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In an encouraging turn forsecondary education post

the lockdown and completeshutdown of physical conductof schools for almost a year, theCentral Government-run flag-ship Kendriya Vidyalayas hasnoted that an average of 42 percent of students of Class IX, 65per cent of Class X, 48 per centof Class XI, and 67 per cent ofClass XII are back to schools toattend face to face classes.

The data has been com-piled from all KendriyaVidyalayas (KVs) across India.The Ministry of Education(MoE) believes these figures aredynamic and trends indicate aconsistent increase every day.

“Face-to-face classes forClasses 1 to VIII have also beenstarted in some KVs whereState Governments have per-mitted to open schools forjunior grades,” said a seniorMoE official. When in school,the wearing of masks havebeen made compulsory forstudents, teachers and staff,besides following a strict handhygiene routine, and sitting sixfeet apart in classrooms.

Similarly, during thismonth end the Centre andState Governments across thecountry have received numbersof consent from other chain ofschools, (private and public) tobring back the students to theclassroom benches.

“Regular contact with par-ents and guardians is being

established by the schools incase of any apprehension.Students are being permitted toattend classes with the priorconsent of their guardians,”said a Kendriya VidyalayaSangathan (KVS) official.

An Education Ministryofficial said the SOPs issued bythe State and CentralGovernments are being fol-lowed completely in view of thepandemic.

“All KVs have been clearlyadvised to follow staggeredtimings for the students ofvarious classes and ensure ade-quate safety measures, includ-ing maintenance of properphysical distancing in the class-rooms. However, for studentswho are not attending school,the provision of online classesis also there. Students are alsoin touch with their teachersthrough various digital plat-forms,” explained the official.

When KVs started opening

up from October onward in aphased manner, the attendanceof both the teachers and stu-dents was minimal. But thingsstarted improving when Covidcases began to decline acrossthe country.

The full strength of theboarding chain of JawaharNavodaya Vidyalaya has beenallowed, given the annualexams schedules beginning thethird week of February. Theannual board examinations ofClass X and XII are alreadyscheduled for May-June 2021and most likely these will beconducted by all the means inoffline mode.

The Government schoolsrun by Delhi Government havestarted full normal days whileprivate and public schools arescheduled to open to maxi-mum strength in consultationwith their respective ParentTeachers Associations.

Continued on Page 11

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The Centre on Mondayannounced “sweeping

changes” to the country’s map-ping policy, specifically forIndian companies, to enablethem to create substantialadvances in mapping and ulti-mately empowering small busi-nesses that “will lead to a onelakh crore rupees geo-spatialeconomy”.

Commenting on the map-ping reforms, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said thereforms will unlock “tremen-dous opportunities” for ourcountry’s start-ups.”

“India’s farmers will also bebenefited by leveraging thepotential of geo-spatial andremote sensing data.Democratising data will enablethe rise of new technologies &platforms that will drive effi-ciencies in agriculture andallied sectors,” he said.

Union Science &Technology Minister Dr HarshVardhan held a joint Press con-ference with Union Ministerfor Space and Atomic EnergyJitendra Singh to unveil themapping policy reforms.

“By liberalising the geo-spatial guidelines, theGovernment has taken a his-toric decision that will lead to

a one lakh crore rupees geo-spatial economy. Today’sannouncement heralds unlock-ing of geo-mapping fromrestrictive use to wider use inthe interest of nation buildingand creating an AtmanirbharBharat,” said Singh.

Vardhan said, “The nextgeneration of technologies willuse hyper-resolution maps.Availability of comprehensive,highly accurate, granular andconstantly updated represen-tation of geospatial data willsignificantly benefit diversesectors of the economy and willsignificantly boost innovationin the country and greatlyenhance the preparedness ofthe country for emergencyresponse.”

The availability of data andmodern mapping technologiesto Indian companies is alsocrucial for achieving the visionof Atmanirbhar Bharat and afive trillion-dollar economy,he said.

“With the advent of pub-licly available geospatial ser-vices, a lot of geospatial datathat used to be in the restrict-ed zone are freely and com-

monly available now and someof the policies/guidelines thatused to regulate such informa-tion have been rendered obso-lete and redundant,” saidVardhan.

“What is readily availableglobally does not need to beregulated. For Indian entities,there would be complete dereg-ulation with no prior approvals,security clearances, licences,etc, for acquisition and pro-duction of geospatial data andgeospatial data services includ-ing maps,” he announced.

Vardhan pointed out thatall geospatial data producedusing public funds, except clas-sified geospatial data collectedby security/law enforcementagencies, will be made accessi-ble for scientific, economicand developmental purposes toall Indian Entities and withoutany restrictions on their use.

Government agencies andothers need to collaborate andwork towards openlinkedgeospatial data.

“Stakeholders benefittedwill include practically everysegment of society, from indus-try to academia to governmentdepartments,” he emphasised.

This is a transformativereform, the Minister added.

Speaking on the occasion,Singh said the Centre has takena historic decision to com-pletely deregulate GeospatialMap-making and unshacklethe Geospatial sector in Indiafor the first time.


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You may be two-three tril-lion dollar company but

people value their privacy morethan the money,” the SupremeCourt told WhatsApp onMonday as it sought the US-based instant messaging firm’sreply on a fresh plea challeng-ing its new policy to shareusers’ data with parent com-pany Facebook and others.

It is the duty of the judi-ciary to protect citizens’ priva-cy, the top court said, askingWhatsApp as also the Centre tofile replies on affidavit withinfour weeks on the plea whichalleged that lower standards ofprivacy are being applied by thefirm for Indians in comparisonto its European users of the app.

WhatsApp told the topcourt however that Europe has

a special law (General DataProtection Regulation) and ifsuch a law is passed byParliament then it will follow it.

A bench of Chief JusticeBobde and Justices ASBopanna and VRamasubramanian said,“People have grave apprehen-sions that they will lose theirprivacy and it is our duty toprotect them”.

“You may be two or threetrillion dollar company butpeople value their privacy morethan the money. People gavegrave concern about their pri-vacy,” the bench said, addingthat “there is apprehension

that WhatsApp will share theinformation and data abouttheir circuit of message withothers”.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for theCentre, said it is the concern ofthe nation and they cannot beallowed to share users’ infor-mation with anyone.

“They have to follow thelaw of the land. They cannot beallowed to share data of userswith anyone,” Mehta.

Senior advocate KapilSibal, appearing for WhatsApp,said there is no discriminationin the new privacy policy.

“The privacy policy whichwill be applied in India is samefor the whole world except forEurope. In Europe they have aspecial law. If Parliament pass-es such law, then it will also fol-low it,” Sibal said.

The apex court issuednotice to the CentralGovernment and theFacebook-owned app on aninterim application filed byKarmanya Singh Sareen in apending petition of 2017,which has been referred to theConstitution bench.


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The Bombay High Court onMonday refused to quash

an FIR registered against lateBollywood actor Sushant SinghRajput’s sister Priyanka Singhand a New Delhi doctor in thealleged bogus medical pre-scription case, while it quashedthe complaint filed againstSushant’s other sister MeetuSingh in the same case.

Hearing a petition chal-lenging an FIR registered by theMumbai Police on the basis ofa complaint filed by lateSushant’s girlfriend RheaChakraborty in September lastyear, an HC Bench of JusticesSS Shinde and MS Karnikruled that the probe into theFIR in which Priyanka Singhand Dr Tarun Kumar of RamManohar Lohia Hospital havebeen named as accused wouldcontinue.

“There is prima facie casefound against Priyanka Singhand there should not be anyimpediment against investiga-tion against her,” the two-member HC Bench observed.

However, the HC Benchquashed the complaint regis-tered by the Mumbai Police

against Sushant’s other sisterMeetu Singh.

Reacting to the HighCourt’s order, Rhea’s lawyerSatish Maneshinde said, “Weare satisfied with the verdict. Itappears ultimately RheaChakraborty’s cry for justiceand truth has prevailed.”

It may be recalled that onSeptember 7 last year, Sushant’sex-girlfriend and actress RheaChakraborty filed a complaintagainst the late actor’s sisterPriyanka Singh and a NewDelhi-based doctor for allegedforgery and violation ofNarcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances

(NDPS) Act, 1985, and TeleMedicine Practice Guidelines,2020. She had also namedSushant’s other sister MeetuSingh in her complaint.

Rhea — who was under thescanner of the CBI,Enforcement Directorate (ED)and Narcotics Control Bureau(NCB) in the Sushant deathcase — had lodged a writtencomplaint with the BandraPolice station against Sushant’sNew Delhi-based sisterPriyanka Singh, Dr TarunKumar of Ram Manohar LohiaHospital and others withforgery under Indian PenalCode, 1860. She had accused

Priyanka, Dr Kumar and oth-ers for allegedly generating abogus medical prescriptiondepicting SSR as an Out PatientDepartment person.

On their part, the lateactor’s sisters Priyanka andMeetu had challenged the FIRregistered against them andclaimed that the FIR waslodged to “concoct a whole newstory entirely different from thestatements made” by Rheabefore the Supreme Court andmedia platforms.

They had sought investi-gation into the malicious andmalafide activities of theMumbai Police and theMaharashtra Government, forwhich they had sought dam-ages under public law.

Senior Advocate VikasSingh, appearing for the sisters,argued that there was a delay of91 days in filing the FIR, whichwas not explained byChakraborty. He also pointedout that the allegations of pre-scribing banned medicineswere baseless as the medicinescould have been prescribed toa patient in the first consulta-tion as per the TelemedicinePractice Guidelines.


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The Telecom Ministry willset up Digital Intelligence

Unit (DIU) and a consumerprotection system as part ofcontinuing efforts to tackle themenace of pesky calls as well asto take strict action againstfinancial frauds perpetratedusing telecom resources.

The move follows a direc-tion from Telecom MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad, whochaired a high-level meeting tolook at ways to address risingconcerns of consumers overunsolicited messages on mobilephones, repeated harassmentthrough SMSes promising loantransactions through fraudu-lent ways. It is also aimed atmaking digital transactions

more safe and secure.“In the meeting, the

Minister of Communicationdirected officials to take strictaction against erring telemar-keters and individuals involvedin harassment of subscribers.Further, the minister observedthat telecom resources are alsobeing used to carry out finan-cial frauds and dupe the com-mon man of his hard-earnedmoney. Clear directions wereissued to the officials to takestrict and tangible action tostop such activities immedi-ately,” a statement said.

The Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (Trai)already has regulations in placeto check pesky calls.

However, several unregis-tered telemarketers still makecalls to people which often alsoleads to fraudulent incidents.

On February 3, the DelhiHigh Court directed Trai toensure “complete and strict”

implementation of the regula-tion issued by it in 2018 forcurbing UnsolicitedCommercial Communications(UCC).

“The officials apprised theMinister that for UCC andfinancial fraud-related com-plaints, time is of utmostessence and a quick time-bound action will help inreducing such menaces.

“Accordingly, a nodalagency named as DigitalIntelligence Unit (DIU) will beset up. The main function ofthe DIU will be to coordinatewith various LEAs (LawEnforcement Agencies), finan-cial institutions and telecomservice providers in investigat-ing any fraudulent activityinvolving telecom resources,”the statement said.

At the licence service arealevel, Telecom Analytics forFraud Management and


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Offices where even a largenumber of Covid-19 cases

are reported on the premisescan now resume work follow-ing proper disinfection withoutclosing or sealing the area, asper a fresh set of guidelines(SOPs) to contain the spread ofCovid-19 in offices issued bythe Union Health Ministry.

“If a larger number of casesare reported at the workplace,the whole block or buildingshould be disinfected beforework is resumed,” the Ministrysaid.

Officers and staff residingin containment zones shouldinform the same to their super-visory officer and not attendoffice till the containment zoneis denotified. Such staff shouldbe permitted to work fromhome, it said.

Offices in containmentzones shall remain closedexcept for medical and essen-tial services and only those out-side will be allowed to open up,the SOPs said, adding thatonly asymptomatic staff or vis-itors shall be allowed entry,individuals must maintain aminimum distance of six feet in

common places as far as feasi-ble, and use face covers ormasks at all times.

“They must be worn prop-erly to cover the nose and themouth. Touching the frontportion of the mask or facecover to be avoided,” theMinistry said.

It also underlined practis-ing frequent hand washingwith soap for at least 40 to 60seconds, even when hands arenot visibly dirty, and use ofalcohol-based hand sanitiserfor at least 20 seconds wherev-er feasible.

Meetings, as far as possible,should be done through videoconferencing and large physi-cal gatherings continue toremain prohibited, the SOPsstated.


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Keeping his vow to providequality education to the

youth of the state and makethem employable, UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath inaugurated theAbhyudaya Yojana on Mondayand interacted with the candi-dates selected under thescheme.

The chief minister, at thelaunch, emphasised that thescheme would add to the holis-tic development of youth byproviding them coaching facil-ities similar to that of Kota andPrayagraj. Coaching to inter-ested youth in other deprivedparts of the state who areunable to avail the services willalso boost the spirit of self-reliance, he added.

“The Abhyudaya scheme isa ‘path pradarshak’ (guidinglight) for holistic development.When about 30,000 youthpreparing for competitiveexams were stranded in Kotaand Prayagraj due to the coro-navirus pandemic, we decidedto have similar coaching facil-ities in the state,” YogiAdityanath said.

Abhyudaya coaching cen-tres set up under the directsupervision of the chief minis-ter at the divisional level in thefirst phase and at the districtlevel in the second phase willbenefit the aspirants preparingfor NEET, JEE (Mains andAdvanced), CDS, NDA, UPSCand other competitive exams.

Free guidance and teachingby senior IAS, IPS and PCSofficers will also be provided tothe aspirants through theseinstitutes. There will also be aprovision for every kind offacility, from virtual doubt clar-ifying sessions, preparation forinterview calls, career coun-selling to subject matter exper-tise.

“The coaching will startwith full swing from tomorrow(Tuesday). I want to assureeveryone that these classes willhelp the candidate to achievetheir goals. In 2020, the schemewas not only appreciated but aspecial package was alsoannounced in the UnionBudget,” Yogi Adityanath saidat the inauguration via videoconference.


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Samajwadi Party has flayedthe Yogi Adityanath govern-

ment for the delay in paymentof dues by sugar mills to thefarmers. It also criticised thestate government for notannouncing the state advisoryprice (SAP) of sugarcane.

SP President AkhileshYadav said on Monday that theBJP had made tall promises tothe farmers like doubling theirincome but the conduct of theBJP government had provedthat it was insensitive to thegrievances of the farmers.

He said far from havingdoubled income, the farmerswere reeling under the double

whammy of inflation and lowprices of agriculture crops inthe market. Yadav said theYogi Adityanath governmenthad not raised the SAP of sug-arcane by even a rupee in thelast four years. He said the SPgovernment in 2012 had raisedthe SAP by Rs 40 per quintal.

He said the delay in pay-ment of cane dues by the sugarmills had devastated the ruraleconomy and presently over Rs10,000 crore was still outstand-ing of the last cane crushingseason which ended in Maylast year. Meanwhile, the SPgave a notice to the UPGovernor for holding the elec-tion of the chairman of UPLegislative Council.

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With the commitment to pro-vide affordable and up-to-

date medical facilities to the peo-ple of Uttar Pradesh, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath hasplanned to construct a medicalcollege in each of the 75 districtsof the state.

The government has plannedto open medical colleges on a pub-lic-private partnership model in 16districts of the state that do nothave any medical college. TheUttar Pradesh government willsoon introduce a new policy onthis, an official said.

Strengthening health facili-ties at the grassroots level, theYogi-led BJP government willincrease the number of health cen-tres in rural and urban areas.Super-specialty hospitals will alsobe constructed in districts includ-ing Gorakhpur, Agra, andVaranasi.

In December 2020, interactingwith some top businessmen inMumbai, CM Yogi had said thatout of a total of 75 districts in UttarPradesh, many still required med-ical colleges and there was anopportunity for investors to openthese medical colleges on the PPPmodel.

Besides, the state needs superspecialty hospitals and the govern-ment will extend full support ifsomebody wants to set up thesehospitals.

"Gorakhpur has many patients

coming from Bihar and Nepal andthe super-specialty hospitals arealways needed there," the officialsaid.

The Yogi government ispreparing to make Uttar Pradesha hub of medical education wherenot only the people of the state butpeople from across the world canget all types of medical facilities.

The establishment of AIIMSin Gorakhpur and Rae Bareli isproving to be a milestone in termsof UP's medical education andhealth facilities. To deal with a sit-uation like the COVID-19 pan-demic, there are also plans to setup labs in hospitals of every dis-trict. For this, the Medical andHealth Department will seek theassistance of Rs 20 lakh crore fromthe Central government.

Till 2016, there were only 12medical colleges in UP and thehealth facilities in the state werealso poor. But soon after the Yogigovernment took charge, the foun-dation stones of 28 medical col-leges were laid. Out of these 28 col-leges, studies have started in seven.The construction of 13 medicalcolleges has started whereas con-struction of eight medical collegeswill be completed by next year. Itis worth mentioning that propos-als to open several medical collegesin the private sector are alsounder consideration. Many districthospitals are being upgraded bythe government. Apart from this,there are also plans to open a largescale wellness centre.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi will virtually lay the

foundation of a 4.20-metrehigh statue of the great warriorKing Suheldev of Shravasti.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath along with UPGovernor Anandiben Patel willbe attending the event whichwill be held on the occasion ofBasant Panchami in Bahraichto mark King Suheldev's birthanniversary.

While addressing the peo-ple via video conferencing,PM Modi will also unveil pro-grammes for the beautificationof Shravasti, Chittora Lake andBahraich.

He will also announcethe development of varioustourist amenities like a cafete-ria, guest house and a children'spark, etc.

The event is expected tohighlight the mythological andhistorical importance ofBahraich.

Lucknow (PNS): Amidstspeculations of a patch-up inthe first family of SamajwadiParty, a feud has again erupt-ed in the family. SP PresidentAkhilesh Yadav has expelledparty MLA Hari Om Yadav, aclose relative of the family,from the primary member-ship of the party for six years.

Hari Om Yadav is MLAfrom Sirsaganj assembly con-stituency in Firozabad district.

The SP said in a statementon Monday that Hari OmYadav had been expelled fromthe party for anti-party activi-ties, particularly his proximity

with the ruling Bharatiya JanataParty.

Hari Om Yadav is alsoconsidered close to ShivpalSingh Yadav, the estrangeduncle of SP chief AkhileshYadav. Shivpal Yadav, presidentof Pragatisheel Samaj Party(Lohia) had recentlyannounced that Hari OmYadav would be his party can-didate from Sirsaganj in the2022 UP assembly elections.

SP state president NareshUttam said the rank and file ofthe party in Firozabad districthad demanded action againstHari Om Yadav as he was

openly indulging in anti-partyactivities.

The expulsion of Hari OmYadav ahead of panchayat pollsand state assembly electionsthat are a year away is seen asa big setback for the SamajwadiParty in its stronghold of Yadavbelt.

For over a decade, HariOm Yadav was involved in abitter feud with SP generalsecretary Ram Gopal Yadav,MP and uncle of AkhileshYadav. Akshay Yadav was SPLok Sabha MP from Firozabadin 2014 and he lost the electionin 2019.

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Lucknow (PNS): Despite the farmers' agitationagainst the government policies, the Uttar Pradeshgovernment has decided not to change the stateadvisory price (SAP) of sugarcane for the currentcrushing season.

This decision was taken in a cabinet meetingheld by circulation late Sunday night.

Official sources said here on Monday that thecane farmers would get Rs 310 per quintal on reject-ed variety, Rs 315 per quintal on common varietyand Rs 325 per quintal on advanced variety of sug-arcane.

This is the third successive crushing season thatno hike has been made in the sugarcane prices inthe state.

In other decisions, the state cabinet permittedthe government to take a loan of Rs 2,900 crore forthe Ganga Expressway project for purchase of land.

The loan will be taken from Housing andUrban Development Corporation for the GangaExpressway to be constructed from Meerut toPrayagraj.

In another decision, now the deputy commis-sioners of police (DCPs) of Lucknow and Noidawill get the power to slap Gangster Act on any crim-inal. Earlier only the commissioner of police (CP)had this power.

The state government will now organise theChitrakoot and Nauchandi fairs while land hasbeen allotted to the Election Department inPrayagraj and Agra to build warehouses to storeEVMs and VVPAT machines.

The cabinet also approved the speech of theGovernor to be read on the first day of the jointsitting of the UP legislature on February 18.

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The mighty river Ganga has againstarted flowing clean as its dissolved

oxygen level has improved thus allow-ing the devotees to have a holy dip onBasant Panchami.

"On the occasion of BasantPanchami, we announce that the qual-ity of Ganga water has improved. Thedevotees will now take a dip in cleanwater of the Ganga on BasantPanchami," Chief Minister YogiAdityanath declared on Monday.

This is for the first time that theaverage amount of dissolved oxygen inthe Ganga in Varanasi is good (8.5 mgto 11.5 mg per litre) and the water of

river Varuna, a tributary of the Ganga,has also improved dramatically. TheBOD (biological oxygen demand) inthe river Ganga is also good. Under theNamami Gange Programme, nosewage is discharged in the Ganga, hesaid.

Regional officer of Ganga PollutionBoard, Kalika Singh, said that earlier,water from 30 drains used to falldirectly into the river Ganga inVaranasi, while 14 drains flowed intothe Varuna. Now out of these 30drains, 19 drains have been complete-ly closed while the drain to theKhidkiya Ghat has been partiallyclosed, he said.

In the last few years, a sewage treat-

ment plant with the latest technologyhas been constructed in Varanasi whilethe existing STP has also been upgrad-ed. Also, with the introduction ofother STPs, water in the river Gangawill become more pure and clean,Singh added.

Expressing happiness after seeingthis effort of the government, generalsecretary of the Ganga Mahasabha,Swami Jitendra Nand Saraswati, saidthat the government's efforts for mak-ing the river Ganga clean had startedshowing results. "If the governmentcontinues to take drastic measures inthis manner, the day is not far when thedream of making river Ganga pure willcome true," he added.

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Making a frontal attack onthe prime minister,

Congress General SecretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra onMonday alleged that NarendraModi had the money to buytwo planes to tour the worldbut he did not have money toclear the sugarcane arrears offarmers.

"'The government hasbought two planes worth Rs16,000 crore… the cane arrearsof the farmers in the countrystand at Rs 15,000 crore… thefarmers could have been paidtheir entire dues with that kindof money,'' Priyanka said whileaddressing another 'kisanmahasabha' in Bijnor districton Monday.

She said that the prime

minister had ''betrayed thetrust'' of the people by not ful-filling the promises he hadmade to them during the pasttwo Lok Sabha elections.

''The people of the countryhad elected Modiji twice asthey believed his promiseswould bring good days butwhat happened to thosepromises… Modiji has brokenthat trust,'' Priyanka said, whileclaiming that the man who

travels almost the entire worldhas no time to travel a few kilo-metres to hear the grievancesof farmers staging dharna foralmost over two months.

The Congress leader alsorecited a couplet to make adirect attack on the primeminister. ''Bhagwan ka saudakarta hai, insan ki keemat kyajane, jo ganne ki keemat de nasaka, woh jaan ki keemat kyajane,'' which translates to"Those who sell the gods, willnever realise the value of thehuman beings… someone whofailed to pay the cane arrears,will not understand the valueof life.

Priyanka made repeatedreferences to the new farm lawsand said that they would soundthe death knell of the MSP(minimum support price) and

encourage hoarding.In the earlier kisan

mahasabha at Saharanpur also,Priyanka had sharply criticisedthe prime minister for callingthe agitating farmers 'terrorists''and had said that his heart''beats only for the billion-aires''. It was the second kisanpanchayat addressed by theCongress leader in the past fewdays.

"The three agricultural lawsenacted by the Central govern-ment are monster-like andwant to kill farmers," shealleged, adding that the lawswould be abolished if her partycame to power at the Centre.

"If voted to power, theCongress will scrap these laws.Farmers will get the MSP. Lawswill be made to help you, notoppress you," she said.

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Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath

has greeted the people of thestate on the festival of BasantPanchami and has extended hisheartiest wishes to the devoteesvisiting the Magh Mela.

In a message, the chiefminister said that BasantPanchami was the day of rev-erence of Mother GoddessSaraswati, the goddess ofknowledge, wisdom, art andmusic.He said Saraswati Pujawas organised to express grat-itude to God for the placeman has achieved throughmeditation in various fields,including spirituality in reli-gion, culture in civilisationand science in knowledge andliterature in art.

The chief minister saidthat festivals in our traditionwere inspiring opportunities tostrengthen joy and nationalism.

He said the festival ofBasant Panchami symbolisedthe pride and prosperity of ourculture and Basantotsav was afestival of the euphoria ofnature. The festival of BasantPanchami and Saraswati Puja iscelebrated with reverence andgaiety throughout the country.On the occasion of BasantPanchami festival, the chiefminister has appealed to thepeople to follow the Covidprotocol and maintain socialdistancing while performing allrituals.

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National vice-president ofRashtriya Lok Dal, Jayant

Chaudhary, called upon the farm-ers to defeat the Bharatiya JanataParty in the next election by votingagainst it. Addressing a kisan maha-panchayat in Hathras on Monday,the RLD national vice-presidentsaid the farmers’ agitation wouldcontinue until the governmentrepealed the three farm laws.

“Today is the 82nd day offarmers’ agitation and nearly 200farmers have lost their lives as ofnow but the present BJP govern-ment has turned a deaf ear to theirwoes,” Chaudhary said, adding thatthe time had come to give a ‘voteki chot’ to the ruling party.

Invoking late ChaudharyCharan Singh, the RLD vice-pres-ident said the former prime minis-ter used to say that those in govern-ment usually took decisions againstfarmers and villagers as they werenot exposed to their (farmers andvillagers) hardships.

“The present BJP governmenthas proved this by ignoring the con-cerns of the farmers,” he added.Chaudhary said instead of doublingthe income of farmers, the govern-ment had increased power tariffthree times in the last three yearsbut did not increase the state advi-sory price (SAP) of sugarcane by asingle penny.

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NOTICE

I, Dungar Singh TangriyaBisht, R/o B-83, Tyagi Vihar, A-W-H-O- Colony, near BanglaBazar, Sharda Nagar, Lucknowhave changed my wife's namefrom Sarsavati Devi to SarswatiDevi for all future purposes andher correct DOB is 08-11-1955.

NOTICE

I, Dungar Singh TangriyaBisht, R/o B-83, Tyagi Vihar, A-W-H-O- Colony, near BanglaBazar, Sharda Nagar, Lucknowhave changed my son's namefrom Surendra Singh Bisht toSuresh Singh for all future pur-poses and his correct DOB is28-07-1983

NOTICE

I No. 4193501X Rank HAVName Ashok Kumar Yadav unit12 Kumaon Regt. resident ofvill Kunaraghat, GorakhpurU.P. 273008 have declare tochange DOB of my wifeSunidhi Yadav from 28.12.1979to 28.12.1976 in my servicerecords.

