ˆ ˛ ˚ ˜ - the pioneer · hindu officer in muslim-pop-ulated region, shah said, “i am amazed...

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Union Home Minister AmitShah on Saturday

informed the Lok Sabha thatStatehood will be given “at anappropriate time” to Jammu &Kashmir even as he reiteratedthat the Centre’s commitmentis to bring peace and develop-ment “first” in the UnionTerritory.

Replying to the debate onJ&K Re-organisation(Amendment) Bill, whichincludes the AGMUT cadre inthe Jammu & Kashmir, Shahtold the Lok Sabha that theModi Government’s top prior-ity is nothing but the develop-ment of the region.

“You people are asking mewhat happened after scrap-ping Article 370 in 17 monthswhile forgetting how threefamilies ruled the State for 70years!” said the Home Ministerreiterating that the Statehoodwill be given in “appropriatetime”.

“You people don’t read theBill properly. This is just aboutAGMUT Cadre inclusion inJ&K and Ladakh. This Bill hasnothing to do with Statehood.You people during debate justtalk on Article 370. It is gone.It was only a temporary clausewhich you people kept for 70years and now asking me whenthe Statehood will be givenback. I am telling you theStatehood will be given on anappropriate time. The

Narendra Modi Government iscommitted to bringing peaceand development in the regionfirst,” said Shah.

Slamming the Oppositionfor objecting to the posting ofHindu officer in Muslim-pop-ulated region, Shah said, “I amamazed that you people arenow talking about secularismbut what kind of secularism isthis?”

He was replying to theobjections against the Billraised by Opposition leadersAdhir Ranjan Chaowdhury,Assaduddin Owaisi, ManishTewari and NK

Premachandran. The RajyaSabha has already passed theBill.

Taking a dig at Shah at onepoint, Chowdhury said, “Youclaim all development inJammu & Kashmir has beendone by Narendra Modi. Pleasealso claim Dal Lake was alsocreated by Modi,” saidChowdhury.

The Home Minister alsoslammed some Oppositionmembers for their claim thatthe proposed law negates thehopes of the region gettingback its erstwhile Statehood.This legislation has nothing to

do with Statehood, and Jammu& Kashmir will be accorded thestatus at an appropriate time,Shah reiterated.

He said the region’s UnionTerritory status is temporaryand then took a swipe at theCongress and other parties —which had backed Article 370of the Constitution that gavespecial status to Jammu &Kashmir — saying this was atemporary provision but theycontinued with it for over 70years before the ModiGovernment annulled it inAugust 2019.

Jammu & Kashmir has

been a top priority for the cur-rent Government since it cameto power in 2014, he said.Decentralisation and devolu-tion of power have taken placein the Union Territory follow-ing the revocation of Article370, Shah said, noting thatpanchayat elections saw over 51per cent voting. Panchayatshave been given administrativeand financial powers for localdevelopment, something theylacked earlier, he added.

Now people chosen by themasses will rule J&K, not thoseborn to “kings and queens”, hesaid, attacking dynastic partiesin the region. Even our rivalscould not allege any wrongdo-ing in these polls which wereconducted fairly and peaceful-ly, he said.

Work on two AIIMS in theregion has begun, and theKashmir valley will be con-nected to the railways by 2022,the Union Home Minister said.He also gave assurance to thepeople of Jammu & Kashmirthat “no one will lose theirland”. The Government hassufficient land for develop-ment works, Shah said.

The Bill seeks to replace theOrdinance to merge the J&Kcadre of civil services officerwith the Arunachal Pradesh,Goa, Mizoram Union Territory(AGMUT) cadre. Shah said theGovernment expects thataround 25,000 Governmentjobs will be created in J&K by2022.

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Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman on

Saturday said the Union Budget2021-22 has set the pace foraatmanirbhar India and hithard at Congress leader RahulGandhi for his “hum do,humare do” barb saying he isbecoming a “doomsday man”for the country by constantlyinsulting Constitutional func-tionaries and creating fake nar-ratives.

Replying to a debate on theUnion Budget in the LokSabha, the Finance Ministersaid the challenges of the Covidpandemic did not deter theGovernment from undertakingreforms for maintaining long-term goals of the country.

“The reforms undertakenwill lay the path for India tobecome one of those fastest-growing economies in theworld, she said, adding theBudget has set the pace forIndia to become aatmanirbhar”,she said.

The Finance Minister saidthe Budget has laid emphasison increasing capital expendi-ture, raising allocation for

healthcare capacity buildingand development of agricultureinfrastructure, among others,which are expected to have amultiplier effect on the econo-my.

With regards to increasingallocation for rural job guar-antee scheme, Sitharaman saidthe Government will allocatemore funds for MahatmaGandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee(MGNREGA) scheme for2021-22, if needed, as againstBudget estimate of �73,000crore. Hitting out at theOpposition, she said theGovernment under PrimeMinister Narendra Modi“works for common peopleand not for crony capitalists.”

In her sharp riposte toRahul, she said the formerCongress chief was creatingfake narratives but does nothave patience to listen to replies

on allegations levelled againstthe Government.

“We need to recognisethese two tendencies of theCongress party... this makes itclear that their belief in ademocratically electedParliamentary system is com-pletely finished,” Sitharamansaid.

Responding to formerCongress president’s speechon Thursday, during which hespoke about farm laws but noton the Budget, she said, “He isprobably becoming a dooms-day man for India.”

The Minister said that theCongress leader laid the “foun-dation” but did not speak aboutthe Budget during the discus-sion on it.

“I wanted to know fromthe Congress why it took a U-turn on the farm laws but noreply came,” she said.

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India has one of the worstroad safety records in the

world with a total of 1,50,000fatalities and 4,50,000 injuriesin road accidents every year,resulting in social-economiclosses equivalent to a shocking3.14 per cent of GDP everyyear.

As per World Bank reportreleased by Union Ministerfor Road Transport andHighways Nitin Gadkari onSaturday, India has one per centof the world’s vehicles, but itaccounts for 10 per cent of allroad crash victims.

And more alarming is thefact that 70 per cent of the fatal-ities are in the age group of 18to 45 years.

With the National RoadSafety Month underway, theWorld Bank in association withthe SaveLIFE Foundation, anational non-Governmentalorganisation focused on roadsafety, released the compre-hensive report on “TrafficCrash Injuries and Disabilities:The Burden on Indian Society.”

The study, released byGadkari, reveals that morethan 75 per cent of poor house-holds in India reported adecline in their income as aresult of a road traffic crash.The financial loss for the pooramounted to more than sevenmonths’ household income,while it was equivalent to lessthan one month’s householdincome for rich households.

As per the Road AccidentReport, 4,49,002 accidents tookplace in the country during2019, leading to 1,51,113 deathsand 451,361 injuries. In per-

centage terms, the number ofaccidents decreased by 3.86 percent in 2019 as compared to2018, while accident-relateddeaths decreased by 0.20 percent and those injureddecreased by 3.86 per cent.

The World Bank reporthighlights the disproportionateimpact of a road crash onpoor households that pushesthem into a vicious cycle ofpoverty and debt. It sheds lighton the links between roadcrashes, poverty, inequality,and vulnerable road users inIndia.

The study interviewedaround 2,500 respondents,including 1,647 respondentsfrom low-income households,432 from high-income house-holds and 420 truck drivers inthe four selected States (UttarPradesh and Bihar representingLow-Capacity States and TamilNadu and Maharashtra repre-senting High-Capacity States)across urban and rural areas.The qualitative part of thestudy included focus groupdiscussions with road crashsurvivors and their familymembers and in-depth inter-views with adolescents aged 14-18 years.

“We have taken a numberof positive initiatives to reduceroad crash deaths in India.With the support of all stake-holders in our society, I amcommitted to reducing roadcrash deaths by 50 per cent by2025,” Gadkari said in hisaddress during the release ofthe report in the presence ofHartwig Schafer, World BankVice-President for the SouthAsia region.

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Protesting farmer unions onSaturday demanded a high-

level judicial enquiry into theviolence during the tractorrally in Delhi on January 26and the alleged “false” casesslapped on the peasants.

Addressing a press confer-ence at the Singhu border,Samyukta Kisan Morcha lead-ers asked farmers who are get-ting police notices not toappear before the force direct-ly and instead approach thelegal cell constituted by theunions for any assistance.

Kuldeep Singh, a memberof SKM’s legal cell, said that aretired judge of the SupremeCourt or high court shouldprobe the incidents to unravelthe “conspiracy” behind theJanuary 26 violence and thealleged “false cases” againstthe farmers.

According to SKM leaders,16 farmers who had partici-pated in the tractor parade areuntraceable. In the Republic

Day violence, over 500 policepersonnel had been injured,while a protester had died.

On January 26, thousandsof protesting farmers whoreached ITO from theGhazipur border clashed withthe police. Driving tractors,many of them reached the RedFort and hoisted a religious flagthere.

At the press conference,another leader Ravinder Singh

said that 122 farmers had so farbeen arrested by Delhi Police inconnection with 14 of the 44FIRs, adding that SKM willprovide legal and financial aidto all the arrested farmers.

The SKAM leaders claimedthat “false” cases were beingslapped on farmers chargingthem with serious offences likedacoity and attempt to murderto “harass” them.

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The right to protest cannotbe anytime and every-

where”, the Supreme Courtsaid as it dismissed a pleaseeking review of its verdictpassed last year in which it hadheld the occupation of publicways during the anti-CAAprotests at Shaheen Bagh herewas “not acceptable”

The top court said theremay be some spontaneousprotests but in case of pro-longed dissent or protest, therecannot be continued occupa-tion of public place affectingthe rights of others.

A bench of Justices SanjayKishan Kaul, Aniruddha Boseand Kirshna Murari said, “Wehave perused the review peti-tion and record of the civilappeal and are convinced thatthe order of which review hasbeen sought, does not sufferfrom any error apparent war-ranting its reconsideration”.

The bench, which haspassed the order recently, saidit has considered the earlierjudicial pronouncements and

recorded its opinion that “theConstitutional scheme comeswith a right to protest andexpress dissent but with anobligation to have certainduties”.

“The right to protest can-not be anytime and every-where. There may be somespontaneous protests but incase of prolonged dissent orprotest, there cannot be con-tinued occupation of publicplace affecting rights of others”,the bench said, while dismiss-ing a plea by one Shaheen Bagh

resident Kaniz Fatima and oth-ers seeking review of last year’sverdict of October 7.

The top court, which con-sidered the matter in the judges’chambers also rejected theprayer for open court hearingin the matter.

The apex court had onOctober 7, last year held thatpublic spaces cannot be occu-pied indefinitely and demon-strations expressing dissenthave to be in designated placesalone.

It had said occupation ofpublic ways in the anti-CAAprotests at Shaheen Bagh local-ity here was “not acceptable”.

Observing that democracyand dissent “go hand in hand”,the apex court had said con-stitutional scheme comes withthe right to protest and expressdissent, but with an obligationtowards certain duties.

It had said the mode andmanner of dissent against colo-nial rule during India’s freedomstruggle cannot be equatedwith dissent in a self-ruleddemocracy.

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Tha caracal, a medium sizewild cat with long black

tufted ears, which is found insome parts of Rajasthan andGujarat, has finally caught theattention of the Government.Fearing that this species mightnot survive for long, the UnionEnvironment Ministry has nowbrought it into the ambit of thecritically endangered speciesprogramme for taking up itsconservation.

With the inclusion of thisspecies from the cat family,now there are a total 22 wildlifespecies, including snow leop-ard, bustard (including flori-cans), dolphin, hangul, nilgiritahr, marine turtles, dugongs toname a few under recoveryprogramme for critically-endangered species in thecountry.

Though the InternationalUnion for Conservation ofNature (ICUN) has not listedthese species as endangered asthere is a huge population ofcaracal cats present in theAfrican continent. In India,their number has gotten verylow and hence they are con-sidered endangered species.

They are a rare species ofthe cat protected underSchedule I ofW i l d l i f e(Protection) Act,1972 found onlyin Gujarat andRajasthan.

In fact, duringthe 2018 tiger cen-sus conducted by

the National TigerConservation Authority(NTCA) just one caracal wasphotocaptured only in onecamera trap from out of 150camera traps locations for theentire session in Ranthambhorein Rajasthan. The location issituated in the north westernpart of Ranthambhore, thisarea is dominated with sparsevegetation with thorny scrub,said an official from the NTCA.

Similarly an incident ofcaracals attacking a man inMirzapur has been docu-mented by Bombay NaturalHistory Society in its book“Wild Animals of India”

published in 2004.The official said that

the National Board forWildlife (NBWL) in a meet-

ing in January approvedinclusion of the species in the

recovery programme whichwill ensure the species to havea separate conservation pro-gramme.

“As per thepro-

gramme, a population estima-tion will be done and a studyon their habitat so that con-servation measures can betaken accordingly,” he said.

The semi-arid region ofKutch is one of only two homesof this cat species in India.According to a research report“Historical and current extentof occurrence of the Caracal inIndia” by DharmendraKhandal and Ishan Dhar fromTiger Watch and GoddillaViswanatha Reddy fromRajasthan Forest Department,the caracals’ presence has beennoted in only three States, withjust two possible viable popu-lations. These are in the marshyareas of Kutch district, the

higher areas closer to KaloDungar with grassy scrubland;and in Rajasthan’s SawaiMadhopur, Karoli, andDholpur districts. In Gujarat 19sightings were reported, all inKutch district, and nine ofthese were authenticated byphotographs.

According to the earlierreports, there were around 18sub-species of caracals pre-sent. But, as per the study byKhandal and Dhar, there areonly 3 sub-species of caracalspresent. Historically, the cara-cal was reported in 13 IndianStates in nine out of 26 bioticprovinces. Since 2001, caracalspresence has been reported inonly three States and four biot-ic provinces, with only two pos-sible viable populations.

“It is possible that the cara-cal might still be present butunderreported in States likeMaharashtra, Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, and the easternparts of India. Targeted surveyswill be required to further ver-ify and adjust the putativereduction in range size estab-lished by this study.

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New Delhi: The Delhi Police’sCrime Branch on Saturdaytook actor-activist Deep Sidhuand another accused IqbalSingh to Red Fort to recreatethe scene of events that unfold-ed at the historic monument onRepublic Day during thefarmer’s tractor parade, a policeofficer said.

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New Delhi: Three more menhave been arrested in connec-tion with the violence duringthe farmers’ tractor parade innorth Delhi’s Burari area onRepublic day, police said onSaturday. The accused —Sukhmeet Singh (35), GundeepSingh (33) and HarvinderSingh (32) — were identifiedwith the help of CCTV footageand technical probe followingwhich raids were conducted.

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�What is your role in Kyun Utthe DilChod Aaye?

I play Uday Sahani, a Punjabi whostays with his family in Lahore. He is apassionate hockey player and is aemotional person. He has grown upwithout his mother and his father has beenvery rude to him. But he still manages tokeep everyone happy. He is sensitive andintelligent, but probably less confident thanVashma, his childhood friend andneighbour, who is the only one tounderstand him. �How hard was it to get into the skin ofthe character?

Whenever you play a new character itis definitely hard to get into the skin ofthe character. You have have to getinto character’s boundary. Uday issomeone who doesn’t expressmuch and is emotionallyvulnerable. One has tounderstand all this andthen cultivate acharacter. I have takena lot of workshops andsittings with thedirector and thewriters. It took me alot of efforts tounderstand hispersonality and gethold on the way heconverses witheveryone. I had tolearn to playhockey as well.� You are alsoshooting for amusic video.How are youjuggling betweenboth?

Yes, I was shooting a musicvideo for T-Series. It is always good towork. I was shooting back to backwithout sleeping for six days. Wetravelled to Srinagar and shot there in-18°Celsius. It is difficult, but this iswhat I wanted to do in my life. So Ishould not complain and ratherenjoy what I am doing.�What kind of roles attract you?

I like to play characters whichhave a say and give you scope toperform. In my last show ShubhArambh, I played a character who wasstylish and had an attitude, but nowI am playing a completely oppositecharacter. But having said that I makesure that my characters cry. It is notonly the females who cry, males cantoo and we should not be judging

emotions on the basis of gender. Sothe characters which are expressiveand have emotions interest me.�A role that comes close to yourheart.

All the characters that I haveplayed are close to my heart. I putin a lot of hard work and efforts inwhatever role I play. I spend somuch time with every character,

hence they all are close to my heart.But to name one it will be Atharv

Bapat in Tujhse Hai Raabta. There aresome roles that earn you recognition

and for me it is Atharv. But having saidthat all the characters that I have playedare my babies and I love them all equally.�You once told me that you would wantto see scripts that give enough exposureto all the characters. Has anythingchanged now?

Yes, I like scripts where all thecharacters are given equal importance. Idoubt when only two actors — a maleand female protagonist — pulling theshow and the story keeps on revolving

around them. People should understandthe actors who play antagonists areaccomplished actors because they convincepeople that they are bad. I don’t think thatthe Indian audience has still understoodthat negative characters are just actorsplaying their part. But with that beingsaid, if the actors receive hate it meansthat they are doing justice to their role.

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This is based on true happenings at adowntown LA hotel — the infamous HotelCecil. Behind its doors is a story of over

80 deaths since its inception back in 1924. Drugs,violence, abuse, rape and murders kept this hotelin the news as late as 2013 when a 21-year-oldCanadian student vanished!

The series gives you a background about thishotel, the people living around the 56 blocks—Skid Row— home to over 4000 homelesspeople. People were made to live in theseconditions so that the crime was limited to anarea. And here is hotel in the midst of this all.Infamous because it attracted the wrong kind ofpeople to its fold, infamous because of the deathshere, infamous because its permanent residentswere people who didn’t want to found and live

under the shadows, infamous because of NightStalker’s connections to Hotel Cecil.

And then in 2013 throws more spanners thathad web sleuths question how the police missedvital clues. How the hotel owners were behindher disappearance and all because of a video ofthe girl in the elevator — the last place where shewas seen alive.

The four-part series unfolds in a manner thatis supposed to spook and create fear psychosisin the minds of people due to the shadyhappenings. Unfortunately all it manages to dois evoke a sense of helplessness and sadness ofa young death that could have been avoided withtimely intervention.

The story tells you that just because there areway too many coincidences, the truth was so farremoved from what was suspected — and thatat the end of the day policing should be left tothose who know how to do their job becauseunknowingly one ruined a life from where therewas no coming back.

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It appears we will have yetanother Valentine’s Daywhere love is missing when

movies are concerned even onthe OTT platform. Extremelysad and unfortunate giventhat Hollywood has some ofthe best love stories that makesone’s heart do somersaults.You have got Mail, PrettyWoman, Casablanca are some

of the few movies from a listof hundreds that are ingrainedin our minds and will remainthere forever.

However not all is lost withSquared Love . It has all theingredients of a love story; aCasanova man, a pretty woman,the two meet and that’s it.There is no spark, no chemistrybetween the lead. The story iscliched. The acting is nothingto rave about.

The only thing here thatwill keep one’s interest are thefancy cars and great locales, itis a Polish rom-com. Anotherplus is that it is in English. Thegood part is that the cars andlocales will manage to holdinterest of both girls and boys.Not a bad movie to watch onValentine’s Day. —��

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The Delhi Police CrimeBranch on Saturday took

actor-activist Deep Sidhu andanother accused Iqbal Singh toRed Fort to recreate the sceneof events that unfolded at thehistoric monument onRepublic Day during the farm-ers’ tractor parade.

Deep Sidhu, according topolice, was a prominent play-er behind the January 26 vio-lence and vandalism at theRed Fort. He was arrested fromKarnal bypass in Haryana onMonday night by a team ofDelhi Police's Special Cell. OnTuesday, Sidhu was sent to

seven-day police custody by acity court in Delhi.

A senior police official saidSidhu and another accusedarrested in the case Iqbal Singhwere taken to the Red Fort bya crime branch team to recre-ate the scene of events thatunfolded on Republic Day atthe monument.

The team probing the casewill inspect the spot to ascer-tain and corroborate the routetaken by them, their activitiesat the Red Fort and how thingsunfolded at the monument onRepublic Day when the vio-lence broke out, the officialadded.

Iqbal Singh, who was car-

rying a reward of Rs 50,000 onhis arrest, was nabbed fromHoshiarpur in Punjab onTuesday night by the northernrange of Delhi Police's SpecialCell. The Delhi police hadannounced a cash reward of Rs1 lakh for information that canlead to the arrest of actorSidhu, Jugraj Singh, GurjotSingh and Gurjant Singh whohoisted flags at the Red Fort orwere involved in the act.

A cash reward of Rs 50,000each was also announced forButa Singh, Sukhdev Singh,Jajbir Singh and Iqbal Singh forallegedly instigating protesters.

