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T o register their protest over the controversial farm leg- islation, leaders of 16 Opposition parties on Thursday announced they will boycott President Ram Nath Kovind’s address to Parliament on Friday. In a joint statement issued, they said they have decided to stay away from the President’s address in both the Houses of Parliament, reaffirming “the collective demand” for repeal of the farm laws and in soli- darity with the agitating farm- ers. Describing the Opposition parties’ move to boycott the President’s address to Parliament as the “most unfor- tunate”, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Thursday urged them to reconsider their decision. Talking to reporters here, he said the issues cited by the Opposition parties for boy- cotting the President’s address can be raised during the debate on the motion of thanks. He said the President was above party politics and the BJP as an Opposition party never boycotted the President’s address. Slamming opposition par- ties for their decision to boy- cott the President’s address to Parliament, the BJP on Thursday accused them of "constitutional and moral bankruptcy”. Among the parties signa- tories to the statement are Congress, NCP, Trinamool Congress, Shiv Sena, SP, RJD, DMK, CPI, CPI(M), among others. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is not a signa- tory of the joint statement, has also announced that its mem- bers in the House will boycott the President’s address. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) has also announced that it will boycott the President’s address over farm laws. This will be the second time in a row when the Opposition will stay away from the President’s address — a constitutional requirement before any session of the Parliament to begin. Last year, the Opposition parties had staged a protest in front of Ambedkar statue in support of those opposing the citizen- ship amendment law. The joint statement of the Opposition parties says that the farm laws were brought “without any consultations with States and farmer unions and lacked national consensus”. The parliamentary scrutiny was bypassed and the laws were pushed through muz- zling the Opposition,” it said. “The farm laws are an assault on the rights of the States and violate the federal spirit of the Constitution. If not repealed, these laws will dis- mantle the edifice of National Food Security that rests upon MSP, Government procure- ment and PDS,” the statement said accusing the Prime Minister and the BJP Government remains arro- gant, adamant and undemoc- ratic in their response. K eeping the Covid proto- cols of social distancing, the Budget Session of Parliament will begin on Friday with the President’s address to both the Houses (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha) seated in three different loca- tions for the first time. While 144 members of Parliament will be seated in the Central Hall, including the Council of Ministers, Chairpersons of various Committees of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, leaders of differ- ent parties and groups in both the Houses, former Prime Ministers and national presi- dents of BJP and Congress. The remaining members of Parliament will be seated in the chambers of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha as per the Covid induced physical dis- tancing norms. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu took the Covid test ahead of the session and so were several members of Rajya Sabha. A total of 1,209 officials and staff of the Rajya Sabha Secretariat also was administered Covid test as part of the preparations for the Budget Session. A fter Ghaziabad adminis- tration asked protesting farmers to vacate UP Gate protest site by Thursday mid- night tension is brewing in the area with union leader Rakesh Tikait remaining adamant and said he would commit suicide but won’t end the stir. A confrontation was building up at the UP Gate in Ghazipur bordering Delhi with heavy security deployed while frequent power cuts were witnessed at the protest site, where Bharatiya Kisan Union members, led by Tikait, are staying put since November 28. However, two days after the tractor parade turned vio- lent the crowd at the protest sites in Delhi’s Singhu and Tikri borders was visibly thin on Thursday. Farmer unions said it was because the pro- testers, who had come to Delhi to take part in January 26 march, have returned home. The “verbal” communi- cation from the district administration to BKU comes after three farmers union withdrew their protest over the violence on Republic Day. “Ghaziabad DM Ajay Shankar Pandey has commu- nicated to the protestors camp- ing at the UP Gate at Delhi border to vacate the spot by tonight or the administration will remove them,” a district official told PTI. T he Delhi Police on Thursday issued 44 look- out notices to protesters and farmer leaders named in an First Information Report (FIR) in connection with the violence during the farmers’ tractor parade on Republic Day. Police also asked union leaders to surrender their passports and also invoked sedition charges in a case of the Red Fort incident as the force intensified its investiga- tion. Police has registered 33 FIRs out of which nine FIRs filed at Samaypur Badli police station, Kotwali police station which is near Red Fort, I P Estate police station at ITO, Pandav Nagar, Nangloi and Najafgarh police stations, have been transferred to Crime Branch. The Special Cell of Delhi Police has also sum- moned six farmer leaders and has asked them to join the police investigation at their office. Meanwhile, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the violence on Republic Day was unfortunate but it would not end the farmers’ move- ment against the three agri laws. He also said strictest punishment must be given to those responsible for the vio- lence. Earlier in the day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah along with Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla and Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava visited Sushruta Trauma Centre and Tirath Ram Shah Hospital to enquire about the health of policemen injured in the violence during the farmers’ tractor parade on Republic Day. T he Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lok Shakti) here on Thursday announced it was ending its protest against the new central farm laws. BKU (Lok Shakti) chief Sheoraj Singh made the announce- ment during a press conference here, a day after two other farmers’ union ended their stir. “The protest has been called off,” BKU (Lok Shakti) spokesperson Shailesh Kumar Giri told PTI. The farmers' union had been camping at the Dalit Prerna Sthal since December 2, demanding with- drawal of the three new farm laws. T The Haryana Government has extended the suspen- sion of mobile Internet ser- vices in Sonipat, Jhajjar and Palwal districts till Friday 5 pm “to prevent disturbance of peace and public order”. “... It has been brought to my notice by ADGP, CID, Haryana … that the situation is still tense and violence may simmer in the areas of Delhi adjoining State of Haryana which aroused in view of law and order situation created during tractor parade on January 26 by protestors, agi- tators, miscreants and anti- social elements..,” Haryana’s Home Department order said. T he Supreme Court- appointed committee on farm laws has sought sugges- tions from all stakeholders engaged in agricultural activ- ities or any other activity relat- ed to it over the three farm laws and the minimum support price (MSP) by February 20. The committee has pre- pared a feedback form which includes 20 multiple ques- tions, divided into five sections. Sections A, B, and C deal with the three farm laws and section D contains questions on the MSP. The last section, E, seeks the respondents’ suggestions. The questions include: Are you aware about the Act deal- ing with contract farming? Where do you sell your prod- ucts? What are the three main products you sell? Do you sell your produce at MSP and whom do you sell? The panel has made a request to all the concerned to share their com- ments, views and suggestions so that they can be compiled and presented before the SC. Section A is related to the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020 and it contains eight questions and respondents will have to answer in only “yes” and “no”. The questions are: Are you aware about this Act? Where do you sell your produce? Do you feel that the provisions in the Act will give more choice to the farmers to sell their pro- duce beyond APMC markets? Will such an arrangement ben- efit farmers in realising better prices of their produce? There are apprehensions that the provisions in the Act will col- lapse APMC markets. Do you feel so? If yes, how it will be responsible for the collapse of APMC markets? Do you think that the Act will provide opportunities for electronic trading? The Act proposed that any person (other than individual) having a PAN or FPO or coop- erative society can create elec- tronic platform and trade. Do you wish to propose any mod- ification to this provision? A s stalemate continued at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) for the last nine months, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Thursday the incidents in Ladakh last year have “profoundly” dis- turbed ties with China. Making this assertion, he cautioned the relations between the two countries were at crossroads and choic- es that are made will have pro- found repercussions not just for two neighbours but for the entire world. Expressing concern over these events, Jaishankar stressed eight broad principles for repairing ties between India and China. They included strict adherence to all agree- ments on management of the LAC, mutual respect and sen- sitivity, and recognising each other’s aspirations as rising Asian powers. Sharing these observations during an address at an online conference on India-China ties, the Minister said, “The events last year have pro- foundly disturbed the rela- tionship and asserted that any attempt to unilaterally change the status quo along the LAC is completely unacceptable”. Jaishankar’s remarks came days after the ninth round of Corps Commander-level talks on Sunday could not break the logjam. Similarly, the diplo- matic-level parleys over the past few months also failed to restore peace at the tense LAC. The External Affairs Minister said any expectation that the situation at the border “can be brushed aside and life can carry on undisturbed” is simply not realistic. Jaishankar said the India- China relationship is truly at the crossroads today and choices that are made will have profound repercussions not just for the two nations but for the entire world. He said the Chinese actions in eastern Ladakh not only signaled a disregard for commitments about minimis- ing troops level but also showed a willingness to breach peace and tranquility. “Significantly, to date, we have yet to receive a credible explanation for the change in China’s stance and massing of troops in border areas,” he said at the All India Conference on China Studies. Elaborating on eight points for moving forward in bilater- al ties, the External Affairs Minister said agreements already reached on manage- ment of the LAC must be adhered to in their entirety and in letter and spirit. He also reit- erated any attempt to unilat- erally change the status quo is completely unacceptable. While both nations are committed to a multi-polar world, Jaishankar said, there should be a recognition that a multi-polar Asia is one of its essential consequences. T he Vigilance police on Wednesday caught Satyaban Giri, ASI of the Jharadihi police outpost under the Tiringi police station in Mayurbhanj district, red-hand- ed while accepting a bribe of Rs 9,000. Giri had demanded the bribe from Tambray Beshra of Jashipur for not to harass him for selling liquor. His house at native village Raidiha under the Raruan PS in the district and his rest room and office at the Jharadihi outpost were searched. Later, he was arrest- ed and forwarded to court. In another incident, on the alle- gation of acquisition of assets disproportionate to the known sources of income by Subhendu Kumar Pradhan, Junior Engineer in the Bhubaneswar BDO office, his residences and offices were searched on the day. Pradhana and his family members were found in pos- session of assets worth Rs 1.21 crore, including a triple-storied building, a flat, a single-storied building, an apartment, 11 plots, a four-wheeler, two two- wheelers, deposits in different banks, gold and silver orna- ments, cash and household articles. On Thursday, Pradhan was arrested and forwarded to court. In yet another graft case, Mamata Hembram, Block Veterinary Officer (BVO), Bhapur; and Ananta Paikaray, Attendant, office of the Bhapur Veterinary Centre, Nayagarh district; were arrested in a bribery case on Thursday. Vigilance sleuths caught Paikray red-handed while he was demanding and accepting Rs 15,000 from Prahallad Charan Nayak of Madhapur village, Fategarh, Nayagarh, in order to process the file for release of subsidy amount for a goat farm in his favour. Paikaray was collecting the money at the behest of BVO Hembram. T he State recorded 113 new Covid-19 cases in 19 dis- tricts and from the State pool on Thursday, with which the total positive tally rose to 3,34,780 . Of the new cases, 67 were reported from quarantine and 46 were local contact cases. Sambalpur district record- ed the highest 18 cases followed by Sundargarh with 17 and Nuapada 11. Besides, two cases were reported from the State pool. So far, the number of total active cases in the Sate stood at 1,286 and the cumulative sam- ple tests at 7,63,5,887. Meanwhile, 132 persons recov- ered on day, taking total recov- eries to 3,31,667 in the State. T he All India Kishan Sangarsh Samanwaya Samiti (AIKSSS), Odisha on Thursday said there is an effort by the Central Government to tarnish the image of the farm- ers’ agitation being held in New Delhi demanding with- drawal of the farm laws. Samiti Odisha chapter’s Suresh Panigrahi demanded that the FIR lodged against the senior leaders of the agitation be taken back and those arrest- ed be released.However, he demanded that stringent action be taken against those who indulged in violence during the tractor rally in the national cap- ital on January 26. Particularly, the organisa- tion led by Punjabi actor Dip Sidhu and Satnam Singh Panu. He said that though the Delhi police had prior information that the organisation would create unrest during the rally, it did not take adequate pre- cautionary steps. He said the AIKSSS would hold a Satyagraha in Bhubaneswar and other places in the State on January 30. Among others, Akhil Bharat Krushak Sabha secre- taries Khirod Singh Deo, Ashok Pradhan and Mahendra Parida and other leaders were present. E ven though the date for a by- election to the Pipili Assembly constituency follow- ing the death of incumbent BJD MLA Pradeep Maharathy a couple of months ago is yet to announced, speculations are rife as to whether the deceased leader’s wife Pratibha Maharathy or son Rudra Maharathy would be chosen by BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik as the party candidate in the by-poll. The speculations became more intense on Thursday when BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik appointed senior party leader and Aul MLA Pratap Keshari Deb as the party’s observer for the Pipili by-election. Rudra Maharathy virtually told media that he is an aspirant for the BJD ticket to contest the by- poll. “I have political and elec- toral experience as I was involved in campaigning in the last two elections for my father,” he said. At the same time, he added that it is up to the party high command whether to choose him of his mother Pratibha Maharathy, who, he said also has political experience. Pratibha Maharathy, when asked, declined to make any comment and said Naveen Patnaik is the ultimate author- ity in selection of the candidate. Notably, there are also BJD ticket aspirants outside Maharathy family. One among them is Sandhyabati Pradhan of constituency, who is now Chairperson of Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights. O disha received a pat on its back from the Centre on Thursday for its performance in vaccinating a significant number of healthcare workers (HCWs) to fight against Covid-19 since the inocula- tion drive has been launched across the country. Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Secretary Rajesh Bhushan informed during a media briefing at the National Media Centre, New Delhi that Odisha has ranked second among the States and Union Territories in terms of vaccination coverage of reg- istered healthcare workers. “Odisha is one of the biggest States. It has more HCWs so as the challenges; but despite this, the State’s coverage is remarkable,” said Rajesh Bhushan, adding that the State vaccinated 50.7 per cent of the registered HCWs in last 13 days. “Lakshadweep was the top performer as it vaccinat- ed 83.4 per cent of its health- care workers since January 16, the date when the country- wide vaccination drive was launched.

