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W ith the Opposition gun- ning for him for the farmers-led chaos in Delhi on the Republic Day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday took stock of the security situation and mea- sures taken to ensure peace in the city. Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and senior officers of the MHA and the Delhi Police attended the meeting. “The Home Minister reviewed the law and order sit- uation in Delhi, which wit- nessed violence during the farmers’ tractor rally on Tuesday, an official said. The high-level meeting decided to take action against all leaders responsible for unto- ward incidents on Tuesday in the Capital. Delhi Police was directed to register FIRs on the various incidents. The Central Government has deployed around 4,500 paramilitary troops to assist the Delhi Police in maintaining law and order. Rapid Action Force per- sonnel have also been reposi- tioned in the national Capital and vigil has been intensified in view of the evolving situation. Meanwhile, the Congress blamed the BJP-led Central Government for the violence and vandalism that ensued on the streets of national Capital on Republic Day and demand- ed resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for failing to protect Red Fort. “Union Home Minister Amit Shah is directly respon- sible for the violence carried out in the name of farmers protest. His failure to stop the vandalism despite intelligence inputs means he has no right to remain in his position. We demand that he resign from his position immediately,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said at AICC Press conference. Former Congress presi- dent Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Narendra Modi Government on Wednesday to repeal, what he claimed were, “anti-agriculture” laws. Continued on Page 2 A day after unprecedented violence in Delhi during the tractor parade, the Government on Wednesday said it has never stated that the doors for dialogue with farm- ers are closed and stressed that it will inform whenever the decision is taken for fresh talks. “We have never said that the doors for dialogue are closed. Have you heard. Whenever talks are held, we will let you know,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, when asked at the Cabinet briefing on whether the doors for talks with farmers are closed now. After the 11th round of talks on Friday last, the Government asked the farmers to reconsider their proposal of holding the three farm laws on hold for 1-1.5 years, but the farmers rejected their propos- al. No decision has been taken on another round of talks with farmers. He said whatever deci- sions with regard to talks with farmers are taken, will be dis- closed at the right time. “We have already told you, if there is any change, we will let you know,” he said. Asked whether Tuesday’s violence was discussed in the meeting of the Union Cabinet, Javadekar said the Cabinet is different from the security committee. The Government’s negoti- ations with representatives of thousands of protesting farm- ers hit a roadblock on Friday as the unions squarely rejected the Centre’s proposal to put three contentious laws on hold. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar also blamed external “forces” for their rigid stand and said no resolution is possible when the sanctity of agitation is lost. Unlike the last 10 rounds of talks, the 11th round saw both the sides hardening their posi- tions and could not even reach a decision on the next date for the meeting. The Government asked unions to revert by Saturday last in case they agree to the suspension proposal and the talks can continue only thereafter. Farmer leaders, however, are adamant that they would settle for nothing less than repeal of the laws, which they find pro-corporate, and a legal guarantee for the procurement of crops at Government-fixed minimum support price (MSP). D elhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava on Wednesday said farmers’ lead- ers were involved in the vio- lence in national Capital and those involved in the violence will not be spared and a Special Investigation Team (SIT), including officials from Special Cell, Crime Branch and district police, have been constituted to investigate the incident. Police has also registered 25 First Information Reports (FIRs) for riots, robbing, attempt to murder and other criminal offences across the city. The top cop also said by January 25 evening, it became clear that the farmers’ unions were not keeping their words as they brought forward the aggressive and militant ele- ments who occupied the stage at protest site and delivered provocative speeches. The Delhi Police has also named 37 farmer union Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders, including Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, in an FIR registered at Samaypur Badli police station in connec- tion with the violence that took place during a tractor rally by farmers. According to the FIR, in the riot, the protesters had also robbed the official pis- tol with 10 rounds of ammu- nition along with two gas gun on Tuesday. The farmers’ leaders named in the FIR includes Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, Satnam Singh Pannu, Joginder Singh Ugraha, Surjeet Singh Phool, Jagjeet Singh Dalewal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Harinder Singh Lakhoval, Gurnam Singh Chanduni and Rakesh Tikait. Addressing the Press con- ference at Police Head Quarters (PHQ) on Wednesday evening, the CP said after five rounds of talks with farmers union regarding the tractor parade on Republic Day there was mutu- al agreement on the parade routes from Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders. “Police laid down the con- ditions, which were agreed by the farmers and the first term was a time that was fixed for tractor rally at all border from 12 pm to 5 on. Second condi- tion laid was that tractor march will be lead by farmers’ union leaders and with every jhatha their leader should lead the rally and tractors should not exceed more than 5,000 in the rally. Police also put a condition to not bring any kind of weapons. The farmers gave undertaking and agreed on the route,” said the CP. “The protesters from Singhu border started their rally, hours before the time allotted, despite request from police officials they did not stop and broke down the barri- cades,” said the CP. “Farmer leader Satnam Singh Pannu, who was with farmers from Singhu border was stopped by police at Mukarba chowk after they deviated from the route. Pannu sat on dharna and gave inflam- matory speech following which the protesters got agitated and broke past the police installed barricades towards ITO,” said the Police Commissioner adding that Darshan Pal Singh, to sat on dharna with other when Pannu delivered the speech. “The farmers’ march from Tikri and Ghazipur started around 8:30 am. The farmers from Tikri border also broke barricades at Nangloi to move ahead towards Red Fort. They overturned trailers and van- dalized vehicles,” said the CP. “Farmer leaders were insti- gating farmers and they were the ones who were refusing to move on the predetermined routes. We have videos which are showing how leaders were instigating farmers. From Ghazipur, many from Rakesh Tikait’s team broke barriers and marched forward,” he said. The Police Commissioner also said not a single life was lost as the Delhi Police showed extreme restraint. “As many as 25 FIRs have been registered so far. Police teams are using the facial recognition system and taking the help of CCTV and video footage to identify the accused. Strict action will be taken against those identified. No culprit will be spared,” said the CP. He said 394 police person- nel were injured while 30 police vehicles were damaged in the violence on Wednesday. Six DTC buses were damaged in the violence. Capital’s ITO area became the main clashing point where several cops and protesters sustained injuries. A day after the violence dur- ing the tractor parade on Republic Day, two farmer unions announced the end of their protest against farm laws. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) president Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh said he was deeply pained by whatev- er happened during the trac- tor parade in Delhi on Republic Day. Sardar VM Singh of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee said the union is withdrawing from the ongoing agitation as they cannot carry forward a protest with someone “whose direc- tion is something else”. Many farmers’ bodies across northern India blamed actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu for Red Fort incident. Senior farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, who has been steering the farmers’ agitation since beginning, on Wednesday termed Punjabi actor Sidhu and Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Committee leaders Satnam Singh Pannu and Sarwan Singh Pandher as “biggest traitors” giving a call for their boycott in Punjab. Sidhu, who is in the eye of a storm for egging on protest- ers to put up a religious flag atop the Red Fort on Republic Day, has been considered by several farm bodies as an “agent” of the Government since he joined the protest. “Sidhu is an agent of the Government and he did it at the behest of the Centre to defame the farmers’ agita- tion,” alleged Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) gener- al secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan on Wednesday. However, Sidhu has sought to defend the action of the protesters at the Red Fort, saying they did not remove the national flag and had put up the “Nishan Sahib” flag as a symbolic protest. VM Singh alleged Rakesh Tikait, the national spokesper- son of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, who is heading the Ghazipur front, misdirected the movement. He also ques- tioned the committee of 40 people negotiating with the Government. Continued on Page 2 Chandigarh: Indian National Lok Dal’s only representative in Haryana Assembly, Abhay Singh Chautala, on Wednesday resigned as an MLA over the three new Central farm laws. “I decided I cannot sit in the Assembly with those who bring resolutions favouring these laws,” Chautala said. New Delhi: The outlawed Sikhs for Justice is learnt to have released a seven-minute video backing the Red Fort siege and announcing a reward of $3,50,000 for those who hoist- ed the Nishan Sahib there. The SFJ has called for a siege of the Parliament when the Budget Session begins. This comes a day after a tractor parade called to protest the agriculture laws. I n a second arrest in less than one year, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has arrested former chairman of Yes Bank Rana Kapoor in a money laundering case linked to the Mack Star Group-4,300 crore PMC Bank scam case. Rana Kapoor is the third person to have been arrested in the Mack Star Group-PMC Bank scam case. On January 23, ED had arrested Mehul Thakur and Madan Gopal Chaturvedi in this year. A day ahead of these arrests, the ED conducted raids at ten premises including the residence of former underworld don Bhai Thakur and offices of Viva Group which is controlled by his family. Rana Kapoor was pro- duced before a PMLA court which remanded in ED cus- tody till January 30. Detailed report on P5 V K Sasikala, former gener- al secretary of the AIADMK and aide to late J Jayalalithaa, was released after four years from the Parappana Agrahara Central Prison in Bangalore on Wednesday, it was officially announced by the Karnataka Government and her nephew TTV Dhinakaran. Hectic parleys are under- way in Chennai where Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami and his deputy O Panneerselvam are chalking out strategies to counter the moves from Sasikala camp. EPS had meade it clear during his trip to the national Capital that Sasikala has no place in the AIADMK. “There are possi- bilities of former Ministers and MPs joining Sasikala in days to come,” said G Satyamurthy specialist in AIADMK matters. Detailed report on P5 T he Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to grant interim protection from any coercive action to Ali Abbas Zafar, Director of web series “Tandav”, and others seeking quashing of FIRs against them for allegedly hurt- ing religious sentiments of Hindus and issued notices Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and other States on their pleas. Observing that “freedom of speech and expression is not absolute” and is subject to restrictions, the top court said Zafar, Amazon Prime India head Aparna Purohit, produc- er Himanshu Mehra, the show’s writer Gaurav Solanki and actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub may seek bail from courts concerned in the FIRs lodged in connection with the web series. A bench comprising jus- tices Ashok Bhushan, R Subhash Reddy and MR Shah, hearing as many as three sep- arate petitions on behalf of the makers and others connected to the web series, issued notices to U P, M P, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar and Delhi and the police officers probing the complaints. They have sought either quashing or clubbing of the FIRs lodged in several States on various grounds, including that the objectionable scenes have already been removed from the political thriller. “We cannot use the power under section 482 CrPC (power of courts to quash the criminal case). We are not inclined to grant interim pro- tection,” said the apex court at fag end of the hearing conducted through video-con- ferencing. Continued on Page 2 T he Union Home Ministry on Wednesday issued new guidelines allowing more capacity in cinema halls and opening up swimming pools for “all” persons. The Ministry also allowed the opening up of all exhibition halls. The MHA new guidelines said that the Information and Broadcasting Ministry will issue new Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for cinema halls to increase the current capacity of 50 per cent to high- er seating capacity. As far as the opening of swimming pools, the Ministry of Sports will issue SOPs for allowing all persons. Currently, only sportspersons are allowed to use swimming pools. The Ministry of Commerce is empowered to formulate SOPs for opening up of exhibition halls. “Cinema halls and theatres have already been permitted up to 50 per cent of seating capac- ity. Now they will be permitted to operate at higher seating capacity, for which a revised SOP will be issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in consultation with the MHA. Continued on Page 2 T he Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Bombay High Court order which acquitted a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act saying “groping a minor’s breast without ‘skin to skin contact’ cannot be termed as sexual assault”. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian stayed the high court order after Attorney General KK Venugopal men- tioned the matter. The top court also issued notice to Maharashtra Government and permitted the AG to file an appeal against the January 19 verdict of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. “In view of what is stated, we permit the learned Attorney General to file an appropriate petition against the said judg- ment. In the meantime, we stay the acquittal of the accused in Criminal Appeal...In respect of the offence under section 8 of the POCSO Act. Issue notice to the accused and the State of Maharashtra returnable two weeks,” the bench said in its order. Venugopal, while men- tioning the matter before the bench, submitted that the judg- ment of the high court is “unprecedented” and is likely to set a “dangerous precedent”. Continued on Page 2 New Delhi: Delhi recorded 96 fresh Covid-19 cases in a day, the lowest single-day rise in over nine months. New Delhi: As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to Parliament on Budget day, February 1.

