D4 deRjd $ WRc^ ]Rhd W`c WcfZeWf] aRc]Vjd - Daily Pioneer

�� ! ��"��

�� !�"��#�� $��%�&��' ��$�� $��

��

�� (�)*#'+�,'

The Democratic-controlledHouse of Representatives

would vote on the impeach-ment of outgoing PresidentDonald Trump on Wednesdayon charges of inciting his sup-porters to carry out a violentattack on the Capitol Hill lastweek. Co-authored byCongressmen Jamie Raskin,David Cicilline and Ted Lieu,the article of impeachment —co-sponsored by 211 Housemembers — was tabled onMonday.

During a conference callwith his party colleagues onMonday, House MajorityLeader Steny Hoyer said theimpeachment vote will be heldon Wednesday.

The article of impeach-

ment charges Trump with acount of “incitement of insur-rection” for his actions onJanuary 6, when he delivered aspeech inciting his supportersto lay siege to the Capitol, anaction that temporarily haltedthe counting of ElectoralCollege votes and resulted inthe deaths of five individuals,including an officer of the US

Capitol Police.The Democrats have

enough votes to impeach thepresident in the House, whichrequires a simple majority.But the Senate, where both theRepublicans and Democratshave now 50-50 seats —would require votes of two-third of the members toremove the president out ofthe office. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris in hercapacity as Chairperson ofthe Senate would add onemore to the Democrats whennecessary.

Senate Majority LeaderMitch McConnell has saidthe vote on impeachment inthe upper chambers of the USCongress can not happenbefore the Inauguration Dayon January 20.

�� '-(�.-/*#

As India gears up for vacci-nating three crore health

workers from January 16 megaCovid-jab drive, theGovernment on Tuesday saidthere would be two doses ofthe vaccine which will begiven at a 28-day interval.

“The effectiveness of thevaccine would begin only after14 days of receiving the seconddose. Hence it is imperative tomaintain Covid-19 appropri-ate behavior even after receiv-ing the coronavirus vaccine,”Union Health Secretary RajeshBhsuhan said, explaining thevaccination timeline here at apress conference.

“We also hope States, atthe highest level, will exercise

continuous oversight and per-sonal involvement in the entireprocess of the rollout. There isa gap of 28 days between thetwo doses. Effectiveness begins14 days after the second dose.Communication must high-light this aspect and Covid-appropriate behaviour,” hesaid.

The Government MedicalStore Department (GMSD) inKarnal, Kolkata, Chennai andMumbai will be treated as thefour main storage centres forthe vaccine rollout, Bhushansaid, adding that one region-al vaccination store will also bedesignated in each State butsome States may have more.

Bhushan said that therewill be a sequential rollout ofCovid-19 vaccination.

�� '-(�.-/*#

With just five days leftbefore India starts its

nationwide inoculation driveon January 16, the Governmenton Tuesday released a price-wise comparison chart of all thevaccines in the world, claimingthe two deployed by India areamong the cheapest.

The Government has pro-cured 55 lakh doses of Covaxinfrom the Bharat Biotech at acost of �206 per dose. This isin addition to 1.1 crore dosesof Covishield vaccine it pro-cured from Serum Institute ofIndia at a cost of �200 per dose

“Pricewise our vaccinesare the cheapest in the world,”said Union Health SecretaryRajesh Bhushan on Tuesday ashe sought to refuse allegationsthat the Government hasshelled out higher prices for

purchasing the two vaccines.Talking to the press

reporters here, he pointed outthat US pharma giant Pfizer’scoronavirus vaccine will bepriced at �2,800 for two doseswhile Moderna’s will cost any-where between �2,300 to�2,700 per dose. One vaccinedeveloped by China has beenpriced at �5,600 per dose whileanother Chinese vaccine will bemade available in India at�1,200 per dose.

Sputnik-V, the Covid-19vaccine developed by Russiawill cost �734 per dose whilethe one developed by Johnson& Johnson is also expected tobe priced at �734 per dose, headded.

Asked about the vaccinesapproved by Indian regulators,Health Secretary RajeshBhushan said both Covishieldand Covaxin have established

safety and immunogenicity.“All preparations are on trackfor vaccine rollout. It will be asequential rollout, dependingon availability,” he added.

NITI Aayog member andchairman of the NationalExpert Group on VaccineAdministration for Covid-19(NEGVAC) Dr VK Paul said,“We should have no doubt thatthe two vaccines approved arethe safest of the vaccines. Sideeffects are negligible. There isno risk of any significance, let’sbe reassured. We are telling youthis truthfully and withresponsibility.”

Bhushan said that thecountry’s regulators are look-ing at four more Covid-19vaccines in the pipeline.Among these are the vaccinesdeveloped by Zydus Cadilla,Russia’s Sputnik-V, BiologicalE and Gennova.

�� '-(�.-/*#

India reported the lowest sin-gle-day jump in coronavirus

cases in the last 24 hours sincemid-June with 12,584 freshinfections, the Union Health

Ministry said on Tuesday.The Covid-19 case fatality

rate stands at 1.44 per cent withthe active caseload remainingbelow 3 lakh.

India’s Covid-19 tally hadcrossed the 20-lakh mark on

August 7 and 50 lakh onSeptember 16. It crossed 80lakh on October 29, 90 lakh onNovember 20 and surpassedthe one-crore mark onDecember 19.

Detailed report on P4

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Tuesday asked theCentre to file an affidavit on itsclaim that some banned organ-isations, including“Khalistanis”, have infiltratedthe ongoing farmers protestagainst the new farm laws.

Attorney General KKVenugopal, appearing for theCentre, said he will file an affi-davit along with the necessaryinputs of the IB.

Senior advocate PSNarasimha, appearing for inter-venor “Indian Kisan Union”supporting the new farm laws,said some banned organisa-tions have been fuelling theprotests of farmers.

�� '-(�.-/*#

Alook at the credentials ofthe four members of the

committee formed by theSupreme Court on Tuesday toresolve the deadlock over farm-ers’ agitation reveals they havebeen vocal supporters of theGovernment’s new farm laws.

The committee compriseBhupinder Singh Mann of theBharatiya Kisan Union, AnilGhanwat of ShetkariSangathan, Dr Pramod KumarJoshi, former director for SouthAsia, International Food PolicyResearch Institute; and agri-cultural economist Ashok

Gulati.Out of these four,

Bhupinder Singh Mann is theonly member who has sup-ported the the laws with some“amendments”.

Ashok Gulati has been themost vocal supporter of thederegulation of agriculturemarkets. Gulati is an agricul-tural economist who wasawarded the Padma Shri in2015. He is an Infosys ChairProfessor for Agriculture atthe India Counci l forResearch on InternationalEconomic Relations(ICRIER). Gulati was alsothe youngest member of the

Economic Advisory Councilof Prime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee and a member of theEconomic Advisory Councilof the Chief Minister ofAndhra Pradesh and memberof the State Planning Board ofKarnataka.

From 2011 to 2014, hewas the head of theCommission for AgriculturalCosts and Prices (CACP).

The panel recommendsminimum support prices ofvarious crops to theGovernment, and is attachedto the Union Ministry ofAgriculture and FarmersWelfare.

�� '-(�.-/*#

The agitating farmers scoreda major victory on Tuesday

when the Supreme Courtstayed the implementation ofthe three farm laws till furtherorders despite vehement oppo-sition by the Centre. The courtformed a four-member com-mittee to listen to the griev-ances of the farmers and makerecommendations to resolvethe stand-off.

The apex court said thetalks between the Governmentand the farmers’ bodies havenot yielded any solution so farand its order may encouragethe protesting farmers to cometo the negotiating table in goodfaith. “The stay may assuage thehurt feelings of farmers andencourage them to come to thenegotiating table with confi-dence,” a Bench headed byChief Justice SA Bobde said.

However, the farmerunions had already rejected anynegotiation with any court-appointed committee and didnot even send their advocatesto take part in Tuesday’s pro-ceedings.

The SC said a few farmers’unions, which are now protest-ing, have engaged a team oflawyers comprising senioradvocates Dushyant Dave,Colin Gonsalves, HS Phoolkaand lawyer Prashant Bhushanto represent their cause.

It said when AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal hadsubmitted earlier that thereare reports that the unionsmay take out a tractor rally onJanuary 26 disrupting theRepublic Day Parade and cel-ebrations, “the same was stout-ly denied” by Dave on theground that at least one mem-ber of family of each of thefarmers from Punjab is inArmy and they would not dis-rupt the celebrations.

“However, today this teamof lawyers is absent,” the Benchnoted, adding some unions,who are opposing these laws,have agreed to go before thecommittee.

Rejecting the Governmentcontention that it cannot stayany law passed by Parliament,the judges said the apex courtcannot be said to be “com-pletely powerless” to grant astay of any executive actionunder a statutory enactment.

Noting that negotiationsbetween the farmers’ unionsand the Government have “notyielded any result so far”, thecourt said the constitution of acommittee of experts in thefield of agriculture to negotiatemay create a congenial atmos-phere and improve the trustand confidence of farmers.

“As a consequence, theMinimum Support Price sys-tem in existence before theenactment of the farm lawsshall be maintained until fur-ther orders. In addition, thefarmers’ landholdings shall be

protected, i.e., no farmer shallbe dispossessed or deprived ofhis title as a result of anyaction taken under the farmlaws,” the Bench, also com-prising Justices AS Bopannaand V Ramasubramanian, saidin its 11-page interim order.

“While we may not stifle apeaceful protest, we think thatthis extraordinary order of stayof implementation of the farmlaws will be perceived as anachievement of the purpose ofsuch protest at least for the pre-sent and will encourage thefarmer bodies to convince theirmembers to get back to theirlivelihood, both in order to pro-

tect their own lives and healthand in order to protect the livesand properties of others,” theBench said.

The committee comprisesBhupinder Singh Mann,national president of BhartiyaKisan Union, All India KisanCoordination Committee;Parmod Kumar Joshi,Director for South Asia,International Food PolicyResearch Institute; AshokGulati, agricultural economistand former chairman of theCommission for AgriculturalCosts and Prices, and AnilGhanwat, president ofShetkari Sangathan.

�� '-(�.-/*#

Disapproving the SupremeCourt-appointed commit-

tee to break the deadlock overthe farm laws, the SanyuktKisan Morcha on Tuesday saidthat they will not appear beforethe panel as it is pro-Government and continuetheir agitation.

Addressing a Press confer-ence at Singhu Border here,union leaders said they wel-come apex court’s order tosuspend the implementation ofthe farm laws but this is not asolution and the farmer unionshave not been asking for it.

“The Government mustrepeal the laws and it mustunderstand that farmers andpeople of India are opposed tothe laws. The SC has formed acommittee in its own wisdomand farmer unions have noth-

ing much to say on this. Farmerunions reiterate that they willnot participate in any suchcommittee process. Further,one of the apprehensions aboutsuch a process got validated inthe very constitution of the

committee,” said farmer leaderDarshan Pal Singh.

“It is clear that the court isbeing misguided by variousforces even in its constitutionof a committee. These are peo-ple who are known for their

support to the three Acts andhave actively advocated for thesame. It is not out of place toremind that the farmer unionshave rejected a committee pro-posal from the Governmenttoo. Their dialogue is basical-ly with an elected Governmentabout its policy directions andconcomitant laws,” he said.

“The members of the SC-appointed committee are notdependable as they have beenwriting on how agri laws arepro-farmer. We will continueour agitation,” said farmerleader Balbeer Singh Rajewal.

“The peaceful KisanParade on the Republic Daywill be held at Delhi and allover the country in largenumbers. The Government istrying to misguide the courton this too,” said RavinderPatiala, another farmers’leader.

��

��

��!�� "��

��

�#$�%%&�"'(#)*+%,#-�+#./0#*+�"#! #��$��%� ��&!��$��'��

!��"��#��

$��%��&��

��

��

� �� 0�� $��

� * �� 0��1��

� �� 2��

� ��) �� $�� $��3� �� 4�� 2��

�� %&�56�677 89�%8%��%7�5%�:59;��0 &�:7�79<��%:�%6&��&�95�5:&�� 7�78�:=6 5�%==��7�58�<&9��'�� 7�:5�<%6�� %:�:=<��7�97�85%;�� 7�%&�5<< =�=67 5�8%�<8&.�� <�=9�7&: �12.1.<�%5�99<>�� 8�&=�<79 7�896��8�56�=%:(��"�� 8�<:�95: &�&58��8�66�598,�� =�=:�==% %�&65 =�:7�68:�� =�%=�5%7 :�5=&��=�96�55& �� :�&9�976 =�898��:�57�9:&�� :�&9�997 %�8<<��:�7=�&:6*�� :�<8�=&% :�&<6��:�8&�&7<"�� :�85�==8 %�66= :�8%�787+�� :�8=�%<% 6�=89��:�6%�65:�� :�6&�97: =�5%7��:�=5�5%=

�� 2132�4235.��25�2566��21�2652�46��62�62371

��'(")�")$"*��

�� #)�/#

The 'Rajiv Gandhi KisanNyay Yojana' through

which incentives are given tofarmers in Chhattisgarh is akinto the Central Government's‘PM Kisan Samman Nidhi’.Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghelsaid on Tuesday.

Addressing a public meet-ing after inauguration of thenew office building of RisaliMunicipal Corporation, Baghelsaid that such incentives givento the farmers promotes exten-sive agricultural activities andits growth.

The Odisha and Telanganagovernments also run schemesto help the farmers throughwhich they get fair value fortheir produce. The RajivGandhi Kisan Nyay Yojana isnot different. Such schemesshould be implementednationwide, he said.

He said due to Covid19there has been a shortage ofgunny sacks across the countryas jute mills were shut down.The demand for 3.50 lakhgunny sack bales was raisedbefore the Centre but only 1.5lakh bales were received.

To ensure there is no short-age, gunny bags have been pro-cured from Rice Millers andPDS shops and farmers wereurged to bring their own sacks.Due to all this, to an extent theshortage could be overcome,said the Chief Minister.

Recalling his just conclud-ed visit to Bastar region, he saidthe tribal farmers should growkodo-kutki (minor millets). Toensure that they adequate valueon their produce, his govern-ment has decided to fix theminimum support price.

��

?��.�� $ 0�� @�� +

��

�� @�� @

A/�� #"�%9��)� %:A��)��-2��$��

��$��!� ��.-/*#��/> ;',( "*,��/��"*>"�'-)(��

��' *#��#�>� *�'.#+��*�.-*��.>' *B.-��"�.�C#D�B(�.�

��+&8"��%�973RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

��2:��;��; �42616�<��6�4

,-")",)�.�� >��

��

/,01$�2��>��)>��,��-�)��/�''#'+��-.��,�-)�)�,'�D�'�:9E�!"#

�*34)54��'6

#'',C��#C-�.#+#��/�*#';#'+�#)�;-B

��

�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

�� *�'.#+��*

Announcing that HaryanaStaff Selection Commission

(HSSC) will conduct CommonEligibility Test (CET) for fillingup different vacant posts ofGroup C and D, Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattaron Tuesday launched ‘OneTime Registration Portal’ forgroup C and D category postsand non-gazetted teachingposts in different Governmentdepartments.

Addressing a press confer-ence in Chandigarh, the ChiefMinister said that now with thelaunch of ‘One TimeRegistration Portal’, youthwould be required to apply andsubmit fees on the Portal onlyonce which would be �500 forgeneral category candidatesand �250 for candidatesbelonging to reserved cate-

gories.He said that this move of

the State Government wouldnot only bring about moretransparency but also speed upthe recruitment process.

Khattar said that registra-tion on the portal would com-mence from Tuesday onwardsand would continue uptoMarch 31, 2021. He said thatthe students who are appearingfor 10th and 12th examinationthis year could also provision-ally apply on the portal.Congratulating the people onthe Birth Anniversary of SwamiVivekanand which is also cel-ebrated as National Youth Day,he said that the StateGovernment has always beenconcerned about the welfare ofyouth and has taken severalsteps in this direction.

The Chief Minister saideach candidate registering on

the portal would be issued aunique ID number on basis ofwhich he or she could apply asper their educational qualifi-cation and experience. He saidthat a separate Common eligi-bility Test (CET) would beconducted for the Group C andGroup D posts and it would bevalid for a period of threeyears. The selection for theGroup D posts would be madeon the basis of merit ofCommon Entrance Test (CET)including marks under social-economic criteria and experi-ence, whereas in case of GroupC posts, the candidates wouldalso have to clear the depart-mental examination in additionto the CET. The weightageunder socio-economic criteriawould not be more than 10 percent for Group-D posts and 5per cent for Group-C posts.

He said that One Time

Registration Portal would beintegrated with the ParivarPehchan Patra (PPP) and thedetails of family members ofthe candidate would be auto-matically generated while fill-ing up the form. The candi-dates would also have the facil-ity to update the family detailson the portal. If any candidatedoes not have PPP, he could getit prepared from any nearbyauthorized centre. He said thatas the Parivar Pehchan Patraare issued to Haryana Domicileonly; the State Government hasdecided that those who havebeen residing in Haryana forthe last 5 years would be issuedHaryana Domicile certificate.Earlier, this condition was 15years. For those, whose stay inHaryana is less than five years,temporary domicile certifi-cates would be issued, headded.

Khattar said that the pre-sent State Government has

eliminated the process of‘Kharchi and Parchi’ in gov-ernment jobs which was pre-vailing in the previous gov-ernment and has so far pro-vided 80,000 jobs in differentdepartments on merit basis.Apart from this, the govern-ment has also scrapped theinterview process for Group Cand D posts. He said that thepresent State Government hasalso implemented TransparentRecruitment Process (TRP) inthe Police Department and hasrecruited 8000-10,000 policepersonnel in the last six years.Also, the condition of NoObjection Certificate (NOC)for applying for higher post inthe Departments has also beenabolished for the benefit ofemployees.

The Chief Minister saidthat to create maximumemployment opportunities forthe people of Haryana, theState Government has also

made a provision of ensuring75 per cent jobs in the privatesector to Haryana youth. ShriVishwakarma Skill Universityhas been set up in the State toimpart skill training to theyouth to make them employ-able. Skilling of 12,000 studentshas so far been made, he added.Apart from this, MOUs havebeen signed with 50 industries.Under this, students are notonly imparted training but alsoprovided employment in thesame industries. He said that577 Rojgar Melas have beenorganized in the State in the lastsix years in which 60,800 youthhave got employment.

He said that 79,000employment opportunitieshave been generated throughMOUs with G4S, Uber, Ola andJaguar Foundation. The StateGovernment has also set up aseparate Foreign CooperationDepartment to provide jobopportunities to the State work-

force abroad. Under the StateGovernment scheme to providepassports to students, 6800passports have been given tothe students free of cost. Hesaid that about 1.20 lakh youthhave so far been benefitedunder the Saksham Yuva

Yojana implemented with anaim to provide 100 hours workto the educated unemployedyouth of the State. A monthlyhonorarium of Rs 9000 permonth and Rs 6000 per monthis provided on the basis of edu-cational qualification.

��

�� )*#�/�

With 4637 migratory birds’fallen victim to the dead-

ly bird flu at Pong wetland inKangra district, HimachalGovernment has decided tofurther intensify surveillance atthe waterbody.

For this, the Wildlife Wingof HP Forest Department hasrequested the Department ofFisheries to provide their boatsin Pong Dam Lake Reservoir asper the requirement to dealwith the outbreak of bird flu.

The Chief Minister Jai RamThakur held a meeting withDeputy Commissioners onTuesday to review the bird flusituation in the state.

“On January 12, 280migratory birds were reported

dead at Pong Dam WildlifeSanctuary pushing the deathtoll to 4637 till Tuesday after-noon. Nearly 150 carcasseswere old mortalities in Dehrabeat which have been retrievedfrom swampy areas of the lake,”said a senior official of theWildlife wing of ForestDepartment, Himachal whiletalking to The Pioneer.

He said that the situation inDhameta range of Pong DamWLS has improved consider-ably with significant reductionin mortality numbers with onlytwo birds being reported deadfrom the range on Tuesday.

The official said the ChiefMinister has directed the DCsto maintain proper surveil-lance alongside the reservoirsand also ensure proper dispos-

al of dead birds.The State Government had

a day before banned import ofpoultry products from otherstates in view of bird flu.

As per the directions ofChief Minister, Wildlife Wingof HP Forest Department hasrequested Department ofFisheries to provide their boatsin Pong Dam Lake Reservoirfor active surveillance, the offi-cial said.

The government is alreadyimplementing measures to pre-vent the spread of bird flu innative avian species in the state.Rapid response teams are work-ing continuously in the sanc-tuary area for active surveillanceof bird flu and safe disposal ofdead birds as per protocol, headded.

!�( )��$� ��

�� />.*#�'�@ *�'.#+��*

Punjab Finance MinisterManpreet Singh Badal on

Tuesday launched the OneTime Settlement (OTS) schemefor the recovery of outstandingdues 2021, to clear and settletheir pending arrears.

He said, “Despite theCovid-19 pandemic and cen-tre’s stoppage of Punjab’s shareof GST and RDF, the State hasnot gone into overdraft,” addingthat Punjab especiallyLudhiana have it in them tofurther rise up the ladder ofeconomic progress.

Chairing a state-level func-tion organised regarding theOTS Scheme at Dr ManmohanSingh Auditorium at PunjabAgricultural University, wherehe was accompanied by Food,Civil Supplies & ConsumerAffairs Minister BharatBhushan Ashu, PWD MinisterVijay Inder Singla, PPCBPresident Sunil Jakhar, besidesothers, Badal said the partisanattitude of the UnionGovernment towards Punjab isevident from the fact out of thethree food parks to be devel-oped by the UAE in India, none

was given to Punjab althoughthe UAE Government hadclearly evinced keen interest insetting up the same in theState.

On OTS policy, he addedthat 47000 traders would bebenefitted by the new OTS pol-icy okayed by the StateGovernment.

About Budha Nullah reju-venation project, to ensure thesmooth running of this Rs 650crore project, the Punjab gov-ernment has already depositedRs. 320 crore in the MC bankaccount to ensure smooth run-ning of project for next 10years.

Inaugurating the CommonFacility Centre by Ludhiana OilExpellers and PartsManufacturing Association,Manpreet said the LudhianaOil Expeller & PartsManufacturers Cluster wouldalso prove to be a game chang-er for the State, and furtherexhorted all to contribute assons of the soil towards the wel-fare and betterment of Punjab.

President PPCC SunilJakhar said the basic approachof the Chief Minister and theFinance Minister is towardsfinding the solution to the

problems with removing red-tapism in the clearance to theindustrial projects which hasproved a morale booster to theindustry. Taking on the CentralGovernment, he expressed sur-prise that the agricultural poli-cies are being framed by thosewho know nothing about agri-culture.

Nearly 2000 amendmentshave been made till date in theGST regime which was toutedby the Centre as its most shin-ing initiative, he added.

Emphasising on identify-ing the core strengths andweaknesses of the State’s indus-try, he said that despite theCentral Government holdingonto Rs. 8000 crore GST shareand RDF share more than Rs.1000 crore, the StateGovernment is committed tofurther propelling the indus-trial sector of Punjab towardsprosperity.

