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  •  · 2021. 1. 15. · tors to view & sort data of ben-eficiaries as per their gender, age & co-morbidity. They can also view the metadata of vac- ... New Delhi: Delhi recorded 295
12
P rime Minister Narendra Modi will flag off the first phase of the pan-India rollout of world’s largest Covid-19 vaccination drive on Saturday at 10:30 am via video confer- encing. The drive involves two vaccines — Covishield and Covaxin — developed by AstraZeneca-Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech respectively. A day before the vaccina- tion drive against coronavirus, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Friday said the step is “probably the beginning of the end” of Covid-19. The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had earlier this month approved Oxford Covid-19 vaccine Covishield, manufactured by the Serum Institute, and indigenously developed Covaxin of Bharat Biotech for restricted emer- gency use in the country, paving the way for a massive inoculation drive. This vaccination pro- gramme will cover the entire length and breadth of the coun- try, with a total of 3006 session sites across all States and UTs which will be connected virtu- ally throughout the exercise. In the first phase, priority groups and healthcare workers, both in Government and pri- vate sectors, including ICDS workers, in all-around 100 beneficiaries will be vaccinat- ed at each of the session sites. Adequate doses of both vac- cines have been already deliv- ered across the country. India, which reported first Covid case late January last year is currently the world’s second worst-hit country with over 1.05 crore cases and over 1.51 lakh deaths. Over, 213,000 cases are currently active. The phased rollouts will initially vaccinate one crore healthcare and two crore front- line workers, followed by around 27 crore senior citizens and people with co-morbidities like diabetes, hypertension, organ transplants, etc. In all, 30 crore people are going to be inoculated by July this year. Speaking at the 146th India Meteorological Department foundation day, Vardhan cau- tioned that even if the vacci- nation drive is on, there should not be lowering of guard and people must follow Covid-19 appropriate behaviour. “Tomorrow is an impor- tant day...It is the last phase of the battle against coronavirus. I say, this is probably the begin- ning of the end of Covid now which is going to start tomor- row,” Vardhan, who is also Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Minister, said. The Minister on Friday also reviewed preparations for the vaccination drive as he visited the Dedicated Covid Control Room which has been set up on the Nirman Bhawan premises of the Ministry. He scrutinised the working of CoWIN, an online digital platform, which will be used to drive the Covid-19 vaccination programme in the country. It will facilitate real-time infor- mation of vaccine stocks, stor- age temperature and individu- alised tracking of beneficiaries for Covid-19 vaccine. This dig- ital platform will assist pro- gramme managers across national, State, and district levels while conducting vacci- nation sessions. It will help them track beneficiary cover- age, beneficiary dropouts, ses- sions planned v/s sessions held and vaccine utilisation, said an official from the Ministry. The platform enables national and State administra- tors to view & sort data of ben- eficiaries as per their gender, age & co-morbidity. They can also view the metadata of vac- cinations and Adverse Event Following Immunization reported from constituent dis- tricts across States and UTs. New Delhi: Delhi recorded 295 fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday, the lowest in more than eight months, even as city Health Minister Satyendar Jain said the positivity rate has slipped to an “all-time low” of 0.44 per cent. T he fund collection drive for the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya kicked off on Friday with President Ram Nath Kovind donating 5 lakh. The President made the contribution to the Ram Janmabhoomi Teerath Kshetra Trust set up by the Government to look after the construction and management of the temple. “President Shri Ramnath Kovind ji contributes 5,00,100 for the construction of Shri Ram Temple in Ayodhya,” said Champat Rai, general secretary of the trust. A delegation comprising Vishva Hindu Parishad’s inter- national working president Alok Kumar, Teerath Kshetra Trust treasurer Govind Dev Giri, and temple construction committee head Nripendra Misra met the President on Friday to seek his contribution. “He is the first citizen of the country so we went to him to initiate this drive. He donated a sum of 5,01,000,” he said. The VHP and associated bodies have launched a fund- raising campaign — Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir Nidhi Samarpan Abhiyan — from January 15 to February 5 where they will reach out to Hindu families in different States. Continued on Page 2 T hree people, including a child, were killed in a fire that broke out at a scrap shop in West Delhi’s Kirti Nagar area late on Thursday night. Police said that two bodies are yet to be identified but the third body has been identified as 20 year-old Rohit, a driver and resident of Kamla Nehru Camp. Prima facie, it has come to notice that Rohit came to the spot and started to douse the fire but got trapped in the fire and fell in the drain, police said. According to fire depart- ment, a call was received at around 10.50 pm and seven fire tenders were rushed to the spot. However, the fire from the scrap shop soon engulfed a small shanty built above the shop where family of one Monu, who worked at the scrap shop, lived. B eware, those riding bikes and driving cars without rear-view mirrors, and rear seat belts in cars will have to face action as the traffic police has launched a special drive to create awareness among public. Police said a special drive is being carried out in West Delhi from January 13 to January 23 wherein public are educated on the importance of usage of rear-view mirror and rear seat belt in order to stay safe and prevent accidents. Prashant Gautam, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Traffic, Western Range, said the absence of rear view mirrors and rear seat belts results in serious injuries and fatalities during accidents. “There is also very little com- pliance with provisions for use of rear-seat belts in cars. This is reflective of the poor aware- ness among riders,” he said. T he BJP announced four candidates for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council polls, including three candi- dates who were re-nominated and the fourth candidate is bureaucrat turned politician AK Sharma, who joined the BJP on Thursday. The re-nominated candi- dates are deputy Chief Minister Dr Dinesh Sharma, State BJP president Swantra Deo Singh and Laxman Acharya. The BJP is yet to announce the remain- ing 6 candidates. The last date for filing nomination is January 18. There are a total 12 seats that will go to the polls. BJP sources said a Cabinet reshuffle is likely after the council polls. Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma is likely to be the next chairman of the UP Legislative council as incumbent Ramesh Yadav, who belongs to the Samajwadi Party, is retiring on January 31. AK Sharma, former IAS officer who is native of Mau district in east UP, is likely to be inducted as a Deputy Chief Minister. Sharma, a trusted lieutenant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is a former IAS officer from Gujarat cadre of 1988 batch. Continued on Page 2 T he ninth round talks between the farmers and the Government on Friday again failed to end the stale- mate over the farm laws. While farmers insisted on the repeal of the laws and legal guarantee of the MSP, the Government asked them to be more flexible in their approach and expressed willingness for nec- essary amendments. However, both sides have agreed to continue the dialogue despite the Supreme Court constituting a committee to mediate on the issue. The next round of talks will be held on January 19, the day the court-appointed committee is likely to start consulting stakeholders to end the impasse. This was the first meeting after the Supreme Court stayed the enactment of farm laws until further orders’ and appointed a four-member committee to resolve the dead- lock over farm laws. In the meeting that lasted for nearly five hours, including a lunch break, the Government requested unions to create an informal group to discuss finer points of the laws so that a way forward can be found in the wake of the Supreme Court’s direction. Besides their major demands, unions alleged police repression on people associat- ed as well as not associated with the ongoing protests, NIA raids on transporters and arthiyas in Punjab who are supporting farmers’ protests and were pro- viding logistic support for the agitation. The farmer representatives have also raised questions on the cases that have been lodged against the farmers and urged the Government to address this and prevent it. During the meeting, the Karnal incident where agitating farmers ran- sacked the venue of Manohar Lal Khattar’s “kisan mahapan- chayat” came up. “Talks took place over three farm laws in a cordial atmosphere and detailed dis- cussions took place on some issues, but couldn’t reach a decisive stage. We suggested they can form an informal group of people who can understand the laws better and prepare some concrete pro- posals, detailing what are farm- ers’ expectations and what clauses are problematic for them, which the Government can consider with an open mind,” Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar said after the meeting with the farmer leaders. Continued on Page 2 B engali cine star-turned Trinamool Congress MP Shatabdi Roy on Friday said she was going to Delhi where “it may not be out of ordinary to meet big politicians” like Home Minister Amit Shah. Roy on Thursday set off ripples in the party ranks after posting a cryptic Facebook message dropping hints about a “decision” that she might take by “2 pm on January 16”. In Delhi, Amit Shah met senior BJP leaders from West Bengal to discuss strategy for the coming Assembly elec- tions. Sate BJP chief Dilip Ghosh and senior leaders like Mukul Roy and Kailash Vijayvargiya were among those who called on Shah. Even as Bengal BJP spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said that senior politicians were welcome in his party if they changed their ideology, Roy came out more vociferously on Friday con- demning her party leadership for partisan ways. “There is no point approaching the topmost TMC leadership with one’s issues as there is no surety that they will be redressed … besides you do not know whether you will get chased for this or not,” Roy said hours after resigning as the chairperson of Tarapeeth Development Authority. She was asked as to why she was not taking up her issues with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Reacting to the matter, senior party MP Saugato Roy said, “Shatabdi has nothing against the Chief Minister …and all other issues can be addressed … though I think she will not quit the party.” Whether the three-time Birbhum MP would be joining the BJP on Saturday was not made clear by her but the actor-turned politician con- sidered close to senior Bengal Minister Subroto Mukherjee said she would “take a decision in Delhi.” On whether she would meet Amit Shah, she said, “I can’t say because it is not out of ordinary to meet big politicians like him.” Earlier she said, “If I take a decision, then I will let you know at 2 pm on the 16th of January.” Her Thursday Fan Club post reads: “It feels as if some people do not want that I go to you. I am not informed about many programmes. If I am not informed, how can I go? This is causing me mental anguish.” Roy, who was available for comments to the media outside her residence, however, could not be contacted by senior leaders like Sudip Bandopadhyay and Derek O Brien over telephone, party sources said. Continued on Page 2 S ounding a word of caution on the prevailing situation in Jammu & Kashmir, GOC-in-C, Northern Command Lt Gen YK Joshi on Friday said the internal situation in J&K, which is stable and under con- trol, has the propensity to flare up at any time. Interacting with the media persons after paying tributes to the “bravehearts” of the Indian Army on the occasion of Army Day in the Northern Command headquarters in Udhampur, Lt Gen Joshi also claimed that Pakistan has not relented from using terror as an instrument of state policy. Additionally, he went on to say, “We have seen the Chinese belligerence on the Line of Actual Control (LAC). They have tried to alter the status quo which has been contested with resolve and courage by the Indian Army.” “Thirdly, the internal situ- ation in J&K, which is stable and under control, has the propensity to flare up at any time,” he said. Elaborating, Lt Gen Joshi said, “There is also the collusive factor with threats ranging from supplying weapons to sharing of operational practices and so on.” Referring to the prevailing security scenario, the Army commander said that the relentless operations on the Line of Control backed with a robust multi-agency grid in hinterland has forced the deep state in Pakistan to recalibrate its approach to handle this sit- uation. He said, “The terrorist net- works across are trying hard to abet recruitment by extensive use of social media”. The recent District Development Council elec- tions have conveyed the resolve and will of the common peo- ple to shun separatism and embrace democracy, he said. Commenting on the situ- ation in Jammu & Kashmir, Lt Gen Joshi said the abrogation of Article 370 and improve- ment in governance have been major game changers that helped in restoring the faith of the common people in the institutions of the Government. Continued on Page 2

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Page 1:  · 2021. 1. 15. · tors to view & sort data of ben-eficiaries as per their gender, age & co-morbidity. They can also view the metadata of vac- ... New Delhi: Delhi recorded 295

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will flag off the first

phase of the pan-India rolloutof world’s largest Covid-19vaccination drive on Saturdayat 10:30 am via video confer-encing.

The drive involves twovaccines — Covishield andCovaxin — developed byAstraZeneca-Serum Instituteof India and Bharat Biotechrespectively.

A day before the vaccina-tion drive against coronavirus,Union Health Minister HarshVardhan on Friday said the stepis “probably the beginning ofthe end” of Covid-19. TheDrugs Controller General ofIndia (DCGI) had earlier thismonth approved OxfordCovid-19 vaccine Covishield,manufactured by the SerumInstitute, and indigenouslydeveloped Covaxin of BharatBiotech for restricted emer-gency use in the country,paving the way for a massiveinoculation drive.

This vaccination pro-gramme will cover the entirelength and breadth of the coun-try, with a total of 3006 session

sites across all States and UTswhich will be connected virtu-ally throughout the exercise.

In the first phase, prioritygroups and healthcare workers,both in Government and pri-vate sectors, including ICDSworkers, in all-around 100beneficiaries will be vaccinat-ed at each of the session sites.Adequate doses of both vac-cines have been already deliv-ered across the country. India,which reported first Covidcase late January last year iscurrently the world’s secondworst-hit country with over1.05 crore cases and over 1.51lakh deaths. Over, 213,000cases are currently active.

The phased rollouts willinitially vaccinate one crorehealthcare and two crore front-line workers, followed byaround 27 crore senior citizensand people with co-morbiditieslike diabetes, hypertension,organ transplants, etc. In all, 30crore people are going to beinoculated by July this year.

Speaking at the 146th IndiaMeteorological Departmentfoundation day, Vardhan cau-tioned that even if the vacci-nation drive is on, there shouldnot be lowering of guard and

people must follow Covid-19appropriate behaviour.

“Tomorrow is an impor-tant day...It is the last phase of

the battle against coronavirus.I say, this is probably the begin-ning of the end of Covid nowwhich is going to start tomor-

row,” Vardhan, who is alsoScience and Technology andEarth Sciences Minister, said.

The Minister on Friday

also reviewed preparations forthe vaccination drive as hevisited the Dedicated CovidControl Room which has beenset up on the Nirman Bhawanpremises of the Ministry.

He scrutinised the workingof CoWIN, an online digitalplatform, which will be used todrive the Covid-19 vaccinationprogramme in the country. Itwill facilitate real-time infor-mation of vaccine stocks, stor-age temperature and individu-alised tracking of beneficiariesfor Covid-19 vaccine. This dig-ital platform will assist pro-gramme managers across

national, State, and districtlevels while conducting vacci-nation sessions. It will helpthem track beneficiary cover-age, beneficiary dropouts, ses-sions planned v/s sessions heldand vaccine utilisation, said anofficial from the Ministry.

The platform enablesnational and State administra-tors to view & sort data of ben-eficiaries as per their gender,age & co-morbidity. They canalso view the metadata of vac-cinations and Adverse EventFollowing Immunizationreported from constituent dis-tricts across States and UTs.

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New Delhi:Delhi recorded295 freshCovid-19 caseson Friday, thelowest in morethan eightmonths, even as city HealthMinister Satyendar Jain said thepositivity rate has slipped to an“all-time low” of 0.44 per cent.

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The fund collection drive forthe construction of Ram

temple at Ayodhya kicked offon Friday with President RamNath Kovind donating �5 lakh.

The President made thecontribution to the RamJanmabhoomi Teerath KshetraTrust set up by theGovernment to look after theconstruction and managementof the temple.

“President Shri RamnathKovind ji contributes �5,00,100for the construction of ShriRam Temple in Ayodhya,” saidChampat Rai, general secretaryof the trust.

A delegation comprisingVishva Hindu Parishad’s inter-national working presidentAlok Kumar, Teerath KshetraTrust treasurer Govind DevGiri, and temple constructioncommittee head NripendraMisra met the President onFriday to seek his contribution.

“He is the first citizen of thecountry so we went to him toinitiate this drive. He donateda sum of �5,01,000,” he said.

The VHP and associatedbodies have launched a fund-raising campaign — Sri RamJanmabhoomi Mandir NidhiSamarpan Abhiyan — fromJanuary 15 to February 5 wherethey will reach out to Hindufamilies in different States.

Continued on Page 2

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Three people, including achild, were killed in a fire

that broke out at a scrap shopin West Delhi’s Kirti Nagar arealate on Thursday night.

Police said that two bodiesare yet to be identified but thethird body has been identifiedas 20 year-old Rohit, a driverand resident of Kamla NehruCamp.

Prima facie, it has come tonotice that Rohit came to thespot and started to douse thefire but got trapped in the fireand fell in the drain, police said.

According to fire depart-ment, a call was received ataround 10.50 pm and seven firetenders were rushed to the spot.

However, the fire from thescrap shop soon engulfed asmall shanty built above theshop where family of oneMonu, who worked at thescrap shop, lived.

������*������ #;<�=;>&�

Beware, those riding bikesand driving cars without

rear-view mirrors, and rearseat belts in cars will have toface action as the traffic policehas launched a special drive tocreate awareness among public.

Police said a special driveis being carried out in WestDelhi from January 13 toJanuary 23 wherein public areeducated on the importance ofusage of rear-view mirror andrear seat belt in order to staysafe and prevent accidents.

Prashant Gautam, DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), Traffic, Western Range,said the absence of rear viewmirrors and rear seat beltsresults in serious injuries andfatalities during accidents.“There is also very little com-pliance with provisions for useof rear-seat belts in cars. Thisis reflective of the poor aware-ness among riders,” he said.

����� ������%�����>@��#A<

The BJP announced fourcandidates for the Uttar

Pradesh Legislative Councilpolls, including three candi-dates who were re-nominatedand the fourth candidate isbureaucrat turned politicianAK Sharma, who joined theBJP on Thursday.

The re-nominated candi-dates are deputy Chief MinisterDr Dinesh Sharma, State BJPpresident Swantra Deo Singhand Laxman Acharya. The BJPis yet to announce the remain-ing 6 candidates. The last datefor filing nomination is January18. There are a total 12 seatsthat will go to the polls.

BJP sources said a Cabinetreshuffle is likely after thecouncil polls. Deputy ChiefMinister Dinesh Sharma islikely to be the next chairmanof the UP Legislative council as

incumbent Ramesh Yadav, whobelongs to the Samajwadi Party,is retiring on January 31.

AK Sharma, former IASofficer who is native of Maudistrict in east UP, is likely tobe inducted as a Deputy ChiefMinister. Sharma, a trustedlieutenant of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, is a former IASofficer from Gujarat cadre of1988 batch.

Continued on Page 2

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The ninth round talksbetween the farmers and

the Government on Fridayagain failed to end the stale-mate over the farm laws. Whilefarmers insisted on the repealof the laws and legal guaranteeof the MSP, the Governmentasked them to be more flexiblein their approach andexpressed willingness for nec-essary amendments.

However, both sides haveagreed to continue the dialoguedespite the Supreme Courtconstituting a committee tomediate on the issue.

The next round of talks willbe held on January 19, the daythe court-appointed committeeis likely to start consultingstakeholders to end theimpasse. This was the firstmeeting after the SupremeCourt stayed the enactment offarm laws until further orders’and appointed a four-membercommittee to resolve the dead-lock over farm laws.

In the meeting that lastedfor nearly five hours, includinga lunch break, the Governmentrequested unions to create aninformal group to discuss finerpoints of the laws so that a wayforward can be found in thewake of the Supreme Court’s

direction.Besides their major

demands, unions alleged policerepression on people associat-ed as well as not associated withthe ongoing protests, NIA raidson transporters and arthiyas inPunjab who are supportingfarmers’ protests and were pro-viding logistic support for theagitation.

The farmer representativeshave also raised questions onthe cases that have been lodged

against the farmers and urgedthe Government to addressthis and prevent it. During themeeting, the Karnal incidentwhere agitating farmers ran-sacked the venue of ManoharLal Khattar’s “kisan mahapan-chayat” came up.

“Talks took place overthree farm laws in a cordialatmosphere and detailed dis-cussions took place on someissues, but couldn’t reach adecisive stage. We suggested

they can form an informalgroup of people who canunderstand the laws better andprepare some concrete pro-posals, detailing what are farm-ers’ expectations and whatclauses are problematic forthem, which the Governmentcan consider with an openmind,” Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar said after the meetingwith the farmer leaders.

Continued on Page 2

���������*��� �A>�7�7

Bengali cine star-turnedTrinamool Congress MP

Shatabdi Roy on Friday said shewas going to Delhi where “itmay not be out of ordinary tomeet big politicians” like HomeMinister Amit Shah.

Roy on Thursday set offripples in the party ranks afterposting a cryptic Facebookmessage dropping hints abouta “decision” that she mighttake by “2 pm on January 16”.

In Delhi, Amit Shah metsenior BJP leaders from WestBengal to discuss strategy forthe coming Assembly elec-tions. Sate BJP chief DilipGhosh and senior leaders likeMukul Roy and KailashVijayvargiya were among thosewho called on Shah.

