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  • ! ˆ · villages — Safa Kheri, Khatkar, Pallwan — in Jind are learning to steer the tractor wheel. Sikim Nain Sheokant, pres-ident of Jind-based Kisan Ekta Mahila Manch, said
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F armers protesting against the three farm laws at Delhi borders for around 40 days are fully prepared to take out a tractor rally on Thursday. However, the inclement weath- er, because of which they had deferred their tractor rally by a day, has continued unabated. Even as their talks with the Government have failed to resolve the issues, the farmer unions on Wednesday said scores of farmers are gathering at borders for the tractor rallies on January 7. The farmers said the Thursday tractor rally is a rehearsal for the Republic day show. Meanwhile, All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee (AIKSCC) has urged farmers to take out trac- tors parade in all districts of the country on January 26. Several rural women in Haryana’s Jind district are receiving training to drive trac- tors for taking part in a “trac- tor parade” in the national Capital on January 26 against the three new farm laws. Women hailing from three villages — Safa Kheri, Khatkar, Pallwan — in Jind are learning to steer the tractor wheel. Sikim Nain Sheokant, pres- ident of Jind-based Kisan Ekta Mahila Manch, said though some of the women can drive tractors in the fields for farm operations, they do not have experience of road driving. “We want women to drive tractors on highway on January 26 without any help,” she said. Sheokant said several vil- lagers were also helping them out by offering their tractors and providing them required training. Women are undergoing training at a toll plaza on Jind- Patiala National Highway for handling tractor-trolleys on road. The protesting farmers have declared toll plazas “free”. “We are getting the train- ing for driving a tractor for par- ticipating in the tractor parade,” said a woman who has been receiving the lesson. She feels the new farm laws are not in the interest of the farming community. “Several other protests also have begun in support of the farmers’ demand. A sit-in has begun with more than 500 tractors marching into Baraut area of Baghpat district. In Chennai, a massive dharna was held and tribal protests are planned in Odisha,” AIKSCC stated. The body blamed the Central Government for not being serious about talks and solving farmers’ problems. “In the 7th round talks held till now, we have stated we want repeal and nothing else. The Government too has ‘under- stood that the demand is for repeal’ and said it will have to undertake ‘further consultation’. Yet, several Ministers and BJP leaders are putting a spanner in the wheels,” they said. “Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar had announced he will be talking to other farmer unions who sup- port the laws. Already this exercise to manufacture sup- port has been undertaken and has achieved very poor response. Taking cue from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP leaders from MP and Punjab have said demands are unjustified,” they said. “While Nitin Gadkari tar- geted the need to improve food production and feed India’s largely hungry popula- tion, he attacked MSP, saying it is higher than market rate, even when the Government says MSP will continue. Ministers should know that India is host to 33 per cent of the world’s hungry popula- tion,” said the AIKSCC. A fter lakhs of birds died in several States and thou- sands were culled, the Centre on Wednesday identified 12 epicentres of avian influenza, or the bird flu, outbreak in Kerala, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh and issued advisories to other States to contain spread of the infection in chickens, ducks, crows and migratory birds. Over 69,000 birds, includ- ing ducks and chicken, were culled in Kerala while the Madhya Pradesh Government banned chicken supply from Kerala and other southern States for next 10 days. The bird flu outbreak has been report- ed barely a few months after India in September 30, 2020 declared the country free from the disease. The Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry & Dairying on Wednesday alerted States to keep a vigil on any unusual mortality among birds and to report immediately to take necessary measures as there is a possibility of bird flu spread- ing to humans and domesti- cated animals. The Ministry has also set up a control room (011-23382354) in Krishi Bhawan to keep watch on the situation and to take stock on daily basis of preventive and control measures undertaken by State authorities. The avian influenza cases have been reported in many States like Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Gujarat, while Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are on high alert. “After confirmation of pos- itive samples from ICAR-NIH- SAD, avian influenza (AI) has been reported from the fol- lowing States (at 12 epicentres): Rajasthan (crow) — Baran, Kota, Jhalawar; Madhya Pradesh (crow) — Mandsaur, Indore, Malwa; Himachal Pradesh (migratory birds) — Kangra; Kerala (poultry duck) — Kottayam, Allapuzha (4 epi- centres),” said the Ministry. I n a stark reminder of the Delhi’s 2012 Nirbhaya case, a 50-year-old anganwadi worker was gangraped and murdered allegedly by a priest and his two accomplices in Budaun district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday. While the priest is on the run, his two accomplices were arrested on Tuesday night after the post-mortem report con- firmed rape, police said on Wednesday, adding the woman’s leg and a rib bone too were found fractured and there were injuries in her private parts. The incident, which trig- gered an uproar in political cir- cles, took place on Sunday and the matter came to light that night when the priest and his accomplices took the body to the victim’s home, saying it was found in a dry well in the tem- ple premises. Taking cognisance of the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered “strongest possible action” in the case even as Opposition parties attacked his Government, terming the incident “horrific” and “shame- ful”. The CM has directed the ADG Bareilly zone to report back to the Government on the incident and action taken against the accused. The CM has also said that STF would be assisting the district police in the investigation. The National Commission for Women too took note of the incident and decided to send a team of its members to probe the incident. About the incident, Badaun’s Senior Superintendent of Police Sankalp Sharma said, “The post-mortem report confirms rape and there are injuries in her private parts and a fracture in the leg.” She suffered a rib fracture too, he added, citing the autop- sy report. The SSP said the station house officer (SHO) of Ughaiti police station has been sus- pended for “delay in informing higher authorities, laxity in taking action, dereliction of duty and failure in taking speedy action”. Four teams have been formed to nab the priest, the SSP said. A t least four workers were killed and six others seri- ously injured following leakage of carbon monoxide gas at the Coal Chemicals Department of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) on Wednesday morning. While six of the victims were taken to the RSP dispen- sary, four workers, identified as Ganesh Chandra Paila (55), Rabindra Sahu (59), Abhimanyu Sah (33) and Brahmananda Panda (51), were admitted to the ICU of the Ispat General Hospital (IGH) where they died while undergoing treatment. Hours after the incident, the RSP authorities suspended two senior officials, Deputy General Manager Gopabandhu Barik of EMD Department and DGM Nabendu Das of CCD Mechanical Department for their alleged negligence. Also, the authorities decided to pro- vide job to one family member of each deceased. While opening flange bolts of the gas line of the gas mix- ing tank at the site A of the plant, some entrapped gas gushed out affecting four work- ers of the contract firm, Star Construction, critically. Meanwhile, a high-level committee has been formed to enquire into the cause of the accident. The plant is func- tioning normally, informed official sources. Rourkela Ispat Karkhana Karmachari Sangh president Himanshu Sekhar Bal demand- ed adequate compensation to the families of the deceased and injured. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a tweet said, “Deeply saddened to know about the tragic loss of lives in the gas leak incident at Rourkela Steel Plant. My thoughts and prayers are with bereaved families in the hour of grief and pray for the speedy recovery of those who are hospitalised.” T he Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine controversial new laws of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand regulating reli- gious conversions due to inter- faith marriages. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde refused, how- ever, to stay the provisions of the laws and issued notices to both State Governments on two different petitions. The pleas, filed by advocate Vishal Thakre and others and an NGO ‘Citizen for Justice and Peace’, have challenged the constitutional validity of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Religious Conversion Ordinance, 2020 and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018 which reg- ulate religious conversions of inter-faith marriages. At the outset, the top court asked the petitioners to approach the Allahabad High Court after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that it is already seized of the matter. D emocrat Rev Raphael Warnock on Wednesday secured a crucial win in the senatorial race, becoming the first Black senator from Georgia and bringing his party within the reach of a majority in the US Senate ahead of President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration. Multiple news outlets on Wednesday morning projected 51-year-old Warnock, a senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, winner against Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler in the Georgia Senate runoff. He is the first African- American to represent Georgia in the US Senate. He is also the first Democrat to win the Senate race from Georgia in 20 years. The control of the Senate now boils down to the other Senate runoff from Georgia wherein Republican incum- bent Senator David Perdue is trailing against Democrat Jon Ossoff, when reports last came in. The special elections were held on Tuesday. Both President Donald Trump and President-elect Joe Biden had campaigned for their respective candidates. The 100-member Senate now has 50 seats for the Republican Party and 49 to the Democrats. The result of the Perdue vs Ossoff is yet to be called in. In the event of both Republicans and the Democrats having 50 seats in the Senate, Vice-President- elect Kamala Harris is in her capacity as the Vice Chairman, who presides over the Senate meetings, would cast the cru- cial vote in favour of the Democrats. P etrol price on Wednesday neared all-time high after state-owned fuel retailers hiked rates after a nearly month- long hiatus. Petrol price was raised by 26 paise per litre and diesel by 25 paise a litre, according to a price notification from oil mar- keting companies. After this increase, petrol in Delhi climbed to 83.97 per litre from 83.71 previously. Diesel rates rose to 74.12 per litre from 73.87. In Mumbai, diesel touched an all-time high of 80.78. This is the first price revi- sion in nearly a month and rates are now near an all-time high. Highest ever rate of 84 a litre for petrol in Delhi was touched on October 4, 2018. Diesel too had scaled to an all-time high of 75.45 a litre on October 4, 2018. On that day, the Government cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by 1.50 per litre in a bid to ease inflation- ary pressure and boost con- sumer confidence. A fter suggesting the Centre on December 17 to put on hold the three controversial farms laws and form a panel to go into the issues raised by protesting farmers, the Supreme Court on Monday noted that there has been no “improvement on ground” and posted the matter for hearing on January 11. A three-judge Bench head- ed by Chief Justice of India SA Bobde said the intention of the court is to encourage and facil- itate talks between farmers and the Government. To this, Attorney General KK Venugopal informed the Bench that “there are chances of the parties coming to some sort of an understanding”. “We understand the situa- tion and encourage consulta- tion. We can adjourn the mat- ters on Monday if you submit the same due to the ongoing consultation process,” the Bench said. The Bench was hearing a petition filed by advocate Manohar Lal Sharma challenging the validity of the three farm laws. The court also issued notice to the Government on a separate petition filed by advo- cate Sharma, challenging the Third Constitutional Amendment of 1954 which included Entry 33, concerning food and essential commodi- ties, in the Concurrent List. “This is one of Sharma’s startling petitions... He says you [Government] have been com- mitting illegalities since 1954,” Bobde told Venugopal in a lighter vein.