NOTICE

I declare to change myname as Shikha Singh toShikha Singh Parihar in myhusband's service record asservice No. 2999464A RankNK name Uday Pratap SinghParihar resident of ShardaNagar Nilmatha Cantt. Lko.226002 UP

NOTICE

I, Tarun Srivastava S/o LataP.B. Srivastava R/o D-165/4,Indira Nagar, Lucknowinformed that Tarun Srivastavaand Tarun Kumar is the sameperson in all future purposes.

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The hot vapours dance above a full ‘raan musal-lam’, flavoured in spices and pomegranate

juice, even as ‘keema palak’, a blend of minced meatwith chunks of spinach crackles in its own heat, andthe aroma of ‘lagan ka murgh’ wafts out of theOudhyana restaurant of the Taj Mahal Hotel.

The hotel has dug out a treasure trove of thelost cuisines of Lucknow which once adorned the‘dastarkhwans’ in old homes but could not catch upwith the fast pace of the world.

For the hotel, it is a two-pronged approach thatincludes promoting the heritage cuisine ofLucknow and giving their clientele a new ‘zaiqa’.Spokesperson, Taj Mahal Hotel, Shabahat Husainsaid the Oudhyana's menu will reflect the ‘nazakat’and ‘nafasat’, which Lucknow is famous for, in thecoming months.

He said they have tried to re-align theOudhyana, bringing back the old Lucknow disheswhich have almost been forgotten. “Dishes such as‘murgh korma’, ‘mutton korma’ and ‘nihari’ are verycommon, but old delicacies such as ‘nukti ke kebab’,‘ghutwa kebab’, ‘nargisi kofta’, ‘mutton burra’, ‘raanmusallam’ and ‘machhli musallam’ are rarely seenthese days, and are restricted to occasions like wed-dings in old parts of the city,” he pointed out.

Talking about ‘nukti kebabs’, Husain said:“The name itself signifies the texture of the dishwhich has small pieces of lamb’s liver and kidneyscovered in a thin layer of masala paste.”

“‘Nargisi kofta’ was always served as a wholeboiled egg wrapped in minced meat. However, nowwhat we see is a distortion of the dish when the eggsare cut into half and the yellow core spills over, spoil-ing the flavours which were meant to be subtle andhidden within the folds of crisp eggs,” he pointed out.

“As for ‘ghutwa kebab’, the minced meat batteris turned into a paste which is popular duringMoharram, while ‘murgh masala’ is filled with dryfruits. These cuisines are lost in the tide of timewhen food is all about takeaway. The preparationof these delicacies requires passion and only a fewcan afford the time and patience which goes intotheir preparation,” he said. Husain said that the plat-ter will offer mushroom or ‘kumbh shami kebabs’which are soft and delicate patties girdle-fried.

“‘Nilofer tikki’ is a mix of puffed lotus seeds andstems flavoured with fresh herbs, mace and greencardamoms while ‘tandoori kareli’ are lamb shanksmarinated and grilled in oven. ‘Chukandar bhar-ta’ is prepared in the same manner as ‘baigan bhar-ta’ while ‘murgh reshmi kebabs’ are chicken breastsmarinated in juicy mixture of curd, cream ,cashewnuts and spices.

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Sharpshooter KanhaiyaVishwakarma alias Giridhari

aka Doctor, the prime accusedin the Ajit Singh murder casein Vibhuti Khand police stationarea, was gunned down in apolice encounter on the inter-vening night of Sunday andMonday. He was carrying acash reward of Rs 1 lakh.

He was brought toLucknow from New Delhi fol-lowing a local court’s order andwas in a 3-day police custodyremand of Lucknow police tobe interrogated for the motiveand others involved in themurder of Ajit Singh murdercase. The remand was sched-uled to be over on Monday.

Giridhari injured two sub-inspectors and opened fire onthe Vibhuti Khand inspectorbefore being killed in returnfire near Khargapur crossing inthe area. Ajit Singh was sprayedwith bullets at Kathauta Jheelcrossing on January 6.

Giridhari and his aideshad killed Ajit as he was thelone witness in the MLA SeepuSingh murder case. In connec-tion with the Seepu Singhmurder case, Kuntu Singh andAkhand are in jail at present.Giridhari executed the crimeon being asked by Kuntu Singh.

The police sub-inspectors,

who were injured in theencounter, were identified asAkhtar Usmani and Anil Singh.Inspector Chandrashekharescaped unhurt as he was wear-

ing a bullet-proof jacket.According to

Commissioner of Police DKThakur, Giridhari was taken toKhargapur area for recovery of

a weapon used in the attack onAjit Singh, who was also a his-tory-sheeter. However, he head-butted sub-inspector AkhtarUsmani while alighting from

the police vehicle and alsosnatched his pistol.

According to police,Giridhari snatched the pistoland rushed behind a thicketbefore firing shots at the copswho were asking to surrender.A bullet hit the right arm of S-I Anil Singh while another hitChandrashekhar, who waswearing a bullet-proof jacket.

Additional force was sum-moned to handle the situationand Giridhari was surroundedby the police personnel. He wasasked to surrender but he firedanother round of shots. Thepolice retaliated and a bullet hitGiridhari. He was taken toRMLIMS where doctors pro-nounced him dead.

On February 13, Giridhariwas remanded to 3-day policecustody remand and he wasbeing interrogated.

Giridhari, was arrested bythe Delhi police on January 11on the charges of carrying ille-gal arms. According to thepolice, Giridhari had killedAjit Singh using pistols of pro-hibited bore. “He was a sea-soned marksman and a closeaide of a mafia don from eastUP who had planned to killAjit. Due to his precision inshooting his targets, he wasgiven the nickname ‘Doctor’,”the police said.

Giridhari had hired other

shooters from west UP on theorder of his mentor/handler,who is an east UP don.

The police said Giridharihad been camping at an apart-ment in the trans-Gomti areafor the last two months and hisaide had recced their target,Ajit Singh. “Giridhari had him-self inspected the place wherethe attack was planned and hehad also studied the exit route.He chose to ride a scooty to fleethe scene after gunning downAjit Singh. He had also takenthe call for the arms andammunition used in the attackand the place chosen for theattack,” the police said.

“Giridhari, ShivendraSingh aka Ankur, Rajesh Tomaraka Jai, Bunty aka Veeru akaRajesh aka Mustafa and RaviYadav had opened a burst offire on Ajit Singh and his aideMohar Singh on January 6night. Mohar Singh had alsosuffered injuries in the attack,”Joint Commissioner of Police,Crime, Nilabja Chaudhary said.

On January 6, Ajit Singh(35) alias Ajit Langda of Mau,a history-sheeter with 19 casesand externed from his nativedistrict, was peppered withbullets at Kathauta Jheel cross-ing in Gomtinagar area.

The next day, an FIR waslodged against six people,including Giridhari.

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The sons of mafia-turned-politician MukhtarAnsari got their statements recorded with the

Hazratganj police on Monday morning. Sources saidthey were quizzed in connection with a case regis-tered against them for illegally grabbing governmentland. The sources said that Umar Ansari and AbbasAnsari answered a few questions asked by theHazratganj police. “They will be given a chance torespond to other posers under the existing law,” thesources said.

Meanwhile, police on Monday arrested three per-sons, alleged to be members of a gang of fraud depriv-ing elderly women of their ornaments over one pre-text or the other. The accused confessed to theircrime. Additional DCP (West) Rajesh KumarSrivastava said: “We have arrested Shrawan Soni (25),Deepak Soni (37) and Mohan Soni (35) who areactive members of a gang of fraud.”

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�� $�� Lucknow (PNS): Some car-borne youths attempted toabduct a girl when she shout-ed at them over eve-teasing,in Jankipuram on Sundayevening. However, passersbyresponded in time and theaccused had to speed off thescene. The girl disclosed thename of the prime accused, aSitapur native, as she lodgedan FIR against three accused.

As per reports, the girlwas returning home when anaccused passed lewd com-ments. The girl sought toignore the indecent act andkept moving, but the accusedcaught her by her hand. “Twoof his aides also came out ofthe car and forced me to goalong with them,” the girl toldthe police. She said as shescreamed at the trio, theycaught hold of her tried tobundle her into the car. “Icried atop my voice andpassersby rushed to my res-cue. The accused fled thescene while issuing deaththreats. They looted my ear-rings, goggles and wrist watchbefore speeding off,” shealleged.

Meanwhile, a 17-year-oldmissing boy was found hang-ing from a tree at the gate ofa mango farm in Devi Khedalocality of Ashiyana on

Monday. Police said the boyended his life but failed toexplain the reason. The deceasedwas identified as Sumit Prajapatiof Devi Kheda. His family saidSumit went missing around10:30 pm on Sunday and did notreturn since then. “We heard ofa suicide by a boy this morningand we reached the scene, onlyto find Sumit hanging from thetree,” Sumit’s elder brother Anilsaid. “We searched for him at allpossible places on Sunday nightbut could not locate him. On thismorning, we found him hangingfrom the tree. We did not haveenmity with any person,” Sumittold the police.

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��%��3��Lucknow (PNS): Curtainscame down on the SanatkadaFest, with over a 100 artisansfrom across the country usingdigital space as a powerfulmedium to sell and sustain alarge variety of unique weavesand crafts along with offlineshops. Key organiser MadhaviKukreja said during the pasttwo weeks, the festival show-cased the best selection ofcrafts from all over the coun-try as well as textiles andhand embroideries.

“Our team has been suc-cessfully using online apps tosell products online along-side its retail craft store, medi-ums that particularly proveduseful during the Covid-19crisis. The city witnessedcrafts such as natural dyeing,qalamkari, kantha, jamdaniweaving, block printing andMaheshwari weaving with a lotmore interesting events likecrafts demonstrations andtours around the city,” shesaid.

She reiterated that one ofthe most popular events of thisfestival was the ‘Awadhi Home-Cooked Food Festival’.

“As the name suggests, thefood is not professionallycooked but is prepared by ateam of home cooks in theirkitchens using old familyrecipes. The menu consisted ofamazing dishes like ‘lal mirchka keema’ by Noor Khan, whohas been closely associatedwith the festival,” Kukreja said.

She said that the fest alsoacquainted them with the roleof spices, tenderising agentsand choice of meat in recreat-ing different kinds of kebabsfor which all the masalas weremade from the scratch, in-house, the old fashioned way,and that really enhanced theflavour. The special menucomprised an interesting mixof kebabs, some boneless,some indulgent, some chewyand some soft. ‘Pateeli kekebabs’ by Sheeba Iqbal andKakori kebabs & ‘sabz shami’by Anjum Hasan were stun-ningly flavoured with mixedspices. Naimat Khana’s muttonbiryani and ‘paneer zafrani’was a peculiar highlight,” sheadded.

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The 1971 Indo-Pak war hasgone down in the annals of his-tory as a defining moment forIndia and it also led to the cre-ation of a new country in SouthAsia. The ‘Victory Flame’, lit inNew Delhi to honour the valourand sacrifice of the brave sons ofthe soil during the 1971 war,entered Lucknow on Monday onits pan-India journey. The vic-tory flame was received inLucknow Cantonment by MajorGeneral Rajeev Sharma, GeneralOfficer Commanding (GOC),Madhya Uttar Pradesh Sub Area(MUPSA), Lucknow, in pres-ence of the gallant veterans andnext of kin (NOK) of the 1971war. The arrival of the victoryflame was marked by a com-memorative run and a display byan army band amongst otherevents. The victory flame will betouring various locations incentral Uttar Pradesh, includingUnnao and Fatehgarh, beforemoving east-wards on its jour-ney. During its stay, a number

of events are scheduled as amark of respect, including vis-its and events at various schoolsand universities, homage to themartyrs and felicitation of thegallantry awardees of the 1971 war.

�*�$��$% ��Swarit Shukla, a class V stu-

dent of City Montessori School,Aliganj CampusI, brought lau-rels to the insti-tution byemerging as thechampion in aninternationalonline abacuscompetit ion.The contest was held underBrainobrainfest-2021, organ-ised by educational institute‘Brainobrain’. Students fromvarious countries participatedin the competition to showcasetheir analytical skills. Swaritopted for various abacus tricksto solve mathematical problemsand was declared the champion.

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India has a very high burdenof rheumatic heart disease

(RHD) that involves the valvesof the heart and it usuallyaffects young people in theirprime and productive phase oflife. A recent study conductedby the department ofCardiology of SGPGIMS underthe mentorship of Prof AdityaKapoor, studied the role of adrug called ‘Flecainide’ on 50such patients. It also received aprize of excellence.

A senior doctor said thatas far as RHD is concerned, theestimated average prevalence is0.5 per 1,000 children in the agegroup of 5-15 years. As per cur-rent estimates, there are morethan 3.6 million patients ofRHD with nearly 40,000-50,000 patients added everyyear. “RHD usually leads tovalve stenosis (narrowing) andregurgitation (leakage) with

narrowing of the mitral valve(mitral stenosis or MS) beingthe commonest outcome.Nearly one-third of patients ofrheumatic MS have irregular,chaotic heart rhythm calledatrial fibrillation. If uncon-trolled, this can cause dis-lodgement of clots from insidethe heart to vital organs of thebody leading to stroke and limbgangrene, a condition calledthromboembolism. Currentlyused drugs for control of AF insuch patients have the disad-vantage of having a lot of sideeffects,” he said.

“Flecainide is used to treatcertain types of abnormalheart rhythm and helps restorenormal rhythm by blockingabnormal electrical signals inthe heart. It has never beentried before due to fears of car-diac toxicity. In the first suchstudy in the world, it wasfound that the drug was effec-tive in achieving normal car-

diac rhythm in nearly 75%cases with initial success rates,a result which was noted to beextremely encouraging.Patients who achieved normalrhythm had much better qual-ity of life in follow-up. Nountoward side effects of thedrug were observed,” he pointed out.

He said that the study waswell appreciated at the recent-ly-concluded AV Gandhi SCAI(Society of CardiacAngiography andInterventions) Award Sessionfor excellence in Cardiology2020, and Dr Anindya Ghoshfrom the department ofCardiology (SGPGI) who pre-sented the data, received thefirst prize from amongst all thethesis submitted across India.

“The study is likely to givea ray of hope to many patientsto achieve normal cardiacrhythm and lead to a goodquality of life,” he added.

/��-)Lucknow (PNS): With classescommencing in a full-fledgedmanner at Lucknow Universityon Monday and excitementreverberating the universitypremises, Vice-Chancellor ProfAK Rai said they are ensuringCovid-19 protocols in nouncertain terms.

He said they had startedtheir work in July last year withonline classes, held the biggestexam of BEd in August, fol-lowed by entrance and semes-ter exams, and faced no majorissues. He said that offlineclasses for many subjects hadstarted from November 7 lastyear and the lab was involvedfor PhD students.

“Recently, many of ourdepartments which have biggerclassrooms and fewer studentshave shifted to full-fledgedoffline classes. These includePhysical Education andEducation departments. TheManagement department start-ed complete offline classesfrom February 8,” he said.

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As many as 6,222 out of atotal of 14,234 health

workers were vaccinated inthe mop-up while 780 out of844 received the second vacci-nation dose on Monday.District immunisation officerMK Singh said 44 per cent ofthe health workers got vacci-nated.

The problem of messagesnot reaching the beneficiariescropped up again. Besides,some of the calls made fromthe Integrated Control andCommand Centre went unan-swered. “For the next mop-upsession scheduled for February19, hospitals have been asked tocontact their own beneficia-ries,” Singh said.

DG Medical Health Dr DSNegi said he was back to worksoon after getting his seconddose of vaccination. “Theimmunity which people getafter the second dose of vaccinewill vary from person to per-son,” he said.

SGPGI director Dr RKDhiman, who also got his sec-ond vaccine dose on Monday,said the scientific literature issilent on how long the vaccinewill protect one from coron-avirus infection.

“However, we know thatantibodies are formed due tothe vaccination and it willsurely protect one from infec-tion. At the same time if thememory cells in the body areactivated, the protection willcontinue. These cells memorisethe antigens and once thesecells come in contact with theantigens or virus, the systemstarts producing antibodies.So the extent to which the vac-cine helps depends on the lev-els of antibodies persisting orthe presence of memory cells.These are many kinds of mem-ory cells. For example, whenthere is an invasion in thebody of a virus, the antibodiesstart developing and as long as

the antigen is there, the anti-bodies will continue to beformed. The antibodies willdecline slowly and will not bethere after two years, but thenit also depends on the memo-ry cells,” he said.

About the pace of vaccina-tion, he said it was just aboutaverage. “There are many fac-tors as to why the drive is notgoing on at the desired pace.One is that several phone num-bers provided in the list are notcorrect. Also, there is some lax-ity on the part of the beneficia-ries. They need to understandthat a certain percentage ofpeople have to be vaccinatedfor creating herd immunity,” headded.

RMLIMS director Dr AKSingh, who got his second vac-cine jab on Monday, said: “It isnot clear as to how long theimmunity lasts, and we willhave to wait and watch. As adoctor, I believe it should beenough to help us tide over theCovid period.”

Dr Arun Tewari, nodalofficer for Covid immunisationat Lok Bandhu Hospital, saidthe drive was slow-paced. The

second dose of vaccine couldnot be administered at thehospital because the drive start-ed there on January 22.

Meanwhile, 12 people test-ed positive for coronavirus inLucknow on Monday while 19patients recovered. There are378 active cases in the district.The fresh cases included threeeach from Gomtinagar &Vikasnagar and two fromHazratganj. In the state, 58

people tested Covid positive,including two in Kanpur, threeeach in Ghaziabad & GautamBuddh Nagar and two inMeerut. There were two Coviddeaths reported from the state,including one each fromMoradabad & Agra, taking thetoll to 8,704. Besides, 122patients recovered, taking therecovery figures to 5,90,570while there are 2,974 activecases in the state.

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In a tweet in Hindi, she said, "The prices ofpetrol and diesel in the country are skyrocketingand crores of hardworking people and those fromthe middle class are repeatedly calling for help. Buton this important issue of public welfare, the gov-ernment is a silent spectator, which is extremelysad". The BSP demanded that the governmentimmediately pay attention to this issue.

The hike in petrol and diesel prices was alsocriticised by Congress, which demanded animmediate cut in taxes to ease the burden on thecommon man. "The people are already facing ahard time either due to loss in business, loss of jobsetc. due to coronavirus pandemic and now the ris-ing petroleum prices has further put burden onthem, not only due to high fuel prices but also itsimpact on all other essential commodities,"Congress spokesman Amarnath Agarwal saidwhile demanding that the government immedi-ately roll back the hike. Agarwal on Monday alsoaccused the government of cheating the people bynot forwarding the decline in international pricesof crude oil. Agarwal claimed that the governmenthad distanced itself from the hike in fuel pricessaying that it was not under their control but itwas not making it mandatory for every petrolpump to display the full breakup of prices show-ing how much tax was going in the governmentcoffin per litre of fuel.

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In a brutal killing over 'fam-ily honour' in Sant Kabir

Nagar, a woman was burntalive by her family members forher inter-faith love affair, policesaid on Monday. The victim'sfather, brother, brother-in-lawand an accomplice were arrest-ed in this connection.According to police, the fami-ly had hired a contract killer,Varun Tiwari, and paid him Rs1.5 lakh to eliminate thewoman for her relationshipwith a Muslim man.

"The victim's father KailashYadav, brother Ajit Yadav,brother-in-law SatyaprakashYadav and one Sitaram Yadavwere arrested on Sunday. Apetrol container and motorcy-cle used in the crime have alsobeen recovered by the police. Ahunt is on to trace the contractkiller," a police official said.

Speaking at a press confer-ence, Superintendent of Policeof Sant Kabir Nagar, Kaustubh,said, "A half-burnt body of ayoung woman was found at vil-lage Jigina under Dhanghata

police station on February 4.With the help of local police,surveillance, CCTV footage,field unit and dog squad, thebody was identified as that ofRanjana Yadav of Belghat areain Gorakhpur."

"The victim's father, whorecently retired from the army,told the police that his daugh-ter was having an affair witha Muslim man. He said whenshe was not ready to leave herlover and frequently went tolive with him, he along withhis son and son-in-law hireda contract killer from Mahulito kill her," the SP said.

The victim's other twosisters and one brother aremarried and her father want-ed to marry her with theyouth of his religion.According to police, as per theplan, one of the accused tookthe woman to a deserted placein Jigina village on a motorcy-cle on February 3. The otheraccused joined them and tiedthe woman's hands andgagged her. The accused thenset her afire by pouring petrolon her, and fled the spot.

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Lucknow (PNS): The YogiAdityanath government isgoing to create a portal dedicat-ed to monitor the nutrition andgrowth of children atAnganwadi centres.

The Child Developmentand Nutrition Department onthe directives of the govern-ment is also set to hold aNutrition Festival at allAnganwadi centres across thestate on Take Home Ration(THR) Distribution Day onMarch 6 and 7. The festival willfeature events to raise aware-ness of women and teenagegirls registered with Anganwadicentres about good health, sup-plementary nutrition andnutrition. The festival will alsoinclude training sessions forwomen on how to preparehealthy recipes from foodstuffsuch as fortified rice, porridge,gram pulses as well as fortifiedmustard and soybean oil, which

will be delivered through self-help groups associated withRural Livelihood Mission ofIntegrated Child DevelopmentServices (ICDS).

As part of the festival,awareness camps will also beheld at Anganwadi centresevery month with focus onaddressing health issues ofmalnourished children andanemic women.

It is worth mentioning thatthere are around 1.60 crorebeneficiaries of Yogi govern-ment's SupplementaryNutrition Scheme. Theyinclude children aged sixmonths to three years, pregnantand breastfeeding women, mal-nourished kids aged six monthsto six years and adolescentgirls in the 11-14 years agegroup. The beneficiaries ofsupplementary nutrition areselected on the basis of theirweight and height.

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In a development that will not onlyboost its capabilities but also

cement India’s position as a subma-rine building nation, the IndianNavy received the third ScorpeneSubmarine of Project P-75 – to bechristened as INS Karanj – from thestate-run Mazagon DockShipbuilders Limited (MDL) hereon Monday.

Ahead of its formal commis-sioning into Indian Navy as, theMDL delivered the third ScorpeneSubmarine of Project P-75 to theNavy officials. The AcceptanceDocument was signed by Vice AdmNarayan Prasad, AVSM, NM, (retd),Chairman & Managing DirectorMDL and Rear Adm B Sivakumar,VSM, Chief of Staff Officer (Tech),Western Naval Command in thepresence of MDL Directors andNavy personnel at MDL. “With thedelivery of Karanj, MDL has lived upto its reputation as one of India'sleading shipyards with capacity andcapability to meet requirementsand aspirations of the Indian Navyin all dimensions,” an MDL

spokesperson said.The delivery of three

Submarines namely, Khanderi,Kalvari and now Karanj, reaffirmedIndia’s membership in the exclusivegroup of submarine buildingnations.

The fourth submarine Velalaunched May 6, 2019, has com-menced her sea trials, while the fifthsubmarine Vagir -- launched onNovember 12 2020 -- has com-menced her harbour sea trials whilstthe sixth submarine is presently inthe advance stage of outfitting.

Two SSK submarines built byMDL in 1992 and 1994 are still inservice today, after more than 25years a clear testimony of MDL’squality of construction. The state-of-the-art technology utilized in therebuilt Scorpene has ensured supe-rior stealth features (such asadvanced acoustic absorption tech-niques, low radiated noise levels,hydro-dynamically optimised shapeetc.) and the ability to launch anattack on the enemy using precisionguided weapons. The attack can belaunched with both torpedoes andtube launched anti-ship missiles,

whilst underwater or on surface.The stealth of this potent plat-

form is enhanced by the specialattention provided to her character-istic underwater signatures. Thesestealth features make her invulner-able, unmatched by most sub-marines. Scorpene submarines canundertake multifarious types ofmissions i.e Anti-Surface warfare,Anti-Submarine warfare,Intelligence gathering, Mine Laying,Area Surveillance etc. TheSubmarine is designed to operate inall theatres of operation, showcas-ing interoperability with other com-ponents of a Naval Task Force. It isa potent platform, marking a trans-formational shift in submarine oper-ations. MDL also achieved expertisein submarine refits by successfullyexecuting the Medium Refit-cum-Upgradation of all the four SSK classsubmarines of the Indian Navy. It ispresently carrying out the MediumRefit and Life Certification of INSShishumar, the first SSK submarine.MDL has always been at the fore-front of the nation’s progressiveindigenous warship building programme.

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OFFICE OF THE CANTONMENT BOARD, KANPUR64, Subhas Chandra Bose Marg, Cantt Kanpur-208004

NOTICE INVITING TENDEROnline tender through two bid system are invited by Cantt. Board Kanpur through the Government

e-procurement portal http://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app by the Cantonment Board Kanpur. The detailof work is given below.

Sl Name of Tender Estimate Earnest Last date Last date Time and Time and No. Contract Docum Cost Money & time & time date of date of

ent (Rs.) (Rs.) For sub- of Sub- opening openingfees mission mission of onl- of onl-

of original online ine ineEMD, bids techni Finan-

Tender cal cialcost bid bid

receipt

1 Supply of Manpower 2000/- 30,00.000/- 60,000/- 24 Hours 03-03-2021 04-03-2021 Will bePublic Amenities before intimatedfor One Year the online Junior Engineer opening while(Civil, Mechanical), of uploadingSurveyor, Law technical technicalAssistant, Sanitary bid evaluationInspector, Architect report

The detial may be obtain from www.cbkanpur.org.in and http://eprocure.gov.in/eprocure/app.(A.K. Dwiedi) CEO, Kanpur Cantt

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Accusing the city police offabricating false charges

against a student leader of theMahatma Gandhi KashiVidyapeeth (MGKV) whobelongs to the Samajwadi Party(SP) the party leaders onMonday submitted a memo-randum to the district policechief and demanded reinvesti-gation of the case registeredagainst him.

The SP leaders stated thatthe student leader RahulSonkar had contested electionof students’ union on the postof general secretary and isactive worker of SamajwadiChhatra Sabha (SCS), studentwing of the party. The politicalopponents of the student leaderhad lodged false complaintsagainst him and the Lalpur-Pandepur police had also reg-istered an FIR against him onFebruary 6 last, they allegedadding, the police are nowpreparing to slap Gangster Actagainst him. The sectionsunder which the FIR was reg-istered, did not relate to seriousoffense but despite this thepolice were behaving with himas if he was a criminal, the SPleaders alleged further.

Rahul is popular amongstudents and thus the police aremaking atrocity on him at thebehest of his political oppo-nents, the delegation blamedadding, the police were trying

to make him criminal by open-ing his history-sheet. The del-egation demanded theDIG/SSP to order for the rein-vestigation of the charge leveledagainst the student leader keep-ing his interest in mind so thathe could get justice. The districtpolice chief assured to payserious attention to thedemand.

