ˇ*€¦ · 2/17/2021  · movement was gathering pace. seven days later, akbar, a cel-ebrated...

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D eclaring that the right of reputation cannot be pro- tected at the cost of right of life and dignity, a Delhi court on Wednesday threw out former Union Minister and editor MJ Akbar’s criminal defamation suit against journalist Priya Ramani, who has accused him of sexual harassment. Delivering the landmark judgment being hailed as a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, the court maintained that a woman has the right to put forward her grievances before any platform of her choice even after decades. A woman cannot be pun- ished for raising her voice against such abuse, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey said as he dismissed Akbar’s com- plaint and held that no charges were proved against Ramani. The time has come for society to understand sexual abuse and harassment and their implications on victims, the judge said while acquitting the journalist. The court asked her to furnish a bail bond of 10,000 in case of an appeal. It feels great to have the truth validated before the court, a beaming Ramani told reporters after the verdict. “It feels amazing, truly does. I feel vindicated on behalf of all the women who have ever spoken out against sexual harassment at the workplace. It was me the victim who had to stand up in the court as an accused,” Ramani, who named Akbar in a tweet with reference to an article titled “To the Harvey Weinsteins of the World” she had written in Vogue India in 2017, added. The tweet was on October 8, 2018, when the #MeToo movement was gathering pace. Seven days later, Akbar, a cel- ebrated editor, filed a criminal complaint against her for allegedly defaming him by accusing him of sexual mis- conduct decades ago when he was a journalist. Two days after that, on October 17, 2018, he resigned as minister of state for External Affairs and denied all the alle- gations of sexual harassment levelled by several women. Delivering a 91-page ver- dict in the keenly followed case, the court said it is shame- ful that incidents of crime and violence against women are happening in a country where epics such as the “Mahabarata” and “Ramayana” were written around the theme of respect for women. “… the right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of the right of life and dignity of woman as guaranteed in Constitution under article 21 and right of equality before law and equal protection of law as guaranteed under article 14 of the Constitution,” it said. D ays after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that no clear-cut or final decision has been taken on the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in the private market yet, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Wednesday said that the jabs might be available for masses by this year’s end after the prime targeted people are cov- ered and there is an equivalence of supply and demand in the market. “Vaccine will be available in the open market only when prime targets — people to be vaccinated — are covered. And there has to be equivalence in supply and demand. Hopefully, there would be such a situation by year-end or before that. Then, there may be a likelihood of vaccine to come to the open market,” Dr Guleria said. Sharing his experience of his past 28 days (a time dura- tion for the second dose), Dr Guleria, said, “Today I took the second dose of Covaxin vaccine and I haven’t found any side effect from the first dose. “I didn’t face any difficul- ty. I would urge people not to fear the vaccine and it is total- ly safe. People should come out and take the vaccine. This is essential if we want to come out of the pandemic.” He highlighted that pan- demic is still not over and India is in a good position but peo- ple should not have vaccine hesitancy and get inoculated. “Right now our situation is fine and many might believe that in India pandemic case is less but I would say this is our window of opportunity to get the vaccine as the pandemic is still not over and the situation can change anytime. As we have seen in Brazil, Europe, South Africa and the United Kingdom lockdown has been imposed again as the cases spiked. We should maintain the present situation in the coun- try as it is necessary,” the AIIMS Director added. On Monday, the Union Health Minister said that one must appreciate that the vac- cines are approved under Emergency Use Authorisations (EUA). “During the course of EUA, it is the responsibility of the Government to keep things totally under control. This is the reason vaccines are still not available in the open market,” he added. A delegation of foreign diplo- mats from 24 countries on Wednesday arrived on a two-day visit to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir to take stock of the ground sit- uation and assess how demo- cratic institutions at the grass- roots level were working in the region after the revocation of its special station in August 2019. On their arrival by a spe- cial flight in Srinagar, the del- egation was accorded a red car- pet welcome amid heightened security arrangements. The Modi Government organised similar visits first in October 2019 and the second in January 2020. Envoys of Chile, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, EU, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Bangladesh, Malawi, Eritrea, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Malaysia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are part of the vis- iting delegation. Incidentally, parts of Srinagar witnessed shutdown even in the absence of any for- mal shutdown call by any group or political party. Soon after their arrival in Srinagar the foreign diplomats visited Magam in the central Kashmir district of Budgam to witness “Block Diwas”, a pub- lic outreach initiative organised every week by the local admin- istrations in Jammu & Kashmir. At the venue they were briefed on Panchayati Raj and grievance redressal through “Back to villages” programme, when administration reaches the doorstep of people. “The visit provided the envoys an opportunity to inter- act and hear from the public and their local level people’s representatives on function- ing and empowerment of grassroot democratic institu- tions, devolution of power, developmental activities among others,” official sources present at the venue said. R eaffirming the Congress’ trust among Punjab voters, the ruling party on Wednesday captured six of the seven municipal corporations, the elections for which were held amid the farmers’ agitation, with the BJP finishing close to a complete wipeout. The Congress won Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Batala, and Pathankot corporations, besides 106 of the total 109 municipal councils or nagar panchayats that went for polls on Sunday, registering 71 per cent voter turnout. In Moga Corporation, the Congress though secured the highest 20 seats, it failed to secure majority. The result for Mohali Municipal Corporation would be declared on Thursday as the State’s poll panel had deferred the counting of votes for a day to conduct a repoll on two polling booths. The election result has come as a boost for the Congress, which is also eyeing to win the Assembly elections due early next year, with Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh terming it as a “foretaste” of 2022 Assembly elections. Punjab Congress chief Sunil Jakhar, elated over party’s performance, maintained, “This victory has further increased the party’s responsi- bility towards the State and its people, and party is initiating its campaign for next year Assembly polls. ‘Captainfor2022’ — the party’s mission under Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh is being launched today,” he declared. Other Opposition parties — the Shiromani Akali Dal, the Aam Aadmi Party, and the BJP — failed to make a mark in the elections for the municipal corporations. Independent candidates finished second by securing 20 per cent of the total seats. Of the more than 1,800 wards that went for poll, the SAD could secure just 252; 29 by BJP, 51 by AAP, and five by BSP. The ruling party celebrat- ed the victory in Bathinda, a known Akali citadel and SAD MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal’s constituency. As the Congress won 43 wards and the SAD just seven, Punjab Finance Minister and Bathinda Urban MLA Manpreet Singh Badal said that Bathinda will now get its first Congress mayor in 53 years. Continued on Page 2 A ir quality in Delhi was recorded as poor with overall Air Quality Index (AQI) being measured at 321μgm-3 on the National Ambient Air Quality Index (NAAQI). According to SAFAR (System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research), Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), the air qual- ity is likely to improve from February 20. The values of suspended particulate matters (SPMs) also recorded high on the SAFAR’s index. Values of primary pol- lutants — particulate matters (PMs) 10 and 2.5 were 311 and 147 in microgram per cubic on Wednesday. Meanwhile in short range air quality forecast, SAFAR said overall Delhi air quality is in the low-end of the very poor category as forecast. Surface winds are low and forecasted to improve and change in direc- tion to easterly. Better ventila- tion is likely to influence AQI positively. AQI is likely to stay in the lower end of very poor for the next two days. AQI is likely to further improve on February 20. SAFAR updated air quali- ty in Delhi University, Pusa Road, Lodhi Road, Mathura Road, IIT Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport (Terminal 3) and Ayanagar recorded air quality in the very poor category with an AQI of 332, 314, 330, 365, 323, 326 and 332 respectively. AQI between 51 and 100 is considered as satisfactory or very good, 101-200 moderate, 201-300 poor, 300-400 consid- ered as very poor. Whilw lev- els between 401-500 fall under the hazardous category. W est Bengal is set to wit- ness high voltage politi- cal slugfest over the next few days with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah raising poll pitch in the elec- tion-bound State and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee planning to address counter- rallies. Mamata will address her counter rallies at places where Central BJP leaders including the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and BJP national pres- ident JP Nadda will hold their meetings. Accordingly Mamata will hold a rally at Chinsurah in Hooghly district a day after Modi addresses a rally on February 22. Whereas the Chief Minister and her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee will hold simultaneous rallies at South 24 Parganas where Shah will hold rallies on Friday. . Shah will reach Kolkata on Wednesday and flag off the BJP’s fifth and final parivartan rath yatra from Namkhana in South 24 Parganas on Thursday. On the other hand, the PM is expected to hold a public rally in Hooghly on February 22 after inaugurating the 4-km extension of the city’s north-south Metro corridor from Noapara to Dakshineshwar on February 22. The fifth rath yatra will pass through the prestigious constituencies of Diamond Harbour and South Kolkata. The first one is represented by Abhishek Banerjee, while Mamata Banerjee is the MLA of Bhawanipur Assembly con- stituency in South Kolkata. The rally is likely to pro- ceed through Sirakol in Diamond Harbour where the convoy of BJP national presi- dent JP Nadda was attacked on December 10, 2020. About 20 per cent booths of Bengal are violence prone, sources quoting the EC said, adding the poll panel is mak- ing an elaborate arrangement to ensure free and fare polls. T he Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Wednesday accused the Centre of trying to “counter and destroy” the farmers’ movement against the new agri laws and said it has appealed for peaceful protests during the “rail roko” agitation on February 18. The statement of the umbrella body of protesting unions came a day after BJP chief JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah met party functionaries, MPs and MLAs from Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in the wake of mahapanchayats being organ- ised by farmer leaders. During the meeting, the BJP leaders from the farm community of these States were asked to clear misconceptions about the laws, sources had said. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which had last week announced the rail block- ade to press for its demand to repeal the legislations, said that it “appeals to everyone for a peaceful protest in the nation- wide “rail roko” programme on February 18”. Earlier, farmer unions had called a “chakka jam” on February 6 and a ‘tractor parade’ in Delhi on January 26, during which a section of pro- testers clashed with police, overturned vehicles while some hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort. “The (rail roko) pro- gramme will be organised from 12 pm to 4 pm in which sup- port is expected from all over the country,” the SKM said in a statement. The SKM has taken note of the high-level meeting of the BJP president, Shah and other ministers with elected party leaders from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, it said. T he process for nursery admissions in schools across Delhi will begin from Thursday and the application window will close on March 4. The Directorate of Education last week notified the admis- sion schedule, bringing respite for anxious parents who have been waiting for the notifica- tion for over two months. As per the notified sched- ule, the first list of selected chil- dren will be displayed on March 20, followed by second list on March 25 and subse- quent list for admission, if any, on March 27. The entire admis- sion process will conclude on March 31. Usually, nursery admis- sions in around 1,700 schools in the national capital begin in the last week of November. The DoE releases guidelines and schools are asked to furnish required information, following which the application process is rolled out in December. However, there has been no development on it in 2020. New Delhi: A 30-year-old man allegedly seen swinging swords with the intent of “motivating” and “energising” protesters at Red Fort during the violence on Republic Day has been arrested, police said on Wednesday. Maninder Singh, who runs a sword training school near his home in Swaroop Nagar in northwest Delhi and works as a car AC mechanic, was arrest- ed around 7.45 pm on Tuesday. United Nations: India, hailed as the pharmacy of the world, on Wednesday announced a gift of 2,00,000 Covid-19 doses for UN peacekeepers. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made the announce- ment at the UN Security Council open debate on the implementation of resolution 2532 (2020) on the cessation of hostilities in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Keeping in mind the UN Peacekeepers who operate in such difficult circumstances, we would like to announce today a gift of 2,00,000 doses for them,” Jaishankar told the UN Security Council in a virtual address. Quoting the Bhagvad Gita, Jaishankar said, “Do your work with the welfare of oth- ers always in mind.” T he Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday released an updated standard operating procedure (SOP) for international passengers arriv- ing in India after cases of the South Africa and Brazil vari- ants of the Covid-18 virus were detected. The Ministry in its updat- ed SOP said the guidelines will supersede the one issued since August 2, 2020 and will come into effect from 23.59 hours on February 22. There are fresh guidelines for all international travellers coming/transiting through flights originating from the UK, Europe and West Asia.

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Page 1: ˇ*€¦ · 2/17/2021  · movement was gathering pace. Seven days later, Akbar, a cel-ebrated editor, filed a criminal ... Road, IIT Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport (Terminal

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Declaring that the right ofreputation cannot be pro-

tected at the cost of right of lifeand dignity, a Delhi court onWednesday threw out formerUnion Minister and editor MJAkbar’s criminal defamationsuit against journalist PriyaRamani, who has accused himof sexual harassment.

Delivering the landmarkjudgment being hailed as awatershed moment for the#MeToo movement againstsexual harassment, the courtmaintained that a woman hasthe right to put forward hergrievances before any platformof her choice even afterdecades.

A woman cannot be pun-ished for raising her voiceagainst such abuse, AdditionalChief Metropolitan MagistrateRavindra Kumar Pandey saidas he dismissed Akbar’s com-plaint and held that no chargeswere proved against Ramani.

The time has come forsociety to understand sexualabuse and harassment andtheir implications on victims,the judge said while acquittingthe journalist.

The court asked her tofurnish a bail bond of �10,000in case of an appeal.

It feels great to have thetruth validated before the court,a beaming Ramani toldreporters after the verdict.

“It feels amazing, trulydoes. I feel vindicated on behalfof all the women who have everspoken out against sexualharassment at the workplace.

It was me the victim whohad to stand up in the court asan accused,” Ramani, whonamed Akbar in a tweet withreference to an article titled “Tothe Harvey Weinsteins of theWorld” she had written inVogue India in 2017, added.

The tweet was on October8, 2018, when the #MeToomovement was gathering pace.Seven days later, Akbar, a cel-ebrated editor, filed a criminalcomplaint against her forallegedly defaming him byaccusing him of sexual mis-conduct decades ago when hewas a journalist.

Two days after that, on

October 17, 2018, he resignedas minister of state for ExternalAffairs and denied all the alle-gations of sexual harassmentlevelled by several women.

Delivering a 91-page ver-dict in the keenly followedcase, the court said it is shame-ful that incidents of crime andviolence against women arehappening in a country whereepics such as the “Mahabarata”and “Ramayana” were writtenaround the theme of respect forwomen.

“… the right of reputationcannot be protected at the costof the right of life and dignityof woman as guaranteed inConstitution under article 21and right of equality before lawand equal protection of law asguaranteed under article 14 ofthe Constitution,” it said.

���� #-��.-/0�

Days after Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan

said that no clear-cut or finaldecision has been taken on therollout of Covid-19 vaccines inthe private market yet, AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) Director DrRandeep Guleria onWednesday said that the jabsmight be available for massesby this year’s end after theprime targeted people are cov-ered and there is an equivalenceof supply and demand in themarket.

“Vaccine will be availablein the open market only whenprime targets — people to bevaccinated — are covered. Andthere has to be equivalence insupply and demand. Hopefully,there would be such a situationby year-end or before that.Then, there may be a likelihood

of vaccine to come to the openmarket,” Dr Guleria said.

Sharing his experience ofhis past 28 days (a time dura-tion for the second dose), DrGuleria, said, “Today I took thesecond dose of Covaxin vaccineand I haven’t found any sideeffect from the first dose.

“I didn’t face any difficul-ty. I would urge people not tofear the vaccine and it is total-ly safe. People should come outand take the vaccine. This isessential if we want to come outof the pandemic.”

He highlighted that pan-demic is still not over and Indiais in a good position but peo-ple should not have vaccinehesitancy and get inoculated.

“Right now our situation isfine and many might believethat in India pandemic case isless but I would say this is ourwindow of opportunity to getthe vaccine as the pandemic is

still not over and the situationcan change anytime. As wehave seen in Brazil, Europe,South Africa and the UnitedKingdom lockdown has beenimposed again as the casesspiked. We should maintain thepresent situation in the coun-try as it is necessary,” theAIIMS Director added.

On Monday, the Union

Health Minister said that onemust appreciate that the vac-cines are approved underEmergency Use Authorisations(EUA). “During the course ofEUA, it is the responsibility ofthe Government to keep thingstotally under control. This isthe reason vaccines are still notavailable in the open market,”he added.

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Adelegation of foreign diplo-mats from 24 countries

on Wednesday arrived on atwo-day visit to the UnionTerritory of Jammu & Kashmirto take stock of the ground sit-uation and assess how demo-cratic institutions at the grass-roots level were working in theregion after the revocation of itsspecial station in August 2019.

On their arrival by a spe-cial flight in Srinagar, the del-egation was accorded a red car-pet welcome amid heightenedsecurity arrangements.

The Modi Governmentorganised similar visits first inOctober 2019 and the secondin January 2020.

Envoys of Chile, Brazil,Cuba, Bolivia, Estonia,Finland, France, Ireland,Netherlands, Portugal, EU,

Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Italy,Bangladesh, Malawi, Eritrea,Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal,Malaysia, Tajikistan andKyrgyzstan are part of the vis-iting delegation.

Incidentally, parts ofSrinagar witnessed shutdowneven in the absence of any for-mal shutdown call by anygroup or political party.

Soon after their arrival inSrinagar the foreign diplomatsvisited Magam in the centralKashmir district of Budgam towitness “Block Diwas”, a pub-lic outreach initiative organisedevery week by the local admin-

istrations in Jammu & Kashmir. At the venue they were

briefed on Panchayati Raj andgrievance redressal through“Back to villages” programme,when administration reachesthe doorstep of people.

“The visit provided theenvoys an opportunity to inter-act and hear from the publicand their local level people’srepresentatives on function-ing and empowerment ofgrassroot democratic institu-tions, devolution of power,developmental activities amongothers,” official sources presentat the venue said.

��������)���� '0�#.� �*0

Reaffirming the Congress’trust among Punjab voters,

the ruling party on Wednesdaycaptured six of the sevenmunicipal corporations, theelections for which were heldamid the farmers’ agitation,with the BJP finishing close toa complete wipeout.

The Congress wonBathinda, Hoshiarpur,Kapurthala, Abohar, Batala,and Pathankot corporations,besides 106 of the total 109municipal councils or nagarpanchayats that went for pollson Sunday, registering 71 percent voter turnout.

In Moga Corporation, theCongress though secured thehighest 20 seats, it failed tosecure majority. The result forMohali Municipal Corporationwould be declared on Thursdayas the State’s poll panel haddeferred the counting of votesfor a day to conduct a repoll ontwo polling booths.

The election result hascome as a boost for theCongress, which is also eyeingto win the Assembly electionsdue early next year, with Chief

Minister Capt AmarinderSingh terming it as a “foretaste”of 2022 Assembly elections.

Punjab Congress chiefSunil Jakhar, elated over party’sperformance, maintained,“This victory has furtherincreased the party’s responsi-bility towards the State and itspeople, and party is initiatingits campaign for next yearAssembly polls.‘Captainfor2022’ — the party’smission under Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh is beinglaunched today,” he declared.

Other Opposition parties— the Shiromani Akali Dal, theAam Aadmi Party, and the BJP— failed to make a mark in theelections for the municipal

corporations.Independent candidates

finished second by securing 20per cent of the total seats. Ofthe more than 1,800 wards thatwent for poll, the SAD couldsecure just 252; 29 by BJP, 51 byAAP, and five by BSP.

The ruling party celebrat-ed the victory in Bathinda, aknown Akali citadel and SADMP Harsimrat Kaur Badal’sconstituency. As the Congresswon 43 wards and the SAD justseven, Punjab Finance Ministerand Bathinda Urban MLAManpreet Singh Badal saidthat Bathinda will now get itsfirst Congress mayor in 53years.