Of them, Sidhu, IqbalSingh and Sukhdev Singh have

been arrested. Police said raidsare being conducted to nab theother accused. Thousands offarmers protesting the Centre'snew agriculture laws hadclashed with the police duringtheir tractor parade on January 26.

Many of the protesters,driving tractors, reached theRed Fort and entered the mon-ument. Some protesters evenhoisted religious flags on itsdomes and a flagstaff at theramparts, where the nationalf lag is unfurled onIndependence Day.

Over 500 police personnelwere injured and one protestordied on that day.

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Indian Railway's cumulativefreight revenue has surged to

reach at Rs 98068.45 crore ona cumulative basis as comparedto Rs 97342.14 cr collected lastyear.

A senior Indian Railwaysofficial said that it has over-taken last years freight revenuefigures by five per cent in first12 days of February.

On a monthly basis,Railway freight revenue hassurged Rs 206 crore ahead in

February 2021 compared tocorresponding period Februarylast year, he said.

As per the estimates,Railways freight revenue stoodat Rs 4571 cr for the first 12days of Feb as compared to Rs4365 cr for the same period lastfinancial year.

Incidentally loading is alsoahead by almost eight percentas compared to last year samecorresponding. Railways hasachieved this turnaround dueto an extra ordinary set of newinitiatives being taken in

improving business develop-ment, incentives, speed andcustomisation.

It may be noted that freightloading has been showing high-er figures since August 20 ascompared to correspondingperiod of previous financialyear.

"This is for the first timepost Covid lock down thatfreight revenue for the monthhas also been showing higherestimates as compared to lastcorresponding. Higher Freightrevenue for the month is a great

signal of an all round economicrecovery that is sweeping thecountry and speaks volumesabout the new managementinitiatives being taken inRailways to boost business andfurther improve freight opera-tions," he added.

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Ghaziabad MunicipalCorporation is going to

start electric buses service inthe city very soon. TheCorporation has sent a detailedproject report (DPR) of Rs 27crore to the Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment to build a bus shelter.

The approval of DPR willbe received by the first fort-night of March and these buseswill be run on 10 routes in thecity, 52 bus shelters will be pre-pared for stopping and main-tenance of these buses, all thesepoints are mentioned in theDPR in a series, said official.

“The bus route has beenkept from Noida to Ghaziabadalso to Noida City Center. Acharging station is also beingbuilt in the Vijayanagar tocharge batteries of electricbuses. Earlier it was planned tobe built at Hindon Vihar inMeerut Tiraha but in view oftraffic problems place has beenshifted to Vijayanagar,” he said.

The MunicipalCommissioner said that 50electronic buses will be run inthe first phase. “If this pilot pro-ject is successful, the number ofbuses and routes can also beincreased. Petrol and dieselwill not be used in these buses,only these buses will be runthrough electric batteries,” saidThe Municipal Commissioner.

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Delhi Police on Saturday transferred the murder caseof Rinku Sharma to Crime Branch for further

investigation. Police had already arrested five accusedin connection with the killing of a 25-year-old Rinkuallegedly by a group of men in outer Delhi'sMangolpuri area.

The deceased, Rinku Sharma, worked as a lab tech-nician, and since the incident police personnel havebeen deployed in the locality to avoid any untowardincident.

According to Anil Mittal, the Additional PublicRelations Officer (APRO), Delhi Police, the case hasnow been transferred to the crime branch for furtherinvestigation. According to police, on Wednesdaynight, when both the victim and the accused men wereattending a birthday party, an argument broke outbetween them over their food joints in Rohini.

They also allegedly slapped and threatened eachother at the party, following which they left. The twoparties had similar tussles over the same issue some-time back as well, police said.

Later, the four men went to Sharma's house wherethe victim along with his elder brother were alreadystanding outside with sticks. A scuffle broke outbetween the two sides again during which theaccused stabbed Sharma and fled from the spot, asenior police officer had said on Thursday.

Sharma's brother Mannu (19), however, allegedthat Rinku Sharma was killed as he was actively par-ticipating in the donation drive for the Ram Mandirin Ayodhya. However, the Delhi Police denied anycommunal angle to the murder and said the fight atthe birthday party took place over a business rivalry.

So far, Tazuddin, Zahid, Mehtab, Danish and Islamhave been arrested in connection with the incident,police said.

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The first week of the KejriwalGovernment's Switch Delhi

electric vehicle campaignfocusing on electric two-wheel-ers has garnered enthusiasticsupport from the public andindustry alike as people havestarted switching to electrictwo-wheelers in large numbers.

Since the launch of DelhiEV policy in August 2020, 630new two-wheelers have beenregistered and more are beingregistered every day, the Delhigovernment said in a statement.

The first week of the SwitchDelhi campaign focused ongenerating awareness on thebenefits of EV two-wheelersalong with the benefits offeredunder the Delhi EV policy forthose who want to make theswitch from ICE (InternalCombustion Engine) vehiclesto electric.

Transport Minister KailashGahlot said, “Since the launchof Delhi EV policy, 630 new EVtwo-wheelers have been regis-tered and more are being reg-istered every day. Analysis byRMI India reveals that subsi-dies provided on electric twowheelers under Delhi EV pol-icy have made the upfrontpurchase price comparable totop selling petrol two wheelers.But the real saving is in oper-ating cost.

By switching to electrictwo wheeler, an individual canhave monthly savings of

approximately INR 1850 andINR 1650 compared to petrolscooter and petrol bike respec-tively.”

The environmental bene-fits upon switching to Delhi aresignificant. Gahlot said, "Anaverage electric two wheelerprovides a lifetime savings of1.98 tonnes of carbon emis-sions as compared to an aver-age petrol two wheelers. To putit simply, we need roughly 11trees to sequester 1.98 tonnesof CO2. We can save our envi-ronment by making this switchand we owe this to our futuregenerations."

Responding to SwitchDelhi campaign's call forDelhiites to step forward andshare their experiences ofswitching to EVs under#DilliKeGreenWarrior initia-tive, following are the stories offour Delhiites who haveswitched to electric two-wheel-ers after the implementation ofDelhi EV Policy.

Owing to the ChiefMinister’s leadership in pro-moting zero-emission vehi-cles, many EV two-wheelercompanies have decided toaggressively launch new vehi-cle models in Delhi. Praisingthe Delhi government’s initia-tive, Rajiv Bajaj, MD of BajajAuto, said, “The comprehen-sive, pragmatic and progressiveEV policy of the Delhi gov-ernment inspired us at BajajAuto to accelerate our plan toscale up our iconic electric

Chetak as also to introduceelectric avatars of our marketleading 3 wheelers. We lookforward to working vigorous-ly with the Delhi governmentto further the cause of a clean-er tomorrow for the city ofDelhi.”

Tarun Mehta, Co-founderand CEO, Ather Energy said,“The Delhi Government hasbeen rolling out progressivepolicies for the adoption ofelectric vehicles. The Switch EVcampaign should revive con-sumer interest about electricvehicles in the city. We haveseen great response acrosslaunch markets for the Ather450X and we will open ourexperience centre, anotherspace in Delhi in the next fewweeks.” Many other EV two-wheeler companies such asHero Electric, Okinawa andTVS have already launchedseveral vehicle models inDelhi.”

Switch Delhi is an eight-week mass awareness cam-paign by the DelhiGovernment to sensitize eachand every Delhiite about thebenefits of switching to EVs tothe environment as well as tomake them aware of the incen-tives and infrastructure beingdeveloped under Delhi’s EVpolicy. The campaign aims atinforming, encouraging, andmotivating each and every per-son in Delhi to switch frompolluting vehicles to zero-emis-sion electric vehicles.

�� 789�)8�5�

Delhi Police Commissioner,SN Shrivastava reviewed

the law and order situation andarrangements at Delhi bor-ders in connection with theFarmers' Agitation.

The CP also took stock onaction taken against criminalsinvolved in burglary, NDPScases, Excise Act & Gamblingcases.

“To reduce the crime, effec-tive and sustained steps, inter-

alia regular checking of listedcriminals like jail/bail/parolereleased, temporal and specialanalysis of crime incidents,optimal use of available humanresources & technology.Performance of anti-snatch-ing teams and use of CrimeTeams be regularly assessed,”the CP said.

Special CP, Operations alsobriefed the CP about progressof ongoing vaccination of DelhiPolice personnel.

The CP Delhi also reward-ed the team that cracked the“Reliance Jewellery Showroom

Dacoity” case of MauryaEnclave police station.

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The Economic Offences Wing(EOW) of Delhi Police has

arrested a 32 year old man forallegedly swindling public money tothe tune of Rs 6.5 crores in theNational Capital.

The accused has been identifiedas Arun Kumar Swami, a resident ofBikaner in Rajasthan who surren-dered before police.

According to Dr O P Mishra,the Joint Commissioner of Police,EOW, complainant, Arjun Saigalalleged that his company InteroceanShipping Company holds currentaccount at Yes Bank and also holds3 FDRs.

“One of the FDRs was maturedand therefore, a letter was sent onbehalf of the complainant to YesBank for renewal and it wasrenewed. The bank statement wasreceived from the bank and it wasnoticed that an amount of Rs. 530was credited in the account fromunknown and a fake email ID ofcomplainant is mentioned on theaccount statement,” said the JointCP.

“An email stating deduction inthe FD due to Sweep in facility wasreceived from the bank and foundthat amount of approx. Rs. 6.5Crore had been siphoned off and

embezzled from the FDR withoutthe knowledge or authorization ofthe complainant in to the accountof a person Ram Chander Vaishanavand company/firm Krishna Printers.He also observed that the requestsfor demographic change bear hisforged signatures and forged seal ofthe company,” said the Joint CP.

“The mobile number given onthe request letter is not of the com-plainant. There was a request forissuance of a debit card in the nameof complainant accompanied withfake PAN Card copy. But no suchrequest was made by the com-plainant,” said the Joint CP addingthat a case under relevant sectionsof law was registered and investi-gation was taken up.

“The investigation revealed thatthe accused Arun Kumar Swami,working as Branch Service Partnerin Yes Bank in Bikaner and NagaurBranch and transferred Rs. 6.55Crore fraudulently through internetbanking from account of com-plainant company to four accountsbelongs to Ram Chandra Vaishnavand his firm Krishna Printers. Theamount was withdrawn throughATM in Dubai and invested inproperties. Accused Ram ChandraVaishnav has been arrested onDecember 26, 2019 while returningfrom Dubai,” he said.

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The Samyukt Kisan Morcha(SKM) legal team on Friday

visited Tihar jail wherein 112farmers are lodged. The legalteam of SKM comprising ofPrem Singh Bhangu, RaminderPatiala, Kiranjeet Sekhon,Inderjeet Singh, Harpal Singhand Vikas met Ranjit Singh, afarmer from Kajampur villagein Punjab and Ranjit Singh ofMoga district and enquiredabout their problems.

According to SKM, thepanel was told that all farmersin jail are hail and hearty andhave no problem.

"They were told that SKMlegal panel along with Delhilawyers panel is persuing theirbail applications. 10 farmershave been granted bail so farand five bail application havebeen filed. Priority is beinggiven to the farmers who arenot booked under section 307IPC or other serious offences.Legal panel has decided toprovide monetary help to eachfarmar in Jail which will bedeposited in their accounts bymonday. Regarding the meet-ing of parents with them SKM

has issued a link of prisons onEkta Morcha IT Cell," statedSKM 8n a statement issued onSaturday.

"It is also informed thatnow 16 persons are missingthat is 9 from Haryana, 1 fromRajasthan and 6 from Punjabfor whom active efforts arebeing made. SKM legal panelhas strongly condemned theDelhi Govt and police for issu-ing notice under section 160CRPC to the farmers in orderto rope them into false cases,"they stated.

"Farmers are informed notto be present before the police.They should immediatlyinform SKM leadership or thelegal panel for further course ofaction. SKM legal panel hadalso talked to Raghav Chadda,Cabinet Minister of DelhiGovernment asking that farm-ers lodged in different jails beconsolidated in to singlejail,legal panel be allowed tomeet farmers without anyrestrictions and the monetary help being given bySKM to farmers be disbursedeasily.He has assured to do theneedful as earliest," stated theSKM.

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The Delhi Police has arrest-ed three more men in

connection with the violenceduring the farmers’ tractorparade in north Delhi’s Burariarea on Republic day.

The accused, SukhmeetSingh (35), Gundeep Singh(33) and Harvinder Singh(32), were identified with thehelp of CCTV footage andtechnical investigation fol-lowing which raids were con-ducted to nab them, they said.Police said that both Sukhmeetand Gundeep are residents ofHari Nagar in west Delhiwhile Harvinder is a residentof Libaspur area.

The Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) of north districtarrested the three men fortheir alleged role in the vio-lence at Burari area onRepublic day, a senior policeofficer said.

With these arrest, thepolice have arrested 14 peopleso far in connection with theviolence at Burari on Republicday. Thousands of farmers

protesting the Centre's newagri laws had clashed with thepolice during their tractorparade on January 26.

Their parade had dis-solved into unprecedentedscenes of anarchy as theyfought with police, overturnedvehicles and delivered anational insult hoisting a reli-gious flag from the rampartsof the Red Fort, a privilegereserved for India's tricolour.

Over 500 police securitypersonnel were injured whileone protestors died duringthe Republic Day violence.

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Three sailors went missing andone injured sailor was rescued,

as a major fire engulfed an offshoresupply vessel “Greatship Rohini”,170 kms off Mumbai coast in theArabian Sea, on Saturday.

An Indian Coast Guard (ICG)spokesperson said that the firebroke out on the Greatship Rohinaround in the morning, when it wasclose to the ONGC’s Bombay HighNQO platform.

On receiving information aboutthe mishap, the ICG diverted an off-shore patrol vessel Samarth to thelocation, while an ICG Dornier air-craft flew to the spot for an aerialassessment of the emergency.

The ICG ship reached the vicin-ity of fire-ravaged vessel around13.30 hrs, while another ship MVAlbatross-5 pulled out the GreatshipRohini to a safe distance from theNQO ONGC platform rig.

ICGS Samarth along with

another OSV Priya-27 launched thefire-fighting operations with itsadvanced Externa Fire FightingSystem and created a boundarycooling to control the spread of theblaze.

Owing to excessive heat, theGreatship Rohini crew memberscould not enter the engine roomwhere the fire had broken out.However, an ICGS Samarth teamboarded the ship for further assess-ment of the situation.

The ICG said that while threesailors are still missing and werebelieved to have been trapped in theship’s blazing engine room, theinjured sailor was airlifted by anONGC helicopter to Mumbai fortreatment.

Till 2000 hrs on Saturday, thefire-fighting operations were con-tinuing on board Greatship Rohini.The ICGS also dispatched a pollu-tion control vessel to the location,and further details are awaited onthe mishap.

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Amaravati: The second phase of polling for 2,786 panchayatsin Andhra Pradesh ended peacefully with 81. 61 per cent voterturnout.

The State Election Commission (SEC), in a statement hereon Saturday, however, did not provide the total number of eli-gible voters. The Andhra Pradesh Director General of PoliceGautam Sawang, in a statement, said the second phase of pollsended peacefully.

According to the figures provided by the SEC, Prakasam dis-trict witnessed the highest turnout with 86.60 while Srikakulamsaw 72.87 per cent. Polling began at 6.30 AM and ended at 3.30PM. The counting of votes began at 4 PM, a poll official said.

Elections were also held to elect 20,817ward members.With two phases being over, the polls would be conducted

in another two phases till February 21.Though the elections were to be held for 3,328panchayat

sarpanchs, 539have been unanimously elected while no nomi-nations were filed forthreevillages, an official press release hadsaid on Friday.

As many as 7,507 candidates contested for sarpanch postsand 44. 876 were in fray for ward members.

The elections were held using ballot paper and without anypolitical party symbols.

Totally, 29,304 polling stations were set up out of which 5,480have been identified as sensitive and 4,181 as hypersensitive, therelease had said.

All necessary precautions were in place as per COVID-19protocols amid tight security. Meanwhile, the SEC issued ordersdirecting the Krishna (rural) district police to register a caseagainst state Civil Supplies Minister Kodali Venkateswara Raofor his alleged derogatory remarks against the poll body undersection 504 (intentionally insulting)and 506 ( criminal intimi-dation),among others. PTI

Gorakhpur (UP): Police on Saturday seized thehalf-burnt bodies of a couple, who had marriedagainst their parents' wishes, from funeral pyreson the banks of a river in the neighbouring SantKabir Nagar district.

The family members, who were burning thebodies on the banks of Kuano river near Bardihavillage, escaped from the spot, police said.

“On getting information that bodies of acouple were being burnt by their family mem-bers, police reached the spot and seized the bod-ies,” Sant Kabir Nagar's Superintendent of PoliceKaustubh said.

As per villagers, the couple had consumedpoison soon after getting married because theirparents objected to it, the SP said, adding the case,however, requires a deeper probe.

“The bodies have been sent for postmortemand an investigation has been launched. The cul-prits won't be spared,” the SP said.

Sagar and Kanchan of Mudadih village underDhanghata police station area were having anaffair for a long time, said SP Kaustubh.

Quoting villagers, Kanchan reached Sagar‘shouse and married him after making him putvermillion on her forehead, villagers told police.

This marriage made the family members ofboth Kanchan and Sagar angry at them and theybegan beating the couple, some villagers toldpolice.

Others told police that the couple took poi-son after the family members became angry.

The family members were burning the bod-ies when the police reached the spot and tookthem into possession. PTI

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Bengaluru: Amid growing clamour for reservation in governmentjobs and other sectors by various communities, Karnataka ChiefMinister B S Yediyurappa on Saturday said he has been making a sin-cere effort towards justice for all.

“Being the Chief Minister of the state, it's my responsibility toprovide justice to all. I am making a sincere effort for justice to allsections of society,” the Chief Minister told reporters at the Mysuruairport.

To a question whether there was pressure on him with the grow-ing demand for reservation, he said it gave him happiness when suchchallenges came before him as they strengthened him to face them.

He said raising such demands was the right of the people.The Chief Minister's statement came as the seers of various com-

munities such as Panchamasali Lingayat, Valmiki, Kuruba and Idigacommunities intensified the demand for more reservation.

The Panchamasali sect has been demanding category 2A statuswithin the category of Other Backward Communities, the Kurubasfor Scheduled Tribe status and Idigas for Scheduled Caste status. TheValmiki community wanted their reservation to be increased fromthree per cent to 7.5 per cent.

These agitations were led by the seers of the communities pos-ing a challenge to the Yediyurappa government.

The Kudalasangama Panchamasali seer Basava Jaya MrutyunjayaSwami has taken out a march to Bengaluru to press for his demandto give benefits of 2A category to 72 sub- sects of the Lingayat com-munities, including Panchamasali.

Swami Pranavananda, the seer of Sharana Basaveshwara Mathin Haveri, said the Idigas, who constitute about 90 lakh people, shouldbe categorised as Scheduled Caste.

At a press conference in Haveri, he even threatened to stageprotests if the demand to incorporate all the 26 sub- sects of Idigasin the SC category was not met. PTI

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Kerala recorded 5,471 newCOVID-19 cases and 16 fatal-

ities on Saturday, taking the case-load to 9,99,523 and the death tollto 3,970.

Health minister K K Shailajasaid the state tested 85,969 samplesin the last 24 hours and the testpositivity rate was 6.36 per cent.

“Till now, the state has tested1,05,26,236 samples,” the ministersaid.

Shailaja said 5,835 patients gotcured of the disease today, takingthe total recoveries to 9,31,706.

“Currently, there are 63,581persons under treatment...,”Shailaja said in a release.

According to the release, there

are 2,44,085 people under obser-vation in the state out of which10,134 are in isolation wards of var-ious hospitals in the state.

Kozhikode reported 750 freshcases today,the highest, followed byErnakulam 746, Thrissur 553,Alappuzha 506 andPathanamthitta 480.

“Out of those who were foundinfected today, 77 reached thestate from outside, while 5,027 con-tracted the disease from their con-tacts. The source of infection of 322people is yet to be traced and 45health workers are also among theinfected,” the minister said.

Seven more regions have beencategorised as hotspots while threewere removed from the list, takingthe total number to 456.

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Ahmedabad: Gujarat's tally of coronaviruspositive cases rose to 2,64,997 on Saturdaywith the addition of 279 fresh infections, thestate Health department said.

No new COVID-19 fatality was report-ed during the day, it said, adding the over-all death toll remained at 4,400.

A total of 283 patients were dischargedduring the day, taking the total number ofrecoveries in Gujarat to 2,58,834, thedepartment said in a release.With this,Gujarat's case recovery rate has improved to97.67 per cent.