Among those who met theDIG/SSP included the MLCAshutosh Sinha, Abdul SamadAnsari, Sujit Yadav, VishnuSharm and Sandeep Sharma.

Meanwhile, the SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav constituted ahigh level committee to get thestudent leader justice. Themedia incharge of city unit ofthe party Sandeep Sharmainformed, the committeeincludes the MLA fromChandauli Prabhu NarayanSingh, Virendra Yadav fromGhazipur, MLC AshutoshSinha, MLC Lal BIhari Yadavand ex-MLA AvinashKushwaha.

MGKV V-C SEEKSFINANCIAL AID FROMALUMNI: The MahatmaGandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth(MGKV) has given a numberof great personalities to thenation and thus, there is a needto establish a building on var-sity campus to dedicate them.The Vice-Chancellor Prof TNSingh sought financial assis-tance from the alumni for thepurpose.

There are a number of

personalities who had studiedhere and brought glory for theuniversity with their works invarious fields, Prof Singh saidwhile speaking in alumni meetheld at Gandhi Adhyayan Peethauditorium on varsity cam-pus, here under on-goingweeklong centenary year cele-bration of the university andlaid an emphasis on establish-ing a building which is to bededicated to them. He appealedthe alumni to come forward tomaterialise the objective.

In the meet, the alumnuswho had studied in the univer-sity and gain name and fame intheir respective fields such asinternational master athleteNilu Mishra, Principal ofNational Inter College, KundraDr Anandpal Rai, judicial mag-istrate in Ghazipur Sunil Gupta,Dr Mo Fariyad of MaulanaAzad Urdu University, seniorscribe Rajkumar Singh andothers shared their experiencesgained during the study.

The V-C also honouredsome alumni with the angvas-tram and mementos on theoccasion. Later on, they alsovisited the book and handi-crafts fair. In the beginning, DrBanshidhar Pandey welcomedthe alumuns. Many were pre-sent on the occasion includingProf Yogendra Singh, DrVandana Singh, Dr VinodKumar Singh and Dr RahulGupta.

INSURANCE POLICYFOR TRADERS’ SHOPS:

With an aim to protect thebusiness interest of the smalltraders, the Federation of AllIndia Vyapar Mandal (FAIVM)has launched an insurancescheme for traders’ shops ‘ShopSafety Insurance Policy’.

Launching the scheme at aprogramme held by theFAIVM at a hotel in Maldahia,here the Vice-Chairman,Purvanchal DevelopmentBoard Dr Daya ShankarMishra said that the schemewill benefit particularly thesmall traders who have nooption of the recovery of theirbusiness loss due to any casu-alty. He also handed over thecertificate of insurance safety tofive businessmen. TheMLA and guest of honourSaurabh Srivastava said thatthis policy will prove a mile-stone for the traders to protecttheir shops.

The general secretary offederation VK Bansal said thata trader invests his all moneyto open a shop and maintain itbut loses everything in case ofcasualty such as fire incident,flood, etc and added, in suchsituation, if there is insuranceof the shop, he could recoversome loss.

Keeping this in mind, thefederation got insured the shopsafety insurance policy byinsurance company Tata AIGGeneral Insurance CompanyLimited through MahindraInsurance Brokers Limited, hesaid

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Varanasi is one of the 18divisional headquarters of

the state where an ambitious‘Abhyudaya Yojana’ waslaunched by the Chief Minister(CM) Yogi Adityanath onMonday through a virtual plat-form. Under the scheme,coaching facilities will be pro-vided to the students preparingfor various competitive exam-inations like IAS, IPS, PCS,NDS, CDS, NEET and JEEnear their homes. The physicaland virtual classes will be runfrom Basant Panchmi, fallingon Tuesday. The festival is alsocelebrated as ‘Festival ofLearning’ (Saraswati Puja).

In the city, DivisionalCommissioner (DC) DeepakAgrawal, District Magistrate(DM) Kaushal Raj Sharma,Chief Development Officer(CDO) Madhusudan Hulgiand other senior officials werealso present. Connecting withthe CM’s programme, theyalso lighted the lamp to mark

the launching of the scheme.While addressing the studentspresent on the occasion, theDC said that the state govern-ment is providing them thefacility of high-level coachingwith an aim to help them pre-pare for various competitiveexaminations.

During the coaching, DC,DM and all other senior IAS,IPS, PCS, PPCS officers willnot only share their experi-ences but also take the classes,

along with other faculty mem-bers.

Interacting with a localselected student Kapil Dubey,the CM said that in Indian tra-dition, religion has alwaysbeen associated with duty asreligion has paved the way forthe Abhuyudaya (rise). WhenKapil Dubey asked the CMhow he got the idea of provid-ing coaching facilities to thestudents preparing for compet-itive examinations, Yogi replied

that during the coronaviruspandemic period, he saw thepains of stranded studentspreparing for the competitiveexams in Kota and their feel-ings to reach homes as soon aspossible and at that time, hehad decided to provide suchcoaching facilities to themwithin the state so that theycould make preparations fordifferent competitive examsnear their homes.

Yogi informed that in thecoming days, the schemewould also be expanded at thedistrict level and in the firstphase, 50,000 students havebeen selected.

Highlighting the enthusi-astic response to the scheme,the CM said that in just fivedays more than 40,000 lakhpeople visited Abhyudayawebsite and six lakh got regis-tered.

Under this scheme, allsuch students will get the facil-ity of free coaching who due tolack of financial conditionsare unable to do so.

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One person died, whileanother sustained serious

injuries in a shoot out inAllahpur under theGeorgetown police station onMonday. The killer has beenidentified, but could not benabbed. The incident tookplace at Satish Paan Bhandarnear Bajrang Chauraha inAllahpur.

It was around 12.00 noonwhen Shobhit, son of the paanshop owner was sitting at theshop as usual. One PradeepShukla arrived on the scene andstarted a quarrel with Shobhiton some old issue. Pradeepsuddenly whipped out his pis-tol and shot several roundsaiming Shobhit. The local res-idents ran to save Shobhit, butthey had to stop for a while asPradeep was brandishing hispistol.

Seeing people comingtowards him, Pradeep managedto escape firing several roundsand causing injury to one pass-er by Satyam Mishra.

The police arrived on thescene and rushed both theinjured to the SRN Hospitalwhere the doctors declaredShobhit as brought dead.

Satyam is undergoing treat-ment and his condition is stat-ed to be out of danger.

The police officials saidthat the killer had been iden-tified and he will be arrestedsoon.

LOOT BID FOILED : Aloot was attempted in the trans-Yamuna area of Bara on

Monday by hurling bombs ona four-wheeler and firing sev-eral rounds. The robbers had torun away empty handed as thelocal residents reached thespot. According to reports thecashier of Pandara Umapurtoll plaza in Bara was approach-ing towards bank to depositmoney when his car was

attacked with bombs and gunshot. The cashier sustainedpellet injuries, but he did nothand over the bag to the rob-bers, who had to make anescape owing to arrival of localresidents on the scene.

The police have registeredthe case and are investigatingthe same on different angles.

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Hundreds of doctors andhealth workers who had

received their first Covishieldvaccines on January 16 lastreceived their second shot onMonday to complete their vac-cination course of two doses.Besides, thousands of otherhealth workers, who failed toturn out on the last six dayswhen vaccines were given tothem, also got their first shot in72 sessions at 33 centres in thedistrict during the day.

On the first day when thevaccination process began lastmonth, 393 health workershad received vaccines at differ-ent centres and they got theirsecond shot now. In the begin-ning, the response among thehealth workers at some of thecentres was very poor butgradually when senior doc-tors and others came forwardthe same had improved a lotbut till the last vaccinationday, out of 21,017 health work-

ers only 12,051 had turned outwhich was 57.33 per cent.Overall in the district, 19,251health and frontline workersgot the vaccines either ofCovishield or Covaxine out of34,668 beneficiaries listed onCo-Win portal which was55.52 per cent.

During the vaccination

procession, enthusiasm wasseen at some rural and urbancentres but the response wasvery poor at a few centres as itwas seen on all the previousvaccination days. It was theninth day since the beginningof the process on January 16last. Senior health departmentofficers were seen visiting var-

ious centres and Chief MedicalOfficer (CMO) Dr VB Singhhimself inspected the vaccina-tion at Government Women’sHospital, Kabirchaura.

NO COVID PATIENTFOUND: After a long gap, noperson has tested positive forcoronavirus infection in thedistrict and the tally of con-firmed cases remains at 21,960on Monday evening.

With no COVID-19 deathbeing reported in the last 24hours, the death toll remains at377. As many as six moreCOVID-19 patients have beencured, four of them in homeisolation and two from the hos-pitals. So far, 21,546 COVID-19 patients have recovered inthe district—18,573 in homeisolation and 2,973 in CovidHospitals.

As present 37 active casesare under treatment in thedistrict. The recovery rate inthe district is 98.11 percent andthe mortality rate 1.71 percent.

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The coronavirus in the dis-trict is on the verge of

dying. Nearly nine monthslater, the number of infectedhas been reduced to four only.On Sunday, a total of 5,607people were screened forCOVID-19 during the day, outof which four reported positive.

No Corona patient diedduring treatment. The deadlyvirus was also defeated by ninepeople. As of Sunday, the num-ber of infected in the districthas reached 29,491. So far 394people have lost their lives dueto corona infection.

Earlier on May 30, 2020,four patients and five weremarked as infected on June 5.Then the figure of testing wasabout seven hundred per day.

According to the NodalOfficer for Corona Dr RishiSahay, the reduced number ofcorona infected is going toprovide relief. Despite increas-ing contact tracing and scopeof testing, the decrease in thenumber of infected is going tolead the district to become

corona free.CMO Dr Prabhakar Rai

said that with the number ofinfected people decreasing,now the percentage of healthypeople is also increasing. Twoof the nine people recoveringon Sunday were dischargedfrom Covid hospital. Sevenpeople completed home isola-tion. He further said that nowthe outbreak of the virus isdecreasing. Those who areconfirmed to have covid infec-tion are not showing symp-toms. The decreasing numberof active patients will free the

district from Corona soon. Heinformed that evenafter regular screening andscanning at Magh Mela, theinfection xis not confirmedin Kalpavasi. The testing will bespeeded up.

The number of infected didnot decrease after June 5, nowthe number of infected in thedistrict continued to increaseevery day after June 5, 2020.After June 5, the number ofinfected grew rapidly day byday. Not only this, when thepace of testing increased, eightCovid hospitals were built. At

one time, beds were foundempty in hospitals. Kotwa wasformed along with SRN andthen the number of infectedpeople admitted toKalindipuram Covid CareCenter kept increasing.

On May 30, 2020 four werefound infected but there wasrelief from death. Total patientsincreased to 118. After this theinfection continued to grow.From the end of January, thenumber of infected peoplestarted decreasing. The death ofthe infected also came to anend.

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So far, 1561 healthcare and other frontline per-sonnel have been given COVID-19 vaccine

at 10 immunisation centres operated in RailwayHospitals and Health Units over NCR.

Of total 1561 vaccinated till now, 1021 bare Railway employees and 540 areother healthcare and frontline personnel. Sofar, 687 persons have been vaccinated inCentral Hospital Prayagraj, 284 in RailwayHospital Kanpur, 56 in Railway HospitalTundla, 258 at Railway Hospital Jhansi and 214

at Railway Hospital Agra, while rest 62 werevaccinated in health units under Jhansi divi-sion.

All participants of vaccinationprogramme are being observed for a period of30 minutes in the Railway Hospital and noadverse effect post immunisation has beenreported so far.

Large scale participation of doctors inCOVID-19 vaccination accounting to 111 oftotal 1561 vaccinated so far has helped in con-fidence building in this important vaccinationdrive.

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Acriminal was injured in apolice encounter in the

trans-Yamuna area on earlyMonday morning. The crimi-nal, identified as NeeluDhahikar, a resident of KharwaTola village in Shankargarh,was admitted at SRN Hospitalfor treatment. Police also seizeda 0.315 bore country-madepistol, two live cartridges anda stolen bike from his posses-sion. However, his associatesmanaged to give a slip to thepolice. Wanted in connectionwith over half-a-dozen crimi-nal cases, the criminal wasplaying cat and mouse with thepolice for more than sixmonths. SP (trans-Yamuna)Saurabh Dixit said after actingupon a tip-off that a gang ofburglars was moving towardsthe trans-Yamuna area with anintention of committing acrime, two separate policeteams from Shankargarh cor-doned the road on Prayagraj-Chitrakoot highway. A crimi-nal sustained injuries in his leg

in the police encounter, whilehis associate managed toescape. Dixit further addedthat the injured criminal wasthe leader of an inter-stateburglars gang which used totarget houses located at the out-skirts of the city. The gangmembers, in past such inci-dents, did not hesitate in attack-ing victims if objected by thefamily or owner of the shops,said the police.

4 HELD FOR MURDER:Four people including the hus-band and the stepson of a 65-year-old woman were arrestedin connection with her murderin Uttar Pradesh’s Pratapgarhdistrict, police said. The bodyof Baskali Devi was found inPatti area on January 28 last,Additional Superintendent ofPolice (East) Surendra Dwiveditold reporters. He said based onthe complaint lodged by thehusband of the deceased, a casewas registered against uniden-tified people. The woman’shusband, identified as JhunnilalPrajapati, Ajay Prajapati,Pradeep Kumar Prajapati andher stepson Vijay Kumar

Prajapati were found involvedin the murder. The four werearrested on Sunday, the ASPsaid. Jhunnilal Prajapati con-fessed to the killing and said hewas twice married and VijayKumar is his son from the firstwife. Baskali Devi was his sec-ond wife, the accused hus-band said. He also said Baskaliused to frequently argue withhim. On January 27 last, therewas an argument, followingwhich she did not cook. Thisangered Jhunnilal, who alongwith the other accused killedher, and dumped the bodynear a bridge. They alsoinformed Dial-112 that Baskalihas been abducted, and alsospread rumour on socialmedia. He said all the fouraccused have been sent to jail.

ORIENTATION PRO-GRAMME: The seventh day ofthe orientation programmeorganised by FacultyDevelopment Centre, IswarSaran Degree College began onMonday with a lecture by theResource Person, ProfAnupama Roy. The topic ofdiscussion of session-I was

‘narratives of democracy. ProfAnupama Roy, Centre ofPolitical Studies, JNU provid-ed diverse and insightful nar-ratives of democracy. She ini-tiated her lecture by quotingthe newly elected US Presidentwho said ‘Merely democraticpractices are not essential forthe states but defence ofdemocracy is also very impor-tant. He beautifully explainedthe events that happened in theUS Post-election. According toProf Roy, democracy as a formof government needs substan-tial reforms to deal with emerg-ing challenges like populism,citizen-state relations, xeno-phobia and other humanitari-an crises. She disguised thenature and structure of democ-racy in different countries. Theworking and nature of SouthAfrican democracy, the struc-ture of Irish democracy andfoundation of German andJapanese constitution are differ-ent. She was of opinion thatdemocracy is not just a form ofgovernment to conduct period-ic elections but it should besubstantive and procedural.

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The fourth bathing BasantPanchami of Prayagraj

Magh Mela will be held onTuesday across the Sangamand ahead of this bathing fes-tival, traffic in Prayagraj wasrestricted a day prior.

Prayagraj Magh Mela 2021started with the first bathingfestival Makar Sankranti. Afterthat the second bathing festivalwas Paush Purnima. Kalpavasalso started a month from thisday. At the same time, the thirdand most important bathingfestival in the Magh Mela wasMauni Amavasya. After this,the fourth bathing festivalBasant Panchami is falling onFebruary 16.

In view of BasantPanchami Snan festival, theMela administration has pre-pared for the smooth move-ment of the devotees coming tothe fair area and for securityreasons. Arrangements for traf-fic diversion and parking havebeen made for all vehiclescoming to the fair area.

According to SP MaghMela Rajeev Narayan Mishra,from 6 pm on Monday eveningtill 12 pm on February 17 ortill the end of the crowd, vehi-cles will not run in the Sangamarea.

Only administrative andmedical vehicles will be allowedto travel. Other vehicles will berestricted.

Parking facility of vehicles

of devotees coming to MaghMela has also been provided.Devotees coming to the fair willbe able to park their vehicles atthe designated parking spots atthe following places. Theseincluded Plot No. 17, nearPontoon Bridge Workshop,Galla Mandi Daraganj, Parkingnear helipad, opposite TrafficPolice Line on Kali Road(Parking of two wheelers), OldGT Kachar.

Besides, the parking is pro-posed at these places due to thehigh number of devotees in theMagh Mela area. All (twowheeler and four wheeler)vehicles coming fromMirzapur-Rewa will be parkedat Navaprayagam parking nextto Leprosy Crossing,

Vehicles coming fromJaunpur-Varanasi will bediverted from Katka Tiraha andparked in the Chinese MealParking, devotees comingfrom Kanpur will parktheir vehicles nearCMP Degree College and KPInter College, Vehicles comingfrom Lucknow will be parkedin Colonelganj Inter Collegeand Bakshi Dam KacharParking.

It may be pointed out herethat the entry will be allowedto the Sangam Mela areafrom GT Jawahar intersectionand the exit route will be fromHarshavardhana Crossing.Devotees who walk on foot inthe fair area will be able to gothrough these routes.

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Division of PediatricHematology Oncology,

Department of Pediatrics,Institute of Medical Sciences(IMS), Banaras HinduUniversity (BHU) organised aprogramme for the pediatriccancer patients who have beentreated at the centre on theoccasion of InternationalChildhood Cancer Day here onMonday. This day is celebrat-ed every year on February 15to raise awareness and toexpress support for childrenand adolescents undergoingtreatment for cancer, the sur-vivors and their families. The

chief guest on the occasion wasProf BR Mittal, Director of IMSBHU. The programme wasconducted by Dr PriyankaAgrawal and vote of thanks wasgiven by Dr Ankur Singh, ProfBK Das, Prof Ashok Kumar,Prof Rajniti Prasad, ProfVineeta Gupta, Prof SandeepKumar, Dr Vaibhav Pandeyand others were also present.

Professor incharge of thedivision Prof Vineeta Guptasaid “Worldwide, approximate-ly 400,000 cancers are diag-nosed every year in thoseyounger than 15 years with anestimated 80,000 cancer-relat-ed deaths in these annually.Almost 80 per cent of child-

hood cancers occur in lowand middle income countries.With early diagnosis and qual-ity care, three fourths of thechildren can achieve long-termremission in high incomecountries. Unfortunately, manychildren in low and middleincome countries do notreceive optimal care and 90 percent of them succumb to theirdisease. Indian Academy ofPediatrics (IAP) launched theCatch Pediatric Cancer (CPC)programme during the dayalong with the PediatricHematology Oncology Chapterof IAP to create awareness andheld save more lives.”

The division is taking care

of children with acute leukemia(blood cancer) lymphoma(cancer of lymph nodes),retinoblastoma (cancer of eye)and many other types of child-hood cancers. We have treatedmore than 1000 patients tillnow with very good results.The outcome of pediatric can-cers is excellent if they are diag-nosed early. Unfortunately,many patients still come at latestage. We have also started thetransplant programme for thesepatients to improve their out-come,” said Prof Vineeta Gupta,adding that out message to thesociety is “childhood cancersare curable if diagnosed intime.”

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The 24th convocation of Veer Bahadur SinghPurvanchal University (VBSPU), Jaunpur,

will be held on Tuesday. Giving details at a pressconference organised on Sunday, its Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Nirmala S Mourya saidChancellor of the University and Uttar PradeshGovernor Anandiben Patel will preside over theconvocation while former V-C of Banaras HinduUniversity (BHU) and Chancellor of Rani LaxmiBai Central Agricultural University and eminentagricultural scientist Prof Panjab Singh will be thechief guest. The V-C said Chancellor will award

gold medals to 73 students on the occasion. Besides67 will be awarded PhD degrees, she added. In theacademic session 2019-20 the players of Universityreceived a total of 111 medals, including 36 gold,29 silver and 46 bronze, in various sports compe-titions held at the all-India level, the V-C said.

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Northern Coalfields Limited(NCL), Singrauli, organised

a seminar on environmentalmanagement with best practicesfor sustainable mining atManagement DevelopmentInstitute (MDI) in its head-quarters on Sunday. FormerCMD NCL TK Nag, NCL CMD PK Sinha,Director (Technical/Operations), WesternCoalfields Limited (WCL) AK Chaudhary,Director (Tech/P&P), Mahanadi CoalfieldsLimited (MCL) Baban Singh, Director (Personnel),NCL Bimlendu Kumar, Director (Tech/Op.), NCLDr Anindy Sinha, Director (Finance), NCL RNDubey, former CGM NCL RK Sharma GMs fromMCL and NCL and other official participated inthe seminar. Former CMD NCL TK Nag sharedhis experience, gave management lessons and best

wishes to NCL for its growthin future. CMD PrabhatKumar Sinha while speakingon the occasion said NCL isone of the best-performingsubsidiaries of Coal India. Herecalled series of strategic keydecisions taken in the pastwhich paved the path forremarkable progress and inclu-

sive growth of the company. He also emphasisedthe need for such experience and knowledge-shar-ing seminars for adoption of best practices. A KChaudhary, Director (Technical/Operations) ofNagpur-based Coal India subsidiary and BabanSingh, Director (Technical/Project and Planning)of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited presented the bestpractices in environment management and sus-tainability. Notably, Coal India is the world’slargest coal miner and NCL, WCL, MCL are it’sthree of seven coal production subsidiaries.

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DM Priyanka Niranjan spelt outher priorities at a press confer-

ence organised on Monday.“Implementation of government poli-cies is my topmost priority,” she said.She added that she would try to solvedrinking water problem of the district.She said she had received reviews fromsubordinate officers that tubewells hadbeen made but they lacked elec-tricity connection. She said thatdepartment concerned had been

instructed to immediately con-nect all tubewells with electrici-ty. On the occasion she sharedher experiences as MirzapurCDO. The DM said they will tryto improve literacy rate ofwomen in the district. She saidshe will ensure proper medicalfacilities, especially in the ruralareas. An IAS officer of 2013batch, she said she was earlierposted as joint magistrate inMuzaffarnagar and special sec-retary in Irrigation department.

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Minister of Railways, Commerce andIndustry and Consumer Affairs and Food

and Public Distribution Piyush Goyal througha video link on Sunday inaugurated the Mau-Anand Vihar Terminus (ANVT) bi-weekly spe-cial train. On the occasion addressing the func-tion organised in Mau through video link,Railway Minister Piyush Goyal extended hiscongratulations on the running of Mau-AnandVihar Terminus regular special train. He saidkeeping in mind the demand of the people ofMau areathe run ofMau-AnandV i h a rTerminus bi-weekly spe-cial trainw a sapprov e d .Goyal saidwith therunning ofthis train,the facility toreach Delhi in the morning after leaving Mauin the evening has become available. The peo-ple of Mau, Aunrihar and Jaunpur areas will havean additional travel facility to go to Delhi andit will be convenient to send the products of thetextile industry of Mau region to metros. Thistrain will be an important link in the develop-ment of the eastern region, he said. In order todeal with the upcoming challenges extensivesteps have been taken to strengthen the basicstructure of the railways, the minister said.Economic development will be further accel-erated with the completion of the ongoing pro-jects in Purvanchal for strengthening the infra-structure. In the budget of 2021-22 for the ongo-ing railway projects in Uttar Pradesh �12,700crore has been an allocated, he said. Last yeartoo for railway projects in UP a sum of �8,776crore was allocated. He said during Coronainfection period, Mau Junction was dedicatedin the service of the country. Besides as manyas 55 shramik trains arrived at Mau Junction

during this pandemic. “The principle of railwaysis passenger service, passenger service only iscountry’s service”, Goyal added. MeanwhileMember Legislative Council Arvind KumarSharma while praising Railway Minister PiyushGoyal for running the Mau-Anand ViharTerminus bi-weekly special train said with it forpeople of Aunrihar, Jaunpur and Sultanpur areasan additional travel facility has become availablefor going to Delhi. Now it will be quiet conve-nient for traders and weavers to send their goodsto Delhi, he said. General Manager of NorthEastern Railway (NER) Vinay Kumar Tripathi

welcomedthe RailwayM i n i s t e rand theguests sit-ting on thestage atMau. Hesaid in viewof thedemand ofthe peopleof Maur e g i o n ,

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal approved therunning of Mau-Anand Vihar Terminus bi-weekly. The 05139 Mau-Anand Vihar Terminusbi-weekly regular special train on every Tuesdayand Friday will leave Mau at 20.50 hrs and reachAnand Vihar Terminus at 11.30 hrs on the sec-ond day. On the other hand, on everyWednesday and Saturday the 05140 AnandVihar Terminus-Mau bi-weekly special train willdepart from Anand Vihar Terminus at 16.45 hrsand arrive at Mau at 06.20 hrs on the second day.The train has been provided stoppage atAunrihar, Jaunpur, Sultanpur, Lucknow andKanpur Central stations. On Sunday this trainwas run as inaugural special. In this special traina total of 21 LHBs coaches will be attached.Tripathi said that advanced passenger facilitieshave been provided at the Mau Jn station.Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) VaranasiVijay Kumar Panjiar thanked the guests whileChief Public Relations Officer, NER, PankajKumar Singh, conducted the programme.

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To maintain law and order and to strength-en the trust of people in police

Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Singh con-ducted combing operation in the jungle andhillocks of Naxal-affected Ataraila Santnagar vil-

l a g eu n d e rL a l g a n jpolice sta-tion onS u n d a y.D u r i n gthe comb-ing the SPinteractedwith the

public. He told the cops to earn trust of the peo-ple and instil spirit of confidence among them.On the occasion he was accompanied by SHOLalganj, incharge Santnagar police outpost andheavy police force. Besides, the police teams con-ducted combing operations in Naxal-affectedareas under Ahraura, Jamalpur and Halia policestations too on Sunday.

DC’s VISIT: DC Yogeshwar Ram Mishra onSunday visited AS Jubilee Inter College, thecoaching centre set up under Abhyuday scheme.

He said till date 9,000 aspirants had got them-selves registered in the division and the facili-ty was still open online on abhyuday.up.in andadded that the centre would prove to be a boonin which aspirants of all competitive examina-tions like NEET, JEE, IAS, PCS etc. would getquality coaching by experts. The DC wasaccompanied by CDO Avinash Singh and gavenecessary tips to city magistrate Vinay Kumar,DIOS Devki Singh, social welfare officer GireeshDubey and principal of AS Jubilee College.

