2PLFURQ FDVHV VRDU WR LQ ,QGLD - Daily Pioneer

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T he Omicron variant of the coronavirus is “spreading rapidly” with 11 States report- ing altogether 107 cases. The Health Ministry has warned that 19 districts were at high risk of a surge in Covid-19 cases. The national Capital reported ten more Omicron cases on Friday, taking its tally to 20. The Ministry also urged people to avoid non-essential travel and stay away from large crowds and gatherings. The Ministry’s caution comes in the wake of approaching Christmas and New Year celebrations. Globally the variant has been detected in 91 countries. The Ministry also pointed out that the districts with over 5 per cent Covid positivity rate will have to mandatorily ensure that restrictive mea- sures were followed for at least two weeks unless the rate comes down below 5 per cent. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said 10 new cases of the new Covid variant Omicron have been detected in the national Capital, taking the tally to 20. Ten of these patients have been discharged, he said. The Minister said 10 out of the 40 samples sent for genome sequencing tested positive for the new variant. The Minister had on Thursday said many international travellers are turning out Covid positive upon arrival at the Indira Gandhi International Airport. Maharashtra on Friday recorded eight more Omicron cases, taking the total number of the new Covid-19 variant cases in the State to 40. A report released by the Pune-based National Institute of Virology (NIV) said that of the eight news cases, six cases were from Pune, while one case each from Mumbai and the twin townships of Dombivli-Kalyan in the neighbouring Thane district. Of the total 40 Omicron cases recorded so far, Mumbai accounted for 14, followed by Pimpri-Chinchwad where 10 cases have been found. There are in all six cases in Pune, while Kalyan- Dombivali and Osmanabad have recorded two cases each. Latur, Buldhana, Nagpuir and Vasai-Virar have registered one case each. Warning against lowering the guard in the wake of Omicron transmission, ICMR DG Dr Balram Bhargava told reporters that “this is the time to avoid non- essential travel, mass gatherings and it is very important to observe low-intensity festivi- ties.” Maharashtra — the worst- hit Covid State — has record- ed the maximum number of Omicron cases — 40, followed by Delhi (20), Rajasthan (17), Karnataka (8), Telangana (8), Gujarat (5), Kerala (5), Andhra Pradesh (1), Chandigarh (1), Tamil Nadu (1) and West Bengal (1). Citing the WHO warning on the fast transmis- sion of the new mutated vari- ant, Health Ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said that it’s likely that Omicron will outpace Delta variant where community transmission occurs. “There is no evidence to suggest that vaccines are not effective against Omicron vari- ant of coronavirus,” he added and assured that sufficient sys- tematic and strategic sampling is being undertaken for genome sequencing for detec- tion of Omicron cases in India. On Covid front, the official said, “Maharashtra continues to account for more than 55% of the total active cases. A total of 99,763 active cases were record- ed across the country as of December 2. Around 15 dis- tricts across the country have more than 10% positivity rate, whereas 18 districts have pos- itivity ranging between 5-10%. These are still a matter of con- cern for us, we are continuously in talks with those States.” The case positivity for the last one week is 0.65 per cent. Currently, Kerala contributes 40.31 per cent to the total number of active cases in the country, he pointed out. Agarwal further said that daily cases in India have stayed below 10,000 for the past 20 days, while the positivity rate has been recorded at 0.65% for the past 1 week. Dr Bhargava said that we have been discussing anti-viral Covid-19 pills and added that we have found that these pills need to be given very early, even before the diagnosis of the disease. “Scientific data is still not supported in a big way that the pills will be useful at the moment,” he added. On Covid-19 vaccination, Agarwal said, “India is admin- istering Covid-19 vaccine doses at the highest rate in the world and the daily rate of doses administered is 4.8 times the rate of doses administered in the USA and 12.5 times the rate of doses administered in the United Kingdom.” Continued on Page 12 F ormer Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh will fight the great electoral battle of Punjab against the army he once headed with the help of his erstwhile foes. Completely reversing the previous election’s scenario, Capt Amarinder and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday sealed the alliance, while leaving the decision on seat- sharing to be announced at “an appropriate time”. It took “seven rounds of talks” between Capt Amarinder and the several leaders of the saffron brigade to seal this deal. Rajya Sabha member and an Akali stalwart Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa’s party — Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Sanyukta — is likely to join the evolving alliance between the BJP and Capt Amarinder’s new outfit — the Punjab Lok Congress (PLC). Speculated ever since he quit the Congress the previous month, Capt Amarinder, along with Union Minister and Punjab BJP affairs’ in-charge Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, announced the decision in New Delhi after their meeting. “We had met in Chandigarh earlier... Union Home Minister (Amit Shah) and our president (JP) Nadda Continued on Page 12 F rance on Friday expressed concern over growing aggressive stance of China in the Indo-Pacific region and the South China Sea and stressed the need for ensuring freedom of navigation and adherence to international maritime rules. Making this point here, visiting French Defence Minister Florence Parly also said France and India contin- ue to face the threat of terror attacks and the challenge of ter- rorism has to be dealt with in a comprehensive manner. She made these observa- tions during a seminar organ- ised by a think tank before her high profile talks with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Her remarks about Indo- Pacific came against the back- drop of India, the US, Japan and Australia forging an alliance (Quad) and holding a series of naval exercises in the region in the last one year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi participated in the first in- person meeting of heads of the Quad nations in the US two months back. Also, Australia, the US and the UK formed a coalition — AUKUS — some time back to safeguard their interests in the region. This alliance did not go down well with France. Noting that China is a major country and there are areas, including in fighting against climate change, where cooperation can be envisaged, she said, “China is also a part- ner for trade and commerce but we see that China is getting more and more aggressive in the region, and it is even more specific when it comes to the (South) China Sea,” she said. “France and, if I may, India share the same views on some- thing which is key -- I mean the international maritime law, the freedom of navigation is not only a principal concept. This is among the set of rules we comply with, but is also some- thing which puts at risk the freedom (of) navigation and trade,” Parly said. “We see that sometimes there are attempts to close this (South) China Sea and we want to make sure that this freedom of navigation is respected,” the French Defence Minister noted. Continued on Page 12 I n a setback to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the Supreme Court on Friday stayed the probe ordered by her into the allega- tions of surveillance by using Pegasus software. The Bengal Government has set up a commission under (retd) Madan B Justice Lokur to probe the scandal. The for- mer chief justice of Calcutta High Court Jyotirmay Bhattacharya was a member of the commission of inquiry. A bench comprising Chief Justice NV Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli took note of the plea that despite the assurance of the West Bengal Government that the Lokur panel would not pro- ceed with the inquiry, the com- mission has commenced its work. The apex court on October 27 had appointed a three- member panel of cyber experts to probe the alleged use of Israeli spyware Pegasus for surveillance of certain people in India, saying every citizen needs protection against pri- vacy violation and mere invo- cation of national security by the State does not render the court a mute spectator. The SC on Friday also allowed petitioner NGO Global Village Foundation to make the Justice Lokur Commission a party in the proceedings. The NGO had opposed the paral- lel probe by the Lokur Commission. While constituting the probe panel, Mamata had launched an all-out attack on the BJP Government for putting Opposition parties and their leaders, including herself, under surveillance. “It is very dangerous that the Opposition parties and those who do not support this Government’s policies should be put under surveillance like this … do you call it a democ- racy … I have put plastered the the camera of my phone out of fear and have been speaking to my advisers in person and not over the phone … I have also advised Ministers and other key people to maintain extreme privacy in such cases,” the CM had said. She also alleged that her election adviser Prashant Kishore too had been put under surveillance. I n a significant development, the Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Friday suspended its more than two-year-old approval for Amazon’s deal to acquire stake in Future Coupons Pvt Ltd and also imposed a 202 crore penalty on the e-commerce major for certain contraven- tions. This comes amid a bitter legal battle between Amazon and Future Group over the lat- ter’s proposed 24,713 crore- deal with Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd (RRVL). Against this backdrop, Future Group had complained to the CCI. In a 57-page order, the regulator said the approval for the Amazon-Future Coupons deal “shall remain in abeyance”. Citing certain contraven- tions, CCI said those have arisen “from a deliberate design on the part of Amazon to sup- press the actual scope and pur- pose of the combination” and that it finds no mitigating fac- tor. Consequently, fines totalling 2 crore have been imposed on Amazon. For failure to notify the combination in the requisite terms, the watchdog has also slapped a penalty of 200 crore. The parties involved in the combination were Amazon.Com NV Investment Holdings LLC (Amazon) — a direct subsidiary of Amazon.Com Inc — and Future Coupons. “We are reviewing the order passed by the Competition Commission of India, and will decide on next steps in due course,” an Amazon spokesperson said in a statement. While approving the deal in November 2019, CCI had also mentioned the order shall stand revoked if, at any time, the information provided by the acquirer was found to be incorrect. “This approval should not be construed as immunity in any manner from subsequent proceedings before the Commission for violations of other provisions of the (Competition) Act,” it had said. On November 29, the Supreme Court gave two more weeks’ time to Amazon to appear and argue before the CCI which had declined adjournment of hearing in a case related to revocation of approval given to the e-retail- er for the deal with Future Coupons. In August 2019, Amazon had agreed to purchase 49 per cent in unlisted Future Coupons, which owns 7.3 per cent equity in listed Future Retail through convertible war- rants, with the right to buy into the flagship Future Retail after a period of 3 to 10 years. In August 2020, RRVL said it will acquire the retail and wholesale business, and the logistics and warehousing busi- ness of Future Group for 24,713 crore. The scheme of arrangement entails the con- solidation of Future Group’s retail and wholesale assets into one entity Future Enterprises Ltd and then transferring it to Reliance Retail. The deal has been contested by Amazon, an investor in Future Coupons. Pyongyang: To mark the 10th anniversary of the death of for- mer Supreme Leader Kim Jong Il, North Korea banned its cit- izens from laughing for 10 days from December 17 to mark the 10th anniversary of his death. This year, the mourning period has been extended to 11 days as this is the 10th death anniversary. Generally, a 10- day mourning period is observed every year. The ban on laughing is among several restrictions imposed on North Koreans to mark the occasion. North Koreans have been banned from drinking alcohol, laugh- ing, shopping for groceries, or engaging in leisure activities, a resident of the border city of Sinuiju told Radio Free Asia. Despite massive economic shocks caused by draconian anti-virus measures and long- dormant diplomacy with the United States, North Korea shows no signs of political instability. Continued on Page 12 U nion Home Minister Amit Shah said that the Bharatiya Janata Party in alliance with the NISHAD Party would win over 300 seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections because only the BJP worked for the development of society while parties like Bahujan Samaj Party and Samajwadi Party only worked for their kin and their caste. Addressing the first joint rally of Nishad Samaj and BJP coined ‘Sarkar Banao Adhikar Pao’, at Ramabai Ambedkar Grounds in Lucknow on Friday, Shah said that the response to this rally and the enthusiasm shown by the members of NISHAD Party were a clear indication that this alliance would sweep the next elections. “We will win not less than 300 seats,” Shah said and the crowd cheered in unison. The Union minister also asked the members of Nishad community to spread the mes- sage of good work done by the governments at the Centre and in UP. “Go to villages with lotus in your hands and ask the peo- ple to vote for the BJP,” he said. In his 40-minute address, Shah stressed on welfare steps initiated by both the Union and UP governments for the fish- ing community. “We have created a separate department for fisheries. We got the credit cards made for the fishermen and have given constitutional status to the Commission for Backwards. When the BJP returns to power in Uttar Pradesh, the other demands of the Nishad society will be fulfilled,” he promised. The Union home minister said that the SP and BSP worked only for their castes but Modi ji worked for every sec- tion of society. “Modi made a separate ministry for you Continued on Page 12

Transcript of 2PLFURQ FDVHV VRDU WR LQ ,QGLD - Daily Pioneer

Page 1: 2PLFURQ FDVHV VRDU WR LQ ,QGLD - Daily Pioneer

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The Omicron variant of thecoronavirus is “spreading

rapidly” with 11 States report-ing altogether 107 cases. TheHealth Ministry has warnedthat 19 districts were at highrisk of a surge in Covid-19cases. The national Capitalreported ten more Omicroncases on Friday, taking its tallyto 20.

The Ministry also urgedpeople to avoid non-essentialtravel and stay away from largecrowds and gatherings. TheMinistry’s caution comes in thewake of approaching Christmasand New Year celebrations.Globally the variant has beendetected in 91 countries.

The Ministry also pointedout that the districts with over5 per cent Covid positivityrate will have to mandatorilyensure that restrictive mea-sures were followed for at leasttwo weeks unless the ratecomes down below 5 per cent.

Delhi Health MinisterSatyendar Jain said 10 newcases of the new Covid variantOmicron have been detected inthe national Capital, takingthe tally to 20. Ten of thesepatients have been discharged,he said.

The Minister said 10 out ofthe 40 samples sent for genome

sequencing tested positive forthe new variant. The Ministerhad on Thursday said manyinternational travellers areturning out Covid positiveupon arrival at the IndiraGandhi International Airport.

Maharashtra on Fridayrecorded eight more Omicroncases, taking the total numberof the new Covid-19 variantcases in the State to 40. A reportreleased by the Pune-basedNational Institute of Virology(NIV) said that of the eightnews cases, six cases were fromPune, while one case eachfrom Mumbai and the twintownships of Dombivli-Kalyanin the neighbouring Thanedistrict. Of the total 40Omicron cases recorded so

far, Mumbai accounted for 14,followed by Pimpri-Chinchwadwhere 10 cases have beenfound. There are in all sixcases in Pune, while Kalyan-Dombivali and Osmanabadhave recorded two cases each.Latur, Buldhana, Nagpuir andVasai-Virar have registered onecase each. Warning againstlowering the guard in the wakeof Omicron transmission,ICMR DG Dr BalramBhargava told reporters that“this is the time to avoid non-essential travel, mass gatheringsand it is very important toobserve low-intensity festivi-ties.”

Maharashtra — the worst-hit Covid State — has record-ed the maximum number of

Omicron cases — 40, followedby Delhi (20), Rajasthan (17),Karnataka (8), Telangana (8),Gujarat (5), Kerala (5), AndhraPradesh (1), Chandigarh (1),Tamil Nadu (1) and WestBengal (1). Citing the WHOwarning on the fast transmis-sion of the new mutated vari-ant, Health Ministry JointSecretary Lav Agarwal saidthat it’s likely that Omicron willoutpace Delta variant wherecommunity transmissionoccurs. “There is no evidenceto suggest that vaccines are noteffective against Omicron vari-ant of coronavirus,” he addedand assured that sufficient sys-tematic and strategic samplingis being undertaken forgenome sequencing for detec-

tion of Omicron cases in India.On Covid front, the official

said, “Maharashtra continues toaccount for more than 55% ofthe total active cases. A total of99,763 active cases were record-ed across the country as ofDecember 2. Around 15 dis-tricts across the country havemore than 10% positivity rate,whereas 18 districts have pos-itivity ranging between 5-10%.These are still a matter of con-cern for us, we are continuouslyin talks with those States.”

The case positivity for thelast one week is 0.65 per cent.Currently, Kerala contributes40.31 per cent to the totalnumber of active cases in thecountry, he pointed out.Agarwal further said that dailycases in India have stayedbelow 10,000 for the past 20days, while the positivity ratehas been recorded at 0.65% forthe past 1 week.

Dr Bhargava said that wehave been discussing anti-viralCovid-19 pills and added thatwe have found that these pillsneed to be given very early,even before the diagnosis of thedisease. “Scientific data is stillnot supported in a big way thatthe pills will be useful at themoment,” he added.

On Covid-19 vaccination,Agarwal said, “India is admin-istering Covid-19 vaccine dosesat the highest rate in the worldand the daily rate of dosesadministered is 4.8 times therate of doses administered inthe USA and 12.5 times the rateof doses administered in theUnited Kingdom.”

Continued on Page 12

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Former Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh will fight

the great electoral battle ofPunjab against the army heonce headed with the help ofhis erstwhile foes.

Completely reversing theprevious election’s scenario,Capt Amarinder and theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) onFriday sealed the alliance, whileleaving the decision on seat-sharing to be announced at “anappropriate time”.

It took “seven rounds oftalks” between Capt Amarinderand the several leaders of thesaffron brigade to seal thisdeal. Rajya Sabha member andan Akali stalwart SukhdevSingh Dhindsa’s party —Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD),Sanyukta — is likely to join the

evolving alliance between theBJP and Capt Amarinder’s newoutfit — the Punjab LokCongress (PLC).

Speculated ever since hequit the Congress the previousmonth, Capt Amarinder, alongwith Union Minister andPunjab BJP affairs’ in-chargeGajendra Singh Shekhawat,announced the decision inNew Delhi after their meeting.

“We had met inChandigarh earlier... UnionHome Minister (Amit Shah)and our president (JP) Nadda

Continued on Page 12

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France on Friday expressedconcern over growing

aggressive stance of China inthe Indo-Pacific region and theSouth China Sea and stressedthe need for ensuring freedomof navigation and adherence tointernational maritime rules.

Making this point here,visiting French DefenceMinister Florence Parly alsosaid France and India contin-ue to face the threat of terrorattacks and the challenge of ter-rorism has to be dealt with ina comprehensive manner.

She made these observa-tions during a seminar organ-ised by a think tank before herhigh profile talks with DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh.

Her remarks about Indo-Pacific came against the back-drop of India, the US, Japanand Australia forging analliance (Quad) and holding aseries of naval exercises in theregion in the last one year.Prime Minister Narendra Modiparticipated in the first in-person meeting of heads of theQuad nations in the US twomonths back.

Also, Australia, the US and

the UK formed a coalition —AUKUS — some time back tosafeguard their interests in theregion. This alliance did not godown well with France.

Noting that China is amajor country and there areareas, including in fightingagainst climate change, wherecooperation can be envisaged,she said, “China is also a part-ner for trade and commercebut we see that China is gettingmore and more aggressive inthe region, and it is even morespecific when it comes to the(South) China Sea,” she said.

“France and, if I may, India

share the same views on some-thing which is key -- I mean theinternational maritime law, thefreedom of navigation is notonly a principal concept. Thisis among the set of rules wecomply with, but is also some-thing which puts at risk thefreedom (of) navigation andtrade,” Parly said.

“We see that sometimesthere are attempts to close this(South) China Sea and wewant to make sure that thisfreedom of navigation isrespected,” the French DefenceMinister noted.

Continued on Page 12

����� 567�#68� 93:83-''-

In a setback to West BengalChief Minister Mamata

Banerjee, the Supreme Courton Friday stayed the probeordered by her into the allega-tions of surveillance by usingPegasus software.

The Bengal Governmenthas set up a commission under(retd) Madan B Justice Lokurto probe the scandal. The for-mer chief justice of CalcuttaHigh Court JyotirmayBhattacharya was a member ofthe commission of inquiry.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice NV Ramana andJustices Surya Kant and HimaKohli took note of the plea thatdespite the assurance of theWest Bengal Government thatthe Lokur panel would not pro-ceed with the inquiry, the com-mission has commenced itswork.

The apex court on October27 had appointed a three-member panel of cyber expertsto probe the alleged use ofIsraeli spyware Pegasus forsurveillance of certain people inIndia, saying every citizenneeds protection against pri-vacy violation and mere invo-

cation of national security bythe State does not render thecourt a mute spectator.

The SC on Friday alsoallowed petitioner NGO GlobalVillage Foundation to make theJustice Lokur Commission aparty in the proceedings. TheNGO had opposed the paral-lel probe by the LokurCommission.

While constituting theprobe panel, Mamata hadlaunched an all-out attack onthe BJP Government forputting Opposition parties andtheir leaders, including herself,under surveillance.

“It is very dangerous thatthe Opposition parties andthose who do not support thisGovernment’s policies shouldbe put under surveillance likethis … do you call it a democ-racy … I have put plastered thethe camera of my phone out offear and have been speaking tomy advisers in person and notover the phone … I have alsoadvised Ministers and otherkey people to maintain extremeprivacy in such cases,” the CMhad said. She also alleged thather election adviser PrashantKishore too had been putunder surveillance.

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In a significant development,the Competition

Commission of India (CCI) onFriday suspended its more thantwo-year-old approval forAmazon’s deal to acquire stakein Future Coupons Pvt Ltd andalso imposed a �202 crorepenalty on the e-commercemajor for certain contraven-tions.

This comes amid a bitterlegal battle between Amazonand Future Group over the lat-ter’s proposed �24,713 crore-deal with Reliance RetailVentures Ltd (RRVL). Againstthis backdrop, Future Grouphad complained to the CCI.

In a 57-page order, theregulator said the approval for

the Amazon-Future Couponsdeal “shall remain in abeyance”.

Citing certain contraven-tions, CCI said those havearisen “from a deliberate designon the part of Amazon to sup-press the actual scope and pur-pose of the combination” andthat it finds no mitigating fac-tor. Consequently, finestotalling �2 crore have beenimposed on Amazon.

For failure to notify thecombination in the requisiteterms, the watchdog has alsoslapped a penalty of �� 200crore.

The parties involved in thecombination wereAmazon.Com NV InvestmentHoldings LLC (Amazon) — adirect subsidiary ofAmazon.Com Inc — andFuture Coupons.

“We are reviewing theorder passed by theCompetition Commission ofIndia, and will decide on nextsteps in due course,” anAmazon spokesperson said ina statement.

While approving the dealin November 2019, CCI hadalso mentioned the order shallstand revoked if, at any time,the information provided bythe acquirer was found to beincorrect.

“This approval should notbe construed as immunity inany manner from subsequentproceedings before theCommission for violations ofother provisions of the(Competition) Act,” it had said.

On November 29, theSupreme Court gave two moreweeks’ time to Amazon toappear and argue before theCCI which had declinedadjournment of hearing in a

case related to revocation ofapproval given to the e-retail-er for the deal with FutureCoupons.

In August 2019, Amazonhad agreed to purchase 49 percent in unlisted FutureCoupons, which owns 7.3 percent equity in listed FutureRetail through convertible war-rants, with the right to buy intothe flagship Future Retail aftera period of 3 to 10 years.

In August 2020, RRVL saidit will acquire the retail andwholesale business, and thelogistics and warehousing busi-ness of Future Group for�24,713 crore. The scheme ofarrangement entails the con-solidation of Future Group’sretail and wholesale assets intoone entity Future EnterprisesLtd and then transferring it toReliance Retail. The deal hasbeen contested by Amazon, aninvestor in Future Coupons.

Pyongyang: To mark the 10thanniversary of the death of for-mer Supreme Leader Kim JongIl, North Korea banned its cit-izens from laughing for 10days from December 17 tomark the 10th anniversary ofhis death.

This year, the mourningperiod has been extended to 11days as this is the 10th deathanniversary. Generally, a 10-day mourning period isobserved every year.

The ban on laughing isamong several restrictionsimposed on North Koreans tomark the occasion. NorthKoreans have been bannedfrom drinking alcohol, laugh-ing, shopping for groceries, orengaging in leisure activities, aresident of the border city ofSinuiju told Radio Free Asia.

Despite massive economicshocks caused by draconiananti-virus measures and long-dormant diplomacy with theUnited States, North Koreashows no signs of politicalinstability.

Continued on Page 12

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Union Home Minister AmitShah said that the

Bharatiya Janata Party inalliance with the NISHADParty would win over 300 seatsin the 2022 Uttar PradeshAssembly elections becauseonly the BJP worked for thedevelopment of society whileparties like Bahujan SamajParty and Samajwadi Partyonly worked for their kin andtheir caste.

Addressing the first jointrally of Nishad Samaj and BJPcoined ‘Sarkar Banao AdhikarPao’, at Ramabai AmbedkarGrounds in Lucknow on

Friday, Shah said that theresponse to this rally and theenthusiasm shown by themembers of NISHAD Partywere a clear indication that thisalliance would sweep the nextelections.

“We will win not less than300 seats,” Shah said and thecrowd cheered in unison.

The Union minister alsoasked the members of Nishadcommunity to spread the mes-sage of good work done by thegovernments at the Centre andin UP. “Go to villages with lotusin your hands and ask the peo-ple to vote for the BJP,” he said.

In his 40-minute address,Shah stressed on welfare steps

initiated by both the Union andUP governments for the fish-ing community.

“We have created a separatedepartment for fisheries. Wegot the credit cards made forthe fishermen and have givenconstitutional status to theCommission for Backwards.When the BJP returns to powerin Uttar Pradesh, the otherdemands of the Nishad societywill be fulfilled,” he promised.

The Union home ministersaid that the SP and BSPworked only for their castes butModi ji worked for every sec-tion of society. “Modi made aseparate ministry for you

Continued on Page 12

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NOTICE

I, BHM Harinarayan YadavS/O Rambadan Yadav V/OVill.-Bibipur, Post-Mohari, Teh.-Bilthara Road, Dist.-Ballia (UP)declare that in my Army Recordname and Date of Birth of mywife is wrongly written asReeta Kumari Date of Birth 10JAN 1983. Her correct nameReeta Devi and Date of Birth01 JAN 1984.

NOTICE

I, Ramsabad Singh S/O ShobhNath Singh R/O Vill. DariyaPatti Manajit, PO.Chiraiyakot,Dist-Mau (UP) Pin Code-276129 changed my name toRam Shabd Singh for all pur-poses.

NOTICE

BE it known to all that earliermy name was MOHAMMADRIAZ ANSARI ALIAS GUDDUwhich is changed to ISHTIYAQAHMAD.IN future I shall beknown as ISHTIYAQ AHMAD.ISHTIYAQ AHMAD S/O-MOHAMMAD AHMAD: 633 /424, ATALA, ALLAHABAD.

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I ARMY NO. JC704087WSOOBEDAR FATEH SINGHRAWAT UNIT 1 MT BN AMCC&C LUCKNOW C/O 56 APOIN MY ARMY SERVICERECORD MY WIFE'S NAMEIS WRITTEN ALKA DEVIWHICH IS WRONG.THERIGHT NAME OF MY WIFEIS ALKA RAWAT.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modihas called upon the mayors to

have a belief in evolution as there isno need for revolution and for bet-terment of their cities, continuousintegrated efforts should be madewithout adopting any pessimisticmentality.

He was addressing the All IndiaMayors’ Conference through videoconferencing at Trade FacilitationCentre (TFC) at Badalalpur here onFriday.

The prime minister suggested tothe Urban Development Ministrythat apart from awarding the bestcities while finalising their ranks,such urban areas should also berecognised which were making bet-ter and sincere efforts and list of suchplaces should be also released whichwere performing poorly so thatthey could make some attempts inthis direction under the pressure ofthe local residents.

“Such competitions wouldinspire the urban administration todo better and its cumulative effectswill be visible soon,” he inspired themayors.

He further urged the mayors towork towards cleanliness and beau-tification of the cities they represent-ed while promoting local productsand preserving its heritage for sus-tainable urban development.

“Unless we keep our cities cleanand pay attention to sanitation andhygiene, no matter how many hos-pitals we build, we will fall short ofsupply as these are the main causesof diseases,” he said, suggesting thatthe mayors could start ward beau-

tification competitions which wouldencourage other wards to makemore efforts.

“While decorating walls withpaintings on Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav ideas, they can also organ-ise contests by awarding those whowrite effective poems, songs as wellas modern lori so that today’s chil-dren can become more respectfultowards our freedom struggle asthey grow up as the youth when thecountry will celebrate its centenaryyear of Independence,” he said.

Inspiring the mayors further,Modi said that such efforts wouldhelp them enhance their politicalprofession. Citing the example of

Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the primeminister said that Patel started hiscareer as the mayor of AhmedabadMunicipal Corporation.

“It is a big responsibility which,if taken seriously, can benefit thosepursuing a career in politicsimmensely,” he said.