Food, Civil Supplies andConsumer Affairs Minister andLudhiana West MLA BharatBhushan Ashu said thatLudhiana would be witness tothe rapid urban development inkeeping with the poll promis-es as mentioned in the mani-festo of the Congress party.

�� !�� "�� #��

Chandigarh: Punjab educa-tion department has releasedan amount of Rs. 4 crore toconvert government schoolsinto smart schools, aspokesperson of the educationdepartment said on Tuesday,adding that under the ‘SmartSchool Campaign’ the schoolsare being revamped and state-of-the-art technology is beingprovided to the governmentschools to make them smart.

The spokesperson said a let-ter has been issued in this regardby the Director General ofSchool Education-cum-SPD toall the District EducationOfficers. Accordingly 738 gov-

ernment schools would be con-verted into smart schools. Underthis grant, Rs. 15,000 per schoolhas been released to governmentprimary and middle schoolsfor beautification of gates, Rs.25,000 per school for color cod-ing and Rs. 10,000 per school foreducation parks. Similarly18,000 per school for beautifi-cation of gate of governmenthigh and senior secondaryschools, Rs 50,000 per school forcolor coding of high schools andRs. 75,000 per school for seniorsecondary schools and Rs.20,000 per school for high andsenior secondary schools foreducation parks. PNS

�� *�'.#+��*

The Shiromani Akali Dalon Tuesday described the

order of the Supreme Court onthe farmers issue as “resound-ing moral defeat of the BJPGovernment at the center”.

The party howeverexpressed “grave concern andanxiety” over reports that thegovernment was “deliberatelytrying to infiltrate the peacefuland democratic struggle of thefarmers by pushing in somemercenaries into their ranks toact as agents provocateurs inorder to incite violence anddefame the most honourableand civilized struggle.”

“The Shiromani Akali Dalconsiders peace and communalharmony in Punjab and the restof the country as the mostsacred ideals for which theparty has always made supremesacrifices. We will continue topreserve this heritage handeddown to us by the great GuruSahiban .

We will continue to fight todefeat any attempts by anyoneto set fire to peace here,” saida Resolution passed at a spe-cially convened meeting of theCore Committee of the partyTuesday evening. SAD presi-dent Sukhbir SIngh Badalpresided over the meeting.Others present includedBalwidner Singh Bhunder, BibiJgir Kaur, Jathedar Tota Singh,Prem Singh Chandumajra,Bikram Singh Majithia, MIS Grewal, Janmeja SInghSekhon, Sikandar SinghMaluka, Daljeet Singh Cheema,Sharanjit SIngh Dhillon,amongst others. Giving detailsof the proceedings of the meet-ing, Harcharan Bains,Principal Advisor to SADpresident, said the CoreCommittee passed a resolutionsaying that “the Apex court

order fully vindicates the standand steps taken by theShiromani Akai Dal prior tothe passage of the anti –farmerBills.

The Core Committee fur-ther said that the SAD will con-tinue to support and participatein any “peaceful, civilized anddemocratic line of protestwhich the farmers organiza-tion decide to pursue to get theanti farmer Acts revoked.“There is no change in the

unswerving support to allpeaceful and democratic meansof protest to force the govern-ment to revoke the Acts againstwhich the party had quit thegovernment and taken all othersteps to strengthen the farmers’cause.,” said Bains.

The party decided to cau-tion the people of Punjabagainst “ conspiracies by theruling party at the center as wellas in the state to sabotage thehard earned atmosphere of

peace and communal harmo-ny in Punjab and the rest of thecountry.”

The Core CommitteeResolution said that “the farm-ers alone have the right todecide on the future course of

peaceful and civilized protest,but the SAD, as the oldest andthe largest political party of thefarmers will continue to workactively to swell the ranks of theagitating farmers in Delhi,Punjab and Haryana.”

��

*�� +,#-,� +.� /0,1� 20�*

��

Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Tuesday asked the StateAdvocate General to examinein detail the Supreme Courtorder staying the new farmlaws and called a meeting ofhis cabinet to discuss it.

He has convened a cabi-net meeting on Thursday todiscuss the implications of theapex court order. PunjabCM @capt_amarinder asksAG @AtulnandaA to procure

copy of today’’s SC order on#FarmLaws & examine it indetail,” according to a tweet ofthe CM’s media advisorRaveen Thukral.Earlier in theday, the top court stayed theimplementation of the newagricultural laws till furtherorders and decided to set upa four-member committee toresolve the impasse over thelegislation between the Centreand farmers’ unions protest-ing at Delhi’s borders.

��

�� *�'.#+��*

Haryana Government onTuesday said that the sex-

ratio of State has increasedfrom 871 girls for every 1,000boys in the year 2014 to 922girls in 2020.

Appreciating the out-standing achievement despitevarious limitations due toCovid-19, Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar congrat-ulated all the DeputyCommissioners, StakeholderDepartments and Officers andstaff of Health, Police,Prosecution, Women and ChildDevelopment Departments,Food Drug Administration,Civil Societies and NGOswhose commitment and ded-icated efforts has helped theState to achieve the good resultsof increasing the sex ratio andsetting an example for theother states.

Sharing the future targets,Khattar said,” We have set a tar-get to achieve a sex ratio of935+ during 2021 which will beaccomplished by continuing

the fight against female foeti-cide.”

In the period of six yearsthe State Government tooknumerous steps to curb themenace of female foeticide likelarge scale awareness pro-grammes, formulating Teamsto identify Centres indulging inillegal sex-determination offoetus and illegal abortionsand registering FIRs against theoffenders. Other than incen-tives to those sharing infor-mation about violations of thePre-Natal DiagnosticTechniques (Regulation andPrevention of Misuse) PNDTAct and conducting sting oper-ations along with inter-stateand intra-state raids.

*�3�� "��4)&��'5&!��6''��'5'5��7��$��

��) � �� *�� Chandigarh:Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattaron Tuesday said the farmersprotesting at Delhi’s bordersshould end their agitationnow following the formationof a committee by theSupreme Court over the newfarm laws.

“The ball is now in thecourt of the SC and I feelwhatever is its decision, itwill be acceptable to all,” hesaid, welcoming the SC order.The Supreme Court stayed tillfurther orders the implemen-tation the three central agri-marketing laws over which

farmers from Punjab andHaryana have been protestingfor weeks. The court alsoannounced the formation of afour-member committee toresolve the deadlock over thenew laws between the Centreand farmers’ unions.

On the farmer unions’refusal to call off their protestafter the SC order, Khattar saidthere was no reason now forthem to continue with it.

He said the farmersshould lift their ‘dharna’ atDelhi’s border and head backto the places they had comefrom.

�� *�'.#+��*

Responding to the SupremeCourt’s decision for

immediate stay on the centre’sagricultural laws and settingup a committee to resolve theissue, the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) state president andMP Bhagwant Mann saidthat party fully support thedemand of the farmers andwant to repeal the anti-farm-ers agriculture black laws ofthe centre.

In a statement, he saidthat the party does not wantany compromise with theself-respect of the farmers andthat the only way to overcomethe deadlock that had beengoing on for months, was torepeal the black agriculturallaws; and forming a commit-tee was not a permanentsolution.

Questioning the com-mittee’s fairness, Mann saidthat most of the peopleincluded in the committeewere representatives of the

central government. “Wedoubt that this committeewould be able to understandthe real problems of the farm-ers and solve them perma-nently. This fight of farmersis not for forming any com-mittee,” he added.

He said that no farmerorganisation had everdemanded to form a com-mittee for a solution.

Mann said that lakhs offarmers were not strugglingto make a committee on theDelhi borders for the lastone and a half months byputting their lives in severecold; but their only demandfrom the government withcomplete clarity was that allthree black agricultural lawsthat endanger the future offarmers should be repealed.“Being the son of a farmer, werealise the suffering of ourfarmer brothers and sisterswho have been struggling onthe streets for months againstthe black agricultural laws inthis harsh weather,” he added.

��!� ��"��#�� $�� %�"��!�� &�'��!#�� (��

�� *�'.#+��*

Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Tuesday said that due to thebest Sports Policy of the StateGovernment, 33 per cent of thetotal medals in various sportsevents are being brought byplayers of Haryana.

Speaking at a functionorganized by Haryana SportsDevelopment and WelfareCommittee in Panchkula tothank the Chief Minister for increasing hono-rarium of sports awardees,Khattar said that today theaward money being given inHaryana is highest in the coun-try and the world.

He further informed thatthe State Government gives areward amount of �6 crore tothe players who win goldmedals in the Olympics, �4crore to the silver medalistand �2.5 crore to the bronzemedalist.

Besides this, due recogni-tion is also given to winnerswho win medals in otherchampionships too.

�� *�'.#+��*

The ChandigarhAdministration has

received 12000 doses ofCovishield vaccine, a drive forwhich is scheduled to beginfrom January 16 across thecountry.

A total of 8,830 healthcareworkers including privatehealthcare providers have beenregistered in Chandigarh,which are to be administeredvaccination in the first phase.

A data of around 10,500frontline workers of Municipal

Corporation has also beencompiled for vaccination in thesecond phase. Other frontlineworkers include Police, CivilDefence, Revenue and DisasterManagement. An officialspokesman said that the stockof vaccine was received by DrVK Nagpal , MedicalSuperintendent cum JointDirector at the ChandigarhAirport. The vaccine was trans-ported in a dedicated VaccineVan duly escorted by the PoliceVehicle. The vaccine vials havebeen kept in the walk in cool-er where temperature of 2 to 8

degree would be maintained.The storage area with walk incooler room under CCTV sur-veillance would be guarded bysecurity personnel round theclock, the spokesman said.

The vaccination drive willbegin on January 16 in the city,he added.

1 DEATH, 36 FRESH CASESIN CHANDIGARH

The union territory ofChandigarh on Tuesday report-ed one more COVID-19 relat-ed death as 36 fresh positivecases surfaced. “With this, the

total case tally reached 20378and the death toll stood at 328in the city,” as per theChandigarh HealthDepartment’s evening bulletin.As per the bulletin, there were270 active cases till the evening.24 patients have recovered inthe past 24 hours pushing thetotal number of recoveries to19780. Among 36 fresh cases,22 were males and 14 werefemales. A maximum of fourpositive cases were detected inManimajra.1.94 lakh sampleshave so far been tested in thecity.

�� *�'.#+��*

The Covid-19 death toll inHaryana rose to 2964 on

Tuesday with eight more fatal-ities, while 192 new casespushed the infection tally to2,65,391, a health departmentbulletin issued stated.

Two Covid-19 deaths werereported in Sonepat while oneeach from Gurugram,Panchkula, Yamunanagar,Mahindergarh, Jhajjar andPalwal.

$�� #��%&�'''��$�#��#� ��(�� $�#�)%*��%*&��

�� !��"

:��&$��+&+&,=�++#&(��$�&��>,&+�##?�45@%),�*=616�!��(�!�""8�&((#0-"��%8'(#*+�*)�*=+��?�=�+&=&�*�+?�0&"�?#�+�(�%�/��&++&,

)�*+�,�� -�..� /�-01,��1((0 01,�-1��1,23�-��-

(��$��!��!��+��,�� -"��.� ��/��(�� $��0(��$1��$��

RAIPUR | WEDNESDAY | JANUARY 13, 2021chhattisgarh 03

Protest: Chhattisgarh Kisan Mazdoor Sangh (Dhamtari) on Tuesday took out a march ‘Kheti Bachao Yatra’ which was to end atthe residence of former Chief Minister Dr Raman Singh. Police blocked the march near Sapre School, Raipur. Pioneer Photo

e-PROCUREMENT TENDER NOTICEeProcurement Portal: https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in

(2nd CALL)System Tender No. : 70557/NIT No. : 31/SAC/2020-21, Durg, Dated : 11.01.2021Online Tenders are invited for the following works up to 28.01.2021 at17:30 HourName of Work : RENOVATION OF SOMANI DIVERSION HEAD WORK

AND REMODELING & LINING OF R.B.C R.D. 0 M TO 4410M WITH CONSTRUCTION OF 17 NOS MASONRY STRUCTRESAND L.B.C R.D. 0 M TO 7950 M IN WITH CONSTRUCTION OF19 NOS MASONRY STRUCTRES INCLUDING DISMENTELINGOF OLD 26 NOS STRUCTRES AND 30 NOS COLABA FIXING WORK IN BLOCK PATAN OF DISTRICT DURG

Probable Amount of Contract : Rs. 894.13 LakhsThe details can be viewed and downloaded online directly from the

Government of Chhattisgarh Integrated e-Procurement Portal(https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) from Date 18.01.2021, at 17:31 Hours.(IST)onwards.NOTE :- All eligible/intrested contractors/bidders are mandated to get enrolledon the Integrated e-procurement portal (https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) and getapproval on specific vendor class from PWD under CentralizedContractor/Supplier Registration in order to download the tender documentsand participate in the subsequent bidding process.

GOVERNMENT OF CHHATTISGARH, WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENTOFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER

MAHANADI GODAWARI BASINRAIPUR (C.G.)

Executive Engineer Tandula Water Resources Division, Durg (C.G.) For, Chief Engineer, Mahanadi Godavari Basin

Raipur (C.G.)G- 86259/4 Ryp/Dtd 12.1.21

ß¸U-¬˝ÊÄÿÍ⁄U◊¥≈U ÁŸÁflŒÊ ‚ÍøŸÊeProcurement Portal: https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in

(¬˝Õ◊ •Ê◊¥òÊáÊ)Á‚S≈U◊ ÁŸÁflŒÊ ∑˝§. |~zy{/ÁŸÁflŒÊ ‚ÍøŸÊ ∑˝§. vÆ/fl‹Á‹/wÆwÆ-wv, ’◊Ã⁄UÊ, ÁŒŸÊ¥∑§ vv.Æv.wÆwv

ÁŸêŸÁ‹ÁπÃ ∑§ÊÿÊ¸ ∑§ Á‹∞ ÁŒŸÊ¥∑§ Æv.Æw.wÆwv v|—xÆ Ã∑§ •ÊÚŸ ‹Êß¸UŸ ÁŸÁflŒÊ∞¥•Ê◊¥ÁòÊÃ ∑§Ë ¡ÊÃË „ÒU—-∑§Êÿ¸ ∑§Ê ŸÊ◊ — ’◊Ã⁄UÊ Á¡‹ ∑§ Áfl∑§Ê‚πá«U ŸflÊª…∏U ∑§Ë „Uê¬ √ÿ¬flÃ¸Ÿ ÿÊ¡ŸÊ ∑§

’Ê¥ÿË Ã≈U Ÿ„U⁄U ∑§ Æ{ Ÿª ◊Êß¸UŸ⁄U ∑§Ê Á⁄U◊Ê«UÁ‹¥ª ∞fl¥ ‹Êß¸UÁŸ¥ª ∑§Êÿ¸ ’ÊÉÊÈ‹ ◊Êß¸UŸ⁄U •Ê⁄U.«UË. Æ ‚ zy{Æ ◊Ë. ∞fl¥ vw Ÿª ¬ÈÁ‹ÿÊ¥ ∑§Ê ÁŸ◊Ê¸áÊ,•Ê»§≈U∑§ •Ê⁄U.«UË. v~xwÆ ◊Ë. (ŒÊ¥ÿË •Ê⁄U), «UÊÒŸÊÁ«U„U ◊Êß¸UŸ⁄U •Ê⁄U.«UË.Æ ‚ wv{Æ ◊Ë,. Æ{ Ÿª ¬ÈÁ‹ÿÊ¥ ∑§Ê ÁŸ◊Ê¸áÊ, •Ê»§≈U∑§ •Ê⁄U.«UË. wx}vÆ◊Ë. (’Ê¥ÿË •Ê⁄U), ‚◊‚⁄U ◊Êß¸UŸ⁄U •Ê⁄U.«UË. Æ ‚ wyÆÆ ◊Ë. Æ| Ÿª ¬ÈÁ‹ÿÊ¥∑§Ê ÁŸ◊Ê¸áÊ, •Ê»§≈U∑§ •Ê⁄U.«UË. w}~ÆÆ ◊Ë. (’Ê¥ÿË •Ê⁄U), ’⁄U’‚¬È⁄U ◊Êß¸UŸ⁄U •Ê⁄U.«UË. Æ ‚ wzzÆ ◊Ë,. Æz Ÿª ¬ÈÁ‹ÿÊ¥ ∑§Ê ÁŸ◊Ê¸áÊ, •Ê»§≈U∑§•Ê⁄U.«UË. w~zÆÆ ◊Ë. (ŒÊ¥ÿË •Ê⁄U), ŸÊ¥Œ‹ ◊Êß¸UŸ⁄U •Ê⁄U.«Ë. Æ ‚ wyvz ◊Ë,. Æz Ÿª ¬ÈÁ‹ÿÊ¥ ∑§Ê ÁŸ◊Ê¸áÊ, •Ê»§≈U∑§ •Ê⁄U.«UË. xv|wÆ ◊Ë. (ŒÊ¥ÿË •Ê⁄U)

•ŸÈ◊ÊÁŸÃ ‹ÊªÃ — M§ z~v.|{ ‹Êπ•ãÿ Áflfl⁄UáÊ ∞fl¥ ÁflSÃÎÃ ÁŸÁflŒÊ ¿UûÊË‚ª…∏U ‡ÊÊ‚Ÿ ∑§Ë ß¸U-¬˝ÊÄÿÊ⁄U◊¥≈U fl’ ‚ÊßU≈Uhttps://eproc.cgstate.gov.in ¬⁄U ÁŒŸÊ¥∑§ v}.Æv.wÆwv ‚◊ÿ v|—xv ’¡ ‚ Œπ ÃÕÊ«UÊ©UŸ‹Ê«∏ Á∑§ÿ ¡Ê ‚∑§Ã „ÒU–ŸÊ≈U — ÁŸÁflŒÊ ◊¥ ÷Êª ‹Ÿ „UÃÈ ΔU∑§ŒÊ⁄UÊ ¥ ∑§Ê ß¸U-¬˝ÊÄÿÊ⁄U◊¥≈U fl’‚Êß¸U≈Uhttps://eproc.cgstate.gov.in ¬⁄U ŸÊ◊Ê¥Á∑§Ã/¬¥¡ËÿŸ ÃÕÊ ‹Ê∑§ ÁŸ◊Ê¸áÊ Áfl÷Êª ∑§Ë ∞∑§Ë∑Î§Ã¬¥¡ËÿŸ ¬˝áÊÊ‹Ë ∑§ •¥Ãª¸Ã ΔU∑§ŒÊ⁄U ∑§Ê ©U¬ÿÈÄÃ üÊáÊË ◊¥ ¬¥¡ËÿŸ ∑§⁄UÊŸÊ •ÁŸflÊÿ¸ „ÒU–

∑§Êÿ¸¬Ê‹Ÿ •Á÷ÿ¥ÃÊ¡‹ ‚¥‚ÊäÊŸ ‚¥÷Êª, ’◊Ã⁄UÊ

∑Î§Ã, ◊ÈÅÿ •Á÷ÿ¥ÃÊ ◊„UÊŸŒË ªÊŒÊfl⁄UË ∑§¿UÊ⁄,¡‹ ‚¥‚ÊäÊŸ Áfl÷Êª, ⁄UÊÿ¬È⁄U, ¿U.ª.

¿UûÊË‚ª…∏U ‡ÊÊ‚Ÿ, ¡‹ ‚¥‚ÊäÊŸ Áfl÷Êª∑§ÊÿÊ¸‹ÿ ◊ÈÅÿ •Á÷ÿ¥ÃÊ

◊„UÊŸŒË ªÊŒÊfl⁄UË ∑§¿UÊ⁄U, ⁄UÊÿ¬È⁄U (¿U.ª.)

G- 86249/6 Ryp/Dtd 12.1.21

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh will very soonreceive the first batch of

3.23 lakh Covidshieldvaccines, the government saidon Tuesday.

Covidshield made bySERUM Institute of India hasbeen approved by ICMR forvaccination.

As per the protocol of theHealth department, sufficientarrangements have beenmade for storage and trans-port of the vaccine across thestate, an official press releasesaid. In different districts,mock drills have been held.

The Health Departmenthas arranged insulatedvaccine vans for transporting

the vaccine doses from Raipurairport to the state vaccinestorehouse.

The vaccine doses will bestored in temperatures

ranging between 2 and 8degrees Celsius. From thestate warehouse, it will betaken to districts in theinsulated vans.

For the safe transport,one state level, three regionaland 27 district level coldchain points have been estab-lished.

Currently, there are 630cold chain points in the statewith a storage capacity of85,000 litres. Also, 81 addi-tional cold chain points havebeen set up and 1,311 coldboxes are available for storingthe vaccines.

To store syringe, needleand other vaccination materi-als, 360 dry storage placeshave been set up.

State vaccination officerDr Amar Singh Thakur said2.67 lakh health workers, stateand central governmentemployees along with securityforces will receive the vaccinedoses first.


Based on the feedback ofthe citizens, everything

possible will be done toimprove civic amenities in theRisali Municipal Corporationarea, Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel saidon Tuesday.

An action plan will beprepared and work will startaccordingly, he told a publicgathering after publicdedication of the new officeof Risali MunicipalCorporation near the Bhilaisteel plant.

He also dedicated devel-opmental works worth `12.74crores and did Bhoomi Pujanof works totaling `1.59 crores.He distributed land titlesunder the Rajiv GandhiAshray Yojana and CMAbaadi Patta Yojana.

Risali's upcomingprojects will include a biggerhospital, a college and acommunity building, he said.

The Chief Ministerdirected the opening of a30-bed hospital which he saidwould be expanded to 100beds. An outdoor stadium

will be built. He sanctioned`50 lakh for renovation of thegarden and ponds.

District in-chargeMinister Mohammed Akbarsaid different schemesimplemented under the ChiefMinister’s leadership arebringing changes in economic

status of citizens and thestate’s economy.

Home MinisterTamradhwaj Sahu said it wasthe Chief Minister whoapproved the proposal andpaved the path for formationof Risali MunicipalCorporation.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

The Chhattisgarh governmenton Tuesday said the gunny

bags needed to procure paddyhave been resourced.

Getting jute bags for paddyprocurement was a major boneof contention between theCongress government and theCentral government.

“For the estimated 89 lakhsmillion-tonne paddy procure-ment, about 4.45 nodes of lakhgunny bags will be required.Currently 67.35 lakh tonnes ofpaddy has been purchased,” anofficial press release said, addingabout 21.65 lakh tonnes ofpaddy more will be bought.

For the remaining 21.65lakh tonnes of paddy, around1.08 lakh nodes of gunny bagswill be needed. Currently,53,000 nodes are available andabout 35,000 nodes will be

provided by miller following thecustom milling of paddy.

Currently, the millers aresupplying about 10,000-12,000nodes of gunny bags everyweek. At this rate, about 35,000nodes will be resourced. Also,about 10,000 new nodes ofgunny bags will be suppliedsoon.

The government said thatabout 1.08 lakh nodes of gunnybags required in this season ofpaddy procurement has beenresourced. Also, the JuteCommissioner will supply about36,000 nodes of fresh jute bagssoon.

