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12
A s the Opposition mounted pressure on the Centre in Parliament to repeal the three farm laws, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said the Government is willing to amend them. At the same time he insisted there were no dis- crepancies in the laws. Making this assertion in the Rajya Sabha, he also said the various kisan unions now agitating at the borders of the national Capital were unable, so far, to pinpoint any lacuna in the laws during the 11 rounds of talks. Insisting that the new laws were meant to increase the income of the farmers and improve their standard of liv- ing, in an obvious reference to Punjab, Tomar said farmers from one State were “misled and misinformed”. He said while the Contract Act now practised in Punjab provided for arresting the defaulting farmers besides imposing a penalty of 5 lakh, the Central law gave protection to them. Elaborating upon this, the Minister said a farmer at any time can opt out of the Central Contract Act, but the corporate or business entity with whom the contract was arrived at cannot do so. Highlighting these points while participating in a dis- cussion on the President’s address, Tomar reiterated the Government’s assurance for continuing talks to resolve the issue. He also said if the Government wanted to make any changes in these laws, it didn’t mean there was any problem with them. “I made it clear that if Govt was ready to make amendments, it did not mean there was any problem in farm laws,” he said. The Minister also said there was misinformation spread among the farmers that their lands will be taken if the laws were implemented. “Let me know if there is a single provision in contract farming law which allows any trader to snatch away the land of any farmer,” he said. Tomar informed the House that the Government was committed to welfare of farm- ers and to the continuation of the mandi system of procure- ment of crops on minimum support price (MSP) based mechanism. The laws give farmers alter- natives to sell their produce outside mandis, and unlike the State Government notified market places, such sale would not attract any tax. “The agitation should have been against the tax levied (by state government) on sale made in mandis but strangely the protests are against freeing of the system from such taxes,” Tomar said. Taking a dig at the Opposition for terming the legislations as “black laws,” he said during the last two months of talks with the farmers not even a single black point was brought out by the farmers rep- resentatives. With regard to the MSP which has been the key issue of the farmers’ movement, the Minister said it was being pro- vided at 50 per cent more than the production cost and the Centre ensured that requisite investment reaches the agri- culture sector. Tomar reiterated the PM is committed towards the welfare of farmers and efforts were on to double their income and also increase the contribution of agriculture towards the coun- try’s GDP rapidly. Under this year’s Union Budget, the Centre had allo- cated an amount of Rs 2.83 lakh crore for agriculture with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman adding that the MSP regime underwent a change to assure price to farm- ers that is at least 1.5 times the cost of production across all commodities. W hile farmers unions are readying for pan India chakka jam from 12 to 3 pm on Saturday in protest against farm laws, the Supreme Court- appointed expert committee on Friday held discussion with representatives of State agri- culture marketing board, pri- vate mandis operators and food parks of 10 States, includ- ing Kerala, over the three farm laws and sought their com- ments and suggestions to fur- ther improve it. The meeting was held through video conferencing. This was the fifth round of talks with stakeholders engaged in agriculture. The committee members will hold delibera- tions with Industry bodies on February 9. The committee is sched- uled to meet State Governments on February 11. The three-member com- mittee is holding consultations with stakeholders both online and in person. The protesting farmers groups have refused to meet the committee over the farm laws. In a statement, the com- mittee said it held a detailed discussion “in person” with managing directors, adminis- trators, directors of State mar- keting boards, private mandi operators and food parks of dif- ferent States and UTs through video conferencing. These officials were from 10 States — Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. The committee mem- bers requested the participants to give their views on the three farm laws. A head of chakka jam pro- posed by farmers, the Delhi Police have made ade- quate security arrangements at borders of the national Capital. Meanwhile investigating the toolkit document uploaded on a social media handle which the Delhi Police believe script- ed the January 26 violence in the Capital, the police have sought from Google the IP address from which the toolk- it was uploaded. Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava held a meeting with the senior officials of the force and reviewed the security arrange- ments. The police will monitor content on the social media to keep tabs on those spreading rumours against the force. “In view of the violence that took place on January 26, adequate security arrangements have been put in place by the Delhi Police at the borders so that miscreants are not able enter the national Capital. Police teams are monitoring content on the social media to make sure rumours are not spread against the police. The protesters are camping at the borders of Delhi. We are in touch with the police force of other States also,” said Chinmoy Biswal, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of Delhi Police. T hose looking for Pfizer developed mRNA-based vaccine against Covid-19 will have to wait. Just two days before the pharma major announced the withdrawal of its application for the emer- gency use authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine in India, an expert panel of the country’s drugs regulatory authority rec- ommended against granting such approval to the firm at this stage. Pfizer had said it has decid- ed to withdraw its application for emergency use authorisa- tion of its Covid-19 vaccine in India. The first pharmaceutical firm to seek such authorisation from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Pfizer on December 5 approached the Indian author- ities for its Covid-19 vaccine, after it secured such clearance in the UK and Bahrain. As of now, two vaccines — Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — have been approved for restrict- ed emergency use in India. On February 3, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) deliberated on Pfizer’s application. The firm presented its pro- posal for emergency use autho- risation of Covid-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b before the committee, an official said. “The committee noted that incidents of palsy, anaphylaxis and other SAE’s have been reported during post-market- ing and the causality of the events with the vaccine is being investigated. “Further, the firm has not proposed any plan to generate safety and immunogenicity data in the Indian population. After detailed deliberation, the committee has not recom- mended for grant of permis- sion for emergency use in the country at this stage,” states the recommendations of the SEC. A Pfizer company spokesperson in a statement said that in pursuance of the emergency use authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine, the firm participated in the SEC meet- ing. “Based on the delibera- tions at the meeting and our understanding of additional information that the regulator may need, the company has decided to withdraw its appli- cation at this time,” the spokesperson said. C hief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday made the third Cabinet expansion of his Government by inducting Hafizul Hassan, son of former senior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader and ex minority affairs minister late Haji Hussain Ansari at present and is not member of Jharkhand Assembly. Late Ansari has rep- resented Madhupur seat in Deoghar district for three terms. Ansari was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Droupadi Murmu at the function held at Raj Bhavan in the morning. Chief Minister Hemant Soren, JMM supremo cum Rajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren, Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Alamgir Alam and other Ministers of Soren Cabinet were present on the occasion. Hasaan, who is 11th Minister in Soren Cabinet, took charge as Minority Affairs Minister in the evening. Apart from Minority Affairs, Hassan has been made Minister of Tourism, Sports and Youth affairs. After taking the oath Hassan said, “I am thankful to Chief Minister Hemant Soren, party patriarch Shibu Soren for reposing faith in me. I will try to fulfill the dreams and unfin- ished work of my father Haji Hussain Ansari.” Chief Minister Hemant Soren talking to media persons at Raj Bhavan said, “One more young face has joined Cabinet. We are hopeful that with Hassan becoming Minister, the development pace in the State will gain momentum.” The induction of Hassan, who is at present not a member of the Assembly, is seen as a major political move. Soren by inducting Hassan in his Cabinet has not only surprised political pundits but has also shut the door of his alliance partners who were eyeing Madhupur Assembly seat vacated by late Haji Hussain Ansari in October last year. Earlier, RJD had pitched a claim for Madhupur seat. It is all likely that Hassan will be the JMM candidate for the Madhupur seat to be held in April this year. BJP’s Raj Paliwar who too had represented the seat twice is likely to be saffron party candidate from Madhupur. Ansari is becoming Minister without being a mem- ber of the Assembly after 15 years. It may be noted that in 2006, Hemendra Pratap Dehati father of Bhanu Pratap Shahi was made minister without contesting elections in Madhu Koda cabinet. Similarly, in 2008 Shibu Soren became Chief Minister of State, but lost the bye-election from Tamar seat in 2009 against Jharkhand Party’s Raja Peter. The Tamar seat cost JMM heav- ily as the 11 month Shibu Soren Government fell. This is the third Cabinet expansion of the Soren Government. On December 29, 2019, Chief Minister Hemant Soren took oath as State Chief Minister along with three Ministers, two from Congress quota (Rameshwar Oraon and Alamgir Alam) and RJD lone MLA Satyanand Bhokta. A month later on January 28, 2020, he expanded his Cabinet for a second time by inducting five Ministers from JMM quota and two from the Congress. With Friday’s Cabinet expansion, the strength of Ministers in the Soren Cabinet has gone up to 11, which includes six from the JMM, four from the Congress and one from the RJD. However, the post of one Minister is still vacant in the Cabinet. J harkhand Government is all set to inaugurate and give eastern India its first and biggest Electronic Manufacturing Cluster in Adityapur Industrial Area near Jamshedpur. On December 29, Chief Minister Hemant Soren took the first step towards making Jharkhand a hub of electronic manufactur- ing by inaugurating the infra- structure built in this cluster. The Government’s goal is to make it a hub of electronic manufacturing units. Multiple units in the region have already started working on their pro- duction plans. Through this EMC project, the Government plans to bring investments into the State and usher employ- ment opportunities for the skilled youth of Jharkhand. So far 23 units have been allotted land in EMC to start their own units and the process of providing land to 4 units is underway. The factory is being built by 23 entrepreneurs. If all the entrepreneurs in the elec- tronic manufacturing cluster establish their units, then about 20,000 direct and about 25,000 indirect jobs will be created and investment of about 500 crore will be ensured in the State. The Government is fully focused on the electronic man- ufacturing cluster. The CM has directed the Secretary of Industry to regularly monitor the project progress and ensure ease for coming investors. Following this, the Secretary of Industry has issued necessary directives to all the officials to visit the clusters and promote new investments. As per the JIADA authori- ty the land price at EMC is quot- ed at 90 Lakh/acre, but to felic- itate investors and create employment opportunities the land block is being allotted at a subsidy of 50 per cent. Apart from this, flatted factory unit can be rented at a rate of 15/Sq. ft. The EMC project is expanded across 82 acres of land. Out of which 49 acres of land will be allocated to 51 elec- tronic manufacturing units. The project primarily being promoted by JIADA is being built at a total cost of 186cr with a support of 41.48cr from the Central Government under the electronic manufac- turing scheme. Within the campus, a 05- acre land block has been allo- cated for the basic infrastruc- ture of EMC. In this specified area, 4 buildings of 5 floors each have been constructed with all basic amenities ready to be handed over to the 92 electronic manufacturing units. The government is primarily aiming to attract electronic chip making companies. Apart from chips making units, space will also be provided for man- ufacturing of LED TVs, LED bulbs and electronic parts used in mobile and automobiles. The EMC area consists of the flatted factories, Testing centres, Truck Parking, school, mall, health centre, employee hostel, restaurant, etc. Each flattened factory is built across 1,135 sq ft. to 2,000 sq ft floor area. Each unit has been pro- vided with electricity & water supply for the workers working at the production unit. Apart from this campus, an attractive feature is the State of the art entrance gate attached to the Administrative Building of EMC. A separate office for the EMC officials has been built within the campus premises. To facilitate Electronic Manufacturing Units operating at EMC, a warehouse has been constructed for the use of flat- tened factories to store their product. To ensure a smooth com- mute, proper road networks have been established around the EMC area, sewerage and drainage systems have been laid along with the amenity of park and street lights. A facility for water storage has also been made so that manufacturing units do not face any problem in their operation.

Transcript of 7Rc^Vcd f_RS]V e` WZ_U ]RTf_R Z_ WRc^ ]Rhd+ E`^Rc

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As the Opposition mountedpressure on the Centre in

Parliament to repeal the threefarm laws, Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar on Friday said theGovernment is willing toamend them. At the same timehe insisted there were no dis-crepancies in the laws.

Making this assertion inthe Rajya Sabha, he also saidthe various kisan unions nowagitating at the borders of thenational Capital were unable, sofar, to pinpoint any lacuna inthe laws during the 11 roundsof talks.

Insisting that the new lawswere meant to increase theincome of the farmers andimprove their standard of liv-ing, in an obvious reference toPunjab, Tomar said farmersfrom one State were “misledand misinformed”.

He said while the ContractAct now practised in Punjabprovided for arresting thedefaulting farmers besidesimposing a penalty of �5 lakh,the Central law gave protectionto them. Elaborating upon this,the Minister said a farmer atany time can opt out of theCentral Contract Act, but thecorporate or business entitywith whom the contract wasarrived at cannot do so.

Highlighting these pointswhile participating in a dis-cussion on the President’saddress, Tomar reiterated theGovernment’s assurance for

continuing talks to resolve theissue. He also said if theGovernment wanted to makeany changes in these laws, itdidn’t mean there was anyproblem with them. “I made itclear that if Govt was ready tomake amendments, it did notmean there was any problem infarm laws,” he said.

The Minister also saidthere was misinformationspread among the farmers thattheir lands will be taken if thelaws were implemented. “Letme know if there is a singleprovision in contract farminglaw which allows any trader tosnatch away the land of anyfarmer,” he said.

Tomar informed the Housethat the Government wascommitted to welfare of farm-ers and to the continuation ofthe mandi system of procure-ment of crops on minimumsupport price (MSP) basedmechanism.

The laws give farmers alter-natives to sell their produceoutside mandis, and unlikethe State Government notifiedmarket places, such sale wouldnot attract any tax.

“The agitation should havebeen against the tax levied (bystate government) on sale madein mandis but strangely theprotests are against freeing ofthe system from such taxes,”Tomar said.

Taking a dig at theOpposition for terming thelegislations as “black laws,” hesaid during the last two monthsof talks with the farmers not

even a single black point wasbrought out by the farmers rep-resentatives.

With regard to the MSPwhich has been the key issue ofthe farmers’ movement, theMinister said it was being pro-vided at 50 per cent more thanthe production cost and theCentre ensured that requisiteinvestment reaches the agri-culture sector.

Tomar reiterated the PM iscommitted towards the welfareof farmers and efforts were onto double their income and alsoincrease the contribution ofagriculture towards the coun-try’s GDP rapidly.

Under this year’s UnionBudget, the Centre had allo-cated an amount of Rs 2.83lakh crore for agriculture withFinance Minister NirmalaSitharaman adding that theMSP regime underwent achange to assure price to farm-ers that is at least 1.5 times thecost of production across allcommodities.

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While farmers unions arereadying for pan India

chakka jam from 12 to 3 pm onSaturday in protest againstfarm laws, the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee onFriday held discussion withrepresentatives of State agri-culture marketing board, pri-vate mandis operators andfood parks of 10 States, includ-ing Kerala, over the three farmlaws and sought their com-ments and suggestions to fur-ther improve it.

The meeting was heldthrough video conferencing.

This was the fifth round of talkswith stakeholders engaged inagriculture. The committeemembers will hold delibera-tions with Industry bodies onFebruary 9.

The committee is sched-uled to meet StateGovernments on February 11.

The three-member com-mittee is holding consultationswith stakeholders both onlineand in person. The protestingfarmers groups have refused tomeet the committee over thefarm laws.

In a statement, the com-mittee said it held a detaileddiscussion “in person” withmanaging directors, adminis-trators, directors of State mar-keting boards, private mandioperators and food parks of dif-ferent States and UTs throughvideo conferencing.

These officials were from10 States — Gujarat, Haryana,Jammu and Kashmir,Karnataka, Kerala, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra,Rajasthan, Tripura and UttarPradesh. The committee mem-bers requested the participantsto give their views on the threefarm laws.

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Ahead of chakka jam pro-posed by farmers, the

Delhi Police have made ade-quate security arrangementsat borders of the nationalCapital.

Meanwhile investigatingthe toolkit document uploadedon a social media handle whichthe Delhi Police believe script-ed the January 26 violence inthe Capital, the police havesought from Google the IP

address from which the toolk-it was uploaded.

Delhi PoliceCommissioner SN Shrivastavaheld a meeting with the seniorofficials of the force andreviewed the security arrange-ments.

The police will monitorcontent on the social media tokeep tabs on those spreadingrumours against the force.

“In view of the violencethat took place on January 26,adequate security arrangements

have been put in place by theDelhi Police at the borders sothat miscreants are not ableenter the national Capital.Police teams are monitoringcontent on the social media tomake sure rumours are notspread against the police.

The protesters are campingat the borders of Delhi. We arein touch with the police forceof other States also,” saidChinmoy Biswal, the PublicRelation Officer (PRO) ofDelhi Police.

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Those looking for Pfizerdeveloped mRNA-based

vaccine against Covid-19 willhave to wait. Just two daysbefore the pharma majorannounced the withdrawal ofits application for the emer-gency use authorisation of itsCovid-19 vaccine in India, anexpert panel of the country’sdrugs regulatory authority rec-ommended against grantingsuch approval to the firm at thisstage.

Pfizer had said it has decid-ed to withdraw its applicationfor emergency use authorisa-tion of its Covid-19 vaccine inIndia.

The first pharmaceuticalfirm to seek such authorisationfrom the Drugs ControllerGeneral of India (DCGI),Pfizer on December 5approached the Indian author-

ities for its Covid-19 vaccine,after it secured such clearancein the UK and Bahrain.

As of now, two vaccines —Covishield, manufactured bySerum Institute of India, andBharat Biotech’s Covaxin —have been approved for restrict-ed emergency use in India.

On February 3, the SubjectExpert Committee (SEC) of theCentral Drugs StandardControl Organisation(CDSCO) deliberated onPfizer’s application.

The firm presented its pro-posal for emergency use autho-risation of Covid-19 mRNAVaccine BNT162b before the

committee, an official said. “The committee noted that

incidents of palsy, anaphylaxisand other SAE’s have beenreported during post-market-ing and the causality of theevents with the vaccine is beinginvestigated.

“Further, the firm has notproposed any plan to generatesafety and immunogenicitydata in the Indian population.After detailed deliberation, thecommittee has not recom-mended for grant of permis-sion for emergency use in thecountry at this stage,” states therecommendations of the SEC.

A Pfizer companyspokesperson in a statementsaid that in pursuance of theemergency use authorisation ofits Covid-19 vaccine, the firmparticipated in the SEC meet-ing.

“Based on the delibera-tions at the meeting and ourunderstanding of additionalinformation that the regulatormay need, the company hasdecided to withdraw its appli-cation at this time,” thespokesperson said.

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Chief Minister Hemant Sorenon Friday made the third

Cabinet expansion of hisGovernment by inductingHafizul Hassan, son of formersenior Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) leader and ex minorityaffairs minister late Haji Hussain

Ansari at present and is notmember of JharkhandAssembly. Late Ansari has rep-resented Madhupur seat in

Deoghar district for three terms.Ansari was administered theoath of office and secrecy byGovernor Droupadi Murmu at

the function held at Raj Bhavanin the morning.

Chief Minister HemantSoren, JMM supremo cumRajya Sabha MP Shibu Soren,Finance Minister Rameshwar

Oraon, Parliamentary AffairsMinister Alamgir Alam andother Ministers of SorenCabinet were present on theoccasion.

