4`gZdYZV]U¶d dZUV VWWVTe cVgZVh _Vie hVV\ - Daily ...

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I n the wake of Denmark, Norway, Iceland, and Thailand temporarily halting vaccination with the Oxford- AstraZeneca vaccine following isolated reports of recipients developing blood clots, India on Saturday said it will carry out a deeper review of post- vaccination side effects from Covishield, the Oxford- AstraZeneca Covid vaccine being manufactured by Serum Institute of India, next week. “No cases of blood clots have been reported so far in the country, but we are looking at all the adverse events, particu- larly serious adverse events like deaths and hospitalisa- tion. We will come back if we find anything of concern,” NK Arora, a member of national task force on Covid-19, told a news agency. This new development took place even as the World Health Organization (WHO) on Friday said there was no rea- son to stop using AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 jab. India has been using the Indian version of the Oxford- AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine called Covishield, as devel- oped by SII, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer by vol- ume, and indigenous vaccine giant Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin in its vaccination drive. Serum Institute had joined hands with AstraZeneca to manufacture 1 billion doses of the vaccine shot. India has given at least 28 million shots in its vast vacci- nation programme, most of them Covishield. The Government has also gifted and allowed exports of millions of these jabs to around 70 countries over the last few weeks as a part of its vaccine diplomacy. Arora said there was “no immediate issue of concern as the number of adverse events (in India) is very, very low. We are relooking at (adverse events that were reported) to see if there was any issue of blood clotting.” “As of yesterday there were 59 or 60 deaths, and they were all coincidental,” the doctor said, adding hospitalisation cases were being re-examined. “In fact there is a real effort from our side that once complete investigation is done, to put its results in public domain, on the Ministry of Health website,” Arora added. On Sunday, the WHO said its vaccines advisory committee was currently going through safety data and emphasised that no causal link had been established between the vaccine and blood clot. So far, a cumulative total of more than 2.82 crore (2,82,18,457) vaccine doses have been administered in two phases — first, to frontline and healthcare workers, and sec- ond, to citizens above the age of 60 and co-morbid above 45 years. Meanwhile, with India recording the highest number of daily coronavirus cases in 83 days on Saturday, the country could be heading towards a new wave that scientists say can be quelled by vaccinating the maximum number of people and following Covid-appro- priate behaviour. Turn to Page 4 A mid a steady outflow of senior leaders from the Trinamool Congress, former Union Finance Minister and ex-BJP leader Yashwant Sinha joined Mamata Banerjee’s party on Saturday saying the tipping point for him to join the TMC was the “attack” on the Bengal Chief Minister at Nandigram. Sinha said Mamata is one of the few visible faces in the country trying to stop the BJP from “crushing and conquer- ing” the Opposition and the time has come when the demo- cratic-minded parties of the country will have to take a deci- sion to sink differences and unite for a bigger cause. The 83-year-old veteran IAS officer-turned politician, who left the BJP in 2018, said he is joining the Trinamool at a crucial juncture when “the country is facing an unprece- dented situation…” adding the democratic institutions like “the judiciary have become weak now.” Praising the Chief Minister whom he met at her residence before joining her party, Sinha said he always knew her as a fighter who as a Cabinet Minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government and offered herself as a hostage dur- ing the Kandahar crisis when Pakistani terrorists had hijacked an Indian Airlines aircraft. The former Union Minister who once handled the External Affairs joined his new party at the Trinamool Bhawan in the presence of senior lead- ers Derek O’Brien, Sudip Bandopadhyay, and Subrata Mukherjee. Sinha said there is qualita- tively difference between the NDA Government led by Vajpayee and the one being run today. Turn to Page 4 F armers held Mahapanchayats on Saturday in Kolkata and at Nandigram, where Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is in the fray, at the call of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha and urged people not to vote for the BJP in the coming Assembly poll in West Bengal. Farmer leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union chief Rakesh Tikait, one of those spearheading the about four- month-old farmers’ stir against the Centre’s farm laws, reached the State during the day to be part of the Mahapanchayat. Tikait, who was received at the airport by TMC MP Dola Sen, later addressed gatherings of farmers in Kolkata and Nandigram in East Midnapore district along with social activist Medha Patkar. Alleging that the BJP-led Government at the Centre is intent on breaking the back- bone of the farmers and their movement, Tikait said it is “anti-people”. “Don’t vote for BJP. If voted to power they will give away your land to big corporates and industries and make you land- less. They will hand over the country to big industrialist groups putting your livelihood at stake and in danger,” he said. Calling the BJP “a party of cheats” which hides its sympa- thy for the rich, Tikait said, “We will be on the side of those who oppose BJP, those who will stand by the farmers and the poor.” Clarifying that the Krishak Mahapanchayat in Bengal is not meant to pledge support to any particular non-BJP party in the State, the Bharatiya Kisan Union chief said, “I am not here to seek votes for a particular party. We are here to issue an emphatic appeal to start the battle against BJP on behalf of the farmers in Bengal.” Turn to Page 4 T he main Opposition DMK in Tamil Nadu on Saturday made a whopping 500 plus promises, including a shower of doles like 4,000 relief to Covid-19 hit rice ration card holders, in its manifesto for the April 6 Assembly polls. On the lines of Andhra Pradesh and Haryana, which passed laws to reserve 75 per cent jobs for locals, DMK pres- ident MK Stalin assured legis- lation to earmark 75 per cent of jobs in industrial houses for locals and promised to press for quota in private sector. Crop and jewel loans (up to 5 sovereigns) of small and marginal farmers in coopera- tive banks, pending loans of Women Self Help Groups in co-op institutions and educa- tional loans of college students below the age of 30 would all be waived, he said, releasing the manifesto at the party HQ. In Government town buses, women shall be allowed to travel free of cost and quota for women in Government jobs shall be increased from 30 to 40 per cent, he announced. Free computer tablets with data card for students, milk to school students in the morning to provide nutritional support and distribution of napkins free of cost to girl pupils of schools and colleges were some of the other promises. The rural employment guarantee programme would see an increase from 100 to 150 days and poor farmers and auto drivers would get 10,000 sub- sidy to buy farm pumpset and autos respectively, he said. Turn to Page 4 T roubles mounted for Mumbai Police officer Sachin Waze, who has been fac- ing heat in the murder case of businessman Mansukh Hiran, as a sessions court in Maharashtra’s Thane district has refused to grant him inter- im bail and noted that there was prima facie evidence and material against him. In a related development on Saturday, recording of Waze’s statement by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which is probing the last month’s recovery of gelatin sticks and a threat letter from an SUV, a Scorpio, which was found parked near industrial- ist Mukesh Ambani’s residence in Mumbai, is going on at its office since noon, an official said. The assistant police inspec- tor reached the agency’s office at Cumballa Hill around 11.30 am, the official said. Mansukh Hiran, who was in possession of the SUV had claimed that it had been stolen a week earlier, but the case took a new turn when he was found dead in a creek in Thane on March 5. In his application seeking pre-arrest bail on Friday, Waze said the FIR registered by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) didn’t name name any person. He termed the FIR as “baseless and without any motive”, say- ing it was a result of a “witch- hunt”. Additional sessions Judge Shailendra Tambe, in the order that was made available on Saturday, refused to grant inter- im bail to Waze and said his custodial interrogation was required. A team of the Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Saturday reached Tihar Jail to question Tehseen Akhtar, who was arrested in 2014 when he was heading proscribed terror group Indian Mujahideen, in connection with the recovery of a mobile phone from his bar- rack, officials said. The mobile phone, accord- ing to police, is suspected to have been used for creating a Telegram channel that was used by a group named Jaish- ul-Hind for claiming respon- sibility for parking an SUV with gelatin sticks outside industri- alist Mukesh Ambani’s south Mumbai home, ‘Antilia’, on February 25. S ri Lanka on Saturday announced plans to ban the wearing of burqas and said it would close more than 1,000 Islamic schools known as madrasas, citing national secu- rity. Minister of Public Security Sarath Weerasekara said he signed a paper on Friday seek- ing the approval of the Cabinet of Ministers to ban burqas. “The burqa has a direct impact on national security,” Weerasekara told a ceremony at a Buddhist temple on Saturday, without elaborating. “In our early days, we had a lot of Muslim friends, but Muslim women and girls never wore the burqa,” Weerasekara said, according to video footage sent by his Ministry. “It is a sign of religious extremism that came about recently. We will definitely ban it.” The wearing of burqas was temporarily banned in 2019 after the Easter Sunday bomb attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka that killed more than 260 people. Two local Muslim groups that had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (ISIS) group have been blamed for the attacks at six locations — two Roman Catholic churches, one Protestant church and three top hotels. Weerasekara also said the Government will ban more than 1,000 Madrasas, saying they are not registered with the authorities and do not follow the national education policy. The decision to ban burqas and madrassas is the latest move affecting the Indian Ocean island nation’s minori- ty Muslims. Muslims make up about 9 per cent of the 22 million peo- ple in Sri Lanka, where Buddhists account for more than 70 per cent of the popu- lation. Ethnic minority Tamils, mainly Hindus, comprise about 15 per cent of the population. N epal’s CPN (Maoist Centre)-led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ on Saturday recalled its Ministers from the Cabinet led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and directed all its leaders nomi- nated at the CPN-UML Central Committee to make their posi- tions clear within 24 hours, intensifying the rift between the two factions. Among the Ministers called back are Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa, Minister for Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, Minister for Water Supply Mani Chandra Thapa, Urban Development Minister Prabhu Shah, Minister for Youth and Sports Dawa Lama Tamang and Minister for Labour Gauri Shankar Chaudhary, the Kathmandu Post reported. The decision was taken by the standing committee meet- ing of the CPN-MC held this morning at Paris Danda, the Centre’s party office here. “Our Standing Committee meeting has decided to call back all our Ministers in the Federal Government and told the leaders nominated by UML to make their position clear within 24 hours,” Devendra Poudel, a Standing Committee member, was quoted as saying. As per the legal provision, lawmakers will lose their seats in the upper house and the lower house of Parliament if they choose to leave the party or their party decides to expel them from the party. Turn to Page 4 P assengers refusing to wear face masks properly during a flight could be placed on a no-fly list for a period of three months to two years or more. Amid reports of Covid-19 vio- lation by air passengers and surge in coronavirus cases again in several States, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Saturday said a passenger violating pro- tocol despite repeated warn- ings will be treated as “unruly passenger”. If a passenger refus- es to comply with the instruc- tions before a flight takes off, then he or she should be de- boarded, DGCA said. In a circular, the DGCA has directed airport officials and security personnel to ensure that no one is allowed to enter the airport without wearing a mask and everyone must maintain social distanc- ing norms at all times during air travel. The Airlines have to ensure that passengers are fol- lowing the Covid-19 guide- lines. Besides, the violators will be de-boarded and classi- fied as “unruly passengers”. The move follows a Delhi High Court order that pas- sengers without a mask be put on a no-fly list after the judge observed the callous attitude of passengers. Justice Hari Shankar took suo motu cog- nizance of the matter after he witnessed fellow passengers wearing their masks pulled down while on an Air India Kolkata-Delhi flight earlier this month. “In case, any passenger on board an aircraft refuses to wear mask or violates the Covid-19 protocol for passen- gers even after repeated warn- ings during the course of the flight, such passenger may be treated as “unruly passenger” and the procedure in respect of handling such unruly passen- ger as provided in Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) shall be followed by the con- cerned airline,” the DGCA cir- cular said. Turn to Page 4

Transcript of 4`gZdYZV]U¶d dZUV VWWVTe cVgZVh _Vie hVV\ - Daily ...

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In the wake of Denmark,Norway, Iceland, and

Thailand temporarily haltingvaccination with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine followingisolated reports of recipientsdeveloping blood clots, Indiaon Saturday said it will carryout a deeper review of post-vaccination side effects fromCovishield, the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccinebeing manufactured by SerumInstitute of India, next week.

“No cases of blood clotshave been reported so far in thecountry, but we are looking atall the adverse events, particu-larly serious adverse eventslike deaths and hospitalisa-tion. We will come back if wefind anything of concern,” NKArora, a member of nationaltask force on Covid-19, told anews agency.

This new developmenttook place even as the WorldHealth Organization (WHO)on Friday said there was no rea-son to stop using AstraZeneca’sCovid-19 jab.

India has been using theIndian version of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccinecalled Covishield, as devel-oped by SII, the world’s largestvaccine manufacturer by vol-ume, and indigenous vaccinegiant Bharat Biotech’s Covaxinin its vaccination drive.

Serum Institute had joinedhands with AstraZeneca tomanufacture 1 billion doses ofthe vaccine shot.

India has given at least 28million shots in its vast vacci-nation programme, most ofthem Covishield. TheGovernment has also gifted

and allowed exports of millionsof these jabs to around 70countries over the last fewweeks as a part of its vaccinediplomacy.

Arora said there was “noimmediate issue of concern asthe number of adverse events(in India) is very, very low. We

are relooking at (adverse eventsthat were reported) to see ifthere was any issue of bloodclotting.”

“As of yesterday there were59 or 60 deaths, and they wereall coincidental,” the doctorsaid, adding hospitalisationcases were being re-examined.

“In fact there is a realeffort from our side that oncecomplete investigation is done,to put its results in publicdomain, on the Ministry ofHealth website,” Arora added.On Sunday, the WHO said itsvaccines advisory committeewas currently going throughsafety data and emphasisedthat no causal link had beenestablished between the vaccineand blood clot.

So far, a cumulative total ofmore than 2.82 crore(2,82,18,457) vaccine doseshave been administered in twophases — first, to frontline andhealthcare workers, and sec-ond, to citizens above the ageof 60 and co-morbid above 45years.

Meanwhile, with Indiarecording the highest numberof daily coronavirus cases in 83days on Saturday, the countrycould be heading towards anew wave that scientists say canbe quelled by vaccinating themaximum number of peopleand following Covid-appro-priate behaviour.

Turn to Page 4

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Amid a steady outflow ofsenior leaders from the

Trinamool Congress, formerUnion Finance Minister andex-BJP leader Yashwant Sinhajoined Mamata Banerjee’s partyon Saturday saying the tippingpoint for him to join the TMCwas the “attack” on the BengalChief Minister at Nandigram.

Sinha said Mamata is oneof the few visible faces in thecountry trying to stop the BJPfrom “crushing and conquer-ing” the Opposition and thetime has come when the demo-cratic-minded parties of thecountry will have to take a deci-sion to sink differences andunite for a bigger cause.

The 83-year-old veteranIAS officer-turned politician,who left the BJP in 2018, saidhe is joining the Trinamool ata crucial juncture when “thecountry is facing an unprece-

dented situation…” adding thedemocratic institutions like“the judiciary have becomeweak now.”

Praising the Chief Ministerwhom he met at her residencebefore joining her party, Sinhasaid he always knew her as afighter who as a CabinetMinister in the Atal BehariVajpayee Government andoffered herself as a hostage dur-ing the Kandahar crisis whenPakistani terrorists hadhijacked an Indian Airlines

aircraft.The former Union

Minister who once handled theExternal Affairs joined his newparty at the Trinamool Bhawanin the presence of senior lead-ers Derek O’Brien, SudipBandopadhyay, and SubrataMukherjee.

Sinha said there is qualita-tively difference between theNDA Government led byVajpayee and the one being runtoday.

Turn to Page 4

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Farmers heldMahapanchayats on

Saturday in Kolkata and atNandigram, where ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee is inthe fray, at the call of theSamyukt Kisan Morcha andurged people not to vote for theBJP in the coming Assemblypoll in West Bengal.

Farmer leader andBharatiya Kisan Union chiefRakesh Tikait, one of thosespearheading the about four-month-old farmers’ stir againstthe Centre’s farm laws, reachedthe State during the day to bepart of the Mahapanchayat.

Tikait, who was received atthe airport by TMC MP DolaSen, later addressed gatheringsof farmers in Kolkata andNandigram in East Midnaporedistrict along with socialactivist Medha Patkar.

Alleging that the BJP-ledGovernment at the Centre isintent on breaking the back-

bone of the farmers and theirmovement, Tikait said it is“anti-people”.

“Don’t vote for BJP. If votedto power they will give awayyour land to big corporates andindustries and make you land-less. They will hand over thecountry to big industrialistgroups putting your livelihoodat stake and in danger,” he said.

Calling the BJP “a party ofcheats” which hides its sympa-thy for the rich, Tikait said,“We will be on the side of those

who oppose BJP, those who willstand by the farmers and thepoor.”

Clarifying that the KrishakMahapanchayat in Bengal isnot meant to pledge support toany particular non-BJP party inthe State, the Bharatiya KisanUnion chief said, “I am not hereto seek votes for a particularparty. We are here to issue anemphatic appeal to start thebattle against BJP on behalf ofthe farmers in Bengal.”

Turn to Page 4

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The main Opposition DMKin Tamil Nadu on Saturday

made a whopping 500 pluspromises, including a shower ofdoles like �4,000 relief toCovid-19 hit rice ration cardholders, in its manifesto for theApril 6 Assembly polls.

On the lines of AndhraPradesh and Haryana, whichpassed laws to reserve 75 percent jobs for locals, DMK pres-ident MK Stalin assured legis-lation to earmark 75 per centof jobs in industrial houses forlocals and promised to press forquota in private sector.

Crop and jewel loans (up to5 sovereigns) of small andmarginal farmers in coopera-tive banks, pending loans ofWomen Self Help Groups inco-op institutions and educa-tional loans of college studentsbelow the age of 30 would allbe waived, he said, releasing themanifesto at the party HQ.

In Government townbuses, women shall be allowedto travel free of cost and quotafor women in Governmentjobs shall be increased from 30to 40 per cent, he announced.

Free computer tablets with

data card for students, milk toschool students in the morningto provide nutritional supportand distribution of napkinsfree of cost to girl pupils ofschools and colleges were someof the other promises.

The rural employmentguarantee programme wouldsee an increase from 100 to 150days and poor farmers and autodrivers would get �10,000 sub-sidy to buy farm pumpset andautos respectively, he said.

Turn to Page 4

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Troubles mounted forMumbai Police officer

Sachin Waze, who has been fac-ing heat in the murder case ofbusinessman Mansukh Hiran,as a sessions court inMaharashtra’s Thane districthas refused to grant him inter-im bail and noted that therewas prima facie evidence andmaterial against him.

In a related developmenton Saturday, recording ofWaze’s statement by theNational Investigation Agency(NIA), which is probing the lastmonth’s recovery of gelatinsticks and a threat letter froman SUV, a Scorpio, which wasfound parked near industrial-ist Mukesh Ambani’s residencein Mumbai, is going on at itsoffice since noon, an officialsaid.

The assistant police inspec-tor reached the agency’s officeat Cumballa Hill around 11.30am, the official said. MansukhHiran, who was in possessionof the SUV had claimed that ithad been stolen a week earlier,but the case took a new turnwhen he was found dead in acreek in Thane on March 5.

In his application seekingpre-arrest bail on Friday, Wazesaid the FIR registered by theAnti-Terrorism Squad (ATS)didn’t name name any person.He termed the FIR as “baselessand without any motive”, say-ing it was a result of a “witch-hunt”.

Additional sessions JudgeShailendra Tambe, in the orderthat was made available onSaturday, refused to grant inter-im bail to Waze and said hiscustodial interrogation wasrequired.

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Ateam of the Delhi Police’sSpecial Cell on Saturday

reached Tihar Jail to questionTehseen Akhtar, who wasarrested in 2014 when he washeading proscribed terrorgroup Indian Mujahideen, inconnection with the recovery ofa mobile phone from his bar-rack, officials said.

The mobile phone, accord-ing to police, is suspected tohave been used for creating aTelegram channel that wasused by a group named Jaish-ul-Hind for claiming respon-sibility for parking an SUV withgelatin sticks outside industri-alist Mukesh Ambani’s southMumbai home, ‘Antilia’, onFebruary 25.

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Sri Lanka on Saturdayannounced plans to ban the

wearing of burqas and said itwould close more than 1,000Islamic schools known asmadrasas, citing national secu-rity.

Minister of Public SecuritySarath Weerasekara said hesigned a paper on Friday seek-ing the approval of the Cabinetof Ministers to ban burqas.

“The burqa has a directimpact on national security,”Weerasekara told a ceremony ata Buddhist temple on Saturday,without elaborating.

“In our early days, we hada lot of Muslim friends, butMuslim women and girls neverwore the burqa,” Weerasekarasaid, according to video footagesent by his Ministry.

“It is a sign of religiousextremism that came aboutrecently. We will definitely banit.” The wearing of burqas wastemporarily banned in 2019after the Easter Sunday bombattacks on churches and hotelsin Sri Lanka that killed morethan 260 people.

Two local Muslim groupsthat had pledged allegiance to

the Islamic State (ISIS) grouphave been blamed for theattacks at six locations — twoRoman Catholic churches, oneProtestant church and three tophotels.

Weerasekara also said theGovernment will ban morethan 1,000 Madrasas, sayingthey are not registered with theauthorities and do not followthe national education policy.

The decision to ban burqasand madrassas is the latestmove affecting the IndianOcean island nation’s minori-ty Muslims.

Muslims make up about 9per cent of the 22 million peo-ple in Sri Lanka, whereBuddhists account for morethan 70 per cent of the popu-lation. Ethnic minority Tamils,mainly Hindus, comprise about15 per cent of the population.

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Nepal’s CPN (MaoistCentre)-led by Pushpa

Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ onSaturday recalled its Ministersfrom the Cabinet led by PrimeMinister KP Sharma Oli anddirected all its leaders nomi-nated at the CPN-UML CentralCommittee to make their posi-tions clear within 24 hours,intensifying the rift betweenthe two factions.

Among the Ministerscalled back are Minister forHome Affairs Ram BahadurThapa, Minister for Energy,Water Resources and IrrigationTop Bahadur Rayamajhi,Minister for Water SupplyMani Chandra Thapa, UrbanDevelopment Minister PrabhuShah, Minister for Youth andSports Dawa Lama Tamang

and Minister for Labour GauriShankar Chaudhary, theKathmandu Post reported.

The decision was taken bythe standing committee meet-ing of the CPN-MC held thismorning at Paris Danda, theCentre’s party office here.

“Our Standing Committeemeeting has decided to callback all our Ministers in theFederal Government and toldthe leaders nominated by UMLto make their position clearwithin 24 hours,” DevendraPoudel, a Standing Committeemember, was quoted as saying.

As per the legal provision,lawmakers will lose their seatsin the upper house and thelower house of Parliament ifthey choose to leave the partyor their party decides to expelthem from the party.

Turn to Page 4

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Passengers refusing to wearface masks properly during

a flight could be placed on ano-fly list for a period of threemonths to two years or more.Amid reports of Covid-19 vio-lation by air passengers andsurge in coronavirus casesagain in several States, theDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA) on Saturdaysaid a passenger violating pro-tocol despite repeated warn-ings will be treated as “unrulypassenger”. If a passenger refus-es to comply with the instruc-tions before a flight takes off,then he or she should be de-boarded, DGCA said.

In a circular, the DGCAhas directed airport officialsand security personnel toensure that no one is allowedto enter the airport withoutwearing a mask and everyonemust maintain social distanc-ing norms at all times duringair travel. The Airlines have to

ensure that passengers are fol-lowing the Covid-19 guide-lines. Besides, the violatorswill be de-boarded and classi-fied as “unruly passengers”.

The move follows a DelhiHigh Court order that pas-sengers without a mask be puton a no-fly list after the judgeobserved the callous attitude ofpassengers. Justice HariShankar took suo motu cog-nizance of the matter after hewitnessed fellow passengerswearing their masks pulleddown while on an Air IndiaKolkata-Delhi flight earlier

this month.“In case, any passenger

on board an aircraft refuses towear mask or violates theCovid-19 protocol for passen-gers even after repeated warn-ings during the course of theflight, such passenger may betreated as “unruly passenger”and the procedure in respect ofhandling such unruly passen-ger as provided in CivilAviation Requirements (CAR)shall be followed by the con-cerned airline,” the DGCA cir-cular said.

Turn to Page 4

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�How did you come on board for CrimeAlert?

It was Bhagwan (Kale) sir who called meand wanted me on the project. I agreedbecause first, it was a rather interestingconcept and second, I had been doingnegative roles one after the other and waslooking to do something different that hadrealism to it. Crime is a subject that needsto be looked at in-depth since the percentageis on the rise. We have become insensitiveto what we read. What we visualise, we finda connection. Here, we are usingentertainment as an eye-opener to makepeople aware of what is happening aroundthem. Anchoring this show has been an eye-opener for me as well.�How did you end up a producer and ananchor?

First, I want to say that I never thoughtthat I would become a producer but thechannel gave me the opportunity to be one.This is something new that I have explored.To being, with, they asked me to anchor myown production. But then I had become abit busy. However, now I am on board withthem. In fact, they gave me twoopportunities; I also never thought I wouldbe an anchor. But here I am, being an anchorthanks to Bhagwan (Kale) and Manish(Singhal) sir, the owners of the channel. Ionly saw myself as an actor/dancer. Tobe a host is a wonderful experience.�What was your reaction when youwere offered to host and be aproducer?

These were two genres where I hadno prior knowledge about. For me,when it was suggested that I turn aproducer, my reaction was where wouldI get the money from. I could not put allmy hard-earned money in the series.When I met the owners, I told them thatI would like to produce one. They guidedme and gave me the confidence to go ahead.�What was the most shocking lesson youlearnt as a producer and host?

We all read newspapers and watch news.But sadly, we only see the headlines. We arenot personally connected to the crime thattakes place. While hosting the show,one can’t be emotional to the subject;one ha to have a straight face and tellpeople what has happened in a dispassionatemanner. Through this show, we want to tellpeople that as citizens, they too must takeresponsibility to understand the crime andtalk about it. We can’t be dependent on thepolice all the time. We can’t turn a blind eyeto the crime taking place in the countrybecause we are personally not affected. �You started with films and now TV. Howhas the journey been?

It has been wonderful. It was never astraight line but I enjoyed every phase of it.This is because I always took things in a

positive way. Even when I was at the lowpoint of my career, I had expectations thatI would rise again and be given anopportunity to showcase my talent again.God has been kind to me thus far. I amextremely thankful to my audience whoaccepted me every kind of role that I havedone.�Why and how did you get into acting?