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    With the Opposition gun-ning for him for thefarmers-led chaos in Delhi onthe Republic Day, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah onWednesday took stock of thesecurity situation and mea-sures taken to ensure peace inthe city. Home Secretary AjayBhalla and senior officers of theMHA and the Delhi Policeattended the meeting.

    “The Home Ministerreviewed the law and order sit-

    uation in Delhi, which wit-nessed violence during thefarmers’ tractor rally onTuesday, an official said.

    The high-level meetingdecided to take action againstall leaders responsible for unto-ward incidents on Tuesday inthe Capital. Delhi Police wasdirected to register FIRs on thevarious incidents. The Central

    Government has deployedaround 4,500 paramilitarytroops to assist the Delhi Policein maintaining law and order.

    Rapid Action Force per-sonnel have also been reposi-tioned in the national Capitaland vigil has been intensified inview of the evolving situation.

    Meanwhile, the Congressblamed the BJP-led Central

    Government for the violenceand vandalism that ensued onthe streets of national Capitalon Republic Day and demand-ed resignation of Union HomeMinister Amit Shah for failingto protect Red Fort.

    “Union Home MinisterAmit Shah is directly respon-sible for the violence carriedout in the name of farmers

    protest. His failure to stop thevandalism despite intelligenceinputs means he has no right toremain in his position. Wedemand that he resign from hisposition immediately,”Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Singh Surjewala saidat AICC Press conference.

    Former Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi appealed tothe Narendra ModiGovernment on Wednesdayto repeal, what he claimedwere, “anti-agriculture” laws.

    Continued on Page 2

    ����� ��������

    Aday after unprecedentedviolence in Delhi duringthe tractor parade, theGovernment on Wednesdaysaid it has never stated that thedoors for dialogue with farm-ers are closed and stressed thatit will inform whenever thedecision is taken for fresh talks.

    “We have never said thatthe doors for dialogue areclosed. Have you heard.Whenever talks are held, we willlet you know,” Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar said, whenasked at the Cabinet briefing onwhether the doors for talks withfarmers are closed now.

    After the 11th round oftalks on Friday last, theGovernment asked the farmersto reconsider their proposal of

    holding the three farm laws onhold for 1-1.5 years, but thefarmers rejected their propos-al. No decision has been takenon another round of talks withfarmers. He said whatever deci-sions with regard to talks withfarmers are taken, will be dis-closed at the right time.

    “We have already told you,if there is any change, we willlet you know,” he said. Askedwhether Tuesday’s violence wasdiscussed in the meeting of theUnion Cabinet, Javadekar saidthe Cabinet is different fromthe security committee.

    The Government’s negoti-ations with representatives ofthousands of protesting farm-ers hit a roadblock on Friday as

    the unions squarely rejected theCentre’s proposal to put threecontentious laws on hold.

    Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar alsoblamed external “forces” fortheir rigid stand and said noresolution is possible when thesanctity of agitation is lost.

    Unlike the last 10 rounds oftalks, the 11th round saw boththe sides hardening their posi-tions and could not even reacha decision on the next date forthe meeting. The Governmentasked unions to revert bySaturday last in case they agreeto the suspension proposaland the talks can continueonly thereafter.

    Farmer leaders, however,are adamant that they wouldsettle for nothing less thanrepeal of the laws, which theyfind pro-corporate, and a legalguarantee for the procurementof crops at Government-fixedminimum support price(MSP).

    ������������� ��������

    Delhi Police CommissionerSN Shrivastava onWednesday said farmers’ lead-ers were involved in the vio-lence in national Capital andthose involved in the violencewill not be spared and a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT),including officials from SpecialCell, Crime Branch and districtpolice, have been constituted toinvestigate the incident.

    Police has also registered 25First Information Reports(FIRs) for riots, robbing, attemptto murder and other criminaloffences across the city.

    The top cop also said byJanuary 25 evening, it becameclear that the farmers’ unionswere not keeping their words asthey brought forward theaggressive and militant ele-ments who occupied the stageat protest site and deliveredprovocative speeches.

    The Delhi Police has alsonamed 37 farmer unionSanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)leaders, including MedhaPatkar, Yogendra Yadav, in anFIR registered at SamaypurBadli police station in connec-tion with the violence thattook place during a tractor rallyby farmers. According to theFIR, in the riot, the protestershad also robbed the official pis-tol with 10 rounds of ammu-nition along with two gas gunon Tuesday.

