thursday, february 4, 2021 DELHI - Tenhard India

CMYK

J ND-NDE

thursday, february 4, 2021 DELHI

City Edition

18 pages O ₹��10.00

Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna

follow us:

thehindu.com

facebook.com/thehindu

twitter.com/the_hindu

CMYK

J ND-NDE

DELHI THE HINDU

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2021J2EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CMYK

M ND-NDE

thursday, february 4, 2021 Delhi

City Edition

18 pages O ₹��10.00

Printed at . Chennai . Coimbatore . Bengaluru . Hyderabad . Madurai . Noida . Visakhapatnam . Thiruvananthapuram . Kochi . Vijayawada . Mangaluru . Tiruchirapalli . Kolkata . Hubballi . Mohali . Malappuram . Mumbai . Tirupati . lucknow . cuttack . patna

follow us:

thehindu.com

facebook.com/thehindu

twitter.com/the_hindu

Saikia reinstated asAssam Leader of Oppn.GUWAHATI

The Assam Assembly

Secretariat on Wednesday

reinstated Congress MLA

Debabrata Saikia as the

Leader of the Opposition. His

status was withdrawn on

January 1 after the number of

Congress legislators House

got reduced to 20. The mini-

mum number required is 21.

NORTH & EAST A PAGE 4DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

NEARBY

Shashi Tharoor, others

move Supreme Court

against sedition charges

page 9

Collection of DNA

samples will lead to

misuse: Justice Lokur

page 10

Myanmar’s ousted

leader Suu Kyi charged,

remanded for 2 weeks

page 11

Have to play really

well to beat England,

says Ajinkya Rahane

page 13

With a massive “mahapanchayat” in Kandela villagehere on Wednesday, thefarming community of Haryana signalled that it hadjumped into the fray to seekthe repeal of the farm lawswith a renewed enthusiasm.Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait saidat the meeting that the farmers would emerge victoriousif young people remainedpeaceful.

Amid resurgence of thefarmers’ agitation in Haryana in the wake of Mr. Tikait’srecent emotional outburst,the “mahapanchayat”adopted a fi��vepoint resolution seeking repeal of thecontentious laws, besides alegal guarantee for MinimumSupport Price, implementation of the SwaminathanCommission report, releaseof those arrested for the Republic Day violence and loanwaiver. The participants

raised their hands to supportthe resolution.

Held at the behest of Kandela Khap, the meeting, addressed by Mr. Tikait andBalbir Singh Rajewal, heading a BKU faction in Punjab,saw participation of Khapleaders from across theState, besides thousands offarmers, including women.

Series of panchayatsA series of panchayats at village levels and Khap panchayats have been heldacross the State over the pastfew days reiterating supportto the agitation.

Addressing the gathering,

Sangwan Khap presidentand Dadri MLA Sombir Sangwan said the people of Haryana at the protest sitesaround Delhi outnumberedthose from Punjab participating in the agitation,which, he said, had now become a “mass movement”.

Mr. Tikait, amid loudcheers, said the unions werefi��rmly fi��ghting for the farmers’ rights and there wouldbe no compromise on theirself esteem.

He said there was no needfor more farmers to march toDelhi as of now.

Massive gathering in Haryanademands repeal of farm laws No change inpanel holdingtalks: Tikait

Ashok Kumar

JIND

Renewed enthusiasm: Thousands of farmers and Khap leadersat the mahapanchayat in Haryana on Wednesday. * ASHOK KUMAR

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 8

Taking off��: IAF’s aerobatic team Suryakiran performing at the inauguration of Aero India 2021at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru on Wednesday. * MURALI KUMAR K (REPORTS ON PAGE 8)

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Aerial extravaganza

The Centre is not holdingany informal talks with theprotesting farmers, Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar said on Wednesday. He also termed thebarricades and arrests offarmers a “law and orderissue” and was not withinhis purview.

However, the unionssaid such police and government “harassment”are “human rights violations” linked to their original policy demands, andmust be resolved beforetalks can resume.

Negotiations betweenthe Centre and union leaders broke down on January22 after 11 rounds of talks,when farmers rejected thegovernment’s off��er to staythe implementation of thefarm laws.

‘No informaltalks withfarm unions’Priscilla Jebaraj

NEW DELHI


The Union government hasissued a notice to Twitter tocomply with its order of removal of content related to‘farmer genocide’. TheCentre alleged that the material was designed to spreadmisinformation to infl��amepassions and hatred, andwarned that refusal to do somay invite penal action.

On Tuesday evening,Twitter restored over 250 accounts, hours after blockingthem due to “legal demand”. The platform, in ameeting with governmentoffi��cials, contested the order, arguing that these accounts were not in violationof Twitter policy, and declined to abide by the order.

A source in the Ministry ofElectronics and IT (MeitY),which sent the notice to theU.S.headquartered fi��rm,said Twitter was an intermediary and was obliged to follow the directions of the government and refusal to doso may invite penal action.

“Twitter unilaterally unblocked accounts/tweets

despite government orderblocking... MeitY had passedan interim order on January31, as a matter of emergencyblocking 257 URLs and 1Hashtag under section 69 Aof the Information Technology Act, 2000...on theground that these arespreading misinformationabout protests and has thepotential to lead to imminent violence aff��ecting public order situation in thecountry,” the source said.

The Centre, in its notice,quoted more than half a dozen Supreme Court judgments, including of Consti

tution benches, as to what ispublic order and what arethe rights of authorities. TheMeitY pointed out that the“prevailing situation” resulted into a “major public order issue” on Republic Day.

“The statutory authoritiesare doing everything possible to ensure that no adversepublic order situation takesplace, and no cognisable offences are committed. Inlight of these developmentsand as a part of due process,an order was passed…,” thesource added.

Govt. notice to Twitter on‘farmer genocide’ hashtagRefusal to remove content may invite penal action, it says

Yuthika Bhargava

NEW DELHI

India on Wednesday saidcomments from Westerncelebrities, such as singerRihanna and activist GretaThunberg, in support offarmers’ protest were“neither accurate norresponsible”. A Page 9

India fl��ayscomments bycelebrities

Protesters at Singhu,Ghazipur and Tikri — thethree locations borderingDelhi where farmer groupscontinue to swell to protestagainst the farm laws — saidNet remained blocked onWednesday as well. A Page 9

Internet notyet restored atDelhi borders

The Bihar government hasissued a directive stating thatgovernment jobs or contracts will not be given tothose who stage violent protests or involve themselves ina criminal act against whichchargesheets are fi��led.

“If anyone is found to beinvolved in a law and ordersituation, staging protest,road blockade, etc., and in acriminal act against whichpolice fi��le a chargesheet,that can be clearly mentioned in his certifi��cate ofconduct and character.These persons should beready for grave consequences because they will not getgovernment jobs and contracts,” said a State police di

rective issued on January 30. The directive was duly ap

proved by DirectorGeneralof Police S.K. Singhal andwas circulated to the StateHome Department and other senior police offi��cers.

Police verifi��cation is necessary for governmentjobs, licence for fi��rearms,passports, etc.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)leader Tejashwi Yadav criticised the directive and accused Chief Minister NitishKumar of acting like a dictator.

“In a challenge to Hitlerand Mussolini, Nitish Kumarsays if someone uses his democratic right against thegovernment by staging dharnaprotest, he will not get agovernment job, which

means neither will jobs begiven, nor will protest be allowed. How this haplesschief minister with 40 seatsis frightened!” he said in atweet, attaching the policedirective.

Senior Congress leaderand party MLC Prem Chandra Mishra, too, criticisedthe government’s new directive. “The new police directive of the Bihar governmentis, in fact, an encroachmenton the democratic rights ofthe common citizens of theState. How can a government issue such directives tofrighten and stop peoplefrom staging protests anddharnas?” he asked.

Left party leaders, too, attacked the State governmenton the issue.

Bihar govt. won’t hire protestersOpposition criticises police directive, calls CM a dictator

special correspondent

Patna


DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Billionaire Jeff�� Bezos, whofounded Amazon as an online bookseller nearlythree decades ago, willstep down as the CEO ofthe $1.7 trillion global retailgiant in the third quarter of2021, with Andy Jassy being named his successor.

Amazon, which announced on Wednesdaythat 2020 net sales had increased 38% to $386.1 billion, compared with$280.5 billion in 2019, saidMr. Bezos, 57, will transition to the role of ExecutiveChair in the third quarterof this year.

Amazon CEOJeff�� Bezos tostep down

Press Trust of India

New York

FULL REPORT A PAGE 12

The Supreme Court onWednesday refused to intervene immediately and examine the constitutional validity of the laws enacted byState governments like U.P.and Uttarakhand, which criminalise religious conversion through marriage andmandate prior offi��cial clearance before marrying intoanother faith.

A Bench led by Chief Justice of India Sharad A.Bobde asked the petitionersto approach the respectiveHigh Courts. He said the SCwould like to have the benefi��t of the HCs’ conclusions.

SC refuses tointervene inconversion laws

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI


For nine hours, they satacross a few feet from eachother, neither making amove. Leopard and dog,predator and prey. The cathad chased the stray dog andboth ended up in arudimentary wash room of afarmhouse in Karnataka.

Hearing the commotion,the farm owner locked upboth animals together forabout nine hours but fi��nally,the cat made a fl��eetfootedescape and the dog emergedunscathed.

The adventure near KukkeSubrahmanya on Wednesdaysurprised Forest Departmentoffi��cials. The dog ran intothe toilet, pursued by thecat, at the farmhouse ofJayalakshmi in Kaikamba ofBilinele village, on thefringes of Kidu ReserveForest, in DakshinaKannada’s Kadaba taluk.Deputy Conservator ofForests for DakshinaKannada V. Karikalan saidMs. Jayalakshmi heard loudnoises around 4 a.m. andfound the leopard’s tailsticking out near the door.She promptly locked thedoor and informed theForest Department. Forestpersonnel who rushed to the

spot encountered an unusualsight from a window: theleopard and the dog satopposite each other quietly.

Mr. Karikalan said a cagewas placed outside thewashroom and a net wasspread around it. Anadditional cage and net werealso kept on standby. Adarter and a veterinarydoctor were summoned.

The leopard and the dog

were “taking rest” when thepersonnel closed allopenings. Their mission wasto make a hole on theasbestos sheet roof and dartthe leopard. As theearthmover moved in, theleopard suddenly jumpedtowards the roof, bringingdown a portion. It boltedthrough an opening,disappearing into the forestin a fl��ash.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

A leopard that changed its spots

Raghava M.

Mangaluru

Predator spent hours with a dog in locked room, didn’t harm it

Locked in: The leopard and the dog seen in the washroom inBilinele village on Wednesday. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A city court on Wednesdayremarked that though theDelhi police “used moreforce than necessary insome instances” while dealing with the December 2019protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act at Jamia Millia Islamia, thesewere done in discharge oftheir offi��cial duties.

“Likewise, it could also beargued that the situationperhaps could have beenhandled by the respondents[Delhi police] in a better wayand that some restraint should have been shown by thepolice/respondents…,” Metropolitan Magistrate RajatGoyal said in a 16page order.

‘Bid to control situation’“However, the lack of suchrestraint exhibited by thepolice/respondents and excesses committed in tryingto control the situation arevery much related to offi��cialduties of the respondents,”the judge said.

The court’s observationcame while dismissing a petition fi��led by Jamia Millia Islamia seeking to initiate proceedings against the policeoffi��cers who stormed the university campus on Decem

ber 15, 2019 without seekingany sanction and used “excessive and arbitrary force”while dealing with the antiCAA protesters.

A number of videos hadshown that Jamia students,including those in the library, were badly beaten upby Delhi police personnelwho had entered the university campus.

Jamia Millia Islamia saidthat the police offi��cerscaused destruction of university property, fi��red teargas shells and carried outlathicharge.

After the incident, the university made a complaint atJamia Nagar police station,but no action was taken. Following this, the universitymoved the court.

‘In Jamia, police shouldhave shown restraint’Delhi court dismisses university’s plea

SOIBAM ROCKY SINGH

NEW DELHI

A ransacked JMI library afterDelhi police stormed thecampus in 2019. * FILE PHOTO

‘Legislature panels cansummon witnesses’NEW DELHI

Committees formed by State

legislatures have the power

to summon witnesses and

enforce their attendance

through compulsory process.

It is a tradition that travels

back hundreds of years, the

Delhi Assembly submitted in

the Supreme Court.

CITY A PAGE 3DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CMYK

M ND-NDE

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 20212EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CITY

Delhi Police is compiling details of over 9,000 mobilenumbers that are registeredoutside of the city but wereactive in the heart of theCapital on Republic Daywhen violence broke out inseveral areas, said a senioroffi��cer on Wednesday.

The offi��cer said that theSIT formed to investigate theviolence that erupted at theRed Fort had identifi��ed9,000 numbers that were registered in Haryana, Punjaband western Uttar Pradeshbut were active in Red Fortand ITO area on January 26.

Data analysisIn a similar pattern, detailsof protesters who indulgedin violence will be obtainedby analysing dump data ofmobile calls at other locations in the city. “The detailsof these numbers will bematched with their locationsat the protest site to fi��nd out

if the number belongs to aprotester who was present atTikri, Ghazipur or Singhuborders,” he said.

The offi��cer added that after getting confi��rmation anddetails of the mobile user viathe customer acquisitionform (CAF), they will be issuing notices and asking the

mobile users to join the ongoing investigation.

The police said that tillWednesday they have obtained footage of the violence rom around 4,000CCTVs and mobile phones.

A team has been formedto analyse the footage andget photos of protesters with

the help of software. They are also using facial

recognition software to identify the people.

700 emails“We have received 700emails regarding the violence. They contain photosand videos. On WhatsApp,we have got around 1,300 videos and 50 audio clips. Weare sorting through the videos in which policemen wereattacked by protesters andidentifying the accused. Weare also getting CCTV footage from PWD and other government agencies,” said apolice offi��cer.

The offi��cer said they haveidentifi��ed around 200 vehicles, including tractors, carsand twowheelers, that forcibly entered the Red Fort premises on Republic Day.

They have asked for details about vehicles ownersfrom the transport departments of U.P., Haryana andPunjab, to serve notices.

Police to ascertain locationof over 9,000 phone users ‘Registered in Haryana, Punjab and U.P., they were active at Red Fort and ITO’

SAURABH TRVEDI

NEW DELHI

The farmers’ tractor parade turns violent at the Red Fort onRepublic Day. * FILE PHOTO: SANDEEP SAXENA

The city police on Wednesday announced cash rewardof ₹��1 lakh for any information that could lead to thearrest of actor Deep Sidhuand three others in connection with the Red Fort incident on Republic Day.

Cash reward of ₹��50,000each was also announcedfor Buta Singh, SukhdevSingh, Jajbir Singh and IqbalSingh for allegedly instigating the protesters, the police said.

Flag hoistingThe reward of ₹��1 lakh wasannounced on Sidhu, JugrajSingh, Gurjot Singh andGurjant Singh who allegedlyhoisted fl��ags at the Red Fortor were involved in the act,according to the police.

They were identifi��edthrough CCTV and videoclips, the police said.

Meanwhile, the SIT(Crime Branch) arrestedDharmendra Singh Harman

on Wednesday. His role inconnection with hoisting ofa fl��ag at Red Fort is being ascertained, the police said.

Thousands of protestingfarmers had clashed withthe police during the tractor parade called by farmerunions on January 26 tohighlight their demand forrepeal of the Centre’s threefarm laws. Many of the protesters, driving tractors,reached the Red Fort andentered the monument.

On Tuesday, the policehad released the pictures ofat least 20 suspects allegedly involved in the violence.

Cash reward announcedfor information on DeepSidhu, three others They were identifi��ed via CCTV footage

STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI

Deep Sidhu

The Delhi government onWednesday released a listof 115 people lodged in various jails in the city afterbeing arrested by the policein connection with the violence on Republic Day.

“Many people have contacted the city governmentin the past few days complaining that family members who had taken part inthe farmers’ agitation in thenational capital have notcome back, they do nothave any contact with themand are missing,” Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saidin a video statement.

“Our government hasmade a list of people in various jails in Delhi, arrestedin connection with thefarmers’ agitation,” he said.

The Delhi police is underthe ambit of the Central government and not the AamAadmi Partyruled city government.

Mr. Kejriwal said the listhas the name, father’sname, address, age and

date of 115 people, and itwill be helpful for peopletrying to fi��nd their familymembers.

“If we continue to receive reports even after issuing this list, as the ChiefMinister of the State, I haveassured the farmers’ unionsthat I will try my best totrace the missing personsand connect them withtheir families. If required, Iwill also talk to the LG andthe Centre in this regard,”the Chief Minister added.

The listalso has details ofthe FIR number in eachcase and the police stationin which it was registered.

AAP govt. issues list of 115 held in RDay case Will do my best to trace the missing: CM

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Arvind Kejriwal

The Cyber PreventationAwareness Detection (CyPAD) unit of Delhi Police onWednesday served a noticeto activist Yogita Bhayanafor alleged fake tweets sheposted during the RepublicDay violence in the Capital.

Responding to the development, Ms. Bhayana accused the Delhi police of“suppressing” her voice,and said her only “crime”was that she had been supporting the farmers protesting against the three Centralagricultural laws.

The notice sent to Ms.Bhayana asks her to appearbefore the police in a caseregistered under Indian Penal Code Sections 153 (wantonly giving provocationwith intent to cause riot),

153A (promoting enmitybetween diff��erent groups),and 505(1)(b) (circulatingstatement, rumour thatmay induce somebody tocommit an off��ence againstthe State or against the public tranquillity).

“This is to inform youthat investigation of thecase is being carried out.During investigation, it wasfound that the two allegedly

fake posts were uploadedfrom your Twitter account,”read the notice.

“You are requested to inform the source and reasonfor uploading the posts. Youare also requested to informthe date, time of placewhere you will be availablefor the investigation. Pleaseinform the said details within two days from the receiptof this notice,” it stated.

Another noticeAnother notice has beenserved to Lucknowbasedpolitical analyst ChoudharyRohit Singh Yadav.

He has been asked to appear before the Delhi policewithin two days. In his post,Mr. Yadav had shared an oldphotograph showing a Sikhman with injuries on hisback. “When I realised that

the photograph I sharedwas old, I immediately deleted it on January 27. I received a police notice onWednesday regarding thedeleted tweet,” he said.

Ms. Bhayana, in anothertweet, said, “I feel Delhi Police is misgoverned and doing exactly opposite of whatwe expect from them. I amwith farmers and I know Iam fi��ghting for truth.”

On January 30, the Delhipolice had fi��led a caseagainst Congress MP ShashiTharoor, senior journalistRajdeep Sardesai, The Cara-

van magazine and othersfor allegedly misleading thepublic regarding the deathof a protester at ITO duringa tractor parade on January26 which had turned violent. He was killed after histractor overturned.

Two activists get summons over tweetsMy only crime is that I am supporting the protesting farmers: Yogita Bhayana

STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI <> When I realised I

had shared an old

photo, I immediately

deleted it on January

27. I received a

police notice on

Wednesday

regarding the

deleted tweet

Choudhary Rohit Singh Yadav

Lucknow-based political analyst

The Cyber PreventionAwareness and Detection(CyPAD) unit of Delhi Policehas registered four casesagainst several social mediaaccounts in connection withsharing and uploading of alleged fake posts during theRepublic Day violence, offi��cers said on Wednesday.

Om Prakash Dhetarwal,29, a resident of Churu district in Rajasthan, has beenarrested for allegedly posting an old video along withfake news of resignation of200 police personnel.

Another person has beenapprehended from Bharatpur, Rajasthan, for postingsimilar fake news.

The police have sent requests for removal of the “offensive and unlawful” posts.

Several others indulgingin such activities have beenidentifi��ed and eff��orts are under way to arrest them, thepolice said.

Notices to join the investigation have been issued tofour persons. Further actionagainst them will be takenon the basis of their deposition, the police added.

Generating resentment Police said they have noticedsome social media behaviours in the last few days.

Fake news about policefi��ring on protesters is widelybeing circulated. “Old images and videos of law and order action unrelated to thecurrent situation in Delhi arebeing peddled to generateresentment against the administration,” Delhi PolicePRO Chinmoy Biswal said.

Public safety measuressuch as barricading and preventive steps such as restrictions of 4G Internet are being projected as preparationfor largescale crackdown,the police said.

