Upload File

$*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · hindi, yadav said the government is constantly holding talks...

  • Home
  • Documents
  • $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our
14
I n a bid to break the deadlock with protesting farmers, Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Wednesday invited them for talks saying any agitation could be resolved only through dialogue. He urged them to fix a date and time for the next round of talks. Tomar said farmers should tell them what they want to add or remove from the proposal given by the Government. “I’m hopeful that farmers’ unions will discuss our request. Whatever they want to add & subtract from the Government’s proposal, they should tell us. We’re ready for a discussion at the time & date of their convenience. I’m hope- ful of a solution,” Tomar said while talking to reporters. Stressing that a solution can be reached only through dialogue, Tomar said, “History is witness to this fact. How old and strong the protest is, the end and the solution to a protest are reached through dialogue only.” Farmers’ unions should discuss the Government’s draft proposal and inform them if they want to add or delete any- thing, he added. The Minister said there were recommendations for reforms in the farm sector in the past also by experts, unions and State Chief Ministers, but the previous Government might have faced difficulties in converting the recommenda- tions into laws. Tomar further said the Government will con- tinue with reforms in the farm sector as they are still due in many areas. The Union Agriculture Minister was referring to a proposal sent by the Centre to the farmers’ unions on Sunday, in which it offered to hold the sixth round of talks at a date and time of the unions’ choosing. He added, “I would also like to thank banks, as they brought more than 1 crore farmers under Kisan Credit Card cover during the pan- demic and gave farmers 1 lakh crore in last 8 months. We’ve undertaken some reforms and will bring more in future.” Total five rounds of talks, including one each on December 1, 3 and 5, have failed to break the deadlock between the two sides. While the Centre is firm that the laws won’t be scrapped and has instead proposed amendments, the unions are adamant on a total repeal. The Government has worked the back channels to bring farmer groups back to the negotiating table. Continued on Page 11 E ven as the Government is yet to disclose if the Covid- 19 positive flyers from UK carry the new variant of the virus that originated in Britain, experts here said that the upcoming vaccination can tackle the strain. Six more passengers arriv- ing in two flights from the United Kingdom, which land- ed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) late on Tuesday night, have test- ed positive for Covid-19 and 50 passengers have been advised for institutional quarantine. With this, the number of passengers from the UK who have tested positive at the IGIA has soared to 11. Five tested positive for the Covid-19 virus after arrival from the UK on Tuesday. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Wednesday took stock of the status of pas- sengers coming from the UK to India and found that passen- gers were positive in ten States where the flights from UK to India land. These States are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala and Telangana. The Government has identified the laboratories for Genome Sequencing. Continued on Page 11 T he United Farmers Front, on Wednesday wrote a let- ter to the Central Government urging the Government not to repeat those “meaningless” amendments which have been rejected by the farmers’ unions. Meanwhile, farmers also urged people to skip one meal on “Kisan Diwas” on Wednesday, the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Chaudhary Charan Singh in support of their stir. Addressing a Press confer- ence on Wednesday at Singhu Border, the epicentre of the farmers protests across the National Capital’s borders, the farmers unions said United Farmers Front on Wednesday has written a letter to the Government. “It states that the Government shouldn’t ques- tion the letter written by the United Farmers’ Front previ- ously as it was a unanimous decision. Government’s new letter is a fresh attempt to defame farmers’ association,” said Yogendra Yadav of Swaraj India. While reading the letter in Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa- tions, who’re not associated with our movement at all. “This is an attempt to break our movement. the Government is dealing with protesting farm- ers, the way it deals with its Opposition,” said Yadav. Continued on Page 11 New Delhi: The Government on Wednesday launched a technology con- test to invite solutions from IT companies and start-ups to strengthen digital platform CoWIN, which will be used for rolling out and scaling up Covid vaccine distribution across the country. U nion Home Minister Amit Shah and the BJP on Wednesday hailed the outcome of Jammu & Kashmir’s maiden District Development Council (DDC) elections, saying it was the man- ifestation of people’s faith in democra- cy and a slap in the face of separatists. Shah also “heartily thanked” the people for voting the BJP as the single- largest party in the polls. “I heartily thank our sisters and brothers of J&K for voting the BJP as the single largest party in the District Development Council elections. The BJP under the leadership of PM @narendramodi ji will continue to work relentlessly towards the prosper- ity and development of the J&K region,” Shah tweeted. “Congratulations to the people of J&K for such great turnout in DDC polls. I applaud the efforts of our secu- rity forces & local administration for successfully conducting these multi- phased elections. This will further boost the morale and trust of people of J&K in democracy,” he added. Earlier, stating that people of Jammu & Kashmir are “making a new beginning”, Union Minister for Law Ravishankar Prasad said the BJP has emerged as a “the single largest party in the poll and gained more votes than the National Conference, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Congress put together. Prasad said it is the BJP with 75 seats in the DDC and as the single largest party that has won the people’s mandate and not the “opportunistic Gupkar alliance”. Prasad said of the 49 independents winning in the elections, “several are backed by the BJP.” Independents have won more seats than the PDP, he said. Continued on Page 11 L eaders of People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) sepa- rately asserted on Wednesday that the outcome of the DDC poll was a rejec- tion of the abrogation of Article 370, but even after winning 112 seats the PAGD constituents shied away from coming together on one platform to “unitedly” celebrate their victory. The top brass of the National Conference organised a function at its own headquarters in Nawa-e-Subah, while PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti addressed a separate press conference at her Gupkar residence, with no party leader sitting by her side. PAGD Spokesman Sajad Lone remained conspicuous even on social media. No official statement was issued by the PAGD in connection with the poll results either. Meanwhile, upbeat Omar Abdullah while addressing the party workers said the people have made clear their view by supporting the People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) in the District Development Council polls. Omar also observed he did not fore- see Assembly elections in the Union Territory anytime soon because of the poll results. “If you really say that democracy has won, then you will have to listen to the voices of the people, and the peo- ple of Jammu & Kashmir have said it with a huge majority that they do not accept (the decisions of) August 5, 2019,” Omar said. The Centre abrogated Article 370 — which gave special status to Jammu & Kashmir — and bifurcated the erst- while State into two Union Territories on August 5 last year. Omar said the results of the DDC elections have proved that the BJP will not be able to “bury” the NC. Continued on Page 11 F ather Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy, the first and third accused in the Sister Abhaya murder case, were on Wednesday sentenced to life imprisonment and fines of 6.5 lakh and 5.5 lakh respec- tively by K Sanal Kumar, judge of the Thiruvananthapuram CBI Special Court. Though Fr Kottoor was slapped with double life impris- onment (on charges of murder and trespass) the punishment would run concurrently and hence he need to serve only one sentence. He has to pay a fine of 5 lakh on charges of mur- der, 1 lakh for trespass and 50,000 for destroying evi- dence. The nun Sr Sephy was awarded life imprisonment and 5 lakh for charges under mur- der, seven years rigorous imprisonment and 50,000 for destroying evidence. Though the accused told the judge that they should be freed of all charges considering their advanced age and ail- ments, they did not get any concessions. The judge had made it clear to the prosecution that since it was not a pre- planned murder, the accused would not be slapped with death sentence. Father Kottoor was sent to Central Jail at Poojappura, a Thiruvananthapuram suburb and Sister Sephy to the Women’s Jail in another suburb where she would have the company of Swapna Suresh, the kingpin of the gold smuggling case that rocked Kerala politics. Expressing happiness over the judgement, Sister Abhaya Action Council convener Jomon Puthenpurackal said he would not rest until the appeals to be filed by the convicts are rejected by the higher courts. The Kottayam Archdiocese to which the accused belong issued a media release about the incident for the first time since Sister Abhaya was mur- dered on March 27, 1992. “The Archdiocese is of the view that the death of Sister Abhaya is unfortunate and painful. Though the charges against Father Thomas Kottoor and Sister Sephy who are members of the Archdiocese are unbe- lievable we respect the court verdict. The accused have the rights for appeal against the verdict and prove their inno- cence,” said the release. According to prosecution, Kottoor and Poothrikkayil were having an illicit relationship with Sephy, also an inmate of the convent. On the night of March 27, 1992, Abhaya (21) — a second year student of the BCM college, Kottayam, was staying at St Pius convent — saw Kottoor and Sephy in a compromising position, fol- lowing which the three accused hacked her with an axe and threw her into the well, the CBI had said in its charge sheet. Varghese P Thomas, the then CBI Deputy SP who was the first investigation officer of the case and who had to resign his job because of severe pres- sure to write off the case as sui- cide, said that he was happy that the accused have been sen- tenced. T he National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested absconding Khalistani terror- ist Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, who was hiding in Cyprus (Europe), upon his arrival at the airport here late on Tuesday night. The NIA had registered a case on January 10, 2019 against accused Harpal Singh under various Sections of the Arms Act, 1959, Maharashtra Police Act, 1951 and provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967. “Investigation has revealed that absconding accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar was the main conspirator of this case. Accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, Harpal Singh and Moin Khan were active on social media platforms and hatched a crim- inal conspiracy to revive Sikh militancy for ultimate aim of formation of a separate state of Khalistan,” the NIA said in a statement. During investigation it was revealed that Nijjar of Pandori village in Amritsar left India on October 19, 2017 for Cyprus. Continued on Page 11 I n a big push for education of students belonging to the Scheduled Caste, the Union Cabinet on Wednesday okayed 59,000 crore for post-matric scholarship for five years. The Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi estimated that this mega scholarship scheme will benefit more than f our crore students for continuing their education from Class XI. The Central Government will spend 60 per cent of the programme. The rest will be provided by the State Government. “This replaces the existing ‘committed liability’ system and brings greater involve- ment of the Central Govt in this crucial scheme,” the Union Cabinet said in a statement. A mmonia leakage at the Phulpur unit of Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) in Prayagraj claimed the lives of two officials and left over a dozen workers seriously sick on Tuesday night. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya expressed grief at the death of the two officials of IFFCO’s Phulpur unit in the ammonia leakage. Prima facie, a mechanical failure appears to be the cause behind this accident while details will be known after the technical inquiry committee submits its report. It was around 10:30 on Tuesday night when ammonia gas started oozing out from a production plant. Panic gripped the workers who ran helter-skelter to save their lives, but two officers, deputy manager (offsite) Abhay Nandan, and assistant manager (urea) VP Singh tried to find out the fault and set it right and in this process they fell unconscious. Later they breathed their last in the hospital. As many as 14 workers were rushed to hospital and four of them are said to be in a serious condition. IFFCO Phulpur public relations officer Vishwajit Srivastava confirmed the death of two officials. The IFFCO Phulpur unit is situated on Prayagraj- Gorakhpur highway, 30 kilo- metres away from the city. It has two units each of urea and ammonia production. Things were normal in the night shift till 10:30 pm but suddenly ammonia leakage changed the scene and an emergency was sounded. Officials and employees ran for help but by that time two officials and 14 other employees had fallen victim to ammonia. They were imme- diately rushed to hospital where the doctors could not save the lives of the two man- agers. IFFCO Managing Director and CEO Dr Uday Shankar Awasthi deeply regretted the sad and unfor- tunate accident that happened on Tuesday night due to mechanical failure at the IFFCO Phulpur ammonia urea unit. He said the employees at the site fought bravely to han- dle the situation. “Our two officers laid down their lives tackling the accident and saving the lives of their other colleagues. My deepest condolences to their family and friends. The situ- ation at the accident site is now under control. Other employees are also stable now and undergoing appropriate treatment,” he said, adding that prima facie the accident at the ammonia urea unit was caused by a mechanical fail- ure. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief at the death of the two IFFCO Phulpur unit officials in the ammonia gas leak and announced a compensation of Rs 4 lakh each for their fam- ily members. He also directed the offi- cials of the district adminis- tration to arrange for the best possible treatment for the accident victims. Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, while expressing profound grief at the death of the two officials and nearly two dozen people falling sick due to ammonia gas leak, instructed the offi- cers of the district adminis- tration to take concrete steps for the treatment of the affect- ed and immediate protection of the villagers. He also said that the entire matter be investigated and report be submitted. State cabinet minister Nand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ in a tweet, expressed condo- lences to the families of the deceased officer. Phulpur MP Kesari Devi Patel and Allahabad MP Rita Bahuguna Joshi also described the incident as tragic.

Upload: others

Post on 01-Jan-2021

0 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

Report

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

����� ��������

In a bid to break the deadlockwith protesting farmers,

Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar on Wednesdayinvited them for talks sayingany agitation could be resolvedonly through dialogue. Heurged them to fix a date andtime for the next round of talks.

Tomar said farmers shouldtell them what they want to addor remove from the proposalgiven by the Government.

“I’m hopeful that farmers’unions will discuss our request.Whatever they want to add &subtract from theGovernment’s proposal, theyshould tell us. We’re ready fora discussion at the time & dateof their convenience. I’m hope-ful of a solution,” Tomar saidwhile talking to reporters.

Stressing that a solutioncan be reached only throughdialogue, Tomar said, “Historyis witness to this fact. How oldand strong the protest is, theend and the solution to aprotest are reached throughdialogue only.”

Farmers’ unions shoulddiscuss the Government’s draftproposal and inform them ifthey want to add or delete any-thing, he added.

The Minister said therewere recommendations forreforms in the farm sector in

the past also by experts, unionsand State Chief Ministers, butthe previous Governmentmight have faced difficulties inconverting the recommenda-tions into laws. Tomar furthersaid the Government will con-tinue with reforms in the farmsector as they are still due inmany areas.

The Union AgricultureMinister was referring to aproposal sent by the Centre tothe farmers’ unions on Sunday,in which it offered to hold thesixth round of talks at a dateand time of the unions’ choosing.

He added, “I would alsolike to thank banks, as theybrought more than 1 crorefarmers under Kisan CreditCard cover during the pan-demic and gave farmers �1 lakhcrore in last 8 months. We’veundertaken some reforms andwill bring more in future.”

Total five rounds of talks,including one each onDecember 1, 3 and 5, havefailed to break the deadlockbetween the two sides. Whilethe Centre is firm that the lawswon’t be scrapped and hasinstead proposed amendments,the unions are adamant on atotal repeal. The Governmenthas worked the back channelsto bring farmer groups back tothe negotiating table.

Continued on Page 11

����� ��������

Even as the Government isyet to disclose if the Covid-

19 positive flyers from UKcarry the new variant of thevirus that originated in Britain,experts here said that theupcoming vaccination cantackle the strain.

Six more passengers arriv-ing in two flights from theUnited Kingdom, which land-ed at Delhi’s Indira GandhiInternational Airport (IGIA)late on Tuesday night, have test-ed positive for Covid-19 and 50passengers have been advisedfor institutional quarantine.

With this, the number ofpassengers from the UK whohave tested positive at the IGIAhas soared to 11. Five tested

positive for the Covid-19 virusafter arrival from the UK onTuesday.

Union Health SecretaryRajesh Bhushan on Wednesdaytook stock of the status of pas-sengers coming from the UK toIndia and found that passen-gers were positive in ten Stateswhere the flights from UK toIndia land.

These States areMaharashtra, Karnataka, TamilNadu, West Bengal, Goa,Punjab, Gujarat, Kerala andTelangana. The Governmenthas identified the laboratoriesfor Genome Sequencing.

Continued on Page 11

������������� ��������

The United Farmers Front,on Wednesday wrote a let-

ter to the Central Governmenturging the Government not torepeat those “meaningless”amendments which have beenrejected by the farmers’ unions.Meanwhile, farmers also urgedpeople to skip one meal on“Kisan Diwas” on Wednesday,the birth anniversary of formerPrime Minister ChaudharyCharan Singh in support oftheir stir.

Addressing a Press confer-ence on Wednesday at SinghuBorder, the epicentre of thefarmers protests across theNational Capital’s borders, thefarmers unions said UnitedFarmers Front on Wednesdayhas written a letter to theGovernment.

“It states that theGovernment shouldn’t ques-tion the letter written by theUnited Farmers’ Front previ-ously as it was a unanimousdecision. Government’s newletter is a fresh attempt to

defame farmers’ association,”said Yogendra Yadav of SwarajIndia.

While reading the letter inHindi, Yadav said theGovernment is constantlyholding talks with so-calledfarmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associatedwith our movement at all.“This is an attempt to break ourmovement. the Government isdealing with protesting farm-ers, the way it deals with itsOpposition,” said Yadav.

Continued on Page 11

New Delhi: TheGovernment on Wednesdaylaunched a technology con-test to invite solutions fromIT companies and start-upsto strengthen digital platformCoWIN, which will be usedfor rolling out and scaling upCovid vaccine distributionacross the country.

����� ��������

Union Home Minister Amit Shahand the BJP on Wednesday hailed

the outcome of Jammu & Kashmir’smaiden District Development Council(DDC) elections, saying it was the man-ifestation of people’s faith in democra-cy and a slap in the face of separatists.

Shah also “heartily thanked” thepeople for voting the BJP as the single-largest party in the polls.

“I heartily thank our sisters andbrothers of J&K for voting the BJP asthe single largest party in the DistrictDevelopment Council elections. TheBJP under the leadership of PM@narendramodi ji will continue towork relentlessly towards the prosper-ity and development of the J&K region,”Shah tweeted.

“Congratulations to the people ofJ&K for such great turnout in DDCpolls. I applaud the efforts of our secu-rity forces & local administration forsuccessfully conducting these multi-phased elections. This will furtherboost the morale and trust of people ofJ&K in democracy,” he added.

Earlier, stating that people ofJammu & Kashmir are “making a newbeginning”, Union Minister for LawRavishankar Prasad said the BJP hasemerged as a “the single largest partyin the poll and gained more votes thanthe National Conference, PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) and theCongress put together.

Prasad said it is the BJP with 75seats in the DDC and as the singlelargest party that has won the people’smandate and not the “opportunisticGupkar alliance”.

Prasad said of the 49 independentswinning in the elections, “several arebacked by the BJP.” Independents havewon more seats than the PDP, he said.

Continued on Page 11

������������ ���

Leaders of People’s Alliance forGupkar Declaration (PAGD) sepa-

rately asserted on Wednesday that theoutcome of the DDC poll was a rejec-tion of the abrogation of Article 370, buteven after winning 112 seats the PAGDconstituents shied away from comingtogether on one platform to “unitedly”celebrate their victory.

The top brass of the NationalConference organised a function at itsown headquarters in Nawa-e-Subah,while PDP chief Mehbooba Muftiaddressed a separate press conferenceat her Gupkar residence, with no partyleader sitting by her side.

PAGD Spokesman Sajad Loneremained conspicuous even on socialmedia.

No official statement was issued bythe PAGD in connection with the pollresults either.

Meanwhile, upbeat Omar Abdullahwhile addressing the party workers saidthe people have made clear their viewby supporting the People’s Alliance forGupkar Declaration (PAGD) in theDistrict Development Council polls.

Omar also observed he did not fore-see Assembly elections in the UnionTerritory anytime soon because of thepoll results.

“If you really say that democracyhas won, then you will have to listen tothe voices of the people, and the peo-ple of Jammu & Kashmir have said itwith a huge majority that they do notaccept (the decisions of) August 5,2019,” Omar said.

The Centre abrogated Article 370— which gave special status to Jammu& Kashmir — and bifurcated the erst-while State into two Union Territorieson August 5 last year.

Omar said the results of the DDCelections have proved that the BJP willnot be able to “bury” the NC.

Continued on Page 11

�� ����������� ����

Father Thomas Kottoor andSister Sephy, the first and

third accused in the SisterAbhaya murder case, were onWednesday sentenced to lifeimprisonment and fines of�6.5 lakh and �5.5 lakh respec-tively by K Sanal Kumar, judgeof the ThiruvananthapuramCBI Special Court.

Though Fr Kottoor wasslapped with double life impris-onment (on charges of murderand trespass) the punishmentwould run concurrently andhence he need to serve only onesentence. He has to pay a fineof �5 lakh on charges of mur-der, �1 lakh for trespass and�50,000 for destroying evi-dence.

The nun Sr Sephy wasawarded life imprisonment and�5 lakh for charges under mur-der, seven years rigorousimprisonment and �50,000 fordestroying evidence.

Though the accused told

the judge that they should befreed of all charges consideringtheir advanced age and ail-ments, they did not get anyconcessions. The judge hadmade it clear to the prosecutionthat since it was not a pre-planned murder, the accusedwould not be slapped withdeath sentence.

Father Kottoor was sent toCentral Jail at Poojappura, aThiruvananthapuram suburband Sister Sephy to theWomen’s Jail in another suburbwhere she would have thecompany of Swapna Suresh, thekingpin of the gold smugglingcase that rocked Kerala politics.

Expressing happiness overthe judgement, Sister AbhayaAction Council convenerJomon Puthenpurackal said hewould not rest until the appealsto be filed by the convicts arerejected by the higher courts.

The Kottayam Archdioceseto which the accused belongissued a media release aboutthe incident for the first time

since Sister Abhaya was mur-dered on March 27, 1992. “TheArchdiocese is of the view thatthe death of Sister Abhaya isunfortunate and painful.Though the charges againstFather Thomas Kottoor andSister Sephy who are membersof the Archdiocese are unbe-lievable we respect the courtverdict. The accused have therights for appeal against theverdict and prove their inno-cence,” said the release.

According to prosecution,Kottoor and Poothrikkayil werehaving an illicit relationshipwith Sephy, also an inmate ofthe convent. On the night ofMarch 27, 1992, Abhaya (21) —a second year student of theBCM college, Kottayam, wasstaying at St Pius convent —saw Kottoor and Sephy in acompromising position, fol-lowing which the three accusedhacked her with an axe andthrew her into the well, the CBIhad said in its charge sheet.

Varghese P Thomas, the

then CBI Deputy SP who wasthe first investigation officer ofthe case and who had to resignhis job because of severe pres-sure to write off the case as sui-cide, said that he was happythat the accused have been sen-tenced.

����� ���������

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) has arrested

absconding Khalistani terror-ist Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, whowas hiding in Cyprus (Europe),upon his arrival at the airporthere late on Tuesday night.

The NIA had registered acase on January 10, 2019against accused Harpal Singhunder various Sections of theArms Act, 1959, MaharashtraPolice Act, 1951 and provisionsof the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act, 1967.

“Investigation has revealedthat absconding accusedGurjeet Singh Nijjar was themain conspirator of this case.Accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar,Harpal Singh and Moin Khanwere active on social mediaplatforms and hatched a crim-inal conspiracy to revive Sikhmilitancy for ultimate aim offormation of a separate state ofKhalistan,” the NIA said in astatement.

During investigation it wasrevealed that Nijjar of Pandorivillage in Amritsar left India onOctober 19, 2017 for Cyprus.

Continued on Page 11

����� ���������

In a big push for education ofstudents belonging to the

Scheduled Caste, the UnionCabinet on Wednesday okayed�59,000 crore for post-matricscholarship for five years.

The Cabinet meetingchaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi estimatedthat this mega scholarshipscheme will benefit morethan four crore students forcontinuing their educationfrom Class XI. The CentralGovernment will spend 60per cent of the programme.The rest will be provided bythe State Government.

“This replaces the existing‘committed liability’ systemand brings greater involve-ment of the Central Govt inthis crucial scheme,” the UnionCabinet said in a statement.

�������������� ������������ ����������������������� ����������������� ��������������������������������������

������������������� �������������������������������

�� ��� ����������������������������� �!"�����

��������� ��������������������������������������������������������� �

��������������������������������� ��! � ��"����#��$�������� ���! ��� %&� ��

����������� ����������������������������������������� !!"������ ����������� ������ ������� �#� �$�������%

#�������������$$�������������%�������������������������&'(

)*�������������+�%%���*�������������*��������� �����$��*�

,����������������������#��������*�����������������&�%���'(������#�����# ������)"���$�����������������*���� �����$ ��

��������������������� ������!��"��#���������#�����������������������������$���� ���$�����%������� �&

����� ����������������������������������'���������������� ��������� ����������������������������� ���!� �����"������������������"��������������������� #����$��#%�� �������� ��������������������������&�'()���#* ������������ ��������������������������%��)� �������� ����" ���������%)�(� �������� ()*+,-������������������� �����$��#%�� �������� ���������������������������%���+% ,�) �������� ����"����������������������#(��� "������� ����� "����"��-�.����� "������� ��������������������������&%)� ,� � �������� ������������������������""������(�,��� �������� "����������������������������/� � �������� ��������������������������+(����� �������� ��"�� ��������0*.���� ��"����� ���������������������"������#�/��$��#%���������� ��"��""� "�������������������������

����. (*)(*(-*/()�����.�(*,0*0,(���'���.10*2(*+,1�������'�.�/*20*,--�

"�� $*+(�,��,!������

���������� �������-��������-�����. ����������

'�������� �������������������#����#����������#����������#(��������#�� ���%������� �&

�� �����������#�����# �������������������(����������))*����������#��������� #�� �&

�����������+,��-� �&

1&�%��()/$(2 %%� 3�4%522!642'7#�()/8(2 %%�/����.������

������������� ���

( ���,��'642'7#�()/8(2 %%�7

���%��(�/ '�"3��������&� "��9�(��:*�4���,%��;����(3��88)(4�5)%

$*5)(��%#�<�2'��������� ����� +��$����+� +���:��-

-�����-�$ - �����0�-�����-�� � �=��-�+���>�=����

����%" ���!�(20,����������� ��������������������������� ��

������4*������5����� 6� /,*�/)/)7������(,��+

�&0�,�&,�1�$��:&��?:��-��:&���=

2&34!�++$-��������$������:$�-�����&�-=������-

�)0&3��+5

��::�+-���:$���?:�-���-�

������������� �� ����������������

���� ������� ��//"&��������������.����� � ����$��$

����� ������+��

Ammonia leakage at thePhulpur unit of Indian

Farmers Ferti l izerCooperative Limited (IFFCO)in Prayagraj claimed the livesof two officials and left over adozen workers seriously sickon Tuesday night.

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath andDeputy Chief Minister KeshavPrasad Maurya expressed griefat the death of the two officialsof IFFCO’s Phulpur unit in theammonia leakage.

Prima facie, a mechanicalfailure appears to be the causebehind this accident whiledetails will be known after thetechnical inquiry committeesubmits its report.

It was around 10:30 onTuesday night when ammoniagas started oozing out from aproduction plant.

Panic gripped the workerswho ran helter-skelter to savetheir lives, but two officers,deputy manager (offsite)Abhay Nandan, and assistantmanager (urea) VP Singhtried to find out the fault andset it right and in this processthey fell unconscious. Laterthey breathed their last in thehospital.

As many as 14 workerswere rushed to hospital andfour of them are said to be ina serious condition.

IFFCO Phulpur publicrelations officer VishwajitSrivastava confirmed thedeath of two officials.

The IFFCO Phulpur unitis situated on Prayagraj-Gorakhpur highway, 30 kilo-metres away from the city. Ithas two units each of urea andammonia production.

Things were normal in thenight shift till 10:30 pm butsuddenly ammonia leakagechanged the scene and anemergency was sounded.

Officials and employeesran for help but by that timetwo officials and 14 otheremployees had fallen victim toammonia. They were imme-diately rushed to hospitalwhere the doctors could notsave the lives of the two man-

agers.IFFCO Managing

Director and CEO Dr UdayShankar Awasthi deeplyregretted the sad and unfor-tunate accident that happenedon Tuesday night due tomechanical failure at theIFFCO Phulpur ammoniaurea unit.

He said the employees atthe site fought bravely to han-dle the situation.

“Our two officers laiddown their lives tackling theaccident and saving the livesof their other colleagues. Mydeepest condolences to theirfamily and friends. The situ-ation at the accident site isnow under control. Otheremployees are also stable nowand undergoing appropriatetreatment,” he said, addingthat prima facie the accidentat the ammonia urea unit wascaused by a mechanical fail-ure.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath expressed grief atthe death of the two IFFCOPhulpur unit officials in theammonia gas leak andannounced a compensation ofRs 4 lakh each for their fam-ily members.

He also directed the offi-cials of the district adminis-tration to arrange for the bestpossible treatment for theaccident victims.

Deputy Chief MinisterKeshav Prasad Maurya, whileexpressing profound grief atthe death of the two officialsand nearly two dozen peoplefalling sick due to ammoniagas leak, instructed the offi-cers of the district adminis-tration to take concrete stepsfor the treatment of the affect-ed and immediate protectionof the villagers.

He also said that the entirematter be investigated andreport be submitted.

State cabinet ministerNand Gopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ ina tweet, expressed condo-lences to the families of thedeceased officer.

Phulpur MP Kesari DeviPatel and Allahabad MP RitaBahuguna Joshi also describedthe incident as tragic.

#� �������������*����������������������*����,*���������

Page 2: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

�������

������������ ������������������������������� �������������������� ��! ����������""����������!�#��$���������%&''()*(����������+��+�����������,�������&--./���0������� .���1������������%�2�����3����������$�������2�����3���������������$101��')*(456�������%+� �"�����32�.783 )-(())!93'- 55:'�. ���;�����3<)5-'=' '):*:�' '*)*:�-'>) ()���"��;�����3<)5*'='-) ))(�'-) *(������;�����3<)5 '=' * '> �' * '>5�?� ��;�����31��(�7�����@� �7�%��7�������A������1�%?� ��&**)))'������3)**& )**) 55���//��������;�����3!&-*�������(�1;0?.�@��/7���1��&')*-)*�B��������3)*')& :6>:))C :6>>))

���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������ ���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������!������� �����������������������������"��������������������������� ���� ����#����$����%�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������&����������������������������������� ��������������� ��������������������!�����������������������������

������� ���������� ��� � !" � #$%�#&#&

"��673�8/)

����� � �����

Taking a jibe at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s appeal of

‘taali and thali’ during lock-down, UP Congress chief AjayKumar Lallu and party workersclapped and banged ‘thali’ dur-ing a protest to express solidar-ity with protesting farmers onWednesday.

Congress workers and lead-ers carried out a state-wideprotest against the recently leg-islated agricultural laws on thebirth anniversary of formerPrime Minister ChaudharyCharan Singh, in Lucknow andpledged full support to the farm-ers’ stir against farm laws and thedemand of repealing them.

However, as Congress work-ers marched to lay siege to thehomes of BJP MPs and MLAs asper plan, they were stopped anddetained. Later, Lallu staged a sit-in along with party workers.Many party leaders and workerswere also confined inside the UPCongress headquarters at MallAvenue and forced by the policeto stage protest on the campusitself. Later, Lallu told news per-

sons that the Union govern-ment was ‘anti-farmer’ and theCongress would support thefarmers both on the streets andin the Parliament.

“Despite the 22-day protestby farmers, the Centre is notretracting the agricultural laws.This regime is arrogant and is

trying to suppress the voice ofopponents by misusing officialmachinery,” he said.

On the Centre’s assurance ofMSP, Lallu said that why did notthe government guarantee it bybringing in a bill and alleged thatthe BJP regime wanted to sellfarmers to the corporate houses.

“Farmers’ outfits have beenprotesting for three weeks nowbut the BJP government at theCentre is refusing to listen totheir woes. The Congress partywill ‘gherao’ the homes andoffices of BJP’s MPs and MLAsand protest by beating ‘taali’ and‘thaali’,” he said.

Lucknow (PNS): SamajwadiParty chief Akhilesh Yadav saidthat the Bharatiya Janata Partymust stop humiliating farmers asthey were the honour of thenation but they have been forcedto hit the streets to fight for theirexistence.

Addressing a meeting at thestate SP office to celebrate the118 birth anniversary of formerPrime Minister ChaudharyCharan Singh, Akhilesh saidthat the BJP and its workers didnot have any roots in rural Indiaand were connected only withthe corporate class.

“Unnerved by the hugeprotests of farmers, the BJP isindulging in futile exercise of

inserting government advertise-ments in newspapers to com-memorate Chaudhary CharanSingh’s birth anniversary, whichis unprecedented,” said the SPchief.

Akhilesh further said thatthe BJP was living in the mistak-en belief that by celebratingChaudhary ji’s birth anniversary,it could win the farmers trust orconfuse them to give up theiragitation.

“The BJP government isunwilling to address the griev-ances of the farmers and thepomp and show used to celebrateCharan Singh’s birth anniversarywill not help as it can no longermislead the community. Paddyand cane farmers of the statehave been running from pillar topost for selling their produce atprocurement centres and gettingpayment from sugar mills,”Akhilesh charged.

�(3%�,(@% ���(8)%���)�A�32�� 2��B%��( ,�.%� ����*55/���(%��(''2)��(2 �

Lucknow (PNS): In a shocking inci-dent, a man pronounced instant talaq tohis wife for refusing to dance and wearjeans and later torched himself at his in-laws place in Meerut on Tuesday night.

However, the man was saved by his in-laws and the police were informed.

As per reports, New Ismailnagar res-ident Amiruddin married off his daugh-ter eight years ago to Anas of Pilkhua(Hapur), who used to work in Delhi.

The woman alleged that Anas forcedher to dance and sing which often led tosquabbles between the couple. Fed up withthe husband, she even approached a localpanchayat but failed to get a solution.

On Tuesday, Anas pronounced tripletalaq to his wife and later headed to his in-laws’ place where he set himself afire. Theharried in-laws raised an alarm, doused theflame and rushed him to a hospital withserious burns. The Lisari Gate police sta-tion was informed about the incident anda probe was underway to find out whetherthere was any other motive that led the manto immolate himself.

,�*�����������������*��-.����� � �����

Uttar Pradesh PanchayatiRaj Minister Bhupendra

Singh Chaudhary on Tuesdaysaid that the elections to thethree tier panchayat institutionswould be completed by the endof March next year.

The minister said that theelections would be held in fourphases and the election notifi-cation would be issued afterthe completion of preparatorywork for the polls that wasalready underway.

The elections of grampradhans, gram sabha mem-bers, kshetra panchayat mem-bers and district panchayatmembers will be held simulta-neously. The process of delim-itation and reservation of wardsfor the Scheduled Castes andOther Backward Classes will becompleted by the third week ofFebruary next year. The StateElection Commission is likelyto issue the election notificationas soon as the reservation ofwards is completed.

The terms of gram pan-chayats, kshetra panchayatsand district panchayats areending on December 25,January 14 and March 18respectively. After the end ofthe terms, assistant develop-ment officers of the develop-ment blocks would be appoint-ed as administrators of thegram sabhas, SDM would beappointed in place of block pra-mukhs and district magistrateswill be the administrators of thedistrict panchayats.

The panchayat electionshave been delayed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.

Official sources said thepreparations for the panchay-at elections were underway ona war footing.

Meanwhile, Bhim Armychief Chandrashekhar Azadon Tuesday said that his partywould contest the panchayatelections in Uttar Pradesh. Hesaid ahead of the 2022 UPassembly elections, Bhim Armywanted to have a state-widepresence in UP.