    The farmers’ leadersnamed in the FIR includesMedha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav,Darshan Pal, Kulwant SinghSandhu, Satnam Singh Pannu,

    Joginder Singh Ugraha, SurjeetSingh Phool, Jagjeet SinghDalewal, Balbir Singh Rajewal,Harinder Singh Lakhoval,Gurnam Singh Chanduni andRakesh Tikait.

    Addressing the Press con-ference at Police Head Quarters(PHQ) on Wednesday evening,the CP said after five rounds oftalks with farmers unionregarding the tractor parade onRepublic Day there was mutu-al agreement on the paraderoutes from Singhu, Tikri andGhazipur borders.

    “Police laid down the con-ditions, which were agreed bythe farmers and the first termwas a time that was fixed fortractor rally at all border from12 pm to 5 on. Second condi-tion laid was that tractor marchwill be lead by farmers’ unionleaders and with every jhathatheir leader should lead therally and tractors should notexceed more than 5,000 in therally. Police also put a condition

    to not bring any kind ofweapons. The farmers gaveundertaking and agreed onthe route,” said the CP.

    “The protesters fromSinghu border started theirrally, hours before the timeallotted, despite request frompolice officials they did not stopand broke down the barri-cades,” said the CP.

    “Farmer leader SatnamSingh Pannu, who was withfarmers from Singhu borderwas stopped by police atMukarba chowk after theydeviated from the route. Pannusat on dharna and gave inflam-matory speech following whichthe protesters got agitated andbroke past the police installedbarricades towards ITO,” saidthe Police Commissioneradding that Darshan Pal Singh,to sat on dharna with otherwhen Pannu delivered thespeech.

    “The farmers’ march fromTikri and Ghazipur started

    around 8:30 am. The farmersfrom Tikri border also brokebarricades at Nangloi to moveahead towards Red Fort. Theyoverturned trailers and van-dalized vehicles,” said the CP.

    “Farmer leaders were insti-gating farmers and they werethe ones who were refusing tomove on the predeterminedroutes. We have videos whichare showing how leaders wereinstigating farmers. FromGhazipur, many from RakeshTikait’s team broke barriersand marched forward,” he said.

    The Police Commissioneralso said not a single life waslost as the Delhi Police showed

    extreme restraint. “As many as25 FIRs have been registered sofar. Police teams are using thefacial recognition system andtaking the help of CCTV andvideo footage to identify theaccused. Strict action will betaken against those identified.No culprit will be spared,” saidthe CP.

    He said 394 police person-nel were injured while 30 policevehicles were damaged in theviolence on Wednesday. SixDTC buses were damaged inthe violence. Capital’s ITO areabecame the main clashingpoint where several cops andprotesters sustained injuries.

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    Aday after the violence dur-ing the tractor parade onRepublic Day, two farmerunions announced the end oftheir protest against farm laws.Bharatiya Kisan Union(Bhanu) president ThakurBhanu Pratap Singh said hewas deeply pained by whatev-er happened during the trac-tor parade in Delhi onRepublic Day.

    Sardar VM Singh of AllIndia Kisan SangharshCoordination Committee saidthe union is withdrawing fromthe ongoing agitation as theycannot carry forward a protestwith someone “whose direc-tion is something else”.

    Many farmers’ bodiesacross northern India blamedactor-turned-activist DeepSidhu for Red Fort incident.Senior farmer leader BalbirSingh Rajewal, who has beensteering the farmers’ agitationsince beginning, onWednesday termed Punjabiactor Sidhu and MazdoorKisan Sangharsh Committeeleaders Satnam Singh Pannuand Sarwan Singh Pandher as“biggest traitors” giving a callfor their boycott in Punjab.

    Sidhu, who is in the eye ofa storm for egging on protest-ers to put up a religious flagatop the Red Fort on RepublicDay, has been considered byseveral farm bodies as an“agent” of the Government

    since he joined the protest.“Sidhu is an agent of the

    Government and he did it atthe behest of the Centre todefame the farmers’ agita-tion,” alleged Bharti KisanUnion (Ekta Ugrahan) gener-al secretary Sukhdev SinghKokrikalan on Wednesday.

    However, Sidhu hassought to defend the action ofthe protesters at the Red Fort,

    saying they did not remove thenational flag and had put upthe “Nishan Sahib” flag as asymbolic protest.

    VM Singh alleged RakeshTikait, the national spokesper-son of the Bharatiya KisanUnion, who is heading theGhazipur front, misdirectedthe movement. He also ques-tioned the committee of 40people negotiating with theGovernment.

    Continued on Page 2

    Chandigarh: Indian NationalLok Dal’s only representativein Haryana Assembly, AbhaySingh Chautala, on Wednesdayresigned as an MLA over thethree new Central farm laws. “Idecided I cannot sit in theAssembly with those who bringresolutions favouring theselaws,” Chautala said.

    New Delhi: The outlawed Sikhsfor Justice is learnt to havereleased a seven-minute videobacking the Red Fort siege andannouncing a reward of$3,50,000 for those who hoist-ed the Nishan Sahib there. TheSFJ has called for a siege of theParliament when the BudgetSession begins. This comes aday after a tractor parade calledto protest the agriculture laws.

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    In a second arrest in lessthan one year, theEnforcement Directorate (ED)has arrested former chairmanof Yes Bank Rana Kapoor in amoney laundering case linkedto the Mack Star Group-�4,300crore PMC Bank scam case.

    Rana Kapoor is the thirdperson to have been arrested inthe Mack Star Group-PMCBank scam case. On January 23,ED had arrested Mehul Thakurand Madan Gopal Chaturvediin this year. A day ahead of thesearrests, the ED conducted raidsat ten premises including theresidence of former underworlddon Bhai Thakur and offices ofViva Group which is controlledby his family.

    Rana Kapoor was pro-duced before a PMLA courtwhich remanded in ED cus-tody till January 30.

    Detailed report on P5

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    VK Sasikala, former gener-al secretary of theAIADMK and aide to late JJayalalithaa, was released afterfour years from the ParappanaAgrahara Central Prison inBangalore on Wednesday, itwas officially announced by theKarnataka Government andher nephew TTV Dhinakaran.

    Hectic parleys are under-way in Chennai where ChiefMinister EdappadiPalaniswami and his deputy OPanneerselvam are chalkingout strategies to counter themoves from Sasikala camp.EPS had meade it clear duringhis trip to the national Capitalthat Sasikala has no place in theAIADMK. “There are possi-bilities of former Ministersand MPs joining Sasikala indays to come,” said GSatyamurthy specialist inAIADMK matters.

    Detailed report on P5

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    The Supreme Court onWednesday declined togrant interim protection fromany coercive action to AliAbbas Zafar, Director of webseries “Tandav”, and othersseeking quashing of FIRsagainst them for allegedly hurt-ing religious sentiments ofHindus and issued noticesUttar Pradesh, MadhyaPradesh and other States ontheir pleas.

    Observing that “freedom ofspeech and expression is notabsolute” and is subject torestrictions, the top court saidZafar, Amazon Prime Indiahead Aparna Purohit, produc-er Himanshu Mehra, the show’swriter Gaurav Solanki andactor Mohammed ZeeshanAyyub may seek bail fromcourts concerned in the FIRslodged in connection with theweb series.

    A bench comprising jus-tices Ashok Bhushan, RSubhash Reddy and MR Shah,hearing as many as three sep-arate petitions on behalf of themakers and others connectedto the web series, issued noticesto UP, MP, Karnataka,Maharashtra, Bihar and Delhiand the police officers probingthe complaints.

    They have sought eitherquashing or clubbing of theFIRs lodged in several States onvarious grounds, including thatthe objectionable scenes havealready been removed from thepolitical thriller.

    “We cannot use the powerunder section 482 CrPC(power of courts to quash thecriminal case). We are notinclined to grant interim pro-tection,” said the apex court at fag end of the hearingconducted through video-con-ferencing.

    Continued on Page 2

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    The Union Home Ministryon Wednesday issued newguidelines allowing morecapacity in cinema halls andopening up swimming poolsfor “all” persons. The Ministryalso allowed the opening up ofall exhibition halls.

    The MHA new guidelinessaid that the Information andBroadcasting Ministry willissue new Standard OperatingProcedures (SOPs) for cinemahalls to increase the currentcapacity of 50 per cent to high-er seating capacity.

    As far as the opening ofswimming pools, the Ministryof Sports will issue SOPs forallowing all persons. Currently,only sportspersons are allowedto use swimming pools. TheMinistry of Commerce is

    empowered to formulate SOPsfor opening up of exhibitionhalls.