BUDGET: BJP president of Kashi regionMahesh Chandra Srivastava claimed that thebudget presented by union government aimedat strengthening rural economy and making thenation as self-reliant. While interacting withmedia at BJP office on Sunday, he high-lighted the merits of the budget. The BJP leadersaid budget of �35,000 crore had been allocat-ed for Covid vaccination. He said ample fundhad been allocated not only for rural infra-structure but for electrification too. During thepress conference besides former BJP districtpresident, Balendumani Tripathi he was accom-panied by party district president BJPBrajbhushan Singh, district vice-presidentJagdeesh Singh Patel, vice-chairman Uttar PradeshSC/ST Commission Mani Ram Kol and spokesper-son of party’s district unit Gyanendra Dubey.

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The MukhyamantriAbhyudaya Yojana was for-

mally launched through videoconferencing at the UIET audi-torium of Chhatrapati Shahu JiMaharaj University, Kanpur,on Monday.

After the address of ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath,Minister of State for HigherEducation Neelima Katiyar,while addressing the session,said this scheme would cer-tainly bring in qualitativeimprovement and also set newstandards of quality.

She congratulated the chiefminister for his gift to the UPyouth and said with this theyouth of the state, especiallyfrom the rural background,would be able to enter civil ser-vices, and clear PCS, JWW,NDA, CDS, SSC, BEd, TETand several other competitiveexaminations.

Katiyar said the AbhyudayaYojana was a clear evidence ofthe sensitivity of the UP gov-ernment and now challengeswould be evident in projectsand plants. She said this movewould provide an opportunityto rural youth, especially from

the weaker sections, to join themainstream of society andemerge successful in theircareers.

The minister said with thelaunch of the Abhyudaya

Yojana, Uttar Pradesh wouldnow emerge at the global levelas well. She said this schemewould be a milestone in tack-ling unemployment and theweaker section students would

be especially benefited, espe-cially at the final levels. She saidthe state government had givento the Uttar Pradesh youth agift for excelling in the times tocome.

Katiyar said under theAbhyudaya Yojana, the stu-dents would also be providedwith study material.

Addressing the function,Kanpur DivisionalCommissioner Raj Shekharsaid the MukhyamantriAbhyudaya Yojana would usherin positive changes in educa-tion. He said thousands of stu-dents had gone to Kota forhigher studies for competitiveexaminations but during thecoronavirus pandemic period,they were left stranded there.He said with the launch ofAbhyudaya Yojana, there wouldbe no need for migration andstudents would be impartedquality study in their hometown itself.

Shekhar said free educationwas certainly the best gift givenby Chief Minister YogiAdityanath to the youth of thestate.

Others present includedDistrict Magistrate AlokTiwari, Bhagwati Sagar,Surendra Maithani, MaheshTrivedi, DIG Dr PritenderSingh, Kanpur University ViceChancellor Dr Neelima Gupta,CDO Dr Mahendra Kumarand several others.

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Minister of State for HigherEducation Neelima

Katiyar, while addressing theprize distribution ceremony‘Yuvotkarsh’ at MahilaMahavidyalaya on Monday,said colleges need to hold moresuch programmes, especially inthe fond memory of great per-sonalities of India as it wouldkeep the youth of the countryrooted to their culture andtraditions.

Katiyar congratulated thestudents for their enthusiasmand for putting up their bestin the event. She expressedhope that the students wouldfollow the ideals of SwamiVivekananda in their lives.

Addressing the students,Mahila Mahavidyalaya prin-cipal Dr BR Agarwal saidwinning or losing was sec-ondary while it was primary

to ensure one’s participation inan event as it helped in devel-oping self-confidence, self-reliance and spirit of cama-raderie.

She appealed to the stu-dents to emulate Swamiji andfollow his path. She congrat-ulated the winners of different

events and said that she wasproud that the students hadproved their excellence notonly in academics but in co-curricular activities also.

The college had organisedcontests for henna application,essay writing, poetry writing,debate, extempore and many

other events in which thegirls took part in big numbers.

The vote of thanks wasproposed by Dr MohiniAgarwal.

Others who took part inthe function were Dr ManishaShukla and Dr DeepaliNigam.

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The Central Board ofSecondary Education has

recently made massive changesin the question paper pattern inorder to discourage rote learn-ing and bring out the criticalthinking in a student. It hasbrought in major changes inthe question papers of all sub-jects, even of language - Englishand Hindi. Development ofhigher-order thinking skills isa step to support strong rea-soning and lay a solid founda-tion of knowledge.

This was stated by DrSupriya Jacob, resource personof Grey Matter Publications,New Delhi while addressing aworkshop on ‘BloomsTaxonomy’ at Dolphins PublicSchool here on Monday.

She said this year the XIIstudents would be getting 40marks of multiple-choice ques-tions and it had been intro-duced to assess student learn-ing. She said well-writtenMCQs could support learnerengagement in higher levels ofcognitive reasoning such asapplication or synthesis ofknowledge.

She said Bloom’sTaxonomy had been used to

identify MCQs that assess stu-dents’ critical thinking skills,with evidence suggesting thathigher-order MCQs support adeeper conceptual under-standing of scientific processskills. She said it also requiredlearners to develop higher-order thinking skills thatincluded all of Bloom’s levels.

She said faculty question-writers and examinees mayapproach the same material dif-ferently based on varying lev-els of knowledge and expertise,and these differences can influ-ence the cognitive levels beingmeasured by MCQs.

Dr Jacob said faculty ques-tion-writers may perceive thatcertain MCQs required higher-order thinking skills to processthe question, whereas exami-nees may only need to employlower-order thinking skills torender a correct response. Shesaid similarly lower-order ques-tions may actually require high-er-order thinking skills in orderto respond correctly.

She said in this perspective,the authors had described someof the cognitive processesexaminees used to respond toMCQs. She said the authorsproposed that various factorsaffected both the question-writer and examinee’s interac-

tion with test material andsubsequent cognitive process-es necessary to answer a ques-tion.

She said Bloom’sTaxonomy could be very help-ful for the teachers, especiallyEnglish teachers, because itgave them a way to think abouttheir teaching and also thesubsequent learning of theirstudents.

She said this frameworkcould be used to create assess-ments, evaluate the complexi-ty of assignments, increase therigor of a lesson, simplify anactivity to help personaliselearning and also design asummative assessment andfinally plan project-basedlearning. She said as it simplyprovided an order for cognitivebehaviors, it could be appliedto almost anything.

Dr Jacob said there were sixessential points for teachers toremember. She said the firstfocused on activities at theremembering level like mem-orising a poem, recalling statecapitals and rememberingmath formulas. She said thesecond was understanding andactivities that helped boostedunderstanding level likeexplaining the differencebetween rectangle and square

and it could be summarised ina simple story form.

She said the third wasapplication level where oneshould use a formula to solvea problem, select a design tomeet a purpose, and recon-struct the passage.

She said the next was toanalyse and for this one need-ed to promote activities at theanalysis level like explaininghow the steps of the scientificprocess worked together andidentifying why a machine wasnot working.

She said the fifth level wasto evaluate which meant tomake a judgement regarding anethical dilemma, interpret thesignificance of a given law ofphysics, illustrate the relativevalue of a technological inno-vation in a specific setting - atool that helped recover topsoilfarming.

She said the last was to cre-ate, as the creation level likedesigning a new solution to an‘old’ problem that acknowl-edged the previous failures,deleted the least useful argu-ments in a persuasive essay,writing a poem based on agiven theme and tone.

The vote of thanks wasproposed by Dr ShipraChakarvarty.

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--7.�� $�/+(KANPUR (PNS): The LLRHospital will now run pediatricophthalmology OPD so thatchildren suffering from sightdisorders are treated here.

Congenital eye defectswere left untreated morebecause Kanpur did not haveproper diagnostic tools and thetreatment in other metros wasquite costly but now it would beeasily available for the peopleof the city, especially the weak-er sections of society.

Associate professor DrParul Singh said the OPDwould be run once a week andits focus would be on treatingproblems related to strabis-mus (squint).

She said strabismus was acondition in which the eyes didnot align properly and one eyeturned inwards, upwards,downwards, or outwards, whilethe other one focused at onespot. She said this could hap-pen all the time or intermit-

tently and occurred because themuscles that control the move-ment of the eye and the eyelid,the extraocular muscles, werenot working together. She saidas a result both eyes wereunable to look at the same spotat the same time.

She said it could also hap-pen because a disorder in thebrain meant that the eyes werenot correctly coordinated. Shesaid strabismus also madebinocular vision impossible,

so it was harder for the personto appreciate depth percep-tion.

She said strabismus wasestimated to affect around fourper cent of the population.

Dr Singh said there weredifferent types of strabismus,including a lazy eye, and theycould be described by the causeor by the way the eye turned.She said early diagnosis ofstrabismus would enable moreeffective treatment.

She said treatment up tothe age of six years was believedto be most effective, thoughstrabismus could be treated atany time. She said the sign ofa squint was fairly obviousfrom an early age and one ofthe eyes did not look straightahead but a minor squint maybe less noticeable. She saidinfants and newborns could gocross-eyed, especially if theywere tired and this did notmean that they had a squint.

+�� %��KANPUR (PNS) : BharatiyaJanata Party MP SatyadeoPachauri has assured that theAnwarganj-Mandhana railwaytrack would be removed by2022. Divisional RailwayManager Mohit Chandra alsoexpects the issue will beresolved by next year aftertechnical study of the project.Pachauri inaugurated the ele-vator installed at the KanpurCentral Station in the presenceof senior railway officials onMonday.

Talking to media persons,Pachauri said due to all outefforts of the local public rep-resentatives and trade organi-sations, the removal ofAnwarganj-Mandhana railwaytrack was possible by 2022,thereby making the city free oftraffic congestion.

He said efforts were also onto run a direct train fromKanpur Nagar to Pune and theissue was likely to be finalisedsoon. He said within the next10 years, Kanpur CentralStation would become one ofthe best railway stations of thecountry. He also assured thepeople that one more railwaystation would come up in thecity in near future.

BJP MP Devendra SinghBhole drew attention of the rail-way officials toward the prob-lems in the underpass con-structed on Dedicated FreightCorridor route. He also sug-gested extension of Agra spe-cial train up to Kanpur, halt ofJhansi intercity train atBhimsen station and a Memotrain up to Phaphund.

DRM Mohit Chandra saidpassenger facilities were beingregularly enhanced by theRailways. He said the ongoingworks on installation of air-conditioner in the waitingroom, coach guided systemand escalators were likely to becompleted soon. The DRMalso highlighted the work doneby the Railways duringCOVID-19 pandemic andlauded the success of the ‘MeriSaheli’ campaign. He said avehicle scanning system wouldbe installed at the railway sta-tion. Mayor Pramila Pandey,MLA Upendra Paswan, MLCsArun Pathak and Salil Vishnoi,DCTM HS Upadhyaya, NCRofficer AK Singh and stationsuperintendent Anil Tewariwere present on the occasion.

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No new Covid-19 cases werereported from 188 dis-

tricts across the country butinfections doubled inMaharashtra in the last twodays while Gujarat extendednight curfew in four majorcities amid the coronaviruscrisis even as Union HealthMinistry said on Monday thatthose above 50 years of agemight get vaccinated fromMarch this year.

Vaccination drive foraround 27 crore Indians abovethe age of 50 will begin threeweeks from now, Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan saidon Monday.

“Three weeks from now,the government will start giv-ing doses of coronavirus vac-cines to 27 crore persons abovethe age of 50,” he said at a pressbriefing here. An expert groupon vaccination will discusshow to pay for the doses forthose above 50, he added.

The vaccination for front-line workers began earlier thismonth. Commenting on theprivate healthcare sector’s rolein the vaccination process, hesaid that such facilities andworkers were already a part ofthe drive.

“During emergency useauthorisations (EUA), it is thegovernment’s responsibility tokeep things under control;open market sales are not partof the EUA,” he added.

The Minister said that nonew cases of Covid-19 have

been reported in 188 districtsof the country in the pastseven days. India’s total ActiveCaseload currently stands at1.39 lakh (1,39,637) onMonday. The active caseloadconsists of 1.28% of India’stotal positive cases as 33 States& UTs have reported less than5,000 active cases in the last 24hours. Tripura and Daman &Diu & Dadra & Nagar Havelicurrently have only 2 activecases each.

Six States account for 80per cent of the daily deaths.Maharashtra saw the maxi-mum casualties (40), compos-ing nearly 44.44 per cent of thedaily deaths. Kerala followswith 15 daily deaths and TamilNadu reported 6 casualties.

At least, 11,649 new dailycases have been recorded in thelast 24 hours with 86.4 percecnt of the daily new cases arefrom 6 States. Kerala reportsthe highest daily new cases at4,612. It is followed byMaharashtra with 4,092, whileTamil Nadu reported 470 new

cases. The Gujarat Governmenthas extended night curview inAhmedabad, Surat, Rajkot andVadodara till February 28 tocheck the spread of Covid-19infection.

Vardhan emphasised theimportance of social distanceand appropriate healthcarebehaviour amid the pandemicdespite falling number of coro-na cases in the country.

“It is crucial that peoplecontinue to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour which Ihad called a social vaccine,along with the real vaccine,” hequipped.

Meanwhile, the HealthMinistry said that a new flag-ship programme — PrimeMinister Atmanirbhar SwasthaBharat Yojana — has beenannounced in the UnionBudget 2021-22. “The Budgetrefers to a holistic approachtoward health and healthcare.Allocation to the health sectorfor 2020-21 is 1.8 per cent ofthe Gross Domestic Product,”the Ministry added.

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After meeting with groups offarmers unions and farmer

producers organisations’ lastweek, the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee onMonday held another round oftalks with eminent academi-cians and professionals fromthe agriculture sector via video-conference and sought theirsuggestions and view pointsover the three farm legislations.This was the 10th round oftalks by the committee mem-bers. At present, the talksbetween the UnionGovernment and the farmers’unions are at a standstill as boththe sides stuck to their stands.

‘In total, 7 eminent acade-micians and professionals inthe field participated throughvideo conferencing for detaileddeliberations with the com-mittee members,’ the commit-tee said.

According to the commit-tee, all the seven academiciansand professionals from thefield of agriculture gave theirdetailed views and suggestionson the three farm laws. The dis-cussion was led by Dr. PramodJoshi along with other panelmembers namely Dr. AshokGulati and Anil Ghanwat. Thecommittee will hold delibera-tions with government officialsand procurement agencies onFebruary 18. The committeemembers requested the partic-ipants to give their views on thethree farm laws.

The three-member panel

has interacted with a largenumber of farmer unions,farmer producer organisations(FPOs) as well as senior offi-cials of state agriculture mar-keting boards and private man-dis to understand their pointsof view on the contentiousfarm laws.

It had also held online andin-person deliberations withtop organisations includingAmul, ITC, FCI, Sugna Foods,Horticulture ProduceExporters Association, AllIndia Rice Miller Association,etc over the reforms. The panelwill submit its recommenda-tions pertaining to the Laws tothe SC within two monthsfrom the date of its first sitting.

The Committee has heldnine rounds of deliberationswith stakeholders engageddirectly or indirectly in theagriculture sector so far. Thethree-member committee hasbeen holding consultationswith stakeholders, both onlineand in person.

The 11 rounds of the talksbetween the Centre and 41protesting farmer unions has sofar remained deadlocked eventhough the former has offeredconcessions including suspen-sion of the legislations for 18months, which the unions haverejected.

The protesting farmersunder the banner of SanyuktKisan Morcha (SKM) — hasrefused to talk to the committee-continue to protest at Delhi’sborders - Tikri, Singhu, andGhazipur for over 80 days.

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Congress on Monday lashedout at the Centre and

termed the massive hike inprices of LPG cylinders as“Narendra Modi’s ruthless act”and called it an immoralGovernment which is breakingthe back of every housewifeand common man”. TheCongress demanded the rollback of the price hikes and theincrease in excise duty, whichwas imposed earlier this monthduring the Union Budget pre-sentation. The party alsoflagged petrol and diesel prices;both were hiked for a seventhstraight day.

“Narendra Modi’s ruthlessand immoral Government isnot only being unjust to farm-ers, but is now breaking theback of every housewife andcommon man,” Congressspokesperson Supriya Shrinate

said at a Press conference a dayafter the centre hiked the priceof LPG cylinders in the nation-al capital.

Former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi also spoke outagainst the price hike, accusingthe Narendra Modi govern-ment of “looting from thepublic”.

“In 10 days, the price ofLPG (liquified petroleum gas)cylinder has increased by � 75.On February 4 it was increasedby rs 25 and now fromFebruary 15, it has beenincreased by �50,” Shrinatesaid.

“Not only this, sinceDecember 2020 the price hasincreased by by �175... in 2months... you will rememberthere were two increases of�50,” she added, “This cylinder (gesturing to one onthe table) which sold in Delhifor �594 in December, today

sells for � 769.”Presently, the centre sub-

sidises purchase of 12 cylindersof 14.2 kg each per householdevery year. The customer hasto make any additional pur-chases of LPG cylinders at themarket price.

“As you all know, petroland diesel prices have crossed �100... whether it ispetrol, diesel or LPG prices, itaffects both the rich and the poorest... but the Governmentdoes not care,” she said, point-ing out the centre has raisedexcise duties a dozen times sofar and earned �24 lakh crore.

“The same excise duty inour Government was �3.50 perlitre for diesel (it is now �32 perlitre). For petrol it was Rs 9 perlitre (it is now �33 per litre).Only by withdrawing this, willthe general public will get huge relief,” theCongress spokesperson said.

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The sensitivity of the AssamRifles to peoples’ woes due

to bad road connectivity oneither side of the Barak River inManipur affecting scores ofvillages in the area led to anurge to undertake the repairwork of the 22-km-stretch ofthe Tamei-Dikuiram road inTamenglong district.

The project that waslaunched by 44 Assam Rifles onOctober 12 last year was com-pleted on January 4. But evenbefore the formal inaugurationof the vital link road onFebruary 9, the connectivityproject linked the hearts of thelocal people, especially youthand women who toiled alongwith the paramilitary personnelin completing the repair workin a record 85 days despite allodds.

Facing years of neglect bythe local administration, thisroad is vital link for the farflung and inaccessible areas ofTamei subdivision ofTamenglong district, Manipur.It not only provides connec-tivity to Dikhuiram village butalso to Langparam, Taiparam,Katang, Magulong, Inem andseveral other villages. Theimportance of the link cannotbe overstated as its utility doesnot end just in Manipur butextends to the neighbouringState of Nagaland too. Theroad further connects to thetown of Tenning in Peren dis-trict of Nagaland and beyondto the important city ofDimapur in the region via dis-trict headquarter Peren andJaluki. This road effectivelyprovides an alternate connec-

tivity to the Tamenglong-Dimapur link, opening thedoors of opportunities in termsof better market access, avail-ing educational facilities aswell as various governmentalschemes.

The road was inauguratedand dedicated to the locals ofthe area on February 9, thisyear by IGAR (EAST) as a hugecrowd from nearby villagescheered on. In order to recog-nise the true spirit of “bhagi-dari” displayed by the locals,the Assam Rifles has rightlydubbed the connectivity link as“People’s Efforts Road”.

Dikuiram is a village locat-ed on the banks of Barak Riverin Tamei subdivision ofTamenglong district, Manipur.It is located approximately 22

km away from Sub DivisionalHeadquarters at Tamei by a sin-gle road. It is through this roadalone that approximately 35 vil-lages in the hinterland are con-nected to Tamei. The villagersfrom both sides of Barak Riverin Manipur and Nagaland arepresently dependent on thisvital road for accessibility tohealth and better market facil-ities in the nearby Tamei.

“Given the apathy of thelocal administration, these vil-lages were subject to acutehardships owing to the dilapi-dated condition of the road anda few of the residents of theareas had to lose their belovedones for failure in accessingbetter health facilities in time.The youths were unable to getquality education due to lack of

road infrastructure in these vil-lages. They were also unable toget full benefits of various gov-ernment schemes as the villagesare only connected with Sub-div HQ with a single Tamei-Dikuiram road,” a local said.

Despite Covid restrictions,the 44 Assam Rifles extended itssupport to repair the vital Tamei- Dikhuiram road by employ-ing men and machines to freethe road from potholes, waterlogging, bamboo bushes fallingon the road and a collapseddrainage system. The late mon-soon rains and the prevailingsecurity situation in the areafurther created impediments inthe works. But the determinedhands of the Assam Rifles per-sonnel and the locals, especial-ly the youth from Dikhuiram

village also pledged to toil inthe sunlight in their bid toachieve self-reliance. Now thefully operational Tamei-Dikhuiram road in Tamenglongdistrict is all set to herald a newwave of development propellingeconomic prosperity and sus-tained peace due to a forgedrelationship of cooperationbetween the local populationand the security forces like theAssam Rifles engaged in curb-ing insurgency in the region. Atthe inaugural event earlier thismonth, the IGAR (E), with theCommandant of TamenglongAR in attendance, sought thecooperation from the villagers sothat the security forces and thecivil population can work in tan-dem to tread on the path ofdevelopment.

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The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on

Monday said warmer nighttemperatures are likely to con-tinue over the plains of NorthIndia during the next fivedays.

The IMD in its forecastsaid that night temperatureswill continue to be higher overthe plains of northern Statesduring the next five days. TheIMD said that several areas innorthern States will continueto experience dense in themorning for the next two dayswhile it has issued ‘orange’alerts for the subdivisions ofMadhya Pradesh, interiorMaharashtra, Chhattisgarh,and Vidarbha.

After a relatively dry peri-

od of one and a half months,central India is set to experi-ence turbulent weather condi-tions over the next few days.“Under the influence of a winddiscontinuity in lower levelsover Central India, its south-westward movement andmoisture incursion from theBay of Bengal, light to to mod-erate rainfall at a few placeswith isolated thunderstorm,lightning & hailstorm likelyover East Madhya Pradesh,Vidarbha and Chhattisgarhduring 16th17th February isexpected,” the IMD said.

Under the influence of thetrough system, Marathwada,Madhya Maharashtra, SouthMadhya Pradesh, Jharkhandand Odisha may also witnessisolated to scattered rainfallduring February 16-19.

All these subdivisions havebeen kept under a orangewatch from Wednesday toFriday to ‘be updated’ aboutthe adverse weather condi-tions.

However, central Indiacould turn cooler byWednesday, while southernand eastern parts of the coun-try will be cooler than normalfrom Thursday onward.

The eastern and north-eastern states have recorded73% less rainfall than normal.Central India has received64% less rainfall than normaland the States of North-WestIndia have received 34% lessrainfall than normal. SouthIndia has been the onlyregion with more than nor-mal rainfall during this peri-od.

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BJP on Monday asserted theenvironmental activist

Disha Ravi’s arrest has “ total-ly exposed the nefarious con-spiracies of the break Indiaforces to demean the integrityof India.” “These people not only created a toolkit whichperpetrated the 26th Januarydisruption,but also collidedwith a banned organisation“Poetic Justice Foundation” topromulgate the Kalistani designto belittle India”, said BJPspokesman Sambit Patra.

“As far as the Opposition particularly theCongress is concerned in anattempt to attack PM Modithey have always stood withanti-India forces”, he said.

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The Supreme Court Mondaygranted 5-day interim bail

to journalist Siddique Kappan,arrested on his way to Hathraswhere a young Dalit womanhad died after being allegedlygang-raped, to visit his ailingmother.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde, however,said that during his visit heshall not give any interview tothe media, including socialmedia.

The bench, also compris-ing Justices A S Bopanna andV Ramasubramanian, said thatKappan will not meet membersof the public except his relativesand doctors concerned.

It said he will be escortedby a team of Uttar Pradeshpolice officers and police inKerala will cooperate withthem.

Senior advocate KapilSibal, appearing for KeralaUnion of Working

Journalists (KUWJ), statedthat Kappan's mother could nottalk on video conference andthe doctors have said she might

live only for two or three moredays.

Solicitor General TusharMehta, appearing for the UttarPradesh government, said how-ever that the condition ofKappan's mother was not as

serious as was being projectedand no medical certificates areprovided.

"There are posters in Keralaand the wife of Kappan is col-lecting money in his name as ifhe is a martyr... When he goesto Kerala to visit his motherpolitical opinions would beformed," Mehta said.

The bench said it was tak-ing Sibal's statements on facevalue and "we will not allow him(Kappan) to be paraded and hewill go to his house under pro-tection of armed guards".

On November 16 last year,the top court had sought aresponse from the Uttar Pradeshgovernment on the plea chal-lenging the arrest of the jour-nalist on his way toHathras.Sibal had sought bailfor the journalist saying thatthere was nothing against himin the FIR lodged at Mathura byUP Police.

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Mumb ai: A day af terMaharashtra reported over4,000 COVID-19 cases, high-est single-day tally in morethan a month, the daily counton Monday fell but remainedabove the 3,000-mark for thesixth straight day as the stategovernment warned of “harshdecisions” after the recentspike. On Monday, the num-ber of daily cases dipped to3,365 in Maharashtra, where4,092 infections, the highestsingle-day rise since the firstweek of January, were report-ed on Sunday.

Also, 23 more patientssuccumbed to the infection,while over 3,100 peoplerecovered from the infec-tion.

The state has registered20,67,643 positive cases tillnow, an official statementsaid.Maharashtra reported2,216 new cases on February8 and 2,515 a day later.

On February 10, thenumber of daily cases surgedto 3,451 and the single-dayrise has been above the 3,000-mark since then.Apart fromMumbai, Nagpur andAmravati c it ies in theVidarbha region reportedover 400 new COVID-19patients in a day on Monday.

Describing as “alarming”the recent rise in freshCOVID-19 cases in somedistricts of Maharashtra,Deputy Chief Minister AjitPawar on Monday warned oftaking some “harsh deci-sions” and asked people to beprepared.

Speaking to reporters inAurangabad, Pawar expresseddispleasure over people notfollowing the pandemic-appropriate behaviour andviolating guidelines.

“Harsh decisions can betaken and people shouldremain prepared. If certain

decisions are not taken intime then we will have to paya heavy cost later,” he added.

Notably, a central teamwhich vis ited parts ofMaharashtra earlier thismonth, had in a meetingwith Chief Minister UddhavThackeray on February 8noted that rural areas ofVidarbha -- particularly inAmravati, Akola, Yavatmaland Bhandara districts --reported higher positivityrate.

On the other hand, thenumber of patients dis-charged from hospitals acrossthe state on Monday stood at3,105, that is, more than dou-ble of those who headed forhomes post recovery a dayearlier.

A total of 1,355 patientswere discharged on Sunday.

The number of recov-ered persons in the statestood at 19,78,708, the gov-ernment said.

The number of activecases in the state increasedslightly to 36,201 on Mondayfrom 35,965 a day earlier.

According to theMaharashtra government,Palghar, located adjoiningMumbai, was the only districtin the state which did notreport a single COVID-19case on Monday. With 23 newdeaths reported on Monday,the state's fatality count roseto 51,552, the governmentsaid. The health departmentsaid of the 23 deaths, 7 werereported during the past 48hours, while 3 were from thelast week. The remaining 13deaths were from the periodbefore last week.