Giving an example of Surat forincreasing its income by sellingsewage treated water to the indus-tries, the prime minister said, “Weneed to modernise while preservingour rich heritage and traditions aswe are doing in Kashi. We need topromote local products as UttarPradesh is doing through OneDistrict One Product (ODOP)

scheme. Varanasi is famous world-wide not only because of the tem-ples, but also because of its paan(betel leaves) and saree,” the primeminister remarked, appealing tothe mayors to make efforts for pop-ularising and branding their tradi-tional products.

Modi also stressed the impor-tance of having a sensitive approachtowards rivers and lakes.

“Water crisis is a global phe-nomenon and attention needs to begiven to rivers flowing by towns,” hesaid, urging mayors to organiseriver festivals annually on the riverbanks in order to make peopleaware of their historical and cultur-

al importance.He also appealed to mayors to

take the pledge to keep the citiesclean and ensure ban of single useplastics apart from emphasising theimportance of having well-plannedsewage and waste water recyclingnetworks.

Similarly, he called for havingsolid waste disposal and recyclingnetworks, pointing out that he washappy to see that people were get-ting more and more disciplined interms of throwing garbage at onlydesignated places.

The prime minister also stressedthe importance of extending supportto the street vendors throughSwanidhi Yojana as they could proveto be the lifeline of a town’s econo-my as well as ensuring convenientaccommodations for workersengaged in major construction activ-ities.

Speaking on the occasion, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath said thatKashi was an ideal example of amal-gamation of India’s rich tradition andmodernity, which every city of thecountry should aspire for, thanks tothe prime minister’s vision andefforts.

The function was also addressedby Union Housing and UrbanAffairs Minister Hardeep SinghPuri while UP Urban DevelopmentMinister Ashutosh Tandon wel-comed the participants at the may-oral conference.

UP Minister of State(Independent Charge) for Tourismand Culture Neelkanth Tiwari andconference chairman Naveen Jain,who is also mayor of Agra, were alsopresent on the dais.

����� 8��35:7

Ahead constable was sus-pended after investigations

revealed that a licensed gunbelonging to him was used dur-ing a celebratory firing at awedding function in Meerut inwhich a photographer wascritically injured on Tuesdaynight.

The police said that theaccused had fled the venuewith the CCTV's DVR after theincident on the fateful night.

The head constable waspunished for indiscipline andwas earlier booked for attemptto murder by the Meerutpolice. The incident took placeinside a banquet hall inGangasagar Colony on Tuesdaynight.

The victim, identified asVijay Kumar, was operatedupon at a private hospital anddoctors said the bullet haddamaged his stomach andintestines. The police had reg-istered a case at Bhawanpurpolice station and booked twounidentified persons for thecrime based on a complaintlodged by the photographer'scolleague, present at the func-tion.

During investigation, thepolice stumbled upon the factthat the wedding ceremonywas of head constableMahendra Singh’s grandsonwho was posted in Hapur. Italso surfaced that Singh hadfired shots from his licensedgun and when the photograph-er was hit by a bullet, he fled the

scene with the CCTV DVR.The head constable was subse-quently booked under sectionsof attempt to murder.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice of Hapur, DeepakBhukar, said, "It came to lightthat the head constable wasabsent from duty without anyprior notice or permission. Hehas been suspended for negli-gence on duty and a depart-mental probe has been orderedagainst him."

Meanwhile, in a shockingincident, a mentally unstableman bit flesh off a two-year-oldgirl's cheek at a village inBareilly on Thursday.

The child was playing inthe courtyard of her housewhen the man pounced on herand bit the flesh straight off hercheek. He let the girl go afterthe bystanders beat him upwith sticks.

The toddler was rushed toa district hospital by herfather, Sunil Kumar. Doctorssaid she would need plasticsurgery.

The accused, identified asChhedalal Gangwar of KhajwaJageer village, was also admit-ted to the same hospital withserious injuries.

His family members toldthe police that he was under-going treatment at a mentalhospital and was confined tohis house from where heescaped and attacked the childon Thursday. The victim comesfrom a Dalit family and herfather works as a daily wager inthe village.

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Aiming to give fillip to infrastructuredevelopment, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi will lay the foundationstone of the much-hyped GangaExpressway at Shahjahanpur onSaturday. Last month, the prime min-ister inaugurated the PurvanchalExpressway and on January 4, he isscheduled to inaugurate theBundelkhand Expressway.

The 594-km-long six-lane GangaExpressway will be built at a cost of overRs 36,200 crore. Starting near Bijauli vil-lage in Meerut, the expressway willextend till Judapur Dandu village ofPrayagraj, meandering through Meerut,Hapur, Bulandshahr, Amroha, Sambhal,Budaun, Shahjahanpur, Hardoi, Unnao,Rae Bareli, Pratapgarh, and Prayagraj.

“Upon completion of work, it willbecome the longest expressway ofUttar Pradesh, connecting the westernand eastern regions. A 3.5-km-longairstrip for assisting emergency take-offand landing of India Air Force planeswill also be constructed on the express-way at Shahjahanpur. Besides, an indus-trial corridor is also proposed to be builtalong the Ganga Expressway,” a top gov-ernment official said in Lucknow onFriday.

The official hoped that the newexpressway would give a fillip to mul-tiple sectors, including industrial devel-opment, trade, agriculture, tourism, etc.,and provide a big boost to socio-eco-nomic development of the region.

����� 8��35:7

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said thatthe Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies

would destroy the Samajwadi Party andBahujan Samaj Party in the 2022 assem-bly elections owing to the strategy of UnionHome Minister Amit Shah and NISHADParty president Sanjay Nishad.

Addressing a joint rally of BJP andNISHAD Party in the presence of UnionHome Minister Amit Shah in Lucknow onFriday, Yogi said, "It was due to thealliance between the BJP and NISHADParty that we secured 76 seats in the regionin the 2014 assembly elections. The Nishadcommunity would be a happy lot with thegrand Ram temple coming up in Ayodhyaas it has sentimental attachment with LordRama since Ramayan period.”

"The SP, BSP and Congress havealways conspired to dispute Lord RamJanmabhoomi but we won the battle aftera long struggle and now a grand Ram tem-

ple is being built at Ayodhya. Our govern-ment is going to build a grand memorialof Nishad Raj and Lord Ram inShringverpur,” he said.

Broadsiding the SP, BSP and Congressfor being non-serious about the securityof the country, the chief minister said that

for the first time, the national borderscould be secured under the leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

“Also, Article 370, which had becomethe biggest problem of Kashmir, wasabolished,” he said.

Yogi revealed that in 2015-2016, theSamajwadi Party government had hatcheda conspiracy to kill NISHAD Party pres-ident Dr Sanjay Nishad.

"Our timely intervention saw him get-ting admitted to the medical college andgetting him justice. We will always standby the Nishad community with honesty inall times to come. It was during the regimeof Kalyan Singh when the fishing lease wasfirst provided to the Nishads in rural areas.After SP-BSP governments discontinuedthe lease arrangement, we again revived it,"the chief minister said.

On his government’s action againstmafia and organised crime, Yogi said thatnow the bulldozer of the people of the statewould raze the SP in the next elections.

����� 8��35:7

Former Congress presidentRahul Gandhi is all set to

take out a ̀ padyatra’ in his for-mer parliamentary constituen-cy, Amethi, on Saturdayand highlight the risingprices and target the BharatiyaJanata Party ruling at theCentre and in Uttar Pradeshover its inability to curb gallop-ing inflation across the coun-try.

The 'Pratigya Padyatra'campaign, which will also beattended by Congress generalsecretary Priyanka GandhiVadra, will be organised fromJagdishpur in Amethi toHarimau in Sultanpur. Theparty has exhorted people toparticipate in the campaign tosensitise the government abouthardships being faced by themdue to rising inflation.

A Congress spokesmansaid that the people were suf-fering due to the policies of theNarendra Modi government atthe Centre and the YogiAdityanath government in the

state.“The Congress has been

agitating all over the countryagainst inflation. This 'padya-tra' under the slogan of'BJP Bhagao, Mehengai Hatao',will start from Jagdishpur at 10am. At the end of the yatra,there will be a huge publicmeeting which will beaddressed by Rahul Gandhi,Priyanka Gandhi and othersenior leaders of the party,” hesaid.

Besides the `padyatra’,Priyanka, who announced that40 per cent of party ticketswould be given to women can-didates and rolled out a sepa-rate manifesto for women,would also hold 'ShaktiSamvad' to be organised in RaeBareli on December 19.

This 'Shakti Samvad',which will start at 11 am atReform Club grounds nearRae Bareli district hospital, isexpected to be attended by5,000 women. Priyanka isexpected to discuss in detailCongress women's manifesto atthe event.

����� 8��35:7

After the Union cabinet approved a proposal to raisethe legal age of marriage of women from 18 years

to 21 years, Samajwadi Party MP Shafiqur RahmanBurq came up with a bizarre remark, saying that thedecision to raise the marriageable age of girls to 21years would give girl’s an excuse to do ‘awargi’ (toindulge in reckless, immoral behaviour).

“I don’t think this is the right step. Increasing theminimum marriageable age of women will deterio-rate the situation. Eighteen years was perfect and theage bar was existent for a long time. Now, it will pro-

vide more scope for `awargi’ (recklessness).“India is a poor country and everybody wants to

marry off their daughter at an early age. If it comesto education, the girl continues her education aftermarriage also…I will not support this bill inParliament,” the SP leader said.

After receiving severe backlash for hisbizarre ‘awargi’ remark, the SP leader backtrackedby saying: “I didn’t use the word "awargi”. My state-ment was misquoted. I said that situation is not con-ducive.”

Another Samajwadi Party MP from Moradabad,ST Hasan, went a step ahead and said that the girls

should be married when they attain the age of puber-ty even if it is at the tender age of 16.

“Girls should be married when they attain the ageof fertility. There is nothing wrong if a mature girl ismarried at 16. If she can vote at age of 18, why can’tshe marry?” the SP MP said.

On December 15, the Union cabinet approved aproposal to raise the legal age of marriage of womenfrom 18 years to 21 years. During the IndependenceDay address in August, 2020, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had announced the same and said thegovernment was planning to amend the law for thesame.

����� 8��35:7

The Uttar Pradesh Assemblywas adjourned sine die on

Friday after the brief winter ses-sion of three sittings. This wasthe last session of the 17th UPAssembly.

The House, after a briefdebate on the second supple-mentary budget for the currentfiscal 2021-22, passed theFinance Bill. The assembly alsopassed the supplementary bud-get of Rs 8, 479 crore whereinRs 4,000 core have been provid-ed for the welfare of the work-ers of the unorganised sector.

The House also adopted

the Finance Bill for the vote onaccount for the first fourmonths of the next fiscal 2022-23.

Assembly Speaker HridayNarayan Dikshit thanked allthe members for their partici-pation in the debate. He saidthe session had three sittingsand the proceedings lasted for11.27 hours.

During the session, 10 billswere passed by the House. Thebill passed include UPIndustrial Peace (Amendment)Bill, 2021, UP Goods andServices (Amendment) Bill,2021, UP Advocate WelfareFund (Amendment) Bill, 2021,

UP Molasses Control(Amendment) Bill, 2021, UPState Sports University(Amendment) Bill, 2021, UP(Fourth) Repeal Bill, 2021, UPCane Purchase and SupplyRegulation (SecondAmendment) Bill, 2021, UPAppropriation Bill (2021-22)Second Supplementary Bill,2021 and UP Appropriation(Vote on Account) Bill, 2021.

The first day of the sessionwas adjourned after obituaryreferences where the Housecondoled the death of the for-mer assembly speaker and sit-ting MLA Sukhdeo Rajbharand Chief of Defence Staff

General Bipin Rawat.The speaker said during

the three sittings, one shortnotice question, 91 starredquestion and 235 unstarredquestions were tabled by themembers of the House. He saidout of these, answers to 26questions were given by thegovernment. He said 124notices under Rule 51 of theRules of Business for theConduct of the Proceedings ofthe UP Assembly, seeking state-ment from the government,were tabled by the memberswhich were accepted for state-ment and call attention motionby the government.

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The tele-ICU of SGPGI is likely to be extended toall the 75 districts of the state and it is set to become

the largest ICU network in the country. SGPGI direc-tor RK Dhiman, while giving details of the progressof various projects, said an MoU for the tele-ICUbetween Power Grid Corporation of India andSGPGI is already close to be finalised.

“Based on a hub-and-spokes model, 200 ICU bedsof Uttar Pradesh (six old medical colleges of UP —Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Prayagraj, Jhansi, Agra andMeerut) — will be connected to the SGPGI hub, form-ing a tele-ICU network for enhanced quality of carefor critically ill patients closer to their homes. This pilotproject will later be extended to other governmentmedical colleges of the state. It will be the largest tele-ICU network under the guidance of Chief MinisterYogi Aditynath,” he said.

Regarding the STPI (Software Technology Parkof India), he said the department of IT and InfoTechand SGPGI - Medical Electronics and HealthInformatics are in process of setting up a Centre ofExcellence. “Work has already started and is likely tobe completed by October. This Centre of Excellencewill stimulate the establishment and growth of tech-nology-based start-ups in medical electronics andhealth informatics by providing state-of-the-art infra-structure. In addition, this centre will offer mentor-ing, marketing and funding, thus creating an ecosys-tem essential for the success of the start-ups,” he said.He added that in addition, an MoU between IIT-Kanpur and Tele-Med-SGPGI was signed on June 29earlier for setting up a CoE in Tele-Medicine andHealthcare Robotics, to develop low-cost kiosks fordeployment in rural areas for remote health monitor-ing and intervention. He said that SGPGI is in processof transformation to a paperless e-office to increasethe speed and efficiency of its administrative file work.

����� 8��35:7

The genome sequencing of20 more samples of UP

have detected only Delta vari-ants once again. DG, Medicaland Health Services, Ved VratSingh said no Omicron wasdetected but reports of moresamples were awaited.

Close to 50 samples,including those of interna-tional travellers, had beensent for genome sequencingby the Health department. OnFriday, two Covid cases weredetected in Lucknow andboth the patients had norecent travel history.

Meanwhile, at theLucknow airport, an officialsaid they have a Covidhelpline which is being mon-itored round the clock and teams had been deployedfor it.

“We are getting a numberof queries from both domes-tic and international trav-ellers. The queries are most-ly regarding the guidelinesabout the requirement of RT-PCR reports, and availability

of these facilities and waitingarea,” he said. He said peopleare also travelling to high-riskzones which includeMaharashtra and AndhraPradesh. “We have the guide-lines which are available onour website and we have alink to the government web-site where all the guidelinesare available and the travellerscan go through them,” hesaid.

He added that they havealso provided a waiting areawith provisions of toilets andpotable water for passengersrequired to wait for RT-PCRreports.

����� 8��35:7

Crying hoarse over govern-ment’s bid to privatise pub-

lic sector banks, branches of allgovernment banks and officesremained closed in Lucknowon the second and final day ofthe nationwide strike, call forwhich was given by bankingunions. Reports said the strike

cost the banks Rs 3,000 crorein city and Rs 40,000 crore inthe state.

Alleging that the govern-ment was trying to sell publicsector banks, bank officers andemployees staged demonstra-tion at the Hazratganj branchof Bank of Baroda on Friday.

Due to the strike, ATMsacross the city also ran out of

cash, giving a lot of trouble topeople, who also faced prob-lems in online banking due tonetwork issues.

All India Bank Officers’Confederation national seniorvice-president Pawan Kumaralleged that the government iseyeing people’s hard-earnedmoney and after privatisation,there would be loads of NPAs.

NCBE state general secre-tary Akhilesh Mohan said thework pressure on bank employ-ees has increased manifold asas fresh recruitments were notbeing made even as oldemployees were retiring.

UP Bank Employees’Union state vice-presidentDeep Bajpai urged people tosupport them.

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The One-Time Settlement Scheme of Uttar PradeshState Industrial Development Authority (UPSI-

DA) is yet another initiative towards facilitating easeof doing business in Uttar Pradesh. To help its allot-tees and entrepreneurs clear the maintenance dues,UPSIDA is launching the OTS scheme on December20. This scheme will be valid till February 20, 2022.It can be availed of through the Nivesh Mitra portal(https://niveshmitra.up.nic.in).

With the launch of the OTS scheme, the allot-tees can easily pay the maintenance dues online andavail of attractive incentive options, CEO of UPSI-DA Mayur Maheshwari said.

Allottees and entrepreneurs can login/registerwith their user ID and password and navigate to the‘OTS Scheme (Maintenance Dues)’ page. In case ofany grievance regarding the maintenance charges, thesame can be raised by clicking on the ‘RaiseGrievances’ button on the same page. Detailed termsand conditions of the scheme, along with step-by-stepprocess flow chart, are also available on the same page.

While designing the OTS framework, UPSIDAhas duly considered easy access to information andeasy navigation option for the allottees and entrepre-neurs. The OTS scheme offers attractive incentivesfor payment of maintenance dues such as one-timewaiver of 50% on interest calculated on maintenancedues. The facility to pay the amount due after waiv-er either in one time or in three monthly installmentswithout interest on 25% upfront payment will be avail-able. UPSIDA officials said that they are committedto effectively help investors realise their investments.In its continuous endeavor to promote ease of doingbusiness, UPSIDA is continuously digitising the ser-vice delivery and implementing various reformmeasures. The success of digital reform-basedinvestor facilitation by UPSIDA is evident from theinvestment in UP across various sectors.

As of date, UPSIDA has facilitated its allottees andentrepreneurs by providing 26 online services,achieving a user satisfaction index to 94% in the pre-sent year. These reform measures have led to anincrease in the number of online applicationsprocessed by the authority from mere 826 in 2019 to7,765 in 2021.

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Five members of a family,including a 4-year-old boy,

drowned in Indira Canal nearNagram when a speeding SUVhurtled down the water bodyaround 5:30 pm. The victimswere identified as SangeetaMishra (35), Rampal Mishra(65), Chahat (4), Ruma Devi(50) and Rupesh (11). Twomore children — Ananya (8)and Rudra (9) were said to bemissing while Kapil Mishra(5), Goverdhan Mishra (30) andSUV driver Kuldeep (35) wererescued. The police said thefamily was coming from Pilibhitto attend a function in Nagram.The vehicle was pulled outfrom the canal with the help ofcranes and the injured wererushed to the communityhealth centre where their con-dition was said to be stable.

In another case, a proper-ty dealer, identified as MukeshSingh (46), was found mur-dered in Gopal Kheda under

Mohanlalganj police station onFriday afternoon. Policeclaimed that dispute with hisrivals could be the motive formurder. However, Mukesh’selder brother Subodh failed togive any clue which could helpthe police. The police saidSubodh lodged a complaint atthe Mohanlalganj police stationon the intervening night ofThursday and Friday, statingthat his brother Mukesh left thehouse to pick up his son froma school around 4 pm onThursday but did not comeback. The boy waited for hisfather for three hours andreturned home around 7 pm.

The police found Mukesh’sbody on Friday afternoon andthere were injury marks on theneck. His switched-off mobilephone was recovered from hisjacket’s pocket.

Meanwhile, Shwaran, whowas shot at during robbery at ajewellery store in Aliganj, suc-cumbed around 2:30 pm onFriday.

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BULDING INFRASTRUCTURE, BUILDING THE NATION

Road of Bichwa locality inMainpuri and served as ateacher at a government-runprimary school in Ruppur areaon Karhal Road in Mainpuri.

On Friday morning,Monika left for school and enroute she was stopped by gun-men who peppered her withbullets, causing instant death.

Reacting to the staccato ofgunshots, some neighboursrushed outside their houses andfound Monika lying in a poolof blood on the road. They laterinformed the local police andthe cops rushed to the spot andshifted the woman to a hospi-tal where she was pronounceddead upon arrival.

The police summoned thevictim’s kin who accused herhusband and in-laws of killingthe woman. The family mem-bers alleged that the husbandwas an alcoholic and used toassault Monika over petty dis-putes soon after they got mar-ried two years back. Theyalleged that the accused eventhreatened her with dire con-sequences.

The cops claimed to havetried to contact the in-laws butthey were on the lam.

A case was registered and

investigations are underway.Meanwhile in Gulriha area

of Gorakhpur, upset over adomestic dispute, a man andhis son ended their lives byhanging themselves at theirhome early Thursday morning.

As per reports, Ram Vilas(48) used to work in Mumbaiand had returned home abouta fortnight back. OnWednesday, he had a fightwith his wife, Shambhu Devi,over a trivial issue but thepolice intervened and resolvedthe matter. Later in the evening,Ram Vilas again started beat-ing his wife after an angryexchange of words. When hisson Akash (22) tried to inter-vene, Ram Vilas also beat himup.

Annoyed at his father’sconduct, Akash hanged himselffrom the fan in a room late onWednesday night. After learn-ing about his death, Ram Vilasalso ended his life by hanginghimself from a tree outside thevillage.

On Thursday morning, thevillagers noticed his body andinformed the police.

A case was registered andthe bodies were sent for post-mortem.

*��������������� An impressive Graduation

Ceremony was held at the AirForce Station Memaura tomark the culmination of No.164 Fighter Controllers’Course. The course comprisingof 21 Indian Air Force officerscommenced on July 5 earlierthis year at the Air DefenceCollege, the alma mater offighter controllers. The func-tion marked the culmination ofFighter Controllers’ Courseand donning of the covetedFighter Controllers’ Badge forthe graduating officers. AirMarshal VPS Rana, Air Officerin Charge, Administration,graced the occasion as thereviewing officer. GroupCaptain Deepak Gaur,Commanding Officer, AirDefence College, presented thecourse report. Meritorioustrainee officers were awardedwith trophies and medallionsby the reviewing officer.Jashandeep Singh was award-ed the AOC-in-C, CAC, IAFRolling Trophy for the bestoverall performance.

���������������������������������

The ninth edition of theflagship initiative, ‘MetaphorLucknow Literature Festival’kicked off on Thursday withbook discussions. Key organ-iser Kanak Rekha Chauhan

said that the new normal wouldstill not dim the spirit of Awadhand through this festival, onetraverses into the vibrant andartful flavors of Lucknow, acity that encapsulates a remark-able blend of its cultural her-itage ranging from its Hindumythic associations as the cityof Lakshman, to the popularentitlement as the city ofnawabs.

“The festival is a continu-ation of our attempts to bringtogether varying hues of our lit-erary and cultural experienceson a common platform. Westarted this year with a week-long Spring edition,” she said.“In order to showcase our richrural culture focusing on arts,music and dance, this year wewill take the festival to the vil-

lages wherein we will focus onthe youth of the villages, therural folklore and the folkmusic. This will be our onlyphysical session this year,” sheadded.

�����7������������Eight students of City

Montessori School have beenselected in the ‘Air NextCompetition’, organised inassociation with All-IndiaRadio, Lucknow, under ‘AzadiKa Amrit Mahotsav’. Thesestudents are Trishala, Maitri,Tanishk, Aditya Kumar, Palak,Anshika, Manyata and Ayan.All these students will betrained by Aakashwani Kendrain Lucknow and will play guestRJs in the ‘Air NextProgramme’.

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Showman Raj Kapoor was a direc-tor first and a father later. His

entire life revolved around hismovies and the scenes of his films.Sometimes he would forget that hehad a family.

This was stated by Raj Kapoor’sson and actor Randhir Kapoor, whowas in Lucknow on Friday for thepromotion of director Rahul Rawail’sbook titled ‘Raj Kapoor - The MasterAt Work’. He was accompanied bydirector Rahul Mitra. Also presenton the occasion was Law MinisterBrajesh Pathak.

“Raj Kapoor was like any otherfather and he was a director who waswell known for his films. It is truethat the films which he made areeternal. But, he was a director firstand father later. Whatever he did —be it sitting, eating or thinking — itwas for his films alone. I came laterand sometimes he would even for-get that I was his son,” Kapoor said.

“This book is a result of the jointefforts of my brother Rishi Kapoorand Rahul. Had ‘Chintu’ (RishiKapoor) been alive, he would havebeen sitting here to promote the

book. I am only filling his place,” hesaid.

Rahul Rawail, who has directedseveral films such as ‘Betaab’, ‘LoveStory’, ‘Arjun’, ‘Dacait’, ‘Anjaam’ etc,said he had been assisting RajKapoor since ‘Mera Naam Joker’.

“I assisted Raj Kapoor andRandhir Kapoor in many films and

even though I became an indepen-dent director, whenever I would gettime, I used to visit the sets of RajKapoor to gain knowledge,” he said.

He added that he thought ofwriting the book because he felt thatalthough several aspects of RajKapoor had been highlighted inbooks, the way he dealt with his craft

had not been written about. “I felt itwas important for people to knowhow he conceived the scenes of hisfilm and worked upon them. WhenI first got the idea, I went to KrishnaKapoor, the late wife of Raj Kapoor,and asked her if I should write thebook. She encouraged me and toldme that it was important or else hisjourney as a filmmaker wouldremain unknown to his fans,” he said.

Rawail said then he approachedhis best friend Rishi Kapoor, he alsosaid encouraging words. “He hadbeen my friend since childhoodand it was he who brought me on thesets of Raj Kapoor, who was shoot-ing with the Russian circus in ‘MeraNaam Joker’. It was there that I sawhim handle the unit of more than200 men and such a big canvas. Heorchestrated the entire shoot like amusic conductor because he knewwhat he wanted from his actors,” herecalled. Pathak said he missedother programmes because he want-ed to be present at the book pro-motion of a man who contributedimmensely to the film industry.

“I have seen only 4-5 films in myentire life and one of them is ‘MeraNaam Joker’, which everybody canrelate to,” he said.

����� 8��35:7

Ahigh-level team led by Ministerfor Finance, Energy and

Petrochemicals (Gujarat) KanubhaiDesai held a roadshow in Lucknowon Friday as part of the forthcom-ing 10th edition of ‘Vibrant GujaratGlobal Summit’ (VGGS-2022) inJanuary. The summit is scheduledfrom January 10 to 12. The minis-ter was accompanied by PrincipalSecretary, Energy andPetrochemicals, Mamta Verma andother senior state officials fromGujarat.

The roadshow was held inpartnership with the Confederationof Indian Industry (CII). The min-ister said the country has registeredremarkable socio-economic devel-opment under the leadership ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi andevolved into a dynamic countrywith a strong standing across theworld. Desai cited the initiativesundertaken by the Centre thatwould have a far-reaching impacton India’s future, including Prime

Minister’s GatiShatki Master Plan,Production- Linked Incentive (PLI)scheme, transparent and pre-dictable tax system, reducing com-pliance burden, Ease of DoingBusiness, Ease of Living and Makein India. The VGGS was concep-tualised in 2003 under the leader-ship of Modi (the then CM ofGujarat). Ever since, the summithas emerged as a global forum forbusiness networking, knowledge-sharing and strategic partnerships

for inclusive socio-economic devel-opment. Desai said the PM wouldinaugurate the summit atGandhinagar on January 10 in thepresence of dignitaries from Indiaand abroad. In 2020, the PM gavethe clarion call for ‘AatmanirbharBharat’ to leverage India’s strengths,skills and capabilities for galvanis-ing the country to become self-reliant. The theme of the VGGS-2022 is ‘From AatmanirbharGujarat to Aatmanirbhar Bharat’.

����� 8��35:7

Unidentified assailantssprayed a lady teacher of a

primary school with bullets inbroad daylight, sending shockwaves at Mainpuri on Friday.

The victim’s family mem-bers lodged a report, accusingher husband and in-laws oforchestrating the killing.

A case was registered andthe body was sent for autopsy.

As per reports, Chandrakaalias Monika Yadav used to liveat her in-laws' place on Devi

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CDRI, committed to supportpharma cluster in Uttar

Pradesh, has tied up with UP-based Marc Laboratories PvtLtd, a young progressive enter-prise with an operating base in13 other states. It had earliersigned an agreement for thedevelopment of a syntheticcompound S-007-867.