The count of beneficiaries of COVID-19 vaccines in the state rose to 7,84,619 with17,008 more inoculations happening at 630centres during the day, it said.

At 60, Ahmedabad reported the high-est number of new cases in the state in theday, followed by 56 cases in Vadodara, 53in Surat, and 38 in Rajkot.

Gandhinagar reported nine new cases,Bhavnagar eight, Anand seven, while GirSomnath and Mehsana each saw five newinfections, the department added.

As per the update released byAhmedabad Municipal Corporation onSaturday afternoon, the city is left with 250active cases.The cumulative count ofCOVID-19 cases in Ahmedabad is 57,655while the death toll is 2,248, the release said.

In the Union Territory of Daman, Diuand Dadra and Nagar Haveli, no new casesor recoveries was reported on Saturday.

The UT has so far reported3,372 casesand 3,368 recoveries, leaving it with twoactive cases. The death toll remains two, offi-cials said.Gujarat's COVID-19 figures are asfollows: Positive cases 2,64,997, new cases279, death toll 4,400, discharged 2,58,834,active cases 1,763, people tested so far - fig-ures not released. PTI

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Hyderabad: The Telangana State Human RightsCommission (TSHRC) has sought a report fromofficials on the alleged suicide of a student hereafter she was turned away from her private schoolover non-payment of fees.

Following a representation from a students'union on the issue, the Commission sought thereport by March 15, official sources said onSaturday.

The 16-year-old student, daughter of a labour-er- couple, on Thursday died by suicide here aftershe was allegedly turned away from the school,police said. PTI

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From Page 1“Ten farmers have been granted bail

so far and five bail applications havebeen filed. Priority is being given tothose farmers who are not bookedunder Section 307 of the IPC or otherserious offences,” the SKM said in astatement later.

Ravinder Singh said that theMorcha will provide Rs 2,000 to everyarrested farmer for spending in theprison canteen. A legal team of SKMhad on Friday visited the Tihar jailwhere 112 farmers were currently

lodged, he said.The union leaders have requested

Delhi Jal Board Vice Chairman andsenior Aam Aadmi Party leader RaghavChadha to ensure that farmers are keptin one jail.In the statement, the SKMdemanded that its legal panel be allowedto meet the arrested farmers withoutany restrictions and its monetary helpbe disbursed to them.

“The SKM legal panel has strong-ly condemned the Delhi governmentand the police for issuing notice undersection 160 CrPC to the farmers inorder to rope them in false cases,” it stat-ed.

From Page 1“However, while appreciating the existence

of the right to peaceful protest against a legis-lation...We have to make it unequivocally clearthat public ways and public spaces cannot beoccupied in such a manner and that too indef-initely,” the top court had said.

The apex court’s verdict had come on a pleaby lawyer Amit Sahni against blockade of a roadin Shaheen Bagh area by those protestingagainst the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA),which aimed to provide Indian citizenship topersecuted minorities of Pakistan, Afghanistanand Bangladesh. It had held that the protest atShaheen Bagh was a blockage of a public waywhich caused grave inconvenience to com-

muters. The top court had said such kind ofoccupation of public ways, whether at the sitein question or anywhere else for protests, is notacceptable and “the administration ought to takeaction to keep the areas clear of encroachmentsor obstructions”.“Democracy and dissent gohand in hand, but then the demonstrationsexpressing dissent have to be in designated placesalone,” it had said, adding, “We cannot acceptthe plea of the applicants that an indeterminablenumber of people can assemble whenever theychoose to protest”.

Restrictions were imposed on the KaindiKunj-Shaheen Bagh stretch and the Okhlaunderpass, which were closed on December 15,2019 due to the protests. Later, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the area wascleared.

From Page 1The FM added that Rahul did

not tell the House why CongressGovernments in Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarhdid not waive farm loans promisedin their manifesto.

Sitharaman further said theCongress leader did not talk aboutthe farmers issue in Punjab wherethe Congress is in power and thesteps being taken by theGovernment with regard to stub-ble burning.

He also did not refer to anyclause in three farm laws whichwas against the farmers, she said.

Congress party is only con-

cerned about “hum do, humare do,”Sitharaman said adding that sheexpected Rahul to return the landwhich “Damadji” had taken fromfarmers at pittance.

“For those who are constant-ly accusing us of dealing withcronies PM SVANidhi doesn’t goto cronies. Damads get land inStates which were governed bysome parties in Rajasthan, Haryana once upon a time,” shesaid.

The Finance Minister said theCongress leader did not say any-thing about the statement of for-mer Prime Minister ManmohanSingh who had advocated

reform of the AgricultureProduce Marketing

7Committees.The Finance Minister also

accused Rahul of insulting consti-tutional authorities recalling theincidence when the Congressleader tore an Ordinance promul-gated by its own Government ledby then Prime MinisterManmohan Singh.

Regretting that the Congresshas joined the break India fringegroup and continuously creatingfalse narrative to demean India, shesaid some members have ques-tioned whether allocation forminority affairs, allocation for SC

& ST has been reduced.“No, they have not. Total allo-

cation for minority affairs is Rs4,811 crores in 2021-22 which is an8.6% increase for the Ministry,higher than actual expenditure,”s h easserted.

“This Budget draws from theexperience of the PM when he wasCM - on the ground in Gujarat,seen so many revivals happeningat a time when the license quota rajwas going away post-1991 and thenbased on that experience, com-mitment to reform was blended into this Budget,” saidSitharaman.

From Page 1“This report highlights the link

between poverty and impact of roadcrashes. I urge all State Governments toeffectively implement the Motor Vehicles(Amendment) Act, 2019 and worktogether to mitigate the effects of roadcrashes on poor and disadvantaged sec-tions of the population,” Gadkari added.

Following the alarming report, theCentre urged vehicle manufacturers toprovide basic safety features in vehiclesat minimum affordable price.

Gadkari said his Ministry has beentaking several measures to reduce roadaccident deaths by strengthening whathe termed the “4Es” of improving roadsafety - Engineering, Education,Enforcement and Emergency care ser-vices. Pointing out that one of the keyfindings of the report is that number of

accident deaths is dou-ble in poor families ascompared to rich ones,Gadkari said that, for theGovernment, each deathis precious, whether it isfrom a poor family or arich family.

The report alsobrings out the sharprural-urban divide andthe disproportionateimpact on women.

The survey showsthat the income declinefor low-income ruralhouseholds (56 per cent)was the most severecompared to low-income urban (29.5 percent) and high-incomerural households (39.5per cent).

Women bore theburden of crashes acrosspoor and rich house-holds, often taking upextra work, assuminggreater responsibilities,and performing care-giving activities after acrash. About 50 per cent

of women were severely affected by thedecline in their household income aftera crash. About 40 per cent of womenreported a change in their working pat-terns post-crash, while around 11 percent reported taking up extra work todeal with the financial crisis.

The study also documented lowrates of access to insurance coverage andpoor awareness related to legal com-pensation among truck drivers.

Two-thirds of truck drivers inter-viewed for the survey were not aware ofthird-party liability insurance. None ofthe drivers had applied for or benefitedfrom cashless treatment at hospitals,Solatium Fund for hit and run cases orex-gratia schemes. “Road crashes canhave a devastating and disproportion-ate impact on the poor, thrusting a fam-ily into deep poverty.

The World Bank is committed tosupporting the Indian Government increating safety nets for poor householdsto ease their financial burden and helpthem cope with the sudden emergencylinked to road crashes,” said Hartwig.

In addition to the financial losses,the report highlights the social impactof road traffic injuries.

About 64 per cent of low-incomehouseholds reported deterioration intheir standard of living (more than twicereported by high-income households), while more than 50 percent reported mental depression post-crash.

“The findings of the report identi-fy the areas that require immediateimprovements such as efforts towardspost-crash emergency care and proto-cols, insurance and compensation sys-tems. It also presents an opportunity fordevelopment agencies, policymakersand respective state governments to pri-oritize a complete policy overhaul of theexisting system and implement sus-tainable solution-oriented, inclusivemeasures to improve their performanceon road safety,” said Piyush Tewari, CEOand founder of SaveLIFE Foundation.

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The parliamentary standingcommittee on defence

intends to visit the GalwanValley and the Pangong lake inthe eastern Ladakh regionwhich has been witness to aviolent stand-off between thetroops of India and China,sources said.

However, it may seek thepermission of the Governmentbefore visiting the strategical-ly-located areas, they said.

The 30-member commit-tee, chaired by senior BJPleader and former UnionMinister Jual Oram and ofwhich Congress leader RahulGandhi is a member, intends tovisit the eastern Ladakh regionin the last week of May or June,the sources said on Friday.

The decision to visit theseareas was taken in the panel’’slatest meeting, they said.Gandhi did not attend it.

The panel’’s visit to the Lineof Actual Control (LAC)depends on the approval fromthe government, the sourcesadded.

After a nine-month stand-

off, militaries of Indian andChina reached an agreementon disengagement in the northand south banks of Pangonglake that mandates both sidesto cease forward deployment oftroops in a “phased, coordi-nated and verifiable” manner.

On Thursday, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh madea detailed statement inParliament on the disengage-ment pact.

According to the agree-ment, China has to pull back itstroops to east of Finger 8 areasin the northern bank while theIndian personnel will be basedat their permanent base atDhan Singh Thapa Post nearFinger 3 in the region.

Similar action will takeplace on the south bank of thelake as well, Singh said.

India has not “conceded”any territory to China by firm-ing up an agreement on the dis-engagement process inPangong Tso in easternLadakh, and other outstanding“problems” including inDepsang, Hot Springs ad Gograwill be taken up at the upcom-ing talks between military com-

manders of the two countries,the defence ministry said onFriday.

The statement by the min-istry came hours after Congressleader Rahul Gandhi allegedthat the Government has“ceded” Indian territory toChina and raised questionsover the agreement on the dis-engagement process.

The ministry also dubbedas “categorically false” the asser-tion that Indian territory is upto Finger 4 in the Pangong Tsoarea, adding the permanentposts of both sides in the areaare “longstanding and well-established”.

“India has not concededany territory as a result of thisagreement. On the contrary, ithas enforced observance andrespect for LAC and prevent-ed any unilateral change in thestatus quo,” the ministry said inthe strongly-worded statement.

The MEA also said the twocountries have agreed to con-vene the 10th round of seniorcommanders meeting within48 hours after complete disen-gagement in the Pangong Lakearea to address the remainingissues, and added that no datehas been set for WorkingMechanism for Consultationand Coordination (WMCC) onIndia-China border affairs.

The agreement on disen-gagement in the north andsouth banks of Pangong lakemandates both Chinese andIndian sides to “cease” for-ward deployment of troops ina “phased, coordinated andverifiable” manner.

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The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on

Saturday filed a supplemen-tary chargesheet against Hizb-ul-Mujahideen terroristNaveed Mushtaq Shah, aliasNaveed Babu, before theSpecial NIA Court, Jammuunder various Ranbir PenalCode sections and ExplosiveSubstances Act besidesKashmir Public Property(Prevention of Damage) Actand Unlawful Activit ies(Prevention) Act.

The case relates to anattack on the CRPF convoy atTethar, Banihal, Ramban dis-trict in Jammu and Kashmirby a terrorist who had explod-ed an explosive-laden Santrocar on March 30, 2019 withthe intention of killing secu-rity personnel and wagingwar against the Governmentof India.

In this regard, a case FIRNo 39/2019 dated March 30,2019 was registered at PoliceStation Banihal, Ramban. TheNIA re-registered the case asRC-3/2019/NIA/JMU onApril 15, 2019 and took overthe investigation of the case.

The agency had earlier

filed chargesheet against sixHizb-ul-Mujahideen terror-ists for their role in thisattack.

The accused NaveedMushtaq Shah alias NaveedBabu is a former constable ofJammu and Kashmir police.He had decamped with armsand ammunition in 2017,when he was posted as aguard in FCI, Budgam. Afterdeserting the force he hadjoined the terrorist groupHizb-ul-Mujahideen andbecame an active terrorist, theNIA said.

“Investigation has estab-lished that accused NaveedMushtaq Shah was activelyinvolved in the planning andexecution of the attack on theCRPF convoy in Banihalalong with other terroristsRiyaz Ahmed Naikoo, RayeesAhmed Khan and Dr.Saifullah Mir who were sub-sequently killed in encounterswith security forces,” it said.

The deceased terroristsSahil Abdullah Bhat, AdilBashir Sheikh and ZubairAhmed Wani were activelyinvolved in preparation ofthe explosives that went intothe making of the IED.Charges have been abatedagainst the deceased terroristsinvolved in the conspiracy.

Charges have beenframed by the NIA Courtagainst the six accusedchargesheeted earlier.

Further trial is continu-ing, it added.

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After holding meetings witha number of stakeholders

engaged in the agriculture sec-tor including Amul, ITC andFarmer ProducerOrganisations (FPOs), theSupreme Court-appointedexpert committee is likely toreach out to protesting farmerunions to take their viewpointsover the three farm legislations.Top sources said that the com-mittee is expected to invite agi-tating farmers for discussionafter next week. The protestingfarmers under the banner ofSanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)- has refused to talk to the com-mittee -continue to protest atDelhi’s borders - Tikri, Singhu,and Ghazipur for over 80 days.

On the other hand, BJPMP Subramanian Swamy tookto Twitter on Saturday to crit-icise the Centre’s treatment ofthe farmers’ agitation saying thefarmers’ agitation may soonbecome an international issueas human rights groups plan toapproach the InternationalLabour Organisation of theUnited Nations. He furtheralleged that Chinese media aredistorting the farmers’ agita-tion. “Our I&B Ministry shouldsee that it is effectively coun-tered since Chinese mediainfluence in our neighbour-hood is considerable now,” hetweeted.

“The agitating farmersgroups have been given invita-tions in the past but theyrefused. Now, the committeewill again try to reach out theagitating farmers to seek theirview points, “sources said. Thecommittee has held meeting

with 12 farmers’ unions andFarm Produce Organisations’(FPOs) and representatives of18 State and Union Territoriesof agriculture departments andsought their feedback over thefarm legislations in the past twodays.

The three-member panelhas interacted with a largenumber of farmer unions,farmer producer organisations(FPOs) as well as senior offi-cials of state agriculture mar-keting boards and private man-dis to understand their pointsof view on the contentiousfarm laws. According to theagriculture ministry, duringdiscussion, they not only gavetheir frank views about the

agrarian laws but also gave sug-gestions to improve the imple-mentation of the laws.

The Committee has heldnine rounds of deliberationswith stakeholders engageddirectly or indirectly in theagriculture sector so far. Thethree-member committee hasbeen holding consultationswith stakeholders, both onlineand in person.

The SKM has planned sixmahapanchayats or mega gath-erings of farmers over twoweeks as part of its efforts toadd more numbers to theprotest sites. On Friday, maha-panchayats were held inMoradabad in UP andBahadurgarh in Haryana.Three mahapanchayats will beorganised in Sri Ganganagar,Hanumangarh and Seeker inRajasthan on February 18, 19and 23 respectively. Besides,one mahapanchayat will beorganised in Sirsa in Haryanaon February 22 to decide thefurther course of the agitation.At present, the talks betweenthe Union Government and thefarmers’ unions have come toa standstill.

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Over 80 per cent of Indiansconsider the consumption

of smokeless tobacco to be a veryserious problem and 88 percent strongly support thestrengthening of the currenttobacco control law to addressthis menace, as per a recentstudy conducted by ConsumerVOICE, an NGO engaged increating awareness on consumerrights and laws.

The survey conducted ontobacco use and its impact in 10States in the country also foundthat 72 per cent of people believepassive smoking poses a serioushealth hazard.

“The majority of the respon-dents supported banning smok-ing in all public places, elimi-nating special smoking areas inairports, hotels, and restaurants,banning the sale of loose ciga-rettes and bidis and advertisingtobacco products at sellingpoints,” said the survey which

was conducted in the backdropof Government’s proposal toamend the tobacco control act.

The survey noted that a least82 percent of the respondentsbelieve smokeless tobacco use isa profoundly serious problem;80 percent say so about smok-ing cigarettes while 77 per centhave the same notion on smok-ing of bidis.

The study found that morethan nine in ten Indians are ofthe opinion that the Centreshould strengthen the existingtobacco law and ensure its strictimplementation across thecountry.

Support for the law is highacross all demographic and geo-graphic areas irrespective ofage-group and gender, with

even tobacco users supporting it.The interview was con-

ducted in 10 languages (Hindi,Gujarati, Punjabi, Oriya,Marathi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu,Malayalam, and Kannada)across the country.

“It is very encouraging to seethe overwhelming support frompeople for strengthening thecurrent tobacco control law.The Government has started theamendment process of tobaccocontrol law COTPA 2003 whichis an important step towardsimproving public health.

“It is looking to strengthenthe provisions for prohibitingsmoking in public places and aban on point-of-sale advertisingdisplays besides ban on sale ofloose cigarettes and have high-er penalties,” said Ashim Sanyal,Chief Operating Officer,Consumer VOICE.

Tobacco use is the leadingpreventable cause of diseaseand premature deaths globallyand in India more than 10Lakhs people are losing lifeevery year due to tobacco relat-ed diseases.

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In a big relief, at least 17 Statesand Union Territories have

not reported any new Covid-19fatality, while 13 States andUTs have reported between 1and 5 new deaths due to theinfections in the last 24 hours onFriday, indicating a significantdecline in the spread of the dis-ease which has swept the worl-dover for more than a year.

India’s total Covid-19 activecaseload currently stands at1.36 lakh (1,36,571) comprisingjust 1.25 per cent of the totalinfections while a total of1,06,00,625 people have recov-ered so far with 11,395 patientsgetting discharged in a day.

The Ministry said 81.93per cent of the new recoveredcases are observed to be con-centrated in six states withKerala reporting the maximumnumber of single-day recover-ies, with 5,332 newly-recov-ered cases. A total o f2,422 peo-ple recovered in Maharashtra in

the past 24 hours, followed by486 in Tamil Nadu.

A total 12,143 daily newcases registered in a span of 24hours, it said, adding that 86.01per cent of the new cases arefrom six states.

Kerala continues to reportthe highest daily new cases at5,397, followed by Maharashtrawith 3,670, while Tamil Nadureported 483 new cases.

Further, 103 deaths were

recorded in a span of 24 hours.Six states account for 80.58 percent of the new deaths.Maharashtra saw the maximumof 36 casualties. Kerala followswith 18 daily deaths, whileKarnataka and Punjab report-ed 8 deaths each.

For over two weeks, thecountry has recorded less than15,000 new infections daily.Also, the daily Covid-19 deathtoll has been below the 200-

mark for more than a monthnow.

On February 9, India hadreported 9,110 new cases, thelowest this year so far. Last year,the lowest 9,633 cases wererecorded on June 3.

The recovery rate hasincreased to 97.32 per cent,while the fatality rate is down to1.43 per cent. The ministryalso informed that 7,43,614samples were tested on Friday.

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The first phase of BudgetSession of Parliament,

which commenced with theAddress of the President ofIndia on January 29, conclud-ed on Saturday. The overallproductivity of the Lok Sabharemained at 99.5%, accordingto Lok Sabha Speaker OmBirla.

Birla, while interactingwith the media in ParliamentHouse said that the BudgetSession of Parliament ransmoothly and transactedimportant business evenbeyond midnight.

The first part of the BudgetSession, 2021 has been highlyproductive, the Speaker said.

The Speaker thanked theLeader of the House the PrimeMinister, Leaders of all politi-cal parties, Members ofParliament, media and officersand staff of the Lok SabhaSecretariat for the smoothconduct of the Lok Sabha.

Birla Said that during thefirst part of the Budget Session2021, Lok Sabha sat for 49hours and 17 minutes againstthe stipulated time of 50 hours.The Discussion on the Motionof Thanks on President’sAddress took place for 16hours and 39 minutes and 130Members participated in theDiscussion.

Lok Sabha Speaker alsoinformed that whereas 10

hours was allocated forGeneral Discussion on UnionBudget 2021-2022, the Housedebated for 14 hours and 40minutes. As many as 117Members took part in theGeneral Discussion on UnionBudget 2021-2022. 173Members participated in ZeroHour discussions. Several mat-ters of urgent public impor-tance were raised by theMembers during Zero Hour.

House lost an effectivetime of 43 minutes due to dis-ruptions.

49 women MPs partici-pated in the discussion onMotion of Thanks onPresident’s Address andBudget.

He said, despite the Housesitting late beyond midnight, alarge number of womenMembers remained present andparticipated in the proceed-ings, raising many importantissues.

Responding to questionsregarding disruptions in theHouse, Lok Sabha Speaker saidthat the ultimate objective is tostrengthen democracy. So, it isthe responsibility of allMembers to ensure that demo-cratic and ethical standards aremaintained in the House andrules are followed scrupulous-ly.

