the pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on may 25 following a two-month sus-pension. while...

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T he eight-hour-long fourth round of talks between the agitating farmer unions and the Government on Thursday failed to end the standoff over the new farm laws as the pro- testors refused to accept any- thing less the repeal of all the three farm laws. Another round of discussions will be held on Saturday in a bid to forge a res- olution. Althought the Government side, led by Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, assured the group of nearly 40 farmer leaders that all their valid concerns would be discussed and considered with an open mind, the farmers stuck to their demand of repealing the three “hastily- passed” farm laws, saying there were several loopholes and deficiencies. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ambarta) president Rishipal said, “The Government noted all points. Ministers assured that they will look into them and sought one day’s time.” The farmer leaders empha- sised on a five-point set of demands that seeks to frame a specific law on Minimum Support Price (MSP) and end the punishment provision for stubble burning. Farmer leader Kulwant Singh Sandhu said the govern- ment made many proposals including on MSP and pro- curement system, which would be discussed among the farmer organisations on Friday, before the next meeting. The farmers emphasised that the provision to register a case for stubble burning should be ended, and asked why the Government wasn’t ready to give them “written assurance” on MSP despite its earlier statements that MSP will con- tinue. The farmer union repre- sentatives emphasised that a new law on MSP be framed in a special session of Parliament, demanding that it must guar- antee them MSP not only now but in the future as well. The farmer leaders said, “Let us assume that MSP will continue but the procurement would stop. The MSP will have no meaning then.” The farmer union repre- sentatives said the Government said the three farm laws were brought in with the interests of farmers in mind. Continued on Page 2 F armer leaders on Thursday refused the lunch offered by the Government during their meeting with three Union Ministers here and preferred to eat the food ferried in a van from the Singhu border, where thousands of their colleagues are sitting in protest against the new agri laws. During the lunch break, a small van carrying food for around 40 people was seen out- side the Vigyan Bhawan, where the meeting is underway. “Our farmers’ representa- tives did not accept the lunch offered by the Government and we arranged it from the Singhu border,” Lok Sangarsh Morcha president Pratibha Shinde told PTI. Farmers’ leaders told the Government to focus on resolving the issues instead of trying to be a good host by offering lunch, said the Lok Sangarsh Morcha president. “How can we have lunch offered by the government when our fellow farmers are sit- ting on roads,” said Shinde, whose organisation, Lok Sangarsh Morcha, is among the 40 farmers’ groups engaged in the talks. A s protesting farmers con- tinued to be adamant on their demand for scrapping of the Centre’s agriculture reform laws and stayed put at the national Capital’s borders with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the police on Thursday closed routes on two national high- ways connecting Ghaziabad to Delhi as the farmers sat on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway. The protesting farmers had on Wednesday threatened to block other roads of Delhi if their demands were not met. “The local police have closed the routes on NH-9 and NH-24 from Ghaziabad to Delhi. On NH-1, both sides of the route have been closed near Shani Mandir,” the Delhi Traffic Police tweeted. The crowd of farmers continued to swell at Ghazipur, prompting the police to close the Delhi-UP border on NH-24. “The Ghazipur border on NH-24 is closed for traffic from Ghaziabad towards Delhi due to farmers’ protests. People are advised to avoid NH-24 for coming to Delhi and use Apsara/Bhopra/DND instead,” the traffic police said. It said NH-44 is closed on both sides and asked people to take alternate routes via NH-8, Bhopra, Apsara border, and Peripheral expressway. At the Chilla border, one carriageway — from Delhi to Noida — has been opened for traffic. However, the other car- riageway — from Noida to Delhi — is still closed. People commuting from Noida to Delhi are advised to avoid Noida link road, the traffic police said. The Delhi- Haryana border at Jharoda and Jhatikra remained closed for traffic movement. The Badusarai border is open only for two-wheeler traffic. Continued on Page 2 T he Union Government on Thursday increased the cap on domestic flights up to 80 per cent of the pre-Covid levels. The domestic carriers were operating at 70 per cent of their capacity. Domestic air travel is steadily reviving after being allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus- pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri said the domestic operations in India, which recommenced with 30,000 passengers on May 25, have touched a high of 2.52 lakh passengers till November 30, 2020. Continued on Page 2 I ndia has said it is monitoring development related to reports that China plans to build a major dam on the Brahmaputra. New Delhi also said it intended to remain engaged with China on the issue of trans-border rivers to safeguard its interests. At a media briefing, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava played down reports about damn construction and said the Chinese side has repeatedly conveyed to India that it was only undertaking run-of-the-river hydropower projects, which do not involve diversion of the waters of the Brahmaputra. Continued on Page 2 T he Interpol has warned law enforcement agencies across the globe that organised criminal networks could try to advertise and sell fake Covid- 19 vaccines both physically and online. In an Orange notice issued to all 194 member countries on Wednesday, the Lyon-based international police coopera- tion body warned agencies to prepare for potential criminal activity in relation to “the fal- sification, theft and illegal advertising of Covid-19 and flu vaccines”. “It also includes examples of crimes where individuals have been advertising, selling and administering fake vac- cines,” the Interpol said in a statement. An Orange notice is issued to warn of an event, a person, an object or a process repre- senting a serious and imminent threat to public safety. The CBI, which is the national Central bureau for India, is the nodal agency for coordination with the Interpol. The warning came on the day the UK became the first nation to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, leaving behind the US and the European Union in the race to approve a vaccine to contain the pandemic. Continued on Page 2 D irector of AIIMS, Delhi, Dr Randeep Guleria on Thursday said he was hopeful that an emergency regulatory nod will be given to coron- avirus vaccine by the end of this month or early next month to start vaccinating people. Amid reports of allega- tions of an adverse event case against Covishield vaccine, he said that safety and efficacy of vaccine are not compromised at all. “Around 70,000-80,000 volunteers have received the vaccine and no significant seri- ous adverse effects were seen. The data shows that in the short term, vaccine is safe,” he said. “There is good data avail- able that the vaccines are very safe. We should get emergency use authorisation from Indian regulatory authorities to start giving vaccine to public,” Dr Guleria said to a news agency here. Dr Guleria is also a mem- ber of the national task force on Covid-19 management. He added, “Chennai trial case is an incidental finding rather than related to vaccine. When we vaccinate a large number of people, some of them may have some other dis- ease, which may not be relat- ed to vaccine.” Elderly, people with comorbidities and front-line workers should be vaccinated first, said Dr Guleria. On vaccine distribution, he said, “Work is going on at war-footing both at the Centre and the State level for vaccine distribution plan in terms of maintaining cold chain, having appropriate storehouses avail- able, developing strategy, train- ing vaccinators and availabili- ty of syringes.” On Covid-19 pandemic’s new wave in India, he said, “Now, we’ve seen a decline in current wave and I hope this will continue if we are able to have a good Covid-19 appro- priate behaviour. We’re close to having a big change related to a pandemic if we manage this behaviour for the next three months.” Continued on Page 2 N avy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh on Thursday said attempts to “change the status quo” on the northern borders (Line of Actual Control) has impacted the security situation and prompted the Navy to period- ically deploy its aircraft and drones at the borders for recon- naissance in the last six months. “The year was defined by the challenge of Covid pan- demic which has permeated and disrupted every aspect of our lives. A near simultaneous attempt to change status quo on our northern borders has increased the complexities in our security situation,” he said. Outlining the operational readiness of the armed forces, Singh said, “This dual challenge scenario continues as we speak. The Army, IAF and Navy were working in close coordination to produce the desired results at the border and ensure secu- rity. The Navy is ready to face any threat.” Addressing the annual Press conference on the eve of the Navy Day on Friday, the Navy chief termed the present tension at the LAC as still ongoing. Replying questions about the role of the Navy in meeting the challenge at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh and other parts, Singh said the Navy sev- eral times deployed its P-8I long range reconnaissance air- craft on the Northern borders during the ongoing standoff. “The P-8I is a potent plat- form that has certain equip- ment that can be used on the border. Based on the require- ments of the Army and IAF we have deployed the P-8I on sev- eral occasions. We have also deployed the Heron Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) from one of the Northern bases,” the Navy chief said in response to a question. The reconnaissance air- craft was also used during the 73-day long face-off in Doklam near Sikkim in 2017 to get real time picture. The situation was defused following parleys at the highest diplomatic and politi- cal levels then. On the possible deploy- ment of the two MQ-9B Predator drones that were leased from the US recently at the LAC, the Navy chief said it depends on the requirements of the Army or IAF. Continued on Page 2 T amil Nadu’s tryst with spir- itual politics materialised on Thursday as reigning super- star of Tamil cinema Rajinikanth declared the for- mation of his political party. “If it is not now, it is going to be never. We will change everything associated with Tamil Nadu politics. My victo- ry will be yours and your vic- tory will be mine,” declared the actor in a specially convened Press meeting at the courtyard of his Poes Garden Residence in Chennai. He said he would declare the name of the party and plan of action on December 31. “We will surely contest the next Assembly election and form the Government which the people have been waiting for long,” said the superstar. As expected, Rajinikanth was accompanied by Tamilaruvi Manian, his Man Friday who has been working steadfast since 2016 with the actor for forming the political outfit. Manian is a former chief of Tamil Nadu Congress Committee and belongs to the school of titans like K Kamaraj, C Subramaniam and R Venkitaraman. Arjunamurthy, one of the BJP leaders, too joined the Rajinikanth band- wagon on Thursday as adviser. What culminated on Thursday was the preparations that began more than four years ago by Rajinikanth to usher in a new politics and way of thinking in the State domi- nated by Dravida Maya, according to Kolahala Srenivaas, political thinker and author. Continued on Page 2 N DA ally Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) in Haryana warned the BJP that it may not hesitate to step out of the Government if the demand of the agitating farmers was not met by the Centre. JJP chief Dushyant Chautala, who is Deputy Chief Minister of the State with core electoral base of Jat farming community, has said his party would stand with farmers on the MSP issue. If the standoff between the farmers and the Centre con- tinues, pressure is expected to increase on all non-BJP Haryana MLAs who helped the BJP form the Government. Continued on Page 2 T he honour the BJP Government bestowed upon Punjab’s five-time former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in 2015 has apparently ended up embarrassing the party. Often dubbed as the founder of the NDA, Badal on Thursday returned Padma Vibhushan — country’s second highest civilian award — to protest “betrayal of farmers”. Rajya Sabha MP Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa too returned his Padma Bhushan award to oppose the farm laws. The BJP Government, in March 2019, had presented him the award after he announced to part ways with the Akali Dal fol- lowing political differences with party chief Sukhbir Badal, in an apparent attempt to woo him. Continued on Page 2 New Delhi : Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday made an appeal to Union Home Minister Amit Shah and the protesting farm- ers to find an early resolution to the impasse over the new farm laws, saying the agitation is affecting Punjab’s economy and the nation's security

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Page 1: The Pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus-pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri …

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

��� ����������������� �������������� (����������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������)���������������������������������������*������������������������������'������������� ������������������+����%��������������,-�� ����������������������������������.--/�����0��'���������������������������������������������

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� ��������� �� ��������)12�13��

The eight-hour-long fourthround of talks between the

agitating farmer unions and theGovernment on Thursdayfailed to end the standoff overthe new farm laws as the pro-testors refused to accept any-thing less the repeal of all thethree farm laws. Another roundof discussions will be held onSaturday in a bid to forge a res-olution.

Althought the Governmentside, led by AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar, assured the group ofnearly 40 farmer leaders that alltheir valid concerns would bediscussed and considered withan open mind, the farmersstuck to their demand ofrepealing the three “hastily-passed” farm laws, saying therewere several loopholes anddeficiencies.

Bharatiya Kisan Union(Ambarta) president Rishipalsaid, “The Government notedall points. Ministers assuredthat they will look into themand sought one day’s time.”

The farmer leaders empha-sised on a five-point set ofdemands that seeks to frame aspecific law on MinimumSupport Price (MSP) and endthe punishment provision forstubble burning.

Farmer leader KulwantSingh Sandhu said the govern-ment made many proposalsincluding on MSP and pro-curement system, which wouldbe discussed among the farmerorganisations on Friday, beforethe next meeting.

The farmers emphasisedthat the provision to register acase for stubble burning shouldbe ended, and asked why theGovernment wasn’t ready to

give them “written assurance”on MSP despite its earlierstatements that MSP will con-tinue.

The farmer union repre-sentatives emphasised that anew law on MSP be framed ina special session of Parliament,demanding that it must guar-antee them MSP not only nowbut in the future as well.

The farmer leaders said,“Let us assume that MSP willcontinue but the procurementwould stop. The MSP will haveno meaning then.”

The farmer union repre-sentatives said the Governmentsaid the three farm laws werebrought in with the interests offarmers in mind.

Continued on Page 2

� ����)12�13��

Farmer leaders on Thursdayrefused the lunch offered by

the Government during theirmeeting with three UnionMinisters here and preferred toeat the food ferried in a vanfrom the Singhu border, wherethousands of their colleaguesare sitting in protest against thenew agri laws.

During the lunch break, asmall van carrying food foraround 40 people was seen out-side the Vigyan Bhawan, wherethe meeting is underway.

“Our farmers’ representa-tives did not accept the lunch

offered by the Governmentand we arranged it from theSinghu border,” Lok SangarshMorcha president PratibhaShinde told PTI.

Farmers’ leaders told theGovernment to focus onresolving the issues instead oftrying to be a good host byoffering lunch, said the LokSangarsh Morcha president.

“How can we have lunchoffered by the governmentwhen our fellow farmers are sit-ting on roads,” said Shinde,whose organisation, LokSangarsh Morcha, is among the40 farmers’ groups engaged inthe talks.

������������� )12�13��

As protesting farmers con-tinued to be adamant on

their demand for scrapping ofthe Centre’s agriculture reformlaws and stayed put at thenational Capital’s borders withHaryana and Uttar Pradesh, thepolice on Thursday closedroutes on two national high-ways connecting Ghaziabad toDelhi as the farmers sat on theDelhi-Meerut Expressway.

The protesting farmers hadon Wednesday threatened toblock other roads of Delhi iftheir demands were not met.

“The local police haveclosed the routes on NH-9and NH-24 from Ghaziabad toDelhi. On NH-1, both sides ofthe route have been closed

near Shani Mandir,” the DelhiTraffic Police tweeted. Thecrowd of farmers continued toswell at Ghazipur, promptingthe police to close the Delhi-UPborder on NH-24.

“The Ghazipur border onNH-24 is closed for trafficfrom Ghaziabad towards Delhidue to farmers’ protests. Peopleare advised to avoid NH-24 forcoming to Delhi and use

Apsara/Bhopra/DND instead,”the traffic police said.

It said NH-44 is closed onboth sides and asked people totake alternate routes via NH-8,Bhopra, Apsara border, andPeripheral expressway.

At the Chilla border, onecarriageway — from Delhi toNoida — has been opened fortraffic. However, the other car-riageway — from Noida toDelhi — is still closed.

People commuting fromNoida to Delhi are advised toavoid Noida link road, thetraffic police said. The Delhi-Haryana border at Jharodaand Jhatikra remained closedfor traffic movement. TheBadusarai border is open onlyfor two-wheeler traffic.

Continued on Page 2

���� )12�13��

The Union Government onThursday increased the cap

on domestic flights up to 80 percent of the pre-Covid levels.The domestic carriers wereoperating at 70 per cent of theircapacity. Domestic air travel issteadily reviving after beingallowed to resume on May 25following a two-month sus-pension.

While making theannouncement, UnionMinister of Civil AviationHardeep Singh Puri said thedomestic operations in India,which recommenced with30,000 passengers on May 25,have touched a high of 2.52lakh passengers till November30, 2020.

Continued on Page 2

���� )12�13��

India has said it is monitoringdevelopment related to

reports that China plans tobuild a major dam on theBrahmaputra. New Delhi alsosaid it intended to remainengaged with China on theissue of trans-border rivers tosafeguard its interests.

At a media briefing,External Affairs MinistrySpokesperson AnuragSrivastava played down reportsabout damn construction andsaid the Chinese side hasrepeatedly conveyed to Indiathat it was only undertakingrun-of-the-river hydropowerprojects, which do not involvediversion of the waters of theBrahmaputra.

Continued on Page 2

���� )12�13��

The Interpol has warned lawenforcement agencies

across the globe that organisedcriminal networks could try toadvertise and sell fake Covid-19 vaccines both physicallyand online.

In an Orange notice issuedto all 194 member countries onWednesday, the Lyon-basedinternational police coopera-tion body warned agencies toprepare for potential criminalactivity in relation to “the fal-sification, theft and illegaladvertising of Covid-19 and fluvaccines”.

“It also includes examplesof crimes where individualshave been advertising, sellingand administering fake vac-cines,” the Interpol said in astatement.

An Orange notice is issuedto warn of an event, a person,an object or a process repre-senting a serious and imminentthreat to public safety.

The CBI, which is thenational Central bureau forIndia, is the nodal agency forcoordination with the Interpol.

The warning came on theday the UK became the firstnation to approve a Covid-19vaccine, leaving behind theUS and the European Union inthe race to approve a vaccine tocontain the pandemic.

Continued on Page 2

���� )12�13��

Director of AIIMS, Delhi, DrRandeep Guleria on

Thursday said he was hopefulthat an emergency regulatorynod will be given to coron-avirus vaccine by the end of thismonth or early next month tostart vaccinating people.

Amid reports of allega-tions of an adverse event caseagainst Covishield vaccine, hesaid that safety and efficacy ofvaccine are not compromisedat all. “Around 70,000-80,000volunteers have received thevaccine and no significant seri-ous adverse effects were seen.The data shows that in theshort term, vaccine is safe,” hesaid.

“There is good data avail-able that the vaccines are verysafe. We should get emergencyuse authorisation from Indianregulatory authorities to start

giving vaccine to public,” DrGuleria said to a news agencyhere. Dr Guleria is also a mem-ber of the national task force onCovid-19 management.

He added, “Chennai trialcase is an incidental findingrather than related to vaccine.When we vaccinate a largenumber of people, some ofthem may have some other dis-ease, which may not be relat-ed to vaccine.”

Elderly, people withcomorbidities and front-lineworkers should be vaccinatedfirst, said Dr Guleria.

