bhubaneswar-english-edition-2021-12-26.pdf - Daily Pioneer

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In an address to the nation lateon Saturday evening, Prime

Minister Narendra Modiannounced that childrenbetween 15 and 18 years will bevaccinated from January 3 andbooster doses will be given tohealth and frontline workers andthose above 60 with other healthproblems from January 10.

The PM said theGovernment has decided to gofor vaccination of childrenafter holding wide-rangingconsultation with scientificadvisers. The PM’s announce-ment coincided with the drugregulator’s granting approvalfor giving vaccine to childrenabove 12 by. The move has tobe cleared by the Government.

Modi also said, "Precautiondoses" will be started for healthcare and front-line workersfrom January 10.

Those over 60 with otherhealth problems will alsoreceive extra doses fromJanuary 10 on their doctor'sadvice, he said.

Modi said global experi-ence showed following all pre-ventive measures was a bigweapon to fight Covid."Coronavirus is not gone... The

world is now talking aboutOmicron. Today is Atal BihariVajpayee's birthday andChristmas, so we decided toannounce this step today," hesaid. Asking the people not topanic in view of the Omicronthreat, the PM said, “In India,many people have been foundto be infected with Omicron. Iwould urge all of you not topanic, be careful and alert.Remember to wash hands andmask," he said.

When virus is mutatingour self-confidence and pre-paredness is also multiplying,"the PM said and informedthat "country has 1,80000 iso-lation beds, 5 lakh oxygen sup-plied beds, 140000 ICU beds,3000 O2 plants...." to counterany new threat from the virus.

Modi said all States havebeen given enough vaccinationdoses and testing kits. Besides,he said "we are at mission-mode in vaccine production".

The PM announced soonwe will have nasal vaccine andworld's first DNA vaccine inthe country. Modi said, “Thereare different opinions on

Omicron Indian scientists areworking on it.”

The PM said after 11months vaccination experiencein the country "the Governmenttoday decided that children inthe age group of 15 to 18 yearswill be vaccinated from January3 which will answer the con-cerns of the parents of school-going children".

Modi said vaccination inthe country was started onJanuary 16 and till date 141crore doses have been givenwith 61 per cent of adult pop-ulation receiving both of it. Hesaid while 90 per cent adultshave one dose, States like Goa,Uttarakhand and HimachalPradesh have 100 per cent sin-gle dose vaccination.

The PM asked people "tonot to give ears to rumours andfear creating attempts”. It is notyet known which vaccines willbe given to children. Covaxinis the second vaccine to becleared by the drug regulatorfor those below 18 after ZydusCadila's needle-free Covid-19vaccine ZyCoV-D.

India has 415 Omicroncases as of today.

On Saturday, the DrugController General of India(DCGI) gave Bharat Biotechapproval for emergency useauthorisation of the CovaxinCovid vaccine for children inthe 12-18 years age group withcertain conditions.

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Gujarat, Maharashtra andGoa emerged as the top

three States while Delhi stoodnumber one in the list of UnionTerritories (UTs) in the GoodGovernance Index (GGI)2020-21 released by theDepartment of AdministrativeReforms and Public Grievanceson Saturday.

Andhra Pradesh toppedlist of States in the Agricultureand Allied Sector whileTelangana was number one inthe Commerce and Industrysector. Uttar Pradesh hassecured top position inCommerce and Industry sectorand also shown increase inSocial Welfare andDevelopment, Judiciary, PublicSafety and citizen Centric gov-ernance.

Gujarat topped the com-posite ranking in the 58 indi-cator index followed byMaharashtra and Goa. Gujaratregistered an over 12 per centincrease and Goa registered anearly 25 per cent increase overthe indicators recorded bythese states in the last indexissued in 2019.

Gujarat has performedstrongly in economic gover-nance, human resource devel-opment, public infrastructureand utilities, social welfare anddevelopment, judiciary andpublic safety, whileMaharashtra scored in agri-culture and allied sector,human resource development,public infrastructure and util-ities, social welfare and devel-opment. Goa's showed goodperformance was in agricultureand allied sector, commerceand industry, public infra-structure and utilities, eco-nomic governance, social wel-fare and development and envi-ronment.

While the States have beendivided in four separate groups,Uttar Pradesh ranked at fifthposition in Group B which isled by Madhya Pradesh. UttarPradesh which has shownincremental growth of nearly 9per cent over its 2019 perfor-mance and secured the topposition in the commerce andindustry sector, which was oneof the 10 sectors of good gov-ernance that were covered bythe index.

Uttar Pradesh has regis-tered an 8.9 per cent improve-ment in the GGI indicators inthe period 2019 to 2021 whichJammu and Kashmir regis-tered an improvement of 3.7per cent in the same period.

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Punjab Police on Saturdaysaid it has cracked the

Ludhiana Court bomb blastcase after zeroing in on theidentity of the deceasedGagandeep Singh (31) ofKhanna, who was recruited inPunjab Police as constable anddismissed in August 2019 after

385 gm of heroin was recoveredfrom his possession.

Addressing a news confer-ence, Punjab DGP SiddharthChattopadhyaya said the for-mer State police HeadConstable who was killed in the

Ludhiana district court blasthad links with Khalistani ele-ments and terror outfits, andsome Pakistan-based entitiescould be behind the incident.He said Gagandeep, who wasdismissed from service in 2019,had gone to the washroom toassemble the bomb and plant itsomewhere. He was alone inthe washroom when the bombwent off.

Gagandeep was posted as a"munshi" at a police station inKhanna, his native city, and wassacked in connection with adrug-related case,Chattopadhyaya said.

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As the number of Omicronvariant cases rose to 415

on Saturday across the coun-try and more States imposednight curfews and relatedcurbs, the Centre will bedeploying Central teams ofexperts with nodal officers to10 States that have been eitherreporting a rapid surge inOmicron and Covid-19 casesor has a slow vaccinationpace.

Curb has been announcedin Uttar Pradesh from 11 pm to5 am, starting Saturday amidgrowing concern over thespread of the Omicron coron-avirus variant.

The district administra-tion in Gautam Buddh Nagaron Friday imposed Section

144 CrPC across Noida andGreater Noida till December 31ahead of the upcoming festiveseason.

Assam has also announceda night curfew which will comeinto effect from Sunday,December 26 between 11:30pm and 6 am.

However, this curfew willnot be applicable on December31, 2021.

According to the orderissued by the Union HealthMinistry on Saturday, theseStates are Kerala, Maharashtra,

Tamil Nadu, West Bengal,Mizoram, Karnataka, Bihar,Jharkhand and Punjab. BothPunjab and Uttar Pradesh arein the list where elections aredue in two months time.

This comes days after theAllahabad High Court alreadyflagged the Omicron threat,asking the ElectionCommission and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toconsider postponing polls byone or two months in UttarPradesh and other States.

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The threat of the thirdCovid-19 wave hitting the

Delhi is becoming real by theday. The Capital saw a massivespike in single-day Covid caseson Saturday, reporting 249infections and one death.

This is the highest single-day spike since Delhi reported255 cases on June 13 this year.

The national Capital's totalnumber of cases now stood at14,43,062 and the death toll at25,104, according to the healthbulletin data.

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After forcing the Centre towithdraw the three con-

troversial farm laws, victoriousfarmers have decided to testtheir luck in the forthcomingPunjab Assembly elections.Twenty-two farm organisa-tions in Punjab announced apolitical front on Saturday andsaid they would contest thepolls, 2022 to bring in a "polit-ical change".

These bodies were among32 farmer organisations inPunjab which participated inthe over-a-year-long protestagainst the three Central farmlaws. However, the SamyuktaKisan Morcha (SKM), whichhad led the farmers' stir againstthe laws, clarified that it is notcontesting the Assembly elec-tions.

Talking to reporters here,

farmer leader Harmeet SinghKadian said the Samyukt SamajMorcha has been set up forfighting the Punjab polls dueearly next year.

The SKM was formed withvarious bodies having differentideologies and "we returnedafter fighting a battle aftermore than a year", he said whilereferring to the Central lawswhich were repealed in therecently concluded WinterSession of Parliament. "Thekind of welcome we received inPunjab and the expectations ofthe people from us hasincreased," said the BhartiyaKisan Union (Kadian) leader.

"There is a lot of pressurefrom the cadre and others onus, and said they if you can winthat 'morcha', then you coulddo something for the better-ment of Punjab," Kadian said.

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The world's largest and mostpowerful space telescope

rocketed away on Saturday ona high-stakes quest to beholdlight from the first stars andgalaxies and scour the uni-verse for hints of life. NASA'sJames Webb Space Telescopesoared from French Guianaon South America's northeast-ern coast, riding a EuropeanAriane rocket into theChristmas morning sky.

The $10 billion observato-ry hurtled toward its destina-tion 1 million miles (1.6 millionkm) away, or more than fourtimes beyond the moon. It willtake a month to get there andanother five months before itsinfrared eyes are ready to startscanning the cosmos. First, thetelescope's enormous mirrorand sunshield need to unfurl;

they were folded origami-styleto fit into the rocket's nose cone.

Otherwise, the observato-ry won't be able to peer back intime 13.7 billion years as antic-ipated, within a mere 100 mil-lion years of the universe-forming Big Bang.

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Ahead of the panchayat

elections, the State Govern-ment has amended threepanchayat laws to punish thecandidates who give false in-formation in the affidavits.

The Department of Lawon Saturday issued an Ordi-nance amending the OdishaGrama Panchayat Act, 1964,the Odisha Panchayat SamitiAct, 1959 and the Odisha ZillaParisad Act, 1991. As per theOrdinance, a candidate who

files false information in his/

her affidavit will be punished

with imprisonment for a pe-

riod of six months or with fine

or with both. "A candidate who

himself or through his

proposer, with intent to be

elected in an election gives

false information which he

knows or has reason to believe

to be false or conceals any in-

formation in his nomination

paper or in his affidavit shall

be punishable with imprison-

ment for a term which may

extend to six months or with

fine or with both," read the Or-

dinance.

Similarly, any elected

member of the three-tier

Panchayati Raj Institutions

(PRIs) will be disqualified if he/

she has not furnished an affi-

davit containing particulars

relating to his/her criminal

antecedents, assets and liabili-

ties and educational qualifica-

tions at the time of filing of

nominations. As the State is

facing natural disasters like

cyclone frequently, the Gov-

ernment has inserted new pro-

visions to the Grama

Panchayats and Panchayat

Samities Acts for proper disas-

ter management at the village,

panchayat and block levels.

Now the Grama

Panchayats and Panchayat

Samities can prepare their own

disaster management plans at

the village, panchayat and

panchayat samiti levels, carry

out and facilitate relief, reha-

bilitation and reconstruction

activities in disaster-affected ar-

eas in accordance with State plan

and district plan. The two insti-

tutions can also undertake other

measures necessary for disaster

management. However, this

provision has not been included

in the Zilla Parisad Act.

For the purpose of this

clause, the expression 'disaster

management' shall have the

same meaning as assigned to it

under Clause (e) of Section 2

of the Disaster Management

Act, 2005, the Ordinance stated.

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The BJD, which will cel-

ebrate its silver jubilee on Sun-

day, announced on Saturday

that it would reserve 40% seats

for OBC candidates in the up-

coming pnchayat and munici-pal elections in the State.

The party State executiveunanimously took the decisionafter deliberations on a resolu-tion moved by party generalsecretary (organisation) PranabPrakash Das and later it was ap-proved by party president andChief Minister NaveenPatnaik. The party said it hastaken a "historic decision" togive justice to the OBC com-munity in ensuring their legiti-mate political right. It said it

has always taken up develop-

ment of socially and economi-

cally backward communities.

In the last general election

(2019), the party had provided

one-third seats to women MP

candidates and is continuously

raising the issue of one-third

reservation of women in both

Parliament and Assemblies. In

view of a recent Supreme

Court judgment, many States

have withdrawn the reserva-

tion of seats in both

panchayat and municipal elec-

tions; so, the BJD has urged

the Union Government to

ensure justice for the OBC

community, the party stated.

The BJD said whatever the

decision of the Union Govern-

ment, based on legal and leg-

islative principles; the BJD

would adhere to its stand. The

meeting was attended by se-

nior party leaders besides Min-

isters, MPs and MLAs.

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The State reported a low of

124 new Covid-19 positive

cases in 19 districts and the

State pool on Saturday, increas-

ing the total

tally to

10,53,769.

A m o n g

the newly-in-

fected were 17

children in the

age group of o

to 18 years.

Notably, the

State had re-

corded 141

cases on Friday. Of the new

cases, 75 were from quaran-

tine and 49 local contacts.

Khordha distrcit recorded the

highest 61 cases. The districts

which recorded below-10 cases

were Cuttack eight, Bargarh

six, Jharsuguda five, Jajpur

four, Baleswar, Bhadrak andGajapati three each, Angul,

Deogarh, Mayurbhanj,

Nuapada, Puri, Sambalpur and

Sundargarh two each and

Balangir, Jagatsinghpur,

Kendrapada, and Nayagarh

one each.

Besides, 13 cases were re-

ported from the State pool.

The active cases stood at 1,664.

One more person suc-

cumbed to the disease, pushing

the total death toll to 4451. The

lone fatality was reported from

Bhubaneswar in Khordha dis-

trict. So far, 10,43,601 patients

have recovered in the State.

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The State got some respite

from cold wave conditions

after the minimum night

temperature registered a

gradual rise on Friday night.

Sundargarh was the cold-

est place in the State with a

minimum temperature of 8

degree Celsius. Daringbadi

and Phulbani in Kandhamal

district recorded temperature

of 8.5 degree Celsius. A to-

tal of nine towns in the State

recorded minimum tem-

peratures below 12 degrees.

Sonepur, Bolangir and

Jharsuguda recorded mini-

mum temperature below 11

degree Celsius on Friday

night. Similarly, Cuttack

and Bhubaneswar recorded

minimum temperature of

13.5 and 14.6 degree, respec-

tively, the Regional Office of

the IMD here said on Satur-

day. There will be a gradual

rise in the minimum tem-

perature (night tempera-

ture) by 2 to 3 degree Cel-

sius during the next two days

and no large change there-

after over the districts of the

State.

IMD has also predicted

light to moderate rain and

thundershowers in some

parts of the State ahead of

New Year next week.

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Odisha has topped on

two counts so far as

good governance is

concerned. While the

State has topped in

human resources devel-

opment, it has repeated

its performance in

economic governance.

Union Minister of

Home Affairs and

Minister of Cooperation

Amit Shah on Saturday

released the Good

Governance Index 2021

prepared by the Depart-

ment of Administrative

Reforms and Public

Grievances on the Good

Governance Day at

Vigyan Bhawan here.

Odisha, which is in

the 'B' Group of the

States, has performed

exceedingly well in

human resources devel-

opment. Similarly the

State has also topped in

economic governance

among the 'B' Group

States.

The Good Gover-

nance Index (GGI)

2021 Framework

covered ten sectors and

58 indicators.

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With an expectation of

bigger growth, the Odisha

Government has started its

preparation for Annual Bud-

get for the upcoming finan-

cial year 2022-23.

While the country is ex-

pected to have a growth of 8.5

percent during 2022-23, as per

International Monetary Fund

(IMF) projections, Odisha is

expected to have 9 percent

growth during next financial

year. Principal Secretary, Fi-

nance, Vishal Kumar Dev has

been engaged in Pre Budget

Consultations with various

departments as these depart-

ments have already presented

their requirements.

The Team Finance led by

Dev has been consistently

monitoring revenue collection

with a specific focus on arrear

revenue. And due to sustained

efforts, collection of both tax

and non-tax revenue is on rise

and it is expected that State’s

own revenues are to register a

moderate growth in 2022-23.