Recently, due to shortage ofjute bags, paddy procurementwas stopped at a large numbersof paddy procurement centersacross Chhattisgarh, with theBJP and the Congress blamingeach other for the situation.


Chhattisgarh HealthMinister T.S. Singh Deo

on Tuesday virtually inaugu-rated a dialysis centre in Korbaand said it is another steptowards universal health care.

Korba is the sixth districtafter Durg, Kanker, Bilaspur,Mahasamund and Bijapurwhere a dialysis centre hasbeen established, a pressrelease said.

“We are slowly expandinghealth facilities inChhattisgarh. We had seenearlier people had to wanderfrom place to place and payhuge amounts for dialysis butwith these services they neednot undergo such an ordeal,”the Minister said.

After Korba, dialysis

centres will open in Jashpurand Surguja. "We haveplanned to open one dialysiscentre in every district," hesaid.

Explaining about univer-sal health care, Singh Deo saidonce a citizen pays taxes, theyneed not pay for health servic-es. This is the basic mantra ofthis scheme. "We are trying topublicize the scheme."


Nine students fromChhattisgarh have been

selected for Phase 2 of ResponsibleArtificial Intelligence (AI) forYouth programme organizedjointly by Electronics InformationTechnology Ministry of India andIntel.

Abhishek Singh, CEO MyGov,President and CEO NeGD, MDand CEO Digital India Corp(DIC), announced the result of top100 students on Tuesday.

The selected Chhattisgarh stu-dents are Vaibhav Dewangan,Dheeraj Yadav, GhanshyamNishad, Yamuna Yadav, HimanshiDewangan, Parmeshwari Yadavand Gopika Dewangan from

Government Kuldeep NigamHigher Secondary School, Naara,Mahasamund, Ankita Namdeo ofGovernment Girls HigherSecondary School, Raipur, andAnjali Nirmalkar, GovernmentHigher Secondary SchoolLenjwara, Bemetara district.

Singh said the total number ofregistrations from 35 states andUTs were 52,628 students. Thefirst level of AI training was com-pleted by 11,466 students. A totalof 2,536 teachers from 2,252schools also attended the orienta-tion sessions.

In Phase 2, the selected stu-dents will be imparted trainingand their ideas will be convertedinto working prototype. Amongthem, the top 30 will be selected.

Five-year-old boy dies duringsurgery, FIR against 3 doctorsKORBA: A five-year-old boy died after a hernia surgeryin Chhattisgarh's Korba district following which policefiled a FIR against three doctors, including a governmentsurgeon, for alleged negligence, officials said on Tuesday.

No arrest has been made so far and police are con-ducting an investigation. The district Chief Medical andHealth Officer (CMHO) has also been asked to consti-tute a team of senior doctors to probe the case and sub-mit a report, Korba's Additional Superintendent ofPolice Kirtan Rathore said. As per a police complaintlodged by the boy's father, a labourer from Belgari Bastihere, he took his son to the district hospital on January 6where a surgeon told him that the child was sufferingfrom hernia and advised a sonography test. Later, thesurgeon told them that the child required urgent surgeryand decided to conduct the operation at a private hospi-tal here, saying the government hospital lacks adequatefacilities, SHO of Balco police station Rakesh Mishrasaid. On January 9, after the operation, when the manasked the surgeon about his son's health, the doctor saidthe child had stopped breathing.

The boy's father alleged that later, without consult-ing him, they shifted the child to another private hospi-tal where doctors said the child was brought in a seriouscondition and died.


Chhattisgarh Governorand Assembly Speaker

Dr Charan Das Mahant onTuesday paid rich tributesto Swami Vivekananda onthe occasion of hisbirthday by offering floralgarland at his statue in theAssembly premises.

Parliamentary affairsMinister RavindraChoubey, Korba MPJyotsana Mahant, DeputySpeaker Manoj Mandavi,MLAs and officials werepresent, stated an officialcommunication.

Addressing the event,Governor Anusuiya Uikeysaid Swami Vivekanandahas always been an

inspiration and ideal forthe youth. To meet the

challenges faced in thepresent period, there is a

need to train youths andshow them the right path.

Speaker Dr Mahantsaid it is a privilegefor Chhattisgarh thatSwami Vivekananda spentsome time here. Hismessages and ideas havegiven a new direction tothe society.

Swami Vivekananda’slecture in the Parliament ofReligions in Chicago onSeptember 11, 1893brought him and thecountry the highestprestige in the world, headded.

The Governorinspected the Assemblypremises after the event.The Speaker felicitated herwith a shawl, shreefal and amemento.


Aman who runs a tiffincentre in Raipur was taken

into custody on Tuesday andinterrogated after he sent amessage threatening to killChhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel and hispredecessor Raman Singh,police said.

Manish Jhabak wasinterrogated at the Civil LinesPolice station here after hesent a message on Mondaynight to the mobile phone ofDeputy Superintendent ofPolice Nasar Siddique, sayinghe will carry out the threat

within 24 hours.Siddique told the media

said that the number wastraced to Jhabak.

After lockdown, due tolack of work, he had facedeconomic crises and becamedepressed. During interroga-tion, he revealed that he sentthe message to get attention ashe thought he will be interro-gated and released after anoral warning.

Siddique said he has beenkept under custody for furtherinterrogation. No past caseshave been found registeredagainst him.

C’garh to soon get 1stbatch of Covid vaccine

Everything will be done toenhance civic amenities: CM

Enough gunny bagsavailable for paddyprocurement: Govt

Singh Deo launchesdialysis centre in Korba

Governor, Speaker pay tributesto Swami Vivekananda

Nine C'garh studentsselected for Phase 2‘AI for Youth’

Man in custody forthreatening to killBaghel, Raman


The thermal power plantsunder Chhattisgarh State

Power Generation Co have reg-istered a record 70.08 PlantLoad Factor (PLF) against thenational average of 51.59 PLF.

An official communicationsaid the Central ElectricityAuthority (CEA) has in itsDecember 2020 monthly reportstated that the Chhattisgarhthermal power plants' PLF was70.08.

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel, whoholds the Energy portfolio. haspraised the company Chairman

Ankit Anand and MD(Generation) N.K. Bijora forthe achievement by competingwith 33 state power sectorthermal power plants for thelast six months and remainingon the top.

Bijora said this could beachieved due to team work ofofficers and employees withbest practices of management.Even during Covid19, thepower generation in the statewas at its best.

He said the CEA states thatChhattisgarh stands first,followed by Telangana StatePower Generation with 68.25PLF.

C’garh records70.08 pc PLF

�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

�� '-(�.-/*#

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday lambast-

ed dynastic politics as the“biggest enemy” of democracyand said it gives rise to a newform of “dictatorship” and bur-dens the country with “incom-petence”. He said “these dynas-ties” are also a very big reasonbehind political and social cor-ruption in the country.

Addressing the valedictoryfunction of the second NationalYouth Parliament Festival,Modi launched an all out attackon dynastic parties, sayingthose who rise due to theirdynasties have no respect andfear of law as they believe iftheir previous generations werenot accounted for corruption,none can touch them as well.

“They see such examplesin their own families. So theyhave neither respect nor fear oflaw,” he said, asking youngstersto join politics as this is “nec-essary” to save it. “It is true that(in politics) the fortunes ofthose who have been winningelections on the basis of sur-names are dwindling. But in

politics, this disease of dynas-tic politics is not completelyfinished,” said Modi withoutany political families. Thoughpeople have now been sup-porting honesty and perfor-mance, and the legacy of “cor-ruption” of those in dynasticpolitics have become a burdenfor them, but the “disease ofdynastic politics” has not beenfully eradicated, the PrimeMinister said.

“There are still peoplewhose conduct, ideas and goalsare all aimed at saving theirfamily politics and their fam-ilies in politics. Dynastic pol-itics gives rise to a new form ofdictatorship in democracy andburdens the country withincompetence. Dynastic poli-tics only strengthens the sen-timent of ‘me and my family’instead of ‘nation first’,” hesaid.

Modi, however, added thatthings have changed from atime when people associatedpolitics with “violence, cor-ruption and loot” and thoughtit cannot change. A youngsterjoining politics was seen assomeone who has gone astray,

he said. People are now soaware that they stand withhonest people in politics andgive them a chance, he said,asserting that honesty and per-formance have become “firstessential requirements oftoday’s politics”.

This has happened due topressure created by the aware-ness in the country, he said,before noting that somechanges are still required andhighlighting dynastic politicsas the “biggest enemy” ofdemocracy. “The biggestenemy of democracy still existsand that is dynastic politics.Dynastic politics is such achallenge before the countrythat has to be rooted out,” hesaid.

Exhorting youngsters tojoin politics in his virtualaddress, the Prime Ministersaid the “poison of dynasticpolitics” will continue to weak-en democracy unless theyenter it. The nation’s politicslike any other sector needsthem and their new thoughts,energy, ideas and dreams a lot,he said.

In his address, he alsopaid rich tributes to SwamiVivekananda, whose birthanniversary fell on Tuesday,and said his ideals haveinspired people, including dur-ing the freedom struggle, ofevery generation and askedyoungster to follow them. LokSabha Speaker Om Birla andUnion Ministers RameshPokhriyal NIshank and KirenRijiju also attended the func-tion at Central Hall ofParliament.

2$�� !!�� $��"��$&��(

�� '-(�.-/*#

India and Bangladesh onTuesday agreed to enhance

the fight against terrorist enti-ties, including global terroristgroups as well as other fugi-tives, wherever they are presentand active. The first delegation-level virtual police chiefs’ dia-logue between India andBangladesh also agreed toestablish designated ‘nodalpoints’ for timely and effectivehandling and response to exist-ing as well as emerging securi-ty and counter-terrorism chal-lenges.

India and Bangladeshagreed to enhance their workjointly against terrorist entitiesincluding global terroristgroups, as well as other fugi-tives, wherever they are pre-sent and active, an officialstatement said. Both sidesreiterated the need for sharingof real time intelligence andfeedback through the desig-nated ‘nodal points’, whileappreciating each other’songoing action against insur-gent groups operating in theregion.

The scope of enhancedcoordination to combat trans-border criminal activities,

including smuggling of drugs,Fake Indian Currency Notes(FICN), arms and ammuni-tion and human traffickingwas also discussed, the state-ment said. While discussingongoing bilateral cooperation,issues of mutual concern andthe way forward, it was decid-ed to further strengthen therelationship of the policeforces of the two countries. Inview of the l imitationsimposed by the ongoingCOVID-19 pandemic, themeeting was held virtuallyand in a shorter format.

Both sides, however,emphasised the importance ofthis new high level mecha-nism as the dialogue con-cluded with assurances ofgreater cooperation on boththe sides to address all secu-rity challenges in future.

The institution of policechiefs’ dialogue, assisted bymembers of other securityagencies on both sides, willfurther enhance the existingcooperation between thepolice forces of both coun-tries,thereby further consoli-dating a relationship that tran-scends strategic partnership inthis 50th anniversary of theLiberation of Bangladesh, thestatement said.

��# �$�%��&��#��'� ��( &�� )�

�� '-(�.-/*#

Ahead of the upcomingAssembly polls in five

States, the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) onTuesday held discussions withUnion Home Secretary AjayBhalla regarding the require-ment of central security forcesand related matters to conductfree and fair polls. The meet-ing was held at NirvachanSadan. The terms of the assem-blies in Tamil Nadu, Kerala,West Bengal, Puducherry andAssam will end on May 24,2021, June 1, 2021, May 30,2021, June 8, 2021 and May 31,2021 respectively.

“The meeting was “pri-marily to discuss requirementvis-à-vis availability of centralarmed police forces (CAPFs),and related matters, for theupcoming Assembly Electionsto the States of Assam, Kerala,Tamil Nadu and West Bengal,and the Union Territory ofPuducherry,” a brief EC state-ment said.

Top sources said that ateam of EC officials had visit-ed poll bound states and discussthe preparations and other mat-

ters with state government offi-cials.” The issue of law and orderwas prominently discussed inthe meeting,” said officials.

Keeping in mind socialdistancing norms due to coro-navirus pandemic, theCommission could increasethe number of polling stationsin these states to restrict thenumber of voters per pollingstation.

In the recently-held Biharpolls, the number of voters perpolling station was reducedfrom 1,200 to 1,000, resultingin creation of additional pollingstations.

The poll body has recent-ly issued an advisory sayingthat no officer connected

directly with election dutiesshould be allowed to continuein the respective district ifhe/she is posted in her/hishome district. TheCommission wrote to the chiefsecretaries and chief electoralofficers of these five statesregarding the transfer and post-ing officers associated withconducting the elections.

According to the EC, thedecision follows the consistentpolicy of the Commission thatofficers directly connected withconduct of elections in poll-bound State/Union Territoryare not posted in their homedistricts or places where theyhave served for considerablylong periods.

�� #��2�3$��4��5��(��

�� '-(�.-/*#

The NIA on Tuesday filed achargesheet before the

Special NIA Court here undervarious Sections of the IndianPenal Code and provisions ofUnlawful Activities(Prevention) Act against AbdurRahman alias Dr Brave (28) ofBengaluru, Karnataka in con-nection with an Islamic StateKhorasan Province (ISKP)case. Rahman is a qualifieddoctor and the first such pro-fessional to be charged in a ter-ror case.

The accused doctor hasbeen chargesheeted forallegedly furthering ideologyand activities of proscribedterrorist organisationISIS/ISKP in connivance withco-accused Jahanzaib Samiand others for committingsubversive/anti national activ-ities in India.

Abdur Rahman alias DrBrave was arrested on August

17, 2020 from Bangalore byNIA.

As a student of MBBS atBangalore Medical College,Abdur Rahman got radi-calised, listening to the onlinelectures of hard line Islamicpreachers including ‘AnwarAwlaki’. Subsequently, he cameinto contact with other radi-calised youth and travelled toSyria in December, 2013 andparticipated in various ter-rorist activities of ISIS. Afterhis return to India he contin-ued to remain associated withthe ideology of ISIS, the NIAsaid in a statement.

“Utilising his knowledgeof Ophthalmic Lasers andMedical Science, he madeefforts to develop applica-tions for medical and militaryrequirements of ISIS. To thisend, he was in regular com-munication with ISIS terror-ists located abroad as well asin India including JahanzaibSami on Threema, a secure

messaging platform,” it said.Consequently, he had

achieved significant progresstowards developing a medicalapplication for treatment ofISIS terrorists and also a LaserGuided Anti-Tank Missileapplication for controlling thetrajectory of the missiles forenhancing their effectivenessfor furthering the cause ofISIS, it said, adding furtherinvestigation in the case iscontinuing.

Earlier, a charge-sheet wasfiled on September 2 last yearagainst five accused persons--- Jahanzaib Sami and HinaBashir Beigh, resident ofSrinagar, Abdullah Basith ofHyderabad, Sadiya AnwarShaikh and Nabeel SiddickKhatri, both of Pune, underIPC sections UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act.

This case arose out ofDelhi Police Special Cell, FIRnumber 85/2020 dated March8, 2020 pertaining to arrest ofJahanzaib Sami Wani and hiswife Hina Bashir Beigh fromOkhla Vihar, Jamia Nagarhere on March 8, 2020 onreceiving an input that theywere affiliated to the bannedterrorist organization ISKP, apart of ISIS, and were plan-ning subversive/anti-nationalactivities in India. The NIAhad re-registered the case onMarch 20 last year and tookup the investigation of thecase.

��( ��!��&��&� ��*+�� ,�

�� '-(�.-/*#

Seeking to reinvent the age-old Indian tradition of

coating houses with cowdung, Khadi and VillageIndustr ies Commission(KVIC) has developed KhadiPrakritik Paint, a first-of-its-kind paint in India madefrom cow dung with eightbenefits or Ashta Laabh.

The unique productwhich is eco-friendly andcost-effective, was launchedby Minister for MSME, NitinGadakri on Tuesday.UnionMinister for Fisheries, AnimalHusbandry and Dairying,Giriraj Singh, Minister ofState for MSME, PratapChandra Sarangi, and KVICChairman Vinai KumarSaxena were present on theoccasion.

While launching thepaint, Gadkari said the inno-vative Khadi Prakritik Painthas the potential of evolvinginto a �6,000 crore marketand creating 10 lakh newjobs that will revolutionalizethe agro-based economy ofthe country.

“A policy will be framedfor sharing the technicalknowhow of Khadi PrakritikPaint to maximum people inIndia. KVIC will providetechnical training to newentrepreneurs who couldbenefit by manufacturing cowdung paint. Thousands ofPrakritik paint manufacturing

units can be set up across thecountry that will give a bigboost to local manufacturingand agro-based economy,”Gadkari said.

He said bulk utilisation ofcow dung will ensure mone-tary gains to farmers thatwill also desist them fromselling away cows in the mar-ket. “This will put a check oncow slaughtering. We willstop cow slaughteringthrough the economy andnot through the law,” he said.

KVIC Chairman VKSaxena said Khadi PrakritikPaint was not just a productbut a tool of accelerating thegrowth of rural economy inIndia. “The prime objective ofdeveloping cow-dung paint isemployment generationwhich is the basic premise ofKhadi. This paint is a rein-vention of age-old practicesinto a scientifically-testedmodern product,” Saxenasaid.

Production of KhadiPrakritik Paint is aligned with

the Prime Minister’s vision ofincreasing farmers’ income.At the same time, it will cre-ate thousands of new jobs inthe paint manufacturing sec-tor as KVIC will share thetechnology and provide train-ing for manufacturing ofPrakritik Paint, he added.

At present, Prakritik Paintmanufacturing unit at KVIC’sKumarappa NationalHandmade Paper Institute inJaipur, has the daily capacityof producing 500 liters ofpaint which provides directemployment to 10 people.

Apart from being water-proof and washable, KhadiPrakritik Paint contains thenatural benefits of cow dunglike anti-bacterial, anti-fungaland natural thermal insula-tion properties.

This paint is eco-friendly,non-toxic, odorless and cost-effective. Emulsion paintmeets BIS 15489:2013 stan-dards; Distemper paint con-forms to BIS 428:2013 stan-dards.

�� ,6�$�� ,��4��4��

�� '-(�.-/*#

Opposition parties onTuesday welcomed the

Supreme Court’s decision tostay the implementation of thethree farm laws, but some ofthem expressed doubts over theneutrality of the committeeformed by the top court to endthe impasse over the con-tentious legislations.

Congress’ chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala said theparty welcomes the SupremeCourt’s concern over the farmlaws, but the party has issueswith the composition of thecommittee formed by it. Hesaid the members of the com-mittee have already expressedtheir views in the past favour-ing the new laws “so the ques-tion arises in our minds thathow justice will be done tofarmers by their hands”.

While staying the laws, thetop court set up a four-mem-ber committee to resolve theimpasse between the Centralgovernment and the farmers’unions protesting at Delhi’sborders over the legislations.

NCP supremo and formerAgriculture Minister SharadPawar also welcomed theSupreme court’s decision to put

on hold the implementation ofthree farm bills and set up thecommittee to resolve the issues.

“It is a big relief for farm-ers and I hope that a concretedialogue between the Centralgovernment and farmers willbe initiated now, keeping thefarmers interests and wellbeingin mind,” said Pawar.

Last month, Pawar, whowas the Union agriculture min-ister from 2004 to 2014 in theManmohan Singh government,along with other oppositionleaders including Congress’sRahul Gandhi met PresidentRam Nath Kovind and soughta repeal of the three farm laws.

Echoing similar views,DMK chief M K Stalin alsowelcomed the decision of theSupreme Court, saying this isa victory for farmers protest-ing across India.

“I once again urge theUnion government to committo repealing the farm laws inthe next Parliament Session,”he said.

CPI(M) General SecretarySitaram Yechury Tweeted :Can anyone expect the protest-ing farmers demanding repealof Agri Laws to talk to such acommittee?

Why should they?

Farmers are left with noother option than to boycottthis committee?, the left leadermentioned.

Shiv Sena leader and RajyaSabha member PriyankaChaturvedi asked “Should notfarm laws after SC stay nowmove to Parliament StandingCommittee ofParliamentarians where vari-ous stakeholders from farmsector can be heard. “That’swhat the constitution man-dates. There’s a clear separationof role of judiciary, executiveand legislative,” saidChaturvedi. Congress, ShivSena and NCP are alliancepartners in the UddhavThackeray led Maharashtragovernment.

Senior Congress leader PChidambram said the con-cern expressed by the SupremeCourt over the farmers’protests is “justified and wel-come in the situation createdby a stubborn Government”.

“The decision to form aCommittee to help find a solu-tion is well-intentioned.However, the composition ofthe four member committee ispuzzling and sends contradic-tory signals,” he said onTwitter.

"��$��

�� '-(�.-/*#

India has reported the low-est single-day jump in coro-

navirus cases in the last 24hours since mid-June with12,584 fresh infections takingthe tally to 1,04,79,179, theUnion Health Ministry saidon Tuesday

The death toll increasedto 1,51,327 with 167 daily newfatalities while the number ofpeople who have recuperatedfrom the disease surged to1,01,11,294 pushing thenational COVID-19 recov-ery rate to 96.49 percent.

The Covid-19 case fatal-ity rate stands at 1.44 percentwith the active caseloadremaining below 3 lakh.

There are 2,16,558 activecoronavirus infections in thecountry which comprises 2.07percent of the total caseload,as per the Ministry.

India’s COVID-19 tallyhad crossed the 20-lakh markon August 7, 30 lakh onAugust 23, 40 lakh onSeptember 5 and 50 lakh onSeptember 16. It went past 60lakh on September 28, 70lakh on October 11, crossed80 lakh on October 29, 90lakh on November 20 andsurpassed the one-crore markon December 19.

“The country is now 14thamong the most affectedcountries by active cases. India added 12,584cases, the lowest daily spikesince June 17, to take its totalcaseload to 10,479,179.

And, with 167 new fatal-it ies its Covid-19 deathtoll reached 151,327, or 1.44per cent of total confirmedinfections,” said UnionHealth Secretar y RajeshBhushan.

�� )��$�#��

�� '-(�.-/*#

With temperatures falling,an orange alert was

issued by the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) on Tuesday for thenorthern plains with a forecastof a cold wave for the next fourdays. A similar alert has beensounded for Tamil Nadu andPuducherry with a forecast ofheavy rains. The IMD saidthat the minimum temperatureover the north Indian plains islikely to be below normal dur-ing this period.

“Due to the prevalence ofdry north/northwesterly winds,the minimum temperature isvery likely to be below normalover most parts of northwestIndia during next 4-5 dayswhich are very likely to causecold day/severe cold day con-ditions at some parts of Punjab,Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi,Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhandduring next three days.

“Cold wave/severe coldwave conditions at some partsare also very likely over Punjab,Haryana, Chandigarh andDelhi and in isolated partsover Uttar Pradesh, northMadhya Pradesh and Rajasthanduring next three days,” theIMD said.

Ground frost is also verylikely in isolated pockets oversouth Punjab, Haryana,Chandigarh and northRajasthan during the next twodays.