Continued on Page 2

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Air quality in Delhi wasrecorded as poor with

overall Air Quality Index (AQI)being measured at 321μgm-3on the National Ambient AirQuality Index (NAAQI).

According to SAFAR(System of Air Quality andWeather Forecasting AndResearch), Ministry of EarthSciences (MoES), the air qual-ity is likely to improve fromFebruary 20.

The values of suspendedparticulate matters (SPMs) alsorecorded high on the SAFAR’sindex. Values of primary pol-lutants — particulate matters(PMs) 10 and 2.5 were 311 and147 in microgram per cubic onWednesday.

Meanwhile in short rangeair quality forecast, SAFARsaid overall Delhi air quality isin the low-end of the very poor

category as forecast. Surfacewinds are low and forecasted toimprove and change in direc-tion to easterly. Better ventila-tion is likely to influence AQIpositively. AQI is likely to stayin the lower end of very poorfor the next two days. AQI islikely to further improve onFebruary 20.

SAFAR updated air quali-ty in Delhi University, PusaRoad, Lodhi Road, MathuraRoad, IIT Delhi, Indira GandhiInternational Airport(Terminal 3) and Ayanagarrecorded air quality in the verypoor category with an AQI of332, 314, 330, 365, 323, 326 and332 respectively.

AQI between 51 and 100 isconsidered as satisfactory orvery good, 101-200 moderate,201-300 poor, 300-400 consid-ered as very poor. Whilw lev-els between 401-500 fall underthe hazardous category.

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West Bengal is set to wit-ness high voltage politi-

cal slugfest over the next fewdays with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and UnionHome Minister Amit Shahraising poll pitch in the elec-tion-bound State and ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeeplanning to address counter-rallies.

Mamata will address hercounter rallies at places whereCentral BJP leaders includingthe Prime Minister, the HomeMinister and BJP national pres-ident JP Nadda will hold theirmeetings.

Accordingly Mamata willhold a rally at Chinsurah inHooghly district a day afterModi addresses a rally onFebruary 22. Whereas the

Chief Minister and her nephewand MP Abhishek Banerjeewill hold simultaneous rallies atSouth 24 Parganas where Shahwill hold rallies on Friday. .

Shah will reach Kolkata onWednesday and flag off theBJP’s fifth and final parivartanrath yatra from Namkhana inSouth 24 Parganas onThursday. On the other hand,the PM is expected to hold apublic rally in Hooghly onFebruary 22 after inauguratingthe 4-km extension of the city’s

north-south Metro corridorfrom Noapara toDakshineshwar on February22.

The fifth rath yatra willpass through the prestigiousconstituencies of DiamondHarbour and South Kolkata.The first one is represented byAbhishek Banerjee, whileMamata Banerjee is the MLAof Bhawanipur Assembly con-stituency in South Kolkata.

The rally is likely to pro-ceed through Sirakol inDiamond Harbour where theconvoy of BJP national presi-dent JP Nadda was attacked onDecember 10, 2020.

About 20 per cent boothsof Bengal are violence prone,sources quoting the EC said,adding the poll panel is mak-ing an elaborate arrangementto ensure free and fare polls.

��� #-��.-/0�

The Samyukt Kisan Morchaon Wednesday accused the

Centre of trying to “counterand destroy” the farmers’movement against the newagri laws and said it hasappealed for peaceful protestsduring the “rail roko” agitationon February 18.

The statement of theumbrella body of protestingunions came a day after BJPchief JP Nadda and HomeMinister Amit Shah met partyfunctionaries, MPs and MLAsfrom Haryana, Rajasthan andUttar Pradesh in the wake ofmahapanchayats being organ-ised by farmer leaders.

During the meeting, theBJP leaders from the farmcommunity of these States wereasked to clear misconceptionsabout the laws, sources hadsaid.

The Samyukt KisanMorcha (SKM), which had lastweek announced the rail block-ade to press for its demand torepeal the legislations, saidthat it “appeals to everyone fora peaceful protest in the nation-wide “rail roko” programme onFebruary 18”.

Earlier, farmer unions hadcalled a “chakka jam” onFebruary 6 and a ‘tractorparade’ in Delhi on January 26,during which a section of pro-testers clashed with police,overturned vehicles whilesome hoisted a religious flagfrom the ramparts of the RedFort.

“The (rail roko) pro-gramme will be organised from12 pm to 4 pm in which sup-port is expected from all overthe country,” the SKM said ina statement.

The SKM has taken note ofthe high-level meeting of the

BJP president, Shah and otherministers with elected partyleaders from Haryana, UttarPradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan,it said.

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The process for nurseryadmissions in schools

across Delhi will begin fromThursday and the applicationwindow will close on March 4.The Directorate of Educationlast week notified the admis-sion schedule, bringing respitefor anxious parents who havebeen waiting for the notifica-tion for over two months.

As per the notified sched-ule, the first list of selected chil-dren will be displayed onMarch 20, followed by secondlist on March 25 and subse-quent list for admission, if any,on March 27. The entire admis-sion process will conclude onMarch 31.

Usually, nursery admis-sions in around 1,700 schoolsin the national capital begin inthe last week of November. TheDoE releases guidelines andschools are asked to furnishrequired information, followingwhich the application processis rolled out in December.However, there has been nodevelopment on it in 2020.

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New Delhi: A 30-year-old manallegedly seen swinging swordswith the intent of “motivating”and “energising” protesters atRed Fort during the violenceon Republic Day has beenarrested, police said onWednesday.

Maninder Singh, who runsa sword training school near hishome in Swaroop Nagar innorthwest Delhi and works asa car AC mechanic, was arrest-ed around 7.45 pm on Tuesday.

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United Nations: India, hailedas the pharmacy of the world,on Wednesday announced agift of 2,00,000 Covid-19 dosesfor UN peacekeepers.

External Affairs Minister SJaishankar made the announce-ment at the UN SecurityCouncil open debate on theimplementation of resolution2532 (2020) on the cessation ofhostilities in the context of the

Covid-19 pandemic.“Keeping in mind the UN

Peacekeepers who operate insuch difficult circumstances, wewould like to announce todaya gift of 2,00,000 doses forthem,” Jaishankar told the UNSecurity Council in a virtualaddress. Quoting the BhagvadGita, Jaishankar said, “Do yourwork with the welfare of oth-ers always in mind.”

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The Ministry of CivilAviation on Wednesday

released an updated standardoperating procedure (SOP) forinternational passengers arriv-ing in India after cases of theSouth Africa and Brazil vari-ants of the Covid-18 viruswere detected.

The Ministry in its updat-ed SOP said the guidelineswill supersede the one issuedsince August 2, 2020 and willcome into effect from 23.59hours on February 22.

There are fresh guidelinesfor all international travellerscoming/transiting throughf lights originating from the UK, Europe and WestAsia.

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Page 2: ˇ*€¦ · 2/17/2021  · movement was gathering pace. Seven days later, Akbar, a cel-ebrated editor, filed a criminal ... Road, IIT Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport (Terminal

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Chandigarh:With a purpose toeliminate scarcity of water forfarming across the state,Haryana Govt has issued stan-dard operating procedures(SOPs) for farmers regardingsubsidies being offered formicro-irrigation.

The CM Manohar Lal hadrecently launched a portal withmulti-faceted objectives pri-marily to enhance socio-eco-nomic status of farmers and tobridge the gap between the irri-gation potential created andirrigation potential utilized

through micro level infra-structure development. TheSOPs for the same have beenissued according to which pass-port size photo, personaldetails, bank details, addressand Parivaar Pehchan Patra(Family ID) of the person seek-

ing subsidy is required, said anofficial spokesman of the MicroIrrigation and Command AreaDevelopment Authority .

He said that in this ‘micro-irrigation initiative’ threeschemes are being offered tothe farmers. The first scheme

is for Sewerage Treatment Plant(STP) and Canal Based Projectswith ingredients like auxiliaryinfrastructure (STPCanal/Water course), on-farmpond, installation of solarpumps and on-farm MI(drip/sprinkler).

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From Page 1The Congress won 49

wards in Abohar, leaving justone for the Akali Dal. It bagged41 wards in Hoshiarpur, lettingthe BJP, the AAP and inde-pendents split the difference. InKapurthala, the Congress won45 of the 50 wards and theAkalis got three. In Pathankotand Batala, it won 36 of the 50wards in each corporation.

Earlier, the municipal cor-porations of Moga, Hoshiarpur,Bathinda and Pathankot wererun by the SAD-BJP combine,when the two parties wereallies and in power in the State.The elections to municipalcorporations of Abohar, Batalaand Kapurthala were held forthe first time.

The election campaign wasmarred by stray clashes

between rival party workerswith Opposition leaders alleg-ing that their candidates werebeing stopped from filing nom-ination papers.

SAD chief Sukhbir SinghBadal thanked party workerswho he said emerged as the‘’only challengers’’ to the “cor-rupt and incompetentCongress”.

“Our workers battledunprecedented repression,money bags & govt machinery& yet emerged as a force toreckon with. Writing on thewall: 2022 elections on -Congress gone (sic),” he tweet-ed.

AAP leader Harpal SinghCheema said that his party con-tested the civic polls in the Statefor the first time and wouldanalyse its performance.

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Page 3: ˇ*€¦ · 2/17/2021  · movement was gathering pace. Seven days later, Akbar, a cel-ebrated editor, filed a criminal ... Road, IIT Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport (Terminal

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The BJP was weeded out ofthe municipal areas in

Punjab on Wednesday as theCongress party rooted itselffirmly even in “inaccessible”grounds before registering alandslide victory during themunicipal polls in the state.

The saffron brigade, withmere 29 seats — in the resultsof seven municipal corpora-tions, and 109 municipal coun-cils and nagar panchayatsannounced on Wednesday —was relegated to a lowly fifthposition.

The Congress party, sup-porting the farmers’ move-ment since the passing of thecontentious farm bills, emergedvictorious with 1,102 out ofmore than 1,800 seats, sweep-ing six of the seven corpora-tions and 106 municipal coun-cils and nagar panchayats.

The hitherto “hard-to-get”areas captured by it includedSAD’s home turf Bathinda,where the Congress will haveits mayor for the first time inmore than half-a-century, andalso Pathankot — a known BJPbastion.

An analysis of the resultsreveals that even the ‘indepen-dents’ covered more groundthan the BJP by taking intopossession 374 seats.

With the independent can-didates finishing second in thefinal tally, the state’s principalopposition party — AamAadmi Party (AAP) — hasbeen pushed to the fourth spotby the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), which finished third,contesting polls without anyally.

In fact, the results of thecivic body polls endorsed theCongress’ stronghold in thestate, even though the partyhad to face embarrassments inKharar and Moga — where thecandidates, related to those inpower, failed to taste success,and also in Banga — fromwhere the Congress had got itssecurity forfeited.

Besides, the results also

send warning signals to theopposition parties — SAD,AAP, and especially the BJP —to set its house in order withthe state set to go for polls with-in a year from now in early2022.

While SAD and AAPstruggled to keep its ship float-ing, BJP — which had contest-ed the elections without itscoalition partners — remainedshort to the complete wipe outin the state.

Despite the loss, SAD andAAP saw a silver lining byclaiming that their vote sharehas gone upward. SAD’sFormer Minister Daljit SinghCheema claimed that the partyhas increased its vote share inurban areas, while the Leaderof Opposition in Vidhan Sabhaand AAP MLA Harpal SinghCheema maintained that afterrural areas, the AAP has alsogained ground in the urbanareas.CONG SWEEPS SIX COR-PORATIONS, SHORT OFMAJORITY IN ONE

Registering an impressivevictory in the state local bodypolls — considered to be asemifinal before finals in 2022,the ruling Congress partyswept six out of the sevenmunicipal corporations forwhich results were declared onWednesday.

The party secured majori-ty in the municipal corpora-tions of Bathinda — first timeever in 53 years, Abohar, Batala,Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur andPathankot, while it finishedshort of majority with 20 seatsin the 50-seat Moga MunicipalCorporation.

The results for the eighthcorporation, Mohali, will beannounced on Thursday asthe Punjab State ElectionCommission (SEC) hadordered repolling in two wards,which took place onWednesday, while deferringthe counting of votes for a day.

In a historical victory, theCongress managed to captureAkalis’ citadel — Bathinda —for the first time in fivedecades. Notably, Bathinda isthe Lok Sabha constituency ofSAD’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal,who was the party’s only rep-

resentative in the CentralGovernment before quittingin the wake of the passage ofthe agricultural laws. AndCongress leader and PunjabFinance Minister ManpreetSingh Badal, who is MLA fromthe Bathinda urban assemblyseat, is considering the polls asa battle of his prestige.

Elated over the victory,Manpreet tweeted, “Historyhas been made today.

Bathinda will get aCongress Mayor for the 1sttime in 53 years! Thank you toALL Bathinda residents (sic).”The Congress won 43 out of 50wards, with the other sevengoing to the SAD.

For the last two consecu-tive terms, the Akalis werehaving their leaders asBathinda mayor in support oftheir former political ally, BJP.This time, the BJP failed to wina single seat, whereas in theprevious elections, the partyhad eight councillors when itcontested in alliance with theSAD.

Facing the farmers’ protestheat in Pathankot, the BJPfailed to save its fort inPathankot. The Congress partywon 37 of the 50 wards, whilethe BJP managed to retainonly 11 wards of the Pathankotmunicipal corporation.

Same is in AboharMunicipal Corporation, wherethe Congress finished near-per-fect. The ruling party won 49out of 50 wards, and SADwinning just one.

With this, the Congress isset to get its first mayor inAbohar — the home turf ofstate Congress president SunilJakhar. Interestingly, Aboharassembly segment is repre-sented by the lone BJP’s MLAArun Narang.

However, facing a backlashover the farm laws, the partyhas been routed.

In a closely contested bat-tle in Moga municipal corpo-ration, the Congress won 20wards against SAD’s 15, withthe remaining 15 split amongthe BJP, Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) and the independents.Congress also won 41 inHoshiarpur Corporation.

The Congress has also

been victorious in Kapurthalamunicipal corporations, bag-ging 45 seats.

The Congress also sweptthe civic body elections in theMajha region, comprisingAmritsar, Gurdaspur,Pathankot and Taran districts,by winning 13 of the 16 munic-ipalities.

However, Akalis won thethree civic bodies — Majithanagar council, Qadian nagarcouncil and Ajnala nagar pan-chayat.

In Majitha — home turf offormer minister and SAD MLABikram Singh Majithia, theAkalis managed to win 10 ofthe 13 seats. However, Ajnalawitnessed a tough fightbetween SAD and the

Congress, with Akali candi-dates winning eight wards andCongress seven.

The other civic bodies ofRayya, Jandiala and Ramdas in

Amritsar district were won bythe Congress. Also, theCongress candidate won theAmritsar municipal corpora-tion’s ward number 37 byelec-

tion.Voting for the seven

municipal corporations alongwith 109 municipal councilsand nagar panchayats took

place on February 14 (Sunday),with over 71 percent of voterscasting their votes. More than9,000 candidates were in thefray for the local body elections.

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Hailing the Congress party’sspectacular victory in the

state municipal polls, PunjabChief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh on Wednesday said thatit was as not just a validation ofGovernment’s development-oriented policies and pro-grammes but also a total rejec-tion of the anti-people actionsof the major opposition parties— SAD, AAP, and BJP.

Congratulating PunjabCongress president SunilJakhar, as well as all MLAs,members and workers of theparty, for the sweeping victoryin the civic polls, the ChiefMinister said that the people ofthe state had clearly andunequivocally denounced thedivisive, undemocratic, uncon-stitutional, and regressive agen-das of the three parties.

He thanked and congratu-lated the people for defeatingthe negative and vicious forcesthat are out to ruin Punjab andits future.

“The first major polls to beheld in Punjab since the enact-ment of the draconian FarmLaws had also underscoredpeople’s angst with the BJP,which is responsible for theanti-farmer legislation with theactive support of its former ally,the SAD, and the collusion ofruling AAP in Delhi,” notedCapt Amarinder.

He said that all these par-ties had shamelessly trampled

the farmers’ rights, with theclear aim of destroying Punjab.

With SAD, AAP, and BJPnot even a close second to theCongress and trailing evenindependent candidates insome wards, “the pro-gover-nance and pro-progress verdictof the urban voters of Punjabis a clear endorsement of theirnegation of their loathsomepolitical ideologies”, said theChief Minister.

In the final count, theCongress had won 1199 of the1815 wards (municipal coun-cils) and 281 of the 350 munic-ipal corporation seats, withSAD trailing at 289 and 33, BJPat 38 and 20, and AAP at 57and nine, while the remainingwent largely to independentsand BSP (K) and CPI winningin 13 and 12 wards respective-ly.”The swing in favour of theCongress in comparison withthe 2015 municipal corporationelections in Bathinda,Hoshiarpur, Moga, andPathankot districts is manifestin the fact that from 11 seatsback then, the party’s tally hasimproved to a whopping 149now. Similarly, in the wards,from 356 in 2015, the Congressscore now has gone up to1480,” he said.

“With these results, allthese parties have got a fore-taste of things to come in theAssembly elections, due just ayear from now,” said CaptAmarinder.

BJP, AKALIS, AAP WILLAGAIN FACE BIG JOLT IN2022 ELECTIONS: MOHIN-DRA

Stating that the state’s elec-tors have posed full faith inCongress Government’s devel-opment-oriented policies byawarding party candidates huge

victory coupled with giganticmargins, Punjab Local BodiesMinister and senior Congressleader Brahm Mohindra onWednesday said that the fate ofother parties — including theSAD, BJP, and AAP — wouldwitness the same results in the2022 state assembly elections.

The Minister said that thelandslide victory has provedthat the people have expresseda positive attitude towards thesteps and decisions taken by theCapt Amarinder Singh-ledState Government in the pub-lic interest.

“With this massive victory,now our responsibilities haveenhanced further. I am assur-ing, the Punjab Governmentwould continue its urban devel-opment work on a war footingand would win the assemblyelections in 2022 just like thesecivic elections,” he said, addingthat the public outrage hascompletely wiped out the BJPfrom Punjab.

PEOPLE STAMPED THEIRAPPROVAL IN FAVOUR OFCAPT’s DEVELOPMENTAGENDA: JAKHAR

Terming the landslide vic-tory in local bodies’ polls as anstrongest endorsement of ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh’s ability to negate gravecentral efforts to destabilizePunjab, the state Congresspresident Sunil Jakhar saidthat maintenance of amity andcommunal harmony would bethe central plank of CongressGovernment to steer the Stateon part of unprecedentedgrowth, development, andprosperity.

Jakhar, addressing a pressconference after declaration ofpoll results, underlined thetrust reposed by Punjabis in

Capt Amarinder’s leadershipwhich “is key to sustain the eraof all round progress unleashedin the Punjab in the last fouryears”.

“With this landslide ver-dict, the Punjabis have cate-gorically rejected the divisiveand negative policies of SAD,BJP, and AAP,” said Jakharwhile terming the win as a winof people of Punjab and partyworkers.

CONG SECURED WIN BYRESORTING TO STATE-SPONSORED REPRESSION:SAD

Accusing the Congressparty of securing a win inmunicipal elections by resort-ing to “State-sponsored repres-sion”, the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) on Wednesday laudedthe Akali workers for assertingthemselves boldly and ensuringSAD emerged as the mainopposition to the corrupt andincompetent Congress party.

