7Rc^Vcd W`c da] DVddZ`_ e` cVaVR] ]Rhd - Daily Pioneer

12
B raving cold, farmers protesting at Delhi’s Singhu border against the Centre’s agriculture reform laws on Wednesday asked the Central Government to call a special session of Parliament to repeal new agriculture laws and threatened to block other roads of the national Capital if their demands are not met. Addressing a press confer- ence, Krantikari Kisan Union president Darshan Pal accused the Centre of dividing farmers’ organisations by projecting the ongoing protests as Punjab- centric. “The Centre should call a special session of Parliament to repeal new three farm laws. We will continue our agitation till these farm laws are repealed,” Pal told reporters. Meanwhile, the protest at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghazipur intensified, lead- ing to the closure of a key route connecting the national Capital with Uttar Pradesh. At the Chilla Border, which connects Delhi with Noida, more farm- ers from Firozabad, Meerut, Noida and Etawah started gath- ering, prompting the authori- ties to close the key road stretch for the second consecutive day. Representatives of farmers’ organisations from other parts of the country will also be involved under Kisan Samyukt Morcha to decide the future course of action against the new farm laws, Pal said. The Krantikari Kisan Union president said repre- sentatives of farmer organisa- tions will give their point-wise objections to the Union Ministers at a meeting sched- uled for Thursday. Another farmer leader Gurnam Singh Chadoni said that if Centre does not with- draw the laws, more steps will be taken in the coming days to press their demands. Before the Press confer- ence, leaders of around 32 farmer organisations held a meeting which was also attend- ed by Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Rakesh Tikait at the Singhu border. The talks between the Centre and agitating farmer unions on Tuesday failed to end the standoff, and the two sides will now meet again on December 3. The farmer unions reject- ed the Government’s offer to set up a committee to look into issues raised by them and said they will intensify their stir until their demands are met. Farmers from the neigh- bouring States of Punjab and Haryana have been camping at five border points of Delhi for a week now. The number of protesters swelled at Delhi bor- der points on Wednesday. Police stepped up security after thousands blocked key gate- ways into the national Capital. As farmers are in for long haul at Noida-Delhi border, Chilla route was partially re- opened on Wednesday. The Noida Traffic Police in the morning advised com- muters heading to Delhi to take the DND or Kalindi Kunj route instead of the Chilla route through the Noida Link road which was closed due to the demonstration since Tuesday evening. One of the carriageways on the route was opened in the evening, allowing commuters coming from Delhi to enter Noida as the protestors con- tinued to sit on the other side of the road amid heavy police deployment. The Delhi Traffic Police said beside the Tikri and Singhu borders, the Jharoda and Jhatikra borders have been closed for all kinds of “traffic movement”. The Badusarai border is open only for two-wheelers. Available open borders to Haryana are Dhansa, Daurala, Kapashera, Rajokri NH 8, Bijwasan/Bajghera, Palam Vihar and Dundahera. C oming forward in support of agitating farmers, trans- porters have threatened to halt operations in northern India from December 8 if the Government fails to address concerns of the farming com- munity. The All India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), representing about 95 lakh truckers, about 50 lakh bus and taxi operators on Wednesday served an ultimatum to the Centre. “The AIMTC has already extended its support to the farmer agitation from day one. We have decided on stopping our operations strategically starting from north India and if the Government does not address the issue of the farm- ers. Then we may decide to go for shutting down of transport operations nationwide in their support,” AIMTC president Kultaran Singh Atwal said. He said the road transport fraternity of the country has extended its full support to farmers who are “ann daata” (food providers). T he Supreme Court directed the Centre on Wednesday to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies, including the CBI, the ED and National Investigation Agency (NIA), which conduct interro- gations and have the power of arrest. A bench headed by Justice RF Nariman said that states and Union Territories (UTs) should ensure that CCTV cameras are installed at each and every police station, at all entry and exit points, main gate, lock-ups, corridors, lobby and reception as also areas outside the lock- up rooms so that no part is left uncovered. The apex court had in 2018 ordered installation of CCTV cameras in police sta- tions to check human rights abuses. It said further that the CCTV systems must be equipped with night vision and have audio as well as video footage and it shall be manda- tory for the Centre, states and UTs to purchase such systems which allow storage of data for maximum period possible, at least one year. “In addition, the Union of India is also directed to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment in the offices of: Central Bureau of Investigation, National Investigation Agency, Enforcement Directorate, Narcotics Control Bureau, Department of Revenue Intelligence, Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), any other agency which carries out interrogations and has the power of arrest,” said the bench, also comprising Justices KM Joseph and Aniruddha Bose. “As most of these agencies carry out interrogation in their office(s), CCTVs shall be com- pulsorily installed in all offices where such interrogation and holding of accused takes place in the same manner as it would in a police station,” the bench said in its order. The top court said that in September this year, it had impleaded all the States and UTs in the matter to find out the exact position of CCTV cameras in each police station as well as constitution of Oversight Committees in accordance with the April 3, 2018 order. A mid standoff with India along the LAC, China increased its rice purchase from India for the first time in at least three decades, placing order for shipment of about 5,000 tonnes of broken rice in the last two months. Broken rice is used in making noodles and in the wine industry. India is the world’s biggest exporter of rice and China is the biggest importer. According to the All India Rice Exporters Association (AIREA), China has started importing Indian rice after a gap of two years and placed orders for shipment of about 5,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice as it is the cheapest in the world rice market. Indian traders have con- tracted to export 100,000 tonnes of broken rice for December-February shipment at around $300-320 per tonne. Other grades such as white rice 25 per cent broken and 5 per cent are ruling between $330 (24,600) and $360 (26,800) a tonne free-on-board. China, the world’s largest producer and importer of rice, used to place restriction on imports from India via various means. In 2006, China was given market access for Indian rice, but shipment took place only during the 2017-18 fiscal. Beijing imports around 4 million tonnes of rice annual- ly but avoided purchases from India, citing quality issues. China’s traditional suppliers, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Pakistan, have limited surplus supplies for export and were quoted at least $30-60 per tonne more compared with Indian prices. Indian rice exports for the January-October period of the current calendar year have already exceeded the ship- ments for the whole of last year. Over six million tonnes have been exported during January- October against 5.1 million tonnes in the entire 2019. Countries like Benin, Cape Verde, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal and Sierra Leone in West Africa, who are tradition- al buyers of non-basmati rice from India, increased their pur- chases during the pandemic. B ritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson is likely to be the chief guest for the Republic Day function next year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi invit- ed him for the national event during his telephonic talks recently. It will be the first high-pro- file visit by a foreign dignitary to India during the ongoing global pandemic. While India and the UK are yet to officially announce the visit, reports on Wednesday here indicated that Modi invit- ed Johnson during his talks on November 27. The British Prime Minister invited Modi to the G-7 summit there next year. If the visit materialises, Johnson will be the first United Kingdom Prime Minister to be the chief guest of the Republic Day parade after more than 25 years. The last British Prime Minister to be the chief guest was John Major in 1993. Besides the invitations, the two leaders discussed the fight against the coronavirus pan- demic, climate change, and other related issues. “The leaders reiterated their shared desire to impart a quantum jump to the India-UK partnership in the post-Covid, post-BREXIT era, and agreed that there was tremendous potential for enhancing col- laboration in trade and invest- ment, scientific research, mobility of professionals and students, and defence and secu- rity,” an official said. In November, acting British High Commissioner to India Jan Thompson had said Johnson will soon make an “in person” visit to India. She said, “We are expecting UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab will be paying an in-per- son visit to India in the next few months. Beyond that, PM Boris Johnson is very keen to come to India. So we hope, over the next few months, we will visit, by both FS Raab and PM Johnson.” In a tweet message after the talks, Modi had said, “Had an excellent discussion with my friend, UK PM @BorisJohnson on an ambitious roadmap for India-UK ties in the next decade. We agreed to work towards a quantum leap in our cooperation in all areas -- trade & investment, defence & security, climate change, and fighting Covid-19.” I n a huge relief to tens of thousands of Indian profes- sionals and top American IT firms, a US court has blocked two H-1B regulations pro- posed by the Trump Administration to restrict the ability of American companies to hire foreign employees. H-1B visas is a non-immi- grant visa that allows American companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupa- tions that require theoretical or technical expertise. The US issues up to 85,000 H-1B visas each year. Usually, they’re issued for three years and renewable. Most of the nearly 600,000 H-1B visa holders are from India and China. In his 23-page order on Tuesday, US District Judge Jeffrey White of Northern District of California blocked the Trump administration’s recent policy that required employers to pay foreign work- ers on H-1B visas significant- ly higher wages. He also set aside another policy that narrowed the eligi- bility of H-1B valued by US tech firms and other employ- ers. As a result of the ruling, the Department of Homeland Security rule on occupations and other issues that was to come into effect from December 7, stands invalid. The Department of Labour rule on wages, which took effect on October 8, is also now no longer valid. The Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the nation’s health, and millions of Americans have been impact- ed financially by restrictions imposed on businesses, large and small, during the pan- demic; the consequences of those restrictions has been a fis- cal calamity for many individ- uals, the judge wrote. T he UK on Wednesday became the first country to approve the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against Covid-19 after “rigorous” analysis by its inde- pendent regulator, paving the way for mass vaccinations from as early as next week among people at the highest risk of death from the deadly virus. The British regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), says the jab, which claims to offer up to 95 per cent protection against Covid-19 illness, is safe for roll out. The UK Government said the approval follows a “rigor- ous” analysis of the data, con- ducted at a faster pace but with- out any compromise on stan- dards. Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the “fan- tastic” news and confirmed that the vaccine will begin to be made available from next week. “It’s the protection of vac- cines that will ultimately allow us to reclaim our lives and get the economy moving again,” said Johnson. The vaccines require two doses 21 days apart, with strong immunity response kicking in after seven days of the second dose. The MHRA said it will continue to monitor the data on a rolling basis once the vac- cines are deployed among the British public. “I am thrilled. Help is on its way… we can see the dawn. Let’s redouble our efforts to fol- low the lockdown rules. It’s been a very tough 2020 but 2021 will be brighter,” said UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock. The UK Government has formally accepted the recom- mendation from the MHRA, which means the two-dose vaccine can be injected into arms of high-risk categories within days. Around 10 million doses should be available soon, with the first 800,000 arriving in the UK in the coming days. C S Karnan, former judge of the Madras and Calcutta High Courts, was arrested here on Wednesday following a complaint against him for mak- ing vulgar comments against women and remarks against judges, police said. The arrest comes after a video clip surfaced recently in social media, in which, Karnan, allegedly made objectionable remarks against judges and their wives. He was arrested by the Central Crime Branch per- sonnel from his suburban res- idence, a police official said. Several sections of the IPC, including those related to insulting the modesty of a woman, intentional insult to public servant sitting in judicial proceeding, using obscene words, criminal conspiracy and intimidation, have been invoked against the former judge. The Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act has been invoked against him. He has been slapped with 67A of the Information Technology Act for transmission of explicit obscene material. A woman advocate lodged a complaint against him and following investigation, he has been arrested, the official said. I ndia captain Virat Kohli on Wednesday became the fastest cricketer to score 12,000 ODI runs, breaking a record held by legendary compatriot Sachin Tendulkar. Kohli reached the mile- stone during the third and final match against Australia. Kohli, who needed 23 runs for the landmark coming into the match, touched the figure in his 242nd innings when he took a single off Sean Abbott in the 13th over of the India innings. In comparison, it took Tendulkar 300 games to get there. The 32-year-old Indian captain was playing in his 251st ODI and averages close to 60 in the format with 43 hundreds and 59 half centuries. D elhi’s air quality was in the upper end of the “very poor” category on Wednesday morning, while pollution lev- els have already entered the “severe” zone in the neigh- bouring cities of Ghaziabad and Greater Noida. The Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was 381 at 9 am. The 24-hour average was 367 on Tuesday. It was 318 on Monday and 268 on Sunday. Noida, Faridabad and Gurugram recorded “very poor” air quality on Wednesday. Ghaziabad and Greater Noida recorded an AQI of 430 and 410, respec- tively. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered “good”, 51 and 100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200 “moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”, 301 and 400 “very poor”, and 401 and 500 “severe”. The maximum wind speed is expected to be 12 kmph on Wednesday, according to the IMD. The minimum tempera- ture was 8.2 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and the maximum is expected to settle around 27 degrees Celsius, the weather department said. The minimum tempera- ture this season has remained 2-3 degrees Celsius below nor- mal in the absence of a cloud cover on most days, according to IMD officials. Presence of pollutant PM 2.5 and PM 10 also remained high in the NCR cities.

Transcript of 7Rc^Vcd W`c da] DVddZ`_ e` cVaVR] ]Rhd - Daily Pioneer

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Braving cold, farmersprotesting at Delhi’s Singhu

border against the Centre’sagriculture reform laws onWednesday asked the CentralGovernment to call a specialsession of Parliament to repealnew agriculture laws andthreatened to block other roadsof the national Capital if theirdemands are not met.

Addressing a press confer-ence, Krantikari Kisan Unionpresident Darshan Pal accusedthe Centre of dividing farmers’organisations by projecting theongoing protests as Punjab-centric. “The Centre should calla special session of Parliamentto repeal new three farm laws.We will continue our agitationtill these farm laws arerepealed,” Pal told reporters.

Meanwhile, the protest atthe Delhi-Uttar Pradesh borderin Ghazipur intensified, lead-ing to the closure of a key routeconnecting the national Capitalwith Uttar Pradesh. At theChilla Border, which connectsDelhi with Noida, more farm-ers from Firozabad, Meerut,Noida and Etawah started gath-ering, prompting the authori-ties to close the key road stretchfor the second consecutive day.

Representatives of farmers’organisations from other partsof the country will also beinvolved under Kisan SamyuktMorcha to decide the futurecourse of action against thenew farm laws, Pal said.

The Krantikari KisanUnion president said repre-

sentatives of farmer organisa-tions will give their point-wiseobjections to the UnionMinisters at a meeting sched-uled for Thursday.

Another farmer leaderGurnam Singh Chadoni saidthat if Centre does not with-draw the laws, more steps willbe taken in the coming days topress their demands.

Before the Press confer-ence, leaders of around 32farmer organisations held ameeting which was also attend-ed by Bhartiya Kisan Unionleader Rakesh Tikait at theSinghu border.

The talks between theCentre and agitating farmer

unions on Tuesday failed to endthe standoff, and the two sideswill now meet again onDecember 3.

The farmer unions reject-ed the Government’s offer to setup a committee to look intoissues raised by them and saidthey will intensify their stiruntil their demands are met.

Farmers from the neigh-bouring States of Punjab andHaryana have been camping atfive border points of Delhi fora week now. The number ofprotesters swelled at Delhi bor-der points on Wednesday.Police stepped up security afterthousands blocked key gate-ways into the national Capital.

As farmers are in for longhaul at Noida-Delhi border,Chilla route was partially re-opened on Wednesday.

The Noida Traffic Police inthe morning advised com-muters heading to Delhi to takethe DND or Kalindi Kunj routeinstead of the Chilla routethrough the Noida Link roadwhich was closed due to thedemonstration since Tuesdayevening.

One of the carriageways onthe route was opened in theevening, allowing commuterscoming from Delhi to enter

Noida as the protestors con-tinued to sit on the other sideof the road amid heavy policedeployment.

The Delhi Traffic Policesaid beside the Tikri andSinghu borders, the Jharodaand Jhatikra borders have beenclosed for all kinds of “trafficmovement”.

The Badusarai border isopen only for two-wheelers.Available open borders toHaryana are Dhansa, Daurala,Kapashera, Rajokri NH 8,Bijwasan/Bajghera, PalamVihar and Dundahera.

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Coming forward in supportof agitating farmers, trans-

porters have threatened to haltoperations in northern Indiafrom December 8 if theGovernment fails to addressconcerns of the farming com-munity.

The All India MotorTransport Congress (AIMTC),representing about 95 lakhtruckers, about 50 lakh bus andtaxi operators on Wednesdayserved an ultimatum to theCentre.

“The AIMTC has already

extended its support to thefarmer agitation from day one.We have decided on stoppingour operations strategicallystarting from north India andif the Government does notaddress the issue of the farm-ers.

Then we may decide to gofor shutting down of transportoperations nationwide in theirsupport,” AIMTC presidentKultaran Singh Atwal said.

He said the road transportfraternity of the country hasextended its full support tofarmers who are “ann daata”(food providers).

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The Supreme Court directedthe Centre on Wednesday

to install CCTV cameras andrecording equipment at theoffices of investigating agencies,including the CBI, the ED andNational Investigation Agency(NIA), which conduct interro-gations and have the power ofarrest.

A bench headed by JusticeRF Nariman said that states andUnion Territories (UTs) shouldensure that CCTV camerasare installed at each and everypolice station, at all entry andexit points, main gate, lock-ups,corridors, lobby and receptionas also areas outside the lock-up rooms so that no part is leftuncovered.

The apex court had in2018 ordered installation ofCCTV cameras in police sta-tions to check human rightsabuses.

It said further that theCCTV systems must beequipped with night visionand have audio as well as videofootage and it shall be manda-tory for the Centre, states andUTs to purchase such systemswhich allow storage of data formaximum period possible, atleast one year.

“In addition, the Union ofIndia is also directed to installCCTV cameras and recordingequipment in the offices of:Central Bureau of

Investigation, NationalInvestigation Agency,Enforcement Directorate,Narcotics Control Bureau,Department of RevenueIntelligence, Serious FraudInvestigation Office (SFIO),any other agency which carriesout interrogations and has thepower of arrest,” said thebench, also comprising JusticesKM Joseph and AniruddhaBose.

“As most of these agenciescarry out interrogation in theiroffice(s), CCTVs shall be com-pulsorily installed in all officeswhere such interrogation andholding of accused takes placein the same manner as it wouldin a police station,” the benchsaid in its order.

The top court said that inSeptember this year, it hadimpleaded all the States andUTs in the matter to find outthe exact position of CCTVcameras in each police stationas well as constitution ofOversight Committees inaccordance with the April 3,2018 order.

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Amid standoff with Indiaalong the LAC, China

increased its rice purchasefrom India for the first time inat least three decades, placingorder for shipment of about5,000 tonnes of broken rice inthe last two months. Brokenrice is used in making noodlesand in the wine industry.

India is the world’s biggestexporter of rice and China isthe biggest importer.

According to the All IndiaRice Exporters Association(AIREA), China has startedimporting Indian rice after agap of two years and placedorders for shipment of about5,000 tonnes of non-basmatirice as it is the cheapest in theworld rice market.

Indian traders have con-tracted to export 100,000tonnes of broken rice forDecember-February shipmentat around $300-320 per tonne.Other grades such as white rice25 per cent broken and 5 percent are ruling between $330(�24,600) and $360 (�26,800)a tonne free-on-board.

China, the world’s largest

producer and importer of rice,used to place restriction onimports from India via variousmeans. In 2006, China wasgiven market access for Indianrice, but shipment took placeonly during the 2017-18 fiscal.

Beijing imports around 4million tonnes of rice annual-ly but avoided purchases fromIndia, citing quality issues.China’s traditional suppliers,such as Thailand, Vietnam,Myanmar and Pakistan, havelimited surplus supplies forexport and were quoted atleast $30-60 per tonne more

compared with Indian prices.Indian rice exports for the

January-October period of thecurrent calendar year havealready exceeded the ship-ments for the whole of last year.Over six million tonnes havebeen exported during January-October against 5.1 milliontonnes in the entire 2019.

Countries like Benin, CapeVerde, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria,Senegal and Sierra Leone inWest Africa, who are tradition-al buyers of non-basmati ricefrom India, increased their pur-chases during the pandemic.

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British Prime Minister BorisJohnson is likely to be the

chief guest for the Republic Dayfunction next year. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi invit-ed him for the national eventduring his telephonic talksrecently.

It will be the first high-pro-file visit by a foreign dignitaryto India during the ongoingglobal pandemic.

While India and the UKare yet to officially announcethe visit, reports on Wednesdayhere indicated that Modi invit-ed Johnson during his talks onNovember 27. The BritishPrime Minister invited Modi tothe G-7 summit there next year.

If the visit materialises,Johnson will be the first UnitedKingdom Prime Minister to bethe chief guest of the RepublicDay parade after more than 25years. The last British PrimeMinister to be the chief guestwas John Major in 1993.