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    ���������������� .���&�#/�

    Farmers protesting againstthe three farm laws at Delhiborders for around 40 days arefully prepared to take out atractor rally on Thursday.However, the inclement weath-er, because of which they haddeferred their tractor rally by aday, has continued unabated.

    Even as their talks with theGovernment have failed toresolve the issues, the farmerunions on Wednesday saidscores of farmers are gatheringat borders for the tractor rallieson January 7. The farmers saidthe Thursday tractor rally is arehearsal for the Republic dayshow.

    Meanwhile, All India KisanSangharsh CoordinationCommittee (AIKSCC) hasurged farmers to take out trac-tors parade in all districts of thecountry on January 26.

    Several rural women inHaryana’s Jind district arereceiving training to drive trac-tors for taking part in a “trac-tor parade” in the nationalCapital on January 26 againstthe three new farm laws.

    Women hailing from threevillages — Safa Kheri, Khatkar,Pallwan — in Jind are learningto steer the tractor wheel.

    Sikim Nain Sheokant, pres-ident of Jind-based Kisan EktaMahila Manch, said thoughsome of the women can drivetractors in the fields for farmoperations, they do not haveexperience of road driving.

    “We want women to drivetractors on highway on January26 without any help,” she said.

    Sheokant said several vil-lagers were also helping themout by offering their tractorsand providing them requiredtraining.

    Women are undergoingtraining at a toll plaza on Jind-Patiala National Highway forhandling tractor-trolleys onroad. The protesting farmershave declared toll plazas “free”.

    “We are getting the train-ing for driving a tractor for par-

    ticipating in the tractor parade,”said a woman who has beenreceiving the lesson.

    She feels the new farmlaws are not in the interest ofthe farming community.

    “Several other protests alsohave begun in support of thefarmers’ demand. A sit-in hasbegun with more than 500tractors marching into Barautarea of Baghpat district. InChennai, a massive dharnawas held and tribal protests areplanned in Odisha,” AIKSCCstated.

    The body blamed theCentral Government for notbeing serious about talks andsolving farmers’ problems. “Inthe 7th round talks held tillnow, we have stated we wantrepeal and nothing else. TheGovernment too has ‘under-stood that the demand is forrepeal’ and said it will have toundertake ‘further consultation’.Yet, several Ministers and BJPleaders are putting a spanner inthe wheels,” they said.

    “Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar hadannounced he will be talking toother farmer unions who sup-port the laws. Already thisexercise to manufacture sup-port has been undertaken andhas achieved very poorresponse. Taking cue fromPrime Minister NarendraModi, the BJP leaders from MPand Punjab have said demandsare unjustified,” they said.

    “While Nitin Gadkari tar-geted the need to improvefood production and feedIndia’s largely hungry popula-tion, he attacked MSP, saying itis higher than market rate,even when the Governmentsays MSP will continue.Ministers should know thatIndia is host to 33 per cent ofthe world’s hungry popula-tion,” said the AIKSCC.

    �������%������ .���&�#/�

    After lakhs of birds died inseveral States and thou-sands were culled, the Centreon Wednesday identified 12epicentres of avian influenza, orthe bird flu, outbreak in Kerala,Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Gujarat and Himachal Pradeshand issued advisories to otherStates to contain spread of theinfection in chickens, ducks,crows and migratory birds.

    Over 69,000 birds, includ-ing ducks and chicken, wereculled in Kerala while theMadhya Pradesh Governmentbanned chicken supply fromKerala and other southernStates for next 10 days. The birdflu outbreak has been report-ed barely a few months afterIndia in September 30, 2020declared the country free fromthe disease.

    The Ministry of Fisheries,Animal Husbandry & Dairyingon Wednesday alerted States tokeep a vigil on any unusualmortality among birds and toreport immediately to takenecessary measures as there is

    a possibility of bird flu spread-ing to humans and domesti-cated animals. The Ministryhas also set up a control room(011-23382354) in Krishi

    Bhawan to keep watch on thesituation and to take stock ondaily basis of preventive andcontrol measures undertakenby State authorities.

    The avian influenza caseshave been reported in manyStates like Kerala, MadhyaPradesh, Himachal Pradesh,Rajasthan, Haryana, andGujarat, while Jammu andKashmir, Punjab, Delhi,Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh andTamil Nadu are on high alert.

    “After confirmation of pos-itive samples from ICAR-NIH-SAD, avian influenza (AI) hasbeen reported from the fol-lowing States (at 12 epicentres):Rajasthan (crow) — Baran,Kota, Jhalawar; MadhyaPradesh (crow) — Mandsaur,Indore, Malwa; HimachalPradesh (migratory birds) —Kangra; Kerala (poultry duck)— Kottayam, Allapuzha (4 epi-centres),” said the Ministry.

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    In a stark reminder of theDelhi’s 2012 Nirbhaya case, a50-year-old anganwadi workerwas gangraped and murderedallegedly by a priest and his twoaccomplices in Budaun districtof Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday.

    While the priest is on therun, his two accomplices werearrested on Tuesday night afterthe post-mortem report con-firmed rape, police said onWednesday, adding thewoman’s leg and a rib bone toowere found fractured and therewere injuries in her privateparts.

    The incident, which trig-gered an uproar in political cir-cles, took place on Sunday andthe matter came to light thatnight when the priest and hisaccomplices took the body tothe victim’s home, saying it wasfound in a dry well in the tem-

    ple premises.Taking cognisance of the

    incident, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath ordered “strongestpossible action” in the case evenas Opposition parties attackedhis Government, terming the

    incident “horrific” and “shame-ful”. The CM has directed theADG Bareilly zone to reportback to the Government on theincident and action takenagainst the accused. The CMhas also said that STF would beassisting the district police inthe investigation.

    The National Commissionfor Women too took note of theincident and decided to send ateam of its members to probethe incident.

    About the incident,Badaun’s SeniorSuperintendent of PoliceSankalp Sharma said, “Thepost-mortem report confirmsrape and there are injuries inher private parts and a fracturein the leg.”

    She suffered a rib fracturetoo, he added, citing the autop-sy report.

    The SSP said the stationhouse officer (SHO) of Ughaitipolice station has been sus-pended for “delay in informinghigher authorities, laxity intaking action, dereliction ofduty and failure in takingspeedy action”. Four teamshave been formed to nab thepriest, the SSP said.

    ����� 21�20�#3

    At least four workers werekilled and six others seri-ously injured following leakageof carbon monoxide gas at theCoal Chemicals Department ofRourkela Steel Plant (RSP) onWednesday morning.

    While six of the victimswere taken to the RSP dispen-sary, four workers, identified asGanesh Chandra Paila (55),Rabindra Sahu (59),Abhimanyu Sah (33) andBrahmananda Panda (51), wereadmitted to the ICU of the IspatGeneral Hospital (IGH) wherethey died while undergoingtreatment.

    Hours after the incident,the RSP authorities suspendedtwo senior officials, DeputyGeneral ManagerGopabandhu Barik of EMDDepartment and DGMNabendu Das of CCD

    Mechanical Department fortheir alleged negligence. Also,the authorities decided to pro-vide job to one family memberof each deceased.

    While opening flange boltsof the gas line of the gas mix-ing tank at the site A of theplant, some entrapped gasgushed out affecting four work-ers of the contract firm, StarConstruction, critically.

    Meanwhile, a high-levelcommittee has been formed toenquire into the cause of theaccident. The plant is func-tioning normally, informed

    official sources.Rourkela Ispat Karkhana

    Karmachari Sangh presidentHimanshu Sekhar Bal demand-ed adequate compensation tothe families of the deceased andinjured.

    Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik in a tweet said, “Deeplysaddened to know about thetragic loss of lives in the gasleak incident at Rourkela SteelPlant. My thoughts and prayersare with bereaved families inthe hour of grief and pray forthe speedy recovery of thosewho are hospitalised.”

    ����� .���&�#/�

    The Supreme Court onWednesday agreed toexamine controversial new lawsof Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand regulating reli-gious conversions due to inter-faith marriages.

    A bench headed by ChiefJustice SA Bobde refused, how-ever, to stay the provisions ofthe laws and issued notices toboth State Governments ontwo different petitions.

