" ' = _Vh TRdVd Rd @^ZTc`_ dfcXVd - Daily Pioneer

14
A s the Omicron variant of the Covid-19 continues to fuel a surge in the infection count across the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday chaired a meeting through video conferencing to review the situation. There is no let-up in virus infection in India which saw a single-day rise of 1,59,632 new Coronavirus cases, raising the tally to 3,55,28,004 crore, which included 3,623 cases of the Omicron variant. Uttar Pradesh has report- ed a massive surge in Covid cases ahead of State elections that are less than a month away. The 7,695 fresh cases reported over the last 24 hours are 13 times what was recorded last week. Last Sunday, the State had recorded 552 fresh cases. On Sunday, the situation seemed to stabilise in Maharashtra, but cases spiked in West Bengal and Karnataka in a big way. Delhi saw as many as 17 deaths on Sunday, high- est in a day in seven months. The Prime Minister’s (PM) high-level meeting was held a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced poll dates for five States, i.e. Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goa and Punjab. Sources said that the meeting discussed rising cases in the States and the country's preparedness to tack- le the pandemic. On Monday, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will interact with State Health Ministers over the Covid-19 situation. There is some respite for Maharashtra after it saw a huge surge in the last two weeks. On Sunday, the State reported 44,388 new cases and 12 deaths. Mumbai reported 19,474 fresh Covid cases and seven related deaths. The city had recorded 20,318 new Covid-19 cases and five deaths on Saturday. The Maharashtra Government on Sunday revised the Covid-19-related restric- tions for gyms and beauty salons, allowing them to oper- ate at 50 per cent capacity from January 10 midnight. On Saturday, the Government had said gyms and beauty salons would remain closed, while hair cutting salons would func- tion at 50 per cent capacity. Delhi reported 22,751 cases, 12 per cent higher than Saturday’s number of 20,181. The positivity rate stood at 23.53 per cent. The city also reported 17 deaths, the most Covid deaths in a day since June 16 last year. On Friday, Delhi reported 17,335 fresh Covid cases while on Thursday the city registered 15,097 infections. Altogether 1,800 patients are admitted in the Covid- dedicated hospitals in the city, said a Government health bul- letin. Out of these, 182 are Covid suspects while 1,618 are confirmed positive patients, it said. Of the patients admitted, 1,442 are from Delhi while 176 are from the neighbouring States. Of them, 440 among them are on oxygen support, while 44 are on ventilator sup- port, while another 310 are in the ICU. But the situation is turning for the worse in West Bengal. The State reported 24,287 new Covid cases, 8,213 recoveries and 18 deaths on Sunday. Continued on page 6 A recent digital survey has placed the Defence Ministry as one of the biggest landowners in the country with nearly 18 lakh acres under its command across the coun- try. Giving details of the mam- moth land-mapping exercise which took three years, officials said here on Sunday the Defence Ministry owns about 17.99 lakh acres Approximately 1.61 lakh acres is situated within the 62 notified Cantonments. About 16.38 lakh acres is spread across many pockets outside the Cantonments. Out of 16.38 lakh acres, about 18,000 acres is either State-hired land or is proposed for deletion from records on account of transfer to other Government depart- ments. Clear demarcation and boundary survey of defence lands and fixing of the bound- aries is necessary for the pro- tection of the defence land, safeguarding of the title of the Ministry, updation of land records, maps, and prevention of encroachments. The Directorate General Defence Estates, Ministry of Defence commenced the sur- vey of defence land from October 2018. The entire exercise of a sur- vey of about 1.61 lakh acres of defence land inside canton- ments and 16.17 lakh acres out- side cantonments (total 17.78 lakh acres) has been complet- ed. It is a remarkable achieve- ment since for the first time after Independence, entire defence land has been surveyed by using latest technology and in a large number of pockets in association with the Revenue authorities of various State Governments. The magnitude of land holding, location of land in approximately 4,900 pockets across the country, inaccessible terrain in many places. And association of various stake- holders makes this survey one of the largest land surveys in the country. Continued on page 6 M ore than 400 Parliamentary staff mem- bers have tested positive for Covid-19 in the last couple of days. This is a cause of serious concern for the Government because the Budget Session of the Parliament is set to begin by the month-end. With all the 400 personnel forced to quarantine them- selves, the authorities are wor- ried about how to manage the preparation of the Budget Session if the situation does not improve on the Covid-19 front. The crucial Budget Session of Parliament begins in the last week of January each year. This entails a huge exercise for the Parliament as the entire sys- tem has to work round-the- clock. “The customary joint address to the Parliament by the President of India before the Union Budget requires a month-long preparation as the minutest details have to be worked upon. But the Secretariat will leave no stone unturned for a smooth Presidential Address and pre- sentation of the Union Budget” a Parliament Secretariat official said. Out of the Covid-related isolated staff, 65 are from the Rajya Sabha Secretariat, 200 are from the Lok Sabha Secretariat and 133 belong to allied ser- vices. As a precautionary mea- sure, the Rajya Sabha Secretariat has introduced a host of measures, including restricting the physical atten- dance of its staff after an emer- gency review meeting was con- ducted by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday. Similar directives have been issued by Speaker Om Birla, sources said. As per the latest direc- tions, 50 per cent of officials and staff below the rank of Under Secretary are required to work from home till the end of the month. They constitute about 65 per cent of the total employees. Continued on page 6 A head of the crucial Assembly polls in Punjab, the State’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S Karuna Raju tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday. The news came just a day after the Election Commission (EC) announced the schedule for the Assembly election in Punjab and four other States. Punjab CEO S Karuna Raju had also held a press confer- ence here on Saturday to give details of the schedule of the Assembly polls and arrange- ments made for elections. “CEO Punjab Dr S Karuna Raju, IAS, Asymptomatic, test- ed Covid positive. Under iso- lation at home taking all pre- cautions as per Covid protocol. Those who came in contact with him in the last few days, kindly get tested and take care (sic),” said a tweet posted on the Twitter handle of the CEO, Punjab on Sunday. Continued on page 6 F ollowing the Supreme Court's direction, coun- selling for NEET post-graduate admission is all set to begin from January 12, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said on Sunday. “NEET-PG counselling is being started by MCC from January 12, 2022, following the order of the Supreme Court, as assured by the Ministry of Health to the res- ident doctors. This will give more strength to the country in the fight against Covid-19. My best wishes to all the candi- dates,” Mandaviya said in a tweet. In a major relief for resi- dent doctors and medical stu- dents, the Supreme Court had on Friday paved the way for starting the stalled NEET-PG 2021 counselling process based on the existing 27 per cent OBC and 10 per cent EWS reservations in the All India Quota seats. Stating that there was an “urgent need” to begin the admission process, a bench of justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna said the criteria for the determination of EWS notified by the office memo- randum (OM) 2019, including 8 lakh annual income crite- rion, will be used for identify- ing the EWS category for can- didates, who appeared for the NEET-PG 2021 and NEET-UG (Under Graduate) 2021 exam- inations. However, the top court specified that the validity of the criteria determined by the committee for identification of EWS would prospectively for the future be subject to the final result of the petitions chal- lenging the previous Government order. Previously, the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) had said every year approximately 45,000 candidates are selected as post graduate (PG) doctors through the NEET-PG and delay in counselling has led to a situation where no junior doctors have been inducted 2021. Continued on page 6 T here is a huge resentment in the Congress' workers and leaders over the absence of former party chief Rahul Gandhi's fortnight-long foreign vacation when he is needed in the country to over- see the preparation for the forthcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa. The Election Commission has already announced the poll schedules. Rahul left for abroad on December 30 for a five-day “private vacation”. Sources say he will return only after January 15. Punjab unit of the party had to reschedule Rahul's Moga Rally scheduled for January 3 and the new dates were January 15. Now, this cannot happen due to the restriction imposed by the election watchdog on holding election rallies due to rising Covid cases. Rahul was to sound the poll bugle from Moga before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit of January 5. The PM's visit was canceled due to a security lapse. Party workers and leaders are clueless as to why Rahul extended his vacation when poll schedules have been announced and other political parties have plunged headlong into campaigns and finalization of candidates. The Congress has high stakes Punjab, Goa, and Uttarakhand polls where the party is expecting to do well. The Congress is in with a chance to retain Punjab and make a bid to stage a comeback in Uttarakhand and Goa. Rahul Gandhi had also gone abroad before the party and the Opposition was busy planning a joint strategy for the Winter Session of Parliament which saw a major standoff between the ruling and the Opposition benches. In December 2020, Rahul left for Italy on the 136th foundation day of the Congress. In October 2019, just 15 days before the Assembly elections in Haryana and Maharashtra, the Gandhi scion had reportedly gone abroad. In November 2019, the Congress had planned as many as 35 press conferences across the country against Modi Govt's policies, but Rahul Gandhi, who alleged- ly gave directions for the press conferences, skipped them himself. In May 2019, before the counting of votes of the Parliamentary elections, Rahul Gandhi flew to London and skipped an important meeting held by UPA chair- person Sonia Gandhi to decide on a PM candidate. U ttar Pradesh has clamped night curfew and has decided to close physical class- es in all educational institutions till January 16 after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath chaired the COVID-19 review meeting in Lucknow on Sunday. The government has also decided to vaccinate all children between 15 and 18 years of age by January 15. Under the stringent con- tainment mechanism imple- mented to check spread of COVID-19, the government on Sunday announced that the night curfew restrictions would be in place from 10 pm to 6 am in all 75 districts of the state. The decision was taken in view of the surge in COVID-19 cases and detection of Omicron variant across several states in the country “In view of the developing situation due to COVID-19, night curfew has been imposed in every district of Uttar Pradesh between 10 pm and 6 am. Physical classes have also been suspended in all educa- tional institutions till January 16. Classes in online mode can continue. However, scheduled examinations can be conduct- ed,” reads the official release. The chief minister also passed instructions for the dis- trict administration to monitor the situation and ensure nec- essary resources for the cur- tailment of the virus. Deatils on page 2

Transcript of " ' = _Vh TRdVd Rd @^ZTc`_ dfcXVd - Daily Pioneer

Page 1: " ' = _Vh TRdVd Rd @^ZTc`_ dfcXVd - Daily Pioneer

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As the Omicron variant ofthe Covid-19 continues to

fuel a surge in the infectioncount across the country, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onSunday chaired a meetingthrough video conferencing toreview the situation.

There is no let-up in virusinfection in India which saw asingle-day rise of 1,59,632 newCoronavirus cases, raising thetally to 3,55,28,004 crore, whichincluded 3,623 cases of theOmicron variant.

Uttar Pradesh has report-ed a massive surge in Covidcases ahead of State electionsthat are less than a month away.The 7,695 fresh cases reportedover the last 24 hours are 13times what was recorded lastweek. Last Sunday, the Statehad recorded 552 fresh cases.

On Sunday, the situationseemed to stabilise inMaharashtra, but cases spikedin West Bengal and Karnatakain a big way. Delhi saw as manyas 17 deaths on Sunday, high-est in a day in seven months.

The Prime Minister’s (PM)high-level meeting was held aday after the ElectionCommission of India (ECI)

announced poll dates for fiveStates, i.e. Uttar Pradesh,Manipur, Uttarakhand, Goaand Punjab. Sources said thatthe meeting discussed risingcases in the States and thecountry's preparedness to tack-le the pandemic.

On Monday, Union HealthMinister Mansukh Mandaviyawill interact with State HealthMinisters over the Covid-19situation.

There is some respite forMaharashtra after it saw a hugesurge in the last two weeks. OnSunday, the State reported44,388 new cases and 12deaths. Mumbai reported19,474 fresh Covid cases andseven related deaths. The cityhad recorded 20,318 newCovid-19 cases and five deaths

on Saturday.The Maharashtra

Government on Sunday revisedthe Covid-19-related restric-tions for gyms and beautysalons, allowing them to oper-ate at 50 per cent capacityfrom January 10 midnight. OnSaturday, the Government hadsaid gyms and beauty salonswould remain closed, whilehair cutting salons would func-tion at 50 per cent capacity.

Delhi reported 22,751cases, 12 per cent higher thanSaturday’s number of 20,181.The positivity rate stood at23.53 per cent. The city alsoreported 17 deaths, the mostCovid deaths in a day sinceJune 16 last year.

On Friday, Delhi reported17,335 fresh Covid cases while

on Thursday the city registered15,097 infections.

Altogether 1,800 patientsare admitted in the Covid-dedicated hospitals in the city,said a Government health bul-letin. Out of these, 182 areCovid suspects while 1,618 areconfirmed positive patients, itsaid.

Of the patients admitted,1,442 are from Delhi while 176are from the neighbouringStates. Of them, 440 amongthem are on oxygen support,while 44 are on ventilator sup-port, while another 310 are inthe ICU. But the situation isturning for the worse in WestBengal. The State reported24,287 new Covid cases, 8,213recoveries and 18 deaths onSunday. Continued on page 6

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Arecent digital survey hasplaced the Defence

Ministry as one of the biggestlandowners in the countrywith nearly 18 lakh acres underits command across the coun-try. Giving details of the mam-moth land-mapping exercisewhich took three years, officialssaid here on Sunday theDefence Ministry owns about17.99 lakh acres

Approximately 1.61 lakhacres is situated within the 62notified Cantonments. About16.38 lakh acres is spread acrossmany pockets outside theCantonments. Out of 16.38lakh acres, about 18,000 acresis either State-hired land or isproposed for deletion fromrecords on account of transferto other Government depart-ments. Clear demarcation and

boundary survey of defencelands and fixing of the bound-aries is necessary for the pro-tection of the defence land,safeguarding of the title of theMinistry, updation of landrecords, maps, and preventionof encroachments.

The Directorate GeneralDefence Estates, Ministry ofDefence commenced the sur-vey of defence land fromOctober 2018.

The entire exercise of a sur-vey of about 1.61 lakh acres ofdefence land inside canton-ments and 16.17 lakh acres out-side cantonments (total 17.78lakh acres) has been complet-

ed. It is a remarkable achieve-ment since for the first timeafter Independence, entiredefence land has been surveyedby using latest technology andin a large number of pockets inassociation with the Revenueauthorities of various StateGovernments.

The magnitude of landholding, location of land inapproximately 4,900 pocketsacross the country, inaccessibleterrain in many places. Andassociation of various stake-holders makes this survey oneof the largest land surveys inthe country.

Continued on page 6

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More than 400Parliamentary staff mem-

bers have tested positive forCovid-19 in the last couple ofdays. This is a cause of seriousconcern for the Governmentbecause the Budget Session ofthe Parliament is set to begin bythe month-end.

With all the 400 personnelforced to quarantine them-selves, the authorities are wor-ried about how to manage thepreparation of the BudgetSession if the situation does notimprove on the Covid-19 front.

The crucial Budget Sessionof Parliament begins in the lastweek of January each year.This entails a huge exercise forthe Parliament as the entire sys-tem has to work round-the-clock.

“The customary jointaddress to the Parliament bythe President of India beforethe Union Budget requires amonth-long preparation as theminutest details have to beworked upon. But theSecretariat will leave no stoneunturned for a smoothPresidential Address and pre-sentation of the Union Budget”

a Parliament Secretariat officialsaid.

Out of the Covid-relatedisolated staff, 65 are from theRajya Sabha Secretariat, 200 arefrom the Lok Sabha Secretariatand 133 belong to allied ser-vices.

As a precautionary mea-sure, the Rajya SabhaSecretariat has introduced ahost of measures, includingrestricting the physical atten-dance of its staff after an emer-gency review meeting was con-ducted by Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu on Sunday.Similar directives have beenissued by Speaker Om Birla,sources said.

As per the latest direc-tions, 50 per cent of officialsand staff below the rank ofUnder Secretary are required towork from home till the end ofthe month. They constituteabout 65 per cent of the totalemployees.

Continued on page 6

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Ahead of the crucialAssembly polls in Punjab,

the State’s Chief ElectoralOfficer (CEO) S Karuna Rajutested positive for Covid-19 onSunday.

The news came just a dayafter the Election Commission(EC) announced the schedulefor the Assembly election inPunjab and four other States.Punjab CEO S Karuna Rajuhad also held a press confer-ence here on Saturday to givedetails of the schedule of theAssembly polls and arrange-ments made for elections.

“CEO Punjab Dr S KarunaRaju, IAS, Asymptomatic, test-ed Covid positive. Under iso-lation at home taking all pre-cautions as per Covid protocol.Those who came in contactwith him in the last few days,kindly get tested and take care(sic),” said a tweet posted on theTwitter handle of the CEO,Punjab on Sunday.

Continued on page 6

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Following the SupremeCourt's direction, coun-

selling for NEET post-graduateadmission is all set to beginfrom January 12, Union HealthMinister Mansukh Mandaviyasaid on Sunday.

“NEET-PG counselling isbeing started by MCC fromJanuary 12, 2022, followingthe order of the SupremeCourt, as assured by theMinistry of Health to the res-ident doctors. This will givemore strength to the country inthe fight against Covid-19. Mybest wishes to all the candi-dates,” Mandaviya said in atweet.

In a major relief for resi-dent doctors and medical stu-

dents, the Supreme Court hadon Friday paved the way forstarting the stalled NEET-PG2021 counselling process basedon the existing 27 per centOBC and 10 per cent EWSreservations in the All IndiaQuota seats.

Stating that there was an“urgent need” to begin the

admission process, a bench ofjustices DY Chandrachud andAS Bopanna said the criteriafor the determination of EWSnotified by the office memo-randum (OM) 2019, including� 8 lakh annual income crite-rion, will be used for identify-ing the EWS category for can-didates, who appeared for the

NEET-PG 2021 and NEET-UG(Under Graduate) 2021 exam-inations.

However, the top courtspecified that the validity of thecriteria determined by thecommittee for identificationof EWS would prospectively forthe future be subject to the finalresult of the petitions chal-lenging the previousGovernment order.

Previously, the Federationof Resident Doctors'Association (FORDA) had saidevery year approximately45,000 candidates are selectedas post graduate (PG) doctorsthrough the NEET-PG anddelay in counselling has led toa situation where no juniordoctors have been inducted2021. Continued on page 6

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There is a huge resentment in theCongress' workers and leaders over the

absence of former party chief RahulGandhi's fortnight-long foreign vacationwhen he is needed in the country to over-see the preparation for the forthcomingAssembly elections in Uttar Pradesh,Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa. TheElection Commission has alreadyannounced the poll schedules.

Rahul left for abroad on December 30for a five-day “private vacation”. Sourcessay he will return only after January 15.

Punjab unit of the party had toreschedule Rahul's Moga Rally scheduledfor January 3 and the new dates wereJanuary 15. Now, this cannot happen dueto the restriction imposed by the electionwatchdog on holding election rallies dueto rising Covid cases. Rahul was to soundthe poll bugle from Moga before PrimeMinister Narendra Modi's visit of January

5. The PM's visit was canceled due to asecurity lapse.

Party workers and leaders are cluelessas to why Rahul extended his vacationwhen poll schedules have been announcedand other political parties have plungedheadlong into campaigns and finalizationof candidates.

The Congress has high stakes Punjab,Goa, and Uttarakhand polls where theparty is expecting to do well. The Congressis in with a chance to retain Punjab andmake a bid to stage a comeback in

Uttarakhand and Goa.Rahul Gandhi had also gone abroad

before the party and the Opposition wasbusy planning a joint strategy for theWinter Session of Parliament which sawa major standoff between the ruling andthe Opposition benches.

In December 2020, Rahul left for Italyon the 136th foundation day of theCongress. In October 2019, just 15 daysbefore the Assembly elections in Haryanaand Maharashtra, the Gandhi scion hadreportedly gone abroad.

In November 2019, the Congress hadplanned as many as 35 press conferencesacross the country against Modi Govt'spolicies, but Rahul Gandhi, who alleged-ly gave directions for the press conferences,skipped them himself.

In May 2019, before the counting ofvotes of the Parliamentary elections, RahulGandhi flew to London and skipped animportant meeting held by UPA chair-person Sonia Gandhi to decide on a PMcandidate.

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Uttar Pradesh has clampednight curfew and has

decided to close physical class-es in all educational institutionstill January 16 after ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanathchaired the COVID-19 reviewmeeting in Lucknow onSunday. The government hasalso decided to vaccinate allchildren between 15 and 18years of age by January 15.

Under the stringent con-tainment mechanism imple-mented to check spread ofCOVID-19, the government onSunday announced that thenight curfew restrictions wouldbe in place from 10 pm to 6 amin all 75 districts of the state.The decision was taken in viewof the surge in COVID-19cases and detection of Omicronvariant across several states inthe country

“In view of the developingsituation due to COVID-19,night curfew has been imposedin every district of UttarPradesh between 10 pm and 6am. Physical classes have alsobeen suspended in all educa-tional institutions till January16. Classes in online mode cancontinue. However, scheduledexaminations can be conduct-ed,” reads the official release.

The chief minister alsopassed instructions for the dis-trict administration to monitorthe situation and ensure nec-essary resources for the cur-tailment of the virus.

Deatils on page 2

Page 2: " ' = _Vh TRdVd Rd @^ZTc`_ dfcXVd - Daily Pioneer

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Uttar Pradesh has clampednight curfew and has

decided to close physical class-es in all educational institutionstill January 16 after ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanathchaired the COVID-19 reviewmeeting in Lucknow onSunday.

The government has alsodecided to vaccinate all chil-dren between 15 and 18 yearsof age by January 15.

Under the stringent con-tainment mechanism imple-mented to check spread ofCOVID-19, the government onSunday announced that thenight curfew restrictions wouldbe in place from 10 pm to 6 amin all 75 districts of the state.The decision was taken in viewof the surge in COVID-19cases and detection of Omicronvariant across several states inthe country

“In view of the developingsituation due to COVID-19,night curfew has been imposedin every district of UttarPradesh between 10 pm and 6

am. Physical classes have alsobeen suspended in all educa-tional institutions till January16. Classes in online mode cancontinue. However, scheduledexaminations can be conduct-ed," reads the official release.

The chief minister alsopassed instructions for the dis-trict administration to monitorthe situation and ensure neces-sary resources for the curtail-ment of the virus.

"Monitoring committeesand Integrated CovidCommand and ControlCentres should be fully opera-tional. Separate numbersshould be issued for home iso-lation, monitoring commit-tees, ambulance and teleconsul-tation," reads the release.

"Teleconsultation facilitiesshould also be made availableto the people by deploying apanel of doctors in every dis-trict. Medicine kits should bemade available to the people asper their needs. Adequate avail-ability of life-saving drugsneeded for the treatment ofCOVID-19 should be ensured,"it added.

In the meeting with theofficials here on Sunday, YogiAdityanath directed that specialattention should be given topatients with comorbidities,the elderly and the children suf-fering from novel coronavirusinfection.

If such people are infected,there should be continuousmonitoring of their treatmentprocess and medicine kitsshould be made available tothem immediately. Monitoringcommittees should be func-tional in villages under theleadership of gram pradhansand in urban wards under the

leadership of councillors.Monitoring committees shouldrun a door-to-door programmeto prepare the list of unvacci-nated people so that they canbe motivated and encouragedfor vaccination, he said.

Meanwhile, the govern-ment has decided to vaccinateall children between 15 and 18years of age by January 15.While reviewing the COVID-19 situation, Yogi Adityanathsaid the government's effortwas to achieve the target of vac-cinating all eligible adolescentsin the state by January 15. Hesaid special camps should be

opened in secondary schoolsand it should be ensured that100 per cent of the adolescentsreceived their first dose by theend of this week.

So far, over 21,54,908teenagers have been adminis-tered the Covid vaccine in thestate. Even as Uttar Pradeshcontinues to conduct the vac-cination drive most efficientlyin the country with over 21.26crore vaccine doses adminis-tered so far, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has issued direc-tives to ensure complete pre-paredness for the vaccination of15-18 category, frontline work-ers and senior citizens fromJanuary 10.

“Sufficient availability ofvaccine doses must be ensuredso that the drive is carried outin a phased and hassle-freemanner to benefit the eligiblebeneficiaries,” the chief minis-ter said.

For those districts wherethe first dose coverage is stilllower than 80 per cent, thechief minister has asked theauthorities to prepare a detailedaction plan and ensure 100 per

cent vaccination of adults. Inaddition, those who have notyet been vaccinated should beencouraged to take the Covidvaccine shot as soon as possi-ble. For vaccination, the gener-al public should also be con-tacted through the CMHelpline.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradeshreached another milestone inits Covid vaccination rollout. Ithas administered the highestnumber of doses across theboard among states. Over 89.42per cent of the population hasbeen partially vaccinated,whereas nearly 54 per cent ofthe population has been fullyvaccinated against COVID-19in the state.

In the light of the emer-gence of the new coronavirusvariant Omicron, the govern-ment has expedited its vaccina-tion coverage in the state. Thechief minister has already saidthat complete vaccination hasproved to be effective in fight-ing against new variants likeOmicron, hence the pace of theongoing vaccination drive hasbeen ramped up.

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Shivpal Singh Yadav, chief ofPragatisheel Samajwadi

Party (Lohia), the uncle ofSamajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav, has said the hisnephew was his leader.

Shivpal Singh said alongwith Akhilesh he was workingfor the formation of SamajwadiParty government after the2022 UP assembly elections.

“Akhilesh Yadav is a matureperson now and my only aimis to make him the next chiefminister of Uttar Pradesh.There is no point in talkingabout the old contentious issuesand now there is no infightingin the party and the family’everybody is looking ahead toform the next government,”Shivpal Yadav said here onSunday.

“Akhilesh has been thechief minister and is a four-time MP, and he has been inopposition and he has experi-ence of over two decades andis more mature now. I don’twant to talk about old things.I want to move ahead now. Ourmain aim is to make Akhileshthe chief minister of UP in2022,” he said.

Shivpal Yadav said, “Nodoubt Netaji (Mulayam SinghYadav) is the most ‘dumdar’(powerful) politician. Now thetime has come to make bhati-ja (nephew) dumdar,”

Asked why he had notforeseen infighting within theparty, Shivpal said, “There wasnothing to foresee, I havealways listened to what Netajihas said. There was never afight in the party or in the fam-ily.”

On seat sharing formulawith the Samajwadi Party,

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Bahujan Samaj Party chiefand former chief minister

of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati,on Sunday urged the ElectionCommission of India to takestrict steps against thoseindulging in narrow politics ofselfishness by giving religiouscolour to the elections.

Addressing media personshere on Sunday, a day after theannouncement of assemblyelection schedule for five statesincluding Uttar Pradesh, theBSP chief said that in view ofthe elections in these states, itwas very important that theElection Commission takesconcrete steps to strictly imple-ment the Model Code ofConduct so that the confi-dence of the general publiccould be instilled in the con-duct of elections in a free, fairand peaceful manner.