The Speaker said that thetime lost due to disruptions hasbeen compensated by the Houseby sitting beyond schedule time.

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Punjab has become the 13thState in the country to suc-

cessfully undertake “OneNation One Ration Card sys-tem” reform. The State hasbecome eligible to mobiliseadditional financial resources of�1,516 crore rupees throughOpen Market Borrowings.According to the Ministry ofFinance, permission for thesame was issued by theDepartment of Expenditure.

The other 12 States whichhave completed this reform areAndhra Pradesh, Goa, Gujarat,Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala,Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Tripuraand Uttar Pradesh.

Till now, 17 States have car-

ried out at least one of the fourstipulated reforms and havebeen granted reform linkedborrowing permissions. Oncompletion of One Nation OneRation Card system reform,these 13 states have been grant-ed additional borrowing per-mission of Rs 34,956 crore bythe Department of Expenditure.

Out of these, 13 states haveimplemented the one nationone ration card system, 12states have done ease of doingbusiness reforms, 6 states havedone local body reforms and 2states have undertaken powersector reforms.

Total reform linked addi-tional borrowing permissionissued so far to the states standsat Rs 76,512 crore.

The implementation of

One Nation One Ration CardSystem ensures availability ofration to beneficiaries underNational Food Security Actand other welfare schemes atany Fair Price Shop across thecountry.

The reform especiallyempowers the migratory pop-ulation who frequently changetheir place of dwelling to be self-reliant in food security. OneNation One Ration CardSystem is an important citizen-centric reform. Its implemen-tation ensures availability ofration to beneficiaries underNational Food Security Act(NFSA) and other welfareschemes, especially the migrantworkers and their families, atany Fair Price Shop (FPS)across the country.

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The All India MuslimPersonal Law Board (AIM-

PLB) has moved the SupremeCourt against a plea seeking“uniform grounds of divorce”for all citizens of the country,keeping with the spirit of theConstitution and internation-al conventions.

The AIMPLB has opposedthe plea filed by advocate andBJP leader Ashwini Kumar

Upadhyay seeking uniformgrounds of divorce on the basisthat personal laws cannot betested on the anvil of Articles14, 15, 21 and 44 of theConstitution.

“The applicant would liketo submit that the expressionand ‘Custom and Usage’ inArticle 13 of the Constitutiondoes not include faith of a reli-gious denomination embeddedin personal laws,” the plea saidwhile seeking impleadment inthe petition filed by Upadhyay.

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The Union Health Ministryon Saturday said that no

case of serious or severeAdverse event following immu-nization (AEFI) or death hasbeen attributable to vaccinationtill date even as it said that thesecond dose of the vaccinationhave kicked off for the benefi-ciaries who have completed 28days after receiving the firstdose of vaccine.

Deaths reported so far incases where vaccination hasbeen conducted to date is 27.There are 3 deaths reported inthe past 24 hours who hadtaken vaccination at some pointin time in the recent past,Health Ministry added.

On Saturday alone, 84,807vaccinations (provisional fig-ure) were completed till 6 pm.

Meanwhile, India has vac-cinated close to 80 lakh bene-ficiaries against COVID-19,the ministry said. Till 8 AM onFebruary 13, a total of79,67,647 beneficiaries havebeen administered shots underthe countrywide COVID-19vaccination exercise.

Out of these, 5,909,136 arehealthcare workers and2,058,511 are frontline workers.A total of 1,64,781 sessionshave been conducted so far.

On day 28 (February 12) ofthe vaccination drive, 4,62,637beneficiaries (healthcare work-ers- 94,160 and frontline work-ers- 3,68,477) were vaccinatedacross 10,411 sessions, theministry said.

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Congress on Saturdayslammed Union Finance

Minister Nirmala Sitharamanover her remarks on formerCongress chief Rahul Gandhi,describing him as a “dooms-day man” for India. The partysaid that she is an angryMinister who has ruined theeconomy.

Speaking to the mediaafter Sitharaman’s speech inLok Sabh, Congress leader inLok Sabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury said, “She is notFinance Minister but is anangry minister. She is dan-gerous for the Indian econo-my. She along with PrimeMinister (Narendra Modi)has ruined the economy of thecountry and their only mottois ‘Hum do, hamare do’.

Lashing out at the FinanceMinister, Chowdhury saidthat the allegations made by

the Congress are not baseless.Quoting a report by Oxfam,Chowdhury said, “ We wantto ask the Finance Ministerhow does she explain that thelockdown made India’s bil-lionaires 35 per cent richer,while 84 per cent of house-holds income suffered a lossand 1.7 lakh people lost theirjobs every hour in April, 2020alone.”

“How does she explainthat income increase forIndia’s top 100 billionairessince March 2020, which wasenough to give each of the13.8 crore poorest people acheque of over �94,000 eachFinance Minister’s misplacedpriorities include tax conces-sion for corporates in finan-cial year 2019-20 thatamounted to over �1.4 lakhcrores. Instead of creatingjobs, they used money fortrimming up their balancesheets.”

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The CPI(M) which came topower in Kerala winning the

2016 Assembly elections hadpromised the people of the Statethat the Left Democratic Front ofwhich the party was the leaderwould form a Government thatwould care.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanhad told the people that this wouldbe an administration with ahumane face. But at the fag end ofits tenure, the Vijayan regime isbeing projected as the most corruptgovernment the State has everseen by former Chief MinisterOommen Chandi, leader of theOpposition Ramesh Chennithalaand P K Kunhalikutty, leader of theMuslim League.

The appointment of NinithaKanicheri, wife of M B Rajesh, for-mer CPI(M) MP, in SreeSankaracharya Sanskrit Universityas assistant professor, violating allnorms associated with the recruit-ment process is being seen as thetip of the iceberg. Wife of AVijayaraghavan, CPI(M) StateSecretary, has been appointed asdeputy principal of Sree KeralaVarma College at Thrissur in grossviolation of all laws in the land.

Appointing close relatives ofparty MPs, MLAs and other lead-ers has become the order of the day,a Sree Sankaracharya SanskritUniversity professor told The

Pioneer on condition of anonymi-ty. “The rank list prepared by theKerala Public Service Commissionfor appointment to various uni-versities in the State has beenthrown to the winds by the CPI(M).Wife of higher education ministerK T Jaleel too figures in the list ofrelatives who have been appointedas assistant professors inUniversities in the State,” said theprofessor. Details given by theKerala Government to a queryunder the right to information(RTI) has disclosed that theseappointments are nothing new.Persons without qualifications spec-ified by the University have beenappointed as associate professorsignoring qualified candidates.

Sunil P Elayidom, an employ-ee working with a party publicationwas appointed as assistant profes-sor though he did not possess theminimum qualifications as man-dated by the University.

The interview board mem-bers, all CPI(M) activists, gavefirst rank to Elayidom superseding211 qualified candidates. “I had theunfortunate experience ofapproaching the SreeSankaracharya Sanskrit Universityto pursue a Ph D programme inAyurveda. The response from theauthorities was painful. It hasdegenerated into an employmentagency to recruit CPI(M) membersand its fellow travellers,” said DrRajeeve, Ayurvedic physician in

Ernakulam district.The Sanskrit university may be

the only institution of its kind toappoint persons with no knowledgein Sanskrit as its vice-chancellors.“Though R Ramachandran Nair,former chief secretary of Kerala anda Sanskrit scholar himself, took allthe pains to get this Universityestablished as an institution forresearch studies in Sanskrit, whatis happening in the University is notat all Sanskritised,” said Dr Rajeeve.

R Ananthanarayanan, hon-orary secretary, Bharatiya VidyaBhavan, said he too had a disap-pointing experience from theSanskrit University.

“We had sent special invitationsto the University inviting them forthe National Sanskrit Seminar onVedas, Vedangas and Darshanasheld at Puthucode in Kerala inFebruary 2020. They did not evenacknowledge the invitation letterswhich is strange because it is theone and only institution of its kindin Kerala,” said Ananthanarayanan.

He was of the view that theUnion Government or theUniversity Grants Commissionshould order a thorough probe intothe functioning of the Universityand the credentials of the acade-mic staff should be subjected to anaudit.

Sree Sankaracharya SanskritUniversity needs to be Sanskritised,said both Dr Rajeeve andAnanthanarayanan.

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There was an attempt on the lifeof a top customs officer in

Kerala who heads the investiga-tion into the gold smugglingcases that had rocked the PinarayiVijayan-led Kerala Government.Sources in Customs Departmentsaid the attack on the official hadpolitical patronage.

Sumith Kumar, PreventiveCommissioner, Customs, whoheads the team of investigatorsprobing the gold smuggling scamin which officials from the ChiefMinister’s Office too figure, wason his way to Kozhikode afterinaugurating the Customs Houseat Kalpetta in Wayanad district onFriday when a group of strangersin a car and four bikes tried towaylaid the former.

The PreventiveCommissioner told reporters thatthe car and bike-borne assailantsgave him a chase for almost 25 kmand tried to force his car to theside of the road. “Many times theysucceeded in overtaking my car

and tried to block my car. The driver of my car was told

by the security officer not to stopthe car which he obliged. Whenwe entered the suburb ofKozhikode, the vehicles whichwere chasing us took a differentroute and sped away,” said SumitKumar.

The official, later went to thepolice station and filed a report ofwhat happened during his jour-ney from Kalpetta to Kozhikode.The Police have registered a caseunder 279, 283 of the IPC and120(B) of the Kerala Police Act.

The incident sent shockwavesacross the State as this was the firstincident of this kind on the life ofan investigating officer, memberof the highly sensitive IndianRevenue Service.

The Customs offcials atThiruvananthapuram airport whohad brought to light the goldsmuggling through diplomaticchannels had faced threats fromsome people and had been pro-vided with security cover by theCRPF cops.

M Sivsankar, former principalsecretary to chief ministerPinarayi Vijayan, C MRaveendran , additional specialsecretary, and K T Jaleel, minis-ter for higher education had beeninterrogated by the Customs andother investigating agencies inconnection with the gold smug-gling. Sivsankar was in jail for 98days on charges of hawala trans-action and alleged connivancewith persons who were arrestedin connection with gold smug-gling through diplomatic chan-nels.

Sources of Customs told ThePioneer that there has been anincrease in gold smugglingthrough airports inThiruvananthapuram, Kochi andKozhikode during the last oneyear.

“But we have successfullyseized a large portion of goldwhich was being smuggled intothe country. These smugglersenjoy political patronage and thattoo from the State’s highest politi-cians,” said the officials.

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Adreaded terrorist involved in the killingof three BJP workers in Kulgam last year

was arrested by the Jammu and Kashmirpolice in a late night swoop down on a ter-rorist hideout near Bari Brahmana in theSamba district.

The operation was led by the Anantnagpolice while jawans of Samba police assistedthem during the operation.

The arrested terrorist has been identifiedas Zahoor Ahmad Rather, alias Khalid a ter-rorist of TRF or The Resistance Front, a frontalname for Pakistani terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Zahoor had killed three BJP workersin Vessu, Kulgam district last year in Octoberand one policeman at Furrah in the same dis-trict. The terrorist is the second-in-commandat TRF after Abbas Sheikh.

Official sources claimed Zahoor wascamping in Samba to collect a weapons’ con-signment which was to be routed via Pakistan

through a drone.In recent weeks several incidents of

weapons dropping via drones have come tolight along the border belt of Samba andKathua districts.

Soon after his arrest the TRF terrorist wasshifted to police station in Bari Brahmanafrom where he was later shifted to a JointInterrogation centre.

Last week, Hidayatullah Malik, a cate-gorised terrorist from Shopian district, wascaught alive in a daring operation near a shop-ping mall in the Kunjwani area. Hidayatullahis the chief of Lashkar-e-Mustafa, a front forPakistani terror group Jaish-e-Mohammad inKashmir valley.Police is currently interrogat-ing his wife Seeba, a LLM student in KashmirUniversity. Her involvement in the terror relat-ed incidents has also surfaced during her pre-liminary interrogation in the case. She alongwith her husband was tasked to conduct recceof vital security installations in and aroundJammu before launching fresh terror strikes.

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Jaipur: The Rajasthan HousingBoard organized a state-levelworkshop on the topic“Rajasthan RERA Challengesand Solutions” at BhagwatSingh Mehta Auditorium.While addressing this work-shop as the chief guest, theChairman of RERA RajasthanShri NC Goyal said that he ishappy that Rajasthan HousingBoard is the first institute in thecountry to comply withthe100% RERA provisions. Hesaid that private builders andgovernment institutions shouldlearn from the Housing Board.Today Rajasthan HousingBoard has become a role modelin the country in terms of com-pliance of RERA provisions.

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The Opposition BJP onSaturday upped the ante

over the alleged suicide of a 22-year-old Tik-Tok star PoojaChavan, by rooting for the arrestof Maharashtra’s Forest MinisterSanjay Rathod of the Shiv Sena,who was reportedly in love withthe deceased woman.

Five days after she alleged-ly committed suicide by jump-ing off off the Heaven Park

building in Pune’;s Wanwadilocality, BJP leadersRadhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, KiritSomaiya and party’s womanleader Chitra Wagh said that theminister hadc no moral right tocontinue in the office. “In fact,he should be booked abettingPooja’s alleged suicide and arrest-ed immediately,” Wagh said.Afour-time Shiv Sena MLA fromYavatmal, Rathod is a prominentleader of the Banjara commu-nity.

Amid a controversy over thecontroversy over the circum-stances leading to Pooja’s death,the BJP leaders alleged that theTik-Tok star had committedsuicide due to her reported loveaffair with the minister.

Maharashtra’s former chiefminister and senior BJPDevensra Fadnavis demandedthat Pooja’s death be investigat-ed in view of the fact that thetelephonic conversationsbetween her and the minister

had gone viral on societymedia.

The Opposition leadersalleged that Pooja was pregnantat the time of death and thatthere were reasons to believe thatthe minister was responsiblefor her pregnancy.

Meanwhile, Maharashtrachief minister UddhavThackeray downplayed theOpposition’s demand forRathod;’s arrest, by saying thatan inquiry had been ordered

into the circumstances leadingto Pooja’s death. “Truth willemerge in the investigations,” hesaid.

Official sources said that thechief minister had sought areport from PoliceCommissioner Amitabh Guptaon the death. On his port,Rathod could not be reached allthrough the day.

On Friday, Leader ofOpposition Devendra Fadnavishad written a letter to the

Director-General of PoliceHemant Nagrale requesting fora probe. Along with the letter,Fadnavis had submitted 14 pur-ported audio-clips allegedlylinked with Chavan’s death.

Senior Shiv Sena MinisterEknath Shinde defended theaccused minister saying that itwas not proper to make allega-tions against a minister’s namebefore the completion of theinvestigations by the police.

Another Minister Uday

Samant said it was improper forhim to comment on the issue,since the chief minister hadAlready asked for a report fromthe Pune Police Commissioner.

Preliminary reports saidthat Pooja, hailing from Beeddistrict in Mar Marathwadaregion, had gone to Pune a weekprior to her death last week. Shewas attending an English-speak-ing course and was living withtwo youths, said to be brotherand his friend

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With no let up in the con-tinued crackdown by the

security agencies g on the drugpeddlers operating in themetropolis and surroundingareas, the Mumbai Policesleuths have arrested two drugpeddlers and seized Charasworth �1.59 crore from them.

Identifying one of the thearrested drug peddlers as oneKisan H. Gaud alias Sathe (24),the police said that a policeteam had caught him fromParekh Nagar in Malad eastearlier, but he managed toescape from the clutches of thepolice.

However, the police arrest-ed him on Saturday along witha plastic bag with 3.20 kgsCharas worth Rs.1.02 crore.

Earlier on Thursday, thepolice had arrested anotheridentified as one SurajVijaybahadur Yadav alias Potya(21) and seized Charas worthRs.57 lakh from him.

Both the arrested drugpeddlers were produced beforea magistrate court which hasremanded them in police cus-tody till February 16.

Saturday's was the secondmajor action by Mumbai Policein the past 24 hours. Earlier, thepolice had seized 1.80 tonnesGanja worth Rs.3.60 crore con-cealed under a consignment ofcoconuts from a truck in theeastern suburbs.

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Donald Trump’s insurrec-tion incitement charge is a

“monstrous lie” and theimpeachment proceedingsagainst the former president a“politically motivated witchhunt” by the Democrats, hislawyers said as they presentedevidence in the US Senate.

Trump, a Republican, isaccused of inciting riots in theUS Capitol on January 6 whichleft five people, including apolice officer, dead.

Trump’s lawyers BruceCastor, David Schoen andMichael van der Veen eachtook turns addressing theSenate members on Friday,day four of Trump’s impeach-ment trial, to describe Trumpas a staunch supporter of lawand order, not someone who incited the chaos at theCapitol.

His attorneys had up to 16hours over the course of twodays to push back on Houseimpeachment managers casethat Trump should be convict-ed and barred from running forfuture office for inciting theattack on the Capitol to try tostop Joe Biden’s presidentialelection victory being certified.

There is a complete lack ofevidence on the article ofimpeachment against DonaldTrump, his lawyers told theUnited States Senate.

“We have a complete lackof evidence for the article ofimpeachment presented by theHouse managers,” Trump’slawyer Castor said.

The impeachment by theHouse, the case for which waslaid out by the House managersin the Senate during the lasttwo days, was political.

“Their goal is to eliminatea political opponent, to substi-tute their judgment for the willof the voters,” he said as heshowed clips of variousDemocratic leaders.

Castor said that the criticalissue in this case is the verynarrow issue that is chargedagainst the 45th president.“That issue is did the 45th pres-ident engage in incitement of -- they continue to say -- insur-rection. Clearly there was noinsurrection,” he said.

Trump’s lawyer van derVeen used his opening remarksto dispute the Democrats’ casethat the former president hadincited violence during hisspeech to supporters onJanuary 6.

Trump had made allega-tions of voter fraud and urgedhis supporters to converge atthe Capitol building a shortwhile before the riot broke out.

“To claim that the presi-dent in any way wished, desiredor encouraged lawless or vio-lent behaviour is a preposter-ous and monstrous lie. In fact,the first two messages the pres-ident sent via Twitter once theincursion at the Capitol beganwere ‘Stay Peaceful’ and “Noviolence because we are theparty of law and order,’” thelawyer said.

“The article of impeach-ment now before the Senate isan unjust and blatantly uncon-stitutional act of politicalvengeance,” Trump attorneyvan der Veen argued.

“Like every other politicallymotivated witch hunt the lefthas engaged in over the pastfour years, this impeachment iscompletely divorced from thefacts, the evidence and theinterests of the American peo-ple,” he added.

Citing reports from theFBI, the Department of Justice,and several former and presentofficials, Trump’s lawyersargued that the riots were pre-planned.

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Seldom has Mitch McConnellsignalled so little about such

a consequential vote.Many expect the Senate’s

top Republican will backacquitting former PresidentDonald Trump of a charge ofinciting rioters who assaultedthe Capitol last month, but noone is really sure howMcConnell will vote.

The Washington politicaluniverse and the world beyondwill hold their collective breathwhen the Senate impeachmenttrial roll call reaches theKentuckian’s name.

Over 36 years in the Senate,the measured McConnell hasearned a reputation for inex-pressiveness in the service ofcaution.

This time, the suspenseover how he’ll vote under-scores how much is at stake forMcConnell and his party,though it seems extremelyunlikely that 17 GOP senatorswill join all 50 Democrats toconvict Trump.

“The overwhelming num-ber of Republican voters don’twant Trump convicted, so thatmeans any political leader hasto tread carefully,” said JohnFeehery, a former top congres-sional GOP aide.

While Feehery noted thatMcConnell was clearly out-raged over the attack, he saidthe senator is “trying to keephis party together.”

McConnell is the cham-ber’s most influentialRepublican and the longest-serving GOP leader ever, anda vote to acquit would leave theparty locked in its struggle todefine itself in the post-Trumppresidency.

A guilty vote could domore to roil GOP waters by sig-naling an attempt to yank theparty away from a figure stillrevered by most of its voters.

Either way, McConnell’sdecision could influence theparty’s short- and long-termelection prospects and affectthe political clout and legacy ofboth Trump and the Senateminority leader.

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Most every senator haspledged to listen to the

evidence in Donald Trump’shistoric second impeachmenttrial, but most minds werelikely made up before the trialbegan. Democrats would needa minimum of 17 Republicansto vote with them to convictTrump of incitement of insur-rection, and that appearsunlikely.

Still, Democrats say theyare holding out hope they willwin over enough Republicansto convict the former presidentfor his role in the Jan. 6 Capitolriot, in which five people died.If Trump were convicted, theSenate could take a second voteto ban him from running foroffice again. A final vote is like-ly on Saturday.