The GST compensation to

bridge the gap between pro-

jected revenue and actual rev-

enue will continue till June

2022. Considering these fac-

tors the spending is expected

to increase by about 17 per

cent in Financial Year 2022-

23 over current Financial

Year’s revised estimate, officials

said. While as part of Public

Financial Management

(PFM) reforms, the Odisha

Government had introduced

a new budget making process

being adopted since 2020-21,

these principles will be adopted

for Annual Budget making

process for 2022-23. The Bud-

get Estimates for the year

2022-23 are likely to be pre-

sented in the State Assembly

during the month of Febru-

ary, 2022. As the fiscal condi-

tion of the State is in a very

good position and revenue col-

lection is an increasing trend,

the State may go for a bigger

jump in the total outlay for

the year 2022-23, feels experts.

The State Government

has initiated very big infra-

structure projects in the recent

past. So, sufficient amount of

funds would also be allocated

for the purpose in addition to

various social welfare

programmes.

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The Amway has earmarked

a global investment of over

USD 300 million through

2024 to boost innovation, sci-

ence, digital technology and

entrepreneurship.

The leading entrepreneur-

led health and wellness had

announced an investment of

over $20 million (Rs 170 crore)

to boost research and devel-

opment, manufacturing auto-

mation, innovation and sci-

ence and strengthen digital

capabilities in India. A recent

report by McKinsey stated

India will be required to create

150 million jobs by 2030 to

fast-track growth and meet

expectation of the aspiring

workforce. This clearly is an

opportunity for an

entrepreneur-led

company like

Amway which has

immense potential

to generate self-

employment op-

portunities. Cur-

rently, with more

than 550,000 di-

rect sellers and re-

tailers, Amway is

poised to make a

formidable impact

by creating alter-

Amway Global CEO,

Milind Pant said, “Amway’s

global growth trajectory is fo-

cused on health and wellness

and ntrepreneurship. Today,

entrepreneurship is being de-

mocratized like never before.

And, at Amway, as an entre-

preneur-led social idea, our vi-

sion is to unleash the next gen-

eration of entrepreneurs with

our all-inclusive business op-

portunity, making it 10x easier

for them to acquire and retain

a community of engaged con-

sumers. With unprecedented

changes in the employment

landscape and the rise of the

passion economy, entrepre-

neurship is becoming one of

the preferred choices, especially

for women and the youth."

native employment opportu-

nities, and thus contribute to-

wards the economic and en-

trepreneurial progress of

India.https://ssl.gstatic.com/

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��0��%�� * �� -For 1st freedomwar tag for PaikaRebellion��

The Odisha Bira

Mahasangha on Wednesday

announced to hold a massive

rally on December 27 in

Bhuabneswar demanding rec-

ognition of the Paika Rebel-

lion as the first Independence

movement in the country.

Members of the

organisation led by former

Khordha MLA Dillip

Srichnadan, Jatni MLA Suresh

Kumar Roputray and Bira

Mahasangh president Dr

Prakash Srichndan met Gov-

ernor Prof Ganeshi Lal and

submitted a memorandum

addressed to the President of

India, Prime Minister and

Union Culture Minister in this

regard. The delegation made a

presentation to the Governor

justifying how the Paika

Bidroha was the first war of

Independence which hap-

pened in the year 1817 and

after much later in 1857 the

Sepoy Mutiny took place.

Prakash Srichandan said

that if the Union Government

turns down the proposal, the

organisation would hold the

death anniversary of Paika

Bidroha leader Buxi Jagbandhu

on January 24 at the Red Fort

in New Delhi.�� 1��*�� *��

The NABARD Odisha Re-

gional Office organised a State

level workshop on ACABC,

AIF and New-AMI scheme on

Friday here. The workshop was

jointly inaugurated by Chief

General Manager C

Udayabhaskar and Director,

State Agricture and Food Pro-

duction Dr M Muthukumar.

SLBC Convenor

Arupanand Jena, Agriculture

Marketing Advisor to Gov-

ernment of India BK Tiwari,

senior officials from line de-

partments, banks, entrepre-

neurs and DMI participated in

the meeting. Dr Sai

Maheshwari from MANAGE,

Hyderabad and Amaresh Dey

C-PMU, AIF, Ministry of Ag-

riculture, DA&FW joined vir-

tually. GM Susanta Mishra,

DGM SR Panda, all DDMs

and RO officials participated

in the meeting. Presentations

on ACABC, AIF and AMI

schemes were made during the

workshop. CGM

Udayabhaskar in his inaugu-

ral address stressed that

through the development of

various agri infrastructure, es-

pecially at the post harvest

stage, the produce can be op-

timally utilised with opportu-

nity for value addition and fair

deal for farmers. He advised

for creation of more awareness

among all stakeholders

through SMS, awareness lit-

erature and review of the

schemes regularly in SLBC,

DCC and BLBC etc.

NABARD will proactively

continue to work with line

departments and bankers to

promote the ACABC, AIF

and New-AMI schemes so as to

reach the benefits to maximum

number of farmers, he told.

Dr Muthukumar, advised all

bankers and line departments

to work hard to promote these

schemes amongst the farmers,

entrepreneurs and other stake-

holders, so that maximum

benefit can be derived.

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Former Engineer-in-Chief

and Secretary to Government

in the Works Department

Prof GC Mitra passed away

here on Thursday. He was 85.

Prof Mitra, who was con-

ferred with the Padma Shri in

2003, played a prominent role

in the restoration of the

Jagannath Temple at Puri and

Sun Temple at Konark as a

Member of the Core Commit-

tee constituted by the Archaeo-

logical Survey of India. While

serving the Government, he

did his MTech and PhD from

IIT, Kharagpur and subse-

quently worked as a professor

in the same institute. Prof

Mitra almost singlehandedly

developed the IIT, Kharagpur

Bhubaneswar campus, which

subsequently led to the estab-

lishment of IIT, Bhubaneswar.

He also played a prominent

role in construction of a large

number of cyclone shelters,

which came up in the aftermath

of the 1999 Super Cyclone.

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At least seven dowry tor-

ture cases are registered in a

month under Rourkela Police

District. Sources revealed that

between January 2018 and

November 2021 (47 months),

a total of 332 dowry torture

cases have been registered in

different police stations under

Rourkela Police District. And,

out of them, total 88 cases

have been registered in the

Mahila Police Station (PS). As

per reports, while 76 cases were

registered in 2018, 83 cases

were registered in 2019, 91

cases were registered in 2020

and till November 25, 82 cases

have been registered.

Interestingly, during Co-

rona prone year 2020, the cases

have risen faster. Similarly next

to Mahila Police Station maxi-

mum cases of 58 were regis-

tered in Uditnagar PS during

these periods. Bonai police sta-

tion has the third largest regis-

tered cases of 30. While 26 cases

each were registered in Sector-

7 and Raghunathpalli PS, 16

cases each were registered in

Tikayatpalli and Koira PSs. 11

cases each were registered in

Bondamunda and

BrahmaniTaranga PSs , 9 cases

in Jhirpani PS, 7 cases each in

Plant Site and Bisra PSs, 6 cases

in Chhend PS, 5 cases each in

Sector-15 and Lahunipara PSs,

4 cases in Lathikata PS and 3

cases registered each in Sector

3 and Sector-19 PSs.

Significantly while in tribal

dominated Gurundia only one

case was registered during past

47 months, not a single case

was registered in Chandiposh

and K. Bolanga PSs. The experts

say mostly in tribal and down-

trodden families the cases of

dowry torture cases are seen

rarely while they are frequent in

rich and urban based families.

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T h e a n n u a l t r a i n i n g

camp of Senior Division

NCC Coy of Sainik School

B h u b a n e s w a r w a s

organised from December

19 to 25 where 78 cadets

participated.

T h e t r a i n i n g

p r o g r a m m e w a s c o n -

ducted under the guidance

of Principal, Sainik School

Bhubaneswar Gp Capt S

D o m i n i c R a y a n . C a m p

C ommandant C dr Usha

S a n g w a n a n d D e p u t y

Camp Commandant Capt

Bighneswar Pradhan su-

pervised all the activities

o f t h e t r a i n i n g

p r o g r a m m e . A N O D

Golani and other NCC of-

ficers joined their hands

for a smooth and meticu-

lous execution of the ac-

tivities. In the beginning,

the Camp Commandant

extended the opening ad-

dress which was followed

by a motivational talk by

the Principal Rayan. For

giving equal opportunities

to all the Cadets and to

showcase their talents they

were divided into six syn-

dic ates . Tent pitching ,

morning PT, obstac le

course practice, weapon

training, interactive ses-

sions on leadership skills,

personality development,

inter syndicate competi-

t ions , sports ac t iv i t ies ,

drill, firing competitionsand various theory classeswere the important featuresof the training programme.Finally, a spectacular cul-tural programme was per-formed by the Cadets.

DDG, NCC directorate,Odisha , Cmde SomanBanerjee graced the occa-sion as the chief guest andexpressed his satisfactionand distributed prizes tothe winners of the variouscompetitions. All the staff,their families and cadetswitnessed the programme.

��

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The Pallishree Mela going

on here since December 23

reached its third day on Satur-

day. The event will go on till

December 26.

On the 3rd day various

items from the district and

outside attracted the visitors.

Besides, cultural programmes

were a big crowd puller.

Various dignitaries including

the district Collector, ADM

Sangramsekhar Panda, PD

DRDA Anam Charan Patra,Sub

Collector Dilip Kumar

Maharana, PA, ITDA Saroj

Kumar Behra, DPM of OLM

Priyambada Bisoyi graced the

event on different days.

8,��)6��3��(��%��6��4��9 :��;

<�� .�=�7!!+��>�� $��0��

On Thursday, the Barbil

police arrested a gang of five

persons on the charge of die-

sel theft. This is the second

such case.

Earlier on November

14, the police had arrested

two persons and seized a

diesel tanker for black mar-

ket ing diesel in Barbi l

town. Barbil police station

IIC Sushanta Kumar Dash

revealed that on December

23 morning, getting a tip-

off from some rel iable

sources, a police patrolling

team reached at Nalda near

the border of Jharkhand

State when the accused

were engaged in collecting

diesel from trucks parked

there. After seeing the po-

lice, they were trying to flee;

however, the police could

nab them and seized 300 li-

ters of diesel packed in plas-

tic jars from the back side of

an hotel owned by one

Binod Kumar Yadav.

It is alleged that the ac-

cused were planning to sell

the theft diesel to truck driv-

ers. The police immediately

arrested Binod and four oth-

ers, who are said to be be-

longing to outside Odisha.

Memo given forCM�� 6��+

The All Odisha Kirtan

Kalakar Mahasangha led by

State president Er

Debashisha Hota submitted

a memorandum for Chief

Minister Naveen Patnaik

through Collector Saroj

Kumar Sethy to increase the

quota of Mukhyamantri

Kalakar Sahayata Yojana

4,000 artists for Dhenkanal

and Angul districts each.

Here it is noteworthy

that, total 7,897 artists have

applied for “Mukhyamantri

Kalakar Sahayata Yojana” in

Dhenkanal district. But the

quota is only of 200. This is

too less than the number of

total applicants, said Hota. To

give proper respect to the art-

ists of both Dhenkanal and

Angul districts, at least 4,000

artists should be covered un-

der the scheme, Hota added.

"We hope and believe

that, Chief Minister Naveen

Pat n a i k w i l l d e f i n i t e l y

increase the number of

benef ic iar ies under the

“Mukhyamantri Kalakar

S a h a y a t a Yo j a n a ,” E r

Hota told.

Ramakrishna Mission, Bhubaneswar, celebrates Christmas in its temple the same way as is

done at the Belur Ramakrishna Math in Kolkata each year. Pioneer photo

��

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�� !��"�#�$��%�

*+(��,*-��.(��/��-��*� ��.0��

Following the instruction of

the Orissa High Court to the

State Government about non

reservation of any seat for

OBC category, political atmo-

sphere in the State has heated

up as Panchayat and urban

polls are round the corner.

Governing Biju Janata Dal

(BJD) and the BJP, which is

ruling at the Centre, have in-

dulged into a political war. Top

leaders of the two parties—

Union Minister Dharmendra

Pradhan (BJP) and BJD

organisational secretary

Pranab Prakash Das have a war

of words on twitter.

Earlier, Panchayati Raj

Minister Pratap Jena had

said the BJD would give pref-

erence to the OBC candi-dates for the rural poll.

“The OdishaGovernment’s announce-ment of giving preference toOBC candidates in the upcom-ing Panchayat polls is all but

tokenism. The anti-OBC face

of the Odisha Government is

evident from its lack of will in

implementing the reservation

quota for OBCs in local body

elections,” Pradhan tweeted.

The Madhya Pradesh Govern-

ment and the Centre are plan-

ning to move a review peti-

tion on the Supreme Court’s

quota rulings to ensure that

local body elections in MP are

held with reservations for the

OBC communities. But, the

Odisha Government is show-

ing no intent to pursue the

matter logically, he said target-

ing the BJD Government.

The BJP leader said the

State Government could also

have approached the SC

against the recent order of

Orissa HC, especially when its

own SLP for reservation be-

yond 50 per cent limit is pend-

ing with the SC. He urged the

Odisha Government to answer

the people why it is against

OBC reservations.

Calling Pradhan as Bhai,

BJD leader Das asked, “You

are Union Minister, elected

to Rajya Sabha from Madhya

Pradesh. For how many years

was your party in power

there? Why did you fail to

ensure OBC reservation in

MP? More so now, with the

Supreme Court striking

down MP’s OBC reservation

policy for polls.”

Slamming the BJP Gov-

ernment, which has been at

the Centre for the past 7.5

years, Das asked, “Has OBC

reservation ever been a pri-

ority? Why are you not

bringing Central legislation

for ensuring OBC reserva-

tion in India and filing peti-

tion for this in the Supreme

Court? Where is your com-

mitment for OBCs?”

The BJD leader urged

Pradhan to introspect his and

Centre’s commitment to

OBC and stop doing politics.

“Country knows how you

formed Government in MP,

we got people’s mandate in

Odisha. You are scared of

Panchayat polls in MP. But

we want to hold Panchayat

polls in Odisha,” he further re-

plied.

Stating that the BJD is

committed to give 40 per

cent OBC reservation in

Panchayat poll tickets, Das

said, “We might even go

upto 50% reservation. We

will also publicly publish a list

of these OBC candidates who

have been provided reserva-

tion in BJD tickets,” he said

and dared Pradhan to do the

same for the BJP.

“I humbly request you, with-

out politics, let us fight together

for ensuring that the OBCs get

their rightful reservation in polls.

I am sure you will extend your

hand of cooperation for empow-

erment of OBCs,” he ended.

�%"&'&�"(��)"*+,(��-.#�+.+��-��"+-B r a h m a p u r :

People from

cross sections of

society mourned

the death of hu-

man rights ac-

tivist Abani

Gaya’s mother G Tarini, who passed away here on Tues-

day. They praised the decision of the family to donate her

eyes and body for medical purpose. Two MKCG Medical

College Hospital teams from eye and anatomy depart-

ments collected her eyes and body from her home in the

presence of prominent citizens Manababadi Hetubadi

Sanghathana, Ganjam president ET Rao, secretary K

Nandesu Senapati, Members Jamula Suresh, Friends Help-

ing Club representative S Kesablingam, Ganjam Cham-

ber of Commerce representative Swaraj Subudhi and Re-

tired Teachers’ Association secretary SS Khadanga.

��/��++��-&�",&�0"+��1+"��"��,Brahmapur: On behalf of the San & Neel Foundation, blan-

kets and other winter clothes were distributed to poor and

needy persons sleeping on pavements, railway station, Old

Bus-Stand, Gate Bazaar area, busiest First Gate of Aska Road,

City Hospital and particularly the security guards at bank

ATM counters here on Friday. Blankets were distributed by

Lion Dharma Rao, social activist and San & Neel Founda-

tion chairman. The foundation drew public attention par-

ticularly during the Covid-19 pandemic for supply of foods,

masks and oxygen to hundreds of patients.

