˘ ˆ ˘ˇ ˆ ˙ ˝˛˚˜ % 3%3 4 ’%567 0 1ˇˆ˝ ˚˘ ( 3)=)3)

12
F inance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday will deliver her promised budget like no other that is expected to provide relief to the pandem- ic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving the eco- nomic recovery through high- er spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours. As India emerges from the Covid-19 crisis, the ninth bud- get under the Modi Government, including an interim one, is widely expect- ed to focus on boosting spend- ing on job creation and rural development, generous alloca- tions for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract for- eign investments. Sitharaman, who had in her first budget in 2019 replaced leather briefcase that had been for decades used for carrying budget documents with a traditional red cloth “bahi-khata”, had earlier this month stated that the budget for the fiscal year beginning April will be “like never before”. The budget, economists and experts said, will be the starting point for picking up the pieces after the economic destruction caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. And it must go beyond being just a “bahi khata” or a ledger of accounts, as well as canning old schemes in a new bottle. It has to be a vision state- ment, a roadmap to get the world’s fastest-growing major economy back on track. A prescient budget, which goes a long way in instilling confidence, cannot be replaced by “mini-budgets” such as the one in September 2019 when the Government cut corporate tax rate just two months after Sitharaman presented her maiden one, or the periodic announcements of economic measures that dotted 2020. There is a larger consensus among economists that the annual GDP for FY21 will decline by 7-8 per cent, one of the weakest performances among the developing nations. The government has to play a critical role in pulling the economy out of the trough. While the pandemic is show- ing signs of being less virulent, a gradual progress in the vac- cination programme is fuelling hope for a better future. A sus- tainable economic revival will need a policy catalyst. That’s where this budget assumes a special relevance. The pandemic struck at a time when the economy was already caught in the grip of a growth slowdown. GDP growth touched an 11-year low of 4 per cent in 2019-20. I nformation and Broadcasting Ministry on Sunday allowed cinema halls across the coun- try to operate at full capacity from February 1 with adher- ence to Covid-19 safety proto- cols. As per the Ministry, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) adequate physical dis- tancing, mandatory face masks and sanitisation of auditorium after every screening must be adhered to. Digital booking of tickets and staggered show timings to avoid crowding will be encour- aged, said I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar after releas- ing a set of the SOPs. “There is good news. In February, people can watch and enjoy films in theatres as we are allowing full occupan- cy in all cinema halls. Cinema halls can now open at 100 per cent capacity. We encourage as much online booking (of tick- ets) as possible,” Javadekar told reporters here. The development comes days after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) allowed cinema halls and theatres to operate with more people as per fresh Covid-19 reopening guidelines. A day after Narendra Modi said his Government was just a “phone call away” for talks with the farmers’ unions, the Tikait brothers who are leading the agitation asserted on Sunday, that protesting farmers will honour the dignity of the Prime Minister, but are also committed to protecting their self-respect. Both Naresh and Rakesh Tikait said they were open to talks with the Government to find a “middle path”, which the former suggested could be the BJP Government not imple- menting the three laws during its tenure. Rakesh, the younger of the two and the national spokesperson for the BKU, said a “respectful solution” should be found to the issue, but asserted they will not agree to anything under pressure. Modi had Saturday said his Government’s offer on agri laws made to protesting farm- ers “still stands” and the Centre was a just a “phone call away” for talks, days after violence broke out in parts of the national Capital on Republic Day. Rakesh said they will honour and respect the digni- ty of the PM, and added the farmers don’t want the Government or Parliament to “bow down to them”. However, he added they will also ensure the self-respect of farmers is protected. During their January 26 parade, many of the protesters, driving tractors, had stormed the Red Fort, with some of them hoisting reli- gious flags on its domes and on the flagstaff at the ramparts. Both the brothers con- demned Republic Day vio- lence and said it was unac- ceptable, even though they alleged it was the result of a conspiracy. G iving his first radio talk of the year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday referred to the violence at the farmers’ tractor rally on January 26 saying “India was saddened by the insult to Tricolour on Republic Day”. He also emphasised that the country developed “aatmanirbharta” during the coronavirus crisis and ensured vaccine for each of its citizen. Delivering his monthly talk Mann Ki Baat, the PM said a major shift occurred in people’s perspective in the last year and a lot of customers now are demanding “Made In India” products. “India today is self- reliant in the field of medicines and vaccines,” he said. People, he said, have shown their support for “Vocal for Local” and urged manufactur- ers and industry leaders to make world-class products. He said in 15 days, as many as 30 lakh corona war- riors have been vaccinated in India. Developed countries like the US and the UK finished the same task in 18 and 36 days, respectively, he maintained. Modi said India is the fastest in vaccinating its citizens and is setting an example for the entire world. “India’s vac- cination programme is turning out to be exemplary to the world. We are vaccinating our citizens faster than anywhere in the world. In 15 days, India vaccinated 30 lakh corona war- riors whereas it took America 18 days and Britain 36 days to achieve the same feat,” he said. Referring to the violence on January 26 in the national Capital, the PM said, “The country was saddened by the insult to the Tricolour on January 26 in Delhi.” Talking about strides made by women in different fields of activities, the PM said, “You must have witnessed a few days ago, that four women pilots from India took com- mand of a non-stop flight from San Francisco, America to Bangalore. You must have also observed this time in the January 26 parade, where two women officers of the Indian Air Force created a new histo- ry. Whatever be the area, the participation of women of the country is continuously on the rise.” In his address, Modi pointed to a number of do- gooders in the country con- tributing in their own way to the environmental protection and other causes. He gave the example of an elderly man at Kottayam in Kerala cleaning lake-waters daily despite his advanced age, people in Arunachal Pradesh making artificial paper using long-forgotten technique or art and thus saving trees or veg- etable vendors in a “mandi” in Hyderabad making bio-fuel from the vegetable leftovers. Modi described India’s win in cricket test match this month in Australia as historic. Calling the victory inspirational, he said, “This month, there has been very good news from the cricket pitch too. Our cricket team, after initial setbacks made a grand comeback, winning the series in Australia. The hard work and teamwork of our players is inspirational.” The PM said this year, India is going to commence the celebration of 75 years of her Independence Amrit Mahotsav. “This is an excellent time to explore places associ- ated with those heroes on account of whom we attained freedom,” he said. Modi said the Government was starting an initiative for young writers called “India@75”. He said, “This will encourage young writers of all States and of all languages. You can learn more about this initiative on the Ministry of Education website.” Besides, the PM, in his morning talk, also stressed the need to observe road safety and the curtailing road accidents. “From January 18 to February 17 we are observing ‘Road Safety Month’. We should become active stakeholders to reduce road accidents and save lives. The goals with which we started 2021, we all have to work to fulfil them together,” he said. T he World Health Organization (WHO) has altered its guidance for preg- nant women who wish to receive the coronavirus jab, saying those at high risk of exposure to Covid-19 or who have comorbidities may be vaccinated. However, the WHO sug- gestions might not find favour in India where Covaxin and Covishield vaccine manufac- turers Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII) respectively in their factsheets have clearly mentioned that pregnant and lactating women should not get the shots as they have not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine clin- ical trial so far. The Union Health Ministry too has made it clear to the States during the launch of the vaccination drive on January 16 that pregnant and lactating women have not been a part of any Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. “Therefore, women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy and lactating women should not receive Covid-19 vaccine at this time,” the Ministry said. The WHO’s earlier guid- ance did not recommend pregnant women to be inocu- lated even though data indi- cated that pregnancy increased the risk of developing severe illness from the virus. T he Indian Coast Guard last year seized contraband worth over 1,500 crore besides apprehending at least 10 for- eign boats with 80 miscreants illegally operating in Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). These seizures were the result of sustained and round the clock surveillance by its boats and planes, Coast Guard said here on its 45th raising day on Sunday. The “Preventive and Measured Response” stance of operations introduced just over a year ago, ensured that more than 6,000 fishing boats with about 40,000 fishermen were escorted to safe harbours dur- ing passage of 11 cyclones last year, thus averting loss of lives and property at sea, it said, adding that despite restrictions imposed by Covid-19 pan- demic, Indian Coast Guard has maintained 24x7 vigil in EEZ. T he minimum (night) tem- peratures in many districts would continue to drop for the next three days as dry and cold northerly and north-westerly winds would start blowing towards the State. The minimum tempera- tures in several parts, especial- ly in interior parts are likely to fall by 3 to 5 degree Celsius and 2 to 3 degrees in coastal dis- tricts.On Sunday, several parts of State witnessed dense fog with visibility reducing to at least 10- 20 metre. The condition would persist for two to three more days, weather office said.Shallow to moderate fog is very likely to occur at a few places over dis- tricts of Baleswar, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khordha, Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati, Mayurbhanj, Angul, Dhenkanal, Boudh, Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Rayagada and Koraput. A pulse polio drive was held at the IIT Bhubaneswar on Sunday for in-campus chil- dren (under five years) as part of the National Polio immuni- sation programme of the Union Ministry of Health. The pulse polio drive was organised by the medical unit of IIT Bhubaneswar in collab- oration with Odisha Government. As many as 40 children aged below five years were administered pulse polio drops inside the campus due to active participation of faculty and staff members. IT Director Prof RV Raja Kumar said the pulse polio immunisation pro- gramme, aimed at bringing down the number of polio affected people, has been suc- cessful across the nation in the recent years. He urged the faculty, staff members to utilise such immu- nisation camps held inside the campus including the ones conducted by the State Government and NGOs to help eradicate polio from the world. A s many as 114 new Covid- 19 positive cases were detected in 19 districts on Sunday, pushing the total tally in the State to 3,35,072, the State Health and Family Welfare Department said.While 68 cases were reported from quarantine, the remaining 46 were local con- tacts. Sundargarh district record- ed the day’s highest 21 cases fol- lowed by Bargarh with 11 and Khordha nine. Of the 19 dis- tricts, 17 districts reported below-10 cases. Eleven other districts did not register any new positive case since Saturday.The Covid death toll remained at 1,906 as no new deaths have been report- ed for last six days. Currently, the State has 1,151 active cases; and so far, over 77.09 lakh sample tests have been conducted. Meanwhile, another 141 patients recovered on the day, taking total recoveries to 3, 32,103 in State. T he Covid-19 vaccination drive in the State remained suspended not only on January 31, it would also be undertak- en on February 1 and 2 in view of the pulse polio immunisa- tion programme across the State. A target of administering pulse polio to as many as 41,31,763 children below the age of five years in the State has been set by the Government. Around 17 crore children of less than five years of age would be given polio drops as part of the drive of Government of India to sustain the polio-free status of the country. The countrywide drive would be supported by about 24 lakh volunteers, 1.5 lakh supervisors and many Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), WHO, UNICEF, Rotary, etc. Healthcare workers would visit as many as 2 crore households to ensure that no child is left without the protection of the polio vaccine.The Covid-19 vaccination would resume from February 3. Meanwhile, more than 2 lakh healthcare workers (HCWs) have been vaccinated so far in the State, the State Government has informed the Centre. ACS Health & Family Welfare Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra briefed Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, who reviewed the status of Covid-19 vaccination with Health Secretaries and NHM MDs of States and UTs through a videoconference on Saturday. Mohapatra said that 2,06,424 HCWs have been vac- cinated, which is more than 60% of the total target. While the target has been set to cover 3,38,700 HCW beneficiaries with the first dose in all the dis- tricts of the State, the vaccina- tion would be completed by February 10. He said the district Collectors have been advised to take steps to ensure that the State achieves 100% target.Odisha joined in one of the largest such exercises glob- ally while the countrywide vaccination programme was launched two weeks before on January 16 by the Prime Minister. T he Kendrapada Town police on Saturday arrested four persons in a murder case includ- ing elder brother of the deceased at Manakarpur. An altercation had erupted between Baidhar Bhoi and his younger brother Rabindra Bhoi on last Monday over a land dis- pute and later it turned ugly fol- lowing Baidhar, his wife Mani, and their two sons went on attacking Rabindra, leaving him critically injured. Rabindra was rushed to District Headquarters Hospital by relatives where he was later referred to SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack, where he died. Babuli Bhoi, father of deceased and Baidhar, lodged an FIR, following which police arrested Baidhar, his wife, their sons and forwarded them to court, from where they were remanded to jail custody.

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Page 1: ˘ ˆ ˘ˇ ˆ ˙ ˝˛˚˜ % 3%3 4 ’%567 0 1ˇˆ˝ ˚˘ ( 3)=)3)

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Monday will

deliver her promised budgetlike no other that is expected toprovide relief to the pandem-ic-hit common man as well asfocus more on driving the eco-nomic recovery through high-er spending on healthcare,infrastructure and defenceamid rising tensions withneighbours.

As India emerges from theCovid-19 crisis, the ninth bud-get under the ModiGovernment, including aninterim one, is widely expect-ed to focus on boosting spend-ing on job creation and ruraldevelopment, generous alloca-tions for development schemes,putting more money in thehands of the average taxpayerand easing rules to attract for-eign investments. Sitharaman,who had in her first budget in2019 replaced leather briefcasethat had been for decades usedfor carrying budget documents

with a traditional red cloth“bahi-khata”, had earlier thismonth stated that the budgetfor the fiscal year beginningApril will be “like never before”.

The budget, economistsand experts said, will be thestarting point for picking upthe pieces after the economicdestruction caused by theCovid-19 pandemic.

And it must go beyondbeing just a “bahi khata” or aledger of accounts, as well ascanning old schemes in a newbottle. It has to be a vision state-ment, a roadmap to get theworld’s fastest-growing majoreconomy back on track.

A prescient budget, whichgoes a long way in instillingconfidence, cannot be replacedby “mini-budgets” such as the

one in September 2019 whenthe Government cut corporatetax rate just two months afterSitharaman presented hermaiden one, or the periodicannouncements of economicmeasures that dotted 2020.

There is a larger consensusamong economists that theannual GDP for FY21 willdecline by 7-8 per cent, one ofthe weakest performancesamong the developing nations.

The government has toplay a critical role in pulling theeconomy out of the trough.While the pandemic is show-ing signs of being less virulent,a gradual progress in the vac-cination programme is fuellinghope for a better future. A sus-tainable economic revival willneed a policy catalyst. That’swhere this budget assumes aspecial relevance.

The pandemic struck at atime when the economy wasalready caught in the grip of agrowth slowdown. GDPgrowth touched an 11-yearlow of 4 per cent in 2019-20.

����� ���������

Information and BroadcastingMinistry on Sunday allowed

cinema halls across the coun-try to operate at full capacityfrom February 1 with adher-ence to Covid-19 safety proto-cols. As per the Ministry,Standard Operating Procedures(SOP) adequate physical dis-tancing, mandatory face masksand sanitisation of auditoriumafter every screening must beadhered to.

Digital booking of ticketsand staggered show timings toavoid crowding will be encour-aged, said I&B MinisterPrakash Javadekar after releas-ing a set of the SOPs.

“There is good news. InFebruary, people can watch

and enjoy films in theatres aswe are allowing full occupan-cy in all cinema halls. Cinemahalls can now open at 100 percent capacity. We encourage asmuch online booking (of tick-ets) as possible,” Javadekar toldreporters here.

The development comesdays after the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) allowedcinema halls and theatres tooperate with more people asper fresh Covid-19 reopeningguidelines.

����������� �������

Aday after Narendra Modisaid his Government was

just a “phone call away” fortalks with the farmers’ unions,the Tikait brothers who areleading the agitation assertedon Sunday, that protestingfarmers will honour the dignityof the Prime Minister, but arealso committed to protectingtheir self-respect.

Both Naresh and RakeshTikait said they were open totalks with the Government tofind a “middle path”, which theformer suggested could be theBJP Government not imple-menting the three laws duringits tenure.

Rakesh, the younger ofthe two and the nationalspokesperson for the BKU,said a “respectful solution”should be found to the issue,but asserted they will not agreeto anything under pressure.

Modi had Saturday said hisGovernment’s offer on agrilaws made to protesting farm-ers “still stands” and the Centrewas a just a “phone call away”for talks, days after violencebroke out in parts of thenational Capital on RepublicDay. Rakesh said they willhonour and respect the digni-ty of the PM, and added the

farmers don’t want theGovernment or Parliament to“bow down to them”. However,he added they will also ensurethe self-respect of farmers isprotected. During theirJanuary 26 parade, many of theprotesters, driving tractors,had stormed the Red Fort, withsome of them hoisting reli-gious flags on its domes and onthe flagstaff at the ramparts.

Both the brothers con-demned Republic Day vio-lence and said it was unac-ceptable, even though theyalleged it was the result of aconspiracy.

������������� ��������

Giving his first radio talk ofthe year, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on Sundayreferred to the violence at thefarmers’ tractor rally onJanuary 26 saying “India was saddened by theinsult to Tricolour on RepublicDay”. He also emphasised thatthe country developed “aatmanirbharta” during thecoronavirus crisis and ensuredvaccine for each of its citizen.

Delivering his monthly talkMann Ki Baat, the PM said amajor shift occurred in people’sperspective in the last yearand a lot of customers now aredemanding “Made In India”products. “India today is self-reliant in the field of medicinesand vaccines,” he said.

People, he said, have showntheir support for “Vocal forLocal” and urged manufactur-ers and industry leaders tomake world-class products.

He said in 15 days, asmany as 30 lakh corona war-riors have been vaccinated inIndia. Developed countries likethe US and the UK finished thesame task in 18 and 36 days,respectively, he maintained.

Modi said India is thefastest in vaccinating its citizensand is setting an example forthe entire world. “India’s vac-cination programme is turningout to be exemplary to theworld. We are vaccinating ourcitizens faster than anywhere in

the world. In 15 days, Indiavaccinated 30 lakh corona war-riors whereas it took America18 days and Britain 36 days to

achieve the same feat,” he said.Referring to the violence

on January 26 in the nationalCapital, the PM said, “Thecountry was saddened by theinsult to the Tricolour onJanuary 26 in Delhi.”

Talking about strides madeby women in different fields ofactivities, the PM said, “Youmust have witnessed a fewdays ago, that four womenpilots from India took com-mand of a non-stop flight fromSan Francisco, America toBangalore. You must have alsoobserved this time in theJanuary 26 parade, where twowomen officers of the IndianAir Force created a new histo-

ry. Whatever be the area, theparticipation of women of thecountry is continuously on therise.” In his address, Modipointed to a number of do-gooders in the country con-tributing in their own way tothe environmental protectionand other causes.

He gave the example of anelderly man at Kottayam inKerala cleaning lake-watersdaily despite his advanced age,people in Arunachal Pradeshmaking artificial paper usinglong-forgotten technique orart and thus saving trees or veg-etable vendors in a “mandi” inHyderabad making bio-fuelfrom the vegetable leftovers.

Modi described India’s win in cricket test match this month in Australia as historic. Calling the victoryinspirational, he said, “Thismonth, there has been verygood news from the cricketpitch too. Our cricket team,after initial setbacks made agrand comeback, winning theseries in Australia. The hardwork and teamwork of ourplayers is inspirational.”

The PM said this year,India is going to commence thecelebration of 75 years of herIndependence — AmritMahotsav. “This is an excellenttime to explore places associ-ated with those heroes onaccount of whom we attainedfreedom,” he said.

Modi said the Governmentwas starting an initiative foryoung writers called“India@75”. He said, “This willencourage young writers of allStates and of all languages.You can learn more about thisinitiative on the Ministry ofEducation website.”

Besides, the PM, in hismorning talk, also stressed theneed to observe road safety andthe curtailing road accidents.

“From January 18 toFebruary 17 we are observing‘Road Safety Month’. We shouldbecome active stakeholders toreduce road accidents and savelives. The goals with which westarted 2021, we all have towork to fulfil them together,” hesaid.

����� ���������

The World HealthOrganization (WHO) has

altered its guidance for preg-nant women who wish toreceive the coronavirus jab,saying those at high risk ofexposure to Covid-19 or whohave comorbidities may bevaccinated.

However, the WHO sug-gestions might not find favourin India where Covaxin andCovishield vaccine manufac-turers Bharat Biotech andSerum Institute of India (SII)respectively in their factsheetshave clearly mentioned thatpregnant and lactating womenshould not get the shots asthey have not been part of anyanti-coronavirus vaccine clin-ical trial so far.

The Union HealthMinistry too has made it clear

to the States during the launchof the vaccination drive onJanuary 16 that pregnant andlactating women have notbeen a part of any Covid-19vaccine clinical trial so far.“Therefore, women who arepregnant or not sure of theirpregnancy and lactatingwomen should not receiveCovid-19 vaccine at this time,”the Ministry said.

The WHO’s earlier guid-ance did not recommendpregnant women to be inocu-lated even though data indi-cated that pregnancy increasedthe risk of developing severeillness from the virus.

����� ���������

The Indian Coast Guard lastyear seized contraband

worth over �1,500 crore besidesapprehending at least 10 for-eign boats with 80 miscreantsillegally operating in IndianExclusive Economic Zone(EEZ). These seizures were theresult of sustained and roundthe clock surveillance by itsboats and planes, Coast Guardsaid here on its 45th raising dayon Sunday.

The “Preventive andMeasured Response” stance ofoperations introduced just overa year ago, ensured that morethan 6,000 fishing boats withabout 40,000 fishermen wereescorted to safe harbours dur-ing passage of 11 cyclones lastyear, thus averting loss of livesand property at sea, it said,adding that despite restrictionsimposed by Covid-19 pan-demic, Indian Coast Guard hasmaintained 24x7 vigil in EEZ.

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The minimum (night) tem-peratures in many districts

would continue to drop for thenext three days as dry and coldnortherly and north-westerlywinds would start blowingtowards the State.

The minimum tempera-tures in several parts, especial-ly in interior parts are likely tofall by 3 to 5 degree Celsius and2 to 3 degrees in coastal dis-tricts.On Sunday, several parts ofState witnessed dense fog withvisibility reducing to at least 10-20 metre.

The condition would persistfor two to three more days,weather office said.Shallow tomoderate fog is very likely tooccur at a few places over dis-tricts of Baleswar, Bhadrak,Jajpur, Kendrapada, Cuttack,Jagatsinghpur, Puri, Khordha,Nayagarh, Ganjam, Gajapati,Mayurbhanj, Angul, Dhenkanal,Boudh, Kandhamal, Kalahandi,Rayagada and Koraput.

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Apulse polio drive was heldat the IIT Bhubaneswar on

Sunday for in-campus chil-dren (under five years) as partof the National Polio immuni-sation programme of the UnionMinistry of Health.

The pulse polio drive wasorganised by the medical unitof IIT Bhubaneswar in collab-oration with OdishaGovernment. As many as 40children aged below five yearswere administered pulse poliodrops inside the campus due to

active participation of facultyand staff members. IT DirectorProf RV Raja Kumar said thepulse polio immunisation pro-gramme, aimed at bringingdown the number of polioaffected people, has been suc-cessful across the nation in therecent years.

