61ccb93c10fe0.pdf - Orissa Post
11
cmyk cmyk IRREGULAR by MANJUL My New Year will start with joy and relief. I finally managed to file my I-T return 12 PAGES | ` 5.00 BHUBANESWAR | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30 | 2021 VOLUME 11, ISSUE 269 | www.orissapost.com Khairi’s foster mother breathes her last Cuttack: Nihar Nalini Swain, the foster mother of tigress Khairi passed away Wednesday. She was 88 and died due to age- related ailments, informed a relative. Nalini had been residing at an old age home here since the death of her husband, Saroj Roy Choudhury, a former forest officer. In 1972, Nalini and Saroj rescued a female tiger cub from Khaira river bank in Balasore district and named it Khairi. The cub became an integral part of the family as it grew into a full grown tiger. Many stories, documentaries and films were made on this unique human- animal bonding which remained till the tigress breathed her last in 1981 due to an ailment. Artistes perform during the International Odissi Dance Festival at the auditorium of the GKCM Odissi Research Centre in Bhubaneswar, Wednesday OP PHOTO n Despite Odisha government’s decision to reopen primary schools from January 3, the surge in Covid-19 cases may force postponement POST NEWS NETWORK Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: A day after the Odisha government announced reopening of primary schools for students of classes I to V, Dr Rama Raman Mohanty, Director of Medical Education and Training (DMET) said Wednesday that the decision may be revoked in view of the prevailing Omicron situation. Cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been on the rise in India. So far 21 states including Odisha have reported more than 900 cases of Omicron infection. “The Odisha government may have taken the decision to reopen primary schools keeping in mind situation before the emergence of the Omicron variant. Also the daily Covid-19 cases in Odisha had dropped below the 200- mark,” Mohanty said. “However, the decision may be revoked as the sit- uation is more complex now and Omicron cases are increasing,” he added. Mohanty informed that Covid- 19 cases in India registered 40 per cent increase Wednesdsay. He said the Health Department is mulling over the steps to be taken for curb- ing the infections. “People should stay away from crowded places, wear masks, main- tain social distancing and wash their hands regularly as a part of precautionary measure. These are the ways to prevent the spread of the virus,” informed Mohanty. School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash had ear- lier announced Tuesday that primary schools in Odisha that had been closed since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 would reopen January 3, 2022. It meant that close to 27,000 schools in the state would have the students back in classes I to V. The decision evoked mixed re- actions among educationalists and parents of the students with a ma- jority of them opposing the deci- sion. Many parents had opined that as the kids tend not to follow protocols they would be prone to get- ting infected by the virus. Classes I to V may not resume Jan 3 ODISHA REGISTERS 9TH OMICRON CASE Bhubaneswar: The number of cases of Omicron infection in Odisha went up to nine Wednesday with a returnee from the UAE testing positive. The 31-year-old man from Keonjhar had tested positive for Covid-19 on return. The genome sequencing of the man’s sample confirmed that he had been infected by the Omicron variant. The man is currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital and his condition is stated to be stable. n Naveen Patnaik asks new officers joining the Odisha Civil Services to discharge their responsibilities judiciously and honestly POST NEWS NETWORK Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: The Odisha government has promoted three IPS officers to the Inspector General (IG) category with effect from January 1, 2022. The officers are Deepak Kumar, Asish Kumar Singh and Satyabrata Bhoi, all of the 2004 batch. “The place of posting of the of- ficers will be decided by the Home department,” said a notification issued Wednesday by the General Administration and Public Grievance department. Other than these three, 2004- batch IPS officer Nitinjeet Singh, who was on central deputation, has been allowed proforma pro- motion to the grade of IG of Police in Level-14 of pay matrix with ef- fect from the same date. In another separate develop- ment, three 2008-batch officers, namely Umashankar Dash, Prakash R and Satyajit Nayak, have been pro- moted to the DIG category. Three senior cops also have been promoted to the Selection Grade. They are Akhileswar Singh, Brijesh Kumar Rai and Charan Singh Meena. Earlier in the day, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik welcomed 153 new officers who joined the Odisha Civil Services in various po- sitions. Patnaik interacted with them virtually during the orien- tation programme at the Lok Seva Bhawan here. He asked them to discharge their duties with honesty and judiciously. “Civil Service is very unique and special in its own way. It is not just a profession. It is a service towards your motherland and its common man,” Patnaik pointed out. 6 promoted to IG, DIG ranks 14 CYBERCRIME PS INAUGURATED Bhubaneswar: In an aim to control rising cyber crimes and economic offences in the state, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday inaugu- rated 14 police stations that will only investigate such cases. Patnaik said that his government is committed to provide to the people of Odisha a modern system with a well-trained police force to counter technology- based crimes. The aim is to protect their lives, liberty and property effectively, Patnaik added. The CM further informed that economic offences have emerged as a blue collar crime and the need of the hour is to tackle those. MORE P3 Dedicated vax centres for kids POST NEWS NETWORK Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: The Odisha government chalked out details Wednesday to set up ded- icated Covid-19 vaccination cen- tres for the inoculation of chil- dren between 15 to 18 years age group, director of Health and Family Welfare department Bijay Panigrahi informed. “All the district collectors in the state have been directed to set up dedicated Covid-19 vaccination centres in their respective dis- tricts. Besides, they have been instructed accordingly to fix spe- cific time slots for administer- ing vaccines to children at al- ready existing centres,” Panigrahi told mediapersons here. He also informed that more than 25 lakh children in the above mentioned age category will be eligible for vaccination in the state. WEATHER BHUB 27.0° 26.8° CTK 17.5° MAX MIN TEMP Humidity 89% 91% Rainfall Nil Nil Forecast Generally cloudy sky 17.0° INDEX VARIATION SENSEX 57806.49 90.99 NIFTY 17213.60 19.70 DOLLAR 75.19 `0.04 EURO 84.66 `0.18 GOLD `47,777 `265 SILVER `61,630 `884 BULLION BOURSES CURRENCY MARKET WATCH n This new finding will go a long way in designing vaccines in future in the fight against various variants of coronavirus PRESS TRUST OF INDIA Washington, Dec 29: Scientists have identified antibodies that neutralise Omicron and other variants of coronavirus by tar- geting areas that remain essen- tially unchanged as the virus mutates. The research has been published in the journal ‘Nature’. The findings will certainly help design vaccines and antibody treatments that will be effective against not only Omicron but other variants that may emerge in the future. “This finding tells us that by fo- cusing on antibodies that target these highly conserved sites on the spike protein, there is a way to overcome the virus’ continual evo- lution,” said David Veesler, an as- sociate professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine in the US. The Omicron variant has an un- usually high number of 37 muta- tions in the spike protein, which the virus uses to enter and infect the human cells. “The main questions we were try- ing to answer were: how has this constellation of mutations in the spike protein of the Omicron vari- ant affected its ability to bind to cells and to evade the immune system’s antibody responses,” Veesler said. To assess the effect of these mu- tations, the researchers engineered a disabled, non-replicating virus, called a ‘pseudovirus’, to produce spike proteins on its surface, as coronaviruses do. They then created ‘pseudoviruses’ that had spike proteins with the Omicron mutations and those found on the earliest variants identified in the pandemic. The researchers first looked to see how well the different versions of the spike protein were able to bind to protein on the surface of cells. This protein is called the an- giotensin converting enzyme-2 (ACE2) receptor. The scientists found the Omicron variant spike protein was able to bind 2.4 times better than spike protein found in the virus isolated at the very beginning of the pan- demic. They also discovered that the Omicron version was able to bind to mouse ACE2 receptors efficiently suggesting Omicron might be able to ‘ping-pong’ between humans and other mammals. The researchers then looked at how well antibodies against ear- lier isolates of the virus protected against the Omicron variant. The team found that antibodies from people who had been infected by earlier strains and from those who had received one of the six most-used vaccines currently available all had reduced ability to block infection. Antibodies from people who had been infected, recovered, and then had two doses of vaccine also had reduced activity, but the reduction was less, about fivefold, clearly demonstrating that vaccination after infection is useful. “This shows that a third dose is really, really helpful against Omicron,” Veesler said. However, when they tested a larger panel of antibodies that have been generated against ear- lier versions of the virus, the re- searchers identified four classes of antibodies that retained their ability to neutralise Omicron. Antibodies that can block Omicron variant identified n The move will benefit 62 lakh families owning motorcycles or scooters who will get 10 litres of petrol every month at slashed rates AGENCIES Ranchi, Dec 29:Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren Wednesday announced concession of `25 per litre on petrol prices for two wheel- ers owned by the poor in the state from Republic Day next year. Soren made the announcement on the completion of two years of the JMM-led coalition government in the state. The concession will be given for 10 litres of petrol for every month, a statement by the state govern- ment said later. “To provide relief to the poor and middle class families of Jharkhand who are impacted by the increased fuel prices the govern- ment has decided to a give relief of `25 per litre on petrol to two-wheeler owners from January 26, 2022,” Soren said. “A poor person, having a mo- torcycle in the house, is unable to drive it due to lack of money to buy petrol ... An amount of `25 per litre would be transferred to the bank account of poor ration card holders. This system is going to be implemented from January 26 next year. A poor family can get this amount up to 10 litres of petrol per month,” said a state- ment quoting Soren. “Jharkhand government is work- ing fast to bring its action plans on the ground. Prices of petrol and diesel are sky-rocketing. This has adversely impacted the poor and middle-class families. A poor man – despite having a motorcycle at home – can’t use it because he can’t afford petrol – can’t go to the mar- ket to sell his farm produce,” he fur- ther added. The Centre had November 3 cut excise duty on petrol and diesel by a record `5 and `10 per litre to help bring down rates from their highest-ever levels. It had become effective from November 4. ` 25/L petrol sop for Jharkhand 2-wheelers
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Transcript of 61ccb93c10fe0.pdf - Orissa Post
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IRREGULAR by MANJUL
My New Year will start with joy and relief. I finally
managed to file my I-T return
12 PAGES | `5.00BHUBANESWAR | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30 | 2021VOLUME 11, ISSUE 269 | www.orissapost.com
Khairi’s foster mother breathes her lastCuttack: Nihar Nalini Swain, the foster mother of tigress Khairipassed away Wednesday. She was 88 and died due to age-related ailments, informed a relative. Nalini had been residingat an old age home here since the death of her husband, SarojRoy Choudhury, a former forest officer. In 1972, Nalini and Sarojrescued a female tiger cub from Khaira river bank in Balasoredistrict and named it Khairi. The cub became an integral partof the family as it grew into a full grown tiger. Many stories,documentaries and films were made on this unique human-animal bonding which remained till the tigress breathed herlast in 1981 due to an ailment.
Artistes perform during the International Odissi Dance Festival at the auditorium of the GKCM Odissi ResearchCentre in Bhubaneswar, Wednesday OP PHOTO
n Despite Odisha government’sdecision to reopen primaryschools from January 3, the surge in Covid-19 cases mayforce postponement
POST NEWS NETWORK
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: A day afterthe Odisha government announcedreopening of primary schools forstudents of classes I to V, Dr RamaRaman Mohanty, Director ofMedical Education and Training(DMET) said Wednesday that thedecision may be revoked in view ofthe prevailing Omicron situation.Cases of the Omicron variant of thecoronavirus have been on the risein India. So far 21 states includingOdisha have reported more than 900cases of Omicron infection.
“The Odisha government may havetaken the decision to reopen primaryschools keeping in mind situationbefore the emergence of the Omicronvariant. Also the daily Covid-19 casesin Odisha had dropped below the 200-mark,” Mohanty said. “However, thedecision may be revoked as the sit-uation is more complex now andOmicron cases are increasing,” he
added. Mohanty informed that Covid-19 cases in India registered 40 percent increase Wednesdsay. He saidthe Health Department is mullingover the steps to be taken for curb-ing the infections.
“People should stay away fromcrowded places, wear masks, main-tain social distancing and washtheir hands regularly as a part ofprecautionary measure. These arethe ways to prevent the spread ofthe virus,” informed Mohanty.
School and Mass EducationMinister Samir Ranjan Dash had ear-lier announced Tuesday that primaryschools in Odisha that had been closedsince the outbreak of the pandemicin 2020 would reopen January 3, 2022.
It meant that close to 27,000 schools inthe state would have the studentsback in classes I to V.
The decision evoked mixed re-actions among educationalists andparents of the students with a ma-jority of them opposing the deci-sion. Many parents had opinedthat as the kids tend not to followprotocols they would be prone to get-ting infected by the virus.
Classes I to V maynot resume Jan 3
ODISHA REGISTERS9TH OMICRON CASE Bhubaneswar: The number ofcases of Omicron infection inOdisha went up to nineWednesday with a returneefrom the UAE testing positive.The 31-year-old man fromKeonjhar had tested positivefor Covid-19 on return. Thegenome sequencing of theman’s sample confirmed thathe had been infected by theOmicron variant. The man iscurrently undergoingtreatment at a privatehospital and his condition isstated to be stable.
n Naveen Patnaik asks newofficers joining the Odisha CivilServices to discharge theirresponsibilities judiciouslyand honestly
POST NEWS NETWORK
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: The Odishagovernment has promoted threeIPS officers to the InspectorGeneral (IG) category with effectfrom January 1, 2022. The officersare Deepak Kumar, Asish KumarSingh and Satyabrata Bhoi, all ofthe 2004 batch.
“The place of posting of the of-ficers will be decided by the Homedepartment,” said a notificationissued Wednesday by the GeneralAdministration and PublicGrievance department.
Other than these three, 2004-batch IPS officer Nitinjeet Singh,
who was on central deputation,has been allowed proforma pro-motion to the grade of IG of Policein Level-14 of pay matrix with ef-fect from the same date.
In another separate develop-ment, three 2008-batch officers,namely Umashankar Dash, PrakashR and Satyajit Nayak, have been pro-moted to the DIG category.
Three senior cops also have beenpromoted to the Selection Grade.They are Akhileswar Singh, BrijeshKumar Rai and Charan Singh Meena.
Earlier in the day, Odisha ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik welcomed153 new officers who joined theOdisha Civil Services in various po-sitions. Patnaik interacted withthem virtually during the orien-tation programme at the Lok SevaBhawan here. He asked them todischarge their duties with honestyand judiciously.
“Civil Service is very unique and
special in its own way. It is not justa profession. It is a service towardsyour motherland and its commonman,” Patnaik pointed out.
6 promoted to IG, DIG ranks14 CYBERCRIME PS INAUGURATEDBhubaneswar: In an aim to controlrising cyber crimes and economicoffences in the state, Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik Wednesday inaugu-rated 14 police stations that will onlyinvestigate such cases. Patnaik saidthat his government is committed toprovide to the people of Odisha amodern system with a well-trainedpolice force to counter technology-based crimes. The aim is to protecttheir lives, liberty and propertyeffectively, Patnaik added. The CMfurther informed that economicoffences have emerged as a bluecollar crime and the need of thehour is to tackle those. MORE P3
Dedicated vaxcentres for kidsPOST NEWS NETWORK
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: TheOdisha government chalked outdetails Wednesday to set up ded-icated Covid-19 vaccination cen-tres for the inoculation of chil-dren between 15 to 18 years agegroup, director of Health andFamily Welfare department BijayPanigrahi informed.
“All the district collectors in thestate have been directed to setup dedicated Covid-19 vaccinationcentres in their respective dis-tricts. Besides, they have beeninstructed accordingly to fix spe-cific time slots for administer-ing vaccines to children at al-ready existing centres,” Panigrahitold mediapersons here. He alsoinformed that more than 25 lakhchildren in the above mentionedage category will be eligible forvaccination in the state.
WEATHERBHUB
27.0° 26.8°CTK
17.5°MAX
MINTE
MP
Humidity 89% 91%Rainfall Nil Nil
Forecast
Generallycloudy sky
17.0°
INDEX VARIATION
SENSEX 57806.49 90.99
NIFTY 17213.60 19.70
DOLLAR 75.19 `0.04
EURO 84.66 `0.18
GOLD `47,777 `265
SILVER `61,630 `884BULL
ION
BOU
RSES
CU
RREN
CY
MARKET WATCH
n This new finding will go along way in designing vaccinesin future in the fight againstvarious variants of coronavirus
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Washington, Dec 29: Scientistshave identified antibodies thatneutralise Omicron and othervariants of coronavirus by tar-geting areas that remain essen-tially unchanged as the virusmutates. The research has beenpublished in the journal ‘Nature’.The findings will certainly helpdesign vaccines and antibodytreatments that will be effectiveagainst not only Omicron butother variants that may emergein the future.
“This finding tells us that by fo-cusing on antibodies that targetthese highly conserved sites onthe spike protein, there is a way toovercome the virus’ continual evo-lution,” said David Veesler, an as-
sociate professor at the Universityof Washington School of Medicinein the US.
The Omicron variant has an un-usually high number of 37 muta-tions in the spike protein, which the
virus uses to enter and infect thehuman cells.
“The main questions we were try-ing to answer were: how has thisconstellation of mutations in thespike protein of the Omicron vari-ant affected its ability to bind to cellsand to evade the immune system’santibody responses,” Veesler said.
To assess the effect of these mu-tations, the researchers engineereda disabled, non-replicating virus,called a ‘pseudovirus’, to producespike proteins on its surface, ascoronaviruses do.
They then created ‘pseudoviruses’that had spike proteins with theOmicron mutations and those foundon the earliest variants identifiedin the pandemic.
The researchers first looked tosee how well the different versions
of the spike protein were able tobind to protein on the surface ofcells. This protein is called the an-giotensin converting enzyme-2(ACE2) receptor.
The scientists found the Omicronvariant spike protein was able tobind 2.4 times better than spikeprotein found in the virus isolatedat the very beginning of the pan-demic. They also discovered that theOmicron version was able to bindto mouse ACE2 receptors efficientlysuggesting Omicron might be ableto ‘ping-pong’ between humansand other mammals.
The researchers then looked athow well antibodies against ear-lier isolates of the virus protectedagainst the Omicron variant. Theteam found that antibodies frompeople who had been infected by
earlier strains and from thosewho had received one of the sixmost-used vaccines currentlyavailable all had reduced abilityto block infection.
Antibodies from people who hadbeen infected, recovered, and thenhad two doses of vaccine also hadreduced activity, but the reductionwas less, about fivefold, clearlydemonstrating that vaccinationafter infection is useful.
“This shows that a third dose isreally, really helpful againstOmicron,” Veesler said.
However, when they tested alarger panel of antibodies thathave been generated against ear-lier versions of the virus, the re-searchers identified four classesof antibodies that retained theirability to neutralise Omicron.
Antibodies that can block Omicron variant identified
n The move will benefit 62lakh families owningmotorcycles or scooterswho will get 10 litres of petrol every month at slashed ratesAGENCIES
Ranchi, Dec 29:Jharkhand ChiefMinister Hemant Soren Wednesdayannounced concession of `25 perlitre on petrol prices for two wheel-ers owned by the poor in the statefrom Republic Day next year. Sorenmade the announcement on thecompletion of two years of theJMM-led coalition government inthe state.