The IMD said that dense tovery dense fog conditions atisolated places are very likelyover northwest India duringthe next 4-5 days.

#�.��

�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

Jaipur: A meetingwas held onMonday under thechairmanship ofH o u s i n gC ommissionerPawan Arora alongwith the officials ofAll India Services ResidencySociety. At the meeting, officialsgave suggestions in relation tothe Servent Room, Kitchen,Club House, which theCommissioner, while adoptinga positive attitude, convincedthem to consider their sugges-tions.

The All India ServicesResidency proposed in PratapNagar Sector Sector-17 wasaccepted by the Olympic Boardtill 31 December 2020. 159 offi-cers have applied for the scheme.All India in Pratap Nagar Sector17 of Jaipur by RajasthanHousing Board Officers servingin All India Services of Servicesand Central Civil Services(Group-A Services) in

Rajasthan, Officers of All IndiaServices and National CivilServices (Group-A Services)serving in Rajasthan's basic res-ident or other states/cadre, basedin Rajasthan Central ArmedServices “AIS Residency”Residential Plan for Officers ofCentral Armed Police Forceand Officers of RajasthanAdministrative Service,Rajasthan Police Service, andRajasthan Accounts Service,Officers of Police Force,Rajasthan resident and otherstates/cadre Has been. Alongwith this the scheme alsoincludes those officers who areresidents of other states butresiding in Rajasthan but arenow retired.

�� *-''�#

As the countdown for theassembly election began

in Tamil Nadu, the rulingAIADMK and the OppositionDMK have adopted a defensiveposture to ward off any possi-ble erosion of votes in thecoming days. The aggressivepostures of both the partieshave given way to sense of cau-tion.

A possible patch upbetween the AIADMK and thebreakaway Amma MakkalMunnetra Kazhakam(AMMK) launched by TTVDhinakaran have gainedmomentum by Friday follow-ing a derogatory statementmade by Udhayanidhi Stalin,son of DMK president M KStalin.

While addressing an elec-

tion rally, Udhayanidhi madevulgar comments about ChiefMinister EdappadiPalaniswamy and V K Sasikala,the jailed aide to late JJayalalithaa. Though main-stream media did not reportthe same, the video ofUdhayanidhi’s speech wentviral in the social media.

The Chennai Police onMonday registered casesagainst Udhayanidhi undervarious sections of the IPC,Information Technology Actand Tamil Nadu Prohibition of WomenHarassment Act.

Activists of the DMK, whobelong to the Thevar commu-nity too took strong objectionto the words of Udhayanidhiand a prominent communitymember has posted a socialmedia message against thescion of the Karunanidhi fam-

ily. Senior AIADMK leaders,who did not want to be named,said that efforts were on topatch up with the Sasikala fac-tion. Sasikala is expected to bereleased from jail on January27, her lawyer S Pandian haddisclosed recently.

There are reports thatDhinakaran who is heading theAMMK have started talks withAIADMK leaders at theinstance of common friendsand well wishers. “This possi-bility could not be ruled out.There is a feeling among boththe factions that they shouldfight the election together,”said Kolahala Srenivaasan,author and political commen-tator.

Stalin, who was holdingGram Sabhas across the villagesin Tamil Nadu had to put suchinteractions on hold after awoman created a ruckus in one

of the meetings held inCoimbatore district. Poongodi,reportedly an activist of theAIADMK, asked questionswhich irritated the DMK chiefwho asked her to go out of themeeting. The woman was beat-en up by the DMK cadre andpolice had to intervene to saveher.

The possibility of the DMKforging an alliance withAsaduddin Owaisi MP andpresident of the AIMIM looksbleak as the latter felt humili-ated by Stain’s action of invit-ing him for the January 6 pub-lic meeting and later askinghim to stay off.

Talks are going on betweenKamal Haassan’s MNM andOwaisi to forge a third front inthe State. There is a likelihood ofThirumavalavan of the VCK,who pleads with Dalits to get

converted to Islam, to join theKamal-Owaisi front if theDMK refuses to allocate thenumber of seats which the for-mer had demanded.

Mani Shankar Iyer,Congress leader had said onSunday that his party wouldaccept whatever seats are allo-cated to it by the DMK. “Itwould be unrealistic for us toexpect more seats than we gotlast time,” said Iyer at a timewhen other alliance partnerslike the VCK, MDMK and theIslamic outfits are pressurizingthe DMK for more seats.

The BJP made it known onMonday that EdappadiPalaniswamy would be thechief ministerial candidate ofthe AIADMK and theHindutwa party would extendfull support to him. This wasstated by BJP’s Tamil Naduobserver C T Ravi.

0D0#1H��011H��"��"��J.��

.��(�� $�� 7��.��

�� *#�>C�'�'�*��>��

As many as 5,507 more per-sons tested coronavirus

positive and another 4,270patients cured in Kerala onTuesday, Health Minister KKShailaja's office said.

The state's test positivityrate on Tuesday stood at 8.52per cent. A total of 25 fatalitieson Tuesday took the COVID-19 death toll to 3,347.

In all, 64,556 persons areunder treatment across thestate.

Ernakulam district had thehighest 813 new cases andKasargod lowest 58 cases.

Of the positive cases, 53have come from outside thestate. In all, 4,952 persons test-ed positive through contacts

while the source of infection in433 others is not known.

A total of 69 health work-ers tested positive on Tuesday,including 22 in Pathanamthitta,10 in Ernakulam, nine inKozhikode, eight in Kannur,seven in Thrissur, four inPalakkad, two each inT h i r u v a n a n t h a p u r a m ,Wayanad and Kasargod, andone each in Kollam, Alappuzhaand Kottayam.

In all, 1,99,519 persons areunder observation, including1,88,973 in homes or institu-tional quarantine and 10,546 invarious hospitals across thestate. With Enadimangalam inPathanamthitta district (con-tainment zone sub-ward 12)declared a new coronavirushotspot, the total went up to436 in Kerala.

Dharmavaram (Andhra Pradesh): A 20-year-old womanwas arrested in Andhra Pradesh's West Godavari district oncharge of fatally stabbing her boyfriend while riding pillionon his motorcycle, police said on Tuesday.

The crime occurred around 7 pm on Monday atDharmavaram village, around 75 km north-east ofBhimavaram, while the two were on way to Kapavaram vil-lage from Malakapalli in the district.

Accused Gassikuti Pavani was angry with victim AmbatiKaruna Tataji, 23, over his alleged relations with anotherwoman.

“Tataji had promised to marry Pavani but had becomefriendly with another woman,” a police official told IANS.Tataji also allegedly told her about his conversations with theother woman, apart from demanding money from her when-ever in need.

On Monday evening, Tataji approached the final-yeardegree student again for money.

As both set off on his motorcycle, Pavani took out a knifeand stabbed Tataji in the back. As both fell off the two-wheel-er, Pavani repeatedly stabbed him all over his body.

“She later sat by her dead boyfriend's body and called upher friends. We took her into custody and registered a caseunder Section 302 of the IPC,” said the official.

Police said Pavani was calm after the murder, adding thatmurder weapon, and two cell phones had been seized fromthe spot.Tataji earlier worked as a salesman but was joblessat present. IANS

Lucknow: The Lucknow policehave detained a doctor fromSultanpur in connection with themurder of history-sheeter AjitSingh.

One of the accused Rehan,who was arrested on Sunday, hadrevealed the names of Dr. A.K.Singh and another one VishalSingh of Sultanpur.

The police also tracedWhatsApp chats between Vishaland an eastern Uttar Pradeshdon-turned-politician.

The shooters were injuredon the night of January 6 whenthey sprayed bullets on anotherhistory-sheeter Ajit Singh, in theGomti Nagar area of LucknowThey were first taken to a flat byRehan and Vishal Singh and aprivate doctor was called in totreat them.

“On January 7 morning, theduo was taken to the privatefacility of Dr. A.K. Singh in thered-coloured SUV by Vishal,”said a senior police official.

The official said that Vishalstayed in a flat in Gomti Nagarextension, registered in the nameof the eastern Uttar Pradesh don-turned-politician.

As per the plan, Vishal wasto take the shooters out of UttarPradesh.However, the plan gotupset after the alleged shooters,Girdhari Sharma and PradeepSingh Kabutra got injured, thepolice said.

The injured shooters wereadmitted under fake names toconceal their identities till thetreatment on January 10, policesaid.

Later, they were taken in amaroon-coloured car anddropped in Ujjain in MadhyaPradesh. “We have checked theentire conversation and alsoseized Vishal's mobile phone,”the police officer said.

The police are now ques-tioning the doctor about his linkswith the shooters and the east-ern Uttar Pradesh don. IANS

'5�$��0K�� "��"

�K��%��

ArrayGuwahati: As the rulingBJP kicks off its Assembly pollcampaign in Assam, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,Home Minister Amit Shah andother central leaders wouldhold a series of election ralliesin the northeastern state nextweek, BJP leader and Assamminister Himanta Biswa Sarmasaid on Tuesday.

BJP national president JPNadda, who left here onTuesday for Delhi, addressed apublic gathering in southernAssam's Silchar on Mondayand claimed that the saffronparty has been winning all theelections in the country fromJammu & Kashmir toTelangana, and it would returnto power in Assam once againwith 100-plus seats in theupcoming state Assembly polls.

Sarma, who is the conven-er of the BJP-led alliance ofregional parties -- North East

Democratic Alliance (NEDA)- said that Prime MinisterModi is likely to visit Assam onJanuary 23 and Home MinisterShah is also likely to addresstwo public rallies at Kokrajharand Nalbari on January 24. ThePrime Minister's detailed pro-gramme is yet to be finalised.

Nadda who was on two-day Assam visit held meetingswith Assam Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal, Sarma,state BJP President RanjeetKumar Dass and other seniorleaders in Guwahati onMonday and Tuesday and dis-

cussed the strategies for theAssembly polls likely to beheld in April-May.

Accompanied by his wifeMallika Nadda, the BJPPresident on Tuesday visitedthe famous KamakhyaDevalaya in Guwahati onTuesday and prayed at thefamed 'Shakti Peetha' atop thepicturesque Nilachal hills inAssam's main city. The 126-member Assam Assembly willgo to the polls along with WestBengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

In the last Assembly pollsin 2016, the BJP defeated theCongress and formed the gov-ernment in Assam for the firsttime winning 60 seats afterforging an alliance with theBodoland People's Front (BPF)and the Asom Gana Parishad(AGP), who won 14 and 12seats, respectively. The rulingalliance also has the support ofan independent MLA. IANS

�(%� �� !�� #�� Panaji: Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on

Tuesday met his Defence Ministry colleague MoSShripad Naik, who has been admitted to a Goahospital following a road accident in Karnataka lateon Monday.

Singh briefly met Naik at the Goa MedicalCollege campus to enquire after his health and tocondole the death of the Union MoS's wifeVijaya, before leaving for the national capital.”Hiscondition is stable according to doctors. They havesaid there is no danger. If proper treatment can beprovided here, then he will be treated here itself.If need be, he will be shifted to Delhi. Everythingwill depend on doctors here,” Singh told reportersat the hospital campus after he met the team of doc-tors treating Naik.

Singh also said that doctors at the Goa hos-pital were in touch with their counterparts at theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences in thenational capital. Singh is also scheduled to visitNaik's private residence at San Pedro near Panaji.

Earlier on Tuesday, Chief Minister PramodSawant said that Naik's condition is “stable” andhe's responding well to treatment after twoorthopaedic operations in the early hours ofTuesday.

“I have met Bhau (Naik). His condition is sta-ble now. The two orthopaedic surgeries conduct-ed on him were successful,” Sawant told reporters

shortly after meeting Naik at the hospital's coro-nary care unit.

“The operations started around 2.30 a.m. andlasted till around 7 a.m. He is now under sedation.He is responding well to treatment,” Sawant said.

Sawant said that Defence Minister RajnathSingh will arrive here later in the day to ask afterthe health of Naik, who was injured in a roadmishap in Karnataka late on Monday.

“We will take a call on whether we need expertopinion. Rajnath Singh will also meet with doc-tors later today to review Naik's health,” Sawantsaid.

Naik's wife Vijaya and his Personal SecretaryDeepak Ghume had succumbed to their injuries,while his driver and a Personal Security Officer arecurrently admitted at the Goa Medical College nearPanaji.

The Chief Minister said that hours after Naikwas rushed from the accident site in Yellapur inKarnataka to the Goa Medical College on Mondaynight, two surgeries were conducted.

Apart from loss of blood and dropping bloodpressure, Naik had a broken upper limb and a frac-tured thigh bone. Late on Monday, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi also spoke to Sawant and direct-ed him to ensure the best treatment for Naik, afifth-term MP from North Goa and a former stateBJP President. IANS

��'�� &��, � �� '-��#�� #�� .��

�&%%&!�#!&�#*+!#/%&'��&0$��+��"%0��+�*=�!�+�

��&0��?��*��+�,�&,8&*&*%&�#*#!&"2�+&+�A��,��%�*+�&*B��+�)0&,&��&*%#+��,��*�#,"�&%�,��*�)!&�&+�#*�#*%&'&*%�)��%&'&*%%��()��%+��

�+,&+�=��?#,+��08"'-#""�"��"'+#8��"%�*�-,�"/�&'

Gandhinagar: While unveiling thenew Tourism Policy 2021-25, GujaratChief Minister Vijay Rupani onTuesday said the Statue of Unity(SoU) at Kevadiya received morevisitors than the Taj Mahal in Agra.

The new policy aims to developspecific areas in the state. Similar tothe concept in the West, the govern-ment also wants to develop caravanand beach tourism like in Goa.

Addressing the media, the GujaratCM said, “We want to boost the ser-vice sector industry by developing thetourism infrastructure in the state. Inthe latest tourism policy we havestressed more on developing specif-ic focused areas like we have devel-oped the SoU site at Kevadiya. TheSoU has received overwhelmingresponse from tourists as it receivesmore visitors than the famous TajMahal.”

The state government will begiving incentives to tourism devel-opment projects in focused areas.

In the new policy, a provision hasbeen made for a minimum Rs 1 croreinvestment and 20 per cent incentivefor it, though there is no limit on max-imum investment. In the previoustourism policy, there was a cap of Rs50 crore investment and 15 per centsubsidy on investment in new hotels,resorts, amusement parks, themeparks and water parks. “If the invest-ment is more than Rs 500 crore, wewill give 20 per cent incentive on that,”Rupani added.

The new policy also wants toincentivise amusement parks, waterparks and theme parks where Rs 50crore would be considered the mini-mum investment and 15 per cent sub-sidy would be given for investment inthe range of Rs 50 crore to Rs 500crore.

The state government wants topush projects yielding large invest-ments and for that amusement parkprojects with more than Rs 500 croreinvestment would be given land onlease on top of the 15 per cent sub-sidy. The 15 per cent subsidy wouldalso be given to resorts and theNational Accreditation Board forHospitals & Healthcare Providers(NABH) accredited wellness resorts.

The Gujarat government wants tohave large convention halls in thestate. “We want more convention cen-tres with capacity as much as 5,000 or10,000.””We will be giving incentivesto convention centres with mini-mum 2,500 sitting capacity where 15per cent incentive on investment willbe given,” Rupani added.

“We want to start caravan tourismin Gujarat where tourists can formcaravans and travel across the state.The government will offer 15 per centsubsidy on Rs 10 lakh investment inthe caravan tourism industry,” saidRupani. According to the policy, intented accommodation in specificfocused areas, investment worth morethan Rs 50 lakh would be given 15 percent incentive. IANS

)�� >�� E�+��

Chennai: At least four pas-sengers, including a woman,were electrocuted while 10others received injuries aftertheir bus came in contactwith a power transmissionline in Tamil Nadu'sThanjavur district, policesaid on Tuesday.

According to the police,the private bus carryingabout 50 passengers fell intoa pit while overtaking a lorryand came in contact with thelive power cable at Varagurvillage. The injured havebeen admitted to a nearbyhospital. IANS

�� *-''�#

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K.Palaniswami on Tuesdayannounced reopening of schools for classes 10 and 12

from January 19.In a statement issued here, Palaniswami said the schools

will be reopened only for classes 10 and 12 and each class-room will have 25 students.He also said in order to boostthe immunity levels, the students attending the classes willbe given vitamin and zinc tablets.

The Chief Minister said the government's decision comesafter 95 per cent of the parents had expressed in favour ofreopening of the schools.

The parent's views were taken on 8 and 9 of this monthby the respective schools and a report was submitted to thegovernment.

J.��"��&5��&'��O��&6

/�� J��.��

Varanasi: The district administrationin Varanasi has banned feeding ofmigratory birds in the Ganga river andalong the Ghats.

Public announcements are beingmade on the Ghats, asking people notto feed the birds in view of the bird fluscare.

Migratory birds arrive in largenumbers in Varanasi during the win-

ter season and tourists go on boats andfeed these birds.

Chief veterinary officer Dr VijayPratap Singh said that these migrato-

ry birds stay in Varanasi for almostfour months and are a major touristattraction. “In view of the bird fluscare, we are asking humans to stayaway from birds. Public announce-ments to this effect are being madeand the river police is also warningboat riders. The boatmen have alsobeen adequately informed of the dan-ger,” he said. IANS

��,$"�� !� ��!��#��

Q�Q5)��H��

. F�� $��E�� C��=,&+#,'8�,%�&,,�$��*"&,=�*)08�,��*�&,&*&��%),�*=+��!�*+�,��&�#*&*%+#),��+�=##*8#&+�&*%?��%+��8�,%�

��>�"�#

Having received 9,63,000 doses ofthe Covid-19 vaccine vials,

Maharashtra on Tuesday geareditself to administer the vaccine to thepeople across the state in the firstphase of vaccination, even as thePune-based Serum Institute of India(SII) sent out the first batch of Covid-19 vaccine vials to 13 locationsacross the country.Of a total of14.50 tonnes of vaccine vials it dis-patched to various locations acrossthe country on Tuesday, the SII hasmade available 9.63 lakh doses to thestate health authorities.

Talking to media persons here,Maharashtra Health Minister RajeshTope said: “We will distribute thevaccine vials district-wise as per theinstructions received from theCorona Vaccination Experts Groupset up by the Centre. The vaccina-tion drive will be undertaken at 511locations in 36 districts in the state”.

“As many as 784,000 health

workers have so far registered them-selves on the state’s Covid-19 portal.The process of registration will con-tinue till midnight of Tuesday-Wednesday,” State Principal Secretary(Health) Pradip Vyas said.

Vyas said that apart from 7.48lakh people who had registeredthemselves on the state’s Covid-19portal, another 17,749 vaccinatorshad also registered for the vaccina-tion drive. Tope said that as part thedrive, his ministry had identifiednine priority groups for the vacci-nation, including health care andfrontline workers comprising allgovernment and private health insti-tutions, Asha, Anganwadi, centralpolice forces, armed forces, homeguard and municipal workers

According to Tope, the thirdgroup comprised all people above 50years of age and those below 50 yearwith co-morbidities.

“Each centre will vaccinate atleast 100 people and all arrangementshave been made for the vaccination

teams comprising 5 members eachat all locations,” Tope said.

The state government has set upcold chain centres set up across thestate. These include 34 at various dis-tricts and 27 in various municipali-ties, 4 Walkin Freezers, 21 WalkinCoolers, 3,937 Deep Freezers, and

4,153 ILRs. The Walkin coolershave come up at Thane, Pune,Nashik, Aurangabad, Kolhapur,Latur, Akola and Nagpur.

The Centre has sent 1,200Vaccine Carriers which have alreadybeen dispatched to the districts andmunicipal corporations.

In a related development, threeKool-Ex Cold Chain trucks ladenwith Covishield vaccine left from theSII campus to the Pune InternationalAirport for onward despatch to 13locations across the country.

The locations where the vaccineshave been dispatched include: Delhi,Patna, Shillong, Ahmadabad,Chandigarh, Lucknow, Chennai,Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vijayawada,Bhubaneswar, Kolkata andGuwahati.Meanwhile, as SIIdespatched 14.50 tonnes of vaccinevials to various locations across thecountry on Tuesday, its CEO-ownerAdar Poonawalla described the occa-sion as “a historic and emotionalmoment” for him.

“An emotional moment for theteam at SII as the first shipments ofCovishield finally leaves for multiplelocations across India,” Poonawallatweeted along with with two pho-tographs – one with the entire SIIteam and another with the temper-ature-controlled truck.

��"�6S( ��"��1�"��"��

��)��0��1�$3")��7�� ,��)38�$��$�� 4�� %9:;'��$�#�)%*�#� ��#��7�� %<��

As a doctor, one of thefundamental things youare taught in the medicalcollege — and, frankly,

a lot earlier — is the differencebetween the symptom and thedisease and the importance intackling the disease rather thanjust the symptom. A fever, forinstance, is a good example of thesymptom that is common to anumber of illnesses, such as var-ious types of flu as well as differ-ent types of infections. However,a paracetamol or Crocin cannotcure such illnesses, though suchmedicines may prove effective incontaining the fever briefly. Theill-informed may be led to believethat the disease is cured but, inreality, the disease is alive andkicking and, without proper careand attention, the symptoms(including the fever) would alsoreturn.

In today’s time and age, weare battling and struggling with adisease that has turned our worldupside down: A virus that has lit-erally brought the world to astandstill and whose inertia we arestill trying to break away from.The COVID-19 crisis has grippedthe entire world but afflictions likefake news, propaganda and con-spiracy theories that endanger ourfundamental understanding ofdemocracy are possibly where thetrue threat to humanity lies. Themost recent example of this harmthat these diseases can cause iswhen violent mobs stormed theCapitol (which is the Americanequivalent of our Parliament) onthe back of calls from outgoingPresident Donald Trump andother politicians and commenta-tors from the Right wing to stopthe transition of power in theUnited States of America. WhileTrump and these leaders didattempt to distance themselvesfrom the violence and said thatthey never intended any violenceto take place, it is hard to arguethat by stirring emotions and byacting contrary to the fundamen-tal principles of a democracy, thePresident and his supporters(both in the media and in politics)do not have blood on their hands.

Prime Minister NarendraModi distanced himself from hisgood friend, Trump, by tweetingagainst the attack. However, whatshould pain Modi more than theunceremonious exit of his dearfriend from the office is the factthat India too has, unfortunate-ly, not been immune to the dis-ease of unsubstantiated propagan-da, and provoked — or, at the very

least, inspired — violence. Andafter the Emergency of 1975,the most severe impact of theseillnesses has been seen in histenure as the Prime Minister.Therefore, while the attack onthe Capitol was shocking, wehave seen just as many disturb-ing examples of violencerecently in our very own country.

In the attack on the stu-dents of the Jawaharlal NehruUniversity, for example, wesaw a mob enter the campus ofa major university and beat upand threaten students andteachers alike. While reportsshow that there are video clipsand reasonable evidence of theprime actors of this violencebeing from the Akhil BharatiyaVidyarthi Parishad (ABVP),the Right-wing student organ-isation affiliated to theRashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh(RSS), there has been no sub-stantial action against the insti-gators, including those who areclearly seen on camera.