$��������/01$2.3���������''&������2�������������4,��������������� � �����

The Uttar Pradesh government said that exceptionalimprovement in ease of doing business in the state

had a positive impact on the start-up sector. With the numbers soaring in the state, 3,406 start-

ups recognised by the Department for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) of the Union gov-ernment have been set up in Uttar Pradesh in the last threeyears. Referring to the best start-up ecosystem being devel-oped as a result of efficient implementation of IT andStart-up Policy, 2017 and New Start-up Policy, 2020,Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma, who holds theIT and Electronics portfolio, said that the state govern-ment was developing a world-class start-up ecosystemthrough a strong infrastructure and favourable policyenvironment. Sharma said that besides creating employ-ment, the start-up policies were promoting innovationand entrepreneurship along with contributing to the state’seconomy and aiding the empowerment of youth.

Additional Chief Secretary (IT and Electronics) AlokKumar said that despite the COVID-19 pandemic, 773start-ups had been established between December, 2019and 2020, in addition to 17 incubators set up in the lasttwo years under the IT and Start-up Policy, 2017.

Kumar said that seven proposals for setting up incu-bators had been approved in December under the newStart-up Policy, 2020, including the first incubator ofBundelkhand in Rajkiya Engineering College, Banda, AtalIncubation Centre in BHU Varanasi, NASSCOM 10000Start-up Warehouse in Noida, Jaipuria Incubator andMaharshi Centre for Entrepreneur Development inLucknow, start-up launch pad in Mathura, GLAUniversity, Krishna Engineering College, Ghaziabad.

Underlining the objective of encouraging start-upsin non-IT sectors, Kumar said that setting up of 117 incu-bators had been set as the target for developing start-upecosystems in institutions, universities, colleges undermain departments like MSME, Khadi, AgriculturalEducation, Medical Education, Higher/TechnicalEducation, etc.

It is noteworthy that in the 2020-21 fiscal, an incen-tive of Rs 41.60 lakh has been provided to incubators andstart-ups by the state government and an additionalamount of Rs 41.41 lakh will soon be disbursed after get-ting financial approval under the IT and Start-up Policy,2017. A sum of around Rs 83 lakh would be provided toincubators and start-ups in the current fiscal. In September2020, UP was ranked in the category of Emerging Start-up Ecosystem in Start-up Ranking-2020 of states releasedby the Department of Industry Promotion and InternalTrade (DPIIT) of the Government .

����� � �����

With a view to protect the migrantlabourers who have gone to big cities

to earn their livelihood, the Uttar Pradeshgovernment is going to deploy officers in citieslike Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata for the pro-tection of these workers.

These officers will be tasked to monitorthe security and dignity of the migrantlabourers.

Uttar Pradesh will be the first state in thecountry to deploy officers in other states forthe safety and convenience of its workers.

“The Yogi Adityanath government willkeep a close watch on the safety and respectof lakhs of migrant labourers of UP who havebecome the backbone of economic develop-ment and industries of all the states, includ-ing Delhi, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Gujaratand Andhra Pradesh,” a governmentspokesman said.

The plan is going to start with thedeployment of officers in Mumbai.

According to officials privy to the deci-sion, two officers of Uttar Pradesh govern-ment will be posted in Mumbai.

“By being present in Mumbai, these offi-cers will keep an eye on the facilities, secu-rity and respect being given to the workersof UP. If anything goes wrong with themigrant labourers, the UP officials will talkto the local administration and solve the prob-lem and send a report to the state govern-ment,” the official said.

During their presence in Mumbai, theofficers will also convey to the workers fromUP information about the schemes beinglaunched by the Uttar Pradesh governmentfor their welfare and well-being so that theworkers who want to join the new schemesand return to UP may avail of the facility,according to the official.

During the novel coronavirus pandem-ic, millions of labourers living in Delhi,Mumbai were forcibly removed. There havealso been reports of ill-treatment withmigrant labourers living in Kolkata andMumbai.

This decision of the Yogi government isgoing to be a big support for thousands ofmigrant labourers of UP living away fromtheir families and homes, given the prevail-ing environment of West Bengal.

+$�8)� ���(�� �:�'B�#��2�42 %4��B(���3��'%�������� � �����

Aiming to connect with farmers at the blocklevel on the birth anniversary of former

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee onDecember 25, Kisan Samvad will be held wherePrime Minister Narendra Modi will interact withthe farmers.

A plan was charted out for Kisan Samvad ata meeting attended by BJP state chief SwatantraDev Singh and state general secretary (organi-sation) Sunil Bansal and other senior leaders inLucknow on Wednesday..

Singh said that opposition parties werespreading confusion among the farmers aboutagricultural reform laws whereas the truth wasthat the laws would open new opportunities forthe community.

The BJP leader told party officials that underthe Kisan Samman Nidhi, the prime ministerwould transfer Rs 18,000 crore to nine crorefarmer families on December 25.

Discussing the plan, Bansal said that partyworkers should choose a place where this KisanSamvad programme could be held and the localunit should ensure large participation of peopleat the ground level.

In the Kisan Samvad programme, all MPs ofthe ruling party, MLAs and public representa-tives, including officials of corporations, boardsand cooperative societies, will participate.

The BJP has also decided that all public rep-resentatives, including party officials of the state,region, district, mandal, sector should be presentat their booths and pay tribute to Atalji onDecember 26 and 27.

����� � �����

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathgreeted the farming community

on the occasion of the 118th birthanniversary of former Prime MinisterChaudhary Charan Singh and saidthat his government was committedto bettering their interests.

Hailing former Prime MinisterChaudhary Charan Singh for dedi-cating his life for the empowermentof farmers, Yogi said that the lateleader strived hard for the uplift ofthe underprivileged sections of soci-ety.

“Chaudharyji used to say that thepath of the nation’s prosperity pass-es through farmland. In other words,India will progress if the farmers areprogressive,” he said.

Pledging to infuse latest technol-ogy in agriculture, the chief ministersaid that as many as 20 new KrishiVigyan Kendras were being con-structed in addition to the existing 69such KVKs linked to four agricultureuniversities in UP.

“Of these, 18 have already beencompleted,” the chief minister said.

“Farmers have been providedwith the facility of soil testing andPradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojanahas been further extended. Also,water has been provided to everyfarm under the Prime MinisterAgricultural Irrigation Scheme,” he

said. Yogi came down heavily on theopposition parties for spreadingcooked up stories about the new agri-culture laws and for misguidinginnocent farmers.

“Neither the MSP (minimum

support price) system nor mandi sys-tem is going to be abolished but theopposition parties are out to createunnecessary confusion,” he said.

The chief minister said that thestate government was focusing on

reducing the cost of farming andincreasing productivity.

The UP government distributedtractors and cheques up to Rs 3 lakhto the farmers of the state on this daywhich is celebrated as Kisan Diwas.

Lucknow (PNS): Singing paeanto Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathand terming him a messiah, a sec-tion of farmers said that the stategovernment always worked for theirwelfare and showed the resolve tosolve the problems faced by thefarmer community.

“Yogi Adityanath has alwaystaken decisions for farmers’ welfare.The chief minister and his govern-ment has shown dedication towardsthe growth of the agri sector andhence he is a ‘messiah’ for us,” saidfarmer Umakant Gupta fromMalihabad after being gifted a trac-tor by the chief minister at an eventin Lucknow on Kisan Diwas tocommemorate the birth anniversaryof former Prime Minister ChaudharyCharan Singh.

Farmer Aarif Siddiqui fromUnnao said that it was only becauseof Yogi Adityanath that he came toknow about different farmer-centricschemes that benefited them a lot.

“The government is providingfree good quality seeds which hasresulted in higher yield, better qual-ity of produce and increased profit,”he said.

The chief minister interacted

with the farmers of the state and dis-tributed tractors and cheques up toRs 3 lakh. Later, he said that hisgovernment was working with acommitment in the interest of farm-ers.

�������������� �������������������'����5

Prakriti Tandon, a student of CityMontessori School, Mahanagar Campus,has secured admission to CornellUniversity with 100% Tata TrustScholarship. She will join the College ofArts & Sciences at Cornell University inAugust next year. She will appear for classXII board exams at CMS Mahanagar inMarch next year. “I applied for need-basedfinancial aid while seeking admission atCornell, which was granted with 100% TataTrust Scholarship and an offer letter foradmission. I will opt for a Chemistry majorin undergrad as I have always wanted topursue drug research in future,” Prakritisaid. “In school, I developed a keen inter-est in research for breakthroughs in thepharma industry for the betterment ofsociety. I have done a lot of social servicebecause of which I was able to see the con-

dition of people in orphanages, slums andold-age homes. I want to work to improvetheir living standards,” said Prakriti, whosefather is a financial consultant and moth-er a librarian.

�� � �����8����'��'

Litterateur Hari Om Sharma ‘Hari’ metcomedian and chairman of UP FilmsDevelopment Council Raju Srivastava atlatter’s office in Lok Bhawan and present-ed him a copy of his book titled‘Apna Raasta Khud Banayein’. Srivastavashowed interest in the inspirational bookand congratulated Sharama. He said thebook is a great source of motivation foryouth.

�����9������In view of the ongoing Covid pandem-

ic, the state government has extended thelast date for uploading the online applica-tions with late fees for class X & class XIIstudents, including private candidates, ofUP Board to January 5, 2021. Deputy ChiefMinister Dinesh Sharma said that foradmission to class IX and class XI, the lastdate for registration has been extended toJanuary 10, 2021.

"9��7:0����� ���$�����������%�.��������������������������������*����5�������������*

��� ��������������������� ������ ����������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������������������

�0����$�������� ����� ���#��������������������� ���� �����.�������

4�����-��������� ��$��#�� �������������������%��� ���=��#@(�%��+$��2����28��*'()(��( ,�3��'%��

NOTICE

Power of Attorney registered on17/05/1991 and original deedsof my house no. 35/32BBengali Mohal Kanpur Nagarhave actually been lost some-where, which was registered on17/08/1988 no. 21122 intheSub Registrar. Use of theabove will be illegal. SusheelaSingh W/o Laxman Singh.8840600028

NOTICE

I, Rekha Devi, Spouse ofBharat Bhushan Kanoujia R/o61 Golf Course Colony,Bhajjapurva Shiwas Tannery,Kanpur Nagar - 208010. Havechanged my name from RekhaDevi to Rekha Kanoujia Videaffidavit No. 30AE 750216dated 16.12.2020 beforeKanpur Court.

REQUIRED

Page 3: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

�������������� ���������� ��� � !" � #$%�#&#&

����� � �����

Prime Minister NarendraModi will lay the founda-

tion stone of the houses to beconstructed under the ‘LightHouse’ project throughvideo-conferencing onJanuary 1. The project isaimed at providing decentplaces of dwelling to theunderprivileged at cheaperrates. However, housingcommissioner AK Chauhanwas not avai lable for his comment on the new ini-t iat ive of Ministr y of Urban and HousingDevelopment.

The project will come upat Awadh Vihar on Sultanpur

road. As per plan, over 1,040houses will be built in the fivehousing towers, with eachhaving 14 storeys.

Urban DevelopmentMinister Ashutosh Tandonon Wednesday inspected thesite and had detailed discus-sion with engineers and offi-cials concerned. They assuredthe minister that the projectwould be completed within15 months. He said peoplewould be given possession oftheir houses within three months of the projectcompletion.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath is believed to havedirected the officials to com-plete the project in time.

����� � �����

An international webinar on ‘Using the power of per-sistence to overcome obstacles in medicine’, under

the aegis of Georgian Alumni Association, was held atKalam Centre on Wednesday.

Stressing on the importance of alumni association,KGMU Vice-Chancellor Dr Bipin Puri said: “We mustremain in touch with them for an exchange of experi-ences. He also emphasised on the need to develop knowl-edge portals. The programme started with a welcomeaddress by Dr Uma Singh.

Dr Nitin from the USA shared his experiences ofworking abroad. “Evidence-based medicine and finan-cial freedom is the basis of healthcare delivery in devel-oped countries like the USA,” he said. Dr Anany Guptasaid chronic diseases are a major health burden and onemust be updated with the changing technology in thisfield. Dr Ravi Lohani from AIIMS, New Delhi, spokeabout the advances in surgery. “People are coming withknowledge of minimal invasive surgeries but theyshould be counselled properly that these procedures canbe offered to a selective population,” he said.

Dr Shailja Mishra said one must use the internshipperiod to revise syllabus thoroughly. “The post-gradu-ation period is full of challenges and we should acceptour failures,” he said.

����� � �����

Aman set fire to the house of hislove interest in Bazaarkhala

police station area on Wednesday.However, the fire was doused beforeit could go out of control. Policedetained the accused and startedfurther investigation. He was iden-tified as Chetram of Karheta inAishbagh. The woman said sever-al items in her house were gutted.

As per reports, Chetram, whoworks as a painter, fell in love witha woman, who is a divorcee andlives with her mother, when he was

hired for the work in 2006. Chetramclaimed that he was in relationshipwith the woman even though he ismarried and has children.

He reached the house of thewoman and engaged in a verbal spatwith her. He later sprinkledkerosene in a room close to thekitchen and set it afire. However,neighbours informed police.

A team consisting of sub-inspector Rakesh Chaurasiya andconstable Atiq reached the sceneinstantly. The cops called the firetenders and started the rescueoperation. They pulled out Chetram

and also took out the gas cylinderkept in the kitchen to prevent thespread of fire.

The family of the woman saidChetram had a fight with her onWednesday afternoon. He laterstormed the house when no onewas present nearby. In his confes-sion, Chetram said he loved thewoman and in due course of time,he came to know that she befriend-ed another man, who is a native ofRajasthan. He claimed that hefound woman’s chats and posts onFacebook with the Rajasthan nativeand he demanded an explanation

from her, after which a verbal spatensued. The accused said he want-ed to teach the woman a lesson.Police said they were yet to get anycomplaint against Chetram.

Meanwhile, a private taxi dri-ver faced with financial crunchended his life at his house inHazratganj on Wednesday. He wasidentified as Rajeev Kumar Singh(32) of New Driver’s Colony inDalibagh locality under Hazratganjpolice station area. Reports saidSingh was found hanging from theceiling with a rope tied around hisneck around 7 am.

����� � �����

In a daring incident, a groupof masked dacoits stormed

the house of an executive engi-neer of Sugarcane departmentin Vibhuti Khand police stationarea on the intervening night ofTuesday and Wednesday andlooted cash and valuables(worth around Rs 6 lakh).

While the engineer toldmediapersons that there wereeight dacoits, DCP (East)Sanjeev Suman said they werefive in number. An FIR wasregistered in this connectionand five police teams wereformed to work out the case.

Engineer Yogendra KumarSrivastava, who is posted inMeerut, was in Lucknow on atwo-day leave and went backon Wednesday night itself. Hiswife Nisha Srivastava (57) anddaughter Jiniya Srivastava (30)were present in the house sit-uated in Viraj-Khand-4.

“Around 2 am onWednesday, masked dacoitscarrying knives scaled theboundary wall of the house.They uprooted a window grill,entered the house via the draw-ing room and scattered ingroups. One of the miscreantsentered my room before Icould understand what waswrong and asked me to take outall the cash and ornaments,”Nisha stated in her complaintgiven to to the police.

She said she tried to con-front him but three otherdacoits reached there. “Theyhad me tied up with a bedsheetand pasted a tape on my mouthso that I could not raise an

alarm,” Nisha further stated.Another group entered the

room of Jiniya and hit her withsticks as she cried for help andlocked her in the room.

Having overpowered themother-daughter duo, thedacoits rummaged througheach of the rooms and collect-

ed ornaments and cash beforeleaving the scene. The dacoitsalso took away the digital videorecorder (DVR) of the CCTVcamera installed in the house.

In an e-byte, the DCP saidfive teams had been formedand the case would be workedout soon. He admitted that a

police team on patrol hadpassed via the lane where thehouse is located. “The victimshad their mouth pasted withtapes and they could not raisean alarm. That was why thepolice teams did not get anyidea of what was happeningthere,” he said.

����� � �����

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has instructed

officials to carry out RT-PCRtests on passengers who haverecently returned from for-eign countries and isolate thoseamong them who are coron-avirus positive.

“Those who have returnedbetween November 25 andDecember 8 from foreigncountries where a new strain ofcoronavirus has been found,should be quarantined,” thechief minister said while chair-ing a high-level unlock reviewmeeting in Lucknow onWednesday. Yogi instructedofficials to maintain effectivetreatment and prevention fromCOVID-19 and stressed thatvigilance and caution be main-tained at all levels against theviral infection.

“It is necessary to maintaincomplete vigilance in view ofthe new strain of novel coron-avirus and a little carelessnesscan prove to be very costly,” hesaid. Expressing satisfactionover carrying out the maxi-mum number of Covid tests inthe country, the chief ministeralso instructed officials to con-duct tests to full capacity.

He said that UP rankedsecond in the country on permillion test basis and askedofficials to increase the numberof tests per million.

Directing officials to ensuremedical facilities at Covid hos-pitals, Yogi said that it should beensured that specialist doctorstook regular rounds of wardsand there was adequate avail-ability of medicines, medicalequipment and oxygen backup.The chief minister also said thatpeople should be regularlymade aware about preventionfrom COVID-19 and for this,public address systems shouldbe used along with variouspublicity media.

He said action should betaken in a time-bound mannerfor administering COVID-19

vaccine. “All arrangementsregarding storage, ensuringcold chain and transportationof the vaccine should be madeon time and monitoring shouldbe done at the district level,” hesaid. The chief minister alsoinstructed officials to conducttraining of vaccinators. Yogisaid that his government wascommitted to providing quali-ty medical facilities to the pub-lic. He directed officials toensure establishment of medicalcolleges in 16 districts of UPwhere there were no medicalcolleges. “By establishing med-

ical colleges in these districts,people will get advanced med-ical facilities at local level,” hesaid.

Meanwhile, 252 personstested positive for coronavirusin Lucknow on Wednesday.With four more deaths, city’stoll climbed to 1,091 even asthere are 2,822 active cases inthe district. The fresh casesincluded 22 from Gomtinagar,29 from Indiranagar, 15 fromTalkatora, 13 each fromVikasnagar, Jankipuram &Chinhat, 12 each from Cantt &Rae Bareli road, and 11 from

Ashiyana. Across the state,1,233 persons tested positive,including 60 from Kanpur, 59from Ghaziabad, 67 fromGautam Buddhnagar, 53 fromVaranasi and 75 from Meerut,taking the UP tally to 5,77,642.There were 22 deaths in thestate, including three in Kanpur,two in Varanasi, and one eachin Gautam Buddhnagar,Meerut, Gorakhpur, Bareilly,Agra, Barabanki, Deoria,Bulandshahr, Chandauli,Farrukhabad, Unnao &Ambedkarnagar, taking the tollto 8,245.

6�� ��"�$����3�*0"3������������������� ����������

����� � �����

The Health department isunlikely to take any con-

sent from people for Covidvaccination when the drivebegins in the district. Consentis not required as people areapproaching the health offi-cials for vaccination on theirown.

“This is not a surgicalprocedure for which consenthas to be taken. People arecoming on their own andnobody is being forced,” asenior health official said,adding all the preparationsare in place and the wait is onfor arrival of the vaccine as thestorage area has already beendemarcated.

The vaccination will becarried out in three phases anddatabase for the first phase ofbeneficiaries (health workers)has been created.

However, People’s HealthOrganisation secretary DrIshwar Gilada said whilepreparations are underway forvaccination drive, supply chainmechanism, storage, vaccina-tors, acquiring syringes & nee-dles, it is being discussed

whether consent should betaken from people beingadministered the shot as nomedicine, including vaccine,comes without side effects.He said consent forms normal-ly mention possible side effectsof the vaccine.

Meanwhile, spokespersonof Ram Manohar LohiaInstitute of Medical SciencesShrikesh Singh said that thenumber of Covid-19 patients,including serious ones, admit-ted in the hospital hasdecreased.

“The number of seriouspatients has decreased becauseof the dip in the per-day caseswhich have been around 200on an average lately. Earlier,when there was a surge incases, there was scarcity ofbeds, but the post-Covid wardhas helped a lot. Besides, theinfectivity of the virus may alsohave diminished or the herdimmunity has increasedbecause even after so many fes-tivals and wedding season,the cases have not increased. Itis almost the end of Decemberbut the cases have notincreased. However, let’s seewhat the future has in store,”

Dr Singh said.He added that cases in the

other districts have alsodecreased, which led to the dipin the number of patients. Hefurther pointed out that withthe private hospitals also hav-ing been trained, they havemanaged to handle a goodnumber of patients.

Incharge of ICU-3 atSGPGI Dr Tanmoy Ghatakalso said that the number ofpatients has decreased.However, he added that thenumber of severe patients hasnot decreased. He pointed outthat a critical Covid patientrecovered primarily because ofthe efforts put in by a team ofdoctors.

“That 40-year-old manwas a renal patient and therewas a fungal infection in hisnasal sinus which had impact-ed his eyesight. He had severeobesity and was chronicallydependent on steroids, hencevulnerable to infection whichwas why he suffered fromsinus fungal infection that isconsidered to be very rare. Hehas already tested Covid neg-ative and shifted to the mainhospital,” Dr Ghatak said.

�%�)���#%8��* )(!%)/��2��%%!�42 �% ��3�2'�5% %3(4(��(%��32��@�44( ��(2

*����.�����������������(�����#������(�$� ��������%������� ����

���������������������� ���!�����"����#���$���#"�#���666����������*���*�� ��������

&�(�����������#���$�����������#�����&��������������� ������������%������� ����

����� � �����

The Lucknow police appearto have hit rough weather

of late days, with three sensa-tional crime incidents, includ-ing the dacoity at the house ofSugarcane department engi-neer, reported within a week.With the pressure to perform,top brass put their headstogether to thrash out a ployto prevent crimes.

Earlier on December 20,former gram pradhan ofMohanlalganj, Sujeet Pandeywas shot dead. In this case, thepolice have yet to get any clue.Police teams have been work-ing on angles such as proper-

ty-related dispute, politicalrivalry and personal enmity.

On December 21, anelderly man and his live-inpartner were found murderedat their house in Madiaon. Inthis case though, the policearrested the accused.

Now after the daringdacoity, the police are drawingflak for lax patrolling andpoor monitoring. Due to thepressure, the police are work-ing in this case on a war-foot-ing. By evening, the police hadan adequate number of sus-pects on their radar. However,the police were reluctant toshare details with mediaper-sons.

“The police teams talkedto the victims in the dacoityincident. They told the policethat the miscreants were talk-ing in a local dialect, and itgave the police a hint aboutthem,” sources said.

They said the police hadinvestigation diaries of theprevious cases of dacoities inthe posh localities and in thehouses close to railway tracks.“The engineer’s house is alsolocated close to a railway line.The police teams are trying tofigure out the modus operan-di of the dacoits involved inthe previous cases and short-listed some of the gangs onthis basis,” the sources said.

0�� ����$���� ���������;�������� �

,���������������������*���������%��

9�������� ������#������������� ������

����� � �����

Amentally unstable man went on a stab-bing spree, killing his daughter and a

woman and injuring four other familymembers in Jaunpur on Tuesday evening.While the injured were rushed to a hospi-tal, the assailant was arrested.

Jaunpur Superintendent of Police RajKaran Nayyar said the accused, Mumtaz akaSonu, had been arrested and sent to jail.

As per reports, Mumtaz aka Sonu of BadiKhas village had been undergoing treatmentat a mental hospital in Varanasi for the pastseven years.

On Monday, he was being taken to theVaranasi hospital for consultation but hejumped from the vehicle and fled andreached home later in the evening.

On Tuesday evening, Mumtaz flew intoa rage after not finding any eatables in thekitchen and started shouting at his familymembers. He later picked up a knife andrepeatedly stabbed his daughter Hamaira (7)causing instant death. When his mother,Chanda, tried to rescue Hamaira, she too wasattacked. On hearing her cries, as his wifeFirdaus, son Mohammad (3) and another kincame out of a room, they too were stabbed.

While fleeing the scene, Mumtaz alsostabbed Sulema Devi, who had come todeliver milk. Reacting to the shrieks of thevictims, his neighbours nabbed him andinformed the police control room. A policeteam later reached there and shifted theinjured to the district hospital where SulemaDevi was pronounced dead.

In Muzaffarnagar, Akshat (18) diedafter his hand got stuck in a machine at a pri-vate paper mill on Bhopa Road on Tuesday.

In Hamirpur, a woman was arrested inconnection with the murder of her seven-year-old son Himanshu at Galiahya villageon Tuesday. During quizzing, the accused,Sarvesh Kumari, told the police that shekilled her son after he saw her in a compro-mising position with her brother-in-law lastweek. On December 19, the body ofHimanshu was found in a cattle shed and acase was registered against his father,Suresh, on the complaint of the maternaluncle of the deceased. “But during the probe,it emerged that the boy’s father had not vis-ited Galihya village and the boy was stay-ing with his mother at her native place sinceThursday,” police said. The arrested womanwas produced before a court which sent herto jail on Tuesday.

���� �� �����#�. �#����� �������9��<"

���5)%�'� �3���))/����5��!(#

Page 4: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

���� ��������!������� ���������� ��� � !" � #$%�#&#&

����� � �����

India is facing the challenge ofbiodiversity degradation due to

deforestation, mining, climatechange and other factors, chair-person of National GreenTribunal Justice Adarsh KumarGoel said while speaking at thebiodiversity conclave under ‘IISF-2020’, which was inaugurated atNBRI virtually on Wednesday.

Goel, who was the chiefguest, said that earlier, India was

����� � �����

Dr Pankaj Kumar Arorafrom Babasaheb Bhimrao

Ambedkar University hasidentified a bacterium whichhas the ability to convert high-ly toxic chromium to lesstoxic chromium. BBAUspokesperson Dr RachnaGangwar said this bacteriumis recognised as a member ofthe genus Bacillus that iscapable of converting highlytoxic chromium of 1000 ppmto less toxic chromium.

“For this, the genesinvolved in chromium trans-formation were identified bygenome sequencing. Theresearch has proved very help-ful in reducing chromiumtoxicity. It has also been pub-lished in a journal,” she said.

She said chromium is ahighly toxic metal that caus-es cancer in humans. “Themain source of chromiumpollution is the leather indus-try in which chromium isused as a tanning agent.Similar toxic pollution was

found in Kanpur district,where leather industries havespread chromium in the soiland water of the surroundingareas. Given the seriousness ofthe situation, there is anurgent need to removechromium from the environ-ment,” she said. Dr Arora hasthe distinction of beingincluded in the list of top sci-entists of Stanford University.

Meanwhile, an MoU hasbeen signed betweenBabasaheb BhimraoAmbedkar University andNBRI. “The MoU is aimed atproviding mutual support ineducation and research. Now,researchers of both the insti-tutes will be able to get guid-ance from experts and scien-tists with mutual support andat the same time both insti-tutes will also get the benefitof laboratories and other facil-ities for research work. Alongwith this, training pro-grammes will also be organ-ised from time to time to ben-efit both the institutes,” theBBAU spokesperson said.

Lucknow (PNS): A temporalbone dissection lab was inau-gurated by director ofBalrampur Hospital Dr RajeevLochan on Wednesday. DNBcourses are running inBalrampur Hospital in variousspecialities and this lab ismandatory for teaching pur-poses in the ENT department.

“Students will learn how todissect with microscopes oncadaveric bones before goingfor surgery in patients. Theywill learn normal anatomy ofear with in-depth knowledge offine structures that can only beseen with the help of micro-scope like facial nerve sigmoidsinus, ossicles, middle and

inner ear structures. Basically,this lab is a wonderful place tolearn and get trained in otologyso that society can get goodENT surgeons,” a senior doctorsaid. He added that with this,Balrampur Hospital can alsoprovide learning facility to stu-dents of ENT from other insti-tutions also.

considered a poor countryinhabited by the poor, but ithas always been a rich coun-try in terms of its biodiversi-ty. “India hosts biodiversityhotspots harbouring uniquebiodiversity, particularly inthe north-east region andwestern ghats. India is home toseveral tribal communitiesand has a long history of pre-serving traditional knowledgeand biodiversity conserva-tion,” he said.

He also talked about theConvention of BiologicalDiversity (CBD) which led tochanges in administrative andlegislative levels and pavedthe way for the BiodiversityAct of India 2002.

“Under the CBD, there isa concept of equitable sharingof knowledge and benefitsarising from the sustainableutilisation of biodiversity,” headded. He said Indianapproach has always been torespect the nature and not itsexploitation. He reiterated theimportance of sharing ofknowledge among the subjectexperts and policy-makers.He also opined that the con-clave will bring the common

people, administration andpolicy-makers on one plat-form to provide crucial out-puts to conserve the invaluablebiodiversity. Earlier, NBRIdirector Prof. SK Barik spokeabout the structure of the bio-diversity conclave. He saidthe conclave at the IISF-2020would showcase the rich bio-diversity of India at ecosystem,species and genetic levels, longtradition of biodiversity con-servation by traditional com-munities and India’s effortstowards mapping the distrib-ution of biodiversity and con-servation of critical ecosystemsand threatened species.

“Interactive meets andexpos by students, researchers,indigenous communities, S&Texperts and industries willalso be part of the event. Thetwo-day event will be entirelyin a virtual environment andwill include webinars by invit-ed talks from globally recog-nised experts, e-poster gallery,biodiversity innovation expo,indigenous communities, S&Texperts meet, entrepreneurs-industry meet, short films andnature wildlife photo exhibi-tion,” he added.

�$ ������$�. �#��#����������- �$ ���� ��$����$�� �%

++� ��%�4�%��(#% �(3(%��5�4�%�(��B�(4��)%��% ��4��2'(*'C���2;(4(�/�

7�����������������������������������!���������������������*��#�����*����������#������������*����� �������,#���$����%�������� ����

������������ ���

By winning 75 seats, three forthe first time from Kashmir

valley and 72 from across itsstrong bastion of Jammuregion, the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) has emerged as thesingle largest party garneringaround 25 per cent total voteshare of the total votes polledin the District DevelopmentCouncil polls.

On the other hand, thePeople’s Alliance for GupkarDeclaration (PAGD) may have

won 112 seats but it fell waybehind BJP, securing around 22per cent total vote share.

Indian National Congress,which won 26 seats, sevenfrom Kashmir valley and 17from Jammu, garnered over 13per cent total vote share whilesecuring 3,94,575 votes in theDDC polls.

Significantly, the biggestchunk of 32 per cent votes waspolled in favour of theIndependent candidates acrossJammu & Kashmir.

Out of 20 District

Development councils, thesecandidates are going to play therole of ‘kingmakers in the fivedistrict development councilsof Rajouri, Poonch, Ramban,Kishtwar and Srinagar. A totalnumber of 50 independentshave won these polls, 20 fromJammu and 30 from Kashmirregion.

According to the vote per-centage data shared by the StateElection Commission after thedeclaration of the poll results,the BJP has topped the chart. Itgarnered 708714 votes (24.82

per cent) of the total votespolled. According to the StateElection Commission, a totalnumber of 28,55,509 votes werepolled in the DDC polls.

Out of 75 seats, BJP won 72from Jammu region andopened its account for the firsttime in Kashmir by winningthree seats, one each fromSrinagar, Pulwama andBandipur districts.

On the other hand, Jammuand Kashmir NationalConference party won 67 seats,25 from Jammu and 42 from

Kashmir region. The total voteshare garnered by the party was16.46 per cent. The party can-didates secured 4,70,099 votesacross Jammu & Kashmir.

The National Conferencehad contested around 60 seatsin Kashmir, while PDP contest-ed 45, Peoples Conference 13,JKPM 6, CPI(M), AwamiNational Conference 5.

Another important con-stituent of the PAGD, JKPDPpolled 1,13,175 votes which is3.96 per cent of the total votes polled.

����������� � �+�

The “night curfew” declaredby the Maharashtra

Government has prompted theHotel and RestaurantAssociation of Western India(HRAWI) to exhort its mem-ber-hotels and restaurants inMumbai and other major citiesacross the State to gear up forearly New Year’s eve celebra-tions coinciding with“Thailand Time”.

The hotels and restaurantsin Mumbai and MunicipalCorporation areas inMaharashtra — as per theadvice by HRAWI — will ringin the New Year as early as at10.30 pm on December 31which is 12 midnight as per“Thailand Time”. In effect, thehotels and restaurants willusher in the year 2021 one-hand-a half hour early.

The HRAWI’s directive toits member hotels and restau-rants comes in the wake of theMaharashtra Government’sdecision to enforce night cur-few in Mumbai and othermunicipal corporations ofMaharashtra, between 11 pmand 6 am from December 22 toJanuary 5, in view of newstrain of the SARS-CoV-2detected in the UnitedKingdom,

In a statement issued here,the HRAWI said that ending the

year earlier was a fitting tributeto the hospitality industry’s“never say die attitude” and thatit would welcome the New Yearfilled with hope and promise.

The HRAWI said thatwhile the curfew would disrupthospitality industry’s plans, itappreciated the MaharashtraGovernment’s pre-emptivemeasures to allay any threat ofthe Covid-19 pandemic’s sec-ond wave.

“Like every year, Mumbaiwill have its celebrations thisyear too, albeit a little earlier.The Government is doing its

best to help keep its citizens safeand we see the intent behindthe decision. But if it’s celebra-tions that Mumbaikars want,we will give it to them whileensuring that all norms andsafety measures are adhered to.This is probably even better aspeople will get to be at theirhomes at midnight to bring inthe New Year with their fami-lies,” HRAWI’s President SherryBhatia said.

The HRAWI memberestablishments are planning to“align celebrations withThailand” and may even host

virtual celebrations synchro-nised with them.

“The Hospitality industrywants to put the last eightmonths behind and insteadlook forward to the remainingeight days left in the year. Wehave braved the storm andhave decidedly put the worstbehind us. Nothing is going todampen our spirits and we willemerge stronger than before.We welcome Mumbaikars tocome join us in the last celebra-tions of the season, to bidfarewell to 2020 and to usher in2021 with lots of optimism,faith and hope,” HRAWI’ssenior Vice President PradeepShetty said.

����������� � �+�

Less than a month after theBombay High Court

quashed the demolition noticeissued to Bollywood actressKangana Ranaut and dubbedthe subsequent demolition ofportions of her bungalow as “aclear malice in law”, theMaharashtra State HumanRights Commission (MSHRC)on Wednesday summonedMumbai MunicipalCommissioner Iqbal Chahal toappear before on January 20,2021 in connection with themuch-discussed demolition.

Hearing a petition filed byAdvocate Aditya Mishraagainst the demolition of a por-tion of Kanga’s BandraBungalow saying it as an act of“human violation”, the MSHRCadmitted the petition andordered issuance of summons

to Chahal to appear on January20 to depose before it connec-tion with the petition.

The petitioner has relied onthe order of the Bombay HighCourt which had on November27 quashed the demolitionnotice issued by the BMC tothe Bollywood actress inSeptember this year, termingboth the notice and the subse-quent demolition of a portionof her Bandra Bungalow were“actuated by malafides” andthey involved “a clear malice inlaw” and ordered compensa-tion for her.