    “Cinema halls and theatreshave already been permitted upto 50 per cent of seating capac-ity. Now they will be permittedto operate at higher seatingcapacity, for which a revisedSOP will be issued by theMinistry of Information andBroadcasting in consultationwith the MHA.

    Continued on Page 2

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    The Supreme Court onWednesday stayed theBombay High Court orderwhich acquitted a man underthe Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act saying “gropinga minor’s breast without ‘skinto skin contact’ cannot betermed as sexual assault”.

    A bench of Chief Justice SABobde and Justices ASBopanna and VRamasubramanian stayed thehigh court order after AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal men-tioned the matter.

    The top court also issuednotice to MaharashtraGovernment and permittedthe AG to file an appeal against

    the January 19 verdict of theNagpur bench of the BombayHigh Court.

    “In view of what is stated,we permit the learned AttorneyGeneral to file an appropriatepetition against the said judg-ment. In the meantime, we staythe acquittal of the accused inCriminal Appeal...In respect ofthe offence under section 8 ofthe POCSO Act. Issue notice to the accused and theState of Maharashtra returnabletwo weeks,” the bench said inits order.

    Venugopal, while men-tioning the matter before thebench, submitted that the judg-ment of the high court is“unprecedented” and is likely toset a “dangerous precedent”.

    Continued on Page 2

    New Delhi: Delhi recorded96 fresh Covid-19 cases in aday, the lowest single-day risein over nine months.

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    New Delhi: As cracks beganto appear in their ongoing agitation against theagri laws, farmer unions onWednesday cancelled theirplanned march to Parliament on Budget day,February 1.

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    The just concluded 65thnational freestyle seniormen’s wrestling championshipin Noida stadium was success-ful as it attracted 252 wrestlersin 10 weight categories fromacross the country with hugewrestling lovers’ turnout.

    Throughout two days ofthe championship, WrestlingFederation of India (WFI) pres-ident Brij Bhushan SharanSingh was seen in the stadiumencouraging wrestlers and dis-tributing medals to them. In aninteraction with The Pioneer,Singh gave insights into India’sposition rise in the world infreestyle wrestling.

    He said he is hopeful thatIndia wrestlers would win atleast 4 medals in upcomingTokyo Olympics scheduled to beheld from July 24, 2020 but waspostponed due to coronaviruspandemic. Singh said in the lastmany years since taking over asWFI president he has worked topopularise the game and it hasyielded positive results.

    He said earlier Greco-

    roman men’s freestyle women’sfreestyle used to be organisedtogether but this time it wasshelved off due to Covid-19.

    WFI’s newly appointedVice President Dr Zubed UrRehman said grapplers whoparticipated in the champi-onship were tested for Covid-19. Organising committeepresident GN Singh said forthe first time in India,American-made OH air puri-fier machines were put in thestadium to kill Covid virusthrough hydroxyl radicals.Railways won the champi-onship with Army holdingsecond position and Haryanastood at number three.

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    Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar slammed the DelhiPolice and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government for"mishandling" the farmers’ on Tuesday.

    Terming the violence unfortunate, he said the Delhi Policefailed to control the situation. Kumar accused the Delhi Policeof acting at the behest of its handlers in the Union HomeMinistry. "It is evident from the manner in which the policefiled 22 FIRs against 200 farmers including leaders of the farm-ers’ unions for the violence and mayhem,"he added.

    The Congress president further said "It was the duty ofthe police to properly guide them on the designated route butinstead police tried to use force on the farmers, which led tothe disorder. Meanwhile, Kumar welcomed the ElectionCommission’s decision to hold bye-elections to the five vacantseats in the Municipal Corporations of Delhi. He said that thepeople of Delhi are fed up with the mind-boggling corrup-tion in the BJP-ruled MCDs and the Delhi Government, dueto which sanitation workers, doctors, nurses, paramedics,teachers and others have been on strike for the past few weeks,seeking their wages and arrears.

    Kumar said that both the BJP and the AAP have been trad-ing charges against each other without owning up the reasonfor the fund leakage, because of which the MCDs are peren-nially short of funds.

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    In view of violence duringTuesday's tractor parade atseveral locations in Delhi, theGurugram Police was put onhigh alert on Wednesday.

    Gurugram Police chief K KRao directed the entire policeforce including senior policeofficials to ensure that law andorder in the district is main-tained. In his directions, Raosaid law and order should notbe disrupted at any cost.

    According to officialsources strict instructions havebeen issued in the Gurugramdistrict adjoining the nationalCapital as a precautionary mea-sure. However, to sense theseriousness of the matter thedistrict police have alreadydeployed hundreds of policepersonnel across the district.

    Keeping in mind the vio-lence in Delhi, the authoritieshad suspended internet ser-vices in three districts --Sonipat, Jhajjar and Palwal --till 5 pm on Wednesday inorder to check the spread ofmisinformation.

    However, the internet ser-vices in Gurugram were also

    affected since Tuesday after-noon.

    Apart from this, GurugramPolice said they have intensifiedtheir security arrangementsand special instructions havebeen given to the police forceto keep a vigil on suspiciouselements.

    Assistant Commissionerof Police (ACPs) and DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCPs) will continue onpatrolling in their respectiveareas on a rotational basis.

    Besides this, the Specialpolice forces include CounterAssault, Police Riders, PolicePCR, Cranes, Fire Brigade andAmbulance Police Teams havealso been deployed along withall the security equipment totackle any situations.

    "Policemen have also beendeployed in uniform and plain-clothes in all the crowded areasincluding Sadar Bazar. Thepolice strength has beenincreased around metro sta-tions, railway stations, busstands and crowded places andalso on the Delhi-Jaipurexpressway (NH-48) and bor-der area connecting the nation-al capital to ensure law andorder," said Rao.

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    In the FIR registered at IPEstate police station, theDelhi Police has stated that sixDelhi Transport Corporation(DTC) buses and five policevehicles were damaged in theviolence that broke out at ITOduring the farmers' tractorparade on Republic Day.

    The FIR also stated that sev-eral police personnel wereinjured and 70 iron barricadeswere damaged when over 10,000protesting farmers on nearly600 tractors stormed the area.

    Police has registered 22

    FIRs so far in connection withthe violence that broke out dur-ing the farmers' tractor paradein the national capital leavingover 300 policemen injured,officials said on Wednesday.

    An official said multiplevideos and CCTV footage arebeing scanned to identify farm-ers involved in the violence andstrict action will be taken.

    Security has been beefedup in several places across thenational capital, especially atthe Red Fort and farmer protestsites, with deployment of addi-tional paramilitary forces fol-lowing the violence.

    The FIR stated that theprotestors tried to enterLuytens' Delhi from TilakBridge despite not being givenpermission to hold the tractorparade in the jurisdiction of IPEstate Police station.

    “The farmers smashed thebarricades and hit DTC busesat ITO with their tractors andalso tried to run over policepersonnel. Police tried to con-vince the agitating farmers.However, they were adamantabout going to Luytens' area.They also damaged vehiclesand equipment of mediaper-sons," it stated, adding that

    police used tear gas to dispersethe protesters from the spot.

    “Police personnel were pre-sent at Ram Charan AggarwalChowk, ITO. Around 12 pmfrom Sarai Kale Khan towardsMGM Marg, 500 to 600 trac-tors carrying 9,000 to 10,000protestors entered the ITO. Itclaimed that a tractor, going toDDU Marg from Ram CharanChowk, hit a barricade placednear Andhra Public Schoolwhile being driven rashly, andoverturned,” stated the FIR.

    “While police personneland others were trying to res-cue the driver from under the

    tractor, the other protesterson tractors reached there andtried to run over the police.Some of the protesters took thedriver to ITO Chowk. Later,they took him and his tractoralong with them and left thearea. The deceased was lateridentified as Navneet Singh, aresident of Rampur district inUttar Pradesh,” state the FIR.

    “During demonstration,six DTC buses, five policevehicles and 70 iron barri-cades were damaged. Severalpolice personnel were also gotinjured during the incident,”the FIR stated.

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    There were long trafficqueues due to trafficrestrictions on key routes inthe national Capital, a day afterviolence broke out duringfarmers' tractor parade.

    The Delhi Traffic Policeon Twitter and stated that thetraffic movement is heavy dueto closure of four lanes onKalindi Kunj and Noidastretches.