We have also seen severalof the Union Ministers raise arallying cry on the election trailin New Delhi, raising slogansof “Desh ke gaddaaron ko…”,with the faceless crowdresponding with chants of“…goli maaron saalon ko”.Similarly, during the protestsagainst the BJP’s CitizenshipAmendment Act, we hadanother shocking incidentwhere a man fired at least twoshots from a distance of 50metres from the stage of theprotest. In a video captured byeyewitnesses, the man can beseen brandishing his gun andshouting: “Hamaare desh meinkisi ki nahi chalegi, sirf Hinduon

ki chalegi (No one exceptHindus will have their way inour country).” The man wassubsequently identified as KapilGurjar and this same man wasa few months later inductedinto the BJP at a public func-tion. At the ceremony, whichtook place in Ghaziabad, thedistrict convener of the BJPinducted him into the partywith the words: “Kapil Gurjarhas joined with hundreds ofsupporters. He has influenceand support base in the area.He has been impressed by theparty’s policies, the work beingdone by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi ji and UPChief Minister Yogi Adityanathji.” While one does not expectsuch honesty from politicians,the BJP at least removed himfrom the party and cancelledhis membership in the face ofthe serious backlash that fol-lowed.

Similarly, in a shockingcase of mob violence inBulandshahr, a police inspector,SK Singh, was shot and killedby a violent mob over an allegedincident of cow slaughter.According to reports, thosenamed in the charge sheet forSingh’s murder include BajrangDal’s local convener YogeshRaj and the BJP’s youth wingleader Shikhar Agarwal. Otherthan this, we also saw the hor-rific abuse of power in Hathraswhere the UP Police claimedthat there was no evidence ofrape but the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) has subse-quently filed a charge sheetagainst four men accused of thegang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman.

The above instances are

horrific examples of violenceand show a clear disregard forthe fundamental principles ofan effective democracy.However, these acts of vio-lence and disorder only catchour attention when they reacha terrifying crescendo. Muchlike how the mob in the UnitedStates (US), after being fedhours and hours of lies and fakenews, was convinced that theywere participating in an act oflegitimate defiance; so have wetoo seen mobs in India that arefed streams of fake news andfalsehoods through socialmedia and through “legitimate”news outlets till the point thatthey are stirred into a violentfrenzy. It is here where the BJPand the Prime Minister havebeen found woefully wanting.While the Prime Minister maynot himself be making suchinflammatory statements, hisacceptance and silence aroundthe conduct of those he hasdirect control over and thosewho regularly engage in suchmalpractices speaks volumes.While Modi has tried to dis-tance himself from Trump andhis horrific legacy, he has muchto do to address and fix hisparty’s own legacy in the coun-try. In the words of Voltaire,“Those who can make youbelieve absurdities, can makeyou commit atrocities”, and byallowing such people to face noconsequence for their action,Modi is leaving his own legacywhich has just as many blackmarks as the man who calledhim “a great friend”.

(The author is a former IPSofficer and member of theCongress party. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

��

�� !�� " �� #�� $�� %��##��!�� " �� !� ��&�!� �� $�'�� !��!�� #��#�� $�'�� "�(��"�� # �"��#�$'�� #��! �� !��"�� $�� #��#��)�� " ��

�� )��!��##�� #�� % �� "�� '� �� "�� !�� "��#��#�� "�� $�*�� "�+�,*�� *��-..�#�� !�� $/��#� �� 0 ��#�� !� �� ##�� # �� $�� !�� !�� 1��"�� *�� #�� $�2�� 2�� ##�� 3��'� #��!�� #�� $�(��0 �� 4��1 �� 5�� #�� %�� !��!��!�� $

1 �� 61��"�7 ��8�� "��(�# �� !��'� #�� #�� ##�� #��#�� ,�� /�� !�� #��#�$�7 �� '��8 ��#�� 1��"��5 �� "�� 9�!� ��4�� # ��2�% ��:"��$�2�� !�%�� #��"�� $�� 2�� !� ��#�� #��$�*��#�� #�� '��8 �� ;.-<��!� �� 1��"�#��#�� $�� "��!�� !� ��#��!�� #�� "�� #�� !�� $�=�� !� ��,! �� /�!�� !�� # ��##�� "��#�! �� !�� $�=�� 1 �� !��!��'� #�2� � �� #��0 �� 2�� !�� !�� $

0 9��"��#

'�� #��(� ��!�� ##� �� 9��!�� " ��

�� !�� !�� #��%#�� ! ��0 �� +�*�� "��!�� 5 � � �� >�'�� !�� ,�� #��/��" �� %#��)� �� #��!�� )�� ,��!�� !��/��!!��!� �� ?��#�� !�� ,!��#� � ��5 � � ��/��" ��"�� $�'��

�� #�� %�� $�'�� #�� 9��1 �$�'� �� ##�� # ! � �� #�� $�:�� #�� ! �� #�� ,��"/�� #�� 0 ��#�� $�*��!�� -@A.�� !�� ! �� "�� #�� #� �� #�$�1 �� #�� ?�� #� �� !��$�'��#� ��! �� $�7 �" �� #�� !��"�� #� � �� $

�� 9�� #��,�� "��/��!�� #��#�� "�� ##��#� ��B8��C��9��#�� $�1�� #�� $�2�� "��#�� !��!�� #� ��$&��%�#��&�� '��(��B�� &�� C�2��;.;.��! �� 2�� 8��"��(� ��B2�8(C��!�� $�*��#�� ! ��9�� "�� 2�8(��"��$�'�� ,� �� /��#��#� �� !�� % �� #�� ! �� ! � ��$�'��9�� "�� ! ��$�2�� "�� #�� #��#�� #�� 5��$�2��# ��#�� #�� 2�8(�� ,��/�� #�� !�� #�� " ��$�& ��D�� (�� B2��C�1 ��;.;.�� # �� !�� #�� %��#�� $�1 �� "� ��##�� $�*�� !�� $

� � � * � : 0 - ) � � � 0 1 ,

///0#� �� 0!�)��$ 0�� @�� G ?��.�� G �� @�� @

�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

��

)� �%��!��;

*��3��S�/��"��"��

�*��T��$�� $�J��"�� S�U�K�H��7��V��"��

�� J�� W��

��0�$��2�� #��

�1�2��

�> *�/#;-��*-�,"�#'��*-�>)�

�!�-��"-#'+�!-.*,>�)��'.

*,>�)�,!�/#-)�'.�!�;-�'-()�(-��,,��*�C-)--'��,")�#'#'.#��*��-!-.�)��-��)�,!!�;-�'-()��#//

�*-B��-�)�#��-.#'�,��C#,/-'�

!�-'HB

��Sir — Madhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj Singh Chouhanbatting for raising the legal ageof marriage for women from 18to 21 years is indeed a welcomestep which will give more powerto women. All States should raisethe legal age of marriage forwomen. If the legal age of mar-riage for boys is 21 years, whycan’t it be the same for girls?

Due to marriage at an earlyage, girls are often forced by cir-cumstances to put a break totheir careers and studies and doonly household chores. In sucha situation, women are not ableto pursue the career of theirchoice and fulfil their aspirations.Further, marriage at an early agealso has an adverse effect ontheir mental and physical health.

Girls and women shouldnot be scared and must comeforth to report the crimes andviolence against them. Further,it is the responsibility of theirparents and the society to createan atmosphere in which girls donot hesitate or feel shy of shar-ing their problems. The countrywill not be empowered in thetrue sense unless its women are.

Amit Singh Kushwaha Satna

� ��Sir — An end to the farmers’ agi-tation is nowhere in sight. TheSupreme Court should have con-cerned itself about the questionof the constitutionality of the farmlaws.

What is really worrisome,though, is the precedent the topcourt is setting for various inter-

est groups for future debatesover the contentious laws. Byallowing for an extra-parliamen-tary method to settle debate overlaws, the court is not only under-mining the legislative but also thenation’s faith in representativedemocracy. It is telling the mass-es that the way to arm-twist theGovernment on laws that affecttheir interest is to generate

enough heft to lay siege to theCapital and the ParliamentHouse.

It is hard to see how thecourt-appointed panel can comeup with an amicable solution. Ifthe eventual solution is not agree-able to the farmers, it will be backto square one.

N Sadhasiva ReddyBengaluru

�� Sir — Racism has again raisedits ugly head, this time at theSydney Cricket Ground. Therecent racial abuse of two crick-eters is definitely a blot oninternational sports. It has to becondemned by one and all.

It is appalling that suchthings are happening whenmost part of the internationalcricket has been lost in 2020because of the COVID-19 pan-demic. Even though matches arebeing played of late, there is lit-tle spectator capacity.

The time has come for theICC to treat racial abuse as aserious issue and take sternaction against the offenders. Itmust ban the offenders fromentering stadiums for a fixedperiod. During the IPL games inIndia, cricketers from differentparts of the world are greetedand treated equally. Everyoneshould realise that colour, caste,gender and religion in no waydecide the behaviour, skill, hap-piness, opportunities and suc-cess of a person.

V Nagendra Kumar Hyderabad

��

-�� 2�� 0��#�� +� ��. �� I+.�J��

�� 0� �� $�� " �� ,C#.�%&�� $��

* �� 0� �� +.�� 0�� 0��+.�� $��

#�� F��$�� $�� +.��!��0��2��$�� !�$��%�� $�� :9:%�::��!�� ) ��

�� + ��0�� ' �� $�� ,C#.�%&�$�� $�� !�� 0��

Bhagwan ThadaniMumbai

�� 4��2"�++�,�+#-�#*��,C=0&�"�(#0

#F��0�� )��#��$�� $�� $��

�)�+,&"�&*(,�(��+�,.��(��

� � � � � � � � � � ��

#��K��2��#��#�� $�0�� 0�� #��#�� #�� F�0 ��#F�� 2��

�#""'!##%?�"00&��, �� ' �

��+ ��F�� L��0 �� M��

�#*=,��"�&%�,��+��

(�� $�� $��$� ��

��(,�+&,'/��*�,&"�� +��

� � � � � � � � �

- ��"��"��

��A�� ;��AD��

�� E��

��

��;��A��A��2��2��E�� ;��;��

+��+��

Blockchain is one of the latest technologiesused in the business world. Though thistechnology was around since 1990s, it start-

ed gaining popularity in the last decade, with theadvent of cryptocurrencies. Although it is fastgaining attention, its applicability to businessneeds to be comprehensively understood and itspotential is still to be realised fully. The worldis in the early stages of acceptance, testing andimplementation of blockchain technology andthere is still some time before it hits the main-stream. Blockchain is a type of database wheredata is stored in blocks which are chained togeth-er. Any new data is entered into a fresh blockwhich is then chained to the existing data in achronological order. Therefore, it differs struc-turally from any of the existing databases wherethe data is structured as tables and which isaccessed either by an individual or a group ofpeople. Although accessibility is easier, since datasets are owned and managed by businesses, theyhave control over statistics and they can bechanged and manipulated to suit the firm’srequirements. This loophole is addressed in theblockchain technology and since information isstored in blocks, it becomes permanent once itis entered and remains part of a timeline, chainedto other blocks of data having a precise time-stamp.

There are four aspects of this unique tech-nology. First, consensus of all the relevant usersis taken and the information is updated only afterthe transaction is validated by all of them.Second, any transaction once approved, automat-ically gets created across ledgers for all the users.Permanency of records, or immutability, is thethird aspect. Once the blocks are added, theycannot be removed. Fourth and the mainaspect of blockchain technology is security, asonly authorised users can create and accessblocks of data. Although blockchain technolo-gy is mainly associated with cryptocurrency suchas bitcoins, once the extent of its applicability isunderstood properly, it has the potential to trans-form how businesses operate and can developexciting value propositions when different busi-nesses work together as an ecosystem. Newprocesses can be developed opening up freshavenues to make merchandising more compet-itive. Blockchain technology can help business-es do some social good along with their regu-lar activity. One of the fields where this new tech-nology finds its application is in the food indus-try. The journey of food from farm to fork canbe tracked using it. For instance, in 2006, the UShad an outbreak of escherichia coli, particular-ly in spinach. It took the Government about twoweeks to find the source of the bacteria and, inthe meanwhile, tons of spinach was discardeddue to the fear of the vegetable being contami-nated.

Blockchain technology has enabled trans-parency in the supply chain, across differentcompanies and their ecosystems, to preciselylocate the origin of contamination. Several largecompanies like Walmart, Nestle and Unilever areusing this technology to have more control onthe quality of raw materials.

In one of the experiments conducted byWalmart, it was able to trace the origin of slicedmangoes back to the farm in 2.2 seconds usingthe enterprise blockchain platform. Earlier,such an activity using traditional methods to

track the sliced mangoes to their ori-gin would have taken approximatelyseven days.

The US Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) recently adopt-ed this technology for food labelingrequirements to inform consumersabout “added sugar” to the product.This makes it easier for companies pro-ducing end products to track the sup-pliers of ingredients through the infor-mation recorded in the blocks, there-by saving both time and money.

In the present age, information hasa very special place and protecting itsprivacy is another important applica-tion of blockchain technology.Important information like user iden-tity, passwords, address, PermanentAccount Number (PAN), bank detailsand so on, are spread across the inter-net, leaving us vulnerable to datatheft.

Out of 3.2 million fraud casesreported to the US Federal TradeCommission (FTC) in 2019, nearly 20per cent were related to data and iden-tity theft. According to the 2019NortonLifeLock Cyber Safety InsightReport, around 40 per cent of Indianconsumers have experienced identitytheft and have lost approximately �1.2trillion in 2019 due to cyber crime.

Blockchain technology finds itsapplication in securing the data of indi-viduals by providing privacy of infor-mation. Instead of having a centraldatabase, which is the current practice,a blockchain ledger acts as a digitalrights management system providingrelevant permissions to access requiredinformation. For instance, if informa-tion related to age is required, then onlythat statistic is released instead of addi-tional data like address and so on. Sinceinformation is not present in the formof a central database, it’s vulnerabilityto theft is drastically reduced.

Blockchain technology also makesthe tracking of digital information dif-ficult because of three-layered securedata exchange. The data seeker, dataprovider and the network operator donot know each other. Going forward,this may be the best strategy to protectconsumers’ data and ensure privacy.

Supply chain is another invisiblearea which has a huge impact on theoperations of any business. Any inter-ruption can lead to an overall disrup-tion. Blockchain technology providesincreased transparency by providingparticipants increased visibility acrossall activities in the supply chain. It alsobuilds a resilient system, pre-definingbusiness conditions, so that contractsare automatically kicked-in when theseconditions are fulfilled.

This technology also streamlinesthe addition of any supplier or vendorinto the business, which traditionallyis a time-consuming activity. Using theunique aspect of immutability, theprocess of recording new vendordetails in a trustworthy manner, is lesstime consuming. Other industrieswhere blockchain technology can pro-vide transformational opportunity arebanking and financial markets, insur-ance, risk management, the healthcareindustry, research and clinical trials,commerce, retail management, mediaand the automation industry, to namea few.

Globalisation is the mainstay oftoday’s world with ever-increasingcross-border trade and business.However, the missing link is trust. Thislack of confidence can also lead to dis-ruption in traditional business models,which are usually process related andhave several stakeholders. Blockchaintechnology can bring about a transfor-mational shift by developing faithbetween the parties. Such new busi-ness models have been used by com-

panies like Uber, Airbnb and Netflix.Although the potential of blockchaintechnology is immense, there are cer-tain challenges. This know-how is notmature as yet and it may take sometime for it to evolve further. A cue canbe taken from the fact that internettechnology is still making advancesafter being introduced four decadesago. Other challenges includes thereadiness of businesses to adopt thistechnology and their ability to find avalue proposition in it, ensuring thecorrect governance structure, andplacing the correct team to lead theadoption of this know-how.

Additionally, the feasibility ofadopting blockchain technology mayalso be limited due to Governmentpolicies, business environments, laws,regulations and bureaucratic red tape.A complex governance structure canlead to ambiguity, interruptions andhigher expenditures. In the same vein,blockchain technology adoption inthe public sector is mired in delays andhas a higher risk when compared toprivate or hybrid participants.

Blockchain technology is alreadyfinding its relevance across indus-tries, like finance, cross-border tradeand supply chains. Although it may notbe the solution for every businessobjective, it has the potential to trans-form other industries as well. Manybusiness leaders want to know thedirect correlation between usingblockchain technology and improvedsales growth or competitive advantage.Blockchain technology, because of itsunique characteristics of immutabili-ty, transparency and trust, opens upnew ecosystems and business modelsand fresh opportunities for revenuegeneration.

(The writer is Associate Professor,Amity University, Noida. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

X��"��"��$��$��"��S�0��"��"��$�� "��$� �� %��"��"��"��"��

��

+��,��)�# !��.��/��#&�

* ��

#�� 0��

�� %��

#'��*-��-)-'��+-��.��

*�)��C-�B)�- #�/�

�/� -��'.��,�- �#'+��#C� B�#)�',�*-�

#��,��'��/# ��#,'�

,!�"/, ; *�#'�- *',/,+B��#��,��'�

#'!,��#,'�/#;-�>)-�#.-'�#�B�

��))(,�.)��..�-))��

�-��'-'�� ,>'��'>�"-��

"�';�.-��#/)��'.�),�,'��-�)��-�.

� �,))��*-�#'�-�'-��/-�C#'+�>)

C>/'-��"/-��,.��*-!�

�� $'� �� "��5��

��"��$�&�� "��(:�*3�-@�� $�D�� ;.;.��!�� !� �� $�'� �� " �� #�� !�� $�

*�� #�� #�� #�� ! �� $��#�� $�'�� #�� #��#�� #�� "�� #�� $

*�� "��%�� #��"��#� � �� #�� #�� #�� #�� $�2�� =�� "�� !��#��#��#�� $'� ��! ��" ��$�

�� #�� !�� #�� $�2�� # �� #�� !��"�� #��! ��$�

7 �� !��#� �� !��(('��$�*�� #�� #��#�� "�� !�� #��#�� $9 �� !� ��#�� !�� #�� $�

�� #��$�3�� !�� ! ��! �� 1 ��3�� #��$2�� !�� #�� #�� !��$�&��%�#�� "��!�#�� B ��C� ��#�� #�� #�� !��%�� $�

� ��E3�#� �� E3�� #�� #�� $�E3�#� �� #�� !5�� !�� #��#��!5��$�'�� !5�� # �� (�# ��2 ��3�� !��E3�#� �� 0 ��$�� #�� !�� F�� B��#�� (:�*3��C�� !��%#�� E�3�� !��#�� !�� "�� $�

2�� #�� #�� " ��"�� !�$�'� �� !�� !�� #�� "�� ! ��$�� # ��#�� "��$�*�� "�� !��#�� $��%#��!��#�� #��#��# � ��#�� $�

=�� G�� 1(��#��!�� !��7��1 �� $�2�� #��"� ��A�� 23��=��-.�...�� ;�...�� !��(� ��H ��$�*�� #��#�� $�1 ��"�� "��#��"��$�

*�� #�� $�'�� #�� "��$�&�� #�� #��"��$

B� �� !��"��#��#��

� ��$��%��#�C

The migrant workers who onceappeared on the front pages ofnewspapers and dominated tele-

vision news were no longer visible inthe months following the nationwidelockdown, which was necessitated bythe Coronavirus pandemic. Once theyreached their respective villages andhometowns, all thoughts of themwere erased from public memory. Itwas as though the crises of hunger andhomelessness had been effectivelyresolved. But nothing could be fartherfrom the truth and the misery of thesilent workforce continued in thehinterland as it was plagued by “lock-down hunger.”

After the Government announced

the lockdown on March 24, 2020,States and the country at large werereminded of the fact that its cities wereincapable of providing a dignified lifeto a significant section of its residents.They remained confined to the mar-gins despite making significant contri-butions to the local economy. Tomake matters worse, relief schemesannounced by the Centre and StateGovernments in response to suchcalamities seldom reach the mostvulnerable, creating gaps in local gov-ernance and management.

The pandemic and similar disas-ters in the past, have underscored therole of the local leadership in filling thecritical governance gap. In their com-munities, these leaders take charge,understanding very well, the socio-cul-tural nuances and the language of thepeople they seek to help. What setsthem apart are their courageousactions, often going beyond the call ofduty and acting with a sense ofurgency to serve those facing a calami-ty.

In June 2020, when cyclone

Nisarga made landfall in Maharashtra,it caused widespread damage in theRaigad area, tearing down homes, dev-astating farms and felling power polesand trees. The cyclone had hit thecoastal districts of Maharashtra fromthe Arabian Sea with wind speeds thatreached up to 120 kilometres per hour.At this time, Pascal Sinor, a priest atthe Mary of Nazareth church inAlibaug, Raigad district, distributedrations to 250 families in his parishand, about a 1,000 families in 13 neigh-bouring tribal villages. With the helpof a local civil society agency, Sinorcould also arrange for clothes and roof-ing material for 40 households.

The priest showed the importanceof local leadership. He showed that ina crisis, the leadership challenge is anunusual one: The leader needs to actwith spontaneity, take inconvenientdecisions and confront a system thatis paralysed, albeit temporarily, by thecalamity.

In the cyclone-prone State ofOdisha, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikboldly declared just before a major

twister hit the State in 2013 that hewould “like to see zero casualties.” This,in a State that had borne the brunt ofa devastating cyclone in 1999 thatclaimed more than 10,000 lives! To setsuch a goal for his Government, in aregion that suffers from endemicpoverty and has poor infrastructure,was a huge political risk. He, neverthe-less, announced his goal.

Not only did the State succeed insaving thousands of lives, but it also setan international best practice andnow is a model for other States in the

country. In May 2019, too, whenCyclone Fani made landfall in Odisha,loss of life was minimal despite theseverity of the storm.

Actions by leaders like Patnaik, inserving people threatened by disasters,have been recognised in a recentreport on local leadership for disasterresilience, published by the UN Officefor Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).The report, which documents the jour-ney of several local leaders across Asiathrough the course of different crises,aims to inspire many more local lead-

ers to contribute to the achievementof the Sendai Framework’s goal of dis-aster and risk reduction in communi-ties.

Perhaps a silver lining in manag-ing the COVID-19 pandemic is alsothe emergence of many local leaders— ordinary people who have risen tomeet the needs of others. For instance,Sourav Bhattacharjee, a theatre studentof Rabindra Bharati University inWest Bengal, got the idea to open acommunity kitchen called “MohamarirHeshel (pandemic kitchen)” during thelockdown in March. He went back toKhowai district of Tripura, his home-town, and started this initiative byrecognising the fact that many peoplehad lost their livelihood and could notbank on their savings throughout thepandemic.

Bhattacharjee is just one of themany local leaders that the pandem-ic gave birth to. Whether these remainone-off initiatives, limited to a story inthe media or we enable a system thatnurtures and recognises such leader-ship, is a call for all of us to take.

Despite their crucial role, localleaders face considerable challenges intheir work, persevering even in the faceof seemingly insurmountable difficul-ties, ranging from a lack of funds toindifference in their communities. Atthe same time, they might also lackaccess to technical know-how andnuances of humanitarian action. Localleadership and action deserveacknowledgement and enhanced sup-port from national governments, inter-national organisations, civil society,businesses, and academia. The role ofsuch people is indispensable in thehour of crisis. Involving them in plan-ning allows for better resilience of localcommunities.