The concession will be given for10 litres of petrol for every month,a statement by the state govern-ment said later.
“To provide relief to the poor
and middle class families ofJharkhand who are impacted by theincreased fuel prices the govern-ment has decided to a give relief of`25 per litre on petrol to two-wheelerowners from January 26, 2022,”Soren said.
“A poor person, having a mo-torcycle in the house, is unable todrive it due to lack of money to
buy petrol ... An amount of `25 perlitre would be transferred to thebank account of poor ration cardholders. This system is going tobe implemented from January 26next year. A poor family can getthis amount up to 10 litres ofpetrol per month,” said a state-ment quoting Soren.
“Jharkhand government is work-ing fast to bring its action plans onthe ground. Prices of petrol anddiesel are sky-rocketing. This hasadversely impacted the poor andmiddle-class families. A poor man– despite having a motorcycle athome – can’t use it because he can’tafford petrol – can’t go to the mar-ket to sell his farm produce,” he fur-ther added.
The Centre had November 3 cutexcise duty on petrol and dieselby a record `5 and `10 per litre tohelp bring down rates from theirhighest-ever levels. It had becomeeffective from November 4.
`25/L petrol sop for Jharkhand 2-wheelers
Mumbai: RajeshKhanna is called the f irst‘Superstar’ of Hindi film industry
and there was amad craze forhim duringthe 1970s.
On hisbir th day
Wednesday, former actress andsocial activist Somy Ali recalledhow her mom had the biggestcrush on the late actor.
“My mom had the biggest crush
on him and all shewould listen to washis songs, the ma-jority of themsung by Kishoreda, which would
blast over the taperecorder in our
house when I wasa kid in Pakistan,"
she reminisced.The Aao Pyar
Karein actress also re-called watching Anand.“I remember my mothercrying profusely whenKaka ji died in theend. When I wasseven years old,my father organ-ised a trip for mymom and me tovisit Mumbai,”said the formerHindi film ac-tress.
“My dad wasclose friends with
Dutt Saab's manager, and he fa-cilitated our visiting sets withAmit ji, Dharam ji, Rekha ji, and
Kaka ji. So, I was luckyenough to meet him
when I was sevenand he invitedmom and me tohis house‘Ashirwaad’for lunch,”she shared.
IANS
Mumbai: Miss Universe 2021 HarnaazSandhu doesn’t mince words when
accepting that she has her heartset on Hindi film industry. “I am
an actor by profession, andI have been part of the-
atre for 12 years,” saysthe beauty-pageant
winner. Sandhu has fea-
tured in Punjabifilms like Yaara
Diyan Poo Baranand the yet-to-be-re-
leased Bai Ji Kuttange.She made her television debut
with the show, Udaariyaan. Withher latest win propelling her into the
limelight, she now hopes to venture intothe Hindi film industry. “However, I don’t
want to be a normal actress. I want to be oneof those who are very influential, and whobreak stereotypes by choosing strong characters,being wise, and inspirational.”
But even as she plans to train attention toher acting career, Sandhu says she will beequally devoted to using her platform to furtherseveral causes. “Obvious issues plagu-ing our society are climate changeand women empowerment. Theyare close to my heart. I haveseen my mother advocate for thecauses. I plan to use my win tonot only celebrate my crown,but also address the respon-sibility that come with it.” AGENCIES
P2 TAYLOR SWIFT IS A FORCE OF NATURE: DON MCLEAN
leisureAmerican singer Don McLean has heaped praise onTaylor Swift, describing the singer as a force ofnature. The comment came after Swift’s 10-minuteversion of All Too Well overtook Don’s American Pieas the longest-in-length chart-topper in US history.
Sixty two year-old Canadian singer andphotographer Bryan Adams, who has been in thepublic eye for decades, has admitted he would bethrilled if no one remembered him and would love itif all traces of him were removed from the Internet.
THURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR
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AQUARIUSWorried about your future?Just approach your workmore seriously. You may beoverburdening yourself by helping others.While this is noble, Ganesha says it should-n't be at the cost of your own health. Bynoon, your spirits will lift. You realise thatit's okay to be a little selfish.
PISCESToday is likely to be anextremely competitive anddemanding day for you. Youneed to be extremely careful in how you goabout doing your tasks, so as to not giveanyone a chance to pick out mistakes inyour work.
SAGITTARIUSYour role in bringing aroundimportant and influentialdeals will be pivotal indeed,says Ganesha. However, at work, the finalresult may not actually be up to the stan-dards you expected. But a pleasantevening with your beloved will clear allsuch shadows and lighten your mood.
LIBRAYou are at your best whencommunicating with others,and your silver-tonguedspeech will charm many. Your day will bespent in negotiating, meetings, and ininteracting with people to get thingsdone. At work, you may be put in chargeof some investigative task. Towards theevening, people around you will find youincredibly charming and irresistible.
SCORPIOTake the lonely road todayin business ventures, advis-es Ganesha. Professionally,you are capable of managing massivemissions. Be set to administer yourdepartment all by yourself. You shallstake a claim as a great team leadertoday, says Ganesha.
LEOIt is time to erase all nega-tive vibes in your surround-ings, says Ganesha. Thestars ensure that you nurture only thepositive aspects of your life today.Chances are that you might find yourselfperched atop the horns of dilemma atwork, but that shouldn't throw you offyour game.
VIRGOSigns indicate that you shallbring changes you wantedat your workplace. Cashflow will be outrageous, even as yourloved ones – on whom it is spent –will love it. Members of the oppositesex will be charmed by your appeal,says Ganesha.
GEMINIToday, luck is on your side.In the afternoon, you willremain reserved and sub-dued. But as the day progresses, you willbe a different person altogether. You willtransform into an enterprising and outgoing person.
CANCERYour day will revolve aroundyour spouse and mattersrelated to him/her. Thanksto the love and warmth that he/she willshower on you, you may not want to go towork, and you would expect the samefrom him/her.
ARIESYou will put your eloquenceto excellent use today, andit will be praised by one andall, particularly by members of the oppo-site sex, and you will bask in all the glory.However, Ganesha suggests that youspare some time for meditation to bal-ance your internal and external worlds.
FORTUNE FORECAST
TAURUSThis day you could be in forsome unexpected andunpleasant shocks, warnsGanesha. There is a strong likelihood ofgetting insulted or humiliated. You musttherefore be alert and on your toes. Youcould that way, manage to avert situa-tions that may threaten your standingand reputation.
CAPRICORNIt is time again for thatonce-in-blue-moon moodswing. You will be easilyirked by everyday activities and may letsmall, less important things bother youtoo much, foresees Ganesha. But thedarkest hour is just before dawn. Thingsshould start looking up later in the day.
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.
WOULD BE THRILLED IF NONE REMEMBERED ME: BRYAN
‘I don’t want to be a normal actress’
Mumbai: Actor-turned-authorTwinkle Khanna shared a throwbackpicture of herself with her father,yesteryear’s superstar RajeshKhanna, on his birthanniversaryWednesday,December 29.Twinkle took to herInstagram as shewalked down mem-ory lane with a pic-ture of her giving apeck on her father’scheek.
The Melaactress,who shares herbirthday with herlate father, wrote in the caption:“He always said I was the best pres-ent he could have ever received, asI tumbled feet first into the world onhis birthday. A little star looking
up at the biggest one in the galaxy.It’s our day together, now andforever.”
Immediately, she was inun-dated with goodwishes fromfriends, startingwith her debutco-star BobbyDeol to coutu-rier ManishMalhotra andactor SikandarKher.
Earlier, hus-band AkshayKumar had putup a special birthday
post for Twinkle on his Instagramfrom their Maldives vacation. Thepoetic social media post soon caughteveryone’s attention and went viralwithin minutes. IANS
Manoj tops list of most popularOTT performers Hyderabad: Actor Manoj Bajpayee is the mostpopular OTT actor in India in 2021, accordingto an Ormax Media survey.
In the survey, actor Manoj Bajpayee toppedthe list of the most popular OTT actors, followedby Pankaj Tripathi.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui grabbed third place inthe list, while Samantha Ruth Prabhu, whocaptivated audiences as ‘Raji’ in The Family Man2’, was fourth.
Radhika Apte, Kay Kay Menon, Saif AliKhan, Sushmita Sen, Jithendra Kumar, andTamannah Bhatia bagged spots in the top tenOTT actors.
Ormax Media took to Twitter to publish theresults of the survey, “Most popular OTTactors in India (Se p-Nov 2021) :@BajpayeeManoj stays at no. 1, @kaykay-menon02 (no. 6), @thesushmitasen (no. 8), and@tamannaahspeaks (no. 10) make an entry
in the Top 10 #OTT #Streaming.” IANS
Controversy dogs Prithvirajover the great king’s clanJaipur: The Gujjars inRajasthan have threatened tostop the screening of Hindi filmPrithviraj starring AkshayKumar if the movie continuesusing the term ‘Rajput’ forPrithviraj Chauhan.
The community claimed thatPrithviraj was from the Gurjarcommunity and was not a Rajput.However leaders from the Rajputcommunity have strongly re-jected their claim and said thatGurjars were initially gauchar,who then converted into Gujjarand then Gurjars.
They basically come fromGujarat and hence got this name,
claimed Shri Rajput Karni Senanational spokesperson VijendraSingh Shaktawat.
This is a place-related termand not a caste-related term,he added.
Gurjar leader Himmat Singhsaid, “#Prithviraj Movie ismade on the basis of PrithvirajRaso written by Chand Bardaiand the same was shown in theteaser of Prithviraj movie..After studying the inscriptionsavailable in history, researchershave believed that Chand Bardaiwrote it around 400 years backafter the reign of PrithvirajChauhan.” IANS
Twinkle’s heartwarmingpost on dad’s birthday
‘Mom had a big crush
on ‘Kaka Ji’
Somy Ali
cmyk
cmyk
P3THURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR
GIFTS FOR LORD
Devotee Subrata Rathadonates silver utensils forthe performance ofSrimandir rituals,Wednesday
INFECTED RECOVERED DEAD
World 28,34,29,292 25,20,81,976 54,34,331
India 3,48,08,886 3,42,51,292 4,80,592
Odisha 10,54,381 10,44,443 8,457
COVID-19 TRACKER
downtown
POST NEWS NETWORK
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: As part ofthe 5T principle of governance,Chief Minister Naveen PatnaikWednesday launched online ver-ification of identity and submis-sion of life certificates for the pen-sioners.
The Chief Minister virtuallylaunched the new verification sys-tem on the occasion of an orien-tation programme conducted fornewly-recruited 153 officers ofOdisha Civil Services Wednesday.
Under the new system, identi-fication of the pensioners and sub-mission of life certificates can nowbe accomplished through artifi-cial intelligence (AI) based video-verification process. Launchingthe system, Patnaik said it’s intrue spirit of 5T and Mo Sarkarinitiative of his government.
“It will be of immense help tothe pensioners as they can submittheir identification and life cer-tificates digitally by using their mo-bile phones, without visiting anygovernment office. This facilitywill also be available at the MoSeva Kendras located across thestate,” he said.
Claiming that Odisha is the firststate to implement such digital serv-ice for the pensioners, Patnaik ex-pressed happiness over the initiative.
Welcoming the new officers,the Chief Minister said, “Civilservice is unique in its own way.
It is not just a profession. It is a serv-ice towards your motherland andits common man. At no point oftime and under no circumstancesyou should let down the trust of thecommon man. Each and every de-cision and action you take must betowards strengthening their hopeand trust reposed on you.”
“This day marks the beginningof a new chapter in their (new re-cruits) life. They have now taken therole of a responsible civil servantand are now expected to shoulderthe roles and responsibilities thatcome attached to it,” said Patnaik.
Stating that development of thestate and welfare of the poor remainat the core of all initiatives of thestate government, Patnaik said itis only through hard work and de-votion of young and capable offi-cers like them that the people will
be able to reap the true benefits ofstate’s initiatives and Odisha canbecome the Number 1 state.
He said that initiatives like ‘5T’and ‘Mo Sarkar’ are directed to-wards bringing transformativechanges in the governance mech-anism. The government is work-ing dedicatedly to provide doorstepservices to the people, he added.
He also launched e-Diary, underwhich all information contained inthe Government Diary can be read-ily and conveniently accessed by cit-izens using their mobile phones.
Secretary to CM (5T) VKPandian said as the officers havebeen inducted to this service purelyon the basis of merit, they shouldalso follow the same principles intheir public career to maintainabsolute transparency, treat peo-ple professionally with empathy.
KULDEEP SINGH, OP
New Delhi, Dec 29: The outgoing 2021might be quite a busy year for Odishain the Supreme Court with a numberof cases being heard by the apexcourt but a couple of long pendingmatters remained sub-judice.
Odisha has approached the apexcourt on numerous issues but inter-state disputes turned out to be themajor causes of worry for the state.
In 2007, Odisha had filed an origi-nal suit in SC against Andhra Pradesh(AP) challenging the multi-purposePolavaram project, being constructedby the latter on River Godavari. Odishaalleged that the project would lead tosubmergence of huge tracts of landin Malkangiri district and makescores of tribals homeless and land-less. This case is still pending in theSC even after several rounds of hear-ings. The plea was last heard inFebruary 2020.
In 2021, Odisha also moved theSC challenging the National GreenTribunal (NGT) order on Polavaram
but that matter was also heard onlyonce. The hearing ended with a sim-ple adjournment as Justice LNageswara Rao recused himselffrom hearing the case. During thehearing of the petition against NGTorder, Odisha had pleaded for earlylisting of the original suit. An ad-vocate appearing for an NGO hadalso written to the SC for early list-ing of Polavaram case but in vain.
Another crucial case which couldnot make any headway in 2021 wasthe Srimandir case. The SC had inits interim order in 2019 directedthe state government to chalk outstrategy for hassle-free darshan fordevotees in the temple. The SC hadlast heard the matter in January2020 and adjourned it for four weeks.The petition was filed in 2018 alleg-ing harassment of devotees at the 12thcentury shrine. The petitioner, NaliniPadhi, had sought proper mecha-nism for hassle-free darshan fordevotees.
Apart from these two cases, therewere some days which went in the
favour of Odisha as the apex courttook up Vamsadhara river disputefor hearing this year. As many asthree petitions of Odisha againstAP have been pending in SC overVamsadhara river dispute. The thirdpetition was filed this year againstVamsadhara tribunal order passedin June 2021. In a major break-through, the SC clubbed all threepetitions and commenced the hear-ing of the matter. The SC heard thematter December 8 last and postedit for final disposal in January 2022.
Another inter-state dispute thatknocked the legal corridor was in theform of a contempt plea against APover Kotia group of villages. Odishaalleged that the neighbouring statehas violated the apex court’s judge-ment of 2006 and held panchayatelections in Kotia group of villagesthis year. The SC after holding sev-eral hearings on the matter directedboth the states to look for a politicalsolution to the border dispute.
In 2021, the SC had expressed ex-asperation over the cut and pasteorder of the Orissa High Court. Theapex court had observed that the cut-ting and pasting of tribunal orders mayonly add the volumes in judgementbut will not address the core issues.
This year, a plenty of high profilecases from Odisha also reached thelegal corridors in Delhi. OdishaLokayukta filed a petition in the SCchallenging Orissa High Court orderin Pradeep Panigrahi corruptioncase. The case is sub-judice. The SChad also refused to entertain a writpetition filed by Panigrahi seeking
registration of a criminal caseagainst Odisha Lokyukta on chargesof forgery.
The Pari murder case of Nayagarhalso made its way to the SC withthe parents of the 5-year old girlseeking a probe by central agency.However, the apex court restoredthe petition of Pari’s father in theHigh Court and granted liberty to par-ents to amend the writ petition in theHigh Court. The SC had also setaside an order of the High Courtwherein the HC had directed Pari’sfather to approach district magistratefor his grievances.
Another case that reached theapex court was the death of activistAditya Dash. However, the apexcourt refused to interfere in the caseciting that a petition was alreadypending with the High Court.
Moreover, in a major relief to pri-vate un-aided schools in Odisha, theSC had exempted them from thebinding effect of the state govern-ment’s notification directing waiverof fees for the pandemic period.
2021: 2 crucial Odisha cases remained unsettled in SC
POST NEWS NETWORK
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: In thewake of rising cybercrimes and eco-nomic offences in the state, ChiefMinister Naveen PatnaikWednesday inaugurated 14 policestations that will investigate onlythese cases.
Inaugurating the police stations,Patnaik said his government iscommitted to providing the peopleof Odisha with a modern systemwith a well-trained police force tocounter technology-based crimes.“The aim is to protect their lives,liberty and property effectively,”Patnaik added.
The Chief Minister furtherstated that economic offences haveemerged as blue collar crimes andthe need of the hour is to tacklethese anti-social activities.
“Cybercrimes have been rap-idly emerging as a dominant crimein society. What makes it moreworrisome is that it is anonymous,and not restricted by jurisdictional
boundaries. Since the source ofinformation is invariably basedon servers existing in foreign coun-tries, collection of evidence againstthe perpetrators becomes reallychallenging,” he said.
Patnaik further said that eco-nomic offences have also emergedas a blue collar crime which notonly affects the citizens but causesdeep injuries to the financial healthof the country.
The 14 police stations will be at
Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Keonjhar,Angul, Balasore, Mayurbhanj,Puri, Koraput, Bhawanipatna,Bolangir and Kandhamal.
At present, three such policestations are there at Sambalpur,Rourkela and Berhampur. Thesethree police stations will also bemerged with the new system. Withthe opening of new police stations,the total number of such policestations in Odisha will reach 14.
The new police stations will
have trained policemen and tech-nical experts. They will be equippedwith latest hardware and softwarerequired for investigating eco-nomic and cyber offences, hepointed out.
The Chief Minister also inau-gurated three upgraded police sta-tions. While the first upgraded po-lice station has been opened atInfo Valley Special Economic Zone(SEZ), the second has been openedat Bayalis Mouza under CuttackUrban Police District, and the thirdhas been located at Pahal underBhubaneswar Urban Police District.
These police stations will ful-fill the longstanding demands of thecitizens of the areas and willstrengthen policing in the sub-urban areas of the twin city.
Minister of State, Home DibyaShankar Mishra expressed confi-dence that the new police stationswill be able to contain cyber andeconomic offences. Secretary toChief Minister (5T) VK Pandianmoderated the programme.
ARIIA: KIIT tops inpvt univ category New Delhi: The Kalinga Institute ofIndustrial Technology secured the topposition among the universities anddeemed universities (private/self-finance technical) in the Atal Ranking ofInstitutions on InnovationAchievements (ARIIA) 2021 announcedby the Education Ministry, Wednesday.The Gandhi Institute of Engineering andTechnology ranked between 26th and50th in the category of self-finance/pri-vate institutions. Similarly, the CVRaman College of Engineering, GandhiInstitute for Technology and SiliconInstitute of Technology ranked between26th and 50th in the category of privateor self-financed college/institutes whileGandhi Institute for Education andTechnology and InternationalManagement Institute ranked above50th in the private college category.