    Meanwhile, the trafficmovement near ITO, MandiHouse and India Gate, whichwas affected due to restrictionsplaced there, resumed onWednesday afternoon.

    According to a seniorpolice official, the barricadesplaced near the Tilak Bridgewere removed and the roadleading to India Gate fromITO was opened. Similarly, theroad going towardsConnaught Place from Minto

    Road is also functioning now.The C-Hexagon at India

    Gate has also opened for traf-fic and there is no restrictionon the movement of vehicles,police said. On Wednesday,retired Delhi Police personnelstaged a protest near ITO,leading to disturbance in traf-fic.

    They were protestingagainst the violence whichbroke out during the farmers'tractor parade in the city.

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    The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) has taken upprobe into the murder ofComrade Balwinder SinghSandhu of Punjab. Sandhu wasa Shaurya Chakra awardee andhe was shot dead by two uniden-tified men in the early hours ofOctober 16, 2020 at the resi-dence-cum-school run by himin Bhikiwind, Tarn Taran,Punjab.

    After committing the mur-der, the assailants had imme-diately escaped on a motorcy-cle. A case FIR No: 174 /20dated October 16, 2020 wasfiled under Indian Penal Code(IPC) Sections relating to mur-der and common intentionbesides provisions of the ArmsAct in connection withSandhu’s murder on the state-ment of the wife of thedeceased, Jagdish Kaur.

    “During the peak of ter-rorism in Punjab, ComradeBalwinder Singh and his fam-ily had fearlessly fought ter-rorists. For this fearless fight,the Government of India,awarded him “Shaurya Chakra”in 1993. Besides BalwinderSingh Sandhu and his wifeJagdish Kaur, his elder broth-

    er Ranjit Singh and his wifeBalraj Kaur had also receivedthe Shaurya Chakra,” the NIAsaid in a statement.

    During the initial investi-gation by Punjab Police, it wasrevealed that the killing was exe-cuted under a conspiracyhatched by Pakistan-basedKhalistani terrorist Lakvir SinghRode and his handlers inPakistani intelligence agency,ISI, it said.The killing ofComrade Balwinder Singh wasexecuted through SukhmeetPal Singh alias Sukh Bhikariwalof village Bhikariwal, Kalanaur,Gurdaspur, a gangster- turned-terrorist, it further said.

    “Considering the gravity ofthe offence and its inter-stateand international ramifica-tions, the Ministry of HomeAffairs, Government directedNIA to take up the investiga-tion of the case. In complianceof these directions, NIA has re-registered the case and hastaken up the investigation,” itadded.

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    The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) hasattached movable property inthe form of seized cashamounting to � 80 lakh in amoney laundering case relatedto corruption and criminalmisconduct by MP Dixit, thethen Chairman-cum-Managing Director of SouthEastern Coalfields Ltd. (SECL).

    Dixit had allegedlydemanded and agreed to acceptillegal gratification of �1 crorefor illegally favouring a privateentity Maruti Clean Coal &Power Ltd. (MCCPL).

    Investigation underPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) wasinitiated on the basis of the FIRregistered by CBI, Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU)-II,New Delhi under Indian PenalCode Section relating to crim-inal conspiracy and provisionsof the Prevention ofCorruption Act, 1988 againstDixit, Vijendra Singh, SurojitSamanta, VN Singh, BajrangLal Aggrawal, Ram AvatarAggarwal, Sanjay Singh, VinodBaid and Naveen Sharma.

    “Investigation underPMLA revealed that accused

    MP Dixit, the then Chairman-cum-Managing Director ofSouth Eastern Coalfields Ltd.(SECL), had demanded andagreed to accept illegal gratifi-cation of � 1 crore for illegal-ly favouring a private entitynamely Maruti Clean Coal &Power Ltd. (MCCPL). MPDixit in connivance with oth-ers, through a maze of events,attempted to indulge in acqui-sition of � 80 Lacs as part pay-ment which was received byVN Singh on behalf andinstructions of MP Dixit. Theamount of � 80 Lacs acquiredas a result of criminal activitiesrelated to the scheduled offenceof criminal conspiracy andcorruption, being proceeds ofcrime, has been provisionallyattached under PMLA,” it said,adding, further investigation isunder progress.

    ����� ��������

    The World HealthOrganisation (WHO) hastaken exception to the bilater-al deals on Covid-19 vaccinesbeing carried out betweencountries and companies,warning that such moves wereputting at risk the promise ofCovax, the WHO led globalinitiative aimed to ensure rapidand equitable access to thejabs against the pathogens.

    “Of some 50 countrieswhere Covid-19 vaccines arebeing administered, nearly allare wealthy nations and 75 per-cent of doses have beendeployed in only ten countries,”said WHO Director-GeneralTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusin his speech at a meeting inGeneva. COVAX is the globalinitiative to ensure rapid andequitable access to COVID-19vaccines for all countries,regardless of income level.

    “At least 56 bilateral vac-cine deals have been signed,which fragments the market,forces countries to compete,and drives up prices of Covid-19 vaccines,” he pointed out.

    "Vaccine nationalism isself-defeating and inefficient,leaving the world's poorest andmost vulnerable people at risk,"he warned. "The emergence ofrapidly spreading variantsmakes the urgent and equitablerollout of vaccines all the moreimportant."

    "It is understandable thatgovernments want to prioritizevaccinating their own healthworkers and older people first.But it is not right that younger,healthier adults in rich coun-tries are vaccinated beforehealth workers and older peo-ple in poorer countries," Tedrossaid.

    "The situation is com-pounded by the fact that mostmanufacturers have prioritizedregulatory approval in richcountries where the profits arehighest, rather than submittingfull dossiers to WHO," he said."To put it bluntly: many coun-tries have bought more vaccinethan they need."

    The WHO chief called onall manufacturers of vaccinesthat meet international stan-dards of safety, efficacy, andquality to prioritize their sub-mission to WHO forEmergency Use Listing, theXinhua news agency reported.

    He stressed that Covaxneeds to "receive extra dosessoon, and not the leftoversmany months from now."

    Last week, COVAX hadannounced that, pendingWHO emergency use listings,nearly 150 million doses of theAstraZeneca/Oxford candidateare anticipated to be availablein the first quarter of 2021, viaexisting agreements with theSerum Institute of India (SII)and AstraZeneca.

    "2021 could be a year with

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    At least 23,28,799 peoplehave been vaccinated incountrywide Covid-19 vacci-nation program till date onWednesday since January 16with nine people dying aftertaking the jab. However, theUnion Health Ministry saidthat these deaths were in noway linked to the vaccine

    “The cumulative numberof healthcare workers vacci-nated against Covid-199 hascrossed 23 lakh on Wednesday.A total of 23,28,779 beneficia-ries (till 6 pm) were vaccinat-ed through 41,599 sessions, asper the provisional report. Atotal 2,99,299 beneficiarieswere vaccinated onWednesday alone through5,308 sessions held till 6 pm,”said the Ministry.Final reportswould be completed for theday by late tonight.

    At least 79 per cent ofbeneficiaries vaccinated onWednesday were from fiveStates Karnataka, West Bengal,

    Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh and Rajasthan.

    The Ministry said that onthe twelfth day of the vacci-nation drive, 123 AEFIs havebeen reported while a total 16persons have been hospital-ized so far. 0.0007 per centpeople have recorded hospi-talization against vaccinations.

    In the last 24 hours, oneperson who is suffering frombacterial sepsis has been hos-pitalized at Apollo Hospital,Chennai. He was vaccinated on23rd January and was hospital-ized on 24th January, said theMinistry.

    “Total 9 deaths have beenreported so far. None of thesedeaths have been causallylinked with COVID-19 vacci-nation,” it added.

    In the last 24 hours, oneperson aged 23 years, a resi-dent of Odisha has died. Thepost-mortem report is await-ed, the Ministry said addingthat no case of serious/severeAEFI/Death attributable tovaccination till date.

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    renewed hope that we canovercome the acute phase ofthe pandemic," he said. "We

    cannot succeed as countriesacting alone. Global solidarityis the only way forward."

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    BANGALORE: VK Sasikala, formergeneral secretary of the AIADMKand aide to late J Jayalalithaa wasreleased from the Parappana AgraharaCentral Prison in Bangalore onWednesday morning, it was officiallyannounced by the Government ofKarnataka and her nephew TTVDhinakaran.

