cmyk

cmyk

yy

Actor Mrunal Thakur says women play animportant role in men’s lives and it shouldbe presented that way

RATIONAL THOUGHTSThe Indian colts face Belgium for a placein the semifinals of the Junior WC hockey event

CRUCIAL MATCH

SPORTS | P12LEISURE | P2

The WHO warns the global risk from theomicron variant is “very high” based on theearly evidence

INTERNATIONAL | P10

OMICRON SCARE

IRREGULAR by MANJUL

That place is for making laws.those who want to debate & discusscan always meet us in a TV studio!

WEATHERBHUB

28.2° 28.6°CTK

15.4°MAX

MINTE

MP

Humidity 75% 77%Rainfall NIL NIL

Forecast

Dry weathermost likely

15.8°

INDEX VARIATION

SENSEX 57064.87 195.71

NIFTY 16983.20 70.80

DOLLAR 75.01 `019

EURO 85.31 `0.60

GOLD `48,128 `541

SILVER `62,423 `783BULL

ION

BOU

RSES

CU

RREN

CY

MARKET WATCH

12 PAGES | `5.00BHUBANESWAR | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 1 | 2021VOLUME 11, ISSUE 240 | www.orissapost.com

AGENCIES

New Delhi, Nov 30: Soon afterParag Agrawal, an alumnus of theIndian Institute of TechnologyBombay, became Chief ExecutiveOfficer (CEO) of Twitter, Tesla andSpaceX founder Elon Musk took tothe micro blogging site to praiseIndian talent in the US.

Musk said that the US benefitsgreatly from India's talent. Musknoted while reverting to a tweetby Stripe CEO Patrick Collison.

"Google, Microsoft, Adobe, IBM,Palo Alto Networks and now Twitterrun by CEOs who grew up in India.Wonderful to watch the amazingsuccess of Indians in the technol-ogy world and a good reminder ofthe opportunity America offers toimmigrants. (Congrats, ParagAgrawal)," Collison wrote. Muskthen tweeted, "USA benefits greatlyfrom Indian talent!"

For those who are unaware,Parag Agrawal will take over fromJack Dorsey as the CEO in 2022.

Agrawal joins a select group ofCEOs of Indian origin headingtechnology companies in the US.

They include Sundar Pichai,who heads Google and its parentcompany Alphabet, Microsoft's

Satya Nadella, IBM's ArvindKrishna, and Adobe's ShantanuNarayen.

Dorsey will remain a member ofthe Board until his term expires atthe 2022 meeting of stockholders.

Agrawal has been with Twitterfor more than a decade and hasserved as its Chief TechnologyOfficer since 2017.

"I've decided to leave Twitter be-cause I believe the company isready to move on from its founders.My trust in Parag as Twitter's CEOis deep. His work over the past 10years has been transformational.I'm deeply grateful for his skill,heart, and soul. It's his time to

lead," said Dorsey.Agrawal said: "I look forward

to building on everything we haveaccomplished under Jack's lead-ership and I am incredibly energisedby the opportunities ahead. Bycontinuing to improve our execu-tion, we will deliver tremendousvalue for our customers and share-holders as we reshape the future ofpublic conversation."

Dorsey returned to lead the com-pany as CEO in 2015 despite beingforced out of the post in 2008.

In a letter to employees, Dorseysaid he will serve out his term on theboard of directors until "May-ish"when he will also leave that position.

AGENCIES

New Delhi, Nov 30: To constitutea committee for discussion on MSPand other issues, the Centre hassought five names from theSamkyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)and it will be decided by the um-brella body of farmer unions inits December 4 meeting, farmerleader Darshan Pal said Tuesday.

The move comes a day after bothhouses of parliament passed a billto repeal the three contentiousfarm laws against which farmershave been protesting for a year.

"Today, the Centre has asked forfive names from SKM for the com-mittee that will deliberate on theissue of minimum support price(MSP) for crops. We have not yet de-cided on the names. We will de-cide this in our December 4 meet-ing," Pal told PTI.

The SKM, an umbrella body ofover 40 farm unions, has beenspearheading the farmers' move-ment against the three farm lawsand their other demands, includ-ing a legal guarantee for MSP.

Earlier this month, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi had an-nounced that a committee would beformed to take decisions on the sub-jects of promoting zero budgeting-

based agriculture, changing crop pat-terns as per the changing needs ofthe country, and making MSP moreeffective and transparent.

He made the announcementduring his address to the nationin which he also stated that thegovernment has decided to re-peal the three farm laws, whichwere at the centre of protests byfarmers for the past year.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: The IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD)Tuesday said the low pressure areaformed over South Thailand wouldconvert into a cyclonic storm byDecember 3 and cross the Odishaand Andhra coast by December 4morning.

In a special bulletin, the Metoffice said the low pressure area,which now lies over South Thailand& its neighbourhood, is likely tomove west northwestward and con-centrate into a depression byDecember 2 and further intensifyinto a cyclonic storm over centralBay of Bengal in next 24 hours. Itis likely to move northwestwards,intensify further and reach northAndhra and ¬Odisha coasts by themorning of December 4.

Under its influence, rainfall ac-tivities will commence from theevening of December 3 and heavyto very heavy rain with extremelyheavy rain is likely during

December 4 and 5 over coastal andinterior Odisha.

The weather office said heavyrainfall is likely to occur at iso-lated places over Gajapati, Ganjam,Puri and Jagatsinghpur December3 and issued a yellow warning forthese districts.

It predicted heavy to very heavyrainfall at a few places over Gajapati,Ganjam, Puri, Khurda, Nayagarh,Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara,Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpurwith extremely heavy rain at oneor two places over Ganjam, Puri andJagatsinghpur and issued orangewarning for these districts forDecember 4.

The Met office has alreadysounded orange warning forBalasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara,Jagatsinghpur, Jaipur, Cuttack,Keonjhar, Dhenkanal and

Mayurbhanj districts for December5 next. Farmers were advised toshift their harvest to safer placesand postpone sowing of rabi crops.The Met office predicts squallywind speed reaching 50-60 kmphgusting to 70 kmph over southeastand adjoining east central Bay ofBengal, December 2.

Gale with speed reaching 65-75kmph gusting to 85 kmph is likelyto prevail over central Bay of Bengalfrom early morning of December3 and gradually increasing to 90-100kmph gusting to 110 kmph overnorthwest and adjoining west cen-tral Bay of Bengal from the morn-ing of December 4 for the subse-quent 24 hours.

Squally wind speed reaching45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph islikely to commence along and offnorth Andhra – Odisha coast fromthe midnight of December 3 and in-crease gradually to 70-80 kmphwith gusting to 90 kmph fromDecember 4 afternoon for subse-quent 12 hours, the IMD said.

Meanwhile, Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik has reviewed thepreparedness to tackle the possiblecyclone with senior officials. Heasked the agriculture departmentto take all possible measures toprotect harvested paddy of farmers.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: The stategovernment Tuesday releasedCovid-19 guidelines for December2021. Night curfew (10 pm-5 am)will continue in urban areas inDecember like before and therewill be no weekend shutdown.

There will be graded unlockingtill January 1, 2022. With a view toprotecting health of public andpreventing spread of Covid andnormalising economic activities,there will be graded unlocking asnotified under order August 31 till5 am of January 1.

Night curfew will be imposedin all urban areas of the state from10 pm to 5 am every day. There willbe no weekend shutdown across thestate. During unlocking, all typesof shops, malls will remain openacross the state from 5 am to 10pm every day.

"Cultural gatherings/pro-grammes including melodies, or-chestra/ jatra/ opera, dances-clas-sical, folk and other permitteddance forms, cultural competi-tions, open air theatres/ drama/nukkad natak/ street plays/ othersuch performances will be allowedwith due compliance to Covid pro-tocols," the notification read.

However, congregation in ho-tels, restaurants, parks and otherpublic places for zero night cele-bration and welcome to New Yearprogramme will be prohibitedthroughout the state December 31,

2021 and January 1, 2022.The order also prohibits picnics

at public places. Besides, no com-munity feast will be allowed inpublic places on the occasion ofzero night celebration.

People are advised to celebratesuch functions at homes avoidingmass gatherings and adhering toCovid -19 protocols such as physi-cal distancing, use of face mask/cov-ering and hand washing /handsanitiser, the SRC said, adding peo-ple are advised to use green crack-ers during this celebration withutmost safety/caution and not to usethem in public places. More P7

POST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, Nov 30: Retired districtjudge ABS Naidu will supervisethe investigation into the murder ofteacher Mamita Meher in Kalahandidistrict. Judge Naidu was entrustedwith the responsibility by the OrissaHigh Court Tuesday which informedthe state government about thisthrough a letter.

The HC had earlier asked thestate government to submit thestatus report on the probe into themurder case while posting the nextdate of hearing to December 3.The victim’s family had approachedthe HC November 15 seeking itsintervention to fast-track the hear-ing. On the other hand, theBharatiya Bikash Parishad hadfiled a petition in the HC and soughta CBI probe into the incident. Theoutfit also sought Rs 50 lakh com-pensation for the victim’s family.

In its interim application, theoutfit had urged the court to in-clude Minister of State for HomeDibya Shankar Mishra, SambalpurDIG and Bolangir SP in the inves-tigation. Besides, the outfit hadappealed to the court to direct theinvestigation officers to examine thelaptop, mobile phone and pen driveof the deceased as part of the probe.

Volunteers of Vande Mataram participating in an awareness campaign on AIDS and Covid-19 on the eve of World AIDS Day, in Bhubaneswar, Tuesday PTI

Cyclonic storm to hitstate Saturday morn

MSP panel: Centre seeksnames of farmer leaders

Retd dist judgeto supervise Mamita probe

Musk praises Parag, says US gains from Indian talent NAVEEN ANNOUNCES SOPS FOR NEWSPAPER HAWKERS POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik Tuesdayannounced social security assis-tance for newspaper hawkers.

All newspaper hawkers regis-tered in Odisha Un-OrganisedWorkers Welfare Board will get so-cial security benefits. Their next ofkin will get `2 lakh in case of ac-cidental death while ̀ 1 lakh will beprovided for natural death.

Newspaper hawkers who be-come completely disabled due to anaccident will get `1.5 lakh while

`80,000 will be provided in case ofloss of both limbs and `40,000 forthose who have lost one limb.

The CM also announced spe-cial aid of `3,000 in two phases toall registered newspaper hawkersin view of the Covid-19 situation.The aid will be paid from the CM'sRelief Fund. The government hasdecided to construct work-shedsfor hawkers at district level.Moreover, information and thepublic relations department will pre-pare a digital database of hawkersat the state and district levels, andprovide them with identity cards.

n Others include Google’sSundar Pichai, Microsoft'sSatya Nadella, IBM'sArvind Krishna, Adobe'sShantanu Narayen.

GDP up by 8.4%in Q2 against20.1% in Q1

AGENCIES

New Delhi, Nov 30: Highercentral fiscal spending as wellas consumption recovery andhealthy monsoon season ac-celerated India's Q2FY22 GDPgrowth rate to 8.4 per cent on ayear-on-year basis. Besides,pent-up demand, higher exportsalong with a rise in service ac-tivity amid further improve-

ment in mobility supported theuptrend. The accelerated vac-cination drive also played a rolein this YoY rise as it brightenedconsumer sentiments.

On a YoY basis, India's GDPgrowth rate had fallen by 7.4 percent during the correspondingperiod of the previous fiscal.

On a sequential basis, theGDP growth rate during Q2FY22was lower than the rise of 20.1

per cent recorded for Q1FY22.India's GDP at constant 2011-12prices has been estimated at`35.73 lakh crore in Q2FY22, asagainst `32.97 lakh crore inQ2FY21.

"GDP at Constant (2011-12)Prices in Q2 2021-22 is esti-mated at `35.73 lakh crore, asagainst `32.97 lakh crore in Q22020-21, showing a growth of8.4 per cent as compared to 7.4

per cent contraction in Q2 2020-21," the National StatisticalOffice (NSO) said in its Q2FY22GDP estimates.

"Quarterly GVA at Basic Pricesat Constant (2011-12) Prices inQ2 2021-22 is estimated at `32.89lakh crore, as against`30.32 lakhcrore in Q2 2020-21, showing agrowth of 8.5 per cent," it added.The GVA includes taxes, but ex-cludes subsidies.

CURBS ON INT'LPASSENGERS

NEW DELHI: Strict norms forarriving internationalpassengers, especially from 'at-risk' countries, will come intoeffect from Tuesday midnightamid mounting concerns overthe emergence of the COVIDvariant Omicron. The Centrehas asked states and UTs toensure RT-PCR tests fortravellers coming from 'at-risk'countries on the first day ofarrival and retesting on theeighth day. RT-PCR tests aremandatory for passengersarriving from 'at-risk' countriesand they will be allowed toleave the airport only after thetest results come.

Night curfew to stay,no zero night revelry

WORLD AIDS DAY

nMet office predicts veryheavy to extremely heavyrain at many places instate from Dec 3 to Dec 5

Itanagar: Senior actor SanjayDutt has been roped in by the

Arunachal Pradesh govern-ment to be the brand ambas-sador for the state.

This apart, filmmakerRahul Mittra has beennamed brand for thegolden jubilee celebrations,

marking the 50th year ofthe naming of the state.

The announcement wasmade by Chief MinisterPema Khandu andAssembly Speaker Pasang

Sona Dorjee at a packedfunction in the presence ofboth Sanjay and Mittra,who ar rived fromMumbai by a chartered

flight to Dibrugarh andthen by helicopter to

the picturesque val-ley of Mechuka on

the afternoon.A campaign

executed byRahul

MittraFilms

andshotby ad film-makerShirazBhattacharya was kick-started on this occasion,featuring Sanjay cateringto the target audience for

Arunachal tourism.In addition to the promotional films,

the actor will also engage with thelocal youth of the state on a series ofinitiatives on substance abuse andother key issues that cause concern inthe state.

Filming on a large scale is takingplace at Ziro village, Pakke valley,Dambuk, Namsai, Parshuram Kund,Pasighat, Mechuka and Tawang.

The month-long celebrations willcommence at Ziro January 20, 2022 asit was in Ziro that Arunachal Pradeshgot its name and Union Territory sta-

tus in 1972.The closing cere-

mony will be heldin Itanagar on the

occasion of theStatehood DayFebruary 20, 2022.

IANS

Maggie Gyllenhaal’s direc-torial debut The LostDaughter dominated the

2021 Gotham Awards and the pop-ular Netflix survival drama SquidGame was named as one of theBreakthrough Series in the event.

The Lost Daughter, which wentinto the event as a five-time nom-inee, won four awards, includingthe top prize of best feature, re-ports Hollywoodreporter.com.

After a quick speech thanking herloved ones and collaborators forbest screenplay, Gyllenhaal de-clared she’d deliver a ‘real speech’for her second win of the evening,for breakthrough director.

“It’s expensive to make movies,”said Gyllenhaal in her second ac-ceptance speech.

Meanwhile, fellow Netflix title,Passing, which also had five nom-inations, went home empty-handedas did three-time nominee Test

Pattern, from Kino Lorber.CODA won two of the three

awards for which it was nomi-nated.

On the TV side, the GothamAwards honoured buzzy new se-ries Squid Game and ReservationDogs with its two breakthroughseries awards.

Squid Game Creator HwangDong-hyu reminisced, “It took 12years to make this show and showit to the people. And it took lessthan 12 days to become the No. 1show on the planet. What can Isay? It’s a miracle.”

Reservation Dogs creator SterlinHarjo, urged the audience to re-member the indigenous peoplewho called Manhattan home.

Over the summer, the GothamAwards made its acting awardsgender-neutral, a move that waspraised by non-binary Billionsactor Asia Kate Dillon as they pre-

sented the award for out-standing performance in anew series, one of two awardsthat resulted in ties.

The Gotham Awardsalso honoured Power ofthe Dog director JaneCampion, Spencer starKristen Stewar t,Magnolia executiveEamonn Bowles, thecast of The HarderThe y Fall , TheActors Fund and,posthumously, activist

and fi lmmakerKathleen Collins

with theGothams'

first IconTribute. IANS

Mumbai: After making herdebut opposite Hrithik Roshanin Ashutosh Gowariker’sMohenjo-Daro, Pooja Hegde tookthe pan-India approach andworked in various regional filmindustries.

The actress always wantedto be recognised as an Indianactor rather than an actor lim-ited to just one particular in-dustry.

Talking about being a part of dif-ferent film industries across India,Pooja said, “God has been reallykind to have given me the oppor-tunity to showcase my talent in dif-ferent film industries and be givenso much love by the audience. I al-ways wanted to be known as anIndian actor and not let the bar-

rier of language restrict mywork. The idea is to do goodwork, work hard and proveyour credibility.”

Revealing as to how sheprogresses from one project toanother, the actress said, “Thebig question that an actor al-ways has to face is ‘whatnext?’. One has to go by theirinstinct, give their 100 percent and leave the rest up tothe Almighty. I have beendoing that ever since I startedmy acting career.”

Pooja will soon be seen inHindi films with Kabhi EidKabhi Diwali a, Cirkus, themulti-lingual Radheshyamand Kollywood film Beast.IANS

P2 LOUISE REDKNAPP CAN TALK TO SONS ABOUT ANYTHING

leisureFormer Eternal singer Louise Redknapp – who hasCharley, 17, and Beau, 13, with ex-husband JamieRedknapp – says she doesn’t feel the need to imposelimits on the screen time or phone use of her sonsbecause she is confident they will open up to herabout anything negative they come across online.

Hollywood star Bradley Cooper was en route to pickhis four-year-old daughter Lea when he was held upat knifepoint and the actor says the situation waspretty insane. Cooper shared: “I was on the subway(at) 11:45 to pick Lea downtown at Russian schooland I got held up at knifepoint.”

WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

yy

cmyk

cmyk

AQUARIUSYour creativity will cometo the fore today. Musicwill give an outlet to youremotions and creativity, says Ganesha.You will aim for the bull's eye, and toeveryone's surprise, you'll hit it, too.The day is expected to go well; howev-er, some unforeseen events in theevenings may spoil your mood, and mayeven create some confusion.

PISCESYour cauldron of conflictsboils over, says Ganesha. Atwork, confrontations withyour peers are a distinct possibility.Domestically, property related squabbleswith your siblings are possible. Your familywill be the cause of some monetary losstoday. Keep a calm head.

SAGITTARIUSBusiness tycoons, be readyto scale new heights today!Ganesha sees a fantastic dayof massive business growth. In the after-noon, your professionalism will be held inhigh esteem by friends and foe alike. Youmay also take your first step in exploringnew territories by launching new productsin the market, says Ganesha.

LIBRAGanesha says you will thinktwice before spendingtoday. You shall try to saveyour money by bargaining too. The after-noon is an auspicious time to propose toyour loved one for marriage. Today is theday you shall experience love and close-ness with your partner. Ganeshji sendsyou his best wishes

SCORPIOA one to one conversationwith your partner or spousemay leave you happy. Inshort, marital bliss is on the cards today. Tocome closer to each other, you may eventhink of a getaway or plan a long vacationwith each other. Your cheerful naturewould keep you going throughout the dayand even help you to sort out small issues.

LEOThe tiny voice inside usalways tells us a lot ofthings. If only we were morein sync with ourselves, we could avoid somany troubles, says a retrospectiveGanesha. Well, today it seems you aregoing to have no qualms in listening toyour inner voice as you strive for excel-lence in all your efforts.

VIRGOYou don't need to be one ofthe Mafia to realise theimportance of family, saysGanesha. Your better half will try spicingup the relationship in the afternoon some-time. So keep fuelling the fires of love – awildfire isn't always bad now, is it?

GEMINIA hectic day at the home-front awaits you. You willspend your entire time tak-ing care of household matters and proj-ects. You will only be able to succesfullypay attention to your work post noon,says Ganesha.

CANCEREarly today, you may spenda great deal of time thinkingabout your career andfuture, predicts Ganesha. In the after-noon, you will device a plan on how to goabout it, and by evening, you may evenput the plan into action. You will spendsome time with the near and dear ones.

ARIESOkay, so the plans youchalked out have not deliv-ered any results. Today, youmay want to do a rethink. By noon, you mayput things in place, and this will fire yourconfidence. Ganesha says this is what life isabout — try, try, try, until you succeed.

FORTUNE FORECAST

TAURUSYou need to exercise greatdiscretion in planning youragendas and taking impor-tant decisions. Do not undertake anythingsimply because it appeals to your nature.Be sure that, this day, you are going tofeel uncomfortable in taking uncomfort-able firm decisions on your own. Ganesharecommends that you should seek coun-sel of some well known consultant,preferably an advocate.

CAPRICORNYou're not somebody whowould do something just forthe sake of doing it. In fact,your desire to achieve your dreams willlead you towards putting your best footforward and probably setting up a newbusiness venture.

BREVITY

CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

SOLUTIONS

CRO

SSW

ORD

SUD

OKU

CHECK FOR SOLUTIONS OF THE PUZZLES TOMORROW

post To solve the Sudoku puzzle, fill in the boxes in such amanner that every row, column and 3x3 box containsthe digits 1 to 9, without repeating any.

BRADLEY COOPER RECALLS BEING THREATENED AT KNIFEPOINT

Mumbai: The past few weeks have been busy for actress MrunalThakur. She was recently seen in Netflix’s Dhamaka, post which shereleased the poster of her next, Aankh Micholi. The high point of themonth was launching the trailer of Jersey that sees her alongsideShahid Kapoor.