PNN/AGENCIES
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: A dele-gation of BJP, including three leg-islators, Wednesday sought the in-tervention of Governor Ganeshi Lalfor reservation of seats for theOther Backward Classes (OBCs)in the upcoming panchayat electionsin the state.
A memorandum signed by BJPMLAs Lalitendu BidyadharMohapatra, Mukesh Mahaling andSanatan Bijuli was submitted to theGovernor to press for the demand.
Even though OBCs constituteabout 54 per cent of the state's pop-ulation, the state government de-prived them of their rights by notgiving reservation in PanchayatiRaj Institutions (PRIs), saidMohapatra.
“We have requested the Governornot to hold the three-tier panchayatelections until reservation of seatsfor OBC in the rural bodies ismade,” he said.
In their memorandum, the BJP
MLAs said the Constitution man-dates advancement and adequaterepresentation of the SC, ST andOBCs. Adequate representation ofOBCs in local self-government is oneof the objectives of the very ideaof decentralisation of power andtaking governance to the grass-roots level.
However, the move of the Odishagovernment to proceed with thepanchayat elections without reser-vation for OBCs is strictly con-trary to the object, intent and pur-pose of the constitutional schemeof advancement and adequate rep-resentation of OBCs, they alleged.
“It is quite unfortunate thatOdisha government is actively pur-suing to conduct the panchayatelections without reservation forthe OBCs. The election would de-prive the people of OBC communityof their rights for five long yearswhich by no stretch of logic can besaid to be a short period, causinggrave prejudices to the backwardclasses,” read the memorandum.
Stating that a similar matter issub-judice in the Supreme Court,the BJP lawmakers said the uniongovernment has already filed a re-view petition before the apex courtDecember 27 to allow reservationfor the OBCs in the local bod-ies/municipal corporations for thetime being till the states comply withthe triple test criteria.
The MLAs requested theGovernor to take up the issue withthe State Election Commission(SEC) in order to ensure panchayatelections are held with reserva-tion for the OBCs through consti-tutional mechanism.
CM unveils AI-basedlife certificate system
State gets 14 cybercrime police stations
Claiming that Odisha is the first state to implement such digital service forthe pensioners, the Chief Minister expressed happiness over the initiative
BJP knocks Guv’s door forOBC quota in rural polls
POST NEWS NETWORK
Barang, Dec 29: NandankananZoological Park (NZP) is among the15 zoos in the country which will beupgraded to international standards,Principal Chief Conservator ofForests (PCCF) Sisir Kumar Rathosaid on the 62nd Foundation Day ofthe zoo here Wednesday.
Ratho said, “After introduction ofthe modern car parking and re-vamped toy train, efforts are on to re-develop the bus stand nearNandankanan. With the Centre ac-cepting our proposal, Nandankananhas become one of the 15 zoos inIndia to get upgraded to interna-tional standards with all modern fa-cilities.” PCCF (Wildlife) Shashi
Paul, who attended the event as itsguest of honour, said, “NZP enclo-sures will be redesigned soon. We’vesigned a pact with Tierpark Berlinin Germany for the purpose. New an-imals and birds will be introducedat NZP for which agreements havebeen signed with zoos in Sri Lankaand Singapore under the animal ex-change programme.”
Forest and Environment MinisterBK Arukha inaugurated four busesthat will exclusively ply in Chandaka-Dampara Wildlife Sanctuary. Touristscan book a 13-seater bus for Rs 13,000and enjoy the joyride to the sanctu-ary, it was learnt.
The NZP authorities have shutthe zoo for public from December 30to January 3 fearing Omicron spread.
Nandankanan to be made world-class zooIMD forecasts rain, fogBhubaneswar: The IMD Wednesday pre-dicted light to moderate rain and densefog for several places across Odishafrom Thursday. However, winter isunlikely to return until January 19. As perthe IMD forecast, Bargarh, Sambalpur,Jharsuguda Sundargarh, Deogarh, AngulKeonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts havebeen given heavy rainfall and hailstormwarning until December 30. Similarlywarnings of dense fog has been issuedfrom December 30 to January 1 for several places in the state.
Dignitaries at the inauguration of cybercrime police stations in Cuttack
CM Naveen Patnaik, in presence of 5T Secretary VK Pandian, welcomes 153Odisha Civil Services officers
The newly-recruited OCS officers
63 OAVs next yearBhubaneswar: School and MassEducation secretary Satyabrata SahuWednesday said that the state government will open 63 OdishaAdarsha Vidyalayas (OAVs) next year.This was revealed during a workshopon capacity building of DEOs onstrengthening teaching learning.Entrance exams for admissions toOAVs will start February 18, 2022.
power post P4
E uropean countries are currently divided over whether to join USPresident Joe Biden’s diplomatic boycott of the upcoming WinterOlympics in Beijing. The episode underscores yet again that when it
comes to dealing with China, Europe and the United States truly are an oceanapart.
Beyond sharing fundamental political values, the US and Europe often em-ploy similar rhetoric about the challenge China poses to the internationalorder. Nonetheless, most European governments cannot reconcile their in-terests with the vision of a US-led coalition of democracies standing up tothe world’s autocracies, and European officials balk at pursuing a China pol-icy focused on containment, under the guise of competition.
While the European Union wants to deepen transatlantic cooperation, thereis no consensus on how to do so without alienating China or underminingthe very international system it aims to defend. Nor are European govern-ments convinced of America’s reliability as a partner. Biden might value thetransatlantic relationship, but his predecessor, Donald Trump, did not. Whois to say what the next US president – possibly Trump himself – will standfor? This doubt is a key motivation behind the EU’s effort to operationaliseits vision of ‘strategic autonomy.’
To be sure, there is scope for transatlanticcollaboration on China. In fact, efforts to ad-vance such cooperation are already in mo-tion, in the form of initiatives like the US-EUDialogue on China and the US-EU Trade andTechnology Council. Joint action to counterChina’s anti-competitive commercial andtrade practices, export and investment re-strictions in response to China’s human-rightsabuses, and a push for high standards foroverseas infrastructure projects should bewelcomed.
But the current US-EU agenda on Chinamight be overly ambitious. Clearer prioritisationis needed to maximise the benefits of coordi-nation. Furthermore, differing legal systemsand threat perceptions in the US and Europewill make progress in key areas – such as car-bon taxes, antitrust policy, or responses toChinese disinformation campaigns – painfullyslow. The prospects for meaningful militaryand security cooperation vis-à-vis China areespecially limited. While European countrieshave made some symbolic moves – for exam-ple, the German warship Bayern recentlydemonstrated the right to free passage in theSouth China Sea – they are wary of goingmuch further.
This is the case even for France, the onlyEuropean country with a significant militarypresence in the Indo-Pacific. As French ForeignMinister Jean-Yves Le Drian recently ex-plained, “We do not underestimate the depthof competition with China, which can be fe-rocious, and the need for a constant evaluationof risks, but we try to avoid the militarisationof our strategy to allow us to include – re-spectful of their sovereignty – all interestedcountries.”
This unwillingness to take a hard stance on China is set to persist. WhileGermany’s new government does appear likely to adopt a somewhat firmertone, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has taken a cautious line, making clear thatall actions should be “carefully weighed” and emphasising the need to seeka cooperative approach.
So, the US should not expect Germany to start viewing relations with Chinathrough a primarily ideological lens any time soon. The communication fail-ures surrounding the AUKUS defence agreement between Australia, the UnitedKingdom, and the US – a deal that blindsided France, which lost a major de-fence contract – further underscore the limits of US-Europe military coop-eration in the Indo-Pacific.
But transatlantic cooperation is hardly the only way Europe can influencethe US-China relationship – and mitigate the risks that its rapid deteriora-tion implies. Strategists are currently scrambling to draw lessons from his-tory and devise an approach that enables the two sides to compete withoutcatastrophe, particularly armed conflict. Europe can help here.
The EU should consider launching a diplomatic initiative reminiscent ofthe Helsinki Process, credited with reducing tensions between the Soviet andWestern blocs in the 1970s. Through such a process, Europe could broker agree-ments to promote de-escalation, risk reduction, and crisis management,thereby reducing the likelihood of armed conflict.
Europe’s limited capacity to project military power in the Indo-Pacific couldbe an asset in this context, as it bolsters European actors’ credibility as hon-est brokers and trusted intermediaries. Compared to more direct stake-holders, the EU might be better positioned to mediate thorny issues such asTaiwan and the South China Sea. It might even be able to promote constructivediplomacy in the domains of cyber and outer space. In these contexts,American and Chinese forces regularly operate in proximity, and a miscal-culation could lead to war.
No one should underestimate the difficulty of establishing rules of theroad that are robust enough to avert conflict. But Europe has a comparativeadvantage in this area – one that it has demonstrated repeatedly in the past.For example, the European Commission and European countries played acentral role in delivering multilateral export-control regimes, such as theNuclear Suppliers Group and the Wassenaar Arrangement. Europe hasalso played a critical role in negotiations with Iran over its nuclear programme.
An EU-led de-escalation initiative in the Indo-Pacific is far from a sure thing,especially given the recent increase in tensions between the EU and China.But it would align with the EU’s professed goal of pursuing an inclusive ap-proach to the region that strengthens the rules-based international order.More important, it offers perhaps the best chance of averting war betweengreat powers. Is that not why the EU was created?
Robert Williams is Executive Director of Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center. Moritz Rudolf is a postdoctoral fellow at
Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center. ©PROJECT SYNDICATE
E ven as India’s macroeconomicsituation improves, it maynot yet be the time to cele-
brate. The World Bank sees rise inglobal extreme poverty. However, theIMF says India’s economy is poisedfor a rebound after enduring a sec-ond wave of COVID-19. “What hap-pens in India has a big impact, bothin the region and in the world,”Luis Breuer, IMF’s Senior ResidentRepresentative to India, says.
India’s broad range of fiscal,monetary and health responses tothe crisis supported its recovery and,along with economic reforms, arehelping to mitigate a longer-lastingadverse impact of the crisis, ac-cording to the latest annual reviewby IMF. Though policy steps helpedmitigate the pandemic, it’s stilllikely to result in greater povertyand inequality. And the path of re-covery will follow the path of thevirus. “There's a lot of uncertaintyabout COVID,” Breuer said. “Wecannot rule out future waves.”
Despite large increases in India’sCentral Budget, the state budgets arepresenting problems with con-traction of revenues and risingdeficits. In the face of dwindlingrevenue receipts, the Reserve Bankof India observed that the statestook recourse to expenditure com-pression. As a result, developmen-
tal expenditure was squeezed.Simultaneously capital expendi-ture was cut in key social and eco-nomic services, including medicaland public health, irrigation andflood control, transport and rural de-velopment. This underscores theneed for raising additional resources.
Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman precisely for this rea-son placed the second batch of sup-plementary demands for additionalspending of Rs 3.73 lakh crore.This involves higher than expectedcash outgo of Rs 2.99 lakh crore. Therest would be through cut in ex-penditures.
The items of additional expen-diture include Rs 62,057 crore forpast liabilities of Air India, Rs58,430 crore for fertilizer subsidies,Rs 49,805 crore for department ofpublic distribution and food. A sig-nificant recovery of Rs 13,901 crorerecovery was made from fugitivesVijaya Mallya, Nirav Modi andMehul Choksi.
The high borrowings may havean impact on finances and wouldrequire high-paced growth to checkthe difficult effects on finances andeconomic conditions in the yearsahead. It means the sailing for thecommon man may not be easy withpossible impact on consolidation ofthe economy due to higher debt
servicing cost and further increasein the process of running the gov-ernment.
The greatest problem is in in-creasing consumption demand. Itaccounts for 50 per cent of the totalGDP. In the second quarter, privatefinal consumption expenditure reg-istered a growth of 8.64 per centyear-on-year compared to 11 percent contraction a year back. Thisindicates an enhanced economicperformance. This is followed by gov-ernment financial consumptionexpenditure growth of 8.7 per centagainst contraction of 23.9 per centin 2020-21. Agriculture shows agrowth of 4.49 per cent and manu-facturing 5.5 per cent.
Everything, however, is not inshape. The World Bank finds thatdebt loads in emerging marketsand developing economies havespiked during the pandemic. Thechallenge is acute, says GlobalEconomic Prospects and comesafter a decade that saw the fastest,biggest and broadest expansion ofdebt levels around the world.
A concern is that developingeconomies will need to be carefulas they would have to withdrawpost-pandemic fiscal support andlook to increase the efficiency ofpublic spending. The World Banksays that debt burden will be felt long
after the virus abates, as servic-ing costs rise, slowing recoveriesand hindering efforts to addressother development challenges. Theconcerns are equally good for India.
In reality, the World Bank says thatthere is more debt than what meetsthe eye because “it is not a verystraightforward exercise.” Globaldebt surveillance today depends,says the World Bank, on a patchworkof databases with different stan-dards and definitions. They con-tain large gaps: the report shows thatpublicly available tallies of debtstocks in low-income countries canvary by as much as 30 per cent of acountry’s GDP because of diver-gent definitions and standards inlocal and international databases.
Most projects in India are hav-ing high debt and its related prob-lems. Meanwhile, the continuingfarmer agitations in various waysin Ghaziabad, Noida and elsewherein northern India, have becomemore assertive in their demands.Omicron is being watched care-fully. It has its impact on the stockmarket and if there is another lock-down, the cost could be higher.India remains important to worldeconomy, as IMF representativeLuis Breuer says. So a positivegrowth for India would decide thefuture.
INFA
MUTATION OF APARTHEIDT
he reaction by govern-ments in the GlobalNorth to the discoveryof the Omicron variant
of COVID-19 in South Africa hasprovided further proof – as if anymore were needed – of the deeplyinequitable response to the coro-navirus pandemic. The backlashagainst African countries wasswift and severe, as if barringtravellers from the region couldsomehow keep the rest of theworld safe.
It hasn’t, and closing borderswon’t work when the next fright-ening variant emerges. Global in-justice, it turns out, is very bad forpublic health.
Although more than half theworld’s population has now beenvaccinated against COVID-19, only8% of people living in lower-incomecountries have received a vaccinedose, compared to 48% in lower-middle-income countries and muchhigher rates in high-income coun-tries. As of November, the UnitedStates had administered morethan twice as many doses thanhad been given in all of Africa.
Given these numbers, it is nosurprise that variants of concerncontinue to emerge and spread rap-idly in countries with low vacci-nation rates. And the disparity isnot an accident. It is a direct resultof nationalist policies and vaccinehoarding by wealthy countries.
Even before vaccines becameavailable, many experts, includingDirector-General of the WorldHealth Organisation TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus, warnedabout the consequences of vac-cine nationalism. Despite this,wealthy countries have monopo-lised vaccine supplies, in some in-stances purchasing enough dosesto inoculate their populations ninetimes over.
This summer, it seemed like thetide was turning. In June, membersof the G7 pledged to donate theirexcess doses to low- and lower-middle-income countries eitherdirectly or through mechanismslike the COVID-19 Vaccine GlobalAccess (COVAX) facility. As moreand more people in wealthy coun-tries were vaccinated, there wassome hope that vaccine national-
ism and hoarding might end andthat doses might finally make theirway to countries desperately inneed of them.
But in the past few months it hasbecome clear that vaccine na-tionalism hasn’t ended. Instead, ithas mutated.
Wealthy countries like the USbegan pushing to administer ad-ditional doses of some vaccineseven before there was evidence tosupport the use of booster shots.In fact, shortly before the WHOcalled for a moratorium on boost-ers until vaccines had reachedthose who need them most, theUS signed a deal to purchase 200million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use as boost-ers. At the time, the use of thirdshots as boosters was not even ap-proved by the US Food and DrugAdministration.
But booster shots in developedcountries are not the only reasonlow- and middle-income countrieslack doses. Canada, Spain, andGermany, among others, pledgedmonths ago to donate millions ofCOVID-19 vaccines directly to low-and middle-income countries aswell as to COVAX. Yet recent figuresshow that many governments havefailed to deliver on these commit-ments. For example, the UnitedKingdom pledged to donate over 70
million doses, but has deliveredless than 7% of this commitment.
Pharmaceutical companies andwealthy governments have beenquick to blame low vaccine up-take in poor countries on vaccinehesitancy and underdevelopedhealth-care delivery systems. In aCOVID-19 media briefing hosted bythe International Federation ofPharmaceutical Manufacturersand Associations, Pfizer CEOAlbert Bourla said that the levelof vaccine hesitancy in Sub-Saharan Africa is “way, way higherthan the percentage of hesitancyin Europe or in the US or Japan.”This is despite evidence that vac-cine hesitancy is lower in Africathan in many wealthy countries.
Bourla’s effort to deflect blamefor low vaccine coverage was anattempt to justify Pfizer’s profi-teering. From the outset, the com-pany has prioritised profitabledeals with wealthy countries oversharing its vaccine technologywith African producers.
AstraZeneca, one of the fewpharmaceutical companies thatmade arrangements for equitableaccess to its vaccine through a li-censing arrangement with theSerum Institute of India, recentlyannounced that it would begin in-creasing the price of doses with thegoal of making a profit. This de-
cision reflects the worryingly mis-guided perception that the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
Wealthy countries also havebeen promoting a narrative thatAfrican governments lack the in-frastructure and capacity to ad-minister the doses that they havesecured. But this criticism ignoresthe conditions under which doseshave arrived. Donations often haveshown up without advance notice,many close to expiration. With noinformation about the type, quan-tity, and condition of the arriv-ing vaccines, health officials areunable to make preparations todeliver them in time. It is worth not-ing that, despite these challenges,African countries have been ableto administer 62% of the dosesthey have received.
This scapegoating obscures thereality that low vaccine uptake inAfrica is a direct result of wealthycountries’ vaccine hoarding andnationalist policies. And effortsto rectify this inequity have beenblocked by the same governmentsthat have an excess of vaccines. Forexample, a waiver of intellectualproperty rights for COVID-19 vac-cines is a crucial mechanism to in-crease their availability. But whileSouth Africa and India appliedfor the waiver from the WorldTrade Organisation more than ayear ago, the application has beenblocked repeatedly by countries likeFrance, Germany, Spain, andCanada.
It is clear that disparities invaccine access are not an acci-dent of fate, but a result of con-certed efforts by wealthy coun-tries to keep vaccine supplieswithin their own borders and bypharmaceutical companies to in-crease their profits. It is time forrich-country governments andthe pharmaceutical companieswhose interests they serve to sharevaccine doses equitably. Untileveryone has access to a COVID-19 vaccine, no one is safe.
The writer is a member ofthe Africa CDC’s African
Vaccine Delivery Alliance andPartnership for AfricanVaccine Manufacturing.
©PROJECT SYNDICATE
LOL
FOCUS
It is clear that disparities in vaccine access are not anaccident of fate, but a result of concerted efforts bywealthy countries to keep vaccine supplies within
their own borders and by pharmaceutical companiesto increase their profits
Europe’s Dilemma
Knitting & driving
Apoliceman spots a woman drivingand knitting at the same time.