On vaccine distribution, hesaid, “Work is going on atwar-footing both at the Centreand the State level for vaccinedistribution plan in terms ofmaintaining cold chain, havingappropriate storehouses avail-able, developing strategy, train-ing vaccinators and availabili-ty of syringes.”

On Covid-19 pandemic’snew wave in India, he said,“Now, we’ve seen a decline incurrent wave and I hope this

will continue if we are able tohave a good Covid-19 appro-priate behaviour. We’re close tohaving a big change related to

a pandemic if we manage thisbehaviour for the next threemonths.”

Continued on Page 2

���� )12�13��

Navy Chief AdmiralKarambir Singh on

Thursday said attempts to“change the status quo” on thenorthern borders (Line ofActual Control) has impactedthe security situation andprompted the Navy to period-ically deploy its aircraft anddrones at the borders for recon-naissance in the last six months.

“The year was defined bythe challenge of Covid pan-demic which has permeatedand disrupted every aspect ofour lives. A near simultaneousattempt to change status quo onour northern borders hasincreased the complexities inour security situation,” he said.

Outlining the operationalreadiness of the armed forces,Singh said, “This dual challenge

scenario continues as we speak.The Army, IAF and Navy wereworking in close coordinationto produce the desired resultsat the border and ensure secu-rity. The Navy is ready to faceany threat.”

Addressing the annualPress conference on the eve ofthe Navy Day on Friday, theNavy chief termed the presenttension at the LAC as stillongoing.

Replying questions aboutthe role of the Navy in meetingthe challenge at the LAC inEastern Ladakh and otherparts, Singh said the Navy sev-eral times deployed its P-8Ilong range reconnaissance air-craft on the Northern bordersduring the ongoing standoff.

“The P-8I is a potent plat-form that has certain equip-ment that can be used on the

border. Based on the require-ments of the Army and IAF wehave deployed the P-8I on sev-eral occasions. We have alsodeployed the HeronUnmanned Aerial Vehicle(UAV) from one of theNorthern bases,” the Navy chiefsaid in response to a question.

The reconnaissance air-craft was also used during the73-day long face-off in Doklamnear Sikkim in 2017 to get realtime picture. The situation wasdefused following parleys at thehighest diplomatic and politi-cal levels then.

On the possible deploy-ment of the two MQ-9BPredator drones that wereleased from the US recently atthe LAC, the Navy chief said itdepends on the requirements ofthe Army or IAF.

Continued on Page 2

���� &�1))(�

Tamil Nadu’s tryst with spir-itual politics materialised

on Thursday as reigning super-star of Tamil cinemaRajinikanth declared the for-mation of his political party.

“If it is not now, it is goingto be never. We will changeeverything associated withTamil Nadu politics. My victo-ry will be yours and your vic-tory will be mine,” declared theactor in a specially convenedPress meeting at the courtyardof his Poes Garden Residencein Chennai.

He said he would declarethe name of the party and plan

of action on December 31.“We will surely contest thenext Assembly election andform the Government whichthe people have been waitingfor long,” said the superstar.

As expected, Rajinikanthwas accompanied by

Tamilaruvi Manian, his ManFriday who has been workingsteadfast since 2016 with theactor for forming the politicaloutfit. Manian is a former chiefof Tamil Nadu CongressCommittee and belongs to theschool of titans like K Kamaraj,C Subramaniam and RVenkitaraman. Arjunamurthy,one of the BJP leaders, toojoined the Rajinikanth band-wagon on Thursday as adviser.

What culminated onThursday was the preparationsthat began more than fouryears ago by Rajinikanth tousher in a new politics and wayof thinking in the State domi-nated by Dravida Maya,according to KolahalaSrenivaas, political thinker andauthor.

Continued on Page 2

���� )12�13��

NDA ally Jannayak JanataParty (JJP) in Haryana

warned the BJP that it may nothesitate to step out of theGovernment if the demand ofthe agitating farmers was notmet by the Centre.

JJP chief DushyantChautala, who is Deputy ChiefMinister of the State with coreelectoral base of Jat farmingcommunity, has said his partywould stand with farmers onthe MSP issue.

If the standoff between thefarmers and the Centre con-tinues, pressure is expected toincrease on all non-BJPHaryana MLAs who helped theBJP form the Government.

Continued on Page 2

������������� &�()���(4�

The honour the BJPGovernment bestowed

upon Punjab’s five-time formerChief Minister Parkash Singh

Badal in 2015 has apparentlyended up embarrassing theparty. Often dubbed as thefounder of the NDA, Badal onThursday returned PadmaVibhushan — country’s secondhighest civilian award — toprotest “betrayal of farmers”.

Rajya Sabha MP SukhdevSingh Dhindsa too returned hisPadma Bhushan award tooppose the farm laws. The BJPGovernment, in March 2019,had presented him the awardafter he announced to partways with the Akali Dal fol-lowing political differenceswith party chief Sukhbir Badal,in an apparent attempt to woohim.

Continued on Page 2

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New Delhi: Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh onThursday made an appeal toUnion Home Minister AmitShah and the protesting farm-ers to find an early resolutionto the impasse over the newfarm laws, saying the agitationis affecting Punjab’s economyand the nation's security

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Page 2: The Pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus-pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri …

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With no let up the Covid-19 deaths and infections

for the second day,Maharashtra recorded 115fresh deaths and 5,182 freshinfected cases on Thursday.

On a day when a relative-

ly high of 8,066 patients weredischarged from the hospitalsacross the state after full recov-ery, the total number of peopledischarged from the hospitalssince the second week of Marchthis year crossed 17 lakh figureto touch a figure of 17,03,274.The recovery rate in the state

rose marginally from 92.52per cent to 92.7 per cent.

With 115 fresh deaths, theCovid-19 toll in Maharashtrawent up from 47,357 to47,472.Similarly, with 5182new infections, the total infect-ed cases in the state climbedfrom 18,32,176 to 18,37,358.

A day after it recorded 20deaths, Mumbai logged 18deaths, resulting in the Covid-19 toll in the metropolis rosefrom 10,913 to 10,931.

The infections in Mumbaiwent up by 878, triggering ajump in the total infectionsfrom 2,82,818 to 2,83,696.

Meanwhile, the number of“active cases” total cases in thestate dropped from 88,537 to85,535. The fatality rate in thestate stood at 2.58 per cent.

Pune district, which con-tinued to be the worst-affectedcity-district in Maharashtra,saw the total number of cases

increase from 3,54,905 to3,55,698, while the total num-ber of deaths in Pune increasedfrom 7494 to 7507.

Thane district remainedin the third spot --after Puneand Mumbai – after the totalnumber of infections rose from2,41,858 to 2,42,509, while the

total deaths climbed from 5329to 5334. Of the 1,10,59,305samples sent to laboratories,18,37,358 have tested positive(16.61 per cent) for COVID-19until Thursday. Currently,5,48,137 people are in homequarantine while 5939 peopleare in institutional quarantine.

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Puri tweeted saying,“Domestic operations recom-menced with 30K passengerson 25 May & have now toucheda high of 2.52 lakhs on 30 Nov2020. Ministry of Civil Aviationis now allowing domestic car-

riers to increase their opera-tions from existing 70% to80% of pre-COVID approvedcapacity.” On June 26, this wasincreased to 45 per cent and onSeptember 2, it was furtherincreased to 60 per cent. OnNovember 11, it was increasedto 70 per cent.

From Page 1“Politics will not be the

same again in Tamil Nadu. Weare going to see advisers likeManian leading the State to arenaissance and bring TamilNadu back to the nationalmainstream,” Srenivaas toldThe Pioneer.

S Gurumurthy, editor,Tughlaq and the State’s leadpolitical commentator, is ofthe view that Rajinikanth hasthe potential to make a trans-formation in the State becauseof his broad national outlook.“We will soon see Dravidapolitics being pushed out fromthe State. There is going to bea refreshing change,” saidGurumurthy.

The entry of Rajinikanthwill see electoral alliances inTamil Nadu undergoing major

changes with more realign-ments, permutations and com-binations. The coming day willsee the DMK dumping theCongress and accepting thePMK as an alliance partner. Ido not rule out the possibilityof Rajinikanth, the BJP andTamil Manila Congress comingtogether in time for the polls.Exciting things are on theanvil,” said Srenivaas.

According to Gurumurthy,the serious political vacuumexperienced in Tamil Nadu bythe departure of Jayalalithaaand Karunanidhi would beaddressed to a great extent byRajinikanth, theMaharashtrian-born formerbus conductor, who hasemerged as a rallying point forpeople in all walks of life.

From Page 1He was asked about media

reports that China will build a‘super dam’ on the lower reach-es of the Yarlung Tsangbo riverin Tibet. “We have taken note ofsome media reports in thisregard. The Government care-fully monitors all developmentson the Brahmaputra river,”Srivastava said. Noting that issuesrelating to trans-border rivers arediscussed with China under theambit of an institutionalisedexpert level mechanism as wellas through diplomatic channels,the MEA spokesperson said,“We intend to remain engagedwith China on the issue of trans-border rivers to safeguard ourinterests.” The MEA spokesper-son also said that “as a lowerriparian State with considerableestablished user rights to thewaters of the trans-border rivers,the Government has consistent-ly conveyed its views and con-cerns to the Chinese authoritiesand has urged them to ensurethat the interests of downstreamStates are not harmed by anyactivities in upstream areas.”

From Page 1He said these drones

inducted some days back intothe Navy can remain in air formore than 30 hours and arealready help in mounting sur-veillance on large areas of thestrategically important IndianOcean region. He also saidthese drones have to someextent also aided the Navyovercome capability gap.

In the backdrop of theface-offs at the LAC and grow-ing Chinese maritime prowessin the Indian Ocean region, theNavy chief said the service hasa standard operating procedure(SOP) in place in case there isany infringement there by theChinese research or other mar-itime ceases operating there. Healso said the warships wereactively deployed in deep seaspatrolling critical areas andvarious choke points at the sealanes. However, there were noinfringements by the Chinesein the region so far, Singhsaid. “As of now, three Chinesewarships are in the IndianOcean region. The Chinesehave been maintaining threeships since 2008 for anti-pira-cy patrols,” he added.

From Page 1The Interpol has asked

police organisations to ensure“the safety of the supply chain”and said “identifying illicitwebsites selling fake productswill be essential”.

“Criminal networks willalso be targeting unsuspectingmembers of the public via fakewebsites and false cures, whichcould pose a significant risk totheir health, even their lives,”Interpol Secretary GeneralJurgen Stock said in a state-ment.

“It is essential that lawenforcement is as prepared aspossible for what will be anonslaught of all types of crim-inal activity linked to the

Covid-19 vaccine, which iswhy Interpol has issued thisglobal warning,” the officialsaid.

The Interpol cybercrimeunit has analysed that of 3,000websites associated with onlinepharmacies suspected of sellingillicit medicines and medicaldevices, around 1,700 con-tained cyber threats, especial-ly phishing and spammingmalware making such opera-tors even more potent of caus-ing financial and health harms,it said.

As a number of Covid-19vaccines come closer toapproval and global distribu-tion, ensuring the safety of thesupply chain and identifyingillicit websites selling fake prod-ucts will be essential, it warned.

From Page 1Guleria also said that in the

beginning, Covid-19 vaccinewill not be available in suffi-cient doses to give to everyone.“We need a priority list to seethat we vaccinate those who’vehigh chances of dying due toCovid. Elderly, people withcomorbidities and front lineworkers should be vaccinatedfirst,” he added. Recently,Union Health Secretary RajeshBhushan had ruled out vacci-nating entire population statingthat a few vulnerable peoplewill be identified who will beinoculated. The AIIMSDirector also said that once thebooster dose is given, vaccinewill give good amount of anti-body production and will startgiving protection. “This willlast for many months givingprotection for a significanttime when numbers will beless. We need to see type ofimmunity vaccine gives,” headded.

From Page 1However, people can trav-

el to Haryana through Dhansa,Daurala, Kapashera, Rajokri,NH-8, Bijwasan/Bajghera,Palam Vihar and Dundaheraborder points, the traffic policehave said.

The police also kept theHaryana-Delhi border atSinghu and Tikri closed fortraffic for the eighth day on thetrot.

“Singhu border is stillclosed from both sides.

Lampur, Auchandi & othersmall borders also closed.Please take alternate routes.Traffic has been diverted fromMukarba Chowk & GTKRoad,” the traffic police tweet-ed. “Traffic is very heavy. Pleaseavoid Outer Ring Road fromSignature Bridge to Rohini &vice versa, GTK road, NH 44 &Singhu, Auchandi & Lampurborders,” it said.As trafficspilled over to alternate routes,it led to long jams there as well.

On Wednesday, the farm-ers had demanded that a spe-cial Parliament session be con-

vened to repeal the three agri-culture reform laws which wereenacted in September.

The farmers’ unions alsocalled for a nationwide proteston Saturday to oppose whatthey claimed was “corporatisa-tion” of farming.

Meanwhile, most of theprotesters at Burari left onThursday to join others atSinghu and Tikri borders. “Weare going at Tikri border as ourmain protest is going on bor-ders not here,” said Rajendra,a farmer from Hisar inHaryana.

From Page 1JJP leaders claimed that Chautala will resign from his post

if farmers were not given “justice” by the Centre. JJP has askedthe Centre to resolve the demands of the farmers related to MSPas soon as possible, they said.

“The JJP has asked the Central Government to consider thedemands of the farmers. It is important to get an assurance fromthe Government on MSP. We are hopeful that the Centre willtalk to the farmers and resolve the issue soon so that the dead-lock can be broken,” said a JJP spokesperson.

National president of the JJP and former MP Ajay SinghChautala had also asked the Centre to bring a law on MSP.

Earlier, the ongoing farmers agitation on the outskirts of Delhihas led another NDA ally Rashtriya Loktantrik Party leader andNagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal asked the Centre and UnionHome Minister Amit Shah to immediately withdraw the farmlaws lest he would quit the alliance.

The Congress in Rajasthan is seeking to bring Beniwal to itsfold in the State, sources said.

From Page 1The return of the honours

by the two political veterans isbeing seen as symbolic of theirattempts to completely disas-sociate themselves from theparty they were in alliancewith. Notably, SAD had, inSeptember, snapped ties withthe BJP over the farm Bills.

That was not all! OlympianPargat Singh, currently theCongress legislator, has alsoannounced to return his hon-ours - Padma Shri and Arjunaawards. The list does not endhere. Punjab’s sportspersonsand Olympians have also writ-ten to President Ram NathKovind to return all the awardsand honours “bestowed by theGovernment of India” on them.

As the farmers’ ongoingagitation against the Central

farm legislations, with its epi-center in Punjab, turning intoa mass movement with peoplefrom all walks of lives, notablesor common, joining in, thedecision by the “honoured”,especially Badal, to return theawards is expected to put ahuge pressure on the CentralGovernment.

Badal was one of the archi-tects of BJP-SAD alliance withthe former Prime Minister AtalBihari Vajpayee and is respect-ed immensely by all, includingPrime Minister NarendraModi, who had never hesitat-ed to express his reverencetowards the Akali patriarch.

“Hurt and Betrayed” by theGovernment’s attitude andactions against the farmers,Badal wrote, “Today, I feel sopoor that at this stage of my life,I don’t have much else to sac-rifice to express solidarity with

the farmers.”“Please get the

Government to listen to farm-ers with love, compassion,understanding, and above allthe respect that they fullydeserve…I have truly begun towonder why has theGovernment become so heart-less, so cynical, so ungrateful tofarmers,” Badal wrote in the let-ter he e-mailed to the Presidentconveying his decision toreturn Padma award.

Akali stalwart maintainedthat he returned the Padmaaward “in protest against thebetrayal of the farmers by theGovernment of India andagainst the shocking indiffer-ence and contempt with whichthe Government is treatingthe ongoing peaceful anddemocratic agitation of thefarmers against the three farmActs”.

From Page 1However, they had never

kept these in mind. They saidthe farm laws have been passedto benefit big business and cor-porate houses.

Giving an example of sug-arcane procurement, the farm-ers’ organisations objected tocontract farming and pointedout its drawbacks.

The 5-point set of demandscame two hours after the ongo-ing meeting which startedaround 12.30 pm at VigyanBhawan in presence of theCentre’s representatives:Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar and ConsumerAffairs, Food and PublicDistribution Minister PiyushGoyal.

The Bharatiya Kisan Union,the Bharatiya Kisan SanyuktaMorcha and the KrantikariKisan Union are among themore than 34 farm union rep-resentatives who put thedemand before the Centre to calla special session of Parliamentand frame a law on MSP. Thefarm unions were also report-edly adamant on demanding theGovernment repealing its threefarm laws enacted in Septemberduring the Monsoon Session ofParliament. They have also putsome other demands on behalfof thousands of farmers owingallegiance to these organisa-tions, huddled under the opensky in the cold winter, refusingto budge until their demands aremet.

The meeting, which isexpected to play a major role infarmers’ future course of actionon whether they would contin-ue the protest or withdraw it, iscrucial as many of the farmers’demands would lead to newchallenges for the governmentwhose focus is to end the farm-ers’ agitation going on sinceNovember 26. Thousands ofprotesters have blocked fiveDelhi borders connectingChandigarh, Haryana and UttarPradesh crippling the chain ofsupply to the national Capital.

The meeting is also beingattended by Union Minister ofState for Commerce SomPrakash and AgricultureSecretary Sanjay Agarwal.

The fourth round of meet-ings with the farmer leadersstarted at Vigyan Bhawan afterthe earlier talks remained incon-clusive on December 1.

In the last meeting, thefarmers’ representatives hadunanimously turned down theCentre’s proposal of a specialcommittee to thrash out the dif-ferences and resolve concernsover the farm laws.

A breakthrough was notexpected in a single meeting,sources had said, in view of thegovernment firmly standing bythe laws it has called “historicreforms” in the farm sector.The farmers though have hard-ened their stance, warning thatif on Thursday “the last chance”for the Government to take adecision on the laws, was nottaken, the stir could intensifyfurther.

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Page 3: The Pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus-pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri …

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As farmers stir againstCentre's new farms laws

continued for the eighth con-secutive day, the GurugramTraffic Police on Thursdayissued an advisory and askedcommuters to avoid certainroutes.