Jersey, the official adaptation of the 2019 Telugu film of the same name,sees her play wife to Kapoor’s character — a former cricketer strugglingto make peace with his fate. For a story that hinged on the chemistryof the leads, Thakur says she found the perfect co-star in Kapoor. “Ifound a friend in Shahid. I will never tire of praising him. He is sucha focused actor, and owns his character. I learnt the quality from him.”

A quick look at Thakur’s filmography makes one thing evident— regardless of the screen time, each of her movies has her play-

ing a well fleshed-out and strong-headed character. The actorsays it’s no coincidence. She is mindful of her characters’ arcsand the films’ messaging. “I have made sure the women I play

are firm and have a voice of their own. I am happy that through films likeToofaan, Dhamaka and Batla House. I am sending a message out. Enoughbeing supportive, or playing the victim card in films. Women play an importantrole in men’s lives; it should be presented that way.” AGENCIES

Enough playing victim card in films: Mrunal

GOTHAM AWARDS

The Lost Daughter wins top honourOn the TV side, buzzy new series ‘Squid Game’ and ‘Reservation Dogs’

were picked up for two Breakthrough Series awards.

Sanju now Arunachal’s brand ambassador

‘I don’t want to be restricted by language barrier’

Pooja Hegde

New Delhi: BJD MP Amar PatnaikTuesday urged the Union govern-ment in the Rajya Sabha to en-hance the labour budget for Odishaunder MGNREGA to 25 lakh croreperson-days for the year 2021-22.

The BJD MP, while speaking inthe Zero Hour in the Rajya Sabha,said that even though the econ-

omy recovery is taking shape, thefact remains that pressure on ruraljobs has increased all over thecountry. He asserted that the peo-ple’s demand for jobs under NREGAhas increased manifold.

“In Odisha, we have seen that ascompared to 2019-20, in 2020-21, theincrease is to the extent of 81 per

cent, so much so that we have beenable to create about 20 lakh croreperson-days of jobs in 2020-21,”Patnaik said.

He also said the Odisha ChiefMinister has made a request tothe Union government to grant 25lakh crore person-days for labourbudget to Odisha for 2021-22.

“We would request the Uniongovernment to kindly considerthis particular demand of Odishabecause not only have the urbanjobs decreased, people who havemigrated have not yet left for theplaces where they had earliermigrated,”Patnaik said.

cmyk

cmyk

P3WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

MEDICOS’ STIR Junior doctors take out a rallyat SCB Medical College andHospital in Cuttack to protestagainst delay in enrolment topostgraduate courses

INFECTED RECOVERED DEAD

World 26,26,56,063 23,71,86,853 52,28,963

India 3,45,87,822 3,40,18,299 4,68,980

Odisha 10,49,108 10,38,306 8,411

COVID-19 TRACKER

downtownPOLITICKLE by MANJUL

POST NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi, Nov 30: With a mea-gre average monthly earning of`5,112, the farmers in the state ofOdisha have lowest income afterJharkhand, the Union governmenttold the Lok Sabha Tuesday.

In response to an unstarred ques-tion by Congress Lok Sabha MPfrom Koraput, Saptagiri ShankarUlaka, the Union Ministry ofAgriculture and Farmers’ Welfaresaid that the average monthly in-come per agricultural householdin Odisha during agricultural yearJuly 2018 to June 2019 stood at`5,112 while that of farmers inJharkhand was `4,895.

The Union ministry referred tothe National Statistical Office’s re-port on Situation Assessment ofAgricultural Households and Landand Livestock Holdings of

Householdsin RuralIndia, 2019 assource of thedata.

The min-istry also saidin its reply thatthe averagemonthly paid out expenditure forcrop production in Odisha was`1,587 and for farming of animalswas `392.

Odisha 2nd from bottom in farm incomeNew Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD)MP Subhash Singh Tuesday urgedthe Centre to recognise Anganwadiworkers as government employ-ees with a monthly salary of ̀ 18,000as mandated by 7th PayCommission.

Speaking during the Zero Hourin Rajya Sabha, the BJD MP saidthat the Anganwadi workers haveplayed a significant role duringCovid-19 pandemic as frontlineworkers.

“Despite the extra burden ofwork, their salaries have not

been raised adequately.These workers are des-

ignated as 'honorary'and are provided withmonthly honorariumsand hence are not el-igible to avail mini-mum wages. Despitethe 7th Pay

Commission mandat-ing the monthly wageto be fixed at ̀ 18,000 for

skilled workers, they barely re-ceive this,” Singh said.

Highlighting the hardship facedby the Anganwadi workers, the

BJD MP said, “Being frontlineworkers, they had to conduct sur-veillance duties to control the pan-demic without adequate protec-tive gear. They are categorised aslow-risk workers despite the healthrisks associated with their work.Failure to recognise them as ac-tual workers is reflective of thecasual attitude of devaluating thework entrusted to the Anganwadiworkers. I urge the government toameliorate their status.”

The BJD MP apprised the Housethat the Odisha government hasbeen giving `3,000 in addition to`4,500 monthly honorarium toAnganwadi workers on 60:40 costsharing basis but the Centre is re-luctant to provide its share.

“Odisha government is allocat-ing ̀ 400 crore for the purpose everyyear with no contribution from theCentre. I request the Finance min-ister and other ministers to recog-nise the contribution of Anganwadiworkers. They have played a key rolein the vaccination drive. Kindlyhelp them out. Make some arrange-ments for them and enhance theirwages,” the BJD MP said.

Recognise Anganwadi workersas govt staff, BJD tells Centre

O D I S H A I N

Raise person-days under NREGA: Amar

The average monthlyincome per agriculturalhousehold in Odisha during July 2018 to June 2019 stood at `5,112against `4,895 in Jharkhand

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30:Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik Tuesday inaugu-rated seven industrial proj-ects worth `152 crore andlaid foundation stone for 10other projects with an in-vestment of ̀ Rs 848 crore –entailing a total investmentof 1,000 crore.

These diversified proj-ects ranging across sectorslike food processing,tourism, plastic, manufac-turing and fertilizer willcreate potential employ-ment of 2,400 persons in thestate, the officials said.

On the occasion, Patnaiksaid, “Odisha is fast emerg-ing as the manufacturinghub of eastern India. Wehave been marching aheadon the path of industrialdevelopment and are con-sistently ranked amongstthe top states in terms oflive manufacturing invest-ments in India.”

The Chief Minister said

his government has taken upseveral proactive measuresfor the development of in-dustries. This has created anindustry-led ecosystem ofvalue addition, sustainableemployment generation andrevenue augmentation inthe state. “My government’sstable policy and regulatoryenvironment have enabledrobust growth of the in-dustrial sector in the state.The implementation of easeof doing business reformsand facilitation provided byvarious departments in-volved has also ensured thatbusinesses continue to growin the state,” he said.

He also said that his gov-ernment is committed toproviding the best of supportto enterprises as well as thebest of opportunities to itspeople to grow. Among oth-ers, a polyurethane foammanufacturing unit atJaymangal in Khurda byShree Malani Foams with aninvestment of `135 crorewas inaugurated.

Similarly, foundationstone was laid for the IndianFar mers Fer til izerCooperative Limited(IFFCO)’s Nano Urea unit atParadip. The project will beset up with an investment of`225 crore.

CM flags off 7 industrialprojects, lays stone for 10

504 government quarters for copsBhubaneswar: ChiefMinister Naveen PatnaikTuesday laid the foundationstone for construction of504 government quarters inthe Capital city. Officialssources said over two-thirdof these residences will beallocated to constables andhead constables deployed inthe City. While 56 E-Typequarters will be constructedat Janla, 28 D-Type quartersin Reserve Police Line, 28 E-Type Quarters in Tamando,28 E-Type Quarters inAirfield area, 28 E-Typequarters in Badagada, 28 F-Type quarters in ReservePolice line, 28 F-Typequarters in Laxmisagar, 28F-Type quarters in Badagadaand 28 F-Type quarters willcome up in Reserve PoliceLine. Besides, 224 F-Typequarters will be constructedat Urban Police & TrafficTraining Institute (UPTTI)Campus here.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik Tuesdayreleased a book titled ‘Where PeopleMatter’ on 60 Years of Lok SevaBhawan, the erstwhile Secretariat.

It is a commemorative edition tomark the 60th year of the Secretariat(now the Lok Seva Bhawan), whichwas inaugurated in November 1959.

The book, through vivid photo-graphs, throws light on the servicesand facilities available, rich ar-chitecture, lush gardens, history andoffers homage to those who de-signed and built the Lok SevaBhawan. The publication has beenmade possible by a sponsorshipfrom Odisha Mining CorporationLtd and published by PublicRelations Society of India.

Appreciating the publication,Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikcongratulated the team and stressedon the importance of documenta-tion for posterity. VK Pandian,Secretary, 5T and ManagingDirector of OMC Balwant Singh at-tended the book release event.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)based in Germany has certifiedthat paper used in the book is madefrom responsibly sourced woodwithout causing any damage tonatural forests. The publicationhas also been submitted to Googleand Amazon for release as e-booksand will be available very soon, atfree of cost or a token charge.

The book has been authored byAmar Jyoti Mahapatra, ChairmanPRSI Bhubaneswar Chapter and ed-ited by Sukanta Kumar Panda.Secretary PRSI BhubaneswarChapter Sanjay Kumar Sahoo, cre-ative designer Jyoti Ranjan Swainand photographer Ashis Dhir alsojoined the programme.

The book is expected to evoke in-terest about history of Odisha andBhubaneswar, and also portray var-ious programmes of the govern-ment that are currently underway.

CM releases book onLok Seva Bhawan

It is a commemorativeedition to mark the 60thyear of the Secretariat(now the Lok SevaBhawan) inaugurated inNovember 1959

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30:The30th Executive Council meet-ing of ‘Mo School Abhiyan’held under the chairman-ship of School & MassEducation (S&ME) secre-tary Satyabrata SahuTuesday sanctioned `17.79crore for 23 districts.

The meeting, which washeld virtually in view ofCovid-19, revealed thatwithin a month, more than9,000 alumni have joinedthe Mo School campaignand donated ̀ 4.28 crore forthe development of theirAlma Mater.

The alumni in Balasore

have contributed ̀ 1.90 crore,`23.20 lakh in Bolangir, ̀ 19.26lakh in Cuttack, ̀ 16.57 lakhin Dhenkanal and `14.34lakh in Jajpur districts.

Till date, 6.16 lakh alumnihave been connected withMo School Abhiyan.

The drive has receivedgrants worth `1.66 crorefrom various CorporateSocial Responsibility (CSR)contributions which will beutilised for the developmentof the government schools.Coupled with the donors’contributions, CSR fundsand a 2-time matching grantfrom the state government,the council has approvedprojects worth ̀ 17.79 crore.

Keeping the legacy in-tact, Balasore district hastopped the list of donors’contribution. While the cam-paign has reaped immensesuccess in Balasore district,efforts are underway for thesuccessful implementationof the drive in primary andupper primary schools.

Under the SchoolAdoption Programme (SAP)of Mo School, virtual meet-ings have been conductedamong 783 school mentors,alumni and headmasters.As many as 1,329 mentorshave been associated withthe ongoing developmentdrives of 1,364 govt and govtaided schools.

`17.79cr boost to Mo School

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: TheWinter Session of the Assembly,scheduled to begin Wednesday, isset to be stormy with oppositionparties planning to corner thestate government over several is-sues including the Mamita Mehermurder case in Kalahandi.

Both BJP and Congress have de-cided to attack the state govern-ment over the issue. The partieshave also threatened not to allowMoS, Home Dibya Shankar Mishrainto the House alleging his closelinks with the prime accused in

the murder case Gobinda Sahoo.“We have decided to demand a

CBI probe and resignation of theminister in the Mamita Mehermurder case. Besides, deteriora-tion of law and order, irregularitiesin paddy procurement, and hous-ing scam among other issues wouldbe raised during the session,” saidopposition chief whip MohanCharan Majhi, after BJP LegislatureParty meeting.

Congress MLAs also met at theparty’s state headquarters to de-cide their floor strategy. “We will notallow the House to function till thegovernment agrees to discuss

Mamita issue on the floor andMishra steps down,” said Congresschief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati.

The Congress party has also de-cided to raise issues regarding de-terioration of law and order situa-tion, farmers’ woes and rising pricesof essential commodities, he said.

“The Centre has neglectedOdisha several times. We willraise several issues during the ses-sion including the price rise of es-sential commodities and LPG,coal royalty, and minimum sup-p o r t p r i c e o f p a d dy, ” s a i dParliamentary Affairs MinisterBikram Keshari Arukha.

Oppn to corner govt over Mamita case

downtownWEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARP4

cmyk

cmyk

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: TheEconomic Offence Wing (EOW) ofOdisha Police has arrested a person for his alleged involvementin the QNet fraud case, officialssaid Tuesday.

Accused Arabinda Kumar ofKendrapara district was arrestedon the basis of a case registeredagainst the QNet Ltd, a Hong Kong-based multi-level marketing com-pany, and its franchise M/s VihaanDirect Selling (India) PrivateLimited in September 2019.

According to an official state-ment of the EOW, the above com-panies represented through theirdirectors and promoters namely

Chandan Kumar Mohalik, SaratParida, Devabrat Harichandan,P ra s a n t Ku m a r Mo h a n t y,Arabinda Kumar and others wererunning illegal money circula-tion scheme in guise of directselling multi-level marketing, andmisappropriating the invested

amount of gullible investors tothe tune of crores. Earlier, fourother accused Sarat Kumar Parida,Devabrat Harichandan, ChandanKumar Mohalik and Prasant KumarMohanty had been arrested in thiscase, the officials said.

During investigation, the police

found that the accused have duped31 investors, pursuant to a crimi-nal conspiracy, by collecting Rs 1.2crore from them with the assuranceof very high returns.

Further, the aforesaid compa-nies and their directors/promotershave failed to provide the assured

services/returns for which themoney was invested, the EOW said.

The EOW initiated an enquiryinto the scam on the basis of acomplaint lodged by one GyanRanjan Mishra, advocate andChairman, Voice of Victim, in 2019.

Mishra, like many other vic-tims, had invested several lakhsin various schemes of the com-pany as membership fees betweenAugust and November 2018.

On February 12, 2020, the stateCrime Branch also issued an advi-sory cautioning people not to in-vest in the schemes run by QNet orits franchise. The company used topay a meagre amount initially andeven arrange foreign tours for someof the investors to win their trust.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: TheDecentralised Solid WasteManagement Model being imple-mented in Odisha is unique in thecountry with active engagement ofcommunity partners like MissionShakti self-help groups (SHGs),transgenders and rag pickers inthe entire sanitation value chain, saidPrincipal Secretary of Housing andUrban Development DepartmentG Mathivathanan Tuesday.

Speaking in the first session of anorientation-cum-training meetingheld at the convention centre ofLok Seva Bhawan Tuesday withall nodal officers and mentors ofwealth centres, and sanitation ex-perts (SEs), Mathivathanan em-

phasised on active engagement ofthe community partners in the en-tire sanitation value chain. He alsobatted for 100 per cent waste col-lection in a segregated manneralong with 100 per cent processing,thereof ensuring better manage-ment of solid waste in urban areas.

He emphasised on various as-pects such as optimal use of AmaSahara App, training for need-as-sessment, and nodal officers ad-hering to their responsibilities forsuccessful functioning of the scheme.

The second session was devotedto orientation of SEs on the strate-gies to achieve 100 per cent collec-tion of segregated waste fromhouseholds. Key responsibilitiesof SEs were also discussed at lengthin the second session.

Ensure active engagement ofcommunity partners, SEs told

SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

Another accused in QNet scam nabbedDuring investigation, the police found that

the accused persons have duped 31investors, pursuant to a criminal conspiracy,by collecting `1.2 crore from them with theassurance of very high returns

Further, the aforesaid companies and theirdirectors/promoters have failed to provide

the assured services/returns for which themoney was invested

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: The un-dergraduate (UG) and postgradu-ate (PG) students of College ofBasic Science and Humanities hereTuesday staged a demonstration atOUAT campus demanding pro-motion of second semester andfourth semester students.

The students locked the maingate of the university and insistedon meeting the Vice Chancellor,Pawan Kumar Agarwal.

Soumya Ranjan Samantray, asecond year UG student, said, “Ourexam is scheduled to be held fromDecember 7 to 22. After the exams,the fifth semester would start inmid-January which will surelyruin our plan of sitting in severalother entrance exams. We com-plained about this and wanted totalk to the VC. After repeated at-tempts, we sat on protest today tomeet the VC.”

After a few hours, the VC metthe students and assured themof promoting the students and is-suing a notice regarding thesame in two days. After assurancefrom VC the students called offtheir protest.

OUAT students’ stir for promotion

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: The SpecialTask Force (STF) of Odisha Police,with the help of its West Bengalcounterpart, has seized 390 gramsof brown sugar worth over Rs 30lakh during a raid at the residenceof a drug peddler in Murshidabad.

The STF in a statement said thatthe Odisha and West Bengal policeMonday jointly conducted a raid atLalgola, Murshidabad in the houseof an interstate drug peddler iden-tified as Ismail Sk underChamakpur Police Station. A casehas been registered NDPS Act, 1985.

“The peddler escaped. Duringsearch however, brown sugar weigh-ing 390 gm and other incriminat-ing materials were seized fromhis bedroom,” the statement said.

STF raids interstate drug peddler’s house in WB

POST NEWS NETWORK

Cuttack, Nov 30: A six-day DKWhaler Sailing Expedition was organised at INS Chilka fromNovember 25 to 30.

As many as 60 Naval wing cadetsof 3 (Odisha) Naval Unit NCC,Cuttack Group, Odisha Directoratehave participated in the expedi-tion and covered 120 km from Navalbase Chilka to the various islandslike Kalijai, Gupteshwar, Nalabana,Rambha, and Krishna Prasad.

Three DK Whaler boats alongwith safety boats participated in theexpedition. Boats set for the sailevery day early in the morningand then returned by evening.

The expedition was flagged in byColonel Rajnish Kapoor, GroupCommander, Cuttack, in the pres-ence of Camp Commandant CaptHimansu Prusty and Deputy CampCommandant Cdr Pradeep Basak.

The motive of the expeditionwas to inculcate leadership qual-ities, discipline, confidence, en-thusiasm, and self-reliance amongcadets. These NCC cadets also par-ticipated in various Social Serviceand Cultural activities during theexpedition.

Six-day NCC sailing expedition concludes

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: The CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)Tuesday carried out raids at dif-ferent places including the prem-ises of some businessman inCuttack in a case of loan fraud tothe tune of around Rs 21 crore.

A case has been registeredagainst eight persons includingsome bankers on the charges ofcheating a public sector bank ofRs 20.99 crore. Recently, centralagency sleuths had carried outraids at different places in Cuttackin a Rs 140-crore bank fraud case.

The current case was regis-tered on the basis of a complaintlodged by Nikhil Ranjan Pati, theAGM of Bank of Baroda’s ZonalStressed Asset Recovery Branch(ZOSARB) at Cuttack.

The owners and partners of M/sShree Krushna Enterprises, M/sLaxmi Narayan Store and M/s

Shreeram Enterprises availed aloan to the tune of Rs 8.50 crore andtwo working capital loans of Rs4.90 crore each from Nayapalli here

and Mahatab Road (Cuttack)branches of Bank of Baroda be-tween 2011 and 2017.

However, they did not repay anyinstallments and misappropriatedthe loan amount sanctioned tothem. Some officials of the bankwere also involved in the conspir-acy to cheat the bank.

“It was alleged that the accusedhad availed various credit limitsincluding FBWC limit from Bankof Baroda in collusion with oth-ers and cheated the bank, causingloss from 2011 to 2017 and di-verted/siphoned off the fundsdisbursed to the respective loan ac-counts and misappropriated pub-lic money in the form of loanamount sanctioned/disbursed tothem. It was further alleged thatthe said accused had caused undueloss to the BoB to the tune of Rs20, 99,26,859.95 (approx) with in-terest as on 31.08.2021,” claimedCBI sources.

CBI raid over `21cr loan fraud

The accused individuals availed aloan to the tune of `8.50 crore and

two working capital loans of `4.90crore each from Nayapalli here andMahatab Road (Cuttack) branches ofBoB between 2011 and 2017

However, they did not repay anyinstallments and misappropriat-

ed the loan amount sanctioned tothem. Some officials of the bankwere also involved in the conspiracyto cheat the bank

The immense joy and satis-faction of parenthood shouldnot be denied to anybody.

But in some couples, ethical con-cerns pop up and kill the desire tohave a biological child. In the caseof couples who are seroconcor-dant (both the partners are HIV pos-itive) or serodiscordant (one part-ner is HIV positive and the otheris not), the yearning for a childgets laden with guilt, fear, uncer-tainty and hopelessness.Parenthood dream gets overpow-ered by the fears of women gettinginfected during the process of con-ception or vertical transmis-sion(transfer of HIV from motherto child) either during the time ofdelivery or during the breastfeedingperiod. So, should couples withHIV infection give up their dreamsof having a biological child? Theanswer is ‘No’. Newer treatmentsand Assisted Re productiveTechniques (ARTs) can help thesecouples in becoming happy par-ents with healthy children.Does HIV impact fertility?