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  • ����� ��������

    To register their protest overthe controversial farm leg-islation, leaders of 16Opposition parties onThursday announced they willboycott President Ram NathKovind’s address to Parliamenton Friday.

    In a joint statement issued,they said they have decided tostay away from the President’saddress in both the Houses ofParliament, reaffirming “thecollective demand” for repealof the farm laws and in soli-darity with the agitating farm-ers.

    Describing the Oppositionparties’ move to boycott thePresident’s address toParliament as the “most unfor-tunate”, Parliamentary AffairsMinister Pralhad Joshi onThursday urged them toreconsider their decision.

    Talking to reporters here,he said the issues cited by theOpposition parties for boy-cotting the President’s addresscan be raised during the debateon the motion of thanks.

    He said the President wasabove party politics and theBJP as an Opposition partynever boycotted the President’saddress.

    Slamming opposition par-ties for their decision to boy-cott the President’s address toParliament, the BJP onThursday accused them of

    "constitutional and moralbankruptcy”.

    Among the parties signa-tories to the statement areCongress, NCP, TrinamoolCongress, Shiv Sena, SP, RJD,DMK, CPI, CPI(M), amongothers.

    The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), which is not a signa-tory of the joint statement, hasalso announced that its mem-bers in the House will boycottthe President’s address. TheShiromani Akali Dal (SAD)has also announced that itwill boycott the President’saddress over farm laws.

    This will be the secondtime in a row when theOpposition will stay away fromthe President’s address — aconstitutional requirementbefore any session of theParliament to begin. Last year,the Opposition parties hadstaged a protest in front ofAmbedkar statue in support ofthose opposing the citizen-ship amendment law.

    The joint statement of theOpposition parties says thatthe farm laws were brought“without any consultationswith States and farmer unionsand lacked national consensus”.

    The parliamentary scrutinywas bypassed and the lawswere pushed through muz-zling the Opposition,” it said.

    “The farm laws are anassault on the rights of theStates and violate the federalspirit of the Constitution. If notrepealed, these laws will dis-mantle the edifice of NationalFood Security that rests uponMSP, Government procure-ment and PDS,” the statementsaid accusing the PrimeMinister and the BJPGovernment remains arro-gant, adamant and undemoc-ratic in their response.

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    Keeping the Covid proto-cols of social distancing,the Budget Session ofParliament will begin onFriday with the President’saddress to both the Houses(Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha)seated in three different loca-tions for the first time.

    While 144 members ofParliament will be seated inthe Central Hall, includingthe Council of Ministers,Chairpersons of variousCommittees of Lok Sabha andRajya Sabha, leaders of differ-ent parties and groups in boththe Houses, former PrimeMinisters and national presi-dents of BJP and Congress.The remaining members ofParliament will be seated inthe chambers of Lok Sabhaand Rajya Sabha as per theCovid induced physical dis-tancing norms.

    Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu took theCovid test ahead of the sessionand so were several membersof Rajya Sabha. A total of 1,209officials and staff of the RajyaSabha Secretariat also wasadministered Covid test aspart of the preparations for theBudget Session.

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    After Ghaziabad adminis-tration asked protestingfarmers to vacate UP Gateprotest site by Thursday mid-night tension is brewing in thearea with union leader RakeshTikait remaining adamant andsaid he would commit suicidebut won’t end the stir.

    A confrontation wasbuilding up at the UP Gate inGhazipur bordering Delhiwith heavy security deployedwhile frequent power cutswere witnessed at the protestsite, where Bharatiya KisanUnion members, led by Tikait,are staying put sinceNovember 28.

    However, two days afterthe tractor parade turned vio-lent the crowd at the protestsites in Delhi’s Singhu andTikri borders was visibly thinon Thursday. Farmer unionssaid it was because the pro-testers, who had come to Delhito take part in January 26march, have returned home.

    The “verbal” communi-cation from the districtadministration to BKU comesafter three farmers unionwithdrew their protest over theviolence on Republic Day.

    “Ghaziabad DM AjayShankar Pandey has commu-nicated to the protestors camp-ing at the UP Gate at Delhiborder to vacate the spot bytonight or the administrationwill remove them,” a districtofficial told PTI.