Bogus claims and conjectures, causing disrepute anddoubts about bonafi��de legalprocesses, such as postmortem report generated by amedical board is also beingcreated, they said.

The malicious social media propaganda undertakenby vested interests is primarily aimed at regaining support after the public backlash caused due to theunprovoked violence perpetrated by the protesters during the tractor rally at ITO,Red Fort and other placesthroughout the national capital, in which more than 500

police personnel were injured, Mr. Biswal said.

Bot accountsWe have noticed that severalsocial media accountsspreading the fake postshave no account biodata,which is behaviour generallyobserved in bot accounts,said the offi��cer.

In many posts, the attached media fi��le is editedand manipulated, andpushed in the guise of newsreports along with incitefuland alarming hashtags, Mr.Biswal said, adding: “As partof the probe, the accounts orhandles that have postedthese fake, off��ensive, provocative content have been escalated to the OTT platformsfor getting their basic subscriber information and alsofor their removal.”

4 cases lodged for sharing, uploading ‘fake posts’One arrested, another apprehended from Rajasthan, and several others ‘identifi��ed’

STAFF REPORTER

NEW DELHI

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed theNorthern Railway to construct warehouses on platforms for the handling of cement bags in a bid to curbair pollution resulting fromloading and unloading ofthe cement bags.

A Bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice AdarshKumar Goel directed theNorthern Railway to furnishan action plan to the CentralPollution Control Board(CPCB) and take requisitesteps. “The CPCB and theDelhi Pollution ControlCommittee (DPCC) mayfurther monitor complianceof environmental norms inexercise of their statutorypowers, following due process of law,” the Bench said.

Fine impositionThe tribunal also dismisseda plea of the Northern Railway, which sought setting

aside a previous order of theDPCC imposing a fi��ne of₹��71.62 lakh for failing tocurb pollution.

“The amount of compensation may be spent for therestoration of the environment in coordination withthe Northern Railway,” theBench said.

The directions came on aplea moved by petitionerAnubhav Kumar alleging airpollution in and around Rani Bagh, Shakurbasti railwaystation, Raja Park and surrounding areas as a result ofunscientifi��c loading and unloading of cement.

NGT: build warehouses onplatforms for cement bagsTake steps, Northern Railway told

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed theUnion Environment Ministry to take urgent steps in revamping the monitoringmechanism for complianceof conditions mentioned inthe environmental clearances granted to projects andindustries.

A Bench headed by NGTchairperson Justice Adarsh

Kumar Goel directed the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change(MoEF&CC) to ensure proper constitution of DistrictEnvironment Impact Assessment Authority inStates.

“Apart from other measures, the MoEF needs totake urgent measures to revamp the monitoring mechanism in a timeboundmanner in the interest of sa

fety and health of the citizens and protection of theenvironment so as to ensuremonitoring of complianceof environmental clearances conditions of at least“red” category industries,not less than once in a quarter,” the Bench said.

The green panel also directed the Central PollutionControl Board (CPCB) andState pollution controlboards to take measures in

conducting monitoring ofenvironmental clearancesconditions at their level,once every quarter, for all“red” category industries.

The directions camewhen the green panel washearing a plea moved by petitioner Sandeep Mittal,seeking stricter mechanisms to ensure complianceof conditions mentioned inenvironmental clearancesgranted for projects.

Keep tabs on clearance conditions for projects: NGT

Panel directs Ministry to take urgent steps to revamp monitoring mechanism

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

The air quality of Delhi,Gurugram, and Noida improved slightly but continued to remain in the ‘verypoor’ category on Wednesday, according to the Central Pollution ControlBoard (CPCB) data.

“Delhi’s AQI is likely toimprove to the lower endof ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’ category in the next twodays. AQI is forecast tomarginally deteriorate butstay in the lower end of ‘very poor’ category on Saturday,” said a statement bygovernmentrun monitoring agency SAFAR.

The AQI of Delhi was330 on Wednesday.

Air qualitymay improvetoday: SAFAR

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

A total of 7,365 benefi��ciariestook the COVID19 vaccination in the city on Wednesday. However, 17 AdverseEvents Following Immunisation (AEFI) were reported, according to the Delhigovernment.

The number of peoplevaccinated was only 40.2%of the daily target of 18,300,which is the lowest percentage till now.

Also, frontline workers,including police personneland teachers, will be vaccinated on a pilot basis onThursday following the Central government’s directions, according to offi��cials.

“Tomorrow [Thursday]frontline workers will bevaccinated on a pilot basis.Their vaccination drive willstart from Saturday. About3.4 lakh frontline workershave been registered till

now,” an offi��cial workingwith the Chief Minister’s offi��ce said.

Delhi uses both vaccinesfor COVID19, Covaxin andCovishield. Of the 17 AEFI,14 were from using Covishield and three were fromCovaxin.

The number of days ofvaccination has been increased to six a week fromfour till last week. The num

ber of vaccination sites wereincreased to 106 from 81.Each site has a target of 100healthcare workers.

The government startedthe vaccination drive by inoculating about 2.4 lakhhealthcare workers whosenames have been registeredwith them.

150 new cases Delhi witnessed 150 newCOVID19 cases in the last 24hours, taking the total number of cases to 6,35,481, according to a health bulletinreleased by the Delhi government on Wednesday.

Also, six more deathshave been reported, takingthe total number of deathsto 10,864.

A total of 56,658 testswere done in the past 24hours. Of the total cases,6,23,409 people have recovered and there are 1,208active cases.

Front-line workers to get jabon a trial basis from today 7,365 more benefi��ciaries took COVID19 vaccination: govt.

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

A vaccination centre atHindu Rao Hospital in NewDelhi. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Air Quality of Delhi-NCR

Delhi 330 Gurugram 306

Ghaziabad 388 Faridabad 317

Noida 339 Greater Noida 345

■ Good ■ Satisfactory ■ Moderate0-50 51-100 101-200

..................................................................................................................

■ Poor ■ Very Poor ■ Severe201-300 301-400 >400

..................................................................................................................

Air Quality Index at 4 p.m. yesterday (Average of past 24 hours) | Source: CPCB

Minister inaugurates smart power gridNEW DELHI

Power Minister Satyendar Jain

inaugurated a “smart power

grid” at Narela on Wednesday.

It is a step towards providing

24×7 electricity supply in the

city, according to the Delhi

government. “I have inspected

the power plant and found

it to be outstanding. It is

state-of-the-art and is

maintenance-free as it works

on a centralised automated

system,” said Mr. Jain.

IN BRIEF

AAP on Wednesday allegedthat the BJPruled NorthDelhi Municipal Corporation has not released dry rations provided by the Delhigovernment in corporationrun schools for the last several months.

The party claimed thatthe BJP has a “corrupt nexus” with industrialists andthey were diverting the dryration.

“The Delhi governmentis providing this dry rationfrom its own budget. TheNorth Corporation has notprovided dry ration to thechildren of the schools under their purview for thelast eight months. It is utterly shameful,” AAP leaderDurgesh Pathak said.

‘Rampant corruption’He alleged that the BJP hasbeen in power in the corporations for the last 15 yearsand during these years,

they have indulged in “rampant corruption” acrosssectors.

“AAP demands that theBJP should immediately release dry ration for children. We are giving the BJPfour days to release it and ifthey do not, then we willlaunch a massive protest,”he added.

‘Back-door deal’AAP also alleged that theCongress has made a “backdoor deal” with the BJP tonot raise the issue of farmers’ protests separately andaggressively inside Parliament.

“AAP MPs were thrownout of Parliament and theCongress saw everythingbut did not speak a singleword in favour of the farmers. This clearly shows thatthere is a backdoor dealbetween the BJP and theCongress regarding thefarmer issue,” AAP leaderSanjay Singh said.

Civic body not giving dryration in schools: AAP‘It has corrupt nexus with industrialists’

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

The Delhi High Court onWednesday sought responseof the Centre and AAP government on a PIL seekingpayment of pending salariesof sanitation workers andproviding them medical facilities as well as safety gear.

A Bench of Chief JusticeD.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti

Singh issued notice to theMinistry of Social Justice andEmpowerment, Delhi government as well as the National and Delhi Commissions for Safai Karamcharisseeking their stand on thepetition by March 15.

The petition by Delhi resident Harnam Singh, whoclaims to be a social activistand a former Chairman of

the Delhi Commission forSafai Karamcharis, has alleged that sanitation workers were forced to workwithout protective gear during the time the pandemicnumbers were increasinguncontrollably. He has alsoalleged that even the twocommissions set up for thewelfare of safai karamcharisdid not perform their duties.

PIL in High Court for salary payment,medical facilities to sanitation workers Court seeks response of Central, State governments


New Delhi

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2021 3EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CITY

Published by N. Ravi at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860, Anna Salai, Chennai-600002 and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai-600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act).

Regd. DL(ND)-11/6110/2006-07-08 ● RNI No. UPENG/2012/49940 ● ISSN 0971 - 751X ● Vol. 11 ● No. 29

Timings

DELHI

THURSDAY, FEB. 04

RISE 07:08 SET 18:03

RISE 00:00 SET 11:29

FRIDAY, FEB. 05

RISE 07:07 SET 18:04

RISE 00:55 SET 12:08

SATURDAY, FEB. 06

RISE 07:07 SET 18:05

RISE 02:01 SET 12:53

AAP fi��les complaint against BJP, SambitPatra for sharing ‘forged’ video of KejriwalNEW DELHI

The Aam Aadmi Party has filed a police complaint

against the BJP and its spokesperson Sambit Patra,

stating that Mr. Patra had allegedly tweeted a

"forged" video of AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal

purportedly supporting the farm laws, as per the

complaint. The complaint, dated Tuesday, has

been filed at the IP Estate Police Station.

IN BRIEF

The Delhi High Court onWednesday ordered the Telecom Regulatory Authorityof India (TRAI) to ensure“complete and strict” implementation of the regulationissued by it in 2018 for curbing unsolicited commercialcommunications (UCC).

A Bench of Chief JusticeD.N. Patel and Justice JyotiSingh also directed the telecom service providers(TSPs), including Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone, to ensure strictcompliance with the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preferences Regulations (TCCCPR)

2018 issued by TRAI.The court’s direction

came while disposing of aplea by One97 Communications Ltd, which runs Paytm,claiming that millions of itscustomers have been de

frauded by the phishing activities over the mobile networks and the failure of thetelecom companies to prevent the same has “caused fi��nancial and reputationalloss”.

“We expect respondent 2[TRAI] to strictly implementthe regulations and in case ofany violation, action wouldbe initiated in accordancewith the regulations,” theHigh Court said.

Customers defraudedPaytm had, in its plea, alleged that telecom operatorsare not blocking those whoare defrauding its customersby “phishing” activities overvarious mobile networks.Paytm had contended that

the telecom majors are violating their obligations under the TCCCPR 2018, tocurb problem of unsolicitedcommercialcommunications

Paytm claimed that underthe regulations, the telecomcompanies are required toverify purported telemarketers seeking registration(called registered telemarketers or RTMs) with them before granting access to theircustomer data and also takeaction immediately againstall fraudulent RTMs. It contended that the telcos “failure” to undertake properverifi��cation prior to such registration enables fraudulenttelemarketers to carry outphishing activities.

Ensure strict implementation of TRAI regulations: HC

Court’s direction came on a plea claiming phishing activities on mobile networks

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

TCCCPR 2018 was issued forcurbing unsolicitedcommercialcommunications. * FILE PHOTO

Adani Railways Transport, GMRHighways, Arabian ConstructionCompany, Kalpataru Power Transmission and Omaxe, are among thenine global and domestic fi��rms whohave shown interest in redevelopingthe New Delhi Railway Station, theRailways said on Wednesday.

These fi��rms, along with BIF IV India Infrastructure Holding (DIFC),ISQ Asia Infrastructure Investments, Anchorage Infrastructure Investments Holdings, and Elpis Ventures Pvt. Ltd., participated in theRFQ bids opened on Wednesday bythe Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA).

These companies will now undergo technical evaluation and inthe next stage, RLDA will fl��oat theRequest for Proposal (RFP) for parti

cipants who get qualifi��ed in thetechnical process, the Railways said.

The redevelopment of New DelhiRailway Station is expected to incura capital expenditure of around$680 million and will be developedon a DesignBuildFinanceOperateTransfer (DBFOT) model.

“The redevelopment of the NewDelhi Railway Station has attractedinterest from various national andinternational stakeholders. The project will be instrumental in augmenting the local economy, generating employment opportunitiesand boosting the tourism potentialof DelhiNCR,” Ved Parkash Dudeja,Vice Chairman, RLDA, said in astatement.

The project off��ers multiple revenue streams to the developer and isslated to be completed in aroundfour years.

Nine fi��rms bid for railwaystation redevelopmentSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI

“Ik American singer aa Ri-hanna, jine sadde lai tweetkitta ae… ode tweet de baad,5.5lakh lokkan ne saddebaare gal kitti ae (There’s anAmerican singer Rihannawho has tweeted about us after which 5.5 lakh peoplehave talked about us),” announced a speaker from themain stage at the Singhu border protest site.

On Wednesday, the globalicon was repeatedly mentioned in several speeches infront of a crowd where themajority didn’t know whoshe was but lauded her forher support and for bringingthe protest onto the international stage.

The speaker said the singer supported the protest onsocial media following whichmany international social activists and personalities alsospoke up in favour of thefarmers.

Owing to Internet suspension around Delhi’s borders,most protesters are unawareof what the nation’s take ison the agitation. If there issome important informationto share, we do it through announcements on the stage,said Charanjeet Singh, a volunteer.

“Why aren’t we talkingabout this?! #FarmersProtest”, Rihanna had tweetedon Tuesday.

Dalbir Singh from Moga

said he doesn’t know who Rihanna is. “I haven’t heard ofthis name. Who knows aboutbig English artists in our villages? but if she is talkingabout us then it’s great because any help for our struggle is welcome,” he said.

Coordination problemStage management committee member Arshdeep SinghAtwal, 22, from Jalandhar,said they have WhatsAppgroups for duty roster and

coordinating with hundredsof volunteers, but the systemhas collapsed because the Internet was suspended.

“We have resorted to making calls to coordinate, butit’s not as effi��cient,” he said.

He added that lawyerswho are collecting data onarrested and “missing” persons are also facing troublecoordinating among themselves, and sending lists toother lawyers.

“We need to send out information on missing persons on WhatsApp groupsand we haven’t been able todo so,” he said.

Jay Sandhu, 30, from Amritsar, who runs a teapakoras langar said he hasn’tbeen able to contact his family members in Canadaand London. “I can connectwith those who are in Amritsar but not those abroad. Ican’t send them pictures ofwhat we are doing here andhow we are doing,” he said.

Protesters at Singhu borderwelcome global lens on stirFarmers praise American singer for support, but many did not know who she is

Hemani Bhandari

NEW DELHI

Farmers protesting against the new farm laws at Singhuborder on Wednesday. * SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Committees formed by Statelegislatures have the powerto summon witnesses andenforce their attendancethrough compulsory process. It is a tradition that travels back 100s of years, theDelhi Assembly submitted inthe Supreme Court onWednesday.

The Assembly was justifying the summons issued byits Committee on Peace andHarmony to Facebook offi��cials to testify in connectionwith the Delhi communalriots in February last year.

The court is hearing aplea by senior Facebook offi��cial Ajit Mohan who allegedthat the notices issued bythe Committee threatenedhim with breach of privilegeaction unless he appearedbefore it to testify. He hadasked the court to protecthis right to silence.

Mr. Mohan said the Committee had no power or jurisdiction to summon a priv

ate person like him.“The order ultimately be

ing asked for [by Mr. Mohan]from this court will spell thedeath knell for the work oflegislative committees. Allcommittees have the powerto summon as witness andenforce attendance throughcompulsory process. Toquestion this hundreds ofyears old tradition is likecreating a Republic of Facebook within the Republic ofIndia,” Mr. Singhvi argued.

Senior advocate RajeevDhavan also agreed that thekind of notice sent by theCommittee was “very common to Parliament and allthe State legislatures”. The

Committee, he said, had“merely followed a standardform of notice”.

Mr. Singhvi said, “Riotshad happened in Delhi. After sometime, if the NCT ofDelhi wants to look into it, itis unhealthy that Facebookdoes not cooperate.”

But Justice Kaul askedwhy the Committee hadspecifi��cally asked for Mr.Mohan. By issuing notice toMr. Mohan, was he beingcompelled to appear underthe threat of breach of privilege. It should have been, assenior advocate Harish Salvefor Mr. Mohan pointed out,left to Facebook to choose itsrepresentative to be sent before the Committee.

To this, Mr. Singhvi said,to his knowledge, the Committee wanted a “seniorcompetent person” from Facebook to testify.

“I have never said thatapart from Mr. Ajit Mohananyone else cannot be recognised before us,” Mr. Singhvisubmitted.

Legislature panels have the powerto summon witnesses, SC told Delhi Assembly justifi��es committee’s summons to FB offi��cials

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The Delhi Congress onWednesday said its Legaland Human Rights Department has fi��led a complaintbefore the National HumanRights Commission againstthe Delhi, U.P. and Haryana governments, and theDelhi Police Commissionerfor cutting off�� water, power, medical and toilet services to the farmers protesting at Delhi borders.

The delegation of Legalthe Human Rights Department of the DPCC metNHRC offi��cials and apprised them of the plight ofthe farmers at the Delhiborders. It appealed to thecommission to immediately constitute a team to visitthe borders and assess thepoor condition of the farmers. The team also requested the Commission to issuenecessary directions to theDelhi, Haryana and U.P. governments and Delhi Police to give the farmers acccess to basic facilities.

“It is inhuman to denybasic facilities to the farmers, who have been protesting since November 232020,” Sunil Kumar, whoheads the legal team, said.

PadyatraThe Delhi Congress alsosaid it will be launching a‘Pol Khol’ padayatra to expose the misdeeds and corruption of the BJP and theAam Aadmi Party (AAP) governments in Delhi on February 4 as part of its campaign for the forthcomingbyelection to the corporation seats.

Farmers beingdenied water,power: DPCClegal dept.

Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The main road towards Haryana’s Bahadurgarh, whichhas been occupied by agitating farmers at the Tikri border, has now been cut off��from all nearby residentiallanes with policemannedbarricades even as securityarrangements leading to it arebeing fortifi��ed further.

While access to the protestsite was regulated earlier too,attempts to this end were limited to the periphery of thesite and not a bustling marketright in the middle of it to ensure that only one person canenter or exit the main marketarea at a time. Though razormesh wire fencing is limitedto a small patch of land behind the immediate protestsite, large metallic framesresting on heavy trucks havebeen procured to preventvehicular movement towardsthe national capital.

“They have blocked ourentry into any lane connectedto the protest site. Police haveasked us not to go to the market in groups,” said HarmeetSandhu from Punjab’s Moga.

More earthmoving machines are now stationed nextto police riot control vehiclesat a little distance from whereagitating farmers have erect

ed a stage on the main roadand concrete slabs have beeninstalled in the middle of thelocal market to control accessto it under the eyes of policepersonnel.

Residents complained theyhave to walk over a kilometrethrough a dirt road aroundthe restrictions to be able toreach Rohtak Road, wherethe police have stepped updeployment since January 26,and more DTC buses and concrete barriers have been installed to block access towards Delhi near the Tikriborder metro station.

“There is much more police presence in the area afterwhat happened on January26,” said a local resident requesting anonymity. “Policemen have been stationed atthe entrances of all the lanes

where barricades cannot beput or won’t fi��t,” he also said.

Not just entry to the vicinity of the protest site, local residents are, they complained,not allowed to exit the areaexcept from one point – a dirty road ostensibly serving as aparking lot for small goodsand passenger carriers behind a slum on the main road.

“Things were already inconvenient for us since thefarmers came but they havegotten more inconvenientsince what happened on Republic Day. Elderly residentscannot walk as much as needed to go to the main road andvehicles from outside willcause a jam if they enter thebylanes,” said Hari ShankarSharma, a local shopkeeperwho stays on rent in the areawith his family.

Road occupied by farmers at Tikriborder cut off�� from residential lanes Locals forced to walk on dirt path to reach Rohtak Road


New Delhi

Policemen at the entrances of all lanes where barricadescannot be placed at Tikri border on Wednesday. * JATIN ANAND

The voices of farmers protesting at Delhi’s borders wereamplifi��ed in Lutyens’ Delhion Wednesday at a ‘citizens’march’ called to support thefarmer’s demands. Severalleftwing student groupscalled for the march fromMandi House to Jantar Mantarand asked people of Delhi,who were in support of thefarmers’ demands, to join in.