Hasaan, who is 11th

Minister in Soren Cabinet,took charge as Minority AffairsMinister in the evening. Apartfrom Minority Affairs, Hassanhas been made Minister ofTourism, Sports and Youthaffairs. After taking the oathHassan said, “I am thankful toChief Minister Hemant Soren,party patriarch Shibu Soren forreposing faith in me. I will tryto fulfill the dreams and unfin-ished work of my father HajiHussain Ansari.”

Chief Minister HemantSoren talking to media personsat Raj Bhavan said, “One moreyoung face has joined Cabinet.We are hopeful that withHassan becoming Minister, thedevelopment pace in the Statewill gain momentum.”

The induction of Hassan,who is at present not a memberof the Assembly, is seen as amajor political move. Soren byinducting Hassan in his Cabinethas not only surprised political

pundits but has also shut thedoor of his alliance partners whowere eyeing MadhupurAssembly seat vacated by lateHaji Hussain Ansari in Octoberlast year. Earlier, RJD had pitcheda claim for Madhupur seat. It isall likely that Hassan will be theJMM candidate for theMadhupur seat to be held inApril this year. BJP’s Raj Paliwarwho too had represented the seattwice is likely to be saffron partycandidate from Madhupur.

Ansari is becomingMinister without being a mem-ber of the Assembly after 15years. It may be noted that in2006, Hemendra Pratap Dehatifather of Bhanu Pratap Shahiwas made minister withoutcontesting elections in MadhuKoda cabinet.

Similarly, in 2008 ShibuSoren became Chief Minister ofState, but lost the bye-electionfrom Tamar seat in 2009 againstJharkhand Party’s Raja Peter.

The Tamar seat cost JMM heav-ily as the 11 month ShibuSoren Government fell.

This is the third Cabinetexpansion of the SorenGovernment. On December29, 2019, Chief MinisterHemant Soren took oath asState Chief Minister along withthree Ministers, two fromCongress quota (RameshwarOraon and Alamgir Alam) andRJD lone MLA SatyanandBhokta. A month later onJanuary 28, 2020, he expandedhis Cabinet for a second timeby inducting five Ministersfrom JMM quota and two fromthe Congress.

With Friday’s Cabinetexpansion, the strength ofMinisters in the Soren Cabinethas gone up to 11, whichincludes six from the JMM,four from the Congress andone from the RJD. However,the post of one Minister is stillvacant in the Cabinet.

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Jharkhand Government is allset to inaugurate and give

eastern India its first and biggestElectronic ManufacturingCluster in Adityapur IndustrialArea near Jamshedpur. OnDecember 29, Chief MinisterHemant Soren took the first steptowards making Jharkhand ahub of electronic manufactur-ing by inaugurating the infra-structure built in this cluster.

The Government’s goal isto make it a hub of electronicmanufacturing units. Multipleunits in the region have alreadystarted working on their pro-duction plans. Through thisEMC project, the Governmentplans to bring investments intothe State and usher employ-ment opportunities for theskilled youth of Jharkhand.

So far 23 units have beenallotted land in EMC to starttheir own units and the processof providing land to 4 units isunderway. The factory is beingbuilt by 23 entrepreneurs. If allthe entrepreneurs in the elec-tronic manufacturing clusterestablish their units, then about

20,000 direct and about 25,000indirect jobs will be created andinvestment of about �500 crorewill be ensured in the State.

The Government is fullyfocused on the electronic man-ufacturing cluster. The CMhas directed the Secretary ofIndustry to regularly monitorthe project progress and ensureease for coming investors.

Following this, the Secretary ofIndustry has issued necessarydirectives to all the officials tovisit the clusters and promotenew investments.

As per the JIADA authori-ty the land price at EMC is quot-ed at �90 Lakh/acre, but to felic-itate investors and createemployment opportunities theland block is being allotted at a

subsidy of 50 per cent. Apartfrom this, flatted factory unit canbe rented at a rate of �15/Sq. ft.

The EMC project isexpanded across 82 acres ofland. Out of which 49 acres ofland will be allocated to 51 elec-tronic manufacturing units.The project primarily beingpromoted by JIADA is beingbuilt at a total cost of �186crwith a support of �41.48crfrom the Central Governmentunder the electronic manufac-turing scheme.

Within the campus, a 05-acre land block has been allo-cated for the basic infrastruc-ture of EMC. In this specifiedarea, 4 buildings of 5 floorseach have been constructedwith all basic amenities readyto be handed over to the 92electronic manufacturing units.The government is primarilyaiming to attract electronicchip making companies. Apartfrom chips making units, spacewill also be provided for man-ufacturing of LED TVs, LEDbulbs and electronic parts usedin mobile and automobiles.

The EMC area consists ofthe flatted factories, Testing

centres, Truck Parking, school,mall, health centre, employeehostel, restaurant, etc. Eachflattened factory is built across1,135 sq ft. to 2,000 sq ft floorarea. Each unit has been pro-vided with electricity & watersupply for the workers workingat the production unit.

Apart from this campus, anattractive feature is the State ofthe art entrance gate attachedto the Administrative Buildingof EMC.

A separate office for theEMC officials has been builtwithin the campus premises.

To facilitate ElectronicManufacturing Units operatingat EMC, a warehouse has beenconstructed for the use of flat-tened factories to store theirproduct.

To ensure a smooth com-mute, proper road networkshave been established aroundthe EMC area, sewerage anddrainage systems have been laidalong with the amenity of parkand street lights. A facility forwater storage has also beenmade so that manufacturingunits do not face any problemin their operation.

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The vaccination drive againstthe Covid-19 has gathered

momentum in the city. Morethan 5000 people have beenvaccinated so far. With theincrease in centres, the drivehas catched pace.

This vaccine is developedby Oxford University-AstraZeneca and manufac-tured in India by SerumInstitute of India (SII). The vac-cination drive continues evenas the number of fresh casescontinues to fall.

Deputy CommissionerSuraj Kumar said that the vac-cines were safe and that itwould take some time to buildconfidence in the vaccines.

Vaccination drive againstCoronavirus has started in 13vaccination centres in the EastSinghbhum district. The freshhealth hubs where theCovishield vaccines started tobe administered to the recipi-ents are all community healthcentres (CHC), including theone at Jugsalai in the city.

Revealing about the devel-opment, district civil surgeon,RN Jha said that the CHCswhere the vaccination against

Coronavirus started includePatamda, Potka, Baharagora,Chakulia, Ghurabandha,Mosabani, Dhalbhumgarh,Dunaria and Jugsalai.

"At present four major vac-cination centres in the city --Tata Main Hospital, TataMotors Hospital, SadarHospital and MGM MedicalCollege, have set a target to give100 health workers in each ofthe CHCs four days a week. Ateam of senior medical officersfrom the district civil surgeonoffice is monitoring the vacci-nation drive," said the civil sur-geon.

The Government hadmade it clear that the COVID-19 vaccine will be offered first

to healthcare workers, frontlineworkers and to persons above50 years of age, followed by per-sons younger than 50 years ofage and finally to the remain-ing population, based on thedisease epidemiology and vac-cine availability.

"Now that vaccinationdrive is catching pace we needto be vigilant and not let ourguard down. We still have along way to go in this battleagainst the pandemic," said anofficial.

Officials also added thatsanitation facilities, transportand internet connectivity isbeing ensured to make vacci-nation drive hassle-free for thepeople.

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Former UnionMinister and senior

Congress leaderSubodh Kant Sahaysaid that PM Modi'scommand for barri-cades of steelrods/nails, Concertinawire, and concrete wallon the road for creating obstructionto the farmers starkly reminds us ofthe Third Reich. “Sad day for thecountry- all this from the PM, whohad pretended to uphold democrat-ic values by prostrating at the entranceto the Parliament.

This measure should have beendone at the LAC to prevent Galvanand save the precious lives of our mar-tyred soldiers. Those who chantdemocracy and eat out of the handsof the people should construct bridgesfor farmers to hold meaningful talkand end this long impasse. Instead theenvironment has been vitiated somuch that it is not at all conducive fortalks,” he said.

He further said that when he washolding the charge of the HomeMinistry, the Indo-Pak border was

barricaded withbarbed wires sothat Pakistanwould be undercontrol. Now thePM has shiftedborders within thecountry and hasdrawn it betweenhimself and thefarmers. The secu-

rity of the Red Fort is with theMinistry of Home Affairs and I knowthe responsibilities of all concerned.Every day, there is a new narrative tohide the failures of the current HomeMinister. His stubbornness is comingin the way of solution.

Sahay’s word of advice to PMModi was, “I sincerely wish him todetach from his capitalist friendsand listen to the genuine demandsand not undermine the achievementsof the peasants.”

He further went on to say that thecitizens can now see through the con-cocted narrative as the purported"incident" of 26 January is under seri-ous cloud. The citizens have starteddissecting this fabricated narrative- itsounds like beginning the end ofModi rule.

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Dhanbad: The Dhanbad railwaydivision ( DRD) has received ameager budget allocation foralternate Dhanbad -Chandrapura( DC) railway linein the new budget.

According to reportsthough the railways have accept-ed proposals of its subsidiary theRITES that has suggested twoalternate lines of the existing DCline but has allocated just Rs1000 each in the coming finan-cial year though both lines havebeen estimated to cost of Rs1100 crores.

The RITES had suggestedfor an alternative line betweenTundu- Nichitpur covering adistance of 26 kms to be con-structed at estimated cost of Rs628 crores and another lineDhanbad - Tetulmari -Nichitpur - Matari.This 'Y 'typeline is to cost Rs 438 croresthough is over 43 km long.Therailways has just kept the hopealive for these lines by takingthese projects by making allo-cation in budget.

It's worth mentioning thatthe DC line had remained closedfor all.operations for one andhalf years and had reopened fortrains just a few days ahead of2019 Lok Sabha elections .Several passenger trains thatwere suspended for service areyet to return on the tracksdespite regular demands of thepeople. However , the govern-ment has made allocation forupgrading tracks betweenHowrah and New Delhi .TheDhanbad division has been allo-cated Rs 200 crores for upgrad-ing tracks for ensuring trains runup to 160kmph from existing120/kmph. PNS

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The ongoing infighting among the office bear-ers of the district Congress has worsened fol-

lowing suspension of working president RavindarVarma.Verma, however succeeded in influencingthe State level officials of the party and got SureshChandra Jha the vice president of district com-mittee and chairman of disciplinary committeesuspended for his act.

It all started a few months back when Vermatried to supersede directives passed by district pres-

ident Brajendar Prasad Singh.Singh objected to this and the matter was

referred to the district disciplinary committee.When Verma failed to reply to queries of Jha

the committee ordered his suspension. However,Verma met senior Congress leaders at Ranchi andmanaged to get Jha suspended from the party.

Jha, when.contacted, said the issue would beexplained to the designated investigation officerappointed by the state president.

Verma claims Jha has no right to take actionwhen the issue is pending at state level.

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Tata Steel has added yetanother feather in its pursuit

of excellence in gender diversi-ty by deploying the first batchof 22 women HEMM (HeavyEarth Moving Machinery)operators at its Noamundi Ironmine in all the shifts. This ini-tiative, termed as ‘Tejaswini2.0’, was jointly launched todayin the presence of AtrayeeSarkar, vice president, humanresource management, TataSteel and D B Sundara Ramam,vice president, raw materials,Tata Steel in the presence of AtulBhatnagar, general manager(OMQ Division), Tata Steel

and Siddhartha Shah, chiefhuman resource management(Raw Materials), Tata Steel.

‘Tejaswini 2.0’ has beendesigned to provide technicaltraining to unskilled womenworkers and enable them towork in core jobs at mines.(OMQ) Ore Mines & QuarriesDivision became the first

Division in the companyto launch this initiativeand received over 350applications out of which22 candidates wereselected after a writtentest and personal inter-view. The average age ofthe new joinees is 23years and the minimum

qualification required to applywas matriculation. These can-didates will undergo an inten-sive training to hone their skillsas HEMM operators. After suc-cessful completion of their train-ing, these women will bedeployed as OperationsAssistant to operate HEMM,which includes dumper, dozer,

shovel, excavator and drill. Thisinitiative is also a step towardsempowering local talent as amajority of these women arelocals from Noamundi, which islocated in West Singhbhumdistrict of Jharkhand.

Atrayee Sarkar said: “We arehappy to induct the first batchof 22 women who will join asHEMM operators at ourNoamundi Iron Mine.‘Tejaswini 2.0’ initiative reflectsour commitment towards fos-tering a culture of Diversity andInclusion (D&I) in the organi-sation. Tata Steel has been atorchbearer in the manufactur-ing sector by introducing severalpathbreaking initiatives suchas ‘women@mines’ to encour-age diversity at the workplace.We continue our efforts on hir-ing and creating infrastructurefor a diverse workforce as wellas retaining and developingwomen leaders.”

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Jigyasa Jha ofClass 11 of DPS

Bokaro has beenselected as one ofthe 150 delegatesfrom around theworld to attend theRegional Dialogueon YouthEmpowerment inClimate Actions tobe held virtuallyon 9-10 February2021. Jigyasa isamongst the fewto have beenselected for thep r e s t i g i o u sConference amongst 1000 plus applicants.

The Regional Dialogue is co-con-vened by the United Nation DevelopmentProgramme (UNDP), Bangkok RegionalHub, United Nations InternationalChildren's Emergency Fund (UNICEF)East Asia and the Pacific Regional Office,United Nations Framework Conventionon Climate Change (UNFCCC) RegionalCollaboration Centre – Bangkok, BritishCouncil, YOUNGO, Movers Programme,and 2030 Youth Force.

The purpose of the Regional Dialogueis to enhance youth empowerment for cli-mate actions in the lead up to the Asia-Pacific Climate Week and the COP 26 in

the United Kingdom and beyond.Principal, DPS Bokaro A. S. Gangwar

congratulated Jigyasa on her feat and saidthat it is indeed a proud moment for theschool. He suggested that more studentsshould try and participate in these kindsof conferences and events as they are eyeopeners and bring new avenues for them.

Earlier, Jigyasha had bagged a silvermedal in ‘Shaastra Juniors’ conducted byIIT Madras. Shaastra Junior conducts quizcompetitions which include numerousworkshops and chess competitions.

She was also invited for the 2021Harvard College Conference, which washeld virtually from January 15 to 18, 2021.

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The Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs assured

Jharkhand of Mass RapidTransit System (MRTS) whichis Metro Neo project in Ranchi.

Ministry of Housing andUrban Affairs Secretary DurgaShankar Mishra on a visit to theState on Friday assured to pro-pose a Metro-Neo project forRanchi. The Mass RapidTransit System (MRTS) aims toprovide a comfortable, rapid,energy-efficient and less noisytransport medium. Metro-Neoservice will comprise electric

coaches with a length of 18 to25 metres, it will have a capac-ity to carry 180 to 240 passen-gers at a time.

Recently in the UnionBudget, Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman had saidthat two new technologies -MetroLite and MetroNeo willbe deployed to provide metrorail systems at a much lessercost in Tier 2 cities and periph-eral areas of Tier 1 cities too.

Mishra on his visit alsoreviewed the ongoing Centralschemes of UrbanDevelopment and HousingDepartment at the StateSecretariat Project Building.Mishra said that the urbanpopulation in Country is grow-ing at a fast pace and it willdouble in the next threedecades, so in view of this

growing population, we willhave to make rapid effortstowards urbanization. Mishra expressing satis- faction over the progress of var-

ious schemes said thatJharkhand has always beenamong the leading states in themission-driven schemes, weneed to accelerate the pace ofimplementation by keeping itintact.

On this occasion, VinayKumar Choubey, Secretary,State Urban Development andHousing Department, dis-cussed the progress of ongoingdevelopment schemes in thestate stating that there shouldbe no delay in the implemen-tation of schemes. Mishra alsoreviewed works of PradhanMantri Awas Yojana, PMSwanidhi Yojana and DinDayal Antyodaya Yojana.

Director of UrbanAdministration DirectorateVijaya Jadhav informed theUnion Secretary about the

progress schemes through apowerpoint presentation. TheUnion Secretary suggested thatthe light house project which isgoing on in Jharkhand shouldbe completed on time so thatit becomes a model for otherstates. The Union Secretaryalso suggested that under thePM Swanidhi scheme, thereshould be an effort to connectstreet vendors with Swiggyand Zomato.

Mishra also reviewed theongoing projects under theAmrut scheme in seven citiesof Jharkhand. Director of StateUrban Development AgencyAmit Kumar gave detailedinformation about AmritYojana and Swachh BharatMission Scheme to UnionSecretary through a power-point presentation.

Mishra said that it is nec-essary that some more citiesshould be included in the list ofODF ++ in the cleanlinessrankings, along with that thestate level rankings will bemaintained in the direction ofcleanliness.

Director of Ranchi SmartCity Corporation, Amit Kumargave detailed informationabout the smart city projectbeing developed with worldclass facilities on 656 acres ofland in Ranchi and informedthat the schemes of CommandControl and Communication,Public Bicycle Sharing Systemhas been inaugurated. He alsoinformed that the work ofIntegrated Infrastructure isgoing on fast and the plan for24-hour electricity water is inits final stages.

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There is immense possibilities ofcultivation of horticultural crops

in the eastern states of the Countryand all weather are suitable inJharkhand for development of culti-vation of the horticultural crops, saidBirsa Agricultural University (BAU),Vice Chancellor, Omkar Nath Singhon Friday.

Singh during a two-day brain-storming program was organized onFriday at Birsa Agricultural University(BAU) on behalf of Directorate ofHorticulture, Government ofJharkhand on the integration of gov-ernment schemes of better horticul-ture system in sustainable develop-ment of horticulture sector.

The inauguration of the programwas lit by the Chief Guest ViceChancellor, Omkar Nath Singh. Singhstressed on use of new technology into get better production and said thatwith the proper use of irrigation

resources and scientific managementof techniques, the State can becomeleading in the Country in horticulturesector and increase in income of farm-ers. Farmers can get more than twiceas much income from the sector, headded.

The Vice Chancellor said that hor-ticulture is the most suitable andimportant sector for increasing theincome of farmers in the State. “Thetraining of technical upgradation oftrainers associated with the enterpriseis a big demand of the time. TheUniversity is making efforts towardscultivation of cashew, coconut andmushroom in the State along with gar-den-based technological develop-ment. There will also be an effort topromote the cultivation of theConowa fruit crop of Arab countriessoon. With the cooperation of theGovernment of Jharkhand, all possi-ble efforts will be made to give impe-tus for development of the horticul-ture sector in the State,” he added.

Speaking on the occasion,Director Horticulture, Varun Ranjan

threw light on the relevance of thetraining subject of the trainers. He said

that there has been a big change in thefield of horticulture technology in thelast five years.

“Many schemes like protectedagriculture, drip irrigation, post har-vest management, value addition andprocessing, mushroom cultivation,honey bee farming and others havebeen included in this area. Efforts arebeing made to add many new dimen-sions of modern agriculture. Whichneeds to be implemented in a practi-cal way on the ground.

