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P rime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the first phase of the pan-India rollout of world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination drive on Saturday at 10:30 am via video confer- encing. The drive involves two vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — developed by AstraZeneca-Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech respectively. A day before the vaccina- tion drive against coronavirus, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the step is “probably the beginning of the end” of Covid-19. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emer- gency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive. This vaccination pro- gramme will cover the entire length and breadth of the coun- try, with a total of 3006 session sites across all States and UTs which will be connected virtu- ally throughout the exercise. In the first phase, priority groups and healthcare workers, both in Government and pri- vate sectors, including ICDS workers, in all-around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinat- ed at each of the session sites. Adequate doses of both vac- cines have been already deliv- ered across the country. India, which reported first Covid case late January last year is currently the world’s second worst-hit country with over 1.05 crore cases and over 1.51 lakh deaths. Over, 213,000 cases are currently active. The phased rollouts will initially vaccinate one crore healthcare and two crore front- line workers, followed by around 27 crore senior citizens and people with co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, organ transplants, etc. In all, 30 crore people are going to be inoculated by July this year. Speaking at the 146th India Meteorological Department foundation day, Vardhan cau- tioned that even if the vacci- nation drive is on, there should not be lowering of guard and people must follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. “Tomorrow is an impor- tant day...It is the last phase of the battle against coronavirus. I say, this is probably the begin- ning of the end of Covid now which is going to start tomor- row,” Vardhan, who is also Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister, said. The Minister on Friday also reviewed preparations for the vaccination drive as he visited the Dedicated Covid Control Room which has been set up on the Nirman Bhawan premises of the Ministry. He scrutinised the working of CoWIN, an online digital platform, which will be used to drive the Covid-19 vaccination programme in the country. It will facilitate real-time infor- mation of vaccine stocks, stor- age temperature and individu- alised tracking of beneficiaries for Covid-19 vaccine. This dig- ital platform will assist pro- gramme managers across national, State, and district levels while conducting vacci- nation sessions. It will help them track beneficiary cover- age, beneficiary dropouts, ses- sions planned v/s sessions held and vaccine utilisation, said an official from the Ministry. The platform enables national and State administra- tors to view & sort data of ben- eficiaries as per their gender, age & co-morbidity. They can also view the metadata of vac- cinations and Adverse Event Following Immunization reported from constituent dis- tricts across States and UTs. New Delhi: Delhi recorded 295 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday, the lowest in more than eight months, even as city Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the positivity rate has slipped to an “all-time low” of 0.44 per cent. T he fund collection drive for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya kicked off on Friday with President Ram Nath Kovind donating 5 lakh. The President made the contribution to the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerath Kshetra Trust set up by the Government to look after the construction and management of the temple. “President Shri Ramnath Kovind ji contributes 5,00,100 for the construction of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya,” said Champat Rai, general secretary of the trust. A delegation comprising Vishva Hindu Parishad’s inter- national working president Alok Kumar, Teerath Kshetra Trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri, and temple construction committee head Nripendra Misra met the President on Friday to seek his contribution. The VHP and associated bodies have launched a fund- raising campaign — Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan — from January 15 to February 5 where they will reach out to Hindu families in different States. T hree people, including a child, were killed in a fire that broke out at a scrap shop in West Delhi’s Kirti Nagar area late on Thursday night. Police said that two bodies are yet to be identified but the third body has been identified as 20 year-old Rohit, a driver and resident of Kamla Nehru Camp. Prima facie, it has come to notice that Rohit came to the spot and started to douse the fire but got trapped in the fire and fell in the drain, police said. According to fire depart- ment, a call was received at around 10.50 pm and seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot. However, the fire from the scrap shop soon engulfed a small shanty built above the shop where family of one Monu, who worked at the scrap shop, lived. B eware, those riding bikes and driving cars without rear-view mirrors, and rear seat belts in cars will have to face action as the traffic police has launched a special drive to create awareness among public. Police said a special drive is being carried out in West Delhi from January 13 to January 23 wherein public are educated on the importance of usage of rear-view mirror and rear seat belt in order to stay safe and prevent accidents. Prashant Gautam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Traffic, Western Range, said the absence of rear view mirrors and rear seat belts results in serious injuries and fatalities during accidents. “There is also very little com- pliance with provisions for use of rear-seat belts in cars. This is reflective of the poor aware- ness among riders,” he said. T he BJP announced four candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council polls, including three candi- dates who were re-nominated and the fourth candidate is bureaucrat turned politician AK Sharma, who joined the BJP on Thursday. The re-nominated candi- dates are deputy Chief Minister Dr Dinesh Sharma, State BJP president Swantra Deo Singh and Laxman Acharya. The BJP is yet to announce the remain- ing 6 candidates. The last date for filing nomination is January 18. There are a total 12 seats that will go to the polls. BJP sources said a Cabinet reshuffle is likely after the council polls. Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma is likely to be the next chairman of the UP Legislative council as incumbent Ramesh Yadav, who belongs to the Samajwadi Party, is retiring on January 31. AK Sharma, former IAS officer who is native of Mau district in east UP, is likely to be inducted as a Deputy Chief Minister. Sharma, a trusted lieutenant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a former IAS officer from Gujarat cadre of 1988 batch. T he ninth round talks between the farmers and the Government on Friday again failed to end the stale- mate over the farm laws. While farmers insisted on the repeal of the laws and legal guarantee of the MSP, the Government asked them to be more flexible in their approach and expressed willingness for nec- essary amendments. However, both sides have agreed to continue the dialogue despite the Supreme Court constituting a committee to mediate on the issue. The next round of talks will be held on January 19, the day the court-appointed committee is likely to start consulting stakeholders to end the impasse. This was the first meeting after the Supreme Court stayed the enactment of farm laws until further orders’ and appointed a four-member committee to resolve the dead- lock over farm laws. In the meeting that lasted for nearly five hours, including a lunch break, the Government requested unions to create an informal group to discuss finer points of the laws so that a way forward can be found in the wake of the Supreme Court’s direction. Besides their major demands, unions alleged police repression on people associat- ed as well as not associated with the ongoing protests, NIA raids on transporters and arthiyas in Punjab who are supporting farmers’ protests and were pro- viding logistic support for the agitation. The farmer representatives have also raised questions on the cases that have been lodged against the farmers and urged the Government to address this and prevent it. During the meeting, the Karnal incident where agitating farmers ran- sacked the venue of Manohar Lal Khattar’s “kisan mahapan- chayat” came up. “Talks took place over three farm laws in a cordial atmosphere and detailed dis- cussions took place on some issues, but couldn’t reach a decisive stage. We suggested they can form an informal group of people who can understand the laws better and prepare some concrete pro- posals, detailing what are farm- ers’ expectations and what clauses are problematic for them, which the Government can consider with an open mind,” Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said after the meeting with the farmer leaders. B engali cine star-turned Trinamool Congress MP Shatabdi Roy on Friday said she was going to Delhi where “it may not be out of ordinary to meet big politicians” like Home Minister Amit Shah. Roy on Thursday set off ripples in the party ranks after posting a cryptic Facebook message dropping hints about a “decision” that she might take by “2 pm on January 16”. In Delhi, Amit Shah met senior BJP leaders from West Bengal to discuss strategy for the coming Assembly elec- tions. Sate BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and senior leaders like Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijayvargiya were among those who called on Shah. Even as Bengal BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said that senior politicians were welcome in his party if they changed their ideology, Roy came out more vociferously on Friday con- demning her party leadership for partisan ways. “There is no point approaching the topmost TMC leadership with one’s issues as there is no surety that they will be redressed … besides you do not know whether you will get chased for this or not,” Roy said hours after resigning as the chairperson of Tarapeeth Development Authority. She was asked as to why she was not taking up her issues with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Reacting to the matter, senior party MP Saugato Roy said, “Shatabdi has nothing against the Chief Minister …and all other issues can be addressed … though I think she will not quit the party.” Whether the three-time Birbhum MP would be joining the BJP on Saturday was not made clear by her but the actor-turned politician con- sidered close to senior Bengal Minister Subroto Mukherjee said she would “take a decision in Delhi.” On whether she would meet Amit Shah, she said, “I can’t say because it is not out of ordinary to meet big politicians like him.” Earlier she said, “If I take a decision, then I will let you know at 2 pm on the 16th of January.” Her Thursday Fan Club post reads: “It feels as if some people do not want that I go to you. I am not informed about many programmes. If I am not informed, how can I go? This is causing me mental anguish.” Roy, who was available for comments to the media outside her residence, however, could not be contacted by senior leaders like Sudip Bandopadhyay and Derek O Brien over telephone, party sources said. F or health employees, the first phase of Covid-19 immuni- sation will take place in Madhya Pradesh at 10.30am, announced Health Minister Prabhuram Chaudhary in a media sympo- sium on Friday. The first phase will cover 4.16 lakh health workers then frontline workers and people above 50 years of age and those with comorbidity will be includ- ed in the drive, Chuadhary said. He clarified presently minors and pregnant women won’t be included in the vaccination drive. Those with cough, cold and fever symptoms will be made to wait four weeks before they are immunised, said Medical Education minister Vishwas Sarang. Arrangements are made to meet any eventuality during the immunisation, added the minister.In first phase, 4.16 lakh vaccines will be administered to frontline workers. Out of these, 3.16 lakh are government sector health workers. The vaccines will be taken out on First Expiry, First Out basis, added Sarang.The ministers urged the public to refrain from spreading rumours about the vaccines. Public is rais- ing questions on whether politi- cians and officers will be vacci- nated in first phase, so I wish to clarify that initial phases will only cover frontline workers and high risk groups. `Continued on Page 3 RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

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    Prime Minister NarendraModi will flag off the firstphase of the pan-India rolloutof world’s largest Covid-19vaccination drive on Saturdayat 10:30 am via video confer-encing.

