Chandigarh - Daily Pioneer

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The winds of uncertaintiesblowing across Punjab dur-

ing the past few pre-pollmonths may spring up sur-prises and generate strongpolitical storms after the elec-tions. No one really knowswhich way the wind will blow,with the determined votersnot airing their thoughts open-ly, but may bring a new boat tothe state's political shores.

The tidal currents in thepolitical waters are being feltstrongly this time — across allthree regions of Malwa, Majha,and Doaba — as Punjab, for thefirst time in its electoral histo-ry, is witnessing a multi-dimen-sional contest. And why not! Ithas gone through a sea changein political equations in thesepast five years — new partieshave surfaced, new coalitionsare formed to sail through therough political seas.

The past few months in therun-up to assembly polls haveseen the captains and sailors,who were manning the radarall along, changing their ships.Capt Amarinder Singh, whowas elected the Chief Ministerof the Congress Government in2017, is contesting against thegrand old party five years later;Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)and Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)severed their decades-old ties;the saffron party tied up withCapt Amarinder; a non-descript leader like CharanjitSingh Channi became theChief Minister; farmers forayedinto the electoral ring, andwhat not!

Despite having five mainplayers — Congress, SAD-BSPcombine, Aam Aadmi Party,BJP-led alliance, and farmers’Sanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM)— in the fray, most of the 117seats are witnessing a triangu-lar or face-to-face contestbetween Congress, Akali Dal,and AAP. At the same time, theentry of the Bharatiya JantaParty–Punjab LokCongress–Shiromani Akali Dal(Sankyukt) alliance, along withthe farmers’ outfit SSM, has leftthe electoral arena wide open.SAD, the state’s main regionalparty which has forged a pre-poll alliance with BahujanSamaj Party (BSP), is also mak-ing the ballot battle tough,remaining in the race on sev-eral seats.

Unlike 2017 when all themainstream parties pitted big-wigs against one another rais-ing the stakes on the seats

known to give the one-sidedverdicts, the parties in thiselection played safe fielding theleaders from their home con-stituencies only, exceptAmritsar East. Here, PunjabCongress president NavjotSingh Sidhu is locked in themother of all battles against hisfriend-turned-foe SAD’sBikram Singh Majitha withtwo political greenhorns —AAP’s Jeevanjyot Kaur andBJP’s Dr Jagmohan Singh Raju— giving the stalwarts a toughtime.

Capt Amarinder Singh,who formed a new politicaloutfit — Punjab Lok Congress— to contest polls in alliancewith the BJP may hardly makeany major impact, apart frompilfering some of the Congress’votes. On the other hand, itwould be hard to predict if thesaffron party would manage togain some ground in terms ofseats or vote share. BJP suffereda lot due to farmers’ agitation,confining all the party leadersinside their homes, while thosemoving out face people’s ire.Even after the repeal of farmlaws, the anti-BJP sentimentstill exists, and that was why thesaffron party concentrated itscampaign primarily on urbanseats.

Banking on the success offarmers’ agitation against thepowers-that-be, the SanyuktSamaj Morcha (SSM) — anamalgamation of 22 Punjabbased farmer outfits that active-ly participated against Centrecontroversial farm laws — isalso seen registering its pres-ence in most places except fortwo-four seats. But here, it is tobe seen whether the support itis receiving will translate intovotes or whether the debutantSSM will be able to even openits account.

Amidst all this, a wave ofchange is being felt across thestate, which seems to be blow-ing in Aam Aadmi Party’s(AAP) favour — similar towhat was observed in 2017also. But, at that time, AAPcould finish second with just 20seats despite all the build-up.Capt Amarinder’s wave sweptthe State as Congress secureda robust two-third majoritywith 77 seats, pushing theSAD-BJP combine to the dis-tant third.

AAP’s impact on the vot-ers, especially in the rural seg-ment, is visible — that too at atime when several farmers’organisations have jointlyformed their political outfit,

SSM, buoyed over the successof year-long agitation againstthe Centre’s now-repealed farmlaws.

But, then again, AAP has amajor task at hand — to con-vert this massive support andwave into votes. Almost all pollsurveys, analysts, media hous-es had predicted AAPGovernment in 2017. But themassive voter turnout of near-ly 78 percent gave the mandatein Congress’ favour. The last-minute ‘AAP-supporting-Khalistanis’ narrative, coupledwith no clarity over its ChiefMinisterial face, pushed theparty to the second spot.

Learning lessons from thepast, AAP has, this time,announced its most popularleader and two-time MPBhagwant Mann as CM face —a decision that has apparentlygiven a much-needed push tothe party’s campaign, especial-ly in the politically-significantMalwa region, which sends 69MLAs to the 117 memberHouse. From where, all promi-nent leaders, including Mann,Chief Minister Charanjit SinghChanni, Capt Amarinder, theBadals father-son duo, are inthe battlefield.

However, similar attemptsare now being made to linkAAP with Sikh separatists justtwo days before the polls. Andit is to be seen how the votersreact to it.

CONGRESS — FACINGA N T I - I N C U M B E N C Y,PLAYING DALIT CARD

Taking a cue from AAP, theCongress announced Dalitleader Channi as its ChiefMinisterial face, projectinghimself as aam aadmi, onewho understands gareeb, andone who want to resolve peo-ple’s all problems. And in theprocess, the party has snubbedthe cricketer-turned-politicianNavjot Singh Sidhu who has allalong been projecting himselfas the party’s face for the 2022polls. When Sidhu led thebrigade of Congress’ leaders —unhappy with CaptAmarinder’s failure to fulfilpre-poll promises, especiallyaction against the Badals andMajithia in sacrilege and drugscases respectively — to removehim from the Chief Minister’schair, he was sure of occupyingthe same when the party formsgovernment in 2022. His hopeswere dashed, all dreams wereshattered as the Congresspicked Channi — a surprise

pick to replace Capt Amarinderafter his ouster in Septemberlast — as the party’s face for2022 polls with an eye on themassive Dalit vote bank.

Marred by infighting, andrace for one-upmanship amongits top leadership, coupled withstrong anti-incumbency againstit, the Congress, it seems, is ona sticky wicket. More than itsrivals, the Congress is fightingamong themselves, even in theelectoral field. Its effort to putup a united face, despite thecontinuous tug of war betweenSidhu and Channi, has fallenthrough. Till the last weekbefore the elections, seniorleaders, like former UnionMinister and Sri AnandpurSahib MP Manish Tewari, wereseen questioning the party’sdecisions and ethos, whilemany others, including formerUnion Law Minister AshwiniKumar, left the sinking ship.

CASTE POLITICSBy giving the state its first

Dalit Chief Minister, the partymay have, to some extent, suc-ceeded in wooing certain sec-tions of the SC population giv-ing it an edge in some con-stituencies, but considering theexisting cultural and regionaldifferences within the Dalits,they may respond differently,and may not vote en bloc.SAD-BSP alliance is likely tocounterbalance in some con-stituencies. On the other hand,in case of consolidation ofDalit votes in Congress’ favour,one cannot rule out the possi-bility of the reverse consolida-tion of Jat votes, which mayeventually swing in the favourof the Akali Dal. Punjab has31.94 percent Dalit population,while 19 percent are Jat Sikhs.

In the process of wooingthe Dalits, Congress did notpay much attention to theHindu vote bank, which formsnearly 38.49 percent and is tra-ditionally inclined towards thegrand old party. Now retainingthe same is a tough task forCongress, especially when theBJP is going all out to woo theurban populace which mainlycomprises Hindu voters. Inthe wake of politics of polari-sation, the Hindu votes may goin BJP’s kitty, to some extent,especially in the urban areaswhere the party focuses itscampaign.

CAPT AMARINDER —IMPACT ON CONG VOTES

Contesting against theparty which it led five years ago

towards a resounding victory in2017, Capt Amarinder is like-ly to impact the Congress votebank, at least in Patiala area,known to be his bastion. Eventhough he is facing stiff com-petition from his rival —Patiala’s former Mayor AjitpalSingh Kohli as AAP candidate,he may sail through, but hiswinning margin may shrink.His debutant PLC is contestingon a total of 37 seats, with someof his party candidates con-testing on BJP’s poll symbol, noother candidate is in a positionto win, in fact, they are not evenin the race. But whatever votesare polled in their favour, theCongress will have to bear thedirect loss.

AAP — BANKING ONDELHI MODEL, CM FACEMANN

Calling 2022 polls a ‘do ordie’ battle for AAP won’t be anexaggeration. Hard selling its‘Delhi model’, AAP has infusedits full force for Punjab, and itappears to be gaining from thesame too. AAP’s biggest pluspoint is that its party cadre andsupporters are present in bothurban and also rural areas. Allits candidates and leaders talkabout bringing a change — forwhich the people of Punjabseem to be prepared.Highlighting AAPGovernment’s works in thenational capital, the party isseeking “ikk mauka” (onechance) from Punjab’s voters toform the next governmentpromising that once elected,they would not look for anoth-er party. In fact, learninglessons from 2017 polls, theparty declared its CM facewell in advance, besides high-lighting several freebies for allsections well ahead of time.

With all boxes ticked inAAP’s favour, it is facing thebiggest challenge of convertingall support into votes to avoida repeat of 2017. AAP candi-dates are in the main fight onalmost all seats, challenging thepolitical stalwarts — five-timeChief Minister Parkash SinghBadal, Capt Amarinder,Sukhbir Singh Badal, Channi,Sidhu, among others — intheir home turf. Another chal-lenge ahead of AAP is thepresence of SSM, which is alsoseeking a vote against the ‘tra-ditional’ parties – be it theCongress, SAD or the BJP. Itmay be possible that the voteagainst traditional players mayget divided amongst them —damaging AAP’s poll prospects.

SAD-BSP — A SILENTPLAYER HAVING NOTH-ING TO LOSE

SAD forged a new pollalliance with the BSP, with ahope of reviving its chance towrest the power, or at leastimprove its tally in the VidhanSabha. In 2017, Akali Dal wasrestricted to just 15 seats out of94, with its ally bagging justthree out of 23 seats it contest-ed. Five years later, Akali Dalis emerging as a silent player,doing everything right to makea podium finish. Running asteady campaign for the pastone year, SAD has not onlykept its flock intact but alsowooed back the stalwarts whohad earlier left the party;besides keeping the party cadrehigh spirited. What is more,Sukhbir started early, mobilis-ing the cadre at the grassroots,announcing the candidates wellin advance, and checking therebel elements on time if any.Also, the issues of drugs andsacrilege, that led to Akali Dal’sresounding defeat in 2017, stillpersists with its rivals inten-sively using it to target the SAD.But it seems, the voters havenow understood that the samewas being exploited for politi-cal gains.

BJP — WORKING ONDUAL STRATEGY

Entering Punjab’s electoralarena as a “big brother” in acoalition, BJP is working on adual strategy with an eye on thefuture. Contesting on 65 seatsin alliance with the two splin-

ter groups — each led by stal-warts of Punjab politics, BJP isprimarily working on increas-ing its vote share, and not theseat count particularly. At thesame time, the party is seeingthis election as an opportuni-ty to prepare for future elec-tions. As a part of its dual strat-egy, the BJP is concentrating onwinning its “traditional” seatson one hand, building up a votebank on the seats it is contest-ing for the first time. With this,the party, in the future, willhave its own support base andcan go all alone in the elections.

BJP, during its campaign,has largely focussed on urbanareas, concentrating on 38.49percent of the Hindu voters.Prime Minister NarendraModi’s rallies were also organ-ised in the Hindu-dominatedurban areas to make the rightimpact. However, one cannotignore the 57.75 percent of Sikhvoters, which also includes theJat Sikhs and Dalit Sikhs, whilehoping to make a foray intoPunjab. For the same, BJPwent all out to garner the sup-port of the Sikh community bypresenting itself as the party,which during the past sevenyears at the Centre, has workedtowards the interests of Sikhs,right from opening theKartarpur Sahib corridor, towaiving Goods and ServicesTax (GST) from ‘langar’ (com-munity kitchen), or from grant-ing Foreign ContributionRegulation Act (FCRA) regis-tration to GurdwaraHarmandir Sahib (Golden

Temple) enabling it to receiveforeign donations to punishingthe guilty of 1984 “anti-Sikh”riots, the BJP sent out a strongmessage to Punjab’s voters bymeeting the heads of variousDeras, having considerablesupport in different regions,and the prominent Sikh per-sonalities just days before thepolling.

SSM — PLAYING ASPOILSPORT

The farmers’ outfit, SSM, islikely to play a spoilsport for theother mainstream parties, whoare in the main contest, espe-cially AAP. If farmers and AAPhad come together, it wouldhave been an easy win for thecoalition. But with farmersadding another dimension tothe multi-dimensional contest,it may lead to division of votes.In Malwa, where AAP has a rel-ative foothold, SSM’s presencecould split votes; while inMajha and Doaba regions, theSSM candidates could damagethe electoral prospects of AkaliDal as well as the Congress can-didates. In fact, the win is notsure for its Chief Ministerialcandidate Balbir Singh Rajewal— one of the prominent facesof the farmers’ agitation.

