Khajuria’s unbeaten 147 (285b, 12x4, 5x6) helped Jammu & Kashmir to a 71-run lead against Chhattisgarh at Dindigul. He was involved in two 100-run partnerships — 122 with skipper Paras Dogra for the fourth wicket and 125 for the fifth-wicket with Sahil Lotra.

The scores: At Tirunelveli: Madhya Pradesh 225 in 91.3 overs vs Jharkhand 277/7 in 84 overs (Ishan Kishan 114).

At Salem: Indian Railways 570 in 129.5 overs (Sahab Yuvraj 105 n.o., Ashutosh Sharma 43, Siddharth Desai 4/159) vs Gujarat 155/3 in 43 overs (Manan Hingrajia 65, Het Patel 41 batting).

At Coimbatore: Haryana 419 in 129.3 overs (Dheeru Singh 147, Lakshay Sangwan 75, Amit Rana 46) vs Mumbai 133/4 in 50 overs (Akhil Herwadkar 55)

At Dindigul: Chhattisgarh 278 vs Jammu & Kashmir 349/4 in 103 overs (Shubham Khajuria 147 batting, Abdul Samad 58, Paras Dogra 73, Sahil Lotra 57 batting).

Could have competed till 2032 under different circumstances, says Vinesh in emotional post

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

Gritty crusader: Vinesh says she will always fight for what she believes in and for the right thing.APEugene Hoshiko

Wrestler Vinesh Phogat on Saturday said that under “different circumstances” she could see herself competing till 2032 because she still has a lot of left in her but is unsure about her future as things “might never be the same again”.

Vinesh had announced her retirement from the sport after her disqualification from the women’s 50kg final for being overweight by 100g. She had challenged the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport but it was dismissed.

In an emotional post on social media, Vinesh shared her childhood dream, the hardships she faced after losing her father and also put on record the contribution made by people in her journey that ended in heartbreak in Paris. “....all I want to say is that we did not give up, our efforts did not stop, and we did not surrender but the clock stopped and the time was not fair. So was my fate,” she wrote, referring to the work she did with her team before the second day weigh-in.

“To my team, my fellow Indians and my family, it feels like: the goal that we were working towards and what we had planned to achieve is unfinished, that something might always remain missing, and that things might never be the same again. Maybe under different circumstances, I could see myself playing till 2032, because the fight in me and wrestling in me will always be there.

“I can’t predict what the future holds for me, and what awaits me in this journey next, but I am sure that I will continue to fight always for what I believe in and for the right thing,” she wrote.

Korean raider Lee set to return to PKL with Patna Pirates

Sports Bureau

Mumbai

Over two days, 118 players went under the hammer in the auctions for the Pro Kabaddi League’s eleventh edition here. A record eight players crossed the ₹1 crore mark for the first time in the league’s history with raider Sachin Tanwar emerging as the top buy this season.

Tamil Thalaivas secured the Indian’s services for a whopping ₹2.07 crore. Sachin left behind superstars like Iranian Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh (Haryana Steelers – ₹2.07 cr) and Pawan Sehrawat (Telugu Titans - ₹1.725 cr).

Day two of the auction was key in how teams built squads around these marquee players.

Most notably, South Korean raider Jang-Kun Lee — picked up by Patna Pirates for ₹17.50 lakh — is set to return to the PKL after four seasons.

However, Rahul Chaudhari — one of the earliest superstars of Indian kabaddi in the PKL era — failed to find takers this time. Inconsistent performances over the past four seasons have seen him fall out of favour.

Tamil Nadu raider V. Ajith Kumar was the most expensive player on day two, going for ₹66 lakh to Puneri Paltan while Rajasthan’s Jai Bhagwan earned a ₹63 lakh bid from Bengaluru Bulls.

Every team was given a budget of ₹5 crore for the auction. Haryana Steelers came closest to exhausting its purse, ultimately spending ₹4.99 crore in setting up its squad.

Top five buys in 2024 (in ₹ crore): Sachin Tanwar to Tamil Thalaivas - 2.15, Mohammadreza Shadloui Chiyaneh to Haryana Steelers - 2.07, Guman Singh to Gujarat Giants - 1.97, Pawan Sehrawat to Telugu Titans - 1.725, Bharat Hooda to UP Yoddhas - 1.30.

Pragg stutters in blitz also, stays at bottom

Press Trust of India

SAINT LOUIS (USA)

Rare success: One of Praggnanandhaa’s two wins on the first day of blitz came against Nepomniachtchi.Flickr/grandchesstourFULLER

R. Praggnanandhaa remained in last spot going into the final day of the Saint Louis Rapid and Blitz chess tournament. Before that, he won a couple of games in the blitz section.

Praggnanandhaa scored two wins at the expense of pre-event favourites Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Hikaru Nakamura of Russia besides a lone draw with tournament leader Alireza Firouzja of France but lost the remaining six games in the first leg of blitz that kept him on the bottom. Firouzja made most of his opportunities count to shoot into sole lead on 17.5 points.

Standings after first day of blitz: 1. Alireza Firouzja 17.5 points; 2-3; Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wesley So 16; 4. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 15.5; 5. Levon Aronian 15; 6. Hikaru Nakamura 13.5; 7. Fabiano Caruana 13; 8. Lenier Dominguez 12; 9. Nodirbek Abdusattorov 10; 10. R. Praggnanandhaa (Ind) 6.5.

Darke’s unbeaten century carries Australia-A to facile win over India-A

Press Trust of India

Mackay (Australia)

Opener Maddy Darke’s unbeaten 106 propelled Australia-A to an eight-wicket win over India-A in the second women’s one-day match here on Friday. With this victory, the Aussies took a 2-0 lead in the three-match series.

Chasing 219, Australia-A was well-served by Darke’s knock which came off 115 balls and was studded with seven fours. Her opening partner Katie Mack made 68 (78b, 5x4) as the pair milked 131 in 22.4 overs. Tahlia McGrath remained not out on 32 (26b, 5x4) as Australia-A made 221 for two in 40.2 overs. The skipper and Darke added 52 for the third-wicket.

Earlier, Maitlan Brown, Nicola Hancock and Charli Knott shared six wickets between them as India-A was bowled out for 218 with two overs remaining.

India-A, which was reduced to 52 for three, managed to resist the Aussie bowlers through Tejal Hasabnis (63, 86b, 4x4) and Raghvi Bist (70, 93b, 4x4, 1x6). Hasabnis and Bist put on 124 for fourth wicket as the team reached 176 for three in 40 overs. However, the team could not capitalise on the position of strength as it lost the remaining seven wickets for just 42 runs in eight overs.

The scores: India-A 218 in 48 overs (Tejal Hasabnis 63, Raghvi Bist 70) lost to Australia-A 221/2 in 40.2 overs (Maddy Darke 106 n.o., Katie Mack 68).

Sumit and Bhagyashri named flag-bearers for Paralympics OC

Getty Images, Special Arrangement

Tokyo Paralympics gold medallist Sumit Antil and Asian Para Games silver winner Bhagyashri Jadhav will be India’s flag-bearers at Paris Paralympics opening ceremony. Javelin thrower Sumit won gold in Tokyo with a world record in the F64 category, while shot-putter Bhagyashree claimed silver in the F34 section at Asian Para Games.

