YK MYK WEATHER TODAY MAX 33 C MIN 23 C MOVEMENT FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS ABOLITION IS NOW A POSSIBILITY OPINION Sky will be partly cloudy. PAK’S ONLINE SPACES FOR DISSENT, FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION SHRINKS WORLD Morning India Rs. 3 KOLKATA THURSDAY, 29 OCT, 2020 PG-12, YEAR—7, ISSUE—163 (RNI NO: WBENG / 2014 / 56803) Highest single day recovery noticed in Bengal KOLKATA: Highest single-day 3,917 recoveries took the total number of people testing negative for the COVID-19 in West Bengal to 3,14,003 on Tuesday, the state health department bulletin said. The discharge rate of such patients in the state was recorded at 87.76 per cent. On Tuesday, the city accounted for the maximum number of 987 recoveries while for neighbouring North 24 Parganas it was 984. There were 180 and 145 recoveries registered from Hooghly and Howrah districts respectively in the last 24 hours, it said. The toll mounted to 6,604 after 58 more fatalities were reported from different districts of the state, it stated. The tally also pushed to 3,57,779 after 3,957 fresh cases were reported in the state. There were 14 COVID-19 fatalities recorded in the city while 11 were from North 24 Parganas with six in South 24 Parganas, the bulletin said. Five deaths each were registered in Howrah and Purba Medinipur while three from Hooghly. Two COVID-19 related deaths were registered in the dis- tricts of Paschim Medinipur, Bankura, Purulia, Malda and Uttar Dinajpur while one death each was in Jhargam, Nadia, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts. Out of the 58 deaths, 50 were primarily because of the comorbidities where COVID19 was incidental. The maximum number of 884 new cases of the contagion was registered from the city while 875 fresh cases was registered in North 24 Parganas, it said. Accordingly, the number of active cases rose to 37,172, it said. Since Monday, 42,108 samples have been tested in the state taking the total number of such clinical tests to 43,82,678, it said. Meanwhile, another doctor, in his early 50s, succumbed to the COVID-19 in West Bengal on Tuesday taking the total number of deaths of medical practitioners to over 20, state health department officials said. Dr Amal Roy, who was with the Suri District Hospital, tested positive for the fatal disease almost two weeks ago and was hosptialised at the Bolpur Covid Hospital, died early Tuesday morning at Calcutta Medical College and Hospital, he said. Amitabh Chaudhary to be JPSC Chairman MI NEWS SERVICE RANCHI: Former IPS officer and a cricket administrator Amitabh Chaudhary will be the next Chairman of the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC). The post has been lying vacant since September 26 after Sudhir Tripathy completed his tenure. Chief Minister Hemant Soren had given his nod to begin the process of appointment of the Chairman of Jharkhand Public Service Commission. (JPSC) on October 22. The department of personnel and administrative reforms today issued a notification in this regard. The JPSC, constituted on November 15, 2000 comprises 5 members, including the Chairman. At present, there are four members in the commissions, namely Ajay Kumar Chhattoraj, Srawan Soy, Bhagwan Das and Triveni Kumar Sahu. It is responsible for making the recruitment for the government posts in the state. Being a man of many parts, Chaudhary is a 1985 batch IPS officer, a graduate of IIT Kharagpur, and a celebrated quiz master in his own right having conducted the inaugural editions of the Tata Steel Quiz during 1985-90. AT A GLANCE BJP All India President to visit South Bengal early next month to review party's strength KOLKATA: BJP All India President J P Nadda will arrive in West Bengal for the second time in about three weeks on 6 November on a two day visit to review the organisational strength of the party in South Bengal before the next year's Assembly elections. According to party sources here this evening, Nadda on his arrival from New Delhi on 6 November morning,will leave for Burdwan soon afterwards to hold his first organisational meeting at Burdwan city with Distrcit Party Presidents of East and West Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura and Purulia to get a first hand view about the prepardness of BJP to face the ruling Trinamool Congress in the 2021 state Assembly elections. The next day the BJP President will leave for Jhargram to hold similar meetings with district party leaders of Jhargram, East and West Midnapore, Hooghly, Howrag and Nadia districts in presence of BJP state Presidenrt Dilip Ghosh, the party's All India Vice President Mukul Roy, and central Observers Kailash Vijaybargiya, Arvind Menon and state Party Vice President Jayprakash Mazumdar, Sayantan Bose Locket Chatterjee, MP and Pratab Banerjee among others for the second day. Since BJP has won a number of Lok Sabha seats in Jungalmaha areas of South Bengal apart from some in Burdwan, Hooghly and Nadia districts, apart from a few in North Bengal last yearto increase their tally to 18 from Bengal, the party has decided to put special emphasis to win the maximum number of assembly seats from these districts too to secure an absolute majority in the 294 member House. He will depart for New Delhi on 7 November evening, the sources informed. Incidentally, just prior to the Durga Pujas festival this