;RS W`c "& Wc`^ ;R_ $ dRjd >`UZ - Daily Pioneer

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I n an address to the nation late on Saturday evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that children between 15 and 18 years will be vaccinated from January 3 and booster doses will be given to health and frontline workers and those above 60 with other health problems from January 10. The PM said the Government has decided to go for vaccination of children after holding wide-ranging consultation with scientific advisers. The PM’s announce- ment coincided with the drug regulator’s granting approval for giving vaccine to children above 12 by. The move has to be cleared by the Government. Modi also said, "Precaution doses" will be started for health care and front-line workers from January 10. Those over 60 with other health problems will also receive extra doses from January 10 on their doctor's advice, he said. Modi said global experi- ence showed following all pre- ventive measures was a big weapon to fight Covid. "Coronavirus is not gone... The world is now talking about Omicron. Today is Atal Bihari Vajpayee's birthday and Christmas, so we decided to announce this step today," he said. Asking the people not to panic in view of the Omicron threat, the PM said, “In India, many people have been found to be infected with Omicron. I would urge all of you not to panic, be careful and alert. Remember to wash hands and mask," he said. When virus is mutating our self-confidence and pre- paredness is also multiplying," the PM said and informed that "country has 1,80000 iso- lation beds, 5 lakh oxygen sup- plied beds, 140000 ICU beds, 3000 O2 plants...." to counter any new threat from the virus. Modi said all States have been given enough vaccination doses and testing kits. Besides, he said "we are at mission- mode in vaccine production". The PM announced soon we will have nasal vaccine and world's first DNA vaccine in the country. Modi said, “There are different opinions on Omicron Indian scientists are working on it.” The PM said after 11 months vaccination experience in the country "the Government today decided that children in the age group of 15 to 18 years will be vaccinated from January 3 which will answer the concerns of the parents of school-going chil- dren". Modi said vaccination in the country was started on January 16 and till date 141 crore doses have been given with 61 per cent of adult pop- ulation receiving both of it. He said while 90 per cent adults have one dose, States like Goa, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have 100 per cent single dose vaccina- tion. The PM asked people "to not to give ears to rumours and fear creating attempts”. It is not yet known which vac- cines will be given to children. Covaxin is the second vaccine to be cleared by the drug reg- ulator for those below 18 after Zydus Cadila's needle-free Covid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D. India has 415 Omicron cases as of today. On Saturday, the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) gave Bharat Biotech approval for emergency use authorisation of the Covaxin Covid vaccine for children in the 12-18 years age group G ujarat, Maharashtra and Goa emerged as the top three States while Delhi stood number one in the list of Union Territories (UTs) in the Good Governance Index (GGI) 2020-21 released by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances on Saturday. Andhra Pradesh topped list of States in the Agriculture and Allied Sector while Telangana was number one in the Commerce and Industry sector. Uttar Pradesh has secured top position in Commerce and Industry sector and also shown increase in Social Welfare and Development, Judiciary, Public Safety and citizen Centric gov- ernance. Gujarat topped the com- posite ranking in the 58 indi- cator index followed by Maharashtra and Goa. Gujarat registered an over 12 per cent increase and Goa registered a nearly 25 per cent increase over the indicators recorded by these states in the last index issued in 2019. Gujarat has performed strongly in economic gover- nance, human resource devel- opment, public infrastructure and utilities, social welfare and development, judiciary and public safety, while Maharashtra scored in agri- culture and allied sector, human resource development, public infrastructure and util- ities, social welfare and devel- opment. Goa's showed good performance was in agricul- ture and allied sector, com- merce and industry, public infrastructure and utilities, economic governance, social welfare and development and environment. While the States have been divided in four separate groups, Uttar Pradesh ranked at fifth position in Group B which is led by Madhya Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh which has shown incremental growth of nearly 9 per cent over its 2019 performance and secured the top position in the commerce and industry sector, which was one of the 10 sectors of good governance that were covered by the index. Uttar Pradesh has regis- tered an 8.9 per cent improve- ment in the GGI indicators in the period 2019 to 2021 which Jammu and Kashmir regis- tered an improvement of 3.7 per cent in the same period. P unjab Police on Saturday said it has cracked the Ludhiana Court bomb blast case after zeroing in on the identity of the deceased Gagandeep Singh (31) of Khanna, who was recruited in Punjab Police as constable and dismissed in August 2019 after 385 gm of heroin was recov- ered from his possession. Addressing a news con- ference, Punjab DGP Siddharth Chattopadhyaya said the former State police Head Constable who was killed in the Ludhiana district court blast had links with Khalistani elements and terror outfits, and some Pakistan- based entities could be behind the incident. He said Gagandeep, who was dis- missed from service in 2019, had gone to the washroom to assemble the bomb and plant it somewhere. He was alone in the washroom when the bomb went off. Gagandeep was posted as a "munshi" at a police station in Khanna, his native city, and was sacked in connection with a drug-related case, Chattopadhyaya said. A s the number of Omicron variant cases rose to 415 on Saturday across the coun- try and more States imposed night curfews and related curbs, the Centre will be deploying Central teams of experts with nodal officers to 10 States that have been either reporting a rapid surge in Omicron and Covid-19 cases or has a slow vaccination pace. Curb has been announced in Uttar Pradesh from 11 pm to 5 am, starting Saturday amid growing concern over the spread of the Omicron coron- avirus variant. The district administra- tion in Gautam Buddh Nagar on Friday imposed Section 144 CrPC across Noida and Greater Noida till December 31 ahead of the upcoming festive season. Assam has also announced a night curfew which will come into effect from Sunday, December 26 between 11:30 pm and 6 am. However, this curfew will not be applicable on December 31, 2021. According to the order issued by the Union Health Ministry on Saturday, these States are Kerala, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand and Punjab. Both Punjab and Uttar Pradesh are in the list where elections are due in two months time. This comes days after the Allahabad High Court already flagged the Omicron threat, asking the Election Commission and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider postponing polls by one or two months in Uttar Pradesh and other States. T he world's largest and most powerful space telescope rocketed away on Saturday on a high-stakes quest to behold light from the first stars and galaxies and scour the universe for hints of life. NASA's James Webb Space Telescope soared from French Guiana on South America's northeastern coast, riding a European Ariane rock- et into the Christmas morning sky. The $10 billion observatory hurtled toward its destination 1 million miles (1.6 million km) away, or more than four times beyond the moon. It will take a month to get there and another five months before its infrared eyes are ready to start scanning the cosmos. First, the telescope's enormous mirror and sunshield need to unfurl; they were fold- ed origami-style to fit into the rocket's nose cone. Otherwise, the observatory won't be able to peer back in time 13.7 billion years as antic- ipated, within a mere 100 mil- lion years of the universe-form- ing Big Bang. Administrator Bill Nelson called Webb is a time machine that will provide "a better understanding of our universe and our place in it: who we are, what we are, the search that's eternal”. “We are going to discover incredible things that we never imagined," Nelson said follow- ing liftoff, speaking from Florida's Kennedy Space Centre. But he cautioned: “There are still innumerable things that have to work and they have to work perfectly...We know that in great reward there is great risk." Intended as a successor to the aging Hubble Space Telescope, the long-delayed James Webb is named after NASA's adminis- trator during the 1960s. NASA partnered with the European and Canadian space agencies to build and launch the new 7-ton telescope, with thousands of people from 29 countries work- ing on it since the 1990s. With the launch falling on Christmas and a global surge in COVID-19 cases, there were fewer spectators at the French Guiana launch site than expect- ed. Nelson bowed out along with a congressional delegation and many contractors who worked on the telescope. Around the world, astronomers had eagerly wait- ed to see Webb finally taking flight after years of setbacks. Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh Government on Saturday posted 1997-batch Indian Administrative Service officer Raghvendra Singh as Principal Secretary and Commissioner (Public Relations). As per the General Administration Department order, Singh will also be Managing Director (Madhyam). The bureaucrat has held several crucial posts including that of Collector, Indore. He replaces Additional Secy Sudam Pandharinath Khade who has been reassigned as Commr (Health Services) and Controller (Food and Drug Administration). Akash Tripathi - hitherto serving as Commr (Health Services) - is to assume charge as Secy (Technical Education, Skill Development and Employment). PS (Tourism and Culture) Sheo Shekhar Shukla was holding

Transcript of ;RS W`c "& Wc`^ ;R_ $ dRjd >`UZ - Daily Pioneer

Page 1: ;RS W`c "& Wc`^ ;R_ $ dRjd >`UZ - Daily Pioneer

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In an address to the nation lateon Saturday evening, Prime

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Omicron Indian scientists areworking on it.”

The PM said after 11months vaccination experiencein the country "theGovernment today decided thatchildren in the age group of 15to 18 years will be vaccinatedfrom January 3 which willanswer the concerns of theparents of school-going chil-dren".

Modi said vaccination inthe country was started onJanuary 16 and till date 141crore doses have been givenwith 61 per cent of adult pop-ulation receiving both of it. Hesaid while 90 per cent adultshave one dose, States likeGoa, Uttarakhand andHimachal Pradesh have 100per cent single dose vaccina-tion.

The PM asked people "tonot to give ears to rumoursand fear creating attempts”. Itis not yet known which vac-cines will be given to children.Covaxin is the second vaccineto be cleared by the drug reg-ulator for those below 18 afterZydus Cadila's needle-freeCovid-19 vaccine ZyCoV-D.

India has 415 Omicroncases as of today.