Smith eyes an IPL comeback after a stellar show in MLC

AFP

Bolstered by his strong showing in MLC, Australian batter Steve Smith is hopeful of making a return to the IPL next year. “I’d certainly love another opportunity at IPL. I’ll be throwing my name in the hat, and we’ll see how we go,” Smith was quoted by Fox Cricket.

Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella suspended for doping violation

AFPISHARA S. KODIKARA

Wicketkeeper-batter Niroshan Dickwella has been suspended by Sri Lanka Cricket following allegations of an anti-doping violation during the Lankan Premier League. The SLC announced the decision with immediate effect on Friday, with the alleged incident taking place during the LPL where he captained Galle Marvels.

South Africa 111 for one in second essay after bowling out WI for 144

Getty Images

South Africa was 111 for one at tea in its second innings of the second Test day two against West Indies at Providence on Friday. Jason Holder hit 54 n.o. as West Indies was dismissed for 144.

The scores: S. Africa 160 and 111/1 in 35 overs at tea (Markram 43 batting) vs WI 144 in 42.4 overs (Holder 54 n.o., Mulder 4/32).

Requiem for a dream: making peace with mortality in sport

K.C. Vijaya Kumar

As fans, we associate athletes with joy, vigour, wellbeing, even invincibility. And so the sombre news of a player’s demise often shatters the illusion — we feel we have lost a near and dear one

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getty images

Diego Maradona

Shane Warne

Ayrton Senna

Sport is primarily seen as the finest distillation of life’s exuberance. Moving limbs, kinetic energy, streaks of sweat, the earnest desire to win — above all, it is in essence the pursuit of happiness. Precisely due to these associations, even if they are not explicitly spelt out, an athlete’s death often seems like an oxymoron to our startled minds.

How can a sportsperson die? Yes, that old line about death and taxes being inevitable remains strong as ever, and all of us are conscious about mortality. Yet, when the newswires bring home that sombre news about a player’s demise, be it current or former, be it on the field, in a hospital bed, through an accident or self-inflicted harm, how does the larger public react?

Why acceptance isn’t easy

The usual grief-template of ‘shock, denial and grudging acceptance’ doesn’t necessarily work. Obviously shock and denial remain massive but the acceptance part takes an inordinately long time. How can this wonderful athlete, who did spectacular things on the field, suddenly turn lifeless? This train of thought is at a dissonance with the fine print of most sports: injuries can happen and some could be life-threatening.

Over the last few weeks, life’s full-stop was evident in the sporting arena. Former India opener Aunshuman Gaekwad lost his battle against cancer at 71. And as if death was stalking the cricketing fields, England’s middle-order stalwart of the 1990s and early 2000s, Graham Thorpe too succumbed at 55. It has now come to light through his grieving family that the left-hander’s demise was a case of death by suicide.

Since sport is also invested with the metaphor of being in a battlefield, the presumption is that a sportsperson would even pause Father Time. Eternity and utopia are themes running through any athletic endeavour, and they get juxtaposed with the sporting practitioner’s life.

If Gaekwad could survive the bloodbath at Sabina Park in 1976, couldn’t he muster the will to overcome cancer? Thorpe was at his resilient best against the finest of attacks and yet his mind’s undercurrents, dallying with the diabolical shadows of self-doubt and depression, left him spent. Denial was again at play in the way we reacted and it is surely not the first time.

An Ayrton Senna departing in a crash on an F1 track at Bologna in Italy in 1994 still rankles. Senna was the master of mechanical speed but what was this haste towards the exit door? His legacy stands but his death at a mere 34 again drags in those queries about ‘what could have been?’

It is a question that shadows former India opener Raman Lamba too. Struck on the head while fielding close-in during a game at Dhaka, the Delhiite never recovered. A man, who once smashed the visiting Aussies all over the park during an ODI series, now lay dead. This was in 1998, and again, while being fully aware of the harm that a cricketing red cherry can inflict, disbelief hung in the air like a dark shroud.

Silence, tears, denial

Death on the grass is a dastardly episode that finds repeated segments as some footballers have inexplicably moved on while pursuing the beautiful game. The autopsy report about injuries and cardiac-arrest never cuts ice even if it is the essential truth. Australian opener Phillip Hughes pinned down forever by a bouncer in 2014 evoked the same response: silence, tears and denial.

Sport at its highest form is always the truth. What you see is real, be it triumph or defeat, laughter or angst. But death, the one reality associated with life, is almost deemed impossible in the realm of sport. A tent-pegger in equestrian may find his horse swerving into the woods leaving him hung upon a branch with grievous injuries. Still in those rare cases, the abiding reflexive thought is ‘how could that happen?’

But sport is a workspace in which its practitioners are not essentially in control. A Hughes or a Lamba can never tone down the danger residing within a cricket ball. The former wore a helmet, the latter did not, and still their fate was the same. The metaphysical poet John Donne wrote through his poem Death, be not proud: “One short sleep past, we wake eternally. And death shall be no more: Death, thou shalt die.”

A wordsmith with a feverish imagination, a rebellious streak and a philosophical air may write these lines but even Donne became part of the sands of time in 1631. Be it life or its athletic exposition sport, death is the unwelcome guest hanging around at the blind corner. It always seems difficult to accept the finish-line when the breath ebbs, rigor mortis steps in and the much speculated 21-gram loss in weight supposedly happens, as physician Duncan MacDougall propagated in 1907.

Sporting gods like Diego Maradona, Pele, Muhammad Ali, Shane Warne or Milkha Singh, all evoke strong emotions rippling through a fandom that seeks a quick-fix for a collective self-esteem enhancement. When a star wins, the ordinary fan’s spirit soars. By extension, the athlete dispensing confidence to the larger mass could be seen as a mass-hypnosis state which perhaps the subject is never conscious about. This near-religious or cult-propagating experience tends to cloud the fans’ judgement.

That the sportsperson can never fail at the micro level and never die at the macro space becomes an idea that seeps in like a steady monsoon rain. An amalgam of fondness, love and reverence creeps in and inevitably the ‘acceptance phase’ of an athlete’s death becomes prolonged. It is almost as if we lost a near and dear one.

The athlete’s reality

Still for the athlete the pressure is real. Most deal with life-long scars. Wicketkeepers have gnarled fingers, footballers end up with busted knees and ankles. The fear of failure, lonely nights in hotel rooms, all take a toll. Like army veterans, the retired player harks back to the good old days. The audience, after a while, gets bored. Relief is then excessively sought through a glass brimming with spirits.

For every Martina Navratilova or Yuvraj Singh surviving cancer, there are others who find the mountain too steep to climb. High on their own sense of invincibility, because the indomitable belief drives them forward, athletes tend to ignore health’s alarm bells. Some recover in time, others struggle. Still the larger population tends to lean on the sportsperson’s visible fitness and never get a grip on a silent illness or the shards of pain scything through the mind.

Ironically, death as a metaphor lurks around sport. A dismissal, a goal missed, a catch dropped, even a celebrated retirement after a storied career are all seen as mini-deaths. But when the final whistle is genuinely blown in life, the athlete’s fandom would rather block that news for a while. If sport is life, can death be far behind?

Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050. Helplines across the country can be accessed here: https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/suicide-prevention-helplines/article61753129.ece

Muhammad Ali

‘The Vaseline incident is something you have to live with; one of those things you can’t undo’

P.K. Ajith Kumar

England left-armer John Lever had his moments in Test cricket, but is remembered more for a controversy regarding the condition of the ball. In this chat, he talks about his career, the fallout of the Vaseline affair, the importance of finding a way to swing the ball in Asia, and the best cricketers he has encountered

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2 of 3 There were those big signs when we got into the stadium, saying ‘Cheater Lever, go home’, ‘Tony Greig go home.’ Yet when you waved to the crowd they were all waving back and smiling

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THE HINDU ARCHIVES

On England’s tour of India in 1976-77, John Lever found himself becoming an unintended brand ambassador for Vaseline. The series might be remembered more for the Vaseline-ball controversy from the third Test in Chennai, but before that, the pacer had registered match figures of 10 for 70 after making 53 lower down the order on his Test debut at New Delhi. A decade later, he made a comeback to end his career with the 1986 Leeds Test against India. Excerpts from an interview Lever gave The Hindu.

It was quite a Test debut, wasn’t it? Ten wickets in the match, a half-century, and an innings win for England.

Coming to India, I was expecting hot conditions and flat wickets. But it was really cool in New Delhi; it was nearly a two-sweater occasion, long-sleeve sweater.

So were the wickets rather flat on that tour?

They were fairly flat. There was one quick wicket in that Test series; I think it was in Bangalore or Madras. The ball went quite quickly from Bob Willis, but it always turned a bit and Derek Underwood was our premier spin bowler. And I think he got the most wickets on the tour, didn’t he?

Yes, he did – 29. And you had the second-highest number of wickets: 26. Ten of them came in the first Test in Delhi.

The Indian ball swung a bit, but it wasn’t the first ball. It had gone soft fast and they had changed it. The conditions also helped a bit; there was some sort of a mist around. We had batted first and posted good runs on the board, and that meant there was less pressure.

I remember my first wicket: I had Aunshuman Gaekwad lbw with a ball that swung into him. I don’t remember how I got Sunil Gavaskar out, though. Gavaskar was India’s best player by a long way. I think his batting — with all those magnificent knocks against the fearsome fast bowlers — was a turning point for Indian cricket. All of a sudden, India had somebody who was going to take on the quick, quick bowlers. And he played them really well.

You didn’t bat too badly in your maiden Test innings, making a fifty coming in at No. 9.

Every bowler remembers when they bat well. I kept playing forward and nicking it to third-man for fours, which kept the scoreboard moving. B.S. Chandrasekhar was the guy that we all feared. There was this noise the ball made when it came down; it really fizzed through the air. The three Indian spinners — Chandra, Erapalli Prasanna and Bishan Bedi — will always stay in my memory. They were so different.

The series is remembered more for the Vaseline incident. It was one of the first controversies regarding the ball…

I was disappointed more than anything else. I remember we went to Madras for the third Test [with a 2-0 lead in the five-match series]. It was hot. I played a lot of football and used to use some Vaseline to stop the sweat going [into my eyes]. I asked our physio if we had some and he said, ‘No’. So that morning, he went out to the chemist and came back with Vaseline-impregnated gauze. Bob Willis and I put it on [our foreheads].

After bowling his first ball, Bob threw it away, but I kept mine on, and it wasn’t comfortable. When we went to lunch, I said, ‘Oh you know, I’m not sure about this,’ and I threw it down on the floor. The umpire pounced on it.

Bish accused me of cheating. It hurt. I had already played nine years in county cricket. I fell out with him, and we had a big row. I think he was under a bit of pressure at the time. But I did shake hands with him a couple of years ago, when he was in England. I bumped into him, and I said, ‘Long time ago, we can’t carry on not talking to each other’. So everything was okay.

And the fact is Vaseline doesn’t really help the ball swing, you know. The ball was sent to England to be analysed and it went to some police scientific place. They came up with sun cream, sweat and saliva but no Vaseline. But that never came out. But it is something that you have to live with; you know one of those things you can’t undo. It is okay, but there were those big signs when we got into the stadium, saying ‘Cheater Lever, go home’, ‘Tony Greig go home.’ Yet when you waved to the crowd they were all waving back and smiling, and you didn’t feel any hatred.

How did you put the Vaseline incident behind you?

I thought there was going to be a big backlash when we would go to Australia. I thought the Australian crowds were going to be mentioning it all the time, but it just passed. That didn't happen. And they were quite dismissive about it. I have seen so many quick bowlers getting lots of wickets and then all of a sudden somebody gets the idea that, well, they must be throwing it. And I think that was levelled against me too at one stage because I used to bowl with my sleeves down.

Bob Woolmer was your teammate on that India tour. Did he give any indication that he would go on to become such a successful coach?

No. He was a good player, he talked a lot about the game but we ignored him. He had a very mysterious death, as well.

Which swing bowlers have impressed you over the years?

When I started, Garry Sobers was a great swing bowler. He was quite quick as well. He was really my idol. He was really a nice man, as well. I played against him. I hadn’t been playing for long, and we were playing against Nottinghamshire. He came and talked to me, and he didn’t have to do that. James Anderson has been head and shoulders above the rest of his generation. Jasprit Bumrah is a thinking bowler. He doesn’t just run up and hit the deck, he is always looking to do something with the ball. Wasim Akram is the best left-arm pacer I have ever come across. He had pace and reverse swing.

In our days, what we used to do was to put enough sweat on one side of the ball to make it heavy then it used to swing that way. But now they keep it very, very dry and then just polish one side. When playing on the subcontinent, you had to find a way of making the ball swing. If it doesn’t swing, it’s going to be a very boring game, isn’t it?

The toughest batters you bowled to?

The people that put you under pressure as a bowler would be the people who can play and hit a good ball. So your best dot ball could go for runs. A lot of the West Indian batters, Viv Richards and Gordon Greenidge were like that. Then Barry Richards and Graham Gooch.

Defying gravity

What began in the block parties of the Bronx reached the classical facades of one of Paris’ most opulent public spaces last week, overseen by the International Olympic Committee.

This photograph, captured using a remote camera positioned above the ‘field of play’, showcases a move from the urban sport of breaking or breakdancing, which spun its way onto the Olympic stage for the first time, amid the grand elegance of Place de la Concorde.

The sport’s appearance at the Games could be a fleeting one, however, having already been dropped from the Los Angeles 2028 programme, with no guarantees it will return.

But the organisers ensured that breaking, which originated as part of hip hop culture in New York in the 1970s, made the most of its time in the spotlight in Paris, pumping up the volume for an excited crowd that included rapper Snoop Dogg. Each battle saw competitors, known as B-Girls and B-Boys, take turns to lay down their dance moves on a circular stage over a set number of rounds, with a panel of judges determining the winner.