“Even as SAD had emergedas principal opposition party inPunjab post municipal elec-tions despite going alone for thefirst time, AAP has been com-pletely eradicated in the state.SAD candidates gave a toughfight to the Congress across thestate with almost all seats wit-nessing a direct contestbetween the Congress andSAD,” said the partyspokesman Daljit SinghCheema, adding that SAD’s“vote share has also increasedin urban areas”.

Cheema said that in directcontrast, AAP had been pushedto the fringes of Punjab politics,as it “has secured the numberfour position”.

Cheema asserted, “Thecivil machinery and the PunjabPolice, it seems, has won the

day for the Congress along withequal help from the StateElection Commission (SEC).More than 500 nominationpapers of SAD candidates alonewere rejected along with acouple of hundred of other par-ties in an attempt to make theentire election process a nom-ination process. This alonecalls for sacking of the SEC.”

AAP DONE WELL IN ITSFIRST MUNICIPAL POLLS:CHEEMA

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)on Wednesday said that thiswas the first time that theparty had contested the munic-ipal elections, and the resultsare a “good sign” for the party.“The party’s base in urbanareas has increased and theparty’s vote share has increasedsignificantly. This is a good signfor the party that AAP will beeven stronger in the urbanareas by 2022,” said seniorAAP leader and the Leader ofOpposition in PunjabAssembly Harpal SinghCheema.

Thanking the voters forgiving a chance to AAP candi-dates, Cheema said that thewinning councilors wouldserve the people as ‘sewadars’.“The results are a positive signfor the forthcoming assemblyelections in 2022. It shows thatAAP would win the forth-coming assembly elections bya landslide victory. The partymust have had some short-comings in contesting the localbody elections for the firsttime, and these will be rectifiedafter self-assessment,” he saidadding that the work would bedone to strengthen the partybefore the forthcoming assem-bly elections.

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Punjab Transport MinisterRazia Sultana on

Wednesday directed the con-cerned officials to rectify allblack spots in the state as blackspot management is crucialfor road safety to save the pre-cious human lives from roadaccidents.

She emphasized that allconcerned departments shouldmake concerted efforts toachieve a 50 percent reductionin road fatalities and injuries onthe line of the second ‘Decadeof Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 by the UN’.

The Minister, addressingthe concluding day event of theNational Road Safety Month(January 18 to February 17) onWednesday, asked the officialsthat a dedicated lane should bedesignated for heavy vehiclesand to avert the road fatalities,tipper, trailers, and other heavyduty vehicles should not beparked on the road sides.

She also directed theTraffic Police to initiate a spe-cial drive for checking of dri-ving licences of heavy vehicledrivers. “We should shun thebehaviour of ‘celebrate andforget’ approach. The roadsafety campaign should not beconfined to just a month. Theawareness activities should becarried on with the same zealbeyond the month,” she added.

The state Traffic AdvisorNavdeep Asija said that theexercise of identifying the newblack spots in Punjab will becompleted in the next sixmonths. “Punjab has identified391 accident black spots in 12districts, and out of total 391black spots, 264 black spots areon the national highways, 64 onthe state highways or ODR

(arterial roads) or MDR (majordistrict roads), six are on linkroads, 54 are on municipalroads, and three black spots areon other roads,” he said.

Asija said that for each ofthe police district, the list offirst order, second order, thirdorder, fourth order, and fifthorder black spots are identifiedas part of scientific study“Accident Black SpotIdentification and RectificationProgram on Various Highwaysor Roads of Punjab”, out ofwhich 100 black spots onnational highways have beenrectified and 32 on state roadsare under improvement imple-mentation.

Punjab is the first state inthe north region to completethis exercise at this scale, headded.

Presenting the statusreport on the Road SafetyMonth-2021 in Punjab, thestate Principal Secretary(Transport) K Siva Prasad saidthat a protocol has been set incoordination with civil andpolice and other related depart-

ments to end the menace ofstray cattle related accidents.

“All concerned parties areworking to make such acci-dents minimum through pub-lic participation,” he said whilethanking the Punjab Police, allNGOs, other departments andDCs and the EducationDepartment for making it asuccessful outreach pro-gramme.

NHAI Advisor KahanSingh Pannu and NHAIRegional Officer RP Singhassured the Minister that all theblack spots on national high-ways in the state will be recti-fied by the year end.

Additional DirectorGeneral of Police Dr SharadSatya Chauhan said that a total5,194 road accident cases reg-istered in the state during 2020,in which 3,866 people losttheir lives and 2,934 got seri-ously injured. “There is an 18percent reduction in road acci-dents and 15 percent reductionin terms of road accident fatal-ities from previous year, that is2019,” he said.

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Haryana Home and Urban LocalBodies Minister Anil Vij on

Wednesday inaugurated the propertytax management system claim or objec-tion portal.

Vij said that this initiative is aimedat eliminating corruption and bring intransparency in the service being ren-dered by the state.

Elaborating on it further, he saidthat the presence of unique IDs of theproperty in various cities will restrict thepractice of invalid registries and will fur-ther check the corrupt malpractices with

regard to area and category of proper-ties.

The Minister said that the StateGovernment aims to digitize the prop-erties of all the cities. A survey of 88Urban Bodies in this regard is about tobe completed.He said that on the spotsurvey of properties of around 39 lakhfamilies residing in cities of the statehave been completed.

Divulging more details, Vij said thatin the first phase data of 9.25 lakh prop-erties of 40 cities has been digitized. Theonline data of these properties is avail-able with geo-tagging along with thename, address, area, mobile number,

category, ID number and photograph ofthe owner. The families residing in thesecities will not have to visit the govern-ment offices regarding registry of theirshops or residential properties, NOC ortax of their properties, instead they cannow access this information by enter-ing the area and category of theirproperty as the photographs anddescription of the properties is availableonline, he said.

Among other benefits, the residentsof these cities will be able to access thenearest landmark along with the pho-tograph, description and drone imageof their property as it has been geo-

tagged by just clicking on the portal.Henceforth, due to ‘Ekal Sampatti Id’(Single Asset ID) depositing bills andtax of HUDA, HSIIDC, Electricity andWater Departments along with sever-al other Departments will be simpler infuture, he added.

The Minister further said that if anydetail regarding the name of the owner,address, area, category of the propertyis wrongly mentioned on the portal itcan be corrected within 30 days by vis-iting website www.pmsharyana.comfree of cost. The suggestions given bythe property owners will also be cor-rected in the record after verification.

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Expressing pride over theachievements of girls in

Haryana, the Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Wednesdaysaid that our daughters havenot only brought laurels to thestate but also to the nationacross the world.

The Chief Minister wasinteracting with VLCC FeminaMiss Grand India 2020,Manika Sheokand at his resi-dence. Manika, a ChemicalEngineer hails from Jind dis-trict of Haryana.

Manohar Lal said thatbesides the field of sports, edu-cation, management, agricul-ture, industry, our daughtershave also been excelling in the

field of films and beauty con-tests.

While congratulatingManika and her entire family,the Chief Minister said that theentire state is proud of herachievement today.

He extended his best wish-es and hoped that she wouldwin the world beauty contest bymaking efforts in the samemanner.

On Chief Minister’s sug-gestion, Manika agreed tobecome the brand ambassadorof ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’scheme in the state.

The Chief Minister saidthat in view of declininggroundwater level in Haryana,there is a great need to savewater. For this purpose, wehave implemented ‘Mera Pani- Meri Virasat Yojana’. In thisscheme, an incentive amount ofRs 7,000 per acre is beinggiven to the farmers who havebeen sowing less water-con-suming crops for replacingpaddy. He said that duringKharif-2020, paddy replacingcrops were sown on 97,000acres of land due to whichpaddy production has alsoreduced this time.

Speaking on this occasion,Manika expressed her objectiveto work on environmental pro-tection in future. Besides sav-ing water, air and soil for theprotection of the environment,it is also necessary to disposeof the used products properly,she said.

Specifically referring tosanitary napkins, she said thatinstead of using plastic in mak-ing sanitary napkins,biodegradable materials likecotton, bamboo, banana, juteetc. should be used.

On this, the Chief Ministerdirected the officers present totake effective steps after con-sulting the entrepreneurs inthis regard. Observing Manika’sinterest in protecting the envi-ronment, the Chief Ministersuggested her to be the brandambassador of ‘Mera Pani-Meri Virasat’ Scheme in thestate to which Manika and herfamily immediately agreed.

Referring to the achieve-ments of the daughters of theState, the Chief Minister saidthat Manika is the third daugh-

ter of the state in the last sixyears, who has brought laurelsto the state in the beauty con-tests. Earlier, Manushi Chillarand Meenakshi performed wellin similar beauty contests.Manushi Chillar became MissWorld in 2017, whileMeenakshi was the runner-upin 2018.

He said that by winningmedals in the field of sports, thedaughters of the state haveproved their mettle. A camp iscurrently underway to preparefor the Tokyo Olympics. Out of37 women boxers selected inthe country, 22 women boxersare from Haryana, he said.

About the ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ campaign, theChief Minister said that nowthis campaign is not limited tosaving and educating thedaughters, but has gone furtherto support them in every field.He said that the sex ratio in thestate has increased from 871 to922 as a result of this campaign,which is appreciable.

On the occasion, he pre-sented Shrimad Bhagavad Gitawith a shawl to Manika andurged her to study and followthe teachings of Gita.

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Delighted by the results,Punjab Congress chief

Sunil Jakhar on Wednesdaylaunched “Capt for 2022” cam-paign.

“The message is loud andclear. People have given theirmandate for Capt AmarinderSingh as the government nearits term early next year. It is for

everyone to see,” said Jakhar.“I would like to launch a cam-paign ‘Captain for 2022’. Onlyhe can steer the ship of thestate through these turbulenttimes when Punjab is beingdiscriminated against by theBJP-led Centre,” Jakhar saidwhile talking to the media-persons.

Sources revealed armedwith civic body results, the

Congress Government is all setto launch a campaign project-ing Capt Amarinder Singh asthe saviour of Punjab.

Jakhar also expressed hissupport for Capt Amarinder asthe party’s chief ministerialcandidate for the next assem-bly elections. Punjab goes tothe polls in early 2022.

“People have rejected neg-ative politics and voted for our

development agenda,” he said.“Be it traders, small

traders or youth, they kept onething in mind that the futureof Punjab lies safe in Congress’hands. People know thatCongress party can furthertake the state on the path ofgrowth and development byensuring an atmosphere ofpeace, harmony and brother-hood,” Jakhar said.

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved

amendments to the JuvenileJustice (Care and Protection ofChildren) Act 2015, increasingthe role of District Magistratesand Additional DistrictMagistrates.

Addressing the media onthe Cabinet decision, Womenand Child DevelopmentMinister Smriti Irani said inevery district, the DM andADM will get the power tomonitor functions of agenciesresponsible for the implemen-tation of the Act. The districtchild protection unit will alsofunction under the DistrictMagistrate, she said.

Irani said till now therewas no specific direction tocarry out a background checkof people who are to becomemembers of the child welfarecommittees (CWC).According to the amendmentscleared by the Cabinet, beforebecoming a member of theCWC, background and educa-tional qualification checks willbe included, she noted.Minister said earlier any organ-isation which wanted to run achild care institution wouldneed to give its purpose to the

state government. In the proposed amend-

ments, before registration of achild care centre, the DM willconduct its capacity and back-ground check and then submitthe recommendations to thestate government, she said.The DM can independentlyevaluate a specialised CWC,juvenile police unit and regis-

tered institutions. The scope of the Juvenile

Justice Act has been expanded.Child victims of traffickingand drug abuse and thoseabandoned by their guardianswill be included in the defini-tion of "child in need of care"and protection, she said. Atpresent, the Act has three cat-egories of petty, serious andheinous crimes

"One more category willbe included that offences wherethe sentence is more than sevenyears but no minimum sen-tence is prescribed or a mini-mum sentence of less thanseven years is provided shall betreated as serious offencesunder the Act," she said.

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In an effort to speed up mod-ernisation and acquisition

process, the Union Cabinet onWednesday approvedenhanced delegation ofFinancial Powers under CapitalProcurement to levels belowVice-Chief of Armed Forces.

As per the approval, underOther Capital ProcurementProcedure (OCPP) of DefenceAcquisition Procedure-2020,financial powers up to Rs 100crore has been delegated toGeneral Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), FlagOfficer Commanding-in-Chief(FOC-in-C), Air OfficerCommanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) at Services Commandand Regional Commanders,Indian Coast Guard (ICG).

Powers up to Rs 200 crorehas been delegated to DeputyChief of Army Staff (CD & S)/MGS (Master GeneralSustenance), COM (Chief ofMaterial), AOM (Air OfficerMaintenance), DCIDS (DeputyChief Integrated Defence Staff)and ADG ICG (AdditionalDirector General Indian CoastGuard).

This delegation of powerswithin Service Headquartersand up to Command Level foritems of Capital nature such as

overhauls, refits and upgradeswill enhance the utility ofexisting assets and will facili-tate faster processing andimplementation of projects formodernization of ArmedForces to meet the securitychallenges.

The Cabinet has alsoapproved enhanced financialpowers in the Make-I catego-ry under which Governmentfunding up to 70% of the pro-totype development cost isavailable for Design &Development of equipment,systems, major platforms orupgrades thereof.

Chief of IntegratedDefence Staff to the ChairmanChiefs of Staff Committee(CISC), Vice Chief of ArmyStaff (VCOAS), Vice Chief ofNaval Staff (VCNS), DeputyChief of Air Staff (DCAS),and Director General CoastGuard (DG(CG)) have nowbeen given powers to sanctionGovernment support up to Rs50 crore towards cost of pro-totype development.

Financial powers have alsobeen enhanced for other com-petent financial authoritiesunder ‘Make-I’ in line with thegovernment’s vision of‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and‘Make in India’ for a robustdefence industrial ecosystem.

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Situation on the Line ofActual Control(LAC) in

Ladakh and continuing bel-ligerence by Pakistan at theLine of Control (LoC) inJammu and Kashmir are like-ly to figure prominently duringPrime Minister NarendraModi’s interaction at theCombined Commanders’ con-ference in March.

Operational readiness todeal with emerging challengesin the Indian sub-continent willalso come up during the con-ference to be held in Kevadia,Gujarat. The Prime Minister isexpected to give the directionto the military top brass onstrategic and international rela-tions, sources said here onWednesday.

The CombinedCommanders’ Conference isheld annually and the PrimeMinister addresses the topcommanders. They includeofficers from the Navy, IndianAir Force and the Army. Chiefof Defence Staff(CDS)and threeServices Chiefs are some of theprominent officers to take partin the deliberations.

Modi will be briefed aboutthe various modernizationprocesses on in the Services tofight the modern day war withthe advent of information tech-

nology and space.The commanders will also

update the Prime Ministerabout the pace of reforms in thearmed forces to make themlean and mean, better utiliza-tion of resources and fightingthe future conflicts jointly. Inthat direction, Modi will takestock of the process of forma-tion of theatre commandsbesides air defence command,officials said.

He will also briefed aboutthe Special Forces Agency,Cyber Security Agency andSpace Agency. These newlycreated organizations havepooled in the resources of thearmed forces for better andfaster utilization of resourcesand manpower.

Besides these issues, thePrime Minister will take stockof current situation at the LACwhere the first stage of pullback of the armies of India andChina is currently on. The

LAC in Ladakh saw a ten-month long stand-off includinga bloody brawl in the Galwanvalley. Twenty Indian armypersonnel including the com-manding officer were killed inthe incident on June 15.

Since then both the sidesramped up their force strengthand at present more than onelakh troops of the two armiesare facing each other.Moreover, the entire 4,000 kmlong LAC is now sensitive andthe Indian security establish-ment has made sure Chinadoes not spring any surprise.The LAC stretches fromLadakh in the west toArunachal Pradesh in the east.

Pakistan continues to vio-late ceasefire in Jammu andKashmir apart from fomentingterrorism there. The overallsecurity scenario may also bediscussed during Modi’s inter-action with the commanders,sources said.

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The CBI on Wednesday filed achargesheet before the designated

court at Lucknow against the thenExecutive Engineer, Lucknow Division,Sharda Canal (LDSC), Lucknow andothers in connection with a case relat-ing to alleged corruption in the GomtiRiver Front Project.

Besides the then ExecutiveEngineer, LDSC, Lucknow, Roop SinghYadav (also the then In-chargeSuperintending Engineer, XII Circle,Irrigation Works, Lucknow), othersnamed in the chargesheet are the thenJunior Assistant, Irrigation Works,Lucknow, Raj Kumar Yadav, Directorsof KK Spun Pipe Pvt. Ltd., HimanshuGupta and Kavish Gupta, SeniorAdvisor, Brand Eagles Longjian JV,Badri Shrestha and the firm KK SpunPipe Pvt. Ltd.

The case relates to an allegedirregular award of work of InterceptingTrunk Drain in the case related to

Gomti River Front Project.The CBI had registered a case on

November 30, 2017 on the request ofUttar Pradesh Government and furthernotification from the Centre and tookover the investigation of the case, ear-lier registered vide FIR No. 831/2017at Police Station, Gomti Nagar,Lucknow.

It was alleged that irregularitieswere committed in implementation of“Gomti River Channelization Project”’and “Gomti River Front Development”

by the Irrigation Department,Government of UP.

It was further alleged that theaccused awarded the work forIntercepting Trunk Drain to an ineli-gible private firm and the date of ten-der was twice extended to accommo-date the said firm.

It was also alleged that forged doc-uments of another bidder/private partywere also arranged by the accused tocomplete the quorum of three partic-ipants in the tender. The agreement forthe work was allegedly executed by theaccused without obtaining the approvaland allotment of funds. The bank guar-antee of the L-2 firm was allegedly pre-pared from the bank account of the L-1 company, the CBI said.

During investigation, both the pub-lic servants were arrested on November19, 2020 and are presently in judicialcustody.

Further investigation is continuingto look into the role of otheraccused/suspect persons, it added.

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After granting conditionalpermission to Board of

Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) to use drones for liveaerial cinematography of crick-et matches till December 31, theCentre has allowed Kochi MetroRail Ltd to use drones for theIntegrated Urban Regeneration& Water Transport System(IURWTS) project, subject tocertain conditions. The condi-tional approval is valid tillDecember 31 this year or untilfull operationalisation of DigitalSky Platform (Phase-1),

whichever is earlier."The Ministry of Civil

Aviation (MoCA) and DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA) have granted a condi-tional exemption for Remotely

Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)usage to Kochi Metro RailLimited, Kerala for IURWTS," theministry said in a statement.

Kochi Metro Rail Ltd(KMRL) should obtain necessaryclearances from the local admin-istration, defence ministry, homeministry, Air Force and AirportAuthority of India (AAI) asapplicable prior to operating aRPAS.

Senselmage Technologies,engaged by KMRL throughTechno Vision Survey &Mappings Ltd, would only oper-ate the RPAS, as per the state-ment.

Photographs and videographs taken through RPASshould be used by only KMRL,which would also be responsi-ble for safety and security ofRPAS and data col lectedthrough it.

"The operation of RPASshall be restricted to day opera-tions (from sunrise to Sunset),within Visual Line of Sight(VLOS) in uncontrolled airspaceonly...," it said.

Among other conditions, theoperator has to intimate theschedule of operation to DGCAwell in advance for conductingsafety oversight.

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The Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs

(MoHUA) has launched anenrolment module forTECHNOGRAHIS – studentsfrom IITs, NITs, engineering,planning and architecture col-leges, faculty members, acade-micians. This module willenable them to visit six LightHousing Projects (LHPs) acrossthe country.