��-�-��"&��%�)��,2��&�+-�&��3��0,Jagatsinghpur:

A blood dona-

tion camp was

organised by

the Odisha

Mo Paribar at

the Biju Patnaik College in Ashramapatana under Khairang

GP on Thursday. Odisha State Cashew Development Corpora-

tion Chairman Amarendra Das inaugurated the camp. The

District Headquarters Hospital arranged all logistic supports

for the camp. Villagers of Khairang, PRI members, local

youths praised Amarendra Das’ initiative in holding the

camp. The camp was coordinated by Susanta Swain, Biraja

Ray, Puspak Sahoo and Srinivas Patra.

)��*+�-�4,�1&��&�2�5&4+�&��1(��-�Kendrapada: The Patakura police on Saturday arrested

one Tapan Kumar Rout for his alleged involvement in

killing his wife on December 22 at Kusunpura village.

The couple was having an estranged relationship for a

long time, which led to the murder. After committing

the crime Tapan was absconding. He was nabbed from

his brother’s house in Cuttack through mobile track-

ing. He was produced in the SDJM Court and sent to

judicial custody after his bail plea was rejected.

,��678%,�2��3��"��-+�",.+-�&��2�3��"&Paralakhemundi : A joint team of police, excise and revenue

officials in Gajapati district destroyed ganja crop worth Rs

21 crore in Tandrang village of Anugur panchayat under

Nuagada block. The cultivation area was spread across 105.60

acres. About 2,11,200 plants were cut off.

&��,&+4

1)"��

Following the Orissa High

Court’s order, the State Gov-

ernment has revised its seat res-

ervation list for the post of Zilla

Parishad Chairperson in all 30

districts for the upcoming

three-tier Panchayat elections.

The Government has re-

served 12 seats for SC and ST

categories. As many as seven

seats are reserved for Scheduled

Tribe candidates while five seats

are reserved for SC candidates.

In the old notification, four ZP

seats had been reserved for

Other Backward Classes

(OBCs). Now, in the latest no-

tification published on Friday,

not a single seat has been re-

served for the community. As

per the notification published

by the Panchayati Raj Depart-

ment, the Government has re-

served the ZP chief post in

Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur,

Jajpur, Boudh and Bhadrak dis-

tricts for the SC category while

ST persons are to lead the ZPs

in Kandhamal, Koraput,

Nabarangpur, Mayurbhanj,

Malkangiri, Rayagada, and

Sundargarh districts. Similarly,

Zilla Parishad chief posts of 10

districts–Angul, Cuttack,

Kalahandi, Keonjhar, Gajapati,

Deogarh, Nayagarh, Bargarh,

Baleswar, and Subarnapur have

been put under unreserved cat-

egory. However, the notifica-

tion did not mention anything

on the reservation of the ZP

Chairperson seat for the dis-

tricts of Khurda, Ganjam,

Jharsuguda, Dhenkanal,

Nuapada, Puri, Bolangir and

Sambalpur. Anyone can be-

came the ZP Chairperson in

these districts, sources said

Moreover, the State Gov-

ernment has reserved 50 per cent

of all ZP chief posts for women

candidates. The districts are—

Kalahandi, Kendrapara, Koraput,

Khurda, Ganjam, Jharsuguda,

Dhenkanal, Nuapada, Puri,

Balangir, Boudh, Malkangiri,

Jajpur, Rayagada and Sambalpur.

��%��4��5��,�+��-��/ ��/��-�� 0�'�� +�,

Even as the Centre has given

green signal for disinvestment

in the Neelachal Ispat Nigam

Limited (NINL), BJP leader and

former Union Minister Pratap

Sarangi has urged Union Minis-

ter of Commerce & Industry

Piyush Goyal for a merger of the

steel unit with a Central PSU.

Sarangi met Goyal here and

suggested merging the NINL

with Steel Authority of India

Ltd (SAIL) or Rashtriya Ispat

Nigam Ltd (RINL) or National

Mineral Development Corpo-

Bharat Heavy Electricals Lim-

ited (BHEL) (0.68%) and

MECON (0.68%), and two

State PSUs, IPICOL (12%) and

Odisha Mining Corporation

(OMC) (20.47%). The MMTC

is the controlling promoter. The

Union Government on Janu-

ary 8, 2020 accorded ‘in-prin-

ciple’ approval for disinvest-

ment of the entire shareholding

of all CPSUs and State PSUs

(93.71%) through a single

transaction. Expression of In-

terest (EoI) was invited on

January 25, 2021. After short-

listing of bidders and an elabo-

rate process of due diligence,

a Request for Proposal

(RFP) document inviting

financial bids has been is-

sued to the Qualified Inter-

ested Bidders (QIBs).

The company has in-

formed that outstanding dues

of salary of employees up to

December 2020 have been dis-

bursed. Further, the selling

shareholders have signed a

Waterfall Agreement

amongst themselves for distri-

bution of disinvestment re-

ceipts, which ranks priority for

payment of various dues and

liabilities of NINL, out of which

dues of employees get the high-

est priority from the proceeds

of the sale. There are employee

protection provisions in the

definitive agreement to be en-

tered by selling shareholders

and successful bidder.

ration (NMDC). Meanwhile,

Department of Investment and

Public Asset Management

(DIPAM) Secretary Tuhin

Kanta Pandey said financial

bids have been received for stra-

tegic disinvestment of NINL

and the process is on for the

concluding stage. The NINL is

a Joint Venture company of

four Central PSUs, MMTC

(49.78%), NMDC (10.10%),

0��**��1,� �.�� <��

The Summative Assess-

ment-I of Class-X students

would be held on January 5,

2022, informed School & Mass

Education Minister Samir

Ranjan Dash on Saturday.

“The Matric Summative

Assessment will be conducted

on January 5 next year. This

examination needs to be con-

ducted before the annual Class-

X examination as it might help

in evaluation process if the Board

Exam could not be held next

year,” he told reporters. Earlier,

the Board of Secondary Educa-

tion (BSE) had postponed the

Matric Summative Assessment-

I to January 5. The examina-

tion had been scheduled to be-

gin on December 27, 2021.As per the schedule, the

examination will continue tillJanuary 8. Around 5.70 lakhstudents will appear in the ex-amination. While online formfill-up process has been com-pleted, a database is being pre-pared for the assessment, BSEVice-President Nihar RanjanMohanty had informed earlier.

+��$�#23�� 6#��@

In poverty index of Odisha,

undivided Koraput district is

in the highest level as men-

tioned in the Niti Ayog report

published recently, though ef-

forts for development of

Koraput started 25 years ago.

It is a matter of concern, said,

Prof Sunil Kant Behera, cur-

rently a visiting Professor of

the Central University of

Odisha while addressing a Lec-

ture programme on ‘SDG: An

Overview and Challenges for

Minimizing Income Inequal-

ity’ on December 21.

He said, “No doubt the

country is growing in many

aspects but in the present

globalized period the reality

in the whole world is in-

equality. Rich become richer,

the poor become poorer and

the middle classes are the

sufferers.” Vice-Chancellor

of the University Prof Sharat

Kumar Palita inaugurated

and presided over the

programme. He highlighted

various targets set on Sustain-

able Development Goals and

what India has achieved so far.

Eminent economist and

policy-planner Prof SN

Mishra, Dean, School of

Management KIIT,

Bhubaneswar delivered a

lecture as the chief speaker

on this occasion. He spoke

about the historical per-

spective of SDG starting

from Brundtland Report

1987, compared different

goals of MDG-2010 and

SDG-2016, SDG sub-tar-

gets including eradication

of extreme poverty, im-

provement of social protec-

tion system ensuring equal

rights to basic service and

technology.

,,@1�;��- ��5��4��6 ��4�� *�� 0��$#��

The School of Humanities

and Social Sciences and Man-

agement, (SHSSM), IIT

Bhubaneswar, will organise a

three-day national seminar

on “History and Heritage of

Sun Worship- Scientific and

Religious Implications of Sun:

The Centre of Solar-system”

during December 26-28 in

hybrid mode.

The inaugural event will be

held on December 26 at Yatri

Nivas, Orissa Tourism Devel-

opment Corporation

(OTDC), Konark with the par-

ticipation of many scholars,

researchers and technocrats in

the areas of history, culture,

and literature and technology.

The seminar sponsored by In-

dian Council of Historical Re-

search (ICHR), New Delhi and

Indian Oil Corporation, New

Delhi aims to revisit the con-

cept and the role of the sun in

human existence in historical,

scientific, literary and philo-

sophical domains and connect

with the recent scientific de-

velopments.

Director, Indian Oil Cor-

poration Ranjan Kumar

Mohapatra will be the chief

guest on the occasion while

Director, IIT Bhubaneswar

Prof RV Raja Kumar will pre-

side. Former Vice Chancellor,

BPUT Professor Omkar Nath

Mohanty and Dr R

Balakrishnan, who is the chief

advisor to the Chief Minister

of Odisha, will deliver the inau-

gural plenary addresses.

The event comprises expert

presentations from 32 speakers

from across the country.

�,,0��5��.��A�:5��

- ��

Reiterating the dynamism

of late PM Atal Bihari

Vajpayee, the AIIMS

Bhubaneswar paid rich tributes

to him on his 97th birth anni-

versary inside of its premises

on Saturday.

The whole nation is ob-

serving the day as Good Gov-

ernance Day.

Dean(Academics) Prof

Debashis Hota, Deputy Direc-

tor (Administration) PK Ray,

In-charge Medical Superinten-

dent Prof Ashok Jena and Maj

MC Sahoo were among the

dignitaries to grace the event.

The dignitaries and personali-

ties from different corners of

society paid floral tributes in

the statue of Vajpayee at

AIIMS Bhubaneswar campus.

It may be noted that Vajpayee

had laid the foundation stone

of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, on

July 15, 2003 which is the sec-

ond AIIMS in the country and

the only AIIMS whose foun-

dation stone was laid by the

former PM. To celebrate the

occasion in a different man-

ner, a cleanliness drive outside

the campus was carried out by

AIIMS Bhubaneswar NSS vol-

unteers, Youth for Seva team

and waste handlers of the in-

stitution.

The local vendors and

general public were sensitized

to keep their environment

clean and safe on the occasion

by the medical and nursing

students.

& ��

'B<�� 5��>��>�=�&��/�@� ��>��3��;

& �1��

��%��*.�� *%�� .�� 6�#��

*+(400��'��%��4��

Rajya Sabha MP Amar

Patnaik called on Union Fi-

nance Minister Nirmala

Sitaraman and demanded

that the GST of 18% in the

health insurance policy for

senior citizens within the age

group of 60 to 75 years be

waived, taking into consider-

ation their financial burden

into account.

The waiver will enable them

to go for higher amount of in-

surance policy for their advanc-

ing old age, he said. Patnaik

demanded for total waiver of

GST by the GST Council of

India or reduction of the GST

by a minimum of 5% so that it

will help a large chunk of the

senior citizens to take care of

their health hazards. Patnaik had

also called on the Railway Min-

ister Ashwini Vaishnaw and de-

manded for a separate Railway

Division in Rourkela for the

people of Sundargarh.

�� $�@@�$6

A team of the Special Task

Force (STF) with the help of the

Cuttack UPD unearthed a du-

plicate zarda (tobacco) products

unit at Dahapatna under the

Baranga police station on Fri-

day night. An accused identi-

fied as Nibas Sahoo was arrested.

Spurious zarda and to-

bacco materials weighing 2.5

quintals were seized from the

unit. The cost of the seized

materials is said to be around

Rs 8 lakh. The raid was con-

ducted based on an intelli-

gence input regarding the

manufacture, sale and storageof duplicate zarda items.

‘A case under Indian PenalCode sections- 379, 411, 417,420 and section 20 of Cigarettesand Other Tobacco Products(COTPA) Act, 2003 has beenregistered in this regard and fur-ther investigation is underway,”said a police official.

The Commissionerate po-lice have intensified raids againstadulterated food and otherFMCG units in the twin citiesof Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.

A large number of migra-

tory birds were found dead at

a farmland near Ratamati vil-

lage under the Tangi Forest

Range in Khordha district on

Saturday morning.

Getting information, for-

est officials rushed to the spot

and collected samples from the

carcasses of the birds for post-

mortem. The officials sus-

pected that unidentified

poachers might have laid traps

and poisoned the migratory

birds to death. However, the

exact reason behind the inci-

dent would be ascertained from

the postmortem reports.

However, theTangi Range Of-

ficer refuted the death of large

number of birds and said

around 30 to 40 dead birds

were found in the farmland.

The range officer said that due

to the high demand for aquatic

bird meat in nearby towns like

Bhubaneswar, Balugaon and

Brahmapur, poaching activity

has been increasing in the

Chilika Lake and its adjoining

areas.

It is also being alleged that

aquatic bird meat is also being

sold at the roadside dhabas

along the National Highway-

16 passing close to the lake.

��

New Delhi: The Congress onSaturday took digs at theGovernment over fuel pricesand inflation through a seriesof Christmas-themed tweets.

"All we want for Christmasis a government that listens,"the party tweeted with a SantaClaus image and messagewhich read: "Thank God Santais listening to everyone's wish-es because Modi ji is only lis-tening to his Mann ki Baat."

In another tweet, theCongress said, "Imagine dash-ing through the snow atRs.95/litre."

This tweet was accompa-nied by an image of Santa rid-ing a sleigh and a messagewhich read, "Thank god Santarides a sleigh, he doesn't needto pay hefty prices for fuel."

"Jingle bells... Jinglebells...Jingle all the way. Ohwhat fun it would be to buythings...Without burning allyour savings away," theCongress said in anotherChristmas-themed tweet.

In another dig, theCongress tweeted, "Jingle bells,jingle bells, ports, airports,roads, railways, are just a fewthings Modi ji sells."

The Congress said, "He'snot making a list, The govt's notchecking anything twice; Theyhave no data on- who's naughtyor nice."

"Thank God Santa has anaughty and nice list, becauseour government has no data,"a message with a Santa imageon the party's Twitter handleread. PTI

New Delhi: An application hasbeen filed in the Supreme Courtseeking early hearing on a peti-tion challenging the Delhi HighCourt's 2005 verdict whichquashed all charges, includingagainst the Hinduja brothers, inthe politically-sensitive Rs 64crore Bofors pay-off case.

The application, filed byadvocate Ajay Agrawal, has saidthat the apex court had onNovember 2, 2018 dismissed theCBI's plea against the high courtverdict and had said that theprobe agency can raise allgrounds in the appeal filed byhim against the same judgement.

Agrawal said he had filedthe petition in the top courtagainst the high court verdictin 2005 itself and over threedecades have gone by since thematter came into light.

"It is expedient in the inter-est of justice that the matter beheard at an early date," theapplication said, adding thatthere have been "recurrence of

scams" in the defence sectorsince the accused in the Boforscase "have not been punished".

It said three years havegone by since the top court hadpassed the November 2018order and the matter has notbeen listed for hearing.

In its November 2, 2018order, the top court had reject-ed the CBI plea seeking con-donation of 13-year delay in fil-ing the appeal against the May31, 2005 judgement of the highcourt saying it is not con-vinced with the grounds fur-nished by the agency.

"We are not convinced withthe grounds furnished by thepetitioner for the inordinatedelay of 4,522 days in filing thepresent Special LeavePetitions," the apex court hadsaid in its order.

The high court in its 2005judgement had quashed allcharges against the threeHinduja brothers -- S P Hinduja,G P Hinduja and P P Hinduja -

- and the Bofors company.Before the 2005 verdict, the

high court had on February 4,2004, exonerated former primeminister Rajiv Gandhi in thecase and directed the framingof charge of forgery under sec-tion 465 of the Indian PenalCode against Bofors company.

The Rs 1,437-crore dealbetween India and Swedisharms manufacturer AB Boforsfor the supply of 400 units of155 mm Howitzer guns for theIndian Army was entered intoon March 24, 1986.SwedishRadio on April 16, 1987, hadclaimed that the company hadpaid bribes to top Indian politi-cians and defence personnel.