    The pleas, filed by advocateVishal Thakre and others andan NGO ‘Citizen for Justice andPeace’, have challenged theconstitutional validity of theUttar Pradesh Prohibition ofUnlawful Religious ConversionOrdinance, 2020 and theUttarakhand Freedom ofReligion Act, 2018 which reg-ulate religious conversions ofinter-faith marriages.

    At the outset, the top courtasked the petitioners toapproach the Allahabad HighCourt after Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta said that it isalready seized of the matter.

    ����� �34/�.5�1.

    Democrat Rev RaphaelWarnock on Wednesdaysecured a crucial win in thesenatorial race, becoming thefirst Black senator fromGeorgia and bringing his partywithin the reach of a majorityin the US Senate ahead ofPresident-elect Joe Biden’sinauguration.

    Multiple news outlets onWednesday morning projected51-year-old Warnock, a seniorpastor of Ebenezer BaptistChurch in Atlanta, winneragainst Republican Senator

    Kelly Loeffler in the GeorgiaSenate runoff.

    He is the first African-American to represent Georgiain the US Senate. He is also thefirst Democrat to win theSenate race from Georgia in 20years. The control of the Senatenow boils down to the otherSenate runoff from Georgiawherein Republican incum-bent Senator David Perdue istrailing against Democrat JonOssoff, when reports last camein. The special elections wereheld on Tuesday.

    Both President DonaldTrump and President-elect Joe

    Biden had campaigned fortheir respective candidates.

    The 100-member Senatenow has 50 seats for theRepublican Party and 49 to theDemocrats. The result of thePerdue vs Ossoff is yet to becalled in.

    In the event of bothRepublicans and theDemocrats having 50 seats inthe Senate, Vice-President-elect Kamala Harris is in hercapacity as the Vice Chairman,who presides over the Senatemeetings, would cast the cru-cial vote in favour of theDemocrats.

    ����� .���&�#/�

    Petrol price on Wednesdayneared all-time high afterstate-owned fuel retailers hikedrates after a nearly month-long hiatus.

    Petrol price was raised by26 paise per litre and diesel by25 paise a litre, according to aprice notification from oil mar-keting companies.

    After this increase, petrolin Delhi climbed to �83.97 perlitre from �83.71 previously.Diesel rates rose to �74.12 perlitre from �73.87. In Mumbai,diesel touched an all-time highof �80.78.

    This is the first price revi-sion in nearly a month andrates are now near an all-timehigh. Highest ever rate of �84 a litre for petrol in Delhiwas touched on October 4,2018. Diesel too had scaled toan all-time high of �75.45 a litreon October 4, 2018.

    On that day, theGovernment cut excise duty onpetrol and diesel by �1.50 perlitre in a bid to ease inflation-ary pressure and boost con-sumer confidence.

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    After suggesting the Centreon December 17 to put onhold the three controversialfarms laws and form a panel togo into the issues raised byprotesting farmers, theSupreme Court on Mondaynoted that there has been no“improvement on ground” andposted the matter for hearingon January 11.

    A three-judge Bench head-ed by Chief Justice of India SABobde said the intention of thecourt is to encourage and facil-

    itate talks between farmersand the Government. To this,Attorney General KKVenugopal informed the Benchthat “there are chances of theparties coming to some sort ofan understanding”.

    “We understand the situa-tion and encourage consulta-tion. We can adjourn the mat-ters on Monday if you submitthe same due to the ongoingconsultation process,” theBench said. The Bench washearing a petition filed byadvocate Manohar Lal Sharmachallenging the validity of the

    three farm laws.The court also issued

    notice to the Government on aseparate petition filed by advo-cate Sharma, challenging theThird ConstitutionalAmendment of 1954 whichincluded Entry 33, concerningfood and essential commodi-ties, in the Concurrent List.

    “This is one of Sharma’sstartling petitions... He says you[Government] have been com-mitting illegalities since 1954,”Bobde told Venugopal in alighter vein.

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    The death toll of migratorybirds due to bird flu hascrossed 2900 at Pong DamWildlife Sanctuary inHimachal’s Kangra district.

    “On January 5, as many as336 migratory birds werereported dead at Pong wetlandpushing the death toll to 2736.The carcasses of more than 250birds were found at Pong tillWednesday evening while thecounting was still on,” said anofficial of the Wildlife wing ofForest Department, Himachalwhile talking to The Pioneer.

    The official said that max-imum fatalities continued to bereported in Bar-Headed Gooseat the wetland. Apart fromthis, deaths have been report-ed in eight more species ofbirds.

    It was on January 4 whenthe deadly avian influenza-H5N1 was confirmed byNIHASAD, Bhopal in fivemigratory birds, whose car-casses were found in Pongwetland.

    Meanwhile, an officialspokesman of the Wildlife wingof the Forest Department saidthat the Department is work-ing actively to contain the out-break of H5NI Avian Influenzavirus in the state.

    The field staff has beendirected to maintain strict vigiland active surveillance of thesituation, he said.

    The spokesperson said thatthe Avian Influenza is a diseasecaused by a virus that infectsdomestic poultry and wild

    birds. Acting as per actionplan of Animal Husbandry forpreparedness, control and con-tainment of avian Influenzaissued by Government of India,rapid response teams have beenconstituted and deployed forcollection and safe disposal ofdead birds as per protocol.

    The infected areas arebeing disinfected and sani-tized. The whole operation isbeing supervised by DFOWildlife Hamirpur, thespokesperson added.

    As per the official figures,the Pong Dam wetland, knownas 'Birding Paradise', is cur-rently hosting around 60000migratory birds of differentspecies. The Department hasalready banned the entry oftourists and other visitors in thePong Dam area.

    NO THREAT OF BIRD FLUIN PUNJAB YET, GOVTFULLY PREPARED, SAYSMINISTER

    Punjab AnimalHusbandry Minister TriptRajinder Singh Bajwa onWednesday said that no case ofbird flu has been reported inthe State so far, but the StateGovernment has taken all pre-cautionary measures to dealwith any situation.

    At the same time, theMinister maintained that thepeople, who eat eggs and meat,do not need to be afraid and“they just need to eat theseproducts cooked properly”.

    Bajwa, addressing a pressconference to list the achieve-ments of the Departments

    under him, said that theAnimal HusbandryDepartment, along with otherdepartments of the StateGovernment, was closely mon-itoring to ensure that sub-standard meat and fish werenot sold in the market.

    e also appealed to the peo-ple to refrain from spreadingrumours and report any suchrumour to the administrationimmediately.

    Notably, the state authori-ties have alerted officials tokeep tabs on any unusualdeaths of migratory and poul-try birds in the state. “An advi-sory has been issued for sur-veillance of commercial poul-

    try farms and backyard poul-try farms to find any unusualmortality in birds,” said thestate Animal Husbandry direc-tor Harbinder Singh Kahlon.

    He said that the advisoryhas been sent to all 22 deputydirectors of the Department toensure regular visit of field staffto commercial and backyardpoultry farms in the state. Incase any “unusual mortality” inpoultry birds is found, sampleswill be sent to the NorthernRegional Disease DiagnosticLaboratory (RDDL), Jalandhar,to ascertain the cause.

    Similarly, the Departmentof Forests and WildlifePreservation has also issued an

    advisory for maintaining extravigil around lakes and wetlandsin the state, they said.

    Notably, a large number ofmigratory birds such as gulls,reeve, etc arrive at HarikePattan in Tarn Taran every year.

    Other wetlands in the state arein Gurdaspur, Rupnagar andNangal.

    Protocols have also beenissued for collection of samplesin case any migratory bird isfound dead, and all possible

    precautions were being taken.Reports are that samples ofdead migratory birds at PongDam Lake sanctuary in Kangradistrict of Himachal Pradeshhave tested positive for theH5N8 strain of bird flu. Four

    lakh poultry birds have died at20 farms in Haryana'sPanchkula district in the pastseveral days.

    A team of experts from theRDDL collected samples fromthe farms on Tuesday.

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    Shimla: Amid the outbreakof bird flu in Himachal, threecarcasses of vultures werefound in two villages ofSirmaur district onWednesday.

    An official in the WildlifeWing of Forest Departmentsaid that a carcass of vulturewas found in Shamah villageand two others carcasses inanother nearby village onWednesday.

    A team of the AnimalHusbandry and FisheriesDepartment were sent there

    for taking samples for bird flutesting. The report is await-ed to ascertain the cause ofdeath of the vultures, theofficial said.

    The species of vulturewas not known till the filingof this report.

    The Himalayan vultureand European vulture arefound in Himachal.

    Notably, apart from 2900migratory birds that havedied at Pong Dam in Kangradistrict, deaths of crows havealso been reported in the area.

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    Amid the outbreak of birdflu in several states acrossthe country, five birds werefound dead at the city's primetourist spot-Sukhna Lake trig-gering panic in the city.

    Carcasses of four birdswere found at the regulator endof Sukhna Lake on Wednesdaywhile a carcass of CommonCoot was found on Tuesdayevening. A dead fish and frogwere also found near CommonCoot at the Lake.

    After the deaths, theDepartment of AnimalHusbandry and FisheriesDepartment has sent samplesto the Regional DiseaseDiagnostic Laboratory(RDDL), Jalandhar for bird flutesting. More than 200 samplestaken from poultry birds, waterbodies, environmental ele-ments in the city have been sentfor testing.

    The deaths of birds atSukhna Lake are reported at atime when more than 2700migratory birds have died atHimachal’s Pong Dam due todeadly avian influenza- H5N1.