As it is over to the 2.41crore voters now, the results onMarch 10 would reveal whetherthe Congress will be able tosave its political stronghold orwill Punjab become the secondstate after Delhi where AAPwill form its government; orwhether it will completely be asurprise outcome.

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It is greenhorns versus theveterans in Punjab. No less

than 40 percent of the total 585candidates fielded by the fivemain prominent outfits orcoalitions are entering the elec-toral arena for the first time.

On February 20, these 239first-timers would make theirdebut in the ballot battle. Someof them belong to the politicalfamilies having know-how ofthe politics, while some arecompletely greenhorns, enter-ing the poll fray right after leav-ing their jobs, or with an aimto bring a change.

Such a high number offirst-time contestants can beattributed to the multi-cor-nered contest Punjab is wit-nessing for the first time in itselectoral history. This time,several new political outfitshave forayed into the electionring, and on the other hand,new alliances have evolved.

Apart from the rulingCongress and the principalopposition Aam Aadmi Party(AAP), the Shiromani AkaliDal (SAD), this time, is con-testing in alliance with theBahujan Samaj Party (BSP).SAD’s previous ally, the

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),has forged a new alliance withthe former Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh’s nascentparty Punjab Lok Congressand Akali stalwart SukhdevSingh Dhindsa’s SAD(Sanyukt). Adding a newdimension is the already four-cornered contest is farmers’new political outfit — SanyuktSamaj Morcha (SSM).

Among all the parties,farmers’ outfit, SSM, whichitself is making a debut, hasfielded 87 percent of the total117 candidates. Among the102 first-timers is the face offarmers’ year-long agitationagainst the Centre’s farm lawsBalbir Singh Rajewal.

BJP-led alliance, in whichthe saffron party is playing therole of a senior partner con-testing for the first time on 65seats in Punjab — has laid itsbet on 61 (52 percent) freshfaces, including many of thosewho were denied party ticketby the Congress or Akali Dal.

SAD, which has this timeentered the poll fray with BSPafter severing decades-long tieswith the saffron party, hasfielded 26 first-timers (28 per-cent) out of 97 candidates it hasfielded. On the remaining 20seats, its ally, BSP, has fielded 90percent first-timers, that is atotal of 18.

Congress, which securedtwo-third majority with 77seats in 2017 elections, hasfielded just 17 first-timers —14.5 percent — banking most-ly on its tried and testedwarhorses. On the other hand,AAP has laid its bet on just 15fresh faces — 13 percent of thetotal candidates — primarilylaying its bet on the oldwarhorses from other politicalparties.

The Pioneer takes a look at

the prominent first-timers whohave thrown their hat in theelectoral ring for the first time.

Sandeep Jakhar fromAbohar: Senior Congressleader and three-time MLAfrom Abohar Sunil KumarJakhar, this time, handed overthe baton to his nephewSandeep Jakhar — a 45-year-old US-educated Congressman.Sandeep, a fourth-generationmember of Jakhar family inpolitics, has been nurturingAbohar constituency for thepast two years. Before him,Sandeep’s uncles — SunilJakhar and Sajjan KumarJakhar, and grandfather BalRam Jakhar had, in total won,seven elections since 1972.Jakhar is now leaving no stoneunturned to help Sandeep inretaining the family’s politicalprestige. Since 2020, Sandeephas been leading ‘Chokho(beautiful) Abohar’ after thetown was tagged as the thirddirtiest city in SwachhSurvekshan-2019. And his hardwork paid off, as the town wit-nessed significant improve-ment in its hygiene standards.

Malvika Sood from Moga:Sister of Bollywood actor andphilanthropist Sonu Sood,Malvika is also known for hischaritable works in their home-town, Moga. Referring to her-self as “Moge di dhee” (daugh-ter of Moga) during heraddress, Malvika is a qualified

computer engineer. With nopolitical background, but herphilanthropic works to show-case, Malvika is contesting herfirst election as Congress can-didate. In fact, Congress pre-ferred her over its sitting MLAHarjot Kamal.

Balbir Singh Rajewal fromSamrala: One of Punjab’s topfarmer leaders, one of the mainfaces of the over-a-year-longfarmers’ agitation at Delhi bor-ders against now-repealed farmlaws, Rajewal is locked in a stiffmulti-corner contest in hishome turf, Samrala. Rajewal, inpoll fray for the first time at theage of 79, is the CM face ofSanyukt Samaj Morcha (SSM)— the political front born outof Sanyukt Kisan Morcha.During his rallies, and even inthe posters and hoardings, heis being referred to as ‘Dilli deborderan tey ladey gayemahayuddh de mahanayak’(Superhero of the mega battlethat was fought on the bordersof Delhi).

Rana Inder Partap Singhfrom Sultanpur Lodhi: Son ofCabinet Minister Rana GurjitSingh, Rana Inder Partap iscontesting his maiden elec-tion from Sultanpur Lodhi asan independent against theCongress’ nominee NavtejSingh Cheema — a sittingCongress MLA from the con-stituency. Rana Inder Partaphas been seeking the congress

party ticket from SultanpurLodhi, with the backing of hisfather, who is at loggerheadswith his party colleague,Cheema. After Congress decid-ed to field two-time MLACheema from the seat, RanaInder entered the poll fray as anindependent, but with all-outsupport of his father.

Mohit Mohindra fromPatiala rural: Though a first-timer, he knows the nuances ofpolitics. Son of Congress stal-wart and party’s prominentHindu face Brahm Mohindra,Mohit Mohindra is one of theyoungest politicians in thepolls. A former cricketer and anadvocate, Mohit is now facingthe herculean task of carryingforward his father’s fivedecades-old political legacy.Senior Mohindra, the CabinetMinister, has been a six-timeMLA in his over 40 years ofpublic service.

Ganieve Kaur fromMajitha: It was not a planneddecision for Ganieve Kaur. Butwhen her husband and three-time MLA from Majitha, all ofa sudden, decided to take thechallenge of Punjab Congresspresident Navjot Singh Sidhu tocontest from Amritsar Eastalone, Ganieve accepted thedecision and get prepared tomake her debut in politics. Allalong been supporting her hus-band, Ganieve, a former rep-resentative of British auctionhouse Christie’s, is herself in theelectoral fray this time.

Dr Jagmohan Singh Rajufrom Amritsar East: FormerIAS officer Jagmohan SinghRaju, a political greenhorn, ispitted against political heavy-weights Punjab Congress pres-ident Navjot Singh Sidhu andSAD leader Bikram SinghMajithia. Born and brought upin Punjab, Raju had joined IAS

in 1985, and was allotted theTamil Nadu cadre. After hav-ing served on many positionsat the Centre and Tamil Nadustate, Dr Raju took voluntaryretirement recently from his37-year-long service beforejumping into the poll battle.Raju, who was to retire inApril 2023, has completed PhDin public policy from the TataInstitute of Social Sciences andis also a visiting fellow at UK’sCambridge University.

Kunwar Vijay Pratap Singhfrom Amritsar North: The‘protagonist’ of Punjab’s battleagainst sacrilege, InspectorGeneral of Police Kunwar VijayPratap Singh took voluntaryretirement in June last beforejoining AAP. The 1988-batchPunjab cadre IPS officer wasscheduled to retire in 2029. The52-year-old has a Doctoratedegree and has no criminalcases against him. KunwarVijay, who once served as theAmritsar SSP and came to thelimelight across Punjab as themain investigator in 2015’spost-sacrilege police firing inci-dents, is hoping for a podiumfinish.

Sidhu Moosewala fromMansa: Shubhdeep SinghSidhu, popularly known asSidhu Moosewala, is one of theyoungest candidates this time.World-renowned Punjabi rapsinger, Moosewala is strikingthe right chord not only withthe youngsters but also with theold. The 27-year-old singerwas often caught on the wrongside of the law and even facingcases for allegedly promotinggun culture and violence. Afteractively supporting her moth-er during panchayat polls,Moosewala is now making hiselectoral debut as a Congresscandidate from Mansa.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Saturday said that keeping inmind the vision of modernHaryana, this time the budgetwill be presented, in which pri-ority will be given to all thepromises made to the people.

Speaking during a virtualmeeting with the leaders andBJP workers at HaryanaBhawan, New Delhi onSaturday, the Chief Ministersaid that the State Governmentis committed for the welfare ofall sectors and sections includ-ing education, agriculture andfarmers' welfare. Whateverwill be good for the public,work is being done for that.

He said the state govern-ment is also working continu-ously for the development ofHaryanvi culture and tourismand it is the endeavour of the

government that both theseareas of the state should be rec-ognized at the world level.The government is also work-ing for the welfare of ex-ser-vicemen and soldiers, headded.

Khattar said that beforepreparing the budget, sugges-tions were invited from peopleof different sectors and pre-Budget discussions have alsobeen held with some majordepartments. Whatever goodsuggestions will come duringthis period, they will be includ-ed in the budget. It is the effortof the government that thebudget is being prepared keep-ing in mind the all-rounddevelopment of the state andthe future of Haryana, he said.

BJP State President, OPDhankhar, Former Minister,Manish Grover, Karan DevKamboj and other dignitarieswere present on the occasion.

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More than 2,000 Indianstudents have been left

stranded in Canada afterabrupt closure of three educa-tional institutions there. Takingnote of this development, theIndian High Commission,Ottawa, on Saturday advisedIndian citizens to examine thecredentials of the colleges therebefore paying fees.

The institutions wereclosed reportedly in the wakeof protests by hundreds oftruckers of Canada convergingin Ottawa to protest againstmandatory vaccination forcorona for crossing the US-Canada border.

Issuing the note of caution,the Indian embassy assured thestranded students that it was intouch with the local authoritiesand the elected representativesto find ways to resolve the issueat the earliest. It was learnt thata majority of affected studentsare from Punjab, Haryana andGujarat.The students were leftin the lurch reportedly after thenotice of closure of three insti-tutions run by Rising PhoenixInternational Inc in wake of theongoing protests in Canada.

The closure of the collegeshas led to the immigrationstatus of at least half of themunder threat. The three privatecolleges and a recruiting firmreportedly filed for creditorprotection in mid-January andallegedly claimed the financialcrisis occurred due to the ongo-ing corona pandemic.

Meanwhile, spending lakhsof rupees on fee and travel, thestudents have lost their student

status and their visa and otherdocuments have becomeinvalid, reports indicated.

According to informa-tion, 1,173 students were study-ing in person at the three col-leges in Montreal while 637were pursuing online classesfrom home in Punjab andother places. They had beeneagerly awaiting on-campuslearning to begin to shift baseto Canada. While some of theparents lost their life’s savings,others had raised loans to sendtheir wards abroad.

“The High Commissionhas been approached by sever-al students from India whowere enrolled in the three insti-tutions run by Rising PhoenixInternational Inc, namely, MCollege H Montreal, CEDCollege in Sherbrooke andCCSQ College in Longueuil, allin the province of Quebec,Canada, and who have beenaffected by the notice of closureof these institutions,” the advi-sory said on Friday.

The High Commission was

in close contact with the federalGovernment of Canada, theprovincial Government ofQuebec province as well aselected Canadian representa-tives from the Indian commu-nity to provide support to theaffected students and for theresolution of this issue.

Students were alsoinformed that the Canadianauthorities were giving graceperiod to the affected ones totake admission in other insti-tutions. The advisory said if thestudents find any difficulty inreimbursement of their fees ortransfer of fees, they may file acomplaint with the Ministry ofHigher Education,Government of Quebec.

“The provincialGovernment of Quebec hasadvised that the affected stu-dents may directly contact theinstitutions where they are reg-istered, and in the event thatthey find any difficulty in reim-bursement of their fees or trans-fer of fees, they may file a com-plaint with Ministry of Higher

Education, Government ofQuebec,” it said.

“Students from India plan-ning higher studies in Canadaare again advised to makethorough checks of the cre-dentials and standing of theinstitution where they are seek-ing admission before makingany payment to such institu-tions. Please demand a certifi-cate of recognition by theC a n a d i a n / p r o v i n c i a lGovernment from the institu-tions and verify the institutionselected is included in the listof designated learning institu-tions published on theGovernment of Canada web-site. Students should not makeany payments or reveal theirpersonal information to anyunverified person/ institutionoffering students visa on pay-ment,” the advisory said.

Indian students in Canadaor those planning to travel toCanada are advised to registeronline with their nearest IndianMission or Post on theMADAD portal.