    Hectic parleys are underway inChennai where Chief MinisterEdappady Palaniswami and his deputyO Panneerselvam are chalking outstrategies to counter the moves fromSasikala camp. EPS had meade it clearduring his trip to the national capitalthat Sasikala has no place in theAIADMK.

    “There are possibilities of formerministers and MPs joining Sasikala indays to come. Anwar Raja, the formerRamanathapuram MO and GokulaIndira, former Tamil Nadu minister arelikely to cast their lots with Sasikala,”said G Satyamurthy, veteran scribe andlong time specialist in AIADMK mat-ters.

    But Sasikala is undergoing treat-ment for Covid-19 at the Victoria

    Hospital in Bangalore where she wasadmitted on January 20.

    A medical bulletin issued by thehospital on Wednesday said though shehas been tested negative for the pan-demic, as per medical protocol, shewould be discharged on tenth day(January 30) if she is asymptomatic andfree of oxygen support for at least threedays.

    “The decision for her to continuetreatment in Victoria Hospital has beentaken by her and her family members,”said the bulletin signed by medicalsuperintendent and director cumdean of the hospital.

    A team of astrologers are workingto find out the auspicious day forChinnamma (as she is addressed byparty cadre) to return to Chennai. Itwas on February 15, 2017 she left forBangalore to serve the four-year rig-orous imprisonment term slapped onher by the Special Court Judge in con-nection with the disproportionateasset case.

    Her nephew Sudhakaran, cousinIlavarasi and former chief ministerJayalalithaa were the co-accused in the

    case. Since Jayalalithaa bfreated her laston December 5, 2016, the supremeCourt which upheld the trial court ver-dict had released her from the case.

    Since her departure to Bangalore,the AIADMK of which she was thegeneral secretary went a total trans-formation as the EdappadiPalaniswamy and O Panneerselvan duotook control of the party and eased outthe Mannargudi Mafia (as Sasikala andher relatives were known) from theAIADMK.

    Dhinakaran launched the AmmaMakkal Munnetra Kazhakam(AMMK) in 2017 reportedly with theblessings of Sasikala. The split in theAIADMK had its repercussion in the2019 Lok Sabha election as the DMK-led alliance swept the polls by wrest-ing 38 out of the 39 constituencies inthe State.

    While the DMK-led front polled52.3 per cent votes, the AIADMK andits allies had to cintent with just 31.26per cent votes. The general feeling isthat had the AIADMK faced the pollsunitedly, the result would have beendifferent. PNS

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    Board of Control for Cricketin India president SouravGanguly was on Wednesdayhospitalised with cardiac dis-comfort barely three weeks afterbeing discharged from a hospi-tal where he was treated for heartblockage.

    The former Team Indiacaptain was rushed to the ApolloHospital ---after the StateGovernment created a special“green corridor” for hisvehicle --- following mild chest pain anduneasiness, sources said addinghe had a disturbed sleep onTuesday night.

    The former Indian south-paw had undergone an angio-plasty early this month after doc-tors treating him found morethan 90 percent blockage in one

    of his coronary arteries. Theother two arteries also havesimilar blockages and the doc-tors had decided to addressthose problems at a later date.

    The doctors said his ECGand echocardiogram reportswere not normal adding he anangiogram to ascertain his con-dition would be conducted onThursday.

    Incidentally Ganguli’s elderbrother Snehashis Ganguli alsoa former first class cricketer andBengal captain too underwentan angioplasty days after theBCCI president was treated forthe same ailments. Their fatherChandidas Ganguli too hadsimilar problems sources said.

    The doctors weretightlipped on whether he wouldrequire more angioplasties. “Ateam of four doctors led by Dr

    Aftab is monitoring his condi-tion, and they will take thedecision as and when necessary,”family sources said adding thecricketer was doing fine at pre-sent.

    Earlier the doctors treatinghim at the Woodlands Hospitalshad said that “he would notrequire a by-pass surgery atthis moment as he is compara-tively young and fit. He wouldreturn to normal life within 3-4 weeks.”

    Meanwhile, anxious callshad started pouring in from allparts of the country with HomeMinister Amit Shah beingamong the first persons toenquire about the cricketinglegend’s health. He called upBengal BJP observer KailashVijaybargiya to enquire about hishealth, sources said.

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    As the number of Covid-19 patients inKerala crossing the 72,000 mark byWednesday, the Indian Medical Association hasissued a note of caution of an impending hikein the pandemic. According to the latest datareleased by KK Shylaja, Minister for Health, theTest Positivity Rate in the State as onWednesday was 11.07 per cent while 5,659 newpatients were diagnosed with the pandemic ona single day.Though all States are registeringa drastic reduction in the number of patientsdiagnosed with Covid-19, situation in Keralais alarming, warns the IMA which has calledfor stringent preventive measures to check thepandemic.

    A joint statement signed by Dr RajivJayadevan, former president of IMA, Dr T VRavi and Dr Atul Manual, office bearers of theKerala chapter, says that Kerala has the high-est per centage of Covid-19 patients in thecountry. “It is with concern we are watchingthe hike in the TPR on a daily basis while theIntensive Care Units in hospitals across the Stateare getting filled up to capacity. The situationcalls for emergency measures as the State is onthe verge of a third wave of attack by the pan-demic,” said the doctors.

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    Jammu: An Army jawan, deployed on RoadOpening party duty, was killed and threeothers received splinter injuries when animprovised explosive device (IED) explod-ed near Shamshipura area of Khanabal inKulgam district on Wednesday.

    The IED blast took place when jawansof the road opening party were sanitising thegeneral area near Khanabal in Kulgam. Soonafter the blast took place the entire area wascordoned off by the security forces to con-duct general searches in the area. Meanwhile,all the four injured jawans were rushed tothe 92 Base hospital in Srinagar.

    Defence PRO in Srinagar Col RajeshKalia said, “The IED blast took placearound 10.15 a.m in which four jawans ofthe road opening party received splinterinjuries in general areaShamshipura,Khanabal in Kulgam districton Wednesday”.

    Defence PRO said, all the four injuredjawans were given first aid and rushed to the92 Base hospital where one of them suc-cumbed to his injuries. PNS

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    Jammu : A sensational case offraudulent loot of 1.34 croresfrom the Ministry of MinorityAffairs has come to light aftera team of Jammu and KashmirCrime Branch Wednesdayarrested one of the accused hail-ing from West Bengal.

    “A team headed by aDeputy Superintendent ofPolice proceeded to West Bengaland arrested accused SelimSekh of Tinsatabighi Berabadvillage in Malda district. He waswanted in many FIRs pertain-ing to fraudulent siphoning ofGovernment funds,” a CrimeBranch statement said.

    The investigations weregoing on in the case FIR no04/2020 U/S 420,468, 120b-RPC, 66(D)IT Act, 5(2) PC Actof Crime Branch Kashmir.

    Sharing details of modusoperandi of the accused, thecrime branch statement said,the accused in criminal con-

    spiracy with co-accuseduploaded fake application formson the National ScholarshipPortal for Merit cum MeansScholarship under the MinorityQuota for Jammu and Kashmirstudents during 2018-19 forKulgam district. Subsequently,fake verifications were con-ducted from institutes that didnot exist in states mentioned inthe application forms.

    The accused allegedlyshowed fake beneficiaries as res-idents of Kulgam district and thusgot it verified by the district SocialWelfare Officer through deceitand managed to transfer Rs 1.34crore from the Ministry ofMinority Affairs into accounts of463 fake beneficiaries in branch-es of State Bank of India, Bank ofBaroda, United Bank of India(now PNB), Allahabad Bank,IDFC Bank and Bangiya VikasGramin Bank in different dis-tricts of West Bengal. PNS

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    In a second arrest in less thanone year, the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has arrestedformer chairman of Yes BankRana Kapoor in a money laun-dering case linked to the MackStar Group-Rs 4300 crore PMCBank scam case.

    Rana Kapoor is the thirdperson to have been arrested inthe Mack Star Group-PMCBank scam case. On January 23,ED had arrested Mehul Thakurand Madan Gopal Chaturvediin this year. A day ahead ofthese arrests, the ED conduct-ed raids at ten premises includ-ing the residence of formerunderworld don Bhai Thakurand offices of Viva Groupwhich is controlled by his fam-ily.