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    The Delhi Police onThursday issued 44 look-out notices to protesters andfarmer leaders named in anFirst Information Report(FIR) in connection with theviolence during the farmers’tractor parade on RepublicDay. Police also asked unionleaders to surrender theirpassports and also invokedsedition charges in a case ofthe Red Fort incident as theforce intensified its investiga-tion.

    Police has registered 33FIRs out of which nine FIRsfiled at Samaypur Badli policestation, Kotwali police stationwhich is near Red Fort, I PEstate police station at ITO,Pandav Nagar, Nangloi andNajafgarh police stations, havebeen transferred to Crime

    Branch. The Special Cell ofDelhi Police has also sum-moned six farmer leaders andhas asked them to join thepolice investigation at theiroffice. Meanwhile, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal saidthe violence on Republic Daywas unfortunate but it wouldnot end the farmers’ move-ment against the three agrilaws. He also said strictestpunishment must be given tothose responsible for the vio-lence.

    Earlier in the day, UnionHome Minister Amit Shahalong with Home Secretary,Ajay Kumar Bhalla and DelhiPolice Commissioner SNShrivastava visited SushrutaTrauma Centre and TirathRam Shah Hospital to enquireabout the health of policemeninjured in the violence duringthe farmers’ tractor parade onRepublic Day.

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    The Bharatiya Kisan Union(Lok Shakti) here onThursday announced it wasending its protest against thenew central farm laws. BKU(Lok Shakti) chief SheorajSingh made the announce-ment during a press conferencehere, a day after two otherfarmers’ union ended theirstir.

    “The protest has beencalled off,” BKU (Lok Shakti)spokesperson Shailesh KumarGiri told PTI. The farmers'union had been camping at theDalit Prerna Sthal sinceDecember 2, demanding with-drawal of the three new farmlaws.

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    TThe Haryana Governmenthas extended the suspen-sion of mobile Internet ser-vices in Sonipat, Jhajjar andPalwal districts till Friday 5 pm“to prevent disturbance ofpeace and public order”.

    “... It has been brought tomy notice by ADGP, CID,Haryana … that the situationis still tense and violence maysimmer in the areas of Delhiadjoining State of Haryanawhich aroused in view of lawand order situation createdduring tractor parade onJanuary 26 by protestors, agi-tators, miscreants and anti-social elements..,” Haryana’sHome Department order said.

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    The Supreme Court-appointed committee onfarm laws has sought sugges-tions from all stakeholdersengaged in agricultural activ-ities or any other activity relat-ed to it over the three farm lawsand the minimum supportprice (MSP) by February 20.

    The committee has pre-pared a feedback form whichincludes 20 multiple ques-tions, divided into five sections.Sections A, B, and C deal withthe three farm laws and sectionD contains questions on theMSP. The last section, E, seeksthe respondents’ suggestions.

    The questions include: Areyou aware about the Act deal-ing with contract farming?Where do you sell your prod-ucts? What are the three mainproducts you sell? Do you sellyour produce at MSP andwhom do you sell? The panelhas made a request to all theconcerned to share their com-ments, views and suggestionsso that they can be compiledand presented before the SC.

    Section A is related to theFarmers’ Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, 2020 and itcontains eight questions andrespondents will have toanswer in only “yes” and “no”.The questions are: Are youaware about this Act? Wheredo you sell your produce? Doyou feel that the provisions inthe Act will give more choiceto the farmers to sell their pro-duce beyond APMC markets?Will such an arrangement ben-efit farmers in realising betterprices of their produce? Thereare apprehensions that theprovisions in the Act will col-lapse APMC markets. Do youfeel so? If yes, how it will beresponsible for the collapse ofAPMC markets? Do you thinkthat the Act will provideopportunities for electronictrading?

    The Act proposed that anyperson (other than individual)having a PAN or FPO or coop-erative society can create elec-tronic platform and trade. Doyou wish to propose any mod-ification to this provision?

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    As stalemate continued atthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) for the last nine months,External Affairs Minister SJaishankar said on Thursdaythe incidents in Ladakh lastyear have “profoundly” dis-turbed ties with China.

    Making this assertion, hecautioned the relationsbetween the two countrieswere at crossroads and choic-es that are made will have pro-found repercussions not justfor two neighbours but for theentire world.

    Expressing concern overthese events, Jaishankarstressed eight broad principlesfor repairing ties between Indiaand China. They includedstrict adherence to all agree-ments on management of theLAC, mutual respect and sen-sitivity, and recognising eachother’s aspirations as risingAsian powers.

    Sharing these observationsduring an address at an onlineconference on India-Chinaties, the Minister said, “Theevents last year have pro-foundly disturbed the rela-tionship and asserted that any

    attempt to unilaterally changethe status quo along the LACis completely unacceptable”.

    Jaishankar’s remarks camedays after the ninth round ofCorps Commander-level talkson Sunday could not break thelogjam. Similarly, the diplo-matic-level parleys over thepast few months also failed torestore peace at the tense LAC.

    The External AffairsMinister said any expectationthat the situation at the border“can be brushed aside and lifecan carry on undisturbed” issimply not realistic.

    Jaishankar said the India-China relationship is truly at

    the crossroads today andchoices that are made willhave profound repercussionsnot just for the two nations butfor the entire world.

    He said the Chineseactions in eastern Ladakh notonly signaled a disregard forcommitments about minimis-ing troops level but alsoshowed a willingness to breachpeace and tranquility.

    “Significantly, to date, wehave yet to receive a credibleexplanation for the change inChina’s stance and massing oftroops in border areas,” hesaid at the All IndiaConference on China Studies.

    Elaborating on eight pointsfor moving forward in bilater-al ties, the External AffairsMinister said agreementsalready reached on manage-ment of the LAC must beadhered to in their entirety andin letter and spirit. He also reit-erated any attempt to unilat-erally change the status quo iscompletely unacceptable.

    While both nations arecommitted to a multi-polarworld, Jaishankar said, thereshould be a recognition that amulti-polar Asia is one of itsessential consequences.

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    The Vigilance police onWednesday caughtSatyaban Giri, ASI of theJharadihi police outpost underthe Tiringi police station inMayurbhanj district, red-hand-ed while accepting a bribe of Rs9,000.

    Giri had demanded thebribe from Tambray Beshra ofJashipur for not to harass himfor selling liquor. His house atnative village Raidiha under theRaruan PS in the district andhis rest room and office at the

    Jharadihi outpost weresearched. Later, he was arrest-ed and forwarded to court. Inanother incident, on the alle-gation of acquisition of assetsdisproportionate to the knownsources of income by SubhenduKumar Pradhan, JuniorEngineer in the BhubaneswarBDO office, his residences andoffices were searched on theday.

    Pradhana and his familymembers were found in pos-session of assets worth Rs 1.21crore, including a triple-storiedbuilding, a flat, a single-storiedbuilding, an apartment, 11plots, a four-wheeler, two two-wheelers, deposits in differentbanks, gold and silver orna-ments, cash and household

    articles. On Thursday, Pradhanwas arrested and forwarded tocourt. In yet another graft case,Mamata Hembram, BlockVeterinary Officer (BVO),Bhapur; and Ananta Paikaray,Attendant, office of the BhapurVeterinary Centre, Nayagarhdistrict; were arrested in abribery case on Thursday.

    Vigilance sleuths caughtPaikray red-handed while hewas demanding and acceptingRs 15,000 from PrahalladCharan Nayak of Madhapurvillage, Fategarh, Nayagarh, inorder to process the file forrelease of subsidy amount fora goat farm in his favour.Paikaray was collecting themoney at the behest of BVOHembram.

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    The State recorded 113 newCovid-19 cases in 19 dis-tricts and from the State poolon Thursday, with which thetotal positive tally rose to3,34,780 . Of the new cases, 67were reported from quarantineand 46 were local contact cases.

    Sambalpur district record-ed the highest 18 cases followedby Sundargarh with 17 andNuapada 11.

    Besides, two cases werereported from the State pool.So far, the number of totalactive cases in the Sate stood at1,286 and the cumulative sam-ple tests at 7,63,5,887.Meanwhile, 132 persons recov-ered on day, taking total recov-eries to 3,31,667 in the State.

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    The All India KishanSangarsh SamanwayaSamiti (AIKSSS), Odisha onThursday said there is an effortby the Central Government totarnish the image of the farm-ers’ agitation being held inNew Delhi demanding with-drawal of the farm laws.

    Samiti Odisha chapter’sSuresh Panigrahi demandedthat the FIR lodged against thesenior leaders of the agitationbe taken back and those arrest-ed be released.However, he

    demanded that stringent actionbe taken against those whoindulged in violence during thetractor rally in the national cap-ital on January 26.

    Particularly, the organisa-tion led by Punjabi actor DipSidhu and Satnam Singh Panu.He said that though the Delhipolice had prior informationthat the organisation wouldcreate unrest during the rally,it did not take adequate pre-cautionary steps.

    He said the AIKSSS wouldhold a Satyagraha inBhubaneswar and other placesin the State on January 30.