My life story has been told in NaacheMayuri or Mayuri (Telugu). I would say thatit was the first biopic film. It saddens me thatwhen we talk about autobiography filmstoday, nobody mentions it. It was not onlythe first biopic to be made, it also starredthe person acting her own life. Today’sbiopics don’t have the actual person enactingtheir life’s story; an actor is chosen to playthe real-life person. This is depressing.�How did you get this film?

It was because of Ramoji Rao (producerof Mayuri), he owns Ramoji Film City. Hesaw me dance with an artificial limb. Healways wanted to make different kinds offilms. He read about me and thought itwould make for an interesting human-interest film. He felt that if I played the roleof myself, it would be more genuine. That’show I came on board the movie and endedup acting.�What kind of roles attract you?

No actor can vouch that a certaincharacter will be good or not. I personallyfeel that one can’t predict which role will bea turning point in one’s career. I have alwaysplayed good role and then I did negativeroles and people loved me as the vamp. Iwould not have survived in the industry for25 years if I had turned down the negativeroles that came my way.�You have been part of Tamil, Malayalam,Hindi, Telugu and, Gujarati, Kannada

even Bhojpuri films. How did thishappen?

This happened at a time whenyou don’t get work and I startedexploring regional cinema. Iloved doing these movies for acouple of reasons. First, they havea wonderful storyline. Second,they are extremely professional intheir approach.�You are a dancer, an actor, ahost, a producer, and a judge.The role where you are mostcomfortable.

I don’t want to be in a zonewhere I am comfortable becausethen you take yourself for

granted. In order to explore newthings, one must move away from the

spot where one is most comfortable.�What next?

I am doing a show for Zee Telugu, thishas been on for over a year. With Crime Alertadded to the kitty, my 30 days are full.

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This is the first movie withbig stars to have had atheatrical release after

Hollywood’s Wonder Woman1984 that released inDecember 2020. Given theincrease in the number ofCOVID-19 cases once again,the BO was sure to be affectedand the film could only makea modest �2.50 crore on Day1.

It has less to do with thefear that is keeping patronsaway from the cinema hallsand more to do with the factthat Roohi doesn’t make muchsense after the first fewminutes of its running time.

The film is a horror-

comedy genre. Sadly, there isneither any horror nor anycomedy. Just because thechudail, in this case a mudhiyapairi (witch with inverted legs)doesn’t make the film scaryeven if they show ultey bloodyfootprints, a face that hasmore blue veins and slightlyreddish eyes, a smirk and hairall over the face.

Director Hardik Mehtashoves down the message thatthe paranormal entity here isnot a ghost but a chudail. Onewonders what the difference isgiven that there are no frightfulmoments or even eerie musicplaying in the background.

However much we werelook for laughter, what wedidn’t find funny is how VarunSharma’ character falls in lovewith the witch in JahnviKapoor even if there is a DDLJmoment — Muje tohmohabbat ho ri bhai; agar je

bhi mujhe love you too kartinaa toh palat kar jaroordekhegi.

Also, this is the 21stcentury where science andtechnology rule the roast andyet Bollywood still continuesto make movies on chudailsand shows how people here, inorder to ward off evil, marrya tree or even a dog —Rajkummar Rao marries one— to mislead the mudiyapairi.

What doesn’t make evenmore sense is why all ourchudails end up at the edge ofeither the tallest building or amountain where there is amandir. Obviously, our chudailhere is not scared of God.

Overall, this movie haslaughs few and far between.Watch only if you are aRajkummar Rao fan and youdon’t want to miss any of hisfilms. 9�%�� ����%������

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Given the controversiessurrounding this latest webseries, it may be prudent for

those who feel that one must shut one’seyes to all the bad that is happeningaround them to avoid this one.However, if you are the kind of personwho knows what teenagers are up tothese days, you need to watch it to takea lesson and ensure that your wardsdon’t walk the thin line of what is rightand wrong. Of course, one’s perspectiveof the situation and circumstancesalso make a difference and one takesdecisions based on them.

So despite the hue and cry by childright activists about the inappropriateportrayal of teenagers, the series is alsoabout four other adult women who aretrying to make a place for themselvesin a man’s world — a world that is filledwith cut-throat competition wheredog eats dog and it is all about survival

of the fittest — you snooze you lose. Directed by Alankrita Shrivastava

(Lipstick Under My Burkha fame),Bombay Begums takes one on a journeywhere a woman is allowed to pursueher dreams and make it big in lifewithout feeling guilty that theypreferred to pursue a career rather stayat home and be a mom.

The only problem here is thateven though there is plenty of intrigueand twists and turns in the plot it movesat an extremely slow pace. So much sothat one can even go for a bathroombreak and come back and pick up thestory of these five women withouthaving missed much in terms of howthings unfold.

Pooja Bhatt, who was last seen inSadak 2 plays the part of a powerfulbanker (Rani) rather well. Her choiceof sarees is brilliant and will leave oneimpressed. Aadhya Anand deserves around of applause. Shahana Goswami,Amruta Subhash, Plabita Borthakur dotheir part as well.

The men here don’t have much todo except plot the downfall of thesewomen so that they rule.

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Delhi Health MinisterSatyendar Jain on Saturday

felicitated 80 Covid warriors ofSanjay Gandhi MemorialHospital and Dr Baba SahebAmbedkar Hospital at DelhiVidhan Sabha.

“Delhi Government’s LNJPHospital, India’s largest Covid-19 treatment facility has treat-ed more than 10,000 patients.Jain also said that the ambu-lance response time wasreduced and it was ensured thatit reached the patients’ homewithin 15 minutes of the call,”he said.

He applauded the coronawarriors and said that it’s timeto get goodwill by the virtue ofproviding service to the people.Concluding the event, adding,“he is proud that the DelhiGovernment’s healthcare sys-tem was no less than the privatehealthcare system in fightingthe Covid-19 pandemic.”

Jain said, “The corona war-riors have made Delhi proudwith their efforts in fighting the

Coronavirus pandemic. Evenafter so much pressure, thecorona warriors worked sowell. We took many quickdecisions whenever the needarose and increasing the num-ber of beds was one of them.Delhi Government made LNJPHospital, India’s largest Covid-19 treatment facility in whichmore than 10,000 Covid-19patients were treated.”

Talking about the innova-tive steps taken by the DelhiGovernment to deal with theCovid-19 pandemic, he said,“Delhi Government introducedthe method of Home Isolation,a method that no governmentin the world knew until Delhi

Government implemented it.We have taken care of all thepeople who were in home iso-lation and facilitated them withthe best of medical facilities andcare. Our doctors used to visitpatients regularly and call themtwice a day during the homeisolation process.”

Speaking about the ambu-lance service, he said, “We hadnot only reduced the ambu-lance response time but alsoensured that it reached thepatients’ home within 15 min-utes of their call.”

“Initially, some reportsclaimed that patients facedproblems during admissioninto the hospital. We found thatthe admission process waslengthy. Taking notice of it, weimmediately passed the orderfor holding areas in all the hos-pitals for the immediate reliefof all the patients. This in itselfwas a big change in the health-care system. As a result, thepatients used to get admittedwithin 10 minutes of theirarrival in the DelhiGovernment’s hospitals.”

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Leader of Opposition in theDelhi Assembly, Ramvir

Singh Bidhuri, on Saturdaylaunched the PM Wani WiFiScheme at Harinagar ward inSouth Delhi, under which res-idents of the area will get freeinternet through the varioushotspots.

The PM WANI (PrimeMinister Wi-Fi AccessNetwork Interface) Schemewas launched by the centrewith an aim to fuel broadbandinternet proliferation acrossthe country. The scheme aimsto bring large scale deploymentof Wi-Fi hotspots through thecountry.

Under this scheme around10 lakh hotspots would becreated in the country so that

they could avail of the freeinternet around the country.Many more such hotspots willbe inaugurated in the comingdays in Delhi for providing freeinternet and unlimited data.The launch event was chairedby the South Delhi MunicipalCorporation Mayor, AnamikaSingh.

On the occasion, Bidhurisaid in contrast the KejriwalGovernment had indulged in betrayal with the people of Delhi by promising free WIFi but doing nothing in that direction. He said this scheme is going to bene-fit the students, youth of thearea, small traders and otherresidents and this was a smallgift from Prime Minister,Narendra Modi towards ful-filling the dream of strongDigital India.

����� ��� �� � *�7��894

Delhi Police CommissionerSN Shrivastava on Saturday

held a crime review meeting todiscuss law and order situationin the national Capital.

The CP checked the stepstaken on the action plan forpolice stations and directed forclose monitoring of cases andPolice Control Room (PCR)calls.

The CP also examined themap and data of the city vis-a-vis marked areas of crimes indifferent districts. The CP alsodirected the DeputyCommissioners of Police tokeep a close tab on the forth-coming law and order arrange-ments.

The outcome of checkingscarried out at pickets and dur-ing patrolling was also dis-cussed. The CP directed to takestrict legal action against ille-gal Spas & Massage Centres.

He also laid stress on

community policing and eval-uated the NeighbourhoodWatch Scheme and securityaudit of residential areas, there-in.

“The steps taken to reformjuveniles through YUVA/otherefforts were also reviewed. As

regards COVID - 19 arrange-ments the CP assessed theprosecution by the districtsand also the status of vaccina-tion of police personnel in dif-ferent districts and units,” saidAnil Mittal, the AdditionalPublic Relation Officer

(APRO) of Delhi Police.“The CP also laid stress on

strict action against criminals,and laid emphasis on properutilisation of e Beat Book andICMS (Integrated ComplainantManagement System),” saidMittal.

����� ��� �� � *�7��894

The Delhi Police has arrest-ed a 28-year-old man for

allegedly shooting anotherman dead after an altercationtook place between them overplaying DJ songs during abirthday party in Najafgarharea.

Anuj Sharma was shotdead by the accused NaveenKumar on Thursday during hisyounger brother’s birthday cel-ebration which was held at afarm house in Najafgarh.

According to SantoshKumar Meena, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), Dwarka district, dur-ing the party, an altercationtook place between Naveenand Anuj over playing DJsongs during his brother’sbirthday celebration follow-ing which, the accused who

was under the influence ofalcohol opened fire at Anuj andfled from the spot.

“The injured Naveen wasrushed to a nearby hospitalwhere he was declared broughtdead. A case was registered andwith the help of technical sur-veillance and using Call DetailRecord of the accused, NaveenKumar was arrested on Fridayfrom Baba Haridas Nagar,”said the DCP.

“During interrogation, theaccused confessed that he had asmall altercation with Anuj ona petty issue of playing DJ songsduring birthday celebration andhe was also in an inebriated state,hence he fired on him,” said theDCP. The accused was found inpossession of an illegal firearmalong with two live cartridges,police said, adding both havebeen seized and further investi-gation of the case is underway.

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Ateam of Special Cell, theanti-terror unit of Delhi

Police, visited Tihar Jail to ques-tion Indian Mujahideen (IM)terrorists Tehseen Akhtar aliasMonu in connection with amobile phone recovered fromhis barrack in Central Jail.Tehseen Akhtar, who was arrest-ed by the Special Cell team ofDelhi Police in 2014, was thechief of the banned terror out-fit Indian Mujahideen after thearrest of Yasin Bhatkal, co-founder of the terror outfit.

According to a senior policeofficial, a permission was soughtfrom a Delhi court here by theteam of Special Cell to questionAkhtar in connection with aphone recovered from his bar-rack which is suspected to havebeen used for operating aTelegram channel used to claimresponsibility for the recent ter-ror threat acts/threats.

“On Saturday police teamquestioned Akhtar. Police havesought permission from thecourt to question him andbased on it, we may questionother inmates if needed,” headded.

The Delhi Police’s SpecialCell had approached the TiharJail administration on Thursdayin connection with the MukeshAmbani bomb scare case aftera new angle emerged.

On Friday, the Delhi Policehad said that Based on infor-mation provided by the SpecialCell, Tihar Jail authorities hadseized a mobile phone from ajail where certain terror con-victs are lodged and suspectedthat this phone was used foroperating Telegram channelsused recently for claimingresponsibility for terror acts/threats.

On Thursday, a seniorMumbai Police official had saida Telegram channel throughwhich an organisation namedJaish-ul-Hind had claimedresponsibility for placing an

explosives-laden SUV nearindustrialist Ambani’s residencein Mumbai last month was“created in the Tihar” area ofDelhi.

According to Mumbaipolice, it took the help of a pri-vate cyber agency to track thelocation of the phone on whichthe Telegram channel was cre-ated. “During the investigation,the location of the phone wastraced near Delhi’s Tihar Jail andsubsequently Delhi Police wasalso informed,” Mumbai policehad said on Thursday.

According to police sources,the Telegram channel was cre-ated on February 26 and themessage claiming responsibili-ty for placing the vehicle outsideAmbani’s residence was postedon the Telegram messaging applate in the night on February 27.

The message had alsodemanded payment in cryp-tocurrency and mentioned alink to deposit the same.

During the probe, the linkwas found as not available, dueto which the investigators sus-pected it to be mischievous. OnFebruary 28, another messagefrom Jaish-ul-Hind surfacedon a social media platform,claiming that the organisationdid not have any role in the inci-dent.

The investigation in thecase was initially conducted bythe Crime Branch of theMumbai police.

The SUV, MahindraScorpio car with gelatin stickswas found parked near Antilia,the multi-storey residence ofAmbani, in south Mumbai onFebruary 25.

After the mysterious deathof Thane-based auto parts deal-er Mansukh Hiran, who was inpossession of the SUV, theprobe was transferred to theMaharashtra Anti-TerrorismSquad (ATS). On Monday, theNational Investigation Agency(NIA) took over the case relat-ed to the recovery of the explo-sives-laden vehicle.

����� ��� �� � *�7��894

Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Saturday pro-

vided financial assistance of �1crore to the family of coronawarrior Late Rakesh Jain.

Kejriwal said that Jain wasa lab technician at the HinduRao Hospital. He continued toserve the people till his last

breath. “There is no compen-sation for anyone’s life but I amhopeful that this financial assis-tance will provide some ease tohis family. We will also providea job to his elder son,” he said.

Jain was a lab technician atthe Hindu Rao Hospital ofDelhi. While working on Covidduty Jain got affected by Covid-19. He was shifted to the Metro

hospital but later he lost his lifedue to Covid and till his lastbreath.

“The Delhi Governmentsalutes such frontline workerswho have served relentlessly thecitizens of Delhi. Today onbehalf of the Delhi GovernmentI have handed over a cheque of�1 crore to the family membersof Jain,” he said.

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Amid a countrywide surgein coronavirus cases, the

national Capital on Saturdayreported 419 fresh cases whilethe daily positivity rate stayedat 0.56 per cent. With this, thetotal number of people infect-ed with Covid-19 in Delhi hasreached to 6,43,289.

Three fresh deaths alsoreported, taking the death tollto 10,939, according to thehealth bulletin issued by theDelhi Government.

These 431 new cases cameout of the 74,326, tests con-ducted the previous day,including 47,120 RT-PCR testsand 27,206 rapid antigen tests.According to the bulletin, outof the total number of 5,711beds in Covid hospitals, 5,129are vacant.

As per the bulletin, thenumber of people under homeisolation climbed to 1,204, itsaid, adding that over 6,30,143lakh people have recoveredfrom the infection till date. Thehighest single-day spikes 8,593

cases till date was reported onNovember 11.

The number of contain-ment zones in Delhi has shownintermittent rise and fall in thelast several days, with the fig-ure standing at 518 on Friday,it said, adding that four beds inCovid care centres are occupiedby persons under quarantine,including travellers who havereturned by the Vande BharatMission and bubble flights.

The city recorded over 400cases for the third consecutivedays on Saturday. The count onThursday was 431.

Delhi Health MinisterSatyendar Jain had on Fridaysaid the city recording over 400new Covid-19 cases per daywas “not alarming” and assert-ed that the positivity rate wasstill below one per cent.

����� ��� �� � *�7��894

Delhi Transport MinisterKailash Gahlot said the

Government has taken a leadacross India in installing soundcharging infrastructure inDelhi for a smooth transitionto “Electric Vehicles” (EVs).

The Government hasadopted a three-pronged strat-egy to make the campaignmore effective. “The DelhiGovernment is leaving no stoneunturned to ensure a smoothtransition to EVs for theDelhiites. The vision of theKejriwal Government to estab-lish a charging point at a dis-tance of every 3kms willincrease confidence in peopleto make the switch to EV andpave the way for making Delhithe EV capital of India,” he said.

The fifth week of the DelhiGovernment’s Switch Delhicampaign focused on raising

awareness among people aboutthe sound EV charging infra-structure in the city.

Elaborating on the threepillars of the strategy to expandElectric Vehicle charging infra-structure in Delhi, Gahlot said,“First, Delhi Government hasfloated the largest tender inIndia so far to build 100 pub-lic charging stations with 500charging points at prominentlocations. These will be oper-ational by December 2021 andwill add to the existing 72 sta-tions already operational inDelhi.

“Delhi will soon have morethan 10,000 chargers byDecember. All commercial andinstitutional buildings such asmalls, shopping complexes,cinema halls/multiplexes, officespaces, hotels, restaurants, hos-pitals, etc that have a parkingcapacity of more than 100vehicles will soon have to set

aside at least five per cent oftheir total parking capacity for EVs along with suitableslow EV chargers. A suitableamendment in Delhi’s buildingbye-laws has already been initiated to enable this. At pre-sent, 20 per cent area in park-ing facilities already have to bekept aside for EV parking in allnew constructions under uni-fied building bylaws for Delhi,”he said.

Gahlot further said “We arein advance talks with severalEV fleet operators to open uptheir captive charging stationsfor public use. This is a win-winproposition since it allows EVcab and rickshaw operators toget better utilisation andreturns from their investmentinto EV charging infrastruc-ture. This will add another 750charging points at least forpublic use in Delhi by June2021,”

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New Delhi: A 30-year-old manwas arrested from Mumbai forallegedly duping people by pos-ing as an MLA, police said onSaturday. Bhalinder Pal Singh,who hails from Dehradun, hadbeen living in Mumbai’s Andheriwest for the last two years andalso owns a footwear shop there,they said. He belongs to a reput-ed family and was also involvedin other cases, including cheat-ing, registered in Chhattisgarhand Punjab, they said. A probewas initiated against Singh afterthe police received a complaintfrom a Delhi-based man.

The man, whose brotherwas close to his local MLA,alleged that he received a callfrom a man who claimed to bethe local MLA asked him totransfer Rs 6 lakh to the partyfund. The man transferred the

amount, but later found out thatno such call was made from thelocal MLA’s office, police said.

Based on his complaint, acase was registered under sec-tion 419 (punishment for cheat-ing by personation) and 420(cheating and dishonestly induc-ing delivery of property) of theIndian Penal Code, said UrvijaGoel, Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (West). Using technicalsurveillance, the location of theaccused was traced to Mumbai.A team was sent there and hewas arrested, she said. “Duringinterrogation, Singh revealedthat his father is a reputed busi-nessman who used to be whole-sale dealer of potatoes andonions. He used to carry outbusiness with his father but theyincurred losses due to his lackof professionalism. PTI

$������ ���������������������������������-����� � New Delhi: A criminal want-

ed in a murder case was arrest-ed following a shootout with apolice team in west Delhi’sBakkarwala area in the earlyhours of Saturday, police said.

The accused, KamalGehlot, sustained injuries in theshootout and was shifted to anearby hospital, they added.

“A shootout took place inthe early hours of Saturdaybetween a police team andwanted criminal Kamal Gehlotin the Bakkarwala area, inwhich he got injured,” DeputyCommissioner of Police(Special Cell) Sanjeev KumarYadav said.

Arms and ammunitionwere seized from the posses-sion of the accused, he said.

Gehlot was wanted in amurder case lodged at theMohan Garden police station,the officer added. PTI

�� %!&�1���� � �! &�5� �0� �/���%��%�� �0!/%-! ����+� �1! New Delhi: The Central

Government’s Commission forAir Quality Management inNational Capital Region and itsadjoining areas has been shutdown within five months of itsconstitution.

The commission, which wasestablished by the Centre inOctober last year, has shut downdue to lapsing of the ordinanceunder which it was set up.

Speaking to PTI, UnionEnvironment Secretary R PGupta said the since ordinancewas not introduced inParliament within six weeks ofits convention, it has lapsedand consequently, the commis-sion also stands shut.

“The ordinance neverbecame an Act. Any ordinancehas to be introduced within sixweeks of convening ofParliament. It did not happen sothe ordinance is lapsed, hencethe commission is dissolved,”Gupta said.

The commission was head-

ed by M M Kutty, former secre-tary to the Ministry ofPetroleum and Natural Gas.

Official sources from theministry said they will try tointroduce the ordinance in thenext session of Parliament andin the meantime, the state pol-lution control board and CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) will be the supervisingauthorities.

Faced with rising air pollu-tion in Delhi-NCR, the Centrehad introduced the ordinancethat put in place the commissionand provided for up to five yearsof jail term and �1 crore fine forviolators with immediate effect.

Under the ordinancereleased by the Ministry of Lawand Justice on October 28, theEnvironment Pollution(Prevention and Control)Authority (EPCA) was dissolvedand replaced by the commission.

The 20-member commis-sion was set up under the ordi-nance, which was signed by the

president on October 28, toensure strict compliance.

The commission had thepower to lay down parametersof air quality, parameters ofdischarge of environmental pol-lutants, inspect premises violat-ing the law, ordering closure ofnon-abiding industries/plants,etc.

“The ordinance may becalled the Commission for AirQuality Management inNational Capital Region andAdjoining Areas Ordinance2020. It shall apply to nationalcapital region and also adjoiningareas in so far as it relates to mat-ters concerning air pollution inthe NCR. It shall come into forceat once,” the ordinance hadsaid.

As per the ordinance, theareas where it was in forceincluded Punjab, Haryana,Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh,adjoining areas of the NCR andDelhi where any source of pol-lution was located. PTI

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The Karnataka State RoadTransport Corporation on

Saturday temporarily suspended itsoperations to Kolhapur inMaharashtra which has a substan-tial Kannada population in view ofthe ongoing border row between thetwo States, officials said.

A few Maharashtra leaders havebeen demanding the merger of theregions dominated by Marathi-speaking people in Karnataka, espe-cially Belagavi, which the pro-Kannada organisations have beenopposing.

According to a senior officer inthe North West Karnataka RoadTransport Corporation, a vehiclebelonging to Maharashtra wasblackened in Belagavi which aggra-vated the tension between theregions.

"The Maharashtra State RoadTransport Corporation officials hadasked us if there was tension in

Kolhapur and asked us not to runany buses. They too did not run anybus," the officer added.

Meanwhile in Mumbai, ShivSena leader Sanjay Raut alleged thatMarathi people residing inKarnataka's Belgaum were being vic-timised, and said an all-party dele-gation from Maharashtra shouldvisit the city in the neighbouringstate to resolve the ongoing stand-off. He told reporters that in the lasteight days there have been instancesof attack on Shiv Sena leaders andthe party's office in Belgaum by pro-Kannada outfits.

"Belgaum is part of India andthe Maharashtra- Karnataka disputeis a language dispute. It shouldn't bestretched too far and this is theresponsibility of the Karnataka gov-ernment too," he said.

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray had been raisingthe issue of merger of Belagavi andother Marathi- dominated regionswith Maharashtra time and again.

Banihal/Jammu: The Jammu-Srinagar national highway wason Saturday afternoon cleared ofthe debris brought in by a mas-sive mudslide in Ramban dis-trict, paving the way for resump-tion of one-waytraffic after two days, officialssaid.

The traffic on the highway,the only all-weather road link-ing Kashmir with rest of thecountry, would be allowed fromJammu to Srinagar on Sundaysubject to fair weather and bet-ter road condition, officials ofthe traffic department said.

The road was closed for rou-tine weekly maintenance onFriday but was blocked atShabanbass near Banihal fol-lowing a massive mudslide trig-gered by heavy rains besidesshooting of stones from the hillocks overlookingthe highway at multiple placesbetween Banihal and Ramban. PTI

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One bogie of Dehradun-bound Shatabdi Express

caught fire on Saturday but nocasualty was reported, policesaid.

The train's bogie caughtfire near Kasro railway stationwhen it was coming fromDelhi, Uttarakhand police chiefAshok Kumar said, adding noone, however, was killed orinjured in the incident.

Kumar said all passengerswere evacuated from the affect-ed coach which was separatedfrom the train, DGP Kumarsaid.

Railway officials in NewDelhi said the fire broke out incoach C5 of the train due to ashort circuit.

"Guard has informed thatall passengers are safe and thefire brigade was informed. A

total of 35 passengers in thecoach were shifted and adjust-ed in other coaches. The trainhas departed for the destina-

tion," the Railway officials said.Uttarakhand DGP Kumar

said the train has reachedDehradun. PTI

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Bengaluru: The country's first centralisedAir-conditioned railway terminal inBengaluru would be operational soon,Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal saidon Saturday. "Named after one of the fore-most civil engineers, Bharat Ratna Sir MVisvesvaraya, the nation's first centralised ACrailway terminal in Bengaluru is set tobecome operational soon," Goyal tweeted.

According to railway officials, the newcoach terminal was planned atBaiyappanahalli in the city to meet thedemand to introduce more express trainsconnecting Bengaluru.

"Byappanahalli is the third coach ter-minal sanctioned in 2015-16, which has beennamed after Bharat Ratna Sir M Visvesvarayawho was an engineer par excellence and con-tributed tremendously to nation-building,"the Chief Public Relation Officer of SouthWestern Railway E Vijaya said. Built at anestimated cost of Rs 314 crore, it was sup-posed to be opened by February-end but dueto certain reasons, it was put on hold.

Once this terminal is operational, morelong distance trains from Bengaluru to othermetros like Mumbai and Chennai and alsotrains connecting Bengaluru to all districts

within Karnataka can be run, the officer said,adding the terminal would help decongestKSR Bengaluru and Yesvantpur stations inthe city. According to her, a modern stationbuilding with centralised air-conditioningand airport like faade has been construct-ed. State-of-the-art passenger amenities arebeing provided to make journey a pleasantexperience.The station building is of 4,200square metre covered area to cater to dailyfootfalls of 50,000.