The CBI on January 22,1990, had registered the FIR foralleged offences of criminalconspiracy, cheating andforgery under the Indian PenalCode and other sections of thePrevention of Corruption Actagainst Martin Ardbo, the thenpresident of AB Bofors, alleged

middleman Win Chadda andthe Hinduja brothers.

It had alleged that certainpublic servants and private per-sons in India and abroad hadentered into a criminal conspir-acy between 1982 and 1987 inpursuance of which the offencesof bribery, corruption, cheatingand forgery were committed.

The first charge sheet in thecase was filed on October 22,1999 against Chadda, Italianbusinessman and alleged mid-dleman Ottavio Quattrocchi,the then defence secretary S KBhatnagar, Ardbo and theBofors company.A supple-mentary charge sheet was filedagainst the Hinduja brothers onOctober 9, 2000.A special CBIcourt in Delhi on March 4,2011, had dischargedQuattrocchi from the case,saying the country could notafford to spend hard-earnedmoney on his extraditionwhich had already cost Rs 250crore. PTI

New Delhi: A PIL has beenfiled in the Supreme Courtseeking directions to the highcourts to take appropriate stepsto adopt a uniform procedurefor case registration and to usecommon judicial terms, phras-es and abbreviations.

The plea, filed by advocateAshwini Kumar Upadhyay, hasalso sought directions to theLaw Commission to prepare areport in consultation with thehigh courts to ensure unifor-mity in judicial terms, phrases,abbreviations, case registra-tion process and court fee.

"The terminology used bydifferent High Courts for dif-ferent types of cases is not uni-form. This non-uniformitycauses inconvenience not justto the general public but, inmany cases, to the advocatesand the authorities as well.

"Not just the terms used by

them to refer to the same typesof cases are different but eventhe abbreviations used to referto these terms are different incase the same term is used. Itis inexplicable as to why thereis a difference in terminologies,procedure, court fees etc., with-in courts when all are governedby the same laws," said the pleafiled through advocateAshwani Kumar Dubey.

It said not only are the highcourts adopting differentnorms and procedures for caseregistration and using differentjudicial terms, phrases andabbreviations but are alsocharging different fees, whichis against the rule of law and theright to justice.

The petition stated that all25 high courts across the coun-try have different usage ofphrases when it comes to iden-tifying different cases. PTI

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The Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) has reacti-

vated the Covid MonitoringCell to track the daily situationreports of the pandemic in itsranks at its headquarters here"in view of the sudden rise inCovid-19 (Omicron) variant atthe pan India level.”

The Cell was deactivatedon November 18 amid declin-ing case count in its rank. Allthe formations have been askedto send daily situation reportsof Covid cases to the Cell tillfurther orders. The CRPF hasonly 44 active cases in its ranksat present, according to thedirective circulated on Friday,

officials said quoting from thecircular sent across all theCRPF establishments acrossthe country.

“The directive has beensent to all the formations of the

CRPF across the country ask-ing them to update the CovidMonitoring Cell with the casecounts on a daily basis so as tokeep close tabs on any possiblesurge of the deadly viral disease

in the paramilitary ranks,” anofficial said.

The Cell was reactivatedwithin just five weeks of the clo-sure of the Covid monitoringmechanism at the CRPF direc-

torate here on November 18.As on Friday, a total of 127

paramilitary forces’ personnelwere active cases of Covid-19,including eight men who con-tracted the disease during thelast 24 hours.

While a maximum of 44Covid patients are in the CRPFranks, the Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF) has 36cases followed by 32 in theBorder Security Force (BSF),six in Sashastra Seema Bal(SSB), five in Indo-TibetanBorder Police (ITBP) and twoeach in National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) andthe National Security Guard(NSG).

Till Friday, the cumulativenumber of Covid cases in theparamilitary ranks stood at88,584 out of which 88, 109patients have recovered and348 personnel have succumbedto the disease besides 127patients continue to be active-ly infected with the contagiousviral infection.

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On the 97th birth anniver-sary of former Prime

Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayeeon Saturday, BJP national pres-ident Jagat Prasad Naddalaunched a micro donationdrive to make the partybecome “a self-reliant organi-sation” with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi also donating�1000 .

The micro donations canrange from �5 to �1,000, Naddasaid . The voluntary fund-col-lection campaign will run tillFebruary 22, the "Punya Tithiof Deen Dayal ji", said the BJPpresident.

“A special connect cam-paign by the BJP from 25thDecember - Jayanti of Atal ji, to11th February - Punya Tithi ofDeen Dayal ji. Your supportwill enthuse millions ofKaryakartas who are selflesslydevoted to the cause of nationbuilding", he said.

Modi contributed with�1,000 tweeting “I have donat-ed �1,000 towards the partyfund of the Bharatiya JanataParty. Our ideal of alwaysputting Nation First and theculture of lifelong selfless ser-vice by our cadre will be furtherstrengthened by your microdonation. Help make BJPstrong. Help make Indiastrong."

Nadda also made a dona-

tion of �1,000 to start thedrive. several leaders from theparty, including union homeminister Amit Shah andArunachal Pradesh chief min-ister Pema Khandu, havealready made their contribu-tion.

In an appeal Naddarequested party workers todonate as per their capacity.“Our karyakartas may con-nect with the people for microdonations within the range Rs5 to Rs 1,000.

The donations module isavailable in the ‘NaMoExclusive’ section of the NaMoapp, which will be the mediumthrough which we will collectthese donations,” said the let-ter by Nadda.

"I seek the blessings ofpeople to strengthen theworld's largest nationalist

movement", said Nadda.Nadda has listed three

major reasons behind theappeal. The first is the cause ofkeeping the nation first.Second, the BJP cadre’s selflessservice to the nation and, third,for the Narendra Modi-ledgovernment’s brand of leader-ship.

BJP-ruled states havealready started the donationdrive. The latest is Assam,which has launched a drive tocollect donations from BJPmembers and their families toraise a fund of Rs 100 crore totake care of the organisationand its expansion.

The party said workers willconnect with the maximumnumber of people to makemicro-donations which will beognised at district, state andnational levels.

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Congress on Saturdayalleged that the Centre was

hatching a “conspiracy” tobring back the three farm lawsafter the next round ofAssembly polls and urged thepeople to teach theGovernment a lesson by defeat-ing it in the elections.

The grand old party'sattack came over AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar’s remarks in which,while talking about the agri-culture laws, he said theGovernment moved a “stepback” and “will move forwardagain”.

Former Cong presidentRahul Gandhi said the coun-try’s agriculture minister has“insulted” Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s “apology" and“it is condemnable”.

“If anti-farmer steps aretaken again, then satyagraha of‘annadatas’ will take placeagain,” he said. “Had defeatedarrogance, will again defeatit,” Rahul Gandhi said in atweet in Hindi, using the hash-tag ‘FarmersProtest’.

Speaking at and event inNagpur, Tomar said, “Webrought agriculture amend-

ment laws. But some people didnot like these laws which werea big reform brought about 70years after Independence underPrime Minister NarendraModi’s leadership.”.

“But the government isnot disappointed, we moved astep back and we will move for-ward again because farmers areIndia’s backbone,” he added.

Referring to the remarks,Congress’ chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala said the“concerted conspiracy” to bringback the three “anti-farmer”agri laws now stands exposedagain by the statement madeTomar.

“Perceiving defeat in thefive state elections includingUttar Pradesh, Uttarakhandand Punjab, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi had apologisedand repealed the three blacklaws in Parliament. This hap-pened after the longest, peace-ful, Gandhian agitation for over380 days on the borders ofDelhi where over 700 farmerssacrificed their lives,” Surjewalasaid. “Even then we had sus-pected the intent of the primeminister, the BJP, the RSS andthe Modi government,” he said.

Immediately after therepeal of the laws, many BJP

leaders had made intemperatestatements pointing to the“conspiracy” to bring back thethree farm laws, he said.

On November 21,Rajasthan Governor KalrajMishra said the three repealedfarm laws will be brought backand also BJP MP SakshiMaharaj made a statement tothat effect, Surjewala said.

Many people dismissedthese statements as aberra-tions but on Friday inMaharashtra, Tomar has “for-tified the conspiracy beinghatched” by the Modi govern-ment to bring back the three“anti farmer” farm laws afterthe completion of the electionsin five states, he said.

“We call upon India’s farm-ers, we call upon fellow Indians,that the only way to stop thediabolical conspiracy of theModi government from bring-ing back the farm laws is todecisively defeat the BJP inUttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand,Punjab and other elections sothat a lesson is taught to thecrony capitalist-driven BJP gov-ernment at the Centre that theycannot annihilate the rights of62 crore farmers of the coun-try,” Surjewala said at AICCpress conference.

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Aday after senior partyleader Harish Rawat was

given free hand for the upcom-ing elections in Uttarakhandfollowing a meeting with for-mer party chief Rahul Gandhi,Congress President SoniaGandhi on Saturday approveda proposal to attach KuldeepIndora (AICC secretaryattached with GeneralSecretary Madhya Pradesh)with in-charge of UttarakhandDevender Yadav till the forth-coming elections in the State.

Indora will continue tohold his existing charge, theparty said.

The additional appoint-ment was done by the party toease out the strain betweenRawat and Yadav which had ledthe former to express hisanguish on social media andeven threatening to the extentto quit politics which couldhave been a major setback forthe party looking for fortunesin the Himalayan state.

Congress also appointedRajesh Lilothia as chairman ofthe party's Scheduled CastesDepartment, replacing NitinRaut.

Sonia Gandhi also appoint-ed K Raju as coordinator tooversee the activities of the AllIndia Congress Committee's(AICC's) SC/OBC/MinorityDepartments and All IndiaAdivasi Congress with imme-diate effect.

"The party appreciates thecontributions of outgoingchairman, SC Department, DrNitin Raut," a statement issuedby AICC general secretary,organisation, K C Venugopal,read.

The Congress chief also setup a three-member disciplinaryaction committee for KeralaPradesh Congress Committeewith ThiruvanchoorRadhakrishnan as its chairman,and N Azhakesan and ArifaSainuddin as members.

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New Delhi: The JawaharlalNehru University Teachers'Association on Friday demand-ed that a consultation be heldacross the varsity to evolveguidelines for conducting vivavoce and evaluating candidatesin a fair manner. The demandcomes in the backdrop of alle-gations by students and teachersthat there were anomalies in theprocess of admission to PhDprogrammes of the university, inparticular, the discriminationfaced by students belonging tomarginalised sections.

"All data, in the past, per-taining to the final selection,including the marks obtained bycandidates in written and vivavoce examinations were postedon a notice board by the admin-

istration. However, this practicewas stopped a few years back andcandidates are now only pro-vided information about theirown marks," the JNUTA said.

The teachers' bodydemanded that the universityadministration make public alldata regarding the marks scoredby various candidates as wasdone in the past. "JNUTA alsodemands that a university wideconsultation be initiated so as toevolve guidelines for conductingviva voce and evaluating per-formance of applicants in a fairmanner. At the moment, thereare no clear guidelines in the uni-versity about how interviewboards should be constituted andcandidates be evaluated," it saidin a statement. PTI

New Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Friday sug-gested that 150 universitiesacross the country should beinvolved in writing papers ondifferent aspects of spiritualleader Sri Aurobindo's life andphilosophy to commemoratehis 150th birth anniversary.

Sri Aurobindo was born onAugust 15, 1872, in Kolkata,West Bengal.

Modi chaired the firstmeeting of a high-level com-mittee that was formed to com-memorate Sri Aurobindo's150th birth anniversary,according to a statement issuedby the culture ministry.

Govind Mohan, Secretary(Culture), gave a presentationon the roadmap for the cele-brations and sought the advice

of the members of the com-mittee for commemorating theoccasion in a befitting manner,the statement said.

The committee comprises53 members from variouswalks of life.

According to the state-ment, 38 of the 53 memberswere present at the meeting,either virtually or physically.

"Speaking on the occasion,the prime minister expressedhis gratitude to the esteemedmembers for their valuablethoughts and suggestions on SriAurobindo's commemoration,"the statement noted.

Modi said it is India'sresponsibility as a spiritualleader of the world to con-tribute in terms of spiritualism

to nations across the globe.

"He suggested that 150universities across the countryshould be involved in writingpapers on different aspects ofSri Aurobindo's life and phi-losophy and the 150 papers tobe published on the occasion,"the statement said.

The prime minister pro-posed to launch the commem-oration celebrations of SriAurobindo from Puducherry,coinciding with the celebrationof the National Youth Day, itmentioned.

"This will encourage theyouth to visit Puducherry andlearn about his life and teach-ings, where Sri Aurobindospent his life from 1910 to1950," the statement said. PTI

New Delhi: Multi-disciplinarycentral teams have beendeployed in 10 States which arereporting either an increasingnumber of Omicron andCOVID-19 cases or a slowvaccination pace, according toa Union Health Ministry officememorandum.

As per the document, these10 states are Kerala,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, WestBengal, Mizoram, Karnataka,Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,Jharkhand, and Punjab.

"In view of rapid surge incases and deaths because ofCOVID-19, as reported by var-ious news channels, the state gov-ernments, and noted in internalreviews, it has been seen that thenumber of Omicron cases hasemerged in some states.

"It has also been observedthat the pace of COVID-19 vac-cination in these states is lessthan the national average. Inwake of this situation, a decisionhas been taken to deploy multi-disciplinary central teams to 10identified states some of whichare either reporting increasingnumber of Omicron andCOVID-19 cases or slow vac-cination pace (list enclosed), toaid the efforts of the state anddistrict administration for man-agement of COVID-19," thememorandum stated.

These teams will be sta-tioned in the states for three tofive days, and they will workalong with the state healthauthorities, it said.

The teams will specificallylook into areas of contact-trac-

ing, including surveillance andcontainment operations, andCOVID-19 testing, includingsending of adequate samplesfrom clusters to the INSACOGnetwork for genome sequenc-ing, the memo stated.

They will also look intoenforcement of Covid-appro-priate behaviour, availabilityof hospital beds, sufficientlogistics, including ambulances,ventilators, and medical oxy-gen, and the COVID-19 vacci-nation progress.

The state-level central teamswill assess the situation, suggestremedial actions and submit areport every evening by 7 pm onpublic health activities beingundertaken, besides submittingthe same to the state govern-ments, the memo stated. PTI

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From Bethlehem andFrankfurt to London and

Boston, the surging coron-avirus put a damper onChristmas Eve for a secondyear, forcing churches to can-cel or scale back services anddisrupting travel plans andfamily gatherings.

Drummers and bagpipersmarched through Bethlehem tosmaller than usual crowds afternew Israeli travel restrictionsmeant to slow the highly con-tagious omicron variant keptinternational tourists awayfrom the town where Jesus issaid to have been born.

In Germany, a line woundhalfway around Cologne's mas-sive cathedral, not for midnightMass but for vaccinations. Theoffer of shots was an expressionof “care for one's neighbor” thatwas consistent with the mes-sage of Christmas, cathedralprovost Guido Assmann toldthe DPA news agency. Aroundthe world, people weary fromnearly two years of lockdownsand other restrictions searchedfor ways to safely enjoy holidayrituals.“We can't let the virustake our lives from us whenwe're healthy,” said Rosalia

Lopes, a retired Portuguesegovernment worker who wasdoing some last-minute shop-ping in the coastal town ofCascais.

She said she and her fam-ily were exhausted by the pan-demic and determined to goahead with their celebrationswith the help of vaccines andbooster shots, rapid home testsand mask-wearing in public.She planned a traditionalPortuguese Christmas Eve din-ner of baked cod.

In New York City, whereomicron has spread widely,people waited in long lines toget tested, many doing so as aprecaution before traveling toreunite with family. But holiday travel was dealt ablow when major airlines can-celed hundreds of flights amidstaffing shortages largely tied toomicron.

Sadia Reins arrived in NewYork City from Alexandria,Virginia, on Friday to be withwith her 75-year-old mother.Reins said the two haven'tspent Christmas together intwo years, and despite the risksin traveling during the out-break, she couldn't bear to beapart from her mother againthis year. “We're going to cry,”

she said, adding: “We talk onthe phone all the time, but it'snot the same as looking atsomeone.”In Britain, where thecoronavirus variant is rippingthrough the population, somehouses of worship hoped topress on.