There is a need to establish thehorticulture sector as a better enter-prise by encouraging technologybased commercial farming, farmmanagement, development of entre-preneurship among farmers and oth-ers. Through this training of horti-culture instructors, efforts are beingmade to spread the latest technologiesto the rural level in the State and tospeed up the successful implementa-tion of various schemes,” said Ranjan.

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Ruling parties in coalitiongovernment in the State,

Jharkhand Mukti Morcha(JMM) and Congress haveextended their support to'Chakka Jam' called by SanyuktKisan Morcha, a farmer's out-fit, on Saturday against threefarm laws brought by theCentral Government.

Addressing a press meet atthe party headquarter in theState Capital, JMM GeneralSecretary and Spokesperson,Supriyo Bhattacharya said thatthe party will extend its supportthe peaceful road blockadecalled by the farmers’ outfit onSaturday against the three farmlaws brought by the CentralGovernment to provide bene-fit to its friends in corporatesector. A nationwide protest isgoing in the Country againstthe farm bills which theGovernment brought to elim-inate farmers and farming asprofession from the Nation, headded.

On the other hand, secondcoalition partner in ChiefMinister, Hemant Soren ledGovernment; JharkhandPradesh Congress Committee(JPCC) also extended its sup-port to the Bandh called by thefarmers' outfit.

Congress has given itsmoral support to the RastaRoko Chakka Jam program atthe national level in support ofthe Kisan movement.

JPCC Chief RameshwarOraon instructed all the partydistrict presidents to supportthe 'Bandh' in their respectivedistricts by ensuring their par-ticipation in the movement ina peaceful manner. “The work-ers should display their com-mitment for the farmers of theCountry, who has been agitat-ing for months in support oftheir demands. The dogma ofthe Modi Government is readyto take the martyrdom of thefarmers. The Congress standsfully in this movement with thefarmers because the Congressbelieves that if the food donorsare not happy, then theCountry cannot develop,” headded.

The National Highway willbe blocked on Saturday. Thehighway will be blocked onbehalf of the Left parties, farm-ers and public organizationsin support of the farmermovement. During this time,the highway will be blockedfrom 12 am to 3 pm. Peopletraveling on the highway willbe allowed to come only after3 pm. Several places havebeen identified for the block-age of the highways by theparty.

CPI (M) State Secretary,Prakash Viplav informed thatthe district workers will decidewhich places to block.However, some places havebeen jointly identified, includ-ing Bundu, Hazaribagh Roadand others in the capital.

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At a Covid-19 vaccination task forcemeeting in the State capital on

February 5, Deputy DevelopmentCommissioner (DDC) Ranchi AnanyaMittal issued necessary directives to thecivil surgeon and senior in-charge officilasformed for various cells for Covid-19 vac-cination.

In the meeting the DDC said that twovaccination sessions should be ensured atthe 14 vaccination centres set up in therural areas. Ranjan also directed the offi-cials to give timely information about thevaccination session so that the frontlineworkers can reach the centre on time. TheDDC also said that maximum beneficia-ries should be vaccinated in the sessionscheduled.

The DDC further directed the civilsurgeon to schedule a meeting with pri-vate hospitals. In the meeting it was alsodiscussed that in the second phase of vac-cination, maximum number of regis-tered beneficiaries from government andprivate hospitals should reach the centre.

Meanwhile, Ranchi DeputyCommissioner (DC) Chhavi Ranjanchaired a meeting related to aspirationaldistrict and gave guidelines regarding theimplementation of schemesTransformation of Aspirational Districtunder EAP (Externally Aided Program) tobe taken from JICA funds.

DDC Ananya Mittal, Civil SurgeonVB Prasad,District Agriculture OfficerVikas Kumar, Aspirational District Fellow(ADF) Pooja Kumari and Priya Shrutiwere present with other officials.

The DC directed the civil surgeon andexecutive engineer to prepare an estimateon the upgradation of primary health cen-tres and the project of making SonahatuCHC a model CHC. Ranjan also issueddirectives to the District AgricultureOfficer regarding drip irrigation on clus-ter basis.

In the aspirational district meeting,three proposals were approved- two relat-ed to health and nutrition and one on agri-culture. The committee approved theproposal to upgrade 20 primary healthcenters of the district in health and nutri-tion and make Sonahatu CommunityHealth Center a model CHC while theproposal for drip irrigation on cluster basisin agriculture was also approved

Ranchi: At a ceremo-ny in Kolkata- theheadquarters of SouthEastern Railway(SER), GeneralManager SER SanjayKumar Mahanti pre-sented several awardsto Ranchi RailwayDivision during the65th Railway Week2020 on February 5.

The RegionalLevel Shield was givento Senior DivisionalOperations Managercum Chief PublicRelation OfficerNeeraj Kumar, whileSafety Shield to Divisional Safety Commissioner Prashant Yadav. BestCoaching Depot Shield was given to Senior Divisional MechanicalEngineer Pankaj Kumar and the Best Maintenance of the Station wasreceived by Avinash, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager, RanchiCircle.

The Running Room Shield was also awarded to Ranchi Divisionby the Railway Board. This was received by Divisional Electrical Engineer(OP) Dipanjan Sarkar.

Track Maintainer- II Devman Kathwar has been selected forNational Award for Railways. On August 29, 2019 he observed that atabout 2.45 am due to incessant rains, the mud from the mountain hadgot collected in the middle of the track to about one foot height. Seeingthis, he immediately stopped the train number 07010, complying withall the safety rules and reported it to his in-charge SSE / PWY / BANO.Due to their vigilance and vigor, a major accident was averted. In viewof his quick and judicious action, Kathwar has been awarded by theRailway Minister.

Apart from this many officers and employees have also receivedregional level awards Prashant Kumar Yadav, Devraj Banerjee and AshishKumar Pandey among others.

Due to Covid-19 protocol, many officers and employees attendedthe event through video conferencing along with Additional DivisionalRailway Manager (OP) MM Pandit and Additional Divisional RailwayManager (Infra) Satish Kumar. PNS

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65th Rail WeekCeremony was orga-

nized on on Friday atPataliputra Rail Complex,Patna. The ceremony wasinaugurated by lightingthe lamp by GeneralManager, ECR, LalitChandra Trivedi. On thisoccasion, AdditionalGeneral Manager AshokKumar, Principal ChiefPersonnel Officer, J.K.P.Singh along with seniorofficials and railway personnel of theheadquarters and all the divisionswere present. Other members of theorganization were also present at thefunction along with Kaumudi Trivedi,President of East Central RailwayWomen's Welfare Organization.

On this occasion, Trivedi awarded137 officers / employees, including 19Class IV, 92 Class III employees and 26officers with cash and commendationletters for specialized and excellent ser-vice in the year 2019-20. Apart fromthis, a proficiency and all round effi-ciency shield was also provided amongdepartments / divisions for excellentperformance in various fields.

The GM said in his welcomeaddress that Indian Railways has thedistinction of being the lifeline of thecountry. Starting on 16 April 1853, over167 years, the system of railway linesof more than 65 thousand kilometershas not only united the country in onethread, but also played a major role ineconomic and social progress. He saidthat ECR has achieved many achieve-ments during its journey since itsinception. With the dedication, dili-

gence and support of all railwaymen,it gained further momentum in thefinancial year 2019-20.

Trivedi said that the year 2019-20was very important for ECR in manyways. In the year 2019-20, 149.49 mil-lion tonnes were loaded, which is8.93% higher than the 137.24 milliontonnes in 2018-19. Commercially, theyear 2019-20 was also full of achieve-ments for the Central Railways.

An initial income of about Rs20,020.41 crore was received in thefinancial year 2019-20, which is 9.86 percent higher than the Rs 18,223.61crore in the previous financial year2018-19.

Along with this, we have estab-lished new dimensions of success inmany areas. These achievements havebeen achieved by the hard work, dutyand efficiency of the railway workers.The General Manager emphasized tomake it world-class by making moreimprovements in safe and protected railoperations, passenger facilities, cater-ing on trains and stations, cleanliness,etc. so that people get a pleasant feel-ing in rail travel.

Ranchi: State BJP SpokespersonPratul Shahdeo said that thecoalition government, defyingits election manifesto, waivedonly one farmer's loan a yearafter. “Also, his loan was of Rs2,00,000 but waiver of just Rs 50000 happened. Thegovernment, which came to power promising to reg-ularise the contract workers, beat the contract work-ers with sticks. The government, which asked to giveexemption to the assistant police personnel too, bru-tally beat them. They brought the youth and the unem-ployed on the road,” he said.

Pratul said that at the inauguration of the sportsportal on October 19, 2020, the Chief Minister hadtalked about direct appointment of 40 players with-in a month. So far only one player has been appoint-ed. As many as 39 players have not been appointedyet. The CM promised the job by tweeting nationalkarate player Bimala Munda. That too was not fulfilled,he added.

Pratul said that while giving the anniversary speechof the government, the CM had said that 2021 will bethe year of appointments. Thirty Seven days havepassed but no vacancy came out. On the contrary, theState government withdrew the planning policy res-olution and posed a threat of employment to thou-sands of youth, he said. PNS

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Loud and persistentOpposition protests against

new farm laws continued toparalyse proceedings in theLok Sabha, even as UnionHealth Minister Dr HarshVardhan on Friday informedthe House in the din that workon seven indigenous anti-Coronavirus vaccines is inprogress and that the third-phase of vaccination wouldcommence from next month.

As the House proceededfor its business, Oppositionmembers were up on their feetdemanding that the three newfarm laws be rolled-back.

Responding to queries onthe vaccination process, DrHarsh Vardhan said the UnionBudget presented by financeminister Nirmala Sitharamanhas allocated �35,000 crore forthe purposes of vaccination thisyear and this allocation couldbe increased.

He said the NationalExpert Group appointed by thePrime Minister is guiding thevaccination programme.

The health minister said

besides two vaccines alreadyavailable, work is in progress onseven vaccines with one in“an advanced stage of trial.”

Dr Harsh Vardhan said 22countries, includingAfghanistan, Egypt, Mongolia,Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, SaudiArabia, Sri Lanka and UAE,have sought vaccine dropsfrom India. He said 15 coun-tries have been given vaccinegrants or doses.

The health minister saidIndia made “records” against itsfight against Coronavirus. Hesaid the first and second-phaseof vaccination started onJanuary 16 and February twoand third one where thoseabove 50 years of age to be vac-cinated, will start next month.The minister said he will inti-mate the date when it is fixed.

The health minister madehis responses amidst slogan-shouting and even as theSpeaker Om Birla’s asked mem-bers to cooperate.

Carrying placards, opposi-tion members sought the with-drawal of three “black laws”and shouted slogans “shame-shame” and “we want justice”.

The house ran for 18 min-utes before the Speakeradjourned it till 6 pm.

After house proceedingsresumed, Opposition MPs’shouts of “Pradhan MantriJawab do”, “take back blacklaws” and “kisan ko nyay do”turned louder.

As soon as ParliamentaryAffairs Minister ArjunMeghwal finished detailingnext week’s business thatincluded discussion on thePresident’s address and theUnion budget, the Speakeradjourned the house tillMonday. The proceedings last-ed barely six Minutes.

Amid Opposition’s unre-lenting attacks on the

Government in both Housesover the farmers’ protestagainst the three agriculturelaws and ahead of the nation-wide chakka jam called by thefarmers’ unions, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onFriday held a meeting withHome Minister Amit Shah,Information and BroadcastingMinister Prakash Javadekarand Parliamentary AffairsMinister Pralhad Joshi at theparliament complex.

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China is funding develop-ment of an airbase near

Gwadar port in Balochistanstyled as Gwadar Internationalairport for containing IndianOcean Region (IOR) strategy ofIndia and disrupting the oilsupply lines from the MiddleEast to Indian shores.

The airbase will also helpChina in keeping an eye onChabahar port of Iran whereIndia has sanctioned USD 14million for development of theport, sources tracking thedevelopment said.

The construction of the air-base began in January this yearand the project is scheduled tobe completed by the year endin December, they said.

The move, the sources fur-ther said, is also aimed atcounterbalancing operational-isation of the Sukhoi base inThanjavur, Tamil Nadu by

India. The Thanjavur air baseis used for patrolling the IndianOcean and also conduct jointexercises with the Australianand Japanese air forces. Thebase also gives leverage toIndia in patrolling the sea lanesthrough fighter jets on the oiland goods business supplyroutes between the Gulf nationsand China.

The under-constructionGwadar airbase is designed toland heavy military transportaircraft.

As of now, Gwadar airportis dubbed as a transport basefor heavy lift aircraft and mil-itary landings have not beenspecifically outlined but suchrunways are also capable offacilitating fighter jets’ landings.

The heavy military trans-port aircraft can also helpBeijing in shipping men andmilitary machines at shortnotice to check any major dis-ruption in the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC)

that faces constant threat fromthe Baloch nationalists.

In the backdrop of the USadministration under Joe Bidengranting relaxations to sanc-tions clamped by his prede-cessor Donald Trump againstTeheran, the Gwadar airbasecan also be potentially exploit-ed by the Iranians to smugglein uranium and enrichmenttechnology from China as thereis no visa regime betweenPakistan and Iran.

Amid India developing theChabahar port in Iran which isclose to the Gwadar port underPakistani control, Beijing aimsto counter Indian dominancein the IOR by keeping tabs onmovements in the sea up toMumbai where the portsreceive hydrocarbon suppliesfrom the Gulf countries.

To camouflage the Chinesegame plan, the Gwadar airportis dubbed as a civilian facilitywhile its construction is cur-rently in full swing.

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On a day India crossed the50-lakh Covid-19 vacci-

nation milestone, theGovernment on Friday saidthat there are plans to com-mence the third phase of inoc-ulation in March covering 27crore people aged 50 years andabove and those with co-mor-bidities

This was stated by UnionHealth Minister HarshVardhan in Lok Sabha. “It isnot possible to give an exactdate, but we estimate that thisprocess can start in the second,third or the fourth week ofMarch,” he said adding that thevaccination drive for frontlineworkers has begun this week.

The second phase startedin different parts of the coun-try from February 2 in whichvaccine is being administeredto frontline workers whosenumbers are estimated to bearound two crores. After thecompletion of phase 1 andphase 2, it is possible that inthe next month, the thirdphase will start in which citi-zens over 50 (years) will bevaccinated across the country,”he said.

In the last 20 days sincethe mega nationwide inocula-tion drive was launched inJanuary 16, nearly 50 lakh ben-eficiaries have been inoculat-

ed under the countrywideCOVID-19 vaccination exer-cise, while India’s total activecases have dropped to 1.51lakh, the Union HealthMinistry said in a statement.

Till February 5, 49,59,445beneficiaries have received thevaccination with 5,09,893 peo-ple receiving the shots in aspan of 24 hours across 11,184sessions, the Ministry said.

A total of 95,801 sessionshave been conducted so far.The ministry said that 61 percent of beneficiaries vaccinat-ed are from 8 states and UTs.Uttar Pradesh accounts for11.9 per cent (5,89,101) of thetotal beneficiaries vaccinatedin India.

Meanwhile, India’s totalactive cases continues to followa consistent downward slideconsisting of just 1.40 percent of total infections.

“The higher number ofrecoveries via-a-vis new caseshas widened the gap betweenrecovered and active cases to1,03,44,848,” the ministryunderlined.

It said 85.06 per cent ofthe new recovered cases areobserved to be concentrated in6 states and UTs. India’s 112deaths per million popula-tion are also amongst the low-est in the world, the ministryunderscored.

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Known for its myriad prop-erties from being anti-oxi-

dants, dietary fiber, essentialamino acids, food to bio-stim-ulants and carbon sequestra-tion, seaweed is now being seenas an effective immune-thera-py to fight Covid-19.

The observation by theIndian marine scientists fromthe ICAR-Central Institute ofFisheries Technology (CIFT)that the seaweed contains med-ical components that can beeffective to combat thepathogen has drawn the atten-tion of the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) too.

It has now posted theirarticle published in the Currentscience on its website to helpthe pandemic hit countries totake a cue about the potentialof marine plant found on thecoastal zones.

In fact, the WHO recog-nistion has come just at a timewhen India has outlined anambitious blueprint for seaweedindustry in the coastal States toensure sustainable livelihood tothe local inhabitants as well astackle climate change threats.

One of the easily accessibleand most abundant live speciespresent in the marine ecosys-tem, derivatives of seaweed isalready known to have manymedicinal-nutraceutical prop-erties. “Several polysaccharidesisolated from red and green sea-weeds have been evaluated forits antiviral characteristics andfound to have ability to inhib-it the initial attachment of virusto the host cells which in turneffectively block the viral entryto human body,” said AshishJha, Suseela Mathew and CNRavishankar from the CIFT inthe study.

Carrageenan, a sulphatedpolysaccharide from red sea-weed has already been tried asa therapeutic agent for respira-tory illness like common cold,influenza virus H1N1. In vitrostudy shows that iota-car-rageenan is active against novelpandemic H1N1/2009 influen-za. The study also shows thatuse of sulphated polysaccharideincrease the secretions of inter-feron and interleukins suggest-ing that it is a strong immune-

stimulator, said the scientists.In view of its immense

potential, they proposed thatsulphated polysaccharide can bea potent molecule to fightagainst Covid pandemic, hencea candidate molecule to bestudied against SARS-CoV-2.

In fact, the study holdsimportance in the context ofIndia which has recently out-lined an ambitious blueprint forseaweed industry even as theGovernment in the Budget2021-22 approved setting up ofa multi-purpose seaweed parkin Tamil Nadu.

While the seaweed can bepotential candidate for an effec-tive immune-therapy to fightCovid-19, these ‘wonder plantsof the sea’ are being used frombeing a good source of colloidalmaterials used as gelling agents,emulsifiers, stabilisers, in phar-maceutical, cosmetic and foodproducts. Hence, a good sourceof livelihood for the coastalcommunities hit by climatechange threats.

To cash in its potential ofbeing labour intensive vocation,efforts are on to set up cooper-atives particularly women/fish-erwomen to enhance theirlivelihood, said Sundeep KumarNayak, MD of the NationalCooperative DevelopmentCooperation (NCDC). Heinformed that steps are afoot totie-up up with the Asian pacif-ic countries for technologicaland marketing intervention toensure value edition and qual-ity to make the country’s pres-ence felt in the global marketwhich is estimated to shot up toUSD 26 billion by 2026.

Presently, 96.3 percent ofseaweed aquaculture is con-centrated in six Asian countriesChina (with over 54.0 percentof production), Indonesia, the

Philippines, Korea, Japan andMalaysia while India standsnowhere despite beingbestowed with 7,500 km coast-line.