The terminal has seven platforms apartfrom eight stabling lines and three pit linesenabling the terminal to operate 50 trainsdaily. Vijaya said the terminal has a grandcanopy over the station building concourseon the lines of Bengaluru InternationalAirport. It has a fully air-conditionedentrance lobby and a well- marked parkingspace for four-wheelers and two-wheelerswith a capacity of 250 and 900 respectively.The officer said it has an upper-class wait-ing hall and reserved (VIP) lounge, foodcourt, escalators, lifts connecting all plat-forms to facilitate passenger movement toall seven platforms, foot-over-bridge con-necting all platforms, along with two sub-ways. PTI

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Sivasagar (Assam): UnionMinister and Senior BJP leaderSmriti Zubin Irani said here onSaturday the oppositionCongress only showed dreamsof development during itsregime in Assam, but thepromises were fulfilled afterthe NDA government led byPrime Minister Narendra Modicame to power at the Centre.

Addressing her second rallyduring the day ahead of the stateassembly elections, the Uniontextiles minister alleged that theCongress "looted public money"and did not undertake devel-opmental works in Assam dur-ing its regime in the state.

"Congress had ruled Assamfor years and showed dreams ofdevelopment. However, devel-

opment works started onlywhen Narendra Modi becameprime minister in 2014," shesaid.

Irani, also the minister ofwomen and child development,said funds will continue tocome from the Centre, but it willreach the people through thestate exchequer if there is a gov-ernment of the BJP in thenortheastern state.

"One Congress leader hadsaid only 10 paise reach the peo-ple for every rupee released bythe Centre. That means theleader also accepted thatCongress workers and localactivists looted public money,"she added.

The Union minister assert-ed that no one has dared to

touch the taxpayers' moneyafter Modi came to power at theCentre.

Taking a dig at the "mis-management" in the Congressparty, Irani said, "Their leadersdon't see eye to eye. Two lead-ers in that party cannot take adecision, and they allied with anoutfit which is destroyingAssamese culture."

Irani said the Congresscould not even construct toiletsfor poor people but is promis-ing to build colleges and uni-versities.

"There was a mistake lasttime, it should not happen thistime," she said, referring to theCongress' victory at theSivasagar constituency in the2016 Assembly polls. PTI

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Sambhal (UP): Two men diedhere due to over-consumptionof 'bhang' and liquor, policesaid on Saturday.

Superintendent of Police ofSambhal Chakresh Mishra onSaturday said, "Some people inSimrai village under Gunnaurpolice station had consumed'bhaang' in large quantity onMahashivratri after which theyalso consumed liquor.

"On Friday night, Manoj(28) and Nanhe (35) who hadconsumed 'bhaang' and liquordied."

The condition of anotherman is serious, and he is under-going treatment at a hospital,Mishra said, adding that thematter is being probed. PTI

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Rajkot: A FIR has been regis-tered against a laboratoryagent for allegedly selling falseCovid-19 negative reports topeople in Gujarat's Rajkot city,police said on Saturday.

According to the police, theaccused Parag Joshi managedto procure COVID-19 negativecertificates for people who needed them for Rs 1,500each.

Based on a complaintlodged by deputy medical offi-cer Dr Parag Chunara, a casehas been registered againstJoshi and other unidentifiedaccused under relevant provi-sions of the IPC, DisasterManagement Act and GujaratMedical Practitioners' Act atGandhigram police station, anofficial said.

Joshi ran a home samplecollection centre and soldCOVID-19 negative reports topeople without collecting theirswab samples, he said. PTI

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From Page 1Special courts would be set up

to try cases (indicating that caseswould be filed) of “corruptionagainst AIADMK ministers,” Stalinsaid underlining the salient fea-tures of his party’s manifesto.

While the AIADMK govern-ment runs ‘Amma Unavagam,’ hesaid 500 ‘Kalaignar Unavagam’(eateries) would be set up.

After the ‘first hero’ the can-didates list, the manifesto is the‘second hero,’ he said and promisedelevated roads, desalination pro-jects and 5-lakh plus fresh jobs ingovernment sector.

Aiming at a comeback to thecorridors of power after a hiatus of10 years, the party made 505assurances, which includes mea-sures towards economic revival,protecting farm lands, free threephase electricity for farmers and aseparate budget for agricultureand weekly off for police person-nel.

If voted to power, petrol anddiesel prices would be slashed byRs 5 and Rs 4 per litre, he said.

A monthly subsidy of Rs100 will be provided to buy oneLPG cylinder for every ration cardholder and the cost of state-run‘Aavin’ milk shall be slashed by Rsthree a litre. Also, an additional one

kg sugar would be distributedin public distribution outlets.Implementing all promises waspossible by eradicating corruption,pursuing measures including aus-terity and increasing tax revenue,

the manifesto released by himasserted.

A separate department willbe set up for implementation of

poll promises (and to ensureaction on petitions received byStalin from public during his cam-paign) within 100 days of assum-ing office and a report card shallbe be out on the 100th day.

Stalin promised a properinquiry into the circumstancesleading to the death of late ChiefMinister J Jayalalithaa and initia-tion of legal action again ‘anyone,’found guilty. The Centre wouldbe requested to include Sri Lankain its Citizenship

Amendment Act, 2019 andgive citizenship to Lankan Tamilrefugees living in camps in Indiaand work for release of sevenRajiv Gandhi assasination caseconvicts.

Input subsidy for organicfarmers, an increased MinimumSupport Price of Rs 2,500 and Rs4,000 respectively for paddy andcane per quintal and expeditiousimplementation of intra-state riverlinking plans were among thepromises Financial assistanceupto a maximum of Rs 25,000 toone lakh persons in a year goingon pilgrimage to major Hindutemples, increase in maternityleave period and assistance, cut infuel prices and steps to ban NEETin Tamil Nadu were promised.At the same time, the party alsoassured 2.5 per cent reservation tostudents of state-aided schools

who clear NEET in medical admis-sions. Tamil Nadu provides 7.5 percent quota to government schoolstudents (who get through NEET)in medical courses. The DMKalso promised to implement its petinitiatives the ‘Sethu Samudramproject,’ and revival of LegislativeCouncil.

The manifesto also assuredsteps to retrieve Katchatheevu isletfrom Sri Lanka to protect fisher-men and bring them under‘Scheduled Tribes’ (maritimetribes) category and provide themtwo lakh new houses. Till suchtime the COVID-19 battered econ-omy revived, property tax shall notbe increased. Releasing the man-ifesto, Stalin said if his party wasvoted to power, first generationgraduates will be given preferencein government jobs, reservation inprivate sector will also be insistedand promised subsidies for smallfarmers.

Promising an allocation of Rs1,000 crore towards renovationand consecration of Hindu tem-ples, Stalin assured to provide Rs200 crore for churches andmosques. “The government willenact a law making learning ofTamil compulsory till eighth stan-dard in all schools including thoseunder the Central Board ofSecondary Education.” Rightto Services Act, a resolution againstCentre’s farm laws in Assemblyand rescinding laws with similarprovisions in Tamil Nadu werepromised. PTI

From Page 1On Friday, the Central Committee

meeting of the CPN (UML) led byPrime Minister Oli had nominated 23leaders of Maoist Centre, including theministers to the party’s central com-mittee which the faction opposing himhas said is against the norms of theparty.

Since the Supreme Courtinvalidated the Nepal CommunistParty (NCP) merger and revived itsconstituents CPN-UML and NepalCommunist Party (Maoist Centre) onSunday last, Oli has been keeping at baythe faction led by Madhav KumarNepal that had opposed him andtightening his hold on the party byrelieving leaders close to Nepal fromparty positions, the daily said.

Nepal’s Election Commission onTuesday asked the CPN (UML) led byOli and the CPN (Maoist Center) ledby Prachanda to come up with a newname and election symbol of the partyif they decide to merge their partiesagain after the Supreme Court quashedthe 2018 unification of the two parties.

The CPN (UML) and CPN (MaoistCentre) merged in May 2018 to forma unified Nepal Communist Party fol-

lowing the victory of their alliance inthe 2017 general elections.

On last Sunday, the apex courtquashed their unification and grantedauthenticity of the Nepal CommunistParty (NCP) to Rishiram Kattel, whohad registered the party at the ElectionCommission in his name prior to theformation of Nepal Communist Party(NCP) led by Oli and Prachanda.

Kattel had challenged the ElectionCommission’s decision to registerNepal Communist Party (NCP) underOli and Prachanda in May 2018.

The bench said that a new partycannot be registered with the ElectionCommission when it already has aparty registered with a similar name.

The two parties had forged an elec-toral alliance with an agreement tounify the two parties after the election.Oli, in a surprise move, dissolvedParliament in December last year,amidst a tussle for power withPrachanda.

The ruling NCP split over Oli’smove to dissolve the 275-memberHouse of Representatives. In alandmark ruling, the apex court lastmonth reinstated the lower house ofParliament. PTI

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From Page 1As red flags went up, the jury

was out on whether it constitut-ed a new wave of the pandemic.Scientists grappled with the whyand how of the surge in cases butwere agreed that adherence toCovid-19 protocols and escalat-ing the vaccination drive tocover more people were neces-sary to control the rising trajec-tory of the disease.AnuragAgarwal, director of the CSIR-Institute of Genomics andIntegrative Biology, said scientistsat his institute are trying tounderstand if the rise in cases isdue to more-transmissible vari-ants of the virus or due to a lapsein precautionary measures fol-lowed by people. Though thereis no clarity if a new wave of thepandemic is currently underway,some things are certain.

The Ministry of CivilAviation requirements on“unruly passengers” providesfor an offender to be put on a no-fly list for varying periods - threemonths for verbal abuse, sixmonths for physical assault andtwo years or more for life threat-ening behavior. If a passenger isfound violating the protocolsbefore boarding a flight, then theDGCA order requires that air-port staff hand them over tosecurity personnel after suffi-cient warnings.

Directing the CISF/ policepersonnel deployed at theentrance of the airport to ensurethat no one is allowed to enterthe airport without wearing amask, it said that chief airportsecurity officer and other super-vising officers must ensure thispersonally.

DGCA said it has beennoticed that some travellersundertaking air journey do notadhere to COVID- 19 Protocols,which essentially involves wear-ing of mask properly and notbelow the nose during all timesof the journey from entering theAirport for departure to exitingthe Airport after arrival. Somepassengers have been noticednot wearing their masks properlywhile on-board the aircraft, itsaid.

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From Page 1“The BJP, during Atal’s time, believed in con-

sensus. But today’s Government believes in crush-ing and conquering. The Akalis and the BJD haveleft the BJP. Today, who is standing with BJP?”he asked.“Atal built a national alliance. He did notwant to weaken allies and take their space. Thisis a serious fight across the country. It’s not justa political fight. It’s a fight to save democracy,”he said, adding “there is no one to stop the gov-ernment’s (Centre’s) wrongdoing”.

On the roll of the Election Commission’s rolevis-a-vis the upcoming elections he said “… witha lot of responsibility that the ElectionCommission is no longer a neutral body.”

Sinha’s joining the TMC is likely to be seenas a prized catch --- at least symbolically --- forthe ruling outfit at a time when a bevy ofTrinamool leaders including some of Banerjee’strusted lieutenants like Suvendu Adhikari, RajibBanerjee et al jumping on to the saffron band-wagon ahead of the upcoming Assembly elec-tions.Meanwhile, the Congress has decided tosend its star campaigners to campaign for the LeftFront led grand alliance in Bengal. The list of 30-

star campaigners includes Sonia Gandhi, RahulGandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former PrimeMinister, Manmohan Singh, Sachin Pilot amongothers. The list had been presented to theSecretary of the Election Commission PradeshCongress sources said.Congress is a partner inthe Left Front led grand alliance that includes theIndian Secular Front of Muslim cleric AbbasSiddiqui.The list of other campaigners for theCongress includes Rajasthan, Punjab andChhattisgarh Chief Ministers Ashok Gehlot,Captain Amarinder Singh and Bhupesh Baghel,Leader of Opposition in the Rajya SabhaMallikarjun Kharge, former cricketers NavjotSingh Sidhu and Mohammad Azharuddin, for-mer Madhya Pradesh CM Kamal Nath, formerUnion Ministers Salman Khurshid, Jitin Prasada,party spokespersons Randeep Singh Surjewala,Pawan Khera; Abhijit Mukherjee etc.

The Congress party will be contesting theassembly elections in the State of West Bengalwith the Left parties and the Indian Secular Front(ISF).

On whether all these leaders would come toBengal for campaigning the PCC sources said thenational leaders’ schedules would be decided bythe national leadership.

From Page 1Referring to Nandigram, he said the land of farm-

ers’ agitation will give new direction to the move-ment against the farm bills.

On the ongoing farmers’ stir in Delhi, he said theprotestors are ready to continue their agitation fora long period as their morale is high.

Tikait is also expected to visit Singur, one of theepicentres of anti-farm land acquisition agitation in2006-07.

Patkar warned against the “sinister design” of theNarendra Modi government to rob small and mar-ginal farmers of their right over their small plots ofland. Also it does not allow farmers to decide theremunerative price of their agri produce.

The people of Nandigram must show the way bygiving the lead against the BJP’s objective to thrustthe farm laws, she said.

The social activist also urged the people to exer-cise their franchise cautiously.

“This is the land of Rabindranath Tagore, thisis the land of so many luminaries. Bengal’s soil willnot allow the divisive forces to get a toehold here,its farmers will not allow a rerun of forces like the(British) East India Company to usurp power,” shesaid.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrel-la body of over 40 farmers’ unions, had on Fridayurged ploughmen and other people of West Bengalnot to vote for BJP arguing that electoral defeat willforce the BJP-led government at the Centre to repealthe three farm laws.

Patkar had on Friday condemned the Centre forallegedly insulting the farmers’ stir and had said eventhe British occupiers had not resorted to acts whichthe present government is indulging in.

She had welcomed the passage of a resolutionagainst the farm laws in the West Bengal assembly.

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The Election Commission(EC) has sought more

details on West Bengal ChiefMinister and TrinamoolCongress leader MamataBanerjee’s alleged attack inci-dent, saying that the reportsubmitted by State chief sec-retary on her injuries wassketchy and not comprehensiveenough.

The EC has asked Statechief secretary AlapanBandyopadhyay to furnishmore details to elaborate on theincident further. On the hand,the special observers in theirreport has ruled the possibili-ty that the injury was the resultof an attack. Stating that thereis no evidence of an attack onCM’s convoy, the their reportsaid she was in the midst ofheavy police cover at the timeof the incident.

“The report submitted bythe West Bengal Governmentappeared to be quite sketchyand without any details of theincident like how it happenedor who could be behind it,” anofficials of the EC. Meanwhile,the EC special observers havesought another day to submittheir report, which has been

allowed by the poll body.Meanwhile, in a report to

the EC, West Bengal ChiefSecretary AlapanBandyopadhyay reported tohave stated that injury to ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee’sleg in Nandigram was causeddue to the car door but thereport does not clearly men-tion what led to the doorslamming on MamataBanerjee’s leg.

In addition, the ChiefSecretary’s report also mentionsthat a massive crowd had gath-ered on the road in Nandigramwhen the incident took place onMarch 10.On the other hand,the report does say that an ironpole was not far from CMMamata Banerjee’s car but doesnot clearly say if the door of thevehicles closed on her leg afterbrushing against the pole. Thereport also mentioned thatthere was no clear footage avail-able of the spot where the inci-dent took place from anywherein the vicinity,

Following the incident, theElection Commission hadasked Chief Secretary AlapanBandyopadhyay, specialobserver Ajay Nayak and spe-cial police observer VivekDube to submit a report byFriday evening.

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Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu on

Saturday offered 12 tips to thenewly elected members of theHouse to make a difference inHouse proceedings and nationbuilding by becoming effec-tive Parliamentarians.

He counselled the mem-bers on their conduct bothwithin and outside the Housewhile inaugurating a two-dayorientation programme forthe newly-elected members ofRajya Sabha.

Naidu stressed that criti-cism of the Governmentshould be informed and cred-ible, instead of being just forthe record.

“The Opposition has theright to crit icise theGovernment. In fact, it istheir duty. But the criticismshould be informed so that itlooks credible. Opposingever y move of theGovernment for the sake ofrecord dents its credibility.The quality of criticism shouldreally sting the Government ofthe day and catch the eye ofthe media and the people,”Naidu said.

Urging the members toacquire deep knowledge of thestate of the nation to makeeffective contributions to itstransformation, Naidu said: “Itis also your duty to ensure andfurther strengthen the unityand inclusivity of our multi-cultural society by checkmat-ing the attempts to createdivisions based on caste,colour, region and religion.Each one of you must emergeas the spokesperson of theaspiring, emergent, capable,resilient and united India.”

He also cautioned themembers about the attemptsto block the progress of thecountry, the voice of which isfinding an echo in the global

order in the form of distur-bances along the boundaries,misplaced criticism of thecountry based on some spo-radic incidents, discreditingIndia’s democracy, economicrestrictions, cross- border ter-ror etc. and urged them toeffectively checkmate suchattempts in every forum.

Naidu reminded themembers of their solemn dutyto defend the integrity andsovereignty of India by beingalert all the time about thethreats facing the country.

Elaborating on the chal-lenges of time management inthe House, Naidu assertedthat what is important is notthe length of the interven-tions, but the content and theperspectives presented.

He urged the members tobe specific and avoid repeti-tions which even kill mediainterest. He suggested themembers to avoid givingnotices as a matter of routinelike the notices under Rule

267 for suspension of thebusiness of the day.

The Rajya SabhaChairman urged the membersto develop in depth knowl-edge of issues being taken upin the House so as not to begeneral and vague in theirinterventions when complexissues with wider implica-tions are discussed.

Expressing concern overthe rising ‘negative perceptionquotient’ among the publicabout the functioning of thelegislatures in the country,Naidu urged the members toabide by the elaborate rules ofprocedure and conventionsof the House evolved over theyears to enable its smoothfunctioning.

“These rules provide forevery contingency. Duringmy 20 years in the RajyaSabha and three-and-a-halfyears as its Chairman, I havenever witnessed a situationwhen inadequacy of Ruleswas felt in addressing proce-dural matters in the House,”he said.

Stating that the membershave the right to seek their duein the House as per the rulesand conventions, and that thepresiding officers are theircustodians, Naidu said that itis in the interest of the mem-bers and of the House toabide by the decision of theChair in the end.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has

attached properties worth�55.57 crore in a case of cheat-ing the investors dishonestlyacross Jharkhand and otherStates by real estate firmSanjeevani Buildcon Pvt. Ltd.(SBPL).

The accused company usedto receive payments from thegullible investors in the nameof giving them plots of land.

“The attached assetsinclude 98 immovable proper-ties situated at Ranchi,Jharkhand and three commer-cial shops at Raipur as well asbank balances in the form offixed deposits in the name ofSanjeevani Buildcon Pvt. Ltd.and its directors and their rel-atives Jayant Dayal Nandy, hiswife Anita Dayal Nand, anoth-er director Shyam KishoreGupta and Ranjana Shrivastav,wife of one of the directorsPrakash Prasad Lala,” the EDsaid in a statement. .

The ED initiated investi-gation on the basis of FIR reg-istered by CBI, Ranchi andchargesheet against SanjeevaniBuildcon Pvt. Ltd. and others.

The ED investigation hasrevealed that SBPL and itsdirectors cheated a large num-ber of people of Jharkhand byinducing them by way of pub-lication of misleading adver-tisements through variousmedia channels and publiccanvassing which resulted intoreceipt of payments from theinvestors through cheque/cashtowards purported sale of plotsof land/constructed house, itsaid.

The directors of the com-pany had opened a large num-ber of bank accounts in the

name of company as well as intheir name for the purpose oflaundering of such funds. Alarge part of proceeds of crimewas also withdrawn in cash bythe accused persons fordepositing the same in theirpersonal accounts which wasfurther projected as untainted,it said.

The ED had earlierattached assets worth �3.10crore in the name of SBPL andits directors which was subse-quently confirmed by PMLAAdjudicating Authority.

During the course of inves-tigation, one of its directorsShyam Kishore Gupta wasarrested on March 12, 2020.Prosecution Complaint(chargesheet) was filed beforethe PMLA Special Courtagainst eight accused per-sons/entities.

Look Out Circular has alsobeen issued by ED against theabsconding accused JayantDayal Nand who was thealleged master mind of thisscam.

Further investigation inthis case is under progress, itadded.

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The CPI(M) polit bureau onSaturday termed the

Supreme Court’s re-examina-tion of Places of Worship Act,1991 as “unfortunate” and urgedthe Government not to supportthe petition. The Left partywas responding to the petitionfiled by BJP leader AshwaniUpadhyay and the apex courtseeking Centre’s response.

“It is unfortunate that theSupreme Court has opened theway for a re-examination of thePlaces of Worship (SpecialProvision) Act, 1991. The Actmandates that the character ofall religious places of worshipshould be maintained as it wason August 15, 1947, and no suitor proceedings shall lie in acourt of law with respect to thecharacter of places of worship.This effectively barred courtsfrom entertaining cases whichraise disputes over places ofworship that existed as ofAugust 15, 1947. The law fur-ther provided that such casesalready pending in courts wouldstand abated,” said CPI(M) in astatement.

“The Act, however, grantedan exception for the BabriMasjid/Ramjanmabhoomi siteat Ayodhya, which was thenunder dispute. While invokingthis exemption, the SupremeCourt in the 2019 Ayodhya ver-dict reaffirmed that similarsuch cases cannot be enter-tained with respect to other sitesin view of this Act.

The Polit Bureau of theCPI(M) reaffirms that thegrounds on which this law wasenacted need not be re-exam-ined. The Central Governmentmust respond to the SupremeCourt seeking its views in a firmaffirmation of the Places ofWorship Act, 1991,” saidCPI(M).

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India on Saturday recorded24,882 fresh Covid-19 infec-

tions, the highest so far thisyear, taking the tally to1,13,33,728, according to theUnion Health Ministry data.This is also the highest dailyrise in the last 83 days. Asmany as 26,624 new infectionswere recorded on December20.

Maharashtra, Kerala,Punjab, Karnataka, Gujarat,Tamil Nadu and MadhyaPradesh reported 87.72% ofthe new cases in the last 24hours. Maharashtra accountsfor 63.57 per cent of India’stotal active cases.

This is the fourth timethat the country’s single-daycases have crossed the 20,000-mark this year. The activecases also soared to 202,022,after a downward trend since

January 20, as 4,785 new caseswere added in the last 24hours, comprising 1.74% ofthe total cases seen so far. Thefirst two instances of a spikein active cases were seen in thefirst week of January when thefirst wave of Covid cases wasreceding, followed by a thirdrise on March 11.

At least 140 deaths were

reported in the last 24 hours.The surge in Covid-19

cases reported on Saturday isalmost 7 per cent higher thanthe previous day’s number.Data also showed that 19,957people were cured of the coro-navirus disease in the last 24hours, taking the recoveries to 10,973,260 so farand the national recovery rate

to 96.81%.After witnessing a reduced

number of cases in the last fewmonths, the infections haveonce again spiked in severalparts of the country.

In a bid to combat theinfection spread, the StateGovernments l ikeMaharashtra have imple-mented restrict ions andpushed the Covid-19 vacci-nation drive in the countrywith full force.

The Centre said2,82,18,457 vaccine doses havebeen administered so far, with20,53,537 doses given in thelast 24 hours.

The Government has beenasking the people to not takethe virus for granted. “It cancome up unexpectedly. If wehave to remain free of thisvirus, Covid-appropriatebehaviour, containment strat-egy as well as vaccination has to be broughtin,” said an official from theMinistry.

He advised that in dis-tricts where Covid-19 casesare seemingly on the rise,vaccination of eligible indi-viduals should be intensifiedand prioritised.

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The Supreme Court havingleft with only one woman

judge is “deeply worrying” andmust promptly receive seriousintrospection, apex court judge,Justice D Y Chandrachud, saidon Saturday.

Justice Chandrachud wasspeaking at a farewell ceremo-ny organised by the SupremeCourt Young Lawyers Forumto honour Justice InduMalhotra, who was the firstwoman lawyer to be appoint-ed directly as a judge of theSupreme Court, retires fromthe apex court on Saturday.

“Justice Malhotra’’s retire-ment means that the SC nowhas only one female judge onthe Bench. As an institution,I find that this is a deeply wor-

rying fact and must prompt-ly receive serious introspec-tion,” Justice Chandrachudsaid.

He said that “as an insti-tution whose decision shapeand impact lives of everydayIndian, we must do better”.

“We must ensure thediversity of our country findreflection in making up of ourcourt. Intrinsically having amore diverse judiciary is anend, a goal in itself and worthpursuing in its own sake.

“Instrumentally, having a

more diverse judiciar y,ensured diversity of perspec-tives is fairly considered,instills high degree of publicconfidence,” he said.

He said that it wasrequired that stories such asJustice Malhotra become morecommon place.

“As members of legal fra-ternity we do our bit to ensurethat it doesn’’t remain as hardas it was for Justice Malhotrafor women to climb upperechelons of our profession,” hesaid.

Speaking at the occasion,Justice Malhotra said that fora lawyer it was important toconduct yourself with highdegree of professionalism.

“You must be properlyattired, professionally at alltimes and be punctual in yourengagements. One issue Iflagged when I was called bywomen lawyers to Bar roomafter becoming a judge, I saidplease don’’t wear fashion-able clothes, which you mustkeep for the evening and notwhile you are at work.

“You must be profession-ally dressed as that’’s how youwill be perceived by yourclients, your colleagues, andthe Bench. Second, you mustlearn to draft in clear and con-cise manner,” she said.

In her farewell speech onWednesday, she said that theverdict delivered by the apexcourt decriminalising con-sensual gay sex was the “mostmoving moment” as the emo-tions that swept the court-room at that time was quiteoverwhelming.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi and Sri Lankan

President Gotabaya Rajapaksahad a telephonic conversationon Saturday during which theyreviewed topical developmentsas well as ongoing cooperationbetween both the countries inbilateral and multilateralforums.

The two leaders agreed tomaintain regular contactbetween relevant officials,including in the context of thecontinuing COVID-19 chal-lenges, a Prime Minister’sOffice statement (PMO) said.

The leaders reviewed top-ical developments and theongoing cooperation betweenboth the countries in bilateraland multilateral forums, itsaid.

During the call, PrimeMinister Modi reiterated theimportance of Sri Lanka toIndia’s Neighbourhood Firstpolicy, the PMO said.

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The Ministry of Jal Shakti onSaturday launched a frame-

work and guidelines for testing,monitoring and surveillance ofdrinking water quality as wellas a Water Quality InformationManagement System(WQMIS), an online portalthat provides detailed infor-mation on laboratories for thispurpose.