month, Nadda visited Siliguri for a day and held similar organisational meetings to review its electoral strength of BJP in North Bengal in the coming elections. Suicide in Gariahat KOLKATA: There was an incident of unnatural death in Gariahat PS area on Wednesday at about 12.30 am. Rajib Sinha, 44 years resident of Panditiya Road was found hanging at the 4th floor of a G+4 storied building. He was found hanging from the ceiling fan with the help of a bed sheet in his room. He was taken to SSKM hospital and declared brought dead by the doctors. No suicide note recovered so far. On the other hand, number of arrests for deliberate violation of Safety Restrictionson 28.10.2020: Total arrest– 26, people prosecuted for not using face mask–192, people prosecuted for spitting in public place/road- 05 AN ACTOR MUST BE THICK-SKINNED, SAYS KRITI KHARBANDA PAGE 10 DELHI UNIVERSITY VC YOGESH TYAGI SUSPENDED ITBT personnel stand guard as people stand in a queue for casting their vote at Polling Booth during the first phase of Bihar assembly elections on Wednesday. ANI 52.24% VOTING IN BIHAR TILL 5 PM: ECI Darkness of lantern era over, says Modi PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi raked up Bihar's past to project its future in his Patna rally, which was his third on Wednesday. He said, the days of the lantern were over, referring to better electric supply, as part of his 'vikas' agenda; at a metaphoric level, it was also a political dig, given the main opposition RJD's electoral symbol is a lantern. "Atal ji(former Prime Minister) used to say that in Bihar inbound supply of electricity is less while it vanishes more. The darkness of the lantern era is now over. Bihar's aspirations now are of continued electricity supply, of LED bulbs," said Modi sharing the stage with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as the crowd cheered for the PM and chanted his name. This is not the first time he used the phrase 'era of lantern'. Earlier, at a rally in Sasaram, the PM, in what seemed to be an effort to introduce first-time voters of Bihar to a bygone era, had said, "The need for lanterns in PM Narendra Modi during an election rally in Patna on Wednesday. today's Bihar is over. Today every poor household in Bihar has an electricity connection, there is light." The strategy of PM's speeches today has been simple - highlight Bihar's past to question Bihar's future. "Who can fulfil the aspirations of the poor and the middle class of Bihar? Those who looted Bihar, can they do it? Those who singlehandedly thought of their families and did injustice to everyone will never realise Bihar's expectations. Only the NDA can do it," said the PM. It was a mix of resurrection of Bihar's fear psychosis of a bygone era of absolute lawlessness, a promise of a better future and highlighting dynastic politics. Making a comparison with the COVID precautions, he said, just like people of Bihar can save themselves from COVID-19 by wearing a mask, they can also "save Bihar" from becoming 'bimar' with a single vote. It was not the first COVID reference of the day, though for the Prime Minister. Earlier in Muzaffarpur , in a dig at Tejashwi Yadav without naming him, Modi said, "You can imagine what will happen to the funds for COVID-19 if they come to power... What else can residents of Bihar expect from the 'Yuvraj' (prince) of 'Jungle Raj', given their past record?" NEW DELHI: Delhi University Vice Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi was suspended on Wednesday on the orders of President Ram Nath Kovind who has also directed an inquiry against him over allegations of dereliction of duty, according to officials of the Ministry of Education (MoE). The move comes amid a power tussle in the central university. The President, who is the Visitor to the university, has placed Tyagi under suspension to ensure that the inquiry is fair and that he is not able to tamper with material records or coerce the witnesses, a senior ministry official said. FIR AGAINST SSR'S SISTERS VITIATED, BAD IN LAW: CBI MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday slammed the Mumbai Police for registering an FIR against late Bollywood actor Sushant Singh Rajput's sisters on the complaint of Rhea Chakraborty, saying it is "vitiated" and "bad in law". PG 5 CORONA METER US offers F-18 fighters to India for Naval requirement NEW DELHI: Seeking to develop further closer ties with India, the United States of America (USA) has offered its F-18 naval fighter jets for the Indian Navy's requirements of combat jets for its aircraft carriers. The Indian Navy had a few years ago expressed interest in the acquisition of 57 naval fighter aircraft for operations from its aircraft carriers including the present INS Vikramaditya and the under-construction Indigenous Aircraft Carrier. "The American Government has offered to provide their naval fighter aircraft F-18 for the Indian Navy under a government proposal at the meeting between defence delegations of both countries during the 2+2 meetings," government sources told ANI here. The US government has offered to sell their F-18 fighters along with the unmanned aircraft Sea Guardian to the Indian Navy along with a number of other systems to the Indian armed forces in recent times. At the moment, the Indian Navy has been assessing the F-18 and the Rafale naval fighters for its present and