India’s seaweed cultivationproduction is just about 20,000tonnes, valued around USD 500million. “This is one area whichshould take on the high prior-ity level. The aim is to achieveseaweed production at 11.2lakh tones by 2025,” added DrRajeev Ranjan, the then UnionFisheries Department Secretarywhile speaking at an interna-tional webinar on entrepre-neurship development on‘Seaweed Business byCooperatives’ held on January28.

It was jointly organized byDepartment of Fisheries,LINAC-NCDC, Departmentof Agriculture, Cooperation&Farmers Welfare, and Bangkok-based NEDAC. National andglobal experts from India andcountries like Canada,Phillipines and Vietnam amonga few others participated at theinternational webinar.

Dr Ranjan, who is nowChief Secretary of Tamil Nadusaid that among some 844species of seaweeds reportedfrom Indian seas (standingstock estimated to be about58,715 tonnes (wet weight)),

221 species are commerciallyimportant and abundant alongthe Tamil Nadu and Gujaratcoasts and aroundLakshadweep and Andaman& Nicobar Islands.

The Government hasalready allocated � 637 crore forthe cultivation of these nutri-tion-rich marine plants, as partof the �20,050-crore centralscheme Pradhan Mantri MatsyaSampada Yojana (PMMSY).

Identification of four entre-preneurs from each coastalState/UT to be supported withtechnical and financial sources,setting seaweed banks for keyspecies, seaweeds are among thepart of the blueprint proposedto be taken up in the comingyears.

Apart from Tamil Nadu,seaweed parks are proposed tobe established in Gujarat whileLakshadweep will be devel-oped as a centre for develop-ment of seaweed. NIOT andICAR- CMFRI will undertakeefforts for development of sea-weed culture in Lakshadweep,as per the blueprint.

Also, mapping of potentialsites and cultivation will be pro-moted for native seaweedspecies like Gracilaria dura,G.edulis, Gelidiella acerosa,Sargassum wightii etc, said theSecretary.

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Conduct of functions mustnot disturb other citizens

right to a peaceful and cleanenvironment, the NationalGreen Tribunal has said whiledirecting all the states and unionterritories to implement guide-lines for control of pollution inmarriage and banquet halls.

A bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice AdarshKumar Goel said apart from thelicensing provisions for fire safe-ty, building safety, etc, the reg-ulatory bodies must enforce theenvironmental norms to ensurethat water and air pollution isprevented and the environmentis not degraded.

"Effluent Treatment Plantsneeds to be installed by all thebig units, not connected to thesewer lines, apart from ensuringcompliance of rainwater har-vesting systems, adequate safe-guards in operating the kitchenneed to be adopted, compostingfacilities, control of noise levelsand providing parking space,"the bench said.

Without such safeguards, noconsent should be given orrenewed even in respect of theestablishments already set up,the green panel clarified.

The tribunal said that thismay be strictly ensured by thestate pollution control boardsand further overseen by theCentral Pollution Control Boardby laying down a compensationregime against the violatingestablishments.

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The number of registeredunrecognised political

parties has increased two-fold from 2010 to 2019. From1,112 such parties in 2010, thenumber of unrecognised reg-istered parties has increased to2,301 in 2019. Of the total2,301, only 78 registeredunrecognised political par-ties or 3.39 percent parties in2018-19 and 82 or 3.56 per-cent in 2017-18 submittedtheir contribution details sofar to the ElectionCommission.

These registered unrecog-nised parties received �90.05crore in 2017-18 and 2018-19from 12,998 donors.

According to theAssociation for DemocraticReforms (ADR) analysis,Apna Desh Party of UttarPradesh declared the highestdonations for both financialyears combined of �65.63crore (4300 donations) or72.88% of the total declareddonations by unrecognizedparties in their contributionreports of 2017-18 and 2018-19.

As per the notificationissued by the ElectionCommission dated 15thMarch, 2019, there are a totalof 2,360 political parties reg-istered with the Commission.2,301 or 97.50% of registeredpolitical parties are unrecog-nised parties. The number of

registered unrecognised polit-ical parties has increased twofold in the last 10 years. From1112 parties in 2010, the num-ber has spiked to 2,301 in2019. It is important to notethat the number of such par-ties increases disproportion-ately during the year ofParliamentary elections espe-cially. Between 2018 and 2019,it increased by over 9.8%while between 2013 and 2014,it increased by 18 percent.

Of the total of 2,301 reg-istered unrecognised parties,653 parties or 28.38% belongto Uttar Pradesh, followed by291 parties or 12.65% fromDelhi and 184 or 8% fromTamil Nadu.

57 parties of the 138 polit-ical parties analysed declaredNIL donations or their dona-tions statements were unavail-able for either of the twoyears.

The ADR report said thatthe contribution reports of atotal of only 78 or 3.39% of thetotal 2,301 registered unrecog-nised parties is available in thepublic domain for 2018-19,and for 2017-18, the reportsare available for only 82 par-ties or 3.56% of the total reg-istered unrecognised parties.

“The registered unrecog-nised parties analysed in thisreport declared a total of 6860donations worth �65.45 crduring FY 2018-19 and 6138donations of �4.6 cr for FY2017-18, amounting to 12,998

total declared donations of�90.05 cr in two years. ApnaDesh Party of Uttar Pradeshdeclared the highest donationsfor both financial years com-bined of �65.63 crore (4300donations) or 72.88% of thetotal declared donations byunrecognised parties in theircontribution reports of FY2017-18 & 2018-19. Of the138 parties analysed in thisreport, more than 50 parties’contribution reports areunavailable in the publicdomain for either of the twofinancial years,” the reportsaid.

The report said a total ofRs 54.206 cr (3511 donations)was donated to the unrecog-nised parties from Gujarat,followed by Rs 12.239 cr (6526donations) from Maharashtraand �3.294 cr (179 donations)from Uttar Pradesh. The con-tribution reports of only3.06% or 20 of the 653 totalregistered unrecognised par-ties of Uttar Pradesh are avail-able in the public domain forthe year 2018-19. For the year2017-18, 1.68% or 11 parties’contribution reports are avail-able on the CEO website ofUttar Pradesh.

In case of Delhi, 6.19% or18 registered unrecognisedparties’ contribution reportsare available in the publicdomain for the year 2017-18.However, none of the parties’donation statements are avail-able for the 2018-19.

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India has not given permissionfor use of any vaccine against

bird flu nor have other countrieslike the US, UK and theEuropean Union approved anysuch vaccine. The Governmenthas maintained that bird flu hasbeen confirmed in 14 States /UTs across the country.

“As per World Organizationof Animal Health (OIE), vacci-nation is not considered thesolution for the control of AvianInfluenza (Bird Flu) if eradica-tion is the desired result,” UnionMinister Sanjeev Kumar Balyansaid in a written reply to theRajya Sabha.

Without the application ofmonitoring systems, strict biose-curity and depopulation in theface of infection, there is a pos-sibility that these viruses couldbecome endemic in vaccinatedpoultry populations, he said.

Long-term circulation ofthe virus in a vaccinated popu-lation may result in both anti-genic and genetic changes in thevirus and this has been report-ed to have occurred in severalcountries, the Minister of Statefor Fisheries, Animal Husbandryand Dairying said.

The minister added thatwith the long-term use of vac-cination either the diseasebecomes endemic and thereforewidespread, or the infection inaffected animals gets too diffi-cult to detect. “The Governmenthas not permitted use of any vac-cine against bird flu in thecountry. Further, it is gatheredfrom the Central DrugsStandards Control Organization(CDSCO) that no such vaccineis approved in countries like theUSA, UK, EU etc. toprevent/cure bird flu in birds,” henoted. In a separate reply, theminister said bird flu amongcommercially reared and wildbirds have been confirmed from14 states and union territoriesnamely Kerala, Haryana,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab,Himachal Pradesh, Bihar,Rajasthan, Delhi, and Jammuand Kashmir.

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Two days after J P Nadda, theBJP national president lam-

basted the CPI(M) and theCongress for entering intoalliance in rest of India whileposing as enemies in Kerala, theCongress has charged that theHindutwa party for establishinga secret deal with the CPI(M) todefeat the Congress-led UDF inthe State.

T h i r u v a n c h o o rRadhakrishnan, formerMinister and seven time mem-ber of the Legislative Assemblytold The Pioneer that therewere enough proofs to doubtthe secret CPI(M)-BJP tie up fordefeating the Congress in theupcoming election.

“It is nothing new for boththe parties. They have the trackrecord of doing such things inpast election,” saidRadhakrishnan. He alleged thatthe CPI(M) and the BJP wereresponsible for the Sabarimalashrine controversy and theCongress-led UDF wouldexpose the parties in days tocome.

K C Joseph, deputy leaderof the Congress LegislatureParty and former minister saidthe BJP’s reaction to KSudhakaran’s outburst againstChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

was dubious. Sudhakaran, theCongreess MP from Vadakarain Kerala had lambasted Vijayanfor his wanton profligacy in mis-using of government funds.“Why Vijayan, son of a toddytapper, requires helicopter to goaround such a small State likeKerala?” Sudhakaran, knownfor his blunt talk, had askedwhile addressing a meeting inKannur.

The BJP has been in theforefront attacking Sudhakaranand blamed the latter for “castebased” remarks. A pro-BJPnews channel held debates overthe comments of Sudhakaran,which were ignored by even theMarxist dominated Keralamedia. But Joseph has more tosay about the evolving CPI(M)-BJP ties to weaken the Congress.“The by-election held in theTillankeri division of Kannurdistrict panchjayat in mid-January speaks a lot about theBJP-Marxist understanding todefeat the Congress,” Joseph toldThe Pioneer,

The by-poll in Tillankerinecessitated by the death of theUDF candidate was won by thyeCPI(M) candidate. “This was atraditional stronghold of theCongress. What stands out inthe results of the by-poll is thevotes polled by the BJP candi-date.

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Lucknow: The Budget presentation in theUttar Pradesh Assembly on February 19 willbe read out by the State's Finance MinisterSuresh Khanna from his tablet and notpaper.

This will be the first time that the stateBudget will go digital, like the UnionBudget.The legislators will not get printedbooklets of the Budget but can view it ontheir tablets and phones on the given link.

A training session for legislators in theuse of devices will be held from February 11to 13 by officials of the National InformaticsCentre.

The state government is also conduct-ing a training workshop for Ministers andsenior officials for seamless transition to thee-cabinet system with an emphasis onsecurity protocols.

Ministers were advised to undertaketraining at home to achieve hands-on com-fort with the new system.

The first e-cabinet meeting was held onTuesday through several minister struggledwith the new technology.

“Following the mantra of 'MinimumGovernment and Maximum Governance',the Chief Minister decided to implement

paperless cabinet meetings, paperless Budgetpresentation and paperless proceedings ofthe legislature. He has already set rolling adigital policy to push governance in thecountry's most populous state from directbeneficiary transfer to accounts and use ofe-POS machines,” a state governmentspokesperson said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said thatMLAs and MLCs would be provided withthe tablets before the Assembly session toenable members to work online and curb useof paper.

However, most of the legislators are notyet comfortable with the digitalisation of theassembly proceedings.

“I am not a very tech-savvy person andthe government should give us at least sixmonths to fully adopt e-governance.Elections are just a year away and a break-down of communication at this stage withthe bureaucracy could prove detrimental,”said a senior MLA of the ruling BharatiyaJanata Party.

A number of legislators said that theywere not conversant with Hindi/English typ-ing and will have to first learn this beforelearning how to operate the devices. IANS

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Jaipur: If sources in the RajasthanBharatiya Janata Party are to be believed,the former Chief Minister VasundharaRaje Scindia is going to start a Yatra onher birthday on March 8 from a KrishnaTemple, Adi Badri Dham, situated inBharatpur district, in a bid to display hershow of strength in the state.

Raje, since the appointment of a newstate leadership in the BJP, has distancedherself from the party office and its activ-ities. However, her followers have beenpressuring her to play aggressive poli-tics for combating the other group, fear-ing they will lose their presence onground in the next elections if she sitsquiet.

Eventually, she will start her Yatrafrom Bharatpur's Adi Badri temple, saidBJP sources.

Her staunch supporter and formerminister Yunus Khan was in the townin the last few days reportedly to performa recce of the place from where she willstart the Yatra.

Raje supporters, including formerMLAs and MPs, are working hard tomake this show of strength a success.

In fact, there are one or two faceswho have also been in the present work-ing committee of the BJP and are stillsupporting the former CM.

The action plan for the grand event

will include a convoy with over 1,000fleet of cars which will be more like agrand road show.

“Bharatpur is near to her placeDhaulpur and hence many people canbe a part of the show. Also starting heryatra from the Krishna Temple, she shallgive a strong political message,” saidsources.

It needs to be mentioned here thatRaje met Union minister Amit Shah onTuesday and matters regardingRajasthan state politics were discussedin the meeting.

She reportedly expressed her annoy-ance for being kept isolated in majordecision making issues of the party instate-related matters.

Also, she was unhappy that her loy-als in the party were not being givendecent positions. Issue of her son notbeing given a cabinet portfolio wasanother subject of discussion, sourcesconfirmed.

Now, the former CM is all set to takeout the Yatra to give a strong politicalmessage to team leaders.

Earlier, her followers have left thesaffron party shocked by announcing 25district presidents of a solo entity 'TeamVasundhara Raje' floated in December2020, and made the list viral on socialmedia.

It needs to be mentioned here thatsocial media is abuzz with activities ofa group 'Vasundhara Raje Team 2023'where she is being projected as the nextCM face.

Meanwhile sources said that allthose active on social media till date inthese groups will be a part and parcel ofthe Yatra too.

Also, recently, another new grouphas appeared on social media with thename of 'Team Vasundhara Raje kisanMorcha' and presidents for the samehave been appointed in 10 districts, saysa post on the group.

This group is again active and pro-jects Raje as the next CM. Meanwhile,the present BJP leadership is monitor-ing all developments and keeping astrong vigil on all activities, said a teamleader adding that if there is a need, thestate leadership will approach centralleadership with a complete report onsuch activities.

Meanwhile, a Raje supporter said,“She needs to get aggressive in state pol-itics because this is the time when sheshould start ground working.”

In 2018 too, she held the RajasthanVikas Yatra from Rajsamand'sCharbhuja temple, however, she lost the2018 Assembly polls to the Congress. IANS

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh hasbecome the first State in thecountry to have vaccinated over5.5 lakh people against Covid-19.

According to informationfrom the state health depart-ment, as many as 5.89 lakhhealth workers have received thevaccine against coronavirus sofar against a cumulative target of8.44 lakh till Thursday.

Additional Chief Secretary,health and family welfare, AmitMohan Prasad said that this isthe largest in the country.

“UP is the first state to havevaccinated over five lakh personsagainst the pandemic infection,”he stated adding that the activ-ity will continue on Friday too.The official spokesperson said,“Of the total 5.89 lakh personsvaccinated so far, 1,25,308 healthworkers were immunised onThursday. Keeping the day'starget of 1,72,396 in mind, theturnout was 72.69 per centwhich is exemplary for a state

like UP.” The spokesperson stat-ed that all the 1,607 planned ses-sions were held and both,Covishield and Covaxin, wereadministered to health workers.Those vaccinated on Thursday,will get the second dose onMarch 4.

Among districts, Gondaranked number one with 115per cent turnout, while Sambhal(101 per cent), Unnao (99.4 percent), Sant Kabir Nagar (99 percent) and Firozabad (96.27 percent) made it to the top five.

Gautam Buddha Nagar,Aligarh, Kasganj, Bulandshahrand Agra were placed in the bot-tom five. The state capital,Lucknow, recorded a turnout of63.14 per cent.

General manager, immuni-sation, National Health Mission,UP, Manoj Shukla said that theremaining health workers wouldbe covered in the sessions onFriday when the vaccination offrontline workers will alsostart. IANS

Meerut (Uttar Pradesh): In a shockingincident, an assistant teacher allegedlythrashed the principal of a governmentinter-college for not being allowed to puthis signature first on a register since thatdetermines the seniority level.

The principal, Mahender Singh, ofKisan Inter-College has been admitted toa hospital with injuries on the face.

The incident took place on Wednesday.According to reports, the principal had

followed government guidelines whichstates that in case two persons have beenappointed teachers on the same date,seniority will be determined by the teacher'sage. Assistant teacher, Amit Kumar, want-ed to sign first on the register though hewas younger to another teacher.

Daurala station in-charge Kiran PalSingh said, “The accused Amit Kumar hasbeen booked under IPC sections 323 (vol-untarily causing hurt), 504 (insult andprovocation) and relevant provisions of theSC/ST Act. He has been arrested and sentto jail.”Meanwhile, the education depart-ment has suspended the accused teacher.

G.K. Chaudhary, district inspector ofschools, said “In case there was a dispute,we should have been informed and wewould have investigated. Resorting to vio-lence against a principal cannot be toler-ated.” IANS

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In a shocking incident, an 80-year-old woman was allegedly raped in

a village in Uttar Pradesh's Mahobadistrict.

The incident took place onFebruary 2 when the woman wasalone in the house as her family mem-bers had gone to attend a religiousfunction.

SHO, Kharela, Anil Kumar saidthat a complaint was lodged by thevictim's grandson who alleged thattwo people entered the house fromthe terrace and one of them, identi-fied as Phool Chandra a.k.a Phullu,raped the elderly woman.

An FIR was registered onThursday against Phool Chandra, aresident of Hamirpur district and oneunidentified person, the SHO said.Both are presently absconding.

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Gandhinagar: At least three persons were killed and seven oth-ers seriously injured when a private luxury bus carrying a mar-riage party rammed into a parked truck tanker in Tapi districtof Gujarat on Friday morning, said the police.

The accident took place on the Surat-Dhulia highway nearBajipura.According to the police, the private luxury bus was car-rying around 30 to 35 members of a marriage party fromMaharashtra's Malegaon to Surat in south Gujarat.”Three pas-sengers died on the spot while seven others were seriously injuredin the accident that took place early today morning,” said thepolice.

The accident victims have been identified as Naeem HajiRashid Maniyar, 51, Azhar Aziz Maniyar, 22 and NoorMohammad Fakir Mohammad, 45, all residents of Malegaon. IANS

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Patna: Rashtriya Janata Dalnational vice presidentShivanand Tiwari on Fridayfound himself embroiled in acontroversy for making anunsavoury statement aboutmaster blaster SachinTendulkar after he tweeted onthe ongoing farmers' protest onWednesday.

Addressing the media,Tiwari said: “He is a recipientof Bharat Ratna but he keepsdoing advertisements. He is amodel. This is an insult to the

Bharat Ratna that people likeSachin Tendulkar are conferredwith such a prestigious award.”

“Today people have start-ed politics via Twitter. I want topoint out farmers staying in vil-lages do not even know aboutthe micro-blogging site orother forms of socialmedia.”