    The drive involves twovaccines — Covishield andCovaxin — developed byAstraZeneca-Serum Instituteof India and Bharat Biotechrespectively.

    A day before the vaccina-tion drive against coronavirus,Union Health Minister HarshVardhan on Friday said the stepis “probably the beginning ofthe end” of Covid-19. TheDrugs Controller General ofIndia (DCGI) had earlier thismonth approved OxfordCovid-19 vaccine Covishield,manufactured by the SerumInstitute, and indigenouslydeveloped Covaxin of BharatBiotech for restricted emer-gency use in the country,paving the way for a massiveinoculation drive.

    This vaccination pro-gramme will cover the entirelength and breadth of the coun-try, with a total of 3006 session

    sites across all States and UTswhich will be connected virtu-ally throughout the exercise.

    In the first phase, prioritygroups and healthcare workers,both in Government and pri-vate sectors, including ICDSworkers, in all-around 100beneficiaries will be vaccinat-ed at each of the session sites.Adequate doses of both vac-cines have been already deliv-ered across the country. India,which reported first Covidcase late January last year iscurrently the world’s secondworst-hit country with over1.05 crore cases and over 1.51lakh deaths. Over, 213,000cases are currently active.

    The phased rollouts willinitially vaccinate one crorehealthcare and two crore front-line workers, followed byaround 27 crore senior citizensand people with co-morbiditieslike diabetes, hypertension,organ transplants, etc. In all, 30crore people are going to beinoculated by July this year.

    Speaking at the 146th IndiaMeteorological Departmentfoundation day, Vardhan cau-tioned that even if the vacci-nation drive is on, there shouldnot be lowering of guard and

    people must follow Covid-19appropriate behaviour.

    “Tomorrow is an impor-tant day...It is the last phase of

    the battle against coronavirus.I say, this is probably the begin-ning of the end of Covid nowwhich is going to start tomor-

    row,” Vardhan, who is alsoScience and Technology andEarth Sciences Minister, said.

    The Minister on Friday

    also reviewed preparations forthe vaccination drive as hevisited the Dedicated CovidControl Room which has beenset up on the Nirman Bhawanpremises of the Ministry.

    He scrutinised the workingof CoWIN, an online digitalplatform, which will be used todrive the Covid-19 vaccinationprogramme in the country. Itwill facilitate real-time infor-mation of vaccine stocks, stor-age temperature and individu-alised tracking of beneficiariesfor Covid-19 vaccine. This dig-ital platform will assist pro-gramme managers across

    national, State, and districtlevels while conducting vacci-nation sessions. It will helpthem track beneficiary cover-age, beneficiary dropouts, ses-sions planned v/s sessions heldand vaccine utilisation, said anofficial from the Ministry.

    The platform enablesnational and State administra-tors to view & sort data of ben-eficiaries as per their gender,age & co-morbidity. They canalso view the metadata of vac-cinations and Adverse EventFollowing Immunizationreported from constituent dis-tricts across States and UTs.

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    The BJP announced fourcandidates for the UttarPradesh Legislative Councilpolls, including three candi-dates who were re-nominatedand the fourth candidate isbureaucrat turned politicianAK Sharma, who joined theBJP on Thursday.

    The re-nominated candi-dates are deputy Chief MinisterDr Dinesh Sharma, State BJPpresident Swantra Deo Singhand Laxman Acharya. The BJPis yet to announce the remain-ing 6 candidates. The last datefor filing nomination is January18. There are a total 12 seatsthat will go to the polls.

    BJP sources said a Cabinetreshuffle is likely after thecouncil polls. Deputy ChiefMinister Dinesh Sharma islikely to be the next chairman

    of the UP Legislative council asincumbent Ramesh Yadav, whobelongs to the Samajwadi Party,is retiring on January 31.

    AK Sharma, former IASofficer who is native of Maudistrict in east UP, is likely tobe inducted as a Deputy ChiefMinister. Sharma, a trustedlieutenant of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, is a former IASofficer from Gujarat cadre of1988 batch.

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    The ninth round talksbetween the farmers andthe Government on Fridayagain failed to end the stale-mate over the farm laws. Whilefarmers insisted on the repealof the laws and legal guaranteeof the MSP, the Governmentasked them to be more flexiblein their approach andexpressed willingness for nec-essary amendments.

    However, both sides haveagreed to continue the dialoguedespite the Supreme Courtconstituting a committee tomediate on the issue.

    The next round of talks willbe held on January 19, the daythe court-appointed committeeis likely to start consultingstakeholders to end theimpasse. This was the firstmeeting after the SupremeCourt stayed the enactment offarm laws until further orders’and appointed a four-membercommittee to resolve the dead-lock over farm laws.

    In the meeting that lastedfor nearly five hours, includinga lunch break, the Governmentrequested unions to create aninformal group to discuss finerpoints of the laws so that a wayforward can be found in thewake of the Supreme Court’s

    direction.Besides their major

    demands, unions alleged policerepression on people associat-ed as well as not associated withthe ongoing protests, NIA raidson transporters and arthiyas inPunjab who are supportingfarmers’ protests and were pro-viding logistic support for theagitation.

    The farmer representativeshave also raised questions onthe cases that have been lodged

    against the farmers and urgedthe Government to addressthis and prevent it. During themeeting, the Karnal incidentwhere agitating farmers ran-sacked the venue of ManoharLal Khattar’s “kisan mahapan-chayat” came up.

    “Talks took place overthree farm laws in a cordialatmosphere and detailed dis-cussions took place on someissues, but couldn’t reach adecisive stage. We suggested

    they can form an informalgroup of people who canunderstand the laws better andprepare some concrete pro-posals, detailing what are farm-ers’ expectations and whatclauses are problematic forthem, which the Governmentcan consider with an openmind,” Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar said after the meetingwith the farmer leaders.

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    Bengali cine star-turnedTrinamool Congress MPShatabdi Roy on Friday said shewas going to Delhi where “itmay not be out of ordinary tomeet big politicians” like HomeMinister Amit Shah.

    Roy on Thursday set offripples in the party ranks afterposting a cryptic Facebookmessage dropping hints abouta “decision” that she mighttake by “2 pm on January 16”.

    In Delhi, Amit Shah metsenior BJP leaders from WestBengal to discuss strategy forthe coming Assembly elec-tions. Sate BJP chief DilipGhosh and senior leaders likeMukul Roy and KailashVijayvargiya were among thosewho called on Shah.

    Even as Bengal BJPspokesperson SamikBhattacharya said that seniorpoliticians were welcome in hisparty if they changed their

    ideology, Roy came out morevociferously on Friday con-demning her party leadershipfor partisan ways.

    “There is no pointapproaching the topmost TMCleadership with one’s issues asthere is no surety that they willbe redressed … besides you donot know whether you will getchased for this or not,” Roy saidhours after resigning as thechairperson of TarapeethDevelopment Authority.

    She was asked as to whyshe was not taking up herissues with Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee.

    Reacting to the matter,senior party MP Saugato Roy

    said, “Shatabdi has nothingagainst the Chief Minister…and all other issues can beaddressed … though I thinkshe will not quit the party.”

    Whether the three-timeBirbhum MP would be joiningthe BJP on Saturday was notmade clear by her but theactor-turned politician con-sidered close to senior BengalMinister Subroto Mukherjeesaid she would “take a decisionin Delhi.”

    On whether she wouldmeet Amit Shah, she said, “Ican’t say because it is not out ofordinary to meet big politicianslike him.” Earlier she said, “If Itake a decision, then I will letyou know at 2 pm on the 16thof January.”

    Her Thursday Fan Clubpost reads: “It feels as if somepeople do not want that I go toyou. I am not informed aboutmany programmes. If I am notinformed, how can I go? Thisis causing me mental anguish.”

    Roy, who was available forcomments to the media outsideher residence, however, couldnot be contacted by seniorleaders like SudipBandopadhyay and Derek OBrien over telephone, partysources said.

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    For health employees, the firstphase of Covid-19 immuni-sation will take place in MadhyaPradesh at 10.30am, announcedHealth Minister PrabhuramChaudhary in a media sympo-sium on Friday.

    The first phase will cover4.16 lakh health workers thenfrontline workers and peopleabove 50 years of age and thosewith comorbidity will be includ-ed in the drive, Chuadhary said.He clarified presently minors andpregnant women won’t beincluded in the vaccination drive.

    Those with cough, cold andfever symptoms will be made towait four weeks before they areimmunised, said MedicalEducation minister Vishwas

    Sarang. Arrangements are madeto meet any eventuality duringthe immunisation, added theminister.In first phase, 4.16 lakhvaccines will be administered tofrontline workers. Out of these,3.16 lakh are government sectorhealth workers. The vaccines willbe taken out on First Expiry, FirstOut basis, added Sarang.The

    ministers urged the public torefrain from spreading rumoursabout the vaccines. Public is rais-ing questions on whether politi-cians and officers will be vacci-nated in first phase, so I wish toclarify that initial phases will onlycover frontline workers and highrisk groups.