A look at the Republicanswhom Democrats are eyeing asthey make final arguments in

the case: THE FREQUENTTRUMP CRITICS

Republican Sens. LisaMurkowski of Alaska, Ben Sasseof Nebraska, Mitt Romney ofUtah and Susan Collins ofMaine have been clear thatthey believe Trump incited theriot. While none of them is alock to vote for conviction,they have joined withDemocrats twice to vote againstGOP efforts to dismiss the trial.

Collins said after the siegethat Trump does “bear respon-sibility for working up thecrowd and inciting this mob.”Murkowski called on Trump toresign after the attack on theCapitol, telling a local paperthree days later that “I wanthim out. He has caused enoughdamage.”

Romney tweeted on Jan. 6:“What happened at the U.S.Capitol today was an insurrec-tion, incited by the President ofthe United States.”

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Mass street demonstrationsin Myanmar entered their

second week Saturday, withneither protesters nor the mil-itary government they seek tounseat showing any signs ofbacking down from con-frontations.

Protesters in Yangon, thecountry’s biggest city, againcongregated at Hleden inter-section, a key crossroads fromwhich groups fanned out toother points, including theembassies of the United Statesand China.

They marched despite anorder banning gatherings offive or more people.

The U.S., especially afterPresident Joe Biden announcedsanctions against the militaryregime, is regarded as an ally inthe protesters’ struggle againstthe February 1 coup.

China is detested as an allyof the ruling generals, whose

support is crucial to themkeeping their grip on power.

Demonstrations alsoresumed in Myanmar’s sec-ond-biggest city, Mandalay,with lawyers making up onelarge contingent.

The military ousted thecountry’s leader, Aung San SuuKyi, and her government andprevented recently elected law-makers from opening a newsession of Parliament.

Suu Kyi and other senior

members of her governmentand party remain in detention.

The junta, led by SeniorGen. Min Aung Hlaing, said itwas forced to act because SuuKyi’s government failed toproperly investigate allegationsof fraud in last year’s election,which her National League forDemocracy party won in alandslide.

The election commissionsaid there is no evidence to sup-port the military’s claims.

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Afuel tanker explodedSaturday at the Islam Qala

crossing in Afghanistan’s west-ern Herat province on theIranian border, injuring at leastseven people and causing amassive fire that consumedmore than 500 trucks carryingnatural gas and fuel, accordingto Afghan officials and Iranianstate media.

It wasn’t immediately clearwhat caused the blast. WahidQatali, Herat’s provincial gov-ernor, said Afghan first respon-ders did not have the means toput out the fire and hadrequested support from Iran in

the form of fire fighting aircraft.“For the time being, we

can’t even talk about the casu-alties,” Qatali told TheAssociated Press.

The intensity of the flamesmeant ambulances were havingtrouble reaching the woundedor getting close to the site of theblast, said Mohammad RafiqShirzy, spokesman for theHerat regional hospital.

Seven people injured by thefire have been admitted to the hospital in Herat so far,he said.

The fire has forcedAfghanistan to shut down itselectrical supply from Iran,leaving Herat in the dark, said

Wahidullah Tawhidi,spokesman for the Ministry ofPower Supply.

Iran’s state-run IRNA newsagency reported that followingthe request from Herat’s gov-ernor, Iranian “rescue forcesand fire fighters are underwayto extinguish the fire insideAfghanistan,” according toMohsen Nejat, director-gener-al of crisis management inIran’s Khorasan Razaviprovince.

Iran’s semi-official ISNAnews agency quoted truck dri-vers as saying more than 500trucks carrying natural gas and fuel have been burnt sofar.

Mogadishu: Police say a sui-cide bomber died and sevencivilians were wounded whena vehicle exploded near acheckpoint outside the presi-dential palace in Somalia’s cap-ital, Mogadishu. Policespokesman Sadiq Ali Adansays the driver defied orders tostop on Saturday morning, andpolice opened fire as passers-by ran for their lives. He saysmore than a dozen vehicleswere destroyed in the blast.

This latest bombingoccurred as Somali politiciansargue over how to hold anational election. The vote hadbeen scheduled for February 8,and some argue that PresidentMohamed AbdullahiMohamed has overstayed hismandate. He seeks a secondfour-year term. More talks onthe election crisis are set forMonday. The al-Qaida-linkedal-Shabab extremist groupbased in Somalia often targetshigh-profile areas ofMogadishu. It has threatened toattack the polls. AP

Tokyo:A strong earthquake hitoff the coast of northeasternJapan late Saturday, shakingFukushima, Miyagi and otherareas, but there was no threatof a tsunami, officials said.

The Fukushima Dai-ichinuclear plant, which had melt-downs following a massive quakeand tsunami 10 years ago, waschecking to see whether therewere any problems following themagnitude 7.1 quake. There wereno immediate reports of irregu-larities from other nuclear plantsin the area, such as Onagawa orFukushima Dai-ni, governmentspokesperson Katsunobu Katotold reporters. AP

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Mario Draghi, the mancredited with largely sav-

ing the euro currency, onSaturday formally took thehelm as Italy’s premier, aftercrafting a government that bal-ances economic experts andother technocrats with careerpoliticians from across thespectrum to guide the pan-demic-devastated nationtoward recovery.

Ending weeks of politicalcrisis, Draghi and his Cabinetministers took their oaths ofoffice in a ceremony at theQuirinal presidential palace in

front of President SergioMattarella. It was Mattarellawho tasked Draghi, a formerchief of the European CentralBank as well as of Italy’s centralbank, with trying to form agovernment up to managingthe Covid-19 health, econom-ic and social crises.

Perhaps in a sign of Draghi’sintent to get quickly to work inhealing Italy, the swearing-inceremony began three minutesearly. In deference to coron-avirus precautions, all partici-pants in the ceremony weremasked, and a palace aide pro-vided each minister with a freshpen to sign their oath.

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B h u b a n e s w a r : Nat i o n a lAluminium Company Limited(NALCO), the Navratna PSU,under Ministry of Mines, Govt.of India and country's leadingmanufacturer and exporter ofalumina and aluminium,clocked a net profit of �240 crfor the 3rd quarter ended Dec2020. The net profit has jumpedby 123% over the previousquarter of current fiscal, whichwas �107 cr.The net profit forthe nine months ended Dec2020 has grown more thanten-fold to �364 crore as against�35 cr in corresponding periodof last year. The total income inQ3 of FY21 witnessed sub-stantial growth, clocking �2,415cr compared to �2,137 cr in Q3of FY20. On sales front, the netsales of alumina hydrate for Q3of FY21 was 3.44 lakh tonnescompared to 3.33 lakh tonnesachieved in the correspondingperiod of last year.

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Paddy procurement hasincreased 16 per cent so far

this kharif marketing season at638.57 lakh tonne, valued at Rs1,20,562 crore, amid ongoingfarmers’ protest at borders ofthe national capital.

Kharif marketing yearstarts from October. “In theongoing Kharif MarketingSeason (KMS) 2020-21,Government continues to pro-cure Kharif 2020-21 crops atMSP from farmers as per exist-ing MSP schemes, as was donein previous seasons,” an officialstatement said.

The government has pur-chased 638.57 lakh tonne tillFebruary 12, up 16.25 per centfrom 549.30 lakh tonne in thecorresponding period of theprevious marketing year.

“About 91.69 lakh farmershave already been benefitted

from the ongoing KMS pro-curement Operations withMSP value of Rs 1,20,562.19crore,” the statement said.

Out of the total purchaseof 638.57 lakh tonne, Punjabhas contributed 202.82 lakhtonne. Procurement operationsof seed cotton (Kapas) underMSP are going on smoothlyacross many states. “TillFebruary 12, a quantity of91,35,211 cotton bales valuingRs 26,643.55 crore has beenprocured benefitting 18,90,736farmers,” it said.

Thousands of farmers,especially from Punjab,Haryana and parts of UttarPradesh, are protesting atDelhi’s borders for over twomonths seeking repeal of thethree new farm legislations,introduced by the Centre lastyear, saying those are pro-cor-porate and can weaken themandi system.

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The University of Oxfordhas launched the first study

to assess the safety and immuneresponses in children andyoung adults of its coronavirusvaccine.

The university said thatprevious trials of its ChAdOx1nCoV-19 jabs, which are beingproduced by AstraZeneca andalso have a tie-up with theSerum Institute of India, have

shown that it is safe, producesstrong immune systemresponses and has high effica-cy in all adults.

From Friday, it would beextending its trials to assess ifchildren and young adults aged6-17 years also show a goodimmune response to coron-avirus from it.

“While most children arerelatively unaffected by coron-avirus and are unlikely tobecome unwell with the infec-

tion, it is important to establishthe safety and immuneresponse to the vaccine in chil-dren and young people as somechildren may benefit from vac-cination,” said Andrew Pollard,Professor of PaediatricInfection and Immunity, andChief Investigator on theOxford vaccine trial. “Thesenew trials will extend ourunderstanding of control ofSARS-CoV2 to younger agegroups,” he said.

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The Ministry of SkillDevelopment and

Entrepreneurship on Saturdaysaid it is rolling out theMahatma Gandhi NationalFellowship (MGNF) pro-gramme in all the districts ofthe country.

So far the programmewas working across 69 districts,and the ministry “is nowexpanding MGNF to allremaining districts in the

country,” the ministry saidin a statement.

Fellows under MGNF will

acquire academic expertise andtechnical competency inunderstanding the overall skillecosystem along with beingattached to District SkillCommittees, it added.

The ministry has alsopartnered with Kerala Instituteof Local Administration toconduct capacity building pro-grammes for district officialsfrom Kerala, Tamil Nadu,Puducherry and Lakshadweep.

“Our partnerships goingforward will be more focusedon strengthening the overallquality of skill training. Withthe recent launch of Pradhan

Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana3.0 and today’s academic part-nerships with IIMs, IITs, GIZ-IGVET, KILA under ourSANKALP scheme, togetherwe will empower the districtsensuring demand-drivenskilling,” Skill Developmentand Entrepreneurship MinisterMahendra Nath Pandey said.

SANKALP (SkillsAcquisition and KnowledgeAwareness for Livelihood

Promotion) is a WorldBank loan assisted programmeto strengthen the district skilladministration and the DistrictSkill Committees (DSCs).

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Facebook’s Oversight Boardhas taken up a new case

related to a user’s post that wasshared from a Punjabi-lan-guage online platform andcontained insinuations againstRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS) and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

While the post was initial-ly taken down for violatingFacebook’s community guide-lines, the social media compa-ny later restored the content.

The Oversight Board is anindependent body set up byFacebook last year to look intohate speech and other unde-sirable content on the platform.

Previously, the OversightBoard had undertaken fivecases, including one from Indiawherein a user had called forviolence against FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronover a cartoon of Prophet.

In that particular case, theBoard has overturnedFacebook’s decision to removethe content.

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Air India’s regional sub-sidiary Alliance Air will

resume its flight services toPantnagar, in Uttarakhandfrom Delhi via Dehradun fromFebruary 16, the airline hassaid.

The airline will be deploy-ing its 70-seater ATR 72 aircraftto operate the route, AllianceAir said in a late night releaseon Friday.

According to the airline, itsflight 9I-645 will depart Delhiat 9.50 am and arrive inDehradun at 10.55 am, fromwhere it will depart forPantnagar at 11.45 am andarrive there at 12.30 pm.

The return flight 9I-646will depart Pantnagar at 1 pmfor Dehradun, where it willarrive at 1.50 pm.

New Delhi:Petrol price inMumbai neared record �95per litre mark on Saturday as itsrate as well as diesel prices werehiked for the fifth day in a row. Petrol price was increased by 30paise per litre and diesel by 36paise a litre, according to a pricenotification of state-owned fuelretailers.This took petrol priceto an all-time high of �88.414a litre in Delhi while diesel rateclimbed to �78.74.In Mumbai,petrol price soared to �94.93per litre and diesel price jumpedto record �85.70 a litre.In 5 daysthis week, price has gone up by�1.51 per litre for petrol whilediesel rate has risen by �1.56 alitre.The relentless hike in priceshas been criticised by the oppo-sition parties, includingCongress that has demanded animmediate cut in taxes to easethe burden on the commonman.

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Over 85 per cent of dis-tricts in Uttarakhand,home to over ninecrore people, arehotspots of extreme

floods and its associated events.According to an analysis by theCouncil on Energy, Environmentand Water (CEEW), frequency andintensity of extreme flood events inthe State have increased four-foldsince 1970. Associated flood eventslike landslides, cloud bursts andglacial lake outbursts have alsoincreased four-fold during this peri-od.

Abinash Mohanty, programmelead at CEEW, tells you that therecent devastating flash flood inUttarakhand is a proof that the cli-mate crisis can no longer be ignored.“In the last 20 years, the State haslost more than 50,000 hectares offorest cover, leading to micro climat-ic changes in the region. This in turnhas triggered a rise in extreme cli-mate events. A focus on land use-based forest restoration could notonly reverse the climate imbalancebut also help promote sustainabletourism in the State. Equally impor-tant would be climate proofing ofinfrastructure, investments, andpolicies,” Mohanty says.

The tragedy in Uttarakhandreiterates the need for detailed dis-trict-level climate risk assessmentsand enhancing adaptive andresilience capacities. With the risingfrequency of extreme climate events,India needs to urgently develop anationwide but decentralised andstructured, real-time digital emer-gency surveillance and manage-ment system.

What happened during theearly hours of February 7, 2021 thathas left 26 dead and 171 missing?

Dr Mohd Farooq Azam, assis-tant professor, Glaciology &Hydrology, IIT Indore tells youthat the earlier observation made bythe team that he is a part of, has tobe revisited.

“What took place is far more

complex; it was a combination oflandslide and ice avalanche on ahanging glacier. This brought downa lot of debris with it. This kind ofphenomenon is commonplace andhappens on a small scale. Ourteam, composed of two dozen sci-entists from across the globe, to ourbest understanding have an expla-nation; it is the failure of a bedrockof a hanging glacier. At present, itis too early to predict how that watercame to be inside the glacier,” Azamsays.

He tells you that the source ofthe water of this flash flood that car-ried with it lots of debris had a con-centrated mixture of everything.“Where this water came from can’tbe ascertained for now. There wasfriction and due to the heat pro-duced the ice melted and mass of itfell from 5,000-6,000 feet. But webelieve that there is another reasonfor this water,” Azam and his teammembers opine.

Even though this slide hap-pened on a hanging glacier, notuncommon, there are reasons to beworried. With global warming andclimate change, such events willincrease even though it is a natur-al phenomenon. Snow accumulat-ing at high altitude, after a periodof time becomes too heavy to holdand it comes down in the form ofsnow avalanche. Global warmingmakes such occurrences frequent.Second, it is worrisome for peopleliving at high attitudes.

“There are settlements belowhanging glaciers, below water bod-ies, glacier lakes and below steepslopes that are unstable. We have tothink of ways to mitigate disastersfrom taking place. We have hadmany wake-up calls in the past, thisis yet another one,” Azam says.

This means that the develop-ment that is taking place in thisregion needs a fresh pair of eyes.While one can’t turn away from con-struction of roads, there is a sustain-able development that takes intoconsideration the vulnerability of

this region. “Economic growth andenvironment needs to be balancedand worked at with care,” one is told.

Deforestation, Azam says worksin two ways. “When trees are cut,that particular area absorbs moreheat, this is a local phenomenon.When there is local heating, it willdissipate in the environment. Therewill be immediate local effect lead-ing to global warming,” he says.

Other contributors to such dis-asters in the region points to the factthat the Himalayas are young moun-tains and continue to grow. “InDecember 2020, when the height ofMt Everest was taken it has grownby 0.86 metres. There are bound tobe tectonic activities. The possibil-ity of landslides increases even withno global warming. The phenome-na at work here are complex andwork together,” Azam says.

Arun Krishnamurthy ofEnvironmentalist Foundation ofIndia believes that in an era of cli-mate change, abnormal and suddennature events are becoming frequentrather than rare.

“As one of the most vulnerableeco-systems, the Himalayas andthe upper glaciers are threatened.Therefore, more than being worried,one has to be prepared. We have tobe prepared for such an anomaly.We are still unclear on what is instore to even identify the problemto its full extent. Destruction ofhabitats, unplanned urbanisationand exploitation of natural resourcesshould be heavily curtailed to pre-vent the worsening of the situation,”Krishnamurthy says.

According to him, one couldnot have stopped this nor preventfuture occurrences. “The currentemission levels globally do not giveus a sign of recovery. The short livedlockdown restrictions and the ensu-ing industrial normalcy clearly indi-cates that we are not looking at cut-ting down on emissions in a man-ner that would positively impact theclimate,” Krishnamurhty tells you.

According to a report released

by the Ministry of Earth Sciences ,the Hindu Kush Himalayas experi-enced a temperature rise of about1.3°C during 1951-2014. Theincrease in temperature has led tomicro-climatic changes and fasterglacial retreat in Uttarakhand, there-by triggering frequent and recurrentflash floods. In the coming years,this could also impact 32 majorongoing infrastructure projects inthe State.

The CEEW analysis also high-lighted that droughts had increasedtwo-fold in Uttarakhand since 1970and more than 69 per cent of dis-tricts were vulnerable to it.

Dr Anjal Prakash, researchdirector and adjunct associateProfessor at the Indian School ofBusiness, Hyderabad tells you thatthere is no denying that globalwarming has impacted glacier melt-ing according to IPCC SpecialReport on Oceans & Cryosphere in2018. The Himalayan AssessmentReport by International Centre forIntegrated Mountain Developmentin 2019 also corroborated the same.

The IPCC Special Report onOceans & Cryosphere, Chapter 2says: Glacier retreat and permafrostthaw are projected to decrease thestability of mountain slopes andincrease the number and area ofglacier lakes. Resulting landslides,floods, and cascading events, willemerge where there is no record ofprevious events. There is also highconfidence that the number andarea of glacier lakes will continue toincrease in most regions in the com-ing decades and new lakes willdevelop closer to steep and poten-tially unstable mountain walls wherelake outbursts can be more easilytriggered by the impact of land-slides.

“There are a few take aways.These kind of climate-led events willincrease in magnitude and fre-quency. The problem with climate-led events lies in its unpredictabil-ity. All one can say is that the eventwill take place. But when would be

difficult to monitor; the time can’tbe pinpointed. One can say thatcyclones in Odisha will increase butcan’t say when they will occur. Thesame holds true for glaciers,”Prakash says.

The Hindu Kush Himalayashas 54,000-plus glaciers spreadacross eight countries with 10,000-plus in India and 1495 inUttarakhand alone. “However, onlya few are being monitored especial-ly in Nanda Devi region. There isneed for closer monitoring becausesuch events will only rise,” Prakashtells you.

Eastern and Western Himalayasare vulnerable because this moun-tain range are young fold moun-tains. The landforms have not solid-ified. What makes Uttrakhand’sposition more precarious as com-pared to other regions along theHimalayas is the rampant con-struction, population increasing50-fold and 640 km of river flowbeing diverted for more than 70dams.

“One needs a different trajecto-ry of development and understandthe eco-system of the region. Oneis cutting trees to construct hydropower stations. Trees are first line ofdefense against any disaster. Lowermountain regions need to be forest-ed,” Prakash says and cites an exam-ple of a tunnel construction. He tellsyou how a tunneling in Sikkim haddisturbed the flow of a local waterbody. Due to the construction, thestream had started drying up.

“The present nature of con-struction across the country is mas-culine — the need to control andcapture as much as possible — hasto be changed. What is needed is afeminine approach. Go along withNature; work with it. Protect theNature, it will protect you. Lack ofresilience is another cause for thisdisaster. There is need to have aresilient development approach. Allthe planning has to take environ-ment and climate change into con-sideration even before one breaks

the ground. Second, the infrastruc-ture has to be resilient to any disas-ters. The climate in hill regions frag-ile. For every one degree of rise intemperatures in plains, it is equiv-alent to 1.5 degree C rise in themountains due to elevation-depen-dent warming,” Prakash says.

Dr DP Dobhal, former scientistat the Wadia Institute of HimalayanGeology in Dehra Dun corrobateswhat Azam says that says that it wasa snow avalanche that triggered thedisaster on the early morning ofFebraury 7, 2021.

“It brought with it a lot of mar-iane debris downstream causing lossof lives and loss of property that itwas in its path. Since it was a verti-cal fall, the force was high andflowed into the gorge. With it tooktwo hydel power stations as well,”Dobhal explains.

This phenomenon is commonin the region that takes place at over5,000 feet altitude; such hangingglaciers are commonly found at thisheight, near main glaciers.