Besides the invitations, thetwo leaders discussed the fightagainst the coronavirus pan-demic, climate change, andother related issues.

“The leaders reiteratedtheir shared desire to impart a

quantum jump to the India-UKpartnership in the post-Covid,post-BREXIT era, and agreedthat there was tremendouspotential for enhancing col-laboration in trade and invest-ment, scientific research,mobility of professionals andstudents, and defence and secu-rity,” an official said.

In November, actingBritish High Commissioner toIndia Jan Thompson had saidJohnson will soon make an “inperson” visit to India.

She said, “We are expectingUK Foreign Secretary DominicRaab will be paying an in-per-son visit to India in the next fewmonths. Beyond that, PM BorisJohnson is very keen to cometo India. So we hope, over thenext few months, we will visit,by both FS Raab and PMJohnson.”

In a tweet message after thetalks, Modi had said, “Had anexcellent discussion with myfriend, UK PM @BorisJohnsonon an ambitious roadmap forIndia-UK ties in the nextdecade. We agreed to worktowards a quantum leap inour cooperation in all areas --trade & investment, defence &security, climate change, andfighting Covid-19.”

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In a huge relief to tens ofthousands of Indian profes-

sionals and top American ITfirms, a US court has blockedtwo H-1B regulations pro-posed by the TrumpAdministration to restrict theability of American companiesto hire foreign employees.

H-1B visas is a non-immi-grant visa that allows Americancompanies to employ foreignworkers in speciality occupa-tions that require theoretical ortechnical expertise. The USissues up to 85,000 H-1B visaseach year. Usually, they’reissued for three years andrenewable.

Most of the nearly 600,000H-1B visa holders are fromIndia and China.

In his 23-page order onTuesday, US District Judge

Jeffrey White of NorthernDistrict of California blockedthe Trump administration’srecent policy that requiredemployers to pay foreign work-ers on H-1B visas significant-ly higher wages.

He also set aside anotherpolicy that narrowed the eligi-bility of H-1B valued by UStech firms and other employ-ers. As a result of the ruling, theDepartment of HomelandSecurity rule on occupationsand other issues that was tocome into effect fromDecember 7, stands invalid.The Department of Labourrule on wages, which tookeffect on October 8, is also nowno longer valid.

The Covid-19 pandemichas wreaked havoc on thenation’s health, and millions ofAmericans have been impact-ed financially by restrictionsimposed on businesses, largeand small, during the pan-demic; the consequences ofthose restrictions has been a fis-cal calamity for many individ-uals, the judge wrote.

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The UK on Wednesdaybecame the first country to

approve the Pfizer/BioNTechvaccine against Covid-19 after“rigorous” analysis by its inde-pendent regulator, paving theway for mass vaccinations fromas early as next week amongpeople at the highest risk ofdeath from the deadly virus.

The British regulator, theMedicines and Healthcareproducts Regulatory Agency(MHRA), says the jab, whichclaims to offer up to 95 per centprotection against Covid-19illness, is safe for roll out.

The UK Government saidthe approval follows a “rigor-ous” analysis of the data, con-ducted at a faster pace but with-out any compromise on stan-dards.

Prime Minister BorisJohnson welcomed the “fan-tastic” news and confirmedthat the vaccine will begin to bemade available from next week.

“It’s the protection of vac-cines that will ultimately allowus to reclaim our lives and getthe economy moving again,”said Johnson.

The vaccines require twodoses 21 days apart, with strongimmunity response kicking in

after seven days of the seconddose. The MHRA said it willcontinue to monitor the dataon a rolling basis once the vac-cines are deployed among theBritish public.

“I am thrilled. Help is on itsway… we can see the dawn.Let’s redouble our efforts to fol-low the lockdown rules. It’sbeen a very tough 2020 but2021 will be brighter,” said UKHealth Secretary MattHancock.

The UK Government hasformally accepted the recom-mendation from the MHRA,which means the two-dosevaccine can be injected intoarms of high-risk categorieswithin days.

Around 10 million dosesshould be available soon, withthe first 800,000 arriving in theUK in the coming days.

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CS Karnan, former judge ofthe Madras and Calcutta

High Courts, was arrested hereon Wednesday following acomplaint against him for mak-ing vulgar comments againstwomen and remarks againstjudges, police said.

The arrest comes after avideo clip surfaced recently insocial media, in which, Karnan,allegedly made objectionableremarks against judges andtheir wives.

He was arrested by theCentral Crime Branch per-sonnel from his suburban res-idence, a police official said.

Several sections of the IPC,

including those related toinsulting the modesty of awoman, intentional insult topublic servant sitting in judicialproceeding, using obscenewords, criminal conspiracy andintimidation, have beeninvoked against the formerjudge.

The IndecentRepresentation of Women(Prohibition) Act has beeninvoked against him. He hasbeen slapped with 67A of theInformation Technology Actfor transmission of explicitobscene material.

A woman advocate lodgeda complaint against him andfollowing investigation, he hasbeen arrested, the official said.

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India captain Virat Kohli onWednesday became the

fastest cricketer to score 12,000ODI runs, breaking a recordheld by legendary compatriotSachin Tendulkar.

Kohli reached the mile-stone during the third andfinal match against Australia.

Kohli, who needed 23 runsfor the landmark coming intothe match, touched the figurein his 242nd innings when hetook a single off Sean Abbott inthe 13th over of the Indiainnings.

In comparison, it tookTendulkar 300 games to getthere. The 32-year-old Indiancaptain was playing in his 251stODI and averages close to 60 inthe format with 43 hundredsand 59 half centuries.

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Delhi’s air quality was in theupper end of the “very

poor” category on Wednesdaymorning, while pollution lev-els have already entered the“severe” zone in the neigh-bouring cities of Ghaziabadand Greater Noida.

The Delhi’s air qualityindex (AQI) was 381 at 9 am.The 24-hour average was 367on Tuesday. It was 318 onMonday and 268 on Sunday.

Noida, Faridabad andGurugram recorded “verypoor” air quality onWednesday. Ghaziabad andGreater Noida recorded anAQI of 430 and 410, respec-tively.

An AQI between zero and

50 is considered “good”, 51 and100 “satisfactory”, 101 and 200“moderate”, 201 and 300 “poor”,301 and 400 “very poor”, and401 and 500 “severe”.

The maximum wind speedis expected to be 12 kmph onWednesday, according to theIMD.

The minimum tempera-ture was 8.2 degrees Celsius onWednesday and the maximumis expected to settle around 27degrees Celsius, the weatherdepartment said.

The minimum tempera-ture this season has remained2-3 degrees Celsius below nor-mal in the absence of a cloudcover on most days, accordingto IMD officials.

Presence of pollutant PM2.5 and PM 10 also remainedhigh in the NCR cities.

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Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on

Wednesday directed the DeputyCommissioners andSuperintendents of Police that allthe standard operating proce-dures must be strictly imple-mented in the state to checkspread of the Covid-19.

DCs, SDMs and other fieldofficers must ensure that nomore than 50 persons participatein social gatherings till December15 in the state, the Chief Ministersaid while delivering his con-cluding remarks during the over11 hours marathon conference ofDCs and SPs here.He said theDistrict Officers should layemphasis on developing lesserknown places from tourismpoint of view and also promotelocal products.

The Chief Minister said that

with the inauguration of AtalTunnel Rohtang, Lahaul-Spitidistrict has been opened to thetourists round the year. Stepsmust also be taken to improvetourist infrastructure in the dis-trict, and at the same time theadministration should ensurethat the tourists do not litter,which causes harm to the envi-ronment, he added.He said thatlocal culture and architecturemust be promoted in tourismunits such as home stay etc.Thakur also appreciated the ini-tiatives taken by the Sirmour dis-trict administration in makingGau Sadans and cow sanctuar-ies self reliant.

He said land transfer casesfor various developmental pro-jects should be expedited so thatthe projects could be taken inhand soon.

He further said Noradhar-Churdhar could be developed

from eco-tourism point of viewconsidering the large number ofinflow of tourists.

Expressing his concern overthe increase in drug abuse in thestate, the Chief Minister said thatthis social vice should be dealtfirmly. A special campaignmust be launched in the state totackle this social problem and therole of the DeputyCommissioner andSuperintendent of Police is veryvital in this respect, he added.TheChief Minister said that theDeputy Commissioners mustalso ensure time bound com-pletion of all the major projectsunder execution in their respec-tive districts.

Chandigarh:Punjab wouldstart the distribution of foodgrains amongst the beneficia-ries, under the state-sponsoredSmart Ration Card Scheme ofthe Congress-led StateGovernment, from January 5,next year.Announcing thiswhile presiding over the meet-ing of a Sub-Committee con-stituted by the Chief Minister,the state Food and CivilSupplies and Consumer AffairsMinister Bharat Bhushan Ashuon Wednesday said that underPradhan Mantri Garib KalyanAnn Yojana, 1.41 crore needypeople were being providedration by the State Governmentdespite that some beneficiarieswere bereft of taking advantageof this scheme.“In view of this,the Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh directed tostart this state sponsoredscheme so as to provide ration

to each and every needy per-son. Under this scheme,9,48,801 members of about2,37,200 families in the statewill be provided food grainsand the entire expenditure ofthis would be borne by thePunjab Government,” saidAshu.The Minister said that asmany as 92.35 percent benefi-ciaries of the State had beenprovided food grains under thePrime Minister’s Garib KalyanAnn Yojana. On this occasion,the members of the sub-com-mittee also took stock of theprogress of Smart Ration CardScheme. The members of thesub-committee include,Cabinet Ministers — TriptRajinder Singh Bajwa, ArunaChaudhary, Sunder ShamArora; besides MLAs — KuljitSingh Nagra, Madan LalJalalpur, Pritam Singh Kotbhai,and Davinder Singh Ghubaya.

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Chandigarh:Haryana onWednesday reported 1607 freshCOVID-19 cases, taking thetotal tally to 2, 37, 604 in thestate.A total of 32 more deathswere reported over the last 24hours from different districts,taking the state's toll to2488.According to the state’shealth bulletin, 2646 COVID-19 patients cured from differ-ent hospitals of the state overthe last 24 hours, taking thetotal count of recoveries to 2,

18, 443. Now there are 16, 673active cases out of which 415are said to be critical who areon oxygen support and venti-lator support.A max five deathsof the day each were reportedfrom the worst affected districtsGurugram and Faridabad, fourfrom Hisar, Rohtak, three fromBhiwani, two each from Jhajjar,Yamunanagar and one eachfrom Ambala, Karnal, Rewari,Sirsa, Palwal.

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The Post Graduate Instituteof Medical Education and

Research (PGIMER) hasacquired the latest state-of-the-art and most powerful C.T.scan machine, the“SOMATOM Force” DualSource C.T. scanner that canacquire “more than 1000 slicesin just one second”, said Prof.MS Sandhu, Head, Departmentof Radio diagnosis and Imagingat the institute.

There are very few suchC.T. scan machines installed inIndia, he stated.

Dr Sandhu said that the“Flash” mode facilitated by thefast scanning capability allowsa cardiac CT to be done in afraction of a second i.e. “Within

a Single Heart Beat” and with-out the need of any “BetaBlockers” to the patient toreduce their heart rate. Thisadvanced technology is notavailable in other routine C.T.scan machines, and it will be ahuge benefit for many cardiacpatients.

In neonates, a high-pitchprotocol drastically improvescoronary artery and pul-monary vein delineation com-pared to any other C.T.Scanner, allowing completeevaluation of cardiovascularanatomy without the need foreither patient sedation or heartrate control, which will great-ly benefit the patients atPGIMER, he said.

This will be extremelybeneficial to patients who are

critically ill, trauma cases, orsmall children who have dif-ficulty in holding their breath,he added.

Dr Sandhu further saidthat another very advancedfeature which is not available inother C.T. scans is the latestgeneration X-ray tube with aunique “Tin Filter” andDetector technology of thisCT scanner which drasticallyreduces the quantum of X -Rayradiation to the patient and alsoreduces the amount of contrastmedia required to be injectedin patients.

With these advantages, theC.T. examination will now bemore “kidney friendly” as avery low volume of contrastwould be required to be inject-ed in the patients, he said.

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Haryana Government willestablish the fifth Centre

of Excellence in Horticulture inthe state.

Under the Indo-IsraelProject, Ambassador of Israelto India, Dr Ron Malka in thepresence of HaryanaAgriculture Minister, JP Dalalon Wednesday laid the foun-dation stone of the Centre tocome up in district Bhiwani.

An amount of Rs 8.25crore will be spent for settingup the Centre at village Gignauin district Bhiwani.

On this occasion, Dr Ronsaid that both India and Israelwill work together in the fieldof advanced agriculturalresources, agricultural researchand training for the prosperi-ty and well-being of the hard-working farmers of India.

In the field of horticulture

in India, Haryana has becomethe Centre of Excellence, hesaid.

JP Dalal said that thisCentre of Excellence forHorticulture which is to bebuilt on 50 acres of land on thelines of Indo-Israeli technolo-gy will be ready in the nextsixth months.

Keeping in view theincreasing holdings andincreasing expenditure onagriculture, the governmenthas decided to establish thisCentre in this semi-arid regionto double the income of farm-ers.

He said that with the estab-lishment of this Centre, farm-ers of Loharu AssemblyConstituency along with hor-ticulture will adopt cultivationof fruits and flowers and veg-etables.

This Centre will play adecisive role in fosteringPrime Minister NarendraModi's vision of doublingfarmers' income by 2022, headded.

The Agriculture Ministerfurther said that agriculturalscientists of Israel and HaryanaAgricultural University willregularly give their services inthis Centre of Excellence.

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Chandigarh: Punjab VidhanSabha Speaker Rana KP Singhon Wednesday mourned thesad demise of State Assembly’sformer Deputy Speaker andHealth Minister Satpal Gosain(85), who passed away in a pri-vate hospital at Ludhiana aftera brief illness, on Tuesdayevening. Singh said that Gosain workeddeterminedly for the develop-ment and welfare of Punjabis.

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Awar of words has eruptedbetween Punjab Chief

Minister Capt AmarinderSingh and his Delhi counter-part Arvind Kejriwal a day afterthe senior Congress leaderaccused the Aam Aadmi Party’s(AAP) convener of doublestandards over central farmlaws.Notably, Capt Amarinderhad, on Tuesday, lashed out atAAP for “double standards” onthe farmers’ protests by imple-menting the controversial farmlaws in the midst of the crisiswhile pretending to be stand-ing with the farmers.

Hitting out, Kejriwal onWednesday blamed PunjabChief Minister for resorting topetty politics by levelling friv-olous allegations against him,at the behest of the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.Reacting, Capt Amarinderlashed out at Kejriwal for low-level politics on farmers’ issue.

Kejriwal accused CaptAmarinder Singh of sidingwith the Modi Governmentinstead of holding hands of thefarmers during this distressingtime when they were demand-ing repeal of the black laws. Healso slammed Capt AmarinderSingh for his wild accusationthat the Delhi government hadcleared the passage for imple-mentation of the three laws,which, he said, was nothing buta false propaganda against meand my government.

In a scathing response,Capt Amarinder lashed out atArvind Kejriwal for stooping toshamelessly low level of politicsand indulging in brazen dou-ble-speak in a desperate bid towriggle out of his own failureto protect the interests of thefarming community.

Slamming AAP leader forundermining the farmers’ fightby notifying one of the centrallaws in Delhi, Capt Amarinder

asked Kejriwal “why did younot stand against the Centre bypassing your own state legisla-tions like we did in Punjab?”

The Chief Minister trashedKejriwal’s assertion that stateswere helpless against the cen-tral laws, saying that it was clearthat AAP leader did not evenwant to try to fight the dra-conian legislations.

“Why else did he notbring any legislation in the stateassembly to at least try andnegate some of the ill-effects ofthe central laws?” asked CaptAmarinder.

Instead of meekly just noti-fying the central laws, Kejriwalcould have tried to make someeffort to counter them andprotect the rights of the farm-ers, said Capt Amarinder,adding that it was evident that“this sneaky little fellow, whosedouble standards have beenexposed time and again, isnow completely cornered onthe issue.”

Reacting to Kejriwal’s com-ment on the Centre beingangry with him because hisgovernment did not allowDelhi’s stadiums to be used asjails for farmers, CaptAmarinder said that it wasquite apparent that the AAPleader, whose survival depend-ed on the Central Government,was more worried about anger-ing the latter than about theplight of the farmers.

The Chief Minister alsolambasted Kejriwal for mis-leading the people on the com-mittee formed by the CentralGovernment last year on agri-cultural reforms. “Not oncewere these black laws discussedor even mentioned in the com-mittee,” he reiterated, castigat-ing the Delhi CM for indulgingin falsehoods and dirty politicswhile pretending to be oppos-ing any politicking on thefarmers’ issue.

Dubbing Kejriwal’s latest

statement attacking him(Amarinder) and appealing tothe Centre to address farmers’concerns as mere hogwash,Punjab Chief Minister saidthat AAP leader’s actions hadthoroughly exposed the hol-lowness of his remarks.

“It is evident that Kejriwalis only playing to the senti-ments of the farmers nowbecause his party has com-pletely lost the political narra-tive in Punjab, where AAP hasits eyes on the 2022 Assemblyelections,” said Capt Amarinderadding that the “farmers are nottaken in by your crocodiletears”.

SUKHBIR TOO BLASTSDELHI CM FOR SHEDDING“KEJRIWAL TEARS”

SAD president SukhbirSingh Badal on Wednesdaylashed out at Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal for“stabbing the beleagueredfarmers in the back withtreacherous implementation ofthe three anti-farmer actsbrought by the BJP governmentat the Centre”.

“This is not just politicaldishonesty (siasi be-imaani)in the extreme but also aninhuman betrayal of the sim-ple hearted and trusting farm-ers,” said Sukhbir. SAD chiefsaid that he and the farmershave been shocked to learn thatKejriwal had already imple-mented the Centre’s anti-farmer Acts and even issued agazette notification onNovember 23.

He demanded that DelhiChief Minister should with-draw the gazette notificationimmediately. “Kejriwal shouldalso announce that the DelhiGovernment will not imple-ment the three agri- laws andwill ensure assured govern-ment marketing at minimumsupport price (MSP),” headded.

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Chandigarh Police onWednesday used water

cannons as Punjab YouthCongress workers jumpedbarricades trying to march toHaryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar’s resi-dence here, protesting over thenew farm laws.

Punjab Youth Congresspresident Barinder Dhillonand several others were takeninto custody by theChandigarh Police.

The Congress workerswanted to ‘gherao’ Manohar

Lal’s residence to protestagainst the use of water can-nons and teargas againstPunjab farmers last week,when the Haryana Police hadtried to stop them from enter-ing the state to continue their“Delhi Chalo” march.

“We will continue to fighttill the farmers get justice,”Barinder Dhillon said, appeal-ing to all sections of society tosupport the agitation.

The Chandigarh Policefirst used water cannonsagainst the Congress workersat barricades set up aboutthree kilometers ahead of

Haryana CM’s official resi-dence. But some activistsmanaged to reach closer to theCM’s home after jumpingover police barricades andfaced water cannons again.

Notably, thousands offarmers are now gathered atDelhi’s borders protestingagainst the three new lawsenacted by the Centre inSeptember.

Farmer unions claim thenew laws will lead to the dis-mantling of the minimumsupport price (MSP) system,leaving farmers to the mercyof corporate houses.

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Aday after Punjab andHaryana’s national

awardee sportspersonsannounced to return theirawards in protest against the“force” used against the peas-ants’ en route to Delhi, threeformer judges of the Punjaband Haryana High Court onWednesday extended theirsupport to the farmers’ ongo-ing agitation.

The nationwide farmers’protest, with Punjab emergingas its epicenter, has apparent-ly turned into a mass move-ment with singers, actors,politicians, religious leaders,bureaucrats, internationalpolitical leaders, NRIs, sportspersonalities, and now thejudiciary too coming in the

open support of the agricul-turists.

High Court’s formerActing Chief Justice JusticeMehtab Singh Gill, JusticeRanjit Singh and JusticeNawab Singh, in a joint state-ment, underscored that peace-ful protest against a grievancewas “constitutionally protect-ed right of every citizen”.

Pointing that the treat-ment meted out to the farm-ers peacefully moving to Delhiby the Haryana police was“not only undemocratic, butbrutal as well”, the Judgeshave appealed to the “goodconscience of Government tohear the cries of farmers andconsider their demands withopen mind to find a solutionto the grievances of the farm-ers as otherwise to protest orunrest in border state like

Punjab may not augur well forpeace in the country”.