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

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Gujarat, Maharashtra andGoa emerged as the top

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

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

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

Gujarat has performedstrongly in economic gover-nance, human resource devel-opment, public infrastructureand utilities, social welfareand development, judiciaryand public safety, whileMaharashtra scored in agri-culture and allied sector,human resource development,public infrastructure and util-ities, social welfare and devel-opment. Goa's showed goodperformance was in agricul-ture and allied sector, com-merce and industry, publicinfrastructure and utilities,economic governance, socialwelfare and development andenvironment.

While the States have beendivided in four separategroups, Uttar Pradesh rankedat fifth position in Group Bwhich is led by MadhyaPradesh. Uttar Pradesh whichhas shown incrementalgrowth of nearly 9 per centover its 2019 performanceand secured the top positionin the commerce and industrysector, which was one of the 10sectors of good governancethat were covered by theindex.

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

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Punjab Police on Saturdaysaid it has cracked the

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

385 gm of heroin was recov-ered from his possession.

Addressing a news con-ference, Punjab DGPSiddharth Chattopadhyayasaid the former State policeHead Constable who was

killed in the Ludhiana districtcourt blast had links withKhalistani elements and terroroutfits, and some Pakistan-based entities could be behindthe incident. He saidGagandeep, who was dis-missed from service in 2019,had gone to the washroom toassemble the bomb and plantit somewhere. He was alone inthe washroom when the bombwent off.

Gagandeep was posted asa "munshi" at a police stationin Khanna, his native city, andwas sacked in connection witha drug-related case,Chattopadhyaya said.

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As the number of Omicronvariant cases rose to 415

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

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

The district administra-tion in Gautam Buddh Nagaron Friday imposed Section 144CrPC across Noida and Greater

Noida till December 31 aheadof the upcoming festive season.

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

However, this curfew willnot be applicable on December31, 2021. According to theorder issued by the UnionHealth Ministry on Saturday,these States are Kerala,Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, West

Bengal, Mizoram, Karnataka,Bihar, Jharkhand and Punjab.Both Punjab and Uttar Pradeshare in the list where electionsare due in two months time.

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

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The world's largest and mostpowerful space telescope

rocketed away on Saturday on ahigh-stakes quest to beholdlight from the first stars andgalaxies and scour the universefor hints of life. NASA's JamesWebb Space Telescope soaredfrom French Guiana on SouthAmerica's northeastern coast,riding a European Ariane rock-et into the Christmas morningsky.

The $10 billion observatoryhurtled toward its destination 1million miles (1.6 million km)away, or more than four timesbeyond the moon. It will take amonth to get there and anotherfive months before its infraredeyes are ready to start scanningthe cosmos. First, the telescope'senormous mirror and sunshieldneed to unfurl; they were fold-ed origami-style to fit into therocket's nose cone.

Otherwise, the observatorywon't be able to peer back in

time 13.7 billion years as antic-ipated, within a mere 100 mil-lion years of the universe-form-ing Big Bang. Administrator Bill Nelson calledWebb is a time machine that willprovide "a better understandingof our universe and our place init: who we are, what we are, thesearch that's eternal”.

“We are going to discoverincredible things that we neverimagined," Nelson said follow-ing liftoff, speaking fromFlorida's Kennedy Space Centre.But he cautioned: “There arestill innumerable things thathave to work and they have towork perfectly...We know that ingreat reward there is great risk."Intended as a successor to theaging Hubble Space Telescope,the long-delayed James Webb isnamed after NASA's adminis-trator during the 1960s. NASApartnered with the Europeanand Canadian space agencies tobuild and launch the new 7-tontelescope, with thousands ofpeople from 29 countries work-ing on it since the 1990s.

With the launch falling onChristmas and a global surge inCOVID-19 cases, there werefewer spectators at the FrenchGuiana launch site than expect-ed. Nelson bowed out alongwith a congressional delegationand many contractors whoworked on the telescope.

Around the world,astronomers had eagerly wait-ed to see Webb finally takingflight after years of setbacks.

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Bhopal: The Madhya PradeshGovernment on Saturday posted1997-batch Indian AdministrativeService officer Raghvendra Singh asPrincipal Secretary andCommissioner (Public Relations).

As per the GeneralAdministration Department order,Singh will also be Managing Director(Madhyam). The bureaucrat has heldseveral crucial posts including that ofCollector, Indore. He replacesAdditional Secy Sudam PandharinathKhade who has been reassigned asCommr (Health Services) andController (Food and DrugAdministration). Akash Tripathi -hitherto serving as Commr (HealthServices) - is to assume charge as Secy(Technical Education, SkillDevelopment and Employment).

PS (Tourism and Culture)Sheo Shekhar Shukla was holding

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Page 2: ;RS W`c "& Wc`^ ;R_ $ dRjd >`UZ - Daily Pioneer

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Governor Mangubhai Patelhas asked the students tocooperate with the sched-

uled tribes, villagers, residents ofbackward areas, weaker anddeprieved class as their friend,philosopher and guide. Helpthem in getting the benefits ofdevelopment programmes andschemes, Digital India, StartupIndia, Swachchhta Abhiyan, BetiBachao-Beti Padhao etc.

Patel was addressing thesecond convocation ceremony ofAtal Bihari Vajpayee HindiUniversity today. It is worthmentioning that this is the firstconvocation held in the newlyconstructed campus of the uni-versity.

The Governor said that uni-

versities should become centresof imparting strength, skills andvalues?? to the students to facethe challenges of life. The mostpowerful tool to change the

world, education is useful for theindividual and the nation onlywhen it is based on the nation-al philosophy of life. He said thatthis university should become a

model of human environmentfriendly lifestyle. Strengthen theculture?? of tree plantation andtheir care in the students.Keeping in mind the basic sen-timents of the Indian Sanatanculture of the Prime Minister,cooperate in the work of devel-opment with everyone, witheveryone's efforts through thenew National Education Policy.

The Governor has request-ed the students that youth shouldnot be job seekers but becomejob givers. Contribute to themaking of a capable and pros-perous new India by building aself-reliant India. Visit the vil-lages, help the villagers in theirefforts for cleanliness and self-reliance, make the villages suchthat the soul of the village is pre-served and they have the facili-

ties of the city. He rememberedand paid tribute to Bharat RatnaAtal Bihari Vajpayee and BharatRatna Madanmohan Malviya ontheir anniversary. He said thatthe birth anniversary of greatmen is a matter of taking inspi-ration from their lives and bring-ing them to life. The Governoralso congratulated and extendedbest wishes to the students, whoreceived degrees and medalsand the parents and teachers.

Member of ParliamentSadhvi Pragya Singh Thakursaid that Hindi Vishwavidyalaya,established in the name of theAjatshatru (having no enemy) ofpolitics Atal Bihari Vajpayee,who has a unique identity in theworld, should become the cen-tre of Indian knowledge, tradi-tion and culture.

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BJP leader Shankar LalAhirwar has beenarrested by the police

from Ujjain Ratlam border.A case of blackmailing wasregistered against him by awoman at Nagjhiri policestation. During theabsconding, the BJP leaderstayed in Maharashtra, UttarPradesh.

A case of molestation,keeping captive and sexualassault was registered againstPoha factory operatorBharatpur Bunty Bindalafter a complaint was lodgedby one of his female employ-ee and which was due tovacating house.

According to the police,BJP leader Ahirwar had

demanded lakhs of rupeesfor the matter of negotiatingwith Neetu, who is fromBunty's family and is italleged that when the Bindalfamily refused to fulfill thedemand of Ahirwar, hestarted to raise demandedof arresting Bunty.

The audio of the black-mailing family went viral.After which the Nagjhiripolice had registered a caseunder section 384 and 389of the IPC after the com-plaint of Bunty Bindal's wifeRajni Bindal.

After the blackmailingcase was registered, thepolice started to search forthe accused as he wentabsconding. He remainedabsconding for the past 2months.

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Accusing the Civil Surgeonof the District HospitalShahdol Dr GS Parihar

of administrative slackness andfinancial irregularities, collectorShahdol has served a notice tothe former, seeking a replywithin next three days.

Issued on Dec 21, the letterissued by the collector VandanaVaidya mentioned that the offi-cer breached government direc-tives and made purchases in thecovid19 duration.

In the month of August, theadministration had approved anamount of Rs 30.82 lakh for thepurchase of Diesel generatorsets, Semi fowler beds and mat-tresses.

Actual purchase billsshowed that there is mismatch

in the diesel generator sets pur-chased and those mentioned inthe administrative order issuedin August, the collector said inthe letter. The officer hasaccused the civil surgeon of notfollowing the norms as men-tioned in the MP Store PurchaseRules and Services ProcurementRules, 2015 and those men-tioned in the administrativepurchase order.

The DM alleged that theofficer has tried extendingundue benefits to the privatesupplier thus breached provi-sions of MP Civil Services(Conduct) Rules 1965. Issuinga show cause notice, the col-lector asked the officer as towhy disciplinary actionshould not be taken againsthim by stopping his two salaryincrements.

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���$!�����$7�"���7��(�����$7���,����$�8��8�0 (���$��$Bhopal: Governor MangubhaiPatel has said that no weakness canbe greater than confidence. Thosewho overcome weaknesses are thediamonds of the society. There areinspirations and ideals of futuregenerations. Every player partici-pating in a visually impaired crick-et tournament is the winner of life.He said that if victory is a cele-bration of joy, defeat is a resolve torecognize new weaknesses.