Weekend

- The Indian anime coup

- Dubai bling

- For the happily ever after

- Seconds to glory

- Portal to Pulicat

- Taapsee Pannu’s wilting rose

- Prashanth makes a splendid comeback with this imperfect remake

- A tedious, over-stretched film

- This romantic drama does not fire

- Barren, boring and unwatchable

The Indian

Ayaan Paul Chowdhury

As streaming platforms offer a smorgasbord of anime, and a grassroots movement brings major titles to the big screen, anime is here to stay

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6 of 6 Stills from Suzume and Sousou no Frieren; and (above) the Delhi Anime Club organises a watch party. Special Arrangement and Delhi Anime Club Special Arrangement

India’s anime scene has been having a moment. Once the preserve of a handful of devoted otakus (anime enthusiast) and childhoods replete with dubbed classics, anime has steadily turned itself into the nation’s favourite binge and is experiencing a full-blown cultural coup. The beloved hand-drawn style of animation has leapt from the obscure to the ubiquitous, turning screens of all shapes and sizes into sanctuaries of escapism. Rocket-fuelled by a potent blend of passionate die-hards, mushrooming corporate enthusiasm, and the indisputable charm of epic Japanese storytelling, we are living through a cultural renaissance for anime in India. But what fuels this fervour? Akshat Sahu, senior director, Marketing for APAC at Crunchyroll, has some insights. “The dynamic and visually stunning animation style, coupled with deep, multi-genre storytelling, resonates with a wide audience,” he explains. Much like the rest of the world, India has been a fertile ground for pirated anime sites, thriving in the absence of legal alternatives— until Crunchyroll sauntered onto the scene.

Since its Indian debut, Crunchyroll has been a major player in anime streaming. Sahu reveals, “We currently have over 80 shows dubbed in Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu, contributing to over 65% of total viewership for dubbed content.” This localisation strategy has been a game-changer and has led to nearly four times the increase in total watch time, demonstrating the importance of regional language dubs in engaging the diverse Indian audience.

Anime’s multi-generational appeal has always been a key factor to its success. “Nostalgic connections with anime from the 90s and 2010s bridge generational gaps, while the growth of streaming platforms and online communities has made anime more accessible than ever before,” Sahu adds.

Plenty to choose from

The sudden surge of anime-only platforms and channels like Anime Times, Sony YAY, and Anime Booth over the course of this year alone, has only strengthened the genre’s resolve for its growing popularity. With streaming platforms doling out anime like candy, anyone with an Internet connection can dive in. “When there is more anime available to fans, it’s only a good thing for the anime ecosystem and, of course, the fans,” Sahu remarks.

With this plethora of streaming platforms offering a smorgasbord of anime, the barrier to entry has never been lower. And let’s be honest, when your friendly neighbourhood weeb (a reclaimed pejorative for a person obsessed with anime) is buzzing about the latest episode of One Piece, resistance seems futile.

For Jatin Varma, founder, Comic Con India, the surge in anime interest is part of a broader trend. “There has been an overall increase in interest in anime/manga worldwide,” he remarks. “The pandemic certainly gave fans more time to discover new content. This trend is true in India as well. It coincides with easier access to the content, be it popular series on streaming services and access to manga via e-commerce, everything delivered right to your home.”

But the anime wave has not restricted itself to streaming. Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director, PVR INOX, says, “We’ve observed the meteoric rise of anime in India, especially with the launch of several anime-only platforms,” he notes. “While these platforms have significantly increased the availability of anime content, we have found that the demand for anime screenings in theatres is robust and continues to grow.”

Evidently, the cinematic landscape for anime in India has seen titanic shifts. Suzume, directed by Makoto Shinkai, shattered box office records in India, raking in over 10 crores. Shinkai’s visit to India certainly fuelled the film’s success.

Theatres have since embraced this wave, from Demon Slayer and Haikyuu!! to Studio Ghibli’s The Boy and the Heron packing in whopping crowds. Market forecasts are predicting a brisk 13.4% annual growth through 2030 — a fairly decisive indicator that India’s anime affair is here to stay. “Anime releases at the cinemas have become more than just movie showings; they are special events that bring fans together to celebrate their favourite titles,” Bijli says. “These screenings and fan meet-ups create a sense of community and excitement that streaming platforms cannot replicate.”

Indeed, anime’s secret sauce for success has always boiled down to one key ingredient: community. The surge in anime’s popularity has cultivated a fervent fan base eager to experience their favourite shows in communal settings. Deven from the Delhi Anime Club succinctly captures this phenomenon: “Anime used to be a niche interest, but now it’s a cultural movement. The turning point was when Dragon Ball Super: Broly was released, and we saw an outpouring of excitement and support.”

The role of community events cannot be overstated. “Exclusive events, screenings, and experiences go a long way in building the fan community,” Varma says. “For any fandom to establish itself in a community, easy access to content and merch is essential”. Comic Con India’s yearly convergence of geeks in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and more, has become a sanctuary for the otaku community. Here, weebs can revel in their fandom, surrounded by kindred spirits, free from the shadow of judgement or the weight of inhibition.

Cosplay, of course, has become an essential part of the anime experience. “Cosplay at anime film releases transforms our theatres into lively, colourful gatherings where fans come together to celebrate their favourite characters and stories,” Bijli says. “This level of involvement is often more intense and widespread than what we observe with other film genres.”

As the wave continues to surge, it is clear that these fan efforts have been instrumental. “Our community has grown exponentially,” says Deven. The Delhi Anime Club is just one of many across the country that has evolved from casual meet-ups to organising large-scale events, fostering an eclectic community of fans through screenings, quizzes, cosplay contests, and collaborations with colleges and Japanese organisations, promoting anime culture across India.

Sahu says, “Projections indicate that India will drive 60% of the global increase in anime interest over the coming years.”

Ultimately, the anime surge in India is the result of a perfect trifecta of accessibility, community, and capitalising on the ceaseless bounties that Japan has to offer. The phenomenon is far from a fleeting fad, more, a cultural tidal wave of relentless hunger that is larger than life.

Praachi Raniwala

Fashion takes centrestage as the glamorous Atlantis The Royal hotel in the desert city celebrates its first anniversary

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2 of 5 Atlantis The Royal hotel, Dubai. Special Arrangement

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No one does larger than life like Dubai. It is in the West Asian desert city’s very DNA. Naturally, this more-is-more aesthetic is mirrored in some of the city’s most luxurious hotels, including Atlantis The Royal. Yes, the same hotel whose launch party last year pulled in a crowd of international A-listers including Beyoncé, Kendall Jenner, Gauri Khan, Jay-Z, Ashley Park,and Farhan Akhtar.

Situated next to its older sister Atlantis The Palm, this 795-key mega-resort with its futuristic architecture and smorgasbord of offerings is as sleek, sexy and glossy as they come. Not only can you dine at its 17 restaurants (including Nobu by the Beach, and outposts by celebrity chefs like José Andrés and Gastón Acurio) and swim in its 90 pools, you can also indulge in a glamorous dose of fashion.

Many luxury hotels have luxury boutiques located inside the property. For starters, the hotel is home to 13 uber luxury stores including Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Graff. The summer also saw the property host a unique collaboration with Louis Vuitton where six three-metre-tall figurines of the Parisian brand’s mascot, Vivienne — wooden dolls with their head fashioned after the brand’s monogrammed flower — were spread across the sprawling premises.

Specially crafted in Dubai, they are kitted out with an exciting AR experience that marries fashion, fantasy, and technology. Hotel guests are also gifted limited edition LV trunk stickers that are exclusive to the property.