Sachin had tweeted,“India's sovereignty cannot becompromised. External forcescan be spectators but not par-ticipants. Indians know India

and should decide for India.Let's remain united as a nation.# I n d i a T o g e t h e r#IndiaAgainstPropaganda.”

Janata Dal (United) chiefspokesperson Neeraj Kumarsaid: “Sachin Tendulkar hasreceived the Bharat Ratna dueto his exceptional contributionin cricket. As far as advertise-ment is concerned, RJD alsokeeps doing advertisement ofhis party and it's poster boy isLalu Prasad Yadav, a personconvicted in a scam.” IANS

Jammu: The J&K Governmenton Friday said that at least 10.77lakh golden cards and 10,000treatments have been done inthe region in the first 40 daysafter the launch of theAyushman Bharat PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme.

The scheme was e-launched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on December26, 2020.

Since the roll out of thescheme, 10,000 free and cash-less treatments worth Rs 7.21crore have been provided to the

eligible beneficiaries under thescheme, in the first 40 days.

Besides, 10.77 lakh goldencards have been issued in addi-tion to 12.90 lakh golden cardsissued under the AB-PMJAYSEHAT scheme.

Financial Commissioner,Health & Medical Education,Atal Dulloo said: “AB-PMJAYSEHAT scheme is a historicalstep in the direction towardsUniversal Health Insurance.We have made a humble begin-ning but there is a long way togo. It is heartening to see resi-dents availing the free and

cashless benefits from reputedempanelled hospitals of Jammuand Kashmir.” He further said,“Residents of J&K have alreadystarted availing benefits underthe scheme from the reputedhospitals outside the UT.”

He added that since thelaunch of scheme, 155 patientshave already availed benefits inempanelled hospitals from out-side J&K using the portabilityfeature of the AB-PMJAYSEHAT scheme.

AB-PMJAY SEHATscheme launched by the gov-ernment covers all the residents

of Jammu and Kashmir includ-ing the employees and thepensioners as well as theirfamilies.

AB-PMJAY SEHATscheme in convergence withPMJAY aims to provideUniversal Health InsuranceCoverage of Rs 5 lakh perfamily on a floater basis. AB-PMJAY SEHAT has the samebenefits as available under AB-PMJAY. AB-PMJAY SEHATscheme provides cashless accessto empanelled healthcare services for the benefi-

ciaries. IANS

Patna: Opposition parties' leadersin Bihar have organised humanchains, tractor rallies, Raj Bhavanmarch, dharnas and protests insupport of the farmers' agitationat the Delhi borders, but havefailed to enthuse the farmers hereto join the stir. They are still main-taining a distance from theprotests.

Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader ofthe Opposition in the BiharAssembly, has appealed to thestate's farmers to join the farmers'agitation. Apart from Tejashwi,Gurnam Singh Chaduni, a seniorleader of the Sanyukt KisanMorcha (SKM), who is involved inthe farmers' agitation at Delhi'sborders, came to Bihar and urgedthe farmers here to join themovement, but they are not enthu-siastic about it. Many farmers inthe region are not even aware ofthis movement.

Ramadhar Singh, All India

Kisan Sabha Secretary, says thatthere is a lack of consciousnessamong the farmers in Bihar. Hesaid even today the farmers hereare selling their produce at throw-away prices, but due to lack ofawareness, they are not joining thefarmers' movement. He said thepeople of his farmers organisationwill visit every village fromFebruary 10 to March 10 to set uppanchayats and create awarenessamong the farmers.

On January 30 this year, all theopposition parties united andorganised a human chain in thestate to demand the repeal of thethree new farm laws on the call ofthe opposition Rashtriya JanataDal (RJD). Even in this humanchain, farmers were nowhere to beseen. Anand Murari, a farmerfrom Tal region and Coordinatorof the Tal DevelopmentCommittee, which is known forpulses production in Bihar says

that the farmers here mainly dotraditional farming and are notconcerned with Union farm laws.

Ram Pravesh Rai, a farmerfrom Bihata near Patna, asks whowill be the farmer marching on thestreets for the movement. He saidif the farmers here do not work inthe fields, what will they eatthroughout the year? Expressinganger, he said everyone wants toindulge in politics.

The APMC Act in Bihar wasabolished in 2006.

In Bihar, the leaders of the rul-ing party have been saying that thefarmers of Bihar are with theNational Democratic Alliance(NDA). They know what used tohappen to farmers earlier.

BJP Spokesperson NikhilAnand says that the Central gov-ernment is committed to doublingthe income of farmers and effortsare being made continuously toachieve this. IANS

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Amaravati: Andhra PradeshState Election Commissioner(SEC) Nimmagadda RameshKumar has annulled the TeluguDesam Party's (TDP)Panchayat elections manifesto,and ordered it to withdraw itscopies as it defeats the very pur-pose of and object of apoliticalnature of gram panchayat elec-tions.

“TDP Panchayati EnnikalaManifesto - 2021 is a suggestiveaffiliation of political party inthe context of gram panchay-at elections held on non-partybasis, which is a clear violationof the commission's orderdat-ed October 25, 2018 and itdefeats the very purpose andobject of apolitical nature ofgram panchayat elections,” saidKumar.

Lella Appi Reddy, a leaderof the ruling Yuvajana SramikaRythu Congress Party(YSRCP), complained toKumar on January 29 about theparty-affiliated manifestoannounced by TDP nationalpresident Nara ChandrababuNaidu. Incidentally, Kumar wasnot satisfied with the explana-tion given by the TDP leadersas to why it released a partymanifesto banned in rural localbodies elections. IANS

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Little over a fortnight after hefell out with his party’s lead-

ership over allegations the rapecharge made against a NCPminister, BJP’s Mumbai unitpresident and former MLA fromVile Parle Krishna Hegderesigned from his party andjoined the ruling Shiv Sena hereon Friday evening.

Fifty-four-year-old Hegdewas welcomed by Shiv Senapresident and Maharashtra chiefminister Uddhav Thackeray intothe Shiv Sena by tying the tra-ditional “Shiv bandhan” on hishand.

Hegde, who has a sizeablefollowing in Vile Parle Assemblyconstituency that he had repre-sented in the State Assembly, isbeing seen as a boost to ShivSena in the run-up to theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) to be held in 2022. Hegde isexpected to be given an impor-tant party post ahead of theBMC polls.

A former Congress MLAfrom Vile Parle and once closeconfidant of former MP PriyaDutt, Hegde had resigned fromthe party in 2017 following hisserious differences with the thenMumbai Congress presidentSanjay Nirupam and joined theBJP where he had remained forthe past four years.

Hegde, it may be recalled,had hit headlines on January 14when he went to indirectdefence of Maharashtra’s NCPMinister Dhananjay Munde, byclaiming that the woman whohad made allegations of rapeagainst the NCP minister hadtried to “honey-trap” them.Hegde lodged a complaint withthe Amboli police against RenuVerma for allegedly “coaxing”him since 2010 into having arelationship with him.

“Renu Sharma has beencalling me, messaging me andcoaxing me since 2010 to havea relationship with her. Thisharassment went on to the pointof stalking. Through my sourcesI found out that she is a dubiousperson who is setting up a

honey trap. I totally avoidedmeeting her,” Hegde had said inhis complaint.had

Hegde was elected to theMaharashtra Assembly on aCongress ticket from the VileParle constituency in 2009, butin 2014 elections he was defeat-ed by BJP’s Parag Alvani.

Hegde was instrumental insecuring the release of BhaveshParmar, a jobless IT engineerfrom Mumbai, who had gone toAmritsar where he boarded theSamjhauta Express in 2005 andreached Pakistan.

Parmar was caught therewithout a passport, visa or anyother documents and conse-quently spent 7 years in aPakistan prison before he wasrepatriated home in 2012.

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Jammu: A 12-year-old Jammugirl, Guhika Sachdev, has set anexample for others to follow bydonating Rs 1.11 lakh, whichshe earned by sharing hersinging video on Youtube.

Guhika donated theamount to Dr. Shashi SudhanSharma, Principal GovernmentMedical College Jammu, forfighting corona virus and tohelp the needy patients.

As per Guhika, she postedher video on Youtube inNovember which went viral byreceiving a huge response fromthe netizens. “During lock-

down I saw migrant labourerswalking thousands of kilome-ter and my heart really sank onseeing them travelling withoutfood and water” Guhika said

and hoped that her donationwill help the needy in a littleway.

“If God has given us every-thing then we should also help

others” Guhika added and saidthat she got this inspirationfrom her grandfather andfather. The Principal GMC &AH appreciated her humani-tarian gesture and asked her tocontinue to help the needy in asimilar way.

Hailing Guhika, Dr Sudhansaid that she is a role model foryouth and society to follow. Sheurged the people to join handsand help each other in the timesof distress. “Our Committeemembers will also contributefor this novel cause” thePrincipal said. PNS

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Tatmadaw’s share of reservedseats in both Houses ofParliament from 25 per cent tofive per cent. The move failedbut the intention to clip the mil-itary’s wings it conveyed rattledthe generals who, like theirPakistani counterparts, report-edly have links with manylucrative economic ventures,which they may lose under astrong civilian Government.

What now? The Myanmarpolice charged Suu Kyi in acourt on February 3 claimingthat walkie-talkie radios, foundduring a search of her home inthe capital, Naypyidaw, wereimported illegally and usedwithout permission. Theysought her custody till February15 “in order to question wit-nesses, request evidence andseek legal counsel after ques-tioning the defendant”.

The charge has been wide-ly condemned as spurious. SuuKyi had every opportunity tolegitimately import the walkie-talkie sets when she was head-ing the Government as StateCounsellor. Besides, the charg-ing of Myanmar’s overthrownPresident Win Myint withoffences under the DisasterManagement Law indicatesthe targeting of the NLD’s topleadership. In a report, AlJazeera has quoted Ali Fowle,reporting from Myanmar, as

saying that the country’simport-export Act was “noto-riously vague”. She added: “Itcould be anything from a faxmachine to a walkie-talkie. It’s a notorious law because itwas used under the former mil-itary regime all the time toframe political prisoners.”

Not surprisingly, UNspokesman Stephane Dujarrictold reporters that the chargesagainst Suu Kyi “just com-pound the undermining ofthe rule of law in Myanmarand the democratic process”.He added: “We continue tocall for her immediate releaseand the President’s immedi-ate release and all others whohave been detained by themilitary in the last few days.”The chances of the militaryobliging are negligible. Norcan one foresee the protests,which have broken out in theform of doctors and otherstaff staying away fromGovernment hospitals andpeople banging their pots,snowballing to oust theregime, which will stop atnothing. It has alreadybanned Facebook, used by theprotestors, at least until theend of February. China andRussia will back the generals.Much will, therefore, dependon the pressure that the USand European countries,

which have strongly con-demned the coup, bring tobear on the generals.

India’s External AffairsMinistry had issued a state-ment on February 1: “Wehave noted the developmentsin Myanmar with deep con-cern. India has always beensteadfast in its support to theprocess of democratic transi-tion in Myanmar. We believethat the rule of law and thedemocratic process must beupheld. We are monitoringthe situation closely.”

India has to tread withcaution. The Tatmadaw hasbeen cooperating closely withit in dealing with the ethnicinsurgents of its North-East. Ithas developed deep econom-ic ties with Myanmar and, in2019, emerged as the latter’slargest supplier of militaryhardware, selling arms worth$100 million. It cannot, how-ever, watch the rape of democ-racy in Myanmar silently, andmust continue expressing dis-approval of the Tatmadaw’saction and pressuring it firm-ly to release Suu Kyi and theothers, and allow her party to form the Government onthe basis of the Novemberelection’s results.

(The author is ConsultingEditor, The Pioneer. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

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����������������� �����������Sir— In the Union Budget 2021, the ModiGovernment has left no stone unturnedfor developing agriculture and the alliedsectors. The annual financial statement ofthe Centre can be termed as a farmer-friendly spreadsheet. However, as thefarmers’ protest intensifies, theGovernment must take extraordinarymeasures to reach a settlement with thecultivators. In the discussion that tookplace in the Rajya Sabha on the President’saddress, the Opposition parties triedtheir best to counter the Government byprotesting against the new agriculturallaws that have emerged as the bone of con-tention between farmers and the Centre.

The Prime Minister has made it clearthat no one can take away the land offarmers. But a section of the growers andsome organisations with vested interestshave announced a ‘chakka jam’ (roadblockade) in the country on January 6,which is neither practical nor logical. Thiswill cause widespread chaos and anarchy.It will also inflict losses to the already ail-ing economy and will be against the inter-ests of farmers and common man. Thecommon man is disillusioned and obfus-cated by what the farmers are doing.TheGovernment has taken many steps to ben-efit small and marginal farmers. It is inthe best interest of all if the farmers investtheir time and energy in the developmentof agriculture.

Yugal Kishore Sharma | Faridabad

������ � �������������������Sir — Considering the huge populationthat we have, most of the countries predict-ed a large number of fatalities in India dueto COVID-19. However, these assumptionshave fallen flat and we have not only devel-oped the vaccines in good time but are alsosupplying it to other countries. It is heart-ening to see a downward trend in theCorona curve as the cases of infectiondecline dramatically. This may be due toherd immunity, high immunity levels ofIndians against the deadly virus and otherfactors. In Manaus, Brazil, a second wavewas reported after a dip in COVID cases.

By taking a leaf out of it, we should be extravigilant in our crusade against the deadlyvirus. Meanwhile, people should shedmisconceptions and apprehensions regard-ing the ongoing COVID-19 vaccinationdrive and wait for their turn to get inocu-lated.

The need of the hour is to follow themost popular mantra of wearing a mask,maintaining hand hygiene and social dis-tancing. In our fight against eradication ofCoronavirus, we cannot be lackadaisical inour approach. It cannot be denied thatthere are fair chances that the virus canmutate and metamorphose into a formagainst which our vaccines will be ineffec-tive. Remember, prevention is always bet-ter than cure.

V Nagendra Kumar | Hyderabad

������������ �������� �� ���Sir — The current political turmoil inthe form of a military coup in Myanmaris a matter of grave concern and calls forthe attention of the international com-

munity. The country has been facingmany challenges, both political and eco-nomic, for quite a long time. The mili-tary was really running the country allalong and Aung San Suu Kyi, who wasthe Prime Minister, was only for namesake.

The real power lay not in the handsof those elected by the people but in themilitary. The latest military coup and theannulment of the election results markedthe second instance where Suu Kyi andher National League for Democracy(NLD) suffered the consequences ofmilitary intervention and scrapping ofthe election results. India and other coun-tries should exert pressure on Myanmar’smilitary regime to relinquish power andsmoothly transfer it to Suu Kyi.Restoration of democracy is in the bestinterests of India and other countries.

P Senthil | Mumbai

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Ravi Teja Kathuripalli | Hyderabad

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4����������������"������According to a report in

Al Jazeera, an emer-gency session of theUnited Nations Security

Council (UNSC) failed onFebruary 3, 2021, to adopt astatement on the military coup inMyanmar on February 1. Thestatement had condemned thecoup, called upon the military torespect the rule of law and humanrights, and demanded the imme-diate release of those unlawfullydetained. The report further saidthat the statement had demand-ed repealing the state of emer-gency, which the Myanmar mil-itary (official name Tatmadaw)had imposed, besides appealing to“all sides to adhere to democrat-ic norms”. The statement, says thereport, was grounded by Chinaand Russia which had “asked formore time”. The chances of it, oranother one adequately condem-natory of the coup, being adopt-ed are slim. Russia and China areno champions of democracy.

This is a shame. The couphas halted the transition todemocracy which had started in2008 with the adoption ofMyanmar’s current Constitutionprepared by the Tatmadaw. Thelatter has justified its action byalleging that Aung San SuuKyi’s National League forDemocracy’s (NLD) sweepingvictory — 396 seats out of 476in the Lower House ofParliament — in the November2020 elections was fraudulent-ly obtained. It claimed to havedetected 8.6 million cases ofirregularities. The UnionElection Commission, whichconducts elections in Myanmar,has, however, emphatically saidthat it had found no evidence ofany voting malpractice or fraud.

Widespread electoral fraud,had it occurred, would have beenwidely reported in internationalmedia given that Suu Kyi has lostits favour because of her stand onthe Rohingya issue. Besides, theTatmadaw’s record is significant.Suu Kyi’s NLD won a massive vic-tory in the 1990 elections. Itrejected the results, put her underhouse arrest which lasted 15years, and imposed a horriblyrepressive regime on the country.

There are other reasons. Lastyear, Suu Kyi sought to reduce the

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As the darkness of the night begins to set in,there is only one house in Pune’s bustlingBudhwar Peth area which is lit by oil lamps.

In this small house lives Hema Sane, a retired pro-fessor of botany. The 80-year-old Sane has authoredover 25 books, many of which are course books forgraduate students of botany studying at the city’sfamed Savitribai Phule University. But this is not whyshe is pleased with her efforts. What makes herhappy is that she was able to continue her habit ofwriting even at night despite not having electrici-ty. Writing by candlelight was not new or strangeto her. With no electricity in the house since birth,Sane became an expert in managing without it. Herdoctorate (Ph.D) in botany was also completed withthe help of oil lamps and candles. “I don’t have arefrigerator, television or oven because I don’t haveelectricity. My parents also didn’t have power. I havelived all my life without electricity and don’t see theneed for it. I am happy living in harmony withnature,” she says.

Many are of the opinion that she is insane tolive the way she does, surrounded by trees, plants,birds, cats, dogs and piles of books. “If you type mysurname (Sane), the internet will tell you it meanssensible. The opposite of sane is insane or mad. Thisis what some people say about me (that I am mad)when they hear I have chosen to live without elec-tricity,” says Sane with a chuckle. Living withoutpower amid the hustle and bustle of a cosmopoli-tan city is not the only factor that makes Sane’s lifeso fascinating. She is an institution in herself (herimpressive academic record includes degrees inIndology as well) and inspired one of her botanystudents to name a new plant variety after her name.

It also motivated film-maker Ramana Dumpalato make her the subject of his award-winning doc-umentary film. Aptly named ‘Glow Worm in aJungle,’ the film explores her life and work, and hersteadfast refusal to give up her rundown house toa builder because it would mean leaving her bestfriends — the trees, plants, birds and animals —behind. Interestingly, the film-maker shot the entirefilm in the light that filtered in during the day andfrom the oil lamps and newly-acquired solarlamps in the night to honour her philosophy of usingnatural resources.

Sane’s abiding bond with nature, the courage tochallenge existing values and practices and offer newperspectives about ways of living is also why thisfilm was chosen as a part of the ongoing ‘RisingGardens Film Festival.’ A part of the One BillionRising (OBR) campaign in India, the onlineFestival showcases acclaimed documentary and ani-mation films on women and their cosmic connec-tion with nature, agriculture and the environment.Held annually, the OBR focuses attention on thestrength of women through various forms of cre-ative expression. This 2021 campaign explores theinfluences that have shaped the world, its revival,restoration and transformation. Since OBR waslaunched in 2012 as a call for the world to rise againstthe widespread violence against women and girls,this year’s theme of ‘Rising Gardens’ has been sonamed to underline that communities must rise torespect and protect both women and mother Earthif life is to exist.