The BSP chief said that inthe last few years, the tenden-cy of doing all kinds of riggingduring elections and doingunfair things to take electoraladvantage for power, includinguse of religion, had increasedand it was a matter of concern.

Mayawati said in the lastfew elections, even in the midstof the coronavirus outbreak,the Model Code of Conductwas violated openly in ralliesand road shows.

“Apart from this, the waythe narrow politics of selfish-ness is being practised by giv-ing religious colour to electionsfor the last few years, demandstake strict action from theElection Commission,” sheadded.

Mayawati said due to thepartisan attitude of the rulingBharatiya Janata Party in thestate, there was a jungle raj andpeople of all castes and classes

felt its brunt.She said the BJP would be

voted out of power in this elec-tion, provided there was nomisuse of government machin-ery and tampering with theelectronic voting machines.

Without naming theSamajwadi Party, Mayawatisaid there was a party in thestate which was dreaming ofwinning 400 seats out of 403 inalliance with people expelledfrom BSP and other parties butits dream would be shatteredon March 10 when the pollresults would be announced.

“This will be the situationof BJP and other parties andonly BSP can form a populargovernment,” she claimed. Sheassured that BSP would strict-ly follow the Model Code ofConduct.

The former chief ministeralso requested the ElectionCommission to ensure that no

one was allowed to create anykind of obstruction in the elec-tions and to ensure free and fairpolls and tight security arrange-ments at vulnerable pollingstations so that the voters,especially the Dalits and othersor people from weaker sectionscould cast their votes withoutany fear.

Mayawati said that she alsoheld a meeting with prominentBSP leaders on Sunday at theparty office in Lucknow for theselection of candidates. Sheclaimed her party would per-form better in Uttarakhandand form an absolute majori-ty government in Punjab withits alliance partner theShiromani Akali Dal.

Mayawati said that even ifthe agencies conductingpre-poll surveys kept showingBSP out of the race, thepeople would give it the major-ity.

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Even as Uttar Pradesh,despite its large population

density, has been controllingthe spread of COVID-19 suc-cessfully compared to othermajor states, the state govern-ment has implemented a slewof preventive measures to checkthe third wave of the pandem-ic. Out of over 2,22,428 Covidsamples tested in the last 24hours, 7,695 tested positive,while 253 Covid-19 patientsrecovered in the same span oftime.

Under the stringent con-tainment mechanism imple-mented to check spread ofCOVID-19, the governmenthas not only imposed nightcurfews across the state, butalso, has stepped up vigilancein all 75 districts and surveil-lance on the state borders. Itmay be mentioned that out ofthe 25,974 active cases in UP,as many as 25,445 are in homeisolation signifying the mild-ness of the Omicron variant ofthe novel coronavirus.

According to medical

experts of the State LevelHealth Expert AdvisoryCommittee, the Omicron vari-ant is not as lethal and conta-gious as the previous ones.Even if a person gets infected,he or she can be cured in homeisolation. Besides, completevaccination has proved to beeffective in fighting againstthe new variant of the novelcoronavirus.

Nearly 73,000 surveillancecommittees that played aneffective role in containing thespread of COVID-19, havebeen instructed to carry outintensive screening in bothurban and rural areas.Industrial units have beenasked to set up Covid HelpDesks and daycare centres.

The Integrated CovidCommand and Control Centre(ICCCC) has been made func-tional 24×7 and the chief min-ister has asked the Health andMedical Education departmentto keep monitoring the avail-ability of medical resources aswell as treatment facilities in allgovernment and private med-ical institutions of the state.

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Additional Director Generalof Police (Law and Order)

Prashant Kumar said onSunday that the state police wascommitted to conduct theupcoming assembly electionsin a fair and transparent man-ner.

He said that 95 assemblyconstituencies of the state hadbeen identified as sensitivefrom the point of view of elec-tions.

ADG Kumar told reportersthat in seven phases of the pollsbetween February 10 andMarch 7, 92,821 polling sta-tions and a total of 1,74,351polling places would be set up.He said that there was anincrease of 2.24 per cent inpolling stations and 18.45 percent in polling places in com-parison to the 2017 polls.Kumar claimed that physical

verification of all polling sta-tions had been done.

Kumar said that instruc-tions had been issued for crowdcontrol at booths.

He said a separate electionregister would be maintained atall police stations in the state torecord election related infor-mation.

Apart from this, instruc-tions have been issued formaintenance, repair, cleaningof arms, supply of anti-riotequipment and other securityequipment and tools, headded.

With regard to preventingthe misuse of illicit liquor in theelections, the ADG said that 31checkpoints had been estab-lished jointly by the Exciseand Police departments on theinternational (Nepal border)and inter-state borders, onwhich the officials of the Excisedepartment along with the

police force would also be pre-sent.

He said that 2,676 CCTVcameras and 71 static jammershad been installed in variousjails of the state to keep awatchful eye on the activitiesof the criminals lodged in thejails.

Kumar said that 275 suchcriminals had been identifiedin the districts and 869detained in jails who couldindirectly disturb the election,hence their activities werebeing monitored.

The ADG said that 95assembly constituencies ofUttar Pradesh had beenmarked sensitive for variousreasons at the initial stage inview of the elections.

He said that seven dis-tricts of Uttar Pradesh namelyPilibhit, Maharajganj,Siddharthnagar, Bahraich,Balrampur, Shravasti,

Lakhimpur Kheri were bor-dered by Nepal and 14 assem-bly constituencies of these dis-tricts were adjacent to Nepalborder while the borders of 30districts of UP were connectedto nine other states.

He said that for effectivecontrol of criminals and illegalsmuggling, 107 check postswould be set up on the inter-national border and 469 on theinter-state border, where regu-lar checks would be conduct-ed 24 hours a day by deployingpolice force in three shifts andinstalling CCTV cameras. Hesaid that Covid protocol wouldbe followed.

The ADG said that it wasa challenge for the police toconduct the assembly electionspeacefully in a fair manner andthe police would ensure it withdedication, integrity, hardwork, available resources andnew technology.

����� =B�3.:<

Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav has said

the Bharatiya Janata Party hasdecided against fielding ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath in theensuing assembly elections andthis has led him to talk of godscoming in his dreams.

“It is the BJP and ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanathwhich started the discourse ofgod in dreams. Yogi Adityanathwants to contest the electionand a letter was sent to the BJPpresident by a BJP leaderdemanding ticket for the CMfrom Mathura assembly con-stituency,” said Akhilesh Yadav,claiming that “BJP has decid-ed against fielding YogiAdityanath in the assemblyelections”.

Akhilesh Yadav made thisstatement while participatingin a programme of a TV chan-nel.

Akhilesh Yadav claimedthat along with allies, the SPmay cross 400-seat mark in theupcoming UP assembly polls.The SP chief also claimed theincumbent BJP had failed tofulfil the promises made in itsSankalp Patra.

“The BJP had promised todouble the income of farmers.Reverse has happened as infla-tion has doubled. The BJPMPs and MLAs are not allowedto enter villages and manyhave been beaten by the farm-ers. This is the beginning andon the day of polling the peo-ple will vote the BJP out,”Yadav said.

“I am saying it again thatwe may cross the 400-seatmark with our allies. People ofthe state may give the SP andallies more than 400 seats.People are fed up with the BJP.The first phase (poll) is offarmers’ self-respect and they

will wipe out the BJP for sure,”the SP chief said.

On the question of beingthe lone star campaigner of SPin front of the BJP, which hasa long list of star campaigners,Yadav said, “When people goto vote their priority will bepower tariff, pothole-freeroads, stray cattle, shortage ofoxygen during the pandemic.Even today I read a reportabout a man dying after gettinghurt in an accident caused bya stray animal.”

On BJP’s digital plans, hesaid, “The SP is the same partywhich distributed 18-20 lakhlaptops. People who don’tknow how to run laptops arenow speaking about being dig-

ital. No matter how many dig-ital experts they rope in, thecommon man wants to see achange. The day the SPannounced 300 units of freeelectricity, the BJP said theywould slash power rates by 50per cent. It means they couldhave done it earlier, but theywere looting people.”

On the question of LordKrishna coming in his dreams,Yadav said, “Till now, BJPleaders were re-inauguratingour projects, now they havealso started re-inauguratingthe projects of the Mayawatigovernment… What you willthink about before sleeping,you will dream about. I revisemy work and sleep.”

On the question of BJPleaders raising the Mathuraissue, Yadav said, “The SPstands with the country andthe Constitution. The BJP rais-es these issues to get votes. Weare now hearing that the chiefminister should contest fromhere and there, someone saidthat Bhagwan came into hisdream. However, in reality,BJP has decided against givinghim (Yogi) the party ticket.”

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In a major jolt to theCongress ahead of the UttarPradesh assembly polls, ImranMasood, one of its prominentleaders in Saharanpur districtof western UP, is likely to jointhe Samajwadi Party.

According to sources, hewill join Akhilesh Yadav's partyon Monday.

In November, prominentJat leader and former MP of theCongress, Harendra Malik,along with his former MLAson had joined the SamajwadiParty.

Sources said that Masoodcalled a meeting of party work-ers on Monday and a decisionto join the SP was likely to betaken after it.

Masood has served aschairperson of SaharanpurNagar Palika and is a formerMLA from the Muzaffarabadconstituency (now Behat) ofSaharanpur district. He wasvice-president of UP Congress.Currently, he is national secre-tary of the All India CongressCommittee (AICC).

Imran Masood had hit theheadlines ahead of the 2014Lok Sabha election for usingderogatory language againstBharatiya Janata party’s primeministerial candidate NarendraModi.

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Shivpal Yadav said, “We havealways been a samajwadi andworked for socialist society, wehave been associated with theSP for decades.”

He said the allegation ofdynastic politics against the SPwas baseless and “we havefought for the people and givenup many things before finallyachieving what we have today”.

Talking about the party’ssymbol issue, the PSPL leadersaid, “Our symbol is not withus anymore, now we will befighting in alliance. Whateverwe decide will be as per strat-

egy, our sole aim is to throw outthe Bharatiya Janata Party andmake Akhilesh the next chiefminister of UP. We will discusswithin the party and withAkhilesh about a merger.”

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The drive to administerbooster doses to a popula-

tion of over 2.38 lakh inLucknow will kick off onMonday. DistrictImmunisation Officer MKSingh said the beneficiariesinclude 95,000 senior citizenswith co-morbidities, 77,000health workers and 66,000frontline workers.

Booster doses will be givenat all the district-level hospi-tals, and urban & rural CHCswhile workplace centres haveyet to be decided.

Singh said that consulta-tion with their respective doc-tors is a must for the senior cit-izens who have co-morbidities.He said the most importantthing to be kept in mind is thatthose who have completednine months since the seconddose will be eligible for thebooster shot.“The CoWINportal shows when the seconddose has been given, and it willaccept only when the ninemonths have been completed,”he said.

Nodal officer at KGMU,Dr Nishant Verma said theyhave been getting queries fromsenior citizens regarding thebooster dose. “People havebeen inquiring about boostershots ever since Omicron wenton a rampage. Our first dosevaccinations have alsoincreased since the third wavestarted. The timings willremain the same,” he said.

“Data entry happens by 9am, followed by the arrival ofvaccines by 9:15 am, and thevaccinations begin by 9:30am. Around 6,000 KGMUemployees are due for their

booster doses,” he added.Government guidelines will befollowed and people who gotCovishield will be given thesame vaccine as the boosterdose and those who gotCovaxin will be given thesame. Both vaccines are avail-able at KGMU.

“Only one booster dosewill be given as per the govern-ment guideline. Further doses

are likely to be decided as andwhen more data and studiesare out,” he added.

Director, Civil hospital,Dr Anand Ojha said no specialpreparations were requiredsince all the arrangementswere in place, and there areseparate booths for variouscategories. Around 550 hospi-tal staff members will be giventhe booster doses.

����� =B�3.:<

The need of the hour is togroom young faculty mem-

bers, who could be specialistsin their own fields, to occupyleadership positions of newly-established medical institutes inthe state so that they havesome idea of administrativecontrol and financial controland could also handle humanresources in a more sensitivemanner.

These views wereexpressed by PrincipalSecretary, Medical Education,Alok Kumar, who was the chiefguest at the 117th FoundationDay celebrations of KGMU onSunday. He said when theywant to find leaders for themedical institutes which theyare creating, they find a severelack of leadership in candidateswho can occupy these posi-tions. “While people can bespecialists in their respectivefields, perhaps they are notbeing trained enough tobecome leaders in their ownright. We are worried aboutthese institutions because if wedo not get the right kind ofleadership at the foundationstage, these institutions are notlikely to become glorious,” hesaid

“This should be carried outby involving the middle levelfaculty in the administrativefunctioning of the university.This is something which I have

been advocating for becauseonly those institutions strive forexcellence which can gradual-ly shift task from the top levelmanagement to the mediumlevel management and from themedium level management tothe lower level of manage-ments because then it frees thesenior leadership to look at thefuture and visualise the futureand take those strategic deci-sions which will not happen atthe lower levels,” he added.

Kumar said that there hasbeen an increase in the pace ofdevelopment of the medicalinfrastructural facilities in thestate since 2005 and there are33 medical colleges today.

“These numbers will treble inthe next two years. The num-ber of undergraduate & post-graduate seats has increased,which will also treble in thecoming years, which will be anunprecedented expansion,” hesaid. He added that the bud-getary allocation for the depart-ment of Medical Educationhas gone up from Rs 1,900crore in 2016- 2017 to Rs 9,142crore in 2020-2021, which isalmost five times what thegovernment used to spend in2016-17. “The governmentunderstands that there is aneed to catch up and is tryingits level best,” he said.

He told the medal winners

and awardees from among thestaff that this is not the end butjust the beginning, and thatthey should continue with theirquest for excellence

Addressing the students, hesaid: “Whatever capacity youwork in, you will be the ambas-sadors of KGMU.You shouldpursue your respective mis-sions with sincerity and successwill follow.”

KGMU Vice-ChancellorDr Bipin Puri said that on alarger canvas when they lookaround to the vision towardswhich way the university isheading, it is important to crit-ically analyse and reassess theground reality.

“The government and pol-icy-makers need to decide thefuture directions. The questionis should this become a megahospital complex and oneshould add more and moredepartments of superspeciali-ty in patient care or should theemphasis be more on medicaleducation and research. Theissue is that the mandates areintertwined in a complex man-ner. We do not know whatshould be the area of prioritybecause if it is important, eachof these mandates is importantand our responsibilities alsoincrease.” As many as 2,000 ofKGMU’s Covid warriors werealso felicitated on the occasion.

����� =B�3.:<

With the ElectionCommission announc-

ing the poll dates on Saturday,doctors said that political par-ties should stick to virtual ral-lies in view of the third wave.

A senior doctor saidOmicron should not be takenlightly and that all Covid pro-tocols be followed. “Virtualrallies should be held as crowdswill lead to further infectionand cases will increase expo-nentially. Over 125 passengersof a flight which landed inAmritsar from Italy tested pos-itive. It may have happenedbecause at the time of board-ing, there could be a few pas-sengers who were infected,and they transmitted the virusto others during the course of

journey. Looking into the infec-tivity rate, it would be better ifpolitical parties opt for virtualrallies,” he said. “If at all ralliesare permitted, only those whohave been fully vaccinatedshould be allowed,” he added.

Secretary, OrganisedMedical Academic Guild, saidfive states encompassing 25% ofpopulation in India have offi-cially switched into electionmode and the ElectionCommission of India mustmake the political parities fol-low Covid-appropriate behav-iour. “We express gratitude tothe Election Commission ofIndia for its firm assurancesthat the campaigns would be invirtual mode up to January 15.Looking at the current Covidscenario made worse by theOmicron variant, it is any-

body’s guess that the situationwould worsen by the day evenafter January 15,” he said.

He recalled that Covid-appropriate beahviour normsfor the polling booths and vot-ing were implemented evenduring the last round of legisla-tive assembly elections in 5other states last year, but thesame went for a toss in cam-paigning.

“That had led to a majorsurge in Covid-19 cases inthose election-bound statesand resulted in severe casual-ties. There should be strictpenal provision for violation ofCovid protocols under theDisaster Management Act2005 and Epidemic Act, 1897amended as The EpidemicDiseases (Amendment) Act,2020,” he added.

����� =B�3.:<

Awoman sub-inspector was sub-jected to humiliation and abusive

language allegedly by an inspector asshe opposed illegal land miningunder her area of jurisdiction inBanthra. Police found themselves ina tight spot after a video surfaced insocial media on Sunday. The womansub-inspector accused the Banthrainspector of using abusive languagefor her for preventing illegal mining.The woman was seen sobbing whiledescribing her ordeal.

She accused constable AwadhKishor and inspector Ajay PratapSingh of being complicit in the ille-gal mining. “I went to the place fol-lowing a tip-off to stop land miningas people indulging in the same hadnot secured permission,” she said.

She said constable Awadh Kishorecalled her when she was dealingwith the situation and asked her who

instructed her to go there and get themining work stopped. “I told him Iwas in incharge of the beat and thatmining was being done under herjurisdiction,” she said. She alleged thatthe constable called her again andasked her to talk to inspector AjayPratap Singh. “I told the inspector thatI was videographing the illegal min-ing, but he said he was the inspectorand she had to show up at his officeinstantly,” she alleged.

She said Awadh Kishor met herinside the police station premiseswhen she returned. “The constablethreatened me and left the scene,” shesaid. She said she went inside and satat the helpdesk inside the police sta-tion and was called by inspector AjayPratap Singh later. She alleged that theinspector reprimanded her for beinghonest, transparent and patriotic. Aspokesman said Krishna Nagar ACPPankaj Srivastava was tasked withconducting a probe into the case.

Lucknow (PNS): Dr APJAbdul Kalam TechnicalUniversity on Sunday issuedguidelines regarding the con-duct of classes in view of theCovid pandemic. Instructionshave been given by Vice-Chancellor Vineet Kansal toconduct all classes in onlinemode from January 10 toJanuary 16 in all the institutesaffiliated to the technical uni-versity.

Pre-scheduled and cur-rently in motion examinationswill continue to be conductedas usual. It has been clarified inthe guidelines that in view ofthe present conditions, it will beeffective till January 16. AfterJanuary 16, separate guide-lines will be issued dependingupon the circumstances.

The institutes have beenordered to ensure strict adher-ence to Covid guidelines dur-ing all the activities.

Meanwhile, a meeting wasorganised at AKTU under thechairmanship of the vice-chan-cellor for maximum participa-tion of the affiliated institutionsin NIRF rankings.

The aim was to guide theaffiliated institutes. SpecialSecretary, VocationalEducation, Abhishek Singh waspresent on the occasion.

Dean, PG, Prof MK Duttaprovided information regard-ing the five parameters of NIRFrankings. He said most of the

AKTU institutes need moreattention in research and devel-opment. Along with this, thereis also a need to focus on pub-lication in quality journals. Heprovided information on creat-ing the profile of the instituteon Scopus and Web of Science.At the same time, the teachersof the institutes were asked tocompulsorily try for publica-tion of research papers andresearch projects in SCI andScopus journals. He saidAKTU has made it mandatoryto publish research papers inSCI and Scopus journals inPhD.

Kansal said more and moreinstitutes of AKTU should takepart in NIRF rankings. Hesaid that by doing this, theinstitutes would be able toassess their quality level. Hesaid that a campaign has beenlaunched by AKTU to pro-mote the participation of affil-iated institutions in NIRF rank-ings. As a result, this timemore than 120 affiliated insti-tutions have participated inthe NIRF ranking framework.

He said that the universitywould soon form a mentor-mentee group so that more andmore affiliated institutes couldget a place in NIRF rankings.He said efforts are being madeby the university that this timearound 15 to 25 affiliated insti-tutes could get a place in NIRFrankings.

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An MoU was signedbetween Lucknow

University and CSRBOX foun-dation, the country representa-tives of IBM skill. ManovirajSingh of CSRBOX explainedthe benefits that would beavailable to the studentsthrough this MoU.

“The students will be ableto use the digital learning plat-form developed by IBM skillshaving more than 5,000 mod-ules. They will be able toexplore new employmentopportunities and learn newtechnical skills that will be in

demand in the future. Thestudents will get the opportu-nity to learn three types ofskills: essential, professionaland job-readiness skills,” hesaid

Director of CentralPlacement Cell Sanjay Medhaviexplained how the manage-ment and engineering studentsare getting excellent placementoffers in spite of the slowdownin the industry due to Covidpandemic.

Vice-Chancellor AK Raiexplained that majority of thestudents, in spite of being high-ly trained in technical skills, donot find good jobs due to lack

of soft skills. This MoU willhelp all students in enhancingtheir technical and soft skillsand make them industry ready,he added.

Two students of MBA 2021batch were awarded goldmedals on the occasion.Himanshu Rao was awardedShree Anant Pandey Memorialgold medal and Dr KrishnSahay Chaudhary gold medalfor first position in the MBAprogramme while ShavyaMishra was awarded PresidentSarvpallai Radhakrishn goldmedal for securing the highestmarks in the fourth semester ofMBA.

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Lucknow (PNS): Coronaviruscontinued to run riot as 1,115people tested positive inLucknow on Sunday. Thepatients included 682 menand 421 women. As many as224 cases emerged fromAliganj, 183 from Chinhatand 122 from Indiranagar.The new cases included 182travellers and 321 contacts ofprevious positive cases.District Magistrate AbhishekPrakash had a meeting withhealth officials on Sunday. Hedirected them to monitorhome isolation cases. Hedirected the CMO to makearrangements for one lakh

medicine kits.The DM also directed

LMC officials to ensure sani-tisation and barricading in theareas where positive caseswere detected. He saidNigrani Samitis have to beactivated in full strength inrural areas and the pace ofvaccination expedited.

The DM said dry rationkits should be made suppliedto those houses where all theinmates are positive. He toldthe officials to prepare around2,500 dry ration kits. He alsosaid that stress should be laidon adherence to Covid-appro-priate behaviour.

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Awoman entrepreneur was duped ofRs 18 lakh on the pretext a private

company’s distributorship in Chinhat.As per reports, Preeti Gupta of Asra

Colony near Malhaur railway stationsaid she got a call from one VikramSingh, who introduced himself as anemployee of ITC in Kolkata and offeredher distributorship.

“I was asked to send details of mycompany to get the distributorship. I e-mailed the application and later paid Rs

5 lakh as charges for the consignmentthat the company promised send,” shesaid. She said more money was takenfrom her in the name of processing fee,GST and NOC, and this way she wasduped Rs 18 lakh. “Now, I have beensent another bank account in which Ihave been asked to transfer moremoney,” she alleged.

In another case, a Chinhat residentwas duped of his SUV which he hadgiven to man to ply on contract.Mohammed Fahim of Kalyani Vihar inKamta had given his SUV to Hanuman

of Gonda. “Hanuman is refusing toreturning my SUV. He is also not pay-ing me anything. Besides, he threatensand abuses me, saying he does not fearpolice action,” Fahim alleged.

�������������5�������A newly-married woman was killed

for dowry allegedly by her husband andin-laws in Para police station area onSaturday. Police registered a case ofdowry death and launched a manhuntfor the accused. The victim was iden-tified as Sarita Prajapati (28) of

Thakurganj. Her husband was identi-fied as Vimal Singh Yadav of Pink Cityin Para police station. The couple gotmarried on November 21 last year.

Her father Dost Sringar said Vimaland his parents used to harass Sarita fordowry. He alleged that Vimal and hisfamily were pressuring Sarita to bringRs 15 lakh.

“Sarita called me around 6 pm onSaturday and told me that she was beingthrashed by Vimal and in-laws. Later,Vimal called me and said Sarita haddied,” the bereaved father said.

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Right from the announce-ment of UP Assembly

Election-2022, hectic effortsare going on to remove all thehoardings, banners and otherpublicity materials of the var-ious political parties from thepublic places and the same con-tinued even on Sunday. Earlier,District Magistrate/ DistrictElection Officer (DM/DEO)Kaushal Raj Sharma said thatwith the announcement ofelection by the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) onSaturday, the model code ofconduct has come into force inthe district with immediateeffect. He has ordered all thecentral and state governmentofficers and employees toensure 100 per cent complianceof the model code of conduct.

‘Ensure strict complianceof the instructions issued by theECI in letter and spirit. If themodel code of conduct applic-able to the departments, offi-cers and employees is found tobe violated in any way, then dis-ciplinary action will be takenagainst the concerned as perthe instructions of the ECI,’ hesaid, adding that the modelcode of conduct has automat-ically been implemented onvarious government depart-ments, corporations, universi-ties, institutions and otherinstitutions of the central andstate governments, so all con-cerned officers should ensure

to follow the same. Accordingto him, the model code of con-duct available on the website ofthe ECI can be obtained. ‘If anemergency situation arises, inwhich deviation of the modelcode of conduct is necessary,then in that case the permissionof the ECI will be obtainedthrough the DEO and actionwill be taken according to theinstructions received by him,’he said.

Meanwhile, under thechairmanship of DEO, a meet-ing of ROs, AROs was held inwhich the DEO directed theconcerned officers that all theduplicate voters should bemarked and their names beremoved from the voter list assoon as possible. In the meet-ing, complaints of 16 BLOscame before the DEO, in whichhe suspended them and direct-ed them to attach them at thecontrol room. He asked theofficers to inspect model and

green booths as seen arrange-ments there.

Besides, under the chair-manship of DEO, the finaltraining programme of assis-tant expenditure observers,accounts teams and blockdevelopment officers was held.All the officers present in thetraining were informed abouttheir responsibilities in detail.He asked the officers to keep aclose watch on the pro-grammes, public meetings, ral-lies etc organised by any partyor public representatives andmake videos of the same, notethe names of the persons giv-ing any kind of inflammatoryspeeches and also record thespeeches. Besides, they wereasked to collect the details ofvehicles, chairs, stage, snacks,mikes, posters etc to be used inthe said programmes.

GURU GOVIND SINGHPRAKASHUTSAV HELD:There was rush of Sikhs at dec-

orated Diwan on Sunday on theauspicious occasion of 355thPrakastutsav of Guru GovindSingh at both GurdwaraGurubag and Badi Sangat(Nichibag Gurdwara), which isknown as one of the holy reli-gious places of the Sikhs asGuru Govind Singh, the 10thand last Guru, stayed here dur-ing his childhood. Right fromthe wee hours, the festivalstarted with the light of ShriGuru Granth Sahib Ji atNichibag. In the Palki adornedwith flowers, the Sikhs tookpart in Parikrama and GuruGranth Sahib was lit by singingthe Shabad Kirtan.