    `Continued on Page 3

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    Duldulghodi Dance BundeliLok Gayan were per-formed at Madhya PradeshState Tribal Museum here onFriday. The performances wereheld under Gamak series.

    The dance was performedRajamani Tiwari and groupfrom Rewa and BundeliLokagayan by Kapil Chaurasiaand group, Sagar.

    The presentation was start-ed by Kapil Chaurasia andgroup with Bundeli Lokgayan.He performed Isuri ChaukadiaVandana - 'Mori KhabarSharda Liyen, Hardaul LalaGeet - Tum Hardam LalaRahio, Jevanar Geet -Ramchandra Ji Jevan Seetha,Shringar Folklore - KonauDekha Le hai muiya bahaye se

    gori, panihari folk songs -panaghat pe jhoka khawe ri,bambuliya songs - nikar chalode ke tatiya re and khyal songsjaige naiya bhola jaga hari jagena and more Bundeli folk songspresented.

    Chaurasia has beensinging folk since childhood,you are getting education ofBundeli music from eminentfolk singer of BundelkhandShivratan Yadav. He has beenpresenting folk music from AllIndia Radio, Chhatarpur since2012.

    Chaurasia received YoungArtist Scholarship (2007-08)and Junior Fellowship (2014-15) in Lokagayan by Ministryof Culture, Government ofIndia.

    Apart from All India Radioand Doordarshan, he has per-

    formed on many prestigiousforums in the country.

    In the presentation he wasaccompanied on Dholak byRamesh Chaurasia, on Manjiraby Ganesh Prasad Chaurasia,on tabla - on Rakesh Katarya,on flute by Manoj, on banjo byVijay Barwani and on Nagadiaby Ritesh Chaurasia.

    The second performancewas a Duldulghodi dance byRajamani Tiwari and col-leagues. In rhe dance RajmaniTiwari, Ratnesh Goswami andRajveer Tiwari performed thedance and was accompanied onharmonium by Pramod Sahuon Dholak, Rohan Verma ontabla - Ravendra Mishra onNagaria, Ramhit Saket onKhajani, Mithun Saket,Jagannath Saket.

    In India, there is a tradition

    of dancing dance since ancienttimes. No fair, festival, cere-mony, rite is considered com-plete without dances inMadhya Pradesh, Duldulghodifolk dance in India, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat,West Bengal, Tamil Nadu etc.It is prominently done. DuldulGhori Dance is also known bythe names Ghori Nritya, LilliGhorin Nritya etc.Duldulghodi dance is a promi-nent place in the program ofrituals of human life. Thisdance is mostly performed bylow and working class artists.

    Tiwari loved to dance sincechildhood. In 2000, during theworkshop of National School ofDrama while performing the-ater, Duldulghodi got the men-torship of Guru LokanitraSamrat Sajan Kaku. The agili-

    ty of the dance attracted. Sincethen, I have had the opportu-nity to learn from the tradi-tional gurukul method andperform with Guru Sajan Kakuas well as perform at prestigiousevents in the region, afterwhich he received the YoungFolk Dancer Award from thedistrict administration, sincethen in the major forums inIndia. Including Dehradun fes-tival. International arts festivalUjjain, International MahaurKala Sangam Sidhi, CCRT NewDelhi, Madhya PradeshFoundation Day, Dehat LokRangparv etc., got an oppor-tunity to perform the endan-gered Duldulghodi folk dance.Along with the Duldulghodidance, Rimhai is duly impart-ing traditional training of folkdances.

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    National Youth Day toobserve the birth anniver-sary of Swami Vivekanandawas observed with great enthu-siasm in Sect College on Friday.

    The programme was orga-nized in joint collaborationwith the National ServicePlanning Unit and SportsDepartment of the college. Theprogramme started with thespeech by Principal of the col-lege, Satyendra Khare. On theoccasion Vice Principal Prof.Yogendra Chauhan, DeanAcademic Prof. Nitin Modh,National Service PlanningOfficer were present.

    The event began with light-ing of rhe lamp in front ofGoddess Saraswati and SwamiVivekananda statue by NitinDhimole and sports officerMamlesh Karma.

    The Principal of the col-lege, Satyendra Khare,informed the students aboutthe National Youth Day and

    explained the importance ofYoga in life. In the programme,Dean of the College, AcademicProf. Nitin Modha providedcomplete information aboutSwami Vivekananda's life andrules of living.

    Later, the National ServicePlanning Unit Officer Prof.Nitin Dhimole explained theutility and importance of yogain life. The various textsexplained the role of yoga in lifethrough the Gita, Pantjali YogaSutras and also made studentsand students aware of yoga byperforming various types ofyoga, asanas, pranayam, band-ha and mudra.

    Vice Principal of the col-lege Prof. Yogendra Chauhanmade the students aware to livetheir life by making rules. Atthe conclusion of the program,the Sports Officer MamleshKarma concluded the pro-gramme by thanking all thefaculty, staff and students. Theprogramme was conducted byArchana Godvole.

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    Ashoka Garden police haverescued a 16-year-old girlwho was kidnapped on January2 from her house, girl was res-cued from Bankhedi area ofHoshangabad.

    The accused, identified asRavi Dhakad (20) who kid-napped the minor on January2. After the girl went missing,the police were informed by thevictim’s father.

    Soon after the complaintwas lodged on the details pro-vided by the victim’s fatherpolice started to search and thedetails of the missing girl wasprovided to all nearby police

    station and police outpost.Initially, the police team

    started to search in Bhopal andnearby area and later acting ontip off searched Pachmari,Matkuli, Piparia, Mohgaonareas and victim was tracked inBankhedi area underMalakjhara police station.

    The photograph of the kid-napped girl was shared withlocals. Based on the informa-tion, the police team rushed tothe spot and searched areawhere the accused youth wasfound with the girl.

    Meanwhile, Ratibad policehave nabbed a bootlegger andrecovered illegally transported66 litres of raw county-made

    liquor worth Rs 6600 onWednesday.

    According to the police,acting of a tip a man wasdetained late in the evening andwhen he was searched twobuckets carrying raw county-made liquor were recoveredfrom his possession.

    The accused was identifiedas Kamal Singh of KalyanNagar who has been involvedfor long in selling countrymade liquor and has beenbooked for 10 times regardingillegal selling of liquor.

    A case under section 34(2)of the Excise Act was registeredand further investigation hasbeen started.

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    Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia inaugu-rated Delhi Government’s Art,Culture and LanguagesDepartment’s flagship culturalscheme to support artists, streettheatre and performing arts fel-lowship at its launch programon Friday.

    “This is the first time thatin our country such a uniquescheme of cultural presentationof over 450 artists has beenlaunched in Delhi. This willcreate a taste for art and cultureamongst the people of Delhi.There will be live art perfor-mances on the streets as wehave created this fellowship togive an opportunity to theartists to express their art,”Sisodia said.

    This fellowship has beenstarted by Sahitya KalaParishad under theDepartment of Arts, Cultureand Languages and the launchhappened at Delhi Secretariat.

    Overall, 500 artists fromdiverse backgrounds such astheatre, music, dance and finearts have been selected for thisfellowship, with 500 more to beadded to the rooster in thefuture.

    “Artists from Delhi, overthe past few years, have beenasking me to promote street artin Delhi. They pointed out thatthough there are concentratedcultural hubs like MandiHouse, we need to expand cul-ture to all parts of the city. Togive a platform to street artiststo showcase their art,” Sisodiasaid.

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    Delhi Congress led by senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhiand Priyanka Gandhi on Friday staged a protest outsideLieutenant Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal's residence demand-ing to repeal the three anti-farmer agricultural laws 'arbitrarily'passed by the Centre.

    Addressing thousands of party workers, Rahul Gandhi saidthat the BJP and its core team are harming the interest of thefarmers through these three anti-farmer agricultural laws.

    Rahul said that these laws have not been made to help thefarmers, but to destroy them, as they are meant only to help andbenefit big Corporates. Gandhi said that the Congress party isstanding by the farmers to protect their interest, and will con-tinue to support them, till the anti-farmer laws are rolled back.

    "The Narendra Modi government earlier tried to take awaythe land of farmers, when it brought the land acquisition Act andthe Congress party stopped them at that time. Now the BJP andtheir two-three friends are once again attacking the farmers andhave brought these three farm laws," he also alleged.

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    Mandsaur police recoveredsmack (opioid) worth�50 lakhs in Banspura area out-post Bhansodamandi districtand seized 500 gm of smackfrom a Jhalawar based drugpeddler and car used in thetransport was also recovered.

    The accused identified asLalchand alias Lala Naagarhad tied smack around hiswaist.

    On the instructions of SPPolice Siddharth Chaudhary tocurb the crimes of drug traf-ficking in the district and takestringent action against smug-glers under the "Drug FreeIndia" campaign, receivinginformation police trackedLalchand alias Lala Naagar ofJhalawar and nabbed and seized vehicle RJ20UA246.

    Police have registered caseunder section 8 and 21 of theNDPS Act has been registeredand started further investiga-tion.

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    Extreme cold conditions werewitnessed in the state capi-tal while harsh weather condi-tions prevailed in the state in thepast 24 hours. The temperatureduring day was witnessed at 27.8degree Celsius which providedrelief still night temperatureswere recorded at chilling coldlevels at 8.4 degree Celsius.

    Among the nearby regionswhich witnessed freezing coldwere Raisen which dipped to 3.8degree Celsius.Datia andGwalior recorded night tem-peratures below 5 degree Celsius.