The Delhi police did not allow the protesters to leaveMandi House where they hadgathered and barricaded bothsides of Barakhamba Road toensure that the march did notproceed further. The policesaid that they had denied permission for the march as Mandi HouseJantar Mantar

stretch “was not a place tohold dharna/demonstration/protest as promulgation under Section 144 CrPC is already in force in the area”.

The march soon turned into a public meeting and protesters raised slogans “againstthe way in which the government was trying to suppress

the voice of the farmers aswell as how activists arrestedduring the CAANRCNPRprotests were silenced byslapping the UAPA on them”.

Karam and Navjot, two ofthose present at the protestsite, said that they had returned recently from Canadaand were supporting the

farmers’ movement. Theysaid that they had started aYouTube channel to show the“truth” about the farmers’protest as several media organisations were allegedlypainting them in a bad light.“Earlier, nobody looked at myturban and called me a terrorist. Now, the government istrying to portray us in such alight that people come to usand call us terrorists. We havebeen subject to this profi��lingvery often over the past fewdays,” said Navjot.

Sucheta De from AICCTU,speaking at the protest site,said that all democratic voicesof the country must learnfrom the spirit of the farmers’movement and her sentiments were echoed by Kawalpreet Kaur from AISA.

Farmers’ voices amplifi��ed at citizens’ marchStudent groups called for march from Mandi House to Jantar Mantar


NEW DELHI

The Delhi police did not allow the protesters to leave MandiHouse on Wednesday. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Prakat Singh, a 58yearoldman from a Patiala village,arrived at Singhu border onDecember 29 with his wifeand has been staying heresince. He walks all night providing tea to volunteers.

He carries a rather bigfl��ask fi��lled with tea and disposable glasses and walksaround 15 km in about 20hours. He sleeps three hours

a day and at times, rests forjust an hour during the day.This is his routine on mostdays barring a few, Mr. Singhsaid.

Mr. Singh’s wife left 1213days after they had come,but he stayed on and hasplanned to stay till the “battle is won”. “Back at home, Iused to sleep 12 hours a day,but I don’t know what hashappened to me here. Godhas given me energy,” he

nesday, 30yearold PrabhjotSingh, a Delhi resident, hasput up a kiosk with a mikeholder inviting people tospeak their mind and heart.

“Number of speakers atthe stage is huge and not everyone can pour their heart atthe stage. I have started thisso that people can come hereand say what they want,” hesaid, adding that he then records and uploads videos onYouTube.

said. An event in his life three

years ago, pushed him intopeople’s service, he believes.

“I suff��ered an electricshock. I was attached to thewire for nearly 10 minutesbut God saved me. The aftereff��ects have stayed, but I survived. After that I startedserving people more seriously,” he said. Mr. Singh wasseen shivering while walking.

At the protest site on Wed

58yearold serves tea at Singhu border all nightHemani Bhandari

NEW DELHI

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NORTH & EAST

The skeletal remains of a 15yearoldgirl who was reported missing by herparents in 2011 have been recoveredfrom a grave in Madhya Pradesh’s Sehore district. Akila (name changed),the daughter of a farmer in Manakheda village of the district, allegedlytook her own life under duress, saidSehore Additional Superintendent ofPolice (ASP) Sameer Yadav.

“Our preliminary investigationssuggest that the teenage girl had disappeared twice from her home in2011. However, none of the familymembers came forward to lodge amissing complaint. On both occasions, the girl was traced from Bhopal,” said Mr. Yadav.

The police said Akila’s motherquestioned her after she was broughthome the second time. The girl reportedly told her that a relativenamed Shamim, who lives in their village, and Ismail, from Moondla village in the same district, had sexuallyabused her.

Extreme stepMr. Yadav said instead of consolingher daughter, Akila’s mother rebukedher, and she took the extreme step.After she was found dead, Akila’s parents summoned Shamim and Ismailhome, placed the blame on them fortheir daughter’s death and askedthem to help with disposing of herbody.

Akila’s father and her alleged abusers buried the body in a graveyard inMandla Khurd village. The fatherthen lodged a complaint about her

going missing in the Mandi police station, the police said. “The family hidthe truth for a decade,” said Mr.Yadav.

Renewed scrutiny The mystery surrounding Akila’s disappearance came under renewedscrutiny when the Sehore district police recently decided to open old casesas part of the State government’scampaign to fi��nd missing girls. In thepast decade, theories of her assumedkidnapping and illicit relationshipsswirled around the tiny village beforean anonymous tipoff�� pointed investigators towards putting focus on herfamily.

The Sehore administration said onMonday that several skeletal remainshave been recovered while excavating the graveyard in Mandla Khurdvillage. Further investigations, documentary checks, physical verifi��cations and forensic examinations areunder way, the police said.

Those in distress can dial +919630899002 or +91 7389366696 forassistance.

Father buried body with help of her abusers: police

Anup Dutta

Bhopal

Police offi��cers at the graveyard inSehore district. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

‘Missing’ girl’s skeletal remainsrecovered from M.P. graveyard

0DISCLAIMER: Readers are requested to verify and make appropriate enquiries to satisfythemselves about the veracity of an advertisement before responding to any publishedin this newspaper. THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher & Owner of this newspaper, does not vouch for the authenticity of any advertisement or advertiser or for any ofthe advertiser’s products and/or services. In no event can the Owner, Publisher, Printer,Editor, Director/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable inany manner whatsoever for any claims and/or damages for advertisements in thisnewspaper.

The Assam Assembly Secretariat on Wednesday reinstated Congress MLA Debabrata Saikia as the Leader ofthe Opposition.

His status was withdrawnthrough a notifi��cation on January 1 after the number ofCongress MLAs in the 126member House got reducedto 20. The minimum number required is 21.

In a fresh notifi��cation, theAssembly Secretariat said allfacilities entitled to theLeader of the Oppositionhave been reinstated for Mr.Saikia, who had challengedthe withdrawal of his statusin the Gauhati High Court.

The court had on January

12 stayed the operation ofthe January 1 notifi��cation issued by the AssemblySecretariat.

The Congress had won 26seats in the 2016 Assam Assembly election. The party’scurrent strength in theHouse is 19.

Saikia reinstated as AssamLeader of the OppositionIt was withdrawn after dip in Cong. tally

Special correspondent

guwahati

Debabrata Saikia *

The Haryana Congress Legislature Party on Wednesday decided to move a noconfi��dence motion againstthe BJPJJP government inthe next Assembly sessionon the Centre’s farm laws issue.

The CLP also decided tomove a resolution in the Assembly to reject all the threelaws. Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda said they would alsopress for a Bill to amend theAgriculture Produce Marketing Committee (APMC) Actso that farmers can get guaranteed minimum supportprice.

“The Bill to be presentedby us would also ensure thatif anyone buys crops lessthan the MSP, legal actioncan be taken on it,” said Mr.Hooda, who presided overthe meeting.

He said all the MLAs had

reiterated their commitment to support the farmers’ movement. Mr. Hoodasaid the movement is completely nonpolitical and theorganisations are receivingsupport from all sections ofsociety.

‘Resume facilities’“The Congress stands fi��rmlywith the demands of thefarmers and their peacefulagitation. It is the democratic right of the farmers to agitate for their demands.

Shutting down Internet,electricity, water supply andsanitation facilities to harassthem is inhuman. The government should resume allfacilities immediately,” saidMr. Hooda.

‘Convene special session’He said the Congress hasbeen time and again demanding the Governor toconvene a special session.

“We have repeatedlysought time to meet the Governor. We will wait till 11a.m. tomorrow [February4], and if an appointment isnot given then all the MLAswill march peacefully towards the Raj Bhavan fromthe MLA hostel.”

Mr. Hooda said the Stategovernment had lost theconfi��dence of the public.“The noconfi��dence motionwill let people know whostands with the governmentand who with the people,”he said.

Cong. to move no-trustmotion against Lal govt. We stand fi��rmly with demands of farmers, the party says

Vikas Vasudeva

Chandigarh

Haryana CM Manohar Lal

The Bhartiya Kisan Union(BKU) alleged on Wednesdaythat the Delhi police and theCentral government weretrying to malign the image offarmers by blocking the DelhiMeerut Expressway.

“All through the protest,farmers allowed the ambulances and emergency vehicles to pass through the protest site. However, in the lastcouple of days, the Delhipolice has put multiple barricades, concrete slabs, andrazor wires to completelyblock the expressway. It hascreated a problem for thepeople in a medical emergency,” said DharmendraMalik, Media incharge ofBKU.

“BKU took a call andopened the route under thefl��yover through the tentsand trolleys of farmers,” Mr.Malik said. On any given day,it becomes diffi��cult to evenwalk through these trolleysas they are parked very haphazardly. “We are trying toinstil discipline as any lapsecould be used to create a pu

blic opinion against us. Theambulances could passthrough Kaushambi in Ghaziabad and then enter Delhivia Anand Vihar,” he said.

On the decrease in numbers of farmers in front ofthe stage on Wednesday, Mr.Malik said many farmers hadbeen asked to go home andprepare for the “chakkajam” scheduled for February6. “It would be like our usualprotests where we stop traffi��c for a few hours to get ourselves heard. The BKU is notlooking for any confrontation with the government asmany are trying to project,”he said.

Panchayat in ManglaurMeanwhile, at a panchayatin Manglaur town of Haridwar district of Uttarakhand,Naresh Tikait, BKU president, appealed to the farmers to join in large numbersfor the “chakka jam” on February 6.

Held at the famous GurMandi of the town, the panchayat saw a massive response. “This movementwould be written in golden

letters in the history of ourcountry. We should remainvigilant that no action ofours brings bad name to thefarming community,” heurged.

‘Farmers are united’Mr. Tikait said farmers of thecountry had united againstthe dictatorial attitude of thegovernment. “Over the lastfew months, they have realised that the battle could only be fought if they remainunited. Farmers are losinginterest in agriculture butthe government is notlistening.”

He clarifi��ed that no individual “neither Rakesh nor Ihave the right to take a unilateral decision. The decisions would continue to bemade by the coordinationcommittee.”

He regretted that the jamproposed on February 6would bring discomfort tothe general public. “But wehave been left with no otheroption to make ourselvesheard. That is why we haveplanned it for three hoursonly.”

We are not looking for any confrontation, says BKU

Anuj Kumar

Ghaziabad

‘Police trying to malign farmers’

A school on the restive AssamMizoramborder was damaged in two bomb blaststriggered by unidentifi��ed miscreants onWednesday afternoon.

The incident happened almost sevenmonths after another school was blownup amid a violent border row.

Pabindra Kumar Nath, SP of southernAssam’s Hailakandi district, said theblasts had damaged the Muliwala LowerPrimary School on the Assam side of theborder. The school is about 12 km fromthe nearest police station at Ramnathpur. “The situation is tense but undercontrol. We have increased security,”said Mr. Nath, who inspected the schoolwith Deputy Commissioner Megh NidhiDahal.

On July 10, miscreants allegedly fromMizoram had blown up the Upper Painom Lower Primary School in the adjoining Cachar district of Assam. It wasthe second border area school to havebeen bombed in more than a fortnight.

The decadesold dispute had fl��aredup on October 17 when miscreants setsome 20 shops and houses ablaze and50 people were injured in attacks andcounterattacks. Assambased organisations retaliated by imposing an economic blockade against Mizoram.

The blockade was lifted on October 22but the situation deteriorated again onOctober 28.

Assam-Mizoram

border school

damaged in blasts Special correspondent

Guwahati

FRANCHISEE TYRE Retreading PlantWith Electric Chamber RetreadedTyres Greaves Generator 40 KW Call9810081557

EDUCATIONAL

EDUCATIONAL

PUBLIC NOTICETENDERS

BUSINESS OFFER

OBITUARY &

REMEMBRANCE

DEATH

Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)

Forecast for Thursday: Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning/hail likely at isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh,GilgitBaltistan, Muzaff��arabad, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, north Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, east & west Uttar Pradesh and west Madhya Pradesh

city rain max min city rain max min

Agartala................—....26.8......9.4 Kozhikode....................—....34.0....24.8

Ahmedabad...........—....32.2....13.6 Kurnool .......................—....32.4....18.7

Aizawl...................—....22.7......6.7 Lucknow......................—....28.5......9.2

Allahabad..............—....29.3......8.5 Madurai .......................—....32.0....22.7

Bengaluru .............—....28.5....17.9 Mangaluru ...................—....35.6....20.1

Bhopal ..................—....32.7....11.2 Mumbai .......................—....34.6....18.6

Bhubaneswar.........—....31.0....13.3 Mysuru ........................—....31.0....17.6

Chandigarh ...........—....24.9....12.2 New Delhi ...................—....26.1....10.4

Chennai ................—....29.4....22.0 Patna ..........................—....23.8......7.4

Coimbatore ...........—....30.3....20.6 Port Blair.....................—....30.6....23.6

Dehradun ..............—....23.7......7.0 Puducherry ..................—....30.6....21.3

Gangtok................—....19.3......6.1 Pune............................—....30.7....13.4

Goa.......................—....34.9....21.3 Raipur .........................—....31.5....12.6

Guwahati ..............—....27.5....10.0 Ranchi .........................—....25.2......8.4

Hubballi ................—....29.0....18.0 Shillong.......................—....17.2......5.7

Hyderabad ............—....29.8....15.0 Shimla.........................—....12.6......4.5

Imphal ..................—....24.8......6.0 Srinagar.................... 0.8......2.5.... -1.3

Jaipur ...................—....29.0....12.0 Thiruvananthapuram.........—....35.1....24.4

Kochi ....................—....32.0....24.4 Tiruchi.........................—....31.7....22.4

Kohima .................—....18.7......5.0 Vijayawada ..................—....30.8....20.0

Kolkata .................—....25.2....11.2 Visakhapatnam .............—....31.2....20.4

(Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)

Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday

CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

In observation made at 4.00p.m., Moradabad, UttarPradesh recorded an overallair quality index (AQI) scoreof 398 indicating anunhealthy level of pollution.In contrast, Nandesari,Gujarat, recorded a healthyAQI score of 32

Ahmedabad..... 44 134 62 ..192 .219 ....*

Bengaluru ....... 10 .85 30 ..118 .109 ....*

Chennai .......... ..— ...9 22 ....83 ...94 ....*

Delhi .............. 41 114 61 ..377 .327 ....*

Hyderabad ...... 10 .73 23 ..245 .....— ....*

Kolkata........... 38 .29 60 ..363 .282 ....*

Lucknow ......... ..8 122 60 ..306 .354 ....*

Mumbai .......... 55 137 34 ..224 .222 ....*

Pune............... ..— 100 22 ..148 ...70 ....*

Visakhapatnam 16 .92 50 ..175 .199 ....*

Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)

SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system,

making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air

particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues

and monuments.

NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by

reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.

CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to

critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause

dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.

PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes,

nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced

lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature

death in people with heart or lung disease

While admitting that AligarhMuslim University (AMU)student leader Sharjeel Usmani should not have generalised against the Hinducommunity in his speechmade on the occasion of thesecond edition of the ElgaarParishad in January, retiredBombay High Court judgeB.G. KolsePatil, one of theorganisers of the event, accused the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) of attempting todefame the event by fi��ling acase against Mr. Usmani.

“While his speech wasfi��ne, he ought to have usedthe words ‘Manuwadi’ or‘Brahmanwadi’ that wouldhave conveyed the kind ofpatriarchal and casteist mentality we are fi��ghting againstinstead of generalising theentire Hindu community.That was a mistake. If anybody’s sentiments have beenhurt, then I apologise,” saidMr. KolsePatil.

At the same time, he

lashed out against the BJP fordemanding action againstthe AMU student leader.

‘Needless issue’“The BJP is needlessly making an issue out of this withthe sole aim to defame theElgaar Parishad like they haddone the fi��rst time around,”he said.

The Swargate police hadfi��led an FIR against Mr. Usmani on Tuesday based on acomplaint by Bharatiya Jana

ta Yuva Morcha leader Pradeep Gawade.

After a number of hiccups, permission was fi��nallygiven for the conclave to beheld on January 30 at the city’s Ganesh Kala Krida Mandir. The event saw the attendance of writeractivistArundhati Roy and formerIAS offi��cer Kannan Gopinathan, among others.

Mr. KolsePatil had coorganised the Elgaar Parishadheld on December 31, 2017,in Pune’s Shaniwar Wada.More than 250 progressivesocial outfi��ts, including several leftleaning and Ambedkarite groups across Maharashtra, as well as people likeGujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani,Bharipa Bahujan Mahasanghchief Prakash Ambedkar, Jawaharlal Nehru Universitystudent leader Umar Khalid,among others, had participated in the event.

The conclave witnessed fi��ery speeches against the Narendra Modiled BJP government at the Centre.

Kolse-Patil says AMU studentleader’s remarks a ‘mistake’BJP’s sole aim is to defame Elgaar Parishad 2, says retired Bombay HC judge


Pune

<> If anybody’s

sentiments have

been hurt, then I

apologise

B.G. Kolse-PatiL

Retired Bombay High Court judge

State Home MinisterAnil Deshmukh onWednesday said theMaharashtra policehave registered a caseagainst Aligarh MuslimUniversity studentleader Sharjeel Usmaniafter scanning thevideo clippings of theElgaar Parishad held inPune on January 30.

“A case has beenregistered againstSharjeel Usmani for hisoff��ensive remarks. Heis currently not inMaharashtra, but wewill arrest him fromwhichever State he isin, be it Bihar, UttarPradesh or Gujarat orelsewhere,” he said.

Staff Reporter

Mumbai

‘Will arrestSharjeel’

Mumbai Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Abhishek Trimukhe on Wednesday fi��led a criminalcomplaint against RepublicTV editorinchief and ownerArnab Goswami and his wifeSamyabrata before the CityCivil and Sessions Court, alleging defamatory attacks inconnection with the death ofactor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Mr. Trimukhe, DCP, ZoneIX, has fi��led the complaint

pursuant to the sanctiongranted by the Home Department as he is aggrievedby the defamatory attacks onhim while he was discharging his offi��cial functions.

The complaint said, “Thedefamatory attacks havebeen made with a singularview of assassinating his offi��cial character and therebymaliciously and deliberatelycausing undue humiliationof the Mumbai Police Department.” It added, “Mr.Goswami has made grossly

false, malicious and defamatory statements/averments,which have been telecast onhis channel ‘Republic Bharat’ and thereby publishedon YouTube on August 7,2020. The same purports tobe a panel discussion pertaining to the phone recordsof Ms. Rhea Chakraborty, inconnection to the death ofMr. Sushant Singh Rajput.However, far from being adiscussion conscribed byjournalistic ethos, the defamatory telecast has Mr. Gos

wami breaking into a tiradeof defamatory statementsagainst Mr. Trimukhe. He isconvinced that the same wasdone with an intention tonot just drag his namethrough the mud, but also tocast aspersions on the conduct of the Mumbai Police asa whole in the context of theinvestigation into the deathof Mr. Rajput.”

Mr. Trimukhe has urgedthe court to take cognisanceof the off��ence and issue awarrant against the accused.

DCP fi��les criminal complaint against Arnab, wifeHe alleges defamatory attacks in connection with death of Sushant Singh Rajput


Mumbai

The ruling Congress in Rajasthan on Wednesday refutedspeculation about the StateCabinet expansion and reshuffl��e as well as political appointments to the boards,corporations and commissions.

With the budget session ofthe State Assembly beginning on February 10, new appointments and restructuring are not likely to takeplace before next month.

AICC general secretary incharge of the State Ajay Maken, who was on a twodayvisit to Jaipur, told reportershere that the Congress workers would be appointed tothe posts at the district andblock levels within the partystructure later this month.The senior party leadershave been asked to preparethe panel of names for appointment of District Congress Committee presidents.

Mr. Maken, who addressed a meeting of thenewly formed Pradesh Congress Committee executivehere, said about 25,000 party workers would be accommodated in the district andblock level committees, withpreference to be given to Dalits, backward classes, minorities and women. A disciplinary committee of thePCC will also be constituted

shortly.The Congress faces the

challenge of maintaining balance among diff��erent factions in the political appointments, as the loyalists fromthe camps of both Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot andformer Deputy CM Sachin Pilot expect to be accommodated in the Cabinet and other bodies. Mr. Gehlot is saidto be having reservationsabout certain leaders proposed to be inducted into various bodies.