Globally, about 37 million are in-fected with HIV and almost 80 percent of them are of reproductiveage. HIV-positive women are proneto gynaecological diseases likepelvic inflammatory disease and

cervical dysplasia which can im-pact fertility or increase the riskof complications during preg-nancy. Sperm motility and mor-phology are affected in case ofHIV-positive men. Also, hypogo-nadism, impotence, erectile dys-function are observed more com-monly in these men.Can HIV couples conceive naturally?

Of course, yes. Preconceptioncounselling plays a crucial role asit helps the couple get a clear pic-ture of the risks involved andalso the possible outcomes. If themale partner is HIV-positive whilethe female partner is unaffected,the male partner would be ad-vised to take up antiretroviraltherapy to reduce the viral load,and the female partner can go forPrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis)to protect herself from the trans-mission. The couple is advisedto have unprotected intercourseonly around the time of ovula-tion.This method will help manycouples who have normal ovarianreserve with no tubal pathologyand normal semen parametersto conceive naturally. Not onlythat, children born to them havea very high chance of being HIV-negative. PrEP is another new

treatment process that can bebeneficial but we have to waitand watch. If only the woman isHIV-positive and her husband isHIV-negative with her viral loadbeing undetectable, she can try forpregnancy through self-insemi-nation during the time of ovula-tion. Elective Caesarean deliv-ery, neonatal prophylaxis andavoidance of breastfeeding areshown to reduce the transmis-sion from mother to child. If preg-nancy is not achieved, the couplecan go in for ARTs.

Fertility treatment options for HIVcouples

Medical advancements have re-sulted in a significant increase inthe life expectancy of HIV patientsand hence their desire for a childhas to be supported.

ART is the best and safest methodthat can avoid sexual transmis-sion of the disease. If a male isHIV-positive, sperm washing tech-nique is used that eliminates therisk of transmission to a great ex-tent after which IUI (Intra-uterineInsemination) or IVF (In VitroFertilisation)/ICSI(Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection)is performed. Seroconversion wasnot observed in the female part-ner and neonatal transmission wasabsent when the viral loads in HIV-positive men were undetectable.HIV-1 RNA testing on the semen

sample helps in detecting very lowviral loads also. The significanceof the presence of viral RNA insemen sample on the risk of trans-mission is not very clear.

Fertility treatments help in min-imising the risk of HIV transmis-sion thereby helping the couplesachieve parenthood. But severalbarriers prevent HIV couples fromaccessing the technologies for re-productive health. The major in-tention of advanced fertility treat-ment is to offer safer pregnancy anddelivery options to HIV couples.

Fertility centres need to followstrict guidelines while handlingthe samples of HIV couples throughthe way of decontamination oflabs, proper waste disposal, andtaking all necessary precautions likeprocessing and storing specimensfrom infected individuals in a ded-icated area.

As the saying “Information isPower”, HIV-infected individualshave the right to know the possibletreatment options, risks involvedand other things that can helpthem in making informed deci-sions regarding their reproduc-tive desires.

Dr Durga G Rao, Co-founder& Medical Director, Oasis Fertility

WORLD AIDS DAY

ARTs can bestow parenthood upon HIV couples: ExpertGLOBALLY, ABOUT 37 MILLION AREINFECTED WITH HIV AND ALMOST

80% OF THEM ARE OFREPRODUCTIVE AGE

SPERM MOTILITY ANDMORPHOLOGY ARE AFFECTED IN

CASE OF HIV-POSITIVE MEN

Dr Durga G Rao

An anti-terror mock drill in progress at Cuttack railway station, Tuesday OP PHOTO

The three DK Whaler boats of Naval Unit NCC, Cuttack Group, sailing on Chilika as the six-day expedition concludesTuesday OP PHOTO

EXHIBITING READINESS

LOWERING SAILS

TODAYWASSUP

Programmes/announcements forwassup today may be sent to

opwassup@gmail.com for record, it must also carry the sender’s

mobile number for our verification,but not for publication.

BHUBANESWARn State-level summit by Gandhi Peace

Foundation, State Scouts & Guidesoffice, near Capital High School,5.30pm

CUTTACK SADARn Foundation Day celebration of

Kandarapur College, Kandarapur,10am

KONARKn Marathon by Basanta Manjari

library, Majhipur Square, 7am

n Konark Festival and InternationalSand Art Festival, Chandrabhaga,6pm

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: Hours be-fore the beginning of the WinterSession of Odisha Assembly,Congress Tuesday turned its gunat Minister of State (MoS) for HomeDibya Shankar Mishra, whosesacking is being demanded by op-position parties accusing him ofhaving close links with the primeaccused of the Kalahandi womanteacher's kidnap and murder case.

Odisha Pradesh CongressCommittee spokesperson ManojMohapatra alleged that the minister,apart from being close to crimi-nal elements has acquired hugelanded property and owns assetsworth Rs 100 crore.

Dubbing the minister a ‘fakepilot', he said Mishra had declaredthe value of his assets was Rs 2crore during 2014 Assembly elec-tions and in 2019 as Rs 8 crore.

Mishra had said in October thathe had quit a high paying job as apilot and had joined the people ofhis constituency Junagarh inKalahandi district.

“We have evidence of the min-ister acquiring properties worth Rs100 crore,” Mohapatra claimed ata press conference here and re-leased a list 16 landed propertiesworth Rs 74.17 crore allegedlyowned by the minister.

The list also included another plotof land in the name of his brotherwhich costs Rs 3.96 crore.

The OPCC spokesperson alsoalleged that the minister had ac-quired the properties of over 200Dalits in his and relatives' namesduring the BJD regime.

“The state government shouldconfiscate all these properties,”Mohapatra demanded.

CONG: MISHRA POSSESSING`100CR ASSETS

cmyk

cmyk

stateWEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARP5

Train servicesdisrupted Rupsa: Train services weredisrupted for long hours atRupsa railway station inBalasore district when a 25-KVoverhead transmission wiresnapped after a pick-up vancrashed into the railway gatenear the north cabin of thestation, Tuesday. A railwaygangman was closing the gatefor a train to pass when apuffed rice-laden pick-up vantried to speed away andcrashed into the gate.Consequently, the gate brokedown and the overheadtransmission got snapped andfell on the track. As a result,train services were disruptedfor long hours on the route.Panicked, the driver fled withvehicle from the spot. Notably, Rupsa railway stationis under Kharagpur division ofSouth-Eastern Railways.Locals have demandedconstruction of a fly-overbridge at the railway stationto avoid overcrowding ofvehicles at the rail gatesduring arrival and departureof trains.

Humiliated, boyconsumes poisonSambalpur: A 16-year-oldstudent tried to die by suicidein Sambalpur district afterbeing allegedly slapped by aretired lecturer from whom hehad borrowed `10,000 but wasnot being able to repay, policesaid Tuesday. The boy, astudent of BRG Plus-II Collegein Bhojpur, also runs a paanshop in the area, they said. He borrowed `10,000 from theretired lecturer of JamankiraCollege, which, he wassupposed to pay back withinterest, they added. As hewas unable to repay the loan,the retired lecturer Mondaywent to BRG College, wherethe boy studies and slappedhim in a classroom full ofstudents, police said.Humiliated in front of hisclassmates, the boy boughtpesticide from the market andconsumed it, they said. Theboy is currently undergoingtreatment at the Kuchindasub-divisional hospital and hiscondition is stated to becritical, police said. Thematter is being probed and acase will be registered, saidSobhakara Seth, theinspector-in-charge ofKuchinda police station.

Couple seeksCM’s help forson’s treatmentPhulbani: Parents of an 18-month-old infant sufferingfrom a rare illness calledspinal muscular atrophy (SMA-Type 2) in Kandhamal districthave sought help from ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik forthe treatment of their son. Thecouple, Kulamani Rana andTamlika Das, have also starteda campaign to raise funds fortheir son Rajveer's genetherapy treatment. Rajveerurgently requires an injectionthat will cost `16 crore and ithas to be imported from theUnited States to save his life.The doctors have set a four-month deadline foradministering the life-savinginjection. The injection losesits efficacy 2 to 2.5 years afterit is administered to a childpatient.“My child’s lifedepends on this medication.Doctors said that if he is nottreated immediately, the childwon’t survive for more thanfour months,” Rajveer’smother said.

SHORT TAKES

POST NEWS NETWORK

Berhampur, Nov 30: AIDS hasbeen a major cause of concern forthe Health department as well as theadministration in Ganjam despitea plethora of preventive and aware-ness measures being undertaken.The district has the highest numberof HIV positive patients in the state,according to government records.

World AIDS Day, designatedDecember 1 every year since 1988,is dedicated to raising awarenessabout the disease.

What is shocking is that 48 chil-dren born to HIV positive parentshave been struggling for life in thedistrict. It was learnt that 960 ex-pectant mothers were found to beHIV positive in the district between2000 and 2021. Till October this year,24 pregnant women have tested pos-itive for HIV, according to the districtAIDS cell.

Experts have ascribed migrationof workers as one of the major rea-sons for the rise of HIV cases inthis southern district. Thousands ofpeople migrate to other states insearch of work every year. At theirwork places, they indulge in unsafesex and contract the deadly virus.They return home infected. In mostcases, the infected persons are notaware of their HIV status for lackof awareness. They get marriedand start their conjugal life, but itunknowingly brings disaster fortheir spouses and unborn children.During pregnancy, babies too getinfected with HIV.

Advanced treatment has been de-veloped to save the unborn babiesfrom contracting the virus fromtheir mothers. For healthcare ofHIV patients, ART facility is avail-able at MKCG Medical College andHospital in Berhampur. Besides,various health centres have alsobeen linked with the ART Centre ofthe MKCG Medical College and

Hospital. National Aids Control

Organisation (NACO) working underthe Union Health Ministry has takenup a host of measures for prevention,control of HIV and treatment of theinfected people, apart from takingup awareness campaigns. Croresof rupees are being spent towardsprevention and eradication of thedeadly disease. Odisha Aids ControlSociety has made provision of freemedicines for the HIV patients. TheHealth department has also un-dertaken a host of measures to savechildren from contracting the virusfrom parents.

As per reports, 7,63,223 pregnantwomen have been counselled re-garding prevention of AIDS be-tween 2000 and 2021 in the district.Of them, 7,41,408 had given theirblood samples for tests. Amongthem, 960 were found to be HIV pos-itive.

The healthcare authorities and theAIDS cell have increased the bloodsample testing over years.The num-ber of the positive cases has comedown, compared to previous yearsin the district.

In case of pregnant women get-

ting infected with the virus, theyare administered medicines for sixmonths. If they take medicines reg-ularly for six months, the chancesof their babies getting infected withthe virus will be less than five percent after delivery.

The Health officials concernedusually advise women to go throughHIV tests and take medicines ac-cording to their infection status toprevent passage of infection frommother to child.

According to reports, 13,95,314people in the district have gonethrough HIV tests between 2000 andOctober, 2021. Of them, 16,921 havebeen found to be HIV positive.

More than 500 HIV patients havebeen identified in 17 blocks of thedistrict. Polsara block has the high-est number of people having testedHIV positive (1,254) till October, 2021.

Aska has 1,157 HIV positive cases;Beguniapada 1,143; Purusottampur1,082; Khallikote 898; Hinjilicut 811;Kabisuryanagar 776; Belaguntha724;Sheragada 680; Bhanjanagar629; Rangeilunda 601; Buguda 575;Chhatrapur 561; Digapahandi 563;Dharakote 522; Sankhemundi 544and Kukudakhandi 504.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Chhatrapur, Nov 30: People inall towns of Ganjam district willsoon avail of city bus services likethat in the twin cities of Cuttackand Bhubaneswar. This decisionwas taken at a meeting of the man-agement committee of the GanjamDistrict Urban Area TransportServices Limited. Collector VijayAmruta Kulange, who is the chair-person of the Ganjam DistrictUrban Area Transport ServicesLimited, discussed various issuesrelating to the city bus services.

It was learnt that the permit of26 city buses has expired. Thesebuses have been operating for over

seven years. The Transport de-partment has vetted the fitness ofthese buses. New buses will run re-placing the old ones. Significantly,a decision was taken to deploy elec-tric buses.

Initially, these electric vehicleswill run on the Berhmapur route.All the towns in the district will havecity bus services. These buses willhave CCTV cameras and special fa-cilities for the elderly and women.

A special App will be launchedfor common people to know aboutthe routes and timings of thesecity buses. Besides, a special bus,to be named as ‘Ganjam Darshan’will transport people to variousmajor tourists places in the dis-

trict like Taratarini, Taptapani,Narayani, Sunapur, Gopalpur,Tampara, Potagada, Buddhakhol,Bhanjanagar and Nirmaljhar. Ahigh-tech bus worth `30 lakh willbe pressed into service for GanjamDarshan. Another high-tech buswill come soon for this purpose.There will be a package for pas-sengers visiting the tourist spotsin the district. They will be providedsnacks, water bottles, biscuits andsome other facilities.

Four special buses will operatefor Taratarini hilltop. Three buseswill always be on move while onewill be a backup. Passengers willhave to pay `30 each for to and frotrips to the hilltop shrine.

POST NEWS NETWORK

Baliguda, Nov 30: Amid the ongoing crack-down by police on ganja farming in thehilly pockets, Maoists pressed the panicbutton in Baliguda area of Kandhamal dis-trict by pasting posters urging people to carryout organised attacks on the excise andForest officials preventing ganjacultivation.

The posters were found at Barkhama,Rebingia, Bataguda and Midiapadagan,Tuesday morning. The posters issued byCPI(Maoist) KKBN Division warned the peo-ple against venturing into some forestedareas to collect minor forest produce, becauseland mines have been laid in these forests.The red rebels have also alleged that, on thepretext of combing operations, securityforces have been resorting to repressivemeasures against the common people andcommitting rapes. The Left wing ultrashave also exhorted people to boycott the up-coming panchayat elections and opposethe government-run liquor outlets.

WORLD AIDS DAY

HIV prevention among pregnantwomen still a concern in Ganjam

48 children born to HIV+ parents have been struggling for life in the dist

POST NEWS NETWORK

Boiparaiguda, Nov 30: A PhDscholar on public health from thisblock in Koraput district has beenteaching tribal children in his areawithout charging any fee.

According to reports, the youthis Ghenu Khil, 28, son of DambaruKhil in Similipadar village underthis block. He has been doing thisnoble work since last year after hereturned home due to Covid re-strictions imposed in the country.His behaviour and way of teachinghas endeared him to the childrenas well as their parents and hasmade him an example for others toemulate. Khil, had done his M Philon public health from Tata Instituteof Social Science (TISS) in Mumbaiand is currently pursuing his PhDat the same institute.

Despite being highly educated,he has not shied away from doing

his bit for the children and peopleof his village and discharging hisduties for them with enthusiasm.Khil got a break from his studiesand returned home last year afterCovid restrictions were imposed inthe country.

He, instead of sitting idle athome, thought of spending hisspare time to educate the chil-dren. The village where he re-

sides is inhabited by 40 familiesof traditional Gadaba tribe and isdeprived of basic facilities. Theirsocio-economic life comprisesworking in farm land as dailylabourers.

He is not only teaching the chil-dren but contributing his bit inmaking various essential servicesavailable to the villagers. He hashelped in bringing water from astream atop a nearby hill to thevillage with the assistance of RuralWater Supply and Sanitation de-partment.

He has also made available powersupply to the village, which untilnow was reeling under darkness.Khil, who is also into research ontribal culture and their health, isteaching the children at his homewith great care. As a result, childrenwho were earlier shying away fromeducation have started taking interest in their studies.

PhD scholar teaches kids for free

City bus services in all Ganjam towns

POST NEWS NETWORK

Balasore, Nov 30: Eighty posts ofteachers are lying vacant in 24 smartsschools developed under 5T highschool transformation scheme inBalasore district.

According to reports, these schoolshave smart classrooms where stu-dents are imparted learning throughsmart boards and digital mediumwith an aim to achieve 100 per centresults and higher A1 grades.However, these smart schools lack ad-equate number of teachers to teachthe students.

The matter came to the fore duringa meeting attended by Roopa Roshan

Sahoo, Additional Secretary 5T andAmarjit Jena, chief operating offi-cer, Mo School Abhiyan with head-masters of smart high schools, mem-bers of school managing committeesand members of alumni society ofBalasore, Nabarangpur and Cuttackdistricts, Sunday.

The meeting was held in a virtualmode where the participants stressedon appointment of teachers and nightwatchmen for proper teaching as wellas proper upkeep and security ofthese smart high schools.

Joining this virtual meeting, BishnuCharan Sutar, district education of-ficer (DEO), Dharanidhar Patra, nodalofficer, Mo School Abhiyan and ADEO,

Sandip Kumar Khatua, district co-ordinator, Mo School Abhiyan as-sured that the posts of teachers lyingvacant in the smart schools will befilled up soon.

The certificate verification of ap-plicants for the posts of PET, Hindi,Sanskrit, PCM, CBZ and Arts teach-ers have concluded and the vacantposts will be filled up soon. They alsoassured that the state governmenthas also drawn up a plan to appointpeons and night watchmen in theseschools for maintenance and secu-rity purposes.

Reports said that in the first phase,24 high schools in the district were ded-icated to the public as smart schoolsafter they underwent transforma-tion under the 5T initiative. Theseschools have smart classrooms, ultra-modern computer laboratories, sci-ence laboratories, e-libraries, facili-ties for teaching in digital modethrough audio-visual medium anddeveloped playgrounds.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikdeclared these high schools as smartschools, November 11. Parents said thatonly bringing cosmetic changes willnot bring good name to these schoolsbut the state government shouldequally lay stress on quality educa-tion by appointing more teachers.

Teachers’ posts lying vacant in Balasore smart schools

Maoists urge peopleto attack excise officials

Officials take mule ridesto visit Swabhiman Anchal

POST NEWS NETWORK

Malkangiri, Nov 30: This may seemincredible but the fact is that senior gov-ernment officials rode mules to reachthe remote areas of Swabhiman Anchalin this district due to lack of motorableroads to oversee a string of develop-mental works being implemented inthe area, Tuesday.

The area is prone to Maoist menacewhere lack of development is statedto be the key factor contributing to in-surgency.

The officials included TrilochanMohanty, deputy secretary of PanchayatiRaj Department, Balamukunda Bhuyan,PD, DRDA, Rahul Mandal, BDO,Chitrakonda, Chandan Gamang, Forestranger, SDPO, and Anshuman Dwivedy,SDPO, Chitrakonda.

They visited the Rajalkonda farmnear Chitrakonda and cashew planta-tion in Badapada panchayat and tookstock of the ongoing developmentalworks in the area. They also inspectedhousing schemes of the Centre and thestate. In addition, the officials visitedsome villages in the Swabhiman Anchalwhich do not have motorable roads.

REPRESENTATIONAL PICTURE

WORDSWORTH

power post P6

3 7-year-old Parag Agarwal is the talk of the town and the toast of the world.After Agarwal took over the reins of Twitter Inc from Co-Founder andCEO Jack Dorsey 29 November 2021, Tesla Founder Elon Musk tweeted

that USA benefits greatly from Indian talent. It needs to be mentioned thatDorsey had been under pressure from the Board of Directors at Twitter forsometime past to step away from the lead role. In response, Dorsey has saidthat he was leaving Twitter because he felt Twitter was now ready to moveon from its founders.

For many in India, it is a matter of great pride that leading global techcompanies like Google headed by Sundar Pichai, Microsoft by Satya Nadella,Adobe led by Shantanu Narayen, IBM by Arvind Krishna, Palo Alto Networksby Nikesh Arora and now Twitter CEO Parag Agarwal all migrated from India.It is undoubtedly the Indian education system that manages to produce la-borious and study oriented students who eventually succeed as outstandingexecutives. It must also be admitted that the education imparted in India killsinitiative and imagination. Therefore, it is unable to produce a Steve Jobsor a Jack Dorsey type innovator from the Indian crowd. The talent pool isthickly populated but it succeeds only when the individuals leave the Indianshores. The reasons for failure of talent in corporate India could be many.Unlike the West, Indian companies are generally family run and talent hasa glass ceiling within that space. New ideas and infusion of new blood is gen-erally not tolerated. A great example of this is seen in the spat between RatanTata and Cyrus Mistry in the matter of control of Tata Sons. Cyrus was un-ceremoniously booted out after a prolonged drama. In the whole play, the share-holders seemed to have had very little say. Similarly, it is unimaginable tovisualise a non-Birla taking over the Birla empire or a non-Ambani be-coming the Chief of Reliance. It must be remembered that all these empiresare built on public money. Corporates of similar size with equal or less re-tail investments would be more professional at the leadership level andtherefore with a better corporate culture in the Western world. Familydriven companies in India seem to discourage the drive that modern youngminds would introduce in the operations. This results in talent getting neg-lected by Corporate India. All those young Indians with high technicalknowledge mixed with business acumen, obviously, find no scope of growthat home. This forces them to migrate to the West. Interestingly, a country likeChina that claims to have become the richest nation of the world does notattract global talent. Thus, it is the West and West alone that is attractingnot only Indians but people with abilities from all over the world.

However, observing the line-up of giant global tech companies, it is evi-dent that Indians are the best.

I don’t know about you, but I’mtired of waiting. I’ve spent toomuch of my life waiting: wait-

ing for the doctor, waiting for thetraffic light to turn green, waitingfor my wife to finish shopping.

A survey conducted in Britain afew years ago found that the aver-age man spends three weeks of hislife waiting for his wife or girl-friend to finish shopping. I don’tknow who this ‘average man’ is,but he’s lucky. I’ve spent at leastthree months of my life waitingfor my wife to finish shopping, andanother three months waiting formy wife to return items she pur-chased.