    The east Madhya Pradesh isreeling under intense cold con-dition as compared to regions ofwest Madhya Pradesh. The low-est night temperature of the statewas recorded at 3 degree Celsius.Umaria, Jabalpur, Seoni,Khajuraho, Nowgong andRaisen witnessed cold waveconditions.

    Due to the prevalence of drynorth and northwest winds, theminimum temperature is likelyto fall to 2-4 degree Celsius inmost parts of northwest India

    during the next 2 days.Cold wave and severe cold

    wave conditions are likely overPunjab, Haryana, Chandigarhand Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan and East MadhyaPradesh during next 2 days.Significant changes are notexpected in most parts of west-ern part of state for the next 2 to3 days. After this period, thenight temperature of state islikely to increase by 2-3 degreeCelsius.

    From Page 1Commoners, politicians and

    officers will be vaccinated later.The minister also emphasisedthat second dose will be admin-istered to beneficiaries 28 afterthe first one so a vaccinationcycle will need 42 days to com-plete and in this period, the per-son concerned is required to

    practice all necessary precau-tions. The health officials saidthat the drive could take 6-7months to complete in the state.

    Union Health ministerHarshvardhan also addressedthe event through video confer-encing and extended greetings tothe health staff on the eve of mas-sive immunisation drive.

    The state has received overfive lakh vaccine doses andBhopal division has received94,000 shots. Those registeredbeneficiaries were informedabout vaccination schedule in anSMS by Friday evening.

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    Manav Sangrahalaya,Bhopal is organising anexhibition centered on the‘Maa Nanda Devi Raj Jaat’ a rit-ual adieu to HimalayanGoddess. Programme coordi-nator of the exhibition, R.M.Nayal told that, Roopkund andHemkund mountain peaks areone of the main sacred sites ofNanda Devi in Uttarakhand.

    Hemavati is mentioned asthe Himalayan daughter in theCanopanishad. In whichShailputri Nanda has beennamed Yoga Maya and ShaktiSwaroopa. Maa Nanda has alsobeen considered as the greengoddess who gives happinessand prosperity.

    Maa Nanda Devbhoomi issynonymous with the eternal

    faith of Uttarakhand. This is thereason that the names of manyrivers, mountain ranges andcities here are also named afterMaa Nanda. Maa Nanda isworshiped as Shakti SwaroopaMaa Parvati.

    The Nanda Devi fair startson the Shukla Shashthi of the

    month of Bhadra. The incarna-tion of the Goddess on whichshe is called is Dangariya of theGoddess. Idols are made frombanana trees to worship MaaNanda. For the selection ofbanana trees, Dangaria takes riceand flowers in hand and throwsthem towards banana trees.

    The tree that moves isworshiped and brought to themother's temple. The con-struction of idols of theGoddess begins on the day ofSaptami, while Ashtami is hon-ored with the pran pratishta ofthe idol. A grand fair is alsoorganized in the Nanda Devicampus during this time.Thousands of people join thisRaj Jaat. In this exhibition,many exhibit, photographs,costumes, instruments relatedto Raj Jaat will be seen.

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    Ahead of the upcomingAssembly polls in fiveStates, the ElectionCommission (EC) on Fridaystepped in to protect officialsassigned to the election duty toensure free, fair and impartialelections. Taking note of vic-timisation of the officials onflimsy grounds after the elec-tion is over, the ElectionCommission (EC) on Fridaysaid States and UnionTerritories will need itsapproval before initiating dis-ciplinary action against thechief electoral officers andother officers up to the jointchief electoral officer duringtheir tenure and also up to oneyear from its expiry.

    In a letter addressed to thecabinet secretary, DoPT secre-tary, chief secretaries and chiefelectoral officers of all Statesand Union Territories onThursday, the EC said it hasnoted some incidents of “vic-timisation” of CEOs and addi-tional, joint, deputy and assis-tant CEOs in the post-electionperiod.

    The preparations for theAssembly polls in five States-Tamil Nadu, Kerala, WestBengal, Puducherry and Assamare on. The terms of the assem-blies in Tamil Nadu, Kerala,West Bengal, Puducherry andAssam will end on May 24,2021, June 1, 2021, May 30,2021, June 8, 2021 and May 31,2021 respectively.

    In its direction, the EC saidnot reduce facilities such asvehicle, security and otherfacilities/amenities provided to

    the office of the Chief ElectoralOfficer for proper discharge ofhis/her duties.

    The Commission hasnoted some incidents of vic-timization of CEOs,Addl/Joint/Deputy/AssistantCEO in the post-election peri-od. Many a times they are tar-geted for political vendetta bycharging them with discipli-nary cases on flimsy groundsfor their earlier tenures in theState Government after thecompletion of their tenure. Anenvironment of fear is createdto convey that the upright,steadfast and sincere officerscan be taken to task at any time,on the flimsiest of the grounds,”the EC noted. It said in such ascenario, these officers are notonly “demotivated but alsotheir morale is greatly reduced,which severely affect theirefforts to ensure free and fairelections”. “Left to go on unfet-tered, it causes a situationwhere officials are reluctant tojoin as CEOs and those who areinducted face the uncertainty offair treatment in post-electionphase,” it observed.

    “Commission is sanguinein the expectation that all con-cerned shall strictly adhere tothis regimen in letter as well asin spirit,” EC said in a com-munication sent to Cabinetsecretary, all state/UT chiefsecretaries, DoPT secretary

    and state chief electoral offi-cers.

    The letter states that EC isof the considered view thatpositive protection to electionofficials from motivatedharassment is essential toenable the electoral officials incarrying out the electoral func-tions in free, fair, impartial andfearless manner. The letterpointed out that the matter oftaking action against any offi-cer on election duty was sub-jected to the scrutiny of theSupreme Court. In 2000, theapex court had upheld that nei-ther any action can be initiat-ed against the officers on elec-tion duty by the state govern-ment nor can the governmentrefuse to act on its advice toinitiate action against errantofficials.

    The Commission desig-nates a CEO for state andunion territories in consulta-tion with the respective gov-ernments. Chief electoral offi-cers are essentially an exten-sion of the Commission in thestates and union territories tocarry out multifarious electionrelated functions of theCommission. Once appointed,the CEO comes under directcontrol, superintendence anddiscipline of the ElectionCommission and remains ondeputation to ElectionCommission.

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    Contrary to the approvalgiven by the country’s topdrug regulator which said thatHyderabad-based BharatBiotech’s Covaxin could beadministered to those above12 years of age, the UnionHealth Ministry, in a recentcommunique, has said thatboth shots are recommendedand approved for people above18 years of age.

    Sources said that theMinistry, in a letter issued onJanuary 14, provided com-parative details of the twovaccines – Bharat Biotech’sCovaxin and University ofO x f o r d - A s t r a Z e n e c a’sCovishield which is beingmanufactured by SerumInstitute of India – approvedby Drug Controller General ofIndia (DCGI).

    The factsheet has details ofthe vaccines, which will be dis-tributed to cold chain pointsand vaccination centres forready reference.

    However, in the letter, theMinistry says that both vac-cines are recommended andapproved for people above 18years of age. This contradictsthe earlier DCGI approvalwhich said that BharatBiotech’s Covaxin could beadministered to those above12 years of age.

    The Health Ministry’s let-ter – under the subhead‘Precautions and contraindi-cations for COVID-19 vacci-nation’ reads: “1. Authorisedage group: Under the EUA,COVID-19 vaccination is indi-cated only for 18 years andabove. 2. Co-administration ofvaccines: If required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccinesshould be separated by aninterval of at least 14 days. 3.Interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines is not permitted:Second dose should also be ofthe same COIVD-19 vaccinewhich was administered asthe first dose.”

    However, pregnant andlactating women should not beadministered the shots as theyhave not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine clinicaltrial so far, the health ministrysaid. “Interchangeability ofCovid-19 vaccines is not per-mitted. Second dose shouldalso be of the same Covid-19vaccine which was adminis-tered as the first dose,” the let-ter written by ManoharAgnani, Additional Secretaryin the Ministry.

    According to the officials,95 per cent of the 1.1 croredoses of Covishield vaccinepurchased by the Governmenthave been delivered andshipped to nearly 60 con-signee points across India inlast two days. Similarly, of the55 lakh doses of indigenouslydeveloped Covaxin ofHyderabad-based BharatBiotech ordered by the Centre,the first tranche of 2.4 lakhdoses have been dispatched to12 States.

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    The Election Commission(EC) will extend “full assis-tance” to the Government inidentifying targeted beneficia-ries at the polling station levelfor the Covid-19 vaccinationdrive, but wants health author-ities to delete the data once theinoculation exercise is over.

    The EC after detaileddeliberations, wrote back to thehome secretary on January 4,saying it has decided to render“full assistance” in the vacci-nation drive. But asked thegovernment to ensure that thedata is strictly used for the lim-ited purpose for which it hasbeen sought, the sources said.

    On December 31 last year,Union Home Secretary AjayBhalla wrote to Chief ElectionCommissioner Sunil Arorarequesting the commission’shelp in identifying peopleabove 50 years of age at thepolling station level. On theissue of data security, thehome secretary wrote thatthe Government is complyingwith the current best practicesfor ensuring cyber security.He has assured the poll panelthat the data will be used onlyfor the purpose of vaccina-tion, the sources said.

    The commission also saidthat the data should be delet-ed by health authorities once

    the vaccination exercise con-cludes, they said. Some seniorEC officials will be in touchwith nodal officers of theUnion home ministry andthe Union health ministry tosettle day-to-day issues, thesources said.