The Judges noted that theindiscriminate use of watercannons in harsh cold winter,batons and other meanswould put any democraticgovernment to shame. Inreturn, the farmers could beseen offering water and foodto the baton-yielding police,they added.

Raising questions overthe “urgency” in passing thenew legislations, the Judgesstated that the CentralGovernment first issued theordinances “that too whenthe whole nation was in lock-down condition and fightingthe serious pandemic engulf-ing the entire world. Wasthere any urgency or emer-gency to take the routethrough ordinances?”

“We see none such lawcould have waited for consid-eration in detail during theParliament session. The gov-ernment then bulldozed itsway through to pass these lawsin the Parliament,” said theJudges adding that the billswere passed in Rajya Sabha ina very questionable manner byvoice vote against the demandof division.

Lashing out at the Centrefor not showing the requisiteconcern when peaceful protestwas confined to the states ofPunjab and Haryana, theJudges asserted that theGovernment “now seems tohave realized the gravity of thegrievances when the agitatingfarmers have reached the out-skirts of Delhi”, with theprotest spreading over panIndia in states like Rajasthan,

Uttrakhand, Uttar Pradesh,Maharashtra and AndhraPradesh.

“Apprehension of thefarmers that these laws wouldbenefit the corporates cannotbe easily discounted.Government needs to realizethe difficulty of the small andmarginal farmers to deal withbig corporates. Even the bigand well do farmers cannotstand before the rich corpo-rate,” they stated.

Urging the Government“to protect the poor ratherthan being seen withcrorepatis”, the Judges point-ed that the Corporates, may bea few, who would benefit butstruggling farmers burdenedwith unending debts wouldlose their land and livelihood.

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Amid the ongoing farmers’protest against the central

farm laws, Jannayak JanataParty (JJP), an ally of the rul-ing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)in Haryana, on Wednesdayasked the Central Governmentto resolve the demands offarmers related to the mini-mum support price (MSP).

JJP’s national spokespersonPrateek Som said, “We want toassure farmers that MSP willnot be discontinued tillDushyant Chautala is theDeputy Chief Minister of theState. Still, if the farmers suffer

due to the MSP, he will be thefirst to resign. The JJP is alwayswith the farmers.”

“The JJP has asked theCentral Government to con-sider the demands of the farm-ers. It is important to get assur-ance from the government onMSP.

We are hopeful that theCentre will talk to the farmersand resolve the issue soon sothat the deadlock can be bro-ken,” he added.

Earlier, national presidentof the JJP and former MP AjaySingh Chautala had asked theCentre to give written assur-ance on the MSP.

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To support the private trans-port operators amid the

COVID-19 pandemic, PunjabCabinet on Wednesdayapproved 100 percent exemp-tion from the Motor VehicleTax for the state stage carriagebuses and buses of education-al institutions, school or collegebuses till December 31, 2020,effective from March 23.

The Cabinet gave post-facto approval to the notifica-tion issued in June to exemptthese vehicles from MV tax tillMay 19, 2020, and also okayednotification for further exten-sion from May 20 to December31, 2020.

At the same time, theCabinet approved extension ofthe Amnesty scheme, deferringpayment of arrears of taxes,without interest and penalty, toMarch 31, 2021.

“The Cabinet also ex-postfacto approved the notificationdated June 1, 2020, reducingMotor Vehicle Tax of StageCarriage Buses (OrdinaryBuses) from Rs 2.80 to Rs 2.69(per kilometre, per vehicle,per day). It further gave ex-postfacto approval to another noti-fication dated June 2, 2020, bywhich Motor Vehicle Taxexemption was given to edu-cational institutions, schools,college buses, mini buses, maxicab and three wheelers fromMarch 23, 2020 to May 19,2020,” said a spokesperson ofthe Chief Minister’s Office.

The exemption given to theabove stage carriage buses andbuses of educational institu-tions, schools or colleges isexpected to cost the state

exchequer about Rs 66.05 crore.Notably, during a meeting

with the Chief Minister onOctober 30, the private busoperators including stage car-riage operators, mini bus andschool bus operators hadsought extension of AmnestyScheme issued on June 1, 2020,as they could not avail the ben-efit due to COVID-19. Underthe Amnesty Scheme, thetransporters were liable to paytax on their vehicles from June1, 2020, to June 30, 2020, with-out any interest and penalty.

The transporters had alsoapprised the Chief Ministerthat fewer people are travellingnowadays due to the pandem-ic which led to huge financiallosses as their buses were notplying on the roads to fullcapacity.

Hence, it was decided inthe meeting to grant 100 per-cent tax exemption to all typesof stage carriage buses andeducational institutions(Schools and Colleges) busesfrom May 20, 2020 toDecember 31, 2020.

PUNJAB TO SET UP INNO-VATION MISSION ANDFUND

To give further impetus tothe start-up ecosystem inPunjab, the State Cabinet hascleared the decks for the estab-lishment of Punjab InnovationMission and Punjab InnovationFund.

To achieve the objective ofPunjab Innovative Mission, aPunjab Innovation Fund of Rs150 crore is proposed to be setup to invest in early-stage start-ups in Punjab. TheGovernment’s participation in

the Fund will be a maximum of10 percent of the Corpus —that is Rs 15 crore.

The fund shall be managedby an Asset ManagementCompany, comprisingInvestors of global repute, andthe first chairperson of theMission and the Fund would beClix Capital chairman andGenpact founder PramodBhasin.

Bhasin told the virtualCabinet meeting that he willraise the remaining Rs 135crore investment amount fromPunjabi businesses andinvestors, the Diaspora as wellas public and private financialinstitutions.

Punjab InnovationMission would go a long way indeveloping a vibrant innovativeecosystem for entrepreneur-

ship by leveraging capital, pol-icy, and technology throughcollaboration with investors,industry, government, acade-mia, and start-ups and by facil-itating collaboration amongstthe various incubators andaccelerators in Punjab, thespokesperson said.

The government wouldsupport the operation of thePunjab Innovation Missionand Punjab Innovation Fundby providing for the opera-tional expenditure for the firstthree years, amounting to Rs 10crore.

The Mission would be setup at Kalkat Bhawan of MandiBoard at Mohali, and its activ-ities would be supported by theStart-up Cell in the Industriesand Commerce Department,Invest Punjab and Punjab State

Council for Science andTechnology.

Pertinently, the establish-ment of ‘Punjab InnovationMission and PunjabInnovation Fund’ was one ofthe key recommendations ofthe Group of Experts (GoE),constituted by the ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh, under the chairmanshipof Planning Commission ofIndia’s former deputy chair-person Montek SinghAhluwalia to develop a medi-um-term and long-term post-COVID economic strategy forPunjab with an aim to revital-izing Punjab’s economythrough building a strongstart-up ecosystem, by supple-menting the current govern-ment efforts with more privatesector led initiatives.

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Punjab Cabinet onWednesday approved the

establishment of a world-class university campus by theAmity Education Group inMohali’s IT city — paving wayfor the development of thearea as a major educationalhub.

The Cabinet also gavethe nod to the draft of ‘TheAmity University Ordinance2020’ and authorized theChief Minister CaptAmarinder SIngh to approvethe final draft prepared by theLegal Remembrancer, with-out placing it again before theCabinet.

“The self-financed private‘Amity University Punjab’,being established as a highlyresearch and innovation dri-ven university on a 40 acrestate-of-the-art campus, willbe developed at a prime loca-tion in Mohali, SAS Nagar,with an investment of Rs664.32 crore over five years.The University will becomefunctional from the next aca-demic year, with its first ses-sion set to commence inJune- July 2021,” said an offi-cial spokesperson.

To be located just 10minutes away from theChandigarh-Mohali airport,the upcoming Universitywould be instrumental in

imparting world-class highereducation to the students toempower them to competeglobally and be gainfullyequipped, said the spokesper-son, adding that it will havean annual intake of 1500-2000 students.

Notably, PunjabGovernment has made itmandatory to reserve 15 per-cent of students from Punjabin the upcoming University,and five percent of total num-ber of students will be givenfree education as part of theordinance and its terms andconditions. The Universitywould be recruiting teachingand non-teaching staff as perUGC Guidelines.

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Haryana is all set to includeyoga in the school cur-

riculum as a separate subject inall government schools fromthe next academic session com-mencing April 1, 2021.

The decision which aims toinculcate the habit of yogaamong the students right fromthe very beginning would alsomake Haryana the first state inthe country to make yoga as apart of studies in the schools.This was informed in a meet-ing of Haryana Yog Parishadheld under the chairmanship ofChief Minister Manohar Lalhere on Wednesday.

Several significant deci-sions were taken in the meet-ing which was also attended byHealth and Home MinisterAnil Vij and Yoga Guru BabaRam Dev, who is also thebrand ambassador of Haryanafor the promotion of Yoga andAyurveda in the state.

The government has decid-ed that ‘Yog Prashikshan Diwas’would be organized in thestate on the first Sunday ofevery month.

During the meeting, it wasinformed that apart from moraleducation, yoga is already beingtaught to the students from theacademic session 2016-17. But,taking a step ahead, it hasbeen decided to make yoga acompulsory or optional subjectin the school curriculum andthe Department of SchoolEducation has constituted aCommittee for this purpose.

It was also informed thatthe subject curriculum would

be designed in such a way thatit would have both theoreticaland practical content on thepattern of physical education sothat besides education, stu-dents could also get training inyoga.

Manohar Lal said that theaim of the State Government isto take yoga at the grass rootlevel and encourage people tomake yoga as part of theirlifestyle. For this, Yog andVyayamshalas and other ade-quate infrastructure is beingmade available at the villagelevel, he said.

He directed theDevelopment and PanchayatsDepartment to put up a pro-posal within a week for the set-ting up of 1000 more Yogshalasin the state.

He also directed theDepartment of AYUSH to takeup the matter on priority basisfor the setting up of WellnessCentres at the Yogshalas underthe State Scheme and finalizethe preventive activities to betaken up in these Centres at theearliest.

The Chief Minister saidthat focus should be given onpromoting yoga and natur-opathy so as to minimize thedependency on medicine.

It was decided in the meet-ing that to further encouragepeople to make yoga an integralpart of their life, ‘YogPrashikshan Diwas’ would beorganized on the first Sundayof every month under the aegisof Haryana Yog Parishad.

Under this, Yoga trainingprogrammes would be orga-nized at district, block and

tehsil level wherein trainedphysical training instructors(PTIs) and degree holders inphysical education (DPEs)would impart yoga training tothe people. Decision was alsotaken in the meeting to renamethe Prakritik Chikitsa Kendraas ‘Yog and Ayush Kendra’.Apart from the rural areas, ‘Yogand Ayush Kendra’ would beset up at all district headquar-ters.

It was also decided that aninternational level Dhyan YogKendra (Meditation YogaCentre) would be set up at ShriKrishna AYUSH University,Kurukshetra which would givethe holy city a distinct identi-ty and take it further on theworld heritage map in the timeto come. The Shri KrishnaAYUSH University,Kurukshetra would alsoexplore the possibility of sign-ing an MoU with PatanjaliYogpeeth Haridwar for run-ning the Meditation YogaCentre.

The Chief Minister wasapprised that the process forthe recruitment of 1000 AyushYog Sahayak and 22 AyushYoga Coach is in progress andwould be completed soon. Topopularize yoga in the state, ithas been decided to recruit1,000 Ayush Yog Sahayak oncontractual basis.

Apart from this, 22 AyushYog Coach are to be recruitedfor various ‘’yogshalas’’ acrossthe state. It was also informedthat work is underway on theproposed Act of Haryana YogAyog and it would be broughtin the next session of Haryana

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With the Covid-19 vaccinein the final stages of

operationalisation in India,Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder on Wednesdayannounced that he will take thefirst shot of the vaccine inPunjab, once it is cleared by theIndian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR) — in anapparent attempt to build thepeople’s confidence in the vac-cine. The Chief Minister madethis announcement at the vir-tual cabinet meeting, during apresentation to discuss theCOVID situation in Punjaband the state’s preparedness toroll out the vaccine.

In line with the CentralGovernment’s strategy for vac-cination, Punjab has prioritizedhealthcare workers, frontlineworkers, the elderly population(over 50 years of age), and peo-ple with co-morbidities (50years or below).

The state Health SecretaryHussan Lal said that Punjab hascompiled data of 1.25 lakhgovernment and private health-care workers to be vaccinatedin the first phase.Approximately 23 percent (70lakh) of the state’s population,estimated at around three crore,will be vaccinated in terms ofthe Centre’s guidelines on vac-cine prioritization, he added.

To ensure seamless roll-out

of the vaccination, the StateSteering Committee is coordi-nating closely with the NationalSteering Committee, while theState Task Force will work intandem with the district andblock level task force commit-tees for the same. Organisationslike WHO, UNDP, and othersare working as developmentalpartners in the process.

Following a review of theavailable facilities, the StateGovernment has requested theCentre for certain additionalcold chain equipment, includ-ing vaccine vans, deep freezers,ice-lined refrigerators, coldboxes, vaccine carriers, icepacks, thermometers, and sta-bilizers.

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Punjab School Education Minister VijayInder Singla on Wednesday said that soon,

the State Government is going to convert 1,377more schools into smart schools and Rs 357.74crore will be spent on the digitization of theseschools.“Till now, as many as 7,823 schools havebeen converted into smart schools and the StateGovernment is committed to impart quality edu-cation in government schools by regularlyimproving infrastructure,” said Singla.

He said that out of total 19,130 governmentschools of Punjab, 41 percent schools havealready been converted into smart schools andtheir government has set the target to convertall schools into smart schools within its five-yearterm.Singla said that out of total 1,377 schools,817 are from rural areas and 560 are from theurban areas of the state where the EducationDepartment has planned to spend Rs 209.77

crore and Rs 147.56 crore, respectively.He added that out of total, 605 are prima-

ry schools, 80 are middle, 159 are high schoolsand remaining 533 are senior secondary schools.The upgradation process of these 1,377 schoolswould be completed within this financial year.

Singla further said that during the upgra-dation process, these schools will be equippedwith additional classrooms, integrated sciencelabs, libraries, dual desks, separate toilets for boysand girls, potable drinking water facility, high-er boundary walls, green boards, projectors, din-ing halls for mid-day-meal and colour coding.Special repair and maintenance budget will alsobe given to these schools for required works, headded.The Minister also appealed to the cor-porate companies, NGOs, community leaders,panchayats, benevolent persons and school staffto contribute for this noble cause of digitizationof schools and donate generously for the betterfuture of next generations.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on

Wednesday directed the offi-cers of the IrrigationDepartment to identify inun-dated areas under agriculturalland in the state.

In order to develop variousschemes to deal with the prob-lem of water logging duringheavy rainfall, the ChiefMinister also instructed theconcerned officers to preparedistrict-wise maps.

The Chief Minister waspresiding over a meeting withthe officials of the Irrigationand Water Resources

Department here. Various mea-sures to deal with the problemof water logging in the agri-cultural land of the state werediscussed in the meeting.

He directed the officials toprepare a plan to recharge thewater in such water loggingareas. He also asked to devel-op lakes and ponds to promotefisheries and tourism in thestate. The Chief Minister said,“If there are 50 to 60 lakes inthe state, then the problem ofwater logging will be solvedand this water will be utilizedproperly”. Besides this, he saidthat water can be drained outinto drains if this problem ofwater logging still prevails.

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The Government has set upa national-level panel for a

coordinated approach to pur-sue the country’s climatechange goals under the 2015Paris Agreement under theUnited Nations FrameworkConvention on ClimateChange (UNFCCC), whichaims to limit the global tem-perature rise well below twodegrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and pursueefforts to limit the temperatureincrease even further to 1.5degrees Celsius.

Led by the UnionEnvironment Ministry, thepanel will include membersfrom over a dozen ministriesof the Central Government toavoid conflict and ensure syn-ergy between various min-istries working towards toapproach India’s ambitiousclimate change goals.

The “Apex Committee forImplementation of ParisAgreement (AIPA)” with theUnion Environment Secretaryas its head which was notifiedby the Government lastmonth would interact withoff icials across theGovernment departments,technical experts, civil societyleaders and other stakehold-ers to drive a coordinatedapproach to the nation’s cli-mate change goals under the2015 Paris Agreement.

India has ratified the 2015Paris Agreement under theUNFCCC. India’s NDC’s pri-marily targets by 2030 areduction in the emissionsintensity of Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) by 33 to 35percent; achieving about 40percent instal led power

capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources; ener-gy efficiency; and creating anadditional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of carbondioxide equivalent throughadditional forest and treecover.

The Government notedthat AIPA is needed to ensurea “coordinated response onclimate change matters thatprotects the country’s interestsand ensures that India is ontrack towards meeting its cli-mate change obligations

under the Paris Agreement”including the promises madeas part of the NationallyDetermined Contribution(NDC) in 2015, as per a state-ment here from the UnionEnvironment Ministry.

The panel is also expect-

ed to “define responsibilitiesof concerned ministries for”achieving India’s NDC goalsand receive periodic infor-mation updates to monitor,review and revisit climategoals to fulfill the require-ments of the Paris Agreement.

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New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Wednesday won-dered why felling of trees wasnecessary to widen roads or tokeep them aligned in a straightline, and suggested that roadscould instead be zigzag, whichwould help reduce speed ofvehicles and save lives by avoid-ing accidents.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice SA Bobde said: “Whydo roads have to be laid in astraight line by cutting trees?Keep the roads zigzag. It willreduce speed of vehicles, andalso decrease road accidentsand save many lives.”

The observation came dur-ing hearing of a plea by theUttar Pradesh government tofell 2,940 trees for the KrishnaGovardhan Road project inMathura.

The Chief Justice asked thestate government to look at thevalue of trees in terms of oxy-gen supply they will provide intheir lifetime, and then evalu-ate their importance.

The top court observedthat though the Public WorksDepartment had assured thatit would compensate by plant-ing similar number of trees inanother area, felling of 90-year-old tree and then replac-ing it with a week-old saplingdid not make sense.

“It is obvious that therecannot be compensatoryreforestation if a 90- or 100-year-old tree is cut down,” thecourt remarked.

“It is not possible for us toaccept compensation in mere-ly arithmetical terms, espe-cially when there is no state-

ment forthcoming from theUttar Pradesh government orthe PWD as to the nature oftrees — whether they are clas-sified as shrubs or large trees,”the bench said, citing absenceof information or record inconnection with the age of thetrees proposed to be chopped.

“It is clear that the onlyeffect, if the trees are retained, will be that the roadswill not be straight and there-fore incapable of high-speedtraffic. Such an affect may not

be necessarily deleterious,”added the bench.

The Chief Justice told thecounsel for Uttar Pradesh gov-ernment and state PWD thatthe valuation of trees cannotbe done in terms of timber, and instead theyshould be valued by takinginto account their oxygen-producing capacity over theirremaining life span, assumingthey might be cut now.

IANS

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For the first time ever, theannual conference of the

country’s top police brass beganon Wednesday virtually amidthe coronavirus pandemic.Union Home Minister AmitShah addressed the DGPs andsenior police officers across thecountry from the IntelligenceBureau Headquarters virtuallyin the presence of heads ofparamilitary organisations.

About 250 officers in therank of DGP and IGP from allstates, union territories andcentral government are takingpart in the four-day virtualmeet, organised by theIntelligence Bureau and beingattended by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, NSA AjitDoval among others.

The key role played bypolice during disaster andpandemic, new-age crimeslike cyber terrorism, radical-isation of youth and Pakistan-sponsored militants in Jammuand Kashmir will be discussedduring the deliberations, to beheld in multiple sessions, aHome Ministry official said.As the role of police duringthe ongoing pandemic hascome under wholesome praisefrom all quarters, the meetingis expected to discuss how to

enhance theirknowledge and capa-bilities to handle nat-ural disasters andsuch health crisisand even help inmass vaccinationdrive.

The state police chiefswill share their experiences inhandling the pandemic andhow the police have helpeddistressed people and migrantworkers during the nation-wide lockdown. The PrimeMinister is likely to makespecial mention about theexemplary work police per-sonnel have done while fight-ing the coronavirus, the offi-cial said.