The foundation stone of sixLHPs was laid by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onJanuary 1, 2021, at Indore,Rajkot, Chennai, Ranchi,Agartala and Lucknow. LHPsare being built as part of theGlobal Housing TechnologyChallenge-India (GHTC-India) initiative under thePradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).

Launching the module,

MoHUA secretary DurgaShankar Mishra said that can-didates can register themselvesto visit live laboratories at sixLight House Project (LHP)sites for learning, consultation,generation of ideas and solu-tions, experimentation, inno-vation, and technical awareness.The ministry is promoting sixLHPs as live laboratories.

“This will help them ingetting a first-hand account ofthe technologies being usedand in turn, they can adapt andadopt them as per their require-ments in the construction sec-tor for a ‘Make in India’approach”, Misra added.

The LHPs comprise about1000 houses at each locationalong with allied infrastruc-ture facilities. These LHPswill demonstrate the merits ofthe world-class innovativeconstruction technologies.These projects will demon-

strate and deliver ready to livehouses at an expedited pacewithin twelve months, as com-pared to conventional brickand mortar construction, andwill be more economical, sus-tainable, of high quality anddurability. LHPs showcase thebest of new-age alternate glob-al technology. This technolo-gy revolution is cost-effective,environment-friendly andpromotes speedier construc-tion. The initiative will proveto be a major push towardstechnical transformation inIndia.

Mishra also launched thefirst volume of LHP e-newslet-ter which captures the progressof the projects at each location.Twelve such e-newsletters will bereleased every month to informthe students, faculty, stakehold-ers and public about the devel-opment works. through write-ups and photographs.

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������)����The SupremeCourt Wednesday permittedan NGO to make HimachalPradesh and Madhya Pradeshas parties to a pending peti-tion challenging the contro-versial state laws regulatingconversions due to inter-faithmarriages.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde also allowedMuslim body Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind to become a party to thepetition on the ground that alarge number of Muslims arebeing harassed under theselaws across the country.

The apex court on January6 had agreed to examine con-troversial new laws of UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand reg-

ulating religious conversionsdue to interfaith marriages.The bench, also comprisingJustices A S Bopanna and VRamasubramanian, howeverrefused to stay the controver-sial provisions of the laws andissued notices to both the stategovernments on the petitions.

The pleas, filed by advocateVishal Thakre and others andan NGO 'Citizens for Justiceand Peace', have challenged theConstitutional validity of theUttar Pradesh Prohibition ofUnlawful Religious ConversionOrdinance, 2020 and theUttarakhand Freedom ofReligion Act, 2018 which reg-ulate religious conversions ofinterfaith marriages. PTI

������)����The Supreme Court on Wednesdayallowed the Centre to respond to the "allegations" ofthe Chairman of committee on Chardham projectlinking broadening of the road to the recent flashfloods on Dhauliganga river, which damaged Tapovanhydro project and caused loss of lives in Uttarakahnd.Attorney General K K Venugopal told the apexcourt that he would like to file a response to a letterof the chairman of a top court appointed high-pow-ered committee in which several "allegations" havebeen made with regard to broadening of the roadand the recent disaster in the state.The High-Powered Committee (HPC) is monitoringthe Chardham highway project on the widening ofthe roads up to Indo-China border in Uttarakhand.Venugopal said that the high powered committeechairperson Ravi Chopra has on his own written aletter to the government linking the disaster withthe Chardham project.Taking note of his submis-sion, a bench comprising Justices R F Nariman,Hemant Gupta and B R Gavai, said "You fileresponse to it" and listed the matter for hearing aftertwo weeks. PTI

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Bestowed with a long coastlineof over 7500 km, India will

finally soon have its own BlueEconomy policy outlining thevision and strategy that theGovernment plans to adopt toutilise the plethora of oceanicresources available across thecoastal States in the country.

The Union Ministry of EarthSciences has rolled out the draftof the proposed policy invitingsuggestions on the plans aimingto achieve holistic growth of thecoastal region through "manu-facturing, emerging industries,trade, technology, services, andskill development"..

"The policy document hasbeen disseminated for pubic con-sultation. Stakeholders have beeninvited to submit inputs andideas by February 27, 2021," anofficial statement said here onWednesday.

The draft has been preparedin line with the Government’sVision of New India by 2030. Ithighlighted blue economy as oneof the ten core dimensions for

national growth, said the state-ment.

Among the seven thematicareas, which the Ministry hasrecognised to emphasize in orderto achieve holistic growth, is"Manufacturing, emerging indus-tries, trade, technology, services,and skill development".

To catalyze the developmentof the Blue Economy, the draftreport says, it aims to set upresearch and development hubsin the nine coastal states and pro-mote use of Artificial Intelligence(AI) and other new technologiesin marine sectors such as deep-sea mining, marine logistics andshipping

India's blue economy is

understood as a subset of thenational economy comprising anentire ocean resources system andhuman-made economic infra-structure in marine, maritime,and onshore coastal zones with-in the country's legal jurisdiction.

The coastal economy sustainsover 40 lakh sherfolk and coastalcommunities. With these vastmaritime interests, the blue econ-omy occupies a vital potentialposition in India's economicgrowth, said the statement.

With a coastline of nearly7,500 kilometres, India has aunique maritime position. Nine ofits 29 states are coastal and thenation's geography includes 1,382islands. There are nearly 199

ports, including 12 major onesthat handle approximately 1,400million tonnes of cargo each year.

The coastal economy sustainsover 40 lakh fisherfolk and coastalcommunities. With these vastmaritime interests, the blue econ-omy occupies a vital potentialposition in India's economicgrowth.

“The draft Policy aims to sig-nificantly enhance the contribu-tion of the Blue Economy toIndia’s GDP in the next fiveyears, improve lives of coastalcommunities, preserve ourmarine biodiversity and maintainthe security of our marine areasand resources.

“Today, the Blue Economyholds the promise of being thenext multiplier of economicgrowth and well-being, providedthat the strategy places sustain-ability and socio-economic wel-fare at the centre stage. Therefore,the proposed roadmap for evolv-ing a Blue Economy Policy wouldbe a crucial step towards unlock-ing the potential of economicgrowth and welfare,” said thereport.

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The NIA on Wednesday said it hasfiled a chargesheet against 11 alleged

terrorists in JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) Dacoity Cases,Bengaluru before the NIA Special Courtin Bengaluru.

The NIA had registered four casesfrom RC-15 to 18/2020 here. Thosenamed in the chargesheet are JahidulIslam, 40 (Jamalpur, Bangladesh), NajirSheikh alias Patla Anas, 25, Asif Ikbal,23, Adil Sheikh, 27, Abdul Karim, 21,and Mosaraf Hossain, 22, all fromMurshidabad District, West Bengal.These besides, Arif Hussain alias MotaAnas, 24 of Barpeta, Assam, Kador Kazi.33, Habibur Rahaman Sk, 28, andMustafizur Rahman, 39 of Birbhum andMd Dilwar Hossain, 28 of Malda havealso been named in the chargesheetunder various Sections of the IndianPenal Coe and provisions of theUnlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

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New Delhi: India is gradually inchingtowards one crore milestone witharound 92 lakh beneficiaries beingadministered Covid -19 vaccine in thecountry so far since the launch of thenationwide vaccination drive kicked offfrom January 16, this year. Around 37people have been hospitalized after thevaccination and 29 deaths have beenreported so far. However, none of themwere related to the jab.

In a media briefing in New Delhion Wednesday, an Union HealthMinistry official said that a total of91,86,757 beneficiaries have been inoc-ulated with Covid-19 vaccine doses. Hesaid that on Wednesday 1,87,527 ben-eficiaries were inoculated.

Maximum number of doses has

been administered today in Karnatakafollowed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

The official said that a total of65,21,785 health care workers have beeninoculated with COVID-19 vaccinedoses. “More than 61,79,000 health careworkers have been administered thefirst dose whereas more than 3,42,000have been inoculated with the seconddose so far while 26,64,972 frontlinehealth workers have been administeredthe COVID-19 vaccine jab,” he added.

In terms of first dose coverage,Bihar stands at top position with 84.7per cent coverage followed by Tripura,Odisha, Lakshadweep and Gujarat.Around 37 people have been hospi-talized after the vaccination and 29

deaths have been reported so far.However, no new case of hospitaliza-tion and new death have been report-ed in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, India’s total activecaseload currently stands at 1.36 lakh(1,36,549) as on Wednesday, just 1.25per cent of India’s total positive cases.

Eighteen States/UTs have notreported any COVID19 deaths in thelast 24 hours. These are Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, J&K ,Jharkhand, Puducherry, HimachalPradesh, Lakshadweep, Manipur,Ladakh, Assam, Andaman and NagarIslands, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura,Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh andDadar and Nagar Haveli.

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Jaunpur (Uttar Pradesh): With thePanchayat elections barely a few weeks away,a 50-year-old outgoing village head inJaunpur district was shot dead by uniden-tified persons.

The incident led to demonstrations andangry mobs pelted stones and damagedvehicles in protest.

According to reports, the incident tookplace on Tuesday evening when Raj KumarYadav, the head of the Makhmelpur villagein Sarai Khwaja, was shot by some motor-cycle-borne youths when he was going toJaunpur city.

Additional Superintendent of PoliceSanjay Kumar said the deceased received fivebullet injuries and was rushed to a hospi-tal, where doctors declared him broughtdead.

Following the incident, locals blockedthe Jaunpur-Shahganj road at Kokrideeha.

The body has been sent for post mortemand additional forces have been deployed inthe area.

Family members said the killing wasrelated to poll rivalry.

IANS

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Salim Kumar, the celebrated filmartist who had been honoured

with the National Award for the BestActor and a number of national andState honours was snubbed andhumiliated by the CPI(M)-led KeralaGovernment, according to film andtheatre artists in the State.

Salim Kumar, who had essayedhundreds of memorable roles infilms that include the 2010 movie“Abu, the Son of Adam” (for whichhe was honoured with the nationalAward for Best Actor) and AchanUrangatha Veedu (The House wherethe Father Doesn’t Sleep) the 2005film which earned him the SecondBest Actor Award for portraying therole of a helpless father of the vic-tim of a sexually molested girl isknown for his links with theCongress Party.

A TV and stage show per-former who made spectators laughand cry with his scintillating per-formance, Salim Kumar had grad-

uated into the big league ofMalayalam film industry onlybecause of his talents. ButMohammed Majeed Kamaludeen,chairman, Kerala State FilmAcademy, who is the main organis-er of the Government sponsoredInternational Film Festival of Kerala(IFFK 2021) had other ideas.

“He and other organisers con-veniently ignored Salim Kumarwhile preparing the list of inviteesfor the Kochi-leg of the IFFK whichgot going on Wednesday. Due toCovid-19 related issues, the IFFK isbeing held in two editions. TheThiruvananthapuram leg wasbetween February 9 and 14 while theKochi edition is during February 17to 21.

Kamaludeen denied reports thatalleged Salim Kumar was not invit-ed for the festival. “OrganisingCommittee decided to give a chanceto youngsters and hence we includ-ed new generation film personalitiesamong those who would light thelamp on the occasion,” Kamaludeen

told reporters. He also said that thefestival cannot be held without thepresence pf Salim Kumar.

But the versatile actor told ThePioneer from Paravoor that he hasnot yet received any invitation fromthe organising committee. “I amleast bothered whether they includeme or not among the VIPs who lightthe lamp. But a formal invitationwould have been sufficient for me.They wanted to keep me out becauseof political reasons. It is known toall and many persons are afraid totell it openly,” said Salim Kumar.

The incident comes to lightwithin days of Rajasenan, a reputedMalayalam movie maker, who has astring of hots to his credit, chargedthat Malayalam film industry hasbeen hijacked by Love Jihad ele-ments.

In a no holds barred attack onsome quarters, the soft spokenRajasenan said that move industryin Kerala has been usurped by acabal which has vested interests.

Kamaludeen was in the news

recently when the letter he wrote tocultural minister A K Balan askingthe latter to regularise the servicesof Left-leaning casual staff in theFilm Academy was released in theLegislative Assembly by Leader ofthe Opposition RameshChennithala. Kamaludeen said thathis letter was to ensure film profes-sionals with leanings to SanghParivar do not enter the precincts ofMalayalam film industry.

Salim Kumar said theThiruvananthapuram edition of theFilm Festival was inaugurated by 76-year-old Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan in the presence of 79-yearold Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

Politicisation ofMalayalam filmindustry has given rise to many leadartists expressing their solidaritywith either the Congreess or the BJP.Krishnakumar, the lead TV artisthad joined the BJP in presence ofparty president J P Nadda whileRamesh Pisharady and DharmanBolghatty declared their support tothe Congress in a recent function.

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New Delhi: All India Councilfor Technical Education andHaryana Granth Akademiwould work together to pro-mote as a medium of technicaleducation. A formal agreementpaving the way to this collabo-ration between the two gov-ernment institutions was signedat AICTE Headquarters in NewDelhi in the digital presence ofUnion Education Minister Dr.Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishankduring the launching ceremo-ny of NEET 2.0. HaryanaGranth Akademi(HGA)Deputy Chairman & DirectorDr. Virender Singh Chauhanand AICTE Member SecretaryProf. Rajiv Kumar signed theagreement and exchanged rel-evant documents. AICTEChairman Prof.Anil D.Sahashrabuddhe was also pre-sent on this occasion.

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An Improvised explosive device (IED) plant-ed inside a pressure cooker was detected by

the members of the road opening party of theIndian Army near Manjakote along the JammuPoonch highway early wednesday morning.

Four days ago, a nursing student,identifiedas Suhail from Pulwama was arrested by theJammu and Kashmir police after an IED weigh-ing 6.5 kgs was recovered from his bag near thebus stand area in Jammu. Handlers belongingto Al-Badr had tasked him to trigger a blast atone of the busy locations in Jammu.

Both these recoveries were made close onthe heels of arrest of two top ranking terroristsof Lashkar-e- Mustafa and The ResistanceFront in Jammu.

The traffic on the busy road was halted fromboth the sides and teams of bomb disposal squadof the Indian army from a nearby camp wererushed to the spot to detonate the IED. "This

morning, a road opening patrol (ROP) of thearmy found a suspicious object along the high-way near Manjakote. Soon, traffic was controlledon the highway and a bomb disposal squad wascalled in," said Rajouri SSP, Chandan Kohli.

The suspected material packed in a fruitpacking box was later destroyed through a con-trolled explosion, he added. Further investiga-tion is going on in the case registered atManjakote police station under relevant sectionsof law.

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The Bombay High Court onWednesday granted Mumbai-

based activist Nikita Jacob transitbail for three weeks in the GretaTheunberg ‘tool-kit’ case relating tothe farmers’ agitation and ruled thatin the event of her arrest, shewould be released on bail on a per-sonal bond of Rs 25,000 and onesurety of like amount.

While granting relief to Jacob,Justice P. D. Naik of the high courtruled: “This protection is grantedfor a period of three weeks fromtoday to enable the applicant toapproach the competent court forseeking appropriate relief,”

The high court was hearingJacob’s plea against a non-bailablearrest warrant issued against her andanother activist Shantanu Muluk, bythe Tis Hazari Court in Delhi.

The high court had reserved its

order on Jacob when the matter washeard here on Tuesday.

In a related development, theAurangabad bench of Bombay HighCourt had on Tuesday granted a 10-day transit bail to Muluk, an engi-neer from Beed, in the same case.

In non-bailable warrants againstthem, the Delhi Police had onMonday charged Jacob and Muluk,who work for a UK-based NGOExtinction Rebellion, with creatingthe toolkit tweeted by Thunberg onthe farmers’ protest.

Jacob has been booked underIPC Sections 124(A) for sedition,153(A) for promoting enmitybetween different groups, and120(B) for criminal conspiracy.

Another accused activist DishaRavi – who was arrested by DelhiPolice on February 13 for allegedinvolvement with an online ‘toolk-it’ relating to Greta Theunberg-farmers’ agitation -- is currently in

police custody for five days. On their part, the Delhi Police

have claimed that Disha, Jacob andMuluk had created the ‘toolkit’relating to the farmers’ agitationwhich was shared with Thunberg.

Ms Jacob had told the highcourt on Tuesday that there was aZoom meeting before RepublicDay, which was attended by PoeticJustice Foundation founder MODhaliwal, and other fellow activists,including Disha.

Jacob’s lawyer Mihir Desai hadtold the court that the "toolkit" wasprepared by Extinction Rebellion(XR) India volunteers for present-ing the whole picture with a simplebreakdown for an internationalaudience. Desai had also argued thatJacob was a young woman, prac-tising law since the past 6 to 7 yearsand was a responsible environ-mental activist who was moved bythe plight of the agitating farmers.

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Amaravati: The third phase of four-phased Panchayatelections in Andhra Pradesh kicked off onWednesday with voting commencing at 6.30 a.m.in 18 revenue divisions.

The revenue divisions in which polls are beingheld are Srikakulam, Palakonda, Vizianagaram,Paderu, Rampachodavaram, Yetapaka,Jangareddygudem, Kukunuru, Machilipatnam,Gurazala, Kandukur, Gudur, Naidupeta, Adoni,Kurnool, Ananthapur, Rajampet, Kadapa andMadanapalle.

As many as 2,639 sarpanch posts are being con-tested, along with 19,553 wards.

In Kurnool district, elections started off on apeaceful note and district collector Veerapandian reit-erated that people should exercise their franchise fear-lessly.

He adviced people to call control room number1800-4255180 in case any forces are trying to influ-ence the elections.

Similar to the second phase polls, district offi-cials made arrangements to complete vote countingfaster in major panchayats.

Starting 5:30 a.m. on Wednesday, senior officialshave been monitoring the election arrangements andpolls in the control room set up at the Collectorate.

As many as 14 mandals, comprising 245 pan-chayats and 2,516 wards are going to the polls at 2,204polling centres.

Kurnool district administration deployed 2,557policemen on poll duty.As many as 219 villages aregoing for the polls in the district.

Out of the 2,204 polling stations, the district iden-tified 605 polling stations as troublesome ones andanother 374 as hyper sensitive.

Polling and vote counting officials number is7,250 in the Rayalaseema district.

Zonal officials, shadow teams, striking forceteams, route mobile teams, flying squads, drones andweb casting are deployed to monitor the elections.

Police Act 30 and CrPc Section 144 have beenimposed in the district, including banning victoryrallies, pyrotechnics and other musical celebrations.

"Non-locals, newcomers and people not relatedto the polls are banned from the villages where pollsare occurring," reiterated an official statement.

In Anantapur district, elections are happeningin 19 mandalams. Out of 379 panchayats, 23sarpanches have been elected unanimously, while 936contestants are competing for the remaining 356sarpanch posts. IANS

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Mumbai: India is brimmingwith confidence, and the eventson the borders and theGovernment's decision to lib-eralise geospatial data are rep-resentative of the same, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi saidon Wednesday.

Modi said in the past, secu-rity considerations were thebiggest “red light” which pre-vented the government fromundertaking the measure to lib-eralise map making and accessto geospatial data. In theremarks, which come amid aslew of reports suggesting a dis-engagement between Indianand Chinese forces in icyheights of Eastern Ladakh,Modi said the confidence is avery big asset.

“Today, India is brimmingwith confidence. We are seeingit on the borders,” he said, with-out explicitly mentioning thethaw with China after nearly 10months of a standoff.It can be noted that there wasa heavy troop and militaryhardware buildup in theHimalayan region since lastsummer, after China movedtroops to newer grounds amidthe pandemic.