The guidelines specifywork to be done in terms ofsurveillance and monitoring atthe state, district, block/tehsiland village levels.

The basic water qualityparameters prescribed underthe guidelines are pH value,total dissolved solids, turbidi-ty, chloride, total alkalinity,total hardness, sulphate, iron,total arsenic, fluoride, nitrate,total coliform bacteria, e.Coil orthermo-tolerant coliform bac-teria.

The guidelines have beenprepared in consultation withthe Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR).

Jal Shakti MinisterGajendra Singh Shekhawat toldreporters that the aim of the JalJeevan Mission is to providefunctional tap water connec-

tions by 2024 to all rural house-holds and water quality is animportant aspect of it.

He said the total cost of theJal Jeevan Mission is �3,60,000crore and 2 per cent of it hasbeen dedicated to the quality ofwater.

According to a 2018assessment by the CentralGround Water Board, 52 percent of all the blocks in thecountry have inter alia any oneof the geogenic contaminantslike arsenic, chloride, fluo-ride, iron, nitrate and salinity.

Nearly 20 States in Indiahave drinking water sourcecontaminated with arsenic,

fluoride, nitrate, iron, salinityor heavy metals.

Apart from these, there are61 priority districts across fivestates identified by theMinistry of Health and FamilyWelfare which are affected byJapanese Encephalitis - AcuteEncephalitis Syndrome (JE-AES).

Bharat Lal, AdditionalSecretary and Mission Directorof National Jeevan Mission,said the purpose of the exerciseis to instil a sense of confidence about water qual-ity and people can also testwater quality.

He added that a databaseof 2,200 laboratories across thecountry has been prepared sothat water quality can be test-ed. All the laboratories havebeen accredited by NationalAccreditation Board forTesting and CalibrationLaboratories.

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Congress leader RahulGandhi on Saturday asked

how did businessman GautamAdani manage to increase hiswealth by 50 per cent whileeveryone else was strugglingbecause of the Covid-19 pan-demic.

His remarks come after anew report said that Adaniadded USD 16.2 billion to hiswealth taking his net worth toUSD 50 billion in 2021, morethan anyone else in the world.

Tagging the news reportin a tweet, Gandhi asked,“How much did your wealthincrease in 2020? Zero. Youstruggle to survive while hemakes Rs 12 lakh crore andincreases his wealth by 50 percent. Can you tell me why?”

With the biggest wealthsurge, Adani has beatenAmazon founder and CEOJeff Bezos and Tesla CEOElon Musk, according to thereport.

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In the run up to theInternational Yoga Day to be

held on June 21, 2021, a stringof programmes are plannedacross the country including athree-day Yoga Mahotsav in sixcities— Ahmedabad, Itanagar,New Delhi, Bhopal, Panjimand Leh from April 9.

The event will have theparticipation of various yogastakeholders and yoga masters.The preparation is going onwith coordination with respec-tive States, said Kiren Rijiju,Minister of State (IC), YouthAffairs and Sports and addi-tional Charge MoS(IC)AYUSH l after launching the100 days’ countdown to 7thIDY at an event here.

Calling Yoga, a soft powerwhich has given India a uniquerecognition before the inter-national fraternity, the Ministersaid that it has vast potential foremployment opportunities,especially after the declarationof Yogasana as a competitivesport.

All the young students pre-sent during the function andthose who are watching onlineto practice Yoga should takepart in Yogasans sports, said

the Minister while PK Pathak,Additional Secretary (Ayush)said that Yoga has played animportant role in enhancingthe immunity of the humanbody and hence useful in man-agement of Covid-19.

Dr IV Basavaraddi,Director Morar j i DesaiNational Institute of Yoga(MDNIY) talked in detailabout how at the initiative ofIndia, the United NationGeneral Assembly declared21st June as InternationalDay of Yoga. “UNESCO rec-ognized Yoga as an intangiblecultural heritage of humani-ty and Yogasana declared as acompetitive sport. These ini-tiatives resulted in exponen-

tial growth in Yoga promotionsince 2014,” he said.

Later, the Ministerlaunched the edition of YogaVijnana a Bi-annual researchjournal of MDNIY, containinguseful scientific research arti-cles and traditional knowl-edge about Yoga Shastra,being published for the ben-efit of Yoga professionals.

The Minister a lsolaunched Yoga Re-orienta-tion training programme forYoga Instructors of Leh-Ladakh undertaken byMDNIY.

A Yoga Fusion perfor-mance, by a group of students,was also made during theprogramme.

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Shri Amarnathji ShrineBoard (SASB) Saturday

decided to conduct the 56-daylong annual Amarnath pil-grimage beginning June 28 tillAugust 22 as per COVID-19SOPs developed by theGovernment. No person belowthe age of 13 years and abovethe age of 75 years shall be per-mitted to undertake the pil-grimage.

The yatra will commenceon the auspicious day ofAshaad Chaturthi falling onJune 28 as per Hindu Calendar,and conclude on ShravanPurnima (Raksha Bandhan)on 22nd August, 2021.

This year the Shrine Boardhas also decided to extendSpecial invitations to AkhadaParishads, Acharya Parishadsand explore the possibility ofestablishing counters at promi-nent religious places acrossthe country for facilitation ofSadhu/Sant Samaj.

Advance registration ofpilgrims will commence from1st April 2021 through 446 des-

ignated branches of PunjabNational Bank, Jammu andKashmir Bank and YES Bank,located in 37 States and UTs.

For the first time, theShrine board would be intro-ducing free of cost Battery Carservice for 2.75 km long Baltalto Domel stretch and viceversa. The Shrine Board hadalso decided to make availablesilver coins of 5 gm and 10 gmdenomination through theMetal and Mineral TradingCorporation (MMTC). Thesecoins would be sold to the pil-grims at the Holy Cave and atthe offices of the Shrine Boardduring the Yatra.

To cater to the rush of pil-grim traffic PahalgamDevelopment Authority hasbeen asked to ready at least fourhelipads to ensure safe landingof the pilgrims. The ShrineBoard authorities are in theprocess of floating the tendersto finalise the passenger fare onthe route. In addition to this theaccidental insurance cover foryatris and service providers hasbeen enhanced from the exist-ing Rs 3 lakhs to 5 lakhs and

for Ponies from Rs. 30,000 toRs. 50,000.

Lieutenant Governor,Manoj Sinha, Chairman, ShriAmarnathji Shrine Board(SASB), presided over the 40thBoard Meeting held here todayat Raj Bhavan in Jammu.

Those present at the meet-ing included BVRSubrahmanyam, ChiefSecretary, Atal Dulloo,Financial Commissioner,Health and Medical EducationDepartment and Members ofthe Board including: SwamiAvdheshanand Giri Ji Maharaj;D.C. Raina; Pt. Bhajan Sopori;Prof. Anita Billawaria; Dr.Sudershan Kumar; Dr. C.M.Seth; Tripta Dhawan; Prof.Vishwamurti Shastri and Dr.Devi Prasad Shetty.

Nitishwar Kumar, ChiefExecutive Officer SASB;Pandurang K. Pole, DivisionalCommissioner Kashmir; AnupKumar Soni, Additional ChiefExecutive Officer SASB; andother senior officers of theShrine Board also attendedthe meeting in person andthrough virtual mode.

The Board has also decid-ed to enable the live telecast ofmorning and evening Aartifor devotees across the globe.The live telecast is a tool for vir-tual Darshan for those who areunable to undertake the ardu-ous Yatra. Further, the pil-grims can download the “ShriAmarnathji Yatra” App avail-able on the Google play storeto get real time informationabout the Yatra and for avail-ing several services online.

During the meeting theBoard decided to enhance thedaily route-wise Yatri ceilingfrom 7500/Day/Route to

10,000/Day/Route, excludingYatris who would travel byhelicopters, would be allowedto secure Advance Registrationfor the pilgrimage.

The Lt Governor alsodirected for issuance of Specialinvitations to AkhadaParishads, Acharya Parishadsand exploring possibility ofestablishing counters at promi-nent religious places acrossthe country for facilitation ofSadhu/Sant Samaj.

Laying special emphasison providing best-in-classhealthcare facilities to all thevisiting devotees and service

providers, the Lt Governordirected the concerned officersto upgrade the present health-care facilities on both yatraroutes with latest equipmentsand augment strength of themedical staff to handle emer-gency cases.

On strengthening the com-munication channel, the LtGovernor directed for makingthe telecom services opera-tional two weeks prior to thecommencing of yatra at theHoly Cave and across the yatraroutes.

It was further directed toupgrade the sanitation capac-ity commensurate with theenhanced yatra volume forbase camp and along theroutes.

During the meeting, ShriAmarnathji Shrine Boardapproved the enhancement ofremunerations for Pujaris fromexisting Rs 1000 per day to Rs1500 per day for the next threeyears.

Discussion was also heldon introducing RFID Trackingand Prepaid hiring of Servicesfor putting in place for

strengthened online digital sys-tem.

The Board further direct-ed for wide publicity to begiven through the electronicand print media, informing theintending Yatris to timelysecure the prescribedCompulsory HealthCertificates issued by the

Doctors/ Hospitals nominatedby the State or UTs in whichthey reside and only thereafterproceed to seek AdvanceRegistration from the nearestlocated designated Bank whichwould issue the pilgrim a YatraPermit which shall be valid forthe specified date and route.

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Nemom, an Assembly con-stituency in

Thiruvananthapuram district,has emerged as the VVIP con-stituency in the State despite thefact that all the three fronts areyet to name the candidates whowill contest from here.

Though the constituencyhas no strategic importance ason date, Nemom is the hottopic of discussion in politicalKerala and it has elevated to thenational narrative,” said HariKartha, senior political com-mentator in the State.

The BJP had opened itsaccount in the Kerala LegislativeAssembly for the first time in2016 when O Rajagopal, the 92year old Hindutwa leader waselected from the constituency bya margin of 7,600 votes. Hisnearest rival was , V Sivankutty,son-in-law of CPI(M) ideologistP Govinda Pillai while the UDFhad fielded V Surendran Pillai,a political lightweight.

Saturday morning sawCongress workers staging ademonstration in front of formerChief Minister OommenChhandi’s ancestral residence atPuthuppalli in Kottayam districtagainst the move by theCongress High Command toshift him to Nemom. “We haveonly one leader and it is

Oommen Chandi. There isno question of us allowinghim to move out to any otherconstituencies in the State,”shouted thousands of his fol-

lowers who had gathered infront of the house. Chandi cameout of the house and assuredthem that he would fight onlyfrom Puthuppalli.

Ramesh Chennithala.Leader of the Opposition, haddeclared two days ago that hetoo would not leave his tradi-tional constituency ofHarippadu and contest fromNemom.

All these developments havecontributed to providing a haloaround the name Nemom, anunprecedented phenomenon inKerala. It has also helped to ele-vate the BJP from that of the“also ran” entity to a serious con-tender in this election. “Whatone understands from the con-troversy surrounding theNemom constituency is thatboth the Congress and theCPI(M)-led-fronts accept thefact that the BJP has emerged asa challenger in the 2021 electoralbattle,” said Kartha.

There are certain factors inKerala politics which could playa major role in the upcomingelection, according to P Rajan,veteran scribe who served jailterm during internal emergencyin 1975. “The Sabarimala con-troversy that earned brickbats forthe CPI(M) for the party’s anti-Hindu policies is likely to playa role in the 2021 election. It didnot yield any result in the 2019Lok Sabha election because thevoters were doubtful about thereturn of Narendra Modi asPrime Minister and they felt thatthe Congress winning the 2018

assembly elections in the threeState of Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh wasa good omen for the Grand OldParty’s victory in the Lok Sabhaelection. But the Congress failedto make any impact in the LokSabha election,” Rajan told ThePioneer.

He said that a Hindu con-solidation is likely in the upcom-ing polls that could spell disas-ter for the UDF and the LDF.“The Congress and the CPI(M)leaders are worried about theirchances not only at Nemom butin other constituencies too,”said Rajan.

Kadakampalli Surendran,minister for devaswams (admin-istration of temples) hadexpressed sorrow over the LDFGovernment allowing womendevotees in the ten to 55 agegroup worship at the Sabarimalashrine in violation of the tradi-tion. Besides the Hindus, amajor section of the Christiansare upset over the LDFGovernment’s policy of appease-ment to a particular minoritycommunity.

The BJP may field formerMizoram GovernorKummanam Rajasekharan fromNemom though no official wordhas come from the party.Political commentators are keen-ly watching the proceedings tosee what would happen in theeventuality of a hung assemblywith both the LDF and the UDFfailing to touch the magic figureof 71 in the House, which has aneffective strength of 140.

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Slamming the BJP-led NDA Governmentfor its failure to “protect” the seven-time

Dadra Nagar Haveli MP Mohan Delkarfrom harassment, the MaharashtraCongress on Saturday charged that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah “ignored” the letterswritten to them by late Delkar seekinghelp.

Addressing a news conference here,Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee(MPCC) general secretary and spokesper-son Sachin Sawant said that Delkar -- whowas allegedly being harassed and impli-cated falsely in crimes by BJP leader andcurrent Administrator of Dadra and NagarHaveli and Daman and Diu Praful KhodaPatel -- had written to Modi and Shahseeking help. “The suicide by the seven-time MP due to persecution from the BJPleader and Administrator of a UnionTerritory is a grave tragedy for the democ-racy of India,” Sawant said.

It may be recalled that 58-year-oldDelkar was found hanging in a hotel in theMarine Drive in south Mumbai onFebruary 22. Fifty-eight-year-old Delkaris suspected to have committed suicide byhanging himself. The police had recovereda 16-page suicide note from the hotel roomwhere Delkar’s body was found.

“Delkar was persecuted and insultedby the BJP leader Prafull Khoda Patel andseveral central administrative officers. Hehad complained that they were trying toentangle him in crimes which he had no

connection with. Those cases in whichcharge-sheet also had been filed or werebeing reopened. Even he was threatenedwith dire consequences and was told thathis family will be put in jail,” Sawant said.

Sawant said that late Delkar had writ-ten two letters “with expectations ofurgent help” to Modi -- one on December18, 2020 and the other on January 31 2021and had even asked him for an urgentappointment for a meeting. He also hadalso written two letters to the Home min-ister -- one on December 18, 2020 with thesame content and another one on January12, 2021 and had sent three letters to LokSabha speaker Om Birla and one letter toParliamentary standing committee chair-man Bhupendra Yadav”

Sawant wondered if the PrimeMinister and Union Home Minister delib-erately “ignored” the letters written by lateDeolkar. He also wanted to know fromParliamentary Privilege Committee if hehad spoken about his intention to commitsuicide before its members.

On February 12, 2021 the PrivilegeCommittee of Lok Sabha heard the com-plaints of Delkar. Before this committeeMohan had talked about the kind of pres-sure he was under. It is being heard thatMohanbhai even said at that meeting thathe had two options before him 'Either toresign from the parliament or commit sui-cide'. We demand explanation from theprivilege committee whether Delkar saidso, as within just 10 days he committed sui-cide”

“If the Modi govt had taken immedi-

ate steps Delkar could have been saved.The reason for Delkar coming to Mumbaito commit suicide was that he was com-pletely disappointed with the BJP leader-ship and had no expectation from them.He thought MVA government will givehim justice,” he said.

Sawant said that the BJP governmentin Gujarat could not bring to book the cul-prits behind the murder of Home Ministerof that state HarenPandya. “The BJP gov-ernment could not punish the Pandyakillers, but the MVA government woulddefinitely bring all those responsible forsuicide by Mohan Delkar to book andwon't let the situation become similar toHaren Pandya,” the State Congressspokesperson said. On their part, theMumbai police on March 10 bookedPraful Khoda Patel for his alleged involve-ment in the circumstances leading to theseven-time MP Mohan Delkar committingsuicide.

A day after the Maharashtraannounced the setting up of a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) to probe the cir-cumstances into the death of MohanDelkar who committed suicide in aMumbai hotel, the Marine Drive policeregistered an FIR into the case.

Patel has been booked under the pro-visions of Indian Penal Code andScheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The Marine Drive police had initial-ly filed an Accidental Death Report (ADR)in connection with the incident which hasbeen converted into an FIR.

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The age of the accused is tobe determined in the

famous Akarabad rape andmurder case. For this, permis-sion has been sought from thepolice level by applying to theJuvenile Justice Board.

During this process, theaccused also appeared beforethe board.

The Board of Justice hasfixed the 15th date for decisionon the application of the police.

The Scheduled Caste

teenager, who went to the farmin Akrabad area to get fodder,was strangled to death duringan attempted rape.

In this case, a 17-year-oldaccused from the neighboringvillage was arrested. He wassent before the Juvenile JusticeBoard and sent to the ChildReform Home Agra.

Since the crime is of seri-ous nature, Therefore, it is theeffort of the police to determinehis age by the Medical Board.So that the trial of this case can be done in the SessionsCourt.

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Lucknow: A case has been reg-istered against Samajwadi Partychief Akhilesh Yadav and 20party workers in connectionwith alleged assault on somejournalists in Uttar Pradesh'sMoradabad, police said onSaturday.

An FIR was registered atPakhwara police station late onFriday night under varioussections of the Indian PenalCode (IPC) on the basis of acomplaint by a journalist, offi-cials said.

According to the com-plainant, Yadav, the formerUttar Pradesh chief minister,was irked by a few personalquestion posed by some jour-nalists during an interactionwith him at a hotel on March11 after a press conference.

Following this, Yadavallegedly instigated his securi-ty guards and aides to attackthe journalists, the FIR claimed.

It also alleged thatthe security guards and over 20SP workers beat up the jour-nalists causing grievousinjuries.

The journalists are under-going treatment at a hospital. PTI

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As it continued to be in thevice-like grip of the second

wave of Covid-19, Maharashtraon Saturday witnessed a stag-gering 15,602 new pandemiccases, even as the daily coron-avirus toll went up to 88 in theState.

A day after Maharashtrarecorded the highest caseloadof 15,817 since October 7 lastyear, the number of infectionscame down marginally to15,602, while the state wit-nessed 88 deaths as against 56deaths registered on Friday.

With 15602 fresh cases, thetotal infections in the stateclimbed from 2,28,2191 to2,29,7793. Similarly, with 88new deaths the Covid-19 toll inthe state went up from 52,723to 52,811.

As 7467 patients were dis-charged from the hospitalsacross the state after full recov-ery, the total number of peopledischarged from the hospitalssince the second week of Marchlast year went up to 21,25,211.The recovery rate in the statedropped marginally from 92.79per cent to 92.49 per cent.

With five fresh deaths, theCovid-19 toll in Mumbai rosefrom 11,523 to 11,528. whilethe infected cases went up by1709 to trigger a jump in theinfections from 3,40,290 to3,41,999.

Meanwhile, the number of“active cases” total cases in thestate went up from 1,10,485 to1,18,525 The fatality rate in thestate dropped from 2.31 percent to 2.3 per cent.

There are a maximum of24,025 “active” cases in Pune,

followed by Nagpur (16,014),Mumbai (11,747), Thane(11,592), Nashik (6357),Aurangabad (6263), Jalgaon(4972), Amravati (4019) andAkola (3895).

Pune district, which con-tinued to be the worst-affectedcity-district in Maharashtra,saw the total number of casesincrease from 4,33,237 to4,36,303 while the total num-ber of deaths in Pune went upfrom 8121 to 8133.

Thane district remainedin the third spot --after Puneand Mumbai – after the totalnumber of infections rose from2,90,290 2,81,704, while thetotal deaths climbed from 5861to 5869.

Of the 1,74,08,504 samplessent to laboratories, 22,97,793have tested positive (13.20 percent) for COVID-19 untilSaturday.

Currently, 5,70,695 peo-ple are in home quarantinewhile 5,031 people are in insti-tutional quarantine.

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Security forces in Myanmaron Saturday again met

protests against last month’smilitary takeover with lethalforce, killing at least four peo-ple by shooting live ammuni-tion at demonstrators.

Three deaths were report-ed in Mandalay, the country’ssecond-biggest city, and one inPyay, a town in south-centralMyanmar. There were multiplereports on social media of thedeaths, along with photos ofdead and wounded people inboth locations.

The independent UNhuman rights expert forMyanmar, Tom Andrews, saidThursday that “crediblereports” indicated securityforces in the Southeast Asiannation had so far killed at least70 people, and cited growingevidence of crimes againsthumanity since the militaryousted the elected governmentof Aung San Suu Kyi.

Reports on social mediaalso said three people were shotdead Friday night in Yangon,Myanmar’s largest city, whereresidents for the past weekhave been defying an 8 pm.Curfew to come out on thestreets. Two deaths by gunfirewere reported in Yangon’s

Thaketa township, where aprotest being held outside apolice station was dispersed. Acrowd had gathered there todemand the release of threeyoung men who were seizedfrom their home earlier Fridaynight. Photos said to be of thebodies of two dead protesterswere posted online. The otherreported fatality Friday night

was of a 19-year-old man shotin Hlaing township.

The nighttime protests mayreflect a more aggressiveapproach to self-defense thathas been advocated by someprotesters. Police had beenaggressively patrolling residen-tial neighborhoods at night, fir-ing into the air and setting offstun grenades in an effort at

intimidation. They have alsobeen carrying out targetedraids, taking people from theirhomes with minimal resistance.In at least two known cases, thedetainees died in custody with-in hours of being taken away.

Another possible indica-tion of heightened resistanceemerged Saturday with photosposted online of a railway

bridge said to have been dam-aged by an explosive charge.

The bridge was describedin multiple accounts as beingon the rail line from Mandalayto Myitkyina, the capital of thenorthern state of Kachin. Thephotos show damage to part ofa concrete support.

No one took responsibili-ty for the action, but it couldserve a two-fold purpose.

It could be seen as supportfor the nationwide strike ofstate railway workers, who arepart of the civil disobediencemovement against the coup.

At the same time, it could beaimed as disrupting the ability ofthe junta to reinforce its troopsin Kachin, a state whose residentshave long been at odds with thecentral government. The Kachinethnic minority fields its ownwell-trained and equipped guer-rilla force, and there has beenoutrage in Myitkyina at securi-ty forces’ killing of anti-coup pro-testers there.

The prospect of sabotagehas been openly discussed bysome protesters, who warnthat they could blow up apipeline supplying natural gasto China. They see China asbeing the junta’s main sup-porter, even though Beijinghas been mildly critical of thecoup in its public comments.

In Washington on Friday,the Biden administrationannounced it is offering tem-porary legal residency to peo-ple from Myanmar, citing themilitary’s takeover and ongoingdeadly force against civilians.

Homeland SecuritySecretary Alejandro Mayorkassaid the designation of tempo-rary protected status for peoplefrom Myanmar would last for18 months. The offer of tem-porary legal residency appliesto people already in the UnitedStates. Mayorkas said in a state-ment that worsening condi-tions in Myanmar would makeit difficult for those people tosafely return home.

The Feb. 1 coup reversedyears of slow progress towarddemocracy in Myanmar, whichfor five decades had languishedunder strict military rule thatled to international isolationand sanctions.

Suu Kyi’s National Leaguefor Democracy party led areturn to civilian rule with alandslide election victory in2015, and an even greater mar-gin of votes last year. It wouldhave been installed for a secondfive-year term last month, butinstead Suu Kyi and PresidentWin Myint and other membersof the Government were placedin military detention.

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The Biden administrationoffered temporary legal

residency on Friday to peoplefrom Myanmar, where militaryleaders have overthrown thecountry’s elected governmentand are using deadly forceagainst protesters.

Homeland SecuritySecretary Alejandro Mayorkassaid the temporary protectedstatus would last for 18months. The designationapplies to people from thatcountry already living in theUnited States.

Myanmar’s military seizedpower February 1, hoursbefore the seating of a new par-liament following electionresults that were seen as arebuff to the country’s gener-als. The coup upended inter-nationally backed efforts torestore democracy and enddecades of junta rule. Securityforces have killed dozens of

protesters since the coup.Mayorkas said in a state-

ment that the takeover hasworsened humanitarian con-ditions, disrupted aid andmedical flights into the coun-try and brought on an eco-nomic crisis, making it difficultfor Myanmar nationals andlongtime residents to return tothe country safely.

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Leaders of the US, India,Australia and Japan did dis-

cuss the “challenge” posed byChina during the first meetingof the Quad, and they madeclear that none of them haveany “illusions” about Beijing,US National Security AdviserJake Sullivan has said.

Addressing a White Housebriefing on Friday soon afterthe historic virtual Quad sum-mit between US President JoeBiden, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, AustralianPrime Minister Scott Morrisonand Japanese Prime MinisterYoshihide Suga, the topAmerican official said the fourleaders have agreed to hold anin-person summit later thisyear.

The leaders addressed key

regional issues, including free-dom of navigation and freedomfrom coercion in the South andEast China seas, the NorthKorea nuclear issue and thecoup and violent repression inMyanmar, Sullivan said.

“Over the course of themeeting, a sense of optimismfor the future, despite the hardtimes were in, was on full dis-play.

“The four leaders did dis-cuss the challenge posed byChina, and they made clearthat none of them have any illu-sions about China, but todaywas not fundamentally aboutChina,” Sullivan said ahead ofa crucial meeting with topChinese officials.

Sullivan, who along withalong with the Secretary ofState Antony Blinken arescheduled to meet their

Chinese counterparts YangJiechi, a member of thePolitburo of the rulingCommunist Party of Chinaand State Councillor andForeign Minister Wang Yi inAnchorage, Alaska on March18-19.

“This is our effort to com-municate clearly to the Chinesegovernment how the UnitedStates intends to proceed at astrategic level, what we believeour fundamental interests andvalues are, and what our con-cerns with their activities are —whether it’s on Hong Kong, orXinjiang, or in the TaiwanStrait — or, frankly, the issuesthat we heard today from ourQuad partners: their coercionof Australia, their harassmentaround the Senkaku Islands,their aggression on the borderwith India,” Sullivan said.

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The Biden administrationon Friday said it is willing

to reconsider the objections oradverse decisions to foreignworkers on visas like H-1B dueto the three policy memos bythe previous Trump adminis-tration which now have beenrescinded.

The move is expected tocome to the rescue of a largenumber of Indian IT profes-sionals who were having atough time during the previousTrump administration due tovarious policies and memo-randums on non-immigrantwork visas, in particular H-1B.

US Citizenship andImmigration Services (USCIS)on Friday announced “it may

reopen and/or reconsideradverse decisions” on Form I-129, Petition for aNonimmigrant Worker, madebased on three rescinded pol-icy memos.