Governments and civil societymust work towards building anenabling environment for nurturinglocal leaders and integrate them intothe process, thereby ensuring no onegets left behind.

(The writer is co-founder of a dis-aster readiness, response and rehabili-tation NGO, SEEDS. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

.��"��$��

�� !��

�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

///0#� �� 0!�) "#$�$

% &"'��(�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

�#"#08#� ��,�� )��/0�� 0�� :9%5��&�&,+&� �� :<�� #� ��1��(��D�� 0�� #*F��G��>)�+ �� 2�� ;�� 0��2�� $$�� $�� $ �� /�� 2�� !�� 2��*��#��$�� "�� 0�� "&0&8&%� ��0��+ �� .�$��)��0�� $��0� ��2� ��$�� $�� $��$��:9:9�:%�� #��;�� $�� .��

0��"�0��"�

�� Kampala (Uganda):Opposition figures in Ugandaare criticizing widespread vio-lence by security forces aheadof Thursday’s presidential elec-tion, while main challengerBobi Wine said soldiers whoraided his home Tuesday morn-ing arrested a security guardand beat two gardeners badly.

“The terror, frankly, isunprecedented,” said KizzaBesigye, a veteran oppositionleader who challenged long-time President YoweriMuseveni in four elections.

“Violence, terror seem to

be scaled up with every com-ing election. This election haswitnessed untold violence. Itgets worse and worse by theday.”

The army spokeswomandid not respond to a request forcomment. The policespokesman was unavailable.

Wine, a popular singer andlawmaker whose real name isKyagulanyi Ssentamu, spokealongside other opposition fig-ures in the capital, Kampala, onthe last day of campaigning asthey seek to deny Musevenianother term. AP

London: Twitter says it has sus-pended more than 70,000accounts associated with the farright QAnon conspiracy theo-ry following last week’s U.S.Capitol riot.

The social media companysaid Tuesday that given theevents last week in Washington,D.C., where a mob of pro-Trump loyalists tried to vio-lently storm the Capitol build-ing, it was taking action againstonline behaviour “that has thepotential to lead to offline.”

In many cases, a singleindividual operated numerousaccounts, driving up the totalnumber of affected accounts,the company said in a blog post.

“These accounts were

engaged in sharing harmfulQAnon-associated content atscale and were primarily dedi-cated to the propagation of thisconspiracy theory across theservice,” the company said.

Twitter’s sweeping purgeof QAnon accounts, whichbegan Friday, is part of a widercrackdown that also includes itsdecision to ban PresidentDonald Trump from the serviceover worries about furtherincitement to violence.

The suspensions meansome Twitter users will lose fol-lowers, in some cases by thethousands, the company said.

The QAnon conspiracytheory is centered on the base-less belief that Trump is waging

a secret campaign against “deepstate” enemies and a child sextrafficking ring run by satanicpedophiles and cannibals.Twitter has previously tried tocrack down on QAnon, remov-ing more than 7,000 accounts inJuly.

Twitter said it’s also step-ping up enforcement measuresand starting Tuesday it will limitthe spread of posts that violateits civic integrity policy by pre-venting anyone from replyingto, liking or retweeting them.

The policy prohibitsattempts to manipulate elec-tions and spread misleadinginfo about their results, withrepeated violations resulting inpermanent suspension. AP

Brussels: The official super-vising the agreement aimed atcurbing Iran’s nuclear ambi-tions is warning that Tehran’sdecision to ramp up uraniumenrichment could undermineefforts to keep the deal aliveamid diplomatic efforts tobring the United States back onboard.

European Union foreignpolicy chief Josep Borrell saidIran’s intention to enrich ura-nium up to 20 per cent at theFordo underground nuclearfacility “is a very serious devel-opment and a matter of deepconcern,” and “has very severeproliferation implications.” Lastweek, Iran began enrichinguranium to levels unseen sincethe deal was struck in 2015.

Iran has argued that it is nolonger obliged to respect lim-its laid out in the pact, knownas the Joint ComprehensivePlan of Action, becausePresident Donald Trump vio-lated it first by pulling theUnited States out of the deal in2018, which resulted in crip-pling sanctions on Iran’s mori-bund economy.

The deal offers Iran eco-nomic incentives in exchangefor curbs on its nuclear pro-gram, but with the reinstate-

ment of American sanctions,the other signatories — China,France, Germany, Russia andthe U.K. — have struggled toprovide Iran the assistance itseeks.

President-elect Joe Bidenhas said he hopes to return theUS to the deal, which wasnegotiated while he was vicepresident. Borrell and the othercountries would welcome sucha move.

“At this critical juncture,Iran’s action also risks under-mining efforts aimed at build-ing upon the existing diplo-matic process. We urge Iran torefrain from further escalationand reverse this course ofaction without delay,” Borrellsaid in his statement, releasedlate Monday.

He said that full and time-ly cooperation with theInternational Atomic EnergyAgency “remains critical.”

Borrell added that the EUlooks “forward to working withthe incoming U.S.Administration.” Despite Iran’sviolations, the IAEA hasreported that Tehran continuesto give inspectors full access toits nuclear sites — a key reasonthe signatories say it is worthpreserving. AP

Beijing: China’s People’sLiberation Army (PLA) recent-ly started deploying the coun-try’s first panoramic, high-pre-cision spatial datum that coversthe uncharted Western borderregion of the country, officialmedia here reported onTuesday.

The system which provides3D mapping with centimetrelevel accuracy will contribute tothe infrastructure constructionas well as combat capabilityenhancement of Chinese forcesin the region, state-run GlobalTimes reported.

China has the longest bor-der spanning 22,000 kms andshares them with 14 countrieswith 11 of them, includingIndia, in the Western sector.

India and China have3,488-km long Line of ActualControl (LAC) including theEastern Ladakh where thearmies of the two countrieshave deployed a large number

of troops. Over the past two years a

navigation and mapping unitaffiliated with the PLA WesternTheatre Command, whichlooks after the borders withIndia, traversed over 20,000kms and established the firstpanoramic, high-precision spa-tial datum in the western bor-der region based on 3D geo-graphic information fromremote sensing images andjoint situational precognition,the Global Times quoted theofficial China CentralTelevision (CCTV) as saying.

“The panoramic spatialdatum is like a multifunction-al, highly accurate ruler that canindicate the coordinates ofremote sensing images andother geographic data. We canevaluate the data, that can reachcentimeter-level accuracy,”Wang Yanbin, deputy leader ofthe navigation and mappingunit, told CCTV. PTI

�� -)*�(��

Militants targeted a poliovaccination team in

northwestern Pakistan onTuesday, killing a policeman inthe latest attack on workersengaged in the campaignagainst the crippling disease.

The unidentified gunmenopened fire on the team atLatambar area in Karak districtof Khyber- Pakthunkhwaprovince.

The policemen were pro-viding security cover to the vac-cinators.

A policeman patrolling thearea was killed in the firing.

No group has claimedresponsibility for the attack.

Pakistan and neighbouringAfghanistan are the only tworemaining countries in theworld where polio is endemic.

Immunisation efforts inthe past have been hamperedby militants. They havealleged the immunisationcampaigns are a cover forWestern spies.

Washington: The FBI haswarned that it has receivedintelligence that “armedprotests” were being planned atall 50 US state capitols and inWashington DC in the run-upto President-elect Joe Biden’sinauguration on January 20,leading to fears of more dead-ly violence by extremists sup-porting outgoing PresidentDonald Trump.

Posts on pro-Trump andfar-right online networks havecalled for protest action on anumber of dates, includingarmed demonstrations in citiesacross the country on January17 and a march in WashingtonDC on inauguration day itself.

“Armed protests are beingplanned at all 50 state capitolsfrom January 16 through atleast January 20, and at the USCapitol from January 17through January 20,” accordingto the internal Federal Bureauof Investigation (FBI) bulletinobtained by CNN and othermedia outlets.

Biden is slated to be swornin as the 46th President of theUnited States on January 20,along with Indian-originKamala Harris as the VicePresident.

On Monday, Biden toldreporters he was not afraid totake the oath of office outsideof the US Capitol.

Both he and Harris are stillexpected to be sworn in outsidethe building, only two weeksafter it was the site of a deadly

raid by radical supporters ofTrump opposing the electionresult.

Only after theCongressional certification ofthe November 3 presidentialelections last week, the outgo-ing Republican President

Trump has reluctantly accept-ed the election results andpromised a smooth transitionof power.

But he still believes thepresidential elections had mas-sive voters’ fraud, an allegationwhich remains unsubstantiat-

ed and have been thrown outof courts dozens of times.

However, Trump’s repeat-ed assertion of massive voters’fraud has incited his base. Thisresulted in thousands of hissupporters storming theCapitol Hill, the historic build-ing, that houses the USCongress on January 6.

Five people, including awoman and a police officialdied and several dozens injuredin the incident that is now con-sidered as a dark letter day inthe history of Americandemocracy.

The Democratic Party,which has majority in both theHouse of Representatives andthe Senate and would occupythe White House after January20, on Monday moved secondimpeachment proceedingsagainst Trump, blaming him forthe unprecedented violence.

The FBI and the Americansecurity and intelligence agen-cies, who were taken aback bythe last week ingloriousmoment at the Capitol Hill, amajor breach of security thatput the lives of hundreds ofAmerican lawmakers at risk,are now leaving nothing tochance. PTI

�� #�,

Egypt on Tuesday reopenedits airspace to Qatar flights

after regional heavyweightSaudi Arabia reopened its air-space and border with the GulfArab state last week, Egyptianairport officials said.

A Qatar Airways plane isdue to land in Cairo onFriday, the officials said,speaking on condition ofanonymity because they were

not authorised to speak to themedia.

It will be the first commer-cial f light between the two countries since Egyptjoined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates andBahrain in a boycott of Qatar in2017, accusing it of cozying upto Iran and financing extrem-ist groups in the region. Dohadenied the charges, criticisingthe Arab embargo as a bid tosubvert its sovereignty.

&�� #��7��!6+��8"K��$��"��&Q�555��.��*��

7�=�� 4��=�� >�� $�� 7�

��(�)*#'+�,'

US President DonaldTrump has issued an

emergency declaration for thenational capital here ahead ofhis successor Joe Biden’s inau-guration on January 20, amidstthreat perception to the eventby federal agencies.

In a statement on Monday,the White House said thePresident’s action authorisesthe Department of HomelandSecurity (DHS) and theFederal EmergencyManagement Agency (FEMA)to coordinate relief efforts toalleviate the hardship and suf-fering caused by the emer-gency on the local population.

The emergency inWashington DC will be effec-tive from Monday till January24.

It comes in the wake of lastweek’s violent protest, in whichthousands of pro-Trump sup-porters stormed the Capitolbuilding and clashed with

police, interrupting a consti-tutional process by Congress toaffirm the victory of President-elect Biden and VicePresident-elect Kamala Harrisin the election. Five people,including a Capitol Police offi-cer, died in the protests.

According to the WhiteHouse, the emergency declara-tion also provides appropriateassistance for required emer-gency measures, authorisedunder Title V of the Stafford Actto save lives and to protect prop-erty and public health and safe-ty, and to lessen or avert thethreat of a catastrophe in theDistrict of Columbia.

Specifically, the FEMA isauthorised to identify, mobilise,and provide at its discretion,equipment and resources nec-essary to alleviate the impactsof the emergency. Emergencyprotective measures, limited todirect Federal assistance, willbe provided at 100 per centFederal funding, the WhiteHouse said.

&��#�� /��#��$�

Washington: Indian-AmericanCongresswoman PramilaJayapal said on Tuesday that shehas tested positive for coron-avirus after being locked downin a secured room at the USCapitol where severalRepublican lawmakers reck-lessly refused to wear masks inthe moments after the January6 attack.

“I just received a positiveCovid-19 test result after beinglocked down in a secured roomat the Capitol where severalRepublicans not only cruellyrefused to wear a mask but reck-lessly mocked colleagues andstaff who offered them one,” 55-year-old Jayapal tweeted.

In a statement, Jayapal saidshe began quarantining imme-diately after the attack on theCapitol, fearing and foreseeingexactly what would occur giventhe number of maskless law-makers sitting in the same roomwith her. PTI

-�� 9��#�� :��5��

-��D��"��

J�� )5�555�Z0��*��

$��$��$�� .�� 7 �� 8� �� 7�� ?)%@&��#��?�#�� 7�

��"�� #��

��:� ��:�� -�:

5 ��/��"�� -��#�� /��

+��-�$��Z��"�

) *#��+�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

�� A�� A��"�� )��0�)��!��"0�I))!"J �� "0� ��#��I�"#J� �� $0��$��)��!��"0�I)!"J��#��0�� )��0�� "0�I)� "J�� )!"��)� "��>�$� ��"0�I> "J��#�� )��!��"0��

��2��!�"�� 76�:9�� ID��5J�#��$�� ; �0��&9�7=��7<�&<��78�<7�� (��0�� .��0��

��6�.<��2313��!�"�� + �� :&5�� 67�&6<��%9�� *.! �)��#�� 67�<6&��%9��)�� %�696�� <8�=79��0�� <=�&5<��0�� #�� 0��$ �� >).�%�787�� >).�:8�=&�� "��N8<��$��0�.�� #�.��$�� ; �0��56�=7��7%�95��5&�5:��55�&5��

New Delhi:Markets regulatorSebi is planning to rope in anindependent agency to providecontract staff, including recep-tionist and data entry operator,for its Bhubaneswar office.

Besides, the regulator isalso planning to hire an agencythat will provide securityguards.In two separate notices,inviting applications from the

interested parties, Securitiesand Exchange Board of India(Sebi) said the services wouldbe required at the regulator’slocal office inBhubaneswar.The scope of thework involves providing thenecessary manpower likehousekeeping cum office atten-dant, receptionist, data entryoperator and office assistant.

�� '-(�.-/*#

Retail inflation fell sharply to4.59 per cent in December,

mainly due to declining foodprices, government datashowed on Tuesday.

Retail inflation based onthe Consumer Price Index(CPI) was 6.93 per cent inNovember.

Food inflation declined to3.41 per cent in December in2020, compared to 9.5 per centin the previous month, accord-ing to the data released by theMinistry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) factors in retail inflationwhile arriving at its monetarypolicy.

�� >�"�#

Equity indices vaulted tofresh lifetime highs for the

third session on the trot onTuesday as investors remainedin risk-on mode amid unabat-ed foreign fund inflows.

Overcoming a wobblystart, the 30-share BSE Sensexsurged to its all-time peak of49,569.14 during the day, pro-pelled by robust buying inindex heavyweights RelianceIndustries and HDFC Bank.

The index finally finishedat its new closing record of49,517.11, up by 247.79 pointsor 0.50 per cent.

On similar lines, thebroader NSE Nifty advanced78.70 points or 0.54 per cent toa fresh closing peak of14,563.45. It scaled a recordlevel of 14,590.65 during thesession.

On the Sensex chart, SBIwas the top gainer, rallying 3.65per cent, followed by BhartiAirtel, Reliance Industries,HDFC Bank, ITC, Axis Bankand NTPC.

RIL and HDFC Bankaccounted for the lion’s share ofthe benchmark’s gains.

On the other hand, AsianPaints, HUL, Nestle India,Titan, Kotak Bank and Sun

Pharma were among the lag-gards, dropping up to 3.93 percent. “The pace of the marketrally continued despite RBI’scaution over elevated NPA lev-els in 2021, supported by PSUBanks and auto stocks.Majority of the sectors tradedin the green in anticipation ofgood quarterly result whilepharma and FMCG experi-enced some selling.

�� >�"�#

The domestic hospitalityindustry, which has been

severely affected by the Covid-19 related disruptions, is like-ly to witness a decline of over65 per cent in 2020-21, accord-ing to a report.

However, there might be arecovery in demand in thelater part of financial year2021-22 as vaccine rolloutsgains traction, it said.

In a report, rating agencyIcra said it expects the indus-try to contract 65 per cent inthe financial year 2021, withmassive operating and net loss-es, wiping out the cumulativeprofits of the four past years.

However, a sharp demandrecovery is possible in the laterpart of the financial year 2021-22, as vaccine rollouts gain trac-tion.

Much though will be con-tingent upon the spread of thepandemic and success of vac-cination efforts, the report said.

The situation is still

evolving, with numerous head-winds as seen with the restartof crowd control and lock-downs, increasing India’sCOVID cases and globally overthe last few weeks, the reportadded.

The domestic hospitalityindustry has been one of theworst-hit sectors, severelyaffected by the COVID-19pandemic and subsequentlockdowns, which restrictedmobility and hotel occupanciesin all the major markets, theIcra report stated.

Icra research observedthat pan-India occupancy hitan all-time low of 18-20 percent in eight months of thefinancial year 2021, down from64-65 per cent in the previousyear.The average room rates(ARR)s was at Rs 3,400-3,500per night, a discount of 35-40per cent, while the RevPARdeclined by about 80 per centduring the period under con-sideration.

Although some sequentialimprovement has been wit-

nessed since September 2020,recovery is slow and arduous,punctuated by setbacks, it said,adding that this will culminatein a weak financial year 2021.

“We expect FY21 RevPARto decline by 70-75 per centpan-India and close at Rs 900-1,000 per night. It will contin-ue to be impacted by the lock-down, travel restrictionsbecause of the virus spread.

“FY22 will see the indus-try witnessing over 120 per centgrowth in revenues and oper-ating margins clawing up to 13-15 per cent supported by pick-up in revenues and some con-tinued benefits of the large-scale cost rationalisation mea-sures undertaken during thepandemic, particularly instaffing,” Icra VP and SectorHead Pavethra Ponniah said.

However, to put thesegrowth numbers in perspective,the optically high growth num-bers for financial year 2021-22will only place the industry ona recovery path to pre-COVIDlevels in 2-3 years, she said.

New Delhi:Income tax returnsfiled this year have risen byabout 5 per cent to nearly 6crore as more businesses andentities filed annual incomestatements. Over 5.95 croreincome tax returns (ITRs) forthe fiscal year ended March 31,2020 (2019-20) were filed byJanuary 10, the Income TaxDepartment said.

The ITR filing deadline forindividuals ended on January10 while for companies it is till

February 15. The tax depart-ment in a tweet said 5.95 croreITRs for Assessment Year 2020-21 were filed till January 10,2021, as compared to 5.67crore ITRs filed for the previ-ous Assessment Year bySeptember 10, 2019.

The total returns for 2019-20 are 33.35 lakh higher thanthe previous year as total ITRsfiled stood at 5.61 crore on thelast date which was August 31,2019. PTI

�� '-(�.-/*#

WhatsApp on Tuesday saidits latest policy update

does not affect the privacy ofmessages as the Facebook-owned company sought toaddress concerns around secu-rity of user data on the plat-form.

In a blogpost, WhatsAppemphasised that it does notshare users’ contact lists or dataof groups with Facebook forads purposes, and that neitherWhatsApp nor Facebook canread messages or hear callsbetween users on WhatsApp.

Last week, WhatsApp hadinformed users of an update inits Terms of Service and priva-cy policy regarding how itprocesses user data and part-ners with Facebook to offerintegrations across the socialmedia giant’s products.

It also stated that users will

have to agree to the new termsand policy by February 8, 2021,in order to continue usingWhatsApp’s service.

This kickstarted a spate ofconversations and memes onthe internet over WhatsApp’salleged sharing of user infor-mation with Facebook, andmany users have started shift-ing to rival platforms likeTelegram and Signal.

“We want to be clear thatthe policy update does notaffect the privacy of your mes-sages with friends or family inany way.

Instead, this updateincludes changes related tomessaging a business onWhatsApp, which is optional,and provides further transparency about how wecollect and use data,”WhatsApp said.

It added that WhatsAppaccesses only the phone num-

bers from the address book(after getting user’s permission)to make messaging fast andreliable, and that it doesn’tshare contact lists with theother apps Facebook offers.

“We use group member-ship to deliver messages and toprotect our service from spamand abuse.

We don’t share this datawith Facebook for ads purpos-es.

Again, these private chatsare end-to-end encrypted so wecan’t see their content,” it noted.

A report by internet secu-rity researcher RajshekharRajaharia had claimed that at least 1,700 privateWhatsApp group links werevisible on Google through aweb search. WhatsApp notedthat users can choose to settheir messages to disappearfrom chats “for additional pri-vacy”.

�� '-(�.-/*#

Industrial production con-tracted by 1.9 per cent in

November, entering the nega-tive territory after a two-monthgap, mainly due to poor show-ing by manufacturing and min-ing sectors, official data showedon Tuesday.

The manufacturing sector- which constitutes 77.63 percent of the index of industrialproduction (IIP) - recorded acontraction of 1.7 per cent inNovember 2020, as per datareleased by the NationalStatistical Office (NSO).

Mining sector output toowitnessed a decline, shrinking7.3 per cent. However, power

generation grew 3.5 per cent inthe month under review.

The IIP had grown by 2.1per cent in November 2019.

Industrial production hadplunged 18.7 per cent in Marchlast year following the Covid-19 outbreak and remained inthe negative zone till August2020.

With the resumption ofeconomic activities, factoryoutput posted a flat growth of0.48 per cent in September.

The IIP growth forOctober has been revisedupwards to 4.9 per cent fromlast month’s provisional esti-mates of 3.6 per cent.

The government hadimposed a lockdown to containthe spread of COVID-19 infec-tions on March 25, 2020.

With the gradual relax-ation of restrictions, there hasbeen a relative improvement inthe economic activities by vary-ing degrees as well as in data

reporting, the Ministry ofStatistics and ProgrammeImplementation had said in astatement issued in November.

The ministry had alsogiven a disclaimer that it maynot be appropriate to comparethe IIP in the post-pandemicmonths with the data formonths preceding the COVID-19 outbreak.

The manufacturing sectorhad recorded a growth of 3 percent in November 2019.

Similarly, mining sectoroutput grew 1.9 per cent, butelectricity generation shrank by5 per cent in November 2019.

The output of capitalgoods, which is a barometer ofinvestment, fell by 7.1 per centin November 2020 as against acontraction of 8.9 per centearlier.

Consumer durables outputfell by 0.7 per cent, comparedto 1.4 per cent contraction inNovember 2019.

�� '-(�.-/*#

India’s fiscal deficit in thecurrent financial year is like-

ly to reach 7.4 per cent of theGDP on the back of enhancedgovernment expenditure amidthe pandemic, said the SBI

Ecowrap report.The report noted that as

per the first advanced estimateof the GDP, real GDP will con-tract by 7.7 per cent in FY21,and nominal GDP growth isexpected at (-) 4.2 per cent.Accordingly, the nominalGDP for FY22 would grow by15 per cent to Rs 224.04 lakhcrore.