    Among others, AkhilBharat Krushak Sabha secre-taries Khirod Singh Deo,Ashok Pradhan and MahendraParida and other leaders werepresent.

    ����� ���������

    Even though the date for a by-election to the PipiliAssembly constituency follow-ing the death of incumbentBJD MLA Pradeep Maharathya couple of months ago is yet toannounced, speculations arerife as to whether the deceasedleader’s wife Pratibha Maharathyor son Rudra Maharathy wouldbe chosen by BJD supremoNaveen Patnaik as the partycandidate in the by-poll.

    The speculations becamemore intense on Thursdaywhen BJD president and ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaikappointed senior party leaderand Aul MLA Pratap KeshariDeb as the party’s observer forthe Pipili by-election. RudraMaharathy virtually told mediathat he is an aspirant for the

    BJD ticket to contest the by-poll. “I have political and elec-toral experience as I wasinvolved in campaigning inthe last two elections for myfather,” he said.

    At the same time, he addedthat it is up to the party highcommand whether to choosehim of his mother PratibhaMaharathy, who, he said alsohas political experience.Pratibha Maharathy, whenasked, declined to make anycomment and said NaveenPatnaik is the ultimate author-ity in selection of the candidate.

    Notably, there are also BJDticket aspirants outsideMaharathy family. One amongthem is Sandhyabati Pradhanof constituency, who is nowChairperson of Odisha StateCommission for Protection ofChild Rights.

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    Odisha received a pat on itsback from the Centre onThursday for its performancein vaccinating a significantnumber of healthcare workers(HCWs) to fight againstCovid-19 since the inocula-tion drive has been launchedacross the country.

    Union Ministry of Healthand Family Welfare SecretaryRajesh Bhushan informedduring a media briefing at theNational Media Centre, NewDelhi that Odisha has rankedsecond among the States andUnion Territories in terms ofvaccination coverage of reg-istered healthcare workers.

    “Odisha is one of thebiggest States. It has moreHCWs so as the challenges;but despite this, the State’scoverage is remarkable,” saidRajesh Bhushan, adding thatthe State vaccinated 50.7 percent of the registered HCWsin last 13 days.

    “Lakshadweep was thetop performer as it vaccinat-ed 83.4 per cent of its health-care workers since January 16,the date when the country-wide vaccination drive waslaunched.

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    Covid-19 vaccine is the mostawaited and best gift tocome in 2021. It had been con-sidered as panacea for Corona.We were shrouded with eupho-ria as we waited for the vaccineto introduce.

    We also understand fromour past and present pandem-ic experience that vaccine is thestrongest weapon against any

    pandemic. But as of now, thecoverage of Corona vaccinationis not so encouraging in India.The history of India vaccina-tion or immunisation pro-gramme originated in 1978under universal immunisationcoverage.

    Let’s briefly analyse thedata given by the NationalFamily Health Survey (NFHS)(4) on immunisation coveragein India.The NFHS (5) is stillin phase one. As per NFHS -4 approximately 62 per centIndians were covered in 2015-16 as compared to 44 per centin 2005-06.

    There is sharp increase of18 per cent of immunisationcoverage in national level. Thesurvey also reveals that immu-nisation is no more confined tourban areas. Rural India showsan upward trend. The gap ofimmunisation coveragebetween rural India and urbanIndia is narrowing down. Datashows that urban India has 64

    percent coverage and ruralIndia has 61.72 percent ofimmunisation coverage.Overall it shows that India isgiving a positive acceptance forimmunisation.

    Ironically this sense ofacceptance is marginal inCorona vaccination. Refusal,non-acceptance, delay and car-rying a misconception aboutany vaccine despite its avail-ability are called as vaccine hes-itancy. Are we in vaccine hes-itancy mode now? A surveyconducted by an erudite doc-tor from Apollo Hospitalsreveals that as many as 55 percent of respondents are lowspirited and reluctant to takeCovid 19 vaccine.

    As per the WHO , vaccinehesitancy is one of top tenthreats to the global health. Thetrend of vaccine hesitancy ispresent in 90 percent of thecountry in the world. It is aglobal phenomenon.Conventionally, the origin of

    vaccine hesitancy can be tracedfrom misinformation, nega-tive perception and perplexedhuman casualties due to vac-cine. Some religious normsalso forbid their followers totake vaccine as it may containwith animal derived chemical.In current era, fake news insocial media adds fuel to vac-cine hesitancy.

    India’s Covid-19 vaccina-tion in is in its Phase-1. Themajor target groups for thisphase are health workers andCorona warriors. As perHealth Ministry of India, onlynine States are over 70 per centCorona vaccination coverage.Three States are below 40 percent coverage.

    Lower rate of inoculationamong health workers was notexpected. But it has happeneddespite the Government'sattempt to spread awarenessthat impact of vaccine uponhuman body is very low. InIndia we have only two vac-

    cines which are being used inGovernment vaccination. Oneis Covaxin and another one isCovishield. Generally healthworkers are considered as med-ical literate. They know the dif-ference between safe and effi-cacy of Covid vaccines. DespiteUnion Health Minister HarshVardhan's positive comment onthe safety and efficacy of Covidvaccines, target groups chooseto avoid the vaccination. Thereasons behind the Covid vac-cine hesitancy in India areunclear. It has a range fromsocial to political and person-al to psychological.

    As per some social surveys,anxiety of vaccine side effectsand signature on consent formprior to vaccination plays amajor role in Covid 19 vaccinehesitancy. Operational guide-lines, technical glitches andimproper information aboutCo-WIN app also hinder theacceptance of vaccine. Manyscholars argue that

    Government should showalacrity to clear the dust onreported AEFI (Adverse eventsfollowing immunisation). InIndia these AEFI triggers fearto jab. The situation is chang-ing. We are contemplating thepros and cons of Covid vaccine.Vaccine hesitancy amonghealth workers is depleting. Asof now as many as 12.7 lakh arevaccinated.

    As per a survey byLocalCircles , there is a 7 per-cent decrease in the number ofpeople hesitant to be inoculat-ed. In December 2020 vaccinehesitancy was 67 per cent butin January 2021 it is 62 per cent.Currently a report by theLancet Infectious DiseaseJournal says that Covaxin,Indian indigenous CovidVaccine can enhance immuneresponse without side effects.So vaccine efficacy can betrusted. Apart from that manysenior doctors prefer to beinoculated to boost the confi-

    dence level of health workers.The Centre and States are coor-dinating together to clear theambiguity on vaccine hesitan-cy. Ads in newspaper, text andWhatsapp message are in use toboost the confidence amongpeople to be immunised.Recently, it is reported thatsome foreign countries demandfor Indian-manufactured vac-cines.

    Further some sources sayPrime Minister of India andCMs are to be inoculated inCovid Vaccination Phase 2.As far as States are concernedOdisha is in top three and asmany as 1.2 lakh Covid vaccinebeneficiaries are being cov-ered. Punjab which is in top ofNFHS (4) immunisation cov-erage, now dips down to thebottom of the list in Covidimmunisation coverage.

    This Covid immunisationcoverage involves resources,planning, social mobilisation,communication, logistic, stor-

    age and many more. Out these,data of the beneficiaries is themost important things to bestored properly. Data manage-ment system for the Covidvaccine beneficiaries shouldbe fully operational, so that theinformation and awareness canbe channelised.

    Immunisation is the out-come of vaccination. The aimof any vaccination is to control,eradicate and to stop spreadingthe disease. We are taking thevaccination not for us but forsocial wellbeing.

    A fresh world-wide surveyby Edelman PR's TrustBarometer 2021 presents that80 per cent of Indians do nothave vaccine hesitancy. Indiatops the list whereas Russia isin bottom. Hope we shalldevelop trust more on ourown vaccine and reject thenotion of vaccine hesitancy.

    (The writer is a blogger andan author. Phone: 8456879522)

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    The locals of Khemela GPunder Pallahara blockbegan a hunger strike onWednesday in the GP officepremises opposing irregulari-ties in various Governmentschemes.

    The schemes such asPMAY, Biju Pakka Ghara, pen-sion schemes and HarishChandra Yojana are manipu-lated, alleged the deprived ben-eficiaries. They said deservingones are deprived of the bene-fit of the schemes. They furtherinformed that they had lodged

    their complaints before thePanchayati Raj department ayear ago and the departmenthad also issued notice to PDDRDA Angul to investigate thematter on December 16. Butthe allegations have not beeninquired by the department tillnow, lamented Chinta ManiSamal, leading the agitation.

    Being informed the ABDOPallahara went to the spot andassured the agitators of aninquiry into the matter.However, the agitators contin-uing the stir demanded that theCollector come to the spot fornegotiation.

    ����� 7���������

    Protesting police inaction inarresting a youth who hadassaulted a Revenue Inspector[RI] one week ago, eightemployees associations func-tioning in Jagatsinghpur districtresorted to cease work onWednesday.