The survey found that men waitin a variety of ways: some followtheir significant others around asthey browse in a store, others finda spot where they can sit and lookat their phones, and a lucky few stepaway for a drink or snack, escap-ing from relationship-threateningquestions such as, “Does this dress

make me look fat?” (Spare a thoughtfor the poor man who tried to be hon-est and answered, “No more thanusual, dear.”)

Another British survey foundthat the average person spends atotal of 47 days standing in queuesin their lifetimes. I don’t know whothis ‘average person’ is, but they ob-viously don’t visit the post officemuch. Long lines can be found inmany places these days: at check-out lanes in grocery stores, at sport-ing events and concerts, and at BillGates’ house ever since he put upthe ‘single again’ sign.

If you’re a driver, you won’t besurprised to learn that you spendabout two weeks of your life wait-ing for traffic lights to turn green.And another week waiting for thedriver ahead of you to notice thegreen light.

Some of the longest waitingtimes occur in hospitals. A womanin the US state of Tennessee re-cently waited 50 hours in a hospi-

tal emergency room before re-ceiving treatment. An elderly manin British Columbia, Canada, spentthree days in an ER waiting roombefore being admitted. It’s never agood sign when you enter a wait-ing room and see people lyingaround in their pajamas, eatingnoodles from a cup and askingwhat day it is.

I’ve probably spent a few weeksof my life waiting for a doctor to seeme. After arriving promptly at myappointment time, I usually sit inthe waiting room for 30 minutes,until my name is called. Then Iam taken to another room, whichI like to call ‘Waiting Room 2.’ It ishere that I am told, “The doctorwill be with you in a minute.” Thisis a lie, of course. The doctor hasNEVER appeared in a minute.

If I am lucky, the doctor appearsin 10 minutes. If I am unlucky, thedoctor never appears. “We’re sosorry, but the doctor has to attendto an emergency. Would you like to

re-schedule or would you like tobe seen by someone else, such as anurse, nurse’s aide or janitor?”

“Janitor?” I ask. “Does he haveany medical training?”

“No, but he has watched the doc-tor many times.”

At this point, I have no choice butto re-schedule. Thankfully, this isa rare occurrence. More commonly,the doctor shows up after about 20to 30 minutes. It’s clear to me thatthe doctor’s time is more valuablethan mine. That’s why doctors don’twait for patients—patients waitfor doctors. A patient is expectedto be patient. If I were an importantperson such as a president or aprime minister, I would not have towait much. But as an ordinary per-son, I have to do a lot of waiting. Bythe time I die, I will have spenthundreds of days waiting.

And then I will have to wait a fewmore days for my funeral. No morewaiting, please! Just put me in theground already!

MEANINGLESS CENTRISMU

S President Joe Biden’sambitious ‘Build BackBetter’ plan has beenstalled and pared by two

Democratic senators, KyrstenSinema of Arizona and JoeManchin of West Virginia, who areregularly described as ‘centrists.’Plenty of observers have won-dered what this label actuallymeans in 2021. It is not only cyn-ics who suspect that these figuresare not so much centrist as self-cen-tered, guided only by the impera-tive of getting re-elected.

By what criteria are centrists tobe judged? That question has be-come urgent not only in the UnitedStates but also in France, wherePresident Emmanuel Macron, hav-ing promised to build a new cen-ter in French politics, will seekre-election next spring. As withthe two US senators, critics seeMacron’s centrism as a smoke-screen for a politician who effec-tively does the bidding of the right,warranting the label “the presidentof the rich.”

The question, then, is no longerwhether the center can hold; it iswhether centrism holds any mean-ing in today’s politics. The termmade much sense in the twentiethcentury, which many understoodto be an age of ideological ex-tremes. Being in the center en-tailed a commitment to the fightagainst anti-democratic partiesand movements. But even then,self-described centrists were oftenaccused of bad faith. With char-acteristic irony, Isaiah Berlin, aliberal par excellence, countedhimself among “the miserablecentrists, the contemptible mod-erates, the crypto-reactionary skep-tical intellectuals.”

Whereas these earlier self-de-scribed centrists could live off thecredit amassed in the fight againstfascism and Stalinism, the legacyof self-consciously moderate pol-itics has since worn thin. In manycountries today, there is a kind ofzombie centrism – a leftover ofthe Cold War that no longer pro-vides a genuine political orienta-tion to its adherents.

German Christian Democrats re-cently learned this the hard way.In September’s federal election,they failed spectacularly in theireffort to claim the center againsta potential coalition between theSocial Democrats and the post-communist Left Party. The party’santi-communist campaign, seem-ingly lifted straight out of the1950s, obviously did not address

twenty-first-century challenges.The notion that Olaf Scholz, theoutgoing government’s studiouslyresponsible finance minister (andnow chancellor-to-be), would bewaving red flags in the Reichstagappeared positively bizarre.

Still, there remain two formsof centrism that are not reducibleto zombie Cold War liberalism.One is procedural: in systems withseparated powers, such as the US,politicians are compelled to en-gage in the art of compromise;this is even more true in an agewhen clear majorities in legisla-tive chambers have become rare.

A similar imperative applies inincreasing ly fr a g mentedEuropean party systems. TheDutch parliament currently fea-tures no less than 17 parties (oreven more, depending on howone counts). And, after weeks ofnegotiations, Germany will soonhave a government in which theleft-wing Social Democrats andGreens are in a ‘traffic-light coali-tion’ with the business-friendlyFree Democrats.

Fragmentation – be it institu-

tional or political – forces politiciansto adopt what the Dutch philoso-pher Frank Ankersmit called ‘prin-cipled unprincipledness’ for thesake of making democracy work.After all, most people are not keenon compromise for its own sake,because nobody thinks second-best is ever the best.

The exceptions are those whosubscribe to the second plausibleform of centrism: the positionalkind. Seeing equidistance betweenpolitical poles as proof of theirpragmatism and ‘nonideological’credentials, positional centristsoften try to cash in on the pre-mium that still attaches to bipar-tisanship (especially in the US).They benefit from seeming rea-sonable when the left and rightare dominated by firebrands. In hisfirst election campaign, Macronroutinely emphasised the radi-calism of his opponents, the far-right Marine Le Pen and the far-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon, to showthat he alone represented a re-sponsible position.

Appealing to the ‘horseshoe the-ory’ – highly popular among anti-

communists during the Cold War– centrists also often insinuate thatleft- and right-wing populism even-tually converge on the same anti-liberal endpoint. But, like ‘ThirdWay’ theorists of the 1990s, Macron’sacolytes have also suggested that‘left’ and ‘right’ are outdated la-bels, because this allows them to in-vite former socialists and Gaullistsinto their movement.

But centrism is not automati-cally democratic. Macron, whohas been dubbed a ‘liberal strong-man,’ is a case in point. His ‘nei-ther left nor right’ posture impliesa baldly technocratic form of gov-ernment. The assumption is thatthere is always some uniquely ra-tional response to any policy chal-lenge. By definition, critics canbe dismissed as irrational. AsMacron discovered with the giletsjaunes (yellow vests) revolt in 2018,the denial of democratic pluralismimplied by this approach can pro-voke an intense backlash.

Both procedural and positionalcentrism are premised on therebeing a properly functioning democ-racy in place, and they can actuallybecome dangerous when a countrysuffers from asymmetrical politi-cal polarisation. This is the situa-tion in the US today, where theRepublican Party no longer recog-nises basic features of democracy.Today’s Republicans are engagedin a vast project of extreme ger-rymandering, voter suppression,election subversion, and legisla-tive obstruction, showing no in-terest in compromise. Now thatBiden is in the White House, SenateMinority Leader Mitch McConnell,Donald Trump’s grudging but re-liable enabler, is following the sameplaybook that he perfected duringBarack Obama’s presidency.

Procedural centrism makes nosense when one’s political adver-saries no longer respect proce-dures, as is now the case with theRepublicans. But the situation iseven worse for positional cen-trism. If one party rejects democ-racy, equidistance is complicity.If Sinema and Manchin have noth-ing to say for themselves beyondzombie centrism, procedural cen-trism, or positional centrism, eventheir own voters might eventu-ally punish them for obstructingpolicy initiatives that are in facthighly popular.

The writer is Professor ofPolitics at Princeton

University. @PROJECT SYNDICATE

LOL

FOCUS

During the twentieth-century ‘age of ideologicalextremes,’ political centrism had an obvious roleto play in preserving democracy. But oncedemocracy itself is in jeopardy, as it is in countries like the United States today, centrismbecomes meaningless – or even dangerous

Agarwal @ Twitter

Try to catch the rabbit

The Los Angeles Police Department(LAPD), the FBI, and the CIA are all

trying to prove that they are the bestat apprehending criminals. ThePresident decides to give them a test.He releases a rabbit into a forest andeach of them has to catch it. The CIA goes in. They place animalinformants throughout the forest.They question all plant and mineralwitnesses. After three months ofextensive investigations they

conclude thatrabbits do not

exist. The FBI goes in. After two weeks withno leads they burn the forest, killingeverything in it, including the rabbit,and they make no apologies. Therabbit had it coming.The LAPD goes in. They come out twohours later with a badly beaten bear.The bear is yelling: “Okay! Okay! I’m arabbit! I’m a rabbit!”

WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

A God who cannot smile, couldnot have created this humorousuniverse.

SRI AUROBINDO

IN MANY COUNTRIES

TODAY, THERE ISA KIND OF

ZOMBIE CENTRISM – ALEFTOVER OF

THE COLD WARTHAT NOLONGER

PROVIDES AGENUINE

POLITICAL ORIENTATION TOITS ADHERENTS

Jan-WernerMueller

WISDOM CORNERDo what you can, with what you have, where you are.

THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.GEORGE SANTAYANA

The pine stays green in winter... wisdom in hardship.NORMAN DOUGLAS

IDEOLOGY

Readers of Orissa POSTare most welcome to contribute letters(200 words), articles andcolumns (between 750-1250words). Contributors arerequested to send theircontact numbers and fullpostal address/email ID. They may alsosend in their valuable comments, opinionand suggestions, preferably by email, to: edit@orissapost.com

B-15, Rasulgarh Industrial Estate,Bhubaneswar-751010

LettersTO THE EDITOR

A SURVEY CONDUCTED INBRITAIN A FEW

YEARS AGO FOUNDTHAT THE AVERAGE

MAN SPENDS THREEWEEKS OF HIS LIFE

WAITING FOR HISWIFE OR GIRLFRIENDTO FINISH SHOPPING

Melvin Durai

Save our students

Sir, Students are the pillars of our society.They are the future citizens. Parents have highexpectations from their wards. It is disheart-ening to learn that, many students these daysare under the grip of narcotics. Use of gutkha,pan masala, bidi and nicotine based cigarettesis on the rise among college students. Liquorconsumption also goes unabated among youngstudents. An educational institution is a temple of lear ning. It is a character developing organisation. Use of narcoticsspoils the purity and holiness of the campus.Many precious lives have been wasted by useof such banned substances. If left unchecked,it may destroy the future of our students. Thedepartment of higher education is urged to makeour campuses narcotics free. This is the demandof the day.

Prabhudutt Dash, BHUBANESWAR

cmyk

cmyk

Presenteeism

The opposite of absenteeism, in which employees are so scared of losingtheir jobs through downsizing, delayering or just simple redundancy that

they work excessive hours or remain at work in the evenings in order to beseen to be there even when there is nothing to do. The result is high levels ofstress, unhappiness and poor performance, ironically increasing the risk ofthe very disaster they are hoping to avoid. It is a problem that has becomerecognised as grave in the USA, though rarely so in Britain as yet. The betteremployers are now insisting that workers stick to their proper hours andtake their holiday entitlements; they also provide flexible working hours,social and sporting activities, informal dress codes (or days on which onecan dress informally: dress-down Fridays is one name for them), and otherde-stressing techniques.

Prestidigitator

Etymologically speaking, a prestidigitator is a person with nimble fingers,an entertainer for whom in the cry of the old-time three-card-trick men,

“the quickness of the hand deceives the eye”. The word was created in 1823in French as prestidigitateur from preste, an adjective meaning quickly thathad been borrowed four centuries before from the Italian presto. To this theunidentified inventor added the Latin digitus, finger. He may not have knownof the classical Latin praestigia, a trick or hocus-pocus, nor of praestigiator,a juggler or trickster. English was well ahead of him, since prestigiator hadbeen in the language since about 1595. Though prestidigitator appears in anuncompleted work by the third Lord Shaftsbury dated 1712, it wasn’tpublished until 1914, so our word has definitely been borrowed from French.Mildly exotic and not a little grandiose, it’s hardly suited to the banalities ofeveryday speech. It demands to be said in exaggerated Gallic fashion,accompanied by an eloquent gesture and the swirl of an imaginary cloak.

Prevent

The action of the PD James detective novel Death in Holy Orders takes placein a theological college. Coming across the well-known collect or short

prayer from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer was not therefore so surprising:“Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings,” since it was a deliberate authorial markerfor the old-fashioned ways of the college. The prayer is actually older than the1662 prayer book — it appears in the same wording in the 1549 version. It is stillused at the beginning of each daily session of the British House of Commonsand House of Lords. In Isaak Walton’s book The Compleat Angler of 1653 thereappears: “First let’s pay our reckoning, for I will have nothing to hinder me in themorning; for my purpose is to prevent the sun-rising.” He seems to havesucceeded: he got up while it was still dark. The word is a good example of themany that have significantly shifted their meanings down the centuries. IsaakWalton and the writers of the 1549 prayer book were both using it in a sensethat was then standard, of acting in anticipation of something, or preceding it.The specifically religious sense, which appears also in Tyndale’s translation ofthe New Testament of 1531, and in the later Articles of Religion, as well as theAuthorised Version of 1611, refers to God’s grace anticipating human actions orneeds, or of worshippers going forth with spiritual guidance and help.

Can’t wait for all the waiting to endIN JEST

Time for a new deal

Sir, This refers to “Parl repeals farm laws sans debate,” Orissa POST, November 30. Therepeal of the three contentious farm laws by the Parliament may be a victory for farm unionsand Opposition parties, but it is important to understand that scrapping of laws doesn’tleave farmers any better off. The agrarian crisis in the country continues. The unremu-nerative nature of farming has seen once-dominant land holding agrarian communitiestake to the streets demanding quotas in admission to educational institutions and governmentjobs. Indian agriculture remains uncompetitive and the minimum support price (MSP) regimehas wreaked havoc with cropping patterns and destroyed water tables. Agriculture neededa new deal before the farm laws were passed, and while the arguments over contours ofthe three laws the government had passed can continue, the fact remains that it still needsa new deal. A return to the status quo is no cause for celebration. It’s a deal that needs tofactor in economic realities, environmental concerns, the climate crisis, and most importantly,political considerations, and it is a deal that needs to be supported by the states, not theCentre. A new deal will mean radical change - in what farmers grow, how and when, andthe extent to which the state regulates every part of the agri-supply chain, from input tooutput. It will be difficult to get all stakeholders on the same page when there are politi-cal considerations at play, but it is important that the Centre and states create a windowfor farm reforms. The country and its farmers need it.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, BANGALORE

THIS

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30: Amidst aheightened level of concern overthe Omicron variant, the CentreTuesday advised states and UTsto ramp up testing and undertakeeffective surveillance of interna-tional passengers, asserting that theOmicron variant of SARS-CoV-2does not escape RT-PCR and RATtests as it extended the nationwideCOVID-19 containment measurestill December 31.

Also on Tuesday, Union Healthminister Mansukh Mandaviya toldParliament that the new COVID-19variant --Omicron-- has not been re-ported in India yet and assertedthat the government has takenmeasures to ensure that it doesnot reach the country and has is-sued an advisory after looking atdevelopments globally.

The strict norms for interna-tional passengers arriving in thecountry, especially from 'at-risk'countries, will also come into effectfrom December 1 as part of thegovernment's efforts to keep thespread of the new variant at bay.

More than a dozen countries havereported cases of the Omicron,dubbed as a "variant of concern"by the World Health Organisation.

Chairing a high-level meetingwith states and UTs to review pub-lic health preparedness in thecountry, Union Health SecretaryRajesh Bhushan advised states

and UTs not to let their guard downand keep a strict vigil on the in-ternational passengers coming tothe country through various air-ports, ports and land border cross-ings and stressed on strict moni-toring of hotspots.

He also noted that the revisedguidelines and international travel

advisories have been shared withthe states. During the meeting,DG, ICMR Dr Balram Bhargavainformed the participants thatthe Omicron variant doesn't es-cape RT-PCR and RAT and hence,states and UTs were advised toramp up testing for prompt andearly identification of cases, anofficial statement said.

The Centre also extended thenationwide COVID-19 containmentmeasures till December 31 andUnion Home Secretary Ajay Bhallawrote to state and UTs, askingthem to strictly adhere to theNovember 25 advisory issued by theUnion Health Ministry, recom-mending rigorous screening andtesting of all international arrivals.

Bhalla also said the contacts ofthe international travellers mustbe closely tracked and tested asper the health ministry guide-lines, and the samples of trav-ellers turning positive sent tot h e d e s i g n a t e d G e n o m eS e q u e n c i n g L a b o r a t o r i e spromptly, as per the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (IN-SACOG) Guidance Document.

P7

nationalWEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR The number of farmers

who committed suicidedropped to 5,579 in 2020as compared to 5,957 inthe previous yearNARENDRA SINGH TOMAR | AGRICULTURE MINISTER

The Nagaland government Tuesday saidelaborate arrangements have beenmade to check the spread ofcoronavirus during the 10-day HornbillFestival in the state. The famed carnivalwill begin Wednesday

HORNBILL FESTIVALTO BEGIN TODAY

yy

cmyk

cmyk

We havestarted a fightfor Jammu and

Kashmir and itspeople following thechanges which wereforced on us - thechanges which were possiblebecause the National Conferencewas weak. If we have not lost the(assembly) seats in 2014 electionsand formed the government, neitherwould they have removed Article 370or Article 35A nor taken away landtransferred to the people underRoshni Act or given jobs andcontractors to outsiders

OMAR ABDULLAH | NATIONAL CONFERENCE

LEADER

of theday uote

The ministryhas beenmaking

constant efforts toincrease forest andtree cover and hastaken severalinitiatives towards tree plantationactivities in the country

ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY | MINISTER OF

STATE FOR ENVIRONMENT

In everymunicipal wardwe will be able

to prepare 100oxygen beds at anotice of two weeks.There are 270municipal wards which means wewill be able to prepare 27,000 bedsat a short notice

ARVIND KEJRIWAL | DELHI CM

13 arrested for lynching AASU leader

Medical students and resident doctors hold placards and raise slogans during a protest demanding restructuring ofacademic fees, payment of COVID-risk allowance and timely payment of stipend to postgraduates and interns, atVictoria Hospital in Bangalore PTI PHOTO

VOICING CONCERN

Omicron fear ups stress woes as India returns to normal

Soldier ends lifeJammu: A soldier reportedlyshot himself dead with hisservice rifle in J&K's Rambandistrict on Tuesday, policesaid. The incident occurred inthe Chamalwas camp inBanihal area of Ramban. "It isbeing ascertained as to whatforced the soldier to take theextreme step. Inquestproceedings have beenstarted," a police official said.

4 Nigerians heldNew Delhi: Delhi Police haveapprehended four moreforeign nationals who wereillegally residing in India withan expired visa, an officialsaid here Tuesday. Accordingto the official, a police team ofthe Dwarka districtapprehended 4 Africansroaming in the area of UttamNagar police station. All of theforeigners, identified as ChidiBasil Odor, Frank FredEmefiele, Bright Odor, andAlex Oseh, are natives ofNigeria. "After verification oftheir credentials, it was foundthey were overstaying in Indiawithout a valid visa," theofficial said.

Over 20 injured Patna: More than 20 personswere injured when a buscollided with a truck in Bihar'sWest Champaran districtTuesday morning, police said.The mishap took place atBaikunthwa Devi located onRam Nagar-Bettiah main statehighway when a marriageparty was returning with thebride from Khan Pipara. Amajority of the injured werebus occupants. According tothe police, the impact of thecollision was such that thefront side of both the vehicleswere badly mangled trappingthe drivers.

40 arrestedThane: As many as 40Bangladeshi nationals werearrested by the police forstaying illegally in and aroundBhiwandi city in Thanedistrict of Maharashtra, anofficer said Tuesday. DCP,Zone 2, Bhiwandi, YogeshChavan said that the arrestedmen were working aslabourers at variouslocations. "They didn'tpossess any valid documentsfor staying in India," he said.A case was registered underthe Indian Passport Act andthe Foreign Nationals Act. Thearrests were made after raidswere conducted in variousareas in and around thepowerloom town, he said.

SHORT TAKES

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Guwahati, Nov 30: Thirteenpeople, including the key ac-cused, have been arrested inconnection with the allegedlynching of All Assam Students'Union (AASU) leader AnimeshBhuyan in Jorhat city.

The students' body has an-nounced to continue theirprotests until the perpetratorswere given "exemplary pun-ishment". Chief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sar ma onTuesday asked the police to filea charge-sheet within a monthfor a speedy trial of the case ina fast-track court and directedSpecial Director General ofPolice, Law and Order G. P.

Singh to personally supervisethe case and take prompt ac-tions against the attackers.