    Last month, officials ofthe Union health ministryand the Niti Aayog had metthe EC top brass seeking theirhelp in the distribution ofCOVID-19 vaccine given thepoll panel’s robust network atthe booth level. The letter bythe home secretary is a followup to the meeting, the sourcessaid.

    According to guidelinesfor the COVID-19 vaccina-tion drive, the latest electoralroll for Lok Sabha and assem-bly elections will be used toidentify the priority popula-tion over the age of 50 years.Twelve identity documents,such as Voter ID, Aadhaarcard, driving licence, passportand pension document, willbe required for beneficiaryidentification.

    According to the govern-ment, the shots will be offeredfirst to an estimated one crorehealthcare workers, andaround two crore frontlineworkers, and then to personsabove 50 years of age, fol-lowed by persons youngerthan 50 years of age with asso-ciated comorbidities.

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    More than traditional caus-es such as poverty, inad-equate sanitation and pooreducation, it is the climatechange-induced higher tem-peratures which is majorlycontributing to low diet qual-ity and malnutrition amongyoung children in many partsof the world, researchers havefound after assessing diet diver-sity among one lakh kids underfive in 19 countries.

    “Certainly, future climatechanges have been predicted toaffect malnutrition, but it sur-prised us that higher temper-atures are already showing animpact,” said lead authorMeredith Niles, an assistantprofessor of Nutrition andFood Sciences at the Universityof Vermont and a fellow at theuniversity’s Gund Institute forEnvironment.

    The study published injournal EnvironmentalResearch Letters, found that thenegative effects of climate —especially higher temperature—on diet diversity are greaterin some regions than the pos-itive effects of education, water

    and sanitation and povertyalleviation — all commonglobal development tactics.

    Of the six regions exam-ined — Asia; Central and SouthAmerica; North, West, andSoutheast Africa, five had sig-nificant reductions in dietdiversity associated with high-er temperatures.

    Researchers focused ondiet diversity, a metric devel-oped by the United Nations tomeasure diet quality andmicronutrient intake.Micronutrients, such as iron,folic acid, zinc, and vitamins Aand D, are critical for childdevelopment. A lack ofmicronutrients is a cause ofmalnutrition, which affects oneout of every three childrenunder the age of five. Dietdiversity is measured by count-ing the number of food groupseaten over a given time period,as per the study.

    The researchers found thaton an average, children hadeaten food from 3.2 foodgroups (out of 10) — includingmeat and fish, legumes, darkleafy greens and cereal greens-- in the previous 24 hours. Bycontrast, diet diversity in

    emerging economies or moreaffluent countries such asChina have been more thandouble this average (6.8 forchildren 6 and under).

    “Higher rainfall in thefuture may provide importantdiet quality benefits in multi-ple ways, but it also depends onhow that rain comes,” said co-author Molly Brown of theUniversity of Maryland. “If it’smore erratic and intense, as ispredicted with climate change,this may not hold true.”

    “Diet diversity was alreadylow for this group,” said UVMco-author Brendan Fisher.“These results suggest that, ifwe don’t adapt, climate changecould further erode a diet thatalready isn’t meeting adequatechild micronutrient levels.”

    The researchers had used30 years of geo-coded temper-ature and precipitation data,and socioeconomic, ecological,and geographic data.

    The disturbing findingsdoes not bode well for thefuture generation with aUNICEF report already point-ing out that some 144 millionchildren worldwide are stunt-ed by malnutrition.

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    Sounding a note of warningto China, Army ChiefGeneral MM Naravane onFriday said no one should testthe patience of India. He, how-ever, reiterated that the nationis committed to resolve the cur-rent impasse through dia-logues.

    He also said a “befitting”response was given to Chinawhen it tried to change the sta-tus quo at the Line of ActualControl(LAC). Addressing theArmy Day parade, Naravanesaid a “befitting response” wasgiven to the “conspiracy” tomake unilateral changes onthe border and that the sacri-fice of the Galwan heroes ineastern Ladakh will not gowaste.

    “We are committed toresolve disputes through talksand political efforts but no oneshould make any mistake oftesting our patience,” he said.

    “I want to assure the coun-try that the sacrifice of theGalwan heroes will not gowaste. Indian Army will notallow any harm to the country’ssovereignty and security,” theChief said.

    Twenty Indian Army per-sonnel including the com-manding officer were killed ina brawl with the Chinese troopson June 15 last year in theGalwan valley. It marked themost serious military conflictsbetween the two sides indecades.

    Though it suffered casual-ties in the hand-to-hand com-bat that day , China is yet todisclose the number of its sol-diers killed and injured.Reports indicate that more

    than 35 Chinese soldiers werealso killed in the clash.

    Stressing the point thatIndia favoured talks to resolvethe dispute leading to disen-gagement and de-escalation atthe LAC now on for the lastnine months, Naravane saideight rounds of military talkswere held between India andChina to bring the situationunder control.

    “Our efforts will continueto find a solution to the currentsituation on the basis of mutu-al and equal security, basis ofmutual and equal security,” hesaid.

    Referring to cross-borderterrorism from Pakistan, theChief said the neighbouringcountry continues to provide asafe haven to terrorists.

    More than 300-400 ter-rorists are ready to infiltrate, hesaid.

    “There was an increase of40 per cent in the ceasefire vio-lations last year which is theproof of Pakistan’s sinisterplans. There were also attemptsto smuggle weapons usingdrones, he added. Naravanesaid more than 200 terroristswere killed by the securityforces in Jammu and Kashmirin different operations last year.

    On the issue of modern-ization, he said the army is tak-ing concrete steps. Outliningsome of the procurementsundertaken in the last fewmonths in the backdrop of thestand-off at the LAC, Naravanesaid under emergency and fast-track schemes, the Army pro-cured equipment worth about�5,000 crores and signed con-tracts worth �13,000 crores inthe last year under capital pro-curement.

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    Congress leadersRahul Gandhi andPriyanka Gandhi led theparty’s countrywideprotests, billed KisanAdhikar Divas in supportof the agitating farmersand said the grand oldparty will not relent tillthe new farm laws arerepealed which invitedsharp reactions fromUnion AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar.

    On the day when yetanother round of talksbetween the Governmentand farmers unionsremained inconclusive,Rahul alleged the PrimeMinister Narendra Modidoes not respect farmersand wants to tire outthose protesting againstthe new agriculture laws.

    Tomar hit back atRahul for his remarksagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and saideven the leaders of his

    own party do not takethe Gandhi scion seri-ously and laugh at hisremarks. Addressing themedia after the meetingwith the farmers, Tomarsaid Gandhi’s statementsand actions are laughedat even within his ownparty.

    “The Congress man-ifesto in 2019 itself hadpromised these reformsand therefore, Congresschief Sonia Gandhi andformer Congress chiefRahul Gandhi should tellus whether they werelying then or are lyingnow,” said theAgriculture Minister .

    Sitting at JantarMantar protest site,Rahul alongwith his sib-ling and party generalsecretary Priyanka saidfarmers will not relent tillthe laws are repealed.The duo was joined byparty MPs in theirdemonstration againstthe legislations. “Thetalks are being held only

    to delay. PM Modi thinkshe has the power and willtire the farmers out, buthe is mistaken,” RahulGandhi said talking tomedia.

    Congress has beendemanding a repeal ofthe farm laws, allegingthat they are against theinterests of farmers andfarming and are aimed athelping only the “corpo-rate friends” of the BJP.The three farm laws,enacted in Septemberlast year, have been pro-jected by the govern-ment as major reforms inthe agriculture sectorthat will remove middle-men and allow farmersto sell anywhere in thecountry.

    The party on Fridaydemonstrated protest atState capitals cross thecountry and at placeslike Lucknow protestorswere also detained.Massive protests werealso reported fromKolkata, Jaipur.

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    The construction work of thenew Parliament buildingstarted on Friday, a day after‘Makar Sankranti’, consideredauspicious.

    “Excavation work hasstarted at the site where a suf-ficient number of labourershave been engaged to ensurethat the project is completed ontime”, officials said. The site ofthe construction is adjacent tothe existing Parliament, whichwas completed in 1927.

    The new building is beingconstructed by Tata ProjectsLtd. The project is estimated tocost Rs 971 crore. Tata ProjectsLtd. said despite the 35-daydelay in the commencement ofthe construction work, it isconfident that it will be able todeliver the project on or beforetime.

    The project was scheduledto start in December last, butconstruction and demolition atthe site was put on hold whilelegal challenges to the projectwere pending with the apexcourt. On December 7, theSupreme Court allowed theground-breaking ceremony totake place after the government

    submitted an affidavit that itwould not start construction,demolition and tree transplan-tation until the court gave itsjudgment. With the judgmentclearing the project on January5, the Central Public WorksDepartment moved the HCCfor approval, which was grant-ed on Monday, according toHUA Secretary Durga ShankerMishra.

    The new Parliament build-ing will have a triangular shapeand is expected to be complet-ed by the 75th anniversary ofIndia’s independence in 2022.The government plans to holdthe monsoon session ofParliament in 2022 in the newbuilding. PM Modi had laid thefoundation stone for the new

    Parliament building onDecember 10 last year.

    Earlier this week, a 14-member heritage panel gave itsapproval to the new Parliamentbuilding while also giving thego-ahead to the Central Vistaredevelopment project. TheSupreme Court had asked theCentre to seek prior approvalfrom the panel and other rele-vant authorities before startingthe construction of the newbuilding.