Driving up beside her, he shouts out
of the window...“Pull over!”
“No,” she shouts back, “a pair ofsocks!”
THURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR
It is only when we are notdisturbed that we can always dothe right thing at the right time inthe right way.
THE MOTHER
AS OFNOVEMBER, THE
UNITED STATES HAD
ADMINISTEREDMORE THAN
TWICE AS MANYDOSES THAN
HAD BEEN GIVENIN ALL OF
AFRICA
Safura Abdool Karim
WISDOM CORNERWhoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he doesnot become a monster. And if you gaze long enough into an abyss,the abyss will gaze back into you.
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involvesresponsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.
SIGMUND FREUD
Your vision will become clear only when you can look into your ownheart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.
CARL JUNG
VACCINE INEQUITY
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B-15, Rasulgarh Industrial Estate,Bhubaneswar-751010
LettersTO THE EDITOR
THE WORLD BANKFINDS THAT
DEBT LOADS IN EMERGING
MARKETS ANDDEVELOPING
ECONOMIES HAVESPIKED DURINGTHE PANDEMIC
Shivaji Sarkar
Suspense over Sasikala
Sir, “Good leadership is one that forgives the wrongdoers and accepts them.” Former TamilNadu Chief Minister and AIADMK leader O Panneerselvam (OPS) thus spoke at a partyfunction to celebrate Christmas. What was significant about his sermon on ‘forgiveness’was that it came in the presence of another former chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswamy(EPS). It was clear who OPS had in mind -- VK Sasikala -- the estranged party leader whowas expelled for ‘anti-party’ activities before she served a jail term. After being releasedfrom jail, Sasikala surprised all by not displaying an interest in plunging back into poli-tics. Thus, both OPS and EPS heaved a sigh of relief before the Assembly elections becauseneither of the two was eager to welcome Sasikala back into AIADMK. In politics, thereare no permanent friends and no permanent enemies, only permanent interests. Partyleaders are well aware of EPS’ aversion to Sasikala. OPS, on the other hand, does not be-lieve that AIADMK’s doors are shut for Sasikala. OPS and EPS nearly fell apart duringthe latter’s CM tenure; they were able to make it up later. Both OPS and Sasikala belongto the same caste, and a distinct caste equation has paved the way for a possible Sasikalacomeback into politics and the AIADMK. A section of the leaders understand that onlySasikala’s re-inclusion can work wonders for the demoralised party ranks and helpAIADMK take baby steps towards regaining power in Tamil Nadu. An OPS-Sasikala com-bination may rewrite political equations in the state.
Ganapathi Bhat, AKOLA
Buoyed farm unions
Sir, Buoyed by the success of their agitation,22 farm unions under the banner of SamyuktaKisan Morcha (SKM) have decided to contestall the 117 constituencies in the upcomingAssembly elections in Punjab. While anyone isfree to contest elections, farmer unions need tothink through this move carefully. The lastthing they need is for their recent success to goto their head. This would actually underminetheir cause of representing farm interests andexpose them as opportunists. While the farmsector desperately needed agricultural reforms,the reason why farmer unions were successfulin their year-long agitation is that they were seenas representing farmer interests cutting acrosscommunities in Punjab, Haryana and west-ern UP. This made it near impossible for anypolitical party to take sides against them.
N Sadhasiva Reddy, BANGALORE
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Robert Williams &Moritz Rudolf
While the EU wants to deepen
transatlantic cooperation, thereis no consensus on
how to do so without alienating
China or undermining the
very internationalsystem it aims to
defend. Nor areEuropean
governments convinced of
America’s reliabilityas a partner
Path of recovery will follow path of virusSPECTRUM ECONOMY
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stateTHURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWARP5
SPCB moved forwaste mgmt Keonjhar: Garbage piles arefound dumped in parts ofKeonjhar municipality in theabsence of proper wastemanagement system and atreatment plant. As disposalof garbage has failed to work,it has caused air and waterpollution in the civic body.Sadar MLA Mohan CharanMajhi expressed concern overproblem, and has written tothe State Pollution ControlBoard(SPCB) to takeimmediate steps for garbagetreatment in the area. Headded that even though themunicipality was set up 70years ago, no step has beentaken to establish a garbagetreatment plant. While thenumber of population in thecivic body is on the rise,tonnes of garbage aredisposed of on the streets byhouseholds every day. Piles ofgarbage on roadside continueto pollute air and water in thearea, Majhi observed.
Canal water forBPCL plant opposedBargarh: Farmers are up inarms against water supplyfrom Hirakud dam throughBargarh canal to the under-construction ethanol plantat Baulasingh in the district.The ethanol plant is beingset up by Bharat PetroleumCorporation Limited (BPCL).The district administrationheld a meeting with therepresentatives of theBargarh Chasi SangathanSamanwaya Samiti on theissue of water supply to theplant here. Officials of theBPCL were present at theevent. It was learnt thatthere had been noalternative source of watersupply for the plant. Bargarhcanal water is used forconstruction of the plant.Farmers made it clear that ifthe plant continues to usecanal water even after itscompletion, it will create acrisis for the farm sector.The BPCL officials said aftercommissioning of theproject, an alternativesource of water will beready and the plant will notuse the canal water.
SHORT TAKES AIRPORT FOR SILK CITY
Locals united under the Odisha Development Forum stage protests, demanding an airport for Berhampur and inclusion 18 panchayats in the civic body
POST NEWS NETWORK
Baripada, Dec 29: The SimilipalTiger Reserve Project (STR) hastaken up a host of measures to en-sure safety of wildlife and foodchain for tigers and elephants insidethe Similipal Sanctuary inMayurbhanj district.
The STR has formed a dog squadto sniff out dangers from poachersto wildlife. It is going to press twotrained dogs into service. The dogsare named Maya and Drona.
The STR is focused on increasingthe tiger population and curbingthe movements of poachers insidethe sanctuary area. The forest offi-cials and forest protection com-mittees are creating awareness onsafety of wildlife and greenery in thesanctuary.
Famous for tiger conservationand as a national park, the Similipalsanctuary spread over 2,750square/km has been accorded theWorld Heritage status by
the UNESCO. However, despite this,wildlife inside the sanctuary stillfaces dangers from poacher, fire,snares and sound pollution. To wardoff such dangers, the STR has formeda dog squad comprising four officialsand two dogs. They have receivedtraining for seven months atChandigarh.
The dogs can follow footprints ofwild animals by sniffing and willtrack the straying animals. Thedogs will guide and bring them backto their habitats. Maya and Dronacan also sniff gun powder, smells ofguns, and footprints of poachers.
Maintaining the food chain for tigersinside the sanctuary is vital. “Toensure population growth of tigers,there is a need for increasing her-bivores. Then, making provision of sufficient grass for herbivores is infocus. The forest department hastaken up a lot of measures for cre-ating grasslands inside the sanc-tuary,” said M Jagjayananda, theField Director of the STR. He saidthere is a plenty of sal trees inSimilipal, but one per cent of grass-land is there. “By January, the vil-lages in the core area will be relo-cated and grasslands created.Grasslands will spur the popula-tion g rowth of herbivores,” he exuded hope.
The department has installedwarning lighters inside the sanc-tuary to ward off man-elephant con-flicts. If elephants enter villages,warning lighters will automaticallyemit light with help of their sensors.People will get advance warningabout the entry of wild elephants.“There is a need for creating bamboo forests inside the sanctuary.It will help elephants get food. Thesize of tiger population will also goup,”said Bhanumitra Acharya, former honorary wildlife warden.
Similipal: Dog power for wildlife safety
Maya and Drona canfollow footprints ofwild animals by sniffingand will track thestraying animals. Thetwo can guide themback to their habitats
POST NEWS NETWORK
Bhubaneswar, Dec 29: Thestate government Wednesdayeffected a minor reshuffle inthe police in which 2018 batchIPS officer S Susree, SDPO,Kesinga, was posted as DCP,Traffic, for the twin city.
As per the notification is-sued by the home department,2017 batch IPS officer PrahladSingh Meena, SP, Malkangirihas been shifted to the policeheadquar ters as AIG.Meanwhile, Talcher SDPONitesh Wadhwani was ap-pointed as SP Malkangiri.Furthermore, Abilash G, SDPO,Malkangiri has been posted asSP, Narcotics, STF. DCP Traffic,Mayadhar Sethi has been postedas DCP, Crime, while MadhuriSamal, SP, Narcotics, has beenshifted as SP, Crime Branch.
POST NEWS NWTWORK
Nayag arh, Dec 29 :Communication to over 15panchayats in Nayagarh dis-trict was disruptedWednesday as Dua bridge atDimisara Chhak on NewJagannath Road connectingSarankul with Puri cavedin. Communication on thisroute has been closed, a re-port said.
According to reports, thou-sands of people from 15 pan-chayats, dependent on thisroute, are facing commut-ing woes. They alleged thatfor lack of repair of the raftfoundation of the bridge, it
sank. Locals had earlier de-manded repair of the bridge,but the works departmenthad not paid much heed to itsmaintenance.
River water had erodedits foundation. The bridgestarted sinking in the middleat 9 am and hours later it gotinto a U-shape, locals said,adding that it will soon collapse. About 38 years ago,then Ranpur MLA RamakantMishra had inaugurated thebridge which has since be-come rickety.
Sand mafia used to minesand from around its pillarsand transport sand over thebridge. Sand mining had
weakened its foundationwhile water had furthereroded its base.
For mer sar panch ofDimisara, Suryamani
Pradhan, said the works de-partment had neglected re-pair of the bridge eventhough locals had been draw-ing its attention.
For mer sar panchSatyaban Nayak said there isa need for a diversion road forcommunication. As long asan alternative passage is notmade, people will be facingproblems. After the bridgesank, people of over 200 vil-lages are in a soup. Collegestudents from Nayagarh andSarankul could not go toGodipada College Wednesday.Executive engineer of theNayagarh works division,Pramod Dhar said a diversionroad would be laid. TheCollector has been apprisedof the bridge’s sinking andthe need for a new bridge,he added.
POST NEWS NETWORK
Malkangiri, Dec 29: With the three-tier panchayat elections likely to beheld in February, the ruling BijuJanata Dal (BJD) wants to leave nostone unturned to broaden its supportbase in Malkangiri district.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)and the Congress, on their part, seemto be on a back foot and losing groundin Chitrakonda and MalkangiriAssembly constituencies.
In these two constituencies, thetwo opposition parties received joltsas over 1,000 party workers from theBJP and the Congress crossed over tothe BJD at a Misran Parba hereWednesday.
Notably, the BJD had won inChitrakonda and the BJP won inMalkangiri in the last Assembly elec-tions. According to reports, MalkangiriAssembly segment has 60 per centBengali-speaking voters. The BJDhad set its sight on these voters. Fivemonths ago, the ruling party startedefforts to ensure that these voters getbenefits from various welfare schemes
of the state government.The ruling party organized a mis-
ran parba at Harichand Ashram onthe banks of Potteru river, Wednesday.Over 4,000 workers and district levelfunctionaries attended the meeting.
The BJD’s organizational secre-tary, Pranab Prakash Das, SportsMinister Tusharkanti Behera, chair-person of Odisha State SeedsCorporation Iswar Panigrahy,Chitrakonda MLA Purnachandra
Baka, former MLAs Manas Madkami,Mukund Sodi, former MP PradipMajhi and party’s district observerPrakash Dang deliberated on vari-ous welfare schemes of the state gov-er nment. Over 1 ,000 BJP andCongress workers, including Bengalipeople joined the BJD. The BJD’s or-ganizational secretary announcedas assistance of Rs 1 crore for development of Harichand Ashramtemple and the ashram.
Twin city gets new DCP, Traffic
POST NEWS NETWORK
Berhampur, Dec 29: Both indoor andoutdoor healthcare services at MKCGMedical College and Hospital herehave been affected as junior doctorscontinued their agitation Wednesday.However, service at the emergencyward continued unaffected.
Junior doctors under the JuniorDoctors’ Association (JDA) stageda sit-in for the third day Wednesdayin front of the administrative build-ing of the MKCG Medical Collegeand Hospital.
President of the JDA, DrSatyaswarup Patnaik and secretaryDr Prabhuprasad Patnaik said theiragitation will continue until NEETPG-2021 counselling is started. Theagitating junior doctors sought to ex-pedite the admission process. Theysaid the results of NEET-PG examswere published two months ago. Asthe counselling gets delayed, theadmission of medical students isgetting delayed, the JDA stated. Onthe other hand, work pressure on jun-ior doctors is mounting at hospi-tals, the JDA said. It said that a PGstudent is supposed to prepare forexams apart from discharginghis/her duty as a doctor.
Junior docs’ stirhits healthcareservices at MKCG
POST NEWS NETWORK
Subarnapur, Dec 29: A new-born was allegedly swapped atthe district headquarters hos-pital in Subarnapur Wednesday.
Bisikesan Jhankar, farther ofthe baby, filed a complaint atUllunda police station Wednesdayin this regard. Police have startedan investigation into the matter.
The incident has come just amonth after a newborn girl wasreportedly stolen from this hospital. Reports said, a woman,identified as Banita Jhankar ofGandapali village under Ullundapolice limits, was admitted tothe DHH six days ago after sheexperienced labour pain.
Hospital records showedBanita delivered a girl December24. However, in the FIR it was
stated that a staff nurse at theDHH initially informed Banita’shusband and mother that sheh a d d e l ive r e d a b a by b o y.However, they handed over a girlafter some time, it was alleged.
Banita’s husband, BisikesanJhankar, demanded an investi-g at ion into the matter. He a l l e g e d t h a t t h e h o s p i t a l authorities are involved in thebaby swapping.
Chief District Medical Officer(CDMO) in-charge Dr RameshSwain said, “We have not re-ceived any such complaint yet.However, if we come across anyallegation, the matter will beprobed.”
Sonepur IIC Niranjan Das saidan investigation into the matteris on. He said two baby girls weredelivered at the DHH that day.
Baby swap rocksSubarnapur DHH
BJD makes inroads into BJP, Cong pockets in Malkangiri
OVER 1,000 WORKERS JOIN THE RULING PARTY AT A MISRAN PARBA
Dua bridge on Jagannath Road sinks Thousands face commuting woes as communication to 15 panchayats is hit
OP PHOTO
Loans to Kotia peopleunder Balaram YojanaPottangi: Amid repeatedincursion bids by AndhraPradesh into Kotia panchayatunder this block in Koraputdistrict, the districtadministration tried to woovillagers by giving away loansto them under Balaram Yojana,a report said. Pottangi MLAPritam Padhi gave away loansto villagers in Tala Ganjeipadar,Kotia and Digugabadar villages.
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6 &7THURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR
Pratap BalabantarayBIITM
Sanjay DasHari Plast Udyog
Aditya DasRam’s Assorted Cold Storage
Bichitrananda SenapatiHomefills
Dr. Pradeep Ku. MohantySadguru Medical and Research Centre
Akhil Poddar Utkal Auto
Ganesh Prasad BagariaGrihasthi Udyog
Sanjay DidwaniaPro Visual
Lipsa HansChandi Bhandar
Avinash ChhapoliaGRC Garments
M Keshav RaoGreen Chillyz
Sourav RoyRadhagobindo Roy Grandson Jewellers
Alok AgrawalAkash Deep Hyundai
Amit AgarwalRiddhi Siddhi
Prabhu Charan MohantyXavier Group of Schools
Anil AgarwalTwin City Builder
Pramod Chandra RathPramod Convention & Club Resort
Deepak SharmaUjjwal Bajaj
Ambarish DashYuvodaya Group of Institutions
Natwar BankaHotel Welcome Resort
Dr. Prakash Chandra DalaiGasto & Kidney Care Hospital
Kalinga Keshari RathEvos Buildcon
Ashok JalanOdyssey Motors
Binod DashSynergy Institute of Technology
Lalatendu MohantyPriyadarshini Odishi Handloom
Deben RaySpice Up
Sriram PandaMITS Group
Biswachetan MishraHallmark Ornaments
Dr. Krupasindhu PandaHCG Panda Cancer Hospital
Shloke Sen Super Sales Motors
Pradosh Kumar Rout Pragati Milk
D Murali KrishnaVikash Group
Padma Shri Chaturbhuja Meher (Mehers’)
Purshotam BudhrajaNarayani Motors
Charchit MishraOSL Group
Nishikanta Mishra Team Admark
Mahendra Gupta Gupta Power
Manoranjan DasPMG Yamaha
Dr. Arjit MohapatraJagannath Health Care
Subhash Chandra NayakNIIS Group of Institutions
Debesh Prasad NandaTrinity Skoda
Debesh Prasad NandaTrinity Skoda
The year 2021 brought some hope to the
pandemic-ravaged world ofbusiness in the form of
easing of restrictions andreopening of the economy,
while pent-up consumerdemand drove sales in somesectors. On the other hand,skyrocketing inflation andsupply chain bottlenecks
posed challenges to businesses across sectors.
In spite of this, some entrepreneurs prevailed
over the situation and drovetheir businesses to newer
heights during these uncertain times.
Orissa POST presents the Business Power List 2021
Achyutananda MeherArundhati Motors
Mala MishraDPS, Kalinga
Debidutta MishraSJ Developers
NB: This list is in no particular order
The AAP hasimposed a
night curfew in Delhito show that thesituation is seriousand these electionsshould not be heldCHARANJIT SINGH CHANNI | PUNJAB CHIEF MINISTER
P8
nationalTHURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR Under Phase-2 of the nationwide Swachh Bharat
Mission (SBM), 25,000 villages have declaredthemselves Open Defecation Free (ODF). In a tweet,the SBM team said that villages across India areworking actively to ensure safe sanitation, solidand liquid waste management arrangements andvisual cleanliness for achieving ODF plus status
SWACHH BHARAT MISSION
yy
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We will endharassmentbeing meted
out to truckers byissuing annualstickers which willensure that no truckis stopped on the road for checking of papers
SUKHBIR SINGH BADAL | SHIROMANI
AKALI DAL (SAD) CHIEF
of theday uote
Shocked at thegovernment’saction of
freezing the accountsof Missionaries ofCharity. Condemningthe cruel, insensitiveand inhuman decision which willhurt the ailing and suffering poor themost. Demand PM’s intervention andimmediate reversal
P CHIDAMBARAM | SENIOR CONGRESS LEADER
The financialposition of thestate has been
under severe stressdue to Covid-19pandemic and thesubsequent floodsituation only accentuated it
MK STALIN | TAMIL NADU CHIEF MINISTER
Three moweddown by truckPune: Three pedestrians werekilled when a truck going inreverse knocked them downon the Mumbai-Bangalorehighway here Tuesday morning,police said. The incident tookplace on Navle Bridge in Narhearea, said a police official.While the three victims diedon the spot, the truck driverand his assistant ran away,leaving the vehicle behind.