He urged the faculty, staffmembers to utilise such immu-nisation camps held inside thecampus including the onesconducted by the StateGovernment and NGOs tohelp eradicate polio from theworld.

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As many as 114 new Covid-19 positive cases were

detected in 19 districts onSunday, pushing the total tally inthe State to 3,35,072, the StateHealth and Family WelfareDepartment said.While 68 caseswere reported from quarantine,the remaining 46 were local con-tacts. Sundargarh district record-ed the day’s highest 21 cases fol-lowed by Bargarh with 11 andKhordha nine. Of the 19 dis-tricts, 17 districts reportedbelow-10 cases.

Eleven other districts didnot register any new positivecase since Saturday.The Coviddeath toll remained at 1,906 asno new deaths have been report-ed for last six days. Currently, theState has 1,151 active cases; andso far, over 77.09 lakh sampletests have been conducted.Meanwhile, another 141 patientsrecovered on the day, taking totalrecoveries to 3, 32,103 in State.

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The Covid-19 vaccinationdrive in the State remained

suspended not only on January31, it would also be undertak-en on February 1 and 2 in viewof the pulse polio immunisa-tion programme across theState. A target of administeringpulse polio to as many as41,31,763 children below theage of five years in the State hasbeen set by the Government.

Around 17 crore childrenof less than five years of agewould be given polio drops aspart of the drive ofGovernment of India to sustainthe polio-free status of thecountry. The countrywide drivewould be supported by about

24 lakh volunteers, 1.5 lakhsupervisors and many CivilSociety Organisations (CSOs),WHO, UNICEF, Rotary, etc.Healthcare workers would visitas many as 2 crore householdsto ensure that no child is leftwithout the protection of thepolio vaccine.The Covid-19vaccination would resumefrom February 3.

Meanwhile, more than 2lakh healthcare workers(HCWs) have been vaccinatedso far in the State, the StateGovernment has informed theCentre.

ACS Health & FamilyWelfare Pradipta KumarMohapatra briefed RajeshBhushan, Union HealthSecretary, who reviewed thestatus of Covid-19 vaccinationwith Health Secretaries andNHM MDs of States and UTsthrough a videoconference onSaturday. Mohapatra said that2,06,424 HCWs have been vac-cinated, which is more than

60% of the total target. Whilethe target has been set to cover3,38,700 HCW beneficiarieswith the first dose in all the dis-tricts of the State, the vaccina-tion would be completed byFebruary 10.

He said the districtCollectors have been advised totake steps to ensure that theState achieves 100%target.Odisha joined in one ofthe largest such exercises glob-ally while the countrywidevaccination programme waslaunched two weeks before onJanuary 16 by the PrimeMinister.

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The Kendrapada Town policeon Saturday arrested four

persons in a murder case includ-ing elder brother of the deceasedat Manakarpur.

An altercation had eruptedbetween Baidhar Bhoi and hisyounger brother Rabindra Bhoion last Monday over a land dis-pute and later it turned ugly fol-lowing Baidhar, his wife Mani,and their two sons went onattacking Rabindra, leaving himcritically injured. Rabindra wasrushed to District HeadquartersHospital by relatives where hewas later referred to SCB MedicalCollege Hospital, Cuttack, wherehe died. Babuli Bhoi, father ofdeceased and Baidhar, lodged anFIR, following which policearrested Baidhar, his wife, theirsons and forwarded them tocourt, from where they wereremanded to jail custody.

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Under the guidance hon-orary secretary of Indian

Red Cross Society OdishaState Branch CTM Suguna,the observation of Road SafetyAwareness month began here.Counsellors and volunteers ofYouth Red Cross and JuniorRed Cross with Red Cross staffcreated awareness among thepublic with placards and roadsafety slogans at AG Square.After that a meeting was organ-ised at the Red Cross Bhawan.

Presiding over the meeting,Suguna advised the partici-pants to create awareness onsafety signs and traffic rulesamong people that can help

minimise many accidents.She also advised the YRC

and counsellors and volunteersto create awareness in schoolsand colleges as many teen agers

are traffic rule breakers as perstatistical data. DeputyCommissioner TransportDepepartment Sanjay KumarBiswal said road accidents were

not less than a disaster as theyclaim large numbers of lives.He explained the theme of thisyear " Sadak Suraksha JeevanRaksha. " Deputy DirectorRoad Safety Tapan KumarMishra joined as the guest andsaid as per statical data of thisyear there are 11,064 deathcases due to road accident. In90 per cent of cases, the victimswere not using helmate, he told.

MVI Bhubaneswar MiliSahoo joined gave importanceon safety rules. Treasurer IRCSOSB Maj Dr Kalpana Das saidhumanitarian service at thetime of need could save lives.Junior Red Cross OfficerLaxman Swain proposed thevote of thanks.

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AMaoist was gunned downduring a fierce encounter

with police in a forest nearNunkhari at Madakapadaunder the Mudulipada policestation in the Malkangiri dis-trict on Saturday night.

A joint team of the SpecialOperations Group (SOG) andDistrict Voluntary Force (DVF)received inputs about Maoists’presence and their camp inNunkhari forest and accord-ingly launched an operation.When the police team reached

the camp, the rebels spottingthem, fired indiscriminately.The security personnel alsoretaliated in self-defence. Thegun battle continued foraround two-three hours.Unable to face the heavy firingof the police team, the Maoistsfled from the spot into thedense forest.

Later, during search thesecurity personnel recoveredthe body of a ultra near thecamp.Sources said that therebels had set up a camp in theforest and planned to step uptheir activities in the area.

The rebels were suspectedto be the members of Andhra-Odisha Zonal order commit-tee. Meanwhile, combing oper-ation has been intensified in theforest area following the fiercegun battle, sources said.

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Maoists, after killing twopersons on Friday

night, kidnapped two resi-dents of a vi l lage inKandhamal district late onSaturday night, accusingthem to be police informers.A group of armed Maoistsswooped down on Gummaunder the Belgarh police sta-tion and dragged the duofrom their houses and tookthem away with them. Later,they released one of the vic-

tims after thrashing himseverely while the other vil-lager’s whereabouts was yetto be ascertained. Police havelaunched an investigation totrace him.

Notably, the ultras hadkilled two persons, includinga Sarpanch’s son, dubbingthem as police informers atBhandarangi andGuchhaguda villages inTumudibandha block of thedistrict. Later on Saturdaymorning, their bodies werefound at two separate places.

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In a move to implement the5T mandate in the prison,

reforms, technology, securityhave been prioritised by theGovernment in 2021 for all 86prisons of the State.

Director General of Prisonsand Correctional ServicesSantosh Kumar Upadhyay hasbeen implementing theGovernment directive forstrengthening security of pris-ons and implementation of thelatest technology.

One additional post in therank of Inspector General ofPrisons has been sanctionedwith Himanshu Kumar Lalhaving joined as IG of Prisonsto supervise and implementbest practices adopted in otherStates like use of DominantPower Technology for inacti-vating networking of phones,deep search metal detectors,body worn cameras, etc.

After rolling out of the e-prisons module and the newPrisons Manual in 2020, thenext mission has been set up tointerlink ICJS with CCTNS, e-prisons, e-courts.

Besides all this, e-mulakatmodule for interview of pris-oners as per e-prisons’ higherdegree is being envisaged. Inorder to fast-track parole/fur-lough/premature release ofprisoners, a technology-basedApp for time-bound disposalsby all stakeholders (DistrictMagistrates, Superintendentsof Police, DeputyCommissioner of Police, JailSuperintendents and thePrisons Directorate have beenmandated under the 5TCharter for 2021-22.

The PrisonSuperintendents have beendirected to keep a strict vigilagainst any type of breach of

security; and drastic actionhas been initiated against menof adverse integrity/inefficien-cy. New introduction of sani-tation-related machineries wasdone in jails for first time in2020-21 like sanitary napkinincinerators, fogging machine,Bush cutter, washing machines,etc.

The PrisonSuperintendents have beengeared up to their dual respon-sibilities of prison manage-ment as well as reforms of pris-oners by providing them suit-able vocational training, spiri-tual inputs so that they aremainstreamed to the society asgood citizens after release.

The existing micro/smallscale industries like manufac-turing of handloom products,blankets, durry/asans, pisci-culture, agricultural farming,dairy, smith units, etc., arebeing broad-based by intro-duction of new food process-ing units such as atta, vesan,turmeric powder, parchedrice(mudhi),mustard oil,groundnut/til oil, etc., vermincompost and other localisedproducts.

These and quality productshave receive wide acceptanceamong the general public andthe sale is picking up slowly andsteadily, officials say.

Against a modest achieve-ment of turnover of Rs 1.36crore in 2019-20, prisons havebeen asked to raise the turnoverto Rs 5 crore in 2021-22.

The Jail Superintendentshave been asked to maximiseinternal production of ediblefoodstuffs like flour, atta byJune 2021.

Jail products ofBhubaneswar, Choudwar,Jaipur have already attractedhuge public response beingsold at stalls in front of thesejails.

State-level exhibition andsale of all jail products on adaily basis has been opened atDarghabazar, Cuttack, whichhas attracted attention of pub-lic at large and acceptance ofthe quality products.

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It was a proud moment forBhagyashree Sahu of

Rourkela as Prime MinisterNarendra Modi praised herduring his Mann Ki Baat pro-gramme on Sunday.

“Although she(Bhagyashree Sahu) is a studentof engineering, in the past fewmonths she started learning theart of Pattachitra and has mas-tered it. On her way to college,Bhagyashree found soft stonesand collected and cleanedthem. Later, she painted thesestones in the Pattachitra stylefor two hours every day,” Modisaid during his weekly pro-gramme. “After painting thesestones, she started gifting themto her friends. During thelockdown, she started painting

on bottles too. And now, sheeven conducts workshops onthis art form. A few days ago,on the birth anniversary ofSubhasbabu (Netaji SubhasChandra Bose), Bhagyashree

paid him a unique tribute doneon stone,” said Modi.“I wish herall the best for her futureendeavours. A lot new can belearnt and done through artand colours,” the PM added.

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In a major revelation in thesensational death case of

Rama Devi University studentJharaphula Nayak, police haveascertained that accusedRakesh Swain, the girl’s lover,had messaged her family mem-bers from her mobile phone onthe fateful night while theywere staying at the OYO ShivSai Guest House at Dharma

Vihar in Bhubaneswar. As pera screenshot of the SMS con-versation, Jharaphula’s familymembers had texted the girl onJanuary 26 at 6.50 pm askingher to answer their calls.

A reply was sent fromJharaphula’s mobile phone at12.35 am of January 27, inwhich it was mentioned thatshe was unable to answer thecalls due to network problemsand had stayed at her friendSonali’s house.

However, police duringinvestigation came to knowthat the reply message wassent by accused Rakesh Swainfrom Jharaphula’s mobilephone when the two were stay-ing at the Dharma Vihar guest-

house. Notably, Jharaphula’sbody had been found undermysterious circumstances atMulapala under the Kuakhiapolice limits in Jajpur districton January 27.

As per eyewitnesses, twoyouths brought the body on ascooter and dumped it onroadside before fleeing the spotwith the vehicle.

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Awoman Senior Clerk work-ing in Malkangiri district

has been dismissed fromGovernment service 24 longyears after she got the job byallegedly submitting a fakeScheduled Tribe (ST) certifi-cate. District Collector YeddulaVijay dismissed the accusednamed Laxmipriya Behera.

An inquiry had earlierbeen conducted by theSouthern Revenue DivisionCommissioner into the allega-tion against Behera. On thebasis of the investigation report,the action was taken againsther.The probe revealed thatBehera, who belongs to Sociallyand Educationally BackwardClasses (SEBC), had marriedan ST man.

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Acar allegedly driven by adrunken man ran over a

dog at the Surekha VatikaMarket Complex in Atala vil-lage in Balianta area near here,against which the People forAnimals has lodged an FIR inthis connection.

As per the complaint, theincident took place on January28 at 3.36 pm when the personin an inebriated state drove thecar while the vehicle ran overthe neck of one of the adopteddogs of the People for Animals,thereby killing the animal onthe spot. It has been alleged

that he committed the actintentionally. The incident hasbeen captured on CCTV cam-era. The Hyundai Verna carbearing registration numberOD02BM3600 is owned byone Kumar Arindam as permParivahan app, the com-plainant said. “The killing of adog violates IPC 279 for rashdriving on a public road. It alsoviolates IPC 429 which is pun-ishable as per the law.

He also violated 184 ofMotor Vehicle Act. It is also aviolation of Section 11 ofPrevention of Cruelty toAnimals Act 1960,” the com-plainant added.

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AState-level civil societyorganisations’ consultation

on prevention of child sexualabuse was organised by People'sCultural Centre (PECUC) incollaboration with the NationalAction & Coordination Groupfor Ending Violence AgainstChildren (NACG EVAC) India,World Vision ,BMZ and OLS .

Addressing the consulta-tion as chief guest in conclud-ing session, Chairperson,OSCPCR SandhyabatiPradhan, expressed her con-cern regarding rise of childabuse cases in India andfocused on how to mitigatethose cases.

She gave importance onthe moral responsibility of allduty bearers and serviceproviders includingGovernment, civil societyorganisations ,school authori-ties and private sector to be vig-ilant for reporting of cases andcreating awareness. W&CDand Mission Shakti Joint

Secretary Dharanidhar Nandatold, "We have institutions andmechanism at different levels,which need to be more andmore active and functional."

Among others DeputyDirector, ElementaryEducation Dr Abhay KumarMallick and OSCPCR formermember Harihar Nayak spoke.

State Convenor, NACG,Odisha Prakash KumarRathgave welcome addresswhile Anuradha Mohanty,Executive director, PECUCshared the proceedings andrecommendations with theguests. Vote of thanks was ren-dered by Technical Expert,World Vision India DrAnangdev Singh. In the morn-ing session the consultation wasinaugurated by DirectorGeneral, SAIEVAC Dr RinchenChophel. Chairperson, NACGEVAC India Ranjan KumarMohanty presided. Amongothers, many experts spoke ondifferent sessions. A website ofNACG EVAC India was alsoinaugurated by Dr Chophel.

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With the flow of Centralgrants and shares in

Central taxes going down,the State Government isforced to go for more marketborrowing, which is a matterof concern.

The State Government islikely to incur more than Rs27,000 crore of loan fromthe open market during thecurrent Financial Year, forwhich its loan burden byMarch 31, 2021 wouldincrease up to over Rs 1.13lakh crore.

While for the first time,the State administration hasmade more than Rs 19,000-

crore loan from the openmarket during 2020 (April-December) to sustain theeconomy and acceleratedevelopment process, it islikely to go for still more bor-rowings.As the Covid-19 pan-demic hit the global economy,the Union Government isfacing revenue generationhurdle, for which both grantsand shares from it has dwin-dled.

So, as on December31,2020, the StateGovernment’s debt stock hasgone up to Rs 1,04,516 croreas against Rs 85,337 crore onDecember 31, 2019.

A total of Rs 19,179-croreof loan has been availed bythe State Government duringlast nine months, admit offi-cials.

The debt stock is likely toincrease to Rs 1,13,000 croreby March 31, 2021 and theState Government is likely togo for more than Rs 27,000-crore loan from the marketduring Fiscal 2020-21.Up toDecember 31, 2020, the State

has received Rs 17,203 croreas share in the Central taxes,which is 22.5% less comparedto that of the last fiscal year’scorresponding period.Similarly, the Central grantshave dwindled to Rs 16,671crore, which is 16.2% lesscompared to December 31,2019.

While the StateGovernment planned for anAnnual Budget of Rs 1,60,000crore keeping in view Rs68,300 crore from the Centraltaxes shares and grants, it isunlikely to get the fund byMarch 31, 2021.

As on December 31, 2020,the State received Rs 33,874crore; and officials are wor-ried over the huge shortfall inthe Central revenue receipt.The total revenue receipt ofRs 67,983 crore as onDecember 31, 2020 registereda negative growth of 8.4%over April-December, 2019.

While revenue receipt hasgone down, the total expen-diture Rs 68,985 crore duringApril-December 2020 has

declined by 17.3%, which isalso a great concern, officialssay.

The interest payment levelhas gone up; and it is likely toincrease by March 31, 2021with the State opting for moremarket borrowings. The debtstock ratio has also gone upwith more and more marketborrowings as compared to20219.

The latest Fiscal MonitorReport on Odisha reveals thatthe State Government hasbeen able to collect Own Taxrevenue to an extent of Rs21,942 crore and Own NonTax revenue of Rs 12,167crore by December 31, 2020.

The Own Tax revenuecollection has registered a27.5% growth over December31, 2019 while Own Non Taxcollection registered a nega-tive trend of 2.9%.

Looking at the slowdownof Central grants and sharetaxes, the State Government istrying to mop up more rev-enue from own sources, sayofficials.

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New Chairman of theParadip Port Trust (PPT)

Vinit Kumar, who is also theSyama Prasad Mokkerji Port(Kolkata) Chairman, was wel-comed by the Paradip PortBanik Sangha (PPBS) onFriday. Vinit Kumar arrived atthe PPBS to pray to MaaDurga; and on the occasion,

PPBS president Santosh KumarPatnaik welcomed him with abouquet of flowers.During thisinformal meeting, SantoshPatnaik briefed Vinit Kumarabout the problems of the tradeunions in the port town.

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The SE Railway is preparingto shift the Malgodown

from Baleswar station.The res-idents in the area weredemanding shifting of thegoods yard from the place as itcreated pollution due to theloading and unloading of con-signments including cement,pesticides, fertilisers etc.

Besides there was a demandfor utilisation of the space forconstructing another plat-form.Reports said that theRailways has planned to shiftthe godown to the NOCCIarea. Meanwhile, the truckersand others depending on themalgodown have appealed tothe district administration tosecure their livelihoods.

They said that 200 trucksand lorries were engaged forferrying consignments andnearly 700 labourers wereengaged in the loading,unloading process.

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The Vedanta Limited,Lanjigarh, started its Covid

vaccination programme for itsmedical personnel and health-care staff on January 23. Theprogramme was organised inpartnership with theCommunity Health Centre,Biswanathpur and about 100personnel from Vedanta’shealth team at Lanjigarh will bevaccinated in the first phase.

The commencement of thevaccination drive was heldunder the close supervision ofdistrict administration, adher-ing to all Covid guidelines.Thedistrict administration alsoprovided vaccine and otherrequired medical equipment.

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The Union Ministry of TribalAffairs has revised the MSP

for minor forest produce(MFP) and has included Sialileaf in the list of MFPs.

In the rural areas ofGanjam, Gajapati, Boudh,Kandhamal the plates made ofSiali leaf are largely being usedduring the community feasts.

The leaf has a fairly goodmarket in Visakhapatnam,Srikakulum and Vizianagaramdistricts of Andhra Pradesh.After the NTFP policy ofMarch 2000, its managementhas been transferred to GramPanchayats.

At the current Covid pan-demic time when millions havelost livelihood, the 'Mechanismfor Marketing of Minor ForestProduce (MFP) throughMinimum Support Price

(MSP) & Development ofValue Chain for MFP’ hascome as a beacon of change.Conceptualised and imple-mented by TRIFED in associ-ation with State Governmentagencies across 21 States of thecountry, the scheme hasemerged as a source of greatrelief for tribal gatherers inject-ing more than Rs 3,000 croredirectly in the tribal economysince April 2020.

The Van Dhan tribal star-tups, also a component of thesame scheme, further comple-ments MSP beautifully andhas emerged as a source ofemployment generation fortribal gatherers and forestdwellers and the home-boundtribal artisans.

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The Pradesh CongressCommittee (PCC), which

held a huge meeting on occa-sion of Saheed Divas at theKhallikote College ground hereon Saturday to commemoratethe completion of 100 years ofMahatma Gandhi’s visit toBrahmapur, used the occasionto slam the BJD and the BJP.

Addressing the meeting,Odisha party in-charg ChellaKumar lashed out at the StateGovernment and said it hasfailed in all fronts. In the name

of ‘Mo Sarkar’ and 5T, the BJDis fooling and exploiting the

public, he alleged. Kumar alsocame down heavily on the

State BJP and questioned whyit is not demanding a CBIinquiry into the 5T initiative.He said the Congress is goingto form the Government inOdisha in 2024.

PCC president NiranjanPatnaik urged the partyworkers and the people tothrow the ruling BJD out ofpower for its gross ‘misrule’ inthe State.

Criticising the NDAGovernment at the Centre,Patnaik said that the saffronparty is good at making falsepromises to people before theelections and demanded that

the three farm laws should berepealed immediately.Narasingha Mishra saidthough Bijubabu was a greatfreedom fighter, his sonNaveen Patnaik is unfortu-nately supporting the BJP ledUnion Government in eachand every matter which is notin public interest.

Ganjam district Congresspresident Ramesh Jena i saidif the cost of petrol and dieselis not reduced at least by Rs.10 per litre, the Congresswould embark on a agitation.He said the party will carry outdemonstrations and rallies at

block, NAC and municipali-ties in the State. The partywould also hold an OdishaBandh on February 15 toprotest the rising fuel prices.

Among others, JeyporeMLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati;former PCC presidents JaydevJena and Sarat Pattnaik; AICCsecretary Rudra Raju; JeyporeMLA Tara Prasad BahinpatiKhariar MLA AdhirajPanigrahi; Jatni MLA SureshKumar Routray; Mohana MLADasarathi Gamango and otherleaders were present. FormerBanki ML Debasis Pattnaikcoordinated the meeting.

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Amarried woman of Kansbahal inSundargarh district has brought lau-

rels for the district and the State by win-ning the coveted Mrs India contestrecently. Besides winning the crown, shehas become eligible to participate in MrsWorld contest, to be held at Sri Lanka innear future.

Rourkela-based Navdeep Kaur (31)was given a rousing reception at her local-ity after her return here. After severalrounds of contests through virtual modesby the organisers from October toDecember 2020, as many as 65 contestantsfrom different parts of the country wereshort listed for the semi final.

The semi final and final rounds ofcontest were organised at Daman fromDecember 17 to 23. Navdeep was shortlisted for final round and was among topfive contestants. Finally on January 23 inthe grand finale, Navdeep was declared

as the winner with Mrs India title.Personalities like Soha Ali Khan, BibekOberoi, Caroline Jurie (Mrs World titlewinner of 2020), Rashi Jain (Mrs India2019-20) and Masumi Mewawalla (fash-ion designer) were jury members of theprestigious event.

Navdeep was given a rousing recep-tion at her home town Kansbahal, afterher arrival along with her husbandKamaldeep Singh, who is an industrial-ist. A procession was carried out inKansbahal city. Rajgangpur MLA RajanEkka felicitated Nabdeep.