One of the many con-frontations turned ugly leadingto deaths of soldiers in fist-fights and warning shots werealso fired in another instance.The troops continued to be onvigil braving the hostile winterand according to reports, therehas been a “disengagement” on

the banks of Pangong Tso andsouth of it.

Addressing the annualNasscom Technology andLeadership Forum organisedby the IT industry lobby group-ing, Modi said the decision toliberalise the geospatial dataand map making is not justrestricted to the area of tech-nology, nor should it be seen asanother administrative reformwhere the government exits aparticular field.

“This decision is illustrativeof India's capabilities. India isconfident that even after thisdecision, we can ensure oursecurity and also give an oppor-tunity for the country's youngpopulation to excel at the worldstage,” Modi said. PTI

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Mumbai: Prime Minister Narendra Modi onWednesday urged India's startup foundersto think how to create institutions and notfocus on valuations alone. Addressing theNasscom Technology and Leadership Forumhere, Modi said that startups should notrestrict themselves only to valuations on exitstrategies. They should think of creating aninstitution that can outlive this century bycreating world class products that will set theglobal benchmark of excellence.

The Prime Minister further said the largepopulation of the country is the IT indus-try's biggest strength as people are eager toadopt newer solutions. IT industry's cor-porate social responsibility (CSR) efforts todevelop lateral thinking in rural kids canprove to be a gamechanger for India, Modinoted. The country is not short of ideas, hesaid, adding that it needs mentors to helpturn ideas into reality. PTI

Chennai: Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday said that India isworking to meet growing energydemand, while reducing its energyimport dependence and also diversi-fying import sources. In his addressafter launching oil and gas projects inTamil Nadu through video confer-encing, he said the country was try-ing to ensure this through capacitybuilding.In 2019-20, India was fourthin world in refining capacity. About65.2 million tonnes of petroleumproducts have been exported andthis number is expected to rise evenfurther, he said.

The Prime Minister noted adiverse and talented nation like Indiawas more dependent on imports forits energy requirements. During 2019-20, India imported over 85 per cent ofoil and 53 per cent of gas to meet its

domestic demand."I don't want to crit-icise anyone, but I want to say had wefocused on this sector much earlier,our middle class would not havebeen burdened.

Now it is our collectively duty towork towards clean and green sourceof energy and reduce energy depen-dence," he said. Stating that his gov-ernment is sensitive to the concerns ofthe middle class, Modi said the coun-try is increasing the focus on ethanolto help farmers and consumers, tak-ing steps to become leader in solarpower, encouraging public transportto make people's lives productive andembracing alternative source like LEDbulbs to enable huge savings for mid-dle class households.He noted thatmore Indian cities have metro cover-age and solar pumps getting morepopular helping farmers greatly."Our

companies have ventured overseas inacquisition of quality oil and gasassets.

Today Indian oil and gas compa-nies are present in 27 countries withinvestment worth about Rs 2.70 lakhcrore.

We are developing a gas pipelinenetwork to achieve one nation, onegrid. We have plan to spend 7.5 lakhcrore in creating oil and gas infra-structure over next five years.

A strong emphasis had been laidon expansion on expansion of city gasdistribution network by covering 470districts. The Prime Minister said con-sumer focus scheme like Pahal andPM Ujwala Yojna were helping everyIndian household access gas, and that95 per cent of Tamil Nadu's LPG con-sumers have joined Pahalscheme. IANS

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The Maharashtra Police hasarrested two German

nationals from a private bun-galow at Wai town in Sataradistrict of western Maharashtrafor allegedly cultivatingCannabis (Ganja) at home.

Acting on a tip-off thatabout two foreigners staying atbungalow at Nandanvan Parkowned by a local resident andconducting themselves in asuspicious manner, the Satararaided the place on Tuesdayand found that large quantitiesof Ganja being grown insidehalf-a-dozen rooms, on theroof and outside.

The police arrested twoGerman nationals – identifiedas Sergis Victor Manca (31)and Sebastian Stein Muller(25) – from the bungalow theyraided.The two arrestedGerman nationals were laterproduced before a court, whichremanded them in police cus-tody till February 20.

During the raids, the policeseized 29 kgs of home-grownGanja worth around Rs. 3-lakh,all packed in bags.

The police also recoveredsophisticated artificial light-ing equipment, LED lights,laptops, mobiles, etc from thebungalow.

During the course of theraids, one of the Germannationals tried to flee the bun-galow only to be caught by the

police personnel present.The Satara police have,

meanwhile, experts withknowledge of Ganja cultivationfrom Pune to assist them in theinvestigations.

The preliminary investiga-tions have revealed that bothManca and Muller are history-sheeters who had been arrest-ed in a drugs case by theNarcotics Control Bureau(NCB) in Goa in 2017.

Subsequently, the BombayHigh Court (Goa Bench) hadreleased them on bail on a con-dition that they would hence-forth live in Satara district.

As per the orders issued bythe high court in 2017, the twoGerman nationals had deposit-ed their passports with the GoaPolice.

As a consequence, theycannot leave the country till thecase registered by the NCB ispending against them.

“As part of our investiga-tions, we have asked the GoaPolice to give us details of thepassports and visas of the twoarrested German nationals,”Satara’s District PoliceSuperintendent AjaykumarBansal said.

The Satara police are try-ing to ascertain if the twoarrested German nationals haddeveloped a network of ped-dlers and customers to sell theCannabis grown by them dur-ing their stay at the bungalowlasting more than 18 months.

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Sher Ali, an active terroristfrom Poonch, was arrested

by the Poonch police fromJammu airport on Wednesday.

According to a policespokesman, "Sher Ali is themain coordinator and facilita-tor of terrorist activities ofvarious terrorist groups involv-ing facilitating infiltration ofterrorists, smuggling of armsand ammunition, narcoticsfrom POJK to Indian Territoryfrom Balakote area of Poonchdistrict".

He has been arrested inconnection with case FIR No.292/2020 P/S Mendhar and isalso involved in many othercases of district Poonch.

"Sitting aboard, Sher Ali

was involved in sending twoPakistan terrorists from Dabbiarea of Balakote Sector on24/25 of Nov. 2020 at thebehest of Pakstani handler @Sultan. The two terrorists of JKGazanavi force were later killedin an encounter on 13th ofDecember-2020 in Poshanaarea of Surankote", the policespokesman added.

Sher Ali also smuggledarms and ammunition whichincluded 3 pistols and 1 IEDbesides other ammunitionthrough Balakote sector inMendhar district Poonch. Thereceiver of these Arms andammunition namely MushtaqAhmed (father of Sher Ali) andRaskeem Akhter (sister of SherAli) were arrested by PoonchPolice on 11-9-2020 and FIR

was registered at P/S Mendherin this regard.

So-far 05 OGWs namelyMushtafa R/O Kandi Galuta,Mohd Yaseen R/O DabbiBalakote, Younis, Irfan andRaskeem have been arrestedwho were involved in the ter-ror network led by Sher Ali.

Sher Ali was also involvedin drug smuggling along withsmuggling of arms and ammu-nitions and 2 Kgs heroineworth approximately Rs 8crores in the international mar-ket were also recovered fromthis terror network which wasmeant to be used for terrorfinancing. So-far from thisnetwork 05 Pistols, 13 grenadesand one live IED has beenrecovered. Further investiga-tion is in progress.

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Son of a famous local eatery located in thehigh security zone of Sonwar was shot

at from a close range by unidentified ter-rorists late Wednesday evening in Srinagar.

The daring attack on a civilian tookplace barely hours after the 24 member del-egation of foreign diplomats winded uptheir day long schedule of meetings aimedat assessing the ground situation in Jammuand Kashmir.

Local police identified the injured vic-tim as Aakash Mehra son of a popularKrishna Dhaba owner Ramesh KumarMehta. This is the second major attack ona minority businessman in Srinagar inrecent times.

Earlier, a jeweller Satpal Nischal fromPunjab settled in Srinagar for several yearsand was killed in cold blood in the firstweek of January 2021.Police sourcesclaimed Aakash was shot at from a closerange.He took the bullets on his chest andwas rushed to a nearby SMHS hospital.

Terror group Muslim Janbaaz ForceJammu and Kashmir has claimed respon-sibility for the attack on Krishna Dhab inSrinagar outside UN Office.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah,who occasionally visited the eatery in thepast condemned the terrorist attack in histweet. Omar tweeted, "Very sorry to hearabout the attack on the Krishna Dhaba inSrinagar, these attacks are unacceptable. Ihope the injured person who is himselfassociated with the dhaba & is undergoingtreatment in a city hospital makes a com-plete & speedy recovery".

Junaid Azim Mattu, Mayor of SrinagarMunicipal Corporation in a tweet said,"Deeply anguished to hear about an appar-ent attack by terrorists at the Krishna Dhabain Sonwar, Srinagar where a civilian hasreceived injuries. Strongly condemn this actof cowardice and barbarism. My prayers forthe speedy and complete recovery of theinjured civilian".

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Within hours of the foundation lay-ing ceremony of the statue of

Maharaja Suheldev by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, a controversy has erupt-ed over the legendary warrior king's caste.

BJP MP from Basgaon, KamleshPaswan, has written a letter to thePresident Ram Nath Kovind, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and chief min-ister Yogi Adityanath.

Alleging that some vested interestshad suffixed 'Rajbhar' to the name ofSuheldev whereas the warrior kingbelonged to the Pasi community. He fur-ther said that the state governmentshould mention his name as 'MaharajaSuheldev Pasi' on the memorial and alsoon other projects launched by the PrimeMinister to mark his contribution.

UP minister Anil Rajbhar, mean-while, claimed that Maharaja Suheldevbelonged to the Rajbhar communitywhile Paswan maintained that the min-ister's assertion was igniting anger among

the Pasi community that had great admi-ration regard for Maharaja Suheldev.

The BJP MP said that the state gov-ernment should verify historical docu-ments and add Pasi surname to thememorial and other projects being ded-icated to the king.

Om Prakash Rajbhar, former UPminister and president of the SuheldevBhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), claimed thatas per the historical texts, includingMirat-i-Masudi written by AbdurRehman Chishti, Suheldev belonged tothe 'Bhar' community which is a sub-casteof Rajbhar.

"My party will oppose any move bythe state government to project Suheldevas a Pasi. We are going to organise meet-ings in Rajbhar-dominated constituenciesacross the state to make our communi-ty aware of his contribution," he said.

BSP leader Ram Achal Rajbhar, onthe other hand, stated that it was theBahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that had firsthighlighted the role of Suheldev inupliftment of weaker sections.

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Page 6: ˇ*€¦ · 2/17/2021  · movement was gathering pace. Seven days later, Akbar, a cel-ebrated editor, filed a criminal ... Road, IIT Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport (Terminal

of men that the defences ofpeace must be constructed.”The untold sufferings of theWorld Wars and the crueltyon Hiroshima and Nagasakileft people with no option butto strive hard to avoid wars infuture, and sincerely movetowards a world of peace. Toaugment their faith, therewere luminaries like AlbertEinstein and MahatmaGandhi. They motivatedmany more, prominent men-tions being Martin LutherKing, Jr, and Nelson Mandela.Yes, there was an alternativeavailable which preachedglobal brotherhood throughmutual trust and faith intruth and nonviolence.Unfortunately, it has notclicked effectively so far.

The how and why of thedichotomy of the expectationsof the 20th century, and wherewe stand in the 21st at thisstage, deserves an incisivescrutiny. The fundamentalswere not beyond the compre-hension of the luminaries whohad an awareness of factorsthat could lead to serious dis-tortions of the core valuesnecessary for a vibrant democ-racy. When Gandhi respond-ed to Julian Huxley, the thenDirector General of Unesco,on the draft of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights

Charter, he put on record aneternal guiding principlewhich is the lifeline of sustain-ing humanity on earth: “Ifeveryone does his duty, every-one else would get his right.”Men and women devoted tothe cause of human rights theworld over would not findeven a treatise on the subjectthat could say more. Thisprinciple is to be implement-ed at the grassroots, andshould extend to the top level.There are only two ways toachieve the transformation:Those in control of power andauthority at every level are con-vinced that to create a bettertomorrow for the generationsahead — including their ownkith and kin — they must behonest to themselves and per-form their duties with integri-ty. Without this, they would betotally unfair to their progeny.This could be a national cam-paign. In the long term,schoolteachers could be ropedin to realise how they are theprime movers in the process ofpreparing the next genera-tions. In fact, they are at the topof the workforce pyramid thatcreates national future.

They are the acharyas;people are supposed to followtheir conduct, character andcomposure. They are the orig-inal icons. If a teacher is punc-

tual, sincere, dexterous andempathetic, he would neverhave to tell children about val-ues and human qualities. Thesewould silently be absorbed byhis wards. A national plan onthese lines shall need no finan-cial investment. It is the initialschooling that could — with-out burdening the textbooks —let children learn that naturecould offer sufficient resourcesto meet the need of everyonebut not the greed of anyone. Ageneration could be preparedin about a decade that wouldsincerely realise its primary rolein maintaining the sensitiveman-nature relationship and beready to accept its responsibil-ity to maintain and sustain it.

Human beings have thegift to envision, both individ-ually and collectively. Ashumans we have not appliedour minds, and often humanindiscretion and greed havetriggered disasters that werealready anticipated. The lat-est tragedy in Uttarakhandcould be one more eye open-er. Too many hydel powerplants, cutting of trees andindiscreet mining wereknown to cause disasters. Letthis warning from MotherNature not go unheeded.

(The author works in edu-cation and social cohesion. Theviews expressed are personal.)

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The first two decades ofthe 21st century are over.We are saddled withwars and violence all

around, distrust and apprehen-sions can be smelled across inter-national borders, and terrorismand fundamentalism havewracked the backbone of sever-al nations, leaving them in greaterpoverty and insecurity. Imaginethe plight of those who are forcedto migrate to unfamiliar lands.This happens despite the fact thata considerable number of nationshas moved ahead economicallyand achieved some semblance ofsocial and cultural uplift, besidesthe equality of opportunity inaccess and success. Lookingaround, one would find globaldeliberations getting centredaround markets, GDP growth,economic policies; of courseissues like global warming, cli-mate change and environmentaldegradation do come up regular-ly, but without much commit-ment. The greatest promise of the20th century was inclusion, equal-ity of opportunity, and that meanthuman dignity to all those whohad been deprived of it by vest-ed interests, suffering subhumanpractices like racism, apartheid,caste considerations, gender sub-jugation and a lot more. Thebiggest decision of the 20th cen-tury was to respect diversity andcut down on exclusion.

Numerous initiatives at thenational and international levelmay be cited in support of anemerging climate that wouldpermit every human to savourthe scent of fresh breeze in anenvironment of liberty, equali-ty and fraternity! By implication,it would mean eradication ofignorance, poverty, poor healthand universal access to humanrights. People in such a societymust know their rights and becommitted to performing theirduties. When the UNO (now theUN) was established on October24, 1945, it was expected that theworld would henceforth movetowards global peace, harmonyand brotherhood. The sameyear, Unesco was also born witha preamble to its constitutionthat generated huge hopes allaround: “Since wars begin in theminds of men, it is in the minds

SOUNDBITE����������������� ���������Sir—The removal of Kiran Bedi asPuducherry’s Lieutenant Governor (L-G)must be a great relief not only for ChiefMinister V Narayanasamy but also for alarge section of people of the UnionTerritory who were fed up with the man-ner in which Bedi obstructed the function-ing of the Government and halted the devel-opment of the UT and welfare of its peo-ple.

She exhibited only confrontational atti-tude and animosity towards the electedGovernment and did everything that goesagainst the dignity of the post of L-G, andbehaved as if she is subservient only to theinterests of the BJP. Bedi actively promot-ed the interests of the saffron party.However, her autocratic and arrogantmoves have done more damage to the BJPthan benefiting the party and it will defi-nitely reflect in the Assembly electionresults. It is unfortunate that the NDAGovernment at the Centre has decided toremove her only after allowing her to con-tinue with her unconstitutional agenda forso long.

If the party was really interested in thewelfare of the people of the UT, it shouldhave sacked her long back. Further, sheshould not be posted as L-G or Governorin any other non-BJP ruled State as doingso will only bring disgrace to the office ofPresident which makes these appoint-ments. She has manifested very clearly dur-ing her stay in the Raj Nivas that she def-initely doesn’t deserve to hold any consti-tutional post.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

��������������������������Sir —This refers to the editorial ‘Dust bowlpolitics’ (February 17). The Indian crick-et team has always been at the receivingend when it comes to the preparation ofpitches, especially for a Test series at home.During the India-England second Test atChepauk in Chennai, Stuart Broad likeda tweet by ex-Australian batsman MarkWaugh, who called the pitch “unaccept-able”, while Ben Stokes liked a tweet by

Matt Prior who suggested “the pitch is notfor a five-day match”. But England’s losscan’t be entirely blamed on the pitch.

The ground reality is that batting wassurely difficult but Rohit, Rahane andKohli proved in the first innings that it wasfar from being unplayable. Ashwin’s hero-ics with the bat and bowl were a messagefor English cricketers that it had little todo with the pitch and more with intent,skills and experimenting with new tech-niques under tough conditions. The pitch-es of England, Australia and South Africahave seaming conditions when India orany sub-continent team visits there. India’swin was in outplaying England in a justand skilful manner. Nobody should under-estimate or downplay it. Our team is oneof the best teams in the world and the play-ers have proved it time and again.

Nischai Vats | Sultanpur

����������������������������Sir —Accidents have become common inIndia. Every now and then we hear about

some tragic road accident in which peo-ple die for no fault of theirs. The condi-tion of our roads, including highways, ispathetic. Those who survive are just plainlucky.

The condition of State Highways isvery poor as compared to NationalHighways. There are still many roadswhich are not one-way. Further, privatebuses and vehicles, which follow no traf-fic rules, continue to operate with impuni-ty under the patronage of corrupt trans-port department officials and policemen.These corrupt officials do not take actionagainst the errant vehicles or their own-ers and extort money from them. Evenmany school buses don’t undergo regularcheckup that includes checking the effica-cy of their brakes and checking tail lights.It endangers the life of children who go toschool in these buses.

MR Jayanthi | Mumbai

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Page 7: ˇ*€¦ · 2/17/2021  · movement was gathering pace. Seven days later, Akbar, a cel-ebrated editor, filed a criminal ... Road, IIT Delhi, Indira Gandhi International Airport (Terminal

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Nature’s laws are immutable. Where forestsare removed indiscriminately, drought,pestilence, famine and flash floods rear their

ugly heads. When the green revolution came toIndia in the early 50s, a whopping 1,973.4 millionhectare (Ha) of forest land either went under theplough or was destroyed for various developmentpurposes and this process is still going on. Water,soil health and climate change play a major rolein making or breaking the agrarian economy. Inthe context of the above, the role of trees in enhanc-ing and sustaining productivity of the soil, waterand biodiversity assumes great significance. Hence,the need for agroforestry research and extensionis required in various kinds of marginal land. Forinstance, in Kenya and in other countries realprogress has been made in sustainable agriculturewith the introduction of appropriate trees.