Leopard spreads panicCoimbatore: A leopard strayedinto the campus of a collegehere in the wee hours ofWednesday sparking off panic among residents in thelocality. The leopard mauled a dog to death before leavingthe scene. The watchman ofthe college noticed thecarcass and informed theForest Department.Fortunately, the collegeremained closed for thefestive season and there wasno one around, police said.
Intense cold waveacross KashmirSrinagar: The cold waveconditions intensified acrossKashmir as Gulmarg skiingresort witnessed season’srecord low with mercuryplunging more than 10degrees below the freezingpoint, officials said. Kashmirvalley is currently under thegrip of the 40-day harshestwinter period known as ‘Chilla-i-Kalan’ which began Tuesday.
Rains lash parts of Ch’garhRaipur: As unseasonal rainslashed several parts ofChhattisgarh, Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel Wednesdaydirected officials to carry outan immediate assessment ofdamages to crops and housesin the state. Incessant showershit Raipur, Durg, Korba andRajnandgaon districts Tuesdayevening, causing a drop in theday-time temperature by 3 to 4degrees Celsius, an official said.
2 held for gang-rape New Delhi: Police havearrested two persons forallegedly raping a woman inWest Delhi’s Hari Nagar area,officials said Wednesday.Around 3 am Monday, thewoman asked an unknownperson to drop her at arelative’s house. The man,who was accompanied byanother person in the car,picked her from Sagarpur.They allegedly raped herafter stopping the car at asecluded place in Nihal Vihararea, Additional DeputyCommissioner of Police(West) Prashant Gautam said.
SHORT TAKES
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: The story ofIndian Railways in 2021 was oneof recovery and putting its housein order after a forced hiatus fromthe tracks for the first time in itshistory due to the coronavirusoutbreak.
The Railways has been completely dependent on its freightrevenues for sustenance over thelast two years, with the passengersegment running in loss in 2020and gaining momentum only slowlywith the removal of restrictions during the first half of this year.
FINANCIAL SITUATIONA recent report of the
Comptroller and Auditor General(CAG) has noted that the IndianRailways' operating ratio of 98.36per cent in 2019-2020 does not reflectits true financial performance andif the actual expenditure on pensionpayments is taken into account,
the ratio will be 114.35 per cent.Last year, the Railways was able
to lower its expenditure and makeup for the shortfall in traffic throughrevenue generated by freight op-erations. A fall in pension liabili-ties also helped with the Railways'massive pension bill of more thanRs 51,000 crore in the current fi-nancial year has been converted intoa loan by the finance ministry.
RAILWAYS’ BIG TICKET PROJECTSThe year was also marked by
struggle to address issues caus-ing delays and resulting in misseddeadlines for big ticket projects. TheRs 81,000 crore Dedicated FreightCorridor, the Railways' single-largest developmental project cur-rently underway, was scheduled tobe completed by December 2021.
The new deadline is now June2022, which officials said could befurther delayed.
PASSENGER PAINSWhen will the concessions
for senior citizens be restored?Will waiting list end? Will we getbedrolls?
These are some of the queriesthat passengers have for theRailways. Between March 22,2020 and September 2021, around4 crore senior citizens have undertaken journeys on trainswithout concessions.
RECRUITMENT BLUESJob seekers have now taken to so-
cial media sites like Twitter toprotest the delay in the recruit-ment process by the RailwayRecruitment Board.
“One crore plus students had ap-plied for Railway exam in 2019 . It’sbeen 3 years , the exam hasn't
happened .I demand governmentnot to play their future. Railwayshould declare Group D exam dateimmediate ly,” tweeted an aspirant.
Rlys strove hard in 2021 to be back on trackWHAT NEXT
The gamechanger for theRailways will be the
commissioning of the DedicatedFreight Corridor. The DFC, withits advantages of speed andhigher carrying capacity, canalso help reduce freight chargesby as much as 50 per cent.Officials say that the lowerhaulage charges will be passedon to customers, and that theplan is to generate Rs 15,000crore in revenue every year. Itwill also connect the hinterlandwith industrial hubs and makerailways the go to cost-effectivemode of transport for goodsacross the country.
Workers unload hogla from a boat for making makeshift huts for the pilgrims, ahead of the Gangasagar Mela-2022, atGangasagar in South 24 Parganas district, West Bengal PTI PHOTO
GEARING UP
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: The special in-vestigation team probing killingof locals in Nagaland grilled 14Indian Army personnel and a fewlocals, sources said Wednesday.
The SIT, comprising of local police and Army officers also heldmeeting with Konyak Union andKonyak Students Union along withrelatives of the deceased and village representatives.
The team reached Oting villageof Nagaland where the incidenttook place for forensic details.
Last week, the Indian Army saidits inquiry into the December 4 in-cident of Civilian killings inNagaland is progressing expedi-tiously and all efforts are beingmade to conclude it at the earliest.
"We have taken out notices forpeople to come forward and assistus in the inquiry by providing anyinformation including videos, pho-tos or any other material from orig-inal sources and will be grateful forthe same. This can be conveyed onWhatsApp Messenger at+916026930283 or Army ExchangeHelpline +913742388456", the Armyhad said in a statement.
The Indian Army is also saidthat they are fully cooperating withthe Special Investigation Team(SIT)inquiry ordered by State Govt andrequired details are being sharedin timely manner.
NAGALAND KILLINGS
SIT questions Armypersonnel, locals
AGENCIES
New Delhi, Dec 29: The defenceministry Wednesday announceda fresh list of 351 sub-systems andcomponents that will not be allowed to be imported under astaggered timeline beginningDecember next year.
It is the third list released bythe ministry in the last 16 monthsand it comes as part of the gov-ernment’s overall aim to makeIndia a hub of manufacturing ofmilitary platforms and equipment.
The ministry said the new initiative will save foreign exchangeequivalent to around Rs 3,000 croreannually. It also released a list of2,500 items that it said have already been ‘indigenised’.
“A positive indigenisation listof sub-systems/assemblies/sub-assemblies/components has beennotified by the department of de-fence production, Ministry ofDefence, as part of the efforts toachieve self-reliance in defencemanufacturing and minimise im-ports by defence public sector un-dertakings,” the ministry said ina statement. It said “351 importeditems” will be “indigenised” in thenext three years. The notificationon the new list was issued Monday.The ministry said the items men-tioned in the list will only be pro-cured from Indian industries asper the timelines indicated.
According to the notification, im-port restrictions on the first set of172 items will come into force byDecember next year while the sameprovisions will be applicable onanother batch of 89 components byDecember 2023.
Import restrictions on another setof 90 items will come into effectby December 2024. The items in-cluded laser warning sensor, high-pressure check valve, high-pres-sure globe valve, drainage intrusiondetection systems, various typesof cables, sockets and voltage con-trol oscillator. In August last year,the ministry announced that Indiawill stop the import of 101 weaponsand military platforms like trans-port aircraft, light combat heli-copters, conventional submarines,cruise missiles and sonar systemsby 2024. A second list, putting im-port restrictions on 108 militaryweapons and systems such as next-generation corvettes, airborne earlywarning systems, tank engines andradars, was issued in May.
In the last few years, the gov-ernment has taken a series of meas-ures to boost domestic defencemanufacturing.
In May last year, the govern-ment announced increasing theFDI limit from 49 per cent to 74per cent under the automatic routein the defence sector.
India is one of the largest im-porters of arms globally.
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, Dec 29: Taking theMilitary-Technical Cooperation(MTC) between the two countriesto a new high, Russia has offeredIndia “new areas of work”, including developing together newarmoured vehicles based on the T-14 Armata tank platform.
The negotiations to create ex-clusive equipment based on theIndian military’s specificationstook place during the meeting ofthe Inter-Gover nmentalCommission on Military andMilitary-Technical Cooperationheld in New Delhi December 6.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singhand his Russian counterpart SergeyShoygu had co-chaired the dis-cussions which were held just a fewhours before the 21st India–RussiaAnnual Summit between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andRussian President Vladimir Putin.
“The Indian partners were of-fered new areas of work, includingthe creation of ar moured vehicles based on the customer’sspecifications on the Armata plat-form, especially given that theIndian military is planning to ex-
pand work on the creation of anew main battle tank,” ValeriaReshetnikova, the Press Secretaryof Russia’s Military-TechnicalCooperation (FSMTC), told Russian state-owned domesticnews agency RIA Novosti in aninterview Tuesday.
Reshetnikova said that theRussian weapons, including newmodels, are of great interest amongbuyers of military products which
is confirmed by the volume of contracts being concluded withseveral par tner countries, amounting to billions of US dollars.
Russia's newest and state-of-the-art T-14 Armata battle tank hasbeen showcased at various inter-national military and technicalforums since its first public view-ing at the Victory Day parade inMoscow on May 9, 2015.
The Armata uses unprecedented
design solutions, in particular,the T-14 tower is uninhabited. Thecrew is placed in an armouredcapsule, separated from the ammunition. The original sil-houette, combined with the useof a special coating, significantlyreduces the visibility of the ve-hicle in the thermal and radarspectra of observation.
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, Dec 29: JaswinderSingh Multani who has allegedlinks with Sikh For Justice (SFJ)was detained in Ger many by the concerned authorities onthe request of Indian agencies.
The German authorities weregiven enough proof that Multani is wanted in India and is a part of larger conspiracy.
Through diplomatic channel hewas finally detained in Berlin. Now,there are possibilities that he willbe brought to India to face trial.
The intelligence agencies haveclaimed that Multani wanted tocreate anarchy like situation allover India.
Earlier, many farmer leadersincluding Balbir Singh Rajewalwas on his hit list. He wanted to getthem killed so that it could lead tomassacre across the country.
As per Punjab Police dossier, heis an expert in radicalising youthsagainst India. The intelligenceagencies have claimed thatPakistan's ISI is financially supporting him to recruit peoplein India. Multani is a suspect inLudhiana District and SessionsCour t blast case. He was reportedly in close touch withdismissed Punjab Police ConstableGagandeep Singh who plantedthe bomb and got killed as thebomb suddenly went off.
The Indian intelligence agencies gathered information andfound an international angle inthe blast.
They came to know thatGagandeep used to contact Multanifrequently. This input was sharedwith concerned authorities inBerlin to nab Multani.
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, Dec 29: While thephrase “now more than ever” wasthe one mostly searched and usedin 2020, it was the turn of “newnor mal” amid the Covid-19 pandemic that was used the mostin 2021, according to Google.
Google’s ‘Ngrams’ tool (launchedin 2009 by part of the Google Booksteam) has revealed how words andphrases have fallen and risen in popularity over time.
Ngrams shows how books andother pieces of literature have usedcertain words or phrases over time,and we can chart their popularitythroughout the years.
“One caveat: Ngrams currentlytracks data from 1800 to 2019, prior
to 2020, Ngrams' data ranged from1800 to 2012, but the team added ahuge new dataset about two yearsago,” said Molly McHugh-Johnson,Contributor, The Keyword (GoogleBlog). This isn't the first time“new normal” appeared in thelexicon, though.
“It began to see small bursts ofusage in literature and other writ-ing in the mid-19th century -- thoughif you use Ngrams to see some ofthe examples of how it showedup, anew normal' was often in ref-erence to types of academic in-stitutions,” McHugh-Johnson saidin a blog post late Tuesday.
And then, “new normal” justsort of faded away, only to returnbig amid the pandemic. “Then ofcourse, I thought of ‘vaccine’, which
actually began its Ngrams debut ona high, falling sharply between1800 and 1813aonly to rise againin the early to mid 1900s, whenmany scholarly articles were pub-lished about things like typhoid,cholera and pertussis vaccina-tions,” McHugh-Johnson explained.
Lastly, she took a look at “hy-
brid”, as hybrid workplaces arebecoming the norm in the pan-demic and Goo gle has alsoadopted this.
According to Ngrams, it's beenin use since at least the year 1800,which is how far the tool's datagoes back, and has gently, steadilyrisen since.
What “hybrid” means hasn’t re-ally changed, but it's the situa-tions we’re applying it to that have-- there’s a much wider scope ofdaily life that falls under this cat-egory. “Hybrid” didn’t change, buthow we live has. 2020 felt in manyways like a pause in life, and thisyear we began finding new, cre-ative ways to adapt, a little of ourold methods, mixed with the new,”said McHugh-Johnson.
IMPORT BAN ON351 DEFENCE ITEMSFROM DEC 2022
It is the third list released by the Ministry in the last16 months and comes as part of the government’s
overall aim to make India a manufacturing hub ofmilitary platforms and equipment
Russia offers Armata tank tech to India
‘New normal’ most used phrase in ’21Ludhiana blastsuspect Multanialways plannedunrest in India
The Russian Defence Ministrysays that the main combat
characteristics of the Armata T-14 tank are a high degree ofpassive and active armourprotection, which is superior toany other types of armouredvehicles; as well as high cross-country mobility andgreat firepower
It is armed with a 125-mm newgeneration tank gun with a
prospective ammunition loadand a digital fire control system
As the full cycle of tests ofthe T-14 Armata tank
neared completion, Russia hadplanned to supply about 20 ofthem to its troops by the end of this month
P9
nationalTHURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR
Covid-19 cases are onthe rise; there are a few
omicron infections, too. So, areview of the situation is required.If the numbers keep increasing,we may consider closing downschools and colleges MAMATA BANERJEE | WEST BENGAL CHIEF MINISTER
In the wake of a surge in Covid-19cases in Goa, Chief MinisterPramod Sawant Wednesday saidparties and events in the coastalstate will only be allowed if guestseither have 100 per cent vaccinationor Covid negative certificates
FRESH CURBS IN GOA
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How theCongressplayed with the
country is nothidden. When ingovernment, theyencouraged andnurtured terrorists and fake caseswere foisted against Hinduorganisations. And now when it isout of government, it opposes allworks which are in people's interest
YOGI ADITYANATH |UTTAR PRADESH CHIEF MINISTER
of theday uote
If situationdemands BJP isready to hold
virtual rallies as ithas done in previouselections
GAJENDRA SHEKHAWAT |UNION MINISTER
We have madea manifesto inwhich we have
said what we want todo for you in the fieldof health, educationand employment. Wewill give jobs to 20 lakhs of whicheight lakh to women, will work foryour self-respect, security and formaking you strong in a propermanner
PRIYANKA GANDHI VADRA | CONGRESS
GENERAL SECRETARY
Ukrainian hangs self Mathura: A 36-year-oldUkraine national allegedlycommitted suicide here in atemple where he was stayingby hanging from a woodenhook in his room, police saidWednesday. The incidenthappened in Govind Kund areaTuesday night, SP Rural ShrishChandra said. A suicide notewith a request to perform hislast rites in Brijbhumi was alsofound on him, he said.
Three killed inlightning strike Chhindwara (MP): Threemembers of a family diedafter being struck by lightningamid rains in MadhyaPradesh's Chhindwara district,an official said Wednesday.The incident took place atKukda Chiman village Tuesdayevening when the victimswere working in a farm andsuddenly heavy rains lashedthe area, Mohkhed tehsildarMeena Dasharia said.
PM’s planned visitto UAE postponedNew Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's planned visitto the United Arab Emirates(UAE) in the first half of nextmonth has been postponed,people familiar with thedevelopment said Wednesday.The prime minister wasscheduled to visit thestrategically important Gulfnation around January 6, theysaid. The people cited abovesaid the visit has beenpostponed in view of therising cases of Omicron Covid-19 variant and that it couldtake place in February.
NPP leaderHaokip joins BJPNew Delhi: Letpao Haokip, aleader of BJP's ally NPP inManipur and cabinet ministerin the state government,joined the saffron partyWednesday in the presence ofUnion minister BhupenderYadav. Haokip is the YouthAffairs and Sports minister inthe BJP-led government inManipur from the NationalPeople's Party (NPP) quota.
Nitish loses coolPatna: Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar lost his cool during a SamajSudhar Abhiyan (social reformscampaign) rally in MuzaffarpurWednesday. When the ChiefMinister was addressing therally on the campus ofMuzaffarpur Institute ofTechnology, some people createda ruckus, which attracted theattention of the mediapersonspresent at the venue.
SHORT TAKES
People violate social distance norms at Nishatganj weekly market in Lucknow UNI PHOTO
OPEN INVITATION TO COVID
AGENCIES
New Delhi, Dec 29: A Covid-19tracker, developed by UK’sUniversity of Cambridge, has pre-dicted that India may soon see anintense but short-lived virus wave“within days”, even as the highlytransmissible Omicron variant ofCovid is spreading like wildfirein the country with over 780 casesreported Wednesday.
The tracker had aptly predictedthe devastating second wave inMay and had also forecast in Augustthat India would see a slow burnin its Covid infections.
“It is likely that India will see aperiod of explosive growth in dailycases and that the intense growth
phase will be relatively short,”Paul Kattuman, Professor at theJudge Business School at the var-sity was quoted as saying toBloomberg.
“New infections will begin torise in a few days, possibly withinthis week,” he said. However, headded that it was hard to predicthow high the daily cases could go.
The tracker showed a sharp risein infection rates in six states asa “significant concern” in aDecember 24 note, and this ex-panded to 11 Indian states byDecember 26, the report said.
The rapid spread of Omicroninfection has contributed to thetotal tally of Covid infection inIndia. The country's overall Covid
cases tally crossed the 9,000-markWednesday and currently standsat 9,195 cases. However, the over-all tally has been around 7,000 inthe last week.
According to the Union HealthMinistry update, the Omicron in-fection has so far spread into 21states and Union Territories.
Out of the 238 Omicron cases de-tected in Delhi, 57 of them havebeen discharged. Gujarat, Kerala,Telangana, Rajasthan, Karnataka,Tamil Nadu, Haryana, West Bengalhave reported Omicron cases intwo-digit figures, the data showed.
The World Health Organisation(WHO) in its weekly epidemio-logical update has warned thatthe risk posed by the Omicron
variant is still “very high”. Omicronis behind rapid virus spikes inseveral countries, including thosewhere it has already overtakenthe previous dominant Delta vari-ant, said the global health bodyin its weekly bulletin.
Mumbai logged 2,510 cases ofCovid today - an 82% jump overTuesday’s cases. 20 related deathswere recorded in Maharashtra in24 hours. Mumbai is prepping fora massive spike and MinisterAaditya Thackeray met civic of-ficials to chart a course.
‘India may see ‘short-lived’ Covid 3rd wave soon’
Passengers lined up outside the Akshardham Metro Station, in New Delhi PTI PHOTO
‘Yellow alert’ to continue in Delhi for nowNew Delhi: The DDMA Wednesdaydecided that Covid-relatedrestrictions imposed in Delhi underthe ‘yellow alert’ will continue forthe time being and authorities willmonitor the situation for a whilebefore deciding on fresh curbs,according to officials. The decisionwas taken at a meeting chaired byLt Governor Anil Baijal, who is alsothe chairperson of the DelhiDisaster Management Authority. It was attended by ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal andseveral experts. The DDMA hadTuesday declared a ‘yellow alert’under the Graded Response ActionPlan (GRAP) in the city amid aspike in coronavirus casesfollowing the emergence of thevirus’ Omicron variant.