“Any movement will lead to itsbreakage. The reason for such massdestruction was due to the intensi-ty of the fall. Global warming isleading to glacier melting leading tosmall lake formation. Snow cover isreducing. It is important to look atthe topography and look at the fre-quency of landslides and avalanch-es. Unfortunately, hanging glaciersare difficult to monitor. Every aspectneeds to be looked at before anyconstruction is done,” Dobhal says.

One main reason to be alarmedis that we have lost a source of freshwater. “With such a large chunk ofice breaking away, we should bealarmed, but we can take heart thatevents are rare. There is a possibil-ity that where the breakage hastaken place, the main glacier is thereonly. Next year, when it snows, whatis broken will get replenished evenif it takes time. If the depression isdeep and wide, there is a chance forthis glacier will mend itself over aperiod of time,” Dobhal says.

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Rohit Sharma oozed class with an aestheti-cally pleasing 161 on a challenging track,helping India seize the initiative with a solid

opening day score of 300 for 6 against England inthe second Test here on Saturday.

Ajinkya Rahane looked equally attractive dur-ing his knock of 67 off 149 balls and the twoMumbaikars added 162 runs for the fourth wick-et, making it worth the effort for the 12,000 whoflocked the Chepauk as Indian cricket welcomedits fans back in the stadium amid the Covid-19pandemic.

A score of 350 plus in the first innings will beequivalent to 550 plus on any other track andRishabh Pant’s (33 batting) dangerous presencecould also take India well beyond the magic fig-ure on this track. At stumps, he had debutant AxarPatel (5) for company.

Rohit had scored six Test hundreds prior tothis knock but he will be the first to admit that interms of conditions on offer and the quality ofattack he faced, the seventh one would be at thetop of the list.

On a hot Saturday, Rohit did two things at onego.

Firstly, he put India in a commanding posi-tion on a track which was way more difficult forbatting than he made it look with 18 fours and twosixes in his 231-ball knock.

Secondly, he put all the naysayers in their placeby scoring runs when it mattered the most.

Joe Root was marvellous with his sweep shotduring the first Test but Rohit was simply mag-nificent with his execution on a doubly difficulttrack on which he gave England spinner MoeenAli (26-3-112-3) a lesson in controlled aggression.

The way Rohit put a big front-foot stride out-side the off-stump to sweep deliveries off bothMoeen and Jack Leach (26-2-78-2) will not be for-gotten by all who were fortunate to witness theinnings.

Rohit’s defence was spectacularly solid andoffence as assured as a safe house.

Knowing fully well that the track would startcrumbling with the passage of play, Rohit attackedat the first go, picking 80 runs in the first session,something that will perhaps play the biggest rolein the final context of the game.

It started with a cover drive off Stuart Broadand then there was a pulled six over mid-wicketoff Ben Stokes.

While skipper Virat Kohli (0) was done in by

a classical off-spinner’s delivery from Moeen —flighted outside the off-stump and enticing himto go for a cover drive only to find his defencebreached.

If Rohit played those sweeps in a regal man-ner, Rahane was no less classy in his drives — thefront and back-foot punches off the pacers andthose lovely cut shots off the spinners were delight-ful to watch.

Call it irony, Rahane chose a wrong deliveryfrom Moeen for playing the sweep andwas bowled in the process.

He hit nine boundaries in a half-century that came after a barren runof seven innings. This was after he sur-vived an umpiring howler from Anil Chaudhary.

But then, he was destined to be in Rohit’sshadow on a day when determination became hisprimary capital.

It wasn’t the easiest of conditions but forIndia’s Hit-Man, difficult has always been the easiest route.

�� 5877��

India opener RohitSharma is very clear

in his mind that even aniota of doubt while play-ing the sweep shot on arank turner could lead toinevitable trouble.

With one of the bestexhibitions of sweep shots

played at the Chepauk sinceSachin Tendulkar’s valiant 136against Pakistan in 1999, Rohit hasput his team in a commanding posi-tion on a track that is deterioratingpretty fast.

England know a tough taskawait them in the second Test,which started here on Saturday.

“Before it’s too late, you startdoing what you want to do and youcan’t be tentative. If you want tosweep, you sweep it,” Rohit’s state-ment had a touch of Mexican ban-dit Tuco Ramirez’s famous punchline — “When you have to shoot,shoot, don’t talk” from theHollywood classic ‘The Good TheBad The Ugly’.

Having watched Joe Root slaythe Indian spinners in the first Test,it was like a ready reckoner forRohit, who had prepared well dur-ing the last two training sessions.

“We knew how the pitch wasprepared and we knew that it wouldturn. So we had a good few train-ing sessions before today andtrained according to what were sup-posed to expect today,” he said.

“When you play on turningpitches where you have to be pro-active and you can’t be reactive.Getting on top of the bowler andmaking sure you are ahead of him.Little adjustment based on that.

“If it’s turning, then how muchof it... Things like that before mak-ing decisions on shot selection,” thewhite ball vice-captain said.

Moeen Ali had troubled the

Indian batsmen in the past and forRohit, it was imperative thatEngland’s senior off-spinner need-ed to be swept from the rough tonegate any chance of a leg beforedecision.

“What helped me was prepara-tion I had before the game.Understanding the line that MoeenAli was bowling. He was bowlinginto the rough, so there is a slightchance of getting leg before deci-sion,” he explained.

“Also I saw the deep square legwas pushed back, so even if I top-edged it wouldn’t carry and land insafe place. Those were my ideas andthoughts.”

According to Rohit, sweep is apercentage shot, which takes thecondition of the pitch out of theequation. “Sweep shot is somethingthat you know can frustrate a bowlerif you are playing that very well. Ifyou play that shot, there is not muchthat the bowler can do from there orpitch can do from there.

“It was a percentage shot to playas he was bowling outside off-stump and lbw doesn’t come to play.Only an odd ball he was bowling onthe wicket where I wanted to use my

feet and cover the spin while reach-ing towards the ball.”

In the case of left-arm spinnerJack Leach, it was about presentinga straight bat.

“Leach was bowling stump-to-stump, so it was important that Iplay with the turn. It was importantto play with a straight bat as the turnwas slightly angled. I was makingsure that I push the ball betweencover and point and rotate the strike.

“Once you rotate strike, its noteasy for a bowler to bowl to a dif-ferent batter every time. I wanted tobat as long as possible since the pitchis going to show a lot of wear andtear from days two and three.”

The Hit-Man didn’t want to rateany of his hundreds even though hewould know in his heart that thiswould be the top most among hisseven three-figure marks.

“I am not going to rate any ofmy knocks because every knockcomes under different kind of pres-sure and this came under differentcircumstances.

“I am not the person to rate anyof my knocks. Little disappointed toget out like that but happy that teamis in a good position,” he said.

�� 5877��

Ajinkya Rahane has alwaysmade himself counted

when the team has been intesting situation which is a tes-timony to his class as a bats-man, feels second Test centu-rion Rohit Sharma.

Rohit and vice-captainRahane added 162 runs for thefourth wickets as India scored300 for 6 at stumps on the firstday of the second Test.

“Ajinkya, he is one of ourtop players. He has doneextremely well and playedsome crucial knocks (overthe years). He has time andagain shown that when theteam needs a batsman to standup, he has done that manytimes,” Rohit was all praise forhis fellow Mumbaikar, whoscored 67 on the day.

No doubt their stand wascrucial in the context of thematch and Rohit acknowl-edged that.

“Three wickets had fellbefore lunch and at the timehe came to bat, it was crucialfor us to build a partnership.We have seen many times,when the team need runs, he(Rahane) has shown his bats-manship and made runs indifficult times,” added Rohit.

Rohit was sl ightlyannoyed that there were eventalks about Rahane’s formsince he didn’t get runs inseven successive innings.

“I don’t understand whythese talks take place? But,anyway, his knock was veryimportant for the team atthat point and our partnershipwas also necessary for theteam and we took the team toa comfortable position tilltea, because I believe 350 willbe a good score on this wick-et,” added Rohit.

Rohit expects RishabhPant and Axar Patel to bat aslong as possible.

“We still have four wick-ets left and we hope that the

batsmen who are currentlybatting (Rishabh) Pant andAxar (Patel), make as many

runs because already therough patches have been cre-ated.”

�� 5877��

England spinner Jack Leach, whofound himself at the receiving end

of a third umpiring error on the open-ing day of the second Test, comparedthe DRS to football’s Video AssistantReferee (VAR), saying it is “still contro-versial”.

England were on Saturday left frus-trated and their captain Joe Root miffedafter a blunder by Anil Chaudharydenied them the wicket of India vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane after a DRSreview.

“We were trying to get the thirdumpire to roll it through, they werechecking the LBW, we knew that wouldhave been not out. We were just tryingto get them looking at what happenedafter the ball hit the pad.

“It is a bit like the VAR today, stillcontroversial, (but) it is what it is,” Leachtold reporters at the end of the day’s play.

The Decision Review System (DRS)referral, which they had lost afterRahane was adjudged not out by thethird umpire, was later restored toEngland as per ICC playing conditions.

Leach added, “They said they werechecking it, then the LBW picturecame up, we were saying no, no. Wewanted to check the other one. I got theimpression that they hadn’t checked it.

“There is nothing I can do about it,at that time I was angry but to getRahane’s wicket in the next over madethings little easier.”

The incident took place in the 75th

over of the day when a Leach deliverykissed Rahane’s gloves on the way to theforward short-leg fielder Ollie Pope.

As England appealed for a catch offthe gloves, it was turned down by theon-field umpire before Chaudhary alsorejected the review thinking that the ballhad landed outside the leg-stump andthat the visitors had appealed for anLBW.

However, the visitors appeared toclarify that they were appealing for acatch off the glove and not the bat.

Seeing the replays on the big screen,Root was left unimpressed and the skip-per also raised the matter with the on-field umpires. Chaudhary turned downthat too.

Rahane was, however, dismissed byMoeen Ali before he could capitalise onthe lifeline.

On the stumping decision againstRohit Sharma, which also did not go intheir favour, Leach said it was touch andgo.

“Well Ben (Foakes) didn’t say it’sdefinitely out, he wasn’t sure about thatone. And then when we saw, we werehoping... It was touch and go,” he said.

Asked about his thoughts on howthe day panned out, Leach said it wasa hard outing but felt they were still inthe game.

“It was a hard-fought day, we hadto be patient throughout. We got a cou-ple of wickets towards the end and it wasgood. With the new ball tomorrowmorning, we can get a couple of wick-ets quickly and get back.

�� 5877��

The strategy was to makeEngland bowl to India’s

strengths, said home vice-cap-tain Ajinkya Rahane onSaturday, quite pleased thathis and Rohit Sharma’s plan ofusing the sweep shot to goodeffect worked out just as theyhad envisioned on day one ofthe second Test.

Having registered 1 and 0in the series-opener, Rahanefound form with a 67-runknock, while Rohit shone thebrightest among Indians withan effort of 161, which includ-ed some mesmerising stroke-play.

The two added 162 runsfor the fourth wicket.

“We knew that it was goingto turn from day one, obvious-ly (it was) good to win the toss.Rohit said it was important tobe positive on this wicket...Iwanted to be positive, back

myself on this wicket. The keywas to use good footwork,”Rahane said after the openingday’s play.

“We had the strategy (onthe sweep), we did discuss thegame plan on this, and want-ed to make them bowl to ourstrengths, good that the planscame off.

“I thought the first 20-30balls were important. Thenyou get an idea on the pace andthe bounce, you’re never in onthis wicket, so it was importantto be positive,” he added.

At stumps, Rishabh Pantwas batting on 33 and givinghim company at the other endwas debutant Axar Patel on 5.

Rahane felt anything above350 in the first innings on thistrack will be a challenging taskfor the opposition batsmen.

“Another 50-60 runs fromhere will be good, Rishabh isstill there, another partnershipor two will be good,” he said.

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Fast bowler Dwaine Pretoriusrecorded the best figures for

South Africa in the shortest formatto help his team beat Pakistan bysix wickets in the second Twenty20Ion Saturday.

The 31-year-old grabbed 5-17to keep Pakistan down to 144-7 in20 overs before Pite van Biljon (42)and Reeza Hendricks (42) tookSouth Africa past the modest tar-get in 16.2 overs.

It was a canny performance byPretorius who marginally improvedon the previous best figures by aSouth African, 5-19 by mediumpacer Ryan McLaren against theWest Indies at North Sound in2010.

Mohammad Rizwan top-scoredfor Pakistan with a 41-ball 51laced with six boundaries and a sixwhile Faheem Ashraf hit twoboundaries and as many sixes in his12-ball 30 not out.

Pakistan’s lanky pacemanShaheen Shah Afridi gave his team

an ideal start by dismissingJanneman Malan with the secondball of the innings and Jon-JonSmuts in the following over, finish-ing with 2-18 in three overs.

But Hendricks and Biljon pun-ished some erratic bowling duringtheir 77-run third wicket standbefore both fell in successive overs.

Hendricks, who hit three sixesand as many boundaries in his 30-ball knock, was finally caught offleg-spinner Usman Qadir in the12th over. Biljon hit two sixes andthree boundaries off 32 balls beforehe returned a gently leading edgeback to left-arm spinnerMohammad Nawaz.

David Miller (25 not out) andskipper Heinrich Klaasen (17 notout) added 40 in an unbrokenfifth wicket stand to see their teamacross the line.

Pakistan were once again lift-ed by Rizwan who followed his 89against New Zealand in Decemberand 104 not out in the first matchwith another superb knock.

After losing the toss, Pakistan

skipper Babar Azam opened thebatting but was soon on his wayback to the pavilion as Pretoriustrapped him leg before in the sec-ond over.

At 48-6, the home side werestruggling but Rizwan, who becameonly the fourth Pakistani batsmento score three consecutive T20Ififties, added 45 for the fourthwicket with Iftikhar Ahmed whomade 20.

Mohammad Hafeez (twice),Shahid Afridi, Umar Akmal andAzam have previously hit threefifties in successive T20I matches.

Rizwan finally departed for51, holing out to AndilePhehlukwayo after falling for aPretorius slower ball.

Pretorius also removed Iftikharand Khushdil Shah for 15 beforeyorking Mohammad Nawaz for asecond-ball duck to take morethan one wicket for the first timein his 13-match Twenty20 interna-tional career.

The third and final match willalso be in Lahore on Sunday.

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Red-hot Russians DaniilMedvedev and AndreyRublev moved closer to a

quarter-final showdown with con-trasting wins at the AustralianOpen on Saturday while top-10seeds Stefanos Tsitsipas and MatteoBerrettini set up a fourth-roundclash.

Rafael Nadal also accelerated hispursuit of a record 21st Grand Slamtitle with a testing victory overCameron Norrie in a battle of theleft-handers.

The Spanish second seed hasaltered his service motion due tolower-back tightness, but it didn’tstop him emphatically demolishinghis first two opponents in straightsets. Britain’s 69th-ranked Norrieproved a tougher assignment, withNadal pressed much harder beforeemerging a 7-5, 6-2, 7-5 winner.

Daniil Medvedev overcame but-tock pain and a walk-out by his coachas he withstood a five-set test fromFilip Krajinovic. The fourth seedblew a two-set lead and needed treat-ment to his left glute before finallymoving past the Serb 6-3, 6-3, 4-6,3-6, 6-0 and into the fourth round,extending his win streak to 17.

He will play MackenzieMcDonald for a berth in the quar-ter-finals after the unseededAmerican cruised past SouthAfrican Lloyd Harris in straight sets.

Medvedev has now gone 17

matches unbeaten, dating back toNovember and including title winsat the Paris 1000, the ATP Finals inLondon and the ATP Cup.

Rublev, the seventh seed contin-ued his red hot form and crushedveteran Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-5, 6-2, 6-3 in one hour and 32 min-utes to reach the fourth round.

The Russian plays 24th seedCasper Ruud next and remains ona collision course to meet fourth

seed Medvedev with the young gunsaiming to break their country’s 16-year drought in Slams. The lastRussian man to win a Grand Slamwas Marat Safin at Melbourne Parkin 2005.

Fifth seed Tsitsipas put friend-ship aside to crush Mikael Ymer theSwede 6-4, 6-1, 6-1 on John CainArena. He will now play big-hittingninth seed Matteo Berrettini whobeat 19th-seeded Russian Karen

Khachanov -6(1), 7-6(5), 7-6(5)despite a long medical timeout.

Casper Ruud became only thesecond Norwegian to make the last16 of a Grand Slam, emulating hisfather Christian who made thegrade at the Australian Open in 1997.

The 22-year-old outlasted RaduAlbot 6-1, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to book afourth-round Melbourne Park clashwith Russian Andrey Rublev andsaid he was proud to match his dad’sachievement.

PLISKOVA OUT, BARTY WINFormer world No 1 Karolina

Pliskova was docked a point forsmashing her racquet off the courtand then slumped out of theAustralian Open to KarolinaMuchova while current world No 1

Ashleigh Barty made light work ofRussia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova.

Croatia’s 28th seed Donna Vekichad a battle on her hands but gotpast Kaia Kanepi, who had beatendefending champion Sofia Kenin, 5-7, 7-6 (7/2), 6-4.

Barty’s all-round prowess frus-trated the big-hitting 29th seed inthe 6-2, 6-4 third-round clash in anempty Margaret Court Arena on thefirst day of Melbourne’s snap, five-day lockdown. She will face ShelbyRogers in the fourth round after theAmerican dispatched Estonian 21stseed Anett Kontaveit 6-4, 6-3.

Frustrated sixth seed Pliskovawas out of sorts throughout and fell7-5, 7-5 in one hour and 54 minutesin the all-Czech third-round clash.

After Pliskova lost a tight firstset, she took her frustration out onher racquet which cost her a codeviolation. She then walked into theplayers’ tunnel to inflict furtherdamage, but it was seen by an offi-cial who informed chair umpireAlison Hughes resulting in a dockedpoint for a second code violation.

Muchova will play either 11thseed Belinda Bencic or 18th seedElise Mertens on Monday for a placein the quarter-finals.

Ukraine’s Svitolina made itthree straight-sets wins in as manymatches through the first weekafter a 6-4, 6-0 win over 26th seedYulia Putintseva. It was yet anoth-er tricky match after dispatchingCoco Gauff in her last one and she

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Liverpool crashed to a dismal3-1 defeat at Leicester to

leave their top four hopes injeopardy after Alisson Becker’slatest blunder sparked a stun-ning collapse from the troubledPremier League champions onSaturday.

Jurgen Klopp’s side endureda third successive defeat toeffectively end any chance ofretaining the title.

The calamitous nature ofLiverpool’s late meltdown rais-es serious questions about theirbid to qualify for next season’sChampions League.

Mohamed Salah had giventhe Reds the lead in the secondhalf at the King Power Stadium.

But James Maddison trig-gered a remarkable burst ofthree goals in seven minutesfrom the hosts.

Maddison’s VAR-assistedequaliser was followed by ahowler from away keeperAlisson, whose miscued clear-

ance was converted by JamieVardy.

It was another miserableafternoon for Alisson followinghis two costly mistakes in lastweekend’s 4-1 defeat againstManchester City.

Harvey Barnes put the sealon Leicester’s superb comeback,leaving fourth placed Liverpoollanguishing 10 points behindleaders City, who have twogames in hand including oneagainst Tottenham later onSaturday.

While Klopp would pri-vately concede that Liverpoolwon’t win the title, it is their topfour place that he will be moreworried about after the Redswere left with just two wins fromtheir last 10 league games.

They could be as low assixth place by Monday if Chelseaand West Ham win their gamesin hand.

Leicester climbed aboveManchester United into secondplace after feasting onLiverpool’s problems.

�� )<�)

Atletico Madrid swerved asecond consecutive slip in

La Liga on Saturday by squeez-ing past Granada 2-1 to moveeight points clear at the top ofthe table.

After drawing at home toCelta Vigo on Monday, DiegoSimeone’s side got back on trackwith a narrow victory at LosCarmenes, secured by AngelCorrea’s fortuitous winner in the

second half.There was a hint of luck in

Granada’s equaliser too, YangelHerrera’s shot deflecting offMarcos Llorente, who had him-self put Atletico in front onlythree minutes earlier.

Suarez had scored in six ofthe previous seven games but foronce the 34-year-old was not thematchwinner, with Llorente andCorrea — two unsung heroesthis season — instead provingthe difference.

�� C�� has given a good accountof herself so far.

She will next face

American Jessica Pegulawho beat KristinaMladenovic, 6-2, 6-1, to

reach the fourth round ofa Grand Slam for the firsttime.