“This may be helpful intreating the patient populationof coronary and cerebral arterydiseases. The institute hasrecently obtained the permis-sion to initiate the phase-Iclinical trials for the drug,”CDRI spokesperson SanjeevYadav said.

Director TK Kundu said itis a great moment for CSIR-CDRI, the premiere drug

development research instituteof the country, as it has trans-ferred the technology for thesynthesis of the compoundsuccessfully to MarcLaboratories Ltd. “It will allowMarc Laboratories to scale upthe methodology for produc-tion of the compound undercGMP conditions. It will helpinitiate the phase-I clinical tri-als with the drug to check itssafety and efficacy in humansubjects,” he said.

“I am optimistic that thiscompound will reach the mar-ket in quick time for the ben-efit of humanity. This industry-academia partnership will bevery beneficial for develop-ment of the pharma cluster inUP and will open up newavenues for ‘Made in India’ andindigenous affordable drugs,”

he added. Chairman of Marc

Laboratories Prem Kishoresaid, “Marc’s association withCSIR-CDRI will be beneficialto both parties and they will beworking hard to take the novelcompound forward and com-plete all regulatory require-ments so that it reaches themarket at the earliest.”

The technology for thepreparation of the compoundS007-867 was demonstratedby Sanjay Batra and Anil KS tothe team of Marc Laboratoriesheaded by plant managerAvinash Srivastava.

The CDRI spokespersonsaid arterial thrombosis is anacute complication that devel-ops on the chronic lesions ofatherosclerosis, leading to heartattack and stroke. “Therefore,

����� 8��35:7

The Assembly of Believers’Church (ABC) in Aliganj

celebrated its candle light andChristmas tree service onFriday. Pastor Upendra Singhled the opening prayer.

The worship began withthe choir procession of 20youths of the church holdingcandles in hand singing ‘SilentNight Holy Night’. Under thedirection of Oswin Moses and

Ankur Kumar, the choir sangChristmas carols such as ‘GaoGao’, ‘Aasmaan se khushkabari’,‘Mohabaat ka badshah’,‘Rehnuma aa gaya’.

Rev Dr Morris Kumar, thepriest incharge, said thisChristmas service was a tributeto all Church elders and mem-bers who lost their lives recent-ly, be it due to COVID or otherreasons. The service was espe-cially dedicated and a tribute tolate DM Francis, one of the

elders of ABC, Aliganj.Special prayer for peace

and safety was conducted byRev Morris for one and all pre-sent there. The guest speaker forthe evening was Pastor SudeepMassey who shared the wordfrom Bible that Jesus is thePrince of Peace and His peaceis everlasting

Nativity was presented bytiny tots of the church under theable guidance of Vartika Kumarand Neha Kapoor.

inhibition of platelet collageninteraction is anticipated tobe a promising therapeuticstrategy to treat intravascularthrombosis. The compoundS-007-867 effectively main-tains blood flow velocity anddelays vascular occlusion(blockage of the blood vessel,usually with a clot) and inhibitsthrombogenesis (formation ofblood clot) without compro-mising hemostasis. This drug

has less bleeding risk as com-pared to presently existingtherapies for coronary andcerebral artery diseases. In ani-mal experiments, the com-pound elicited betterantithrombotic protection thanthe standard of care with min-imal bleeding tendency. Theinstitute has recently obtainedthe permission to initiate thephase-I clinical trials for thedrug,” he added.

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Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav alleged that

the Yogi Adityanath govern-ment has taken Uttar Pradeshto top position in the countryin custodial deaths, hungerindex and farmers’ suicides.

Addressing a crowd inRae Bareli during Vijay RathYatra on Friday, Akhilesh said,“Those who claim to makeUttar Pradesh number one inthe country have actuallytaken it to the top position incustodial deaths, hungerindex, farmers’ suicides, inselling public enterprises andbanks and in burying cowsalive. Can anyone imaginethat live cows can be buried?”

“Yogi Adityanath alsoclaims that UP is number onein ‘Ease of Doing Business’. Iam curious as to in whichfields is UP in the top posi-tion? In UP, there is no Easeof Doing Business but ‘Ease ofDoing Crime’. Look at thecondition of roads. If yousmash a coconut on a newly-built road during inaugura-tion, the coconut won’t break,but the road will. The BJPleaders would soon use toma-to instead of coconut for inau-gurating roads. The fact is that

the BJP government has failedto deliver to the people on allfronts and would be wiped outof the state in the upcomingassembly elections. Peoplewill not rest till they throw outthe Uttar Pradesh engine ofthe so-called double enginegovernment,” the SP chiefstressed.

Akhilesh also targeted the

BJP over the Lakhimpur Kheriviolence and said, "UnionMinister of State for HomeAjay Mishra Teni should besacked from the Union cabi-net by the prime minister. Thechief minister should informthe people of the state whenhe would send his favouritebulldozer to LakhimpurKheri,” he said.

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VARANASI (PNS): Petroleumand Natural Gas MinisterHardeep Singh Puri on Fridaymade an inspection of theworks being carried out todevelop floating CNG fillingstation at Khidkiya Ghat, here.This station will be the firstsuch station not only in theworld but also in the countryas far as the floating CNG fill-ing station is concerned for theeco-friendly boats. After con-ducting an inspection, the min-ister expressed satisfaction overthe work of the first phase ofthe project of the beautificationof the Khidkiya Ghat and float-ing CNG station being carriedout on it and directed the con-cerned officers to completethe work of second phase of theghat within stipulated time.The project is to be completedby December, 2022, he askedthe officers. The trustee secre-tary of Indian Oil Corporation(IOC) Foundation and HR,Head Director of IOC RanjanKumar Mahapatra was also

present during the inspection. It may be mentioned that

as per an estimate, � 100 croreis to be spent by the IOCFoundation on the beautifica-tion of this ghat. The firstphase of the project has beencompleted and the work of sec-ond phase is to be completed bythe end of next year. It may besaid here that the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi along-with UP CM Yogi Adityanathand Union Education MinisterDharmendra Pradhan had vis-ited the ghat when he was inthe city to dedicate the exten-sion premises of KashiVishwanath Corridor onDecember 13 last. The IIT-Kanpur has contributed to theproject by providing a patent-ed technology, i.e. SelfAdjusting Fixed Type Jetty(SAFTJ).The SAFTJ is a jettythat has a self-adjusting mech-anism which is governed andactuated by the natural forcesto fluctuating water levels. It isa conventional deck that facil-

itates movement betweenmarine and inland infrastruc-ture but with a twist. The sta-tion would ensure the consis-tent and safe CNG pipelineconnection to all the dispenserswith controlled risk factorseven in peak flood season.It issaid that the five-litre dieselcould take only four roundsfrom Assi to Rajghat, but con-trary to this, 5 KG CNG is goodenough for up to 12 rounds.Equipped with amenities likean RO water facility, foodplaza, a helipad that canaccommodate two helicopters,and a CNG plant along witheasy access to the city andtourist spots, Khidkiya ghat isto be one big step towards mak-ing Varanasi a smart city in thedays to come.

RAGHUBANSHI NOMI-NATED SATAT COORDI-NATOR: University GrantsCommission (UGC) releasedits document ‘SATAT-AFramework for SustainableUniversity Campuses of India’

in November 2019 to guidehigher education institutions(HEIs) to incorporate sustain-ability in day-to-day campusmanagement. SATAT alsoaimed to stimulate HEIs to cre-ate and disseminate knowl-edge to achieve India’sSustainable DevelopmentGoals. Prof AS Raghubanshi ofthe Institute of Environmentand Sustainable Development(IESD), Banaras HinduUniversity (BHU) is nominat-ed as the Coordinator ofthe UGC Nodal Centre forSATAT.

The SATAT frameworkwas just a beginning towardsachieving sustainability of HEIcampuses in India and a lotneed to be done in terms ofpreparing detailed sector-wisemanuals and other resourcematerials. To achieve this, UGChas decided to establish a nodalcentre for SATAT at the IESDBHU for coordinating theimplementation of SATAT byHEIs.

������������������?-�-5-)

With the continuation ofstrike by the employees

of public sector banks (PSBs)including the State Bank ofIndia (SBI) on the second andlast day here on Friday, trans-actions worth over � 800 crorewere affected in this region asthousands of cheques could notbe cleared. The bank employ-ees went on two-day strike onthe call of the United Forum ofBank Unions (UFBU), anumbrella unit of nine bankemployee associations, inprotest against the faulty poli-cies of the government. Theywere protesting against theirtwo main points includingBanking Amendment Bill 2021and move of government toprivatise the public sectorbanks.

However, the private sectorbanks HDFC Bank, ICICIBank and others continued

their working as usual. In sup-port of the strike, the bankemployees staged demonstra-tions at several places includ-ing the zonal/ regional officesof State Bank of India, IndianBank, Punjab National Bank,Bank of India, Bank of Baroda,UCO, Union Bank of India andmany others. A protest was

held outside the zonal office ofUCO Bank in which all theunion constituents of bankersparticipated. They flayed thegovernment for the bill broughtby the Central Government,under which the government isgoing to get its participation inpublic sector banks to be lessthan 50 per cent and is pro-

posed to be introduced by theParliament in the winter ses-sion. The speakers said that thebankers actively participated inall the schemes of the govern-ment whether it was opening10.40 crore Jan Dhan accountsor completing the complexand unheard process ofdemonetisation within 90 days.‘The public banks implement-ed all the schemes of the gov-ernment with full sincerity,not only this, even during thecorona period, the bankers didnot care about their lives andgave their services to the com-mon man,’ they said, addingthat even in operating profit,state-run banks have given aprofit of � 1,97,463 lakh croreto the government. Despitethat, the selling of the publicbanks to a few corporate hous-es is not justified, said thespeakers including Ravi Yadav,Saurabh Srivastava, NP Singhand Bipin Singh.

������������������?-�-5-)

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that Kashi

is a new model of urban devel-opment, setting an example ofamalgamation of India’s richtradition and a modernity,which every city of the coun-try should aspire for, thanks tothe PM’s vision and efforts. Hewas addressing the All IndiaMayors’ Conference at TradeFacilitation Centre (TFC) atBadalalpur here on Friday. Theconference was inauguratedby Prime Minister NarendraModi through a virtual medi-um.

‘Seven years ago, Kashiwas much different from whatit appears today. The laneswere narrow and dirty whilelive electric wires hanging loosefrom the poles, posed risk tothe people’s lives in almostevery locality. At that time,

open defecation along railwaytracks was a common sight but,now with the building of lakhsof houses with toilets as well ascommunity toilets, the picturehas changed,’ he said, praisingthe PM’s efforts for this trans-formation in his parliamentaryconstituency.

Yogi said that sustainableurban development plays a keyrole in the economic develop-ment of a state and will con-tribute greatly towards makingIndia a $5 trillion economy by2025. ‘ Kashi has set new stan-dards of development,’ the CMsaid, emphasising the impor-tance of having an IntegratedControl & Command Centre(ICCC) and Integrated TrafficManagement for developing acity into a smart city. He men-tioned the role played by ICCCin security management duringthe Kumbh Mela at Prayagraj.He further said that 17.5 lakh

people have got houses underPradhan Mantri Awas Yojanawhile LED lights are illuminat-ing 16 lakh localities in thestate.

Prior to mayoral confer-ence, Yogi along with UnionMinister of Housing and UrbanAffairs Hardeep Singh Puri, UPMinister of UrbanDevelopment AshutoshTandon, UP Minister of State(Independent Charge) forTourism and CultureNeelkanth Tiwari, conferencechairman Naveen Jain,who is also mayor of Agra,and other mayors sawthe models at anexhibition showcasing UP’sachievements in terms of urbandevelopment.

Earlier, about 75 mayorsfrom different states who camehere to participate in the con-ference saw the Ganga Aartiand offered prayers at Kashi

Vishwanath temple. Many ofthem were stunned to see thewonderful and unimaginablenature of Shri KashiVishwanath Dham (corridor).Prior to this, they reachedRavidas Ghat from where theywent on a cruise to visit GangaAarti and Kashi VishwanathDham which was inauguratedjust a few days ago by the PM.At the cruise, the mayorsenjoyed the Banarasi chaat andlater on, they saw a documen-tary film.

The mayors were accom-panied by UP MinisterAshutosh Tandon, MayorMridula Jaiswal, seniorBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)leaders Shankar Giri, HarshpalKapoor, Karunesh Sharma,Vijay Mittal, NamrataChaurasia, Navneet Seth,Prakash Yadav, regionalspokesman Navratan Rathi andSantosh Solapurkar.

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Preparations have beenintensified for the arrival of

Prime Minister NarendraModi. As many as 2,50,560women will come from allover the state in this pro-gramme. The administration isbusy making arrangements forlodging and fooding for thesewomen.

Out of this, 60,000 womenwill come to Prayagraj a dayearlier. These women will beaccommodated in 92 schools inthe city. The administrationwill take over these schoolsfrom two days before the pro-gramme. At the same time, ten-der for bed and food has beendone for them.

Women of five schemeswill participate in the pro-gramme to be held onDecember 21 at ParadeGround. In this, there will bewomen of BC Sakhi Yojana,women looking after commu-nity toilets, Take Home RationScheme, Self Help Groups andKanya Sumangala Yojana. Itwill not be easy for womenfrom far flung districts to reachin the morning. That's whythey have been called a daybefore. A day before, over60,000 women belonging to thecities included AmbedkarNagar, Auraiya, Ayodhya,Azamgarh, Banda, Barabanki,Chandauli, Ghazipur,Hamirpur, Jalaun, Kannauj,Kanpur Dehat, Kanpur Nagar,Lucknow, Mau, Rae Bareli,Sitapur, Sonbhadra, Sultanpur,Unnao and Mahoba will cometo Prayagraj.

For the stay of thesewomen, 60,000 bed sets havebeen arranged in 92 schools.There is one mattress, onequilt, one bed sheet and one

pillow per set. The responsibil-ity of this arrangement hasbeen given to City MagistrateGaurav Srivastava. The respon-sibility of arranging their foodhas been given to ADM SupplyJP Singh. Women invited herewill be given six puris, vegeta-bles, salads, pickles, one sweetand water in a bottle for dinner.On the morning of December21, a packet of tea and biscuitswill be given for breakfast.After that they will be servedlunch.

Apart from this, two lakhwomen who will directly attendthe program will be given foodat the parade ground. At theend of the programme, theadministration has madearrangements for food andlodging for the women whowill not be able to return home.

The responsibility of park-ing the vehicles has been givento Chief Revenue Officer HariShankar. About 6,000 buses willcome in the programme. Thesebuses will be parked at the

Parade Ground and KP CollegeGround. If both these parkinglots are full, then parking canbe done in the Mela area on theside of Jhunsi. That parking iskept in reserve.

The arrival of the PrimeMinister is fixed. Deputy CMKeshav Prayad Maurya will becoming on December 18 totake stock of the venue beforehis arrival. There should be noshortage in the preparation, sothe entire administration isinvolved in it.

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Elaborate arrangements are being made bythe police for the safety and security of

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Technologywill also be used to take stock of the situationin and around the proposed venue and keepan eye on suspicious people.

For this, about nine drones will be mon-itored. Apart from this, more than 1,000 CCTVcameras will also be installed, through whichsurveillance will be done.

Police officials said that more than twolakh women from across the state will be pre-sent in the programme. In such a situation,arranging for their safety and convenience isconsidered a big challenge. In view of this, itis being said that more than two and a halfthousand women security personnel will bedeployed.

Any lapse in the security of the PrimeMinister and the people attending the pro-gramme can be costly for the police admin-istration. Police officers are taking special pre-cautions regarding this.

Along with this, the deployment of forceand other arrangements are being made com-plete with full vigilance. Officials said that thedistrict police has three drones, while sixdrones have been demanded from another dis-trict.

For its operation, the cooperation of

police experts will also be taken. All CCTVcameras will be connected to the control roomso that the the information about suspiciouspersons can be obtained within no time.

For the proposed programme of thePrime Minister on December 21, the work ofremoving the electric poles and wires aroundthe helipad site being built in the ParadeGround has started. It will be completedby Saturday. The wires and poles were erect-ed in view of the preparations for the MaghMela.

Five helipads are being built in the ParadeGround. Where these helipads are beingbuilt, there are electric poles and wires. It wasinstalled by the Electricity Department in viewof Magh Mela.

Now it is being removed. After the pro-gramme ends on December 21, the poles andwires will be installed again. Apart from this,the parade feeder will be closed on the day ofthe programme. With this, the power supplyto the surrounding localities will be done fromanother feeder. This step will be taken in viewof security.

Chief Engineer Vinod Gangwar said thatthe Electricity Department is also busy in itspreparations regarding the proposed pro-gramme of the Prime Minister. Along withimposing the duties of officers and employ-ees, they are also inspecting and taking stockof the preparations.

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Reeling under severe short-age of teaching faculty

members, authorities ofAllahabad University will bestarting interviews for recruit-ing teachers from December22. Starting with the Centre forBehavioural and CognitiveSciences (CBCS), the inter-view schedule for the vacantposts of assistant and associateprofessor has been declared onthe official website of the uni-versity. In the weeks to follow,varsity would be announcingthe dates for holding interviewsagainst vacant teaching posi-tions in other departments too.AU has around 550 vacanciesof teachers.

Sources informed that AUadministration has expeditedthe process, especially in viewof the new variant of the coro-

navirus. “We are moving at agreat pace with the process ofthe screening of the applica-tions. If conditions remainfavourable, we will keep hold-ing the interviews as we get thedates of the visitor’s nomineeand the members of the selec-tion committee,” said AU’spublic relation officer, ProfJaya Kapoor.

Moreover, sources said thatthe AU administration is try-ing to hold the selection com-mittee in such a way that inter-views of one big departmentcan be clubbed with a relative-ly smaller department, so thattime and resources could bemanaged in a more efficientway and the process is complet-ed as soon as possible, follow-ing the norms laid down inview of pandemic.

Interviews for the vacantteaching positions will be held

at the camp office of the vice-chancellor located at the offi-cial residence of AU VC, atMNNIT campus. Interviewswill be held for assistant profes-sor positions from 8.30 am andfor associate professor from 10am.

The AU authorities areconducting a recruitmentprocess for 596 vacant teachingpositions on the campus,including that of assistant pro-fessor, associate professor andprofessor. Applications werereceived during October-November, this year. Theteacher recruitment includes356 posts of assistant professorin 47 subjects, 170 posts ofassociate professor in 40 sub-jects and 70 posts of professorin 36 subjects.

Prior to the holding of theselection committee, AkhilBharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad

(ABVP) had raised objectionson the issue of calling fewercandidates against the vacantpositions.

The student leaders havealleged that against three postsof assistant professor at CBCS,15 candidates have been calledand five candidates have beencalled against three posts ofassociate professor, which isagainst the decision taken inthe executive council.

However, those associatedwith the faculty recruitment onthe campus have refuted thebaseless allegations of the stu-dent leaders.

They maintain that all thedecisions taken in the EC arefollowed in letter and spirit andthe number of candidatesthat have been called forinterview, depends on thevacancy, roster and suitablecandidates.

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Achieving a major mile-stone in Covid-19 vaccina-

tion drive, Sangam city zoomedpast the 50 lakh vaccine doses.

Remarkably, around 33%of the targeted recipients haveso far taken both the doses ofthe vaccine in the district.

With 25,537 more jabsbeing administered to eligiblerecipients on Friday, the totalnumber of jabs administeredtill now against Covid-19reached the mark of 50,06,990.

With 77% of the targetedrecipients taking the first dose,their number has surged toover 35 lakh.

Health department offi-cials have set a target of admin-istering vaccines to around45,16,437 people, including 31

lakh recipients aged between 18and 44 and 13.17 lakh above 45years. As per the latest statisticsof the health department,50,06,990 Covid -19 shots havebeen given to beneficiaries ofall age groups in the district tillDecember 16.

While 35.14 lakh peoplehave taken the first dose, 14.76lakh have received the secondshot.

District immunisation offi-cer (DIO) and additional chiefmedical officer Dr Teerath Laltold newspersons, “We havereached a milestone afteradministering over 50 lakhjabs to the eligible recipients tillnow. We are making sincereefforts to achieve the target andincrease the number of recip-ients in urban, semi-urban andrural areas. The vaccination

drive has been intensified andall the remaining eligible recip-ients are being covered.”

Moreover, about 46% ofelderly recipients (aged above45 years) in Sangam city arefully vaccinated, while thenumber of fully vaccinatedrecipients aged between 18-44years is 39%.

Similarly, about 76% ofelderly recipients (aged above45 years) have taken the firstdose, while the percentage ofrecipients below 45 years, whotook the first dose, is 72%.

Against the estimated pop-ulation of recipients (14,67,918)aged above 45 years in SangamCity, over 5.16 lakh recipientsare fully vaccinated, while 11.17lakh have taken the first dose.

Similarly, against the esti-mated population of recipients

(31,42,718) aged between 18and 45 years, over 22.69 lakhhave taken the first dose, while8.88 lakh are fully vaccinated.

With the Sangam cityaccomplishing a major mile-stone in Covid-19 vaccinationand over 50.06 lakh dosesadministered across the districtso far, nearly 77% of the city’stotal targetedrecipients(45.16lakh) havereceived at least one dose ofCovid-19 vaccine, whereasaround 31.7per cent has gotboth doses, health officialssaid.

While over 97% of HCW(health care workers) havetaken the first dose, 82% HCWare fully vaccinated. Moreover,97% FLW (front line workers)have taken the first dose, 76%of them are fully vaccinated.

ALLAHABAD (PNS): : Awoman passenger SairaKhatoon traveling fromLokmanya Tilak TerminusMumbai to Muzaffarpur Bihargave birth to a baby girl in train.Railway doctor and teamensures safe delivery onThursday morning, in trainnumber 11061.Saira Khatoon,wife of Sabit Ahmed, aged 25,who was travelling fromLokmanya Tilak Terminus

Mumbai to Muzaffarpur, sud-denly suffered labor pain. Thetrain conductor informed thecontrol room at Prayagraj at08.52 and immediately the rail-way doctor was called to thestation. Dr Ashish Agrawalreached the station with hismedical team even before thearrival of the train at PrayagrajJunction at 09:50. After thetrain reached the station, thedelivery process was safely

completed. Dr Ashish said thatthe mother and the newbornare completely healthy. Thenewborn was about 3 kg. Thefamily is a resident of Sitamarhiand was traveling on berths 33-36 of B-2 coach of the train. Onthe request of the family andconsidering the health parame-ters of both the mother and thechild, they were allowed totravel further. After providingnecessary treatment and med-

icine, the permission to contin-ue further journey was given tothe family. General Manager,North Central Railway,Pramod Kumar conveyed hisgood wishes to the newbornand family. During the process,Kalpana Dubey - Nurse,Dresser Ghanshyam Dubeyand female assistant Anitawere accompanying DrAshish Agarwal in the medicalteam

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District Judge Shiv Kumar- l, DistrictMagistrate Praveen Kumar Laxkar,

Additional Superintendent of Police (City)Sanjay Kumar and medical officer of the jail, DrRama Kant Rao, jointly inspected the district jailon Thursday. They inspected the kitchen, jailcampus, store, barracks of men, women etc,interacted with the prisoners and became awarewith their problems. The officers tested the food.The officers inspected the jail hospital and inter-acted with patients about the facilities available.The officers were accompanied by CJM, CircleOfficer (City) and the SHOs of City and KatraKotwali.

DIRECTIVE: District Magistrate PraveenKumar Laxkar on Thursday inspected thevenue of the inaugural function of four- laneroad constructed by National Highway Authorityof India (NHAI). The DM inspected the tollplaza located at Ataraila Raja 35 kms from thedistrict headquarters and gave the necessarydirections to the officials concerned. Inspectingthe toll plaza which is equipped with theCCTV cameras as well as modern facilities ASP(City) Sanjay Kumar said the toll plaza will behelpful to catching vehicles found involved inany kind of crime. Project Director (PD),NHAI, Mirzapur, RS Yadav informed the DMthat arrangements had been made to inauguratethe roads Lalganj to Hanhmana, Prayagraj toBaidhan via Lalganj-Halia Road and toll plaza.He said the highway was equipped with mod-ern facilities and construction had been doneas per the norms.

FUNCTION ORGANISED: Principal

Ishwar Sharan Degree College, Prayagraj, DrAnand Shankar Singh, at a function organisedunder the aegis of Amrit Mahotsav Samiti,Mirzapur, at Government Inter College (GIC)Grounds on Thursday as the chief guest saidIndia has been a nation for a long time notbecause of governance but due to its culture. DrNandji Chaubey, who was guest of honour onthe occasion, said it was the need of the hourthat we feel proud of our culture which had theconcept of creation, peace in world and desire

for wellness for all without any discriminationof geographic limit. Chairing the functionrenowned folk singer Ajeeta Srivastava, a recip-ient of several awards, proposed the vote ofthanks and appealed to people to work in thedirection to get back the glorious past of ournation. The programme concluded with themass recital of ‘Vande Mataram’ song. Prominentamong those present were Rajpati Ojha, AnilSingh, Ashukant Chunahey, chairman NPPMirzapur Manoj Jaiswal, Sohan Shrimali, ManojSrivastava, Ravi Sahu, Zila Panchayat chairmanRaju Kanaujia, former MLC Vineet Singh andothers. The programme started with the recitalof ‘Vedic shlokas’ by a team led by Nitin Awasthi.

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The 14th International Railway EquipmentExhibition (IREE) 2021 being organised at

Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, began on Thursday.In the exhibition a beau-tiful and attractive stall ofBanaras LocomotiveWorks (BLW) has beenset up. In addition to theproducts and activitiesof BLW, the exhibition isalso displaying theimported and other spareparts which are to bedeveloped in the countryand whose new sourcesof supply have to befound. The stall of BLW is specially attractingthe visitors in the exhibition. On the occasionUnion Minister of State for Railways andTextiles, Darshana Vikram Jardosh, Chairmanand CEO, Railway Board, Suneet Sharma, tak-

ing keen interest appreciated the exportedlocomotives and activities displayed at BLW stall.During it General Manager of BLW Anjali Goyalgave detailed information to the Minister of Statefor Railways and Chairman Railway Board about

the displayed BLWproducts such asl o c o m o t i v e s ,exported locomo-tives and spareparts related tolocomotives. ChiefDesign Engineer(CDE)/Diesel RRPrasad, ChiefM e c h a n i c a lEngineer (CME),QMS, Praveen

Kumar, Deputy General Manager (DGM) Vijay,Public Relations Officer (PRO) Rajesh Kumarand a large number of BLW officers andemployees were present at the BLW stall. The14th IREE 2021 will be held till December 18.

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Due to the block given for engineering workat Jagatbela station of Lucknow division of

North Eastern Railway (NER) by the railwayadministration some trains will be diverted andcontrolled on December 20, 24 and 27.

�������DARBHANGA-NDLS SPECIAL: The

02569 Darbhanga-New Delhi (NDLS) specialtrain will be run in NER on December 20, 24and 27 via the diverted route i.e. Gorakhpur-Barhni-Gonda.

SAHARSA - NEW DELHI SPECIAL: The02563 Saharsa-New Delhi special train will berun in NER on December 20, 24 and 27 via thediverted route i.e. Gorakhpur-Barhni-Gonda.

���������*GORAKHPUR-JAMMU TAWI EXPRESS:

The 12587 Gorakhpur-Jammu Tawi Express torun from Gorakhpur on December 20 and 27will be run by being rescheduled by 90 minutesfrom there.