    Bird flu has also affected statesnamely Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh and Kerala.

    “Five birds have beenfound dead till Wednesdayevening at the Lake. Thesebirds included Common Coot,Pigeon, Crow, Egret andCormorant. Samples have beensent to RDDL, Jalandhar fortesting and the report is likelyto be received in next twodays,” said Debendra Dalai,UT Chief Conservator of Forestand Chief Wildlife Wardenwhile talking to The Pioneer.

    Dalai said that in view ofbird flu alert across the coun-try and directions receivedfrom the Centre, the field offi-cials and all concerned inChandigarh have been kept onhigh alert to keep a strict vigiland look for possible symptomsor mortality of birds.

    He said that as of now, nosymptoms of bird flu havebeen reported in migratorybirds at the Sukhna Lake andWildlife Sanctuary area. Someof the bird flu symptoms inavian species include diar-rhoea, head tilt, paralysis andsluggish behaviour. Apart fromthe field staff, the bird watch-

    ers and visitors toSukhna Lake andother water bodieshave been requested toreport to theDepartment of Forestand Wildlife, in case ofany such symptoms,Dalai added.

    The Departmenthas decided not toclose Sukhna Lake andSukhna WildlifeSanctuary for the vis-itors till the confir-mation of the bird flu.Notably, the UnionMinistry ofEnvironment, Forestand Climate Changehad sent guidelines onJanuary 3 relating toAvian Influenza to allstates and union terri-tories with an aim to ensureimplementation of all precau-tionary measures to check thespread of virus.

    Earlier, it was in the year2014 when bird flu was detect-ed in ducks at Sukhna Lake andmore than 90 ducks were culledas a part of control and con-tainment measures to preventthe spread of avian influenza,

    H5N1 in the city.During this winter season,

    more than 1000 migratorybirds have reached water bod-ies in Chandigarh. The migra-tory birds, while escaping coldbiting conditions in their areas,and braving the high snow-laden peaks of Himalayas,reach India every year for theirwinter sojourn.

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    Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh onWednesday ordered with-drawal of Section 307 againstfarm laws protesters whodumped cow dung outside a

    former BJP Minister TikshanSud’s house in Hoshiarpur.

    Capt Amarinder, who alsoholds the Home portfolio, has

    also ordered transfer of theStation House Officer (SHO)who had registered the‘attempt to murder’ case,which is now being probed bya Special Investigative Team(SIT).

    “The SHO has gone over-board in registering a caseunder Section 307 of theIPC…There is no attempt tomurder,” he said, referring tothe Hoshiarpur incident, inwhich a group of protestorshad unloaded a trolley full ofcow dung in front of Punjab’sformer Minister Tikshan Sud’s

    residence.

    SINGER BRAR’S ARRESTFOR PROMOTING GUNCULTURE JUSTIFIEDTerming as correct and justi-fied the arrest of Punjabisinger Shree Brar for promot-ing gun culture in a musicvideo, Capt Amarinder madeit clear that the arrest had noconnection with the singer’svideo in support of the protest-ing farmers, which, in fact, wasappreciable. “However, hisgood work now could notcondone the negative impact

    of his old song encouragingyouth to pick up guns,” he said.

    Capt Amarinder said:“Promoting gangsterism andgun culture in this manner isabsolutely wrong…The casehas been registered correctly inthe matter which related to anold song of the singer.” Notingthat Punjab was a border statefacing ongoing threats fromacross the border, the ChiefMinister said: “We will notallow the state’s peace to bedisturbed in any manner”,which such acts had the poten-tial to do.

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    Punjab Government is all set to develop aWood Park in Hoshiarpur soon with 30 unitsof plywood manufacturing. “The land for thisproject has been earmarked, which would fur-ther create 10,000 direct and 8,000 indirect jobopportunities,” said the state Industries andCommerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora onWednesday. Arora said that the PunjabGovernment’s concerted efforts for industrialgrowth had secured investments worth over Rs71,000 crore during last four years besides ensur-ing 2.7 lakh job opportunities under these indus-trial projects.The Minister informed that req-uisite approvals for setting up of Wood Park havebeen obtained and it would be developed onnearly 58 acres of land chunk adjoiningHoshiarpur.Despite severe health crisis amidglobal COVID-19 pandemic, the year-2020 itselfwitnessed industrial investment to the tune ofRs 10,461 crore with major projects in differentsectors including agro, food-processing, chem-ical, automobile, textile, education, renewableenergy, light engineering etc.

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    Categorically rejecting as “highly irresponsi-ble” reports in a section of the media thatPunjab had already implemented the new farmlaws, the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singhon Wednesday said that the state Food MinisterBharat Bhushan Ashu’s statement had been “mis-chievously twisted” by one newspaper, with oth-ers picking it up.

    “Punjab was the first state to have opposedthe central farm laws and, in fact, passed amend-ments Bills to negate their dangerous impact onagriculture,” he pointed out, slamming the AamAadmi Party (AAP) for spreading misinfor-mation on the issue with their fake propagan-da machinery.

    He said that the Governor “should have for-warded our Bills to the President for assent,which he has not done”.

    At the same time, the Chief Minister,stressing that there was nothing wrong with thedemands of the protesting farmers, urged the

    Prime Minister to immediately repeal the farmlaws in order to resolve the crisis.

    The Chief Minister, in a media interview,made it clear that Punjab would not allow thelives of its farmers to be ruined by the new laws.“We will do whatever possible to help the farm-ers and their families, for whom the StateGovernment has already started two helplineson which they could reach out in case of anyemergency,” he said.

    Urging the Prime Minister to withdraw thecontroversial laws and talk to the farmers, CaptAmarinder said: “The farmers have made theirstand very clear that the laws should berepealed. It is the job of the Government of Indiato listen to them.”

    The Centre can bring in new laws after dueconsultation with the farmers, he said, pointingout that the Constitution has been amendedmany times and can be done again for the revo-cation of the recently enacted farm legislations.

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    The number of novelCoronavirus (Covid-19)cases in Uttarakhand increasedto 92,593 on Wednesday withthe state health departmentreporting 227 new cases of thedisease. The department alsoreported the death of fivepatients of the disease on theday after which the death tollmounted to 1549 in the state.The health department dis-charged 380 patients from dif-ferent hospitals on Wednesday.A total of 86298 patients haverecovered from the disease sofar in the state. The recoverypercentage from the disease isnow at 93.20 and the sample

    positivity rate is 4.99 percent.Two patients of Covid-19

    were reported dead at theDistrict Hospital Pithoragarhon Wednesday. One patienteach of the disease was report-ed dead at Government DoonMedical College (GDMC) hos-pital, Mahant Indiresh hospitaland Himalayan hospitalDehradun on Wednesday.

    The health departmentreported 69 fresh cases ofCovid-19 from Dehradun, 60from Nainital, 40 fromHaridwar, 13 from UdhamSingh Nagar, 12 fromUttarkashi, nine fromChampawat, seven fromAlmora, five from Chamoli,four from Rudraprayag, threeeach from Tehri and Pauri andtwo from Bageshwar onWednesday. Uttarakhand nowhas 3515 active cases of the dis-ease. Dehradun is at continu-ing to remain at top of the tableof active cases with 1049 caseswhile with 810 active cases

    Nainital is at second spot.Haridwar is at third positionwith 322 cases, Tehri has 195,Uttarkashi 188, Pithoragarh

    181, Bageshwar 145, Almora140, Udham Singh Nagar 125,Pauri 116, Chamoli 108 andChampawat 71 active cases of

    the disease. With 65 activecases of Covid-19, Rudraprayagis at the bottom of the table ofactive cases of Covid-19.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    Aday after resuming his offi-cial work at his residence inDelhi following his recoveryfrom Covid-19, chief ministerTrivendra Singh Rawatreturned to Dehradun onWednesday.

    After landing at the GTChelipad here, the CM said,“With the blessings of lordBadrivishal and lordKedarnath, and the good wish-es of all, I have fully recoveredand returned with renewedenergy to once again serve thepublic.” Expressing his grati-tude to all doctors and para-medical staff, Rawat stressed onthe need for following all theCovid guidelines like wearing

    a mask properly,maintaining socialdistancing and fre-quently washinghands. Cabinetminister MadanKaushik, State min-ister Dhan SinghRawat andDehradun mayorSunil Uniyal ‘Gama’among others wel-comed the CM at the helipad.

    It will be recalled that theCM, his wife and daughter hadtested positive for Covid onDecember 18. He was admittedfirst to the government Doonmedical college hospital hereon December 27 on experi-encing fever and then shifted toAll India Institute of Medical

    Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhion the next day for tests andobservation as he was sufferingfrom minor infection in thelungs. He was discharged fromAIIMS on January 2 after test-ing negative for Covid andreturned to Dehradun aftercompleting his period of isola-tion at his Delhi residence.

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    Adry run for vaccination ofCovid-19 would be done inall 13 districts of Uttarakhandon Friday (January 8). The vac-

    cine dry run would be done inten hospitals in every district.An online training programmewas organised on Wednesdayfor the dry run of vaccine. Theprogramme was attended bythe district magistrates (DM),chief medical officers (CMO),immunisation officers andother officers of all the districts.Addressing the workshop, thesecretary health Amit SinghNegi said that the dry runwould be in accordance withthe guidelines of the govern-ment of India. He said thathighest standards would be

    followed and the arrangementswould be similar to that doneduring the elections. In thetraining different aspects of thevaccine dry run was given bythe representatives of the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)and United NationsDevelopment Programme(UNDP). The director general(DG) health services, Dr AmitaUpreti has already appointedobservers for the dry run.These observers would reviewthe campaign and submit adetailed report to the officerconcerned.