The International Council for Research inAgroforestry (ICRAF) has stated that its central aimis to foster research on the place of woody peren-nials in combination with crops or animals to solvethe problem of small farmers. This approach wonover Chinese peasants to forestry. Chinese farm-ers included timber trees with woody perennialsfor all purposes like orchards, bamboo, groves andso on, while Chinese foresters encouraged anddemonstrated intercropping. It is an irony thatdespite the ongoing farmers’ agitation and the per-sistent agrarian crisis in the country, one seldomfinds any debate highlighting the crunch and itslinkage with the deteriorating health of naturalresources, which apparently is the main factorbehind this messy situation.

There cannot be any denial of the fact that thehealth of the ecosystem in India has come to a stagewhere its carrying capacity has already beenstretched to the limit and it seems to be on the brinkof a precipice. While India’s overall food produc-tion has grown, declining productivity is evidentfor oilseeds and pulses. In the rainfed areas, yieldsare declining and rapid land degradation is evident.Even in the irrigated, high-yield crop areas, stag-nation is apparent and their sustainability is alsoa matter of doubt.

The environmental impact of the green revo-lution that is based on high input and output, iswell-documented but the cost of maintaining itnecessitates various limits and the economicinequality resulting from this development is appar-ent now. Two kinds of fertiliser fertility problemsare commonly encountered in the country: Lowand declining soil fertility. Tackling a decline in fer-tility is linked to working with nature and assist-ing the restoration of the natural processes. It mayalso require external inputs like fertilisers and wateralong with trees. The result of five years of workof the Indian Grassland and Fodder ResearchInstitute (IGFRI) Jhansi has revealed a significantreduction in soil nutrient losses and improvementin soil fertility. In a recently-published article in anational daily, Atul Thakur revealed how produc-tive quality and prices are key factors that have com-bined to keep the Indian farmers poor. Based onquantitative data he observed that returns per Hafrom kharif crops as a per cent of inputs and labourcost are steeply declining. He summarised: “Farmreturns were falling and low to begin with.Divided over four months of the kharif season theaverage paddy farmers’ monthly returns were

�4,903 in 2013-14. That declined to�4,620 by 2017-18.”

“Furthermore, for other crops,the returns have stagnated. Therehas been no significant increase inthe last five years. This means theGovernment’s target of doublingfarmers’ incomes by 2022 willremain a pipe dream,” he says.

Thakur further observes thatIndia’s yield when compared toother countries, is the lowest per Hafor most crops and uses more landand labour to produce lower yields.Indian agriculture adds 16 per centto the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) but provides 41 per cent jobswhereas China adds 71 per cent tothe GDP with 25 per cent labour andBrazil adds 4.4 per cent with nine percent labour. Further, due to highinputs Indian farmers cannot com-pete in the international marketbecause of their high prices.

In India, industrial agriculturewas powered by the Haber-BoschProcess that was invented by FritzHaber and Carl Bosch which pro-duces ammonia for chemical fertilis-ers. This process makes nature’s fer-tilisation via sunlight, macrobioticsoils and crop rotation very margin-al. Ammonia production now con-sumes two per cent of the energysupply globally and produces 1.5-1.6trillion CO2 emissions per year.Nitrogenous fertilisers derived fromthe Haber-Bosch Process currentlyprovide roughly half of all the nitro-gen required for world crops.Organic recycling, manure, cropresidues and atmospheric deposition

provide another half. In India thisratio must be much higher.

Duke University’s SubhrenduPattanayak concludes that industri-al agriculture is a leading cause ofdeforestation as it accounted for 80per cent of it between 2000 and 2010.Soya and palm oil cultivation causedover 30 per cent deforestation acrossAsia and 70 per cent in LatinAmerica.

Industrial monocroppingexhausts soil nutrients, polluteswater channels, destroys habitats andbiodiversity. Industrial agriculturecosts the world over $3 trillion perannum. Sustainable agriculture withagroforestry reduces soil damage,chemical use, diversifies agricultureand protects habitat for biodiversi-ty.

Sir Albert Howard in his treaties,‘Soil and Health’, observes: “Forest isan effective agent in the preventionof soil erosion... The trees andundergrowth break up the rainfallinto fine spray and the litter on theground further protects the soil fromthe impact of descending waterstreams. The roots and residues ofthe trees and animal life in allwoodlands are converted intohumus, which is then absorbed bythe soil underneath, increasing itsporosity and water- holding power.The trees not only prevent soil ero-sion but store large volumes of waterand sequester atmospheric carbon.Mechanical measures to arrest soilerosion like terracing are secondarymatters.

Excessive use of irrigation

required for industrial agriculturegradually destroys the bindingpower of organic matter whichkeeps the soil particles together. Itdisplaces the soil air, which is vitalfor the respiratory function of theroots. The main strategy of indus-trial farming is oriented for rice orwheat at huge indirect and directcost but keeps farmers away fromgrowing fruits, nuts, vegetables andpulses. Intensive industrial mono-culture deserves to be debatedthroughout the country.

The big question remains thatdespite all the obvious advantages ofagroforestry why has it remainedconfined so far to a few places, whereforest-based industries have pushedit for clonal plantation of eucalyp-tus or poplar trees? There is no dis-pute over the capacity of clonal plan-tations combined with crops inindustrial plantations to create jobsthrough forward and backwardeconomic linkage. The growth ofYamunanagar is a shining exampleof how the produce of agroforestryacted as the catalyst to change asmall township into a vibrant indus-trial complex.

Anyone who is conversant withsoil, water and tree should be con-vinced about the limitation of indus-trial agriculture and the potential ofagroforestry in the country.However, for large-scale adoption ofagroforestry its constraints must beremoved first. In such a situation treeplantation can play a complemen-tary role to agriculture and helprestore the health of the land.

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The COVID-19 pandem-ic resulted in the biggestglobal health emergency

in living memory. A whopping24,31,445 Coronavirus-relateddeaths were recorded aroundthe world from the time thecontagion spread in 2019.

India, the second-mostpopulated country in theworld, faced an unprecedent-ed health crisis due to the out-break. However, theGovernment took all the stepsnecessary to flatten the curveand now, over ten monthsafter the first lockdown wasannounced in the countrythere seems to be a ray of hope.As many as 1,06,44,858 peoplehave recovered from the dis-ease so far and the nationalrecovery rate stands at 97.33per cent. India on Wednesdayrecorded just 11,610 newCOVID-19 cases, taking thetotal tally of infections to1,09,37,320, according to data

from the Union HealthMinistry. With 10 more fatal-ities in the last 24 hours, thedeath toll has reached 1,55,913.

There has been a lot ofspeculation and debates overalleged under-reporting ofCOVID-19 deaths in India.However, no robust evidencehas been provided by registra-tion offices located at crema-toriums or burial places, hos-pitals and other registrationoffices. Therefore, it is counter-intuitive to assume that hun-dreds of thousands of deathshave not been reported in thecountry.

Further, accurate and con-tinuous recording of deaths ispertinent for designing imme-diate health interventions inthis unprecedented healthcarecrisis. Hence, the role of theCivil Registration System(CRS) in the complete and reli-able recording of COVID-19related fatalities cannot be

stressed enough.Mortality data obtained

from the CRS is based on real-time and continuous record-ing. Besides, it is verified by thecivil authority, therefore, it ishighly reliable for decision-making. The CRS provides anannual report on birth anddeath statistics with baselinecharacteristics such as age,gender and place of residence.It is an important data sourcefor the causes of death statis-tics.

Accurate and reliableinformation on mortality hasmany utilities for policymak-ers and health officers.Complete death statistics arepertinent for health experts toknow the age and gender-spe-cific death rate, distributionand cause of mortality.

Plus, CRS is the only datasource that provides death sta-tistics at the lower administra-tive level. Adequate and time-

ly information on casualtiesand causes of death at the dis-trict or block level is essentialfor health officers for initiatingimmediate healthcare inter-ventions. Besides, CRS mayprovide an accurate baselinefor assessing excess mortalitydue to COVID-19. Data onfatalities for the last three orfive years could be comparedwith current statistics toobserve the sudden increase or

decrease in the number ofcasualties and its causes.

Although the CRS is per-manent, systematic and func-tional across India’s length andbreadth, it suffers from manychallenges. Lack of staff, logis-tics, irregular training and noregular supervision are somehighlighted performance bar-riers. Apart from this, a delayedand incomplete publication ofthe annual report hasdecreased the utility of this vitaldata. Hence, CRS data is notthe topmost priority amongpolicymakers and health offi-cers, even though it is takeninto consideration.

According to the latestOffice of the Registrar-Generaland Census Commissioner(ORGI) report for 2020, near-ly 14 per cent of deaths werenot recorded in 2018. Besides,the level of registration ofmortalities is widely variedacross the country. Many big-

ger States like Bihar, Jharkhand,Telangana, Uttar Pradesh,Assam and Madhya Pradesh,recorded fewer than 50 percent of the deaths.

Further, information oncauses of fatalities is limitedand not reliable in most cases.As per the latest ‘MedicalCertification of Cause of Death’report only 21 per cent of fatal-ities are medically certified.

Looking at the CRS’ sys-tematic and broader network,complete vital statistics basedon CRS must be published ontime. Also, a monthly reportmay provide critical factors fordecision-making and initiatingpreventive measures at thetime of a health emergency.

Timely information onexcess of deaths at the localadministrative level may alerthealth officials for adequatehealthcare intervention.Moreover, comparing thetrends and patterns of mortal-

ities will give accurate estimatesof excess deaths due to thevirus. It is not practical toexpect medical certificationfor all deaths due to lack ofqualified staff and resourceconstraints, but verbal autop-sy may identify COVID-19related deaths. Further, CRSstaff must be provided withPersonal Protective Equipmentand other resources to contin-ue their duty safely and ade-quately.

Places where facilities foronline death registration areavailable, must record casual-ties on time and share datawith the State headquarters fortimely compilation and gener-ation of a monthly report.

CRS data must be seen asa priority among the authori-ties and stakeholders for itscomplete and timely utilisationby health officers, particular-ly during a health emergency,such as the current pandemic.

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POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The writer is a formerIFS officer.

The views expressed are personal.

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Gandhi is a developmentpractitioner, educator andwriter, while Kumar is aJunior Research Fellow atJNU. The views expressed

are personal.

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Thousands of demonstra-tors flooded the streets of

Myanmar’s biggest cityWednesday, in one of largestprotests yet of a coup, despitewarnings from a UN humanrights expert that recent troopmovements could indicate themilitary was planning a violentcrackdown.

In Yangon, protestersmarched carrying signs callingfor ousted leader Aung San SuuKyi to be released from deten-tion, while others feigned cartrouble, strategically abandon-ing their vehicles — and leav-ing the hoods up — to preventsecurity forces from easilyaccessing the demonstrations.Large rallies were also held inthe country’s second-biggestcity, Mandalay, and the capitalof Naypyitaw, in defiance of anorder banning gatherings offive or more people.

One motorist, who spokeon condition of anonymitybecause he feared being tar-geted, explained tongue-in-cheek that his car had broken

down “due to the sufferingthat our people are undergoingnow. We just stopped the carshere on the road to show thatwe do not want the military

regime.”The demonstrations came

a day after UN rapporteurTom Andrews expressed alarmat reports of soldiers being

transported into Yangon, not-ing that such movements hadpreviously preceded killings,disappearances and massarrests.

“I am terrified that giventhe confluence of these twodevelopments- — plannedmass protests and troops con-verging — we could be on theprecipice of the military com-mitting even greater crimesagainst the people ofMyanmar,” he said in a state-ment issued by the UN HumanRights office in Geneva.

By Wednesday evening,there had been no reports ofmajor violence.

The military seized poweron February 1, the day newlyelected parliamentarians weresupposed to take their seats —a shocking backslide for acountry that had been takingtentative steps toward democ-racy.

The junta said the takeoverwas necessary because SuuKyi’s government had failed toinvestigate fraud claims in elec-tions her party won in a land-slide; the election commissionhas dismissed those claims.

The high protest turnoutcame a day after junta leadershad declared that the demon-strations were dying down —

and Kyi Pyar, a former law-maker from Suu Kyi’s party,said that dismissal only servedto spur on the resistance.

“This upset the people,” shesaid. “We are not weak, we willnever step back in the fightagainst the military regime. Sowe are back on the street again.”

In Naypyitaw, thousands ofpeople, including private bankemployees and engineers,marched down the city’s wideboulevards, chanting for therelease of Suu Kyi and PresidentWin Myint.

Protesters also poured intothe streets of Mandalay, whereearlier in the week securityforces pointed guns at demon-strators and attacked themwith slingshots and sticks.Local media reported that sev-eral people were injured.

The marches have beenorganised as part of a civil dis-obedience movement, spear-headed by medical workersand supported by many civilservants. Police filed a newcharge against Suu Kyi, herlawyer said Tuesday, a movelikely to keep her under house

arrest and further fuel publicanger. It was the second chargeagainst Suu Kyi — the first forillegally possessing walkie-talkies, the second for analleged violation of coronavirusrestrictions — both apparentattempts to provide a legalveneer for her detention.British Prime Minister BorisJohnson issued a strong denun-ciation of the legal maneuver.

“New charges against AungSan Suu Kyi fabricated by theMyanmar military are a clearviolation of her human rights,”he tweeted.

“We stand with the peopleof Myanmar and will ensurethose responsible for this coupare held to account.”

On Tuesday night, the mil-itary for a third day in a rowordered an internet blackout —almost entirely blocking onlineaccess from 1 am to 9 am.

While the military did notsay why the internet was beingblocked, there is widespreadspeculation that the govern-ment is installing a firewall sys-tem to allow it to monitor orblock online activity.

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Four weeks into his presi-dency, Joe Biden says he’s

still getting used to the trap-pings of the office.

Biden offered a frankdescription of what it’s like tolive at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.During his CNN town hallTuesday night, referencing pastpresidents who have spoken ofthe building as “a little like agilded cage.”

“I get up in the morningand look at Jill and say, Wherethe hell are we?’” Biden joked,adding that he wasn’t used tohousehold staff waiting onhim.

“I find myself extremelyself-conscious,” Biden added,saying he was unaccustomed tosomeone “handing me my suit-coat.”

Biden’s working-classupbringing in Scranton,Pennsylvania, has long been acentral part of his politicalbrand. He most recently lived

in a large house in theWilmington, Delaware, sub-urbs.

The White House featuresa spacious lawn that has anunimpeded view of theWashington and LincolnMonuments, but is otherwisesurrounded by high fencingand a small army of guards.Biden said it’s “totally different”from the vice president’s resi-dence, set on 80 acres and

offering ample room to swim,explore and exercise in greaterprivacy.

The former vice presidentsaid he’d been in the OvalOffice 100 times or more overthe years, but had never beento the residential areas of theWhite House.

Even if the residence stillfeels new, Biden suggested he’salready settled deeply into thework of the presidency.

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Donald Trump has launcheda scathing personal attack

on Mitch McConnell, callinghim a “dour, sullen and unsmil-ing political hack,” days afterthe top Republican Senatorand former close ally voted toacquit the ex-US president inhis second impeachment trial.

McConnell, who led theSenate for years, voted to acquitTrump in his impeachmenttrial last week. But the 78-year-old Senator from Kentuckythen attacked Trump as“morally responsible” for thedeadly US Capitol riot onJanuary 6.

Trump and McConnell —the two most powerful men inthe Republican Party — havebeen estranged in recentmonths after working closelyduring the former president’sfour years in office. But things

changed after Trump lost theNovember 3 election to hisDemocratic rival, Joe Biden.

“Mitch is a dour, sullen,and unsmiling political hack,and if Republican Senators aregoing to stay with him, theywill not win again,” Trump saidin the terse statement onTuesday against the SenateMinority Leader.

“He will never do whatneeds to be done, or what isright for our country. Wherenecessary and appropriate, Iwill back primary rivals whoespouse Making America GreatAgain and our policy ofAmerica First. We want bril-liant, strong, thoughtful, andcompassionate leadership,” the74-year-old former president said.

Trump asserted thatMcConnell’s shortcomings hadcontributed to the RepublicanParty’s loss of the Senate

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The United Nations’ humanrights body said

Wednesday it will seek infor-mation from the United ArabEmirates about a daughter ofDubai’s powerful ruler after shesaid in video messages that shewas being imprisoned in aheavily guarded villa.

Sheikha Latifa bintMohammed Al Maktoum triedto flee the wealthy Gulf state in2018 but was detained by com-mandos in a boat off India. Shehad not been heard from untilTuesday, when the BBC’s“Panorama” investigative pro-gramme broadcast video mes-sages from the sheikha.

In the videos, which appearto have been recorded covert-ly, the 35-year-old princesssays she is “worried about mysafety and my life.”

“I don’t really know if I’mgoing to survive this situation,”she says in one of the videos.The BBC said they were record-ed over months on a phone shesecretly received about a yearafter her capture.

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Pakistan is unlikely to exit theFinancial Action Task

Force’s “grey” list until June,despite its efforts to garner sup-port from the member nationsahead of the plenary meeting ofthe global terror financing andmoney laundering watchdog

next week, according to amedia report on Wednesday.

The FATF’s Plenary andWorking Group meetings,scheduled to be held fromFebruary 21 to 26 in Paris, is allset to decide on Pakistan’s greylist status.

Pakistan was placed onthe FATF “grey” list in June

2018 and given a timeline toaddress global concerns byimplementing 27 action points.

The FATF, during its vir-tual plenary in October lastyear, concluded that Pakistanwill continue in its ‘grey’ list tillFebruary 2021 as it has failedto fulfil six key obligations ofthe global money laundering.

Taipei: Ma Xiaolin frequentlywrote about current affairs onone of China’s leadingmicroblogging sites, where hehas 2 million followers. Butrecently, he said in a post, theWeibo site called and asked himnot to post original content on

topics ranging from politics toeconomic and military issues.

“As an international affairsresearcher, it looks like I canonly go the route of entertain-ment, food and beverage now,”the international relations pro-fessor wrote on Jan. 31. AP

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Executioners who put 13inmates to death in the last

months of the Trump admin-istration likened the process ofdying by lethal injection tofalling asleep and called gur-neys “beds” and final breaths“snores.”

But those tranquil accountsare at odds with reports by TheAssociated Press and other media witnesses of how pris-

oners’ stomachs rolled, shookand shuddered as the pento-barbital took effect inside theUS penitentiary death chamberin Terre Haute, Indiana. TheAP witnessed every execution.

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On a day when petrolcrossed the Rs 100 mark,

Prime Minister Narendra Modion Wednesday said the middle-class would not have been bur-dened if the previous govern-ments had focussed on reduc-ing India’s energy importdependence. Without refer-ring to the relentless increase inretail fuel prices, which arelinked to international rates, hesaid India imported over 85 percent of its oil needs in the 2019-20 financial year and 53 percent of its gas requirement.

“Can a diverse and talent-ed nation like ours be so ener-gy import dependent?” heasked, addressing an onlineevent to inaugurate oil and gasprojects in poll-bound TamilNadu.

“I do not want to criticise

anyone but I want to say (that)had we focused on this subjectmuch earlier, our middle-classwould not be burdened,” hesaid.Price of petrol crossed theRs 100 per litre mark inRajasthan after fuel rates werehiked for the ninth day in arow. Since India imports themajority of its oil needs, retailrates are benchmarked to inter-national prices, which havespiralled in recent weeks.

Opposition parties includ-ing Congress have criticised theprice hikes, blaming it on theModi government raising taxesto scoop out the benefit thatarose from international oilrates plunging to a two-decadelow in April/May last year.While global rates haverebounded with pick up indemand, the government hasnot restored the taxes, whichare at a record high.