Bid to strengthen partyMr. Maken said the rulingparty would perform well inthe Assembly byelections inRajsamand, Vallabhnagar,Sahara and Sujangarh. Hesaid the party structurewould be strengthened inthe State by involving the districtlevel functionaries inthe government’s decisionmaking process. “The Congress functionaries will accompany the Ministers incharge of districts duringtheir visits and assist the latter in taking decisions on development schemes and projects,” he said. PCC presidentGovind Singh Dotasra, vicepresidents Ramlal Jat, Govind Meghwal and Harimohan Sharma, and general secretary G.R. Khatana alsoaddressed the executivemeeting.

No Cabinet expansionin Rajasthan, says Cong.‘Party workers to be appointed to panels’

Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR

Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken arriving to attend theparty executive meeting in Jaipur on Wednesday. * PTI

A drive against corruption launched bythe Rajasthan government’s CooperativeDepartment has resulted in the cancellation of registration of 10 cooperativehousing societies in Jaipur district. Thedrive identifi��ed the cases of cooperativebodies failing to conduct audit, not maintaining records and other irregularities.

Cooperative Registrar MuktanandAgarwal said that a large number of complaints about frauds committed by housing societies had been received, afterwhich the action was stipulated. The Department has also issued guidelines tothe public for obtaining full informationbefore signing the lease deeds.

Mr. Agarwal said it was found duringthe drive that some people were illegallybuying and selling lands with the similarsounding names of housing societieswhich did not have a statutory existence.“The lease deeds issued in their nameswere forgery,” he said.

The housing societies whose registration was cancelled were from KishangarhRenwal, Banethi, Jamwa Ramgarh,Sirsali, Lakher, Devdani, Achrol, Govindgarh, Bobadi and Roopwas in Jaipur district.

Housing societies’registration cancelled


JAIPUR

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NORTH & WEST

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


EDITORIAL

No entryThe irony cannot be missed— while India loses land,soldiers and resources toChina, it is cutting off��protest sites from farmersby using barbed wire,spikes and trenches. Whereis the spirit of dialogue andprotection for farmers whoprovide ‘food for allIndians’, irrespective ofparty, religion, race, regionand language? Paul Dhanasekaran,

Chennai

■ It seems that the rulers ofIndia have virtually turnedthe national capital into awarfront, with trenches,spikes and barbed wirebarricades. In his 32minute

long speech deliveredextempore at the CentralHall of Parliament in May2014, the leader of thiscountry said: “Villagers,farmers, Dalits and theoppressed, this governmentis for them, for theiraspirations and this is ourresponsibility.”If the top leader was sincereabout his words, farmerswould not be protesting stillagainst farm Bills they do notwant, and the nationalcapital will not be thebattleground it is today.Sukumaran C.V.,

Palakkad, Kerala

■ This is not the preIndependence era. Usingsuch measures is not the way

to deal with our farmers.Why cannot the Centre takea cordial and genial steptowards our farmers?Dr. Jayasekharan V.P.,

Payyanur, Kannur, Kerala

■ The borders of Delhi arebeginning to resemble ahostile international border.What is the governmentapprehensive about? Is itprivy to some informationthat the rest of the country isnot aware of? Thegovernment’s narrativecontinues to be that it can dono wrong and that it is thefarmers, from two or threeStates who are protesting,and who need to be forced toaccept what the governmentbelieves is right. Is this the

way a democracy issupposed to function?Hemachandra Basappa,

Bengaluru

■ The government’s off��er oftalks has not found takers.Things seem to be turningworse. Both sides — thefarmers and the government— would do well to fi��nd a

international standing, butthe recent elections showthat her people still havetrust in her. Theinternational communityneeds to hold the rulingjunta accountable.B. Ramakrishnan,

Cherrybrook, NSW, Australia

middle path to resolve thestalemate.N.J. Ravi Chander,

Bengaluru

The Myanmar coupThe military’s actions are anunfortunate development ina country which has seenmainly martial law. Aung SanSuu Kyi might have lost her

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters emailed to [email protected] must carry the full postal address and the full name or the name with initials.

To read more lettersonline, scan the QR code

Thankom Arun & Reji Joseph

Since the worldwide inoculation process is going strong,vaccine diplomacy has be

come a hot topic. As this pandemic has spared no country and everyone needs access to vaccines,how is vaccine production and distribution being managed?

While the leading and advancedcountries have been mindlesslyselfi��sh in amassing approved vaccines, it is the Global South countries, India and China, which haveprovided a ray of hope to mostcountries.

Advance purchase contractsIn their quest for ensuring vaccinesecurity, a report by The New YorkTimes, based on the data on vaccine contracts compiled by DukeUniversity (https://nyti.ms/3pKYm69), shows that theadvance purchase contracts madeby some advanced countries forpotential vaccines would vaccinate their population many times:the European Union, two times,the United States and the UnitedKingdom, four times, and Canada,six times. And, 82% of Pfi��zer’s production in 2021 and 78% of Moder

na’s have already been advancepurchased by rich countries. Theexpectation that an early vaccination will bring back normalcy anda required push to economicgrowth fuelled many advancedcountries to engage in vaccine battles. The arguments of public goodand global cooperation have goneout of the window now.

While advanced countries haveturned their back on the need ofpoor countries to access COVID19vaccines, India has displayed empathy to their needs. India has taken a position that a signifi��cantpercentage of the approved doseswill be permitted for exports.While its exports to neighbouringcounties will be under grantmode, initial shipment of vaccinesto least developed countries willbe free of cost. And, shipments ofvaccines from India have alreadystarted reaching diff��erent parts ofthe developing world.

Brazil has received 2 milliondoses of vaccine from India (as ofJanuary 23). While India is in itsfi��rst phase of vaccination to coverhealthcare workers, exports fromIndia are helping other countriesalso in initiating phase one of theirvaccination programme — a gesture wellappreciated globally. In ademocracy, one can expect thebacklash of sending vaccinesabroad without vaccinating itspopulation.

Nevertheless, India’s approachonly reinforces the need of having

coordinated global eff��orts in bringing COVID19 under control. Thisresponse manifests India’s unstinted commitment to global development and has consolidated itsname as the world’s pharmacy.Although China has also been enthusiastic in promising vaccinesand their delivery, the lukewarmresponse by countries such as Nepal has slowed down the ambitionof China. The release of effi��cacydata in Brazil raises concernsabout the eff��ectiveness of the Sinovac vaccine.

Keep track of SDGsThe attitude of India towards vaccinating the populations in thepoorer countries has generateddiscussion in the richer countriesabout the necessity for moreproactive measures to roll out vaccines to the developing nations.The reversal of progress on manySustainable Development Goals,or SDGs (https://sdgs.un.org/goals), such as SDG 3 (“Ensurehealthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages) could aff��ectthe health of the world population, and global growth itself. Evenbefore COVID19, projections haveshown that 6% of the global population would be in extreme pover

ty, which has gone up by 71 million, thereby causing enormouschallenges to SDG 1 (“End povertyin all its forms everywhere”). According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund, over50% of emerging markets and developing economies that were converging toward advanced economies per capita income over thelast decade are expected to diverge over the 202022 period.

COVAX as a pathwayThe COVAX project is a global risksharing mechanism for pooledprocurement and fair distributionof COVID19 vaccines, an ambitious programme based on funding from high and middleincomecountries. Although the fundingwas not enough for the project,U.S. President Joe Biden’s decisionto join the project has now raisedexpectations signifi��cantly. However, since high and middleincomecountries are buying up largeamounts of the vaccine directlyfrom suppliers, the promise byCOVAX to deliver 2 billion doses bythe end of 2021 (https://bit.ly/3cAGSp8) seems to face newchallenges. COVAX is a uniquecase of global cooperation and astrategic shift to enhance globaldevelopment outcomes.

Furthermore, since most of thevaccines are purchased from theglobal south for developing nations, the COVAX project can drawnew pathways for global develop

ment. Most of these vaccines are cost

eff��ective and aff��ordable to the global south. For instance, Covishield, the Oxford UniversityAstraZeneca vaccine produced in Indiacosts only $3 per dose; Covaxin ispriced at $4.2. A recent study byThe Lancet based on Covaxin’sPhase 1 data (https://bit.ly/3ty8wtc) shows tolerable safety outcomes like any other vaccine. The intranasal version of Covaxin, which has been approvedfor phase I could further facilitatevaccinating the global population.The lower price of the vaccines iswhat has attracted many commercial buyers globally, includingemerging economies such Braziland South Africa. The ability toproduce large volumes of vaccineat an aff��ordable cost underlines India’s importance to developingcountries when it comes to drugaccess. The development of vaccines is a classic story of globalcooperation between the Northand the South. Unfortunately, theincreasing nationalist tendenciesof the democratic World duringthe pandemic have challenged thepositive narrative on global cooperation.

Thankom Arun is a professor of Global

Development and Accountability at the

University of Essex, U.K. Reji Joseph is an

Associate Professor, Institute for Studies in

Industrial Development, New Delhi. The

views expressed are personal

No to vaccine nationalism, yes to global cooperationIndia’s approach only reinforces the need for coordinated international eff��orts to bring COVID19 under control

GE

TT

Y IM

AG

ES/I

ST

OC

KP

HO

TO

Dispelling very real concernsthat existed about disruption of the Inauguration ce

remony, Joseph R. Biden Jr wassworn in as the 46th President ofthe United States on January 20.Memories of the unprecedentedevents a fortnight earlier, whenunruly mobs ran amuck in the Capitol building, seemed to hauntnot only those present at the ceremony but also the world at large;Washington had been turned intoa fortress for the event. Ultimately,democracy triumphed.

Celebration of democracyIn his Inaugural Address, President Biden struck the right note,delivering a message of unity andhope, while not ignoring the enormous challenges the nation faced.His declaration that the nation wascelebrating the triumph of a cause— the cause of democracy wasmost timely. Among Mr. Biden’sstrengths are that he detests bigotry, and abhors identity politics.He tends to be idealistic, and isdeeply committed to democraticvalues. He is a multilateralist, unlike his predecessor, DonaldTrump.

As the ultimate Beltway insider,he knows better than most, thatopposition to many of his ideasand views exist just beyond the horizon. Also, that in seeking to restore the prestige of America’s democracy and revive its economy,he would face many obstacles. Hehas, however, chosen to gambleon the throw of the dice by issuinga spate of Executive Orders, almost immediately intended to giveexpression to his initiatives, andalso by announcing a series of initial measures which are, as likelyas not, to provoke a great deal ofopposition. Among these are hisproposed $1.9 trillion relief plan to

stem the novel coronavirus pandemic, his proposed expansive unemployment benefi��ts package,and raising of the minimum wage,etc.

Policy reset and China The new President would verysoon come to realise that the global environment today is very different from the one that he knewas VicePresident. A return to erstwhile Obamaera policies may,hence, prove inadequate. Theworld has moved on and severalpolicies will need a reset. Thechanged scenario, notwithstanding, under President Biden, onecan expect the U.S. to rescind the‘militarisation’ of foreign policy reverting to erstwhile traditional diplomacy. Opportunities for a freshlook at many contentious foreignpolicy issues could well open up asa result, incorporating elements ofboth competition andcooperation.

The acid test of this would be onhow to deal with China. Rising China is not merely the single most serious challenge the U.S. faces atpresent, but it poses a diplomatic,economic and technologicalthreat to U.S. preeminence. Persisting with oldtime remediessuch as devising an inclusive security architecture in Asia to checkan expanding China threat in EastAsia could prove counterproductive. Few countries in Asia are willing to line up against neighbouringChina. This would, thereafter, begthe question as to whether the U.S.should persist with confrontationor attempt conciliation. If the latter, it would require the U.S. tosoftpedal its present antagonisticposture towards China. This couldwell have global implications.

Next, would be on how best todeal with Russia. The depth of antagonism between the two countries, the U.S. and Russia, remainsunchanged, aggravated further bythe growing strategic congruencebetween Russia and China. Initialreactions seem to point to U.S. relations with Russia continuing toremain cold, but as Russia fl��exesits muscles in Eurasia, the U.S. will

need to come up with new policydirectives, rather than surrenderthe initiative to the former.

Ties with Europe, West AsiaPresident Biden faces an uphilltask when it comes to repairingAmerica’s ties with Europe. Thedays when Europe and the U..Swere tied literally to the same policy cart are over, and Europe is nolonger likely to give in to U.S. diktats. Germany is possibly emerging as Europe’s new centre of gravity, dictating Europe’s relationswith countries such as China andRussia. Germany, while beinghighly critical of Russia’s humanrights record, including the mostrecent incident of Kremlin criticAlexei Navalny, is not hesitating togo ahead with Nord Stream 2, theRussialed gas pipeline project,despite the U.S.’s objections. TheEUChina Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, again despitethe U.S.’s objections, is another indication of Europe’s new independent thinking. European leadersseem more inclined to heed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s warning to global leaders — at the virtual World Economic Forum atDavos, in late January — against‘starting a new Cold War’, than listen to the U.S.’s Biden.

Problems abound for the newU.S. Administration in West Asia aswell. With the civil wars in Syriaand Yemen not having ended, theU.S.’s eff��orts to fi��nd a political settlement here will prove diffi��cult.How to deal with a Saudi Arabiathat is on a Biden ‘watchlist’, addsto the complexity of dealing withWest Asia. The ‘Abraham Accords’, forged during the dyingdays of the Trump Administration,

have further complicated the situation for the incoming Biden government. Dwarfi��ng this would befi��nding ways and means to dealwith the Iran problem, includingIran’s capacity and potential fornuclear mischief. Return to theJoint Comprehensive Plan of Action ( JCPOA), or the Iran nucleardeal framework, may not be a realistic option in the wake of the‘Abraham Accords’, which haveimparted a new dynamic and given a sharper edge to the existingIsraelIran divide.

The outlook for IndiaIndia’s pious hope is that the Biden Administration will proveeven more favourable to it thanthe preceding Republican Administration. This may, however,turn out to be like the proverbialcurate’s egg — good in parts. Mr.Biden as VicePresident was wellknown to some of us, as havingplayed a critical role as Chairmanof the Senate Foreign RelationsCommittee in pushing through theiconic U.S.India civil nuclearagreement, and also as a fi��rm proponent of the IndiaU.S. strategicpartnership. Hence, under a BidenAdministration, defence and security cooperation between Indiaand the U.S. are likely to be furtherstepped up. Regional securitycooperation is also likely to befurther enhanced, at least till suchtime as U.S.China relationsimprove.

However, a Biden Administration will be far less supportive ofIndia on several issues. India mustbrace itself to heed concerns beingexpressed about issues such asKashmir, the socalled travails ofthe Muslim minority in India,treatment of nongovernmentalorganisations and the like. Thismay take place behind closeddoors, so as not to embarrass theIndian government, but Biden’scommitment to human rights is,by far, much stronger than that ofmany recent U.S. Presidents. Hecan be expected to satisfy his traditional constituency even at therisk of upsetting partners such asIndia.

What may, however, be farmore disconcerting for India, ifone were to analyse the statements and views of U.S. Secretaryof State Antony John Blinken andU.S. National Security Advisor JakeSullivan is that while the emphasison a free and open IndoPacifi��c region will continue, countries suchas Japan, South Korea and Taiwanare likely to have a far more criticalrole to play than India in achievingsecurity in the IndoPacifi��c. TheU.S. could also be less forthcomingin its open support to India and inits ongoing confrontation with China in Eastern Ladakh.

The Afghan planUnsatisfactory again from an Indian standpoint are the implications of Mr. Biden’s Afghanistanpolicy. From positions taken byMr. Sullivan, it would appear thatwhile some rethinking from thepositions taken by the Trump Administration is possible, there islittle room for India in the latestplans on the table. Mr. Biden is anardent advocate of ending the warin Afghanistan — dating back to hisyears as VicePresident — and he islikely to implement this with vigour, not excluding a deal with theTaliban, the possible exit of elected President Ashraf Ghani, andgiving Pakistan an even bigger rolein acting as the midwife of anynew arrangement. Not only wouldthis mean that India’s eff��orts of thepast two decades to restore democracy in Afghanistan wouldcome unstuck, but Pakistan wouldalso gain a degree of legitimacythat had been denied to it by theTrump Administration, encouraging it to act with still greater impunity in carrying out terrorstrikes on India.

From a restricted standpoint, ifIndia were to balance the positivewith the negative, and comparethe incoming Biden Administration with the previous Trump Administration, the balance sheetcould be marginally negative.

M.K. Narayanan is a former National

Security Adviser and a former Governor

of West Bengal

Weighing in on the Biden presidency While it could be a curate’s egg for New Delhi, for the world, a return to Obamaera policies may prove inadequate

M.K. Narayanan

AP

Arivalry going back to 1932 will get a fresh chapter

as India and England gear up to play the fi��rst Test

at Chennai’s M.A. Chidambaram Stadium from

Friday. The fi��rst game of a fourmatch series would

eventually pave the way for the frenzied thrills of fi��ve

Twenty20Is and three ODIs in a long tour that will con

clude on March 28. Besides the angst caused by essen

tial COVID19 protocols, the biobubble and the need to

play the fi��rst contest behind closed doors, there is a lot

at stake for the teams. Australia’s postponement of its

tour to South Africa, pitchforked New Zealand to the

World Test Championship fi��nal at Lord’s in June. India

and England will now tussle for a berth in the summit

clash. India has to secure this series and win a mini

mum of two Tests and for England, Joe Root’s men have

to triumph in three matches. Fresh from its stunning 21

Test series triumph in Australia, and bolstered with the

return of regular skipper Virat Kohli and key players

such as R. Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and

Hardik Pandya, India holds the edge. That a second

string outfi��t under the unfl��appable Ajinkya Rahane, up

set the more fancied Aussies at Brisbane will hold the

Indians in good stead especially in their backyard re

plete with the tales of spin and other turns.

History might suggest home dominance, but India

would remember that over the last four decades, some

of its strong outfi��ts emerged secondbest to the visitors

from the Old Blighty. In the 198485 and 201213 sea

sons, England stunned India. For many of those at

Chennai’s ground, Chepauk in 1985, the memory still

rankles: seamer Neil Foster’s matchhaul of 11 wickets

and double tons by Mike Gatting and Graeme Fowler

that ambushed Sunil Gavaskar’s men. India’s present

coach Ravi Shastri featured in that match. Cut to the

present, Root’s troops would step in with the extra con

fi��dence gleaned from the 20 verdict in the two Tests

against Sri Lanka at Galle. The captain himself was in

prime form — Root struck a 228 and 186 — and the bow

ling arsenal has the pace troika of James Anderson,

Stuart Broad and Jofra Archer while Ben Stokes lends

the xfactor. Yet, it is India that would step out with a ha

lo in the city on the Coromandel Coast. A strong batting

unit and a Bumrahheadlined attack with Ashwin’s

guiles could test England’s resolve. The last time the riv

als clashed in Chennai (2016), Karun Nair’s triple ton

and Ravindra Jadeja’s bowling exploits humbled the vis

itors. This time around, India would seek fresh heroes

while the cricket caravan moves from Chennai to Ah

medabad and Pune.

All to play forIndia and England are fi��ghting for a place in

the fi��nal of the World Test Championship

With a clear focus on expansion of Metro Rail

and bus services through Central funding,

Budget 2021 has recognised a core compo

nent of urbanisation. Comfortable, safe and aff��ordable

commuting has wellrecognised multiplier eff��ects for

the economy and more generally for public health, alth

ough COVID19 has had the perverse eff��ect of driving

people away to the safety of personal car and two

wheeler bubbles. There is little doubt that when the

pandemic is under control, more people will return to

clean and green mass mobility. Finance Minister Nirma

la Sitharaman’s announcement of Central funding of

₹��1,957 crore, ₹��63,246 crore and ₹��14,788 crore for the Ko

chi, Chennai and Bengaluru Metro projects, respective

ly, gives these big cities greater certainty that they can

meet targets. Less certain, however, is the impact of the

proposed ₹��18,000 crore plan to augment public bus

transport using a PPP model that will enable private

sector players to fi��nance, acquire, operate and main

tain over 20,000 buses. India’s ratio of buses to popula

tion is a low 1.2 per 1,000 people, compared to 8.6 in

Thailand and 6.5 in South Africa, although some States

like Karnataka are well ahead of the national average, as

per NITI Aayog data. Licensed private urban bus servic

es remain a politically sensitive topic in many States,

where State monopolies coexist with unregulated para

transit, and it will take a major eff��ort to convince them

that a bus renaissance is a good postpandemic recov

ery strategy. The amended Motor Vehicles Act has pro

visions for the Centre to take the lead here.