Even as Bengal BJPspokesperson SamikBhattacharya said that seniorpoliticians were welcome in hisparty if they changed their

ideology, Roy came out morevociferously on Friday con-demning her party leadershipfor partisan ways.

“There is no pointapproaching the topmost TMCleadership with one’s issues asthere is no surety that they willbe redressed … besides you donot know whether you will getchased for this or not,” Roy saidhours after resigning as thechairperson of TarapeethDevelopment Authority.

She was asked as to whyshe was not taking up herissues with Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee.

Reacting to the matter,senior party MP Saugato Roy

said, “Shatabdi has nothingagainst the Chief Minister…and all other issues can beaddressed … though I thinkshe will not quit the party.”

Whether the three-timeBirbhum MP would be joiningthe BJP on Saturday was notmade clear by her but theactor-turned politician con-sidered close to senior BengalMinister Subroto Mukherjeesaid she would “take a decisionin Delhi.”

On whether she wouldmeet Amit Shah, she said, “Ican’t say because it is not out ofordinary to meet big politicianslike him.” Earlier she said, “If Itake a decision, then I will letyou know at 2 pm on the 16thof January.”

Her Thursday Fan Clubpost reads: “It feels as if somepeople do not want that I go toyou. I am not informed aboutmany programmes. If I am notinformed, how can I go? Thisis causing me mental anguish.”

Roy, who was available forcomments to the media outsideher residence, however, couldnot be contacted by seniorleaders like SudipBandopadhyay and Derek OBrien over telephone, partysources said.

Continued on Page 2

&������� ����� 57))@

Sounding a word of cautionon the prevailing situation in

Jammu & Kashmir, GOC-in-C,Northern Command Lt GenYK Joshi on Friday said theinternal situation in J&K,which is stable and under con-trol, has the propensity to flareup at any time.

Interacting with the mediapersons after paying tributes tothe “bravehearts” of the IndianArmy on the occasion of ArmyDay in the NorthernCommand headquarters inUdhampur, Lt Gen Joshi alsoclaimed that Pakistan has notrelented from using terror as aninstrument of state policy.

Additionally, he went on tosay, “We have seen the Chinese

belligerence on the Line ofActual Control (LAC). Theyhave tried to alter the status quowhich has been contested withresolve and courage by theIndian Army.”

“Thirdly, the internal situ-ation in J&K, which is stableand under control, has thepropensity to flare up at anytime,” he said.

Elaborating, Lt Gen Joshisaid, “There is also the collusivefactor with threats rangingfrom supplying weapons tosharing of operational practices

and so on.”Referring to the prevailing

security scenario, the Armycommander said that therelentless operations on theLine of Control backed with arobust multi-agency grid inhinterland has forced the deepstate in Pakistan to recalibrateits approach to handle this sit-uation.

He said, “The terrorist net-works across are trying hard toabet recruitment by extensiveuse of social media”.

The recent DistrictDevelopment Council elec-tions have conveyed the resolveand will of the common peo-ple to shun separatism andembrace democracy, he said.

Commenting on the situ-ation in Jammu & Kashmir, LtGen Joshi said the abrogationof Article 370 and improve-ment in governance have beenmajor game changers thathelped in restoring the faith ofthe common people in theinstitutions of the Government.

Continued on Page 2

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Three people, including achild, were killed in a fire

at a scrap shop in west Delhi’sKirti Nagar area, police said onFriday.

The blaze was reportedaround 10:50 pm on Thursdayand seven fire tenders wererushed to the spot, according tothe fire department.

Small rooms built on top ofthe shop were also engulfed bythe fire, it said, adding thatsome people living there suf-fered injuries.

Three bodies were recov-

ered after the fire was doused.Two of the victims were in their20s and the third was a childbelow the age of 10 years, asenior police officer said.

One of the deceased hasbeen identified as 20-year-oldRohit, a resident of KamlaNehru Camp in Kirti Nagar.

Police said that initialprobe shows that Rohit gottrapped in the flames when heattempted to douse the fire andhis body was found in a drain.

The scrap shop is owned by50-year-old Tony Mehto, whois at large after the incident,they said.

The injured have beenadmitted to a hospital, thepolice officer said.

Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (West) Deepak Purohitsaid it is suspected that a shortcircuit could have led to thefire, but the exact cause will beknown after investigation iscompleted. "We have regis-tered a case at the Kirti Nagarpolice station under IndianPenal Code sections pertainingto negligent conduct withrespect to fire and culpablehomicide not amounting tomurder. The scrap dealer TonyMehto is absconding," he said.

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Two-wheeler riders drivingwithout rear-view mirrors

in west Delhi will have to faceaction as the traffic police haslaunched a special drive tocreate awareness about itsimportance to keep riders safeand prevent accidents, offi-cials said on Friday.

The special drive will beconducted in west Delhi fromJanuary 13-23 under whichpeople are being educatedabout the importance of rear-view mirror usage and rear seatbelt in order to stay safe andprevent accidents, they said.

Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (Traffic- Western Range)Prashant Gautam said he

observed that the absence ofrear view mirror or not wear-ing rear seat belts had resultedin serious injuries and fatalitiesduring an accidents.

"So to create awarenessand educate people about theirimportance to prevent any lossof lives in case of an accident,we decided to launch a specialdrive," he said.

An official order fromDeputy Commissioner ofPolice (Traffic) Western Rangestated that driving without arear-view mirror is not only"irresponsible" but also "dan-gerous" since it blocks a sig-nificant field of view of the dri-ver, causing collisions with thefaster moving vehicles frombehind.

"There is also very littlecompliance with provisions foruse of rear-seat belts in cars.This is reflective of the poorawareness among riders onthis crucial safety measure.

"There are already provi-sions under the Motor VehiclesAct of 1988 and Central MotorVehicles Rules 1989 for boththese issues," he stated.

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Air quality in Delhi wasrecorded under severe range

with overall Air Quality Index (AQI ) being measured at 492 onthe SAFAR for the second con-secutive day. As per the shortrange air quality weath-er forecast, the air qual-ity may improve mar-ginally on January 18.

According to(System of Air Qualityand WeatherForecasting AndResearch), a unit of Ministry ofEarth Sciences ( MoES ), theNational Capital experiencedunique chemical compositionof particulates related to somespecific source emissions.“Marginal improvement isexpected only by 18th Januarybut within the lower end ofSevere to higher end of verypoor,” it said.

“The secondary particu-late formation which multiplythe finer particles under con-genital conditions have alreadystarted as predicted and willaccelerate under present weath-er conditions,” “Extremely lowventilation and shallow bound-

ary layer height addingto the severity. Delhiexperiences greatervisibility reductionthan other pollutedmegacities under suchconditions due tosome unique chemical

composition of particulatesrelated to some specific sourceemissions,”SAFAR added.

Meanwhile, according toSAFAR, the values ofSuspended Particulate Matters( SPMs ) was recorded at 519and 342 in micrograms percubic for Particulate Matters(10) and ( 2.5 ) respectively onthe Air Quality Index.

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In order to identify the ‘taxevaders’ in National Capital,

the Delhi Government’s Tradeand Tax department conduct-ed 46 surveys across the city.

According to a senior offi-cial, the department has beenconducting survey of the firmsand taxpayers and during theDecember, 2020, the AntiEvasion Cell — I of State GSThas conducted 46 surveys onthe premises of taxpayers of dif-ferent natures such as PanMasala and Gutka, Scraps andmetals, hardware wherein thedepartment official find out Rs5.41 Crore tax and penaltyfrom the taxpayers.

“It has also blocked InputTax Credit of defaulter taxpayers of Rs. 4 crores. Duringthe search, some premises weresealed and prohibition orderswere also issued to the taxpay-

ers. The surveys continuedmore than 10 hours and evenin some cases, survey contin-ued beyond 24 hours,” said theofficial.

“The records of the tax-payers are further being scru-tinized and analysed for levy ofpenalty and recovery of moretaxes. The department is fur-ther intensifying its anti evasionactivities to prevent the evasionof tax and to bring all the tax-payers within the ambit ofGST,” said the official.

“It is going to take sternaction against the bogus deal-ers/ taxpayers through its spe-cial drives from now onwards.The department has raidedyesterday on the premises ofmanufacturer of IndustrialEssence Company and recov-ered tax of Rs. 22 Lakhs fromit. Gutaka companies havebeen found maximum taxevaders so far,” the officialadded.

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New Delhi: The Delhi Police'sCyber Cell has busted atransnational malware andfraud syndicate, cheatingunsuspecting people with offersof lucrative returns on anonline multi-level marketingcampaign, and arrested 12including two Chinese and aTibetan national, police said onFriday.

Police said that the accusedwere installing malwares indevices of people in the garb ofan MLM app.

In a series of raids thatstarted on January 13, a total of12 persons have been arrested,including two women Chinesenationals -- Chaohong DengDaoyong, 27, and Wu Jiazhi,54.

Around 40,000 confirmedvictims have been identifiedwho have been cheated ofcrores in 2 months. An amountof Rs 4.75 crore of cheatedmoney has been blocked invarious accounts and morethan Rs 25 lakh recovered in

cash from arrested Chinesenationals.

"The malicious app wasalso making millions of Indianusers follow thousands of socialmedia accounts of unknownorigin and ownership, withhuge potential of future misuseof this following by a foreignentity," DCP, Crime Crime,Anyesh Roy said.

The arrested Indianaccused have disclosed thattwo Chinese nationals --Yangqing Zhang and Bao Peng-- are the main kingpins of thishuge criminal conspiracy tocheat and defraud Indian citi-zens and hack into their devicesthrough malicious mobile apps.

These two are likely to beoperating from a foreign loca-tion outside India. Theylaunched this 'online scheme' toinduce and cheat maximumnumber of people by promis-ing lucrative returns based onmulti-level marketing model.

In the garb of this scheme,they designed and circulated

malwares to illegally capturepersonal data of unsuspectingpeople for illegitimate purpos-es. They also created megasocial media influencers in aclandestine manner, by promis-ing cash incentive for 'Follows'and 'Likes', on Facebook,Instagram, and YouTube. Theorigin and ownership of major-ity of these Facebook, YouTubeand Instagram accounts isunknown.

"These profiles can be usedin future by external elementsto manipulate and influenceIndian users who follow theseaccounts," Roy added.

The DCP advised: "Neverdownload and install any appthrough links sent overWhatsApp with promises ofquick money. These apps arenot verified and listed by gen-uine app store/Play Store andmay undertake malicious activ-ities. If any such app has beendownloaded, the same may begot uninstalled at the earliest."

PTI

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Chandigarh: Even as he pre-pared to kickstart the processof vaccination of 1.74 lakhhealth workers, with 40,000 tobe covered every day over thenext five days in the first phase,Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh on Fridaywrote to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi seeking freevaccine delivery to the poorpopulation of the state.

The Chief Minister, whileacknowledging the receipt of204,500 doses of Covishieldvaccine, thanked the PrimeMinister for making it availableon priority to the healthcareworkers of the state and Centralgovernments in Punjab.

At the same time, heearnestly requested the PrimeMinister "to consider providingfree vaccine to the poor popu-lation with a view to lessen thedisease burden and also ensur-ing a check on the furtherspread of transmission therebyallowing more economic activ-ity". Referring to reports citingsome Central governmentsources that, apart from thehealthcare workers and front-line workers, the remainingpopulation may not be pro-vided free vaccine, AmarinderSingh pointed out in his letterthat "the people of the statehave gone through a very dif-ficult time due to Covid where-

in economic activities havenosedived and the economyhas still not recovered from thisshock".

"It would be difficult for thepoorer sections of society topay for the vaccination," hesaid.

The Chief Minister said inhis letter that all steps are inplace to ensure vaccination ofhealthcare workers on priority,with frontline workers to followin the next phase.

The state has adequatecapacity for storing as well astransportation of the vaccine,he wrote, adding that sufficientnumber of vaccination siteshave been identified and alllogistics tied up.

Adequate number of vac-cinators have been identified,and trained and sufficientnumber of teams have beenmobilised and trained to man-age the vaccination sessions.

Pointing out that "theCovid has been an unparalleleddisaster in living memory, andheavy expenditure had to beincurred in our Covidresponse," the Chief Ministernoted that his government hadalready requested the Centrethat the accumulated balanceswith the state in the state dis-aster relief fund may be per-mitted to be used as necessaryfor Covid response. IANS

From Page 1Former party MP and

spokesperson Kunal Ghoshmet her for more than twohours at her residence.

“It was a casual meetingthough we talked some poli-tics,” Ghosh said adding shemight go to Delhi but I am notsure about that.” Shatabdi Royepisode apart, there is more tothe ongoing battle of attritionbetween Trinamool Congressand challenger BJP. NorthBengal Development MinisterGautam Deb too is now speak-ing in a dissenting voice aboutthe state of affairs in his party.

And he is joined by anoth-er rebel Minister Rajib Banerjeewho has not attended Cabinetmeeting on occasions consec-utively. Banerjee, a powerfulMinister, has already said thathe will give some live perfor-mance on the Facebook onSaturday noon, incidentallywhen Roy will take her “deci-sion.” The TMC is already tor-mented by a number of deser-tions that started fromMinisters Suvendu Adhikari,Laxmi Ratan Shukla, MP SunilMandal MLAs MihirGoswami, Silbhadra Dutta andothers.

From Page 1He further said the

Government is hopeful of dis-cussions reaching some deci-sive stage at the tenth round oftalks on January 19.

Tomar said he had noproblem with the farmers pre-ferring to continue talks withthe Government even as theSupreme Court has appointeda panel. “Unions want to con-tinue the dialogue with theGovernment and we have noproblem with that. The SC-appointed panel will also workfor the welfare of farmers,” hesaid.

The Minister also said theGovernment will present itsside before the committeepanel when invited.

According to sources,Tomar told the farmers duringthe meeting that while theGovernment has acceptedmost of their demands, it is thefarmers who are stuck and arenot moving ahead to break thedeadlock between the twoover farm laws.

Tomar said, “I did notwant to say it but the farmershave been telling media per-sons that they are firm on farmlaws but we have accepted most of yourdemands but the farmers arestuck on their stand. Farmersare not even taking a step for-ward.”

Farmer leader JoginderSingh Ugrahan said the unionsurged the Government torepeal the three laws, but theCentre was unwilling to do so.After the meeting, BharatiyaKisan Union leader RakeshTikait said farmers have madeit clear that they would not talkto the Supreme Court’sappointed committee and willtalk to Government only.Farmer leader Darshan Palsaid there was a good discus-sion on all three laws. “Thereis a possibility of some reso-lution. We are positive,” headded.

Farmers unions said theyare committed to continuingholding direct talks to resolvethe over-one-month-longdeadlock over three agri laws,even as a committee has beenformed by the Supreme Courtto resolve the deadlock. At themeeting, both the government

and farmers’ unions reaf-firmed their commitment tocontinue with the direct dia-logue process.

On the direct talksbetween the Government andfarmers continuing despitethe Supreme Court appointinga panel, Tomar said everyoneis fully committed to the apexcourt and the government willalso present its side before thecommittee panel when invit-ed.

“Unions want to continuethe dialogue with theGovernment and we have noproblem with that. The SC-appointed panel will also workfor the welfare of farmers,” hesaid. The Minister said solu-tion can emerge from theGovernment-farmers talks aswell as from the SC-appoint-ed panel’s deliberations.

Besides Tomar, Railways,Commerce and Food Minister

Piyush Goyal and Minister ofState for Commerce SomParkash were part of theGovernment side talking withrepresentatives of around 40farmer unions at the VigyanBhawan.

From Page 1Referring to the situation in

the Eastern Ladakh sector, Lt-Gen Joshi said the situation onground zero has been furthercomplicated by vagaries ofweather and terrain.

“The Indian Army has dis-played immense grit and deter-mination to match the Chinesebelligerence and give them abefitting reply. The ArmyCommander said that we at theNorthern Command are nowperched at a position of oper-ational advantage and are nego-tiating with the PLA from aposition of equivalence,” hesaid.

From Page 1He joined the BJP on

Thursday in presence of StateBJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh,Deputy CM Dinesh Sharmaalong with other senior office-bearers of the party.

A Bhumihar by caste,Sharma is a postgraduate inpolitical science fromAllahabad University and hailsfrom Kajha Khurd village inMuhammadabad Gohna tehsilin Mau district in eastern UP.He joined Modi as the secretaryin October 2001 when the for-mer took over as the GujaratCM. He continued to workwith him in the PMO from2014 onward as well and tookover as the MSME secretary inApril 2020.

While the top leadership ofthe State BJP seemed to betight-lipped over the possiblerole Sharma would be playingin UP. Those who have fol-lowed his stint as a bureaucratas Modi's lieutenant believethat he would not come to UPjust for becoming an MLC.

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From Page 1The trust estimates the

total cost of constructing thetemple complex at Ayodhyawill be about Rs 1,100 crore,including about Rs 300-400crore to be spent on the tem-ple itself.

Madhya Pradesh Chief

Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan also handed over acheque of Rs 1 lakh to VHPas a contribution to the con-struction of Ram temple. Former Bihar DeputyCM Sushil Kumar Modi alsoled a fund drive cause inPatna.

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New Delhi: In the ongoingcampaign against fake andbogus invoices and the resul-tant availment of inadmissibleITC, officers of the CentralGoods and Service Tax (CGST)Commissionerate, Delhi (East)have detected a case of issue offake bills of about �79.5 crore.

The syndicate was beingoperated by Nitin Jain, a CA, byfloating three firms i.e M/sAnshika Metals, M/s N.JTrading Co. and M/s A.JEnterprises using the identityof his family members, with theintent of passing of inadmissi-ble ITC, a finance ministryrelease on the issue said.

Nitin Jain, through thesefirms passed on fake ITC of�14.30 crore. All the e-way billsgenerated to transport thegoods were also found to be fic-titious.

Jain, who was abscondingsince December 16, 2020 final-ly appeared before the investi-gating officers on January 13.In his statement he acceptedthat he floated three fictitious

firms using the identity of hisfather Naresh Chand Jain andhis wife Diksha Jain for the pur-pose of availing and passing offake ITC, the release said.

Two other cases of fakebilling were detected by theDelhi East Commissionerateearlier in which Sachin Mittaland Dinesh Jain were foundinvolved in the issue of bogusinvoices and had passed fakeITC of Rs 12 crore and Rs 13.98crore respectively through theirfirms. The two had in theirstatements also revealed thename of Nitin Jain, and statedthat he had arranged/providedthem fake bills/invoices of dif-ferent firms on a commissionbasis.

Nitin Jain by using fakeentities on the identity of hisfamily members has knowing-ly committed offences, whichare cognisable and non-bailableoffences as per the provisionsof Section 132(5) and punish-able under clause (i) of sub sec-tion (1) of Section 132 of theAct ibid. IANS

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South Delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC)

organised a mega show ‘UrjaSatra’ to recognise work doneby corona warriors at KedarNath Sahni Auditorium inwhich noted poet Dr KumarVishwas recognized their worksand encouraged them.

Dr Vishwas, during theprogramme, presented a touch-ing description of Ram Kathawhich mesmerized the SDMCCovid Warriors present there.During his presentation ofRam Katha, he described prin-ciples and approach of life ofLord Ram due to which he wastermed asMaryadapuroshotam.

SDMC Mayor Anamika,during the programme saidthat the civic body has orga-nized the mega event to boostthe confidence of Covid war-riors. During the ongoingCovid-19 period officials,Corporation staff have beenserving people.

Delhi BJP President AdeshGupta said that during theCorona period Corporationsfaced severe fund crises as theDelhi Government did notprovide funds for this purpose.Even during such situations,the Corporation provided ser-vice to people living in itsarea, he said.

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The Delhi TransportCorporation (DTC) has

placed an order to induct 1,000low floor Air Condition CNG buses after a period of 12 years.

Congratulating the peopleof Delhi, Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal said that theDelhi Government is commit-ted to building a world-classpublic transport system alongwith reducing the environ-

mental pollution in Delhi. All the buses will be on-

road by September 2021. Withthe induction of these 1000buses, the total fleet of DelhiTransport Corporation willincrease to 4760, which hashappened for the first time inthe last 12 years due to the per-sistence of the Arvind-KejriwalGovernment.