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Samajwadi Party faces anuphill task of regaining its

erstwhile bastion from Kasganjto Kannauj as Uttar PradeshAssembly elections enter itsmost crucial third phase.

This phase will cover 59constituencies spread across16 districts in central andsouth-central parts of the Stateon February 20. AkhileshYadav is also in the fray fromKarhal Assembly seat in thethird phase seeking election toAssembly for the first time.

Almost half the seats goingto the polls are what is calledthe real cow belt in State poli-tics. The region spread betweenFirozabad to Kannauj is a tra-ditional Samajwadi Party (SP)bastion comprising 29 seats.The majority of them have ahigh concentration of Yadavvoters.

In these eight districts, theBJP had done exceedingly wellin 2017, winning all but fiveseats. All eight seats in Etah,Kasganj went to the BJP andthe party also won all three inKannauj and Auriya. Mainpuriwas the only district where theSP could retain three out offour seats.

In Firozabad, the SP man-aged to win just one seat —Sirsaganj. Hariom Yadav, thesitting SP MLA, is now in thefray as a BJP candidate. TheBJP inflicted the unkindest cutof all on the SP in Etawah,Mulayam Singh’s hometownwhere the BJP managed towin two out of the three seats.Only Akhilesh’s uncle ShivpalYadav could manage to survivethe BJP wave in Jaswantnagar.

The SP chief Akhileshattempting a course correctionhas tried to set his house inorder by reaching out to hisestranged uncle Shivpal. TheSP has persuaded Shivpal tocontest election on its symbolthus confining him to his ownconstituency. This timeAkhilesh has also restricted theinfluence of his family mem-

bers in ticket distribution.Though the SP has tried to

win over non-Yadav OBCs, itsability to wean away this sec-tion of voters would be put totest in this phase. The area fromKasganj to Kannauj has a fairpopulation of non-Yadav back-ward communities like Lodha,Maurya, Shakya, Baghel, andKushwaha. All these castegroups have been effectivelymobilised by the BJP in the lastseven years to create a formi-dable social coalition.

Akhilesh has been promis-ing to hold a caste census in UPif his party wins in this election.The underlying message ofthis plank is for backwardcommunities at large where anew debate has been triggeredwith the BJP Governmentextending the benefits of reser-

vations to the economicallyweaker sections of the uppercastes in government jobs andeducational institutions.

The competing SP-BJPnarratives are put to test in dis-tricts like Etah. Kalyan Singh’slegacy still has resonanceamong the Lodha-Rajput vot-ers in four Assembly segmentshere. One seat is reserved, andin the other three SP has giventickets to Yadav candidates.The BJP has been more diversein its ticket allocation as it hassought to accommodate bothLodha and Shakya communi-ties.

The BJP’s pitch on surak-sha and law-and-order is alsodrafted to send a subtle mes-sage to have-nots in the back-ward blocks vis a vis the betteroffs like the Yadavs andKurmis.

The BJP has also sought tomicromanage its campaign inUP, focusing especially on seatswhich it won by a narrowmargin. For instance, the partyheld Prime Minister NarendraModi’s rally in Patiyali. The seatwhich has over 1 lakh Muslimvoters was won by the BJP bya very narrow margin in 2017.The BJP followed the Modirally with another electionmeeting by Chief Minister YogiAdityanath.

The SP would also be test-ed in the Bundelkhand regionwhere the BJP won all 13 seatswhich are going to the polls inthis phase. Except for Jalaun,the SP has been weak in theJhansi division.

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Battle lines are drawn in theborder State of Punjab for

the multi-party contest onSunday for all the 117 seats.

Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) S Karuna Raju onSaturday said all arrangementshave been made to ensure free,fair, and peaceful elections inthe State. He said that total Statemachinery is working roundthe clock to ensure peaceful,free, and fair elections.

Raju said that as many as2,14,99,804 electorates, includ-ing 1,12,98,081 males,1,02,00,996 females, and 727transgenders. There are 1,304candidates — 1209 males, 93women and two transgendersare in the fray in 117 con-stituencies, he added.

He said 231 candidates arefrom national parties, 250 fromState parties, 362 from unrecog-nised parties and 461 are inde-

pendent candidates. He said thatas many as 315 contesting can-didates are with criminalantecedents.

The CEO said that 24,689polling stations and 51 auxil-iary polling stations have beenestablished at 14,684 pollingstation locations of which2,013 are identified as critical,while 2,952 are vulnerablepockets. He informed thatthere would be 1,196 model

polling stations, 196 womenmanaged polling stations and70 PwD managed polling sta-tions. He said that webcastingof all the polling stations isbeing done.

Apart from three SpecialState Observers, the ECI hasappointed 65 GeneralObservers, 50 ExpenditureObservers and 29 PoliceObservers to keep a keen eyeon poll conduct.

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Facing allegations of har-bouring separatist ideas,

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal dedicated 12,430 newclassrooms to the children ofDelhi and derided those whocalled him a “terrorist” sym-pathiser.

“We had planned for11,000 classrooms but endedup building 12,430 high-techclassrooms across 240 schoolsin just 3 years. This is what hap-pens when you elect an honestGovernment. The man thesecorrupt leaders call a terroristhas built 12,430 classroomstoday; he is fulfilling thedreams of Babasaheb andBhagat Singh. These politi-cians can continue to call me aterrorist and I will continue ter-rorising their sleep by buildingworld-class schools & hospitalsfor the poor,” he said.

Kejriwal said the schools

will blur the fault-lines of casteand class as children of rickshaw-pullers and labourerswill sit on the same desk asthose of officers and judges.

“We’ve built over 20,000new classrooms in Delhi in thelast 7 years. All the StateGovernments and the Centretogether haven’t even comeclose to the figure. On averagea school has 50 rooms; we canconsider that we’ve built 250new schools with these 12,430classrooms. Had this countrymet our standard of education75 years back, this societywould’ve touched greatheights,” he said.

Kejriwal said hisGovernment will do its best tobuild schools and hospitals onthe Delhi model in other Statesas well. “Open offer to all par-ties, if you want to revolutioniseeducation and healthcare, theDelhi Government will happi-ly loan you Manish Sisodia and

Satyendar Jain. Politicians feargood schools; if the country hasgood schools the politics ofcaste and religion would getkilled. Our Government schoolstudents won’t vote on casteand religion but nation-build-ing and progress,” he said.

Kejriwal said these schoolswill act as cradles of staunchDeshbhakts. “Bhagat Singhgave the slogan of ‘InquilabZindabad’; today I give the slo-gan of ‘Inquilab Zindabad,Shiksha Kranti Zindabad,” he

said.At the same time, Sisodia

said the Delhi Government isthe only Government in Indiato spend one-fourth of itsBudget on education. TheDelhi Government’s schoolsboast of better infrastructurethan private schools today, hesaid, adding that the StateGovernment has created infra-structure but it is now the dutyof every student and teacher toconvert these buildings intoflourishing schools.

Sisodia said 3,70,000 stu-dents have switched from eliteprivate schools to Delhi’sGovernment schools.

Besides Sisodia, PWDMinister and Satyendar Jainsenior officials, including theEducation Secretary andEducation Director, were pre-sent in the inauguration cere-mony organised at SarvodayaKanya Vidyalaya, Rajokri,Delhi.

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The Union Home Ministryon Saturday decided to

grant “Y” category securitycover to former Aam AadmiParty (AAP) leader KumarVishwas.

The move comes after theHome Ministry reviewed thethreat perception and securityrisks of Vishwas based on intel-ligence inputs in the wake of hisallegations against AAP con-vener and Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal.

After the review, it wasdecided to give Vishwas “Y”category security through theCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF), sources said.

Under the “Y” categorysecurity, Vishwas, as a pro-tectee, will be secured by fourpersonal security officers of theCRPF on a 24/7 basis.

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The lower severity of theOmicron variant combined

with high vaccine coverage insome countries is “driving adangerous narrative that thepandemic is over”, WorldHealth Organization chiefTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesuswarned on Saturday.

“But it’s not,” he said dur-ing a live session at the MunichSecurity Conference 2022, cur-rently underway in the Germancity. Ending the pandemic“must be the focus” of theworld, he stressed.

His comments come amidnew lab studies that haverevealed that Omicron sub-variant BA.2 could cause severeillness like Delta and previouslyidentified Covid-19 variants.

Various countries, includ-ing India, have started easingrestrictions citing decline incases.

However, the WHO chiefsaid, “conditions are now “ideal

for more transmissible, moredangerous variants” of the virusto emerge.”

Offering his assessment ofthe pandemic that has explod-ed, receded, and explodedagain, Ghebreyesus said, “I’msure when we met two yearsago, when we were all comingto grips with the spread of thisnew virus, that none of uswould have imagined we wouldnow be entering the third yearof the pandemic.”

“In fact, the conditions areideal for more transmissible,more dangerous variants toemerge. But we can end theCovid pandemic as a globalhealth emergency this year,” hecautioned.

“Not when 70,000 people aweek are dying from a pre-ventable and treatable disease.Not when 83 per cent of thepopulation of Africa is yet toreceive a single dose of vaccine.Not when health systems con-tinue to strain and crack underthe caseload. Not when we have

a highly transmissible viruscirculating almost unchecked,with too little surveillance totrack its evolution,” he said.

All is not grim, however.“We have the tools. We have theknow-how” to end the pan-demic, Ghebreyesus said,adding, “In particular, we arecalling on all countries to fillthe urgent financing gap of $16billion for the ACT Accelerator,to make vaccines, tests, treat-ments, and personal protectiveequipment available every-

where.”The chief of the global

health body spoke of a three-pronged approach that mayhelp arrest the pandemic.

“Stronger governance:Instead of the confusion andincoherence that has fueledthis pandemic; we need coop-eration and collaboration in theface of common threats.Stronger systems and tools:We need stronger systems andtools to prevent, detect, andrespond rapidly to epidemicsand pandemics. Strongerfinancing: It’s obvious thatnationally and globally, weneed substantial resources forstrengthening global healthsecurity,” it said.

The coronavirus pandem-ic, which began with infectionsbeing first reported from Chinain 2019, swept the world andlocked it down in less than sixmonths. The virus has sinceevolved, mutated, killed mil-lions globally and infectedmany more.

�� !��"��#$�%Moscow: Pro-Russia separatistleaders in eastern Ukraineordered a full military mobili-sation on Saturday, whileWestern leaders made increas-ingly dire warnings that aRussia invasion of its neighbourappeared imminent.

In new signs of fears that awar could start within days,Germany and Austria told theircitizens to leave Ukraine.German air carrier Lufthansacancelled flights to the capital,Kyiv, and to Odessa, a Black Seaport that could be a key targetin an invasion. NATO’sliaison office in Kyiv said it wasrelocating staff to Brussels andto the western Ukraine city ofLviv.

Meanwhile, top Ukrainianmilitary officials came under ashelling attack during a tour ofthe front of the nearly eight-year separatist conflict in east-ern Ukraine.

The officials fled to a bombshelter before hustling from thearea, according to a journalist

from The Associated Press whowas on the tour.

Violence in eastern Ukrainehas spiked in recent days asUkraine and the two regionsheld by the rebels each accusedthe other of escalation. Russiaon Saturday said at least twoshells fired from a govern-ment-held part of easternUkraine landed across the bor-der, but Ukrainian ForeignMinister Dmytro Kuleba dis-missed claim as “a fake state-ment”.

Sporadic violence has bro-

ken out for years along the lineseparating Ukrainian forcesfrom the Russia-backed rebels,but the recent shelling andbombing spike could set off afull-scale war. TheUnited States and manyEuropean countries havealleged for months that Russia,which has moved about150,000 troops near theUkrainian border, is trying tocreate pretexts to invade.

“They are uncoiling andare now poised to strike,” USSecretary of Defence Lloyd

Austin said Saturday during avisit to Lithuania. US VicePresident Kamala Harris metUkrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy at theMunich Security Conferenceon Saturday, opening the meet-ing by saying the world was at“a decisive moment in history”.

Zelenskyy suggested that theWest bore some responsibilityby not responding more force-fully when Russia annexedUkraine’s Crimea Peninsula in2014. “When a bombcrater appears in the schoolyard, children have a question— has the world forgotten itsmistakes of the 20th century?What attempts at appeasementlead to?” the Ukrainian leadersaid.

Earlier Saturday, DenisPushilin, the head of the pro-Russia separatist government inUkraine’s Donetsk region, citedan “immediate threat of aggres-sion” from Ukrainian forces inhis announcement. AP

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US President Joe Biden hassaid that he is convinced

and has reason to believe thatRussian forces will attackUkraine, including its capitalKyiv, in the coming week,warning that Russia will beresponsible for a "catastrophicand needless war of choice" ifit pursues its plans.