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, Dec 29: Like in WestBengal, the Centre has accorded ‘Z’category security cover to Punjabpolitician and former Congressleader Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhiafter he joined the Bharatiya JanataParty recently.
Sodhi, who joined the BJPDecember 21, will be getting this se-curity cover both in Delhi andPunjab, to be provided by theCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF), sources in the security setup said here Wednesday.
A four-time MLA who won thelast Assembly elections fromGuruhar Sarai, Sodhi is said to beclose to former Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh. He hasalready announced his resigna-tion from the Congress on socialmedia, where he posted his resig-nation letter addressed to interimCongress President Sonia Gandhi.
The Union government had pro-vided central security cover to 79BJP leaders in West Bengal in-cluding Trinamool turncoats andthe new joinees during the WestBengal assembly elections inFebruary-March this year.
The VIP security of many ofthem was withdrawn immediatelyafter they returned to the TMC.
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
N ew D e l h i , D e c 2 9 : T h eDepartment of Posts under theMinistry of Communications andInformation Technology is work-ing expeditiously on a plan toopen 4,903 new branches of postoffices in 90 Left Wing Extremismaffected districts in the country.
In a statement, the Departmentof Posts said that in the first phase,so far 1,789 branches have beenopened and the remaining 3,114new post office branches will alsobe started by the end of March, 2022.
The government has alreadysanctioned posts of Gramin DakSevak, Postmaster and AssistantPostmaster for these 3,114 newpost offices to be opened in AndhraPradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Odisha, Telanganaand Uttar Pradesh. The concernedcircles have been directed to makethese post offices operational bythe end of March, 2022.
Listing the achievements dur-ing the year 2021, the postal de-partment said that the Postmanmobile app has already beenlaunched for 1.43 lakh post officesincluding 98,454 in rural areas. Arecord number of 47.5 crore realtime delivery status queries of speedpost were recorded from January toOctober, 2021 through this app.
Along with this, the postal de-partment also installed GPS sys-tem in about 1,263 working mailmotor service vehicles across thecountry.
Exhorting people to connectthrough social media, the depart-ment said that India Post is one ofthe first departments of the gov-
ernment to start its own socialmedia accounts. So far, the de-partment has more than 308,400followers on Facebook, 323,800 onTwitter, 9800 on Instagram and204900 on Ku. Videos related to theDepartment of Posts and its var-ious schemes are being uploadedcontinuously on YouTube as well.
The department is also work-ing expeditiously to redress thegrievances of the people throughsocial media. The social mediacell of the department now worksfor 16 hours instead of 8 and ac-cording to government data, inthe year 2021 from January 1 toNovember 15, a total of 2,39,133complaints were registered throughsocial media, out of which 2,37,187were redressed. The redressal wasdone within the stipulated timeperiod and the complaint resolu-tion percentage was 99.2.
Detailing other achievementsof 2021, the Department of Postssaid that it has signed multilat-eral agreements with 120 coun-tries for faster customs clearance.A total of 1.67 crore new accountswere opened and transactions ofaround Rs 8.19 lakh crore tookplace in Core Banking Service ofPost Offices.
NIA conducts searches at 12 placesINDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, Dec 29: The NIAWednesday conducted searchesat 12 locations in Dhanbad,Saraikela Kharsaawaa and Ranchidistricts of Jharkhand, Patna,Chapra, Gaya districts of Bihar,Chandauli district of UttarPradesh and Bardhman districtof West Bengal.
A NIA official said that thecase relates to stealing arms andammunition from armouries ofCAPFs and their supply to seniorleaders of the CPI (Maoist) ando t h e r t e r ro r i s t g ro u p s i nJharkhand.
Initially the case was lodgedin a Jharkhand police stationNovember 11 this year. LaterDecember 19 the case was takenover by the NIA.
After taking over the case theanti terror agency Wednesdayconducted searches at 12 loca-tions to gather evidence againstthe accused persons.
“We have recovered unac-counted cash to the tune of Rs1,46,000, digital devices includinglaptop, cell phones , computer anddigital storage devices, incrimi-nating documents, pilfered am-munition boxes and other in-criminating material,” said a NIAofficial. He said that further in-vestigation in the case was on.
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Srinagar, Dec 29: Three mili-tants were killed and a policemanwas injured in two separate en-counters between security forcesand ultras in Jammu and KashmirWednesday, police said.
The encounters broke out inKulgam and Anantnag districts –both in south Kashmir. Acting onspecific input about the presenceof militants in Mirhama area ofKulgam, security forces launcheda cordon and search operationthere, a police official said.
He said when the forces were
conducting searches in the area, thehiding militants fired upon them.The forces retaliated and an en-counter ensued in which three mil-itants were killed, the official said.
The identity and group affiliationof the slain militants are being as-certained, he added. The secondencounter took place in NowgamShahabad area of Dooru in neigh-bouring Anantnag, the official said.
In the initial firing, a police-man was injured and he wasshifted to the hospital, he said.The exchange of fire is still goingon and further details are awaited,he said.
Sodhi given ‘Z’ category securityafter joining BJP
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Ramban/Jammu, Dec 29: Theparents of Amir Magray, one ofthe four persons killed in theHyderpora encounter, Wednesdayrejected the police probe whichsuggested their son was a militant , with his mother threatening to kill herself and thefamily set to move the high courtseeking the return of his body.
The special investigation team(SIT) of the Jammu and KashmirPolice probing the encounter saidTuesday that while one civilianwas killed by a foreign terrorist, twoothers including a local “militant”(Magray) died in the crossfire afterbeing used as a “human shield” by the hiding terrorist.
A Pakistani terrorist and threeother persons were killed inHyderpora November 15 and thepolice had claimed that all theslain men had links to militancy.The families of the three, alleging foul play, had said theywere innocent, prompting the police to order the inquiry.
Separately, a magisterial probewas also ordered by Lt GovernorManoj Sinha in the encounterwhich was one of the rare opera-tions carried out jointly by the
army and the Jammu and KashmirPolice within the city limits.
In a 3.42-minute video, Amir’smother Mubeena termed the SITversion “completely baseless” andsaid she will consume poison to endher life if the body of her son wasnot returned to the family for burial within five days.
“They have killed my innocentson who was earning a living byworking as a labourer and theyhave leveled false allegationsagainst him. They are doing it fortheir promotion. I have decidedto end my life by taking poison ifthey fail to return his body withinfive days and the government andthose who leveled the allegationsagainst my son will be responsiblefor my death,” Mubeena said.
HYDERPORA ENCOUNTER
A Pakistani terrorist andthree other persons werekilled in HyderporaNovember 15 and thepolice had claimed thatall the slain men hadlinks to militancy
Amir’s motherthreatens suicide
3 ultras killed, cop injured in separate encounters
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: The Covid-19pandemic took a deadlier and moredevastating turn in 2021 soon aftera glimmer of hope was provided bythe launch of vaccines at the be-ginning of the year, etching night-marish memories of people strug-gling to secure hospital beds,medicines, Oxygen and even arrangea proper funeral for their loved ones.
Just as the year was about toend and things seemed back to normal, the emergence of Omicronvariant of coronavirus, nearly 800cases of which have been detectedin the country as Wednesday, threwthe health ministry in a tizzy evenas demands for booster doses ofvaccine grew louder.
Two vaccines - Covishield man-
ufactured by Serum Institute ofIndia and indigenously-developedCovaxin by Bharat Biotech - wererolled out January 16 with health-care workers getting inoculated inthe first phase and then frontlineworkers. The next phase saw peo-ple over 60 years of age and thoseaged 45 and above with specified co-morbid conditions getting the jabs.
As vaccination gradually pickedup pace and its scope was expanded,the government battled contro-versies surrounding its supply andavailability to states and union ter-ritories and modifying the vaccinepurchase and distribution policies.
Amid all these, a second waveof Covid driven by the Delta vari-ant engulfed the country in May-June bringing the health system toits knees and leaving people gasp-
ing for help.The daily cases peaked May 6
with the country registering a stag-gering 4,14,188 infections and short-age of oxygen and hospital bedssparked global concerns and worries.The second wave along with it alsobrought in another deadly fungal in-fection -- mucormycosis - causedmainly due to the lowered immunity
because of excessive use of steroidsand possibly industrial oxygen.
The daily burden of cases startedwitnessing a downward trend Juneonwards as the government steppedup the vaccination campaign open-ing it up for the entire adult popu-lation and resolving issues withthe supply chain from June 1.
According to health ministrydata, India's total tally of Covid-19cases as Wednesday was 3,48,08,886.After much deliberation and amidthe Omicron threat, the govern-ment gave its nod for vaccinationof those aged between 15-18 years.
On December 25, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi announced thatvaccination for children between 15-18 years will start from January 3,while "precaution dose" for health-care and frontline workers will
begin from January 10.The Drugs Controller General
of India had granted emergencyuse authorisation to BharatBiotech's Covaxin and ZydusCadila's needle-free ZyCoV-D forvaccinating children and adoles-cents in the 12- 18 years age groupwith certain conditions.
The government also gave itsnod to two more Covid vaccines -Covovax and Corbevax - besidesdrug Molnupiravir for treatment ofadult patients who have a high riskof progression of the disease.
During the second wave, amidquestions about the government'shandling of the crisis, the healthministry saw a change at its helmwith Mansukh Mandaviya replac-ing Harsh Vardhan as the Unionhealth minister July 8.
COVID SCENE IN 2021
From worse than better to hope of vaccines
SUPPLY OF ARMS TO CPI (MAOIST)
Over 4K POs in 90Maoist-hit dists soon
P10THURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR
If separatist forces in Taiwanseeking independence provoke,exert force or even breakthrough any red line, we willhave to take drastic measuresMA XIAOGUANG | SPOKESMAN, TAIWANAFFAIRS OFFICE, CHINA
Greek divers have discoveredthe wreckage of an Italiansubmarine 80 years after it wassunk by the Allied Forces in theAegean Sea during World War II
WW-II SUBMARINEWRECK DISCOVERED
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internationalAt the end ofthe day, ofcourse there
can be a good deal. Isthat, at the moment,under the currentdynamic, expected tohappen? No, because a much harderstance is needed
NAFTALI BENNETT | PM, ISRAEL
of theday uote
The NationalHealth ServiceCovid
vaccinationprogrammecontinues to breakrecords with almost2,50,000 people jabbed Monday, thesecond-highest number for a BankHoliday so far
EMILY LAWSON | HEAD OF NHS VACCINATION
PROG, UK
Nawaz Sharifwill neverreturn home
voluntarily, rather thegovernment willbring him back oncethe agreement withthe UK government is finalised
FAWAD CHAUDHRY | INFORMATION MIN,PAKISTAN
Ex-senator dies at 82Las vegas: Harry Reid, theformer US Senate majorityleader and Nevada’s longest-serving member of Congress,has died. He was 82. Reid diedTuesday, “peacefully” andsurrounded by friends athome in suburban Henderson,“following a courageous, four-year battle with pancreaticcancer,” according to familymembers and a statementfrom Landra Reid, his wife of62 years. “Harry was a devoutfamily man and deeply loyalfriend,” she said. Funeralarrangements will beannounced in coming days,she said.
BRICS bank toadmit EgyptBeijing: The BRICS NewDevelopment Bank (NDB)Wednesday announced that itwill add Egypt as its newmember. Egypt is the fourthnew member admitted intoNDB, after Bangladesh, theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)and Uruguay, furtherexpanding the bank’s globaloutreach. “We are delighted towelcome Egypt into NDB’sfamily. We look forward tosupporting its investmentneeds in infrastructure andsustainable development,”said Marcos Troyjo, Presidentof the NDB.
Sudan: 31 bodiesfound from mineCairo: Sudanese authoritiessaid Wednesday rescueworkers retrieved at least 31bodies from a collapsed goldmine in West Kordofanprovince. The country’s state-run mining company saidworkers and villagers werestill searching the Darsayamine for more bodies orpossible survivors. The mine islocated in the Fuja village,around 700 kilometers southof the capital of Khartoum. Thedefunct mine collapsed earlierthis week, killing at least 38people, the company saidTuesday. It posted images onFacebook showing villagersgathering at the site as at leasttwo dredgers worked to findpossible survivors and bodies.
New Year’s musicbanned in GreeceAthens: Greece’s healthminister said Wednesday thatmusic will be banned at allcommercial venues for NewYear’s celebrations as part ofnew restrictions announced inresponse to a surge in COVID-19 infections fuelled by theomicron variant. Therestrictions, originally plannedto take effect Jan. 3, will startearly Thursday after the dailynumber of infections rocketedto nearly 22,000 Tuesday.
SHORT TAKES
AGENCIES
Sydney/Rome, Dec 29: DailyCOVID-19 infections have hit recordhighs in the United States, swathesof Europe and Australia as thenew Omicron variant of the virusraces out of control, keeping work-ers at home and overwhelmingtesting centres.
Although some studies have sug-gested the Omicron variant is lessdeadly than some of its predeces-sors, the huge numbers of peopletesting positive mean that hospitalsin some countries might soon beoverwhelmed, while businessesmight struggle to carry on operatingbecause of workers having to quar-antine.
France, Britain, Italy, Spain,Portugal, Greece and Malta all reg-istered a record number of newcases Tuesday.
The average number of dailyCOVID-19 cases in the United Stateshas also hit a record high over thepast seven days. The previous peakwas in January of this year.
New daily infections in Australiaspiked to nearly 18,300, Wednesdayeclipsing the previous pandemichigh of around 11,300 hit a dayearlier.
Australian Prime Minister ScottMorrison said his country neededa gear change to manage over-burdened laboratories, with longwalk-in and drive-in queues re-ported in a number of areas.
Testing bottlenecks have alsobuilt in European nations, in-
cluding Spain where demand forfree COVID-19 testing kits pro-vided by Madrid’s regional gov-ernment far outstripped supplyTuesday, with long queues forming
outside pharmacies.A number of governments were
also increasingly worried by thehuge numbers of people beingforced into self-isolation because
they had been in contact with acoronavirus sufferer.
However, China showed no let upin its policy of zero tolerance to out-breaks, keeping 13 million peoplein the city of Xian under rigidlockdown for a seventh day as newCOVID-19 infections persisted, with151 cases reported Tuesday. Nocases of Omicron have been an-nounced in Xian so far.
Many countries are still grap-pling with the earlier Delta variant,including Poland, which reported794 COVID-related deathsWednesday - the highest number inthe fourth wave of the pandemic.
COVID cases soar worldwide
Global infections up 11% last weekBERLIN: The World Health Organization says the number of COVID-19 casesrecorded worldwide increased by 11% last week compared with the previousweek, with the biggest increase in the Americas. The gain followed a gradualincrease since October. The UN health agency said in its weeklyepidemiological report released late Tuesday that there were nearly 4.99million newly reported cases around the world from Dec 20-26. The agencysaid that “the overall risk related to the new variant … omicron remains veryhigh.” It cited “consistent evidence” that it has a growth advantage over the delta variant, which remains dominantin parts of the world. It noted that a decline in case incidence has been seen in South Africa, and that early datafrom that country, the UK and Denmark suggest a reduced risk of hospitalisation with omicron. But it said that moredata is needed “to understand the clinical markers of severity including the use of oxygen, mechanical ventilationand death, and how severity may be impacted by vaccination and/or prior infection.”
n LATEST SURGE BEING DRIVEN BYOMICRON VARIANT
n FRANCE, UK, US, ITALY, SPAIN ALLREPORT RECORD DAILY CASES
n AUSTRALIAN PM SAYS COUNTRYNEEDS ‘GEAR CHANGE’
n STUDIES IN SA, UK, DENMARKSUGGEST OMICRON LESS SEVERE
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
London, Dec 29: A BritishAirways aircraft carrying around200 holiday travellers from Londonsurvived a mid-air scare after a
lump of ice from a jet 1,000 feetabove it smashed into the plane at35,000 feet that left its windscreencracked, according to media re-ports.
The Boeing 777 aircraft cruisingat 35,000 feet was making the jour-ney from London Gatwick to SanJose in Costa Rica Christmas Daywhen the freak accident took place.
The block of ice fell from anotherplane that was flying 1,000 feetabove the jet while it was cruisingat 35,000 feet. It completely crackedup the two-inch-thick windscreen,which is built to withstand ex-treme force and is similar to bul-
letproof glass.The aircraft landed safely at
San Jose.Despite the mid-air accident,
all the passengers were safe but
were stranded at an airport forseveral hours after their planemade an emergency landing.
The flight was rescheduled 50hours after the passengers’ orig-
inal scheduled time.“We were told when it was our
turn to check-in by the San Josedesk staff that the plane had abroken windshield and it would betoo dangerous to fly it back. Atthis point we were devastated –realising we would miss Christmaswith both of our families,” Mitchell said.
Following the incident, BritishAirways issued an apology to thepasseng ers who had theirChristmas Day plans ruined.
“We will never fly an aircraft un-less we feel it is completely safe todo so, and on this occasion, our en-gineers were unable to clear it to
fly. Since then, our teams havebeen working behind the scenes todo all they can to ensure an aircraftis ready at the earliest opportunityto bring customers to London,”the official said.
“We appreciate the patienceand the understanding of our cus-tomers and our engineers andcrew colleagues who have alsodone all they can to assist,” the re-port quoted the official as saying.
British Airways has offered a fullrefund to all the affected passen-gers, and will also pay the 520pounds per person stipulated forlong delays under air passengers’rights rules, the report said.
Plane’s windscreen cracked by block of ice at 35K feetThe incident has been
described as a ‘one-in-a-million’ chance
and left some 200 passengers stranded over
Christmas instead of beingable to make it back
to London
MID-AIR MISHAP
FROZEN POND
Snow covers the heart-shaped and frozen Baker Pond in East Bolton, Quebec, Canada REUTERS
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Hong Kong, Dec 29: A vocal pro-democracy website in Hong Kongshut down Wednesday after policeraided its office and arrested six cur-rent and former editors and boardmembers in a continuing crack-down on dissent in the semi-au-tonomous Chinese city.
Stand News said in a statementthat its website and social media areno longer being updated and willbe taken down. It said all employ-ees have been dismissed.
The outlet was one of the last re-maining openly critical voices inHong Kong following the shutter-ing of the Apple Daily newspaper,which closed after its publisher,Jimmy Lai, and top editors were ar-rested and its assets frozen.
Police raided Stand News’ of-fice earlier in the day after arrest-ing the six, including popular singer
and activist Denise Ho, a formerboard member, on charges of con-spiracy to publish a seditious pub-lication.
More than 200 officers were in-volved in the search, police said.They had a warrant to seize rele-vant journalistic materials undera national security law enactedlast year. The six were arrestedunder a crime ordinance that datesfrom Hong Kong’s days as a Britishcolony before 1997, when it was re-turned to China. Those convictedcould face up to two years in prisonand a fine of up to 5,000 Hong Kongdollars ($640).