A magisterial probe was alsoordered into Monday's horrificincident. On the instructionsof the Chief Minister, Education

Minister Ranoj Pegu visitedBhuyan's house in Dergaon onTuesday and assured the familyof according strict punishmentto the perpetrators.

The Chief Minister also an-nounced an aid of Rs 5 lakh for

the family of the 30-year-oldAASU leader. According to po-lice, on Monday around 50 peo-ple following an argument at-tacked AASU leader AnimeshBhuyan, his associate PranayDatta , and jour nal is tMridusmanta Baruah when theytried to assist an elderly accidentvictim while many people wereonlookers, who did nothing tostop the lynching and otherscaptured the incident on theirmobile phones. Police said thatthe prime accused Neeraj Dasand 12 others have so far beenarrested and a probe is on. Daswas earlier arrested in a drugstrading case and was out onbail while there are few othercases pending against him.

REUTERS FILE PHOTO

Centre asks states to ramp up testing

REUTERS PHOTO

Union Health Secretary RajeshBhushan chaired a high-level

virtual meeting with states and UTsto review COVID-19 public health

response measures andpreparedness amid cases of

Omicron variant of COVID19 beingreported across various countries

India has so far not reported anycase of the new COVID-19 variantOmicron, Union Health MinisterMansukh Mandaviya informedParliament Tuesday, noting thatthe government has takenmeasures to ensure that it doesnot reach the country

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30: “We can't bewaiting any longer now” and thesentencing aspect in the contemptmatter against fugitive businessmanVijay Mallya, who is an accused inbank loan default case of over Rs9,000 crore involving his defunctKingfisher Airlines, would be dealtwith finally on January 18 nextyear, the Supreme Cour t said Tuesday.

Noting that Mallya, who ispresently in the United Kingdom(UK), was held guilty of contemptin 2017 and the matter was there-after to be listed to hear him on theproposed punishment to be awardedto him, a bench headed by JusticeU U Lalit said the apex court haswaited “sufficiently long”.

The top court had last year dis-missed Mallya's plea seeking re-view of its 2017 verdict which heldhim guilty of contempt for trans-ferring USD 40 million to his chil-dren in violations of the court orders.

The apex court noted that as peran office memorandum, under thesignature of Deputy Secretary (ex-tradition) of the Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA), placedbefore it, the proceedings for ex-tradition have attained finalityand Mallya has “exhausted all av-enues for appeal” in the UK.

The bench, also comprising

Justices S R Bhat and Bela MTrivedi, noted that the November30 office memorandum also refersto proceedings pending in the UKwhich are stated to be “confiden-tial and as such no details are get-ting disclosed”.

“What we wish to do is, we willlist this matter for disposal in sec-ond week of January because wehave waited sufficiently longenough, we can't be waiting anylonger now. It has to see the lightof the day at some stage or theother and the process must alsoget over,” the bench observed dur-ing the hearing.

It said it will list the matter inJanuary for disposal and at thatjuncture, if Mallya want to takepart personally, he will be herethrough the extradition proceedingsand in case, he is not, the bench willhear the submissions of his lawyer.

In its order, the top court saidMallya is at liberty to advance thesubmissions and if for any rea-son, he is not present before thecourt, lawyer on his behalf canadvance submissions.

The bench noted that Mallyawas held guilty of contempt in2017 but because of certain pro-ceedings, which at the relevanttime were going on in courts oflaw in the UK, his presence couldnot be secured despite directionsissued by the apex court.

SC to hear Mallyacontempt case Jan 18

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Bangalore, Nov 30: In a shockingcase, miscreants entered a housein Bangalore on the pretext of giv-ing a jab for the new virus Omicronand robbed the inmates of goldjewellery, the police said Tuesday.

According to police, three robberscame in a car and one of the accusedwearing hand gloves went insidethe home posing as a medical staffon vaccination duty.

He inquired about Covid-19 vac-cination with Sampath Singh'swife, Pista Devi and daughter-in-law Raksha. He had told themthat he is on the job for a vacci-nation drive for the new Covidvariant 'Omicron'.

When Pista Devi tried to callher husband, the accused placed apistol on her forehead and the othertwo accused locked her and daugh-ter-in-law Raksha into a room androbbed 50 grams of gold jewelleryfrom the house.

Pista Devi's elder son VikramSingh, who came home and un-aware of the happenings, was askedby the accused whether he got thevaccination done. As soon as hesaid that he got both the doses, theaccused fled from the spot.

Family robbed onpretext of givingOmicron vaccine

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, Nov 30: The growingfear over the new Covid variantcalled Omicron has left severalpeople sleepless -- especially thoseunder mental stress from the twoearlier pandemic waves -- and aresuffering from the obsessive-com-pulsive disorder (OCD), depres-

sion and anxiety, health expertswarned Tuesday.

The fear is seen across age groups-- parents/teachers, traders, work-ers -- while human life limps backto normal after 18-20 months ofjob losses, disrupted school edu-cation, and health emergencies inthe Covid-induced lockdowns.

According to Dr Vipul Rastogi,consultant neuropsychiatrist atMedanta Hospital, Gurugram, theonset of Omicron variant is ex-pected to increase anxiety andstress in people. "People had juststarted coming out of the Covidfatigue and this news can desta-bilise them again," Rastogi said.

The lockdown-related stress in2020 reportedly caused over 300cases of suicide from March 19t i l l M ay 2 . A s a r e s u l t , i nSeptember 2020, the Ministry of

Social Justice and Empowermentintroduced a 24X7 toll-free men-tal rehabilitation helpline 'KI-RAN' in 13 languages.

The second wave of Covid-19earlier this year turned more lethal,infecting more people and takingmore lives. Besides causing fi-nancial and physical problems, it

also affected people mentally, cre-ating panic in their minds.

The uncertainty about theirpresent and future, coupled withgovernment mandates to stay athome, all exacerbated mental illness.The feeling of being cooped up athome, distant from their lovedones, devoid of social support and

fear about new variants increasedmental illness, according to men-tal health experts.

Dr Samir Parikh, Director, MentalHealth and Behavioural Sciences,at Fortis Healthcare, said that "whenwe talk about Covid-induced stress,and especially stress related to newvariants, we need to understandthat it's not necessary that stress willoccur only to those who had con-tracted the Covid infection or facedit in their near and dear ones".

"As things have started reopen-ing, the question that the next wavewill bring change to my life can havean impact on people. We came outof it the last time as people helpedeach other, stayed positive, followedCovid-appropriate behaviour, andcared for each other. We need to re-main positive this time too and re-main stress-free," Parikh said.

A first-ever global estimate ofCovid-19 impact on mental health,that came out in October, revealedthat the pandemic has led to a sig-nificant rise in major depressive andanxiety disorders globally, affect-ing women and younger peoplemore in 2020.

The study, published in TheLancet, suggested that additional53 million cases of major depres-sive disorder and 76 million casesof anxiety disorders were due to thepandemic.

"Countries hit hardest by the pan-demic in 2020 had the greatest in-creases in cases of major depressivedisorder and anxiety disorders,"said the authors, calling for urgentaction by governments and policymakers to strengthen mental healthsystems globally to meet increaseddemand due to the pandemic.

Dhami scraps ChardhamDevasthanam BoardPRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Dehr adun, Nov 30 : T heUttarakhand government led byChief Minister Pushkar SinghDhami Tuesday ordered scrap-ping of the ChardhamDevasthanam Board, reversingthe 2019 decision of his prede-cessor Trivendra Singh Rawat.

Dhami's decision led the Congressto term the scrapping of the Boardas "defeat” of the saffron party's“arrogance” even as the Chardhampriests hailed the decision, termingit as their “victory” and thankingDhami for it while distributingsweets among themselves.

They also offered prayers atGangotri and Yamunotri temples inthe Himalayas praying for Dhami'slong life. "After studying all aspectsof the issue, we have decided to with-draw the Chardham DevasthanamBoard Act," Chief Minister PushkarSingh Dhami said.

Chardham priests had been de-manding scrapping of the boardever since its creation in 2019 say-ing it was an infringement of theirtraditional rights over the tem-ples. A high-level committee con-stituted by Dhami to look into theDevasthanam Board issue had sub-mitted its recommendations tohim in Rishikesh Sunday.

"We went through the details ofthe report submitted by the panel

headed by Manohar Kant Dhyani.After considering all aspects ofthe issue, our government has de-cided to withdraw the Act," ChiefMinister Dhami said.

Chardham priests describedthe scrapping of the Board a resultof the sustained pressure theyhad mounted on the governmentto scrap it."It is a historic deci-sion. A unique incident of Indiandemocracy where a governmenthad to withdraw its own decisionunder the public pressure,"Chardham Teerth Purohit HakHakookdhari Mahapanchayatspokesman Brajesh Sati said.

Constituted during thetenure of former ChiefMinister Rawat, theChardham DevasthanamBoard managed theaffairs of 51 templesacross the state

THE LOCKDOWN-RELATED STRESS

IN 2020 REPORTEDLY

CAUSED OVER 300CASES OF SUICIDE

FROM MARCH 19TILL MAY 2

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Lucknow, Nov 30: In a heart-warming gesture, a judge of theLucknow bench of Allahabad HighCourt gave Rs 15,000 to a poor Dalitstudent who could not deposit thefees for allotment of a seat inIIT(BHU) after cracking it throughjoint entrance examination (JEE)advanced.

The bench of Justice DineshKumar Singh directed the JointSeat Allocation Authority andIIT(BHU) to admit the student inmathematics and computing (five-year, bachelor and master of tech-nology, dual degree) course.

The bench also directed the BHUto create a supernumerary seatfor the Dalit student if there is noseat vacant. The bench asked thestudent to report at BHU withinthree days along with the necessarydocuments for admission.

The bench passed the aboveorder on a petition moved by the stu-dent, Sanskriti Ranjan, in person

Monday. She had requested thebench that the Joint Seat AllocationAuthority and IIT (BHU) may be di-rected to grant her time to depositRs 15,000 fees.

She pleaded in the petition thatshe belonged to the Scheduled Castecategory. She had secured 95.6 percent marks in high school and 94

per cent in intermediate.She appeared in the JEE for se-

lection in IITs. She was successfulin clearing the exam. She secured92.77 per cent marks in JEE mainsexamination and secured her rankat 2062 as SC category candidate.

Thereafter, the petitioner hadapplied for JEE advanced

September 16, 2021 and cleared itOctober 15, 2021, with 1,469 rank inScheduled Caste category.

The petitioner was allotted aseat at IIT (BHU) Varanasi formathematics and computing (five-year, bachelor and master of tech-nology dual degree) in the coun-selling. However, she could notarrange Rs 15,000 fees to be paid be-fore the scheduled date.

Considering the peculiar cir-cumstances of the matter, thejudge himself volunteered to handover Rs 15,000 to the student aftercourt’s hour and ensured in hisorder that she is given admissionin the IIT (BHU) within the nextthree days.

cmyk

cmyk

RAJASTHAN

WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

P8UTTAR PRADESH

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Lucknow, Nov 30: Even asSamajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav is busy sewing upalliances with smaller parties, heis keeping his estranged uncleShivpal Singh Yadav on tenter-hooks.

Shivpal Yadav, 66, who headsthe Pragatisheel Samajwadi PartyLohia (PSPL), is still waiting tohear from his nephew about the sta-tus of their relationship forthe upcoming 2022Assembly polls.

Shivpal has said thathe is even preparedto merge his PSPL inthe Samajwadi Partyprovided Akhilesh as-sures that his support-ers would get due respect.

Shivpal, who recentlymet SP MP Mohd Azam Khan inSitapur jail, said, “Azam Khan andI have been together since the in-ception of Samajwadi Party. Wehave been together in political ag-itations and struggle. Today, he isin jail, with 102 cases lodged againsthim. All the cases against him arepolitically motivated. I believe thatall Samajwadis should have takento the streets in support of Azam

Khan. I just wentto reassure himthat we are withhim.”

He said that he diddiscuss politics with

Azam Khan and the lat-ter also said that al l

Samajwadis should unite and con-test elections.

Shivpal said that time was run-ning out and he was waiting for theSP president to respond.

“Everything can be resolvedthrough dialogue. Earlier, whenother smaller parties got together,we were looking at a total of 100seats from the SP in case of an al-

liance. But things have changednow. Many smaller parties havealready joined hands with SP in-dependently. I want that SP shouldget an independent survey doneand find out if my candidate is ina winning position on a particularseat and then give the ticket. Thewinnability factor must be aboveeverything else,” he said.

The PSPL leader said that hewas ready for an alliance or merger,but there was no offer for talksfrom the SP president.

“The clock is ticking away andI cannot endlessly wait for a deci-sion. The SP chief should starttalks at the earliest,” he added.

Akhilesh leaves Shivpalguessing on alliance

Theclock is ticking

away and I cannotendlessly wait for a

decision. The SP chiefshould start talks at

the earliestSHIVPAL YADAV I

PSPL CHIEF

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Jaipur, Nov 30: Warning peoplethat Covid-19 has not gone yet andis returning in new variant forms,Rajasthan Health Minister ParsadiLal Meena Tuesday said that healthinfrastructure is being ramped upin the state as there is a possibil-ity of third wave hitting children.

The health minister said,“According to experts, a possiblethird wave of Covid can impactchildren. In such a situation, thebasic infrastructure of all chil-dren hospitals in the state is beingscaled up. Arrangements are beingmade for oxygenated beds in ICUs,NICU and SNCUs. The Governmentof India has been urged to pro-vide vaccines to protect childrenfrom Covid,” he added.

He also urged people to get vac-cinated with both the doses assoon as possible.

People who have got the firstdose of vaccine should not be care-less in getting the second dose.Their carelessness can prove dan-gerous for their family, society,state and even the country. All dis-trict collectors have been instructedto vaccinate those who have nottaken the second jab, by runninga campaign, he informed.

In view of the shortage of oxy-gen during the second Covid wave,over 475 oxygen plants have beeninstalled in the state, from whichoxygen production can be startedby the end of this month. The tar-

get of the state government is toproduce 1,000 metric tonnes ofmedical oxygen. Along with this,more than 40,000 oxygen concen-trators have been arranged by thestate government to face any sit-uation, he added.

The Health Minister said thatin Covid management, Rajasthanhas been a leader in the country.The Prime Minister has also ap-

preciated Rajasthan’s Covid man-agement. He said that Covid isnot gone yet. It keeps coming backin the form of new variants.

Appealing to the general publicnot to forget to wear mask whilegoing out, he asked all to includesocial distancing, frequent handwashing in Covid behaviour.

The state has a total of 187 ac-tive cases till Tuesday, out of

which 100 are in Jaipur. Thenumbers have risen after Diwalias the state has removed re-strictions on number of guestsin weddings and students inschools and colleges.

Judge paves Dalit student’s way to IIT

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Ajmer, Nov 30: There are galacelebrations going on in Ajmerever since news came of ParagAgrawal becoming the new CEOof Twitter. Parag Agrawal wasborn in Ajmer in Rajasthan and hisparents and grandparents livedhere for years.

The Agrawal community wasseen exchanging sweets and cele-brating the success of Parag inthe lanes of Ajmer Tuesday afterthey came to know that the boyfrom their city has become the topofficial of Twitter.

Parag’s parents and grand-parents lived in a rented housein Dhanmandi and KhazanaGali here.

According to their neighboursin Ajmer, Parag’s grandfather usedto work as a book-keeper. His fatherlived with his grandparents in a

rented house for many years.Due to Parag’s father’s job, they

shifted to Mumbai and started liv-ing there. The Agrawal commu-nity has organised a big pro-gramme to felicitate his parentsDecember 4 who were reported toreach Ajmer Tuesday.

Shailendra Aggarwal, presidentof Agrawal Samaj Ajmer, said thatParag Agrawal was born May 21,1984 in the Government JawaharlalNehru Hospital in Ajmer. Parag’sfather Ram Gopal Agrawal wasworking in BMRC in Mumbai, buthis parents i.e. Parag’s grandpar-ents lived in a rented house here.

Shailendra Aggarwal said thatDecember 4, Parag’s parents willbe given a grand welcome on theirvisit to Ajmer.

After the resignation of TwitterCEO Jack Dorsey, Twitter an-nounced Parag Agrawal as thenew CEO of the company.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Lucknow, Nov 30: Continuing itsname changing spree, the YogiAdityanath government is nowmulling a proposal to name theLucknow Zoo after former PrimeMinister, late Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Forest Minister Dara SinghChouhan said that the governmentwas considering the proposal anda decision would be taken at theright time.

The Lucknow zoo, earlier knownas Prince of Wales ZoologicalGarden, was renamed as NawabWajid Ali Shah Zoological Park bythe Akhilesh government in 2015.

Officials said that the naming ofthe zoo after the former Prime

Minister was likely to be done onthe birth anniversary of VajpayeeDecember 25.

The zoo completed 100 yearsMonday. Chief Minister YogiAdityanath addressed the cente-nary celebrations of the NawabWajid Zoological Garden here andunveiled the centenary pillar, postalstamp and centenary souvenir on thisoccasion, the Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment said in a statement here.

He termed the postal stamp andcentenary souvenir not only as“worth collecting” but also “in-spiring for all of us”. Six tigerswere named on this occasion basedon the suggestions of the children.

Attacking the rival political par-ties in Uttar Pradesh, the chiefminister said that in 70 years from1947 to 2017, only two zoologicalgardens could be set up in UttarPradesh, while in the past fiveyears, a zoological garden has beenestablished in Gorakhpur.

The chief minister termed the100 years of the zoological gardenas a “splendid innings”, and saida detailed workplan should be madefor its progress.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Lucknow, Nov 30: After carry-ing out shirtless agitations, offer-ing roses to ministers as a mark ofprotest and going on hunger strikes,unemployed youth from Rajasthanare now staging a ‘dharna’ outsidethe Congress party headquartersin Lucknow, demanding an audi-ence with Congress general sec-retary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The protests in Uttar Pradesh - or-ganised under the banner ofRajasthan Berozgar EkikrutMahasangh (RBEM) - are aimed at

pressuring the Ashok Gehlot-ledCongress government in Rajasthanto accept long-standing demandsmade by the unemployed in

Rajasthan. Their demands includeappointments in several govern-ment jobs for which recruitmentexams have already been conducted,

increase in the number of vacanciesfor state government jobs and for-mulation of a non-bailable lawagainst those who leak question pa-pers in competitive examinations.

“We are sitting on ‘dharna’ out-side the UP Congress Committeeand have now started a hungerstrike. For the past 47 days, wehave been protesting in Jaipur. Wewant to meet Priyanka GandhiVadra. The Congress has an-nounced that they will give 20 lakhjobs in Uttar Pradesh. Before the2018 Assembly elections we hadlent support to the Congress. But

promises made to us have not beenfulfilled,” said Upen Yadav, presi-dent of RBEM Monday.

Earlier, the RBEM had said thatit will oppose the Congress in theUttar Pradesh elections at ralliesof its leaders, including PriyankaGandhi Vadra.

The Congress has a governmentin Rajasthan. Despite this, theyare not fulfilling the promises madeto the unemployed youth and in-stead making tall promises to thepeople of Uttar Pradesh. First theparty should fulfil their promisesmade in Rajasthan, said Yadav.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Meerut, Nov 30: Amit Rai Jain, aBaghpat-based businessman, hasfound 16 coins made of silver andcopper which have a bull and ahorseman engraved on them.

He found the coins from a mound,known locally as the ‘Katha mound’in Khekhra, close to the Delhi-Saharanpur highway, Sunday.

Jain told reporters that some ofthe coins are from the late 12thcentury AD, which is the era ofRajput king Prithviraj Chauhan.

“I keep frequenting the area,which is rich in archaeological finds.This time, it revealed somethingconsidered fascinating in Indiannumismatics. The coins which Ifound belong to a series of Rajputrulers who remained dominant inthe region comprising Rajasthan,Haryana, and the western Gangeticplains from the eighth century to 12thcentury AD,” he said.

Jain is a member of the Cultureand History Association, an or-ganisation comprising historiansfrom western Uttar Pradesh.

KK Sharma, head of the de-partment of history, MultanimalModi College, Modinagar, con-

firmed the antiquity of the coins.“This is an interesting find as the

area remained with the Rajputkings for a couple of centuries.Horse and bull inscriptions oncoins were quite common in thosedays. Horses used to be the pri-mary vehicle of soldiers duringbattles and their depiction on coinsis not a surprise. In fact, close to twodozen rulers between the seventhand 17th centuries used horses insome form or the other on theircoins,” he said.

Baghpat is well-known for the dis-covery of interesting historical ar-tifacts, the most sensational beingthree chariots unearthed during theArchaeological Survey of Indiaexcavation held in Sinauli in June2018, which marked the ‘first-ever’physical evidence of Bronze Agechariots in India.

In 2006, Sinauli had revealedHarappan-era burial grounds whereseveral discoveries were made suchas that of painted grey ware pottery,skeletons, bronze swords, and cop-per vessels.