Mumbai city continued toreport the highest single-daycasesin the state with aspike of 493 on Monday,while Nagpur city saw a jumpof 415cases. Amravati city in

Vidarbha saw a rise of 405cases on Monday.

Pune city in WesternMaharashtra and Buldhanadistrict in the Vidarbharegion also reported three-digit rise in daily cases of 202and 173, respectively. Raigaddistrict in the Konkan regionreported deaths of 11 per-sons, highest in the state onMonday, due to the disease.

In Mumbai andMarathwadas Aurangabadcity, three and two individu-als died due to COVID-19,respectively. Out of the total3,365 newcases, the MumbaiMetropolitan Region (MMR),accounted for 880. With this,the total number of casesreported in the MMR --which includes Mumbai andits satellite towns -- till nowhas increased to 7,05,441.The region has reported19,701 deaths till now.

The countrys financialcapital alone has witnessed3,14,569 casesand 11,422deaths till now. The Akoladivision -- which coversAmravati , Yavatmal,Buldhana and Washim dis-tricts, besides Akola -- inVidarbha reported a rise of837 new cases.

The states recovery rate is95.7 per cent, while the fatal-ity rate is 2.49 per cent, thedepartment said. Currently,1,74,704 people are in homequarantine and 1,714 in insti-tutional quarantine in thestate, it said. With 37,418 newtests on Monday, the numberof samples tested so far in thestate increased to 1,53,59,026,the government said.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 ta l ly is as fol lows:Positivecases: 20,67,643; new-cases3,365; deaths: 51,522;discharged 19,78,708; active-cases: 36,201; people tested sofar: 1,53,59,026. PTI

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lease and mortgage of the landor premises of the farmer. Hereagain, a dispute redressal mech-anism is envisaged and provid-ed for in Section 13(1).

The third law is the amend-ment to the EssentialCommodities Act, 1955. Theamendment says the supply offoodstuff, including cereals,pulses, potato, onions, edibleoilseeds and oils, “may be reg-ulated only under extraordi-nary circumstances which mayinclude war, famine, extraordi-nary price rise and naturalcalamity of grave nature”. Howcan any farmer have any objec-tion to this major initiative?

In short, the laws free thefarmers and traders from archa-ic laws, lift the barrier on inter-State and intra-State trade,bring in competition so thatfarmers are no longer at themercy of the cloistered taluk-level market and are exposed toprevailing prices. In otherwords, market forces will takecharge and mandis will becomemore competitive while theMSP system will continue. Thisliberates farmers from thestranglehold of the APMC andcommission agents and cartels.

If there is any section of thepopulation which should beworried about the consequencesof the new farm laws, it shouldbe the consumers. Now that the

Government has amended theEssential Commodities Act anddeprived itself of the right tointervene in respect of stocksand prices of some key essen-tials, the consumers will be atthe mercy of market forces.How are the farmers affected?

Finally, a word about theUPA’s hypocrisy with regard tothe laws. Since manyGovernments, including theones run by the UPA andsteered by the Congress for 10years, have dabbled in farm lawreforms over the last 20 years,their protests today sound hol-low. The politician who hasdone the biggest somersault isthe NCP’s Sharad Pawar. As theUnion Minister for Agriculturein 2010, he strongly advocatedamending the APMC Acts bythe States to encourage the pri-vate sector to provide “alterna-tive competitive marketingchannels in the overall interestof farmers/producers and con-sumers…”. He argued then thatagriculture needs “well-func-tioning markets to drivegrowth” and the involvement ofthe private sector “is essential”.He also drew the attention ofChief Ministers to his earlier let-ters to them in 2005 and 2007and to the draft APMC Rulesformulated by his Ministry.

In November 2011, hereturned to this subject and, in

a letter to Madhya PradeshChief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan, reiterated that theagriculture sector needs well-functioning markets to driveinclusive growth and “the pri-vate sector needs to play animportant role in this regard”.Pawar is now singing a differ-ent tune. He says the mandiswill be affected and MSP is notguaranteed to farmers who sellto corporates. This is difficultto understand because farmerswill never lose the option to sellto the Government at MSP.

Also, the contention thatthis has been suddenly thruston the farmers is totally base-less. The opening up of theagriculture market has been inthe air for 20 years. The Centrecirculated a model AgricultureMarketing Act in 2017 and 11States adopted it fully and sixStates, partially. Finally, thefarmers of Punjab, Haryanaand Western Uttar Pradeshhave to realise that India com-prises 28 States and eightUnion Territories. Farmers inmany States have expressedhappiness over the new farmlaws. Mere geographical prox-imity to Delhi cannot meanthat they have the last word.

(The writer is an authorspecialising in democracy stud-ies. The views expressed arepersonal.)

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assessment of the threefarm laws will indicatethat politics rather than

logic is driving the opposition tothese enactments, which seek toempower farmers and open up themarkets while ensuring a safety netby way of continuing the mini-mum support price (MSP) systemand the Agricultural ProduceMarket Committees (APMCs).

The first of these laws, TheFarmers’ Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, 2020, enablesfarmers to sell their produce out-side the notified APMC yards.

Section 3 of this Act gives thefarmer the freedom to carry oninter-State or intra-State trade,while Section 4(3) says every trad-er who transacts with farmers shallmake the payment within threeworking days. The law enables theGovernment to develop a PriceInformation and MarketIntelligence System for farmers’produce and provides for a time-bound dispute redressal mecha-nism. Therefore, the grower getsthe option to either stick to theAPMC or look for markets outside.

It is difficult, therefore, to fath-om the opposition to these pro-visions from farmers because theonly ones hurt by this law are thecommission agents and dalals,who are allegedly misleading thefarmers and funding the agitation.

The second law is the Farmers(Empowerment and Protection)Agreement of Price Assuranceand Farm Services Act, 2020,which gives farmers the right toenter into a contract with retailers,wholesalers and agribusiness firms,processors, wholesalers or exportersfor the sale of future farming pro-duce at a pre-agreed price.

Section 3(1) of the Act says theminimum period of the farmingagreement should be one crop sea-son or one production cycle of live-stock with a maximum period offive years. The payment for farmproduce should be on delivery but,for seed production, the buyer hasto pay two-thirds of the agreedamount on delivery.

But the most important pro-vision in the Bill relates to inalien-ability of farm land. It declares thatno agreement shall be entered intofor any transfer, including sale,

�� Sir— It is a matter of disappointment thatKerala saw its confirmed COVID-19 casesgo past the one million mark. The State,which once fought COVID-19 so bravelyand was a success story, has again plungedinto the menace.

This comes when Coronavirus casesin other States are decreasing. Kerala is onlythe second State after Maharashtra to haverecorded so many cases. It has witnessed themost unusual trajectory of the epidemic inthe country. It was the State where the firstCoronavirus case in India was detected inJanuary last year. For the next six months,it seemed to be the model State as far as con-taining the spread was concerned. PerhapsKeralites have stopped bothering about itand stopped taking adequate precautionsthat led to the surge in cases. Further, theimmigrants from foreign countries havecontributed immensely to the increase inthe number of cases.

The need of the hour is for the StateGovernment to make its quarantine rulesmore stringent. It is really a matter of shamethat the State has the highest number ofactive cases right now, almost half of theentire country. The increase in Corona casesin the coastal State is a cause of concern foreverybody.

CK Subramaniam | Mumbai

�� Sir —This is not the first time we havecome across disastrous blasts in fire-works units in Tamil Nadu resulting in theloss of several lives. As many as 17 peo-ple, including seven women, were killedand 35 others injured in an accident at aunit at Achankulam near Sattur on Friday. Every time such a calamity strikes, the

Government announces some financialcompensation to the bereaved families anddoes away with its responsibilities. As mostof the victims are from a poor background,the case will slowly go into oblivion andsoon the factory would be allowed toresume operations. The corrupt babus andnetas will try their best to bury the mat-ter or brush it aside. The poor families who

cannot afford good lawyers will eventual-ly lose the legal battle in court and will haveno option except to forget the tragedy andthe perpetrators. One really wonders whether those who

are complicit will be taken to task. Thereis no hope that action will be taken againstthe licensing authorities, concerned labourofficers, controllers , factory inspectorsbesides the operators and lease holders ofthe factories. All these officers should bepulled up for dereliction of duty and crim-inal charges should be slapped againstthem. An exemplary punishment shouldbe awarded to those guilty. This will actas an eye opener for all others who willperform their duties sincerely. Even the lifeof poor matters but the Government andauthorities just don’t care.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

�� Sir —Disengagement is good as it reducestension, but it should not be done at thecost of national security. The surrender-

ing of areas traditionally controlled byIndia means we were surrendering ourrights forever. Galwan Valley is Indian ter-ritory and never a disputed land. In my view, the Government is not under-standing the importance of the disengage-ment and creation of the buffer zone intrue sense. China is getting belligerent andPakistan continues to promote terrorism.

India is facing multiple challenges at theborder, a two-front war-like situation. TheGovernment must take the country andthe Opposition into confidence at suchtimes.We must stand united against theforeign forces hell bent on destroying ourpeace and territorial integrity. Also,China can help Pakistan in Siachen. Thecountry is facing serious challenges fromboth China and Pakistan and must takecalibrated steps.

TV Jayaprakash | Palakkad

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In view of the complaints by the Confederationof All India Traders (CAIT) regarding blatantviolation of the Foreign Direct Investment

(FDI) policy and the Foreign ExchangeManagement Act (FEMA), 1999, by Amazon andWalmart-owned-Flipkart, Union CommerceMinister Piyush Goyal alluded to it while issuinga clarification to ensure that the e-commerce sec-tor works “in the true spirit of the law.” Earlier inDecember 2020, the Ministry of Commerce hadasked the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and theEnforcement Directorate (ED) to take necessaryaction against these global e-commerce giants.The above actions may not enthuse when viewedin the backdrop of numerous such representationsmade in the past by CAIT and other associationsof small traders, to no avail. At the outset, let ustake a look at the extant FDI policy under whichAmazon and Flipkart have come to India. As perthe guidelines issued in early 2016 (Press Note 3),100 per cent FDI is allowed under the so-calledmarketplace model.

The marketplace is a platform where vendorssell their products to consumers even as its ownermerely acts as a facilitator. The marketplace ownerprovides services such as booking orders, raisinginvoices, arranging delivery, accepting payments,handling rejections, warehousing and so on. But,s/he can’t hold inventory and undertake direct sell-ing. The permission for 100 per cent FDI in themarketplace is subject to two main riders, that is“the entity cannot permit more than 25 per centof total sales on its platform from one vendor orits group companies. Further, it can’t directly orindirectly influence the sale price.” Sans any men-tion as to “who the vendor is”, a firm linked tothe marketplace — either its subsidiary or a JointVenture (JV) with an Indian company — is eli-gible. Thus, contrary to the real intent of the pol-icy, which disallowed the marketplace owner fromdirect selling to individual consumers, the fineprint permitted them to do so — albeit by its sub-sidiary or JV. This is precisely what e-commercemajors such as Amazon and Flipkart/Walmarthave been doing even though they came in as mar-ketplace operators. A clarification to the PressNote 3 issued on December 26, 2018, said: “Theowner of the marketplace or its subsidiary or itsJV with an Indian company can’t have ownershipof the seller.” Further, “a seller/firm on the plat-form can’t source more than 25 per cent of itsinventory from a firm connected with the latter.”The owner can get around both; first, by havingless than 50 per cent shareholding in the seller firmand argue, s/he has no control (albeit majority)over the latter and second, by its wholesale armrestricting supplies to the seller within the 25 percent threshold.

As a consequence, the hold of e-commercegiants over Indian retail continues; they are dom-inant sellers themselves, giving little space to mil-lions of small vendors for whose benefit thisunique policy dispensation of marketplace wasdesigned. Meanwhile, Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) which last year received a major foreigninvestment of �1,50,000 crore (�43,450 crore fromUS internet giant, Facebook alone) in its 100 percent subsidiary Jio Platforms Limited (JPL) fortotal shareholding of 30 per cent has also joinedthe bandwagon. JPL has within its fold a range

of businesses including e-com-merce which is powered by JioMartcommerce. The platform offerstechnology-enabled wherewithalto help 30 million stores to deliverproducts to consumers in theneighbourhood (the plan is to tar-get a mammoth 400 million ofthem using the database ofWhatsApp — a 100 per cent sub-sidiary of Facebook) at theirdoorsteps. The business model is ahybrid of online and offline retailwhich will also integrate with itselfthousands of retail stores spread allover India operated by RelianceRetail Limited (RRL). Like Amazonet al, Reliance/Facebook, too, willbe operating as direct sellers, con-trolling inventory, giving discountsand so on, which is not in sync withthe policy on FDI in the e-com-merce marketplace that prohibitsthe inventory model and direct sell-ing. Yet, they can get around by cit-ing that foreign shareholding in theseller firm is less than 50 per centor a wholesaler linked to JioMartowner (Reliance/Facebook) willkeep its supplies to the vendor with-in the 25 per cent threshold.

The continued opaqueness inthe policy — even after the clarifi-cation to Press Note 3 issued onDecember 26, 2018 — has ensuredthat the foreign majors don’t violatethe rulebook even as their opera-tions go against the very spirit of thepolicy. No wonder, numerous rep-resentations by CAIT et al as alsopetitions before the courts havefailed as the latter go by the fineprint, which suits these giants. It is

therefore, unlikely that the latestaction of the Commerce Ministryasking the RBI and the ED to takeaction against these global e-com-merce giants will lead to any posi-tive outcome.

What about the Ministry issu-ing a clarification to the rules tofully reflect the true spirit of the lawas hinted by Piyush Goyal?

Thus, Press Note 3 can bemodified to say that “the owner ofthe marketplace or its subsidiary orits JV with the Indian company can’thave even one per cent sharehold-ing of the seller on the platform.”Further, “a seller/firm on the plat-form can’t source any suppliesfrom a firm connected with the lat-ter.” The above two stipulations willensure that the owner of the mar-ketplace platform has no connec-tion whatsoever with the seller onits platform — neither by way ofholding any shares in the latter’sfirm nor making any supplies to it.

This way, the fine print will bein sync with the spirit of the poli-cy i.e. to ensure that the foreigncompany only performs the role ofbringing sellers and buyers on acommon platform to conducttransactions and nothing beyond.Has the Government thoughtthrough the implications of goingthat far? Apart from being almostimpossible to implement (thisinvolves a microscopic watch onshareholding patterns includingcross-holding through a maze ofsubsidiaries and JVs as also thestock flow of each and every selleron the platform; Alas! We don’t

even have a regulator), this will tan-tamount to asking the foreignmajors to pack up. This will beviewed as a retrospective change ofpolicy and give a wrong signalabout India not being an attractivedestination.

For taking decisions, theinvestors are guided not merely bythe declaration of intent but moreimportantly, they go by what thepolicy document says (this is whatmatters when courts pronouncetheir verdict). It is here that theGovernment faces a ‘Catch-22’ sit-uation as the fine print of the 2016guidelines permitted direct sellingby marketplace owner (albeit indi-rectly).

Now, if, the Government re-writes the Press Note 3 — as indi-cated above — foreign majors willbe justified in arguing that this willbe a retrospective change of poli-cy; even the judiciary may upholdtheir stance. This course should beavoided. A pragmatic approachwould be one wherein, Team Modilegitimises direct selling by foreigncompanies in Indian retail — notjust online but also offline — with-out any riders. This will create alevel playing field and enable allentities, including brick and mor-tar players, to accept FDI up to 100per cent. Sans these changes, Indianretail will be cartelised by the likesof Amazon/Walmart and so on andthose who know how to exploit thevagueness in extant policy dispen-sation, making the consumers vul-nerable to exploitation in the medi-um to long-term.

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The recent flash floods inRishiganga river inChamoli district of

Uttarakhand had wreakedhavoc in the region and broughtuntold misery to the localsand families of those workerswho died in the catastrophe.The incident came as a surpriseto the scientific communityand locals as floods usuallyoccur during the monsoonseason and a deluge of such amagnitude was highly unex-pected in winter months.

The UttarakhandGovernment and the Centre’sdisaster management apparatusswung into action for the res-cue and relief operations.Though many lives have beensaved since then, it was alreadytoo late for those who drownedor were swept away by the flashflood.

So strong was the surge ofwater in Dhauliganga andRishiganga rivers that it ripped

through two hydel projects.The bodies of victims are stillbeing found at different loca-tions by the river, but rescuershave so far failed to reach any-one — dead or alive — in thetunnel network at the NationalThermal Power Corporation’sTapovan project.

In the meanwhile, satelliteimages have confirmed that thedebris accompanying the delugeearlier this week has blocked astream that joins the Rishigangariver, forming a temporarylake, which if breached, cancause another flash flood andmore devastation.

Uttarakhand is situated inthe western Himalayas, whichis of recent origin geologicallyand is an unstable mountainzone due to the gradual tecton-ic shift in the Himalayan platetowards the north every year.This makes it vulnerable toearthquakes and undergroundgeological changes which sud-

denly release energy and causenatural upheavals of giganticproportions, disturbing the eco-logical foundation of the regionand taking a toll on humanlives.

Glaciers are a slow-movingmass or river of ice, formedthrough the gradual accumula-tion of snow on mountains.This accumulation takes placeover decades. It is natural forglaciers to melt and breakbecause of climatic factors andalso due to underground geo-logical changes.

However, disasters like theglacier burst that took place inChamoli, are compounded byunabated and irresponsiblehuman activities and lopsidedGovernment policies with scantregard for environmental laws.However, this poor decision-making with regards to theenvironment by the bureaucratsand politicians is not just lim-ited to Uttarakhand but can be

witnessed all over the nation.The unscientific and haphazardconstruction of roads andbuildings on the hilly slopeswithout proper risk assessmentand other technical detailsincurs a heavy cost on theenvironment across India andUttarakhand. However, con-struction of dams and smallhydroelectric projects all along

the rivers in Uttarakhand is theroot cause of the misery we facetime and again in the State. TheTapovan 520-Megawatt (MW)and Rishiganga 13 MW pro-jects have been completelywashed away in this flood.More than 50 hydroelectricprojects were either sanctionedor are running in Uttarakhandand these were sanctioneddespite expert opinion againstthem. Even today many casesare pending in the SupremeCourt on this issue.

It is argued that the geolog-ical movement of the glaciersmight have been triggered bythe regular blasting of the hills.For such recurrent tragedies,the governance structures are tobe blamed.

The Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest andClimate Change, over the lastseveral years adopted an expe-ditious approach in giving clear-ances to hydroelectric and other

developmental projects. Thiswas allegedly done withoutundertaking proper scrutinyand brushing aside objectionsconcerning the environmentthat were raised time and again.It must be held accountable.

Be it mining or any otherdevelopmental projects, compli-ance with necessary conditionswas never monitored in a sys-tematic manner. InUttarakhand in most of thesehydro projects the disposal ofmuck and sludge is done in anunscientific manner. This isone of the main reasons forsuch calamities taking epicproportions.

It is high time theUttarakhand Government andthe Centre pay heed to the envi-ronmental experts who hadbeen advising the two govern-ments to change their develop-ment focus. It must be sustain-able and not reckless and unsci-entific. The Government must

set its priorities right and act onit before it is too late. If we con-tinue to inflict irreversible dam-age on the environment, naturewill act in its own manner torestore its balance.

The management of ourecology must be given equalpriority by policymakers, if notprecedence, over otherapproaches in resources man-agement. Over the years theshare of the environment in theUnion Budget has declined. Itis a pittance considering themagnitude of integration need-ed for the holistic manage-ment of natural resources andto tackle the challenge of cli-mate change. It is worthremembering an old saying:“Progress is impossible withoutchange and those who cannotchange their minds cannotchange anything.”

Top babus and Ministers atthe Centre and State mustadhere to this advice.

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Script Open High Low LTPSBIN 397.35 409.40 395.65 407.05MOTHERSUMI 206.70 221.00 204.10 210.70TATAMOTORS 330.40 335.60 324.05 333.30ADANIENT 723.00 788.30 707.45 762.90IDEA 12.14 12.90 11.92 12.08BAJFINANCE 5595.00 5799.95 5595.00 5780.70HDFCBANK 1598.00 1625.00 1596.80 1616.35RELIANCE 2049.00 2060.55 2025.40 2032.60BHARTIARTL 594.00 603.00 590.00 593.80ICICIBANK 652.00 676.50 652.00 674.00INDUSINDBK 1041.30 1062.15 1041.30 1058.60IBULHSGFIN 228.00 236.35 220.40 221.85TITAN 1509.40 1518.65 1476.70 1483.90AXISBANK 759.90 798.70 754.05 794.50ADANIPORTS 617.50 640.00 611.15 627.80PVR 1500.00 1510.00 1459.00 1472.20APOLLOHOSP 2788.00 3125.00 2761.05 3091.00CHOLAFIN 471.00 537.90 471.00 531.55M&MFIN 208.00 224.15 207.35 218.15DEEPAKNI 1138.00 1240.00 1134.15 1178.55DLF 312.00 325.70 312.00 317.25PEL 1750.00 1855.30 1731.00 1843.55TCS 3206.00 3206.00 3131.00 3139.95LICHSGFIN 449.80 479.90 444.75 476.25CROMPTON 402.00 402.00 392.25 394.05BRITANNIA 3425.00 3446.95 3404.25 3417.10ITC 219.70 221.00 217.50 218.65JSWSTEEL 405.00 407.80 401.00 404.15HDFC 2815.05 2866.50 2805.65 2860.40TATASTEEL 687.95 687.95 669.55 671.85BAJAJFINSV 10360.00 10586.40 10284.60 10540.25L&TFH 96.00 101.80 95.05 98.40IRCTC 1731.90 1744.90 1682.00 1712.95KOTAKBANK 1954.00 1999.00 1954.00 1986.20M&M 910.00 919.75 899.00 912.85HCLTECH 972.00 972.00 950.45 954.50SRTRANSFIN 1454.45 1534.90 1450.50 1512.95MRF 92700.00 92700.00 89884.95 90443.00MARUTI 7600.00 7650.00 7578.55 7596.25TATACHEM 565.00 584.00 555.85 568.65AFFLE 5616.70 5616.70 5081.80 5150.15PNB 39.10 40.05 39.00 39.55GMM 3738.70 3875.00 3733.85 3788.15ADANITRANS 645.00 706.45 630.00 683.35BANKBARODA 78.65 80.70 78.60 79.60VEDL 186.00 186.40 182.35 184.00BPCL 424.40 424.70 417.10 419.05SUNPHARMA 632.70 637.00 623.40 627.35HINDUNILVR 2252.00 2261.50 2212.10 2215.85HAVELLS 1159.00 1177.85 1137.50 1172.65VOLTAS 1104.00 1104.00 1052.60 1057.95DRREDDY 4802.40 4829.95 4701.00 4710.20EICHERMOT 2804.90 2806.65 2758.00 2769.00ASIANPAINT 2500.00 2517.95 2449.40 2457.70INFY 1322.95 1328.50 1307.05 1309.70RBLBANK 243.75 256.55 243.75 254.00SAIL 65.20 65.75 62.40 62.65CANBK 157.75 164.30 157.55 162.60ASHOKLEY 130.00 131.05 127.90 130.35NATIONALUM 49.50 49.70 48.40 48.55ATGL 388.95 435.00 378.00 427.15PFC 127.00 132.00 126.65 131.25AMARAJABAT 970.00 970.00 915.00 927.90DMART 2930.10 3060.00 2930.10 3043.50IDFCFIRSTB 52.40 54.50 52.05 54.10BAJAJELEC 1074.00 1084.80 1051.75 1069.75BEL 137.95 137.95 134.90 136.05BHARATFORG 635.00 651.45 616.10 627.65GODREJPROP 1485.20 1545.00 1485.20 1508.30JKCEMENT 2702.00 2917.10 2590.00 2768.25HEROMOTOCO 3489.00 3575.75 3452.10 3466.85DELTACORP 156.25 161.35 152.80 153.45JINDALSTEL 310.00 314.40 306.20 308.35AMBUJACEM 282.35 285.90 279.00 283.40ONGC 97.00 99.20 95.60 98.40MUTHOOTFIN 1330.00 1361.55 1315.80 1321.30NAUKRI 5301.00 5582.00 5238.75 5520.20TATAPOWER 88.20 88.90 86.35 86.65ZEEL 215.00 215.50 209.60 212.10GAIL 134.00 135.30 131.90 133.80HDFCLIFE 712.35 717.20 694.20 695.15HEG 1174.90 1274.75 1169.15 1239.20BALKRISIND 1655.85 1667.00 1631.00 1648.50LT 1524.00 1544.00 1521.85 1537.90LUPIN 1059.80 1074.55 1051.45 1058.30QUESS 687.00 695.65 676.80 685.90FEDERALBNK 83.50 85.70 83.50 85.15COALINDIA 134.00 134.85 132.00 132.30BANDHANBNK 344.90 344.90 338.40 340.00CIPLA 852.90 856.25 842.50 844.45GRASIM 1258.00 1259.40 1216.80 1227.65IRCON 107.40 108.00 94.00 95.15ACC 1796.00 1797.95 1767.35 1788.25INDIAMART 9215.00 9296.85 9021.00 9082.20ADANIPOWER 57.55 59.15 56.15 56.90VIPIND 355.25 386.00 353.25 383.10BAJAJ-AUTO 4141.00 4193.45 4111.20 4122.50TECHM 994.00 995.00 977.70 979.10EXIDEIND 213.95 215.40 211.00 212.20APOLLOTYRE 242.90 244.45 236.90 237.85HINDALCO 292.00 297.30 289.10 291.60CONCOR 546.00 548.60 534.35 544.30TATAMTRDVR 133.20 134.70 129.40 133.50MANAPPURAM 176.25 182.85 176.25 177.75WIPRO 445.00 445.00 436.95 439.70JUSTDIAL 682.00 703.75 675.10 687.60ABCAPITAL 90.95 95.00 89.65 94.05