Kejriwal tweeted,"Congratulations Delhi! After12 years of wait, orders havebeen placed by DTC to induct

1000 low floor AC CNG buses.All these buses will be on-roadby Sep 2021. DelhiGovernment is committed to apollution-free Delhi by build-ing a world-class public trans-port system. With these 1000buses, the total DTC fleet willincrease to 4760 and the totalbus fleet of Delhi (DTC andcluster) will increase to an all-time high of 7693. Despiteseveral obstacles in procure-ment in the past years, our gov-ernment has persisted and

delivered."The last purchase of the

new buses was undertaken inthe year 2008, with the last busbeing inducted in October2011. On 14th February 2015,the number of buses was 4879.Currently, DTC runs 3760buses. In the last 2 years, 1681cluster buses had been added toDelhi’s bus fleet. Presently,there are 6693 buses in Delhi -3760 DTC and 2933 clusterbuses.

These BS-VI complaints

Air-Conditioned buses wouldbe equipped with State-of-the-Art facilities like Real-TimePassenger Information sys-tems, CCTVs, Panic Buttons,GPS and other facilities, alongwith being differently-abledfriendly. Bharat Stage (BS)standards are emission stan-dards that regulate the outputof air pollutants from motorvehicles.

Delhi Transport MinisterKailash Gahlot said, "We areworking day and night to carry

forward Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal's resolve to makeDelhi's transport system thebest transport system in theworld.

Under this, 1000 AC busesare coming across after cross-ing obstacles with tirelessefforts. With this, the rumorsof the closure of DTC havebeen put to rest. We have beenworking to strengthen DTCfrom the beginning. DTC is thebackbone of Delhi's transportsystem, he said.

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The Ghaziabad CentralBureau Investigation (CBI)

court on Friday convictedSurendra Koli in the 12th caseof infamous Noida’s Nitharimurders. However, MohinderSingh Pandher was acquitteddue to lack of proof.

The sentence will be heardon January 16. The Court hadalready sentenced SurendraKoli to death in 11 cases ofNithari case.

In this case, the CBI hadsubmitted a charge sheetagainst both the accused forkidnapping, murder and rape.In the absence of strong evi-dence, the special court acquitted Moninder SinghPandher.

The CBI advocate JP

Sharma said that the court ofSpecial CBI Judge Amit VeerSingh in the 12th case ofNithari case was under con-sideration.

“Seeing the arguments andevidence of both, the court hasconvicted Surendra Koli whileMoninder Singh Pandher sur-vived due to lack of evidence,”said Sharma.

He said that on 12November 2006, a girl living inNithari had left her home toclean the kothi, after which shedid not return home.

“The family searched forher but did not find the daugh-ter but complained to the policebut the police did not registera report. After this, the mattercame to light after several bod-ies were found in the drainbehind the house of MoninderSingh Pandher,” he said.

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Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia inaugu-

rated Delhi Government’s Art,Culture and LanguagesDepartment’s flagship culturalscheme to support artists, streettheatre and performing arts fel-lowship at its launch pro-gramme on Friday.

“This is the first time thatin our country such a uniquescheme of cultural presentationof over 450 artists has beenlaunched in Delhi. This willcreate a taste for art and cultureamongst the people of Delhi.There will be live art perfor-mances on the streets as wehave created this fellowship togive an opportunity to theartists to express their art,”Sisodia said.

This fellowship has beenstarted by Sahitya KalaParishad under theDepartment of Arts, Cultureand Languages and the launchhappened at Delhi Secretariat.

Overall, 500 artists fromdiverse backgrounds such astheatre, music, dance and finearts have been selected for thisfellowship, with 500 more to beadded to the rooster in thefuture.

“Artists from Delhi, over thepast few years, have been ask-ing me to promote street art inDelhi. They pointed out that

though there are concentratedcultural hubs like Mandi House,we need to expand culture to allparts of the city. To give a plat-form to street artists to showcasetheir art,” Sisodia said.

The deputy chief ministeralso said that while travellingabroad to Europe and to otherprogressive countries in Asia,there is a thriving street art cul-ture wherein artists from allbackgrounds take their art topublic spaces.

“I saw guitarists, and mimeartists abroad performing onthe streets. When I spoke tothem, I realised that they allhave day jobs but do this intheir spare time. It is theirintrinsic relationship with artthat fulfils them, and why theyperform in public spaces overthe weekends,” Manish Sisodiasaid.

Sisodia said that India hasa tradition of an extremelyrich culture. “We created this to

give that opportunity to thosewho have talent in Delhi. Ourgovernment schools in Delhiremain vacant in the evening.We have decided to give theseartists that space in theevenings to refine their talent,and where they are trained,” headded.

Sisodia congratulated allthe fellows and the team mem-bers. “We had envisioned thisdream a year ago, which gotside-lined because of the pan-demic. I am happy that all for-malities of the fellowship areout of the way, and now it willgo out in the public — takingart to the streets,” he said.

These artists will performin a team of 10 every week atvarious public places in Delhi.Each team will be uniquebecause each team includesartists of different art forms.Teams of these artists havebeen trained by eminent the-atre experts.

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In view of Republic Day cel-ebrations in National Capital,

the Delhi Police held an inter-State co-ordination meetingwith senior police official ofother States.

The meeting was chairedby Delhi Police Commissioner,S N Shrivastava along withFaridabad CP, ADGP, Meerut,the CP, Noida and the CP,Gurugram. Senior officers fromHaryana, Punjab, HimachalPradesh, Uttarakhand, MadhyaPradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar,Rajasthan, Chandigarh andJammu and Kashmir.

According to Dr EIshSinghal, the Public RelationOfficer (PRO) of Delhi Police,the main objective of the meet-ing was to share intelligenceand terror related inputs in thebackground of present pre-vailing scenario and the situa-tion arising out of Farmers’ agi-tation and their handling by

respective States.“The officers also shared

inputs on anti-social elementtaking refuge in the NCR andthe need to launch concerteddrive regarding tenant verifi-cation and strengthening bor-der checking. The verificationof staff deployed on the dutiesrelated to Republic Dayarrangements was also dis-cussed,” said the PublicRelation Officer (PRO).

“The officers attending themeeting also shared intelli-gence on the interstate gangsoperating in the NCR and inci-dents related to supply of ille-gal arms, narcotics and sale &manufacturing of illicit liquor.

Traffic restrictions duringRepublic Day celebration andsteps to check unauthorisedintrusion at borders was alsodiscussed and officers of otherstates were requested to coop-erate for ensuring the implementation,” said the PRO.

“Joint action plan was dis-

cussed to curb the incidents ofcyber crime, proliferation ofillicit fire-arms, drug traffick-

ing and illegal manufacturing.Further, it was emphasized toascertain the source of sup-

ply/origin of traffickers when-ever detected,” the PRO added.

The Delhi CP appreciated

cooperation extended by theneighbouring State Police and

laid stress on co-ordinatedaction to prevent crime and

check on the movement ofinterstate criminals.

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Delhi Congress led by seniorCongress leaders Rahul

Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhion Friday staged a protest out-side Lieutenant Governor ofDelhi Anil Baijal's residencedemanding to repeal the threeanti-farmer agricultural laws“arbitrarily” passed by the Centre.

Addressing thousands ofparty workers, Rahul Gandhisaid that the BJP and its coreteam are harming the interest ofthe farmers through these threeanti-farmer agricultural laws.

Rahul said that these lawshave not been made to help thefarmers, but to destroy them, asthey are meant only to help andbenefit big Corporates.

Gandhi said that theCongress party is standing bythe farmers to protect theirinterest, and will continue to

support them, till the anti-farmer laws are rolled back.

"The Narendra Modi gov-ernment earlier tried to takeaway the land of farmers, whenit brought the land acquisitionAct and the Congress partystopped them at that time.

Now the BJP and their two-three friends are once againattacking the farmers and havebrought these three farm laws,"he also alleged.

The Congress is taking outprotest marches at all statecapitals in the country and willgherao Raj Bhawans.

The protests come on a daythe government is holding thenext round of talks with lead-ers of farm unions to end thedeadlock over their agitation.

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The Economic OffencesWing (EOW) of Delhi

Police has arrested a 43-year-old man for allegedly dupingover 70 people of Rs 3 crore onthe pretext of allotting themkiosks on lease in a mall.

The accused has been iden-tified as Shashank Jain, a resi-dent of Gurgaon. He wasarrested on Wednesday. Twomore accused -- LabsangTenzing Bhutia and GauravMittal-- had been arrested inthe case earlier, police said.

According to Dr O PMishra, the JointCommissioner of Police, EOW,the complainants, all mem-bers of Rohini MonasteryMarket Association, allegedthat Mittal and others toldthem that their firm RedReality Infratech Pvt Ltd hadtaken an area of 9,607 squarefeet at City Centre in Rohini onlease for five years.

“Thereafter, the companyallotted the complainants areaon lease for five years for com-mercial purpose. The area wasdivided into 78 small shops. Allthe 78 complainants were invit-ed to take over possession ofthe shops for five years fromJuly 2015 to June 2020 for aconsideration amount of Rs 3.5lakh each with the offer torefund Rs 2.5 lakh after theexpiry of the period,” said theJoint CP.

“The accused also issued acircular asking the members topay Rs 75,000 toward mainte-nance charge to get rid of themonthly charges of Rs 5,000 tillJune 30, 2020 and accordingly,they furnished new allotmentletters to all 78 allottees,” saidthe Joint CP.

“During investigation, itwas revealed that the accusedused to issue allotment lettersto victims and provided themkiosks on lease against pay-ment, without having anyauthority to sub-lease them.After collecting Rs 3 crore, theaccused shut down their officesand fled,” said the Joint CP.

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Senior Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader and MLA

Atishi on Friday said that theBJP should immediately resignfrom the MunicipalCorporations and allow theAAP to rule it for just one yearbefore the election so that thecitizens of Delhi can comparefive year tenure of BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) one yeartenure of AAP in MCD.

Atishi said "The Kejriwalgovernment on Thursdayreleased Rs.938 crores for theBJP ruled MCDs to pay thesalaries of their employees.The COVID-19 pandemic alsohad an impact on the revenueof the Delhi government budespite all the limitations, theDelhi government came for-ward to support the employeesof the BJP ruled Corporationsas they did not get their salaryfor the last several months."

The AAP leader said, "TheBJP councillors have increasedtheir assets 10 times during

their tenures in MCD. If youlook into any schemes of theBJP ruled MCD you will findsome corruption. If you go toany area in Delhi you will seepiles of garbage because the BJPruled MCD does not performany of the duties. They havedone corruption with the med-icines to combat malaria anddengue.

Replying to the charges,Delhi BJP spokespersonPraveen Shankar Kapoor hassaid AAP has crossed all lim-its of cheap politics on MCDsfunds issue.

The BJP leader said that thetruth is that the fund of Rs 938crores given by the AAP gov-ernment is less then even theactual dues of MCDs for cur-rent year 2020-21's third quar-ter.

The BJP Spokesperson saidthat AAP government shouldrelease due funds as per the3rd, 4th and 5th Delhi FinanceCommission's reccomenda-tions which amount to aroundRs 13000 crores.

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In its bid to ensure continu-ous water supply across the

national Capital before thesummer season, Delhi Ministerof Water and Delhi Jal Board(DJB) Chairman Satyendar Jainon Friday reviewed the wateraugmentation project on Fridayand officials to ensure com-pletion of all projects beforesummers of 2021.

The meeting was convenedto review the status of variousongoing projects of the DJB,including water augmentationand installation of tubewell atHaiderpur and ChandrawalWater Treatment Plant, andconstruction of Innovation CellBuilding, etc.

In the meeting, Jain wasapprised that the Water treat-ment capacity is being aug-

mented at Haiderpur WTP by16 MGD and at ChandrawalWTP by 12 MGD. Also,ammonia removal plants arebeing installed at Ranney wellsin East Delhi which will aug-ment supply by four MGD.Bawana WTP also has thepotential to give an extra out-put of two MGD.

The minister instructed theDJB officials to complete all theprojects before the summer of2021 and no file should be keptpending for more than 24 hoursat any level for these projects.

"Providing water is the

topmost priority and greencorridor should be provided forthe processing of all the fileswhich are aimed at immediateaugmentation in the water sup-ply," he said.

"We are trying to add 34MGD before April 2021 thatcan cater to around 1.5 lakhhouseholds. Delhi governmenthas already laid pipeline in1622 colonies and releasedwater in 1571 colonies. Thisadditional water will providerelief to around 7.5 lakh pop-ulation and reduce stress onpipelines." he added.

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In view of Republic Day cel-ebrations, the Delhi Police

on Friday prohibited opera-tion of "sub-conventional aer-ial platforms" includingUAVs, paragliders and hot airballoons over the nationalCapital from January 20.

According to the orderissued by Delhi PoliceCommissioner S NShrivastava, the directive willcome into force on January 20and will remain for a period

of 27 days up to February 15,both days inclusive, unlesswithdrawn earlier.

The order stated that cer-tain criminal, anti-social ele-ments or terrorists inimical toIndia may pose a threat to thesafety of the general public,dignitaries and vital installa-tions by the use of 'sub-con-ventional aerial platforms'like para-gliders, para-motors,hang gliders, UnmannedAerial Vehicles (UAVs),Unmanned Aircraft Systems(UASs) among others.

“Therefore, the Delhi

Police has prohibited the flyingof sub-conventional aerial plat-forms over Delhi on the occa-sion of Republic Day anddoing so shall be punishableunder section 188 of the IndianPenal Code," the order stated.

The copies of the ordershould be affixed on thenotice boards of the offices ofall DCPs/Addl DCPs/ACPs,Tehsils, all police stationsand offices of the all themunicipal corporations,PWD, DDA and the DelhiCantonment Board, it furtherstated.

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Ahead of the upcomingAssembly polls in five

States, the ElectionCommission (EC) on Fridaystepped in to protect officialsassigned to the election duty toensure free, fair and impartialelections. Taking note of vic-timisation of the officials onflimsy grounds after the elec-tion is over, the ElectionCommission (EC) on Fridaysaid States and UnionTerritories will need itsapproval before initiating dis-ciplinary action against thechief electoral officers andother officers up to the jointchief electoral officer duringtheir tenure and also up to oneyear from its expiry.

In a letter addressed to thecabinet secretary, DoPT secre-tary, chief secretaries and chiefelectoral officers of all Statesand Union Territories onThursday, the EC said it hasnoted some incidents of “vic-timisation” of CEOs and addi-tional, joint, deputy and assis-tant CEOs in the post-electionperiod.

The preparations for theAssembly polls in five States-Tamil Nadu, Kerala, WestBengal, Puducherry and Assamare on. The terms of the assem-blies in Tamil Nadu, Kerala,West Bengal, Puducherry andAssam will end on May 24,2021, June 1, 2021, May 30,2021, June 8, 2021 and May 31,2021 respectively.

In its direction, the EC saidnot reduce facilities such asvehicle, security and otherfacilities/amenities provided to

the office of the Chief ElectoralOfficer for proper discharge ofhis/her duties.

The Commission hasnoted some incidents of vic-timization of CEOs,Addl/Joint/Deputy/AssistantCEO in the post-election peri-od. Many a times they are tar-geted for political vendetta bycharging them with discipli-nary cases on flimsy groundsfor their earlier tenures in theState Government after thecompletion of their tenure. Anenvironment of fear is createdto convey that the upright,steadfast and sincere officerscan be taken to task at any time,on the flimsiest of the grounds,”the EC noted. It said in such ascenario, these officers are notonly “demotivated but alsotheir morale is greatly reduced,which severely affect theirefforts to ensure free and fairelections”. “Left to go on unfet-tered, it causes a situationwhere officials are reluctant tojoin as CEOs and those who areinducted face the uncertainty offair treatment in post-electionphase,” it observed.

“Commission is sanguinein the expectation that all con-cerned shall strictly adhere tothis regimen in letter as well asin spirit,” EC said in a com-munication sent to Cabinetsecretary, all state/UT chiefsecretaries, DoPT secretary

and state chief electoral offi-cers.

The letter states that EC isof the considered view thatpositive protection to electionofficials from motivatedharassment is essential toenable the electoral officials incarrying out the electoral func-tions in free, fair, impartial andfearless manner. The letterpointed out that the matter oftaking action against any offi-cer on election duty was sub-jected to the scrutiny of theSupreme Court. In 2000, theapex court had upheld that nei-ther any action can be initiat-ed against the officers on elec-tion duty by the state govern-ment nor can the governmentrefuse to act on its advice toinitiate action against errantofficials.

The Commission desig-nates a CEO for state andunion territories in consulta-tion with the respective gov-ernments. Chief electoral offi-cers are essentially an exten-sion of the Commission in thestates and union territories tocarry out multifarious electionrelated functions of theCommission. Once appointed,the CEO comes under directcontrol, superintendence anddiscipline of the ElectionCommission and remains ondeputation to ElectionCommission.

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Contrary to the approvalgiven by the country’s top

drug regulator which said thatHyderabad-based BharatBiotech’s Covaxin could beadministered to those above12 years of age, the UnionHealth Ministry, in a recentcommunique, has said thatboth shots are recommendedand approved for people above18 years of age.

Sources said that theMinistry, in a letter issued onJanuary 14, provided com-parative details of the twovaccines – Bharat Biotech’sCovaxin and University ofO x f o r d - A s t r a Z e n e c a’sCovishield which is beingmanufactured by SerumInstitute of India – approvedby Drug Controller General ofIndia (DCGI).

The factsheet has details ofthe vaccines, which will be dis-tributed to cold chain pointsand vaccination centres forready reference.

However, in the letter, theMinistry says that both vac-cines are recommended andapproved for people above 18years of age. This contradictsthe earlier DCGI approvalwhich said that BharatBiotech’s Covaxin could beadministered to those above12 years of age.

The Health Ministry’s let-ter – under the subhead‘Precautions and contraindi-cations for COVID-19 vacci-nation’ reads: “1. Authorisedage group: Under the EUA,COVID-19 vaccination is indi-cated only for 18 years andabove. 2. Co-administration ofvaccines: If required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccinesshould be separated by aninterval of at least 14 days. 3.Interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines is not permitted:Second dose should also be ofthe same COIVD-19 vaccinewhich was administered asthe first dose.”

However, pregnant andlactating women should not beadministered the shots as theyhave not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine clinicaltrial so far, the health ministrysaid. “Interchangeability ofCovid-19 vaccines is not per-mitted. Second dose shouldalso be of the same Covid-19vaccine which was adminis-tered as the first dose,” the let-ter written by ManoharAgnani, Additional Secretaryin the Ministry.

According to the officials,95 per cent of the 1.1 croredoses of Covishield vaccinepurchased by the Governmenthave been delivered andshipped to nearly 60 con-signee points across India inlast two days. Similarly, of the55 lakh doses of indigenouslydeveloped Covaxin ofHyderabad-based BharatBiotech ordered by the Centre,the first tranche of 2.4 lakhdoses have been dispatched to12 States.

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The Election Commission(EC) will extend “full assis-

tance” to the Government inidentifying targeted beneficia-ries at the polling station levelfor the Covid-19 vaccinationdrive, but wants health author-ities to delete the data once theinoculation exercise is over.

The EC after detaileddeliberations, wrote back to thehome secretary on January 4,saying it has decided to render“full assistance” in the vacci-nation drive. But asked thegovernment to ensure that thedata is strictly used for the lim-ited purpose for which it hasbeen sought, the sources said.

On December 31 last year,Union Home Secretary AjayBhalla wrote to Chief ElectionCommissioner Sunil Arorarequesting the commission’shelp in identifying peopleabove 50 years of age at thepolling station level. On theissue of data security, thehome secretary wrote thatthe Government is complyingwith the current best practicesfor ensuring cyber security.He has assured the poll panelthat the data will be used onlyfor the purpose of vaccina-tion, the sources said.

The commission also saidthat the data should be delet-ed by health authorities once

the vaccination exercise con-cludes, they said. Some seniorEC officials will be in touchwith nodal officers of theUnion home ministry andthe Union health ministry tosettle day-to-day issues, thesources said.

Last month, officials ofthe Union health ministryand the Niti Aayog had metthe EC top brass seeking theirhelp in the distribution ofCOVID-19 vaccine given thepoll panel’s robust network atthe booth level. The letter bythe home secretary is a followup to the meeting, the sourcessaid.