USCIS said it will general-ly use its discretion to accept amotion to reopen filed morethan 30 days after the decision,if filed before the end of thevalidity period requested onthe petition or labour conditionapplication, whichever is earli-er, and the decision was based onone or more policies in the threerescinded H-1B memoranda.

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Sri Lankan PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa has

praised his brothers, saying thatall three of them are firmly unit-ed and anyone trying to drive awedge between them will notsucceed. In a comment made bythe president at a political gath-ering on Friday, GotabayaRajapaksa praised the maturityof his elder brother Mahinda,the prime minister, and theyounger brother Basil, the keypresidential adviser.

“Mahinda Rajapaksa iscurrently one of the greatestleaders not only here but alsoin Asia. His political experi-ence, maturity and knowledgecannot be matched by anyone,”he said during the programme.

“His mature leadership is agreat relief to me in taking the

country forward,” he was quot-ed as saying by an officialstatement released on Saturday.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa,71,praised Basil as the man whocreated the Rajapaksa politicalparty, the Sri Lanka People’sParty (SLPP) and the forcebehind the political environ-ment for them to return topower after the defeat ofMahinda Rajapaksa in 2015.

In the recent months someof the ruling coalition seniorswere mooting the idea thatGotabaya Rajapaksa be allowedto take over the reins of the rul-ing SLPP from MahindaRajapaksa. This move has metwith stiff resistance from thesenior Rajapaksa loyalists whohave demanded disciplinaryaction against those whosought Mahinda’s replacementas the party leader.

Colombo: A 60-year-old for-mer leader of Islamic organi-sation Jamaat-e-Islami has beenarrested in Sri Lanka forallegedly promoting extremismin the country, policeannounced on Saturday.

Rasheed Hajjul Akbar, whoheaded the Jamaat-e-Islami organ-isation for 24 years until lastSeptember 2019, was arrested bythe Terrorism InvestigationDivision (TID) from Dematagodaarea on Friday, Police SpokesmanDIG Ajith Rohana said.

He was publishing articlesin a magazine published by theJamaat-e-Islami organisationto promote Wahhabism andJihadist ideology in Sri Lanka,the police spokesman said.

The arrest came as aninvestigation panel on the 2019

Easter Sunday bombings hadcalled for banning Wahaabismin the island nation as itinspires Muslim religiousextremism. On April 21, 2019,nine suicide bombers belong-ing to the local Islamist extrem-ist group National ThawheedJamaat (NTJ) carried out aseries of blasts that tore throughthree churches and as manyluxury hotels in Sri Lanka,killing 270 people, including 11Indians, and injuring over 500on the Easter Sunday.

The blasts targeted StAnthony’s Church in Colombo,St Sebastian’s Church in thewestern coastal town ofNegombo, and a church in theeastern town of Batticaloawhen the Easter Sunday masswas in progress. PTI

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Atop Pakistani university hasexpelled two students for

hugging and proposing on cam-pus, after a video of the incidentwent viral on social media. Aspecial disciplinary committeeof the University of Lahoreheld a meeting on Friday andsummoned the two students butthey failed to appear.

The committee then decid-ed to expel the boy and the girland banned them from enter-ing any of the university’s cam-puses. According to theUniversity of Lahore, the twostudents were involved in grossmisconduct and violation ofuniversity rules.

“The students in questionwere summoned before thecommittee but failed to appear.Thus, in pursuance of Section9 of the General Discipline andCode of Conduct on the

Campus, the committee hasdecided to expel the two stu-dents for violating the varsity’srules and regulations and seri-ous infraction of the code ofconduct. Furthermore, as perSection 16, they are debarredfrom entering the premises ofUniversity of Lahore and all itssub-campuses,” read a state-ment from the University ofLahore. The video of the pro-posal took Twitter by storm, it

was one of the top trends onsocial media last Thursdaywhen the incident took place.

The viral footage shows thegirl with her right knee bent onthe ground, holding a bouquetof roses, proposing to the boy,who then takes the flowers andpulls the girl for a hug. Nearbystudents are seen cheeringthem along. As the footagewent viral, the university tooknotice of it. Expulsion of the

couple drew mixed reactionson the internet. A social mediauser posted the picture ofIndian film legend AmitabhBachchan from the movie“Mohabbatein” where heplayed a college principal whowas against romance in college.

“Presenting to you, thePrincipal of the University ofLahore,” read the caption witha photograph of Bachchan.

Slain prime minister ofPakistan Benazir Bhutto’sdaughter Bakhtawar Bhutto-Zardari termed the universityaction “ridiculous”.

Former Test CricketerWasim Akram’s wife ShanieraAkram said in a tweet: “Applyall the rules you want but youcan’t expel love! It’s in ourhearts, it’s the best part aboutbeing young and it what makeslife worth living! You learnmore about love than you canever learn at an institution.”

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Dhaka: Several world leaders,including Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and heads ofstate and government fromNepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan andthe Maldives, are set to visitBangladesh later this month toparticipate in the grand cele-brations to mark the goldenjubilee of the country’s inde-pendence from Pakistan.

The golden jubilee cele-brations to be held from March17-27 to mark the country’sindependence from Pakistanafter the 1971 Liberation Waralso coincides with the birthcentenary of Father of theNation, Bangabandhu SheikhMujibur Rahman. PrimeMinister Modi and four headsof state and government fromNepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan andthe Maldives will be among thedistinguished foreign guests

to join the celebrations underseparate schedules, Bangladeshgovernment’s principal infor-mation officer Surath KumarSarkar told PTI. MaldivianPresident Ibrahim MohamedSolih will be the first top for-eign dignitary to arrive on athree-day tour on March 17,followed by Sri Lanka’s PrimeMinister Mahinda Rajapaksaon March 19 on a two-day tour.

Nepal President Bidya DeviBhandari will be in Dhaka ona two-day tour from March 22while Bhutanese premier LotayTshering will visit the countryfrom March 24 to March 25.

Prime Minister Modi willarrive on March 26 on a two-day visit and will join the mainIndependence Day celebra-tions that also marks 50 yearsof Bangladesh-India diplomat-ic relations. PTI

La Paz: The conservative inter-im President who led Boliviafor a year was arrested onSaturday as officials of therestored leftist Governmentpursue those involved in the2019 ouster of socialist leaderEvo Morales, which they regardas a coup, and the administra-tion that followed.

Jeanine Áñez was detainedin the early morning in herhometown of Trinidad andwas flown to the capital, Las Paz. AP

London: Britain’s foreign sec-retary on Saturday criticisedChina for continuing to violatethe Sino-British JointDeclaration as Beijing furthertightens control over HongKong. Dominic Raab saidBeijing’s decision to “imposeradical changes to restrict par-ticipation in Hong Kong’s elec-toral system ... Is part of a pat-tern designed to harass and sti-fle all voices critical of China’spolicies.”

The moves amount to thethird breach of the JointDeclaration in less than ninemonths, Raab said in a statement.

“The Chinese authorities’continued action means I mustnow report that the UK con-siders Beijing to be in a state ofongoing non-compliance with

the Joint Declaration — ademonstration of the growinggulf between Beijing’s promis-es and its actions,” the foreignsecretary said.

British and Chinese author-ities signed the agreement in1984, paving the way for HongKong’s handover from British toChinese rule in 1997. Theagreement stipulated that theformer British colony wouldretain a high degree of auton-omy and its civil rights and free-doms for at least 50 years.

The UK and US criticisedChina Thursday when its cer-emonial legislature endorsedthe Communist Party’s move toreduce the role of Hong Kongvoters in picking the territory’slawmakers and ensure “patri-ots” rule the city. AP

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Kolkata: Chief EconomicAd v i s o r K r i s h n a m u r t hySubramanian on Saturday hassaid that the country requiresgrowth at this juncture, evenwith economic tradeoffs, as itaspires to increase its domi-nance and self- reliance in theglobal economy.

Subramanian’s commentcomes ahead of the revision ofpolicy framework and inflationtargets by the Monetary PolicyCommittee headed by the RBIgovernor by March 31.It will be the first review for RBIsince it was tasked with a man-dated inflation target of 4 percent with a 2 per cent deviationeither way in June 2016, whenit adopted a flexible inflationtargeting model.At this juncture we must focuson growth and when it comesto pressures for trade-offs, wemust be leaning on growth,Subramanian said at a virtualannual regional meeting of theCII, Eastern Region.

PTI

Mumbai:To create employa-bility and employment oppor-tunities, there is a need tofocus on new age skills and stepup the momentum of skilling,Union Minister for SkillDevelopment andEntrepreneurship MahendraNath Pandey said on Saturday.

The minister said that toachieve these objectives, train-ers need to be updated on newtechnologies. Pandey wasspeaking at the inauguration ofL&T’s Skill Trainers Academy(STA) in Mumbai. He saidL&T’s STA supports short-term skill training through awide network of trainingproviders and district nodalskill centres called PradhanMantri Kaushal Kendra. PTI

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India’s financial technologycompanies are poised to

become three times as valuablein the next five years, reachinga valuation of USD 150-160billion by 2025, according to areport.

The report unveiled onSaturday details the findingsfrom the study that BostonConsulting Group (BCG) andFICCI undertook to size thevalue-creation potential andidentify imperatives for India’sFinTech growth.

“India is strongly poised torealise a FinTech sector valua-tion of USD 150-160 billion by2025, translating to an incre-mental value-creation potentialof approximately USD 100 bil-lion. It is estimated that to meet

this ambition,India’s FinTechsector will needinvestments ofUSD 20-25 bil-lion over thenext five years,”says the report.

India’sd y n a m i cFinTech indus-try has over2,100 FinTechs of which 67 percent have been set up over thelast 5 years alone. The total val-uation of the industry is esti-mated at USD 50-60 billion.

The industry’s growth hasbeen undeterred by the pan-demic, as it has seen the emer-gence of three new Unicornsand five new Soonicorns (USD500 mn+ valuation) sinceJanuary 2020.

Prateek Roongta,Managing Director andPartner, Boston ConsultingGroup India said, “We believeIndia’s FinTechs are at theprecipice of significant value-creation of USD 100 billionover the next five years. Toactualise this potential, theindustry would require invest-ments to the tune of USD 20-25 billion till 2025.Consequently, the number ofIndian FinTech Unicorns willmore than double over thenext few years.”

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The Government depart-ments will not be able to

renew registration of their vehi-cles older than 15 years fromApril 1, 2022, if a proposal inthis regard issued by the theMinistry of Road Transportand Highways is finalised.

It has sought stakehold-ers comments to amend relat-ed rules in this regard issuinga notification.

Once approved, this willbe applicable to all governmentvehicles - central or state gov-ernments, union territories,PSUs, municipal andautonomous bodies, as per thenotification.

“From April 1, 2022, gov-ernment departments will notbe able to renew the certificateof registration of their vehicles,after 15 years. This will applyto all government - central,state, UT, PSUs, municipalbodies & autonomous bod-ies,” the Ministry of Road,Transport and Highways saidin a tweet.

The development comesclose on heels of the voluntaryvehicle scrapping policy

announced in the UnionBudget on February 1 for 2021-22 which provides for fitnesstest after 20 years for personalvehicles while commercialvehicles would require it afterthe completion of 15 years.

Notification of the draftrules has been issued to thiseffect on March 12 by theministry seeking comments,objections and suggestionsfrom the stakeholders withinthirty days.

The certificate of registra-tion shall not be renewed afterthe laps of 15 years for goven-rment vehicles, it said.

Presenting the Budget for2021-22 in Parliament, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon February 1 had announced

vehicle scrapping policy.Road, Transport, Highways

and MSMEs Minister NitinGadkari had said that initiallyone crore vehicles will go forscrapping and the policy willlead to new investments ofaround Rs 10,000 crore andcreate as many as 50,000 jobs.

These old vehicles areestimated to cause 10-12 timesmore pollution than the latestvehicles.

The government had ear-lier said it plans to imposegreen tax on old pollutingvehicles soon in a bid to pro-tect the environment and curbpollution while vehicles likestrong hybrids, electric vehiclesand those running on alternatefuels like CNG, ethanol andLPG will be exempted. Therevenue collected through thegreen tax will be utilised fortackling pollution.

Under the scheme, trans-port vehicles older than eightyears could be charged greentax at the time of renewal of fit-ness certificate at the rate of 10-25 per cent of road tax, as pergreen tax proposal sent tostates for consultations aftercleared by the ministry.

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Ahead of the assembly elec-tions In four states and a

union territory, a startup firmhas unveiled a mobile applica-tion with poll statistics and dataon the country’s economy tohelp voters take fact-baseddecisions before exercisingtheir franchise, company offi-cials said.

The startup -Demokratika- launched theapplication, BolSubol, whichhas economic and politicalinformation about all the con-stituencies in India for over 60years on average, they claimed.

“Except the election com-mission’s efforts, not muchseems to be done by politicalparties to empower voters.Hence, the app is rolled out. Itwill offer a powerfulmicroblogging tool,” RiteshVerma, one of the directors ofthe company, said on Friday.

Most of the digital plat-

forms related to the field aresocial networking applications.These do not help voters takefact-based decisions, anotherdirector of the firm SheshagiriAnegondi said.

There is an election knowl-edge game that users can play,and most of the features of theapp are free, the official said.

“Users have to pay forsome of the features of themobile application,” he added.

Tamil Nadu, Kerala andPuducherry will go to polls onApril 6, while assembly elec-tions in Assam will be held inthree phases starting on March27.The eight-phased polls inWest Bengal will be heldbetween March 27 and April29. Votes will be counted onMay 2.

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Indian Oil CorporationLimited (IndianOil) has

leveraged its expertise andreach to bolster India’s Covid-19 vaccination programme bysupplementing the availablecold chain equipment (CCE)infrastructure in four states --Jammu & Kashmir, TamilNadu, Bihar and Manipur -- forthe storage and transportationof vaccines.

IndianOil is procuringCCE equipment like ice-linerefrigerator (ILR), deep freez-er (DF), walk-in-cooler (WIC),walk-in-freezer (WIF) andrefrigerated truck (RT) forhanding them over to therespective state governments.

The IndianOil manage-ment has also asked the com-pany’s stakeholders to get vac-cinated at the earliest to con-tribute to the success of theworld’s largest vaccination

drive.Shrikant Madhav Vaidya,

Chairman, IndianOil, andRanjan Kumar Mohapatra,Director (HR), IndianOil, wereamong the first few to get theindigenous vaccine shot toallay the apprehensions amongthe stakeholders.

Speaking about IndianOil’sfocus on employee welfare,Vaidya said, “An inspired, agile and resilient team ofemployees enabled Indian Oilto fuel the economy and keep the kitchen fires burning,even during the most difficultphases of the pandemic.

We are committed toensuring the employees’ welfareat all times”.

During the countrywidelockdown, IndianOil ensuredthe supply of petroleum prod-ucts, including delivering on anaverage of 25 lakh cylindersevery day to its customers’doorsteps.

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Some of India Inc’s seniorGeneral Counsels have

together to launch the GeneralCounsels’ Association of India(GCAI).

The objective of the asso-ciation is to create a robust plat-form run, managed, and oper-ated by General Counselsacross India in order to createa distinct professional identityand voice for General Counsels.

Amongst the seniorGeneral Counsels who haveassociated themselves with theinitiative are Sanjeev Gemawat,Dalmia Bharat; Akhil Prasad,Boeing India, ManjareeChowdhary, Maruti Suzuki;Tejal Patil, OYO; SameetGambhir, DCM; SameerChugh, Bharti Group; Manish

Lamba, DLF and ParveshKheterpal, Feedback Infra.

GCAI aims to be the pre-mier association to serve thediversified needs of the in-house counsels, who are qual-ified law graduates holding adegree in law duly recognizedby the Bar Council of India. In-house counsels are in employ-ment with organizations,responsible for the enforcementof law and governance in theirrespective organizations,including handling all its legalmatters.

It will also help to enhancethe growth and quality of in-house legal professionals whocan leverage the collectiveknowledge and wisdom ofexperienced members throughcollaboration and exchange ofideas.

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The rising fuel prices isimpacting demand condi-

tions in India that is looking foran accelerated recovery of theeconomy post Covid-inducedlockdowns and disruptions.

According to official data,country’s fuel consumption fellsharply in February, the secondconsecutive month whendemand is slowing signs of aslackening amidst rising fuelprices.

The consumption slow-down in February is lowestsince September when it hadbegun becoming clear thatworst is over and demand ispicking up.

According to oil ministry’sPetroleum Planning andAnalysis Cell (PPAC), con-

sumption of fuel ( largely petroland diesel ) fell 4.9 per cent inyoy February to 17.2 milliontonnes. The demand alsoslipped 4.6 per cent on month-ly basis indicating that varioushiccups still remain on thepath of full recovery for theIndian economy.

A clearer indication thatrecovery is still some way offcan be gauged by seeing thediesel consumption data as thefuel is prime source of trans-port for all kinds of goods inthe country and accounts forabout 40 per cent of overallrefined fuel sales in India.

The consumption ofDiesel fell 3.8 per cent to 6.55million tonnes in February ona month on month basis anddeclined 8.5 per cent year-on-year.

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An e-Commerce operatoroperating in marketplace

or hybrid mode shall manageits relationship with sellers onits platform in an agnosticmanner and without beingpartial to any of its sellers.

This is laid out in the DraftE-commerce policy preparedby Department for Promotionof Industry and Internal Tradeunder the Ministry ofCommerce & Industry.

This National e-CommercePolicy is therein, not a freshconstruct of government’sambitions but is a consolidat-ed document for the continuedvision of providing a level play-ing field to all stakeholders,including individual con-sumers, MSMEs, traders, arti-sans, start-ups, while pursuinga development agenda whichaddresses growth and reducesprevalent market distortions.This focus is important asretail trade has been com-plaining against it.

Meetings are underway toreceive feedback on the policy.One on one interactions have

been held with concernedMinistries/Departments, basiswhich the revised version of thepolicy has been prepared.

A meeting is underway onSaturday under chairmanshipof Secretary, DPIIT to discussthe revised draft.

In this policy, e-commercemeans the business activities ofsale, marketing, distributionof goods or provision of ser-vices through the Internet orother information networks.The policy covers all modes ofe-commerce; i.e., inventory,marketplace and hybrid model.This Policy is equally applica-ble to entities, natural and /orlegal with foreign and domes-tic investments.

An e-Commerce operatorcan operate in any of the threemodes of ecommerce. E-Commerce platforms shallensure that they operateaccording to the extant andapplicable legislation/rules forconduct of all such operations.E-Commerce platforms hostedby or on behalf of entities hav-ing foreign investment shallcomply with Foreign DirectInvestment Policy, which shall

prevail in case of inconsisten-cies between the two policies.

An e-Commerce operatoroperating in marketplace orhybrid mode shall manage itsrelationship with sellers on itsplatform in an agnostic man-ner and without being partialto any of its sellers.

An e-Commerce operatorfunctioning in market orhybrid mode shall ensure thatinformation collected throughplatform is not used to obtainmarket advantage against sell-ers on its own platform.

Actions and things whichcannot be done by the platformentities can also not be done byany of its associates and relat-ed parties.

Government may, fromtime to time, notify partieswhich fall in the definition ofassociates and related parties.

Owing to the cross-cuttingnature of e-Commerce, differ-ent laws and regulations acrosssectors govern the present e-Commerce activities, some ofwhich are; Income Tax Act,1961, Consumer ProtectionAct, 2019, InformationTechnology Act, 2000.

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NITI Aayog CEO AmitabhKant on Saturday said

India’s power is truly repre-sented by its sustained eco-nomic growth, which is a keyto its future and critical forsecurity reasons.

Delivering the keynoteaddress at the inauguration of‘Militaria@Jaipur-2021’, hesaid as a fallout of theCOVID-19 pandemic radicalreforms were ushered inacross a range of sectors andasserted that India has had thesharpest recovery among themajor economies.

Economic Growth is

expected to rebound about 5.5per cent after (-)3.5 per centin 2020 which has been theworst since post-World War,Kant said, adding that push-ing India towards a highgrowth trajectory was a keychallenge. The private sectorneeds to be brought in at theheart of India’s economicgrowth, he said.

“The economies of eastand southeast Asia have trans-formed themselves within ageneration. India’s economyhas witnessed a substantialtransformation over 30 yearssince 1991 with an averageannual growth of 6.5 per cent,”the NITI Aayog CEO said.

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Economic activity isexpected to consolidate in

March 2021 as the Covid-19impacted difficult financialyear 2020-21 is winding downwith new hopes for the nextfinancial year with a greatgrowth trajectory of Indianeconomy, said SanjayAggarwal, President, PHDChamber of Commerce andIndustry on Saturday.

Out of the 10 indicatorsof QET (Quick EconomicTrends) of economic andbusiness activity tracked bythe industry body PHDCCI,7 have performed positive in

February 2021 of which passenger vehicle sales hasshown the highest growth of18% over the correspondingmonth in the previous year.

Though COVID-19 casesare re-emerging in somestates including Maharashtra,Kerala, Punjab, Karnataka,Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, themovement of the Indianeconomy remains steady inFebruary 2021.

We are happy to note thatthe vaccination drive in thecountry is moving at a fasterrate, with more than 2.6 crorevaccines being administeredso far, said Aggarwal.

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There are green shoots vis-ible in various sectors of

the economy and the coun-try is already looking at a ‘V-shaped’ recovery, Ministerof State for Finance andCorporate Affairs AnuragThakur said on Saturday.

“India is already lookingat ‘V-shaped’ recovery. Alongwith the green shoots in var-ious sectors, in the month ofFebruary, FPI inflows were Rs25,787 crore,” Thakur said ata virtual conclave organisedby the Institute of Actuariesof India.

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Most of us might havewondered how thosetourist guides on thejungle safaris identify atiger or tigress and

remember their names so precisely. Itis definitely nothing short of a mysteryfor many.

However, the answer is quite sim-ple. One can easily differentiate betweentwo tigers by examining their stripes. Notwo tigers can have the same pattern. Itis just as unique as the fingerprints ofhuman beings. Interesting enough? Getready for some more. Did you know thatflamingos feed with their head and beakupside down? The reason is this waythey filter the water and then eat theplanktons.

All these facts and much more iswhat excites Mumbai-based AishwaryaSridhar, the first Indian woman to winWildlife Photographer of the Year.

However, it was not as if it happenedout of the blue, Sridhar since she wasmerely 10 years old, loved watching thebirds and animals in her backyard. Herlove for the Nature couldn’t be left hid-den from her father who decided togiver her a camera as soon as she turned11. This, further fed her love towardsanimals and in return for wildlife pho-tography.

“Initially, it wasn’t wildlife photog-raphy for me. It was more about observ-ing animals and birds. My father is amember of Bombay Natural HistorySociety and I went on a lot of wildlifetreks with him. That kindled my inter-est. After a few years, I realised that Ihave to document this experience on apermanent basis and photography wasthe natural option to go with. This, cou-pled with getting a camera as a birth-day gift ignited my love for the field evenmore. It became a part of me and alsomy favourite toy,” Sridhar tells you.

Unlike many people, Sridhar does-n’t have to convince her parents abouther career choice. In fact, they knew iteven before she did.

“My parents have always been sup-portive of my choice of profession.Initially, they thought of me doing a 9to 5 job, but soon after I realised that Iam an outdoor person and might not beable to do justice to the job. So, I thoughtmight as well turn my passion into pro-fession and they were happy of my deci-sion,” she says.

It’s been 10 years since Sridhar hasbeen into this profession, but luckily shecan’t recall a single event of beingcharged by an animal even when shewas on foot near an elephant. However,the even dangerous situation, she says,is to receive stares from people question-ing the existence of a woman into a pro-fession that they think is a man’s job.

Not that, these stares were ever ableto demotivate her. Instead, it boosted herconfidence and made her feel special. “I

took these stares as a compliment. I feelproud being one of the few women inthis field. I feel happy that I am doingsomething different,” she says.

One might wonder how is to expe-rience a forest and meet its residents,Sridhar sums it up in one word — beau-tiful.

The sheer beauty of the forest, shesays, takes you there again and again.But, when you are a wildlife photogra-pher, your job demands you to do muchmore than just experience the serenity.You have to be patient and responsible,no matter how excited you are.

“The moment I see an animal, I takeout my camera. This has become a reflexnow. But in between all this, I don’t for-get my responsibility. We have to respectthe animal’s space and it will reciprocatethe same,” she says.

While it has been said over a thou-sand times, Sridhar just echoes all thisadvice and tells you the most importanttrait of a wildlife photographer ispatience. “I have spent over seven yearsin following and filming Maya, thetigress in Jim Corbett. She has grown upin front of my eyes. One can imagine theamount of patience it would haverequired. There were times when frus-tration hit me right in my face, but Iknew it happens and how to tide overit. And, all this patience has paid off andmy documentary on her is ready torelease,” she says.

The fact that attracted Sridhar tofilming Maya, she says, is that she has-

n’t been filmed yet. Besides, it is inter-esting to observe the behaviour of a tiger,how she behaves with her cubs and withother males of the group.

The breathtaking photos hasn’t justearned her the first Indian woman towin Wildlife Photographer of the Year,but also become Canon EOS Influencerlast year. The title came when her workwent viral on social media and peoplestarted following her work.

And now, if you are wondering howmany pictures has she clicked till date,she doesn’t have a count of them. Maybe in thousands or even more.

This is not all. There is much morein her kitty. Her first documentary PanjeThe Last Wetland was telecasted on DDNational and the second Queen of Taruwas awarded at the 9th WildlifeConservation Film Festival, New York.Above all, she has also received theWoman Icon Award 2019 in the Mediacategory for using photography in con-servation and the Diana Award 2019which is given to young change mak-ers aged nine-25 by the Royal House,London. If this was not enough, she hasalso been a TEDx speaker and is aGlobal Goodwill Ambassador.

However, if you ever got a chanceto speak to her, her charming voice willnot give you even a slightest of hint ofthe fierceness that she beholds and thechange that she has been trying to bringin the society by encouraging women tostep in to the “so-called” man-dominat-ed fields.

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You love clicking pic-tures and one daydecide to enroll your-self in a reputed pro-fessional institute.

You show them their your port-folio and the voice from theother side, who is a senior pho-tographer, tells you: These pic-tures are useless, you don’t haveany idea of the art and that youcan never be a photographer.