DIXON 18489.90 19165.55 18001.10 18577.15GLENMARK 509.50 511.60 488.15 490.65RAMCOCEM 965.00 980.05 959.20 976.80TATACONSUM 608.00 625.10 607.50 623.30TATAELXSI 2855.00 2907.60 2824.00 2858.30JUBLFOOD 2814.80 2885.95 2798.05 2870.00NOCIL 161.10 171.40 160.35 166.70SHREECEM 28299.60 28823.75 28104.85 28692.45MCX 1580.00 1593.35 1530.00 1536.20GMRINFRA 25.75 25.75 25.30 25.50AUROPHARMA 938.00 944.85 929.05 932.25CUB 163.40 170.50 163.40 168.85RECLTD 148.50 153.85 148.25 152.70MFSL 810.00 847.55 810.00 818.35BATAINDIA 1549.90 1563.00 1526.25 1552.70BLISSGVS 183.80 183.80 176.00 177.25ICICIPRULI 493.25 496.55 485.10 486.10IOC 96.70 96.70 94.00 94.15BIRLACORPN 826.00 905.00 825.65 895.95ULTRACEMCO 6465.00 6465.00 6385.00 6408.20COLPAL 1592.00 1621.45 1592.00 1598.10PIDILITIND 1760.00 1795.00 1758.30 1764.75NAM-INDIA 329.90 343.95 323.55 339.60SIEMENS 1860.00 1892.95 1826.00 1874.90BHEL 39.20 39.45 38.60 38.95UPL 537.30 544.10 534.60 537.55BIOCON 409.50 410.50 405.10 407.60SUZLON 6.07 6.15 5.81 5.87NMDC 112.50 113.50 111.00 111.70GRANULES 339.00 355.00 335.90 351.90DIVISLAB 3750.00 3750.00 3703.20 3710.75GRAPHITE 417.25 439.75 417.00 436.40POWERGRID 213.00 215.45 211.50 212.20NTPC 97.60 97.60 95.05 95.25PCJEWELLER 32.05 32.40 31.20 31.70MAHINDCIE 170.00 201.45 170.00 201.45BOSCHLTD 15740.00 16019.85 15650.00 15721.75WABAG 222.30 247.00 215.60 243.55HINDPETRO* 226.90 226.90 221.80 222.40JBCHEPHARM 1234.80 1262.95 1193.20 1242.45LEMONTREE 41.70 44.50 41.70 43.75GUJGAS 449.50 453.10 425.35 431.45HAL 1040.00 1047.60 1026.50 1035.40IGL 559.00 561.00 540.00 541.50HINDCOPPER 73.65 76.00 72.80 75.30SBICARD 1026.05 1029.40 1014.45 1019.40SBILIFE 900.00 900.00 875.00 877.25SRF 5670.00 5724.00 5611.05 5622.95SWSOLAR 235.00 245.95 230.00 236.35

TRENT 686.00 712.00 681.05 700.95LAURUSLABS 377.90 379.25 367.65 368.85INDUSTOWER 251.45 251.95 246.75 249.05ESCORTS 1424.00 1433.15 1391.75 1397.35PFIZER 4470.00 4576.55 4449.55 4559.75IDFC 50.50 50.50 48.10 49.15BASF 1984.85 2070.35 1952.90 2048.30DABUR 538.00 540.70 526.30 527.30PAGEIND 30999.00 30999.00 29984.40 30107.30HINDZINC 302.00 302.00 296.25 297.30ALKYLAMINE 5349.00 5365.00 5200.00 5223.80AUBANK 1112.00 1112.00 1061.50 1090.70SUNTV 516.00 522.00 510.75 518.55NCC 85.40 87.90 84.25 85.25IIFL 240.00 249.85 229.55 246.05NESTLEIND 17290.00 17500.00 17280.00 17484.50HFCL 28.00 28.75 27.85 28.15IEX 301.90 302.20 288.50 290.90CEATLTD 1660.00 1674.00 1620.05 1626.70INDHOTEL 130.45 133.00 129.55 131.85STAR 890.00 909.60 890.00 903.75PETRONET 242.50 245.80 239.25 239.95TORNTPHARM 2601.95 2622.95 2575.90 2605.50IPCALAB 1900.00 1945.00 1890.00 1897.00UBL 1273.95 1280.00 1248.00 1276.25INFIBEAM 92.00 92.80 88.50 89.60CGCL 355.15 364.65 351.00 351.25IDBI 29.35 29.40 28.80 28.95SYNGENE 586.00 603.40 579.30 590.95CUMMINSIND 756.00 764.00 747.45 761.15MINDTREE 1727.10 1734.85 1713.00 1719.75INDIGO 1663.00 1663.00 1633.00 1642.75ADANIGREEN 1068.00 1080.00 1038.30 1054.70BDL 353.85 362.10 341.50 345.35DCBBANK 108.55 115.00 108.55 114.65MPHASIS 1646.00 1682.00 1637.90 1670.25RAJESHEXPO 482.50 485.00 475.00 477.45

CADILAHC 469.70 472.20 464.00 466.75TRIDENT 14.30 14.30 13.91 13.94VBL 928.00 962.00 916.00 943.60APLLTD 971.00 985.30 966.10 978.05JSWENERGY 75.35 77.75 74.55 75.85NAVINFLUOR 2633.00 2646.00 2550.55 2560.50ICICIGI 1487.15 1506.50 1477.85 1497.10BERGEPAINT 770.00 774.60 759.90 763.55GODREJCP 751.20 758.00 741.25 743.30TATAMETALI 768.00 774.55 754.60 758.10ATUL* 6855.00 6962.10 6692.05 6709.90TVSMOTOR 638.10 642.20 628.35 630.75ABB 1476.00 1502.00 1465.00 1472.25PHILIPCARB 195.00 197.80 192.80 193.20MGL 1150.00 1150.00 1125.00 1128.50RADICO 545.10 573.50 545.10 569.65JKPAPER 139.40 142.00 138.00 139.80AMBER 3250.00 3259.20 3110.85 3232.65JKTYRE 125.00 130.00 124.15 127.05FSL 98.80 99.25 97.80 98.35MARICO 412.60 417.45 409.60 410.35PIIND 2230.00 2260.20 2205.00 2211.60FINCABLES 405.00 406.00 378.90 385.85UNIONBANK 33.60 33.90 33.40 33.50RAIN 137.85 144.20 135.80 140.30AAVAS 2336.20 2350.00 2199.00 2216.20NATCOPHARM 864.00 865.10 832.40 841.40LINDEINDIA 1170.00 1277.45 1170.00 1261.15CANFINHOME 520.00 524.00 506.05 509.20TIINDIA 963.00 1024.90 950.00 998.75ORIENTCEM 88.95 95.55 88.55 94.80UFLEX 359.00 361.20 354.00 355.35WHIRLPOOL 2490.25 2515.80 2454.20 2470.75MIDHANI 190.00 190.00 183.65 184.55APLAPOLLO 955.00 994.55 955.00 977.50BEML 972.00 980.00 955.00 959.00ARVINDFASN 160.95 169.45 157.00 165.10POLYCAB 1350.00 1350.00 1311.70 1318.40CRISIL 1970.00 2031.80 1970.00 2018.50SPICEJET 91.60 91.60 89.00 89.25FORTIS 167.10 167.70 161.85 163.40DBL 539.60 564.85 530.00 556.10SOUTHBANK 8.16 8.25 8.02 8.07INDIANB 124.00 128.30 122.70 125.80GSPL 230.35 235.95 227.40 231.70ADVENZYMES 375.85 379.00 358.00 360.60BANKINDIA 59.60 60.15 58.55 58.80RVNL 32.55 32.75 30.80 31.05PTC 69.90 71.25 66.75 69.45ABBOTINDIA 14500.00 14600.00 14395.00 14447.25SJVN 27.50 27.50 26.80 26.90GALAXYSURF 2200.00 2260.55 2130.00 2191.15LTTS 2600.90 2638.00 2577.00 2586.75KNRCON 225.90 227.80 217.20 218.85CASTROLIND 130.00 130.00 126.50 126.85RELAXO 868.00 889.50 868.00 874.20INDIACEM 172.00 173.25 170.10 171.30HDFCAMC 2998.40 3046.00 2998.40 3006.25OBEROIRLTY 567.45 599.00 567.45 588.85KEI 507.00 529.00 507.00 518.40BAJAJCON 246.90 249.55 241.60 243.40PNBHOUSING 355.50 379.00 349.45 370.85GRSE 199.90 204.00 198.10 199.05FORCEMOT 1350.00 1375.00 1333.00 1354.55GNFC 223.10 231.40 223.10 229.10POWERINDIA 1273.85 1384.00 1273.85 1357.35BOMDYEING 73.20 73.40 71.30 71.70ISEC 423.95 424.00 413.90 417.15EQUITAS 85.50 86.90 84.70 85.65ENGINERSIN 75.55 75.70 73.80 74.00RAYMOND 336.00 336.85 330.75 331.90TATACOMM 1010.60 1025.00 990.20 994.95DALBHARAT 1488.75 1488.75 1426.15 1472.80EDELWEISS 68.90 69.75 66.95 67.90NESCO 615.30 639.00 605.15 622.00VINATIORGA 1489.95 1510.00 1452.00 1486.20ASTRAZEN 3672.00 3701.40 3614.75 3631.60ASHOKA 112.00 112.00 103.80 105.95VARROC 401.05 401.05 381.90 384.25HAWKINCOOK 5816.95 5816.95 5610.00 5663.00CHAMBLFERT 240.25 245.00 237.70 238.45BALRAMCHIN 160.00 161.00 157.00 157.10ABFRL 167.00 169.80 166.10 167.10TORNTPOWER 329.10 335.00 327.85 333.45CYIENT 628.00 636.25 620.90 623.50WOCKPHARMA 503.00 504.25 492.00 493.10PRESTIGE 289.00 292.15 285.10 290.75TAKE 57.70 59.50 57.55 57.75JSL 73.05 74.35 69.90 71.00KTKBANK 65.40 66.50 64.45 64.80TTKPRESTIG 7389.80 7449.95 7248.05 7288.90TIMKEN 1387.00 1387.00 1293.60 1304.35JKLAKSHMI 376.00 383.70 368.00 370.203MINDIA 21463.50 21464.50 20660.05 20974.25JMFINANCIL 92.50 93.60 91.25 91.75PERSISTENT 1823.00 1823.00 1776.60 1787.75SWANENERGY 148.20 150.10 146.85 149.85FRETAIL 79.30 79.30 77.55 77.95NBCC 32.60 32.85 32.15 32.25ASTRAL 2040.00 2043.50 2011.00 2025.50MOTILALOFS 610.00 610.00 597.00 599.90NHPC 25.50 25.50 25.05 25.25BAYERCROP 5191.00 5200.00 5125.00 5131.85KAJARIACER 960.00 976.50 954.65 960.05BSOFT 246.90 249.00 242.35 243.20GREAVESCOT 93.80 95.90 93.20 93.70IBREALEST 82.95 83.20 81.10 81.25SUNTECK 384.45 386.80 361.70 367.60

ITI 122.10 123.10 121.50 121.70LTI 3990.00 4077.50 3990.00 4031.40UJJIVAN 244.70 251.95 243.50 247.80FCONSUMER 8.50 8.59 8.25 8.34REPCOHOME 270.00 270.35 258.20 266.40WELCORP 129.90 129.90 123.00 123.45IFCI 8.55 8.75 8.21 8.50DEEPAKFERT 159.90 162.65 157.35 158.60LALPATHLAB 2484.95 2484.95 2406.00 2417.75FINEORG 2421.25 2441.90 2370.20 2381.85CARBORUNIV 511.05 520.00 492.10 503.70SANOFI 7781.00 7890.00 7779.00 7834.05RALLIS 264.00 268.85 263.60 265.65RCF 54.00 54.00 53.05 53.15MINDAIND 594.00 600.00 577.15 581.85STLTECH 176.80 182.00 174.95 180.25KALPATPOWR 378.00 390.60 368.00 369.20SKFINDIA 2364.00 2420.00 2318.00 2380.60NIACL 137.35 141.90 135.35 136.35DISHTV 11.73 11.73 11.50 11.53NILKAMAL 1850.00 1867.75 1811.80 1837.20SOBHA 439.85 454.05 433.65 445.65VRLLOG 229.00 232.70 225.00 228.55UJJIVANSFB 35.75 36.10 35.45 35.90AVANTI 513.00 513.00 490.75 492.25JCHAC 2522.10 2545.45 2421.00 2473.90TATACOFFEE 109.35 110.95 109.00 109.20TV18BRDCST 30.00 30.65 29.80 30.00COFORGE 2612.00 2649.00 2583.00 2594.70SCHAEFFLER 4960.00 5138.20 4960.00 5020.90JUBLPHARMA 886.00 900.00 847.90 856.40COROMANDEL 757.20 776.25 757.20 773.80OFSS 3224.80 3233.85 3162.60 3170.10SCHNEIDER 104.00 104.55 98.40 99.05PNCINFRA 279.90 280.30 267.70 273.90GRINDWELL 877.10 888.90 846.35 885.05SCI 88.50 88.50 86.20 86.55WABCOINDIA 6700.00 6700.00 6051.00 6097.35CENTURYTEX 468.65 468.70 458.25 462.30GLAXO 1423.00 1449.90 1420.00 1432.85VGUARD 229.50 229.50 220.90 222.95PHOENIXLTD 823.00 850.35 818.75 835.05EPL 222.90 229.70 219.15 228.55DHANUKA 761.50 769.70 750.00 762.70ALKEM 2900.00 2913.70 2860.00 2886.45SUMICHEM 311.60 311.60 304.00 304.50PGHH 13536.00 13787.50 13434.35 13529.45GET&D 125.55 127.50 122.30 124.30CARERATING 489.90 492.00 481.35 483.05LUXIND 1896.20 1899.15 1796.00 1836.90JAMNAAUTO 69.95 71.85 68.55 70.65METROPOLIS 2051.40 2069.30 2000.70 2014.85NLCINDIA 51.90 51.90 51.15 51.30MEGH 81.10 81.40 78.65 78.85CENTURYPLY 305.00 310.95 297.85 309.35CENTRALBK 14.09 14.27 13.90 13.94SUPREMEIND 1964.95 1985.20 1942.10 1949.80GICRE 145.00 147.75 143.25 143.80SPARC 185.00 185.00 182.00 182.40HUDCO 45.80 45.80 44.10 44.25GODREJAGRO 504.20 505.10 496.00 497.70GODREJIND 459.95 459.95 447.00 448.70GODFRYPHLP 940.00 940.00 919.90 924.15DCAL 121.55 127.00 121.55 123.20VAIBHAVGBL 2857.00 3001.50 2857.00 2965.75SUNDRMFAST 625.65 649.80 617.80 646.05CHOLAHLDNG 553.75 574.65 546.80 572.95HSCL 45.90 46.35 45.05 45.20ZYDUSWELL 1902.80 1903.70 1840.00 1858.90TASTYBIT 14150.00 14584.00 14045.95 14114.30IRB 109.05 111.35 108.25 108.85BBTC 1234.00 1234.00 1205.50 1207.65CREDITACC 729.65 729.65 701.40 703.45DCMSHRIRAM 470.00 486.20 455.10 456.05KANSAINER 571.00 594.00 571.00 590.55CERA 3755.00 3860.00 3722.50 3827.60STARCEMENT 98.15 99.30 96.70 98.00EMAMILTD 479.15 479.15 465.70 469.25SHOPERSTOP 212.10 221.10 209.05 216.15PARAGMILK 109.05 109.50 105.65 106.25VMART 2916.95 2916.95 2828.60 2864.95KEC 429.00 441.90 423.45 436.95RITES 241.10 243.90 239.60 240.00INOXLEISUR 333.90 333.90 323.85 328.80KPITTECH 138.00 138.00 133.25 134.20BAJAJHLDNG 3598.80 3598.80 3543.90 3561.75COCHINSHIP 358.00 362.00 354.05 358.25ORIENTREF 245.00 248.00 237.10 241.30KRBL 191.50 193.00 186.50 187.30BALMLAWRIE 115.00 115.00 113.00 113.25AARTIIND 1236.60 1236.60 1210.80 1216.15JSLHISAR 127.70 127.70 117.65 118.60FINOLEXIND 687.30 687.40 672.95 673.95TIMETECHNO 55.00 55.00 50.70 51.90ALLCARGO 128.05 131.65 128.05 128.30SOMANYCERA 420.10 424.90 410.00 415.10TEAMLEASE 3278.00 3278.00 3032.10 3078.45MINDACORP 98.00 98.90 94.70 95.35TVTODAY 278.85 278.85 256.10 259.30ERIS 577.50 584.05 560.05 568.85BRIGADE 290.00 294.65 275.00 281.30JINDALSAW 74.40 74.40 70.45 70.65J&KBANK 29.95 30.00 28.95 29.10MAHSCOOTER 3742.80 3935.00 3742.80 3899.80HEIDELBERG 231.00 238.40 228.65 237.55EIHOTEL 99.00 99.75 98.15 99.25SHANKARA 411.05 423.05 403.60 411.85GSFC 77.40 77.85 76.40 76.80

ORIENTELEC 278.60 295.00 278.60 283.50CESC 626.05 627.55 619.75 624.55SUDARSCHEM 512.80 518.00 506.75 509.15BLUEDART 4636.40 4722.25 4623.35 4649.70SPANDANA 682.00 686.00 665.00 670.00SHK 123.30 124.25 120.45 121.40AEGISLOG 292.00 300.90 291.80 297.05VENKYS 1629.80 1656.55 1603.60 1614.95GUJALKALI 311.65 315.55 310.25 310.80WELSPUNIND 67.65 68.50 67.00 67.45SIS 438.80 439.05 423.05 426.15OIL 116.15 116.80 115.60 116.10CAPPL 474.30 481.00 472.55 475.85GMDCLTD 56.50 56.60 54.30 54.60ECLERX 1040.00 1040.00 935.85 945.95

MOIL 144.35 144.35 138.90 139.10FDC 298.00 305.00 289.00 302.45GILLETTE 5678.80 5700.00 5640.95 5650.95CHENNPETRO 95.65 95.90 94.15 95.20PRSMJOHNSN 117.75 117.75 111.50 116.10MMTC 28.90 28.90 27.90 28.05SUPRAJIT 260.00 260.00 250.20 251.90ENDURANCE 1523.00 1523.00 1477.00 1501.05JYOTHYLAB 151.30 152.90 151.30 151.90VSTIND 3483.30 3629.10 3483.30 3562.10EIDPARRY 318.00 325.50 313.25 314.25HONAUT 42096.50 42500.00 41711.00 42410.35TCIEXP 970.00 972.30 933.00 942.35JAICORPLTD 90.10 90.20 88.60 89.00GESHIP 262.00 262.00 255.60 257.25LAXMIMACH 6271.20 6311.20 6185.00 6195.10CSBBANK 224.00 224.35 219.05 220.05AJANTPHARM 1809.45 1816.70 1789.30 1806.85MRPL 35.20 35.30 34.35 34.45INTELLECT 446.00 450.45 436.00 438.10HERITGFOOD 282.00 282.00 273.25 276.65GARFIBRES 2191.75 2281.35 2191.75 2252.75THERMAX 1141.15 1174.45 1137.05 1161.50AKZOINDIA 2195.00 2245.80 2182.45 2193.10UCOBANK 13.10 13.10 12.80 12.83TVSSRICHAK 2095.50 2095.50 2045.80 2053.25SONATSOFTW 403.00 404.40 390.60 392.05GHCL 212.00 212.00 206.45 209.95SYMPHONY 1075.00 1079.25 1052.00 1058.80MAHABANK 16.35 16.35 15.78 15.92LAOPALA 212.35 212.65 207.50 210.00TATAINVEST 1120.00 1120.00 1077.10 1083.65GPPL 95.00 97.00 93.90 94.10PGHL 7400.00 7494.00 7395.00 7444.50ESABINDIA 1864.00 1916.00 1864.00 1866.20HATHWAY 31.00 31.00 30.05 30.25NBVENTURES 60.05 60.45 59.00 59.20NH 474.00 475.60 464.00 465.25REDINGTON 169.00 169.00 161.60 162.75FLUOROCHEM 567.00 585.15 560.00 564.75INDOCO 295.40 297.00 291.95 292.65RATNAMANI 1632.35 1666.55 1612.15 1659.30GDL 162.00 165.00 156.65 157.55GEPIL 280.75 283.35 278.00 278.30THYROCARE 898.00 901.00 895.30 899.05IOB 11.08 11.18 10.94 11.00JTEKTINDIA 92.20 92.20 89.30 89.90ZENSARTECH 225.00 234.00 225.00 229.40WESTLIFE 461.55 468.25 453.60 458.35IFBIND 1325.35 1345.25 1275.85 1287.95MAHLIFE 502.20 502.20 486.70 494.20GULFOILLUB 745.15 750.00 737.70 739.45AIAENG 1989.05 2002.00 1955.00 1972.10IIFLWAM 1177.00 1235.00 1177.00 1225.90TNPL 122.35 125.60 121.60 123.80MAHSEAMLES 286.00 288.65 281.00 282.00SOLARINDS 1260.00 1260.00 1232.85 1247.00MASFIN 852.05 852.05 828.00 841.65ASTERDM 153.00 153.00 149.55 150.05MAHLOG 500.00 501.35 484.00 494.25NAVNETEDUL 82.00 84.90 81.00 83.75DBCORP 88.00 88.95 87.20 87.60JAGRAN 45.90 45.90 43.00 43.45SHRIRAMCIT 1464.05 1499.00 1456.80 1487.55BLUESTARCO 833.70 833.70 814.45 818.95SFL 2046.00 2078.35 2010.75 2039.85HIMATSEIDE 152.15 153.85 151.10 152.25KPRMILL 920.00 932.35 918.85 922.10CCL 245.90 246.95 239.65 240.00MHRIL 237.15 237.80 232.75 233.15INDOSTAR 324.00 325.05 318.40 318.45KSB 669.90 669.90 658.40 662.00OMAXE 71.50 75.30 71.25 72.35VTL 1030.00 1035.95 1016.85 1023.35ITDC 306.00 306.80 301.40 302.30TCNSBRANDS 404.90 405.40 398.75 399.30

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 15270.30 15340.15 15243.40 15314.70 151.40AXISBANK 759.90 799.00 753.90 797.00 46.60ICICIBANK 655.00 676.80 652.00 674.60 27.00SBIN 397.50 409.45 395.70 409.00 15.85BAJFINANCE 5605.35 5799.00 5600.00 5777.00 199.55INDUSINDBK 1044.90 1063.00 1037.70 1059.00 31.60HDFCBANK 1600.10 1625.00 1596.70 1624.95 43.00HDFC 2819.00 2868.00 2805.00 2861.55 70.05SHREECEM 28184.95 28840.00 28101.35 28639.95 674.10BAJAJFINSV 10330.20 10579.00 10280.00 10500.00 221.20KOTAKBANK 1960.00 1999.00 1957.00 1990.15 39.10TATAMOTORS 329.90 335.80 324.00 331.90 6.50ONGC 97.00 99.25 95.60 98.50 1.50ADANIPORTS 617.95 639.90 610.80 625.80 9.20BHARTIARTL 592.10 603.00 590.00 593.55 7.30NESTLEIND 17349.00 17506.75 17258.05 17500.00 205.70LT 1527.00 1544.00 1521.35 1534.15 12.80HEROMOTOCO 3488.95 3506.15 3452.00 3468.30 22.55ITC 218.45 221.00 217.50 218.75 1.30GAIL 133.95 135.40 131.85 133.65 0.75MARUTI 7600.00 7649.10 7580.00 7600.00 31.50BPCL 422.80 424.90 417.00 419.45 1.35UPL 540.00 543.95 534.55 537.25 1.45ULTRACEMCO 6435.00 6463.95 6387.10 6409.05 11.80INFY 1320.00 1328.40 1307.10 1312.00 2.20M&M 910.90 920.00 898.25 909.80 1.25HINDALCO 292.50 296.05 289.00 291.10 0.30POWERGRID 214.00 215.45 211.55 212.80 0.15SUNPHARMA 632.00 637.30 623.30 627.45 0.30BRITANNIA 3429.00 3445.00 3403.00 3419.50 -1.75BAJAJ-AUTO 4152.20 4194.65 4111.65 4129.00 -7.05JSWSTEEL 405.10 407.85 401.00 402.60 -1.20DIVISLAB 3721.00 3749.75 3702.00 3707.60 -11.80WIPRO 444.60 444.90 436.80 440.60 -1.40RELIANCE 2048.05 2061.30 2025.00 2034.00 -7.60CIPLA 850.10 856.60 842.00 845.00 -3.55HCLTECH 970.00 971.25 950.10 955.80 -4.60EICHERMOT 2796.00 2809.00 2758.00 2767.00 -14.25NTPC 96.45 96.70 95.00 95.45 -0.50GRASIM 1257.05 1258.60 1216.75 1234.40 -7.70TITAN 1506.00 1518.50 1476.75 1484.30 -9.90TECHM 996.00 996.00 977.50 982.90 -8.30ASIANPAINT 2495.00 2517.50 2448.55 2463.00 -23.10IOC 95.55 96.10 94.00 94.15 -0.95HINDUNILVR 2251.00 2261.75 2213.00 2217.90 -23.65COALINDIA 134.50 134.85 132.00 132.25 -1.60TCS 3209.00 3209.00 3131.55 3149.00 -41.80TATASTEEL 687.10 688.00 670.00 670.50 -10.00DRREDDY 4792.00 4833.55 4700.05 4705.75 -86.25HDFCLIFE 713.50 717.35 694.20 696.35 -14.60SBILIFE 898.00 901.15 875.00 876.50 -20.35

SE 500B

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 34816.95 35114.55 34790.45 34993.75 367.00ADANITRANS 629.10 706.00 629.10 688.20 60.65PEL 1738.10 1859.00 1730.00 1854.00 124.05MOTHERSUMI 206.90 225.00 203.95 211.25 13.95DMART 2955.00 3060.00 2933.00 3050.00 121.10PFC 127.15 132.00 126.65 131.40 4.95TATACONSUM 608.00 625.50 607.40 625.50 18.00HAVELLS 1154.90 1179.00 1137.40 1173.00 31.05AMBUJACEM 281.00 285.90 279.00 285.00 7.55NAUKRI 5350.00 5588.90 5235.15 5506.10 132.30PNB 39.25 40.05 39.00 39.65 0.85UBL 1257.50 1281.00 1247.00 1275.95 22.65DLF 314.50 325.80 312.00 317.35 5.60BANKBARODA 79.10 80.70 78.60 79.65 1.30INDUSTOWER 248.00 252.00 246.50 249.70 4.05SIEMENS 1858.50 1894.85 1825.00 1876.25 30.10ACC 1785.00 1798.00 1766.65 1787.25 21.50TORNTPHARM 2599.80 2622.90 2575.25 2604.65 22.80GICRE 144.85 147.90 143.30 143.55 1.00BANDHANBNK 341.55 343.90 338.25 339.75 2.25LUPIN 1055.00 1073.90 1051.40 1058.00 5.00HDFCAMC 3007.00 3047.00 3000.00 3010.00 11.60COLPAL 1603.65 1621.65 1593.05 1597.00 5.95BOSCHLTD 15774.00 16029.60 15640.05 15670.35 55.00AUROPHARMA 935.00 944.90 928.70 933.00 3.05ALKEM 2869.25 2915.45 2858.00 2878.00 8.75MCDOWELL-N 574.00 574.00 566.40 569.25 1.60PIDILITIND 1766.10 1795.45 1759.10 1764.00 3.30BAJAJHLDNG 3544.00 3598.50 3541.55 3550.20 5.60PGHH 13455.00 13799.95 13450.40 13475.20 20.75MUTHOOTFIN 1329.60 1361.60 1315.40 1316.75 1.75ABBOTINDIA 14469.10 14599.00 14400.00 14430.00 -9.10ICICIPRULI 492.20 497.00 485.20 486.90 -0.35MARICO 415.00 417.45 409.45 410.95 -0.70INDIGO 1649.00 1657.50 1632.50 1640.00 -3.15SBICARD 1030.00 1030.00 1014.30 1018.90 -2.00BIOCON 408.95 410.50 405.20 407.10 -0.95ICICIGI 1500.00 1507.40 1478.10 1491.10 -3.80NMDC 112.50 113.40 111.55 112.10 -0.30CADILAHC 466.90 472.25 463.65 466.00 -2.05HINDPETRO 224.50 226.25 222.10 222.60 -1.25LTI 4060.00 4075.00 4001.00 4015.00 -24.90BERGEPAINT 765.00 774.90 760.50 765.45 -4.90PETRONET 244.50 246.05 239.20 240.30 -1.90CONCOR 543.00 548.95 534.05 545.00 -4.50OFSS 3227.50 3238.95 3162.00 3167.55 -28.15HINDZINC 300.10 302.35 295.50 297.40 -2.70DABUR 537.50 540.85 526.30 527.00 -7.00GODREJCP 754.50 758.45 741.45 741.65 -12.65ADANIGREEN 1068.00 1079.95 1037.00 1038.15 -30.80IGL 559.15 562.50 540.00 541.50 -18.30

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The wholesale price-basedinflation rose sharply to

2.03 per cent in January oncostlier non-food manufac-tured items and experts areprojecting further uptick in therate of price rise in the next fewmonths.