According to guidelinesfor the COVID-19 vaccina-tion drive, the latest electoralroll for Lok Sabha and assem-bly elections will be used toidentify the priority popula-tion over the age of 50 years.Twelve identity documents,such as Voter ID, Aadhaarcard, driving licence, passportand pension document, willbe required for beneficiaryidentification.

According to the govern-ment, the shots will be offeredfirst to an estimated one crorehealthcare workers, andaround two crore frontlineworkers, and then to personsabove 50 years of age, fol-lowed by persons youngerthan 50 years of age with asso-ciated comorbidities.

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More than traditional caus-es such as poverty, inad-

equate sanitation and pooreducation, it is the climatechange-induced higher tem-peratures which is majorlycontributing to low diet qual-ity and malnutrition amongyoung children in many partsof the world, researchers havefound after assessing diet diver-sity among one lakh kids underfive in 19 countries.

“Certainly, future climatechanges have been predicted toaffect malnutrition, but it sur-prised us that higher temper-atures are already showing animpact,” said lead authorMeredith Niles, an assistantprofessor of Nutrition andFood Sciences at the Universityof Vermont and a fellow at theuniversity’s Gund Institute forEnvironment.

The study published injournal EnvironmentalResearch Letters, found that thenegative effects of climate —especially higher temperature—on diet diversity are greaterin some regions than the pos-itive effects of education, water

and sanitation and povertyalleviation — all commonglobal development tactics.

Of the six regions exam-ined — Asia; Central and SouthAmerica; North, West, andSoutheast Africa, five had sig-nificant reductions in dietdiversity associated with high-er temperatures.

Researchers focused ondiet diversity, a metric devel-oped by the United Nations tomeasure diet quality andmicronutrient intake.Micronutrients, such as iron,folic acid, zinc, and vitamins Aand D, are critical for childdevelopment. A lack ofmicronutrients is a cause ofmalnutrition, which affects oneout of every three childrenunder the age of five. Dietdiversity is measured by count-ing the number of food groupseaten over a given time period,as per the study.

The researchers found thaton an average, children hadeaten food from 3.2 foodgroups (out of 10) — includingmeat and fish, legumes, darkleafy greens and cereal greens-- in the previous 24 hours. Bycontrast, diet diversity in

emerging economies or moreaffluent countries such asChina have been more thandouble this average (6.8 forchildren 6 and under).

“Higher rainfall in thefuture may provide importantdiet quality benefits in multi-ple ways, but it also depends onhow that rain comes,” said co-author Molly Brown of theUniversity of Maryland. “If it’smore erratic and intense, as ispredicted with climate change,this may not hold true.”

“Diet diversity was alreadylow for this group,” said UVMco-author Brendan Fisher.“These results suggest that, ifwe don’t adapt, climate changecould further erode a diet thatalready isn’t meeting adequatechild micronutrient levels.”

The researchers had used30 years of geo-coded temper-ature and precipitation data,and socioeconomic, ecological,and geographic data.

The disturbing findingsdoes not bode well for thefuture generation with aUNICEF report already point-ing out that some 144 millionchildren worldwide are stunt-ed by malnutrition.

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Sounding a note of warningto China, Army Chief

General MM Naravane onFriday said no one should testthe patience of India. He, how-ever, reiterated that the nationis committed to resolve the cur-rent impasse through dia-logues.

He also said a “befitting”response was given to Chinawhen it tried to change the sta-tus quo at the Line of ActualControl(LAC). Addressing theArmy Day parade, Naravanesaid a “befitting response” wasgiven to the “conspiracy” tomake unilateral changes onthe border and that the sacri-fice of the Galwan heroes ineastern Ladakh will not gowaste.

“We are committed toresolve disputes through talksand political efforts but no oneshould make any mistake oftesting our patience,” he said.

“I want to assure the coun-try that the sacrifice of theGalwan heroes will not gowaste. Indian Army will notallow any harm to the country’ssovereignty and security,” theChief said.

Twenty Indian Army per-sonnel including the com-manding officer were killed ina brawl with the Chinese troopson June 15 last year in theGalwan valley. It marked themost serious military conflictsbetween the two sides indecades.

Though it suffered casual-ties in the hand-to-hand com-bat that day , China is yet todisclose the number of its sol-diers killed and injured.Reports indicate that more

than 35 Chinese soldiers werealso killed in the clash.

Stressing the point thatIndia favoured talks to resolvethe dispute leading to disen-gagement and de-escalation atthe LAC now on for the lastnine months, Naravane saideight rounds of military talkswere held between India andChina to bring the situationunder control.

“Our efforts will continueto find a solution to the currentsituation on the basis of mutu-al and equal security, basis ofmutual and equal security,” hesaid.

Referring to cross-borderterrorism from Pakistan, theChief said the neighbouringcountry continues to provide asafe haven to terrorists.

More than 300-400 ter-rorists are ready to infiltrate, hesaid.

“There was an increase of40 per cent in the ceasefire vio-lations last year which is theproof of Pakistan’s sinisterplans. There were also attemptsto smuggle weapons usingdrones, he added. Naravanesaid more than 200 terroristswere killed by the securityforces in Jammu and Kashmirin different operations last year.

On the issue of modern-ization, he said the army is tak-ing concrete steps. Outliningsome of the procurementsundertaken in the last fewmonths in the backdrop of thestand-off at the LAC, Naravanesaid under emergency and fast-track schemes, the Army pro-cured equipment worth about�5,000 crores and signed con-tracts worth �13,000 crores inthe last year under capital pro-curement.

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Congress leadersRahul Gandhi and

Priyanka Gandhi led theparty’s countrywideprotests, billed KisanAdhikar Divas in supportof the agitating farmersand said the grand oldparty will not relent tillthe new farm laws arerepealed which invitedsharp reactions fromUnion AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar.

On the day when yetanother round of talksbetween the Governmentand farmers unionsremained inconclusive,Rahul alleged the PrimeMinister Narendra Modidoes not respect farmersand wants to tire outthose protesting againstthe new agriculture laws.

Tomar hit back atRahul for his remarksagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and saideven the leaders of his

own party do not takethe Gandhi scion seri-ously and laugh at hisremarks. Addressing themedia after the meetingwith the farmers, Tomarsaid Gandhi’s statementsand actions are laughedat even within his ownparty.

“The Congress man-ifesto in 2019 itself hadpromised these reformsand therefore, Congresschief Sonia Gandhi andformer Congress chiefRahul Gandhi should tellus whether they werelying then or are lyingnow,” said theAgriculture Minister .

Sitting at JantarMantar protest site,Rahul alongwith his sib-ling and party generalsecretary Priyanka saidfarmers will not relent tillthe laws are repealed.The duo was joined byparty MPs in theirdemonstration againstthe legislations. “Thetalks are being held only

to delay. PM Modi thinkshe has the power and willtire the farmers out, buthe is mistaken,” RahulGandhi said talking tomedia.

Congress has beendemanding a repeal ofthe farm laws, allegingthat they are against theinterests of farmers andfarming and are aimed athelping only the “corpo-rate friends” of the BJP.The three farm laws,enacted in Septemberlast year, have been pro-jected by the govern-ment as major reforms inthe agriculture sectorthat will remove middle-men and allow farmersto sell anywhere in thecountry.

The party on Fridaydemonstrated protest atState capitals cross thecountry and at placeslike Lucknow protestorswere also detained.Massive protests werealso reported fromKolkata, Jaipur.

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The construction work of thenew Parliament building

started on Friday, a day after‘Makar Sankranti’, consideredauspicious.

“Excavation work hasstarted at the site where a suf-ficient number of labourershave been engaged to ensurethat the project is completed ontime”, officials said. The site ofthe construction is adjacent tothe existing Parliament, whichwas completed in 1927.

The new building is beingconstructed by Tata ProjectsLtd. The project is estimated tocost Rs 971 crore. Tata ProjectsLtd. said despite the 35-daydelay in the commencement ofthe construction work, it isconfident that it will be able todeliver the project on or beforetime.

The project was scheduledto start in December last, butconstruction and demolition atthe site was put on hold whilelegal challenges to the projectwere pending with the apexcourt. On December 7, theSupreme Court allowed theground-breaking ceremony totake place after the government

submitted an affidavit that itwould not start construction,demolition and tree transplan-tation until the court gave itsjudgment. With the judgmentclearing the project on January5, the Central Public WorksDepartment moved the HCCfor approval, which was grant-ed on Monday, according toHUA Secretary Durga ShankerMishra.

The new Parliament build-ing will have a triangular shapeand is expected to be complet-ed by the 75th anniversary ofIndia’s independence in 2022.The government plans to holdthe monsoon session ofParliament in 2022 in the newbuilding. PM Modi had laid thefoundation stone for the new

Parliament building onDecember 10 last year.

Earlier this week, a 14-member heritage panel gave itsapproval to the new Parliamentbuilding while also giving thego-ahead to the Central Vistaredevelopment project. TheSupreme Court had asked theCentre to seek prior approvalfrom the panel and other rele-vant authorities before startingthe construction of the newbuilding.

The construction workcould not start earlier as thegovernment had assured theSupreme Court that no con-struction or demolition workwould commence till the apexcourt decided the pendingpleas on the issue.

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The CBI on Friday con-ducted searches in con-

nection with investigation oftwo separate cases related tobank fraud involving anamount of about �340 crore.

The agency has registereda case on a complaint fromState Bank of India (SBI)against a private companyNaftogaz India PrivateLimited based at Delhi/Noidaand others including its CMDand unknown public ser-vants/persons for causing analleged loss of about �219.81crore to SBI.

“It was alleged in thecomplaint that the saidaccused firm has cheated theSBI by way of diversion ofbank funds, fraudulent trans-actions, criminal misappro-priation, submission of falsestock / debt statements etc.,”the CBI said in a statement.

In the complaint, the SBIalleged that the company wasincorporated in 2005 startingas EPC contractor for explo-ration, drilling, extraction andproduction of mineral oils,

natural gas and petroleumproducts. The alleged fraudcame to light when ForensicAuditors submitted a reporton February 18, 2020 for theperiod April 1, 2010 to March31, 2014.

Searches were conductedat three locations includingDelhi / NCR at the office andresidential premises of theborrower company and otheraccused persons, it said.

The other case was regis-tered on a complaint fromPunjab National Bank (PNB)against a private companyHari Har Overseas PrivateLtd, Nissing, Karnal (Haryana)engaged in rice milling activ-ities at Karnal and othersincluding its directors/guar-antor and unknown publicservants/persons for causingan alleged loss of about�121.75 crore to the bank.

It was alleged that the saidaccused had fraudulently soldits stock as well as machinery,which was hypothecated to thebank. It was further allegedthat the accused had notdeposited the sale proceedswith the bank.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on Friday

grilled senior NCP leader andformer Minister EknathKhadse in connection with aquestionable land deal in Pune,for seven-long hours.

Khadse —who was to haveappeared before the ED onDecember 30, but had soughttime to do so because of hisindisposition —arrived at theinvestigation agency’s office at11 am. After a seven-hour-longgrilling, he stepped out of theED’s office at around 6 pm.

Talking to media personsafter the first round of ques-tioning, Khadse said: “I coop-

erated fully with the ED todayand will continue to do so evenin future. I have replied to alltheir questions and provided allevidence required in the mat-ter. I will continue to providewhatever information theyrequire from me”.

S i x t y - e i g ht - y e a r- o l dKhadse, who had quit the BJPand joined the NCP onOctober 23, had said soonafter joining the Sharad Pawar-led party that “if the BJPunleashes ED against me, thenI will release CDs against theBJP leaders”.

Responding to the ED’ssummons, Khadse had earliersaid: “The land in the MIDCdeal has been transferred in the

name of my wife. I haveabsolutely nothing to do withthis land deal. Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Pune, theAnti Corruption Bureau,Nashik, Income Tax depart-ment and a judicial committeeheaded by retired Bombay HCjudge Dinkar Zoting, hadlooked into the allegationsagainst me. Now the ED hassummoned me for questioning.I will appear before it,” Khadsehad said.

It may be recalled that onJune 4, 2016, Khadse hadresigned from his post as theState Revenue Minister overirregularities in the purchase ofa plot of land at Bhosari inPune district.

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The CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment in Kerala

would create “at least” two mil-lion jobs for the unemployedpeople in the State in the nextfive years, according to ThomasIssac, Minister of Finance.

Presenting the fifth and lastbudget of the Government ledby Pinarayi Vijayan in the Stateassembly on Friday (Keralagoes to the polls to elect a newlegislative assembly by April2021) , Isaac said despite thenon-coopetration from theCentre, Kerala has doneexceedingly well in the last fiveyears.

“The changes that has hap-pened in the global employ-ment market and the superbexpertise gained by Kerala incontrolling the Covid-19 pan-demic has helped us to addressthe problem of unemployment.We are opening a digital plat-form in February 2021 tolaunch the massive employ-ment generation programme.This would be a trend setter forthe rest of the world,” disclosedIssac in his record-breakingbudget speech which he readout in 3 hours 20 minutes.

All people in the Statewould get ba minimum month-ly pension of Rs 1600, said theminister. “Every householdwould be given laptops and freeinternet connection. Poor sec-tions of society would contin-ue receiving food kits free ofcost. The government wouldgenerate eight lakh jobs in2021-2022 itself. Those desiringto set up business ventureswould be given loans to buycomputer and allied instru-ments for their office work.

The minister who has a PhD in changing life style of coirworkers in the State has allo-cated Rs 112 crore for the coirsector in the State. “We will cre-ate two lakh jobs in agriculturesector. We will also makeKerala free of fallow land,”said Issac.

There are no new taxes inthe budget proposals. The min-ister has promised soft loans toall homemakers in the State tobuy smart gadgets to simplifyand minimise their workloadin kitchens.

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Possibilities of VK Sasikala(the jailed former aide of late

Jayalalithaa) joining hands withthe AIADMK led by ChiefMinister Edappadi Palaniswamyand his deputy OPanneerselvam got brightenedon the auspicious occasion ofPongal which was observedwith gaiety across Tamil Naduon Thursday.

The initial signals of such ascenario came from SGurumurthy, Tamil Nadu’s lead-ing political commentator andchief editor of Thuglak, thepopular magazine launched bylate Cho Ramaswamy. Sasikalawho has been convicted forfour years in a disproportion-ate wealth case will come out ofthe Bangalore jail anytime afterJanuary 27, according to SPandian, her lawyer.

“If there is a realignment offorces and there is unity, it isalways good. But the final wordis with the party leadership,” saidVaigaichelvan, former Ministerand AIADMK's spokesman.

Terming the Dravidianpolitical parties and other fringeparties as the major threat facedby Tamil Nadu and India,Gurumurthy said it was the

responsibility of all patrioticpeople in the State to ensure thedefeat of the DMK and its allies.“The DMK is an embodiment ofcorruption, favoritism, com-munalism and anti-national-ism. Though the AIADMK toois corrupt, it has got certain pos-itive characteristics. TheAIADMK is nationalistic asenvisaged by party founderMGR and his chosen successorJayalalithaa. But the DMK is afamily owned enterprises whichhas made corruption its hall-mark,” said Gurumurthy whileaddressing a public meetingheld late Thursday evening tomark the 51st anniversary of themagazine Thuglak.

He said he was borrowingthe words of Arun Shourie whoasked all non-Congress politicalparties in 1989 to come togeth-er to defeat the Rajiv GandhiGovernment. “Those were thedays when the Government atthe Centre was enmeshed in cor-ruption charges. Military dealsinvolving purchase of Bofors,HDW ships, Scorpene submarines and the Fairfax con-troversy were plaguing the RajivGandhi led Government. Theopposition parties were dividedand were confused over aligningwith the rival parties. It was thenthat Arun Shourie who was the

editor of Indian Express toldthen that their house was in fireand not to waste time waiting forGanga water to douse the flames.Shourie told them to make useof even drainage water to dousethe fire,” said Gurumutrthy.

He explained that his friendRajinikanth opted out of thepolitical race only because of illhealth. “You should rememberthat we don’t have an alternateleader to take over fromRajinikanth if there is moredeterioration in his health. Wecannot afford to lose Rajini,” saidGurumurthy.

What stood out in hisspeech was the comments hemade about judiciary. “Most ofthe judges, from trial courts tothe apex court, are having alle-giance to the persons whoappointed and promoted them.The case involving former ITminister and DMK leaderDayanidhi Maran is an idealexample.

A judge belittled the find-ings that the nation has lost hun-dreds of crores because of theprivate telephone exchange setup by Maran in his Chennaihome misusing his officialpower. But the judge asked theformer minister to pay up Rs 1.5crore and disposed of the case,”said Gurumurthy.

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Vehicular traffic and move-ment of security convoys,

which remained suspendedalong the 300-Km longJammu-Srinagar NationalHighway since January 3, is setto be restored from Sundaywith the completion of 120-foot-long, 40-ton bailey bridgenear Kela Morh in Ramban dis-trict in a record time of threedays.

After the mandatory test-ing of the bailey bridge the roadlink would be thrown open torush essential supplies to thekashmir valley. Braving intensecold wave conditions, men andmachinery of the Border RoadsOrganisation (BRO) are work-ing round the clock to completethe job at hand.

Chief Engineer of ProjectBeacon of the Border RoadsOrganisation, Brigadier IKJaggi along with DeputyCommissioner Ramban,Nazim Zai Khan Friday super-vised the bridge constructionwork on ground zero.

Briefing media personsBrigadier IK Jaggi said “Morethan 50 percent of the work on

120 foot long, 40 ton baileybridge has been completed andthe left over work is expectedto be completed on January 16.After mandatory testing thelocal authorities are hoping tothrow open the road link formovement of traffic on January17.

Brigadier IK Jaggi said,“we had launched the con-struction work of the 120 footlong bailey bridge at the loca-

tion on January 14 and bySaturday evening we will com-plete the task”. He said, due tothe collapse of the retainingwall of the existing bridge a 28meter long gap was created. Hesaid, “we have covered the gapusing a 120 foot long span as itis considered safe to restore thelink”.

Chief Engineer BRO said,

“we have put all the resourcesavailable for completing thebridge”. “Work is going on warfooting as all men and machin-ery have been put to use. Weare sure that by tomorrowevening the Bailey bridge willbe completed and ready fortraffic” he added.

Deputy CommissionerRamban Nazim Zai Khan said,

construction of Bailey bridge isnearing to completion at KelaMorh and a trial run would beconducted tomorrow beforestarting the movement of vehi-cles on the bridge.

He said that the construc-tion of Bailey bridge is going onround the clock and BorderRoads Organization (BRO) hascompleted more than 50 per-cent of bridge launching worktill early Friday morning.

Due to prolonged suspen-sion of traffic movement on thestrategic highway the commonpeople are facing many hard-ships. Convoy movement ofsecurity forces was also affect-ed due to suspension oftraffic.

Initially, the traffic on theNational Highway was sus-pended on January 3 follow-ing a fresh spell of snowfall.After remaining closed for sixlong days the traffic was par-tially restored on January 9 toclear the rush of stranded vehi-cles and essential supplies. Aday later the traffic was sus-pended again after a retainingwall of a bridge collapsed nearKela Morh in Ramban districton January 10.

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In a second major drug haul in lessthan a week, the Mumbai Police on

Friday seized 345 kilograms of Ganja(marijuana) worth around Rs 5.2crore and arrested one person in con-nection with the seizure.

Six days after the NarcoticsControl Bureau (NCB) seized 200kilograms of ganja and importeddrugs like ''OG Kush'' (a strain ofcannabis Indica) in raids conductedin Mumbai’s north-western suburbs,the Mumbai police raided a small flatat Chandivali’s Sangarshnagar local-ity in north-east Mumbai and seizedhuge quantity of drugs.

Acting on a tip-off, the Mumbaipolice raided a small flat in buildingno. 10 of the Slum RedevelopmentAuthority complex at SangharshNagar area of Chandivali and seized345 kilograms of Ganja (marijuana)worth around Rs.5.2 crore.

“After examining the CCTVfootage in the area, we have arrest-ed one - Ashok M. Metre (39). Wehave arrested him and booked himunder the NDPs Act,” Deputy

Commissioner of Police (Zone 10)Maheshwar Reddy said.