"In view of the ongoingfarmers' protest in the nation-al capital, few routes leadingtowards Delhi have beendiverted", the Gurugram TrafficPolice tweeted.

Traffic Police on Thursdayappealed to citizens to takealternative routes.

Gurugram police havediverted traffic near Kapdiwasborder, Bilaspur Chowk,Panchgaon Chowk, ManesarChowk, Kherki Daula TollPlaza, Hero Honda Chowk,Rajiv Chowk, and ShankarChowk on the NationalHighway-48.

The Gurugram Trafficpolice advised the commutersfrom Kapdiwas border to Delhito take via Pataudi-Jhajjarroute. From Bilaspur Chowkand the vehicle coming fromPataudi to Delhi can take alter-native route via Farukh Nagar-Jhajjar road.

Similarly, PanchgaonChowk towards Delhi,

Farrukhnagar-Jhajjar road hasbeen designated for the com-muters.

Furthermore, U-turn fromManager Chowk and KherkiDaula toll Plaza towardsKundli-Manesar-Palwal SuperExpressway has been desig-nated.

Also, traffic from HeroHonda Chowk towardsFarukhnagar-Jhajjar-Badli roadhas been diverted.

Meanwhile, U-turn fromRajiv Chowk on the NationalHighway via Hero HondaChowk has been diverted andtraffic from Shankar Chowk U-turn on the Delhi-Jaipur car-riageway has also been divert-ed.

"Amid Farmers' protestcommuters do not face trafficmess, so as a preventative mea-sure, we have diverted severalroutes towards Delhi," said asenior traffic police officer.

"We have also enhancedour security arrangements atthe border points. At present,the situation is under controland there are no protestors atthis border point," he said.

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Hundreds of farmers onThursday gathered here at

UP gate border on early morn-ing leading to the closure ofNational Highway 24 towardsDelhi.

The people coming toDelhi, they had to face a lot oftrouble in reaching their desti-nation. Farmers on Thursdayalso blocked the NH 24 ele-vated road even on the Delhi

Meerut Expressway.Following the protest by

farmers, the IG Praveen Kumar,District Magistrate Dr AjayShankar Pandey, SSP KalanithiNaithani, reached the spot andurged farmers to leave way forcommuters.

Farmers at UP Gate raisedslogans against the central gov-ernment said that now thepatience of the farmer is bro-ken, it will not be tolerated.

Farmers from Uttarakhandand western Uttar Pradesh,

Saharanpur, Meerut, Baghpatjoined the protestors onThursday. Farmers blocked theDelhi Meerut NationalHighway Expressway whichled to long queues.

Bhartiya Kisan UnionTikait has also convened at theMaha Panchayat UP Gate. Thepolice also barricaded the bor-der and there was a jam situa-tion on NH 9 since morning.Long queues of vehicles wereseen from Vijayanagar to UPgate.

Rajeev Kumar, who worksin Delhi said that he had left forhis office at Connaught Placean hour earlier in the morningin view of the anticipation of amahapanchayat but he faced ajam near Hindon river and wasstuck in a jam for hours.

IG Praveen Kumar saidthat the police and securityforces are constantly monitor-ing the law and order situation. “No person will beallowed to take law in hishands,” he said.

� ��������� ���� )12�13��

Delhi Congress on Thursdayheld protests over flyovers

in all the 70 Assembly con-stituencies of Delhi against theAAP- Government for “hiding”actual figure of coronaviruscases and deaths due to theinfection to hide its failure incontrolling the menace.

Delhi Congress presidentAnil Kumar held the DelhiGovernment responsible forthe sudden spike in the Covid-19 pandemic and mountingdeaths in Delhi. “The govern-ment is hiding the actualCovid-19 pandemic spread anddeath figures to save its face butthe real picture is beingexposed now and the ArvindGovernment has run for cover,

to defend the surge of theCovid pandemic and over 9300deaths.

Kumar further said thatDelhiites are suffering onaccount of the failure of HealthMinister Satyender Jain and hisministry in controlling thepandemic.

Hundreds of Congressparty’s workers protested atthe ITO flyover on Ring Road,carrying banners, placards andCongress flags. Prominentamong those participated in theprotest included Parvez Alam,Rajkumar Indoria, MahilaCongress district presidentKamlesh Choudhary and SevaDal’s Yogesh Jain.

“It is very worrisome tonote that Delhi has become thecity with the largest number of

Covid-affected not only inIndia but also in the world.There has been a 136 per centjump in deaths due to Coronafrom November and out ofevery five Covid deaths in thecountry one was in Delhi,” hesaid.

The congress president saidthat the death count in Delhi isfour times more than the num-ber in the country due to gov-ernance failure. He said that theArvind Government has beenacting unilaterally without lis-tening to the warning ofexperts and Health MinisterSatyender Jain stood like ascarecrow without doing any-thing. Kumar demanded res-ignation of Delhi health min-ister for his “failure” in tacklingthe Covid situation.

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Senior Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader and chief

spokesperson SaurabhBhardwaj on Thursday saidthat the meeting betweenPunjab Chief Minister andHome Minister was nothingbut a ‘conspiracy’.

After the meeting, Singhjust asked the farmers to resolvethe matter but did not utter aword against BJP-ruled Centre.He said that some days agoCaptain Amrinder Singh wassaying that he will resign ifthese three anti farmer laws arenot rolled back by the BJP ruled

Centre. But after that‘Enforcement Directorate’ sentnotices to his son, he took a U-turn.

"Captain Singh has alsoasked the farmers to settle

down the situation. The farm-ers have clear demands thatall these three laws should beimmediately rolled back andthe Center should give anofficial structure or legalstructure to the ‘MinimumSupport Price’. After the meet-ing, he did not speak aboutthe demands of the farmers.Instead, he said that theCentral Government shouldsettle down the matter andthat the farmers should alsosett le down the matterbecause the situation isbecoming a threat to thenational security of the coun-try," he said.

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In a bid to make online class-es accessible to all students,

Deputy Chief Minister of DelhiManish Sisodia distributed1059 (e) tablets to students onThursday, encouraging them topursue their education withoutany hindrance during theongoing pandemic.

These tabs were providedby the Tata Power-DDL andBSES discoms. The tabs weredistributed at an event orga-nized at GovernmentSarvodaya Vidyalaya, ShalimarBagh.

Speaking on the occasion,Sisodia said, “Soon, the coro-na vaccine will be releasedaround the world and thispandemic would be a matter ofhistory. But the loss of educa-tion that our students are fac-ing today cannot be compen-sated by any vaccine. To min-

imize this loss, the DelhiGovernment is consistentlyworking to find solutions.”

Sisodia said that due to theclosure of schools, efforts weremade to provide online educa-tion to Delhi governmentschools. However, it continuesto pose a challenge to the stu-dents who lack access to theinternet or devices to study, hesaid.

The deputy chief ministerasked the students to use thesetabs for their studies and returnit to their school after theirexaminations so other studentsin need can also benefit fromit.

Complementing the effortsof the Delhi Government, BSESdiscoms have been playingtheir part in the fight againstCovid. Continuing with theclose partnership with theDelhi Government in its fightagainst Covid-19, BSES dis-

coms handed-over around 850e tablets to Delhi’s DeputyChief Minister, the discomsaid in a statement.

Speaking at the event,Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, TataPower-DDL expressed,‘‘Education is one of the mostimportant pillars of our CSR

program. Through this initia-tive, we aim to help studentscope with the challenges ofavailability of digital equip-ment and enable them tosmoothly enter the realm ofonline education (e-learning),especially for those who do nothave access to smart phones or

laptops during the ongoingpandemic.”

Under its Saathi (CSR)program, Tata Power-DDL hasbeen supporting students ofclasses X, XI and XII from 52Government Senior SecondarySchools every year in terms ofstudy material, stationary etc.

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Accusing the BJP leaders oftrying to allot lands to

their supporters, the AamAadmi Party (AAP) chiefspokesperson SaurabhBhardwaj on Thursdayattacked the BJP ruled SouthDelhi Municipal Corporation(SDMC) for its plan to openmilk and fruit shops at parksin Delhi.

The AAP leader said thatthe proposal is a lreadyopposed by not only the AAPbut even ‘Residents’ WelfareAssociations’ have written toLieutenant Governor andDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal expressing concernsand demanded a roll back ofthe decision.

Bhardwaj said, "The cor-ruption of the BJP ruled MCDis very well known to the cit-izens of Delhi. The citizens ofDelhi are very angry againstthe misgovernance of theMCD. The people of Delhi arewaiting for the election tocome and to defeat them inthis election and the BJP hasunderstood this. Earlier theAAP exposed how the BJPruled North MCD is sellingout various lands. Now todaywe will also expose the BJP

ruled South MCD."“To maintain these parks

the Delhi government hasincreased the maintenanceexpenditure three times thanwhat it used to be earlier.Through the Delhi Parks andGarden Society, the DelhiGovernment is ensuring fullmaintenance of these parks.For example, the DelhiGovernment is paying aroundRs 4 lakh per year to RWA forthe maintenance of the parkat the GK 1, S block," HESAID.

"The Corporation wantsto set up fruit, milk, vegeta-bles and basic confectionaryshops at those parks. For thisinitiative, it has allowed theprivate players to decide onestablishing these shops andthese private players will getthe lease for 7 years. Now,who will ensure the size ofthese shops or i f theyencroach extra land? Whowill ensure the license distri-bution process? Who willensure that only friends ofBJP councillors are not get-ting the license? Who willensure how many licensesare being issued? The trackrecord of the BJP is so badthat no one trusts them,” hesaid.

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The Aam Aadmi Party's ten-ant wing and street vendors-

wing held peaceful demonstra-tions at the ITO flyover andBarapullah flyover in support offarmers. Through human ban-ners, the AAP appealed to theBJP government at the centre towithdraw all three anti-farmerlaws. Party workers raised slo-gans of Jai Jawan Jai Kisan dur-ing the demonstration.

All the protesters were car-rying placards in hand and ahuge banner was hanged on theflyover. Through these demon-strations, the AAP urged the BJPruled central government toimmediately listen to thedemands of the protesting farm-ers. The AAP also demandedimmediate rollback of theseblack laws.

The AAP is protestingagainst these laws following thedirection of Delhi chief minis-ter Arvind Kejriwal has direct-ed all the party workers to standshoulder to shoulder with thefarmers during their protest.

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Page 4: The Pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus-pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri …

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India’s Covid-19 caseloadbreached the 95-lakh mark

on Thursday while the totalnumber of people who haverecuperated from the diseasesurged to 89.73 lakh pushingthe national recovery rate to94.11 per cent, according to theUnion Health Ministry.

The total coronavirus casesmounted to 95,34,964 with35,551 new infections beingreported in a day, while thedeath toll climbed to 1,38,648with 526 new fatalities.

The number of people whohave recuperated from the dis-ease surged to 89,73,373 push-ing the national recovery rateto 94.11 per cent, while theCovid-19 case fatality ratestands at 1.45 per cent.

The active Covid-19 case-load continued to remainbelow 5 lakh. There are4,22,943 active coronavirusinfections in the country whichcomprises 4.44 per cent of thetotal caseload, the data stated.

India’s Covid-19 tally hadcrossed the 20-lakh mark onAugust 7, 30 lakh on August 23and 40 lakh on September 5. Itwent past 50 lakh onSeptember 16, 60 lakh onSeptember 28, 70 lakh onOctober 11, crossed 80 lakh onOctober 29, and surpassed 90lakh on November 20.

India has reported moredaily recoveries than the daily

new cases during the past 24hours. While 35,551 personswere found to be infected withCovid in India, during thesame period, India has regis-tered 40,726 new recoveries. Ithas led to a net decline of 5,701cases from the total ActiveCaseload in the last 24 hours.

The new recoveries con-tinue to overtake the daily newcases continuously since thepast 6 days. India’s active case-load has fallen under the 4.5per cent mark. .

The trend of more dailyrecoveries than the daily caseshas led to a continuous con-traction of India’s ActiveCaseload. It has ensured thatIndia’s present active caseloadof 4,22,943 consists of just 4.44

per cent of India’s TotalPositive Cases.

New Recoveries outnum-bering the daily New Cases hasalso improved the RecoveryRate to 94.11% today. Thetotal recovered cases stand at89,73,373. The gap betweenRecovered cases and Activecases is steadily increasingand presently stands at85,50,430.

With 5,924 persons recov-ering from COVID, Keralarecorded maximum numberof recoveries. Delhi registeredanother 5,329 daily recoverieswhile Maharashtra 3,796 newrecoveries.

Ten States/UTs have con-tributed 75.5 per cent of thenew cases, said the Ministry.

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The Congress on Thursdaystepped up the demand for

the immediate scrapping ofthe farm laws in view of thefarmers’ protest in the nation-al capital.

Former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi said in atweet,”Accepting less thanscrapping of three black farmlaws will be deceit to farmersand the country.”

Rahul said it would be abetrayal of India and its farm-ers if the Centre fails to repealthe farm laws.

The grand old party hasbeen attacking the govern-ment over the use of forceagainst the protesting farmers,and urged them to withdrawthe new farm laws and redressthe grievances of the protest-ers.

Taking to Twitter ahead oftalks between farmers andgovernment, Rahul Gandhiwrote, “Accepting anythingless than the complete with-drawal of black farm lawswould be a betrayal of Indiaand its farmers.”

Rahul’s remarks come at atime when farmers from sev-eral states are protesting atDelhi borders against theCentre’s new agriculturereform laws.

A day before, Rahul hadattacked the Centre over itsclaim of doubling farmers’

income and alleged that theirincome in fact “halved” underthe “suit-boot” government,while that of its crony friendshas grown four times.

“ They said farmers’income will be doubled. Whatthey did was increase theincome of ‘friends’ four timesand halved that of farmers.This is a government of suit-boot, lies and loot,” theCongress leader said in atweet.

Rahul also shared a videoshowing police using watercannons and firing tear gasshells during protests byfarmers with a speech ofPrime Minister NarendraModi playing in the back-ground wherein he says hisgovernment is taking steps toresolve the problems faced byfarmers and double theirincome.

“Modi government, stopgiving ‘jumlas’ (rhetoric) tofarmers, stop the dishonestyand atrocities, stop givingthem the falsehood of talks,(and) abolish all three blacklaws which are against farm-ers and labourers,” RahulGandhi said.

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Congress’ Lok Sabha leaderAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury

on Thursday requested SpeakerOm Birla to convene a shortWinter Session of the House todiscuss several issues includingthe farmers’ agitation andpreparation of COVID-19 vac-cine.

In a letter to Birla,Chowdhury, also the WestBengal Congress chief, saidthat the winter session of theHouse be convened with all theCOVID-19 protocols in placeto help the people understandthe important issues the coun-try is facing at present.

“There are a number ofvery important issues that thenation is facing in presenttimes. The most notable amongthem are the ongoing farmers’agitation and the status/prepa-ration of the COVID-19 vac-cine,” the letter read.

Listing issues like “eco-nomic slowdown, unemploy-ment scenario, continuousstand-off along the India-Chinaborder and unabated ceasefireviolation along the India-Pakistan border”, Chowdhurysaid, “There is a need for athorough and transparentdebate/discussion on all theabove-mentioned importantissues.”

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Union Home Ministry onThursday released a list of

the top 10 police stations in Indiafor the year 2020. Nongpokpolice station in Manipur toppedthe first followed bySuramnagalam AWPS in TamilNadu and Kharsang police sta-tion in Arunachal Pradesh in the2020’s top 10 police stations inthe country.

The Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) in a statementsaid that 2020’s survey for thebest police station was done byMHA under “challenging cir-cumstances” due to the ongoingCovid-19 pandemic. It also saidthat Home Minister Amit Shahhad noted that a “vast majority”of police stations shortlisted forthe list were from small townsand rural areas.

Top 10 police stations awardstarted in 2015 as per suggestionof Prime Minister NarendraModi in the DGPs conference.The best police stations wereselected from a total of 16,671police stations on certain para-meters, said MHA. “From these,75 police stations were selectedfor the next stage, out of which10 were selected as the country’sbest police stations. A total of4,065 respondents participated inthe survey,’ said MHA.

The fourth best police sta-tion award was given to Jhilmilipolice station in Chhattisgarh,followed by Sanguem in Goa,Kalighat in Andaman, Andamanand Nicobar Islands, Pakyong inSikkim, Kanth in Moradabad,Uttar Pradesh, Khanvel in Dadraand Nagar Haveli andJammikunta Town police stationin Karimnagar, Telangana.

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The Centre on Thursdaysaid that the class 10th and

12th Central Board ofSecondary Education (CBSE)exams for the year 2021 will beconducted in the convention-al written mode and that as ofnow there is no considerationto conduct the exams online.

“The Board examinationsof 2021 will be in the regularwritten manner and notonline,” the CBSE stated. Thedates of examination, however,have not been decided yet,Education Ministry officialssaid.

Besides this, the CISCE,which conducts the ISC andICSE board exams has writtento the chief ministers of allstates and union territoriesasking for permission to par-tially reopen schools fromJanuary 4 so that board examstudents of classes 10 and 12could participate in projectworks, practical works, SUPW,and doubt-clearing sessions.

According to the Ministryof Education, “Conducting theexaminations is important toensure the progress as well asfor the better future of the stu-

dents”.This year, amid the pan-

demic and ‘new normal’scheme of things, a wide rangeof discussions have beenunderway among students,parents and teachers regardingthe examinations.

From registration of Boardexams to classroom opera-tions, everything is being con-ducted virtually.

Earlier, Union EducationMinister Ramesh PokhriyalNishank had said: “Online edu-cation is a big challenge for stu-dents who are constantly awayfrom school and college. Butstudents should always beready to turn this challenge intoan opportunity.”

In view of all such possi-bilities, the government hastaken a new initiative to con-duct the examinations timelyamid the Covid-19 situation.

The Education Ministerhas planned a three-stage dia-logue with the alumni, parentsand teachers for conducting theexaminations. He is likely tocommunicate directly with stu-dents, parents and teachersthrough webinars on three dif-ferent dates.