She attributed her success to her fam-ily members, mainly to her mother in-lawHarsharn Kaur and co-sister-in-lawSimrat Bhogal. "Despite being from asmall town like Rourkela, I always had selfbelief and confidence in me, which pro-vided me the courage to face toughestquestions and situations," said Navdeepin her reaction. "I feel, ability to self moti-vate is the key for anyone to achieve suc-

cess," Navdeep added. Navdeep has a fiveyears old daughter too.

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Under the aegis of NewDelhi-based Haniman

Pharmaceuticals PrivateLimited, a seminar on thetheme “Homoeopathic Science,

Diseases and Their Prevention”was held here on Thursday.General Manager, HanimanPharmaceuticals and well-known homoeopath Dr AshokKumar Das presided over themeeting while Dr IndubhusanPattnaik graced the event aschief speaker.

Manager of HanimanPharmaceuticals Dr SribatschaDalai attended the seminar aschief guest. Among others,chief of Odisha super stockist“Go Green Homeopathic” Dr Mona Das, Dr Geetanjali Pattnaik and Dr Banamali

Nepak spoke. The speakerssaid that homoeopathic med-icine manufactured byHaniman has proved moreeffective in controlling notonly a large number of com-mon deceases, but also in pre-venting deceases likemenopausal syndrome.

Now, there is an increasingtrend of patients reposing truston homoeopath medicines asthey have succeeded in pro-viding quick and hassle-freerelief to the patients compara-

tively at lesser cost, the speak-ers added. The delegates triedto evolve mechanisms as tohow homoeopath medicinescan reach the patients at thetime of their need in the leastpossible time which would bea great service to the humani-ty.

Well-known homoeopath-ic surgeons from Bhubaneswarand Puri, Cuttack, Khordha,Nayagarah, Gajapati andGanjam districts participated inthe deliberations.

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Aligned with theGovernment’s Ethanol

Blended Petrol (EBP)Programme, the BoudhDistillery, on Friday dis-patched its first ethanol sup-ply to IOCL, Jharsuguda, pro-duced from its newly com-missioned grain basedethanol plant.

Company COO, PremKumar Kanojia along withunit head, Sanjay Rathi andGroup Quality Auditor Sarat

CS flagged off the dispatch tomark the occasion as anoth-er milestone of BoudhDistillery.

In its first supply, onFriday the company dis-patched 25,000 litres ofethanol for blending withpetrol. Currently the compa-ny has a production unit of15,000 litres per day capacityand it has plans to enhancethe capacity to 40,000 to60,000 litres per day as part ofexpansion in next two years.

Speaking on the occa-sion, COO of BoudhDistillery Kanojia said,“Initial ly we are havingethanol production capacityof only 15000 litres per dayand we are aiming to have60,000 litres per day produc-tion capacity plant in near

future. From the very begin-ning BDPL has been veryconscious towards protectionof environment and this willadd another feather to oureco-friendly character.” It

should be noted, theGovernment has 10 per centblending target for mixingethanol with petrol by 2022which is 400 crore litres and20 per cent by 2025.

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BJP State leader TankadharTripathy’s elderly widowed

mother was found hanging inher house in the SankaraReserve area of Sundargarhtown on Saturday evening.

According to reports, thedeceased Kumuduni Tripathy(72) was staying alone in the

house while her son Tankadharresides in Bhubaneswar withhis wife. On being informedabout the death, police reachedthe spot, recovered the body forpostmortem and initiated aninvestigation. An unnaturaldeath case has been registeredin this connection. The reasonbehind the woman’s death wasyet to be ascertained.

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The Paradeep PhosphatesLimited (PPL) organised

the 32nd National Road SafetyAwareness programme onSaturday, which was inaugu-rated by Project Manager RanjitMishra.

The Sankhadhwani RastaSurakhya Samiti Odisha wasinvolved in the programme.PPL JGM HR Sangram KeshariSwain, GM Training AKTiwari, JGM Fire Safety Niharkanti Rout, GM MaintenanceRanjan Kumar Mohanty, DGM

Sustem, Suryansu Bhargav andDeputy Manager TrainingLingaraj Dash, along withworking president SubratNanda, secretary PrakashKumar Mohapatra, were pre-sent among others.

Nearly 50 drivers of theentire factory and personnelfrom other departments werepresent. They were informedabout various laws, violationsand penalty, besides skill devel-opment. A special 32nd roadsafety sticker and safety bandsfor the drivers were launchedon the occasion.

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With cereals, pulses andother perishable food

products contributing Rs55,000 crore to the State’s econ-omy, Odisha holds significantscope for food processingindustries.

This has come to fore in ameeting organised for tappinginvestment in food processingsector in the State. OdishaInvestment and ExportPromotion Office (OIEPO)chief Sanjeeb Kumar Mishrachaired the meeting, whichwas attended by investors, topofficials of the StateGovernment and the FICCI.

Principal Secretary MSMESatyabrat Sahu, PrincipalSecretary Industries HemantSharma, Managing DirectorIPICOL Nitin B Jawale,Director of Industries MdSadique Alam, Co-Chair FICCIFood Processing CommitteeMohit Anand and others joinedthe webinar.

Sahu said there is a signif-icant scope for growth, capac-ity expansion and value addi-tion in food processing sector.Providing an insight to the foodsector, he said estimates indi-cate that cereals and pulses con-tribute Rs 15,000 crore to theState economy, while perishablefood products contributeanother Rs 40,000 crore. Onlyaround 10 per cent of perish-ables are processed with avalue addition of around 20 percent. Looking at the huge scopefor food processing sector, theOdisha Government hasundertaken strategic initiativesto intensify the industrial pro-motion and investment facili-

tation through several policyframeworks, said Sahu. Thepolicy support is providingnew direction to the ongoingindustrial process by providinginfrastructural, institutionaland fiscal support to food pro-cessing sector, pointed outSahu.

The Prime MinisterFormalization of Micro FoodProcessing Enterprises(PMFME), a centrally spon-sored scheme launched by theMinistry of Food ProcessingIndustries, partners with Statesfor providing financial, tech-nical and business support forup-gradation of existing microfood processing enterprises,self-help groups (SHG) andfood producers’ organization aswell as cooperatives.

The PMFME is to enhancethe competitiveness of existingindividual micro enterprises inthe unorganised segment of thefood processing industry andpromote formalisation of thesector, said Sahu.

He said the OdishaGovernment has adopted OneDistrict One Product (ODOP)approach to reap benefit ofscale in terms of procurementof inputs, availing commonservices and marketing theproducts. New units for indi-vidual enterprises would onlybe supported by the ODOPproducts, said an official.

Principal SecretaryIndustries Hemant Sharmagave details on the variouspolicy frameworks such asIndustrial Policy Resolution-2015, MSME DevelopmentPolicy-2016, Odisha FoodProcessing Policy-2016, whichare extending support for theinvestors.

IPICOL MD Nitin B Jawalepresented the industrial envi-ronment in the State, which isattracting huge investments,even during Covid-19 pan-demic. Deputy SecretaryGeneral FICCI Arun Chawlapresented the vote of thanks.

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Continuing the drive againstillegal ganja trade, the

Semiliguda police in Koraputdistrict seized ganja worth Rs75 lakh, which was being trans-ported in a tanker, on Sunday.

Based on inputs, the policeintercepted the vehicle andseized around 15.77 quintal ofthe contraband near DaliambaChhak. The market value of theseized contraband was esti-mated to be more than Rs 75lakh, said sources.

However, the three ped-dlers travelling in the tanker,fled the spot abandoning thevehicle. Police have seized thetanker and launched hunt tonab the fugitives.

Earlier on Saturday, theExcise Department officialshad seized around 20 quintalsof ganja from a poultry feed-laden truck near the Kanisi areaon the National Highway-16nea in Ganjam district.. Onedrug peddler was detained inconnection with the incident.

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The Khariar police inNuapada distr ict on

Sunday arrested three personsallegedly involved in theft ofcomputers and peripheralsfrom the of f ice of theIrrigation DepartmentAssistant Engineer at Khariar.

The seizures included amonitor with CPU, a printerand an iron rod.A departmentemployee Prakash KumarBehera had lodged a com-plaint about the theft of com-puter set.Police investigationrevealed that the thieves hadentered the house by breakingthe asbestos roof, whenBehera was on leave. Later,

police ascertained that onePurna Chandra Jena aliasKunu residing in Padampurvillage was trying to disposeoff a computer.

Later, a police team led byKhariar SDPO Santak Jenaapprehended Kunu and twoof his associate Uttam Jagat ofChheliapada and SumitBachcha of Lalsahebpada."The accused have confessedof their crime and the com-puter has been seized fromthe rented house of Kunu atPadampur village.

Case has been registeredunder relevant sections ofIPC and they would be for-warded to court " said KhariarIIC Kailash Chandra Sethi.

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The crackdown against ille-gal ganja plantations con-

tinued in Gajapati district; andon Saturday, ganja plants worthRs 8 crore were destroyed.

The raid was carried out bypolice, forest, excise and rev-enue officials on the instruc-tions of district CollectorAnupam Saha andSuperintendent of Police TapanPatnaik in a forest area nearTarmal mouza in Mohanablock of the district.

Ganja trees planted illegal-ly in an area of more than 40acre were burnt and destroyed.The estimated cost of the tress

is about Rs 8 crore. A case waslodged in the Mohana policestation under the NDPS Act inthe connection, said MohanaPS ICC Sunjit Kumar Nayak.Mohana Additional TehsildarAsish Pradhan was also presentduring the raid.

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As many as eight PrimaryAgricultural Cooperative

Societies (PACS) auditors of thedistrict have been suspendedfor the bungling in the pur-chase and sale of paddy duringthe 2016-17 season.

They have been suspended bythe administrators in charge

of the relevant PACS on theinstructions of DeputyRegistrar of Cooperatives(DRCS) Bhaktabandhu Sahu.

Among them are the audi-tors of Jharbandh, Dava,Sohela, Chadeigaon, Satalma(Narayan Seva SamabayaSamiti), Bhukta and Katapali(Barpali) PACS. Earlier, aState-level squad had come toBargarh district to investigatethe sale of paddy in 2016-17season and inspected variousPACS and relevant auditorswere suspended based onin-vestigation report of squad,said DRCS Sahu.

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Union Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar on

Sunday hit out at his prede-cessor and NCP chief SharadPawar, saying his tweets raisingsome objections over the newfarm laws a day before are a

mix of ignorance and misin-formation.

“Sharad Pawar ji is a veter-an politician and a formerUnion Agriculture Minister,who is also considered well-versed with the issues and solu-tions relating to Agriculture,”Tomar said in a tweet, adding

that Pawar had himself triedhard to bring the same agri-culture reforms earlier.

“Since he speaks with someexperience and expertise on theissue, it was dismaying to see histweets employ a mix of igno-rance and misinformation onthe agriculture reforms,” Tomar

said.The minister argued that

the new laws facilitate promo-tion of additional choice chan-nel for farmers with choice tosell their produce to anyone,anywhere with hassle freemovement in and outside thestate to realize competitive and

better net price for their pro-duce. “This does not affect thecurrent MSP system,” he said.

Tomar reiterated that underthe new ecosystem, mandis arenot affected. “Instead, they willbe more competitive and costeffective in terms of servicesand infrastructure; and both the

systems will synergistically co-exist for the common interest offarmers,” he said.

“As he is such a veteranleader, I would like to believethat he was genuinely misin-formed of the facts. Now thathe has the right facts, I hope hewill also change his stand &

also explain the benefits to ourfarmers,” Tomar said in anoth-er tweet.

On Saturday, the NCP chiefhad put out a series of tweets,saying that the new farm lawswill adversely affect theMinimum Support Price(MSP) and weaken the mandi

system.“Reform is a continuous

process and no one wouldargue against the reforms in theAPMCs or Mandi System, apositive argument on the samedoes not mean that it is doneto weaken or demolish thesystem,” Pawar had said.

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The first part of the BudgetSession of Parliament will

end on February 13 instead ofFebruary 15 as the Rajya Sabha,on Sunday, decided to changeits sitting after a decision in thisregard in an all-party meetingchaired by Rajya SabhaChairman M Venkaiah Naidu.The house will adjourn twodays ahead of the originalschedule to enable theDepartment RelatedParliamentary Committees toexamine the Demands forGrants of various departmentsand ministries, and will meetagain on March 8.

Naidu also made a ferventappeal to the leaders of variousparties at an all-party meetingto ensure smooth and effectivefunctioning of the House dur-ing the Budget Session.

Leaders of various partiesattending the meeting assuredthat there would be full par-ticipation in all the debates anddiscussions in the House, thesources add.

A number of ministers andaround 25 leaders of variousparties attended the all-partymeeting.

The leaders sought moretime for the debate on theMotion of Thanks to thePresident’’s address and theGeneral Budget, to whichNaidu asked ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Prahlad Joshiand the others concerned torework the time schedule.

The chairman observedthat these two discussions offerample opportunities to themembers to reflect on a widerange of issues for which moretime may be allocated.

He also urged the Ministers

to learn the art of speaking inbrief, both while moving thebills for consideration andreplying to debates, so thatmembers get more time tospeak.

The allocation of sufficienttime for members of smallparties and groups in theHouse was also discussed, withthe chairman observing thatefforts were being made to give

reasonable amount of time forsuch members.

He, however, noted that itmay not be possible for mem-bers of about 20 such parties tospeak on every issue.

Besides the minister ofparliamentary affairs, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,Railway Minister Piyush Goyal,External Affairs Minister SJaishankar and HousingMinister Hardeep Singh Puriattended the meeting.

Rajya Sabha DeputyChairman Harivansh andLeader of the HouseThawarchand Gehlot alsoattended the meeting.

Leader of the OppositionGhulam Nabi Azad, Congressdeputy leader Anand Sharmaand chief whip Jairam Ramesh,JDS leader and former primeminister HD Devegowda, BJPleader Bhupinder Yadav, SP’’sRam Gopal Yadav, DMK’’sTiruchi Siva, AIADMK’’s ANavaneethakrishnan, RJD’’sPrem Chand Gupta, BJD’’sPrasanna Acharya, JD(U)leader RCP Singh, TRS leaderK Keshava Rao, YSR Congressleader A Vijaysai Reddy, AAPleader Sanjay Singh, CPI-Mleader Elamaram Kareem andKanakamedala RavindraKumar were among those whoattended the meeting.

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP ofthe CPI(M) KK Ragesh, afamiliar face at the ongoingfarmers’’ protest, has testedpositive for the coronavirusand has been admitted to theMedanta hospital inGurugram. The Left leaderinformed on social media plat-form Facebook that he wasregularly tested for COVID-19and the results were alwaysnegative. Even on January 27,he tested negative for the viraldisease in Parliament and alsoon January 29, when he tookpart in an Opposition protest.

PNS

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In a first-of-its kind study, doc-tors from AIIMS, Delhi have

found that ayurvedic formula-tion BGR-34 along with allo-pathic drug glibenclamide mayhave a significant role not onlyin controlling diabetes but alsohelp lowering risk of heart attack.

The findings hold impor-tance given that people with dia-betes are 2 to 4 times more like-ly than others to develop car-diovascular disease, deadlycomorbidities that could putthe person at the high risk ofcontracting Covid-19.

However, giving a ray ofhope, the doctors from the pre-mier hospital in their interimstudy found that pace of diabetesgrowth can be halted while riskof heart attack cut down ifallopathy drug is integrated withBGR-34, a herbal formulationenriched with anti-oxidant prop-erties which does not allow badcholesterol to accumulate in theheart arteries.

To find efficacy of the BGR-34 with allopathy drug, AIIMSdoctors led by Dr SudhirChandra Sarangi fromPharmacology Department ofthe AIIMS gave the Ayurvedaformulation and allopathic med-icine Glibenclamide separately toone group and in combination toanother group.

The results were encourag-ing. It was found that the com-bination group who were givenayurvedic BGR-34 andGlibenclamide had moreimprovement in insulin levelthan those given the allopathydrug alone. It also showed thecholesterol lowering (cardio-protective) effect. The improve-

ment rate also accelerated iealmost from 40 days to 28 days.

“The outcome from theexperimental model indicatesthat though the medicines fromboth the pathies are effective incontrolling the biochemicalparameters during managingof diabetes to certain extent; butthe combination of two is exclu-sively benefitting to patients inrestoring these biomarker para-meters better than the individ-ual effect from one and nearerto the value in normal subjects,”said the report.

The study also establishedthat BGR-34 improved lipidprofile in terms of triglyceridesand levels of VLDL (very lowdensity lipoprotein which ismade up of cholesterol, triglyc-erides, and proteins), thus show-ing that it can be safely takenwith synthetic antidiabeticdrugs.

Formulation of herbs likeVijaysar, Daruharidra, Manjisth,Gudmar, Giloe and Methikafound in the upper region ofHimalayas, BGR-34 has beenprepared after intensive researchby CSIR’s two Lucknow basedlabs—Central Institute ofMedicinal and Aromatic Plants(CIMAP) and NationalBotanical Research Institute(NBRI).

Recently, a team of scientistsfrom Tehran University scien-tists too had in their separatestudy concluded that herbaldrugs having antioxidant prop-erties can reduce the risk ofCovid-19 in diabetic patients.

India is home to the second-largest number of people withdiabetes — more than 95 percent of whom have type 2 dia-betes — second only to China.

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The Central Reserve PoliceForce and the Indian

Institute of Management,Lucknow, have signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) toundertake a pilot project ondomestic empowerment offamilies of CRPF personnel toreduce the increasing numberof suicides and fratricides byrelieving the jawans fromfamilial stress.

“Following the report onthis pilot project, a strategy willbe formulated for fine tuningthe broad framework, underwhich a full-fledged researchwill be conducted, to evaluateand assess the responses and,accordingly, propose, configureand facilitate the way forward,”the CRPF said in a statement.

It further said, “In the formof IIM Lucknow, the force hasfound expert professionals andacademicians who would con-duct a thorough research, delvedeep into the problem andhelp CRPF in formulating aholistic and comprehensiveplan for the domestic empow-erment of families of its per-sonnel.”

The CRPF is the largestCentral paramilitary in theworld and remains continu-ously deployed in several the-atres, tackling multifariouschallenges including terror-ism, insurgency and Naxalism.

“The commitment,courage, and professionalism ofthe force has earned it gloryand success making it the most

dependable Force in matterspertaining to internal security.But, this has also resulted inCRPF’s overarching nature ofdeployment with little oppor-tunities for respite leading toconsequent stress and strainswhich not only affect the life ofits personnel but their familiesas well,” the paramilitary fur-ther said.

The unpredictability ofdeployment, frequent move-ments, and lack of alternatesupport system due to break-down of joint families furtheraggravate the problem of pro-longed separation betweenpersonnel and families. “Thishas resulted in an increasednumber of suicides and fratri-cides,” it said.

Director General of CRPF,AP Maheshwari, expressed hisgratitude to IIM, Lucknow forthis “noble” association and

said that it will not just lead todomestic empowerment ofCRPF families but will even-tually reflect as self-empower-ment of its personnel too.

The DG also expressedhope that the outcome of thisendeavour will be a great reliefto the personnel who aredeployed far away from theirhomes to serve the nation andare concerned about their fam-ilies back home.

Saluting the Force for itscourage and sacrifice, Directorof IIM Lucknow, Prof. ArchanaShukla said that the Institutionis proud of this associationwith CRPF and is glad to servethe nation by putting its exper-tise to the benefit of CRPFbravehearts. She also assuredthat the IIM team will strive tofurnish meaningful recom-mendations after thoroughresearch.

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Ayear after India reported itsfirst Covid-19 case from

Kerala and the tally now touch-ing 1.07 crore and 1.54 lakhdeaths due to the virus infec-tion, Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan on Sunday saidthat the country was able tofight the pandemic much bet-ter than other countries

because of its ‘whole ofGovernment’ and ‘whole ofsociety’ approach.

Addressing the BritishAssociation of Physicians ofIndian Origin (BAPIO) Walesat their annual conference viavideo link on Saturday night, hehighlighted that India’s Covid-19 recovery rate was 97 per centwhile its 1.44 per cent fatalityrate was the lowest in theworld.

“Covid-19 pandemic brokeout in December 2019 andspread around the world. Withthe ‘whole of government’ and‘whole of society’ approach, wewere able to fight the pandem-ic much better than other coun-tries,” Vardhan said according toa statement by the health min-istry.

He also took the opportu-nity to slam the critics sayingthat many naysayers linked to

top universities predicted doomfor the country with the pre-diction of 300 to 400 millioncases and a death toll of around6 million. “India’s total cases incontrast stand at 10.7 million(with 10.4 million already recov-ered), the active caseload amere 1.58% of total cases, therecovery rate touching 97%while fatality rate of 1.44%remains lowest in the world.”

Dr. Harsh Vardhan also

attributed to the scientific com-munity for developing and test-ing the Vaccine.

“All our scientists rose to theoccasion and engaged tireless-ly in developing vaccines. Theunique digital platform- Co-WIN (Winning over COVID)was developed to support thevaccination activity with realtime information ensuring thatthe vaccine is given to the rightpeople at the right time.

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Around 89 lakh childrenunder five years of age, as

per provisional data, were givenpolio drops across the countryon Sunday on the occasion ofPolio National ImmunizationDay, the Union HealthMinistry said.

All measures have beentaken to ensure safety duringthe times of COVID-19 pan-demic by maintaining coron-avirus appropriate practicessuch as preventing overcrowd-ing at booths, maintainingphysical distance of two metres,wearing masks, washing handsand administering polio dropsin well ventilated settings, theMinistry underlined.

The vaccination was doneat around 7 lakh booths whichwere staffed with 12 lakh vac-

cinators and 1.8 lakh supervi-sors.

“The booth activity will befollowed by house-to-housesurveillance (mop-up rounds)over the next two to five daysto identify and vaccinate chil-dren who missed getting vac-cinated at the booths,” theMinistry said.

Vaccination teams havealso been deployed at bus ter-minals, railway stations, air-ports and ferry crossing tovaccinate children in transit toensure no child misses thelife-saving dose.

President Ram NathKovind had launched theNational Polio ImmunisationDay for 2021 by administeringpolio drops to children lessthan five years of age atRashtrapati Bhawan on January30.

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Actor Sonu Sood has movedthe Supreme Court chal-

lenging the Bombay HighCourt order which dismissedhis appeal against a BMC noticeover alleged illegal constructionat his residential building inMumbai’s Juhu area.

Sood’s petition stated thathis application for conversionhas been approved by theMunicipal Commissioner sub-ject to Maharashtra Coastal

Zone Management Authority(MCZMA) permission.

It said the high court orderdated January 13, 2021 hasbeen passed without consider-ing the provisions of Section 43(1) of the MaharashtraRegional and Town PlanningAct, 1966.

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The Congress on Sundayslammed the BJP-led

Centre over the arrest of a free-lance journalist from theSinghu border with partyleader Rahul Gandhi sayingthose who fear truth arresthonest scribes.