And then there is the hotel’s rooftop bar Cloud 22 — famous for its infinity pool, and sweeping views of The Palm Islands, the Arabian Sea and Dubai’s glittering skyline — that has been given a makeover by Italian fashion house Dolce & Gabbana in collaboration with local retailer Ounass. The entire space has been dressed up in the brand’s iconic blue majolica print, alongside a menu reminiscent of favourites from the Amalfi coast such asMediterranean dips, bruschetta, Gillardeau oysters and strawberry popsicles.

Before you make your way up for some revelry in the skies, you can also dip into the special Ounass x Dolce & Gabbana pop-up store on the ground floor, which houses a collection of its latest must-haves. It shares floor space with other luxury stores including Valentino, Louis Vuitton and Level Shoes. The latter even promises to source certain footwear on special request, and deliver it to your room in just 90 minutes.

And if you are staying in a signature suite or the penthouse, you can just enjoy a tailored private shopping experience from the comfort of your room, where brands send up a curated collection directly to the suite, accompanied by a personal sales associate.

So, if the fashionista in you is looking for a taste of Dubai’s high life, this is where the two combine.

For the ever after

S Poorvaja

A three-day exhibition, The Wedding Collective, brings over 100 fashion, jewellery and gifting brands to the Jio World Convention Centre

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2 of 3 (Clockwise from above) Models flaunt designs by Shantanu and Nikhil; outfits from Dareaab by Sonia K Mahajan and Ekaya Banaras; and collections by Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna. Special arrangement

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Come wedding season in the latter half of the year, and you suddenly find your weekends packed. There are multiple events to attend, outfits to put together, gifts to think about, travel to plan… and if you are a bride or a groom, chances are that your Pinterest board is bursting with options, and you have a hundred reels saved for wedding outfit and decor inspiration.

Working towards redefining the wedding shopping experience Reliance Retail will host The Wedding Collective, an exhibition, from August 23 to 25 at the Jio World Centre in Mumbai.

“The idea for The Wedding Collective came about in a conversation with Isha Ambani, who fully recognises that the wedding industry in India is booming at an unimaginable level. A recent Jefferies report indicates that the industry is worth around ₹10 lakh crore, which is very significant. An average of 8 to 10 million weddings are held annually in India,” says Priya Tanna, president, The Right Side.

Over three days, the exhibition will have nearly hundred brands — ranging from wedding couture, food and beverages, make up, gifting, music, wedding planning and design, and a host of other premium services all under the same roof.

With bridal wear forming a large part of couture in India, several designers including Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla, Anita Dongre, Arpita Mehta, Ekaya, Faabiiana, Gaurav Gupta, Kshitij Jalori, Kunal Rawal, Manish Malhotra, Payal Singhal, Rahul Mishra, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna, Sangeeta Kilachand, and Krésha Bajaj will showcase their latest collections. Traditional weaves will also have a strong presence with a dedicated Artisans Pavilion curated by Jaina Lalbhai where artisans from across the country will showcase designs celebrating Indian craftsmanship and textiles. The jewellery brands in attendanceinclude Badalia Diamond Jewellers, Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas, Farah Khan Jewels, Hazoorilal Legacy, Sunita Shekhawat, Sanjay Gupta Tibarumals, Rare Heritage, Raj Mahtani and Misho by Suhani Parekh.

“We want to be an end-to-end wedding show, engineered towards retail and most importantly, cover the entirety of the wedding experience. Our first mandate is to bring everything you wish for in a dream wedding under one roof, with the biggest designers and fresh, young talent. Even if you are not planning a wedding, the festive season is just around the corner and this will be a great shopping experience,” Priya says.This will also facilitate a direct interface between the brands and the designers, Priya says, which is important, given the need for individualisation and customisation.

In its first edition, over 10,000 guests are expected to attend The Wedding Collective. The venue hosting The Wedding Collective, is an important part of the experience. “I envision the Jio World Convention Centre as the venue for many standout weddings; it has been designed to cater to events — both intimate and immense,” said Isha Mukesh Ambani, director, Reliance Industries, on the launch of the exhibition.

Register for free and attend The Wedding Collective at https://forms.thenodmag.com /theweddingcollective- registration/ on August 23, 24 and 25 at Jio World Convention Centre, Mumbai.

Sangita Rajan

Omega’s precision timing captured every millisecond of triumph at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games

1 of 2 Omega’s official countdown before the Paris Games. Getty images/istock Franco Arland

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The Olympic Games Paris 2024 concluded with a grand closing ceremony on August 11, bringing down the curtains on an event that had millions of people glued to their screens, cheering for their country’s best athletes.

After 16 days of historic sporting achievements, USA emerged at the top of the medal tally with 40 gold, 44 silver, and 42 bronze medals.

These medals — won, lost, and contested — were often determined by mere milliseconds, making one wonder: who ensured that everything was fair in the city of love?

The record-breaking performances were measured by a team of timekeepers from Swiss luxury watchmaker Omega, marking its 31st consecutive appearance as the official timekeeper of the Olympic Games since 1932.

The numbers

For the Paris Games, Omega deployed 550 timekeepers, 350 tonnes of state-of-the-art equipment, and a team of 900 trained volunteers to ensure precision across all 329 events in 32 sports.

These timekeepers were present at every venue from the Eiffel Tower Stadium to the Grand Palais and the Château de Versailles.

According to Omega, the Paris 2024 Games made history with 132 Olympic records and 38 world records.

One of the most challenging decisions was the Men’s 100m final, where both Noah Lyles of the US and K Thompson of Jamaica finished neck and neck, each clocking 9.79 seconds. Omega’s photofinish camera, capable of capturing 40,000 images per second, determined Lyles as the gold medallist by a mere 0.005 seconds.

With over nine decades of experience, Omega brought its expertise to the Paris Games and will continue to do so until 2032 in Brisbane, Australia, marking a century of accurate decisions. Omega remains the unwavering guardian of time.

Akila Kannadasan

Held as part of Madras Day celebrations by the AARDE Foundation, this heritage walk will cover places of historical importance

The old Dutch Cemetery at Pulicat. Special Arrangement B_JOTHI RAMALINGAM

The earliest nets fishermen used were made of cotton, unlike the nylon ones that are chiefly in use today. Cotton nets are not that easy to come by, but the Art& Architecture Research Development& Education (AARDE) Foundation has preserved some at its museum in Pulicat. The museum has been around for 10 years, and is the first stop at the heritage walk Trace Origin of Madras, held as part of Madras Day celebrations. Organised by AARDE, this is the 12th edition of the walk that will cover places of historical importance at the ancient port town of Pulicat.

Xavier Benedict, founder-trustee of AARDE, will lead the heritage walk that will start at 7am on August 17 from Loyola’s ICAM gate, Mahalingapuram Main Road. “Participants will arrive at Pulicat at 9am, and will first be shown around the museum, which has objects that were excavated by the ASI in and around Pulicat,” explains Xavier. This includes pots, fishing nets, and kalamkari fabrics. They will be shown how women there make palm leaf boxes, a craft that provides them financial stability.