�������BHAGALPUR-JAMMU TAWI EXPRESS:

The 15097 Bhagalpur-Jammu Tawi Express willbe run in Varanasi division on December 24 bybeing controlled by 100 minutes.

RAXAUL-ANVT EXPRESS: The 15273Raxaul-Anand Vihar Terminus Express will runon December 20, 24 and 27 by being controlledby 20 minutes.

ANVT-SAHARSA EXPRESS: The 15530Anand Vihar Terminus-Saharsa Express will runon December 24 by being controlled by 90 min-utes.

KOCHUVELI-GORAKHPUR EXP: The12512 Kochuveli-Gorakhpur Express will onDecember 24 run by being controlled by 80 min-utes.

KAMAKHYA-SDVK EXPRESS: The15655 Kamakhya-Shrimata Vaishno Devi Katra(SVDK) Express will run in Varanasi divisionon December 20 and 27 by being controlled by75 minutes.

����8%9������ �����������Under the aegis of North Eastern Railway

Sports Association (NERSA) at Railway crick-et grounds the Under-19 North Eastern RailwayCricket Cup match on Thursday was playedbetween DA Sports and Khalilabad. DA Sportsteam defeated Khalilabad by 45 runs to enter thenext round. Electing to bat after winning the toss,DA Sports team scored 205 runs in the stipu-lated 40 overs, in which Vishal contributed thehighest 77 runs (10 boundaries), Shubham 51(two boundaries) and Krishna 18 runs (twoboundaries). Khalilabad team’s Prashant, Farhan,Harikesh and Gokul took two wickets each andKrishna got one. Chasing the target, Khalilabad’steam could score only 160 runs for the loss ofnine wickets in 40 overs. DA Sports’ Sachin,Kratagya and Akash took two wickets each andSanjeet, Prince and Shailendra took one wick-et each. For scoring the most runs Vishal wasadjudged the Man of the Match.

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In NTPC’s Rihand station the closing ceremonyof the Energy Conservation Week celebrated

from December 8 to 14 under 75th Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsav was organised at the SamanvayPrekshagrah of the administrative buildingrecently in a simple atmosphere followingsocial distancing guidelines in view of Covid-19 pandemic. General Manager (TS) SSrikrishna, who was present as the chief guest,along with other guests started the programmeby jointly lighting the lamp. During the EnergyConservation Week painting competition, quizcompetition, science exhibition etc were organ-ised. S Srikrishna said that at NTPC we are close-ly involved in the generation of energy and thusit should be used properly. He emphasised onthe impact of global warming and informed

about the initiatives taken by NTPC Limited toprevent global warming. General Managers(GMs), Additional General Managers (AGMs),officers of various unions and associationsbesides other employees along with all the par-ticipants were present during the programme.

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Police apprehended twoaccused in connection

with motorcycle thefts.Superintendent of Police(SP) Ravi Kumar saidpolice arrested the accusedfrom Ambedkar Chauraha.On being tipped off by aninformer Kotwali Oraipolice arrested them.

Police seized 10twowheelers. The teamwhich made the arrestcomprised inspectorShiv Kumar Rathore(Kotwali Orai incharge),sub-inspectors (S-Is)Rajesh Kumar andJitendra Singh, GajendraSingh, MragendraParihar, Maniram andPratap Singh.

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Kanpur DivisionalCommissioner Dr Raj

Shekhar, while addressing ameeting at the commissioner-ate on Friday, directed jointdirector agriculture and districtmagistrate to ensure that noincident of stubble burningwas reported from anywhere inthe district.

He also directed the jointdirector agriculture to ensurethat there was no shortage offertilisers in the entire division.He said the special drive for theregistration of labourers of theunorganised sector was com-pleted by December 31, 2021.

He expressed concern overthe poor performance and slowpace of making Golden Cardsand directed additional direc-tor medical health that by theend of the month at least 35 percent of the beneficiaries shouldbe provided Golden Card. Healso directed the additional

director medical health toensure that ASHA Bahus weredeployed with specific respon-sibilities for meeting theexpected Golden Card target,especially for institutionaldeliveries and to give furthermomentum to the drive.

The divisional commis-sioner directed the districtmagistrate to upload the detailsof the entire defaulters on theJansunwai portal in the next 24hours and to ensure that all theissues put up for Jansunwaiwere settled in the stipulatedtime frame.

He said under the chiefminister’s special scheme forNirasharit Govansh SahbhagitaYojana, all stray cattle should bekept in the cow shelters. He alsodirected that in Etawah andAuraiya districts all other cat-tle should be housed in cowshelters. He also issued show-cause notice to the additionaldirector animal husbandry anddirected that in 48 hours detailsof the cattle in shelter homes

and the funds allotted shouldbe submitted without fail.

He also directed the districtmagistrates to strictly follow thedirectives of the government onCOVID-19 and give furthermomentum to the vaccinationdrive in Farrukhabad andAuraiya districts. He said thedistrict magistrates should alsocarry out a survey for prepar-ing land data in revenue vil-lages and development blocksand added that the land forpanchayat bhawans should beallotted in the next seven days.

He said there should beregular review of paddy pur-chase. He directed the officialsto improve paddy purchase inFarrukhabad, Kanpur Nagarand Auraiya and said all thedues of the farmers should becleared timely.

Dr Shekhar said all the res-idences being constructedunder the Prime MinisterHousing Scheme and the ChiefMinister Housing Scheme mustbe completed by December

end and a special drive for thehousing should be carried outin Auraiya and Farrukhabad.

He said the preparation ofthe detailed project report(DPR) for Jal Jeevan Missionmust be completed within thestipulated time frame. He saidkeeping in view the approach-ing Vidhan Sabha elections inUttar Pradesh, all necessaryaction be taken to complete thepending works. He said as perthe development work ranking,Auraiya remained at the 55thposition which was also thesame in October, 2021. Hesaid Etawah which ranked 38in September had now fallen to52nd rank. He said the rankingof Farrukhabad in the monthof September was at 58th rankand it had slipped to 64thposition while Kannauj was at30th position in Septemberwas now at 36th rank inOctober and Kanpur Dehat,which was at 50th rank inSeptember had slipped to 61thposition .

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The landmark 6th IndiaWater Impact Summit

(IWIS), organised jointly by theNational Mission for CleanGanga (NMCG) and theCentre for Ganga River BasinManagement and Studies(cGanga), and the IndianInstitute of Technology,Kanpur, was held fromDecember 9 to 14.

The five-day-long summitwas organised in a hybridmode -- online and physically-- at the NMCG office, NewDelhi and IIT Kanpur. Theinaugural session in New Delhiwas attended by Jal ShaktiMinister Gajendra SinghShekhawat, Minister of StatePrahlad Singh Patel and otherdignitaries.

Woven around the theme‘Allocation of river resources -- planning and management atthe regional level’, the summithosted a number of experts,stakeholders and dignitariesfrom across the globe.

Addressing the inauguralsession, Gajendra SinghShekhawat said, “At this pointof time, water supply, conser-vation of water resources, andcurbing water pollution areoutstanding challenges for thewhole world, and global expe-riences must unify to solvethese problems. Global con-ferences like IWIS are, there-fore, very important.”

Speaking at the inauguralsession, Prahlad Singh Patelsaid: “The challenge before usis not only to conserve waterbut also water quality.”

He added that Arth Gangawas an example of an inclusiveand balanced approach to ben-efit all from this process, andstressed on coordination inthe implementation of variousprojects.

IIT Kanpur Director ProfAbhay Karandikar said, “Theriver Ganga holds major cul-tural as well as ecological sig-nificance to us. The onus is onevery stakeholder to safeguardand conserve it for a healthyholistic future. IIT Kanpur hasbeen undertaking rigorous andrelentless initiatives to ensure

good health of the Ganga. Inline with such efforts, I believethis summit would initiate aperpetual discourse in ensuringnot only the conservation andpreservation of the river Ganga,but also of all the water bodiesvital to us.”

The summit hosted thesessions with integrated as wellas individual focus on science,technology and policy, financeand economics, technologyand innovation, policy, lawand governance and interna-tional cooperation, and thediscussions were on severalkey areas such as river resourceaccounting, sustainable agri-culture, water recycling, waste-water management, marinepollution, water economy, toname a few.

The summit saw the par-ticipation of distinguishednational and internationalexperts from academia, gov-ernment organisations, think-tanks, non-governmentalorganisations (NGOs) andindustry.

It also sought the partici-pation of small and large stake-holders from upstream anddownstream regions from theGanga Basin states, namelyDelhi, Uttarakhand, UttarPradesh, Bihar and WestBengal, to initiate discussions

on systematic assessment, plan-ning, and management of riverresources for holistic develop-ment.

After rigorous discussionson various themes and issues,some key suggestions thatemerged are as follows: Riversdegrade if their resourceexploitation is uncontrolled,hence river conservation musthave clear goals; traditionalwater conservation techniques,such as those practiced inRajasthan, should be activelypropagated in India; given theinter-relatedness of rivers,ponds and other water bodies,the bottom-up approach forriver conservation propound-ed by cGanga is strongly rec-ommended; a green bufferzone and protection of flood-plain ecosystems are essential;Israel’s water-saving irrigationmethods, re-use techniquesand prudent usage of freshwa-ter resources and sea water canbe very useful for India;Australia's successful waterreforms (water law amend-ment), river basin manage-ment, water allocation princi-ples, and private sector partic-ipation can be emulated inIndia; restoration and conser-vation of the Sundari mangroveforests in the IndianSunderbans is an urgent neces-

sity to save the Ganga delta andits upstream reaches; withactive engagement of locallabour and synergistic efforts ofdistrict administrators andlocal bodies, about 25 rivers of36 districts in UP had beenrestored during the COVID-19pandemic, including thenotable Noon river in Jalaundistrict, and many otherrivers can be restored thuswith funding from the gov-ernment’s MNREGA pro-gramme; conservation of riverislands and clearing theirencroachments need to be pri-oritised.

In the valedictory session,Union Minister of State for JalShakti Bishweswar Tudu, whowas the chief guest, appreciat-ed the work of NMCG andcGanga and said that the con-servation of river Mahanadi inOdisha had started after theimpressive progress on Ganga.He emphasised on the impor-tance of implementing the out-comes of these discussionswith focus on more practicalapproaches.

Founding head of Ganga,IIT Kanpur, Dr Vinod Tare,said that IWIS was a uniqueconference for scientific, man-agement and administrativeexperts for wide-ranging dis-cussions and brainstorming

on river conservation, watermanagement and water con-servation.

NMCG Director GeneralRajiv Ranjan Mishra said,“River Ganga is a lifeline, itexists in the thinking of eachone of us. In this summit, wehave had many internationalsessions also, as the topic is notonly limited to India but alsoconcerns the rivers and regionsacross the globe.”

He added that the NMCGwas resolved to transformGanga into Samarth Gangathrough Arth Ganga and theother four pillars of AviralGanga, Nirmal Ganga, GyanGanga and Lok Ganga.

On the concluding day,four important releases name-ly, Uttarakhand River Atlas,Alaknanda and BhagirathiRiver Basin Atlas, YamunaRiver Basin Atlas and theSamarth Ganga Report, werereleased.

A documentary film onSundarbans produced byGreen Oscar Award winnerMike Pandey was also screenedon the occasion. The 5-daysummit witnessed the signingof a memorandum of under-standing (MoU) betweencGanga and NorwegianInstitute of BioeconomyResearch (NIBIO) for thedevelopment of a sludge man-agement framework.

Similarly, two MoUs werealso signed with InnovationCentre Denmark andUPS Hungary to encouragethe sharing of knowledgeand increase participationof Hungarian industry inthe Ganga River BasinRestoration and ConservationProgramme.

An MoU between cGangaand British Water was alsosigned to promote the devel-opment of 21st century infra-structure in water and theenvironment sector.

The summit ended withthe resolve to make today’sGanga into Samarth Ganga(Able Ganga) – fully capable ofcarrying out her multifariousnatural functions to benefitthe whole river basin and thenation.

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-%����� ����������������� ��� � ���KANPUR (PNS): KanpurDevelopment Authoritydemolished the illegal plot-ting on its four hectare land inSinghpur Kachhar near theproposed New Kanpur CityScheme on Thursday.

The estimated value of theland is Rs 5 crore.

On the directive of ArvindSingh, the KDA team rushed tospot and demolished the illegalconstructions carried out byHari Kishan Katheria, RamKhilawan Katheria, AshokKumar Katheria on Arazi No787; Sonu Yadav on Arazi No728; Ajay Yadav andBhupendra Singh Bhadauria onplot No 757 and Jagdish NarainGupta. Besides, the team ofKDA engineering, revenue andenforcement departments gotthe 10-acre land freed fromunauthorised possessionbetween the railway track andEtawah-Delhi road under theMahavir Nagar Extensionscheme. The estimated value ofthis land is Rs 60 crore.

The team also demolishedthe encroachment on the pro-posed construction of a 45-metre road under the scheme.

After demolishing theunauthorised constructionsand removing the encroach-ments, the work for develop-ment of 877 residential plotswould be geared up now.

KNN PURCHASESMACHINE FOR ROADREPAIRS: Kanpur NagarNigam has okayed the purchaseof asphalt emulsion based patchhole repairing machine costingaround Rs 1 crore. Currentlyroads are repaired in Kanpur inthe traditional way which wasvery temporary and needed re-repair in a very short duration.

Patch hole repairingmachine is a special truckmounted machine and is aboutto arrive to carry out roadrepair faster and constantly onthe roads which get damagedand have potholes and craters.

The KNN will invite com-plaints from the citizens andthis modern machine willimmediately ensure repair ofthe road in a qualitative man-ner.

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Page 8: 2PLFURQ FDVHV VRDU WR LQ ,QGLD - Daily Pioneer

wani, which were mostly tai-lored at Saville Row London,the world’s best for men’sclothes. He became used to apeg or two of whiskey aftersundown and enjoyed porksandwiches in the afternoon.He did not know how to per-form the namaz and seldomprayed any other way. This isaccording to his brotherAhmed, who was my grand-father’s friend who resided at401, Girgaum Road, Bombay.According to him, they wereculturally Parsee;Mohammad married aParsee, Ruttie Petit. Theirdaughter married Sir NevilleWadia.

Jinnah, in Gujarati, meanstiny, which was his grandfa-ther’s name. When he con-verted from the Lohana, aHindu caste, he continuedbeing called Jinnahbhai butreturned to India as Jinnah.He became a barrister in twoyears but was too young to beawarded the recognition. Hehad to stay back for twomore years. He had learntmany an English habit andhad no interest in religion.

On being sidelined byGandhi in the Congress,Jinnah went away to Londonto continue his law practiceand became arguably thehighest paid barrister across

the British Empire. He hadbought himself an impressivemansion in Hampstead innorth London. In 1934, theMuslim League began per-suading him to return toIndia because the party hadbecome moribund. On theassurance that he would bemade president for life, Jinnahreturned to Bombay. He dic-tated terms to the League,whose other leaders did whatJinnah said. When the partydid not do well in the 1937elections, he decided to blowthe bugle for Pakistan onMarch 22, 1940. To quotefrom his speech: “The Hindusand Muslims have differentreligious philosophies, socialcustoms and literatures. Theyneither intermarry nor inter-dine and, indeed, they belongto two different civilisationswhich are based mainly onconflicting ideas and concep-tions. Their views on life andof life are different. It is alsoquite clear that Hindus andMuslims derive their inspira-tion from different sources ofhistory. They have differentepics, different heroes in dif-ferent episodes. Very often,the hero of one is a foe of theother and, likewise, their vic-tories and defeats overlap.”

The point we are stressingis that Muslims find it diffi-

cult to throw up a tall leader.Jinnah was successful in get-ting Pakistan but he playedthe role of a brilliant advocaterather than a leader. Theonly beneficiaries of Pakistanwere a few migrants from UP,a few Gujarati businessmenfrom Bombay and thePunjabis who still dictate tothe rest of their country cen-tred around Lahore. Themajority of Pakistanis wentwith Bangladesh. The rest feelthat they are underIslamabad’s heel. Yet, moreMuslims remain in India thanin Pakistan. Their economy isin a shambles. It is still agrar-ian, if not also backward.The Khyber Pakhtunkhwaprovince and the hill districtsare in the 19th, if not the 18th,century while Sindh isunhappy and Balochistanwants to secede.

Incidentally, another ben-eficiary of Pakistan was Jinnahwho established his place inhistory as the founder of anation. What is the reason forthe paucity of leadership? Is itthe comprehensiveness of thescriptures? Have they coveredall aspects of life?

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an authorand a former member of theRajya Sabha. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

����������������� ��� ������Sir — The Bangladesh Liberation War, alsoknown as the Bangladesh War ofIndependence or simply the LiberationWar in Bangladesh, was a revolution andan armed conflict sparked by the rise ofthe Bengali nationalist and self-determi-nation movement in what was then EastPakistan during the 1971 Bangladeshgenocide. It was a bold and purposefuldecision to give full autonomy to theIndian Army back then by the then PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi. Similar to thefreedom she gave to General SamManekshaw to liberate Bangladesh in1971; Rajiv Gandhi in 1986 gave the sameliberty to General Krishnaswamy Sundarjito evict the Chinese from Sumdorong Chuvalley in Arunachal Pradesh. The recentBalakot surgical strike to eliminatePakistani terrorists is another strikingexample.

There is no scope for buying time atthis juncture from these eternal enemiesat the Line of Control. Attack is the bestform of defence and the Indian armedforces can strike the hard way to driveaway the enemy once and for all. Weremember the soldiers who laid their livesin these operations on the 50th Year of theLiberation War in Bangladesh. It is a proudday for our forces for these successful oper-ations across the border.

MR Jayanthy | Mumbai

�������� �� ������� ������������Sir — If being reminded that the aphorism‘live and let live’ needs to be modified tosuit the modern times is in itself astraightforward and unemotional state-ment difficult to comprehend; ‘live andhelp others live’ as the new cliché is sureto raise enough eyebrows. In an age wherethe ‘self ’ has taken precedence over allother aspects of relationships, it is hard toperceive any special efforts being madetowards giving shape to such a noblethought.

When it comes to awareness about ourimmediate vicinity, it is generally believedthat concerns for our neighbours comefirst and then the community. But in mostof the metro cities, even today, people are

unaware of the existence of residents nextdoor. In these modern times where man’smaterialistic pursuits have morphed himinto a caricature of insensitiveness, emo-tional connections hardly exist betweenpeople. Hence it is difficult to gauge anyempathy building up for fellow beings.Considering that man by nature is a socialanimal, cordial interactions between peo-ple are expected. But personal interestsalways seem to gain the better of peopleand hence ‘minding my own business’ hasbecome the social norm more so now thanit was ever before.

Pachu Menon | Margao

���������������������������Sir — Durga Puja is a Hindu religious cel-ebration that has evolved into a culturaland secular occasion. It has also becomea spot for social and artistic gatherings.Durga Puja, also known as Durgotsava orSharadotsav, honours and pays respect toHindu goddess Durga and commemorates

Durga's victory over Mahishasur. It orig-inated in the Indian subcontinent. Theemotion and joy of Durga Puja will soonbe known world over as it has been accord-ed heritage status by a top UN body.

For the first time in Asia, the UnitedNations Educational, Scientific, andCultural Organisation (Unesco) hasinscribed Kolkata's Durga Puja on the listof Intangible Cultural Heritage ofHumanity (ICH), giving Bengalis andIndians a cause for celebration. Durga Pujajoins other Indian cultural practices andmanifestations on the ICH list, includingthe Kumbh Mela, Bengal and Odisha'sChhau dance, Manipur's Sankirtana, Yoga,Ramlila, Buddhist chanting in Ladakh andNawruz. “A subject of tremendous prideand excitement for every Indian”, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi tweeted.

Khushbu Khatri | Ujjain

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Salman Khurshid’s defenceof what he said aboutHindutva as well as oth-ers defending him brings

out a stark fact. Muslims of thesubcontinent have failed tothrow up a leader of staturesince Akbar, the Mughal emper-or. Akbar showed the way ofintegrating with the rest of thepopulace. He conquered territo-ry after territory, consolidatedhis empire and ruled for fivedecades. He made it possible forhis successors to rule well for acentury and poorly until 1762.

Thereafter, the British beganto rule for nearly two centuries,with a number of Muslim chief-tains who had ideas but couldnot command the increasing fol-lowers. Sir Sayyid Ahmad Khanwas a sincere officer who plead-ed for educating Muslim youthbut could not go beyond Aligarhand declaring that Hindus andMuslims were separate nations.Justice Ameer Ali was the firstIndian High Court judge butmigrated to England after heretired. Maulana MuhammadAli was active and imaginativebut he was obsessed with retain-ing the Caliph on the Turkishthrone. It was his uppermost pri-ority and he died too early tohave greater influence.

Poet Iqbal wrote an extreme-ly popular song, or tarana —Saare jahan se achcha Hindustanhamara — which Indian militarybands play with alacrity evennow. However, upon returningto India after a long tour ofEurope, Iqbal underwent a rev-olution of mind and sponsoreda division of India into thenortheastern provinces and therest. In short, he sponsored aconfederate partition of India; hebecame a separatist.

Chaudhary Rehmat Ali, aCambridge scholar, coined thename ‘Pakistan’ and did littleelse. Thereafter followed Qaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah,who was a true secularist untilhe arrived at the parting of wayswith Gandhiji at the Calcuttaplenum of the Congress in 1928.Earlier, popular Congress leaderSarojini Naidu described Jinnahas the “best ambassador ofHindu-Muslim unity”. He reg-ularly wore lounge suits, neverchudidar pyjamas and sher-

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Rewilding is a progressive way toconserve the environment. It is aform of environmental conserva-tion and ecological restoration

which has significant potential to increasebiodiversity, create self-sustaining environ-ments, and mitigate climate change.

There are two main approaches torewilding: First, it enables degraded landsto recover by preventing anthropogenicinfluences, and allowing nature to conserveitself with minimum human interfer-ence. Second, re-introducing lost or dwin-dling plant or animal species into their nat-ural environment,enabling restoration oftheir populations and ecological balance.

Rewilding does not take place only inprotected areas or remote locations.Examples of this can be seen in many cities.Over the years, mining has caused ram-pant destruction in parts of the Aravalis,in Gurugram, Haryana. An NGO led byLatika Thukral and her team has healednearly 550 acres of land and converted itinto the Aravali Biodiversity Park byplanting thousands of saplings. Today, itis a repository of native flora and fauna,which also has a water-conservation zone,and is an educational space for spreadingawareness about environmental issues.Similarly, Yamuna Biodiversity Park ofDelhi is an example of the successfulrestoration of barren land.

Kaikondanahalli Lake, which lies onthe south-eastern periphery of Bengaluru,was severely polluted with sewage and solidwaste. Following a newspaper report, thecorporation planned to restore this lakewith the support of groups formed of localresidents, experts from engineering, edu-cation, ecology, etc. A year after restora-tion, over 50 species of birds and a greatvariety of butterflies, snakes, and frogsbegan to appear. There has been an enor-mous increase in animal and insect speciessince then.Regeneration of BharatpurBird Sanctuary in Rajasthan is also anexample of the revival of a degradedecosystem.

This article will briefly discuss theimportance of restoration of insect habi-tats, which is currently untouched despitetheir tremendous potential and biologicalcontributions in restoration of biodiversi-ty in urban areas. The term ‘Biodiversity’isused to describe the enormous variety oflife on Earth. It refers to all of the speciesin a particular region or ecosystem whichencompass plants, bacteria, animals,humans and other living things.

Insects are critical to agriculture,human health, and bioresources becausethey play important role in cycling of nutri-ents, disperse seeds, pollinate plants,maintain soil structure, improve fertility,and control population of other organisms.Insects are at the base of the food chain,therefore their recovery is a prerequisite forthe recovery of other species.

They provide various kinds of usefulservices which are described below:

Insects possess significant amounts of

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nutrients required by both humansand animals such as proteins, car-bohydrates, vitamins, fibres, min-erals etc. In South America, cater-pillars, beetles, grasshoppers, andcrickets are popular foods.Approximately $500 million worthof tinned silkworm pupae areexported from Thailand.

The pollination process ofmany flowering plants and cropsrelies on animals — primarilyinsects. Animal induced pollinationis crucial to the production of thefood we eat.

Predatory insects feed on peststhat threaten crops, thus perform-ing the role of pesticides withoutchemicals. This reduces pest-con-trol costs and increases crop yields,while reducing pesticide residues.

Insects also contribute to thebreakdown of organic matter likefallen litter, corpses and animal fae-ces. This is important since itreuses nutrients, making themavailable for aerating the soil.

Some plants produce fruit andseeds that are eaten and collectedby ants. They bring these seeds totheir nests to eat and it is possiblethat some seeds are dropped alongthe way and others may be cachedin the soil. These seeds may germi-nate and establish plants at a newlocation. Therefore, ants play a cru-cial role in the dispersal of fruit andseeds from plants. There are over150 plant species that depend oninsects for dispersal.

Similarly, honeybees pollinateand help plants grow, breed, andproduce food. To keep the cycle oflife going, bees transfer pollenbetween flowering plants. Most ofthe food we consume depends onpollination, particularly by bees: likealmonds, apples, squash etc.

We also rely on insects for silk,dye, honey, wax and medical and

genetic research.It was once stated by EO

Wilson, a noted biologist: “If allmankind were to disappear, theworld would regenerate back to therich state of equilibrium that exist-ed ten thousand years ago. If insectswere to vanish, the environmentwould collapse into chaos.”

An ecosystem is based on thecoexistence of species and commu-nities alongside the environment.The rivet popper hypothesis wasproposed by Ecologist Paul Ehrlichto illustrate the consequences ofspecies extinction on ecosystem. Hecompares key species to airplanerivets and claims that if those riv-ets were gradually removed, theplane would also crash. Similarly, ifkey species are removed from anecosystem, their absence wouldeventually harm the ecosystem notimmediately but in the long run.

There are many countrieswhere pollinators have disappearedand people are forced to hand pol-linate apples, pears and passionfruits, etc. Therefore, the loss ofinsects from the food chain wouldnegatively impact human foodsupplies.

A recent study led by expertsrevealed that darkling beetle(indigenous to East Asia includingthe Korean peninsula) larvae arecapable of decomposing plasticcomponents by breaking themdown at the molecular level.Researchers discovered that the lar-vae of the beetle in the orderColeoptera (Plesiophthophthal-musdavidis) can decompose poly-styrene, which earlier was difficultto break down due to its uniquemolecular structure. Currently,there are more than 50 knownspecies of plastivores, including thegreater wax moth, providing hopefor scientists seeking to reduce

plastic pollution.Thus, insects constitute a sub-

stantial part of our ecosystem butthe number and diversity of insectsare decreasing due to habitat loss,pollution, and climate change.Preservation and restoration ofhabitats that support insect diver-sity are essential to their conserva-tion, otherwise many of thesespecies will become extinct.

Therefore, every home, school,and local park should dedicate aportion of their lawn space as a nat-ural habitat which would providethe insects a conducive environ-ment. Pesticides and insecticidessuch as Neonicotinoids should beprohibited in local vegetation andgreen areas since they harm insectpopulations and mandate nature-rich development practices.Furthermore, artificial light at nightcan harm and kill many creaturesincluding amphibians, birds, insectsand plants. For example, mostnocturnal insects are attracted toartificial lights that indirectly killinsects via exhaustion or throughpredation before dawn. Therefore,protecting dark night skies will ben-efit insect populations. Growingnative plants provides more bene-fits to native insects due to theirclose ecological relationships. Thereare many insect species that dependon these plants for food and nest-ing sites and become prey for birdsand other wildlife, so native plantsindirectly attract numerous verte-brates. Insects’ conservation canrichly benefit from insects-friend-ly environmental policies and polit-ical advocacy. Hence, we havenumerous ways to conserve insects,and we can use any or all of themto slow insect declines.