    Following employees'strike, administrative works inall blocks, Tehsils andGovernment offices remained

    were stalled. The agitatingemployees threatened to con-tinue the stir unless theirdemands were not met.Reports said that victim RISusanta Kumar Swain accom-panying Tehsildar SidharthaShankar Sahoo had visitedBalipatana Haat for conductinga field inspection where a localyouth, Subash Chandra Nayak,assaulted RI Swain following analtercation for which Swainhad sustained injuries.

    Meanwhile, a complainthad been lodged in Balikudapolice station by RI Swainagainst the youth on January20, but after passage of a week,

    police have not arrested theaccused.On the other hand,police refuted allegation thatinvestigation was progressingin a trivial manner and addedthat after committing the crimethe accused had been abscond-ing from village. A manhunthas been launched to nab theaccused, informed Balikudapolice station IIC SarbeswarBehera.

    ����� ���9����

    Aseven-year-old girl sus-tained critical injuries andwas battling for her life as ayouth allegedly slit her throatat Sorala village under theGolanthara police limits inGanjam district on Thursday.

    The victim was rescued byher family members andadmitted to the MKCGMedical College Hospital here.The girl was attacked by theaccused when she was playingnear her house.

    The reason behind theattack was yet to be ascertained.Villagers managed to nab theaccused and thrashed him mer-cilessly. He was later handedover to police.

    ����� ����

    Aman was electrocuted aftercoming in contact with a liveelectric wire laid by him forpoaching activity at a forest nearRodasinga village under thePurunakote police limits inAngul district on Wednesdayevening.

    The deceased, identified asUmakant Pradhan (55) of the vil-lage, had gone to forest for hunt-ing wild animals and laid elec-tric wire for purpose. As he did-n’t return home till Thursdaymorning, his family memberswent to spot and saw him lyingdead. On being informed, policeand forest officials reached placeand initiated an investigation.

    ����� ���9����

    The 72nd Republic Daywas celebrated withenthusiasm and fervour invarious parts of the city.Revenue DivisionalCommissioner (SouthDivision) T Ao unfurled theNational Flag at the districtlevel function held at theKhallikote College Ground.

    ����� �������

    The State Government islaying more stress on theproviding safe drinking waterto each household across allblocks and urban areas.

    This was informed by thePanchayati Raj and UrbanDevelopment Minister PratapJena during his current visit toBaleswar to join the Republic

    Day parade. Jena informed themedia that in Baleswar townunder AMRUT scheme nineprojects have been completedout of 10 which will be com-pleted by March.

    For the urban areas ofSoro, Nilgiri and Jaleswar twoeach new drinking water pro-jects have been undertaken.

    Special care and remedialmeasures would be adopted forthe area from which reports ofiron and fluoride containingwater received besides a hi-techwater testing unit would beestablished in district, Jena,said.

    ����� ���������

    The State Bank of India (SBI)celebrated the 1st FinancialInclusion CSP Day here onJanuary 25. The day has beenselected being the launch dayof BC Model by the ReserveBank of India (RBI) in 2006.General Manager (NW-I)CLN Charyulu appreciated thecontribution of BC Model inthe field of financial literacyand inclusion thereby reducingthe socio economic inequalityat the grassroots level.

    Among others, DGM (FIand MM) DC Bal, DGM ABUSB Khairnar and DGM SME

    MM Swain DGM SME alsospoke highlighting the func-tioning of the BCs like socialsecurity schemes coverage,micro credit in agriculture andsmall enterprises. 26f BCs werefelicitated in this function foradoption of 301villages with100 per cent penetration ofsocial security scheme. FLCDirector BK Nayak coordinat-ed the programme and AGM(FI) JK Patjoshi offered the voteof thanks.

    ��� � ���������

    Agroup of farmers onWednesday lodged a com-plaint with the Chandahandipolice against millers and CivilSupplies officials for falselyregistering their land in thename of other individuals.

    Farmer leader KhemrajBagh said it was revealed fromthe Government’s food portalthat land of many farmers hasbeen illegally registered in thename of others.

    Besides, widespread irreg-ularities are being reported atthe four mandis inChandahandi block. Millersare buying thousands of quin-

    tals of paddy through falseregistration while real farmersare being harassed, he alleged.“Action should be taken againstmillers and other officialsinvolved in this forgery. If ourgrievances are not sorted out ina week, we would be forced totake to the streets,” Bagh threat-ened.Sources said over 30,000quintal of paddy of farmers islying unsold at mandis.

    Millers, on the other hand,are seen buying paddy fromvarious places at low pricethrough brokers.Farmers havebeen informed that the pro-curement target has alreadybeen met. The unsold paddywould be procured once the

    new target is fixed . Besides,there are allegations of thou-sands of quintal of paddy beingsold by unscrupulous personsin the name of real farmers.

    A few days back , farmershad blocked the Chandahandimain road protesting the dis-parity in purchase of paddy atmandis.

    It is alleged that similarirregularities are reported inUmarkote, Jharigam andPapadahandi blocks indistrict.

    ���%�(��(���� ��������

    Protesting the decision if theICMR-NIMR to merge theMalaria Research Centre ofRourkela with Ranchi unit,the local BJD under the lead-ership of senior leader SudhirSundar Ray staged demonstra-tion on Wednesday in front ofRourkela field unit office andsubmitted a memorandum tothe Prime Minister for hisearly intervention in the mat-ter to revoke the order at theearliest.

    The BJD argued that thetribal dominated mineral richSundargarh district consists ofundulating uplands intersectedby forested hills, rocky streams,

    rivers, springs and paddy fieldsin the valleys. Though theCentral Government gets hugerevenue from the district butthe district remains undevel-oped so far as health servicesare concerned.Sources saidmalaria is a major public healthproblem in Odisha which con-tribute highest number ofmalaria cases.

    Tribal areas of the Statesuch as Sundargarh districtare the most seriously affectedregions where malaria exists inendemic form. P. falciparum isthe major cause of malariaand accounts for 80-90%malaria cases in the tribal areasof the State, which have distinctecological features such as hilly

    terrain, forest fringe and forest-ed area or foothill ecosystemswhere all the malariogenic fac-tors operate at their maximumefficiency. Malaria is clearly oneof the major health problems inthe region and is responsiblefor significant morbidity andmortality.

    So, keeping it in view, aField Unit of Malaria ResearchCentre at Rourkela was estab-lished in 1988 with the objec-tives to conduct applied fieldresearch on malaria, developand demonstrate appropriatedisease vector control methods,study socio-economic aspectsof malaria with particular ref-erence to sustainability of inter-ventions developed and facili-

    tate transfer of technology tousers. Sources further saidsince then this organisation hasdiligently been working in theSundargarh district to awarethe people to combat malaria.Besides research work, it hasbeen playing a key role inmotivating the people for usingof insecticide treated nets andconsuming medicines espe-cially in the rural pockets. Dueto timely intervention theimpact of malaria has beencurbed in the district excep-tionally. So, with the inter-vention of Malaria ResearchCentre, Rourkela Field Unitmany valuable lives are saved inSundargarh district in pastyears. The data says every

    month more than 10k samplesare collected by the unit fromdifferent areas of Sundargarhand its adjacent localities. TheBJD said the order to shift theunit had not only disheartenedthe people of Sundargarh inparticular and Odisha in gen-eral but also the people werefeeling scared.

    If the centre will beremoved from here then howthe people in this malariaprone area will be taken care ofis a big question now, theyopined.The copy of memo-randum was also sent to UnionHealth Minister,Odisha ChiefMinister, the Sundargarh MPand Sundargarh Collector, saidBJD sources.

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    ���������������7��������

    Health and Family WelfareMinister Naba Kishore Dasperformed Bhoomi Pujan onWednesday for commencementof construction of VedantaPathology Lab & DiagnosticCentre here, for which anamount of �28 crore has beenapproved.

    A collaborative projectbetween Vedanta, Jharsugudaand SRL Diagnostics, theVedanta Pathology Lab &Diagnostic Centre would bean advanced state-of-the-artmulti-specialty facility. The cen-tre is aimed at facilitating theregion’s access to over 500 tests

    and specialised services likeradiology, mammography,ECG/PFT/TMT, vision, digitalX-Ray, audiometry, etc. ForBPL households, the tests wouldbe free of cost; and for others,CGHS (Central GovernmentHealth Scheme) rate shall beapplicable. Target is to completethe construction in 18 months.

    Minister Das said, “I expectthat more such CSR initiativeswill be rolled out by Vedanta forpeople of Jharsuguda.” He alsosaid senior citizens with incomeof less than �40,000 yearlywould be given free servicefrom DMF fund. He alsoassured to set up a medical col-lege and heart care centre inJharsuguda very shortly.

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    The Dalmia BharatFoundation (DBF), an armof Dalmia Bharat Group, felic-itated 21 DIKSHa trainees at theKapilas Cement ManufacturingWorks (KCMW) here onThursday. The students wereprovided 75-day training inIndustrial Sewing MachineOperator (ISMO) trade.