The WPI inflation was1.22 per cent in December,2020 and 3.52 per cent inJanuary last year.

While food articles sawsoftening in inflation, the sharprise in the WPI inflation inJanuary was led by manufac-tured non-food products, fueland power, and crude petrole-um and natural gas, datareleased by the Commerce andIndustry ministry showed onMonday.

Food inflation in Januarystood at (-) 2.8 per cent, against(-) 1.11 per cent in the previ-ous month. In vegetables andpotatoes, it was (-) 20.82 per

cent and 22.04 per cent respec-tively.

Core inflation rose to a 27-month high of 5.1 per cent inJanuary 2021.

In non-food articles, infla-tion was higher at 4.16 per cent,while in the fuel and powerbasket it was (-) 4.78 per cent,during the month underreview.

ICRA Principal EconomistAditi Nayar said a deeper dis-inflation in primary food arti-cles helped to cushion theimpact of the sharp rise in coreinflation.

Rising demand andstrengthening pricing powerwill make core inflation risefurther to as much as 7-7.5 percent during April-June quarter,according to ICRA.

“... The headline WPIinflation is set to record largeupticks over the course of thenext few months. We nowexpect the WPI inflation toaverage 5-5.5 per cent in

FY2022, unless the availablevaccines turn out to be inef-fective against new COVID-19variants, causing commodityprices, consumer confidenceand business sentiment toplunge,” Nayar added.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) in its monetary policydecision on February 5, keptinterest rates unchanged for thefourth consecutive meetingand said that the outlook forcore inflation is influenced bythe escalation in cost-pushpressures seen in recentmonths.

Petroleum product priceshave reached historic highs asinternational crude pricessurged in recent months andthe high indirect taxes remain,both in the Centre and States.These, along with the sharpincrease in industrial raw mate-rial prices have resulted in abroad-based increase in pricesof services and manufacturingproducts in recent months.

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The country’s exports grewby 6.16 per cent to USD

27.45 billion in January, accord-ing to data by the commerceministry.

Imports too grew by 2 percent to about USD 42 billion,leaving a trade deficit of USD14.54 billion during the monthunder review, the data showed.

Exports during April-January this fiscal dipped by13.58 per cent to USD 228.25billion, while imports declinedby 25.92 per cent to USD300.26 billion.

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Demand for completed res-idential properties is ris-

ing compared to that forunder-construction flats, asthe share of ready-to-move-inhomes in the total housingsales in 2020 rose to 21 percent from 18 per cent in theprevious year, according toNews Corp-backed realty bro-kerage firm PropTiger.

A total of 1,82,640 unitswere sold in the 2020 calendaryear, of which 21 per centwere in the RTMI (ready-to-move-in) category and 79 percent were under-construc-tion, PropTiger said quotingits Real Insight report for2020. In 2019, a total of3,47,590 units were sold ofwhich 18 per cent were RTMI,it said in a statement.

PropTiger research foundthat the share of RTMI in thetotal sales has been on the risesince 2016.

The share of RTMI in

total sales during 2015 was 7per cent, which increased to10 per cent in 2016, 12 percent in 2017, 15 per cent in2018 and 18 per cent in 2019,the statement said.

“Risk-averse home buyersare increasingly opting forready-to-move-in flats.

Even in under-construc-tion properties, the preferenceis towards branded developersor those with an impeccabletrack record of execution,”said Dhruv Agarwala, GroupCEO, Housing.Com,M a k a a n . C o m a n dPropTiger.Com.

Among various cities, theshare of RTMI units in thetotal sales was the highest inChennai at 32 per cent andlowest in Hyderabad at 12 percent, during 2020.

However, the share ofRTMI units in the total salesincreased the most in Delhi-NCR at 27 per cent in 2020,from 17 per cent in the pre-vious year.

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The Reserve Bank onMonday set up a commit-

tee to draw a vision documentfor strengthening urban coop-erative banks (UCBs) andexploring the potential of con-solidation in the sector.

The committee, to beheaded by former RBI DeputyGovernor N S Vishwanathan,will suggest “effective mea-sures for faster rehabilitationand resolution of UrbanCooperative Banks (UCBs)and also assess their potentialfor consolidation in the sec-tor.”

The panel will “draw up avision document for a vibrantand resilient urban co-opera-tive banking sector havingregards to the Principles ofCooperation as well as depos-itors’ interest and systemicissues,” said the terms of refer-

ence of the committee whichwill be required to submit itsreport to the RBI in threemonths.

The eight-member panel,including former chairman ofNabard Harsh KumarBhanwala, will also review thecurrent regulatory and super-visory approach and recom-mend suitable measures tostrengthen the sector, takinginto account recent amend-ments to the BankingRegulation Act, 1949.

As per the terms of refer-ence of the committee, it will“take stock of the regulatorymeasures taken by the Reserve Bank(RBI) and other authorities in respect ofUCBs and assess their impactover the last five years toidentify key constraints andenablers, if any, in fulfilmentof their socio-economic objec-tive.”

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Despite a dip in global tech-nology spending amid the

coronavirus pandemic, thecountry’s information tech-nology sector is set to post a 2.3per cent rise in revenues toUSD 194 billion in the currentfiscal, Nasscom said on

Monday. The industry added1.38 lakh people to its work-force on a net basis during theyear, taking the total number ofemployees to 44.7 lakh, theNational Association ofSoftware and ServiceCompanies (Nasscom) said inits review of the current finan-cial year ending March 31.

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Equity benchmark Sensex ral-lied over 610 points to finish

above the 52,000-mark for thefirst time on Monday, tracking

significant gains in financialstocks amid a positive trend inglobal markets. After touchinga record high of 52,235.97 dur-ing the day, the 30-share BSEindex ended 609.83 points or 1.18

per cent up at 52,154.13.Similarly, the broader NSE

Nifty soared 151.40 points or 1per cent to finish at a record highof 15,314.70. It touched anintra-day peak of 15,340.15. Axis

Bank was the top gainer in theSensex pack, climbing around 6per cent.

On the other hand, DrReddy’s TCS, Tech Mahindra,HUL and Asian Paints were

among the laggards. “Indian market opened on a

positive following upbeat peers inAsia as Nikkei 225 crossed 30,000for first time in more than threedecades with Japan’s economy

growing 12.7 per cent on anannualised basis in October toDecember last year,” saidNarendra Solanki, Head- EquityResearch (Fundamental), AnandRathi.

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Donald Trump took in thewin at Mar-a-Lago, sur-

rounded by friends and fami-ly. His lawyers celebrated withhugs and smiles. One joked,“We’re going to Disney World!”

Now acquitted in his sec-ond Senate impeachment trial,Trump is preparing for the nextphase of his post-presidencylife. Feeling emboldened by thetrial’s outcome, he is expectedto reemerge from a self-imposed hibernation at hisclub in Palm Beach, Florida,and is eyeing ways to reasserthis power.

But after being barred fromTwitter, the former presidentlacks the social media bullhornthat fueled his political rise.

And he’s confronting aRepublican Party deeply divid-ed over the legacy of his jarringfinal days in office, culminat-ing in the Jan. 6 storming of theCapitol. Searing video images

of the day played on loop dur-ing his impeachment trial,which ended Saturday.

Trump remains popularamong the GOP base, butmany Republicans inWashington have cooled tohim. Never before have somany members of a president’sparty — seven GOP senators,in his case — voted for hisremoval in a Senate trial.

Some may work to counterefforts by Trump to support

extreme candidates in nextyear’s congressional primaries.

Undeterred, friends andallies expect Trump to resumefriendly media interviews afterweeks of silence. He has metwith political aides to discussefforts to help Republicans tryto take control of the Houseand Senate in the 2022midterms elections. He remainsfixated on exacting revengeon Republicans who support-ed his impeachment or resist-ed his efforts to overturn theresults of the November elec-tion won by Democrat JoeBiden.

“I imagine you’ll probablybe hearing a lot more from himin the coming days,” senioradviser Jason Miller said.

In a statement after thevote, Trump offered few clues,but was defiant as he told sup-porters their movement “hasonly just begun.”

“In the months ahead Ihave much to share with you,and I look forward to contin-uing our incredible journey

together to achieve Americangreatness for all of our people,”he said.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, whospoke with Trump on Saturdaynight, acknowledged thatTrump is “mad at some folks,”but also “ready to move on andrebuild the Republican Party”and “excited about 2022.”

In their conversations,Graham has stressed to Trump,who has threatened to start hisown party to punish disloyalRepublicans, that the GOPneeds him to win.

“I said, ‘Mr. President, thisMAGA movement needs tocontinue. We need to unite theparty. Trump-plus is the wayback in 2022,’” Graham, R-S.C.,told “Fox News Sunday.”

“My goal is to win in 2022to stop the most radical agen-da I’ve seen coming out of theDemocratic presidency of JoeBiden. We can’t do that with-out Donald Trump, so he’sready to hit the trail and I’mready to work with him,”Graham said.

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After former PresidentDonald Trump’s acquittal

at his second Senate impeach-ment trial, bipartisan supportappears to be growing for anindependent September 11-style commission into thedeadly insurrection that tookplace at the US Capitol.

Investigations into the riotwere already planned, withSenate hearings scheduledlater this month in the SenateRules Committee. HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has asked retired ArmyLt. Gen. Russel Honoré to leadan immediate review of theCapitol’s security process.

Lawmakers from bothparties, speaking on Sunday’snews shows, signaled thateven more inquiries were like-ly. The Senate verdictSaturday, with its 57-43 major-ity falling 10 votes short of thetwo-thirds needed to convictTrump, hardly put to rest the

debate about the Republicanformer president’s culpabilityfor the Jan. 6 assault.

“There should be a com-plete investigation about whathappened,” said Louisiana Sen.Bill Cassidy, one of sevenRepublicans who voted toconvict Trump. “What wasknown, who knew it and whenthey knew, all that, becausethat builds the basis so thisnever happens again.”

Cassidy said he was“attempting to hold PresidentTrump accountable,” andadded that as Americans hearall the facts, “more folks willmove to where I was.” He wascensured by his state’s partyafter the vote.

An independent commis-sion along the lines of the onethat investigated the Sept. 11attacks would probably requirelegislation to create. Thatwould elevate the investigationa step higher, offering a defin-itive government-backedaccounting of events.

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Donald Trump’s acquittal athis second impeachment

trial may not be the final wordon whether he’s to blame for thedeadly Capitol riot. The nextstep for the former presidentcould be the courts.

Now a private citizen,Trump is stripped of his pro-tection from legal liability thatthe presidency gave him. Thatchange in status is somethingthat even Republicans whovoted on Saturday to acquit ofinciting the January 6 attack arestressing as they urge Americansto move on from impeachment.

“President Trump is stillliable for everything he didwhile he was in office, as an

ordinary citizen, unless thestatute of limitations has run,”Senate Minority Leader MitchMcConnell of Kentucky saidafter that vote. He insisted thatthe courts were a more appro-priate venue to hold Trumpaccountable than a Senate trial.

“He didn’t get away withanything yet,” McConnell said.“Yet.”

The insurrection at theCapitol, in which five peopledied, is just one of the legalcases shadowing Trump in themonths after he was voted outof office. He also faces legalexposure in Georgia over analleged pressure campaign onstate election officials, and inManhattan over hush-moneypayments and business deals.

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Security forces in Myanmarintensified their crack down

against anti-coup protesters onMonday, seeking to quell thelarge-scale demonstrations call-ing for the military junta thatseized power earlier this monthto reinstate the elected gov-ernment.

More than 1,000 protesterswere rallying in front of theMyanmar Economic Bank inMandalay, the country’s sec-ond-largest city, when at least10 trucks full of soldiers andpolice arrived and started fir-ing slingshots toward the pro-testers before they even got outof the trucks, according to aphotographer who witnessedthe events.

The soldiers and policethen attacked the protesterswith sticks and slingshots, andpolice could be seen aiminglong guns into the air amidsounds that resembled gunfire.Local media reported that rub-ber bullets were also fired intothe crowd, and that a few peo-ple were injured.

Police were also seen pointing guns toward the protesters.

In the capital, Naypyitaw,protesters gathered outside apolice station demanding therelease of a group of highschool students who weredetained while joining in anti-coup activities.

One student who man-

aged to escape told reportersthat the pupils — thought torange in age from 13 to 16 —were demonstrating peaceful-ly when a line of riot policesuddenly arrived and beganarresting them. It wasn’t clearexactly how many studentswere rounded up, but esti-mates put the figure at between20 and 40.

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Bangladesh authorities sent afourth group of Rohingya

refugees from Myanmar to anewly developed island in the Bayof Bengal on Monday despitecalls by human rights groups fora halt to the process.

The roughly 2,000 Rohingyawho had been living in thesprawling refugee camps of Cox’sBazar were sent to Bhasan Char,an island specifically developedto accommodate 100,000 of the1 million Rohingya who have fledfrom neighbouring Myanmar, M.Mozammel Haque, a comman-der of the Bangladesh navy, toldreporters. With Monday’s group,more than 7,000 refugees havemoved to the island since theprocess started in December.

The government has said thearrangement is good for therefugees and the island isdesigned to offer better livingconditions. While human rightsgroups have criticized the movesand some are being forced to goagainst their will, the governmenthas insisted that refugees movingto the island have done so vol-untarily. More than 1 millionRohingya have fled waves of vio-lent persecution in their nativeMyanmar and are currently liv-ing in overcrowded, squalidrefugee camps in Cox’s Bazar dis-trict. Bangladesh has said thatultimately it is up to Myanmar totake the refugees back and hascalled on the international com-munity to put pressure onMyanmar’s government to ensuretheir safe return.

Beirut: Israel fired several mis-siles early on Monday targetingareas near the Syrian capital,Damascus, Syria’s state newsagency reported. An oppositionwar-monitoring group said thestrikes killed six Iran-backedfighters.

The SANA news agencyclaimed that Syrian air defens-es shot down most of the mis-siles, which it said were firedfrom Syria’s Israeli-occupiedGolan Heights.

The Britain-based SyrianObservatory for HumanRights, an opposition war mon-itor with a network of activistson the ground, said the strikeshit positions of the Syrianarmy’s Fourth Division in themountains near the highwaythat links Damascus with the

Lebanese capital of Beirut. Itsaid another strike hit Syrianarmy positions in Kisweh, justsouth of Damascus.

The Observatory said thatof the six Iran-backed fighterskilled, four were near theDamascus-Beirut highway andtwo in Kisweh. Weaponsdepots were also struck inboth areas, it added.

Israel has launched hun-dreds of strikes against Iran-linked military targets in Syriaover the years but rarelyacknowledges or discusses suchoperations. Israel views Iranianentrenchment on its northernfrontier as a red line, and hasrepeatedly struck Iran-linkedfacilities and weapons convoysdestined for Lebanon’s militantHezbollah group. AP

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German prosecutors saidMonday they have charged

five Tajik men with being mem-bers of the Islamic State group,accusing them of participating ina cell of the extremist organisa-tion in Germany. Federal prose-cutors filed the indictment at theDuesseldorf state court, where analleged associate of the five wasconvicted last month of mem-bership in IS for co-founding theGerman cell and supporting twoplanned attacks. He was sen-tenced to seven years in prison.

The suspects now chargedwere identified only asFarhodshoh K., MuhammadaliG., Azizjon B., Sunatullokh K.And Komron B., in keepingwith German privacy rules.

Prosecutors say that AzizjonB. Administered propagandachannels and helped collectmoney for a Russian- and Tajik-language IS online network.They say he also personallyrecruited IS members, leading tothe founding of a cell in westernGermany in early 2019 thataimed to carry out attacks inGermany.

The rest of the accused,along with Ravsan B., the manconvicted last month, are allegedto have belonged to that cell.Prosecutors say that they trainedtheir military skills in paintballgames, and that participants inthose included other people fromthe Islamist scene who were incontact with the gunman whokilled four people in an attack inVienna in November.

Lahore: Pakistan’s deposedprime minister Nawaz Sharif ’sdaughter Maryam Nawaz saidon Monday that she will notleave the country to join herfather in London for her treat-ment despite the Imran Khangovernment’s apparent offer togo abroad. “Even if someone(from the government) comesto my home and offers me togo abroad, I will decline itstraightaway,” she said whiletalking to reporters at her JatiUmra Raiwind residence here.

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The Uttar Pradesh Governmenthas also permitted schools to openabove Class VIII from this week andin full strength from Class VIonwards from March first week.

Schools across the country havebeen closed since mid-March 2020,even before the coronavirus lock-down was imposed. The EducationMinistry issued guidelines for theirreopening of schools last October butthe school administrations and StateGovernment were apprehensive ascorona cases were still not on adecline. However during the last twomonths schools of various States asper Home Ministry SOPs startedcautiously and the response hasbeen enthusiastic, as per reports fromvarious States received by the Centre.

“The Education and HomeMinistries have categorically said thatstudents will not be forced to attendclasses in school. It must dependentirely on parental consent,” theMinistry’s guidelines for reopeningof school within States said.

According to the EducationMinistry’s guidelines, for at least twoto three weeks after reopening,schools will not conduct any assess-ment. Even when they do, the pen-and-paper text format will be dis-couraged for students across allgrades to “ensure emotional well-being of the students”.

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He said the decision is an exten-sion of a series of visionary reformsundertaken in the space sector. Hepointed out that today’s announce-ment heralds the unlocking of geo-mapping from restrictive use towider use in the interest of nation-building and creating anAtmaNirbhar Bharat.

Singh said this is one more dis-tinct example of the removal ofsome of the colonial legacies thatIndia was still grappling with.

He claimed that deregulation ofMap-making is historic in the sensethat Geo-Map is now going to berecognised as an instrument fordevelopment rather than only a toolfor securing the country.

Singh also invited Indian busi-nesses to take lead and utilise theopportunities being thrown open forthe making of Atmanirbhar Bharat.

He said the collaborative effortsfrom industry, academia and theGovernment will make India a worldleader in geospatial knowledge. TheMinister urged all sections to grab

the opportunity and fulfil the aspi-rations of the nation to become a fivetrillion-dollar economy.

Secretary, DST, ProfessorAshutosh Sharma gave a presentationon the Geo-Spatial guidelines. Hesaid the new guidelines will be“stimulating and empowering Indianindustry and surveying agencieswithout diluting security concerns.Atmanirbharta in Geospatial prod-ucts and solutions will be a one lakhcrore business by 2030 plus economicimpact through development”.

To realise India’s vision ofAtmanirbhar Bharat and the goal ofa 5 trillion-dollar economy, the reg-ulations that apply to geospatialdata and maps henceforth stand rad-ically liberalised, according to theGovernment announcement.

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“Offices and other workplacesare relatively close settings, withshared spaces like workstations, cor-ridors, elevators and stairs, parkingplaces, cafeteria/canteens, meetingrooms and conference halls etc,Covid-19 infection can spread rela-tively fast among officials, staff andvisitors,” according to the procedures.“There is a need to prevent thespread of infection and to respond ina timely and effective manner in casesuspect case of Covid-19 is detectedin these settings, so as to limit thespread of infection,” the SOPs said.

Entrances of offices should havemandatory provisions for handhygiene like sanitiser dispensers,thermal screening. There should beproper cleaning and frequent sani-tisation, at least twice a day, of theworkplace, particularly of the fre-quently touched surfaces, accordingto the document.

The number of people in eleva-tors shall be restricted, duly main-taining physical distancing norms forwhich proper markings should bemade on the floor of the elevators,the SOPs stated.

For air-conditioning and venti-lation, the guidelines of the CentralPublic Works Department must befollowed, said the guidelines.

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He had also submitted that theFIR could not have been registeredby the Mumbai Police as the inves-tigation in the Sushant Singh Rajputcase had been transferred to theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) by the Supreme Court.

On their part, the Mumbai Policehad then forwarded the complaint tothe CBI that was investigating thedeath of the actor.

The relevant portion of Rhea’scomplaint reads thus: “I say that dur-ing the course of my relationshipwith the deceased, the deceased hadbeen undergoing treatment for var-ious mental health issues and hadbeen diagnosed as suffering fromBipolar Disorder by multiplerenowned doctors. However, thedeceased was not disciplined inrespect of his treatment and wouldoften abruptly stop his medication tothe dismay of his doctors and myself.“I say that on the morning of 8 June2020, the deceased had been on hisphone incessantly and when Ienquired what he was doing, heshowed me the messages he wasexchanging with his sister PriyankaSingh. I say that I was shocked uponreading the said messages as his sis-ter Priyanka had sent him a list ofmedications to take. I explained tothe deceased that given the serious-ness of his condition, and the factthat he already had medicationsprescribed by doctors who hadexamined and treated him over sev-eral months, he ought not to take anyother medication, least of all med-ication being prescribed by his sis-ter who has no medical degree,” Rheastated.

“I say that the deceased and I dis-agreed on this aspect and he insist-ed that he would only take the med-icine his sister was prescribing him.The deceased then proceeded to askme to leave the house as his other sis-ter Meetu Singh was coming to livewith him and would take care of him.It was thus that I came to live our res-idence at Mount Blanc, Bandra, andthis was also the last time that I sawthe deceased alive,” Rhea pointed out.

Making a serious charge againstPriyanka, Dr Kumar and others,Rhea stated in her complaint: “It hasnow come to light that his sisterPriyanka had subsequently on thesame day had a prescription by oneDr Tarun Kumar, an AssociateProfessor of Cardiology from DrRam Manohar Lohia Hospital, NewDelhi. I say that prima facie the saiddocument appears forged and fabri-cated. In addition, the said Dr. TarunKumar appears to have prescribedmedication controlled under theNarcotic Drugs and PsychotropicSubstances Act, 1985 to the deceasedwithout any consultation as man-dated by law.”

“In fact, the drugs prescribed byDr. Kumar were prohibited frombeing prescribed electronically underthe Telemedicine Practice Guidelinesissued on 25th March 2020, whichconstitutes Appendix 5 of the Indian

Medical Council (ProfessionalConduct, Etiquette and EthicsRegulation, 2002),” Rhea added.

It may be recalled that Sushantwas found hanging from a ceiling fanin his closed room of his sixth floorduplex flat at Mont Blanc building atBandra’s Carter Road in north-westMumbai, on June 14, 2020.

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At the outset, senior advocateShyam Divan, appearing for Sareenand others, argued that the plea hasalso challenged the new privacypolicy of WhatsApp which will comein effect from May 15, 2021.

Divan alleged that the app isapplying lower standards of privacyfor Indians in comparison toEuropean users and they be barredfrom sharing data with Facebook andothers.

“There is a huge differencebetween privacy policy which isbeing applied to Indians and towhat is applied in Europe. Unlike inIndia, in Europe they have to takeprior consent of users before sharingany data of users. They be directedto apply same standards of privacyto Indians as applied to users inEurope,” Divan said.

He said that till the Centrecomes up with new data policy,WhatsApp be restrained from imple-menting its new policy and directionbe issued to the government toensure that the app comply with allthe orders of the court.

“We are impressed by Mr Divan’sargument that it was proposed beforeus (by the Centre) that a data pro-tection law would be brought intoforce,” the bench told Sibal, adding,“Now under this new policy you(WhatsApp) will share data ofIndians”. Senior advocate ArvindDattar, also appearing for the USfirm, and Sibal said that they canswear on affidavit that WhatsAppdoes not store or share any person-al data of users and all these allega-tions are “misinformation”.

Dattar said the messaging app iscomplying with the Centre’s guide-lines and this petition under Article32 of the Constitution is not main-tainable.

The bench said, “Put on oath allthis. We are giving you four weeks tofile the affidavit”.

It told Dattar that citizens havegreat apprehension about loss of theirprivacy and they think that their dataand chats are being shared with oth-ers and it has to be looked into.

Sibal said that a similar petitionchallenging the privacy policy ofWhatsApp is pending in the Delhi

High Court. The bench clarified thatit will have to look into the main-tainability aspect of that petition andsee if the case can be transferred tothe top court as the original petitionin this case has been pending beforethe constitution bench.

The petitioner challenged thenew privacy policy alleging thatthere is huge metadata of userswhich is being shared for profit.

As per the new privacy policywhich was earlier scheduled to comein effect from February 8 but laterdeadline was extended to May 15,WhatsApp will share user informa-tion internally within the FacebookCompanies and externally with part-ners and service providers.

The top court had in 2017referred the WhatsApp’s privacypolicy issue which came into effectafter its merger of with the Facebookto a Constitution bench saying it con-cerns the larger issue of privacy andright to personal liberty.

The appeal filed in the apex courtby Sareen and Shreya Sethi hadassailed the Delhi High Court ver-dict on the ground that no relief wasgranted on sharing of users data post-September, 2016 by the WhatsApp,and it amounted to an infringementof fundamental rights under Article19 (Freedom of Speech andExpression) and 21 (Right to Life) ofthe Constitution.

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'Abhyudaya' has emerged as agolden initiative of Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath as it has received anoverwhelming response from morethan 50 lakh youth in less than aweek, showing their trust in the gov-ernment. The classes will begin onthe auspicious day of BasantPanchami on Tuesday in all the 18divisions of the state in the initialphase.

The chief minister, while inter-acting with the 50,192 selected can-didates, assured these bright youth ofthe state that the government wouldcontinue to give wings to their aspi-rations and that this scheme alsoaimed at ensuring quality exampreparation to all talented and hardworking aspirants coming fromdiverse backgrounds like rural areas,families of poor income class andmarginalised section, who couldnot afford to avail of the coachingservices in private sector.