The walk, that will be interspersed with talks, will cover the Dutch fort and cemetery, and the latter, according to Xavier, is the oldest cemetery in maritime trade. Among its highlights is a visit to the 25th milestone along the Buckingham Canal. There were once 25 milestones from Madras to Pulicat, set along the canal, starting with Basin Bridge. Participants will also be taken to the Adi Narayana Perumal temple that is being renovated, and to the Kal Pallivasal (stone mosque). Xavier will talk about the link between the mosque and cotton trade in the region.

“Finally, we will walk up the Pulicat lighthouse, that opens to the public at 3pm,” says Xavier. The idea is to show people the historical significance Pulicat has to the formation of the city of Chennai we know today. “Even before Madras was created, Pulicat was a port for the Dutch, and the British came to settle here since the Dutch were going strong,” he says. “Even before that, in 1502, Pulicat had a Portuguese fort.”

Xavier says that the reason behind holding the heritage walk is to help Pulicat, that is present in the list of World Heritage Sites from Tamil Nadu, make it to the national list.

The heritage walk will include a vegetarian meal, and non-vegetarians can try prawn fry, prepared by local women. It is on August 17. To register, visit aarde.in/madrasday2024, or WhatsApp 9884013409.

Taapsee Pannu’s wilting rose

Anuj Kumar

The dangers and deception that defined the 2021 dark romantic thriller feel contrived in the sequel

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Three years after Vinil Mathew’s romantic thriller brought some cheer during the COVID-19 pandemic, Haseen Dillruba returns to cash in on Rani Kashyap’s charm and goodwill. Promising to be a racy sequel to enliven the rainy season, it, however, turns out to be a damp squib. The makers once again try to dish out a desi dose of pulp fantasy to Netflix audiences but fail to turn a Manohar Kahani into a romantic noir.

Part of the problem is that apart from the clueless police at the end, there was little left to add to the scandalous story of the small-town beautician who takes time to make up her mind about the kind of man she wants in her life. As a result, in the sequel, directed by Jayprad Desai, the build-up feels a tad forced, and then the purple prose of writer Kanika Dhillon bleeds one to boredom as the shallow dialogue-baazi takes a long time to translate into action. Despite being set in Agra, the romance lacks soul and the crime is bereft of passion. Going back and forth to keep the suspense ticking turns out to be more of an editing gimmick than an organic exercise.

After taking the police for a ride, Rani Kashyap (Taapsee Pannu) and Rishu Saxena (Vikrant Massey) plan to escape abroad. In comes Jimmy Sheirgill as police officer Mrityunjay Prasad to scuttle their scheme. He has a personal connection with the case and is keen on unravelling the mystery behind the disappearance of Neel Tripathi (Harshvardhan Rane), the third angle in the original.

Meanwhile, another besotted admirer, Abhimanyu (Sunny Kaushal), walks into Rani’s life and she finds a modus operandi to throw the police off track in the game of cat and mouse. Complicating matters, the one-handed Rishu also has a specially-abled admirer. The premise looks purposeful on paper, and the possibilities are immense, but the thriller fails to bring one anywhere close to the edge of the seat. The mood keeps simmering for a while but never really comes to a boil.

Rani’s dilemma in the original made it a fun watch. She marries a mild-mannered man but gets charmed by the husband’s rakish cousin. When the devoted husband develops muscle, Rani’s confusion sets off a chaos that is not just skin deep. Three summers later, the deception and danger become one-dimensional and the supposed gotcha moment gets our goat.

The self-awareness of introducing a fictional pulp fiction writer whose novels inspire everybody in the film as a tribute to the genre gets a bit too obvious and his pearls of wisdom on relationships lose their shine pretty soon.

The only time my heart truly pounded in anticipation is when ‘Ek Hasina Thi, Ek Deewana Tha’ played in the background. That a 1980 song from Subhash Ghai’s Karz is borrowed to generate goosebumps in 2024 says something about the state of originality and creativity in Bollywood. However, the writing is not in sync with the moral ambiguity of the iconic song for the makers play safe with the actor’s image in the second edition. The dirty and sultry shades of red that are thrown in the parlour conversations don’t reflect in the storytelling. Moreover, the defining line of the film—“if love does not push you to the brink of insanity, it is not true love—is reduced to a throwaway remark in the sequel.

The sexual tension between Taapsee and Harshvardhan Rane’s characters that kept us anxious in the middle overs of the first installment is missing here because the bond between Rani and Abhimanyu lacks the covalent charge. Sunny is a fine actor but the role required a little more charisma. Saddled with a toothless character, Jimmy doesn’t gel with the proceedings and appears utterly disinterested in the case. Vikrant who brought the story to life in the first chapter has little to play with and Taapsee needs to hit the reset button to come out of the rut. Like the film, she is efficient without being exciting.

Phir Aayi Hasseen Dillruba is streaming on Netflix

Prashanth makes a splendid comeback with this imperfect remake

Gopinath Rajendran

Top Star Prashanth is back! After headlining Johnny, the Tamil remake of Sriram Raghavan’s Bollywood film Johnny Gaddaar, it’s Andhadhun’s remake this time and Prashanth makes a brilliant comeback with Andhagan, helmed by his father and filmmaker Thiagarajan.

Prashanth isn’t particularly reknowned for his acting prowess; he peaked during the era when ‘the chocolate boy’ was a category of protagonists and known for his charming screen presence, he banked on the bandwagon of films that relied on his other talents like action and dancing. Hence, it’s no wonder Andhagan will be his best performance in probably decades thanks to the excellent source material.

As a pianist, pretending to be visually impaired in the name of an “experiment”, Andhagan’s Krish gives Prashanth the perfect space to showcase his talents and the experienced actor laps it up. Be it the scenes where he witnesses the murder of actor Karthik (Karthik) that’s orchestrated by the star’s second wife Simi (Simran) and her paramour Manohar (Samuthirakani), or the comparatively casual sequences where he falls in love with Julie (Priya Anand), Prashanth does a great job as a man putting on a show to deceive everyone only to be caught in his own web of lies. The film gives several opportunities for the character to indulge in moral ambiguity and as a man who barely wants to survive for a better tomorrow, Prashanth sells the character’s vulnerability and emotions well.

If you have watched Andhadhun, it might feel strange to see that the Tamil version to have even copied the “What is life? It depends on the liver” opening slide from the original film. But quick flashbacks of the tweaks Johnny had compared to Johnny Gaddaar reassured me that only a scene-by-scene remake would make this film work... and it does. So much so that it wouldn’t be an overstatement to call it a far better iteration than the Telugu and Malayalam remakes, Maestroand Bhramam.

What makes the Tamil version stand apart predominantly, is its fantastic star cast. Inarguably, the crux of Andhadhun is Tabu’s character and with big shoes to fill, Simran had her work cut out for her. Prashanth and Simran’s characters are the living embodiment of how the duality of human nature works when stuck in a tight spot; while one tries to wiggle away to save themselves, the other would not think twice about bringing down the wall to make for a grand escape. Simran, in a powerful role after a long time in Tamil cinema, pulls it off so effortlessly that we almost forget that the duo fighting tooth and nail in Andhagan used to be one of the best onscreen couples in films like Kannedhirey Thondrinal, Parthen Rasithen, Thamizh and Jodi.