Mandeep Punia was arrest-ed from the Singhu border onSunday for allegedly misbe-having with the police person-nel on duty at the farmers’protest site there, officials said.

A case was registeredagainst him and he has beenarrested now, a senior policeofficer said, a day after thescribe was detained.

Reacting to the develop-ment, former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi tweeted inHindi, “Those who fear trutharrest honest journalists.”

He also tagged a videopurportedly showing Puniabeing held by police at the bor-der protest site.

Congress general secre-tary Priyanka Gandhi Vadrasaid journalists covering thefarmers’ movement are beingarrested, cases are beingslapped against them and theinternet is being shut down inmany places.

“The BJP governmentwants to trample upon thevoice of the farmers, but theyhave forgotten that the moreyou suppress, the more voiceswill rise against your atrocities,”she said in a tweet in Hindi.

Congress’ chief spokesper-

son Randeep Surjewala, in atweet in Hindi, addressed PMModi and said by slapping falsecases at the BJP’s behest againstjournalists exposing the attackon farmers and shutting downmobile internet at protest sites,“you will not be able to sup-press the farmers’ movementand shut out the country’svoice”.

At a press conference,Congress spokespersonSupriya Shrinate hit out at thegovernment, saying it is the70th day of the protest byfarmers and they have beenforced to sit at the borders byan “insensitive, obstinate andstubborn government thatitself dug trenches andrefused the farmers any entryin Delhi”.

“For anybody who tries toshow their plight, their pain,this government will go afterthem -- whether it is people insocial life, in political life orjournalists. A very young jour-nalist by the name MandeepPunia was arrested and waspresented before the magistrateeven before his Defence lawyercould reach,” she said, slam-ming the government over thescribe’s arrest.

“We strongly condemn thesedition cases they have filedagainst our own MP ShashiTharoor or the kind of seditioncases that have been filedagainst Mrinal Pande, RajdeepSardesai, Vinod Jose, ZafarAgha, Paresh Nath and AnantNath ,” Shrinate said.

“We condemn it as theseare the people who are trying

to show the real face of thefarmer, who are trying to bringto light the plight of the farmerand instead of standing withthem and letting them do theirjobs honestly, this governmentgoes after them,” she said.

Tharoor and the six jour-nalists have been booked bypolice, including in BJP-ruledstates such as Uttar Pradeshand Madhya Pradesh, overtheir allegedly misleadingtweets on the violence duringthe farmers’ tractor rally inDelhi on Republic Day.

Democracy is being“weakened” with every passingday and institutions are being“destroyed”, Shrinate said.

Thousands of farmers,mostly from Haryana, Punjaband Uttar Pradesh, have beenprotesting at several borderpoints into Delhi sinceNovember-end, demandingrepeal of the three agri lawsand a legal guarantee to theminimum support system fortheir crops.

Enacted last September,the three laws have been pro-jected by the Centre as majorreforms in the agriculture sec-tor that will remove middle-men and allow farmers to selltheir produce anywhere in thecountry.

However, the protestingfarmers have expressed theirapprehension that the newlaws would pave the way foreliminating the safety cushionof the MSP and do away withthe wholesale market system,leaving them at the mercy ofbig corporates.

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Denmark on Sunday saidIndia is going to come out

of the coronavirus pandemic asone of the “global winners”, andit was looking forward tomajorly expand bilateral coop-eration in areas of clean ener-gy, water and food processingunder a green strategic part-nership.

Ambassador of DenmarkFreddy Svane said several lead-ing Danish companies wereinterested in investing in areaslike renewable energy, envi-ronment, shipping and inno-vation in India.

Svane told PTI that foreignministers of the two countriesare working on an ambitiousaction plan comprising specif-ic targets to achieve the goalsbroadly mentioned in the‘India-Denmark GreenStrategic Partnership’.

The green partnership,finalised at a virtual summitbetween the prime ministers ofthe two countries, aims to cre-ate a framework for significantexpansion of cooperation inareas of renewable energy, envi-ronment, economy, climatechange and science and tech-nology.

“It is a partnership of thenew age as it is really focusingon a green transition,” Svanesaid.

The Danish ambassadorsaid the two countries are alsoworking on another trackcalled ‘advanced plan’ focusingon the expansion of coopera-tion with specific targets inareas of water, energy andfinancing of projects to beimplemented under the greenpartnership.

He said Denmark is look-

ing at offering its expertise toIndia in preserving as well asensuring judicious use of waterbesides boosting cooperationin the production of offshoreand onshore wind energy.

On post-COVID recov-ery, Denmark was confidentthat India was going to comeout stronger from the pan-demic.

“I think India is going tocome out of the pandemic asone of the global winners. Thenumber of COVID-19 cases inIndia has gone down drasti-cally while in Europe, we havea spike,” Svane said.

“I am pretty sure that Indiawill be able to sustain theactual development and thatwill help the country in thelong-run. India needs to standon its own feet; needs to pur-sue its own interest,” the envoyadded.

He said a strong pro-activeIndia is in the interest of theworld.

Asked whether he wasconfident of India’s post-COVID economic recovery,Svane said he was “pretty opti-mistic”.

“India has already provedits capabilities and capacities.India really built the future notonly the present by effectivelyhandling the situation (fol-lowing the pandemic). Indiaalso looked at the future. Builtsome fantastic systems,” headded.

He also mentioned howIndia reached out to severalcountries and supplied medi-cines initially, and is sendingcoronavirus vaccines now tohelp them deal with the pan-demic.

“India will develop what-ever happens. India has now

really, I think, realised that weshould not just keep ourselvesfor ourselves, it is not India forIndia but it is India for theworld,” he said.

The Danish envoy said hiscountry was confident of deep-er cooperation and collabora-tion with India in the ‘green’initiative as it feels PrimeMinister Narendra Modiwould like to drive the coun-try’s growth and developmentin a green and sustainableway.

Asked about the stallednegotiations between Indiaand the European Union on afree trade agreement, he exud-ed confidence of forwardmovement on it.

Launched in June 2007, theFTA talks have been stalledsince May 2013, when bothsides failed to bridge substan-tial gaps on crucial issues,including data security statusfor the IT sector.

The ambassador alsofavoured having investmentprotection pacts between Indiaand European countries.

“Denmark is a free tradeloving nation. In order toensure that companies doingprivate investments have prop-er kind of protection, we thinkit is highly needed. We wouldlike to see progress on it. Wewere very happy with the lastIndia-EU summit which addedsome momentum on it,” hesaid.

India’s bilateral investmentprotection treaties with indi-vidual European countrieshave lapsed in the last fewyears. The EU wanted thepacts to continue until they arereplaced by the FTA which willhave provisions for investmentprotection.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday cited sev-

eral measures of hisGovernment to assert that theyare in line with SwamiVivekananda's vision to help thepoor and said from the Covid-19 pandemic to climate change,

India is now providing solu-tions to the world's problems.

Addressing the 125thanniversary celebrations of'Prabuddha Bharata', a month-ly journal of the RamakrishnaOrder started by SwamiVivekananda in 1896, Modilisted several schemes, includ-ing opening of bank accounts

and health insurance for thepoor, to assert that they were inline with Swami Vivekananda'svision.

If the poor cannot accessbanks, banks must reach them— that is Jan Dhan Yojana. Ifthe poor cannot access insur-ance, it must reach them —that is Jan Suraksha scheme.

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Aday after three TrinamoolCongress MLAs, a former

State Minister Rajib Banerjeeand a galaxy of Bangla actorsjoined the BJP, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah on Sundaylaunched a scathing attack onthe Mamata BanerjeeGovernment saying soon shewould be thrown out of poweras all her aides would join thesaffron outfit leaving her alone.

Addressing a virtual rally atDomjur in Howrah — where alarge number of TMC func-tionaries joined the saffronoutfit — Shah said Banerjeewas keeping the ChiefMinister’s seat warm fornephew Abhishek Banerjeeadding however that in thecoming Assembly elections theBJP will oust TMC and come

to power with a thumpingmajority.

“The one point agenda ofMamata Banerjee is to see thenephew on the Chief Minister’schair,” he said adding “tenyears ago Mamata Didi hadraised the slogan of Maa, Maati,Maanush and came to powerpromising Poriborton (quali-tative change) after defeatingthe Left … but after a decadeBengal has slid further downfrom where the communistsleft … today dictatorship,Tolabaji (extortion) andappeasement is thetrademarkof Trinamool Government.”

Shah was to visit Bengal ona two-day trip during which hewas supposed to hold a coupleof road shows but hisprorgamme got alteredin thewake of the Delhi blast, sourcessaid. “The way TMC leaders are

leaving that party MamataBanerjee should introspect whythey are doing so … a time willcome when she will be left withnone in the party.”

Shah hit out at Banerjee forstalling central schemes likeAyushman Bharat and KisanSanman Nidhi saying crores ofcommon people and farmershad been deprived of the cen-tral schemes as the TMCGovernment had blockedthem.

Earlier on Saturday a num-ber of TMC leaders includingformer Minister Rajib Banerjee,MLAs Vaishali Dalmiya, PrabirGhoshal, former HowrahMayor Rathi Chakrabarty,actor Rudranil Ghosh took achartered flight--- sent by Shah--- to Delhi and joined the saf-fron party in his presence. OnSunday a host of other BJP

functionaries including its Statecommittee member BaniSingha Roy joined the saffronoutfit.

Union Minister SmritiIrani who substituted Shahtold the impressive rally atDumurjala in Howrah Iranithat “no one would stay in aparty that thrives on infighting,that insults the slogan of ‘JaiShree Ram’.”

She said, “I want to tell Didi

that you may have abandonedthe ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogan, butunder PM Narendra Modi, aRam temple is being madeand Ram Rajya is knocking onBengal’s doors,” said SmritiIrani.

Former TMC heavyweight,Suvendu Adhikari who recent-ly joined BJP said, “TMC is nolonger a party but a private lim-ited company. By February 28,that company will be left with

nobody.”Rajib Banerjee said, “We

want double engine govern-ment in Bengal. We wantBharatiya Janata Party govern-ment at both the Centre andState so that we can achieve thegoal of a Sonar Bangla,” ques-tioning Banerjee’s recentscheme of Duarey Sarkar(Government at the doorsteps).

“The launch of DuareySarkar scheme only proves thatthe Government has donenothing in the past 10 years andthat all their claims were false,”he said adding the people haveunderstood the TMC’s tricksand have made up their mindsto change the Government.

Meanwhile, at least threeBJP members were grievouslyinjured in a BJP-TMC clash atBantra market in Howrah

while they were returning fromthe Dumurjala rally.

“Men from a TMC pro-cession blocked the vehiclescarrying the BJP workers,

attacked and injured them,” BJPState spokesperson SamikBhattacharya said adding theyhad been admitted to theSSKM Hospital.

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Kolkata: Trinamool CongressMP Abhishek Banerjee onSunday attacked the BJP lead-ership for improperly singingthe National Anthem atDumurjala rally saying PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andHome Minister Amit Shahshould apologise for the laps-es committed by their partymen.

He was referring to alleged“wrongly sung” lines of the

National Anthem. The people who swear by

nationalism cannot even singthe National Anthem proper-ly, he said adding the PrimeMinister and Home Ministershould apologise for the laps-es of their party men.

State BJP spokespersonSamik Bhattacharya howeverdenied the charges of wrong-ly sung National Anthem.

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Jaipur: The ruling Congresshas won 1,197 out of 3,034wards in 90 urban local bodiesin Rajasthan for which theresults were announced onSunday.

The elections were held in3,035 wards of 90 urban localbodies across 20 districts. Theresults have been announced in3,034 wards.

The opposition BJP won1,140, BSP 1, CPI(M) 3, NCP46, RLP 13 wards while 634independent candidates wonthe elections.

Polling in the local bodieswas held in Ajmer, Banswara,Bikaner, Bhilwara, Bundi,Pratapgarh, Chittorgarh,Churu, Dungarpur,Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer,Jalore, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu,Nagaur, Pali, Rajsamand, Sikar,Tonk and Udaipur districts onThursday. PTI

KOCHI: Film fraternity inKerala is up in arms againstChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanwhom the former accuses ofhumiliating the State FilmAward winners. The top awardsfor Malayalam films released in2019 were to be given away bythe Chief Minister at a glitter-ing function held atThiruvananthapuram late onFriday evening.

The star-studded showturned out to be an eventwhich the award winners, thepatrons of Malayalam filmindustry and the cultural iconsof the State would like to for-get reportedly because of the“rude” attitude of PinarayiVijayan.

All award winners includ-ing Suraj Venharammoodu(best actor), Kani Kusruthi(best actress) and veteran direc-tor Hariharan, who was hon-oured with J C Daniel for his

Life term achievements were infor a shock as Pinarayi Vijayanrefused to hand over the cita-tions and plaques to them.The awards were kept on atable and the winners wereasked to take it straight awaywithout coming anywhere nearthe Chief Minister.

Officials of the PublicRelations Department claimedthat this was done as a precau-tionary measure in view of theCovid-19 pandemic. “If that is

the case, they could have post-poned the award distributionceremony to another occasion.The award winners were sub-jected to Covid-19 test onThursday itself before usheringin to Tagore Theatre were thefunction was held,” G SureshKumar, producer eminence,told The Pioneer.

Suresh Kunar, who neverhesitates to tell the world thewoes faced by film industry,said the Government instead ofinviting the film personalitiesand insulting them like thiscould have deputed somesenior officers to the residencesof the winners and handed overthe awards. “We have neverseen such things happeningeven during the rule ofMaharajas and dictators fromanywhere in the country,” saidSuresh Kumar.

An award winner ques-tioned the logic behind the

Chief Minister’s action. “Wewere asked to assemble in thecapital city on Thursday andwere subjected to Covid-19tests. It was only after con-firming that we were notafflicted with Covid-19 wewere allowed for the awardfunction. But what happened isunfortunate and condemnable.It has lowered the dignity of theprofession as well as that of thechief minister,” said the awardwinner who did not want hisname to be quoted for fear ofpolitical consequences.

Prof V T Rema, a lead cul-tural figure in the Stateexpressed her shock over themanner in which film person-alities were humiliated by theKerala Government. “The sameawardees were shouting fromrooftops in 2018 when nation-al film awards were handedover by the then ministerSmrithi Irani. PNS

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On the eve of presentation ofthe Union Budget 2021-22

by Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in Parliament, theTiruppur Exporters’Association, the trade bodyrepresenting the knitwear man-ufacturing units in TamilNadu’s Tiruppur cluster, haswritten to the Government ofIndia seeking concessionswhich would help the indus-tries to sustain the export earn-ings as well as generating moreemployment.

While the thanking theCentre for the concessionsoffered to them to tide over thepandemic crisis during 2020,the TEA president Raja MShanmugham, in a plea to thefinance minister has asked forthe immediate announcementof Remission of Duties andTaxes on Exported Products

(RoDTEP) and short-term sopsto navigate the industrythrough the hard times arisingout of post-Covid-19 situa-tion.

“While the Centre reim-burses the GST on products tobe exported, there are certaintaxes like Mandi Tax and elec-tricity tax which are not incor-porated in the GST and hencedoes not find place in RoDTEP.The post-Covid scenario hasled to a steep hike in the pricesof yarn.

Only 20 per cent of theindustries in Tirupur have theirown yarn manufacturing millswhile nearly 800 knitwear mills(constituting 70 per cent of theunits) struggle to get yarn formanufacturing. This has put usin a major crisis,” Shanmughamtold The Pioneer.

He said if the governmentannounces the RoDTEP andfurther sops to compensate

for the embedded taxes, theunits would be able to producemore and earn high foreignexchanges. “Thanks to the sopsannounced by the Governmentas part of its AatmanirbharBharat programme, we couldexport products worth Rs24,000 crore in 2020-21. Theyear before (2019-20) we hadexported products worth Rs27,280 crore,” he said.

Shanmugham also saidthat Tiruppur units control 51per cent of the export marketin the knitwear industry. “Theyarn prices have gone up andthe supply has become erratic.To retain the tranquillity in thetextile industry and to make itmore competitive, the govern-ment should listen to our pleasfor reasonable sops. In returnwe offer to generate more jobs,especially to women from ruralareas of south west TamilNadu,” he said.

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Bengaluru: Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala was discharged from a hospi-tal here on Sunday after recovering fromCovid-19, days after she was set free bythe prison officials on completion of herjail term in a corruption case, authoritiessaid.

Sending a strong signal, Sasikala, aclose aide of late Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister J Jayalalithaa, travelled in a carthat sported the AIADMK flag from thehospital, with the ruling party question-ing the propriety of her action when shehad been ousted from the party.

The AIADMK has time and againmade it clear that the 66- year oldSasikala would not be taken back and herrelease would not have any impact on theparty, which is keen retain power in theassembly elections, expected in April-May. It has already declared incumbentK Palaniswami as the chief ministerialcandidate for the polls.

Sasikala was expelled from the partyin September, 2017 along with hernephew TTV Dhinakaran and others bythe general council of the combinedAIADMK under the leadership ofPalaniswami and his deputy O

Panneerselvam after the two merged theirrespective factions.

On Sunday, the AIADMK in its twit-ter handle said the use of its flag bySasikala was against the law and quotedsenior party leader D Jayakumar. “HowSasikala, who is not even a party mem-ber could use the party flag? This isagainst the law,” Jayakumar, who is alsothe Fisheries Minister, said.

Defending Sasikala, Dhinakaran,who is the general secretary of AmmaMakkal Munnetra Kazhagam floated byhim in March, 2018 as an arrangementto retrieve the AIADMK, claimed “she(his aunt) is the general secretary of theAIADMK.”

Cases relating to her so-called 'expul-sion' and connected matters were pend-ing before the court in Tamil Nadu, hetold reporters, adding “I have already toldyou that legal fight will continue (toretrieve the AIADMK).”

The very purpose of floating theAMMK was to retrieve the AIADMK ina democratic way and 'Thiyaga ThalaiviChinnamma' (leader of sacrifices, junior'Amma') would continue legal efforts towin back the party, he said. PTI

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�����������#�������������������4���������������#���&����������7�"� Patna: A Government Railway Police Sub-

Inspector was shot at and seriously injuredat the Barh railway station in Bihar's Patnadistrict, police said on Sunday.

SI Vipin Kumar Singh sustains gunshotinjury in the chest around midnight onSaturday and was under close observation atthe Patna Medical College and Hospital(PMCH).As per his statement, he was on dutyaround 12.30 am when he saw some uniden-tified anti-social elements creating ruckusinside the station premises. Subsequently, hetried to chase them away.

“Around one dozen men were creatingruckus under the influence of liquor. Singhmanaged to shoo them from the station.While returning towards the police camp, agoon opened fired at him. His condition isserious,” said Tarkeshwar Mishra, SHO ofRailway police station, Barh.

On January 12, Rupesh Singh, statemanager of Indigo airlines, was gunneddown in Patna's Punaichak area. On January18, an Agriculture Department officer waskilled in Patna's Masaurdhi area.

Afzar Shamshi, the BJP state spokesman,was shot at and injured in Munger onJanuary 27 while late actor Sushant Singh Rajput's cousin brother was shot at andinjured in Saharsa district on January 30. IANS

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Muzaffarpur: A man allegedly threw athree-month-old baby girl into a fire inBihar's Muzaffarpur district on Sundayafter her mother protested against his sex-ual advances, police said.

The baby received severe burn injuriesin her legs and she is being treated at theSadar Hospital, they said.

The incident took place in theBochahan police station area when thewoman was sitting outside her home neara bonfire, police said.

The man sat beside the woman andtried to sexually harass her, against whichshe protested, they said.

Following this, the man snatched thebaby from the woman's lap and threw herinto the fire, causing severe burn injuriesto the baby, police said.

Deputy Superintendent of Police(Headquarters) Baidyanath Singh saidthat an FIR has been lodged in connectionwith the incident.

The man has been booked under IPCsections 307 (attempt to murder), 354(assault or criminal force to woman withintent to outrage her modesty), 323 (pun-ishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and341 (punishment for wrongful restraint),the officer said.

An investigation is underway, headded. The women's husband allegedthat the local police station did not lodgean FIR at first, following which heapproached Senior Superintendent ofPolice Jayant Kant. PTI

Jammu: The Udhampur andPoonch districts of Jammuregion have reported their firstcases of avian influenza assamples taken from three deadbirds tested positive for the dis-ease, prompting precaution-ary measures including theculling process, a senior officialsaid Sunday.

The Deputy Director(Poultry and Research) of theAnimal HusbandryDepartment, Jammu, D DDogra said while samples froma peacock and a domestic fowlhave returned positive forH5N8 from Juganu block in Udhampur, a wildcrow was tested positive forH5N1 from Mandi area ofPoonch.

“These are the first posi-tive cases in Jammu region butthere is no need to panic asmajority of the test reports arenegative,” he told PTI.

Dogra said the departmenthad so far collected and dis-patched 218 samples for testingat Jalandhar in Punjab.

Barring the three positivereports from Udhampur andPoonch, which were cross-checked from the Bhopal lab-oratory, 115 reports came neg-ative while the result ofrest of the cases is awaited, hesaid. PTI

Ahmedabad: Gujarat began the vaccina-tion of frontline workers against Covid-19 on Sunday, with district collectors,police and civic commissioners beingamong those who took the jabs in the ini-tial hours of the drive.

Talking to reporters after taking thevaccine shot, Ahmedabad PoliceCommissioner Sanjay Srivastava saideveryone needs to get inoculated to winthe war against Covid-19.

“I am feeling absolutely fine after get-ting vaccinated...Policemen are highlyexposed, so the vaccination will protectthem from the infection,” he added.

Ahmedabad Collector Sandip Sagale,who was vaccinated at the civil hospitalhere, said he and other senior state offi-

cials joined the drive “to express ourappreciation for the work done by thefrontline warriors during the coronaviruspandemic”. He also appealed to all front-line workers to get themselves vaccinat-ed against the viral disease, saying the vac-cines are “completely safe and effective”.

Collectors, senior police and civic offi-cials across all districts of the state tookpart in the drive and were inoculated inthe early hours.

The Gujarat health department onSaturday said it had covered around 50 percent of the healthcare workers in the statein the first round of the vaccination driveand will add around 3.3 lakh frontlineworkers to the list in the second roundstarting Sunday. PTI

Puducherry: Puducherry reported 21 new Coronavirus cases while a 78-year old patientsuccumbed to the infection pushing the toll to 648, a top Health department officialsaid on Sunday.The 21 fresh cases were identified at the end of the examination of2,352 samples, Director of Health and Family Welfare services S Mohan said in arelease.The overall tally of COVID-19 in the union territory rose to 39,068, he added.

Of the new infections, the Puducherryregion reported 17, followed by Mahe (3)and Karaikal (1) while Yanam did not report any fresh case, the Health departmentDirector said. Mohan Kumar said 41 patients had been discharged during the last 24hours.