    Sixty-three-year-old RanaKapoor -- who had earlier beenon March 8 last year for allegedmoney laundering involving

    Yes Bank and scam-hit realitycompany Dewan HousingFinance Limited (DHFL) – iscurrently in jail in the DHFLcase.

    Rana Kapoor, who faces thecharge of sanctioning a Rs.200-crore loan to Mack StarMarketing Pvt. Ltd (a group ofthe HDIL promoters RakeshWadhawan and SarangWadhawan), was producedbefore a PMLA court whichremanded in ED custody tillJanuary 30.

    The ED’s charge againstRana Kapoor is that he hadsiphoned off the loan amountsand given a lifeline to HDIL’sgroup companies to settle theiroutstanding with Yes Bank toprevent them from becomingNPAs.

    HDIL’s Rakesh Wadhawanand Sarang Wadhawan, who arealso prime accused in the PMCBank scam, held a stake inMack Star which is under the

    ED scanner for a Rs.200-croreloan given by Yes Bank for ren-ovating its premises.

    This is the second timeKapoor has been arrested in lessthan 10 months. It may berecalled that on March 8 lastyear, the ED had arrested RanaKapoor on March 8 this year foralleged money launderinginvolving Yes Bank and scam-hit reality company DewanHousing Finance Limited(DHFL).

    The ED’s contention wasthat the value of the propertymortgaged with DHFL wasinflated to Rs.750 crore againstthe cover-up loan of Rs.600crore to M/s DOIT UrbanVentures (India) Pvt. Ltd(DUVIPL). The money alleged-ly laundered by Kapoor wasused for personal purposes andhence alleged that there was acriminal conspiracy betweenKapoor and the DHFL in thedeal.

    �������������������������������������������������Mumbai:The Covid-19 deaths in Maharashtra

    dropped to 32 and the infections came down to2,171, even as the number of people discharged fromvarious hospitals across the State climbed to 2,556.Aday after Covid-19 claimed 57 lives and infected2,405 others, the daily death tally slid to 32, whilethe infections dropped to 2171.

    With fresh deaths, the total pandemic deathsclimbed from 60,862 to 50,894 on Wednesday.Similarly, with 2171 new infected cases, total infec-tions in the state climbed from 20,13353 cases to20,15,524.

    As 2556 patients were discharged from the hos-pitals across the state after full recovery, the totalnumber of people discharged from the hospitals sincethe second week of March last year went up to19,20,006 The recovery rate in the state rose mar-ginally from 95.24 per cent to 95.25 per cent..

    With six fresh deaths, the Covid-19 toll inMumbai rose from 11,317 to 11,323, while the infect-ed cases went up by 435 to trigger a jump in the infec-tions from 306740 to 307174 to 3,04,653.Meanwhile,the number of “active cases” total cases in the statedropped from 43,811 to 43,393. The fatality rate inthe state stood at 2.53 per cent.

    Pune district, which continued to be the worst-affected city-district in Maharashtra, saw the totalnumber of cases increase from 3,86,220 to 3,86,543.while the total number of deaths in Pune went upfrom 7906 to 7910. PNS

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  • Azb by the Pakistani forces. Butthe incorrigibility of thePakistani ‘establishment’ soonsaw the familiar dalliances withthe extremist elements in theregion, all to unsettle the AshrafGhani regime in Afghanistan,with the CENTCOM person-nel paying for the same withtheir lives. In his three years ofdirect security control of the Af-Pak region, Austin would havesurely grasped the frustrations,duplicitousness and unrelia-bility of working with both —the Pakistani ‘establishment’as also terror organisations likethe Taliban in Afghanistan.Earlier still, as the 10thMountain DivisionCommander in Afghanistanand 18th Airborne CorpCommander in Iraq, Austinwould be conversant with thedangerously mutative nature ofterror organisations. During acongressional hearing with theSenate Armed ServiceCommittee, Austin hadexpressed: “We need Pakistanto take decisive actions.”

    The other indelible imprintfrom Austin’s career would behis forgettable memories ofthe ill-fated and prematurewithdrawal of the US troopsfrom Iraq in 2011 as forcesinimical to America’s interestssoon took over. The only thingthat earned Austin praise inIraq during the 2011 withdraw-

    al was his supposed “mastery oflogistics” in handling the same.Today, with an inherited com-mitment to undertake yetanother eerily familiar and ill-fated withdrawal of the troopsfrom Afghanistan, memories ofthe past haste will come rush-ing back. Irrespective of Austin’seventual ability to reverseTrump’s commitment for theUS troops’ withdrawal fromAfghanistan, the military pro-fessional in Austin will recog-nise the irreplaceable criticali-ty of Pakistan in sustaining per-sonnel, assets and resources inAfghanistan. Therefore, rec-onciliatory expressions forPakistan like “essential partnerin any peace process inAfghanistan” are naturally parfor course. Concurrently,Austin added sentences ofimmense clarity and specifici-ty that ought to concernIslamabad, “Pakistan has alsotaken steps against anti-Indiangroups, such as Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-e-Mohammed” but addedsharply, “although this progressis incomplete”. He also alludedto “Pulwama” by name andinsisted that he “will pressPakistan to prevent its territo-rial misuse by terrorists”.

    In one of the podcasts onPakistan, after Austin hadretired from the military butbefore he became the Secretary

    of Defense, he spoke of the“sticks and carrots” that he hademployed in negotiating withPakistan during his CENT-COM days. Lloyd had alsoexpressed concerns over theChinese readily “filling thevoid” of America’s displeasurein Pakistan, and on keeping ahawk-eye on Chinese efforts to“militarise” their investments inPakistan. Therefore, the prac-tical-minded Austin insisted onthe larger merits of remaining“invested” and engaged inPakistan while working on itsbehavioural aspects, as opposedto disengaging completely. Thisbackdrop experience, maturi-ty and clarity in Austin willensure that there is no thunder-ing bluster from the newSecretary of Defense, but morenuanced and behind-the-scenes efforts to correct theregional narrative. The gigan-tic man may be a man of fewwords but he was famous forcarrying an M4 carbine insteadof a traditional pistol on him-self — today as the Secretary ofDefense, he will be expected toinvoke his experiences of suc-cess and failure for the betterfacilitation of security impera-tives for the region.

    (The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

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    Compared to theDonald Trump era,the Joe BidenAdministration isexpected to be moredecentralised, stable and receptiveto professional advice from therespective heads of all 15 execu-tive departments. Given India’ssecurity concerns, the appoint-ment of the Secretary of Defense,who defines the security narrativeas the “principal assistant to thePresident in all matters relating tothe Department of Defense”, is sig-nificant. In the former four-starGeneral, Lloyd Austin, Biden haspicked a former combatant —who despite 41 years of illustriousservice — has been described asan “intensely private man”, andwho, like one of his predecessorsand brother-in-arms, James Mattis,joins the administration in a non-partisan role as an “Independent”.

    As former MilitaryCommander of the unifiedUnited States Central Command(CENTCOM) from March 2013to March 2016, responsible amongother countries for the perilous-ly strategic Af-Pak region, Austinwould have first-hand experi-ence of the regional dynamics,religious extremism and thepatent Pakistani ways. Earlier in2011, when Austin was still com-manding the US forces in Iraq, aUS Special Forces raid inAbbottabad, Pakistan, had “takenout” Osama bin Laden from a safe-house less than a mile away fromthe Pakistani Military Academy.After deliberately keeping thePakistanis in the dark to avoidthem from “alerting the targets”,then US Secretary of Defense LeonPanetta had said that the Pakistaniswere “either involved or incompe-tent”. Less than two years there-after, Austin himself took over theoverall CENTCOM and handledthe clearly fractured US-Pakistanrelations.

    During Austin’s formativetenure as the CENTCOM head,he witnessed the breakdown in“talks” of the Pakistanis with theTaliban that had led to three par-ticularly bloody incidents, i.e.execution of 23 Pakistani FrontierForce soldiers, the attack onKarachi airport killing 28, and thehorrific Peshawar school massacrekilling 148 — all leading to thereactionary Operation Zarb-e-

    �������������������Sir — Gone are the days when the priva-cy of a person was guaranteed. Ever sincethe advent of smart phones and the inter-net, individual privacy has gone for a toss.If the ‘location’ feature of a smart phoneis kept ‘on’, the movement of a person isrecorded every second by the searchengine. When the personal data of anyindividual lands into the hands of anti-social elements, there is every possibilityof it being misused. Innumerable caseshave been reported where individuals havebeen duped by cyber thieves. They willsend unsolicited links to personal mobilesand if the user inadvertently clicks on thesame, her/his mobile is hacked and per-sonal information like passwords of debitcard/UPI is collected.