What comes as a pleasant surprise is Karthik, playing the role of the yesteryear hero trying to spice things up in life with a new wife. Be it the shot of him watching Mouna Ragam, or listening to ‘Panivizhum Malarvanam’ and ‘Kadhal Kavithaigal Padithidum’, and the music of ‘Keeravani’ playing while his character is getting killed or the rendition of ‘Chandirane Suriyane’ and ‘Nenjukulle Innarunnu’, the film doubles as an homage to the thespian.

The rest of the cast do a decent job and while the recreation of the final showdown between the cheating cop and his wife might be a hit or a miss in the Tamil version, the roles played by Urvashi and Yogi Babu as the organ harvesters miss the mark by a mile. The film also lacks the zaniness of Andhadhun and some of the scenes fall flat but it’s the primary cast’s sheer performance that keeps the film in check. While the film’s songs don’t manage to stay put in our memory, the fantastic piano compositions stand apart.

Apart from turning out to be a satisfactory watch for those who have not caught Andhadhun, the film makes for a befitting comeback for Prashanth, one of Tamil cinema’s finest talents who hasn’t gotten their due. Here’s to hoping Andhagan turns out to be the rabbit’s foot for Prashanth!

Andhagan is currently running in theatres

A tedious, over-stretched film

SR Praveen

Everything is in your face right from the beginning in debutant Nahas Nazar’s Adios Amigo, especially the running theme of the contrast between the haves and have-nots. So much so that one would expect something more to this never-ending and aimless journey of over 160 minutes with two aimless men. But, all we are left with are the few things the film repeatedly throws at us right from the beginning.

Two men from different backgrounds and situations meet at a bus station and begin an impromptu journey, the destination of which keeps shifting as they go along. The makers, for some mysterious reason, choose to reveal their names only in the end. While the poor man (Suraj Venjaramoodu) is trying desperately to get some money to take care of his mother’s hospital expenses, the rich man (Asif Ali) has left home with a pocketful of money to go around on yet another aimless trip of non-stop drinking and banter with just about any random person he comes across.

Right from the setup, it was inevitable that these two men would travel and stick together till the end. But, just to keep the journey going, the poor man who inexplicably goes on this trip even as his mother is in the hospital, does not reveal his need to the moneyed man until late into the day. All this, despite being with him even as he throws his money around to anyone he meets on the way.

Thankam, who wrote the screenplay for Kettyolaanu Ente Malakha, comes up with a script in which nothing happens for extended phases. There are long bus journeys, boat journeys, and a long night’s stay at a hotel, but nothing crucial occurs in any of these, even as the attempted humour lands only occasionally. The only substantial event amid all this is their meeting with a textile shop employee (Anagha), which sheds light on the rich man’s past and adds the rare emotional touch in a movie free of any such thing. Other than this, the only thing we know about him till the end is that he has been quite a headache for the entire family, splurging all the money he got from his father.

By the end, we wonder what the film was trying to convey as the director stretches a short film material. Adios Amigo could have been a humourous and profound work on inequality and its manifestations in real life. However, despite such aspirations, it ends up being a tedious, over-stretched film that fails to excite.

Adios Amigo is currently running in theatres

This romantic drama does not fire

Mini Anthikad Chhibber

Based on the Colleen Hoover bestseller, Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us is a tale of love, grief, abuse and rage that’s oddly disengaging

First off, It Ends With Us is a romantic drama, not a rom-com and definitely not a date movie. Fans of Colleen Hoover’s 2016 best-selling novel, that the film is based on, have expressed disappointment at leaving out certain key facts and moments. However, at just over two hours the film feels like a bit of a slog. Approaching the movie like a fluffy rom-com, even though the trailer encourages one to do just that, would be a complete disaster.

The film opens with Lily (Blake Lively) returning home for her father’s (Kevin McKidd) funeral. When her mother, Jenny, (Amy Morton) asks her about the eulogy she is to give, she admits to not writing it. She has nothing to say at the funeral staring down the empty bullet points on a serviette and abruptly walking out of the service.

Sitting on the ledge of a high rise trying to process her feelings, she meets an impossibly handsome stranger, Ryle (Justin Baldoni) and the two form a connection. Ryle lives in the apartment block and is a neurosurgeon. Lily, whose middle name is Blossom and whose surname is Bloom, loves flowers and wishes to open a florist shop. One almost wishes to agree with Ryle that her parents must have hated her something fierce.

Lily goes ahead and opens a totally ‘gram-able florist called Lily Bloom’s. As she is cleaning the store, Allysa (Jenny Slate), walks in and after saying she hates flowers, agrees to work for Lily. Despite Ryle preferring to keep things casual and Lily wanting a commitment, the two continue to see each other and their feelings deepen for each other.

Simultaneously, there are flashbacks of young Lily (Isabela Ferrer) forming a bond with a homeless boy, Atlas (Alex Neustaedter). Lily, Ryle, and Atlas, (there is nothing subtle about the names) have to process childhood trauma before they can move forward to make something of their lives. When Atlas (Brandon Sklenar), now a chef running a successful restaurant called Roots, reenters Lily’s life, she sees a side of Ryle that is a major cause for concern.

It Ends With Us is coy in its portrayal of domestic abuse, perhaps in a bid not to glamourise it, or have it devolve into gratuitousness. But the fuzzy frames and sharp cuts also divorce the viewer from the happenings on screen. The reason given for one of the character’s abuse is troubling.

The scene towards the end in the hospital with deciding on the baby’s name and divorce from the postpartum bed is so overwrought that one cannot help snickering. Acting-wise, Lively works with the material at hand while the men do not have much to do apart from providing eye candy and looking hurt or hurtful by turns, which they do competently.

The houses and lighting are beyond beautiful and have one gnashing teeth in envy at the spotless surfaces. The shoes are eye wateringly good, the clothes not so much. Apart from Marshall (Hasan Minhaj), Allysa’s husband, and a doctor in ER, It Ends With Us is overwhelmingly white.

With Lily sporting Louboutins, which cost upwards of $1000 a pair, a neurosurgeon and a successful restaurateur, money is obviously not an issue for the principals. It Ends With Us, plays out like a longer version of Sex and the City, with its attendant gains and losses.

It Ends With Us is currently running in theatres

Barren, boring and

Ayaan Paul Chowdhury

It’s an all-too-familiar trope in cinematic history: the curse of the video game adaptation. Once a cautionary tale of calamities, the genre has recently seen a glimmer of hope with successes like HBO’s The Last of Us and most recently with Prime Video’s Fallout. Yet it seems we have been inexorably drawn back into the cursed abyss with the arrival of Borderlands, a film so miscalculated, it deserves its own place in videogame purgatory.

Directed by Eli Roth, this latest outing feels like a wrenching, ill-conceived detour from Roth’s usual terrain. Adapted from Gearbox Software’s eponymous game franchise, Borderlands is a discordant cacophony of ineptitude.

The plot is a tired retread of every sci-fi trope imaginable. There are magical artefacts, a prophecy, a ragtag group of misfits who must band together to save the day — if it all sounds familiar, that’s because it is. Roth and his co-writer Joe Crombie seem to be more than content to churn out cliché-ridden banter and uninspired set pieces, hoping that the sheer volume of noise would compensate for their lack of creativity.