    The construction workcould not start earlier as thegovernment had assured theSupreme Court that no con-struction or demolition workwould commence till the apexcourt decided the pendingpleas on the issue.

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    The CBI on Friday con-ducted searches in con-nection with investigation oftwo separate cases related tobank fraud involving anamount of about �340 crore.

    The agency has registereda case on a complaint fromState Bank of India (SBI)against a private companyNaftogaz India PrivateLimited based at Delhi/Noidaand others including its CMDand unknown public ser-vants/persons for causing analleged loss of about �219.81crore to SBI.

    “It was alleged in thecomplaint that the saidaccused firm has cheated theSBI by way of diversion ofbank funds, fraudulent trans-actions, criminal misappro-priation, submission of falsestock / debt statements etc.,”the CBI said in a statement.

    In the complaint, the SBIalleged that the company wasincorporated in 2005 startingas EPC contractor for explo-ration, drilling, extraction andproduction of mineral oils,

    natural gas and petroleumproducts. The alleged fraudcame to light when ForensicAuditors submitted a reporton February 18, 2020 for theperiod April 1, 2010 to March31, 2014.

    Searches were conductedat three locations includingDelhi / NCR at the office andresidential premises of theborrower company and otheraccused persons, it said.

    The other case was regis-tered on a complaint fromPunjab National Bank (PNB)against a private companyHari Har Overseas PrivateLtd, Nissing, Karnal (Haryana)engaged in rice milling activ-ities at Karnal and othersincluding its directors/guar-antor and unknown publicservants/persons for causingan alleged loss of about�121.75 crore to the bank.

    It was alleged that the saidaccused had fraudulently soldits stock as well as machinery,which was hypothecated to thebank. It was further allegedthat the accused had notdeposited the sale proceedswith the bank.

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    The Supreme Courthas sought responsesfrom the Centre and 61iron exporting firmsincluding Essar Steel andJindal Steel & Power on aPIL seeking a direction tothe CBI to register an FIRand probe the allegedduty evasion by them inexporting iron ore toChina since 2015.

    A bench headed byChief Justice S A Bobdetook note of the submis-sions of lawyer and PILpetitioner M L Sharmathat the companies beprosecuted for allegedevasion of export duty bydeclaring wrong tariffcode to export the ironore under the ForeignTrade (Development andRegulation) Act, 1992.

    “Issue notice,” saidthe bench which alsocomprised JusticesJustices A S Bopanna andV Ramasubramanian.

    The bench, whichpermitted the petitionerlawyer to argue in personthe PIL, was told that ironore “smuggling to China”

    has been taking place asthese companies havebeen exporting themwithout paying 30 percent export duty.

    The PIL said the min-istries of commerce andfinance control and regu-late the export policiesand decide as to underwhich HarmonizedSystem (HS) Codes eachgood will be exported.

    It said the govern-ment had set up a firmwith the name of KIOCLto use low grade iron oreand export them underthe “duty free Tariff HScode 26011210 which is

    exclusively prescribed forKIOCL”.

    The PIL said underForeign Trade(Development andRegulation) Act, 1992,“tariff HS CODE NO.26011100 was prescribedto export ‘’all other kindof iron ore’’ subject to pay-ment of export duty at therate of 30 per cent”.

    The firms werewrongly allowed toexport iron ore using thetariff code being used byKIOCL and as a resultcrores of rupees havebeen cheated by them, itsaid.

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    Senior advocate and formerSCBA president VikasSingh has requested ChiefJustice of India (CJI) S ABobde that the SupremeCourt, which has been hearingcases virtually in view ofCovid-19 for past severalmonths, resume “normal func-tioning” at the earliest.

    “Recent turn of eventshave created a situation where-by the interests of the Bar arebeing neglected and the Benchis taking unilateral decisionswith regard to the functioningof the institution,” he said.

    Bar and Bench are thetwo main pillars on which thesystem of justice stood, the for-

    mer Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) presidentsaid in a letter to the CJI onThursday.

    Singh said: “In my viewwhen the entire country isopening up, of course with suf-ficient safeguards, I see no rea-son why the Supreme Courtwhich is the foundation of ourdemocratic polity should notresume full normal function-ing by putting in place suffi-cient safeguards for the saidopening.

    “While the judges and thecourt staff are completely pro-tected being away from theareas where the lawyers, liti-gants and media come, till dateno effort has been made toeven think of a method where-

    by the number of people enter-ing the Court is restrictedand normal functioning ofcourts starts on that basis”.

    He added that the largeststakeholders in the function-ing of the Supreme Courtwere the litigants for whosebenefit this entire institutionhad been created and while theissue of the pandemic waslooming large in this country,the litigants could not beignored by the non-function-ing of the SC in a proper man-ner.

    While pointing out theband-width issues for allowingmentioning, he also said thatany technological shortcomingcould not be an impediment inthis vital activity.

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    The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on Fridaygrilled senior NCP leader andformer Minister EknathKhadse in connection with aquestionable land deal in Pune,for seven-long hours.

    Khadse —who was to haveappeared before the ED onDecember 30, but had soughttime to do so because of hisindisposition —arrived at theinvestigation agency’s office at11 am. After a seven-hour-longgrilling, he stepped out of theED’s office at around 6 pm.

    Talking to media personsafter the first round of ques-tioning, Khadse said: “I coop-

    erated fully with the ED todayand will continue to do so evenin future. I have replied to alltheir questions and provided allevidence required in the mat-ter. I will continue to providewhatever information theyrequire from me”.

    S i x t y - e i g ht - y e a r- o l dKhadse, who had quit the BJPand joined the NCP onOctober 23, had said soonafter joining the Sharad Pawar-led party that “if the BJPunleashes ED against me, thenI will release CDs against theBJP leaders”.

    Responding to the ED’ssummons, Khadse had earliersaid: “The land in the MIDCdeal has been transferred in the

    name of my wife. I haveabsolutely nothing to do withthis land deal. Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Pune, theAnti Corruption Bureau,Nashik, Income Tax depart-ment and a judicial committeeheaded by retired Bombay HCjudge Dinkar Zoting, hadlooked into the allegationsagainst me. Now the ED hassummoned me for questioning.I will appear before it,” Khadsehad said.

    It may be recalled that onJune 4, 2016, Khadse hadresigned from his post as theState Revenue Minister overirregularities in the purchase ofa plot of land at Bhosari inPune district.

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    The CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment in Keralawould create “at least” two mil-lion jobs for the unemployedpeople in the State in the nextfive years, according to ThomasIssac, Minister of Finance.

    Presenting the fifth and lastbudget of the Government ledby Pinarayi Vijayan in the Stateassembly on Friday (Keralagoes to the polls to elect a newlegislative assembly by April2021) , Isaac said despite thenon-coopetration from theCentre, Kerala has doneexceedingly well in the last fiveyears.

    “The changes that has hap-pened in the global employ-ment market and the superbexpertise gained by Kerala incontrolling the Covid-19 pan-demic has helped us to addressthe problem of unemployment.We are opening a digital plat-form in February 2021 tolaunch the massive employ-ment generation programme.This would be a trend setter forthe rest of the world,” disclosedIssac in his record-breakingbudget speech which he readout in 3 hours 20 minutes.

    All people in the Statewould get ba minimum month-ly pension of Rs 1600, said theminister. “Every householdwould be given laptops and freeinternet connection. Poor sec-tions of society would contin-ue receiving food kits free ofcost. The government wouldgenerate eight lakh jobs in2021-2022 itself. Those desiringto set up business ventureswould be given loans to buycomputer and allied instru-ments for their office work.

    The minister who has a PhD in changing life style of coirworkers in the State has allo-cated Rs 112 crore for the coirsector in the State. “We will cre-ate two lakh jobs in agriculturesector. We will also makeKerala free of fallow land,”said Issac.

    There are no new taxes inthe budget proposals. The min-ister has promised soft loans toall homemakers in the State tobuy smart gadgets to simplifyand minimise their workloadin kitchens.

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    Possibilities of VK Sasikala(the jailed former aide of lateJayalalithaa) joining hands withthe AIADMK led by ChiefMinister Edappadi Palaniswamyand his deputy OPanneerselvam got brightenedon the auspicious occasion ofPongal which was observedwith gaiety across Tamil Naduon Thursday.

    The initial signals of such ascenario came from SGurumurthy, Tamil Nadu’s lead-ing political commentator andchief editor of Thuglak, thepopular magazine launched bylate Cho Ramaswamy. Sasikalawho has been convicted forfour years in a disproportion-ate wealth case will come out ofthe Bangalore jail anytime afterJanuary 27, according to SPandian, her lawyer.

    “If there is a realignment offorces and there is unity, it isalways good. But the final wordis with the party leadership,” saidVaigaichelvan, former Ministerand AIADMK's spokesman.

    Terming the Dravidianpolitical parties and other fringeparties as the major threat facedby Tamil Nadu and India,Gurumurthy said it was the

    responsibility of all patrioticpeople in the State to ensure thedefeat of the DMK and its allies.“The DMK is an embodiment ofcorruption, favoritism, com-munalism and anti-national-ism. Though the AIADMK toois corrupt, it has got certain pos-itive characteristics. TheAIADMK is nationalistic asenvisaged by party founderMGR and his chosen successorJayalalithaa. But the DMK is afamily owned enterprises whichhas made corruption its hall-mark,” said Gurumurthy whileaddressing a public meetingheld late Thursday evening tomark the 51st anniversary of themagazine Thuglak.