At St. Paul's Old Ford, anAnglican church in EastLondon, priests planned tohold services on ChristmasEve and Christmas Day. But toprotect parishioners, thechurch called off its Nativityplay. “You might have tocancel the service, but youcan't cancel Christmas,'' saidthe Rev. April Keech, an asso-ciate priest. “You can't stop love.Love still stands.”

Numerous churches in theUS Canceled in-person ser-vices, including WashingtonNational Cathedral in thenation's capital and historic OldSouth Church in Boston.Others planned outdoor cele-brations or a mix of online andin-person worship. In Rome,a maskless Pope Francis cele-brated Christmas Eve Massbefore an estimated 2,000 peo-ple in St. Peter's Basilica, whereadmission was limited andworshippers had to wearmasks.

Washington: So longeggnog, shrimp cocktail andpet-shaped sugar cookies. It'sbeen a less merry holiday sceneat White House this year underCOVID-19's shadow. PresidentJoe Biden and first lady JillBiden have replaced packedparties and overflowing buffettables of the past with food-freeopen houses, face masks andtesting for the unvaccinated.

Beyond the impact onBiden's first Christmas inoffice, the virus and its variantslargely put kibosh on entireWhite House social scene for2021, starting with an inaugu-ration that positioned flags inplace of people on the NationalMall. “I think it's been reallytough on them," said PhilipDufour, who was VicePresident Al Gore's social sec-retary. He noted that manyevents were not held whilepresident and first lady did oth-ers over Zoom. Major socialevents scrubbed from calendar

included White House ball fornation's governors and EasterEgg Roll, the second straightyear that springtime ritual hasbeen cancelled.

The Democratic presidentalso has yet to toast a foreigncounterpart at a glitzy WhiteHouse state dinner because hehas yet to invite a world leaderfor a state visit. In fact, monthspassed before Biden was able towelcome a foreign leader to theOval Office for even lower-keytalks.Still, the White Housemanaged to pull off someevents despite pandemic, suchas bill-signing and Medal ofHonor ceremonies.

The Bidens also hostedlarge receptions for Hanukkahand for artists recognised byJohn F. Kennedy Center forPerforming Arts. But pan-demic's biggest blow to calen-dar came at Christmas, forcingWhite House to overhaul itsholiday entertaining—and trimthe guest list. AP

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Pakistan and Taliban author-ities in Afghanistan have

resolved the recent row overborder fencing by agreeingthat further work on the pro-ject that led to a tense situationwould be done through con-sensus, a media report said onSaturday.

A senior official, whospoke to a group of journalistson Friday, said it had beendecided at a senior level thatfencing-related issues would inthe future be dealt withthrough mutual agreement.

The official, however, didnot exactly specify at whichlevel the talks between Pakistanand the de facto Afghan gov-ernment were held afterWednesday's incident in whichTaliban fighters disrupted bor-der fencing and took awayspools of barbed wire, theDawn newspaper reported.The fighters had then alsowarned Pakistani soldiersagainst resuming fencing. Theincident led to a tense situationin the area where it occurred,it said. Defence ministries ofthe two sides later held talks onthe issue. The Taliban ministryof the border and tribal affairsalso reportedly took part in theparleys.

The official said TalibanDefence Minister MullahYaqoob visited the area onWednesday and defused thesituation. "The dispute hasbeen quietly and calmly set-tled," he said. Pakistan hasbeen fencing the 2600-kilo-meter-long border withAfghanistan since 2017 to endterrorist infiltration and smug-gling despite very intense

opposition from the neigh-bouring country, the reportsaid. Besides the erection of afence, the project also includesthe construction of borderposts and forts, and the raisingof new wings of Frontier Corps,the paramilitary force thatguards the border.

The official said 90 per centof the fencing had been com-pleted. A large part of thefence has been constructed ininhospitable terrain and insome places at very high alti-tudes. The fencing is expectedto be completed at a cost ofabout USD 500 million.

Fencing has been a con-tentious issue in Pakistan-Afghanistan ties because theAfghans dispute the borderdemarcation done during thecolonial period. Pakistan, how-ever, insists that the line sepa-rating the two countries, alsocalled the Durand Line, is thevalid international border.The differences over the statusof the border have been sointense that they have in thepast resulted in several fatalclashes between the troops ofthe two countries.

Pakistani constructionteams installing the fence haveon a number of occasionsendured cross-border attacksby terrorists, the report said.Islamabad had always hopedthat the Afghan Taliban wouldhelp in settling the longstand-ing matter.

However, that has not beenthe case. The Taliban did notresolve the issue when theywere in control of Afghanistanfrom 1996 to 2001 and havenot done anything substantiveto address it this time either sofar, the report said.

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ASri Lankan policemanopened fire on a group of

his fellow officers, killing fourof them and wounding threeothers in eastern Sri Lanka'sThirukkovil town, a seniorofficial said on Saturday.

The incident happened onFriday evening at Thirukkovilpolice station when policesergeant had opened fire at hiscolleagues killing three on spot.

while another died in hos-pital due to criticalinjuries."Four policemen werekilled in the incident that hap-pened on Christmas eve onFriday," a senior police officersaid.

The sergeant later surren-dered at the nearby Ethimalepolice station with his T56rifle and 19 rounds of ammu-nition, the police said. Themotive for the killing is beinginvestigated, police officer said.

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Massive search operationscontinued for the second

day on Saturday for the miss-ing passengers of an over-crowded three-storey ferry car-rying around 800 people thatcaught fire on the SugandhaRiver in southern Bangladesh,killing at least 41 people andinjuring over 150 others.

The fire broke out around3:00 am (local time) on Fridayin the engine room of theBarguna-bound MV Abhijan-10 launch that started a jour-ney from Dhaka. Scores ofpassengers went missing inthe mishap, police and fireservice officials said.

“Coastguard, fire service offi-cials and police are still look-

ing for bodies as we are unsureabout the exact number of themissing passengers,” a districtadministration official toldreporters in Jhalakathi districtin southern coastlines.Hundreds of people crowdedthe river bank and joined therescuers in engine-run boats tolook for their missing relatives,officials said.

"The record suggests 310 list-ed passengers were travelling

in the ferry, but we assume theactual number was much high-er,” junior minister for shippingKhaled Mahmud Chowdhurytold reporters after he visitedthe accident site on Friday.

Fire service officials earli-er said most of the victims wereburnt to death or died inhalinghot smokes as they weretrapped inside the vessel, whilemany passengers jumped intothe river but some of themcould not swim ashore or berescued. Officials said mostof the dead passengers were

assumed to be residents ofBarguna where 37 bodies weresent for burial but relativescould identify only 14 of them.

“We have handed 14 bod-ies to relatives after mass funer-al (in line with Muslim ritu-als)...The rests were buriedunder official arrangement asnobody could identify them,”Barguna's deputy commis-sioner Habibur Rahman toldreporters.

He said doctors have, how-ever, kept the DNA specimenof the unidentified bodies sothat the relatives might identi-fy them in future.

A seven-member commit-tee comprising inland watertransport regulating authori-ties, fire service personnel andpolice have been formed todetermine the cause of thefire.

The panel has been askedto submit the report in threedays. The accident was the lat-est in a number of similar inci-dents in Bangladesh, a smallcountry criss-crossed by a net-work of some 230 rivers of dif-ferent sizes and shapes.

These watercourses covernearly 7 per cent of the totalarea of the country. An over-loaded speedboat allegedly dri-ven by an inexperiencedunderage boy capsized inBangladesh after a collisionwith a sand laden vessel in Maythis year, killing at least 26 peo-ple. In June last year, a ferrycarrying over 100 passengerscapsized in the Buriganga riverin Bangladesh after it was hitfrom behind by another ferry,killing at least 32 people. InFebruary 2015, at least 78 peo-ple died when an overcrowdedship collided with a cargo ves-sel.

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Myanmar governmenttroops rounded up vil-

lagers, some believed to bewomen and children, fatallyshot more than 30 and set thebodies on fire, a witness andother reports said Saturday.

The purported photos ofthe aftermath of the ChristmasEve massacre in eastern Mo Sovillage, just outside Hprusotownship in Kayah state whererefugees were sheltering froman army offensive, spread onsocial media in the country,fuelling outrage against themilitary that took power inFebruary.

The accounts could not beindependently verified. Thephotos showed the charredbodies of over 30 people inthree burned-out vehicles.

A villager who said hewent to the scene told TheAssociated Press that the vic-tims had fled the fightingbetween armed resistancegroups and Myanmar's armynear Koi Ngan village, which isjust beside Mo So, on Friday.He said they were killed afterthey were arrested by troops

while heading to refugee campsin the western part of thetownship.

The government has notcommented on the allegations,but a report in the state-runMyanma Alinn daily newspa-per on Saturday said that thefighting near Mo So broke outon Friday when members ofethnic guerrilla forces, knownas the Karenni NationalProgressive Party, and thoseopposed to the military drovein “suspicious” vehicles andattacked security forces afterrefusing to stop.

The newspaper report saidthey included new memberswho were going to attend train-ing to fight the army, and thatthe seven vehicles they weretravelling in were destroyed ina fire. It gave no further detailsabout the killings.

The witness who spoke tothe AP said the remains wereburned beyond recognition,and children's and women'sclothes were found togetherwith medical supplies and food.“The bodies were tied withropes before being set on fire,”said the witness, who spoke oncondition of anonymity

because he feared for his safe-ty. He did not see the momentthey were killed, but said hebelieved some of them wereMo So villagers who reported-ly got arrested by troops onFriday. He denied that thosecaptured were members oflocally organised militiagroups.

Myanmar's independentmedia reported on Friday that10 Mo So villagers includingchildren were arrested by thearmy and four members of thelocal paramilitary BorderGuard Forces who went tonegotiate for their release werereportedly tied up and shot inthe head by the military.The witness said the villagersand anti-government militiagroups left the bodies as mili-tary troops arrived near Mo Sowhile the bodies were beingprepared for cremation.

The fighting was stillintense near the village. “It's aheinous crime and the worstincident during Christmas. Westrongly condemn that mas-sacre as a crime against human-ity,” said Banyar Khun Aung,director of the Karenni HumanRights Group. Earlier this

month, government troopswere also accused of roundingup villagers, some believed tobe children, tying them upand slaughtering them. Anopposition leader, Dr Sasa,who uses only one name, saidthe civilians were burned alive.A video of the aftermath of theDec 7 assault — apparentlyretaliation for an attack on amilitary convoy — showed thecharred bodies of 11 peoplelying in a circle amid whatappeared to be the remains ofa hut.

Fighting meanwhileresumed Saturday in a neigh-bouring state on the borderwith Thailand, where thou-sands of people have fled toseek shelter. Local officials saidMyanmar's military unleashedairstrikes and heavy artillery onLay Kay Kaw, a small town con-trolled by ethnic Karen guer-rillas, since Friday.

The military's actionprompted multiple Westerngovernments including the USEmbassy to issue a joint state-ment condemning “serioushuman rights violations com-mitted by the military regimeacross the country".

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ARussian organisation thattracks political arrests and

provides legal aid to detaineessaid Saturday that governmentregulators blocked its website,the latest move in a months-long crackdown on indepen-dent media and human rightsorganisations.

OVD-Info reported thatRussia's internet and commu-nications watchdog,Roskomnadzor, blocked thegroup's website.

The organisation said in atweet that it wasn't formallynotified about the decisionand doesn't know the reasonfor the action beyond that itwas ordered by a court outsideMoscow on Monday.OVD-Info gained prominencefor its meticulous tracking andcounting of arrests at streetprotests in Russia.

Activists first started thepractice during mass proteststriggered by a 2011 Russianparliamentary election taintedby numerous reports of voterfraud and then formed a groupthat has continued the workover the years.The data hasbeen indispensable to newsoutlets over the years asRussian authorities largely keptquiet or underplayed the scaleof mass arrests at protests anddemonstrations.

OVD-Info operates as alegal aid group as well, dis-patching lawyers to helpdetained protesters at policestations and in courts. InSeptember, a Sweden-basedinternational human rightsorganization awarded OVD-Info its Civil Rights Defender

of the Year award. That samemonth Russian authorities des-ignated the group as a “foreignagent” — a label that comeswith excessive governmentscrutiny and strong pejorativeconnotations that can discred-it recipients. OVD-Info'sfounders vowed to continue theorganisation's work despite thedesignation.

Russian authorities havemounted pressure on rightsgroups, media outlets and indi-vidual journalists in recentmonths, naming dozens as for-eign agents. Some weredeclared as “undesirable” — alabel that outlaws organisa-tions in Russia — or accused oflinks to “undesirable” groups.On Friday, Russia's JusticeMinistry added two morerights groups to the registry offoreign agents: Coming Outand Revers, which advocate forLGBT rights and provide assis-tance to Russia's embattledLGBT community.

Russian law mandates anon-governmental organisa-tion, a media outlet, an infor-mal movement or an individ-ual to be listed as a foreignagent for having received for-eign funding — even a smalldonation from a foreignnational counts — and engag-ing in loosely defined politicalactivity.

OVD-Info, together withother rights groups, launcheda campaign in September toabolish the “foreign agents”law. As of late December, morethan 240 organisations andover 260,000 individuals hadsigned a petition that describesthe law as “discriminatory andunlawful.

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Rome: Pope Francisprayed Saturday for an end tothe coronavirus pandemic,using his Christmas Dayaddress to urge health care forall, vaccines for the poor andfor dialogue to prevail inresolving the world's conflicts.

Amid a record-setting risein COVID-19 cases in Italy thisweek, only a few thousand peo-ple flocked to a rain-soaked StPeter's Square for Francis'annual “Urbi et Orbi” ("To thecity and the world") Christmasaddress. Normally, the squarewould be packed with tens ofthousands of holiday well-wishers. At least they couldgather this year. Italy's 2020holiday lockdown forcedFrancis to deliver a televisedaddress from inside theApostolic Palace to preventcrowds from forming in thesquare. Although Italy thisweek counted more than50,000 cases in a single day forthe first time, the government

has not ordered another lock-down.The pope's ChristmasDay speech gives him anopportunity to draw a globalaudience's attention to conflictsbig and small. This year was nodifferent.

Francis lamented ongoingconflicts in Syria, Yemen andIraq, newly flaring tensions inUkraine and Ethiopia, and an“unprecedented crisis" inLebanon.“We have become soused to them (conflicts) thatimmense tragedies are nowbeing passed over in silence; werisk not hearing the cry of painand distress of so many of ourbrothers and sisters,” he saidfrom loggia of St Peter'sBasilica as Swiss Guards stoodat attention in square below.Francis warned of pandemictendency to withdraw and iso-late, urging instead dialogue totry to resolve world conflicts.He prayed in particular forthose most affected by virus,including women and chil-

dren who have sufferedincreased abuse during lock-downs. “Son of God, comfortthe victims of violence againstwomen, which has increased inthis time of pandemic. Offerhope to young children andadolescents suffering from bul-lying and abuse,” he said. Heprayed for “consolation andwarmth" for older adults whoare alone, as well as for healthcare workers who “generouslydevote themselves” to caringfor the sick. “Grant health tothe infirm and inspire all menand women of good will toseek best ways possible toovercome current health crisisand its effects,” he said. “Openhearts to ensure that necessarymedical care – and vaccines inparticular – are provided tothose peoples who need themmost.”Francis delivered hisspeech hours after celebratinga “Midnight Mass” service forsome 2,000 people, a fractionof the basilica's capacity. AP

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The ruling ChineseCommunist Party (CPC),

headed by President Xi Jinping,has abruptly replaced its chief involatile Xinjiang province, ChenQuanguo, who was sanctionedby the US over alleged humanrights abuses against UyghurMuslims in the region. Chen nolonger serves as Secretary ofXinjiang Uyghur AutonomousRegional Committee of the CPC,state-run Xinhua news agencyreported on Saturday.