The Governor was addressingthe opening ceremony of the firstday-night match of the India-Bangladesh T20 Visually ImpairedCricket Series organized by theNational and State CricketAssociation for Blinds on Saturday.

The Governor said that it isthe truth of life to rise after falldown. Therefore, preparation forbetter performance is the onlycompetition without worryingabout the result.

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Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan said thatbacklog vacancies will be

filled in the state in one year.The government is running aspecial drive for recruitment.Recruitment will be done bygiving special training in it.Along with this, the problemsof the students will also beresolved by setting up separatecentres in Indore.

The purpose of the dia-logue programme is also thatyour problems should besolved together with you. TheChief Minister that better facil-ities would be provided to thestudents of tribal communitystudying in cities like Indore,Bhopal and Jabalpur byremoving the difficulties andproblems faced by them.

Chouhan was interactingwith tribal students at theEklavya Vidyarthi Sammelanat Shubhkaraj Garden, RajivGandhi Square, Indore onSaturday. Water ResourcesMinister Tulsi Silawat, CultureMinister Usha Thakur, MPsShankar Lalwani, Gajendra

Singh Patel and MLAs werepresent.

Chouhan visited the reg-istration centres set up in theEklavya Vidyarthi Sammelan.He observed their problemsand requirements in the reg-istration forms filled by thestudents. The Chief Ministerreached among the studentsand greeted them. On stage,the girl students of AkankshaHostel and the tribal artistesof Bagh in Dhar district per-formed folk dance witharrows in their hands. Afterthe student dialogue,Chouhan also took meal with

the students of the tribal com-munity.

Jitendra Bare, a BSc stu-dent of Ashapur in Khandwawho is studying in Indore,said in the discussion that thisis a good opportunity wheremany students can put theirproblems in front of the ChiefMinister. Student Jitendrasaid that Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan hasmade the tribal communityproud by organising GauravYatra on the death anniver-sary of Tantya Mama. All thestudents thanked the ChiefMinister for this.

Misrod police have seizeda loading auto rick-shaw transporting

liquor illegally and recovered 63litres of liquor worth Rs 2.58lakh at 11 mill trisection onFriday.

Acting on a tip off, policestopped a red coloured loadingauto rickshaw bearing regis-tration number MP 04 LD 3599and when the vehicle wassearched, two gunny sacks and

two bags carrying liquor wererecovered.

Police said that vehicle wastracked after receiving infor-mation of carrying liquor ille-gally. The driver was detainedand was identified as Mukesh ofBaghsewania.

During the investigationpolice found recovered 18 bot-tles in a white sack, 12 bottlesin a light green sack, 12 bottlesin a black colored red striped

bag, 12 bottles in a black coloredsack, 12 bottles in a coloredsack, 18 bottles in a light yellowsack and the number of totalsealed bottles were 84 and thetotal liquor seized was 63 litres.

After the preliminary inves-tigation, the police have regis-tered a case under section 34(A) of the Excise Act. The buy-ers of the liquor provided by theaccused would be investigatedin the further investigation.

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Page 3: ;RS W`c "& Wc`^ ;R_ $ dRjd >`UZ - Daily Pioneer

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The food civil safety andconsumer protectiondepartment Indore

organized national consumerrights day at the conferencehall in Indore collector office.The consumer day is cele-brated to make consumersaware of the rights and theresponsibilities.

The chief guestSatyendra Joshi president ofdistrict consumer redressalcommission during hisspeech told that the con-sumer protection act guar-antees six basic rights toconsumers. Right to choosethe product, right to be pro-tected from all kinds of haz-

ardous goods, right to beinformed about the perfor-mance and quality of allproducts, right to be heard inall decision-making process-es related to consumer inter-est, right to seek redressalwhenever consumer rightshave been infringed, right tocomplete consumer educa-tion.

Indore ADM AbhayBedekar , Megha Bhidemember district consumerredressal commission, dis-trict food controller MeenaMalakar, AFO PramodGupta, JSO Dilip Manvareand JSO Avinash Jain alsoaddressed the consumersduring the different sessionsof the program.

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Dejected with his wife a27-year-old youthcommitted suicide by

jumping in front of a speed-ing train near Danapanirestaurant railway tracks; manmade video claiming wiferesponsible for his suicide.

The man identified asRakesh Jathav went missing inthe afternoon and later founddead at railway tracks.

On Friday, before com-mitting suicide he made avideo claiming that his wife

has made his life like hell, sheis not ready to leave, she is notleaving me to live peacefullyand is something happens tome detained my wife. For thepast four days my case iswith TT Nagar police andSHO is aware of the wholematter.

The deceased was a resi-dent of Pampapur Basti. Policesaid that the couple was hav-ing fights as deceased wassuspicious over his wife’s illic-it relationship with his friendNaveen.

In the investigation

Naveen and wife of deceasedrefused any such relation-ship.

On the other hand fami-ly of deceased alleged that twodays ago Rakesh’s wife hadsent goons who stone peltedand assaulted his father. TheTT Nagar police havedetained three persons forthe act but they were laterreleased without taking anyaction. Body was sent forpost mortem after preliminaryinvestigation and a case undersection 174 of CrPC and start-ed investigation.

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Abig step has been taken bythe state government toestablish wood based

industries in the state and to pro-vide more and more opportuni-ties for self-employment to thewood craftsmen. Forest MinisterDr. Vijay Shah has described theamendment made in section 4 ofMadhya Pradesh Wood Chiran(Regulation) Act 1984 as historic.

Forest Minister Dr. Shahsaid that after the amendmentmade in the Act, wood basedcommercial activities willincrease, due to which the gov-ernment will get value additionand additional revenue fromGST. Farmers in the privatesector will be encouraged to takeup plantation and their incomewill also increase. He said that30 percent of the state is forestland, in which the state gov-ernment gets income of 800crores and GST of 160 croresalong with employment to for-est dwellers due to wood pro-duction activities.

After the amendment inSection-4 of the WoodRegulation Act, it will no longerbe necessary to obtain a licensefor a circular saw machine witha diameter of less than 30 cm.Small craftsmen will not need alicense from the ForestDepartment to use wood in fin-ishing and fashioning. Industriesusing salvaged wood, cane, bam-boo, plywood, veneer or import-ed wood will not require alicense. Also, the processingplants will be allowed to takelicense after the changes made inthis Act.

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Workshop onE x p e d i t i n gSelections and

Limited DepartmentalCompetitive Examination(LDCE) was organised inGeneral Manager Office onFriday.

Principal Chief PersonnelOfficer Shankar KumarAlbela shared importance ofDepartmental SelectionExamination.

The General ManagerWCR Subodh Gupta empha-sised on completion ofdepartmental examinations

which could help in promo-tions of personnel.

Additional GeneralManager ShobhanChoudhari discussed sug-gestions for LimitedDepartmental CompetitiveExamination andPromotions.

Presentation onComputer based test ofdepartmental examinationswas given by SeniorDivisional Personnel OfficerRahul Shrivastava.

Ajay Dixit, HS Meenaand Ramesh Rao shared anddiscussed details on the sub-ject.

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Aretail outreach campaignwas organized byRegional Office Bhopal

Central of Union Bank in ShastriNagar branch of the region inthe presence of Regional GeneralManager Ruplal Meena Sir andArea Head Akhilesh Kumar.

Retail loans were distributedon December 23 and 24, duringthe program, Zonal GeneralManager appreciated theachievements of the area inretail loans by the branches ofthe area and encouraged to

mobilize more and more pro-posals in the ongoing loan fes-tival.

On the occasion, thebranches of the area also assuredto achieve the targets till the cur-rent quarter.

Advised to mobilize theproposal Under the program,ULP chief Ashish Patel assuredto achieve the target byDecember, acceptance of somecustomers during the programLetters were given and theexperience of Union Bank'sservices was shared by the cus-tomers as well.

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Economic experts deliv-ered lectures on"Agriculture for Growth

and Sustainable Development"and "Manufacturing: Startupsand MSMEs" in "EconomicRevitalization: Challenges andPolicy Choices" in the first ses-sion of the 104th AnnualConference of the IndianEconomic Association held inBhopal. Ramesh Chand,Member, NITI Aayog presidingover the session stressed oninclusive growth. He said thatindustrial and agriculturaldevelopment should go hand inhand. Prof PK Joshi, formerDirector, South AsiaInternational Food PolicyResearch, said that the future ofthe agriculture food systemwill be based on innovation,policy and markets.

Joshi, while highlightingthe important points fromchanges in agricultural foodsystems in the context of pro-duction systems, consumptionsystem and market and trade,said that for sustainable farm-ing system diversificationtowards nutrient rich fooditems, reducing food wastage isnecessary and emphasised onincreasing investment in foodresearch and inviting financeby encouraging private sector,agriculture and food industry.

Shweta Saxena ofUNESKAP in her presentationon How to Build InclusiveGreen Resilient Economiessaid that the least developedcountries and emerging mar-kets have been affected by theCovid pandemic. Saxena saidthat we have to keep our prepa-rations in such disasters. Forthis, the economy can bestrengthened by integratingrisk management in nationalplanning and policy develop-ment, strengthening immuni-

ty, effective public debt man-agement and disaster risk man-agement systems.

Prof. Satish Verma ofCPRID Chandigarh said thatthe biggest problem is that thecooperative society is includ-ed in the register. Wherevercommission agents dominate,the challenge of FPOs increas-es, he added. Prof Verma whileexplaining the problem of thefarmers and said that farmerstake loans for domestic needs.