��8��Melbourne: Veteran RohanBopanna crashed out of themixed doubles event with astraight-set loss in the openinground to draw curtains on India’scampaign at this year’s AustralianOpen here on Saturday. Bopannaand his Chinese partnerYingying Duan lost 4-6, 4-6 tothe pair of American BethanieMattek-Sands and UnitedKingdom’s Jamie Murray in afirst round match that lasted anhour and three minutes. PTI

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� How does it feel to be back on TVscreens with the promo film on&Prive HD?

It feels great to be back on TVespecially with something that hassuch a unique concept and idea thatwe have created with &Prive HD for

the ad. It was lovely to work withDeepak Tijori. I have

known him for manyyears but we never

got a chance to work with each other.Rohit and Sanaya are such lovely peo-ple to work with too. Also, I am get-ting to play a meek character, that wassomething I haven’t done before.� A message that you would like togive on the occasion of the launchPrive World Box Office.

There is no message as such, butlike it is aptly put in the ad that filmshave their own language and that it is

not a barrier for you to enjoyentertaining cinema. So World

Box Office on March 5 iscoming up with a bou-

quet of films in 10languages and all of

them are block-busters in theirown language. Butit is sad that wedo know aboutthe Hollywoodblockbusters, butnot the ones thatare of other lan-

guages. The goodthing is people can

experience the joy offamily viewing with

these films because thesame film will be showed at

9 pm every day in a week. Hence, itwill be convenient for people to set atime and watch that movie within thatweek. Then the film will change thenext week and people can see anoth-er film in another language and per-haps another genre. It will be excitingand entertaining for the whole fami-ly, that’s the best part of it.� What keeps you so grounded?

It’s the kind of upbringing that Ihave that keeps me grounded. I am anextremely simple person and luckilyI have got a partner who is as simpleas I am. We keep our work out of ourhomes because at the end of the daywe are just husband and wife. Also, thefact that both Rana ji and I are bal-anced about the way that we look atourselves. We don’t give ourselves thatmuch importance. It is just that we area part of a profession that is glam-orous, but otherwise we are simple.� If one talks about Renuka, thereis no way of not talking about HumAapke Hain Koun. Some memoriesfrom the sets of the film?

There are so many memoriesfrom the sets. The whole shooting ofthat film was once in a lifetime expe-rience to get. It’s rare to get produc-ers like Rajshri Productions and direc-

tor like Sooraj Barjatya. I am gratefulto them for casting me in the film andcreating characters that continue tostay with people. I am known as Pooja.I haven’t done too much work inHindi cinema but my calling card isHum Aapke Hain Koun. I owe my suc-cess and popularity to Sooraj ji and thefilm. And of course there are somany things. I remember when wewere shooting Dhik Tana in Ootie andbetween takes we used to play dumbchirades and there was a lot of cama-raderie. The kind of atmosphere yousaw in the film was exactly like we hadon the sets. A lot of credit goes toMadhuri and Salman, they were sodown to earth and respectful toeveryone on the sets. There was a lotto learn from them. We had shot for150 days and through the making ofthe film we had become a really tightunit.� There is always a learning withevery film one does and the charac-ter one plays. What was it withPooja?

With Pooja, what stayed with meis her grace and resilience. She had aclear point of view which was seen inthe way she treated Lallu and Chameliand how she loved them as much as

she loved every other family memberof the family. She was not a doormatby any standards. � How do you see your journey inall these years?

It has been incredible. When Istarted out, I didn’t have any ambi-tions. I never practiced my award win-ning speeches. There was nothing asdramatic. It was a process of learningon the job. I was not formally trainedand yet the amount of love I havereceived over years is overwhelming. � You were also a part of the fan-tastic series What The Folks. Howdid that happen?

It was something that just droppedinto my lap out of the blue. It was thefirst series that I have acted in for adigital platform. I heard of the seriesfrom my close friend DeepikaDeshpande Amin. She was in Season1 and she plays Eisha Chopra’s moth-er. So, when I got the offer for Season2, I was excited to be a part of it. Alsothe character that I was offered to playwas cute. She was a modern motherand had a different relationship withher daughter-in-law. It was refreshingto see such relationships. I enjoyedmyself and that association has beenwonderful.

�What is your latest song about?The song — Jannayak — is on the Late Chief Minister of

Bihar Karpoori Thakurji. He is considered to be a people’s politi-cian. He never took advantage of his position as a politician inhis entire life. I went to his village, spoke to the people thereand felt that there was a need to write a song about his life. Wereleased the song on his birth anniversary this year in Patna. Ilove to talk about people who have contributed to the progressof our country. I felt that his work needed to be introduced tothe youth.�How tough is it to write a song for a particular situation?

The tougher the situation, the easier it is to pen words. Takethe example of this song; in the song I penned the song on thework that Thakurji had done. I just described his work and strungit into a song using my words. This gives a new angle and makesit easy for me to write. But one has to be careful while attempt-ing such songs. I take care that I don’t hurt the sentiments ofpeople who were close to him. Nor belittle the work done bythe person.�How has music impacted your life?

I always wanted to write. I didn’t want to do anything else.I have got so much love here. From the time I came to Mumbaiin 2006, it has totally changed my life. I look at things with aserious outlook. I am a lot more sensitive and emotional.�How much does it help to write when you find a connec-tion with a subject close to your heart?

It is important to find a connection with the subject on whichone is writing. Without this it will not be possible to write. Onehas to find everything there is to know about the subject. Themore you understand, the better you write. The better you write,the better the audience will understand and appreciate your work.�How does this work while writing for Bollywood?

You read the script time and again till you understand thecharacters and the situation which requires the song. In the indiespace, here, you do things for yourself so the artist is more openabout what he wants to say and one can be truer to himself.�Many songs today lack lyrics of yesteryears. Why?

Things keep changing; patterns change. There are manysongs made today that are meaningful and in tune with songsof yesteryears. But the younger generation may not subscribeto them. They are looking for songs that fast-paced and playedin clubs and can be danced on. Times change, tastes change.�Is it important for an artist to do work in the indie spaceand not just bank on Bollywood?

I believe that one should not be dependent on only oneindustry. It is not possible for everyone to hitch a ride on onemedium. Bollywood makes a certain number of films but artistsand talent is huge. Even a boy sitting in a village can record asong and put it up on YouTube. It is important to widen one’sscope. Indie space gives one independence to do work accord-ing to what he wants to do.�What is the scope for lyricists in this space?

There is scope for growth here if one is good. We can endup writing a film, like I am doing at present. When I came intothe industry only a handful of good movies were being made.Today, this number is in hundreds. The more the work thereis, the better it is for lyricists. After all, a singer or composerwon’t write songs, it has to be a lyricist.

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She is still as charming as she was in the 90s and there’s no way one can steal it. Musba Hashmi speaks with Shahaneabout her association with &Prive HD,what keeps her grounded and a lesson

that her character in Hum Aapke Hain Koun taught her

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From your living room to office, inyour handbag and in the glovebox ofyour car; and on every journey youcan remember — there has alwaysbeen an omnipresent companion —

your favourite snack. Snacking has always been a part of our

culture. Those hunger pangs before lunch...That little something with chai... And withthe passage of time, we have only addedmore snacking occasions to our busy lives.Can study or work be complete without apack by your side? And what fun is the latestNetflix show if there isn’t something chatpatato match the histrionics on screen!

To speak numbers, all of this translatesinto a snacking industry that’s worth INR 1Billion which continues to expand at scorch-ing double digit growth rates.

The pandemic has only enhanced ourlove for snacks. A recent survey by theFMCG giant Mondelez revealed that 88% ofIndians were snacking more than before thepandemic with a large majority of millennialsand those working extended hours fromhome preferring snacking over meals. Withentertaining also becoming a home-boundactivity, snacks have also proved to be a con-venient and hygienic replacement to a restau-rant starter.

Our fascinating love for snacks hasprompted many surveys and the findings aretelling. When we see a snack, we don’t justsee a packet. We see comfort in that wrapper.We see snack time as our break from the rou-tine. A source of momentary happiness. Wealso see snacks as a complement or substitutefor nourishment. These findings are direct orobvious. And therefore, they are very signifi-cant insights into the changingnature of our lives. Evidently, weexpect a lot more from our snacksthan just flavour!

While our snacking habits mayseem like evolution, our snackingchoices are undergoing a revolution.To someone born in the 80s, snack-ing typically meant munching onchips or namkeen — rememberthat transparent plastic wrapperfilled with salted potato chips orpeanuts or a local mixture? If it was abranded snack picked at a store, it would bePepsico Lays chips or Haldirams Bhujia.

My earliest recollection of the first inno-vation in snacking as a consumer came alongwith the launch of Kurkure back in 1999 — anew flavour and a new form. Unfortunately,very little has changed in offline retail todayas these legacy brands and products continueto dominate shelf space. Retailers have alsomade no effort at innovation or disruptionbut have launched private labels with thesame legacy products.

For the mass-affluent and beyond, food ismore than just nutrition. It’s also a way ofenjoying life, a treat for the senses. But whereis that joy when you get served the same foodagain and again?

It’s only thanks to brave entrepreneurswho have chosen to tread the difficult path ofdisrupting their industry enabled by e-com-merce that we have seen our snack choicesreally explode in the last few years.

�� The evolution of snacking is oddly simi-

lar to the evolution of marriage. For thelongest time, marriage decisions were madebetween a few choices. You made your peacewith that and made it work. But today, youcan swipe right and left, you can date andflirt, you can cohabitate and then eventually

you can choose to settle down with yourchoice. This is precisely how our approach tosnacking has also evolved. Today, we demandand have access to far more choices than everbefore!

As Indians, we started travelling a lotmore in the last decade. And the more wetravelled, we exposed our taste buds to morecuisines. India is home to 4,635 communitiesspread across its geographical expanse andeach region has its own snacking culture andtaste profile. For example, the snacks inKerala have a distinct aroma of coconut oil,those of Punjab and UP are more hearty, themixtures of the East have more jhal (spice)while the Kathiyawadi style is intense in itssweet-savoury combination. In comparison,the snacks of the Chettinad are more mildlyflavoured.

Each of these microcultures also has itsown repertoire of snacks. For example, haveyou tried the Kolhapuri Bhadang that is madein Jaysinghpur of Maharashtra? Or the SatturSev of Tamil Nadu? How about the kachorisof Jamnagar? Or the Bhakarwadi of Pune?That sense of adventure and that joy of tast-ing and liking something new — all thoseexperiences added up to the fun of travellingacross the country. Today, thanks to e-com-merce, all these unique local foods are avail-able to us through a few brands and e-retail-ers who are challenging the status quo foistedupon us by big FMCG companies over theyears.

On a national level, Postcard(www.thePostcard.in) helps in discoveringlocal flavours of snacks, sweets and picklesacross geographies with a promise of authen-ticity, quality and service. There are region-

focussed options such asGujaratisnacks.in (Gujarat),Pettikadai.in/Nativespecial (TamilNadu),Indorinamkeen.com/TasteofIndore etcwhich bring out the specialities of their

respective regions. Consumers too appear to enjoy

this journey of discovering newfoods. It’s not uncommon to hearpeople in Gurgaon talk about how

they enjoy the Bihari thekua as a desicookie. Or consumers in the Guwahati who

are getting to try South Indian flavours likeMurukku, Thattai, etc. Local food discoverieshave become a conversation starter, a badgeof pride for the adventurous and a commonjoy to share within the family.

��Today, health and wellbeing are an

important consideration and this aspect isbeing reflected in snacking choices too. Wesee a wave of snack brands focused on super-foods — from kale-based snacks by GreenSnack Co to the millet based Soulful andHealthy Cravings Co. These brands usesuperfoods as ingredients to create familiarsnacks and flavours with enhanced nutrientprofiles (such as higher fibre). Imagine howcomforting it would be to not feel any pangof guilt while snacking! The challenge ofcourse lies in adoption of new ingredients bythe palate.

Trail Mixes of nuts and seeds are anothersuperfood-packed snack choice. A fewbrands have tried to popularise these optionsalthough they have faced headwinds in viewof the higher price points involved.

Besides superfoods, there is also a trendof clean eating. For the longest time peoplewere unaware of the ingredients going intotheir food choices. But today, we see a lotmore awareness and brands are doing their

best torespond

to this need. Forexample, there is an emphasis on

avoiding the use of colouring addi-tives or preservatives as much as possibleeven though these are permitted by law (withthe necessary safeguards, of course). Smallerlocal brands such as Pure & Sure Phaladahave introduced snacks made with organicingredients!

�� Alongside the typical snack forms of

chips, namkeen and extruded snacks, we seebars emerge as a snack of choice for theyounger generations. The younger generationthat works odd hours or seeks convenienceprefer the range of energy bars while proteinbars are preferred by consumers who seektargetted nutrition.

Energy bars first made an appearance inthe 1960s when the American FMCG giantPillsbury introduced them as “Space FoodSticks” claiming that the bars had a balanceof all nutrients. It has taken the bar form 50years to reach its current popularity.

Bars have caught on in India over the lasttwo to three years. There are a number ofbrands vying for this space with Yoga Barshaving the first mover advantage. Insurgentbrands such as The Whole Truth are success-fully disrupting this space with a disarminglyhonest approach to clean eating with a func-tional focus.

� ��As the pandemic fear recedes and we

emerge into a new normal, it will be interest-ing to see how our snack choices evolve withour lifestyle and the impact of these changeson business. While I’m no soothsayer, hereare three ideas for the common good:● It’s high time that retailers adopted a cus-tomer-centric approach by understandingtheir changing needs and aspirations. Fromfood preferences to food allergies, the Indian

cus-tomer has

distinct needsand these need to

reflect on the shopshelf. For the consumer who

seeks diversity, the shelf must incor-porate local flavours which change in syncwith the seasons. Similarly, the health foodsection must have options for vegans, gluten-allergies, calorie-conscious folks, elders, chil-dren, office-goers etc. The one generic“healthy” option would not cut it. ● With their scale and expertise, the legacyFMCG companies have a responsibility toadapt and assist the ecosystem. There aremany brands with unique food products thatemerge only to fade away due to the lack offinancial or operational muscle-power that iscritical to survive in the offline channel. Cana partnership model evolve between the bigand small that is mutually beneficial?

While the benefits to the small brands areobvious, big brands will also get an insightinto how smaller companies are able to domore with less. We see this happen in thepersonal care space. Take the example of theBombay Shaving Company, a homegrownbrand of mens personal care that hasreceived investment from global FMCGmajors Colgate Palmolive & ReckittBenckiser. It’s time that Indian FMCG brandsentered such partnerships so that new-agecompanies have an option other than VCinvestments. ● Fresh fruit is one of the most under-servedsnack options. It is easily available on streetcorners but hygiene is a concern. Can eitherbrands or retailers work on models thattransform the vending of cut fruit as nutri-tious snacks? That would be a genuinehealthy clean snacking option that benefitscustomers, retailers and farmers.

The beauty about the snacking industryis that there is space for everyone.

Each of us have a few fixed slots forsnacks in our day. And there is a preferenceof a kind of snack for each of those slots.With multiple brands providing accessibleoptions for each of these preferences andslots, we are spoilt for choice. A golden age ofchoice has dawned.

The writer is an entrepreneurin the Indian Food industry and

a local food enthusiast

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In 2005, India facilitated the his-toric Peace Agreement betweenthe Maoists and the Seven PartyAlliance in Nepal, ending adecade-long war waged against

Nepal’s centuries-old monarchy. Adecade and a half later, Nepal andIndia hit the lowest point despite thetwo countries share close socio-cultur-al, political, economic, and strategicties. Similarly, Karan Singh, who hadsuccessfully convinced KingGyanendra to accept the people’sdemand and pave the way for democ-racy in 2006; visit by the ForeignSecretary S. Jaishankar to Kathmanduat the eleventh hour to convince theNepal Government to accommodatethe demands of Madhesis, was termedas the ‘wrong advice.’ What led Nepalto shift from ‘special relations’ withIndia to ‘conditional relations’ andforge strategic ties with China?

Many such questions seek ananswer as one begins to unfurl theRoti-Beti relations between India andNepal amidst ongoing India-Nepalfiasco.

The book entitled The Backfire inNepal: How India Lost Plot to China byUS-based Nepali journalist SanjayUpadhya helps find these answers. Thebook provides a detailed account ofNepal-India relations in the last fifteenyears. In his previous books, Nepal andthe Geo-Strategic Rivalry BetweenChina and India from Routledge in2012, and The Raj Lives: India in Nepalfrom Vitasta in 2008, Upadhya hadcarried ground-breaking works onIndia’s colonial past and its impact onNepal, and Nepal’s geo-strategic loca-tion between two Asian giants. Unlikehis previous research works, TheBackfire in Nepal is a journalisticaccount of Nepal-India relations focus-ing on China’s diplomatic and strategicsuccess in Nepal in recent years.

Divided into seven chapters, thebook provides a timeline of events inIndia-Nepal relations beginning withthe 2006 peace-building process inNepal which was officially overlookedby the United Nations Mission inNepal to facilitate inclusion of the for-mer Maoist fighters into the NepalArmy, their arms surrender and peace-ful conduct of first ConstituentAssembly elections in 2008. In the sec-ond chapter Provisional Posturing, theauthor has beautifully portrayed thefree-Tibet movement of 2008, whichgot China worried as it hosted worldathletes for the Beijing Olympics. Theunconditional support from a newMaoist Prime Minister Pushpa KamalaDahal alias Prachanda in crackingdown on the protesters and arrest ofTibetan refugees amidst global criti-

cism was a beneficial ‘New Nepal’China.

Between 2005 to 2020, Nepal hasforged new transit, trade, security andstrategic ties including Belt and RoadInitiative and first-ever Joint-Militaryexercises with China. Chinese invest-ment in Nepal accounts for more thansixty per cent of the total ForeignDirect Investment in Nepal, which wasonce topped by India until 2014.China’s annual aid to Nepal had alsoreached USD 128 from a meagre USD20-24 million in the past decade. Thenumber of high-level visits from Chinato Nepal including President Xi’s inOctober 2019 amidst border rowbetween India and Nepal overKalapani and Lipulekh, have providedChina with an ultra-edge in the politi-cal and foreign affairs of Nepal. Mostimportantly, the Chinese Ambassadorto Nepal has direct hotlines with the

President, Prime Minister, and Chief ofthe Nepal Army, allowing the formerto make public appearances in theseoffices and advise on administrativeand political matters. Millions of mili-tary assistance from China have helpedBeijing buy diplomatic immunity to itscitizens involved in scamming, phish-ing, and trafficking in Nepal.

While previous administrations inNepal strike a balance between Indiaand China including Prachanda whostood as a staunch critic of allegedIndian ‘expansionism’ since 1950, KPOli has used India’s 2015 unofficialborder blockade to his advantage inevoking ultra-nationalism based onanti-India manoeuvrings. Oli alsoholds India accountable for his ousterin 2016 from the Government, andwith his present tenure, he continuesto be revengeful. Meanwhile, post-December 13 dissolution of the

Parliament, Oli was seen taking amoderate view of India. However, itchanged very soon after he reiteratedKalapani, Lipulekh as Nepalese territo-ries, and relocated Ayodhya in Nepal.

On the other hand, despite a tur-bulent relationship, India’s humanitari-an assistance to Nepal helps ease thetensions. Noteworthy, India was thefirst country to reach on the groundafter a major earthquake had hit Nepalin 2015. India has also supplied a mil-lion doses of Covid-19 vaccine andother medical assistance includingmedicines, ambulances, and medicalappliances. However, India continuesto misread Nepal’s political develop-ments.

Prime Minister Modi’s 2014 visitafter seventeen years gap by an IndianPrime Minister to Nepal helped India“dispel many traditional Nepalese mis-givings about India policy”, but the

hidden push for a Hindu Rashtra inNepal backfired on India. India cannotdeny that its shortfalls are due toshort-sighted strategic interests andlack of promised deliveries to Nepal.For instance, in 2016, the EminentPersons Group (EPG) was formed torevise the 1950 Treaty and smoothenborder management. Still, five yearssince its formation, the final report ofthe EPG continues to dust in thePrime Minister’s Office. Nepal alsowaits for India to exchange the demon-etised Indian currency stuck with theNepal Rashtra Bank.

In contrast, the “Chinese haveacted purely on national interest”.There has been no compromise onChina’s security concerns loomingfrom a critical border between Tibetand Nepal. From cracking down the2008 free-Tibet movement to the sign-ing of Mutual Assistance Treaty inCriminal Matters in 2019, and Nepal’sunequivocal support to ‘One ChinaPolicy’, China has shown an uncom-promised bargain in Nepal. On theother hand, India continues to misreadhow Beijing sees Nepal — both interms of China’s visions of the past andthe future. This complicates the coretrilateral challenge: ensuring thatNepal is not sucked deeper into theSino-Indian vortex, only to be scornedfor aggravating the Asian giants’ rivalry.