The challenge of urbanisation goes beyond standa

lone interventions such as Metro and bus system

grants. State governments, which retain eff��ective con

trol over urban development rather than city adminis

trations, have failed to operationalise the umbrella

authorities to regulate transport. Common mobility

cards that would help citizens use bus, train and feeder

networks seamlessly were largely in pilot project mode

even before the pandemic. There is valid criticism that

the existing paradigm is one of “exclusionary urbanisa

tion”, which makes Metro and bus services expensive

for the majority, particularly for those forced to live in

the suburbs due to housing costs, and sometimes mak

ing the per kilometre cost of using a twowheeler more

attractive. Moreover, Census 2011 showed that the num

ber of Census Towns, which are urban for census pur

poses but not named urban local bodies, grew tremen

dously over a decade. They lack access to funding,

infrastructure and capacity to meet the needs of large

populations even now. Enhanced ambition, therefore,

requires the Centre to work with State governments to

integrate key areas with its transport vision, such as af

fordable innercity housing, including rental projects,

access to civic services and health care, and enhanced

sustainability, greenery and walkability. All these are

covered by Central budgetary schemes for cities. Only

integration can bring about inclusive urbanisation.

Urban visionsMetro Rail and buses help with mobility, but

sound urbanisation needs policy reform

corrections & clarifications: The Business desk’s clarifi��cation on “Income and tax scenarios”table (Feb. 2, 2021): “There were no changes in personal income tax in the latest Budget and what EY(the tax consulting fi��rm from whom the contents were sourced) had sent as calculations essentially refl��ected the two alternative regimes that had been off��ered in last year’s budget and as per the FinanceBill 2021 would be applicable from the Assessment Year 202122. Given that we were once again carrying a tax incidence table we ought to have made clear the following: That the latest Finance Bill merelyreiterated the scheme from last year’s Budget announcement and that taxpayers could fi��le their returns for the current fi��scal year based on the two alternative tax options detailed in last year’s Budget.As per those options, the tax incidence if they used the old approach, would be as per the left column,and if they opted for the new approach would be as per the right column. In eff��ect, the table wouldhave read exactly like the table that was published last year. The column heads should not have beenPre Budget and Post Budget.”

The Readers’ Editor’s office can be contacted by Telephone: +91-44-28418297/28576300; E-mail:[email protected]

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


OPED

Calcutta, January 3:— Encouraged by theirsuccess in the suburbs, the men carrying onan antidrink campaign raided in large numbers all grog shops in Calcutta and appealedto men not to drink. In some places upcountry men fell at the feet of the men and implored them not to enter grog shops. Morethan half the regular visitors of shops yielded to the persuasions and kept away fromgrog shops. A number of men were seenleaving licensed premises with cheekssmeared with coal tar and lime and garlandsof discarded shoes hanging round theirnecks. There was some disturbance yesterday at Kidderpore in front of an excise shop.In spite of repeated requests, some upcountry men purchased gunja and an altercationensued between the parties resulting in afree fi��ght in which several men were injured.The Police dispersed the crowd and removed the injured men to hospital. No arrest was made. Almost all grog shops in milldistricts between Baerangore and Naihatihave been deserted by regular customers.

A HUNDRED YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 4, 1921

Anti-Drink Campaign(Associated Press of India.)

Asaduddin Owaisi, president of theAll India MajliseIttehadulMuslimeen (AIMIM), complicates politicalequations. He stirs the easy fi��t between mainstream secular partiesand their hold over Muslim voters. Interms of the popularity index in India, he comes close to the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) triumvirate of Narendra Modi, Amit Shah and Yogi Adityanath. Recently, the AIMIM’s electoral gains in Bihar and Mr. Owaisi’svisits to pollbound West Bengal(2021) and Uttar Pradesh (in 2022)have revived the debate around hisexact intention, emerging Muslimvoting patterns and their implications for the BJP and its rivals.

Mr. Owaisi’s national avatar is aconjunction of the political dynamicsthat were induced by the SacharCommittee report and the BatlaHouse encounter case, whereinwhile political Hindutva was on thedecline, the interplay of the backwardness of Muslims and their insecurities exposed the failures of secular mainstream parties in catering tothe community’s aspirations. Thiscreated a secular paradox, where,comforted with the decline of the BJPand the electoral ascendency of theCongress and other regional parties,many Muslim outfi��ts and leadersblamed secular parties for failingMuslims. Thus began a new, although cluttered, phase of the community’s experiments with Muslimparties and a growing clamour formore representation. The Peace Party of India and the Rashtriya UlamaCouncil in U.P., the AIUDF in Assam,and the popular resonance of thePasmanda movement led by Ali Anwar Ansari in Bihar, and, since 2012,that of the AIMIM in Maharashtra,Karnataka, Bihar, U.P., and now inWest Bengal, point to the churn within the Muslim community.

Here, it is important to note thatinitially, the AIMIM had its limitations. Firstly, it was just a citybasedparty. Secondly, until the 2004 Andhra Pradesh Assembly poll, the party’s electoral tally had plateaued at a

maximum of just four seats. Thirdly,whenever the party tried to ventureoutside Hyderabad — like in the 1989and 1994 Assembly elections, whereit contested 35 and 20 seats respectively and forfeited its deposit on 28and 15 seats — it fared poorly. Thus,Mr. Owaisi had the ardent task ofstrengthening the party’s foothold inits home turf before venturing outside. Hence, he chose the safe path ofaligning with the UPA and defendedthe Congress in 2008 in the wake ofthe confi��dence vote sought by theManmohan Singhgovernment afterthe Left Front withdrew support over the IndoU.S. nuclear deal.

National ambitionsBy 2009, two factors were helpingMr. Owaisi. His parliamentary interventions established him as an eloquent spokesperson for the Muslimquestion at the national level, andthe delimitation exercise makingmore Assembly constituencies inHyderabad, like Malakpet and Nampally (previously Asifnagar AC), Muslimdominated seats, raised the electoral tally of the AIMIM, therebyempowering Mr. Owaisi at the regional level. This fuelled his nationalambitions. By 2012, the party had setits eyes on two neighbouring States —Maharashtra and Karnataka — andparticularly regions that were part ofthe Hyderabad State during the Nizam’s rule and had signifi��cant Muslim populations. A signifi��cant breakthrough for the party’s nationalambitions came in October 2012,when the AIMIM won 11 of the 25seats it contested in the Nandedmunicipal polls in eastern Maharashtra. Now, Mr. Owaisi followed thetemplate of the secular paradox theory — accusing the Congress of favouring Hindu communal forces andacting against the interests of the

Muslims, he withdrew support fromthe Congress government in AndhraPradesh and at the Centre.

A closer look at Mr. Owaisi’s political moves reveals his calculations. Inhis quest to fi��nd an alternative to theBJP and political Hindutva in future,he is working towards the creation ofa national third front, a nonCongress, nonBJP alliance, wherein AIMIM would be an indispensable part,acting as a magnetic pull for minorityvotes away from traditional claimants like the Congress and otherparties. For instance, in 2018, Mr.Owaisi supported the JD(S) over theCongress in Karnataka; in Maharashtra in 2014 and 2019, he targeted theCongress and the NCP more than theBJP. The same template was repeatedin 2015 and 2020 in Bihar and in 2017in Uttar Pradesh. Now, in West Bengal, the ruling Trinamool Congressand Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeeare the prime targets, and predictably, the Samajwadi Party, the BSPand the Congress would be in Mr.Owaisi’s line of fi��re in the runup tothe 2022 U.P. Assembly election.

Political psychologyNo wonder, parties that are at the receiving end of Mr. Owaisi’s politics label him as being handinglove withthe BJP. However, the underlying reason for Mr. Owaisi’s attack on mainstream secular parties is a necessaryevil he must embrace. The seats AIMIM aims to win in every State happen to be minoritydominated constituencies mostly controlled bythese parties. Wresting those seatsleaves Mr. Owaisi with no other option but to train his guns at themrather than the BJP. However, navigating the Muslim electorates’ mazeis also contingent on the community’s political psychology.

Let’s take three states: Bihar, West

Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. In UttarPradesh alone, in the MeerutMuzaffarnagarSaharanpur region, onefi��nds castes like Muley Jats, TyagiMuslims, and Gujjar Muslims, besides the Sheikhs, Sayyids, Quraishisand others; in Rohilkhand region,the Turks, Pathans, Saifi��s, Ansaris,etc., maintain their caste identifi��cations; in Braj, particularly in Aligarhtown, the uppercaste Pathans, whohave lost their political clout, are present in pockets; further, in the Poorvanchal region, both south andnorth of the Ghaghra river, the OBCAnsari Muslims constitute a majoritybut lack political representation. InBihar, the OBC Ansari Muslims arepoliticised and dominate the Bhojpuri and Mithilaspeaking districts; inthe Seemanchal region, where theAIMIM recently made electoral gains,the rivalry among the uppercasteSurjapuris and OBC Kulhaiya andShershahvadi Muslims is wellknown. Further, in parts of northBengal like Coochbehar, Alipurduar,Jalpaiguri, the Nashya Shaikh Muslims, who are also found in Dhubri,Kokrajhar and Goalpara districts oflower Assam, have a signifi��cant presence; similarly, in districts like Dinajpur and north Malda, the Muslimuniverse mirrors the composition ofSeemanchal Bihar, ie., the Surjapurisand Shershahvadis; in south Bengal,while a majority of Muslims identifythemselves as Sheikhs, they fall inthe OBC category and are dividedalong sectarian and religious lines ofbeing either the followers of FurfuraSharif or of the JamiatUlamaiHind.

In this context, the Muslim psychology is about accentuating theseinternal diff��erences when the fear ofan aggressive Hindutva discourse isnot the prime factor aff��ecting theirminds. However, when elections arepolarised and the fear of the BJP’s imminent victory is paramount, Muslims close ranks and vote for mainstream secular parties. Hence, it canbe expected that in the 2021 WestBengal election or the 2022 UttarPradesh election, the aggressive Hindutva push and the prospect of a BJPvictory may ensure that Muslimswould reject Mr. Owaisi and consolidate behind the traditional claimants. In the meantime, the AIMIMchief would keep analysts guessing.

Sajjan Kumar is a political analyst associated

with People’s Pulse

The rise of the AIMIM chief as a prominent Muslim leader points to many political intricacies

*SP

EC

IAL A

RR

AN

GE

ME

NT

Shifting sands and the Owaisi eff��ect

sajjan kumar

The COVID19 pandemic has taught us manylessons. It made us realise that we are a partof nature and emphasised the urgent need toprotect the ecological functions of thebiosphere we live in. It has unequivocallyhighlighted how vital the health of the planetis for our individual and collective wellbeingas well as the growth of our economies.

The pandemic has resulted in huge economic losses. Globally, the GDP is expectedto contract 2.4% to 8% in 2020. The WorldEconomic Forum (WEF) estimates that theglobal cost of dealing with the pandemiccould be from $8.1 trillion to $15.8 trillion.Preventing such pandemics will cost only afraction of this amount, estimated at $22.2billion to $30.7 billion a year, and this is without factoring in the human suff��ering.

We have to recognise that there would notbe an economy without the natural environment. Global studies documenting humanecological footprint, the decline in wildlifepopulations, and the conversion rates of natural ecosystems for other uses, place Indiaamong countries experiencing the highestrates of negative change. This increases ourvulnerability towards catastrophes, including pandemics. Additionally, there is astrong correlation between human density,richness of biodiversity, and the emergenceof zoonotic pathogens of wild origin, whichrenders India particularly vulnerable. Withhigh human densities — among the highestdiversity of mammals in the world — and asaturated interface between humans andwildlife, India is considered to be among thehotspots for zoonotic emerging and reemerging infectious diseases.

The WEF’s Global Risks report for 2021states that environmental risks continue tothreaten the global economy. The top fi��verisks are extreme weather, climate action failure, human environmental damage, infectious diseases and biodiversity loss. In termsof impact, infectious diseases top the list, followed by climate action failure. The top tworisk response blind spots are climate actionfailure and biodiversity loss.

Our models of development and our notions about them have to change. Destruction of environment should no longer be justifi��ed in the name of development. Like allpandemics, COVID19’s emergence has beenentirely driven by unchecked activities in the

name of development. Rampant destructionof natural habitats, especially due to miningand infrastructure development, continuedexpansion and intensifi��cation of agricultureand animal husbandry as well as unrestrained consumption have disrupted nature,increased contact between wildlife, livestock, pathogens and people, setting the stagefor the pandemic to take hold of our lives.Pandemic risk can be signifi��cantly loweredby reducing human activities that drive theloss of biodiversity as it will help prevent thespillover of new diseases.

A study by Swiss Re Institute published in2020 introduces a new biodiversity and ecosystem services index. It found that globally,20% of countries, including India, have fragile ecosystems. It also states that 55% of theglobal GDP depends on highfunctioning biodiversity and ecosystem services.

It is evident that policymakers should factor biodiversity and ecosystems into theireconomic decisionmaking. This will accelerate the transition from a fossil fuelbasedeconomy to sustainable, equitable, inclusiveand just development models. The Econom-ics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review,commissioned by HM Treasury and releasedon February 2, 2021, highlights the graverisks faced by the world because of the failure of economics to take into account the rapid degradation of nature. The review stresses the need to fi��nd new measures for growthand development to avoid a catastrophicbreakdown. The world’s governments needto come up with a form of national accounting that is diff��erent from the GDP model, andthe new system has to account for the depletion of nature and natural resources.

New modelsThe evidence is overwhelming. All budgetsneed to reduce investments, including subsidies, in activities that will further degradeour natural habitats. By orders of magnitude, we should enhance investment in research in sustainability science.

A National Mission on Biodiversity andHuman WellBeing has been approved by thePrime Minister’s Science Technology and Innovation Advisory Council. The overarchingobjectives are to restore and enhance biodiversity, strengthen its sustainable use, generate thousands of green jobs and encouragethe Indian public to appreciate the naturaland associated cultural treasures that wehave collectively inherited. This initiative hasthe potential to enable India to play a globalleadership role in linking conservation withtangible human wellbeing outcomes.

Ravi Chellam is CEO, Metastring Foundation and is

associated with Biodiversity Collaborative, Bengaluru

Towards sustainable growthThe economic models of today must be reimagined to takeinto account biodiversity and natural ecosystems

Ravi Chellam

United States President Joe Bidenstopped the construction of themuchpublicised “border wall” between the U.S. and Mexico as part of aseries of executive actions, in a development that was longawaited. Itwas confi��rmed, however, that an alternative has been off��ered — a ‘smart’wall that replaces the physical andarmed patrolling with advanced surveillance tech is the proposed futureof border security now.

The ‘smart wall’ technology couldsolve border security issues withoutthe need for a physical barrier. Thewall would use sensors, radars, andsurveillance technology to detect andtrack border breakins, and technology capable of performing the mostdiffi��cult tasks dedicated to bordersecurity.

Not a new conceptThe concept is not newand the novelty of itcannot be directly associated with Mr. Biden. Interestingly, theU.S.Mexico borderwall proposed by Donald Trump envisagedthis concept. A technology fi��rm was sought to be hired bythe Trump administration, and it wasindicated that artifi��cial intelligenceshall be used at a novel scale to complement the steel barrier (borderwall) project of Mr. Trump. It wasstated that hundreds of mobile surveillance towers would be deployed,and along with them, the completesystem of a virtual wall would consistof a radar satellite, computerequipped bordercontrol vehicles,control sensors and undergroundsensors. Along with surveillance towers and cameras, thermal imagingwould be used, which would help inthe detection of objects. The systemwould even be capable of distinguishing between animals, humans, andvehicles, and then sending updatesto handheld mobile devices of theU.S. patrol agents.

A question that now arises iswhether such a project can be undertaken to secure Indian borders. Indiahas been struggling with the problem

of terrorists and smugglers infi��ltrating into the country and eff��orts areongoing to secure our borders andcurb crossborder infi��ltration. Therefore, it is proposed that it is high timewe start envisaging the use of technology to help India secure itsborders.

Other benefi��tsA critical factor that must be considered to enable the usage of such asystem along Indian borders is thatthe terrain in the region is rugged,and, furthermore, not even clearlydefi��ned. Hence, erecting fences,walls or any physical structures is extremely diffi��cult. A “smart” wall, however, makes use of systems thatwould be designed in such a way thatthey can operate even in ruggedareas. Imperatively, in the U.S., various other benefi��ts, such as costef

fectiveness, less damage to theenvironment, fewerland seizures, andspeedier deploymentare being noted thatgive the “smart wall”concept an edge overtraditional physicalborders.

Notably, such a system, even if not feasible for our longboundaries, may still be deployed toenhance critical security establishments of the country and complement the alreadyexisting physicalfencing and walls. The attack on thePathankot Air Force base highlightedthat often, it may become diffi��cult tosecure establishments due to theirvast size. Further, it is imperative forIndian armed forces to be wellequipped and simultaneously havethe latest technological advantage over its enemies.

Experts must explore this idea toeff��ectively counter the problem ofcrossborder infi��ltration. Is it unfathomable to deploy a security systemthat clubs technology with traditionalsetups due to terrain and other problematic factors? This is a questionfor Digital India to answer.

Sidharth Kapoor is an Associate at Sarvada

Legal. Shreyashi is an Advocate at the Delhi

High Court

‘Smart walls’ for Indian borders

A virtual surveillance system may help Indiasecure its boundaries even in diffi��cult locations

Sidharth Kapoor & Shreyashi

If any doubts had existed anywhere aboutPakistan’s active complicity in the hijackingof the Indian Airlines plane and in the acts ofsabotage and subversion witnessed now andagain in Kashmir, Pakistan itself has clearedthem. The governmentcontrolled PakistanRadio’s approbation of the hijacking, Islamabad granting asylum to the two air piratesand its allowing the plane to be blown up —and all this in fl��agrant violation of the U.N.General Assembly’s resolution, to which ithad pledged unqualifi��ed support, condemning plane hijackings and calling on all governments not to encourage such crimesand to return the snatched plane and cargoto the ownercountry — should convinceeven the most naïve among Pakistan’s apologists of what that country is upto and whatone can expect from it in future. Now that allthe wraps are off��, it is upto the Indian authorities to take steps to prevent any furtheracts of air piracy and sabotage.It is obviousthat both the Central and State Governmentshave so far not been vigilant enough. Theloyalty of one of the hijackers, Qureshi, wasobviously suspect for some time and yetnothing seems to have been done to checkmate him.

FIFTY YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 4, 1971

Lessons of the hijacking(From an editorial)

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

FROM THE ARCHIVES

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

DATA POINT

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

ded that the governmenthad converted the protestsites into “open jails.”

BKU general secretaryYudhveer Singh said farmerswere up against the conspirators who were expert atspreading lies. He said thegovernment could withdrawthe scheme to pay ₹��6,000 tofarmers annually, but mustfi��x the right price for theircrops. Mr. Singh said the government wanted to createcommunal tension at Ghazipur after the Republic Dayincident, but “it was not Shaheen Bagh and farmersknew how to get theirrights.”

BKU (Charuni) presidentGurnam Singh Charuni saidthe government was procorporate and making lawsto benefi��t them and not thecommon people.

Mr. Tikait said Haryana andUttar Pradesh stood fi��rmlybehind Punjab to supportthe agitation and Mr. Rajewal was their leader. “Therewill be no change in thecommittee holding talkswith the government. Youdon’t change horses in themiddle of a battle,” said Mr.Tikait, stressing unityamong the unions spearheading the agitation.

Referring to the heightened security and barricading at the protest sites, Mr.Tikait said it showed that theruler was scared.

Mr. Rajewal said they hadproved to the governmentthat the farmers were rightin seeking repeal of the laws,but the government didn’twant to listen to them. “It isthe stubbornness of the ruler,” said Mr. Rajewal. He ad

‘Mahapanchayat’ seeksrepeal of farm laws

the ways going to the dharnashould be removed. Electricity, water problems, theseInternet problems, these arenot law and order problems.So if they want talks in agood conducive atmosphere, they should stop allthese oppressive and repressive measures which are violating our basic humanrights,” he added.