After this virtual dialogue,

the education minister willreview the examinations to beheld in the states and union ter-ritories. In this way, a detailedplan to conduct the examina-tions will be made according tothe orders of the Ministry ofHealth, Ministry of HomeAffairs.

“The biggest challenge is tostudy with better resolve andwill, and to release the resultson time so that students do notwaste an entire academic year,”he said, adding “for the betterfuture of students, it is neces-sary to conduct examinationsacross the country on time”.

The Council for the IndianSchool CertificateExaminations (CISCE) said ina statement that in case schoolsare allowed to reopen, theywould follow all the safetyguidelines and SOPs prescribedby the government.

CISCE has also asked thedates for the state elections tobe held in April-May 2021from the Chief ElectionCommissioner of India so thatCISCE can finalise the ICSEboard exam 2021 and ISCboard exam 2021 dates, thecommission said in their offi-cial statement.

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The NIA has arrested accusedGopal Oraon of Khunti dis-

trict, Jharkhand, in connectionwith a case relating to a humantrafficking racket running inguise of placement agencies.

Oraon was a close associateof arrested accused Panna LalMahto and was activelyinvolved in human traffickingracket, the NIA said on

Thursday.The case arose out of FIR

No. 07/2019 dated July 19,2019 registered at PS-AHTU,Khunti, Jharkhand under var-ious Sections of the IndianPenal Code and relevantSections of the Bonded LaborSystem (Abolition) Act.

The NIA re-registered thecase as RC-09/2020/NIA/DLIon March 4 this year and tookup the investigation.

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In the absence of human-to-human contact due to coro-

navirus induced lockdowns,job losses and social isolation,pet animals filled the need byproviding much-wanted com-fort via cuddles, pats and a con-stant physical presence, accord-ing to a study published in thejournal of BehaviouralEconomics for Policy (JBEP).

Researchers fromUniversity of South Australiaasserted that as pets haveplayed a lifesaving role in 2020,the Governments need takenotice of this connections.Hospitals, hospices and agedcare facilities should be encour-aging pet connections withresidents, they said in the study.

Lead author Dr JanetteYoung underlined that physicaltouch is a sense that has beentaken for granted - even over-looked - until Covid-19 visit-ed our door earlier this year.

“To fill the void of loneli-ness and provide a bufferagainst stress, there has been aglobal upsurge in people adopt-ing dogs and cats from animalshelters during lockdowns.Breeders have also been inun-dated, with demands for pup-pies quadrupling some waitinglists,” she said.

It is estimated that morethan half the global populationshare their lives with one or

more pets. The health benefitshave been widely reported,but little data exists regardingthe specific benefits that petsbring to humans in terms oftouch.

Touch is an understudiedsense, but existing evidenceindicates it is crucial forgrowth, development andhealth, as well as reducing thelevels of the stress hormonecortisol in the body. It is alsothought that touch may be par-ticularly important for olderpeople as other senses decline,she said.

In interviews with 32 peo-ple, more than 90 per cent saidtouching their pets both com-forted and relaxed them - andthe pets seemed to need it aswell while many referencedpets’ innate ability to just“know” when their humancounterparts weren’t feeling

well and to want to get physi-cally close to them.

Kavita Kumar, a DefenceColony resident in New Delhi,agreed with the observationrecalling how her furry pet,Muffin, has been a harbingerof peace and solace in thesetrying times. “He has been ableto gauge my ups and downsand has provided me withsane and streamlines thoughtstaking away the stress sur-rounding us,” said Kumar ateacher in a Delhi school

Unnati G Hunjan andJayasankara Reddy, researchersfrom Christ University,Karnataka in their study inSage Journals too have talkedabout various benefits of touchhealing of pets. “It also releas-es biochemicals which canfurther boost the immune sys-tem and enhance health andwell-being, “ they said.

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The lockdowns due toCovid-19 were harder for

people with disabilities (PwDs)with a study noting that about84.7 per cent participants inter-viewed had to borrow food tocope with financial crisis, 81per cent reported experiencinghigh levels of stress while 28 percent postponed their scheduledmedical appointments.

The CBM India, in collab-oration with IIPH Hyderabadand Humanity & Inclusionhad conducted the study across14 States on the Impact ofCovid-19 on PwDs with an aimto understand the level of dis-ruption on their living condi-tions and related restrictions.

“The aim was also to gen-erate evidence to be preparedfor future pandemics or emer-gencies, “ said Prof GVSMurthy, Director, IIPHHyderabad. The observationswere distressing as studyrevealed that the pandemicimpacted the health/ mentalhealth and rehabilitation, edu-cation, livelihood and social

participation of PwDs.For instance, 42.5 per cent,

i.e., two out of every five PwDsreported that lockdown hadmade it difficult for them toaccess routine medical careeven as isolation, abandon-ment, and violence were otherworrying psycho-social prob-lems reported, reflecting thelack of empathy on the part oftheir family during the difficulttimes.

At least 81.6 per centreported experiencing moder-ate to high levels of stress.Among the 34.5 per cent whostated that they needed infor-mation on mental health issues,only 25.9 per cent had access tosuch services.

Only 20 per cent were ableto get regular mental healthcounselling or therapy relatedservices during the lockdownperiod, and 11.4 per cent facedproblems getting their regularpsychiatric medicines. 58.2 percent were unhappy that thetherapy sessions for their childwith disability has ceased dur-ing the lockdown, said thestudy. Participants with varied

impairments like physical, visu-al, intellectual and speech andhearing impairments were fromChhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Bihar,Jharkhand, Odisha, Delhi,Uttarakhand, Assam,Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh,Tamil Nadu, Telangana, andMaharashtra.

“People with disability suf-fered significantly more thanthe rest of the population inaccessing health and rehabili-tation care during the Covidlockdown. We need to be ade-quately prepared so that we donot comprise their healthneeds,” said Prof Murthy whileDr. Sara Varughese from CBMIndia, added “Many faced dif-ficulties in even accessing basicnecessities. Incomes were com-promised and even withdraw-ing their money from theirbank accounts was a challenge.”

The lockdown also posedmajor difficulties in accessingmedicines due to travel restric-tions, out-patient services athospitals/clinics, regular bloodpressure monitoring, rehabili-tation services.

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The Centre informed theSupreme Court on

Thursday that its guidelines donot contain any instructionsregarding affixing posters andsignages outside the homes ofCovid-19 patients and therecannot be any stigma attachedto it.

The Government said thisbefore a bench headed byJustice Ashok Bhushan whichreserved order on a plea seek-ing directions to do away withthe practice of pasting postersoutside the homes of those

infected by coronavirus.Solicitor General Tushar

Mehta referred to the affidavitfiled in the apex court by theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare (MoHFW) and toldthe bench, also comprisingJustices R S Reddy and M RShah, that the guidelines do notrequire any such affixation ofposters.

“The Central governmentguidelines do not require this,”he said, adding, “There cannotbe any stigmatic impact”.

The bench asked Mehtawhether the Centre can issuean advisory that this should not

be done.To this, Mehta said the cen-

tral government has alreadydone this.

“We will close it. Heard.Judgement reserved,” the benchsaid.

The counsel appearing forthe petitioner told the benchthat there are no such instruc-tions in the guidelines to affixposters outside the home ofthose found COVID positivebut the “reality is very different”.

“Posters are also affixedwith names of COVID positivepatients on it,” the counselsaid.

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Page 5: The Pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus-pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri …

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In an effort to motivate theyouth of Mumbai to serve the

nation with pride, a Sea HarrierMonument was dedicated tothe city of Mumbai byMaharashtra's Tourism andEnvironment Aditya Thackerayon Thursday, a day ahead of theNavy Day.

Held in the presence ofRear Admiral V Srinivas, FlagOfficer CommandingMaharashtra Naval Area, thededication of the monument to the citizens ofMumbai marked “reassuranceof devotion and commitmentof Indian Navy towards safe-guarding our maritime bound-aries”.

Located at the popularjunction of Bandra Band Stand,the monument stands tall andproud next to the sea, remind-ing of the heydays of the air-craft's illustrious servicetowards safeguarding the maritime frontiers of theNation.

The monument showcasesthe Indian Navy's aviationcapabilities as also keeping thelegacy of INS Viraat alive fromwhose deck the aircraft oper-ated.

The Indian Navy becameonly the second country to flythe Sea Harrier when it wasinducted in 1983.

The aircraft operated fromthe deck of INS Viraat.

Built by the BritishAerospace, the Sea Harrier wasa Short Take-Off and VerticalLanding/Vertical Take-Off and

Landing (STOVL/ VTOL) jetfighter, reconnaissance andattack aircraft. The aircraftformed part of INAS 300squadron popularly known as

“White Tigers” whose legacy isbeing continued by the latest MIG 29 K fightersonboard INS Vikramaditya.

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Despite the cold December,foreign birds are not com-

ing on Shekha Jheel. Whilethese days there were plenty offoreign birds on the lake andsome birds also breed, but dueto lack of water in the lake, thebirds have not come here thisyear.

In the last week of October,the foreign birds started com-ing here, but this time due tothe halting of the upper GangaCanal and the lack of rain, only10% water is left in the lake.

Due to the water scarcitythat has been going on fortwenty days, only 2% of the vis-itor birds are seen on the lake.At the same time, environ-mentalists are blaming theadministration and public rep-resentatives for the plight of thelake.

It is alleged that after thedeclaration of the bird sanctu-ary, the construction of 2 tube-wells, administrative buildings,toilets and boundary walls wasproposed with a budget of 3crores and 4 lakhs.

In which administrativebuildings were built, while thetube-well required for the lakeis still pending. If tube wellshad been arranged, there wouldhave been no scarcity of waterin the lake and birds wouldhave stayed.

Nature guide MohammadIshaq told that the lake wasdried in December 2003, 17years ago.

Till then the then DFOAnupam Gupta had con-structed footpaths due to whichthe water in the lake wasreduced, but this time due tolack of water in the canal andless rain, the water of the lakeis decreasing day by day.

Aligarh: In protest against the3 farm laws, under the DelhiJam Program of 32 FarmersOrganizations, the workers ofBhanu, the Indian FarmersUnion of Aligarh, continued tostay on the Delhi Noida Border.They announced that theprotest will continue till the lawis changed.

The Indian Farmers UnionBhanu is on an indefinite strikeunder the leadership ofNational President ThakurBhanu Pratap Singh on NoidaDelhi Border for the demand offarmers. During this, StatePresident Yogesh Pratap Singhhas demanded that the strikewill continue till the purchaseof farmer’s produce at the min-imum support price will belegalized and the anti-farmer’slaws will be changed.

State General Secretary Dr.Shailendra Pal Singh said thatnow the conch of the battlewith the central governmenthas been sounded. PNS

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has

extended her support to thefarmers’ movement and askedthe Centre to repeal the three“oppressive laws” threatening anationwide movement by herparty if the “anti-people” legis-lations were not taken backimmediately.

Farmers from Punjab,Haryana, UP, Bihar and else-where were protesting in Delhiagainst the enacting of theFarmers’ Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Bill, 2020; theFarmers (Empowerment andProtection) Agreement of PriceAssurance and Farm ServicesBill, 2020 and the EssentialCommodities (Amendment)Bill, 2020 passed by the Centre.

“I am very much concernedabout the farmers, their livesand livelihood. GOI [govern-ment of India] must withdrawthe anti-farmers bills. If they donot do so immediately we willagitate throughout the stateand the country. From the verystart, we have been stronglyopposing these anti-farmerbills,” Banerjee said.

Bengal’s ruling Trinamool

Congress was likely to hold ameeting on Friday to discussthe strategy regarding the pro-posed movement even as anumber of leaders are in favourof taking a large number offarmers from Bengal to Delhi tosupport the movement.

The Chief Minister tweet-ed saying “We will discuss howthe Essential Commodities Actis impacting common peopleand resulting in skyrocketingprices. The central governmentmust withdraw this anti-peoplelaw.”

She earlier told in a meet-ing how the three laws werecomplimentary to each otherand would hit the farmers,townsmen, poor and the mid-dle class equally hard in thedays to come.

“This Government is nothappy with selling the govern-ment properties to the priva-teers. Now they are selling thefarmers to the private busi-nessmen… They have broughta ruinous law that will send thefarmers at the mercy of the cor-porate houses who will buy offtheir produce for low prices.The other laws would allow thesame corporate to collect theproduce and hoard them with-out police intervention till the

prices go up … this is blatantthrowing of the common peo-ple at the mercy of the rich,” shesaid.

On the large-scale privati-zation she said, how “theGovernment of

India is selling everything.You cannot sell Railways, AirIndia, Coal, BSNL, BHEL,banks, defence etc. Withdrawill-conceived disinvestment andprivatization policy. We mustnot allow treasures of ournation to be transformed intoBJP party’s personal assets,”adding her party would hit thestreets soon against the centralpolicies, prompting the oppo-sition BJP to call her declarationa “vote-catching ploy which thepeople will not believe.”

While BJP leader SayantanBasu said how the ChiefMinister was speaking like theerstwhile Marxists, CPI(M)politburo member Md Salimsaid Banerjee was too late intaking up the issue.

He said, “Didi has wokenup late when the movement hasalready reached Delhi. The Leftparties have already held anationwide movement… She istrying to stem the rot in theTMC as it is getting decimatedin Bengal.

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Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee onThursday announced a host of “out-

reach” measures that could to some extent off-set probable the loss of clout with the exit ofpowerful mass leader Suvendu Adhikariwho is almost on the verge of quitting theparty the ruling Trinamool Congress.

The Chief Minister told reporters herGovernment decision to cap the price ofRTPCR test for ascertaining corona infectionto Rs 950/-. Earlier the test was priced at Rs1,250. “I have told that no one will be allowedto charge more than Rs 950/- Banerjee said.Initially the tests cost anywhere between Rs4,000 and Rs 4,500 which was later reducedby the Chief Minister to Rs 2,000 and thento Rs 1,500.

Apart from reducing the charge of coro-na test Banerjee also announced that aboutone million students of government schoolswould be provided with tabs for continuingwith their online classes.

“There are about 9.5 lakh students (classXII) in 14,000 government aided schools and636 madarsas… they have been facingimmense problem in continuing their onlineclasses. So we have decided to provide themwith tabs so that they can carry on their edu-cation,” Banerjee said adding to help the stu-dents in lesser classes the government schoolswill be provided with computers for facili-tating onlineeducation.

Apart from this the Chief Minister alsoannounced 3 per cent dearness allowance forstate government employees in January. “Wehave limited resources still we will provide 3

percent DA to our Government employees inJanuary,” Banerjee said even as BJP leaderSamik Bhattacharya said that “these decisionsare aimed at winning back the fleeing elec-torate … but people have tolerated her for tenyears they are not willing to see her comingto power again… so these measure will nothelp her win elections.”

Launching a scathing attack on the ChiefMinister, State BJP president Dilip Ghosh saidthe populist schemes --- including DuareySarkar (Government at the door steps) --- thatthe Government is unleashing are aimed atthe voters but the Chief Minister will have toanswer as to what she was doing all theseyears. Why her officers did not meet the peo-ple then… why the people would have toreturn empty handed from the BDO offices…so these schemes will not work for hernow.”

On rebellions in the TMC Ghosh said that“there are more police men guarding the TMCleaders than they are guarding the peoplebecause the TMC is afraid of these leadersleaving the party like the ones who are com-ing out of Trinamool now.”

Though he would not name SuvenduAdhikari inside sources said that the power-ful TMC leader had already been contactedby two very senior BJP leaders including anMP.

Earlier even as the efforts to pacify himfailed the TMC leadership said they would notcommunicate with him any longer. “We arenot going to him again. Now he will have totake his decision… We have communicatedour mind to him,” senior leader and TMC MPSaugato Roy who was holding dialogues withhim as emissary of the Chief Minister said.

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Another woman fromBengal has achieved a rare

feat to become the first in hertrade in the country. ShyamliHaldar has become the firstwoman to head the air trafficcontrol (ATC) not only inKolkata but entire India.

Among the first batch ofwomen air traffic controllersjoining the servicer 31 yearsago Haldar was promoted asthe General Manager ofKolkata ATC.

She is the second Bengaliwoman to achieve a similar featin aviation industry. DurbaBanerjee was incidentally thefirst Indian woman to fly.

Joining the service in 1989Haldar was trained at CivilAviation Training College inAllahabad. As the ATC top offi-

cer managing more than 300controllers she would mind theskies as far as Hyderabad,sources said.

The job is extremelytedious and a controller notonly has to be skill full but alsosincere and attentive and con-fident… and she combines allthese qualities,” an official at theNetaji Subhas InternationalAirport said.

A good cook of biryaniHaldar a single mother, hadefficiently managed her pro-fessional and personal require-ments quite smoothly. “I havebeen working for the past 30years and have tried to give mybest to my job and to whatev-er I do … Till now things havebeen smooth for me” she saidadding she “never take office tomy home and home to myoffice” making both the worksequally comfortable.

Aligarh: The implementationof National Education Policy(NEP) 2020 will transformIndia as it connects the pastwith the future and focuses onleading India to the top,” saidUnion Education Minister, ShriRamesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank'.

He was speaking in theonline seminar on 'NationalEducation Policy-2020' of theAligarh Muslim University andthe virtual book release func-tion of 'Physics of NeutrinoInteractions' (CambridgeUniversity Press) authored byProf M Sajjad Athar and ProfS K Singh.

Stressing that NEP is basedon concepts of equity, qualityand accessibility, the EducationMinister said that the educationpolicy is aimed to bring India'sdiverse nature in terms ofregional languages with thebenefit of providing primaryeducation in mother tongue. PNS

Jaipur: ChiefMinister ShriAshok Gehlotsaid that theS t a t eGovernment isconstantly mak-ing sensitive decisions towardsthe welfare of Divyang and toprepare them as skilled humanresource.

He said that in the publicletter, we had promised to pro-vide facilities to Divyang sim-ilar as provided to BPL. Soonthe proper decision will bemade in this regard.

This will be another bighumatarian decision of thestate government to increasefrom three percent to fourpercent Reservation for thedisabled in state services andincrease in their honors pen-sion amount.

Mr. Gehlot was addressingthe State Level Divyangajanhonor ceremony on the occas-sion of International Divyang

Day on Thursday at the ChiefMinister's residence.