Century-old Lucknow zoomay be named after Atal

The Lucknow zoo, earlier known as Prince ofWales Zoological Garden,was renamed as Nawab

Wajid Ali Shah ZoologicalPark by the Akhilesh government in 2015

LAW & ORDERParag’s birthplace Ajmererupts with celebrations

The bench also directedthe BHU to create asupernumerary seat forthe Dalit student if thereis no seat vacant

Ancient coins found in UP’s BaghpatBaghpat is well-known

for the discovery ofinteresting historical

artifacts, the most sensational being three

chariots unearthedduring the ASI

excavation in Sinauli

Security personnel conduct a flag march after some right-wing groups threatened to install an idol of LordKrishna inside the Shahi Idgah mosque Dec 6, the anniversary of the Babri Masjid demolition, in Mathura, Tuesday

PTI PHOTO

Raj reinforces its health infra

According to experts, a possible third wave of Covidcan impact children. In such a situation, the basicinfrastructure of all children’s hospitals in the state is

being scaled up. Arrangements are being made foroxygenated beds in ICUs, NICU and SNCUs. The Government of Indiahas been urged to provide vaccines to protect children from CovidPARSADI LAL MEENA I HEALTH MINISTER, RAJASTHAN

Public hearingthrice a weekTwo ministers in the Rajasthan

government will hold publichearing for three days every weekat the Congress state headquartershere to redress the grievances ofthe people. The decision was takenat a high-level meeting held at thestate Congress headquartersTuesday. Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot, state Congresspresident Govind Singh Dotasraand the party’s state in-charge AjayMaken attended the meeting.“Every week Monday, Tuesday andWednesday, two ministers willremain in the state office and therest of the ministers will hold publichearings at their residences,”Dotasra told reporters after themeeting. He said if any ministerdoes not stay in Jaipur during thesethree days, then he will have toinform the chief minister and thestate office of the party. Dotasrasaid that the people would beinformed in advance about whichminister would hold the hearing atthe party’s state office on whichday. A follow-up action would betaken on the issues raised duringthe public hearing, he said.

Rajasthan’s jobless protest in UP to meet Priyanka

P9

nationalWEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

The PrimeMinister offered

to debate “any issue”, andon the first day and on thefirst item of business, thefarm bills were repealedwithout a debateP CHIDAMBARAM | CONGRESS LEADER

People with blood groups A, B andRh+ are more susceptible to Covid-19infection whereas O, AB and Rh- areat lower risk of infection, according toa study released Tuesday by SirGanga Ram Hospital

FRESH REVELATION

yy

cmyk

cmyk

A total of 348securitypersonnel and

195 civilians werekilled in Jammu andKashmir in last fiveyears in terror-related incidents

NITYANAND RAI | UNION MINISTER OF STATE

FOR HOME

of theday uote

The legislators'decision to jointhe party was

not an overnightdecision and theyhad deliberated forlong how to protectthe interests of the people of thestate, which was not possible underthe central Congress leadership

MUKUL SANGMA | FORMER MEGHALAYA CM

BSP supportsthe demand ofOBC

community for castecensus. Due to'jatiwadi mansikta'(casteiest mentality),the Centre is ignoring the demand

MAYAWATI | BSP SUPREMO

Gold seized Hyderabad: Customs officialsat Rajiv Gandhi InternationalAirport here seized 472.8grams gold in paste form fromseat pockets of a flight thatarrived from Guwahati. Actingon specific intelligence,Customs sleuths recovered ingold paste form worth Rs.23.33 lakh. The Customsdepartment booked a case forsmuggling of gold against anunknown passenger arrivingby 6E187 from Guwahati onMonday. An official said onTuesday that efforts were onto track down the passenger.

Boy rescued New Delhi: A minor boy, whowas kidnapped from thenational capital five daysback, has been rescued by theDelhi Police from Mumbai, anofficial said here Tuesday.According to the official, themissing complaint about the10-year-old boy was lodged byhis mother on November 25 atthe Mansarovar Park policestation, after which the copsswung into action andregistered an FIR underSection 363 of the Indian PenalCode. "We launched a massivemanhunt at various shelterhomes, railway stations andbus stands, but to no avail,"DCP R. Sathiyasundaram said.

Bodies found Unnao: The bodies of a youngcouple were found hangingfrom a tree in an orchard inMishri Ganj village underAjgain police circle in Unnaodistrict of Uttar PradeshTuesday. The police identifiedthe bodies as that of Saurabh,21 and Kishori. The two werein love but their respectivefamilies were against therelationship. According topolice reports, Saurabh wentto Kanpur on Monday andtook Kishori with him. OnTuesday, their bodies werefound hanging in the orchardand the police spokesmansaid that it appears to be acase of a suicide pact.

Four of family found dead New Delhi: Four people,including two children, werefound dead at a house innorthern Delhi's Siraspurvillage, an official said hereTuesday. According to police,the man was identified asAmit(30), his wife(25), andtwo kids aged six and threeyears. The cause of death isyet to be ascertained,however, prima facie itappears to be a case ofsuicide, the official said. "Weare looking at all possibilitiesand even if it is a case ofsuicide, circumstances thatprompted them to take theextreme step needs to beprobed. An investigation has been initiated into thecase," he said.

SHORT TAKES

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Mumbai, Nov 30: Amid concernsof the Covid-19 variant Omicron,the reopening of schools from Class1 to 7 has been postponed by 10-15days in Mumbai, Pune and Nashik,officials said here Tuesday.

The BrihanMumbai MunicipalCorporation Commissioner I.S.Chahal and Pune MunicipalCorporation Mayor Murlidhar havesaid that schools in the two cities-- both among the worst-hit in theCovid-19 two waves in 2020 and2021 -- will now reopen fromDecember 15.

Similarly, the Nashik MunicipalCorporation, which was also amongthe badly-hit cities in the past twoyears of the pandemic, has alsopostponed the schools reopeningplan to December 10.

However, all schools in the restof Maharashtra are likely to re-open from December 1, for Class 1to 5 in the rural areas and 1-7 in the

urban areas with full Covid pro-tocols, as announced earlier bySchool Education Minister Prof.Varsha E. Gaikwad.

Taking precautions, the BMCis currently tracking all passen-gers who have arrived in the cityfrom the 12 Omicron-hit nationssince November 10 to detect ifany of them are infected by thenew strain.

The state government has alsosought information on all pas-sengers landing at the three in-

ternational airports in the statein Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur, be-sides those arriving from otherstates, by flights originating fromthe 12 nations.

The BMC has already an-nounced that a 14-day institu-tional quarantine regime will becompulsory for all such passengersand home isolation will not bepermitted under any circum-stances. The state, major citiesand district health authoritiesare gearing up to face the challengeof Omicron by readying hospi-tals, beds, ICUs, liquid medicaloxygen stocks, medicines, doc-tors, para-medical and non-med-ical staff, and other health infra-structure to cater to a possiblepatient rush in the coming weeks,even as Covid-19 vaccination drivehas gained momentum.

OMICRON CONCERNS

Mumbai, Pune, Nashik postpone schools’ reopening

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Patna, Nov 30: At least 25 per-sons got severe infection in theireyes and eventually lost their eye-sight after they underwent acataract operation at a hospital inBihar's Muzaffarpur, an officialsaid Tuesday.

The incident took place at aneye hospital in Juran Chapra lo-cality of the city on November 22.Muzaffarpur civil surgeon VinayKumar Sharma confirmed the in-cident. "We learnt that 25 persons,who underwent cataract opera-tions, are suffering from severe in-fection in one eye. The doctorshave now suggested the removal ofthe infected eye. We have constituteda three-member committee headedby the blindness control in-chargeof the district to probe the inci-dent in a time bound manner andsubmit a report. Prima facie, it ap-

pears that the doctors of the hos-pital had not followed the operationprotocols," Sharma said.

"We will take strict action againstthe hospital and doctors for suchserious negligence," Sharma said.Ram Murti Singh, a native ofSonversha village in Sheohar dis-trict and a victim who is suffer-ing from a severe infection in theleft eye, said: "We learnt that amega eye check up camp was beingorganized by the hospital onNovember 22. Accordingly, I cameto the hospital where doctors said

that I have cataract. They con-ducted an operation on one eye.After four hours, my eye startedpaining. When I contacted the doc-tors, they gave me a painkillertablet and also an injection."

"The painkiller injection gaveme temporary relief. After a fewhours, pain again started in myeye," Singh said. Meena Devi, aresident of Mushari locality in

Muzaffarpur said: "After the op-eration, I felt immense pain in myeye. When I contacted the doctors,they gave me a painkiller injec-tion. They discharged me the nextday."

"When I went to the hospital thenext day (November 24), the doctorrebuked me for negligence. WhenI strongly protested, they suggestedthe removal of the infected eye.As there is no one in my family, Ipermitted them to proceed whichthey did," Meena Devi said.

Harendra Rajak, a relative ofRam Murti Sharma said: "Ninepatients who got severe infectionwent to Patna for check up. Thedoctors in Patna informed us thatthe severe infection was due towrong operation procedure. Theyalso suggested removal of the op-erated eye otherwise it would cre-ate further complications in theother eye or brain."

20 studentsCovid positiveINDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Bangalore, Nov 30: The districtadministrations are on high alertafter 13 students of a govern-ment-run residential hostel inHassan and seven medical col-lege students, including an in-ternee, tested positive for Covid-19, the health department officialssaid Tuesday.

Following the detection of pos-itive cases at the Morarji Desaihostel of Guramaranahalli villagein Channarayapatna taluk ofHassan and ChamarajanagarMedical Sciences Institute havebeen sealed off by the authorities.

All infected students of the hos-tel have been shifted to a CovidCare Centre. All are asymptomaticand recovering well according to thehealth department. It has been de-cided to conduct tests on primarycontacts of the infected students.

The infections were found inthe routine RT-PCR tests conductedby the health department for every15 days. The hostel students af-fected with Covid-19 are studyingin Class 6 to 10. All of them havebeen isolated and are being treated.

The Covid tests were conductedon 325 s t u d e n t s o f t h eC h a m a r a j a n a g a r M e d i c a lSciences Institute in which seventested positive. About 500 pri-mary contacts of the studentsand staff were tested and theirresults are negative. The testswere conducted on further 150students and their test resultsare awaited.

The district administrationshave initiated strict monitoringof the situation and are trying tocontain the infection within theclusters. Fortunately, the infec-tious disease has not spread to res-idential localities.

Recently, More than 280 per-sons were tested positive forCovid in Dharwad's SDM MedicalCollege. The infections were alsor e p o r t e d f r o m B e n g a l u r uInternational Boarding school.However, the authorities havesuccessfully handled the situa-tion and the infection has notspread so far.

TRIBUTE TO HEROES

Newly-appointed Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar pays tribute to martyrs at National War Memorial in New Delhi PTI PHOTO

25 LOSE EYESIGHT IN BIHAR

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30: As many as1,678 Kashmiri migrants have re-turned to Kashmir after the ab-rogation of Article 370 for takingup jobs under the Prime Minister'sDevelopment Package-2015, thegovernment told parliamentTuesday.

Union Minister of State forHome Nityanand Rai also saidthat as per information providedby the government of Jammu andKashmir, the land of 150 appli-cants has been restored.

"As per the information pro-vided by the gover nment ofJammu and Kashmir, after ab-rogation of Article 370, a totalof 1,678 migrants have returnedto Kashmir for taking up thejobs under the Prime Minister's

Development Package-2015," hes a i d i n a w r i t t e n r e p l y t o a question.

Article 370, which gave specialstatus to Jammu and Kashmir,was abrogated by the central gov-ernment on August 5, 2019. Thestate was also divided into twoUnion Territories.

The minister said the govern-ment has taken various measuresto restore ancestral properties to

migrant Hindus. Under theJammu and Kashmir MigrantImmovable Proper ty(Preservation, Protection &Restraint on Distress Sales) Act,1997, District Magistrates (DMs)of concerned Districts in Jammuand Kashmir are the legal custo-dians of the immovable propertiesof migrants, who take suo mottoaction on eviction proceedings incases of encroachment.

He said the migrants can alsorequest DMs in such cases. TheDMs are further empowered totake all steps for the preserva-tion and protection of suchproperties. The government ofJ a m m u a n d K a s h m i r h a slaunched a portal on September7, 2021 to address the grievancesof Kashmiri migrants in this re-gard, he said.

1,678 Kashmiri migrantsreturned to J&K: Govt

However, all schools inthe rest of Maharashtraare likely to reopen fromDecember 1, for Class 1to 5 in the rural areasand 1-7 in the urbanareas with full Covid protocols

Article 370, which gavespecial status toJammu and Kashmir,was abrogated by thecentral government on August 5, 2019

151 custodial deathsthis year, says CentreINDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, Nov 30: A total of 151custodial deaths have been reportedin the country this year withMaharashtra reporting the high-est at 26, the Lok Sabha was in-formed Tuesday.

Maharashtra reported maxi-mum 26 deaths in police custody fol-lowed by Gujarat (21) and Bihar(18). About 11 deaths each in policecustody were reported from UttarPradesh and Madhya Pradesh.

Responding to BJP MP VarunGandhi's question, Minister ofState for Home Affairs NityanandRai said that according to NationalHuman Rights Commission(NHRC), 151 cases of death in po-lice custody were re por tedNovember till 15.

As per the seventh Schedule ofthe Constitution, police and pub-lic order are state subjects. "It is pri-marily the responsibility of the

state government concerned to ap-propriately prevent and ensurenon-occurrence of police atroci-ties and protect the human rightsof the citizens," Rai said.

Underlining that the custodialdeaths or violations involving thestate police and jail authoritiesalso fall within the jurisdiction ofthe state governments, he said: "Inview of this, the CentralGovernment does not intervenedirectly in the matters of custo-dial deaths. The Centre has issuedadvisories and the NHRC has issuedguidelines and recommendationsto be followed by the states/UTsin all cases of custodial deaths," theminister said.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30: Members ofCongress and other opposition par-ties Tuesday staged a walkout fromRajya Sabha after Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu justified the sus-pension of 12 MPs for the entire win-ter session of Parliament, sayingthey haven't shown any remorse fortheir act of sacrilege of the Housein the previous session in August.

"Motion (for suspension of the12 opposition MPs) was moved, itwas approved, action is taken, it isfinal," Naidu said as he rejectedan appeal by the Leader of theOpposition and senior Congressleader M Mallikarjun Kharge torevoke the suspension.

Naidu said he was not consid-ering Kharge's appeal as the sus-pended MPs have not shown any re-morse, but on the contrary, justifiedtheir acts."You try to mislead theHouse, you disturb the House, youransacked the table, you also threwpapers on the chair and also someof them have got on to the table andthen you are giving me lessons.This is not the way," he said.

“I don't think the appeal of theLeader of the Opposition is worthconsidering. I am not consideringit at all," he added. Raising theissue when the House met for theday, Kharge said the motion forsuspension moved byParliamentary Affairs MinisterPralhad Joshi was in gross viola-tion of the rules and action wastaken in the current winter ses-sion of Parliament for alleged "un-ruly" conduct in the last session.

Also, the rules require the chairto name the members before a mo-

tion of suspension is moved, whichdid not happen when the 12 MPswere suspended on a governmentmotion on November 29, he said,adding that the chair had onMonday not even allowed him toraise of point of order, which ac-cording to the well-settled con-ventions of Rajya Sabha is alwayspermitted. A member named bythe chair has to withdraw fromthe proceedings of the House.

Six of the suspended MPs arefrom the Congress, two each fromTrinamool Congress and Shiv Sena,and one each from CPI and CPM.Naidu also rejected Kharge's con-tentions of action being taken ondeeds done in the last session, say-ing the Rajya Sabha is a "continu-ing institution" and the Chairmanof the House is empowered to sus-pend members for unruly conductunder rules 256, 259, 266 and otherresiduary powers.

He said the chair had on August10, when the opposition members cre-ated a ruckus in the House de-manding discussion on certain is-sues, named the members.“Chairman can take action and alsothe House can take action. Whathappened yesterday (November 29)is not chairman taking action, it isthe house, after a resolution moved,that has taken action," he said.

Opposition MPs, however, ob-jected to his comment that theHouse took the action by passing theresolution by voice vote as theyfelt only the treasury benches hadgiven affirmative response to the mo-tion moved by Joshi. "Not the House,except some opposition parties. Iagree," Naidu remarked.

No revoking suspensionof 12 MPs, says Naidu

THE VICE PRESIDENT SAID HE WASNOT CONSIDERING KHARGE'S

APPEAL AS THE SUSPENDED MPsHAVE NOT SHOWN ANY REMORSE,BUT ON THE CONTRARY, JUSTIFIED

THEIR ACTS

SIX OF THE SUSPENDED MPs AREFROM THE CONGRESS, TWO EACH

FROM TRINAMOOL CONGRESS ANDSHIV SENA, AND ONE EACH FROM

CPI AND CPM

The incident took placeat an eye hospital inJuran Chapra locality ofthe city November 22.Muzaffarpur civil surgeon Vinay KumarSharma confirmed the incident

P10WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

We’re not going backto lockdowns. Noneof us want thatSCOTT MORRISON | AUSTRALIANPRIME MINISTER

The UK Competition and MarketsAuthority (CMA) Tuesday orderedFacebook’s parent company Meta to sellonline database and search engine Giphy,as the $315 million acquisition could harmsocial media users and UK advertisers

UK WATCHDOG ORDERS FBOWNER META TO SELL GIPHY

cmyk

cmyk

internationalWe're throwingeverything wehave at this

virus, tracking it fromevery angle. Thisvariant is a cause forconcern, not a causefor panic

JOE BIDEN | US PRESIDENT

of theday uote

Moscow isequally worriedabout NATO

drills near itsborders. Theemergence of suchthreats represents ared line’ for us

VLADIMIR PUTIN | RUSSIAN PRESIDENT

The Palestinianside is stillextending its

hands to achieve ajust andcomprehensivepeace in accordancewith the two-state solution and theinternational resolution under theauspices of the internationalQuartet

MAHMOUD ABBAS | PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT

Court convictsex-IS member Berlin: A former member ofthe Islamic State group wasconvicted by a German courtTuesday of genocide andcommitting a war crime overthe death of a 5-year-old girlhe had purchased as a slaveand then chained up in the hotsun to die. The Frankfurtregional court sentenced TahaAl-J., an Iraqi citizen whosefull last name wasn’t releasedbecause of privacy rules, tolife imprisonment and orderedhim to pay the girl’s mother50,000 euros ($57,000).

NYC okays safesites for drug useNew York: The first officiallyauthorised safe havens forpeople to use heroin andother narcotics have beencleared to open in New YorkCity in hopes of curbingoverdoses, the mayor andhealth commissioner saidTuesday. The “overdoseprevention centers” —commonly known assupervised injection sites —have been discussed for yearsin New York and some otherUS Cities and already exist inCanada, Australia and Europe.

14 killed in militarychopper crashBaku (Azerbaijan): A military helicopter crashed inAzerbaijan during a trainingflight Tuesday, killing 14people and wounding twomore, Azerbaijani authoritiessaid. The helicopter ofAzerbaijan’s State BorderGuard service crashedTuesday morning during aflight over the Garaeybattraining ground in the east ofAzerbaijan, according to ajoint statement of the borderguard service and Azerbaijan’sProsecutor General’s office.

Blast rocks Kabul Kabul: A blast, obviously aroadside bomb rocked DarulAman road on the westernedge of the Afghan capitalKabul Tuesday morning,leaving no casualties,spokesman for Interior MinistryQari Sayed Khosti said.

Russia fines GoogleMoscow: A Moscow courtfined Alphabet Inc.'s Google3 million roubles ($40,400)Monday for not deletingcontent that it deemedillegal, part of a widerdispute between Russia andthe US tech giant. Russia inOctober threatened to fineGoogle a percentage of itsannual Russian turnover forrepeatedly failing to deletebanned content on itssearch engine and YouTube,in Moscow’s strongest moveyet to rein in foreign tech firms.

SHORT TAKES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

San Juan (Puerto Rico), Nov 30:Barbados stopped pledging alle-giance to Queen Elizabeth IITuesday as it shed another vestigeof its colonial past and became arepublic for the first time in history.

Fireworks peppered the sky atmidnight as Barbados officially be-came a republic, with screens setup across the island so people couldwatch the event that featured an or-chestra with more than 100 steel panplayers and numerous artists.

It was also broadcast online,prompting a flurry of excited mes-

sages from Bajans living in theUS, Canada and beyond. “HappyIndependence Day and freedom toall,” wrote one viewer.

The drive to become a republicbegan more than two decades agoand culminated with the island'sParliament electing its first everpresident last month in a two-thirdsmajority vote.

Barbados Governor GeneralSandra Mason was scheduled tobe sworn in before dawn Tuesdayas the island marked its 55th in-dependence from Britain. Mason,72, is an attorney and judge who alsohas served as ambassador to

Venezuela, Colombia, Chile andBrazil. She will help Prime MinisterMia Mottley lead the wealthyCaribbean island of more than300,000 people that is dependenton tourism, manufacturing and finance. Barbados did not needpermission from the UK to becomea republic, although the island willremain a member of theCommonwealth Realm. It's an eventthat the Caribbean has not expe-rienced since the 1970s, whenGuyana, Dominica and Trinidadand Tobago became republics.

Barbados became independentfrom the United Kingdom in

November 1966, more than threecenturies after English settlers ar-rived and turned the island into awealthy sugar colony based on thework of hundreds of thousandsof African slaves.

In recent decades, the island hasbegun distancing itself from itscolonial past. In 2005, Barbadosdropped the London-based PrivyCouncil and chose the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justiceas its final court of appeal. Thenin 2008, it proposed a referendumon the issue of becoming a re-public, but it was pushed back in-definitely.