In his petition filed beforethe MSHRC, Mishra cited aSupreme Court ruling thatdeclared the right to privateproperty to be a human right.Quoting the apex court’s order,the petitioner said that if anyact by the state or its agenciespertaining to someone’s private

property was found to be ille-gal, then it was a violation ofhuman rights.

“When the act of BMC isfound to be illegal by theBombay High Court, then it’sa crystal clear case of violationof human rights, which war-rants the intervention of thecommission,” the petitionersaid.

It may be recalled that onSeptember 9, the demolitionsquad of the BMC pulled downa portion of Kangana Raut’sbuingalow at Bandra in north-west Mumbai, which housedthe office of her film produc-tion company, ManikarnikaFilms Pvt Ltd.

In their order passed, a HCdivision bench of Justices SJKathawalla and RI Chaglaruled: “As we have come to aclear conclusion that theimpugned notice under section

354A of the Act and the actionof demolition following it, areactuated by malafides, in anyevent, involve a clear malice inlaw, causing a substantial injuryto the Petitioner”.

“We would be perfectlyjustified on the basis of the lawstated by the Supreme Court inthe case of Sunbeam HightechDevelopers (supra), to ordercompensation against respon-sible Respondents,” the judgeshad noted, adding that thequantum of compensationwould be decided only after thepreparation of an estimate bythe approved valuer.

On the compensation, thejudges had ruled: “Both parties,i.e. the Petitioner and theMCGM (as the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation is alsoknown) shall be heard by thevaluer whilst making his reportof valuation.”

7:0���������� ����������������� �!!"������

8����������������������*������������+5�97*�����������"#$%&� '(� )"*+� &,-(./

%��&����'(�&���)�*+�������

��*��*�������*���������������:���*���

����������� � �+�

As a precautionary mea-sure against the spread of

Coronavirus in the comingdays, the MaharashtraGovernment on Wednesdaycame out with health safetyguidelines for this year’sChristmas celebrations acrossthe State. In a notificationissued, the State Homedepartment appealed to theChristian community to cel-ebrate this year’s Christmascelebrations in a simple man-ner in view of the fact that theState continued to be in thegrip of Covid-19 crisis.

“This year, all communi-ties and religions celebratedvarious festivities in a simplemanner in view of the healththreat posed by Coronavirus.We expect the Christian com-munity to celebrate this year’sChristmas in a simple man-ner,” the State Home depart-ment said, as it released 13-point safety guidelines forChristmas celebrations.

Significantly enough, theState Government has askedthe Christian community tohold “Thanks Giving Mass” ator before 7 pm of December31 instead holding them at 12midnight. Among otherthings, State Government hasmandated that there should benot be more than 50 people atchurch for the prayer meetingheld on the occasion ofChristmas, that there be sys-tematic and exit arrangementsat the Church, that the socialdistancing norms be followedstrictly, that the Church besanitised before mass and thatthe use Mask and Sanitiser iscompulsory in Church.

���� ��&��������:�& !�" �������9;<�����"�%��� ���

'�/.0&'#.�1.%-����2�').3%)43%3+%0(�+',-5�.%-01

�������������������� #������!����# �*��$�������#�����������#��$����.# �������%������ �&

.# ����������$����������������#������������#��$����%������ �&

�� ����������� ����

The denial of permission byGovernor Arif

Mohammed Khan to theGovernment of Kerala to holda special session of theLegislative Assembly onWednesday to lambast theCentre and pass a resolutioncondemning the AgricultureBills led to the staging of ademonstration by Chief

Minister Pinarayi Vijayan andmembers of his council ofministers at the capital city.

Vijayan issued a severewarning to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, whom the for-mer accused of following adivide and rule policy in India.“Public resentment against theFarm Bills would blow the BJPout of power in coming days andit would be better for the Centreto withdraw the legislations,”warned the Chief Minister.

He said the impact of theFarm Bills would be felt more inKerala because of the food cri-sis being faced by the State. “Weare dependent on other Statesfor our food requirementbecause the production of foodgrains have come down drasti-cally in the State because of theanti-people policies pursued bythe Centre,” said Vijayan.

The exchange of lettersbetween the Governor andChief Minister continued onWednesday also. Replying toVijayan’s letter to Raj Bhavan onTuesday in which he alleged thatthe Governor’s action to denypermission for Wednesday’sspecial session of the Legislative,Governor Arif mohammedKhan explained to him in a let-ter sent on Wednesday theprecedence and rules in theConstitution relating to theconvening of such meetings.

Meanwhile the Congress-led UDF demanded the ChiefMinister to convene a specialsession of the MLAs outside theLegislative House and pass a res-olution against the PrimeMinister and the Centre.

)�������������������*��� ������ ����������������������

Page 5: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

�������6������� ���������� ��� � !" � #$%�#&#&

���������4����'�������>�-���:�

The district administrationput under house arrest the

senior leaders of the CongressParty on Wednesday and thusthe party workers failed instaging demonstration at theparliamentary office of the PMand houses of BJP MLAs of thedistrict on the occasion ofKisan Diwas showing theirsolidarity with the farmerswho have been agitating for thelast 28 days in protest againstthree farm laws. Meanwhile,the activists of some organisa-tions staged a protest at ShastriGhat in protest against thethree farm laws.

The Congress Party hadannounced to stage a statewidedemonstration at the houses ofBJP MPs and MLAs on theoccasion of Kisan Diwas toshow their solidarity with thefarmers agitating for the last 28days at the borders of nation-al capital for the last 28 daysdemanding repeal of threeagriculture laws terming themas black laws. It is pointed outthat the Jayanti of the formerPM Chaudhary Charan Singhis observed as Kisan Diwas on

December 23.The district administra-

tion and police remained alertand made the senior leadersand office-bearers of theCongress Party including thedistrict president of the partyRajeshwar Patel, city chiefRaghvendra Chaubey, ManishChaubey, Mayank Chaubeyand Dr Jitendra Seth housearrest on Wednesday morningand did not allow them to goout in order to stop them fromstaging protest at the parlia-mentary office of the PM in

Ravindrapuri and houses of theMLAs of ruling party. Someparty workers put up theirprotest by tying black ribbonson their hands and observingfast at the camp office inChandpur. The police person-nel were also deployed at theparliamentary office of the PMand houses of the BJP MLAs asa precaution.

Meanwhile, the activists ofKisan Nyay Morcha staged adharna at Shastri Ghat inprotest against the three farmlaws and extended their sup-

port to the farmers agitating atthe borders of the capital of thecountry.

They observed the Jayantiof the former PM ChaudharyCharan Singh by keeping hisportrait and paid their floraltributes to him.

They said that the govern-ment at Centre enacted thefarm laws without holdingdeliberation with the farmersand blamed the government forshowing insensitiveness to thefarmers who have been agitat-ing for the last many days inthis chilly cold. Had the gov-ernment brought these lawsafter holding the discussionwith the farmers across thecountry the farmers would nothave to move for the nationalcapital, they said and demand-ed the government to repeal thelaws in the larger interest of thefarmers. Mahendra Prasad,BM Singh, Ashok Singh andothers were present on theoccasion. The activists of localunit of Rashtriya Lok Dal alsoobserved the Jayanti of theformer PM and demanded thegovernment to roll back thefarm laws which are not in theinterest of the farmers.

���������4����'�������>�-���:�

Amemorandum of under-standing (MoU) was

signed between the IndianInstitute of Technology,Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU) and the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO)on Wednesday to pave the wayfor advanced research in thefuture technology of the Indianspace programme. Under thisagreement ISRO will open theRegional Academic Centre forSpace (RAC-S) in the IIT-BHU. The MoU was signed byIIT-BHU Director ProfPramod Kumar Jain andDirector, CBPO, ISRO HQ DrPV Venkatakrishnan on behalfof ISRO virtually.

On this occasion, the inau-gural address was presented by

the Scientific Secretary of ISROR Umamaheswaran. Theguests were welcomed by ProfSB Dwivedi, Dean, AcademicAffairs and a vote of thankswas proposed by Dr AnuragOhri. Prof Rajeev Prakash,Dean, Research andDevelopment, Prof RajneshTyagi, Dean, Faculty Affairsand Prof PKS Dixit, Head ofDepartment, CivilEngineering, were also present.

In his briefing, IIT-BHUDirector Prof Jain said that theRAC-S of ISRO will act as amajor facilitator for promotingspace technology activities inthe states of Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh. He also said thatIIT-BHU will act as a catalystfor capacity building, aware-ness creation and R&D activ-ities of ISRO. The activities of

RAC-S shall be directed tomaximise the utilisation ofresearch potential, infrastruc-ture, expertise available atISRO and IIT-BHU.

IIT-BHU will be the leaderand project monitor of RAC-S in which Institutes ofExcellence in the field of sci-ence and technology in thestates of UP, MP andChhattisgarh will be ropedinto participate in variousresearch and developmentactivities. IIT-BHU will iden-tify the Regional Coordinatorof RAC-S who will be respon-sible for the overall manage-ment of the centre.

Prof Jain further said thatwith the help of the RAC-S atIIT-BHU will leverage researchin space science and spacetechnology, space application,agriculture, telecommunica-

tions, meteorology, waterresources to design develop-mental models for effectivenatural resource management.He iterated that such an initia-tive will greatly benefit thePurvanchal (eastern UP) andcentral regions of the country.

The centre will facilitateshort and long-term projects topropel the culture of researchand development. Short-termprojects for B-Tech and M-Tech students from the insti-tute and associate institutes willalso be included in thissequence. Long-term R&Dprojects leading to the PhDprogramme will also beoffered. Capacity building pro-grammes like conferences,exhibitions and short courseswill also be organised tostrengthen the knowledge basein the field.

���������4����'�������������+��

The corona test of 6,650people was conducted on

Tuesday of them, the Covidinfection was confirmedamong 73 people, including anarmy major late in the night. Atthe same time, 44 people beatCorona. So far 27,983 peoplehave been infected in the dis-trict.

According to the NodalOfficer for Corona Dr RishiSahai, active patients of Covidare decreasing in the district.Despite increasing the scope oftesting, the number of activepatients has been reduced to798. He said that the numberof patients admitted to Covidhospitals is decreasing.

On Tuesday night, 58patients were admitted to SRN,38 to Beli Hospital and 17 toUnited Medicity MedicalCollege.

According to Dr Rishi, theinfected included a High Courtofficer, Standing Counsel, anadvocate, deputy manager ofAxis Bank Civil Lines, chiefmanager of SBI Main Branch,an Anganwadi worker, a clerkof Bahadurpur SBI branch anda primary school teacher.

Coronavirus infection isnot yet completely eradicated.In Prayagraj, it still has animpact. In the Corona era,due to the high stock of immu-nity boosters in the districtthese days, its sales may bemaking a difference, however,the sales of masks have

increased tremendously thismonth. The reason for this isalso believed to be the strictnessof the police.

Ever since the police start-ed taking strict action againstthose not applying masks andimposing strong fines, the saleof masks has increased by 8 to10 times since then. Masksranging from � 10 to � 150-200are available in the market.

At the same time, due tothe abundance of immunityboosters capsules and syrups inthe market, their sales havemade a big difference. Due tothe outbreak of Corona pan-demic, most of the reputedpharmaceutical companieshave started making immuni-ty booster capsules etc. EvenChyawanprash is available in

the market of immunity boost-ers. The special thing is thatcompanies are sending immu-nity booster medicines, syrupsetc. despite the demand of thebusinessmen. Due to this, it hasbecome very populated in thewholesale market Leader Roadshops of medicine.

Due to non-sale in terms ofstock availability, the wholesaledealers of the drug have alsostarted worrying about the lossbecause the companies are notrefunding these drugs.Chairman of AllahabadChemist and DruggistAssociation, Anil Dubey saidthat the government shouldpressurise companies to refundmedicines otherwise it isdifficult to consume thesedrugs.

���������4����'�������������+��

Allahabad CentralUniversity will soon have a

badminton court to enhancethe talent of the game. Vice-Chancellor Prof SangeetaSrivastava said during a sur-prise inspection of the buildingunder construction. She over-saw various university campus-es. During this, she inspectedthe International Hostel, RanjitTopa Complex and StudentActivity Centre. Also, she gavenecessary instructions in thisregard.

The Vice-Chancellor saidthat a stage should be made inthe Activity Centre, on whichcultural programmes can beheld. Also, a badminton courtshould also be constructedoutside the building. A 400-seatauditorium will be ready soon.In her instructions, he empha-sised that there is a need to usethe space in all the buildings.This allows more work in lessspace. During this, theRegistrar Prof NK Shukla wasalso present.

Professor SangeetaSrivastava, Vice-Chancellor ofAllahabad Central University,participated as the chief guestin an online lecture organisedby Lady Irwin College, DelhiUniversity. She said that educa-tion is undoubtedly one of themost important factors affect-ing the growth and develop-ment of a country. She said thatour old education policy wasdesigned by El Macaulay. Nowwe are moving towardsredesigning it under the neweducation policy. Improvementin education will not only

increase efficiency but will alsoincrease overall quality of life.

She emphasised extensiveresearch work and feasibility ofproduct development. Shebelieves that the thesis shouldnot be kept locked in a darkroom. Its usefulness should belinked to everyday life.

Dr Rajneesh KumarSrivastava of the Department ofElectronics andCommunication at CentralUniversity has been appointedas the Coordinator of theCentre of Vocational Studiesand Skill Development. It is the

university’s independent centre.On the instruction of SangeetaSrivastava, Registrar Prof NKShukla has assigned this newresponsibility to him. Withimmediate effect, he will alsohandle this responsibility alongwith academic work. Thisinformation was given by PRODr Jaya Kapoor.

Meanwhile, the agitationcontinued under the leadershipof Ajay Yadav Samrat, the stu-dent leader at the studentunion building of the univer-sity, demanding the restorationof the students’ union. Ajay said

that the new vice-chancellorshould regularise the annualsports and cultural activities inthe varsity. Apart from this,debate competitions were alsodemanded to be organised. Ifthe students’ union is restored,the students association assuresfull cooperation in all theseactivities. On this occasion,Jia Konain Rizvi, Rahul Patel,MohdMubashir Harun,Navneet Yadav, Sunil Patel,Akash Yadav, Prakash Singh,Masood Ansari, Mo. Obada,Mohd Salman, Abhay Singh,Abhishek etc. were present.

&&�/�01�)������� ���� �������+���-�����)�� 2�2���������������&�34�+�����-����$����(���#���������.�1����2�����������%���������������������������������������������� ����

�)3&��������3�"*)�������*7=�

�5.�1 �����(������#�������������������� �����������������*��#������*����������������������2�����������%�������������������������������������������������������� ����

>?�������������� � ��� �0������@�

�4 ���*� ������������������

&;������ ����������0���������VARANASI (PNS): As manyas 38 new patients have beendetected in the district onWednesday, increasing the totalnumber to 20,773. The day alsosaw two more deaths, increas-ing the toll to 348. During theday, the follow-up negativereports included 32 and all ofthem have been recovered fromhome isolation, increasing thenumber to 17,109. As nopatient has been dischargedfrom any hospital, the numberremained at 2,952. The totalnumber of patients who havebeen recovered so far is 20,012,leaving 413 active cases. Therecovery rate is 96.33 per cent,while the mortality rate is 1.67per cent.

Chief Medical Officer(CMO) Dr VB Singh hasinformed that in the first reportof the day, 29 positive patientswere found out of 2,618 reportsreceived. Till then, the total testreports received were 4,94,728and the results of 3,220 areawaited. Out of them, 4,73,964were negative, while 20,764positive. The total number ofsamples collected was 5,21,099.Earlier, a male aged 64 and afemale (58) from Badagaonand Chhitupura respectivelysuccumbed to COVID-19 at SirSundarlal Hospital, Banaras

Hindu University (SSH BHU).With the addition of threenew red zones, the total num-ber of hotspots has increased to2,619 including 200 red zones.One green zone has been con-verted into a red zone again.There are 2,419 green zoneswith six new ones.

Meanwhile, in view of thegrowing cold, Additional ChiefSecretary Amit Mohan Prasadhas sent letters to all the CMOsand directed them to makeadequate medical arrange-ments for patients in all hospi-tals. Instructions have beengiven to check the shelterhomes and ensure antigen testsof those staying there. Inresponse to the instructions,CMO informed that antigentests were conducted by theHealth department at 14 shel-ter homes and all the 174 testswere found negative. Besides,mass / group corona antigentests continued at the staticbooths and stations of the dis-trict under the direction ofDistrict Magistrate (DM)Kaushal Raj Sharma. All the262 tests were found negativeat SSPG Hospital Kabirchauraapart from 68 at DistrictWomen's Hospital, 29 at CHCShivpur, 90 at LBS HospitalRamnagar and 76 at SSH BHU.

However, one out of 51 wasdetected positive atVivekananda Hospital,Bhelupur.

AEFI TEAM FOR CORO-NA VACCINATION:Preparations are being finalisedfor vaccination of corona in thedistrict as the Health depart-ment is busy these days in mak-ing all the systems and facilitiessmooth at every level for thevaccination. Regarding this,all the arrangements are alsobeing made to avoid any typeof problem while applyingcorona vaccination to thehealth and frontline workersapart from the common man.For this, a committee has beenconstituted here on Wednesdayunder the chairmanship of theChief Medical Officer (CMO)Dr VB Singh for AdverseEvents Followed Immunisation(AEFI) i.e. adverse effects aftervaccination to review the vac-cine reaction or any medicalproblem arising from it. Thegovernment has also beenmade aware of this.

CMO Dr VB Singh will beAEFI Committee chairmanwhile District ImmunisationOfficer / ACMO Dr VS Rai sec-retary. Along with this, DCMOand general physician DrSanjay Rai, District Surveillance

Officer and ACMO Dr SSKanaujia, pediatrician ofSwami Vivekananda Hospitalat Bhelupur Dr Gulrez Alam,microbiologist Dr AnoopSrivastava, neurologist DrPramod Kumar (both of DDUHospital), cardiologist DrAnjan, chest physician DrGhanshyam Srivastava (both ofSSPG Divisional Hospital),pathologist Dr Rajeev RanjanSingh of LBS HospitalRamnagar, IMA representa-tive Dr Karthikeya Singh, druginspector Dr Saurabh KumarDubey, cold chain officer DrAshutosh Mishra from UNDP,epidemiologist RK Singh fromIDSP Cell, Mukesh Pathakfrom Lions Club International,SMO Dr Jaishilan from WHOand DMC Manoj Kumar Singhfrom UNICEF have beenincluded in the committee.The CMO said that AEFICommittee has been formed todeal with any adverse medicaleffects after the vaccinationand ensure immediate treat-ment at the selected places. Allthe hospitals, urban primaryhealth centres (UPHCs) andcommunity and primary healthcentres (CHCs/PHCs) of ruralareas will have the facilities oftreatment and the doctors willremain ready there.

���������4����'�������������+��

The new agricultural lawsthat the Modi Government

has enacted are meant toincrease farmers’ income. Theopposition does not have anyissues, so is doing politics onwelfare legislation. Farmersacross the country are beingmisled. These views wereexpressed by MP of AllahabadParliamentary seat RitaBahuguna Joshi. She wasaddressing BJP workers here.

She said that even whenthe Agriculture Minister isgiving written assurance, theopposition is tricking the peo-ple. This is negative politics. Afatal trend for democracy isbeing developed. Promotingpublicsentiments for your ownpurpose and disturbing lawand order is synonymous withanti-socialism, she added.

MP Rita Bahuguna Joshisaid that record purchases ofpaddy were made from farm-

ers in the BJP government.Minimum support prices ofcrops were also increased.

The Agricultural InsuranceScheme was also made effec-tive. Many other cropswere included within it.Farmers will get direct bene-fits of this.

The opposition is sayingthat there is a conspiracy toend the mandis. This is a lie.The Agriculture Minister isassuring in writing that nei-ther the mandis will end northe system of minimum sup-port price.

By registering on the por-tal, farmers can sell their pro-duce anywhere across thecountry. This will also givethem good value. Even thecommon man will not have togive more value to thingsfrom time to time. Seasonalinflation which comes onpotato, onion, tomato andother things will also get relief,she added.

��������������������������������������������� <����:�*������

. �3�������#�#��������

#������������*����������*���������������������4����'�������������+��

Saints of Khak Chowk andDandi Bara in Magh Mela

have staged a massive dharnaat Magh Mela DevelopmentAuthority office demandingproper allotment of land as perthe revised list provided bythem.

The mela officials are find-ing it difficult to include newentries and are sticking to theearlier list available with them.

The annoyed saints havecautioned the authorities thatthey would intensify their agi-tation and will meet the ChiefMinister if their demands arenot conceded.

The Wednesday dharna atMagh Mela Vikas Pradhikaranoffice was led by the president

of the Khak Chowk VyavasthaSamiti Sitaram Dasji Maharaj,general secretary Santosh DasSatua Baba, and vice-presidentJanmejayji Maharaj.

The Tirth Purohits (panda)are also not happy with the pre-sent allotment of land.

CHRISTMAS PRO-GRAMME HELD : Christmasprogramme was celebratedwith great pomp in the ChristyMemorial School and Collegewhich is affiliated to CBSEBoard and located at HathiganKarma. Keeping in view thesafety of the students and threatof COVID-19 epidemic, thisprogramme was organised withcollege staff and the other dig-nitaries religiously followingthe Covid guidelines.

Chief guest Chairman

Vinod B Lal cut the cake andcongratulated everyone forChristmas.

He said that due to theblessings of God and the hardwork of teachers and staff, thisschool has gained fame in ashort time by providing qual-ity teaching and moral valueseducation. He said that theonline education being provid-ed by Christy School wouldalso help the children of ruralareas to advance in the field oftechnology and be ready for thefuture challenges. Vinod B Lalalso honoured all the teachersand staff by giving themChristmas gifts.

Principal Neha Pitamberled the inaugural prayer whilecoordinator Vishal Charlesread the Bible verse.

*�����������#��#������#�������

Page 6: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

�������6������������������ ��� � !" ��#$%�#&#&

�;$$2��;1?21+� $'��()#*�

Acivil engineer died after hefell from a roof while talk-

ing on mobile phone onWednesday morning. He wasidentified as Suraj Kumar(36), a native of Jharkhand.According to information fromthe people and police, the vic-tim was talking on his mobilephone on the roof of his resi-dence located in the fertiliser

factory premises onWednesday morning when hisfoot slipped and he fell fromthere as a result of which he sus-tained serious head injuries.The people present nearbyimmediately rushed him to theMedical College here where thedoctors on duty declared himdead. Meanwhile the Chiluatalpolice station was informedabout the incident from the fer-tiliser factory premises at 9.30

am. Thereafter the police per-sonnel reached the spot, tookthe body of Suraj Kumar intocustody and sent it for the post-mortem examination. His fam-ily members have beeninformed about the matter. Thepolice had started their inves-tigation into the matter. SHOChiluatal Neeraj Rai said theengineer died after he slippedand fell from the roof whiletalking on mobile phone.

�;$$2��;1?21+�+,�-�#*�

Superintendent of Police (SP)Ajay Kumar Singh exhorted

the youths to work with the spir-it to make the nation a super-power in the world. These viewswere expressed by him at a func-tion organised under commu-nity policing in Belkhara villageunder Ahraura police station onTuesday. On the occasion heappreciated the approach of thelocals who helped the adminis-tration in checking the spread ofNaxalism which had been achallenge for the government.Distributing tracksuits amongthe youth the SP made an appealto get involved in sports activi-ties and achieve laurels throughcompetitions at national andinternational levels. Distributingwoollen clothes as well as foodamong the needy the SPassured them to extend full

support in future too. Heappealed to people to remain intouch with the administrationand feel free to tell any problemwhich will be solved on priori-ty. He made it clear that gov-ernment machinery was activeto thwart any effort by anti-social elements to misguide thelocals. He said as per the avail-ability of the fund from the gov-ernment 400 people were beingbenefitted in the first stage andmore would be done so infuture. The programme startedwith the lighting of the cere-monial lamp by the SP in whichresidents of Judui, Padarwa,

Talar, Khoradeeh, Shiur, Jasawaan,Patwaai villages etc were present.It was also attended by CO(Chunar) Sushil Yadav, CO(Operation) Prabhat Rai, reserveinspector Gorakh Nath Yadav andSO Ahraura Rajesh Chaubey.Besides, the SP conducted combingin the Naxal-infested area alongwith heavy force to instil confi-dence among people. He inter-acted with people and told themto inform him about any activi-ty of Naxals in the area. Heassured them that police wasavailable in every corner andround the clock so there was noneed to fear the Naxals.

�;$$2��;1?21+�+,�-�#*�

During a meeting of Nagar Palika Parishad(NPP) board held at Laldiggi on Tuesday,

a resolution was passed for the repair of build-ings of primary schools from the fund availableunder 15th Finance Commission under theguidelines of the Urban Development depart-ment. From the fund of �2.53 crore availableunder 15th Finance Commission a resolution

was unani-mously passedto strengthenthe potablewater system.After discus-sion of otheragendas whichwere passed bythe board, itpassed a pro-posal to include

90 villages adjacent to the city under the periph-ery of seven kilometres. Chairman Manoj Jaiswalhoped that if the things go on well the city wouldget the status of nagar nigam soon. Prominentamong those who were present during themeeting were Executive Officer Om Prakash, andmembers of the board, Shyam Sunder Keshari,Javed Ahmad, Ali Ahmad, Alankar Jaiswal,Ghata Tripathi and Sushil Musafir.

ARRESTED: The Katra Kotwali policearrested three cheats and recovered �2,000 incash from them on Tuesday. Reports said Anil

Mishra, a resident of Pura Kashinath underLalganj police station, had lodged an FIR onDecember 13 in which he had said that his sis-ter and brother-in-law had boarded a marshaljeep (UP-70/N-7057) in Bathua locality underKatra Kotwali police station for going to Auraiunder the same police station in Bhadohi. Afterfew hours his brother-in-law informed him onphone that he had been duped by the taxi dri-ver and was dropped on the way on Shastribridge. As per the victim, the driver gave sweetsas ‘prasad’ laced with some intoxicating sub-stance as a result of he along with his wifebecame unconscious. Taking advantage of it thedriver deprived them of a gold chain, ‘mangal-sutra’, two golden rings, anklets and �2,200 incash. After the incident the victim tried to lookfor the taxi driver with the help of his brother-in-law but all their efforts ended in vain. OnTuesday during investigation the police raidedPaharahia locality adjacent to railway campusand caught three suspects from the spot.During interrogation they confessed that the hadduped the victim on December 13 and said thatthe money which they had got from selling golditems had been spent. They only had ankletswith them along with �2,000 in cash. The policearrested them and sent them to jail. Theaccused were identified as Rajesh Srivastava, aresident of Jasara under Ghurpur police station,Prayagraj, Jamal, a resident of Brindava underGhurpur police station Prayagraj and Islam, aresident of Koraanv Gandhingar under Koraonpolice station in Prayagraj.

�;$$2��;1?21+� $'��()#*�

The railway administrationfor the convenience of pas-

sengers will run the05117/05118 Chhapra-Mathura-Chhapra triweeklysuperfast special train fromDecember 28 every Monday,Wednesday and Friday untilfurther notice. All coaches inthis train will be of reservedcategory and passengers trav-elling in them will have to fol-low the Covid-19 guidelines,Chief Public Relations Officer(CPRO) Pankaj Kumar Singhsaid. The 05117 Chhapra-Mathura triweekly superfastspecial train will departs fromChhapra at 05.20 hrs, fromSiwan at 06.05 hrs, fromBhatpar Rani at 06.30 hrs,from Bhatni at 06.44 hrs, fromDeoria Sadar at 07.12 hrs, fromGorakhpur at 08.30 hrs, fromKhalilabad at 09.10 hrs, fromBasti at 09.39 hrs, fromMaskanwa at 10.14 hrs, fromMankapur at 10.30 hrs, fromGonda at 11.05 hrs, fromBarabanki at 12.20 hrs, fromBadshahnagar at 13.00 hrs, fromAishbagh at 13.43 hrs, fromKanpur Central at 15.10 hrs,from Kanpur Anwarganj at15.25 hrs, from Kannauj at16.28 hrs, from Fatehgarh at17.13 hrs, from Farrukhabad at17.37 hrs, from Kaimganj at18.01 hrs, from Kasganj at 19.20hrs, Hathras City at 20.20 hrsand reach Mathura 21:30 hrs.During the return journey, the05118 Mathura-Chhapra tri-weekly superfast special trainwill depart from Mathura at23.50 hrs, the second day fromfrom Hathras City at 00.31 hrs,from Kasganj at 01.40 hrs, fromKaimganj at 02.37 hrs, fromFarrukhabad at 03.15 hrs, fromFatehgarh at 03.31 hrs, fromKannauj at 04.15 hrs, fromKanpur Anwarganj at 06.00 hrs,from Kanpur Central at 06.20hrs, from Aishbagh at 08.18 hrs,from Badshahnagar at 08.40hrs, from Barabanki at 09.18hrs, from Gonda at 11.00 hrs,

from Mankapur at 11.24 hrs,from Maskanwa at 11.40 hrs,from Basti at 12.25 hrs, fromKhalilabad at 12.54 hrs, fromGorakhpur at 14.00 hrs, fromDeoria Sadar at 14.54 hrs, fromBhatni at 15.15 hrs, fromBhatpar Rani at 15.30 hrs,Siwan at 16.00 hrs and reachChhapra at 17.05 hrs. A total of20 coaches, including two ofSLRD, eight of general secondclass, seven of sleeper class, twoAC third and one AC secondwill be attached in the train.

EXTENDED: The railwayadministration for the conve-nience of passengers has decid-ed to extend the run of the fol-lowing trains whose days ofrun, stoppage, timing andcoach composition will remainthe same. The run of 08311Sambalpur-Manduadih pujabiweekly special train has beenextended from January 3 to 27,2021. The run of 08312Manduadih-Sambalpur pujabiweekly special train has beenextended from January 4 toJanuary 28, 2021. The run of01033 Pune-Darbhanga week-ly special train has been extend-ed from December 30 toJanuary 27, 2021. The run of01034 Darbhanga-Pune week-ly special train has been extend-ed from January 1 to 29, 2021.The run of 01079 LokmanyaTilak Terminus-Gorakhpurweekly special train has beenextended from December 31 toJanuary 28, 2021. The run of01080 Gorakhpur-LokmanyaTilak Terminus weekly specialtrain has been extended fromJanuary 2 to January 30, 2021.The run of 01115 Pune-Gorakhpur weekly special trainhas been extended fromDecember 31 to January 28,2021. The run of 01116Gorakhpur-Pune weekly specialtrain has been extended fromJanuary 2 till January 30, 2021.The run of 01407 Pune-Lucknow Jn weekly specialtrain has been extended fromDecember 29 to January 26,2021. The run of 01408

Lucknow Jn.-Pune weekly spe-cial train has been extendedfrom December 31 till January28, 2021. Likewise the run of02031 Pune-Gorakhpurbiweekly special has beenextended from December 29till January 30, 2021. The runof 02032 Gorakhpur-Punebiweekly special train has beenextended from January 31 tillFebruary 1, 2021. The run of02135 Pune-Manduadih week-ly special train has beenextended from December 28 toJanuary 25, 2021. The run of02136 Manduadih-Pune week-ly special has been extendedfrom December 30 to January27, 2021.

BOY FOUND: The RPFNER makes constant efforts toprotect passengers and providethem better travel facilities. Inthe same sequence a memberof the RPF post, Gorakhpur,found an eight-year-old boy inunclaimed condition duringpatrolling at Gorakhpur railwaystation. After questioning, theboy was handed over to ChildLine, Gorakhpur, CPRO PKSingh said. Likewise in train no01016 a 16-year-old girl wasfound in an unclaimed condi-tion by the escort party of RPF,Gonda. After questioning, thegirl was handed over to ChildLine, Gonda. Besides one per-son was caught with 12 illegale-tickets from a shop by RPFpost, Chhapra. After takingaction under the Railway Act acase was registered in this con-nection. Meanwhile duringpatrolling at Gonda railway sta-tion the RPF post, Gonda,caught one person along withtwo illegal e-tickets. After tak-ing action under the RailwayAct a case was registered in thisconnection. In a joint operationof RPF post, Mau, and CrimeIntelligence Branch (CIB),Varanasi, caught one personwith 17 illegal e-tickets from ashop in Kusumha, Mau. Aftertaking action under theRailway Act, a case was regis-tered in this connection.

*������/.���#�����������#����� �)��67�

+,,��������������*����

����,� ���-�.��//�#��������0 ����

9�������������������$ ���=;���������������� ����������4����'����������$ -

Kanpur Nagar reported 58more coronavirus positive

cases on Wednesday evening.Chief Medical Officer Dr AnilK Mishra said that 58 morepeople had tested positive forcoronavirus infection betweenTuesday evening andWednesday evening takingthe tally of confirmed cases to31,001 cases. He said that 54patients were discharged fromhospital. He said oneCOVID-19 death in the citywas reported till Wednesdayevening. The CMO said atpresent 658 active cases wereundergoing treatment. DrMishra said 3628 sampleswere sent for testing in thecity.

KANPUR (PNS) Kanpur’sGreen Park Stadium may soonhave its pavilion named afterIndia’s 2011 Cricket WorldCup winner team member andformer cricketer Suresh Raina.

A proposal in this regardhas been sent to the state gov-ernment.

The attacking batsman isall set to return to the cricket-ing arena on January 10, withthe start of the Syed MushtaqAli tournament.

Raina recently attended a10-day camp at Kamla Club,organised by Uttar PradeshCricket Association, and he willsoon represent his home statein the Syed Mushtaq Ali tour-nament from January 10onwards. The tournament isspread across six bio-securebubbles in cities like Bengaluru,Kolkata, Indore, Mumbai,Vadodra and Chennai. Thefinal will take place on January31 and the BCCI will make adecision on the Ranji Trophyand Vijay Hazare Trophy afterthe group stage of the domes-tic T20. Cricket fans will bedelighted to see a stand namedafter a cricketing star whostarted his journey from asmall town in Ghaziabad.

Suresh Raina will continueto play for Chennai SuperKings, even after missing outon the 2020 edition of theIndian Premier League for per-sonal reasons.

Earlier on August 15,Suresh Raina announced hisretirement from internationalcricket on the same day asMahendra Singh Dhoni. Thepower-hitting batsman fromUttar Pradesh has representedIndia in more than 300 inter-national games including Testcricket, ODIs and T20s. He hasalso been a part of the ChennaiSuper Kings team, scoringmore than 5,000 runs for thefranchise. Raina left his markwith his best score of 100against Kings XI Punjab in2013.

KANPUR (PNS): With thevision of arresting unprece-dented surge in the number ofnovel coronavirus cases in thecity during Christmas celebra-tions, the Kanpur districtadministration has guardedthe entry of people within theChurch premises by masksand sanitisers.

These items have beenmade mandatory to enter theparish and attend the midnightmass.

The merry-makings ofChristmas this year will be mel-lowed, given the rampantspread of coronavirus infection.