According to an estimate,nearly 80,000 police and para-militar y personnel wereinfected by COVID-19 in thecountry and about 650 ofthem succumbed to the virus.Among the infected includeabout 35,000 paramilitary per-sonnel and 25,000 policemenin Maharashtra, the worst hitstate in India. Among thedeaths include 100 paramili-tary personnel and about 250in Maharashtra Police, almostall of them while playing dif-ferent roles during the pan-demic.

The Modi Governmenthas been organising it outsidethe national Capital since itcame to power in 2014.Theprevious conferences wereheld in Guwahati, Rann ofKutch in Gujarat, Hyderabad,Tekanpur in Madhya Pradesh,Kevadia in Gujarat and Pune.

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The Supreme CourtWednesday asked its high-

powered committee, monitor-ing the Chardham highwayproject, to consider within twoweeks the applications includ-ing that of the Ministry ofDefence seeking widening ofroads up to 7 metres in theIndo-China Border area. Thestrategic 900-km Chardham

highway project aims to pro-vide all-weather connectivity tofour holy towns — Yamunotri,Gangotri, Kedarnath andBadrinath — in Uttarakhand.The Ministry of Defence hassought modification of the topcourt’s September 8 orderwhich asked the Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highways(MoRTH) to follow the 2018circular stipulating carriagewaywidth of 5.5 metre.

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Ahead of the fourth roundtalks with farmers, Union

Home Minister Amit Shahheld deliberations withAgriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar and ConsumerAffairs Minister Piyush Goyalon ways to dispel their con-cerns over the farm laws. Andin a move to remove appre-hensions of farmers on theagricultural laws, the govern-ment has decided to involvesecretaries of home, agricultureand consumer affairs in themeeting with farmers onThursday.

During the deliberations,the ministers are believed tohave discussed the issues raisedby the farmers and how thegovernment can constructive-ly respond to dispel their appre-hensions.

“The Government willhold discussions with farmers’leaders on Thursday and let’ssee to what extend issues can beresolved,” Tomar said.

The agriculture ministerappealed to the farmers that thegovernment is ready to addresstheir concern if any. “I appealto the farmers that the laws arein their interest and the reformshave been done after a longwait, but if they have any objec-tion to it then we are ready toaddress their concerns,” Tomarwas quoted by ANI.

Meanwhile, the RashtriyaKisan Mahashangha has for-warded their demands to theagriculture ministry seekinglegal status of MSP, SDM courtnot to be made the final author-ity for all issues related to thecase of resentment and theneed to create a robust envi-ronment for access of latesttechnology in agro-inputs.

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The CBI has booked ChiefMedical Officer of

Hyderabad Central Universityin a disproportionate assetscase for allegedly amassingassets worth about �6 croreduring 2014 to 2019.

The agency has alsobooked his wife, a teacher inthe Campus School of the uni-versity.

Chief Medical Officer(CMO) of Hyderabad CentralUniversity, Dr Ravindra Kumarand his wife P Sujatha havebeen named as accused in thecase registered under variousSections of the Indian PenalCode and Prevention ofCorruption Act.

“The source informationrevealed that Dr RavindraKumar purchased the proper-ties in his name and also in thename of his wife P Sujatha dur-ing the period from 2014-2019i.e. mostly after he becameCMO in the university,” theCBI said in its FIR.

The source informationalso revealed that assets pos-sessed by the accused at thebeginning of the check periodwas �3,22,19,500 and at the endif was �9,0475680 during therelevant period.

“As such the total assetsacquired during the relevantperiod is �5,82,56,180 andexpenditure is �1,82,90192 andthe total assets and expenditureis �7,65,46,372 during the rel-evant period,” it said. Theincome earned by the accusedis �3,79,10,402.

“Therefore the accusedpublic servant is learnt to be inpossession of assets dispro-portionate to his knownsources of income during therelevant period is �3,86,35,970which amounts to 101.91 percent of disproportionate assetswith reference to their income.The information prima faciediscloses the commission ofcognisable offences by theaccused public servant DrRavindra Kumar, CMO andhis wife P Sujatha if criminalconspiracy, abetment, inten-tionally enriching themselvesillicitly and possessing dis-proportionate assets,”it fur-ther said.

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The Centre on Wednesdayset up a task force to pre-

pare a roadmap for impartingtechnical education in moth-er tongue. The task force setup under the chairmanship ofSecretary, Higher EducationDept will take into consider-ation the suggestions made byvarious stakeholders and willsubmit a report in a month.

The Government hasalready started short-listingsome Indian Institutes ofTechnology and NationalInstitutes of Technologywhere the engineering cours-

es will be offered in mothertongue beginning next year.

Offering technical educa-tion in the mother tongue ispart of the new NationalEducation Policy 2020, adopt-ed by the government recent-ly.

The decision was taken byEducation Minister RameshPokhariyal Nishank in a high-level meeting attended byseveral directors of the IITs,academicians andGovernment officials.

The agenda of the meet-ing was to discuss and delib-erate regarding the imple-mentation of the education

policy.Pokhariyal said that the

meeting was a step in thedirection towards achievingPrime Minister NarendraModi’s vision that studentsmay pursue professionalcourses such as medicine,engineering, and law amongothers in their mother tongue.

The Minister said thatwhile no language will beimposed on any student,enabling provisions shouldbe made so that bright stu-dents are not deprived oftechnical education due tolack of knowledge of theEnglish language.

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The Supreme Court onWednesday refused to

entertain a plea questioning thepublication of a photograph ofthe Hathras victim in themedia, saying the court cannotlegislate on it and the petition-er can make a representationon the matter to theGovernment.

A 19-year-old Dalit womanwas allegedly gang-raped byfour men in Hathras onSeptember 14. She died onSeptember 29 at Delhi’sSafdarjung Hospital duringtreatment. Her cremation atnight by the authorities,allegedly without the consent ofher parents, triggered wide-

spread outrage.The plea, which also raised

the issue of delays in the trialof cases of sexual violence,came up for hearing before abench headed by Justice N VRamana.

“These issues have nothingto do with law,” said the bench,also comprising Justices SuryaKant and Aniruddha Bose.

“Right to freedom ofexpression is there. There isenough law for this. It is unfor-

tunate that such incidents hap-pen,” the bench observed.

The apex court furthersaid, “We cannot legislate lawafter law”

It said the petitioner canmake a representation to thegovernment.

On October 27, the topcourt had said the CBI inves-tigation in the Hathras case isto be monitored by theAllahabad High Court and theCRPF would provide securityto the victim’s family and wit-nesses in the case.

The apex court had deliv-ered the verdict in October ona batch of pleas raising con-cerns on the incident and alsothe manner in which the teenwas cremated.

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Five populated states name-ly Punjab, Himachal

Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,Haryana, and Rajasthan arereporting an increase in activeCovid-19 cases in the country,particularly in the last onemonth. In the process, they arereplacing Maharashtra,Karnataka, Kerala, AndhraPradesh and West Bengal,which have now started report-ing a decline in active cases forthe last few days, said an offi-cial from the Union HealthMinistry.

India has recorded 36,604new coronavirus cases in thepast 24 hours, taking the totalCovid caseload to nearly 95lakh while total fatality hastouched 1,38,122. The totalactive caseload has signifi-cantly dropped to 4.28 lakh inthe last 24 hours, said the offi-cial. This is the lowest after 132days. The total active cases were4,26,167 on 23rd July, 2020.

The dai ly new casesadded to the country’s covidnumbers have been around30K since the past three dayswhile the number of daily

recovered cases has surpassedthe daily new cases since thepast five days.

Similarly, showing thepositive trend, the differencein new recoveries outnum-bering new cases has alsoimproved the recovery rate to94.03 per cent on Wednesday.

The official pointed outthat 78.35 per cent of the newrecovered cases are observedto be concentrated in 10States/UTs with Maharashtrareporting maximum numberof single day recoveries with6,290 newly recovered cases.6,151 people recovered inKerala followed by 5,036 inDelhi. On the other hand,77.25 per cent of the newcases are from 10 States andUTs. Kerala reported thehighest daily new cases at5,375, fol lowed byMaharashtra with 4,930 newcases.

On the fatalities front,the contribution of 10States/UTs account for 79.84per cent. Maharashtra saw themaximum casualties (95).Delhi and West Bengal followwith 86 and 52 daily deaths,respectively.

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All CGHS beneficiaries—serving as well as pen-

sioners— will now be able toavail the health benefits ofalternate traditional systemswith the Union HealthMinistry approving a propos-al to empanel such Centres ofAyurveda, Yoga andNaturopathy under theGovernment health scheme.

“Private Day Care Therapycenters of Ayurveda, Yoga andNaturopathy will be empan-elled under the CGHS shortly,in a manner similar to empan-elment of similar day care cen-tres of conventional(Allopathy) medicine alreadyprovided under the CGHS,”said an official from theMinistry.

Initial empanelment ofday care therapy centres will beundertaken on pilot basis forDelhi and NCR for a period ofone year and subsequentlywould be considered for otherplaces.

The official said that the

step has been taken keeping inview of the growing popular-ity of AYUSH system of med-icines amongst the public atlarge and all CGHS beneficia-ries. The aim of the scheme isto improve the health andwellbeing, reduce health careexpenditure and provide excel-lence in service delivery, effi-ciency, and comfort to thepatients.

The treatment procedurerequiring a short duration ofstay in the Day Care TherapyCentre, ranging from a fewhours to less than a Day will bemade available to CGHS ben-eficiaries under this scheme.

“As the treatment proce-dure does not requireovernight stay in the unfamil-iar environment, it is extreme-ly convenient for children andelderly patients,” said the offi-cial.

At present treatment ofapproved procedures likePanchkarma and Abhyangaetc. is given only after hospi-talization in CGHS empanel-ment hospital.

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BJP’s IT Cell head and theWest Bengal co-in-charge

Amit Malviya’s counter tweeton the image of an elderlyfarmer being hit by police-men in Haryana, posted byCongress leader RahulGandhi, has run into contro-versy and is being flagged as“manipulated media” and“misleading”, in what is beingclaimed as the first suchinstance in India.

The image, posted by sev-eral Congress leaders includ-ing Rahul, showed a copswinging a baton at thefarmer who was trying tododge the blow. Rahul, in histweet, said as against hisparty’s slogan of “jai Jawan, Jaikisan,” here Jawan is hittingthe Kisan, which is “sad”.

Malviya, responding toRahul’ tweet, posted a “pro-paganda vs reality” tweet witha video of the same still withthe caption: “Rahul Gandhimust be the most discreditedopposition leader India hasseen in a long long time”. Thevideo showed the cop raising

the baton but the farmerescaping the blow and nottouching the elderly farmer.

But fact-check websiteAlt News put out a longervideo of the ‘same incident’,which showed policemenraining blows on protesters.Malviya was accused by crit-ics of using a cropped vidioand not showing it fullstretch.

Following this, twittertagged Malviya’s tweet as“manipulated media”.

It is, however, not clearwhether the farmer was “hit”by the same cop in the pictureor by some other batoncharge in Haryana.

Thousands of farmers,last week, marched towardsDelhi for their protest againstthe centre’s new farm lawsand faced teargassing, batonsand water cannons at sever-al points in Haryana.

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The Uttar PradeshGovernment told the

Supreme Court on Wednesdaythat “shocking findings” haveemerged in the investigationso far in the case in whichKerala-based scribe SiddiqueKappan was arrested on hisway to Hathras, where ayoung Dalit woman had diedafter allegedly being gang-raped.

Kappan claimed that he isworking as a journalist in aKerala-based daily but thatnewspaper was closed twoyears back, the state govern-ment told a bench headed byChief Justice S A Bobde.

“Investigation conductedso far has found some shock-ing findings,” Solicitor GeneralTushar Mehta told the bench,which also comprised JusticesA S Bopanna and VRamasubramanian.

The apex court, whichwas hearing a plea filed byKerala Union of WorkingJournalists (KUWJ) ques-tioning Kappan’s arrest, askedthe petitioner as to whetherthey would like to move thehigh court.

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India is the only high malar-ia endemic country in the

world which has reported adecline of 17.6 per cent invector-borne cases in 2019 ascompared to 2018, accordingto the latest report by theWorld Health Organization(WHO).

Stating that various sus-tained anti-malarial measuresare bearing results, the Union

Health Ministr y onWednesday said that theAnnual Parasitic Incidence(API) reduced by 27.6 percent in 2018 as compared to2017, and by 18.4 per cent in2019 as compared to 2018.

“India has sustained APIless than one since the year2012,” the Ministry said in astatement here.

As per the WHO’sWorld Malar ia Report(WMR) 2020, India has also

contributed to the largestdrop in such cases region-wide, from approximately 20million to about 6 million.

The percentage drop inthe malaria cases was 71.8 percent and deaths were 73.9 per-cent between 2000 to 2019, itsaid.

India achieved a reduc-tion of 83.34 per cent inmalaria morbidity and 92 percent in malaria mortalitybetween the year 2000

(20,31,790 cases, 932deaths) and 2019(3,38,494 cases, 77deaths), thereby achievingGoal 6 of the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (50-75 per cent decrease incase incidence between2000 and 2019).

“Decrease in the inci-dence of malaria cases isalso exhibited in the year-on-year tally. The casesand fatal it ies have

declined significantly by 21.27per cent and 20 per cent,respectively in the year 2019(3,38,494 cases, 77 deaths) ascompared to 2018 (4,29,928cases, 96 deaths).

“The total number ofmalaria cases reported in2020 till October(1,57,284)has further decreased by 45.02per cent as compared to thecorresponding period of 2019(2,86,091),” the ministry saidquoting the report.

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Nearly three months afterhis arrest in connection

with Sushant Singh Rajpuitdeath-related drug case,Showik Chakraborty - thebrother of Bollywood actressRhea Chakraborty, was grant-ed bail by the Special NarcoticsDrugs and PsychotropicSubstances (NDPS) Act Courthere on Wednesday.

Special NDPS court judgeG B Gurao granted bail to himon a personal bond of Rs50,000.

Showik (24) had beenarrested along with late actorSushant Singh Rajput’s housemanager Samuel Miranda onSeptember 4. His actress-sisterRhea was arrested in connec-tion with the Sushant death-related drug case on September8. While Rhea was granted bailby the Bombay High Court onOctober 7, Showik was denied

bail by the bail.In a fresh bail application

filed on Showik’s behalf beforethe NDPS court, his lawyerSatish Maneshinde had saidthat no drug was recoveredfrom his client's possessionand that the NCB’s only evi-dence against his client wasusing the statements of co-accused as the evidence.

Maneshinde had cited arecent Supreme Court rulingwhich said that the statementsof the accused recorded underSection 67 of the NarcoticDrugs and PsychotropicSubstances (NDPS) Act by theNCB officials (who were con-sidered “police officers”) couldnot be considered confessionsHe had told the court that inthe light of the SC ruling therewas no reason to keep hisclient behind the bar.

He has claimed that inlight of the ruling, there is no

reason to keep him behindbars.

The NCB, which is inves-tigating the various drug angleslinked to the death of the lateactor, had alleged that Rhea andher brother Showik used facil-itate drug deliveries and pay-ment through credit cards,cash and other payment gate-ways. At one stage, the NCBhad accused Rhea and Showikof being “active members of adrug syndicate” and financing drugs for use bySushant.

It may be recalled thatBollywood actor Sushant SinghRajput was found hanging froma ceiling fan in his closed roomof his duplex flat at MontBlanc building at Bandra’sCarter Road in north-westMumbai on June 14.

Having registered a case ofAccidental Death Report(ADR) in connection with

Sushant’s death, the Bandrapolice had collected all docu-ments and pieces of evidence,including autopsy and forensicreports and recorded 56 state-ments as part of the investiga-tions carried out by it undersection 174 of Cr PC. Aftersubstantial investigations, theMumbai police had inferredSushant’s death was a case of“suicide”.

However, in the third weekof August, the Supreme Courttransferred the investigations inthe case to the CBI. In crucialforensic report submitted to theCBI last week, the AIIMS --which studied Sushant’s autop-sy report, the injury pattern onSushant’s body and correlatedit with circumstantial evidenceand also examined the pre-served viscera – ruled out thepossibility of a “murder” andsaid that it was a clear case of“suicide”.

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Alongside brave Indian soldierswho are occupying 'icy heights'

and braving adverse weather condi-tions in the eastern Ladakh sector itis the team of doctors, ace surgeonsand paramedics, drawn from differentcommand hospitals who are workinground the clock to keep them fightingfit.

To accommodate the large Armyof soldiers in the highest battlegroundthe Indian Army has already createdstate of the art modern infrastructurefacilities to cater to the special needsof the soldiers stationed at forwardlocations at an altitude of 16,000 to18,000 feet.

Super specialists and senior sur-geons from different command hos-pitals have been roped in to performspecial duties ranging between six toeight weeks at some of these forwardlocations to ensure safety of brave sol-diers. Specialists have been stationedat a Forward surgical centre (FSC) inthe eastern Ladakh sector to provideimmediate treatment to the needy sol-diers deployed along the LAC.Official sources said, “Field hospitalson ground zero are fully functional andare already performing specialisedtreatment for extreme winter-related

issues faced by troops”.According to a doctor who had

recently completed his tenure at a highaltitude location in the Siachen sector,“patients normally complain of highaltitude ailments such as breathlessnesswhen they are deployed at a forwardlocation”.

Sometimes patients also com-plain of stomach ache due to sub zerotemperature conditions and over doseof packaged food. Soldiers also reportfluctuation in their blood pressure andbrain stroke, Heart attack, color blind-ness etc. To address the issue, soldiersare directed to perform yoga asanasand breathing exercises, wheneverpossible to stay fit.

Defence sources said, “medicalOfficers are deployed with each unitalong with nursing assistants andother paramedics. In addition, surgi-cal teams are also stationed at aForward Surgical centre to cater to anycontingency in the operational area”.

These sources said ,”For everyBrigade centre there exists one fieldhospital and for every Division head-quarter there is one Forward Surgicalcentre”.

To ensure their own fitness, doc-tors need one week acclimatization ifthey have to be stationed at an altitudeup to 9,000 feet.

The acclimatization period isextended by four more days if a doc-tor is stationed at an altitude up to13,000 ft and further four daysacclimatization is required for higheraltitude locations up to 16,000 to 19000feet.

Last month, Army doctorsachieved a major feat at an altitude of16,000 feet as they successfullyremoved an appendix of a soldier ina dug-in at a forward surgical centrein the Eastern Ladakh.

The surgery was performed by ateam of three doctors including a LtColonel, a Major and a Captain on asoldier, who could not be evacuated bychopper due to the weather conditions.

According to official sources, “Toprotect soldiers from harsh weatherconditions in the region adequate win-ter clothing has been provided to themto beat sub zero temperature condi-tions”.

Besides ensuring availability ofbasic amenities including high proteindiet, routine ration, fuel supplies, sol-diers have been accommodated inArctic tents which can sustain tem-peratures between -20 to -40 degreesin the region. At base camps, central-ly heated barracks have been set up,equipped with modern heating appli-ances to protect the soldiers.

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Trinamool Congress’ sigh of reliefin the wake of a “fruitful” secret

dialogue with rebel party leaderSuvendu Adhikari was short lived asthe former Minister on Wednesdaysaid it was impossible for him towork with the ruling outfit in thecurrent circumstances.

The leader with a formidablemass base is known to haveWhatsApped his mind to senior MPand Chief Minister MamataBanerjee’s special emissary SaugatoRoy with whom peace talks were onfor the past fortnight or so.

Sources close to the Adhikariconsidered the most powerful leaderin the party after Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee said that he didnot like the way the details of histalks with the senior leadership was

communicated to the media earli-er.

A secret meeting featuringAdhikari, Roy, his Lok Sabha col-leagues Sudip Bandopadhyay,Abhishek Banerjee and electionstrategist Prashant Kishore washeld at a private residence in NorthKolkata late on Tuesday evening fol-lowing which Roy said that talkswere held in a cordial atmosphere,things had been sorted out.

“Suvendu Adhikari is not goingto BJP. It was a foolish assumption.Today Prashant Kishore, SudipBanerjee, Abhishek Banerjee and Ihad met him. It was a fruitfulmeeting and things have been sort-ed out. He is with TMC and we willwork together to make MamataBanerjee win again,” Roy said.

However, TMC’s euphoriaremained short lived as its East

Midnapore satrap and a formerNandigram spearhead of the ChiefMinister communicated to Roy viaWhattsapp that it was not possiblefor him to continue in the presentcircumstances.