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Wednesday

addressed the board of marketsregulator Sebi for the first timeafter the presentation of theUnion Budget earlier thismonth. After the presentationof the Budget every year, it iscustomary for the finance min-ister to address the boards ofSebi and RBI.In a tweet, thefinance ministry saidSitharaman addressed theboard of Sebi (Securities andExchange Board of India) inthe national capital onWednesday. The ministry alsotweeted photos of the meeting.

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Equity indices buckled underselling pressure for the sec-

ond straight session onWednesday as risk appetiteremained subdued amid abearish trend overseas.

Profit-booking was seen infinance, IT and FMCG coun-ters, while a depreciating rupeealso weighed on investor sen-timent, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensexslumped 400.34 points or 0.77per cent to close at 51,703.83.The broader NSE Nifty tum-bled 104.55 points or 0.68 per

cent to 15,208.90.Nestle India was the top

loser in the Sensex pack, shed-ding 2.80 per cent, followed byBajaj Finserv, Asian Paints,HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank,Maruti, Dr Reddy’s and HDFC.

HDFC twins accounted forover half of the benchmark’slosses. On the other hand, SBI,PowerGrid, NTPC, RelianceIndustries and Bajaj Auto wereamong the gainers, climbing upto 2.39 per cent. Global mar-kets were on the backfoot amidrising US Treasury yields andconcerns over frothy valua-tions.

New Delhi:Bharti Airtel onWednesday said it will acquire20 per cent stake in its DTHarm Bharti Telemedia from anaffiliate of Warburg Pincus forabout Rs 3,126 crore.

The Warburg Pincus affil-iate had acquired 20 per centequity stake in BhartiTelemedia in 2018 after theannouncement of the deal inDecember 2017.The transac-tion will be discharged pri-marily via issuance of about3.64 crore equity shares ofAirtel at a price of Rs 600 pershare and and up to Rs 1,037.8crore in cash, Bharti Airtelsaid in a statement. PTI

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The Government onWednesday approved a

12,195 crore production-linkedincentive (PLI) scheme fortelecom gear manufacturingin India which is expected toencourage production of equip-ment worth Rs 2.44 lakh croreand create direct and indirectemployment for about 40,000people, Union minister RaviShankar Prasad said.

The PLI scheme for tele-com gear manufacturing willbe operational from April 1,2021.

“In the coming five yearswe hope to have incrementalproduction of Rs 2,44,200crore, export worth Rs 1,95,360crore, direct and indirectemployment to 40,000 peopleand tax revenue of approxi-mately Rs 17,000 crore to thecountry,” telecom minister Ravi

Shankar Prasad said after theCabinet meeting.According toan official statement, thescheme is expected to bringinvestment of over Rs 3,000crore and generate huge directand indirect employment andtaxes both. Addressingreporters after the Cabinetmeeting, Prasad said that thegovernment is positioningIndia as a global powerhousefor manufacturing, and hascreated a conducive environ-ment for ease of doing business.

“Cabinet has approved PLIfor telecom sector ... To ensurefurther progress of Make-in-India in telecom equipmentspace...5G equipment will alsocome...So it was important togive incentives. We held wide-spread consultation with stake-holders,” Prasad said addingthat the scheme also aims topromote MSMEs in“Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

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S&P Global Ratings onWednesday said India will

be one of the fastest growingemerging market economieswith a 10 per cent growth in thenext fiscal, and future sovereignrating action would hinge onlowering fiscal deficit and sus-taining debt burden.

S&P Director, Sovereign &International Public FinanceRatings, Andrew Wood saidthe forecast for India in 2021 ison stronger side and shows thata lot of economic activity,

which was frozen last year, iscoming back on line to nor-malisation thereby brighteningthe growth prospects, as well asstructural strengths of Indianeconomy coming back to thefore.

“India will be one of thefastest-growing economy inthe EM (emerging market)space. India’s contraction thisyear was steep and may bedeeper than global average,but bounce back of 10% that weare expecting next fiscal yearwill be putting India amongstthe fastest growers in 2021and more importantly we seeIndian economy growing at 6%over medium term, may beslightly higher, and that com-pares very well to EM all

around the world,” Wood saidin a webinar on India outlookfor 2021.

S&P said India’s economyhas stabilised over recentmonths, with progressively bet-ter manufacturing, services,labour market, and revenuedata. The hard part will be con-verting these trends into a sus-tained recovery over the nextfew years.

India has exceeded its fis-cal deficit target of 3.5 per centin the current fiscal by a widemargin due to higher spend-ings to stimulate economyamid the pandemic.

The fiscal deficit - theexcess of government expen-diture over its revenues - hasbeen pegged at 9.5 per cent of

the gross domestic product(GDP) in the current fiscalending March 31, as per therevised estimate.

For the next 2021-22 fiscal,the deficit has been put at 6.8per cent of the GDP, which willbe further lowered to 4.5 percent by 2025-26 fiscal endingMarch 31, 2026.

“Vast economic growth iscrucial and critical for main-taining those deficits at thoserates financing them and keep-ing debt stocks from rising evenfurther.

If that were the case if theeconomy were to recover at amuch lower pace than expect-ed we would have additionalconcerns regarding the sus-tainability of those fiscal

accounts,” Wood added.S&P currently has a ‘BBB-

’ rating on India, with a stableoutlook.

To a query on what couldput downside pressure on rat-ings, Wood said, “If we have amuch lower than expectedrecovery, slower nominal GDPgrowth, that would be a con-cern.

If economy is not growingquickly then fiscal deficit wouldbe lot higher and debt stockcould be rising rather than sta-bilising. That would entail highgovernment

deficit and higher generalgovernment debt stock whichcould cause us to question thesustainability of India’s publicfinances.”

New Delhi:Google onWednesday said it would give$15 million (nearly Rs 109crore) to support small andmicro enterprises in India inthe face of Covid-19 pandem-ic.

The investment is part of

the $75 million commitmentfrom Google to help smallbusinesses outside of the US.

“In India, we will invest $15million to support small andmicro enterprises across thecountry and are in discussionswith local partners,” the com-

pany said in a statement.The company is working

with non-government part-ners who have a long trackrecord of providing resourcesto businesses that are general-ly overlooked by traditionallenders. IANS

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Global forecasting firmOxford Economics on

Wednesday revised India’s eco-nomic growth projection for2021 to 10.2 per cent from theearlier 8.8 per cent, citingreceding Covid-19 risks andthe shift in the monetary pol-icy outlook.

It further said the Budget2021-22 will create positive

externalities for the privatesector, and forecast slower fis-cal consolidation in FY22 thanthe government projections.

“Alongside the plannedgovernment spending boostin Q1 and receding Covid-19risks, the shift in the monetarypolicy outlook supports our2021 growth upgrade to 10.2 per cent from 8.8 per centearlier,” Oxford Economicssaid.

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The rupee depreciated by 5paise to close at 72.74

against the US dollar onWednesday tracking losses inthe domestic equity marketsand strengthening Americancurrency in the global mar-kets.

US bond yields rising toone-year high due to strongrecovery prospects also hit therupee sentiment, analysts said.

At the interbank forexmarket, the local unit openedat 72.90 against the greenbackand witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 72.72 and a low of72.92.

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New Delhi:Three top brokeragefirms - CLSA, Credit Suisse andAxis Capital - have assigned“Buy” or “Outperform” rating tothe ITC stock.Credit Suisseincreased the target price to�265 from �255 on roll forwardwhile maintaining an outper-form rating. ComparableFMCG growth in Q3 was 11%year-on-year, which remainsvery healthy. “We remain pos-itive on ITC as we see strongcigarette recovery as consumermobility recovers...and increas-ing value of FMCG businesswith strong EBIDTA perfor-mance,” the brokerage said.PTI

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The world is a beautifulplace with many chal-lenges. And on our jour-

neys, we change! One thingthat remains constant is the

fact that it needs power. Mymantra has always been

— we learn to bend sothat we may seldombreak. I push my lim-

its every single day,”reads one of the cap-tions on actor MalaikaArora’s Instagram

account. Well, these linesquite evidently reflect the

actor’s approach and perspec-tive towards life and its chal-

lenges.Though the fitness enthusiast is

not too often seen on the big screen, she hasbeen giving us some major fashion and fit-ness goals. Here she shares a few healthtips. Excerpts

�How do you choose to associate withany brand?

To attach myself to a brand, I need tostrongly believe in its ethos. It should add

relevance to my life.For instance, I have been a strong stand-

ing partner with Reebok because I love itsproducts and the brand has helped me growwithin my fitness journey.

�What has been your fitness mantra?I start my day with yoga and meditation

in the morning, followed by a walk. I thencome back and eat a nutritious meal. I lookforward to each day with positive energy andenthusiasm which keeps me mentallyhealthy too.

�Can you give us a breakdown of the dietyou follow to stay in shape?

I usually don’t follow any particular diet.I try to eat everything that my bodydemands but of course in moderation — beit avocados or biryani.

�You have been giving us some major‘yoga goals’ through your Instagramaccount. Can you give us a deeper insightinto your fitness journey?

I discovered yoga when I had a leginjury. It didn’t just give me the mentalstrength to recover from my injury but alsohelped me heal from inside out. It was thenI realised that I need to include this as a partof my routine.

�A lot of people take supple-ments nowadays. How essen-

tial are they to our health?As long as you are aware of using the

right supplements that won’t have any sideeffects on your body, it is okay to use themsince it provides a boost to your body whichhelps you achieve your goals. I strongly urgeeveryone to consult a dietician and a phys-ical trainer before taking any supplement.

�During the lockdown, most of us wereworking out from home, with the help ofonline fitness apps. What would you sayabout their increasing popularity?

I feel the lockdown period has helpedto raise awareness about how fitness is anessential part of our lives. People took thetime out to research how to make themselvesmore efficient and how fitness can helpaccentuate their daily performance. Fitnessapps fit in well here since gyms or parksweren’t open for exercise.

�Please share a few fitness tips that you’dwant your audience to follow.

A few fitness tips that people can followare:

�Choose the right gear (clothes andshoes) that makes you feel comfortable.

�Create a routine that works for you.�Set reasonable expectations to keep

yourself motivated throughout.�For beginners, take up walking as an

exercise as it has multiple benefits for yourbody and mind. With Reebok introducingits new walking category with shoes likeReebok Ever Road DMX, Austin, Druhan,Ease Slip On, Fusion Lux, Motionpulse, thisis the best time to grab a pair and begin yourfitness journey.

Whenever we think of dec-orating our homes, walls

fall last into the list or might noteven get a chance. They oftenremain neglected as we focus onfurnishings, furniture andaccessories to add a spark.

Sushhmita Siingh, thePrinciple designer at SushmitaSingh Design shares a few ideasthat one can explore to makeyour walls speak. Let theseideas be an inspiration in mak-ing your walls your canvas ofself-expression.

HANG PICTURES ANDPHOTOS

The paint colour of yourwall is relevant when you makea collage of memories on yourwall. The images you choose todisplay should have a contrastor light and dark monochromeones. The frame that youchoose need to balance the sizeof the wall and the room. Weoften see a huge painting withreally broad frames when theroom size id 12ft x12ft, whichis totally out of context. A senseof balance is extremely impor-tant. Often people tend to over-look such minor but veryimportant details, which canadd or destroy the look. Familyportraits, paintings, posters(digitally printed, hand paintedones) add emotions to the wall.

It becomes a great conversationstarter and lends your walls anovel persona.

GREENERY INDOORSInstead of having plants

that sit comfortably on yourfloor, hang them on the wall ifspace and cleaning is a con-

straint. Fix wall hanging potsand fancy holders that makeyour greens look attractive.Greenery can be seasonalcolourful flowers and colouredleaf plants that add colour to anotherwise plain wall. You canalso decorate an entire wall fullof crawlers covering the wall in

beautiful patterns, formed nat-urally. Nowadays availability ofgood quality artificial plantscome in handy when maintain-ing real plants is an issue. Theyhave size variants, which ishelpful. Digital wallpapers,block printed fabric wall papersalso are a great add-ons toyour walls, which can be bothformal and informal.

DIY IDEASIf you are a creative person

or like to use your free time increating things, you can dedi-cate a wall for your creativespace. Hang your paintings,your origami objects and craftson the wall. Use the walls tosupport your creations. If yousculpt then use it to keep itagainst a wall, it has a dedicatespace. Make selves on the wallto display your DIY projects andstay motivated on your creativejourney.

BOOKSHELVESDedicate a wall to your

books. Books lend character toany room. If you don’t own toomany, you may fill the space withmemoires and display articlesfrom your latest collection.Pillows and decorative ceramicsmake for great space filler on ashelf as well. You may also usebookshelves as storage spaces.Also photo frames and smalllamps to highlight the acces-sories can be displayed.

WANDERLUSTDecorate your wall with a

large size map of the world.Scratch out maps is also intrend. You can also display yourpurchases on your journeyacross the globe. If you have nottravelled much you can alwaysuse this space to make a moodboard and manifest your traveldreams.

LIGHTSFancy LED lights on walls

create a pattern which adds tothe ambience as well as con-tributes to the illumination ofthe room, thus a multifunction-al element and also value formoney.

When you style a wall, youmust know that it is a place youwill be looking at often. So havesomething that will inspire you.

Producer Ekta Kapoor is all set to release newweb series, The Married Woman, and she

says she waited to make the intense drama showon a digital platform because it wouldn’t be pos-sible to do justice to its content on televisionor film.

The web series is based on Manju Kapur’sbook of the same name, and stars Ridhi Dograand Monica Dogra in lead roles.

Asked why she decided to make the showbased on the book, Ekta said, “I read the bookand I liked it, so I wanted to make a show outof it. When I met Manju (Kapur) ji, I thoughtit’s a great book but there was no way I coulddo it on television or film. So, I waited for amedium that gave birth to individual viewing.This was probably the show that was waitingto be made and I thought the digital mediumwould be a perfect platform for it.”

The trailer of the show delves into the char-acters of Astha (Ridhi) and Peeplika (Monica).Set in the nineties, the story revolves aroundAstha, a dutiful wife and a doting mother, whosets out on a journey of self-discovery after shemeets an unconventional artist, Peeplika.

Asked how responsible she feels to bringvaried stories to the audience through the dig-ital platform, Ekta said, “I cater to every kindof audience and I have no problem when I caterto the masses. I make really aspirational and,at times, escapist programming for people whowant to enjoy themselves. At times I make relat-able, heartwarming and really touching storiesbecause for me it is therapeutic as I get theopportunity to tell different kinds of stories.”

“When you do one show for television, itgoes on for 20 years or sometimes 5,000

episodes. So, at one point you get tired of it. Infilms, it’s all actor-driven. I enjoy telling a vari-ety of stories and the language in the show isdifferent from a lot of other shows,” sheadded.

The series also stars Imaad Shah, AyeshaRaza, Rahul Vohra, Divya Seth Shah, NadiraBabbar and Suhaas Ahuja in key roles.

(The series will stream on ALT Balaji andZee5 from March 8.)

Nushrratt Bharuccha recentlylaunched her first ever music

video with Honey Singh. Featuringin Saiyaan Ji has been a special jour-ney for the actor, here’s why.

She says, “It is extremely closeto my heart as its my first ever withHoney Sir. This is our fourth songtogether, after Dil Chori, Care NiKarda and Chote Chote Peg. Withthe song now crossing 100 millionviews, we have maintained our win-ning streak. I’m overwhelmed withall the love coming my way from theaudiences. The fact that the song hasbecome such a massive hit, is suchan amazing hype for us.”

“The song is also special to me,as I shot it right after the lockdownwas lifted. That time, I was promot-ing Chhalaang, and was runningbetween one activity to another, butsomehow we fixed up the dates andworked it out — even if it meantshooting for 18 hours a day. I’m real-ly glad that it bore a fruitful out-come,” the actress added.

Next in her pipeline is Hurdangopposite Vijay Varma, Janhit MeinJaari and Chhorii for which she wasrecently seen shooting.

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Chhattisgarh holds a specialplace in the country in termsof mineral resources. While

the production of minerals leads todevelopment of the area throughmineral-based industries, newemployment opportunities are alsogenerated. However, the other sideof the coin is the problem faced bypeople living in the area. In such asituation, it becomes the responsibil-ity of the government to take specialcare of the interests and welfare ofthe local people from the miningaffected area. The recent efforts, inthis regard, are highly commendable,and what is more applaudable is thatthese responsibilities are being dis-charged with seriousness.

The government is ensuringparticipation of mining lease hold-ers for the interests and welfare of thepeople living in the area affected bymining operations. For this, theprovision of the formation of theDistrict Mineral Institute Trust in theMineral Act was made in the previ-ous government. However, manyshortcomings were being felt in thisprovision by the experts as the par-ticipation of public representativeswas not being ensured. Moreover, theparticipation of local people was alsominimal. Apart from this, properutilisation of funds was not beingdone for the welfare of the directlyaffected people. In simple words,those in need were not getting ben-efitted from the allotted funds.Several other similar shortcomingswere also observed in the precedingprovision.

In order to overcome theseshortcomings and to provide prop-er benefits to the affected local peo-ple in the fields of health, education,environment and sanitation, thestate government has made severalimportant reforms in the old provi-sion to provide benefits directly tothe affected people.

�INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENTIN ALL DISTRICTS OFCHHATTISGARH THROUGHDMF

The Chhattisgarh governmenthas utilised the DMF fund signifi-cantly for development in the state.All sector including education,health, infrastructure development,electricity, water, sanitation, etc havebeen developed with the help ofDMF fund in all districts ofChhattisgarh. The fund is also usedin building Atmanand GovernmentEnglish-medium schools in variousdistricts of state. The cases of mal-nutrition have also dipped with the

help of DMF. Moreover, it has beenused in improving the health infra-structure and providing relief to thepeople during Coronavirus crisis.The changes can be felt in almost allthe districts of state, however, thenotable examples are mentionedbelow.

�Representation of public repre-sentatives ensured

The primary step taken by thegovernment is to ensure representa-tion of public representatives in thetrust. For which, the minister incharge of the district has beenappointed as ex-officio chairman ofthe governing council. Along withthis, all the MLAs of the district havebeen appointed as its ex-officiomembers. Previously, according tothe old provision, the collector of thedistrict used to be the chairman ofthe governing council.

�Increased representation of locals The other significant change in

the provision made by the BhupeshBaghel’s government is the increasedparticipation of local residents of theaffected area. It is worth mentioningthat in the previous provision, onlythose affected by mining were spe-cially not given enough space in thecouncil. As per the amendment,the state government has decided tomake provision for the appoint-

ment of at least 10 members of theGram Sabha, residents of the direct-ly affected area in the council com-pared to the earlier provision ofnominating only two sarpanchs.�Benefit directly to the needy

The state government furthermakes necessary changes in the pre-ceding provision to make theamount received in the trust direct-ly to the needy. As per the amend-ments, 50 per cent of the amountreceived in the trust will be used forthe welfare of the directly affectedarea/persons. This has resulted ineconomic and social development ofthe residents. It is to be noted thatin the previous provision, the entiredistrict was considered affected andthe amount was spent at will andonly a part of the profit reached theneedy.

�Five-year vision document underincubation

As per the amended provisions,beneficiaries benefiting from thetrust fund will be identified in orderto prepare a five-year vision docu-ment as per the requirement of theaffected area/residents, for an over-all development of these areas. Thiswork has already started in theDantewada, Korba and Bastar dis-tricts.