In the early days of theprotest in November and December, several farm unionheads engaged in informal,backchannel conversationswith multiple BJP leadersand Ministers, even beforeformal talks began. However, when asked whethersuch informal engagementwith the unions was happening now, Mr. Tomar said,“No. We will inform youwhen formal talks will beheld.”

The unions also welcomed international support for their agitation. “Onthe one hand, it is a matterof pride that eminent personalities of the world areshowing sensitivity towardsthe cause of farmers, whileon the other hand, it is unfortunate that the Government of India is not understanding the pain of thefarmers and some peopleare even calling peacefulfarmers terrorists,” said anSKM statement.

Positions have hardened after a section of farmersclashed with police on Republic Day, and police havesince fortifi��ed the borderprotest sites with cripplingsecurity measures.

Asked about the farm unions’ stance that they willnot hold talks with the government until the multilayered cement and barbedwire barricades are removedand farmers in police custody are released, Mr. Tomarsaid he did not want to comment on a law and order issue. “That is not my job,” hetold The Hindu on the sidelines of a press conference.He suggested that the unionstalk to the Police Commissioner regarding such concerns instead.

Farm union leaders disagreed. “It’s not a law andorder issue. The whole issuestarted with the three Actsand the MSP [or minimumsupport price for crops] issue. That is why we startedour dharna. There was aprogramme on 26, wherethey have arrested many innocent people, so all theseissues are connected withour main core issues,” saidDarshan Pal Singh, president of the Krantikari KisanUnion.

“What we demand is thatharassment should bestopped, the barricades on

No informal talks withfarm unions: Minister

nate” that though the orderwas received immediately,Twitter chose not to complytill nearly 3 pm on February1 the time fi��xed for themeeting of the committee,the MeitY said.

The government notedthat Twitter’s assertion in itsletter dated February 1 thatstock phrases and exaggerations / crude emotional appeals did not constitute infl��ammatory speech in thelight of the judgments of theHon'ble Supreme Court,was “meritless as the content attached to the saidhashtag has been found tobe directly falling afoul ofsection 69A of the Act”.

“...under the scheme section 69A & the rule as applicable, only the subjectivesatisfaction of the Secretary,MeitY & the Committee is relevant and the satisfaction/judgement of the intermediary itself has no relevance.Further, there is no onus ofproof on MeitY and Twitterbeing an intermediary cannot assume the role of aCourt in contravention ofthe statutory rules as applicable,” the notice said.

Section 69A[3] providedfor specifi��c penal consequences in case of noncompliance of the directions issued under section 69A ofthe Act. It was “unfortu

Govt. notice to Twitteron ‘genocide’ hashtag

vocate Vishal Thakre againstthe implementation of theProhibition Of UnlawfulConversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, and the Uttarakhand Freedom of Religion Act, 2018.

Senior advocate SanjayParekh, appearing forPUCL, argued that moreStates, like Madhya Pradeshand Gujarat, were passingidentical laws. Mr. Thakre’spetition said “rampagingmobs are lifting off�� people inthe middle of wedding ceremonies” buoyed by theenactment of these laws.

In December last, theapex court refused to staythe two laws.

“We have come to know thatthe Allahabad and the Uttarakhand High Courts are already seized of the matter. Itwould be advantageous toknow what they have tosay... We have already, inanother case, declined thetransfer of the case to usfrom the Allahabad HighCourt.”

The top court recentlydenied a plea by the UttarPradesh government totransfer a plea challengingthe religious conversion ordinance from the State HCto the SC.

The Bench, on Wednesday, was hearing petitionsfi��led by NGO PUCL and ad

SC refuses to intervene in conversion laws row

At the 13th edition of Aero India in Bengaluru, HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL)was awarded the contract tomanufacture 83 Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas forthe Indian Air Force (IAF) atan estimated cost of ₹��48,000crore, while India showcaseda range of indigenous military platforms to the world.

Speaking at the inauguralevent, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said: “We havelong witnessed unfortunateattempts to employ force tochange the status quo alongour unresolved border andIndia is vigilant and prepared to counter and defeatany misadventure and defend our people and territorial integrity at all costs. Ourresolve towards this is shownby our growing defence capabilities… We plan to spend$130 bn on military modernisation in the next 78 years.”He urged global defencecompanies to set up manufacturing units.

India faced threats andchallenges emanating frommultiple fronts and it was avictim of statesponsored terrorism, which was now a global threat, he pointed out.

Mr. Singh will hold an Indian Ocean Region (IOR) Defence Ministers’ conclaveduring the show, which hasbeen restricted to three business days due to COVID19restrictions.

Deliveries in 8 yearsOn the LCA contract, he said:“This contract is the biggestMake in India defence con

tract till date.” The contractincludes 73 LCA Tejas Mk1Afi��ghter aircraft and 10 LCATejas Mk1 trainer aircraft at acost of ₹��45,696 crore alongwith design and development of infrastructure sanctions worth ₹��1,202 crore.

“The deliveries of all 83aircraft shall be completed ineight years from now. HALwill be delivering the fi��rstthree aircraft in the thirdyear and 16 aircraft per yearfor subsequent fi��ve years,” aDefence Ministry statementsaid.

Speaking at the Air Chiefs

conclave, Chief of the AirStaff�� Air Chief Marshal R.K.S.Bhadauria said, “globally weare facing unprecedented levels of ‘uncertainty, volatilityand interconnectedthreats’.” In this regard hepitched for greater regionalcoordination.

As part of eff��orts to boostdefence exports, HAL displayed an ‘Atmanirbhar formation’ consisting of its platforms — LCA trainer, HTT40trainer, Intermediate JetTrainer, Advanced HawkMk132 and Civil DornierDo228.

HAL gets contract for 83 LCAs in ₹��48,000 cr. deal$130 bn will bespent on militarymodernisation,says Rajnath

Dinakar Peri

BENGALURU

Power-packed show: A Sukhoi Su30, centre, fl��ying in formation with other aircraft at AeroIndia 2021 at the Yelahanka Air Force Station in Bengaluru on Wednesday. * MURALI KUMAR K.

As part of the off��set commitments under the Rafaledeal, Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) has manufactured and delivered Transmit and Receive Modules(T/R) for the Advanced Electronic Scanned Array (AESA) radar on the jet, saidThales of France onWednesday.

“In November 2020, thefi��rst RBE2 AESA radar with afront end manufactured byBEL in India was deliveredby Thales to Dassault Aviation. BEL implemented a setof rigorous processes at itsBangalore facility in order toachieve this key milestone,”the statement at Aero Indiasaid.

India has contracted 36Rafale jets in fl��yaway condition under a€7.87 billion InterGovernmental Agreement signed with France inSeptember 2016. It has a50% off��set clause to be discharged by French companies in India.

The T/R modules are keyto the RBE2 radar’s activeelectronic scanning performance, enabling it to steerthe radar beam with thespeed of an electronic chip.

Transfer of technology Initiated at the end of 2017,the transfer of technology toBEL included validation ofthe company’s technical capacity to deliver prototypes,qualify the various technologies involved in the wiringprocess, set up a dedicatedSMC wiring production linewith a preproduction run,train BEL engineers inFrance and install testbenches for microwave characterisation at the BEL facility, Thales said.

The modules produced inIndia are then integratedwith the RBE2 radar inFrance.

“We’re delighted to seeour collaboration with BELdelivering results,” said Emmanuel De Roquefeuil, vicepresident and Country director, Thales in India.

BEL makes modulesfor radar on Rafales Special Correspondent

BENGALURU

After being incarcerated for98 days, M. Sivasankar,former Principal Secretaryto Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, walked out ofthe District Jail, Kakkanad,on bail on Thursday.

C. Deepu, judge of theEconomic Off��ences Court,Ernakulam, while grantingbail to Mr. Sivasankar in adollar smuggling case, notedthat he had “suffi��cient knowledge with regard to thesmuggling of foreign currencies perpetrated with thehelp of prime accused”.

The court felt that “suchknowledge and his culpablefailure to bring the smuggling to the notice of appropriate authority despite thefact that he was a senior civilservant during relevant timeshall be viewed seriously.”

His further detention wasno longer essential for successful future investigation,the judge said.

Earlier, the same courtgranted him statutory bail inthe diplomatic channel goldsmuggling case booked bythe Customs Department after the agency failed to fi��lethe fi��nal charges in the case.The Kerala High Court, too,decided in favour of Mr. Sivasankar in his bail applicationfi��led in the money laundering case booked by the Enforcement Directorate.

The prosecution case inthe dollar smuggling case isthat Khaled Mohamed AliShoukry, former fi��nancehead of the UAE Consulate,Thiruvananthapuram,smuggled dollars valued at₹��1.9 crore to Muscat from theThiruvananthapuram international airport with thehelp of Swapna Suresh andP.S. Sarith. The Customs arraigned Mr. Sivasankar asfourth accused in the case.

Sivasankar gets bail indollar smuggling case He was aware of the crime but didn’t alert authorities: court


KOCHI

M. Sivasankar leaving theDistrict Jail in Kakkanad onWednesday. * THULASI KAKKAT

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has decided to construct a templefor goddess Padmavati inChennai on an estimatedbudget of ₹��6.85 crore. Thetemple is proposed to bebuilt on a 14,880 sq ft site onG.N. Chetty Road in theheart of the city.

The land, with a presentmarket value of more than₹��30 crore, was donated bynoted South Indian actor P.Kanchana.

Initially, it was planned toconstruct the temple withornamental brick work andthe Rajagopuram withstone. The total cost of theproject was pegged at ₹��5.75crore. Tenders were also fi��nalised.

TTD trust board memberand president of Local Advisory Committee at Chennai,A.J. Sekhar, suggested usinggranite for the construction

of the temple akin to theones built in Hyderabad andKurukshetra. It would notonly enhance the grandeurbut also replicate the ageold temple architecture, hesaid.

Additional expenditure When engineering offi��cialssubmitted that the revisedwork estimates would go upto ₹��6.85 crore as against theestimate of ₹��5.75 crore, Mr.Sekhar said the additionalexpenditure of ₹��1.1 crorewould be pooled in as donations as per TTD norms.

After discussions, theTTD has decided to entrustthe works related to the construction of the rajagopuram at an estimated ₹��1.1crore (equivalent to the additional cost) to Mr. Sekharand take up the remainingworks, such as constructionof the temple, ‘mukha mandapam’ and ‘prakaram’ onits own.

TTD to build Padmavatitemple in Chennai Land donated by actor Kanchana


Tirumala

BJP Rajya Sabha memberG.V.L. Narasimha Rao has requested the Ministry ofHome Aff��airs to seek a detailed action taken reportfrom the Andhra Pradesh government on the recent attacks on temples in the State.

Raising the issue duringZero Hour on Wednesday,Mr. Rao said the State sawmore than 140 instances of

attacks on Hindu temples involving demolition and desecration of idols and crimes ofother nature in the last 19months, but the State government had not shownany seriousness in arrestingthe culprits.

The latest incident of ‘severing’ of the 400yearoldidol of Lord Sri Ram at theRamateertham temple in Vizianagaram district haddeeply hurt the sentimentsof Hindus all over the Stateand beyond, Mr. Rao said.“The attacks have intensifi��edin the last six months as thecriminals have become em

boldened by the lack ofprompt action against thoseresponsible for the previousincidents,” he said.

Major incidents such astorching of ancient chariotsat the Bitragunta and Antar

vedi temples and disfi��gurement of silver lions at the Kanaka Durga temple inVijayawada had not beenprobed in a timely manner,he alleged.

Mr. Rao said it was only after a massive outrage thatthe State government startedmaking “halfhearted attempts” to investigate thecases by setting up a SpecialInvestigation Team. Insteadof apprehending the real culprits, the police had been arresting political workers formaking comments in the social media posts criticisingsuch incidents, he stated.

MP takes Andhra temple attacks to RS ‘Home Ministrymust seek reportfrom State govt.’ Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA

G.V.L. Narasimha Rao

Offi��cials and security personnel of the BengaluruCentral Prison at ParappanaAgrahara are in the dock foralleged corrupt activities.

According an exposéaired by regional media, theinmates pay the securitystaff�� to get cigarettes, liquor,nonvegetarian dishes andfood from outside, and mobile phones. The report alleged that inmates pay heftyamounts to stay in a cell thathas facilities like a stove, wa

ter heater, fan and even aseparate washroom.

Home Minister BasavarajBommai and Director General of Prisons Alok Mohanhave sought details from offi��cials concerned and promised to initiate action. Aninternal inquiry was ordered on Wednesday.

Senior IPS offi��cer D. Roopa, formerly DIG (Prisons),had said earlier that prisonoffi��cials were providing special facilities to VIP inmates,including expelled AIADMKleader V.K. Sasikala.

Jail inmates get facilitiesfor a price, says report Special Correspondent

Bengaluru

In a shocking incident, awoman reportedly gavebirth in an open place atUnagatla village in AndhraPradesh’s West Godavaridistrict a couple of daysago. The infant was mauledto death by stray dogs.

According to sources, avillager noticed a dog trotting on the road with thebody of the infant in itsmouth. When he raised analarm, the dog fl��ed, leavingthe body of the newborngirl.

Anganwadi staff�� and thewomen protection secretary alerted the offi��cials,who rushed to the spot.Police shifted the body to agovernment hospital.

Samisragudem Child Development Project Offi��cerM. Asha Rohini told The

Hindu that the incident occurred four days ago.

Eff��orts were on to tracethe mother, an offi��cial said.

Newbornmauled todeath by dogs

Staff Reporter

CHAGALLU

Organs harvested from a 51yearold shepherd of Telangana were used to save thelives of fi��ve critically ill patients. Almost all vital organs, including the heart,liver, two kidneys, andlungs, were harvested afterhe was declared braindeadand his family membersconsented to donate theorgans.

The shepherd, B. Balaiah,from Kodair mandal, Nagarkurnool, met with a road accident on January 31 and

was rushed to ContinentalHospitals, where he wasdiagnosed with intracerebral haemorrhage. Thoughdoctors operated on him,the patient’s condition continued to deteriorate. Hewas declared braindead onWednesday morning.

Doctors from the hospitalharvested all possible functioning organs. With help ofthe police, a green corridorwas arranged and the organs were transported tofour hospitals. Balaiah’sheart was transferred to theCare Hospital here, the

lungs were sent to KIMSHospitals, one kidney wasshifted to Apollo Hospitalsin Jubilee Hills, and anotherwas sent to the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences,Punjagutta. The liver wastransplanted to a patient atContinental Hospital, apress release said.

Balaiah’s wife works as adaily wage worker and hisson recently completed hisM.A. With Balaiah’s death,his son Nagamallesh said hewould have to discontinuehis studies and take up theresponsibility of the family.

Telangana shepherd’s organsgive new lease of life to fi��ve Green corridor created to transport organs to 4 hospitals

Staff Reporter

HYDERABAD

BJP president J.P. Nadda onWednesday said the Congress and the CPI(M) werefriends in West Bengal and“makebelieve” foes in Kerala. He is in Kerala for twodays to fi��nalise the BJP’s Assembly election campaignstrategy and discuss candidate selection.

At a press conferencehere, Mr. Nadda said the voters of Kerala were caught ina vicious circle. They had toalternate between the CPI(M) and the Congress everyfi��ve years.

The BJP, as in West Bengal, had emerged as a disruptive political force forthe good in Kerala. It was apotential game changer that

could permanently alterKerala’s electoral politicsand catapult the State alongthe development path. Thedays of CongressCPI(M)shadowboxing were over.“No more matchfi��xing.”

He said Kerala’s COVID19strategy had faltered despitethe Centre’s colossal infusion of funds and resources.

‘Voters of Kerala caughtbetween CPI(M), Cong.’ Special Correspondent

Thiruvananthapuram

J.P. Nadda

Man pours motor oil onjudge’s vehicle, arrestedKOCHI

A man poured motor oil on

the SUV of a judge of the

Kerala HC on Wednesday and

was arrested. It was allegedly

in protest against the delay in

the probe into the disappear

ance of Jasna Maria, a college

student, in March 2018.

IN BRIEF

Murder accused sent tomental care hospitalVISAKHAPATNAM

The couple who allegedly

murdered their daughters in

Chittoor over occult practices

recently are being shifted to

a mental care hospital in Vis

akhapatnam for evaluation.

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

After the Lower House witnessed multiple adjournments over the farm laws,Parliamentary Aff��airs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Wednesday accused the Oppositionof going back on its wordthat the House would be allowed to fi��rst take up the discussion on the Motion ofThanks to the President forhis address to the joint session of Parliament.

As soon as the Lok Sabhaconvened at 4 p.m., Question Hour proceedings weredisrupted as Adhir RanjanChowdhury, leader of theCongress in the Lok Sabha,wanted to raise the issue ofthe farm laws. BhagwantSingh Mann, Aam AadmiParty (AAP) MP from Punjab,was also heard raising loudslogans demanding an immediate discussion on thefarm laws.

Speaker Om Birla urged

Mr. Mann to return to hisseat, and said that he wouldbe forced to take strict actionagainst members who repeatedly violated parliamentary decorum and dignity.

As the Opposition MPs didnot relent, he adjourned theHouse until 4.30 p.m. Whenthe House resumed its proceedings, Mr. Chowdhurysuggested that separate timeslots be allotted for discussion on the farm laws, and

the Motion of Thanksdebate.

Question HourMr. Birla asserted that theQuestion Hour was a matterof right for the MPs and theHouse should be allowed tofunction. But the advicewent unheeded as morethan 20 members, includingfrom the Congress, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam(DMK), the AAP and the Shi

romani Akali Dal (SAD),trooped into the Well of theHouse to protest.

The SAD leader and former Union Minister HarsimratKaur Badal, holding a posteragainst the farm laws, wasamong the protesting MPswho were in the Well.

The Speaker then adjourned the House until 5p.m.

Identical scenes were witnessed once the proceedingswere resumed. Mr. Birlaonce again reasoned withthe Opposition members togo back to their seats as hewanted to start the ZeroHour. By then, Mr. Joshi informed the House that hehad held discussions withOpposition leaders. He saidthat “these leaders” hadagreed to start a discussionon the Motion thanking thePresident.“Now, they havemade a Uturn and that is also like an insult to the President,” Mr. Joshi said.

LS disrupted over farm lawsMinister Pralhad Joshi accuses Opposition of going back on its word

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

Union Minister for Parliamentary Aff��airs Pralhad Joshispeaking in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. * PTI

Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad appealed to the government not to make the‘confrontation’ with farmersa prestige issue and calledon Prime Minister NarendraModi himself to make an announcement repealing thedisputed farm laws. He condemned the violence at theRed Fort on January 26 during the farmers’ tractor rally.

After a washout on Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha functioned smoothly on Wednesday barring asixminutelong adjournment forced by sloganeeringAam Aadmi Party membersafter the Treasury benchesand the Opposition came toan understanding on suspending Question Hour andZero Hour to discuss the Motion of thanks to the Presi

dent’s address. Speaking inMr. Modi’s presence, Mr.Azad, who is the Leader ofthe Opposition, said that nogovernment in the past hadbenefi��ted from fi��ghtingfarmers, and cited instanceswhen even the British government had to bow tofarmers’ movement.

He also raised the issue ofregistration of cases understringent provisions against

leading journalists and hisparty colleague Shashi Tharoor.

Earlier in the day, despitethe consensus arrived at between the government andthe Opposition, three AAPmembers continued withtheir protest, walking intothe well of the House raisingslogans. Chairman M. Venkaiah Naidu, quoting Rule255 for withdrawal of members for gross disorderlyconduct, had them removedfrom the House. SanjaySingh, Sushil Kumar Guptaand Narain Dass Gupta weremarshalled out.

DMK’s Tiruchi Siva objected to how the farm Bills werepassed in the Rajya Sabha inthe last session.

Mr. Naidu said all processes were followed and all parties were allotted time to debate the laws.

‘Even British government had to bow to farmers’ movement’


NEW DELHI

Ghulam Nabi Azad

Don’t make farm laws aprestige issue, says Azad

India on Wednesday saidcomments from Westerncelebrities in support ofthe farmers’ protest were“neither accurate nor responsible”.

The offi��cial statementwas issued in response to aseries of social media postsby singer Rihanna, activistsGreta Thunberg and Meena Harris, niece of U.S.VicePresident KamalaHarris.