Virtual media District col-lectors involved in this programorganized by Institutions doingremarkable work in the area ofwelfare of Divyang were hon-ored in the districts and alsoprovided accessories toDivyang.

The Chief Minister saidthat there was a time whenDivyang was seen from theinferior perspective due to hisphysical dependence.

Even several times theirfamilies also considered themas burden. After the introduc-tion of this day from the UnitedNations 1992, there was a greatstart at international level tobring social changes.

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Bareilly (UP): The Uttar PradeshPolice has made its first arrestunder the new anti-conversion law,days after a man complained thatsomeone is harassing his daughterin a bid to change her religion, offi-cials said on Thursday.

Uttar Pradesh GovernorAnandiben Patel on November 28had given assent to the UttarPradesh Prohibition of UnlawfulConversion of Religion Ordinance,2020, against forcible or fraudulentreligious conversions. The lawprovides for imprisonment of upto 10 years and a maximum fineof Rs 50,000 under different cate-gories.

“This is the first arrest underthe new law. Accused OwaisAhmad was arrested from theRichha railway gate in the Bahediarea here on Wednesday. He wasproduced before a local court andwas sent to 14 days judicial cus-tody,” Deputy Inspector General(DIG) of Police, Bareilly, RajeshKumar Pandey said.

The case was registered at theDevarniya police station in Bareillydistrict on November 28 againstAhmad, officials said, adding thatit was the first case to be registeredin the state under the new law.

Based on a complaint fromTikaram, a resident of Sharif Nagar

village in Devarniya, the case wasregistered under sections of theIndian Penal Code and the anti-conversion law.

The complainant has accusedAhmad, a resident of the same vil-lage, of trying to convert hisdaughter through “allurement”,police said.

According to the complaint,Tikaram''s daughter and Ahmedstudied together in Class 12.

Three years ago, the accusedstarted pressuring her to undergoreligious conversion and perform''nikaah'' (marriage) with him,according to the complaint. Butwhen the woman opposed, hethreatened to kidnap her, Tikaramhas said in his complaint.

The complainant''s daughtermarried someone else in June.However, Ahmed continued toharass her and her family mem-bers, he has alleged.

Under the Uttar PradeshProhibition of UnlawfulConversion of Religion Ordinance,2020, which deals with differentcategories of offences, a marriagewill be declared “null and void” ifthe conversion of a woman issolely for that purpose, and thosewishing to change their religionafter marriage need to apply to thedistrict magistrate. Agencies

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Maharashtra’s Zilla Parishadprimary schoolteacher

Ranjitsinh Disale has bagged theprestigious the Global TeacherPrize (GTP) 2020 worth USDOne Million (Rs.7.40 crore).

Disale, who transformedthe “life chances of young girls”at the Zilla Parishad PrimarySchool at Paritewadi in Solapurdistrict of western Maharashtra,was selected from over 12,000nominations and applicationsfrom over 140 countries aroundthe world.

The Global Teacher Prizewas set up to recognize oneexceptional teacher who hasmade an outstanding contribu-tion to the profession as well asto shine a spotlight on theimportant role that teachersplay in society.

Disale is credited with trans-forming education by using QRcodes and other innovations toimpart lessons which helpeddrastically reduce dropout rates,especially among the girl stu-

dents. He was among the 10 glob-

al teachers shortlisted in Octoberfor the top global honour. Hewas declared the winner at a cer-emony held in London onThursday.

“The impact of Ranjitsinh(Disale’s) interventions has beenextraordinary: there are now noteenage marriages in the villageand 100 per cent attendance bygirls at the school. The schoolwas also recently awarded thebest school in the district with85% of his students achieving Agrades in annual exams. One girlfrom the village has now grad-uated from University, some-thing seen as an impossibledream before Ranjitsinharrived,” the GTP’s official cita-tion stated.

A central team visited theZilla Parishad Primary School atParitewadi in Solapur districtwhere Disale teaches, studied thesystem and submitted its reportin 2018 and finally the NationalCouncil of Educational Research& Training (NCERT) decided to

adopt the QR codes in their text-books. A majority of the girl stu-dents were from tribal back-grounds which did not prioritiseeducation and teenage mar-riages were a common practicein the region.

The Marathi-mediumschool, where Disale teaches,had multi-language courses inKannada or Telugu owing towhich many students were notable to perform well.

Disale made it a point tolearn Kannada, an official lan-guage of neighbouringKarnataka). Afterwards, heredesigned all the textbooks ofprimary school Std. I-IV stan-dards to ensure easier understanding by the youngstudents. Along with uniqueQR codes, Disale also incorpo-rated audio poems, video lec-tures, stories and assignments inKannada which proved to be aboon for the young learners.

So much so that MicrosoftCEO Satya Nadella had earlierrecognized Disale’s work in hisbook, ‘Hit Refresh’.

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Page 6: The Pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus-pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri …

Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin “Bibi” Netanyahuis a stereotypical Israeli politi-

cian, who has served in the IsraelDefence Forces (IDF). Hailingfrom a military family thatincludes elder brother YonatanNetanyahu, who commanded thedaring Operation Entebbe andbecame its only Israeli fatality,Benjamin himself was a teamleader in the Sayeret Matkal(Special Forces Unit) and tookpart in multiple covert operationsin Syria like Operation Gift andOperation Isotope. He was alsoshot in the shoulder during ananti-hijack operation. But today,Benjamin Netanyahu is also agreat political survivor and thelongest-serving Israeli PrimeMinister (1996-1999, 2009-tilldate). The politician par excel-lence also has an unmatched CVin escaping tight spots. Foremostamong them has been survivingthe difficult tenures of former USPresidents Bill Clinton and BarackObama (both of them were notpolicy hawks), surviving sex tapes,indifferent colleagues, accusa-tions of media manipulation,ongoing criminal trials for fraudand bribery, and above all, facingyet another potentially complicat-ed relationship with the incomingAmerican administration underJoe Biden.

But it is yet another illustriousIsraeli war hero and fellow-SayeretMatkal colleague of Netanyahu’s,Ehud Barak, who throws insightsinto the mind of the politicalescape-artist. Barak himself isthe former Israeli Chief of theGeneral Staff and the most deco-rated soldier in Israeli history.Later, he replaced Netanyahu asthe Prime Minister in1999. Barak,who has worked along withNetanyahu in the military and theKnesset, claims, “Netanyahu hasshown that no legal regulationsreally interest him” and given thelegal entanglements surroundinghis fate, “he understands that heis going nowhere, and his priori-ty will be anything that will gethim out of a trial.” Barak assess-es that a desperate, amoral andreckless Netanyahu could createinternal and external circum-stances that would galvanise hispolitical popularity and makehim irreplaceable. Barak is joinedby over 300 retired officers fromthe Israeli Army, Police, Shin BetSecurity Service, Mossad and

multiple former IDF Chiefs ofStaff like Gabi Ashkenazi,Moshe Yaalon and the tem-porarily aligned Benny Gaantz.Years ago, as the leader of theOpposition, Netanyahu hadled infamous protests againstthe then Prime MinisterYitzhak Rabin (who had justsigned the Oslo Peace Accord),where he walked at the head ofa mock funeral procession,featuring an empty black cof-fin and chants of “Death toRabin.” Days later, YitzhakRabin was assassinated by anIsraeli opposed to the accordand that marked the return ofextremist hardliners, amongwhom Netanyahu has beenthe most dominant player onthe scene.

Now, Netanyahu has beenbracing for a post-DonaldTrump administration. Thenomination of AnthonyBlinken as the Secretary of Statehas accelerated his worries.Blinken is a known supporterof rapprochement with Iran, asalso a rare critic of the contro-versial move to shift the USEmbassy from Tel Aviv toJerusalem. Netanyahu realisesthe inevitability of the loomingchange in the dynamics, as alsoof the very narrow window ofa few weeks before Trump iseased out of the White House.Frenetic backdoor activitiesare in full swing to securepositions in the chessboard ofthe Middle East, among whichwas the not-so-secretive meet-ing between Saudi PrinceMohammad Bin Salman andNetanyahu at Neom. Beyondpublic posturing, politicalrhetoric and official denials,both Riyadh and Tel Aviv aremore strategically aligned than

ever before, and between them,the irreconcilable sectarianangularity of Iran is a unifyingfactor. The Iranians are militar-ily challenging the Saudisthrough their proxies in Yemen(Houthi rebels) and rallyingagainst the Saudi-supportedSunni militia in the Syrian-Iraqi swathes whereas the Iran-backed Hamas in the WestBank and the co-sectarian Shia-Hezbollah in Lebanon are tak-ing on the Israelis. Iran is thecommon dread and, therefore,the essential playground foraccusations, intrigues andcovert operations.

During a news conferenceat the Ministry of Defence in2018, Netanyahu had spokenabout and stood before theimage of Iranian scientistMohsen Fakhrizadeh. Pointingto the image, Netanyahu hadchillingly warned, “Rememberthat name, Fakhrizadeh!” Lastweek when Fakhrizadeh wasassassinated by unknown gun-men, the Iranians wereunequivocal in blaming, “themercenaries of the oppressiveZionist regime”, referring toNetanyahu’s Government. Thetiming was eerily ominous andIranian President HasanRouhani alluded to the desper-ation of the very limited win-dow of Presidential transitionin the US when he said, “theenemies are experiencingstressful weeks.”

It has been acknowledgedby the international watchdogagency, International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA), thatwhile Fakhrizadeh was indeedthe head of the Iranian nuclearprogramme, there were noalarm bells in the Iranian reac-tivation status as yet despite the

unilateral pullout by the USfrom the Iran nuclear deal.Legally also, Iran was no longerbound to restrain its nuclearprogramme after the US hadreneged on the deal, despiteassurances from IAEA thatIran had fully complied with allcommitments. If anything,Trump-Netanyahu had uppedthe ante with avoidable andprovocative steps like killing therevered General QasemSoleimani, who had played apivotal role in destroying thedangerous edifice of the ISILCaliphate in Iraq-Syria.

The killing of Fakhrizadehcannot possibly make anymaterial impact on the Iraniannuclear preparedness as it is notdependent on any individual,in any case, and the motivescould only be purely political.This act looks intended todeliberately worsen the rela-tions to draw retaliatory actionfrom Iran, thereby premature-ly stalling any thawing oppor-tunities that are presumablyforthcoming with the Bidenadministration. Details ofTrump discussing a possiblemilitary strike against Iran justbefore the Presidential electionsare already doing the rounds.From the same political play-book, heightened political ten-sion between Tel Aviv andTehran can also help shore upcrucial and invaluable nation-alistic fervour in favour of themuch-cornered Netanyahu.For politicians like him, peacedelegitimises their politicalappeal and instead, provoca-tion, tension and violence,strengthen the same.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands)

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��������������� Sir — At last, Thalaiva hastaken the political plunge, end-ing years of vacillation and sus-pense. We are not quite surewhether superstar Rajinikanthtook the decision to float hisown political party at the turnof the year of his own free willor at the behest of somebodyelse. Either way, it has triggeredspeculation over the possiblepolitical churn it could stir inTamil Nadu politics ahead of theAssembly elections. The actor isentering the political fray at anage most leaders think in termsof retiring from it. Certainly, hiseagerness to do public servicedespite his age and ill-health iscommendable. But what he rep-resents — a slant to the rightwing — could make the peoplequite wary of supporting himand limit his space in the polit-ical sphere.

He is close to the BJP and afan of Prime Minister NarendraModi. He shares their ideolo-gy but can’t afford to appear asan opponent of the Dravidianmovement and its mores. His“spiritual politics is, in a way, justa euphemism for “saffron poli-tics.” It is no secret that RSS ide-ologue and Rajini aide

S.Gurumurthy is the bridgebetween the actor and the SanghParivar. Who will back himwith funds is not clear though.

Given his natural affinity forHindutva, nobody expects himto stand up against the CentralGovernment when it tries toimplement its agenda to thedetriment of Tamilian inter-ests. Rajinikanth speaks ofcleaning up politics and projectshimself as a harbinger of change.

But the kind of change he has inmind may not advance thecauses of social justice dear toTamilians.

The rich cultural identity ofTamil Nadu stands betweenRajinikanth and his success inpolitics. He must consider him-self lucky if his fan base does notshrink when BJP cosies up tohim.

G.David MiltonMaruthancode

����� � ��������Sir — It is noteworthy that for-mer Punjab Chief MinisterParkash Singh Badal haslaunched his protest against thenew farm Acts and shown sup-port for the agitating farmers inDelhi by returning the PadmaVibhushan award. He receivedthe second highest civilian hon-our in 2015.

Some sportspersons andcoaches from Punjab have also

said that they would returntheir awards and will march toDelhi on December 5 in solidar-ity with the protesters. It iscommendable that celebritiesand notables of the State arestanding by the farming com-munity. The CentralGovernment must negotiate amiddle ground lest this becomesanother battle of identities andmutates into a social uprising.

Noor Ahmad Hyderabad

����Sir — Someone has rightly said,“Don’t trust a person that does-n’t like dogs.” Most families feelincomplete without a pet. So oneof the most interesting news ofthe week was about Joe Bidengetting hurt while playing withhis dog. It’s nice to know that thenext US President is fond of ani-mals like many previous ones.

This President will be morerelatable than his predecessors,like Obama and Bush amongothers, simply because he does-n’t shy of projecting his home-ly pleasures.

Dennis FitzgeraldMelbourne

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On November 17, the Central Governmentimposed restrictions on the withdrawalof funds from the Lakshmi Vilas Bank

(LVB) till December 16, (except for a maximum�25,000 per account as relief to small depositors)on the advice of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).Plus, the LVB’s Committee of Directors wassuperseded. The RBI invited suggestions andobjections “within three days” on a draft schemeof amalgamation of LVB with DBS Bank India.On November 25, the Central Governmentapproved the scheme proposed by the RBI. TheLVB-DBS merger came into force on November27 and the moratorium imposed on with-drawals was lifted. Foreign banks may operatein India either by having their branches in thecountry directly owned/operated by them or bycreating a wholly-owned subsidiary (WOS) reg-istered here. The Singapore-based DBS GroupHoldings Limited has been operating in branchmode since 1994 but switched to WOS model inMarch 2019.

All the assets and liabilities of LVB now standtransferred to DBS India. By June, DBS India hada sizeable customer deposit base of �24,700 crore,including �5,700 crore as low-cost deposits. It isnow busy rebranding LVB branches and ATMswith its logo. The parent foreign bank is expect-ed to bring an additional investment of �2,500crore. DBS India, with just over 30 branches inthe country (most of its business is in the branch-less mode) now gets ownership of the LVB’s fixedassets (historical, depreciated cost of �463 croreon March 31, mainly comprising 560 branchesand 970 ATMs); cash and investments with theRBI (�1,048 crore on March 31) and other invest-ments (�5,384 crore on March 31). The LVB getsaccess to deposits of �21,443 crore, includingabout �6,000 crore low-cost CASA (current andsavings accounts) deposits. On the flip side, DBShas to service LVB’s borrowings (�756 crore onMarch 31). Out of the total advances (�13,828crore outstanding on March 31), about one-fourth were Non Performing Assets (NPAs). Thegross NPA ratio had deteriorated from 15.3 percent on March 31, 2019 to 25.39 per cent onMarch 31 this year and remained high at 24.45per cent on September 30.

While the LVB’s 20 lakh depositors and 4,000employees can heave a sigh of relief, its over97,000 investors have been hit hard. Forced merg-ers of banks are nothing new but in an unprece-dented action in the LVB’s case, the sharehold-ers have been divested of their equity sharehold-ing, reserves and surpluses. Since the value ofequity shares is officially decreed to be zero, theerstwhile owners of the LVB will not get any sharein the LVB+DBS banking entity. Also hurt arebondholders as all of LVB’s Basel-III compliantTier-2 bonds worth �318 crore were writtendown. Bond-holders will not get back theirinvested money, nor interest on them.Significantly, srapping Tier-2 bonds is anunprecedented action. The move was thus both,swift and uncommon, but the problem had beenbrewing for some time. The LVB had been incur-ring losses for the past 10 quarters and the RBIinitiated Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) inSeptember 2019, which asked the bank to bringin additional capital, restrict further lending tocorporates, reduce NPAs and improve theProvision Coverage Ratio to 70 per cent.

These actions/decisions of the CentralGovernment and the RBI have been challengedby the LVB’s shareholders in Mumbai andMadras High Courts (HCs). The Mumbai HC

declined to stay the amalgamation butkept the plea filed before it for mone-tary compensation pending. TheMadras HC, too, declined to stay theamalgamation but passed some inter-im orders giving some relief to the LVB’sshareholders on a petition filed by AUMCapital Market Private Limited, a retailinvestor holding shares in LVB.

Shareholders contend that theyhave been deprived of the LVB’s own-ership without any monetary compen-sation. This amounts to unjust enrich-ment of a foreign bank. The manner ofselection of DBS India as the transfer-ee company has also been questioned.What has frustrated the LVB sharehold-ers is the fact that the same DBS thathas now acquired the bank with zerocompensation to shareholders hadoffered to buy 50 per cent of the LVB’sshares for at least �100 per share in2018. Since then, the LVB’s value dete-rioration has been fast. The shareprice of the LVB lost 58 per cent thisyear and went to less than �10 a share.The LVB’s total business shrank from�47,115 crore at the end of September2019 to �37,595 crore at the end ofSeptember this year.

By then, the LVB’s Tier-1 CapitalRatio and overall Capital AdequacyRatio (CAR) as per Basel-III norms hadturned negative. With a large gross NPAratio of 24.45 per cent, the LVB had anegative net worth of �699 crore.Therefore, scrapping the shares andTier-2 bonds of the LVB means that thebank has been practically wound up,with core investors asked to bear theaccumulated losses. And the junkedentity has been handed over to a whiteknight investor to take over in the inter-est of the LVB’s 20 lakh depositors.Aggrieved shareholders contend thateven if the authorities have the power

to reduce the share value during anamalgamation, reducing share value tozero cannot be done without verycompelling reasons. And these reasons(if any) have not been disclosed.

Instances of commercial banksfailing are rare. As the Government andthe RBI are empowered to order con-solidation, compulsory amalgamationand liquidation of small banks, no com-mercial bank has failed. Forced merg-ers of weak banks with stronger onesare a normal practice to safeguarddepositors’ interest.