The exploitation of nature and the oppressionof women are deeply linked, contends Kamla Bhasin,coordinator, OBR South Asia. “It is the larger, unjust

systems that make this violenceagainst nature and women acceptableand even necessary for its perpetu-ation. In response to this, the OBRcampaign is pushing us to worktowards healing the environment andour communities by growing gar-dens, directly challenging capitalistpatriarchy which has increasinglypushed us away from mother nature.We call to build gardens and commu-nities where everyone can flourish,”says Bhasin.Curated by ReenaMohan, an award winning indepen-dent documentary film-maker, thefestival has been organised by Sangat,a feminist network. The aim of pre-senting 48 films of hope andresilience from 11 countries over thenext four months is to show thatcommunities can imagine a betterway to live without destroying nature.

“These are stories of courage,compassion and hope, with womenat the fore, engaged in either environ-mental or agricultural work or pre-senting a significant connection tonature. These are works that chal-lenge, inspire and expand our vision,”states Mohan.

One such film is about the Bhils,a large tribal community, primarilyresiding in Madhya Pradesh. Whilepaintings made by the Bhil commu-nity are famous for the stories theynarrate about their land, animals anddeities, what is less known is the factthat painting for them is akin to offer-ing a prayer. ‘Hum Chitra BanateHain (We Make Images)’ is an ani-mated interpretation of how Bhil artoriginated and why it is so closelyconnected to nature and the lives ofthe community. The film centres

around an elderly woman from thecommunity whose traditional wis-dom about nature leads the commu-nity out of its long-standing problemof water scarcity. This turnaround infortunes and the subsequent prosper-ity arising from good crops and goodhealth is recorded by drawing pic-tures first on clay pots and then onwalls of their huts. Since then, everypainting is a story of the land toldthrough the depictions of people, ani-mals, deities and their festivals.

What makes this collaborationbetween the indigenous Bhil artistSher Singh and film-maker NinaSabnani so engrossing is the beauti-ful way Bhil paintings have been ani-mated to tell the little-known storyand the engaging way a rooster hasbeen used as the storyteller in thenarrative. One of the reasons whySabnani wanted to make this film wasto tap the rich resource of oral his-tories of the Bhils which hasremained unappreciated andunknown outside the community.“These narratives, which store theknowledge and wisdom of the Bhils,represent their unique ways of see-ing and experiencing the world andare a part of their cultural identity.These stories and their indigenousknowledge may be lost with commu-nities migrating for economic rea-sons. To create a film that drew upontheir knowledge and their art so thatwe could learn from them became areason for us to come together,”explains Sabnani.

Many times indigenous knowl-edge of the land is dismissed as unsci-entific. But when women in scienceuse their knowledge to explain why

conservation and protection isimperative, their work is not takenseriously enough. Sri Lankan oceaneducator, Asha de Vos, faced thisform of discrimination. “I was toldthat I was too young or that I was toofemale”, says de Vos, a pioneer of bluewhale research. Her journey tobecome a marine biologist, consid-ered by many as a male domain andthe challenges of being a SouthAsian woman in science presented inthe form of an interesting animatedinterview by Sri Lankan directorIrushi Tennekoon, strikes a familiarchord. Even in India, women scien-tists become targets of prejudice andgender bias. This is probably whyonly 15 per cent of the Indianresearch and development workforcein the country are women.Fortunately for de Vos, she was ableto cross all such hurdles and nowheads Sri Lanka’s first marine conser-vation, research and education organ-isation.

Women have traditionally beenstorehouses of indigenous knowledgeand wisdom. They are at the forefrontof struggles to protect the environ-ment. Can the role of women in theChipko movement to save the forestsor their immense contribution dur-ing the Narmada Bachao Andolanever be forgotten? Whenever theyhave risen, they have become agentsof change, using their knowledge andexpertise to mitigate adversity andoffer adaptation strategies. Just asthese films underscore, respectingwomen’s skills, resourcefulness andleadership can boost gender equali-ty, address climate change and pro-tect the planet.

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One of the thoughts thatmust have certainlycrossed everyone’s

minds while hearing FinanceMinister (FM) NirmalaSitharaman’s Budget speech washow nothing went as planned,last year. Given the ongoingCoronavirus pandemic and itssocio-economic impact, thefuture is uncertain and the bestof planning can go haywire ifcircumstances are unfavourable.

However, despite all theconstraints of the contagion,this Union Budget has paved theway for reviving the Indianeconomy. Pointing out animportant fact that this was onlythe third time in Indian histo-ry that the Budget wasannounced against the back-drop of a shrinking economicgrowth, the FM ensured that fis-cal deficit figures did not keepher from announcing spendingin areas where it was needed.

Focus on the informal sec-

tor: The early signs of recoveryin the Indian corporate sectordo not necessarily point towardsincreasing investments, demandor productivity, all of whichcould have led to sustainablegrowth and increasing incomes.The Centre for MonitoringIndian Economy reported thatthe corporate sector madebumper profits in the quarterended 2020 due to significant-ly lower spending on inputscompared to sales. However,wages grew by 3.2 per cent onlyin the September 2020 quarter,which is very low historicallyand in stark contrast to growthin profits.

The Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises (MSMEs)have also been adversely affect-ed by the pandemic, with manybeing forced to shut down oper-ations, resulting in massive joblosses.

The Union Budget hasraised the allocation for the

MSME sector to �15,700 crorefrom �7,572 crore last year.The Government has alsoannounced the �3-lakh croreEmergency Credit LineGuarantee Scheme under the‘Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.’Besides, as was expected, theCentre has committed to creat-ing a portal to collect informa-tion on gig economy workers inorder to enable them to avail thebenefits of Governmentschemes as well as help indesigning specific policies forthem.

One Nation One RationCard: The ‘One Nation OneRation Card (ONORC)’ is onesuch scheme that will helpmigrant workers avail of sub-sidised food grain at the placeof work, rather than their homeStates. Under the ONORC plan,beneficiaries can lift their enti-tled food grain from any elec-tronic Point of Sale device(ePoS) enabled Fair Price Shop

(FPS) of their choice by usingtheir existing ration cards withbiometric authentication on theePoS device. The scheme that isbeing implemented by 32 Statesand Union Territories covering69 crore beneficiaries right nowwill be slowly implemented bythe remaining States as well.

Labour codes: The FMalso pointed out that the imple-mentation of labour codes willbe a step towards the formali-sation of gig economy workersas they will now be coveredunder social security schemes.The FM spoke about labour

welfare bringing a larger pool ofworkers, including gig workers,under the Employees’ StateInsurance Corporation toexpand the social security net.However, the overall Budgetallocation of the LabourMinistry was reduced to�13,306 crore for 2021-22 from�13,720 crore in the revisedBudget of 2020-21.

The four Labour Codeswould be implemented, sig-nalling the Centre’ resolve to goahead with labour lawreforms.”We will conclude aprocess that began 20 years ago,”Sitharaman said, adding thatminimum wages would apply toall categories of workers andwomen would be allowed towork in all categories and alsoin night shifts with adequateprotection.

Production LinkedIncentive scheme: TheProduction Linked Incentive(PLI) scheme for 13 sectors,

with a spending of �1.97-lakhcrore for five years, is a much-needed initiative for helpingscale-up firms, boostingemployment and helping busi-nesses revive. The MSMEs willalso be provided with a lot ofdigital support to reduce thecumbersome regulatory andother procedures.

The FM has laid down theroad map for expenditures bythe Government. However, itremains to be seen whether itwould be able to append andcollect revenues as plannedfrom the disinvestment ofPublic Sector Undertakings(PSUs) and strategic sales of LifeInsurance Corporation, AirIndia, Bharat PetroleumCorporation Limited, IndustrialDevelopment Bank of Indiaand so on.

For the time being, the FMhas remained undeterred by theballooning fiscal deficit whichshe pegged at 9.5 per cent of the

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)for the Financial Year (FY)2020-21 and 6.8 per cent of theGDP for FY 2022. The deficit isto be partly funded by marketborrowings and the Centreplans to raise �80,000 crore fromthe market. The extraordinarycircumstances of the pandem-ic have called for extraordinarymeasures by the Government,leading to the high fiscal deficit.However, the legislative con-straints of the FiscalResponsibility and BudgetManagement Act have to behonoured and, therefore, theFM indicated the will to bringthe fiscal deficit below 4.5 percent of the GDP by 2025-26.

Overall, the Budget setsthe tone for economic recoveryand creation of jobs in varioussectors owing to the Centrecompensating declining con-sumption and private invest-ment through increased Stateexpenditure.

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Declaring that “America isback,” President Joe Biden

has said that his administrationwill “repair” the country’sstrained relations with its alliesduring the previous Trumpadministration and engage withthe world once again.

In his first major foreignpolicy address as President,Biden said America cannotafford to be absent any longeron the world stage.

“We will compete from aposition of strength by build-ing back better at home, work-ing with our allies and partners,

renewing our internationalinstitutions and reclaiming ourcredibility and moral authori-ty, much of which has beenlost,” Biden said on Thursdayas he visited the StateDepartment for the first timeafter being sworn in as the 46thUS President on January 20.

“We cannot do it alone,”Biden said, putting particularemphasis on the need torebuild the country’s moralstanding after four years underhis predecessor Donald Trump,who often rebuffed America’straditional alliances.

“I want the world to heartoday: America is back. America is back. Diplomacy is

back at the centre of our foreignpolicy,” Biden, who wasaccompanied by Vice-PresidentKamala Harris, said.

“We will repair ouralliances and engage with theworld once again, not to meetyesterday’s challenges, buttoday’s and tomorrow’s.American leadership must meetthis new moment of advancingauthoritarianism, including thegrowing ambitions of China to

rival the United States and thedetermination of Russia todamage and disrupt ourdemocracy,” Biden said.

The US, he said, must meetthe new moment acceleratingglobal challenges — from thepandemic to the climate crisisto nuclear proliferation — chal-lenging the will only to besolved by nations workingtogether and in common.

“We must start with diplo-macy rooted in America’s most

cherished democratic values:defending freedom, champi-oning opportunity, upholdinguniversal rights, respecting therule of law and treating everyperson with dignity. That is thegrounding wire of our globalpower. That is our inex-haustible source of strength.That is America’s abidingadvantage,” he said.

Though many of these val-ues have come under intensepressure in recent years, evenpushed to the brink in the lastfew weeks, the American peo-ple are going to emerge fromthis moment stronger, moredetermined and betterequipped to unite the world infighting to defend democracy,because they have fought for itthemselves, Biden said.

In his address to theemployees of the StateDepartment, the president saidhe has come to the building toreassure them that his admin-istration is going to empowerthem to do their jobs, not tar-get or politicise them.

“We are going to rebuild

our alliances. We are going tore-engage with the world andtake on the enormous chal-lenge we face dealing with apandemic, dealing with globalwarming and again, standingup for democracy and humanrights,” he said.

Biden said his administra-tion will work with partners tosupport restoration of democ-racy and the rule of law, andimpose consequences on thoseresponsible.

“Over the past two weeks,I have spoken with the leadersof many of our closest friends —Canada, Mexico, the UK,Germany, France, NATO, Japan,South Korea, Australia — tobegin reforming the habits ofcooperation and rebuilding themuscle of democratic alliancesthat have atrophied over the pastfew years of neglect and, Iwould argue, abuse,” he said.

America’s alliances, heasserted are its greatest assetand leading with diplomacymeans standing shoulder-to-shoulder with US allies and keypartners once again.

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US President Joe Biden onThursday said the days of

his country rolling over in theface of Russia’s aggressiveactions are over and warnedMoscow that his administra-tion will not hesitate to raisethe cost on it.

“I made it clear toPresident Putin, in a mannervery different from my prede-cessor, that the days of theUnited States rolling over inthe face of Russia’s aggressiveactions — interfering withour elections, cyberattacks,poisoning its citizens — areover,” Biden told StateDepartment employees.

Russian PresidentVladimir Putin is one of theworld leaders with whomBiden has spoken over thephone. “We will not hesitate toraise the cost on Russia anddefend our vital interests andour people. We will be moreeffective in dealing with Russia

when we work in coalition andcoordination with other like-minded partners,” he said.

Biden said the politically-motivated jailing of AlexeiNavalny and the Russianefforts to suppress freedom ofexpression and peacefulassemblies are a matter ofdeep concern to the UnitedStates and the internationalcommunity.

“Mr Navalny, like allRussian citizens, is entitled tohis rights under the Russianconstitution. He has been tar-geted for exposing corrup-tion. He should be releasedimmediately and without con-dition,” he said.

On Thursday, Secretary ofState Antony Blinken spokewith his Russian counterpartSergey Lavrov over the phone,during which they discussedthe New START extension andthe need for new arms controlthat addresses all of Russia’snuclear weapons and the grow-ing threat from China.

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Asenior member ofMyanmar’s deposed ruling

party has become the latestprominent politician arrested asthe country’s new military gov-ernment confronts continuingresistance to its seizure of power.

Win Htein, 79, is a long-time confidante of the oustedleader Aung San Suu Kyi andhad publicly called for civil dis-obedience in opposition toMonday’s coup.

He was arrested at hishome in Yangon and and takento the capital Naypyitaw, KyiToe, a spokesman for Suu Kyi’sNational League forDemocracy party, said Fridayon his Facebook page.

According to theAssistance Association forPolitical Prisoners, at least 133

officials or lawmakers and 14civil society activists had beendetained by the military in con-nection with its takeover. TheNLD has said Suu Kyi and oust-ed President Win Myint arebeing held under charges thatallow for their detention untilmid-February.

Win Htein told theMyanmar-language service ofBritain’s BBC radio in a callearly Friday that he was beingdetained for sedition, whichcarries a maximum penalty oflife imprisonment.

“They don’t like what I’vebeen talking about. They areafraid of what I’m saying,” hetold the BBC.

The military Governmenton Thursday morning hadblocked access to Facebook inan evident effort to thwartprotest organising.

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Hundreds of students andteachers took to

Myanmar’s streets on Fridayto demand the military handpower back to elected politi-cians, as resistance to a coupswelled with demonstrationsin several parts of the coun-try, even in the tightly con-trolled Capital.

In the largest rallies sincethe takeover, protesters attwo universities in Yangonflashed a three-fingeredsalute, a sign of resistanceborrowed from “The HungerGames” movies, that theyadopted from anti-govern-ment protesters in neigh-bouring Thailand.

They chanted “Long liveMother Suu” — a reference toousted leader Aung San SuuKyi, who has been detained— and “We don’t want mili-tary dictatorship.”

“We will never be togeth-er with them,” lecturer DrNwe Thazin said of the mil-itary at a protest at theYangon University ofEducation. “We want thatkind of Government to col-lapse as soon as possible.”

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US President Joe Bidendemanded on Thursday

that the Myanmarese militaryrelinquish the power it hasseized in a coup. In a militarycoup, the Myanmarese armedforces have seized power andarrested its elected civilianleaders, including Aung SanSuu Kyi. The whereabouts ofher are still not clear.

“The Burmese militaryshould relinquish power theyhave seized, release the advo-cates and activists and officialsthey have detained, lift therestrictions on telecommuni-cations and refrain from vio-lence,” Biden said in hisremarks at the Foggy Bottomheadquarters of the StateDepartment.

“As I said earlier this week,we will work with our partnersto support restoration ofdemocracy and the rule of lawand impose consequences onthose responsible,” he added.

Biden said in the last fewdays, his administration hasbeen in close cooperation withallies and partners to bringtogether the internationalcommunity to address the mil-itary coup in Myanmar.

Beijing: Abdullah Metseydi, aUighur in Turkey, was readyingfor bed last month when heheard commotion, thenpounding on the door. “Police!Open the door!”

A dozen or more officerspoured in, many bearing gunsand wearing the camouflage ofTurkey’s anti-terror force. Theyasked if Metseydi had partici-pated in any movementsagainst China and threatenedto deport him and his wife.They took him to a deportationfacility, where he now sits at the

center of a brewing politicalcontroversy.

Opposition legislators inTurkey are accusing Ankara’sleaders of secretly selling outUighurs to China in exchangefor coronavirus vaccines. Tensof millions of vials of promisedChinese vaccines have not yetbeen delivered.

Meanwhile, in recentmonths, Turkish police haveraided and detained around 50Uighurs in deportation centers,lawyers say — a sharp uptickfrom last year. AP

Beijing: China gave a mutedresponse to US President JoeBiden’s twin policy approach ofconfrontation with Beijing onchallenges it posed and coop-eration to further Americaninterests, saying both countriescan achieve “big things” togeth-er and their common interestsfar outweigh their differences.

In his first foreign policyaddress, US President Biden onThursday described China as the“most serious competitor” to theUS and vowed to confrontBeijing on various fronts, includ-ing human rights, intellectual

property and economic policy.Biden said his administra-

tion would, “take on directlythe challenges posed [to] ourprosperity, security and demo-cratic values by our most seri-ous competitor: China”.

“We will confront China’seconomic abuses, counter itsaggressive, coercive action topush back on China’s attack onhuman rights, intellectual prop-erty and global governance,”Biden said in his address toState Department employees atits Foggy Bottom headquartersin Washington. PTI

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The Israeli military saidFriday that an unarmed

Palestinian man was shot andkilled in a West Bank settlementafter he tried to break into ahome and fought with a guard.

The military referred to theincident as a “terror attack,” buta spokesman was unable toexplain how it came to thatconclusion, given that noweapons were found on thesuspect or in his car.

Moscow: In a note from jail,opposition leader AlexeiNavalny urged RussiansThursday to overcome theirfear and “free” the countryfrom a “bunch of thieves,”while the Kremlin cast thearrests of thousands of pro-testers as a due response to theunsanctioned rallies.

Navalny, who was sentencedto two years and eight monthsin prison earlier this week, saidin a statement posted on hisInstagram account that “irondoors slammed behind my backwith a deafening sound, but I feellike a free man. Because I feelconfident I’m right. Thanks toyour support. Thanks to myfamily’s support.” AP

Moscow: The EuropeanUnion’s top diplomat toldRussia’s foreign minister Fridaythat the treatment of Russianopposition leader AlexeiNavalny represents “a lowpoint” in the relations betweenBrussels and Moscow.

EU foreign affairs chief JosepBorrell met with Russian ForeignMinister Sergey Lavrov severaldays after Navalny was orderedto serve nearly three years inprison, a ruling that elicitedinternational outrage. AP

Washington: House impeach-ment managers asked formerUS president Donald Trumpon Thursday to testify duringthe Senate impeachment trialabout his conduct on January6. The move was immediatelydescribed as a “public relationsstunt” by his lawyers.