Biden's comments cameamid heightened tensionsbetween Russia and the US,fuelled by fears that Moscowplans to invade Ukraine. Russiahas repeatedly denied that it

has plans to attack Ukraine.Giving an update to

reporters from the RooseveltRoom of the White House,Biden on Friday said the US isdoing everything in its powerto remove any reason thatRussia may give to justify

invading Ukraine and preventthem from moving.

"Look, we have reason tobelieve the Russian forces areplanning to and intend toattack Ukraine in the comingweek -- in the coming days. Webelieve that they will targetUkraine's capital, Kyiv, a city of2.8 million innocent people,"Biden said.

"Make no mistake: If Russiapursues its plans, it will beresponsible for a catastrophicand needless war of choice. TheUnited States and our allies areprepared to defend every inchof NATO territory from any

threat to our collective securi-ty as well," he said.

Biden said that he is con-vinced that Russia is going toinvade Ukraine.

He ruled out sendingtroops in to fight in Ukrainebut said the US will continue tosupport the Ukrainian people.

Responding to a question ifhe thinks it is wise for theUkrainian President VolodymyrZelenskyy to leave Ukraine if aninvasion is as imminent as theUS, Biden said, "that's a judg-ment for him to make and adetermination as to whether ornot. I've spoken with Zelenskyy

a dozen times -- maybe more,I don't know."

Biden said that the US andits allies and partners will sup-port the Ukrainian people. "Wewill hold Russia accountable forits actions. The West is unitedand resolved. We're ready toimpose severe sanctions onRussia if it further invadesUkraine," he said.

"But I say again: Russia canstill choose diplomacy. It is nottoo late to de-escalate and returnto the negotiating table," he said.

Noting that US Secretary ofState Antony Blinken andRussian Foreign Minister Sergey

Lavrov have agreed to meet onFebruary 24, Biden said if Russiatakes military action before thatdate, it will be clear that theyhave slammed the door shut ondiplomacy.

"They will have chosen war,and they will pay a steep pricefor doing so -- not only from thesanctions that we and our allieswill impose on Russia, but themoral outrage that the rest of theworld will visit upon them," hesaid.

On Friday, Russiaannounced nuclear drills, evenas leaders of nations from theWest looked for ways to ease the

tensions.UN Secretary General

Antonio Guterres on Fridaywarned that it would be "cata-strophic" if the Russia-Ukraineconflict escalated into a war,while underlining that therewas "no alternative to diplo-macy."

Biden on Thursday saidthat the threat of Russian inva-sion of Ukraine is very highright now.

"It's very high because they(Russia) have not moved outtroops, number one. Numbertwo, we're briefed that they areengaged in false flag opera-

tions," he had said.The US on Thursday told

the UN Security Council thatits information indicates clear-ly that over 150,000 Russianforces amassed aroundUkraine's borders are prepar-ing to attack Ukraine "in thecoming days" and Moscow"plans to manufacture a pre-text" for its strike.US Secretaryof State Antony Blinken, in hisaddress to the Security Council,said over the past months,without "provocation or justifi-cation", Russia has amassedmore than 150,000 troopsaround Ukraine's borders.

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Vice President KamalaHarris warned Russia on

Saturday that it will face"unprecedented" financialpenalties if it invades Ukraineand predicted that such anattack would draw Europeanallies closer to the United States.

The world is at "a decisivemoment in history," she toldUkraine's president, who said hejust wants peace for his nation.Harris spoke at the annualMunich Security Conferencethe day after President JoeBiden said he was "convinced"that Russia's Vladimir Putin hasmade the decision to invadeneighbouring Ukraine.

"Let me be clear, I can saywith absolute certainty: If Russia

further invades Ukraine, theUnited States, together withour allies and partners, willimpose significant, andunprecedented economic costs,"Harris said. Harris aimed tomake the case to a largelyEuropean audience that theWest has "strength throughunity" and that an invasionwould likely lead to an even big-ger NATO presence on Russia'sdoorstep.

Later, at the start of a meet-ing with Ukraine's leader, Harriscalled it "a decisive moment inhistory" and told VolodymyrZelenskyy, "Any threat to yourcountry we take seriously."

He responded: "We clearlyunderstand what is going on.This is our land. We wantpeace."

He also said he needsWestern allies to take "specificsteps," alluding to Ukraine'srequests for even more militaryand economic assistance.Zelensky also noted that withRussian troops at his country'sborders, Ukraine's army is infact "defending all of Europe."

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US Secretary of DefenseLloyd Austin assured the

three Baltic nations Saturdaythat they would not be on theirown if faced with securitythreats from Russia, but hestopped short of promising apermanent deployment ofAmerican troops in the formerSoviet republics.

Austin was in Lithuania asa massive Russian troopbuildup and other actions haveWestern officials saying thatMoscow could invade Ukraineat any time, although Russiahas denied planning an inva-sion.

"They are uncoiling andare now poised to strike,"

Austin said Saturday about thereadiness of Russia's troops toattack Ukraine.

Lithuanian officials voicedconcern that Russian PresidentVladimir Putin's alleged ambi-tions could expand to the entireregion.

"The battle for Ukraine isa battle for Europe. If Putin isnot stopped there, he will gofurther," Lithuanian ForeignMinister GabrieliusLandsbergis said during a jointnews conference with Austin.

"They are choosing theway that is based on force. Weneed to send a very clear andunambiguous message that itwould be faced by a very clearand swift response"Landsbergis said.

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Moscow would have itsaccess to financial mar-

kets and high-tech goods lim-ited under Western sanctionsbeing prepared in case Russiaattacks Ukraine, one of theEuropean Union's top officialssaid Saturday.

The comments fromUrsula von der Leyen, the headof the EU's executive commis-sion, came as tensions overRussia's intentions towardUkraine intensified. USPresident Joe Biden said Fridayhe was convinced" RussianPresident Vladimir Putin hasdecided to invade the neigh-

bouring country."The Kremlin's dangerous

thinking, which comes straightout of a dark past, may costRussia a prosperous future,"von der Leyen said Saturdayduring the annual MunichSecurity Conference, where USVice President Kamala Harrisalso spoke.

Von der Leyen said the EU'sexecutive arm has developed a"robust and comprehensivepackage" of financial sanctionswith the US, UK and Canada.

"In case that Russia strikes,we will limit the access to finan-cial markets for the Russianeconomy and (impose) exportcontrols that will stop the pos-

sibility for Russia to modernizeand diversify its economy," sheadded. "And we have a lot ofhigh-tech goods where we havea global dominance, and that areabsolutely necessary for Russiaand cannot be replaced easily."

German Chancellor OlafScholz said that during aTuesday meeting with Putin he"made clear that any further vio-lation of the territorial integri-ty of Ukraine will have highcosts for Russia, politically,economically and geo-strate-gically".

"And at the same time, Istressed that diplomacy won'tfail because of us," Scholzadded.

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Multiple Chinese cities haveannounced cash rewards

for tip-offs about people ille-gally crossing into the main-land from Hong Kong which isexperiencing a massive fifthCOVID-19 wave, overwhelm-ing the local health system,state media reported onSaturday.

Zhuhai, Huizhou andDongguan in China's southGuangdong province close toHong Kong have announcedcash rewards for people whoreport suspected illegal cross-ings from the Hong KongSpecial Administrative Region(HKSAR) amid reports of peo-ple fleeing to mainland byroad and sea to escape thespread of the contagion, state-run Global Times reported onSaturday.

Hong Kong, a SpecialAdministrative Region ofChina, reported 6,063 infec-tions in addition to 7,400 pre-liminary-positive cases onSaturday, the Hong Kong-based South China MorningPost newspaper reported.

With the death of 15patients, the coronavirus-relat-ed death toll reached 280. Thelatest infections brought theoverall tally to 46,763 cases.

Such was the caseload thathundreds of suspectedCOVID-19 patients, who were

forced to wait outside publichospitals for admission overthe past few days, had nowbeen moved indoors.

As the situation deterio-rated, reports say Hong Kongis busy converting auditoriumsand dormitories to accommo-date surging cases even as itplans to build a Wuhan stylemakeshift hospital to accom-modate hundreds of patients.

Chinese cities Zhuhai andDongguan have announcedcash rewards capped at 100,000yuan (USD 15,785) for tip-offsfor suspected smuggling ofHong Kongers by vehicle orboat.

The reward for reportinggroup smuggling is 30,000yuan (over USD 4,600) and10,000 yuan (over USD 1,500)for individuals illegally cross-ing the border, according toofficial notices.

Chenzhou and Nan'ancities also released similarnotices against the backdrop offive confirmed COVID-19cases being found among 15who were smuggled fromHong Kong to the mainlandvia Zhuhai by boat onFebruary 14.

Upon arrival in Zhuhai,some travelled to other main-land cities, leading to flare-upsin cases -- two each inChenzhou and Guangzhou andone in Shanghai, the GlobalTimes reported.

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German Chancellor OlafScholz said Saturday that

"now is the moment of truth" todetermine whether Iran's 2015nuclear deal with world powerscan be salvaged, and the Iranianleadership needs to make achoice.

Negotiators from Iran andthe remaining parties to theagreement - Britain, France,Germany, Russia and China - areworking in Vienna to restore lifeto the accord, which grantedIran sanctions relief in exchangefor curbs on its nuclear program.

The United States has par-ticipated indirectly in the talksbecause it withdrew from thedeal in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump.President Joe Biden has signaledthat he wants to rejoin the deal.Under Trump, the US reim-posed heavy sanctions on Iran.Tehran has responded byincreasing the purity andamounts of uranium it enrich-es and stockpiles, in breach ofthe accord - formally known asthe Joint Comprehensive Plan ofAction, or JCPOA.

Scholz told participants atthe annual Munich SecurityConference on Saturday thattalks have come a long way overthe past 10 months and "all ele-ments for a conclusion of thenegotiations are on the table."Buthe also criticized Iran for step-ping up its enrichment andrestricting inspections by mon-itors from the UN nuclearagency.

"We now have the opportu-nity to reach an agreement thatmakes it possible for sanctionsto be lifted," Scholz said. "At thesame time, it's the case that if wedon't succeed very quickly inthis, the negotiations threaten tofail."

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The Australian DefenseDepartment said that a

Chinese navy ship fired a laserat one of its surveillance air-craft, putting the lives of thecrew in danger.

The incident happenedon Thursday when the P-8APoseidon plane detected alaser illuminating the aircraftwhile in flight over Australia'snorthern approaches, thedepartment said.

Such episodes are notuncommon as the US and itsallies accuse China of assert-ing its military might, andhave taken steps to challengeBeijing's growing clout in thewestern Pacific and elsewhere.

The department said in astatement Saturday that thelaser came from a People'sLiberation Army Navy vessel.

It was accompanying

another Chinese ship thattransited through the TorresStrait. Both ships were now inthe Coral Sea, east ofAustralia, it said.

"Illumination of the air-craft by the Chinese vessel isa serious safety incident," theDefense Department said.

"We strongly condemnunprofessional and unsafemilitar y conduct. Theseactions could have endan-gered the safety and lives ofthe ADF personnel."

Lasers present a seriousproblem because when aimedat aircraft they can injurepilots or temporarily blindthem -- which can presentsafety risks particularly asthey are taking off and land-ing.

Two years ago, the US alsoaccused the Chinese navy offiring a

laser at one if its Poseidon

planes over the Pacific. Chinadenied it, saying the plane hadcircled at low altitude over itswarship despite repeatedwarnings.

In 2019, Australian navyhelicopter pilots reportedbeing were hit by lasers whileexercising in the South ChinaSea, forcing them to land as aprecaution.

In 2018, the US issued aformal complaint to theChinese government over theuse of high-grade lasers nearthe military base in Djiboutithat were directed at aircraftand resulted in minor injuriesto two American pilots.

Tensions have ratchetedup particularly in the SouthChina Sea, which Beijingclaims almost in its entirety,while the US and its allies insiston freedom of navigation andoverflight in internationalwaters.

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Crews cleared fallen treesand worked to restore

power to about 400,000 peoplein Britain as Western Europecleaned up Saturday after one ofthe most damaging storms inyears. At least 12 people werekilled, many by falling trees, inIreland, Britain, Belgium, theNetherlands and Germany.Named Storm Eunice by theBritish and Irish weather ser-vices, and Storm Zeynep inGermany, Friday's storm wasthe second to hit the region ina week. Winds toppled the spireof a church in Wells, southwestEngland, ripped off parts of thedomed roof of London's O2Arena and left a trail of felled

trees and damaged buildingsacross several countries.

A gust of 122 miles an hour(196 km an hour) was provi-sionally recorded Friday on theIsle of Wight. If confirmed, itwould be the highest ever inEngland. Hurricane-force windsbegin at 74 mph. The MetOffice weather service saidmore strong winds would hitthe southern coasts of Englandand Wales on Saturday, with thepotential for further damage,while snow and ice could causedisruption further north.TheUK's National Rail associationsaid "routes across most ofGreat Britain" remained affect-ed by the weather on Saturdaymorning, with disruptions tocontinue throughout the day.