futuristic requirements as its present fighter is likely to be phased out by the end of this decade or the beginning of next. The aircraft offered by the American government is said to be the advanced version of the plane which was on offer to the Indian Air Force for its requirement of 126 Multirole Medium Combat Aircraft in which only Rafale and European Eurofighter had been able to meet the qualitative requirements and finally the French plane had been selected. Even the Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) deal had to be scrapped, the Indian government showed faith in the French fighter and bought 36 of its under a Rs 60,000 crore deal. BE WARY OF CHINESE INTENT AND ACTIONS, RAJNATH TELLS ARMY COMMANDERS Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday cautioned Army commanders to be wary of Chinese actions at disputed borders and their intent during military talks. The minister said this while addressing the 'Army Commanders Conference,' an apex biannual event that formulates important policy decisions through collegiate deliberations. PG 7 INDIA TOTAL CASES: 7,990,643 TOTAL DEATH: 120,067 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 44,370,454 TOTAL DEATH: 1,173,945 SC to states: Provide dry rations to sex workers amid Covid-19 NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all state governments to provide dry ration to sex workers in adequate amount and with uniformity. A bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and Ajay Rastogi asked the states to seek help from the National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO) and legal services authorities in identifying sex workers and provide them succour amid the ongoing pandemic. The top court also queried the Uttar Pradesh government counsel on the delay in identifying sex workers and insisted that it is a question of somebody's survival. The bench told the UP counsel if it fails to identify sex workers after four weeks then this shows its capability. "You tell us about the number of identified persons," said the bench. The bench reiterated that we are a welfare state and there should not be any delay. Senior advocate Jayant Bhushan, amicus curiae in the matter, citing the affidavit filed by Uttar Pradesh, submitted that the state is making efforts to give rations to sex workers without disclosing their identity and nearly 27,000 sex workers are registered by NACO in UP, in accordance with the September 29 order, of the top court, where it asked the states to give them dry rations. The UP-government counsel submitted before the bench that they are in the process of identifying sex workers and those identified already have ration cards and are being provided rations. Bhushan also brought the court's attention to affidavits filed by Maharashtra, Assam and Nagaland. For Maharashtra, he said eight district collectors out of 36 districts have given reports on distribution of dry rations. The bench observed that there no uniformity in distribution. The bench asked Maharashtra government counsel the information shared shows there is no uniformity in distribution. Bhushan said affidavit filed by Assam, NACO has identified around 11,000 sex workers in 19 districts and Nagaland has identified 5,315 sex workers. The counsel for Nagaland said they are facing some technical difficulty in distribution. The bench said in the backdrop of fully computerised system there should not be any delay. "If you will take refuge under computerisation, it is going to take a year," noted the bench, insisting that there should not be any delay. Senior advocate Anand Grover, representing an applicant, said some states have not shared data about number of sex workers and also about the rations provided to them. The observation from the bench came during the hearing of an application by NGO Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee which highlighted the destitution faced by sex workers amid the pandemic, and sought relief measures for over nine lakh female and transgender sex A BENCH COMPRISING JUSTICES L. NAGESWARA RAO, HEMANT GUPTA AND AJAY RASTOGI ASKED THE STATES TO SEEK HELP FROM THE NATIONAL AIDS CONTROL ORGANISATION (NACO) AND LEGAL SERVICES AUTHORITIES IN IDENTIFYING SEX WORKERS AND PROVIDE THEM SUCCOUR AMID THE ONGOING PANDEMIC. workers across India. Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the execution of death sentence to a man, who was convicted in the murder of his wife. A bench headed by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde and comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna and V. Ramasubramanian said: "Leave granted. In the meantime, there shall be stay of execution of death sentence. Call for records." The man had murdered his wife in a ghastly manner: strangulated the woman, cut her abdomen, took out some organs from the body, stuffed her clothes inside the abdomen and then stitched it up with a wire. During the hearing, the bench told senior advocate Sidharth Luthra, representing the accused Mohan Singh, that it is shocking to see the manner in which victim was murdered and it has not come across a murder case in which the accused had cut open the victim's abdomen. "Is he (Singh) some kind of a monster or what?" said the bench. According to police, in May last year a case was registered after a woman's body, tied with wires, was found in a bag.