Ma Xingrui, who was gov-ernor of Guangdong province,has been appointed as new partychief for Xinjiang. The CPCCentral Committee has decidedto give Chen another appoint-ment, the news agency said in abrief report.

Chen has been accused byUS, the UK and EuropeanUnion of widespread humanrights abuses against Uyghurs,but he is tipped for a promotion,Hong Kong-based South ChinaMorning Post reported on thedevelopment.

Last year, the US govern-ment had slapped sanctionsagainst Chen and several otherChinese officials in-charge ofXinjiang Uygur AutonomousRegion, stating they were“believed to be responsible for,or complicit in unjust detentionor abuse of Uyghurs, ethnic-Kazakhs and members of otherminority groups in Xinjiang”.

The three Chinese officialsbanned by US were ChenQuanguo, CCP Party Secretaryof Xinjiang UyghurAutonomous Region, ZhuHailun, the then Party Secretaryof Xinjiang Political and LegalCommittee and WangMingshan, the Party Secretary ofXinjiang Public Security Bureau.

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Athens: At least 16 peo-ple died after a migrant boatcapsized in the Aegean Sea lateFriday, bringing the three-daydeath toll from such ship-wrecks in Greek waters to atleast 30.

The deadly accidents cameas smugglers who arrange seacrossings for Europe-boundasylum-seekers increasinglyfavour a perilous route fromTurkey to Italy, avoidingGreece's heavily patrolled east-ern Aegean islands that were aprime destination for years.

The Greek coast guard saidSaturday that 63 people wererescued after a sailboat capsizedlate Friday some 8 kilometersoff the island of Paros, in thecentral Aegean.

The coast guard reported13 deaths as of late Friday, butthree more bodies were foundearly Saturday. Survivors toldthe coast guard that about 80people had been on the vessel.The boat was towed to a near-by port, and authorities said thesearch for survivors and vic-tims continued.

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Sudanese protesters marchedSaturday in the capital of

Khartoum and elsewhereacross the country to denouncethe October military coup andsubsequent deal that reinstat-ed the prime minister but side-lined the pro-democracymovement.

Hundreds took to thestreets, even as authoritiestightened security across thecapital, deploying troops andclosing all bridges over the NileRiver linking Khartoum withits twin city of Omdurman andthe district of Bahri, the state-run SUNA news agencyreported.

Authorities have warnedprotesters against approaching“sovereign and strategic” sitesin central Khartoum — a ref-erence to main governmentbuildings and key institutions.The city's Security Committeesaid Sudanese forces would“deal with chaos and viola-tions,” SUNA had reported.In Khartoum, the marchesstarted in different locations,from where the protesterswould converge on the presi-dential palace.

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New Delhi: Buoyed by theGovernment's �2.3 lakh crorepolicy push for self-reliantIndia, the domestic electronicsmanufacturing industry isexpected to see 30 per centgrowth in the next fiscal to beworth nearly �7 lakh crore.

While the Governmentcontinues to make efforts tomove up in the global elec-tronics supply chain and isexpected to come up with newpolicies and incentive schemesfor wearables and IT hardware,the immediate challenges arethose around electronic com-ponents, mainly electronicchips, and potential threatsfrom the coronavirus pan-demic.

“The value addition fromlocal manufacturing units isexpected to go up to 25 per centnext year from 18 per cent atpresent. The government isaiming to grow overall elec-tronics production in the coun-try by 30 per cent to over � 6.9lakh crore next year," a seniorMinistry of Electronics andIT (Meity) official told PTI.

The Meity has proposed aPLI scheme of about �22,000crore to promote wearables aswell as enhance incentives forIT hardware manufacturers in

the next financial year as it aimsto increase electronics exportsfrom India by 50 per cent.

According to industrybody ICEA, whose membersinclude Apple, Foxconn,Wistron, Lava and Vivo, mobilephone production in the coun-try peaked at � 2.2 lakh crorein 2020-21 and is expected tocross � 2.75 lakh crore byMarch 2022.

Chinese players likeXiaomi, BBK Electronics groupfirms Vivo, Oppo, Realme andIqoo dominate the smartphonesegment with about 70 per centmarket share.

"Chinese companies areonly focussing on catering tothe Indian market require-ment. Therefore, they have notparticipated in the PLI scheme.We expect Indian companies todo well and become globalchampions," the Meity officialsaid.

When asked about thecontribution of Indian compa-nies in electronics production,India Cellular and ElectronicsAssociation Chairman PankajMohindroo said the share hascome down from 47 per centof volume in 2016 to under 8per cent now.

"The Government has

already introduced a significantmeasure in PLI wherein underthe USD 200 (about �15,000)segment is reserved for Indiancompanies. A slew of othersupport measures is also beingplanned and we are sure thatnot only will Indian companieshave a share of the domesticmarket but they will alsoemerge as global champions atleast in the entry level seg-ment," Mohindroo said.

The electronics manufac-turing growth in the countryremained almost between�5,33,670 crore in 2020-21 and�5,33,550 crore in 2019-20.

"Today we are exporting50 lakh phones, includingsmartphones. However, theconcern remains that we arenot still close to a strong elec-tronics brand emerging out ofIndia which could cater local-ly as well as become India's faceglobally," market research firmTecharc Founder and ChiefAnalyst Faisal Kawoosa said.

The import of electronicsin 2020-21 reduced to around� 2.85 lakh crore from about�2.9 lakh crore in 2019-20 dueto an increase in local manu-facturing of consumer elec-tronics items especially LEDtelevision sets and electronic

components.However, the import

in the IT hardware segmentincreased to around � 79,000crore in 2020-21 from about�68,400 crore in 2019-20.MAIT CEO George Paul saidthat the digital infrastructuresupported economic activityacross the world during thelockdown which resulted in aboom in demand against a scal-ing down of worldwide semi-conductor capacity.

Paul said that the short-age of semiconductors isbecause of a combination of theUS-China trade war and theoutbreak of COVID and the

forecast of a possible deceler-ation of global demand.

Infineon TechnologiesIndia Managing Director VinayShenoy said the demand forsemiconductors remainsextremely high and is by faroutstripping supply.

He said that the imbal-ance between supply anddemand will continue for sev-eral quarters and will persistinto 2022.

BenQ India & South Asiamanaging director RajeevSingh said that in the shortterm, the situation is gradual-ly becoming better as tradegateways are getting aligned.

The government hasmade a third attempt to attractelectronics chip makers in thecountry with Rs 76,000 croreincentive schemes spread overa period of six years and is con-fident of attracting 100 com-panies in the next 4 yearsunder the package.

The Government expectstwo companies manufactur-ing electronic chips and twocompanies for manufacturingdisplay units to set up theirunits in the country within fouryears with investment in therange of Rs 30,000 crore-Rs50,000 crore.

"In the context of the pre-vailing geopolitical situation aswell as pandemic pressures onelectronics supply chains, thereis a greater emphasis on diver-sification and building region-al hubs. "In this context,India's initiative to build anend-to-end semiconductormanufacturing value chain inIndia from fab to box offers anunparalleled opportunity toestablish India as a global elec-tronics manufacturing hub,"CMR Head of IndustryIntelligence group Prabhu Ramsaid.

According to the elec-tronics industries association

Elcina's Secretary GeneralRajoo Goel, besides shortage ofsemiconductors, the industry isfacing an unprecedented short-age of even multilayer PCBs(motherboards) and copperclad laminates.

"There is an equallysevere shortage of raw materi-als such as Ferrite Powderwhich is impacting a large sec-tion of the Indian componentsector viz transformers, induc-tors and coils where we have asignificant presence," Goel said.

He said that some ofElcina members' companiesare seeing over 20 per centincrease in the price of elec-tronics components.The mobile phone segment,which is a major consumer ofsemiconductors and the biggestcontributor to 'Make in India'electronics segment, remainsoptimistic of facing the crisis asmost of the players manufac-turing their devices in thecountry are the global majorswho procure electronics chipson a regular basis with priorcommitments to their ven-dors.

Mobile phone companyRealme India CEO MadhavSheth said that since the onsetof this shortage, realme has

been looking at and working oncollaborations with chipsetmanufacturers who can pro-vide processors to us withoutcompromising performance.

"India is a key marketfor us, and therefore, we do notwant our consumers to witnessany shortage of products. Weare also in conversations withmainstream chipmakers tokeep ahead of the curve withnew and powerful 5G chipsets,"Sheth said. Lava Internationalsaid that the challenge of semi-conductors continues but theyhave made alternate arrange-ments to ensure continuity ofthe business but they had toincrease the price of theirdevices due to the rise in theprice of components.

"We believe that we cannavigate through the currentchipset shortage scenario bymaintaining an optimum bal-ance between demand andsupply.

"We have been successfulin doing this pre-emptivelyand efficiently, which is reflect-ed in the recent quarters wherewe have been able to cater tothe market demand," HMDGlobal vice president for Indiaand MENA region SanmeetSingh Kochhar said. PTI

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New Delhi: The Government onSaturday decided to makechanges to the existing nutrientbased subsidy (NBS) policy topromote domestic production ofphosphatic and potassic (P&K)fertilisers amid a sharp rise inglobal prices.

A decision in this regard wastaken in a high-level meetingchaired by Union Minister forChemicals and FertilizersMansukh Mandaviya.

In the meeting, "...It wasdecided to continue support tothe domestic industry for pro-duction of P&K fertilisers andpropose additional provisionsin the present NBS Policy to pro-mote domestic production ofP&K fertilisers in the country,"an official statement said.

This decision will help inutilising the unutilised domesticproduction capacity of these fer-tilisers and promote'Atmanirbhar Bharat', it added.

Under the NBS policy, beingimplemented since April 2010, afixed amount of subsidy which is

decided on an annual basis isprovided on P&K fertilisersdepending on their nutrient con-tent. Under this policy, maxi-mum retail price (MRP) of P&Kfertilisers is fixed by the fertilis-er companies as per the marketdynamics at reasonable levelswhich is monitored by the gov-ernment.

However, in the current2020-21 fiscal, the governmentnotified NBS rates for P&K fer-tilisers twice in order to keep

domestic prices of these soilnutrients reasonable to farmersand ensure adequate supply.

Keeping in account highglobal prices, the Centre has alsoprovided a special one timepackage for additional subsidyover above the NBS rates forperiod from October 2021 tillMarch 2022 for DiammoniumPhosphate (DAP) and three mostconsumed NPK fertilisers.

The government has alsoincluded potash derived from

molasses under the NBS schemewith effect from October, 2021.

The country imports P&Kfertilisers to meet its domesticdemand. Global prices of thesesoil nutrients have increasedcontinuously since early thisyear.

For instance, global prices ofDAP had increased to USD 730per tonne in September fromUSD 565 per tonne in May.They have further risen nowfrom that level. PTI

New Delhi: Every third informal sectorworker in India is now registered on e-Shram portal with registration on theportal crossing the 14 crore mark in fourmonths, Union minister BhupenderYadav said on Saturday.

The national database being creat-ed on e-Shram portal will eventually helpthe government to provide varioussocial security and other welfare bene-fits to unorganised workers in the coun-try. The e-sharm portal was launched onAugust 26, 2021.

"e-Shram portal in just about 4months 14 crore crossed... Kudos to allthose who made it possible," the labourand employment minister tweeted onSaturday.

According to the minister, as manyas 14,02,92,825 informal sector workersregistered on the e-Shram portal. Thelatest data of the portal shows that thetop five states in terms of number of reg-istration on e-Shram are Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha andJharkhand. Gender analysis of the datashows that 52.56 per cent are female

while 47.44 per cent are male. The data show that 42.64 per cent of

registered workers are other backwardclasses (OBC) followed by 26.45 per centfrom general category, 22.54 per centfrom the scheduled caste and 8.38 percent from the Scheduled Tribe.

It also show that over 94 per centregistered workers' income is Rs 10,000per month or below while over four percent have income in the rage of Rs 10,001to Rs 15,000 per month.

About 51 per cent registered work-ers are farm labourers followed by 11 percent in construction sector, 10 per centin domestic & household workers and6.5 per cent in the apparel segment.

About 61 per cent registered work-ers' ages range from 18 years to 40 years,23 per cent in the rage of 40 years to 50years and 12 per cent above 50 years.About four per cent of registered work-ers are in the age group of 16 years to18 years. PTI

New Delhi: The NationalCompany Law AppellateTribunal (NCLAT) hasimposed a stay on the orderspassed by the fair trade regu-lator CCI slapping penalties onseveral beer makers, includingUnited Breweries Ltd that facesa fine of � 751.8 crore.

Passing an interim order, atwo-member NCLAT benchhas directed parties, includingUnited Breweries Ltd, todeposit 10 per cent of thepenalty amount by way of‘Fixed Deposit Receipt' withinthree weeks.

The CompetitionCommission of India (CCI) onSeptember 24, 2021, imposedpenalties totalling over �873crore on UBL, Carlsberg India,All India Brewers' Association(AIBA) and 11 individuals forcartelisation in the sale andsupply of beer.

The said order was chal-lenged before the NCLAT,which is an appellate authori-ty over the CCI. It hears appealsagainst any direction issued ordecision made or order passedby the CCI.

"... During the pendency ofthe Appeal, to prevent an aber-ration of justice and to securethe ends of justice, stays theimpugned order dated24.09.2021 in suo moto case no.6/2017 subject to the paymentof 10 per cent of the penaltyamount levied by the firstRespondent/CCI, by way of‘Fixed Deposit Receipt' to andin favour of the Registrar,NCLAT, New Delhi, withinthree weeks from the date ofpassing of this order," said anNCLAT order passed onDecember 23.

The NCLAT has alsodirected the CCI and the AllIndia Brewers Association tofile replies over the noticesissued by it.

The appellate tribunal hasdirected to list the matter onMarch 29, 2022, for admission.Confirming the development,

UBL in a regulatory filing saidit received an order passed bythe NCLAT, staying the CCIorder upon a condition of pre-deposit of 10 per cent of thepenalty amount imposed onthe company.

"The company will complywith the directions and the said10% amount shall be deposit-ed through a fixed depositreceipt within stipulated timeas mentioned in the Order,"UBL had said, now controlledby Dutch-based multinationalHeineken.

Earlier this year, Heinekenhad acquired additional ordi-nary shares in UBL on June 23taking its shareholding in thecompany from 46.5 per cent to61.5 per cent.

The CCI had passed thefinal order against UnitedBreweries Ltd (UBL),SABMiller India Ltd, nowrenamed as Anheuser BuschInBev India Ltd (AB InBev),and Carlsberg India Private Ltd(CIPL), among other entities.In its 231-page order, whichhad come nearly four yearsafter ordering a detailed probe,the CCI had also directed thecompanies, associations andindividuals to "cease and desist"from anti-competitive prac-tices in the future. The peri-od of cartelisation was consid-ered to be from 2009 to at leastOctober 10, 2018, withCarlsberg India joining in from2012 and AIBA serving as aplatform for facilitating suchcartelisation since 2013. Allthree beer companies werelesser penalty applicants beforethe regulator. PTI

New Delhi: Protean eGovTechnologies (formerly known asNSDL E-Governance Infrastructure)has filed preliminary papers with cap-ital markets regulator Sebi to raisefunds through an initial public offer-ing.

The public issue is purely an offerof sale (OFS) of 1.2 crore equityshares, according to the draft red her-ring prospectus (DRHP). Thoseoffering shares in the OFS are IIFLSpecial Opportunities Funds, NSEInvestments, Administrator of theSpecified Undertaking of the UnitTrust of India, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank,Deutsche Bank A.G., Punjab NationalBank and Union Bank of India.Protean eGov Technologies is one ofthe key IT-enabled solution companiesin India engaged in conceptualizing,developing and executing nationallycritical and population scale greenfieldtechnology solutions.

The company collaborated

with the government and have exten-sive experience in creating digitalpublic infrastructure and developinginnovative citizen-centric e-gover-nance solutions.