Prof Nagesh Kumar,Director, ISID, New Delhi inhis lecture on Manufacturing:Startups and MSMEs said thatMake in India is a timely stepto reverse the trend of prema-ture industrialization.Industrial transformation willbe the next form of India's eco-nomic growth and prosperity.

Former Prime MinisterVajpayee had constituted thecountry's first EconomicAdvisory Committee

In the PR BrahmanandMemorial Lecture, formerPrime Minister Atal BihariVajpayee's special duty officer,presently Chairman of the15th Finance Commission andEconomist NK Singh told thatthe country's first economicadvisory committee was

formed by Late Vajpayee dur-ing his prime ministership.He said that the earth has notbeen given to us by our ances-tors, but it has been borrowedby us for the coming genera-tions. It is our responsibility toentrust the future generationsto be safe while protectingthem from the dangers of cli-mate imbalance, climatechange and global warming.We can get better results byusing renewable energy.

NITI Aayog member Prof.Ramesh Chand presided overthe session and G.H. RaisoniUniversity Amravati Prof.Vinayak Deshpande spoke onthe challenges of climatechange in the economic sphereon "Beyond Cop 26".

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

middleman Win Chadda andthe Hinduja brothers.

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

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

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

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

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

"Not just the terms used by

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

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

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

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The Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) has reacti-

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

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

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

“The directive has beensent to all the formations of the

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

in the paramilitary ranks,” anofficial said.

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

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

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

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

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

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On the 97th birth anniver-sary of former Prime

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

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

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

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

Nadda also made a dona-

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

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

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

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

movement", said Nadda.Nadda has listed three

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

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

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

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Congress on Saturdayalleged that the Centre was

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Immediately after therepeal of the laws, many BJP

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

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

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

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

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Aday after senior partyleader Harish Rawat was

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

Indora will continue tohold his existing charge, theparty said.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The committee comprises53 members from variouswalks of life.

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

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

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

to nations across the globe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The teams will specificallylook into areas of contact-trac-

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

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

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

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From Bethlehem andFrankfurt to London and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Pakistan and Taliban author-ities in Afghanistan have

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ASri Lankan policemanopened fire on a group of

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

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

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

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

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Massive search operationscontinued for the second

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

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

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

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

"The record suggests 310 list-ed passengers were travelling

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Myanmar governmenttroops rounded up vil-

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

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

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

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

while heading to refugee campsin the western part of thetownship.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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ARussian organisation thattracks political arrests and

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The ruling ChineseCommunist Party (CPC),

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Sudanese protesters marchedSaturday in the capital of

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"The Government has

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

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

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

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

components.However, the import

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

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

forecast of a possible deceler-ation of global demand.

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

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

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

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

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

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

According to the elec-tronics industries association

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The government has alsoincluded potash derived from

molasses under the NBS schemewith effect from October, 2021.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The company collaborated

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

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

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

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

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

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

With the fund infusion,Battrixx will strengthen its leadership

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

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

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

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

said. ]These funds will enable Battrixx

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It is necessary that thecitizens take the initiative to

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

the looming threat of athird wave of COVID

pandemic if we allwork together.

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! -& ! ��4556�&.5 7 7 72021was a grim year, but

music emerged as ahealer and a much

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

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

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

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

COMFORT FITSWe all got so used to wearing

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

TIE & DYEThe dull life we all experi-

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

CO-ORDSCo-ords have been a big

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

BOLD & BRIGHTBe it in prints or solids,

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

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

see everyone moving out oftheir comfort zones and

experimenting withcolours, styles andfits.

LILACDidn’t you

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Omicron infectedcases. Still vaccination

would prevent severe disease,hospitalisation and deaths in infectedpatients.

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

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

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

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

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

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Formidable Tamil Nadu willstart as overwhelming

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

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

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

It has been an all-round per-

formance so far by the southerngiants with various players deliver-ing in different games and willexpect the same come Sunday atthe picturesque Sawai Mansinghstadium.

The Tamil Nadu team will bepleased as punch in the mannerBaba Aparajith has upped his

game since his return from theIndia A's tour of South Africa.

His opening partner NJagadeesan too has been in goodnick, having hammered a tonagainst Karnataka and would bekeen to put the failure in thesemi-final behind and get amongthe runs.

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

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

Test.The choice

between anuntested rook-ie like Shreyas

Iyer and aproven but out-of-

form Ajinkya Rahanefor the number five slot,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Pakistan edged out a mediocreIndian side by two wickets in a

last-ball thriller in the U-19 AsiaCup here on Saturday.

Pakistan rode on a stroke-filled81 by one-down MuhammadShehzad and a late cameo by AhmadKhan (29 not out) to chase down atarget of 238.

Ahmad hit Ravi Kumar for aboundary in the game's final deliv-ery to seal the game for his side.

Earlier in the day, the PakistanU-19 bowlers, led by right-armmedium pacer Zeeshan Zameer(5/60), wreaked havoc as they bun-dled out the opposition for a sub-par237.

India lost opener AngkrishRaghuvanshi (0), Shaik Rasheed (6)and skipper Yash Dhull (0) cheaply,with Zameer accounting for all thewickets to leave the batting side reel-ing at 14/3.

Nishant Sindhu (8) became

Awais Ali's first victim as Indiaslipped to 41/4.

Harnoor made a patient 59-ball 46, striking six boundaries.When it looked like he would scorebig, Ali dismissed him in the 19thover to leave India at 96/5.

However, wicket-keeperAaradhya Yadav's 83-ball 50, inwhich he hit three fours, coupledwith Kaushal Tambe's 32 andRajvardhan Hangargekar's brisk 33off 20 balls, took India past the 230-run mark.

Chasing 238, Pakistan lost open-er Abdul Wahid (0) early asHangargekar castled him. Then,Maaz Sadaqat (29) and Shehzad (81)rallied the innings with a 64-runstand for the second wicket.

Shehzad, who hammered fourboundaries and five towering sixes,was in belligerent mood as Sadaqatplayed second fiddle. Left-arm medi-um pacer Raj Bawa (4/56) broke thestand by removing Sadaqat. Bawastruck again by dismissingHaseebullah (3) as Pakistan slippedto 69/3. Skipper Qasim Akram (22)also fell cheaply as Pakistan foundthemselves in a spot of bother at115/4, even as Shehzad continued totore apart the opposition attack.

Hangargekar ran out Shehzad inthe 37th over to bring India backinto the contention as Pakistan losthalf its side for 159.

However, Irfan Khan (32) andRizwan Mehmood (29) took thegame deep by adding 47 runs for thesixth wicket.

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The government thinks a 1.6% growth in FY22over FY20, when growth was just 4%, is back tohigh growth. But India’s annual average growthfor 15 years before FY20 was 7%. To reach thatlevel, it will have to address many structural chal-lenges

After claiming a V-shaped recovery(“India will be among only a feweconomies in the world to reboundstrongly from COVID-19 inducedeconomic contraction of 2020-21”)

and that India would become “the fastest grow-ing one in the world” — all on the basis of firsttwo quarters of GDP numbers for FY22 — theFinance Ministry’s November 30, 2021 reportgets factual: “The MPC (RBI’s monthly mone-tary policy committee report) in its Decemberstatement has maintained the growth forecast of9.5 per cent during FY 2021-22 (full fiscal),implying a full recovery and a 1.6 per centgrowth over pre-pandemic GDP level of FY2019-20.” (emphasis added). But, what does theabove sentence actually mean?

���������������� ������������It means, the growth for full FY22 will be

9.5% (over -7.3% in FY21) but this would trans-late to only 1.6% growth over FY20. The FY20growth was 4%.

This is hardly inspiring, especially sinceIndia’s average annual GDP growth during theprevious 15 years, between FY05 and FY19, was7%!

All economies were hit by the pandemic.The IMF’s World Economic Outlook report ofOctober 2021 (which uses official data of allcountries) says, global GDP will bounce backfrom -3.1% in 2020 (the pandemic year closestto India’s FY21) to 5.9% in 2021 (India’s FY22);advanced economies (average) from -4.5% to5.2%; emerging economies (average) from -2.1%to 6.4% and India will bounce back from -7.3%to 9.5%.

From the fastest growing major economy in2015, India became one of the slowest in theworld in 2020 (ranked 142 out of 194 countries)as its growth plunged to -7.3%, compared to theglobal fall of -3.1%. That tells its own tale.

Now let us see the actual quarterly GDPnumbers released in November 2021. It shows inthe first two quarters (H1) of FY22, the GDP atconstant price was �68.1 lakh crore. This is lowerthan �71.3 lakh crore in H1 of FY20. So, theGDP hasn’t yet reached the FY20 level at thisstage. Whether it will do in the full fiscal is pure-ly speculative.

The official data also reveals that privateconsumption (PFCE), the most powerful growthengine contributing 55% to the GDP, is far offfrom FY20 level — �37.3 lakh crore in H1 ofFY22 against �40.4 lakh crore in H1 of FY20.Actually, it is less than �37.9 lakh crore of H1 ofFY19 too.This means, consumption demand

hasn’t recovered to the FY19 level.When demand engine slows down, it drags

down other growth drivers: production of goodsand services, capital expenditure (investment)and imports. Even this H1 GDP numbers don’treflect the real state of the economy.

That is because quarterly GDP is estimatedmostly from organised/formal sector numbers(high-frequency indicators). The pandemic hitthe unorganised/informal economy, which con-tributes nearly half of the GDP, the harder.Therefore, the quarterly GDP is likely an overes-timation.