"�� :��';(��)��H�� 6��

#��"��$��$�� $�(Q[��/\'&��,��

X��"��"�� $]�,D2�7#/��X��

Mumbai:The rupeerecouped early losses andclosed 15 paise higher at73.25 against the US dollaron Tuesday, supported byweakness in the greenbackoverseas and recovery indomestic equities. UnabatedFPI inflows added to themomentum, though gainswere capped by firm crude oilprices, forex traders said. Atthe interbank forex market,the rupee opened weak at73.42 and shuttled between ahigh of 73.24 and a low of73.44.

��%8�� 5=�:8��>).

�� /�� #� �� A�� B2�=��7��

,��!SQ6��#��

Q[��3��"��$��

�� !" #$��%�&��'$(�

)�$��$�� "��$��

Human Resource Managementhas significantly evolved over

the years and has now become amore humane profession. Overthe past decade, coaching, coun-selling and mentoring has becomea very important responsibilityfor HR managers. The skill ofcoaching, counselling and men-toring has the potential to revolu-tionise the relationship betweenmanagers and executives whilealso dealing with different aspectsof managing human resources likecareer planning and development,performance management, stressmanagement, and other areaswhich may affect employees emo-tionally.

Well being of an organisationincluding its profitability and busi-ness sustainability, has been posi-tively correlated to employee wellbeing in various studies. Therefore,it is a well established fact thatwhenever the employee satisfactionis high and their well being islooked after, their commitmentand engagement with the organi-sation is also high.

Students pursuing MBA in HRare always encouraged to imbibethese three skills to help the organ-isation as well as employees per-form better. Every manager hastheir own leadership style, howev-er coaching and mentoring skillshelps one to become a friendly yeteffective leader.

Let’s understand the impor-tance of the three skills in a busi-ness setting.

Coaching in an organisa-tional context

HR professionals are often

encouraged to pursue the coachingrole. Coaching is a training methodin which a more experienced andskilled professional provides adviceand guidance to employees regard-ing their work goals, performanceand career trajectory.

Often, organisations hire exter-nal coaches and consultants to helpemployees, but lately, companiesprefer internal HR teams workingin the coaching arena, since HRprofessionals are skilled and pre-pared to take on this role. Suchadditional responsibilities are alsohelpful for budding HR profes-sionals to enhance their career. Thecoaching role enables new man-

agers to speed up, improve conflictresolution and help obtain indi-vidual as well as business goals.

Counselling at workplaceIn an organisation, HR pro-

fessionals are at the forefront ofemployee development, grievanceredressal and employee retention.Workplace counselling is an inter-vention by the HR team, and theHR managers act as a support spe-cialist to employees from alldomains. The counselling processinvolves providing a safe space foremployees to talk about issues atwork. HR managers ensure that theprocess is unbiased, confidentialand is seen as an activity for

employee welfare. Most organisa-tions are emphasising on de-stressed employees to boost theirproductivity, and also to retaintheir employees.

An HR mentor for employeedevelopment

Mentoring is the process ofbuilding a formal relationship witha new and/or inexperiencedemployee and helping them toquickly understand the organisa-tion and perform to their truepotential. An HR professional canthus help build a healthy culture atthe workplace by ensuring employ-ee satisfaction and catering togrievances by providing appro-priate guidance both formally andinformally. This is because a men-tor needs to be evaluative and unbi-ased to help employees quicklyspeed up as a contributor to theorganisation. Considering thatevery new employee will have newresponsibilities and will need towork according to the vision andmission of the organisation, everyHR professional must act as a men-tor to employees.

Enabling the coaching, coun-selling and mentoring process, intrue earnest, will definitely help toadvance organisational goals.

�� $!(.��

,*-*$�.�3��2�

�/*��)� 0�� "��&�*'-1�� /$�*,*&�2**�� $��""�1 ,�1�� $�2-�� '*$�& #��/*�1�1��#�� 0 &)#34��/��&*'�

�!�� ((�� '-(�.-/*#

Recognising the intellectualtalent of meritorious stu-

dents, GNIOT Group ofInstitutions, Greater Noida hasannounced scholarships worth�10 crores.

The institute is invitingapplications from students toavail scholarships across differ-ent academic courses viz.PGDM, MBA, MCA, BTech,MTech, BBA, BCA and BCom.For those seeking admission inBTech programmes, scholar-ships are being offered to stu-

dents based on their perfor-mance in Class XII and JEE-Main. For those seeking admis-sion in PGDM & MBA, schol-arship are being offered to thestudents based on their perfor-mance in graduation and CAT,MAT, XAT, GAT etc.

Dr Arun Kumar Singh,Director GNIOT Institute ofManagement Studies empha-sized on flagship programme-and said they are on a task toequip students with appropriateskills & practical exposurethrough internships and train-ing.

The world we live in today largely revolvesaround technology and digitisation. Newinnovations, AI, big data, and artificial

intelligence are unfolding new solutions (andproblems) everyday; consequently, enabling therise of new types of business models and asso-ciations.

However, the most important thing to notehere is that with each new solution comes thepossibility of a new security issue that needsto be resolved.

For instance, we are now witnessing a majorrise in the consumption of digital media, be itthrough social interaction channels likeFacebook or Instagram, or through contentconsumption channels like YouTube. Gone arethe days when you had to be of certain age toown a mobile phone (along with digitisation,this is another issue of perspective and indi-vidual parenting styles, so we will not be focus-ing on whether it is right or wrong for now);but this is the perfect example of how innov-ative digital thinking can help us deal with thepossible security threats cautiously.

Let us take the example of YouTube.YouTube recognised the advent of content con-sumption from its platform from people of allages, and they came up with the idea of creat-ing another specialised section —- YouTubeKids that allows parents to keep a check on theirkids activities and recognise any possible

cyber-bullying or other perils — a perfect solu-tion to deliver what is best for the changed con-sumer behaviour.

Now coming back to why such innovativedigital thinking is an important skill to mas-ter for law aspirants, it is because lawyers arethe indispensable partners for tech giants.Whether we talk about tech companies or indi-vidual developers and programmers, theyneed to understand the extents and restrictionsunder law to be able to construct the ensuingintegral decentralised architecture of the futureall while protecting the rights of their con-sumers.

Besides this, teaching innovative digitalthinking to the law aspirants, especially thoseinterested in cybersecurity law, can instil thenecessary skills relevant to succeed in this ageof digital transformation, such as:

Critical thinking for complex problemsolving

Digitisation has brought our world face-to-face with overly complex fact patterns, whichrequire vigilant analysis and creative problem-solving. While the traditional concepts canteach law aspirants how to deal with the com-monly faced and previously known chal-lenges, introducing them to the art of innov-ative digital thinking can prepare them to facethe unknown challenges that may arise withfurther evolution of technology.

Consequential thinkingConsequential thinking is crucial in the

digital age. By learning this essential skill, lawaspirants can be better prepared in case our tra-ditional systems and assumptions need to beremodelled and require thorough study andanalysis of the proposable rules and regulationsfor the new technological architecture alongwith their effects on human (or consumer)behaviour.

Flexibility in legal thinkingLegal thinking customarily includes “look-

ing in reverse” and expanding on points of ref-erences and analogies with an accentuation onpast rules and encounters. Introduction toinnovative thinking can aid in changing theoutlook of law aspirants and help them realisethe need to not just focus on the fundamentalbeliefs of legal training and reasoning, but alsoadjust it, as the situation demands, to make itmore fitting for a computerised age.

To sum up, a training curriculum incor-porating innovative digital thinking is essen-tial to aid law aspirants in gaining the requi-site skills to be able play their role as key part-ners for tech companies and developers indesigning the decentralised architecture offuture. After all, this new architecture will directour society towards the digital change that willdecide the fate of how we live, work, and learn.

�� +��

In such a competitive job market,an engineering and managementinternational internship abroad

will definitely provide you an edgeover other candidates. You will gainskills including communication, man-agement, cultural awareness, and, ofcourse, technical, practical and indus-trial skills that university degrees can’talways provide. Moreover, you canexperience all of this while having fundiscovering and immersing yourselfin a new country and its culture.

More engineering companiesare becoming global & locally andaround the world. They promotecultural variety in their own back-yard and have operations in sever-al different countries. From day one,in any engineering company ormanagement company, you will beexposed to and expected to demon-strate awareness of a global way ofthinking and doing things.

Engineering: An internationalinternship is one of the best ways toexplore career paths in the techindustry. If you’re majoring in anyengineering field. As an intern,you’ll usually be paired with a moreexperienced engineer who will actas your mentor, giving you guidanceon the technical aspects of your pro-ject as well as helping you to man-age and execute it. While you don’thave to go into engineering just

because you’re a computer sciencemajor, an internship will offer youthe opportunity to see what the fieldis like and whether it’s a good fit foryou. And because computer sciencemajors are very in demand amongemployers, the internship is also like-ly to be very well compensated.

Mechanical engineering:Interns for mechanical engineeringdeals with everything that movesand/or requires forces to make itmove. Tasks in this field includeassessing the loads in a machine,determining deflections, stressesand vibrations, and making suredevices meet intended design. As amechanical engineering intern,some of the industries that youmight get involved with are the auto-

motive, aerospace, biotechnology,energy generation, and automation.

Manufacturing engineering:Manufacturing engineering is also avery popular sector at the moment,as there are big governmental ini-tiatives both in developed and devel-oping countries to grow multina-tional manufacturing capabilities.Manufacturing engineers areresponsible for planning, designing,setting up, and improving any man-ufacturing processes. Interns mayfind themselves closely workingwith colleagues in other fields aswell, such as health and safety.Some of the roles you might getinvolved with are developing state-of-the-art and cost-effective process-es, acquiring new capabilities andmachinery, introducing new prod-ucts to production and so on.Manufacturing engineers work in awide range of sectors like food anddrink, oil, and pharmaceuticals.

Management: No matter the jobrole you hope to land post-gradua-tion, the international internshipoffers MBA students an opportuni-ty to learn valuable lessons and gainwork experience. An internationalinternship would be an asset to yourprofessional background and helpyou develop abilities that will giveyou a global outlook and reach.

��3��>��

�4��!��0�� $��2��.��#��)*-,�-B

�� '-(�.-/*#

The IA Labs invests in young engineer-ing talent in the areas of Full Stack,

Cloud, DevOps, AI/ML, and Cyber Security.This makes the learners pursue a tech careerof their choice whereas Startups and ITMNCs get industry-ready talent with animproved ROI. India Accelerator — thecountry’s leading startup accelerator pro-gramme launches a disruptive tech learn-ing platform — IA Labs. The platform aimsat bringing digital learning solutions forengineering graduates and encouragesthem to pursue their career in new-age tech-nologies to stay ahead in the digital world

India is the second-fastest digitisingeconomy in the world and as per the recent

estimates — the Indian technology sectorwill contribute $1 tn of economic value witha demand for 65 mn digital jobs by 2025.On the other hand, fewer than 5 per centof 1.5 million engineering graduates whopass out every year in India are cut out forhigh-skill programming jobs.

Commenting on the launch, MonaSingh CAO of IA said: “We are delighted tocome up with the significant initiative thatis set to accelerate the career of fresh engi-neering graduates and working profes-sionals. We aim to provide experientiallearning by doing experience-driven on ourmicrolearning platform coupled with a plugand play cloud Lab. IA Labs equips the aspi-rants with the right skills and attitude to besuccessful in the newage digital world.”

& �� &��-� ��

�� 2�� ),��)*��

�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

� $*5-*��"�/�6�7��$�1&-1�"��/*�'�7��"�7*3��#�"*&�7��/�$

*$$*��"�$6�""8�"%$��&�$�1�2*2*��*&��&*�&*'��1$*� -&��&'�� "

$#$�*)$�'$$-)�� $�**'� �2*�&*) '*""*'

'�&*5-�&*�/ & -7/�$�-'#�'"#$�$� 0��/*�& � $2"*�&-"*$�'�&*7-"�� $

"�� $��) �� '-(�.-/*#

The Sommet Education,worldwide hospitality

education group encom-passing the highly reputededucation institutions —Glion Institute of HigherEducation, Les Rochesand Ecole Ducasse — isreinforcing its study port-folio with a wide range offlexible learning solutionsincluding blended learningprograms. New Bachelorstudents are offered thepossibility of a full firstsemester on-line or par-

tially at home and on cam-pus.

These curriculumoptions enable stu-

dents to start the nextBachelor intake in March2021 remotely while pro-viding an efficient solutionto travel restrictions andsanitary situation.

Sommet Educationgroup has created aunique learning solutionavailable at Glion Instituteof Higher Education andLes Roches entitled“Glion Connect” and “LesRoches Connect”.

Through the blendedlearning solution,Bachelor students havetwo remote learningoptions. They have thepossibility to study 10weeks at home followedby 10 weeks on campus tocomplete the first semes-ter or to study 20 weeks athome and complete theirfirst semester remotely.The learning outcomesequal to a first semesterspent fully on campus.

Within the programme students also have theopportunity to start their

internship in Semester 2as usual or postpone it toa later date and pursuedirectly with an academ-ic semester.

The blended learningsolution provides stu-dents with the level offlexibility necessary toadapt their needs and thecurrent circumstances.All participating studentsreceive a welcome pack-age with necessary essen-tials to use along with themix of live tutorials,videos, as well as one-to-one coaching.

*��"��

D��"��

��"��"��"��

��$��"��$S�#,

*�H7UD.#-,*D.�7�#0,D��"��

��"��

��"��

��*��2

A��The RICS School of Built

Environment invites applica-tions for the full-time builtenvironment specialisationcourses for the academic year2021 for both the campuses inNoida & Mumbai.

Those who are looking forcareer opportunities in thefield of built environment(real estate, infrastructure &construction sectors), shouldapply for the Post Graduationcourses through the RICSSBE website.

Courses: MBA in RealEstate & Urban Infrastructure,MBA in Construction ProjectManagement, MBA inConstruction Economics &Quantity Surveying, and PostGraduate Diploma inFacilities Management.

Eligibility: Candidatesseeking admission undersponsored categor y arerequired to have 50 per centmarks in graduation with amin score of MAT-450/GMAT- 450/ CMAT —100 or percentile in CAT/XAT— 65 / NMAT — 50 or AmityWritten Test on the day ofinterview/online mode.

Candidates seekingadmission under the Non-Sponsored categor y arerequired to have min 50%marks in Graduation with themin score of MAT -500/GMAT - 500 / CMAT -150 or percentile in CAT/XAT- 75 / NMAT - 60 or AmityWritten Test on the day ofinterview/online mode.

How to apply: Log on to//www.ricssbe.org/.

A��/��The Indraprastha Institute

of Technology (IIIT Delhi)has recently announced thatthe International RegularRound Admission process forsession 2021-22 is open nowand the appearing candidateswill have an opportunity toavail up to 100 per cent fel-lowship.

Eligibility: For BTech:Qualifying Exam should be anequivalent of Class-XII exam

of CBSE (withMathematics and Physics asmandatory and Chemistry ashighly desirable) that con-cludes secondary schooling.

Equivalence is as envis-aged by the Association ofI n d i a nUniversities(https://www.aiu.ac.in).

Students may apply dur-ing or after their final year ofsecondary education.

For BTech (CSSS), stu-dents with Mathematics asone of the subjects in class XIIcan also apply.

For MTech: The candidateshould have completed ormust be pursuing aBTech/BS/MSc or equivalentQualifying Program asdescribed in the admissioncriteria of the desired programto which admission is sought.

Equivalence of degreesfrom colleges outside of Indiais as envisaged by Associationof Indian Universities(https://www.aiu.ac.in).

Candidates may applyduring or after their finalyear of their undergraduateprogramme.

For PhD: The candidateshould have completed ormust be pursuing a BTech/BS/MTech/MS/MSc or equiv-alent qualifying programme asdescribed in the admissioncriteria of the desired pro-gramme to which admissionis sought.

Equivalence of degreesfrom colleges outside of Indiais as envisaged by Associationof Indian Universities(https://www.aiu.ac.in)

Candidates may applyduring or after their finalyear of their undergraduate orpostgraduate programme.

L ast date to apply :January 22, 2021.

Athought-provoking exper-iment centred round thefuture of college education

got underway in the Spring of2013 at Stanford University.Inspired by the new emphasis ononline learning, the Stanford2025 Project, explored how dif-ferent universities, students andteachers would approach the 'in-person, physical learning envi-ronment' a decade from then by'bringing an end to a society ofalumni in favour of a lifetime oflearning'.

A year since COVID-19upended everything includingeducation, the Stanford studywith its emphasis on modular,personalised, and collaborativelearning across space and timeseems nothing short of prophet-ic. Not only has 2020 compelleda change on the ground in whois learning online, where, andhow, but it has also brought intofocus key questions about edu-cation.

But if the past year is any-thing to go by, it is clear highereducation can no longer besought in the same in-person,four-year on campus module,which has dominated the US fordecades.

For one, college education,especially at any Ivy Leagueschool, is extremely expensive.An undergrad, on-campus degreecan put a family back by about$70,000 a year in annual fees.During an economic downturn,made worse by a pandemic, suchan investment makes no short-term or long-term economicsense. Add to this mix, the grimreality of student debt, estimat-ed to be $1.7 trillion held by morethan 43 million borrowers .

Even if a student loan can-cellation by the FederalGovernment comes through andthe current impasse caused byrising COVID cases is stemmedby mass vaccination in the com-ing months , we know it will takethe world a few years to bounceback.

Irrespective of whether andto what extent restrictions onsocial interactions will be lifted,digital as a way of life is here tostay. In the education sector, on-campus learning will move to amore blended approach.

As if to confirm that shift, theeight Ivy League schools havebroken with tradition to offerseveral hundred short-termonline courses across multiple

online platforms such asCoursera and EdX.

Spanning a range of subjectsfrom Computer Science and DataScience to Health, Medicine andEducation, these courses offerstudents the rare opportunity tolearn and interact with some ofthe best faculty in the world, fromthe comfort of their home, at afraction of the cost they wouldhave incurred from an in-person,on-campus degree.

In being among some of theoldest and well-endowed uni-versities, the Ivy League schoolscan rope in top-notch speakersfrom across disciplines and walksof life, including heads of states,presidents, and Nobel laureates.Opting to take short-term cours-es at any of these schools providesstudents with stellar exposure,hard to replicate outside the uni-versity system.

With this experience undertheir belt, students will find it eas-ier to set themselves up for suc-cess. This is because as indicatedby the Stanford project, exposureto one or multiple courses at anyof the Ivy League schools willintroduce them to an alternateidea of living and learning. It willno longer seem imperative to

enrol in a multi-year, on-campusprogramme to attain a degree.

Instead, students will under-stand that learning is a lifelongproject punctuated by time spentaway in the workplace, to learn bydoing, along with a return whenrequired to college to furtherembellish domain knowledge.

But how are students tochoose from the plethora ofcourses that are now widely avail-able? There are several platformsthat can play a pivotal role inserving as a bridge between stu-dents and universities, by helpingstudents and their families choosethe college that best fits a student'sprofile and interests, smoothen-ing the path towards enrolling ina short-term, high-value course.

It can help students thinkthrough what they want to learn,by planning early, identifying thedisciplines they have a proclivityfor, zeroing in on which collegesthey want to go to and connect-ing universities in turn with thiscohort of prospective students.

Change is always hard. But ashistory has shown us, each shiftprovides us with new opportuni-ties to grow, adapt and evolve.

��)$3"��>��>��

�� O��O�� M��

� �� 2�� O�� O�� -�� -��

* �� 0�� O��P

(�� ,-!/��

�� ,-!/��"�� -�� 0��M�� O��$��

�� #�� -�)�� 0�� K�� #�� 0�� I�� 0�� K�� J��

��-�)��,-!/��"��)��

* ��-�� 2�� ,-!/��"��2�� $�� 0��

* �� $�� $�� F�� $��

�� ,-!/��"�* ��-��

"��,-!/��"��* ��-�� ,-!/��"�� $��$�� %%�999�� %89�� ,-!/��

#�� ,-!/��%99�� >)�� >�;��#��'��H��$��-�� -��0��

� �� ,-!/�� -��

�� $��#�� ,-!/��"��$�� M�� %99Q�� O�� 2��

(�� $� �� O�� $�� O�� F��

(��

� �� M��-�)�� F��

"��0��,-!/��0�� 0 �� 2��

! �� ,-!/�� 0� ��

! �� ,-!/��"�* ��-��

�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,) ,*-*$�..

� ��

��/ �� E�( �0�!� ��* ��)��E��%9�999�� /�0E�� @�@<5=:65%.��E�D��:9��:9:%

I��;��;��/ �� E�( �0�!� ��* ��)��E��5�999��&�999�� /�0E�� @�@<5=:65:.��E�D��:9��:9:%

��/ �� E�( �0�!� ��* ��)��L��%9�999��%=�999�� /�0E�� @�@<5=:65=.��E�D��:9��:9:%

��/ �� E�.��)��E��7�999��%:�999�� /�0E�� @�@<5=:655.��E�D��%&��:9:%

��/ �� E�/��0 ��.��+ �0��D��/��)��E��%9�999�� /�0E�� @�@<5=:65&.��E�D��:9��:9:%

��:��/ �� E�"��$��)��E��=�999��8�999�� /�0E�� @�@<5=:67:.��E�D��%&��:9:%

��A��/ �� E�.��)��E��6��<��0��/�0E�� @�@<5=:678.��E�D��:&��:9:%)0��I�J��O��E��)�( ��

#��$ ��

,C#.�%&��,��

)��0��$ ��

� �� -,��-��0��E�3��$�� #��1�� 0� �� ,C#.�%&��0�� O��

� ��$�� O�� 0��-��0�-��0�� $�� 4

�*��$�1XX*��

��

If you are wanting and aspiring to fin-ish up your preparation of NationalDefence Academy (NDA) it is

important to know what the syllabus is.It comprises of two sections —Mathematics and General Ability.

To smartly and effectively prepareone must keep in sync with certain tipsand pointers to prepare for both theexams simultaneously with maximumefficiency to get the desired output.� The sooner, the better is the mantrato achieve success herein. Whatever top-ics are common for both can be givena priority on a first hand basis withproper time and efficiency as this willdefinitely save your time and keep youahead and for the rest of the portionsto mix and match and cover equal por-tions on a daily basis to reduce monot-ony.� Following a regular and structuredstudy plan is must for even the bright-est of students as this will be very help-ful and critical to meet out your dualpreparation needs because it is veryimportant to chew better than to bitemore meaning sustaining all the knowl-edge is more important with prioritis-ing so that you move in a progressivemanner with your preparations with astrategy and planned approach.� Keeping stress at bay is paramountas regular breaks and naps break themonotony and increase the efficiencyof learning and retaining. Alsoindulging in some physical activity willkeep you fresh and ready.� Solving mock tests, giving onlineexams, attending video lectures and dis-cussion forums shall definitely provideyou with a vast array of opportunitiesfor preparation and help you to under-stand and prepare better for both of theexams keeping in mind the competitionand difference in syllabus of both theexams so it is very important to discussand understand the strategy, get yourdoubts cleared and be prepped fully. � For the Mathematics portion as it isimportant and crucial for both theexams so writing and penning downformulas along with practicing two-three sets of practice papers regularlywill make it very easy for the candidatesto memorise, cover the entire syllabusand solve the questions efficiently withease of time and speed.