As the events unfold between Indiaand Nepal, the book could not havebeen timelier. The book becomes amust-read for policymakers, journal-ists, researchers intending to knowrecent developments in India-Nepalrelations as it covers history and themost recent events. That said, the bookfalls short on the analytical front. Theauthor has also avoided dealing withdates which makes the reader seek dig-ital support that breaks the rhythm.Overall, unlike history books, thebooks’ language keeps the momentumfor a reader until a few scattered pagesof the last chapter: All in Mind, oftenrepeating the arguments. The book ispocket friendly and most recentadditions to the literature in India-Nepal relations with a focus on Chinafactor.

The reviewer is ICSSR DoctoralFellow, School of International Studies,

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)

Bani Basu’s Shwet Patharer Thala (APlate of White Marble) has in itsthree decades since publication got

deeply embedded within the Bengalireader’s psyche. One would like to thinkthat books such as this, a story of theyoung widow Bandana, in post-indepen-dence Calcutta, and her relentless battlesagainst orthodoxy, where a son and alover play nuanced and memorableroles, fortify the winds of liberalismwhich are on retreat in our troubledtimes.

So it is definitely good news that thismuch-admired novel has now beenmade available to readers in English in apitch-perfect translation by NandiniGuha. Many who would have beenintroduced to this story through themovie featuring a sterling performanceby Aparna Sen as the widowed Bandana,would nonetheless do well to read thebook because the layers of the story withits depths and nuances are not alwayscaptured in the language of celluloid.

Bandana is married to the elder sonAbhimanyu of the well-to-doBhattacharjee family of Shyambazar innorth Kolkata but early in the plot thehusband dies of heart attack. It is inter-esting to note that in the movie it is a caraccident which kills him and there areother such departures from Basu’s origi-nal plot. Immediately after the husband’sdeath the weight of patriarchy, personi-fied here by the father-in-law and theacquiescing members of the joint familyof her in-laws, come to bear upon her.Bandana is pushed into a life of forcedausterity and abnegation where she hasto wear white saris, live like an asceticand have frugal meals on the floor froma plate of white marble.

The customs of this prejudicedhousehold are revealed at the beginningwhen the author writes, ‘The men of thehouse, the ruler class that is, did not

have to bother about any restriction.They were reserved for the women andwomen alone.’

The first knock on the edifice ofthis stultifying tradition comes fromher son Abhiroop, still a child, whosuffers convulsions and the doctormakes it clear that his mother’s suddentransformation into a white-sari cladascetic is the cause. Despite their reluc-tance, her in-laws have to relent andmake some concessions in allowing herto wear a coloured sari but soon newsituations bring the clash with ortho-doxy out in the open.

In the carefully woven plot appearother characters like Mili and Koli, twosisters-in-law of which the formerbecomes a conduit for the widow’soppression while Koli is more of a confi-

dante who eventually raises her voice inBandana’s support. But there is no easyresolution of Bandana’s woes at her in-laws’ till the appearance of an uncle, thenomad-like Somnath babu, who takesher away from the Bhattacharjees.

Still, back at her own home, thingswon’t be easy as with the kindly uncle’spassing and Abhiroop’s coming of age,new tensions begin to simmer whichmight very well tear her apart. Bani Basudevelops her characters with love and akind of academic rigour which wouldappeal to students of literature whilepleasing the seeker of a good story. It isalso not difficult to draw a line connect-ing Tagore’s powerful protagonist Mrinalof Streer Patra (A Wife’s Letter),Saratchandra’s equally uncompromisingheroine Kamal in Sesh Prosno (The Final

Question) and the nonconformistBandana of this novel, and examine howthese portraits of liberated womenreflect each other across the corridors ofBengali fiction.

Calcutta, from the decaying splen-dour of the ‘north’ to a ‘south’ ofHindustani classical music concerts andbusy flowing streets is also a character inthe background of this finely craftednovel and often you want to linger andenjoy the passing scenery — the passageof time itself, as the river of the narrativedraws you along:

‘The concert came to an end afterthe Bhairavi Thumri. It was past mid-night. The roads were empty but well-Iit.The sky above was full of stars. Bandanahad never seen Kolkata looking so beau-tiful. The huge silhouette of the Victoria

Memorial could be seen like some mys-terious, celestial presence in the dis-tance.’

But most of all you read this book tomarvel at the many roles a strongwoman like Bandana plays as she jugglesbetween mother, daughter-in-law,oppressed widow, and finally an emo-tional connect with her son’s art teacherSudipto Sarkar. Which of these willredeem which will break her apart or isit some totally new calling, a wider streetthat will finally let her discover herselfbehind many masks? This engagingnovel has some answers which speak toour time as it did to the one it so bril-liantly evokes.

The writer is the author of TheButterfly Effect (Niyogi) and other works

of fiction and translation

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=��5�� 5�� Xinjiang has become an

Achilles hill for China.The indigenous Uighur peopleof this western province, thelargest of the administrativeregions of the People’s Republicof China (PRC), have had thehistory of discord with theauthorities in Beijing as thestrategically located Xinjiangborders with eight countries -Mongolia, Russia, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,Afghanistan, Pakistan andIndia.

Uighurs are the Turkic-speaking Muslims and Islam isan important part of their lifeand identity. Importantly, theyregard themselves as cultural-ly and ethnically closer to thepeople of Central Asia than thepeople of mainland China andare one of largely persecutedMuslim minorities in Xinjiang,including Kazakhs, Uzbeks,Kyrgyz, and Hui. Thoughadministratively, the region,known as Xinjiang UighurAutonomous Region (XUAR),is autonomous like the TibetAutonomous Region (TAR), itsadministrative control is pure-ly in the hands of the CentralGovernment. There are Uighurminorities also in China’sneighbouring countries such asUzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan andKazakhstan. And some ofUighurs are living in Australia.

The historic ties betweenXinjiang and Beijing have beentroublesome since the begin-ning of its accession to thePRC. The region had inter-mittent autonomy and occa-sional independence before itbecame an integral part ofChina in 1949. However, anEast Turkistan State wasdeclared before 1949, but itcould not sustain and finally,the region had to be mergedwith the PRC, then under theiron rule of legendary MaoZedong. But then a major fil-lip to the separatist movementcame after the breakdown ofthe Union of Soviet SocialistRepublics (USSR) in the 1990s.

Also, these movementsreceived an indirect supportfrom the rise of independentMuslim States across theCentral Asian region. Withmassive crackdown from theChinese State, the separatistmovement and its leaders couldhardly make an impact on thestatus of the province.

Why the XUAR is againturning into a boiling point forChina?

Today, the Chinese state isall out to prevent the growth of

Islamic terror in this restiveprovince. In the name of fight-ing terror, the CommunistState is creating complete para-noia among the locals. Butmany say that the ethnic ten-sion brewing in Xinjiang is dueto economic and cultural fac-tors long aided by the author-ities in the mainland.

The gargantuan develop-ment projects propelled byBeijing, both to eradicatepoverty and to attract huge for-eign direct investment (FDI),have brought a bunch of youngand technically qualified Hanmigrants from eastern parts ofChina to the XUAR. And thecentral administrative author-ities have specifically promot-ed the Hans so as to attractmore of them to the Xinjiangprovince. This has fast changedthe demographic scenario ofthe region. At the same time,the commercial and culturalactivities of the Uighurs havebeen systematically curtailed bythe Chinese State. This hasfuelled tension between thelocal Uighurs and the Hanmigrants. Further the author-ities have gradually increasedsurveillance and control overreligious activities by imposingdraconian restrictions on

Islamic practices like fewermosques and religious schools.Even the Government depart-ments in Xinjiang have bannedthe Muslim civil servants fromobserving fasting duringRamzan. A report published bythe Amnesty International stat-ed that the authorities crimi-nalised what they labelled “ille-gal religious” and “separatistactivities” and clamped downon “peaceful expressions ofcultural identity”.

This aptly demonstrateshow Beijing has come up withsevere measures both to controlthe assertion of the Uighuridentity and to change thedemographic structure of theprovince.

With the coming of XiJinping to power in 2012, thestate agencies in connivancewith Chinese CommunistParty (CCP) officials are fastmaking the province a fortress.In this process, the centralgovernment is making severalvocational training centres inthe name of maintaining skilledworkshops for the localUighurs. But many activistsacross the globe say these arelike concentration camps fortorturing the Uighurs and pun-ishing the erring elements.

And China, denies all such alle-gations raised either by foreigngovernments or prominenthuman rights groups. Chinahas often blamed the EastTurkestan Islamic Movement(ETIM) and its followers for allsorts of violence and sepa-ratist activities carried out bothin Xinjiang and in other partsof China. In 2013, a carploughed into a crowd andburst into flames in the historicTiananmen Square in Beijing.Even incidents of mass stab-bing in Kunming and YunnanProvince in the past accompa-nied by killing of dozens bysuspected Uighur separatistsand their agents have alertedBeijing to spread a reign of ter-ror over Xinjiang.

In fact, the separatists’killing spree has spilled out ofXinjiang today. And this hasfast becoming a serious con-cern for both the CCP and theChinese state.

Therefore, this provinceof China is on the top agendaof both the domestic and for-eign security agencies. Thereasons are: first, the constantresistance coming from thelocal Uighurs; second, Islamicextremism that is gainingground around the region;

third, stability in the region iscritical to the safe rolling out ofthe signature project of Xi’sprestigious Belt and RoadInitiative (BRI) or One BeltOne Road (OBOR); strategiccrossroad for trade and invest-ment in Central and SouthAsia, West Asia and further toentire Europe.

However, much more thanall these, at the moment andeven for future, Xinjiang is sit-uated on the border areas ofIndia’s Ladakh region. Theeastern part of Ladakh becamea disputed area between bothIndia and China since theoccupation of Aksai Chin in1962 by the latter. And today,India’s border conflict withChina that has been continu-ing in eastern Ladakh almostfor a year has made the XUARmore strategically important,than the TAR, for Beijing.

So from this, it can safelybe said that the political boss-es in the Communist Party maytighten the security and mobil-ity of people in Xinjiang morethan ever.

Interestingly, China hasbeen trying to impose strictsecurity control acrossXinjiang. Since 2016, ChenQuanguo, the Party Secretary

for the XUAR, has dramatical-ly enhanced the security appa-ratus of the province.

There has been a wide-ranging international cam-paign against Beijing for mas-sive violations of human rightsof the Uighur Muslims in thiswestern province. Washingtonhas officially declared thatChina is committing genocideand crime against humanity onthe Uighur Muslims.

Just before Joe Biden tookup the reins of the Presidentialoffice, then Secretary of StateMike Pompeo said, “This geno-cide is going on…and we arewitnessing the systematicattempt to destroy Uighurs bythe Chinese Party State. Sinceat least March 2017, the localauthorities dramatically esca-lated their decades long cam-paign of repression againstUighur Muslims and mem-bers of other ethnic and reli-gious minority groups, includ-ing ethnic Kazakhs and ethnicKyrgyz.”

The veracity and the scaleof these intensive atrocitieshave confirmed as reported bythe locals and some of theresearch organisations of glob-al repute. In a report called“Sterilizations, IUDs, and

Mandatory Birth Control: TheCCP’s Campaign to SuppressUighur Birth Rates in Xinjiang”released by the JamestownFoundation, based inWashington in June 2020, says,“Natural population growth inXinjiang has declined dramat-ically; growth rates fell by 84per cent in the two largestUighur prefectures between2015 and 2018 and declinedfurther in several minorityregions in 2019. In 2020, oneUighur region set an unprece-dented near-zero birth-ratetarget: a mere 1.05 per mile,compared to 19.66 per mile in2018. This was intended to beachieved through family plan-ning work.”

It has been found thatintrauterine contraceptivedevices (IUD), sterilisationsand forced family separationscame into force since a sweep-ing crackdown started in theregion in the later part of 2016.

Thus, Xinjiang has becomea draconian police state. Thelocal witnesses account ofintrusive state interference ofthe state into the reproductiveautonomy of the Uighurs andother minority groups in theXUAR. And this kind of a prac-tice has become ubiquitousacross the region. The Uighursfeel that one fine day all will beexterminated from their home-land.

Recently, a legal opinionhas been published in Britain.And it has also clearly claimedthat Beijing is carrying out thecrime of genocide against theUighur Muslim people. Thusinternational pressure ismounting against China today.Will Xi regime listen to allthese? Of course not, for now.However, the best such con-certed effort must come frominternational organisationssuch as the UN, top humanrights agencies and all the bigWestern nations.

China’s growth is not detri-mental to the global economy,but it must be ensured that itstays in the international arenaa law-abiding nation. TheUighurs must be saved fromphysical elimination at best bythe Chinese state. They allhave the right to live the waythey want. Their basic rightsand freedoms must be restoredand respected by Beijing. Elsemore resistance will grow forsure from the Uighur commu-nity.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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��D��* ��7��Muslims’ political behav-

iour varies across India. Itcustomarily consolidates itselfwith the “secular” parties wher-ever the political race is direct-ly between the secular andnon-secular narratives.However, in States with moremultifaceted political compe-tition, they appear dividedamong political parties for avariety of local or class interests.

As far as the Muslims ofWest Bengal are concerned,they have always played aninstrumental and significantrole as voters. The Congress,the Communist parties and theTMC have always earned con-siderable political and uprightsupport of Muslims.

Since Muslims’ conditionwas quite backward economi-cally, politically and educa-tionally, they expected consid-erable sustenance from theestablishment of all time.

According to the SacharCommittee report in 2006 onthe social, economic and edu-cational status of Muslims inthe country Bengal was placedin the category of “worst” per-forming States. Muslims arelargely deprived of the processof economic development andits benefits.

Furthermore, according tothe post-Sachar EvaluationCommittee Report, Muslimsare lagging behind theScheduled Castes and the

Scheduled Tribes in all spheresof developmental programmes.

In fact, both theCommunists and the TMC,though hesitantly and mutely,tried to work on the Muslim’supliftment to some extent so asnot to be accused of “Muslimappeasement” from theOpposition like the BJP, etc.The minority upliftment pro-grammes for the betterment of

the minorities either in Bengalor anywhere else in the coun-try, initiated by any ruling par-ties, have been termed asMuslim appeasement.

For the deteriorated con-dition of Muslims not only inBengal but also in other Statesappears to be the lack of unityand cohesion in its leadership.Furthermore, the personalrivalry or disputes, division

among themselves due to per-sonal and political interestshave resulted in creating anatmosphere of fear amongMuslims that paved the way forthe political parties to treatthem as mere vote bank.

In the present scenario,the proliferation of Muslimparties in Bengal politics is cer-tainly going to make Muslimsprone to be used as vote banks

once again as AsaduddinOwaisi and prominent BengaliMuslim leader Abbas Siddiquihave established an under-standing to go together in theState elections.

It is noteworthy that theMuslim vote bank played aninstrumental role in the land-slide victory of MamataBanerjee over the CPI(M)-ledLeft Front.

The entry of the damaging-duo Owaisi and Abbas Siddiquiwill surely create confusionamong Muslim voters whohave significant influence onnear about 100-110 seatstogether in the State. Mostextensive districts areMurshidabad, Malda, Birbhum,24 Parganas, Dinajpur,Bardawan and Nadia.

This is worth noting thatNadia is the place chosen by theBJP to launch its StatewideRath Yatra to gather public sup-port. They perhaps know theimportance of the regionswhere minority votes can sub-stantially help Mamata’s TMC.

Muslims constitute 27 percent of the population in theState and division of Muslimvotes will consequently help theBJP. On the other hand,AIMIM’s aggressive minoritypolitics will certainly suit theBJP’s aggressive Hindutva nar-rative. This is why some so-called secular parties accuseOwaisi of being “agent of BJP”and “vote katua”. The presenceof the damaging-duo is morelikely to prove the politicalstrategist Prashant Kishore’santicipation wrong where hestrongly emphasised to retrainthe BJP to less than three-digitnumbers.

Bengal had been a verysensitive region for communalviolence but no major com-munal violence has been

reported after Independence.The two-and-a-half croreMuslims of West Bengal, whoseancestors happily rejected twonations theory and chose to livein India, have equally andadmirably contributed tonation building.

Therefore, it is the pru-dential and democratic respon-sibility of every ruling party, beit in the State or at the Centre,to ensure the safety and secu-rity of the Muslims of theState, as they have been doingfor so long. Owaisi’s foray, firstin Maharashtra, then Biharand now in Bengal, has worriedthe Opposition heavily as hepaved the way for the BJP bydividing minority votes inMaharashtra and Bihar.

On the other hand, quittingthe AIMIM to join the TMC,Sheik Abdul Kalam, formerWest Bengal acting president ofAIMIM, shows the beginningof the confusions amongMuslims of Bengal.

This is just the beginning.In fact, Bengal is most likely towitness a fierce battle in theAssembly elections due inApril-May 2021. Additionally,Muslim votes will certainly bedecisive in the formation ofGovernment in West Bengal.

(The writer is a facultymember of King Abdul AzizUniversity, Jeddah, SaudiArabia)

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So long as the indwelling soul isthere, one is alive. And, whenwithdrawn, the gross body turns

into a dead matter. Here again, mindand the element of consciousness shallnot be outplaying in full strength, norwould it be possible to effortlessly fol-low the process.

Accordingly, it would, be desirableto subject oneself to Yoga-asana, whichis a set of physical exercises set in tunewith breathing cycle, as laid down bysage Patanjali. Following the process,through regulated body movementsand increased supply of oxygen, thejoints remain supple, softness of mus-cles is secured, bodily agility gets tonedup, and one remains physically fit. Theprocess, however, should not be pur-sued unguided. For, only a trainedexpert would know as to what exerciseswould suit the individual, based onone’s individualistic health vulnerabili-ties. Unguided, it could have adversebearing on one’s health mechanism.

Next in line comes Pranayama,preparatory to dhyana. Pranayama, inapparent terms seems to be just abreath regulating exercise, but actuallyit is more than that. Our breath cycle

holds the key to healthy living andlongevity. For, it does not simply bringin fresh oxygen supply. At subtle level itcarries life forces (Prana as is termed inIndian context). So long as we arebreathing, we are in receipt of life forcesthat keep us alive, animate all ourdynamic functionalities, including ourbody organs, which, when stops, thegross body becomes a dead matter. Theway we breathe defines the quality ofour bodily and mental health as well astheir agility, and hence the need forcorrect breathing.

Pursuing Pranayama process, itbecomes possible to slow down thebreathing cycle. Consequently, in thefirst place, the ageing process getsretarded. For, as many times the breathcount comes down, the run of vitalinternal organs do also get correspond-ingly get reduced, as they are tuned tothe breath cycle. This way the runningtime of the vital organs comes down,and thereby their servicing abilitiesincrease in terms of time frame, with-out compromising with the oxygenintake level, vital to a healthy living.The beauty of the process is that ithelps augmenting oxygenation of the

brain, thus, vitalising its dynamism fur-ther.

It will not be out of place to men-tion here that an elephant supposedlybreathes 10 to 12 times a minute, andlives for around 100 years. A tortoise isbelieved to breathe 3 to 4 times aminute and survives up to 300 years.But a dog which keeps breathing brisklyhas an average life of around 12 yearsonly. So, as we slow down our breathingcycle, our aging process slows down,and lifespan would expand.

Breathing cycle relates to our stateof mind as well. It will be interesting tonote here that a human being ordinarilybreathes 18 counts per minute. Butwhen in an agitated state, the breathcount goes up to somewhere between30 and 36. So, by reducing our breathcount, even the mental agitation getscalmed down.

Pranayama too, is a delicateprocess, not difficult though. Therefore,the process needs to be pursued underguidance of a trained expert. Theprocess as such is not being discussed,as it should be learnt from a trainedexpert. But in a passing reference, itneeds to be mentioned here that the

process involves holding the breath fora while (Kumbhaka as is termed inIndian terminology) in between everyinhalation and exhalation. One is sup-posed to dwell on space in between theinhalation and exhalation. For, thisspace is at rest. Not simply that, one’sattention is straightaway on the elementof consciousness available there. So,dwelling on this space, for a smallstretch of time though, but it virtuallyputs us in a state of meditation. As oneprogresses in the process, one has directrealisation of the life forces driving us.In this sense, pranayama can be said tobe the beginning of meditation process.

Following the above two processes— Asana and Pranayama — helpensure body-mind coordination, apartfrom toning up the body, mind, as wellas nerves. This is vital for proper func-tioning of our internal communicationmechanism. With this, the third andfourth steps of eightfold path get cov-ered, and the ground is now laid downfor pursuing the dhyana process proper.

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ˆ ˛ ˚ ˜ - the pioneer · hindu officer in muslim-pop-ulated region, shah said, “i am amazed...

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