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    Taking a stern note on thederogatory comment onleader of opposition (LoP)Indira Hridayesh made bythe state BJP presidentBansidhar Bhagat, theUttarakhand Congress hasdemanded that FIR should belodged against Bhagat.

    A delegation of Congressled by the Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC) presidentPritam Singh met the DirectorGeneral (DG) of police,

    Ashok Kumar on Wednesdayand submitted a complaintagainst Bhagat.

    Later addressing themedia persons at RajivBhawan,Dehradun PritamSingh said that he is person-ally feeling offended by thedemeaning remark made byBhagat and submitted a com-plaint on his own to the police.The police should lodge aFIR against Bhagat as per theprovisions and act accord-ingly, he said. Singh warnedthat the party would hit theroads if no action is takenagainst Bhagat.

    The PCC president saidthat the Congress partystrongly condemns the utter-ances of Bhagat on IndiraHridayesh. “ Indiraji hasachieved a position in politics

    and everyone irrespective ofparty affiliations respects her.She has a very rich experienceof parliamentary processesand whenever she speaks inthe assembly everyone listensto her attentively. The com-ment made by Bhagat is aninsult of Matrishakti of thestate and everyone is offend-ed by it. The comment alsoreflects the character of theBJP state president,’’ he said.

    The PCC president saidthat it is appreciable that theChief Minister TrivendraSingh Rawat has expressedregret on the remark of Bhagatbut added that the CM shouldhave also expressed regretwhen a BJP MLA had madeinsulting remarks about thepeople of Uttarakhand. Hesaid that the CM should have

    expressed regret when awoman party worker of BJPhad complained that the gen-eral secretary (Organisation )of BJP had harassed her. ThePCC president said that thestate administration took nonote of the complaint made bya woman in which sheclaimed that a BJP MLA hadsexually harassed her and shehad a daughter from him. Hesaid that it was the court whotook cognizance of the plea ofthe victim and ordered that aDNA test of the MLA and thegirl should be done.

    The vice president ofUttarakhand Congress SuryaKant Dhasmana, RP Raturi,Rajendra Shah, GarimaDasauni, Mahesh Joshi andothers were present on theoccasion.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    Following the commentmade by the BharatiyaJanata Party state presidentBanshidhar Bhagat regardingthe leader of oppositionIndira Hridayesh, chief min-ister Trivendra Singh Rawatapologised to her whileBhagat himself expressedregret and withdrew hisstatement.

    The chief minister tweet-ed at 12 :38 AM onWednesday address ingHridayesh stating that hewas very sad. “A woman isvery respectable and venera-ble to us. I personally seek anapology from you and every-

    one who is sad like I am,” saidRawat in the tweet.

    Later during the day, theBJP state president said thathe had come to know that thestatement he had made at apar ty workers’ meet inBhimtal had displeased theleader of opposition.

    He said, “I had used aword which I have come toknow has hurt the leader ofopposition. I would like tomake it clear that she is oursenior and respecting womenis my and my party’s priori-ty. I had said it in a generalway but if my statement hurther, I deeply regret it andwithdraw my statement.”

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    Becoming more stringenttowards the registration ofpet dogs in the city, theMunicipal Corporation ofDehradun (MCD) will com-mence inspection of doglicenses from January 11. Theofficials stated that the motiveof this inspection is to awarelocals about the registrationprocedure rather than justpenalising them for not regis-tering the dogs with the cor-poration.

    Informing this, the seniorveterinary officer of the cor-poration Dr DC Tiwari saidthat the corporation will workin multiple teams in the city,especially during early morn-ings and evenings when theowners take their dogs out fora stroll. "We are not initiatingthis inspection to penalise peo-ple but to make them awareabout the pet dog license reg-istrations. We have found outthat many locals are still notaware of the procedure of theregistrations and we aim tochange that," said Tiwari.According to him, about 2,000

    dogs have been registered inMCD this financial year whichis the highest number of regis-trations in the corporationever. He stated that initiallythose who do not hold thelicense will be warned andinformed about the same. Theteam will get the details fromsuch owners and they will beprovided at least two days toregister their dogs but if theyfail to do so, the MCD will sendthem a notice, informedTiwari.

    He said that after the firstwarning, the corporation willimpose a minimum fine of Rs500 which would go higher upto Rs 5000 if the owners wouldnot register the dogs after mul-tiple warnings. Meanwhile,Tiwari also pointed out thatpeople are progressivelybecoming aware of registra-tions in the city in the last fewmonths.

    He said that around 70people arrive in MCD everyday for pet dog license regis-trations and so far, the corpo-ration has collected about Rsfour lakhs with approximately2000 registrations.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    In a significant feat, the AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) Rishikeshhas provided OPD facilities to2.5 lakh patients in the last year.A total of 29000 patients wereadmitted in different wings ofthe hospital in the year. Lastyear, in March 2020, OPD ser-vices were shut down in mosthospitals in the state during thenationwide lockdown due tothe growing infection of theworldwide pandemic.

    The Director of AIIMS-Rishikesh Ravikant said thatdespite the challenges of treat-ing patients during the pan-demic of Covid-19, the servicescontinued in the institute.

    “The emergency serviceswere also kept open on allseven days a week for the con-venience of patients. AIIMSdoctors, nursing staff and othermedical staff served patientslike warriors, performing theirduties,’’ he said.

    The Dean HospitalAdministration, U B Mishrasaid that during the pandemicthe Covid-19 patients wereaccorded priority but treat-ment of compulsory and emer-gency patients was continuedfor twenty-four hours inAIIMS.

    He added that surgery often thousand patients sufferingfrom various diseases was alsosuccessfully done in the insti-tute.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    From over 5,000 registra-tions in Dehradun districtfor employment opportunitiesthrough Helping Out PeopleEverywhere (HOPE) portal,more than 3,000 registrationsbelong to the applicants fromrural areas alone.

    In view of getting betteremployment opportunities inDehradun district during thepandemic, about 5,200 peoplehave registered in the portal sofar which was launched inMay to provide employment tomigrant returnees, as per thedistrict nodal officer of HOPE,

    Ajay Singh. He informed thatthe district administration hasalready contacted about 3,500applicants so far while manyamong the remaining appli-cants could not be contacted."Since the portal was mainlylaunched for migrants whohad to return here after Covid-19 pandemic hit the country inMarch or lost the job due to it,many could have returned totheir jobs again as we could notcontact many applicants," saidSingh.

    The officials informed thatthe list of registered applicantsin the portal is sent to thedepartments concerned regard-ing the field in which theapplicants have shown theirinterest through the applica-tion. According to them, theadministration has sent around3000 applications to 10 depart-ments but most of the applica-tions are forwarded to the four

    main departments as per theregistrations that includedepartment of industries, agri-culture department, dairydevelopment department andtourist department besidesUttarakhand SkillDevelopment Mission(UKSDM). The officials point-ed out that over 3000 applicantshave registered in the portalunder skilled professionalswhile about 2000 applicantshave registered under unskilledprofessionals.

    The nodal officer Singhsaid that the HOPE portalhelps applicants to connectwith different governmentschemes like MukhyamantriSwarozgar Yojana (MSY) andUKSDM to get the bestemployment opportunities andeven those can register whohave not even completed theireducation or hold any profes-sional skill.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    Gearing up for theapproaching inspection ofSwacch Survekshan 2021 whileasking locals to register theircomplaints about sanitationrelated issues in the citythrough Swachhata-MoHUAapp, the MunicipalCorporation of Dehradun(MCD) has been receivingabout 300 complaints everyday. As informed by the munic-ipal health inspector PushpaRauthan, the corporationreceives different kinds ofcomplaints on a daily basisincluding drainage issues, road-side garbage dumping, uncleanpublic toilets and disposal ofdead animals.

    The MCD receives from200 to 300 complaints daily andso far, the corporation hasreceived over 14,000 sanitation

    related complaints throughSwachhata-MoHUA app, saidRauthan. She further addedthat the corporation resolvesmost of the matters within 24hours to 36 hours but some-times, some complaints mighttake a bit longer to get resolved.