There is enough evidence to show unorgan-ised/informal sector grew in size due to the pan-demic — explained later — thereby making thequarterly GDP numbers even more off the mark.

Yes, stock markets boomed during the pan-demic crisis (2020 and 2021) but stock marketsare disconnected from the real economy as eco-nomic literature tells. Further, the pandemic sawmassive loss of lives, jobs and businesses (loss ofincome) and the economy plunging to new lowsand yet stock markets boomed.

� ������� ���������� �������� �����The reasons are several; one being low gov-

ernment (fiscal) spending. The FinanceMinistry’s March 2019 report had alreadywarned that only this engine (governmentspending) was working, the three other engines— private consumption (PFCE), capital invest-ment (GFCF) and net exports (exports minusimport) — had sputtered out.

That is why eminent economists AmartyaSen, Abhijit Banerjee and Raghuram Rajanrepeatedly pleaded for higher governmentspending. The government ignored them and itsmassive �23.66 lakh crore pandemic relief andstimulus packages of 2020 had fiscal spendingcomponent of just 1.6% of the GDP. In contrast,developed nations spent much more, the US, forexample, spending more than 10%.

The budget for FY22 saw a minor correctionwith budget expenditure going up by just 1%over FY21 (RE) level. Given that governmentexpenditure (GFCE) contributes about 11.5% tothe GDP (in H1 of FY22), a 1% increase is toosmall to boost significant growth in FY22.

The two pandemic waves saw more than4,75,000 deaths (third highest after the US andBrazil) and more than 34 million cases (secondhighest after the US). Since 60 million Indiansslip into poverty every year due to ‘catastrophic’healthcare cost in normal times, as the govern-ment admits, this means the pandemic (highercost of treatment) would have pushed severalmultiple of this number into poverty. The PewResearch said the first wave alone might havepushed 75 million into poverty (with incomes of$2 or less a day) — contributing “60% to theglobal rise in poverty.”

A study by the Azim Premji Universityshowed15 million jobs were lost permanently

(by the end of December 2020); there was 50%rise in informal workers as salaried/regular wagejobs shrunk and workers migrated to informalself-employment (30%), casual (10%) or infor-mal salaried (9%) work and 90% people surveysaid their food intake had reduced.

The OECD countries saved 50 million jobsduring the pandemic in 2020, India didn’t any. Itdoesn’t even have data on job or business loss-es/closures. Other than subsidised ration (whichdidn’t reach migrant workers due to lack ofdata), the government offered little help to poorhouseholds who suffered the most.

As a result, India was the only country towitness massive distress migration to rural Indiaand the demand for menial work under theMGNREGS went up dramatically. The numberof households worked under this scheme rosefrom 54.8 million in FY20 to 75.5 million inFY21 and the number of individuals from 78.9million in FY20 to 111.9 million in FY21. Thetrend continues in FY22 too (63.3 million and90.7 million by December 13, 2021).

The people and the economy received a farbigger shock also because of gross incompetenceof the government, which centralised all powersinvoking the National Disaster Management Actof 2005, in handling the pandemic. There was noplanning, no strategy and no preparations inannouncing the lockdown. The same was thecase with the unlocking and the second wave of2021 which had been forewarned. Then, the sec-ond wave saw super spreader events like theKumbh mela and month-long election rallies inWest Bengal.

The pandemic crisis also saw a focus shiftingto long-term “reforms” like new farm laws, newlabour codes, declaration of en masse privatisa-tion of public assets, monetisation of existingbrown-field infrastructure (roads, ports, railwaysetc.) and inward-looking import substitutionpolicy, instead of fire-fighting the pandemiccalled for. But the plunge to -7.3% in FY21 was-n’t all because of the pandemic mismanagement.

��������������������India was already in a prolonged slowdown

when the pandemic hit in early 2020.This slowdown was due to a series of man-

made disasters: the twin shocks of demonetisa-tion and GST (both hurt poor households andinformal economy); shutting down policy andplanning body (Planning Commission of India)without a suitable replacement (NITI Aayogcheerleads the government, rather than providerational policy inputs); fudged 2011-12 GDPseries which inflated growth rates by 2.5 to 3.7%percentage points during FY12-FY17, as formerCEA Arvind Subramanian pointed out; corpo-rate tax cut of �1.45 lakh crore amidst fiscal con-straints in 2019 and lack of critical data (impactof these pre-pandemic disasters on jobs andbusinesses) for policy making.

The combined impact was:

● GDP growth fell from peak of 8.3% in FY17 to4% in FY20.● Growth in private consumption (PFCE) fellfrom peak 8.1% in FY17 to 5.5% in FY20.● Growth in overall investment (GCF) fell froma peak of 14.5% in FY18 to 5.4% in FY20.● Capital investment (GFCF) fell from a peak of9.9% in FY19 to 5.4%.● Net exports from a peak of 17.4% in FY18 to -0.8% in FY20.● Household savings fell from24% of GDP inFY11 to 19.6% in FY20.

A study by Ashoka University-CMIEshowed that during the five fiscals between FY12and FY21, jobs shifted from formal to informalsector. It noticed three disturbing trends:● Manufacturing jobs nearly halved (fall of 46%)in five years ● Agricultural jobs increased by 4% (from 36%to 40% in total employment) ● Overall employment fell by 7% during theperiod (from 407 million in FY17 to 378 millionin FY21).

The PLFS of 2019-20 (pre-pandemic)showed a similar trend, as did the Azim PremjiUniversity study mentioned earlier, leading to asharp decline in income and rise in poverty level.

� ������ ��Once the above facts and evidence are

acknowledged, the road ahead becomes obvious.There is a need for both short and long-term

measures.The short-term measures are to address the

pandemic distress and hence, should focus ondirect income support (cash transfers) to poorhouseholds as well as to struggling SMEs. Thiswill revive consumption demand. A nationalemployment policy (NEP) to focus on creatingjobs, particularly in urban areas, should also getpriority.

The long-term measures are to addressstructural challenges that have emerged andcaused the prolonged slowdown. This calls for acomplete overhaul of the extant economic think-ing. The focus needs to shift from promotinggrowth of top 10% or top 1% in the economicpyramid to the rest 90-99% of people who alsoconstitute the economy. Without improving thesocial and financial health of 90-99% of the pop-ulation, no economic growth will be sustainablein the long run.

Such policies then relook at skewed taxregime (tax burden less on those who can pay);indiscriminate handing over public assets to pri-vate business; industries running banks; lawsthat hurt the interests of farmers and workersand self-defeating import substitution and manymore.

The writer is a journalist and researcher. Hewrites on public policy, politics, governance. His

latest book An Unkept Promise: What Derailedthe Indian Economy, has been published by

SAGE Publications India

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Supersonic is the story of India’s firstfighter jet: the HF-24 Marut. Told byMurali Murti, an academic when he

is not an author, this is a fast-paced, racytale which unfolds in the shadows of thecorridors of political power. The inspi-ration for Supersonic lies in the greats ofthe genre that is the political thriller:Frederick Forsyth, Michael Crichtonand George McDonald Fraser. Murtibrings the same style, scope and scale thatthese stalwarts are renowned for toSupersonic, which opens at the height ofthe Second World War. It begins as allgood stories do: with a murder and anundelivered letter which, had it reachedits destination, would presumably havealtered the course of history.

For a change, this is no exaggeration.Murti’s story contains no fictional pro-tagonists, basing itself instead on eventswhich are easily recognisable. The nar-rative begins in 1955, when IndianPrime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s solefocus was to not only build a vibrantdemocracy but to also try to positionIndia as a global leader of a “third bloc”of nations that would stay neutral dur-ing the ongoing Cold War. In order toposit itself as strategically capable, Indiawould need not only a domestic armsindustry, but an indigenous fighter jet.Supersonic takes the reader — at analmost bruising pace — Delhi to cock-tail clubs in Madrid, to private meetingsin the Pentagon and faceless, namelessSoviet agents. Elaborately described espi-onage and secret political power-playsmake up the fabric of this plot, but truthis another skein that runs through thenarrative.

Since India’s independence,Jawaharlal Nehru and his DefenceMinister, V.K. Krishna Menon wereunited in their decision that India’spower should be showcased in its owndomestic programme: an indigenousmulti-role fighter jet, capable of high alti-tude interceptions and strike missions.Enter Kurt Tank, the brilliant Germanaviation expert who had designed theLuftwaffe’s prize FW-190 fighter duringthe Second World War. With Tank at the

helm of affairs, India began its journeyto develop what it would need to face amodern, post-war world: a supersonicfighter jet, a missile programme and anuclear weapons programme. Murti usesthese events — replete with photographs,mock-ups and footnotes — to tell a fic-tional story of corporate and politicalespionage and a race against time. Thecharacters in Supersonic are rich andcolourful — ranging from newlydethroned Indian royals finding newways to pay for their princely lifestyles toanonymous bureaucrats, and a shadowyGerman consortium that insisted onbeing a global puppet-master. Murtiwrites with a flair for the backdrop againstwhich he sets his story — moving fromthe Marbella in Madrid to the Pentagonin the United States with ease.