Barbados says goodbye to Queen, transforms into republicSEVERAL LEADERS AND DIGNITARIES, INCLUDING PRINCE CHARLES, ATTENDED THE CEREMONY THAT BEGAN LATE MONDAY IN A POPULAR SQUAREWHERE THE STATUE OF A WELL-KNOWN BRITISH LORD WAS REMOVED LAST YEAR AMID A WORLDWIDE PUSH TO ERASE SYMBOLS OF OPPRESSION

AGENCIES

Brussels, Nov 30: The WorldHealth Organisation warned thatthe global risk from the omicronvariant is “very high” based onthe early evidence, saying the mu-tated coronavirus could lead tosurges with “severe consequences.”

The assessment from the UNHealth agency, contained in a tech-nical paper issued to member states,amounted to WHO's strongest, mostexplicit warning yet about the newversion that was first identifieddays ago by researchers in SouthAfrica. New findings about thecoronavirus's omicron variantmade it clear Tuesday that theemerging threat slipped into coun-tries well before their defenseswere up, as two distant nations an-nounced their first cases and athird reported its presence beforeSouth African officials soundedthe alarm. Netherlands' RIVMhealth institute found omicron insamples dating from November 19and 23. The World HealthOrganization said South Africa

first reported the the variant tothe UN health agency November 24.

Meanwhile, Japan and France re-ported their first cases of the newvariant that has forced the worldonce again to pinball between hopesof returning to normal and fearsthat the worst is yet to come. It re-

mains unclear where or when thevariant first emerged or how con-tagious it might be — but that has-n't stopped wary nations from rush-ing to impose travel restrictions,especially on visitors coming fromsouthern Africa. Those moves havebeen criticized by South Africa

and the WHO has urged againstthem, noting their limited effect.

The latest news though made itincreasingly clear that travel banswould struggle to stop the spreadof the variant. German authoritiessaid they had an omicron infec-tion in a man who had neitherbeen abroad nor had contact withanyone who was.

The WHO warned Monday thatthe global risk from omicron is“very high” and that early evi-dence suggests it may be morecontagious. Others sent more re-assuring messages, like EuropeanMedicines Agency chief EmerCooke, who insisted that the 27-na-tion European Union was wellprepared for the variant. Whileit is not known how effective cur-rent vaccines are against omi-cron, Cooke said the shots couldbe adapted within three or four

months if need be.But nearly two years after the

virus first held the world in its grip,the current response echoed inmany ways the chaos of the earlydays, including haphazard travelbans and a poor understanding ofwho was at risk and where.

Face coverings are mandatoryin shops and public transport fromTuesday as part of “targeted meas-ures” to slow the spread of theOmicron variant, 22 cases of whichhave now been detected in the UKafter Scotland and England reported further infections.

Individuals linked with all newcases, identified in the EastMidlands, the East of England,London and the North West, are allisolating and the UK HealthSecurity Agency (UKHSA) saidwork is underway to identify anylinks to travel to southern Africa.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Tehran, Nov 30: Iran struck ahard line Tuesday after just one dayof restarted talks in Vienna overits tattered nuclear deal, suggest-ing everything discussed in pre-vious rounds of diplomacy couldbe renegotiated.

Speaking to Iranian state tele-vision, Ali Bagheri, Iran’s top nu-clear negotiator, referred to every-thing discussed thus far as merelya “draft.”

It remained unclear whetherthat represented an opening gam-bit by Iran's new president or sig-nalled serious trouble for thosehoping to restore the 2015 deal thatsaw Tehran strictly limit its en-richment of uranium in exchangefor the lifting of economic sanctions.The United States left the dealunder then-President DonaldTrump's “maximum pressure”campaign against Tehran in 2018.Since the deal's collapse, Iran nowenriches small amounts of ura-nium up to 60 per cent purity — ashort step from weapons-grade lev-els of 90 per cent. Iran also spinsadvanced centrifuges barred bythe accord, and its uranium stock-pile now far exceeds the accord's lim-its. President Joe Biden has said

America's willing to re-enter thedeal, though the negotiations con-tinue with US Officials not in theroom as in previous rounds of talkssince Washington's withdrawal.

“Drafts are subject to negotia-tion. Therefore nothing is agreedon unless everything has beenagreed on,” Bagheri said. “On thatbasis, all discussions that tookplace in the six rounds are sum-marised and are subject to nego-tiations. This was admitted by allparties in today's meeting as well.”That directly contradicted com-ments Monday by the EuropeanUnion diplomat leading the talks.

“The Iranian delegation rep-resents a new administration inTehran with new understandablepolitical sensibilities, but theyhave accepted that the work doneover the six first rounds is a goodbasis to build our work ahead, sono point in going back,” EnriqueMora said. Another state TV seg-ment saw Bagheri in Vienna say-ing Iran demanded a “guaranteeby America not to impose newsanctions” or not re-impose pre-viously lifted sanctions.

Mohammed Eslami, the country'scivilian nuclear chief, reiterated thatdemand in comments to Iran'sstate-run IRNA news agency.

AGENCIES

Paris, Nov 30: A far-right formerTV pundit with multiple hate-speech convictions officially en-tered the race for France's presi-dency Tuesday and warned hissupporters that they will likely becalled racists for backing his anti-immigration and anti-Islam viewsthat have already shaken up the elec-tion campaign.

The launch of Eric Zemmour'srun for the presidency made offi-cial a candidacy that had beengathering steam for months be-fore it then stumbled of late — no-tably after the 63-year-old raiseda middle finger at a woman who didlikewise to him over the weekend.

That flash of temper — whichZemmour later acknowledged onTwitter was “very inelegant" —cast fresh doubt on the temperamentand electability of the author andformer journalist who has polledin low double digits since Septemberdespite having no hands-on polit-ical experience.

Zemmour has drawn compar-isons in France to former USPresident Donald Trump becauseof his rabble-rousing populismand ambitions of making the jumpfrom the small screen to nationalleadership.

Name-dropping Joan of Arc,Napoleon Bonaparte, Gen Charlesde Gaulle and others who shapedFrance's history, Zemmour an-nounced his candidacy in a pre-recorded video, reading from notesand speaking into a large micro-phone. The pose evoked imagery ofradio addresses that De Gaulle fa-mously delivered during WorldWar II as he urged France to rallyto his call against Nazi Germany.

REUTERS

London, Nov 30: An overconfi-dent and assertive China underPresident Xi Jinping and CommunistParty rule risks making miscalculations on the internationalstage, including underestimatingthe resolve of the United States,Britain's spy chief said Tuesday.

In his first major public speechas chief of the Secret IntelligenceService (SIS) known as MI6, RichardMoore said China and Russia wereracing to master technologies such as artificial intelligence andquantum computing.

The world’s spy masters, fromLangley to Moscow, are grappling

with the transformation of Chinainto a superpower challenging thepost-Cold War dominance of theUnited States militarily, economi-cally and increasingly in espionage.

“Adapting to a world affected bythe rise of China is the single great-est priority for MI6,” Moore, 58,said in a speech in London.

Listing areas where Beijing hasbecome more assertive, he singledout China's desire to “resolve theTaiwan issue, by force if neces-sary” as “a serious challenge toglobal stability and peace”. Chinaconsiders the democratically-ruledisland to be part of its territory.

China had stripped Hong Kongcitizens of rights, carried out abuses

in its western Xinjiang province andwas trying “to distort public dis-course and political decision mak-ing across the globe”, Moore said.

“Beijing believes its own prop-aganda about Western frailties andunderestimates Washington’s resolve,” he said. “The risk ofChinese miscalculation throughover-confidence is real.”

The Chinese embassy in Londondid not immediately respond to arequest for comment on Moore's remarks. China has repeatedly hitback at Western criticism of itsactions, saying that the path setby its Communist Party has liftedhundreds of millions of peopleout of poverty.

New variant poses ‘very high’ riskThe world is already unnerved by the more contagious Delta variantthat filled hospitals again in many places, even in some highly vaccinated nations, the latest developments underscored the

need for the whole globe to get their hands on vaccines

The World Health Organisation classified Omicron as a “variant of concern,” due to the number of mutations that might help it spread or evade antibodies from prior infection or vaccination

Omicron brings vax inequity ‘home to roost’London: The emergence of the new omicron variant and the world'sdesperate and likely futile attempts to keep it at bay are remindersof what scientists have warned for months: The coronavirus will thriveas long as vast parts of the world lack vaccines. The hoarding of lim-ited Covid-19 shots by rich countries — creating virtual vaccinedeserts in many poorer ones — doesn't just mean risk for the partsof the world seeing shortages; it threatens the entire globe. That'sbecause the more the disease spreads among unvaccinated popula-tions, the more possibilities it has to mutate and potentially be-come more dangerous, prolonging the pandemic for everyone.

Iran strikes hardline as talks over N-deal resume

The US has imposed a slew of sanctions on Iran since the 1979 takeover of the US Embassy in Tehran

Zemmour, Frenchfar-right pundit,launches Prez run

Overconfident China could makemiscalculations: British spy chief

Lava flows as volcano continues to erupt on the Canary island of La Palma, Spain PTI PHOTO

RAGING INFERNO

Prince Charles, right, receives the Order of Freedom of Barbados from GovernorGeneral Sandra Mason during the ceremony to declare Barbados a Republic,in Bridgetown. (AFP)

Omicron variant detected around the world

Omicron variant first identifiedin South Africa November 24

REUTERS

P11

businessWEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

Let us extend acautious welcome. It isNOT yet a ‘V’ shapedrecovery. The fine printwill bear that outP CHIDAMBARAM | FORMERFINANCE MINISTER

Unemployment rate for all ages in urbanareas rose to 9.3 per cent in January-March 2021 from 9.1 per cent in the samemonth of the previous year, showed aperiodic labour force survey by theNational Statistical Office (NSO).

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE AT 9.3 PC IN JAN-MAR 2021: NSO SURVEY

cmyk

cmyk

We felt that themanagementof the Shriram

Group cannot beentrusted only to oneindividual howevertalented he may be.It would be beneficial if theresponsibility of guiding theorganization and building it moreand more, as we go along, is handledby a few people who are reallytalented in different areas

R THYAGARAJAN | FOUNDER SHRIRAM GROUP

of theday uote

We are excitedto announcethe launch of

Zomato Wings, aplatform to connectinvestors withrestaurants. Just likeambitious restaurant entrepreneurslook for investors, investors alsohunt for brands and teams that havethe potential to become the next big chain

DEEPINDER GOYAL | ZOMATO FOUNDER & CEO

The rise ofonline learning,further fuelled

by the pandemic-induced restrictions,has allowedthousands ofknowledge creators like teachers,fitness instructors and digitalmarketing professionals to monetizetheir expertise and connect digitallywith interested learners

AARTHI ELIZABETH | CHIEF BRAND

EVANGELIST, TRAINERCENTRAL

Extramarks unveilsnew brand identityNew Delhi: Extramarks, India’smost trusted EdTech giant,announced the launch of itsnew logo, visual identity, andcategory positioning. Thelatest version of the learningapp is available for both iOSand Android device users. As apart of this launch, thecompany’s flagship product -Extramarks, the Learning Apphas undergone a completeexperiential overhaul.Extramarks has integrated allits applications in the K-12,JEE, NEET segments and itsschool-based solutions likeassessment center and liveclass into a single platform.The app leverages the proven pedagogy of learn-practice-test whichencourages students towardswholesome learning.

Samsung launchesGalaxy A32, 8GBBhubaneswar: Samsung Indialaunched 8GB storage variantof Galaxy A32 that comes with RAM Plus feature forenhanced multitasking. Theintelligent memory expansionprovides 4GB additional virtualRAM, expanding Galaxy A32’s8GB memory to 12GB. GalaxyA32 comes with 64MP quadrear camera along with 20MPfront camera. Galaxy A32 has6.4″ FHD+ sAMOLED Infinity-Uscreen with 90Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling,browsing and gaming. Galaxy A32 delivers big onperformance with its advancedOcta-Core Mediatek Helio G80processor. It packs 5000mAhbattery and comes with 15Wadaptive fast charging. Galaxy A32 8GB+128GB ispriced at `23,499.

On day-1, Star HealthIPO subscribed 12 pcNew Delhi: The initial publicoffer of Star Health and AlliedInsurance Company Limitedwas subscribed 12 per cent onthe first day of subscriptionTuesday. The three-day IPOreceived bids for 53,19,008shares against 4,49,08,947shares on offer, according toNSE data. The category forRetail Individual Investors(RIIs) received 64 per centsubscription and those fornon-institutional investors 1per cent. The initial publicoffer (IPO) has a fresh issue ofup to `2,000 crore and an offerfor sale of up to 58,324,225equity shares. Price range forthe offer has been set at `870-900 per share.

SHORT TAKES

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Mumbai, Nov 30: Equity indicessurrendered early gains to close inthe red Tuesday, mirroring thenervousness in world marketsabout the impact of the Omicronvariant of the coronavirus onglobal economic recovery.

A depreciating rupee and un-abated foreign fund outflows fur-ther weighed on sentiment,traders said.

After rallying over 900 pointsin intra-day trade, the 30-shareBSE Sensex pared all gains to set-tle 195.71 points or 0.34 per centlower at 57,064.87.

Similarly, the NSE Nifty declined70.75 points or 0.41 per cent to16,983.20 -- closing below the 17,000-mark for the first time in threemonths.

Tata Steel was the top laggardin the Sensex pack, tumbling 3.87per cent, followed by Kotak Bank,Bajaj Auto, M&M, Bharti Airtel,Reliance Industries, IndusInd Bankand Maruti. On the other hand,PowerGrid, Titan, Bajaj Finserv,Nestle India, Bajaj Finance andInfosys were among the gainers,jumping up to 3.43 per cent.

Vinod Nair, Head of Researchat Geojit Financial Services, saiddomestic indices started the ses-sion on a strong footing amid op-timism in global markets follow-

ing the US President ’s an-nouncement that lockdowns arecurrently off the table.

“However, the optimism wasquickly substituted with a suddensell-off in the domestic market asglobal equities slipped into nega-tive territory following Omicron ex-perts’ advice to be cautious. Defyingthe market trend, IT and healthcarestocks along with mid and smallcaps traded with gains,” he noted.

Global markets spiralled lowerafter drugmaker Moderna’s CEOStephane Bancel warned thatCOVID-19 vaccines are unlikelyto be as effective against Omicronas they have been against the Deltavariant.

Sensex, Nifty end in the red asOmicron worries haunt markets

Global markets spiralledlower after Moderna’sCEO Stephane Bancelwarned that vaccinesare unlikely to be aseffective againstOmicron as they havebeen against Delta

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30:The Union gov-ernment's fiscal deficit works outto be ̀ 5.47 lakh crore or 36.3 per centof the budget estimates at the endof October 2021 on the back of im-provement in revenue collection,according to the data released bythe Controller General of Accounts(CGA) Tuesday.

The deficit figures in the currentfiscal appear better than the previousfinancial year when the gap be-tween expenditure and revenuehad soared to 119.7 per cent of thelast year's Budget Estimates (BE)mainly on account of a jump in ex-penditure to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. In absolute terms, thefiscal deficit was `5,47,026 crore atthe end of October, the CGA said.

For the current financial year, thegovernment expects the deficit at6.8 per cent of GDP or `15.06 lakhcrore. Commenting on the data,Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRALimited, said despite the likely rev-enue foregone from the excise andcustoms duty relief, the gross taxrevenue of the central governmentis likely to exceed the 2021-22 BE bya significant `1.8 lakh crore, ofwhich around `60,000 crore wouldbe shared with the states.

“Adding the higher than bud-geted surplus transfer by the RBIto the extra net tax revenues, we ex-pect the Government of India's netrevenue receipts to exceed the 2021-22 BE by ̀ 1.7 lakh crore,” she said.According to the CGA, theGovernment of India receivedabout ̀ 12.79 lakh crore (64.8 per centof corresponding BE 2021-22 oftotal receipts) up to October, 2021comprising `10.53 lakh crore tax

revenue (net to centre), ̀ 2.06 lakhcrore of non-tax revenue and ̀ 19,722crore of non-debt capital receipts.

Vivek Jalan, Partner, Tax ConnectAdvisory, a multidisciplinary taxconsultancy firm, said the bud-geted GST collection was almost ̀ 1lakh crore a month and alreadyin seven months in this fiscal themop-up has reached ̀ 8 lakh crore.

“Increase in GST rates of textiles,solar panels, footwear, job workin alcohol industry, packaging ma-terials, including various circu-lars on supplies like mining, ice-creams clarifying that higher GSTrates are applicable, have pavedthe way for consistently increasedGST collections going forwardtoo,” Jalan added.

Centre’s fiscal deficit at 36pc of FY22 estimate

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Brussels, Nov 30: The EuropeanUnion Wednesday is set to unveila multibillion-euro plan aimed atbolstering the 27-nation bloc’s world-wide infrastructure and influence.

The programme is expected tomobilize up to 300 billion euros(USD 341 billion) in public and pri-vate funds by 2027.

Although the EuropeanCommission, the EU's executivebranch, does not present the proj-ect as an attempt to counter China'smassive infrastructure initiativeseeking to connect Asia with Africaand Europe, the German ambas-sador to the EU said the so-calledGlobal Gateway “has the potential

to turn the EU into a more effectivegeopolitical player.”

“For many partner countries,the offer of a rules-and-values-based cooperation at eye level willbe an attractive alternative to theChinese Belt and Road initiative,”Michael Clauß said.

China's programme aims to de-velop markets and new trade routesconnecting China with the rest ofthe world by weaving a networkof ports, bridges and power plantsthat will yield diplomatic clout andglobal power.

Asked whether the 27-nation EUis trying to counter China's influ-ence with its plan, commissionchief spokesman Eric Mamerdodged the question.

“We know that infrastructurecommunications are essential ele-ments of modern life, and the com-mission is therefore intent on en-suring that we can cooperate withour partners across the globe in this

area constructively," Mamer said.The EU is China's biggest trad-

ing partner, but they are also eco-nomic competitors and strategic ri-vals. As Beijing has become moreassertive in recent years, the bloc

has struggled to balance its com-mercial interests with a country thatit has human rights concerns aboutand sees as “a systemic rival.”

European Commission PresidentUrsula von der Leyen said inSeptember that the goal is to investin quality infrastructure, citing anew underwater fiberoptic cable

connecting Brazil to Portugal andfuture investment in Africa to cre-ate a market for green hydrogen.

The plan also will favour in-vestment in the health, education,climate and digitalization sectors.

Von der Leyen also pledged thatthe Global Gateway will be in linewith high labor and environmen-tal standards.

“There are 25 million peopleout there, who are threatened or co-erced into forced labour," she said.“We can never accept that they areforced to make products — andthat these products then end upfor sale in shops here in Europe. Sowe will propose a ban on productsin our market that have been madeby forced labour."

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30: Shares of GoFashion, which owns women’sclothing brand Go Colors, Tuesdaylisted with a huge premium and set-tled with over 81 per cent gainsagainst its issue price of `690.

It listed at `1,316, reflecting asteep jump of 90.72 per cent on theBSE. The stock further surged 94.34per cent to ̀ 1,341 during the day. Itzoomed 81.53 per cent to close at`1,252.60.

On the NSE, it made its debut at`1,310, jumping 89.85 per cent. Thestock rallied 81.20 per cent to closeat `1,250.30.

In traded volume terms, 10.39lakh shares of the company weretraded at the BSE and over 1.75crore shares at the NSE during

the day. The company commandeda market valuation of `6,765.17crore on the BSE. The initial pub-lic offer of Go Fashion (India)Limited last week received a whop-ping 135.46 times subscription.

The `1,013.6-crore IPO had aprice range of `655-690 per share.

The company is engaged in thedevelopment, design, sourcing,marketing and retailing of a rangeof women’s bottom-wear productsunder the brand 'Go Colors'.

`26,697cr lying indormant accounts of banks, says FMPRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30: As much as`26,697 crore was lying in dormantaccounts of banks, including co-operative banks, as on December31, 2020, Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman informed the RajyaSabha Tuesday.

This money is lying in nearly 9crore accounts which have notbeen operated for 10 years.

As per information receivedfrom the Reserve Bank of India(RBI), as on December 31, 2020, thetotal number of such accounts inScheduled Commercial Banks(SCBs) was 8,13,34,849 and theamount of deposits in such ac-counts was `24,356 crore,Sitharaman said in a reply.

Similarly, she said, the number ofaccounts not operated for more than10 years and the amount in such ac-counts with Urban Co-operative Banks(UCBs) was 77,03,819 and ̀ 2,341 crore,respectively, as on December 31, 2020.“The number of deposit accounts(Public deposits matured but re-maining unclaimed for 7 years in-cluding the year in which they havematured) and the amount in such ac-counts with Non–Banking FinancialCompanies (NBFCs) was 64 and ̀ 0.71crore, respectively as on March 31,2021,” she said. As per the instructionsissued by the RBI to banks videtheir Master Circular on “CustomerService in Banks”, banks are re-quired to make an annual review ofaccounts in which there are no op-erations for more than one year.

8 core industriesoutput up 7.5 pc New Delhi: The output of eight core sec-tors rose by 7.5 per cent in October onhealthy performance by coal, naturalgas, refinery products and cement seg-ments, official data released Tuesdayshowed. The production of eight infra-structure sectors of coal, crude oil,natural gas, refinery products, fertilis-ers, steel, cement and electricity hadcontracted by 0.5 per cent in October2020, according to the data released bythe commerce and industry ministry.Core sectors’ growth stood at 4.5 percent in September this year. The eightcore industries comprise 40.27 percent of the weight of items included inthe Index of Industrial Production (IIP).During April-October this fiscal, thesectors’ output rose by 15.1 per cent ascompared to a contraction of 12.6 per cent in the same period of the previous year.