Then Nam Simran andShabd Kirtan took place, fol-lowed by Ardas and ‘prasad’distribution to mark the con-clusion of 40 days of ShriAkhand Path. At Gurubag, inthe morning Hazuri Ragi JathaBhai Rakam Singh and HazuriRagi Jatha Bhai Narender Singhpresented Shabd Kirtan whileChief Granthi Bhai RanjitSingh narrated the Sangat. Thechildren also sang Shabd Kirtanat Nichibag. In the eveninghours from 7 to 9 pm, the devo-tees offered prayer at decorat-ed Diwan. Bhai Rakam Singh(Nichibag) and Bhai NarendraSingh (Gudubag) presentedShabad Kirtan. After the end ofAkhandh Path Sahib, Arti wasperformed and then the mem-bers of Gurudwara PrabandhakCommittee (GPC) greeted allfor the Prakashutsav.

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),which virtually dominated

the assembly polls in thisPurvanchal (eastern UP)region of Varanasi in 2017, isfacing a tough challenge fromthe rivals, especially SamajwadiParty (SP) in upcoming 2022elections. The overall politicalscenario remains almost thesame as the Modi factor, whichhad played a key role in the lastbattle, is still crucial for the fateof ruling BJP. Being an MPfrom Varanasi parliamentaryseat, Prime Minister NarendraModi always remained in touchwith the region even despitetwo waves of COVID-19 butincumbency factor may pose abig hurdle for the BJP this time.Undoubtedly, huge develop-ment took place in this regionin every area during the last fiveyear but surprisingly, the rul-ing party is going to the ringraising the religious card, espe-cially the issues of Ayodhya andKashi temples, strongly.

In the last elections, theModi factor strongly helped theBJP rule head and shoulders

above the rest, playing socialengineering effectively andmaking alliances with ApnaDal (Sonelal) and SuheldevBhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP)for the National DemocraticAlliance (NDA) positively. TheNDA won over 67 per centseats in this Varanasi region,clinching 41 seats out of 61 of10 districts of three divisions ofVaranasi, Vindhyachal andAzamgarh.

Out of this, the major sharewas of BJP which won 34 seats(55 per cent lonely) whilefour and three were claimedby AD(S) and SBSPrespectively. Now the scenehas been changed as afterbreaking its relations withNDA, SBSP has joined thegroup of SP.

This is one of the regionsin the state where social engi-neering always played animportant role in elections.This was a region where therewere strongholds of socialistsand leftists, apart from centrists(Congress) once. Even this wasreflected in most of the elec-tions held right from BabriMasjid demolition in Ayodhya.

In 2007 and 2012, BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) and SPreceived absolute majority toform their governments. Inthe last three polls, the votersof the region had given a clearmandate to a party as it wasseen in 2017 when the BJPcame to power with a thump-ing majority. In 2012, the scenewas totally against last polls infavour of SP when the partysingle handedly won 39 seats.The BSP, which dominated in2007, saw a debacle in the lasttwo elections winning justeight and seven seats respec-tively whereas the Congress,which had shown its presencein 2012 winning three seats,failed even to open its accountin last elections, despite itsalliance with the SP.

The division-wise, whilethe BJP had showed its emer-gence in Varanasi andVindhyachal divisions strong-ly, it just indicated its increas-ing popularity in Azamgarhdivision in last polls as it hadwon nine seats out of 21 of thedivision in 2017 which wasmuch more than the samewon by SP and BSP as both of

them claimed six seats each.However, in 2012 BJP just suc-ceeded in opening its accountwinning one seat in Ballia dis-trict (Phephna) whereas thepolls were dominated by the SPwhich won 16 while BSPclaimed three.

The NDA also showed aremarkable rise in Vindhyachaldivision winning 11 seatsincluding nine for BJP and twofor AD(S) out of 12 seatswhereas five years ago in 2012the BJP failed even to open itsaccount there as eight seatswere won by SP and two andone by BSP and Congressrespectively.

In comparison to thesetwo divisions, the BJP wascomparatively showed its pres-ence in Varanasi even in 2012winning four seats out of 28 ofthe division whereas due toModi factor in last polls, theNDA won 21 seats (16 BJP,three SBSP and two AD-S)which was totally a reverse pic-ture against the results of 2012when SP had won 15 seatswhile BJP four, BSP three,Congress two and two werewon by independents.

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Chief Secretary (UPGovernment) Durga

Shankar Mishra and DirectorGeneral of Police (DGP)Mukul Goel reviewed the lawand order situation in view ofupcoming assembly electionsas well as the third wave ofCOVID-19 and the vaccinationprogramme apart frominspecting the Shri KashiVishwanath Dham (corridor)security arrangements duringtheir one-day visit to the cityhere on Sunday. They alsoinspected the Shri Shiv PrasadGupta (SSPG) Hospital. Boththe top officials of the state firstworshiped at Shri KashiVishwanath temple and theninquired about the securityarrangements.

They also inquired aboutthe facilities being provided tothe devotees coming from thecountry and abroad in the cor-ridor. DivisionalCommissioner (DC) DeepakAgrawal gave detailed informa-tion about the route plans ofthe premises through a map.He also informed them aboutthe entry and exit routes apartfrom the visit of devotees to thesanctum sanctorum. The CStook stock of the situation byvisiting all the routes while theDGP inquired about the secu-rity checking of the pilgrimsthere. They also inspected theFacilitation Centre where theyinquired about the facilitiesavailable apart from seeing thearrangements for tickets, slip-pers, toilets, drinking water etc.

Then they went to Gate No2 (Saraswati Gate) and also

inspected the arrangements atFacilitation Centre-II. Duringtheir stay, they also inspectedthe routes to Ganga ghats viaMandir Chowk, various gal-leries and inquired about theconstruction work of otherbuildings. After the inspec-tion, they reached the meetinghall in the premises wherethey saw the powerpoint pre-sentation of the temple andpolice administration. The CSsaid that earlier there used tobe a lot of lanes to come toKashi Vishwanath temple, nowthe corridor has become verybig so the security arrange-ments should also be arrangedin the same way asking thetemple and police administra-tion to work together in a sys-

tematic way. ‘Prepare the out-line, so that the devotees do notface any kind of difficulty,’ heinstructed. The DGP said thatthere is a need to change theearlier security plan andinstructed the police officers toprepare a new revised planinvolving all the security agen-cies.

The meeting was alsoattended by Commissioner ofPolice (CP) A Satish Ganesh,Chief Executive Officer SunilKumar Verma, AdditionalPolice Commissioner SubhashChand Dubey, CRPFCommandant Anil KumarVriksha and others.

Later, they reviewed thepreparations made to deal withthe third wave of Covid as well

as inspected the SSPG Hospital,directing the Health depart-ment officers to speed up thepace of vaccination by runninga special dry camp on Sunday.At SSPG, the CS asked CMS DrPrasanna Kumar about thevaccination progress. Mishraalso inspected the vaccinationcentre at adjoiningGovernment Women'sHospital.

‘Earlier, there was no vac-cination on Sundays but now aspecial camp is being organisedfor the children,’ he said, stress-ing the need for wide publici-ty to the campaign.

Additional Director(Health and Family Welfare)Dr Shashi Kant Upadhyay andothers were also present.

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With the intermittent rainslashed the city through-

out the day, the extreme coldconditions also threw life out ofgear in Sangam city on Sunday.With the maximum and min-imum temperatures remainingalmost the same, denizens shiv-ered throughout the day.

Remarkably, although thecity was free from fog, thickclouds prevented sunshine inthe city leading to cold condi-tions. Weather experts pre-dicted the weather conditionsto remain the same for the next24 hours.

The temperature remainedalmost the same as comparedto Saturday as there was thedifference of just two degreesin terms of maximumtemperature while the mini-mum remained almost thesame.

The maximum tempera-ture recorded on Saturday was17.5 degree Celsius and it

increased to 19.5 degree Celsiuson Sunday. Likewise, the min-imum temperature on Friday

was 14.4 and remained thesame on Saturday. The city alsoreceived 0.4 mm rainfall.

City roads witnessed thinattendance of commuters andvehicles. Most of the denizensremained indoors. Even thelocal parks saw very less atten-dance of youngsters and kidswho too remained cautiousagainst the conditions.Different crossings of the citywitnessed locals encircling thebonfire.

Meanwhile, weatherexperts predicted no respitefrom the prevailing conditions.The winds coming fromHimalayan foothills are toostrong and a couple of dayswithout fog will soon bereplaced with bright sunshineonly to invite chilly conditionsby the next week, said Prof ARSiddiqui, head of the depart-ment of Geography, AllahabadUniversity.

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Upset over an alleged inci-dent of misbehaviour by a

doctor in an inebriated state onSaturday night, nurses, alongwith ward boys and other staff,boycotted work at SRNHospital on Sunday.

The upset hospital staffclaimed that the doctor inquestion first misbehaved with

a nurse and when a ward boytried to stop him, he slappedhim. The upset staff staged aprotest and demanded strictaction against the doctor con-cerned.

The routine functioningof the hospital remained affect-ed for around five hours.

The staff returned totheir duties only afterassurances by City

Magistrate Gaurav Srivastavaand hospital superintendentDr Ajay Saxena.

As per reports, a nurse wason duty on Saturday night inwards 1 and 2 of SRN Hospital’sOrthopaedic department. Itwas alleged that a doctor of thedepartment reached there andstarted misbehaving with her.Ward boy Mayaram, whoreached there on the call of the

nurse, stopped the doctor, whoreportedly slapped him andleft. In the afternoon, GauravSrivastava reached the hospital.“The committee will be formedon Monday as the MLNMedical College principal DrSP Singh is out of town. Theinquiry committee will give itsreport within 48 hours,”the hospital superintendentsaid.

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Pratapgarh has been kept inthe fifth phase for the UP

assembly elections 2022. Thedistrict has been divided into217 sectors and 31 zones for theefficient conduct of elections.A total of 1671 polling stationshave been set up. RampurKhas, Kunda and Patti assem-bly constituencies have beendeclared extremely sensitivein the district. Additional forceswill be stationed here.According to the instructionsof the Election Commission,people above the age of 80 yearswill be able to vote by postalballot.

In a press conference in theCollectorate Auditorium on

Sunday, District ElectionOfficer Dr Nitin Bansal toldreporters that there are a totalof 24,48,274 voters in the dis-trict. Of these, 37,330 such oldvoters, whose age is more than80 years, in case they are notable to reach their center, vot-ing will be done through postalballot.

The District ElectionOfficer of Pratapgarh describedthree of the seven assemblyconstituencies of the district,Rampur Khas, Kunda and Pattias the most sensitive. He fur-ther said that additional forceswill be deployed in these threeareas. The last date for nomi-nations has been fixed asFebruary 8, withdrawal ofnominations on February 11.

The polling will be held onFebruary 27 and the countingof votes will be done on March10.

Responding to a question,the District Election Officersaid that till January 15, therehas been a complete ban on ral-lies and conferences. Lookingat the situation of Covid goingforward, the ElectionCommission will take a deci-sion.

At the same time, fiveplaces each have been markedin the seven Vidhan Sabhas, ifthe Election Commission givespermission to rally afterJanuary 15, then political par-ties will be allowed to rally atthese five places.

The election expenditure

limit for the candidates ofpolitical parties has been fixedat Rs 40 lakh. To keep an eyeon this, 21 flying squads, 21standing monitoring commit-tees as well as MCC teamshave also been deployed.

During the press confer-ence in the CollectorateAuditorium, SP Satpal Antilsaid that the police wouldstrictly deal with those whoerred in the elections. Threecompanies of ITBP have alsobeen made available to thedistrict for security arrange-ments during the elections.Their deployment will be inKunda, Rampur Khas and Pattiassembly constituencies,which are considered mostsensitive.

&�8����������0"���2���� ������������ ��������!����ALLAHABAD (PNS): NorthCentral Railway generated 94lakh units of energy usingsolar plants by the end of thirdquarter of the financial year.Net revenue saving of Rs 3.82crore was achieved in the firstthree quarters as solar energyis not only greener but cheap-er too. This has led to a reduc-tion of 8000 tonnes of carbonemissions during this period.

Solar plants located at rail-way installations in Prayagraj,Kanpur, Agra, Jhansi, Aligarhand other places have registeredimprovement in performanceas compared to last year.

Due to excellent upkeep,very close monitoring of oper-ations of solar power plants andnumerous innovative stepstaken under the Solar Mission-2021-22, the productivity ofSolar plants in North CentralRailway is registering anupward trajectory.

While NCR generated 81lakh units of energy usingsolar power during April-December 2020-21, this year 94lakh units of energy have beengenerated using solar power inthe same period, an improve-ment of 16 per cent over lastyear. Not only is it a big leaptowards a larger goal of envi-ronment protection as solar

energy is a greener source ofenergy, it has led to substantialsavings in revenue too. NCRhas achieved a net revenue sav-ing of 3.82 crore using solarpower during April-December2021.

NCR has a total installedcapacity of 11.03 MWp. While120 kWp has been installed bythe Railway, remaining10882.34 kWp capacity hasbeen installed by two majorSolar Power Developers (SPD)Azure and ReNew on a PPPbasis. Among the major placeswhere rooftop solar plants havebeen installed are station build-ings, workshops, trainingschools, GM office and DRMoffice buildings.

About 8000 tones of reduc-tion in carbon footprints havebeen achieved by NCR usingsolar power during April-December.

An important parameter ofperformance of solar plants isCapacity utilisation factor(CUF). NCR solar panels haveshown a CUF of 12.9 per centduring the said period which isconsidered as an appreciableperformance.

NCR has set an ambitioustarget for 2021-22 to generateHighest Ever solar energy tothe tune of 1.3 Crore units,

thereby saving about Rs 5crore, which is Rs 1 crore morethan the last year, under theaforesaid ‘Solar Mission - NCR’.

GM, NCR, Pramod Kumarhas called for adopting afocused approach for augment-ing the share of solar energy inits total non-traction electricalenergy consumption.

Principal Chief ElectricalEngineer, NCR, Satish Kothari,who is at the helm of affairs topromote solar energy, said thatutmost importance is beinggiven to maintenance of solarplants. Some of the steps takenare: Monitoring of solar ener-gy generation is being done foreach plant, inverter wise; dailymonitoring instead of month-ly of energy and CUF percente of plants is being done;defective/decommissionedplants due to roof repairs,inverters, cables, etc have beenput right, focused attentionfor quality cleaning of solarpanels; tree trimming in shad-ow affected zones; 25 pointsSolar Mission ready reckoner inpictorial form issued for edu-cation and sensitisation ofmaintenance staff; technicaland practical useful educa-tional videos on 25 topics inHINDI have been issued tofield supervisors for enhancing

their knowledge; solar diaryintroduced to SSEs for system-atic documentation & focussedmonitoring of energy and otherimportant data in a structuredmanner.

Future plan for solar instal-lations in NCR has beenchalked out and they includework of installation of solarpower plants of 1.86 MWp onroof top, 46.25 MWp on vacantlands near Railway stations(around 185 acres acres) and249 MWp on vacant landsalong the railway tracks(around 1320 acres) fallingunder Golden Diagonal &Golden Quadrilateral (GD &GQ) over NCR by RailwayEnergy Management CompanyLimited (REMCL) has alreadybeen planned.

In Prayagraj area, perfor-mance of railway solar plantsduring April-December 2021-22: Total installed capacity-1771KWP at Prayagraj station,Naini station, PrayagrajChheoki station, Mela shed,GM office, DRM office andCentral Hospital. Solar energygenerated : 1567893 Kwh (1460979 Kwh generated inApril-December 2020) and arevenue of Rs 5094162 wassaved. It also reduced carbonfootprints by 1317 tonnes.

5�����������0����� � ��������������$ALLAHABAD (PNS): To pro-tect healthcare and frontlineworkers from the complica-tions of corona infection, abooster dose of the vaccine willbe administered from January10. An action plan has beenprepared to introduce boosterdoses in Prayagraj. Under this,it has been said that those whohave completed nine months or

39 weeks since receiving thesecond dose will be given thebooster dose. People above 60years with co-morbidities willalso be given the booster dose.Frontline workers and healthcare workers will also have toget a certificate issued by theirdepartment for the boosterdose and present it at the vac-cination centres. Concerned

about the rapid spread of thecorona virus once again, theICMR had agreed to a boosterdose. A few days ago, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadtold crores of people of thecountry that the booster dosewould be started from January10. Most of the people have reg-istered online and have alsostarted taking certificates from

their departments that it hasbeen nine months since theygot the second dose of the vac-cine. CMO of Prayagraj DrNanak Saran said that theguidelines of the governmentwill be followed. Frontlineworkers, health care workersand sick people above 60 yearsof age will be given boosterdoses in all the centres.

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The CSR section of NTPCRihand station, as part of its

Corporate Social Responsibility(CSR) on Saturday distrib-uted 900 Covid kits to the vil-lagers of Dodhar, Bijpur andSirsoti gram sabha adjacent tothe station to save them fromthe third wave of Coronavirus.In each kit two soaps, includ-ing two masks, were alsogiven.

The programme wasorganised following all theCovid-19 prevention guide-lines. On the occasion

Additional General Manager(Human Resources) VJayanarayanan, DeputyGeneral Manager (HR) Anit

Kumar, Deputy Manager (CSR)Arvind Kumar Shukla andExecutive (CSR) MokshadaJogi etc were mainly present.

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Northern Coalfields Limited(NCL), a Miniratna com-

pany of the Government ofIndia, together with the districtadministration, in all its fund-

ed and other affiliated schoolshas launched a massive cam-paign for the Covid vaccinationof its personnel, contract work-

ers and other local children. Inthis campaign which startedfrom January 3 children agedbetween 15 and 18 years arebeing vaccinated against Covid.In schools operated in variouscoal projects of NCL, so far

more than 3,700 vaccines havebeen administered in the ongo-ing Covid vaccination at total12 centers, out of which 992

vaccines have been given to thechildren of NCL personnel.

Meanwhile well-equippedCovid centres have been estab-lished in various projects ofNCL. Along with it movementwithout masks has beenbanned in NCL premises. Aspecial Covid cell has alsobeen set up to deal with any sit-uation.

�����������������5�Under Azadi Ka Amrit

Mahotsav the Jayant Area ofNorthern Coalfields Limited(NCL) organised a blanket andmosquito net distribution cere-mony in Baheri Kala gram pan-chayat recently. Under CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR)keeping the increasing cold inmind more than 150 needyelderly women and men besidesDivjanjans were benefitted in thiscamp. During the programmeCSR nodal officer, Jayant, andteam and others were present.

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Inspector General (IG) Range,Varanasi, K Satya Narayan,

during a meeting withSuperintendent of Police (SP)Ankur Aggarwal and otherpolice officers at Police Lineson Saturday directed to con-duct the assembly elections ina fair and peaceful mannerwithout any hindrance. Inview of assembly elections IGafter inspecting the pollingplaces, booths besides placesof stay of CPMF and securi-ty forces, Poorva MadhyamikVidyalaya, Ja l i lpur,Mughalsarai, Jaipuria School,Dandi, Mughalsarai, Pt Harish

Mishra Industrial TrainingInstitute, Chandauli, and other

places gave necessary instruc-tions. After it in a press con-ference organised at the Police

Lines, the IG said that withthe two companies received

from CRPF in view of securitycombing will be done in Naxalaffected areas.

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Katra Kotwali police havearrested a person along

with the stolen goods and cashon Saturday. As per the reportsreceived here, Shobhit Agrawal,a resident of Gaivighat, hadlodged a case against unknownpersons on January 6 at KatraKotwali about the theft of cashand goods from his shop bybreaking open its lock. Takinginstant action in the case,incharge of Laldiggi police out-

post Santosh Singh arrestedRatan Mallah, a resident ofGaivighat from Khandava KaNala and recovered the stolengoods along with the �1,700cash. After completing the legalformalities the police sent theaccused to jail.

SUICIDE: One personcommitted suicide underKachhawaan police station onFriday night. As per the reportsreceived here, the mother of thedeceased, Haushila Patel, a res-ident of the Aahi village, had

died a few days ago and the rit-uals related with 10th day of thedeath were to be performed onSaturday.

In the late morning hourswhen the deceased did notwake up, the family membersknocked at the door of hisroom. On peeping throughthe window his family mem-bers saw him hanging from theceiling. On getting informationthe police reached on the spotand completed the legal for-malities.

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After announcement of theAssembly election sched-

ule by Election CommissionDistrict Election Officer(DEO)/District MagistratePraveen Kumar Laxkaraddressed the media atCollectorate in the presence ofDivisional CommissionerYogeshwar Ram Mishra on

Saturday to give details aboutthe model code of conduct andpreparations for the election.Addressing the mediaDivisional CommissionerYogeshwar Ram Mishra saidadministration of the divisionis committed to holding free,fair and peaceful election withtransparency.

Giving details aboutpreparation the DM said 21officers had been made zonalmagistrates and 145 sector

magistrates for conducting theelections properly. He saidthat people’s safety was on toppriority so the Covid guide-lines were to be followedstrictly. He said that voterawareness programmes willcontinue with the aim ofincreasing the turnout andappealed to the media to helpin creating an atmosphere formaximum polling. He said

under precautionary measures175 polling booths had beenidentified as critical and 67hamlets as vulnerable andarrangements had been madeas per requirements. Aboutother details, the DM saidthat there were 9,92,400 malevoters and 8,98,512 femalevoters in the district and at anypolling booth the number ofvoters will not be more than1,250. About the polling staff,the DM said that through

9,979 polling personnel theelection was to be conductedand 99 per cent of them hadbeen vaccinated with eitherthe first or second dose ofCovid and the rest had to bevaccinated within a few days.The DM said that it the modelcode of conduct had becomeeffective with the announce-ment of dates of assemblypolls by the ElectionCommission of India and tomonitor it 30 MCC teams and15 flying squads had beendeployed. The DM appealed topolitical parties not to usegovernment properties forpublicity otherwise action willbe taken. The DM said theexpenditure limit for the can-didates it was up to �40 lakh.During the press conferenceSuperintendent of Police (SP)Ajay Kumar Singh, deputyelection officer of the districtand Additional DistrictMagistrate (ADM)/Financeand Revenue (F&R) ShivPratap Shukla, city magistrateVinay Kumar Singh were alsopresent along with the otherofficials concerned.

After concluding the pressconference the DM patrolledthe city with teams andinspected the removal of pub-licity hoardings. He warnedthat if any one was foundusing the public property forpublicity, the action will betaken as per the provisions.

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Kanpur Nagar DistrictMagistrate Vishak G Iyer,

who is also the district electionofficer, has asked all politicalparties and journalists to strict-ly follow the Model Code ofConduct which has come intoforce with the announcementof UP assembly election sched-ule.

Addressing representativesof political parties andpresspersons at the collectorateauditorium on Sunday, Iyersaid if all the parties con-cerned followed the ModelCode of Conduct, it would helpthe administration in con-ducting peaceful elections inthe district.

The nominations willbegin on January 25 and con-tinue till February 1, 2022.

He then inspected thattehsil office and directed theofficials to make properarrangements for the filing ofnominations.

Elections in Kanpur will beheld in the third phase onFebruary 20 for 10 assemblyseats, Arya Nagar, Kalyanpur,Kidwai Nagar, Govind Nagar,Cantonment and Sisamau inKanpur Nagar and Maharajpur,Bilhaur, Ghatampur andBithoor in Kanpur Dehat.

The polling will be held in3,702 booths where 34.89 lakhvoters will exercise their fran-chise. In the recent revision of

the electoral rolls, 1,32,894names have been added to thevoters’ list.

As per the officials, 12,308voters have increased inBilhaur, 14,216 in Bithoor,17,125 in Kalyanpur, 13,144 inGovind Nagar, 8,191 inSisamau, 17,432 in KidwaiNagar, 17,375 in Cantonment,17,082 in Maharajpur and7,556 in Ghatampur.

Meanwhile, with the thirdwave of COVID-19 and emer-gence of the Omicron variant

of the novel coronavirus throw-ing the spanner in their plansto woo voters, the politicalparties are now focusing onhouse to house and one to onecontacts with the announce-ment of election dates.

The Bharatiya Janata Partyhad won seven assembly seats— Bilhaur, Bithoor, Kalyanpur,Govind Nagar, Kidwai Nagar,Maharajpur and Ghatampur– in the 2017 election and isfocusing on retaining all theseats and wresting the remain-

ing three as well from theopposition.

Samajwadi Party is alsofocusing on increasing its seatsthis time while the Congress isfocusing on not only retainingits lone seat but adding to it inthe forthcoming elections.

The Bahujan Samaj Party,which failed to win even a sin-gle seat in 2017, is now playingthe Dalit card in a big wayto bring the Dalit andScheduled Caste voters backinto its camp.

���������������������3�.�B9

Vice Chancellor of theChandra Shekhar Azad

University of Agriculture andTechnology, Kanpur, Dr DRSingh, addressing press personson Sunday, said that the uni-versity would now control 14Krishi Vikas Kendras with theinclusion of Auraiya farm sci-ence centre which was earlierrun privately and all the staffhad been accommodated. Hesaid the focus of the universi-ty was to ensure that agricul-turists were able to improvetheir profits and contribute tothe national grain yield. He saidthe Indian Council ofAgricultural Research (ICAR)would organise training toupdate the extension personnelwith emerging advances inagricultural research on a reg-ular basis. He said the farm sci-ence centre played an impor-tant role in providing differentagricultural services to farmwomen. He said it was true thatthe agricultural informationnetwork output level of farmwomen was significantly influ-enced by these farm science

centres. He said that the major-ity of the farm women playedtwo roles, as agriculturallabourer and housewife, and inmost of the cases it wasobserved that they acted as avoluntary worker or low paidworker. He said these centresdisseminated agriculturalinformation to the farmwomen through different onand off-campus programmes.

Dr Singh said that major-ity of the farm women visitedthe farm science centre whenthey came across problems in

agriculture and allied sectorsand major services receivedfrom the farm science centrewere training service followedby technical service and pur-chasing farm inputs. He saidthe university would provideknowledge of agricultural sci-ences, and sciences dealingwith food and fibre productionand processing. He said itwould include the technologiesof soil cultivation, crop culti-vation and harvesting, animalproduction and the processingof plant and animal products

for human consumption anduse. He said the universitywould support and demon-strate, convince and populariselatest technologies for theenhancement of yield and qual-ity to farmers. He said it wouldalso be involved in variousfield and horticultural cropsbut the thrust areas would beintegrated pest management(IPM), integrated nutrientmanagement (INM), and pop-ularising new hybrids and vari-eties. Dr Singh added thatKrishi Vikas Kendras usedtechnology to provide farmerswith information, such asweather advice or marketprices, radio and mobilephones. He said it also focusedon crops that were specific tothe local climate and industry.He said the university wouldhelp the centres in local con-ditions, and motivate them toincrease practices in line withlucrative agriculture, climate-wise agriculture and fooddiversity. He said another focuswas that the unemployedyouths become young agricul-ture entrepreneurs and self-reliant.