Roy who is being investigatedby the central agencies in Naradapay off and chit fund cases hadexpressed his displeasure afterAbhishek Banerjee was given morepreference in internal mattersincluding organizational schemesthan him, insiders said.

Reacting to newest developmentin the TMC. BJP observer forBengal Kailash Vijaybargiya saidthat the decision the former minis-ter had taken was a foregone con-clusion. “This was bound to happenas no one can live in the TMC withself-respect … not in the least a bigleader like Suvendu Adhikari… He

is bound to leave that party and heis welcome in the BJP if he choos-es to do so.”

Bengal BJP president DilipGhosh said “Our doors are open forany able, leader who has goodtrack record and honest back-ground.”

Adhikari however has not madehis intention clear. Playing the cardclose to his chest he has not yetmade it clear whether he would jointhe BJP in near future.

Meanwhile, the BJP workersattacked a TMC party office atNandigram captured it soon afterAdhikari’s decision of not returningto the TMC fold was made public,sources said. A fierce turf war hadensued in that zone with the TMCretaliating by taking out a motorbikerally and vandalising some shops inthe area.

Kolkata: The Trinamool Congress is unhappywith the “affairs” that led to the postponing bythe Oxford Union Debating Society of a sched-uled virtual address by Chief Minister MamataBanerjee.

A furious Trinamool leadership subse-quently told the newsmen that the move to post-pone the virtual address in the final moment“unprecedented”...

A senior leader said “A programme plannedmonths ahead was cancelled a few minutesbefore the event was scheduled to start. This isnot the first time that such a thing has happened.Earlier, too, her programmes at internationalfora and foreign visits have been cancelled at theeleventh hour. All sorts of pressure wereapplied from the highest level to stop MamataBanerjee's address. We condemn such politics.”

Banerjee was would become the firstIndian woman Chief Minister to address the“The Oxford Union Debate” had her pro-gramme was not cancelled. The organizers can-celled the programme at 1.50 pm just about anhour before it was scheduled to take place say-ing that “nothing prevails over circumstancessometimes.”

Bengal Home Department subsequentlytweeted: “Today afternoon, the organisers havesuddenly sought postponement and resched-uling of the programme at the last moment!”adding “The request has been made telephon-

ically from the organizers” end, citing someunforeseen problems, a brief while ago. The pro-gramme with Oxford Union today stands can-celled.”

“I sincerely hope that the Hon'ble ChiefMinister will understand and might honour uswith her esteemed presence at the earliest pos-sible convenience to you. With your permission,I will pass your details onto my successor, towhom I hand over this Friday,” an e-mail apol-ogy said.

Founded in 1823, the Oxford Union hashosted top world leaders as speakers, includingUS presidents Richard Nixon and RonaldRegan, British Prime Ministers WinstonChurchill and Margaret Thatcher, physicistAlbert Einstein and spiritual leader the DalaiLama. Banerjee was expected to speak on a hostof issues like her Government’s popular schemeslike Kanyashree, Sabuj Saathi, Swasthya Saathi,Krishak Bandhu, Duarey Bangla etc that hadearned worldwide acclaim and awards for theState Government in the past few years.

Incidentally in a similar development in2018 drawing criticism from the opposition par-ties including the TMC when Banerjee’s pre-scheduled programme to mark SwamiVivekananda's birth anniversary at Chicago, herscheduled visit to China and her address at StStephen's collegein New Delhi werecancelled. PNS

Kolkata: Senior Bengal Minister Firhad Hakimbecame the second human volunteer to take partin the third phase of corona vaccine trial that wasorganized at the National Institute of Cholera andEnteric Diseases or Niced in Kolkata. He was pre-ceded in the trial by one Biplab Jash.

Hakim reported no complaint saying “I am fineand there is no complication,” adding he was readyto sacrifice his life for the cause of humanity.

“Even if I have to give my life I am ready todo so but let there be a vaccine for the teeming mil-lions,” he said. He will be observed by the doctorsfor coming one year.

Meanwhile, Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar on Wednesday once again raised theissue of rampant corruption in the use of pandemicfund by the State Government and demandedprobe into it.

“I am aware that Rs 2000 crore pandemic pur-chase has suffered a fraud and needs to be inves-tigated,” adding when this was brought to the noticeof Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee she constituteda committee.

However he said the committee itself was notbeyond question. “But I wanted to know about whowere the investigators and who were investigated,”I also want to know the fate of the investigationby the investigators who perpetrated the scam,” hesaid. There was no immediate response from theState Government. PNS

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The picture of the black rivercontaining the polluted

water from the manufacturingunit and the city is going tochange now. According to thepreparations for the proposedMagh Mela in Prayagraj fromJanuary month, purifying thewater of the Kali nadi is alsoincluded in the plan. The pol-lution control board (PCB) hasstarted monitoring the riverwater.

Even though the dirty waterof a manufacturing unit of thedistrict does not flow into theKali River, but due to the sew-erage of the unit of Aligarh,Bulandshahr, its water is pollut-ed. In January, in Prayagraj, alarge number of devotees willreach to take bath in Magh Mela.After Kannauj, the black river

flows into the Ganges. From thegovernment level, the PCB hasgot directives to somehow cleanthe stream of black river whichfalls in the Ganges. PCB has nowstarted monitoring the water ofthe Kali nadi.

Recently, thousands of fishwere found dead in the blackriver. When the PCB examinedthe water, they found that theamount of dissolved oxygenhas been reduced from a mini-mum of 5 to 2 while the amountof biological oxygen demand hasincreased from a minimum of 2to a maximum of 12.

Ram Gopal, area Officer,Pollution Control Board saidthat we have started monitoringthe water of black river and arelooking at the possibilities ofhow to purify the water and howto balance the amount of oxygenin it.

Aligarh: Investors have lostcrores of rupees due to the dis-missal of Karvy Stock BrokingCompany Limited (KBCL)licence.

In November 2019, marketregulator SEBI had stoppedthe transaction after Karvywas charged with pledgingover Rs 2,300 crore worth ofshares of 95,000 customers tolenders for 600 crore rupees.Karvy is now blacklisted. Karvytransferred a large number ofinvestors' shares to anothercompany.

Even then, shares and cashof crores of rupees from thou-sands of investors could not bereturned. On 23 November, theNational Stock Exchange (NSE)SEBI has cancelled the license.Investors are making claims inthe Investor Protection Fund through the NationalSecurities Depository Limited(NSDL). PNS

Bareilly (UP): A prominent Islamicshrine here in Bareilly has issued areligious decree banning religiousconversion by force or allurement,endorsing the Uttar Pradesh's recentordinance aimed at curbing inter-faith marriages as an alleged ploy forconversion.

Bareilly's Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat,one of the most revered shrines forthe Barelvi sect of Sunni Muslims,issued the ‘fatwa' terming theforcible and fraudulent conversionas against the tenet of Islam.

In his decree, issued on Tuesdayevening, the president of Markaz-e-Darul Ifta of Dargah-e-Ala Hazrat,Mufti Musibur Rahman Rajvi, saidin the light of Quran and ‘Shariat',religious conversion by force orallurement is illegal.

Markaz-e-Darul Ifta presidentissued the decree in response tosome posers by Rashtriya SunniUlema Council president MaulanaInterzar Ahamad Kadri on the issueof interfaith marriages and entail-ing conversion.

Kadri had asked if a Muslimman can religiously convert a non-Muslim girl after marrying her byfraud.

The Rashtriya Sunni UlemaCouncil president had also asked ifthere exists in “Shariat” (Islamiclaws) any phenomena of “lovejihad”, a derogatory coinage refer-ring to the alleged campaign ofMuslims forcing Hindu girls toconvert in the guise of love.

On the question about “lovejihad”, the fatwa said Islam has no

place for any such thing. “It is a social evil that extends

from Western civilization. Love is anEnglish word and jihad an Arabic.It is not related to each other. In theeyes of the Shariat, love jihad has nostatus,” the fatwa said.

The Darul Ifta ulema has alsosupported the ordinance brought bythe Uttar Pradesh governmentrecently against wrongful conver-sion. This fatwa has also beentrending on social media.

The Uttar Pradesh ordinance,aimed at curbing forcible or fraud-ulent religious conversions includ-ing those in the garb of marriage,had got the assent of state GovernorAnandiben Patel. It provides for ajail term up to 10 years for any vio-lations. PTI

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New Delhi: The BorderSecurity Force (BSF) celebratedits 56th Raising Day on Tuesday.Union Minister of State forHome Affairs, Nityanand Raisaid on the occasion,”The bravepersonnel of the BSF are pro-tecting the borders of the coun-try with full vigour, despitetough terrain and adverse con-ditions. Saluting the supremesacrifice and indomitable gal-lantry of BSF Jawans in the lineof duty,”

Referring to the BSF’sArtillery Wing which is cele-brating its Golden Jubilee year,the Minister of State said he isconfident that the ArtilleryWing will achieve new heightsby carrying forward its glorioushistory. Lauding the womencontingent participating in theparade Rai said that it is reas-suring to see the increasingparticipation of women powerin the security of the country.

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It brought no fresh honourupon the Union Governmentthat agitating farmers from

Punjab were left to shiver on thestreets of Delhi the night gurud-waras had been illuminated forGuru Nanak Dev Jayanti. Even asthe farmers’ agitation had been rag-ing in Punjab since September, theGovernment had been complacentabout it till it knocked the doors ofDelhi. At that time, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had not blinkedtwice before accepting the resigna-tion of Harsimrat Kaur from theCabinet. Her party, ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD), one of the old-est constituents of the NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA), quitthe ruling coalition a week later.

Whatever the parting of waysmight mean for the SAD, it couldhave serious consequences forpeace in the frontier State. TheBJP’s diminished clout in Punjabcontrasts with its firm grip at theCentre. Also, expanding footprintsacross India might actually drivethe Sikh-majority state into an iso-lationist mindset. The BJP-SADpartnership, according to the lateArun Jaitley, was as much a socialalliance as it was political. Theircoming together in the mid-1990swas an apt postscript to the end ofthe insurgency in Punjab.Moreover, the SAD’s support basewas among rural Jat Sikh agricul-turists while the urban Hindumiddle-class made up the BJP’sconstituency. So the breakup mighttrigger polarisation, with nefariouselements waiting in the wings torevive militancy in the state. Thiswill be the last thing the BJPwants in a State where Hindus arein a minority.

The Modi Government has noSikh face, barring Hardeep SinghPuri, who is a diplomat, rather thana politician by grooming, and helost the Amritsar seat in the 2019Lok Sabha election. The council ofministers is lacking even the orna-mental presence of S.S. Ahluwalia,BJP MP from West Bengal, thoughhe never represented Sikh votes.The saffron party had earlier lostNavjyot Singh Sidhu to theCongress.

The Government might havethe best interest of farmers in itsheart while enacting the new agri-cultural laws but reforms in theagricultural marketing sector werelong overdue to make farmingremunerative. While there was nobar on selling agriculture produce

in the open market, outside theMSP regime, or on items notprocured by the Government,even before the new laws wereenacted, there was no commer-cial and legal architecture for it.Sadly, the Government felt thatconsensus-building was redun-dant. The laws, enacted duringthe Monsoon Session, had orig-inally been rushed through theOrdinance route on June 5. It isunclear whether there were evenminimal consultations with theState Governments (agriculturebeing a State subject under theSeventh Schedule of theConstitution), farmers’ associa-tions and other stakeholders.Even the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh(BKS), a front organisation of theRSS, is unhappy with the way theGovernment dealt with the issue.Mohini Mohan Mishra, the BKSAll India Secretary, recentlystated that nearly 25,000 farm-ers had sent a proposal to thePrime Minister.

There’s no doubt that thelaws have been made for thetraders and would eventuallybenefit them. This is akin towhat Rabindranath Tagore,speaking of the British rulewedded to the idea of progress,observed: “They are not unwill-ing to do a favour but don’t wishto come close. They wouldrather feel relieved if they canhastily beat retreat after doingthe favour…they don’t do mercy,they do a favour, they do not lovebut protect; do not respect buttry to act fairly; they do not irri-gate the land, though neverungenerous in sowing abundantquantity of seeds” (Raja-Praja,P.4-5). His remarks appeartelling today. The Government’scavalier attitude that “we knowwhat’s good for you” vis-à-vis the

farmers has clearly run intoproblems. Even if the VigyanBhawan talks break the ice, theGovernment would have final-ly realised that to act in haste andrepent in leisure is not a goodpolicy.

The critics of the farmers’agitation, active on social media,

have been quick to dub thefarmers as supporters ofKhalistan. Fake photos werealso circulated on the digitalspace. The question is what dothey propose to do even if theyare Khalistan sympathisers?Would they like to send theArmy to quell them? Can theBJP Government afford to burnits bridges in Punjab? Do theyhave a strong constituency oftheir own or friends to rely uponif the agrarian crisis, god forbid,deepens into a social crisis?

The unsympathetic attitudeof slandering democratic gov-ernments of the past for farm-ers’ woes must stop. When aGovernment tries to de-legit-imise the Opposition or viceversa, forces inimical to democ-racy and peace (like theKhalistanis, for instance) takeover. Punjab has profited fromthe dam-building policies byJawaharlal Nehru, FoodCorporation of India (FCI) pro-curement by Lal Bahadur Shastriand the Green Revolution byIndira Gandhi. The right waythe Modi Government canpackage its agriculture policy isby saying that it wants to take thestory forward through mea-sures long overdue.

Fortunately, the BJP did nothave to fight the Khalistaniinsurgency in the State in the1980s and early 1990s. It wasfought mostly by the CongressGovernment, even though it waspartly responsible for its rise andmomentum. In the 1980s,Khalistanis gained by projectingthe post-Green Revolutionagrarian problems in Punjabalong communal lines. At thattime, the Congress, which wasin as strong a position acrossIndia as the BJP is today, was

projected as a Hindu fascistparty. The Hindus of Punjabbecame the first targets ofKhalistani violence. This issomething that all parties,including the BJP, have avoidedrecalling in public for fear ofopening old wounds. Traces ofKhalistani elements, there is nogainsaying, are still active inPunjab. They are likely to exploitfor their evil agenda any unsym-pathetic attitude of theGovernment towards the farm-ers, the bulk of whom are Sikhs.The farmers of Punjab have sofar rightly avoided communal-ising the current issue unlikethey did so in the 80s. In fact,when their agitation took off inmid-September, it was bothagainst the Centre as well as theState, where the Congress is cur-rently in power. Apart fromrolling back the farm bills, theyalso wanted loan waiver fromthe State Government. However,in the last two months, theCongress has been able to gar-ner the farmers’ sympathies.

In politics, sentiments mat-ter as much as policy. Way backin March, 1783, a Sikh force ledby Baba Baghel Singh and JassaSingh Alhuwalia had attackedMughal Delhi to hoist the trian-gular saffron flag at Red Fort. Atroop of 30,000 Nihang Sikhsencamped at a place nearby,which later came to be knownas Tis Hazari. The farmers ofPunjab have beaten their swordsin ploughshares and spears intopruning hooks. Nothing must bedone to wake up the sleepingdemons of the 1780s or the1980s.

(The writer is an author andindependent researcher based inNew Delhi. Views are personal.)

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������������ ���Sir — The recent trilateralmeeting between India, SriLanka and Maldives led to a his-torical decision on expandingthe scope of intelligence shar-ing to arrest terrorism and beefup cybersecurity. This could seta precedent of self-reliance,security, unity and trust in theworld of South-Asian geo-pol-itics. It will help India gain dom-inance in the sub-continent.With last week’s agreementsbetween India and Bahrain toenhance technology, securityand IT, it can be assumed thatIndia is stepping up efforts todraw neighbouring countriescloser. This way, India can playan important role in ensuringAsian unity and world peace.

Sunil ChilwalHaldwani

������������Sir —Any attempt by any alter-nate science to come at par withWestern medicine will alwaysbe suppressed and theWesterners will continue toensure their dominance in thisfield. Yet their science is just 200years old, much younger thanour age-old Ayurveda. But oursis a more holistic system of

treatment with Sushruta per-forming surgeries well ahead ofour times. So is there logic innot allowing post-graduateAyurveda practitioners fromperforming general surgeries asadvocated by the Centre?

Of course, it is well knownthat Kshar-Sootra has receivedsupport from eminent proctol-ogists as the most effectivetreatment for haemorrhoids

and anal fistula. PrasootiTantra, too, has helped in eas-ing gynaecological problems.But that does not mean that wecan open up general surgeriesto vaids. Given the quality ofinstruction and in the absenceof a regulatory code guiding alltraditional medicine institu-tions, its practitioners may notbe equipped to conduct surg-eries at this point. Even minor

procedures need to be clearedonly after meeting modernstandards of efficacy.

Jai Prakash GuptaAmbala Cantt

�������������������Sir — UK’s approval of thePfizer-BioNTech COVID-19vaccine gives hope that we maysoon be able to fight the pan-demic but there are concerns.

About 100 drug developmentteams worldwide are racing todevelop vaccines to distributethem on a large scale. Amidthis, Pfizer said that its trialsshowed more than 90 per centefficacy. While this is a reasonto cheer, there are also concernsbecause it needs to be stored atsub-zero temperatures — alogistical nightmare for Indiawith few ultra-cold freezersand a huge population. The newtwo-shot vaccine from Pfizerhas to be maintained at minus80°C. Nowhere on the planetdoes the logistical capacity existto distribute vaccines at thistemperature. Although vaccinescould prove to be a game-changer for the pandemic,wealthy nations have alreadybought up more than half thefuture supply. India has beenscrambling to secure 500 mil-lion doses by July from manu-facturers, in addition to devel-oping its own Covaxin. Indiaalso plans to manufacture up to200 million doses of candidatevaccines from AstraZeneca andNovavax next year.

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

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It is an unfortunate fact that breathing cleanair, the most basic of human needs for sur-vival, has become a luxury for many around

the globe, and particularly in India, which hous-es 22 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world.Looking at the severity of the problem of air pol-lution and its consequences on the health of mil-lions of people, animals and plants worldwide,dirty air is now being seen as one of the most seri-ous hazards.

Ever since the issue of deteriorating air qual-ity has been highlighted and documented, therehave been growing concerns over its economicaspects, in terms of investments, technologydevelopment and the cost benefits of handlingair pollution. This relationship between environ-mental degradation and economic needs has beenthe object of constant debate among environmen-tal economists. During the last two decades, thisdebate has raised several questions about attain-ing sustainability by normalising environmen-tal management and economic growth with theparticipation of inhabitants on the same scale.

Peripheral effects or externalities are one ofthe most basic concepts evoked by economistswhile looking at problems of environmental pol-lution. In economics, an externality is an impor-tant cause for market failure that arises when theproduction or consumption activities of anindividual or a firm influence the well-being ofbystanders. For instance, smoking a cigarette ina public place, an open kitchen in a hotel, or usingconventional wood/coal-fired cooking stoves inrural households are considered to create a neg-ative impact on the people in the vicinity.

Air pollution is essentially a negative exter-nality as it imposes costs on people who are exter-nal to the transaction of a polluting product.While sustainability focusses on integratingeconomic activity with environmental protectionand social problems, it is obvious that econom-ic development, which ignores environmentaland social impacts, could generate undesirableconsequences on sustainability trends.

There is a general agreement that we mustprevent pollution of our natural resources like air,water and land. On the contrary, there are con-siderable disputes over how controls should bedesigned and how much control is needed. Fromthe Indian perspective, the pollution control lawsand mechanisms adopted four decades ago in1981 got amended over time. They tended to leantowards detailed regulation of technology, leav-ing polluters little choice in methods to achieveenvironmental goals. However, a rapid econom-ic and social change challenge policy design andimplementation. The need of the hour is to lookfor innovative solutions to avoid pollutionrather than focussing on its control only.Addressing the root cause is the most probablesolution left to us. India needs to strengthen itscapacity, both ideologically and practically,through governmental actions and citizen par-ticipation. This would support economic devel-opment, promote the industrial set-up andresult in employment generation.

Thus, understanding the severity of air pol-lution and its associated impacts, the Governmentof India released its strategic action plan theNational Clean Air Programme (NCAP) inJanuary 2019. It clearly elucidates that the tech-nological drawbacks and limitations in expertiseare considered as a major hindrance in achiev-ing our environmental obligations. Thus, swift

technology transfer mechanisms andeffective capacity-building are the wayforward for any collaboration inaddressing persisting environmentalissues.“An ounce of prevention is wortha pound of cure”, said Sir BenjaminFranklin. The importance of curbing airpollution activities over reduction mea-sures cannot be stressed enough. It isthe most effective and economically-feasible option for the long-term.