    Nowadays we see that almost every-one is getting message alerts on theirmobiles from cell phone providers, moneytransferring apps and different banksclaiming that they will never ask for cus-tomers eKYC details, Aadhaar number andother details. Now it is the duty of everyindividual to stay alert and not share theirprivate information through social media,not to undertake banking transactionsthrough their mobiles or laptops by usingthe public wi-fi system and change theirpasswords often, set screen lock and thepassword lock on their gadgets to stay safefrom cyber fraud.

    V Nagendra Kumar | Hyderabad

    ���������������������Sir — There is not a single motorist inIndia who is unfamiliar with the dangersof road rage incidents. The powerful, richand the mighty are often the perpetratorsof road rage. One cannot win an argumentwith them; it’s better to ignore and moveon. Studies have indicated almost 65 percent of Indian drivers are stressed out.Most of them lose their temper at leastonce daily.

    The National Crime Records Bureau(NCRB) data shows that thousands aresubjected to road rage every year. Roadrage may injure a fellow driver or, in theextreme, claim the latter’s life. However,

    it is true that most road rage cases do notreach the police. This boosts the moraleof habitual offenders. On the other hand,as the number of motor vehicles increas-es on roads, so does the risk of accidents,crashes and deaths. While the latter is aneventuality, we can certainly avoid anuntimely death caused by vehicular acci-dents. Road traffic rules aren’t as strict asneeded in India. The Government mustframe strict rules and legislations so thatthe incidents of road rage are broughtunder control. Further, there is a need toensure honest implementation of theexisting rules. One should wear seat beltsand helmets, follow lane driving andnever drink and drive.

    Ganapathi Bhat | Akola

    ������������������ �������Sir — This refers to the report ‘Iran saysBiden won’t have infinite time to rejoinnuke deal’ (January 27). With the Biden-Harris team now in the White House,there are plenty of issues to resolve. The

    most pressing issue that the BidenAdministration faces is America’s rela-tions with Iran, given the concern thatthe present scenario may upendWashington’s non-proliferation strategyand increase tensions in the energy-richGulf region.

    In 2018, Trump unilaterally withdrewthe US from the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action (JCPOA) and imposedsanctions on Iran. It is noteworthy thatTrump’s policy of exerting maximumpressure has forced Iran to increase itsweapons stock which is alarming for allthe nations. Once bitten twice shy, Irannow seems to be more vigilant and hasrightly cautioned Joe Biden for rejoiningthe nuclear deal shortly. After four yearsof Trump’s egregious policies and isola-tionist rhetoric, the general public cannow breathe a sigh of relief.

    Tushar Anand | Patna

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    In the McCulloch vs Maryland case, 1819, whileasserting that the Government had implied pow-ers not explicitly enumerated in the Constitution,US Chief Justice John Marshall had famouslywarned governments against their arbitrary use:“That the power to tax involves the power to destroy;that the power to destroy may defeat and render use-less the power to create.” Governments neverthe-less use such powers. However, the mature ones holdback while immature governments exercise theirpowers arbitrarily, which hurts businesses and enter-prise. The retrospective taxation legislation was onesuch arbitrary measure introduced by theGovernment, that India is still paying a price for.

    The telecom sector was India’s success story asit had attracted multiple national and internation-al giants as well as small operators. The global majorHutchison was one of the first telecom companiesto enter India. Collaborating with its Indian part-ner Essar, Hutchison-Essar expanded its operationspan-India to become a leading market player. It gotnew licences for some telecom circles and operat-ed in others by acquiring smaller telecom entitieswith licences for those circles. This led to a very com-plex ownership pattern, which, as Harish Salvepointed out, was not unusual for such global oper-ators. The Hong Kong-based Hutchison heldshares in downstream companies in the CaymanIslands, like CGP Investments, which in turn heldshares in downstream companies based in Mauritiuswhich in turn held shares in an Indian holding com-pany that controlled Hutchinson’s subsidiaries in thecountry. Through the CGP, Hutchinson held 67 percent stake in Hutchison-Essar. Cayman Islands andMauritius, being tax havens, attracted multination-als (MNCs) with the operational flexibility of relo-cating their units to avoid taxes; this was also notunusual.

    In December 2006, Hutchison decided to exitIndia and sold their operations to the Netherlands-based Vodafone at $10.8 billion in May 2007.Vodafone acquired CGP Investments whose acqui-sition gave them control over all downstream com-panies and hence control over its Indian operations.Taking advantage of the loopholes in Indian tax lawswhich did not make such transactions taxable eventhough the assets were located here, the entire dealand payments were transacted outside the country.Hutchison-Essar thus became Vodafone-Essar.The capital gains that accrued upon the acquisitionof CGP was shown in the Hutchinson accounts as“profit from discontinued operations” which wasnot taxable in India under the extant laws; besides,it was also not the first time that such transactionswere executed without attracting any tax liability.

    But the Income-Tax Department (I-TDepartment) under Pranab Mukherjee reckoned thecapital gains as taxable and in September 2007, raiseda demand of �7,990 crore from Vodafone. The I-T Department later admitted that it was a “test case”to make such transactions taxable.Vodafone chal-lenged it before the Bombay High Court (HC) onthe ground that Hutchison had sold a foreign com-pany, CGP Investments, to another foreign entity,Vodafone, and a transaction between two foreignentities conducted and concluded outside India can-not be taxable here as it would amount to applyingIndian law to a commercial transaction outside thecountry between two non-Indians. In December2008, the HC ruled in favour of revenue which wasoverturned by the Supreme Court in January 2012which absolved Vodafone of all tax liability, hold-ing that the sale did not amount to tax avoidance.That should have closed the matter once and for all,with the legal loophole being plugged for the future.Instead Mukherjee introduced retrospective taxa-tion by amending the I-T Act in the 2012-13 UnionBudget to override the top court’s order. This not

    only defied economic logic but alsowent against the counsel of thenPrime Minister Manmohan Singh,Sonia Gandhi, P Chidambaram andother Cabinet colleagues who cau-tioned that it would adversely impactthe Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)that India needed so much.

    In his autobiography ‘TheCoalition Years 1996-2012’,Mukherjee justified this by sayingthat concerns about the potentialeffect of the amendment on FDI,“which might have persuaded themto give a decision against the revenuedepartment, were unfounded”,because, first, this was not a case ofFDI, and second, the FDI policy wasentirely the executive’s prerogative.“Just because some foreign investorschoose to structure their invest-ments through tax havens, theyshould not, as a matter of policy, getaway without paying any taxes”, hewrote, repudiating the apex court’sruling that creation of a structure dri-ven by commercial considerationswas not a tax avoidance device.

    The I-T Act was amended “withretrospective effect from 1962 toassert the Government’s right to levytax on merger and acquisition(M&A) deals involving overseascompanies with business assets inIndia” which was “an enabling pro-vision to protect the fiscal interestsof the country and avert the chancesof a crisis.” Actually it was done tooverride every single argument of thetop court.

    The FDI inflow indeed fellsharply soon, reversing a growth rateof 64 per cent registered in 2010-11,from $37 billion in 2011-12 (two percent of the GDP), it came down to$24 billion in 2012-13. It would takeanother three years to reach the 2011-12 level and in 2018-19 it stood at $51billion, or 1.8 per cent of the GDP.Successive governments did nothing

    to change the law. The amendmentforced Vodafone to approach thePermanent Court of Arbitration(PCA) at the Hague, under provi-sions of the Bilateral InvestmentTreaty (BIT) between India and theNetherlands signed in 1995. UnderArticle 9 of this treaty (whichlapsed in 2016), both countries guar-anteed each other fair and equitabletreatment requiring any dispute to besettled amicably through arbitration.

    In September 2020, the PCAruled that the Indian Government’sretrospective demand of $2.7 billionon Vodafone was “in breach of theguarantee of fair and equitable treat-ment” under the BIT, warning thatenforcing the tax demand would bea violation of India’s global obliga-tions. India should have gracefullyaccepted the verdict and moved on,earning the goodwill and confi-dence of foreign countries andinvestors. Inst