���������������������3�.�B9

Kanpur DevelopmentAuthority (KDA) has start-

ed the construction of mainPanki-Kalyanpur road onSaturday. Minister of State forHigher Education NeelimaKatiyar and KDA Vice-Chairman Arvind Singh haveinaugurated the constructionwork by performing religiousrituals. It may be recalled thatthe main Panki-Kalyanpurroad up to Naraina chauraha,going towards the ShatabdiNagar, Mahavir Nagar andJawaharpuram schemes devel-oped by KDA, had been badlydamaged due to entry of heavyvehicles during construction ofPanki Power House and layingof sewer line under the AmritYojana. Due to big patholes, itwas very difficult for the pedes-trians and vehicles to passthrough it. KDA Vice-Chairman Arvind Singh hadcarried out a spot inspection inthe recent past and directed tomake the damaged roadmotorable along with roaddividers soon. Keeping in viewthe problems of trespassersand the allottees visiting to dif-ferent housing schemes devel-oped by KDA, he took notime in sanctioning the con-

struction of this road. In thelight of his directives, the con-struction work was inaugurat-ed by the Minister of State forHigher Education NeelimaKatiyar on Saturday.

Likewise, the theme light-ing work at Ganga Barrage wasinaugurated by the Bithoor

legislator Abhijit Singh Sanga inpresence of KDA ViceChairman Arvind Singh onSaturday. It involved the expen-diture of Rs.5.07 crore to beborne by KDA. After the com-pletion of theme lighting workat Ganga Barrage, the entrypoint to Kanpur, people will

find the city illuminated on thepattern of other big cities likeDelhi-NCR. The idea of devel-oping the spot as a picnic spotwas conveyed by the ViceChairman Arvind Singhimmediately after his takingover the charge of the post inKDA itself.

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India entered the new yearwith the third COVID-19

wave on its toe, driven this timeby the Omicron variant ofSARS-CoV-2. With most of themetropolitan cities experienc-ing an exponential surge incases, it is an indicator that thecountry is already in the earlythroes of a third wave. But onthe brighter side, experts pre-dict that the peak of the ongo-ing wave will come early, hope-fully by early next month andeven earlier in Delhi-Mumbaiafter which there will be con-sistent fall in cases.

Based on current trendsand data, IIT-Kanpur professorand mathematician ManindraAgrawal predicted that Indiamight witness up to 8 lakhcases a day twice that of theCOVID-19 Delta variant dri-ven second wave. The all-Indiacurve has just started to riseand will take another month tocome down. Hopefully, byMarch, the third wave of thepandemic will be more or lessover, his preliminary projec-tions say. Agarwal who alongwith other researchers runsSUTRA computer model totrack COVID-19 progressionin India, said that whileupcoming polls do contributeto the rising cases, they are justone factor behind the casecount. Even if the election istaken out of the equation, theoverall equation does notchange much, he said based onanalysis over elections heldlast year ahead of the secondwave. His remarks come in thebackdrop of the ElectionCommission announcing polldates in five states and freezingphysical rallies, roadshows bypolitical parties. Agarwal fur-ther said that based on fiveparameters that determinedhow fast the pandemic wouldspread if poll-bound and non-poll bound states could be outin separate groups, then it wasinferred that elections did notplay a significant role in rapidspread of Covid. Agarwalintends to publish the findingsof his study sometime. On thecurrent surge he said Mumbaiand Delhi are expected to peakby mid-January. Kolkata too,although uncertain might peakin around the same time. Forthe country as a whole, thepeak would come sometime inFebruary.

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The Central Board ofSecondary Education has

decided to introduce codingand data science from the newsession 2022-23.

The CBSE is of the opinionthat when the world reliesincreasingly on technology, ithas become highly essential toprepare the students and edu-cators across the country tosucceed in this digital world. Itclaimed that the new coursecurriculum on coding and datascience would equip studentswith future-ready learningskills so as to enable self-reliance in students and equipthem with special skills.

Sources in the local levelbody of CBSE claimed thatMicrosoft has designed sup-plementary handbooks in bothcoding and data science,aligned with the NationalCouncil of EducationalResearch and Training pat-terns and structures. The bookscover real-life examples aimedat building ethical dimensionsexposure to MicrosoftMakeCode, an open-sourceplatform that will enable stu-dents to learn better in a gam-ified manner across all disci-plines, including mathemat-ics, languages and social sci-ences.

Coding involves telling acomputer what to do and isused in making websites andapps and to process data. TheCBSE is of the view that cod-ing will help build computa-tional thinking, develop prob-lem-solving skills, criticalthinking and exposure to reallife situations to solve issues invarious realms. It is beingintroduced as a skill module of12-hour duration in classesVI-VIII.

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In a heart-wrenching incidentreported from Baghpat dis-

trict, a three-month-old infantlost his life when he was takenaway by a monkey and throwninto the water tank.

After searching the childfor a long time, the relativesfound the infant unconsciousin the water tank. The familymembers rushed the child tohospital where the doctors pro-nounced him dead.

Reports said that 3-month-old Prince, son of Keshav, a res-ident of Gadhi Kalanjari inBaghpat, was sleeping on a cotin the room on Saturday night.Around 12 o'clock, a monkeyentered the room and took theinfant away. The other familymembers sleeping in the same

room failed to notice this.After some time when the

family members did not see theboy in the cot, they startedlooking for him. After search-ing for several hours, when thefamily reached the roof of thehouse, they found the childlying in the water tank.

The family membersrushed the child to hospitalwhere the doctors pronouncedhim dead. The family membersalso took the boy to a hospitalin Delhi but the doctors therealso pronounced him dead.

After learning about theincident, the agitated local res-idents gathered outside thevictim’s house and claimedthat they had lodged severalcomplaints with the localadministration to check themonkey menace but the offi-

cials took no cognisance as aresult of which an innocent lifewas lost.

Meanwhile, a 35-year-oldwoman attempted self-immo-lation at the gate of Raya policestation of Mathura on Saturdayafter being allegedly pres-surised by the accused againstwhom she had lodged a reportof molestation in 2017 to with-draw her report.

The woman with 90 percent burns was shifted to Agrain a serious condition, SeniorSuperintendent of Police ofMathura, Gaurav Grover, said.

“The woman came to Rayapolice station in Mathura onSaturday afternoon along withher husband to lodge a reportagainst some people of her vil-lage who had lodged a com-plaint against her husband on

Friday. Later she set herselfafire,” Grover said.

The SSP further said thewoman was immediatelyrushed to the district hospitalin Mathura from where she wasshifted to SN Medical Collegein Agra. “A probe by SP (Rural)Sirish Chand has beenordered,” he said.

Husband of the womanalleged that those accused ofmolestation were pressuringthem to withdraw their reportby lodging fake cases againsthim.

The woman had lodged areport of molestation underSection 354 of the Indian PenalCode against Harish Chandraat Raya police station inMathura in 2017 but no actionwas taken, family memberssaid.

3����������Five students of City

Montessori School, Chowkcampus, won gold medals inthe International HindiOlympiad. Vardaan Kashyap,Swasti Asthana, Fabeha Atif,Ikra Shahid and Aryan Yadavwon the gold medals by scor-ing 100% marks in the event.The event was organised underthe aegis of Hindi OlympiadFoundation, New Delhi, inwhich students from presti-gious schools of India andabroad participated and show-cased their knowledge of Hindilanguage.

�6������For doing commendable

work in giving world-classmetros to various cities of UP,the managing director of UttarPradesh Metro RailCorporation got a 4-monthextension of service from thegovernment. UPMRC MDKumar Keshav and his teamstarted large-scale metro pro-jects in the two major and most

populous cities of UttarPradesh in a short time. Keshavwas appointed as the MD in2014.

��������3�����A programme by students

of City Montessori School willbe broadcast on All-IndiaRadio on from 5 pm onwardsJanuary 16. The programmewill include a conversation onthe topic, ‘Corona and theWorld’, and short skits by CMSstudents. The students whowill present the programme onAIR are Trishala Parisa Raina,Ayan Ahmad, Aditya Kumar,Maitreyi Srivastava, ManyataChaturvedi, Tanishq Sonkar,Anshika Rajput and PalakYadav. All these students are

winners of ‘Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav’ organised by AIR,Lucknow. The CMS studentswill present a bright future forwomen and a picture of thenew era to come through poet-ry recitation and singing. Theywill make the audience aware

about prevention measuresfrom Covid through Indianculture. Coordinator of CMSRadio Harsh Bawa guided thestudents to prepare for theprogramme while Divya Mehtahelped them in preparing thescript.

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The State’s case positivity rate of 19 percent is among the highest in the country.The number of Covid-19 cases in Kolkatahas risen almost 37 times over two weeks— from 178 on December 23 to 6,569 onJanuary 6. The situation in the southernStates is also deteriorating. Karnataka onSunday reported 12,000 fresh Covid cases,9,020 alone in Bengaluru. The State’spositivity rate stands at 6.33 per cent.Similarly, Tamil Nadu reported 12,895 newcases and 12 deaths in the last 24 hours.Kerala on Sunday reported 6,238 newCorona cases and 2,390 recoveries.

Among the poll-bound States, Punjabreported 3,922 new cases and nine deathin 24 hours, whereas Uttarakhand logged1,413 Covid cases, 482 recoveries, onedeath in the last 24 hours. Active casesstand at 4,118 in the State.

Uttar Pradesh is also seeing a gradualrise in Coronavirus cases. The Statereported 7,695 new cases and four deathson Sunday taking its active case tally to25,974. Only three per cent are under hos-pitalisation.

Gautam Budh Nagar and Lucknowaccounted for 1,149 and 1,115 casesrespectively in the past 24 hours. As many12 districts in the State have more than 500cases. Of these Gautam Budh Nagar leadswith 4,612 cases, followed by Lucknow

(3,653), Ghaziabad (3,297), Meerut (2,519)and Varanasi (1,313).

There is no let-up in virus infection inIndia which saw a single-day rise of1,59,632 new coronavirus cases, raising thetally to 3,55,28,004 crore, which included3,623 cases of the Omicron variant.

At present, 27 States and UnionTerritories have been affected by the fast-spreading variant. As many as 1,409 peo-ple have recovered from the strain too, theUnion Health Ministry said.

The overall daily positivity rate wasrecorded at 10.21 per cent while theweekly positivity rate was recorded at 6.77per cent, The cumulative doses adminis-tered in the country so far under thenationwide vaccination drive has exceed-ed 151.58 crore, the Union Health Ministrysaid. The country’s R naught value thatindicates the spread of the infection wasrecorded at four this week, higher than the1.69 recorded during the peak of the pan-demic's second wave. Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR), country's topmedical body, has said that “the Omicronvariant is the predominant circulatingstrain.”

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117 Legislative Assembly seats inPunjab will go to polls on February 14 in

a single phase election. The results will bedeclared on March 10.

The poll-bound Punjab is witnessinga rapid surge in Covid cases with 3,922fresh infections and nine deaths reportedon Sunday. The State reported a daily pos-itivity rate of 13.77 per cent.

According to the State’s health bulletin,three deaths due to Covid were reportedin Patiala district and one death each wasreported in Amritsar, SAS Nagar,Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Pathankot andSangrur.

A maximum of 768 infections werereported in Patiala followed by 750 casesin SAS Nagar and 509 in Ludhiana.

The bulletin stated that there are16,343 active cases in the State.

In Punjab, 254 Covid patients are onoxygen support and 75 are in critical carefacilities. The total case tally in the Statehas reached 6,21,419 while the death tollstood at 16,675, the bulletin added.

The Punjab CEO had a day beforewarned the political parties that therewould be zero tolerance to violation ofCovid norms during polls and had alsourged them to opt for virtual campaignsand abstain from holding rallies tillJanuary 15.

The EC had said that a call on politi-cal gatherings would be taken after January15 depending on the dynamic situation ofthe pandemic’s third national wave.

This time, Punjab is witnessing amulti-cornered electoral contest with the

Congress, the AAP, the SAD-BSP alliance,and the BJP-PLC-SAD (Sanyukt) battlingto form the State Government.

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The decision was taken at the meet-ing Naidu held with Secretary-General PCModi and Adviser PPK Ramacharyulu.

Those with disabilities and pregnantwomen have been exempted from attend-ing office. Starting and closing timings ofthe Secretariat are staggered to avoidcrowding. All official meetings will be heldvirtually, Naidu instructed.

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Modern survey technologies likeElectronic Total Station (ETS) andDifferential Global Positioning System(DGPS) were used in the survey. To fur-ther speed up the process, for the firsttime drone imagery and satellite imagery-based surveys were leveraged for reliable,robust, and time-bound outcomes.

Drone imagery based survey technol-ogy was used for survey of lakhs of acresof defence land in Rajasthan. The entirearea was surveyed with the help ofSurveyor General of India in a matter ofweeks, which earlier used to take years.

Besides this, satellite imagery-basedsurvey was done for the first time formany defence land pockets, especially forcertain pockets again measuring lakhsacres of defence land.

3D modelling techniques for bettervisualisation of defence land in hilly areashave also been introduced by utilisingDigital Elevation Model (DEM) in asso-ciation with Bhabha Atomic ResearchCentre (BARC).

During the last six months, as a resultof the active intervention of the DefenceSecretary and use of latest survey tech-nologies, the survey progressed at a muchfaster pace, which is evident from the factthat out of 17.78 lakh acres, 8.90 lakhacres was surveyed during the last threemonths. As a part of the Survey, a pro-ject for real-time change detection sys-tem based on the Time series Satelliteimagery for detection of encroachmentson defence land has also been initiated.A pilot test has been carried out on satel-lite imageries of defence land pocketsprocured from National Remote SensingCentre, Hyderabad.

Geo-referenced and digitised shapefiles are made available to enable quickdecision-making. Association ofRevenue officials in the survey willeventually help in reducing boundary dis-putes amongst stakeholders and wouldalso help in resolving legal disputes atvarious levels.

Completion of such a humongous

survey has been made possible due toCapacity Building of technical personneland off icers of Defence EstatesOrganisation in latest technologies forland survey over the years in associationwith premier institutes like NationalRemote Sensing Centre and NationalInstitute for Geo-Informatics Science andTechnology.

A Centre of Excellence (CoE) onLand Survey and GIS mapping has alsobeen established in NIDEM (NationalInstitute of Defence Estates Management)for capacity building of Defence Estatesofficials in the field of the latest surveytechnologies.

The CoE aims to be an apex surveyinstitution capable to impart training ofvarious levels to the officers of Centraland State Government departments.

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Second and third-year PG doctors arehandling patients and are facing increasedworkload due to the Covid pandemic,FORDA had said.

The association had staged a country-wide protest over the delay in starting ofNEET-PG counselling, which was calledoff on December 31 after the Governmentassured that their demands would belooked into.

Ahmedabad: The IndianCoast Guard (ICG) appre-hended a Pakistani fishingboat with ten crew members inIndian waters in the Arabiansea off the Gujarat coast, it saidon Sunday.

The boat, named 'Yaseen,'was intercepted by the ICGvessel 'Ankit' during the oper-ational patrol on Saturdaynight.

When the crew membersof the boat failed to justifytheir presence in Indian watersafter being questioned, theICG ship apprehended it, theICG said in a release.

The boat tried to fleetowards the Pakistani waters,but due to the quick responseby the ICG ship, it was madeto stop and apprehended, saidthe ICG.

Around 2,000 kg fish and600 litres of diesel were seizedfrom the boat, the ICG said,adding that the boat is regis-tered at Keti Bandar inPakistan.

The apprehended boat,with the ten crew members, ispresently being towed toPorbandar for detailed inves-tigation and joint interroga-

tion, it said."Indian Coast Guard ship

'Ankit' during an operationalpatrol at the Arabian Sea

apprehended a Pakistani fish-ing boat 'Yaseen' along with 10

Pakistani crew, operating inIndian waters during the inter-vening night of January 8,2022," the ICG said in arelease. During the initialboarding, PFB Yaseen regis-tered at Ketibandar was foundin possession of approximate-ly 2000 kgs of the fish catchalong with 600 litres of diesel,the ICG added.

Sometimes, Pakistani fish-ing boats cross the notionalinternational maritime bound-ary and enter Indian watersduring fishing expeditions.There has also been a rise incases of such boats being usedto smuggle contraband drugsthrough the Gujarat coast.

The Indian Coast Guardhad on September 15 last yearapprehended a Pakistani boatwith 12 crew members in theIndian waters off the Gujaratcoast. On December 20, aPakistani fishing boat withsix crew members on boardand carrying 77 kg of heroinworth around Rs 400 crore wasapprehended in the Indianwaters off the Gujarat coast bythe ICG in a joint operationwith the state Anti TerroristSquad (ATS) PTI

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The WhatsApp rebelliontended to continue in the

Bengal BJP with yet anothersenior State leader quittingthe party WhatsApp group.Shankudeb Panda a seniorState Yuva Morcha functionaryon Sunday quitting theWhatsApp group days afterparty MP and Union MinisterShantanu Thakur doing thesame along with five other BJPMLAs apparently to express hisdispleasure at being ignored inthe party organisationalreshuffle.

When asked Panda a for-mer Mukul Roy confidantwho quit theTrinamoolCongress to jointhe BJP however said that hehad left the group as he had

crossed the age of 35. “Theparty will soon bring in newleadership to for the YuvaMorcha and def initelyaccommodate me somewhereelse,” Panda said refusing todwell further on the matter.

At least 11 MLAs and anMP have left variousWhatsApp organizational-groups in the past one month— particularly after the Statecommittee was reshuffled postparty’s debacle in the recentlyheld Assembly by-electionsand the Kolkata MunicipalCorporation polls.

Reacting to the latest‘rebellion’ State BJP vice pres-ident Jayaprakash Majumdarsaid that though Panda was awell-known face in the partyhe had not been taking activerole in the party affairs in the

recent months … hence partywill not be able to comment onsteps that are being taken byhim.”

Pooh-pooing the state ofaffairs in the BJP, seniorTrinamool Congress MPSaugato Roy said that “lead-ers like Panda had gone to theBJP either out of greed or fear… but now they are quittingthat party or dissociatingthemselves … soon they willbe left with no leader.”

When contacted anotherrebel MLA and actor HiranMukherjee said “it is moreimportant to be seen workingfor the people and the youthof Kharagpur from where Ihave been elected instead ofbeing seen in the groups.” Hetoo had left the WhatsAppgroup a few days ago.

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The BJP on Sunday cried“inequity” when Biman

Ghosh its MLA from Pursurain Hooghly district wasarrested for breaking coronaprotocols and taking out ahuge rally with where most ofthe party workers were not inmasks.

The BJP leadershippromptly took up the matterattacking the Governmentfor sparing the TMC leadersfor doing what the BJP MLAdid.

Though Ghosh was sub-sequently released an officerof Chandannagarpolice com-missionerate, said that hewas leading a rally of 100people in ward number 26, insupport of his party candidateSandhya Das,flouting the SECguidelines.

State party spokespersonSamik Bhattacharya said“There may be lapses hereand there but what anenslaved police is doing is …they arearresting our menand leaders but sparing theTMC men … today whenBiman Ghosh was arrested atthe same time a former BJPcouncilor from Rajarhat-Bidhanangar municipalitywas campaigning with a largenumber of men withoutmasks … but she was spared… it is a clear show of dou-ble standard and the BJPcondemns this.”

Ghosh was campaigningfor the upcoming civic elec-t ions inChandannagarmunicipal cor-poration. Ignoring the objec-tions from opposition BJP,Left and Congress the StateElection Commission have

announced polls to municipalcorporat ions ofChandannagar, Bidhannagar,Siliguri and Asansol.

Elections will be held onJanuary 22. Meanwhile, inview of the rising coronacases TMC national generalsecretary Abhishek Banerjeeon Sunday postponed hisGoa visit where the party isscheduled to contest theupcoming Assembly elec-tions.

“I think we should stopall kind of religious, politicaland other gatherings for thecoming two months … this ismy personal view and TMCwill not organize large ralliesin my constituency DiamondHarbor… I ask the CPI(M)and BJP to do the same,”Banerjee, the nephew ofChief Minister MamataBanerjee earlier said.

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������ ������������/ ����.��Kolkata: A day after Leader of the Opposition inWest Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari, in a let-ter, complained that he was stopped from attend-ing a programme in Jhargram, Governor Jagdeep

Dhankhar on Saturday asked the Chief Secretaryand director general of police to provide him onJanuary 10 all details of the incident.Dhankhar alsosought a written report from them in the matter.

Patna: The Congress in Bihar onSunday asserted that it was"fully" with Chief Minister NitishKumar on the issue of caste cen-sus and urged him to move for-ward and hold a State-specificexercise without waiting for anod from his ally BJP which iskeeping cards close to the chest.

Congress Legislature Partyleader Ajeet Sharma's statementto the effect came close on theheels of Lalu Prasad's RJD, theprincipal opposition party in theState, adopting a similar stance.

"The Chief Minister wantsto convene an all-party meet-ing..... Apparently the BJP doesnot want to be seen on the samepage.....Let Nitish Kumar goahead, the Congress is fully withhim on the issue", Sharma told

reporters here. The state BJP has in the past

backed a caste census with itsMLAs voting in favour of reso-lutions passed twice, unani-mously, by the legislature.

The party finds itself in abind after the Narendra Modigovernment turned downdemands for conducting head-count of social groups other thanSCs and STs.

A meeting between thePrime Minister and an all-partydelegation from Bihar headed bythe Chief Minister failed toachieve a breakthrough.

Politics in the state has fordecades been dominated by thenumerically powerful OBCs,who are hopeful of gains in theevent of an exercise that might

confirm that their percentage inpopulation is far greater than 27percent which has been ear-marked as their quota followingthe Mandal Commission'simplementation.

In the wake of the Centre'slukewarm response, Kumarwho like Lalu Prasad is an OBChas decided to undertake astate-specific survey.Recently,he disclosed that he proposedan all-party meeting on theissue which was hanging firefor want of the BJP's assent.Kumar controls the JD(U) but,on account of the party'sdiminished numerical strength,has become heavily dependenton the BJP which is secondonly to the RJD in terms of thenumber of MLAs. PTI

Page 7: " ' = _Vh TRdVd Rd @^ZTc`_ dfcXVd - Daily Pioneer

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Four Supreme Courtjudges and almost

five per cent of its staffhave tested positive forCovid-19, officialsources said on Sunday,as the national Capitalwitnesses a sharp spikein coronavirus cases.

An apex court offi-cial told PTI that out ofthe 32 judges in theapex court, at least fourjudges, and 150 out ofthe nearly 3,000 staffmembers are currentlyinfected with the virus.

Delhi on Saturday, record-ed seven fatalities due to Covidand 20,181 cases as the posi-tivity rate rose to 19.60 per cent,while the country, according toUnion health ministry dataupdated on Sunday, reported asingle day rise of 1,59,632 casesand 327 fatalities.

A COVID-19 testing facil-ity has been set up on the topcourt’s premises and it is openfrom Monday to Saturday. “Inview to contain the spread of

the highly contagious coron-avirus infection and suddenupsurge in the cases ofOmicron variant of the coron-avirus, it is reiterated that theentrants to the Supreme Courtpremises, i.e. the registry staff,staff of the coordinate agencies,advocates and their staff etc.,particularly those who may beshowing any symptom(s) sim-ilar to those notified forCOVID-19 infection(s), maykindly get themselves tested at

such facility…,” a circular read.The top court on January

2 had decided to conduct allhearings in virtual mode fortwo weeks starting fromJanuary 3, in view of the risingnumber of cases.

A circular issued in thisregard stated that an earlier cir-cular prescribing standardoperating procedure for phys-ical hearing (hybrid hearing)will remain suspended for thetime being.

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The Supreme Court is sched-uled to hear on Monday a

plea on the recent breach inPrime Minister NarendraModi's security in Punjab.

On January, the PrimeMinister's convoy was strand-ed on a flyover due to a block-ade by protesters in Ferozepurafter which he returned frompoll-bound Punjab withoutattending the planned events,including a rally. A three-judge bench comprising ChiefJustice N V Ramana andJustices Surya Kant and HimaKohli is likely to take up theplea filed by an organisation,Lawyers Voice.

The apex court on Fridayhad directed the RegistrarGeneral of the Punjab andHaryana High Court to "secureand preserve" the records per-taining to arrangements madefor the prime minister's visit toPunjab when there was a "mas-sive security breach".

It had also said the inquirycommittees set up separately bythe state and central govern-

ments will hold their horsesand not proceed with theirrespective inquiries till January10 when the matter will betaken up again by the court.The bench, however, did notdictate it as part of the order,and had asked the counsels toconvey its feelings to theauthorities. TheRegistrar General of the HighCourt will be assisted by theDirector General of Police, theUnion Territory of Chandigarh,and an officer of the NationalInvestigation Agency not belowthe rank of Inspector General

in securing the requisiterecords from the state govern-ment, its police and centralagencies, the bench had said.

The plea has sought athorough investigation into thebreach in Prime MinisterModi's security in Punjab toensure there is no such event inthe future.

It has also sought preser-vation of evidence on securityarrangements, court-moni-tored probe and action againsterring officials of the Punjabgovernment responsible forthe alleged lapse.

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As India begins the rolloutof a third dose for health

workers and elderly fromTuesday, a study has said thatthree doses of Covid vaccinecan give high levels of pro-tection against hospitalisa-tion with the Omicron vari-ant.

The study, led by the UKHealth Security Agency(UKHSA), estimates the effec-tiveness of three doses ofeither of Pfizer, Moderna andAstraZeneca's Covid-19 vac-cines against mild and severedisease in adults aged 65 yearsor older.

The study included indi-viduals who reported symp-toms and tested in communi-ty testing between November27 and December 31, 2021.Vaccination rates in PCR pos-itive cases were compared tovaccination rates in those whotest negative.

The estimates suggest thateffectiveness against sympto-matic disease with theOmicron variant is signifi-cantly lower than compared tothe Delta variant and wanesrapidly in those aged 65 yearsor older.

But 2 to 9 weeks post the

third dose of a Covid vaccinewas associated with an 89 percent reduced risk of hospital-isation among symptomaticcases with the Omicron vari-ant among those aged 65 yearsor older.