“Before rushing to comment on such matters, wewould urge that the factsbe ascertained, a properunderstanding of the issues at hand be undertaken. The temptation of sensationalist social mediahashtags and comments,especially when resortedto by celebrities and others, is neither accurate norresponsible,” said the Ministry of External Aff��airs(MEA) in a detailedresponse.

The response camehours after Ms. Rihannasaid, “Why aren’t we talking about this [farmersprotest]?

The comment was followed by Swedish activistMs. Thunberg. She said,“We stand in solidaritywith the farmers protest inIndia.”

Ms. Meena Harris commented, “It’s no coincidence that the world’s oldest democracy wasattacked not even a monthago, and as we speak, themost populous democracyis under assault. This is related.

“We all should be outraged by India’s internetshutdowns and paramilitary violence against farmer protesters.”

The comments were followed by U.S. lawmakerJim Costa of California. Hedescribed the developments around the farmers’protest as “troubling”.

India fl��ayscommentsby celebrities


NEW DELHI

After the unprecedentedstatement by the Ministry ofExternal Aff��airs referring tooutsiders (including international celebrities) commenting on the protests againstcontentious farm laws, theBJP on Wednesday said itwas the opposition Congressand its leader Rahul Gandhiwho were complicit inspreading “fake narratives”and “hatching antiIndia”conspiracies while abroad.

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah tweeted that “nopropaganda can deter India’s unity! No propagandacan stop India to attain newheights! Propaganda can notdecide India’s fate only ‘Progress’ can. India stands unit

ed and together to achieveprogress.” Tweets with thehashtags “IndiaTogether and#IndiaAgainstPropagandawere put out by senior Ministers like Prakash Javadekarand BJP president J.P. Nadda.

BJP spokesperson SambitPatra addressed a press con

ference at the party headquarters in New Delhi andsaid the meet was titled “Rahul, Rihanna and Racket,”referring to pop idol Rihanna who tweeted about theprotests by farmers’ unions.

‘Anti-India propaganda’“He [Rahul Gandhi] goesabroad to hatch conspiracywith antiIndia elements asto how to defame India anddrag the country into controversies,” Mr. Patra alleged.

“Be it Rihanna, an international pop singer, or former adult star Mia Khalifa orothers like them who havetweeted, Rahul Gandhimeets these people for antiIndia propaganda,” Mr. Patraclaimed.

Mr. Gandhi on Wednesday

at his own press conferencehad said that India’s reputation had taken a “massivehit” and its biggest strength,its soft power, had been“shattered“ by the BJP andthe RSS.

Mr. Patra said that whilefarmers had been saying thatthey had nothing to do withpolitics, Mr. Gandhi hadshown his “immaturity” bytrying to talk on their behalf.

He defended the massivebarricading done by the Delhi police to block farmersprotesting at several Delhiborder points from enteringinto the national capital, saying that the police had takenthese measures to ensurethat the violence which happened on January 26 was notrepeated.

‘Rahul is spreading fake narratives’He goes abroad to hatch conspiracy with antiIndia elements, says Sambit Patra

Sambit Patra


NEW DELHI

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor and senior journalistsRajdeep Sardesai and Mrinal Pande have moved theSupreme Court againstcharges of sedition, promotion of enmity and criminalconspiracy levelled againstthem for posting “malafi��de,defamatory, false and misleading” tweets accusingthe Delhi Police of killing afarmer during the tractorparade on Republic Day.

The FIRs, registered bythe police, accused them ofposting instigating tweetsand deliberately circulatingfake news accusing the Delhi Police of the murder of aman driving a tractor during

the violence on RepublicDay.

“This was clearly donewith an intent to engineerlargescale riots and religious tension among diff��erent communities. This particularly assumes muchsignifi��cance as the ramifi��cations of such riots and religious tensions would aff��ecta sensitive state sharing international border. The accused persons have deliberately, without anyauthentication, factchecking and verifying, purposefully posted fake, misleading and wrong informationto instigate violenceamongst the protesters, thefarmer community,” the Gurugram Police FIR read.

Tharoor, journalistsmove SC against FIRsLegal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The Union Home Ministrydid not extend an order tosuspend Internet beyond 11p.m. on February 2 at Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri — thethree locations borderingDelhi where farmer groupscontinue to swell to protestagainst the three farm lawspassed by Parliament lastSeptember.

However, protesters atthe three locations said Netremained blocked on Wednesday as well.

International artist Rihanna and author Meena Harris,niece of U.S. VicePresidentKamal Harris, had throughtweets criticised the Internetshutdown at the protest site.

The Ministry invoked theTemporary Suspension ofTelecom Services (PublicEmergency or Public SafetyRules 2017) of the Indian Te

legraph Act, 1885 to suspendInternet in Singhu, Ghazipurand Tikri from 11 p.m. on January 31 to 11 p.m. on February 2.

The emergency provisions were invoked on January 26 and January 29 during the farmers’ protest.

Before this, the provisionwas used only twice — during the antiCAA protests on

December 19 and 20, 2019.The rules framed in 2017 empower the Union Home Secretary and a State’s HomeSecretary to pass directionsto suspend the telecom services, including Internet inan area “due to public emergency or public safety”.

A senior government offi��cial said the Net suspensionorder that was eff��ective till 11p.m. on February 2 had notbeen extended.

“There is still no Internetat the Singhu border today.It is still suspended, despitewhatever the Home Ministryis saying,” said HarinderSingh, media coordinatorfor the Samyukt Kisan Morcha.

“It’s just another attemptto defame the farmers. Theyknow very well that farmersat Singhu are not aware ofthese claims and can’t counter these claims,” he stated.

No Internet yet at Delhiborders, say protesters Suspension order has not been extended: senior offi��cial


New Delhi

Internet in Singhu, Ghazipurand Tikri was suspendedfrom January 31 to Feb. 2.

SC declines pleas onRepublic Day violenceNEW DELHI

The Supreme Court on

Wednesday declined to

entertain a bunch of petitions

seeking an independent

inquiry into the Republic Day

violence amid the farmers’

tractor rally, saying the Prime

Minister had already said the

law would take its course.

IN BRIEF

Blockade at Delhiborders inhuman: CPI(M)NEW DELHI

The CPI(M) strongly

condemned the Delhi police

for the “inhuman blockade”

imposed at the Delhi borders

against the agitating farmers

denying them water, food and

other essential commodities.

The party said the Delhi

government too has stopped

delivering the water tankers

of the Delhi Jal Board. The

toilets provided by the Delhi

government have been

forcibly vacated by the police.

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Wednesdaysaid India’s internationalreputation had taken a“massive hit” because of theway the government wastreating its own people, andasserted that the countrywas in a “dangerous condition” and the Prime Ministershould take quick action tolead it.

At a press conference atthe party headquarters, theCongress leader attacked theNarendra Modi governmentover its handling of the farmers’ agitation and the Budget, which, he claimed, not

only sends a wrong signal toChina but also caters to 1% ofthe population.

He also asked why the government has made Delhi into a fortress with barricades.He said the farmers are notgoing to back off�� and ultimately, the government willhave to withdraw the laws.

“The reputation of Indiahas taken a massive hit. Notonly on how we are treatingour farmers [but] how wetreat our own people, howwe treat journalists; it has taken a massive hit. Our biggest strength, you can call itsoft power, has been shattered by the BJP and theRSS,” Mr. Gandhi said.

Asked about internationalpop singer Rihanna tweetingabout the farmers’ protests,the Congress leader, however, called it “our internalmatter”.

“The country requires thePrime Minister to take quickaction. It requires that thePrime Minister put moneyimmediately into the handsof our people and start theeconomy. It requires that heprotects the small and medium businesses who give usjobs... it requires a clearmessage to China that ‘youcannot do this with us’. Youcannot be sitting inside ourland and expect that nothingis going to happen,” he said.

He says India’s international reputation has taken a hit


NEW DELHI

Take quick action as situationis dangerous, says Rahul

Hundreds of academicianshave urged the Centre toimmediately abandon thethree new farm reformlaws, which they said“pose a major threat tofarming communities allover India”. In a statementissued on Wednesday, theyalso expressed concern“about the farmers’ protests and their suff��ering atthe borders of Delhi”.

The 413 signatories included several from agricultural universities and anumber of professors andresearchers from some ofthe top institutions in Indiaand the world.

Abandon farmreform laws:academicians


NEW DELHI

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

On December 30, 2020, theU.K. granted emergency useapproval to the Oxford vaccine based on interim effi��cacy results from 131 COVID19cases. The U.K. regulator approved the second dose ofthe vaccine to be given 12weeks after the fi��rst. Now, apreprint paper with updated effi��cacy results based onresearch led by Oxford University after a furthermonth of data collectionthat includes 332 COVID19cases shows that delayingthe second dose beyondfour weeks increases the level of protection.

The data in the preprintshow that vaccine effi��cacywas high when the intervalbetween the two doses wastwo months and continuedto increase with a longerdose interval. Vaccine effi��cacy after two standard dosesincreased from 54.9% whenthe second dose was administered less than six weeksafter the fi��rst dose to 82.4%when the gap between thetwo doses was more than 12weeks.

India began vaccinatinghealthcare workers on January 16 and the expert committee set up by the DrugsController General of India(DCGI) recommended thatthe second dose be administered between four and sixweeks after the fi��rst.

According to the lateststudy, the longer intervalbetween the fi��rst and second dose provides betterprotection without anycompromise in the threemonth period until the second dose is administered.It reports that the vaccineeffi��cacy against symptomatic COVID19 after a single

standard dose was 76% fromday 22 to day 90. The antibody levels were maintained during this periodwith no evidence of signifi��cant waning of protection.

However, the fi��rst dosedid not provide protectionagainst asymptomatic infection in the same period. Butthe overall cases of PCR positives reduced by 67% afterthe fi��rst, suggesting the potential for a substantial reduction in transmission.

Participants aged 1855years who received the second dose more than 12weeks after the fi��rst had antibody titres that were twofold higher than those whoreceived the second dosewithin six weeks.

The researchers alsofound that neutralising antibody titres measured bypseudovirus were higher after a longer interval beforethe second dose.

The researchers say “vaccination programmes aimedat vaccinating a large proportion of the populationwith a single dose, with a second dose given after athreemonth period may bean eff��ective strategy to reduce disease, and may bethe optimal for a pandemicvaccine when supplies arelimited in the short term”.

‘Delayed secondOxford dose helps’Study fi��nds 3month gap raises effi��cacy

R. Prasad

CHENNAI Two days after Sri Lanka decided to scrap a 2019 agreement with India and Japanfor operating the East CoastTerminal (ECT), Japan saysthe decision was “unilateraland regrettable”.

Japan’s Ambassador AkiraSugiyama also met with SriLankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena to discuss the issue on Wednesday, after a fl��urry of meetingsbetween the Indian HighCommissioner to ColomboGopal Baglay and the top leadership of Sri Lanka, including Mr. Gunawardena, President Gotabaya Rajapaksaand Prime Minister MahindaRajapaksa, to protest the decision. The ECT project wasexpected to showcase IndiaJapan cooperation in a partof South Asia where Chineseinfrastructure projects have

been prominent. In Delhi, an offi��cial of the

Japanese Embassy said theJapanese government was“looking into the details” ofthe announcement made byMr. Mahinda Rajapaksa aftera Cabinet meeting on Monday.

“Japan, India and Sri Lanka signed the Memorandumof Cooperation for the development of ECT in May

2019,” the offi��cial told TheHindu, referring to the tripartite agreement signed byIndia and Japan with theformer Sri Lankan PresidentMaithripala Sirisena’s government.

“It is regrettable that thegovernment of Sri Lanka unilaterally made a Cabinet decision and announced thedevelopment and operationof ECT as a wholly owned

container terminal of SriLanka Ports Authority,” theoffi��cial added.

New Delhi and Tokyo havebeen in talks with the Rajapaksa government over thelast few months after protests by Port union workersover allowing any foreignrole or investment in theECT project cast a shadowover progress in the agreement.

During a visit to Colomboon January 6 by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar,the ECT had been high onthe agenda, and India hadbeen hopeful of a fi��rm commitment from Sri Lanka onthe project.

After his meeting with Mr.Jaishankar, President Gotabaya told protesting Portworker unions that India’sAdani Group would invest inthe project, and Sri Lankawas not selling or leasing thenational asset, that was seen

as a sign the government wason board.

However, during the Cabinet meeting headed byPrime Minister Mahinda onMonday, the Sri Lankan government decided that ECTwould be operated as a“wholly owned containerterminal of the Sri LankaPorts Authority [SLPA]” andnot, as earlier planned, ajoint venture with Indianand Japanese entities. BothIndia and Japan were takenby surprise, given the negotiations thus far, and giventhat nearly 70% of the transhipment business throughECT is linked to India.

In a possible bid to makeamends — the Rajapaksa government has off��ered theWest Container Terminal(WCT) of Colombo Port on a35year agreement to Indiaand Japan instead, but offi��cials have thus far been coldto the off��er.

Sri Lanka’s ECT move unilateral: JapanTokyo reacts sharply, says ‘looking into the details’ of Colombo’s announcement on terminal

Suhasini Haidar

Meera Srinivasan

NEW DELHI/COLOMBO

In protest: Port workers taking part in a demonstrationoutside the harbour in Colombo in January. * AFP

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Tiruchi Sivaurged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to send a strongmessage to the Sri Lankangovernment on the death offour fi��shermen from TamilNadu whose bodies werefound on January 23.

Raising the issue in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, Mr.Siva said this was not the fi��rstsuch incident.

“We have been raisingsuch issues in the House every now and then, and fi��shermen in Tamil Nadu arecompelled to quit their pro

fession because of harassment by the Sri Lankan Navy,” he said.

On January 19, four fi��shermen from Tamil Nadu werereported missing. Four dayslater, on January 23, the SriLankan Navy claimed to havefound their bodies in thePalk Strait. The Sri LankanNavy claimed that the fi��shermen’s boat rammed into itsvessel.

‘Brutally attacked’Mr. Siva contended that

this was not the case and, infact, the fi��shermen had beenbrutally attacked and killed.He said it was not enough for

the External Aff��airs Ministryto send a strong demarche tothe Sri Lankan High Commissioner.

He said the families of fi��shermen did not know wheth

er they would return withtheir catch or if it was theirbodies that would be senthome.

“The Prime Ministershould condemn, as ourleader has requested, this incident. This should not happen again. I hope you willtake this issue very seriouslyand give hope and confi��dence to the fi��shermen thatnothing would happen henceforth when they go fi��shing,” Mr. Siva added.

245 fi��shermenAll India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK)leader M. Thambidurai also

spoke on the issue. He said,so far, 245 fi��shermen fromTamil Nadu had been killed.

“Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswamihas written a letter to thePrime Minister requestinghim to take necessary actionagainst the Sri Lankan authorities. Sir, on behalf of theAIADMK party, the Tamil Nadu government and also theTamil Nadu fi��shermen, I condemn the Sri Lankan Navyfor doing these kinds ofatrocities and killing our fi��shermen. This is going to aff��ectthe relationship between India and Sri Lanka,” Mr.Thambidurai said.

DMK asks PM to speak on fi��shermen deaths ‘It’s not enough for External Aff��airs Ministry to send a demarche to the Sri Lankan High Commissioner’

Tiruchi Siva


New Delhi

183 still in detention in J&K, says MinisterNEW DELHI

More than a year after the

special status of J&K was

revoked, 183 persons are still

in detention in Jammu and

Kashmir, the Centre said on

Wednesday. Union Minister of

State for Home G. Kishan

Reddy informed the Rajya

Sabha in a written reply,

“Since August 1, 2019, 613

persons were detained at

various points of time. Out of

these, based on regular

review and ground situation,

430 persons have been

released till date.”

IN BRIEF

No accurate data onRohingyas: CentreNEW DELHI

The Centre informed the

Rajya Sabha on Wednesday

that there was no accurate

data regarding the number of

Rohingya migrants living in

the country. In a written

reply, Union Minister of State

for Home Nityanand Rai said,

“Illegal Rohingya immigrants

are presently staying mostly

in Jammu and Kashmir,

Telangana, Punjab, Haryana,

Uttar Pradesh, Delhi,

Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West

Bengal, Assam, Karnataka and

Kerala.”

Banned Jamaat-e-Islami chief remains in jailSRINAGAR

Banned Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI)

chief Abdul Hameed Fayaz,

whose detention was quashed

under the Public Safety Act

(PSA) on Tuesday, remains in

jail in a separate case,

according to the organisation.

“Fayaz was rearrested in a

case pending before a

Terrorist and Disruptive

Activities (Prevention) Act

court in Budgam. The lawyers

are pleading for a bail in the

court,” an associate said, on

condition of anonymity.

The Asian College of Journalism (ACJ) Awards hasopened nominations for entries for the investigativejournalism and social impact categories. The MediaDevelopment Foundation(MDF), the trust that administers ACJ, announced theopening of nominations forthe awards and invited journalists and news organisations to submit entries forconsideration by the awardscommittee and jury.

The ACJ Award for Investigative Journalism will carry a trophy, citation andcash prize of ₹��2 lakh. Thejudging criteria will includethe nature of the investigation, its impact and the extent of the public interest involved. Investigativejournalism, for the purposeof the award, will be thatwhich exposes wrongdoingin the public interest.

The K.P. Narayana KumarMemorial Award for SocialImpact Journalism will honour exceptional, originalreporting on important subjects with the potential tohave social impact, spur reform and fi��nd solutions. The

award comprises a trophy,citation and cash prize of ₹��1lakh.

Nominations can be sentin till 11.59 p.m. on March 1,2021. Any journalistic workthat was published duringthe calendar year 2020 ( January 1 to December 31) iseligible for nomination by anews organisation andworking or freelance journalists. There can be up tofi��ve members comprising ateam that can be nominatedfor an award. The awardscommittee will accept nominations online or by post,and nominees can also dropoff�� their details at the ACJ registrar’s offi��ce.

Further details can be accessed online at http://www.asianmedia.org/acj/acjawards2/acjawardsoverview/.

Nikhil Kanekal, convener,ACJ Awards Committee, canbe contacted at nikhilkane[email protected] and SudhaUmapathy, registrar, AsianCollege of Journalism, canbe contacted at sudhauma[email protected]

Both the awards will bepresented at the ACJ Awardsand convocation ceremonyin June.

ACJ invites entries forjournalism awards Nominations can be sent in till March 1

Staff Reporter

CHENNAI Allowing investigating agencies to collect DNA samplesfrom “suspects”, as laiddown in the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019, will givethem “unbridled power thatis easily capable of misuseand abuse” and amount to a“threat to the life, liberty,dignity and privacy of a person”, retired Supreme Courtjudge Justice Madan Lokurhas observed in a writtensubmission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee onScience and Technology.

The panel, headed by senior Congress leader JairamRamesh, tabled its report onWednesday in Parliament.

DNA testing is currentlybeing done on an extremelylimited scale in India, withapproximately 3040 DNA

experts in 1518 laboratoriesundertaking fewer than3,000 cases a year. The standards of the laboratories arenot monitored or regulated.The Bill aims to introducethe regulation of the entireprocess from collection tostorage.

The preamble to the Billsays that it aims to providefor “the regulation of useand application of Deoxyribonucleic Acid [DNA] technology for the purposes ofestablishing the identity ofcertain categories of persons, including the victims,

off��enders, suspects, undertrials, missing persons andunknown deceased persons”.

Justice Lokur has questioned the need to collectDNA of a “suspect”. In hissubmission, he argued thatin a blind crime or a crimeinvolving a large number ofpersons (such as a riot), everybody is a suspect withoutany real basis. This wouldmean that thousands of persons could be subjected toDNA profi��ling on a mere suspicion.

“Such an unbridled power

is easily capable of misuseand abuse by targeting innocents, against whom there isnot a shred of evidence. Suchan unbridled police powerought not to be conferred onanybody or any agency as itwould amount to a threat tothe life, liberty, dignity andprivacy of a person,” he stated.

Many members of thecommittee, too, had expressed concern over including “suspects” in this list,fl��agging that it could lead tomisuse and targeting certaincategories of people. In twodissent notes, AIMIM leaderAsaduddin Owaisi and CPIleader Binoy Viswam saidthe Bill would lead to the targeting of Muslims, Dalits andAdivasis.