Work on the Marut began in June

1957. Cleverly mixing fiction with facts,Murti describes not only the machina-tions that took place behind the scenesof its evolution, but also the finishedproduct. The HF-24 Marut would neverbe the prodigy it promised to be. It wasalways under-powered, and only limitedto light ground attack duties. With itscontinuing limitations and the non-availability of a proper engine, the IAFwas never fully committed to continuingwith the Marut. The game changedagain in the 1960s, with India’s disastrousloss to China in 1962 and Beijing’s test-ing of its first nuclear bomb in 1964.Using declassified CIA and KGB filesalong with minutes of meetings betweenLyndon Johnson and key advisors toestablish the new direction of the novel,Murti takes the reader on a brisk trip toTashkent and the mysterious death of

Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in1965. Of the many events that Murti out-lines in Supersonic, one has heard onlypersistent rumours, from Homi Bhabha’sdeath in a plane crash over the Swiss Alps,to Shastri’s ostensible demise of a heartattack and Vikram Sarabhai’s mysteriousend in a hotel room in Kerala. Given themystery that shrouds these events, it is aclever trick to base fiction on fact as itopens up a subject to new debate andquestions, especially when it is based onempirical evidence.

Yet despite these setbacks, India’ssearch for a capable indigenous fighter jetnever stopped. Murti takes the readerover the 1970s, right through till the1990s. The stage changes with fluidease, introducing new players — AdnanKashoggi and A.Q. Khan — against thebackdrop of a changing world order:

NATO, Britain, France, Israel andSweden. Murti’s understanding of theshifts in technology and geopolitics isexcellent, and it lends itself well to thisfast-paced narrative of prowess and espi-onage.

Supersonic closes four decades afterindependence, with the arrival of HAL’smulti-role supersonic Tejas fighter on thescene. With it, India joined an elite groupof countries that demonstrated the capac-ity to develop and manufacture so-called fourth generation fighters. Therehave been questions — there always willbe, as Supersonic will tell you — on theprocurement of international parts forwhat is called an indigenous fighter jet.But it is a huge step forward for India’smilitary and strategic prowess.

Both Jawaharlal Nehru and KurtTank would have been proud.

The reviewer is a historian and an author

Seventy one years after his demise, SardarVallabhbhai Patel occupies prime position inthe national narrative. Interestingly, theSardar has been brought to mainstream dis-cussion, since The Pioneer had carried a

report in 2012 about the memoirs of late MKK Nair,a Madras cadre IAS officer of the 1947 batch who hadclose rapport with the Sardar since 1942. Nair was acivilian officer in the then British controlledGovernment, posted at Hyderabad. His expertise asa bridge player helped him establish friendship withthe close relations of the then Nawab of Hyderabad.The junior Nawabs, during the game of bridge aftertheir quota of ‘sundowners’ fed Nair with all palacesecrets which were transmitted by the latter to SardarPatel. It was the memoirs of Nair that revealed thegreatness of Sardar Patel to our generation.

History books in our schools and colleges aresilent about the Iron Man while they sing paeans toJawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi. That is high-ly reprehensible because the role of Sardar Patel inIndia’s freedom movement remains as important asthat of Nehru. Even the fact that Patel was the choiceof 12 out of 15 Pradesh Congress Committees in 1946for the post of party president while Nehru polled anaught remained a secret till Durga Das came out withhis thrilling account India From Curzon to Nehru andAfter. There was a concerted attempt by people in highplaces to cover up the great work done by the Sardarin the country’s freedom movement and in the uni-fication of the princely States.

The first full scale volume on Sardar Patel wasauthored by V Shankar, private secretary to the for-mer deputy Prime Minister. My Reminiscences ofSardar Patel, the two-volume work did published in1974 by this ICS officer did not receive the attentionit deserved though the materials recounted by himcould have caused a political earthquake in India.

The second book on Patel was authored by BalrajKrishna, a well known journalist. Krishna’s 2005 workIndia’s Iron Man told the world about the unseennature of the man with the stiff upper lip. The authorhas reproduced the words of Sir Hugh Garrett, ICS,who wrote a ‘short but sweet letter’ to Krishna inwhich he has said: “Of all Indians, I ever met, I placeSardar Vallabhbhai Patel as the greatest”. BalrajKrishna belonged to that genre of writers who haddirect access to the Sardar, which made him rarestof the rare journalist.

In most of the modern history works, Sardar Patelmakes a brief appearance while Nehru is portrayedas the superstar. After reading the books like AGlimpse of World History, authored by Nehru, onegets the feeling that the first Prime Minister of Indiais an over rated character and his only advantage wasthat he had become a protegee of Mahatma Gandhi,the father of the nation. Moreover, Motilal Nehru, hisfather, was always around to ensure his coronationas the ‘undisputed’, ‘unquestioned’ and ‘unchallenged’leader. Those were the days when politics had titanslike Sardar Patel, Rajagopalachari and Kamaraj to save

the Indian National Congress from a total rout despitethe efforts of certain section in the party to make ittheir family property.

The fact that there was an attempt by this cabalto distort history and belittle the role played by SardarPatel has been proved beyond doubt by manyinstances. The person whom Mahatma Gandhi trust-ed and always turned for guidance and help in crit-ical junctures was honoured by Bharat Ratna, India’shighest civilian award only in 1991, more than fourdecades after his passing away. The Prime Ministerwho decided to honour the memories of the Sardarhimself became a persona non grata in the Congressparty. Interestingly, Jawaharlal Nehru and IndiraGandhi honoured themselves with the award in 1955and 1971 respectively!

Fate chose a professional judge known for hisintegrity, honesty and intellectual brilliance to pre-side over the facts presented to the people of the coun-try. Had Sardar Patel Been The First Prime Ministerauthored by S N Aggarwal, former judge of Punjaband Haryana High Court and published by Garudais not just a book, but a verdict delivered by a pro-fessional judge and jurist. Justice Aggarwal, in his ver-dict (yes, that is what the book is) has pronouncedthat had the sardar been the first Prime Minister of

the country as chosen by his party and people, Indiawould have become a nation with self-respect, courageand elegance. From 1947 August 15 itself, India wouldhave been adored and respected by the comity of glob-al nations, says Justice Aggarwal in his judgment.

He has examined all the documentary evidencespresented before him by historians and political com-mentators who never had any prejudice and whoseminds were narrowed by family interests. TheJustice sounds aghast at the way Nehru took over theprincely state of Jammu and Kashmir on October 31,1947, without informing Sardar Patel, who as the thenHome Minister was in charge of that geographicalentity. The Justice expresses his dismay as Nehru failedto make use of the United Nations Resolution of 13August, 1948 that asked the Pakistani Army, tribalinvaders and Pakistani nationals to leave the State ofJammu and Kashmir. The Prime Minister who rushedto the UN to complaint to the global communityabout Pakistan’s illegal annexation of J&K failed tomake use of the 13 August 1948 resolution which wasoffered on a platter to India. In chapter 3 of the book,Justice Aggarwal explains how Nehru threatened hiscolleagues more than a dozen times that he wouldresign from the post of Prime Minister ifPurushothamdas Tandon was elected as the AICC

president. V Shankar, doubts Nehru did it with ulte-rior motives. Despite his nagging heart ailments,Sardar who was in his 70s, was working without anybreak and Nehru’s shenanigans were with an inten-tion to harm him. “Since the setback in February 1950,Sardar Patel had been unable to enjoy the rest andpeace of mind which might have made some differ-ence to his flagging energy,” V Shankar quotes in hisbook and this has been reproduced by the Justice.

Justice Aggarwal points out that National Herald,the mouthpiece of the Nehru family, was an illegit-imate product of corruption, bribery and misuse ofpower. Shankar himself had quoted about theSardar’s uncompromising stance against Nehru mis-using his official power to mobilise funds andresources for the daily which is enmeshed in legalwrangles thanks to Subramanian Swamy MP and ofcourse a scoop report carried in The Pioneer in 2012.

Nehru’s son-in-law Feroz Gandhi, his cabinet col-league Rafi Ahmed Kidwai and many undesirable anddubious characters played major role in the NationalHerald scam from which Sonia Gandhi, her son RahulGandhi and some Congress leaders are finding it dif-ficult to come out without blemish.

Justice Aggarwal has undertaken a tediousresearch through the speeches and writings of

Sardar Patel and analysed each and every sentencesspoken by the Iron Man before coming to the con-clusion that the latter was the real hero of India. TheSardar had warned Nehru about the impending attackby China on Tibet moths before it became a reality.The Communists in Nehru’s cartel had seen in SardarPatel a major threat to their secret mission to breakIndia and that’s why they targeted him and portrayedhim as an obscurantist and reactionary. But provi-dence always comes to help men of honesty in dif-ferent forms. V P Menon and Shankar were divineinterventions which Nehru and his comrade in armsfailed to notice. But for these two prime witnesses andthe documents existing in the national archives Patelwould have gone long back from our hearts. Today,thanks to this initiative by Justice Aggarwal, the IronMan stands 182 meters tall, the tallest presiding deityin the world. Those who humiliated and insulted theSardar and his memory should undertake a pilgrim-age to this statue as an act of atonement.

Those who fail to read Had Sardar Patel Been TheFirst Prime Minister by Justice Aggarwal will certain-ly fail to understand the real India. The book is anundisputable work and a judgment which wouldremain unchallenged in any courts of appeal. Hatsoff to Justice SN Aggarwal for his painstaking effortsand he has delivered a fantastic verdict. This bookis the answer to the question why a son of the soilwho graduated with distinction from Britain’sMiddle Temple was always given a raw deal by vest-ed interests. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was born greatand he was destined to take India forward which hiscritics did not like.