"The current data showsthe booster dose is continuingto provide high levels of pro-tection against severe disease,even for the most vulnerableolder age groups," saidProfessor Wei Shen Lim, theJoint Committee onVaccination andImmunisation's (JCVI) chairof Covid-19 immunisation,in a statement.

"The data is highlyencouraging and emphasisesthe value of a booster jab,"Lim added.

However, the UKHSAruled out against the rollout ofa second booster dose. In thewake of the highly infectiousOmicron variant that is caus-ing rising numbers of infec-tions around the globe, Israelhas started the fourth Covidshots, while some countriesincluding Germany, Franceand the UK have been plan-ning for it. Priority shouldcontinue to be given to rollingout first booster doses to allage groups, the JCVI advised.

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Ahead of the BudgetSession, health econo-

mist, Rijo M John, has urgedthe Government to increasethe tax on ‘sin product’ tobac-co in the Union Budget 2022-23 and invest the generatedrevenue in improving thecountry’s health infrastruc-ture, reeling under the Covid-19 pandemic.

John pointed out thatthere is a need to enhance taxon tobacco given that smok-ing is a known risk factor formany respiratory infectionsparticularly with Covid-19,compared to non-smokers."It is time that prices ontobacco products like ciga-rettes are raised with an aimto reduce their consumptionwhich is taking a toll on thehealth and economic condi-tion of the users."

But, unfortunately, thepublic health analyst fromKerala lamented, there hasbeen no major increase in tax-ation of tobacco productssince the introduction of the

Goods and Services Tax(GST) in 2017. The exciseduty on tobacco in India con-tinues to remain extremelylow, he said.

“Many state governmentsused to increase VAT to dis-courage the use of tobaccoconsumption before the GSTcame into the picture.”

As a result, tobacco iscurrently an affordable itemfor many, said John recentlyat a Twitter Space organizedby a group of citizens underthe platform“TobaccoFreeIndia.”

“If taxes are not increasedurgently and significantly,some of the hard-won gainsachieved in tobacco con-sumption reduction in thepast few years in India mightreverse at the cost of theeconomy and public health,”John said. He added that “Incontrast, several countrieshave high excise taxes alongwith GST or sales tax and theyare continuously beingrevised to bring down tobac-co consumption.”

In fact, several studiesshow that a price increase of

10% results in a 2.5% – 5%smoking reduction in theshort run and possibly up to10% in the long run, if pricesare increased to keep pacewith inflation. Young peoplemay reduce their smoking attwo to three times the rate ofolder people, thus helpingcut down millions of deaths.

The economic burden dueto tobacco product con-sumption on the country isstaggering. It's as high as Rs1,77,000 crore keeping inaccount health expenditureand premature deaths due totobacco consumption. India isthe second largest consumerof tobacco in the world.

Around 13 lakh deathsare attributable to tobaccoconsumption annually inIndia i.e. 3,600 deaths daily.

He stated that the lack oftax increase means that thetax burden on tobacco prod-ucts (tax as a percentage ofthe retail price) decreases.

While the World HealthOrganization (WHO) hasbeen recommending a uni-form tax burden of at least75% for each tobacco product,

in India, the tax burden onbidis, cigarettes, and smoke-less tobacco, on average,stands at 22%, 53%, and 64%in 2021.

Sources said that theGovernment is serious aboutthe health impact of tobaccoon the people in Covid-19times.

The proposed amend-ments to the Cigarettes andOther Tobacco Products Act(COTPA) bill which has sev-eral landmark provisions likeban on tobacco consumptionin public places might seelight of the day in the BudgetSession.

John pointed out thatbesides raising GST on tobac-co, the Government coulduse other channels such asnational calamity contingentduty (NCCD) orCompensation Cess toincrease prices of cigarettesand bidis.

In India, around 28 percent of adults above 15 yearsand 8.5 per cent of school stu-dents aged 13-15 years con-sume tobacco in some formor the other.

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IndiGo on Sunday announcedthat it is waiving change fees

in view of the increasing num-ber of Omicron cases in thecountry. The airline is alsooffering free changes for all newand existing bookings made upto January 31 for flights up toMarch 31, 2022. IndiGo saidthat around 20 per cent of itscurrent scheduled operationswill be withdrawn from service.

In a statement, the airlinesaid that owing to the increas-ing number of infections, alarge number of IndiGo cus-tomers are changing their trav-el plans.

"In response to customerneeds, IndiGo is waivingchange fees and is offeringfree changes for all new and

existing bookings made up toJanuary 31, for flights up toMarch 31, 2022," it mentioned.The budget carrier said withreduced demand it will alsoselectively withdraw someflights from service.

"We anticipate that around20 per cent of our currentscheduled operations will bewithdrawn from service."

"Where possible, cancella-tion of flights will be done atleast 72 hours in advance andcustomers will be moved to thenext available flight and willalso be able to change theirtravel through the use of PlanB (section) on our website," itnoted.

The airline encouraged thecustomers to digital channelssince the call centres have beenhandling a large volume ofcalls.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has

arrested Madhukar G Angur,former Chancel lor ofBengaluru-based AllianceUniversity in a money laun-dering case for misappropri-ating university funds to thetune of Rs 107 crore by dup-ing 4,500 students.

The ED had initiatedmoney laundering investiga-tion on the basis of four FIRsregistered against Angur andothers.

“Angur, Priyanka BS andRavi Kumar, the three accusedhad physically lodged them-selves inside the campuspremises of the AllianceUniversity, Bengaluru,between 2016 and 2017,” theED said in a statement.

During this time, Angurand others informed the par-ents of the students throughemails and physical noticesnot to deposit the fee in the

off icial accounts of theAll iance University andinstead asked the parents todeposit the fees of their chil-dren into the illegally openedbank accounts by him andothers in the name of SrivariEducational Ser vices , it said.

The parents of about4,500 students were persuad-ed to deposit the fees in thesaid illegally opened bankaccounts and amounts to thetune of Rs 107 crore approx-imately. were siphoned offby Angur and others by col-lecting the tuition fees, hostelfees and other fees illegallyfrom the student community.

The accused was pro-duced before the City Civiland Sessions Judge andSpecial Judge for PMLA Casesat Bengaluru on Saturday andremanded to judicial custodyfor seven days, it said, adding,further investigation is inprogress.

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In a major announcementahead of Punjab Assembly

polls, Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday announcedthat December 26 every yearwould be marked as "Veer BaalDivas" as a tribute to thecourage and sacrifice of thesons of Guru Gobind Singh.

"Today, on the auspiciousoccasion of the Parkash Purabof Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji, Iam honoured to share thatstarting this year, 26thDecember shall be marked as‘Veer Baal Diwas.’ This is a fit-ting tribute to the courage of theSahibzades and their quest forjustice", the Prime Ministersaid in his message.

Sikh guru Gobind Singh'stwo sons were executed by theMughals and two others werekilled in a battle.

Guru Gobind Singh, bornas Gobind Rai, was the tenthSikh Guru, a spiritual leader,warrior, poet and philosopher.He formally became the leaderand protector of the Sikhs at theage of nine after his father, GuruTegh Bahadur, the ninth SikhGuru, was killed by Aurangzebfor refusing to convert to Islam.

Modi greeted the nation onthe birthday of Guru GobindSingh, the last Guru of Sikhs."Greetings on the ParkashPurab of Sri Guru GobindSingh Ji. His life and messagegive strength to millions ofpeople. I will always cherish thefact that our Government gotthe opportunity to mark his350th Parkash Utsav. Sharingsome glimpses from my visit toPatna at that time", said thePrime Minister.

He said, "Veer Baal Diwaswill be on the same daySahibzada Zorawar Singh Jiand Sahibzada Fateh Singh Jiattained martyrdom after beingsealed alive in a wall. These twogreats preferred death instead ofdeviating from the noble prin-ciples of Dharma".

"The bravery and ideals ofMata Gujri, Sri Guru GobindSingh Ji and the 4 Sahibzades

give strength to millions ofpeople. They never bowed toinjustice. They envisioned aworld that is inclusive and har-monious. It is the need of thehour for more people to knowabout them," he said.

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah also hailed the deci-sion by the Prime Minister.

Punjab’s former CMAmarinder Singh also wel-comed the decision. Amarinder,who left Congress to form hisown party last year November,is now a BJP ally, contesting theupcoming Punjad assemblypolls.

After a political showdownon the farmers issue and repeal-ing of central farm laws , theModi government has beentaking a number of measures toreach out to the Sikhs across thecountry, particularly in Punjab.

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Gearing up for the inductionof the warship into the

Navy later this year, the indige-nously designed and built air-craft carrier Vikrant begananother set of rigorous sea tri-als on Sunday.

The Rs 23,000-crore shipbuilt by the Cochin ShipyardsLimited is likely to be dedicat-ed to the nation by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onAugust 15. Vikrant has alreadyundergone two rounds ofextensive trials in the last fewmonths to validate the complexmachinery.

The 40,000-tonne aircraftcarrier, the largest and mostcomplex warship to be built inIndia, successfully completed afive-day maiden sea voyage inAugust and underwent 10-daysea trials in October.

The ship now sails toundertake complex manoeu-vres to establish specific read-ings of how the ship performs

in various conditions, Navy spokesperson

Commander Vivek Madhwalsaid here adding various sensorsuites of the ship would also betested. The successful con-struction of the warship haspropelled India into a selectgroup of countries having capa-bilities to build state-of-the-artaircraft carriers. President RamNath Kovind and Vice PresidentM Venkaiah Naidu visited theship recently in Kochi.

"After two successive highprofile visits – the Presidentand Vice President of India –within a span of less than twoweeks, Vikrant is heading outfor the next set of sea trials,"Madhwal said.

"Both dignitaries, havingreviewed the progress, hadconveyed their satisfaction andexpressed their best wishes toall the stakeholders involved inthe project," he added.

While the maiden sea tri-als were to establish propulsion,navigational suite and basicoperations, the second sea trial

witnessed the ship being putthrough its paces in terms ofvarious machinery trials andflight trials.

"The ship in fact was outfor 10 days proving its suste-nance in the very second sor-tie. Various seamanship evolu-tions were also successfullycleared during the second sor-tie," he said. Scientists from theNaval Science andTechnological Laboratorybased at Visakhapatnam, arewitnessing the third phase ofsea trials of Vikrant.

The warship will operateMiG-29K fighter jets, Kamov-31 and MH-60R multi-rolehelicopters. It has over 2,300compartments, designed for acrew of around 1,700 people,including specialised cabins toaccommodate women officers.

Vikrant has a top speed ofaround 28 knots and a cruisingspeed of 18 knots with anendurance of about 7,500 nau-tical miles. The ship is 262metres long, 62 metres wideand it has a height of 59 metres.

Its construction began in 2009.At present, India has one air-craft carrier INS Vikramadityabuilt by Russia.

"That the ship has beenable to carry out basic flyingoperations from its very firstsortie itself is a landmark inIndian warship constructionhistory," Madhwal said regard-ing the performance of Vikrant.

He also said despite surg-ing COVID cases in the coun-try and the resultant chal-lenges, the combined teamsfrom multiple organisationsassociated with the project areupbeat and committed to meetthe timeliness.

Vikrant has been a successstory on numerous counts. Beit the case of Atmanirbhartawherein 76% of the equip-ment is indigenously sourcedor the close engagementbetween the design teams ofthe Indian Navy and CochinShipyard Limited – a high-point in the largest and mostcomplex warship ever to bebuilt in the country, he said.

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Rainfall continued to lashseveral parts of Punjab and

Haryana on Sunday but mini-mum temperatures hoveredabove normal limits at manyplaces in the two states.

The maximum tempera-ture however remained belownormal limits across the twostates.

Chandigarh, the joint cap-ital of two states, recorded19.1 mm rainfall till Sundayevening and recorded a min-imum temperature of 11.1degree Celsius and a maximumof 13.2 degrees.

According to theMeteorological Department,

Ambala, Yamunanagar,Sonipat, Panchkula,Kurukshetra, Karnal, Kaithal,Fatehabad in Haryana record-ed rainfall till the evening.Similarly in Punjab, rainfall wasreported in Ropar, Mohali,Patiala, Jalandhar, FatehpurSahib.

In Punjab, Amritsar andLudhiana recorded a low of10.2 degrees Celsius each whilePatiala's minimum temperaturesettled at 10.8 degrees Celsius.Bathinda was the coldest placerecording a low of 5.6 degreeCelsius.

In Haryana, Ambalarecorded a low of 11.8 degrees,Rohtak's minimum tempera-ture was recorded at 12.8

degrees Celsius, Gurugramrecorded 12 degrees Celsius,Bhiwani settled at 11.3 degreesCelsius and Fatehabad record-ed 7.1 degree Celsius.

The Met Department hasforecast dense fog in Punjaband Haryana during next 24hours.

SNOWFALL IN SEVER-AL AREAS OF HIMACHAL

Himachal Pradesh contin-ued to experience snowfall onSunday leading to temporari-ly closing of many roads acrossthe state.

The higher reaches ofKullu, Chamba, Sirmaur,Shimla, Mandi, Kinnaur andLahaul-Spiti districts experi-

enced heavy snowfall in thepast 24 hours. Upper areas inManali have been closed fortraffic owing to heavy snow,said an official.

Manali recorded 12 mmsnowfall, Kufri recorded 2 mmand Kalpa 5 mm from Sundaymorning till evening.

According to the MetDepartment, Shimla, the statecapital, recorded a low of minus0.2 degrees Celsius. Kufrirecorded a minimum temper-ature of minus 2.8 degreeCelsius, Kalpa recorded minus2.4 and Dalhousie settled at alow of minus 2 degree Celsius.

The Met Department hasforecast snowfall and rainfall inthe state till Monday.

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against the BJP and PrimeMinister Modi than Muslims.They believe that Hindus donot have a future in India andso they must take up arms andkill anyone non-Hindu,Muslims in particular, so thata pure Hindu Rashtra, aHindu-only Rashtra can springup. Those who do not believein democracy termed theirevent ‘’dharma Sansad’’ – reli-gious parliament where thereis no scope for plurality.

The so-called defendersof Sanatan dharma forgetthat Sanatan dharma sur-vived Khiljees, Tughlaqs,Aurangzeb, generally knownfor their anti-Hindu policies.So what are the odds that itwould not survive in a coun-try being ruled by RSS sup-ported right-wing Hinduparty? Zero, nought, zilch!

Coming to the SanatanDharm, well let’s get our factsclear. If anybody who hasworked relentlessly to destroyand circumvent it, it is san-tandharmis themselves. Hadthe great seers at the dharmaSansad spared some thoughtto tell people what Sanatandharma means, things wouldhave been clearer. SanatanDharm or the eternal religionis the universal law of nature.It stresses the need for self-purging, abstaining fromfalsehood, violence, sexual

misconduct and stresses puri-ty of mind and soul.O

Of course, reading Vedasand Upanishads is highlyrecommended to understandthe divine order. Now howmany Hindus have read, letalone understood, the Vedasand Upanishad? About purg-ing, the lesser said the better.Harbouring ill will hatredanimosity anger anxiety greedis the anathema of Sanatandharma. We are all partnersin crime in bleeding SanatanDharma.

Haridwar is not the onlyplace where defenders of faithmade themselves heard.Suresh Chavhanke, a TVchannel chief, gave a call to“fight, die and kill if required”to make India a “Hindunation" on December 19. InRaipur, a certain Kalicharanabused Mahatma Gandhi.

Call it an obsession withMuslims or their anxiety toprove their militant creden-tials, they are just walking thepath of Islamic jihads anddoing what they did to theirreligion. Jihadists the worldover have publicised Islam asa religion of hate andvengeance. So moderateMuslims, which are in major-ity, are left explaining thatIslam is a religion of peaceand is all about forgivingand being compassionate.

Think of it, a few more so-called dharma Sansads, we allwould be explaining the sameabout Hinduism. Toughtimes are ahead for moderateHindus.

To make it to the politi-cal main stage, they may givea call for genocide and theGovernments may look theother way for a while but itwill not go very far. The rul-ing party and its leaders arekeen to seek validation fromthe western press. In thetimes of the internet, nothingremains under the wraps andit throws them into a seriousimage crisis.

As for the guy whoadministered an oath to killthe Muslims, do not overre-act. Prison is no solution.Suresh Chavhanke is a cuteguy. He is perhaps overtaxed.Running a TV channel andfighting imaginary enemiestook a toll on his mentalhealth. He would better takea sabbatical and go on avacation, maybe to Agrawhere he can visit Taj Mahal(okay, Tejo Mahalya) to relaxand also find time to visit itsworld-renowned facility forhis mental check-up and correction.

(The writer is a columnistand documentary filmmaker.The views expressed are personal.)

����������� �����������������Sir — The Karnataka Congress has under-taken a 168-km ‘padayatra’ for the sakeof the Mekedatu project in the State. Forsure, Bengaluru, the ever expanding city,needs Mekedatu to meet its drinking waterneeds. Meanwhile, the KarnatakaGovernment helmed by the BJP is leav-ing no stone unturned to obtain clearancesfor the project. But, the Tamil NaduGovernment has filed petitions against theproject in Supreme Court, thereby, the pro-ject is stuck in legal tangles. In this back-drop, the Congress party's padayatra canbe seen as politically motivated in the lightof the State Assembly elections due nextyear.

But the moot question is, why could-n't the Congress, an ally of DMK, try tohold talks with the Tamil NaduGovernment, keeping the interest of boththe States in mind, to not obstruct the pro-ject — which in no means harms its inter-ests? Moreover, it is unbecoming for theparty to launch the padayatra which drawshuge crowds of the people at the timewhen the State imposed curbs are in placefor containing the spread of Coronavirus.Apart from showing complete disregardto public health, the party also failed tocomprehend the gravity of the situationwhen the State stares at a possible thirdwave of the pandemic.

N Sadhasiva Reddy | Bengaluru

����������� ����������� �� ������ �Sir — The Indian Railways has showntremendous development in the last twodecades. It introduced a lot of luxury trainsto Indian travellers for a comfortable jour-ney. The trains like Vande Bharat Express,Gatimaan Express, Duronto Express,Rajdhani Express, Humsafar Express andTejas Express are providing luxuriousamenities as well as pantry car facilities tothe travellers. The travellers are enjoyingtheir journey while travelling from thesetrains. The time has come when IndianRailways will run the ‘bullet train’ from allbig cities in the coming days.

The time of the journey will be veryless with the introduction of ‘bullet trains’.Even railways are running special trains

for the religious tour from all over India.But the identity of the train is now prob-lematic because the coaches of DurontoExpress attach to Humsafar Express andvice versa. A few days ago, Tejas Expresscoaches were attached to the RajdhaniExpress and it was very difficult to iden-tify the train. There is a need to run thetrain with the same coaches otherwise itloses the identity of the train. I hope theIndian Railways will look into this andkeep the identity of trains intact by run-ning the train with the same coaches. .

Syed Nisar Mehdi | Hyderabad

� ������� ���� ����� ��� ����������Sir — There is little doubt that the historicvictory in the 1971 Bangladesh LiberationWar was not only a crowning glory for theIndian military, but equally a victory forthe country on the diplomatic front. Theruling BJP, during the recent Vijay Diwascelebrations of the war, should have thegenerosity to remember former Prime

Minister Indira Gandhi and give due cred-it to her for the victory, since she playeda stellar role that led to the uncondition-al surrender by the Pakistan military.

In fact, India gave shelter to millionsof refugees from Bangladesh who soughtrefuge to escape from the onslaught of thePakistan forces. Unquestionably, this wasindependent India’s most decisive militaryvictory leading to the formation ofBangladesh, which was perhaps IndiraGandhi’s finest hour as PM because shehandled the political, diplomatic andmilitary perspectives dexterously andexecuted her plans with a clock-like pre-cision. No doubt the BJP’s failure to men-tion Indira Gandhi’s name during the cel-ebrations was deliberate and a crass act ofignoring her decisive role in the creationof Bangladesh.

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

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Hinduism is goingthrough a metamor-phosis. “DharmSansads’’ are throwing

up new Hindus. The new lot isdifferent from the older folkwho were assimilating, generousand believed in coexistence.The new ones do not mind dig-ging their teeth into the other'sskin and spewing venom. Themedia seems to be amplifyingtheir message while theGovernment and the leaderslook the other way. The newHindus who are perpetrators ofHindutva 2.0 mince no words,are unapologetic, dangerous,direct and, yes, fearless of theconsequences. Are we ready forit, don’t know, justified certain-ly not; is it for real? Definitely.And, like it or not, it is here tostay.

Recently a Dharma Sansad(religious parliament) wasorganised by YatiNarasinghanand, the priest ofthe Dasna Devi temple inGhaziabad. It was held overthree days during 17–19December, 2021. Almost all thespeakers were saffron-robedHindu ascetics. Many of themhailed from akharas.

The theme of the conferencewas quite interesting, “IslamicBharat Mein Sanatan dharma kaBhavishya” -- The Future of theSanatan Dharma in IslamicIndia. There is so much in thetheme to decipher that itselfspeaks volumes about the mind-set of the organisers and atten-dees alike.

To begin with, they believethat India is an Islamic nation;something even the RSS and theBJP would have a problem con-ceding. Surely it is detrimentalto the credentials of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi who isoften dubbed to be a right-wingHindu sympathiser. Nowthough rightwing hardcore isitself denying that. India is anIslamic nation headed by PrimeMinister Modi! Forget about aHindu Rashtra; according tothem, it is not even secular.

Lo and behold, all theseyears the pseudo seculars, urbanNaxals, ''tukde tukde'' folk hadbeen implicating Prime Ministeras a Hindu hardliner. In a sense,the Dharma Sansad was more

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Whenever any state election isannounced, political partiesmake tall promises to theelectorate. In a democracy it

is all right to make promises as the vot-ers will be able to select and elect suitableparties and persons to represent thembased on their plan of action. But of latewe notice that the political parties areincluding assurances in their electionmanifestos that are not economicallyviable and feasible.

During the Tamil Nadu elections,DMK and AIADMK made many unviablepromises like waiver of farm loans andeven jewel loans. They had promised waiv-er of NEET exam for medical seats wheneven in the Supreme Court NEET was rec-ognized as the proper way to conductadmission for medical colleges.

Now a senior Bharatiya Janata Partyfunctionary in Andhra Pradesh has madea promise that if the BJP comes to power,they will offer liquor for just Rs.50. He saidthat there are one crore people in Andhrawho consume liquor and if all of them votefor BJP in 2024, they will get liquor ini-tially for Rs.75; if the government getsgood revenue, they will get liquor for Rs.50even. He further assured that the citizenswill get quality liquor.

The above promise shows to what levelthe party is willing to stoop to gain votes.The promise is unethical and immoral. Itwill also be against the spirit of our con-stitution and the election commission andjudiciary must suo motu act in time.

It is ironical that the present offer ofquality liquor at affordable price is com-ing from the Bharatiya Janata Party,whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi,proud of his identity as a Hindu nation-alist and rich heritage of Bharat, made areference to Uthiramerur’s model ofdemocracy on the day he performed theBhumi Pujan of the new Parliamentcomplex in New Delhi.

Democracy is not something given tous by westerners. In fact, we should begrateful to the foundations of democra-cy laid down by ancient India with a prac-ticed and elaborate system of self-gover-nance 1200 years ago in Uthiramerur,Tamil Nadu.

Western intelligentsia propagatesMagna Carta, “The Charter Of Freedoms”of 1215 the world over as the oldest andgreatest written constitutional documentof all times perhaps due to ignoranceabout a better treatise on formulation offreedom of the individual and self-gover-nance a good 450 odd years beforeMagna Carta and nearly1000 years beforethe Constitution of United States OfAmerica came into being in 1788.

Several temples of Tamil Nadu haveinscriptions on temple walls on the exis-tence of village assemblies and theUthiramerur temple contains earliestinscriptions with complete informationabout how the elected village assemblyfunctioned. In these inscriptions there are

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details about the constitution ofwards, the qualification of candi-dates to be nominated for the elec-tions, the disqualification norms,the mode of election, the constitu-tion of committees with electedmembers, the functions of thesecommittees, etc.

When T N Seshan, formerChief Election Commissioner,wanted to introduce electionreforms, he was inspired by theinscriptions of Uthiramerur temple.

Our Constitution containsDirective Principles of State Policyand under Article 47, it contains thefollowing: “Duty of the State to raisethe level of nutrition and the stan-dard of living and to improve pub-lic health. The State shall regard theraising of the level of nutrition andthe standard of living of its peopleand the improvement of publichealth as among its primary dutiesand, in particular, the State shallendeavour to bring about prohibi-tion of the consumption except formedicinal purposes of intoxicatingdrinks and of drugs which are inju-rious to health.”

Hence making a promise tooffer liquor at a reduced price, ifelected to power, should be consid-ered as against the directive princi-ples of state policy. It will be worth-while to refer to the judgementdelivered by the Supreme Court onJuly 5, 2013 in the caseS.Subramaniam Balaji vsGovernment of Tamil Nadu andothers.

The case relates to distributionof free gifts (freebies) to the people.The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagamwhile releasing the election mani-festo for the Assembly Elections2006, announced a Scheme of freedistribution of colourtelevision sets

to each and every household whichdid not possess the same, if the saidparty/its alliance were elected topower. The Party justified the deci-sion of distribution of free CTVs forthe purpose of providing recreationand general knowledge to thehousehold women, more particular-ly, those living in the rural areas. Inpursuance of the same, follow upactions by way of enlisting thehouseholds which did not have aCTV set and door-to-door identi-fication and distribution of applica-tion forms were initiated. ThisScheme was challenged by way offiling writ petition before the HighCourt on the ground that theexpenditure to be incurred by theState Government for its implemen-tation out of the State Exchequer isunauthorized, impermissible andultra vires the Constitutional man-dates. This writ petition was dis-missed by the Madurai branch ofthe Madras High court.

When the case went to theSupreme Court, it decided that thepromises in the election manifestocannot be declared as a corruptpractice. Further the Supreme Courtsaid that the schemes challenged inthis writ petition fall within therealm of fulfilling the DirectivePrinciples of State policy therebyfalling within the scope of publicpurpose. From here we can con-clude that any promise by the polit-ical parties cannot be in contraven-tion of directive principles. Whenthe directive principles states thatprohibition should be enforced,any promise contrary to that will beunconstitutional.

The Supreme Court furtherexpressed as follows: “Although, thelaw is obvious that the promises inthe election manifesto cannot be

construed as ‘corrupt practice’ underSection 123 of RP Act, the realitycannot be ruled out that distributionof freebies of any kind, undoubted-ly, influences all people. It shakes theroot of free and fair elections to alarge degree.”