    The ceremony wasaddressed by RamawatarSharma, Unit Head, DalmiaCement (Bharat) Ltd, Cuttack,SVN Rao, Nodal Officer,Odisha Skill DevelopmentAuthority, Saswat Kumar Jena,ABDO, Tangi and SuvenduDas, District EmploymentOfficer, Cuttack. Despite thepandemic-impacted job market,21 trainees of ISMO trade havebeen recruited by Shahi ExportsPvt Ltd, Bengaluru at an annu-al salary of Rs 1,68,000 each.Ramawatar Sharma said, “Iheartily congratulate all stu-dents of Diksha training centrefor their hard work, dedication,and willingness to movetowards a brighter future.Dalmia Bharat Foundation’saim is not only to impart train-ing but to make these studentsemployable. We are committedto increase scale by providingquality training to underprivi-leged youth, thereby contribut-ing towards skilling India.”

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    Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday saidIndia showed last year that it iscapable of taking all steps tomeet challenges, be it fromcoronavirus or at its borders ina obvious reference to ongoingstand-offs at the Line of ActualControl(LAC)in Ladakh.

    Addressing a rally of theNational Cadet Corps (NCC)here, Modi said India hasshown its capabilities on allfronts as he referred to pro-duction of Made in India vac-cines against the virus.

    “Whether it is developingprotective shield of the vaccineor destroying with modernmissiles intentions of thosechallenging India, the countryis capable on all fronts,” he said.

    Modi said in order tostrengthen the security networkin the border and coastal areas,the participation of NCC isbeing boosted and theGovernment has made effortsto see that the role of NCC isfurther expanded.

    “On August 15th last year,it was announced that NCCwill be given new responsibil-ities in around 175 districts in

    the coastal and border areas.For this around, one lakh NCCcadets are being trained byArmy, Navy and Air Force. Ofthese, one-third are girl cadets,”he said while addressing thePrime Minister’s NCC Rally.

    On steps taken to mod-ernize the armed forces, Modisaid If India is ‘aatmanirbhar’in vaccine, it is also trying withequal vigour to modernise itsarmed forces, Modi said. Theprime minister asserted that allsteps are being taken to ensurethat every wing of India’s armedforces is the best, adding thatthe country now has excellent“war machines”.

    Referring to the mid-airrefuelling of Rafale fighter air-craft while they were on way toIndia, Modi said it was done inthe UAE and Saudi Arabiaand Greece also helped.

    This highlights our grow-ing ties with Gulf countries, hesaid.

    Speaking of hisGovernment’s efforts to boostdomestic defence manufactur-ing, he said, “India will soon beknown as a big producer ofdefence equipment instead of abig market as it is today.”

    Lauding the NCC, he said

    be it the floods or any othercalamity, NCC cadets helpedthe people of this country lastyear and during the COVID-19pandemic lakhs of cadetsworked with the administrationand society across the country.

    He said training infra-structure for NCC is beingstrengthened. As against justone firing simulator earlier, 98are being established now.Micro flight simulators arealso being increased from 5 to44 and rowing simulators from11 to 60, Modi said.

    Talking of Maoist threat inthe country, the Prime Ministersaid i said it was this blend ofsense of duty among the citizenry and bravery of thesecurity forces that broke theback of naxalism and Maoismwhich was affecting a large partof our country. “Now menace ofNaxalism has been shrunk to avery limited area of the countryand affected youths have left thepath of violence to join thedevelopment mainstream,” headded.

    Modi also inspected theGuard of Honour, reviewed theMarch Past by NCC contingentsand witnessed cultural perfor-mance during the event.

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    Claiming that economy is infor a “V-shaped” recoverywith unemployment at sixper cent improving frompre-covid phase, the BJP onThursday asserted that theUnion Budget, next week,would be a “game-changer”that will “provide support tothe middle-class and theweaker sections” and “pusheconomy to next-level ofgrowth”.

    Referring to the ReserveBank of India Report ofDecember,1920, which quotesShakespeare to say that econ-omy is in for a “glorious sum-mer after winter of discon-tent”, BJP maintained that allindicators point to a “atm-nirbhar and resurgent Bharat”.

    Addressing a press con-ference here BJP spokespersonGoal Kishan Agarwal andRajya Sabha MP Syed ZafarIslam, said InternationalMonetary Fund report l,2021,point to “double-digit growthof 11.5 percent” for Indiawith the country “ continuingto retain the tag of the fastestgrowing economy”.

    Agarwal said report ofMinistry of Finance saysgrowth charts of “high fre-quency indicators reflect V-shaped recovery” in sectors of

    electricity, coal and mobility-after certain fall duringCovid19.

    The BJP leader saidPurchase Measure Index(PMI) indicate growth inmanufacturing sector andIndex of IndustrialProduction (IIP) data signalrise in labour force partici-pation with “85 percent recov-ery in labour force “which isnow back to original”.

    He said Goods andServices Tax (GST) collec-tion has crossed Rs one lakhcrore in last three months andgovernment expenditure, “amajor propellent of economy”has increased by 285 percent.He claimed that Indiareceived”highest FDI” andagriculture grew at 3.5 per-cent.

    Agarwal said all these fac-tors signal that economy wason “recovery path afterCovid19”.

    He said the Modi-Government is “walking pathof strong reforms” and “creat-ing a transparent and business-friendly eco-system”.

    Agarwal said the Februaryone budget would be a “gamechanger and focus on areawhich earlier did not receivesupport”. Budget would payattention too middle-class andthe weaker-sections”, he said.

    Answering questions, BJP’sRajya Sabha member ZafarIslam said the unemploymentrate which was 7 percent in thepre-covid phase has comedown to 6 percent in January

    2021.On the boycott of

    President’s address in the joint-session by the opposition, hesaid “Opposition is runningaway from its responsibility”.

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    Ahead of the BudgetSession beginning fromFriday, the Congress onThursday demanded that theGovernment initiate cashtransfers and reduce taxes tostrengthen the economy.

    Addressing a joint pressconference, Congress leadersP. Chidambaram, JairamRamesh and MallikarjunKharge said, “As regards theeconomy, what needs to bedone to stem the decline andaccelerate the recovery havebeen identified by a number ofeconomists, including thosewho have supported the Modigovernment in the past.”

    The grand old party’s sug-gestions to Modi Governmentfor the revival of economyincluded abandoning protec-tionist policies, re-engage withthe world, enter into bilateraltrade agreements with asmany countries as possible,and remove the bias againstimports.

    “The Government mustimpart a large fiscal stimulusto the economy, even if it isbelated. Such a stimulus alonewill put money in the hands ofthe people,” former financeminister P Chidambaram said.

    Congress leaders askedthe Centre to make directcash transfers to 20-30 percent of the families who are atthe bottom of the economy fora period of at least six months.

    Congress also asked thegovernment to formulate andimplement a rescue plan forMSMEs to revive closed units,

    recover lost jobs and createnew jobs for those who havemoderate education and skills,and also reduce tax rates,especially GST and other indi-rect tax rates on petrol anddiesel.

    Jairam said theGovernment should increaseGovernment capital expendi-ture and encourage publicsector banks to lend withoutfear of investigative agenciesprobing every loan.

    Kharge in his addressedadvised the NDA regime toformulate sector-specificrevival packages for telecom-munication, power, mining,construction, aviation andtourism & hospitality.

    “Review and rescindamendments to tax laws thathave been widely viewed astax terrorism. Initiate a com-prehensive and time-boundreview of the regulations madeby RBI, SEBI, TRAI, CERCand other regulatory agenciesthat have been widely regard-ed as over-regulation,”Chidambaram suggested.

    However the Congressleaders said they had noexpectations from this gov-ernment. “Our effort today isto highlight the wrong poli-cies, the incompetent eco-nomic management and themissed opportunities, and thereality is that the economy isin a recession, the recoverywill be slow and painful, andthe rate of GDP growth in2021-22 (in constant prices)will be modest — no morethan 5 per cent,” mentionedJairam.

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    The Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA) onThursday extended the sus-pension of scheduled com-mercial international flightstill 11.59 pm on February 28,2021. This restriction, howev-er, will not apply to interna-tional cargo operations andflights specifically approvedby the DGCA. The DGCAalso extended the restriction onflights between India and UKupto midnight of February 14,2021.

    Issuing a modified order inthis regard, the DGCA statedthat international scheduledflights may be allowed onselected routes by the “compe-tent authority on a case-to-casebasis”.

    Scheduled internationalpassenger services have beensuspended in India sinceMarch 23 due to the coron-avirus pandemic. But specialinternational flights have beenoperating under the VandeBharat Mission since May, andunder bilateral “air bubble”arrangements with selectedcountries since July. India hasformed air bubble pacts with 24countries including the US,the UK, the UAE, Kenya,Bhutan and France.