The film features Cate Blanchett, whose Academy Award-winning presence might misleadingly suggest a semblance of gravitas. Watching her wander through this wreckage, you can almost see the regret in her eyes. Her performance is devoid of bounty hunter Lilith’s endearing spark of wit rather, screams contractual obligation.

This weariness is matched only by Kevin Hart’s Roland, a character so lifeless that even Hart’s usual comedic flair seems muted and irrelevant. In a film that’s supposedly an action-comedy, it’s almost impressive how completely Borderlands fails at both. The jokes fall flat, the action is uninspired, and the entire enterprise is suffused with a grim sense of compulsion.

The supporting cast fares no better. Jamie Lee Curtis, is reduced to a forgettable expository NPC. Jack Black’s Claptrap, the beloved comic relief from the game, is nothing but a shrill annoyance.Meanwhile, Ariana Greenblatt as Tiny Tina — a delightful bundle of chaotic energy in the games — is rendered almost unbearable by the film’s insistence on turning her into a shit-talking MacGuffin. Edgar Ramírez’s Atlas is a villain so laughably one-dimensional that it’s almost insulting.

Visually, Borderlands is an assault on the senses. The CGI landscapes of Pandora look like the digital refuse of a thousand abandoned projects. The special effects are so shoddy that at times the characters appear to be interacting with non-existent objects and it’s almost a relief when the film resorts to practical effects, which are, unfortunately, few and far between.

Ultimately, Borderlands is but a cautionary tale: a reminder that not every game IP needs to be a movie. For those who still hold out hope for a good video game adaptation, this film is a bitter pill to swallow. For those willing to brave the dismay, Borderlands offers little more than a pressing desire to lunge for the exit.

Borderlands is currently running in theatres

Table of Contents

The Hindu

National

J&K polls to be held in 3 phases from Sept. 18

Aattam top film, Kantara’s Rishab the best actor as regional movies steal the show at National Film Awards

On the right path

IMA announces 24-hour withdrawal of health services

Modi speaks to Yunus, calls for safety of Hindus

At Maha Vikas Aghadi meet, Uddhav makes push for decision on CM face

‘Maharashtra polls to be held later due to J&K security needs’

L-G govt. in J&K reshuffles 198 officers in 12 hours; NC seeks EC intervention

LS election results show BJP stalled Congress in Haryana: Satish Poonia

Haryana Congress chief dismisses notions of ‘divisions’ within party

J&K parties welcome Assembly polls, regret delay in Statehood

Cong. effects changes in Jharkhand, J&K, Maharashtra units

Manoj Sinha gives nod for transfer of evacuees’ land

Widow of poll official killed while on duty gets solatium

Calcutta High Court raps police over R.G. Kar Hospital vandalism

SC has campaigned for UCC, but refused to enforce it

NDA members get into a huddle after PM’s ‘secular civil code’ pitch

ISRO successfully launches earth observation satellite

Jurisdiction of courts defined by Constitution: Dhankhar

Aadujeevitham bags top honours at 54th Kerala film awards

Women in grief across the country, says Priyanka

Ambedkar supported UCC, says Naqvi

Modi speaks to Yunus, calls for safety of Hindus in Bangladesh

14256

NWMI issues guidelines to boost equity in newsrooms

Centre approves reshuffle in senior bureaucratic posts

‘Centre’s claims on demonetisation’s success an eyewash’

Efficacy of Chaturmasya

Swamy moves Delhi HC on Rahul Gandhi’s citizenship

Centre launches Krishi-DSS, a digital platform on farming

Cabinet gives nod to three Metro rail projects

The Hindu’s chief illustrator wins global cartoon contest

RSS affiliate takes out march to protest atrocities against Hindus in Bangladesh

Regional

Illegal mining, encroachments, deforestation pose threat to Aravali range as natural green wall

Stalin targets winning 200 seats in 2026 T.N. election

Oppn. slams Nitish govt. over rape, murder of minor

Acquitted former Bihar MLA Anant Singh walks out of jail

BSP to go solo in J&K, ally with INLD in Haryana: Mayawati

ED arrests two more in West Bengal PDS ‘scam’

HC summons Rane over plea challenging LS poll victory

Oppn. BJD, Cong. to boycott orientation of MLAs in Odisha

The journey of Bengaluru’s waste

Seeding a greener future

Divided by borders, rivers, and polarising politics

Edit

The essence of India’s inflation problem

Ensuring social justice in the bureaucracy

letters to the editor

Regional troubles

Apathy continues

Violence and vigil in Kolkata

Business

Job opportunities dwindling in the well industrialised State of Gujarat

‘SEBI’s Buch earned revenue in potential violation of policy’

Regulatory curbs fail to dampen NBFC gold loans in FY25

Indian grants, credit worth $4-5-bn given to Bangladesh at risk

SBI raises loan rates by 10 bps, EMIs swell

Sensex climbs 1.68% on U.S. rate-cut hopes

Bank of Baroda inaugurates ‘phygital’ branch in Hyderabad

RBI approves ex-SBI official Sukumaran Nair as TMB CEO

FinMin eases forex norms to boost cross-border M&As

Foreign

‘Constructive’ talks aimed at Gaza ceasefire wrap up

Pakistan records Asia’s first cases of mpox; European agency urges caution

Tempest in Tokyo

Thai lawmakers elect Shinawatra heiress Paetongtarn as PM

Ukraine asks civilians to evacuate Pokrovsk as Russia Army closes in

U.S. renews support for Myanmar opposition as China’s Wang meets junta

At least 80 killed in strike by Sudan rebel group

Croatia to reintroduce compulsory military draft as tensions soar

Security forces used ‘unnecessary’ force in Bangladesh: UN

Modi stresses need to de-escalate situation in call with Netanyahu

Brawl breaks out in Turkish parliament over ousted MP

‘It’s scary’: Israeli frontline city in fear as Hezbollah targets oil storage facility

China’s growing driverless robotaxi fleet sparks wariness, wonder on streets

Mexico reveals new evidence of ‘death flights’ during ‘dirty war’

Workers stand-off

At Tower of London, new Ravenmaster vows survival of U.K.

Sports

Paris-bound Paralympics team gets warm send off

Ishan in top form as he powers Jharkhand to a 52-run lead over Madhya Pradesh

Could have competed till 2032 under different circumstances, says Vinesh in emotional post

Korean raider Lee set to return to PKL with Patna Pirates

Pragg stutters in blitz also, stays at bottom

Darke’s unbeaten century carries Australia-A to facile win over India-A

Sumit and Bhagyashri named flag-bearers for Paralympics OC

Smith eyes an IPL comeback after a stellar show in MLC

Sri Lanka’s Niroshan Dickwella suspended for doping violation

South Africa 111 for one in second essay after bowling out WI for 144

Requiem for a dream: making peace with mortality in sport

STACKING UP

‘The Vaseline incident is something you have to live with; one of those things you can’t undo’

Defying gravity

Weekend

The Indian anime coup

Dubai bling

For the happily ever after

Seconds to glory

Portal to Pulicat

Taapsee Pannu’s wilting rose

Prashanth makes a splendid comeback with this imperfect remake

A tedious, over-stretched film

This romantic drama does not fire

Barren, boring and unwatchable