The chief minister, while pre-senting 'Abhyudaya' to give rightdirection to the talented youth of the

state, also interacted with the aspi-rants and advised them to prepare forthe exams with hard work and ded-ication without any fear of failure.

"Keep making dedicated effortstoward achieving your dream andnever rely on luck. Only when youshow absolute commitment withoutany expectation, you will achieve thedesired results," he said.

Yogi Adityanath encouraged thestudents to completely believe intheir actions and also to alwaysapproach every situation with utmostoptimism.

Deputy Chief Minister DineshSharma, who was present at theAbhyudaya Townhall during theinauguration of the scheme, laudedthe platform as an "impeccable" and"extremely innovative" effort towardempowering the youth.

Social Welfare MinisterRamapathi Shastri acknowledgedthe government's vision throughthis scheme of providing quality edu-cation to uplift the deprived sectionsand called it the medium of'Antyodaya'.

Padma Shri Prof HC Vermadescribed Abhyudaya Yojana aspurely inventive, unique and exem-plary. He said it was a measure toboost self-reliance among the youthin the state.

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Consumer Protection(TAFCOP) system will also be cre-ated.

“The above system will strength-en the trust of people in the digitalecosystem and will make financialdigital transactions primarilythrough mobile more secure and reli-able, which will result in promotionof Digital India,” the statement said.

Prasad has directed the officialsof the Department ofTelecommunications (DoT) to con-duct a meeting with telecom opera-tors and telemarketers to apprisethem of the seriousness of the issueand to ensure compliance with laiddown rules and procedures in thisregard. In case of any violation,imposing financial penalty on tele-marketers and disconnectingresources in case of repetitive viola-tions have also been proposed, as perthe statement.

“The minister also directed todevise special strategies, includingblocking of telecom operations dueto rising concern in Jamtara(Jharkhand) and Mewat (Haryana)regions for curbing fraudulent activ-ities involving usage of telecomresources,” the statement said.

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After Dear Zindagi, ShahRukh Khan reunites with

Alia Bhatt on a quirky moth-er daughter story, Darlings,this time, as a producer.According to a source, theentire film is developed by RedChillies and was narrated toAlia sometime back. “Sheloved it and instantly came onboard the film,” a sourceshared.

The film marks the direc-torial debut of Jasmeet K Reen,who has worked as an associ-ate director and chief assistantdirector on multiple films andpreviously written films likeForce 2, Fanney Khan andPati Patni Aur Woh. The filmrides on a formidable ensem-ble fronted by Alia, with actorslike Shefali Shah, Vijay Varmaand Roshan Mathew on board.It is said to be a quirky storyabout an endearing mother –daughter duo, played by Aliaand Shefali, who are navigat-ing through crazy circum-stances in life. “It’s set inMumbai against the backdropof a middle-class family andtraces the lives of two women,as they find courage and lovein exceptional circumstances,”the source added.

An official announcementof the film is expected thisweek and according to the

source, the film will go on thefloors as early as the firstquarter of 2021. “In-fact, thefilm is gearing up for a releasethis year itself. The pre-pro-duction work is going on fullswing, and the team is allready to take it on floors verysoon in Mumbai.”

Apart from Darlings,SRK’s production team isworking on multiple films onthe production front, withLove Hostel featuring BobbyDeol, Vikrant Massey andSanya Malhotra all set to go onfloors, and Bob Biswas withAbhishek Bachchan in thepost-production stage. Thefilm is gearing up for aSummer 2021 opening. Thereare multiple other subjectsthat are on the verge of gettingstarted, including SRK’s nextacting stint, which is expect-ed to go on the floors after theYRF production, Pathan.

Shah Rukh Khan is cur-rently shooting for Pathan,which features him the lead asan agent with DeepikaPadukone too joining him onthe mission. John Abraham onthe other hand plays the antag-onist of Pathan. The follow upto this film for the superstar isexpected to be RajkumarHirani’s forthcoming socialcomedy.

Digitalisation has remained abuzz word in India for quitea long time now. Several

businesses have been investing theirtime and money in new technologiesto make their services digitallyaccessible. For instance, today we useso many apps on our smartphonesfor numerous routine activities likebooking a cab, making payments,ordering food, and what not. In fact,our reliance on these digital tools hasonly increased over the years, andundoubtedly these solutions havesimplified our lives to a great extent.But the real question is, can everyIndian access these services as wedo?

Evidently, the country has beenwitnessing a rapid rise in smart-phone penetration. However, a majorpart of our population still finds itdifficult to consume content inEnglish. Although many people —even those hailing from tier 2 and 3towns — are able to buy smart-phones because of their affordablecosts, they can’t make the most ofeach and every application, and insome cases, they can’t even usethem properly. This is primarilybecause most people don’t know theEnglish language and hence itbecomes extremely difficult for themto search and discover content. This

is where the role of an enhanced appstore ecosystem (EASE) comes intothe picture.

�The need for an enhanced appstore ecosystem

The importance of local lan-guages in a densely populated anddiverse country like India can’t beoverlooked. The country comprises1.15 billion mobile phone users, ofwhich 520.1 million hail from ruralareas, as highlighted by the TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(TRAI). To tap into these potentialcustomers, addressing the languagebarrier should be the top priority.Imagine when 520.1 million userswill be able to digitally converse intheir preferred dialect. Naturally,they will find content more relatablewhile also enjoying the highly per-sonalised user experience.

According to the Google KPMGreport, 70 per cent of Indians finddigital content in the local languagemore reliable, 88 per cent of Indianlanguage internet users are morelikely to respond to a digital adver-tisement in their preferred languagecompared to English, and 90 per centof video consumption is donethrough local languages. This clear-ly shows the astronomical growthopportunity that regional markets

hold at present, enabling app devel-opers to innovate the app storeecosystem using the power of local-isation.

�Government’s role in strengthen-ing local language content develop-ment

In the recent budget 2021-22, thegovernment has proposed to set upa National Language TranslationMission (NLTM), owing to thegrowing demand for accessing onlineservices in local languages. Themove will provide a significant boostto the existing regional language ini-tiatives in the country, and encour-age agencies to translate scienceand technology-related content intolocal languages, which otherwise isavailable only in English.

Doing so will also widen thereach of digital content and allowmore people to access it, thus help-ing them consume it in their pre-ferred language. NLTM is a greatexample that showcases the increas-ing relevance of Indian languages inevery service and solution thattoday’s businesses offer to con-sumers.

While television, for ages, hasserved as the primary screen, wehave now entered an era wheresmartphones are replacing it. Appdevelopers should thus come up withmore innovative offerings that aremobile-based rather than TV-driven.Moreover, the growing preference ofIndians towards regional content hasemerged as a newly found opportu-nity, and app developers shouldstrive to leverage it. An enhancedapp store ecosystem (EASE) is a greatway to bring innovation to the nextbillion consumers, help thembecome a part of the digital world,and drive awareness around howdigital tools can add value to theirlives.

To bank on EASE, app develop-ers can also experiment with otherelements like voice and video thathave always existed but have notbeen reaped yet. These can be thenext two powerful tools that busi-nesses can add to their existingportfolio of products, and servecustomers in a more personalisedmanner. As we advance in 2021,businesses must figure out new waysto simplify the app store ecosystemso that the next billion users can useit to meet their day-to-day aspira-tions more seamlessly than everbefore.

(The writer is Co-Founder andCEO of an app and content discoveryplatform, Indus OS.)

No matter how intimidating it is tostyle print on print, it definitely

sparks your inner Carrie Bradshaw. Asdesigners venture into the space ofunconventional prints on the runway, iteventually trickles down and is widelyexperimented by all fashion enthusiastsalike.

We take the liberty of narrowingdown some of the most sought after#PrintOnPrint trends by taking cues fromensembles by popular designers.

PAIR WITH NEUTRAL TONESIf your personal style leans more

towards subtle and minimal, you can startby pairing your prints with neutral toneslike whites or nudes. Whether it is abright blue texture like Kunal AnilTanna’s play on stripes or a mix ofpastel block prints, like Vedika M’sspin on hand painted drapes,you’re sure to make a memo-rable style statement with thesestunning visual textures.

LAYER IT UPAmp up the dimension

and vivacity of your ensembleby mixing conspicuous printswith layering. A zebra tex-tured cape on a colourblocked ensemble, likeZwaan’s or a solid bandi ona densely textured co-ord set, by Kunal AnilTanna, these can helpadd depth to an oth-erwise simple attire.And if you’re lookingto go one step further,

opt for a single print through all layerslike Gulabo Jaipur or use contrast coloursand prints like Vedika M.

TRUE TO TRADITIONAs long as you keep your accessories

to a bare minimum, you can get extreme-ly creative with your prints in tradition-al silhouettes. A prairie printed sari or ablend of pastel stripes on bell sleeves canredefine demure elegance like no otheras seen in ensembles by Ridhi Mehra,Gulabo Jaipur and Vedika M.

COOL CO-ORDSWhile mixing prints is purely instinc-

tive, there is also a different fascinationaround wearing the same print from headto toe. If you choose to go indie, you cango crazy mixing different textures. Frombig and bold to floral and dainty, exper-

iment with prints in different silhou-ettes like angarakha kurtas, peplumtops, bishop sleeves and flare pants,as seen above by designers Sukriti& Aakriti and Ridhi Mehra.

SEXY SINGLETONSThere’s nothing more

sophisticated than donning asingleton with a striking printthroughout the ensemble.Ideally, opt for flowy silhou-ettes that flatter your bodywhile looking absolutelychic like Zwaan colour-

blocked or striped tex-tures or Ridhi Mehra’s

Persian play on theclassic anarkali.

Abhishek Banerjee hasbeen in the Hindi film

industry for over a decade.He was impressive in filmssuch as No One Killed Jessica,Phillauri and Ajji amongothers, but it has only been inthe past few years that hestarted getting noticed inmainstream Bollywood, withroles in films like Stree,Dream Girl and Bala, and hisact as Hathoda Tyagi in theweb series Paatal Lok.

Talking about why ittook him so long to getnoticed, Abhishek said, “Ithink there can be many fac-tors, but it is all assumptionsbecause I don’t have a clearanswer to that. If you ask meit has been five years since Ihave felt like a camera actor.”

The actor, who hasworked with several bigdirectors as a casting direc-tor in the past, said that helooked at what was not work-ing for him as a performer.

“I looked at what was notworking for me as an actorbecause of course I was closeto the directors I was work-ing with. I knew a lot of peo-ple and if still I was not get-ting cast in a good role thatmeant that people lackedtrust in me as an actor andperformer. So, first I had towork towards that and then

there were few people likeDevashish Makhija, AmarKaushik and KarneshSharma (who cast me),” hesaid.

“These guys showed a lotof faith. Why am I takingtheir name is not because ofPataal Lok or Stree. (Bala andStree director) Amar Kaushikhas seen me since No OneKilled Jessica and he had castme in Go Goa Gone. Whenno one was casting me these

guys were already castingme. Karnesh Sharma castme in Phillauri. Those guysshowed trust. So, chanceswere given and in thosechances you had to workhard and then it happened,”said Abhishek.

“Also, I am talking like acasting director because thisgoes for all the actors. Even(Scam 1992 lead actor) PratikGandhi and Jaideep Ahlawat,it is not that they have start-

ed working today. I tookJaideep’s audition 11 or 12years ago when we had justpassed out from the Film andTelevision Institute of India(FTII),” he recalled.

“There are a lot of actorswho are already in Bombay,are good but gaining thattrust of directors takes timeand they also slowly have toprove themselves with everyrole,” Abhishek summed up.

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�$� �� #��*��DUBAI: Racing Team India won its bid tobecome the first all-Indian squad to compete atthe 24 Hours of Le Mans with a solid debut overthe opening two rounds of the Asian Le MansSeries in Dubai this weekend. The JK Tyres-backedteam's ORECA 07 LMP2 car, driven by NarainKarthikeyan, Arjun Maini and Naveen Rao, withtechnical support from reigning ALMS champi-ons Algarve Pro Racing, finished fifth and fourthin the two four-hour races held at the DubaiAutodrome on Saturday and Sunday respective-ly.

�� %�� %� $�� BHOPAL: Former India wicketkeeper-batsmanNaman Ojha on Monday announced his retire-ment from all forms of cricket, bringing down cur-tains on a two-decade long illustrious domesticcareer. The 37-year-old from Madhya Pradesh,who holds the record for the most dismissals bya wicketkeeper in the Ranji Trophy, has featuredin one Test, one ODI and two T20Is. “I would liketo announce my retirement,” Ojha said in a vir-tual press conference.

�>��%�*�� *�� NEW DELHI: Kings XI Punjab will be calledPunjab Kings from the upcoming edition of theIPL, the franchise having opted for a change inname after giving it a long thought. “The team wasplanning to change the name for a long time andthought it should be done before this IPL. So itis not a sudden decision,” a BCCI source said onMonday.

)�� (��%��$��HISSAR: The Haryana Police has filed an FIRagainst former India cricketer Yuvraj Singh overhis alleged casteist remarks against YuzvendraChahal during an Instagram chat last year, offi-cials said on Monday. It was during one of theInstagram Live sessions with Rohit Sharma thatYuvraj made the offensive comment about Chahal,while talking about his regular social media posts.

�%��%��#� �� #(��JOHANNESBURG: South Africa will embark ona historic first full limited-overs tour of Ireland inJuly, the country's cricket board said on Monday.The matches are scheduled to be played from July11-25 and will comprise three ODIs, that will formpart of the ICC's Cricket World Cup Super Leagueprogramme, and three T20 Internationals. Thematches will be played in Malahide and Stormont.

��B��'��%�� C)� �#�Lucknow:DD/AIR and Times of India won theirrespective league matches on Monday to book thesemi-final berths in the Media Cup T20 CricketTournament at KD Singh ‘Babu’ Stadium. DD/AIRdefeated Amar Ujala by six wickets while Timesof India registered a comfortable in against PREleven.

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Monchengladbach: BorussiaMönchengladbach on Monday said that coachMarco Rose will leave at the end of the season forleague rival Borussia Dortmund. Gladbach sport-ing director Max Eberl said that Rose would usea clause in his contract to make the move, sub-ject to unspecified conditions.

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�� &��

Ravichandran Ashwinfirst gave a lesson onhow to bowl on a rank

turner and then provided abatting master-class with asparkling hundred on a dete-riorating strip, putting India onthe brink of a massive series-levelling victory againstEngland on the third day of thesecond Test here on Monday.

Ashwin’s fifth Test hun-dred — a gutsy 106 off 148balls along with Virat Kohli’snear flawless 62 off 149 ballsgot India to a more than decent286 in 85.5 overs, leavingEngland with an improbabletarget of 482 runs on a dustbowl.

At stumps, England werealready crumbling at 53 for 3and it would take nothingshort of a miracle for Englandto bat for two days and save thematch.

Even their resolute captainJoe Root and coach ChrisSilverwood wouldn’t be opti-mistic on a track whereexploding divots are making itextremely difficult to bat.

But difficult doesn’t meanimpossible. Just like facing aquality seam bowler on a greentop is an art, one needs plen-ty of skills and mental fortitudeto counter spinners on a dustbowl.

Skipper Kohli and Ashwinshowed the likes of MichaelVaughan that they have abun-dant skills to tackle the condi-tions as India batted nearly 182overs across two innings on atrack that many deemed asunder-prepared after Englandfailed to score even 150.

For Ashwin, it was thethird time in his Test careerwhen he notched up a five-forand a hundred along with it.

Only England legend IanBotham stands ahead of himwith five such efforts in hiscareer.

India’s batting exhibition inthe second innings was a state-ment for all the DoubtingThomases on how to bat on athird-day track.

It only helped that MoeenAli (32-7-98-4) and Jack Leach(33-6-100-4) were not half asgood as Ashwin and AxarPatel were on the second day.

Both the Moeen and theLeach bowler were bowlingtheir deliveries at an identical

pace unlike Ashwin who var-ied the speed. Also anothermarked difference betweenAshwin’s deliveries was hispace through the air which wassignificantly more thanMoeen’s. If Rohit Sharma set itup with a classy Day 1 hun-dred, Ashwin and Kohli, in thenext two days, didn’t take theirfeet off the pedal to putEngland in the tightest of cor-ners.

Till the ball remained hard,England got three quick wick-ets leaving India in a spot at 65for 4 but Kohli again seemed

in a mood to make batting lookeasy.

He displayed defensive ele-gance, coming close to thepitch of the ball to take an off-stump guard in order to negateturn. He also used the sweepshot only for deliveries thatwere drifting down the leg-side.

There were seven bound-aries, mostly drives and inAshwin he found an able ally.They added 96 runs in 177balls, a partnership that deflat-ed England completely.

Ashwin relied on shotssquare of the wicket and leftKohli with the job of grafting,taking it upon himself to attackthe England bowling.

Apart from the square cutsand the pull shots off spinners,he was ready to hit the flat-bat-ted shots off pacers akin to ten-nis forehand shots.

There were 14 boundariesand a six in all during his bestbatting effort considering theprevious four hundreds cameagainst second-rate WestIndies sides.

Ravindra Jadeja’ ascendan-cy as India’s all-conditionsspecialist spin bowling all-rounder led to Ashwin losinga bit of confidence and the cut-ting edge he possessed with thewillow.

But everything changedafter the semi-fit Chennaiengineer pulled off a last daywonder in Sydney which hasnow helped him get his mojo

back.In the past one year, he has

tremendously upgraded hisvariations and the confidencein ‘Ashwin the bowler’ hasbrought to the fore ‘Ashwin thebatsman’.

The way he marshalledthe tail was commendable withtwo partnerships — 27 withIshant Sharma (7) and 49 withMohammed Siraj (16) for the10th wicket.

In both cases, he cleverlyshielded the strike and finallyreached 97 with a six.

A miscued shot got himhis hundred and the ensuingcelebrations, especially fromKohli punching his fists whilegiving a standing ovation,said it all.

Ashwin seemed finallyback where he belonged andthat’s right at the top.

�)��

Romelu Lukaku scored twice toreach 300 career goals as Inter

Milan moved above AC Milan to thetop of Serie A with an impressive 3-1home win over Lazio on Sunday.

Lukaku’s brace came in the firsthalf as Inter made the most of their cityrivals’ surprising 2-0 loss at Spezia onSaturday.

Inter, bidding for a first Scudettosince winning the treble under JoseMourinho in 2010, are now one pointclear of AC Milan, with Roma sixpoints further back in third.

The stage is set for a mouthwater-ing Milan derby at the San Siro nextSunday.

“He (Lukaku) came back firing onall cylinders tonight and we need thisRomelu. We need this determinationand passion from everyone in theteam,” Inter coach Antonio Conte said.

“I am happy for the lads, inevitablythis must be a starting point for us andnot the finish line. We know the nextgame is the derby with Milan, goinginto it above them is obviously muchbetter. “It’s going to be a fascinatinggame between two teams who havestrong ambitions.”

Lukaku opened the scoring on 22minutes from the penalty spot afterWesley Hoedt fouled LautaroMartinez.

The Belgium forward then movedlevel with Cristiano Ronaldo at the topof the Serie A goalscoring charts justbefore the break, as he hit a loose ballfirst time on the half-volley for his 16thleague goal of the campaign.

The deficit was halved just afterthe hour mark as Gonzalo Escalante’sfree-kick was deflected to leave Intergoalkeeper Samir Handanovic flat-footed.

But Inter’s return to the summitwas secured in the 64th minute asLukaku turned the provider forMartinez.

�� &��

Debutant slow left-armbowler Axar Patel feels that

critics of spinner-friendly tracksneed to change their mindset asIndian cricket team has nevercomplained about tacklingseamer-friendly green tops over-seas.

The likes of former Englandcaptain Michael Vaughantermed the Chepauk pitch, usedfor the second Test, as “under-prepared” but India had twocenturions with three playersscoring half tons across twoinnings and 180 plus overs.

“If you are talking aboutpitch, I don’t think any ball hitthe helmet. There is normal spinon offer. We are playing on sametrack and scoring runs, so I don’tthink anyone should have anyproblems and feel that wicket islike this or that and so on andso forth,” Axar said.

The 27-year-old Gujaratleft-arm spinner, whose debutTest is also his 50th Internationalgame for India, took a dig at theEnglish commentators andmedia for their take on theChepauk surface.

“Also when we go overseas,

we never complained whileplaying on seaming track andcomplained that there is moregrass on the wicket. I think peo-ple need to change their mind-set rather than thinking aboutthe wicket,” he said at the end ofthird day’s play.

Axar explained that on thistrack, one needs to hit the deckhard in order to make use of the

turn on offer.“On this wicket, there is help

for spinners so you don’t needto do anything extra,” he said.

“When you are putting a bitmore effort and body into theball, then you are getting the ballto spin. When you are hitting thedeck hard, then only you are get-ting the ball to turn.

“If you are releasing it slow-

ly, there is not much help for theslow bowlers. So hitting the deckwith a decent speed is importantand that’s creating difficulty forbatsmen. If you bowl slow, thenbatsman are moving to back footand adjusting,” Axar said.

�� England spin bowling con-

sultant Jeetan Patel playeddown the talk about the qual-ity of the Chepauk pitch in theongoing second Test, saying“everyone knows it’s going tospin when you come to thesub-continent”.

“The first Test in Sri Lankaspun from ball one. We under-stand it all as a playing group,maybe it’s an educational thingfor someone outside the groupbut if you’re in the sub-conti-nent, wickets spin,” Patel said atthe media interaction at the endof third day’s play.

“The ball gets softer quick-er, it doesn’t seam as much, sothere has to be something in thewicket. Has it accelerated a bitquickly? Probably so, but that isplaying in the sub-continent,like when teams come toEngland or other places whereit seams around,” he added.

�)��1�2��

World No 2 Rafael Nadal beat oldnemesis Fabio Fognini in a scrap-

py affair to reach his 43rd Grand Slamquarter-final while Daniil Medvedevand Andrey Rublev ensured GrandSlam history will be made for Russia aftersetting up an Australian Open quarter-final on Monday.

With qualifier Aslan Karatsev alreadythrough to face Grigor Dimitrov in thetop half of the draw, it means there willbe three Russian men in the last eight ofa Slam for the first time since the Openera began in 1968.

Nadal, bidding for a first title atMelbourne Park since 2009, has yet todrop a set and kept the record intactagainst the fiery Italian, winning 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arena.

Later, ninth seed Matteo Berrettinipulled out of his fourth-round clash withStefanos Tsitsipas because of an abdom-inal strain, giving the Greek fifth seed awalkover into a quarter-final againstNadal. The Italian was due to play in thelate night match on Rod Laver Arena, butwithdrew hours before it was due to start.

Fourth seed Medvedev extended his

win streak to 18 matches when he tookjust 89 minutes to blow away MackenzieMcDonald 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 and reach thequarter-finals while world No 8 Rublevfollowed Medvedev onto Margaret CourtArena and was back in the locker roomeven quicker, as Norway’s Casper Ruudretired with the scores at 6-2, 7-6 (7/3).

Rublev also reached the quarter-

finals at Roland Garros last year in abreakthrough season that saw him winfive ATP Tour titles, more than any otherplayer. He won 41 matches, equal withworld number one Novak Djokovic asthe best in 2020, and started 2021 on aneight-match streak after winning allfour of his singles to help Russia win theATP Cup, alongside Medvedev.

Fourth seed Medvedev’s best GrandSlam performance to date was reachingthe final at the 2019 US Open. Hisunbeaten run dates back to Novemberand includes titles at the Paris 1000, theATP Finals in London and the ATP Cup.

But Medvedev said the Russian pair,both in their first Australian Openquarter-finals, would push their friend-ship aside on Wednesday when they aimfor the last four.

“It’s our job — of course during thematch we’re going to try to win, fight forour best,” said Medvedev. “You neverknow. Sometimes you can maybe...argue on the court or something becausewe’re competitors. “After the match weare great friends.”

“At least one of us will be in the semi-finals. So it’s good news but yeah, it’sgoing to be a tough match,” said Rublev.“Last time he beat me in the quarters inthe US Open. So now we’re in the quar-ters in the Australian Open, so we’ll seewhat’s going to happen.”

The last Russian man to win a GrandSlam was Marat Safin at Melbourne Parkin 2005.

For Nadal, it is the 13th time he hasmade the last eight in Australia, moving

to joint third on the all-time list behindonly Roger Federer (15) and JohnNewcombe (14).

��American Jessica Pegula beat a top-

10 player for the first time in her career,shocking fifth seed Elina Svitolina at theAustralian Open to make her first everGrand Slam quarter-final where she willtake on compatriot Jennifer Brady.

Also Czech 25th seed KarolinaMuchova edged Belgium’s Elise Mertensin two tight sets to reach her secondGrand Slam quarter-final while world No1 Ashleigh Barty extended her unbeat-en start to 2021.

Muchova was 0-4 down in the firstbefore recovering to win 7-6 (7/5), 7-5against Mertens, who beat BelindaBencic in the previous round. Barty wasbroken while serving for the match thefirst time but clinched it in the next gameto get past Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-4.

Unseeded 26-year-old Pegula hasbeen in scintillating form at MelbournePark and overwhelmed the Ukrainian6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a last-eight clash22nd seed Brady who beat DonnaVekic 6-1, 7-5.

�� &��

Seasoned off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin on

Monday credited the Indianteam’s batting coach VikramRathour for his fiery perfor-mances with the willow inrecent times.

Amid the chatter aroundthe challenging Chepaukpitch, Ashwin came in atnumber eight and showedeveryone how to bat on adeteriorating surface with anexcellent century, puttingIndia on the brink of a series-levelling victory in the secondTest.

“I can’t say it’s been hap-pening in the last three days,I have been practising withVikram Rathour. I would loveto credit him with how mybatting has come throughover the last four-five match-es,” Ashwin said at the end ofthe third day’s play.

This was after his gutsy

show with the bat in Australia,where he stood his grounddespite hostile fast-bowling bythe home team.

He was glad that he shone

so bright in front of his homecrowd.

“I don’t know when thenext Test is going to be here,but I am pleased. Don’t know

if I will play another Test inChennai, and if at all, when...”

Ashwin’s number elevencompanion Mohammed Sirajcelebrated the senior player’sfifth Test hundred more thanthe man himself, who had gotto a century in the companyof Ishant Sharma in the past.

From the other end,Ashwin enjoyed watchingSiraj strike a couple of sixes.

“In the past when, he’s(Ishant) been with me whenI got hundreds at home andonce Siraj came, I knew howto approach.

“I was thrilled for hisbatting and told him to gothrough the line of the ball. Itwas amazing to see how excit-ed he was when I got my hun-dred.

“I don’t know what theteam is feeling like but I amsure they are thrilled. I can’tthank the crowd enough, theyhave been very supportive,”Ashwin said.

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