Though the festival will becelebrated by observing all tra-ditions, the pandemic has sure-ly scarred the joys of Christmasfestivities, eclipsing the glitterand pomp of the city’s celebra-tions.

Chief Medical Officer DrAnil Kumar Mishra said in abid to prevent overcrowding atthe city churches and to main-tain the norms of social dis-tancing, several churches havetaken a decision to allow onlyparish members to physicallyattend the Christmas mass atthe chapel, which will soon belocked after the service is con-cluded. These preventive mea-sures are being implemented toeliminate the possibility of anylaxity which may rekindle thespread of coronavirus in thecity.

)��������.����������*�����8�����$���������������������� ���)�$������%������9����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �����

��������������������$������������������!9����������4����'����������$ -

Kanpur Nagar DistrictMagistrate Alok Tiwari,

while addressing the farmerscommunity at LB ShastriAuditorium here onWednesday to commemoratethe birth anniversary ofChaudhary Charan Singh, saiddue to the strenuous labour putin by the farmers the peoplewere able to enjoy seasonalcrops, fruits and vegetables.

He said the governmentwas more focused on the farm-ers and thus it was devisingways to boost the profits of thefarmers and also providing thelatest know-how in farming,

latest equipment, and fertilisersto boost the yield to ensuremassive profits to them.

The district magistrate saidon account of adopting scien-tific methods of farming andthe timely availability of seeds,fertilisers and DAP, there wastremendous growth in agri-cultural production.

He said this day thosefarmers were being felicitatedwho had grown good crops ofdifferent varieties through sci-entific approach. He said inKanpur Nagar district alonethere were 76 plus such farm-ers.

The district magistrate saidfor the highest yield in wheat,

the first prize had been givento Ramdas of Badle Simnapurin Ghatampur while the secondprize had been given to AshokKumar of Bhitargaon.

He said another farmer,Ram Kishore, had bagged thefirst prize in gram production.

The district magistratethen felicitated all the farmerswho had assembled in thefelicitation ceremony. They allwere given a certificate, a shawland cash reward.

He also gave away cash forfarm equipment to five farm-ers.

Tiwari said the entirenation was full of gratitude tothe farmers who toil hard in the

fields in adverse weather con-ditions to grow crops to feedthe people.

He said the present UPgovernment was committed tothe uplift and progress of thefarming community.

He said all the farmershad been provided with specialhelpline number on which theycould call in case they faced anyproblem related to farming. Hesaid the farm scientists hadbeen asked to provide guidanceto the farmers to better theiryield.

District agriculture offi-cer, deputy director agriculture,CDA and several officials werepresent at the function.

!"� ��������4"���� ��+����������������.>��9���������������������4����'����������$ -

Kanpur DivisionalCommissioner Raj

Shekhar, while carrying out asurprise inspection at the officeof the additional labour com-missioner on Wednesday, saidthat 14 staff members werefound absent and showcausenotices had been issued tothem and their salary for thecurrent month had beenstopped.

The divisional commis-sioner expressed concern overone per cent cess collectionand its utilisation under theexisting labour laws.

He was shocked to findthat in the current financialyear, � 24.28 crore cess was col-lected in all the six district ofthe division.

While Kanpur Nagar hadperformed well, Kannauj andKanpur Dehat had performedpoorly. He issued letters to thedistrict magistrates ofKannauj and Kanpur Dehat toimprove their performance inthe next one month withoutfail.

When the divisional com-missioner sought the JanataDarshan register, the addi-tional labour commissionerreplied that it had not beenmaintained in the office.

Shekhar said in theabsence of the Janata Darshanregister, the working for pub-lic was questionable. He said itwas highly objectionable thatthe Janata Darshan application

and complaints were not beinguploaded on the IGRS portal.He issued a warning for notmaintaining the JanataDarshan register and also notfeeding the Janata Darshanapplication or issues on IGRSportal.

It may be mentioned herethat the Labour departmenthas 17 important schemes forwelfare of labourers and their

families. It was found that tilldate 63,463 applications hadbeen received out of which1,053 were rejected, 1,409 werepending inquiry and the restwere approved and fundstotalling Rs 24 crore were dis-bursed.

Shekhar said these 17schemes had ample scope forbenefiting thousands oflabourers. He asked the addi-

tional labour commissionerand district magistrates of thedivision to take up this issue ona priority and make morelabourers aware of the welfareschemes and to ensure that thebenefits reached the maxi-mum number of people.

During the inspection onlyAdditional LabourCommissioner SD Shukla waspresent.

)�(��������*� ��������3�:���������������#�����#������(��������8����������,���#��*� �����������������%���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �����

!��� ��������# ��(����������������� �������3�����

�*��*���������������������*��������

)$�������������������� �����������KANPUR (PNS): KanpurDivisional Commissioner RajShekhar, while addressing ameeting with the officials ofKanpur DevelopmentAuthority said the KDA work-ing would be reviewed on 12formats as directed by ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath. Heexpressed concern over thepoor revenue collection by theKDA and asked its officials toensure a minimum of 80 percent revenue collection byMarch 2021. He added that thelast two years’ revenue collec-tion was between 60 per centand 70 per cent. The division-al commissioner said the OneTime Settlement (OTS) schemewas in force till December 31and around 326 applicationswere pending for disposal. Heasked the officials to take

appropriate actions on thesepending applications byDecember 31, 2020. Shekharsaid there were around 2,900individuals who had been iden-tified for OTS scheme but theyhad not yet applied for OTS.He directed the zonal officersconcerned to get in touch withthese applicants and makethem aware of the OTS schemeto motivate them to apply forone time settlement of dues.

The divisional commis-sioner said the revenue collec-tion target was around � 922crore but the collection was Rs402 crore. He said revenuecollection percentage was 45points and added that theprogress was good andimproved compared to thesame period last year. Shekharsaid the KDA had not per-

formed well in prevention ofillegal constructions and addedthat there were 11,000 identi-fied illegal constructions inthe city and final action wastaken only in 16 cases. Hedirected the officials to verifyall 11,000 pending cases atground level and also in theoffice record and update thedata by February 2021 and thentake serious action on the non-compoundable cases by March2021. The divisional commis-sioner also sought performancedata and details of all the offi-cials of the KDA enforcementdepartment by January 31,2021 so that appropriate actioncould be taken to strengthenthe enforcement and to stopillegal construction of buildingsHe said it was a good andappreciable step that the KDA

had started biometric files han-dling system(BFHS) whichcould track the movements ofevery file. He said as it wasstarted in the sales depart-ment from January, it should beextended to all departmentssoon. Shekhar asked the KDAvice chairman to examine thepending cases and issue allot-ment letters for all 219 plots ofTransport Nagar by January 31,2021. He said the KDA had6,288 properties (apartments at11 sites) which needed to besold .He said these propertieswere worth around �1,822crore but they were not beingsold. He asked the KDA vicechairman to prepare a site-wisesales strategy by January 31 sothat the revenue could berealised by selling these apart-ments.

Page 7: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

��������7������������������ ��� � !" ��#$%�#&#&

����� ��������

In a big push for education ofstudents belonging to

Scheduled Caste, the UnionCabinet on Wednesdayapproved �59,000 crore postmatric scholarship for nextfive years.

The Cabinet meetingchaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi estimated thatthis mega scholarship schemewill benefit more than fourcrore students for continuingtheir education from class 11.The Central Government willspend 60% of the programmewhich is estimated at �35,534crore. The rest will be provid-ed by the State Government.

“This replaces the existing‘committed liability’ systemand brings greater involve-ment of the Central Govt inthis crucial scheme,” the UnionCabinet said in a statement.

Detailing the scheme,Social Justice andEmpowerment MinisterThawarchand Gehlot said thatas per the estimates, around1.36 crore poor students fromSC community could not con-tinue their education beyondclass 10 due to poverty.

“The Post MatricScholarship scheme forScheduled Caste studentsallows students to pursue anypost-matric course startingfrom class 11 and onwards,with the Government provid-ing the cost of education. Thefocus of the scheme would beon enrolling the poorest stu-dents, timely payments, com-prehensive accountability, con-tinuous monitoring and total

transparency,” said Gehlot. “A campaign will be

launched to enroll the stu-dents, from the poorest house-holds passing the 10th stan-dard, in the higher educationcourses of their choice. It is esti-mated that 1.36 crore suchpoorest students, who are cur-rently not continuing theireducation beyond 10th stan-dards would be brought intothe higher education system inthe next 5 years.

The scheme will be run onan online platform with robustcyber security measures thatwould assure transparency,accountability, efficiency, andtimely delivery of the assistancewithout any delays,” said theMinister.

The States will verify theeligibility, caste status, Aadharidentification and bank accountdetails of the applicants on theonline portal. Transfer of finan-cial assistance to the studentsunder the scheme shall be onDBT mode, and preferablyusing the Aadhar enabled pay-ment system, said Governmentin a statement detailing themega scheme. Starting from2021-22, the central share(60%) in the scheme would bereleased on DBT mode direct-ly into the bank accounts of thestudents as per fixed timeschedule, after ensuring that theconcerned State Governmenthas released their share.

The monitoring mecha-nism will be further strength-ened through the conduct ofsocial audits, annual third partyevaluation, and half-yearly self-audited reports from each insti-tution said the statement.

�'(�*�����#�����# �����)"��������������*���� �����$ ���

����� ��������

Amid farmers protest overthe farm laws which enters

29 days, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will release thenext tranche of PM-KISAN thedirect cash-transfer scheme,making payments worth�18,000 crore to more than 9crore farmers.

The PM will also virtuallyinteract with some farmersdrawn from six different Stateson Christmas Day, which is alsothe birth anniversary of formerPM Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

According to UnionAgriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar, over two crorefarmers have registered them-selves for this online event inwhich PM Modi will be chiefguest.

“PM Narendra Modi willrelease the next installment offinancial benefit under PMKISAN Samman Nidhi (PM-KISAN) on December 25 viavideo conferencing. PM will

enable the transfer of morethan �18,000 crores to morethan 9 crores beneficiary farmerfamilies,” the PMO said.

The PM’s outreach comeseven as farmer unions urged theCentre to “abandon its stub-bornness” and take the discus-sion forward with an “openmind and neat intention”.

According to officials, thePrime Minister will most like-ly ask farmers impromptu ques-tions on how they have bene-fited from the scheme and “takea briefing from them on whatthey are growing and what elsethey want to see done for themahead of the budget”, the officialsaid. “The farmers will sharetheir experiences with PM-KISAN and also on variousother initiatives taken by theGovernment for the welfare offarmers. Union AgricultureMinister will also be present onthe occasion”, an official said.

According to Tomar, theGovernment had earlier expect-ed to enroll 14 crore farmers

under the scheme but only 11.4crore listed so far. He thanksbanks for bringing more farm-ers under the Kisan CreditCard scheme coverage duringthe coronavirus pandemic. “Iwould also like to thank banks,as they brought more than 1crore farmers under KisanCredit Card cover during thepandemic and gave farmers Rs1 lakh crores in the last 8months,” Tomar stated.

“Through various schemes,we will fill all gaps in the agri-culture sector, which will ben-efit farmers and ensure they getthe right price...Even duringCOVID-19 pandemic, we sawthat work related to farming andagriculture wasn’t affected,” headded.

Under PM-Kisan, theGovernment provides incomesupport of �6,000 a year tofarmers with a valid enrolment,paid in three equal cash trans-fers of �2,000 — one every fourmonths. It was launched onFebruary 24, 2019.

.����������;7���������<���������� ./�&�85�����������/����������� �

����� ��������

As the impasse persists at theLine of Actual

Control(LAC)in Ladakh, ArmyChief General M M Naravaneon Wednesday toured forwardareas there to review opera-tional preparedness. He alsotook stock of the ground situ-ation as more than one lakhtroops from India and Chinaare in a stand-off for the lastnine months.

With several rounds ofmilitary and diplomatic leveltalks so far having failed to endthe tension, the Indian armyhas made preparations for longhaul during the winter months.Not willing to take any chances,additional troops trained inmountain warfare are also posi-tioned at strategic locations allalong the 1,700 km long LACin Ladakh sector.

In this backdrop, the Armychief visited forward areas andreviewed the ground situationalong the South bank ofPangong Tso where IndianArmy had dominated severalunoccupied peaks on theIndian side of the LAC in theend of August.

“Chief of Army Staff(COAS) visited forward areasof Fire and Fury Corps includ-ing Rechin La and undertooka first-hand assessment of thesituation along the Line ofActual Control (LAC),” theArmy said. Naravane alsoundertook on the spot inspec-tion of the state of habitat oftroops on the forward line ofdefences at Rechin La.

The Army has ensuredthat enough prefabricated andheated huts are supplied to theforward areas in Ladakh to

enable the troops to withstandthe harsh winters. Mercuryhas already dipped to minusten and will plunge to minus20 to 25 in the coming weeks.

In addition, sufficientstocks of winter clothing are inthe stores at Leh and other keylocations to provide comfort-able and functional specialclothes to the troops.

During the one day visit tothe Leh based 14 Corps,Naravane also visited forwardbase Tara and interacted withthe local commanders andtroops. He was briefed on theoperational situation by the 14Corps Commander, Lt GeneralPGK Menon.

Incidentally, the Armychief ’s visit came days after thesixth round of diplomatic leveltalks between India and Chinalast week. There was no break-through but both the sidesagreed to continue dialogue forspeedy disengagement oftroops from the LAC.

The two delegations alsoagreed to soon hold the ninthround of Corps Commanderlevel talks between the twoarmies. The last round washeld on November 6. However,those talks also did not yieldpositive results.

Sources said the ArmyChief reached Ladakh at 8:30am on a day-long visit with anaim to review the ground sit-

uation in the region that isexperiencing harsh winter.

The army said Naravaneinteracted with the troopsdeployed in forward areas andexhorted them to continueworking with the same “zealand enthusiasm”. He also dis-tributed sweets and cakesahead of Christmas.

Around three-and-halfmonths ago, Indian troopshad occupied a number ofstrategic heights in theMukhpari, Rechin La andMagar hill areas around thesouthern bank of the Pangonglake in eastern Ladakh after theChinese People’s LiberationArmy attempted to intimidatethem in the area on the inter-vening night of August 29 and30.

“General MM Naravane#COAS undertook on the spotinspection of the state of #habi-tat of troops on the forwardline of defences at #RechinLa.He appreciated the effortsmade by the formation tomake troops comfortable alongthe #LAC,” the Army said inanother tweet.

The military face-offerupted on May 5 followingviolent clashes between theIndian army and the PLA inthe Pangong lake area. Theclashes were followed by asimilar incident in NorthSikkim on May 9.

8� �������(������,8*����$������������(�$�����������

4���� ��������������������������0��������2!�&������)���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9�+�

�����������������������������������������������2!�&�����&����������0��*������

$*:�#����

����� ��������

The National CooperativeDevelopment Corporation

(NCDC) has joined hands withBangaluru-based SwamiVivekananda YogaAnusandhana Samsthana (S-VYASA) university to inculcatehabit of yoga among people byhelping cooperatives to set upyoga wellness centres andnaturopathy facilities acrossthe country.

The move comes twomonths after the NCDC underthe Union Agriculture Ministerlaunched Ayushman Sahakar, ascheme aiming to involve co-operatives in creating health-care infrastructure that includewellness centres, Ayush,homoeopathy, drug manufac-turing, drug testing, Ayurvedamassage centres, and drugstores besides medical educa-tion initiatives.

While S-VYASA will pro-vide technical help, the NCDCwill make available workingcapital and margin money tomeet operational requirementsto the interested cooperativesfor setting yoga wellness cen-tres.

Speaking on the occasionafter the pact was inked online,Union Minister for AYUSH,Shripad Yesso Nayak said thatthe initiative would benefitpeople in the rural areas. Heobserved that his Ministry sup-ports such initiatives aimed atstrengthening efforts in Indianhealth systems, including yoga,a global movement.

Parshottam Rupala, UnionMinister of State forAgriculture felt that a newdimension has been added byNCDC to expand the welfareprogrammes for farmers underthe NCDC Ayushman Sahakarscheme. He hoped that yogawellness centres would make agood business model for coop-eratives to strengthen thehealthcare delivery system inrural areas.

Sundeep Nayak, MD ofNCDC said that the

Ayushman Sahakar schemewith an outlay of Rs.10,000crore aims at extending finan-cial support to cooperatives.“The scheme has a compre-hensive and holistic approachto finance healthcare infra-structure and services. It cov-ers hospitals, healthcare infra-structure, medical education,nursing education, paramed-ical education, drugs manu-facturing, digital health, lab-oratory services, health insur-ance and Indian traditionalmedical systems l ikeAyurveda, Yoga, Naturopathy,Unani, Siddha andHomeopathy.”

Guruji Nagendra,Chancellor of S-VYASA saidthat a new dimension wouldbe explored through cooper-atives across the country.

The MoU also aims topromote skilling of students oralumni of S-VYASA throughinternship opportunitiesoffered by NCDC under itsscheme Sahakar Mitra, Nayakadded. The NCDC set upunder the Ministr y ofAgriculture has, till date sinceit was set up in 1963, financedvarious cooperative initiativesaggregating �1.57-lakh crore.

5*)*�����#��$����������#�#/������/2=8�8(�������������#����������������������#����

����85����� ��������

Despite Covid-19 restric-tions and the risk of ani-

mal to human disease trans-mission, illegal wildlife trade onsocial media networks contin-ue to flourish, researchersnoted after analyzing around20,000 posts on Faceboook onwild pet trade.

Ringing alarm bells, theresearchers from OxfordBrookes University and theUniversity of Western Australiahave called for increased vigi-lance on social media sites inorder to curb potential extinc-tions and reduce the risk ofpandemics.

The researchers had exam-ined advertisements onFacebook in Brazil andIndonesia. They found thou-sands of posts advertising wildanimals, with a potential audi-ence of over 200,000 people.“Indeed, only 0.44 per cent ofover 20,000 online wildlifetrade advertisements had anyCovid-19-related content,” saidthe researchers in the studypublished in journal ofEnvironmental Research.

Co-author Anna Nekaris,Professor of PrimateConservation at Oxford Brookes

University said: “We anticipat-ed that we would see many postsmentioning Covid-19 regardingthe potential dangers of wildlifetrade or using it as a reason fora temporary cessation of sales.Instead, advertisements men-tioning Covid-19 often stimu-lated wildlife trade, suggestingthe pandemic was a great timeto buy an exotic pet for com-panionship, for example.”

Strikingly, they found thatno traders or consumers dis-cussed the role of wildlife tradein spreading diseases. Instead,discounts were given, homedelivery services were provided,and customers encouraged tospend larger amounts of timedue to lockdown with the ani-mals.

Co-author Thais Morcatty,at Oxford Brookes University,said, “clandestine markets oftenexpand to supply the demandthat still exists and in that case,not only does wildlife tradecontinue, monitoring itbecomes nearly impossible.”

In India too, the situation isnot very encouraging as hasbeen found by a study con-ducted by TRAFFIC, a wildlifetrade monitoring network. Itfound a significant increase inreported poaching of wild ani-

mals in India during the lock-down period. “Species are beingsystematically wiped out byorganised trade networks, withnew poaching techniques andtrade routes emerging fasterthan we can respond to them.The pandemic, which is animportant example of the neg-ative repercussions of thisexploitative trade, hasn’tdeterred wildlife traders andthis is only exacerbated by theincreased demand forTraditional Chinese Medicines(TMC).

“Many of the highest traf-ficked species are reptiles andamphibians like the tokaygecko, spiny-tailed lizard, tor-toises and freshwater turtles,with data on this trade yet to bequantified,” said Trisha Ghose,project director, The HabitatsTrust, an NGO working forprotection and conservation ofhabitats and their indigenousspecies.

In fact, in the midst of pan-demic, in June the UnionEnvironment Ministry issuedan advisory saying peopleimporting “exotic live species”will have to make a voluntarydisclosure following global con-cern about illegal wildlife tradeand zoonotic diseases.

"��� �������������������������������������&����������

����� ���������7������

Naga insurgent groupNSCN-K, led by militant

Niki Sumi, on Wednesdayannounced a ceasefire and saidthat it has contacted the centralGovernment for initiating peacedialogue. The NSCN-K hadsigned a ceasefire with theCentre in 2001 but unilaterallyabrogated it in 2015 when thethen ‘chairman’ of the group, SS Khaplang, was alive. Sumi isthe prime accused in the killingof 18 Indian Army soldiers inManipur in 2015 and theNational Investigation Agencyhad announced a reward of �10lakh for his head.

In a statement, Sumi saidthe NSCN-K has been strivingall these years to achieve anhonourable and acceptablepolitical solution to the Nagaissue and the group is also con-scious of the overwhelmingsentiments among the Nagapeople for an early solution tothis long standing matter. It saidthat the NSCN-K is aware of the“sincere and genuine efforts”made by the central govern-

ment in the recent past to finda final and lasting solution tothe Naga issue with the involve-ment of all the stakeholders.

“Therefore NSCN hasresolved to strengthen and sup-port the peace process at thiscrucial juncture. Our leadershave established contact withthe officials of Government ofIndia in this connection. Tofacilitate the process and keep-ing in view the desire of theNaga people particularly Nagacivil society organisations andNGOs, the NSCN has furtherdecided to revive the ceasefirewith immediate effect by revok-ing the earlier decision of uni-lateral abrogation of the cease-fire in 2015,” the statementsaid.

The other dominant group- the NSCN-IM - had enteredinto a ceasefire agreement withthe central government in 1997and since then engaged inpeace negotiations. The NSCN-IM had signed a FrameworkAgreement on August 3, 2015in presence of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to find a per-manent solution.

���1%��##� #��������!���-�$��$������#����!���$�������/,�

����� ���������

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) has

filed a charge sheet againstPrincipal, National DefenceAcademy (NDA),Khadakwasla, Pune(Maharashtra) before theCompetent Court at Pune onthe allegations of fraudulentappointments in the institution.

A case was registered onMay 8, 2018, against Principal,of Dr Om Prakash Shukla andothers on the allegations offraudulent appointments tovarious posts of civilian facul-

ties at defence academy on thebasis of false and exaggeratedclaims in respect of teach-ing/research experience andexaggerated API scores, theCBI said in a statement.

Searches were conductedon June 6, 2018, at the premis-es of the accused which led tothe recovery of incriminatingdocuments.

It was further alleged thatduring the period 2007-08, theaccused fraudulently, securedan appointment as Professor inEconomics at National DefenceAcademy (NDA),Khadakwasla, Pune.

�+�3()%��4���,%��%%���,�( ���������#�!B��)��32��3�!%��882( �'% ���

����� ��������

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has pro-

visionally attached assets worth�255 crores of Maharashtra-based Gangakhed Sugar &Energy Limited (GSEL),Yogeswari Hatcheries,Gangakhed Solar PowerLimited under Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA) in an agriculturalbank loan fraud case.

The attached assets includesugar plant and machinery ofGSEL worth �247 crore, situ-ated at Gangakhed, DistrictParbhani, Maharashtra, landworth �5 crores of GSEL,Yogeswari Hatcheries,Gangakhed Power SolarLimited situated at DistrictParbhani, Beed, DhuleMaharashtra, bank balance of�1.58 crores, investment inshares of �1.91 crores held inthe name of GSEL.

The ED had initiated inves-tigation in May 2019, under theprovisions of PMLA on thebasis of an FIR registered byGangakhed Police againstGSEL, Ratnakar Gutte chair-man and others under IPC sec-tions relating to cheating,forgery, criminal conspiracyand common intention forfraudulently availing agricul-tural loan in the name of poorfarmers, on the basis of forgedloan proposals submitted to thebanks. CID Aurangabad hasfiled the chargesheet forembezzlement/mis-appropria-tion of the funds, the ED said.

Investigation revealed thatthe chairman of GSEL with theconnivance of others misusedthe agricultural loan facilitymeant for poor farmers. Thescheme of agricultural loan isformulated for financing thefarmers coming under thecommand area of the sugar fac-tory. Its aim is to meet the

financial needs of the farmersand it is given by the banks tothe sugarcane farmers based ontheir land holding for raisingtheir crop which includesamong other things to purchasethe seeds, fertilizers, manures,machinery, tractor, pump, har-vesting and transportation ofthe crop, it said.

Investigation also revealedthat the accused person creat-ed the data bank of the farm-ers, who supplied the sugarcaneto the factory, by collectingtheir KYC at the time of pur-chasing the sugarcane fromthe farmers coming under thecommand area of the sugar fac-tory. The said factory furthermade a tie up agreement withthe banks for obtaining theagricultural loan for the farm-ers. By virtue of the tie upagreement, GSEL became theagent for the banks, whoseresponsibility was to do KYCverification of the farmers.During the period from 2012-13 to 2016-17, GSEL madeforged agricultural loan pro-posals in the name of the farm-ers on the basis of farmers’KYC and submitted them tothe banks. Based on theseforged loan proposals, thebanks sanctioned the agricul-tural loan of around �772crore, it said.

Investigation into moneytrail further revealed that usingthis modus operandi, aroundRs 635 crores were disbursed bythe banks in to the bankaccounts opened in the nameof the farmers and the fundswere never utilised by thefarmers and instead it wassiphoned off to different bankaccounts of GSEL on the basisof the forged Consent letter ofthe farmers. This ill-gottenmoney was utilised by theaccused for purchase of theland, for erection and fabrica-tion of the GSEL plant.

>)����(��������������������������.����������/�����!�������#������>�����,� ����

����� ��������

One of the petitioners, whohas approached the

Supreme Court for direction tothe authorities to remove farm-ers protesting at several borderpoints of Delhi against threenew farm laws, has sought toimplead over 40 farmer unionsas party in the pending case.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde, which hadon December 17 said thatfarmers’ agitation should beallowed to continue “withoutimpediment” and the apexcourt will not interfere with itas the right to protest is a fun-damental right, had given lib-erty to the petitioner to servethe impleaded farmer unions.

Law student RishabhSharma, one of the petitionersin the case, has now filed anamended memo of parties inthe top court in which he hasimpleaded over 40 farmerunions, including BharatiyaKisan Union (BKU), as respon-dents in the matter.

Some other farmers unionswhich are sought to beimpleaded as respondents bythe petitioner are – BKU-Sidhupur, BKU-Rajewal, BKU-Lakhowal,

BKU-Dakaunda, BKU-Doaba, Jamhoori Kisan Sabhaand Kul Hind KisanFederation.

The top court had onDecember 16 permittedimpleading of these eightunions as respondents inSharma, in his petition filedthrough advocate Om PrakashParihar, has sought a directionto the authorities to remove theprotesting farmers from sever-al border points in the nation-al capital saying commuters arefacing hardships due to theroad blockades and the gath-erings might lead to an increasein the number of COVID cases.

'�� ���$��� �������������� ������(�?@�������������� �#�������������������*

Page 8: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

Half a century ago,Pakistan’s darkest daywas the surrender of93,000 Pakistanis in

Dhaka on December 16, 1971.Nearly 81,000 prisoners of war(POWs) were from the Pakistaniarmed forces (with some Bengalisoldiers who had chosen to remainwith the Pakistan Army) apart from12,000-odd civilians, including col-laborators. And though everyoneassociates the fall of Dacca (asDhaka was then known) to thenArmy chief General Sam (SHFJ)Manekshaw, who had no doubt alarger than life presence in SouthBlock, a closer reading of one of thefew accounts of how it all happened— since official records in Calcuttawere shredded at Gen Jagjit SinghAurora’s orders — shows that cred-it must instead go to (then) MajGen JFR Jacob along with Maj GenInder Gill, who was then theDirector of Military Operations(there was no DGMO then), andLt Gen Sagat Singh, who was com-manding IV Corps in Tezpur. MajGen JFR Jacob was the Chief ofStaff of India’s Eastern ArmyCommand and was thus involvedin planning and meticulous imple-mentation of the operations in EastPakistan, which is detailed in hisautobiography, An Odyssey in Warand Peace.

Millions of refugees floodedacross eastern India in 1971 into theStates surrounding East Pakistan(now Bangladesh) after Pakistan’sruthless military clampdown there,which was ordered by Pakistan’sdictator Yahya Khan following apent-up demand for their rightsafter election results gave Bengalileader Sheikh Mujib a clear victo-ry. It led to all their Chief Ministersinsisting that India must do some-thing to avert this humanitarian cri-sis. Indira Gandhi summoned thethen Army chief Gen SamManekshaw for a meeting with her‘kitchen Cabinet’. She wanted theGeneral to go to war and liberateenough territory in East Pakistan,so that the refugees could be sentback. However, Gen Manekshawhad apparently cautioned againsthaste since many factors wereinvolved. They were then into thesummer of 1971 and the harvest-ed grain needed to be movedacross the country. The trains androad transport could either ferry thegrain or the troops to battle. Andthen monsoons would follow,which could hamper the movementof military units, especially in theriverine terrain of Bangladesh.

Indira, heeding the military’sadvice, decided to let the armed

forces do what they are best at,to fight a war and win it. GenManekshaw apparentlypromised her that given thetime, he could help her “makehistory and even geography”, asI recall him saying at the firstInfantry lecture at VigyanBhawan in October 1994. Evenas the armed forces began to pre-pare for what truly became a his-toric victory, Indira took up thejob of winning the world’s sup-port for India’s humanitarian ini-tiative. By August 1971, NewDelhi had signed the Indo-Soviet treaty of Peace, Friendshipand Cooperation with Moscow.Not only was it a significantdeparture from the Nehruvianobsession with non-alignment, itwas Russia’s support at the manysessions in the United Nationsthat stalled resolutions at the ini-tiative of Washington to helpPakistan when Indian troopsrolled down the plains of EastPakistan. But Jacob dismisses thisstory that Gen Manekshaw hadoften told — and which I toohave heard the late Field Marshalnarrate in 1994 — about how hestood up to Indira’s demands togo to war in March 1971. Thewar officially started onDecember 3 though militaryoperations along the borders ofEast Pakistan had started in thelast week of November.

Apparently, India — fearinga UN ceasefire — was in a hurryto establish a free BangladeshiGovernment in the port townsof Khulna and Chittagong. Butas the operations unfolded andgathered momentum, Jacobwent ahead with a plan to cap-ture Dacca. This was done bydoing what Pakistan’s Generalshadn’t expected India to do. As

the Pakistani army had fortifiedits garrison towns, some fiercebattles were fought around themwhile there was a simultaneousdrive to get to Dacca. A simpletactical lesson that is taught toevery officer in the Army is neverto re-enforce a failure and, there-fore, the areas of resistance werebypassed. The Pakistani militarydictator, the often drunk GeneralYahya Khan, was however con-fident that three factors would-n’t allow any worthwhile successto the Indian armed forces inEast Pakistan. First, his well-armed military machine in WestPakistan would be enough tothreaten India’s strategic States ofPunjab and J&K. Two, a Chinesemilitary buildup along theHimalayas would tie downenough of the Indian Army.These two factors would beenough to deter India from anyserious military adventurism in East Pakistan. And finally, hewas banking on the US to inter-vene militarily if India’s opera-tions became difficult forPakistan to contain.

But more forces were need-ed than Manekshaw was willingto release to implement an effec-tive blitzkrieg towards Dacca. AsGen Manekshaw believed thatthe Chinese could spoil theparty, he refused to release addi-tional troops from the Sino-Indian border until much later.However, as there were no intel-ligence intercepts to backManekshaw’s claim, Jacob man-aged to get troops from theHimalayan formations moved —without Manekshaw’s knowl-edge — but with help from MajGen Gill. Apparently whenManekshaw did learn of this, hegave Gill a dressing down but by

then things were moving so fastthat the focus shifted to Dacca asthe time was limited, with the USpushing the UN for a ceasefire.If that had happened, all the mil-itary gains would have been lit-erally back to square one. TheIndian Army, ably assisted by theIndian Air Force, raced to Dacca.The IAF literally bombed thedaylights out of the Pakistani AirForce. Soon the skies were clearof any Pakistani fighters: They laywrecked on their airfields. Andthen a heli-borne operation —the first of its kind sinceIndependence — put troopsacross the vast Meghna river andmany other rivers that had untilthen given Dacca a naturaldefence. This was followed by thefirst ever airborne drop of Indianparatroopers. By December 15,the Indian troops had surround-ed Dacca.

During this lull in the battle,Maj Gen Jacob received a callfrom Gen Manekshaw, who said:“Jake, go and get a surrender.” Hethen proceeded to Dacca tomeet Lt Gen AAK Niazi, MC,the overall military commanderin East Pakistan. Jacob salutedhim, and asked him if he waswilling to offer an uncondition-al surrender. A pompous GenNiazi, enjoying an afternoon ofbeer and lunch — with all the sil-ver laid out in their officers’ mess— dismissed the propositionwith a wave of his hand, saying:“Who said I am surrendering?You have come to discuss only aceasefire and withdrawal as pro-posed by me.” He was apparent-ly still hopeful that a ceasefireordered by the UN could savehim and his army a humiliation.But Gen Jacob was adamant andtold him that he had 30 minutes

and then he’d ask him thrice. IfNiazi still didn’t respond, hecouldn’t guarantee the safety ofPakistani families (as the Bengalirebels were waiting to lynchthem all). Moreover, he’d ask forthe resumption of bombings onDacca. Then Jacob — unarmedand thus a little worried — wentfor a stroll and to smoke his pipe,giving Niazi time to ponderover the options.

Gen Jacob met Gen Niaziafter 30 minutes and asked himthrice if he accepted the surren-der document (even though thedocument’s draft was still unap-proved by New Delhi!). Butsince Niazi refused to respond,Maj Gen Jacob picked up thedocument and held it up to say:“I take it as accepted.” Tears rolleddown Gen Niazi’s cheek and hehung his head in shame. OtherPakistanis glared at him in dis-belief. Gen Jacob got up andasked Niazi to move for the sur-render, which was done at theDacca Race Course on a hastilyarranged table and two chairs —as the crowds were shouting anti-Pakistan slogans — a tearfulNiazi removed his badges of rankand handed his pistol to GenAurora before being whiskedaway by India’s senior officers. Heneeded to be kept alive to tell theworld that he wasn’t mutilated tosurrender, but did so — for theworld to see — at the Daccaparade ground. This wasachieved when there were 26,400Pakistani soldiers in Dacca andonly 3,000 Indian soldiers near-by. Niazi later admitted thatJacob had “blackmailed me intosurrendering”.