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Rohit Sharma was onSaturday appointed thenew Test captain of the

Indian team as selectors ini-tiated the transition phase bydropping struggling veteransAjinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar

Pujara, Wriddhiman Sahaand Ishant Sharma for the SriLanka series. The PTI hadearlier reported that teammanagement has decided tomove on from Saha and 100-

Test plus Ishant and chanceswere dim for both Pujaraand Rahane to retain theirplaces.

On Saturday, chairmanof selectors Chetan Sharma

#�� $�� made it clear that "Rohitwas the unanimous choice"and will be the bridgebetween the new and old inthe current set-up as theygroom three potential cap-taincy materials in KLRahul, Jasprit Bumrah andRishabh Pant.

All three have led orbeen deputy at some point.The Sri Lanka Tests series,starting March 4, will alsomark comeback of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja,who has recovered from aknee injury. Shubman Gilltoo has recovered from shinstress fracture.

Washington Sundar andKL Rahul are nursing their

hamstrings before start of IndianPremier League.

Kuldeep Yadav, who was dumped byVirat Kohli and Ravi Shastri, has beenbrought back from the cold as he madehis return into Test team.

Sanju Samson's start-stop interna-

tional career got a lifeline in the T20sagainst Sri Lanka. Pant along with ViratKohli has been rested while rookieleft-arm spinner from Uttar PradeshSaurabh Kumar made his maiden entryinto Test side. While it was known longback after Kohli tendered his resignation

from Tests, Rohit's emergence as Testcaptain is a remarkable story of grit anddetermination. Once considered some-one who would have a great Test career,opening the innings changed the courseof his career. After the England Test tour,there was no looking back.

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New Delhi: The domesticjewellery sector will get a hugeexport boost in the UnitedArab Emirates (UAE) marketas it would get duty-free accessthere, while the gulf nation willget greater access to the goldmarket here as India will giveduty concessions on import ofup to 200 tonnes, CommerceSecretary B V RSubrahmanyam said onSaturday.

India has agreed to con-cessional import duties on gold

imports of up to 200 tonnes peryear. India imported about 70tonnes of gold from the UAE in2020-21. "We are a majorimporter of gold. India importsabout 800 tonnes of gold everyyear. In this particular agree-ment, we have given them(UAE) a TRQ (tariff rate quota)of 200 tonnes where the tariff(or import duty) in perpetuitywill be one per cent less thanwhatever is the tariff chargedfor the rest of the world.

"Therefore, the UAE has aone per cent price advantage ingold bars. That one per centtariff difference means those200 tonnes will be diverted tothe UAE," the secretary toldreporters here.

He said the biggest gain forIndia is "that we get zero duty

access" to the UAE market fordomestic jewellery. There wasa five per cent duty on Indianjewellery and now, "it's gone tozero", so the gem and jewellerysector is "gung-ho", he added.

TRQ is a quota for a vol-ume of imports that enterIndia at specified tariffs. Afterthe quota is reached, a highertariff applies on additionalimports. TRQ would also bethere for copper, polyethyleneand polypropylene.

India and the UAE onFriday signed a comprehensiveeconomic partnership agree-ment (CEPA), under which anumber of domestic goods willget zero duty access to the UAEmarket. The pact may comeinto force in April or May.

To protect sensitive sectors,

he said, India has kept certainsegments out of the ambit ofthis agreement.

These include dairy, fruits,vegetables, cereals, tea, coffee,sugar, food preparation, tobac-co, petroleum waxes, coke,dyes, soaps, natural rubber,tyres, footwears, processedmarbles, toys, plastics, scrap ofaluminium and copper, med-ical devices, TV pictures, autoand auto components and sec-tors under the production-linked incentive scheme.

Sectors where there is aboost in domestic manufac-turing and which are comingunder the PLI scheme, "we havekept them outside this agree-ment", the secretary said.

When asked about theinclusion of the digital trade

chapter in the agreement, thesecretary said that for the firsttime, this sector is there in thetrade agreement signed byIndia and it shows that India isready to talk on this bilateral-ly. "There will be a lot of har-monisation in regulatory stan-dards on how you managedigital trade between Indiaand UAE... We (India) are dis-cussing digital trade or e-com-merce with the EuropeanUnion, Australia, the UK andCanada," he said.

Explaining the chapter,joint secretary in the depart-ment of commerce SrikarReddy said that this is a "bestendeavour" chapter where thedispute settlement mechanismwill not apply."We are focusingon how to harness the future

economic growth opportunitythat digital trade provides.

"We have provisions in thechapter regarding paperlesstrading, consumer protection,unsolicited commercial elec-tronic messages, personal dataprotection, cross-border flow ofinformation and cooperation ofdigital products and electron-ic payments," Reddy said.

Norms for customs dutieson electronic transmission arelinked with the current mora-torium, which is there in theWorld Trade Organization(WTO). Talking about the safe-guard mechanism present inthe India-UAE agreement, thesecretary said there is a per-manent safeguard mechanismthat will kick in if there is anysudden surge in imports. PTI

New Delhi: Electric vehicle (EV)charging stations have expand-ed by two-and-a-half timesacross nine mega cities, includ-ing Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai,in the last four months, thepower ministry said on Saturday.

Efforts by the governmentresulted in 2.5 times increase incharging stations in Surat, Pune,Ahmedabad, Bengaluru,Hyderabad, Delhi, Kolkata,Mumbai, and Chennai in the lastfour months, a power ministrystatement stated. According tothe statement, additional 678public EV charging stations wereinstalled between October 2021and January 2022 in these ninecities. PTI

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New Delhi: NTPC has record-ed a generation of 314.89 BillionUnits upto 18th Feb’22, sur-passing the maximum annualgeneration of 314 BU achievedin 2020-21.

Last year, the generation was270.0 BU till 18th Feb, indicat-ing improved performance andan increase in demand for powerin the current year. NTPCKorba (2600 MW) inChattisgarh is the top perform-ing thermal power plant in Indiawith 94.32% Plant Load Factor

between April’21 to Jan’22, as perthe data published by CentralElectricity Authority.

This demonstrates the exper-tise of NTPC in Operation andMaintenance of the power plantsand the high levels of operationalexcellence.

The total installed capacity ofNTPC is 67,832.30 MW having23 coal based, 7 gas based, 1Hydro, 19 renewable energyprojects. Under JV, NTPC has 9coal based, 4 gas based, 8 hydroand 5 renewable energy projects.

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New Delhi: The Governmenthas received proposals fromfive companies for setting upelectronic chip and displaymanufacturing plants withinvestment of Rs 1.53 lakhcrore, an official statement saidon Saturday.

Vedanta Foxconn JV, IGSSVentures and ISMC propose toset up electronic chip manu-facturing plants with USD 13.6billion investment and havesought support of USD 5.6 bil-lion from the Centre under theRs 76,000 crore Semicon IndiaProgramme, the Ministry ofElectronics and IT said. PTI

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T h i r u v a n a n t h ap u r a m :India's largest online groceryseller BigBasket has acquiredthe enterprise business unit ofa deep-tech company incu-bated by Kerala StartupMission (KSUM) with a viewto revolutionising offline retailin the country.

BigBasket, a Tata enter-prise, will be implementingKochi-based startup AgrimaInfotech's unique customervision technology platform,Psyight, at the self-checkoutcounters of the former's retailstores.The acquisition wasannounced by BigBasket CEOHari Menon on the sidelinesof a two-day virtual 'HuddleGlobal 2022' of KSUM thatgot underway here onSaturday.

Psyight, created by AnoopBalakrishnan, Arun Ravi andNikhil Dharman underAgrima Infotech, helps iden-tify all Indian fruits and veg-etables uniquely from animage without using barcodes,an official statement said here.

KSUM Chief ExecutiveOfficer John M Thomasdescribed the acquisition as a"milestone" for any Keralastartup. "It not only reiteratesthe strength of our startupecosystem, but shows the greatimpression firms such asBigBasket have about our star-tups," he noted.

"I hope the deal wouldencourage startups to moveahead strongly in theirattempt to scale up their busi-ness," he said. PTI

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New Delhi: Kalpataru PowerTransmission Ltd on Saturdayannounced a merger with JMCProjects (India) Ltd which willcreate one of the largest engi-neering, procurement and con-struction (EPC) companies inthe country.

With the appointed date ofApril 1, 2022, the mergerprocess is expected to be com-pleted in Q4 FY23, it added.

"The Board of Directors ofKalpataru Power TransmissionLtd (KPTL) and JMC Projects(India) Ltd. (JMC) in theirrespective meetings held on19th February 2022 haveapproved the scheme of amal-gamation which inter alia pro-vides for the merger of JMCwith KPTL (Scheme)," a com-pany statement said.

The merger is subject toapprovals from the Gujaratbench of the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT), statutory authorities,stock exchanges, shareholders,creditors and such otherauthorities, as may be required,it added. PTI

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New Delhi: Japanese automajor Honda on Saturday saidit has appointed TakuyaTsumura as the new President& CEO of Honda Cars IndiaLtd (HCIL) with effect fromApril 1, 2022.

The appointment comes aspart of the managementchanges announced annuallyby Honda Motor Co Ltd.

Tsumura, 54, will take overfrom Gaku Nakanishi, whomoves from India to regionalheadquarters in Asia andOceania region - Asian Hondaas General Manager, AutomobileBusiness for the region.

During his four-year

tenure in India, Nakanishi, inhis role as President & CEO ofHCIL, steered the companythrough one of the toughestbusiness phase for the Indianauto industry, struck byunprecedented COVID crisisand slowdown, the automakersaid in a statement.

These years also saw thecompany taking some toughbut important decisions tomanoeuver the course of HCILoperations towards strength-ening its business constitu-tion, it added.

Nakanishi played a key rolein expanding HCIL exportswith the opening of new desti-

nations and also led several ini-tiatives in the field of sales andservice to enhance customerexperience and dealer prof-itability, the company noted.

Tsumura has been associ-ated with Honda Motor formore than 30 years. He hasworked in several internation-al markets including Thailand,Australia, China, Japan, Turkey,Europe and Asia & Oceaniaregions.

Tsumura was in-charge ofSouth Asian countries, includ-ing India from 1997 to 2000.Honda sells a range of modelslike City, Amaze and WR-V inthe Indian market. PTI

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From Page 1As many as 2083 sector

officers have been deployed toassist polling parties, he added.

Polling will be held from 8am till 6 pm and counting ofvotes will take place on March10.Punjab is witnessing a multi-cornered contest among the

Congress, AAP, SAD-BSPalliance, BJP-PLC-SAD(Sanyukt), and the SanyuktSamaj Morcha, a political frontof various farmer bodies.

The ruling Congress whichis seeking to retain power hascome under severe attack fromits political opponents overvarious issues, including drugmenace and corruption. TheCongress is banking on deci-sions like reducing electricitytariff and fuel prices, taken dur-ing current CM CharanjitSingh Channi's 111-day tenure.

The AAP, which hasemerged as a major contender,is eyeing to wrest power whileprojecting the Delhi model ofgovernance.

The stakes are also high forthe Shiromani Akali Dal whichis contesting the polls inalliance with the BahujanSamaj Party after breaking tieswith the BJP in 2020 over thefarm laws issue. With SukhbirSingh Badal in the drivingseat, the SAD called itself"Punjab's party" and promisedall-around development of theState.

The BJP, which used to bea junior partner during its pre-vious alliance with the SAD, isfighting the elections as a majorpartner. Allying withAmarinder Singh-led PunjabLok Congress and SukhdevSingh Dhindsa-led SAD(Sanyukt), the saffron party hasasked voters to go for a "dou-ble-engine Government" for"Nawan" (new) Punjab. TheSanyukt Samaj Morcha, com-prising various Punjab farmerbodies, which had taken part inthe stir against the Centre'snow-repealed farm laws, iscontesting the polls in alliancewith Haryana Bharatiya KisanUnion (Chaduni) leaderGurnam Singh Chaduni-ledSanyukt Sangharsh Party.

Prominent faces who arein the fray are Chief MinisterChanni, Aam Aadmi Party'schief ministerial face BhagwantMann, Punjab Congress chiefNavjot Singh Sidhu, formerCMs Amarinder Singh andParkash Singh Badal, andShiromani Akali Dal presidentSukhbir Singh Badal.

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From Page 1Recently, Vishwas had accused Kejriwal of

supporting separatists during the high-voltageelectioneering for the Assembly polls in Punjabthat concluded on Friday.