UCO Bank’swalkathonPOST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30:UCO Bank,Zonal Office, Bhubaneswar or-ganised a walkathon recently tomark the celebration of Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsav.

Zonal Manager ArupanandaJena inaugurated the programme.All the staff members of ZonalOffice, RTC, Field Inspectorate andAshoka Market branch partici-pated in the event. Customer meetand walkathon were also organ-ised by other branches of the bank.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30: 5G is on trackto become the dominant mobileaccess technology in terms of sub-scriptions globally by 2027 with5G representing around 39 per centof mobile subscriptions or 500 mil-lion users at the end of 2027 inIndia, telecom gear maker Ericssonsaid Tuesday.

5G is expected to account foraround 50 per cent of all mobile sub-scriptions at a global level – covering75 per cent of the world's popula-tion and carrying 62 per cent ofthe global smartphone traffic by thesame time period.

Sharing the insights from itslatest Mobility Report, PatrikCerwall, Executive Editor ofEricsson Mobility Report, saidthere has been a 300-fold increase

in mobile data traffic since 2011 –the year in which the report wasfirst published.

“5G will become the fastest de-ployed mobile generation to date...Enhanced with an updated esti-mate of close to 660 million 5G sub-scriptions by the end of this year.The increase is due to strongerthan expected demand in China

and North America, driven partlyby decreasing prices of 5G devices,”he said.

Cerwall added that there wasalso a net addition of 98 million 5Gsubscriptions globally in the thirdquarter of 2021, compared to 48million new 4G subscriptions. Atthe end of 2021, it is estimated that5G networks will cover more than

two billion people.Since 2011, the deployment of

4G LTE networks has been pivotalin generating 5.5 billion new smart-phone connections worldwide, con-tributing to the market availabil-ity of more than 20,000 different 4Gdevice models. Also, mobile net-work data traffic was up 42 percent, year-on-year, in the third quar-ter of 2021 accounting for approx-imately 78 exabytes (EB), includingtraffic generated by Fixed WirelessAccess (FWA) services.

An exabyte is about one billiongigabytes.

In the September 2021 quarteralone, mobile data traffic was morethan all mobile traffic ever gener-ated up until the end of 2016. Newforecasts reveal that total mobile net-work data traffic is likely to reach370EB by the end of 2027.

‘India to have 500mn 5G subscriptions by 2027-end’

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: StateEnergy Minister Dibya ShankarMishra said that one more 9 MWSmall Hydro Electric Project (SHEP)will come up in Bargarh district byJanuary, 2022.

Mishra reviewed the develop-ment of Small Hydro Electric proj-ects (SHEP) in the state. He laid em-phasis on facing the challengesfrom climate change and on in-creasing green power in the state.“SHEPs are of great contributionafter solar to meet the need forgreen power of the state. As ofnow, the state has achieved to re-alise potential of 99 MW from 5SHEPs,” the minister said.

Mishra advised the department

to expedite the other SHEPs in thepipeline. Citing the example of de-velopment of small, mini, microhydro projects in Himachal Pradesh,the minister insisted on explo-ration of mini, micro categoryhydro projects in the state. PrincipalSecretary, Energy Department,Nikunja Bihari Dhal advised toexpedite the preparation of Detail

Project Report (DPR) of the otherpotential sites.

It was revealed that two SHEPsof 18 MW and 20 MW on MachkundRiver will be implemented soonafter the clearance of JointCommittee of Odisha and AndhraPradesh governments.

The minister also insisted onspreading safety and energy con-servation messages among thecommon people to prevent elec-trical accidents and create aware-ness about the efficient use of en-ergy. He expressed satisfactionover the revenue collections fromthe industries towards ElectricityDuty (ED) compared to last year.Industries are performing well asindicated from the electricity con-sumption of industries, he added.

EU set to unveil massive worldwide infrastructure planFor many partner countries, the offer of arules-and-values-basedcooperation at eye levelwill be an attractivealternative to theChinese BRI

Go Fashion shares jumpover 81 pc in debut trade

STATE GOVT TO SET UP 9MW SHEP IN BARGARH

Printed and published by Tathagata Satpathy on behalf of Navajat Printers and Media Pvt. Ltd. and printed at Navajat Printers, B-15 Industrial Estate, Rasulgarh, Bhubaneswar -751010, Odisha;Phone:7894447142(Marketing). Editor: Tathagata Satpathy, RNI No. ORIENG/2011/37159

cm

yk

cm

yk

cm

yk

cm

yk

P12WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 1 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR

4 Indian officialschosen for 2023 WCBhubaneswar: TheInternational HockeyFederation (FIH) hasappointed four Indian officialsin various capacities for theFIH Odisha Hockey Men’sWorld Cup 2023, Bhubaneswar- Rourkela. The FIH gave outthis information late Mondaynight. The officials are SoniaBathla (technical official), Col(Dr) Bibhu Nayak, RaghuPrasad and Javed Shaikh (bothumpires). Congratulating theIndian officials on theirappointment, GyanendroNigombam, president, HockeyIndia said, “It is a matter ofgreat pride for Hockey Indiathat our officials will representat the marquee tournament in2023. I wish all the four, mybest wishes on theirendeavours.”

Eves remain staticin ICC ODI rankings Dubai: India batters Mithali Rajand Smriti Mandhana held onto their third and sixth spotsrespectively while all-rounderDeepti Sharma was alsosteady at fifth position in thelatest ICC women’s ODIrankings released Tuesday.Mithali had 738 points andSmriti 710 points in her kitty inthe batting rankings. SouthAfrica’s Lizelle Lee topped the list with 761 points. Deeptiwith 299 points was behindWest Indian all-rounder HayleyMatthews (319 points).

Bangladesh loseChattogram: Opener Abid Ali(91, 148b, 12x4) missed out onback-to-back centuries bynine runs but Pakistancomfortably chased down a202-run target to beatBangladesh by eight wicketsin the first Test which endedhere Tuesday. Abid andAbdullah Shafique (73, 129b,8x4, 1x6)) put on 151 runs forthe first wicket to set up theplatform for the emphaticvictory. After their departure,skipper Babar Azam (13 n o)and Azhar Ali (24 n o)completed the formalities.Mehidy Hasan and TaijulHasan took a wicket apiecefor Bangladesh.

China worried Beijing: China has said thatthe Omicron variant of thecoronavirus is a concern fororganisers of the BeijingWinter Olympics. However, itis confident that the Gameswill be held as scheduled inFebruary. At a daily briefingTuesday, Foreign Ministryspokesperson Zhao Lijian saidOmicron would ‘certainlybring some challenges interms of prevention andcontrol’. “However, I’m fullyconfident that the WinterOlympics will be held asscheduled, smoothly andsuccessfully,” Zhao asserted.China which maintains someof the world’s strictest anti-virus travel restrictions alsosaid it will not allow overseasspectators at the Games.

Croatia in semis Turin: Croatia became the firstteam to reach the Davis Cupsemifinals after seeing off Italy2-1. Going into the doubles tieMonday with the score reading1-1, the Croatian doubles pair ofMate Pavic and Nikola Mektichad no problems in subduingthe Italian duo of Fabio Fogniniand Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-4.Borna Gojo set up Croatia’s winby surprisingly beating higher-ranked Lorenzo Sonego 7-6 (7-2), 2-6, 6-2. Sinner evenedthe score for Italy when he beatformer US Open championMarin Cilic 3-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Winning startKuala Lumpur: The top-seeded Indian men’s teamwon their first two matches inthe 20th Asian SquashChampionships here Tuesday.The women’s team, seededthird, also began well, beatingthe Philippines 3-0 withoutdropping a game. In the men’ssection, the Indian team ledby Saurav Ghosal, routed thePhilippines 3-0. Ghosal,Mahesh Mangaonkar andVelavan Senthilkumar scoredstraight game wins over theirrespective opponents. Earlier,Ramit Tandon, Mangaonkarand Senthilkumar postedcomfortable wins over theirIraqi opponents to get theteam off to a flying start in thefirst match. AGENCIES

SHORT TAKES

AGENCIES

Vasco, Nov 30: Hector Rodas andAridai Suarez scored a brace eachas Odisha FC came from behind tobeat SC East Bengal (SCEB) 6-4 ina thrilling ISL match here Tuesday.Darren Sidoel (13th) opened thescoring for the Kolkata side withSemboi Haokip (80th) and DanielChima (90th, 90+2 added on time) alsogetting into the scoresheet.

However, goals from Rodas (33rd,40th), Javi Hernandez (45th), Suarez(71st, 90+4’) and Isak Vanlalruatfela(82nd) helped the Bhubaneswar-based side notched up a thrillingwin and equal ATK Mohun Baganwith six points on top of the table.This was Odisha FC’s second successive win.

SCEB started proceedings in alively manner. Veteran RajuGaikwad in one of his signaturelong throw-ins delivered the ball intothe box. A mistimed clearancefrom the Odisha defence saw the ballfinding Sidoel, who banged it intothe top-right corner of the net.

Odisha FC then came into theirown and took control of proceed-ings. An unmarked Rodas was

quick to nod in a free-kick by Javi.The same pair then linked up againfor Odisha to take the lead. Javi’scorner-kick was headed into thegoal by Rodas who left Gaikwadfor dead inside the box. Then Javicurled the ball into the East Bengalnet from a corner to make it 3-1 forOdisha FC just before the interval.

Aridai’s ballistic free-kick gaveSuvam Sen in the SCEB goal nochance as the former started thesecond-half goal show. Haokip nod-ded in a second-half consolation,heading in a swerving delivery fromMohd Rafique, but by then the matchwas in Odisha FC’s grasp. Isak, whocame on as a substitute, also joinedthe party with a sharp strike.

Chima too got his first two goalsin SCEB colours in the dying min-utes of the game, but Aridai de-livered the final blow in a 10-goalthriller.

Odisha FC head coach KikoRamirez wasn’t however, a veryhappy man despite the victory. Hefelt that the team have to improvetheir defensive qualities to chal-lenge top teams in the ISL. “Our aimshould be not to concede goals,”Ramirez said.

PNN & AGENCIES

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: Theirmojo back after two resoundingwins, defending champions Indiawould bank on their attacking in-stinct and drag-flicking prowessto outwit European giants Belgiumin the quarterfinal of the FIH Men’sJunior Hockey World Cup hereWednesday. India had beaten thesame opponent 2-1 in the finals ofthe last edition of the tournamentto emerge champions.

India however, will have to playwithout committing too many errors,particularly in defence, as they willnot get a second chance, this beingthe knockout stage of the tourna-ment. So the Boys in Blue will haveto play out of their skins.

India boast of a fiery attackingline-up with the likes of UttamSingh, Araijeet Singh Hundal,Sudeep Chirmako and Maninder

Singh. Uttam and Maninder, inparticular, have been brilliant in-side the opponents’ circle. But theBelgian defence will also be strongerin comparison to the teams thatIndia have played against so far.

To add to India’s strength is thepresence of penalty corner optionsin vice-captain Sanjay Kumar,Hundal, Shardanand Tiwari andAbhishek Lakra, and all of whomhave scored in the tournament so far.

Sanjay, in particular, has been inominous form with set pieces andhas registered back-to-back hat-tricks against France and Canada,while Hundal also scored three

goals against Poland. The backline, however, remains

a concern and the likes of Sanjay,Tiwari, Lakra and Yashdeep Siwachwill have to be on their toes to keepthe Belgians at bay.

India’s chief coach Graham Reid,who is in charge of the junior sidefor this tournament, sounded con-fident ahead of the crucial tie.However, he was quick to point outBelgium are a quality opponent.

“You see the DNA comes downfrom the senior team, and the sen-ior team are the World no 1,” theAustralian said about Belgium.“You also saw some vulnerability

which the Malaysians exploitedand we will look to do the same. Theteam that can come out and playtheir natural game will be the win-ners,” Reid added.

Reid however, warned his boysto guard against complacencyif they wish to secure a thirdJunior World Cup title and sec-ond on the trot.

“I don’t really think that shouldbe a problem, as far as taking theseguys easy. Add to that the fact thatwe played them in the final. They(Belgium) do have a history ofbeing really good...For the last 10years, Belgium have been per-forming at that level. Hopefully,our guys can stay switched on,”Reid stated.

In a big blow for India, strikerManinder Singh has been ruledout of the tournament with a ham-string injury and has been replacedby Bobby Singh in the squad.

AGENCIES

Kanpur, Nov 30: Basking in theglory of becoming India’s thirdhighest Test wicket-taker, senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin hasrevealed that he feared his careerwould not survive the chaos un-leashed by the Covid-19 pandemiclast year.

The 35-year-old Ashwin, whotook Monday his 419th wicket inhis 80th Test to surpass HarbhajanSingh (417 in 103 Tests), said hethought his career was at ‘cross-roads’ after India’s New Zealandtour early last year. IncidentallyAshwin dismissed Tom Latham inNew Zealand’s second innings togo past Harbhajan’s tally.

“To be very modest about whatis happening in my life and my ca-reer over the last couple of years,I did not know if I would go on toplay Test cricket when we were inthe pandemic, in the lockdown,”Ashwin said in an interview byIndia teammate Shreyas Iyer for theBCCI website.

“I had not played (India’s) lastTest in Christchurch (which beganFebruary 29, 2020). I was standingat the crossroads thinking whetherI would play Tests again, where ismy future headed, do I get in tothe Test team which is the onlyformat I am playing. But God hasbeen kind and I have been able toturn things around,” Ashwin

pointed out.Ashwin said Harbhajan Singh in-

spired him to take up off-spin afterhe saw the veteran’s exploits dur-ing the historic Test series againstAustralia in 2001.

“When he (Harbhajan) was bowl-

ing that wonderful spell againstAustralia in 2001, I never thoughtI would even be an off-spinner (oneday) on that particular day. But,inspired by him, I picked up the ballto bowl off-spin and here I am.Thank you Bhajji pa for inspiringme,” Ashwin stated.

“It is a wonderful milestone. Itis a matter of pride. I got my 200thwicket on the same ground andnow I surpassed Harbhajan’s tallyon this very same ground again,”Ashwin added.

Ashwin is now behind AnilKumble (619) and Kapil Dev (434)in India’s all-time list of highest Testwicket-takers.

INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

Bangalore, Nov 30: With an eyeon the Asian Champions Trophytitle, the Indian women’s hockeyteam left Tuesday for Donghae,Korea from here. The tournament,scheduled to be held December 5 -12, will see India up against China,Korea, Japan, Thailand and Malaysiain the single-pool competition.

The eves will open their cam-paign December 5 against Thailandfollowed by matches againstMalaysia (Dec 6), Korea (Dec 8),China (Dec 9) and Japan (Dec 11).The two top teams in the pool willplay for the title, December 12.

The eves will have a new captainin goalkeeper Savita, as regular cap-tain Rani Rampal is undergoingrehab. Before the team’s departureSavita said that the players are verypositive and confident of doing well.

“Definitely the players are ex-cited. This is our first tournamentafter the Olympics and we have aresponsibility to do well. We havequite a few youngsters who arepart of the team and will be mak-ing their International debut, theyare also looking forward to thisexposure,” Savita said.

“No doubt, we go in as a topranked team but we don’t wantthat reputation to create any addedpressure. We just want to stick toour basics and ensure whateverwe have planned is executed prop-erly,” Savita added.

Vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka toostated that the team can’t rest ontheir laurels of doing well in theOlympics. She emphasised thatthis will be a fresh start to their sea-son ahead. “We can’t be complacentabout exceeding expectations inTokyo,” the veteran defender said.

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

New Delhi, Nov 30: PRoyalChallengers Bangalore (RCB) re-tained their former captain ViratKohli while Mumbai Indians pre-dictably retained India’s T20 cap-tain Rohit Sharma and pace spear-head Jasprit Bumrah ahead of theIPL mega auction.

India’s greatest white ball skip-per and Chennai Super Kings(CSK) talisman Mahendra SinghDhoni is his team’s second reten-tion behind all-rounder RavindraJadeja while Ruturaj Gaikwad isthe fourth name in the list. MoeenAli has also been retained by CSK.

The major names to be releasedare out of form all-rounder HardikPandya and dashing keeper batterIshan Kishan, who have been apart of Mumbai Indians (MI) corewhile leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahaland Purple Cap winner HarshalPatel have been released by RCB.

Punjab Kings released their lastyear’s skipper KL Rahul, while SRHretained Kane Williamson and re-leased star spinner Rashid Khan.

MI’s decision not to retain Pandyadid not come as a surprise as theall-rounder is struggling with in-jury and poor form. His inabilityto bowl must have prompted MIto take the decision. However,Chahal’s release by the RCB musthave come as a surprise to many.

BELGIUM HAVE THE ABILITY TO CHALLENGE THE INDIAN JUNIORS IN CRUCIAL GAME

Crunch time for colts 2ND WIN ON THE TROT FOR KIKO’S SIDE

Odisha FC pip SCEBin 10-goal thriller

READY TO ROAR: The Indian colts go through their training drill Tuesday ahead of their quarterfinal encounter Wednesday against Belgium OP PHOTO

ROAD TO QUARTERFINALS

Ashwin thanks ‘Bhajji Pa’FEW MONTHS BACK, BOWLER WAS IN DOUBT ABOUT PLAYING TESTS AGAIN

Ravichandran Ashwin talks to Shreyas Iyer during the interview BCCI PHOTO

Probably I never wished tosurpass any of the legendsbut I am doing it. I am lucky

and honoured to have done itRAVICHANDRAN ASHWIN

ASIAN CHAMPIONS TROPHY IN KOREA

EVES LEAVE WITH POSITIVE INTENT

AGENCIES

Paris, Nov 30: Lionel Messi wonthe men’s Ballon d’Or award for arecord-extending seventh time ata ceremony here Monday night.Incidentally he had won the lastedition of the Ballon d’Or in 2019before last year’s awards werecancelled due to the pandemic. Sonow Messi is well ahead of archrival Cristiano Ronaldo who haswon the award five times. Betweenthem they have won 12 of the last13 editions with the exceptioncoming in 2018 when Luka Modricclaimed the prize.

Alexia Putellas became the thirdwinner of the women’s award foran outstanding season withBarcelona and Spain.

Messi had also bagged the Ballon

d’Or in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and in2015. The 34-year-old scored 38 goalsin 48 games last season forBarcelona and was part of thesquad that won the Copa del Rey.Messi then led Argentina to CopaAmerica glory in July which wasthe first major international titleof his glittering career.

Messi had a tearful departurefrom the Camp Nou in August andjoined Paris Saint-Germain. Hehas played just 11 games for PSGso far, scoring four goals.

Prolific Bayern Munich andPoland striker Robert Lewandowskifinished second and Chelsea andItaly midfielder Jorginho was thirdin the voting by a jury of journal-ists from around the world. Ronaldo,meanwhile, came in sixth.

“I’m very happy to be here, happy

to keep fighting for new trophies,”Messi said through a translatorMonday. “I don’t know how manyyears I have left, but I hope I winmany more. I’d like to thank allmy (for mer) teammates atBarcelona and Argentina.”

Messi finished with 613 points totop Lewandowski on 580. “I wouldlike to say to Robert that it’s anhonor to be your rival, and every-one would say you deserved to winit last year,” Messi said.

Jorginho was third with 460points after helping the Londonclub win the Champions League andhis nation win the EuropeanChampionship

Awarded by ‘France Football’magazine, the Ballon d’Or has beengiven out to men every year since1956 when Stanley Matthews won.

PSG AND ARGENTINA STAR WINS AWARD FOR A RECORD-EXTENDING 7TH TIME

Messi’s hold over Ballon d’Or continues

IN 7TH HEAVEN: Lionel Messi poseswith the Ballon d’Or trophy

POST NEWS NETWORK

Bhubaneswar, Nov 30: AbdulRana scored four goals includinga hat-trick while Abuzar found thenet thrice as erstwhile Asian powerhouse Pakistan thrashedUSA 18-2 to qualify for the ninth to12th place classification match ofthe FIH Junior hockey World cuphere Tuesday.

Already out of the knockoutstage, it turned out to be a goal-fest for Pakistan as Rana (27th,33rd, 35th, 54th minutes) found thenet four times, while Abuzar (14th,28th, 57th) struck three field goalsto toy with the USA defence. RizwanAli (20th, 46th) also scored twogoals for the Asian side.

Umar Sattair (23rd), RoomanKhan (24th), Abdul Rehman (27th),

Moin Shakeel (36th), AbdulandManan (37th), Mohsin Hasan(39th), Ali Ghazanfar (42nd), MuhibUllah (43rd), and MuhammadHammadudin (56th) were the othergoal scorers for Pakistan.

USA, who are being mentored byformer India player and coachHarendra Singh, scored both theirgoals through penalty corner con-versions by Finlay Quaile (30th,40th). Pakistan will next playSouth Africa in the ninth to 12thclassification tie Thursday. SouthAfrica beat Canada 7-3 in anotherninth to 16th place match.Incidentally, Harendra was thecoach of the side when India wonthe trophy in 2016.

Meanwhile, in another classifi-cation match of the day, Polandeked out a close 2-1 win over Chile.

Classification match of Jr World Cup hockey tourney

Pak hammer USA

INDIA

lost to France 4-5

beat Canada 13-1

beat Poland 8-2

BELGIUM

beat South Africa 5-1

drew with Malaysia 1-1

beat Chile 3-0

Odisha FC players celebrate after a goal against SCEB, Tuesday

Franchises retainMSD, Kohli, Rohit;Hardik released