(The writer is a strategicaffairs analyst. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

.��� �� /��� $������� ������� ����� �����������������������������������������0����������������������!�������

�����������������1"������������ ������������� �������� ��������������������� ����������2.���3���)��%����������� ����� ��� ����������!�������������4���� ����� ������������ �������������������������������� ������������������ ���� �� ���������,����%�����"�������������������� �����������������������������������������������������������0�������������������!��!��������������� ������� ������� ���

���������������������������������������!���5$����������������� ��������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ���������������������������������������������������������������,����� ,���� ������������� �������������� 65��������������/�������������������������20�����3���)��%������������������������������!����.��7����8��������+������#�����9�������������� ��������������7������������������9�����:;���:6����������<����������������������������������������������3����� ���+������ ���"�������������������� ���������������������������������� ����� ��������������9��������0���$������������������������������7��������������������� �����������������������%�������������!������������������������������������������������������������������������

0�����������������$��������������������������� ����������!������:�=������������������������������������� ���������������������)������ �� ������6;6:�������������������,����������������������������������9'>,/!:?��������'����������4����7���������������������������������������������������������� � ��������7�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�������������9���������������������� ������������������������������������������������������.��������������,������������� ������ �������������� ������������������������������%���!������������"��������� ����������� ������������������������������������������������������������@��,��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������

A�� ������� ��� ��� �� <���� ���(������� "� ������ ��� ��� �� 3���� ��������!��$������������������������

������������������������������������������������� ����%� ����� ������ �� 4������ +���$�������������������� ���������������� �� ����!���������� ���������� ��� ��� �������������� ��� ������ ����� �� ,���!#�������� ������,���������������������!������� ��������� ���������������� ����������������������=B;�"����� ����������������� �� ��/�������/�������9������ C//9D

����������������:;;�������������� ������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������������������������!�������������������%�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�����(�������0�������=B;������ ���%�������������������(������������ �� ��� ���� "� ���!���� ������������� ���������������%�4�������9������C49D���+������+����%�#����/��������#��� C#/#D����������������������E5������<��������������������������������������#��������������������(�����������������9���� �������������������������������������������������������������������������<�����#���������%��������������������������������������������������������!������������"���������������������������������� ���!���������������������������(���������������������������������������������!����������+�����!������� ����7����/�������)����!��������<��������������������������� ������������������������������������������ �������������������������� �����4���������0�����������������!�� ������0����0���������9������������������������������+������������������������������������+���$��������������������������������7�����>���� $����������������������49�������� ����������������������������������#/#������������������������� ��������������������� ������������������7<#%������������������������������������������ ����������)������������������������!����� ���+���������������������������������7<#���������������������������������������(�������"�����!�����������������������������(������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������� ���������������������������,��� ��������������<�������(����������#��� C<(�#D�������������������#/#���49��������������������� ����������

"�7<#��������������������������������� ����BE���������� �� ������������������)������������<�����7��������������������>��� �����������������0��������7����������#�������8�������������������������������������������������(������������������������������������������ �"�����������������������������������������������������������������������,����������������������������������������������� ��(������%��������������4��������7<#����������������F"���������������G����>��� �,�<�������7<#���B:���������������������������<���������������������������9�����������������6H���������� ���������,��������������������������E?��������������� ������������������0����������������������,����������������������:E�����������������9�������������� ����������������$�������������������������,���������������������������7<#%������������������������ �"�+��������������������������������� ������������!��������������� �������� �����������!�����'���������7<#������������������������+����0����������$������������������������������������������������������������7��������!������������������������������������ ��������� ������������������������������� ����������������������������� ������������!���������������������� �����������������E;�;;;���������������.������������!��������������������� ������7<#����������������������'��������������(����������������������������������

0������. � �:A�

����������� �Sir — This refers to the news item‘Gupkar Alliance steals the showin Kashmir’ (December 23). Thecelebrations that broke out in J&K,particularly in the Kashmir Valley,over results of the DistrictDevelopment Council (DDC)polls were a far cry from the pastelections which were marked byallegations of rigging or criticismthat they reflected the minorityopinion due to abysmal turnouts.

For a change, hailing of thevictories by even the BJP’s rivalswas not grudged by the Centrewhich saw it as a reaffirmation ofthe voters and candidates in thefairness of the eight-phase polls.

There was a time whenIndia’s defeat in a cricket matchagainst Pakistan would spark cel-ebrations on the streets ofKashmir. But the fact that theDDC polls not only witnessedgood participation in the Valleybut also that the results were wel-comed by the People’s Alliancefor Gupkar Declaration (PAGD)constituents, Independents andother parties alike show that theyall want grassroots democracyfor enjoying the benefits ofdevelopment.

N Sadhasiva Reddy Bengaluru

������������������Sir — The United Kingdom(UK) has identified a new,potentially more contagiousCoronavirus variant linked to arecent surge in the pandemic inthat country. The cases are spi-ralling in the UK amid fears thata mutated form of COVID-19 islashing the country with a five-

fold increase in a fortnight.Though the UK has rolled

out Pfizer’s vaccine to combatthe pandemic, in the absence ofany assured results almost theentire country is likely to be hitby Tier 4 restrictions. The UKGovernment has issued a “Donot travel” advisory followingthe surge in the cases. Multiplecountries have now imposed

restrictions on travellers to andfrom the UK as the variant wassaid to be “out of control”.

The Christmas euphoria ison the wane as thousands ofpeople wanting to reach theirnative places are stranded at air-ports in the absence of flightoperations.

Seetharam BasaaniHanamkonda (Telangana)

������ ��������Sir — Kerala Governor ArifMohammad Khan has refusedto give approval for a specialAssembly session to discussand pass a resolution against thethree contentious Central farmlaws. The move was aimed onlyat antagonising the Centre overits farm policies.

The decision to convene theone-day session was taken by theLDF Government at a Cabinetmeeting presided over by ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The Kerala Government istrying to misuse the powervested in it by the people despitethe fact that the farmers here arevery happy with the benefitsthey get from the Government.However, the session wouldnow not be held as the Governordid not choose to accord hissanction to the proposal.

The State Government hadlast December convened a sim-ilar session, which passed a res-olution demanding scrapping ofthe controversial Citizenship(Amendment) Act.

MR JayanthyKerala

0 � 0 8 3 � 2 � � = � 0 � ) ) � & ,

...2���/3$��#���2���3�4%522!642'7#�()/8(2 %%���D 1&�%��()/$(2 %%���D ( ���,��'642'7#�()/8(2 %%�7

��������������� ���������� ��� � !" � #$%�#&#&

�8

������������������������ �����������

B�����24!%#��2��%�#��������%��$0�4/)( #%��8�(4%�( ��%�42* ��/�B())�5%�4�� ,%#�%@%�/�B%%!�3�2'� %;��/%��6�*��% �)/����%�%�8�(4%����%�3(;%#�2 ���'2 ��)/�5��(�

5*��( �@(%B�23���%�#�()/�3)*4�*��(2 �( ���%�8�(4%�23�8%��2E)%*'� 8�2#*4���� 2()� 42'8� (%�� ��%� 2B� 8)� ( ,� �24�� ,%���%�4/)( #%��8�(4%�2 ���B%%!)/�5��(�6

��'�/�5%� 2�%#��������%�8�(4%��23�8%��2)�� #�#(%�%)��%�3(;%#�%@%�/�#�/�#*%��2�B�(4��8%��2)%*'�42'8� (%�%��()/� �#.*��� � /� 4�� ,%� ( � ��%� ,)25�)� 4�*#%� 8�(4%�6�2B%@%����( 4%���%�8�(4%�23��$0�4/)( #%��(��3(;%#�2 ��'2 ��)/�5��(�����%�%�42'8� (%����@%��2�5%�����%�)2��32����%�B�2)%�'2 ��6� ���%�B�!%�23���(�����%�2()�42'E8� (%����@%�32��)2 ,�5%% �42 �(#%�( ,�B�/���2�4�� ,%��%�8�(4%��%33%4�(@%)/6�$%��2)�� #�#(%�%)�8�(4%����%�*8#��E%#�%@%�/�#�/�������'��B�% ���%� %B����%��42'%�( �2%33%4�6�&�%�8�(4%��23�8%��2)�� #�#(%�%)��)'2���#2*5)%��3�%��##( ,�%;4(�%�#*�/��#%�)%��42''(��(2 �� #�2��%����;%�6

�2B%@%��� 2� � 2* 4%'% �� ���� /%�� 5%% �'�#%�%,��#( ,���(��#%4(�(2 6� #%����%� %B��%,('%����%�8�(4%23��$0�4/)( #%�������)�%�#/�5%% �( 4�%��%#��B(4%��2�3��( ��%4%'5%�6�+*��( ���%��5�% 4%�23�� /�� 2* 4%'% ��8%28)%�#(#� 2��,%���2�! 2B��52*��(�6

���8%����%���?��( �%� �)�( 32�'��(2 ����%�4/)( #%����%�B���( 4�%��%#�5/�����2 ��%4%'5%����� #��,�( �5/��%���'%��'2* ��2 ��%4%'5%����6���4/)( #%�� 2B�42���'2�%���� ������� #�(������5%42'%�%;8% �(@%��2�422!����2'%6�&�%�02@%� '% ����#�8*))%#�5�4!�422!( ,�,���*5�(#/�( �:%8�%'5%�������3�))�( �2()�8�(4%��� #�� �( 4�%��%( �422!( ,�,������%��5�2*,���8��(�/�( ���%�'��!%�6

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

�������#�������������"��������= �����>�<� "3��<�

�#����������&�%�$&�02@%� '% �������28%�32�'����'*4���(,�%��)%@%)�( ���%��%'�( ( ,��('%�23�(��3(@%E/%����% *�%6�&�%��( (��%��'*����%�)(�%��������%��('%�32�8%�32�'� 4%��������(@%#6

��$ ������� <�� � ����F'�� ����

�28%3*))/�3� ����2* #���%B2�)#�B())�3( #�( �8(���(2 �( '/���2�/��2�42''(���2���%(�4��3�� 2�'���%���2B����#���%.2*� %/�5%4�*�%�%@%�/2 %4� ��4�(%@%�,�%�� %��6

6����"����?��="�:��F�(2 %)��%��(

0 . . - 5 ' � + . � . 4 " ' -

5 ' , ) 4 < " .<2*��/%�����25%���2#�/G���)(%��(��B���'�)���8( !�4��'8�, %�H�8�4!%#�4(�/5���6��2B�(��(��8( !��!(%��H#%�%��%#�42* ��/��2�#�6������ �% �(4�( ,�.2*� %/�(�C��5%% G

? "<<�$�����!������F$22.��+����

�������������������������� ����*���������������������������*� ����������������?�:@,������������������0�����

����*��$��*���� ��*��������������������������*������������������������������*��������������������������������������

,������A��������������� *'5%��23���'/��%�2%���5%�(#%����%�( ('(��5)%�0% �:�'��� %!���B���%)8%#

�%4*�%����0% ���� �(�I(C���*��% #%��( ���44��� #�)(5%���%�+� ,)�#%��

+���� �-%=%

�*��8%�32�'� 4%�( ���%����%)%4�(2 ��( �H��(�% 42*��,( ,6� ���%�82))����%�+$�����,2��'2�%�@2�%����� ���%�����$�$�� #��2 ,�%���42'5( %#6

�� ��� � ����F-�@(�:�� !���$����#

Page 9: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

7*����������������

4����6������������������� �5���'���� ���������������6��� ���� 6��������

��������*��9�������������������'�������3�@�������� �� �������

������

�����������������6���*�����������������*�������� �����������'�������������������� �;�����3�@4����6���������?� ������� ��6��8���

�����&',).-������

The Work From Home (WFH) culture thathas become the new normal due to theCoronavirus pandemic and the gig econ-

omy that the socio-economic impact of the out-break has necessitated, are here to stay. Even theGovernment is facilitating this transition in theworkplace. However, this is not the first time thatthe world is seeing a paradigm shift in work ethicsand culture. The intensification of the industri-al revolution in the 18th and 19th centuriesbrought about profound changes. People start-ed leaving their homes and toiling in an outsidework environment. This transformation gavebirth to a new movement of skilled workers andwas the beginning of the 9 AM to 5 PM workschedule in the office. This meant working in aninflexible and regimented environment with toolsor equipment provided by an employer.

Despite the advent of work opportunities out-side the house, some people still continued towork from their residences. The development ofpublic transportation brought further changes inthe office culture as it enabled workers to trav-el easily. Consequently, the 20th century work-force turned into a commuting one, leading toa rise in employment opportunities in offices andfactories engaged in manufacturing and the ser-vice economy. In this setting, companies large-ly controlled the means of production, manufac-turing, office equipment and other work stapleswhich were expensive or not portable enough tobe utilised by individuals working from theirhomes.

The nature of office work further changedin the early 20th century with the advent of thetelephone, telegraph and typewriter, which wereconsidered as precursors to remote work.Though by the early 1960s a majority of the work-force was a commuting one, the beginning of the’70s saw several key changes that pushed remotework to the forefront. Especially after theOrganisation of the Petroleum ExportingCountries’ (OPEC’s) oil embargo and the cleanair Act in the US. In view of the high oil pricesand shortages, the rise of the information econ-omy, environmental concerns and gridlockcommutes, companies began their experiment toformalise remote work for employees.

In fact, The Washington Post published anarticle and suggested that remote work could haveeased the gas crisis. The adoption of WFHincreased manifold in the late 20th and early 21stcentury with the emergence of information andcommunication technologies such as personalcomputers, the internet, email, broadband con-nectivity, laptops, smartphones, cloud comput-ing and videotelephony. Remote work is not newin India too. For about two decades it has beenin trend in the information technology (IT)industry in the country.

COVID-19 and WFH: Now, when theworld is grappling with the COVID-19 outbreak,resilience is being displayed by many employers.They are exploring new ways to ensure seamlessways to continue their business even as the con-tagion shows no signs of abating. The pandem-ic has compelled industrialists to think of inno-vative work solutions in order to get the best outof their employees while keeping them safe. Eventhough the crisis raises questions on the currentwork practices, thanks to digital platforms,employees from all over the world have smart-ly managed their operations remotely.

This can be seen as both, a returnto the pre-industrial revolution workroutines and advancement towardsthe future of work. According to theInternational Labour Organisation,around 68 per cent of the world’s totalworkforce, including 81 per centemployers, are currently living in coun-tries with recommended or requiredworkplace closures.

According to the job search siteIndeed, since the outbreak, searches forremote work have increased by over 261per cent. Similarly on LinkedIn, remotejob posting nearly tripled since March,ranging from 1.5 times in Canada to 4.9times in Brazil. Another global researchreport by Lenovo revealed that 72 percent of the respondents globally agreedthat they would WFH more than theydid before the health emergency hit.HFS Research reports that the global ITindustry showed a remarkable shift inthe way it operated by enabling over 75per cent of the workforce to WFH. Itranges from 62 per cent in thePhilippines, 72 per cent in the UK, 77per cent in India to 93 per cent inChina.

Similarly, as per the Lenovo survey,81 per cent of the respondents fromIndia agreed to shift to WFH after thepandemic abates. An AssociatedChambers of Commerce and Industryof India (ASSOCHAM) report revealsthat 74 per cent of regular workerswould like to continue with someform of a WFH arrangement in a post-Corona world. The survey results showthat around half of the remote work-ers in the country are from the BusinessProcess Outsourcing (BPO) and theInformation Technology EnabledServices (ITES) sector followed by IT-software, education, e-commerce, pub-lishing, banking, financial services and

the insurance sectors. Since the begin-ning of the lockdown in March, almost90 per cent of the 4.3 millionIT/BPO/ITES sector workforce movedto the WFH model in India.

Advantages: Remote working andthe virtual way of life have benefitedemployees, employers and all stake-holders, allowing them to pause, think,and balance their work, social, physi-cal, mental and digital wellness. Theemployers’ benefit is in the reductionor elimination of real estate costs.They can hire and use talent globallywhile mitigating immigration issues.Firms reap productivity gains whileworkers are enjoying geographical flex-ibility which eliminates commutes,giving them a better work-life balance.

In particular, flexible workspacesallow women to restore a work-life bal-ance. A study published in the Lancetfound that WFH not only benefits pub-lic health but also helps with sustain-able travel. It helps cities lower their car-bon footprint and reduces traffic con-gestions that lead to air pollution. Asa result, employees and employers arespared many of the hidden costs asso-ciated with going to the workplace.

Disadvantages: However, as in allthings, there is a flip side of the coin too.WFH poses the unique challenges ofsocial and professional isolation, tech-nological issues, monitoring and eval-uation of work, the quality of virtualinteractions, feedback from clients andcolleagues. The people working fromhome are vulnerable to longer workinghours, frequent interruptions, cybersecurity challenges, lack of peer sup-port, lack of motivation for team workand in some cases even greater stress.Lack of a proper work space at hometoo has created problems for some,while inappropriate working conditions

led to health issues for others. Face-to-face interaction vital to nurturing rela-tionships and facilitating collaboration,has been absent, leading to reducedmental well-being. It is harder inindustries that require physical locationor presence for manufacturing activi-ties. WFH is least suitable for drivers,construction workers, shop sales pro-fessionals and domestic helpers, as theiroccupations requires high human prox-imity.

The way forward: The IndianGovernment has announced simplifiedguidelines for other service providerslike BPOs, Knowledge ProcessOutsourcing and ITES among others toreduce the compliance burden for theindustry and facilitate WFH and ‘Workfrom Anywhere’.

The Government has removedseveral reporting and regulatory com-pliances for service providers such asdeposit of bank guarantees, require-ment for a static Internet Protocoladdress, publication of the network dia-gram and penal provisions.

According to the Labour Secretary,the Ministry proposes to frame guide-lines for workers employed in the ser-vices sector, such as work flexibility andan explicit WFH provision for compa-nies. These steps are important for thefuture of work, not only in the IT sec-tor but for other service sectors, too.This would help to promote a new workculture and provide the much-neededboost to the emerging gig economy,which has a huge potential to generatenew employment opportunities forthe unemployed men and women inIndia.

(Balwant is Senior Faculty at theIHD and Nidhi is Director at TheVision, New Delhi. The views expressedare personal)

7*��B���������8���������������*�������������*����*������2����������������*����������*�������������������*�����������6�! ���*���� �����������������*�����������

�������� �9( " - 5 & ' 0 , # )

4 �//��5��1���1��$6 ����/��$/�����

�%����%*%-/%0�

#(��'*���8*��( �8)�4%����%��23�,*(#%)( %��32�42 �% ��4�%��2����2�32))2B�B�% �(��42'%���2���%

#%8(4�(2 �23�'()(���/�( �(, (�

'��)���#.+%

��*���#.+%

&�������0�>�-����&

��:����� ����:�$�<��

0 �����:�<�-�&��-�:�->��$-�>��-:����

+$�:��������0�

$-���::� &:� -��0

����&�:�����0�&��-:�&�-�� ���&�����$�����

+ -����<�-�&���� :&-=����<���&�&���<�

����J��-��<-����=���-�?6�&��

0�>�-����&��:�-���>��

:�>�-��-�$�-&�0����

-�0 ��&�-=���$�����:<�-�:�->��

$-�>��-:�: ���:���$�:&��<

+���0 �-��&��:�-�K -����&<�-���:&�&�

�&�-��&$-�&�������-�::�

$ +���&����<��&��-�

��0-������$����

$-�>:��:

��6;6;��������������� �� �������������������� �������!��!���C'""D��������������������"�9'>,/!:?�������������� ��������������������������

�������������������������������������������������!�������C">�D�7��������������������II �����������������!������ �����������'��������������������������!������������� ��������������������'""������.���������3���������������������,���������������">������������������������������ �������������������������� �������"�����������,��������3���C,�3D�����!���������������������� �����"������������������������!����������� �������������������������������������������7��� �������������(���������������,�3������������������������������"�,�3%���������"���������������!��������������������F���������� �����G�������F���������������������������G

8�������<����� � �����������������������������2������������ ������%��������������������������!�������������������� ��������������������%��������������� �����A��"������������������������������������J���7�����,��������� ������������������������������������������������������������������#�����������������������������������������+������ ��/�����������������������������������������,���������3������������������� �����4�'�������9��������C4'9D���������������$��������,����������������� ������3����������������������������������� �������!����,����� �������������������������������������!���������� ���������� ���������� ��� ����������� ���)������������ ������������������� �����������������K0����������������������� ����/���+������ ���������3������������������������������������������������� ��������������� ����������������1,���������%����������,�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������1

0���������������������������������3��������!����������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������� �'������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������0���������� ���4�� �����,�3�������������������������������������� �������������,����%�������������������� ���������������������3����� ����������������������� �������������������������������

.��������������������������������������������!���� �������������������������9����BB63����"���:;*09����� ������F.��������� ��������������� �4�� ����3��������+����9�������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������ �����������������������������������G,�$���� ������� ���� �������4�I������������������������������������������0����I������������������� ������������������������������������! ������������)�����0�����LH����$����9�������9���������������������F���!�������������������������������������������������!������������������������������������G

���������������������$������������������!������������������������4��������������������������������������������������������� ��������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������,�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������9������������

,�,�����������������������������������������������������3������������������������������������������������������ ����������������������� ���������������������������������������������"������ ��������� �� ������������'""�������7�����6;;H���,�3�������������������������������!��!������2� ������ � ������������9�����7������3���9�����������C9739D����������������������������������������������������������������������������������%����������� ��"�������������� ����#�����+�����������/���+������������������� ������� � ������������������������������������������,����� �������������������������!������ )����� �� ����� �� ���� ���� �� ����� ������K "�$���������,�������������3������������������������ �������������������������������������!�����������7����������������������������������������������������������� �����������������

C�������������� ������� ��� ���� �������� !����������"������������#������� ���#����� �"D

With the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) SpecialCourt Judge K Sanal Kumar

pronouncing the verdict in the SisterAbhaya murder case inThiruvananthapuram, sentencingSephy and Thomas Kottoor to lifeimprisonment, an important chapterin this sensational murder case hasbeen closed. However, this is just tem-porary as the accused are likely toappeal against the verdict in theKerala High Court and then in theSupreme Court.

It was a drawn out case becauseSister Abhaya, a novitiate in the Saint

Pius X Convent at Kottayam inKerala, was found dead under mys-terious circumstances in a well on theconvent premises on the morning ofMarch 27, 1992. The Kerala Policewhich probed the case initially, con-cluded that it was a clear case of sui-cide. To substantiate their findings,police officials alleged that Abhayawas from a family which was proneto mental distress and which had ahistory of suicides. Though it has beenmore than 28 years since Abhaya wasfound dead, no journalist could sub-stantiate the claims of the KeralaPolice. Apart from pronouncing thedeath as suicide, the local police aswell as the Crime Branch unit werecompeting with each other to destroythe evidence. A local photographerwho was hired by the police to takethe pictures of Abhaya’s bodydestroyed irrevocably most of thephotographs which showed nailmarks on her neck.

A murder which took place in1992 has come to a conclusion afternearly three decades thanks to the

perseverance of two individuals,Joemon Puthenpurackal, a socialactivist, and Raju, a petty thief whowitnessed the entire drama live whilehiding in a tree in the convent.

A lot could be written aboutAbhaya’s murder but the issue beforeus should not be confined to this casealone. There is a dictum “justicedelayed is justice denied.” If we followthis principle, Abhaya has beendenied justice. Not only Abhaya,there are thousands of people in Indiawho have been denied justice. Whatprevents our courts from speeding upthe litigation process and coming toa conclusion within months of a casebeing filed?

The first time I heard a speech byNarendra Modi was in January 2009when he flew down to Chennai todeliver a keynote address at thePravasi Bharatiya Divas. Modi, whowas the Chief Minister of Gujarat atthat time, centred his speech more onthe development initiatives hisGovernment was taking. He hadsaid that his mission was to ensure a

“zero backlog” of cases in all courtsin the State by 2010. It is hard to tellwhat the current situation in Gujaratcourts is. But if instances like theAbhaya murder case are any indica-tion, India is light years away fromreaching a zero backlog. This has hada detrimental impact on the lives ofmany.

A prime example of this is thecase of the late MKK Nair. Thesenior bureaucrat, who belonged tothe first batch of IndianAdministrative Service (IAS) officersin the country, had his wonderfulcareer cut short by fake cases slappedagainst him by a CBI officer inKerala.

Eventually, the trial court foundthat all charges against Nair weretrumped-up but the damage hadbeen done by then. Nair should haveretired as a Cabinet Secretary in 1977;instead, he was suspended from ser-vice in 1973. It took more than adecade for the court to acquit him ofall charges. It cannot be said that hegot justice. Plus, the country lost the

services of a visionary who was thearchitect of Udyogmandal in Keralathat contributed a lot to the GreenRevolution.

Similarly, AIADMK candidateManoj Pandian, a legal luminarywho contested the Assembly electionfrom Cheranmahadevi constituencyin 2006, was defeated by P Velduraiof the Indian National Congress.Pandian challenged the election in thecourt and it took five years for theapex court to declare Veldurai’s elec-tion as illegal, null and void. The ver-dict came on the day when the peo-ple of Tamil Nadu were on their wayto elect the new Assembly!

In the 2009 election, PChidambaram, the Congress candi-date from the Sivaganga Lok Sabhaconstituency, was declared defeatedinitially. But the counting was stoppedfor a few hours and then it wasannounced by the Returning Officerthat he had won the election, defeat-ing his nearest rival Raja Kannappanby 3,000 votes. Though Kannappanchallenged the result in the Madras

High Court immediately after the poll,the Madras High Court is yet to pro-nounce the verdict, though the coun-try witnessed two Lok Sabha elections(2014 and 2019) since then.

However, it is not just cases relat-ed to elections that get delayed in thecourts. What happened to the 2GSpectrum Scam which was broken byThe Pioneer in 2007? The Coalgatescam? The National Herald case ini-tiated by Subramanian Swamy or theillegal telephone exchange case? Whyare we plagued by this inordinatedelay in our courts? It is no wonderthat kangaroo courts are flourishingin Tamil Nadu and even people whohave reached the age of superannua-tion have enrolled as students in lawcolleges in and around Chennai. It isa sad state of affairs that justice keepson getting delayed and hence deniedin the country. Hopefully, the newyear will bring a renewed effort toclear the backlog of court cases inIndia.

(The writer is a senior journalist.The views expressed are personal)

@�����������������%������������������ ! "�#��$��%�$��#�&��'�#� ()"*�$���� �+)�)*��)�"����% ##��"(�%�')"*������%�"%+$#)�"�,)��)"�'�"��#��&���%�# �- )"*�&)+ (.

%(+���&+.00%$$%)

������� ���������� ��� � !" � #$%�#&#&

...2���/3$��#���2���

( ' - . " * ) � . 1 .

&�%��(,���2*���B���42��%4��2���)����#(��*�5( ,���% #�'2 ,�4)( (4(� ��( ���%� ��2����*'%���2�%����/2* ,������B%�%�3(���2�'�!%�)(3%E�)�%�( ,�#%4(�(2 ���52*�,% #%��(#% �(�/6���()#�% ���% 2��8�B ���2�5%�#%8)2/%#�( �#*)��#%5��%���52*��(#% �(�/6�%(���+%))C��5��@%�/����8�@%#���%�B�/�32����@%�#(4������,(@%��4�()#�% ���%8�2�%4�(2 ���%/�#%�%�@%6

L�������� %#(�2�(�)M

��:&�$���&��-0�&��-��&��

Page 10: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

������10������������������ ��� � !" ��#$%�#&#&

Script Open High Low LTPIDEA 9.49 10.68 9.41 10.56NAUKRI 4620 4677 4590 4663.45INFY 1242.95 1259 1231 1252.95SUPREMEIND 1656.75 1709.95 1656.75 1667.15TATAMOTORS 165.7 169.7 163.35 169.2BAJFINANCE 5020 5168.5 4972.2 5088.55IBULHSGFIN 187.6 205.05 184.45 202.9JKCEMENT 1967.95 1967.95 1893.3 1928.3VEDL 139.6 151.1 137.6 150.45RELIANCE 1932.8 1951.2 1920 1943.8HDFCBANK 1375 1381.1 1361.05 1375.75ICICIBANK 499 505.4 496.3 503.6HCLTECH 923.7 934 915.15 922.5SBIN 257.6 263.85 255.5 263.05WIPRO 374.15 387.6 370.25 385.4INDUSINDBK 840.75 861.35 830 856.85PNB 32.4 32.75 31.7 31.8CIPLA 798 827.2 792.45 824.25KOTAKBANK 1860 1924.95 1860 1921.9RBLBANK 209.1 223 206.95 221.3HDFC 2397.1 2420 2377.05 2400.7TATASTEEL 600 623.9 596.05 621.5TCS 2889 2918 2866.05 2907.2INDIGO 1541 1658 1541 1649SPICEJET 89.6 97.95 89.05 97.95LT 1270 1271 1249 1264.4BSOFT 234.5 267.8 233 261.9TATAELXSI 1661 1810 1641.2 1786.1MARUTI 7390 7550 7380 7448.9BHARTIARTL 501.5 509.4 498.5 507.35JUBLFOOD 2789 2804 2707 2753.95CANBK 115.7 121.55 114.5 120.8BAJAJFINSV 8940.1 9143.75 8875.1 9010.15ITC 203.7 208 202.1 207.7PVR 1262 1319 1233.85 1312.05DISHTV 13.99 16.3 13.83 15.57MPHASIS 1444 1628 1435.05 1573.2AMBUJACEM 235.45 238.65 231.65 237.35ONGC 91 91.25 88.05 90.8MINDTREE 1535.2 1608.35 1530.15 1595.9TATACONSUM 577 606.85 573.35 605.35FEDERALBNK 62.15 64.75 61.3 64.2PEL 1340 1432.05 1340 1424.15IOC 88.8 88.95 86.3 88.2DLF 219.75 230.5 217.55 228.7SAIL 57.15 59.7 54.95 59.05BAJAJ-AUTO 3276 3318 3261.75 3309.2PIDILITIND 1730 1778.85 1715.75 1731.45DRREDDY 5151.45 5235 5128.05 5221.4ZEEL 214.95 218.25 210 217.1ASHOKLEY 92.15 95.5 91.6 95.2M&M 693 714.35 689 711.35TECHM 948 960 941.25 947.95ESCORTS 1238 1288.6 1237.1 1269GODREJPROP 1299.95 1385 1288.4 1376.7LTI 3575 3698 3551.95 3673.95AXISBANK 590 594.5 584 592.35BANKBARODA 58.95 60.8 58.05 60.55M&MFIN 163 174.5 163 174.05ASIANPAINT 2607.9 2649.6 2605.1 2642.75NCC 52 57.2 51.4 56.75MRF 76747.8 77239.2 75338.35 75819.8JINDALSTEL 258.35 263.3 253.85 262.1BHEL 32.75 34.15 32.3 33.95HINDUNILVR 2320 2379.1 2304 2371.25MFSL 644.65 688 644.3 685.15BPCL 373.95 377.25 369.6 374.4HDFCAMC 2894 2981 2857.9 2936.95SRTRANSFIN 935.5 969.1 928.95 961.75APOLLOHOSP 2410 2460 2391.2 2432.9ADANIGAS 363 372 358.05 369.9APOLLOTYRE 177.5 179.75 173.45 178.1DEEPAKNI 893.8 923 882.2 904.35SCI 87.55 92.5 86.05 90.75DABUR 505 512.75 502.5 510.5HDFCLIFE 641 649.55 634.05 648.35UPL 442 452.9 439 452MOTHERSUMI 150 152.4 146.75 151.4LTTS 2263 2348.5 2232.8 2321.95COALINDIA 135.85 136.8 133.85 135TITAN 1506 1520 1475.15 1490.25ADANIPORTS 463.55 476.6 462.95 471.4ADANIPOWER 45.35 47.1 45.05 47.1ULTRACEMCO 5090 5090 4984.95 5033.25L&TFH 86.5 89.9 85.4 89.5HINDALCO 231 237.85 228 235.95BANDHANBNK 399 402.5 392 399.05BIRLACORPN 694 724 680.8 698.95LUPIN 960 969.8 950.1 963COFORGE 2595 2659.8 2546.1 2630.8LAURUSLABS 344.4 347 337.65 344.05ADANIENT 457.95 466.7 454.4 463.15TATAPOWER 73 74.4 71.55 74.15NESTLEIND 18505 18817.7 1850518723.35GAIL 120 120 116.65 118.2IRCTC 1414.9 1422.8 1380.1 1411.9HFCL 24.2 26.15 24.15 26DIXON 12700 13237.15 12523.0512644.05FRETAIL 74.3 75.1 72.35 75.1IGL 498 498 482.5 487.85BEL 113.1 115.9 112.5 115.4ECLERX 780 879 775.1 868.25IDFCFIRSTB 34.65 36.1 34.35 35.9BIOCON 461.2 487.7 459.35 483.85SUNPHARMA 569 576.5 566.25 574.5SUZLON 4.75 5.17 4.75 5.15AARTIIND 1180 1210.4 1175.6 1203.8PHILIPCARB 153 169 152 165.2

SUNTV 478.7 490 470.9 488.05OFSS 3120.45 3156.1 3100 3143.2HONAUT 34800 38176.95 34799.837439.55NTPC 99.15 99.5 97.75 98.55HINDPETRO* 211.9 211.9 208.4 210.3CADILAHC 468 478.95 464.9 474.75BATAINDIA 1534.85 1587.65 1522.15 1582.45IDBI 34.2 34.25 32.7 32.9BALKRISIND 1558 1585.85 1545 1561.4HEROMOTOCO 3054.7 3071.55 3008.75 3045.8BRITANNIA 3631.5 3666 3605.6 3623.7BANKINDIA 48 48.9 47.4 48.7DIVISLAB 3719 3719 3661 3689.45FSL 76.8 80.5 76.8 79.85ACC 1558 1585.5 1538.2 1579.65IBREALEST 68.45 72.35 67.8 71.1EICHERMOT 2452.1 2475.25 2416.6 2446.1PAGEIND 27969.6 28400 27461.227611.05LICHSGFIN 348 358 346.3 357AUROPHARMA 864.95 892.45 848.6 889.9DMART 2660 2672.65 2625 2662BEML 896 927 861.2 918.6RAYMOND 325.75 342.25 325.75 339.35IPCALAB 2173 2230 2146 2156.55WOCKPHARMA 467 493.75 466.8 491NBCC 28.5 30.1 28.1 29.95SOUTHBANK 8.32 9.03 8.3 8.95CENTURYTEX 358 394 358 391.55CUB 172.25 186 172.25 180.3