The LVB is one of the oldest privatebanks. It was founded in 1926 with afairly distributed ownership. At the endof March 2012, the LVB had 12.92 percent non-resident shareholding, whichincreased to 43.1 per cent by March2019. During the period, resident indi-vidual shareholding came down from56.73 per cent to 27.7 per cent. Residentfinancial institutions increased theirstake from 8.47 per cent to 20.9 percent.

The 20.9 per cent Indian FinancialInstitutions and 38.4 per cent foreigncompanies, together commandingmajority control of the LVB, failed toexercise due diligence and control themanagement even as the bank’s lend-ing portfolio became problematic. TheLVB is a banking company registeredunder the Companies Act, 1956.Banking companies are governed dif-ferently from other companies in India.They are regulated by both theCompanies Act and the BankingRegulation Act, 1949. And the BankingRegulation Act, being a specialised law,takes precedence over the conflictingprovisions of the Companies Act.Section 45 of the Banking RegulationAct, 1949 empowers the RBI to applyto the Central Government “for suspen-

sion of business by a banking compa-ny and to prepare a scheme of recon-stitution of amalgamation.” So thetriggers, processes, control mechanismand so on for mergers and acquisitionsare different than those for non-bank-ing companies.

Just like the Companies Act, theInsolvency and Bankruptcy Codeapplies to banking companies, too, butthe Banking Regulation Act prevailsover the other two Acts. The onemonth “moratorium” imposed on theLVB on November 17 was akin toanaesthesia that is given before asurgery. Keeping the LVB under amoratorium for too long would haveaffected 20 lakh depositors. The RBIhad to find an able and willing investorready to take over. For the last two years,the LVB and its promoters have beentrying to lure investors to infuse addi-tional capital to meet regulatory norms.

For the takeover of financially-dis-tressed non-banking companies, reso-lution professionals are appointed bythe National Company Law Tribunal(NCLT). This invites tenders frompotential investors and the company ishanded over to the highest bidder. Inthe case of weak banks that are in needof rescue, there is no such practice ofinviting tenders. The transferee bank-ing company is selected based on theprofessional judgment of the RBI.Whether the selection of DBS India wasbased on rational considerations andwhether the LVB’s pre-amalgamationvaluation justified shareholders/bond-holders being denied any monetarycompensation are now sub-judice.Judicial review of regulatory wisdom isnot unprecedented.

(The writer is former SpecialSecretary, Ministry of Commerce andIndustry)

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On the night of November 1,thousands of Goans gatheredon the railway lines at Chandor,

South Goa to protest against the dou-bling of railway tracks for enhancementof coal transportation from theMormugao Port Trust (MPT) to steelplants in neighbouring Karnataka.Currently, the State serves as a cruciallink to coal transportation toKarnataka. However, despite the exist-ing infrastructure, the Government islooking to fast-track the process byintroducing three major infrastructureprojects. Goa’s fate was sealed by the“devil’s dust” (fine particles of coal) in

2016 as the MPT led development pro-gramme, Sagarmala, received theCentre’s nod aimed at converting Goainto a coal hub.

During the nationwide lockdown,the Union Ministry of Environment,Forest and Climate Change and theNational Board for Wildlife gave “vir-tual clearance” over a video conferenceto three interconnected infrastruc-ture projects — four laning of the exist-ing NH-4A (Goa-Karnataka Highway),laying a 400KV transmission line anddoubling of an existing railway linefrom Mormugao to Londa. The threelinear projects are situated within thesame protected area. Reportedly, allthree projects require felling of 70,000trees and diversion of 216 hectares offorest and private land in MollemNational Park and Bhagwan MahaveerWildlife Sanctuary in South Goa. Thisforest is part of the Western Ghats,which is one of the eight biodiversityhotspots of the world and part of theUNESCO World Heritage Site. Theprotected area is home to more than721 plant species, 235 bird species, 219

butterfly species, 70 mammal species,45 reptile species, 44 fish species and27 amphibian species. This includesendemic as well as rare and vulnera-ble species such as the tiger, dhole,mouse deer, gaur and the Indian pan-golin among others. In addition, thereare 18 bird species that are endemic tothe Western Ghats and seven birdspecies that are of high conservationconcern are found here. This area wasmarked as an Ecologically SensitiveArea by the Madhav Gadgil Committeein 2012.

The Bhagwan Mahaveer WildlifeSanctuary and Mollem National Park,part of a larger contiguous forest, is atreasure trove of flora and fauna andis an important tiger corridor betweenGoa and the adjoining Kali TigerReserve in Karnataka. Of 240 sq km,the sanctuary and the national parkconstitute the largest protected area inGoa. The Western Ghats are one of themost important tiger habitats in theworld. Expanding the highway anddoubling of the South WesternRailways will leave the southern part

of the Ghats disconnected from thenorth. This will lead to death andinjuries to tigers and other numerousanimals as they cross the tracks in theircyclic movements. The Tilari Dam andrelentless mining have already decimat-ed elephant habitats and other signif-icant parts of the Ghats. Forests in theWestern Ghats that have existed forthousands of years are irreplaceable.The Intergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) Report, 2019,shows that the Western Ghats are oneof the most resilient ecosystems thatwill buffer us from climate change.

Roads and power lines are knownto fragment habitats, impacting floraand fauna in incalculable ways. Thehabitat where these projects are pro-posed is also home to a newly-discov-ered dragonfly species. Dandeli andGoa are believed to be an elephantmovement route. Now tigers and leop-ards are also likely to move throughhere. While there are eight or nineunderpasses proposed for wildlife,there is little information on wherethese will be constructed, and even less

is known about their scientific effica-cy. Ironically enough, these projectshave been cleared at a time whenCOVID19 has revealed how loss of for-est land, wildlife and biodiversity canincrease zoonotic diseases.

The Government’s move goes toshow how India’s wildlife laws are open-ly flouted with little or no regard to con-sequences. According to experts, athorough verification of theEnvironmental Impact Assessment(EIA) and project proposals is rarelydone, showing regulatory bodies’ scantregard towards eco-sensitive zones. Itis a sad reflection on the state of envi-ronmental governance that theMoEFCC and NBWL overlook crucialstatutory requirements and haveundermined the purpose of the EIA.The evidence put forth by naturalists,conservationists and the people livingin these forests over centuries needs tobe taken into consideration.

Coal dust causes a host of prob-lems for wildlife. Beginning withsevere respiratory problems, in the longterm, increased exposure to toxic ele-

ments through coal dust can cause ani-mals to suffer from a variety of life-threatening disorders and dysfunction-alities. According to the NationalWildlife Federation, “Unless significantaction is taken now, global warmingwill likely become the most importantfactor to affect wildlife since the emer-gence of mankind.” Climate change, towhich coal burning and dust areamong the prominent contributors, hasthe potential to significantly alterecosystems and cause mass extinctionof species. In underground and surfacewaters, coal dust can cause decrease inaquatic oxygen content and in lightpenetration. This reduces the growthof aquatic plants. In turn, this leads tomanifold increase in mortality of fishand other aquatic species that aredependent on aquatic plants as a foodsource.

Coal dust also decreases the abil-ity of plants and trees to photosynthe-sise. If this natural process is stymied,most plants would begin to die.Although they could hold out for a fewdays, or in some cases, a few weeks,

how long they live would largelydepend on how much sugar they hadstored within their cells. Large trees, forexample, may be able to soldier on forseveral years because of their energystores and the slow rate of use.However, the majority of plants woulddie and so would the animals that relyon them for nourishment. With theherbivores dead, the omnivores andcarnivores would soon follow.

Coal dust is affecting humans, too,as it is increasing incidents of respira-tory ailments. In 2016-17, a consign-ment of 12.75 million tonnes of coalwas unloaded at the MPT and carriedacross Goa to power stations andrefineries. It is expected to grow to 19-21 million tonnes per annum (MTPA)by 2025 and to 34-40 MTPA by 2035.This will completely transform the faceof Goa. Transport of such huge quan-tities of coal risks entire habitats, vil-lages and towns; it is threatening theecological resilience of Goa required todeal with the effects of climate change.

(The writer is CommunicationsAssociate, Wildlife SOS)

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Beijing: China’s total fertility ratehas fallen below the warning lineand the population growth hasentered a critical turning point,Chinese Minister of Civil AffairsLi Jiheng has said amid demog-raphers warning that the coun-try’s population will soon startto decline.

Facing a demographic crisiswith a rapidly ageing populationafter implementing the decades-old one child policy, China per-mitted to have a second childsince 2016.

Now the demographers callon the government to immedi-

ately lift restrictions on havingbabies and be more toleranttoward babies born out of wed-lock, and do more to lower thecosts of raising and educatingchildren.

Li in an article said thatunder the influence of variousfactors, Chinese people are lesswilling to have children, the totalfertility rate has fallen below thewarning line, and the populationdevelopment has entered a crit-ical transition period, state-runGlobal Times reported onThursday. On November 1,China started the world’s biggest

exercise of population count todocument demographic changesin the country.

About seven million work-ers began a door to door surveyfor the seventh census in thecountry to account for China’spopulation stated to be 1.37 bil-lion in the last exercise con-ducted ten years ago.

The figures were expected toreveal more data related to thepopulation which is key forChina’s strategic development asthe second-largest economyafter the US and demographiccrisis faced by it. PTI

Copenhagen: A Hong Kongpro-democracy activist andformer lawmaker who is visit-ing Denmark said Thursday heis going into exile and will soonmove to Britain.

“I hereby announce that Iwill go into exile and will with-draw my membership in theDemocratic Party of HongKong to leave Hong Kong,” TedHui said in a statement to TheAssociated Press. “There is noword to explain my pain andit’s hard to hold back tears.”

It was not clear when hewould travel to Britain which,in response to a crackdown onopposition in Hong Kong, hasextended residency rights forup to 3 million Hong Kongerseligible for British National

Overseas passports, allowingthem to live and work there forfive years.

“My personal determina-tion is that my exile will not bea migration. My only home isHong Kong which is why I willnot apply for asylum in anycountry,” Hui said.

“I will wait for the day thatI can go home with the bells offreedom ringing in a free HongKong. Until my last breath I willfight to the end.

Revive Hong Kong, revo-lution now!” In July, anotherdemocracy activist, NathanLaw, left Hong Kong after tes-tifying in a U.S. Congressionalhearing about a tough newsecurity law imposed by main-land China on the semi-

autonomous territory.At first, he declined to dis-

close his whereabouts for safe-ty but later appeared inLondon.

“I will continue to fight onaboard and will make it my lifemission to widen Hong Kong’sinternational battle front withpeople like Nathan Law in theU.K.,” Hui said.

Hui was arrested in HongKong in May over an incident inthe Legislative Council in whichhe dropped a rotten plant andattempted to kick it at the body’spresident. He was able to get hispassport back from the govern-ment and a visa after receivingan invitation from Danish law-makers to travel to Denmark,where he arrived Tuesday. AP

Lahore: Mumbai terror attackmastermind and Jamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed’sspokesperson Yahya Mujahidhas been sentenced to another15 years in jail by a Pakistanianti-terrorism court in a terrorfinancing case.

Mujahid was last monthhanded down 32 years jailterm by the anti-terrorismcourt (ATC) in two terrorfinancing cases.

Besides Mujahid, the ATCLahore on Wednesday alsohanded down 15 years impris-onment to JuD’s senior leaderZafar Iqbal and six months jailterm to Saeed’s brother-in-lawHafiz Abdul Rehman Makki.

Earlier, the ATC Lahorehad sentenced Iqbal for 26

years imprisonment in threesuch cases.

Judge Ijaz Ahmad Buttarannounced the verdict underdifferent provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.

The three convicts werepresent in the court when thejudge announced the verdict.

The Counter TerrorismDepartment (CTD) of Punjabpolice had registered as manyas 41 FIRs against JuD leaders,including Saeed in differentcities. The trial courts have sofar decided 25 cases.

The ATC has sentencedSaeed for a collective imprison-ment of 21 years on terrorfinancing charges under sections11-N of Anti-Terrorism Act1997 in four cases so far. PTI

Washington: Advocates andlawyers anticipate a flurry ofclemency action fromPresident Donald Trump in thecoming weeks that could testthe limits of presidential par-don power.

Trump is said to be con-sidering a slew of pardons andcommutations before he leavesoffice, including potentiallymembers of his family, formeraides and even himself.

While it is not unusual forpresidents to sign controversialpardons on their way out thedoor, Trump has made clearthat he has no qualms aboutintervening in the cases offriends and allies whom hebelieves have been treatedunfairly, including his formernational security adviser,Michael Flynn.

The list of potential candi-dates is long and colorful:Trump’s former campaignchairman, Paul Manafort,imprisoned for financial crimesas part of the Russia investiga-tion; George Papadopoulos,who pleaded guilty to lying to

the FBI, just like Flynn; JosephMaldonado-Passage, aka “JoeExotic,” who starred in the theNetflix series “Tiger King”;and former contractors con-victed in a Baghdad firefightthat killed more than a dozencivilians, including women andchildren.

Trump, long worried aboutpotential legal exposure after heleaves office, has expressedworry to confidants in recentweeks that he, his family or hisbusiness might be targeted byPresident-elect Joe Biden’sJustice Department, althoughBiden has made clear he won’tbe part of any such decisions.

Nonetheless, Trump hashad informal conversationswith allies about how he mightbe able to protect his family,though he has not taken anysteps to do so.

His adult children haven’trequested pardons nor do theyfeel they need them, accordingto people familiar with thediscussions who spoke on con-dition of anonymity to discussprivate matters.

Trump has also discussedpotentially shielding himself,The New York Times firstreported.

In a video posted onFacebook on Wednesday, hemade a glancing reference tohis potential vulnerabilities.

“Now I hear that thesesame people that failed to getme in Washington have sentevery piece of information toNew York so that they can tryto get me there,” he said. AP

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Washington: Up soon forPresident-elect Joe Biden: nam-ing his top health care officialsas the coronavirus pandemicrages. It’s hard to imagine moreconsequential picks.

Already one prominentcandidate to lead theDepartment of Health andHuman Services has faded fromthe scene. New MexicoDemocratic Gov. Michelle

Lujan Grisham was offeredanother Cabinet post — interi-or secretary — and turned itdown, a person close to theBiden transition saidWednesday.

That person spoke on con-dition of anonymity to discussinternal deliberations. LujanGrisham’s office had no com-ment.

Biden is expected to

announce his choice for HHSsecretary next week. That indi-vidual has to have “the confi-dence of the president, the abil-ity to operate collaborativelyacross the government, credi-bility within the health careworld, and the capacity to workwith the states,” said formerHHS Secretary Mike Leavitt,who served under RepublicanPresident George W. Bush. AP

Washington: President-electJoe Biden is facing escalatingpressure from competing fac-tions within his own party as hefinalises his choice for secretaryof defense.

Black leaders have encour-aged the incoming president toselect an African-American todiversify what has so far beena largely white prospectiveCabinet, while others are push-ing him to appoint a woman tolead the Department ofDefense for the first time.

At the same time, a grow-ing collection of progressive

groups is opposing the leadingfemale contender, MichèleFlournoy, citing concerns abouther record and private-sectorassociations.

A coalition of at least sevenprogressive groups warnedBiden to avoid Flournoy in anopen letter to Biden obtainedWednesday by The AssociatedPress that referenced herrecord of “ill-advised policydecisions” — particularly inrelation to Saudi Arabia,Yemen and Afghanistan —and an “opaque history of pri-vate-sector activity.” AP

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Sacramento: Vice President-elect Kamala Harris has namedTina Flournoy, a veteranDemocratic strategist and aideto the Clintons, as her chief ofstaff, the transition teamannounced Thursday.

Flournoy’s appointment asHarris’ top staffer adds to a

team of advisers led by Blackwomen. Harris, who is ofJamaican and Indian heritage,is the nation’s first female vicepresident. Flournoy joinsAshley Etienne as Harris’ com-munications director andSymone Sanders as her chiefspokeswoman. AP

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Azerbaijani authorities dis-closed for the first time on

Thursday details of the coun-try’s military casualties in therecent fighting with Armenianforces over the separatistregion of Nagorno-Karabakh,which was halted last month bya Russian-brokered truce.

Azerbaijan’s DefenceMinistry said that 2,783 troopswere killed during the 44 daysof intense clashes, and 103 ofthem are yet to be identified.More than 100 servicemen areconsidered to be unaccountedfor, the ministry said, and1,245 are currently undergoingtreatment in medical facilities.

President Ilham Aliyevsaid earlier this week that 94Azerbaijani civilians were alsokilled and 400 more have beenwounded. On Thursday, hesigned a decree ordering amoment of silence at 12:00p.M. (0800 GMT) on Friday tohonor the victims of the fight-ing.

Nagorno-Karabakh lieswithin Azerbaijan but hasbeen under the control of eth-nic Armenian forces backed byArmenia since a separatistwar there ended in 1994. Thatwar left Nagorno-Karabakhitself and substantial sur-rounding territory inArmenian hands.

Heavy fighting erupted inlate September, marking thebiggest escalation of a long-simmering conflict betweenthe two ex-Soviet nations. AP

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Dhaka: Authorities inBangladesh have begun relo-cating thousands of Rohingyarefugees to an isolated islanddespite calls by human rightsgroups for a halt to theprocess, off icials saidThursday.

The United Nations hasalso voiced concern thatrefugees be allowed to make a“free and informed decision”about whether to relocate tothe island in the Bay of Bengal.

The island’s facilities arebuilt to accommodate 100,000people, just a fraction of the

million Rohingya Muslimswho have fled waves of violentpersecution in their nativeMyanmar and are currentlyliving in crowded, squalidrefugee camps.

On Thursday, 11 passen-ger buses carrying refugees leftCox’s Bazar district on the wayto the island, where they areexpected to arrive after anovernight stopover, a govern-ment official involved with theprocess said on condition ofanonymity because he wasnot authorized to speak to themedia. AP

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Beijing: China on Thursdayaccused critics in the US gov-ernment of “an escalation ofpolitical suppression” againstBeijing following a report ofnew visa restrictions on mem-bers of China’s rulingCommunist Party and theirimmediate family members.