Police did not identify who wasarrested, but Hong Kong’s SouthChina Morning Post newspaperreported they were one currentand one former editor of StandNews, and four former board mem-bers including Ho and former law-maker Margaret Ng.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Jakarta, Dec 29: Indonesian au-thorities decided Wednesday toallow a boat carrying 120 RohingyaMuslims to land after drifting fordays off the country’s northernmostprovince of Aceh.
The decision was made becauseof the severe conditions experi-enced by the passengers, who areoverwhelmingly women and chil-dren, said Armed Wijaya, whoheads a refugee task force at theCoordinating Ministry for Political,Law and Security.
“The Indonesian governmenthas decided, in the name of hu-manity, to accommodate theRohingya refugees currently adriftat sea near Bireuen district,” Wijayasaid in a statement.
Local authorities had earlier
said they would push the boat backto international waters despitecalls from the United Nationsrefugee agency and human rightsgroups that it be allowed to land.
The vessel is reportedly leak-ing and has a damaged engine, andis floating in the open sea in harshweather and may be at risk of cap-sizing, the UNHCR said Tuesday.
The boat was first sighted bylocal fishermen Sunday about 60miles (96 kilometers) off the coastof Bireuen, said Badruddin Yunus,
the leader of the local tribal fish-ing community.
He said fishermen were unable totow the broken-down wooden boatbut provided food, water and clothesto the passengers, including 60women, 51 children and nine men.
“Their condition looks weakbut fine,” said Yunus, adding thatthe Rohingya said they wanted togo to Malaysia and had been at seafor 28 days before their boat's en-gine broke down.
Local officials, supported by po-lice and the navy, provided food,medicine, a new engine and a tech-nician to help repair the boat, andearlier said they would push itback to international waters onceit is fixed, said Bireuen districtchief Muzakkar Gani, who alsocited concerns that some of thepeople might have COVID-19.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brasilia, Dec 29:A total of 116 citiesin the northeastern Brazilian stateof Bahia were in a state of emer-gency because of flooding Tuesdaydue to heavy rains that have beenpounding the region since the endof November.
Cities in at least five other statesin Brazil’s north and southeasthave also been flooded in recentdays.
In Bahia, flooding has affectedmore than 4,70,000 people. In atleast 50 cities, water surged intohomes and businesses, and peoplewere forced to abandon their be-longings. Official data from the
state government say 34,163 peoplehave been made homeless and al-most 43,000 are displaced. Therehave been a total of 21 deaths and358 people injured since the be-ginning of the month.
This is the heaviest period of
rainfall for Bahia in the last 32years, according to the website ofthe National Centre for Monitoringand Alerts of Natural Disasters, agovernment agency. In southernBahia, it rained more than fivetimes the normal amount for this
time of the year.In an interview with local radio
stations Tuesday morning, BahiaGov. Rui Costa compared the situ-ation to a “bombardment”.
He also said that coronavirusvaccines were lost in the floods ofsome cities. Some municipal healthoffices and medicine depots werecompletely under water, he said.
On Tuesday, the population of atleast four municipalities in Bahia re-ceived warnings to leave their homesbecause of the increased flow ofthe Pardo River due to the openingof the Machado Mineiro dam’s sluicegates in neighbouring Minas Geraisstate, according to the state gov-ernment’s advisory office.
HK: Pro-democracynews website shutafter raid, arrests
The outlet was one ofthe last remainingopenly critical voices inHong Kong followingthe shuttering of theApple Daily newspaper
Severe Brazil flooding spreadsIN BAHIA STATE, MORE THAN 470,000 PEOPLE HAVE BEEN AFFECTED
Indonesia allows boat withRohingya refugees to land
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
Beijing, Dec 29: Gucci’s differ-entiated treatment of Chinese andWester n audience has beenslammed by Chinese netizens whosay it’s clearly a manifestation ofguilty conscience, and that thebrand knew it has presented aWestern-style Asian appearancethat would irritate the Chinese au-dience, Global Times reported.
With the waves stirred by theslanted-eyed model posters of ThreeSquirrels and Mercedes-Benz stillunsettled among the Chinese pub-lic, another wave hit the countryWednesday as an advertisementof Italian luxury fashion brandGucci was found featuring an Asian-
looking model with scary makeup,an exaggerated nose ring and aleather whip in her hand, the report said.
In the advertisement for Gucci’snew series of bamboo top handlebags posted online, an Asian-look-ing female model is seen holding abag with makeup featuring thin,light eyebrows, small eyes, and highcheek bones that amplify the Asianface typically depicted in the Westernnarrative, the report said.
Gucci advert ignitespublic fury in China
P11
businessTHURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR
Going forward, for the Bajaj portfolio,except for implementing one state-of-the-art ICE platform that is currentlyunder development, all our R&D drivetrain resources are now laser focusedon creating EV solutions for the futureRAJIV BAJAJ | MD, BAJAJ AUTO
AirAsia India said it has paid all its dues to theAirports Authority of India (AAI) and the airlinewas making all payments as per credit terms ondue dates from September 2021. “In this period,from September to today, we have paid out `59crore within the due dates as per the policy ofthe Airports Authority, said AirAsia spokesperson
PAID ALL DUES TO AAI: AIRASIA
cmyk
cmyk
Majorannouncementsof economic
reforms are alsoleading many smallcompanies to witnessstellar growth
PARTH NYATI | FOUNDER, TRADINGO
of theday uote
Easing up oflocalrestrictions
while ensuring anaggressivevaccination drive,coupled with theimplementation of strict protocols to ensure safety and hygiene byhotels provided a major relief andboost to confidence amongst thetravelling community
MP BEZBARUAH | SECRETARY GENERAL, HOTEL
ASSOCIATION OF INDIA
We are thrilledto have theentire Airlearn
team join theTeachmint family.Teachstack is aunique enterpriseoffering from our product suite,which has already seen adoptionfrom global edtech start-ups
MIHIR GUPTA | CEO AND CO-FOUNDER,TEACHMINT
15 notices by CCPAto cooker sellers New Delhi: Consumer protectionregulator CCPA has issued 15notices to e-commerce entitiesas well as sellers for offeringpressure cookers that are non-compliant with BIS norms, thegovernment said Wednesday.These notices have been issuedby the Central ConsumerProtection Authority (CCPA) aspart of its suo-moto action. “15Notices have already beenissued with respect to suchviolations,” an officialstatement said. The cases havealso been forwarded to Bureauof Indian Standards (BIS) fortaking necessary action underthe BIS Act, 2016, it said.
Mankind, BDR joinhands for Covid pillNew Delhi: Mankind PharmaWednesday said it has joinedhands with BDR Pharmaceuticalsto launch oral anti COVID-19 pillMolulife (Molnupiravir) in thecountry. The tie-up is a licensingarrangement where productionis by BDR Pharma andmarketing, selling, promotion,distribution is by MankindPharma, the company said in astatement. On Tuesday, theDrugs Controller General of India(DCGI) granted permission forrestricted use of antiviralmedication Molnupiravir underemergency situation fortreatment of Covid-19 in adultpatients who have a high risk ofprogression of the disease.
Realme’s 5G phonesales jump 9,519% New Delhi: Smartphone brandrealme became the fastest-growing 5G Androidsmartphone brand globally inthe third quarter (Q3) this year,registering a 831 per cent (on-year) growth, a new reportshowed Wednesday. In India,realme’s 5G smartphone salesgrew a whopping 9,519 per cent,the most among all regions. Thegrowth helped realme retain thesixth spot in the global 5GAndroid smartphone sales.Much of realme’s growth camefrom China, India and Europe.
E-commerce hiringsurge 28% in 2021New Delhi: Employmentopportunities in the e-commerce and allied industrieswitnessed a 28 per cent surgein 2021, and recruitmentactivities in this segment willgain further momentum drivenby economic recovery andaggressive vaccination drive,according to TeamLeaseServices. The e-commercesector grew by 8 per cent in2020 and 30 per cent in 2021. Itis now poised to reach $111billion by 2024 and $200 billion by 2026.
SHORT TAKES
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: Just after re-covering from the devastating pan-demic blows this year, the Indianretail industry is once again star-ing at uncertain times with lo-calised restrictions back in manyplaces to curb coronavirus infec-tions even as the industry playersare turning ‘phygital’ to cater tocustomers.
Concepts like video shoppingmay become more mainstreamand companies will continue toadopt advanced analytics to im-prove sales and gain granular actionable insights on buyer behaviour.
Metro Cash & Carry India MD
& CEO Arvind Mediratta saidCOVID has changed consumer be-haviour and buying patterns dras-tically.
He also pointed out that healthand safety concerns predomi-nantly led to consumer decisionsthat resulted in people looking foressential products, especially theones with health benefits.
“Customers now decide ‘whento shop’, ‘where to shop’ and ‘howto shop’– be it online, offline or amix of both. They are looking ata seamless omnichannel experi-ence. Hence, phygital has emergedas an intrinsic part of customers’shopping experience, and this in-tegration between offline and on-line retail is likely to grow,”
Mediratta told PTI.According to him, retailers have
to imbibe an integration strategyto enhance customer value propo-sition and experience.
Deloitte India Partner RajatWahi said COVID has defined anew normal for retailers and hasaltered the business dynamics forever for them.
However, the retail industry, whichis now leveraging technology to en-gage with and reach their end cus-tomers, are also grappling with cer-tain implications.
With the emergence of theOmicron variant and localised re-strictions put in place by variousstates, there are rising concerns thatthe retail industry's recovery might
be hit in the near term, accord-ing to analysts. ICRA AVP & SectorHead Sakshi Suneja said the spreadof the Omicron variant poses akey downside risk to the recoverypath. During the year, the `24,500crore-deal between the FutureGroup and Reliance Industries'retail arm could not be completed.
Reliance Retail Ventures Ltd(RRVL), the retail arm of RelianceIndustries, had - for the secondtime - extended the timeline forcompleting its `24,713 crore dealwith Future Group to March 31,2022 as it still awaits regulatoryand judicial clearances. FutureGroup is also engaged in a bit-ter legal with Amazon, which isopposing the deal.
Deja vu for retail cos; uncertainties may roil recovery WITH OMNICHANNEL APPROACH GAINING CURRENCY, TECHNOLOGY WILL REMAIN A KEY ENABLER FOR THE RETAIL INDUSTRY AND IN 2022, THEFOCUS IS LIKELY TO BE ON BUILDING AN AGILE AND SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN THAT PROVIDES THE CONVENIENCE OF ‘PHYGITAL’ SHOPPING
Retail companies like Ikea have expanded theirretail presence both offline and online
Social media and influencer marketing coming tothe forefront, creativity and content push,especially with regional languages, will gain more importance
RAI data showed thatretail sales in Nov 2021
was up 9% growthover the
pre-pandemic levels of2019 and 16% growth
compared to 2020
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, Dec 29: GlobalBees,a leading roll-up e-commerce com-pany, has secured $ 111.5 millionin series B funding led byPremji Invest. The roundalso saw participation fromexisting investors, includ-ing SoftBank and FirstCry,while Steadview Capital be-came the latest investor toback the company.
With this latest investment,GlobalBees’ valuation stands at $1.1 billion. The company plans touse the proceeds to further
strengthen its product portfolioand expedite its efforts towardsproduct innovation, customer ex-
perience, hiring tal-ent and scaling
companies.The com-
pany is now100 plus peo-ple strong.
The companyis in advanced
talks with 20plus companies to
strengthen its portfolio of digitalfirst brands.
GlobalBees was founded in May
2021 and has a diverse portfolio ofcompanies across categories suchas Homecare, Beauty and PersonalCare, Nutrition & Wellness, FashionJewellery, and Eyewear in just 7months. GlobalBees plans to in-vest in 100 plus brands across ver-
ticals over the next three years,including fast-moving consumergoods (FMCG), sports, home or-ganisation, and lifestyle.
The company has offices in Delhiand Bengaluru and has developedassets and expertise in market-ing, technology, supply-chain &logistics and product innovationand more. In July 2021, the companyraised $150 million in a mix of eq-uity and debt in a Series A, led byFirstCry and other investors.
GlobalBees is an aggregator ofdigital brands that transformsmarketplace sellers into interna-tional brands.
GlobalBees becomes latest unicorn of India
Withthis investment,
we are well set up tobecome India’s largest
brand platformNITIN AGARWAL |
CEO, GLOBALBEES
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: Waves of for-eign portfolio investments worthover `51,000 crore splashed intothe Indian market in 2021 as over-seas investors turned net buyersof domestic securities for the thirdstraight year while excess globalliquidity and other factors steeredthe ebb and flow of their investingways.
Mirroring the roller-coaster ridefor foreign portfolio investmentflows in the Indian market thisyear, FPIs emerged as net buyersfor six months, including threemonths continuously starting fromJanuary. In June, August andSeptember also, these investorsmade net investments and the re-maining six months witnessed netFPI outflows.
Excess liquidity in the globalfinancial system, resurgence ofconcerns over the coronaviruspandemic, rising global inflationas well as higher valuation ofIndian equity markets are amongthe mix of factors that influenced FPIs.
Himanshu Srivastava, AssociateDirector - Manager Research atMorningstar India, said FPI flowswere driven by excess liquidity inthe global financial system on theback of stimulus measures an-
nounced by central banks andresurgence of the pandemic.
Foreign fund flows into the do-mestic market was quite robustin the first three months of this yearon the back of multiple factors,including the government’s pro-growth Budget, decline in coron-avirus cases, launch of Covid vac-cine and improvement in economicnumbers.
Srivastava noted that the gushof liquidity in the global finan-
cial markets after the US an-nounced a $1.9 trillion pandemicrelief package and a rejig in someof the global indexes resulted infund flows into Indian equities.
However, the sharp surge inCovid cases in the subsequentmonths spooked foreign investors.Reversing the bearish trend, FPIinterest in Indian equities revivedand they came back to invest inJune after two previous months ofnet outflows.
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: Apple hasput Sriperumbudur factory ofiPhone assembler Foxconn on ‘pro-bation’ following worker protestsand an assessment that revealedsubstandard living conditions, say-ing it will ensure strict standardsare met before the unit reopens.
The factory located on the out-skirts of Chennai was shut downafter workers protested againstthe poor condition of dormitoriesand dining rooms. It will resumeoperations once 'necessary im-provements' are made. Foxconn’sSriperumbudur factory hit head-lines recently over mass-food poi-soning at its offsite dormitory fa-cility.
Foxconn, which assemblesiPhone among other gadgets at thefactory, apologised for the lapses andsaid it will revamp local manage-ment team and systems to ensurehigh standards needed are achievedand maintained.
An Apple spokesperson said:“We hold our suppliers accountableto the highest standards in the in-dustry and regularly conduct as-sessments to ensure compliance.”
Following recent concernsabout food safety and accom-modation conditions at FoxconnSriperumbudur, Apple dis-patched independent auditorsto undertake additional detailedassessments.
“We found that some of the re-mote dormitory accommodationsand dining rooms being used for em-ployees do not meet our require-ments and we are working withthe supplier to ensure a compre-
hensive set of corrective actions arerapidly implemented,” the Applespokesperson said.
“Foxconn’s Sriperumbudur fa-cility has been placed on proba-tion and we will ensure our strictstandards are met before the fa-cility reopens. We will continue tomonitor conditions closely,” thespokesperson added.
Apple supplier Foxconn, in astatement, said it is restructuringlocal management team and man-agement systems to make sure itcan achieve and maintain the highstandards, that are required.
Foxconn Technology Group fur-ther informed that all employeeswill continue to be paid while nec-essary improvements are under-taken before restarting operations.The company said that some offsitedormitory facilities did not meetthe required standards.
While the plant was widely ex-pected to open around December 30,Apple's latest move to put Foxconnfacility on probation could meansome delay in resumption of oper-ations at the plant until all of the stan-dards are met by Foxconn for its em-ployees, say market watchers.
EBB AND FLOW
FPIs’ net investmentscross `51K cr in 2021
With the global financial system still flush with liquidity, emerging market assets, especially equities, might well remain the preferred investment avenue
for many more months to come, experts opined
FPIS TURNED NETBUYERS BUT THEIR
INVESTMENT IS MUCHLESS COMPARED TO
NET INFLOWS OF `1.03 LAKH CRORE IN
2020. AND LASTYEAR’S QUANTUMWAS LOWER THAN`1.35 LAKH CRORE
INVESTMENTS MADE IN 2019
DATA WITH THE DEPOSITORIES SHOWED THATOVERSEAS INVESTORS PUMPED IN `26,001 CRORE INTO EQUITIES, `23,222 CROREINTO DEBT SEGMENT AND `1,848 CRORE IN HYBRID INSTRUMENTS
FPI FLOWS ACROSS MARKETS WERE MIXED,WITH SK, PHILIPPINES, THAILAND ANDINDONESIA, WITNESSING INFLOWS TO THETUNE OF $2,443MLN, $1,711MLN, $190MLN, AND$55MLN, RESPECTIVELY, WHILE TAIWANWITNESSED OUTFLOW OF $15MLN
FOOD POISONING ROW
Apple puts Foxconn’s facility on probation
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: Sahara GroupWednesday said it is unreasonableto ask it to deposit more money asfunds totalling `24,000 crore arelying unutilised with regulatorSebi for the last nine years and itwas hurting the business inter-ests of the group.
The statement comes a day afterSebi Chairman Ajay Tyagi saidSahara is yet to fully deposit themoney ordered by the SupremeCourt in August 2012 and that thegroup has so far given only around`15,000 crore while the total amountdue to be deposited is ̀ 25,781 crore.
According to Sebi’s FY21 annualreport, the regulator had paid backonly ̀ 129 crore to bondholders andthat it was maintaining an escrowaccount with over `23,000 crore.
In a statement, Sahara Groupsaid Supreme Court had ordered onAugust 31, 2012 to deposit principalamount and interest assuming thatevery depositor has to be paidwhich was not the case and thiscame to the knowledge of the courtwithin three months’ time frompronouncing the order.
The Supreme Court took note ofthe fact that the number of claimantswho were still to be repaid, were farless. Hence, it is an incorrect state-ment from Sebi to ask Sahara todeposit more, the group said.
It, further, said the regulatorafter giving four rounds of adver-tisements in 154 newspapers in thelast nine years across the countryhas repaid only ̀ 129 crore to the in-vestors of Sahara.
In its last advertisement thatwas published in March 2018, Sebimade it clear that it would not en-tertain any further claim receivedafter July 2018, Sahara said.
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: Taxpayerswho have not e-verified their ITRsfor 2019-20 fiscal can complete theverification process by February 28,2022, as the Income Tax depart-ment has given a one-time relax-ation to assessees.
As per law, an income tax return(ITR), filed electronically withouta digital signature, has to be veri-fied electronically through AadhaarOTP, or net-banking, or code sentthrough demat account, pre-vali-dated bank account and ATM within
120 days of filing the return.Alternatively, taxpayers can send
a physical copy of the ITR filed tothe Centralised Processing Centre(CPC) office in Bangalore.