Following the seizure of drugs,the Saki Naka Police are keeping aclose watch on the illegal activities inthe area.

Friday’s was the second majordrug seizure in less than a week. OnJanuary 9, the NCB personnel hadseized 200 kilograms and arrestedthree persons Karan Sajnani, a Britishnational, and two others RahilaFurniturewala and ShaistaFurniturewala

The drugs, seized from Khar andBandra areas in north-west Mumbai,included ganja, imported contrabandlike ''OG Kush'' (a strain of cannabisindica), and curated marijuana.Some of the seized drugs had beensourced from the United States.

Subsequently on January 12(Tuesday, the NCB arrestedRamkumar Tiwari, one of the broth-ers who own ''Muchhad Paanwala''shop at Kemps corner in southMumbai in connection of cannabis-related drugs seizure.

A day later, the NCB arrestedMaharashtra Minister Nawab Malik's

son-in-law Sameer Khan in connec-tion with a drugs case.

Sameer's arrest came at the endof a day-long questioning of him inconnection with a drugs case inwhich three arrests, including thatone of the owners of famous''Muchhad Paanwala'' shop, havebeen made so far.

Sameer was placed under arrestby the NCB after it questioned himin connection with a google paytransaction of Rs 20,000 between himand one of the arrested accusedKaran Sajnani, a British national.

Earlier on Tuesday, the NCB hadarrested''Muchhad Paanwala'' shop’sco-owner Ramkumar Tiwari wasarrested in connection with thesame drugs case. The NCB said thatit had seized “half a kg of cannabis-related drugs” at a warehouse inMumbai. The allegation is that it wasSajnani who provided drugs toTiwari.

Started in 1977, MuchchadPaanwala is one of the most famouspaan shops in Mumbai, which is fre-quented by celebrities and whichtakes orders on its web site.

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In what came to his party’sMinister accused of rape

Dhananjay Munde, NCP chiefSharad Pawar on Friday soft-ened his stand over the accu-sation of rape made by awoman against DhananjayMunde after two more politi-cal leaders alleged that thewoman was trying to honeytrap them, and said that thepolice be allowed to investigatethe matter.

Ruling out indirectly anypossible action against Mundeat the party level, Pawar said:“Since allegations have beenmade against the woman whohas complained against Munde,we have come to a conclusionthat the police be allowed to doa comprehensive probe into thematter. We are confident thatthe police will do a good job.Hence we will not interfere inthe probe. All we have sug-gested to the government thatACP-level be woman be askedto conduct the probe”.

On Thursday, Pawar hadtermed the charges made by awoman were “serious” and saidthat he would take a call on theissue, after consulting his seniorparty’s important colleagues.“The charges are serious..Thematter is with the police...it isalso in court...they will decide,however, we as a party wouldhave to decide on it. I will speakto my colleagues and decide,”Pawar had said.

Alluding to his yesterday’scomment, Pawar said:“Yesterday when I had com-mented on Dhananjay Mundeissue, I said that the issue wasserious. But by then, certainfacts were not in the publicdomain. I came to know thatthere was a similar complaintsagainst the same lady by dif-ferent political party leaders,”Pawar said.

In effect, Pawar was refer-ring to the statements made byBJP leader Krishna Hegde andMNS leader Manish Dhuri,who had come in indirect sup-port of Munde by claiming thatthe woman who had made

allegations of rape against theNCP minister had tried to“honey-trap” them .

In a related development,Maharashtra’s Home MinisterAnil Deshmukh said: “Lawwill take its own course.Everyone is same beforelaw...'santri' or 'mantri'...thematter would be investigated asper law”.

Munde has been accused ofrape by a singer Renu Sharma,with whose sister KarunaSharma the minister has admit-ted to have been in a relation-ship and sired children.

After Pawar distancedhimself from the controversyby saying that the chargesagainst Munde were “serious”,Munde had on Thursdayreceived support from an unex-pected quarter, as Hegde andDhuri trained their gun on thewoman who had accused theminister of having raped hersister.

“Renu Sharma has beencalling me, messaging me andcoaxing me since 2010 to havea relationship with her. Thisharassment went on to thepoint of stalking. Through mysources I found out that she isa dubious person who is settingup a honey trap. I totally avoid-ed meeting her,” BJP leaderKrishna Hegde had said in hiscomplaint lodged with SeniorInspector of Amboli policestation Kamte.

On his part, MNS leaderManish Dhuri had said sepa-rately: “The woman (RenuSharma) who has now com-plained against Munde hadobtained my telephone num-ber. She used to follow me. Shetried many times to get to closeto me. Having realised that shehad honey trap several influ-ential people, I tried to distancemyself from her..... If I had gotinvolved with her, I wouldhave become anotherDhananjay Munde”.

Meanwhile, having comeunder fire various quarters,Renu Sharma – who hasaccused Munde of rape – saidthat she would take a stepback if all wanted her to do so.

Pilibhit (UP): A 65-year-oldman has been booked forallegedly raping two sisters ata village here, police said onFriday.

An FIR was lodged againstSatnaam Singh (65) on thecharge of rape on Thursdayafter a probe into it by CircleOfficer Pramod Kumar,Superintendent of Police JaiPrakash said. The two girls,aged 15 and 13, worked atSingh's place and were alleged-ly raped by him for a year,police said.

The victims' family alleged

that they have trying to lodgea complaint in this regard forthe past one month but policedid not listen to them.

They approached officialsat Puranpur tehsil andinformed them about it afterwhich an FIR was registered onThursday. The SP said a probehas also be ordered against thearea SHO for not taking thecase seriously. The SP said intheir complaint, the girls' fam-ily did not give any date of theincident and alleged that theywere being raped for the pastyear. PTI

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Thiruvananthapuram: As many as 5,624more persons tested positive for coronavirus inKerala on Friday while 4,603 patients recoveredfrom the disease, Health Minister KK Shailaja'soffice said in a statement here.

The state's test positivity rate is 8.94 percent. A total of 67,496 COVID-19 patients areunder treatment in various hospitals.

Ernakulam recorded the highest 799 newcases and Kasargod the least 97 cases on Friday.

A total of 23 more fatalities took the state's death toll to 3,415, the statementadded.

In all, 58 positive cases have come from out-side Kerala, whereas 5,110 others tested posi-tive through contact. The source of contact of394 persons is unknown.

As many as 62 Kerala health workers alsotested positive on Friday -- including 14 inKozhikode, 10 in Pathanamthitta, 9 inThiruvananthapuram, six in Thrissur, four eachin Ernakulam, Palakkad, Wayanad, and Kannur,three each in Kollam and Idukki, and one inMalappuram.

In all, 2,02,080 persons are under obser-vation, including 1,90,999 in home or institu-tional quarantine, and 11,081 in various hos-pitals in Kerala. vTwo new hotspots declaredon Friday -- Puthupariyaram (ContainmentZone ward 12) in Palakkad district andManalur (Ward 18) in Thrissur district -- tookthe total to 419 in Kerala. IANS

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Makar Sankranti marksthe Sun’s entry intoMakar raashi, identi-fied with the sign of

Capricorn. The reference here ismerely to the apparent motion ofthe Sun resulting from Earth’syearly revolution. Annually, therewould be a dozen suchSankrantis, because of the Sun’stransit across 12 signs of the celes-tial zodiac. No other Sankrantienjoys religious significance,though each of them marks thebeginning of a new month in thesidereal solar calendar. In India,several States like Tripura, Assam,West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu,Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and soon follow a sidereal solar calen-dar. Several other States likeMaharashtra, Gujarat, Karnatakaand Andhra Pradesh-Telanganain addition to the Hindi-speakingbelt follow the luni-solar calendar.

In the luni-solar calendar, themonths are based upon a lunarcycle of 29-½ days, resulting in ayear length of 354 days. Therefore,it has to be adjusted against the solaryear by insertion of intercalarymonth (Adhimasa) every threeyears. The luni-solar calendar,besides being expressly followed inseveral parts of India, is also implic-it to the solar calendar because ofits religious significance. All Hindureligious festivals including vrats,parvas and most jayantis are deter-mined as per the 354-day lunar cal-endar. This results in a drift of datesfor religious festivities and auster-ities (within a bracket of 25 days)vis-a-vis the Gregorian calendar.

Why is Makar Sankranti cele-brated with such great fanfare evenin parts of India where the writ ofsolar calendar does not run? Thisis due to a belief that MakarSankranti marks Uttarayana (liter-ally meaning sun turning north).Uttarayana is a function of a trop-ical solar calendar like theGregorian calendar. Tropical calen-dar has zero connection with zodi-ac background. It stands on fourpillars — Vernal Equinox (March21), Summer Solstice (June 21),Autumn Equinox (September 21)and Winter Solstice (December 21).In the two equinoxes, the day andnight are of equal length all over theworld. In June solstice, the day islongest across the northern hemi-sphere, shortest in the southern. InDecember solstice, the day is short-est in the northern hemisphere andlongest in the southern. This inter-play of ‘light and shadow’ is due tothe fact that the axis of Earth’s rota-tion is inclined to the plane ofEarth’s revolution at 23.50. As a

result, different zones of theglobe receive direct light where-as others pass into shadow. This,in the extreme, results in sixmonths of day and six months ofnight between one equinox to theother in alternating polar zones— the Arctic and Antarctic.

In winter, the sun travels lowacross the sky in the northernhemisphere. On December 21,the declination is the least andthe Sun is directly overhead theTropic of Capricorn (23.50 S) atthe local noon. The trend is,however, reversed on the mor-row of Solstice. The Sun, figura-tively speaking, turns north-wards. Thus, as per one belief,December 22 should be thereal Uttarayana. A commonfactor, coincidental at first sight,is the name Capricorn. OnDecember 21, the Sun is over-head the Tropic of Capricorn, animaginary line; and on January14 it enters the Sign ofCapricorn. However, we realisethat it is more than mere coin-cidence when the same thing isrepeated in the summer. Whileon June 21 the Sun is directlyoverhead at the Tropic of Cancer,it enters the Sign of Cancer onJuly 16. The gap is 24 days.

Now, 24 days seems to bethe new common factor. Whatexplains this 24 days’ time lagthat links the name of a tropic(an imaginary line) with a con-stellation? The secret might liein the factor called “precessionof equinoxes” or “axial preces-sion” called ayana-chalan inSanskrit. The axis of the Earthis not exactly stable but describesa conical motion. This motion,similar to the wobble of a spin-ning top, results from the Sun’s

gravitational pull acting differ-ently at the equator from thepoles. The conical motionwould be complete in 28,500years during which the NorthPole would point at several dif-ferent stars — like Thuban,Polaris and Vega. During thesame interval the point of theequinox, where the plane of rev-olution intersects the plane of

rotation, goes round the entirezodiac. The amount of preces-sion is 50” (less than 1/60th ofone degree, when one segmentof zodiac is of 30 degrees).

We get the seasons from theSun, not from the zodiacalbackground. Thus, measuringseasons from the zodiac signs byignoring the effect of precession(the Nirayana calendar) is notthe best way. The sidereal orNirayana year (365 d 06 hrs 09m 10 s) is 21 minutes longerthan tropical year (365 d 05 h 48m 46 s). A sidereal year, there-fore, would disengage from theseasons twice as fast as Juliancalendar (which assumed yearlength to be flat 365 d and 6 hrs)did before being reformed byPope Gregorian XIII in 1582.

“The difference betweenthe sidereal and the tropicalyear is 20.4 minutes,” says BalGangadhar Tilak, “which caus-es the seasons to fall back near-ly one lunar month in about2,000 years, if the sidereal solaryear is to be taken as the stan-dard of measurement” (TheOrion, P.19). This would explainthe mystery of the lost 24 days.Possibly two millennia ago, theSun went overhead in thesouthernmost tropic when itentered the sign of Capricorn.In the ancient times, Uttarayanaand Sun’s entry into Capricornwould have coincided. That isno longer true.

Tilak (1856-1920), howev-er, hinted at a different possibil-ity on Uttarayana. Known as atough politician, he was also anoted Sanskrit scholar whofound time to delve deep intoHindu astronomy to recon-struct Vedic history. It is reflect-

ed in his books like The Orion,or, Researches Into The Antiquityof the Vedas (1893) and ArcticHome in the Vedas (1903). In hisbook, viz., The Orion, the authorsays that Uttarayana is suscep-tible to two meanings. Tilakstates: “It might mean ‘turningtowards the north from thesouthernmost point’ or it mayindicate ‘the passage of the Suninto the northern hemisphere,i.e. to the north of the equator’.If we adopt the first meaning,Uttarayana and the year must beheld to commence from thewinter solstice while, if the sec-ond interpretation is correct,Uttarayana and the year musthave commenced with the ver-nal equinox.” Citing the RigVeda, Tilak says: “The facts thatthe central day of annual satrawas called vishuvan, the Vasantor spring was considered thefirst of the seasons and theagrayaneshtis or the half-yearsacrifices were required to beperformed every Vasant(Spring) and Sharad (autumn)clearly show that the secondinterpretation is more likely tobe correct (The Orion, P.22).”

Tilak, thus, maintainedthat Uttarayana was the vernalequinox (March 21). He furtherbelieved that the six-monthperiod from vernal equinox toautumn equinox, when theSun moves along the northernlatitude, is Devayana (way ofthe gods) in the Rig Veda andfrom autumn equinox to ver-nal equinox Pitriyana (way ofthe dead ancestors) as men-tioned in the Rig Veda.

(The writer is an author andindependent researcher. The opin-ions expressed are personal.)

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����������� ��������Sir — The Government mustframe stringent laws to holdpoliticians accountable for cor-ruption in the country. It isoften seen in cases of corruptionor malpractices in anyGovernment department thatthe officials are usually taken totask by agencies like the CBI andED while politicians belonging tothe ruling dispensation, who areno less involved in the fraud,walk away scot-free.

Our politicians, with theirunchecked involvement in cor-rupt practices, have tarnished thereputation of our country. Overthe past four decades or so, wehave seen many cases of corrup-tion. It will not be an exaggera-tion to say that most of the politi-cians are corrupt to the core andare involved in the dirty game ofpower and money. They haveunaccounted money stocked inforeign banks or assets dispro-portionate to their income.

It is high time for all politi-cal parties to think about thisserious issue and join hands formaking legislations that are moreeffective in curbing corruption bythe politicians.

Seetharam B Telangana

�������������������Sir — The Modi Governmentmust immediately repeal thethree farm laws that are the boneof contention between the Centreand the farmers. Although theSupreme Court has put a stay onthese legislations but the farmersare not contended and the situ-ation can turn volatile anytime.

The cultivators are not readyto settle for anything less thanrevocation of the laws and a legalguarantee on the MinimumSupport Price (MSP). The NDAGovernment must realise that 70per cent of the rural householdsstill depend primarily on agricul-ture for their livelihood. They alsoconstitute a large proportion ofthe BJP’s vote bank and if they

turn against it in the next elec-tions, it will severely mar theparty’s prospects of making it tothe power corridors. Farmersare a peace-loving communityand their leaders have clarifiedthat the tractor rally on January26 will take place only at theHaryana-Delhi border.

Bhagwan Thadani Mumbai

������������������Sir — On Army Day, we mustremember those who choose todie for the nation. The sad partis that today’s youth doesn’t knowabout the stories of courage andvalour that have shaped India’sdestiny saved us from enemies.Those who are ignorant abouttheir past cannot shape theirfuture.

It’s time to remember ourheroes like Field Marshal KMCariappa, who was the firstCommander-in-Chief of theIndian Army and all the ParamVir Chakra (PVC) awardees likeMajor Somnath Sharma (firstwinner of the PVC), NaikJadunath Singh, Lt RamaRaghoba Rane, CompanyHavildar Major Piru Singh andmany others who made thesupreme sacrifice for the nation.India’s history is incomplete with-out its military history and oursoldiers are our real heroes. Weare safe because they are guard-ing our borders and fighting ourenemies. We must pay our trib-ute to them on such occasions.

N Soumik Bhubaneswar

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Since time immemorial, human civilisation hasmaintained social order by framing rules andregulations which are implemented through

various mechanism of imparting justice to people.Justice by its very nature represents something thatis just and right. What is just may depend on thecontext but being fair, impartial and right is essen-tial to the idea of justice. Professor HenrySidgwick, a 19th century British jurist known forhis ethical theory had opined that the best indi-cator of a nation’s political success is to see how itadministers justice.

In primitive societies punishment was target-ed to evoke fear by subjecting offenders to brutal-ity. This was supposed to act as a lesson and deter-rent for others. However, with development andsocial evolution, punishment is now a subject ofhuman rights with greater focus on reforming thewrongdoers, instead of tormenting them.

India as a welfare State has also adopted a refor-mative approach where the primary aim is to reha-bilitate the offender. For instance, then IG (Prisons)Kiran Bedi took her reformist vision to Tihar Jailin 1993 and initiated a programme for the welfareof the inmates in the notorious prison, totally trans-forming the conditions inside Tihar. The reformpolicy had several aspects like changing prisoners’attitudes through education, meditation and yoga;imparting vocational skills; making the prisonadministration accountable; involving prisonersthrough mobile petition boxes, various panchay-ats and daily mass sabhas; providing a better dietand improving living conditions; assisting addictsthrough drug de addiction centres and undertri-als through legal aid cells. Similarly, the introduc-tion of the Model Prison reforms by theGovernment in 2016 was a major step whichbrought uniformity in laws, rules and regulationsgoverning prisoners.

However, there remains a major gap when itcomes to the structure and uniformity of sentenc-ing guidelines. Despite this being raised by vari-ous committees from time to time, neither the leg-islature nor the judiciary has issued any structuredsentencing norms. The Malimath Committee onReforms of the Criminal Justice System that wasset up by the Ministry of Home Affairs, in its reportsubmitted in 2003, emphasised the need to intro-duce sentencing guidelines in order to minimiseuncertainty in awarding sentences. A few years laterthe Madhav Menon Committee, too, reasserted theneed for a sentencing policy in India. In 2010, thethen Law Minister stated that India was planningto establish a “uniform sentencing policy” on thelines of the guidelines followed in the US and theUK. However, no progress has been made in thisdirection till date. Instead, the recent amendmentsproposed in the Cigarettes and Other TobaccoProducts (Prohibition of Advertisement andRegulation of Trade and Commerce, Production,Supply and Distribution) Act, 2020, (COTPA 2020)signal a movement in the reverse direction.

COTPA 2020 amendments prescribe newexcessive penalisation for petty street vendors orhawkers selling tobacco products. Exemplifying thisis a seven-year imprisonment or a fine of �1 lakhfor violations which involve immense subjectivi-ty. Further, these violations are proposed to be madecognisable offences, which means police officershave the unilateral power to arrest these vendors,without a warrant or permission of a court and abail will require appearance in front of a Magistrate.

These violations include selling tobacco prod-ucts to a person below 21 years of age and selling

tobacco within 100 meters of an educa-tional institute. Even selling loose ciga-rettes, which has been an age-old system,is going to abruptly become a crimeattracting a jail term.

In a country where an 18-year-oldis a legal adult with the right to vote ormarry, this is regulatory overreach. A sec-tion of these petty retailers sell theirgoods on foot and we don’t have a fixeddefinition of educational institutes whichcan vary, from a school to a privatetuition centre. This proposal makespetty retailers look like heinous criminalswho will be subjected to the whims andfancies of local police officers, many ofwhom can be compulsively corrupt.

Compared to other sentences andimprisonments prescribed under theIndian Penal Code (IPC), these are dis-proportionate and excessive. For instancethe law prescribes a maximum punish-ment of six months’ jail for sale of adul-terated drugs (IPC 275); up to sixmonths in prison for rash or dangerousdriving (IPC 279); maximum two yearsfor rioting (IPC 147); three years forextortion (IPC 384); three years for vol-untarily causing hurt with a dangerousweapon (IPC 324); five years for volun-tarily throwing acid (IPC 326B) andseven years for kidnapping (IPC 363).