    The DGCA has alsoextended the restriction onflights between India and UKupto midnight of February 14,2021.”The competent authori-ty has further extended therestriction on flights betweenIndia and UK upto 14’February, 2021 (23.59 hrs),” theDGCA said. “The other termsand conditions of the said let-ter shall remain unchanged.UK carriers may file their bub-ble schedule accordingly toDGCA for approval.” The flightservices between India andUK resumed from January 6,while those from UK to Indiawill recommenced fromJanuary 8. Last month, theseservices were suspended tostop the spread of a mutantCovid-19 strain which wasrecently discovered in the UK.

    Several countries, includ-ing India, had suspended flightservices to the UK in the wakeof the new mutant Covid-19strain.

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    The CBI has taken overinvestigation of UttarPradesh police FIR relating tofraudulent withdrawal of �4.25crore from a branch of Bank ofIndia in Prayagraj by theCurrency Chest Officer in con-nivance with a businessmanand his son.

    Currency Chest OfficerBashishtha Kumar Ram, busi-nessman SK Mishra and hisson Sanju Mishra are named asaccused in the case. Theaccused persons have beencharged for criminal conspir-acy, cheating, criminal breachof trust and forgery amongothers.

    According to the UPpolice FIR, which is now partof the CBI case, Rs 4.25 crorewas found missing from thecurrency chest during an auditon July 3, 2019. The localpolice registered a case on July3, 2019 on a complaint fromthe Bank of India.

    During initial questioningby Prayagraj police, Ramclaimed that he had trans-ferred the money to a ‘GraminBank’ but could not give thename of the gramin bank.Upon further questioning, headmitted that he did not trans-fer the money to any graminbank and instead gave themoney to a businessman andhis son and used to illegallytake interest on the missingamount for personal gain.

    Ram intentionally mis-used the amount of currencymissing from the bank’s chest.He siphoned the governmentfunds with a dishonest inten-tion, according to the FIR.

    The agency is studyingthe contents of the FIR and theprobe reports of the UP policeand will subsequently initiatefurther action and investiga-tion in the matter, officialssaid.

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    One of the oldest khadiinstitutions in Assam,which remained in a van-dalised state bearing the scarsof the Bodo insurgency forover 30 years, has beenbrought back to life by Khadiand Vil lage Industr iesCommission (KVIC).

    The Khadi workshed atvillage Kawali in Baksa dis-trict of Assam, which wasburnt down by Bodo insur-gents in 1989, has beenrevived as a Silk reeling cen-tre by the KVIC.

    Spinning and weavingactivities will restart at theworkshed with 15 womenartisans and 5 other staff in

    the second week of February.The workshed was con-

    structed by a Khadi institutioncalled Tamulpur AnchalikGramdan Sangh which shiftedto Assam from ArunachalPradesh following the Chineseaggression in 1962. It beganoperations with mustard oilproduction and by the year1970, spinning and weaving activities also startedt h e r eproviding livelihood to 50artisan families. However,tragedy struck when the insti-tution was burnt down byextremists in 1989 and itremained defunct since then.

    KVIC Chairman VKSaxena said the revival ofthis Khadi workshed assumed

    historical significance andthat resumption of Khadiactivit ies would createemployment for the locals.“To begin with, KVIC willdevelop this unit for reeling ofelegant Eri Silk of Assam.Other Khadi activities likemanufacturing of villageindustry products will also bestarted in future. This centerwil l become a major employment creator for thelocal ar t isans,” Saxenas a i d . ” T h i sinitiative is aligned withKhadi’s core Gandhian prin-ciple of “rural resurgence”which also coincides with theHon’ble Prime Minister’svision - Sabka Sath, SabkaVikas,” Saxena added.

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    The Supreme Court onThursday said that if aMember of LegislativeAssembly is disqualified underanti-defection law, he cannot beappointed as Minister, till theremaining term of the House,even if he is nominated asMember of Legislative Council.

    The top court upheld theverdict of Karnataka HighCourt which had said that dis-qualification of BJP MLA AHVishwanath under the anti-defection law continues till May2021 and had dashed his hopesof becoming minister in the BSYediyurappa-led governmentin the state.

    The top court said if he waselected as MLA or MLC then itcould have been another mat-ter but since he was nominatedto legislative council, he cannotbecome a minister.

    A bench of Chief Justice SABobde and Justices AS Bopannaand V Ramasubramanian dis-missed the appeal filed byVishwanath against theNovember 30, last year order ofthe High Court.

    “The special leave petitionsare dismissed. As a sequel to theabove, pending interlocutoryapplications, if any, stand dis-posed of”, the bench said.

    At the outset, senior advo-cate Gopal Sankaranaryanan,appearing for Vishwanath saidthat the issue pertains to legal

    interpretation of the provisionsof the Constitution which dealswith the disqualification ofmember of the house.

    He said that his disqualifi-cation is restricted to the capac-ity of the office from which hewas disqualified.

    The bench said that as perthe provision, the disqualifica-tion will remain effective, if theperson is simply nominated tothe legislative council and notelected to it.

    “If you are elected as aMLA or MLC, you can becomeminister in the government butif you are nominated, you can-not become minister. The HighCourt is right. We are dismiss-ing your SLP,” the bench said.

    Sankarnarayanan said thatthe court will be setting a wrongprecedent by upholding a ver-dict given on a PIL, which hadsought restraining of a personfrom becoming a minister onthe ground that he was dis-qualified as MLA.

    The bench said that hecannot be granted relief on thetechnical ground and the fact ofthe matter is that, “You are notentitled to become a Minister”.

    On November 30, last year,the High Court had held thatVishwanath’s disqualification asMLA under the anti-defectionlaw continues till May 2021 andhence he cannot be appointedas a minister on being nomi-nated as member of legislativecouncil.

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    Even as her Government onThursday passed a resolu-tion demanding withdrawal ofcontroversial farm laws amid anoisy walkout by BJP MLAs,the Chief Minister launched ascathing attack on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi formaligning the farmers’ move-ment and demanded his resig-nation if he failed to repealwhat she termed “black laws.”

    “Farmers are our foodproviders … If they suffer thenthere will be shortage of foodthroughout the country. Thethree farm laws will only affect

    Haryana and Punjab but alsowill adversely impact the agri-culture of Bengal. We want thatthey (central government) tocall an all-party meeting and

    repeal the laws immediately” orelse “… Prime MinisterNarendra Modi should resignfrom his post.”

    Alleging that “the BJP hasset the country on fire,” theChief Minister said that “theseblack laws have been forciblyimposed on the people … and

    when the farmers organised apeaceful movement for thepast several months now theyare trying to destroy this move-ment,” by playing dirty tricks.

    “Our Government is withthe farmers,” Banerjee said thatshe would offer all the supportto the protesting farmers and

    added the central governmentwhich has earlier waived cor-porate loans, should alsoextend the same benefit tofarmers

    “Either the Centre shouldwithdraw the laws or stepdown …” Banerjee said hold-ing the Delhi Police and HomeMinister Amit Shah responsi-ble for the January 26 incidentat Red Fort even as BJP MLAswalked out of the Assemblyshouting Jai Shri Ram slogans.

    “Delhi police is to beblamed for what happenedthere… What was the policeadministration doing? It was acomplete intelligence failure…

    It is clear that the Police mis-handled the tractor parade …we even saw how a Punjabiartist was involved in this (RedFort) incident … and this is thesame man who had earlierbeen seen in photographs withthe Prime Minister and HomeMinister … And now they arecalling the farmers anti-nation-als … We will not toleratefarmers being branded as trai-tors. They are the assets of thisnation,” Banejee said.

    “By demanding PrimeMinister’s resignation TheChief Minister is insulting thenation,” BJP MLA Manoj Tiggasaid.

    Kolkata: Leader of theCongress in Lok Sabha AdhirChowdhury claimed onThursday that intelligence fail-ure on the part of the DelhiPolice was to blame for thechaos and violence at Red Forton January 26.

    He also cast doubt on theCentre’s intention, stating thatthe Union government proba-bly did not do much to avertviolence as it “might havewanted to take advantage of thesituation”.

    Thousands of farmers,protesting against the new agri-

    cultural laws, had clashed withthe police on January 26. Manyof them, driving tractors,reached the Red Fort and scaledthe walls of the monument.

    Some even hoisted flags onthe domes and placed theflagstaff at the ramparts of themonument, where the nation-al flag is unfurled by the primeminister on Independence Day.

    Speaking to reporters here,Chowdhury said that the DelhiPolice had given designatedroutes to the farmers to take outthe tractor parade.

    “But the farmers took dif-

    ferent routes and a section ofthem breached the Red Fort.Surely, it was due to intelligencefailure on the part of Delhi Policeand other agencies,” he said atthe state Congress headquarters.

    Accusing the BJP of brand-ing any and every issue raisedagainst the saffron party as “anti-national, Pakistani or Khalistani”,Chowdhury, who is also the WestBengal Congress president, fur-ther said, “At times I feel that thecentral government deliberatelyallowed this (January 26 inci-dent) to happen to take advan-tage of the situation.” PTI

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    With the BJP reportedlyplanning to take out aRath Yatra from North Bengalthe Congress and the Left par-ties on Thursday appealed toChief Minister MamataBanerjee to red flag the Yatra asit could lead to communal dis-turbance.