If the verification process, whichis done through ITR-V form, is notcomplete, then it is considered thatthe return has not been filed.
The Central Board of DirectTaxes (CBDT) in a circular datedDecember 28, said a large numberof electronically filed ITRs for theAssessment Year 2020-21, still re-main pending with the Income Taxdepartment for want of receipt of
a valid ITR-V For m at CPC,Banghalore or pending e-Verification from the taxpayersconcerned.
“In respect of all lTRs forAssessment Year 2020-21 (fiscal2019-20) which were uploaded elec-tronically by the taxpayers withinthe time allowed... And which haveremained incomplete due to non-submission of ITR-V Form... TheBoard... Hereby permits verifica-tion of such returns either by send-ing a duly signed physical copy ofITR-V to CPC, Bangalore throughspeed post or through EVCOTP
modes. Such verification processmust be completed by February28,2022,” the CBDT said.
This relaxation shall not applyin those cases, where during theintervening period, I-T depart-ment has already taken recourseto any other measure for ensur-ing filing of tax return by thetaxpayer concerned after declar-ing that the return has not beenfiled, it added.
AMRG & Associates SeniorPartner Rajat Mohan said “non-compliant taxpayers would getample time to come clean and com-plete the verification process, en-abling the tax department to processthe returns.”
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Mumbai, Dec 29: Gross bad loansof banks may rise from 6.9 per centin September 2021 to 8.1-9.5 percent by September 2022 if theOmicron variant strikes the econ-omy hard, as per the financial sta-bility report of the Reserve Bankreleased Wednesday.
The report also said that therising stress level in the retailloan portfolio of banks -- the main-stay of bank credit for many yearsnow -- was led by home loans,which grew in double-digits sofar this fiscal.
“While asset quality improved,with gross non-performing assets(GNPA) and net NPA (NNPA) ratiosdeclining to 6.9 and 2.3 per cent, re-spectively, in September 2021, theslippage ratio inched up duringthe same period as private sectorbanks showed a higher rate of de-terioration in asset quality,” as perthe report.
But, based on the stress tests,the report warns that the GNPAratio may rise to 8.1 per cent bySeptember 2022 under the base-line scenario and further to 9.5 percent under severe stress, if theeconomy is hit by an Omicronwave.
“Within the bank groups, publicsector banks’ GNPA stood at 8.8
per cent in September 2021 andmay deteriorate to 10.5 per cent bySeptember 2022 under the base-line scenario, while for private-sector lenders, the same may risefrom 4.6 per cent to 5.2 per cent, andfor foreign banks, it may increasefrom 3.2 per cent to 3.9 per centover the same period,” the reportsaid.
Similarly, the overall provisioningcoverage ratio moved up from 67.6per cent in March 2021 to 68.1 percent in September 2021.
However, the same tests on non-banks indicate that a significantnumber of them would be hit ifthere are liquidity shocks and thenetwork analysis points to in-creasing inter-bank exposure, rais-ing contagion risks.
‘Over `24K cr lyingunutilised with Sebi’
Major relief to taxpayers by I-T dept
RBI sees NPAs risingto 8.1-9.5% by Sept
OVER FIVE CRORE INCOME TAX RETURNS (ITRs) FOR THE FINANCIAL YEARENDED MARCH 2021 HAVE BEEN FILED SO FAR, THE I-T DEPARTMENT SAID
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
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P12THURSDAY | DECEMBER 30 | 2021 | BHUBANESWAR
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Melbourne, Dec 29: An Ashesseries win in England in 2023 anddefeating India in their own back-yard are the two important mile-stones Australia opener DavidWarner is eyeing before calling itquits from Test cricket.
After retaining the Ashes withan unassailable 3-0 lead inside12 days, Warner, who turned 35in October this year during theT20 World Cup, where he wonthe ‘Player of the Tournament’award in Australia’s title tri-umph, admitted that there arestill a few goals he’d like to achievebefore quitting the longest formatof the game.
“We still haven’t beaten Indiain India. That would be nice to do.And obviously, England away, wehad a drawn series (in 2019), buthopefully, if I managed to get that
chance and opportunity, I mightthink about going back,” Warnerwas quoted as saying by‘ESPNcricinfo’.
Warner has played 13 and eightTests across three series in Englandand two in India, respectively. Buthe has a poor record in both thecountries, averaging 26 and 24 re-spectively without a century.
Warner would turn 37 by thenext Ashes trip to England, butfor the left-handed opener age is justa number. “I think James Andersonsets the benchmark for older guysthese days,” he said.
“We look up to him as we’re get-ting on in our days. But for me,it’s about performing to the best ofmy ability and putting runs on theboard. I feel in good touch. As Isaid, I was out of runs not out ofform, so hopefully, I can put somemore numbers on the board lead-ing into this new year.”
Warner eyes 2023Ashes, win in India
GOALS BEFORE QUITTING TEST
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Leicester, Dec 29: Losses forLiverpool are about as rare aspenalty misses by Mohamed Salah.Both happened Tuesday and, evenat the halfway stage of the season,it could cost Jürgen Klopp’s teamthe Premier League title.
Liverpool were beaten 0-1 by apatched-up Leicester team andcould find itself nine points be-hind Manchester City heading intothe new year, if the leaders win atBrentford Wednesday.
It’s a cushion that might proveto be insurmountable given City ison a nine-match winning streakin the league and is looking un-stoppable, scoring 17 goals in its lastthree victories.
Liverpool also will soon be with-out its two star forwards, Salahand Sadio Mane, who are headingto the African Cup of Nations nextweek. They were granted permis-sion to delay joining up with theirnational teams ahead of the tour-nament so they could play forLiverpool over the festive period butthey couldn’t make the differenceat King Power Stadium.
Salah won a penalty but saw hisweak effort saved by KasperSchmeichel in the 16th minute,thereby failing to convert a spotkick for the first time in 16 attempts.His last penalty miss was against
Huddersfield in October 2017.Liverpool ultimately slumped
to only its second loss in all com-petitions this season when sub-stitute Ademola Lookman foundspace between Joel Matip and Virgilvan Dijk and shot inside the nearpost in the 59th minute.
Liverpool are tied on 41 pointswith Chelsea, and both are sixpoints behind City. All three teamshave played 19 games, with Cityand Chelsea — at home to Brighton— in action Wednesday.
Denied victory at 10-man
Southampton – a 1-1 draw—afterhaving two second-half goals ruledout, Tottenham manager AntonioConte remained philosophical.
Still, Conte said he felt HarryKane’s 53rd-minute goal, whichwould have put Tottenham 2-1ahead, should have stood insteadof being scrubbed off because theEngland captain’s arm put him inan offside position when he wasplayed through.
Then, 14 minutes later,Southampton goalkeeper FraserForster came out to catch the ball
under pressure from Tottenhamsubstitute Matt Doherty anddropped it onto his own heel. Theball ricocheted back into the net butthe referee blew for a foul byDoherty, even though contact ap-peared minimal.
James Ward-Prowse’s 25th-minute opener for Southamptonwas cancelled out by Kane, whoconverted a penalty in the 41stafter Son Heung-min was trippedby Mohammed Salisu. That earnedthe Southampton defender a secondyellow card.
Salah misses penalty as Reds lose
CONTRASTING FORTUNES: Mohamed Salah’s penalty is saved by Leicester City custodian Kasper Schmeichel (inset)
ASSOCIATED
Barcelona, Dec 29: Barcelonacompleted the signing of FerranTorres from Manchester CityTuesday for a reported fee of 55million euros (USD 62.25 million),around double what the Englishchampions paid for the Spain for-ward 16 months ago.
Torres signed a five-year dealand will have a buyout clause of onebillion euros (USD 1.13 billion), ac-cording to Barcelona.
The Spanish club needed to bol-ster their attacking options fol-lowing the retirement of SergioAguero because of a heart problem.Aguero also joined Barcelona fromCity but played just five games.
The 21-year-old Torres returnsto Spain, where he played forValencia before joining City in theoffseason of 2020 with a reputa-tion of being one of Europe’s bestyoung players.
He scored 16 goals in 43 gamesin all competitions for City butwas never a regular because of themany attacking options availableto manager Pep Guardiola. Torreshasn’t played since October be-cause of a foot injury sustainedon national-team duty.
“Ferran should be proud of what
he has achieved here at ManchesterCity,” said Txiki Begiristain, City’sdirector of football.
“Last season was his first timein a new country, but he adaptedwell. He always gave 100 percent,worked hard for the team andscored goals which helped us wintrophies.”
Torres will be presented as aBarcelona player at the Camp Nouhere next Monday.
Ferran Torres joinsBarca from Man City
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Warsaw (Poland), Dec 29:Defending champion KoneruHumpy failed to live up to herbilling, finishing sixth with 7.5points in the women’s section of theFIDE World Rapid ChessChampionship 2021 here.
In the open event, young IndianGrandmaster D Gukesh scorednine points to finish a creditableninth, just half a point behindchampion Nodirbek Abdusattorov(9.5) of Uzbekistan.
Humpy, who began the final dayof the Rapid event with a drawagainst Alexandra Kosteniuk, alsosplit points in her subsequentmatches against AntoanetaStefanova of Bulgaria and GulnarMamadova of Azerbaijan.
R Vaishali was the next bestIndian performer in the women’ssection, finishing in the 14th spotwith seven points followed byVantika Agrawal (6 points, 38thplace), and Padmini Rout (5.5, 49th).
In the open section, MitrabhaGuha logged 8.5 points to finishan impressive 15th. Vidit S Gujrathi(7.5 points) took the 45th spot whileHarish Bharathakoti, who had agood start, settled for 60th placewith 7 points. P Harikrishna, thehighest ranked Indian player here,ended 99th with 6.5 points.
Humpy takes 6thposition in WorldRapid Chess meet
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
New Delhi, Dec 29: Virat Kohli’swatertight grip over Indian cricketloosened significantly in a mixed2021 bag, when the team’s winlessrun at ICC events continued but the‘Men in Blue’ cherished a historicTest series triumph in Australia.
When MS Dhoni left white-ballcaptaincy in 2017, Kohli becamethe undisputed king of Indiancricket with his rule unchallengedfor the three years that followed.
In the absence of a strong ad-ministration at BCCI, Kohli calledthe shots and not many seemed tomind it with India performing wellacross formats though the ICC titleeluded them. However, his reign hadto be challenged at some point withSourav Ganguly and Jay Shah fill-ing the power vacuum in the world’smost powerful board towards theend of 2019.
The Alpha males of Indiancricket did not come in each other’sway for the following year andcracks in their relationship couldonly be seen after Kohli decided tostep down from T20 captaincy at theend of the 2020 World Cup.
He had no plans to leave the ODIcaptaincy but India’s premature exitfrom the tournament led to the in-
evitable and the mighty Kohli did notsee that BCCI bombshell coming.
Following his sacking as 50-overskipper, dirty linen was washedin public with Kohli and Gangulycontradicting each other on thesequence of events that led to theformer’s removal.
Kohli is used to the spotlightwith cameras following his everymove on the field but now thatspace will be shared by new whiteball skipper Rohit Sharma.
With 70 international hundredsunder his belt, the charismatic crick-eter has nothing left to prove but aftera quiet two years with the bat by hishigh standards and his feud with theBCCI, Kohli will be more fired upthan ever to show that he remainsthe best in the business.
The early exit at T20 World Cupwas a big disappointment but itmarked the end of a successful eraunder Kohli and Ravi Shastri, es-pecially in the longest format.
Not many can question the great-ness of the Kohli-led Test team butthe defeat in the World TestChampionship final against NewZealand was also a big letdown of theyear. India had played remarkablywell to reach the final and would havebeen worthy winners of that tro-phy but New Zealand once again
upstaged them on the big stage. However, nothing can take sheen
off India’s second consecutive se-ries win in Australia with an injury-ravaged team struggling to evenfield a playing eleven in the seriesdecider in Brisbane.
The win at the Gabba will betalked about for years to come, notjust because it was Australia’s firstloss at the venue in 33 years but theway India overcame an injury crisisand the 36 all out debacle at Adelaideto script a comeback for the ages.
Kohli went back home after thefirst Test for the birth of his childbut the way Ajinkya Rahane led theside in his absence also played amajor role in India’s monumentalachievement Down Under.
Later in the year, Kohli and Co.were set for another overseas serieswin but the fifth and final Test inEngland had to be cancelled due toa COVID outbreak in the visitors.India lead the series 2-1 with thefinal Test to be played next year.
India look in good shape to ex-tend their dominance in the five-day game but Rohit and coachRahul Dravid have work to do toturn the team’s fortunes in white-ball cricket with T20 World Cupand ODI World Cup scheduled in2022 and 2023 respectively.
2021: When King Kohli became a lesser mortal NEWS IN BRIEFDjokovic pulls out ofATP Cup in AustraliaSYDNEY: Novak Djokovic haswithdrawn from the ATP Cup inAustralia ahead of the first GrandSlam tournament of the season,organizers said Wednesday. Noreason was given but the top-ranked Serb has declined tocomment on his vaccination statusin recent months and Australia’sstrict regulations require allplayers, officials and fans to be fullyvaccinated against COVID-19. ATPCup organizers disclosed Djokovic’swithdrawal in a roster update thatincluded France replacing Austria inthe 16-country event following thewithdrawals of Dominic Thiem andDennis Novak. Dusan Lajovic willreplace Djokovic for Serbia. The ATPCup begins Saturday in Sydney.
I-League suspendedafter Covid +ve casesKOLKATA: I-League wasWednesday suspended for at leasta week after COVID-19 breachedits bio-bubble as eight players andthree officials have tested positivefor the dreaded virus. Five playersand three team officials from RealKashmir FC, one player each fromMohammedan Sporting, debutantsSreenidi Deccan FC and Aizawl FCreturned positive in the testsconducted Tuesday. The firstround matches were played onSunday and Monday while thethird round games are scheduledfor January 4 and 5. Sreenidi,Mohammedan Sporting, NEROCAand Aizawl FC have matchesscheduled for Thursday whileRKFC have a game Friday.
Marsh, Rizwan, Buttler, Hasaranga shortlistedDUBAI: Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh and Pakistan wicketkeeper-batter Mohammad Rizwan were Wednesday named among four playersshortlisted for the ICC Men’s T20I Player of the Year award. The other twoplayers are Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga and Englandwicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler. A part of the T20 World Cup winningAustralian team, Marsh scored 627 runs in 27 matches at an average of 36.88while also taking eight wickets at 18.37 during the year. Rizwan aggregateda staggering 1326 runs in only 29 matches at an average of 73.66 and astrike-rate of 134.89. Hasaranga took 36 wickets, including a hat-trick, in 20matches at 11.63 and scored 196 runs. Buttler was also brilliant during theyear with 589 runs in 14 matches at 65.44 with one century.
INDIA IN DRIVER’S SEATSIX WICKETS, WEATHER IN BETWEEN VISITORS’ WIN AT CENTURION AS SOUTH AFRICA
REACH 94/4 WITH SKIPPER ELGAR STANDING TALL IN 305-RUN CHASE
BRIEF SCORESIndia 327 & 174
(Rishabh Pant 34, KL Rahul 23,Ajinkya Rahane 20; Kagiso
Rabada 4/42, Marco Jansen 4/55,Lungi Ngidi 2/31);
South Africa 197 & 94/4 (Dean Elgar 52 batting; Jasprit
Bumrah 2/22). Match to continue.
DEAN ELGAR
SPLENDID START: Mohammed Shami celebrates with teammates after dismissing Aiden Markram in his first over
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
Centurion, Dec 29: Jasprit Bumrah(2/22) produced a couple of magicdeliveries at the fag end of thefourth day as India remained oncourse for an emphatic victoryagainst a rattled South Africa in thefirst Test here Wednesday.
The home side would be prayingfor their captain Dean Elgar’sdogged defiance and some rain onthe final day Thursday.
Chasing a never achieved vic-tory target of 305 at the SupersportPark, South Africa finished theday at 94/4 with Elgar unbeaten on
52 after Indian batters caved in ona track with uneven bounce, gettingall-out for 174 in just 50.3 overs.
It was another failure for theseasoned trio of skipper Virat Kohli,Cheteshwar Pujara and AjinkyaRahane but the pacers again swungthe match in India’s favour.
With 211 runs required and sixwickets in hand, an intriguing bat-tle could be on the cards on the finalday but the Indian team would praythat forecast of a steady afternoonshower Thursday doesn’t come true.
Elgar and Rassie van der Dussen(11 off 65 balls) added 40 runs butmore importantly batted for more
than 22 overs.Just when the game looked like
meandering, Bumrah went wide offthe crease and got the ball to cutback late just when Van der Dussendecided to shoulder arms think-ing that it would go straight. Andthen at the stroke of stumps, alethal delivery knocked the stuff-ing out of night watchman KeshavMaharaj (8) to leave the Proteasin complete tatters.
Even Mohammed Siraj (1/25)bowled one that was angled in andmoved away late taking KeeganPeterson’s (17) outside edge. AidenMarkram was the first to be dis-
missed as he failed to take his bataway from a Mohammed Shami(1/29) delivery that bounced a tadextra after landing on the perfectupright seam.
The use of heavy roller and theKookaburra getting old by the 15thover did work to South Africa’sadvantage but only for a limited pe-riod of time before the quality andskill-set of Indian pacers foundthe opposition wanting.
If there is one worry, it’s Pujara(16), Kohli (18) and Rahane (20) play-ing some indiscreet shots while theothers were done-in by wideningcracks that led to deliveries rearing
up awkwardly from short of length.KL Rahul (23), Rishabh Pant (34)
and R Ashwin (14) got snorters thatgrew big on them as Kagiso Rabada(4/42), debutant Marco Jansen (4/55)and Lungi Ngidi (2/31) looked men-acing during the one and half ses-sions that the Indians batted.
South Africa have more than140 overs to score 305 but on thisSupersport Park track, it will be aherculean task to make a match ofthe target with highest successfulchase here being 251 by Englandback in 2000-01.
Ashwin 2nd amongbowlers, all-roundersDUBAI: Seasoned India off-spinner RAshwin Wednesday retained his sec-ond position in both the ICC Men’sTest Player Rankings for bowlers andall-rounders. Ravindra Jadeja man-aged to hold to his third position inthe Test all-rounders list. RohitSharma and skipper Virat Kohli alsoretained their positions in the Testbatters’ chart – at fifth and seventhrespectively. The Test batting chart isbeing led by Australia’s MarnusLabuschagne (915 points), followedby England skipper Joe Root (900).Among Test bowlers, Ashwin is theonly Indian in the top 10, steady atthe second spot with 883 ratingpoints. Australia Test captain PatCummins continues to lead the pack.In the Test all-rounders list, Indianduo of Ashwin (360) and Jadeja (346)are below leader Jason Holder (382)of the West Indies. The Test Teamranking is being led by India with 124rating points, while New Zealand andAustralia occupy the second andthird positions respectively.