This move has rightfully causedwidespread consternation among smallretailers who are being made to look likecriminals. The potential social harmcaused by the sale of a bidi or a cigaretteto an 18-year-old adult with fundamen-tal rights to make informed choices, doesnot equal to the acts of kidnapping orthrowing acid or even sale of adulterat-ed drugs which can kill or maim. Iftobacco is a legal product with theGovernment earning hefty revenues, howcan selling it to lawful adults become a

crime? This raises pointed questions onthe process behind the framing of suchrules. Is it the poor quality of research bybureaucrats drafting such proposalswhere they did not compare this withother existing provisions? Or is there anemotional overdrive to control tobaccoconsumption too fast? These retailers alsosell other items of daily consumption liketea, water, juices, soft drinks, biscuits,savoury items and confectionary besidestobacco products. Their presence onevery street corner forms the very char-acter of India’s urban retail activity andis a sign of self-reliance and microentre-preneurship among people at the bottomof the pyramid.

The critics of the Governmentmight draw controversial conclusionsand say this is a larger move to attackunorganised retailers and kill micro retailactivity to benefit large business groupsor networks seeking organised retailactivity. NGOs might even term it a bidby foreign firms to push more interna-tional tobacco into India through smug-gled and illicit products at the cost ofIndian tobacco farmers. However, this isa clear case of loss of balance that legis-lators and the judiciary need to maintainwhile framing sentencing guidelines.Neither the legislature nor the judiciaryshould be allowed to frame and pro-nounce punishment, which is dispropor-tionate to the crime as compared to othercontextual offences. Otherwise the beliefof the people in the rule of law will erode.

In the past there have been instancesof disproportionate sentencing beingoverturned by the judiciary. In theSoman vs. State of Kerala case, 2012, theSupreme Court reversed the imprison-ment sentence imposed on the accusedby the High Court, who was a liquorretailer charged with selling spurious

alcohol which eventually led to thedeath of six people. Here the SupremeCourt observed that: “Giving punish-ment to the wrongdoer is at the heart ofthe criminal justice delivery, but in ourcountry, it is the weakest part of theadministration of criminal justice.” Thecourt cited the need to consider a com-bination of three factors while directingthe quantum of sentence: Proportionality,deterrence and rehabilitation, amongwhich the principle of proportionalityassumes highest prominence. A sentencemust be commensurate with the serious-ness or gravity of the crime. Here, the sell-er was the last and the weakest link inthe supply chain of adulterated liquorcomprising of an illicit manufacturer, thedistributor and finally the retailer. Hencethe court felt that reduction of the sen-tence from five years of imprisonmentto three years was a fair decision.

While there is no debate on theharmful effects of tobacco and an ongo-ing reduction in its use should be pur-sued, shockingly disproportionate draftrules make a mockery of the system andcreate a legal paradox, thereby raisingquestions about the law-making proce-dure in the country. Such rules, affect-ing the livelihoods of many, need moredebate and should be reviewed by expertcommittees comprising of judicialexperts, socialists and industry represen-tatives, before being put up for publicreview. If allowed, these will adverselyaffect the sense and sensibilities ofjudges who will have a dilemma whilepronouncing sentences, given their dis-proportionate nature as compared toother crimes.

(The writer is president, not-for-profit organisation

PRAHAR. The views expressed are personal.)

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Just days before the US Congresscertified President-elect JoeBiden’s victory in the 2020 pres-

idential election, Secretary of StateMike Pompeo lifted the long-stand-ing restrictions on dealing withTaiwan. These “self-imposed restric-tions”, which were introduceddecades ago to appease the main-land Chinese Government weredeclared “null and void” by Pompeoon January 9.

This allows US officials toengage with their Taiwanese coun-terparts on the same footing with

which they deal with functionariesof other countries.

While the latest developmenthas elevated US-Taiwan relations toa new height, it is still to be seenwhether Biden follows the trend orreverses the trajectory of bilateralengagement that has been achievedunder the Donald Trump era.

Some experts, diplomats andcommoners are speculative that theBiden Administration could back-pedal US-Taiwan relations andinstead favour China. Their appre-hensions are not without a reason,as they cite a statement made byBiden in the US Senate in 2001when he said that “Washington isnot willing to go to war overTaiwan’s unilateral declaration ofindependence.”

However, it would be unfair toform an opinion about his foreignpolicies just based on some isolat-ed statement. It is pertinent torecall that Biden had supported theTaiwan Relations Act in 1979. Evenin 2020 he was among the first glob-al leaders to congratulate Taiwanese

President Tsai Ing-wen on her re-election and said: “You are strongerbecause of your free and open soci-ety. The United States should con-tinue strengthening our ties withTaiwan and other like-mindeddemocracies.” Biden has also sup-ported US legislations providingarms and defence equipment toTaiwan under the outgoingPresident Donald Trump’sAdministration.

We should also keep it in mindthat Biden had used strong wordsagainst China during his electioncampaign. He termed the commu-nist nation a “thug” and evenaccused Trump of being too soft onChina. Further, in an article pub-lished in a journal, Biden said:“We’re a Pacific power, and we’llstand with friends and allies toadvance our shared prosperity, secu-rity, and values in the Asia-Pacificregion,” and “that includes deepen-ing our ties with Taiwan.” This, inturn, makes it aptly clear that Bidenis fully conscious of the changinggeostrategic, security and econom-

ic environment largely due toChina’s expansionist tendency.

Furthermore, some appoint-ments made by Biden should indeedbe viewed as a good signal for theEast Asian nation. For instance,Antony Blinken, the Secretary ofState-designate, has held talks withTaiwanese diplomats and in a tweet,Blinken mentioned that “strongereconomic relations between the USand Taiwan will support our shareddemocratic values and our commoncommitment to regional peace andstability.”

At the same time, the existenceof Taiwan as an independent andvibrant democracy is also in theinterest of the US for various rea-sons. First, Taiwan’s geo-strategiclocation in the South China Sea(SCS) prevents Beijing from dom-inating sea trade routes. China con-trolling Taiwan would emboldenBeijing to establish its dominanceover the SCS and eventually itwould pose a serious threat to East,Southeast Asia and the US. Chinacan further assert its territorial

claim more aggressively against thePhilippines, Vietnam and someother countries in the region.

Second, Taiwan is one of theleading export-based economies inthe world. Taiwan succumbing toChina would only accentuateBeijing’s imperialist tendency. Third,at the diplomatic level, Taiwanworks as a major bargaining chip forthe US to deal with China. Fourth,while the recent attack on theCapitol Hill in Washington hasbemused several countries acrossthe world, the disappearance ofTaiwan as an independent countrywould prove to be a big blow to theidea of democracy.

Taiwan can contribute signifi-cantly towards promoting the emer-gence of a strong supply chain freefrom the clutches of China. WhileTaiwan runs leadership trainingcourses for the officials of thePacific islands, its timely medicalsupport to the rest of the world andits success in controlling the spreadof COVID-19 have won the heartsof the international community.

But Taiwan could have certainlyhelped immensely had it been amember of the World HealthOrganisation.

The global perception aboutChina has changed significantly inrecent years as Beijing has becomemore repressive internally andaggressive internationally. China’srepressive measures against peace-ful protestors in Hong Kong and itsattempt to cover up the outbreak ofthe contagion have finally ended thedelusions about China’s peacefulrise. It is all because of these factorsthat there exists a strong bipartisanunderstanding among US leadersabout strengthening ties withTaiwan.

Now, the time has come whennot only the independent existenceof Taiwan should be a global con-cern, but efforts should also beundertaken to enable it to contributeto world affairs in an effective man-ner. For its pursuance, the USshould take initiatives to sign theFree Trade Agreement with Taiwan,which in turn would propel other

countries to institutionalise theireconomic ties with it. The processwill eventually not only reduceTaiwan’s economic dependence onChina, it would also integrateTaiwan into the regional and glob-al economic groups.

The US should also take initia-tives to include Taiwan into theQuadrilateral Security Dialogue(QUAD). Since the East Asiancountry has fostered a strong rela-tionship with India, Japan hasalready expressed its concern for theindependence of Taiwan andAustralia is facing an assertiveChina, Washington can explore themeans of providing a role to Taiwanin this QUAD grouping.

While it becomes logical for theBiden Administration to sustain themomentum of the bilateral relation-ship, only time will tell if this tran-sition leads to anticipated transfor-mation.

(Singh is Professor at DelhiUniversity while Kumar is former

fellow at National ChengchiUniversity, Taipei.)

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Washington: As PresidentDonald Trumps supportersmassed outside the Capitol lastweek and sang the nationalanthem, a line of men wearingolive-drab helmets and bodyarmor trudged purposefully upthe marble stairs in a single-fileline, each man holding the jack-et collar of the one ahead.

The formation, known as“Ranger File,” is standard oper-ating procedure for a combatteam that is “stacking up” tobreach a building — instantlyrecognizable to any U.S. Soldieror Marine who served in Iraqand Afghanistan. It was a chill-ing sign that many at the van-guard of the mob that stormedthe seat of American democra-cy either had military training orwere trained by those whodid.

An Associated Press reviewof public records, social media

posts and videos shows at least21 current or former membersof the U.S. Military or lawenforcement have been identi-fied as being at or near theCapitol riot, with more than adozen others under investigationbut not yet named. In manycases, those who stormed theCapitol appeared to employ tac-tics, body armor and technolo-gy such as two-way radio head-sets that were similar to those ofthe very police they were con-fronting.

Experts in homegrownextremism have warned foryears about efforts by far-rightmilitants and white-supremacistgroups to radicalize and recruitpeople with military and lawenforcement training, and theysay the Jan. 6 insurrection thatleft five people dead saw someof their worst fears realized.

“ISIS and al-Qaida would

drool over having someone withthe training and experience of aU.S. Military officer,” saidMichael German, a former FBIagent and fellow with theBrennan Center for Justice atNew York University. “Thesepeople have training and capa-bilities that far exceed what anyforeign terrorist group can do.Foreign terrorist groups donthave any members who havebadges.” Among the mostprominent to emerge is a retiredAir Force lieutenant coloneland decorated combat veteranfrom Texas who was arrestedafter he was photographed wear-ing a helmet and body armor onthe floor of the Senate, holdinga pair of zip-tie handcuffs.Another Air Force veteran fromSan Diego was shot and killed bya Capitol Police officer as shetried to leap through a barricadenear the House chamber. AP

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Washington: In the week since amob laid siege to the U.S. Capitol,the House has impeached PresidentDonald Trump.

Dozens of people have beenarrested nationwide over participa-tion in the riots. Politicians and busi-ness leaders are loudly condemningthe violence.

Twitter and other social mediasites have banned Trump and thou-sands of other accounts.

Yet amid all the noise, a CapitolPolice officer hailed as a hero forconfronting the insurrectionists andleading them away from Senatechambers has remained silent.

Officer Eugene Goodman isn'tsaying whether he thinks he savedthe Senate, as many of the millions

who've viewed the video believe.In fact, Goodman isn't saying

anything at all publicly — not toreporters, not on social media. Andhe's asked the force's union, bosses,family and friends to help himmaintain his privacy and not pub-licly discuss the events of January 6.

But the video speaks volumes. Goodman, a Black man facing

an overwhelmingly white mob, is theonly officer seen for a full minute ofthe footage, shot by reporter IgorBobic of HuffPost.

Goodman stands in front of therioters, walks backward until hereaches a collapsible baton lying onthe floor, and picks it up.

“Back up ... Back it up!” he yells,keeping his eyes on the mob. AP

Washington: US security agencies havearrested more than 100 individuals for theircriminal activities in last week's siege of theCapitol and are monitoring “an extensiveamount of concerning online chatter” aheadof President-elect Joe Biden's inaugurationon January 20, FBI Director ChristopherWray said.

The violence on January 6 by outgoingPresident Donald Trump's supporters tem-porarily halted the counting of ElectoralCollege votes and resulted in the deaths offive individuals, including a police officer.

“We and our partners have alreadyarrested more than 100 individuals for theircriminal activities in last week's siege of theCapitol and continue to pursue countlessother related investigations,” Wray saidduring a meeting with Vice President MikePence.

“And those help not only prevent those

individuals from any effort to repeat thatkind of activity but also should serve as avery stern warning to anybody else whomight be inclined to try to engage in thatactivity,” he said.

Wray also said that law enforcement wasaware of and monitoring “an extensiveamount of concerning online chatter” aheadof President-elect Biden's inauguration nextweek, but added that authorities were hav-ing to sift through “what's aspirational ver-sus what's intentional.”

The FBI, he said, is looking at individ-uals who may have an eye toward repeat-ing that same kind of violence that was seenat the Capitol Hill last week.

“I mean, from January 6 alone, we'vealready identified over 200 suspects. So weknow who you are, if you're out there, andFBI agents are coming to find you,” he said. PTI

New York: A Civil War-erasedition law being dusted off forpotential use in the mob attackon the US Capitol was last suc-cessfully deployed a quarter-cen-tury ago in the prosecution ofIslamic militants who plotted tobomb New York City land-marks. An Egyptian cleric, SheikhOmar Abdel-Rahman, and ninefollowers were convicted in 1995of seditious conspiracy andother charges in a plot to blowup the United Nations, the FBI'sbuilding, and two tunnels and abridge linking New York andNew Jersey.

Applications of the lawmaking it a crime to conspire tooverthrow or forcefully destroythe government of the UnitedStates have been scant. But itsuse is being considered againstthe mob that killed a police offi-cer and rampaged through the

US Capitol last week. MichaelSherwin, acting US attorney forDC, has said “all options are on

the table,” including seditioncharges, against the Capitolinvaders. AP

Washington: For a second time,Republican senators face thechoice of whether to convictPresident Donald Trump in animpeachment trial. While onlyone GOP senator, Utah's MittRomney, voted to convictTrump last year, that numbercould increase as lawmakersconsider whether to punishTrump for his role in inciting adeadly insurrection at theCapitol.

Whatever they decide,Trump is likely to be gone fromthe White House when the ver-dict comes in. An impeachmenttrial is likely to start next week,

as early as Inauguration Day,raising the specter of the Senatetrying the previous presidenteven as it moves to confirm theincoming president's Cabinet.

GOP leader MitchMcConnell, who says he's unde-cided, is one of several key sen-ators to watch, along withDemocratic leader ChuckSchumer, who is set to take theSenate reins as his party reclaimsthe Senate majority.

Others to watch includeGOP senators up for reelectionin 2022 and several Republicanswho have publicly backedimpeachment. `AP

Washington: US President-elect JoeBiden has announced a USD 1.9 tril-lion coronavirus relief package totackle the economic fallout from thepandemic, including direct financialaid to average Americans, support tobusinesses and to provide a boost tothe national vaccination programme.

The relief package, announcedon Thursday, includes USD 415billion focused on combating theCOVID-19 pandemic, over USD 1trillion in direct aid to individualsand families and USD 440 billion inassistance to businesses.

It includes USD 1,400 in addi-tional stimulus cheques toAmericans, an extension for keyunemployment programmes frommid-March to the end of Septemberand an increase in weekly addition-al unemployment assistance fromUSD 300 to USD 400 and increas-ing the federal minimum wage toUSD 15 an hour over time.

Biden's proposal also sets asideUSD 20 billion for a national vacci-nation programme and USD 50billion to scale up coronavirus testing.

“It's not hard to see that we arein the middle of a once-in-severalgeneration economic crisis within aonce-in-several generation publichealth crisis. A crisis of deep humansuffering in plain sight. And there isno time to wait,” Biden, who is setto be sworn in as the 46th Presidentof the US on January 20, said in atelevised address from his home-town, Wilmington in Delaware.

“We have to act and act now.This is what the economists aretelling us. More importantly, it iswhat the values we hold in our heartsas Americans are telling us. A grow-ing chorus of top economists agreethat, in this moment of crisis, withinterest rates at historic lows, we can-not afford inaction,” he said. PTI

Washington: President-elect Joe Biden is nominatingNew York emergency department commissionerDeanne Criswell to serve as the Federal EmergencyManagement Agency administrator and has tapped for-mer CIA deputy director David Cohen to return to theagency in the same role he served during the Obamaadministration.

The picks, along with a trio of other new nomi-nations confirmed to The Associated Press by the Bidenteam, come as the president-elect is putting a premi-um on experience, and perhaps familiarity, as he looksto fill out top positions at federal agencies with less thana week to go before his inauguration.

Criswell, who also spent more than five years intop posts at FEMA during the Obama administration,is the first woman nominated to head the agency, whoseprimary responsibility is to coordinate responses tomajor disasters inside the United States that requirefederal attention. Nancy Ward served as the agency'sacting administrator in the early months of the Obamaadministration before his pick, Craig Fugate, could beconfirmed.

Cohen, who was deputy CIA director from 2015 to2017, has traveled the world for years tracking moneyflowing to terror groups, such as the Islamic State group,and other bad actors on the international stage. AP

Mamuju (Indonesia): A strong, shal-low earthquake shook Indonesia'sSulawesi island just after midnight, top-pling homes and buildings, triggeringlandslides and killing at least 34 people.

More than 600 people were injuredduring the magnitude 6.2 quake, whichsent people fleeing their homes in thedarkness on Friday. Authorities werestill collecting information about the fullscale of casualties and damage in theaffected areas.

There were reports of many peopletrapped in the rubble of collapsedhomes and buildings.

In a video released by the NationalDisaster Mitigation Agency, a girl stuckin the wreckage of a house cried out forhelp and said she heard the sound ofother family members also trapped.“Please help me, it hurts,” the girl toldrescuers, who replied that they desper-ately wanted to help her.

The rescuers said an excavator wasneeded to save the girl and otherstrapped in collapsed buildings. Otherimages showed a severed bridge anddamaged and flattened houses. TVstations reported the earthquake dam-aged part of a hospital and patients weremoved to an emergency tent outside.

Another video showed a fathercrying, asking for help to save his chil-dren buried under their toppled house.“They are trapped inside, please help,”he cried. Thousands of displaced peo-ple were evacuated to temporary shel-ters. The quake was centred 36 kilo-metres (22 miles) south of WestSulawesi provinces Mamuju district, ata depth of 18 kilometres (11 miles), theUS Geological Survey said.

The Indonesian disaster agencysaid the death toll climbed to 34 as res-cuers in Mamuju retrieved 26 bodiestrapped in the rubble of collapsedhomes and buildings.

The agency said in a statement thateight people were killed and 637 oth-ers were injured in Mamuju's neigh-boring district of Majene.

It said at least 300 houses and ahealth clinic were damaged and about15,000 people were being housed intemporary shelters in the district. Powerand phones were down in many areas.

West Sulawesi AdministrationSecretary Muhammad Idris told TVOnethat the governor's office building wasamong those that collapsed in Mamuju,the provincial capital, and many peoplethere remain trapped. AP

Seoul: North Korea rolled out developmental ballistic mis-siles designed to be launched from submarines and othermilitary hardware in a parade that punctuated leader KimJong Un's defiant calls to expand his nuclear weapons pro-gramme.

State media said Kim took center stage in Thursdaynight's parade celebrating a major ruling party meeting whereKim vowed maximum efforts to bolster his nuclear and mis-sile program that threatens Asian rivals and the Americanhomeland to counter what he described as U.S. Hostility.

During the eight-day Workers' Party congress that endedTuesday, Kim also revealed plans to salvage the nation's econ-omy amid U.S.-led sanctions over his nuclear ambitions, pan-demic-related border closures and natural disasters that wipedout crops. AP

Jakarta: Divers found parts of thecockpit voice recorder on Fridayas more personnel joined thesearch for wreckage and victimsfrom an Indonesian plane thatcrashed last weekend in the JavaSea with 62 people on board.

The aerial search for thecrashed Sriwijaya Air jet wasbeing expanded as well, saidNational Search and RescueAgency mission coordinatorRasman, who uses one name.

More than 4,000 search andrescue personnel are supportedby 14 airplanes, 62 ships and 21inflatable boats. They are usingan underwater metal detectorand remotely operated vehicle tosearch for human remains, thecockpit voice recorder and morewreckage. AP

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Kampala (Uganda): Uganda'selectoral commission said onFriday that President YoweriMuseveni led in Thursday'selection based on results fromroughly a third of polling sta-tions, receiving 65 per cent ofballots while top oppositioncandidate Bobi Wine had 27 percent. Final results are expectedSaturday afternoon.