It goes without saying thesewords will be more than enoughto make you put aside your cam-era only to never pick it up again.However, 36-year-oldGurugram-based Anega Bawa’sstrong will didn’t allow her tostay away from her love — cam-era — for more than eightmonths.

One of the most treasuredmaternity, newborn and babyphotographer, Bawa loved pho-tography since a young age,however the professional bentcame only in 2012 when she waspregnant.

“I love handling newbornsand that is why I took up thisgenre. I started it when mydaughter Akira was born. It allbegan with clicking even thesmall moments of joy in her life.Take for example, when shehad her first bite or when shefirst began crawling. It was atedious task, but the excitementthat it brought was worth it all,”Bawa, a mother of two, tells you.

For Bawa, clicking new-borns is not a task any morebecause she don’t have the NewParent Syndrome. “It is like apiece of cake for me now. But,back then when I just started, Iwasn’t confident enough. Moreso, because I was handling some-one else’s baby that too a new-born. To earn the confidence ofthe parents was the real task. Butnow, I am comfortable withnewborns and I love them. Eventhe babies love coming in my lap.Moreover, the parents put in somuch of trust in me that they tellme that I can handle the baby onmy own,” she says.

With that being said, Bawastill takes time to build a connec-tion with the baby and then pro-ceed with the photo shoot. Shenever rushes into the process.“When parents walk in my stu-dio with their babies, the firstthing I do is to put off the baby’sclothes to make him feel com-fortable and at home. Then, I askthe mother to feed the child andhand them over to me. I makethe baby fall asleep and thenbegin the work,” she tells you.

Though unlike wildlife pho-

tography, the genre doesn’tdemands you to rush after orchase your subjects, but it defi-nitely requires the same amountof patience, if not more.

“There are times when thebabies just don’t sleep. They cryand cry. In such a case, we can’tforce them into the photo shoot.We have to wait until the babyis calm and gets settled down. Iremember my longest shootwith a baby. The parents walkedin my studio with twins in themorning and we have to clickthem both together. The chal-lenge was to make them bothcalm. When one was calm, theother cried and vice versa. Thiswent on for about six hours.Even the parents started panick-ing about the photo shoot. I toldthem to remain patient and thatwe will be able to pull it off. Itwas not before six in the eveningthat the twins settled in and wewent ahead with the shoot. Itwent on till 8 pm,” Bawa recalls.

However, there are somepeople who question Bawa’s artof clicking newborns by makingthem pose. Bawa reply to themin the most humble way. “Ababy’s bones are soft enough tofold. When the baby is inside thetummy, isn’t he bended? We arenot doing anything under thesun. We just reciprocate theposes that the baby is in while inthe mother’s belly,” she explains.

The best time, she says, toget a newborn photo shoot doneis when the baby is between six

and 14 days old. “After thisperiod, the babies bone start los-ing flexibility and it becomeshard to make them pose.Besides, it can also pose somerisks,” she says.

However, the fact of thematter is that Bawa gets to dovery few newborn photo shoots.There are several reasons forthat. “First, here in North India,people follow the tradition of notletting the mother and babyout of the house for 40 days. Thesecond thing is they believebachche ko nazar lag jayegi (babywill get exposed to evil eyes),”she says and tells you

Not only photographing,Bawa is involved in all aspects ofwork — from retouching tocreating backdrops, weavingprops, designing clothes, stylingand everything in-between. So ifyou are someone who believes inmaking memories, you can def-initely ask Bawa to capture thosebeautiful moments of your life.

Apart from the multiplebeautiful pictures, Bawa alsohas the title of Canon EOSMaestro in her kitty.

“I got the title in 2019. InOctober that year, I got a callfrom the Canon Head Quaterssaying that they like my workand called me for an interview.I went there, met the team andshowed them my work andachievements. I, till date, don’tknow how they found me backthen, but this is how it happenedand I got the title,” Bawa says.

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West Indies turned aleisurely canter into a

desperate scramble to achievea series-clinching five-wicketvictory over SriLanka withtwo balls to spare in the sec-ond One-Day International oftheir three-match series atthe Sir Vivian RichardsStadium in Antigua on Friday.

A fourth ODI hundred byEvin Lewis and an elegantsupporting 84 by openingpartner Shai Hope seemed tohave set the home side up foran effortless stroll to the tar-get of 273 as the pair put on192 for the first wicket.

However, Lewis’ dismissalfor 103 in the 38th over trig-gered a surprising level ofindecisiveness with the SriLankans coming to life in thefinal stage of the match asseamers Nuwan Pradeep andThisara Perera claimed two

wickets each.But when he most needed

to be on target, Pradeep’s finaltwo overs were plastered for28 runs with NicholasPooran’s unbeaten 35, whichincluded two boundaries inthe last over the match, taking

the West Indies to an unbeat-able 2-0 lead ahead of the finalmatch at the same venue onSunday.

Lewis’ hundred, whichcame off 121 balls and wasembellished by eight foursand four sixes, earned him theplayer of the match award.

“It was a total team perfor-mance. Our best chance waschasing so it was good to seethe boys sticking to the theirplans,” said West Indies cap-tain Kieron Pollard.

Earlier, DanushkaGunathilaka just missed outon a century as Sri Lankaposted a competitive 273 foreight after being put in to bat.

Two days after his contro-versial dismissal — he wasruled to have obstructed thefield in a run out attempt byPollard — the left-handerplayed fluently for 96 in help-ing his team recover from anindifferent start.

While Gunathilaka pacedhis innings at a run-a-ball,Chandimal was more circum-spect, although his contribu-tion of 71 was important toensure the tourists were able

to post a challenging target.They also benefited from

exciting late pyrotechnicsfrom Wanindu Hasaranga,who thrashed 47 off 31 ballswith four sixes and two fours.

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The focuswill firm-

ly be onPrithvi Shawand the nationalselectors will keep ahawk eye on Mumbaicaptain’s performance as histeam takes on Uttar Pradesh inthe Vijay Hazare Trophy finalon Sunday.

Shaw’s stupendous 754runs in the tournament, whichincludes 105 not out, 227 notout, 185 not out and 165, hasmade him a contender for acomeback during the threeODIs, in case Rohit Sharmaavails the option of taking rest.

It’s still not clear whetherthat will happen or not but the21-year-old Shaw, has certain-ly learnt his on and off-fieldlessons well which has showedin his consistency during theNational One DayChampionships.

He is a cut above others atthe domestic level and it is dif-

ficult for the national selectorsto keep him out of the mix.

For Uttar Pradesh, a verysteady outfit under coachGyanendra Pandey, they haveplayed solid cricket withoutbeing spectacular with a youngcaptain Karan Sharma leadingthe team well.

Their left arm pacer YashDayal might fancy bringing the

ball back into check out whether Shaw’sproblems against inswingershave been sorted. HoweverDayal doesn’t have MitchellStarc’s pace and along with fel-low Aaqib Khan, could be can-non fodder that the openerrequires on a short on sideKotla ground.

The other Mumbai bats-men, who have been overshad-

owed by Shaw’s blitzkrieg, wouldalso need to play their roles.

Be it Yashasvi Jaiswal,Sarfaraz Khan, experiencedwicket-keeper batsman AdityaTare, all-rounders ShamsMulani or Shivam Dube.

In case, Shaw, who nowholds the record for highestindividual score in the tourna-ment and highest score by anIndian in a List A chase, fails tocome good, one of them willhave to take the responsibility.

The Mumbai bowlers ledby experienced pacer DhawalKulkarni (14 wickets), andcomprising Tushar Deshpandeand the spin-trio of PrashantSolanki, Tanush Kotian andShams Mulani, have deliveredmore than once and will needto bowl in the right areas at theArun Jaitley stadium.

Uttar Pradesh, on the otherhand, defeated Gujarat by five

wickets, to make it their thirdsummit clash.

And for them, the role ofin-form skipper Karan (225runs) and wicket-keeperUpendra Yadav (276 runs),along with experienced cam-paigner Akshdeep Nath, will becrucial.

Their openers AbhishekGoswami (187 runs) andMadhav Kaushik will also needto give a strong start, thwartingthe challenge posed by a formi-dable Mumbai attack.

Mumbai, who have wonthe tournament thrice, the lastone in 2018-19, will be lookingto clinch their fourth title andend the season on a high note.

UP, on the other hand,will be playing their third final,would also be eyeing a secondtitle after having shared theTrophy with Tamil Nadu in2004-05 after that game endedin a tie.

Though Mumbai arefavourites, the UP team iscapable of springing a sur-prise come Sunday at the Kotla.

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The absence of power-hittershas been Indian women’s

bane for the longest time andthey would expect all-rounderDeepti Sharma and wicketkeep-er-batter Sushma Verma to upthe ante at the back-end duringthe fourth ODI against SouthAfrica here on Sunday.

Blown away in the series-opener, India had bounced backin style in the second ODI butMithali Raj’s side couldn’t go thedistance in the third game,going down narrowly by six runsvia D/L method.

The hosts were outclassedby an unbeaten 131-ball 132 byopener Lizelle Lee, whoanchored South Africa’s run-chase with consummate easeafter India had posted a compet-itive 248 for 5.

Despite going strong at onestage, India couldn’t step up therate with the team managing just27 runs in the last 30 balls fol-lowing the dismissal of vice-cap-tain Harmanpreet Kaur andthis is an area the team will lookto improve, especially with theWorld Cup less than a year away.

Deepti Sharma is one of thepillars of this Indian team butsadly, she hasn’t been able tomake any significant improve-ment when it comes to thepower aspect of her game thathas been lacking for a number

of years.With Neetu David’s selec-

tion committee literally creatinga harakiri by keeping youngShafali Verma out of WODI set-up, the only power-hitter in theteam is Harmanpreet with likesof Jemimah Rodrigues, PunamRaut and skipper Mithali Raj allpossessing same style of accu-mulating runs and not the great-est of strike-rates.

While the lower-order hasfailed to pack a punch with thebat, opener Rodrigues’ lack ofform for a long time (evenbefore Covid-19 halted pro-ceedings) will also be a concernfor India.

The paucity of talent at thedomestic level means thatRodrigues’ doesn’t face any wor-thy competition from her peersand even if she is complacent,one isn’t left with too manyoptions.

She is a vital cog in the bat-ting unit along with Raut andSmriti Mandhana, who havelooked in good touch in theseries so far.

Veteran pacer JhulanGoswami has regularly provid-ed the breakthroughs and sits atthe top of wicket-taker list witheight scalps and her form will becrucial to India’s chances.

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Left shaken by a bunch ofworld-class operators, theIndian team’s white-ball

stars will be aiming to put up animproved batting effort in thesecond T20I against Englandhere on Sunday.

It was India’s first white-ballgame in three months and therustiness of some of the premiershorter format players like KLRahul, Hardik Pandya, andYuzvendra Chahal’s showed inthe first game in which the hostswere clinically outplayed.

One defeat is never the endof the story and no critic canrule this Indian team out of theseries on the basis of a singularperformance especially becauseof its zeal to fight.

However, as skipper ViratKohli talks about players withX-factors doing the job, hewould expect Rishabh Pant andPandya to do a bit more withtheir explosive hitting, whichshould not be confined to oneaudacious reverse scoop (Pantoff Jofra Archer) or a fallingramp shot (Pandya off BenStokes).

They are more than capableand will be expected to give a farbetter account of themselves,trying to play more shots squareof the wicket like Shreyas Iyerdid during his innings of 67 off48 balls.

Both Pandya (19 off 21balls) and Pant (21 off 23 balls)weren’t able to gauge the pace ofthe track as Archer and MarkWood bowled fast and straightdenying them any width for thecut shot. The extra bounce alsodidn’t allow them to drive on theup.

“The wicket didn’t allowyou to hit the kind of shots youwanted to. Shreyas’ innings wasan example of how you coulduse the depth of the crease, ridethe bounce because there wasvariable bounce at times, and hitthe areas square of the wicketwhich others failed to do.

“It was just a below-par bat-ting performance and Englandmade us pay for it,” Kohli hadsummed it up aptly at the endof the match.

The captain’s acknowledge-ment of Iyer’s performancecould well mean that the waitfor Suryakumar Yadav might geta tad longer with only onemiddle-order slot available cur-rently.

However, Kohli’s propensi-ty to change his playing XI at thedrop of a hat is well document-ed.

While giving his team’s old-est member, Shikhar Dhawan,a couple of matches is perfect-ly understandable but how longdoes he want to persist with theleft-hander, who looked com-pletely out of sorts during his 4off 12 balls.

Rohit Sharma, as per Kohli,is rested for a couple of match-es having played 6 consecutiveTest matches along with 14days of hard quarantine at thestart of his Australian sojourn.

But Rohit’s presence is verynecessary at the top of the

order and even though no oneis really talking about it, it’s beenlong since the Indian skipperhas had an impactful T20 per-formance. He is too good a play-er to miss out.

The bowling departmentdidn’t have enough runs onboard to put up a fight butwhether one of the three spin-ners can make way for a tear-away quick like Navdeep Sainiremains to be seen.

Perhaps Yuzvendra Chahalcould make way for RahulTewatia, who may not be ascrafty a leg break bowler but cer-tainly a decent one with goodbatting prowess.

Eoin Morgan, one amongthe more likeable Internationalcaptains, has been provided ateam that has its bases coveredwith 12 players plying theirtrade in the IPL.

Unless something reallygoes wrong, this England teamis a contender to win the T20World Cup trophy in Octoberthis year with way too manypowerhouse performers.

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Skipper Sean Williams’sunbeaten 106 and his

unbeaten eighth wicket part-nership of 124 with DonaldTiripano (63 batting) helpedZimbabwe avert an inningsdefeat against Afghanistanand take the second Test intothe fifth day here at the SheikhZayed Stadium on Saturday.

Zimbabwe were eight runsahead of hosts Afghanistanwith 266/7 wickets at stumps.

Zimbabwe, who wereforced to follow on, lookeddown and out at 142 for sevenwickets.

However, Williams andTiripano defied the Afghansfor 42.4 overs.

Leg-spinner Rashid Khanpicked five wickets for 105,but failed to find supportfrom the other bowlers.

Resuming the fourth dayat 24 without loss in their sec-ond innings, Zimbabwe lost a

couple of quick wickets at 44and 46 before Williams andTarisai Musakanda (15) added55 runs for the third wicketwith the left-handed batsmanbeing the dominant partners.

The 34-year-old Williamswitnessed regular fall of wick-ets as his team’s batsmen failedto put up any resistance.

Sikandar Raza, the top-scorer from first innings, toofailed to get going and was dis-missed by Rashid for 22.

Williams hit nine foursand a six in his 190-ball stay.During his 164-ball stayTiripano hit 11 boundaries.

Zimbabwe had made 287in the first innings, withRashid picking four for 138.The leg-spinner who is play-ing his fifth Test match has achance to achieve his second10-wicket haul of his career.He just needs one more wick-et for that feat.

Zimbabwe had won thefirst Test by 10 wickets.

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Jason Holder and DarrenBravo have been named in

the 13-man squad for the firstof the two Tests matches athome against Sri Lanka. KraiggBrathwaite will be the full-timeTest captain, as announced bythe Cricket West Indies earlier,and Jermaine Blackwood willcontinue to act as his deputy.

Both Holder and Bravowere among 10 players whodidn't tour Bangladesh recent-ly citing COVID-19 concerns.They are the only two playerswho have been called back;

Shamarh Brooks and RostonChase haven’t made it back.Shane Dowrich, who didn’ttour Bangladesh due to person-al reasons, continues to beunavailable.

The first Test starts onMarch 21 at the Sir VivianRichards Stadium.Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (c),Jermaine Blackwood,Nkrumah Bonner, DarrenBravo, John Campbell,Rahkeem Cornwall, Joshua DaSilva (wk), Shannon Gabriel,Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph,Kyle Mayers, Kemar Roach,Jomel Warrican.

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England pacer Jofra Archersaid he needs to look after his

troublesome elbow first beforesetting sights on his twin targetsof playing in the T20 World Cupin India and the Ashes DownUnder.

After missing two Tests inEngland’s 1-3 series defeatrecently, the 25-year-old fierypacer bounced back stronglytaking three for 23 to restrictIndia to a modest 124 for 7 in thefirst T20I on Friday.

“I need to take care of myelbow first before I think aboutwhat is going to happen,” Archersaid in post-match conference.

“For me, in the immediate,I want to get through this seriesand then I will do everything inmy power to make sure I’mgoing to the World Cup and theAshes.”

Archer cleaned up KL Rahulin the powerplay, and nearlytook a hat-trick in the deathovers after dismissing Hardik

Pandya and Shardul Thakur tohelp England win the firstmatch.

“I’m just glad to have helpedin the win. I’m just being hon-est, if I get one wicket or three,the way I bowl doesn’t change.

I think wickets just depend onhow lucky you are at the time,”he said.

Archer further said they allare on the same page as far as theworkload management is con-cerned.

“Obviously, I came to them(the medical team) during theTest series and said it’s (myelbow) was not feeling right atthe moment and I didn’t have tosay it twice, they automaticallyjumped on it and already start-ed making plans. We are all onthe same page.”

England, who lost the Testseries after winning the first Testin Chennai, are well aware ofIndia's resilience and Archerurged caution after their con-vincing victory.

“It’s just the first game of theseries, there are still four othergames to go. They (India) arenumber two in the world for areason so I don’t think we canget ahead of ourselves as yet. Itwas a good win and we’ll enjoyit,” he said.

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India’s “play freely” battingphilosophy that skipper Virat

Kohli has advocated won’tchange despite the opening T20debacle, the rapidly-risingShreyas Iyer said but acknowl-edged that it needs better execu-tion in the coming games.

Asked if India will need tostep away from the new battingphilosophy of going for theshots no matter what the situa-tion, Iyer said, “...It won’t changebecause if you see the battingline up we have and the power-hitters down the line, we don’thave to change anything to behonest.”

“We have come with a planand we have to execute as much

as possible because going intothe world Cup we need to see toit that we tick all the boxes. Thisis a five-match series, so it is a

perfect time to try differentstuff and see what suits us,” heexplained.

The selectors picked IPLperformers like SuryakumarYadav, Ishan Kishan and RahulTewatia for the series while thein-form Rishabh Pant also madea return on the back of his strongInternational performances inthe past couple of months.

Asked if he is under anypressure to perform, Iyer said: “Iam in no sort of pressure to per-form, I am playing freely, hap-pily and enjoying my innings.”

Iyer came out to bat atnumber five after Pant was pro-moted in the batting order. Hesaid, batting position is not hisconcern.

“Coming into Indian team,

you have to be flexible withwhich batting position you willbe batting. I haven’t made anychanges, it is just the mindset,what the team requires and (I)batted according to the situa-tion,” he said.

“It was a challenging situa-tion, we had to keep playing thenatural game and keep thescoreboard ticking irrespectiveof losing early wickets.”

Asked the reason behindplaying three spinners, he said:“We practised on this surfacebefore the match and whenspinners were bowling, it wasstopping and turning, very sim-ilar to the two-paced wicketwhich we played on. The planwas to play three spinners, asthat’s our strength.”

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(���8������������������������������� �����������������������%- ��� ����������������Turin: Cristiano Ronaldo warnedthat “true champions never break”as he turned his focus to Juventus’Serie A match at Cagliari onSunday after their ChampionsLeague elimination.

“True champions never break!Our focus is already in Cagliari, inthe Serie A struggle, in the ItalianCup final and in everything that wecan still achieve this season,”Ronaldo said on Instagram, the firsttime he has spoken since Juventuscrashed out of the last 16 to Porto.

“More important than thenumber of falls you take in life, ishow fast and how strong you getback on your feet.”

Ronaldo’s future at Juventus isin the spotlight after a thirdChampions League failure since hewas signed for 100 million euros inthe summer of 2018 from RealMadrid.

“It’s true that the past belongsin museums (I should say!), but for-tunately, football has memory... andso do I,” the 36-year-old continued.

Ronaldo is the record scorer inthe competition with 134 goals, andhas lifted the trophy five times withManchester United and RealMadrid. But the Portuguese for-ward failed to score in either leg ofa knockout round for the first timein 16 years.

He added: “History can’t bedeleted, it’s written every single daywith resilience, team spirit, persis-tence and lots of hard work. Andthose who don’t understand this,will never achieve glory and suc-cess.”

Juventus are third in Serie A —10 points behind leaders InterMilan — but with a game in handas they target a 10th consecutiveleague title. They are also throughto the Italian Cup final.

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Neymar will miss Paris Saint-Germain’sgame against Nantes on Sunday in Ligue

1 due to a lingering thigh injury, but coachMauricio Pochettino says there has been no set-back in his recovery.

The Brazilian was ruled out of both legs ofPSG’s Champions League last-16 tie against his formerclub Barcelona, and hasn’tplayed since sustaining theinjury on February 10 in theFrench Cup.

“It’s difficult to pre-dict a return datebecause the recovery isdifferent dependingon the player,”Pochettino said onSaturday.

“There’s been norelapse. We’re happywith his progressand we hope he’llbe back with theteam soon.”

Neymar willbe sidelined for aneighth consecutivematch againststruggling Nantes,with striker MoiseKean still unavailable aftertesting positive last week forCovid-19.

PSG face a key stretch ofgames before and after theInternational break, startingwith the visit of Lille next weekin the last 16 of the French Cup.They travel to Lyon in Ligue 1on March 21 and then hostleaders Lille at the start ofApril before resumingtheir Champions Leaguecampaign, having quali-fied for the quarter-finals.

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Robert Lewandowski scoredagain on Saturday as Bayern

Munich extended its Bundesligalead with a 3-1 win at WerderBremen.

Lewandowski took his sea-son tally to 32 league goals andmatched the record of scoringagainst 16 different teams with-in a season. He managed thesame feat last season. FormerBayern great Gerd Müller andBremen striker Aílton are theonly others to manage it.

Lewandowski has so faronly failed to score againstLeipzig this season. The teamsmeet in Leipzig on April 3.

Thomas Müller starredwith two assists for LeonGoretzka and Serge Gnabry asBayern moved five points clearof Leipzig, which hostsEintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

Lewandowski is closing inon Gerd Müller’s league recordof 40 goals from the 1971-72season.

Goretzka opened the scor-ing in the 23rd when Müllerheaded on Joshua Kimmich’scorner, and Müller was involvedagain in the 35th. He did bril-liantly to control Kimmich’scross on his chest and thencalmly slot the ball across forGnabry.

Lewandowski drew goodsaves from Jiri Pavlenka and hitthe crossbar before he finallygot his goal in the 67th. A

rebound from Bremen defend-er Ludwig Augustinsson land-ed at his feet for one ofLewandowski’s easiest goalsthis season.

Niclas Füllkrug scoredBremen’s consolation on arebound in the 86th.

Former Arsenal andGermany defender ShkodranMustafi scored an own-goal aslast-place Schalke movedanother step closer to relegationwith a 5-0 trouncing atWolfsburg.

Union Berlin captainChristopher Trimmel scored fora 2-1 come-from-behind winover Cologne, and Mainz beatFreiburg 1-0.

On Friday night, BorussiaMönchengladbach captain LarsStindl missed a penalty and theteam's losing streak stretched tosix games across all competi-tions at Augsburg in a 3-1defeat.

Gladbach has lost everygame since the club announcedthat coach Marco Rose will bejoining league rival BorussiaDortmund next season.

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Chelsea missed a chance tocement their place in the

Premier League’s top four as Leedsheld them to a frustrating 0-0 drawon Saturday.

Thomas Tuchel’s side had plen-ty of chances but couldn’t deliver theknockout blow in a hard-foughtclash at Elland Road.

The Blues remain in fourthplace and fifth-placed West Ham arejust three points behind them withtwo games in hand as the race toqualify for the Champions Leaguelooks set to go down to the wire.

Tuchel is now unbeaten in 12matches in all competitions sincereplacing the sacked FrankLampard in January.

With clean sheets in their lastfive games, Chelsea have conced-ed only two goals in that peri-od.

However, their goal-scoringissues under Tuchel resurfaced as

opportunities came and went inthe Yorkshire rain.

They have yet to score morethan two goals in any match in theTuchel era.

Wednesday’s ChampionsLeague last 16 second leg againstAtletico Madrid at Stamford Bridge— with Chelsea holding a 1-0 lead— will be another stern test of theirrenaissance under the former ParisSaint-Germain boss.

Leeds and Chelsea have beenfierce rivals since their brutal FACup final clash in 1970, but theabsence of fans due to the coron-avirus lockdown diluted the Blues’first league visit to Elland Road since2003.

The poor quality of the EllandRoad pitch was almost reminiscentof the battles on fields of mud thatdefined Chelsea’s encounters withLeeds in the 1970s.

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Jamaal Lascelles rescued Newcastlewith a last-gasp equaliser as the

Premier League strugglers earned a1-1 draw in a dramatic finale againstAston Villa on Friday.

Steve Bruce’s side fell behindwith only four minutes left at StJames’ Park when Newcastle defend-er Ciaran Clark deflected OllieWatkins’ header into his own net.

But Newcastle captain Lascellesbailed out his troubled team just sec-onds from the final whistle at StJames’ Park.

Despite the nerve-janglingescape, Newcastle are without a winin their last five league matches andthe threat of sinking into theChampionship grows more seriousby the week.

They are just two points abovethe relegation zone and both third

bottom Fulham and fourth bottomBrighton would go above them ifthey win this weekend.

“There are still 10 games to go.We’ve got to show the same attitude.I’m still convinced we’ll be OK,”Bruce said.

The Magpies were 10 pointsclear of Fulham last month, but nowBruce is fighting to avoid the sackas a turbulent season reaches boil-ing point.

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Dominant Mumbai City FCflexed their muscles in

the final of the 7th IndianSuper League (ISL) to over-come formidable ATK MohunBagan 2-1 for their maiden titletriumph here on Saturday.

Sergio Lobera’s men madeit two trophies in two weeksbecoming just the second teamto top the group phase and winthe title. They had earlier wonthe League Shield, too.

Bipin Singh scored a 90th-minute winner after a Tiriown goal (29’) had draggedMumbai level.

Bagan had earlier taken thelead through David Williams(18').

Mumbai continued withtheir usual possession-basedfootball but for Bagan whowere out of the blocks early, itwas all about surging ahead.While the islanders had over60 per cent possession in thefirst quarter, Bagan had moreshots on target.

There was an early penal-ty call when Bipin Singh waschallenged in the box byPritam Kotal, but the refereedisplayed no interest.