Along with environmental benefits,pollution prevention practices coulddirectly improve the nation’s well-being by providing a cleaner environ-ment, which in turn increases produc-tivity and the effective use of resources.Hence, in order to meet both econom-ic growth and environmental protectionsimultaneously, it is necessary to widenthe gap between emissions and eco-nomic output with judicious resourceutilisation.

As cost-effective emission controlhas been in focus for decades in inter-national air pollution regulations, thebalance between market-based policiesfor prevention of air quality deteriora-tion and economics of contaminationreduction is expected to play a signif-icant role in India’s economic road map,which aims to achieve the $5 trillion-mark by 2025. The experiences fromdeveloped nations have to be replicat-ed in terms of India’s existing dismal airquality scenario, which includes tech-nologies and mechanisms with short,medium and long-term effects andgoals.

Emissions from the industrial andconstruction sectors are considered asmajor sources of particulate matter pol-lution in India, while the NOx (nitro-gen oxide) emissions are majorly con-

tributed by the transport and powergeneration sector. Thus pollution pre-vention needs to be initiated from thesesectors as the first step towards cleanair. With thoughts of shifting from coal-based energy to natural gas, the tran-sition could provide a long-term answerto climate change with a significantdecrease in CO2 and other air qualitybenefits. But the cost of technologicaldevelopment along with the implemen-tation and industrial acceptance sce-nario needs to be accounted for.

In India, natural gas formed about5.6 per cent of the country’s total ener-gy supply in 2018. The deployment ofa large-scale fuel switch from coal tonatural gas is influenced by various fac-tors viz. switching demand and supplyconstraints, infrastructure, technologyadaptability, high upfront costs and skillcapacity. On the other hand, the recentintroduction of the Faster Adoption andManufacturing of Electric Vehicles(FAME-II) policy, along with BharatStage Emission Standards (BS-VI) ontechnology and fuels, emphasises theGovernment’s efforts in curbing pollu-tants associated with the transportsector.

Moreover, subsidies in the purchasecost of electric vehicles (EVs) wouldincrease cost-effectiveness and accep-tance among people, which would bea huge step for the transport sector.

On the same lines, the PradhanMantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) aimsto provide 100 per cent LiquefiedPetroleum Gas (LPG) access to allhouseholds in India to alleviate the direimpacts of biomass/firewood use forcooking. The need of the hour is theeffective management of the cropresidue, burning of which by farmers

has been a nuisance for some time now.TERI suggests an effective crop residuebusiness model, which emphasises thedecentralised use of biomass at the vil-lage and industry level. It creates aneffective strategy for creating jobsalong with crop stubble management.

The emergence of novel technolo-gies curbing emissions has proven to bean effective tool in stimulating invest-ments in clean energy technology at thesource. Economic models project thatthe introduction of such measures atsource would result in job losses insome sectors (fossil fuel) and job cre-ation in others (renewable energy andso on). In the long-run, such environ-mental policies will favour the econo-my as they will stimulate more efficientuse of resources and result in healthbenefits.

Reducing emissions is a wise, long-term investment that contributes to sev-eral development goals and ultimatelywill yield substantial benefits.Increasing urbanisation and econom-ic development activities along with alack of effective implementation arefuelling air pollution problems.Addressing the issue of a deterioratingair quality requires multi-level partner-ships, incorporating the Government,the private sector, the industry, acade-mia, research institutes, the civil soci-ety and associations with more cohe-sive efforts. The allocation of �460 crorefor pollution-control schemes under theUnion Budget needs to be smartlyinvested with equal emphasis onincreasing public awareness and tech-nology infrastructure.

(Iyer is Fellow, Kamaraju isAssociate Fellow and Emmanuel isResearch Associate, TERI)

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Amid the Coronavirus pandem-ic, the recent Indo-US 2+2Dialogue between US Secretary

of State Mike Pompeo, Secretary ofDefence Mark Esper and their Indiancounterparts, Foreign Minister SJaishankar and Defence MinisterRajnath Singh, has provided a much-needed impetus to a new roadmap indealing with myriad security concernsand challenges posed by the overex-pansionist Chinese mission. Duringthe dialogue, India and the US signedfive agreements, including the BasicExchange and Cooperation Agreement(BECA) that will allow for real-time

sharing of geospatial data. Besides,issues of global cooperation in the eco-nomic arena and public health alongwith the border security apparatus andgeospatial information sharing remaina vital part of the pact.

This would certainly provide ahuge platform for future Indo-US tiesthrough diplomatic endeavours and bethe beginning of a new era of defencedeals. Although it is the third 2+2Dialogue, it holds more importance asthe BECA would enhance the chancesof sharing information with regard toinner-satellite data, military and intel-ligence along with logistics facilities.This is vital as the rising tentacles ofChinese expansionism have raisedserious concerns about the safety of theentire region. In fact, the Quad Group,comprising India, Australia, Japanand the US, recently held a joint navalexercise to counter the threat posed byChina and to ensure security in theIndo-Pacific region.

The BECA would be helpful indeveloping international cooperationfor fighting trans-national terrorism.

According to analysts, it is a welcomedevelopment as it would provide a plat-form for multi-layered security coop-eration that would deal with variousother issues related to terrorism. Rightfrom funding of terrorist activities,policing cooperation, dealing withcyber threats, secrecy through enhanc-ing technological innovations andtightening the border to maritimesecurity information-gathering exer-cise. Cooperation and coordination inaggrandisement of communicationcapabilities and management of secu-rity arrangements to deal with any kindof threat are the main objectives of thepact. The catch here lies in how to gen-erate prudence to anticipate a possiblethreat from religiously-motivatedbands of distraught people.

There would also be chances ofincreased cooperation under theCommunication Compatibility andSecurity Agreement (COMCASA)between the security and defenceestablishments of the two largestdemocracies of the world. However,there has been a paradigm shift in the

foreign policy outlook of nations.Countries have become more pragmat-ic in dealing with others and have start-ed building one-to-one relationships.Therefore, the apprehensions of hav-ing an adverse impact on ties witheither Russia, Iran or China are notgoing to have a place in strategic pol-icy formulation in the present scenario.

Another important area, whichrequires immediate attention andcooperation, is developing a mecha-nism to deal with the chemicalweapons in possession of the newbreed of terrorists. Chemical weaponsare not easily detectable and hence areeasily transportable, as compared toconventional arms. International coop-eration in terms of forming strict lawsand regulations that prevent the acqui-sition of such weapons can provide astrategic management in dealing withterror.

The cooperation between Indiaand the US may also develop a fool-proof mechanism to put an end to theaccessibility of RDX, ErythritolTetranitrate (Penta) and sophisticat-

ed weapons like AK-56 and AK-47assault rifles. Plus, cooperation inpolicing while dealing with the men-ace of drug trafficking will provide astrong mechanism to crack the nexusbetween terrorists and drug dealers inPakistan, Afghanistan, Laos and so on.

However, the main challenge willbe how to frame a strategy to deal withreligiously-motivated terrorists. It iscommendable that the US security andintelligence network could control fur-ther terrorist attacks after September11. India can learn a lesson or two fromthis. Unless we develop a high-levelintelligence network to anticipate suchthreats, the talk of combating strate-gies would only remain a chimera.

During the last two decades, theobnoxious nexus between drug smug-glers and terrorists has posed a seri-ous problem for internal security net-works and compelled various nationsto organise themselves and wage arelentless war against this. But mereimplementation of vigorous drug lawscannot be effective unless the judicialprocedure is modified to ensure speedy

trials. This agreement is an opportu-nity to nip Pakistan’s trouble-makingtactics and the narco-terror it isspreading in the region, as well as curbChina’s expansionist plans.

There is a major transnationaltransition on account of a rapidlychanging value system across theglobe as well as a shift in world-levelpower sharing. Slowly, the old order isgiving way to the new. The recentdevelopments and terror attacks in dif-ferent parts of the globe offer a fewlessons: First, no authority can affordto ignore the popular aspirations of themasses anymore. Change and unrestare inevitable if the demands of peo-ple are not met.

The process of a new threat trans-formation has just begun. Therefore,the present initiative by theGovernments of the US and Indiawould provide a new framework ofsecurity-related information sharingand more chances of confidence build-ing for a better future.

(The writer is a Professor of PoliticalScience)

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Warsaw (Poland): KarolinaMicula had used her bare chestin political protest once before.

When Poland’s right-winggovernment first tried to restrictabortion rights, the actress andsinger delivered an intense per-formance onstage in Wroclawin 2017 that included herspreading paint in the nation-al colors — white and red —onto her breasts and face, end-ing with a fist raised high.

When the authorities triedagain to impose a near-totalban on abortion in October thisyear, Micula, along with afriend, again stripped to herwaist and stood on top of a carat a busy Warsaw intersectionduring a protest, holding aflare high and giving the mid-dle finger.

“A woman’s body is a placeof political battle,” the 32-year-old said from her Warsawapartment in an interview.

“My gesture meant that I

will do with my body whatev-er I want to do with it. If I wantto stand naked in front of peo-ple, I will do it, because it’s mychoice.” AP

Hong Kong: Hong Kong pro-democracy activists JoshuaWong, Agnes Chow and IvanLam were sentenced to jail onWednesday on charges relatedto an unauthorised anti-gov-ernment protest last year at thecity’s police headquarters.

Wong, who pleaded guiltyto organizing and participat-ing in the protest, received 131/2 months behind bars.Chow, who also pleaded guiltyto participating in the protestand inciting others to takepart, received 10 months,while Lam received 7 monthsafter pleading guilty to incite-ment.

The protest took place onJune 21 last year, and sawthousands surround the policeheadquarters as they demon-strated against excessive forceby police against protesters, aswell as a now-withdrawn extra-dition bill that would haveallowed suspects to be extra-dited to mainland China.

The trio were members ofthe now-defunct politicalgroup Demosisto. It is the firsttime that Chow, 23, has beengiven a jail sentence. Wong, 24,and Lam, 26, had previouslybeen jailed over charges relat-ed to their activism.

Their jailing comes asBeijing tightens control overthe semi-autonomous city fol-lowing months of anti-gov-ernment protests last year,which occasionally saw violentclashes between protesters andpolice. AP

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Washington: US President-elect Joe Biden has said that hewon’t immediately lift tariffsplaced by President DonaldTrump on many imports fromChina or break Trump’s initialtrade deal.

Biden says he wants tomaximise his leverage in futuretalks with the United States’geopolitical rival.

Speaking to New YorkTimes columnist ThomasFriedman, Biden said, “I’m notgoing to make any immediatemoves, and the same applies tothe tariffs.” Biden adds inFriedman’s column publishedWednesday: “I’m not going toprejudice my options.”

Under Trump, the U.S.And China engaged in a year-long trade war that has beenlargely frozen since a PhaseOne deal was reached inJanuary. While some industrieshave benefited from Trump’sprotectionist policies, the poli-cies have been largely pannedby the business communityand most experts — and mostof the cost of tariffs has beenborne by American businessesand consumers.

Biden tells Friedman anearly priority after his Januaryswearing-in will be to restorerelationships with allies tostrengthen his negotiating posi-tion with China. AP

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Washington: Ron Klain haschecked all the boxes of a clas-sic Washington striver :Georgetown, Harvard Law,Supreme Court clerk andCapitol Hill staffer, WhiteHouse adviser and, along theway, of course, lobbyist andlawyer.

Now he is preparing toserve as President-elect JoeBiden’s chief of staff, a job oftenreferred to as the nation’s chiefoperating officer.

His gilded resume, deepknowledge of the gears and

levers of power in the capitaland decadeslong associationwith Biden have also donesomething unusual in today’sWashington: drawn praise fromboth sides of the ideologicaldivide.

The 59-year-old father ofthree has a reputation amongDemocrats and, strikingly, evensome Republicans for compe-tence - a notable attribute afteran administration that reward-ed and dismissed people basedon their loyalty to PresidentDonald Trump. AP

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Washington: DisputingPresident Donald Trump’s per-sistent, baseless claims,Attorney General William Barrdeclared the US JusticeDepartment has uncovered noevidence of widespread voterfraud that could change theoutcome of the 2020 election.

Barr’s comments, in aninterview Tuesday with theThe Associated Press, contra-dict the concerted effort byTrump, his boss, to subvert theresults of last month’s votingand block President-elect JoeBiden from taking his place inthe White House.

Barr told the AP that USattorneys and FBI agents havebeen working to follow upspecific complaints and infor-mation they’ve received, but “todate, we have not seen fraud ona scale that could have effect-ed a different outcome in theelection.” AP

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Copenhagen: A Hong Kongpro-democracy activist who isvisiting Denmark urgedEuropean nations onWednesday to allow protestersin Hong Kong “a safe havenfrom the terror” of China’sCommunist Party.

“The situation in HongKong is getting worse by the dayand it is important that theworld knows that Hong Kongis no longer a free city,” Ted Huisaid in an email to TheAssociated Press.

Britain has extended resi-dency rights for up to 3 millionHong Kongers eligible forBritish National Overseas pass-ports, allowing them to live andwork there for five years.

Britain also has followed

the United States, Australiaand Canada in suspendingextradition agreements withHong Kong, a city of 7.5 mil-lion people which became aspecial administrative region ofChina in 1997 after Britainreturned control of the territo-ry to Beijing, which promisedit autonomy over local affairsfor 50 years.

Hui arrived in Denmark onTuesday “to change the Danishgovernment’s stance,” accordingto Thomas Rohden, chairmanof the Danish China CriticalSociety, which organized histrip. A former lawmaker, Huiwas able to get his passport backfrom the government and a visaafter receiving an invitationfrom Danish lawmakers. AP

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Iran’s President HassanRouhani on Wednesday

rejected a bill approved byparliament that would havesuspended UN inspections andboosted uranium enrichment,saying it was “harmful” todiplomatic efforts aimed atrestoring the 2015 nuclear dealand easing US sanctions.

The tug-of-war over thebill, which gained momentumafter the killing of a prominentIranian nuclear scientist lastmonth, reflects the rivalrybetween Rouhani, a relativemoderate, and hard-line law-makers who dominate parlia-ment and favour a more con-frontational approach to theWest.

The bill would have sus-

pended UN inspections andrequired the government toresume enriching uranium to20 per cent if European nationsfail to provide relief from crip-pling U.S. Sanctions on thecountry’s oil and banking sec-tors. That level falls short of thethreshold needed for nuclearweapons but is higher than thatrequired for civilian purposes.

Speaking at a Cabinetmeeting, Rouhani said hisadministration, “does not agreewith that and considers itharmful for the trend of diplo-matic activities.” He implied thelawmakers were positioningthemselves ahead of electionsplanned for June.

He added that “today, weare more powerful in thenuclear field than at any othertime.”

Beijing: China on Wednesdayrejected US accusations it isweakening its enforcement ofUN sanctions against NorthKorea, but said more efforts areneeded toward reaching a polit-ical settlement and greaterattention should be paid to theimpact of the sanctions onordinary North Koreans.

Foreign ministry spokesper-son Hua Chunying wasresponding to comments by theState Department’s deputy envoyfor North Korean affairs, AlexWong, in which he said Chinawas no longer even attemptingto enforce many of the sanctions,including a requirement to expelNorth Korean contract workers.

“The Chinese governmentincreasingly allows its compa-nies to conduct trade withNorth Korea in a broad spec-trum of UN-prohibited goods,”

Wong said at a seminar inWashington on Tuesday.

Chinese and NorthKorean-flagged ships also reg-ularly transport coal, a keyNorth Korean export coveredby sanctions, Wong said.

Hua told reporters at adaily briefing that, as a perma-nent member of the SecurityCouncil and “a responsible bigpower, China has alwaysearnestly implemented SecurityCouncil resolutions and fulfilledits international obligations.”

“Under the current situa-tion, all parties should spendmore time and energy to pro-mote the political settlementprocess of the peninsula issueand pay more attention to thenegative impact of sanctionson the (North Korean) popu-lation and their livelihood,”Hua said. AP

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New York: In a major move,the South Korean parliamenthas passed a bill allowing musicsensation BTS and other musi-cians to postpone their manda-tory military service until theage of 30.

As per the South Koreanlaws, all able-bodied SouthKorean men, aged between 18and 28, are required to serve inthe military for about twoyears, reported New YorkTimes.

Two of the members of thegroup, Jin and Suga, will soonturn 28 and their with thegroup was under threat. PTI

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Islamabad: Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan onWednesday said that his gov-ernment would work on a pri-ority basis to grant the provi-sional provincial status to GilgitBaltistan, according to a mediareport.

His remarks came after hearrived in the disputed regionto attend the oath-taking cer-emony of the 14-member GilgitBaltistan Cabinet.

“What will the new gov-ernment do? First, we willwork on granting the regionprovisional provincial status sothat the prevailing sense ofdeprivation [among the peo-ple] can be eradicated,” Dawnnewspaper quoted Khan assaying. PTI

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Islamabad: A Pakistani courton Wednesday declared NawazSharif a proclaimed offenderafter the former premier failedto appear before it despiterepeated summons served inconnection with two corrup-tion cases.

The two-member benchof the Islamabad High Court(IHC) comprising JusticeAamer Farooq and JusticeMohsin Akhtar Kayani heardthe case about Sharif ’s appealsagainst convictions in the Al-Azizia and Avenfield cases.

The court said that noticeswould also be issued to thesureties of Sharif to show thecause for their failure to pro-duce him as per the orders ofthe court. The court wasinformed by officials of theForeign Office and InteriorMinistry that Sharif was dulyinformed about the summonsof the court both in London,where he was living, and hisresidence in Lahore. PTI

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New Delhi:The Centre is work-ing on major interventions toposition India as a global hubin the manmade fibre andtechnical textiles segments,including setting up five inte-grated mega textiles parks, astate-of-the-art world class test-ing lab and bringing a FocusedProduct Scheme, a top officialsaid on Wednesday.

Emphasising that Indiamust explore the USD 150 bil-lion global manmade fibre(MMF) market, TextilesSecretary Ravi Capoor alsosaid he is in talks with theDepartment of HigherEducation for introduction ofcourses in universities andtechnical institutions like engi-neering colleges for creation ofspecialised manpower in theMMF and technical textilessegments.

Addressing a CII confer-ence virtually, Capoor said anevaluation study led by NitiAayog on the TechnologyUpgradation Fund Scheme(TUFS) of the textiles ministryhas revealed that Rs 13,000crore worth machinery was

being imported by India andthe country has reached

nowhere in terms of tech-nology upgradation except inthe spinning segment.

He said the government isalso willing to offer capitalinvestment subsidy for settingup machine manufacturingplants to textile industry play-ers interested in forging jointventures, provided the foreignpartner agrees to supplymachines to domestic firms ata particular price.

“We want to make India avery strong base for technicaltextiles,” Capoor said, addingthat a Focused Product Schemeoffering production-linkedincentives was “almost ready”and will lay special emphasis onthe MMF and technical textilessegments. He said the ministrywas in a “very advanced stageof encouraging some megatextile parks”, starting withabout five such parks withintegrated facilities and quickturnaround time for minimis-ing transportation losses, eye-ing big ticket investments in thesector. PTI

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The BSE Sensex slipped fromrecord highs to end mar-

ginally lower on Wednesdaywhile the Nifty edged up to afresh closing record amid prof-it-booking in financial stocksand muted global cues.

After touching a low of44,169.97 during the session,the 30-share Sensex pared mostlosses to finish at 44,618.04,down 37.40 points or 0.08 percent.

The broader NSE Niftyedged higher by 4.70 points or0.04 per cent to end at its freshclosing record of 13,113.75.

Banking and finance stocksbore the brunt of profit sellingahead of the RBI policyannouncement this week.Kotak Bank was the top loseramong Sensex stocks, droppingby 3.28 per cent.

HDFC Bank declined by1.86 per cent, HDFC by 1.28per cent and ICICI Bank by0.99 per cent. SBI fell 0.5 percent while Bajaj Finance shed0.72 per cent.

Larsen & Toubro dropped0.16 per cent. On the otherhand, ONGC rose the most by

4.11 per cent, followed byAsian Paints (3.74 per cent) andTitan (3.48 per cent). Autostocks gained after the compa-nies reported sales growth inthe domestic market inNovember, aided by robustofftake amid the festival season.