    He said he was borrowingthe words of Arun Shourie whoasked all non-Congress politicalparties in 1989 to come togeth-er to defeat the Rajiv GandhiGovernment. “Those were thedays when the Government atthe Centre was enmeshed in cor-ruption charges. Military dealsinvolving purchase of Bofors,HDW ships, Scorpene submarines and the Fairfax con-troversy were plaguing the RajivGandhi led Government. Theopposition parties were dividedand were confused over aligningwith the rival parties. It was thenthat Arun Shourie who was the

    editor of Indian Express toldthen that their house was in fireand not to waste time waiting forGanga water to douse the flames.Shourie told them to make useof even drainage water to dousethe fire,” said Gurumutrthy.

    He explained that his friendRajinikanth opted out of thepolitical race only because of illhealth. “You should rememberthat we don’t have an alternateleader to take over fromRajinikanth if there is moredeterioration in his health. Wecannot afford to lose Rajini,” saidGurumurthy.

    What stood out in hisspeech was the comments hemade about judiciary. “Most ofthe judges, from trial courts tothe apex court, are having alle-giance to the persons whoappointed and promoted them.The case involving former ITminister and DMK leaderDayanidhi Maran is an idealexample.

    A judge belittled the find-ings that the nation has lost hun-dreds of crores because of theprivate telephone exchange setup by Maran in his Chennaihome misusing his officialpower. But the judge asked theformer minister to pay up Rs 1.5crore and disposed of the case,”said Gurumurthy.

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    Vehicular traffic and move-ment of security convoys,which remained suspendedalong the 300-Km longJammu-Srinagar NationalHighway since January 3, is setto be restored from Sundaywith the completion of 120-foot-long, 40-ton bailey bridgenear Kela Morh in Ramban dis-trict in a record time of threedays.

    After the mandatory test-ing of the bailey bridge the roadlink would be thrown open torush essential supplies to thekashmir valley. Braving intensecold wave conditions, men andmachinery of the Border RoadsOrganisation (BRO) are work-ing round the clock to completethe job at hand.

    Chief Engineer of ProjectBeacon of the Border RoadsOrganisation, Brigadier IKJaggi along with DeputyCommissioner Ramban,Nazim Zai Khan Friday super-vised the bridge constructionwork on ground zero.

    Briefing media personsBrigadier IK Jaggi said “Morethan 50 percent of the work on

    120 foot long, 40 ton baileybridge has been completed andthe left over work is expectedto be completed on January 16.After mandatory testing thelocal authorities are hoping tothrow open the road link formovement of traffic on January17.

    Brigadier IK Jaggi said,“we had launched the con-struction work of the 120 footlong bailey bridge at the loca-

    tion on January 14 and bySaturday evening we will com-plete the task”. He said, due tothe collapse of the retainingwall of the existing bridge a 28meter long gap was created. Hesaid, “we have covered the gapusing a 120 foot long span as itis considered safe to restore thelink”.

    Chief Engineer BRO said,

    “we have put all the resourcesavailable for completing thebridge”. “Work is going on warfooting as all men and machin-ery have been put to use. Weare sure that by tomorrowevening the Bailey bridge willbe completed and ready fortraffic” he added.

    Deputy CommissionerRamban Nazim Zai Khan said,

    construction of Bailey bridge isnearing to completion at KelaMorh and a trial run would beconducted tomorrow beforestarting the movement of vehi-cles on the bridge.

    He said that the construc-tion of Bailey bridge is going onround the clock and BorderRoads Organization (BRO) hascompleted more than 50 per-cent of bridge launching worktill early Friday morning.

    Due to prolonged suspen-sion of traffic movement on thestrategic highway the commonpeople are facing many hard-ships. Convoy movement ofsecurity forces was also affect-ed due to suspension oftraffic.

    Initially, the traffic on theNational Highway was sus-pended on January 3 follow-ing a fresh spell of snowfall.After remaining closed for sixlong days the traffic was par-tially restored on January 9 toclear the rush of stranded vehi-cles and essential supplies. Aday later the traffic was sus-pended again after a retainingwall of a bridge collapsed nearKela Morh in Ramban districton January 10.

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    In a second major drug haul in lessthan a week, the Mumbai Police onFriday seized 345 kilograms of Ganja(marijuana) worth around Rs 5.2crore and arrested one person in con-nection with the seizure.

    Six days after the NarcoticsControl Bureau (NCB) seized 200kilograms of ganja and importeddrugs like ''OG Kush'' (a strain ofcannabis Indica) in raids conductedin Mumbai’s north-western suburbs,the Mumbai police raided a small flatat Chandivali’s Sangarshnagar local-ity in north-east Mumbai and seizedhuge quantity of drugs.

    Acting on a tip-off, the Mumbaipolice raided a small flat in buildingno. 10 of the Slum RedevelopmentAuthority complex at SangharshNagar area of Chandivali and seized345 kilograms of Ganja (marijuana)worth around Rs.5.2 crore.

    “After examining the CCTVfootage in the area, we have arrest-ed one - Ashok M. Metre (39). Wehave arrested him and booked himunder the NDPs Act,” Deputy

    Commissioner of Police (Zone 10)Maheshwar Reddy said.

    Following the seizure of drugs,the Saki Naka Police are keeping aclose watch on the illegal activities inthe area.

    Friday’s was the second majordrug seizure in less than a week. OnJanuary 9, the NCB personnel hadseized 200 kilograms and arrestedthree persons Karan Sajnani, a Britishnational, and two others RahilaFurniturewala and ShaistaFurniturewala

    The drugs, seized from Khar andBandra areas in north-west Mumbai,included ganja, imported contrabandlike ''OG Kush'' (a strain of cannabisindica), and curated marijuana.Some of the seized drugs had beensourced from the United States.

    Subsequently on January 12(Tuesday, the NCB arrestedRamkumar Tiwari, one of the broth-ers who own ''Muchhad Paanwala''shop at Kemps corner in southMumbai in connection of cannabis-related drugs seizure.

    A day later, the NCB arrestedMaharashtra Minister Nawab Malik's

    son-in-law Sameer Khan in connec-tion with a drugs case.

    Sameer's arrest came at the endof a day-long questioning of him inconnection with a drugs case inwhich three arrests, including thatone of the owners of famous''Muchhad Paanwala'' shop, havebeen made so far.

    Sameer was placed under arrestby the NCB after it questioned himin connection with a google paytransaction of Rs 20,000 between himand one of the arrested accusedKaran Sajnani, a British national.

    Earlier on Tuesday, the NCB hadarrested''Muchhad Paanwala'' shop’sco-owner Ramkumar Tiwari wasarrested in connection with thesame drugs case. The NCB said thatit had seized “half a kg of cannabis-related drugs” at a warehouse inMumbai. The allegation is that it wasSajnani who provided drugs toTiwari.

    Started in 1977, MuchchadPaanwala is one of the most famouspaan shops in Mumbai, which is fre-quented by celebrities and whichtakes orders on its web site.

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    In what came to his party’sMinister accused of rapeDhananjay Munde, NCP chiefSharad Pawar on Friday soft-ened his stand over the accu-sation of rape made by awoman against DhananjayMunde after two more politi-cal leaders alleged that thewoman was trying to honeytrap them, and said that thepolice be allowed to investigatethe matter.

    Ruling out indirectly anypossible action against Mundeat the party level, Pawar said:“Since allegations have beenmade against the woman whohas complained against Munde,we have come to a conclusionthat the police be allowed to doa comprehensive probe into thematter. We are confident thatthe police will do a good job.Hence we will not interfere inthe probe. All we have sug-gested to the government thatACP-level be woman be askedto conduct the probe”.

    On Thursday, Pawar hadtermed the charges made by awoman were “serious” and saidthat he would take a call on theissue, after consulting his seniorparty’s important colleagues.“The charges are serious..Thematter is with the police...it isalso in court...they will decide,however, we as a party wouldhave to decide on it. I will speakto my colleagues and decide,”Pawar had said.

    Alluding to his yesterday’scomment, Pawar said:“Yesterday when I had com-mented on Dhananjay Mundeissue, I said that the issue wasserious. But by then, certainfacts were not in the publicdomain. I came to know thatthere was a similar complaintsagainst the same lady by dif-ferent political party leaders,”Pawar said.

    In effect, Pawar was refer-ring to the statements made byBJP leader Krishna Hegde andMNS leader Manish Dhuri,who had come in indirect sup-port of Munde by claiming thatthe woman who had made

    allegations of rape against theNCP minister had tried to“honey-trap” them .

    In a related development,Maharashtra’s Home MinisterAnil Deshmukh said: “Lawwill take its own course.Everyone is same beforelaw...'santri' or 'mantri'...thematter would be investigated asper law”.

    Munde has been accused ofrape by a singer Renu Sharma,with whose sister KarunaSharma the minister has admit-ted to have been in a relation-ship and sired children.

    After Pawar distancedhimself from the controversyby saying that the chargesagainst Munde were “serious”,Munde had on Thursdayreceived support from an unex-pected quarter, as Hegde andDhuri trained their gun on thewoman who had accused theminister of having raped hersister.

    “Renu Sharma has beencalling me, messaging me andcoaxing me since 2010 to havea relationship with her. Thisharassment went on to thepoint of stalking. Through mysources I found out that she isa dubious person who is settingup a honey trap. I totally avoid-ed meeting her,” BJP leaderKrishna Hegde had said in hiscomplaint lodged with SeniorInspector of Amboli policestation Kamte.