Further the Supreme Court hasdirected the Election Commissionto frame guidelines for inclusion ofelection manifesto in the ModelCode of Conduct for the Guidanceof Political Parties & Candidates.The Election Commission shouldbe empowered to act not only on thebasis of election manifestos but alsoutterances of functionaries of thepolitical parties.

On another directive ofSupreme Court, the ElectionCommission had called for a meet-ing of political parties in August2013 itself to decide about themodalities of election manifestos.But we observe from the recentlyheld assembly elections in variousstates, the political parties make tallpromises without any accountabil-ity. Many promises which havefinancial implications for the stateare made without explaining howthe funds necessary for them willbe managed.

People are hooked not only tothe manifestos but also to variouspromises made during electionmeetings organized at differentplaces and people may be carriedby such assurances. Hence thereshould be a watch by the electioncommission on the conduct ofmeetings of political parties andpunitive action should be initiatedfor violation.

In view of the forthcoming elec-tions in Punjab, UP, Goa andManipur, it is time for the electioncommission to act decisively.

(The writer is a retiredbanker. The views

expressed are personal.)

The agri-tech industry canplay a vital role in lead-ing the transformation in

food systems and improvingefficiency, quality and prof-itability of small farms.Leveraging emerging digitaltechnologies like AI,Blockchain, Internet of things,and drones, the agri-techindustry has been employingsolutions to address pertinentsectoral challenges, a trendwhich accelerated during thepandemic due to disruptions inindustries and supply chains.

With over 1000 agri-techstart-ups exploring transforma-tive solutions in agriculture,India has a booming agri-techecosystem, space is expected togrow to a $30-35 billion mar-ket by 2025, which is verypromising for the entire sector.Agri-tech has huge transforma-

tional potential with capabili-ties of automating agricultur-al functions, improving trace-ability of agriculture supply-chain, fighting risks and uncer-tainties through predictivepower, directly connectingfarmers with consumers, agri-businesses, credit institutionsand with government policiesand many more .

But India still experienceslow penetration of agri-techsolutions due to scepticismtowards digitalization.However, many enterprises areintegrating Indian food systemswith impact-driven and evi-dence-driven large-scale agri-tech innovations.

UNDP Accelerator LabIndia is leading a network ofpartners for reimaginingIndian food systems whileaddressing various challenges

through its many agri-techinitiatives. For instance, theLab, supported by CabinetOffice of Japan, has partneredwith the Spices Board of Indiato strengthen the livelihoods ofspice farmers and small-scalespice processors by building ablockchain-powered traceabil-ity and trading platform forIndian spices. This blockchain-powered platform is expectedto enhance transparency andquality assurance in spicesvalue chain while connectingsmall and marginal spice farm-ers to direct buyers throughsmart contracts. A pilot was

launched involving over 1000chili and turmeric farmers inAndhra Pradesh which suc-cessfully demonstrated thepotential of blockchain interms of enhancing overalltransparency through dataimmutability and retrievabili-ty. Efforts are underway forassessing real-world traceabil-ity of spices. Depending on theresults, UNDP Accelerator Labis planning to scale up thisblockchain platform jointlywith Spices Board India tocover major spice varieties andspice growing regions in India.To mainstream climateresilience and farmer-led solu-tions into agriculture policies,the Lab has initiated “Data forPolicy” in partnership with theTelangana Government, theRockefeller Foundation, andseveral other stakeholders to

strengthen climate resilience inagriculture programs and poli-cies. The initiative leveragesopen-source technologies anddigital public good platform, toengage citizen scientists togenerate data insights on cli-mate resilience.

To ensure sustainable irri-gation practise, IoT technolo-gy is being leveraged to designsmart irrigation system forblack gram crop in Villupuramdistrict of Tamil Nadu. Toassess factors including soilrichness, local weather, waterrequirement of crops, etc andshare the information back tothe farmers, the IoT-drivenplatform is generating action-able insights to achieve optimalwater utilization and ensurebest irrigation practices,empowering farmers to makeinformed decisions.

In food processing, thelab has partnered with start-upS4S (Science For Society) to testan innovative women-led busi-ness model using solar dryingof agriculture commodities.This initiative is providingintegrated market-based foodsolutions across the value chainto preserve agri-produce andbuild a cost-efficient supplychain. It involves decentralisedprocessing of commodities,addressing food wastage andperishability issues, and ensur-ing product quality. Womenmicro-entrepreneurs are earn-ing an additional income of�35,000 to �100,000 per year.Over 6,000 women micro-entrepreneurs are being sup-ported through this model.

Crop residue burning andair pollution is a serious con-cern across India. The Lab has

partnered with start-up A2P inPunjab to implement innova-tive business model that con-verts crop residue into biofuelas a partially replacement fuelfor coal-dependent industries,while providing additionalincome to farmers to processtheir crop residue.

India is showing significantpenchant for agri-tech sys-tems. With increasing aware-ness, more common people arejoining the initiatives. This ishelping the country to reimag-ine our food system and makeit an effective means to boostsocioeconomic development.As the complete value chainengages the majority of Indianpopulation, most of which isunderserved, the agri-tech dri-ven food system will act as aninstrument of change, uplift-ment and social development.

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New Delhi: The Department forPromotion of Industry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) will soon try to approach theUnion Cabinet to seek its approval onchanges in the FDI policy to facilitate dis-investment of the country's largest insur-er LIC, a top Government official said onSunday.

DPIIT Secretary Anurag Jain said theissue has been discussed with theDepartment of Financial Services andDepartment of Investment and PublicAsset Management (DIPAM) and all havereached unanimity.

"Now it is a matter of drafting it out.We will try that soon we will make theCabinet note, after holding inter ministe-rial consultation, (to) take the approval...Itwill be very soon," Jain told reporters here.

The Finance Minister has directed thatthe disinvestment has to be completed dur-ing the current financial year, "so we alsohave to work at that pace," he added.According to the current foreign directinvestment (FDI) policy, 74 per cent for-eign investment is permitted under theautomatic route in the insurance sector.However, these rules do not apply to theLife Insurance Corporation of India (LIC),which is administered through a separateLIC Act.

As per Sebi rules, both foreign port-folio investment (FPI) and FDI are per-mitted under public offer. However,sources said since the LIC Act has no pro-vision for foreign investments, there is aneed to align the proposed LIC IPO withSebi norms regarding foreign investor par-ticipation.

The Cabinet had in July last yearapproved the initial public offering (IPO)of LIC and the stake-sale is being plannedin the current March quarter.

When asked about the issue of directoverseas listing of Indian startups, the sec-retary said the department is still exam-ining the matter to understand exactlywhat the startups want.

"To my mind there is nothing whichstops them from doing (that). Why do theywant to go outside and list, what are thefactors which are not there? We areengaged in the discussion with the indus-try leaders. "I know there was a propos-al which was under consideration. Thereare views which need to be synchronisedand come to a final conclusion. But I wantto understand what exactly is reallyrequired. Why can't it be listed...So we arestill examining that," he said.

Further, Jain informed that DPIIT isorganizing the first-ever Startup IndiaInnovation Week from January 10.

DPIIT has recognised morethan 61,000 startups as on date and cre-ated over 6 lakh jobs since 2016.

"This startup and innovation festival'sprimary goal is to bring together the coun-try's key startups, entrepreneurs, investors,incubators, funding entities, banks, poli-cymakers, and other national/interna-tional stakeholders to celebrate entrepre-neurship and promote innovation," he said.

The platform will also promoteknowledge exchange, develop entrepre-neurial ecosystem capacities; mobiliseglobal and domestic capital for startupinvestments; and provide market accessopportunities.

The week-long event includes inter-action of select startups with PrimeMinister Nareandra Modi on January 15;roundtable with global investors anddomestic funds; launch of Open Networkfor Digital Commerce (ONDC) digitalstrategy. ONDC is an initiative of DPIITwhich aims to democratise digital com-merce, moving it from a platform-centricmodel to an open network.

As UPI is to the digital paymentdomain, ONDC is to e-commerce inIndia. It will enable buyers and sellers tobe digitally visible and transact through anopen network, no matter what plat-form/application they use. It will empow-er merchants and consumers by breakingsilos to form a single network to driveinnovation. PTI

)������������������1����������3�����$*+��������������������+1������3�������%�*�++'�&��� New Delhi: GST Network, which provides tech-

nology backbone for the indirect tax regime, willshortly release interest calculator functionality inmonthly tax payment form GSTR-3B to help tax-payers in calculating interest for delayed tax pay-ment.

This new functionality will compute the min-imum interest applicable on the basis of the val-ues declared by the taxpayers in GSTR-3B for aparticular tax period, GSTN said in an advisory.

"To facilitate taxpayers in doing self-assess-ment, the new functionality of interest calculatoris being released in GSTR-3B. This functionalitywill assist taxpayers in calculating the interestapplicable for delayed filing of returns. Taxpayerswill have to verify and discharge the correct inter-est liability as per law, as payment of interest is astatutory compliance," it said.

As per Goods and Services Tax law, 18 percent interest is charged for failure to pay tax lia-bility on time, while 24 per cent interest is leviedfor undue or excess claim of input tax credit (ITC)or reduction of output tax liability.

This functionality will be made available onthe GST Portal shortly, the advisory said, addingit will improve ease in filing return.

AMRG & Associates Senior Partner RajatMohan said,"this change will enhance the userexperience by affording them the necessary toolsto compute precise interest liability and enableauthorities in a timely collection." PTI

New Delhi: Tax officers will give rea-sonable time to erring business toexplain reasons for mismatch inturnover reported in sales returnGSTR-1 and tax payment form 3Bbefore initiating recovery action forshort payment or non-payment oftaxes.

Apex indirect tax body CBIC hasissued guidelines on recovery pro-ceedings and said that taxmen wouldgive a "reasonable time" to businessesto explain the reasons for such mis-match.

As per the changes in the GST laweffective January 1, GST officers wereallowed to directly initiate recoveryaction against those errant businesseswhich showed higher sales in month-ly return GSTR-1 but under-report itwhile tax payment in GSTR-3B. The move was aimed at curbing themenace of fake billing whereby sellerswould show higher sales in GSTR-1 toenable a purchaser to claim an input taxcredit (ITC) but report suppressed salesin GSTR-3B to lower GST liability.

So far, under the goods and ser-vices tax law, show-cause notices werefirst issued and then a recovery processwas initiated in such cases of mismatchin GSTR-1 and GSTR-3B.

Following doubts raised by thetrade and the field formations regard-ing modalities for initiation of therecovery proceedings, the CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) on January 7 issued guidelines,saying that an opportunity needs to beprovided to the concerned businessesfor short payment or non-payment ofthe amount of self-assessed tax liabil-ity.

It noted that in some cases theremay be a genuine reason for the dif-ference between the details of outwardsupplies declared in GSTR-1 and thosedeclared in GSTR-3B. Givingexample, the CBIC said the GST lawpermits rectification of typographicalerrors or omissions in the GSTR-1 orGSTR-3B of a particular month, in thereturns or tax payment forms of sub-sequent months. There may also be

cases, where a supply could not bedeclared by the registered person inGSTR-I of an earlier tax period, thoughthe tax on the same was paid by cor-rectly reporting the said supply inGSTR-3B. The details of such supplymay now be reported by the registeredperson in the GSTR-I of the current taxperiod.

"In such cases, there could be amismatch between GSTR-l and GSTR-3B (liability reported in GSTR-I> taxpaid in GSTR-3B) in the current taxperiod. “Therefore, in all such cases,an opportunity needs to be provided tothe concerned registered person toexplain the differences between GSTR-I and GSTR-3B, if any, and for shortpayment or non-payment of theamount of self-assessed tax liability andinterest thereon, before any actionunder Section 79 of the Act is taken forrecovery of the said amount,” theCBIC said.

Wherever any such amount of tax,self-assessed by the registered personin his outward supply statement GSTR-I is found to be short paid or not paidthrough his GSTR-3B return, the taxofficer would send a communicationto pay the amount short paid or notpaid or to explain the reasons for suchshort payment or non-payment ofself-assessed tax, within a "reasonabletime", as prescribed in the communi-cation.

"If the concerned person is able tojustify the differences between GSTR-I and GSTR-3B, or is able to explain thereasons of such short-payment ornon-payment of tax, to the satisfactionof the proper officer, or pays theamount such short paid or not paid,then there may not be any requirementto initiate proceedings for recoveryunder section 79,” the CBIC said.PTI

Beijing: Former Reserve Bankof India (RBI) governor UrjitPatel has been appointed as avice-president of the Beijing-based Asian InfrastructureInvestment Bank (AIIB), amultilateral funding institu-tion, according to sources inthe bank on Sunday.

India is a founding mem-ber of AIIB with the second-highest voting share afterChina. It is headed by the for-mer Chinese vice-minister forfinance, Jin Liqun.

Patel, 58, will be one of thefive vice-presidents of the AIIBwith a three-year tenure. He isexpected to take over his post-ing next month.

He will succeed outgoingvice-president D.J. Pandian,who is in charge of sovereignand non-sovereign lending ofthe AIIB in South Asia, thePacific Islands and South-EastAsia, AIIB sources told PTI.

Pandian, who has previ-ously served as the chief sec-retary of Gujarat, is set toreturn to India later this month.

Patel had taken over as the24th governor of the ReserveBank of India (RBI) succeedingRaghuram Rajan on September

5, 2016.Patel resigned in December

2018 on account of personalreasons, saying “I have decid-ed to step down from my cur-rent position effective imme-diately”.

Prior to taking over onSeptember 6, 2016, he was adeputy governor overseeingthe monetary policy depart-ment at the RBI under Rajanand was known as his inflation-warrior.

Patel has previouslyworked with the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF), BostonConsulting Group and RelianceIndustries among other organ-isations.

Patel’s posting to AIIB isregarded as significant as Indiahas emerged as its biggest ben-eficiary by obtaining USD 6.7billion funding for 28 pro-jects, Pandian said in hisfarewell luncheon interactionon Saturday.

Also, the AIIB along withthe Asian Development Bank(ADB) is processing a USDtwo-billion loan for India topurchase Covid-19 vaccines.

Of the USD two-billionloan, the Manila-based ADB is

expected to finance USD 1.5billion and AIIB is consideringproviding USD 500 million.

The AIIB had recentlygranted a USD 356.67 millionloan for the expansion of theChennai metro rail system. It isalso considering funding sev-eral other infrastructure pro-jects for the development ofChennai city and its suburbs.

The bank has also fundedthe Bengaluru metro rail pro-ject. In his farewell interaction,Pandian sought to dispel theimpression, especially in India,that the AIIB is a Chinesebank.

He said that the bank nowhas emerged as a multilateralbank becoming the leadfinancier of infrastructure pro-jects in Asia.

Except for the UnitedStates and Japan, most of thedeveloped and developingcountries have joined the bank,he said.

A readout on AIIB officialwebsite said the bank is a mul-tilateral development bankwhose mission is financing the‘Infrastructure for Tomorrow’with sustainability at its core. Agencies

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New Delhi: Realtors apex body CREDAI has sought var-ious tax sops to boost housing demand, includingincrease in the deduction limit for interest on home loansto �5 lakh from the current �2 lakh.

In its Budget recommendations to the FinanceMinistry, CREDAI which has around 13,000 developermembers, has also sought infrastructure status for the sec-tor and change in definition of affordable housing.

CREDAI's National President Harshvardhan Patodiaexpects the upcoming budget to give much-needed impe-tus to infrastructure development and housing by intro-ducing various amendments, relaxations and extensions."We urge the Finance Ministry to increase the interestdeduction for homebuyers for tax rebate under section24(B) to boost the overall home buying sentiment espe-cially in these difficult times with the onset of the thirdwave," Patodia said.

CREDAI also demanded amendment to Section 80Cunder the Income Tax Act to increase limit for repaymentof housing loan principal, reduction in income tax bur-den on rental housing and long-term capital gains on cap-ital assets. On interest deduction on home loans, CREDAIsaid that "in case of individuals, the interest in respect offirst self-occupied property should be allowed without anylimit." Alternatively, the limit for deduction of interestshould be increased to � 5 lakh in respect of the self-occu-pied property, it added. CREDAI said the limit of� 45 lakh on the value of property to qualify as affordablehousing renders housing in metros ineligible for the ben-efits under Section 80 IBA, which promotes the devel-opment of such low cost homes.

The limit on value of the unit be raised to �75 lakh(for non-metro cities) and �1.50 crore (for metro cities),it said. PTI

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Mumbai: Jeep India, which posted arobust 130 per cent volume growth lastyear despite a bumpy ride due to the pan-demic, is positive about the outlook forthe domestic automobile industry and isset to launch new products this year.

Besides, it anticipates the market togrow further notwithstanding concernsover the impact of the Omicron variant,Jeep India Head Nipun Mahajan.

Driven by the facelift version of SUVCompass in February 2021 and thelocally-assembled Wrangler, Jeep Indiasold 12,136 units in 2021 as compared to5,282 units in 2020. This reflects a 130 percent growth in its vehicle sales.

Jeep is a part of the portfolio ofbrands offered by leading and mobilityprovider Stellantis. Currently, Jeep brandhas two products in its India portfolio -- Compass and Wrangler. While ithas been producing Compass at theRanjangaon facility near Pune sinceJune 2017, the company started local-assembling of Wrangler from mid-Marchlast year from the same facility."We are pretty positive on the outlookbecause of the market resilience. In thelast 4-6 years, the market has gonethrough many ups and downs, adjustingto various factors but the bounce back ispretty good," Mahajan told PTI. PTI

New Delhi: Prices of air con-ditioners and refrigerators haveshot up in the new year as con-sumer durables makers pass onthe impact of rising raw mate-rial costs and higher freightcharges to customers, whilehome appliances like washingmachines may witness 5-10 percent price hike later this monthor by March.

Companies includingPanasonic, LG, Haier havealready reviewed pricesupwards, while other makerssuch as Sony, Hitachi, GodrejAppliances may take a call bythe end of this quarter.

According to theConsumer Electronics andAppliances ManufacturersAssociation (CEAMA), theindustry make hike prices fromJanuary to March in the rangeof 5-7 per cent. “With anunprecedented surge in thecost of commodities, globalfreight and raw materials, wehave taken steps to increaseprices of our products by 3 to5 per cent in the refrigerator,washing machines, and airconditioner categories,” HaierAppliances India PresidentSatish N S told PTI.Panasonic, which has alreadyincreased prices up to 8 percent for ACs, is consideringhikes further. It is also mullinga similar move for home appli-ances.

“Air Conditioners havealready seen a price hike of

around 8 per cent and this mayfurther go up depending on ris-ing costs of commodities andsupply chain. We can also seea reflection of price hike forhome appliances too in nearfuture,” said Panasonic IndiaDivisional Director, ConsumerElectronics Fumiyasu Fujimori.

South Korean consumerelectronics major LG, whichhas also increased prices in thehome appliances category, saida constant hike in input rawmaterial costs and logisticscost has been a concern.

“We have tried best toabsorb the same through costinnovations but prices need toincrease for business sustain-ability,” said LG ElectronicsIndia Vice President, HomeAppliances and AirConditioner Business Deepak

Bansal.Terming the price increase

“inevitable”, Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning IndiaChairman and ManagingDirector Gurmeet Singh saidbrands will hike prices up to 10per cent in phases by April onaccount of an increase in inputcosts including that of rawmaterials, taxes, and trans-portation.

“In a phased manner, up toApril, prices will go up by at least8-10 per cent. Prices have goneup from around the same timelast year December to this yearby nearly 6-7 per cent,” he saidadding “the onslaught of CostUp is continuing and now withanti dumping duties beingimposed on aluminium andrefrigerants, we see anotherincrease by 2-3 per cent”. PTI

New Delhi: Amazon has filedan appeal in the NationalCompany Law AppellateTribunal against the CCI orderthat suspended the over two-year-old approval for its dealwith Future Coupons Pvt Ltd,according to sources.

In December, fair traderegulator CompetitionCommission of India (CCI)had suspended the 2019approval for Amazon's deal toacquire a 49-per cent stake inFuture Coupons Pvt Ltd(FCPL), Future Retail Ltd'spromoter, while slapping apenalty of �202 crore on the e-commerce major.

Amazon and Future havebeen locked in a bitter legal tus-sle after the US e-commercegiant dragged Future Group toarbitration at the SingaporeInternational ArbitrationCentre (SIAC) in October 2020,arguing that FRL had violatedtheir contract by entering intoa deal for the sale of its assetsto billionaire Mukesh Ambani'sReliance Retail on a slump sale basis for � 24,713crore.

The NCLAT is an appellateauthority for the orders passedby the CCI. According tosources, Amazon has movedthe NCLAT and filed an appealagainst the CCI order that waspassed last month.

Emails sent to Amazonand Future did not elicit anyresponse. Last month, the CCI

had suspended the Amazon-FCPL deal saying that the USe-commerce major had sup-pressed information whileseeking clearances for thetransaction back then.

In a 57-page order, theCCI had said the approval forthe Amazon-Future Couponsdeal “shall remain in abeyance”.

Recently, Future Retail hadalso approached SIAC(Singapore InternationalArbitration Centre) to stay thearbitration proceedings basedon the order passed by theCCI. It had also approached theDelhi High Court after theSIAC declined to stay the arbi-tration proceedings scheduledon January 5-8.

SIAC is adjudicatingAmazon's objections againstFuture Group's Rs 24,713 croredeal with Reliance RetailVentures Ltd, a subsidiary ofReliance Industries Ltd,announced in August 2020 forsale of the retail and wholesalebusiness, and the logistics andwarehousing business. PTI

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B3�������� �������&�����A����&� ���,�&����0������London (PTI): Britain'sSecretary of State forInternational Trade Anne-Marie Trevelyan will launchfree trade agreement (FTA)negotiations during a visit toNew Delhi starting onWednesday, the UK govern-ment said on Sunday.

The Department forInternational Trade (DIT) saidthe schedule for the two-dayvisit to India will include bilat-eral talks between Trevelyanand Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal onThursday, when they areexpected to discuss a range ofissues including green tradeand the removal of marketaccess barriers for both UK andIndian businesses.

Both ministers are thenexpected to confirm the launch

of official negotiations on a newUK-India FTA.

"The UK and India arealready close friends and trad-ing partners, and building onthat strong relationship is a pri-ority for 2022, said Trevelyan.

"I will be using my visit todrive forward an ambitioustrade agenda which representsthe UK's Indo-Pacific tilt inaction and shows how we areseizing global opportunities asan independent tradingnation," she said.

"This is just the start of afive-star year of UK trade,forging closer economic part-nerships around the globe andnegotiating deals that work forbusinesses, families and con-sumers in every part of the UK,she added.

On Thursday, the UK min-

ister will join Goyal to co-hostthe 15th UK-India JointEconomic and TradeCommittee (JETCO) to reviewhow businesses in both coun-tries are benefiting from exist-ing market access commit-ments under the UK-IndiaEnhanced Trade Partnershipagreed last May by PrimeMinisters Boris Johnson andNarendra Modi.

The DIT said the UK TradeSecretary is expected to meetseveral Cabinet ministers todiscuss closer bilateral coop-eration, including ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankar,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman, and EnvironmentMinister Bhupender Yadav.

"This highlights the ongo-ing wider strategic importanceof the UK-India bilateral rela-

tionship which extends beyondtrade, the DIT said.

On Wednesday, Trevelyanwill meet staff at the NewDelhi site of British manufac-turing firm JCB to talk abouthow manufacturing and engi-neering firms could hugelybenefit from the UK-Indiatrade deal. The company aredubbed a UK export successstory , having been in India forover 40 years and employingover 5,000 people in country.

Later that day, the UKminister will also attend aDefence Industry roundtablehosted alongside DefenceSecretary Dr Ajay Kumar topromote future UK-Indiadefence collaboration andstrategic cooperation in theIndo-Pacific.

According to latest DIT

figures, total trade in goodsand services between the UKand India was GBP 23.3 bil-lion in 2019, making India theUK's 15th largest trading part-ner. Indian investment in theUK supports 95,000 jobsacross the country, with15,000 new jobs created byIndian investment in the lastthree years.

A trade deal could helpincrease this further and willplay a key role in our ambitionto double trade with India by2030, the UK government said.

It added: India is one of theworld's biggest and fastestgrowing economies and a boldnew deal would put UK busi-nesses at the front of the queueto export to India's growingmiddle class of a quarter of abillion consumers.

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Kazakhstan's HealthMinistry said on Sunday

that 164 people have beenkilled in protests that haverocked the country over thepast week.

The figures reported on thestate news channel Khabar-24are a significant rise from pre-vious tallies. It is not clear if thedeaths refer only to civilians orif law-enforcement deaths areincluded. Kazakh authoritiessaid earlier Sunday that 16police or national guard hadbeen killed. Authorities previ-ously gave the civilian death tollas 26.

Most of the deaths — 103— were in Almaty, the coun-try's largest city, where demon-strators seized Governmentbuildings and set some afire,according to the Ministry. Thecountry's ombudswoman forchildren's rights said that threeof those killed were minors,including a 4-year-old girl.

The Ministry earlierreported more than 2,200 peo-ple sought treatment forinjuries from the protests, andthe Interior Ministry said about1,300 security officers wereinjured.

The office of Kazakhstan'spresident said that about 5,800people were detained by policeduring the protests that devel-oped into violence last weekand prompted a Russia-ledmilitary alliance to send troops

to the country.President Kassym-Jomart

Tokayev's office said Sundaythat order has stabilized in thecountry and that authoritieshave regained control ofadministrative buildings thatwere occupied by protesters,some of which were set on fire.

The Russian TV stationMir-24 said sporadic gunfirewas heard in Almaty on Sundaybut it was unclear whetherthey were warning shots by lawenforcement. Tokayev onFriday said he had authorizedpolice and the military to shootto kill to restore order.

Almaty's airport, whichhad been taken by protesterslast week, remained closed butwas expected to resume oper-

ating on Monday.Protests over a sharp rise in

prices of LPG fuel began in thecountry's west on Jan. 2 andspread throughout the country,apparently reflecting discontentextending beyond the fuelprices.

The same party has ruledKazakhstan since indepen-dence from the Soviet Union in1991. Any figures aspiring tooppose the government haveeither been repressed, side-lined, or co-opted and financialhardship is widespread despiteKazakhstan's enormousreserves of oil, natural gas,uranium and minerals.

Tokayev contends thedemonstrations were ignited by“terrorists” with foreign back-

ing, although the protests haveshown no obvious leaders ororganization. The statementfrom his office on Sunday saidthe detentions included “a siz-able number of foreign nation-als,” but gave no details.