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6������� ����&(�5�����.������������� �� �' ������� !Courts which have tradi-

tionally functioned in realhalls have switched over per-force onto virtual screens ofdesktop computers, laptopsand the smartphone. But, howsmart or truthful is such amouse operandi for deliveringjustice has become the mootquestion today.

Since the year 2020, courtsof India and also those inmany other parts of the worldhave undergone a sea change inthe mode and manner of dis-pensation of justice. TheCovid-19 pandemic resulted inlengthy lockdown periods thatalmost knocked down the “ruleof law” made by man to setright society.

As it is, courts across allrungs of the hierarchy arebogged down with an ever-bur-geoning litigation. The rea-sons for this elephantine bur-den on courts are not far toseek, be it bad laws, poorenforcement or a rank failureon part of establishments tocheck corruption. This essay isan effort at trying to look at thebrighter side of a dark scenarioand to help nip the menace of“Lis pendens” or cases pendingat courts of law by advocatingthe refined variety of “hybridhearings”.

During this period of sus-pended life in society, pro-

ceedings were largely curtailedor limited to those held overremote links. And, as pro-ceedings recommence postlockdown, it becomes impor-tant to consider the legality aswell as the future of suchremote proceedings.

Even though it is my per-sonal opinion that justice canonly be dispensed to a largeextent only in personal court-room trials, hearings and argu-ments, many deliberations areon to evaluate whether remotehearings can be adapted into aneffective and beneficial long-term initiative?

The higher judiciary hasbeen expressing its views fromthe Bench and so have we prac-titioners of law. But, whatabout the litigants viewpoint?

Using technology to con-duct trials and hear argumentsfrom confines of remote homeswas unthinkable as a normativepractice even three years ago.Final hearings and also hear-ings with contested evidenceare inevitably being conductedremotely using technology forotherwise there will be nohearings and access to justicewould be a mirage.

The courts exist to resolvedisputes. The default positionnow in all jurisdictions is thata hearing should be conduct-ed with one, more than one, or

all participants attendingremotely.

In practice, many questionsarise. Whether a particularhearing should be adjourned ifthe case cannot be heard faceto face, or whether there shouldbe a remote hearing evenwhere several parties to thecase are involved?

The continued adminis-tration of justice must be theoverriding factor to determinethis question. Justice delayed isjustice denied even when thedelay results from a response tothe prevailing extenuating cir-cumstances.

Nevertheless, it is equallyimportant for a court toremember that there will becases where the court cannot besatisfied that a fair evaluationof facts or resolution of disputescan be achieved by way of say-ing remote hearing. The appro-priateness of the nature of pro-ceedings should be individuallyassessed by the court.

A virtual or remote hear-ing, where it is appropriate, canonly replicate some and not allof the characteristics of a fullyattended hearing in the courthall (a postage stamp image ofa particular attendee at theremote hearing is definitely apoor substitute to seeing thatperson fully present in fleshand blood, in the court).

Much may be lost in aremote hearing. The interven-tion of technology betweenthe viewers and viewed, ster-ilises the exchange, removing acritical dimension of humaninteraction. The whole experi-ence becomes literally and fig-uratively two-dimensional.

It is easier to lie to amachine than to someone’sface. The truth does not hit youin the same way through ascreen. The impact of bothexamination-in-chief and thecross-examination gets dimin-ished. Vulnerable witnesses viavideo-link can prove to be achallenging task unless a close-up gaze of the camera is reveal-ing. It is difficult to pick up onsubtle emotional cues at a dis-tance. This is important notjust for the assessment of wit-ness testimony but for properclient care, and for the ends ofjustice.

This being so, cases that donot involve hearing or weigh-ing live evidence are clearlymore suitable for remote deter-mination. Interim order hear-ings, directions hearings, casemanagement hearings and pre-hearing reviews are naturalcontenders for continuing to beheard remotely. Simpler reviewand substantive hearings suchas conviction, performance orhealth cases where impair-

ment is not contested can alsobe dealt with effectively with-out requiring attendance.Similarly, remote hearings aremore suited to short cases.Remote hearings are easier toarrange at short notice. The lit-igants and witnesses do notneed to arrange travel andaccommodation, saving time,expense and expanding avail-ability.

Added point is that a fewhave suitable private space athome to engage in private linkwithout interruption for dayson end.

Herein comes the need fora hybrid system of court hear-ings. Instead of a presumptionof a hearing in person, casehearings could be held remote-ly where it is possible and fairto do so: working from a star-ing point of the “due process oflaw” that is possible for pro-ceedings to be held remotely,parts can then be “hived off ”into sections where attendancewould be required or advanta-geous in the interests of justice.

Some cases may be con-ducted in person until all wit-nesses, including parties to thelitigation, have given evidencetestimony, with the remainderproceeding remotely. Eventuallyalmost all cases would lendthemselves to some form ofsuch hybrid solution to the odd

situation continuing to prevailworldwide. Thus, a hybrid hear-ing involves conducting all ora part of the proceedings with-out all the parties being presentin person, physically in thecourt hall. Submissions, deter-minations and even the ques-tioning of witnesses, whereappropriate, can all be per-formed or delivered via alter-native remote means.

Hybrid hearings introducea greater element of flexibility,allowing the participationmode of various parties to beblended according to the cir-cumstances of the particularcase. They offer a compromiseposition which sits between therigid choices of the hearingbeing conducted either fullyremotely or fully attended.

The adaptability of ahybrid format facilitates ver-satile case management inthese uncertain times wheresocial distancing restrictionsmay be relaxed or tightened atshort notice. A case for anamendment to the CivilProcedure Code for remotehearings which currently ismade available for the aged, theinfirm and the “pardanashinwomenfolk” becomes strongeronce the circumstances cease tobe exceptional and becomethe “new normal”.

Provision will have to be

made for public attendance orvirtual observation in order tocomply with the requirementfor transparent justice. A clear-cut policy is required to pro-mote transparency and con-sistency in the process of deter-mining which elements of acase are suitable to be heardremotely and which are not.

It is also imperative thatsuch an amendment allowsfor agile adoption of new plat-forms and developing techno-logical solutions as they arise.Parliament has an onerousresponsibility to stay ahead ofthe curve in this respect whilegoading upon regulators andcourts to properly maintain allacceptable standards of securityand data-protection.

The way ahead will not beeasy. As the saying goes: “Firstwe make our habits, then, ourhabits make us”. Advantages ofconvenience and cost-savingoutweighed the fair adminis-tration of justice in the past andit is important to ensure thatthey do not do so in the future.Remote hearings can be adapt-ed into an effective and bene-ficial long-term initiative.

The justice delivery systemmust update itself in thesetesting times.

(The writer is an eminentjurist and columnist)

The latest elections to theHong Kong Legislature

(known as Legislative Councilor Legco) have clearly indicat-ed how China is fast takingcontrol over the island territo-ry. Popularly termed as the first“patriots only” election forHong Kong, it witnessed arecord low voter turnout afterthe complete overhauling of thecity’s existing electoral system.Many China observers say thatthis trend has reflected a steepdecline in the civic and politi-cal engagement of theHongkongers in a largelyorchestrated electoral processof the territory. According to agovernment media release, the30.2 per cent turnout was farlower than the earlier recordlow of 43.6 per cent in the year2000. It must be noted here thatthe last legislative election fiveyears ago recorded a pollingpercentage of 58 per cent.

This election is a historicone for Hong Kong. This is thefirst election conducted afterpassing the infamous NationalSecurity Law on June 30, anhour before the 23rd anniver-sary of the city’s handover toChina by Britain in 2020.Officially it is known as theLaw of the People’s Republic ofChina on Safeguarding theNational Security in the HongKong Special AdministrativeRegion (HKSAR).

The law empowers Beijingto handle all the troublemak-ers in the island, particularlythe pro-democracy activistsand their supporters. Further,the law creates four prominentoffences, namely secession,subversion, terrorism and col-lusion with foreign forces toendanger national security.Many say that this law willbring an end to Hong Kong’sautonomy and democraticfuture forever. The island willfast turn into a Communistfiefdom. And the first signalhas been directly sent by theresults of this election only.

Also, this is the first elec-tion that took place after themassive pro-democracy move-ment of June 2019 when mil-lions marched across the islandterritory, protesting againstBeijing’s intervention anddemanding more autonomyas promised under the BasicLaw under which Hong Konghad to be governed with “OneCountry, Two Systems” till2047. Mainly, the Hongkongersmarched on the streets toprotest a proposed extraditionbill that would allow the cityadministration to extradite sus-pects to mainland China. Itmarked the beginning of a

protest that was extended up tothe year 2020. Seeing all these,Beijing initiated all prepara-tions to bring back peace to theisland.

Again, it is a remarkableelectoral process as it is carriedout under new stringent elec-toral reforms initiated in themonth of March 2021. Thereforms under the new elec-toral system offered theGovernment more vettingpowers and it directly reducedthe citizens to elect the candi-dates of their own choice. Thenew system simply allows thecandidates screened by thegovernment i.e. the “patriots”,those exclusively loyal toBeijing and the CommunistParty of China (CPC) to standin the electoral fray. Previously,the half of the 70 seat Legcomembers were elected by thepeople directly and the otherhalf were selected by tradeand industry lobbies, mostlyloyal to mainland China. Theworst part is that under thenew electoral system, the Legcowas expanded to 90 seats. Thehalf of the seats are filled bypro-Beijing trade and industryconglomerates and only a bareminimum of 20 seats are made

open to popular public voting.And this has been observed asthe lowest number of seats forpopular representation of thecommoners since the handingover of the territory to Chinain 1997. It is clear now thatHong Kong’s pro-democracymovement will have to findother way out to fight the Xiregime and its tight NationalSecurity Law.