AAP chief, however, has dismissed the alle-gations, saying, "They (BJP and Congress) haveall ganged up against me and called me a ter-rorist. If that is the case, why doesn't Modi arrestme. It is a comedy, a laughing matter… I mustbe the sweetest terrorist, a terrorist who providesschools, hospitals, electricity, roads and water."

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There is an old saying that if you sow the wind you willreap whirlwind. Alas, despite history being replete withsuch instances, people in power do not realise the

import of this age old golden wisdom. And for those whodo not care two hoots for English maxims dismissing themas elitist gimmicks, Indian mystic Saint Kabir has a similarpiece of advice. Paraphrasing the couplet in English languageit becomes — whatever you did, you did not care, then whatuse repenting. If you sow a Babul sapling (a thorny tree), youcannot get mangoes. The powers that be have just one objec-tive, to rule. By manipulating emotions of people and divid-ing them on socio religious lines. The latest of the tricks isthe controversy created in the name of dress code. It start-ed from an educational institution in Karnataka but has sentripples across the country. Though the matter has reachedthe court of law and the ideal course of action should be tolet the legal interpretation provide the solution. Yet, thereare people across religions trying to foment trouble for pettygains. That India has been both a witness and a victim ofsuch dirty designs is rather unfortunate. The biggest ironyis that what the shrewd British rulers used as a tool to dividethe Indian people and communalise the masses to perpe-trate their rule has been used by the Indian politicians to gainpolitical advantage. For the British, divide and rule was a gov-ernance strategy, while for the Indian politicians it is a polit-ical game plan,a diversionary tactics to sway the people forelectoral gains. There is need to educate the people and cre-ate awareness about the diabolic designs of the political class.The tragedy is that we do not have scholars who can takeup the task to clear the haze surrounding the concept andpractice of religious doctrines. Misapprehensions betweenpeople of different religions is the root cause of communal-ism. Historical evidence suggests that the relationshipsbetween India and Arabia predates the Arab conquerors’arrival at Sindh. Even before the advent of Islam, the IndianOcean trade had brought the Arabs and the Indians togeth-er. The basic issue is that there has been hardly any sincereattempt by Indian researchers to understand the nature andessence of Indian religions. In fact, European scholars havedevoted considerable attention to Islamic and Hindu reli-gious texts and brought out well researched and authenticliterature. The establishment of global harmony and peacecalls for an understanding and civilised dialogue among majorreligions. Dr. Han Kung, leading scholar of Theology has veryclearly stated that “no peace among Nations without peaceamong religions. No peace among religions without dialoguebetween the religions. No dialogue between religions with-out investigation of foundations of religions”. A civilised andrational view about religions will suggest that they all haveone denominator. It is important to understand the signif-icance of that denominator. While it is commonplace to hearSwami Vivekananda being quoted, one would do well torealise what his principal lesson about religion was. Ratherthan rabble rousing over hijab, members of both religionsmay better recapitulate a verse from the eternal poet Ghalib— if men were to come out of the self-limiting veil that cov-ers their eyes, they will see glorious revelation in every faith.

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Lord Krishna has used the word“yukta” several times in theBhagavad Gita, three times in

one verse alone (6.17). Why? Becauseit is a very important word in the spir-itual context. One Sanskrit dictionarydefines it as a great soul who hasachieved a bond with God. Thisword comes from the Sanskrit word“yuj”, which means to be linked,besides having many other meanings.

And when we speak about yuktabehaviour, it has deep significance.One must have the required materi-al knowledge. For example, when theLord refers to yukta aahar, He isemphasising on eating wholesomeand nutritious food, which is just rightfor the person concerned. This is oneaspect. Another aspect of yuktabehaviour is the purpose behind it.For example, why do children of ten-der age prefer company of the oppo-site gender? This has very likely to dowith lust rather than the likeability ofthat person. And the third yardstickis whether we are progressing in lifeor regressing. For example, when abusinessman uses unfair means toadvance his business, he is regressing,compared to a businessman, whoplays by the rules, though this is muchharder to do. He will be better off.

Why is yukta behaviour so impor-tant? Lord Krishna gives one veryimportant reason, which is reductionof suffering in life. (6.17) This mate-rial world is an impermanent of mis-eries. (8.14) Three kinds of troublesare not too far from us. These are:what we give to ourselves by not doingyukta behaviour now and in the past,including previous lives. Then, othersgive us trouble, mostly as mediums ofwhat is due to us from, once again not

yukta behavior. The third source ofsuffering is from natural elements likeexcessive heat, cold, rain, etc., becausewe have not qualified for higherplanets due to our earlier not yuktabehaviour. And sufferings are painfulto say the least. They have to tolerate,which is not easy. This is the firstrequirement, i.e. acceptance of thereality of the necessity to tolerate. Ifit wasn’t so, the Lord would not haveasked us to be tolerant. (6.17) It isunavoidable in spite of doing our best;because those who do practice yuktabehaviour tolerate better but they arenot exempt from suffering either.God’s help in getting the strength totolerate should be sought by prayingto Him.

As for the yukta behaviour, thestart has to be made with the basics.There are two parts to this. One isstriving appropriately and the other isappropriate activities. Both are impor-tant. Our activities must be according

to ‘dharma’. If not, they will not bealigned with God’s plans for us; wewill be crossing ‘maryada’. Our activ-ities must ensure that we can main-tain ourselves adequately. If we canserve others as well, that is very good.And they must suit our individualnatures, which can, then, be sustainedover a long period.

Now turning to how much shouldwe exert? Obviously, there shouldn’tbe overwork, because it cannot be sus-tained. Similarly, there should be noprocrastination. Multitasking is okayonce in a while. These efforts will belargely determined by our strengths,which are: physical, mental and theextent to which we can tolerate.Human life is much too precious tobe squandered by not being sensibleabout everything. Shouldn’t we behavelike cultured persons? Yes, we must atall times and do what is yukta.

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When we look at ourlives, there are manypaths we travel on andmany destinations thatwe choose, depending

on our aim in life.If one were to look down from a

high vantage point, one would see peo-ple traveling on different pathways oftheir goals, as if they were ants scurry-ing around on the ground.

Most of us are headed in thedirection of achieving financial inde-pendence and wealth. Some of ustowards a prosperous career, devotingmost of our adult life to working in acertain field.

Some are satisfied gaining moreand more knowledge, devoting ourtime to study and research. While someof us are also walking the pathway ofdeveloping healthy relationships andhaving a family.

If we were to examine all the path-ways upon which all of us are walking,we find that they have one thing incommon. All these roads, wherever weare headed towards in life, come to anend when we take our final breath.

Our journey on these pathwaysstops at the time of our death. This isthe brutal truth of our lives. Ourwealth, our careers, our worldly knowl-edge, our relationships, our art... are allleft behind when our physical body per-ishes.

What then is the path that we canfollow that is eternal, that outlives thedemise of our physical body, and leadsus to God? The answer is: Spirituality.

It is the pathway of universal lovethat leads us to God, where we will beembraced in a love that will last for alleternity.

God is spirit and beyond the lim-itations of this physical world. If wespend our valuable life’s breaths in pur-suit of the love of God, we will find aroad that leads to an eternity of love.

This journey of spirit leads our soulfrom a world of suffering into a realmof Light which fills us with eternal peaceand Love.

How can we attain this permanentblissful love? How can we set forth onthe pathway to God? The Answer isthrough Meditation.

Meditation on the inner Light andSound of God is not just for physicalrelaxation of the body; it provides eter-nal love and bliss for the soul. It offersa pathway to attain the state of univer-sal love.

As we focus within, we are able toconnect with the current of Light andSound, which is present within eachone of us.

As we journey further within, thelove and bliss we experience, and themysteries that unfold unto us, bringabout a personal transformation with-in us.

We awaken to the reality of ourexistence. We become loving, caring,

selfless individuals who embrace theoneness of life, and seek to serve all. Webecome channels of love that canbring joy and help to others. We are ableto contribute to making the world a bet-ter place.

We then can radiate universallove. We do good not for any gains forourselves, but to be an instrument ofGod to help others.

Every aspect of spirituality is builton the principle of love that can beexperienced universally by people of allages and from all walks of life. The spir-itual practices are fuelled by the powerof love.

If we understand the role of univer-sal love in all aspects of the spiritualpath, we will find that spirituality is nothard at all. It is, in fact, easy.

But how do we learn more aboutthe spiritual path? How can learn to gowithin?

We all know that when we want tostudy something in this world we go toa teacher who is proficient in that sub-ject. When we are young, we go to anursery school. As we get older, we goto middle school and high school andthen on to college. If we want to learnphysics or chemistry we go to a teacheror a professor. The teacher will explainto us the theory of the subject.

Whenever we have any problemswe can ask our teachers questions andthey will sit down and spend the timeto make sure the fundamentals of the

subject are very clear to us. If the basicsare clear, then we can build our wholeknowledge on those strong fundamen-tals.

Along with the theory, teachers alsoshow us how we can perform differentexperiments so that we can have totalknowledge of the subject. They showus how we can perform the experi-ments ourselves under their guidanceso that, from a practical point of view,we can see what the theory is trying toteach to us.

Thus, to get a total picture and tofully understand the whole subject, wenot only need the theory but we alsoneed the practical aspect.

The subject of spirituality is notcomplicated, if we learn it in the rightmanner. Just as physics or chemistrycould be complicated if the teacher isnot very sure of the fundamentals andcannot properly teach us, with spiritu-ality, which is an age-old science, weneed to go to someone who knows thesubject very clearly, who has done theexperiments, who is very familiar withthe ways beyond, so that they can guideus past all the pitfalls which are alongthe way. How far teachers can take usdepends on how far they have gone.

Just as we can perform some of ourexperiments in a physics or chemistrylaboratory in school, similarly thishuman body is our laboratory that hasbeen provided to us by God. A spiri-tual guide teaches us the way to do the

experiments inside our body. They helpus connect with the inner Light andSound so that we can go within, exper-iment for ourselves, and watch ourprogress. They can give us not only thetheory but also the practical aspect ofself-realisation and God-realisation sothat we can experience God.

A spiritual guide wants us to knowwho we really are. They want us toknow who God is. They want us toknow the way back to God. They helpus realise that we are not the body; thatthe real thing in the body is the soul.They want us to realise that the soul ineach one of us is a part of God, and wehave to love and respect every humanbeing, and not only every humanbeing, but each form of creation in thisworld.

If we can get to a stage where werealise that the soul in each form of cre-ation is a part of God, then we will haveno trouble seeing the Light of God ineveryone. As soon as we get to that statewhere we see the Light of God in every-one, then the connection of our soulwith God happens immediately.

A spiritual guide encourages peo-ple to try the experiment of meditationthemselves, after they have been giventhe spark. Once we start travelling onthis path of spirituality with the help ofa spiritual guide, then we can soonexperience our true self and experienceGod within us.

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�� &��1�!��We know nothing of our

inner nature.Something like a

crushing blow, a brush withdeath, boredom, loneliness,despair, extreme happiness andits opposite might trigger us toset out on the path of explo-ration — to discover who wereally are. Disciple and disciplinecome from the Latin word tolearn. As soon as we suspectthere is a need to learn, the mas-ter beckons.

You ask me, who is a disci-ple. As far as I can see, with thebenefits of a few blows andmany blessings, a disciple is onewho, having caught the scent ofunbounded freedom, love, truth,peace, god or whatever, willstand by the one who emits thatscent through thick and thin, forbetter or worse.

This does not mean theybecome followers. A genuinedisciple remains a unique indi-vidual who breathes in thedivine fragrance, and who,through diligence, persistenceand trust, becomes the fragrancethat the master is.

Let’s say YOU are a disciple.You were lost in a vast desert orinfinite city. The Master is a sin-gle signpost; you discern a senseof direction. You have to do thewalking. At nightfall you aretotally exhausted: now the mas-ter is a hostelry, a host. Nextmorning he is an alarm call. Asyou continue your journey,thirst and hunger tug at you andthe journey starts to pall: themaster turns up as a water-seller

and an orchard, bountiful withfruit. The days wear on and onceyou turn towards a mirage or ashopping mall and long for itsdistractions: the master is a roar-ing security guard who will notlet you pass. After centuries orseconds you catch glimpses ofyour journey’s end across a ver-dant valley with its raging river:the master is your guide and abridge. Finally you feel withinyourself, soft stirrings of theunborn: you are pregnant withessential life: the master is your

midwife.This short metaphor is a

hint; the truth is more complexand exciting. We need to under-stand about ‘surrender’, a wordmuch used in the master-disci-ple connection. It has two con-notations — one is abject givingup, a kow-towing to superiormight, a dropping of responsi-bility. The authentic disciple’ssurrender will have none of that.

Osho said, “As far as I amconcerned, I am not part of anyold category of masters. I am a

new beginning in the sense thatthe old master demanded sur-render. I don’t demand anythingfrom you, because to me surren-der is a subtle spiritual slavery.[…] I want my people to beindividuals living in freedom.On another occasion he said, themaster does not teach and yetyou learn from him. When yousurrender to the master, you donot surrender to the master.