It was unclear how many ofthose detained remained incustody on Sunday.

The former head ofKazakhstan's counterintelli-gence and anti-terror agencyhas been arrested on charges ofattempted government over-throw. The arrest of KarimMasimov, which wasannounced Saturday, came justdays after he was removed ashead of the National SecurityCommittee by Tokayev.

No details were given about

what Masimov was alleged tohave done that would consti-tute an attempted governmentoverthrow. The NationalSecurity Committee, a succes-sor to the Soviet-era KGB, isresponsible for counterintelli-gence, the border guards ser-vice and anti-terror activities.

Authorities say securityforces killed 26 demonstratorsin this week's unrest and that16 law-enforcement officersdied.

At Tokayev's request, theCollective Security TreatyOrganization, a Russia-led mil-itary alliance of six formerSoviet states, authorized send-ing about 2,500 mostly Russiantroops to Kazakhstan as peace-keepers.

Some of the force is guard-ing government facilities inthe capital, Nur-Sultan, which“made it possible to release partof the forces of Kazakhstani lawenforcement agencies and rede-ploy them to Almaty to par-ticipate in the counter-terror-ist operation,” according to astatement from Tokayev'soffice.

In a sign that the demon-strations were more deeplyrooted than just the fuel pricerise, many demonstratorsshouted “Old man out,” a ref-erence to NursultanNazarbayev, who was presidentfrom Kazakhstan's indepen-dence until he resigned in 2019and anointed Tokayev as hissuccessor.

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The UK crossed anothergrim Covid-19 milestone

after recording 150,000 deathssince the pandemic hit thecountry in 2020, even as theOmicron variant surge contin-ues with a further 1,46,390daily infections and 313 deathson Saturday.

British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson said the coron-avirus pandemic has "taken aterrible toll on our country" ashe renewed his appeal for peo-ple to get vaccinated andthanked the National HealthService (NHS) for its life-sav-ing efforts.

"Each and every one ofthose is a profound loss to thefamilies, friends, and commu-nities and my thoughts andcondolences are with them,"said Johnson.

"Our way out of this pan-demic is for everyone to gettheir booster or their first orsecond dose if they haven't yet.I want to thank everyone in theNHS and all the volunteerswho have come forward to helpwith our country's vaccine pro-gramme," he said.

Opposition Labour LeaderSir Keir Starmer described thefigure as a "dark milestone" forthe UK.

"Our thoughts are with allthose who have lost someone

and we thank everyone forsupporting the vaccinationeffort," he said. He also reiter-ated calls for a public inquiryto take place to "provideanswers" and ensure "lessonsare learned".

It comes as the UK'sEducation Secretary, NadhimZahawi, became the firstCabinet minister to suggestfurther cutting down the seven-day self-isolation period formild Covid cases to five days asthe country was on the roadfrom “pandemic to endemic”.

The US recently shortenedthe self-isolation period to fivedays, but Zahawi pointed outthat it was important toremember that in the UK iso-lation begins when you getsymptoms while in the US it

starts from when you test pos-itive.

He told the BBC that theUK Health Security Agency(UKHSA) had said that theremight be a higher spike if theperiod was cut from seven tofive days but the governmentwould keep the “measure underreview” as staff absences due toself-isolation continue to pilesignificant pressure on frontlineservices.

However, Scottish FirstMinister Nicola Sturgeon saidsuch a move would be an"utterly wrongheaded"approach to dealing with coro-navirus.

"Hard to imagine muchthat would be less helpful totrying to 'live with' COVID,"she tweeted.

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Nyayiar Kuol cradled herseverely malnourished 1-

year-old daughter as they trav-eled for 16 hours on a crowd-ed barge to the nearest hospi-tal to their home in rural SouthSudan.

For months she had beenfeeding her four children justonce a day, unable to cultivatebecause of disastrous floodingand without enough food assis-tance from the government oraid groups. She worries herdaughter might die.

“I don't want to thinkabout what could happen,” shesaid.

Seated on her hospital bedin Old Fangak town in hard-hitJonglei state, the 36-year-oldKuol tried to calm her daugh-ter while blaming the govern-ment for not doing more.Nearly two years have passedsince South Sudan formed acoalition government as part ofa fragile peace deal to end afive-year civil war that plungedpockets of the country intofamine, and yet Kuol said noth-ing has changed.

“If this country was reallyat peace, there wouldn't behunger like there is now,” shesaid.

More people will facehunger this year in South

Sudan than ever, said aidgroups. That's because of theworst floods in 60 years, as wellas conflict and the sluggishimplementation of the peaceagreement that has deniedmuch of the country basic ser-vices.

“2021 was the worst yearsince independence in the 10years of the life of this countryand 2022 will be worse. Foodinsecurity is at horrific levels,”said Matthew Hollingworth,country representative for theWorld Food Program in SouthSudan.

While the latest food secu-rity report by aid groups andthe government has yet to bereleased, several aid officialsfamiliar with the situation saidpreliminary data show thatnearly 8.5 million people — outof the country's 12 million —will face severe hunger, an 8%

increase from last year. Theofficials spoke on condition ofanonymity because theyweren't authorized to speak tothe media.

Aid officials say worstaffected Fangak county is nowas bad as Pibor county was thistime last year, when globalfood security experts said some30,000 Pibor residents werelikely in famine.

During trips to three SouthSudan states in December,some civilians and govern-ment officials expressed con-cern to The Associated Pressthat people were beginning tostarve to death.

In October, a mother andher child died in Pulpham vil-lage because they didn't havefood, said Jeremiah Gatmai, thehumanitarian representativefor the government in OldFangak.

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The death toll due tounprecedented snowfall

and influx of tourists inPakistan's popular hill stationof Murree reached 23 onSunday, even as rescuersramped up efforts to evacuatethousands of trapped picnick-ers from the scenic snow-bound mountain resort inPunjab province.

Thousands of people visit-ed Murree after the picturesquetown, about 60 kilometres fromhere and located at the foothillsof the Himalayas inRawalpindi, received a record-breaking snowfall, leaving thelocal administration helplessand freezing to death at least 22people, including 10 children,in their stranded vehicles onSaturday.

Punjab Chief MinisterUsman Buzdar, after takingan aerial view of the area tohave firsthand knowledge ofthe situation, announced onSunday that the rescue workwould continue until the lastperson was rescued.

"Every Pakistani is sad-dened by the tragic incidentthat took place in Murree. Allsympathies of the Punjab gov-ernment are with the familiesof the deceased," Buzdar said.

He ordered an official

probe to fix the responsibilityfor the tragedy and alsoannounced Rs 800,000 as com-pensation for the people whodied in the calamity.

The death of a four-year-old girl has pushed the toll to23. The minor girl died in JhikaGali. She was suffering fromsevere cold and pneumonia,according to rescue sources,adding that she lost her life asshe could not be rushed to thehospital in time.

Rescue officials told GeoNews at least 23 people havedied thus far as vehicles con-tinue to remain trapped inseveral feet of snow. The tollwas later confirmed by InteriorMinister Sheikh RasheedAhmed in a statement on

Saturday night.The minister said that the

situation can only be describedas a "natural calamity" andthat the area had witnessed"extreme snowfall".

The cars were preventedfrom moving on to Murree,people began proceeding thereon foot, and they too werestopped, he said. The ministersaid that the deaths were causeddue to "suffocation".

According to officials, over142,000 vehicles had enteredMurree by Saturday but alltravellers could not reach themain city and their hotels.

An unprecedented snow-storm clogged the two roadsleading to Murree fromIslamabad, they said.

New York: More than 800,000noncitizens and “Dreamers”in New York City will haveaccess to the ballot box — andcould vote in municipal elec-tions as early as next year —after Mayor Eric Adamsallowed legislation to auto-matically become law Sunday.

Opponents have vowed tochallenge the new law, whichthe City Council approved amonth ago. Unless a judgehalts its implementation, NewYork City is the first major U.S.City to grant widespreadmunicipal voting rights tononcitizens.

More than a dozen com-munities across the U.S.Already allow noncitizens tocast ballots in local elections,including 11 towns inMaryland and two in Vermont.

Noncitizens still wouldn'tbe able to vote for president ormembers of Congress in federalraces, or in the state electionsthat pick the governor, judgesand legislators.

The Board of Electionsmust now begin drawing animplementation plan by July,including voter registrationrules and provisions that wouldcreate separate ballots formunicipal races to preventnoncitizens from casting ballotsin federal and state contests.

It's a watershed momentfor the nation's most populouscity, where legally documented,voting-age noncitizens com-prise nearly one in nine of thecity's 7 million voting-ageinhabitants. The movement towin voting rights for nonciti-zens prevailed after numeroussetbacks.

The measure would allownoncitizens who have beenlawful permanent residents ofthe city for at least 30 days, aswell as those authorized towork in the U.S., including"Dreamers,” to help select thecity's mayor, city council mem-bers, borough presidents,comptroller and public advo-cate.

“Dreamers” are youngimmigrants brought to the U.S.Illegally as children who wouldbenefit from the never-passedDREAM Act or the DeferredAction for Childhood Arrivalsprogram, which allows them toremain in the country if theymeet certain criteria.

The first elections in whichnoncitizens would be allowedto vote are in 2023.

“We build a strongerdemocracy when we includethe voices of immigrants,” saidformer City CouncilmemberYdanis Rodriguez, who led thecharge to win approval for thelegislation. AP

Washington:With the fate ofUkraine and potentially broad-er post-Cold War Europeanstability at stake, the UnitedStates and Russia are holdingcritical strategic talks that couldshape the future of not onlytheir relationship but the rela-tionship between the U.S. Andits NATO allies. Prospects arebleak.

Though the immediacy ofthe threat of a Russian invasionof Ukraine will top the agendain a series of high-level meet-ings that get underway onMonday, there is a litany of fes-tering but largely unrelateddisputes, ranging from armscontrol to cybercrime anddiplomatic issues, forWashington and Moscow toovercome if tensions are toease. And the recent deploy-ment of Russian troops toKazakhstan may cast a shadowover the entire exercise.

With much at risk andboth warning of dire conse-quences of failure, the twosides have been positioningthemselves for what will be anearly unprecedented flurryof activity in Europe this week.Yet the wide divergence intheir opening positions bodesill for any type of speedy reso-lution, and levels of distrustappear higher than at any point

since the collapse of the SovietUnion.

U.S. Officials on Saturdayunveiled some details of theadministration's stance, whichseem to fall well short ofRussian demands. The officialssaid the U.S. Is open to discus-sions on curtailing possiblefuture deployments of offensivemissiles in Ukraine and puttinglimits on American and NATOmilitary exercises in EasternEurope if Russia is willing toback off on Ukraine.

But they also said Russiawill be hit hard with econom-ic sanctions should it intervenein Ukraine. In addition todirect sanctions on Russianentities, those penalties couldinclude significant restrictionson products exported fromthe U.S. To Russia and poten-tially foreign-made productssubject to U.S. Jurisdiction.

Russia wants the talks ini-

tially to produce formally bind-ing security guarantees foritself with a pledge that NATOwill not further expand east-ward and the removal of U.S.Troops and weapons fromparts of Europe. But the U.S.And its allies say those are non-starters intentionally designedby Moscow to distract anddivide. They insist that anyRussian military interventionin Ukraine will prompt “mas-sive consequences” that willdramatically disrupt Russia'seconomy even if they haveglobal ripple effects.

In a bid to forestall effortsby Russia to sow discord in theWest, the Biden administrationhas gone out of its way to stressthat neither Ukraine norEurope more broadly will beexcluded from any discussionof Ukraine's or Europe's secu-rity.

AP

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New York: In a yet another caseof suspected hate crime, anIndian-origin Sikh taxi driverin the US has been assaulted byan unidentified man, whoknocked off his turban and alsoused expletives against himoutside the JFK InternationalAirport here, according to avideo on social media.

The undated 26-secondvideo was uploaded by NavjotPal Kaur on micro-bloggingsite Twitter on January 4, show-ing a man assaulting the Sikhtaxi driver outside the airport.

She said the video wasshot by a bystander at the air-port.

The person can be heardallegedly using expletivesagainst the victim. He repeat-edly hits and punches him andknocks off his turban.

“This video was taken by abystander at John F. KennedyInternational Airport. I do notown the rights to this video. ButI just wanted to highlight thefact that hatred continues toremain in our society andunfortunately I've seen Sikh cabdrivers get assaulted again andagain,” Kaur tweeted.

Further details about thedriver or the cause of the inci-dent were not available.

Terming the incident as

"deeply disturbing", India'sConsulate General here saidthat it has taken up the matterwith the US authorities andurged them to investigate theincident.

“The assault against a Sikhtaxi driver in New York isdeeply disturbing. We havetaken up the matter with USauthorities and urged them toinvestigate this violent inci-dent,” the Consulate General ofIndia in New York tweeted onSaturday.

The video has led to angryreactions by the communitymembers.

“Another Sikh cab driverassaulted. This one at JFKAirport in NYC. So upsettingto see. But it's crucial that wedon't look away… What I amsure of is how painful it is towatch our fathers and elders getassaulted while they're just try-ing to live an honest life.

“For those who aren't Sikh,I can't put into words what itmeans to have your turbanknocked off — or to see some-one else's turban knocked off.It's visceral and gut-wrenchingand just so disheartening towitness,” Simran Jeet Singh,author and Director for theAspen Institute's InclusiveAmerica Project, tweeted. PTI

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Intelligence reports compiledby the US Capitol Police in

the days before last year's insur-rection envisioned only animprobable or remote risk ofviolence, even as other assess-ments warned that crowds ofpotentially thousands of pro-Trump demonstrators couldconverge in Washington tocreate a dangerous situation.

The documents underscorethe uneven and muddled intel-ligence that circulated toCapitol Police officers ahead ofthe January 6 riot, when thou-sands of Donald Trump loyal-ists swarmed the Capitol com-plex and clashed violently withlaw enforcement officers intheir effort to disrupt the cer-tification of the results of the2020 presidential election.

The intelligence reports inparticular show how the policeagency for days grievouslyunderestimated the prospect ofchaotic violence and disrup-tions.

The contradictory intelli-gence produced by lawenforcement leading up to theriot has been at the forefront ofcongressional scrutiny aboutthe January 6 preparations andresponse, with officials strug-

gling to explain how they failedto anticipate and plan for thedeadly riot at the Capitol thatday.

The shortcomings led toupheaval at the top ranks of thedepartment, including theouster of the then-chief —though the assistant chief incharge of protective and intel-ligence operations at the timeremains in her position.

There was, according to aharshly critical Senate reportissued last June, “a lack of con-sensus about the gravity of thethreat posed on January 6,2021.”

“Months following theattack on the US Capitol, thereis still no consensus amongUSCP officials about the intel-ligence reports' threat analysisahead of January 6, 2021,” thereport stated.

The conclusions of thedaily intelligence reports havebeen described in congres-sional testimony and in theSenate report. But the AP onFriday evening obtained fullversions of the documents forJanuary 4, 5 and 6, marked as“For Official Use Only,” of lastyear.

On each of the three days,the documents showed, theCapitol Police ranked as “high-

ly improbable” the probabilityof acts of civil disobedience andarrests arising from the “Stopthe Steal” protest planned forthe Capitol.

The documents rankedthat event and gatheringsplanned by about 20 differentother organisers on a scale of“remote” to “nearly certain” interms of the likelihood of majordisruptions.

All were rated as either“remote," “highly improbable,"or “improbable,” the docu-ments show.

“No further informationhas been found to the exactactions planned by this group,”the January 6 report says aboutabout the “Stop the Steal” rally.

The Million MAGA Marchplanned by Trump supportersis rated in the document as“improbable,” with officialssaying it was “possible” thatorganizers could demonstrateat the Capitol complex, and thatthough there had been talk ofcounter-demonstrators, thereare “no clear plans by thosegroups at this time.”

Those optimistic forecastsare tough to square with sepa-rate intelligence assessmentscompiled by the Capitol Policein late December and earlyJanuary.

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����������A spin-off series that takes place after James Gunn's soft

reboot of The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker will explore theorigins of John Cena's anti-heroic titular character, and fol-low the subsequent missions he undertakes for the secretUS Government organisation known as Task Force X. Thesuper-hero comedy drama will premiere on January 13 onHBO Max.

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Van Helsing's mysterious new invention transformsDrac and his pals into humans, and Johnny into a mon-ster. With their new mismatched bodies, Drac and the packmust find a way to switch themselves back before their trans-formations become permanent. It will premiere on January14 on Amazon Prime Video.

������ �Set in the aftermath of Avengers: Endgame, the Marvel

movie follows a new superhero group – the Eternals, fun-nily enough – as they step up in the Avengers' absence andseek to avert another potentially world-ending disaster. Thefilm starts premiering on January12 on Disney+Hotstar.

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The season for new reality shows, events and web seriesseems to have become a rage, especially amidst these

times, where people love to binge-watch shows and webseries at their convenience from the confines of their homes.This is definitely thenew trend, whichpicked up pace afteralmost everythingmoved digital. Newertimes need newersolutions to every-thing, includingmedia and entertain-ment, which is whyproducers and direc-tors are leaving nostone unturned tomake sure they createcontent, which cancompel people towatch it and be high-ly engaged with it.

One such webseries has beenreleased online named Extreme Survivors, which featuresthe TV personality Prince Narula as the host, wrestler AnujChaudhary and Roadies fame Kashish Thakur. The webseries has been directed and produced by SharadChaudhary, also a casting director and entertainment entre-preneur.

Extreme Survivors is making all the buzz for all the rightreasons, for the kind of entertainment it promises to audi-ences who love adventure and high-octane stunts and tasks.Chaudhary thinks it was high time to offer audiences some-thing refreshing and new, and that's how they came up withthe idea of the reality show. VIPs Entertainment andProduction has presented the same. Narula was roped into manage the hats of the host and mentor, along with HrituZee as the co-host.

(Extreme Survivors Season 1 is available online withthe TV and movie app named VIS Entertainment.)

In the last year we have witnessed asignificant shift within our commu-

nity. Being an extramarital datingapp, Gleeden is mostly used by indi-viduals who are married or in a long-term relationship seeking for addingsome spice into their love lives, beingthis either a real-life affair or just a vir-tual flirt. And even though the major-ity of users continue to belong to thisprofile type, not necessarily they aredoing it without the consent of theirpartners. According to one of our lat-est studies, 55 per cent of users believethat monogamy is a social constructand over 47 per cent among them haveopened up with the consent of theirpartners. This means that the couplehave decided to grant each other(together or separately) the possibili-ty of straying away. These adventuresare meant to be short-term and not toundermine the existing relationship.

Privacy as a luxury goodAnother trend that we have been

witnessing within the users is theincrease of singles using extramaritaldating apps.

Last year, the application wit-nessed an increase in the number ofsingle users. People who were oncemarried or in a long-term relationshipthat have now changed their maritalstatus to ‘divorced’, ‘separated’ or ‘sin-gle’ and wish to go back to dating with-out everybody in their circles know-ing it.

After being locked down formonths with the family, privacy hasbecome a luxury good that people arenow valuing more than ever. Not nec-essarily because they are doing some-thing forbidden or frown-upon by thesociety, but simply because in an erawhere everybody noses into eachother's businesses through social

media, the privacy of doing somethingand keeping it private has becomemore and more important, especiallywhen it comes to something as sensi-tive and personal as dating.

The lockdown-induced severalrestrictions and other public healthmeasures taken amid the global healthcrisis have, certainly, accelerated theshift towards online dating. Earlier, itwas restricted to physical means only,however, recent times have made wayfor dating virtually. Getting the oppor-tunity to meet new people on theromantic front from the solace of one’shouse is, positively, a welcome choicefor the generation who inclines moretowards instant gratification.

Here are a few notable findingsfrom a recent survey of dating trendsfor this year by QuackQuack:

Online dating a stress buster forsingles

People lost the probability of meet-ing, rather running into their poten-tial partners during the first wave of thepandemic. Consequently, the loss andloneliness in the lives of the individu-als fueled a longing to find ways to con-nect more, relieve stress and cometogether even if it is behind screens,thus, there could be witnessed a surgein the numbers of users of online dat-ing apps. According to the survey, agrowing number of people, especiallysingles, are utilising the opportunity ofgetting to know someone closelybefore taking things forward physical-ly, owing to the help of dating apps.This helps save time, energy, resourcesas well as proves to be a real stress-

buster for them in times of stress.As per the report, nearly 73 per

cent of single respondents will alwayssee virtual dating as a low-pressure wayto sow seeds of love for someone whencompared to dating traditionally. While75 per cent say that it can be a realstressbuster, approximately 61 percent feel that it is much easier to makeconnections online, thereby, boostingrelationships. Usage of dating apps ismuch higher, around 20 per cent percent, among people who suffer fromsocial anxiety or who are simply intro-verts. Online dating basically solves aproblem of loneliness that happens tobe compounded, especially now morethan ever, due to the lethal variants ofthe Covid-19 virus. It wouldn’t bewrong to state that dating platforms aresignificant tools for building relation-ships in times of crisis.

Virtual is where we liveMany a times, not surprisingly, one

may not feel like heading out for a dateand blowing cash on a fancy cocktail,even if it means finding ‘the one’ .Theperiod of lockdown, certainly, broughtinundation of online dates, and asolid number of daters are wanting tobring them into post-pandemic life aswell, primarily due to the convenienceassociated with it. Over 51 per cent ofusers feel that they will probably con-tinue virtual dating even after they’d beable to meet up safely, which, perhaps,perfectly makes sense. Online datingoffers individuals a golden opportuni-ty to vibe-check a match without hav-ing to leave their comfort zones. They

can do a simple screening without eveninvesting much efforts as well asmoney that a traditional first date oftenrequires.When it comes to building anew relationship, online dating puts theusers firmly in the driving seat. Theydecide who they’d like to meet to buildfurther connections with. One of itsbenefits is that individuals get tounderstand the other person bettereven before interacting with them inreality. Therefore, a whopping number,around 73 per cent people believe thatthe future of online dating lookspromising. It is, indeed, here to stay asvirtual is the new reality today.

Long distance matches are inWith most people now working

from their hometowns and peoplespreading out, we’re seeing usersexpand their match criteria and searchfor matches pan-India. Three out offive women are expanding their matchcriteria to other cities as well. In a sur-vey conducted, 60 per cent users areokay with matches from other cities aswell.

Friendship is the new datingThe pandemic has surprisingly

given a new vibe to dating apps.While there are people looking for seri-ous and casual dates, more people arenow using dating apps to find andmake new friends. Friendships aresomewhere in between casual and seri-ous dating and this gives immenseopportunity for singles to chat, inter-act and build healthy relationshipswhile not actually dating. 43 per centwomen and 35 per cent men who weresurveyed said they joined the appbecause they wanted to make newfriends. This new-found love for makenew friends on dating apps is boundto grow as we go into 2022.

It is, indeed, a great start of the yearfor Bollywood star Tahir RajBhasin. The actor not only showed

his acting prowess with the recentlyreleased 83, but also showcases apromising line-up of films and shows.

Bhasin garnered a lot of appreci-ation for his role as the Little Master.From playing an antagonist inMardaani and Force 2, he hasembarked now on a romantic journeywith his forthcoming lead roles.

Read on for excerpts from aninterview about his experience in 83and more:

�83 has been highly appreciated byaudience. More so, because it evokesnostalgia of a great event in Indiancricket history.

Do you feel drawn to the history? Yes, 100 per cent. I mean, the

decision to do 83 was an emotionalone. It wasn't an actor's decision. Onlybecause of the nostalgic value. Andwhen I read the script, I had goose-bumps. And the thought that I hadwas that this is the feeling that it'sgoing to leave the audience with. DoI want to be a part of the team thatbrought the audience that feeling? Ofcourse.

When they said you're going to beSunil Gavaskar, it was a no brainer. Idefinitely relate to the nostalgia, thewholesome feeling that the film leavesyou with. And the fact that, you know,I wasn't born in 83, but I felt like I havegrown up with it as a part of my his-tory. So to be able to represent it fora whole new generation was just aonce in a lifetime opportunity.

�How was it acting in a periodpiece?

The first thing that you have to getused to when you're dealing with aperiod piece is the language. There arecertain words that you don't use, thereare certain mannerisms which arevery modern. Now, technology hashad a huge influence in how we con-nect, so you try and avoid those. Andthe challenge really, very deeply, wasnot only is it a period film, but you'rerecreating history.

So, you know that there are twothings that this country is crazyabout — one is film and the other oneis cricket. And when you try and com-

bine both of them, there is going tobe, you know, judgement there. Thereare going to be comparisons. Thechallenge is to overcome those.

�This is the second time you play acricketer after Kai Po Che. Do youhave an affinity for the game and doyou play?

No, you know, that's just an iron-ic coincidence. I'm not from a crick-eting background. In Kai Po Che, itwas just one shot. So that was just likea one day shoot.

But it's funny how life has comefull circle, because in that film, I wasan opener for the Indian team then.And Sunil Gavaskar was opening in83 (laughs).

�You portrayed the role of theLittle Master. What were some partsof the role you loved and some chal-lenges you faced?

I'm sure the challenge really washow to play cricket like him(chuckles) and how to makeyour physicality similar.You need to know howto exactly walk ontothe field, how towear the gloves,how to smile, all ofthat. That involveswatching a lot ofarchived footage,trying to pinpointwhat manner-isms are break-ing them down,watching themin slowmotion.

And asfar as thec r i c ke t i ngwas con-cerned, weh a dB a lw i n d e rS i n g hSandhu, whowas part of theoriginal cricketteam in 1983, whowas with us as our coach andhe had his cricket associate,Rajiv Mehra.

What I really did was Ibroke the strokes down like a

sports choreography. One cricketstroke was broken down into four orfive moves and I would practise thatweek after week because I was notfrom a cricket background. And thenultimately, like a choreography, put allthe dance moves together and get the

cricket strokes and the walk and thegloves and, and all of that, right.

And, the dramatic challengewas that Sunil Gavaskar was themost experienced and the seniormost player in the team, but inreal life, all the actors were thesame age. So, to bring out a per-sona, who is slightly more mature,

slightly more reserved, a littlemore experienced, especially in theconflict scene with the party, was chal-lenging. I was so fortunate that therewere celebrated actors all around me

whether it was Ranveer or whetherit was Pankaj sir. That only brings

out the best in you as an actor.The biggest reward orvalidation was when

Sunil sir himselfwatched the

film at thepre m i e re .When Ih u g g e dhim, hetold me he

saw himselfin the part I

played. Andafter that, no

other feedbackreally mattered.