While the number of active cases stood at 285, as many as 38,135 patients had recov-ered and were discharged so far.The person who succumbed at JIPMER had comorbidities,he added. The fatality and recovery rates were 1.66 per cent and 97.61 per cent respec-tively. As many as 5.76 lakh samples were tested so far and of them 5.32 lakh samplesturned out to be negative, the Health department director said. PTI

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Sitapur (UP): Four police personnel, includingthe SHO and an SI of the Sandana police station,have been suspended for improper policing andnegligence following a case of molestation andattempted rape of a government primary schoolteacher by a group of men in this Uttar Pradeshdistrict.

The woman was on her way home from workwhen she was allegedly attacked and molestedby the drunken men in Sandana on January 28.

Even though one of the accused, Ram Jivan(28), was arrested and sent to jail on the day ofthe incident itself, the victim levelled allegationsof laxity and the lack of a prompt response againstthe local police. PTI

Srinagar: A total of 57 new Covid-19 cases wererecorded in Jammu and Kashmir on Sundaywhich pushed the infection tally to 1,24,506,officials said.

No new death due to Covid-19 was report-ed in the last 24 hours, they said.

Of the cases, 14 were from Jammu divisionand 43 from Kashmir division.

Srinagar district recorded the highest 27cases, which included seven travellers, officialssaid. While seven districts – Bandipora, Shopian,Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi -- did not report any new case, the remaining12 districts recorded new cases in single dig-its, the officials said. PTI

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The remains of these animalshad to be packed in a greenplastic bag for disposal.Immigrants cannot be offen-sive to the original citizens.Cooking with strong masalasin a White locality was foundto be highly objectionablesome years ago. Potentialemigrants must be systemat-ically informed to take specialcare in order to make theiracceptance in the new coun-try as smooth as possible.

An objectionable prac-tice of cricket-crazy Indianand Pakistani immigrants iswaving the flag of their for-mer nationalities duringcricket matches in their hostcountry, particularly Englandor Australia. British orAustralian Whites must feelhurt, although they may notshow it. But it stands to rea-son that their resentmentwould express itself throughdiscrimination.

Traditionally in India,families expect new bridescoming in to accept their newfamily customs in totalityand not display overt nostal-gia for their parental homes.This would be a useful exam-ple for immigrants to emulateupon relocation to a newcountry. With the advent ofglobalisation and obsoles-cence of colonialism, Indianeeds to have not only more

overseas contacts but alsoinfluence. One sure way is bywinning the hearts of the peo-ple of those countries, bybecoming welcome immi-grants. Indians have anotheradvantage over virtually allothers, which is the readyspiritual potential ofHinduism. Though it is anAmerican initiative, ISKCONhas gone quite far. With anIndian initiative and goodorganisation, it could possi-bly go farther still. Withincreasing education andspread of awareness, it hasbecome difficult for people tobe confined to a single holybook that tells believers whotheir prophet and “only god”is. Today’s enlightened youthare unlikely to accept diktatsunless backed by proof.

Hinduism has little com-pulsion; if a person believes incause and effect, he or she canbe a Hindu without abandon-ing his or her alternative reli-gion. In short, acceptance ofkarma is sufficient to feel andbe looked upon as a Hindu.Swami Vivekananda, in hisshort life, could explain to andinspire many in the West,which shows the worldly prac-ticality of our spirituality.

Kamala Harris comes inat a time when America isconfused, if not also dividedbetween the so-called liberals

and conservatives. There aredifferences between thosewho believe that since the USwas sown and grown by con-tinual immigration, its gatesshould remain open for newpeople, regardless of theirethnicity, and those who feelthat indiscriminate immigra-tion will threaten America’svery character that has madeit the world’s wealthiest andstrongest country.

President Joe Biden is theoldest candidate ever to beelected to office, and the focustherefore is more on Vice-President Harris than general-ly would be the case. She hasrepeatedly claimed to be Black,although she looks moreIndian and is married to aJewish gentleman — an unusu-al combination with politicalimplications. She is evidentlyintelligent and perceptive andit would be interesting to seehow she rides the trapeze ofpolitics over the next few years.Unlike the President, she has abigger stake in the revolvingkaleidoscope of US politics.

Harris’ performance inWashington would also buildor un-build the Asian personaand a woman’s image at thetop of the country’s ladder.

(The writer is a well-known columnist and anauthor. The views expressedare personal.)

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������������ �����Sir — It is indeed a cause of worry for Indiathat its Corruption Perception Index(CPI) has slipped to 86th position for 2020from the earlier 80th in the global rank-ing of 180 countries, as per the latest reportpublished by Transparency International.No improvement was noted in terms ofcurbing corruption even after a change inregime in India in 2014 and after steps likedemonetisation. The goal of IndianGovernment should be to reach the leagueof honest countries like Denmark and NewZealand.

India is known for conducting lux-urious study tours on public expense in thename of national interest. Study teamsshould be sent to the least corrupt nationsto study ways to minimise corruption. Ahigh-powered autonomous commissionshould be formed to suggest ways to makeIndia compete with the most honestcountries of the world, with an authorityto implement its findings and recommen-dations without any direction from theGovernment. Currently, electoral bondshave contributed the most in lowering ofHonesty Index for India. These should bemade perfectly transparent.

The Indian Government should followthe ideals of former President APJ AbdulKalam who considered gifts and tips as apolished form of bribe. Rather than ban-ning tips, the Government should encour-age voluntary tipping in exchange ofrestaurants adding unethical service chargeto their bills.

Subhash Chandra Agarwal | Delhi

�����������������Sir — This refers to the article ‘11 per centgrowth with V-shaped recovery: EconomicSurvey’ (January 30). The Economic Survey2020-21 reiterated the benefits of focusingon long-term gains over myopic policy-making. Despite tumultuous internation-al developments and unprecedented mis-eries unleashed by the COVID-19 pan-demic, the Government should be laudedfor not indulging in any ill-advised fiscaladventurism. Instead, it chose to provide

calibrated fiscal and monetary supportthrough a unique four-pillar strategy ofcontainment, fiscal, financial and long-termstructural reforms.

The resilience shown by the agricul-ture, manufacturing and services sectors incushioning the vulnerable during thelockdown and boosting consumption andinvestment while unlocking shows that theseries of progressive reforms undertakenby the Government has contributed tonourishing a vibrant economy. It is heart-ening to see that India did not waste itsscarce fiscal resources in trying to pumpup discretionary consumption. It is time wemade concerted efforts to find a sustain-able solution to the policy dilemma of “livesversus livelihoods”.

Shreyans Jain | Delhi

������������������ �Sir — Social activist Anna Hazare, whocancelled his fast in support of farmersprotesting against the agriculture lawsafter meeting senior BJP leader Devendra

Fadnavis, must clarify his position on thisissue.

First of all, Anna gave the impres-sion that he has taken a stand in favourof the farmers but afterwards he took aU-turn, making people wonder about hisstand. We don’t know whether he is sup-porting the protesting farmers or theCentral Government. Anna must keep itin mind that the protest against the threefarm laws is not only in Delhi and adjoin-ing areas but also in Maharashtra. Whenold farmers are protesting on the borders,Anna should have stood by them. Sittingin Ralegan Siddhi and meeting with theBJP leaders is pointless. He should at leasttell the farmers of Maharashtra about hisstance. His activities raise doubts onwhether he is really concerned about thewelfare of framers or he is a Governmentagent. Anna must clarify.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

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Ishare the general editor-ial delight at the electoralsuccess of the Indian dias-pora in the persona ofKamala Harris.

In my interactions with thecitizens of other countries, inIndia or overseas, I have con-stantly felt that we are an intel-ligent mass of people, not mere-ly in the sense of knowledge butalso of wisdom. Given theopportunity of quality educa-tion, most of our youth wouldbloom into so many qualifiedcitizens that India would not beable to accommodate everyone,no matter how big our econo-my. Emigration might not thenbe a major issue.

One can often mistake aheadache for a tummy upset.Similarly, many Indians havepersistently mistaken poor edu-cation for brain drain. Ideally,there should be guidance forthose wishing to emigrate. Wecould call this the technology ofmigration. This entails learningthe language and idiom of thecountry to which travel isdesired, elementary whys andhows of that country and the wayits people conduct themselves.

Such awareness would makeassimilation easier and quicker.I have relatives in the US; oneof them, a lifelong medical doc-tor having worked only in theState hospitals of Manhattan,would have met and workedwith many American doctors,Black and White; yet, at herhouse parties, I have never metanyone except Indians. Herhusband worked for IBM, butthat also made no difference.These details do not speak oftrue assimilation.

Fortunately, Indian immi-grants do not make collectivedemands on their host coun-tries, unlike some assertive oth-ers. In Switzerland, a commu-nity demanded eternal gravesfor the buried to be “easilyidentifiable” by God’s repre-sentative on Doomsday. InBelgium, animal sacrifices by acommunity would be done inplaces of worship or theirhomes. Municipalities whofound blood flowing out intothe streets introduced a rule thatgoats and lambs could be sac-rificed only in bathroom tubs.

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Even for India, a country full of surprises andsensations, the specter of COVID-19 has leftmultiple scares. The Coronavirus pandemic

marked the declension of the Indian way of life inthree ways as it proved to be a setback in realisingpast dreams, acted as a present nightmare and triedits best to land our future in oblivion. Shame, stig-ma, separation, fear of suffering and death were theindices of people’s mental health.

Leprosy, the oldest known affliction to mankind,has always invoked a feeling of disgust and revul-sion. Historically, it has been associated withscorn, rejection, seclusion and with untouchabili-ty. With India having the largest number of leprosypatients in the world, it was Mahatma Gandhi whobegan to nurse and host people afflicted by leprosyat his ashram. He had actively embraced inclusiveprinciples and rejected the stigmatisation of personssuffering from this disease, asking: “Why should Icall those my brothers if I do not mix with them?”

Wanting to pay homage to the life of MahatmaGandhi and his death on January 30, 1948, theFrench humanitarian Raoul Follereau selected thedate for observing World Leprosy Day. This was atribute to Bapu’s work with leprosy patients. Sincethen, the day is observed on the last Sunday ofJanuary every year, though in India it is alwaysobserved on January 30, the martyrdom day of theMahatma.

With India launching the world’s biggest vac-cination drive against the raging Coronaviruspandemic, it may be apt to rewind to the year 2000when Prasar Bharati — Doordarshan (DD) andAkashvani (AIR) — achieved a singular milestonein its campaign against leprosy elimination.

Alarmed by India being host to 66 per cent ofall leprosy patients in the world and in pursuit ofthe 44th World Health Assembly resolution whichcommitted member States to attain the goal of glob-al elimination of leprosy as a public health prob-lem by 2000, the Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare (MoHFW) thought of launching a mediacampaign to address the prevailing prejudices andapprehensions about leprosy and to sensitise thepeople to opt for the multi-drug therapy (MDT) thathad proven effective in combating the disease.

A year-long media campaign involving theMinistry, Prasar Bharati and BBC World ServiceTrust (now called BBC Media Action), the philan-thropic arm of the BBC, armed with BritishGovernment funding, was launched in 2000.While DD and AIR were responsible for providingprogramme design and the creativity, planning, strat-egy, creative personnel, equipment, studios, freebroadcast time for spots and advertisements andprogrammes, the BBC arranged for research,workshops, training, logistics and so on. TheMoHFW identified the thrust areas of the campaignand advised on policy issues and technical aspectsof the disease.

The campaign was mounted in two phases fromfive DD kendras and several AIR stations for the fiveworst-affected States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh(MP), Odisha, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and WestBengal. In the first phase, that is, January-March2000, as many as 23 spots were produced for tele-cast by DD whereas AIR made and broadcast 140jingles. While the second phase (June-August) saw12 dramas, four documentaries, two interview pro-grammes and one live event being hosted on DD,

the AIR broadcast an eight-partseries, musicals and phone-in pro-grammes in Hindi and regional lan-guages. This translated into 22 hoursand 31 minutes of airtime on DD and266 hours 48 minutes on AIR whichin monetary terms amounted toabout �8 crore. The BBC, on theother hand, contributed �2.7 croretoward the campaign out of the £1.1million grant, with the remaining 65per cent going to establishmentcosts, staff salaries, travel, enter-tainment and so on. At the end ofphase 1 of the campaign, Roy, Head,Health Projects Director of BBCWorld Service Trust, wrote a letter inMay 2000 to DD stating: “The DD-BBC leprosy project has been an out-standing success. The independent(ORG Marg) audience research datawe have just received shows, forexample, that the number of peoplewho believe that leprosy is hereditaryhas fallen from 81 per cent to 31 percent in Bihar, and from 71 per centto 26 per cent in MP over a threemonth period. These figures are sim-ply extraordinary. I have been told bythe World Health Organisation andby leading research institutions in theUS that these results represent one ofthe most successful health cam-paigns to have taken place anywherein the world, ever…this is a tremen-dous tribute to the outstanding workof the Doordarshan/AIR producerson the project.”

Without even waiting for the sec-ond phase to start, he went on tosolicit an extension of the DD-BBCpartnership for another health pro-ject —HIV/AIDS. Was this achieve-

ment accidental or conjured fromthin air? Not that the good old DDhad never created a “miracle” in thepast. There were many in that league.For instance there was the year-longSatellite Instructional TelevisionExperiment (SITE) project in 1975covering more than 2,400 villages, theAsian Games in 1982 and the intro-duction of colour TV in India, thecoverage of the Bangladesh War orearlier, the launch of School TV,Krishi Darshan, or even ZubinMehta’s first concert to go live in Indiaon DD in 1984, and which alsomarked an innovation in filmingsymphony concert on internationalTV, to name a few. But unfortunate-ly, neither the country nor DD itselfremembers these milestones.Ironically, what is remembered arethe entertainment programmeswhich were not produced or creat-ed by DD itself. DD only providedairtime at a cost to private produc-ers. The staff and internal resourceswere utilised for dishing out routineor “obligatory” programmes in acycle of tireless repetition of exigency.A colleague in DD used to sneer, “Weonly attend to urgent matters, not theimportant ones.”

While drafting the memoran-dum of understanding (MoU), I wasparticularly conscious of the lowmorale of the overburdened creativestaff, as no recruitment had takenplace for over a decade. As such, cer-tain clauses, particularly entitling theproduction teams to fly, stay inthree or four-star hotels, reimburse-ment of expenses incurred by themduring the project — perquisites that

were sine qua non in most Indianchannels, and considered de rigueurin international media organisationsbut not applicable in DD/AIR — wereincorporated into the MoU.Moreover, extensive brainstorming,training and workshops by leadingprofessionals and hand-holding byPeter Gill, and Lori McDougall ofBBC World Service Trust helped theteam members to come up with scin-tillating ideas, that too, in a range ofgenres — comedy, tragedy, sus-pense, mythology, folk drama, musi-cal et al in a bid to demolish people’smisconceptions, beliefs, attitude andthe stigma associated with leprosy.

Extensive research and fieldinterviews with the victims of thisscourge gave the producers an insightinto the suffering, pain, trauma anda vehement feeling of rejection bysociety, resulting in loneliness.

Phase 2, which primarily hadlonger duration programmes andconcentrated more on driving themessage that leprosy is curable, cre-ated an even more positive influenceon the viewers. In the end, DDbagged the CommonwealthBroadcasting Association’s Awardfor the best social action televisionprogramme in 2001 for its leprosyawareness and prevention campaign.

That was a proud day for all asso-ciated with the campaigns. Now, asIndia goes deeper into itsCoronavirus vaccination drive maybeit can take a few lessons from this lep-rosy campaign on DD and AIR andhelp people overcome their vaccinehesitancy. Good old DD and AIR arealways at the service of the nation.

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The Union Budget that isbeing declared today ismore than a “Bahi-Khata

(book of accounts)” and it out-lines the vision of theGovernment. In addition tobeing a policy document, theUnion Budget is a politicaldocument also because fundsare allocated to various schemeswhich are aligned with the ide-ology of the ruling dispensation.In a virtual summit organisedby the Confederation of IndianIndustries, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman said thatthe current year’s Budget pro-posals would be like neverbefore, in a way.

The InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) has pro-jected a 11.5 per cent GrossDomestic Product (GDP)growth next year which willmake India the fastest-growingeconomy. Although this dou-ble-digit growth will be primar-ily driven by a low base effectand real growth as compared tothe pre-COVID level would be

minimal, but still it is good froma sentiment point of view.

If we take IMF data as abase, then 11.5 per cent realgrowth would mean a nominalgrowth of more than 15 percent and if we go by the histor-ical data then tax buoyancy willbe higher than nominal GDPgrowth. Even though revenuewill increase but managing thefiscal deficit is going to be atough challenge for theGovernment. This situationwill put more reliance on non-tax revenues like disinvestmentproceeds, dividend, spectrumsale and so on. However, pasttrends show that disinvestmenttargets are difficult to achieve.Selling profitable ventures willalways raise questions overbusiness valuations but theGovernment should at leastconsider getting out of the loss-making business.

Tax amounts locked up indisputes can be a gold mine forthe Government if honestefforts are made. The

Government’s track record inminimising litigation is verypoor and this area needs ade-quate attention. Ill-executed‘Sabka Vishwas’ and ‘Vivad seVishwas’ schemes can be agood lesson and a fresh startshould be made in this direc-tion. On tax devolution toStates, the 15th FinanceCommission’s recommenda-tions are not expected to mate-rially impact the existingarrangement and, therefore,the Centre is relieved fromthis angle.

The economic impact ofCOVID-19 was primarily in thenature of a cash flow crisis andit is going to impact non-per-forming assets (NPAs) of banks.The Reserve Bank of India’s(RBI’s) financial stability reportreleased in January has alreadyindicated a steep increase inNPAs from 7.5 per cent inSeptember 2020 to 13.5 per centin September this year, in abaseline scenario and up to 14.8per cent in a severe stress sce-

nario. Fund allocation towardsbank recapitalisation would beneeded to withstand possibleasset quality deterioration. Thecurrent fiscal situation maynot allow the Government torecapitalise the banks out of theconsolidated fund and, there-fore, issuance of specific bondsshould be considered. Interestpay out is the single-largestcomponent in the budgetaryoutlay and despite all goodintentions to manage this, thecurrent health crisis will com-

pel the Government to overlookthis in the Budget. A develop-ing nation needs capital for eco-nomic prosperity and eventhough India received recordForeign Direct Investment(FDI) in the current financialyear, it must be highlighted thatmost of it has gone to brown-field investments. FDI capshould be increased in sectorslike life insurance, construction,aviation and so on, with appro-priate safeguards.

Apart from placing a bid forforeign capital, the FinanceMinister should also considersteps to boost the savings-GDPratio which has gone down to29.1 per cent in 2019. Domesticsavings play an important rolein the capital formation cycleand increase in deduction lim-its in Chapter VIA of theIncome-Tax Act, more partic-ularly under Section 80C willhelp in this direction.

The Government has pro-vided various tax incentives tothe corporate sector and cuts

announced in September 2019have already reduced corporatetax rates to a large extent.However, the intended objec-tives of this tax cut were notachieved and we haven’t seeninvestment surge primarily dueto the existing surplus capaci-ty and fall in demand.

The budgetary proposalsshould provide the much-need-ed relief to the middle class andput more disposable moneyinto the hands of the commonman to boost consumption. Toput things in perspective, smallbusinessmen/professionals arealso getting benefits of pre-sumptive taxation and theireffective tax rate is much loweras compared to the salariedclass.

On the tax mobilisationpart, the Government shouldconsider taxing the moneymarket and currency transac-tions. A cess like “Tobin Tax”should be introduced and reliefshould be given to the salariedmiddle class. The Government

should also evaluate prospectsof allowing tax consolidation ofgroup entities in India to avoidmultiple compliances.

The Government hasalready eased residency normsfor individuals stuck in Indiadue to flight restrictions and asimilar clarification should begiven for corporate residencyunder Place of EffectiveManagement (PoEM) Rules. Ifsenior management of an out-side company has spent consid-erable time in India due to flightrestrictions, then it would beunjust to tax the foreign com-pany under the PoEM Rules.Clarificatory amendmentsshould be made to addressconcerns related to the equali-sation levy but the levy per semust continue.

The corporate sector hasalready got due attention in pre-vious budgets and now it’s timeto give much-needed relief tothe salaried middle class. Hopethe Finance Minister can dothat in today’s Union Budget.

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Washington: He was an arm-draping pol asa senator. He hung out in the Senate cloak-room chatting up legislators as vice president.He pitched himself during the presidentialcampaign as someone who could “get peo-ple working together” and lower the tem-perature in a Washington overheated byDonald Trump.

Now, after his first full week as president,Joe Biden is coming face to face with thepotential limitations of his ability to workacross the aisle as he pushes for a $1.9 tril-lion coronavirus relief bill that is the first bigtest of his tenure.

Republicans are balking at the price tagand Democrats are sending signals thatthey're willing to push the bill through with-out GOP help as Biden's campaign pitch tobe a deal-maker appears to be giving way tothe reality of a Senate that does not resem-ble the one he once inhabited.

In a nod to reality, Biden told reporterson Friday: “I support passing COVID reliefwith support from Republicans if we can getit. But the COVID relief has to pass -- noifs, ands or buts.”

The White House has not given up hopeof landing some GOP support for thepackage, and Biden's call list bears that out.But some of Biden's courtship is also direct-ed at members of his own party to make surea deal gets done. He has called Sen. SusanCollins of Maine several times since his inau-

guration, and the moderate Republican saysshe has a “closer relationship” with Bidenthan she did with Trump.

Biden has made repeated calls to sena-tors in his own party, including two centrists-- Joe Manchin of West Virginia andKyrsten Sinema of Arizona -- who haveexpressed some concerns about the package,according to three people familiar with thecalls who spoke on condition of anonymi-ty because they were not authorized to pub-licly discuss the private conversations.

A retail politician who never misses achance for small talk or schmooze, Biden hasbeen penned in somewhat by the pandem-ic, which limits the face-to-face interactionson which he thrives. But there's still his peer-less phone book, built over four decades ofdealing with senators on both sides of thepolitical divide.”When he decides to makeone of those calls, he doesn't really requirea call sheet, a sheet that tells him exactly whatto say to a member of Congress and how tooutline the bill,” White House press secre-tary Jen Psaki said in an interview onMSNBC. “He knows. He's known a lot ofthese people for decades.”

Claire McCaskill, a former Democraticsenator from Missouri, says Biden is “work-man-like in terms of his outreach and it wasnot unusual for me to run into Joe Biden inthe Senate cloakroom when he was vice pres-ident” to Barack Obama. AP

Moscow: Chanting slogansagainst President VladimirPutin, thousands of peopletook to the streets Sundayacross Russia's vast expanse todemand the release of jailedopposition leader AlexeiNavalny, keeping up thenationwide protests that haverattled the Kremlin. More than3,000 people were detained bypolice, according to a moni-toring group.