My understanding is thatwhat the disciple apparently sur-renders is what is not real, theartefact known as their ego.They are relieved of a burdenand the master is not lumberedwith it. That is the win-win formaster and disciple.”

The disciple undertakes tolearn from the master how todiscover his own true nature. Heembraces no beliefs or prescrip-tions, listens more to the silenceof the master than his words,follows his heart not his mindand, when the wind is blowingin the right direction, his egofalls away. He finds himself asfree and innocent, connectedwith all people and all things aswhen he was a child.

We all have the Buddhawithin us — that truly is ourinner nature. With ardent intentwe can learn from children, adog, a forest of trees: an authen-tic master is the fast track mostof us need. Osho, the master ofmasters, is as present and aspotent now as ever he was whenembodied.

The writer is a gardener, abeekeeper, author, poet & painter

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As we witness (and many of us par-ticipate) in the ongoing assemblyelections being held in some statesof the country, there is an interest-ing drama that is being played out

in terms of image projection. After all, elec-tions in many ways is the new entertainment.

Unlike the earlier days where it was a pur-suit of political purists, today everyone isinvolved and participative. What do the elec-tions not have? Protagonists and antagonists,incumbents and anti-incumbents, victory andfailure, mystery, suspense, heroics, and results.It’s an exciting, thrilling roller coaster rideunfolding right before you. It’s the best of spec-tator sport. Why would the reader or viewernot engage?

Building a powerful political brand is ahuge challenge — one that takes years andsometimes gets destroyed in one fell swoop.And there are many challenges to contouringthe brand values and core brand messages asthis does not belong to the usual world of Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), Consumerdurables, services and so on.

Let me enumerate the differences as I seethem with examples so that the points, I makeabove get clearer:

�� There is no difference between rich, poor,

urban, rural, men, women, old, young. Everyvote carries equal value. In regular brand mar-keting the 80:20 rule tends to kick in whereinyou focus on heavy users who form 20% ofyour consumer base but give you 80% returnsin revenue. But in the political world everyvote is equal.

Paradoxically, the urban consumer goes tovote in lesser numbers than the rural counter-part. Research and data prove this.

�� And that is the voting day. Unlike regular

brands where you can build up advertising andhope the consumer takes action to understandcheck out and buy the product, in an electionit’s just one day that counts. If the consumerdoes not “buy” you that day the story is over.

�� The catchphrase is what can connect you

to your audience like nothing else. It embodiesthe culmination of your strategy into a fewpithy words which should ring true. Whichshould be liked and used by one and all indaily parlance.

Like Barack Obama’s 2008 infectious and

optimistic campaign slogan “Yes we can”which embodied-challenge, possibility, ability,permission and opportunity in political terms.

Or perhaps the most catchy of them all.Margaret Thatcher’s 1978 campaign “Labourisn’t working” done by Saatchi and Saatchi orcloser home in India Lal Bahadur Shastri’s “JaiJawan Jai Kisan” hailing soldiers and farmersor Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s “Ab ki bari AtalBihari”

Perhaps the best version of two powerfulslogans was the 2004 general elections inIndia. Where the BJP had “India Shinning” asits slogan and the Congress “Aam aadmi kokya mila”? One thing that is common to allthese is the emotional connect. National pride.Individual security and a matched ideology.

�� For fast moving goods like soaps and

shampoos its very important to be on televi-sion to remind the consumer of your brand.High ticket items or high-tech items requirerational mediums and therefore print media.Radio Outdoor and below the line collateralsare usually considered secondary or supportmedia.

Not in the Political world. If you target therural consumer who works in the field or useshis black cycle to work then his primarymedia are radio, wall paintings stickers ban-ners and posters also the rural women whomay work in the agrarian economy or herkitchen.

�� If you look at social media handles you

will find some political leaders have the high-est following. If they are inspirational andenjoy mass popularity people tend to want toknow what they are saying or believing.

Its interesting to note that while the BJPhas 17.6 million followers, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has 75.4 million followers onTwitter. Congress has 8.4 million followers onTwitter as compared to Rahul Gandhi’s 19.6million followers. So, people can be biggerthan their companies in the political game.

While Facebook and Twitter are the socialmedia of choice for their generalist profiles,more and more politicians are moving toInstagram too. This would help them to covermillennials. What about Generation Z? In therecent US elections, it is said Tik Tok andsnapchat have made it to political media.

YouTube is the world’s second largestsocial media channel — it is currently beingused for the UP elections.

�� Depending on the 9 pm prime time is

passé. Politicians are now empowered to breaktheir own news and engage in conversationswith their constituents real-time.

For example, many politicians regularlylive stream on Facebook and Instagram as away to interact with voters and non-votersalike in the US. Rather than just talk at voters,live video encourages both meaningful andpersonable conversations. This is more preva-lent in western world — but is likely to enterthe India fray in a big way.

�� Political parties must keep the conversa-

tion going with the voter base. Unlike theusual rule of engaging twice or thrice a weekon social media here it is recommended totalk daily. Sometimes there is no choice. Thereare rebuttals, to counter. There are new ideas.And you must keep churning material till itreaches the customer.

�� India’s population is young. Approximately

65% is below 35. Coupled this with 700 mil-lion smartphones in the country growing at 25million per quarter, this is the key tool to lookat in the current elections and going further.Most young people consume news via onlineeditions, news shorts, twitter, and other socialmedia. More than news they want opinionsand views. Creating for the smaller screen iskey. Posters, memes, music videos and masalaare what get viral and buzz worthy very quick-ly.

��

This is not a region or a sub sect. This isthe whole country you are dealing with. Or inassembly elections, a full state. Some of ourstates are equal to many European countriesput together. First and foremost, a party mustdecide its election game plan. What will be theapproach? Ideally you would want to targetevery consumer — What is the language youwill reach them in? National Hindi English orvernacular?

�� Every brand should be built on a strong,

differentiated consumer proposition. Throughtheir propositions, brands must have points ofparity which are necessary to be in the playingfield (for instance, every political brand standsfor the Indian voter) and also need to have

compelling points of difference (Party that talksto the youth or party that is secular or partythat drives growth). Political brands, usuallyoffer economic development, attractive invest-ments domestic and foreign, creating rapid andmassive employment, redressing poverty. Theseare promises we find every party makes as elec-tions come around the corner. They are univer-sal needs of most voters, and a political brandthat does not offer them, therefore, does notstand a chance. Hence, the point of differencehas to arise from an entirely different dimen-sion — which could be commitment to growth,the needs of a particular region or group, or atrack record of superior performance.

�� It would be every party’s wish to target the

full voter base. But is that possible? That meansendless budgets to get the voter to see yourmessages till they register. In media terms, thiswould mean heavy expenses. So usually, aTarget segmentation exercise must be under-taken. Who are you talking to? Who is predis-posed to listen to you?

�� Regular brands sometimes use a celebrity

or a spokesperson to endorse a product to giveit impetus. In Political Brands, this is a must.Regular brands can get away with it. In a politi-cal scenario this is an absolute must. Becausethey embody ideologies that the consumer buysinto. In the 2021 US elections, the Republicanswere represented by the incumbent PresidentDonald Trump. To fight his popularity thedemocrats needed to field the right candidate.For a long time, there were no announcements.The party seemed rudderless. Once Joe Bidenbecame the face the Political Brand wars began.As I said in the beginning — when brands areat war the consumer enjoys himself the most.They keep a keen watch on the issues, therepartee, and the salvos. All eyes are on theleadership and in India it’s important for theleader to connect across age groups. But partic-ularly the youth.

India is in the throes of state elections andthe buzz is at its peak. This will all lead up tothe general elections in 2024. With the highinterest to consume news and views on thissubject its very important to get the marketingand branding aspects right.

The writer is a former advertising profession-al and now teaches marketing courses at B

schools; Her latest book Don't Forget 2004:Advertising secrets of an impossible election

victory has been published by Vitasta

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The recent economic dataprojection on India’s GDP

growth rate for FY 21-22 to be9.2 per cent is a good indica-tor of its economic prowess.The IMF has indicated India’sgrowth about 9.5 per centwhich augurs well for its fur-ther economic prospects.Renowned strategic affairsexpert K Subrahmanyam saidsecurity does not only meanprotection of a country frominternal and external threat butensuring that the country isindustrialised rapidly and hasa cohesive egalitarian and tech-nological society. The role oftrust creation and a process ofgood governance in a multi-cultural society like India pro-vide the vital bond that can cre-ate miracle. India has thatbond very well intact.

However, all this has comeabout due to incredible amountof hard work and zeal whichthe leadership has showndespite the spike in Covid-19pandemic. Even as major

economies of the world wit-nessed slowdown, economicgrowth has remained resilientin India. However, the majorchallenge before the IndianGovernment remains the needto create more employmentsince the number of the unem-ployed and the underemployedhas increased over the years.Rapid globalisation hasbrought forward a new syn-drome of “perform or perish”.

Surely the syndrome isaffecting public sector enter-prises and businesses the worldaround. Although the abun-dance of cheap labour and theinitiative towards FDI (for-eign direct investment) havemade certain economies witha promising prospects, thestrong foundation and tremen-dous trust generated by Indianbanking, public and privatesector units provided a muchneeded impetus during theworst spikes of pandemic.

Although initially Indiawas not very aggressive in its

economic reforms, it gradual-ly started creating inner web ofconfidence building measuresto provide not only economicgrowth but also ensure thedevelopment of each section ofsociety, thus, coming out witha framework of socio-eco-nomic justice that helped inbuilding trust.

Also, catching on export-oriented special economiczones, the country soon start-ed enhancing world trade,which was in the beginninghardly 0.7 per cent. The processof strengthening medium-termexport strategy proved to be astrategic effort for India during2002-2007. Besides, the reso-lution in 1991 gave anotherboost to the Indian economy.Although FDI is considerablyhigher in certain east Asiantigers and China, the invest-ment returns are far greater inIndia due to its superior cor-porate pattern of clean gover-nance and the high quality ofcommercially driven compa-

nies. Numerous Indian busi-ness experts and investors havecarved a niche for themselvesoverseas particularly in thefield of information technolo-gy, biotech, pharmaceuticalsand health-care where evenadvanced countries need to stillcatch up.

Besides, India’s indigenousentrepreneurs and industriescertainly give it a huge advan-tage over higher level of FDI ofother leading economies ofthe world. For example, theChinese export-led manufac-turing progress is mainly basedon FDI, which is hardly a sub-stitute for home-grown entre-preneurship. India’s strengthlies in creating its internalmarkets as it already has a fastgrowing middle class. Financialdealings are not as simple asthey appear to be and requireconstant monitoring by com-petent authorities. The mal-functioning of the financial sys-tem in Japan during the lastcouple of years or so turned out

to be pernicious for the coun-try. This problem can be com-pounded by the lack ofmatured markets which are attimes depressed and some-times buoyant for no apparentreasons. Besides, India hasbrought forward all necessaryrequisites required for good,business friendly environmentfor investors across the globe.

Undoubtedly, China’s highsaving rate, good infrastructureand their manufacturing isway ahead of India, but thiscannot be compared withIndia’s services-driven industryprowess and its institutionalstability, deeply interwoven inpluralism and democracy.Recently, there has been a rev-olution in the process of open-ing up of start-ups as they havecrossed the landmark of morethan ten thousand providing ahuge impetus to employmentgeneration during the last fiveyears alone. According to arecent report of NASSCOM,the robust strategy of start-ups

have created more than onelakh both direct and indirectjobs. The strategy to enhanceits operational and supportnetwork, ranging from rural tourban areas, India ensured amuch higher rate of return onassets. India also made mag-nificent strides in a number ofareas, including knowledgeand skill-based intensive ser-vices such as telecommunica-tion, pharmaceuticals, biotech-nology, professional services ofdoctors, teachers and man-agement professionals, etc.

India is also emerging asthe first choice for foreigninvestors who are graduallypumping in a huge amount,more than $60 billion in theIndian stock markets withabout 260 new foreigninvestors having registered withthe stock market regulatingbody (SEBI) during the last twodecades or so. In addition tothis, as many as 600 newinvestors were granted per-mission to trade on the Indian

stock exchanges consequentlyleading to 125 per cent growthin the Sensex and 148 per centrise in Bombay StockExchange.

The stupendous progressof India in the IT industry hasopened a new era of Indiancompanies aggressively cap-turing overseas markets. Theambit of compliance and reg-ulatory authorities also provideeconomic security as nothinggets undetected. Foreigninvestor sentiments can furtherbe enhanced by creating per-missible ease in the tax ratesand the existing protocols with-out compromising on security.Doing this would not onlysave paperwork, taxes and timefor the typical investor, but alsofurther ease their decision insettling for India for businessdestination as a first choice.