Wine, a popular singer-turned-lawmaker half the pres-ident's age, alleged that thevote in the East African coun-try was rigged. “Whatever isbeing declared is a total sham,”he told reporters, while therewas a heavy police presencenear his home. AP

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Kathmandu: Nepal has granted emergencyapproval for AstraZeneca's India-madeCovishield vaccine against the novel coronavirusthat has claimed nearly 1,950 lives in the coun-try. The decision to grant the approval for thevaccine was taken on Friday, Nepal's Departmentof Drug Administration (DDA) said in a state-ment.

“Conditional permission has been grantedfor emergency use authorisation of Covishieldvaccine against COVID-19 in Nepal,” the state-ment said. Drug major AstraZeneca has part-nered with the Pune-based Serum Institute ofIndia (SII), the world's largest vaccine manu-facturer, for the supply of the vaccine to theIndian government and also to a large numberof low and middle-income countries.

The vaccine, developed with the Universityof Oxford, is made from a virus which is a weak-ened version of a common cold virus (aden-ovirus), that has been genetically changed so thatit is impossible for it to grow in humans. PTI

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Tehran (Iran): Iran's paramilitaryRevolutionary Guard forces on Fridayheld a military exercise involving bal-listic missiles and drones in the coun-try's central desert, state TV report-ed, amid heightened tensions overTehran's nuclear program and a U.S.Pressure campaign against the IslamicRepublic. In the first phase of the drillFriday morning, the Guard's aero-space

division launched several surface-to-surface ballistic missiles againstsimulated enemy bases, state TVreported. AP

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IMF Managing DirectorKristalina Georgieva has

praised India for taking “verydecisive” steps to deal with thecoronavirus pandemic and itseconomic consequences andasked the country to do morethis year to support an accel-erated transformation of theeconomy.

Participating in a globalmedia roundtable on Thursday,the chief of the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) pre-dicted a less bad outlook forIndia in the upcoming WorldEconomic Update due to the

steps taken by it.“When I called on every-

body to stay tuned for January26, that applies very much toIndia. You would see a picturein our update that is less bad.Why? Because the countryactually has taken very decisiveaction, very decisive steps to

deal with the pandemic and todeal with the economic conse-quences of it,” Georgieva said.

The IMF is scheduled torelease its World EconomicUpdate on January 26. Talkingabout India, she said it was avery dramatic lockdown for acountry of this size of the pop-ulation with people clustered soclosely together.

“Then India moved tomore targeted restrictions andlockdowns. What we see is thatthat transition, combined withpolicy support, seems to haveworked well. Why? Because ifyou look at mobility indicators,we are almost where we werebefore Covid in India, meaningthat economic activities have

been revitalised quite signifi-cantly,” she said.

“What the government hasdone on the monetary policyand the fiscal policy side iscommendable. It is actuallyslightly above the average foremerging markets. Emergingmarkets on average have pro-vided six per cent of the GDP.In India, this is slightly abovethat. Good for India is thatthere is still space to domore….. If you can do more,please do,” Georgieva said.

According to the IMFManaging Director, 2021 isthe year to use that space.

“But use it wisely in amore targeted manner and tosupport an accelerated trans-formation of the economy.Because what we see is amaz-ing how much faster structur-al change takes place. Andpolicymakers ought to be lean-ing forward in this environ-ment to support this structur-al transformation and to cush-ion the impact it has on those

that are on the losing side of it,”she said. Georgieva said thatshe is impressed by the appetitefor structural reforms thatIndia is retaining.

“We welcome that. Noquestion those reforms, andactually that applies very muchto South Africa... Will deter-mine competitiveness in thefuture. We need higher pro-ductivity. We need morevibrant and inclusiveeconomies. And they are notgoing to fall from the sky.There have to be reforms thatsupport them,” she said.

Welcoming the fact thatIndia does not give up onstructural reforms, she said:“And I’m saying, yes, do it!Because the world change isaccelerating and economieshave to be agile and adaptableto change... We have to be con-stantly leaning forward.”

At the same time, she saidthat one of the aspects of India’sreforms that are still lagging ison gender equality.

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The IMF believes the farmBills passed by the Indian

Government have the poten-tial to represent a significantstep forward for agriculturalreforms, but a social safety netis needed to protect thosewho might be adverselyimpacted during the transitionto the new system, aspokesperson of the globallender said here.

Gerry Rice, Director ofCommunications at theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF), said the new measureswill reduce the role of the mid-dlemen and enhance efficiency.

“We believe the farm billsdo have the potential to rep-resent a significant step for-ward for agricultural reformsin India,” Rice said at a newsconference in Washington onThursday.

“The measures will enablefarmers to directly contractwith sellers, allow farmers toretain a greater share of the sur-

plus by reducing the role ofmiddlemen, enhance efficien-cy and support rural growth,” hesaid. “However, it is crucial thatthe social safety net adequate-ly protects those who might beadversely impacted during thetransition to this new system,”the spokesperson said respond-ing to a question on the ongo-ing protests by farmers againstthe laws in India.

This can be done by ensur-ing that the job market accom-modates those that are impact-ed by the reforms, he said.

And of course, the growthbenefits of these reforms willdepend, critically, on the effec-tiveness and the timing of theirimplementation, so need topay attention to those issues aswell with the reform,” Ricesaid.

Thousands of farmers,mostly from Punjab andHaryana, have been campingat several Delhi border points,demanding a complete repealof the three farm laws and legalguarantee of minimum sup-

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Equity indices sank deepinto the red on Friday as

concerns over stretched valu-ations and a bearish trend inglobal markets triggeredacross-the-board selling.

Investors preferred to bookprofits at higher levels despitea good start to the earnings sea-son, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensexslumped 549.49 points or 1.11per cent to finish at 49,034.67.The broader NSE Nifty tum-bled 161.90 points or 1.11 percent to 14,433.70.

Tech Mahindra was thetop loser in the Sensex pack,shedding 4.35 per cent, fol-lowed by HCL Tech, ONGC,Asian Paints, UltraTechCement, HDFC and HUL.

Only four Sensex compo-nents closed with gains —Bharti Airtel, ITC, Bajaj Autoand Bajaj Finance, spurting upto 3.84 per cent.

During the week, the

Sensex advanced 252.16 pointsor 0.51 per cent while theNifty rose 86.45 points or 0.60per cent.

Global equities were on thebackfoot on Friday even as USPresident-elect Joe Bidenunveiled his widely-anticipat-ed USD 1.9 trillion stimuluspackage as investors frettedover possible tax hikes andhigher interest rates.

“Markets began circum-spect amidst weak job data inthe US even as Joe Bidenunveiled details of the $1.9 tril-lion rescue package. Friday’safternoon trade saw profit tak-ing in IT stocks despite the big-gies putting out positive com-mentary with large deal wins asMCAP to GDP crossed 100 percent, leading to volatility,” saidS Ranganathan, Head ofResearch at LKP Securities.

Sector-wise, BSE oil andgas, IT, realty, capital goods,utilities, energy, power andconsumer durables indices fellup to 2.43 per cent, while tele-

com rallied 3.68 per cent. In the broader markets, the

BSE midcap and smallcapindices skidded up to 1.25 percent.

Elsewhere in Asia, bours-es in Shanghai and Hong Kongended on a positive note, whileSeoul and Tokyo were in thered.

Stock exchanges in Europewere also trading in the nega-tive territory in early deals.

Meanwhile, the global oilbenchmark Brent crude wastrading 1.77 per cent lower at$55.42 per barrel.

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The rupee snapped itsthree-session winning

streak and settled for the day3 paise lower at 73.07 againstthe US dollar on Friday, withweaker Asian peers and heavyselloffs in domestic equitiesweighing on sentiment.

At the interbank forexmarket, the rupee opened at73.07 and hit an intra-dayhigh of 72.99 and a low of73.15. It finally finished at73.07, lower by 3 paise to USdollar.

On a weekly basis, therupee has appreciated by 17paise or 0.23 per cent.

The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback’sstrength against a basket of sixcurrencies, rose by 0.16 percent to 90.38.

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Kolkata: On Thursday at about09.25 am, an on duty RPF staffat Mahanayak Uttam Kumarstation found a bag lyingunclaimed on passenger’s chairin the station’s UP Platform andit was brought to the RPF postof this station. After openingthe bag in front of all RPF offi-cials, several bearer chequesamounting to �1,43,299, oneATM card, one Aadhar card ,one Voter card, one Pan Card,one money purse and agree-

ment papers of building con-structions were found therein.A mobile number was alsofound from the money pursecontaining in the bag.

The mobile number wasdialled and the owner was con-tacted. He came to the RPF post.After proper verification andobserving all official formalities,the bag was handed over to him.He expressed his heartfelt grat-itude to the RPF officials forrecovery of his bag. PNS

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The Indian economy is like-ly to contract in the range

of 5-7.5 per cent this fiscal butwill see a growth of 9 to 11 percent in FY 2021-22, formerchief economic adviser ArvindVirmani said on Friday.

Addressing a virtual eventorganised by industry bodyPHDCCI, Virmani said in theupcoming Budget, the gov-ernment should come up withpolicies to accelerate India’seconomic growth.

“In the post pandemicBudget, policy reforms (are)needed for accelerating India’seconomic growth...,” he saidadding that the economy islikely to contract to 5 per centto 7.5 per cent in FY2020-21and grow 9-11 per cent in thenext fiscal,” he said.

The Union Budget forFY2021-22, the eighth of theNarendra Modi-led govern-ment, is scheduled to be pre-sented in Parliament onFebruary 1, 2021.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman will be presentingher third Budget. The ReserveBank of India (RBI) has pro-jected the Indian economy tocontract 7.5 per cent in the cur-rent fiscal while the NationalStatistical Office (NSO) esti-mates the contraction at 7.7 percent. Virmani further said thatIndia can’t become‘Aatmanirbhar’ with the 20thcentury Direct Tax Code (DTC).

“There is a need to sim-plify direct taxes and indirecttaxes for MSMEs. We can’t have21st century Aatmanirbharwith 20th century DTC... Weneed 21st century Direct TaxCode,” he said.

The eminent economistalso emphasised that there is aneed of 15 per cent uniformGST rate for 75 per cent ofgoods and services.

Noting that production-linked incentive (PLI) wasactually a very good scheme,Virmani said the governmentshould promote employmentgenerating exports.

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India’s exports grew margin-ally to $27.15 billion in

December while importssurged 7.56 per cent, increas-ing the trade deficit to $15.44billion, official data showed onFriday.

Imports during the monthwere estimated at $42.59 bil-lion, with inbound shipmentsof gold rising sharply by 81.82per cent to $4.48 billion.

“The trade deficit for

December 2020 was estimatedat $15.44 billion as against thedeficit of $12.49 billion inDecember 2019, which is anincrease of 23.66 per cent,” asper the government data.

Exports growth was in thenegative territory in Octoberand November.

The data revealed thatexports of petroleum prod-ucts contracted 35.35 per centto $2.34 billion in December,while that of readymade gar-ments shrank 15.05 per cent to

$1.19 billion. However, exportsof electronic goods rose by16.51 per cent to $1.25 billionand of chemicals by 10.79 percent to nearly $2 billion.

The outward shipments ofrice, tea, spices and oil meals toowere higher in December 2020compared to the same monthlast year. Cumulative value ofexports for the period April-December 2020-21 was $200.80billion as against $238.27 billionduring the same period last year,down 15.73 per cent.

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The country’s foreignexchange reserves rose by

$758 million to reach a recordhigh of $586.082 billion in theweek ended January 8, RBI datashowed on Friday.

In the previous week endedJanuary 1, the reserves hadincreased by $4.483 billion to$585.324 billion.

In the reporting week, for-eign currency assets (FCAs), amajor component of the over-all reserves, rose by $150 mil-lion to $541.791 billion.

Expressed in dollar terms,the foreign currency assetsinclude the effect of apprecia-tion or depreciation of non-USunits like the euro, pound andyen held in the foreignexchange reserves.

The gold reserves climbedby $568 million to $37.594 bil-lion, weekly data by the ReserveBank of India (RBI) showed.

After remainingunchanged during the lastweek, the special drawing rights

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(SDRs) with the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF)increased by $5 million to$1.515 billion.

The country’s reserve posi-tion with the IMF rose by $35million to $5.181 billion in theweek, as per the data.

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The increasingly unsustainableuse of marine resources foreconomic activities, fishing,

boating, tourism etc, has hurt thehealth of our oceans, seas andcoasts. However, the wake ofCoronavirus and the lockdown hasturned out to be a opportunity torevive the marine ecosystem. Tothrow light on the varied and vastmarine ecology, Sony BBC Earthhas brought a show called BluePlanet Revisited. The two-partseries celebrates marine life fromall corners of the globe, exploringthe challenges facing the ecosys-tems and wildlife in two key loca-tions — Australia’s Great BarrierReef and the Bahamas. As thebreeding season gets underway, theseries focusses on the action fol-lowing whales and their calves, tur-tles and their hatchlings and thescientists who know our oceansbest. It is packed with insight andspectacle. Incredible shark dives inthe Bahamas. The underwaterdawn chorus of the Great BarrierReef, home to 600 different kindsof coral and more than 1500species of fish.

To build relevance around theshow through her expertise, thechannel reached out and on-board-ed Nayantara Jain, ExecutiveDirector of Reef Watch MarineConservation — one of India’s old-est and only organisations commit-ted to protecting India’s coasts andoceans. Excerpts:

�Can you tell us about your jour-ney as a marine biologist and whatled to resource marine conserva-tion India?

I learned how to scuba divewhen I was 16. I think a lot of whatdrove me towards learning divingwas the incredible nature documen-taries that I’ve watched before, likethe original Blue Planet and oceansand all the BBC documentaries,narrated by Sir DavidAttenborough. Watching them real-ly inspired me to learn how to dive.And once I started diving, becauseI was very passionate about it thatI became a scuba diving instructor.After working as a scuba instruc-tor for a few years, I realised howour life on lands were impacting theocean and especially coral reefecosystems. That’s when I becamevery passionate about conservation,and that’s what led me to studymarine biology and then workwith Reef Watch.

�Tell us about the various initia-tives undertaken by Reef WatchMarine Conservation India?

We have two sort of key fieldplacements. One is in the AndamanIslands, and the other on the coastof Karnataka, to the West coast ofIndia. In the Andaman, we work alot with coral reef restoration andconservation. So, we have variousongoing projects where we arelooking at different ways to regrowand repair the damaged reef areas.In another mainland, on the Westcoast, the work that we’re doing isto do with injured and strandedmarine megafauna, like sea turtles,dolphins and even whales. We havea lot of them on our ports, even onthe mainland, and a lot of themoften get stranded on land, eitherdead or sometimes alive andinjured. So, we have a project wherewe look after the injured or illmegafauna that come up to ourcoast and study the ones that was

wash up dead.

�What is your take on the showBlue Planet Revisited? Do youthink shows like these help peopleunderstand oceans and its life bet-ter?

Yes, and this is one of the mainreasons I am associated with thechannel, to talk about this show,because my own journey beganvery much with shows like these. Alot of what I knew before I did mymasters on the subject, a lot of whatI knew about the ocean and the ani-mals that live in it came from showslike this. Such shows also help dis-pel a lot of myths and bring thingsinto the right perspective for a lotof people. One of the episodes of theshow is about sharks. I believe theyare one of the most misunderstoodanimals on our planet today... somany people are terrified of sharks.I was just telling somebody earlierthat when I worked as a full time

instructor, the question I was askedmost frequently was, ‘are theresharks in these waters and are theygoing to attack me?’

Shows like this and nature doc-umentaries teach people a lot aboutthese animals. They teach themwhich animals are dangerous andwhich ones are not. They create alot of excitement and curiosity, lead-ing to more people exploring thesespaces in real life. It’s wonderful tohave such shows. One of my great-est dreams is to make a documen-tary about India’s coast specifical-ly.

�Can you tell us about some of theastonishing encounters in yourjourney underwater? What keepsyou going in this field?

One of my most memorablediving experience ever, was when Igot to do something very similar towhat they have shown on thisshow about the sharks in theBahamas. A few years ago I got todive in Galapagos Islands, which isanother sort of shark sanctuary wehave on our planet today. So, I gotto dive with hundreds of differentspecies of sharks. And, I could seethese really powerful, magnificentbeings swimming around me — Ican never forget that moment in mylife. So, it was really cool to seesomething similar like that on aparticular episode of the show.

�What is the future of our islands

and marine world, especially inIndia?

I’ve been working as a diver andthen as a conservationist for thepast 10 years. Over the years, I haveseen a lot of damage to our oceans.Areas that boasted of a lot ofsharks are completely fished out ofit now. I’ve seen a lot of coral reefsbeing degraded over the years.There’s an increasing amount of lit-ter and plastics on our coastline andwaters. It is very concerning, but thesilver lining here is that I’ve seen asurge of young children concernedabout the environment. They get intouch with me, wanting to bemarine biologists or wanting tocome and volunteer with the organ-isation or know how they canorganise a beach clean-up in theircity. Indians are coming in to learnhow to dive and surf and justinteract with the ocean more. Thisis really encouraging. Right now, theinterest of youth in all of this is ris-ing and if more people connect withthe ocean and want to preserve it,things can change for good. We stillhave coral reefs in the Andaman.We still have sharks in our ocean,we still have whales in the sea, andwe can have sea turtles along thecoastline. So, this is really the timefor us to act. If we as a society realisethe importance of a healthy oceanand come together we can bringabout a change.

(The show airs on January 23,9 pm on Sony BBC Earth.)

Genius, legend, addict. Alifetime of highs and lows.

For decades it was drugs thatkept him playing but wreckedhis life off the pitch. DiegoMaradona rose from streeturchin to become a footballinggod. But he was never to see outhis later years, dying at just 60years old. The cause of deathwas given as a heart failure, butwhat really killed Maradona?

After his untimely death,What Killed Maradona? piecestogether the extraordinary life ofa man who was addicted todrugs off the pitch, but who alsorelied on a cocktail of pharma-ceuticals to maintain his world-beating performance on thepitch. It also reveals how thislethal lifestyle, that began whenMaradona was just a child,eventually became the perfectprescription for his death.

Maradona’s story is one ofgenius and trauma, from thehumblest of beginnings in aBuenos Aires shanty townwhere he would play footballwith his friends for hours onend, to becoming a footballsuperstar known and fetedaround the world.

But his poverty-strickenchildhood left him at a disad-vantage and despite his prodi-gious talent on the pitchthroughout his junior playingcareer, Maradona received treat-ments to build up his physique,which had been hampered dueto his impoverished back-ground. His younger years werefilled with constant medicalintervention.

As a foretaste of the contro-versy that would later engulf hislife, Maradona’s infamous ‘handof God’ goal came againstEngland, as he led his countryto victory at the 1986 WorldCup in Mexico, as well as to aplace in the final, four years later.He broke the world transferrecord joining Italian clubNapoli for £6.9m but asMaradona’s income rose, so didthe pressure to support a grow-ing number of dependents offthe pitch, as well as the intensefame and adulation of his fans.He started to show the signs ofaddiction to alcohol andcocaine, as well as prescriptionmedicines.

A preliminary autopsy,widely reported by Argentine

media, reveals pulmonary oede-ma caused by heart failure, butthe lifetime of pressure, addic-tion and abuse of his body haveall helped lead him there.

Issac John, Digital Head,APAC – Discovery, said, “It’sbeen our constant endeavour tomake the sports fan experienceimmersive sports stories thatshowcase both, the hardshipsand glories of being at the pin-nacle as well as the not-so-oftentalked about aspects of stardom.The show is one of those storiesthat presents the greyer shadesof a legend whose game inspiredthe dreams of many of today’ssuperstars in the world’sfavourite sport of football.”

With testimonies fromthose who knew him bestincluding Jon Smith football’soriginal ‘super-agent’, who rep-resented Maradona; FernandoSignorini Maradona’s formertrainer, and GiuseppeBruscolotti, former captain ofNapoli and teammate ofMaradona, the show revealshow this lifestyle led to hisuntimely demise.

(The show is streaming ondiscovery+.)

Actor Kiara Advani made her Bollywood debut in2014 with Fugly, which was a no-show at the box

office. However, she was later seen in hits such as M.S.Dhoni: The Untold Story, Lust Stories, Kabir Singh andGood Newwz. The actor cannot name a particular roleas gamechanger in her career, but credits all her workfor the success she enjoys today.