Russian authorities mount-ed a massive effort to stem thetide of demonstrations aftertens of thousands rallied acrossthe country last weekend in thelargest, most widespread showof discontent that Russia hasseen in years. Yet despite threatsof jail terms, warnings to socialmedia groups and tight policecordons, the protests againmany cities on Sunday.

The 44-year-old Navalny,an anti-corruption investigatorwho is Putin's best-known crit-ic, was arrested on January 17upon returning from Germany,where he spent five monthsrecovering from a nerve-agentpoisoning that he blames on

the Kremlin. Russian authori-ties have rejected the accusa-tions. He was arrested forallegedly violating his paroleconditions by not reporting formeetings with law enforce-ment when he was recuperat-ing in Germany.

The United States urgedRussia to release Navalny andcriticized the crackdown onprotests.

“The US condemns thepersistent use of harsh tacticsagainst peaceful protesters andjournalists by Russian author-ities for a second week straight,”

US Secretary of State AntonyBlinken said on Twitter.

The Russian ForeignMinistry rejected Blinken's callas a “crude interference inRussia's internal affairs” andaccused Washington of tryingto destabilize the situation inthe country by backing theprotests.

On Sunday, police detainedover 3,000 people at protestsheld in cities across Russia's 11time zones, according to OVD-Info, a group that monitorspolitical arrests.

In Moscow, authorities

introduced unprecedentedsecurity measures in the citycenter, closing subway stationsnear the Kremlin, cutting bustraffic and ordering restau-rants and stores to stay closed.

Navalny's team initiallycalled for Sunday's protest to beheld on Moscow's LubyankaSquare, home to the mainheadquarters of the FederalSecurity Service, whichNavalny claims was responsiblefor his poisoning. Facing policecordons around the square,the protest shifted to other cen-tral squares and streets.

Police were randomly pick-ing up people and puttingthem into police buses, butthousands of protestersmarched across the city center,chanting “Putin, resign!” andPutin, thief!” a reference to anopulent Black Sea estate report-edly built for the Russian leaderthat was featured in a widelypopular video released byNavalny's team.

At some point, crowds ofdemonstrators walked towardthe Matrosskaya Tishina prisonwhere Navalny is being held.

They were met by phalanxes ofriot police who pushed themarch back and chased pro-testers through courtyards,detaining scores. Still, protest-ers marched around theRussian capital for hours,zigzagging around police cor-dons.

Over 800 people weredetained in Moscow, includingNavalny's wife, Yulia, whojoined the protest.

The city of Novosibirsk ineastern Siberia saw one of thecountry's biggest rallies, withseveral thousand peoplemarching across the city. Over100 protesters were detained.

An estimated 2,000marched across Russia's sec-ond-largest city of St.Petersburg, and occasionalscuffles erupted as somedemonstrators pushed backpolice who tried to makedetentions. Nearly 500 werearrested.

In the far eastern port ofVladivostok, at least 120 peo-ple were detained after pro-testers danced on the ice andrallied in the city center. AP

Jerusalem: Israel DefenceMinister Benny Gantz's officesays Israel has agreed to trans-fer 5,000 doses of the coron-avirus vaccine to thePalestinians to immunise front-line medical workers.

It is the first time thatIsrael has confirmed the trans-fer of vaccines to thePalestinians.Israel has comeunder criticism from U.N.Officials and human rightsgroups for not providing vac-cines to the Palestinians. Israelsays it is not responsible.

Israel is one of the world'sleaders in vaccinating its pop-ulation after striking procure-ment deals with internationaldrug giants Pfizer andModerna.The Palestinians havenot begun to vaccine theirpeople. AP

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Beirut: One Syrian was on Sunday andfour injured after Kurdish security forcesopened fire at pro-government demon-strators in a northeastern city, statemedia said.

The state news agency SANA said theKurdish forces opened fire at demon-strators protesting the siege on theirneighborhood in Hassakeh city. Thearea is known as the security square andis controlled by government forces.

A video of the rally showed dozensof men gathering in a street on a rainy dayas fire rang out over their heads. The menbegan chanting: “With our souls, ourblood we sacrifice for you Bashar,” in ref-erence to the Syrian President BasharAssad.

A Kurdish-run news agency, Hawar,said security forces at a checkpoint in thecity had come under fire, prompting itsmembers to respond to the source of fire.The clashes led to the death of a govern-ment security member, the agency said.

The different accounts could not beimmediately reconciled or independent-ly verified in the city where both securi-

ty forces have presence. The Kurds, Syria's largest ethnic

minority, have carved out a semi-autonomous enclave in Syria's northsince the start of the civil war in 2011. Inthe area, they run their own affairs andcontrol most of the country's oil resources.

In both Hassakeh and Qamishlicities, they share control with governmentforces - which have presence in securityzones, near the airport and in someneighborhoods. Both cities have a size-able Kurdish population.

Tension occasionally erupts betweenthe two sides, but the Kurdish forces havemore presence and control there. In recentweeks, Kurdish forces have imposed asiege on government neighborhoods inHassakeh and to a lesser degree inQamishli.

In Hassakeh, the Kurdish forces pre-vented flour from entering the govern-ment-controlled areas, forcing bakeries toshut down in the last week. Fuel and waterhave also been prevented from passingthrough checkpoints erected around theneighborhoods. AP

Beijing: As the demand for the Covid-19vaccine intensified around the world, Chinasaid that it has increased the number of vac-cines undergoing clinical trials to 16 from11 to step up supplies at home and abroad.

China is conducting clinical trials of 16COVID-19 vaccines, seven of which haveentered phase-III trials and one has condi-tionally hit the market, Wu Yuanbin, an offi-cial with the Ministry of Science andTechnology, was quoted as saying by thestate-run CGTN TV.

Wu made the comments during ahaematology conference on Saturday.YangSheng, Deputy Director of China's NationalMedical Products Administration's drugregistration bureau, said last month that atotal of 11 Chinese vaccine candidates are indifferent stages of testing at home andabroad.

Currently, China is vaccinating peopleat home and some countries abroad with twovaccines. The Chinese government hasgiven conditional approval to Sinopharmwhile the results of the phase-3 trial is yetto be released.

The World Health Organisation (WHO)is reviewing the trials of both the vaccines.

China has said that so far 46 countrieshave expressed their desire to import theChina-made vaccines. PTI

Islamabad:Amid mountingpressure from the US and theUN, the Pakistan Governmenthas said it would formally jointhe review proceedings initiat-ed by the Sindh administrationagainst the Supreme Court'sacquittal of British-born al-Qaeda terrorist Ahmed OmarSaeed Sheikh and his threeaides in the brutal murder ofUS journalist Daniel Pearl.

Pearl, the 38-year-oldSouth Asia bureau chief for TheWall Street Journal, wasabducted and beheaded whilehe was in Pakistan investigat-ing a story in 2002 on the linksbetween the country's power-ful spy agency ISI and al-Qaeda.

The Supreme Court onThursday ordered the release ofmain accused Sheikh and hisaides - Fahad Naseem, SheikhAdil and Salman Saqib - by dis-missing appeals against theiracquittal by the Sindh HighCourt. The judgement wasdenounced by Pearl's family as“a complete travesty of justice”.

The Sindh government onFriday filed a review petition inthe apex court against theacquittal of Sheikh and histhree accomplices.

A spokesman of theAttorney General of Pakistanon Saturday announced thatthe federal government will filean appropriate applicationbefore the apex court to beallowed to join as a party in theproceedings and further seekreview and recall of the court'sJanuary 28 judgement.

The federal governmentwill file an application for theconstitution of a larger benchto hear the review petitions. Incooperation with the provincialgovernment, the federal gov-ernment will continue to takeall legal steps to bring the per-petrators of this heinous crimeto justice in accordance withthe law, the spokesman said.

The announcement cameafter US Secretary of StateAntony Blinken spoke toForeign Minister ShahMahmood Qureshi over phone

and discussed the accountabil-ity of convicted terroristsresponsible for the brutal mur-der of Pearl. Blinken alsoexpressed “deep concern” overthe apex court's judgement.

The Pakistan ForeignOffice in a statement saidQureshi “underscored that itwas important and in themutual interest that justice isserved through legal means”.

According to some mediareports, the Supreme Courtwould hear the review petitionon February 1. However, noformal announcement has beenmade as yet.

Expressing concern overthe acquittal of those involvedin the brutal murder of Pearl,a senior UN official represent-ing Secretary-General AntonioGuterres said that it is impor-tant that there is accountabili-ty for such crimes.

“What is important thatthere be accountability forthose crimes committed,” saidStephane Dujarric said onFriday. PTI

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Washington: The pending SupremeCourt case on the fate of the AffordableCare Act could give the Biden adminis-tration its first opportunity to chart a newcourse in front of the justices.

The health care case, argued a weekafter the election in November, is one ofseveral matters, along with immigrationand a separate case on Medicaid workrequirements, where the new adminis-tration could take a different positionfrom the Trump administration at thehigh court.

While a shift would be in line withPresident Joe Biden's political preferences,it could prompt consternation at thecourt. Justices and former officials inDemocratic and Republican administra-tions routinely caution that new admin-istrations should generally be reluctant tochange positions before the court.

Justice Elena Kagan, who as solicitorgeneral was the top Supreme Courtlawyer for former President BarackObama before he appointed her to thecourt, said in a 2018 forum that the barshould be high.

“I think changing positions is a real-ly big deal that people should hesitate a

long time over, which is not to say thatit never happens,” Kagan said at the time.Indeed, Trump's Justice Departmentmade a switch four times in the first fullhigh court term of the administration.

Still, the health care case is a goodcandidate for when a rare change of posi-tion may be warranted, said PaulClement, who was solicitor general underPresident George W. Bush.

The Justice Department defends fed-eral laws at the Supreme Court “when-ever reasonable arguments can be made,”Clement said at an online GeorgetownUniversity forum.

The Trump administration called onthe justices to strike down the entireObama-era law under which some 23million people get health insurance andmillions more with preexisting healthconditions are protected from discrimi-nation.

Biden was vice president when thelaw was enacted, famously calling it a “big(expletive) deal” the day Obama signedit into law in 2010.

As president, Biden has called forstrengthening the law, and he already hasreopened sign-ups for people who might

have lost their jobs and the health insur-ance that goes with them because of thecoronavirus pandemic.

In the health care case, the courtcould rule that the now-toothless require-ment that people obtain insurance or paya penalty is unconstitutional and leave therest of the law alone. That outcome, ratherthan taking down the whole law, seemeda likely one based on the justices' ques-tions and comments in November.

The Justice Department could sim-ply file a new legal brief saying that itsviews have changed, former actingSolicitor General Neal Katyal, also anObama administration veteran, said at thesame Georgetown event. A second courthearing is unlikely.

Clement agreed. “I think the justiceswould welcome it,” he said. “I also thinkit's an incredibly strong position.” ButClement cautioned that the new actingsolicitor general, Elizabeth Prelogar, willhave to pick her spots before the justices,three of whom were appointed byPresident Donald Trump. “The Bidenadministration is going to have to realizethey're making arguments to a reasonablyconservative court,” he said. AP

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London: A new visa route that offersHong Kong residents the option toapply to come to the UK and becomecitizens through a fast-track systemofficially opened on Sunday.

Around 300,000 Hong Kongnationals are expected to apply for thevisa, which is open to holders of theBritish National (Overseas) passportand their immediate dependents andwas announced last year in retaliationof China's controversial new NationalSecurity Law.

The UK maintains the new law isa “clear and serious breach” of the Sino-British Joint Declaration under whichHong Kong had been handed over tothe Chinese authorities over 23 yearsago.

“I am immensely proud that wehave brought in this new route forHong Kong BN(O)s to live, work andmake their home in our country,” saidUK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“In doing so we have honoured ourprofound ties of history and friendshipwith the people of Hong Kong, and wehave stood up for freedom and auton-

omy – values both the UK and HongKong hold dear,” he said.

Under the route, those with BN(O)status and their eligible family mem-bers will be able to come to the UK tolive, study and work. As with othervisas, after?five years in the UK,they?will be able to apply for?settle-ment, followed by?British citizenshipafter a further 12 months.

“Global Britain will always stand upfor what is right and uphold our com-mitments. This new visa delivers on ourpromise to the people of Hong Kong,honouring our strong historic rela-tionship and upholding their free-doms,” said UK Home Secretary PritiPatel. “I look forward to welcomingpeople wanting to put down roots andbuild a new life with their family in theUK,” she said.

In response, the Chinese foreignministry recently said it would nolonger recognise the BNO passport asa travel document. China maintains itsnew security law is necessary to preventthe type of protests seen in Hong Kongduring much of 2019. PTI

Kabul: A member of theAfghan Government's peacenegotiating team on Sundaywarned the Taliban that if theydon't resume peace talks inQatar soon, the Governmentcould recall the team before adeal is reached.

Government negotiatorRasul Talib said in a newsconference the team is waitingfor the return of the Talibanleadership to Doha, where asecond round of peace talksbegan this month but havemade little progress.

He asked the Taliban to“stop spreading baselessremarks” and return to thenegotiating table, adding “TheTaliban does not have the gutsfor peace, they are spreadingnonsense around.”

There was no immediateresponse from the Taliban.

Talib's comments came asthe Taliban leadership hasrecently been in Iran andRussia for discussions on the

negotiations, and as PresidentJoe Biden's new administrationhas said it plans to review thepeace agreement signed lastFebruary between the US andthe Taliban.

The Pentagon said lastweek that the Taliban's refusalto meet commitments toreduce violence in Afghanistan is raising questionsabout whether all US troopswill be able to leave by May asrequired under the peace deal.

Following discussions inMoscow on Friday, the head ofthe Taliban delegation, SherMohammed Abbas Stanikzai,said the group expects the USto fulfill its pledge to withdrawall of its troops fromAfghanistan by May.

The US Pentagonannounced in mid-January thatthe US military has met its goalof reducing the number oftroops in Afghanistan to about2,500. AP

Jerusalem: Thousands of ultra-OrthodoxIsraelis participated Sunday in the funer-al of a prominent rabbi in Jerusalem,flouting the country's ban on large pub-lic gatherings amid the pandemic.

The funeral procession for RabbiMeshulam Soloveitchik, who died at age99, wended its way through the streets ofJerusalem in the latest display of ultra-Orthodox Israelis' refusal to honourcoronavirus restrictions.

The phenomenon has underminedthe country's aggressive vaccination cam-paign to bring a raging outbreak undercontrol and threatened to hurt PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu in Marchelections.

Densely packed throngs of peoplegathered outside the rabbi's home in apublic rejection of restrictions on outdoorgatherings of more than 10 people.Thousands of black-garbed ultra-Orthodox funeral-goers coursed past thecity's main entrance toward the cemeterywhere Soloveitchik was to be buried.

Police officers blocked intersectionsto traffic to allow participants to pass, but

appeared to take no action to prevent theillegal assembly.

Israeli media said Soloveitchik, a lead-ing religious scholar who headed a num-ber of well-known seminaries, hadrecently suffered from COVID-19.Israel's Health Ministry has recorded over640,000 confirmed cases of the coron-avirus and at least 4,745 deaths since thestart of the pandemic. At the same time,Israel has vaccinated over 3 million of itscitizens, one of the highest rates per capi-ta in the world.

Health experts say it will take sever-al weeks for the vaccination campaign tohave an effect on infection and hospital-ization rates. But large public funerals likethat for Soloveitchik in Jerusalem, and fora prominent Arab sheikh killed in Jaffalast week, have confounded efforts to pre-vent the spread of the disease.

A disproportionate number of Israel'scoronavirus cases are within the country'sultra-Orthodox minority. The strictly reli-gious community, which makes uparound 11% of Israel's 9.2 million peo-ple, has accounted for around one-thirdof the confirmed cases of the virus. AP

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Hanoi (Vietnam): Vietnam'sCommunist Party on Sunday reelect-ed Nguyen Phu Trong to be its chief,the state Vietnam News Agencyreported. His selection makes him thenation's de facto leader for a third five-year term.

The vote at the 13th NationalParty Congress in Hanoi took placea day earlier than planned, as themeeting, scheduled to end onTuesday, was being shortened tolessen the threat from a coronavirusoutbreak, which last week spread tothe capital city.

Vietnam is a single-partyCommunist state, so party leadersalmost automatically assume leader-ship of the government, thoughdebates can take place within theparty's bodies and the legislature. The1,587 delegates at the congress wereselected in a process that began at theparty's grassroots.

The newly elected 200-memberCentral Committee selected Trong asgeneral secretary and head of the 18-

member Politburo, the highest-rank-ing party body.

The congress delegates elected theCentral Committee, which then votedin the membership of the Politburo.The voting set the ranking of thePolitburo members, which deter-mines who gets the top four positions:the general secretary of theCommunist Party, the country's mostpowerful job; the president, a large-ly ceremonial post; the prime minis-ter; and the National Assembly chair-man. The jobs are known as the “fourpillars.”

It was initially believed that the76-year-old Trong would not take thetop job again because of his shakyhealth and a rule mandating retire-ment at age 65.

However, he received an exemp-tion from that rule, as he did at thelast congress in 2016. He has con-currently been serving as presidentsince the previous one, President TranDai Quang, died in office in2018. AP

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The Reserve Bank is likely tomaintain a status quo on

benchmark interest rate in itsnext monetary policy meetoutcome to be announced onFebruary 5, four days after thepresentation of the UnionBudget 2021-22.

Experts are of the view thatthe RBI will refrain from tin-kering with the interest ratesand keep the monetary stanceaccommodative at the policyreview though it will take guid-ance from the budget to beunveiled by Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman in theLok Sabha on February 1.

"We expect the MPC(Monetary Policy Committee)to continue the pause. The fallin inflation rate was mainly dueto fall in food prices. The coreinflation rate has not comedown. Excess liquidity needs tobe watched. The vaccine avail-ability is not going to impactmacro economy immediately,"opined M Govinda Rao, ChiefEconomic Advisor, BrickworkRatings. The six-member MPCheaded by RBI Governor isscheduled to meet for threedays starting February 3. Theresolution meeting would beannounced on February 5.

The current repo rate orrate at which the RBI lends tobanks is 4 per cent.

The RBI had last revised itspolicy rate on May 22, in anoff-policy cycle to perk updemand by cutting interestrate to a historic low. The cen-tral bank has cut policy rates by115 basis points since Februarylast. On expectations from theMPC, Aditi Nayar, PrincipalEconomist, ICRA Limited, saidthat even though the CPI infla-tion dipped in December 2020,the trajectory remains unpalat-able.

"We expect an extendedpause for the repo rate, with thestance to be changed to neutralin the August 2021 policyreview or later, once there isclarity on the durability of theeconomic recovery," she said.

Sunil Kumar Sinha,Principal Economist andDirector Public Finance, IndiaRatings and Research, too doesnot expect any change in pol-icy rate.

"Growth needs to be sup-

ported through the monetarypolicy and that is the reason theaccommodative stance of RBIwill continue," he said, andadded there will be a status quoin the policy rate because theDecember number has shownthat the CPI has somewhatmoderated. According toSinha, the room available forfurther policy rate cut is verylimited and the RBI would notlike to use it when the econo-my is already reviving.

Mayur Modi, Co-Founder,Moneyboxx Finance, too was ofthe view that the central bankwould continue its accommoda-tive stance on monetary policygiven that the economy is still notout of woods and requires con-stant support both from mone-tary and fiscal policy.

"Whilst the cost of bor-rowings both for the govern-ment and corporate India hascome down, the risk premiumcontinues to be high for bor-

rowings for NBFCs who sup-port the MSME and microbusiness loan segment, hin-dering the credit transmissionto this important segment,which is the backbone in reviv-ing the rural demand," he said.

The RBI should take keytargeted measures to make liq-uidity available to all NBFCs,especially small and unratedones who operate in this seg-ment, he added.

Ramesh Nair, former CEOof JLL India, said the realestate sector has been one ofthe most impacted sectors afterthe pandemic and multiplelockdowns.

The RBI will have to cutpolicy rates which will helpreduce home loan rates as wellas wholesale lending rateswhich will revive growth in thepandemic-ravaged real estateeconomy, he opined.

"Also the cut in these rateshave to be complimented withtransmission of these cuts to endusers and developers, increasein quantum of credit andincrease in tenure," he said.Retail inflation fell sharply to4.59 per cent in December 2020(latest data). Retail inflationbased on the Consumer PriceIndex (CPI) was 6.93 per centin November. The RBI mainlyfactors in the retail inflationwhile arriving at its policy rate.

The RBI has been asked by

the government to keep theretail inflation at 4 per cent (+,-2 per cent).

When asked what theMPC may do during its nextmeeting, Aarti Khanna,founder and CEO,AskCred.Com, said: "TheCOVID-19 pandemic is more

or less behind us now hence themonetary policy must focus onreviving the economy...Lookforward to some constructiveactions on the SME and MSMEsector as a lot more needs to bedone to this segment whichstands as the backbone inreviving the economy."

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The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) will undertake annu-

al assessment of customer ser-vice and grievances redressalmechanisms of banks as part ofits supervisory mechanism.

The RBI recently decidedto put in place a comprehensiveframework for grievancesredressal.

"The Reserve Bank willundertake, as a part of itssupervisory mechanism, annu-al assessments of customerservice and grievance redressalin banks based on the data andinformation available throughthe Complaint ManagementSystem, and other sources andinteractions," said an RBI noti-fication.

Banks identified as having

persisting issues in grievancesredressal will be subjected to anintensive review of their mech-anisms to better identify theunderlying systemic issues andinitiate corrective measures.

The intensive review willinclude — adequacy of the cus-tomer service and customergrievances redressal-relatedpolicies, functioning of theCustomer Service Committeeof the Board, level of involve-ment of the top management incustomer service and customergrievances-related issues andeffectiveness of the grievancesredressal mechanism of banks.

The RBI said that based onthe review, a remedial actionplan will be formulated and for-mally communicated to thebanks for implementationwithin a specific time frame.

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As Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman on

Monday will deliver herpromised Budget, expectationsare high in all spheres.GlobalData, a leading data andanalytics company, said theneed of the hour is to increasecredit flows, especially to smalland medium enterprises sector,as well as investment in edu-cation and health sectors toboost production and con-sumption.

"Four elements must beactivated to build economicvibrancy over the long term -give infrastructure a significantpush through public and pri-vate investments, facilitatelarge-scale private and foreigninvestments across industrial,services and agricultural sector;incentivise private consump-tion in the near term withoutsignificant compromises ontax revenues; and step up allo-cation in health and educationsectors," Acuité Ratings &Research Limited said.

Further drawing attentionto digitisation of education,Joyanto Mukherjee, chief offi-cer of marketing, communica-tion, Deviprasad GoenkaManagement College of MediaStudies, Mumbai, said, "In theupcoming budget, one of thebiggest expectations will befunds being made available todigitalise rural education. Weare headed towards a hugeintellectual loss due to theforced digitalisation of educa-tion during the Covid out-break."