Originally setup as a depositoryin 1995, it created a systemicallyimportant national infrastructure forcapital market development in India.ICICI Securities, Equirus Capital, IIFLSecurities and Nomura FinancialAdvisory and Securities (India) are thebook running lead managers to theissue. The equity shares are proposedto be listed on BSE and NSE. PTI

Mumbai: The board of KabraExtrusion Technik Ltd has approveda proposal to raise up to Rs 301 crorefor the expansion of its future tech-nologies brand Battrixx, the compa-ny said on Saturday.

Of this, Rs 101 crore will beraised initially through issuance ofwarrants to promoters and foreigninvestors while Rs 200 crore will bemopped up through financial insti-tutions for the working capital, thecompany said in a release.

] A part of the city-based KolsiteGroup and leading manufacturer ofplastic extrusion machinery, KabraExtrusion Technik recently venturedinto the production of lithium-ionbattery packs.

According to the company,Battrixx is positioned to provide awide range of advanced Li batterypacks with smart battery manage-ment system (BMS).

With the fund infusion,Battrixx will strengthen its leadership

position and continue to invest innewer technologies to manufacturebatteries for electric vehicles andother energy storage applications, itsaid.

] The company aims to reach 2-GWh capacity over the next 12-18months, as per the release.

]The board of Kabra ExtrusionTechnik Ltd met on Saturday to dis-cuss raising of funds via debt andequity for the expansion of its futuretechnologies brand Battrixx, the com-pany said.

]"The promoters and otherinvestors have shown the confidenceto infuse more capital in Battrixx,which will be used to further thegrowth of the brand in the electricmobility sector. A total Rs 101 crorewill be raised initially throughissuance of warrants to promoters andforeign investors subject to necessaryapproval of the members of the com-pany and other regulatory authorities,as may be applicable,” the company

said. ]These funds will enable Battrixx

to enhance its annual productioncapacity in phases from existing100,000 battery packs to 700,000packs by the end of FY24 to meet thegrowing demand in EV industryand other energy storage applications,it said.

]"The Board has also approvedto raise necessary additional workingcapital up to Rs 200 crore fromfinancial institutes," Kabra Extrusionsaid. "We are upbeat about thebusiness, especially what we aredoing in the EV space. We have cleargoals and will use the funds toenhance capacity, upgrade machineryand further research and develop-ment,” said Anand Kabra, ViceChairman & Managing Director,Kabra Extrusion Technik, said.According to the company, the lithi-um-ion battery market size in Indiais estimated to increase from 2.9 GWhin 2018 to 800 GWh by 2030. PTI

Guwahati: Over 9,000Utilisation Certificates of variousprojects and schemes of 52departments of the AssamGovernment from 2001-02 to2018-19 have not been submitted,a CAG report said.

More than 68 per cent of the9,379 outstanding UCs are of thelast four years since 2015-16, theComptroller and AuditorGeneral of India said in its reporton state finances, under the sec-tion of 'Quality of Accounts &Financial Reporting Practices'.

The amount against whichUCs are still pending comes to�20,402.48 crore, it said.

At least 1,345 UCs amount-ing to � 7,197.84 crore are due forthe 2018-19 fiscal, while 24 suchdocuments worth �1,607.23 crorein 2016-17 have not been sub-mitted, according to the reportwhich was tabled in the assem-bly on Friday.

Utilisation Certificatesof� 3,494.38 crore grants paid upto the financial year 2018-19 arepending from the health depart-ment, followed by the Welfare ofPlain Tribes and BackwardClasses with UCs worth�2,403.51 crore.

UCs help rule out misap-propriation of grants and frauds."About 50 per cent of capitalexpenditure is being incurred outof grants-in-aid. In the absenceof UCs, it could not be ascer-tained whether the recipientshad utilised the grants for thepurpose for which those weregiven, and the assets had beencreated,” the CAG reportsaid.

It also said the state gov-ernment has given grants-in-aidof Rs 18,032.66 crore during the2018-19 fiscal under ‘Others'head, which constituted 70.39 percent of the total assistance givenin the year.

During the 2019-20 fis-cal, the state governmentincurred an expenditure of Rs19,036.52 crore under 'MinorHead 800', constituting 23.76per cent of the total revenue andcapital expenditure.“Indiscriminate operation ofomnibus Minor Head 800 –Other Expenditure affectedtransparency in financial report-ing and obscured proper analy-sis of allocative priorities andquality of expenditure,” the reportstated.

]If such instances occur on aregular basis, it is the responsi-bility of the state government toseek advice from the AccountantGeneral (A&E) on an appropri-ate classification, it said.

The CAG said it had notreceived 704 annual accounts of138 autonomous councils andgovernment bodies for audit ason December 31, 2020. PTI

Chennai: Electronic parts manufacturerFoxconn would commence operations at itsfacility in neighbouring Sriperumbudur andit has been advised to enhance basic infra-structure facilities provided to the employ-ees, the Tamil Nadu Government said onSaturday.

The comments from the govern-ment come in the wake of employees resort-ing to a protest last week as food poisoninghit over 100 of them after they ate at a facil-ity allegedly run by their firm.

In an official release on Saturday,the Tamil Nadu government said a meetingwas conducted in which senior governmentofficials including Labour Commissioner AtulAnand, Industries department PrincipalSecretary S Krishnan, Additional DirectorGeneral Of Police - law and order,Thamaraikannan and representatives of theFoxconn Group participated.

During the meeting it was advisedto the Taiwan-based firm to enhance the basicinfrastructure facilities provided to theemployees like adequate accommodation andrest rooms, among others. "The hostelsprovided to the employees should have aquality certificate issued by the Collector and

food should be prepared at the place ofaccommodation of the employees and itshould be served to them on time," the releasesaid.

The government also directed that thoseemployees who seek leave be granted imme-diately and the company should utilise theservices of manpower agencies on suchoccasions. Representatives of Foxconnassured to implement the guidelines asdirected by the government, the release said.

"The officials also assured of providingquality food to the over 15,000 employees andadded they would commence production atthe facility soon," the release said. "Thefacility will be expanded and new jobs willbe created at the unit," the release quoting theofficials of Foxconn said.

Meanwhile, the government said, StateIndustries Promotion Corporation of TamilNadu (SIPCOT) was engaged in the con-struction of hostels to accommodate 18,750people at a cost of� 570 crore at VallamVadagal in Sriperumbudur.

The construction of the 11-storeyedbuilding, spread across a 20- acre land wasexpected to be completed in 15 months, therelease added. PTI

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Formidable Tamil Nadu willstart as overwhelming

favourites against rank outsidersHimachal Pradesh, eyeing theirmaiden title, when the two teamslock horns in the Vijay HazareTrophy summit clash here onSunday.

The two teams made it to thefinal in a contrasting manner.While former India player RishiDhawan-led Himachal stormedinto the final crushing Services by77 runs, Tamil Nadu won a last ballthriller to knock out Saurashtra bytwo wickets.

Having won the Syed MushtaqAli Trophy earlier this season,Tamil Nadu would be eyeing adouble by annexing the VijayHazare Trophy too.

It has been an all-round per-formance so far by the southerngiants with various players deliver-ing in different games and willexpect the same come Sunday atthe picturesque Sawai Mansinghstadium.

The Tamil Nadu team will bepleased as punch in the mannerBaba Aparajith has upped hisgame since his return from theIndia A's tour of South Africa.

His opening partner NJagadeesan too has been in goodnick, having hammered a tonagainst Karnataka and would bekeen to put the failure in the

semi-final behind and get amongthe runs.

A line-up which includesAparajith's twin brother BabaIndrajith, who hit a vital half-cen-tury in the last four clash, skipperVijay Shankar, the experiencedDinesh Karthik combined with thefinishing firepower of the burly MShahrukh Khan and M SWashington Sundar can send shiv-ers down the spine of any bowlingattack.

And, Himachal's rather inex-perienced attack would need to beat their best if they hope to stop theTN juggernaut from running awaywith the game.

Washington Sundar, on acomeback trail since being injuredduring the England tour, wouldtake a lot of confidence from hissuperb knock of 70 in the semi-final, which played a key role in theteam's win.

Shahrukh with his power-hit-ting abilities, can change the com-plexion of the game in a jiffy andcould probably be the differencebetween the two sides.

TN's troika of spinners- SaiKishore, M Siddharth andWashington can be more than ahandful for the Himachal batters.

However, they would have topull up their socks after the ham-mering received at the hands ofSheldon Jackson and company onFriday. Pacers Sandeep Warrier andR Silambarasan have more oftenthan not struck early blows and thisis something the Himachal teamwould be wary about. That apart,Vijay Shankar would also be keento play a part with his medium-pace stuff.

For Himachal, which haspunched above its weight, skipperRishi Dhawan would hold thekey, with both the bat and ball.

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India head coach Rahul Dravid onSaturday refused to divulge details

of any internal conversation he mighthave had with the selectors on ViratKohli's white-ball captaincy, saying itis not for public consumption.

It has been a convention thatIndian captain addresses the mediaahead of the opening Test match of aseries but it was Dravid, who took thequestions ahead of the 'Boxing Day'Test against South Africa.

Kohli had decided to give up theleadership role in Twenty20 format

and later he was replaced byRohit Sharma in the One-dayformat too.

"To be honest that's the roleof the selectors and I am notgoing to get into conversationsthat I might or might nothave had," when asked ifhe had given his opin-ion on change ofwhite ball captain-cy.

"It's not theplace and thetime to be doingthat and dis-

cussing that. And whatinternal conversations Ihave had is certainly not

going to come out in themedia and I am not going tostart telling people what con-

versations I have had," Dravidsaid in a polite-yet-firm

manner.When Kohli spoke to

the media 10 days backabout change in cap-taincy, it snowballedinto a huge storm as hehad openly contradict-ed claims of BCCI

president Sourav Ganguly that he wasasked to continue as T20 captain asthere can't be two white ball captains.

Kohli had said that no one inBCCI told him not to quit T20 cap-taincy and it created an ugly contro-versy.

Dravid, himself a former Indiacaptain, however praised Kohli for hispassion for Test cricket and hoped thathe would do well in this series.

"Virat has played a huge role inthat obviously as a payer and a leader.He has been fantastic. He is one ofthose players who loves Test cricketand really wants to compete.

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Skipper Virat Kohli will bebattling on multiple frontswith an aim to get thetricky team combination

right as India have a real shot atwinning their first ever awayseries against South Africa,which is short on experiencegoing into the contest, start-ing with the Boxing Day

Test.The choice

between anuntested rook-ie like Shreyas

Iyer and aproven but out-of-

form Ajinkya Rahanefor the number five slot,

is not an enviable one. It's morelike choosing between rock and hardplace with fear of unknown being a per-sistent factor.

Not to mention the hard call onwhether Shardul Thakur with far supe-rior skills should be the fifth bowler in

place of an 'over the hill' Ishant Sharma.These are not easiest of decisions

to make that require copious amountsof tactical acumen mixed in equalproportion with proper communica-tion skills.

In Mumbai, during the NewZealand Test, the team managementcould "rest" both Rahane and Ishant onthe pretext of niggles but if on Sunday,the duo doesn't figure in the playingeleven, it will be as good as beingdropped.

In the last Test, they were "unoffi-cially dropped" and in this one, they willbe officially dumped.

Since their historic first visit in1992, the tour to Rainbow Nation hasbeen an 'Achilles' Heel' for the touringIndian teams and skipper Kohli, whois certainly veering towards the busi-ness end of his leadership tenure, willlike to achieve a first.

South Africa is no longer theforce to reckon with in internation-al cricket as they have been goingthrough a rough transition phase overthe past few years.

Kohli's men would like to pounceon the jittery Proteas like hungryAfrican lions as the visitors have waymore quality in its ranks than the hometeam which is full of rookies.

However an away Test series withsome interesting sub-plots and hiddennarratives adds to the intrigue of thebattle that lies ahead and especially for'King Kohli'.

This particular series, where evenif he emphatically denies in publicsphere, will be fighting multiple battles-- some tangible ones and a few intan-gibles.

First and foremost, Kohli, the cap-tain, who would like to reassert hissupremacy with a victory against a sidewhich has only two players with 50 plusgames -- skipper Dean Elgar (69 Tests)and senior keeper-batter TembaBavuma (53 Tests).

It only helps that Kagiso Rabadawill not have the dangerous and world'sfastest Anrich Nortje for company inthe bowling attack and left-arm spin-ner Keshav Maharaj is least of a worryas far as Indian batters are concerned.

Secondly, Kohli, the best batter inthe team, has not scored a Test hundredsince 2019 and has an average of lessthan 30. It does not match the loftystandards that is associated with theIndian skipper. He must be backinghimself up to fire in this series.

Kohli is also going into the seriesafter taking on the establishment.

He made it clear what he thinks ofa sitting BCCI president, who also hap-pens to be a distinguished formernational skipper.

But those who know Kohli under-stand that every little skirmish for himis a platform for a good scrap. In hishead, he is someone who loves to fighta good fight and when he perceives theworld to be against him, Kohli is at hisbest.

He has been in good form duringthe net session and South African attackcould just be the meal he would like tofeast on.

But he would need his new deputyKL Rahul to replicate his performancein England and also need CheteshwarPujara to score a few runs after having

blunted the new Kookaburra if need be.Iyer, who looks ahead of Rahane in

battle for No. 5 slot, would be tested byDuanne Oliver's back of the lengthdeliveries that can rear up on aCenturion track which promises toquicken up as match progresses.

In case of Rahane, he is complete-ly out of confidence and that's never agood sign.

Rishabh Pant's game always goes upa notch or two in adverse conditionsand skipper Kohli won't mind if he canmake a mincemeat of left-arm spinnerMaharaj with those one-handed sixes.

A lot will depend on how Rabadaand Oliver start the proceedings.

But like any other away tour, thedifference between the two sides couldbe Jasprit Bumrah, fresh from a breakand raring to dismantle a batting line-up that depends on Elgar, his deputyTemba Bavuma and De Kock.

If Bumrah and Shami can blow upthe top-order, the rest of the SouthAfrican batters might not do wellagainst Ravichandran Ashwin. SkipperKohli will need all of that.

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Australia will give fast bowlerScott Boland a test debut in

the third Ashes match beginningSunday at the MelbourneCricket Ground while Englandhas made four changes to itsside.

Boland was brought in ascover earlier this week andreceived the starting nod whenfellow fast bowlers JhyeRichardson and Michael Neserwere ruled out because of mus-cle soreness.

Josh Hazelwood was alreadyout as he continues to recoverfrom side strain, meaning cap-tain Pat Cummins and Bolandare the two new inclusions to theAustralian XI.

"Jhye and Nes were a little bit

sore after Adelaide so we'vedecided to go with Scotty," saidCummins, who missed theAdelaide test after being a closecontact of a COVID-19 case.

"It's a luxury to have some-one like him, fresh and ready togo."

Boland will become the sec-ond Australian male indige-nous test player after fellowpace bowler Jason Gillespie.

Australia, which leads thefive-match series 2-0, can wrapup the series and clinch theAshes with a victory at theMCG. England, meanwhile,dropped opener Rory Burnsand paceman Stuart Broad,along with Ollie Pope and ChrisWoakes.

Bowlers Mark Wood andJack Leach will return to the

starting side, while Zak Crawleyand Jonathan Bairstow will playtheir first tests in this series.

England also confirmed JosButtler will continue as wicket-keeper, rather than Bairstowtaking over the gloves.

Buttler was in a confidentmood Saturday at a Christmasmorning media conference.

"We're certainly not here tojust take part and let 70,000 peo-ple enjoy another Australianvictory," Buttler said.

"We have to fight back, wewant to win the series and wewant to win this test match.

"I'm sure it will be a hostileenvironment here but that's to beembraced and enjoyed, everyoneis excited to be here. This is whyyou play the game because youwant to be part of big occasions."

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Kerala Blasters will look to remainunscathed and continue their invin-

cible run when they take on an in-formJamshedpur FC in the Hero IndianSuper League here on Sunday.