It is imperative that we protectand preserve the insects’ world fora thriving future.

(The writer is a former IFS officer. The views

expressed are personal.)

The north-eastern regionof India is blessed withunparalleled ethnic, cul-

tural and linguistic diversity.The land of seven sisters anda brother, it is the most diversepart of the most diverse nation,being home to a number ofplain and hill tribal communi-ties having their own cultures,traditions, livelihood prac-tices, language and dialects.

As for linguistic diversity,in Assam, Nagaland andArunachal Pradesh, around23, 20, and 15 languages,respectively, are in use andMeghalaya is home to Khasi,Garo and Pnar/Jaintia lan-guages. The languages usedacross the region belong to fivedifferent language families,namely, Indo-Aryan,Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman,Austro-Asiatic and Tai-Kadai.

However, these are not recog-nised by respective govern-ments as official languages.

The pace of developmentin the region is exerting mas-sive pressure on theautonomous tribal communi-ties. As such, some of theselanguages and dialects encom-passing cherished civilization-al discourses have alreadybecome ‘vulnerable’ to ‘mori-bund’. The contributing factorsto the vanishing of languagesin the region are better jobprospects in English, conver-sion to Christianity and impactof churches in the choice of lin-gua franca and inappropriatelanguage policies framed foradministrative conveniences.

A mother tongue is vitalfor design thinking and com-prehension and creating themind-set necessary for holis-

tic development. Moreover,learning in a foreign languagealso brings a sense of alienationfrom one’s own culture andheritage leading to an inferior-ity complex, whereas learningin mother tongue helps devel-op a better sense of one’s cul-tural traits. Thus, learning inthe mother-tongue is of para-mount significance in improv-ing the quality of education.Since English is the preferredmedium of instruction inIndia, learners have remainedaloof from the benefits thatcome with education in themother tongue. UNESCO has

also recommended the use ofmother tongue in the earlyyears of schooling to enablechildren to learn to read andwrite alongside introducingthem to the early mathemati-cal and academic concepts. Inorder to capitalise on theadvantage of learning in themother tongue, The NEP 2020emphasises mother tongue asmedium of instruction at leastup to the fifth standard. Thispolicy also envisages integrat-ing teaching and learning ofIndian languages with schooland higher education at everylevel.

It is in this backdrop thatthe announcement made byEducation MinisterDharmendra Pradhan in therecently concluded North EastEducation Conclave on NEP-2020 organised by Assam

Government and ShamkardevEducation and ResearchFoundation for makingGuwahati the LanguageLaboratory of India and forcreating safe educational zonesis significant. He also empha-sised capitalizing on thestrength of ethnic, cultural, lin-guistic, biotic and abiotic diver-sities of North-eastern regionfor its emotional integrationwith the rest of the country.

Thus, the North-easternStates should not adoptEnglish as the State languagemerely for administrative con-veniences but embrace region-al languages as State languagesas many languages are beingpushed to the endangered cat-egory without the official sta-tus and patronage. Majordialects should be given scriptsso as to promote them to the

status of languages. The poli-cy of the three-language for-mula should be revisited topromote regional languages.Dictionaries and learners’books need to be written forevery language and dialectspoken in the north-east. Agroup of people needs to betrained in languages spoken inthe region for the purpose oftranslation, as is being done forinternational languages.Customs and traditions shouldbe penned down in every lan-guage and dialect.

Skilled teachers for everylanguage should be there forthe purpose of teaching andcreating ICT enabled e-mate-rials in those languages. High-quality programmes in trans-lation and interpretationshould be offered in all the lan-guages of the NER. Every

central university in the north-east should be sanctioned aCentre for Preservation andPromotion of Local Languagesand Dialects (CPPLLD) forimplementing these and otherimperatives for preserving lin-guistic diversity and harmo-nious inter-relationships ofthe tribal communities withnature, ecology and cosmos.

We are running out of fuelwith the passing away of seniorcitizens, and without a holis-tic language policy, languagesand dialects are gettingincreasingly marginalised,causing a decline in our tradi-tional knowledge base abouttribal cultures, traditions, liveli-hood practices, environmen-tal ethics, nature centric devel-opment, etc which are neces-sary ingredients for securingthe future of the region.

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(The writer is Vice-Chancellor, Central

University of Punjab,Bathinda. The views

expressed are personal.)

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India and France on Fridayagreed to further strengthen

their bilateral defence andstrategic ties besides workingtogether to enhance coopera-tion in bilateral, regional andmultilateral forums. The twosides also agreed to explorepossibilities for joint venture inweapon manufacturing.

These were the major take-aways from the talks betweenvisiting French DefenceMinister Florence Parly and herIndian counterpart RajnathSingh here.

France also offered to sup-ply more Rafale fighter jets toIndia if it requires with Parlysaying the use of the same air-craft by the two strategic part-ners is a reflection of “real assetand strength” in their ties.

France was also ready tosupply the naval version of thejets for the second aircraft car-rier INS Vikrant likely to beinducted into the Navy latenext year. The carrier is indige-nously designed and built hereand is now undergoing manda-tory sea and other trials.

India bought 36 Rafale jetsworth over Rs 60,000 crorefrom France and the inductionprocess into the IAF is on with33 of them already in servicenow. The remaining jets willarrive next year. India andFrance had inked aGovernment-to-Governmentdeal for the Rafale jets in 2016.

As regards talks, a widerange of bilateral, regional,defence and defence industri-al cooperation issues were dis-cussed in the annual meeting.The visiting minister also calledon Prime Minister NarendraModi. Incidentally, she had vis-ited India last year when thefirst batch of four Rafale jetswere inducted into the IAF atAmbala.

The Ministers reviewed

the existing military-to-mili-tary cooperation, which hasincreased in spite of pandem-ic challenges. They discussedways to increase defence coop-eration in all domains. Indiaand France have recently con-cluded their annual bilateralArmy Exercise, Shakti, withfocus on counter-terrorist oper-ations, in France in November.Defence industrial coopera-tion was discussed with focuson future collaborations andco-production between the twocountries, officials said after thehigh profile parleys.

The Ministers acknowl-edged their convergences onnumber of strategic anddefence issues.

They expressed commit-ment to work together toenhance cooperation in bilat-eral, regional and multilateralforums. France is the currentchair of Indian Ocean NavalSymposium and shall take overthe Presidency of EuropeanUnion from January 01, 2022.The two Ministers decided towork closely on a number ofissues during the FrenchPresidency.

On France willing to offi-er more Rafale jets, Parly saidearlier in the day during a sem-inar “I am very happy that theIndian Air Force is satisfiedwith its Rafale and we are veryproud that despite Covid, the36 aircraft will be delivered ontime according to the con-tract... It’s a real achievement.”

“Using the same aircraft isa real asset and strength. I amsure that there is room for newdevelopments. We are ready toanswer any additional needs ofrequest that could be made byIndia,” she said.

The French minister alsoreferred to India’s plannedinduction of a second aircraftcarrier and indicated thatFrance will be interested in sup-plying the carrier-based jets.

“We know that the aircraftcarrier will soon be...That air-craft are needed. We are openand ready to provide any otherRafale if this is India’s decision,”she said.

The first batch of fiveRafale jets, manufactured byFrench aerospace majorDassault Aviation, arrived inIndia on July 29 last year.

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Peeved over absence ofMinisters in the Rajya

Sabha, Chairman M VenkaiahNaidu on Friday said they can-not take it “casually” and “itcannot be usual” and asked theGovernment to take note.

He made these observa-tions when some ministerswere absent from the houseeven though papers were list-ed against their names and oth-ers presented the papers ontheir behalf.

“The Ministers who aresupposed to lay papers on thetable of the House having givennotice to the Chair should notbe absent from the House. Inextreme circumstances — therewould be some occasions — ifthere is any problem, theymust approach the Chair inadvance and seek permission.

“Some of them are doing itwhile others think it is casual.It cannot be casual, it cannot beusual,” he said, asserting he willnot allow such things in thefuture.

Naidu asked Leader of theHouse Piyush Goyal andParliamentary Affairs MinisterPralhad Joshi to take note. Hesaid he was not objecting to

others laying papers on minis-ters’ behalf with prior noticeand permission.

There have been occasionswhen ministers were not presentin the House when their namesare called for the laying certainofficial papers and others had todo so on their behalf.

Meanwhile, Naidu also laud-ed chairpersons of some of theparliamentary standing com-mittees for their timely reportsand holding regular meetings.

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The Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA) on

Friday shared data sayingaround 1.05 crore domesticpassengers travelled by air inNovember, 17.03 per cent high-er than the 89.85 lakh whotravelled in October.

The data showed thatdomestic passengers travellingby air during the period fromJanuary 2021 to November 2021were 726.11 lakh versus 556.84lakh during the correspondingperiod of previous year therebyregistering annual growth of30.40 per cent and monthlygrowth of 65.50 per cent. Thisindicates a major revival in theconfidence of the travellers in airtravel in the country.

“IndiGo carried 57.06 lakhpassengers in November, a54.3 per cent share of thedomestic market, SpiceJet flew10.78 lakh passengers, account-ing for a 10.3 per cent share ofthe market”, the data showed.Go First (previously known asGoAir), Air India, Vistara,AirAsia India and Alliance Aircarried 11.56 lakh, 9.98 lakh,7.93 lakh, 6.23 lakh and 1.20lakh passengers, respectively, inNovember, the data showed.

The occupancy rate forSpiceJet was 86.7 per cent inNovember. The November

occupancy rate for Air Indiawas 82 per cent, followed byIndiGo (80.5 per cent), Go First(78.2 per cent) and AirAsiaIndia 74.6 per cent, it added.

The data mentioned that inNovember 2021, Vistara hadthe best on-time performanceof 84.4 per cent at four metroairports — Bengaluru, Delhi,Hyderabad and Mumbai.AirAsia India and IndiGo wereat the second and third posi-tions at these four airports inNovember with 82.4 per centand 80.5 per cent on-time per-formance respectively, theDGCA said. During the lasttwo years, all airlines in Indiahave opted for cost-reducingmeasures such as pay cuts,leave without pay and layoffs inorder to tide over the coron-avirus-induced crisis.

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Against the backdrop of theongoing hectic poll-cam-

paign in the Assembly electionbound Uttar Pradesh, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onFriday met BJP MPs from theState which, however, signifi-cantly missed the MP fromKheri Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ whoseresignation as a CentralMinister is being demanded bythe Opposition parties in con-nection with the LakhimpurKheri violence.

It was the PM’s fourth such

interaction in the WinterSession of Parliament withparty MPs categorisedStatewise. ‘Teni’s son is amongthe 13 accused arrested in theLakhimpur Kheri violence onOctober 3 during Farmers agi-tation in UP in which eightPeople were killed.

‘Teni’ is a Brahmin, aninfluential caste in the UPwhich is to go to polls in lessthan three months.

Around 36 MPs from theState attended the breakfastmeeting with Modi.

The number was report-

edly restricted to less than thetotal strength of the party inParliament from Uttar Pradeshdue to Covid-19 protocols,sources said.

The discussion was focusedon how MPs could foster bet-ter communication betweenconstituents and themselves,

Modi told UP MPs what healso said to the party MPs fromfive southern states a day beforethat they should organize cul-tural and sports events in theirareas to encourage both healthand a sporting spirit and iden-tify talents.

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The CBI on Friday said it hasfiled a chargesheet against

then CMD, Corporation Bank,Ramnath Pradeep besides thenChief Manager and then SeniorManager of the bank in a caserelated to loss of Rs 79 crore tothe public sector lender.

Besides Pradeep, the thenChief Manager SN MurthyShankar, the then SeniorManager AP Shiva Kumar havealso been named in thechargesheet.

The CBI had registered acase on June 16, 2017 on acomplaint from CorporationBank, Mumbai against aMumbai-based private com-pany Parekh Aluminex andothers including its Directors,Chartered Accountant &unknown others. The private company incorporatedin 1994 was engaged in man-ufacturing of Aluminum FoilContainers etc.

The accused had allegedlyconspired and availed variouscredit facilities to the tune of Rs60 crore from CorporationBank (now UBI), the CBI saidin a statement.

They had also allegedlydiverted the funds anddeployed it in real estate andother non-related businessactivities by way ofloans/advances in different realestate projects. An alleged lossof Rs. 79.04 crore was caused toCorporation Bank.

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Namilumab drug — an anti-body already in late-stage

trials to treat rheumatoidarthritis — may be used toeffectively treat some patientshospitalised with Covid-19pneumonia, according to astudy published in The LancetRespiratory Medicine journal.

However, the researcherssaid that as the sample size hasbeen small, more investiga-tions are needed in this regard.

The team, includingresearchers from the Universityof Birmingham and theUniversity of Oxford, UK, had

tested namilumab in patientshospitalized with Covid-19pneumonia. They were receiv-ing ‘usual’ care, as well as hav-ing high levels in their blood ofa marker of inflammationknown as C reactive protein(CRP).

“Our research has provid-ed important proof-of-conceptevidence that namilumabreduces inflammation in hos-pitalised patients with Covid-19 pneumonia,” said BenFisher, co-chief investigator ofthe trial at the University ofBirmingham and UniversityHospitals Birmingham NHSFoundation Trust (UHB).

“However, our sample sizeis too small for a definitiveassessment of clinical outcomesand further studies are requiredfor this, as well as to understand better the popula-tion that may benefit most,”Fisher said.

Namilumab targets a‘cytokine’ which is naturallysecreted by immune cells in thebody, but in uncontrolled lev-els is believed to be a key dri-ver of the excessive and dan-gerous lung inflammation seenin Covid-19 patients.

The trial carried outbetween June 2020 andFebruary 2021 involved

patients aged over 16 withCovid-19 pneumonia eitherbeing treated on a ward orIntensive Care Unit (ICU) atnine hospitals across the UK.

The study involved 54patients receiving ‘usual care’ —treatment with steroids andoxygen or ventilation — and 57patients given usual care as wellas a single intravenous dose of150mg of namilumab.

As well as Covid-19 pneu-monia, all study participantshad CRP levels greater than40mg/l. The researchers com-pared the probability of thereduction of levels of CRP inpatients.

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Speaking against the Centre’smove to privatise public

sector banks on the plea thatthey “alone failed to recoverNPAs”, BJP MP Varun Gandhion Friday asked theGovernment to desist fromprivatising them given theirhuge capacity to employ peo-ple across the country andsocial role.

In a tweet, Varun said pri-vate bank may not support self-help groups, provide ruralbanking and loans to SMEs.

“As we push towards pri-vatising public sector banks, wemust take pause to note thatthey employ almost a million,while helping self-help groups,

providing rural banking andgiving loans to SMEs. All thingsthat private banks may not pur-sue”, the MP from Pilibhit, UP,said.

In another tweet in Hindi,Varun sought the unionfinance Minister to considerpushing Banking bill (amend-ment) 2021, only after dis-cussing it with the “all affectedgroups”.

He said there is “no basis”for privatising PSU banks “onlyon the basis that it is only bankswhich failed to recover theirNPAS”.

Varun indicated thatGovernment was as muchaccountable for Non-recoveryof NPAs of the PSU banks inthe country.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi onFriday asked Mayors of all cities across

the country to ensure that LED bulbs areused widely in the streetlights and homesof their cities and take-up this work in“mission mode” and make cities “divyang-friendly”.

Addressing the All India Mayors’Conference through video conferencing,the Prime Minister referred to the recentdevelopments in the ancient city ofVaranasi and recalled his statement that thedevelopment of Kashi can be a roadmapfor the entire country.

The Prime Minister said most of thecities in our country are traditional cities,developed in a traditional way. In this eraof modernisation, the antiquity of thesecities is equally important. He remarkedthat these cities can teach us how to pre-serve heritage and local skills.

The Prime Minister insisted thatdestroying the existing structures is not theway but emphasis should be on rejuvena-tion and preservation. This should be donein accordance with the requirements ofmodern times.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathand Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puriwere among those present on the occasion.

Modi asked Mayors to ensure thatLED bulbs are used widely in the street-lights and homes of their cities. He askedthem to take this up “in a mission mode.”Modi also told Mayors to see that everyfacility in their city is “divyang-friendly”as per ‘Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan-Accessible India Campaign.’

He said “we should always think ofusing existing schemes for new uses andtaking them forward.”

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The India Meteorological Department(IMD) on Friday predicted cold wave

to severe cold wave conditions in someparts of the country, including Jammu &Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand,Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh andRajasthan in the next five days.

Dense to very dense fog, ground frostconditions are likely in some areas, it said.Meanwhile, temperature is likely to dropa few notches in some parts of the coun-try including Delhi.

According to the IMD, Punjab,Haryana, Chandigarh, Saurashtra andKutch could witness a cold wave or a severecold wave from December 17 to 21. A coldwave is likely over north Rajasthan fromDecember 18 to 21, while one is predict-ed for west Uttar Pradesh from December19 to 21, and Gujarat from December 19to 20.

“Cold wave conditions are predicted forJammu, Kashmir-Ladakh-Gilgit-Baltistan-Muzaffarabad, HP and Uttarakhand,Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh during thenext four days. Gujarat is likely to witnesscold wave conditions over the next threedays; West UP is expected to witness coldwave conditions between December 19 and21,” it said.

The IMD added gradual fall in mini-mum temperatures by 2-3°C over mostparts of Northwest India and Maharashtra;by 3-5°C over most parts of Central Indiaduring the next four days.

The IMD records a cold wave when theminimum temperature is equal to or lessthan 10 degree Celsius at a weather stationin the plains, and is 4.5 degrees to 6.4degrees below the normal temperature forthat period.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi will beawarded Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo or the

Order of The Druk Gyalpo, the highestcivilian decoration conferred by theKingdom of Bhutan for the uncondition-al friendship and support extended overthe years and particularly during theCovid-19 pandemic.

Modi is the first foreigner to receivethe coveted award. Modi had earlier beenrecipients of highest civilian honours inSaudi Arabia, Afghanistan, UAE, Palestine,Bahrain, Maldives and Russia. He alsoreceived the Legion of Merit by the USGovernment in 2020.

“Overjoyed to hear His Majesty pro-nounce Your Excellency Modiji’s @naren-dramodi name for the highest civilian dec-oration, Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo,” PrimeMinister of Bhutan Lotay Tshering tweet-ed on December 17, 2021, the country’sNational Day.

Modi thanked Bhutan’s king foraccording the country’s highest civiliandecoration on him, and said India willalways cherish the country as one of itsclosest friends and neighbours and willcontinue to support its development jour-ney in every possible way. The PM tweet-ed that he admires Bhutan for its uniquemodel of sustainable development and thedeeply spiritual way of life. “SuccessiveDruk Gyalpos — Their Majesties the Kings— have given a unique identity to theKingdom, and nurtured the special bondof neigbhourly friendship that our nationsshare,” he said

The Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo is beingawarded to Prime Minister Modi for theunconditional friendship and supportextended over the years and particularlyduring the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The World HealthOrganisation on Friday

approved emergency use listingof Covid vaccine Covovax,produced by the SerumInstitute of India under licencefrom Novavax and part of theCovax facility portfolio.

“This is yet another mile-stone in our fight againstCovid-19. Covovax is nowWHO approved for emergencyuse, showing excellent safetyand efficacy. Thank you all fora great collaboration,” SerumInstitute of India CEO AdarPoonawala said.

Covovax has a two-doseregimen and is the ninth toreceive emergency use approvalfrom the WHO. However, it isyet to be granted emergencyuse authorisation (EUA) bythe top drug regulator, theDCGI, in India.

The listing aims to increaseaccess particularly in lower-income countries, 41 of whichhave still not been able to vac-cinate 10 per cent of theirpopulations, while 98 countrieshave not reached 40 per cent,

said the global health body.Covovax was assessed

under the WHO EUL proce-dure based on the review ofdata on quality, safety and effi-cacy, a risk management plan,programmatic suitability, andmanufacturing site inspectionscarried out by the DrugsController General of India.

The Technical AdvisoryGroup for Emergency UseListing (TAG-EUL), convenedby the WHO and made up ofexperts from around the world,has determined that the vaccinemeets WHO standards for pro-tection against Covid-19, thatthe benefit of the vaccine faroutweighs any risks, and that thevaccine can be used globally, theWHO said in a statement.

The Covovax vaccine,developed by the SII in part-nership with the US-basedNovavax, is the third India-related vaccines to be approvedby the WHO. The other twovaccines are Covishield andCovaxin. Covaxin is India’sfirst indigenous Covid vac-cines, while Covishield isIndian version of Britain’sAstraZeneca jab.

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The Sputnik V vaccine andthe one-shot Sputnik Light

booster are effective against thevaccine-evading and supermutant Omicron variant ofCovid, claimed a preliminarylaboratory study conducted byRussia’s Gamaleya Center onFriday.

The study shows thatSputnik V demonstrates highvirus neutralising activityagainst the Omicron variantand is expected to providestrong defense against severedisease and hospitalisation.

The Sputnik V has alsodemonstrated 3-7 times less ofa reduction in virus neutralis-ing activity against Omicron.Sputnik V has shown to be 11.8times ineffective againstOmicron, while Pfizer hasshown a 41-fold decline inantibodies generated andModerna has shown 49-84times decrease.

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Aprogramme to supportIndia-US science and tech-

nology-based entrepreneurialinitiatives to tackle climate andclean energy challenges wasannounced on Friday.

The programme, titled‘Technology-based EnergySolutions: Innovations for NetZero’, will address the devel-opment and implementation ofnext-generation clean andrenewable energy, energy stor-age, and carbon sequestration,a Science and TechnologyMinistry statement said.

It constitutes a call forIgnition Grants by the US-India Science & TechnologyEndowment Fund (USISTEF),in partnership with SocialAlpha, a non-profit organisa-tion promoting S&T entrepre-neurship, it said.

The programme will iden-tify and support ‘technologyshowstoppers’ or promisingjoint India-US S&T-basedentrepreneurial initiatives inthis area, the Ministry said.

“Climate Change is one ofthe biggest challenges ourworld is facing in the currenttimes, spurring the call forglobal collaborations to tacklethis crisis.

“The launch of the US-India Climate and CleanEnergy Agenda 2030 partner-ship in April 2021 reiterated thecommitment of both nations towork together to achieve theirambitious climate and cleanenergy targets and to strength-en bilateral collaborations,” itsaid, adding that

The new programmealigns with the goals of the US-India Strategic Clean EnergyPartnership and will be admin-istered by the Indo-US Scienceand Technology Forum(IUSSTF), a bilateral organisa-tion under the India’sDepartment of Science andTechnology, and the USDepartment of State.

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L&TFH 79.45 79.65 76.55 76.90ABCAPITAL 120.85 121.15 115.60 116.50TVSMOTOR 634.00 634.40 611.00 614.00SEQUENT 162.60 166.85 157.65 158.75ASHOKLEY 127.00 127.00 122.20 123.15FEDERALBNK 88.40 88.50 84.85 85.20LICHSGFIN 375.25 377.15 362.00 364.25DMART 4780.00 4788.00 4671.75 4696.90RCF 79.30 79.30 76.30 76.90POLYCAB 2439.00 2439.00 2315.25 2335.00INDIANB 150.75 150.75 141.65 142.15NETWORK18 99.30 99.75 89.50 90.95GMRINFRA 42.95 42.95 41.20 41.45HAVELLS 1346.70 1358.55 1315.00 1318.90LUPIN 902.75 907.10 871.60 873.80STAR 454.05 457.60 416.10 422.75MINDAIND 1050.70 1069.15 1021.70 1047.05MAXHEALTH 398.00 403.70 387.65 393.00CHOLAFIN 545.55 545.55 507.10 510.00FSL 168.55 170.70 161.20 167.50GRAPHITE 414.00 424.05 403.65 421.35JSL 184.20 189.35 177.15 187.90JUSTDIAL 811.70 834.00 794.50 800.20TATACONSUM 736.00 737.55 721.25 725.50INDUSTOWER 265.50 265.50 251.05 252.30HAL 1280.90 1282.05 1237.65 1245.60MGL 891.90 892.00 870.00 879.95EICHERMOT 2451.05 2490.00 2415.00 2462.35INDHOTEL 195.00 195.00 188.25 190.80AUROPHARMA 685.80 688.90 665.50 680.00INDIGO 1964.65 1993.95 1943.00 1950.20TANLA 1880.00 1883.45 1782.60 1782.90TORNTPOWER 553.10 560.15 539.40 544.05ADANIGREEN 1418.90 1428.00 1376.00 1405.05IGL 492.35 499.15 490.80 493.35COLPAL 1447.00 1447.00 1410.70 1428.75GLENMARK 493.60 499.30 478.55 482.75WHIRLPOOL 1845.00 1848.90 1797.00 1814.70BEML 1855.00 1856.75 1765.45 1784.95TV18BRDCST 49.60 49.70 45.20 45.50BANKINDIA 54.50 55.15 52.30 52.75ALOKTEXT 25.05 25.35 23.70 23.90INDIAMART 7105.00 7153.95 6950.00 6977.95MRF 73780.00 73780.00 72102.35 72654.50HEROMOTOCO 2465.05 2465.10 2422.00 2449.15GDL 282.90 282.90 270.90 276.00HINDCOPPER 124.45 124.65 118.10 118.75BIOCON 364.25 367.20 349.70 354.00BHARATFORG 727.60 727.60 695.95 701.40OBEROIRLTY 865.60 867.05 831.25 836.50HINDPETRO 298.85 299.00 286.60 287.45HINDZINC 328.50 328.50 311.50 313.35IRB 205.60 208.90 197.90 204.00RECLTD 134.80 134.80 129.70 131.20

BATAINDIA 1927.40 1927.40 1845.00 1852.95VTL 2286.05 2331.00 2211.05 2235.15VAKRANGEE 38.30 38.80 36.65 37.30SPICEJET 68.60 68.60 66.05 66.85COALINDIA 149.00 149.10 146.10 146.25HDFCAMC 2452.05 2452.05 2380.00 2394.05M&MFIN 157.10 157.10 149.50 150.15NTPC 127.95 127.95 124.20 125.50HAPPSTMNDS 1275.00 1294.95 1250.05 1254.45NMDC 136.40 136.95 134.20 134.95MANAPPURAM 170.60 170.60 163.40 164.45IIFL 295.00 299.00 284.65 284.65PIDILITIND 2425.00 2425.00 2384.45 2393.15IFCI 16.75 16.75 15.21 15.80REDINGTON 147.60 149.10 143.60 146.50ICICIGI 1415.00 1415.00 1351.00 1358.70CANFINHOME 585.95 586.00 546.10 553.15SYNGENE 613.25 613.25 580.00 583.65GREAVESCOT 143.25 144.20 137.20 137.95SPARC 264.00 265.35 250.10 252.80DRREDDY 4652.00 4652.00 4495.60 4516.85HEG 1715.70 1735.30 1631.00 1645.00WELCORP 171.50 173.25 164.85 166.60TRENT 1034.00 1060.25 1012.90 1034.05NESTLEIND 19080.00 19226.00 19001.00 19041.50BALAMINES 3123.50 3210.00 3074.55 3129.05CROMPTON 418.00 424.50 413.10 417.00STLTECH 288.00 299.45 281.45 292.20RAYMOND 662.10 665.95 640.40 644.95IPCALAB 1972.00 2002.20 1930.70 1980.00SIEMENS 2467.55 2471.75 2403.80 2418.50SWSOLAR 392.00 392.00 380.10 384.85SCI 145.10 146.45 138.75 142.60ATGL 1845.00 1975.00 1822.85 1884.10RAJESHEXPO 765.00 765.00 735.75 740.60FRETAIL 48.00 48.85 47.70 47.95CADILAHC 464.00 465.70 452.45 458.75IDFC 52.15 52.15 49.45 49.90