Thereafter, it was all aboutthe Mariners. The Kolkata sidepinned their opponents with ahigh pressing game whichforced the Islanders into errors.

The first real threat forMumbai came from a JavierHernandez free-kick whichbrushed the crossbar. RoyKrishna then forced a savefrom Amrinder Singh from atight angle.

With pressure mountingon Mumbai’s defence, theKolkata side broke the dead-lock first. Krishna dispossessedAhmed Jahouh just outside thebox and slipped a pass toWilliams. The Australian goton to his stronger right footand fired a firm shot pastAmrinder.

But with Jahouh and histrademark long deliveries, itwas always going to get diffi-cult for ATKMB. And with onesuch move, Mumbai foundthemselves back in the game.

On seeing Bipin make a runupfront, Jahouh played a longball from his own half into theKolkata box. Tiri attempted aclearance but his header land-ed in his own goal.

Mumbai continued withattack after restart and RaynierFernandes forced yet anothersave from Arindam afterbreaking into the area skippingpast challenges from Kolkatadefence. The Bagan keeperthen produced a fine save todeny Hernan Santana from afree-kick.

At the hour mark, Mumbaiprobably had the best chanceof the game. Arindam man-aged to block Le Fondre's shotbut the rebound traveled toBoumous, whose shot was off-target.

Bagan had the ball in theback of the net whenHernandez’s freekick wasdeflected off Mohamad Rakipinto his own net, but the lines-man caught Krishna offside.

After producing some finesaves, Arindam made a hugemistake which cost his team

the title. After he failed to dealwith a long ball properly,Bartholomew Ogbeche chasedit down. The ball found its wayto Bipin who made no mistakefrom close range.

Krishna was adjudged theHero of the League while IgorAngulo won the Golden Boot.Amrinder won the GoldenGlove award. Alberto Noguerawon the DHL Winning Pass ofthe Season while Lalengmawiaof the NorthEast United wasadjudged the Emerging Playerof the League.

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Karim Benzema scoredtwo late goals to secure

a 2-1 comeback win overElche which moved RealMadrid to second place inthe Spanish league onSaturday.

Elche defender DaniCalvo headed the visitorsin front in the 61st minuteat Alfredo Di StéfanoStadium.

Benzema headed in a73rd-minute equalizer andadded an exquisite volleyin injury time for the win-ner as Madrid bids todefend its league title.

Madrid is five points behind leader Atlético Madrid, whichcrosses Spain’s capital to play Getafe later. Barcelona was left onepoint behind Madrid in third place before it hosts Huesca onMonday.

Benzema also scored a late goal to secure a 1-1 draw withAtlético in the last round.

Madrid will host Atalanta on Tuesday in the round of 16 ofthe Champions League after winning the away leg 1-0.

Benzema takes Real to 2nd

It is only after you travelplaces that you realise whatall talents are being nurtured

in our country. A case in pointis a small pretty shop in theKhajuraho Dance Festival, thatwasn’t attractive enough to catchyour attention in the first go. Butif you would have been lucky tostop by it, is only then that youwould have realised what beau-ty it beholded.

A girl in her late 20s wasbusy sorting stuff on her shop

— ear rings, name plates andsome wall hangings. In betweenthis clutter, at the corner of theshop, one would be able to seea few paintings hanging. Therewas something about them thatwill make one stop to have aclose look. That is when, avoice said these are made frominstant coffee. Yes, you read thatright.

Meet Akrita Dubey, a man-agement student, a self-taughtartist and a handcrafter by pro-

fession based out of Bhopal,who during the lockdowndecided to explore a differentway of painting.

It was not curiosity, butneed that lead to this, what onemay call, discovery.

“I love painting whileexploring new mediums of art.It was during the lockdown thatI received a lot of requests frommy students and followers ask-ing how to paint and be creativewithout having any art supplies.

This got me thinking. I came upwith the idea of coffee paintingthat would come to their rescue.Although coffee painting is anancient popular art form inChina and the Middle East, butit is rarely known in our coun-try,” Dubey tells you.

However, as fascinating itmay sound, it is definitely all themore challenging too. Thebiggest challenge, of course, isto make a colour pallet with onesingle shade. This, she says, can

be done by managing its con-sistency. “One just have todecide the coffee and water ratioto come up with differentshades. I use three shades for mywork,” she explains.

The second challenge isusing right amount of water andmanaging its flow. If its toowatery, it will float on paper andruin your hard work. The thirdchallenge is to select the rightthickness of paper. And last butthe most important one is howto preserve the finished artwork.

“It goes without saying thatants would be attracted towardscoffee and as a result can destroyyour painting. Hence, the firstthing is to make sure you haveleft your painting to dry at a safeplace which is not easily acces-sible by insects. To further pre-serve coffee art either laminatethem or spray it with a fixativeafter they have completely dried.This will increase their shelf life,”Dubey, who has till date madeabout 30 coffee paintings,explains.

While every painting tookbetween one and four days toget completed, there were timeswhen Dubey’s hard work hadgone in vain because of a slighterror.

“I have learnt through myown mistakes. There is an inci-dent when I was paintingRapunzel. It was raining thatday. It was only half way into theprocess that I realised my mis-take of choosing a paper withwrong thickness. My strokesstarted bleeding and due to thehumid weather it was chal-lenging for me to correct it. Thereason being the coffee will takemore time to dry out and hence,will continue to bleed for some-

time. At that very moment, Irealised that I had ruined thispiece. I decided to leave it thenand there and wait for theweather to clear. The next dayI started all over again, but thistime with success. So, some-times it does become a challengeto work with coffee. Hence, onehas to be very careful,” she tellsyou.

Her inspiration behindthese paintings, she says, is herheart.

“I paint whatever I feel likeconnected to. The sunset, themoon, the galaxie, anything andeverything that I am able torelate to. I am a bit filmy as wellsooo anything related to eter-nal love appeals to me as well.and out of all the paintings thatI made, the one which comesclose to my heart is of Rapunzel.It is because I imagine myself asthe character. We share somesimilarities too, like I too havelong hair like her and I want todo all those adventures that shedid and make my dreams cometrue,” she says.

Like other painting tech-niques, Dubey wants that cof-fee painting should also getenough exposure so that moreand more people take to it.

“One of the main reason tomotivate people to do coffeepainting is that the fragrance ofcoffee in itself is a mood lifter.The process while doing coffeepainting helps us relieving stressand anxiety. For that particularmoment when one is busypainting, one feels like he is liv-ing in a happy place,” Dubey,who also has an instagrampage where one can placeorders to buy these paintings,tells you.

� What does OMG! YehMera India Season 7 has in

store for the audience? The first time when I

signed the show as a host,my job was to giveanchor links and voiceovers and we used toshoot in the studio itself

and

it was my suggestion to History TVthat we should travel places to bringin that reality. The stories are suchthat being an anchor, I too getshocked after getting to know thestories. One of the interesting storythat we have this time is of housesmade of paper. While giving theanchor link for the story, I asked mydirector how is it possible and toldhim that it made me go OMG!

where did you get the storyfrom?

So, the name of theshow is apt considering

the type of stories that wetell. All these storiesexcite me and my audi-ence, of course. Theaudience will defi-nitely get to see moresuch stories and theinterest quotient willremain. Having saidthat, I would like to say

no one season can becompared to another.

All the seasons are uniquein their own way. This will

be one of the most excitingseason and will go on air from

March 29, 2021 at 8 pm on History

TV-18.� You have been associated withthe show for all the seasons. Howdoes it feel?

I will continue to do this showtill its last season. I love the show.If you see, we have the one and onlysuccessful comedy show — TheKapil Sharma Show. We enjoydoing it so much that we keep onlaughing during the sets as well.That show has a different reach andOMG has a completely differentreach. I meet some people, from thecorporate sector, who doesn’t watchcomedy shows, but they come andtell me that they watch the showand love it. Therefore, it is my mostfavourite show and I do it with allmy heart.� Do you improvise while shoot-ing?

On this channel, I have to go bywhat the script says. But yes, atsome points I can improvise, butwhere we talk about facts and his-tory, I have to be perfect. There’s noscope for even a slight error. So Ihave to do these anchor links witha lot of concentration and respon-sibility. I can’t give out wronginformation. Therefore, here we

have to do some extra hard workand mug up all the informationbefore the shoot begins.� What does comedy mean toyou?

First of all, one has to be mas-tikhor (fun) to do comedy. LikeKapil says, ‘Krushna bohot mas-tikhor hai, iski aankhon mein mastihai’ (Krushna is a fun person). Sothis is an inborn quality. You can’tlearn to do comedy, it comes nat-urally. Comedy is a stress buster forme. It has become a habit now thatwe don’t take stress at all. Insteadof banging our heads on the wallout of stress, we just take to darkhumour and let it all out. One thingthat I would like to mention is thatpeople don’t come and tell us thatthey are our fan, instead they saythat they watch TV because of us.This feeling is indescribable. Socomedy has rewarded us with thisrespect. Hence, it means everythingto me. � Have you become more carefulwhile doing comedy, given thatpeople get offended easily?

Definitely, we are extremelycareful and we always have been.We don’t do any double meaing

talks on The Kapil Sharma Show.We take care of so many things, weavoid doing comedy that involvesGod or that uses a politician’s ref-erence. Nahin to aaj kal to log dhar-na hi lekar aa jayein, mere ko toghabrahat hi ho jayegi (otherwisepeople will call for a protest and Iwill be scared). � From Yeh Kaisi Mohabbat Hai(2002) to now, how has the jour-ney been for you?

I started with that film. It wasa big flop and people didn’t give mework after that. Then I starteddoing small regional films. In 2007,I entered TV with Nach Bachliye.I did it with Kashmira. Then in2008, I was offered Comedy Circus.I thought that it was a reality showand I can earn about �20 lakh infive-10 episodes so why not. I didit for money and I never thoughtthat it would become so popular.Comedy was never on my cards,though it was inside me, it just hap-pened. I was a dancer and that’swhat I try to do now also. Kapil andSudesh ji were my mentors, theyintroduced me to stand up come-dy. And gradually things started tofall in place and now I am here.

�What is Adhe Adhure about?It is a family drama of a somewhat dysfunctional family, one

can say — there is the husband, the wife and their three chil-dren. There is a lot of conflict and nobody is happy with eachother — the husband is angry with the wife, the wife with thehusband and the kids don’t get along with each other and themother. Of course, each has his reasons for this. There are manycomplex dynamics at play here. Mohan Rakesh who has writ-ten the play, he was a genius. When I was getting the readingof the play, the atmosphere was so charged and I thought thatif this was a case just for the reading, I wondered what wouldhappen when we would get into the skin of the character we areto play. In the end, it has a bitter-sweet ending and the play willretain its humanity for decades to come.�What is your role?

I play Ashok, the 21-year-old son — a rebellious and angst-ridden young person who can’t understand why his motherwouldn’t understand him. His mother is looking for a job forhim but he wants to in his heart pursue art. He feels betrayedby his elder sister when she leaves the house with a man andAshok feels that he has had to handle the fall-out of it. Hisyounger sister, he feels acts in a manner that is childish and itirritates him. He thinks that he is stuck in the middle and theperson whom he could turn to abandoned him. This characterwas brilliant to play and is a huge opportunity for me. I left mycushiony job as an investment banker to pursue acting. I coulddraw a parallel with Ashok since people around me wanted toknow what I was thinking.�How was the experience of working with Lillete Dubey?

It was great to work with her. To get the play off the groundof such a great writer in a few months, it was beautiful. Therewas so much I got to learn from her and Mohan Agashe ji, heplays the father. The great thing is that one develops a processfor oneself while doing theatre. We traveled all over with theplay; it was amazing. Because of this play, my collaboration withMrs Dubey has continued and I have done a lot more work withher. Theatre allows you to play roles that you may not get in films.It has helped me in my journey as an actor.�You have worked in films, theatre, for TV and web series.Is there a platform where you are most comfortable?

I actually love working at all platforms. For classics like AdheAdhure; the writing is so strong that it feels great that even thosepeople who have never been to a theatre can now see this tele-play; it has now been immortalised. From switching from the-atre to teleplay, one has to raise one’s voice so people at the endcan also hear. But on the screen, the emotions and expressionsare the same but the advantage in a teleplay is that one haschances of more takes. However, one has to be honest and truth-ful to the character you are playing so the audience can feel whatthe character is feeling.�How did you get into acting?

I used to act in school and college in the plays. But I nevertook it seriously. It was when I was working as an investmentbanker, a lovely place to work at, I just had this gut feeling andthat would not go away. I knew that if I wanted to work for therest of my life, I must enjoy it. I knew the path would not beeasy but I had to take it.�How did you get your first break in Dil Dosti Etc?

This film came to me when I was in college. The produc-tion team came to our college and asked who all wanted to workwith us and we all did this for fun. I did it with no intentionsof pursuing acting. I just completed doing Aashram (web series)with Prakash Jha and he said that ‘you were in Dil Dosti Etc aswell’. It was great; he had produced that movie and now I wasworking on a web series directed by him.�You did Hundred and now Aashram. Can you talk aboutyour role in these two?

In Hundred (web series), I play a racketeer, not a goonthough. He looks like an office-goer. He is a simple person withmorals in the right place but going about it in the wrong way.In Aashram, I play a reporter, a morally-centred character.

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TalktimeKRUSHNA ABHISHEK

He is known for his comic timing, one liners and his dance moves.

Musba Hashmi chats up Abhishek aboutthe latest season of OMG! Yeh Mera

India, which will go on air on March 29on History TV-18, experience of hosting

all the seasons of the show and howhe wasn’t offered work after the

failure of his first film

Just a few steps away from Dubey’sshop, another gem of the

Khajuraho Dance Festival that wouldhave surely caught your attention isPrabhat Sisodia’s souvenir shop.

Stone carvings, figurines, fridgemagnets and pen stands — all mademanually from soft stones or stonedust — definitely ask you to takethem home.

“Stone carvings take about threedays to be made. I carve SanchiStupa, Khajuraho Temples or figuresof women on the stones. Soft stone,available in Rajasthan, is used for thiswork, the reason being it is com-paratively easy to carve on thesestones. However, some figurines,including those of Buddha, are madeusing stone dust. The dust is put ina mould and with the help of chem-

icals is turned into a hard stone-likeform,” Sisodia, who has been intothis profession for about 15 yearsnow, explains.

The craft, he says, has definite-ly gone through some major changesin all these years, but what kept hisart alive is the ability of reinvent.“The mantra to survive into this fieldis to be able to reinvent and recre-ate. You have to come up with newerdesigns, if not, then at least reinventthe previous designs. A case inpoint is the calf ’s foot that I used tomake. I have now given it a newdesign and have started using kun-

dan work on it. This enhances itsappearance and also gives it a freshlook,” he says.

He tells you that he is thankfulto MP Tourism Board andDepartment of Culture, MP for giv-ing artisans like him a platform toshowcase their work. “This is mysixth year in Khajuraho DanceFestival. We are grateful to theTourism Board and CultureDepartment who organise and pro-mote such fests. These programmesgive us a platform to promote ourcraft and also earn a living,” Sisodiaopines.

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President Biden’s first diplomatic out-reach — America is Back — is ladenwith harsh domestic realities such asirreconcilable partisanship, stark ethnicdifferences, pandemic riven economy,

and an unprecedented assault on the democraticprocess, all needing urgent attention that limitsUS’ international focus. The White House’s lim-ited foreign policy bandwidth, at least in the firstcouple of years, means retracting the US fromunwarranted and intractable commitments andfocusing on significant challenges — addressingChina’s rise, preventing drift of European allies,limiting nuclear proliferation in the Middle East,and fostering healthy globalisation and free tradethat benefits the US.

A productive American foreign policygeared up to wind down its presence inAfghanistan and poised to increase its focus onChina disrupts its longstanding balance betweenIndia and Pakistan, where both rivals haveenjoyed equal strategic relevance to the US if notequal benefits. For the last two decades, the US’India-Pakistan balancing was majorly driven byan equilibrium between two lenses throughwhich Washington observed South Asia — ‘theAfghanistan lens’ that necessitated relying onPakistan for its support in getting out of theAfghan quagmire and ‘the China/Indo-Pacificlens’ that compelled investing in India as astrategic partner who can stand against Beijing.The equilibrium meant internecine parity toPakistan while ensuring a steady flow of finan-cial and military aid. With a gradual witheringaway of the Afghanistan lens, the US’ South Asiaapproach would enter a phase of realignment,leaving Pakistan in a quest for ‘strategic rele-vance’ to the US.

Such a realignment would prove a mixedbag for New Delhi. On the one hand, it wouldlimit impunity enjoyed by Pakistan with the USfor its state-sponsored terrorism against India byencashing its Afghanistan card. On the other,Pakistan’s desperate attempt to remain strategi-cally relevant can include nefarious designs thatcan harm Indian interest and threaten regionalsecurity. As the American appetite to get out ofAfghanistan grows, it is not only imperative forNew Delhi to remain vigilant about its interest inAfghanistan but also keep a tab on the strategicdesires of its next-door neighbour.

�������������� ����������Strategic relevance is used in the context of

small states. Small states try to play a minor yetcritical role in the strategy of big powers inexchange for their own security assurances andfinancial largesse.

Pakistan, by no means a small state, madestrategic relevance to the US a cornerstone of itsforeign policy since independence for nearlysimilar reasons. First, having the US by its side,Pakistan hoped to offset military disparity with amighty neighbour and arch-rival India duringthe Cold War years. Second, it would ensure acontinuous flow of civilian and military aid from

the US. Third, it allowed the unelected MilitaryInc. of Pakistan to get away with its real powerand authority, unlike military juntas of the ThirdWorld who face American censure.

Having understood the benefits, Pakistanbecame a member of SEATO in 1954. While themembership did not obtain security guaranteesagainst Indian incursion similar to NATO Art. 5,it ensured US goodwill and considerable finan-cial assistance. Pakistan continued to seizeopportunities coming its way. For example, thelate 1960s gave it a chance for yeoman serviceduring the Sino-American détente. Pakistan wassummoned to facilitate negotiations with MaoZedong, which it happily delivered in the hopeof American favours.

Nothing turned out to be more fortunate forPakistan than the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.That fortuitous event entrenched Pakistan in theUS’ strategic calculus like never before. Pakistanhad constant attention of the US as the escala-tion with the Taliban kept piling on the bodycount of American troops. However, it seemsthat the denouement of that dream is approach-ing, making Pakistan’s rulers in both Islamabadand Rawalpindi jittery.

������ ������Most recently, Pakistan’s National Security

Advisor Moeed Yusuf has expressed a desire fora US-Pakistan ‘reset’ based on geoeconomicsand not geopolitics. With an ostentatious candor,he says a ‘new Pakistan’ does not want the rela-tionship to be viewed through lens A, B, or C. IfPakistan is really sincere about an economicsecurity paradigm, it is a most-welcomed sce-nario for India. The market size disparity willsettle the unabating chase for parity with India,which is at the root of many regional problems.

This can be a mere charm offensive byMoeed, an old DC warhorse who has spent overa decade shaping pro-Pakistan opinion and lob-bying for his country through lucrative think-tank positions he perched. Or, it indicates buy-ing time until Rawalpindi formulates a newstrategy. The recent India-Pakistan ceasefireagreement feeds into this arithmetic of taking astep back. For two reasons, the geoeconomicsdesire smacks of insincerity.

First, it does not square with Pakistan’sdomestic realities. With soaring inflation, bil-lions in circular debt, decreasing per capita pur-chasing power, incessant political wrangles, fed-eral government’s policy command contested bythe provincial, military, and baronial powers,lack of urban infrastructure and connectivity,and domestic security challenges, much leaves tobe desired for Pakistan to enamor private UScapital.

Second, a geoeconomics-oriented Pakistanhas to give up on using terrorism as a state poli-cy; there is no way tradesmen and terrorists canthrive together. However, any such changeswould mean the military losing control over thePakistani state, which it would never let happen.It also raises a paradox: Pakistan’s civil-military

elite who have disproportionately benefited fromone extraneous lens or another — most recently,Afghanistan — why wants to give that lens sud-denly for a standalone relationship? Hence thereset pitch is indicative of both consternationand parallel churning that wants to recaptureany potential loss of that status.

�������������� ���With its decision to test Shaheen-III missile

that can carry nuclear weapons to Israel onBiden’s inauguration day, Rawalpindi hasbetrayed its desperation for relevance and atten-tion. But what makes Pakistan so insecure aboutlosing relevance? Apart from internecine parityand millions of dollars in aid, it is Pakistan’s elitethat stands to lose the most. It is unimaginablefor Pakistan’s civil-military rulers, some of whomare dual citizens having properties, businesses,and families in the US, to lose the heft. It is apersonal loss too.

Further, being in the US’ good books grantscomplete impunity to the military leadership indomestic and international affairs. Just look atthe countries that invited US incursions or wrathand their corresponding sins-Iraq for allegedlysupporting Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda, Iranfor aspiring to possess nukes that can threatenIsrael, Syria and Libya for dictatorships and abet-ting jihadists, Myanmar for military despotism,and North Korea for proliferation. But a countrywhere all sins converge — the presence ofOsama bin Laden, nuclear weapons that canreach Tel Aviv, sworn animus towards Israel,sheltering jihadists, military dictatorship, indi-rect control of the civilian government, humanrights abuses, and proven proliferation to NorthKorea, Iran, and Libya — is immune from anyAmerican punitive actions because the US needsit to navigate and exit the largest quagmire itentered after Vietnam. Even the idea of losingthis privilege can fret Pakistan’s generals morethan anything else.

But will Afghanistan be pushed to oblivion?Is a post-Afghan world dawning in? Given theAmerican involvement in Afghanistan today andthe Taliban’s truculence, it seems that the UStroops would never leave Kabul’s soil. Once, itdid not appear to be true in the case of Vietnamtoo. Many had assumed that a small Americanpresence in Vietnam was a fait accompli, andtotal disengagement was next to impossible. In acouple of years, they were proven wrong.

Moreover, mere troop presence does notmean high salience in American foreign policy.Some American 5,000 troops are still stationedin Iraq compared to around 2,500 inAfghanistan, but Afghanistan is a high-priorityissue today. Even if a battalion remains hunkereddown in Kabul, Afghanistan will not attract thesame foreign policy focus forever. And Pakistanis aware that the expiry date is approaching.

�������������� ��Pakistan is now preparing to plug itself

into any issue that can continue its present

perks as a ‘strategically relevant’ country. AsadMajeed Khan, the Pakistani ambassador to theUS, talking to a DC-based think-tank, said that“we also represent the Iranian interest here…and we have been doing that for the last 40years.” As Iran supplants Afghanistan as theprime focal point in the days to come, Pakistanwould want to encash that issue to its advan-tage.

Pakistan’s pursuit of strategically relevantaccess point would be oriented towards west andcentral Asia instead of eastwards. To its east liestwo behemoths — India and China, both wouldensure American attention towards Pakistanwithout the endearing ‘strategic relevance.’ India-US partnership has acquired a new strategic hueshedding the subcontinental shibboleth of anuclear flashpoint. Pakistan has too oftenrehearsed nuclear brinkmanship with the US toblunt its utility. After the abrogation of Art. 370,Imran Khan’s entreaties of ‘nuclear shadow hov-ering over South Asia’ in the pages of New YorkTimes fell on deaf ears.

Similarly, its inordinate proximity with ‘ironbrother’ China that proved an asset during theCold War is now a sure liability. It is folly even toimagine another Sino-American rapprochement,and hence, Pakistan’s China bet is a sunk cost forits American calculus. In fact, anything it needsto do is to salvage its image from sin by associa-tion.

��� ��� ����� �� �This situation leaves Pakistan with three

possible options. First, delay the Afghan peaceprocess and buy as much time with the currentsituation as possible. Although US presence lim-its Pakistan’s ability to assert itself inAfghanistan, it can endure the short-term pain.Such instability hurts Indian interests as it hurtsothers. Second, it has already increased its over-tures toward Tehran, even if it means upsettingSaudi Arabia and the UAE to an extent. Pakistanis emboldened by China’s leverage brought byBeijing’s promise to pour billions in an economystifled by sanctions. Beyond beguiling itsAmerican counterparts through the Tehran card,cutting India to size in Persia would be its anoth-er goal. India’s camaraderie with Gulf monarchscomes at the partial cost of old warmth withIran, but New Delhi should ensure its vital ener-gy and security interests are not hurt. Finally,Pakistan has a notorious past of fomenting trou-bles through non-state actors when it is desper-ate. India would need to stay ahead with betterintelligence and border surveillance to meetpotential challenges.

Pakistan is facing a crisis moment of bulkexpiries in the coming days — Afghanistan,China, and nuclear cards — while its desire tomilk its strategic relevance continues. New Delhineeds to closely monitor the internal strategicchurning in its neighbourhood and war-game itsown responses to stay ahead in the game.

The writer is Visiting Fellow at the StimsonCenter in Washington DC

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US & THE GREAT SOUTHASIAN REALIGNMENT

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Residential buildingsaccounted for 24% of thetotal electricity consump-

tion in India in 2016. This totalelectricity consumption willincrease as more housing unitsare built to meet the estimateddemand of 38 million housingunits in 2030. The electricity con-sumption per household is alsoincreasing as people have accessto better electricity and invest inmore appliances due to increasingspending power. As a result,national electricity consumed bythe residential sector is expectedto increase by more than eighttimes by 2050.

The construction industryalready accounts for 25-40% ofthe world’s total carbon emis-sions. Increase in energy con-sumption by the residential sectorwill result in an exponentialincrease in Greenhouse Gas(GHG) emissions without appro-priate mitigation interventions.

Affordable housing, includingthe Low Income Group (LIG) andEconomically Weaker Section(EWS), accounted for almost 96%of the residential housingdemand in 2012. Even though theenergy consumption of theaffordable housing sector is rela-tively small right now, it willincrease as the number of build-ings and appliance usage increas-es. Hence, any strategy to reduceenergy consumption in the resi-dential sector must include theaffordable housing sector.

The affordable housing sectoris largely managed by the govern-ment owing to its role as regula-tor and major builder. The gov-

ernment launched several initia-tives to meet the affordable hous-ing shortage through its vision on‘Housing for All by 2022.’ Itlaunched the Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana (PMAY) — Urban(PMAY-U) and Rural (PMAY-R)in 2015. Most recently, itlaunched the Affordable RentalHousing Complexes (ARHCs)scheme under PMAY-U to pro-vide affordable housing tomigrant workers and the urbanpoor. The PMAY sub-schemesprovide financial support toState/Union Territories (UTs)through different interventions.