    However, Rauthan pointedout that the complaint ismarked as resolved in the appas soon as the MCD resolvesthe matter. Moreover, the offi-cials informed that the regularcomplaints help to improvesanitation facilities in the citybesides increasing the possi-bility of getting a higher posi-tion in Swacch Survekshan2021. They appealed to localsto register complaints throughthe app with photographs andvideos for the immediateredressal of sanitation relatedissues in the city.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    Setting up an example ofpolitical bonhomie amongmajor political rivals, the for-mer chief minister HarishRawat has praised UttarakhandChief Minister Trivendra SinghRawat for expressing regret onthe derogatory comment madeby the state president of BJPBansidhar Bhagat. The formerCM congratulated the incum-bent CM for showing appre-ciable political acumen on theissue thus partially saving hisparty from humiliation. HarishRawat took to social media tocongratulate Trivendra SinghRawat on Wednesday. He alsothanked the CM for his orderregarding the nursing graduatesand differently abled govern-

    ment employees after over-coming Coronavirus. It isworth mentioning here thatCM Rawat on Tuesday haddirected the health secretary toremove the clause of compul-sion of Form 16 and experienceof at least one year in a 30 bedhospital from the recruitmentprocess of 1238 posts of nurs-es. He also increased the quotaof differently abled govern-ment employees in the allot-ment of government accom-modations. Both these orderswere welcomed by the formerCM Harish Rawat. Incidentallythe CM gave the order on thenursing recruitment process aday after a delegation of thenursing graduates led byKedarnath MLA Manoj Rawatmet Harish Rawat inDehradun. Harish Rawat hadappealed to the state govern-ment to withdraw controversialand impractical provisionsfrom the recruitment of nurs-es.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    The Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla wouldinaugurate a programme for the pan-chayat representatives of different parts ofthe country in Dehradun on January 8. Inthe programme these representativeswould be informed about the democrat-ic procedures and programmes of the par-liament. The speaker of UttarakhandVidhan Sabha Prem Chand Agarwalwould be the chief guest on the occasion.The programme titled , ‘ Panchayati Rajinstitutions- the empowerment of decen-tralised democracy’ would be organisedunder the joint aegis of the Parliamentary

    democracy research and training institute,Lok Sabha secretariat and the PanchayatiRaj department of Uttarakhand. TheSecretary Panchayati Raj Harish ChandraSemwal met the speaker Agarwal onWednesday and invited him for the event.Agarwal said that the initiative for the pro-gramme of panchayat representatives wastaken by the Lok Sabha speaker. He saidthat in the year 2019, Uttarakhand suc-cessfully hosted a programme of presid-ing officers of different assemblies of thecountry and Birla was instrumental inorganising the event. The programmewould be attended by the representativesof three tier Panchayati Raj system.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    In view of increasing substance abuseamong children and for preventionand rehabilitation of such minors in theState, the Uttarakhand child protectioncommittee is organising a state-levelseminar in Dehradun on January 13.

    According to the secretary of thecommittee, Yogendra Yadav, the semi-nar will discuss several points like howvarious departments including the healthdepartment, education department and

    police department can help to restrict thesupply of drugs among minors in the dis-tricts. He said that the allocation of cessto tackle drug abuse is among themajor points of the agenda of the sem-inar.

    Besides this, the treatment andrehabilitation of children who are addict-ed to substance abuse will be discussedtoo among the other important issues inthe seminar, informed Yadav. He statedthat the officials from various depart-ments and organisations will be attend-ing the seminar.

    ����� &�/23&�.

    After some days of rain andsnowfall in Uttarakhand,there is some relief from therain as the state meteorologicalcentre has forecast that dryweather is likely to prevail inthe state on Thursday.According to the weather fore-cast, dense fog is likely tooccur in some parts of theplains especially in Haridwarand Udham Singh Nagar dis-tricts. Dehradun is likely toexperience mainly clear topartly cloudy sky withmist/shallow fog also likely tooccur. The maximum and min-imum temperatures inDehradun are likely to bearound 20 degrees Celsius andeight degrees Celsius respec-tively on Thursday.

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    Concerned over the resig-nation of lateral entrybureaucrats, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi conducted a‘rare’ direct interaction withseven Joint Secretaries (JS)who joined the Government ofIndia after quitting private sec-tors 14 months ago.

    Modi interacted with theofficers after The Pioneerreported on December 16,2020 about one of the nineJoint Secretaries resigning fromthe service and choosing to getback to an MNC abroad. Hewas a JS in the CommerceMinistry

    Sources in Department ofPersonnel and Training(DoPT) said the PM urged theofficers to continue working forthe country with a lot of zeal asthe nation looks towards theirexpertise in diversified fieldsand which can contribute in theshaping of an ‘AtmanirbharBharat’.

    One of the Joint Secretarieswho participated in the inter-action with Modi on December20, however, termed the inter-action as “routine”. “It was aroutine first interaction afterthe first batch completed ayear in various offices of theCentral Government,” hestressed.

    While Modi was inquisitiveabout the feeling, work cultureand acclimatisation of the pri-vate-professionals-turned-

    bureaucrats, one of the JS post-ed on his social media profilethat “the PM’s energy leveleven after a long day in officeis inspiring and infectious”.

    Those who interacted withModi on that day were AmberDubey, who left KPMG andjoined Civil Aviation Ministry,Sujit Bajpayee, who left NHPSto join the EnvironmentMinistry, Dinesh Jagdale, theerstwhile CEO of PanamaRenewable Energy Group whowas posted in the NewRenewable Energy Ministry,Kakoli Ghosh, who joined theagriculture ministry, SaurabhMishra in Financial Services,Rajeev Saksena in the eco-nomic affairs department,Suman Prasad Singh in theRoad Transport Ministry andBhuhan Kumar in the ShippingMinistry.

    Launched with much fan-fare by the Narendra ModiGovernment in 2018, the lat-eral entry scheme for senior-level officers drawn from var-ious professions and expertise

    suffered a setback when ArunGoel resigned.

    Sources close to Goel saidafter having served for about ayear at a very powerful post hecalled it a day due to toomuch of “bureaucratic grind”in the system. Modi had him-self announced senior-levelbureaucratic posts in severaldepartments for people whoare “talented and motivated”and willing to contribute tonation building.

    Sources said the decisionof Goel to leave theGovernment sector could alsobe because of his insubordi-nation in the Ministry as hehad a background of headinga global company. “He hadcome to join the Governmentafter leaving a handsome pack-age earlier also,” sources said.The JS report to the secre-tary/additional secretary inthe Ministry or Departmentand are normally appointedfrom all-India services likethe IAS, IPS, IFS and otherallied services.

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    The Congress on Wednesdayappointed its senior leadersincluding Chief MinistersAshok Gehlot and BhupeshBaghel as observers to overseethe party’s election campaignmanagement for the upcomingAssembly polls in several Statesand a Union Territory.Assembly elections are due tobe held in the States of Assam,West Bengal, Kerala, TamilNadu and the UT ofPuducherry by the middle ofthis year.

    An official communica-tion from the party saidCongress president SoniaGandhi has appointed theleaders as senior observersfor overseeing the electioncampaign management andcoordination in states whereassembly elections are going tobe held in 2021. Their appoint-ment is with immediate effect.They will discharge theirduties in close coordinationwith AICC general secretariesand in-charges in the respec-tive states, the party said.

    Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, former Goachief minister Luizinho Faleiroand Karnataka’s former deputychief minister G Parameswarahave been appointed as seniorobservers for the Keralaassembly polls.

    Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel, theparty’s general secretary

    Mukul Wasnik and seniorleader Shakeel Ahmad Khanhave been appointed as seniorovservers for the Assamassembly polls. For the elec-tions in Tamil Nadu andPuducherry, senior party lead-ers and former union minis-ters M Veerappa Moily and MM Pallam Raju, besides sittingcabinet minister inMaharashtra Nitin Raut havebeen appointed as seniorobservers.

    For the West Bengalassembly elections, seniorparty leader B K Hariprasadand Alamgir Alam, besidesPunjab minister Vijay InderSingla have been appointed asobservers. The party is keen toretain power in Puducherryand is seeking to wrest powerback in Assam, Kerala andTamil Nadu. The Congress isin the process of finalisingseat-sharing with its allies inthese states, the statementsaid.

    The Congress is also con-testing the West Bengal assem-bly polls in alliance with theleft parties and final seat-sharing arrangements arebeing worked out in the state,it said. The party’s electoralfortunes were on the declinelast year when it lost power inMadhya Pradesh after itsleader Jyotiraditya Scindia andhis supporting MLAs switchedover to the BJP. The Congressalso lost the assembly electionsin Delhi and Bihar last year.

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    Showcasing their “success” inthe Gram Panchayat pollsin Karnataka, the BJP onWednesday claimed that thepeople have rejected theOpposition’s politics of “liesand hypocrisy” in the ongoingfarmers’ agitation and assert-ed that voters had put theirfaith in Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s “develop-ment politics”.

    Addressing a press con-ference here, BJP spokesper-son and Rajya Sabha memberRajeev Chandrasekhar allegedthat opposition parties havebeen trying to instigate groupsof citizens as he referred tofarmers’ protest against threefarm laws and also the earlieragitation against the

    Citizenship (Amendment)Act.

    Noting that he is speakingin the context of a string ofelections in Karnataka, he saidthe BJP has been winningthem, be it assembly bypolls orMLC elections or the recentrural body polls.

    This “overwhelming”mandate in favour of the BJPagainst some opposition par-ties’ politics of “lies andhypocrisy” shows people’s trustin the leadership of Modi andChief Minister B SYediyurappa, he said.

    People have backed themeasures taken by the centralgovernment for the agriculturesector, he claimed.

    The BJP leader said theGovernment is sincere in itstalks with farmer unions to

    end their protests and saidcommitment to farmers is an“article of faith” for the party.

    Over 55.4 per cent grampanchayats in the state areBJP-supported and 53 per centmembers are BJP supporters,he claimed.

    This result has comeagainst the backdrop of oppo-sition parties’ “falsehoods” tomislead farmers, he said.

    Since the BJP came topower at the Centre, the partyhas won 14 of 17 Assemblybypolls and emerged victori-ous in all four MLC seat elec-tions, he said.

    Over a month, the BJP hascited results in a number ofelections across the country toassert that the farm laws enjoysupport from a vast majorityof farmers.