JSWSTEEL 361 367.75 357.95 366.95DELTACORP 156.15 158.9 153.35 155.85SYNGENE 605.85 623.7 599.2 615.85RAIN 117 122.5 116.3 121.3TATACHEM 476 481.2 471.85 473.85BHARATFORG 516.7 542.45 512 538.85JUBILANT 794 828.25 783.7 821.95ICICIGI 1460 1478.4 1444.2 1457.6CONCOR 388.55 392.8 382.75 391.65JUSTDIAL 628.95 633.25 615.3 621.05HAVELLS 880.9 896.95 877.7 893.15HEG 851 894.2 851 887.5BLISSGVS 176.9 182 175.15 178.1PFIZER 5180 5230 5180 5207.65GRANULES 367 370.15 364.8 366.4INDIAMART 6080 6084 5838.3 6026.4PERSISTENT 1395 1468.3 1392.05 1455.85ATUL 6217.05 6540 6190.65 6514.05ASTRAZEN 4240 4418 4240 4300.7GLENMARK 488 497.7 487.6 494.75ABCAPITAL 82.85 87.35 81.05 86.65ADANIGREEN 1029.5 1049 1013.9 1044.25KPITTECH 124.3 126.65 118.5 122.45DALBHARAT 1013.05 1052.45 1000 1039.45LALPATHLAB 2195.05 2230 2191.95 2223.65ALKYLAMINE 3884.95 3924.6 3655.05 3913.35TATAMTRDVR 68.5 69.8 67.2 69.15GMRINFRA 25 26.15 24.9 26NATIONALUM 40.45 41.35 39.45 40.95GRASIM 886.55 908.1 880.1 901.95PFC 113.6 115.1 111 113.55STLTECH 163.4 171.45 161.05 170.1NMDC 112.55 112.55 108.25 111.7GRAPHITE 280 297.7 280 295.25CHOLAFIN 365.95 378 358.65 376.15GODREJCP 715.1 718.85 706.8 713.7SBICARD 826.1 840 820.05 830.25BOMDYEING 71.55 77.2 71.55 76.8MANAPPURAM 162.1 166 160.35 165.05SONATSOFTW 368.95 387.25 362.35 377HINDCOPPER 58.7 61.9 57.05 61.25HAL 795 808 793.15 804.8LEMONTREE 39.5 41.95 39.3 41.65INDUSTOWER 233 238.35 226.75 237BERGEPAINT 718.8 736.75 711 733.6ASHOKA 85 95.25 83.55 94.15EMAMILTD 417 430 415.4 420.65TVSMOTOR 466.55 485.5 462.2 483.6ENGINERSIN 76.2 77.35 76.2 76.9INDHOTEL 119.45 125 117 124.75MCX 1692 1692 1635 1672.6STAR 769.9 797.75 769.9 791.8AUBANK 869.5 874.1 845.45 868.15VOLTAS 797.7 824.1 794.25 820.35IFCI 9 9.61 8.74 9.3SIEMENS 1506.25 1553.55 1499.05 1548.25SHK 115.3 123.7 114.75 121.4ERIS 561.85 596.4 546.95 586.45ADANITRANS 410 430.3 406.55 428.15IRCON 84.9 90.4 83.95 88.2DCBBANK 112.45 116.95 110.55 112.6SRF 5331 5565 5331 5530.05UBL 1095.85 1144.95 1091.55 1135.35OBEROIRLTY 535 564.95 534.8 552.85

HAWKINCOOK 5429.95 5429.95 5200 5272.25POLYCAB 1019.9 1039 1004.45 1037POWERINDIA 1283.55 1400 1273.95 1363.95MUTHOOTFIN 1193.4 1211.65 1179 1191.15ICICIPRULI 484.85 490 482.8 484.45SWSOLAR 235 238.25 221 224.25KTKBANK 51 54.5 51 54.05RECLTD 131.85 133.6 129.7 131.85POWERGRID 191.05 191.05 189.15 189.8GUJGAS 367 367 348.2 364.3KAJARIACER 655 709.5 655 702.9IDFC 37.1 37.8 36.15 37.55ITDC 283 307.9 270.9 303.1VBL 910 944.4 880 903.05EXIDEIND 184.15 188.15 183.4 185.35CENTRALBK 13.4 13.88 13.31 13.79MGL 1047 1065.3 1035.5 1055.95WHIRLPOOL 2210.05 2280.5 2166.4 2261.75CHENNPETRO 101 101.75 96.55 97.9RVNL 22.7 23 22.1 22.8FINEORG 2385.15 2385.15 2334 2360.4NAVINFLUOR 2567.8 2587.35 2504.7 2529.4ASTRAL 1540.1 1605.85 1533.6 1589.55FORTIS 155 158.25 153 154AVANTI 516 521 502.4 511.1WABAG 192 210.7 192 208.9HATHWAY 30.5 33 30.5 32.9COLPAL 1548 1572.4 1533 1567.2SBILIFE 852.4 858.35 847.45 856.65ABBOTINDIA 15790 15916.05 15511.15 15775.8CROMPTON 368.5 368.5 349.1 352.25JYOTHYLAB 139.5 145.65 136.6 144.9HEIDELBERG 206.1 212.85 206.1 211.1CAPPL 482 506 478.5 495.8JSLHISAR 131.55 148.4 130.45 144.8GMM 3565 3635 3540 3575.55BALRAMCHIN 169.95 176.7 167.85 176.1MARICO 399 407.75 396 405.35TRIDENT 8.95 9.4 8.8 9.28INDIANB 81.5 86 81.3 85.35VIPIND 333 346.5 330.9 344.85GREAVESCOT 79.5 84.25 79.5 82.85SHREECEM 23899.45 24233 2385023897.95TAKE 48.65 50.6 48.25 49.15AMARAJABAT 923.95 952.15 919.15 946.35JSWENERGY 68.5 70.65 67.65 68.95ADVENZYMES 317.45 326 315.85 324.1PCJEWELLER 24.25 26 24.15 25.75SUMICHEM 292.5 303 291.1 293.7RELAXO 792.2 802.4 773.7 781.4RAMCOCEM 786 796.7 783.35 790.9JKPAPER 105.5 108.9 105.5 108.05PETRONET 247.75 250 245.25 249.15HSCL 42.25 43.2 42.25 42.6WELCORP 126 127.5 122.75 126.35GSPL 208.4 209.1 204.2 205.55CGCL 297.35 320.15 297.35 308.1VMART 2420.85 2571.5 2408 2485.9SWANENERGY 129.4 131.4 125 130.95RCF 50.5 52.6 50 52.3CUMMINSIND 577 590 577 583.8CHAMBLFERT 222.6 229.75 219.4 226.65APLAPOLLO 747 760 734.4 753.35TORNTPHARM 2744.15 2804.9 2744.1 2799.05KPRMILL 894.95 904.95 873.4 884.1PIIND 2225.1 2244.6 2210 2220.85GSFC 67 70.7 66.5 69.05HINDZINC 233 241.45 232.95 239.95TV18BRDCST 30.7 31.1 30.15 30.85GNFC 211.7 221.25 211.7 217.1NOCIL 142.75 145.5 141 143.35UNIONBANK 29.3 29.8 28.9 29.7LAOPALA 221 229.9 220 225.8EQUITAS 67.9 67.9 65.35 67THYROCARE 923.6 940 911.35 924.85BAJAJCON 209 216.6 209 215.2TRENT 687.6 688.55 678.25 680.95JKTYRE 73 74.65 72.15 74.5PGHL 6723 7222 6723 7029.6UJJIVAN 268 277.1 268 274.65NHPC 22.3 22.7 22.15 22.65SUNTECK 328.3 335.55 321.65 330.3ISEC 442 454 441.95 451.35GICRE 137.1 144.9 136.95 141.3BOSCHLTD 12672.45 12727 12556.85 12654.1TATACOMM 1011 1060 1001.1 1048.35PRESTIGE 256 270.45 256 266.1NAM-INDIA 295 304.5 294.7 303.4CEATLTD 1079.8 1081.6 1049.1 1066.25AFFLE 3888 3900 3847 3866.05ALKEM 2851.15 2882 2827.7 2869BLUESTARCO 800.95 815 783.4 787.95CASTROLIND 122 124.3 121 123.7CESC 577 597 577 594.55J&KBANK 21.98 23.07 21.98 22.92IIFL 114 114 108.55 112BAYERCROP 5388 5388 5130 5346VARROC 367.95 385 367.95 383DBL 368 384.2 365 382UJJIVANSFB 38 38.7 37.8 38.25SOBHA 322.45 336 320.05 328.2EDELWEISS 71.95 72.85 70.35 71.2INTELLECT 302 313 301 310.25JAMNAAUTO 56.05 58.25 56.05 57.7KALPATPOWR 299 309.3 298.65 304.3NATCOPHARM 900.9 923.5 900.9 920.15NLCINDIA 54.6 55.2 53.6 54.3VINATIORGA 1133.95 1144.1 1128 1134.1DCMSHRIRAM 386 394 370.3 373

GALAXYSURF 1880 1952.6 1874.45 1932.75SOMANYCERA 309.35 332.75 309.35 327.35VENKYS 1587.65 1646.85 1584.65 1630.25HUDCO 37.9 39.6 37.55 39CSBBANK 224 226.5 215 225.75AAVAS 1650.15 1739.9 1650.15 1694.2SHOPERSTOP 197.75 211.15 197.1 204.65KRBL 247.8 250 244.55 246.8NIACL 119 127.35 119 126.05CARERATING 501.15 516.45 501.15 513.4INDIACEM 140 143.6 139.4 142.5EIHOTEL 90 92.9 89.3 92.35FCONSUMER 7.99 8.22 7.87 8.22ABFRL 151.5 156.5 150.9 155.6MASFIN 911 966.5 896.85 911.6GMDCLTD 47.9 50.1 47.8 49.95ITI 123 126.5 122 125.3WESTLIFE 424.4 436.95 423.85 428.8RADICO 452 460 447.55 449.7JMFINANCIL 80.25 85.35 80.25 84.15MMTC 21.6 23.6 21.6 23.4ABB 1196.65 1235 1194.75 1199BDL 318 325 316.15 322.35JKLAKSHMI 320.3 343 320.3 342.2INOXLEISUR 273.2 280.95 265.5 280APLLTD 1056 1080.9 1053.2 1062.95SPARC 176 180.5 175.9 179.65DEEPAKFERT 151.5 156.5 150.75 154.7CYIENT 517.8 524.5 514.6 518.2FORCEMOT 1323 1337.35 1263.05 1314.55LAXMIMACH 4657 4849.5 4655.5 4793.7VRLLOG 195.7 197.45 191.5 194.6JAICORPLTD 87.95 91.25 87.95 90.25TORNTPOWER 315.35 326.85 313.95 325.35JSL 66.2 72.2 66.2 71.35RAJESHEXPO 497 497 475 485.65REPCOHOME 231 243.8 229.9 238MOIL 136 138.8 134.1 135.05IRB 102 106.3 101.65 105.45ORIENTCEM 84 84.1 81.8 83.75PARAGMILK 105.5 112.95 105 111.9HIMATSEIDE 136.2 149 136.2 146.2RITES 263.1 270 263.1 266.6ZENSARTECH 236 241.75 231 236.25GILLETTE 5725.05 5850 5725.05 5826.15SUDARSCHEM 465.5 473.95 453.4 469.5BBTC 1248 1287.75 1239.2 1275.9GUJALKALI 350 363.35 350 354.8EIDPARRY 319.9 325.85 317.65 324.25MINDAIND 397.9 402 387 399.35SJVN 25.25 25.7 24.9 25.1KNRCON 336.35 339.15 327 333.5MINDACORP 84.8 85.8 83.15 85.45BAJAJHLDNG 3034.25 3087.75 3011.1 3069.25GODFRYPHLP 938.95 957.65 930.3 947.65MAHABANK 12.9 13.3 12.46 13.19KEI 480.65 493.05 480.35 485.9BAJAJELEC 613.3 621.6 605.1 611.8CCL 260 266.85 260 261.5IOB 10.07 10.68 9.84 10.62BALMLAWRIE 110.35 115 108.95 114.25JINDALSAW 73.5 75 71.5 74.6AJANTPHARM 1645.15 1670.05 1610.8 1627.55GEPIL 276 285 276 282.45DCAL 141.8 145 139.4 141.95RALLIS 268 275.3 267.85 270.4KANSAINER 560.25 574 558.25 568.95METROPOLIS 1900.1 1968 1900.1 1949.7IFBIND 1116.05 1165.6 1110 1136.05CREDITACC 795.05 809.8 786.95 798.1KEC 347 365.6 347 362FINCABLES 332 344 328.45 337.85SANOFI 7961 8097 7961 8058.65MEGH 78 80.6 77.25 79.8INDOSTAR 317.45 343.15 317.45 323.85FDC 324 332 322.6 328.65CANFINHOME 472 483 468.9 480.5OIL 102 105.5 102 105GESHIP 255 259 252.05 258.1WELSPUNIND 67.1 70 67.1 69.8MOTILALOFS 606 616.4 596.6 612.35LINDEINDIA 909.25 988 908 954.4GLAXO 1539.45 1550 1515 1527.55TATACOFFEE 103 107 102.8 106.65WABCOINDIA 5550 5929.05 5550 5748.3TATAMETALI 586.5 601 586.5 591.8INDOCO 278.4 285.75 276.9 285.3AMBER 2291.9 2325 2286.55 2309.85GODREJAGRO 523 536 520.2 531.7EPL 253.2 257 249.85 253.1TNPL 124.75 125.9 122 124.8TATAINVEST 979.95 1013.5 965.75 1003.1NESCO 509.15 536 509.15 525.25PGHH 10985.75 11108 10972.45 11030.8JBCHEPHARM 1044 1060 1040.4 1045.55UFLEX 363.5 377.2 363.5 374.6JCHAC 2244.9 2284.95 2220 2253.05NBVENTURES 54 55.5 53.5 55.25DHANUKA 723 740.2 717.75 738.55AEGISLOG 237.8 243.6 235.75 240.1SHANKARA 328 353.05 328 348.55CENTURYPLY 223.85 234.65 223.85 231.8PNBHOUSING 344 358 340.1 354.15PNCINFRA 167.65 173 167.05 172.3MAHSEAMLES 328 332.45 324.75 327.25TIINDIA 811.5 816.65 792.55 807.9IEX 220.8 220.8 213.05 214.15SPANDANA 732.9 740 722.8 728.85COROMANDEL 775 793 770 791

UCOBANK 12.26 12.54 12.19 12.48MRPL 33.4 34.15 33.3 33.85MIDHANI 198.7 198.7 192.65 197.3TCIEXP 885.95 932.05 884.75 910.25TTKPRESTIG 5685.3 5775 5685.3 5742.8JTEKTINDIA 88.3 88.3 83.95 87.15SIS 435 447.65 429.95 440QUESS 460.2 471.5 454.9 469.05SCHNEIDER 85.9 85.9 80.5 82.1COCHINSHIP 349.3 358.45 349.3 355.1PRSMJOHNSN 85.95 90 85.95 88.25ALLCARGO 131.6 133.85 130.5 132.4BRIGADE 242.85 248.55 238.2 241.153MINDIA 21352.9 21490 21006 21073ZYDUSWELL 1897.95 1920 1880.5 1904.2PTC 57.5 59.05 57.4 58.95TASTYBIT 12478.05 12589 12013.4512287.05BLUEDART 3849.4 3900 3810.65 3853.45ASTERDM 171 171.1 168.6 169.5ENDURANCE 1179.25 1198.9 1170 1184.6GET&D 113.8 114.5 110.4 113.9CRISIL 1911 1931.2 1890.15 1891.95ARVINDFASN 147 153.3 147 151.35GRSE 186 196 186 195.1ORIENTELEC 215.05 221.5 215.05 218.65VAIBHAVGBL 2116 2150 2102 2134.75PHOENIXLTD 740.55 754.25 728.25 738.25VSTIND 3763.65 3780.3 3698.35 3736.15TCNSBRANDS 462 467.55 448.5 453.55GARFIBRES 2117.6 2218 2117.6 2183.4LUXIND 1578.6 1605.2 1578.6 1599.65CERA 3194.4 3328.95 3194.4 3260.55GODREJIND 439 439 426.9 431.35INFIBEAM 82.8 85.5 82.8 83.75MAHLOG 398 407.5 396.35 405NH 423 429 412.4 426.6BASF 1530 1579 1530 1570AKZOINDIA 2213.8 2249.95 2199.1 2210.55MAHINDCIE 157.65 162.5 156.95 160.05SYMPHONY 934.95 934.95 915.95 926.35

TVTODAY 204.85 218.85 204.85 217.65FLUOROCHEM 568.8 578 560 570.2MAHSCOOTER 3650.05 3748.8 3650.05 3677.8SHRIRAMCIT 1011 1058.7 1011 1049.65TEAMLEASE 2498.4 2525.85 2433.5 2495.05GHCL 190.1 195.55 190.1 194.6TVSSRICHAK 1849 1875 1827.1 1847THERMAX 882.5 909.05 881.65 900.5VGUARD 186 189.4 185.95 187.85AIAENG 1985.6 2020.6 1979.3 1988.6ESABINDIA 1760 1799 1713.3 1747.4FINOLEXIND 606.05 628.45 606.05 621.65DBCORP 79.8 81.9 79.8 81.7SKFINDIA 1631.4 1659.75 1631.4 1653.7SUPRAJIT 193.25 195.6 190.7 193.25GPPL 88.9 91.85 88.9 90.9TIMKEN 1106.8 1144.45 1101.7 1140.7SOLARINDS 1063.95 1078.5 1030 1057.95TIMETECHNO 46 47.6 46 47.25RATNAMANI 1581 1581 1495.6 1560.05ORIENTREF 220.65 225.1 218.05 224.35KSB 597.65 614.3 597.65 610.5VTL 1025 1037.7 1008.05 1029SUNDRMFAST 534.1 545 526 542.05GRINDWELL 670 685 652.5 680.1HERITGFOOD 295 295.85 288.15 293.45SCHAEFFLER 4198 4289.65 4194.15 4239.15CARBORUNIV 368.25 383 368.25 380.35NAVNETEDUL 85.5 85.5 81.8 82.15STARCEMENT 87.6 92 87.6 90.9GDL 115.95 117.8 114.25 114.85SFL 1632.7 1665 1625 1645.75IIFLWAM 1008.95 1027.75 987.15 998.95NILKAMAL 1415.3 1440.85 1415.3 1439.65REDINGTON 134.9 134.9 132.1 132.85OMAXE 78.2 82.5 77.4 81.85GULFOILLUB 722 733.05 720.25 731.25CHOLAHLDNG 530.5 541.5 528.25 539.15JAGRAN 41.45 42 41.3 41.9MAHLIFE 328.55 339.25 328.55 336.75MHRIL 196.4 207.05 195.55 206.15

����� ��

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 13,473.50 13,619.45 13,432.20 13,601.10 134.8WIPRO 374 387.6 371.7 384.95 20.75CIPLA 796.35 827 792.25 824.9 29.9TATASTEEL 599 624.2 596.3 621.8 20.45TATAMOTORS 165 169.7 163.4 169.5 4.55HINDUNILVR 2,320.00 2,377.30 2,303.25 2,373.00 62INFY 1,238.00 1,258.85 1,230.55 1,252.00 31.5M&M 693 715 688.25 712 16.95INDUSINDBK 841.95 861.95 832.75 860.8 20.1HINDALCO 231.35 237.9 227.5 237.4 5.5SBIN 256.95 263.9 255.6 263 5.55ITC 203 208.25 202 207.6 4.2BAJFINANCE 5,000.00 5,166.00 4,970.35 5,095.00 83.6UPL 444.5 452.7 438.3 451.9 7.25BAJAJ-AUTO 3,281.00 3,318.95 3,261.00 3,315.00 49.7ASIANPAINT 2,604.00 2,650.00 2,604.00 2,638.15 37.35GRASIM 886.1 909 881.35 897.35 12.15JSWSTEEL 361 367.7 357.75 366.85 4.9BHARTIARTL 500.3 509.5 498.4 507 6.7TCS 2,876.05 2,919.00 2,865.45 2,907.15 34.65HDFCLIFE 641.25 649.9 633.75 648.85 7.6DRREDDY 5,161.45 5,238.70 5,131.25 5,217.90 56.1SUNPHARMA 570 576.55 566.1 574.5 6.2ICICIBANK 499 505.5 496.55 505 4.7NESTLEIND 18,555.05 18,812.00 18,514.95 18,720.00 166.45HCLTECH 920 935 914.8 921.9 8.1KOTAKBANK 1,901.00 1,924.80 1,892.50 1,919.95 17BAJAJFINSV 8,900.00 9,140.00 8,880.00 9,006.10 67.25MARUTI 7,400.40 7,555.60 7,394.00 7,450.00 54.6AXISBANK 589 594.5 584.3 594 4.25ONGC 90.5 91.3 88.3 91.2 0.65BPCL 373 377.2 369.4 374.8 2.3RELIANCE 1,930.00 1,951.45 1,920.65 1,947.00 10.3HDFCBANK 1,367.50 1,380.95 1,361.05 1,378.00 4.9LT 1,268.00 1,271.30 1,248.35 1,266.95 4.25ADANIPORTS 467.15 476.7 462.5 470 1.35SBILIFE 855.5 859 847.65 856.4 2.45TECHM 946.55 959.75 941 946.8 2.15IOC 88.2 88.6 86.75 88.15 0.2SHREECEM 23,916.70 24,240.00 23,830.90 23,950.00 33.3HDFC 2,398.00 2,419.65 2,376.75 2,405.90 2.25BRITANNIA 3,641.60 3,668.35 3,605.25 3,632.90 2.5EICHERMOT 2,446.00 2,474.95 2,417.00 2,447.00 0.3ULTRACEMCO 4,999.60 5,075.00 4,980.25 5,021.00 -0.3GAIL 119 119.5 116.65 118.45 -0.05COALINDIA 135.5 136.7 134.1 135.45 -0.05POWERGRID 191.5 191.7 189 190.1 -0.2NTPC 99.05 99.4 97.8 98.75 -0.15TITAN 1,504.70 1,519.80 1,478.05 1,491.00 -7.8DIVISLAB 3,709.60 3,715.00 3,660.00 3,695.00 -25.95HEROMOTOCO 3,046.60 3,073.50 3,012.00 3,020.00 -29.1

SE 500B

����������

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 31,489.55 31,994.95 31,342.45 31,949.80 532.5PEL 1,354.00 1,432.95 1,341.40 1,424.00 88.55TATACONSUM 577.8 606.85 573.05 606.6 30.6ADANITRANS 411.3 429.9 406 428.85 20.55INDIGO 1,566.00 1,658.90 1,547.25 1,650.00 79.05BIOCON 462.2 487.75 459.1 482.25 20.1DLF 220.45 230.5 217.7 227.8 8.45UBL 1,099.00 1,145.00 1,092.95 1,136.15 40.85AUROPHARMA 859 892 851 887.3 30.25BANKBARODA 58.8 60.8 58.35 60.65 1.85BERGEPAINT 716 736.25 710.35 735 22.15HINDZINC 235 241.5 232.55 239.55 7.15LTI 3,575.00 3,698.50 3,553.00 3,669.75 96.75GICRE 137.65 144.95 136.75 140.6 3.6SIEMENS 1,513.00 1,553.80 1,499.00 1,545.70 37.65PFC 112.2 115.25 111.05 113.7 2.6BAJAJHLDNG 3,030.00 3,087.50 3,010.00 3,079.95 64.05TORNTPHARM 2,743.95 2,805.00 2,735.00 2,800.00 56.4HDFCAMC 2,880.00 2,982.80 2,855.25 2,940.00 58.95HAVELLS 880.5 897.9 876.1 897.9 17.35MARICO 398 408.35 395.35 406.5 7.6ABBOTINDIA 15,643.50 15,900.00 15,526.00 15,790.00 279.9ADANIGREEN 1,035.00 1,050.00 1,012.10 1,048.00 18.1MOTHERSUMI 149.45 152.4 146.6 151.4 2.5CONCOR 388 392.8 382.55 392.25 5.95MCDOWELL-N 556.6 568.2 555.75 564.3 8.5DMART 2,650.00 2,675.00 2,621.30 2,665.00 39.25INDUSTOWER 233.9 238.2 226.7 236.2 3.45DABUR 505 512.5 502.3 511.5 7.25COLPAL 1,541.00 1,572.00 1,531.90 1,567.55 20.75CADILAHC 467.25 479.25 465.05 474 4.95PGHH 11,000.00 11,119.15 10,959.95 11,012.00 108.15ACC 1,547.00 1,583.00 1,541.00 1,580.00 15.05LUPIN 957.4 969.7 948 963.2 8.65OFSS 3,139.00 3,157.85 3,098.45 3,139.00 26.2BANDHANBNK 395.9 402.65 391.55 400 3.3ALKEM 2,852.00 2,880.00 2,829.40 2,877.00 23.4MUTHOOTFIN 1,183.00 1,212.45 1,177.65 1,192.45 9.55PIDILITIND 1,734.00 1,778.00 1,716.15 1,731.00 12.3BOSCHLTD 12,640.00 12,729.95 12,529.05 12,690.00 68.15ICICIPRULI 483.95 490 482.5 485 2.5PETRONET 249 250 245.25 249.15 1.25SBICARD 828 840.5 820 826 3.7GODREJCP 717 719 706 715.5 2.9NAUKRI 4,600.00 4,679.00 4,581.10 4,638.40 13.75NMDC 112.2 112.5 108.75 111.5 0.3ICICIGI 1,460.00 1,474.75 1,442.10 1,459.00 1.2HINDPETRO 210.85 211.45 208.35 210.85 0AMBUJACEM 234.9 238.75 231.5 237.05 -0.55IGL 496 496 483 487.9 -4.9PNB 32.1 32.75 31.7 31.85 -1.55

����� ��������

Businesses with monthlyturnover of over �50 lakh

will have to mandatorily pay atleast 1 per cent of their GST lia-bility in cash, the FinanceMinistry said as it moved tocurb evasion by fake invoicing.

The Central Board ofIndirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) has introduced Rule86B in Goods and Services Tax(GST) rules which restrictsuse of input tax credit (ITC) fordischarging GST liability to 99per cent.

“... The registered personshall not use the amount avail-able in electronic credit ledgerto discharge his liabilitytowards output tax in excess of99 per cent of tax liability, incases where the value of taxablesupply ... In a month exceeds �50 lakh,” the CBIC said.

While calculating theturnover threshold, sales fromGST exempt goods and zerorates supply would not be

included. However, this restriction

will not apply where the man-aging director or any partnerhave paid more than �1 lakh asincome tax or the registeredperson has received a refundamount of more than �1 lakhin the preceding financial yearon account of unutilised inputtax credit.

EY Tax Partner AbhishekJain said the government hasput restrictions on seamlessinput credit utilisation withintroduction of Rule 89B,which blocks utilisation of ITCbeyond 99 per cent of the out-put liability, for businesses hav-ing taxable turnover of morethan Rs 50 lakh per month.

“With the governmentproviding reasonable excep-tions to this rule, the idearemains to prevent misutilisa-tion of credit by businesses tak-ing fake credits,” Jain added.

Further, the CBIC hasamended GST rules restrictingfiling of outward supply details

in GSTR-1 for business thathave not paid tax for the pastperiods by filing GSTR 3B.

So far, until now, non-fil-ing of GSTR 3B resulted inblockage of e-way bill but willnow result in GSTR 1 blockageas well.

Abhishek Jain, TaxPartner, EY said, “The gov-ernment has now restricted fil-ing of outward supply detailsin GSTR 1 return for busi-nesses who have not paid taxfor the past periods by filingGSTR 3B.

“The government’s ideahere seems to be to curb inputtax credit passing by business-es which have otherwise notpaid their GST liability,” Jainadded.

AMRG & AssociatesSenior Partner Rajat Mohansaid, “These changes indicatethat government is grapplingwith lower tax collections andhigh tax evasions, burden ofwhich will again be on honesttaxpayers”.

����� ��������

India has been ordered toreturn up to USD 1.4 billion

to Cairn Energy plc of UK afteran international arbitrationoverturned tax demanded ret-rospectively - an award the gov-ernment indicated it may chal-lenge.

The three-member tri-bunal, which also comprised ofa nominee of the Indian gov-ernment, unanimously ruledthat India’s claim of �10,247crore in past taxes over a 2006-07 internal reorganisation ofCairn’s India business was nota valid demand.

India, it said, “failed toaccord the Claimants’ (CairnEnergy’s) investments fair andequitable treatment” under thebilateral investment protectionpact the nation had with theUK, it said in a 582-page order.

The tribunal ordered thegovernment to desist fromseeking such a tax and return

the value of shares it had sold,dividends seized and taxrefunds withheld to recover thetax demand.

The government wasasked to compensate Cairn“for the total harm suffered”together with interest and costof arbitration, according to theorder. While the order does notcontain a provision for chal-lenge or appeal against theaward, the government said itwill study the arbitration awardand “will consider all optionsand take a decision on the fur-ther course of action, includinglegal remedies before appro-priate fora.” Cairn, according topeople aware of the matter, canuse the arbitration award toapproach courts in countriessuch as the UK to seize anyproperty owned by India hasoverseas to recover the moneyif the award is not honoured.

In a statement, CairnEnergy said it had been award-ed USD 1.2 billion damages

plus interest and costs.Sources said including

USD 200 million of interest andUSD 22 million of arbitrationcost, the total amount payableby the Indian government isUSD 1.4 billion (about Rs10,500 crore).

This is the second loss thegovernment has suffered inthree months over the retro-spective levy of taxes. InSeptember, UK’s VodafoneGroup won an internationalarbitration against the demandof Rs 22,100 crore in taxes.

However, Cairn was theonly company against whichthe government took action torecover retrospective taxes.During the pendency of thearbitration, the governmentsold Cairn’s near 5 per centholding in Vedanta Ltd, seizeddividends totalling Rs 1,140crore due to it from thoseshareholdings and set off a Rs1,590-crore tax refund againstthe demand.

����� � �+�

The Sensex and Niftydefied gravity for the sec-

ond straight session onWednesday as investorsscooped up IT and FMCGshares amid a firm trend inglobal markets.

A recovering rupee andglobal drugmakers’ assertionthat their Covid-19 vaccineswill work against a new coro-navirus strain the UK furthershored up investor confi-dence, traders said. The 30-share BSE Sensex rallied437.49 points or 0.95 per centto close at 46,444.18.Similarly, the broader NSENifty surged 134.80 points or1 per cent to 13,601.10. HULwas the top gainer in theSensex pack, spurting 2.67 per

cent, followed by Infosys,M&M, SBI, ITC, IndusIndBank, Bajaj Finance, AsianPaints, Bharti Airtel and TCS.Only four index componentsclosed lower -- Titan,PowerGrid, NTPC andHDFC, shedding up to 0.81per cent. Global marketswere largely positive afterdrug companies l ikeBioNTech, Moderna andAstraZeneca exuded confi-dence that their COVID-19vaccines will be effectiveagainst the new virus strainreported in the UK. However,gains were capped after USPresident Donald Trumphinted at vetoing the USD 900billion economic aid packagepassed by the Congress due tothe “ridiculously low” USD600 aid for individuals.

�'B4C����������� ���������+D��)�� ����#

�����9�6������

1������������������������C.6>�����������!����

'�#�����,���7��#�"��#��!����#����38���- +�&�����,���$��,/�

<:1��� ��������������������*�������������������������������

!�(�A��������������6@/����)�0������������(������������������#�������������

����� � �+�

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas has asked banks to take

proactive measures to strength-

en their resilience and lendingcapacity by raising capital, thecentral bank said in a statementon Wednesday.

During a two-day meeting

with heads of banks, includingthe private sector lenders, thegovernor emphasised on theneed to remain vigilant andmake provisions against bad

loans proactively. Das had held similar meet-

ings in May as well. He had alsomet with representatives ofother financial institutions like

NBFCs and microfinancelenders.

The RBI, in its statement,said Das held meetings withthe MD & CEOs of public

sector banks and select pri-vate sector lenders onTuesday and Wednesday,respectively, through videoconferencing.

����� ��������

Leading direct-to-home(DTH) player Tata Sky on

Wednesday said the govern-ment's decision to grantlicences to the operators for alonger 20 years would providecertainty to the industry. The

Union Cabinet on Wednesdayapproved a revision in theguidelines for providing DTHservices in the country underwhich licences would be issuedfor 20 years.

Currently, the licence isvalid for 10 years for DTH play-ers.

Page 11: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

������22������������������ ��� � !" ��#$%�#&#&

Kathmandu: NepalCommunist Party’s executivechairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal‘Prachanda’ was on Wednesdayelected as the ruling party’s newparliamentary leader, replacingPrime Minister KP SharmaOli.

The 66-year-old leader’snomination was proposed bysenior leader Madhav KumarNepal, who was earlier namedas one of the two chairmen ofthe party, at a parliamentaryparty meeting of thePrachanda-led faction at theParliament Building in NewBaneshwar, My Republicareported.

Oli, 68, was removed fromthe post of party’s chairman onTuesday by a central commit-tee meeting of the Prachanda-led faction, which also decid-ed to take disciplinary actionagainst him for dissolving theHouse of Representatives

unconstitutionally.Prachanda said that his

first priority would be to restorethe dissolved House ofRepresentatives and form anew government.

“I will unify all the demo-cratic forces and political par-ties to keep the hard-won polit-ical system and parliamentlively and functioning,” he said.

He thanked lawmakers forelecting him as the parliamen-tary leader and said that he hasbeen handed over a hugeresponsibility during this chal-

lenging time.Earlier in the day, the

Supreme Court forwarded allthe writ petitions against PrimeMinister Oli’s move to dis-solve Parliament to aConstitutional bench.

Chief Justice CholendraSJB Rana’s single bench passedthe order after a preliminaryhearing on the 12 different writpetitions filed against the dis-solution of the House ofRepresentatives, the paperreported.

The Constitutional benchwill start the hearing on Friday.The bench is led by ChiefJustice Rana and will have fourother justices who will bepicked by him.

Although the petitionersdemanded an interim orderagainst the decision, the apexcourt has refused to issue anysuch order.

Meanwhile, leaders of thePrachanda-led faction havetold the Election Commissionthat they hold a two-thirdsmajority in the party and there-fore they must be granted offi-cial recognition by the electionbody, the paper said. PTI

0���#�$��� ���$������� ����������$��

Colombo: A silent protest washeld in Sri Lanka’s capitalColombo against the govern-ment’s policy of cremating thebodies of Muslim victims ofCOVID-19 pandemic despitethe World Health Organisation(WHO) approving burials.

Sajith Premadasa, the mainOpposition leader, led theprotest, which was also attend-ed by civil society groups.

Muslim groups allege theircommunity’s coronavirus vic-tims were being forcefully cre-mated against their religious

belief. They say some of themhave been buried secretly.

The process of cremation isforbidden within Islam andJudaism, which require mem-bers of the faiths to be buried.

The authorities claim thatburials may lead to furtherspread of the pandemic. TheGovernment has appointed anexperts’ panel to make recom-mendations on the issue ofburials, but it has yet to come upwith any recommendationseven after 9 months, the Muslimcivil society groups say. PTI

��������������������,����(���� ���������.#��� (���� �����������(��#� London: More parts of the UK

could be placed under thestrictest level of lockdown asministers hold talks onWednesday after the countryregistered 36,804 positive coro-navirus cases, the largest dailynumber of infections recordedat any time during the pan-demic.

UK CommunitiesSecretary Robert Jenrick saidthe new mutation of coron-avirus is behind the spike to alarge extent but it remains“very concentrated” in Londonand the south-east of England,where Tier 4 stay-at-homelockdown measures are alreadyin place.

“The new variant is muchless prevalent elsewhere, butthere is rising evidence that youcan find it in a range of otherparts of the country. So thequestion is, whether we shouldtake action to try to head thatoff,” he explained.

“The tiered system wasdesigned before we knew thefull ferocity of the new variant,and so we do have to make sureit’s sufficiently robust to be ableto withstand this and to stopcases just rising at the very wor-rying levels they are now inparts of the country,” he said.