    The Yatra likely to be led byBJP national president JPNadda may start from NorthBengal on February 5.

    Pradesh Congress presi-dent and party leader in LokSabha Adhir Chowdhury saidthat “this Rath Yatra is intend-ed at creating communal dis-turbance in the State and Irequest the Chief Minister notto give permission to this Yatra

    or else there will be massive lawand order problem.”

    Left Front Chairman andCPI(M) politburo memberBiman Bose said that withelections round the corner theBJP has started its business withreligion. “The BJP trades withreligion and when the electionshave come they will have aroaring business … this is thereason they have planned thisRath Yatra so that they canpolarize the electorate but thisshould be stopped at all costs,”Bose said.

    The BJP however hit back

    saying the Left and theCongress which had literallybeen obliterated from Bengalwere trying to gain back t heirrelevance by raising such issues.

    “These parties have littlepresence in Bengal and are try-ing to resurface by raising suchissues again… but the questionis will they succeed in doingso… They will not because thepeople have already rejectedthem,” senior leader and partyvice president Mukul Roy saidadding “BJP is a responsibleparty with national obligations… it never indulges in unrulythings or riots … by raising theissue they are only strengthen-ing the hands of the TrinamoolCongress and Chief Ministerwho the people of Bengal wantout of power.”

    ���� �������

    Leader of Opposition in theUttar Pradesh AssemblyRam Govind Chaudhary onThursday said instead of farm-ers, an FIR should be registeredagainst the Delhi police com-missioner and top BJP leadersfor the violence in New Delhion Republic Day.

    “The chaos and the unfurl-ing of a religious flag at the RedFort on January 26 is a con-spiracy of the Delhi police,which is under the home min-istry and the top leadership ofthe BJP, to weaken the farmers’agitation. For this, the Delhi

    Police and the leadership of theBharatiya Janata Party shouldbe condemned. Instead offarmers, an FIR should be reg-istered against the Delhi policecommissioner and the BJPleaders, whose names havesurfaced in connection withDeep Sidhu...,” the SamajwadiParty (SP) leader said in a state-

    ment here.“Even after this big con-

    spiracy, farmers did not losepatience. It is not a minorthing. I salute the patience ofthe farmers and once againdemand from the Centre thatinstead of weakening the farm-ers’ agitation, it should with-draw the farm laws. The farm-ers of the entire country areshocked by the conspiracy andattitude of people occupyingtop positions,” he added.

    The SP, under the leader-ship of its president AkhileshYadav, is and will remain insupport of the ongoing farmers’movement, Chaudhary said.

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    Salim Madavoor, nationalpresident of the LoktantrikYuva Janata Dal (LYJD), hasalleged that the Centre was try-ing to break the farmers’ agi-tation with the help of RSS andother Sangh Parivar elements.

    “Inhuman methods arebeing used by the NarendraModi Government to break theagitation by the poor farmersin the country. Electric anddrinking water supply has beendisconnected and SanghParivar activists have beenfielded by the Centre to createconfusion among the strikingfarmers,” he said in a statementreleased to the media.

    He said that the UnionGovernment was portrayingthe farmers as Khalistani ter-rorists since most of themwere from Punjab. “Had the

    agitating farmers wereMuslims, the Governmentwould have portrayed them asPakistani terrorists,” hecharged.

    Salim asked the Centre towithdraw the Farm Bills if it hasat least a little concern for thefarmers in the country. TheLoktantrik Yuva Janata Dalleader who had been touringPunjab and Haryana as part ofhis initiative to get informationfrom Ground Zero said that themood of the nation was total-ly against Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah.

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    Amid a raging controversyover its earlier verdict thatgroping without “skin-to-skin”contact is not sexual assault, theBombay High Court has stirredup a hornet’s nest once againthrough its fresh ruling that“unzipping pants or holding aminor’s hand” does not amountto “sexual assault” under thePOCSO Act.

    “The acts of ‘holding thehands of the prosecutrix’, or‘opened zip of the pant’ as hasbeen allegedly witnessed byPW-1, in the opinion of thisCourt, does not fit in the def-inition of ‘sexual assault’,”Justice Pushpa V Ganediwala ofthe Nagpur bench of theBombay High Court has ruled.

    Justice Pushpa came upwith this ruling, while decidingon a criminal appeal filed byLibnus Kujur (50), a labourerfrom Gadchiroli, who was con-victed by a lower court.

    On the complaint filed inthe case, the judge noted:“....the informant (PW-1) fur-ther testified that her daughterinformed her thatappellant/accused removed hispenis from the pant and askedher to come to the bed for sleep-ing. The informant also noticedthat the zip of the pants of theappellant/accused was opened.”However, after she screamed,her daughter was freed.

    Reproducing what is sexu-

    al assault as per section 7,Justice Pushpa noted:“Whoever, with sexual intenttouches the vagina, penis, anusor breast of the child or makesthe child touch the vagina,penis, anus or breast of suchperson or any other person, ordoes any other Act with sexu-al intent which involves phys-ical contact without penetra-tion, is said to commit sexualassault.”

    However, the Judge ruledthat the offence of ‘sexualharassment’ under section354(A)(1)(i) of the IndianPenal Code that deals with‘physical contact and advancesinvolving unwelcome andexplicit sexual overtures’, isattracted.

    Accordingly, the Nagpurbench set aside the accused-appellant’s conviction underthe sections 8, 10, 12 ofPOCSO Act but pronouncedhim guilty under the IPC thatattracts a maximum of 3 yearsjail term.

    While AC Jaltare wasadvocate for the appellant, MJKhan was the assistant publicprosecutor in the case.

    It may be recalled that rul-ing given by the same Judgesome time last year in anothercase had sparked a debate invarious circles. In that ruling,the same Judge had ruled thatgroping a minor’s breast with-out ‘skin to skin contact’ couldnot be termed as sexual assault.

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  • a different story. Of coursesome people were adamant onbreaking the barriers, but amajority of the farmers resist-ed this attempt and were peace-ful. Police surveillance footagewould also confirm the same.Rakesh Tikait and other farmerleaders stood between the pro-testers and the barricades andstopped the protesters frombreaking the barriers. Theyeven fought with some of thefarmers and tried to save thepolicemen. It was due to theirefforts that a major part of thetractor rally stuck to the desig-nated route and did not enterDelhi. These leaders even man-aged to call back some of thetractors that broke throughthe barricades.

    Reports from Singhu andTikri, too, indicate that thefarmers’ leaders stood theirground and prevented majorviolence. It would not be anoverstatement to say that theycollectively managed to trans-form a potential nuclear explo-sion into a pressure cookerblast. But nevertheless therewas violence by some people,which marred the peacefulspirit of the movement that hadbeen going on for two months.Only an impartial investigationcan reveal the truth.

    We must not forget that itis these farmers who feed thepolicemen on duty at the

    protest sites. The policemenalso enjoyed the langar that hasbeen set up by the farmers. Thebig question is why the peaceloving community of farmerswould resort to violence andanarchy all of a sudden? Theanswer is that they were insti-gated by a few unscrupulouselements bent upon discredit-ing the stir, the cause and thepeaceful growers. It makessense that the farmer unionshave also asked for an investi-gation into the links of DeepSindhu with the BJP.

    What we saw was a nefar-ious tactic of breaking a demo-cratic movement with splintergroups, strike breakers andradicalised individuals. Theydiscredited the peaceful move-ment with this one act of vio-lence.

    The Centre, which now hasthe upper hand, has alreadygiven an ultimatum to theleaders. They must acquiesce tothe Government’s proposal orthere would be no further talksand there would be policeaction. Now the questionremains, should the farmers’leaders take moral responsibil-ity for the violence unleashedby saboteurs and rabble-rousers? Let us look back a yearto the Delhi Riots in 2020.Should any of those leaderswho were allegedly involved inthe riots have taken moral

    responsibility for the blood-shed? They should have, butthey didn’t. So why should thefarmers’ unions do so?Machiavelli too gave us amantra for the future: “He willbe successful who directs hisactions according to the spiritof the times and he whoseactions do not accord with thetimes will not be successful.”The age of violence is upon usand if Machiavelli is right anon-violent person cannot winin violent times. Farmersunions need to proveMachiavelli wrong andGandhiji right.

    The unions are definitelyon the back foot in the mediaand are fighting with theirbacks against the wall. If tomor-row the investigations revealcollusions between miscreantsand the Government, all hellwill break loose. Always keepin mind, that violence at theRed Fort, may actually resonatewith the masses and will add tothe polarisation on both sidesof the electoral base. To emergevictorious the Governmentshould embrace the farmers’cause and not obfuscate itbecause of violence by a fewmiscreants.

    (The writer is ProgrammeDirector for Policy andOutreach, National SeedAssociation of India. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

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