“For me, I think every film mattered, right from myfirst because that is what gave me

my first step into the filmindustry. People also say KabirSingh and Lust Stories butevery film has been a turn-ing point in my life. So, I can’tthink of just one film, my

entire journey has been spe-cial,” Kiara said.

The actor, whoselatest release is Indoo

Ki Jawaani, has astring of releasescoming up. Shewill be seen in theS i d h a r t hMalhotra-starrerS h e r s h a a h ,B h o o lBhulaiyaa 2with KartikAaryan andthe star-s t u d d e dJug JugJeeyo.

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When Javicia Leslie moved to LosAngeles, she frequently rodedown the popular Sunset

Boulevard to view the row of erected TVand film billboards for inspiration. As anaspiring actor, she often parked under-neath her favourite ones to study before anaudition.

For years, Leslie made this her routinein hopes of one day seeing her image onfull display in Hollywood. Her dreams ulti-mately became reality when the 33-year-old actor — who starred on CBS’s GodFriended Me and Carl Weber’s The FamilyBusiness on BET+ — recently saw a bill-board of herself donning the black-and-red Batwoman suit.

Leslie will star as the caped crusaderon CW’s Batwoman, which premieres itssecond season on January 17. She succeedsRuby Rose, becoming the franchise’s firstBlack actress to portray the superhero, andwill be featured as an avowed LGBTQ cen-tral character.

In Batwoman, Leslie plays the role ofRyan Wilder, who spent years as a drugrunner while dodging Gotham police. Hercharacter has lethal hand-combat skills butis viewed as a kindhearted person who livesin a van with a plant. In a recent interview,Leslie spoke about carrying the mantle asthe new Batwoman, the importance of thecharacter being a lesbian and having a con-versation with her mother about her sex-ual orientation.

�What compelled you to study for yourroles under billboards?

I needed that visual to remind myselfof what the end goal was and what I real-ly wanted. It just motivated me. It was fun.Sometimes, I’d study until I fell asleep. LikeI had to wake up and drive back home.

�So this is something you manifested?I feel like everything I’m living right

now, I’ve spoken into existence. From the

very beginning to the detail. Even withBatwoman, I did an interview in May andwas asked what role I wanted to do next,and I said, “I want to play a superhero.” ...The following month, I got the audition.I didn’t even know they were looking tocast a new Batwoman. So, I truly believein manifestation.

�What does being DC’s first Blackfemale lead superhero mean to you?

I always just remind myself that mypurpose isn’t for me. My purpose is toempower other people. God brought mehere for a reason. He put me in this posi-tion for a reason. With that, it’s nothing tofear because I know this will empowersomeone to see a Black female superhero.You don’t get to see it often. It’s so epic. Igrew up on Batman and Catwoman andthe Joker and Penguin. Now, to see black-ness in that, I think it’s very inclusive andempowering.

�What’s the importance of this charac-ter to be a lesbian?

It’s important to have representationin general. Fans of DC represent everyone,whether it’s about race, whether it’sLGBTQ. I think what I love so much aboutmy show is that every character is reallya great representation of every-thing.

�Before telling your mom about land-ing the Batwoman role, you informed herabout your sexual orientation as a bisex-ual. How was that conversation?

I never had a fear of talking to mymom about anything. It’s to the pointwhere I don’t have to talk about a lot ofthings. She already gets it. She alreadyknows. So when we had a conversation, shewas like “I am your mother. There’s noth-ing you can tell me that I didn’t alreadyknow.” She’s my best friend, very support-ive.

�How did your char-acter Ryan endurebeing homeless?

That mayseem like thebottom to somepeople, but thatwas the top ofwhat she’s beenthrough. Toeven have herown van andtake care ofherself, thatmeant some-thing to

her. She comes from foster care and abu-sive foster homes and people not caring forher. The one person that cared about herwas murdered in front of her. I think whatmay seem like nothing to someone else isa lot to her. She holds onto and cherishesit.

�How did your character’s circum-stances mold them?

I think that if there is anything thatroots the darkness in her, it’s probably a lit-tle bit of revenge. The vengeance she hasfor the ones that killed her mother. Thatis enough. How can you truly fight forwhat’s good if you can’t forgive? How canyou truly be on the right side if vengeanceis what empowers you?

�What do you want people to take awayfrom your career so far?

There’s so many times where I couldhave said “This is hard” and walked away.But you must keep going. One of thethings I live by is that if you follow yourpassion, you’ll find your purpose. Ithink God puts passions in us for a rea-son. ... You must find your purpose inanything you want and speak it into exis-tence. Then you need to have the workethic to support it.

<��

Filmmaker Sudhir Mishra feels films thesedays are judged like political essays with no

regard to the craft of storytelling.“There is a lack of political understanding

yet everything is about politics. Films arejudged like political essays. Cinema has no place.Craft has no place. What is happening?,”Mishra tweeted on Friday.

“Cinema is, plucking an idea out of the air,about apparently nothing but then it becomesabout so much more. About your life and mine.About your world and mine,” he added.

Mishra entered Bollywood as a director withYeh Woh Manzil To Nahin in 1987. He addedstrokes of diverse stories on the cinematic can-vas, with Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, Chameli,Inkaar, Khoya Khoya Chand and Calcutta Mail,

over the years, besides the OTT-released filmSerious Men and the web series Hostages.

His most recent project Serious Men was anadaptation of Manu Joseph’s eponymous book.The film featured Nawazuddin Siddiqui, andnarrated the story of a father who wants to cre-ate a bright future for his son.

Meanwhile, the filmmaker had shared thatthe pandemic has left an everlasting impact onhis life. “I don’t know this whole experience ofthe pandemic. I’ve lost a bit of my swag. WhenI saw myself terrified, holding my father in myarms and running towards an ICU, and thenwatching him die, that has done something. Idon’t know what exactly. It will show in my next(project),” he said earlier.

</�-�

Actor Amit Sadh, who playsKargil war hero Major

Deependra Singh Sengar in aforthcoming web series Jeet KiZid, offered his best wishes to thebrave officers of the Indian Armyon the occasion of Army Day onFriday.

“Every Indian soldier is ashining example of valour andcourage. They are the sole reasonthat every Indian citizen cansleep peacefully. There is nothingthat can even come close to theselfless work our Indian Armydoes to protect us. I offer my bestwishes and salute the brave offi-cers of the Indian army. I feelhonoured to have essayed the roleof Major Deependra,” said Amit.

The series, which also fea-tures Amrita Puri and SushantSingh, is directed by VishalMangalorkar and produced byBoney Kapoor, Arunava JoySengupta and Akash Chawla.

The makers of the show gotexpert help from Special Forcesconsultants and mission choreo-graphers Colonel Ashok Galothand Major Arjun Galoth on theshow.

“I am a part of a projectwhich shows the dedication andsheer will of the Indian Army. Iam glad that the makers reachedout to us and took our sugges-tions to help create this show. Itwas indeed a fulfilling experi-ence,” said Colonel Ashok Galoth.

Major Galoth shared thatMajor Deependra’s story is not

only an “inspiration for us, butfor the entire world.” He added,“We have helped the team inour own little way with thebasics of our routine, but theactual credit goes to the ones

who thought of creating anentire web series on such aninspirational story”.

(The series is slated to pre-miere on January 22 on Zee5.)

</�-�

Actor Swara Bhasker says picking roles that spanacross genres has always been important to her.“Picking roles that span across genres and varied

character graphs has always been important to me.Whether it was as the sultry Shanoo (Rasbhari), theamiable Beanie (Bhaag Beanie Bhaag) or now thefreespirited Mausamin the horror come-dy Aapkey KamreyMein Koi Rehta Hai,I’ve enjoyed portray-ing all,” Swara said.

The actor willsoon be seen in thehorror comedywhich also starsSumeet Vyas,Naveen Kasturia,Amol Parashar andAshish Verma.

“I think thisshow will hit theright notes of laugh-ter and unexpecteddrama,” Swara saidabout the series, thetrailer of whichreleased on Friday.

Her co-star Sumeet said, “Horror comedy is agenre that I’ve really come to enjoy — be it as an actorwho is playing a role in the narrative or for that mat-ter – even watching such stories. It was fun to workwith such great artists for this project and I believethat the comedy of errors for these four friends andtheir newly acquired, unexpected roommate who isa ghost will make for a fun watch.”

Naveen feels the “bite-sized series is a melange offun, comedy, horror, and entertainment. In the midstof content that is heavy on crime and drama, this willleave you with goosebumps and a healthy dose oflaughter”.

The series shows the journey of four friends intheir newly-rented apartment that is haunted. Theshow, directed by Gaurav Sinha, will release on MXPlayer on January 22.

</�-�

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The incredible underdogfairytale of ThangarasuNatarajan got better with

his twin strikes on debut head-lining a commendable effortfrom an inexperienced Indianbowling attack, which reducedAustralia to 274 for 5 despite astylish hundred from MarnusLabuschagne on the openingday of the final Test here.

The Indian attack, with acollective experience of 3 Testsand 10 balls and 11 wickets in itskitty, was pitted against a battingline-up with 59 hundreds.

After 87 overs, the twoTamil Nadu rookies Natarajan(20-2-63-2) and WashingtonSundar (2-4-63-1) could holdtheir heads high for a lion-heart-ed effort on a good battingpitch in the absence of theinjured Ravichandran Ashwinand Jasprit Bumrah.

If tall off-spinnerWashington set up a nice littletrap to get rid of Steve Smith (36off 77 balls), Natarajan forcedcenturion Labuschagne (108 off204 balls) and Matthew Wade(47 off 85 balls) to miscue theirpull-shots after a 113-run standwhich threatened to put India ina spot.

At stumps, Tim Paine (38)and Cameron Green (28) hadadded 61 runs for the sixth wick-et and the visitors would need afew quick wickets to keep thefirst innings total within a man-ageable range.

The distance betweenPalayampatti, a non-descriptvillage in Tamil Nadu’s Salem, toAustralia’s modern city Brisbaneis 9035 km on a google map.

But add the hardships of adaily wager mother trying to put

food on table, being called forsuspect action early in his career,not being privileged enough toget a paternity leave (his daugh-ter is already three months old),it’s a million miles emotionallythat Team India’s favourite Nattuhas traversed.

Getting Labuschagne, whowas on a rampage, with a shortdelivery ensured that Australiadidn’t finish the day with ascore close to 350.

For someone, who was sup-posed to be a net bowler, India’sTest Cap No 300, did well

enough on the first day despitenot exactly being a natural. Healso knows that he doesn’t havethe express pace to trouble bats-men (his average speed is 130plus).

He bowled full during hisfirst two spells and made thelength shorter when the ball gotold and that’s how he inducedWade and Labuschagne to go forthose pull shots.

Nobody would have blameda Natarajan or a Shardul or“leader of the attack”Mohammed Siraj (19-8-51-1),

all of whom toiled manfullythroughout their multiple spellsin a battle of unequals.

The inexperience was palpa-ble as Thakur (18-5-67-1)bowled a lot of full pitched deliv-eries which Labuschagnepounced on in the second andthird sessions during an inningsthat had nine boundaries.

If all the injuries weren’tenough, Navdeep Saini (7.5overs) now seems to be in trou-ble as he has sustained a groinniggle moments after his skip-per Ajinkya Rahane dropped a

dolly at gullyw h e nLabuschagne wason 37.

By far,Australia’s mostconsistent batsmanin the series, Labuschagnebatted in two gears duringthe day.

In the first session, hefaced 82 balls and sedatelymoved to 19 but in the next113 balls, scored another 82runs to reach his fifth hun-dred in 195 balls.

He trusted the bounce, hitsome lovely drives and was alsoready to pull anything that wasshort.

During his partnership withSmith, the former Australianskipper was the aggressor butWashington, a specialist bats-man till 2016 and now a front-line off-spinner, with the help ofhis seniors — skipper Rahaneand his deputy Rohit Sharma —laid a beautiful trap.

Washington had bowledthree maiden overs prior tolunch and the fidgety Smith,who is always looking to get amove on, fell for the leg trap that

Brisbane: The injury-plaguedIndian team took another hiton Friday when pacer NavdeepSaini was forced off the fieldduring the fourth and final Testdue to groin pain and taken for

scans.The 28-year-old Saini had

bowled five balls of his eighth,and the innings 36th, overduring the second session whenhe had to walk off the fieldbecause of the pain. With this,his further participation in thematch, which began this morn-ing, has been thrown into seri-ous doubt.

“Navdeep Saini has com-plained of pain in his groin. Heis currently being monitored bythe BCCI medical team,” reada short statement from theBCCI on the one-Test-oldbowler’s condition. “NavdeepSaini has now gone for scans,”added a brief update that cameafter the initial note. PTI

*��� �6���7#;

India fast bowlerMohammed Siraj was tar-

getted for abuse by a section ofthe crowd on the opening dayof the fourth Test, a newspa-per here reported, claimingthat he was called a “grub” bysome spectators.

The reported incidenthappened a few days afterSiraj was racially abused byspectators at the SydneyCricket Ground on the thirdand fourth day of the drawnthird Test. That had led to anexpulsion of six people fromthe stands and an unreservedapology from CricketAustralia to the visiting team.

On Friday, a report in theSydney Morning Herald quot-ed a spectator as saying that a

section of the crowd at theGabba targetted Siraj.

“The guys behind me havebeen calling — shouting —both Washington and Sirajgrubs,” a spectator named Katewas quoted as saying by thenewspaper.

“It started targeted at Sirajand it was a chant similar tothe SCG one (in which fanssung to the tune of Que Sera,Sera but substituted the lyricswith Que Shiraz, Shiraz).

“But this time it was Siraj.I suspect it’s not a coincidencethat it’s Siraj being targetedpost the SCG stuff.”

According to the newspa-per, at one point, a man in thecrowd was heard yelling, “Siraj,give us a wave, give us a wave,give us a wave. Siraj, youbloody grub.”

*��� �6���7#;

Washington Sundar, prior tohis unexpected Test debut

on Friday against Australia,had bowled over 285 overs infirst-class cricket and after dis-missing Steve Smith, the TamilNadu off-spinner is ready tobowl 50 in an innings if that’swhat the side wants of him.

India’s T20 specialist off-spinner was asked to stay backby the team management afterthe white-ball series to help asa net bowler but injuries to keyplayers, including senior proRavichandran Ashwin, landedhim in a mouth-watering duelwith Smith which he won handsdown.

“I have always felt that myskills are very good with red ball.I have bowled a lot of overs infirst class cricket and first divi-sion league in Chennai as well.

I was just waiting for this oppor-tunity and last couple ofmonths, we were here, I did getto bowl a lot of overs andimprove upon my skills,” the shybowler said after first day’s play.

But does he have the stami-na to bowl long spells that ateam expects from its spinners

considering that he hasn’t playedfirst-class cricket since 2017?

His answer is ‘bring it on’.“Like any bowler, I love

bowling a lot of overs. It’s just somuch fun to bowl a lot ofovers. Give me 20, 30, 40 or 50overs. We had some plans goingfor Steve Smith and (Marnus)

Labuschagne and I am very gladthey worked. The first wicketdefinitely felt good.”

Washington kept Smithquiet for two overs and in the13th delivery got him caught atshort mid-wicket.

Did Ashwin versus Smithset a template for him?

“We did have some plansfor Smith and it’s a differentgame altogether. Last game wasdifferent, conditions were differ-ent and I had to bowl good ballsover and over again. It happened(the dismissal) and it’s great.”

The former India U-19World Cupper feels the wicketwas good for batting and it wasgreat effort to reduce to thehosts to 274 for 5.

“There was a little bit ofspongy bounce till lunch andthe wicket was good andbowlers did a good job torestrict Australia to 5 for 274.”

��* � �7>>;

England captain Joe Roothit an unbeaten 168 as his

side built up a lead of 185 overSri Lanka on a rain-hit secondday of the opening Test.

England were 320/4 whenrain halted play in Galle. Rootand Dan Lawrence, who scored73 on his Test debut, built a173-run partnership after thetourists resumed the day on127/2.

Root, who is batting withJos Buttler (7), hit his 18th Testton and kept up the pressure onthe home bowlers despite los-ing overnight partner JonnyBairstow for 47 early in the day.

“I think the things couldhappen very quickly as thegame moves forward, general-ly does here. It is really impor-tant that we make the most ofthis first innings lead that wehave got now,” Root toldreporters.

“We will be really ruthless.I have spoken about this aheadof the series and make it countand put them under pressure.That way try and bat just once.”

After a full opening day inthe empty stadium in Galle,rain started falling just beforethe start of the second day andwiped out the final session.

Root started the day on 66and passed 100 soon afterlunch with a single offDilruwan Perera. He raisedhis bat and hugged Lawrence.It was the star batsman’s high-est Test score in more than ayear after going through 2020without a century and said hefelt “good” to make it count.

“Generally when I get a

hundred I make it really count,”Root, who has a Test best of 254in 98 Tests, said. “I have got agood record past 100.Tomorrow I will try to makeanother really big one anddrive the game forward fromthere.”

He added, “I felt I really gotin a good mindset throughoutthis game so far. Will try andtake that forward into the restof this winter tour and beyond.”

England will tour Indiafor a full series including fourTests after the two matches inSri Lanka as part of a hecticcricket calender in 2021.

Lawrence, 23, stood firmwith his captain, displayingconfidence against the spinnersas he brought up his fifty in 95balls with five fours and one six.

Lawrence, who plays forEnglish county Essex, survivedtwo dropped catches on 60 and68 and finally fell to Perera.

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Mumbai: Budding left-armpacer Arjun Tendulkar, who isthe son of iconic former bats-man Sachin Tendulkar, made hisMumbai senior team debut onFriday in a Syed Mushtaq AliTrophy match against Haryana,which the hosts lost by eightwickets here.

In the Elite E League groupclash played at the suburbanBKC ground, Mumbai made143 after opting to bat first, a tar-get which Haryana overhauledin 17.4 overs.

Arjun had an off day with

the ball as he returned withrather unimpressive figures of1/34 in the three overs that hebowled. He dismissed Haryanaopener Chaitya Bishnoi (4)cheaply after he edged a deliv-ery to wicket-keeper AdityaTare to claim his maiden wick-et for the Mumbai senior team.

Incidentally, his father’s lastRanji Trophy game was againstHaryana back in 2013.

Arjun didn’t get the chanceto face a single delivery whenMumbai batted as the team wasbundled out in 19.3 overs.

Haryana then rode on one-down Himanshu Rana’s blazingunbeaten 75 off 53 balls tochase down the target with con-summate ease.

The 21-year-old Arjun hasnow qualified for the IPL auc-tions, as he has made his debutfor the Mumbai team.

Tendulkar junior was addedto the Mumbai squad, alongwith another pacer KrutikHanagavadi, by the Salil Ankola-led selection committee, after theBCCI permitted a total of 22players to be selected. PTI

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Afifth Test hundredin his kitty against

a “very disciplined”bowling attack butA u s t r a l i a ’ sM a r n u sL a b u s c h a g n ewas still a dis-a p p o i n t e dman on theopening day

of thef o u r t hTest hereas thek n o c kwas not

“ b i g ”

enough for him.Australia ended the day

274/5, thanks largely toLabuschagne’s 108 off 204balls. The 26-year-old said heshould have done more.

“...I think, I am definitelydisappointed not going onand getting a really big score,which would have put us in abetter position as a team,”Labuschagne said at the virtu-al post-play press-conference.

“Any Test century, it does-n’t matter who it is against oragainst what opposition, youwant to make sure you arescoring hundreds and proba-bly for me (it was) today it wasdisappointing that (I) did not

end up making that a reallybig hundred,” he stressed.

However, he credited theIndian bowlers for being dis-ciplined early on and hardlygiving away any scoringopportunities.

“...Indian bowling attacks,they are very disciplined anddoesn’t matter who is bowling,they are very planned, they arevery strategic and we saw thattoday with their bowlingattack.

“They were disciplinedearly and did not give usmany of those scoring oppor-tunities in the first session,”the right-handed batsmansaid.

�65���0������� ������ ��0����0�76�0��� ��8

was set for him.Rohit stationed himself at

short mid-wicket for a whip thatSmith plays on the on-side.

They were banking on theextra bounce that they had seen

Washington generate with thewhite ball.

The plan worked as Smithflicked one straight into Rohit’shands just few minutes after thelunch.

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