MARICO 512.00 512.00 497.05 500.05SUNTV 525.80 525.80 508.65 516.80PRESTIGE 450.70 458.75 438.65 451.15LEMONTREE 47.95 47.95 45.20 46.20EXIDEIND 164.10 164.10 159.35 160.05SBILIFE 1163.00 1163.00 1137.50 1145.55METROPOLIS 3338.95 3339.00 3198.00 3260.65TATACOFFEE 208.65 208.65 203.05 204.10AMBER 3445.10 3491.05 3363.30 3382.10JAICORPLTD 130.10 130.15 121.60 122.35GODREJCP 917.60 917.60 893.25 897.30ROUTE 1820.00 1820.00 1753.00 1790.00GSPL 307.50 309.30 291.80 298.75LALPATHLAB 3525.00 3525.35 3400.00 3411.00TTKPRESTIG 1055.10 1055.10 990.00 1009.60NOCIL 233.45 234.10 225.50 227.00CHAMBLFERT 403.00 404.50 385.00 387.10BAJAJCON 202.80 202.80 197.65 201.10GNFC 446.00 446.00 424.20 432.75RAIN 217.05 217.60 211.75 214.75GLAND 3634.05 3661.60 3528.40 3641.65AMBUJACEM 375.00 376.85 367.05 368.20BAJAJHLDNG 5215.75 5239.85 5000.00 5028.15SOBHA 845.85 846.55 796.90 811.15DABUR 570.70 571.55 561.45 564.80APOLLOTYRE 218.50 218.50 211.80 214.15APLLTD 771.00 771.90 744.80 747.50CENTURYTEX 866.50 866.50 819.40 827.05BOSCHLTD 16533.70 16533.70 16042.40 16105.20KEI 1120.00 1120.00 1091.45 1106.45ULTRACEMCO 7400.05 7400.05 7304.95 7335.75HSCL 44.50 45.05 43.70 43.90NBCC 44.55 44.55 42.35 42.70VIPIND 584.45 584.45 558.30 560.60WELSPUNIND 143.00 144.00 138.15 141.25NAVINFLUOR 4000.00 4075.00 3957.70 4009.00TORNTPHARM 3077.80 3110.00 3050.85 3064.50SOUTHBANK 9.15 9.15 8.81 8.87HATHWAY 21.65 21.95 20.80 21.10BERGEPAINT 762.00 763.60 750.05 752.85ACC 2261.90 2274.75 2208.10 2216.00KSCL 502.15 513.40 501.55 510.25BALKRISIND 2253.00 2253.00 2197.00 2203.00VOLTAS 1219.00 1219.45 1174.55 1195.20NLCINDIA 61.10 61.20 58.95 60.00PHILIPCARB 222.30 227.30 217.70 225.65AMARAJABAT 624.60 627.85 616.10 618.50PNBHOUSING 535.40 536.20 515.95 515.95OIL 197.50 197.50 186.20 190.30DCAL 214.40 218.40 205.20 206.00SKFINDIA 4149.60 4149.60 3872.30 3952.65JKCEMENT 3500.85 3503.40 3431.30 3479.90PAGEIND 39900.00 40076.30 38600.00 38750.00GRASIM 1716.00 1716.00 1657.00 1665.15IOB 21.00 21.00 20.55 20.70NHPC 31.00 31.65 30.30 31.40NCC 72.05 72.35 70.20 70.40FORTIS 292.70 292.70 274.40 276.00MUTHOOTFIN 1463.05 1467.40 1439.00 1453.40INDIACEM 190.25 190.50 183.60 184.30FINOLEXIND 211.80 211.80 198.55 201.35PFIZER 4974.00 5069.80 4913.45 4963.45AARTIIND 989.90 989.90 957.60 970.30UBL 1602.70 1604.70 1550.00 1550.00GRANULES 333.00 339.00 322.50 324.10GALAXYSURF 2922.20 3021.50 2888.80 2978.05RADICO 1100.05 1108.30 1086.80 1092.50VBL 870.10 877.45 857.55 869.90CENTURYPLY 598.95 602.05 573.20 577.70GUJGAS 637.15 637.40 616.20 625.00AFFLE 1085.00 1115.00 1071.55 1086.00QUESS 837.15 845.00 820.10 828.65INFIBEAM 40.10 40.45 39.70 39.90SHREECEM 26216.15 26340.80 25887.35 26100.05ASTERDM 187.30 190.10 185.00 185.85SOLARA 1089.80 1089.80 1032.35 1078.30UFLEX 536.00 536.00 519.45 520.85PIIND 3081.40 3081.40 2942.95 2949.40FINEORG 3872.60 3946.55 3790.75 3841.00ASHOKA 95.00 95.80 93.10 93.30J&KBANK 37.00 37.00 35.90 36.25INTELLECT 715.00 723.00 670.65 680.95FINCABLES 571.80 571.80 538.10 552.50ATUL 8650.00 8676.55 8408.60 8461.60VAIBHAVGBL 582.25 582.25 555.55 565.55PETRONET 221.05 222.05 215.05 216.00ASTRAL 2280.85 2280.85 2222.50 2244.50CENTRALBK 22.00 22.00 21.35 21.50BBTC 1108.95 1114.85 1065.10 1074.20CONCOR 645.60 645.60 621.20 625.75LINDEINDIA 2454.00 2454.00 2375.00 2377.00JMFINANCIL 71.10 73.35 71.10 73.15FCONSUMER 6.95 6.95 6.81 6.83BURGERKING 154.90 154.90 146.95 148.35SUNTECK 452.00 452.65 433.00 437.50JAMNAAUTO 107.65 107.65 100.90 103.85CESC 88.20 89.00 84.15 84.65EDELWEISS 70.80 72.70 69.75 71.50GSFC 121.00 121.50 117.30 120.20KEC 459.90 462.90 451.90 460.30SOLARINDS 2514.30 2572.45 2497.95 2545.35SHRIRAMCIT 1950.00 1950.05 1850.00 1860.75NAM-INDIA 343.25 346.30 333.30 334.00PTC 111.70 111.70 107.55 110.35ALLCARGO 357.05 358.90 341.50 349.65SONATSOFTW 852.70 852.70 831.00 835.10RVNL 34.80 34.80 33.90 34.25LUXIND 3730.35 3733.00 3597.50 3632.80

IRCON 46.20 46.20 44.95 45.05WOCKPHARMA 422.10 428.45 412.80 414.00CCL 410.70 411.00 391.25 399.35VARROC 333.15 335.65 316.00 327.45

GLAXO 1772.60 1811.55 1737.10 1787.30ABB 2249.90 2255.65 2171.80 2200.40COROMANDEL 732.25 740.55 721.65 729.35ICICIPRULI 577.00 577.40 554.25 557.45TRITURBINE 183.05 183.05 172.50 174.25MINDACORP 170.40 170.40 161.15 164.85LAOPALA 406.90 409.55 390.00 396.00UJJIVAN 136.75 136.75 130.50 132.25KRBL 242.10 248.90 239.35 247.10BRITANNIA 3570.80 3570.80 3500.50 3528.20SCHAEFFLER 8164.35 8164.35 7920.05 7930.00PHOENIXLTD 1020.00 1055.80 999.05 1003.55MFSL 977.55 977.55 935.70 946.25OFSS 4244.30 4244.30 4105.00 4127.20ADANITRANS 1809.00 1870.00 1766.70 1799.50MOTILALOFS 969.10 990.00 946.55 953.15GULFOILLUB 478.00 479.90 457.15 461.00THYROCARE 1040.00 1047.75 1017.85 1029.20DBL 509.45 513.85 492.15 497.25BLISSGVS 99.85 105.90 97.20 98.65SJVN 28.85 28.95 28.30 28.40JINDALSAW 101.45 101.45 96.60 97.60FORCEMOT 1301.50 1301.50 1252.25 1263.45THERMAX 1722.95 1722.95 1618.80 1646.20TIINDIA 1602.10 1602.10 1549.25 1553.95MAHABANK 19.95 20.00 19.50 19.55ABBOTINDIA 18383.00 18383.00 17921.50 18151.00GRINDWELL 1874.90 1907.00 1827.30 1895.90GUJALKALI 643.00 643.00 615.35 617.80CHALET 232.40 233.45 223.80 232.00VINATIORGA 1980.95 1995.00 1940.00 1980.00SHILPAMED 554.00 564.85 543.40 545.00CUMMINSIND 938.25 940.15 913.50 917.65KNRCON 290.95 292.50 281.90 290.40SANOFI 7549.55 7589.10 7344.00 7580.00KALPATPOWR 363.00 367.45 357.00 358.75JKPAPER 209.00 209.00 202.65 205.05VENKYS 2562.20 2571.60 2483.10 2510.00INOXLEISUR 397.15 397.20 384.65 393.70GMM 4470.00 4470.00 4360.90 4392.60EIDPARRY 473.80 478.45 459.05 469.10BALRAMCHIN 324.85 325.90 315.10 316.00TCIEXP 2240.65 2257.10 2203.25 2220.20MMTC 43.70 43.75 42.10 42.30PNCINFRA 286.10 286.10 276.45 282.30CYIENT 995.00 1010.00 975.90 980.40JSWENERGY 298.00 300.00 279.55 285.10GMDCLTD 75.00 75.00 70.50 71.15CARBORUNIV 919.00 919.75 900.00 907.10ALKYLAMINE 3190.00 3223.30 3134.60 3192.25UCOBANK 13.47 13.47 13.01 13.05AEGISLOG 218.10 224.90 214.40 224.25SFL 3319.60 3366.50 3214.50 3333.00AAVAS 2531.05 2563.65 2505.60 2510.00HUDCO 40.75 40.75 39.45 39.60EMAMILTD 523.35 550.00 523.35 539.45SUPREMEIND 2307.10 2314.05 2274.35 2278.10MAZDOCK 269.40 269.40 260.05 260.85NH 592.45 592.45 564.60 569.90GRSE 228.85 228.85 219.30 221.20DEEPAKFERT 381.00 382.30 371.15 379.90NATCOPHARM 856.00 862.35 834.10 843.40JKTYRE 139.10 141.50 135.00 135.45UTIAMC 1060.75 1060.75 1020.00 1033.30DCBBANK 83.40 83.60 82.50 82.85ISEC 781.50 783.70 760.00 779.60SCHNEIDER 106.00 107.35 103.15 105.00SPANDANA 466.30 473.85 439.95 460.25ECLERX 2249.10 2279.80 2229.25 2259.70BRIGADE 473.85 475.45 451.25 454.50GICRE 137.50 141.45 136.20 140.25CUB 143.40 143.40 139.70 140.00LAXMIMACH 9111.00 9200.00 8931.70 9048.95MOIL 172.80 173.10 170.70 171.15ASTRAZEN 3099.00 3111.75 3034.75 3070.00DISHTV 18.80 19.50 18.45 18.45SUDARSCHEM 570.65 570.65 546.10 550.55AVANTI 537.00 562.40 537.00 547.95UJJIVANSFB 19.10 19.35 18.85 18.90RHIM 373.20 374.90 365.75 370.50DALBHARAT 1893.20 1893.20 1817.90 1840.15BAYERCROP 4765.15 4849.00 4699.05 4849.00

POLYMED 924.00 935.40 895.50 926.70ENGINERSIN 71.95 71.95 69.85 70.00RELAXO 1270.80 1276.50 1255.00 1268.95ORIENTCEM 165.00 167.50 158.25 161.60AARTIDRUGS 544.55 545.25 526.60 530.30GHCL 378.10 382.55 367.40 375.65INDOCO 429.55 429.55 408.70 411.20TATAMETALI 875.80 877.15 851.15 859.45KTKBANK 65.00 65.00 62.20 62.45BDL 403.00 403.00 392.80 395.00CGCL 505.00 511.50 495.30 500.80TIMKEN 1886.40 1886.40 1811.05 1840.00TATAINVEST 1418.95 1420.05 1380.00 1394.25JSLHISAR 327.50 328.30 313.65 319.80CASTROLIND 125.80 125.95 124.80 125.45IOLCP 452.00 455.70 443.00 444.00KAJARIACER 1223.00 1245.95 1205.45 1242.75SUVENPHAR 504.75 504.75 480.00 482.90SHK 155.80 155.80 151.30 152.05TASTYBIT 12792.40 12804.95 12326.50 12552.00SYMPHONY 1006.70 1006.70 968.25 975.70KANSAINER 584.65 599.00 575.90 592.65GESHIP 290.85 290.85 276.00 277.90MRPL 43.95 44.65 42.95 44.35MAHLOG 671.70 676.25 655.00 661.20RALLIS 260.30 263.25 258.10 261.00ALKEM 3440.00 3440.00 3387.65 3399.95CRISIL 3068.00 3068.00 2990.95 3004.00SWANENERGY 152.25 152.40 138.60 140.103MINDIA 24987.45 24987.45 24446.60 24500.00SUNDRMFAST 842.95 857.00 826.95 856.15VGUARD 229.65 231.40 226.85 227.50PGHH 14851.80 14910.40 14293.05 14601.60GILLETTE 5396.05 5420.05 5330.10 5351.35ZYDUSWELL 1941.35 1941.35 1865.00 1878.00MAHSEAMLES 499.55 499.55 492.50 495.10RAMCOCEM 988.60 988.60 973.55 977.95POWERINDIA 2547.50 2566.05 2512.75 2549.00BLUESTARCO 983.65 1019.00 977.20 1018.00JKLAKSHMI 581.70 584.30 565.05 565.10CAPPL 771.00 781.10 746.40 750.15MAHINDCIE 239.10 241.00 231.10 231.10HAWKINCOOK 6091.95 6091.95 5952.05 5976.75NESCO 589.95 597.80 586.00 588.80EIHOTEL 137.40 137.40 132.40 133.05BLUEDART 6298.55 6431.40 6249.65 6289.00ORIENTELEC 387.00 387.00 373.10 377.30ITI 116.75 116.85 112.25 113.60PGHL 5201.60 5201.60 5101.20 5118.55NAVNETEDUL 96.10 96.35 94.20 95.10BASF 2785.15 2849.50 2785.15 2800.00ENDURANCE 1670.60 1692.60 1649.30 1675.65CEATLTD 1142.90 1142.90 1113.65 1116.40HEIDELBERG 218.55 220.55 215.40 216.00TCNSBRANDS 795.00 803.60 776.05 783.90EQUITAS 122.90 123.10 118.10 120.45ERIS 697.40 706.35 683.15 701.00JBCHEPHARM 1599.50 1603.30 1588.50 1596.40SUMICHEM 370.60 370.60 362.00 362.80GODREJIND 605.00 607.00 590.45 597.55CERA 4806.00 4806.00 4587.20 4603.55COCHINSHIP 345.00 345.15 338.00 340.85VSTIND 3095.00 3139.45 3078.15 3119.50GPPL 100.00 100.00 97.25 97.50MHRIL 207.50 207.50 197.50 199.45SHOPERSTOP 362.05 362.05 347.35 353.00CREDITACC 651.00 657.35 617.05 636.10MAHSCOOTER 4033.55 4041.50 4009.20 4025.15RITES 266.50 269.10 262.00 265.65AKZOINDIA 2034.95 2039.00 1990.00 2001.90AJANTPHARM 2073.95 2115.50 2065.90 2091.00SIS 449.75 450.20 435.15 435.15WABCOINDIA 8253.70 8268.90 8073.00 8184.15MAHLIFE 241.55 243.10 231.00 235.10ADVENZYMES 350.75 351.50 336.70 339.00JYOTHYLAB 148.00 148.00 143.00 143.00TEAMLEASE 4167.10 4180.75 4112.15 4173.00PRSMJOHNSN 132.75 134.15 128.15 129.00EPL 202.35 207.50 200.85 205.10CHOLAHLDNG 682.70 682.70 650.85 676.10DHANUKA 753.25 754.10 745.50 750.00DCMSHRIRAM 997.45 1014.55 983.20 985.00EQUITASBNK 61.00 61.00 59.45 60.50STARCEMENT 97.90 97.90 94.05 94.45GARFIBRES 3178.70 3178.90 3162.55 3175.00VRLLOG 451.05 452.20 437.80 441.70AIAENG 1812.55 1827.00 1792.05 1827.00GODREJAGRO 533.95 533.95 526.05 531.50VMART 3608.95 3645.55 3549.05 3563.70ITDC 383.90 383.95 372.45 374.50WESTLIFE 580.35 585.00 571.20 582.00RATNAMANI 1899.05 1935.00 1885.00 1925.25BALMLAWRIE 118.35 118.35 116.60 117.00CSBBANK 265.25 265.25 254.10 257.00NIACL 140.00 140.65 138.10 139.15MIDHANI 184.00 184.50 181.45 184.45GODFRYPHLP 1204.00 1208.75 1188.60 1195.10FDC 288.00 288.00 282.30 283.50KSB 1285.30 1288.20 1243.30 1252.30RESPONIND 106.25 106.30 103.50 106.00MASFIN 695.85 700.00 686.55 694.65INDOSTAR 254.20 257.00 246.70 250.40JCHAC 2008.30 2024.05 1967.10 2022.50GEPIL 254.45 254.55 248.00 250.00ESABINDIA 2854.30 2889.25 2815.30 2889.25JTEKTINDIA 92.20 92.65 89.35 90.10NILKAMAL 2460.10 2460.10 2405.35 2459.80IFBIND 1174.50 1174.50 1163.35 1169.25

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 17276.00 17298.15 16966.45 16985.20 -263.20WIPRO 660.00 676.80 650.10 674.75 30.45INFY 1820.00 1842.00 1806.75 1823.00 51.40HCLTECH 1172.00 1182.90 1165.00 1170.00 10.25POWERGRID 208.20 210.50 205.05 209.80 1.60SUNPHARMA 762.00 772.35 753.50 770.00 5.55HINDALCO 449.50 457.00 444.75 450.20 -0.30TCS 3602.50 3651.35 3573.70 3574.90 -6.70EICHERMOT 2466.00 2491.00 2415.05 2465.00 -6.15JSWSTEEL 662.15 665.00 653.05 659.75 -2.40BRITANNIA 3546.00 3556.00 3500.00 3533.90 -26.70TECHM 1669.20 1675.00 1626.90 1640.15 -12.50SHREECEM 26175.00 26332.25 25857.05 26155.50 -210.55HEROMOTOCO 2469.00 2469.00 2421.00 2448.00 -23.10ULTRACEMCO 7410.80 7410.80 7302.00 7330.00 -83.75NESTLEIND 19115.05 19233.05 19000.00 19021.00 -236.15BPCL 393.00 394.55 382.10 385.65 -5.40BAJAJ-AUTO 3248.05 3261.80 3149.10 3205.30 -47.85LT 1866.50 1874.70 1831.70 1846.00 -27.90NTPC 127.40 127.70 124.10 125.40 -2.00HDFCBANK 1497.00 1506.00 1467.70 1476.00 -24.10ICICIBANK 742.00 742.00 726.05 729.20 -11.95SBILIFE 1156.00 1161.95 1137.00 1144.95 -18.85ASIANPAINT 3275.00 3293.30 3227.70 3243.90 -54.70BAJFINANCE 7000.00 7025.00 6865.00 6900.00 -128.85TATASTEEL 1154.00 1158.85 1125.00 1131.95 -21.25DRREDDY 4630.00 4648.00 4496.80 4512.00 -85.35HDFCLIFE 667.00 669.95 654.40 656.45 -13.05DIVISLAB 4608.00 4625.00 4502.15 4510.00 -91.45MARUTI 7480.00 7480.00 7241.00 7300.90 -149.90TATACONSUM 738.00 738.80 721.05 725.00 -15.25ITC 222.80 222.85 216.75 218.10 -4.80BHARTIARTL 681.00 685.70 661.10 666.45 -14.95M&M 848.00 852.25 830.00 834.00 -19.30COALINDIA 149.10 149.40 146.00 146.35 -3.40IOC 115.95 116.00 112.35 113.00 -2.75AXISBANK 707.50 708.00 685.10 692.50 -17.15UPL 729.00 732.15 713.55 715.50 -18.40RELIANCE 2398.05 2408.00 2320.00 2343.40 -60.50SBIN 480.05 481.40 466.50 468.30 -12.85CIPLA 882.00 884.50 850.00 856.00 -25.00ADANIPORTS 744.50 744.50 721.20 723.40 -21.75HDFC 2700.00 2712.30 2611.00 2619.00 -80.60BAJAJFINSV 16650.00 16850.00 16133.00 16191.00 -512.35GRASIM 1705.55 1714.60 1656.20 1662.00 -55.30TITAN 2336.00 2339.30 2257.10 2279.70 -77.55HINDUNILVR 2303.00 2308.95 2226.00 2229.95 -79.55KOTAKBANK 1855.00 1859.95 1790.00 1796.15 -64.60ONGC 144.20 145.10 138.50 139.70 -5.65TATAMOTORS 488.00 488.85 468.20 470.20 -21.75INDUSINDBK 926.00 929.00 880.25 885.50 -42.80

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 42341.10 42367.15 41259.55 41353.60 -1045.40LTI 6917.20 7129.30 6867.10 6950.00 110.45GLAND 3650.00 3669.00 3527.00 3660.00 34.00ADANIGREEN 1405.00 1428.45 1375.00 1414.50 12.25GAIL 130.00 130.20 127.65 129.70 0.15AUROPHARMA 687.10 689.00 665.30 682.00 -1.70MUTHOOTFIN 1460.20 1467.95 1438.60 1458.60 -5.80INDIGO 1957.00 1993.95 1942.00 1952.55 -13.05IGL 495.05 499.50 491.30 493.90 -3.60BERGEPAINT 761.00 763.75 751.40 754.55 -6.25DABUR 570.50 572.00 561.55 565.40 -4.85DMART 4771.00 4791.25 4672.15 4699.80 -42.30NMDC 136.50 136.90 134.20 135.10 -1.35PIDILITIND 2414.80 2414.80 2384.25 2393.40 -24.85PGHH 14850.00 14910.05 14339.75 14669.00 -160.25TORNTPHARM 3099.50 3112.00 3049.20 3057.75 -34.30SAIL 113.10 113.50 110.40 112.20 -1.30COLPAL 1446.00 1450.00 1410.50 1430.00 -17.10CADILAHC 466.00 466.00 452.55 458.35 -5.60HDFCAMC 2435.00 2447.90 2378.30 2406.95 -30.80SBICARD 918.95 920.00 895.10 900.55 -16.10GODREJCP 911.20 914.95 893.00 896.25 -16.25YESBANK 13.55 13.60 13.05 13.15 -0.25AMBUJACEM 375.60 377.20 367.00 368.45 -7.25NAUKRI 5522.00 5522.00 5364.55 5404.90 -107.25MARICO 509.40 509.40 497.50 499.35 -10.15PEL 2574.00 2589.00 2490.30 2517.00 -55.85ACC 2266.00 2274.00 2207.50 2214.75 -51.70BAJAJHLDNG 5164.00 5198.75 5006.15 5020.50 -117.00BIOCON 365.40 367.25 349.40 354.70 -8.45SIEMENS 2476.00 2476.00 2402.40 2418.40 -58.20BOSCHLTD 16500.00 16569.35 16035.25 16081.00 -412.40JINDALSTEL 395.00 398.35 382.50 385.00 -10.00PIIND 3060.00 3060.00 2940.80 2957.25 -88.75BANDHANBNK 275.80 277.25 265.65 267.30 -8.15HAVELLS 1355.00 1360.00 1313.95 1318.15 -42.85HINDPETRO 297.80 298.65 286.60 288.30 -9.50LUPIN 904.50 907.20 870.25 873.00 -30.40VEDL 345.65 347.65 330.70 332.30 -11.70DLF 404.40 406.90 389.05 391.00 -14.15ADANITRANS 1803.05 1872.10 1750.00 1775.45 -64.40ADANIENT 1698.95 1702.00 1640.00 1642.00 -60.05ICICIGI 1407.20 1412.00 1351.00 1358.70 -49.75JUBLFOOD 3670.00 3670.00 3520.40 3542.95 -130.25PNB 39.25 39.40 37.90 38.00 -1.40ICICIPRULI 575.00 577.95 554.30 555.95 -22.10BANKBARODA 88.40 88.60 84.65 84.90 -3.75MCDOWELL-N 922.10 925.95 878.20 882.00 -40.40INDUSTOWER 264.80 264.80 251.00 253.10 -11.85CHOLAFIN 542.10 545.45 507.10 509.70 -36.05APOLLOHOSP 5200.00 5200.00 4730.00 4800.00 -404.30

New Delhi: Leading stockexchanges BSE and NSE haveput out comprehensive guide-lines for handling technicalglitches at members’ end inorder to prevent disruptions.

Under the new framework,members will have to pay Rs20,000 per day in case of fail-ure to report the incident to theexchanges within the requiredtimeline, BSE and NSE said inseparate circulars.

The guidelines outlinetechnology infrastructure andsystem requirements that amember should put in place toprevent any incident of busi-ness disruption resulting fromtechnical glitches.

Also, the guidelines pre-scribe a Standard OperatingProcedures (SOP) for reportingof technical glitches by mem-bers, handling business dis-

ruption, management of suchbusiness disruption, includingdeclaration of disaster andframing of provisions for dis-ciplinary action in case of non-compliance in reporting orinadequate management ofbusiness disruption.

Technical glitches includemalfunction in hardware, soft-ware or any products and ser-vices provided by members.

The exchanges said mem-bers with a client base of morethan 50,000 unique registeredclients across all bourses will berequired to mandatorily estab-lish a business continuity planor disaster recovery set up toensure that there is well-defined continuity plan in caseof such business disruptions.

The move will ensure thatthere is continuity of businessand stability in operations of

members in case of any tech-nical glitches, so that interest ofinvestors and market at large isnot adversely impacted, the cir-culars issued on Wednesdaynoted.

With regards to reportingrequirements, the exchangeshave asked members to inti-mate them about the incidentwithin two hours from thestart of the glitch.

Besides, a preliminary inci-dent report will be submitted tothe exchange within T+1 day ofthe incident (T being the dateof the incident). The report willinclude the date and time of theincident, its details, effect andthe immediate action taken.

Further, Root CauseAnalysis (RCA) of the issue willhave to be submitted within 21working days.

PTI

New Delhi: Telecom opera-tor Bharti Airtel on Fridaysaid it has paid Rs 15,519crore to the governmenttowards prepayment of itsentire deferred liability per-taining to spectrum acquiredin the 2014 auction.

The company hadacquired 128.4 MHz spec-trum (including Telenorspectrum) for a considerationof Rs 19,051 crore in the 2014auction, Airtel said in a state-ment.

The company estimatesthat the prepayment toDepartment of Telecom(DoT) will likely result ininterest cost savings of atleast Rs 3,400 crore over the

residual life for fully substi-tuted capital.

In a statement, Airtel saidit has prepaid Rs 15,519 croreto clear all deferred liabilitiesfor the spectrum acquired in2014.

“These liabilities weredue in annual instalmentsfrom FY2026-2027 to 2031-2032, and carried an interestrate of 10 per cent (the high-est rate among the deferredliabilities and borrowings)and an average residual life of7 plus years,” the statementadded.

Airtel said it continues toexercise flexibilities towardsa stronger and efficient cap-ital structure. PTI

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Mumbai: The Sensex plum-meted 889 points while theNifty sank below the 17,000-mark on Friday, in line with aselloff in global markets ashawkish central banks and ris-ing Omicron cases sparked aretreat from riskier assets.

Continued selling by for-eign institutional investors putfurther pressure on domesticbourses, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensextumbled 889.40 points or 1.54per cent to finish at 57,011.74.Similarly, the broader NSENifty plunged 263.20 points or1.53 per cent to 16,985.20.