Foreign ministryspokesperson Hua Chunyingsaid China would “make rep-resentations” to the U.S.Following the report Thursdayin the New York Times thatsuch people would be limited toone-month, single-entry visas.

Hua called Washington’sapproach “totally inconsistentwith the US’s own interests,”and said it would damageAmerica’s global image. AP

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London: The massiveGreenland ice sheet could befacing a point of no return,beyond which it may no longerfully regrow, permanentlychanging sea levels aroundthe world, warns a new study.

Using computer simula-tions, the study, published inthe journal The Cryosphere,analysed how climate changecould lead to irreversible sealevel rise as temperatures con-tinue to rise and the Greenlandice sheet continues to decline.

While there were scenariosin which the ice sheet meltingcould be reversed, the scien-tists, including those from theUniversity of Reading in the

UK, said these relied on actionsto counteract global warmingbefore it’s too late.

According to theresearchers, the ice sheet isseven times the area of the UK,and stores a large amount ofthe Earth’s frozen water.

In the research, the scien-tists simulated the effects ofGreenland ice sheet meltingunder a range of possible tem-perature rises, ranging fromminimal warming to worst-case scenarios.

At current rates of melting,they said the ice sheet con-tributes almost one millimetreto sea level per year, account-ing for around a quarter of the

total increase. The researchers said

despite seasonal periods ofgrowth, Greenland has lost3.5 trillion tons of ice since2003.

Under all future climateslike the present or warmer,they found that the ice-sheetdeclined in size and con-tributed to some degree of sea-level rise.

Importantly, the scientistssaid there were scenarios inwhich the ice sheet meltingcould be reversed.

But these depended onactions to reverse global warm-ing before it’s too late, the sci-entists added. PTI

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Page 9: The Pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus-pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri …

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The pandemic has acceler-ated digital adoption, and

over 80 per cent of the near-term spending may be drivenby Covid-19 resilient digitalofferings as enterprises look atre-wiring their operating mod-els for the new normal, a reportby Nasscom said on Thursday.

The report titled ‘Futureof Technology Services –Navigating the New Normal’,compiled by McKinsey &Company as knowledge part-ner, said there has been anextensive acceleration in digi-tal adoption by enterprises andthat there is a potential increasein outsourcing intensity due toremote working.

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India’s second-largest car-maker has just introduced

the latest iteration of their ‘BeThe Better Guy’ road safetyawareness campaign. The cam-paign has several major pillarsaround the theme of followingroad safety rules and regula-tions. Among the issues cov-ered are to not overspeed, nousage of mobile phones whiledriving, not driving under theinfluence and pedestrian safe-ty among others. With theCoronavirus pandemic thisyear, the company is also look-ing at other aspects of overallsafety such as proper hygieneand mask usage.

SS Kim, ManagingDirector, Hyundai India said,“”Realising our vision of‘Progress for Humanity’ weare committed towards curat-ing unique social messagesthat instil Road Safety habits

amongst individuals. Since2016, the #BeTheBetterGuycampaign has become instru-mental in generating the much-needed impetus towards RoadSafety. In the New Normalwhere preference for personalmobility has gained moreimportance, it becomes evenmore important to sensitize themillennial generation aboutroad safety”.

The Pioneer is one of

Hyundai India’s partners inincreasing awareness amongIndian road users.

India has the highest levelsof road fatalities in the world,and in 2019 over 150,000 peo-ple died on Indian roadsaccording to official estimates.Enhancing road safety shouldbe the priority of every car-maker and every Indian, andevery Indian should ‘Be TheBetter Guy’ on the road.

Mumbai:The rabi, or wintercrop, sowing is likely to beabout 2 per cent higher thisyear than in the previous mar-keting year, according to areport. Sowing for the rabicrop season had already cov-ered 348 lakh hectare (ha) byNovember 27, which is 4 percent more than in the whole ofthe previous season, and 2 percent above the average of thepast five years, Crisil Ratingssaid in a report. PTI

Mumbai: The rupee weak-ened by another 12 paise to endat 73.93 against the US dollaron Thursday as investorsremained cautious ahead of theRBI policy meet outcome.Analysts said investor focus ison the Reserve Bank of India’sMonetary Policy Committee’sthree-day interest rate-settingmeeting that started onWednesday, with the decisiondue on Friday.At the interbankforex market, the domesticunit witnessed a highly volatiletrading session. It opened at73.81 and saw an intra-dayhigh of 73.68 and a low of73.95. It finally closed at 73.93a dollar, registering a decline of12 paise.

This is the second straightsession of decline for the rupee,during which it has lost 25paise.”Indian rupee depreciat-ed despite weakness in dollarand rise in risk appetite in theglobal markets as investorsremained cautious ahead of theRBI monetary policy meetingoutcome,” said Saif Mukadam,Research Analyst, Sharekhanby BNP Paribas.

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The Reserve Bank is likely tokeep the benchmark inter-

est rate unchanged at its bi-monthly monetary policyreview outcome to beannounced on Friday, but mayrevise growth estimates in viewof the September quarter GDPturning out to be better thanRBI’s earlier projections.

According to experts, thestubborn retail inflation, whichhas remained above the com-fort level of the RBI of around4 per cent, will refrain the cen-tral bank from reducing inter-est rate on Friday.

The RBI, however, isexpected to revise its growthprojections as the second quar-ter GDP numbers at (–) 7.5 percent worked to be better thanits projected contraction.

In its October monetarypolicy statement, the RBI hadsaid the real GDP growth in2020-21 was expected to benegative at (-) 9.5 per cent, withrisks tilted to the downside: (-

) 9.8 per cent in Q2:2020-21; (-) 5.6 per cent in Q3; and 0.5 percent in Q4.

According to the FinanceMinistry’s Monthly EconomicReview, “the year-on-year GDPcontraction of 7.5 per cent inQ2 of 2020-21 underlies aquarter-on-quarter surge inGDP growth of 23 per cent.This V-shaped recovery, evi-dent at the half-way stage of2020-21, reflects the resilienceand robustness of the Indianeconomy”.

Meanwhile, SecretaryGeneral of industry bodyAssocham Deepak Sood saidthe focus of the bi-monthlyreview of the credit policy isexpected to be ensuring ade-quate liquidity into the system,retaining the policy stance as

accommodative.“While the cut in repo rate

may not be announced tomor-row, the accommodative stanceshould assure the industry andthe market participants aboutthe RBI’s commitment to keepthe lending rates benign to givea continuous support togrowth, especially in the post-Covid period,” he said.

Dhruv Agarwala, GroupCEO, Housing.Com,Makaan.Com andProptiger.Com, said the RBIhas taken several favourablemeasures this year for the realestate sector. “However, thehopes have not died down as alot needs to be done.”

“The sector is, obviously,looking at a further reductionin home loan interest rates.However, we feel that there ishardly a scope for a further ratecut this year.

The sector should try toutilise the opportunities com-ing out of the decisions takenby the RBI in the last fewmonths,” he said.

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Domestic equity bench-marks ended modestly

higher on Thursday, with theNifty settling at a fresh record,as investors largely remained ina wait-and-watch mode aheadof RBI’s policy decision amidmixed global cues.

After scaling an all-timeintra-day peak of 44,953.01, the30-share BSE Sensex paredsome gains to end 14.61 pointsor 0.03 per cent higher at44,632.65.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty touched a fresh intra-dayhigh of 13,216.60, before set-tling 20.15 points or 0.15 percent up at 13,133.90 -- its life-

time closing high.Maruti was the top gain-

er in the Sensex pack, rallying7.45 per cent, followed byONGC, Asian Paints, NTPC,SBI, Bajaj Finserv and TataSteel.

HDFC Bank was the toplaggard, skidding 2.13 per cent,after the RBI temporarilybarred it from launching digi-tal banking initiatives and issu-ing new credit cards after tak-ing a serious view of serviceoutages at the country’s largestprivate sector lender over thelast two years. TCS, BajajAuto, Infosys, Bharti Airtel,M&M and HDFC were amongthe losers, shedding up to 1.48per cent.

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The Indian economy is wit-nessing a V-shaped recov-

ery as the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) has recorded aquarter-on-quarter growth of23 per cent in the July-September quarter of this fis-cal, according to the FinanceMinistry’s latest MonthlyEconomic Review.

The decline in the GDPnarrowed to 7.5 per cent in thesecond quarter of this financialyear, over 23.9 per cent inApril-June quarter.

“The year-on-year GDP

contraction of 7.5 per cent inQ2 of 2020-21 underlies aquarter-on-quarter surge inGDP growth of 23 per cent.

“This V-shaped recovery,evident at the half-way stage of2020-21, reflects the resilienceand robustness of the Indianeconomy.

The fundamentals of theeconomy remain strong asgradual scaling back of lock-downs, along with the astutesupport of Atmanirbhar BharatMission has placed the econo-my firmly on the path of recov-ery,” the Monthly EconomicReview for November said.

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India may pursue a case forresumption of oil supplies

from sanction-hit Iran andVenezuela once the Joe Bidenadministration takes charge inthe US.Sources in the OilMinistry said that as a bigimporter of oil, India wanted tohave a diversified market forcrude and in this, if tradition-al markets like Iran andVenezuela are revived, it wouldonly be for good.Though,sources said there would not beany change in relations with theUS with change of regime

there, limited talks could be ini-tiated to see if the oil marketcan be expanded for big buy-ers so that competitive pricingis derived.Iran was India’s sec-ond largest oil supplier tillsanctions by the West over itsnuclear programme cut oilsupplies.India stopped crude oilsupplies from Iran altogetherfrom May 2019 following reim-position of US sanctions.Venezuela, on the other hand,was the fourth largest crudesupplier to India before USsanctions in January 2019 onthe state-run companies therereduced their oil exports.

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India’s services sector recov-ery weakened in November

despite further upturn in newwork supported business activ-ity growth.However, the sectorreported the first rise inemployment for nine months.

Moreover, the overall levelof positive sentiment climbedto the highest since Februaryamid predictions that marketconditions would normaliseonce a vaccine for the coron-avirus disease 2019 (Covid-19)is rolled out.

Accordingly, the seasonal-ly adjusted India Services

Business Activity Index readingremained above the critical 50mark that separates growthfrom contraction for the sec-ond month in a row duringNovember.Despite falling from54.1 (index reading) in Octoberto 53.7 (index reading) inNovember, the latest readingwas still indicative of a solidpace of expansion.

Companies that signalledoutput growth commented onbetter demand conditions anda relaxation of Covid-19 restric-tions.”New business inflowslikewise rose for the secondstraight month and solidly,despite growth easing from

October. According to survey par-

ticipants, the increase in salesstemmed from a pick-up indemand, marketing efforts andthe loosening of Covid-19 con-trols,” the IHS Markit reportsaid.”Underlying data suggest-ed that the upturn in total newwork was driven by the domes-tic market, with new exportorders decreasing sharply againin November.”Resultantly, theoverall Indian private sectoractivity rose for the thirdstraight month in November,but the pace of growth softenedfrom October’s near nine-yearhigh.

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India and the US have enteredinto a Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) in thefield of Intellectual Propertycooperation.

Accordingly, the MoU isexpected to facilitate exchangeand dissemination of ‘bestpractices, experiences andknowledge on IP’.

Earlier, the Union Cabinethad given the approval forsigning the MoU with UnitedStates Patent and TrademarkOffice (USPTO) in the field ofIP cooperation.

“The MoU aims at increas-ing IP cooperation between thetwo countries by way of facil-itating exchange and dissemi-nation of best practices, expe-riences and knowledge on IP

among the public, and betweenand among the industry, uni-versities, research and devel-opment (R&D) organisations,and small and medium-sizedenterprises through participa-tion in programs and eventsorganised singly or jointly bythe participants,” an officialcommunique said onThursday.

It encompasses collabora-tion in training programmes,exchange of experts, technicalexchanges and outreach activ-ities. exchange of informationand best practices on process-es for registration and exami-nation of applications forpatents, trademarks, copy-rights, geographical indica-tions, and industrial designs, aswell as the protection, enforce-ment and use of IP rights.

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Markets regulator Sebi hassought some “clarifica-

tion” from leading stockexchange BSE before giving itsgo-ahead to the �24,713 croredeal between Future groupand Mukesh Ambani’s RelianceIndustries Ltd.In an update onNovember 27, the regulatorsaid it is awaiting a reply to the“clarification” sought from thestock exchange on the draftcomposite scheme of arrange-ment between Future Group

companies and Reliance Groupcompanies. When contacted, aBSE spokesperson on Thursdaysaid, “in the draft compositescheme of arrangement betweenFuture Group and RelianceGroup till date Sebi has notsought any clarification fromBSE with regard to the NOC”The bourse gave its NOC (NoObjection Certificate) for thescheme on November 6.Scheme of arrangement is acourt-approved agreementbetween a company and itsshareholders or creditors.

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First things first, let me make onething straight, ‘introductory prices’

as well as extremely low prices of thebase version of new cars are nothingmore than a ploy to get prospective carbuyers into a showroom. Both of thesethings have a catch, for example, intro-ductory prices usually apply for a cer-tain number of units or have a limitedtime-frame. And as for the very lowprices of base specification models,you get almost no features. Yes, you willget four wheels and the engine, but read-ing the specifications for base modelsyou often realise just how featurelessthose cars are.

This isn’t true with all manufactur-ers but this is a major reason that basemodels rarely contribute more than 10per cent of overall unit sales of most cars.It is also a fact that during media dri-ves, we auto reviewers always get thefully-loaded variants, which in the caseof some cars cost a substantial bitmore, sometimes even 60-70 per centmore than the entry-level model. But itis also true that Indian car buyers likehaving features such as automatic trans-missions, smartphone connectivity andautomatic air conditioning, so much sothat nowadays, across all car brands,fully loaded models contribute almosta third of all units sold.

This brings us to the NissanMagnite, now you would have readabout the fantastic entry-price of this carat �4.99 lakh. However, I didn’t drive this

bargain basement priced car, I drove thetop-end XV Premium with the 1.0 litreturbocharged engine coupled to aContinuously Variable Transmission(CVT) gearbox. This variant had all thebells and whistles and cost a much moresubstantial �9.35 lakh ex-showroom.Personally speaking, I drove this vari-ant because this is the one that I wouldconsider. That said, I do believe that itwill be the variant one level below thetop-end, the XV that might be the best-seller. That loses things like the fabricinlays, a bit of chrome garnish and thereversing camera, but on the whole ispretty well-specced, although I reallyappreciate reversing cameras. Also, sev-eral electronic driving aids alike theVehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) andTraction Control System (TCS) areonly available on the variant with theTurbo engine.

Now let me explore the negativesand positives of this car, and there aremany to talk about. Let me start with theexteriors, the Magnite certainly haspresence, even though it gets the Datsunopen radiator grille instead of the tra-ditional Nissan ‘V’ grille. The headlights

and dropdown LED daytime runninglights along with the high ground clear-ance do give the car a road presence thathonestly is more imposing than some ofits major rivals like the Maruti Brezzaand Tata Nexon. One thing I really likedthe most was the fact that roof rails onthe Magnite are actually functional, youcan fit cross members and suitcases ontop as well. While it has an average bootfor its class, this additional storage areawill make life a lot easier during fully-packed long holiday drives.

My issues are more to do with theinteriors, where you do get a feeling thatthe Magnite is built to a cost when youtouch the plastics and the steeringwheel feel felt a bit off in my opinion.While the overall interior look is verymodern with the hexagonal aircondi-tioning vents, the feel could be better.That said, the eight-inch floating touch-screen on the top models, particularlythe seven-inch digital display in theinstrument cluster with its very large andnice font size and changing displays isdefinitely a major plus. On the top mod-els, you have a wireless charger andambient lighting at night, which doesgive a better feel to the car.

But let us get to the driving, andNissan’s turbopetrol engine. I drove thefour-cylinder variant of this engine onthe Kicks, but this 999cc three-cylinderunit produces an impressive 100PS ofpower and it is very smooth indeed. TheCVT gearbox delivers that power seam-lessly. On the highway and in the cityyou never feel wanting for power. Atcruising speeds on the highway, I got animpressive 16 kilometres per litre(kmpl), and on the crowded streets ofGurugram, the car gave an impressive13+ kmpl. This has a lovely engine andthe gearbox, the Magnite, unlike its big-ger and older sibling, the Kicks, alsohandles very well indeed. Issues? Well,the Magnite has some noise, vibrationand harshness problems. Of course, youcan listen to music to drown it out, butthere was a bit of rattle and hum aboutthe car. Nothing disconcerting though.

The car was a joyride. Yes, there isa price warrior feel to the interiorsalthough not to the exteriors. Theengine and gearbox are brilliant and ifyou keep the Korean cars in this segmentaside, it is very good. With its aggres-sive pricing, introductory or not, theMagnite might even attract small hatch-back buyers, folks looking at the Santroor WagonR, let alone small SUV buyers.Nissan’s sales and service has beeninconsistent till today, and that, and notthe car will be the brand’s biggest chal-lenge.

Winter is everyone’s favouriteseason to shower yourself withlove and some hot chocolate.

It’s a great time to pamper yourself butyou should not forget the cold-weatherwoes — dry, flaky skin, chapped lips and

unnecessary redness. As you step outevery day, your face is exposed to thechilling wind and dust. This can makeyour skin look dull. Hence, the change inweather calls for some changes on theskincare regimen too. Here are some waysto take care of your skin during winters.

���� !"�#$%��&Our skin condition gets impacted

during winters due to various internal andexternal factors. Internal factors like ourskin health and gut has a direct impact.Hence, it is very important to be mind-ful about what you eat, when you eat andhow much you eat. The season is full ofgoodies and lots of house parties, whichhas pleasant side effects. So it is advisableto regularly have a handful of nuts to keepyour skin nourished. Drink loads of waterto remain hydrated. Have food which isrich in vitamins and nutrients as our diet

plays a very important role in skinhealth. This also helps in delaying the age-ing process. Balanced diet can keep age-ing at bay for sure. External factor like the weather has animpact on our skin condition. On placeswhere weather is too cold and chilly, ourskin tends to get dry, itchy and flaky. Andheating on fireworks at-home, skin mayalready have taken a toll. But do notworry, right skin care routine will ensurethat glow on your skin.