    On his part, MNS leaderManish Dhuri had said sepa-rately: “The woman (RenuSharma) who has now com-plained against Munde hadobtained my telephone num-ber. She used to follow me. Shetried many times to get to closeto me. Having realised that shehad honey trap several influ-ential people, I tried to distancemyself from her..... If I had gotinvolved with her, I wouldhave become anotherDhananjay Munde”.

    Meanwhile, having comeunder fire various quarters,Renu Sharma – who hasaccused Munde of rape – saidthat she would take a stepback if all wanted her to do so.

    Pilibhit (UP): A 65-year-oldman has been booked forallegedly raping two sisters ata village here, police said onFriday.

    An FIR was lodged againstSatnaam Singh (65) on thecharge of rape on Thursdayafter a probe into it by CircleOfficer Pramod Kumar,Superintendent of Police JaiPrakash said. The two girls,aged 15 and 13, worked atSingh's place and were alleged-ly raped by him for a year,police said.

    The victims' family alleged

    that they have trying to lodgea complaint in this regard forthe past one month but policedid not listen to them.

    They approached officialsat Puranpur tehsil andinformed them about it afterwhich an FIR was registered onThursday. The SP said a probehas also be ordered against thearea SHO for not taking thecase seriously. The SP said intheir complaint, the girls' fam-ily did not give any date of theincident and alleged that theywere being raped for the pastyear. PTI

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    Thiruvananthapuram: As many as 5,624more persons tested positive for coronavirus inKerala on Friday while 4,603 patients recoveredfrom the disease, Health Minister KK Shailaja'soffice said in a statement here.

    The state's test positivity rate is 8.94 percent. A total of 67,496 COVID-19 patients areunder treatment in various hospitals.

    Ernakulam recorded the highest 799 newcases and Kasargod the least 97 cases on Friday.

    A total of 23 more fatalities took the state's death toll to 3,415, the statementadded.

    In all, 58 positive cases have come from out-side Kerala, whereas 5,110 others tested posi-tive through contact. The source of contact of394 persons is unknown.

    As many as 62 Kerala health workers alsotested positive on Friday -- including 14 inKozhikode, 10 in Pathanamthitta, 9 inThiruvananthapuram, six in Thrissur, four eachin Ernakulam, Palakkad, Wayanad, and Kannur,three each in Kollam and Idukki, and one inMalappuram.

    In all, 2,02,080 persons are under obser-vation, including 1,90,999 in home or institu-tional quarantine, and 11,081 in various hos-pitals in Kerala. vTwo new hotspots declaredon Friday -- Puthupariyaram (ContainmentZone ward 12) in Palakkad district andManalur (Ward 18) in Thrissur district -- tookthe total to 419 in Kerala. IANS

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  • Makar Sankranti marksthe Sun’s entry intoMakar raashi, identi-fied with the sign ofCapricorn. The reference here ismerely to the apparent motion ofthe Sun resulting from Earth’syearly revolution. Annually, therewould be a dozen suchSankrantis, because of the Sun’stransit across 12 signs of the celes-tial zodiac. No other Sankrantienjoys religious significance,though each of them marks thebeginning of a new month in thesidereal solar calendar. In India,several States like Tripura, Assam,West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu,Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and soon follow a sidereal solar calen-dar. Several other States likeMaharashtra, Gujarat, Karnatakaand Andhra Pradesh-Telanganain addition to the Hindi-speakingbelt follow the luni-solar calendar.

    In the luni-solar calendar, themonths are based upon a lunarcycle of 29-½ days, resulting in ayear length of 354 days. Therefore,it has to be adjusted against the solaryear by insertion of intercalarymonth (Adhimasa) every threeyears. The luni-solar calendar,besides being expressly followed inseveral parts of India, is also implic-it to the solar calendar because ofits religious significance. All Hindureligious festivals including vrats,parvas and most jayantis are deter-mined as per the 354-day lunar cal-endar. This results in a drift of datesfor religious festivities and auster-ities (within a bracket of 25 days)vis-a-vis the Gregorian calendar.

    Why is Makar Sankranti cele-brated with such great fanfare evenin parts of India where the writ ofsolar calendar does not run? Thisis due to a belief that MakarSankranti marks Uttarayana (liter-ally meaning sun turning north).Uttarayana is a function of a trop-ical solar calendar like theGregorian calendar. Tropical calen-dar has zero connection with zodi-ac background. It stands on fourpillars — Vernal Equinox (March21), Summer Solstice (June 21),Autumn Equinox (September 21)and Winter Solstice (December 21).In the two equinoxes, the day andnight are of equal length all over theworld. In June solstice, the day islongest across the northern hemi-sphere, shortest in the southern. InDecember solstice, the day is short-est in the northern hemisphere andlongest in the southern. This inter-play of ‘light and shadow’ is due tothe fact that the axis of Earth’s rota-tion is inclined to the plane ofEarth’s revolution at 23.50. As a

    result, different zones of theglobe receive direct light where-as others pass into shadow. This,in the extreme, results in sixmonths of day and six months ofnight between one equinox to theother in alternating polar zones— the Arctic and Antarctic.

    In winter, the sun travels lowacross the sky in the northernhemisphere. On December 21,the declination is the least andthe Sun is directly overhead theTropic of Capricorn (23.50 S) atthe local noon. The trend is,however, reversed on the mor-row of Solstice. The Sun, figura-tively speaking, turns north-wards. Thus, as per one belief,December 22 should be thereal Uttarayana. A commonfactor, coincidental at first sight,is the name Capricorn. OnDecember 21, the Sun is over-head the Tropic of Capricorn, animaginary line; and on January14 it enters the Sign ofCapricorn. However, we realisethat it is more than mere coin-cidence when the same thing isrepeated in the summer. Whileon June 21 the Sun is directlyoverhead at the Tropic of Cancer,it enters the Sign of Cancer onJuly 16. The gap is 24 days.

    Now, 24 days seems to bethe new common factor. Whatexplains this 24 days’ time lagthat links the name of a tropic(an imaginary line) with a con-stellation? The secret might liein the factor called “precessionof equinoxes” or “axial preces-sion” called ayana-chalan inSanskrit. The axis of the Earthis not exactly stable but describesa conical motion. This motion,similar to the wobble of a spin-ning top, results from the Sun’s

    gravitational pull acting differ-ently at the equator from thepoles. The conical motionwould be complete in 28,500years during which the NorthPole would point at several dif-ferent stars — like Thuban,Polaris and Vega. During thesame interval the point of theequinox, where the plane of rev-olution intersects the plane of

    rotation, goes round the entirezodiac. The amount of preces-sion is 50” (less than 1/60th ofone degree, when one segmentof zodiac is of 30 degrees).

    We get the seasons from theSun, not from the zodiacalbackground. Thus, measuringseasons from the zodiac signs byignoring the effect of precession(the Nirayana calendar) is notthe best way. The sidereal orNirayana year (365 d 06 hrs 09m 10 s) is 21 minutes longerthan tropical year (365 d 05 h 48m 46 s). A sidereal year, there-fore, would disengage from theseasons twice as fast as Juliancalendar (which assumed yearlength to be flat 365 d and 6 hrs)did before being reformed byPope Gregorian XIII in 1582.

    “The difference betweenthe sidereal and the tropicalyear is 20.4 minutes,” says BalGangadhar Tilak, “which caus-es the seasons to fall back near-ly one lunar month in about2,000 years, if the sidereal solaryear is to be taken as the stan-dard of measurement” (TheOrion, P.19). This would explainthe mystery of the lost 24 days.Possibly two millennia ago, theSun went overhead in thesouthernmost tropic when itentered the sign of Capricorn.In the ancient times, Uttarayanaand Sun’s entry into Capricornwould have coincided. That isno longer true.

    Tilak (1856-1920), howev-er, hinted at a different possibil-ity on Uttarayana. Known as atough politician, he was also anoted Sanskrit scholar whofound time to delve deep intoHindu astronomy to recon-struct Vedic history. It is reflect-

    ed in his books like The Orion,or, Researches Into The Antiquityof the Vedas (1893) and ArcticHome in the Vedas (1903). In hisbook, viz., The Orion, the authorsays that Uttarayana is suscep-tible to two meanings. Tilakstates: “It might mean ‘turningtowards the north from thesouthernmost point’ or it mayindicate ‘the passage of the Suninto the northern hemisphere,i.e. to the north of the equator’.If we adopt the first meaning,Uttarayana and the year must beheld to commence from thewinter solstice while, if the sec-ond interpretation is correct,Uttarayana and the year musthave commenced with the ver-nal equinox.” Citing the RigVeda, Tilak says: “The facts thatthe central day of annual satrawas called vishuvan, the Vasantor spring was considered thefirst of the seasons and theagrayaneshtis or the half-yearsacrifices were required to beperformed every Vasant(Spring) and Sharad (autumn)clearly show that the secondinterpretation is more likely tobe correct (The Orion, P.22).”

    Tilak, thus, maintainedthat Uttarayana was the vernalequinox (March 21). He furtherbelieved that the six-monthperiod from vernal equinox toautumn equinox, when theSun moves along the northernlatitude, is Devayana (way ofthe gods) in the Rig Veda andfrom autumn equinox to ver-nal equinox Pitriyana (way ofthe dead ancestors) as men-tioned in the Rig Veda.

    (The writer is an author andindependent researcher. The opin-ions expressed are personal.)

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