In a letter, lead impeach-ment manager Jamie Raskinrequested Trump to providetestimony under oath, eitherbefore or during the Senateimpeachment trial, about hisconduct on January 6.

The letter comes afterTrump’s legal team filed ananswer to the Article of

Impeachment, denying incon-trovertible facts about the pres-ident’s conduct on and leadingup to January 6 and assertingthat “...The 45th president ofthe United States performedadmirably in his role as presi-dent, at all times doing what hethought was in the best inter-ests of the American people”.

Trump’s lawyers Bruce LCastor and David I Dchoenwere quick to decline the ask.“We are in receipt of your lat-est public relations stunt,” theywrote. “As you know, there is nosuch thing as a negative infer-ence in this unconstitutionalproceeding,” they said. PTI

Kathmandu: Supporters ofNepal’s embattled PrimeMinister KP Sharma Oli onFriday held a massive rallyhere in a show of strength, aday after his rival PushpaKamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’organised an anti-governmentgeneral strike, escalating therivalry between the top leadersof the ruling communist party.

Thousands of his support-ers, waving red Communistflags and chanting slogans like“We love KP Oli”, “Oli is ourhero”, “Oli for the prime min-ister” marched from differentparts of Nepal and gathered atthe heart of Kathmandu. PTI

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Shares of State Bank of Indiacontinued to rally on Friday,

jumping over 11 per cent afterthe company’s asset qualityimproved substantially inDecember quarter.

The stock zoomed 10.69per cent to close at �393.05 onBSE. During the day, it jumped14.99 per cent to �408.35 - its52-week high.

On NSE, it gained 11.23per cent to settle at �395.Sharesof State Bank of India (SBI) hadgained over 6 per cent onThursday.

In the last two trading ses-sions, the company’s marketvaluation has soared �51,048.86crore to �3,50,781.86 crore onBSE. SBI on Thursday hadposted a nearly 7 per cent fallin its standalone net profit at Rs5,196.22 crore for the thirdquarter ended December.Thebank had posted a net profit of�5,583.36 crore in the October-December period of the previ-ous fiscal.Total income (stand-alone) also fell marginally to�75,980.65 crore duringQ3FY21, as against �76,797.91crore in the same period of2019-20, SBI said in a regula-tory filing.

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Zomato on Friday said it hassigned an agreement with

the Ministry of Housing andUrban Affairs (MoHUA) toonboard 300 food street ven-dors on its platform.

The online restaurantguide and food ordering plat-form said it will onboard 300street vendors across six cities- Bhopal, Raipur, Patna,Vadodara, Nagpur, andLudhiana - in the first phase.

Considering the populari-ty of street food in these cities,there is an immense growthpotential for these vendors inthe online food delivery sphere,it added.”With this, these streetvendors will not just be able toserve their loyal customerswithin the safety of their ownhomes but will also reach amuch larger customer baseusing Zomato’s technology andlast-mile delivery services,” thestatement said.

��)�� 7.71�

Extending its winning runfor the fifth session, equity

benchmark Sensex finished ata fresh lifetime peak on Fridayafter the Reserve Bank keptinterest rates unchanged butcontinued its accommodativestance and announced freshliquidity measures to revivegrowth.

The 30-share BSE bench-mark briefly crossed the51,000-level, before ending117.34 points or 0.23 per centhigher at its fresh closing recordof 50,731.63.

Similarly, the 50-shareNSE Nifty scaled the 15,000mark during the day but shedsome ground to close at its all-time high of 14,924.25, up28.60 points or 0.19 per cent.

SBI was the top gainer inthe Sensex pack, rallying 10.69per cent,

followed by Kotak Bank,Dr Reddy’s, UltraTech Cement,

ITC and HDFC Bank.On the other hand, Axis

Bank, Bharti Airtel, ICICIBank, Maruti and HCL Techwere among the laggards, tum-bling up to 3.30 per cent.

Earlier in the day, theReserve Bank of India (RBI)kept interest rates on holdwhile assuring to maintainsupport for reflating the econ-omy by ensuring ample liq-uidity to manage the govern-ment’s near-record borrow-ing.

The six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC)voted to continue with theaccommodative stance as longas necessary to revive growthand mitigate the impact ofCovid-19 on the economywhile ensuring that inflationremains within the target,Governor Shaktikanta Das said.absorb higher government bor-rowings, the central bank pro-vided retail investors a directoption to invest in governmentsecurities.

It also sapped some fundfrom banks by raising the CashReserve Ratio (CRR) and usethe money for more targetedmarket operations.

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India’s exports of pharma-ceutical products during

April-December 2020-21 grewby 12.43 per cent to USD 17.57billion, Parliament wasinformed on Friday.

India’s exports of phar-maceutical products have notdeclined and they are growingconsistently, Minister of Statefor Commerce and Industry

Hardeep Singh Puri said in awritten reply to the RajyaSabha.

“During 2019-20, India’sexports of pharmaceuticalswere USD 20.58 billion with agrowth rate of 7.57 per centover the previous year. Totalpharma exports during April-December 2020-21 were atUSD 17.57 billion, registeringa growth rate of 12.43 per centover the same period of the

previous year,” he said.Replying to a question on

FDI, Minister of State forCommerce and Industry SomParkash said that during thelast three years, the ForeignDirect Investment (FDI) equi-ty inflow increased from USD44.85 billion in 2017-18 toUSD 49.97 billion in 2019-20.According to the data, FDI indefence industries stood atUSD 0.63 million.

Mumbai:The Reserve Bank onFriday projected retail inflationto be in 5-5.2% range duringthe first half of the next fiscalyear, expecting further soften-ing of vegetables prices in nearterm. Also, it has lowered theretail inflation forecast for thecurrent January-March quarterof 2020-21 fiscal at 5.2%.

The Reserve Bank (RBI)has kept the key policy rateunchanged at 4 per cent, withan accommodative stance, so asto ensure that inflation remainswell within the target,Governor Shaktikanta Das saidwhile announcing the lastmonetary policy of 2020-21.

“The MPC (monetary pol-icy committee) voted unani-mously to leave the policy reporate unchanged at 4 per cent. It

also unanimously decided tocontinue with the accom-modative stance of monetarypolicy as long as neces-sary...While ensuring that infla-tion remains within the targetgoing forward,” Das said.

The governor said the out-look on growth has improvedsignificantly and inflation hasreturned within the toleranceband (of +/-4 per cent).

Having breached theupper tolerance threshold (over6 per cent) continuously sinceJune last year, CPI inflation hascome below 6 per cent inDecember for the first time inthe post-lockdown period sup-ported by favourable baseeffects and sharp fall in key veg-etable prices, Das said in hisstatement. PTI

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Following the Budget earlierthis week, the RBI has set

the tone right to boost theeconomy post-Covid-19 pan-demic, and has been thought-ful enough to boost liquidity aswell as channel domestic sav-ings into financial markets,banking experts said on Friday.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) in its final monetaryreview of this fiscal decided tokeep the key repo rate - atwhich it lends short term cap-ital to banks - unchanged at 4per cent with an accommoda-tive stance to support growthand ensure there are no adverseprice pressures.

The central bank has themandate to keep retail or theconsumer price index (CPI)based inflation at 4 per cent,with a bias of plus/minus 2 percent on either side.

The RBI announced a hostof measures such as directentry of retail investors into thegovernment securities market,

ensuring liquidity to targetedsectors, credit to new MSMEborrowers, review of the regu-latory framework for microfi-nance institutions, among oth-ers.”The RBI policy announce-ment today is an acknowl-edgement and continuation ofdoing whatever it takes tomaintain an orderly, seamlessand non-disruptive liquiditymanagement policy to sup-port debt management ... Anextension of enhanced HTMlimit, relaxation of funds avail-ability under MSF, an extensionof on tap TLTRO to NBFC,deduction of credit disbursedto New MSME borrowers fromtheir NDTL for calculation ofthe CRR will calibrate creditflow and liquidity manage-ment,” SBI Chairman DineshKhara said.

Overall, a thoughtful pol-icy and a thoughtful budgetcould just be the ideal mix forrejuvenating growth in thecurrent pandemic, Kharaadded.

“This is a major structur-

al reform placing India amongselect few countries which havesimilar facilities,” RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das said aboutthe direct entry of retailinvestors to G-sec market whileannouncing the outcome of itssix-member Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC).

Allowing retail participa-tion in the G-Sec market is abold step towards the finan-cialisation of a vast pool ofdomestic savings and could bea game-changer, said the SBIchief.

Punjab National Bank MDand CEO S S MallikarjunaRao said the policy has per-fectly complemented the UnionBudget in supporting thegrowth impulses.

“Extending the On TapTLTRO to NBFCs and incen-tivising lending to new MSMEborrowers will support lendingto these sectors. The unveilingof structural reform of retailparticipation in the G-sec mar-ket along with the extension ofHTM limit relaxation will aid

smooth completion of gov-ernment borrowing pro-gramme. The normalisationof CRR in a phased mannerwould smoothen the liquidityabsorption process,” he said.

The RBI has allowed banksto deduct loans disbursed tonew micro, small, and mediumenterprise (MSME) borrow-ers from their net demand andtime liabilities (NDTL) for cal-culation of the cash reserveratio (CRR).

Besides, it has extended thedeadline for meeting the lasttranche of capital conservationbuffer (CCB) of 0.625 per centby another six months tillOctober this year due to con-tinuing stress on account ofCOVID-19 pandemic. CCB is an additional layer ofusable capital that can be drawndown by banks when theyincur losses.

Bandhan Bank MD andCEO Chandra Shekhar Ghoshwelcomed the RBI’s plan toreview the regulatory frame-work for microfinance.

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Real estate developers andconsultants on Friday said

the RBI’s decision to keep keypolicy rates unchanged meanslow interest rate on home loanswill continue but felt that fur-ther reduction could haveboosted housing demand thathas shown signs of recovery inthe last few months.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas said the MPC (MonetaryPolicy Committee) voted unan-imously to leave the policy reporate unchanged at 4 per cent. Inhis statement, Das also men-tioned that data for sales andnew launches of residentialunits in major metropolitancentres reflect a renewed con-fidence in the real estate sector.

Housing sales were badlyimpacted during the April-June quarter of this fiscal year

because of the lockdown tocontrol the COVID-19 pan-demic. However, sales recov-ered on pent-up and festivedemand along with a low homeloan interest rate of around 7per cent during October-December 2020.

“Under the given marketscenario and circumstance, theRBI’s direction on unchangedrepo rate is very much on theanticipated lines though a ratecut would have been better tocombat the negativity of pan-demic-led economic crisisacross the industry,” NaredcoPresident NiranjanHiranandani said. Sanjay Dutt,MD & CEO, Tata Realty andInfrastructure, welcomed theapex bank’s decision to keeppolicy rates unchanged for thefourth time in a row.“Maintaining this accom-modative outlook is extreme-ly crucial, especially with thegreen shoots of recovery beingvisible now”. The RBImaintaining status quo for thefourth time in a row is a posi-

tive step towards spurring con-sumption, AnshumanMagazine, Chairman & CEO,India, South East Asia, MiddleEast & Africa of CBRE said.

Anarock Chairman AnujPuri said the real estate indus-try always aspires for reducedinterest rates.

“Housing demand is reviv-ing, and this demand needs tobe fostered. However, the RBI’scurrent stance is absolutelyjustified given the unique cir-cumstances.

We are certain that rateswill be adjusted favourablyonce the pandemic exigenciesease,” he said.

Dhruv Agarwala, GroupCEO, Housing.Com andProptiger, said the decision ofRBI to keep the repo rateunchanged along with accom-modative stance is under-standable at this juncture.“Although a further cut in thekey rates would have given aboost to current demand uptickthat we have seen recently,” headded.

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Taxpayers will be informedupfront about the reasons

for which their I-T returns aregetting reopened for scrutinyand only in case of non-satis-factory reply would the case getopened up again, CBDT chiefP C Mody said on Friday.

The 2021-22 Budget haslowered the time limit forreopening of tax cases to 3years from 6 years earlier.While for serious tax fraudcases involving income con-cealment of Rs 50 lakh andabove 10 years old cases can bereopened.

“The issue about reopen-ing.... The assessee would notknow why his tax return hasbeen opened up again forscrutiny. We have made a pro-vision for that the reasonswould be disclosed to himupfront and only on receipt ofnon-satisfactory reply or non-reconciliation of issues thatthe case gets reopened,” Mody

said at a CII event. The Chairman of Central

Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT),the apex decision making bodyfor income tax, said the ratio-nalisation of reopening of casesannounced in Budget wouldbring in more certainty to tax-payers.

“What was a heavily liti-gated area, we have tried torationalise it to the extent thatit is no longer left to the dis-cretion of assessing officer. Itwould be more of information-based attempt to reopen thecases. It would be primarilybased on data analytics and riskassessment which the systemthrows up which would lead toreopening of assessment,”Mody said.

With regard to the DisputeResolution Committeeannounced in the UnionBudget, Mody said since major-ity of the tax disputes are at thelower end, hence accordinglythe threshold for approachingthe panel has been decided.

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The rupee gained 3 paiseto settle at 72.93 against

the US dollar on Fridayafter the Reserve Bank keptthe policy rate unchangedbut maintained its accom-modative stance to spurgrowth.

At the interbank forexmarket, the local unitopened at 72.98 against thegreenback and witnessedan intra-day high of 72.80and a low of 72.99.

It finally ended at 72.93against the American cur-rency, registering a rise of 3paise from its previous close.On Thursday.

The rupee had settled at72.96 against the Americancurrency.

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Falling for the fifth con-secutive day, gold prices

on Friday declined �163 to�46,738 per 10 gram in thenational capital amid rupeeappreciation, according toHDFC Securities.

In the previous trade,the precious metal had closedat � 46,901 per 10 gram.

Silver, however, gained�530 to �67,483 per kg, from�66,953 per kg in the previ-ous trade.

The rupee inched up by3 paise to 72.93 against thedollar in the opening tradeon Friday.

In the international mar-ket, gold was quoting withgains at USD 1,810 per ounceand silver was flat at USD26.71 per ounce.

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�How did you conceptualise the playLadies Sangeet?

What prompted me to conceptualisethis play was a conversation with DivyaBhatia at several festivals. She wanted meto write an entertainer for the stage whichwould have some kind of artistic value,social comment and would draw anaudience that was going to watch films andother live events but not theatre. The storyhad to be from a mainstream milieu, con-nect with people, have a sense of fun, butalso have an artistic quotient and a socialcontext. And what’s better than a wedding?Because weddings and funerals are twothings that really connect with everyone.

When you think of a wedding, youthink of men and women and the hetero-sexual world because there is no space forany other gender here. So this is how aconflict about gender came in and thenthe question of the male gaze arosebecause the wedding on the surfaceseems to be all about a lehenga and theoptics of the celebration. We superimposea very patriarchal thought process uponthe bride and the groom to look a certainway. The bride must, of course, make abeauty statement that is decided by mag-azines, films or advertising. Even the par-ents are pressured to behave and look acertain way. How have weddings becomesuch a big market that people are willingto splurge unheard amounts on them...How the joy is being appropriated by themarket, patriarchal systems and more iswhat bothered and engaged me as a writer.

I went about seeding these questionsinto people’s minds for them to, perhaps,reconsider why they are willing to spendso much on weddings. Especially whenyounger couples are opting for live-in orlong-distance relationships or open rela-tionships nowadays. I happened to meeta wedding contractor once and he inspiredone important thread in the play about awedding planner. I also drew from the

memories of the weddings I have attend-ed. I also looked at the way songs anddance are used to subliminally coaxwomen to be a certain way. I tried to doa light-hearted spin as I skimmedthrough these questions and infusedsome fun too as I went along.

�What exactly is the play trying toexplore?

The play tries to explore themale gaze and patriarchythrough the established pillarsof wedding rituals and howthe classical ethos, the folkethos, and the popularfilm culture pre-decidehow a wedding is sup-posed to be, what arethe dancers going tolook like, what cos-tumes everyone willwear and what rituals,they will follow.Everything is aboutcelebrating the maleand the female andthere is no space foranother look orthought outside the box.It is like a ready-madepackage. Our films too have real-ly influenced mass culture. Takefor example Karva Chauth, a ritu-al that was only celebrated inPunjab in the beginning but,because of films it is now celebrat-ed throughout India. So theunderlying theme is about patri-archy steeped into our rituals.

�An insight into the story-line?

Ladies Sangeet tells the storyof young Radha who is to wedher beau Siddharth at herancestral home in the hinter-

lands while her enthusiastic family mem-bers and their wedding planner are try-ing to make the wedding resemble theones in Bollywood! The play uses wit,humour, music and drama to bring outextremely relevant challenges faced byfamilies and individuals, especially againstthe backdrop of a big fat wedding.

The play is about questioning themale gaze which even thewomen willinglyaccept without anyobjection and try tocelebrate it. And then wefind lots of characters onthe cusp of rebelling fromthose norms but not being

able to. Then there aresome women who are

defiant like thebride Radha,

who is verycomfortable inher own skin,as she draws frommany more liberalcontexts than hermother could.Similarly, the wife isalso trying to crossthe threshold totranscend to adifferent space

but finding itd i f f i c u l t

because sheis beingweighed

down by anemotional, cul-

tural and socialcontext, and she isalso in love withher husband. Sothis is about how

your politics andyour emotions trig-

ger wars within you.Then, there is the moth-er who won’t deflect fromthe rigid societal path.The youngest kid is yetto be conditioned com-pletely and is willing toexplore the worldaround her with anopen mind. She ismore accepting andasks more questions.The young couple is

more enterprising and willing to take morerisks. Basically, the storyline is about ahousehold that is preparing for a sangeetand a wedding and then how things beginto go wrong, forcing us all to examine whatwe have been taught to believe in.

�Does it outline a debate around bigfat Indian weddings?

Yes, it does outline a debatearound big fat weddings becauseeverything comes from a desire toshow off and to perpetuate ritu-als and age-old traditions. But itis more of a dialogue with themale gaze and it is the idea ofthe ideal woman, an idealbride and an ideal mother.We see the same ideas cel-ebrated in classical andfolk music and in our cul-

tural rituals. So what about thoseindividuals who are not thinking in terms

of the gender binary of a male or a female,who are exploring their sexuality or arenot confirming their sexual preferences,or don’t want to get married but still wantto live together and have babies, or don’twant to have a baby but to adopt a child?Also many may opt for a simple courtwedding but still, there is no joy or cele-bratory air around an out-of-the-box idea.Parents will still have the hope that theirchild will agree to a big wedding. Why notjust enjoy that particular moment and letpeople celebrate without pressuringthem to conform. Everything is about cel-ebrating the way our films are doing it.So anyone who challenges this kind ofstereotype finds it hard to get acceptanceeven over a choice of the bridal dress orthe choice of not wanting children.Labels like career women and homemak-ers compress women into little boxes. Aman, too, has to look a certain way, earna certain amount, be tall, handsome, andstrong. Anything which does not fit inthe patriarchal mold is a big ‘no’ and thatis why the struggle of each individual tofight economic pressure, the social gazeand the oppressive idea of a weddingbecomes so crucial. When will we startthinking about what a couple wantsinstead and stop adhering to painful andtorturous rituals like kanyadan?Individuals who try to break the stereo-type often find themselves up against thewall.