The Boxing Day blockbuster at theTilak Maidan Stadium will see two sideswho are not only in the top four but alsoin supreme form, riding on some free-scoring attackers and well-oiled defencein the last few matches.

Kerala have been unbeaten in sixgames while Jamshedpur haven't lost theirlast two.

Jamshedpur shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw against Bengaluru FC in their pre-vious engagement but the Men of Steelhave been prolific in front of goal withGreg Stewart being at the heart of theirsuccess.

Kerala have been spectacular so far,putting behind disappointments of pre-vious years with a collection of playerswho have dazzled, especially in front ofthe goal. They won 3-0 againstChennaiyin FC in their last game, mak-

ing light of an obdurate Chennaiyindefence. Among the players who haverisen to the occasion for Kerala is SahalAbdul Samad, who has been brilliant,scoring in back-to-back games.

Prior to the start of the 2021-22 HeroISL, the youngster had just one goal tohis name. But in seven games this sea-son, he has managed to score thrice,including one each in the last two games.

His defensive game has also beenencouraging this season. He has 13 suc-cessful tackles, the second-highest amongKerala players after Adrian Luna (15).Sahal's 11 blocks this season is betteredonly by Marko Leskovic's 14 amongKerala players.

Luna has been the creative spark inKerala's attacking arsenal.

He has three assists in the league untilnow, only Ahmed Jahouh (5), RoyKrishna (4) and Greg Stewart (4) havemore.

His passing, vision, and ability to pickout players perfectly is one of the reasonswhy Kerala look so comfortable in cre-ating chances in open play.

"We have been consistent and the

players are working hard. That's how youget better in football," said Kerala headcoach Ivan Vukomanovic.

"Our goal this season is to work hard.We finished second from bottom last sea-son, so we need to keep working hard andbuild on the momentum. In football, it'sabout momentum and playing game by

game."Kerala have scored 12 goals in their

first seven games, including an own goalin the game against Bengaluru FC.

For the first time in its ISL history,the club has scored more than 10 goalsafter seven opening league games andthat is a testament to its teamwork.

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All eyes would be onBrazilian star Marcelinho

Leite Pereira when a spiritedRajasthan United FC make theirI-League debut againstRoundGlass Punjab FC in theopening day's fixture at theKalyani Stadium here onSunday. The 34-year-old, whohad taken the Indian SuperLeague by storm winning theGolden Boot in his maidenseason in 2016, is one of thebiggest attractions this I-Leagueseason.

Having started off with theDelhi Dynamos, the attackingmidfielder enjoyed spells at FCPune City, Hyderabad FC,Odisha FC and ATK MohunBagan, making 79 appearancesand scoring 33 goals.

The forward scored 10 goalsen route to winning the GoldenBoot in his maiden season andwith 18 assists, he is also at thirdplace currently in the all-timeISL charts.

Now he will look to raisethe bar for RUFC who is the firstteam from Rajasthan to quali-fy for the I-League.

"It's a new team, and I wantto set an example for the youngplayers. At the same time, Iwant to enjoy my football withthe team, and let all enjoy it too,"the Brazilian said.

About his target, he said:"To be at the top."

"The target is always to bechampions. Nothing else mat-ters."

They also have the likes ofI-League winner KomronTurunov, Diego Bielkiewicz,Akeem Abioye and FabianoAlves in their foreigners' lineup.

The Ashley Westwood-coached Punjab FC, on theother hand, have the likes ofEnglish defender Josef Yarney,Spanish midfielder JosebaBeitia, English striker KurtisGuthrie and Australian for-ward Travis Major.

Local players Gurtej Singh,Rinto Anto and BikashYumnam will form the core oftheir defence, while the midfieldwill be helmed by the likes ofCK Vineeth, Kean Lewis andAshish Pradhan.

In attack, the club will bankon Sumeet Passi and RobinSingh to score goals.

Hailing RUFC's success,Westwood acknowledged thatthey're geared up for a toughfight.

"They have trained welland maybe better prepared con-sidering the fact that they haveplayed competitive matcheslonger. They will have theadvantage," Westwood said in avirtual interaction on the eve oftheir match.

"We are expecting a toughgame. We need to perform wellotherwise we will coming backwith no points," he added.

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Pakistan edged out amediocre Indian side by

two wickets in a last-ballthriller in the U-19 Asia Cuphere on Saturday.

Pakistan rode on a stroke-filled 81 by one-downMuhammad Shehzad and alate cameo by Ahmad Khan(29 not out) to chase down atarget of 238.

Ahmad hit Ravi Kumarfor a boundary in the game'sfinal delivery to seal the gamefor his side.

Earlier in the day, thePakistan U-19 bowlers, led byright-arm medium pacerZeeshan Zameer (5/60),wreaked havoc as they bun-

dled out the opposition for asub-par 237.

India lost openerAngkrish Raghuvanshi (0),Shaik Rasheed (6) and skipperYash Dhull (0) cheaply, withZameer accounting for all thewickets to leave the battingside reeling at 14/3.

Nishant Sindhu (8)became Awais Ali's first victimas India slipped to 41/4.

Harnoor made a patient59-ball 46, striking six bound-aries. When it looked like hewould score big, Ali dismissedhim in the 19th over to leaveIndia at 96/5.

However, wicket-keeperAaradhya Yadav's 83-ball 50,in which he hit three fours,coupled with Kaushal Tambe's

32 and RajvardhanHangargekar's brisk 33 off 20balls, took India past the 230-run mark.

Chasing 238, Pakistan lostopener Abdul Wahid (0) earlyas Hangargekar castled him.

Then, Maaz Sadaqat (29) andShehzad (81) rallied theinnings with a 64-run standfor the second wicket.

Shehzad, who hammeredfour boundaries and five tow-ering sixes, was in belligerent

mood as Sadaqat played sec-ond fiddle. Left-arm mediumpacer Raj Bawa (4/56) brokethe stand by removingSadaqat. Bawa struck again bydismissing Haseebullah (3)as Pakistan slipped to 69/3.Skipper Qasim Akram (22)also fell cheaply as Pakistanfound themselves in a spot ofbother at 115/4, even asShehzad continued to toreapart the opposition attack.

Hangargekar ran outShehzad in the 37th over tobring India back into the con-tention as Pakistan lost half itsside for 159.

However, Irfan Khan (32)and Rizwan Mehmood (29)took the game deep by adding47 runs for the sixth wicket.

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Head coach Rahul Draviddidn't let the world in on his

preferred playing XI for theopening Test against SouthAfrica but said Indian playershave been "professional" when itcame to handling "difficult con-versation" about their places inthe side.

As India geared up for the'Boxing Day' Test against one ofthe most depleted South Africansides in recent times, Dravid saidthat it's good if players are dis-appointed at not being picked asit testifies that they care and havethe hunger to be in the middleof action. The context was whatkind of conversations does hehave with senior players likeIshant Sharma and AjinkyaRahane, who might be over-looked in the Centurion Test.

"I think the guys have beenvery good about it and I thinkmost players are professionals. Imean, obviously, sometimes youneed to have difficult conversa-tions with players and by diffi-cult you know what I mean,telling any player that he is notplaying, it's hard as everyonewants to play and be part of play-ing eleven," Dravid said onSaturday. The batting greatbelieved that most of the seniorplayers have themselves takentough decisions at some level,may be when they have cap-tained first-class sides or beenpart of a leadership group. "Theyunderstand situations and notthe first time, they had been insituations like this and some ofthem are in senior positions intheir state teams and they arepart of decision making groupswhere they leave out people.

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the Government. We were able tocombat the second wave of COVIDpandemic as a result of our combinedefforts. Similarly, now we mustimmediately unite all of our effortsbecause the number of Omicronpatients is steadily increasing.

As per the tests conducted atInstitute of Genomic and IntegrativeBiology, nearly one out of every fivetravellers testing COVID-positive atIGI airport is infected with theOmicron variant. Omicron variety hasstronger transmissibility than Delta,which means we'll have to put in moreeffort to stop it.

It is necessary that thecitizens take the initiative to

get vaccinated themselves.People should alsocontinue to diligentlyfollow COVID protocolsincluding proper use ofmasks, maintainingsocial distance and handhygiene. We can counter

the looming threat of athird wave of COVID

pandemic if we allwork together.

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� + # � ( � 4 5 5 6 2 # , 5 7 7 72021was a grim year, but

music emerged as ahealer and a much

needed source of entertainment. Audiocontent received healthy traction andemerged as a way to engage consumerswith screen-free entertainment. TanishkBagchi was the most heard artist in 2021with over 1.2 billion streams on Gaana,followed by Arijt Singh and NehaKakkar.

Consumption of podcasts grew by40 per cent Y-O-Y. Love for regionalmusic was also more powerful than everin 2021 contributing 40 per cent to thetotal streams. Bhojpuri and Haryanviwere the biggest gainers with more than15 per cent increase compared to lastyear.

The 2021 has been a rollercoaster ride for everyone.As much as we all had tosit at home and be safe,we all also wanted to get

out of the homes in search of ournormal lives. These two minds ofours definitely reflected on thetrends we all referred to for fashion.The year 2021 was a lot about self-expression and we all preferredto slip in what made us happy ratherthan following certain specifictrends. In spite of this, some verypopular trends were seen in 2021.

COMFORT FITSWe all got so used to wearing

lounge wear after 2020, slippinginto bodycons and body huggingstyles was a little far fetched becauseof which we saw a lot of oversizedshirts and tshirts, wide leggedpants, parallels and similar styleswhich took preference. Oversizedsweaters and sweatshirts was alsoa big trend for this winter.

TIE & DYEThe dull life we all experi-

enced in the past couple of yearscalled for some brightness anddazzle in everyday fashion. Brightcoloured tie and dye has been anon and off trend for a while now,but in 2021, this trend took off insummers and is still popularamong women specially in casu-al wear. Co-ords & jackets are themost popular category with brightcoloured tie & dye surface.

CO-ORDSCo-ords have been a big

category this 2021. It gainedits popularity when celebsstarted sporting co-ordsin their airport looks. Beit from printed floral co-ords or athleisure co-ords, they have beenwidely popular and peo-ple have found comfortin wearing as well asstyling this category.

BOLD & BRIGHTBe it in prints or solids,

the hues this year were farbrighter and dazzling. Notjust summers, but wintersin 2021 also witnessed thebrightness. People loved tocolour block with compli-menting colours and we allsaw a lot of fashion bloggersand influencers helpingtheir audience to pick theright colour combinations.

The 2021 seemed like an aftereffect of 2020, but it was great to

see everyone moving out oftheir comfort zones and

experimenting withcolours, styles andfits.

LILACDidn’t you

observe everyone starting torave about Lilac in 2021.Actually, Lilac was revivedright in 2018 when VictoriaBeckham was spotted in alilac suit. It took 2021 for usto start using this colour soconfidently without anyhesitation. People got ahang of styling this colour.It was styled either withsolid whites to keep itclassic or people lovedstyling it with compli-menting neons to makeit a statement outfit.

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Never had anyone imagined that an outbreak ofsevere viral pneumonias, first reported inWuhan city, Hubei province China in December

2019, would, in the months to come, create havoc inthe world. Coronaviruses which usually cause com-mon colds in humans and also infect animals, like-ly, though still not apparent, jumped from an ani-mal in a seafood market in China to infecthumans.

On February 11, 2020, the InternationalCommittee on Taxonomy of Viruses adopted theofficial name Severe acute respiratory syndromecoronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The World HealthOrganization (WHO) on March 11, 2020, hasdeclared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) out-break, a global pandemic.

“According to the transmissibility, virulenceand effectiveness of therapeutics, vaccines anddiagnostics, WHO has classified SARS-CoV-2 intovariants of concerns (VOC) and variant of inter-est (VOI). VOC include Alpha, Beta, Delta, Gammaand latest being Omicron,” Dr Gurmeet SinghChabbra, Director Pulmonology, QRG Super SpecialityHospital, Faridabad says.

Throughout the world, 5,410,984 people have diedso far from the coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak as onDecember 25, 2021 including 4,79,520 in India. TotalCoronavirus cases in India till date are 34,779,815.

Omicron virus is a new mutant of SARS-CoV-2,which was first documented in South Africa onNovember 24, 2021. On November 26, 2021,WHOdeclared it as variant of concern.

India has so far recorded 415 cases of the Omicronvariant across 15 States and Union territories. Omicronhas more than 50 mutations with more than 30 beingin spike protein itself which makes it highly transmis-sible.

“In countries with documented community spread,doubling time of Omicron is one-and-a-half to threedays. Omicron spreads three times faster than the deltavirus which caused the brutal second wave in India. Itevades immunity acquired due to previous COVIDinfection or vaccination and causes reinfections andbreakthrough infections,” Dr Gurmeet tells you.

There is a possibility of decreased effectiveness ofavailable vaccines and also cocktail therapy, given formild to moderate high risk COVID-19 cases, in

The third wave could be larg-er than the first two. Tocombat this, we strongly

advise everyone to get vaccinatedwith two doses of the vaccine. Thegeneral public should also takeextra precautions against newviruses and variations of novelcoronavirus. People should keep

wearing masks in public places,avoid crowds, maintain social dis-tance, and adhere to all directivesissued by the Government of Indiafrom time to time. Private health-care companies are already provid-ing the Government all of theresources it requires, includingtesting, isolation beds for treat-

ment, medical personnel, andequipment at Government Covid-19 hospitals. We were hope-ful that with our combined efforts,we will be able to defeat theOmicron variant too.

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DILIP KUMAR: Better knownby his stage name Dilip Kumar,was an Indian actor and film pro-ducer who worked in Hindi cin-ema. Referred to as the TragedyKing for his portrayal of seriousroles and retrospectively as TheFirst Khan of Bollywood. RAJIV KAPOOR: He was anactor, producer, director and amember of the Kapoor family.He is best known for his lead rolein Ram Teri Ganga Maili. SIDDHARTH SHUKLA: Hewas an actor, host and modelwho appeared in Hindi televisionand films. He was known for hisrole in Balika Vadhu.SUREKHA SIKRI: She was atheatre, film and televisionactress. She received threeNational Film Awards and aFilmfare Award. She made herdebut in Kissa Kursi Ka.ANUPAM SHYAM: He was anIndian film and television actor,who usually played villainousroles. RAJ KAUSHAL: was an Indiandirector, producer who wasactive during the 1990s and mid2000s. He was married toMandira Bedi. AMIT MISTRY: He appeared ina number of tele serials, dramaas well as films.GHANSHYAM NAYAK: Hislast memorable role was ofNatwarlal PrabhashankarUndhaiwala aka Nattu Kaka inTaarak Mehta Ka OoltahChashmah.

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NEERAJ CHOPRA was the mostsearched face of 2021 and why not. Hebrought home the Gold at the Olympicsheld this year in Japan in javelin throw.He is ranked No 2 internationally byWorld Athletics.

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Omicron infectedcases. Still vaccination

would prevent severe disease,hospitalisation and deaths in infectedpatients.

In India, more than 80 per cent havetaken a single shot of COVID vaccine andabout 50 per cent are fully vaccinated.Those who have not yet got vaccinatedshould get vaccinated.

“Wearing a mask properly, keeping asafe distance of six feet, maintaining handhygiene, avoiding gatherings and crowd-ed places and social meetings would pre-vent spread of this disease. It is expectedthat about 1.5 to 1.8 lakh cases per daywould be recorded by the end of February2022,” Dr Gurmeet says.

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As we prepare to welcome 2022,India, particularly the Indianhealth sector, will face new

challenges. Omicron has already arrived,which means we must intensify andexpand our efforts to halt its spread. Thefirst line of defense against Omicron willbe COVID-appropriate behaviour andimmunisation. It is stronglyrecommended that all citizens get bothdoses of Covid vaccines as soon aspossible.

The Delta strain causedunprecedented mortality in 2021, forwhich no country, includingIndia, was prepared. As thenumber of deaths increased,we rose to the occasionand joined forces with

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