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Stock markets are expected toremain volatile in this event-

ful week as the Union Budget,macro data and RBI policywould be keenly watched byinvestors, say analysts.

The ongoing quarterlyearnings season would also bein focus directing the move-ment of indices."Going ahead, markets maycontinue to remain highlyvolatile amidst the ongoingearnings season and the UnionBudget 2021. Expectationsfrom the Budget are runninghigh," Siddhartha Khemka,Head - Retail Research, MotilalOswal Financial Services Ltdsaid.

Quarterly earnings ofHDFC, Adani Power, HeroMotoCorp and M&M wouldremain in focus this week.

The Economic Survey2020-21 was tabled in the Lok

Sabha on Friday.The Survey projected that

India's economy is likely togrow by 11 per cent in the fis-cal year beginning April 1 as avaccine drive and rebound inconsumer demand help itemerge from the carnageinflicted by a strict coron-avirus lockdown.

The rebound will follow anestimated 7.7 per cent con-traction in the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) in the currentfinancial year, the documentsaid. According to the survey,the "V-shaped recovery is sup-ported by Covid vaccinationdrive."

"Now all eyes would be onthe Union Budget scheduledon Monday. We believe that theBudget would focus on reviv-ing growth and any disap-pointment on that front wouldlead to further correction inthe markets," said Ajit Mishra,VP - Research, Religare

Broking Ltd. Driving marketsentiments would also beannouncements of PMI datafor the manufacturing andservices sector this week. Also,RBI interest rate decision onFriday is another major eventthat would drive domesticmarket sentiments.

Sumeet Bagadia, ExecutiveDirector, Choice Broking said,"Going ahead investors willkeenly watch the Union Budgetwhich is to be presented on 1stFebruary 2021."

Auto companies wouldalso remain in focus amidmonthly sales data announce-ment on Monday.

In the last week, the 30-share BSE benchmark tumbled2,592.77 points or 5.30 per centdue to profit-booking ahead ofthe Union Budget.

Global trends will also bemonitored besides investmenttrend of foreign portfolioinvestors (FPIs).

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India's healthcare sector islikely to get the maximum

attention of the Government inthe upcoming Budget to beunveiled on Monday, as itcomes in the face of the coun-try braving a once-in-a-centu-ry global pandemic, says asurvey.

The Assocham-PrimusPartners survey covered morethan 550 industry participants,and 39.7 per cent respondentssaid healthcare would receivethe highest priority in terms ofresource allocation and policysupport in the Budget.

Manufacturing emerged asthe second key sector expect-ed to be in focus, with 14.7 percent respondents expecting it toreceive the Finance Minister'sattention, followed by MSMEs(11.4 per cent), real estate (10.7per cent) and infrastructure(9.6 per cent).

“The Covid-19 pandemictested the limits of the global

healthcare system. While thegovernment's proactive mea-sures and the frontline workers'tireless efforts have helped tidethe way, the pandemic has alsobrought forth the fragility of thehealthcare system," the surveystated. On measures whichcan strengthen the healthcareand pharma sector, 67.3 percent respondents expect theallocation of a fund to mod-ernise existing primary health-

care infrastructure.This was followed by an

expectation (by 62.9 per cent)that the government shouldincrease investments in creat-ing new primary healthcareinfrastructure. With regard toaspirations of individual tax-payers, 79.3 per cent respon-dents said they would like tosee a cut in personal income taxrates, especially in the wake ofpressure on their earnings inthe pandemic-hit economy.

While corporate tax rateshave been reduced, individualspay taxes at higher rates.Rationalising taxes for the indi-

viduals is critical as reducingthe tax burden on individualswould enable further spending.According to the survey, thismuch-needed push to demandwould help in creating a mul-tiplier effect in the economy.

"A significant increase inthe public expenditure isinevitable. The pandemic hastaught us there are no choicesother than large scale publicinvestment in building prima-ry health centres, hospitals atthe district, state capital level,"Assocham Secretary GeneralDeepak Sood said.

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Prices of petrol and dieselremained unchanged for

the fourth consecutive dayacross the metros. In thenational capital, petrol waspriced at �86.30 per litre.

In Mumbai, Chennai andKolkata, petrol was sold for�92.86, �88.82 and �87.69 perlitre. Diesel prices in Delhi,Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkataremained unchanged at �76.48,�83.30, �81.71 and �80.08 per

litre, respectively.Though firm global crude

and product price is the reasonfor the increase in retail priceof petrol and diesel, it is inter-esting to note that even thoughcrude has been hovering justover $55 a barrel for some timenow, OMCs have gone in forboth a pause in price of autofuels as well increase in its retailprices on consecutive days.

Informed sources said thatoil companies may be buildingbuffers on the retail price of

petrol and diesel to prevent anysharp price increase if the gov-ernment decided to furtherraise excise duty on the twoproducts to mobilise addition-al revenue.

Crude prices haveremained firm for the last fewweeks in wake of unilateral pro-duction cuts announced bySaudi Arabia and a pick-up inconsumption in all majoreconomies globally.

The petrol and diesel priceshave increased 10 times in

January with both auto fuelsincreasing by �2.59 and �2.61per litre respectively during themonth.

The last few increases inpump prices in petrol anddiesel has taken its price torecord levels across the coun-try in all major metro cities andother towns. The last time theretail price of auto fuels werecloser to current levels was onOctober 4, 2018 when crudeprices had shot up to $80 a bar-rel.

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As the three high speed railcorridors are expected to

start from Delhi for Amritsar,Ahmedabad and Varanasi, thenational capital is likely to gettwo high speed rail stations indifferent areas, officials relatedto development said on Sunday.

Speaking to IANS, NationalHigh Speed Rail CorporationLimited (NHSRCL) spokesper-son Sushma Gaur said, "NHSR-CL is exploring all the possi-bilities to plan two high speedrail stations in Delhi."

She said that one of the sta-tions is in close proximity ofSarai Kale Khan andNizamuddin railway stationfor Delhi-Varanasi high speedrail corridor, which may pro-vide road connectivity to thehigh speed rail users throughouter ring road, metro con-nectivity through pink linemetro, interstate bus connec-tivity through Sarai Kale Khan ISBT and regionalrail connectivity through RRTSsystem.

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GST collections surged toan all-time high of about

Rs 1.20 lakh crore in Januaryas economic activities pickedup after the withdrawal ofstringent lockdown restric-tions.

Mop-up from the Goodsand Services Tax (GST),which is levied when a con-sumable item is sold or a ser-vice such as travel bookingrendered, in January was 8 percent higher than such receiptsin the same month of 2020.

In a statement, theFinance Ministry said theJanuary collections were thehighest ever since the imple-mentation of the nationwidetax in July 2017.

The previous best was inDecember 2020 when Rs1,15,174 crore was collected.

This is the fourth straightmonth of over Rs 1 lakh croretax collections, a sign of strongrecovery.

The ministry said the totalnumber of GSTR-3B Returnsf i led for the month ofDecember up to January 1,2021, is 90 lakhs.

"The GST revenues duringJanuary 2021 are the highestsince introduction of GSTand has almost touched the Rs1.2 lakh crore mark, exceed-ing the last month's recordcollection of Rs 1.15 lakhcrore.

GST revenues above Rs 1lakh crore for a stretch of lastfour months and a steepincreasing trend over thisperiod are clear indicators ofrapid economic recovery postpandemic, the ministry said.

Closer monitoring againstfake-billing, deep data ana-lytics using data from multi-ple sources including GST,Income-tax and Customs ITsystems and effective taxadministration have also con-tributed to the steady increasein tax revenue over last fewmonths, it added.

New Delhi: India will emergeas the most resilient economyafter Germany in 2021 exhibit-ing a strong economic resur-gence to the global economicturmoil caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to areport.

Germany ranks first in thePHDCCI InternationalEconomic Resilience (IER)Rank followed by India andSouth Korea at second andthird positions, respectively,according to the report releasedby industry body PHDCCI.

It is based on analysis offive lead macroeconomic indi-cators reflecting a country'seconomic performance includ-ing real GDP growth rate, mer-chandise export growth rate,current account balance (aspercentage of GDP), generalgovernment net lending/bor-rowing (as percentage of GDP)and gross debt-to-GDP ratio.

India's IER Rank stands atsecond among the top-10 lead-ing economies, indicatingstrong resilience of the Indianeconomy to the daunting pan-demic of Covid-19, said PHDChamber of Commerce andIndustry President SanjayAggarwal. PTI

<,������%�������������)������?1�9������6� New Delhi: Chief Economic

Adviser KV Subramanian hasmade a strong case for setting upof a bad bank led by private sec-tor to effectively deal with non-performing assets of the finan-cial sector which may see asurge once regulatory forbear-ance to deal with the impact ofCovid-19 is withdrawn.

The proposal to set up a badbank has been under considera-tion of the government for longand some steps may beannounced in the Budget 2021-22to be unveiled by Finance Ministeron Monday in the Lok Sabha.

Bad bank refers to a finan-cial institution which takesover bad assets of lenders andundertakes resolution. Lendershave been making a case forsetting up a bad bank to easeout pressure of bad loans onthem in these difficult times.

“The bad bank will certain-ly help in consolidating some ofthe non performing assets. It'simportant to also think aboutimplementing the bad bank inthe private sector that enables(faster) decision making,” he toldPTI in an interview. PTI

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Indian art and culture are theresilient means that bind the coun-try into one fabric. Art has come

a long way from its initial origins. Inthe recent few years, India has beenwitnessing a rising desire for artamongst the people owing to theadvent of a growing number of cultur-al initiatives, such as city-based art fes-tivals, gallery exhibitions and grandevents like art biennales. Many non-commercial establishments and artist-led initiatives have also come out insupport of developing the industry.Businesses and events that encompassart and culture have gradually becomeintegral elements of the Indian land-scape and have laid the foundation forpositioning various cities pan-India asmajor art destinations.

Indian art heritage is a testamentto the changing face of our societythrough the ages. The monumentalvariety in styles, techniques, themesand media point towards the richnessof the art and lay out its evolution tra-jectory. Earlier, art in India was rele-gated to the portals of the royalty andelite class in the times when kings hadextended royal patronage to artistshailing from diverse fields.

Along the way, the art industry haswitnessed various milestones. Out ofthese, two major ones stood out in thepost-Independence period. Firstly,there was the emergence of the ‘pro-gressive art group’ that comprised thelikes of veteran artists like FrancisNewton Souza, S. H. Raza, M. F.Hussain, S. K. Bakre, Akbar Padamsee,Manishi Dey, and Tyeb Mehta. Theywere driven by the idea to paint withno curtailment of freedom in contentand technique. Secondly, the processof globalisation in the early 1990shelped the art culture to develop andevolve further, empowering it to moveahead without any baggage from itspast. Hence, there was a gradual riseof awareness of Indian art’s global rel-evance.

The Indian market is on the brinkof a major transformation as sales ofcontemporary art are much likely topick up, supported by its increasingpopularity and a diversified buyerbase.

VISUAL ARTS — EVOLUTION& TRAJECTORY

The visual arts (VA) comprise artforms such as ceramics, paintings,drawings, sculpture, printmaking,crafts, photography, designs, video,film making, and architecture. It alsoincludes applied arts like industrialdesigns, fashion design, interiordesign, graphic design, and decorative

art. Collectively, all forms of visual arts

help bind a nation’s ethos and make upan important medium for brand pro-jection. Traditionally, Indian artistshave always taken inspiration from thephilosophical line of thought thatholds ‘absolute cannot be created nordestroyed, instead it can only be feltand comprehended’. Their finessemakes our artists second to none. Eventhe language of abstractionism, pop-ular universally, isn’t a new advent inIndia. Using traditional abstractexpressions on canvas is what hastaken Indian art on the global stage.Analysing the trends dominatingIndian art over the years, we find thatthe artists have not only explored ourown past but have also delved deepinto the expressions and symbolsprevalent in our own culture to taketheir art to the international level.

Visual arts industry is constitut-ed by artists, public museums, privateart galleries, auction houses and pri-vate non-commercialised art initia-tives. Its value chain is made up of artproduction, sales and promotion, andart resale. This industry is the prima-ry market that features new and rela-tively lesser-known artists alongsidemore recognised contemporary artists.

The secondary market comprises auc-tion houses that offer artworks forresale once these have acquired famefor their artistic value, historical sig-nificance and rarity. The recentlyemerged e-platforms, which offercurated, branded digital auctions of anassortment of art and collectibles, alsoshow immense potential for the futureof Indian art culture.

Though different art segments dis-play different growth trajectories, theperformance of the VA industry as a

whole relies on the broader econom-ic situation, majorly centred on ele-ments impacting the growth and dis-tribution of private wealth. The con-centration of wealth in the hands of anincreasing number of affluent Indianshas been driving the growth of thevisual arts industry in the past fewyears, augmenting sales in the high-end market especially.

Visual arts industry also has atremendous potential to contribute tothe Indian economy by providing

direct employment, skills developmentand by promoting cultural tourismand nation’s cultural identity. The glob-al turnover of the Indian art markethas been gigantic as it clocked in closeto �1500 crore, including primary andsecondary sales.

RISE OF DIGITAL ART COVID-19 has been an event that

has had unprecedented ramificationsfor all of us and has forced us torethink and reinvent in order to sur-vive. Just like every other industry, thepandemic has seriously impacted thelives of artists very deeply as it hastaken away traditional platforms wherethey would showcase their creativityearlier. Due to social distancing, thereare no new events, exhibitions andpublic display, which has affected thelivelihood of millions of artists. It haseven changed the conventional way ofbuying art by visiting art galleries, pro-pelling people to buy art online.

However, like the silver lining toevery adversity, the pandemic hasopened up new opportunities andgiven rise to newer perspectives. Sincethe stakeholders of the art industryhave now taken to the digital medium,the new dynamics have acted as astimulus to the creativity of artists asthey are now exploring the virtualmedium for connectivity. Even artlovers can now take more time tobrowse through various catalogues anddecide which one to buy as per theirconvenience. Artists who were hesitantearlier are now proactively learning touse social media platforms to devel-op and sustain their presence, and dis-play their work to the world.

Several artists are finding ways tointegrate technology into their work.Sculptors can now access a variety ofraw materials and mediums. Artinstallations via sophisticated electron-ic devices and superior printing tech-nology provide first-class prints, whichcan be accessed by art lovers from anypart of the world. Along with individ-uals buying art, even India Inc. hasbecome an art patron, either as own-ers of art or by sponsoring art events.

Art has been with us since sincetime immemorial and has undergonevarious transformations from theancient age to the digital age. Althoughour options to experience it havebecome relatively limited, art enthu-siasts have been leveraging a multitudeof forums where it can be experiencedwith newer technologies, especially inreal-time, experiential, virtual realityand augmented reality formats.

(The writer is the co-founder anddirector of an arts organisation.)

There is no typo in theheadline over here, the

Maladevi temple on the top ofa hill next to the town ofGyaraspur is literally carvedinto the hill. While we mightnot be able to make much ofit by just reading these lines,think about the work bymasons and sculptors whichwent into making such a tem-ple, which today isn’t exactlyon the pilgrimage circuit.Gyaraspur is just a hamlet inthe middle of verdant fields.

The tiny little town lies northof Sanchi although, given theamount of history in thearea, it must have beena halt on the road toSanchi and Vidisha.

The Maladevitemple is remark-able although youcannot enter thesanctum sancto-rum because ofthe effects of ageand erosion and,more so, because it is

barely visited by tourists. Infact, the rear of the sanctum

sanctorum is carvedinto the hill. Locals

travel up then a r r o w,

e m p t yroad tosee thet e m p l e

or just geta few

moments of privacy. Thelower population density ofMadhya Pradesh means that

history had a higher chance ofsurviving in the Betwa andNarmada floodplains thanthey did in the Gangeticplains.

The Maladevi Temple isnoted as a Jain temple, dedi-cated to Adinath, althoughthe intricate sculptures on itswalls indicate that at onetime it was a Hindu site. Thisis also a reminder of the reli-gious f luidity betweenDharmic religions in ancientand medieval India. But just

the very notion that thou-sands of man-hours werespent by workers without theuse of explosives or machinetools to do all this workshould blow your minds. Ifyou ever find yourself inBhopal, like we did during theGreat India Drive, the drive toSanchi, Vidisha and then ontoGyaraspur is a must-visit.The highway to the town is intop-notch condition and thenew Hyundai i20 is the bestway to reach there.

Add some bling to yourvacation and slay thatbeach outfit with the

right shoes. Here are somebling flats by Pazzion which arecomfortable while adding astatement to your vacay look-book.

Black diamante sandalsTurn every day into a

glamorous one with this stun-ning style. This dazzling sandalfeatures a genuine leatherupper, braided strap coveredwith diamante detailing; A chictoe strap will keep your foot inplace while you are on themove.

Gold strappy flatFeaturing classic strappy

design in comfy leatherette, thisis all cool girls’ warm-weatheressential.

Champagne bow glitter fold-able leather flats

A comfortable option toheels, elegant pumps in a fold-able format constructed in lightgenuine leather with a pointedsilhouette for all-day comfort.A touch of glitter adds a glam-orous cinderellaesque style witha unique twist. Discreetly stasha backup pair of these foldableflats and perfectly shine atevery chic event or gain an edgeon casual days out and every-thing else.

Pewter weaved slide sandalsKeep your look refined in

a minimalist slide sandal withthe wear-with-anything appeal.Featuring a woven metallicstrap over a flexible sole, thispair will soon become your go-to footwear for running errandsor a brunch date.

����������������� ����A boy’s superhero dreams come true when he finds

five powerful cosmic stones. But saving the day is harderthan he imagined — and he can’t do it alone. Starring JackFisher, Tom Kenny, Amanda C. Miller, season 1 releases onFebruary 2 on Netflix.

������������ ���������������A group of friends at a New Year’s Eve party go

through a whirlwind of events that exposes secrets, breakshearts — and leads to a shocking outcome. It releases onFebruary 3 on Netflix.

���������� �����������������What if you saved a souvenir from every relationship you’veever been in? The show follows Lucy (GeraldineViswanathan), a 20-something art gallery assistant livingin New York City, who also happens to be an emotionalhoarder. After she gets dumped by her latest boyfriend, sheis inspired to create the broken heart gallery, a pop-up spacefor the items love has left behind. The show airs on February14 at 1pm and 9 pm on Zee café, &flix and &PriveHD.

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It’s a fact that none would deny: The present-day economic system is divorced from ethics.The current world fiscal scene clearly shows

that our economic thinking and our models ofplanning and development are out-of-touch withreality and are estranged from ethics. Take, forexample, the recent event of recession and also theevent of fall in the exchange-rate of currencies ofsome of the developed countries. A little deepthinking would lead us to the conclusion that theseevents occurred because some of the developedand affluent countries had been spending muchbeyond their means. It means that they had beenimporting more than they could export or morethan their foreign exchange reserves could afford.The result has been that such countries becamemajor debtors to some exporting countries andthese massive debts greatly eroded the strength oftheir economy and their currency. Further, thecreditor countries, went on investing heavily insuch countriesunder the illusionthat they are eco-nomically healthyand strong.

In simpleterms, these factsshow that mostnations of theworld have for-gotten or conve-niently over-looked the age-old moral lessonthat ‘one shouldlive according toone’s means andshould avoid tak-ing debts becauseby being a debtor,one loses theirpeace and hon-our. Hence, oneshould have remembered this great moral lessonof history: No matter how much strong a nationmight be industrially, the divorce of economicsfrom any principle of ethics results not only indevaluation of the currency but of the honour ofcountry. It further leads its people to dehumani-sation.

If we now turn our attention to the develop-ing countries, we find that their economic con-dition is also poor, but for other reasons. As is well-known that these countries are caught up in thevicious cycle of poverty, low income, low savingsrate, low investment rate... So, they set poverty-alleviation and generation of employment as theirgoals. Then, in order to extricate their countryfrom this circle, they have adopted a developmentmodel that is based on the assumption that theeconomic growth is a function only of high ratesof investments. So in order to generate better rateof investment resources, they resorted to three fac-tors — higher taxation, deficit financing, internaland external borrowings. Now, the high tax-rateshave become counter-productive because theyhave led to more tax-evasion and have generatedblack or unaccounted money. And the returns tothe government treasury also have always fallenshort of expectation. This factor has had a verybad effect on the moral standards of the peopleand on the currency-value of the country. Theresult of borrowings and deficit financing has beenthat almost all nations, today, are debtor nationswith weak economies. And almost all industrial-ists and rich men are, directly or indirectly, depen-dent on the borrowings from banks or throughbonds or fixed deposits, the savings of the mid-dle class and the poor people.

This shows that even the best of brains can-not sustain an economy in a healthy state if it isdivorced from the ordinary rules of ethics or prin-ciples of spiritual wisdom. The best thing, there-fore, is to observe moral norms and to base oureconomy on ethics, because without them, therecannot be peace and happiness in the world.

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The feeble cry of a baby is allthat can be heard. A weakmother holding the even

weaker child who has been wail-ing for hours because of hunger.Unfortunately, this is an all-too-common sight in India, wherethroughout the past year, malnu-trition has become a seriousproblem. Recent studies haveshown that nutrition up to the ageof five is essential not only forphysical growth but also for men-tal and cognitive development. Ifput simply, it is a necessity. OnNew Year’s day alone, 3,70,000children were born. But whowill feed them? Where will thatfood come from? With millionsof children facing malnutritionacross-the-world, this is a prob-lem that should not be put aside.

The sustainable developmentgoals (to be completed by 2030)are a collection of problemsplaguing the earth and thehumanity, requiring an urgentaction. Although it is among thehighest on the list, zero hungerfinds very little mention or activeaction against it, and yet it rises.Can you recall the Pulitzer Prizewinner Kevin Carter’s iconicphotograph of a starving

Sudanese child, who collapsed onher way to a feeding centre whilea vulture waited nearby? Well, thisis the depth at which malnutritionhas dug into society. We mustquestion ourselves as to why weare allowing this carnage to con-tinue. We need a sense of urgencyaround the matter that we other-wise lack, a need to fulfill a cru-sade against malnourishment.Thousands of children are atthreat because of malnutrition,especially in the global South.

This reminds me of PhilipVolen’s saying: Poor countries selltheir grain to the West while theirown children starve in theirarms. And we feed it to livestock.So we can eat a steak? Am I theonly one who sees this as acrime? Every morsel of meat weeat is slapping the tear-stainedface of a starving child. When Ilook into her eyes, should I besilent?

It is high time we begin toproduce adequate food for ourcitizens. We need to inculcate theculture of farming nutritious andhealthy food. I know the farm-lands are reducing as urbanisationslowly spreads to even the mostremote areas of India. Despite

this, there is yet space left.Terraces, large swaths of empty,bleak concrete floors, can easilybe converted to gardens.