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    The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) onWednesday forecast densefoggy weather and poor visi-bility from January 7 to 10 innorthwest India. The mini-mum temperatures are likely tofall by 4 to 6 degree Celsius innorthwest India during thenext 4-5 days. The western dis-turbance that was affectingnorthwest India has currentlymoved eastward, for whichthe effect will be mostly overwestern Uttar Pradesh.

    “Due to abundant mois-ture available in lower tropos-pheric levels and otherfavourable meteorological fea-

    tures, dense to very dense fogis very likely in some to manypockets over plains ofNorthwest India in the morn-ing hours of 07th to 10thJanuary,” the IMD said. “Theminimum temperatures arelikely to fall by 4-6 degreeCelsius over plains ofNorthwest India during thenext 4-5 days. Cold wave con-ditions are likely over theplains of Northwest India dur-ing 11th-13th January,” it said.

    Under the influence ofwestern disturbance fromJanuary 2 till January 6 (today),significant rainfall occurredin plains of northwest India,due to which, there is a signif-icant amount of moisture

    across the region. The ongoingspell of rainfall over southernparts of India is expected tocontinue at least until Saturday.Therefore, the states of TamilNadu, Kerala, and Karnatakaare expected to keep receivingscattered to fairly widespreadshowers and thunderstorms.

    According to IMD, atrough in low-level easterliesruns from the east-centralArabian Sea off Karnatakacoast to south MadhyaMaharashtra. This active east-erly wave spell is set to causescattered to fairly widespreadrains, thunderstorms, andlightning over southern penin-sular India during the next 4-5 days.

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    The Central paramilitaryjawans will now use Khadidurries procured from KVIC aspart of the vocal for local cam-paign. The Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) has signeda memorandum of under-standing (MoU) with the Khadi& Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC) for sup-plying 1,71,520 numbers ofKhadi Durries for CentralArmed Police Forces (CAPFs).

    The cotton khadi durriesfor CAPF jawans will be pro-cured in a purchase order worthRs 8. 73 crore. The ITBP hasbecome the first paramilitaryforce among the Central ArmedPolice Forces (CAPFs) to havesupplies from the KVIC.

    The MoU was inked byVinay Kumar Saxena,Chairman, KVIC and AnandSwaroop, Inspector General ofITBP. Vivek Bharadwaj,Additional Secretary, PoliceModernisation, Union Home Ministry also attendedthe event.

    The ITBP had signed anagreement with the KVIC inJuly last year for procurementof 1,200 quintal of mustard oilwith a total financial implica-tion of �1.73 crore. It wasdecided during a meeting held

    at the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) of the DirectorsGeneral of the CAPFs inOctober, 2019 that use ofTerry Khadi uniform andother items of swadeshi originshould be made available tothe CAPFs. The governmentwas celebrating the 150th birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi in 2019.

    During the visit of HomeMinister Amit Shah inDecember, 2019 to the ITBPForce headquarters here, anexhibition stall was preparedto exhibit the KVIC products.

    “The ITBP had suggestedthat durries, blankets, towels,mustard oil, yoga kit, hospitalbed sheets, pickles and similaritems can be purchased forjawans of the Force throughKVIC,” ITBP SpokespersonVivek Pandey said in a statement.

    “The process of procuringkhadi bed sheets and pillowcovers from KVIC for allCAPF hospitals is also underway and it is expectedthat it will be procured in this financial year itself. Manysuch items will be procuredfrom the KVIC for promoting the local productsin the CAPFs,” it added.

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    Union Home MInistry onWednesday asked TamilNadu Government not to allowopening of cinema theatreswith full capacity and asked tokeep only 50% of the seatingcapacity. In a direction Ministryof Home Affairs (MHA) direct-ed the state to reverse their ear-lier order and “immediatelyissue necessary order” to bringtheir guidelines in line with theMHA guidelines. “Governmentof Tamil Nadu order of per-mitting increase the seatingcapacity of Cinema/theaters/multiplexes from existing 50%to 100% is dilution of MHAorder. States and UT shall notdilute guidelines issued underDM act in any manner,” MHAsaid in a statement.

    “Govt of Tamil Nadu isrequested to immediately issuenecessary order to bring theirGuidelines in line with theMHA guidelines dated 28December 2020 and informcompliance to this Ministry,”the ministry further said. HomeSecretary wrote to Tamil NaduChief secretary to issue ordersaligned to MHA guidelines,allowing multiplexes to operateoutside containment zones withup to 50% occupancy.

    On Monday, Tamil NaduGovernment had permitted toincrease the seating capacity ofcinemas, theatres, multiplexesfrom existing 50% to 100% fol-lowing COVID19 protocols.The order comes days afteractors and theatre ownersrequested Chief MinisterEdappadi K. Palaniswami toallow theatres to function attheir full capacity. As per theCOVID-19 safety protocol,since last October, the theatresin the state were allowed to fillup only 50 per cent of their seatsto ensure social distancing.

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    The Supreme Court hasexpressed its exasperationat the inability of the virtualcourt system to work satis-factorily in the apex court,saying it is becoming very dif-ficult to continue with theproceedings in an appropriatemanner.

    The court also noted thatthere were no such problemsbeing faced in the virtualcourt system in the DelhiHigh Court next door.

    The apex court is hearingmatters through video-con-ferencing since March lastyear amid the COVID-19pandemic.

    “We at the inception mustnote our exasperation at theinability of the virtual courtsystem to work satisfactorilyin the Supreme Court whilethere is no such problems inthe Delhi High Court nextdoor!,” a bench headed byJustice Sanjay Kishan Kaulsaid in its January 5 order.

    “We have been since yes-terday trying to cope with theproblem of disconnections,resonance of voices, evenwhen there is single personarguing. It is difficult tounderstand this despite morelicences stated to have been

    taken. The only voice we hearis the resonance of our ownvoices!,” said the bench, alsocomprising justices DineshMaheshwari and HrishikeshRoy.

    The bench directed thesecretary general of the apexcourt to look into the issue.

    “We thus direct the secre-tary general to look into thisissue as it is becoming verydifficult to continue with pro-ceedings in the virtual courtsin an appropriate manner,” thebench said.

    The top court made theseobservations while hearing aplea against the Decemberlast year order passed by theChhattisgarh High Court.

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    Aday after Congress MPShashi Tharoor sought acancellation of the RepublicDay parade in the light of theCoronavirus pandemic andBritish Prime Minister’s deci-sion not to visit India, BJP’snational spokesperson SambitPatra on Wednesday slammedhim for making the demand.

    In a sharp riposte to theCongress leader, Patra asked asto why Rahul Gandhi’s foreigntrips are not cancelled insteadand also lambasted him forreferring to Republic Day as amere ‘festivity’ in his tweet.

    “Mr Tharoor, Republic DayParade is not just any“Festivity” that it ought to becancelled! Further Rahulcouldn’t cancel his festivities &continues to travel to “farther”

    destinations often but theCongress wants Republic Dayto be cancelled?”, tweeted theBJP leader.

    Issuing a statement on call-ing off the visit, the UK gov-ernment had said , “The PrimeMinister spoke to PrimeMinister Modi this morning, toexpress his regret that he will

    be unable to visit India later thismonth as planned.In light ofthe national lockdownannounced last night, and thespeed at which the new coro-navirus variant is spreading, thePrime Minister said that it wasimportant for him to remain inthe UK so he can focus on thedomestic response to the virus.”

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    Polls to 12 legislative coun-cil seats in Uttar Pradeshgetting vacant later this monthand bypolls to two legislativecouncil seats in Bihar and onein Andhra Pradesh will beheld on January 28. Accordingto the Election Commission, allthe elections and by-electionswould be held on January 28and counting of votes will beheld one hour after the com-pletion of polls as per estab-lished practice.

    Polls to 12 seats in the UPlegislative council are gettingvacant on January 30 as theterm of the members is com-ing to an end. One of the 12members is NasimuddinSiddiqui, who already standsdisqualified. The 12 members

    would be elected by membersof the legislative assembly(MLAs) in the biennial elec-tions.

    The MLCs who are retiringinclude Swatantra Dev Singh,Dinesh Sharma and LaxmanAcharya (BJP), NaseemuddinSiddiqui (disqualified),Dharmavir Ashok and PradipJatav (BSP), and Ahmed Hasan,Ashu Malik, Ramesh Yadav,Ram Jatan Rajbhar, VirendraSingh and Sahib Singh Saini(SP).

    Bypolls to two Bihar leg-islative council seats werenecessitated following the elec-tion of BJP leader Sushil Modito Rajya Sabha recently andelection of Vinod Narain Jha tothe State legislative Assembly inthe recently-held Bihar elec-tions.

    In Andhra Pradesh, thelegislative council bypoll wasnecessitated following the res-ignation of Pothula Sunitha inNovember last year.

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    Apetition has been filed in theSupreme Court seeking reg-ulation of Twitter and othersocial media platforms throughguidelines making them culpa-ble under criminal and civil lawsuntil a specific law is passed byParliament.

    The petition, likely to comeup for hearing in the comingdays, claimed that due to the lackof government control and inter-vention Twitter acts as it deemsfit.

    Advocate Mahek

    Maheshwari, who filed the pleain personal capacity, has soughta direction to the Centre to for-mulate a framework or guide-lines to appeal against any kindof grievances against Twitter andall such social media platformswithin designated time frame tilla proper law comes into force.