Integrating thermal comfortand energy efficiency strategiesinto the PMAY schemes providesa unique opportunity for wide-spread and quick adoption by theaffordable housing sector. Thesestrategies can be made mandato-ry through the PMAY schemesthus linking them to fiscal bene-fits.

As a first step, the scope ofthe building design regulationsunder PMAY needs to beincreased. This can be done byintegrating Energy ConservationBuilding Code-Residential(ECBC-R) developed by theBureau of Energy Efficiency’s(BEE) into PMAY schemes.

The first part of ECBC-Rincludes design and materialselection to improve thermalcomfort in residential buildings,improve natural ventilation andincrease daylighting. This willhelp reduce energy demand forlighting, cooling or heating. Thisis especially beneficial to the LIGand EWS population which may

be unable to purchase appropriateappliances, especially to improvethermal comfort, due to financialconstraints.

The second part of theECBC-R will include strategiesfor sustainable mechanical sys-tems such as heating, cooling andrenewable energy systems.Including sustainable coolingtechnologies is key to reducingthe GHG footprint of buildings.Rising global temperature due to

climate change is forcing moreand more people to use air condi-tioners to achieve thermal com-fort in their homes. Almost 30%of electricity consumption inhomes is from air-conditioningmaking it one of the biggest con-tributors towards spikes in energyconsumption. Most refrigeratorsand air-conditioners containchemical refrigerants that have1,000 to 9,000 times greatercapacity to warm the atmosphere

compared to carbon dioxide. It isnecessary to phase out theserefrigerants and support climateresponsive sustainable coolingsystems. While use of air-condi-tioners in LIG and EWS housingunits is low currently, the numberis expected to increase in bothrural and urban areas by 2030.

ECBC-R (Part I) can bemade mandatory for all afford-able housing projects, whileECBC-R (Part II) can be made

voluntary. Sustainable mechanicaltechnologies can have high costand maintenance requirementsand should be provided based onproject-to-project suitability.PMAY can provide greater finan-cial benefits to projects adoptingECBC-R (Part- II).

While design interventionscan be integrated into projects atzero cost, material and technolo-gy interventions may result inincreased construction costs. It

will be necessary to reduce thefinancial burden on developers aswell as buyers. The governmentmust invest in research and test-ing for new materials and tech-nologies. Housing built throughthe ARHC schemes provide agreat opportunity to constructpilot projects as occupants do notinvest in the property directly.

It will also be necessary forthe government to simultaneous-ly roll out financial support pro-grams. Direct/indirect mecha-nisms need to be introduced toabsorb the extra costs of buildingsustainably. Increasing home loansubsidies with relaxations in GSTand taxes will incentivise con-struction of low carbon buildings.Housing schemes under PMAYwith green building certificationscan be awarded extra subsidiescoupled with stamp duty waiver.Strategic relaxation in FloorSpace Index (FSI) norms can helpreduce common infrastructuredevelopment costs. Developerscan use the excess budget to pro-vide energy efficiency measuresin their buildings.

Robust enforcement and highcompliance rate will be essentialto ensure the intended energysavings and GHG reductionsthrough this strategy. Regularevaluation and improvements tothe policy will help build trustamongst all stakeholders andinspire confidence in adoptingenergy efficiency strategies. Thiswill help us stay on track toachieve our carbon goals.

The writers are Anant Fellowsfor Climate Action

Upon entering the small,dimly lit but cheerfulorphanage inNizamabad, a smalltown located in the

south of India, eight years ago, Inoticed the pale faces of the childreninside. Four pairs of eyes were fixedon me while the lower half of theirbodies — which at first glanceseemed to me to be incrediblyscrawny — hid behind a corrodedmetal door separating the receptionarea from a large empty hall thatwould probably be repurposed fortheir dining or play through the day.The children in this orphanage wereborn out of illicit relationships in thecommunity, thus abandoned by theirbiological mothers, and all sufferedfrom AIDS.

“They have not received theirmedicines since the past 3 months,”informed Rajoo the founder of theorphanage, noticing my sadness atthe state of the children.

“Why not?” I asked, shocked. “The CSR manager of the com-

pany that provided the medicines hasbeen replaced. The new manager hasa different plan and so he directed thefunds to a set of other CSR initia-tives.”

Standing in the vacuous, win-dowless hall that was being hurried-ly now readied by Rajoo’s industri-ous staff for serving lunch to the fortytwo ailing but happy and clamorousorphans who were all gatheredaround me, I was convinced of thecolossal dangers to the little end-ben-eficiaries of whimsical ‘CSR initia-tives’.

Philanthropy done through spo-radic corporate social responsibilityinitiatives is common in developingcountries such as India, but is notsustainable. In FY 2019-20, an aston-ishing 20.33 per cent of listed Indiancompanies reported losses. In fact,19.65 per cent of Indian companieswho were profitable in Q4 2019-20reported losses in Q1 2020-21 as alikely direct consequence of thepandemic on the country’s economywhich will only worsen in FY 2022.This pushes down the legal liability

of these companies to financiallycontribute to any CSR at all this year.

However, only if these corpora-tions’ social initiatives are inter-twined with their business models,will the initiatives survive employeeturnover and financial losses of thecompany. The company’s procure-ment policies, supply chain manage-ment, production units, and distri-bution networks can be tweaked tobe more socially responsible.Similarly, services and products thatare harmful to society can be phasedout, ushering in those that help peo-ple while also being profitable.

For example, companies likethe Euro 24 billion Veolia earn rev-enues from water and waste manage-ment as well as energy services. TheEuro 9.26 billion Dutch State Mineshas moved out of the polluting busi-ness of coal mining and reinventeditself into a science-based company

active in nutrition, health and sus-tainable living. Similarly, in India,USD 4.2 billion Tata Power haspledged to transition from produc-ing thermal power to entirely renew-able sources of power by 2050.

This way, the company’s socialinitiatives can not be stopped lest itimpacts revenue generation. Howcan CEOs transform their companiesto do this?

���� ���To embed social responsibility in

a company’s operations, servicesand products, first employees atlarge need to be convinced that thisis the right thing to do. Only then willthey willingly implement the changesneeded across the company. Makeemployees feel that it was their ideato change.

For this, it is crucial that thecompany’s leadership deploys a con-

sultative process across teams forproposing the idea and then request-ing employees for their opinionabout it as well as suggestions for theroll out plan.

Not only is the process informa-tive, but also instils a sense of own-ership amongst employees of thechanges in the company that will fol-low. This will result in strongerimplementation by these employeesof the changes that will later be pro-posed by the leadership.

����Next, the transformative process

needs to be placed within a specificteam such as the strategy team, sus-tainability department, R&D or aresearch centre located within thecompany. All the changes neededwithin the company will emanatefrom this team.

However, often a common mis-

take corporations make is to inappro-priately locate this team within theorganisation by either banishing it toa lower down reporting line or to sitwithin the company’s corporatecommunications team, or strippingit of power in other ways. This givesout a signal to employees that anysocial good done by the company isnot important or is simply for imagebuilding.

Instead, the leadership needs toensure that the team responsible forthe transformation is em-powered,reports directly to the CEO, and isinvolved in all business and financialdecisions. This would requirechanges such as having a key employ-ee lead this team, inclusion of theteam within corporate governancestructures or even close physicalproximity of offices of this team tothe CEO.

���������Embedding social good within

operations, services and products ofa company requires teams to close-ly collaborate towards identifying keystakeholders, conducting a material-ity analysis, and implementing ini-tiatives that are driven by the resultsof the materiality analysis.Conducting a materiality analysisensures that social initiatives areimportant both to the business andstakeholders.

Teams across the company needto then collaborate with internal aswell as external entities to ensure thecontinued implementation and mon-itoring of the initiatives that result insocial good as well as revenues.

This often results in an align-ment of initiatives for business andsocial welfare. An example of acompany that successfully alignsbusiness interests, CSR, and philan-thropy is Piramal EnterprisesLimited, an Indian business con-glomerate earning revenues of �5,419crore in the last financial year. Thecompany’s CSR has a sharp focus oneducation and healthcare which alsomirrors the company’s main businessfocus on technology and healthcare.Beyond business and CSR, the pro-

moters of the company Ajay Piramaland his wife Dr. Swati Piramal areactively engaged in philanthropicactivities also in the fields of educa-tion and healthcare. This alignmentof business, CSR, and philanthropyon just 2 clear social goals is an effec-tive approach to ensure deep socialbenefits. Further, this has ensuredthat the social initiatives continueeven during the current economicdownturn as the company’s CSRspend for FY 20 remained unde-terred, amounting to 4.51% of itsaverage net profits of the 3 preced-ing financial years which more thandoubles up on the legally mandatedannual CSR spend.

In other cases, the transforma-tive process results in social respon-sibility being a generator of revenue.Micro-finance, employment ser-vices, affordable housing and variousbusinesses that cater to customers atthe bottom of the pyramid are someexamples. However, businesses thatmight cater to higher income groupsbut source directly from producers,or those who extend their servicesand add value to the smaller compa-nies in their supply chain, or work toeradicate the environmental pollu-tion caused by their operations andproducts, or work on cross subsidisedmodels to provide their products andservices at differentiated pricing tocustomers with different payingpower, are also positively contribut-ing to society. There are many busi-ness models that can usher in ben-efits to society as well as revenues.

Recently, on a trip to HyderabadI made my way by road to visitNizamabad again. Upon enquiring,the locals told me that Rajoo’sorphanage had long closed down dueto lack of regularity in funds. I won-dered what happened to the children.

The writer is the CEO ofSustain Labs, a company that trans-forms companies towards being sus-

tainable and profitable. She is theauthor of Indian Instincts: Essayson Freedom & Equality in India,

and a Global Leadership Fellow atthe World Economic Forum

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�� ��77 0���1���!/����6!�6!���/� �!��6� !%CThe Hague-based

International CriminalCourt (ICC) has ordered aninvestigation into the allegedwar crimes in the Palestinianterritories which were cap-tured by Israel in the historicSix Day War of 1967, whereinthe country has already start-ed settlement construction.

The ICC investigation willlook into “crimes that arealleged to have been commit-ted” since June 13, 2014 — thePalestinians chose June 2014 asthe start of the investigation tocoincide with the run-up toIsrael’s devastating Gaza warthat summer.

Way back in 2015, the ICCbegan a preliminary investiga-tion into the 2014 Gaza con-flict. In the month of June thatyear, the Palestinian Authority(PA) submitted evidence ofmassive war crimes by theIsraeli military. However, areport released by the UNhighlighted that there was evi-dence of war crimes by boththe Israeli military and theHamas, the Palestinian militantoutfit. According to UN esti-mates, over 2,200 Palestinians,including nearly 1,500 civilians,were killed by Israeli fire whileat least 67 soldiers and six civil-ians were killed on the Israeliside.

However, Israel has arguedthat it waged a war of self-defense against nonstop rock-et fire against its cities. Callingthe ICC decision to begin warcrimes probe “anti-Semitismand hypocrisy”, Israel PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahuhas said, “The state of Israel isunder attack… I promise youwe will fight for the truth untilwe annul this scandalous deci-sion.”

Netanyahu has accused theICC of “turning a blind eye toIran, Syria and the other dic-tatorships that are commit-ting real war crimes.”

The decision to launch theICC probe was taken by its out-going Chief Prosecutor FatouBensouda, a former GambianJudge. In February this year,Bensouda claimed that theICC had jurisdiction over thecase. Her preliminary probe in2019 has brought forth the factthat there is enough evidenceto open a war crimes case inthe West Bank, including EastJerusalem and Gaza Strip. Inone of her statements, she saidthat the investigation will lookinto crimes within the juris-diction of the court. She hasensured the international com-munity that the investigation

will be conducted “indepen-dently, impartially and objec-tively, without fear or favour”.

The massive task of thisinvestigation will be carried outby the ICC’s new ChiefProsecutor, leading Britishlawyer Karim Khan, who willreplace Bensouda in June thisyear. He currently heads a UNinvestigation into war crimescommitted by the Islamic Statein Iraq.

The ICC probe aims tofocus on two key areas aroundwhich Israeli Government’spolicies are involved: its con-tinued military offensivesagainst the Palestinian militantsin the Gaza Strip rocked by adevastating war in 2014 and itsexpansion of settlements inEast Jerusalem and West Bank.

These actions of Tel Avivhave been broadly highlightedby the PA in its report filed inthe ICC since its joining theCourt.

Though Palestine is not anindependent nation, it wasgranted non-member status inthe coveted UN GeneralAssembly in 2012. And thishelped Palestine to claim itsmembership in other crucialglobal institutions such as the

ICC. Ever since, Palestine hasbeen trying to convince theinternational community aboutits allegation of war crimes byIsrael.

Now interesting part ofthe probe announced by theICC is that Israel is not amember of the court. Also,Israeli Government outlinesthe fact that since Palestine isnot an independent state, theICC does not have any juris-diction over it.

However, the PA isextremely enthused with thelaunch of the ICC probe.

Nevertheless manyPalestine sympathisers are get-ting worked up as the ICC hasbeen painfully slow despitethe evidence of war crimes wasmentioned in the preliminaryreport by Bensouda.

The international courtproceedings involving suchcases might take a longercourse of action in comparisonto domestic trials.

Known popularly as‘KingBibi’, Netanyahu is adeptin handing the ICC probeissue. His followers call him,“The Magician”, “The Winner”,and “Melekh Yisrael” (i.e. Kingof Israel). Known for his anti-

solutionism, he tries to popu-larise the theory that Israel issurrounded by wolves insheep’s clothing and wolves inwolves clothing. It seemsNetanyahu favours status quoon the Palestine issue.

An equally reluctant Fatahand the Palestinian Authorityneed to come up with a realis-tic solution. The status quo hassupported the Fatah leadershipas it helped it to remain inpower. Even without creating aPalestinian state, the securitycooperation with Israel maysafeguard the PA from beingoverthrown by the Hamas.

In the past, when con-cerns were raised over warcrimes in Israeli occupied areas,attempts were made to detractfrom the seriousness of thecourt’s findings. Questionswere raised by Israel on theissue of statehood of Palestine,the legitimacy of the courtjurisdiction and their verypolitical appropriateness.

The then TrumpAdministration solidly backedthe Israeli Government on thisissue. Washington’s unwaveringsupport to Tel Aviv reflected inits direct attack on the ICC andits personnel as it rejected the

ICC’s authority over its citizensand territory, suspended visasto ICC personnel and theirfamilies, and condemned thePalestine investigation and anyother action that seeks to tar-get Israel unfairly.

Then Secretary of StateMike Pompeo constantlyreferred to the ICC as anembarrassing, political, rene-gade, unlawful, and a vehiclefor political vendettas, mas-querading as a legal body.Then President Trump issuedan executive order thatimposed sanctions over ICCprosecutor and investigators.

Many, particularly the leftliberals across the worldthought that with Joe Bidencoming to power, Washingtonwill reverse the previous courseof action. And eventually a newAmerica will be back.

However, the BidenAdministration that hasstressed on human rights anda multilateral approach to for-eign policy has stood behindIsrael, as American Presidentsdo.

Antony Blinken, hisSecretary of State, sharplyreacted to the ICC probe andsaid that the US firmly oppos-

es and is deeply disappointedat the court’s decision to opena war crimes investigation inthe occupied Palestinian terri-tories. He further stated thatthe ICC had no jurisdictionover this matter. Israel is not aparty to the ICC and has notconsented to the court’s jurisdiction and we have serious concerns about theICC’s attempts to exercise itsjurisdiction over Israeli personnel.

US State Departmentspokesman Ned Price said,“We firmly oppose and are dis-appointed by the ICC prose-cutor’s announcement of aninvestigation into thePalestinian situation.”

“We will continue touphold our strong commit-ment to Israel and its securityincluding by opposing actionsthat seek to target Israel unfair-ly,” Price told reporters inWashington.

This will surely encourageNetanyahu to ramp up cam-paign against the ICC decision.

To put an end to all thecontroversies, the duty ofincoming prosecutor Khan isto consider the probe as pure-ly a legal one.

After decades of struggle,the Palestinian people andtheir movement for self-deter-mination are heading nowhere.The right to self-determinationof the Palestinians and theirdream of an independent Statehave so far remained a loftygoal.

Frustrated, annoyed anddeprived of a credible interna-tional attention, thePalestinians are forced to setthe stage for basic buildingblocks for their survival. Allwhat they need is the very basicrights guaranteed by the UNDeclaration of Human Rightsof 1948, some 72 years ago.And it’s time for Israel torecognise and help establishingan independent PalestinianState.

Biden hiding under semi-Trumpism or any other USPresident, with a preset frame-work, will not be able to solvethe long conflict betweenPalestine and Israel. A two-State solution is the most ideal way to end thehostilities between the twoparties.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

Half a year after the UnitedArab Emirates and Bahrain

established diplomatic relationswith Israel, discreet Jewish com-munities in the Gulf Arab states thatonce lived in the shadow of theArab-Israeli conflict are adopting amore public profile.

Kosher food is now available.Jewish holidays are celebrated open-ly. There is even a fledgling religiouscourt to sort out issues such as mar-riages and divorces.

“Slowly, slowly, it’s improving,”said Ebrahim Nonoo, leader ofBahrain’s Jewish community, whichrecently hosted an online celebrationof the Purim holiday for Jews in theGulf Arab region.

Nonoo is among the founders ofthe Association of Gulf JewishCommunities, a new umbrellagroup for the tiny Jewish popula-tions in the six Arab monarchies ofthe Gulf Cooperation Council.Their goal is to win greater accep-tance of Jewish life in the region.

“It’s just going to take a bit oftime to seep through before we seea Jewish restaurant or a kosherrestaurant spring up from some-where,” said Nonoo, a former mem-ber of Bahrain’s parliament.

Even a modest online gatheringlike the Purim celebration wouldhave been unthinkable a few yearsago, when relations with Israel weretaboo and Jews kept their identitiesout of public view for fear of offend-ing their Muslim hosts.

That changed with last year’saccords between Israel and theUAE and Bahrain that brought

thousands of Israeli tourists andbusiness people to the region and ledto a fledgling industry of Jewishweddings and other celebrationsaimed at Israeli visitors. Emirati andBahraini authorities have launcheda public relations blitz to cultivatetheir image as Muslim havens ofinclusion and tolerance for Jews, instark contrast to regional rivalsSaudi Arabia and Iran.

“A door has been opened,” saidElie Abadie, the new senior rabbi ofthe Jewish Council of the Emirates.“I think there is more openness andmore welcome and enthusiasm forthe presence of a Jewish communi-ty or Jewish individuals or Jewishtradition and culture.”

The Lebanon-born Abadie, amember of the Association of GulfJewish Communities, said he iscertain the shift is taking placeacross the Gulf, not only in the UAE.

The association aims to providesupport and services for the smallJewish populations in Kuwait,Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatarand the UAE. These might includekosher certifications for hotels,restaurants and food products, arabbinic court and pastoral guidancefor religious events like bar mitz-vahs, circumcisions and burials.

Their tiny Jewish populationsare almost all comprised of foreignnationals who have come to theregion for business. Only Bahrainhas a rooted Jewish community. Its80 or so members are descendantsof Iraqi Jews who arrived in the late19th century, seeking opportunity intrade.

The Jewish community in theUAE is the largest, with an estimat-ed 1,000 members. It is also one ofthe newest, and Abadie said he hasto “start things from scratch.”

Only about 200 are active mem-bers of the community. The rest, likemost Jews in Gulf Arab states, keepa low profile. Given the growingenthusiasm about Jewish life in theUAE, Abadie said he expects that“more of them will kind of come out

to the light.”Jewish communities had flour-

ished for centuries across the Islamicworld. For long periods, theyenjoyed a protected status, andoccasionally, as in medieval MuslimAndalusia, thrived in a golden ageof coexistence. Most of those com-munities vanished following Israel’sestablishment in 1948, when hun-dreds of thousands of Jews were dri-ven out or fled.

Given the large numbers ofPalestinians, Lebanese, Egyptiansand Pakistanis who live in the GulfArab countries, some Jews havebeen uncomfortable in recent yearsin sharing their religious identity inpublic. Residency permits in theUAE, for instance, require applicantsto state their religion, and “Jewish”is not an option.

Most Arab states have condi-tioned a normalization of diplomatic

ties with Israel on ending thedecades-long Israeli-Palestinianconflict, including the Israeli occu-pation of lands the Palestiniansseek for an independent state.

But recently, those attitudeshave eroded among some Arableaders, even as hostility towardIsrael — in part because of its poli-cies toward Palestinians — has per-sisted among their populations.

The Gulf Arab monarchies havea few scattered remnants of bygoneJewish communities, said JasonGuberman, executive director of theAmerican Sephardi Federation.

Saudi Arabia is home to sitesthat predate the advent of Islam inthe 7th century, and Bahrain, Kuwaitand Oman have old Jewish ceme-teries. The UAE emirate of Ras al-Khaimah is home to a solitaryJewish headstone, possibly from atraveling merchant — like most ofthe Jews arriving in Dubai today.

“Jews have been in the Gulf fora very long time, and now it’s kindof a return to this historical patternof people coming in for trade,”Guberman said, adding it was “veryexciting to see some of this returnof the pluralist past of the MiddleEast.”

Jean Candiotte, a TV directorfrom New York who has been inDubai for seven years, said the newatmosphere is liberating.

“We used to be this small, littlefamily of Jewish people. We wouldfind each other in hidden ways andeveryone thought they were the onlyone,” she said. “We were sensitive tothe fact that we were in a Muslim

country and didn’t know if everyonewas ready for us.”

“Now it feels quite the opposite,”she said. “I truly feel like I can bemyself here, more openly attendingceremonies and Jewish celebra-tions. Jewish life here is becomingmore like Jewish life anywhere else.”

Still, this new reality remainsfragile. Some countries have beenslower to change. Saudi Arabia andQatar have long been criticized forpromoting anti-Semitic attitudesin textbooks.

Security remains a concern, asillustrated by the recent attack on anIsrael-owned ship in the PersianGulf. Israel has blamed archenemyIran, and officials fear other Jewishand Israeli targets could be vulner-able. Many Jews in the region keeptheir religious identities a secret.

A Jewish businessman who haslived and worked in Oman for thepast several decades said he is oneof perhaps 20 Jews living in the sul-tanate.

He said the country has a moretolerant approach to religious diver-sity than its neighbors, but stillinsisted on anonymity because hewas concerned about repercussionsfrom local officials.

During the coronavirus pan-demic, he said that Zoom Sabbathservices organized by the JewishCommunity of the Emirates onFriday evenings have been a lifelinefor him. He said he hopes the newGulf communal organisation “willgenerate a feeling of a bit of securi-ty to come out of the closet, so tospeak.” AP

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It is not easy to remain unaffected bythe thoughts flowing through mind.To get over this, train to keep your

attention away from the thoughts chasingyou by giving auto suggestions if neces-sary. Over a period of time, all inconse-quential thoughts and feelings botheringyou may leave. This is not to suggest thatall thoughts and feelings would go out ofreckoning during this process. Still, theremay be many more left, parked at deeperlayers of mind, yet to surface up. Theywill be attended to during the later issues.Yet, you may be relatively calmer asthoughts and feelings bothering you inimmediate terms may no longer chaseyou from within.

To explain the concept underlyingthe above process, it becomes imperativeto share a story related to GautamBuddha. Once Buddha asked one of hisdisciples to fetch water from a nearbywater stream. When the discipleapproached the stream, he found that ananimal was crossing. So, water hadbecome muddy. Thinking that he cannotcarry dirty water to his Guru, the disciplecame back. After a while when Buddhaasked him for water, the discipleinformed that water was muddy and so

he came back empty handed. Buddhapointed that the mud would have settledand sent him back. When the discipleapproached the stream, he found thatthough a significant amount of mud hadsettled, but water was still not potable.Later, when he visited the water streamfor the third time, water had becomeclean, and so he fetched it for his Guru.

The mind’s flow is almost similar tothat of a running water stream. As youcross the water stream, the muck on thebed is stirred, following which, waterbecomes muddy. If you leave the waterflow undisturbed for a while, all the muckwill settle down and water will becomeclear once again. In mind, instead ofwater, thoughts keep continuously flow-ing. When unwanted and negativethoughts and feelings somehow intrudeyour thought plane, mind gets unnerved.If, however, you let the thoughts naturallyflow in and out without paying attentionto them, over a period of time they go outof reckoning.

The best part of the process is thatmind gets trained to have its attentioneffortlessly turned inwards for a consider-able period of time, and to a large extentalso remain disengaged from thoughts

knocking you from within.Mind-Detoxification: Having thus

created a favourable inner-climate, stageis set to move on to the Mind-Detoxification process. It is purposely sodesigned as to consciously invoke thethought-seeds parked in the deeper layersof the mind and resolve them. Themethod needs to be directly learnt froman expert. The broader principles, howev-er, are being laid down for the sake ofawareness. Here arises the role of Guru,who will give you a two syllable/wordssimple mantra. The mantra as such has tobe individual specific, identified by theGuru, based on the callings of yourinherent frame of mind.

A similar posture as adopted duringthe mind calming down process, is pre-ferred during Mind-Detoxification also.One can do it in sitting position also, butthe spinal-cord needs to be kept erect.Now close your eyes and turn your atten-tion inwards. The focus has to be on thebreath cycle — inhaling and exhaling.Slowly inhale deep (stomach shouldexpand/come out with large air intake)and then slowly exhale (the stomachshould go in as excessive air move out).Now begin reciting the mantra in your

mind/silently, one syllable/word whileinhaling and the other while exhaling, asdirected by the Guru.

Mantra as such has no religiousimplication; it actually has its energy con-notation. When you inhale deep, simulta-neously reciting opening syllable of themantra, one draws extra life-forces fromnature. That triggers the inlaid memoryimprints registered in energy-format —meaningful ones as positive energy andunseemly ones as negative energy. Thechurning that follows tries to expel nega-tive imprints, bringing into focus host ofdistracting thoughts. The vibration of thesecond syllable helps drive away the neg-ative energy. Continue this practice for atleast 20 minutes.

One will be flooded with thoughtsduring this process. They, however arethe ones parked at deeper layer of mind.These thoughts will reflect definite pat-terns, which may throw light on yourinherent habit tendencies. Becomingaware thus, you could make amendsthrough fresh educative inputs.

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