New Delhi:India’s sugar pro-duction jumped over two foldat 42.9 lakh tonnes duringOctober-November owing toearly start of mills this season,according to industry bodyISMA. Sugar marketing yearruns from October toSeptember. According to thedata, the country’s sugar pro-duction stood at 42.9 lakhtonnes during October-November period of 2020-21marketing year as against 20.72lakh tonnes in the year-agoperiod. The association attrib-uted the rise in production toearly start of sugarcane crush-ing this season. “The produc-tion trend in the current sea-son so far, appears to be moreor less similar to 2018-19 sugarseason when 418 sugar millshad produced 40.69 lac tons ofsugar, as on 30th November,2018, except that the diversionof cane juice and B-molassesthis season to ethanol will bemuch more, resulting in a netreduction of around 20 lakhtons of sugar,” ISMA said. PTI

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The Indian economy is com-ing out of the pandemic-

induced degrowth and GDPgrowth will enter the positiveterritory in the fourth quarterof this fiscal, Niti Aayog ViceChairman Rajiv Kumar said onWednesday.

In an interview to PTI,Kumar also said the Centre’snew agriculture reform laws areaimed at increasing the incomeof farmers and the present agi-tation was a result of misun-derstanding and miscommu-nication which need to beremoved.

“The second quarter GDP

figure (contraction of 7.5 percent) reflects that the economyis coming out of this pandem-ic-induced degrowth phaseand my expectation is that inthe third quarter, we willachieve the same level of eco-nomic activity as the year-agoperiod.

“And the fourth quarterwill show a small but positivegrowth over the previous yearbecause the government has...Ushered in many structuralreforms and some more are inthe pipeline,” he said.

Stating that all thosereforms will provide a verystrong foundation for acceler-ating the economic growth in

the fiscal year 2021-22 andbeyond, Kumar said,”we havenow shrugged off the negativeimpact of the pandemic and aremoving towards a sustainedhigh growth trajectory in thecoming years”.

About India’s growthfigure in the current fiscalyear, he said it will be betterthan negative 9 or 10 per cent,as has been forecast by many,including the RBI.

Kumar noted that theCOVID-19 pandemic had anunprecedented negative impacton economic activities but thiswas completely in the nature ofa natural disaster and not relat-ed to the regular economic

cycle.“Therefore, it is quite

irrelevant to talk about theeconomy being in a technicalrecession,” he emphasised.

On better than expectedmanufacturing growth of 0.6per cent in the second quarterof 2020-21, Kumar said this hascome as a pleasant surprise.

“But there is a base effectbut nonetheless, it is alsoendorsed by the higher collec-tion of GST in the last threemonths,” he said, adding thatthe manufacturing sector willcontinue to do well in thethird quarter because of the fes-tival demand and the pent-updemand.

India’s economy recoveredfaster than expected in theSeptember quarter as a pick-upin manufacturing helped GDPclock a lower contraction of 7.5per cent and held out hopes for

further improvement on betterconsumer demand.

The Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) had shrunk bya massive 23.9 per cent in thefirst quarter of the current fis-cal as the COVID-19 lockdownpummelled economic activity.

The second straight quar-ter of contraction pushed Indiainto a technical recession forthe first time.

The Reserve Bank of Indiahas projected the Indian econ-omy to contract 9.5 per cent inthe current fiscal while theInternational Monetary Fund(IMF) and World Bank esti-mates contraction at 10.3 percent and 9.6 per cent, respec-

tively. Replying to a question onprotests by farmers, mainlyfrom Punjab and Haryana,against the Centre’s agriculturereform laws, Kumar said thereis a need to recognise that thenew farm laws have been wellreceived all over the country.

“The three farm laws wereclearly intended to improvefarmers’ ability to increase theirincome and they give greaterfreedom and liberty to sell,where they like and to whomthey like. “... The present agi-tation is most likely a result ofmiscommunication and somemisunderstanding which needto be removed,” he opined.

Asked whether the gov-

ernment is still confident ofdoubling farm income by 2022,Kumar said, “all efforts of thegovernment are in that direc-tion and we will see how far wewill be to achieve this target”.

Talks between the Centreand agitating farmer unionsremained inconclusive onTuesday. The two sides willnow meet again on Thursdaywhile support from more quar-ters poured in for thousands offarmers camping at Delhi bor-ders.The farmer unions reject-ed the government’s offer to setup a committee to look into theissues raised by them and saidthey will intensify their stiruntil their demands are met.

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The country’s exportsdeclined by 17.84 per cent

during April-November thisfiscal while imports contract-ed by 33.56 per cent in thesame period, CommerceSecretary Anup Wadhawansaid on Wednesday.

He said that the tradedeficit has come down.

“In 2020-21, April toNovember, there has been adecline of 17.84 per cent in ourexports...If we exclude gemsand jewellery and petroleum,then the declline is lower....Inthe sectors where economicactivity is more meaningful interms of value addition, therethe decline is much lower,” hesaid at the Board of Trademeeting.

The secretary said thatexport sectors which did wellduring the eight months peri-od include pharma, which grewby 15 per cent, rice (39 percent), and iron ore (62 percent).

Speaking at the occasion,Commerce and IndustryMinister Piyush Goyal saidthat going forward, there is

every possibility to achieveexport target of a trillion-dol-lar by 2025.

“The country is rebound-ing in a very rapid recoveryphase. Industry has becomemore resilient, internationalglobal supply chains are look-ing up to India to provide ananchor for transparent andmore open economies toengage with,” he said.

Different arms of the gov-ernment have been working toidentify and support specificsectors where India has advan-tages, he said.

“We have identified 24industry sectors, which webelieve, can add Rs 20 lakhcrore of annual productionmanufacturing in India...Iwould like to appeal to thestates to supplement the effortsof the central government,” headded.

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Anticipating surge indemand for syringes amid

Covid-19 vaccines showingpromising results, India’sbiggest manufacturer ofsyringes, Hindustan Syringesand Medical Devices (HMD),is all set to achieve 1000 millionproduction capacity per annumby end of second quarter nextyear, up from current capacityof 700 million of the specialized0.5 ml AD Syringes.

“We plan to allocate 50 percent of the total 0.5 ML ADSyringes produced for theGovernment and 50 per centfor export to UNICEF as wehave got a global responsibili-ty too,” said Rajiv Nath,Managing Director of theHMD.

He also said that his com-pany has recently shipped over100 million pieces of KOJAKAuto Disable syringes to Covaxstockpile facility as the Covid-19 vaccines are showingpromising results across theglobe.

The Covax facility workingfor global equitable access toCOVID-19 vaccines hasordered 140 million KOJAKAD Syringes from HMD to besupplied between August andDecember 2020.

“The HMD has shippedout more than 100 millionpieces of 0.5 ml auto disable(AD) syringes for intramuscu-lar injections to Covax facilityand will soon send the next 40million Syringes by December”he added.The WHO andUNICEF have recommended

that auto-disable syringes beused for administering vac-cines— particularly in massimmunization programs.

However, Nath felt thateven as the local company likehis is globally competitive, “welose out to cheap subsidizedChinese imports and therequirement to match L1 (low-est) price of Chinese importsbecomes non-remunerativeand discourages investments.

“Currently, over 50 percent of the AD Syringes used inimmunization come in fromChina. We urge the govern-ment to increase import dutyon syringes from 7.5 per centto 15 per cent to enable expan-sion of supply base and prof-itable growth of quality certi-fied production of all compo-nents and products in India.”

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Honey sold by several majorbrands in India has been

found adulterated with sugarsyrup, the environment watch-dog CSE claimed Wednesday.

Centre for Science andEnvironment (CSE) foodresearchers selected 13 top aswell as smaller brands ofprocessed and raw honey beingsold in India to check theirpurity.

It was found that 77 percent of the samples were adul-terated with the addition ofsugar syrup. Out of the 22 sam-ples checked, only five passedall the tests.

“Honey samples from lead-ing brands such as Dabur,Patanjali, Baidyanath, Zandu,Hitkari and Apis Himalaya, allfailed the NMR (NuclearMagnetic Resonance) test,” thestudy said.

Responding to the claim,Emami (Zandu) spokespersonsaid, “Emami as a responsibleorganisation ensures that itsZandu pure honey conformsand adheres to all the protocolsand quality norms/standardslaid down by the Governmentof India and its authorised

entities such as FSSAI.”Dabur too refuted the

claim, saying the recent reportsseem “motivated and aimed atmaligning our brand”.

“We assure our consumersthat Dabur honey is 100 percent pure. It is 100 per centindigenous, collected natural-ly from Indian sources andpacked with no added sugar orother adulterants. We alsoassure our consumers thatDabur does not import anyhoney/syrup from China andour honey is sourced entirelyfrom Indian beekeepers,” itsaid in a statement.

It added that Dabur iscomplying with all 22 parame-ters mandated by the FoodSafety and Standards Authorityof India for testing honey.

“In addition, Dabur honeyis also tested for the presenceof antibiotics, as mandated byFSSAI. Further, Dabur is theonly company in India to havean NMR testing equipment inour own laboratory, and thesame is used to regularly testour honey being sold in theIndian market. This is to ensurethat Dabur Honey is 100 percent pure without any adulter-ation,” it said.

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The rupee pared its initialgains to close 13 paise

lower at 73.81 against the USdollar on Wednesday, track-ing recovery in dollar indexand emergence of selling indomestic equities. At theinterbank forex market, thedomestic unit witnessed ahighly volatile trading ses-sion. It opened at 73.45,pared the gains and finallyclosed at 73.81 against thegreenback, registering adecline of 13 paise over itsprevious close of 73.68.

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Right from all the danc-ing, drama, laughter,fun to madness andemotions, it is thattime of the year again.

The wedding season is officiallyhere and the very first thing thatcomes to our mind is what to giveto the newly married couple.Weddings are a once in a lifeevent, hence, everyone wants tomake it memorable and special intheir own little ways. Giftingforms an integral part of any cer-emony. However, while choosingthe best for the couple, we alsoneed to keep in mind that theproduct should be useful andclassy at the same time. So tomake things a bit simpler, here area few wedding gift ideas to choosefrom.

Gift the convenience of nutri-tious and delicious meals at thetouch of a button. WonderchefNutri-Pot is a tech-driven appli-ance, a combination of seven inone gadget. It prevents over-cooking of food protecting all theprecious vitamins and minerals.It is programmed with an embed-ded microprocessor that monitorspressure, temperature, time andadjusts the heating intensity. It’shard-anodized inner pot ensuresyears of hassle-free use, fastercooking and even heat distribu-tion.

The collection, Afsaneh, byTanvi Gauri weaves the tales ofthe most valiant women intostunning designer clothes. Anarray of carefully crafted ensem-bles with every thread strungtogether to narrate the story ofbeauty and courage, this collec-tion can be the perfect gift toshow one’s love and adoration.Ranging from wedding to festivewear, it celebrates femininity withwhimsical details and a soft butvibrant colour palette embellishedby hand.

Another great choice can beto opt for glam gowns with ornatemetallic embroideries, rich festivehues and luxe fabrics by thebrand W. Often chosen for itsdramatic ultra-feminine appeal,the floor length gowns are theperfect escapes into a transcen-dental world of all things exotic.

Taneira presents Tasvi, a col-lection of sarees, inspired by thecultural and design elements ofthe three goddesses — Durga,Laxmi and Saraswati. Boasting ofa diverse range of pure and hand-crafted silks from Chanderi,Maheshwari to Banaras andKanchipuram, the collectionbrings alive the spirit of auspi-ciousness and festivity withvibrant tones, rich embroidery,intricately carved motifs and tra-ditional craft techniques of theage-old weaves. It features ensem-bles highlighting unique charac-teristics inspired from each of thegoddesses. A part of the collectionis designed in darker hues withmotifs like hibiscus, trident,moon, stars, rudraksh, bel leavesand lemon, symbolising thedivine shakti and fierceness ofgoddess Durga. Representingwealth and prosperity, the range

inspired by goddess Lakshmi isdesigned in bright colourful tonesand carved in rich motifs like thepink lotus, pomegranate, parrot,kalash, banana tree, elephant,coins and kosa tree. Inspired bygoddess Saraswati are the pastel

tones with motifs of white lotus,pearls, swan, peacock, champa,veena, scripts and kadamb tree,symbolising light, knowledge andtruth.

From planning a wedding,arranging bachelor parties to

giving invitation cards a newlook, why go helter-skelter search-ing for solutions when you canmake everything happen right atyour home. Get everything cus-tomised from Vistaprint as peryour choice, along with a hassle-

free delivery at your doorstep, allwithout compromising on socialdistancing protocols. You cangift a photo album, a treasure fora lifetime. Whether it’s your bestfriend’s wedding or favouritecousin’s, it is the best way to col-lect and preserve all those fun andhappy memories beyondInstagram. One can choose fromdifferent sizes, including small,medium and large; portrait orlandscape orientations; get thempersonalised as per your needs.

Adding to the wedding fer-vor, Mia by Tanishq, presents anexclusive ethno-contemporarycollection, Lyana, to celebratethe light within you. The offeringis for the modern Indian woman,who is rooted in the traditionalvalues and believes in celebratingthe life her own way. The collec-tion brings together traditionaldesigns weaved with glamour ofgold in ultra-modern silhouettes.

It has a range of 14 Karat light-weight pure gold and dia-

mond jewellery designsin earrings, pendants,

bracelets as well as rings.The collection is

inspired by the rich her-itage of Indian classics but

is infused with the Japaneseminimalism philosophy.Gifting gold has always been

a good idea. This time, try optingfor delicately crafted solid goldwatches. Nebula by Titan offersAshvi, especially for the weddingseason. The collection featuresthree finely crafted timepieceswith bracelets adorned with hemi-spherical pearls and princess cutdiamonds. It showcases a trio ofvery intricate bracelet designsdone on timepieces — a braceletwith free floating pearls wrappedin a gold composition, an elegantwired bracelet set with 30 princesscut diamonds and a graceful rosegold bracelet adorned with stonesforming a splendid gradient fromdeep pink to white. These time-pieces can be a perfect addition tothe wedding ensemble, hence,making it a great gift.

SKINN, a range of fragrancesfrom the house of Titan, presentsEscapade, a refreshing new rangeof perfumes for men. The collec-tion is crafted by the finest mas-ter perfumers from France andbrings together various elementsof nature in a bottle of perfume.As the name suggests, it is allabout the joy of exploring theunknown and it represents theattitude of a carefree wanderer.

Her work speaks of the socialand natural landscapes that

surround our physical and imag-inative selves while evoking anintrinsic emotive charm.Presented by DhoomimalGallery and curated by Dr SeemaBawa, artist Harshdeep Kaur’ssolo exhibition titled EngagingWith The Ultimate offers a var-ied mix of canvases showcasinglandscapes and figurative works.

The series that sets her workapart is based on Sikh men and

women, embedded as it is in herown lived experience. She paintsher observation of the lives of theSikh people, their festivals andrituals. Her works revealvignettes of Sikh heritage found-ed in its distinctive socio-cultur-al and visual identity, manifest-ing a lived faith pictorially.

“Sikh people and their ritu-als inspire me to create a newdimension in art. The khalsaswearing kesari turbans, engagedin meditation, working in the

fields or as horse riding soldiers,skilled in warfare, have left a last-ing impression on my art,”explains Harshdeep.

There are also two contem-plative works, Prasad and Prayerthat represent their communitar-ian and egalitarian world throughritual practice of service andmeditative silence revealedthrough the word, shabd andnama; both leading towards real-isation of the ultimate reality.

Another trait marker of theSikhs is their appearance, espe-cially the turban. The dumala ordomala is a turban wound withlesser number of folds, worn bydevout members of both genders.Her paintings, both big as well asthe small format, depict thesedumala wearers. A slightlywhimsical work shows a womanwearing dumala, donning west-ern wear and sporting darkglasses, a mark of the diaspora’sstruggle to adapt to the changingmilieu.

Her landscapes explore silentspaces marked by the absence ofhumans, where it is the trees,birds, lakes and waters that sug-gest a narrative of peace. Thenthere are the short poesies paint-ed into a bunch of flowers inbloom or a pair of trees convers-ing in shadows of dusk, in reflec-tions of forms in still waters.

The natural world has beenmagnified in her landscapepaintings. The play and theexperimentation with mono-chromatic tonalities of ink is seenin her forms, creating lots ofdepth both in figures and land-scapes.

(The exhibition is on tillDecember 8 at Arpana Art

Gallery, 11 am to 7 pm.)

There were a lot of speculations aroundhow the Oscars would be held amid the

COVID-19 pandemic, and it is now con-firmed the award gala will not go virtual.

“The Oscars in-person telecast will hap-pen,” a representative from the Academysaid. However, the Academy of Motion Artsand Sciences has decided to push the annu-al telecast to April 25, 2021, owing to thepandemic.

Several sources have shared that bypushing the awards ceremony back, theAcademy hopes for cinema halls to regainnormalcy, allowing for more film to com-pete in the annual celebration.

Now, the Academy is focussing onensuring that the event is held in the tra-ditional manner. However, it is to be seenhow they put a plan in place to hold the cer-emony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, the Malayalam film,Jallikattu, has been selected as the officialIndian entry in the Best InternationalFeature Film category at the forthcoming93rd Academy Awards.

The 2021 Oscars are scheduled to takeplace on April 25. The shortlist for nextyear’s Academy Awards will be unveiled onFebruary 9, and nominations will beannounced on March 15. =&8��

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Arjun Munda, Minister of TribalAffairs launched the first virtu-

al Aadi Mahotsav — a celebration ofthe spirit of tribal culture, crafts andcommerce to showcase the rich anddiverse culture, crafts of MadhyaPradesh on Tribes India website. Thefirst edition will be from December1-10, 2020.

“I am really happy to be a part ofthe inauguration of the event project-ing Madhya Pradesh. It is a nation-al tribal festival and a joint initiativeof Ministry of Tribal Affairs,Government of India & TribalCooperative Marketing DevelopmentFederation of India (TRIFED). Thefestival showcases traditional art,handicrafts and cultural heritage ofthe country. The ultimate objectiveof TRIFED is socio-economic devel-opment of tribal people by way ofmarketing development of the trib-al products. Under the leadership ofPravir Krishna, MD, TRIFED hasreally been doing a good job towardsthe upliftment of the tribal commu-nity in the country.”

The virtual launch took place inthe presence of Meena Singh,Minister for Tribal Welfare, Govt. ofMadhya Pradesh, Ramesh ChandMeena, Chairman, TRIFED, NavaljitKapoor, Joint Secretary, Ministry ofTribal Affairs and Pravir Krishna,Managing Director, TRIFED. NanuBhasin, ADG, Press InformationBureau, senior officials of the min-istry, TRIFED and members of themedia fraternity also attended theevent.

The event was moderated byTRIFED’s goodwill ambassador,Abhinav Chaturvedi. The highlightsincluded a virtual tour of the artisans’work place and glimpses of the trib-al dance and music from MadhyaPradesh. It was also announced thatthe next focus state from December11 would be Gujarat, followingwhich the spotlight would shift toBengal from the December 21 thisyear.

In his welcome address, PravirKrishna spoke about the entire con-cept of the event and how it will help

in popularising tribal culture tonational and international audi-ences. With the onboarding of morethan 3500 tribal artisans on to theTribes India Marketplace, this eventoffers the tribals a new avenue forpopularising their culture and artsand will go a long way in helpingtheir economic situation and makethem self-reliant.

Ramesh Chand Meena,Chairman, TRIFED congratulatedthe team for providing a viablealternative to the artisans. Mundaalso expressed his happiness thatdespite such challenging circum-stances, efforts are being carried outto mitigate the adverse conditions oftribal populations. Extolling thevirtues of the simple, sustainablelifestyle of these people, Mundaexpressed his concern at the disad-vantaged economic state of this sec-tion and was happy that withTRIFED’s initiatives, the middlemenhave been eliminated.

Tribes India e-market place is anoteworthy initiative that showcas-

es the produce and handicrafts oftribal enterprises from across thecountry and helps them markettheir produce/ products directly. Itis a major leap towards the digitisa-tion of tribal commerce. Five lakhtribal producers/ artisans from acrossthe country are connected via thisplatform to national and global mar-kets.

Tribes constitute over eight percent of our population. But even thenthey are among the disadvantagedsections of the society. An attitudethat pervades among the main-stream is the erroneous belief thatthey have to be taught and helped.