��'#(%����$�)!���� �#�You must ensure that you prepare

yourself multi-dimensionally for thechange as per the season. It can be prepar-ing your home, switching to the right prod-ucts, or a balance diet. Winter means drierair. Hence, it is important to have the rightelectronic gadget at home which will helpin maximising the level of water in the air.Therefore, investing in humidifier wouldbe a perfect idea for the season. This waythe moisture level in the room remainsintact and helps skins epidermal layer toretain hydration and natural moisture.Also, ensure a safe distance from the heater.

$'*���$"+*)*"�)#$',�-�*�!+%(Apply right products on your skin,

use heavy cream instead of a moisturis-er as it has rich ingredients like hyaluron-ic acid which helps in retaining naturalmoisture and hydration. Use antioxidant-rich products for skin and as well as diet.It is advisable to use alcohol-free prod-ucts as they are good for any season. Ourskin, be it is summer, monsoon, autumnor winter, gets affected by free radicalswhich eventually leads the skin to prema-ture ageing, fine lines. To keep fine linesand premature ageing at bay one can con-tinue to use the year sunscreen. Anotherexcellent product to keep fine lines andpremature ageing at bay is Retinal A.Whether indoor or outdoor, vitamin Crich products which will help in boost-ing collagen.

"**.� *��&#�%"#���&�#��#�%(Look for calming and natural ingredi-

ents such as aloe vera, vitamins etc. Just assunblock plays an essential role all roundthe year, similarly, exfoliator plays animportant part in keeping skin soft and sup-ple. Use any gentle exfoliator on your skin

atleast two times a day to keep away thosedry flaky layer on your skin. Check yourskin type and decide on scrubbing. Thosewho have very sensitive skin may use some-thing very gentle like oatmeal as an exfo-liator. There are gentle peels available in themarket like a glycolic or lactic peel. One cando a patch test behind their ear, if no irri-tation or redness occurs, you are good togo and use it to remove dead cells. One canalso use a muslin cloth as a gentle exfolia-tor for face. People use it to keep theunwanted facial hair at bay and also anykind of congestion on the face. Retinal A is a great source of exfoliation.One must patch test before using any newproduct behind the ears. Always use agood heavy cream post usage of a chem-ical peel or retinal A. Do ensure to usesunblock. Do not step out onto directsunlight.

()*�%#��,*!��()*�#��%����&With winters, shower temperature

becomes hot. But keep shower timingshort. A hot shower can ultimatelyimpact to premature ageing of our skinand may also dehydrate one’s skin. Keep

the shower a less hot and short. Use alco-hol-free and creamy shower wash insteadof those harsh soap which has tons ofalcohol and takes away the natural mois-ture. Apply body cream post shower toretain the hydration.

��&)%�(.��+$�#�The most important step of the

skincare regimen is night care. It is thetime when our skin does all the repair-ing job. Hence opt for products which aremore of curing and repairing in natureas per your skin type. I suggest doublecleansing your face to remove dirt, oil andmakeup. Start with a face oil followed bya gentle moisturiser. Then use eye creamfor eye contour. I mix drops of vitaminC oil with anti-ageing night repair creamfor both, face and neck. Then use foot andhand cream. Also use sleeping mask forlips to keep it from drying due to theweather. Avoid any kind of mud or clayproducts during dry skin. It may furthermake your skin dryer. Keep your skin anddiet healthy.

(The writer Rukshmani Thakkar isTechnical Head-Skin, Enrich.)

Artistes are unstoppable and theyalways have the onus of entertain-

ing, regardless of what they might begoing through. Comedian-actor VirDas took the responsibility of spreadingcheer and ended up creating the first-of-its-kind homegrown comedy specialOutside In from 30 virtual shows that hedid during the lockdown. Though theshow itself started off as a one off gig inApril but as the demand continued, heconverted into a continual series thatkept his fans laughing together despitethe world undergoing heightened anx-iety and pressures created due to thelockdown.

After having started the year witha special called Vir Das : For India, thistime around Vir gave his audience a tasteof how a virus ended up uniting theentire globe at the same time. The showoriginally premiered on his website forcharity but will now make it on Netflixon December 16, thus making sure weend the year on a sweet note.

Capturing the mundaneness ofbeing stuck at home, the special hassome unique and heartwarming storiesabout the everything that the lockdownput us through. From a young man whocan’t find his favourite ice cream flavourto lovers separated in different citiesweeks ahead of their engagement to aman hoping to dine with his girls soonto a nurse who is on COVID duty every-day, the show captures lives of diversepeople who are all waiting for the samething — the world to go back to normal.

In a statement, Vir said, “Therecouldn’t have been a better way to endthe year and I say this beyond my per-sonal reasons. The special was ashowreel of everything that we’ve gonethrough this year and how as humanbeings we went through the same emo-tions at the same time. It was my mostfulfilling piece of work because even foran hour I could make people smile whenthey needed it the most. And we raisedmoney for charity while doing it. Thisspecial is dedicated to each of us whosurvived a horrific year and hopefullywe carry forward the lessons to 2021.”

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We can notice a certain change to thewinter vibe this year as the seasonof sweaters, shawls and multiple

cups of hot chocolate begins. It has becomeimperative to consume healthy food andmaintain a balanced diet. There is a risingawareness about strengthening the immunesystem in these challenging times.

Due to social distancing norms andrestrictions, people are spending more timeindoors and the cold weather has had a directimpact on our bodies. A compromisedimmune system results in frequent cold andcough, which is why maintaining the rightdiet is essential.

The foundation of general health andwell-being is a diverse diet and consuminghealthy food. Fruits and vegetables are justthe beginning and have a huge impact on ourimmune system. So it is important to suffi-ciently include them in your diet. Takingadvantage of the seasonal fruits and vegeta-bles available is an absolute necessity. Let uslook at the easily available things at the localsupermarkets that can be consumed to keepyour immunity in check during winter.Across cafeterias, we have salad bars andfocus on serving a variety of menu items con-taining ingredients that are good indicatorsof immunity and have distinctive taste.

��&�#��#�%(� �*��%)#�.�%+)#�We must also include certain ingredients

in our home kitchens for regular usage. Inaddition, we also can take advantage of thethings that are easily available like green tea.It acts as a great antioxidant and includeshigh immunity-boosting elements. Sweetpotatoes are also available in plenty during

these months. Peanuts are packed with plen-ty of energy-boosting ingredients. Multiplethings can be made from peanuts by eitherboiling them or preparing a chutney.

Apart from this, carrots and mushroomsare the go-to ingredients in winters due totheir various benefits. Mushrooms can beconsumed just by sautéing or preparing agravy as made by a lot of Indian kitchens.Immunity-boosting elements like parsleyprotects us from chronic diseases and are richin vitamins. Ginger tea made with cinnamonand cloves always keeps us fresh and nour-ished.

(*�#�%��#�%�$'#""#��$��%#(%#�� *��!"$(

The making of traditional Kaadah, apotion that is considered as the best solutionto build a healthy immune system involvesthe usage of secret ingredients — herbs andspices. Some of the herbs that grow well dur-ing winter are mint, peppermint, basil,lemongrass and sage.

As we near Christmas, we have turkeystuffed with sage. Basically, when con-sumed raw by grilling or sautéing, it providesthe important elements to strengthen theimmune system.

�!�%(A lot of fruits and vegetables that are

native and healthy are available in these coldmonths as this is the most appropriate tem-perature for them to grow — papaya, pam-plemousses or pomelo or grapefruit (a cit-rus fruit), melons, grapes, gooseberries,guavas, kiwi and pomegranate, to name a few.These fruits contain plenty of vitamins to

fight a flu.For instance, eating one gooseberry is

equivalent to the total amount of VitaminC needed by a human body for a day,according to scientific reports.

'#&#%$�"#(A few vegetables that are commonly

consumed and available in plenty with highimmunity-boosting power during wintersare broccoli, ginger, spinach and arugula,which is a peppery, distinctive-tasting greenand is immensely beneficial. They are thebest natural remedies to protect the immunesystem.

All these things are usually grown in theopen during winter. They are cultivatedunder modified temperature-controlledzones like a greenhouse throughout the year.But during this time, they are grown in theopen and result in giving better immunityboosting power they grab the naturalessence through air and sunlight. Hence,using them in the correct manner and cook-ing them without killing those essentialnutrients is crucial.

%)#��#(%��#��+��#Well, healthy food is the best and nat-

ural medicine for all our ailments becausewe are basically what we eat. One tip: waterinfused with these immune-boosting spicesshould be kept at accessible places for peo-ple to consume regularly. One must get intothe habit of a balanced diet that provides allthe nutrition required to keep your healthin check.

(The author is the Managing Partner,Elior India.)

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In a unique study, researchershave claimed that chemical com-

pounds in foods or beverages likegreen tea, muscadine grapes anddark chocolate can bind to andblock the function of a particularenzyme, or protease, in the SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible forCOVID-19.

“Proteases are important to thehealth and viability of cells andviruses. If proteases are inhibited,cells cannot perform many impor-tant functions for example, repli-cation,” said study author De-YuXie from the North Carolina StateUniversity in the US

“One of our lab’s focusses is tofind nutraceuticals in food ormedicinal plants that inhibit eitherhow a virus attaches to humancells or the propagation of a virusin human cells,” Xie added.

In the study, published in thejournal Frontiers in Plant Science,the research team performed bothcomputer simulations and labstudies showing how the so-called“main protease” (Mpro) in theSARS-CoV-2 virus reacted whenconfronted with a number of dif-ferent plant chemical compoundsalready known for their potentanti-inflammatory and antioxi-dant properties.

“Mpro in SARS-CoV-2 isrequired for the virus to replicateand assemble itself. If we caninhibit or deactivate this protease,the virus will die,” Xie said.

Computer simulations showedthat the studied chemical com-pounds from green tea, two vari-eties of muscadine grapes, cacaopowder and dark chocolate wereable to bind to different portionsof Mpro.

“Mpro has a portion that is likea ‘pocket’ that was ‘filled’ by thechemical compounds. When thispocket was filled, the protease lostits important function,” Xieexplained.

Lab experiments also showedsimilar results. The chemical com-pounds in green tea and musca-dine grapes were very successful atinhibiting Mpro’s function; chem-ical compounds in cacao powderand dark chocolate reduced Mproactivity by about half.

“Green tea has five testedchemical compounds that bind todifferent sites in the pocket onMpro, essentially overwhelming itto inhibit its function,” Xie said.

“Muscadine grapes containthese inhibitory chemicals in theirskin and seeds. Plants use thesecompounds to protect themselves,so it is not surprising that plantleaves and skin contain these ben-eficial compounds,” the authornoted.

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Page 12: The Pioneer...2020/12/04  · allowed to resume on May 25 following a two-month sus-pension. While making the announcement, Union Minister of Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri …

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Neymar’s brace helped ParisSaint-Germain to a vital 3-1 win over Manchester

United on Wednesday that tookthe French club to within touch-ing distance of the ChampionsLeague last 16, while OlivierGiroud scored all four goals inChelsea’s 4-0 thumping of Sevilla.

PSG could have been on thebrink of elimination from GroupH with a defeat at Old Trafford butNeymar put last season’s runners-up ahead in the sixth minute andthe world’s most expensive play-er sealed their victory in stoppagetime.

In between, MarcusRashford’s shot went in off DaniloPereira to bring United level in thefirst half, and Edinson Cavani hitthe bar against his former club.

Marquinhos prodded theFrench champions back in front

midway through the second halfand the game appeared up for OleGunnar Solskjaer’s side whenFred was sent off for a second yel-low, having been fortunate toescape a red card early on.

Neymar’s late clincher couldprove crucial as it gives PSG thehead-to-head advantage (in atwo-way tie) following United’s 2-1 win in Paris in October.

There is a three-way tie onnine points at the top of the groupwith RB Leipzig right in con-tention after Norwegian strikerAlexander Sorloth scored in injurytime to give them a 4-3 victory atIstanbul Basaksehir.

Irfan Can Kahveci’s superbhat-trick looked to have rescueda draw for Basaksehir as they

came back from 3-1 down to drawlevel. Yussuf Poulsen, NordiMukiele and Dani Olmo also

scored for Leipzig.But the German side scored

a stunning later goal to throwGroup H wide open.

It all means PSG now needonly draw at home to Basaksehirnext week to qualify.

United also only require apoint when they visit Leipzig,but will be out if they lose,while the Germans would inthat case go through.

Dortmund secured theirprogress after a 1-1 draw at hometo Lazio in Group F, despite los-ing Erling Braut Haaland to a leginjury.

Lazio will join Dortmund inthe next round if they avoiddefeat against Club Brugge nextweek.

The Belgians are two pointsback and still in contention afterbeating Zenit Saint-Petersburg 3-0.

The performance of theevening came from Giroud, as the

France striker scored allfour goals in Chelsea’s 4-0win away to Sevilla.

On just his second startthis season, Giroud pro-duced two lovely finishesbefore heading in to make

it 3-0 and then winning and con-verting a late penalty.

The 34-year-old is the oldestplayer to score a hat-trick in thecompetition since Hungariangreat Ferenc Puskas in 1965 forReal Madrid against Feyenoord.

Both teams were already

through but the win allowedChelsea to secure top spot inGroup E.

In the same group, MarcusBerg’s goal gave Krasnodar a 1-0win over Rennes, meaning theRussians will play in the EuropaLeague in the new year.

RONALDO REACHES 750History was made in Turin as

France’s Stephanie Frappartbecame the first woman to refer-ee a men’s Champions Leaguegame when Juventus beatDynamo Kiev 3-0.

The game was also notable forCristiano Ronaldo scoring his750th career goal, his record-extending 132nd in theChampions League.

The Catalans kept up theirperfect record and stayed oncourse to win the group by beat-ing Ferencvaros 3-0 in Budapestwithout the rested Lionel Messi.

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Short of resources in ODIs,India will have enoughoptions to choose from to

pose a stiffer challenge toAustralia when the two sidesclash in a three-match T20 seriesbeginning at Manuka Oval onFriday.

The 1-2 ODI series loss reaf-firmed that India have a lot ofwork to do in the 50-over formatbut they possess a much more bal-anced squad in the shortest for-mat.

Before the pandemic sus-pended sporting activities aroundthe world, India had blankedhosts New Zealand in a five-match series and they will be tak-ing a lot of confidence out of thatresult into the contest againstAustralia.

The presence of WashingtonSundar, Deepak Chahar and TNatarajan, who did well on hisODI debut on Wednesday, lendsmuch-needed balance to thebowling department.

Sundar will be high on con-fidence after a solid IPL whereRoyal Challengers Bangalore andIndia skipper Virat Kohli usedhim effectively in the powerplayand middle overs.

With Hardik Pandya notbowling regularly, India had onlyone specialist all-rounder inRavindra Jadeja in the one-day-ers.

However, in the T20s, Kohli

will also have the services ofSundar in both the departmentsand there is a possibility thatHardik can roll his arm over fora brief spell like he did from thesecond ODI onwards.

Yorker specialist Natarajan,who was a late addition to theODI squad, could also make hisT20 debut on Friday havingshown enough promise in hismaiden international appearance.

Unlike the SCG, the ManukaOval surface had enough for boththe spinners and pacers. It will beinteresting to see who opens up thebowling alongside Jasprit Bumrahwith the toss-up being betweenMohammad Shami and DeepakChahar.

Yuzvendra Chahal, who had aforgettable outing in the ODIs, willalso be looking to bounce back.

In batting, K L Rahul, whobatted at five in ODIs, is expectedto go back to his preferred open-ing slot alongside ShikharDhawan.

The in-form wicketkeeperbatsman had also opened in theprevious series against NewZealand and would be expected to

bat the bulk of the 20 overs like hedid so well in the IPL.

Skipper Kohli looked in goodtouch in ODIs and will be aiming

to build on that while number fourShreyas Iyer will be targetting bigscores from great starts like he didin the preceding three-match

series.As Kohli mentioned, the win

in the inconsequential third ODIwas just the kind of result theyneeded ahead of the T20 series,else the tour would have gottenharder.

Australia, after naming thesame squad for ODIs as well asT20s, would be backing them-selves to beat India after a clini-cal display over the last one weekdespite injury concerns.

Star batsman David Warneris unavailable due to a groininjury and it remains to be seenif Marnus Labuschagne comesalongside skipper Aaron Finch onFriday like they both did a nightago.

Marcus Stoinis would havebeen another good openingoption with Finch but he too is adoubtful starter due to a sideinjury he suffered during theODIs.

Mitchell Starc, who was rest-ed on Wednesday, is expected toreturn to bolster the attack evenas the side misses the services ofPat Cummins, who has beenrested as part of the his workloadmanagement.

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The West Indies delight at winning the toss ona lush green wicket turned to frustration as

New Zealand were rarely troubled in posting 243/2on day one of the first Test in Hamilton onThursday.

Kane Williamson, despite being troubled withcramp late in the day, produced a masterful inningsto be unbeaten on 97 at stumps with Ross Tayloron 31.

Williamson featured in a 154-run stand withTom Latham for the second wicket before Lathamwas bowled for 86.

After the start of play was delayed two hoursby rain, the West Indies were delighted to win thetoss with an emerald wicket that potentiallyoffered untold demons for their pace attack.

But after Shannon Gabriel bowled debutantWill Young early for five, the tourists found theydid not getting the assistance they expected fromthe wicket.

Williamson, who will resume on Fridayrequiring just three runs to register his 22nd Testcentury, worked patiently with Latham for morethan 50 overs, waiting for bad balls to hit as thepair were rarely tempted to play shots at anythingelse.

Gabriel, Kemar Roach and Holder could notkeep a consistent line and saw rare chancesspoiled by fielding errors.

The 2.01 metre (6ft 7in) Holder used his heightto extract some bounce but the no-risk approachof Latham and Williamson served only to tire thebig Barbadian.

Wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich had an uncom-fortable day by failing to get a glove to a chancefrom Young and then he did not appeal when itappeared he had caught Latham on 43 off Holder,who also kept quiet.

On 80, Latham was well out of his crease whenhe aborted an attempted cheeky single, butShamarh Brooks’ shy at the stumps went well wide.

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