(Zee Theatre’s play — Ladies Sangeet— is available on Airtel Spotlight.)

Satdhara is quite literally off thebeaten path. Trying to find our

way to these Stupas on the hillsthat are a part of the Betwa rivervalley before entry to the siteclosed at sunset was quite anadventure. We had finished vis-iting Heliodorus’ pillar at thetown of Vidisha and the road toSatdhara was marked on GoogleMaps on the Hyundai i20’s large10.26-inch infotainment systemscreen. There were multiple smallvillage roads and the shortestroute said it would bring us to thesite in around 25 minutes givingus about half an hour to spend atthe place. Little did I know thatI would be taking the hatchbackthrough roads that could doubleup as a World RallyChampionship (WRC) coursewhere, incidentally, Hyundai arecurrently manufacturing champi-ons.

The roads were brilliant, ini-tially, with wide sweeping turnsbut quickly gave way to loosegravel with the occasional con-crete slab. The varying surfacesgave the traction control systemon the car a proper workout as Itried to rush through to the site.But then, I was surprised, theroad quite literally ended and Ifound myself driving down a rut-ted tract through the middle ofwheat fields. Treading carefully,I was worried about whether thei20 could make it as this was anormal hatchback without anypretensions of being a SUV. And

genuinely, I kid you not, thesewere some rough, rough roads.But this little baby made itthrough without any problemswhatsoever and we found our-selves back on the normal road toSatdhara, which was still a small,narrow track, but at least it waspaved.

We reached a small barrierwhere a signboard that read‘Boudh Stupa’ in Hindi and wehad no idea about what we weregoing to see. As the sun was gen-tly setting over the hills, we sawthe brilliant site with a stunningview of the valley below. It is notsurprising that monks want tomeditate in such a beautiful placeamong the hills, far from civili-sation even today. While themain Stupa 1 dates back to thereign of Ashoka, the way we seeit today is more from the Shungaperiod. The other Stupas at thesite, which are far better pre-served than the Stupas at Sanchi,are believed to contain the relics,according to inscriptions foundhere during a recentArcheological Survey of India(ASI) excavation, of some of theBuddha’s biggest disciples such asSariputra.

The site was locally known as‘Siddh Ka Makaan’ that is thehouses of monks and must havebeen a place where most of thescholars lived. There are the clearremains of a monastery, a schoolat the site and evidence ofkitchens and living quarters.

Some of the other small Stupasare believed to contain theremains of famous monks yearsafter Mauryan times. That said,while the ASI has done a great jobpreserving the site, informationis not easy to come by as there areonly a few guides and no text oraudio information. While veryfew people visit the site, it couldbe made much more popularwith easier access to information.In this regard, GoodearthPublications’ book BuddhistCircuit in Central India was agreat help and provides a lot ofuseful information.

Actor Vijay Varma has been sharing somepictures from the northern state of

Rajasthan, where he has headed for one of hismultiple forthcoming films’ shoot.

The actor who was seen in multiple suc-cessful roles last year is now busy shooting forhis next, as a source close to the productionrevealed, “Vijay is in Rajasthan currently andhe will be shooting there for a long schedulefor his next show, Fallen by Reema Kagti.”

The source further added, “The show alsostars Sonakshi Sinha in the lead along withhim. He will definitely surprise the audiencewith his role in this one.”

After being applauded for performanceslike She, Mirzapur 2, A Suitable Boy to counta few of his pandemic hits alone, Vijay is clear-ly all set to treat his fans with more films thathe will own.

Reportedly, the actor is currently work-ing on four projects — Darlings opposite AliaBhatt, Anand Gandhi’s OkComputer, Hurdangwith Nushrratt Bharuccha and Sunny Kaushal,and Fallen which also stars Sonakshi Sinha,Gulshan Devaiah and Sohum Shah this year.

The fans have a lot to look forward to fromthe Gully Boy-fame star.

The White Tiger has found mentionsacross top categories in the longlist of

the BAFTAs this year. For the first timein its history, the British Academy hasreleased longlists across all categories forits film awards, and Iranian-Americanfilmmaker Ramin Bahrani’s India-centricstory, starring Adarsh Gourav, PriyankaChopra and Rajkummar Rao, has madequite a mark.

The White Tiger has found mentionin seven categories — Best Film, BestDirector, Adapted Screenplay, LeadingActor, Supporting Actress,Cinematography and Editing.

Adarsh Gourav has made it to thelonglist for the Best Actor category. Hisrivals in the category are Riz Ahmed(Sound Of Metal), late Chadwick Boseman(Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Tom Hanks(News Of The World), Anthony Hopkins(The Father), Mads Mikkelsen (AnotherRound), Gary Oldman (Mank) and JohnDavid Washington (Malcolm & Marie).

Priyanka is in contention to getnominated in the Supporting Actress cat-

egory, and has stars like Niamh Algar,Maria Bakalova, Ellen Burstyn, OliviaColman, Jodie Foster, Amanda Seyfriedand Saoirse Ronan as competition.

Priyanka’s cousin, actor ParineetiChopra, tweeted: “Ladies and gentlemen,meet my BAFTA Longlist sister. I mean,can’t wait for this to happen.” To which,Priyanka responded: “You’re a cutie tishu!(fingers crossed emoji) Love you@ParineetiChopra.”

In the Best Film category this year, asmany as 15 films have gone through to theRound Two of voting, and five will benominated. Along with The White Tiger,other titles include Another Round, Da 5Bloods, The Father, Ma Rainey's BlackBottom, Mank, Soul, Sound Of Metal andThe Trial Of The Chicago 7.

Bahrani is in the race to get nominat-ed in the Best Director category. For thesecond round of voting, 20 films have pro-gressed, out of which six will be nominat-ed. The final nominations lists will be outon March 9, with the ceremony scheduledto be held on April 11.

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British actor KingsleyBen-Adir may not be ahousehold name yet, but

that’s poised to change with hisscene-stealing performance asMalcolm X in Regina King’sOne Night in Miami.... Thefilm, which imagines an elec-tric meeting between the civilrights icon, Sam Cooke,Cassius Clay and Jim Brown inFebruary 1964, is currentlyavailable on Prime Video.

The 35-year-old has beena working actor for over adecade and has had more thana few heartbreaks and near-breaks along the way. In hisfirst film, World War Z, hisspeaking line with Brad Pittwas unceremoniously cut.Then there was the Ang LeeMuhammad Ali film that hespent years testing and monthsin active training for (he wasto play Ali) that ended up los-ing its financing.

One Night in Miami... wasalmost a missed opportunitytoo. His agents first suggestedhim for Clay. He declined (“Ifelt too old”) but said to callhim if anything happened tothe actor playing Malcolm.Ben-Adir said he was partial-ly joking, but that call didcome. He officially got the partjust 12 days before he was dueon set.

“I thought, I don’t know ifI can prepare Malcolm X in 12days. Then I was like, ‘I haveto do it,”’ said he.

The actor shares aboutfinding humanity in the iconand the tricky logistics ofplaying both Malcolm X andBarack Obama at the sametime. �Was Malcolm X a figure inyour life growing up in theU.K.?

I grew up knowing exact-ly who he was. I’d read theautobiography at an earlierstage and he was someone whoI was definitely aware of. I can’tsay the same for the educationsyllabus here. We weren’ttaught much about AfricanAmerican history at all andBlack British history wasalmost non-existent in myschool.

�Who is Malcolm X at thismoment in 1964?

Regina and I were tryingto figure out how far we couldpush the exploration of show-ing Malcolm as a father, hus-band and a man who at thismoment in time was in a very,very vulnerable situation. Hewas on a ban from the Nationof Islam and his relationshipwith Elijah Muhammad, whoessentially was his father fig-ure for 12 years, was reallycrumbling. There was a sensethat his life was in danger andthere’s a feeling that Malcolm

knew that his time was maybecoming to an end. There’s thiswonderful opportunity withthis f i lm to explore thehumanity of this “fearlessdemagogue.”

Malcolm described to hisfriend Dick Gregory that hefelt weak and hollow and thatnobody knew the tormentsthat he was going through atthis time. Dick talks aboutMalcolm as a sweet and bash-ful man, a kind man and agood-humoured man andsomeone who would beembarrassed if he could hearus talking about him in thisway now. And I just thoughtthat was just gorgeous.

�That seems to belie theimagery that we always see ofhim.

I feel like all of the imagerythat we’re used to, the stuff onYouTube and the soundbites...it’s always Malcolm respondingto usually the next day — or onthe same day — as the mosthideous instances of racism orpolice brutality or politicalinjustice. It’s no wonder he’sriled up and impassioned andangry in so much of thatarchive footage. Watching himwhen he wasn’t speaking, whenhe was listening and watchinghim in the moment in the tran-sition between listening andwhen he was just about torespond, this humanityopened-up. I don’t know howto describe it. Also, I think Iwas a little bit in la la land bythe end of it. I wasn’t eating. Iwas kind of wired. My bloodwas full of nicotine and caf-feine and my mind was justfilled with these ideas. Thewhole process was just a littlebit surreal and a little bit of awhirlwind.

�Are Denzel Washington inSpike Lee’s 1992 film on yourmind during this?

I made a decision to justleave that. I knew that thisMalcolm needed to be differ-ent.

�Is it true that you weredoing this while you were alsoplaying Barack Obama inThe Comey Rule? How doesthat work?

I shot Malcolm for threeand a half weeks and then ona Friday I jumped on a planeto Toronto and shot Barack forfour or five days and thenjumped on a plane and wentstraight back to Malcolm. As aworking actor, the schedulesare set and you have to workaround it. I was like, listen,‘You’ve been asking for thiskind of opportunity for the last10 years. Now you’ve got twoat the same time. You’ve justgot to make it work.’ I$�

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Skipper Joe Root won thebattle of attrition againstIndian spinners with a

classy century in his 100th Testas England reached a comfort-able 263 for three at stumps onthe opening day of the firstmatch here on Friday.

A modern-day great, Root(128 batting, 197 balls) showedhis mastery over slow bowlersduring his 20th hundred andthird in as many Tests, becom-ing the ninth player in the his-tory of the game to score a tonon his 100th appearance.

He also admirably guidedyoung opener Dom Sibley (87off 286 balls), who showed com-mendable game awareness andenormous doggedness duringtheir 200-run partnership for thethird wicket before JaspritBumrah (2/40) got him in thefinal over of the day.

Root’s innings was an exhi-bition of how to construct aninnings on a low, slow trackwhile countering a hostile post-lunch spell from Ishant Sharma(15-3-27-0) where he got the ballto reverse swing.

Root’s speciality, the sweep

shot, was also brought out of thecloset once Indian spinnersstarted altering the length.

There were full-bloodedslog sweep in front of the square,conventional sweep towardssquare, the paddle sweep behindthe square and also switch-hitsweep where he changed thegrip against Shahbaz Nadeem.

And towards the end, firstsix of the match, was also a slogsweep off Ashwin. This was afterhe had almost lost five litres offluid in sapping Chennai heat.

Root and Sibley knewthat they had to tire Ishant,Ravichandran Ashwin (1/56)and Bumrah out as ViratKohli at some point wouldhave to pay the price forWashington Sundar andNadeem’s relative inexperi-ence.

With no purchasefrom the track, it becameeasier for Root and Sibleyto use their feet and bigstride to dominate the twospinners, who looked clueless.

Unlike a lot of batsmen, who

in ap r e -medi-t a t e dfashion,c o m edown thetrack, Rootand Sibleywaited forthe Indianspinners totoss up the

ball before theytook the plunge.

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Virat Kohli helping his opposite num-ber Joe Root deal with cramps

became one of the moments of the open-ing day but that act of “good sportsman-ship” will not stop the England skipperfrom cashing on his memorable hundredand chasing a first innings total in therange of 600-700 on day two here.

Speaking to media in a virtual inter-action after first day’s play, Root, whoscored his 20th Test hundred on Fridaysaid he would be ready for more onSaturday.

“Yeah, I am ready for more tomor-row...Hopefully get back, a bit frustrating,very kind of Virat (Kohli) to help me out(with cramps), good sportsmanship fromhim...It’s just like a long day and then aftera few overs I get some fluids and cooleddown.”

About the surface and felt how manyruns could be scored, Root said: “We havegot to look and try and get as many as wecan 600-700 if we can, really trying tomake most of the first innings make itgood and those four overs trying to workquickly.

“So if we can bat into whole of tomor-row or maybe day three then things could

speed up quite quickly for us and younever know what can happen for thatpoint onwards...”

Root was in red hot form in the pre-ceding series against Sri Lanka but saidthe conditions can’t be compared toIndia.

“..It has been a really impressive start

for us and we got to make it count andthat is going to be the challenge for thistour, we need to bat long periods of timein these conditions.

“Different challenges, I think in SriLanka, there was obviously a little bit morelateral moment, more spin, while here itwas more trying to counter the bounceinitially against the spinners and obvious-ly challenging reverse swing from theseamers.

“So it was very different and it’s alwaysdifficult to try put two against each other,”he added.

Batting on 128, Root stressed on theimportance of carrying on.

“Playing the 100th Test was specialand I mean coming in with some goodform and I need to make sure I cash inon...Over the course of my career I’ve notalways gone to make really big scores, sofor me to be going and doing that current-ly is really pleasing...

“And I keep getting myself in posi-tions to make big hundreds and I have gotto keep taking them and we’re going towin more games if I’m doing that and sohopefully I can kick on tomorrow person-ally but most importantly we can have abat tomorrow and we can be in a strongposition in this game.”

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England Test skipper Joe Root andAustralian speedstar Mitchell Starc

opted out while tainted Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan and India’s SSreesanth were among the 1097 play-ers who registered for the much-await-ed IPL auction to be held here onFebruary 18.

Left-arm pacer Arjun Tendulkar,son of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar,also enrolled in the auction with a baseprice of �20 lakh.

A total of 814 players from Indiaand 283 from overseas — registered forthe auction with most entries comingfrom the West Indies (56) followed byAustralia (42) and South Africa (38).

While Starc, who last played in theT20 league in 2015, misses out oncemore, Root — centurion on the first dayof the ongoing opening Test againstIndia, too didn’t enroll for the secondsuccessive time, joining fellow Englandplayers Harry Gurney and Tom Banton,who also did not register.

Shakib, who served a suspensionby ICC for not reporting corruptapproach, listed at the highest baseprice of �2 crore, while Sreesanth, who

returned to cricket after seven years byfeaturing in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 forKerala, set his base price at �75 lakh.

Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav,Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, MoeenAli, Sam Billings, Jason Roy, MarkWood, Liam Plunkett and ColinIngram — all set their base price at �2crore.

Hanuma Vihari (�1 crore) andCheteshwar Pujara (�50 lakh), whoplayed pivotal roles in India’s incredi-ble 2-1 Test win over Australia, also reg-istered for the auction.

The current number one T20 bats-man in the world, England’s DawidMalan might make his debut in IPL ashe also registered for the auction at abase price of �1.5 crore.

Australian pacer James Pattinson,who played a crucial role in MumbaiIndians’ title-run last year, is a promi-nent absentee.

The player registration deadlineclosed on Thursday and the list com-prises 207 international players includ-ing 21 capped Indians.

Twenty seven players will representthe associate nations and 863 uncappedcricketers, including 743 Indians and68 overseas.

����� �������

Pakistan took fourearly South

African wickets todominate the secondTest in Rawalpindi onFriday, despite a five-wicket haul by touringfast bowler AnrichNortje.

South Africa werein trouble at 106-4after the second day’splay on a trickyRawalpindi stadiumpitch, trailingPakistan’s first inningstotal of 272 by 166runs.

At close, SouthAfrican skipperQuinton de Kock wason a breezy 24 withfive boundaries andTemba Bavuma —surviving two closeappeals — wasunbeaten on 15 afterPakistan’s mediumpacer Hasan Ali tooktwo wickets off twoballs. Hasan hadopener Dean Elgar

caught behind for 15with the fifth deliveryof his third over, andat the next ball bowledRassie van der Dussenfor a duck in the lastover before tea.

Senior batsmanand former skipperFaf du Plessis, whofailed in the first Testin Karachi with scoresof 23 and ten, man-aged 17 before he wascaught behind offpacer Faheem Ashraf,playing a loose shot.

Four over beforeclose opener AidenMarkram’s fighting60-ball 32 endedwhen he top edgedspinner Nauman Alito Shaheen ShahAfridi at mid-wicket,leaving South Africatottering at 81-4.

Earlier, Nortjegrabbed his third fivewicket haul with 5-56to restrict Pakistan’stotal. While KeshavMaharaj finished with3-90.

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The ban on saliva turnedout to be a handicap for

the bowlers since the sweatwas not effective to shine theball, India pace spearheadJasprit bumrah said on Fridayafter England called the shotson the opening day of theseries-opener, here.

“The ball did become softafter a while and the wicket ison flatter side with the bouncebeing less. You are left withlimited options (to shine ball).We are trying to figure outwhat we can do with the lim-ited things in hand, at thattime,” Bumrah said at the vir-tual media conference.

India’s most successfulbowler on the day admittedthat they found it difficult to

maintain the ball as ICC hasbanned the use of saliva in thewake of Covid-19 outbreak.

“It becomes difficult whenthe ball becomes soft and

doesn’t shine really wellbecause of new Covid-19rules, we can’t use saliva, verydifficult during that time tomaintain the ball,” Bumrahsaid.

He also explained thatsweat, which is lighter thansaliva, is not at all a goodoption to prepare the ball forreverse swing.

“In India, the ball getsscuffed up easily. So to makethe ball heavy, you have toshine one side sometimes,with sweat and it doesn’t real-ly serve the purpose. Youcan’t make one side heavywith sweat and it doesn’t real-ly work that way.

“But these are the rulesand we have to make do withwhat we have at the moment,”said Bumrah.

Chennai: Spin bowling all-rounder Axar Patel was onFriday ruled out of the first Testafter complaining of pain in hisleft knee.

Left-arm spinner ShahbazNadeem from Jharkhand andRajasthan leg-spinner DeepakChahar have been included inthe main squad from the list ofstandby players. “Axar Patel hasbeen ruled out of the first PaytmTest against England. The all-rounder complained of pain inhis left knee during Team India’soptional training session onThursday,” BCCI secretary JayShah stated in a release.

“He is being monitored bythe BCCI Medical Team andwhile his detailed reports areawaited, he will not be available for selection for theopening match,” Shah furtherstated. PTI

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