IndusInd Bank was thetop laggard on the Sensexchart, shedding 4.89 per cent,followed by Kotak Bank, HUL,Titan, HDFC, Bajaj Finservand SBI.

In value terms, RelianceIndustries and HDFC twinsaccounted for around half ofthe benchmark’s losses.

Only five index compo-nents managed to close in thegreen -- Infosys, HCL Tech,PowerGrid, Sun Pharma and

TCS, spurting up to 2.84 percent. “Weak global sentimentsinundated domestic indices asmarkets are digesting the hawk-ish stance of major interna-tional central banks amid surg-ing Omicron cases,” said VinodNair, Head of Research atGeojit Financial Services.

“While the EuropeanCentral Bank took a small stepin rolling back the crisis-erastimulus although holdingdown borrowing costs nextyear, the Bank of England sur-prised the markets by raisinginterest rates for the first timesince the onset of the pan-demic. Continued FII sellingcreated tension among domes-tic investors. Barring IT, all sec-tors bled,” he added.

During the week, theSensex slumped 1,774.93 pointsor 3.01 per cent and Niftytanked 526.10 points or 3 percent. Kurian, Senior EVP andHead- Equity Research, KotakMahindra Asset ManagementCompany, said emergence ofthe Omicron coronavirus vari-ant, inflation concerns. PTI

Mumbai: Declining for thethird consecutive week, India’sforex reserves dipped by USD77 million to reach USD635.828 billion for the weekended December 10, RBI datashowed on Friday.

In the previous week, thereserves had slid by USD 1.783billion to USD 635.905 billion.

In the reporting weekended December 10, the dip inthe forex kitty was on account

of a decline in foreign curren-cy assets (FCA), a major com-ponent of the overall reserves.

FCA dropped by USD 321million to USD 572.86 billion,as per the data.

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

Value of the gold reservesrose by USD 291 million by toUSD 38.709 billion in thereporting week.

The special drawing rights(SDRs) with the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) weredown by USD 37 million toUSD 19.089 billion. The coun-try’s reserve position with theIMF also increased by USD 10million to USD 5.17 billion, thedata showed. PTI

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Mumbai: The rupee pared itsinitial losses to settle margin-ally higher by 3 paise at 76.06

against the US dollar on Friday,even as concerns over foreignfund outflows and rising crude

oil prices weighed on overallsentiment.

The local unit, however,

recorded its fourth weeklydecline amid growing con-cerns over the Omicron variant

of coronavirus. Firming up ofcrude oil prices too weighed onthe local unit.

Page 12: 2PLFURQ FDVHV VRDU WR LQ ,QGLD - Daily Pioneer

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Senators gave final congres-sional approval on Thursday

to a bill barring imports fromChina’s Xinjiang region unlessbusinesses can prove they wereproduced without forcedlabour, overcoming initial hes-itation from White House and what supporterssaid was opposition from cor-porations.

The measure is the latest ina series intensifying US penal-ties over China’s alleged sys-temic and widespread abuse ofethnic and religious minoritiesin western region, especiallyXinjiang’s predominantlyMuslim Uyghurs. The Bidenadministration also announcednew sanctions Thursday tar-geting several Chinese biotechand surveillance companies, aleading drone manufacturerand government entities fortheir actions in Xinjiang.

The Senate vote sendsbill to President Joe Biden.Press secretary Jen Psaki saidthis week that Biden support-ed measure, after months ofWhite House declining to takea public stand on an earlier ver-sion of legislation. The UnitedStates says China is committinggenocide in its treatment of

Uyghurs. That includes wide-spread reports by rights groupsand journalists of forced steril-ization and large detentioncamps where many Uyghursallegedly are compelled to workin factories.

China denies any abuses. Itsays steps it has taken are nec-essary to combat terrorism anda separatist movement. TheU.S. cites raw cotton, gloves,tomato products, silicon andviscose, fishing gear and arange of components in solarenergy as among goods allegedto have been produced withhelp of the forced labour.

Xinjiang is a resource-richmining region, important foragricultural production, andhome to a booming industrialsector. Detainees also aremoved outside Xinjiang and putto work in factories, includingthose in apparel and textiles,electronics, solar energy andautomotive sectors, the US says.“Many companies have alreadytaken steps to clean up theirsupply chains. And, frankly,they should have no concernsabout this law,” Sen. MarcoRubio, the Florida Republicanwho introduced the earlier ver-sion of the legislation withOregon Democratic Sen. JeffMerkley, said in a statement.

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Soaring infections in Britaindriven in part by omicron

variant of coronavirus rattledEurope on Thursday, prompt-ing new restrictions on theContinent and fueling a famil-iar dread on both sides ofAtlantic about entering a newphase of pandemic just in timefor the holidays.

Much remains unknownabout omicron, but officialsincreasingly warn that itappears more transmissiblethan delta variant, which hasalready put pressure on hospi-tals worldwide. With so manyquestions unanswered, uncer-tainty reigned over how quick-ly and how severely to crackdown on Christmas travel andyear-end parties. After the U.K.recorded its highest number ofconfirmed new COVID-19infections since pandemicbegan, France announcedThursday that it would tightenentry rules for those comingfrom Britain.

Hours later, country setanother record, with a further88,376 confirmed COVID-19cases reported Thursday, almost10,000 more than day before.

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Travel restrictions aimed atcurbing the spread of the

omicron variant of the coron-avirus are hammering thealready beleaguered travel andtourism industries and addingto the gloom in Europe in themidst of the crucial holidayseason.

Travelers are rearrangingor canceling trips because oftightening rules. Eurostar,which operates trains acrossthe English Channel, sold outof tickets to France on Fridaybefore new travel restrictionsto and from Britain went intoeffect.

Much remains unknownabout the new variant,although increasing evidenceindicates it spreads more eas-ily. While researchers race tofigure out how severe it is andhow well vaccines work againstit, the uncertainty itself is also

causing some to change theirplans.Amanda Wheelock, 29,a grad student at the Universityof Michigan, canceled a trip toFrance with her partner ascases spiked there. Eventhough the surge isn’t neces-sarily due to omicron, theuncertainty about the newvariant, and a new require-ment that all US travelers haveto test negative before flyingback to the US, made herworry that the trip would bemore stressful thanfun.Instead, she’s traveling tothe Anchorage, Alaska, area tosee friends.

She feared that she wouldspend much of her trip tryingto avoid getting infected —thus not able to take fulladvantage of being in France.“A vacation with a lot of stressprobably not a great vaca-tion,” said Wheelock, who isfrom Arvada, Colorado. She isnot alone.

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The China will take all nec-essary measures to safe-

guard its institutions and enter-prises, a Foreign Ministryspokesman said Friday after theU.S. Senate passed a law bar-ring imports from the Xinjiangregion unless businesses canprove they were made withoutforced labor.

The spokesman, WangWenbin, said the measureapproved Thursday “indicatesthat the U.S. has no scruplesabout smearing China by everymeans.””The relevant actionsseriously undermine the prin-ciples of market economy andinternational economic andtrade rules, and seriously dam-age the interests of Chineseinstitutions and enterprises,”Wang told reporters at a dailybriefing. “China stronglydeplores and rejects that andurges the U.S. to immediatelycorrect its mistake. China willtake all necessary measures to

resolutely safeguard the legiti-mate rights and interests ofChinese institutions and enter-prises,” Wang said withoutelaborating.

The law is the latest USpenalty over China’s allegedsystemic and widespread abuseof ethnic and religious minori-ties in its far western region,especially Xinjiang’s predomi-nantly MuslimUyghursPresident Joe Biden isexpected to sign the law afterovercoming initial hesitationfrom the White House andwhat supporters said was oppo-sition from corporations.

He also announced newsanctions Thursday that targetseveral Chinese biotech andsurveillance companies, a lead-ing drone manufacturer andgovernment entities for theiractions in Xinjiang. Despitenumerous independent inves-tigations finding forced steril-ization and large detentioncamps where many Uyghursallegedly are compelled to work

in factories, China hasdenounced all such claims asthe “lie of the century.” It por-trays them as part of an effortto stifle China’s growth anddamage its reputation. China atfirst denied the prison-likecamps exist but later said theywere voluntary centers for jobtraining and de-radicalization.It now says all “students” havegraduated.

“The U.S. government istrying to strangle the economyof Xinjiang through its indus-trial and supply chains underthe false pretexts of ‘forcedlabor’ and ‘violations of humanrights,’ the official Xinhua NewsAgency said Friday, citing areport by the Institute forCentral Asia Studies underLanzhou University in north-western Gansu province. TheU.S. says raw cotton, gloves,tomato products, silicon, fish-ing gear and a range of solarenergy components are amonggoods allegedly made withhelp from forced labour.

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UN Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres exhorted

the world on Thursday to make“concrete” progress within daystoward a now-distant goal of vac-cinating 40% of the global pop-ulation against COVID-19 beforethe year ends. “Vaccine inequityis giving variants a free pass torun wild,” Guterres—workingfrom home because of expo-sure to the coronavirus — toldreporters by videoconference ascountries grappled with thespread of the virus’ omicronvariant. “The strategy of vac-cine hoarding, the strategy ofvaccine nationalism or strate-gy of vaccine diplomacy hasfailed. This new variant hasdemonstrated this failure,” saidGuterres, who came into con-

tact last week with someonewho tested positive for virus; it’snot clear which version.Guterres has since tested neg-ative but said he’s remaining inisolation until the end of thisweek.Scientists have longwarned that patchy vaccinationraises the risk of worrisomecoronavirus variants emerg-ing. That’s because the more thevirus spreads, the more chancesit has to mutate.While there aremany unknowns about thenew omicron variant, theWorld Health Organizationsays it’s spreading faster thanany other variant to date.

With little more than twoweeks to go, 98 countries have yetto meet the WHO’s 40%-vacci-nated target, Guterres said. Fortycountries haven’t vaccinated even10%.

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The Food and DrugAdministration on Thursday

permanently removed a majorobstacle for women seekingabortion pills, eliminating along-standing requirement thatthey pick up the medication inperson.

Millions of Americanwomen will now be able to geta prescription via an onlineconsultation and receive pillsthrough mail. FDA officials saida scientific review supportedbroadening access, includingno longer limiting dispensing toa small number of specialtyclinics and doctor’s offices. Butprescribers will still need toundergo certification and train-ing. Additionally, agency said

dispensing pharmacies will haveto be certified.The decision is lat-est shift in the polarized legalbattle over medication abortion,which has only intensified amiddisruptions of the COVID-19pandemic. It is certain to spurlegal challenges and morerestrictions in Republican-ledstates.

Earlier this year FDAstopped enforcing in-personrequirement because of the pan-demic. Under Thursday’s deci-sion, the agency permanentlydropped 20-year-old rule, whichhas long been opposed by med-ical societies, includingAmerican Medical Association,which say restriction offers noclear benefit to patients. TheFDA’s latest scientific reviewstems from a 2017 lawsuit led by

the American Civil LibertiesUnion, which argued that theagency’s restrictions block ordelay medical care, especially forpeople in low-income and ruralcommunities.

The ACLU hailed elimina-tion of strictest requirements butsaid regulators should have gonefurther and allowed prescribingby any physician and broaderpharmacy dispensing. Abortionopponents said FDA decisionwould result in more drug-related side effects and compli-cations for women. Physicianswho prescribe the drug, mifepri-stone, will have to certify thatthey can provide emergencycare to deal with potentialadverse effects, including exces-sive bleeding, FDA officials saidThursday.

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Fighting between Myanmargovernment forces and eth-

nic guerrillas has sent about2,500 villagers fleeing acrossthe border into Thailand, aThai army officer said onFriday.

The exodus was biggestsince April, when several thou-sand villagers from Myanmar’seastern state of Karen fled toThailand following airstrikesby Myanmar governmentforces in territory held byKaren ethnic minority. Theywere allowed to stay for a fewdays then returned toMyanmar. The Karen are oneof several ethnic minoritieswho have been battling fordecades for greater autonomyfrom Myanmar’s central gov-

ernment. Fighting betweentwo sides is intermittent, butheated up after military inFebruary seized power fromthe elected government ofAung San Suu Kyi.

A Thai army officer inwestern border province ofTak told The Associated Pressthat around 2,500 villagersfrom Myanmar had crossedMoei River, which marks bor-der, since Thursday to seekshelter in Thailand’s Mae Sotdistrict. The officer, who spokeon condition of anonymitybecause he is not authorized torelease information, said Thaiauthorities provided evacuees-- mostly women and children-- with humanitarian assis-tance including shelter andfood, and tested them forCOVID-19.

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Riyadh: From greeting foreignleaders to heading regional sum-mits, Crown Prince Mohammedbin Salman is taking over reinsfrom his elderly father andbecoming Saudi Arabia’suncrowned king.

With increased concernsover nearly 86-year-old KingSalman’s health, PrinceMohammed, 36, is taking chargeof presidential meetings andreception of dignitaries, withking rarely making publicappearances. While PrinceMohammed has been consideredde facto leader since his appoint-ment as heir to throne in June2017, his growing prominencehas never been more apparentthan when he met with FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronand led Gulf CooperationCouncil summit. AFP

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:�� ���� 57 '��5 )�-#)� 5�':7�)�-��'-��6')�)���*)�(Nishads). The SP and BSP used to say thatthey work for the Backwards, but neverensured constitutional recognition to theBackwards. On the other hand, the BJP didthe work of providing constitutional rightsto the Backward Classes,” he said.

The NISHAD — Nirbal Indian ShoshitHamara Aam Dal — is the apt acronymof the fishing community to which thisparty belongs. The party forged an alliancewith the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tions and the tie-up continues in the immi-nent assembly elections in UP.

Shah also lent a religious twist by high-lighting the association of Nishads withLord Ram.

“Nishad was the first to accompanyLord Ram to exile. Today I want toremind you that we have seen Lord ShriRama in a tarpaulin at Ayodhya, but PrimeMinister Modi laid the foundation of agrand temple,” he said.

The Union minister also spoke aboutthe inauguration of Kashi VishwanathCorridor and how it has added sheen tothe grandeur of Varanasi.

“On one hand, the BJP is building tem-ples and, on the other, it is building hos-pitals and schools too. The prime minis-ter, time and again has said that his gov-ernment is dedicated to the poor, backwardand tribals”, he said.

Shah also elaborated on the achieve-ments of the Yogi Adityanath government,saying that Uttar Pradesh was no longera den of criminals.

“Criminals, who used to call theshots, have been thrown out of the stateby Yogi and are now begging for theirlives,” he said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,NISHAD Party chief Sanjay Nishad, UnionMinister and UP election in-chargeDharmendra Pradhan, Deputy ChiefMinister Keshav Prasad Maurya, BJPstate president Swatantra Dev Singh alsospoke on the occasion.

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India has so far administered 82.8crore first doses and 53.72 crore seconddoses. Overall, more than 136 crore doseshave been administered in the countrywhich is 2.8 times the total doses admin-istered in the US, it said.

India logged 7,447 new coronavirusinfections taking the total tally of Covid-19 cases to 3,47,26,049, while the activecases declined to 86,415, according to theUnion Health Ministry data updated onFriday. The death toll climbed to 4,76,869with 391 fresh fatalities, according to the

data updated at 8 a.m. A decline of 830cases has been recorded in the activeCovid-19 caseload in a span of 24 hours.

�-�'��*@��)' '��-88 -5�6�-4'6��.�:�5#)�:4�'-83)have also given indications regarding this.So today, we can say we (the BJP and CaptAmarinder) will fight Punjab polls togeth-er... About the remaining issue and seatsharing, we will convey this at an appro-priate time,” said Shekhawat after themeeting.

Capt Amarinder, accompanied by hisson Raninder Singh and close aide BharatInder Singh Chahal, said talks regardingthe alliance have been going on “for manydays”.

“Today, our alliance is confirmed.Only seat-sharing talks are going on...Weare all prepared, and 100 per cent, we willwin,” he said.

“The question is who will contest onwhich seat...So, winnability is the sole cri-teria...We will see on seat-to-seatbasis...Whoever is capable to win will befielded...if it is the BJP’s candidate, we willsupport, and it will be vice versa, they willsupport ours,” said Capt Amarinder.

Notably, the BJP, which has alwaysplayed a second fiddle to the ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD) during the decades ofalliance, is eyeing larger share of seats inthe alliance. Sources told The Pioneer thatBJP want nearly 70 seats, out of total 117.

Capt Amarinder has all along beeninsisting on forging the alliance not interms of seats, rather determining theallocation of seats as per the chances ofa candidate to win “regardless of theparty”. The former Chief Minister hasalso made it clear that his party would nottake “any disgruntled” or “leftover”Congress leader in the party, but they willonly be inducted as per the party’s poli-cy. The alliance has added the fourthdimension to an increasingly intense con-test that, just months ago, seemed to beheavily skewed in favour of the State’s rul-ing party - the Congress.

“Our alliance would definitelywin...We have no contest with any-one...Neither with SAD, nor with AAPnor with anyone else,” said CaptAmarinder.

Citing “repeated humiliation” by theCongress top brass, Capt Amarinderstep down as the Chief Minister inSeptember, and later quit the Congressparty, after floating his political party.

Even before formally quitting theCongress, Capt Amarinder had startedtalks with the BJP for an alliance inPunjab, and openly made clear his intentwhile indicating a “resolution” of farm-ers’ issue.

Expressing his desire to arrive as seat-sharing with the BJP, Capt Amarinder hadput one condition — resolution to thefarmers’ issue to their satisfaction — giv-ing enough indications that repealing ofthe three contentious farm laws is roundthe corner.

It is believed that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s decision to withdraw thecontroversial farm laws was taken, tosome extent, by keeping the BJP’s Punjabplans in mind. Notably, the BJP, which hasbeen contesting polls in alliance with theSAD for many decades, was left by its allyin protest against the agri laws - thus forc-ing the saffron party to look for an alter-native considering not having a strongbase in the State.

Later, both Capt Amarinder andShekhawat shared their pictures, huggingeach other, on Twitter, while sharing thenews of the alliance. “Met union minis-ter & @BJP4India in-charge for Punjab,Shri @gssjodhpur in New Delhi today tochalk out future course of action aheadof the Punjab Vidhan Sabha elections. Wehave formally announced a seat adjust-ment with the BJP for the 2022 PunjabVidhan Sabha elections,” tweeted CaptAmarinder.

Shekhawat also tweeted, “After 7rounds of talks, today I confirm that BJP& Punjab Lok Congress are going to fightthe upcoming Punjab Assembly electionstogether. Topics like seat share will be dis-cussed later.”

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Parly said France wants to preserve theIndo-Pacific as an open and inclusive areaand that must be free from any “coercion”.She also said the Indo-Pacific is not an arti-ficial juxtaposition of the Indian andPacific oceans. It should be understood asa wide geographical continuum facingcommon challenges.

On the scourge of terrorism, she said“Terror has struck France and Europerepeatedly over the last few years and hasnot spared the Indo Pacific, includingIndia. This fight is not over and will con-tinue for many years to come.” She also saidthe threat has not waned in the backdropof the situation in Afghanistan.

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But the long-term stability of Kim JongUn’s rule could still be questioned if he failsto work out steps to address the ongoingdifficulties and improve public liveli-hoods, some observers say.

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Aday after theAdministrative council

headed by Lt-Gov Manoj Sinhaapproved the regulationsframed by the board of revenuefor conversion of agricultureland for non-agricultural pur-poses two mainstream Kashmirbased parties reacted sharplyclaiming the move is aimed atengineering 'demographic'changes and 'disempowering'locals.

Under the new regulations,the District Collector has beenempowered to grant permis-sion to the change in land usefrom agricultural to non-agri-cultural purposes in accor-dance with the procedure as tobe notified by the board ofRevenue.

The permission is to begranted within 30 days of filingof the application with a pro-vision of deemed approval if nodecisions are taken.The powershave been delegated to theDistrict Collector to grant per-mission for land up to 12 ½

standard acres against a fee of5 percent of the market valueof the land notified under theStamps Act.

Apparently this decisionhas unnerved some of the val-ley based politicians.

First of all former ChiefMinister and PeoplesDemocratic Party ChiefMehbooba Mufti in her tweetsaid the move is aimed at engi-neering demographic changesby allowing outsiders to buyland in J&k. Mehobooba tweet-ed, "JK admin’s new policyenabling conversion of agri-cultural land to nonagriculturalpurposes reveals their nefariousdesigns of engineering demo-graphic changes. The develop-ment agenda is a ruse. Latestregulation doesn’t even requirethe 15 yr domicile certificate asa prerequisite.

After depriving locals oftheir rightful share of govtjobs, such abrupt policy deci-sions that pave the way for out-siders to buy land in J&K aretaken only to further disem-power locals".

On the other handNational Conference VicePresident and former ChiefMinister Omar Abdullahinvoked his grandfather SheikMohd Abdullah's land to thetiller reforms while opposingthe move.

Omar tweeted, "Allowinguse of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes is anoth-er nail in the coffin of the “landto the tiller” reforms in J&K.This landmark reform has beena major reason for the low lev-els of poverty and it will alsothreaten the food security ofthe people of J&K".Raisingother concerns Omar said thefact that this conversion ofland use doesn’t even requirethe 15 year domicile certificateas a prerequisite will also rekin-dle fears about the motivesbehind such decisions.

Meanwhile, sharing detailsof the regulation a statementissued by the Directorate ofInformation and PublicRelations said, "The regulationsempower the applicant to com-mence the non agriculture use

on the permitted land withinone year from the date of theorder issued by the DistrictCollector in this behalf.

However, the land can bediverted and used only for thepurpose specified in the per-mission.

Moreover, the regulationsprovide exemption from seek-ing the permission in cases ofconversion for construction ofresidential house or farm-relat-ed buildings and storages witha ceiling of 400 Sq. mtrs (17Marla). The AssistantCommissioner (Revenue), Sub-Divisional Magistrate andTehsildar concerned have beenentrusted with the responsi-bility of monitoring the imple-mentation of these regulationswithin their respective areas ofjurisdiction.

Besides, it will be the dutyof every Agriculture ExtensionOfficer to report cases of vio-lation to the revenue officersand any neglect on this accountcan attract disciplinary actionfor dereliction of duty,the state-ment said.

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Guwahati: Justice Arun Mishra, the chair-person of the National Human RightsCommission (NHRC), on Friday said itwould be wrong to generalise that humanrights get violated due to imposition ofAFSPA in some of the northeastern states.He also pointed out that the NHRC cannotexamine or hold a debate on the legality orconstitutionality of the Armed ForcesSpecial Powers Act (AFSPA).

"It cannot be generalised that humanrights are violated due to imposition ofAFSPA. The government should be review-ing the need for application or withdrawalof the Act," Justice Mishra told reporters,after the conclusion of a two-day camp here.He, however, asserted that the commissionviews custodial deaths or extra-judicialkillings "very seriously" and all cases mustbe reported or it may take suo-moto cog-nisance. PTI

Kohima: Thousands of people took partin the ‘Peoples' Rally’ held here onFriday, demanding justice for the 14 civil-ians killed by security forces in Nagalandrecently and scrapping of the ArmedForces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA)from the North-eastern region.

Participants of the rally walked fromthe Old MLA Hostel junction in the heartof state capital Kohima to the Raj Bhavan,a distance of around 2.5 kilometres, andsubmitted a memorandum on thedemands to the governor's secretariat.

Besides members of the NagaStudents' Federation (NSF) which organ-ised the rally, representatives of theNorth East Students' Organisation(NESO), All Assam Students' Union(AASU) and apex bodies of several trib-al bodies took part in it.

The protestors raised slogansdenouncing the killing of 14 civilians byarmy para-commandos in Oting area ofMon district in a botched up operationand its aftermath in the North-easternstate on December 4 and 5.

They also held banners and placardssome of which read, “Nagas are not ter-rorists”, “Ban AFSPA, not our voice” and

“Justice for Oting victims”.NSF president Kegwayhun Tep,

Peoples' Rally organising committeeconvener Vipopal Kintso, NESO advisorSamujjal Bhattacharya and other leaderssubmitted a memorandum, addressed toPrime Minister Narendra Modi, to thegovernor's secretariat at Raj Bhavan.

In the memorandum, the NSF - theapex students' body of Naga students ofAssam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur andNagaland - demanded immediate justicefor the slain youths of Oting and all Nagavictims of alleged army excesses, repealof the AFSPA, and expedition of findingout the solution to the Naga politicalproblem.

Altogether 14 civilians in Nagaland'sMon district were killed in three con-secutive episodes of firing by securityforces, the first of which has beenclaimed to be a case of mistaken identi-ty.

Shah had told the Lok Sabha that thearmy had received information on themovement of insurgents in Mon and '21Para Commando' unit had laid anambush. PTI

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Zee TV recently launched a freshromantic drama, Aggar Tum Na

Hote, which showcases the extent towhich a nurse goes to treat herpatient. The story revolves aroundNiyati Mishra — a young, hard-working, and dedicated nurse andAbhimanyu Pandey who is a charm-ing, rich young man dealing withmental instability. While the show hasa unique storyline, it is Abhimanyuand Niyati's camaraderie that hasbecome the talk of the town. Whilethe leads Simaran Kaur andHimanshu Soni have made animpression on the audience, one suchcharacter who has mesmerised theaudience with his impactful perfor-mance is Avinash Wadhawan.Wadhawan has been a part of ZeeTV’s Piyaa Albela before and now heis making a comeback on televisionafter almost three years as GajendraPandey in the show.

Wadhawan plays the pivotal roleof Abhimanyu’s father, who is a veryinfluential, rich, and suave powerbroker based in Uttar Pradesh. Heis a very strong and authoritativeman and there is no task that hecannot complete once he sets hismind to. He loves his family toomuch and would do anything tokeep them together. His characterhas a dark side, but as his storyunfolds, we get to know how he isso caring towards his family. Hisrelationship with his son has a lotof friction but he has a heart of goldfor the people in need. He has even

donned a new look to play this emo-tionally challenging role of Gajendrain debonair style, Wadhawan is veryexcited to show the different shadesof his character with his impecca-ble acting skills and his new suave.

Talking about his role,Wadhawan says, “It feels great to beback on television after a forced sab-batical of around two and halfyears (laughs). Talking about com-ing back to television, I feel that thekind of public reach television has,no other medium offers that, be itcinema or OTT. When I was firstnarrated about my character, I wasextremely excited after listening tothe story as I was looking out for agood role and Gajendra’s characteris very complex and I’ve neverplayed a role like this in all my ear-lier shows. The story is like an emo-tional rollercoaster and has someimmersive drama that shows astrained but deeply bonded relation-ship between a father and his son.”

He adds, “I’m enjoying enactingthis role and I have even changedmy body language, attire and atti-tude to get into the skin of my char-acter. Personally, my nature is oppo-site to Gajendra’s loud, ruthless, andshow-off nature so it is a bit morechallenging, and I couldn’t relate toit. But I am trying my best to por-tray the role.”

(To know more, stay tuned forAggar Tum Na Hote every

Monday to Friday at 10:30pm, onZee TV.)

Nothing about the entertain-ment industry was predictable

or cliched in 2021 as filmmakersand storytellers moved beyondtired narratives to explore newmilieus, themes and issues. Hereare some of our favourites thatruled the OTT space this year:

200 HALLO HOThis Sarthak Dasgupta direc-

torial and Yoodlee productionbravely mainstreamed a storyabout caste-based atrocities, thedenial of justice and the inevitableretribution that follows when hun-dreds of Dalit survivors strike ablow to avenge the systematicsuppression of their pain and vio-lation. Inspired by true events, thisZEE5 original slow burns to reacha moment of cathartic explosionwhen 200 women take law intotheir own hands to respond to cen-turies of erasure. Starring Amol

Palekar, Rinku Rajguru, BarunSobti and others, the film equatedDalit identity with power and notjust victimhood and reminded uswhy we must tell and hear moresuch stories.