However, if we sit and ponderover it, the truth is otherwise — thetribals have a lot to teach urbanIndia. Characterised by natural sim-plicity, their creations have a time-less appeal and authenticity. Thewide range of handicrafts whichinclude hand-woven cotton, silkfabrics, wool, metal craft, terracot-ta, bead-work, all need to be pre-served and promoted.

Lalit Kala Akademi NationalAcademy of Arts, an

autonomous organisation ofMinistry of Culture, Govt. of Indiaheld its general council meeting atIndia International Centre onNovember 26. Meeting started byreading the Preamble to theConstitution of India on the occa-sion of 71st Constitution Day ofIndia.

In the meeting the selectionprocess of several governing mem-bers was undertaken. During theprocess the members were selectedunder the supervision of the electionofficer Dr Ram Samujh, IRS (Retd).

Dr Nand Lal Thakur, GC mem-ber from Himachal Pradesh, wasunanimously elected as vice chair-man of the Academy.

Dr Uttam Pacharne, Chairman,

Lalit Kala Akademi said, “I thankgeneral council members for thesmooth functioning of the meetingand passing resolutions unanimous-ly. It is an ample proof of the cultur-al unity of the Indian artistic com-munity as well as their faith in thepolicies of government to promoteart and culture. The council meet-ing was held after a gap of nine longyears. It was the first time that themembers showed unanimity inalmost all the decisions, includingthe formation of committee. TheAkademi is grateful to Culture min-ister Prahlad Singh Patel for his lead-ership and his vision and dedicationin the field of art and culture.”

The following members wereselected as members of the execu-tive board. Suman Majumdar(Tripura), Dr. Richa Kamboj

(Uttarakhand), Kishore Kumar Das(Assam), Dr Sunil KumarViswarkarma (Uttar Pradesh), C.S.Krishna Setty (Karnataka), AnkushKumar Dewangan (Chhattisgarh),Gita Hudson (Tamil Nadu),Nirupama Tank (Gujarat), MarutiBaburao Shilke (Maharashtra). Themembers elected as finance commit-tee members are — Setty (fromExecutive Board), Majumdar (fromGeneral Council), Dr SonaliSarnobat, Karnataka (from GeneralCouncil).

In the meeting the memberspassed a resolution for enhancingthe term of general council membersand chairman from three to fiveyears similar to other academiesunder Ministry of Culture.

Pacharne made severalannouncements to serve the artistscommunity in the meeting. Theseinclude the proposals for opening ofnew regional centres at Pune(Maharashtra), Hubli (Karnataka),Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Agartala(Tripura). He also announcedorganisation of 75 major pro-grammes to commemorate 75thindependent anniversary of Indianext year and increasing the awardsand scholarship amounts after thedue administrative process. Thechairman sought the cooperation ofall members for organising XIITriennale-India that would be takenup shortly.

Braving the ongoing blitz ofCoronavirus pandemic across the

globe, the mass communication andjournalism students of VivekanandaInstitute of Professional Studies(VIPS), New Delhi have created a his-torical feat by organising the biggestannual media festival on the digitalplatform.

Themed at digital literacy, mediaand pandemic, the three-day eventwill be hosted from December 3 toDecember 5 with a total of 22 com-petitive and non competitive events.Over 300 students are organising andparticipating remotely, to create amuch awaited, unprecedented andgrand experience with Spandan 2020.

It will start with the flagship eventof ‘Media Panchayat’ on the topic of‘Information to misinformation: 25Years of Indian Television NewsIndustry’. The event will witness theparticipation of industry veterans likeSidharth Mishra, Anant Vijay, SumitPande, Satish K Singh and ProfCharu Lata Singh. The second in theline is a workshop on ‘Pathkatha: PlotWriting’ by writer Anu SinghChoudhary.

The major highlights of the fes-tival include the cultural events, san-skriti — A fusion of Indian culture,dance, fashion and music, and grandmusical finale. All activities are curat-ed for the online medium, produced

and recorded over a month followingall COVID precautions and safetymeasures.

Other events include ‘Out ofReach’: A Mental Health Workshop,with the objective of raising awarenessabout mental illnesses and the impor-tance of reaching out for help.

Among the international col-laboration and events, the festivalbrings a live concert with SouthernTime Band and NADIA HIGH fromCanada for the event ‘Talks andTunes’ on December 4, promotingAIDS awareness. An event manage-ment masterclass with Prof DavidHind, President, Asia Pacific Instituteof Event Management will be con-ducted on December 5, for the stu-dents making this year’s festival aglobal event.

It also includes webinars withFilmmaker Jalal Jeelani,Cinematographer Aditi Sharma,Screenwriter Anu Singh Choudhary,RJ Errol Gonsalves, National Awardwinning artist Manisha Jha, andContent Creators Aman Dhattarwal,Vipasha Malhotra, Yashvi Bagga,The Bajis and more. Numerous com-petitive events in the fields of radio,video editing, logo designing, photog-raphy and advertising have also beenincorporated to instill the competitiveand creative spirit. This year it’s theXVIth edition of the festival.

Chhattisgarh, popularly known asthe rice bowl of India, alsoexhibits a rich and unique amal-

gam of rituals, culture, traditions, fes-tivities, folk art and food. The state’sfood has always been a source of keep-ing the rich traditions and flavours ofthe state alive. But with the changingtimes, it has got harder to prepare thetraditional regional delicacies at homeand save the local Chhattisgarhi cui-sine from losing its identity and pop-ularity. Hence, the state governmenthas decided to start the ‘Gadh Kalewa’in all the districts.

Well, Gadh Kalewa has the soul ofChhattisgarh. As a local open eatery ina tribal setting and ambience, whereone can rediscover the long-forgottendelicacies and traditions ofChhatisgarh, it will be a restaurant withan artistic ambience with rural art formpaintings on the wall, bamboo seatersto sit and clay birds on top of the tiledroofs. Here you get to sense theflavours of more than three dozen vari-eties of traditional cuisines, alongwith a range of Devbhog Products.

The traditional Chhattisgarhi dish-es will be served to the people of thestate and visitors in these centres

soon. Gadh Kalewa is being widely pro-moted under the leadership of ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel to preservethe folk art and culture of the state.

To highlight the ambience ofGadh Kaleva, the Handicrafts

Development Board has launched anentirely new series of bamboo craftfurniture to add life to the centres.Chhattisgarhi catering and cuisinesales centre is regulating in thestate’s capital Raipur within the

premises of Mahant GhasidasMemorial Museum. The state alsoobserves distinct and rare traditionsof the local cuisine, which transformsaccording to ethnicities, weatherand festivities.

The cuisine of the forest-basedtribal society is based on natural for-est produce, which has led to an inter-esting variety of local delicacies. There’sa huge variety amid the simple and fes-tive range of Chhattisgarhi cuisine.These dishes can be roasted, steamed,de-fried or can be prepared in theabsence of all the three techniques too.

At Gadh Kalewa, mouthwateringdishes like Chausela, Hathhfodwa,Farra, Peedhiya, Muthhiya, Deharuri,Papchi Puran Laddu, Kari Laddu,Angakar Roti, Chanur Roti, PatalChutney, Bafori, Babra, Gulgula,Cheela, Airesa, Patar Roti, KhupriRoti, Buffauri and many other appetis-ing dishes will be served. The centrewill be started by 2021. The localwomen self-help groups will also betrained and prepared for service andsheds will be provided for smooth reg-ulation of these centres. The poor fam-ilies can avail self-employment for theirlivelihood.

The Chhattisgarhi CulturalProgramme and cuisine stall wereinstalled in Ahmedabad, Gujarat fromJanuary 6 to 14, 2019 under theGovernment of India scheme, ‘EkBharat, Shreshtha Bharat.’

RK Singh, Minister (IC) for Power andNew & Renewable Energy, launched

the Green Charcoal Hackathon beingorganised by NVVN (NTPC VidyutVyapar Nigam), a wholly-owned sub-sidiary company of NTPC.

Singh said, “The Hackathon displaysthe spirit of innovation, which pervadesNTPC. Any organisation has to have thisspirit of innovation to grow and prosperor otherwise, it would fade away. TheNTPC management encourages allyoung engineers to present innovationand new ideas.”

He added, “This (Hackathon) is alsoinnovation in the pursuit of reducing ourcarbon footprint. From that point of view,

all competitors in the Hackathon shouldkeep in mind that the process of convert-ing this (agro residue) to charcoal shouldnot lead to emissions. Another keything is the commercial model, which willdepend on the cost of both the machineand charcoal production. I am sure wewill come out with a machine, which iseconomical. I am happy to see the ori-entation of NTPC towards reducingcarbon foot print.”

To fast-track the technology devel-opment, NVVN, in partnership withEESL organises technology, the challengehas been aptly named as ‘Green CharcoalHackathon.’ The purpose of the event isto leverage the innovative Indian mindto bridge the technology gap with theprime objective to clean the air by elim-inating farm fire, producing renewableenergy out of the agro residue, to promotelocal entrepreneurship, and to increasethe income of the farmers.

The hackathon was inaugurated inthe presence of Ashish Upadhyay,Additional Secretary of Power; GurdeepSingh, CMD NTPC Ltd and other seniorofficials from Power Ministry, NTPC Ltdand EESL Ltd.

To encourage the participants, therewas a provision for cash prizes worth upto �24 lakh in three categories for pro-duction of torrefied biomass pellets —100 kg per day; 1,000 kg per day; 10tonnes per day.

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Curtis Jones sent a depletedLiverpool through to the

Champions League last 16 onTuesday, while Zinedine Zidanedismissed suggestions he mightwalk away from Real Madridafter another defeat by ShakhtarDonetsk left their Europeanhopes in the balance.

Liverpool were without ahost of key players for the visitof Ajax to Anfield in Group D,with 22-year-old IrishmanCaoimhin Kelleher starting ingoal in the absence of Alisson.

Teenager Jones scored theonly goal just before the hour,tucking the ball in after Ajax‘keeper Andre Onana thoughthe could afford to let a NecoWilliams cross sail over hishead.

The result was vital for thePremier League champions aftertheir home loss to Atalanta aweek ago, and it allowed themto secure a spot in the knockoutphase.

They will go through asgroup winners after Atalantahad to come from behind todraw 1-1 at home toMidtjylland.

Atalanta are a point clear insecond from Ajax, with thesides meeting in Amsterdam intheir last game next week.

Two-time former Europeanchampions Porto also sealed alast-16 spot after drawing 0-0 at

home to Manchester City, whowere already through and arenow guaranteed to top Group C.

Porto would have qualifiedregardless, because Olympiakoslost 2-1 to Marseille in France,with Dimitri Payet scoring twopenalties in the second half toturn the game around afterMohamed Mady Camara firedthe Greeks in front.

The result endsMarseille’s ChampionsLeague record run of 13straight defeats andmeans they could yet pipOlympiakos to thirdplace and the consolation of aEuropa League berth.

LUKAKU DOUBLEReal Madrid could yet be

consigned to a similar fate afterthey went down 2-0 to Shakhtarin Kiev, their second defeat thisseason by the Ukrainians.

Substitutes Dentinho andManor Solomon scored second-half goals in Kiev as Shakhtarstunned the 13-time Europeanchampions again, having won

3-2 in Madrid in October.Shakhtar had lost their last

two Group B matches againstBorussia Moenchengladbachby an aggregate score of 10-0,but now move above Real intosecond place with one gameremaining.

Gladbach are top by apoint, while Shakhtar have

the upper hand onReal thanks to theirsuperior head-to-head record.

However,the damagewas limited

for Real after InterMilan won 3-2 awayto Gladbach to keeptheir own hopes alive.

Matteo Darmian put Interahead and Romelu Lukakuscored twice for AntonioConte’s side. Alassane Pleanetted a brace for Gladbachbut was denied a hat-trick,and a late equaliser,because of an offside.

It means Inter are bot-tom of the group but could

still qualify, while Real willdefinitely qualify as long as theywin at home to Gladbach.

Madrid have made it outof their group in every yearsince 1997 and so failure toqualify would be seen as a dis-aster, but Zidane is not con-

sidering stepping down. “I am not going to

resign, not at all. We arealways going to have

difficult moments,and we are on a

bad run, but weneed to keepgoing,” said theFrenchman.

Real’s cityrivals Atletico

Madrid will alsostill have it all to do in

their final group game afterbeing held to a 1-1 draw athome by a weakened BayernMunich.

Salzburg can snatch a last-16 place if they beat Atleticoat home next week, after theAustrians won 3-1 away toLokomotiv Moscow.

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Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrahfound his mojo and the Indianteam its winning ways in a

morale-lifting 13-run triumph overAustralia in the third and final ODIon Wednesday, salvaging some of thelost pride in a 1-2 series defeat.

An in-form Hardik Pandyablasted 92 not out off 76 balls andRavindra Jadeja’s useful 66 off 50took India to a healthy 302 for 5 in50 overs after an inept show in thefirst 30 overs.

It was at least 30 runs short of apar-score on a good batting track buta rejigged bowling attack managedto restrict the home team to 289 allout in 49.3 overs.

Shardul Thakur (3/51) anddebutant Thangarasu Natarajan(2/70 in 10 overs) did their bit butit was Bumrah’s (2/43 in 9.3 overs)controlled effort with some swingupfront and the dismissal of amarauding Glenn Maxwell in thenick of time which ultimately turnedthe match in India’s favour.

Bumrah did the most importantthing by bowling one in the block-hole that had the dangerous Maxwell(59 off 38 balls) having his own lit-tle “brain fade” moment trying tofree his arms exposing the stumps.

The ‘Big Show’ was in a moodto punish the bowlers and all heneeded was to see off Bumrah andattack the others as he was doing.

The cushion provided by his“senior” helped Natarajan to startbowling his yorkers under pressureand Thakur also chipped in withnecessary wickets.

The inconsequential matchbecame something of consequencefor Virat Kohli and his men as theygear up for the next white-ballseries — three T20 Internationals inless than 48 hours.

DIFFERENT ATTACKIndia’s bowling attack had a

different look and it did perform waybetter compared to the first twogames.

Natarajan was very steady in hisfirst spell and got his maiden wick-et when Marnus Labuschagne (7), inan unfamiliar role as opener, draggeda wide delivery back onto thestumps.

Thakur, replacing a restedMohammed Shami, was also luckywhen Steve Smith (7) tried to tick-le one down on the ‘fifth leg stump’to be caught by KL Rahul behind thestumps.

Moises Henriques (22) and skip-per Aaron Finch (75) looked goodduring their 51-run stand for thethird wicket before the former failed

to keep a pull-shot down off Thakur’sbowling.

However, what was more heart-ening was Kuldeep Yadav’s (1/57 in10 overs) restrained bowling in themiddle overs with the last overpunishment by Maxwell being moreof an aberration.

The flight was back and so wasthe dip in the air that used to create

confusion in the minds of batsmen.Debutant Cameron Green (21)

played an uppish slog sweep offKuldeep which was snapped inchesoff the ground by Jadeja.

Jadeja (1/62 in 10 overs), whohad a field day, topped up a solid bat-ting show with the prized wicket ofthe rival captain Finch as ShikharDhawan managed to make an easycatch look difficult at long-on.

Maxwell and the calm AlexCarey (38 off 42 balls) looked likedoing an encore of their victoriouseffort against England at OldTrafford last September.

But just when they settled down,Carey went for non-existent singleonly to be sent back by Maxwell asAustralia were reduced to 210 for 6.

Earlier, an in-form Pandya andthe effective Jadeja helped Indiamake an impressive recovery afterthe team struggled during the first30 overs with only skipper Kohli’sfighting half century being thebright spot.

Coming together in the 32ndover, Pandya and Jadeja stitched 150runs for the unbroken sixth wicketto change the complexion of thegame, which would make no differ-ence to the final score-line asAustralia have already sealed it withback-to-back wins in Sydney.

It looked like India would bare-ly reach 250 but Pandya and Jadejamade it a different story.

The duo took some time to set-tle down before opening the flood-gates of boundaries. They scored 53runs from the 46th to 48th over. Inall, 76 runs came from the last fiveovers.

Pandya’s innings had seven foursand one six while Jadeja was at hisbest, hitting five boundaries andthree sixes.

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India captain Virat Kohli onWednesday became the fastest

cricketer to score 12,000 ODI runs,breaking a record held by leg-endary compatriot SachinTendulkar.

Kohli reached the milestoneduring the third match againstAustralia.

Kohli, who needed 23 runs for

the landmark coming into thematch, touched the figure in his242nd innings when he took a sin-gle off Sean Abbott in the 13th overof India’s essay.

In comparison, it tookTendulkar 300 innings to get there.

The 32-year-old Indian captainwas playing in his 251st ODI andaverages close to 60 in the format

with 43 hundreds and 60 half cen-turies. He made his debut in 2008.

Tendulkar scored 18426 runsfrom 463 ODIs between 1989 and2012 at an average of 44.83 with thehelp of 49 hun-dreds and 96half cen-

turies.

������The third T20 International between Indiaand Australia is set to be played in front of a capac-ity crowd with the New South Wales Governmentlifting restrictions on stadiums from December7. In a world scarred by the Covid-19 pandemic,the ODI series between Australia and India sawthe return of spectators with restrictions. However,NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has announcedthat stadiums can move to 100 per cent capacityfrom December 7. “From Monday, life will be verydifferent in NSW,” Berejiklian was quoted as say-ing by The Australian. This development meansthe third and final T20, slated to be played onTuesday at the Sydney Cricket Ground, which waslimited to 50 per cent of total capacity earlier, cannow have a full house. PTI

����� � Australia on Wednesdayjumped to the top of the ICC WorldCup Super ODI League points tablefollowing their 2-1 series victory overIndia, who are placed sixth.

With the series win, Australiamoved to 40 points, overtakingEngland who are now placed second.

On the other hand, India loggedtheir first points of the tournamentby winning the third and final ODI

and are placed sixth with ninepoints.

Australia had defeated England2-1 in their previous series of the 13-team championship, which wasintroduced this year to bring contextto ODI cricket and also to decide theseven direct qualifiers for the ICCMen’s Cricket World Cup 2023.

India, though assured of a berthas hosts. PTI

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Former Australia captain Ian Chappellmay call it “blatantly unfair” but Glenn

Maxwell sees nothing wrong in employ-ing the switch-hit, describing it as a “dif-ferent part” of cricket’s evolution over theyears.

A switch hit involves a batsman

changing the order of his hands (fromleft-handed to right handed grip or vice-versa) after the bowler has already start-ed on his run-up.

“...It is within the laws of the game.Batting has evolved in such a way, thatit has got better and better over the years,which is why we see these massive scoresare getting chased down and the scoresare going up,” Maxwell said when askedabout Chappell’s comments.

Maxwell urged the bowlers to comeup with a plan to combat the switch hit.

“And I suppose it is up-to thebowlers to try and combat that,” he said.

“I suppose the skills of bowlers havebeen tested everyday with bowlers hav-ing to come up with different change-ups,different ways to stop batters,” Maxwellsaid at the post-match press conference.

He said as the batsmen have evolved,similarly bowlers should also try andinnovate.

“...We see guys come up with knuck-le-balls and wide yorker fields and dif-ferent tactics. And the tactics of ODIcricket have definitely evolved, so I justsee it (switch hit) as a different part of theevolution of the game…,” he added.

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Dawid Malan and Jos Buttlerlaunched a savage assault on

South Africa’s bowlers asEngland completed a seriesclean sweep with a nine-wicketwin in the third and final T20Iat Newlands in Cape Town onTuesday.

Man of the series Malan fin-ished on 99 not out, whileButtler was unbeaten on 67.

They shared a world recordT20 international second wick-et partnership of 167 off 90 ballsto make South Africa’s 191 forthree look insignificant. Englandwon with 14 balls to spare.

Rassie van der Dussen (74not out) and Faf du Plessis (52not out) set up South Africa’sbiggest total of the series in anunbeaten partnership of 127off 66 balls for the fourth wick-et.

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missal of Jason Roy. By theend, South Africa looked ademoralised team.

Malan hit 11 fours andfive sixes in his 47-ballinnings. Buttler faced one ballfewer and hit three fours andfive sixes.

England were alwayswell up with the required ratebut put themselves in totalcommand in the 10th and11th overs when they hit 21and 19 runs off LuthoSipamla and Tabraiz Shamsirespectively.

Playing his first match ofany type since the last SouthAfrican season, Sipmala wasthrashed for 45 runs off 2.4overs. Left-arm wrist spinnerShamsi conceded 57 runs offfour overs.