So the next logical stepwould be to inculcate the cultureof farming and food sustainabil-ity among children. This wouldbe the easiest to achieve. We cansimply do this by adding this asa subject to the school curricu-lum. This problem will slowlybegin to stitch itself. Playgroundsand laboratories are necessary inschools. What about gardensand farming? This should be anissue that should be carefullyassessed, not the outright killingof our farmers’ rights. Finally, andof utmost importance, the gov-ernment should ban export andhoarding of food, especially whilethe people starve. The laws thatused to safeguard this have beenstruck down in favour of thebusiness community. We do notcare about GDP growth or howrich our country becomes. Butwe do care about our starvingmillions. The upkeep and well-being of its people should be theprimary focus of a government.Why do we witness its oppositeunfolding?

Two Indian Air Force women offi-cers broke the glass ceiling onJanuary 26 by becoming the first

women pilots to participate in theRepublic Day parade. They represent thevalor of millions of women of our coun-try who, in their respective ways, are chal-lenging the patriarchal patterns of oursociety.

Fifty-one kilometres from Shimla,the capital of northern Indian stateHimachal Pradesh, there is a waysidefacility in Sirmour district called the SheHaat operated by a team of 25 women.On the way to Nahan, this facility,which was inaugurated last month onDecember 17, has a restaurant, a guesthouse, a production-cum-skill develop-ment centre and a rural haat apart froma neat and clean toilet complex being suc-cessfully run by only women.

As a part of the She Haat Society(SHS) — Self Help Group, this group ofwomen underwent multitasking trainingfor nine months before they took overthis facility. Spread over approx. 1,500square yards of land, not only are thestalls here managed by them but thehandicraft and other products they sellare all created by these women from thesmall hamlets of Bagpashog GramPanchayat in Pachhad block of this dis-trict.

The training was given to them in thehospitality sector, tailoring, making ofdisposables from the leaves of the local-ly-available Maljan - an Ivy collected bywomen from the jungles, et al. They weretaught accounting and even the operat-ing of a multi grain grinding mill by dif-ferent entities which included NABARDand a Hotel Management Institute.

Some of these women come from asfar as fifteen kilometres. An environ-ment-friendly, e-rikshaw is used to ferrywater from a natural water body andother requirements from the market.Even this e-rikshaw is driven by awoman, Meenakshi Sharma, a memberof SHS.

“I bring women for the morning shiftthat starts at seven from a village near-ly six kilometres from the facility. Thewater used for both cooking and drink-ing is from this natural source called baoliin local language,” shares Meenakshi whohas no time to rest even after her shift getsover. Back home, she stitches dresses onorder to earn some extra money to meethousehold expenses. The hotel, where herhusband was working in Parwanoo, anindustrial town closed down after thenationwide lockdown due to the pan-demic and is yet to open.

Rekha and Anita, two women fromGanyana village have to pass a forestevery day to come to the facility. “The

secretary and the chairperson of the SHSare quite considerate and we have beengiven a permanent day shift starting from11 in the morning to three in the after-noon,” shares Anita. “Their safety is moreimportant, and we ensure that they don’thave to walk through the forest when itis dark and much riskier,” adds thePresident of the SHS, Meera Thakur.

Her own village, Ser Bharal is eightkilometres away but Meera says that shecommutes via bus. Both Anita andRekha change hands at cooking and serv-ing along with a few other SHS members.The food is not cooked on gas but onchulhas (clay stoves) to give a rural touchto the menu that includes Sirmouri del-icacies such as rice, maah ki dal, pude,jalebi, halwa, shakkar, patande, ainkuluand sidu.

“Apart from the vegetable and puls-es prepared in local style, we serve lushke,patande and askali with pure ghee andkheer or jaggery. A few of these items canbe described as Himachali Doshas,”explains Usha Rani, Secretary, SHS.Although they have supervisory duties

to perform, both Usha and Meera lenda helping hand as per the need of one orthe other department of the facility.

“It is our responsibility to ensure thatthe necessities for preparation of food andother things do not fall short and theyare brought from the market well in time.So that we can handle other duties as

well,” they explain.These women work in four-hour

shifts, starting from 7 am till 7 pm. Themembers of the SHS are drawn from dif-ferent backgrounds — some are gradu-ates, some have completed only highschool, some young, many middle-agedbut they all work as one team.

“All of us have been trained to han-dle each and every department,” informsUsha. Irrespective of their position in theSHS or the kind of work they do at thefacility; they are entitled to equal shareof the profits. Shalini Gautam, a com-merce graduate from Dariyar village doesaccounting for the facility and works onthe computer for data entry and otherpurposes.

“Running the whole facility — frompurchases to bookings of the guesthouse, hiring taxis for sightseeing andhandling the facility — is a huge chal-lenge, especially for women from villages.Many of these women had never steppedout of their homes before. It gives me agreat satisfaction to be a part of this chal-lenge,” says Shalini, who is also a part ofthe SHS.

The stalls at the rural haat sellhandicrafts made and prepared by thewomen members. Besides, a number ofother women make these items at homeand bring them for sale at the haat. Thishelps them earn three to four thousanda month.

“The facility was built at the cost of�70 lakh, parts of which were drawnfrom MNREGA funds, NABARD,donations from industries and otherdevelopment agencies, contributionsfrom MP Lad funds and contribution bythe area MLA,” informs Prakash DuttBhatia, Head, Bagpashog GramPanchayat.

The facility has been constructed onthe main road from where tourists canmake visits to several attractions likeBureshwar Mahadev temple, theMangarh ancient Shiv Temple, BonMonastery to name a few.

It has been a little over a month sinceits formal inauguration, yet these 25 ruralwomen are looking forward to the endof the month when they will get an equalshare of the profits they have earned.

“In addition to the visitors commut-ing on the highway, we have startedreceiving bulk bookings. At the end ofthe month, 70 per cent of the profits willbe distributed among the members of theSHS. Our target for now is that each oneof us is able to earn at least �10,000 amonth. After obtaining NOC for run-ning the guest house at the complex, weexpect our profits to go up considerably,”says Usha.

Once the restrictions due to the pan-demic will be lifted, the enterprisingmembers of the SHS expect more andmore tourists to visit the facility. This willdefinitely be a step forward in thesocial and economic empowerment ofthese hard-working women of HimachalPradesh.

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England all-rounder Moeen Alidoesn’t know how they are goingto tackle Virat Kohli in the

upcoming Tests against India and feelsthe batting maestro will be extramotivated to fire after missing histeam’s incredible triumph in Australia.

Kohli, who had returned homeafter the opening Test debacle againstAustralia for the birth of his child, isback to captain the side in the four-match series against England, begin-ning here on February 5.

“How do we get him out? He’sobviously an amazing player, world-class, he's very motivated to do welland I'm sure he'll be even more moti-vated after they did well in Australiaand he had to leave for the birth of hischild,” Moeen told reporters during avideo conference.

“I don’t know how we’re going toget him out because I don’t think hehas any sort of weakness but we havea good bowling attack, some pace inthe line-up.

“He’s a great guy and a good friendof mine — we don’t talk too muchabout cricket. We do a little bit but nottoo much.”

Back in the fold after recoveringfrom COVID-19, Moeen said he hasstill got “match-winning perfor-mances” in him and is ready to takeon India.

Besides the Tests, India andEngland will play three ODIs and fiveT20Is.

Moeen said playing Test cricket ishis “biggest motivation” and he has“little targets”, which he is wants toachieve in the upcoming series.

“Whether or not I get picked isanother matter ... In terms of beingready to play, I think I'll be fine to play,I'll be ready. I’ve waited long enough,”he said.

“I still feel I've got wickets and runsin me and match-winning perfor-mances within me. I have little targetsI want to achieve first. I am not too faraway from getting 200 wickets.

“I know people say they don’t lookat these things but it would be some-thing I would look at. Then I wouldset another target after that.”

The 33-year-old had tested posi-tive for COVID-19 upon the Englandteam's arrival in Sri Lanka and missedthe two Tests there, which the visitorswon for a series sweep.

“I’m all right now. Once I testedpositive, I just wanted to get it over anddone with really. It has been tough butI'm a big believer in ‘after hardshipcomes ease’. Hopefully there is ease

after this,” said Moeen, who had justfive or six net sessions due to the timehe had to spend in quarantine.

Moeen, who has 181 wickets and2782 runs in Test cricket, had taken abreak from the traditional formatafter missing out on a full contract in2019.

“I enjoyed the break and played afew leagues around the world ... Butultimately it was Test cricket that Imissed.

“When you’re playing Test crick-et, you’re on top of your game in terms

of your batting and bowling; your tech-nique. I don't think it’s great whenyou’re just playing white-ball,” hesaid.

Moeen said red-ball cricket makesfor a better T20 cricketer.

“When you are playing red-ballcricket, you are hitting a lot more balls,you’re bowling a lot more too. WithTwenty20 cricket, as much as it is hit-ting sixes, fours etc, the basis of yourtechnique has to be good,” he said.

“It doesn’t surprise me that JosButtler and Ben Stokes are the two best

T20 players around and they play Testcricket. Their defence is pretty solidand it gives you more confidence.When I was playing all forms, I felt wasbetter with my white-ball.”

He also asked people to not payany heed to conspiracy theories and getvaccinated for the virus.

“There’s a lot of conspiracy theo-ries out there but it’s just medicineevolving. In our community, peopleare sometimes a bit cautious. But forthings to get back to normal, it’s impor-tant that we do,” he said.

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Former Australia cap-tain Ian Chappell reck-

ons India will start asfavourites in the Test seriesagainst England owing toa quality pace attack withplenty of depth and a toporder that is more consis-tent than the visitors’.

What should also bol-ster the home team is theaddition of captain ViratKohli to a strong battingline-up and their incredi-

ble recent triumph inAustralia.

“India will start asfavourites after an exhila-rating victory overAustralia, overcoming allobstacles. When you addthe name Virat Kohli to thebatting order, the teamsuddenly assumes a bullet-proof cloak,” Chappellwrote in his column for‘ESPNcricinfo’.

“In also adding thenames R Ashwin, HardikPandya and Ishant Sharma

to the list of available play-ers, India take on anunbeatable appearance.”

The big-ticket seriesstarts in Chennai onFebruary 5.

Chappell feels India’sformidable top order maytip the scales in favour ofthe home team, despiteEngland’s 2-0 sweep of SriLanka recently.

“...The availability of apremium player in BenStokes who, like (Hardik)Pandya, provides all-round

ability and selection flexi-bility, albeit at a higherlevel than the Indian, is abig plus. And Jofra Archeradds substantially to thequality of an already strongpace attack.

“However it’s the topof the England order,where another returningplayer, Rory Burns, willreside, that the scales tip inIndia’s favour.

“India’s top three fea-ture an impressiveShubman Gill, a talented

but flawed Rohit Sharmaand the indomitableCheteshwar Pujara, whichplaces them well ahead ofEngland’s top order.”

He says it will add a lotof pressure on Joe Root ifthe duo of Dom Silbey andRory Burns fails.

“Dom Sibley possess-es the grit and determina-tion required for success atthe highest level but thereare questions about histechnique against the bestinternational bowlers.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has donewhat even the Second World War

could not: bring to a halt the RanjiTrophy’s 87-year-old non-stop journey.

And eminent players of the past,many of whom had used the country’spremier domestic tournament as a plat-form to announce their arrival, sympa-thised with the current lot of cricketers,but also agreed with the BCCI's unprece-dented decision to not conduct the tour-nament for the first time since its incep-tion in 1934-35.

“I am sympathetic to what playersmight be feeling but I think whateverdecision BCCI has taken is in the bestinterest of everyone,” former India keep-er Chandrakant Pandit, one of the coun-try’s finest domestic coaches, told PTI onSunday.

The board has informed its affiliatesthat the truncated season would comprisethe Vijay Hazare Trophy, senior women’sone-day tournament and the VinooMankad Trophy for under-19 boys.

“I am happy that there is at least twotournaments happening. Could a trun-cated Ranji Trophy been an option? Idon’t know but BCCI, in a short span,also had to organise the Vinoo MankadTrophy keeping the U-19 World Cup inmind.”

The BCCI has 38 first-class teamsafter the inclusion of northeastern statesand Uttarakhand coach Wasim Jaffer,

who is the tournament’s most prolific per-former ever, cited the practical difficul-ties.

“Ideally, I would have liked RanjiTrophy to happen, there is no doubtabout it. But obviously with 38 teams, somany players, the venues and all that,probably it was a bit difficult logistical-ly, so I can understand,” the former Indiaopener, who has won multiple Ranji titleswith Mumbai and Vidarbha, said.

But for someone, who is a bona fideRanji legend, the premier national tour-nament’s absence does rankle.

“I mean still very sad after so manyyears, for the first time the Ranji is nothappening, so it is obviously is going tobe sad, especially the players who playonly red-ball format, they are not goingto play red-ball tournament for a good18 months,” Jaffer pointed out the flip sideof it.

For a state team regular without abare minimum IPL contract (Rs 20lakh), a full season of Ranji, VijayHazare, Mushtaq Ali, Duleep Trophywould mean earnings of around Rs 15 to20 lakh per season and this time it willbe less than half.

But the BCCI has promised a com-pensation for domestic players and thatmight bring in some financial respite.

“That money also comes in after six-eight months, so the guys who are onlydependent on match fees with a familyto feed will be in for hard times,” Jafferadded.

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India wrist spinner KuldeepYadav on Sunday said he likes

to “reflect on the errors” whenthings doesn’t go his way as heis geared up for the first twoTests against England inChennai beginning February 5.

The 26-year-old has fallenout of favour in recent times,having made a sole appearancein the Canberra ODI duringIndia’s recent tour of Australia.

Kuldeep, who has playedonly six Tests for India, standsa chance to make it to the play-ing XI at the Chepauk with all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja notavailable for the first two Testsdue to an injury.

“At some point you won’t dowell and that’s the time youreflect and gain experience sothat you don't repeat thoseerrors in future,” the left-armspinner, who grabbed 5 for 99against Australia in Sydney in2019 in his last Test, said in avideo posted by KKR on its web-site.

Things have gone from badto worse for Kuldeep in IPL aswell as he featured in ninegames for Kolkata Knight Ridersand returned with only fourwickets in 2019, while he tookjust one wicket in four games lastyear in UAE.

“I have been playing forKKR for seven years now, andbeing a senior player, I need toperform consistently,” saidKuldeep, who has been retainedby KKR ahead of the 2021 IPLauction.

“It is challenging but thenyou need to keep upgrading

yourself so that you can main-tain a standard always. It's actu-ally important because fran-chise cricket is tough with all theexpectations from the fans.”

Kuldeep said the pressure ofexpectations make him ner-vous.

“It is a kind of pressure, and

of course, that makes me ner-vous because I want to give mybest to my franchise in eachgame. Sometimes it works out,sometimes it doesn’t...

“It teaches you a few lessonstoo as you stay relaxed when youdo well and when you don’t playwell, you get a chance to reflecton the errors. This is how youlearn and cricket is a gamewhere you can't keep perform-ing well always,” he said.

Talking about initial days ofhis career, the UP spinner saidhe always wanted to be a fastbowler but his diminutivestature became a hurdle and sohe turned to spin bowling on hiscoach’s insistence.

“I think I was good at fastbowling. I could swing the ballboth ways even at the age of 10-11 years. Even my coach used tofeel the same because my wristwork was neat,” he said.

“But the hurdle was my lackof growth (height). So, he askedme to switch to spin bowling. Iwas pretty angry initially becauseI never liked spin and alwayswanted to be a fast bowler.

“I skipped going to theground for 10 days as I wasdetermined to continue withonly fast bowling. But my coachtold me that if I really wanted toplay cricket, I had to take upspin.”

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Pakistan has left out veteranbatsman Mohammad Hafeez

from its Twenty20 squad for theseries against South Africa becausehe would not meet the PakistanCricket Board’s deadline for play-ers to enter a bio-secure bubble.

The PCB had said that all play-ers had to be in the team’s bubbleby Feb. 3 ahead of the three-match series against the Proteasthat starts on Feb. 11.

Hafeez, who is not among thePCB’s centrally contracted players,is currently playing in the T10League in the United ArabEmirates. He had asked the PCB toallow him to join the team in

Lahore after the Feb. 3 deadline.“Unfortunately, the scenario is

as such that every player has to jointhe (bio) bubble on Feb. 3 and if aplayer can’t do so, it means he isunavailable,” chief selectorMohammad Wasim said.

“If he (Hafeez) was available,there’s no question on his perfor-mance, but unfortunately he is notavailable.”

The selectors have recalledAsif Ali, who is also playing in theT10 League in the UAE, but Wasimsaid the batsman will join the teamby the Feb. 3 deadline.

The selectors dropped openingbatsman Fakhar Zaman and fastbowler Wahab Riaz due to theirrecent poor performances whileall-rounder Shadab Khan is stillnursing a leg injury. Pakistan'sother Twenty20 regular - all-rounder Imad Wasim - wasunavailable because of a familycommitment.

In addition to Asif, fast bowlerHasan Ali and Aamer Yamir werealso recalled to the Twenty20 teamthat also includes four rookie play-ers - Zafar Gohar, Danish Aziz,Zahid Mehmood and Amad Butt.

������ 6����)

Veteran fast bowler StuartBroad believes India’s con-

fidence will be “sky high" fol-lowing their remarkable serieswin in Australia, but addedthat what England can’t do isbuild India up “in our minds”in the upcoming four-Testseries.

Depleted by injuries andwithout their star players, Indiaunder Ajinkya Rahane, regis-tered a 2-1 win in the four-TestBorder-Gavaskar Series. Theseries victory included a mem-orable three-wicket win at theGabba in Brisbane where theychased down a 328-run targeton the final day of the Testmatch.

“This is not an easy placeto tour, and India’s confidencewill be sky high from winningat the Gabba to complete aseries victory in Australia ear-lier this month,” Broad wrote inhis column for the Daily Mail.

“I can tell you that they hadsupporters within this Englandteam throughout that decisivematch in Brisbane. The togeth-erness, the character, spirit andwillingness they showed wasphenomenal. Any team in theworld would have been proudof what India achieved despitebeing depleted by injuries,” headded.

Courtesy their series win inAustralia, India are currentlyplaced at the top spot in theICC World Test Championshippoints table.

“They are the World TestChampionship leaders for goodreason. But we have movedfrom being admirers to theirenemy within a couple of weeksand what we cannot do isbuild India up in our minds.They are not impregnable,”said the 34-year-old.

The 144-Test veteran alsopraised India skipper ViratKohli, terming him one of the“best” batsman he has everseen.

“Virat Kohli is one of thebest I’ve ever seen but if we gothrough all their positives wewill be defeated before we’veeven begun. We need to buildon our own strengths. We areentering the series in greatform ourselves,” said Broadwhile highlighting England’srecent 2-0 Test series win in SriLanka,” said Broad.

“We’ve got batsmen,bowlers and all-rounders in thetop 10 of the world rankings.Yes, India are a brilliant side,and it would be one of themost remarkable series victo-ries if we were able to pull it off,but we know if we get ourmindset right we can beatanyone,” he added.

����� )�>��)*)�

Left-arm spinner M Siddharth (4/20)brilliant bowling upfront enabled Tamil

Nadu to restrict Baroda to 120 for 9 on adifficult track in the Syed Mushtaq AliTrophy final here on Sunday.

It was largely due to the 58-run sev-enth wicket stand between Vishnu Solanki(49 off 55 balls; 1x4; 2x6) and Atit Sheth(29 off 30 balls; 2x4;1x6) that Baroda afterbeing reduced to 36/6 managed a three-figure total.

Siddharth used the pitch to his advan-tage by varying the pace of his deliveriesand also using the crease well to createawkward angles for the batsmen.

Put into bat on a Sardar Patel Stadiumtrack that offered both turn and bounce,Baroda lost left-handed opener NinadRathva (1) early as the move to start withspinners from both the ends paid off forTamil Nadu.

Rathva was caught by KB ArunKarthik off offie Baba Aparajith (1/16).Aparajith and left-arm spinner R SaiKishore (0/11) kept things tight as Barodawas 11/1 after three overs.

In-form skipper Kedar Devdhar (16),who had hammered three boundaries,could not convert his starts and gave a sit-ter to Narayan Jagadeesan at cover as thewiry Siddharth picked up his first wick-et.

Playing his first game of the tourna-ment, Siddharth again did the trick andremoved former colts World Cup winnerSmit Patel (1), after trapping him legbefore with an arm ball.

They lost their fourth wicket on thesame score as Bhanu Pania (0) was run outafter a mix-up.

Siddharth picked his third wicket asAbhimanyusingh Rajput (2) lobbed hima return catch when the ball delivered wideoff crease stopped on him.

Siddharth was on a roll, as he pickedhis fourth scalp, after forcing KartikKakade (4) to drag one back onto thestumps. Baroda slumped to 36 for 6when Solanki and Sheth joined forces.

The last four overs produced 49 runsincluding a helicopter shot from Solanki.

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The Taiwanese player blockedreigning Olympic champion

Carolina Marin’s bid for a hat-trickof titles in three weeks

Top-ranked Tai Tzu-ying wona dramatic cliffhanger women’sbadminton World Tour Final inBangkok Sunday, blocking reign-ing Olympic champion CarolinaMarin’s bid for a hat-trick of titlesin three weeks.

The all Danish men’s singlesfinal was equally nail-biting asAnders Antonsen denied ViktorAxelsen a third tournament win inthree weeks.

Marin beat the Taiwanese 26-year-old two weeks in a row dur-ing the previous Thailand Opentournament finals.

The Spaniard had a shaky startSunday as Tai exploited holes inher defence early, but Marinmounted a successful comeback inthe later stages winning the open-er 21-14.

Marin was loud and fiesty inher verbal celebrations, but a vis-ibly annoyed Tai soon found herown voice.

The pair also played mindgames over shuttlecock changes.

In the second game Tai dom-inated early and dictated a com-manding pace, eventually tri-umphing 21-8.

The decider was filled with

fast and furious rallies - both play-ers yo-yoed up and down thescoreboard - but two late spectac-ular drop shots were critical insealing Tai’s victory 21-19.

Lee and Shin lost the firstgame 15-21 before scrappingthrough to claim the second 26-24.

They had momentum early inthe third game and were able tohold off a late resurgence fromtheir opponents to win the decider21-19.

In the men’s doubles, sev-enth-ranked Lee Yang and WangChi-Lin of Taiwan won their thirdtitle in three weeks.

They beat Indonesia’sMohammad Ahsan and HendraSetiawan 21-17, 23-21 in 37 min-utes.

Thailand’s third seeds SapsireeTaerattanachai and DechapolPuavaranukroh are also going fora trio of titles.

NO IDEA HOW TO GET KOHLI OUT: MOEEN

India not impregnable: Broad

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