It comes as the new variant,named VUI-202012/01 andwith much higher transmissi-bility, led to several countriesincluding India cutting offtransport links with the UK inan effort to try and contain itsspread outside Britain.

The backlog of lorries builtup on the UK border withFrance has now begun to grad-ually clear up after an agree-ment was reached.

France agreed to lift its banon UK arrivals on the condi-tion of a negative coronavirustest. However, there have beenreports of scuffles on the UK-France border as truckers facedays ahead before the nearly

1,500 lorries can start movingtowards their destinations.

During what is an annualfestive and holiday period inthe UK with Christmas andNew Year, millions in the coun-try have had their plans to meetfriends and family scupperedafter UK Prime Minister BorisJohnson abandoned a plannedfive-day “Christmas bubble”as scientists confirmed the newCovid variant was spreadingmore rapidly.

Under the revised rules,only people living in tiers oneto three are permitted tosocialise in a bubble of threehouseholds on December 25for Christmas Day. PTI

Kathmandu: Nepal’s SupremeCourt on Wednesday for-warded all writ petitions chal-lenging Prime Minister KPSharma Oli’s move to abrupt-ly dissolve the Parliament to aConstitutional bench, amidintensified struggle betweenthe two warring factions of theNepal Communist Party towrest control of the rulingparty.

Chief Justice CholendraShumsher Rana’s single benchpassed the order after a pre-liminary hearing on the 12 dif-ferent writ petitions filedagainst the dissolution of theHouse of Representatives,according to court sources.

The Constitutional benchwill start the hearing on Friday.The bench is led by ChiefJustice Rana and will have four

other justices who will bepicked by him.

During the preliminaryhearings on Wednesday, seniorlawyers citing Constitutionalprovisions argued that PrimeMinister Oli has no right todissolve the House so long asthere is a possibility of form-ing an alternative government.

It was a coup against theConstitution itself, said senioradvocate Dinesh Tripathi, oneof the petitioners.

As per the Constitution, ifthe majority government isdissolved, there is a provisionto form an alternative gov-ernment by two or more polit-ical parties and a minoritygovernment could also beformed before going to thepeople for fresh mandate, hepointed out. PTI

+����������"������������������������������,��������������������������������*

1�� #����(����������#������*�(��������������������������#�

8����(����������������$�����#�#�#�����B#�����#���.��������������,��������%������� 8

Bangui (Central AfricanRepublic): Violence threatensCentral African Republic’spresidential and legislative elec-tions on Sunday, and someopposition candidates havepulled out of the race amidgrowing insecurity.

President FaustinArchange Touadera and hisparty say the vote will go aheadafter government forces clashedwith rebels in recent days as theUnited Nations’ peacekeepingforce tried to prevent a block-ade of Bangui, the capital.

Rwanda, which sent in sol-diers after its peacekeepers cameunder threat, and CentralAfrican Republic have blamed

the confrontation on formerPresident Francois Bozize, alleg-ing an attempted power grabahead of a vote from which heis barred from participating.Russian forces also have arrivedto help with security.

Parties in the DemocraticOpposition Coalition known asCOD-2020 this week said sevenof its candidates will pull out ofthe election, citing the violence.The parties had wanted thevote to be delayed, allegingpoor preparations and an elec-toral body influenced by thepresident. A delay would allowmore time to work toward anational unity government, theparties said.

Experts warn of a strongchance of further violence if theopposition doesn’t accept theelection results. “A contestedoutcome may lead to a post-electoral crisis that armedgroups could use to furtherweaken the state,” theInternational Crisis Groupnoted.

Sixteen candidates are run-ning for president, includingthree women and Touadera.There are more than 1,500 can-didates for 140 seats in thenational assembly. More than1.86 million voters are registered,but more than 598,000 refugeesin neighboring countries will notvote, according to the UN. AP

0���������*������*��������������������<��������� ���

��� +��0

China evacuated more than200 nationals to a safer area

after eight Chinese miningcompany vehicles were stolenduring armed conflict ahead ofan election in the CentralAfrican Republic, its embassysaid Wednesday.

A statement on theembassy website said the situ-ation is now under controlwith the help of UN peace-keeping forces, though there is

still sporadic gunfire.The conflict followed a

December 3 court decision tobar former President FrancoisBozize from participating pres-idential and legislative electionson Sunday.

Bozize, in response, gath-ered rebel groups to march onthe capital city Bangui.

They have been engaged inconflict with government forcesin the Yaloke area sinceDecember 15, according to theembassy statement.

EBB�"# ������ ���������$��� $� ������ �"��������� ���3���-� � ��� � +�

The United Arab Emirates’highest Islamic authority,

the UAE Fatwa Council, hasruled that coronavirus vaccinesare permissible for Muslimseven if they contain pork gelatin.

The ruling follows growingalarm that the use of porkgelatin, a common vaccineingredient, may hamper vacci-nation among Muslims whoconsider the consumption ofpork products “haram”, or for-bidden under Islamic law.

��8������ ��-�$&�%������ ������. �#�����

� ���������� ����������,���� ��������� ���������������%������� 8

(-'#�$%*. 2&���:����=�:�� &��N�0�>&&���:��

The Minister also received six boxes of letters withsignatures of 3,13,363 lakh farmers from 20 States, includ-ing Punjab through NGO CNRI in support of the farmlaws. Of these, 12,895 farmers from Punjab have signedin favour of the laws, while 1.27 lakh such farmers arefrom Haryana. Minister of State for Agriculture KailashChaudhary and Agriculture Secretary Sanjay Aggarwalwere also present in the meet.

�&&��$&�&��+-������>����&�<�-��-:C� �&=������0�� ���:

“Farmers urge the Government not to repeat thosemeaningless amendments which we have rejected butcome up with a concrete proposal in writing so thatit can be made an agenda, and the process of nego-tiation can be started as soon as possible,” stated theletter.

Shiv Kumar Kakka, the national president,Rashtriya Kisan Mazdoor Mahasangh, said farmersurge the Government to create a conducive atmos-phere for a fruitful dialogue as the Supreme Courthad also said that suspend implementation of farmlaws.

Several farmers on Wednesday also visited KisanGhat to pay tributes to Chaudhary Charan Singh onhis birth anniversary while a havan was also per-formed at Ghazipur border protest site. Meanwhile,farmers continued their relay hunger strike onWednesday against the new farm laws.

Sheoraj Singh, president of Bharatiya KisanUnion (Lok Shakti), camping at the Dalit Prerna Sthalin Noida, on Wednesday wrote a letter in blood toPrime Minister Narendra Modi, demanding therepeal of the three new farm laws that have stokedprotests by farmers’ unions in north India.

“Take back the agriculture bill, make law to ensureguarantee on minimum support price (MSP) and forma kisan aayog (farmers commission),” he wrote in theletter. Traffic remained disrupted in bordering areasof the national Capital as protest by farmers entered28th day.

The Delhi Traffic Police said the Chilla andGhazipur borders are closed for traffic coming fromNoida and Ghaziabad to Delhi. It advised people totake alternative route for coming to Delhi via AnadVihar, DND, Apsara and Bhopra borders.

Singhu, Auchandi, Piau Maniyari, and Mangeshborders are also closed and commuters have beenadvised to take routes through the Lampur, Safiabadand Saboli toll tax borders.

Police said as traffic has been diverted fromMukarba and the GTK road, people are suggested toavoid Outer Ring Road, the GTK road and NationalHighway (NH) 44.

Those travelling to Haryana can go through theJharoda (only single carriageway), Daurala,Kapashera, Badusarai, Rajokri NH-8, Bijwasan-Bajghera, Palam Vihar and Dundahera borders.

According to the traffic police, Tikri, Dhansa andGhazipur borders are also closed for traffic but theJhatikara border was open only for two-wheelers andpedestrians.

��>��>������&���� �:��0��:&�����:&-��N��O$�-&:

These are CSIR-Institute of Genomics and

Integrative Biology, Delhi; CSIR-Centre for Cellularand Molecular Biology, Hyderabad; DBT-Institute ofLife Sciences, Bhubaneswar; DBT-InStem-NCBS,Bangalore, DBT-National Institute of BiomedicalGenomics, Kalyani, National Institute of Virology,Pune.

More such designated labs would increase overtime and their details would be shared with theStates/UTs, said the Ministry’s statement.

Gauri Agarwal, founder of the GenestringsDiagnostic Center, which is handling coronavirus test-ing of all passengers at the IGI airport, said that 11passengers on four flights from the UK were foundpositive for COVID-19 when tested on arrival at theDelhi airport. Agarwal also said 50 passengers of theaforementioned four flights have been put under insti-tutional quarantine.

“Testing was done comprehensively, as directed,irrespective of any existing reports or exemptions. Atotal of 950+ inbound passengers from London weretested at our lab at T3 terminal, IGI (Indira GandhiInternational) Airport and 11 of them tested positive,”Agarwal explained. On Tuesday, at least 20 passen-gers from the UK were reported to have tested pos-itive for COVID-19 at various airports across thecountry, including Delhi, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.

Following the declaration of the new strain, Indiaon December 21 had suspended flights from UK fromDecember 25 while tightening the RT-PCR norms.The new variant is said to be 70 per cent more trans-missible than earlier versions of the coronavirus, ashas also been pointed out by the latest StandardOperating Procedure issued by the Union HealthMinistry. On Tuesday itself, 22 people -- includingsix from Delhi -- tested positive for the virus, and theirsamples were sent for genome sequencing.

Dr Anurag Agarwal, director of the Institute ofGenomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), one of theCSIR labs sequencing Sars-CoV-2 genomes saidthough the virus has found to be more transmissi-ble, what brings relief is that the transmission couldoccur only if people were not wearing masks.

He said that some Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) kits that usethe particular gene where the mutation has happenedfor detecting virus may give out false negatives. “Weneed to recalibrate our tests. The -PCR usually usestwo genes to detect the presence of the virus, we mightnot insist on a double gene positive to give a posi-tive report,” said Agarwal.

If precautions are not followed, the new variantmay lead to super spreading events, the WHO too hasindicated.

“We have had a much higher (contamination rate)at different points in this pandemic and we’ve got itunder control,” WHO’s emergencies chief MichaelRyan said.

Dr Shahid Jameel, virologist and director ofTrivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University,opined that “it is likely that the new variant may havealready come to India, you will find it only if you arelooking for it. This is the reason why we need to scaleup the number of genomic sequencing that we aredoing. India has the second highest number of Covid-19 cases in the world and it is likely that some vari-ant like it might have generated within the countrytoo.”

NITI Aayog member Dr VK Paul said at a press-er recently that India will use its network of labora-tories under the Indian Council of Medical Research,Department of Biotechnology, and Council ofScientific and Industrial Research to sequence moresamples, especially from the travellers from UK who

test positive.“Our labs have been asked to prioritise the recent

virus samples and send them for genetic sequencing.The ICMR, CSIR, and DBT labs have been doing itso far but it will be scaled up. The positive specimenfrom passengers from UK in the last few days will alsobe sequenced,” he said.

Dr Agarwal added, “The vaccine produces manyantibodies and even if some do not bind, the vaccineremains effective. Other than that, there is T-cellimmunity that is generic and a mutation in the bind-ing site does not change that.”

H��$�����+$��:�J��-0�:&C$�-&=��+��&�:�$�-�&:&:N�:�����

The Law Minister said the BJP (4,23,364 votes)received more votes in the DDC polls than the NC(2,22,514), PDP (56000) and the Congress(1,49382)together.

“Kashmir ghati main ‘kamal’ apne vajood par khilahai”, said the Law Minister pointing to three success ofthe party in the Kashmir Valley, including in Srinagarwhere Congress State president’s son lost his election.

The senior BJP leader said elections are the victoryof people of Kashmir who have “rendered a resoundingslap in the face of extremists, terrorists, separatists andtheir sympathisers”.

Prasad pointed out the success of elections in the“hotbeds of terrorists” like Shopian (with 17 per cent vot-ing), Pulwama (7.4 per cent), Bandipura (51 per cent)and Gandharbal (43.4 per cent).

Prasad said NC chief Farooq Abdullah was electedto the Lok Sabha with only 7 per cent voting in his LSconstituency.

“People have voted for the development...the changehas been effected following the abrogation of the Article370 and Prime Minister Modi saying ‘let us go to the peo-ple’”, said the Law Minister.

“This is a new beginning that has started with theelections of sarpanchs and now that of DDC... Kashmiris turning a new page”, he claimed.

0 $��-������������+�-:�����+-�&�����:�$�-�&��=

“We also accept it (that democracy has won).When did we say that we do not trust democracy? Itis another thing that you do not trust us. We have beensaying this from day one that we will fight for ourrights but not unlawfully or unconstitutionally. Weare not for disturbing the atmosphere in this State,but to make it better,” Omar said.

Omar said the results of the DDC elections haveproved that the BJP will not be able to “bury” the NC.

“The next elections in J&K are very far becauseof the defeat of the BJP in this election. I do not thinkthey will have the Assembly elections here anytimesooner. If they believed in democracy, they would havesounded the bugle of the Assembly elections,” he said.

Emotionally surcharged National Conference(NC) president Farooq Abdullah in his brief addressto the party workers said he will not bow before any-one. Farooq is currently facing an ED probe in con-nection with the Jammu and Kashmir CricketAssociation (JKCA) money-laundering case. Lastweek, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) attachedassets worth Rs 11.86 crore of Farooq in connectionwith the JKCA scam.

In Jammu, BJP’s DDC polls in-charge AnuragThakur said the election results are a befitting reply

to Mehbooba Mufti who had refused to unfurl theTricolour. “Independent candidates have polledmore votes than the Congress and the PDP. The sameMehbooba Mufti who’d refused to unfurl the Tricolourhas got a befitting reply today,” Anurag Thakur said.

In Srinagar, PDP president Mehbooba Muftiaccused the Government of India and BJP of “ter-rorising her family” in the name of investigations stat-ing that BJP must fight her politically and not involveher family, friends and party colleagues in the “bat-tle.”

Addressing a press conference at her Gupkar res-idence, Mehbooba said that today’s press conferencemay be her last one given the BJP’s approach and theway agencies like “CBI, NIA and ED are being usedagainst her.”

“Irony is that these agencies that are supposed toprobe cases of sensitive order are probing where fromPDP got money for Late Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’sgraveyard at Anantnag. Not just this, they are inves-tigating my mother’s bank accounts and have soughtproperty details of my sister, who is a doctor by pro-fession,” the PDP chief said.

In an obvious reference to the BJP, she said thatGoI should fight her politically. “The BJP won’t gainanything by using agencies against me. If they wantto face me, they should fight me politically,” she said,adding the poll result has shown that people haverejected the abrogation of Article 370.

����:&��� �&-����-����0����=$- :����������-->���������

Investigation further revealed that as part of the con-spiracy of separate “Khalistan State” accused GurjeetSingh Nijjar, accused Harpal Singh and accused MoinKhan used to post videos and images containing prais-es of militant Jagtar Singh Hawara (a convicted accusedin assassination of Beant Singh, former Chief Ministerof Punjab), images and videos of Operation Blue Starof 1984 and pro-Khalistani posts related to proscribedorganisation Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) with soleintention to motivate likeminded Sikh youths and oth-ers to join the Khalistan “movement”, it further said.

Investigation further revealed that Moin Khan wasin Tihar jail from 2013 to 2016 and during this periodhe developed contact with Jagtar Singh Hawara, andshown his willingness to work for him and shared hiscontact number with him. Subsequently, as planned,Khan sent friend request to Facebook ID “KhalistaniJindabad Khalistan” from his Facebook account. By join-ing this Facebook account, Moin Khan came in contactwith Harpal Singh and Gurjeet Singh Nijjar, it said.

Accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar motivated Khan by dis-cussing about atrocities committed against the Muslimsand Sikhs in India and convinced him to work for sep-arate ‘Khalistan State’. In furtherance of conspiracy,accused Gurjeet Singh Nijjar directed Khan to purchasea pistol and ammunition in 2018 and to carry out theirnefarious designs, it said.

On May 23, 2019, the NIA had filed the charge sheetin the NIA Special Court against wanted accused GurjeetSingh Nijjar, accused Harpal Singh, Moin Khan andSundar Lal Parashar.

Accordingly, a Look-Out Circular (LOC) was issuedagainst him. On Monday, wanted accused Gurjeet SinghNijjar was detained at Indira Gandhi InternationalAirport here and he was arrested by NIA. His transit cus-tody shall be obtained from the Competent Court andhe shall be taken to Mumbai for further investigation,it added.

.(&�������������������������������� ���������)���������������������������

����������� � �+�

In the first of its kind birdcount jointly undertaken by a

citizens’ body and the Stateforest department, as many as103 bird species — includingthose like Alpine Swift, IndianScops Owl, Indian Eagle Owland Indian Pitta — were sight-ed at the Karnala Bird Sanctuary(KBS) located near Mumbai.

Located within theMumbai metropolitan region(MMR), the KBS is the first andone of the oldest bird sanctu-aries in the country. It wasdeclared a bird sanctuary wayback in 1966.

Spread over 12.48 sq km inPanvel tehsil in the adjoiningRaigad district, this bird sanc-tuary is a nearly two hourdrive from downtown Mumbai.It is very popular among naturelovers, trekkers, fort and her-itage enthusiasts.

In all, 27 bird enthusiastsparticipated in the day-nightsurvey - called the Karnala BirdCount. The participants weredivided into 9 teams that cov-ered all types of habitats in thesanctuary. Each team com-prised bird experts, photogra-phers, ebird users, GWT mem-bers and forest guards.

Thje bird count was con-ducted jointly by theMaharashtra ForestDepartment (MFD) and GreenWorks Trust (GWT) onDecember 19-20, 2020.

“This was the first-of-itskind of a scientific survey in theKarnala Bird Sanctuary. Thiswas also the first of its kind ofnight bird count in Maharashtra.Through this survey, we want-ed to document bird populationand avifaunal diversity in thissanctuary. During the survey, wesighted a total of 103 species ofbirds,” GWT’s founder NikhilBhopale said. According toBhopale, the survey followedtwo types of bird count samplingmethods viz. Line Transect andPoint Counts. There were 9 linetransacts and 5 point countswere done to cover the sprawlingsanctuary area.

Page 12: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

������� ���������� ��� � !" � #$%�#&#&

�������������(����@24�)� #�42 �4(2*��4(�(EI% 6�:�%�����5%% �28%#�( �5/� (�%#���(2 ���2'% �L&�% (�%#����(2 ��� �(�/32��0% #%���A*�)(�/� #���%�'82B%�'% ��23�2'% M�32����,)25�)( (�(��(@%�4�))%#�P��� ,%&�%�2�)#�2���(�%��B��% %���2 �,% #%�E5��%#�@(2)% 4%6�

&�%�� *�)�( �%� ��(2 �)�4�'E8�(, �4�))��32����%�%)('( ��(2 �23@(2)% 4%��,�( ���B2'% �� #�,(�)�6

Q�2'% ���%�'2����*�4%8�(5)%�2�@(2)% 4%�( �@��(2*��32�'��� #��%/�3�4%�(���)'2���%@%�/B�%�%6�2'% ��4�2����))��,%�,�2*8����%���42 ��� ���(�!�� #�(��(���%���E5�%�!( ,��2�3%%)���(�������B2'� '/�%)3�R���/����%�/2* ,��4�2�6

�2))/B22#�������������4A���������/���% %@%����2*,����(��#�*,��%�

������ ��*� 2B�'���(%#�2��4�2����� �������*B2*)#�B�)!�#2B ���%�(�)%�B(����2'%2 %3�2'���%���'%�8�2E

3%��(2 6�*�( ,��

( �%�@(%B�:4�B��I% %,,%��82!%��52*���(�( ,��(��4�()E#�% �2 �3()'�%��6�Q� %@%��%@%����2*,�������'/�#�*,��%��(�

,2( ,��2�'���/�� �4�2��R:4�B��I% %,,%����(#6

&�)!( ,��52*���(��2 E( E)�B�$�������%��(#��%�(����Q3� ����(4,*/R�� #��2�%��/��2,%���)2 ,�B(��6

A'��������������� ����������������B��������������������B�� ���������������������������������������

������������������������������C����������������������� 9�5���"����D������B�� ��������������������������������������5�����E����9�"����������������� ������ ���������� �����������B������������������������������������������+""9F�G%�D���#�����

%���������B���������� ����F�������� �

���������22

%������������������������F��������+2))/B22#������������������8% %#��� 2�%�( '%'2�/�23��(�3���%���)��%�8�2#*4E%���&� �!����=���*�2 ��(��5(���� (@%����/����/( ,�%�42 �( *%���2)(@%�2 �( ��(�'( #�� #��%���6

&�%��4�2��22!��2 ���,��'��2����%��(� 2�%��)2 ,B(�����5)�4!� #�B�(�%�8(4E�*�%6�Q�)(!%��25%)(%@%������'/3���%��)(@%��2 �( '%6� ���%)%��2 ���%���*,��*���( ���%�)2@%��%��2B%�%#�2 �*��5*��'2���('82�E�� �)/�( ���%�@�)*%��5%)(%@%�( ��������%42, (�%�����(�)2/�)�/���2 %��/��*'()(�/��%'8�E��/�R�� ()�B�2�%6

Actor Richa Chadha doesn’t seem happy aboutpromotions happening remotely via Zoomand phone calls. Maybe that’s because she

doesn’t like things too easy and casual, contraryto how she essays most of her characters.

“Everything is remote, so it’s much easierthan real promotions,” says she.

Richa plays the role of an adultstar, Shakeela, in an eponymous

biopic based on the life of theactor who ruled the South

Indian film industry for overtwo decades. The actor wasa controversial star backthen as most of her adultfilms were perceived as soft

porn. The film delves deep tounderstand her as a person and

not only as an adult film star.Excerpts:

�What were your initial thoughts when theoffer to play Shakeela came your way? Were you

aware of her journey before?I didn’t meet her in person before the role was

offered. Growing up in Delhi, I had little to no expo-sure to her and her films. But of course, I had readabout her in a national magazine cover in the early2000s. I remember, as a kid I was intrigued abouther because the magazine said a lot of thingsabout her personality — How fierce she was, howshe was always on the darker side and an unlike-ly superstar. So, during the initial stage I wasbasically trying to understand the phenome-non of Shakeela.

�How does it feel to portray the person youwere intrigued to during your childhood?

Sometimes you get to work with peo-ple you had idealised, and honestly, this isa great feeling for any actor. When Iworked with Manoj Bajpayee, I recalledseeing him as a kid in Satya (1998). Andwhen I played his wife in Gangs ofWasseypur (2012), that was very specialand different... I learnt so much fromhim.

�What made you say ‘yes’ to the role?Shakeela’s life was very cinematic,

full of ups and downs. There’s a lot ofbetrayal and drama in her journey.When I first heard her story, I was quitesurprised that nobody had made a filmon this subject till now. So I took it asan opportunity to bring her story outwith all the necessary things that hadto be shown.

�When you play a lead in a biopic, theresponsibility is huge, especially whenit’s about a controversial figure. Howdid you prepare yourself?

I knew I would have to do somehomework, apart from the physicalpreparations of gaining weight and soon. Of course, that feeling of doing jus-tice to the role was there but I wasn’tmuch apprehensive about it because Iknew that that is in my control. I knew

what I was getting into. I just want her (Shakeela)to be happy with the final product. This is the onlything I am worried about because I haven’t seen thefinal film because of the pandemic. We’ll all see ittogether.

One of the most eagerlyawaited visual is

Christmas displays every year.With December and the year-end approaching, malls acrossDelhi are slowly getting intothe festive spirits despite whata turbulent year it has been.The year-end Christmas shop-ping this year will witness aglimpse of the dazzling festivedecor that has been put upacross malls.

Karmic Events has con-tributed heavily in deckingup the malls for the festive sea-son. All the malls mentionedare decorated by this compa-ny. Its MD, Gunwant Singh,says, “We bring ideas to createexperiences and larger than lifeinnovations in retail spaces.Every year, we bring decor andinstallations. This year too, wehave tried to give some greatexperiences when peoplecouldn’t travel to their mostloved destinations. We’ve triedto bring cities to life fromaround the globe to imbibe thespirit of festivity and joy inmalls this Christmas. Duringthese tough times, it is imper-ative to spread positivity andcheer and indulge in someremarkable experiences.”

HIGHLIGHTS AT DIFFERENT MALLS:

Nexus mall Nishank Joshi , CMO says,

“We have introduced a way toshop that fetches you rewardthis Christmas and New year.Known for humongous instal-lations; be it a 20 feet tall polarbear at Elante Mall,Chandigarh, or the tallestChristmas Tree in SeawoodsGrand Central Mall in Navi

Mumbai and not to forget,spreading joy through ourCandyland themed decora-tion at The Pavillion, Pune; wehave tried to push the envelopeof creativity and out of the boxdesigns to make our patrons goawestruck at their destinationof recreation and shopping,keeping in mind the safety andhygiene quotient at the malls.”

Pacific mallAbhishek Bansal,

Executive Director, Pacificmall, Tagore garden says,“Christmas is a synonym forfestivities, joy and holidaysacross geographies. Every yearwe make an attempt to takeour patrons around the worldby re-creating one of the sevenwonders.This Christmas also,we bring in “Christ theRedeemer” to celebrate the fes-tival in its glory. The installa-tion soars over 34ft in height,as we have tried to capture thelarger than life majesty of theactual statue. We welcome ourpatrons to enjoy and experi-ence the festive decor with us,as they do every year.”

Vegas mallHarsh V Bansal, Director,

Vegas mall, Dwarka says, “Wegive you something to remem-ber. A Santa larger than life,magnanimous Santa thatmoves and actually sings foryou, is definitely a first.Moreover, to enhance yourexperience this Christmas, wehave added several elements ofjoy wiz a first of its kind SantaMuseum, Christmas FleaMarket, Santa Parade and somuch more to explore. Wehave pushed the envelope offestivities and celebrations with

'���*���� �+�����<1�8���8�$8��������#�)#81 #8�<�� �*���*��������������������"����������*���������*��#���*������������������������� �������*��*��������

,�������������� �:������� ������� ����������������

*�������������(���$����������������� �(��������������2���� �����)$���� 8���� ������ ��������8����� �����!#�#��� �

4 . & : � + . � # % 0 0 5 ����8%28)%�4� C�����@%)��2���%(��)2@%#�#%��( ��(2 ���@��(2*��'�))����@%���(%#��2��%4�%��%�� ( �%� ��(2 �)�3%%)����2*,����%(��#%42���2�!%%8��8(�(���*8�32�����(��'��

I want her to live with dignity afterthe film releases. I spent a lot of timewith Shakeela, trying to understandher point of view... I asked a lot ofrough questions. And to her credit, sheanswered everything really well.Basically, I wanted to observe her andher world which helped me carvemyself into the role well. She was verycandid, more than how she was in thefilms or is in public. It was a great timeworking with Shakeela.

�Now that you have studied her andknow her deeply, do you think shehas a side that the world doesn’tknow yet?

She is somebody with a reallygood heart. She is not bitter about any-thing, be it her family, friends or thesuperstars who tried to ruin her life.So in that sense she is very victorious.No one has managed to break her spir-it. I feel that she deserves love andrecognition for everything that hashappened to her. I always see her asa victim in this scenario, somebodywho has been wronged.

�Why do you think so?This is because I’ve heard and

known about her story closely withher parents, family and how somestars tried to sabotage her career,which is a big topic in the film too.

�Even though people have beenwatching Shakeela’s film (mostlyadult), they are often slut shamedand labelled by society at large. Doyou think this reflects hypocrisy?

Hypocrisy is there in every aspectand not just adult films. The whole

film industry suffers from it. Forinstance, in Mumbai, it is tough foractors to get a house on rent and at thesame time everybody is always watch-ing films. You know what I mean?

This is an issue but I think thereare changes in society now and peo-ple have become much more accept-ing. Now, a proper porn star can con-duct a film with dignity here. So, wehave come a long way.

�Your characters vary from eachother largely. What factors influenceyour decision while choosing a role?

Sometimes the reason is purelycommercial, sometimes I want toexplore something as an artist, some-times it’s the relationship with my co-actors and directors. So, the reasonskeep changing with the project. Butone consistent thing is that I try to takeat least one project a year that canchallenge me and help me grow as anactor.

�How has your work helped youevolve as an actor?

Each project gives you some-thing if you work hard on it. If youdon’t, then it takes a longer time tolearn. However, it’s good to learn onthe job because cinema is a greatlearning for actors. Although peopleare always reminding actresses of theirmarriage or ‘what next’ in life but thetruth is that as you grow old, youbecome a better performer and learnfrom your experiences. This, in turn,helps you shape your life and take bet-ter decisions.

(The film releases on December25.)

A5��B����F��������������

�������������������������������9����F����������

������������������������

D������9�/����"���������������

�������"�������������������

�����������������������������

������������F

innovative experiments.”

Airia mallSanjeev Kumar, Centre

Head, Airia mall, Gurugramsays, “This Christmas, visitParis in the heart of Gurgaon!The vibe of Christmas and thespirit of festivities now joinhands at our mall. The holidaymood has got an elevationwith a 64 feet tall installationof the Eiffel Tower, just asmall drive away from thecomfort of your home. Thehype about Eiffel Tower fitsaptly to the European feel ofChristmas this year. Whenyou can’t travel around to seethe architectural wonder, wehave brought it right to you.

Come visit the joy and warmthof Paris here.”

The Elf Town This Christmas, the Elf

Town square welcomes you tothe Delhi Airport. The quin-tessential cuckoo clock hasbeen given a Christmasmakeover and the nutcrackersare guarding the beautiful giftsand trees to keep them safe forChristmas. They take the vis-itors on a tour of the Santa’sToy Factory where all theaction takes place. The setupshows Elves at work, movingpulleys, a toy train at the ElfTown station and a giant giftbox Christmas tree. Certainly,a treat to the eyes!

Page 13: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

������������������ ��� � !" ��#$%�#&#& ���������'()* 23

8� ������� �����/�# /���������� ������*&�'���������$��������������*&�'���B#����9������C�D;;����/��"�������������(������ ���������(��&����9�# ���3�:���*�������)�������!�������*&�'���#������# ����<�����)!�+0E��-�

�� ���������8)!�+8 �-�� ����.��������&!�+ ��-��������������������������*&�'�$���������#���������� ���9������ ���$�������� ���������������#���� �� ���������� �����������9���)!��������#��������������� �����#�/�������������������9�0������������#������� �������������������������������$����������������#���������������������� ���(��������������������� ���(���������������� �������� �����9

5� *�)�'/0E�������������� #���������$�����������������<�#��(�����#���.����������� �9�&��#�#����������$������������������3>)�+)�'����0����-���������������� �����������������#���� #���������$��������������������9�'���������� #�������������������#����� �������������$���(�������#�������������������������9��$� ��*����#�����������*��� ����.��������5�������$����#���������������� #�������������#��<� ������� ��#���������������#����������$���������������������#������������$������(�������9�0��#�����<�������������#���������������� #������������������������#������ ������������������������ �����������������������������������(�9

*�������������FD���8���(������)��������������� �������������������$�$����� �����(�� �������������������9�'����$��������*42&)/;G�������#������������� �#�����6F����������������!���������5$�)���$���:#����������)�������!������������# ���3�:���*����������������������������������#��������������#�9�&������������3�:���*���������������������������������� �����������������������������#�������&��������������������������$����5����������#���9�0������������ ���������� ���������������������B#������������#������� ��������843�������9

" ) � 5 + ' -

The Bharat Heavy ElectricalsLimited (BHEL) has been

spearheading the Make In Indiamovement with a special focuson contributing to theAatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.Towards developing self-reliance in manufacturing,BHEL has taken the lead inreaching out to local industriesincluding MSME vendors aspotential partners. As a step inthis direction, the companyhas organised a series of inter-active workshops, titled BHELSamvaad, under the guidanceof the Department of HeavyIndustry (DHI).

The workshop aimed atfostering better utilisation ofassets for development of tech-nologies and products.

The Secretary (HI), in his

keynote address, lauded BHEL’smove for developing local sup-pliers and taking forward theAtmanirbhar Bharat initiative.Expressing concern over thepandemic’s impact oneconomies across the world,Arun Goel, Secretary (HI),said that the lockdown acrossgeographies have resulted inmassive supply chain disrup-tions and this has made manycountries rethink on overdependence on imports and theneed for being self-sufficient.He said that while BHEL hasalready been leading the move-ment for Make In India, BHELSamvaad is a welcome move forinitiating discussions withMSMEs and the local industrywith an intent to get importeditems manufactured in India.

The plenary address byDK Singh, Additional Secretaryand DevelopmentCommissioner, Ministry ofMSME, highlighted thestrength of the MSME ecosys-tem in India. He mentionedthat it was heartening to seeBHEL come forward with a col-laborative approach for thedomestic industry — both interms of sharing and offeringmany items, and also setting theplatform for innovation.

DPIIT which was repre-sented by Rajesh Gupta,Director, DPIIT, shared thehighlights of the policies for-mulated by Government ofIndia to ensure fair and equalopportunities to local industriesin their pursuit towardsAatmanirbhar Bharat.

The Housing CommissionerPawan Arora discussed 54

proposals in the 244th meetingof the Board of Directors underthe chairmanship of BhaskarA, chairman of RajasthanHousing Board.

The commissioner said itwas decided that a committeewould examine the issues relat-ed to the procurement of land.After this, his proposal will besent to the government. Theuseful land will be given to theMandal through an agree-ment.

Arora informed that the

Rajasthan Housing BoardRegional Sweep Centre, theElection Commission of Indiaand the Chief Electoral Officerwill work to build the officebuilding for Rajasthan. Thisbuilding will be built in an areaof 3,368 sqm in Indira GandhiNagar Residential Schemelocated in Jaipur. He informedthat the approval has beengiven to implement RajasthanBuilding Regulations-2020 inRajasthan Housing Board.

Now the auction will bedone according to the circularof the Urban Development

Department. He informed thatthe circular has been acceptedin the auction cases by theboard. According to this circu-lar, the auction of the plotshould not be rejected if thebid exceeds the minimum bid.The commissioner said thatRajasthan Housing Board hasbeen struggling with the short-age of personnel of variouscadres for a long time. In sucha situation, recruitment will bedone on 573 posts of differentcadres. The proposal in thisregard will be sent to the stategovernment.

The 63rd Annual GeneralMeeting (AGM) of NationalAgricultural Cooperative

Marketing Federation of India Ltd(NAFED) was held. Welcoming theparticipants Bijender Singh, chairmanof NAFED, thanked the UnionMinister of Agriculture, NarendraSingh Tomar, MoS for Agriculture,Parshottam Khodabhai Rupala,Secretary (A&C), AdditionalSecretary (A&C) and other seniorofficers in the Ministry of Agricultureand Farmers Welfare for their con-stant guidance and support toNAFED. He assured the govern-ment that NAFED would strive hardto accomplish the tasks assigned bythe government to the best of its abil-ity

The chairman of NAFEDinformed that with the government’ssupport at all levels and right policydecisions at the level of the Board ofDirectors, support of the membersocieties and hard work put in by theManaging Director, officers andemployees, the federation is now con-tinuing on the path of progress bothfinancially and in providing betterservices to the farming community byimplementing various schemes of thegovernment of India.