(The writer, a recipient ofBharat Gaurav Award, is aprofessor and expert on strate-gic affairs)

Canada’s Freedom Convoy(CFC) began at the end of

January in Ottawa, the coun-try’s capital city, as an objectionto a vaccine mandate thatrequires the truckers enteringCanada to be either fully vac-cinated or face testing andundergo quarantine restric-tions.

Coincidentally, other pro-testers joined in to raise theirobjections against the maskmandate, lockdowns, restric-tions on gatherings and otherCovid-19 preventive measures.

However these demon-strations are less a reaction toCovid-19 mandates and morea clear reflection of the pan-demic-related reactionsimposed by the CanadianGovernment for over two yearsnow. The reality is that somenew restrictions have beenbrought in and others lifted inways which have not alwaysmade convenient for the ordi-nary Canadians.

The protest has stronglyhighlighted genuine concernsand apprehensions about howthe Covid-19 has upendedlives with conspiracy theoriesand probably racist extremismin some parts.

Many Canadians believethat this movement is partlyfinanced from abroad.

Many of the demonstratorsdisplayed the banners of for-mer US President DonaldTrump and the historicConfederate Flag. This Flag issometimes believed to haverepresented “white supremacy,pro-racism, slavery andhatred”.

This concept of theConfederate Flag, as depictedon the first Confederate Flag(1862-63), was to show thesecession of the 11 SouthernStates from the Union and theNorthern States of America.But later on two more Statesjoined which forced to changethe design of the flag to be ablue cross or the X with 13white stars in 1863-65. Thisfinal act of rebellion is what ledto the American Civil Warfrom 1861-65 during the pres-idency of Abraham Lincoln.

Why should the JustinTrudeau Government consid-er the truckers’ demands seri-ously? Simply, the protesters arenot just mirroring a single cat-alogue of grievance though itmay seem so. What is shockingfor the whole world is that onlya few dozen truckers and a fewhundred protesters broughtthe country’s capital city to astandstill. Besides, the chaoshas literally closed down someof the critical border crossingswith the neighbouring US.This has finally throttled theauto industry that solelydepends on the constant trans-port communication between

America and Canada. Why is the stir spreading

globally? It is inspiring many toprotest in some countriesaround the world. It has alreadystarted in France, Belgium,the Netherlands, and NewZealand, etc. Last week, centralParis witnessed demonstratorsblocking the traffic, but the citypolice dispersed them withtear gas all around the capitalcity.

However, the authorities inParis and Brussels announceda ban on such freedom con-voys. Meanwhile, the FrenchGovernment has deployedaround 7,200 police officersand gendermas (the FrenchMilitary Police). New Zealandand Australia are also experi-encing Canada style FreedomConvoy’s.

Wellington, the capital cityof New Zealand, has witnessedhundreds of motorists andother protesters taking part inthe demonstrations. Many ofthem are camping outside theParliament building demand-ing immediate end to therestrictions imposed in regardto Covid-19. Meanwhile thou-sands turned to “Convoy toCanberra” rally outsideAustralia’s Parliament building.

As per the estimate of theAustralian police, around10,000 gathered as part of the

“Convoy to Canberra” rallywherein the large sections ofthem are shouting against therecent Covid-19 mandates inthe country.

Many people are gradual-ly joining the Canberra Convoyas they feel they have lostmore than they can tolerate bynow. The California truckerstired of Covid-19 mandates areexpected to join a FreedomConvoy to Washington DCnext week. The organisers saythe American truckers’ move-ment dubbed as “The People’sConvoy” will highlight almostthe same kind of issues like theCanadian truckers and citizens.The truckers headed towardsthe capital city are demandingan end to the EmergencyPowers Act, concerning thepandemic and to restore thenation’s constitution.

The organisers of theConvoy wrote on theFacebook, “It is about ourrights, as well as the freedom offuture generations. It is notabout political parties, butmore so about a governmentthat has forgotten its placeand has no regard for ourfounding father’s instructions.”

Also the group believesthat the elected representa-tives lack the authority todeprive people of their funda-mental rights by implementing

Covid-19 restrictions.What do Trudeau’s nation-

al emergency measures indicateor mean? Now to finally put anend to the truckers’ strike, theTrudeau Government hasinvoked the infamous NationalEmergencies Act. He declaredthe rare Emergencies Act toquell the protests by the truck-ers and other Oppositiongroups across Canada.

The Federal Governmentof Canada has never beforeinvoked this obscure piece ofdisaster and emergency law.This act provides additionaltools to the CentralGovernment to handle crisis-related activities. For example,this will allow the Ottawa tomanage situations as theyunfold, take extra-ordinaryactions that are time-bound,and finally can deploy calcu-lated use of out-of-the ordinaryvast governmental powers.

Clearly speaking, he hasmade all arrangements to pushthe protesters to the fringes atany cost. And the world hasnow come to know thatTrudeau will not compromiseon anything to safeguard thenational security of the coun-try. Thus, while addressing thenation, he said, “This is aboutkeeping Canadians safe, pro-tecting people’s jobs and restor-ing confidence in our institu-

tions.”In fact, he asked the pro-

testers to go home withoutaddressing their issues. Hesaid, “The blockades are harm-ing our economy and endan-gering public safety. We can’tand will not allow illegal anddangerous activities to contin-ue.”

This indeed indicated whatwas there in his mind and whathe intended to do with theprotesting truckers and otherdemonstrators. TheGovernment is also using theEmergencies Act to track thosewho are currently supportingthe protesters. Indeed theGovernment is also givingenough powers to the financialinstitutions like the banks tosuspend or freeze personal orcorporate accounts that areused for funding these illegalprotests. The Canadian author-ities have already made it pub-lic that half the funding issourced from neighbouringUS. To Trudeau, this Act willstrengthen the police’s ability toimpose fines and even impris-onment for protesters whoblockade borders. Further thiswill also grant them the powerto tow vehicles.

After the invoking of theEmergencies Act, the CanadianCivil Liberties Association saysthe Government had not met

the standards for invoking theEmergencies Act which isintended to deal with threats to“sovereignty, security and ter-ritorial integrity”.

When Trudeau held meet-ings with his Liberal Caucusand the Premiers of theprovinces this week, he did notget favourable responses fromall of them. Following themeeting, the Premiers ofAlberta, Manitoba, Quebecand Saskatchewan loudly spokeout against the EmergenciesAct.

It is to be noted here thatthe Emergencies Act of 1988 isa part of the Revised Statutes ofCanada. This kind of laws isreserved for use under rareoccasions. In more than 30years, no CanadianGovernment has determinedthat any disaster whether nat-ural or man-made has createdsuch emergency to invoke thisAct. So many are criticisingTrudeau for his hidden dicta-torial move. In 1970, Trudeau’sfather and then Prime MinisterPierre invoked the WarMeasures Act and brought themilitary into the street tocounter terrorist attacks. Butdecision was considered asone of the most controversialone in his 15-year long careeras a PM.

It is good that by this time,

the Canadian authorities havecleared the Ambassador Bridgebetween the US and Canada,the busiest land crossing inNorth America which hadbeen blocked by the demon-strators for several days. But thedowntown Ottawa has beenunder siege for more than afortnight now.

The copycat protests inthe lines of Ottawa reflectgrowing anger of some sectionsof society against their gov-ernments. And many politicalanalysts feel that many gov-ernments may find it really dif-ficult to put off such disparatedemonstrations though theirgrievances are different fromone another except the Covid-related issues.

The literal gridlock that hasgripped the nation’s capitalmay lead to the resignation ofTrudeau. The Conservativeshave already latched onto afreedom-oriented approach tounite all against the PrimeMinister. Secondly, they aretrying to hit hard at his much-vaunted ego. Third, theConservative politicians final-ly wanted to bring an end to thepunitive, worthless and unwar-ranted vaccine segregationmandates and emergencydirectives.

Trudeaus’ Liberal Canadais telegraphing to the world thatit will not tolerate any disrup-tion of public life by the truck-ers. Thus, he has imposed theemergency order. However,with this movement Canada ismoving fast towards an unwel-come global spotlight. Surely, itwould be too difficult forTrudeau, his Liberal Party andother sections of the Canadianpolitical class to shrug off justas an ordinary upheaval.

Of course, the demonstra-tors are a tiny section of itspopulation as the country hasalready vaccinated more than80 per cent of its people.Looking at the current impasse,an immediate rapprochementbetween the TrudeauGovernment and the FreedomConvoy seems impossible.Canada’s usually sleepy capitalis facing the worst of the crisisin recent years. How Trudeau’scalm, reassuring and trade-mark delivery style would helphim come out of the FreedomConvoy is going to be worthwatching.

(Dr Makhan Saikia hastaught political science andinternational relations for overa decade in institutions ofnational and internationalrepute after specialisation inglobalisation and governancefrom Tata Institute of SocialSciences, Mumbai. He is thechief editor of the Journal ofGlobal Studies, an internation-al research journal)

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Recently someone asked me:“Human beings go through inter-mittent bouts of pleasure and pain.

Is there a way to avoid suffering?” “In thistransient world, the dynamics of life is socomplex that there remains no scope forhaving a perfect situation. If, however,you see through nature, and follow itsscript, it will help you negotiate the call-ings of life with relative ease and comfort.The entailed message is: Conduct in anorderly way despite all the existing disor-derly promptings from within andbeyond.” I answered.

Science holds the view that there wasentropy (disorder) at the primordial-source once, which excited energystreams. Indian Philosophy terms thesame event as Pranava. Immediatelythereafter began harmonisation of cre-ative energies, which progressivelyevolved into the manifest plural worldwith all its enormity and diversity. Evenin the cosmos, unaccountable number ofenergy particles are colliding with eachother every moment. Amidst all thatchaos, energy-balls such as the Sun,Moon and other planetary bodies keepmoving in an orderly fashion. They havebeen respectively traversing their inde-

pendent trajectory. Allowing independentspace to each other, they still maintainrelativity amongst themselves as if theywould be moving as a family, dischargingtheir individual and collective assignmenttowards running of the universe. That ishow the universe has been for so long. Ifwe follow this script, we can ensure asmooth run of life.

As the cause permeates the effect,imprints of both order and disorder areexist in human construct, which keepplaying on the mind. Both sides oftenfind reflection in people’s conduct. Butwhat proves stronger, varies from person-to-person, according as one’s unitarymind is inherently framed, coming asmay with the Karmic carryover from thepast. At the same time, it needs to beremembered that humans also enjoy theexclusive privilege of guiding their actionby choice and discrimination. Applyingthis prerogative, a being is empowered tolook within, identify and acknowledge,one’s fault lines. Accordingly, make neces-sary correction. Also, hone one’s talent.Apply your discriminatory abilities toconduct intelligently. The paradox, how-ever, is that discriminatory ability is notavailable by default. It needs to be con-

sciously invoked before picking up anylead or while reacting or responding to asituation, which calls for being fully alert.Majority, however, seldom remain con-scious on this count. They therefore,become subject to pleasure and paindepending on how they move in life.

A fit case to look at is that of some-one who exhibits both the trends. He hasbeen performing exceedingly well in hiscareer. During his tenure, he has takenhis assignment to new height, earninglaurels from his superiors. He is popularin his peer group, and is liked by hisjuniors and associates. Yet, he suffersfrom a sense of fear and insecurity aboutfuture, and so keeps worrying. He ofteninvites controversy because of his indis-crete moves. Every now and then he loseshis cool at home.

A look at his astrological pointers willmake things clear. Moon over the headmakes him a performer of high order. Itmay offer him the opportunity to come inpublic glare like a shining moon. 10thlord Mars extending its support to Moonmake him spiritedly carry on the task inhand. Exalted Jupiter favourably disposedof to Uranus grants him with leadershipability who will enjoy the support and

patronage of superiors. Venus beneficiallyaligned to Mercury makes him good atexpressions and would be popular. Allput together make him a performer ofhigh repute.

Despite all his positives, his flip sideoften puts him into a difficult situation.Both the luminaries, the Sun and Moonbeing ill-disposed off to Saturn indicateshaving sense of fear and insecurityimprinted in mind. Given a small trigger,his negative side comes into play.Mercury placed adverse to Mars andUranus makes him restless, opinionated,who at times may act impulsively. Marsplaced adverse to Jupiter speaks of hisinflated ego, which makes him stuck tohis beliefs and perceptions, normally notopen to look beyond for a reality check.Moon ill-ordained to Venus makes himtoo much touchy and sensitive, who mayget over exercised even on trivial issues,when he temporarily loses his sense ofreasons and order. He may then offendothers with his ill-timed indiscreet out-bursts. The result is there to see.

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Chandigarh - Daily Pioneer

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