�Watching thefilm was a lot of

fun. The teamwould joke around

with each other.How was shoot-ing like?

It wasincredible fun!

The best part aboutdoing a film like this isthat you come backwith shared memo-ries. You’ve made abond for life.

I mean, this isn'tfiction. This is reallyhow it was for the

team in ‘83. That,

no matter what the dynamic was,whether they were winning or losing,when they were on field, they wereall part of one team, and they wereplaying for India.

�How real was all of this?I’d say, all of it! The only drama-

tised aspect of the film was, youknow, when you have music comingin, and when you put dramatisedslow motion shots. But all of it, eventhe scene with with the soldiers, thefact that there were riots going on inparts of the country, all of it is real.And I think, that's the great thingabout having a director like KabirKhan because he's so well researchedwith a subject and also to have sucha large star cast and everyone is anestablished star in their own respec-tive fields, to give each player andeach moment its due time in theensemble is really an act of genius.

�Tell us about your new shows,Ranjish Hi Sahi on Voot Select andYe Kaali Kaali Aankhein on Netflix,both releasing in January.

This is also a period drama,based in the 70s. It was created byMahesh Bhatt and every time there’sa Bhatt love story, he blurs the linesbetween what is and what is notsocially acceptable. It’s a love trian-gle between who the director,Shankar, is married to at the time anda diva.

I’ve also been blown away by thereaction that the audience had hadtowards Ye Kaali Kaali Ankhein’steaser. The series starts off as aromantic drama but progresses intoa psychological thriller. Vikrant is thename of my character.

Entering into the love space isvery exciting. It’s a hat trick forromance with the above two andLooop Lapeta a little later in the year.

�What is one difference you'vefelt working for OTT shows/filmsand theatre?

The great thing about OTT thatit gives you the length to explore acharacter in a story more than a fea-ture film.

To be able to jump genres likethat in Ye Kaali Kaali Ankhein — thatis incredible for the craft.

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Back in the 80s, Bhuri Bai, alongwith her husband and othermembers from her village,

worked as labourers in the construc-tion of Bharat Bhavan — a multi-artcomplex — founded in 1982 in Bhopal,Madhya Pradesh. Often, duringbreaks, she and several members of thegroup painted on the spare bricks andstones as their favourite pass time. Atthe construction site, JagdishSwaminathan — an artist, painter, poetand writer — who played an impor-tant role in the establishment of theBharat Bhawan, came across theirbeautiful paintings. Propelled by theirart, he asked them to illustrate the cus-toms of their community throughpainting.

As the Bhil community decoratedtheir clay walled houses with beauti-

ful paintings, Bhuri and others fromthe community took this chance andcreated some outstanding pieces.Initially, they received �10 in cash forthe work. Impressed by Bhuri’s paint-ings, Swaminathan encouraged her tomake more and set her on a path tobegin her life as a professional artist.Once, she received �1,500 for each ofthe 10 paintings. The amount was larg-er than what she had earned whileworking as a daily wage labourer foryears. From this point, there was noturning back for Bhuri.

“I could not believe that someonewould pay me so much money just tosit comfortably and paint,” sheexpressed. This first woman artist fromthe Bhil community was born in Pitolvillage in the Jhabua district of MadhyaPradesh. Recently, in 2021, shereceived the Padma Shri award, thefourth highest civilian award in India.This brilliant artist, who depicts theculture of the Bhil tribe on walls andcanvas, has been honoured with sev-eral state and national awards.

Bhuri’s paintings are highly influ-enced by her surroundings and her lifejourney. “While painting, I feel adeep sense of gratitude towards somany types of grains and plants thatgrow on earth. Painting these gives mea feeling of worshipping the newgrains as my parents did when I wasyoung,” she said and added, “Sincechildhood, on the occasion of a festi-val or a marriage, I made stamps onthe wall of the house by dipping my fistin white clay, which is called sarkala.”

Bhuri had a tough childhood.Her parents had very little land foragriculture and it was difficult to sur-vive. Soon, Bhuri, along with herelder sister, started going to their land-

lord’s field for weeding. “The landlordwould give us a rupee for weeding thewhole day. But work at the landlord’sfield was also not always available,” sheinformed.

Most of the time, both the sistersaccumulated peepul leaves and driedtwigs from the forest and took that bun-dle to Dahod in Gujarat and sold it at��two a kilo. They would reach Dahodby catching the Sabarmati Express at 11in the morning from the Anas railwaystation, approximately four to fivekilometres from the village, and wouldreturn to Anas after catching the sametrain from Dahod in the evening.

“We worked very hard to meet theexpenses of our household. We werestruggling to arrange even two mealsa day,” said Bhuri. To run the house-hold, her father would arrange thenecessities on credit from a business-man’s shop in Pitol. The loan that couldnever be settled. As a way of payingback, Bhuri’s father agreed to go toDahod to work on the construction ofthe house to be built for the business-man’s younger brother. He took both,Bhuri and her elder sister, alongwith him to work. “After shifting toDahod, we got involved in construc-tion work and, in the meantime, I gotmarried at 16. Soon after marriage, Imoved to Bhopal with my husband,Johar Singh, who was also a daily wagelabourer,” she said.

This shift proved to be momen-tous as she was engaged in the con-struction of Bharat Bhavan alongwith her husband. Bhuri is a source ofmotivation for lakhs of tribal artists.Once a wage labourer, today she getsinvitations to showcase her paintingsacross the world.

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The pandemic has given riseto a wave of toxic positivi-

ty, an excessive overgeneralisa-tion of happiness in any givensituation that has made reassur-ing platitudes almostinescapable. In the last fewmonths, data suggests that anx-iety and depression along withother mental health problemshave surged to historic levels.Adding toxic positivity to themix may only exacerbate therising tide of negative emotionaround us. The sudden enor-mous sweep of face-tuned pic-ture-perfect posts, positive mes-sages, reels, videos and livebroadcasts on social media aremaking everyone feel the needto be happy all the time irre-spective of experiencing thehighest or lowest of lows in life.

THE DARK SIDE OF POSITIVEVIBES

The idea of positivity is sodeeply rooted in our culture thatreal human experiences aresilenced through an unreason-able desire to be always positive.Injecting minds — that arealready dealing with anxiety,fear and more — with an over-dose of positivity through socialmedia can make us believe thatany feeling other than happinessisn’t valid at all. It cannot bedenied that a positive outlooktowards life is good for the over-all mental well-being. But the

idea of the need to maintain alevel of happiness, and not feelany flipside emotions, is high-ly toxic.

Further, denying truth leadsto an illusionary world that is asham. It results in losing con-nection with ourselves as well as

making it difficult for others toconnect and relate to us. Hidingtrue feelings, dismissing anemotion, feeling guilty for youremotions, shaming others forexpressing anything other thanpositivity and more, could besigns of toxic positivity. It placesunexplainable stress on theimportance of optimism anddenies any trace of humanemotions that aren’t happy orpositive.

ESCAPING THE TOXIC TRAPTo avoid the toxic trap, it is

always important to know thatwhile you are consumingsomeone’s social media feed,you are just witnessing one sideof the coin. What we see onsocial media is not always thewhole picture as people want toput their best foot forwardthere. If someone’s posts aretaking a toll on your mentaland physical well-being, unfol-low. It’s hard to identify themoment positivity turns toxic.Be aware of how much timeyou’re spending on socialmedia platforms. If you’ve seentoo many filtered images of joyin a day, pause.

Write about how you feel.Seeing things on paper help usreach a more logical, rationalperspective and get an insight.It is believed that when ideasare translated into a language,it can help to diminish self-defeating voices.

Healthy positivity is aboutleaving adequate space for neg-ative emotions and being com-

fortable with them. Theattempt to escape or mute thenegative and chase happinesscan backfire in more than oneway. Seek wellness therapies.Remember, it takes courage torecognise your true feelings. Itmay take time, but it will buildyour muscle to resilience andauthenticity and give you trueidentity.

TOWARDS A ROBUST EMOTION-AL LIFE

Many psychological studiessuggest that suppressed emo-tions can later result in anxiety,depression and even physicalil lness. It’s important toacknowledge the reality of ouremotions openly and honestlyto embrace all of ourselves, beit good, bad or ugly.

Reach out to a qualifiedmental health professional whocan help you open the flood-gates, think through, and dis-cover solutions by examiningyour challenges. Emotions areto be dealt with and not burieddown in oneself. Last, remem-ber, by insisting on the mono-chromatic idea of being happyall the time, we are not onlyhurting ourselves but also thepeople around us, whom wecare for.

(The author is the founderof Let Us Talk and a mental

and emotional well-being coach.)

It is rightly said that ‘Love makes the world go round’.Isn’t it true that without love, our lives seem dry and

empty? Without it, we can neither see the beauty in cre-ation nor can we find our inner beauty. After all, love iswhat we are all about. That is why Mahatma Gandhi hasrightly said that ‘Where there is love, there is life’. Thedeep-seated human desire to love and to be loved lies atthe core of all emotions and dictates the world aroundus. It is the wish to expe-rience this pure exchangethat drives people to raisefamilies, be part of socialcircles and connect withothers. The same inten-tion has also given birthto modern means ofcommunication, a bom-bardment in online inter-action through email andsocial networking sites.And yet in this age ofcommunication, we see aparallel reverse trenddominating our socialscene. This is manifestedin disintegration leadingto the formation ofnuclear families that are the norm today as it is increas-ingly becoming difficult for people to manage the bondsof relationships that our elders have been managing forgenerations. Off late, even these small units are break-ing apart as parents and children and life partners arestruggling to adjust with each other. The reason?Everyone needs their own space. That’s why today we seean increasing number of ugly divorces resulting in moreand more families being run by single parents.

Everyday conflicts and differences of opinion leadpeople to a deadlock of emotions, compelling them toescape to a space of their own, despite their intrinsicdesire to come together. But the bitter taste of unpleas-ant memories makes it hard for them to patch up, brew-ing anger and hatred in interpersonal relations and drift-ing away further. A ruling sense of fear thus keeps peo-ple far away from associating with others or trusting inrelationships in their onward journey. As a result, theearth is becoming a cluster of islands, all longing to betogether, yet unwilling or powerless to do so. In such ascenario isn’t it a utopian wish to want a world bondedby unity and harmony? Is it ever possible to restore thehuman family like it was before? Yes, all we need to dois to restore the basic link that binds us, that which hasgone amiss. That bond is love.

Remember, to build bridges inside we need tounblock the flow of love between us. We must earnest-ly strive to let go of the past, which often resists this flow.For this, we need to sit in silence at the end of each dayand cleanse our consciousness of any bitter feelings thatmay have settled during the day and go to our beds onlywhen we are done with cleansing and are light.

Is it as easy as it sounds? Yes. But one should under-stand that the cleansing can only take place in soul con-sciousness i e when we look at ourselves as souls and oth-ers as our brothers-sisters, children of the same Supreme.This consciousness and thought approach will make iteasy for us to forgive, forget and be merciful with oth-ers. We must realise that benevolent wishes smoothenour relationships and set a positive environment, evenbefore we embark on any form of communication in wordor action. Hence, we must train our minds to give to theworld good wishes of peace, love and happiness.

In these trying times, where each one of us is fac-ing some or the other tragedy, it would be practical ifwe all fix a few minutes each day to mentally send outthese positive vibrations and touch every member of thehuman family with them. The perennial gush of pure feel-ings is capable of washing away any negative feelings inits way, however dominant they may be. Wherever thisspring of love blooms, flowers of acceptance, understand-ing, sacrifice, detachment and freedom bloom along andweeds of jealousy, hatred and revenge gradually witheraway. And as the infectious spring spreads from one tothe other; the dark jungle that is earth will slowly be trans-formed into the garden of flowers (Paradise) where every-one will live as one big warm family. So, let us all spreadthe light of love and heal the world from the wounds ofhatred and negativity.

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England's tailenders resistedAustralia's bowlers in fading lightSunday to clinch a draw on a dra-

matic final day of the fourth Test in fad-ing light at the Sydney Cricket Ground.

Jack Leach, Stuart Broad and thenJimmy Anderson batted out the final 10overs under immense pressure, after PatCummins and Scott Boland took threequick wickets in the final session beforeSteve Smith removed Leach with twoovers remaining to set up a nervousfinale to a gripping test match.

At stumps, England finished 270-9 with Broad unbeaten on eight andAnderson not out on zero to giveEngland its best result of the five-matchseries which Australia leads 3-0.

With the final hour approaching,Cummins removed Jos Buttler andMark Wood in the space of three ballsto turn the test on its head after it waslooking increasingly likely that Englandwould earn a draw after its most deter-mined batting effort of the series.

Scott Boland then continued hisincredible start to test cricket by hav-ing first-innings centurion JonnyBairstow caught at bat pad by MarnusLabuschagne for 41. It was Boland's14th wicket in just his second test aftermaking his test debut at Melbourne's3rd test where he was named man ofthe match.

But Broad and Leach saw out theremaining 10 overs despite Australiahave all its fielders around the bat incatching positions as the fading lightmeant Australia had to bowl spinners

Nathan Lyon and Steve Smith in thefinal three overs.

Earlier in the session, Stokes, nostranger in proving to be an immovableobject for Australia after his heroics inthe 2019 Ashes series in England, didnot appear to let the pain of his left sideinjury curtail his attacking shots as hecrushed ten boundaries and a six as part

of his 60 runs, to go with his 66 in thefirst innings.

But Lyon eventually made the vitalbreakthrough as he caught Stokes in twominds as to whether play at the ball orleave it. In the end he did neither andguided a simple chance to Steve Smithat slip.

It was the ninth time that Lyon has

taken Stokes' wicket, including twice inthis match.

As the final hour loomed,Cummins (2-80) made a big break-through trapping Jos Buttler lbw for 11.On-field umpire Paul Reiffel initiallyrejected the appeal before Cumminsreferred to the TV umpire, whoreversed the decision.

Two balls later Cummins dis-missed Wood with a vicious in-swing-ing delivery that hit the tail-ender onthe foot for a much easier lbw decisionfor Reiffel to confirm.

Boland then had Bairstow caughtat bat pad to expose England's tail, butLeach and Broad and then Andersonfound a way to survive despite up tonine fielders in close catching positions.

Before tea, Joe Root and Stokescombined for a 60-run partnershipfrom 26 overs before Scott Boland hadthe English skipper edging through towicketkeeper Alex Carey for 24 to giveAustralia renewed optimism it may beable to bowl England out.

Needing to bat out the day to drawthe Test after being set an improbable388 to win, the tourists lost a very defen-sive-minded Hameed (9) and Malan (4)in the morning session, but ZakCrawley decided that attack was the bestform of defense as he unleashed eightboundaries on his way to a 69-ball half-century.

Hameed was dropped by Carey offPat Cummins, but only survived a fewovers more as he again edged throughto Carey, who made the catch, to giveScott Boland yet another wicket in hisbright start in test cricket.

Lyon (2-28) was introduced into theattack and in his third over found a waythrough Malan's defenses to haveEngland at 74-2 after the first hour ofplay.

Crawley's enterprising innings washalted at 77 after 13 boundaries whenCameron Green (1-38) captured the 23-year-old opener leg before wicket.

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India Test captain ViratKohli hit the nets on

Sunday and if his cover dri-ves and off drives were anyindication, he could returnfor the decisive third matchagainst South Africa aftermissing the second game dueto a back spasm.

The Indian team begantraining for the third and finalTest hoping to recover fromthe defeat in Johannesburgand claim its maiden serieswin in the Rainbow Nation.

"We are here at the pic-turesque Cape Town.#TeamIndia begin prepara-tions for the 3rd Test," theBCCI tweeted along with apicture of the Indian campafter the visiting players hitthe ground running at themagnificent NewlandsStadium.

The third Test is sched-uled to be played here fromJanuary 11-15.

If Kohli is declared match fit, Hanuma Vihari willmake way for the Indian talisman.

"It's GO time here in Cape Town. #TeamIndia all setand prepping for the series decider," the BCCI wrote inanother tweet alongside a host of pictures including Kohlibatting at the nets.

Seeking to win their first-ever series on SouthAfrican soil, India began the rubber on a rousing note,winning the opener at Centurion by 113 runs before suc-cumbing to a seven-wicket defeat in the second Test atJohannesburg.

The Indian team arrived at Cape Town on Saturday. The visitors were without the services of Kohli at the

Wanderers but after the game, head coach Rahul Dravidhad said he was hopeful of the captain returning for theseries-deciding match.

Kohli had missed the previous Test due to an upperback spasm, leading to the elevation of vice-captain KLRahul to the top job. "Virat Kohli should be fine from allaccounts, he should be fine.

He has had the opportunity to run around a little bit,he has had the opportunity to test it a little bit," Dravidhad said during a virtual press conference. "Hopefully witha couple of net sessions in Cape Town, he should be goodto go. Everything I am hearing and just having a chat withhim, he should be good to go in four days time."

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India will keenly watch YukiBhambri's progress after

his return to competitivetennis at the Australian OpenQualifiers while compatriotRamkumar Ramanathan willenter the competition after aconfidence-boosting maidentitle triumph on the ATPTour.

Bhambri, 29, lost invalu-able three years due to a trou-bling knee but in a few tour-naments that he has playedgoing into the fresh season,the talented Delhi playerseems ready for the grind yetagain.

The close fight he hadhad against Aljaz Bedene inMarch was a testimony thathe is ready for top flight ten-nis but his return came tohalt again due to the sameknee issue.

He began again inNovember, competing on the

Challenger and ITF circuitand won a doubles titles withSaketh Myneni in Gurugram.

In the tune-up event forthe first Grand Slam, Yukitied up with old partnerMichael Venus but lost firstround in Melbourne at theATP event.

He has got a decent drawas he has been pitted againstPortugal's Joao Domingues,ranked 248 and clearing firstround should not be an issuefor Yuki. A good show atMelbourne Park will set thetone for him in the 2022 sea-son.

In 22 attempts so far,Ramkumar has not yet suc-ceeded in cracking the singlesmain draw of a Grand Slamand it's time that he breaksthe losing trend. He will beup against Italian GianMoroni, ranked 197.

Ramkumar has enjoyedfantastic results going intoAustralian Open.

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New Zealand promised tobounce back quickly

from its first-test loss toBangladesh and captain TomLatham redeemed the pledgewith a commanding unbeat-en century Sunday on the firstday of the second Test.

Latham lost the toss for thesixth time while standing in

as captain for KaneWilliamson and had to bat ona disconcertingly green pitchat Hagley Oval. By stumps hewas 186 not out and with thehelp of a half century to WillYoung and Devon Conway,who faced a nervous night on99 not out, New Zealand was349-1. "I'm a bit nervous nat-urally but I'll try to take a

sleeping tablet to help me goto bed and reassess tomor-row," Conway said. "It wasspecial today, considering thefact after we lost the toss.

Ithink both teams wanted tobowl first. The way Tom

Latham and Will Young went

about their work was reallyspecial and Tom was out-standing to bat throughoutthe day and I was just grate-ful to bat beside him."Bangladesh's shock win in thefirst test thrilled the cricketworld.

The ninth-ranked teamin the world had beaten thesecond-ranked team.

Even more, the immenseunderdogs had beaten thechampions of the long formatin their home conditionswhere they were unbeaten intheir last 17 Tests. It was thestuff of fairytales but onSunday the quiet, pragmaticLatham brought Bangladeshback to a cruel reality. Lathamhadn't previously scored evena half century but the captaindominated the day, carryinghis bat through 90 overs. Bystumps he had hit 28 fours for112 runs from boundaries.

Latham accumulatedsteadily and briskly, reachinghis half century from 65 balls,his century from 133.

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Karim Benzema and ViníciusJúnior each scored a brace of

goals as Real Madrid beat Valencia4-1 and extended its lead of theSpanish league.

Madrid increased its lead oversecond-placed Sevilla to eightpoints before it plays Getafe onSunday.

Benzema converted a penaltyearned by Casemiro just before half-time on Saturday to reach 300career goals for Madrid. He helpedset up Vinícius to double the leadin the 52nd minute after theBrazilian winger slalomed past sev-eral defenders. Shortly after,Vinícius finished off a rebound forthe third.

After Goncalo Guedes pulledone back for Valencia, Benzematook his league-leading tally to 17.

Carlo Ancelotti's side missedVinícius' verve last weekend in ashock loss to Getafe. Vinicius wassitting out the first of two games

after testing positive for COVID-19.Against Valencia, the forward

again showed why he is a big rea-son Madrid is on course to reclaimthe league title from AtléticoMadrid.

Vinícius has developed the fin-ishing touch and decision making— to go with the quickness anddribbling skill he showed when hearrived at Madrid as a teenager —to become the competition's break-out player.

All his talents were there in hisfirst goal.

With four defenders in hispath, Vinícius took them on. Heblew past two, exchanged quickpasses with Benzema, and slippedthe ball past the last two menbefore beating the hapless JasperCillessen.

His next goal was his 11th, leav-ing him behind only Benzema onthe league's scoring list.

Benzema added a second goalwith two minutes to play when hereceived the ball, spun and drilled

a low strike into the corner."I have always felt good with

Vinícius. I know his potential andthat he can do even more," Benzemasaid after his 301st goal for Madrid.

"It is a source of pride to reachsuch numbers with this club, whichI think is the best in the world."

��������������Ten-man Barcelona conceded a

late goal to draw at Granada 1-1after Dani Alves set up the openerin his first league match sincereturning to the club.

The 38-year-old Alves curled ina long ball for Luuk de Jong to steerhome with a header in the 57th.

But Granada poured forwardafter teenager Gavi Páez got his sec-ond booking with 10 minutes left.Antonio Puertas scored the 89th-minute equalizer with Barcelonahemmed in in its box.

Alves, who helped Barcelonawin 23 titles from 2008-16, startedhis second stint on Wednesday asthird-tier side Linares was beaten 2-

1 in the Copa del Rey.Barcelona was left in sixth

place after missing the chance toclimb into third and the ChampionsLeague spots.

5�����0����It took Levante 20 matches, but

it finally got its first win of the sea-son.

Roberto Soldado and JoséMorales scored in its 2-0 win overMallorca after having gone theentire first half of the season — afull 19 rounds — without a singlevictory.

The only previous win in anycompetition for the Valencia-basedside came against a lower-divisionopponent in the Copa del Rey,before it was eliminated in the nextround by a third-tier opponent.

Levante remained in last place,five points from safety.

Mikel Oyarzabal scored his12th goal in all competitions to helpReal Sociedad beat Celta Vigo 1-0,ending its six-round winless streak.

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Rapidly rising COVID-19 casesacross the country may force the

BCCI to reduce the number ofvenues for the upcoming white-ballseries against the West Indies but thecricket body has not yet formally dis-cussed options.The third wave of coronavirus is fast

gripping the country and severalstates have introduced curbs, includ-ing weekend lockdowns, to preventthe spread of infection.India will host West Indies for sixwhite-ball games -- three ODIs andas many T20Is -- at six venues, start-ing with the first 50-over match atAhmedabad on February 6. "Nothing has been decided as of now.This is a fluid situation and we arekeeping an eye on the situation, andwe will take a call at appropriatetime," a senior BCCI official toldPTI.

Apart from Ahmedabad, the othervenues which are scheduled to hostthe matches are Jaipur (February 9),Kolkata (February 12), Cuttack(February 15) Visakhapatnam(February 18) andThiruvananthapuram (February 20).Given the current COVID situationin the country, the Board might lookto host the six games at three cen-tres to avoid too much travelling asit might make the players vulnera-ble to infections. The West Indies team is scheduledto undergo a three-day isolation afterlanding in Ahmedabad on February1. There will be practice sessions onFebruary 4 and 5 before the actionbegins with the first ODI at Moteraon February 6. The BCCI wasrecently forced to postpone majordomestic tournaments includingRanji Trophy and the Col CK NaiduTrophy due to a surge in COVID-19cases across the country.

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Novak Djokovic spent a fourthday on Sunday among the

unwilling occupants of Melbourne'sPark Hotel.

The tennis superstar is await-ing court proceedings on Mondaythat will determine whether he candefend his Australian Open title orwhether he will be deported — andthe world has shown keen interestin his temporary accommodation.

His fellow residents in theimmigration detention hotelinclude refugees and asylum-seek-ers who are challenging their ownproceedings that have all lastedmuch longer than Djokovic's. Solong in some cases they feel forgot-ten.

Djokovic's mere presence at thehotel, a squat and unattractivebuilding on the leafy fringe of thecity's downtown, has drawn theworld's eyes to those other residentsand their ongoing struggles with theAustralian immigration system.

Refugee activists have beenquick to capitalize on the mediaattention as one of the world'smost feted athletes shares the hoteland its sparse amenities with someof the world's most vulnerable anddispossessed people.

Djokovic was denied entry atthe Melbourne airport late

Wednesday after border officialscanceled his visa for failing to meetits entry requirement that all non-citizens be fully vaccinated forCOVID-19.

His lawyers filed court papersSaturday challenging the deporta-tion that show Djokovic testedpositive for COVID-19 last month

and recovered, grounds he used inapplying for a medical exemptionto the country's strict vaccinationrules. A decision on his appeal isexpected Monday.

Renata Voracova, a 38-year-oldCzech doubles player, was detainedin the same hotel over a vaccine dis-pute before leaving Australia onSaturday.

The Park Hotel was once athriving tourist hotel, popular for itscentral location near Melbourne'snetwork of trams and across theroad from the home ground of theCarlton Australian Rules FootballClub.

But for the past two years it hasoften been referred to as the “noto-rious” or “infamous” Park Hotel. Atthe outbreak of the pandemic it wasa quarantine hotel for Australiansreturning from overseas and report-edly a source of a delta-variant out-break that swept Melbourne andforced the city into months oflockdown while claiming hundredsof lives.

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The entire Englandbadminton contin-

gent has withdrawnfrom the upcomingIndia Open after thecountry's doubles spe-cialist Sean Vendy andcoach NathanRobertson tested posi-tive for the COVID-19.

England's decisionto pull out was madepublic by theBadminton Associationof India (BAI) onSunday. The organisers,however, said thatCOVID tests of all play-ers conducted thismorning at the teamhotel came out negative.

" E n t i r e@BadmintonEnglndteam had withdrawn

two days back and theyare not here in India.#YonexSunriseIndiaOpen2022 is on track and allplayers who were testedat the hotel this morningas per protocol havecome negative," the BAItweeted. Vendy's men'sdoubles partner, BenLane, too confirmed thedevelopment with aTwitter post. "No IndiaOpen this year formyself and @SeanVendyafter he returned a pos-itive covid test alongwith our coach@Nath_Robertson,"Lane tweeted.

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