    The plea has also soughtdirections to frame guidelines toentrust responsibility on theofficers of ministries of elec-tronics and IT and Information& Broadcasting to deal withgrievance/complaint againstsocial media platforms.

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    Prime Minister NarendraModi held a video-tele-conference with GermanChancellor Angela Merkel onWednesday and briefed her onCOVID-19 vaccine develop-ment in India, while alsoassuring her of the country’scommitment to deploy itscapacities for the benefit of theworld.

    A Prime Minister’s Officestatement said Modi appreci-ated the long-standing role ofChancellor Merkel in provid-ing stable and strong leader-

    ship at the European and glob-al stage, and thanked her forguiding the growth of theIndia-Germany StrategicPartnership.

    The two leaders discussedkey issues of mutual impor-tance including the responseto the COVID-19 pandemic,bilateral ties, regional andglobal issues, particularlyIndia-EU relations.

    The prime ministerbriefed Chancellor Merkel onthe developments in Indiawith regard to vaccine devel-opment and assured the chan-cellor of India’s commitment

    to deploy its capacities for thebenefit of the world, the state-ment said.

    “He conveyed his bestwishes for early containmentof the new wave of infectionsin Germany and otherEuropean countries,” it said.

    Prime Minister Modi alsowelcomed Germany’s decisionto join the International SolarAlliance (ISA), and expressedhis desire to further strength-en cooperation with Germanyunder the platform ofCoalition for Disaster ResilientInfrastructure (CDRI).

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    AMuslim body moved theSupreme CourtWednesday seeking it bemade a party in the batch ofpleas challenging the consti-tutional validity of contro-versial new laws of UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand reg-ulating religious conversionsin inter-faith marriages.

    The top court earlier inthe day, issued notice to thetwo states, while agreeing to

    examine the validity of theirlaws.

    Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind inits application said that sim-ilar legislations are also beingenacted or planned by variousother states which also needto be declared unconstitu-tional.

    It has said that the ordi-nance passed by the UttarPradesh government waspromulgated in the backdropof statements issued by theChief

    Minister claiming that his

    government was working tobring a strict law to curb inci-dents of “love jihad”.

    “That as is evident by thestatements made by the ChiefMinister of Uttar Pradesh,the impugned ordinance waspromulgated to curb inci-dents of “love jihad” which isa terminolog y used todescribe inter-religious mar-riages, which they allegeinvolves the conversion

    of the woman - either byforce or guile - to marry aMuslim man”, it said.

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    Muzaffarnagar (UP): A 26-year-oldlabourer was allegedly stabbed todeath by a mason in Uttar Pradesh'sMuzaffarnagar district on Wednesdayafter he asked him to clear his duesof Rs 2,500, police said.

    The labourer was identified asSalman and the incident took placeat Mandwarin Budhana police stationarea, they said. Circle Officer (CO)Girija Shankar Tripathi said themason, Shoeb Rana, allegedlyattacked Salman with a knife when anargument broke out between themover the dues the labourer had askedhim to pay. Salman died on the wayto hospital, the CO said.

    The body has been sent for post-mortem and the matter is beingprobed. Efforts are under way to nabRana, who has gone abscondingafter the incident, the official said.

    Tripathi said security has beentightened in the village in view of theincident. PTI

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    Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh reported289 Fresh cases of COVID-19, 428recoveries and three deaths in the 24hours ending 9 am on Wednesday.

    The overall infection positivityrate slid to 7.30 per cent after 1.21 croresample tests for the virus so far turnedout a total of 8,83,876 confirmed cases,the latest bulletin said. The total recov-eries climbed to 8,73,855 and deaths to7,125, leaving 2,896 active cases in thestate, it said.

    Guntur reported 42, Chittoor andVisakhapatnam 40 each, East Godavari39, West Godavari 33 and Krishna 27new cases in 24 hours, the bulletinadded. The remaining seven districtsadded less than 20 cases each.

    All districts now have less than 500active cases each, with Krishna the top-per seeing 59 recoveries in a day anddropping its caseload to 470.

    Krishna, incidentally, crossed 48,000total positive cases on Wednesday. PTI

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  • Pakistan’s overall criminaljustice system on terrorismis a creaking sham, not justowing to the complicity ofthe politico-military-clergy triad butalso due to the compromised natureof the two essentials of any crimi-nal justice system, i.e. prosecutionand the judiciary. Despite variousAnti-Terrorism Acts (ATAs), Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATCs) and evenmore grandiloquent NationalAction Plan (NAP) — the convic-tion rates in terror cases in Pakistanremain abysmally low, if at all theconvictions take place. The judicia-ry has historically been an integralpart of the Pakistani establish-ment’s machinations as exemplifiedin the mid-50s when Chief JusticeMuhammad Munir had propound-ed the “doctrine of necessity” tolegalise General Ayub Khan’s extra-legal takeover of the country by sug-gesting that “which is otherwise notlawful is made lawful by necessity”.But the fickle nature of intrigues andinter-institutional one-upmanshipcan result in the judiciary taking onthe politicians and Generals also —not necessarily to uphold the law butpursuant to their own institution-al turf wars. A special court tryingthe former Pakistan Army chief andPresident, Pervez Musharraf, hadstunningly announced for him thedeath penalty by majority votes(which was later overturned); and,more recently, the Pakistani ChiefJustice had rejected a petitioner’slast-minute withdrawal plea thathad initially challenged the exten-sion of the Pakistan Army chief ’stenure. It was followed by a tensethree-day drama which kept thepoliticos and the Generals on thetenterhooks. The wheels-within-wheels of manipulation and vestedinterests by all the competing armsof governance have ensured the per-petuation of the rot that facilitates“terror nurseries”.

    Pakistan is precariously poisedto potentially get “blacklisted” forsupporting and financing terror andis under constant review by thewatchdog agency, the FinancialAction Task Force (FATF). But a fewweeks ago, the Sindh High Courthad set aside the provincialGovernment’s detention orders per-taining to the four terrorists held forthe abduction and gruesome mur-der of US journalist Daniel Pearl.The horrifying case of the journal-ist’s decapitation had shocked theconscience of the internationalcommunity but the provincial courtdeclared it “null and void” and notwarranting “any sort of detention”.The acting Attorney-General of theUS, Jeffrey Rosen, indignantly

    remarked that the “separate judi-cial rulings reversing convictionand ordering release are anaffront to terrorism victimseverywhere”, and the family of thejournalist called it a “travesty ofjustice”. For its part, India is wellversed with the Pakistani judicialsystem as a similar fate wasbestowed upon the likes of HafizSaeed, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhviand the other masterminds of theMumbai 26/11 carnage who areoften “detained”, “kept underhouse arrest” and even “sen-tenced” to appease the interna-tional community and keep theFATF proceedings from reachingharsh and punitive action, but areable to indulge in their nefariousactivities nonetheless.

    Intelligence sources hadnamed the terror and Sunni-supremacist organisation,Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, as being oneof the key participants in theDaniel Pearl murder case. Thedilly-dallying, obsequiousnessand the long rope afforded by thecourts to such organisationsensure that they continue tothrive irrespective of their crimes.The complicated history of thePakistani military and its intelli-gence agency, the Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI), in nurturingand supporting such outfits fromtime to time has always ensuredthat there are crucial “contacts”and “sympathisers” within themilitary and the additional pusil-lanimity by other levers like thejudiciary, completely enfeeblingthe anti-terror commitmentsthat exist only in name.Unsurprisingly, last week, the

    same Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and ISIL(ISIS) cadres were said to havekilled 11 Hazara Shia coal min-ers after abducting them, tying uptheir hands and shooting them incold blood — another statisticwas added to Pakistan’s bloodysocietal violence that isunmatched in its brutality, andapparent acquiescence andleniency from the Government’sside, at the same time.

    To add insult to injury in thelamentable circus that besetsPakistan, Minister for HumanRights Shireen Mazari inconceiv-ably said: “India-funded terror-ists in Balochistan are gettingmore desperate as developmentcomes to the province!” The real-ity of the supposed “develop-ment” in the region barely masksthe fact that the persecuted ShiaHazara community, from whichthese miners had come, is hud-dled in two heavily guardedghettos in Quetta and surround-ed by high walls and barbed wire,after hundreds of them werekilled in sectarian violence overthe past couple of decades. Forthe religious minorities and the“deemed minorities” like Shias,Ahmediyas and several others,justice is a far cry.

    Even if the odd individualwishes to stand up for justice andfor upholding the constitutionalprovisions, the societal regressionthat envelops the Pakistani judi-cial system is all-pervasive andpowerful, as was seen when theproud murderer Mumtaz Qadri(who had killed Punjab GovernorSalman Taseer in broad daylight)was showered with rose petals bythe resident lawyers when heattended court. The judge whofinally gave Qadri the death sen-tence had to face an impromptustrike by the District BarAssociation, had his office van-dalised and was forced into exileout of the country, fearing for hislife. Further, the witness protec-tion programmes in Pakistan arecompletely ineffective as “influ-ential” bodies routinely and

    brazenly ensure intimidationand retractions, and people aresimply too scared to testify.

    The patent sophistry ofascribing the booming terrornetwork in Pakistan onto the so-called “non-State actors” is abogey that has lost all credibili-ty. No such apparatus or ecosys-tem can survive for so long withsuch impunity despite so manyActs, laws and military exercis-es aimed at “uprooting terror” —unless the elements of the law-makers (politicos), law enforcers(police/paramilitary), military,religio-social leaders and thejudicia


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