�New sectors included

New sectors have been includedin the works edited by the trust fundfor sustainable livelihood, publictransport, preserving cultural valuesand promoting youth activities. It isbeing implemented in Dantewada,Jashpur, Surguja and Kanker districts.Many important efforts are beingmade in the field of drinking water,health and education under the lead-ership of the CM, the trust funds arebeing fully utilised in the state. Solarenergy-based project in drinkingwater, health care facilities in govern-ment hospitals, providing education-al fees/hostel fees in governmentinstitutions for higher education tofamily members of directly affectedareas in education as well as allcompetitive examinations. Provisionhas been made for coaching and res-idential training. Sankalp coaching inJashpur district is an excellent exam-ple of this.

Apart from this, storage and pro-cessing units of agricultural productsare being encouraged along withfood processing, minor forest produceand forest processing. Additionally,organic farming is also being promot-ed and employment opportunities arebeing provided to women. Throughthis manure is being prepared foragriculture. Cleanliness of drainsand intensive plantation works arebeing encouraged. Whereas previous-ly, the description of only agricultur-

al machinery/non-standard seedswere of prime focus. Now in infra-structure related works, only 20 percent amount is being used in sectorsother than drinking water, health andeducation.

�Monitoring of trust worksMonitoring of tasks amended by

the trust is necessary. Hence, it hasbeen decided to hold a meeting of thestate level monitoring committeeonce a year. A provision has beenmade to set up a state level DistrictMineral Institute Trust Cell to mon-itor the works of the trust.

�Successful execution of ChiefMinister’s flagship scheme

The state government has issuedinstructions to spend the amountfrom DMF in this work to solve theproblem of health, malnutrition in theaffected areas and to make employ-ment to agriculture works, the resultsare very encouraging. In Dantewadadistrict, malnutrition has decreasedby four per cent over the previousyear. Similarly, only 50 thousandpatients have been treated free of costin Dantewada at Haat Bazar Clinicsince June 2019.

� Improvement of MaharaniHospital of Jagdalpur

Human resources and medicalsupplies were absolutely required forthe operation of Maharani Hospital,the largest government hospital inBastar division. It was supplied fromthe DMFT item by the district admin-istration there. Today, thousands ofpatients are receiving their treat-ment in this hospital.

�Cultural values are being protect-ed in Dantewada district

The district administration ispreserving cultural values throughDantewada district DMF item. Underthis, work is being done to preservethe priceless culture and heritage ofthe tribals by rejuvenating Devgudiin 143 gram panchayats of the districtand developing it into a tourist cen-tre. This initiative is proving effectivein further strengthening the tribalculture and values.

�Mungeli district fighting withmalnutrition

DMF is helping to free Mungelidistrict from malnutrition. About2,400 children of the district are beingbenefited from this scheme.

There are various examples in thestate that strongly establishes that theamount of DMF is being used betternow than earlier.

North Delhi Mayorinspected Hindu Rao

hospital in view of COVID-19 vaccination to sanitationworkers. During the inspec-tion, Standing Committeechairman, Chhail BihariGoswami, MedicalSuperintendent of the hospi-tal, Dr Anu Kapoor andother senior officials werealso present.

Mayor Jai Prakash saidthat vaccination campaign offrontline warriors is going onin North DMC hospitals. Hesaid, “Sanitation workers area part of the frontline war-riors. Everyone is activelyparticipating in this vaccina-tion drive. Our sanitationworkers had contributed sig-nificantly in keeping the cityclean during the pandemic.

Around 50 safai karamcharishave been vaccinated andrest will be vaccinated in aphased manner.”

“India has set an exam-ple before the whole worldby controlling the virus. Weare on the way to become a

Corona-free nation now. Weare also providing COVID-19 vaccine to other nations,”the Mayor added.

The president of NorthernRailway Women’s Welfare

Organisation (NRWWO),Shikha Gangal, inauguratedthe Physiotherapy Unit in thepresence of GM NorthernRailway, Ashutosh Gangal,Additional General Managerof Northern Railway (NR),Naveen Gulati, PCMD/NR,NK Yadav and other PHoDsof Northern Railway alsograced the occasion.

NRWWO is a voluntaryorgansation, run by thespouse of railway officers. Itplays an active role in the wel-fare activities of railway staffproviding help to the wards ofrailway employees in theiracademic, cultural and sportsactivities.

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The Tribes India AadiMahotsav came to a suc-

cessful close. The closing cer-emony was presided byRamesh Chand Meena,Chairman, TRIFED in thepresence of Krishnadhan Das,Chairman, Tripura MARK-FED and Pravir Krishna,Managing Director, TRIFED.

The closing programmebegan with the visit of digni-taries to the stalls of the festi-val. Following which, theywere welcomed and felicitatedby Pravir Krishna, ManagingDirector, TRIFED and theTRIFED team. In his wel-come address, Krishnathanked the dignitaries fortheir visit and the residents ofDelhi for making this event agrand success. He was confi-dent that the heavy footfall andthe phenomenal sales regis-tered despite the times welive in, would definitely go along way in helping the tribalartisans and dwellers over-come the setback that theyfaced during the pandemicinduced-lockdown.

The short ceremony alsosaw the felicitation of the topthree tribal artisans cate-gorised in different groupssuch as textiles, gifts andassortments, organic prod-ucts, cane and bamboo, jew-ellery, metal, paintings, potteryand tribal cuisine based ontheir sales and popularity withthe audience. The artisans/organisations felicitated weregiven a memento. The cere-mony came to a close with acultural programme and din-ner.

The fortnight-longNational Tribal Festival saw

the participation of 1000s oftribal artisans, chefs, artistsand cultural troupes from 25states across the country. Therich tribal culture as evident inthe form of rare tribal handi-crafts, handloom and naturalproducts, tribal cuisines wereon display in about 200 stalls.The Aadi Mahotsav succeed-ed in winning the hearts of theresidents of Delhi as witnessedby the heavy footfall over thepast 15 days and the sales reg-istered.

The wares of the tribalartisans, be it the f inePattachitra paintings, the love-ly silks from Assam or theexquisite tribal jewellery fromOdisha and the beaded neck-laces from the North-easthave, have been very appreci-ated. Add to it the earthy, exot-ic cuisine of the tribals, rang-ing from momos from Sikkim,mahua laddoos fromChhattisgarh, dhuska and littichokha from Jharkhand tothapdi roti of Odisha andchapda chutney ofChhattisgarh, all were a part ofthe festival.

Making up for the lossesregistered due to the lock-down, the Aadi Mahotsav hasseen the tribal artisans regis-ter approximately �4 crore indirect sales over the past fort-night. Moreover, a purchaseorder worth �8 crores hasbeen placed by TRIFED; lead-ing to a total of approximate-ly �12 crores in business trans-actions for the tribals partici-pating in this festival.

The Aadi Mahotsav hastruly been a celebration of thespirit of tribal life, crafts, cul-ture and cuisine.

An OSV, Greatship Rohiniwith 18 crew members

onboard reported fire onFebruary 13 while the shipwas 92 Nautical Miles North-West off Mumbai, near theNQO Platform of MumbaiHigh. One crew reported fireinjury and was evacuated anddisembarked ashore by ONGChelicopter for medical treat-ment. Three others were miss-ing and trapped in the engineroom. On receipt of the infor-mation, Coast GuardOperation Centre Mumbai,diverted Offshore Patrol VesselSamarth to the scene of action.Simultaneously, CG Dornieraircraft was launched for assess-ment of the situation. CG ShipSamarth reached the area at1335 hours and took over as OnScene Coordinator. Initially,MV Albatross-5 operating invicinity, tied up a hawser fromforecastle of Greatship Rohiniand pulled her out to safe loca-tion from NQO platform rig.

ICGS Samarth, with itsadvance External Fire Fightingsystem in coordination withOSV Priya 27, established

boundary cooling for control-ling the spread of fire. TheBoarding Team from ICG ShipSamarth boarded the vesselfor carrying out situationassessment. However, theefforts of the team wereimpinged due to heat and heavysmoke gushing out of engineroom. Fire fighting efforts were

restricted due to non-avail-ability of power supplyonboard.

Meanwhile, PollutionControl Vessel SamudraPraheri was sailed out to reachthe scene of incident. Fourteencrew of the distressed vesselwere safely evacuated to ICGSSamudra Praheri. The fire-

fighting and boundary coolingcontinued for over 24 hours byICGS Samudra Praheri along-with OSV Priya-23 and ETVWater Lily. The OSV GreatshipAhilya also joined the operationfor augmenting the SAR efforts.

The condition of the dis-tressed vessel is being moni-tored closely.

As per the instructionsissued by Ministry of

Road Transport &Highways, DTC observedNational Road Safety Monthfrom January 18 to February17. During this month, DTCundertook various activi-ties on safer road mobility tospread the cause of saferroads amongst the stake-holders.

DTC operates over3,719 buses in Delhi and itsadjoining areas and is hold-ing the largest CNG pro-pelled fleet. Keeping in viewthe safety of women and spe-cial people while travellingthrough public transport,DTC has deployed BusMarshals special enforce-ment teams with 20 Eeco

Vans throughout Delhi.These vans remain mobile inthe concerned regional areasunder the supervision ofRegional Managers and reg-ular checks are being carriedout at terminals and busqueue shelters.

During the Road Safetymonth, DTC also arrangeda seminar on Accessible andSafer Public Transport,chaired by Vijay KumarBidhuri, MD, DTC.

DTC has been adjudgedfor ‘Best Urban TransportOrganisation’ for road safe-ty by the Ministry of RoadTransport & Highways,Government of India, for theyears 2009-10, 2010-11,2011-12, 2012-13, 2018-19,2019-20 and 2020-21.

NTPC Limited hasstarted releasing

compensation to the fam-ilies of Tapovan workers,who have lost their lives inthe Uttarakhand naturaldisaster that hit the stateon February 7.

The first cheque of�20 lakh was handed overto Vimala Devi, wife oflate Narendra Ji ofTapovan Vihar. A teamfrom NTPC, led by RPAhirwar, head of Tapovanproject, visited Vimala

Devi on Monday.While Tapovan team

has accelerated comple-tion of all modalities tofast-track distribution ofcompensation, the com-pany has decided to handover compensation fromits end to the families ofits deceased workers asper ex-gratia list releasedby the state government.

Meanwhile, rescueoperation at site is in fullswing for the ninth con-secutive day with exten-

sive coordinated workbeing carried out by mul-tiple agencies includingNTPC to reach thosetrapped in the tunnel.

While dedicatedteams from NTPC aremanaging the entire res-cue operation behind thescene by assisting the res-cue teams, the companyairlifted machineriesincluding high-end sub-mersible slush removalpumps to fast-track theoperation.

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North Delhi Mayor inspects Hindu Rao hospital

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Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipasrecovered from two setsdown to stun Rafael Nadal

in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, ending theSpaniard’s bid for a record 21stGrand Slam title.

Second seed Nadal was oncourse for a comfortable victorybefore the 22-year-old Tsitsipasturned the match around to prevail3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-5.

It was just the second timeNadal had lost when two sets up ina Grand Slam, having previously fall-en to Fabio Fognini in the thirdround of the 2015 US Open, and thethird time in his career after a 2005match against Roger Federer.

Fifth seed Tsitsipas will nowattempt to reach his first Grand Slamfinal when he plays the in-formDaniil Medvedev in the semi-final.

“I don’t know what happenedafter the third set — I fly like littlebird, everything was working for me,”said Tsitsipas, who hit 49 winners and17 aces. It was just his second winover Nadal in eight matches.

“The emotions at the end wereindescribable, they were some-thing else.”

The 22-year-old credited acomposed temperament for histurnaround.

“I was able to be consistent withmy mood and be calm in the cru-cial moments,” he said. “I’ve beentrying to keep everything to myselfand I’m happy with my attitude Ishowed on the court.”

Nadal, sweating profusely inthe muggy conditions, was in vin-

tage form until a nerveless Tsitsipasturned the match on its head aftersnatching the tiebreak in the thirdset of the fixture.

The momentum shifted towards

Tsitsipas in the fourth set and hefinally cracked Nadal’s serve to forcea deciding set.

Both players served well underpressure in a tense fifth set before

Tsitsipas gained the pivotal break inthe 11th game and then clinched hismemorable victory with a backhandwinner down the line.

That drama had appeared

unlikely when an aggressive Nadalcruised through the opening twosets, toying with Tsitsipas and mov-ing him around the court.

Tsitsipas, however, hung inthere to force a third set tiebreak,where Nadal’s loose play ultimate-ly proved fatal.

Another tough challenge awaitshim in the semi-final as he has 1-5 record against the RussianMedvedev.

“He’s playing very well and is ingood shape. I know he is going togive me a difficult time on thecourt. I need to recover and do anice ice bath.”

WINS HEAT & RUBLEVEarlier in all-Russian battle

Daniil Medvedev came out on top ofa brutal clash against Andrey Rublevto move into his first AustralianOpen semi-final and inch closer toa first Grand Slam title.

The fourth seed had more fire-power than his younger, seventh-seeded rival in scorching conditionson Rod Laver Arena, grinding himdown 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to extend hiswin-streak to 19 matches.

“I would say the three lastpoints when I was getting ready forthe serve I could not really movemy left leg,” he said, with both play-ers cramping in the “super-tough”conditions.

“But I’ve known him a longtime and I know how to neutralisehis big shots. That’s definitely oneof the best matches I’ve played late-ly, not even just here but last year,”Medvedev added.

“It was unbelievable, because hewas playing really good and I man-aged to beat him in three sets.”

Medvedev is now riding a 19-match run dating back toNovember, taking in titles at theParis 1000, the ATP Finals inLondon and the ATP Cup withRussia in the lead-up to the open-ing Grand Slam of the year.

He is into his first semi atMelbourne Park as he continues toknock on the door of Grand Slamsuccess, having reached the 2019US Open final and the last four inNew York in 2020.

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Fl a m b o y a n tAustralian Glenn

Maxwell is expected tobe a favourite, despitehis under-whelmingrecord, along withEngland’s spin bowlingall-rounder Moeen Aliduring a condensed IPLplayers auction slatedhere on Thursday.

A total of 292 play-ers have been enlistedfor the shortened auc-tions — 164 of themIndian and 125 over-seas. There will also bethree associate players inthe auction.

With 61 slots acrosseight franchises up forgrabs, RoyalChallengers Bangalorehas the maximum, 11vacancies, to fill with apurse of �35.4 crorewhile SunrisersHyderabad has onlythree slots available with�10.75 crore in its kitty.

The highest purseavailable is with AnilKumble coached PunjabKings, formerly KingsXI Punjab, which has�53.20 crore availablefor spending on ninespots.

With the IPL backin India after being heldin the UAE last year,focus will be on big-hit-ters as well as slowbowlers and Maxwelland Moeen fit the cate-gory to the T.

However, Maxwellaverages 22 in the tour-nament, having played

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The selectors on Wednesdayretained 17 of the 18 members

in the Indian squad for the finaltwo Tests against England whilesenior pacer Umesh Yadav’s inclu-sion would depend on his fitnessassessment ahead of the Day/Nightgame in Ahmedabad.

Shardul Thakur is the onlyplayer who has not been kept as hewill be released to compete in theVijay Hazare Trophy.

The anticipation was aroundsenior pacer Mohammed Shami’sfitness and it has been learnt thathe is still not 100 percent fit for therigours of five-day games.

“Umesh Yadav will join theteam in Ahmedabad and after hisfitness assessment will replaceShardul Thakur, who wi l l bereleased for Vijay Hazare Trophy,”BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in apress release.

Predictably, left-arm spinnerShahbaz Nadeem has been droppedfrom stand-by list after his poorshow in the first Test. Leg-spinnerRahul Chahar and keeper-batsmanKona Srikar Bharat are stand-byplayers.

Pr iy an k Pancha l andAbhimanyu Easwaran have alsobeen released to play Vijay HazareTrophy.

The five net bowlers, who werein Chennai will also join the teamin Ahmedabad. They are AnkitRajpoot, Avesh Khan, SandeepWarrier, Krishnappa Gowtham andSaurabh Kumar.

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Karolina Muchova staged astunning comeback on

Thursday to upset Ashleigh Bartyand storm into the AustralianOpen semi-finals, rallying from aset down to shatter the worldnumber one’s dreams.

The Czech 25th seed lookedon her way out after Barty racedthrough the opening set, but aftera medical timeout Muchovareturned a different player to win1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arenaas the Australian crumbled.

She will now face JenniferBrady for a place in the final afterthe big-serving American stageda comeback three-set victory overfellow countrymate Jessica Pegulain a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.

“I started feeling a bit lost bythe end of the first set. She playedalmost like no mistakes,” saidMuchova, whose best previous

Grand Slam run was to the lasteight at Wimbledon in 2019.

“It was very tough and I wasa bit lost on the court and my headwas spinning so I took a break. Ithelped me. I tried to get back,played a bit faster rallies so wedon’t play the long ones as in thefirst set and it worked well.”

Her come-from-behind winended top seed Barty’s hopes ofbecoming the first home winnerat the Australian Open in 43years after Chris O’Neil’s break-through in 1978.

Barty, the 2019 French Openchampion, had made a flyingstart to her year, winning thewarm-up Yarra Valley Classic andhad not lost a set before meetingMuchova.

“It’s heartbreaking, of course,”Barty said. “But the sun will comeup tomorrow. You’re either win-ning or you’re learning, and todayis a massive learning curve for me.”

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IPL Auction: All eyes on Malan, Maxi & Moeen

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82 matches for his 1505 runs. Helast played for Punjab.

Moeen, on the other hand,was seen in action for RoyalChallengers Bangalore in theprevious season.

While Maxwell and his for-mer skipper Steve Smith areboth in the highest biddingcategory of �2 crore, one namethat will surely attract attention

is world’s No 1 ranked T20 bats-man Dawid Malan.

A strike-rate of nearly 150in 19 T20Is has catapultedMalan into limelight and a fewteams may like to raise their bidsfor the 33-year-old with a baseprice of �1.5 crore.

One of the most keenly-watched teams going into theauction will be Chennai Super

Kings after a nightmarish 2020season when they failed to qual-ify for the IPL play-offs for thefirst time in tournament’s histo-ry.

Mahendra Singh Dhoniand head coach StephenFleming have always valuedexperience way more than exu-berance of youth in their team.

So, with �19.90 crore tospend and six vacancies to fill,Dhoni will look at some poten-tial big hitters to help him,Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessisin the middle.

Since the IPL will be held inIndia, Maxwell despite hisunder-achieving stats could bepicked for his skills as a tight off-break bowler on slower tracks.

In case of Malan, Kings XIPunjab could walk away withhim considering their purseand lack of consistent firepow-er at the top of the order.

The only part that is debat-able about Malan is how goodhe is when it comes to playingslow bowlers in Indian condi-tions.

Among Indian players, the

three notable capped namesare Kedar Jadhav, veteran off-spinner Harbhajn Singh and fastbowler Umesh Yadav.

The auction dynamics,when it comes to Indian play-ers, have been very differentcompared to foreign players dueto the limited available slots (8)in each squad.

That’s the reason SunrisersHyderabad or a RajasthanRoyals won’t mind having anUmesh on board because of hisexperience at the highest level.

Similarly, Kedar andHarbhajan, with high-end baseprices may go unsold during thefirst lot. But they are likely topicked up in the final hour afterfranchises have settled squads.

Ditto for Steve Smith,among those with the highestbase price but having a strike-rate which is not the greatest fora top-order batsman, mightnot find too many biddersunless any franchise is lookingfor a suitable captaincy candi-date.