Further, this election willadd more credibility to CarryLam, the fourth and the cur-rent Chief Executive of HongKong since 2017 as she canshow to Beijing that normalcyhas returned to her city.Moreover, today the issue inHong Kong is not freedom,basic rights and increasingintervention of Beijing over theautonomy of the islandpromised under the Basic Law.Crippling rent and large wealthinequality are simply makinglife unbearable in the city forthe public. These are pressingissues beyond democracy.Thus, Beijing and the HKSARadministration under Lamhope that issue of survival willcertainly bother moreHongkongers than democra-tic rights and freedoms. And,

hence, the patriots may get afair chance to deliver the goodsand services to the needy in thedays to come.

Thus, Lam said that ‘it wasan important election follow-ing the improvements to theelectoral system to implementthe principles of patriotsadministering Hong Kong”. Inthe guise of bringing morelocals into the city adminis-tration, Beijing is simply turn-ing the Legco into anothercommittee of the NationalPeople’s Congress.

In a 1984 speech, the leg-endary Chinese leader DengXiaoping said, “We are con-vinced that the people of HongKong are capable of runningthe affairs of Hong Kong well,and we want to see an end toforeign rule. The people ofHong Kong themselves willagree to nothing less.” Butwhat Deng pronounced 13years before the induction ofthe island into the People’sRepublic of China (PRC)seemed completely differentas the Hongkongers graduallymoved on with the archaicCommunist system of Beijing.

Today, Chinese PresidentXi Jinping’s only intention is to

display Beijing’s money andmuscle power and to claim asmany territories as possible. Infact, his extremely aggressiveforeign policy is stimulatingincreased global oppositionboth to the country and to theCPC. Succinctly, it is directlyundoing decades of efforts bythe PRC to assuage its neigh-bours that a stronger China willalways be peaceful andabsolutely non-domineering.Xi’s predecessor Hu Jintaoespecially espoused the dictumcalled Hepen Queqi (PeacefulRise or sometimes quoted asPeaceful Development) to con-vey to the world and its neigh-bourhood that China’s fastgrowing political, economicand military might would notpose a threat to world peaceand security. The policy wasarticulated by China to counterits so-called “Threat Theory”.By 2004, then Chinese PremierWen Jiabao said that China’srise “will not come at the costof any other country, will notstand in the way of any othercountry, nor pose a threat toany other country”. But whatwe have witnessed today iscompletely the opposite of allthese Chinese Communists

had preached before to maskthe whole world. Not only itsneighbours, but also its ownrebel territories like Hong Kongand Taiwan, and precisely itsown Uyghur Muslims in thewesternmost Xinjiang Provinceare bearing the brunt of Xi’svastly militarised statecraft.Needless to say, Uyghur geno-cide is fast threatening thesurvival of the community inthis restive region. Therefore,Hongkongers may alsoencounter the worst forms ofChinese atrocities in the daysto come unless the CPC mendsits ways sooner or later.

Meanwhile, the joint state-ments released by the G-7 andmembers of the Five EyesAlliance countries ( Australia,New Zealand, Canada, the UKand the UK) criticised theLegco election that drew arecord low turnout of voters inthe recent history of the island.On a separate note, the EU, theUK and the US also denouncedthe results of the election. To allof them, the new changesimposed by the Communists inBeijing are simply eliminatingany meaningful political oppo-sition in the HKSAR.

Finally, one must say that

Hongkongers have set anexample for all that one canand should do to stand up forfreedom in the face of anauthoritarian regime ofimmense brutality. This dedi-cation and bravery of theislanders must be cherishedand celebrated. But as of nowwhat has been observed is thatno one could help theHongkongers except theythemselves. However, the UKis the only nation in the worldthat could legitimately stepinto the current crisis, simplybecause China’s actionstowards the island territoryare directly violating the prin-ciples of the 1997 Sino-BritishDeclaration.

At present, internationalpressure and isolation of Chinaare the only solutions for bring-ing back Hong Kong to its orig-inal “One Country, TwoSystems” status. Else, under thelong arm of China’s securityapparatus, the HKSAR willpass onto oblivion. But HongKong people kowtowing to thewishes and commands of theCPC will lead to the death ofanother democratic challengeagainst China. It will indeed bea failure of the global liberalorder if millions struggling fortheir basic rights and free-doms are not supported. Whatis fast taking place in thisisland is nothing but the bru-tality and total disregard forhumanity kept covered underthe rubrics of Xi’s massiveexpansion plans. The roadahead for Hong Kong would betumultuous. Sadly, most of thepro-democracy activists andlawmakers are today either inprison or in exile. China’smindless violence, spying tac-tics and massive surveillancesystem have already workedvery well.

What Franklin DRoosevelt once said seemedappropriate for today’s HongKong, “In politics, nothinghappens by accident. If it hap-pens, you can bet, it wasplanned that way.” Hong Kong’scurrent fate is all what theMandarins have been plan-ning quietly since the days ofDeng to Xi now.

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

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Once mind settles down, followingthe process suggested in the previ-ous issue, a favourable inner men-

tal climate gets created which is suited topursue dhyana in right earnest. For, ourrestive mind becomes free from all theinconsequential thoughts, many negative,playing at the sub-conscious level, go outof reckoning. Mind-space thus becomesavailable to absorb fresh educative inputs,objectively process fresh thoughts andconduct sensibly. You will still continue tohave in store, thought seeds parked atdeeper layer of mind that hold the key toyour habit tendencies. To get over them,you need to move to the next stage of theprocess — Detoxification of Mind.

The process is purposely so designedas to consciously invoke all instorethought seeds that keep driving us crazy,so as to resolve them through fresheducative inputs. At this stage, Guru willgive you a two syllable/words mantra.Now sit comfortably, close your eyes andturn your attention inwards. The focushas to be once again on the breath cycle— inbreath and outbreath. Now beginreciting the mantra inwardly — one sylla-ble/word with inbreath and the otherwith outbreath. Mantra as such has no

religious implication; it actually has ener-gy connotation. When you recite theopening syllable/word with the inbreath,you draw extra life forces from nature.That triggers the inlaid memory imprintsregistered in energy format — meaning-ful ones as positive energy and unseemlyas negative energy. The churning that fol-lows expels negative imprints, bringinginto focus your limiting habit tendencies.Vibration of the second syllable/wordhelps drive away the negative energy. Theprocess needs to be continued for at least20 minutes every day. The two steps fol-lowed thus far correspond to Pratyahara.

It’s time now to move on to worktowards attaining the state of one-point-edness, which corresponds to ‘Dharana’the 6th step of Patanjali’s 8 fold path. Theprocess is designed to induce value to thethought process through self-reflectionon fresh educative inputs and give a posi-tive turn to mind. The process has twoworking tools — a fresh Mantra and aniconic figure carrying valuable educativeimport. The two have to be individualspecific, as prescribed by the Guru, whichis based on the callings of your inherentframe of mind, particularly its wantingarea.

Mantra, you may know, is actually aset of syllables placed in a logicalsequence to create a particular soundeffect, which as a sequel to stress createdand uttered by mouth is heard by ears,and apprehended by the mind. Mantra isso called, because it comprises of ‘mana’out of ‘manana’ and ‘tra’ out of ‘trana’.Mana in Hindi lingua franca meansmind; manana implies reflection inmind; and trana stands for liberation. Sochanting of mantra helps attain liberationfrom mental limitations. Mantra in fact isa radiant energy, rather a sound body ofconsciousness set in correspondence withthe consciousness of related imagery infocus. Repeated chanting of the mantra,with focus on the related imagery, con-sciousness of the seeker comes to termswith the mantra and the imagery infocus. You may still continue to be con-fronted with distracting thoughts. Try toremain disengaged from them. For,unless you pay attention to something, itmay not affect you. Also, try to bringyour attention back again and again toyour focal point. Gradually, the distract-ing thoughts may go out of reckoning.Let me add here that when the soundnote of the mantra resonate to the

imagery in focus, over a period of time,you may get so involved, that distractingthoughts, if any, may go out of reckoning.When you get fully established in theprocess, your mind will become onepointed, and you may remain focused forconsiderably a longer stretch of time.

As you graduate further in theprocess, the seeker is in harmony with theimagery and its educative import, as wellas the resonating mantra. As you furtherget established in the process, a stage isarrived at when the mind, the mantraand the imagery turn into a seamlessawareness. The state of dhyana is thusarrived at. You may then remain effort-lessly focused for long, and at will. Mindthen comes out with its optimum best,when its fully expanded vision wouldknow no limits. Wherever you pay atten-tion, the underlying truth comes outintuitively.

With these words, I wish the valuedreaders to get geared up to grab theopportunities coming your way and bravechallenges ahead in the New Year.

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R_: The Exponential Growth of Rootkit Techniques - Black Hat

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Pisati uz svijeću: lucubratio kao topos formula od Cicerona do Lucića

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UZ Management Brochure 2021-English.cdr - Sharda ...

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Kako se naštimovati uz pomoć biofidbeka

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`UZ IZ¶d HfYR_ # Z_ >¶afcR^ - Daily Pioneer

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`UZ d\Zad AR\ cRZdVd eVcc`c Re F? - Daily Pioneer