� Always prepare easy topics first thenproceed with the tougher and time tak-ing ones for both the exams so that youachieve a precise and calculated plan-ning and preparation strategy by givingample time to prepare the tougher anddifficult parts for both the exams.� Following a holistic approach is def-initely recommended to cover all thesubjects and prepare simultaneously forboth of the exams as the GeneralAbility Test of the NDA comprisingquestions from English, Science, SocialStudies and General Awareness is pret-ty much the syllabus for Boards too soa common prep mode is the ground ofpreparation for both of these exams. � Focusing on basics and solving pre-vious year question papers will definitelyhelp in analysing the common groundsyllabus as well as the distinctive syllabuspreparation for both the exams whichwill help in identifying the strong andweaker areas for the candidates. Thiswill definitely clear the basic conceptsof the students and help them memo-rize better with greater efficiency.� Last but not the least to reviserepeatedly and dedicatedly with amplepractice hours will only be the decid-ing factor for preparation of any exambe it NDA and Boards.

-$�� 4�� 7 ��(�� 4/�(��-��. �&��'� �� (��!��!�#�)�� $� �� )��.��/��-��-��.��(�/�.�� ) �#$�� 5��

��8��)�� $�� 7 ��

The faculty of Science at theUniversity of Strathclyde,Glasgow, for the 2021/2022

academic year, invites applicationsfor its scholarships of between£3,000 - £5,000 that are available tonew international students.

Value: £3,000- £5,000.Subject: Chemistry, Computer

and information sciences,Mathematics and statistics,Pharmacy and biomedical sci-ences, Physics.

Eligibility: Candidates must:Be a new, international fee-payingstudent holding an offer of admis-sion for either year one, or year twoentry, to a full-time undergraduatedegree in the Faculty of Science forthe 2021/2022 academic year.

Have achieved excellent gradesto date in their academic studies.Be self-funded. Students whoreceive full scholarships, for exam-ple from a government office orembassy, will not be eligible.

For further information visit:https://www.strath.ac.uk/study-withus/scholarships/sciencescholar-ships/facultyofscienceundergradu-atescholarshipsforinternationalstu-dents202021/ or contact [email protected]

Application deadline: Thelast date to apply is July 31, 2021.

The Centurion DefenceAcademy launches ShishirRameshwar National Talent Hunt(SRNTH) 2021-22 scholarshipprogramme for top 400 NDA

aspirants across the country. Thisexam has been launched for admis-sions to the TARGET NDA-1-2021TEJAS batch (Offline/Online).

The exam will be conductedon January 16, 2021 through anonline mode. This time up to 100per cent scholarship will be pro-vided to a total of 400 candidatesbased on their scores for enroll-ment. This exam will comprise oftwo rounds namely written as wellas the interview from rank 1-50 andonly upon attempt and successfulclearance of both the rounds, thecandidates would be liable toreceive the scholarship.

Applicants can register for theScholarship Exam through theCenturion Defence AcademyStudent app. One can download theapp from the Play store wherethousands of students have alreadyenrolled themselves and gettingeducation and training through theE-Media Interface especially inthis pandemic era where it was allthe more mandatory to expand thepossibilities without compromisingwith the future of the candidates.

The exam pattern for NDA,2021 will be set in English andHindi. A total timestamp of 90minutes will be provided with atotal of 100 questions. No negativemarking. Questions will be basedon NDA pattern .These questionswill be further classified as follows-

English- 25 questionsMathematics- 30 questionsGeneral Science (PCB)- 30

questionsPolity, History and Geography-

15 questions.Application deadline: It is

January15, 2021.

�'��B��$��

�� B��:9:9�� $��

� �� :9:%

�� $��

��:9:9�� 2�� ! �� 2�� 0�� $� �� O��'--��:9:9��O��'--��:9:%��D--�� $�� :9:% ��(�� '--��:9:%��$��

�� "")�$� �� '--��#�� 0��#�� $� ��$��

� �� "")�$� �� $�� $�� $ ��

) �� 89�� 0�� $� ��$�� ' ��$��"")�$� ��

�� ?� #��$��

��;�A��

�� $� ��C-.��;�)*�"-'#(�/

��/��

�/*&*�&*�$*,*&"�"�0 &)$��/�

1��"#��, �"& "*��$*&,�7�$�2&�'7*�2*�%**

$�-'*��'-�,*&$��*$8�2#/*"��7��/*

0 &)*&�1/ $*�1 ""*7*��/��2*$�0��$�/�$��& 0�"*�'

��*&*$�$8$) �/*�7��/*��/�� %&'$*& ""�7��$/ &�9�*&)8�

/�7/9,"-*�1 -&$*

��

.��

��#��

��

� �� $��

�� *��D#C�)#'+*

�� "�'+;,;

Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwal andHS Prannoy were cleared to com-

pete in the Thailand Open after theytested negative for Covid-19, inval-idating their previous positive resultsthat forced them out of the tourna-ment hours earlier on a chaoticTuesday.

Both the Badminton WorldFederation (BWF) and BadmintonAssociation of India (BAI) con-firmed the development.

“Both Saina Nehwal and HSPrannoy have been cleared to par-ticipate in the ongoing YonexThailand Open after the fourth-round tests reports confirmed thatboth shuttlers have been testednegative for Covid-19,” BAI said ina statement.

The national body said it waspossible after the national body tookup the matter with BWF.

“BAI have taken up the matterwith topmost BWF officials toensure if tests were negative, match-es for respective players should berescheduled and no walkover isgiven,” BAI added.

Earlier in the day, chaos grippedIndia’s campaign at the tourna-ment when Olymic medallist Sainawas forced out following a positiveCovid-19 test, while Prannoy’s par-ticipation hung in balance after hissample came out negative followinga positive result in a bizarre turn of

events.Former Commonwealth Games

champion Parupalli Kashyap toowas forced to withdraw “due to closeproximity” with wife and fellowshuttler Saina.

But the day ended on a betternote for the Indians following thetwo shuttlers’ clearance.

“BWF and BadmintonAssociation of Thailand (BAT) canconfirm three of the four playerswho tested positive for Covid-19earlier today at the Asian Leg of theHSBC BWF World Tour have been

cleared to take their place in thedraw,” the apex body said.

“They are confirmed as SainaNehwal (India), HS Prannoy (India),and Jones Ralfy Jansen (Germany),”BWF added in its statement. TheBWF said the said players who hadearlier tested positive for the virus,are “not currently infected”.

The matches will be rescheduledfor Saina and Parupalli Kashyap forWednesday. However, Kashyap’sparticipation will depend on theresult of his test conducted in theafternoon.

Regarding Prannoy, the BWFhad said he would be retested afterconflicting reports came out of ear-lier samples.

$� &��.�� !"#$%#&$�' !(�% ��' )*+,-,)

KOHLI LOSES 2ND SPOT TO SMITH IN RANKINGSKarachi: #�� 0�� C�� ; �� $�� $�� )��)��# ��0�� $��$�� $�� $��$��; ��759�� )��I&99�� J�� $��;��0��;��(�� I&%&J�� $�� $��'��H�� I89��55J� �� #�� $��0��0��

BENGAL, MAHA WIN IN MUSTAQ ALI MATCHKolkata: ,��C��0�)��<6�$��%99� ��"��F��%<�� D��0��-��+� �� "� �� )�� O� �� :9� �� "�� )��F�� 0�� 0�� %<%� � �� <� �� :9 ��)��F��0 �0��%=�� =��2��#� �� *��$�� 2�� ,�� #� C� �� ;��D�� '��)��0�� 0��$�� $�� 0�� -�� +� �� %&:�� $ ��$��D��I76� ��68� $��J� ��'�� )��0�� I57� �� 66� $��J�� 0� �� $ ��

RANJI FROM FEB IN ‘MUSHTAQ-LIKE BUBBLE’New Delhi: �� #�� 0�� $ �� 2�� 0�� 2�$� �$�$$�� )�� O� �� $�� 0�� " #��2� �� D��%5�� 0�� F�� $��$� �$�$$�� F�� $��

2021 F1 SEASON TO START IN BAHRAINLondon: �� !%�� $��0��"��+��2�� ' ��$��$�� %&� �� $ �� :%�� $�� ' ��$�� :%� �� !% ��K��3�� %&4�� +��2�� $�� $�� $�� "��+��2� �� :7� �)0�� :9:9��

LIVERPOOL VS MAN UTD IN FA CUP 4TH ROUNDManchester: ��>��/�� $� �0$�� !�� /�� /�� >�� 0�� /�� )��'�� /��' �� F�� .��$�� /��( ��)� �� /�� /�� =�9� �� 2�� " �� $�� 0�� D��::� � � :8� �� 0�� $��!�$��&�� %%� 7 ��

0,�/

�� )B.'-B

The injury-ravaged Indianteam was dealt anothertelling blow on Tuesday

as pace spearhead JaspritBumrah was ruled out of thefourth Test against Australiadue to an abdominal strain.

If that wasn’t enough,Mayank Agarwal — tipped tobe Hanuma Vihari’s replace-ment in the playing XI inBrisbane — has sustained aknock on the hands and itcould be a hairline fracture.

To make matters worse,Ravichandran Ashwin’s backspasms have aggravated afterbattling for three hours on thefinal day, leaving little options

for India on the bench.Bumrah, key to India’s

attack, sustained the strainduring the drawn third Test inSydney.

It has been learnt thatBumrah’s scan reports showeda strain and the Indian teammanagement does not wanthim to aggravate the injury,keeping in mind the upcom-ing four-Test series againstEngland.

“Jasprit Bumrah sufferedan abdominal strain whilefielding in Sydney. He is goingto sit out of the Brisbane Testbut is expected to be availableagainst England,” a BCCIsource told PTI.

While the Indian team

management is heaving a sighof relief that Bumrah hasn’tsustained a tear but wants to beon the side of caution as play-ing in Brisbane and breakingdown in the middle of the Testmatch could have an evenmore adverse effect on theteam.

“If we take the risk of himplaying at 50 percent, what ifthe injury aggravates and hebreaks down in the middle ofthe match and then ruled outfor better part of Englandseries?

“England is the last series

which will decide the qualifi-cation for World TestChampionship final and weare in contention and wouldrequire a fit Bumrah,” thesenior BCCI source added.

It is now expected thattwo-Test old Mohammed Sirajwill be leading the Indianattack and will be joined byNavdeep Saini, ShardulThakur and T Natarajan in theBrisbane Test, starting January15.

Unless, Bumrah is fieldedat 30 percent fitness, riskingthe entire England series, T

Natarajan will make his debut.The problem with Indian

team is after injured KLRahul’s departure andHanuma Vihari’s grade 2 tear,there are no back-up middle-order batsman left in thereserves.

The only two availablebatsmen are two out of formopeners in Prithvi Shaw andMayank Agarwal.

It remains to be seen ifIndia, knowing their depletedstrength and long tail, decideto take the conservative routeof playing four bowlers and six

batsmen with Rishabh Pant asthe wicketkeeper.

If Agarwal’s scans revealthat it’s a bruise and not a frac-ture, then it could well bePrithvi Shaw batting at num-ber three followed byCheteshwar Pujara , AjinkyaRahane and Agarwal himselfat number six.

If they go with f ivebowlers, then collective expe-rience of pace attack will bethree Test matches and 10balls (Siraj-2, Saini-1, Shardul-10 balls on debut, Natarajan-yet to play).

'�� "�'��-�� O�� ]�0��0"��

��The senior pacer suffered a

left side strain after playing onlyone match in the IPL inSeptember and after that wasruled out of the Australia series.Ishant got bowling fit before theseries but needed more oversunder his belt before taking onthe rigours of Test cricket. Hehas just returned to competitivecricket for Delhi with the SyedMushtaq Ali Trophy and will beselected against England inTests.

A��:��The white-ball specialist

and reserve pacer of the Testteam injured his right ham-string during an IPL game andhad to undergo an extensiverehabilitation programmewhich led to him missing theAustralia series in full. He hasjust returned to action with theMushtaq Ali T20 for UP andwill be back in national team forEngland series.

��;One of the finds of the IPL,

Kolkata Knight Rider’s VarunChakravarthy was a left-fieldselection in the Indian T20team but the old national selec-tion committee with interimchairman Sunil Joshi didn’tknow that he was playing witha serious shoulder injury which

ruled him out of his maidennational tour.

��Perhaps the most high-

profile left hamstring injury thathappened during the IPL. TheMumbai Indians skipper playedthrough pain in the final butwas ruled out of the white ballseries against Australia. Due tohard quarantine of 14 days inSydney, Rohit, despite being fit,couldn’t play the first two Testsand was back in action fromSydney where he hit a half-cen-tury in the second innings.

��India’s craftiest pace bowler

sustained a fractured forearmwhile trying to fend a short ballfrom Pat Cummins in theAdelaide Test and was thenruled out of the remainingthree Tests. He is doubtful forthe first two Tests againstEngland at home as well.

��;��The senior India pacer hob-

bled out of the field duringAustralia’s second innings witha calf muscle injury and willsoon be at the National CricketAcademy in Bengaluru for arehabilitation programme.There is a chance he might beback for the England series nextmonth.

��After a decent outing in

the white ball leg, KL Rahulsustained a wrist injury whilebatting at the MelbourneCricket Ground nets and wassent back to India to recuper-ate before the England series.His departure led to India’sback-up middle-order beingnext to nil.

��India’s premier all-rounder

received a knock on his leftthumb from a short deliverybowled by Mitchell Starc inSydney and scans revealed dis-location as well as thumb frac-ture. He will be out for at leasta couple of months, ruling himout of the England home seriesas well.

��A��The keeper-batsman

received a knock in the leftelbow from Pat Cummins andcouldn’t keep wickets in thesecond innings in Sydney.However, it was not a fractureand played after popping in alot of painkillers which provid-ed him initial relief. He willplay in Brisbane in the fourthTest.

��The hero of the Sydney

Test, after his epic 161-ball

vigil, has a serious hamstringinjury (grade 2) and will be outof the fourth Test in Brisbaneas well as the following seriesagainst England.

��:��The man who has bowled

more than 134 overs in theseries, most by an Indianbowler, is suffering from backspasms and found it difficult toeven sleep or tie his boot laces.With medication and physio-therapy sessions, India willexpect their senior-mostbowler on the park in Brisbane.

��;��:��Having failed in the first

two Tests, Agarwal wasdropped in Sydney and whowould have known that duringa net session, he would get hiton the gloves and taken forscans. He was supposed toreplace Hanuma Vihari and ifit’s a bruise, Agarwal is expect-ed to play through pain.

��A��He suffered an abdominal

strain during the late eveningon the third day while chasinga ball to the boundary. He did-n’t come out and bowl hisspells but it has been learnt thathe is in considerable discom-fort and will sit out of the nextTest in Brisbane.

��/�� "B��

�� )B.'-B

Australian captain Tim Paineon Tuesday apologised for

his on-field behaviour duringthe drawn third Test againstIndia, saying that his leadershipwasn’t good enough and heended up “looking like a fool” bysledging R Ashwin.

Paine has come under firefor a verbal duel with Ashwinwhen the Indian held vigil withan injured Hanuma Vihari toeke out a draw for his team.Paine said he was “distract-ed, agitated and a bitgrumpy at times” during thegame.

“I spoke to him (Ashwin)really quickly after the gameyesterday, as I said to him, lookI ended up looking a fool, did-n’t I? You open your mouthand then you drop a catch andhad a bit of laugh about that,”he said at a virtual press con-ference on Monday.

“...I do want to apologisefor the way I went aboutthings yesterday on some-one who prides himselfon the way I lead thisteam and yesterday wasa poor reflection of that,”Paine said.

The 36-year-old wick-et-keeper dropped threecatches during the match,including of Vihari afterthe confrontation with

Ashwin. Paine conceded that itwas the pressure of the game thatgot to him and that affected hismood.

“My leadership wasn’t goodenough, I let the pressure of thegame, I suppose get to me andit sort of affected my mood andthen from there affected my per-formance,” he elaborated.

“So, yesterday when I cameoff the ground, my reflection waspurely on my wicket-keeping...Ithink I said to my players, I had

a really poor game as a leader,not so much as a captain, butcertainly as a leader.

“...Yesterday I fell short ofmy expectations and our

team’s standard,” headded.

According toPaine, his behaviouron Monday wasn’t a

reflection of the wayhe wants to lead the

Australian team.“So, I want to apolo-

gise for the mistakes thatI have made yesterday.

Certainly, as I said, not areflection of the way I want to

lead this team.“We have set really high

standards over the last 18months and yesterday was

certainly a bit of blip onthe radar and some-thing I felt I needed tocome out and

address,” he asserted.

1$��"��"��K��

Sydney: Australian skipperTim Paine on Tuesday defend-ed Steve Smith, who wasaccused of scuffing up theguard mark of Rishabh Pantduring the drawn third Test,asserting that the Indian teamwould have raked up the issueif any wrong was committed.

Smith, a former Australiacaptain, was seen scuffing upthe batsman’s guard duringdrinks break in the first sessionon Monday.

“I have spoken to Steveabout this and I know he is real-ly disappointed with the way ithas come across. And if youwatch Steve Smith play Testcricket, that is something that

he does every single game fiveor six times a day,” Paine said.

Paine said had Smithchanged the guard marks, theIndian team would have takenup the issue.

“Smith was certainly notchanging guard and imagine ifhe was, then the Indian playerswould have kicked up a bit ofstink (at) that time,” he said.

“But that is something Ihave seen Steve doing many atimes in Test matches andShield games that I have playedwith him, when he is in thefield, he likes to sort of walk upto where he bats and visualisehow is he going to play,” Paineelaborated. PTI

:�)��/�%$;��$1-00�7��;$�7-&'�)&6;

Bangkok: World champion PV Sindhu suffered a shockdefeat on her return to interna-tional badminton, losing inthree games to Denmark’s MiaBlichfeldt in the opening roundof YONEX Thailand OpenSuper 1000 event here onTuesday.

Months after the Covid-19pandemic disrupted the inter-national calendar, Sindhu,seeded sixth, returned to actionwith a 21-16, 24-26, 13-21

defeat to world No 18Blichfeldt in a 74-minute bat-tle.

In men’s singles, world No13 B Sai Praneeth too suffereda straight game loss toThailand’s KantaphonWangcharoen on his return tocompetition.

Frontrunner to representIndia at the Olympics, Praneethwent down 16-21, 10-21 to theworld No 15 Wangcharoen foronly his second loss to the

Thailand player.Earlier in the day, the

Indian mixed doubles pair ofSatwik and Ashwini claimed a21-11, 27-29, 21-16 win overthe Indonesian pair of HafizFaizal and Gloria Widjaja.

However, the women’s dou-bles pair of Ashwini and NSikki Reddy couldn’t cross theopening hurdle, going down16-21, 7-21 to fourth seededKorean pair of Kim So Yeongand Kong Hee Yong. PTI

Sydney: Cricket Australia onTuesday said it will delay mak-ing a decision on WillPucovski’s availability for thefourth and final Test againstIndia, giving the opener everyopportunity to prove his fit-ness as he recovers from apartial dislocation of hisshoulder.

CA confirmed thatPucovski suffered a“shoulder subluxationinjury”, which is apartial dislocationof the shoulderjoint, when the ballof the upper arm

bone partly comes out of thesocket in the shoulder.

“He will continue rest andrehabilitation over the next twodays before a decision is madeon his fitness for the fourth

Vodafone Test match,” aCA spokesperson toldcricket.Com.Au. The 22-year-old had hurt hisright shoulder after div-

ing for the ball at mid-wicket in the 86th over of

India’s innings onthe fifth day of the

drawn SydneyTest on

Monday. PTI

New Delhi: The Indian crick-et team, which landed inBrisbane for the fourth and finalTest against Australia, was in fora shock on Tuesday as it waslodged at a hotel which “lackedbasic facilities”, prompting anintervention from the BCCI topbrass.

It is learnt that BCCI pres-ident Sourav Ganguly, secretaryJay Shah and CEO HemangAmin have all got in touch withtheir Cricket Australia counter-parts after complaints reachedthem and have been assuredthat the the Indian contingentwill be made to feel comfortable

from here on. “There was no room ser-

vice or house keeping facilities.The gym is very basic and notof international standards andthe swimming pool can’t beaccessed. This wasn't what theywere promised when theychecked in,” a senior BCCIsource told PTI.

India will be playing thefourth Test in the Queenslandcapital from January 15 wherethe surge of Covid-19 cases anda border lockdown with NewSouth Wales has led to a stricthotel quarantine for the AjinkyaRahane-led team.

Asked if the players werebeing allowed to mingle, theBoard source said: “Yes, theyhave been provided with ateam room and are allowed tomeet each other inside thehotel.”

When asked whether theteam had protested with thehotel authorities, the sourcesaid: “When the managerenquired about how these thingsare not being taken care of, allthey said was, ‘the rule applies toboth Indian and Australianteams. There is no one team thathas been subjected to hard quar-antine rules.’ PTI

Melbourne: India’s top-rankedwoman player Ankita Rainamoved to the final round of theAustralian Open Qualifierswith a gutsy three-set win overworld number 118 KatarinaZavatska but it was curtains forRamkumar Ramanathan in themen’s singles.

In the women’s singlesqualifiers being held in Dubai,the 180th ranked Ankita over-came a second-set lapse towin 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 in the secondround against the Ukrainian.

She will next take on 20-year-old Serbian OlgaDanilovic, ranked 183. It will bethe first meeting between thetwo players.

It is Ankita’s sixth attempt

to crack the singles main drawof a Grand Slam and she is nowjust one win away from creat-ing history.

In the men’s singles beingheld in Doha, Ramkumar losthis second round 3-6, 2-6 toChinese Taipei’s Tung-Lin Wuin 69 minutes. PTI

�� ?�� 9��<�� C?��*<

��)��.�#��?�� D"�� :�� :�� EF� C��

�0��$��K��

��)��# ��#�� #�� !(�! � � �� %� ��

0��0��+��^��

��

��$�#�� #��G#�� "��

Srikanth’s nose bleeds after virus tests�� "�'+;,;

Former world number oneshuttler Kidambi Srikanth

got a bloodied nose afterundergoing multipleCovid-19 tests and miffedat the poor treatment ofhealth officials at ThailandOpen, the Indian onTuesday called it “unaccept-able”.

“We take care of ourselves forthe match not to come and shedblood for THIS. However, I gave 4tests after I have arrived and I can’t

say any of them have been pleas-ant. Unacceptable,” an upset

Srikanth wrote on his Twitterhandle.

The 27-year-old, whois scheduled to open hiscampaign on Wednesdayagainst fellow IndianVerma, shared pho-

tographs of his nose bleed-ing after he was tested for

the fourth time.The Badminton World

Federation (BWF) said Srikanth isbeing attended to by a doctor andit is awaiting a medical explanation.

D4 deRjd $ WRc^ ]Rhd W`c WcfZeWf] aRc]Vjd - Daily Pioneer

Documents

Transcript of D4 deRjd $ WRc^ ]Rhd W`c WcfZeWf] aRc]Vjd - Daily Pioneer