JAI BHIM

This Jyothika and Suriya pro-duction will go down in history asone of the most important filmsabout Dalit rights. The Tamil legaldrama is directed by T J Gnanaveland stars Suriya and Lijomol Josewith K Manikandan, RajishaVijayan, Prakash Raj, Rao Rameshand others. Like 200 Hallo Ho, thisfilm too is based on a true incidentand recounts how in1993, JusticeK Chandru, fought relentlessly toget justice for Senggeni andRajakannu. The lives of this trib-al couple are forever changedwhen Rajakannu is first arrestedand then goes missing from police

custody. What follows next iswrenching and eye-opening. JaiBhim also became the first Indianfilm to top the IMDb ratings.

SHERNISherni is yet another example

of how director Amit V Masurkaris pushing the thematic limits ofHindi cinema. Produced by T-Series and AbundantiaEntertainment, Sherni had a solidfemale lead in Vidya Balan whoplayed an upright and conscien-tious Forest Service officer caughtin the corruption and inertia of acruel and incompetent system.Sharat Saxena, Vijay Raaz, IlaArun, Brijendra Kala, Neeraj Kabiand Mukul Chaddha played sup-porting roles. The film highlight-ed little known aspects of animal

and human conflict and how habi-tat destruction is pushing wildlifeon the margins of forests and intoa spiral of extinction.

SHERSHAAHA war film without jingoism

seems like an anomaly but thisDharma and Kaash Entertainmentproduction pulled this off while pay-ing a passionate tribute to Param VirChakra-awardee Captain VikramBatra. Directed by Vishnuvardhan,the film showed us how an idealis-tic young man who loved life asmuch as his country, made the ulti-mate sacrifice during the Kargil war.It also celebrated his eternal lovestory with a girl who chose to cel-ebrate his memories and his life evenafter losing him tragically. SidharthMalhotra as Vikram Batra played

possibly the role of a lifetime whileKiara Advani played his girlfriendDimple Cheema.

SARDAR UDHAMVicky Kaushal continues to

stun with his ability to becomeevery character he gets to play andSardar Udham is no exception.This historical drama helmed byShoojit Sircar, and produced byRising Sun Films in collaborationwith Kino Works, gives Kaushalanother chance to display hisdepth and histrionic range as anactor as he plays the titular char-acter of an iconic freedom fight-er who assassinated MichaelO'Dwyer in London to avenge the1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre.The film is a far cry from hurriedentertainers and takes viewers onan intense journey to meet the manwho tried to right a historic wrong.

The poster boy of content cinema,Ayushmann Khurrana, is huge-

ly keen to play India’s golden boy atthe Olympics, Neeraj Chopra, incase a biopic is made on him.

Khurrana, who is riding ontremendously positive reviews andword of mouth for his recent releaseChandigarh Kare Aashiqui in whichhe is tackling the issue of inclusiv-ity of the transgender community,says, “I’m constantly inspired by realpeople who do extraordinary things.Right now, I’m hugely inspired byNeeraj Chopra and what this youthicon has achieved on the world stageand made our nation incrediblyproud.”

Khurrana is keen to playChopra in case he chooses to notplay himself and act in his biopic.Khurrana adds, “The resolve andthe nerves of steel that he showcasedat the Olympics to a win gold forIndia needs to be saluted. I wouldlove to play him in a biopic if it’s

made in the near future and ifNeeraj chooses to not play himselfon screen. Such achievements needto be celebrated and the life storiesof such heroes need to be told topeople across the country.”

In his debut at the 2020 TokyoOlympics, Chopra won the goldmedal in javelin throw. As of 2021,he is one of only two Indians to havewon an individual Olympic goldmedal (the other being AbhinavBindra), as well as the youngest-everIndian Olympic gold medalist in anindividual event and the only one tohave won gold in his Olympic debut.

With the recent release of thefilm Cash, my mind wastransported to 2016 when

we had queued up in long lines infront of ATMs under scorching heat.Many might say it was a terrible time,the remaining might recall it as apetulant move by the government.But as director Rishab Seth men-tioned, the filmmakers or the actorsare not here to pass judgement on itor their stance on it, even today,remains very neutral. They want totake people back to that time andremind them that we all got past thistogether. And when you go back intime — even if you thought that it wasdark time then — you can always, inretrospect, laugh it off. The ideabehind the film was to use collectiveconsciousness and evoke laughterinstead of pain.

Cash, directed by Rishab Sethand produced by Vishesh Bhatt,stars Amol Parashar, Smriti Kalra,Swanand Kirkire, Kevin Dave, andGulshan Grover. The light-hearteddramedy, that centers around theperiod of demonetisation and risingentrepreneurship in India, startedstreaming on Disney+Hotstar.

Read on for excerpts from aheart-to-heart with the young actors,Smriti, Amol and Kevin:

�Tell us a bit about your char-acters.

You’re a street smart entrepre-neur (Armaan), Amol. Let’s startwith you.

AP: Yes! (all pumped up)Armaan Gulati is a street-smartentrepreneur and that kinda encap-sulates his whole personality becausehe’s a hustler and keeps brimmingwith new ideas. He is always think-ing and wants to become a wealthyperson like Elon Musk, wants to suc-ceed in life. His wild dream is to cre-ate a successful start-up.Demonetisation is the trigger of a newidea because a lot of businessesfailed at the time and he realised he

could take advantage of their failure.He decided to help people converttheir money. Armaan is joined byNeha and Soda to culminate hisplans.

They try various ways — funnyand bizarre — to convert this moneyand that was what might’ve happenedat the same. People to desperate tosave their black money. So, youknow, the guy is a bit of an oppor-tunist, in a way. I’m saying thisbecause his heart is clean, even if hisideas are twisted.

�Smriti, we’ve loved the char-acter of Suvreen Guggal you’veplayed before. How was this newavatar you donned?

SK: Thank you! (cheerful) Sinceyou just mentioned Suvreen, Neha —the character that I play in the film— is 180° opposite (laughs). So, Nehais sassy, she's feisty, she's independent,confident and extremely jugadu. Sheis a natural fixer and someone whocan double-cross you for her owngood. So, Armaan and Soda approachNeha and while Armaan is smart andhas a lot of ideas, Neha has tons ofcontacts up her sleeve. And, so,they’re the perfect fit — for a start-up.

She's someone you would wanton your team, because she’s sojugaadu, she’ll find one way or anoth-er to do her job. In a way, she orches-trates things so that is Neha, some-thing I'm completely not, somethingI've completely never been, and a very,very different character that I'veplayed and have thoroughly enjoyed.

KD: So, I'm playing Soda in thefilm, who is Armaan’s best friend andis, thus, always stuck with him. In thename of the said friendship, poorSoda always ends up in trouble asArmaan’s accomplice (chuckles).First, he denies all of Armaan’s ideasbut eventually gives in. Soda is loyal,however, Armaan and Soda are polesapart. Like Amol said, Armaan is a

hustler, while Soda is a coward. Hefinds problems in everything, whileArmaan finds opportunities in thesame. Smriti’s character sort-of bal-ances the two, you know. So, the triosets on this new endeavour.

�We know Cash is a satiricaltake on a very serious event, how doyou think the drama and comedymingle into the seriousness of it?

AP: Kevin had rightfully said itin the last interview, ‘tragedy mei bhicomedy hoti hai’. At that time, noneof us would've wanted to have a funnytake on this. But, now, from a distanceonce you've crossed the event, you

can laugh about even the bitter parts.Now that it is in the past, that is anadvantage we have, people nowremember it as a memory. We’re nowlaughing on how these people that aretrying to convert their money in allthe stupid and bizarre ways. We're notlaughing at people that have proba-bly faced real misery. These are peo-ple — the people who had blackmoney on them and were runningfrom here to there to somehow savethemselves — we cannot have sym-pathy with. We would sympathisewith other people who, in the processof because of your money launder-ing, had to face difficulties.

SK: You know, the script is sowell-written by Arsh Bora, the writer,and Rishabh Seth, the director, thatI was just smiling all through, so thecomedy, drama and satire were well-blended, served to us on a plate. It'sa fast-paced situational comedy,based on the chaos created in the sit-uation.

Our job was, thus, made easier.We just had to imbibe the script andlive the characters.

�What do you feel about theshift from home viewing to OTT?Has the shift given an impetus tostories based on real events?

AP: Um, I believe we used tohave stories from real events earlier,too. OTT has a wider audience andso, yes, people watch this stuff there.

SK: The thing is that the contenton OTT platforms is at the tip of yourfingers, you're empowered topause/play.

AP: Yes, and there’s more respon-sibility in OTT, to write better.Because in theatres, you’d buy aticket, would be entitled to staybecause you’ve paid so much for onefilm. Here, OTT is cheaper and youhave the liberty to watch so muchmore content.

KD: And there is luxury of hav-ing this audience in OTT, but alsothere’s the responsibility of entertain-ing them also. There are so manyoptions and that puts pressure, of agood kind, on the stories you chooseand tell.

SK: Which is why films and tele-vision will up their game because ofhealthy competition. Every genrehas expanded, one of which is real-life based content. People are exper-imenting on this medium. (pausesand adds) Which is good!

�What is one thing that thisthing (portraying social reality)has taught you, Kevin?

KD: We should not hoard blackmoney... (everyone breaks into laugh-ter).

(He chuckles and continues) Asactors? We learnt what limits peoplecan go to, to save themselves, to getout of trouble when, clearly, they arein the wrong.

SK: I think, I learnt the impor-tance of contacts, something that Idon’t have. Also, that there’s always away out, you know.

�You recently worked in SardarUdham Singh, and the genres arepoles apart. How was the experi-ence?

AP: Exactly, opposite genre from

Udham Singh which was a very seri-ous film. Cash was fast-paced com-edy that I fully enjoyed. To be opento other's ideas of funny, as an actor,there are four-five ways of approach-ing the same scene and being funnyand the greed was that we wanted toshoot everything. So, a lot of sweatand tears.

I came out a different humanbeing, I had fun, I worked with love-ly people and got to make a fun film.

�What was the most excitingpart of the film, Smriti?

SK: It’s my first film, man!(pumped up) I’m so excited.

I went for different paths in life— I was a science student and thensome time later, an RJ before stum-bling upon acting. I’m grateful to thedirector for having faith in me.

KD: It was real nice to have agood relationship with the writer andproducer and the entire team. Andfelt youthful and fun to be a part ofthis story.

�Choked is yet another film ondemonetisation. How is it similar toor different from Cash, Kevin?

KD: Um, there’s no similaritywhatsoever except that the concept isdemonetisation.

�What is one thing that theaudience should look out for?

AP: Have fun and enjoy thehumour. It is a very tightly writtenscreenplay, there’s not a single dullmoment, so, sit back and enjoy, fel-las! The film doesn't preach, it’s sim-ple.

SK: Also, the topic is such, withvery relatable main characters that itmakes for a great family entertainer.There’s something there for everyone!

KD: Basically, each and everycharacter is written so well, youmight have not seen these, and thatwill be the freshness of the film peo-ple will look forward to.

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In a historic first, India wereassured of at least two medals inthe men’s singles competition of

the ongoing BWF WorldBadminton Championships afterthe seasoned Kidambi Srikanthand young Lakshya Sen enteredtheir maiden semifinals of the mar-quee event here on Friday.

However, it was disappoint-ment for defending champion PVSindhu, who lost to familiar foe TaiTzu Ying in the women’s singlesquarterfinals.

India are assured of at least a sil-ver as Srikanth and Sen will faceeach other in the first semifinal onSaturday.

It turned out to be a historic dayfor Indian badminton as firstSrikanth, seeded 12th in the show-piece tournament, sent MarkCaljouw of the Netherlands pack-ing with a 21-8 21-7 win in a matchthat lasted just 26 minutes.

And then the unseeded Senfought his heart out to get the bet-ter of China’s Jun Peng Zhao 21-1515-21 22-20 in an enthralling three-

game encounter lasting one hourand seven minutes

The two will join the legendaryPrakash Padukone (bronze in 1983)

and B Sai Praneeth (bronze in2019) as the Indian medal winnersat the showpiece.

Sindhu, who lost her quarterfi-

nal match against Tai Tzu, haswon five medals in the showpiecewhile Saina Nehwal has two medalsto her name.

The women’s doubles pair ofJwala Gutta and Ashwini Ponnappahad also won a bronze in 2011.

The world number 14 Srikanthwas ahead 11-5 at the first game’schange of ends and from 14-8, hetook seven straight points to pock-et it in a jiffy.

The second game was no differ-ent as Srikanth completely out-played his opponent. From 4-3, itwas Srikanth all the way as hezoomed to another seven straightpoints. From 17-7, Sriknath pock-eted another four points on the trotto win the match.

In the women’s singles, Sindhusuffered a straight-game defeat toworld number one Tai Tzu ofChinese Taipei to bow out of thechampionships.

The top-seeded Tai Tzu beatSindhu 21-17 21-13 in an energy-sapping match that lasted 42 min-utes.

Sindhu found it difficult tomatch Tai Tzu’s speed, court cover-age and drop shots as has been thecase many times earlier though theIndian produced some fine cross-court smashes.

Sindhu, who also stumbled tomany unforced errors during thematch, was always playing a catch-up game. She managed to do thatin the second game at one stage butlost steam later on.

The win extended the head-to-head record between the two topplayers to 15-5 in favour of theChinese Taipei player.

The world number seven anddouble Olympic-medallist Sindhuhad also lost to Tai Tzu in the TokyoGames semifinals earlier this year.

Tai Tzu, on the other hand,avenged her defeat to Sindhu in the2019 World Championships at thesame stage.

The two players -- friends offthe court -- were tied 2-2 early onbut Tai Tzu shifted gears quickly totake a lead of 11-6 at the change ofends in the first game.

Sindhu made a recovery to nar-row down the gap to 16-18 and then17-19 with some fine cross-courtsmashes. But the Indian could notmaintain the tempo till the end asshe hit wide twice to lose the firstgame in 17 minutes.

The second game was more

closely fought, but again Tai Tzu led11-8 at the change of ends afterSindhu made an error in judgment.

But two brilliant smashes forwhich Tai Tzu had no answer sawthe gap narrowing to just one pointat 10-11.

Tai Tzu took the next point butSindhu produced another cross-court smash to make it 11-12. TheChinese Taipei player then sent theshuttle wide for Sindhu to level thescores at 12-12.

The nimble-footed Tai Tzutook the next three points but thenhit on the nets. An unsuccessful linecall challenge saw Sindhu trail 13-16.

The Indian hit on to the netnext and could not reach to a dropshot from her great rival to trail byfive points at 13-18.

Sindhu continued her unforcederrors as she hit wide and thenmissed Tai Tzu’s smash to lose thematch.

In HS Prannoy, another Indianis still in the reckoning for a placein the men’s singles semifinals as hewill take on Kean Yew Loh ofSingapore later in the day.

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Vice-captain HarmanpreetSingh scored a brace as

Olympic bronze-medallistsIndia defeated arch-rivalsPakistan 3-1 to register theirsecond consecutive win andvirtually qualify for the semi-finals of the Asian ChampionsTrophy men’s hockey tourna-ment here on Friday.

Harmanpreet (8th, 53rdminutes) converted two penal-ty corners, while comeback-man Akashdeep Singh, whocouldn’t make the Tokyo

Olympics squad, found the netfrom a field effort in the 42ndminute for his second goal ofthe tournament.

Pakistan’s lone goal wasscored by Junaid Manzoor inthe 45th minute.

It was India’s second win inthe tournament after their 9-0drubbing of hosts Bangladesh,while Pakistan are still winless,having drawn goal-less againstJapan in their opening match.

India had earlier drawn 2-2 against Korea in their tour-nament opener.

India are currently leading

the points table with sevenpoints from three games andwill take on Japan in their lastround-robin match of the five-team tournament on Sunday.

Pakistan, meanwhile, havejust one point from two games.

India and Pakistan werethe joint winners in the last edi-tion of the tournament inMuscat after the final waswashed out.

The Indians completelydominated possession in thefirst two quarters whilePakistan preferred to sit back.But they defended admirably

save for Harmanpreet’s lonestrike.

The play was mostly on thePakistan half in the first twoquarters as Indians pressedhard from the onset and creat-ed a couple of chances but cred-it must go to goalkeeper MazarAbbas who was brilliant over-all. But expectedly, it was Indiawho took the lead in the eighthminute when Harmanpreetconverted the team’s first penal-ty corner with a powerful lowflick to the left of the Pakistangoalie. Four minutes later, skip-per Manpreet Singh’ deflection

from outside the circle wassaved by an alert Abbas.

The second quarter contin-ued in the same manner asIndia made numerous inroadsbut the Pakistan defence wasupto the task.

While Pakistan defencestood out, the team’s forwardline looked unimpressive as itfailed to register a single shoton the goal or secure a penal-ty corner.

Leading 1-0 at half time,the Indians kept up the pres-sure on the Pakistan goal andincreased their lead in the

42nd minute when Akashdeepslapped in Sumit’s drive fromthe left flank with a reverse hit.

But the fighting Pakistanisdidn’t give up hope and uppedtheir game from here on,reducing the margin 27 sec-onds from the end of the thirdquarter through Manzoor’s div-ing deflection from AbdulRana’s pass. If the first threequarters belonged to India,Pakistan gave Manpreet and hismen a run for their money inthe final quarter, which pro-duced end-to-end enthrallinghockey.

�����-#68- #6

Marnus Labuschagne became the firstplayer to hit three centuries in day-

night test matches while captain SteveSmith missed out on a ton as Australiastrangled England with a powerful totalof 473-9 declared in the second Ashes teston Friday.

Labuschagne made 103 and Smithscored 93 before Australia’s tailendersknocked off some quick runs againstEngland’s worn-out bowlers and Australiadeclared after tea.

England limped to 17-2 in 8.4 overs-- still trailing by 456 runs -- before a mas-sive flash of lightning took the players offthe field and brought an early closure tothe second day’s play.

Michael Nesser got a wicket off hissecond ball in test cricket when he hadHaseeb Hameed (6) caught at mid-on afterMitchell Starc had Rory Burns (4) caughtin the slips off a delivery which went across

the left-hander and took the shoulder ofthe bat.

Starc (39 not out) and Neser (35) hadearlier shared a rapid half century standfor the eighth wicket after England seemedto have contained the damage and hadAustralia on 390-7 at tea.

Jhye Richardson lofted Chris Woakes(1-103) for a big six off his second ball overmidwicket before Smith declared whenRichardson was caught behind off Woakes.

Ben Stokes, who dropped a hardcatch of Starc off his own bowling, finishedwith 3-113 but Australia removed bothEngland openers cheaply before play wascalled off early.

Smith and Alex Carey (51) combinedin a 91-run sixth wicket stand beforeAnderson removed both batsmen in suc-cessive overs just before tea. Smith shuf-fled back across the line and was adjudgedlbw and Carey chipped an easy catch inthe covers.

Earlier, England took three wickets

during an even first session after Australiaresumed on 221-2.

In a dramatic 40 minutes to start theday, Labuschagne, resuming on 95, edgedJimmy Anderson to third man for four torecord the sixth century of his career and

first in the Ashes.Moments later he was caught behind

off Ollie Robinson, retreating all the wayto the boundary rope before replaysshowed it had been a no-ball.

Labuschagne eventually fell in the

400th minute of his innings, lbw after try-ing to leave a ball in Robinson’s next overthat came back at him.

Of the 3,068 players in test cricket’s144-year history, only Don Bradman,George Headley, Herbert Sutcliffe andMike Hussey have reached 2,000 runsfaster than Labuschagne’s total in 34innings.

Bradman achieved his 2,000 runs in22 innings, Jamaican Headley in 32 andEngland’s Sutcliffe and Australia’s Husseyin 33.

Labuschagne has now scored centuriesin three consecutive day-night tests at theAdelaide Oval, averaging almost 100 andwith just one score below 40.

Australia’s humungous first inningstotal could prove significant in the out-come of the game. All eight teams whichhave posted 300 or more batting first inday-night tests have gone on to win. Andthe eight teams to pull up short of thatmark have all lost.

����� *65�-8���

India white-ball captain Rohit Sharmaand all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja have

started their rehabilitation at the NationalCricket Academy here after being ruled outof the upcoming Test series in South Africadue to injuries.

The two senior players were seen at theNCA with India U-19 captain Yash Dhullin his social media posts. The U-19 teamis currently camping at the NCA ahead ofthe Asia Cup beginning in the UAE fromDecember 23.

Rohit, who was named ODI captainlast week replacing Virat Kohli, was to trav-el to South Africa as vice-captain of the Testteam for the series starting on December26 but a hamstring injury during trainingruled him out.

His expected recovery time is betweenthree to four weeks.

India ‘A’ captain Priyank Panchal wasnamed in place of Rohit in the Test squad,which reached South Africa on Thursdayfor the series.

The senior opener, who took charge asT20I captain against New Zealand lastmonth, is expected to be available to leadthe team for the ODI leg of the SouthAfrica tour, which is to take place inJanuary.

Jadeja has been ruled out of the SouthAfrica tour due to a knee injury which hesustained during the home New ZealandTest series last month.

He may take a longer time to recoverfrom his injury.

���� �-� )

Lewis Hamilton andMercedes team princi-

pal Toto Wolff were thetwo most remarkableabsentees at the season-ending FIA Awards galathat was held in Paris.

Wolff had confirmedearlier that neither he norHamilton would attendthe ceremony, despite thetop three drivers in theWorld Championshipstandings effectively beingrequired to be present and

despite Hamilton beingthe FIA Personality of theYear.

Max Verstappen, whowon the F1 title in the lastlap of the last race of theseason in Abu Dhabi lastSunday, was officially pre-sented with the champi-on’s trophy.

It was also the lastgala attended by an emo-tional Jean Todt as FIAPresident after 12 years atthe helm of the motorsport’s world governingbody.

����� 3:83-'-

Former Zimbabwe captainAndy Flower was on

Friday appointed as the headcoach of the yet-to-be-namedLucknow franchise, whichwill make its debut in the2022 Indian PremierLeague.

Flower was workingwith Punjab Kings asassistant coach for thepast two seasons.

KL Rahul,who wasP u n j a b ’ sskipper forthe last twoseasons, isa l s oexpectedto move tothe Sanjiv

Goenka-owned franchise.“I am incredibly excited

to be joining the newLucknow franchise and I amvery grateful for the opportu-nity. Since my very first tourto India in 1993, I have always

loved touring, playing andcoaching in India,” saidFlower in a statement.

“The passion forcricket in India is unri-valled and it is a realprivilege to lead an

IPL franchiseand I am look-

ing forwardto workingc l o s e l ywith DrGoenkaand theLucknowteam.

“I will relish the challengeto build something meaning-ful and successful with theLucknow franchise, I amlooking forward to meetingthe management and staffwhen I visit Uttar Pradesh inthe new year.”

Goenka added: “As aplayer and a Coach Andy hasleft an indelible mark in thehistory of cricket . We respecthis professionalism and hopehe will work with our visionand add value to our team.”

The Zimbabwean great,who coached England to theT20 World Cup title in 2010and also the number onespot in Test rankings, is at thehelm of Punjab Kings ownedfranchise in the CaribbeanPremier League -- Saint LuciaKings.

���� 3-�-��

Pakistan completed a cleansweep in the three-match

Twenty20 series against a virus-hitWest Indies with a resoundingseven-wicket win on Thursday.

Run-machine MohammadRizwan rounded off the year withhis 12th half century in Twenty20

internationals by scoring 87 whilecaptain Babar Azam made 79 inPakistan’s blistering run-chase of208-3 in 18.5 overs.

The West Indies squad wasfurther depleted on the morningof the match when three moreplayers tested positive for thecoronavirus, increasing the num-ber of cases to nine — six playersand three support personnel — inthe tourists’ camp.

The West Indies’ top-orderbatters, led by captain NicholasPooran’s blazing 64 off 37 balls, stilldid well to post 207-3 after thetourists had won the toss andelected to bat.

“Rizwan and I thought ofgoing till the end and keep man-aging the run rate,” Babar said.“Our bench strength got a goodworkout too and it’s a great sign forme as a captain.”

����� 567�#68�

Abill which seeks to provide statuto-ry framework for the functioning of

the National Anti-Doping Agency(NADA), empowering it to conductraids besides strengthening measures totackle drug abuse in Indian sports wasintroduced in the Lok Sabha on Friday.

It was introduced by Sports MinisterAnurag Thakur amid protests by theopposition over the Lakhimpur Kheriviolence.

It is intended to provide a “statuto-ry framework for the operation of theNational Anti-Doping Agency (NADA),the National Dope Testing Laboratory(NDTL) and other dope testing labora-tories and for creation of a NationalBoard for Anti-Doping in Sports tostrengthen anti-doping activities in

sport.”The bill seeks to give NADA pow-

ers of “investigation, levying sanctionsfor Anti-Doping Rule Violations, thedisciplinary procedures to be adoptedand the powers of inspection, samplecollection and sharing and free flow ofinformation.” The clause 19 of the billprovides NADA the power of “entry,search and seizure by any person autho-rised by the agency for the purpose ofdetermining if any anti-doping rule vio-lation has been committed”.

“The procedure to be adopted shallbe in accordance with the provisions ofthe Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973.”

Earlier, NADA had no authority toconduct raids and its anti-doping appealpanel has held the same. Many formersportspersons, head of National SportsFederations and experts have been call-

ing for an anti-doping legislation to givemore teeth to the existing rules madeunder the WADA Anti-Doping Code.

It also provides for the establishmentof the NDTL and other dope testing lab-oratories.

The NDTL is currently suspendedby the World Anti-Doping Agency(WADA) for failing to meet technicalrequirements.

If passed by the Parliament, it willgive legislative backing to anti-dopingnorms in the country.

It will also to give effect to UnitedNations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organisation InternationalConvention against Doping in Sport.India signed the convention in 2005 andratified it in November 2007.

After this, the government estab-lished the NDTL in 2008 and theNADA in 2009 to fulfil the country’scommitments.

The NADA and NDTL, establishedas societies under Societies RegistrationAct, will be dissolved and reconstitut-ed.

Under clause 34, “all the rights andliabilities of the Society shall be trans-ferred to, and be the rights and liabili-ties of, the National Anti-DopingAgency or the National Dope TestingLaboratory, as the case may be, estab-lished under this Act”.

The NADA will be constituted as abody corporate by the same name andwill continue to have its head office inNew Delhi.

The agency shall be headed by aDirector General to be appointed by thecentral government.

This Board will constitute aNational Anti-Doping DisciplinaryPanel and Anti-Doping Appeal Panel forthe purpose of determining the conse-quences of anti-doping rule violations.The bill lays down the circumstances,acts or conduct which will constitute ananti-doping violation, including posses-sion, presence, use or attempted use,trafficking or attempted trafficking,administration of any prohibited sub-stance or prohibited methods, refusingor failing to submit sample, whereaboutsfailure.

����� #�-3-

India lost by a solitary goal to hosts Bangladeshfor their first defeat in the SAFF U19 Women’s

Championship here on Friday. India had earlier registered comfortable vic-

tories over Sri Lanka and Bhutan. Shamsunnahar’s seventh minute strike from

the penalty spot made the difference between thetwo sides.

The match began with both teams going hardfrom the first whistle as Bangladesh looked tomake the most of their physical prowess andpressed the Indian defenders high up the pitch.

The first opportunity of the game went toBangladesh, who were awarded a penalty in theseventh minute which was converted byShamsunnahar.

Although, Bangladesh went on an attackingmode and dominated possession after the goal,India got an excellent opportunity to restore par-ity in the 40th minute when Sumati Kumari passeda ball to Mariyammal whose left-footer wentstraight into the hands of Bangladesh goalieRupna.

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