He further informed the gener-al body that NAFED has been gen-erating profits for the last three yearsaccumulating to �670 crores, whichis a remarkable achievement. It waspossible with the support from allconcerned and various new initiativestaken by NAFED during these years.

He also announced that theBoard of Directors has approved the

highest ever dividend of 20 per centto the member federations, societiesfor the first time in the history ofNAFED.

Sanjeev Kumar Chadha,Managing Director, tabled a brief ofactivities carried out by the federationduring 2019-20. During the year, itachieved a turnover of �16,280.98crores with a net profit of �165.65crores. The federation continued tobe one of the central nodal agenciesof the government for procurementof oil seeds and pulses under pricesupport scheme, in addition to main-taining buffers of pulses on its behalf.During 2019-20, a quantity of33,03,157 MT of oil seeds and puls-es valuing over �16,066 crores wasprocured, which was relatively loweras compared to last year due to lowerarrivals at PSS procurement centers

on account of firming up of prices.Similarly, NAFED procured a

quantity of 1,11,697 MT of pulsesvaluing over �648 crores to maintain

buffers on behalf of the governmentto serve any emergent requirement inthe country. NAFED also continuedsupplying milled pulses to the Army,

Central Para Military Forces and tostates under different welfare schemessuch as PDS, MDM and ICDS.

The MD of NAFED informed thatsupplies of various agri-commodities,household items, articles towardshumanitarian aid/emergency reliefmaterial were also made to countriessuch as Iran, Namibia, Mynamar andBangladesh worth over �15.50 croresat the behest of the Ministry ofExternal Affairs, Government of India.

During 2019-20, NAFED under-took seed business worth over �27.44crores, which was distributed to statesacross the country under variousschemes.

The federation also procured58,288 MT of onion valuing �76crores for creating a buffer stockunder PSF in the states ofMaharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan andTelangana. During the year, NAFEDalso stepped in and procured 15,589MT of apples of different varieties witha value of �69.38 crores in Jammu andKashmir under Market InventionScheme (MIS).

He added that NAFED was alsomade part of the National AnimalDisease Control Programme(NADCP) for eradicating the Foot andMouth Disease (FMD) and Brucellosisprevalent in livestock and was appoint-ed as Programme Logistic Agency(PLA).

The Managing Director thankedall concerned, especially the Ministerof Agriculture and Farmer Welfare andSecretary, Agriculture, for the valuableguidance and cooperation, whichenabled NAFED to achieve newheights.

The Department of Pension &Pensioners’ Welfare, in a major

relief to all Central Govt Pensionershas extended the date of givingAnnual Life Certificate, which ismandatory for continuity of pen-sion, from November 30, 2020 toFebruary 28, 2021.

The department this year ropedin the India Posts and PaymentBank (IPPB) under the Departmentof Posts for Digital Life Certificate.The IPPB is now fulfilling themajor initiative of DoPPW, viz.DLC from home by roping in1,89,000 postmen and Gramin DakSevaks and obtaining Digital LifeCertificate from pensioners’ home.DoPPW was also instrumental inroping in an alliance comprising 12public sector banks which does“Doorstep Banking” for its cus-tomers in 100 major cities underEase of banking reforms.

Earlier DoPPW had started apilot programme “DLC from homecampaign” in 2018 in 7 citiesthrough Pensioners’ Associations.The objective of the campaign wasto extend support to aged andinfirm pensioners in submission ofLife certificate digitally from home.In 2019, this project was expand-ed to cover 24 cities and has con-

tinued in 2021 as well with the helpof Registered Pensioners’Associations. The department cameto know that some inconveniencewas being experienced by the supersenior citizens because of theirchanging biometrics due to age.Accordingly, vide its OMs datedSeptember 11, 2020 November 23,2020 DoPPW advised all thePension Disbursing Banks to adoptthe Video based CustomerIdentification Process (V-CIP) asan additional facility. UCO bankhas become a pioneer in this areaand has already collected videobased life certificates for their 6546pensioners.

The department is now on theverge of a major technological leapby enabling face recognition tech-nology to submit DLC through anandroid phone (without attachingany biometric device) which hasbeen developed by Meity. As perthis facility, the identity of a per-son will be established through facerecognition technique. The UIDAIserver will identify the same andDLC shall get generated. Variouschecks are being incorporated intothe system to avoid any malfunc-tioning. However, as of now trialsare on for this digital facility.

TRIFED has been exploringconvergences and part-

nerships with like-mindedorganisations to create syner-gies together with the mainaim of tribal empowerment.The organisation has alignedwith the Minister of FoodProcessing (MoFPI). MoFPI isimplementing the PrimeMinister Formalisation ofMicro Food ProcessingEnterprises (PM-FME)scheme, which is a landmarkinitiative under theAatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyanto support micro-level foodentreprenuers, FPOs, SHGsand co-operatives. An impor-tant component of thisscheme is the tribal sub-plan.

A communique, to definethe convergence mechanismin implementation of thisscheme, was signed between

Deepak Khandekar, SecretaryMinister of Tribal Affairs andPushpa Subrahmanyam,Secretary, Ministry of FoodProcessing in the presence ofArjun Munda, Minister ofTribal Affairs, Narendra SinghTomar, Minister ofAgriculture and Food

Processing, Thawar ChandGehlot, Union Minister forSocial Justice andEmpowerment, RameswarTeli, MoS, MoFPI and PravirKrishna, Managing Director,TRIFED.

Other than the commu-nique, an MoU was also

signed between TRIFED andMoFPI to detail the key areasof the collaboration.

With the necessary fund-ing under the PM-FMEscheme of MoFPI, theTriFood range of tribal foodproducts would be developed,branded and packaged byTRIFED. It has also beenagreed that the SHGs workingunder the Van Dhan Yojanawould be provided support forhandholding, training, capitalinvestment and working cap-ital. As a part of capacitybuilding, it has been decidedthat MoFPI under PM-FMEscheme would also providenecessary funds to TRIFED toundertake training, capacitybuilding of tribals engaged infood processing. In addition,funds would be provided toTRIFED for product develop-

ment and improved packagingfor tribal food products.

As a part of taking tribalwelfare and development tothe next logical phase, otherconvergences with variousMinistries, Departments andexpert institutions such asMinistr y of RuralDevelopment (MoRD),Ministr y of Small andMedium Enterprises (MSME),DMF, ICAR Ministry ofAYUSH are being plannedwith the aim of improvingsustainable livelihoods andincome opportunities forthese tribals.

With the successful imple-mentation of this collabora-tion and many more forth-coming convergences,TRIFED hopes to transformthe tribal lives and liveli-hoods across the country.

Santosh KumarGangwar, Minister of

State (IndependentCharge) for Labour andEmployment, laid thefoundation stone of 100beds at ESIC Hospital,Srinagar. Manoj Sinha, LtGovernor of Jammu andKashmir, was the chiefguest of this function.

While addressing thegathering, Gangwarinformed about the variousinitiatives taken by thegovernment of India toprovide better care andservices to the workers ofour country.

During his address, healso shared about therecently passed threelabour codes. He empha-sised that with the passageof these bills, more work-ers will get the benefits ofsocial security. He furtherinformed that these billswill also ensure the ease ofdoing business.

He said that the ESIChas been working continu-ously since its inception toprovide social security to itsinsured persons, who arelow income workers. Nowits reach is going to

increase many folds frompresent number of approx-imately 13 crore beneficia-ries base, as with passage ofsocial security code, the ESIscheme will be implement-ed in the entire country.

The Minister informedthat ESIC has taken numberof measures to providefinancial relief and healthprotection to the insuredworkers as well as generalpublic during the pandem-ic. He further intimatedthat the rate of unemploy-ment relief payable underAtal Bimit Kalyna Yojnahas been enhanced from 25per cent to 50 per cent. Also,there has been given relax-ation in the qualifying cri-teria to the insured workers,

who became unemployeddue to COVID-19-inducedlockdown for a further peri-od of six months i.e. uptoJune 30, 2021. Further, ESICis actively contributing inthe management ofCOVID-19. A total of 21ESIC Hospitals across Indiafunctioned as COVID-19Dedicated Hospitals toexclusively provide COVIDmedical services to the gen-eral public.

Gangwar shared thatESIC has collaborated withPMJAY — AyushmanBharat for providing med-ical services in those areaswhere facilities of ESIScheme are not available.He also informed that a newscheme Aatmanirbhar

Bharat Rojgar Yojana hasbeen launched to incen-tivise creation of newemployment opportunities.

The Lt Governor laud-ed the efforts being under-taken by CentralGovernment to develop theUnion Territory. He furtherstressed upon the commit-ment of CentralGovernment to providequality medical care to thepeople of J&K. He assuredfull cooperation of stategovernment in running theforthcoming hospital.

The project is expectedto be completed in one anda half year. This hospital willbe built in five acres of landwith an approximate cost of�160 crores.

Within a short span of sixyears of the formation of

the state, Telangana has stoodfirst in the country in severalmaters. The state had maderapid strides in all the sectors,marching towards progressand development,” said ArvindKumar IAS, Principal Secretaryto Government (MA&UD)and Commissioner, I&PRD,Government of Telangana.

The Telangana StateInformation Centre, NewDelhi, has organised a oneday workshop — Know Your29th State of the Country.

Arvind has addressed thegathering through virtualmode from his office inHyderabad. He has briefed onthe initiatives of Telangana

state government, function-ing of the department ofInformation and PR, welfareschemes for journalists, stategovernment efforts in combat-ing COVID-19.

Dr Gaurav Uppal, IAS,Resident Commissioner,Telangana Bhavan, has intro-duced the state with its rich his-tory, flagship programmes andfunctioning of the TelanganaBhavan. He has interacted withthe officials with regard totheir role in Delhi.

The basic idea of this pro-gramme is to unify the publicrelations professionals workingfor various state governmentsin Delhi, to raise professionalstandards, share knowledgeand tackle common problems.

$�,,B���������������������������

��������������� ��� ���� ���

<�%���*��8������:��������������=>�����������

8)�"�=��� ��������#���������

��������������&���� �����*���������������$������

7<1�!$��������4����*����,1� '���9��*(���������++�

Page 14: $*5)( %#< 2’...2020/12/23  · Hindi, Yadav said the Government is constantly holding talks with so-called farmers’ leaders and organisa-tions, who’re not associated with our

������24������������������ ��� � !" ��#$%�#&#&

��������+� -���

Australia’s “in-depth” planningto subdue Cheteshwar Pujaraworked out well in the open-

ing Test but spinner Nathan Lyon saysit would be a massive challenge tokeep the “world-class” batsman quietthrough the remainder of the series.

Lyon said the home team has acouple of more surprises lined up forthe Pujara, who is considered crucialin the Indian batting line-up for hisdoggedness. The second Test beginson Saturday in Melbourne.

“I can’t reveal secrets, to be hon-est with you. But, obviously Pujara isa world-class batter and he is goingto be a big challenge for us for the restof the series,” 33-year-old Lyon saidat a virtual press-conference onWednesday.

“We spoke about him (Pujara) indepth before the series started, it wasgood to see a couple of plans come offin Adelaide, but we have got a cou-ple more things.

“So, hopefully if he does get in, wecan put into ploy...It is always fun chal-lenging yourself against the bestplayers in the world and Pujara is def-initely one of those guys,” added thesenior spinner but refused to elabo-rate on his plans.

Lyon had dismissed a well-setPujara for 43 in the first innings of theAdelaide Test, which Australia won byeight wickets.

Lyon also said India have gotenough players to fill in the “big hole”left by talismanic skipper Virat Kohli,who has returned to India for thebirth of his first child.

“...Ajinkya Rahane and(Cheteshwar) Pujara, just to name acouple. But you still got the likes of(KL) Rahul and (Mayank) Agarwal,who have been exceptional as well, sothere is (are) enough guys in thatsquad to fill Virat’s shoes,” he said.

“It is going to be a big challengefor us again and we will start ourpreparation really well and make surewe are prepared to take on India againon (the) Boxing Day, it is going to beanother big challenge for us,” addedLyon, who has 391 Test wickets to hiscredit.

Lyon also feels that Indian bats-men will try and attack him onceagain, a strategy that he is bothfamiliar and comfortable with.

“...When you look at the quality

of the quick bowlers that we have gothere in Australian side, I think it’s oneof their tactics to come after me whichis totally fine,” he said.

“I am pretty used to having guyscome after me...So it’s all fun part ofplaying cricket and especially beinga spin bowler,” he added.

India recorded their lowest Testscore of 36/9 in Adelaide but Lyon isconfident that the visitors wouldcome out all guns blazing in the sec-ond Test.

“I don’t think it will be that dif-ficult. You look at the quality of play-ers in the Indian side and they havegot some absolutely world class play-ers throughout the whole squad.

“It is one of the days where noth-ing went right for them and every-thing went right for us...We areexpecting them to come out firing andnot have any scars from the other day.

“...We can’t go out there expect-ing we’re going to bowl them out for50 again.”

����� ���+� -���

Determined to leave behindthe embarrassing defeat in

the series-opener, the Indianteam, under stand-in skipperAjinkya Rahane, switched itsfocus to red-ball cricket onWednesday with Shubman Gilland others grinding it out duringa net session ahead of BoxingDay Test.

Gill, who was not consideredfor the opening Test despitescoring 43 and 65 in the pink-ballwarm-up match, looked in goodnick as he along with MayankAgarwal honed his skills at thenets, indicating that the duocould be the opening combina-tion for the second Test.

The 21-year-old Gill alsoopens for Punjab in the RanjiTrophy and could be favouredover struggling Prithvi Shaw,who returned with scores of 0and 4 in the two innings atAdelaide.

KL Rahul, who received thebacking from the legendary SunilGavaskar for the opening slot,too had a long stint at the nets.

Also back at the nets wasspin all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja,who had missed the first Test dueto concussion.

Jadeja went for an hour-longspell at the nets during which hebowled to his Saurashtra team-

mate Cheteshwar Pujara. Heagain returned for a second stintlater, an indication that he couldbe included in the playing XI forthe Boxing Day Test.

With skipper Virat Kohlireturning home for the birth ofhis first child, Rahane will nowhave to take the onus of inspir-ing the team to script a turn-around.

The practice session begunwith head coach Ravi Shastri giv-ing a pep talk to the team mem-bers, who stood in a circle at theMCG.

“We are in Melbourne andnow as the red-ball Tests start, itis time to regroup. #TeamIndia,”BCCI wrote on its Twitter han-dle.

Shastri also had a chat withRishabh Pant, who came out tobat at the nets ahead ofWriddhiman Saha.

With Mohammed Shamiruled out of the remainder of theseries with a fractured forearm,Mohammad Siraj and NavdeepSaini were seen bowling toRahane alongside ShardulThakur as the trio look to stakeclaim for the third pacer’s slot.

Batting coach VikramRathour, meanwhile, had a wordwith young Shaw, who is undertremendous pressure to retain hisplace in the XI after his below parshow in Adelaide.

�#����0�"�#�$��$��!��'�7�#"�*�3�����

���������# ����������������$�����&���������������3�(����������$�������� ��#����&��������������������.���#���*�����!��#������%������� �**&H�$����

����� ���+� -���

Ace Australian spinner NathanLyon says he and India’s R

Ashwin are similar yet different typeof bowlers, so comparisons shouldnot be made between the two.

Lyon spoke highly of Ashwin,who he says stands out with his vari-ations.

“Ashwin is a world-class bowler,to be honest. I have watched him alot especially when I had gone to tourIndia and the subcontinent to try andlearn of him. But he is a very cageybowler, he has got all the variations,”Lyon said on Saturday.

“He’s very cagey with the way hechanges his pace, so he is a very tal-ented bowler. We are similar in a waybut we are very different as well, soI can’t really compare myself to him.I think his records speak for his own,

so hats off to Ashwin,” said the 33-year-old off-spinner.

Ashwin has been India’s premieroff-spinner, who has taken 370 wick-ets from 72 Tests.

Lyon himself is close to touchingthe milestone of 400 Test wickets. He

has taken 391 wickets from 97 Tests.Asked if he would have any

preferable choice for his 400th Testwicket, Lyon said that it doesn’t mat-ter to him.

“Doesn’t worry me, if it’s(Mayank) Agarwal or (Jasprit)Bumrah, or whoever, batter of bowler,doesn’t worry me whatsoever, just itwould be nice feather in the cap to getthere,” he said.

Lyon also dubbed the currentAustralian attack as the best in theworld and said it is a privilege to bepart of it.

“I have said many times before inmy eyes, this is the best bowling attackin the world. We are all, best matesand there is no day goes by whenthere is not a banter being thrownaround in the WhatsApp group,” hesaid about the chemistry among theteammates.

����� ���������

Stand-in skipper AjinkyaRahane is a “bowler’s cap-

tain” whose calm demeanourand clear communication withplayers should help him lead theteam well in remainder of theTest series against Australia, saysIndia fast bowler Ishant Sharma.

With regular skipper ViratKohli returning home for thebirth of his first child, Rahanewill lead India in the remainingthree Tests of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Ishant, who missed theAustralia tour due to a sidestrain injury, said Rahane hasability to nicely play the leader-ship role.

“He’s very quiet and confi-dent and I must say he’s abowler’s captain,” Ishant toldESPNcricinfo.

“Whenever we have playedtogether and Virat has not been

around on the field, he’d ask me‘What kind of field you want?When you want to bowl? If youwant to go on (bowling)?

“He’s a bowler’s captain.He’s not someone who’d say ‘dothis or do that ... He is very clearabout what he wants from histeam.”

Rahane has led India to vic-tories both the times he hadcaptained the side in absence ofKohli against Australia andAfghanistan.

“You can see what kind ofperson he is in his captaincy. Heis very calm and composed. Ican’t say he does not have asense of humor. He jokesaround with us,” Ishant said.

“Jinx (Rahane) spreads calmenergy in a pressure situation.There won’t be any tension, he’dcommunicate with the bowlersvery well.”

Talking about Kohli, the 32-year-old pacer said: “If there’s apartnership growing and it’s aflat phase when fielders arejust going through theirmotions, one player’s energylevel can change the scenario,”he said.

“The kind of energy Viratbrings to the table ... Not every-one can match that.”

����� ���+� -���

Former Australia coach Darren Lehmannfeels India have some quality players in

their ranks to still effect a turnaround in theongoing four-match series Down Under,despite a drubbing in the opener in Adelaide.

“It will be hard now for them, but they’veactually got some quality players if they canget on a roll,” Lehmann told SA Sportsday.

The 50-year-old former Australia bats-man opined that India have a potent bowl-ing attack and if their batsmen cope with thebounce well, then the tourists could stage acomeback in the series.

“They can certainly cause some troublewith the ball, it’s just whether the batsmencan cope with the bounce. The MCG pitchwill suit them a bit better because it’s a bit flat-ter.”

“So we’ll see if their batsmen can bounceback and make some runs, especially in thefirst innings. That’s going to be the key forthem,” Lehnmann said.

��������������� �� �������������Chennai: �*�E23E3�@2*�� #(��8)�/%���( %��������(!�B()))%�#� &�'()� ��#*� ( � ��%� :/%#��*����A� �)(� &�28�/� &���2*� �'% ����2�5%��%)#�( ��2)!����3�2'�� *��/���6��))E�2* #%��>(.�/�:�� !�������5%% � �'%#������(!?��#%8*�/6�2B%@%��� ��%� �%�'� B())� 5%� B(��2*�� ��%� �%�@(4%�� 23� -���B( ������( ,�2 �:* #���� #�&�������.� ��B�2���%2 � ��(2 �)�#*�/6��%#(*'E8�4%����B( ���(��� �%�*� �� �2��%�����%��(#%��3�%����,�8�23����%%�/%����#*%��2� ( .*�(%�B�()%�:� #%%8�����(%���B�2�������(3�%#�3�2'��%��)���(��)�2���8����23���%��%�'6

����������� ���������������London: � ,)� #�� #���)%�(42���#�(#�#%3% #%���(%�� &�(88(%��B���5� %#�3�2'�322�5�))�32�����B%%!��� #�3( %#������� 82* #�� 2 � �%# %�#�/� 32�� 5�%�4�( ,� 5%��( ,�*)%�� ( � �� 8* (��'% �� 3�2'� &�%� � ,)(��� <22�5�))���24(��(2 � ����� �88)(%�� B2�)#B(#%6� &�%� '(�42 #*4�#% (%#�5/�&�(88(%����88% %#�( �*)/������F ��%�'2 ���%� )%3�� :8*��� 32�� ��)%�(426� &�%� 5� � ��!%�� %33%4�(''%#(��%)/�� #�42'%��B(�����)%�(42��28�23���%��� �(,�6

��� �� ����������� ���� ���� ����New Delhi: &�%� #(� ���(4!%�%������24(��(2 �L��M�2 �%# %�#�/� 2'( ��%#� 32�'%�� #(�� �8( %�� $��,/� �.������(����%8�%�% ���(@%��2���%�$��,2@%� ( ,�42* 4()���#�/�5%32�%���%�+��?��� *�)�0% %��)��%%�( ,6�&�%�+��B())��2)#�(���������0��( ���'%#�5�#�2 �&�*��#�/6�&�%���24(��(2 � B��� %��)(%�� �%8�%�% �%#� 5/� 32�'%�� #(�8)�/%�� :*�( #%�� ��� ��� ��� �442�#( ,� �2� ��%� +��42 ��(�*�(2 ����%����(���%A*(�%#��2��% #���'%'5%���2���%$��,2@%� ( ,�42* 4()�%@%�/�/%��6

���������������������������������� ����Tauranga: $�!(��� � �))E�2* #%��:��#�5���� �B���2 �%# %�#�/� �*)%#�2*��23� ��%�28% ( ,�&%����,�( ����%BS%�)� #�#*%��2�����(,��( .*�/��B�(4���%��*���( %#�#*�( ,��%� ��(�#�&��� ( ���8(%�6��%3�E��'��8( %��S�3���02����B�2� B��� 8�%8��( ,� B(��� ��%� $�!(��� � :���%% �� 32�:* #�/?��&���'��4���,�( �����%��2���%� �� (,�����B�� �'%#�����(���%8)�4%'% ��( ���%��A*�#�32����%�3(����&%���5%,( ( ,�����2* ����* ,� *(�2 �:��*�#�/6�

� � ����� ������ �����������������Berlin: �(@%�822)� )2� %%� �2�(�� ���(*�� % #*�%#� �'(�%��5)%�42'8%�(�(@%�#%5*��32�� (2 �+%�)( �2 �&*%�#�/����(���(#%�4����%#�2*��23���%�0%�'� ��*8�( ���%��%42 #�2* #�32))2B( ,����*�8�(�%�"E���2'%�#%3%����2��%42 #E�(%��$�#%�52� 6�<%))2B�+* #%�)(,���(#%��233% �%('�B%�%�)�2�2 � ��%� �%4%(@( ,�% #�23� � �*8�%��� ��� ��%/� )2���2 8% �)�(%���2��%42 #�#(@(�(2 �2*�3(��0�%*��%��<*%���6

������������������������������� �Tokyo: �8� ?�� 5�#'( �2 � B2�)#� *'5%�� 2 %� �% �2�2'2������*,,%#�233� %�@%���2�'�!%���B( ( ,��%�*� �2� 42'8%�(�(2 � ( � &2!/2� 2 ��%# %�#�/�� %��)/� �� /%���3�%�� �*33%�( ,��%�(2*�� ( .*�(%�� ( � �� 4��� 4����6��2'2��5%����2��(�2��2�(,*4�(���E������E���( ���%�3(�����2* #�23��%��))E�8� � 4��'8(2 ��(8���'��!( ,��(�� �%�*� � 3�2'��%��44(#% �������)%3���('�3%��( ,��(��4��%%��'(,���5%�2@%��3�%��3��4�*�( ,�� �%/%��24!%�6

������������������������ ����� � �Lyon: �/2 ����(!%���2*�����%'5T)T��233��2����)2B������B(��� .*���2 %�,2�)� ��(���%��2 ��5�2!%��(����'�#*�( ,�����( ( ,��%��(2 ��42�4��-*#(�0��4(����(#6��%'5T)T�B2 ?�5%��@�()�5)%�B�% ��%42 #E8)�4%��/2 ��2������ �%��2 �%# %�#�/6�Q�%?))��%%�B������%�42*��%�23��4�(2 �(��B(���('��5*��32�� 2B��%�(��* �@�()�5)%�R�0��4(����(#��B(��2*�,(@( ,����('%��5)%�32���%'5T)T?���%�*� 6

������������������� �� ����� �� ��Dubai: ���-��*)��%��( %#��(����(�#�82�(�(2 ��B�()%� #(��!(88%��>(�����2�)(�('8�2@%#����* ,��2���%��%@% ����82�( ���%����'% ?��&���5���'� ��� !( ,�6� �3�4���-��*)� #��2�)(���%���%�2 )/��B2� #(� ���2�3%��*�%�( ���%��28E���)(���23�8)�/%���( ��))����%%�4��%,2�(%�6 8�����

)�,�48)

?��� >��������

Lionel Messi overtook Pele’srecord of goals for a single

club on Tuesday as Barcelonastrolled to a 3-0 La Liga win atReal Valladolid, while AtleticoMadrid kept hold of their placeat the top of the table.

The Argentina forwardstruck his 644th goal for Barca,one more than Brazil legend Pelescored for Santos, in the 65thminute of a routine win forRonald Koeman’s side, who arefifth in La Liga after the win andeight points behind leadersAtletico.

“When I started playingfootball I never thought I wouldbreak any records. And even lessthe one I achieved today,” Messiposted on Instagram shortlyafter the game.

“I can only thank all thosewho helped me over the years,my teammates, my family,my friends and all those whosupport me every day.”

Messi had equalled Peleon Saturday in a 2-2 drawwith Valencia. The two menscored at almost an equalrate for their clubs.

It was the 33-year-oldArgentine’s 749th compet-itive match for Barca,meaning he has scored agoal every 1.16 games.

The Brazilian scored 643goals in 757 matches with Santos,where he played between 1956and 1974, or one every 1.17matches.

Barca started on the frontfoot at the Jose Zorrilla Stadium,with Messi flashing a curlingwide in the seventh minute and

forcing a superb save from JordiMasip in the 20th minute.

Barca took the lead secondslater when Messi clipped over abeautiful cross which Francedefender Clement Lenglet head-ed home.

Martin Braithwaite gave theaway side a deserved second 14minutes later, Messi slippingthrough Sergio Dest who rolledover a perfect low cross for theDanish international to taphome.

Messi, who has looked out ofsorts this season after trying toleave the club in the summer, gotthe landmark goal his excellentperformance deserved with asimple finish after burstingthrough to collect Pedri’s delicatebackheeled assist.

The easy win puts Barcatwo points behind Sociedadand fourth-placed Villarreal,who draw 1-1 at home withAthletic Bilbao.

���������� ��Earlier second-half

goals from MarioHermoso and MarcosLlorente earned Atleticoa huge win away at a

Sociedad team that startedthe fixture three points off thelead but are now six back in thirdafter their third straight leaguedefeat.

?� � & -�

Ten-man Juventus crashed totheir first Serie A defeat of

the season 3-0 at home againstFiorentina on Tuesday in anightmare final game beforeChristmas.

The defeat came hours afterthe champions learned theymust play the match againstNapoli which was cancelledon October 4 after Napolidecided not to travel to Turin

because of coronavirus cases.On Tuesday, Napoli won

their appeal to the ItalianOlympic Committee (CONI)after being handed a 3-0 defeatand a one-point deduction.

As a result Juventus, whohad started the day with 27points, finished it with 24.

Juventus are fourth, tied onpoints with Napoli and Roma,and seven points behind lead-ers AC Milan, who play Lazioon Wednesday night.

����� :=���=�

In a bid to save its New Yearfixture between India and

Australia, the Sydney CricketGround Trust has offered tohost the Brisbane Test too, if theQueensland Government refuseto grant exemptions to theteams returning from NewSouth Wales.

Cricket Australia (CA) wasput on high alert earlier thismonth after an outbreak of theCovid-19 virus in the northernbeaches in Sydney, which isscheduled to host the third Testfrom January 7.

Even though the situationin northern beaches hasimproved, there are concernsthat Queensland may close itsborder with New South Wales,which will mean players andbroadcasting crews will not beable to travel from Sydney toBrisbane between the third andfourth Tests.

“We can run two Tests ifnecessary, no problems at all,”Sydney Cricket and SportsGround Trust chairman TonyShepherd told The Age.

Under the circumstances,Melbourne, which will be host-ing the Boxing Day fixturefrom December 26, hasemerged as the frontrunner tohost the third Test as well.

However, CA has assertedthat the SCG remains its pre-ferred venue for the third Test.

“We’ve made it very clear toCricket Australia we’re flexibleand would be very, very disap-pointed to lose the Sydney Test.And that’s with the support ofthe NSW Government,”Shepherd said.

7 ���#���������������0�@������ ��� 4�

8#�������A��.����$�%��������� ����(�������� �������������#��&����A��*����$��� #:��������5������,���������(����#�����;������� 8

*������� ���� ��������8��$����,���

��� %����552����2'(�����0�&%��Melbourne: Star opener DavidWarner and pacer Sean Abbottwere on Wednesday ruled out ofthe second Test against India,beginning at MCG from Saturday,because of a mix of injuries andCovid-19 protocols.

Both Warner and Abbott wereoutside the team’s bio-secure hubto get treatment for their respec-tive groin and calf injuries.

“While neither player has beenin a specific ‘hotspot’ on Sydney’snorthern beaches as outlined byNSW Health, Cricket Australia’sbiosecurity protocols do not allowthem to rejoin the squad in timefor the Boxing Day test,” CA saidin a statement. “The pair travelledfrom Sydney to Melbourne tocontinue their rehabilitation giventhe changing public health situa-tion in Sydney at the time.”

Warner still hasn’t recoveredfully from the groin injury, sus-tained during the ODI series,while Abbott has recovered froma calf strain but he is unlikely tobreak into a playing XI that beatIndia last week. PTI

��������������������6����� �#������#����//����$��� �#��� #�-.��#�������##

3�#��� ��-�.���%������� ����#��

�������������,����������� �#(��#�������������#�����,���#����������"��������������� ����������������������#�

���6�����������?�����Aashna Siddiqui bagged two gold medals

in the under-20 category on the third day ofthe District Athletics Championships at KDSingh ‘Babu’ Stadium on Wednesday. Aashnabagged the shotput and discus throw goldswith throws of 8.43 m and 19.80 m respec-tively. Meanwhile, Amit Kumar Yadav wonthe 100m gold while Ritu Bharti emerged vic-torious in the girl’s event. Ashok Kanaujiaclocked 56:42:38 seconds to claim the 10,000m walk gold. Shivani Kashyap won the 5,000m girl’s walk event.

������������?�������?���State United FC edged past Brayen XI 4-

3 in a tie-breaker to enter the final of the 6thDistrict Football League at La Martiniereground on Wednesday. State United will nowtake on the winner of second semi-final tobe played between Sunrise FC and ExcelliaFC.

�����6���������� ���LDACC defeated Sound Images by five

wickets in a league match of the 3rd SagarKhayyami Cricket Tournament at ChowkStadium on Wednesday.BRIEF SCORES:SI: 130 (Adeel Baqar 33, Himanshu 31,Prashant 20; Rohit 28/4)LDACC: 134 (Samast 38, Rahul 27, Manoj26; Sonu 28/3)

��������6�������� ��Kooh Sports Cricket Club beat DYA by

nine runs to enter the semi-final of the 16thBBD ‘B’ Division League at AR Jaipuriaground on Wednesday.BRIEF SCORES:KSCC: 130 (Arvind 40, Himanshu 33;Abhinav 15/5, Sunil 18/2)DYA: 121 (Rishi 44, Prempraksh 23; Omkar13/3, Yashvardhan 29/3).

D/��D�!0!+7#


8/2/2015Dr. Hariom Yadav. 8/2/2015Dr. Hariom Yadav Animal Cloning Hariom Yadav 1, Shalini Jain 1 and Mukesh Yadav 2 1 Animal Biochemistry Division, National

vinod yadav

Manish yadav

GEP Vikaskumar Yadav

BPR_sandeep yadav

SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISA- TION: AN ANTI-WESTERN ... - CSS · CSS Analyses in Security Policy ETH Zurich CSS No. 66 • December 2009 SHANGHAI COOPERATION ORGANISA-TION: AN ANTI-WESTERN

Arun Yadav

Amitesh singh yadav

Bindu Yadav

Ashutosh Yadav

manjeet yadav

WORLD HEALTH DRGANIZA TlDN ornu I.r It.rr oRGANISA TloN

287 Apurv Yadav

Manoj Yadav Report

viresh yadav

Brijeh yadav ppt

Knowledge Organisa/on Capabili/es

Ayush yadav

Digital engagement for CCGs and other health organisa · Healthcare organisa

KAPIL YADAV

Deepak Yadav , Anju Dhawan, Seema Yadav. NDDTC. AIIMS ...2010/05/02  · Deepak Yadav , Anju Dhawan, Seema Yadav. NDDTC. AIIMS , New Delhi. India • Ul tUnemployment and subtbstance

VINOD YADAV-09889474776

Dipesh yadav

Incoterms PANKAJ YADAV

Professor Ganapati D. Yadav: Versatility and … G D Yadav Festschrift...Professor Ganapati D. Yadav: Versatility and Humility Is Thy Name ASCENT Ganapati D. Yadav, known to family

SUPAUL NULL SUNIL KUMAR YADAV UMI YADAV …bocwbihar.in/WebLink/NotificationDoc/00001117_Doc.pdfsupaul null sunil kumar yadav umi yadav '0736480101372018 supaul pipra md idris md kailu

pradeep yadav

dsmnru · ku rachita yadav anjeesh yadav rashi tiwari aadhya bhardwaj smriti patel nisha verma nishij yadav akanksha mishra preeti yadav mansi verma dhruv narayan tiwari vishnukant

Suresh yadav

lalu prasad yadav

Yoginder Yadav

AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE ORGANISA TION APPROVALaviasg.com/pdf/certificates/AMO-approval-Hawker-850XP.pdfAIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE ORGANISA TION APPROVAL, LT. 145.020 BDA/AMO/440 . meets the

list of nursing... · Web viewKaptan Singh Yadav S/o Bhoop Singh Yadav

Gurugram UniversityHIMANSHU PURSHOTAM YADAV Saurabh Yadav SHIVAM YADAV Aman Yadav Laxman Bharat Goyal SHIVAM KAUSHIK Lovesh Vats Vlkas Tushar Chauhan Yogesh Singh 30/07/2001 15/09/2001

Pankaj YADAV