The committee has saidwhile taking on board theseconcerns, it has gone with

the majority view of retaining the preamble. Its report,however, notes that thesefears are not entirely unfounded and have to be addressed by the governmentand by Parliament as well. Atthe same time, the committee observed that it does notnegate the need for such legislation, especially whenDNA technology was in use.“Its use in recent months hasexposed a false encounter inwhich innocents were killedcontradicting initial claimsmade that they were militants,” the report said. Itpointed to the encounter atShopian in Kashmir last September, where the Army hadkilled three men claiming tobe unidentifi��ed terrorists.The DNA sample from thethree dead men matchedwith their families, confi��rming it to be a fake encounter.

‘Collection of DNA samples will lead to misuse’Justice Madan Lokur makes a written submission to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on S&T

Sobhana K. Nair

New Delhi

BJP leader and MP Subramanian Swamy on Wednesdaymoved the Supreme Courtseeking a Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) probe into the role played by ReserveBank of India (RBI) offi��cialsin various banking scamsthat plague the country’seconomy, causing prejudiceto public interest.

The petition, fi��led by Dr.Swamy and advocate SatyaSabharwal, said the allegedinvolvement of RBI offi��cialsin scams involving variousentities, including Kingfi��sher, Bank of Maharashtra, anUttar Pradeshbased privatesugar organisation, NiravModi, Rotomac Global,Lakshmi Vilas Bank, IL&FS,PMC Bank, Yes Bank andFirst Leasing Company of India, had not beeninvestigated.

The petition alleged thatthe RBI offi��cials had acted in“demonstrable active connivance” in direct violation ofstatutes, including the Reserve Bank of India Act,Banking Regulation Act,State Bank of India Act,Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act and the Nationalised Bank (Managementand Miscellaneous Provisions) Scheme, 1980.

It said information procured through the Right toInformation (RTI) Act revealed that “no offi��cer of Reserve Bank of India has everbeen held accountable forany dereliction of duty incase of any fraud reportedby any bank. This is in sharp

contrast to the number offrauds exploding in thebanking sector in India aggregating to in excess of over₹��3 lakh crore”.

This lapse has occurreddespite RBI retaining thepower to monitor, regulate,supervise, audit and directthe functioning of bankingcompanies in the country.“The scheme of the BankingRegulation Act makes theReserve Bank of India the alter ego of the bank management, more so in case of public sector banks. Yet, innone of the highprofi��lebanking scams, the CentralBureau of Investigation investigating these scams hasnot even sought to examineat a cursory the role of offi��cials of RBI,” the petitionsaid.

The RBI has failed to protect the interest of variousstakeholders, it alleged.

Plea seeks probe into role ofRBI offi��cials in bank scamsOffi��cials acted in direct violation of statutes, says petition

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI <> The RBI has failed

to protect the

interest of various

stakeholders

Gujarat cadre IPS offi��cerPraveen Sinha, currentlyAdditional Director of theCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI), was appointed asits interim chief on Wednesday as current chief R.KShukla’s twoyear tenureended.

Wednesday was the lastworking day for Mr. Shukla,a 1983batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IPS offi��cer, whowas appointed in January2019. The Department ofPersonnel and Training is

sued a notifi��cation appointing Mr. Sinha, a 1988batchGujarat cadre IPS, to takeover as the CBI’s interimchief till the appointment ofa Director. He will offi��ciateas the CBI chief for a fewweeks, sources said. TheCentre has initiated the process of the new appointment. It has drawn a panelof offi��cers. “Those in the panel include BSF chief andGujarat cadre IPS offi��cer Rakesh Asthana, NIA chief Y.C.Mody, CISF chief SubodhJaiswal and Kerala DGP Loknath Behera,” a source said.

Praveen Sinha takes overas CBI’s interim chiefGovt. initiates process of appointment

special correspondent

AHMEDABAD

The BJP will be unleashingits campaign big guns inWest Bengal with the launchof a series of “ParivartanRath Yatras”. Party president J.P. Nadda will fl��ag off��the fi��rst one on February 6from Nabadwip, while Union Home Minister AmitShah will fl��ag off�� the secondone from Cooch Behar onFebruary 11. Five yatras willcover all the Assembly constituencies of the State.

Plans for the yatras werefi��nalised on Tuesday evening at a meeting of the Statecore committee in New Delhi. The yatras and theirroutes will cohere to the fi��veorganisational areas decided upon earlier and underthe charge of senior BJPleaders.

BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijaywargiya, who is also in charge ofthe State, said there would

now be a stop to largescalejoinings in the party fromthe Trinamool Congress orother parties.

“We don’t want the BJP toturn into the ‘B’ Team of theTrinamool. We don’t wantTrinamool leaders who donot have a clean image orare involved in illegal activities to join our party. Therefore, we do not want to conduct mass joinings anymore. From now on, therewill be selective joinings only,” he added.

BJP to launch yatrasahead of Bengal pollFive yatras to cover all constituencies


NEW DELHI

Amit Shah

The Delhi High Court onWednesday sought a response from Facebookowned WhatsApp and theCentral government on aplea challenging the newprivacy policy of the instant messaging platform.

A Bench comprisingChief Justice D.N. Patel andJustice Jyoti Singh askedthe Ministry of Electronicsand Information Technology and WhatsApp to submit their stand on the pleaby March 19, the next dateof hearing.

The petition sought a direction to WhatsApp toeither roll back their policy, or in the alternative,provide an option to theusers of their platform toopt out of it. It also asked toprovide the users who haveaccepted the privacy policy to be given another option to choose forthemselves.

Delhi HC seeksresponse fromWhatsApp

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

India to get 97 milliondoses from COVAXNEW DELHI

India is likely to get nearly 97

million doses of the

AstraZeneca vaccine, nearly

half of it by March end, under

an agreement with the

international COVAX facility.

This is subject to the vaccine

getting a pre-clearance from

the World Health Organization

under Emergency Use Listing.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has objectedto the Central governmentdetermining that only 162doctors have died due toCOVID19 in India. Ministerof State for Health AshwiniKumar Choubey gave the fi��gure in the Rajya Sabha onTuesday.

“We are shocked byyour announcement...”said a letter on Wednesdaythat was signed by Dr. J.A.Jayalal and Dr. Jayesh MLele, senior offi��cials of theIMA. “This is contrary tothe data released by theIMA... 734 doctors losttheir lives due to COVID ofwhich 431 are general practitioners who are the fi��rstpoint of contact for the people. Sadly, 25 doctors arebelow 35 years of age.”

Govt. data ondoctor deathsincorrect: IMA


NEW DELHI

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


SHOWCASE

The pandemic impasse hasbeen diffi��cult for parentswith young children. Keeping them off�� gadgets hasbeen one of themost challenging oftasks, sayspreschoolteacher NihaMansoor. Hersolution is aninteractivelearning binderfor childrenaged betweentwoandahalf and fi��veyears.

Nihathought upthe ideawhile conductingonlineclasses.“Childrenhaven’t been to the kindergarten and are stuck athome. Online teaching helps inorienting them towards learning,but I realised the importance oftouchandfeel and the role itplays in learning all over again,”she says of her experience.“Working with the hands helpspreschoolers understand concepts faster and better.”

She started work on the binder a few months into the lockdown and came up with the LittleBlooms interactive learningbinder with 22 activities.

“It took me three to fourmonths to do my research, organise my ideas, fi��nd a designerand a printer,” says Niha, who experimented with it fi��rst on herthreeyearold daughter.

“She took to it surprisinglywell, identifying emotions andweather. I found that she lovedplaying with it. I wanted otherchildren too to be able to dothat,” she adds.

While researching the binder,Niha learnt that it is a popularconcept in West Asia and catch

ing on in India. A handson re

source for youngchildren, thebook is aimedat encouraging selflearning.Hardbound, itis provided

with Velcrostickers,

which children wouldenjoy peeling off�� andstickingback. Thiswould aid thedevelopmentof children’smotor skillstoo.

The sheets ofthe binder arelaminated,

which allows them to be reused.It comes with a pouch of markersand erasers too.

LittleBlooms includes basic,essential concepts such as beingable to identify days of the week,emotions, numbers, weather, colours, fruits and vegetables, farmanimals, wild animals, transport,and body parts. It also includeslife skills such as brushing teeth,braiding hair and tying shoe laces. “It is ideal for quiet playtimeat home,” adds Niha.

“The idea is to help create anopportunity for toddlers to explore concepts on their own.Each day, the child can learn something new even if he or she isnot in a classroom environment.It also guides the parents throughwhat the child can imbibe,” saysNiha, who has been running Sundale School in Kochi for 12 years.

The book can be ordered onInstagram @littleblooms.binder

A new way to learn Niha Mansoor’s interactive binder helpstoddlers and parents cope with beingcooped up at home

Anasuya Menon

Gautham Vasudev Menon is apopculture phenomenon.

He grins when I suggest it, likehow he grinned a few weeks agowhen I told him his début fi��lmMinnale, which released on February 2, 2001, was turning 20 —as does his journey in cinema.

His tastefullydecorated offi��cein Alwarpet (the same house thatwas featured in the Avarum Naa-num, Avalum Naanum segmentof Amazon Prime’s Putham Pud-hu Kaalai) pops with his nowfamiliar aesthetic in every corner —from the many bookshelvesteeming with fi��lm literature to asketched silhouette portraitframed on the wall simply titled‘Dad’.

Apart from a few cursoryglances at his email every halfhour, I have his undivided attention. “That is because I am always waiting to see if I get a mailfrom [AR] Rahman sir. It could beanything; the link to a song, ideasfor a future project, or what hethinks of my albums with othercomposers,” he explains.

A history of romanceYou sense that he is itching towork with the Mozart of Madrasagain. It is not that Gautham hasbeen anything less than busy over the past 12 months. In fact, acase could be made for him beingthe country’s most productivefi��lmmaker during the pandemic:a slew of music videos and a couple of anthologies hit OTT platforms.

“Filmmakers have had such ahuge role to play during the pandemic. Entertainment hashelped people take their mindsoff�� their worries, and I am glad tohave been part of it,” he says, adding that he quite enjoyed all thecreative challenges that havecome his way lately, such asVaanmagal, his most recentwork for the Netfl��ix anthologyPaava Kadhaigal.

Is Gautham pleased with hisevolution as a fi��lmmaker over theyears? “The guy who made Vaan-magal is defi��nitely better thanthe guy who made Minnale interms of growth, technique, andunderstanding the medium. Butthe guy who made Vinnaithaan-di Varuvaayaa is the best. Thechemistry I shared with the team

and cast during the making, thethought process inhabiting methen... I haven’t been in thatspace since. Which is why I wantto make the sequel.”

But back to him being an integral part of Tamil popculture aswe know it today, why doesbrand GVM and his history withromance attract so much interest? Could it be because most ofhis protagonists derive theirtraits from his own personality?

“My wife also keeps telling methat I am the problem. She tellsme that when I work with people, I put so much of myself outthere that when I later move onfrom them they can’t handle itand come after me adversely. Ihave actually spent a lot of timethinking about this: do I reallygive away too much?”

Gautham may have gone througha rickety phase since his last genuine commercial success — Yen-nai Arindhaal in 2015. “First ofall, there are no regrets. I ambuilt like that. I have generallyunderstood that this is how theindustry works. I look up to veryfew people in fi��lms, and eventheir careers have gone throughlean phases,” he says.

But if the “business of cinema”could ultimately aff��ect even anaccomplished fi��lmmaker likeGautham, what does that sayabout the industry being a welcoming space for aspirants?

“The diff��erence is that I talkabout my problems, but nobodyelse does. There are defi��nitelylessons to be learnt here for newcomers: make yourself safe, workwith producers who won’t citeyou liable for the fi��lm’s boxoffi��ce

numbers or hold you responsiblewith a contract. That is how youget sucked into the vicious cycle,”he says, adding with a grin, “Theworld of cinema is absolutely afantastic place to be in if you havegreat content and know how tocommunicate, but it is importantto be wary.”

Keeping up with the timesThe general perception aroundGVM is that he is still waiting for afi��nancial crunch to be resolved.When will he breathe a sigh of relief and move on?

“That time is now. I am genuinely in a very happy space atthe moment. People are callingme, and new doors and windowsare opening every other day. Ameeting with Anwar Rasheedand Fahadh [Faasil] for Trancehas led to me becoming an actor!I have the liberty now to write ascript and then cast an actor, notthe other way round.”

He adds, “Also, I am not at allinsecure about my work and ac

quintessentially charming as it is,

could be madetoday. Would

the ‘woke’ gene inhim prevent him

from writing a characterwho essentially masquerades assomeone else to woo a lady?“Yes, he does stalk her initially,but he never crosses the line atany point. Even at the end of ‘Vaseegara’, there is a point when hecould get physical with her, buthe chooses not to,” he says.

“Having said that, I think thecriticism around fi��lms today fornot being woke takes it a bit toofar. Trying to be politically correct sometimes hampers thecreative process. Vetri Maaran, infact, is someone who is actuallyvery conscious of these things,and I keep admiring him for it.My point is, it is a fi��lm and that isall it is always. Watch out for ascene in Navarasa; I make a littledig at this,” he smiles.

The lightning

EFFECT

cept everythinghappeningaround me. Ionly ask forstrong shoulders to lean on. Ihave learnt that frompeople like Rahman sir.”

There is someone else he callshis biggest mentor in the industry; the reason he became a fi��lmmaker in the fi��rst place. “Speaking to Mani (Ratnam) sir hashelped me deal with the roughpatches. The biggest lesson Ilearnt from him was to not readreviews. I remember him tellingme, ‘Gautham, you’ve made afi��lm with all your heart. Thenumbers matter to the people,not to you. So why let it evenreach you in the fi��rst place?’,” hesays. ”

Minnale at 20Considering the interview is tocelebrate 20 years of his début, Iask him if a fi��lm like Minnale, as

Gautam Sunder

With his debut work Minnale completingtwo decades, fi��lmmaker Gautham Menon

looks back at his career and choices

From the heartGautham Menon; stills fromMinnale and Kaakha Kaakha

* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

The highly elusive fi��shing cat, alesserknown feline species, isfacing several threats due to itsdepleting habitat. Listed as‘vulnerable’ on InternationalUnion for Conservation of Nature’s Red List, the species hasa high probability of becomingendangered unless circumstances threatening its survivaland reproduction improve.

Fishing cats have a patchydistribution along the EasternGhats. They abound in estuarine fl��oodplains, tidal mangrove forests and also inlandfreshwater habitats. Apartfrom Sundarbans in West Bengal and Bangladesh, fi��shingcats inhabit the Chilika lagoonand surrounding wetlands inOdisha, Coringa and Krishnamangroves in Andhra Pradesh.

“Our team also reported thepresence of the species for thefi��rst time in a completely inland freshwater riverine habitat in Srikakulam a couple ofyears ago. The conservationthreats to fi��shing cats in theEastern Ghats are mainly habitat loss [wetland degradationand conversion for aquaculture and other commercialprojects], sand mining alongriver banks, agricultural intensifi��cation resulting in loss of riverine buff��er and confl��ict withhumans in certain areas resulting in targeted hunting and retaliatory killings,” says MurthyKantimahanti, a part of FishingCat Conservation Alliance and

founder of Eastern Ghats Wildlife Society, India.

The Fishing Cat Conservation Alliance is a team of conservationists, researchers andenthusiasts across the worldworking to achieve a singledream — a world with functioning fl��oodplains and coastalecosystems that ensure survival of the fi��shing cat and all species with which it shares ahome. With its regional groupof conservationists and researchers, it has initiated an

understanding of the biogeographical distribution of thefi��shing cat in the unprotectedand humandominated landscapes of the northeasternGhats of Andhra Pradesh. Theproject will use techniques likeecological niche modelling,camera trapping, signs andtracks survey, interviews withlocals and documentation ofhistorical records.

“We know nothing abouttheir population dynamics,and very little about their ecology and habits in the wild. Therefore, it’s very diffi��cult to saythe impact without such data.Although fi��shing cats are predominantly associated withwetlands, these highly elusivecats are adaptable to live evenin human dominated landscapes and relatively drier habitats,” Murthy adds.

Another major componentis promoting awareness amongpeople living near fi��shing cathabitats. “The goal is to ensurehealthy populations of fi��shingcats living in close harmonywith humans in these areas,”says Murthy.

The Alliance will kickstart aworldwide monthlong campaign in February to raiseawareness and garner supportacross the globe. The Association of Zoos and Aquariumsand Fishing Cat Species Survival Plan in conjunction with theFishing Cat Conservation Alliance will be sharing their expertise via cartoons, videosand other material.

In search ofhome Habitatloss and confl��ictwith humans aresome of thereasons behindthe dwindlingnumbers offi��shing cats;MurthyKantimahanti atan awarenesscamp * SPECIAL

ARRANGEMENT

The fi��shing cat in India is under threat. This month, the FishingCat Conservation Alliance kickstarts a worldwide campaign

:: Nivedita Ganguly

A whisker away

Know your feline

The fi��shing cat is confi��dentand content in water, theytap the surface to lure prey,plug their ears when theydive, and emerge from thewater with dry skin due to adouble coat.

Some compare thevocalisations of the fi��shingcat to a quack, a bark, even achuckle and a gurgle.

In Cambodia, where images offi��shing cats are found carvedin the walls of ancientstructures, they are known asKla Trey, ‘Tiger fi��sh’.AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

That empty glass bottle, whichonce played host to a bubbly beverage, has lived a full life. But it isnot done yet.

In its afterlife now, it is part ofthe DNA of various buildings thatare coming up across Delhi —thanks to Glass2Sand, an initiative by 19yearold Udit Singhalthat gives purpose to discardedglass. “Started in 2018, it’s a zerowaste ecosystem that stops glassbottles from being dumped inlandfi��lls and crushes them intocommercially valuable silicasand,” explains Udit, who in September 2020 was selected by theUnited Nations as one of 17 YoungLeaders for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Through the twoyear honorary appointment, my work is togalvanise the youth towards theSDGs by driving awareness, emphasising the need to facilitateengagement at a young age,and encouraging the community to embrace abetter civic sense tocreate sustainableliving spaces. So far,the “Young Leader”has been activelydeveloping strategies to turn attention to the growingmenace of glass

waste and make #noglasstolandfi��lls a movement.

Indestructible for yearsThe idea came to Udit when hesaw empty bottles piling up athome. A 16yearold then, he observed a looming crisis in Delhiand concluded that bulk of theglass waste, despite being recyclable and reusable, was not beingsegregated and was beingdumped into already scarce landfi��ll space “where it won’t decompose for a million years!”

“I imported the innovativetechnology that crushes bottlesinto sand, from New Zealand. It isas large as a washing machine

and consumes household electricity,” says Udit,

who received aspecial grant

from the NewZealand High

Commissioner toIndia. It takes themachine a few seconds to complete the process.“The sanddoesn’t harmthe fi��ngerswhen touched.It’s used in construction, foundry linings,roads and other

applications. With bottles changing form to sand, any possibilityof counterfeiting is also‘crushed’,” adds the 19yearoldwho is currently studying at University College London.

So far, 14,000 glass bottleshave already been stopped fromentering landfi��lls and crushed into 8,400 kilograms of highgradesilica sand, says Udit.

Glass bottles are the only inputfor this process. “Bottlecollection is managed through a volunteer network that responded toGlass2Sand’s Internet and socialmedia campaign. The volunteernetwork is growing in Delhi,” hesays, adding that an awarenesscampaign,

“Drink Responsibly, DisposeResponsibly” has also beenlaunched. Glass2Sand recentlytied up with tonic water companySepoy&Co. Its clients have beenrequested to contact Glass2Sand

Stuck with a stock of empty bottles?Check out Udit Singhal’s initiative thatturns used glass into commerciallyvaluable silica sand

Ideas galore Udit with the machine that turns glass into sand* GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCK AND SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

A goodcrush

For details, log on towww.glass2sand.in

PRIYADARSHINI PAITANDY

for “correct” disposal as soonthey have a lot of 50 bottles. Inaddition, it has also partneredwith eight diplomatic missionsand a number of institutions.

All the bottles received havecome from volunteers. “We pay₹��2 per kilo for bottles that cometo our facility. So far, none of ourvolunteers have charged us forthe bottles. They tell me that thisis their commitment to this socialcause,” says Udit, who now receives about 700 glass bottles every month.

One kilogram of bottles (including ones that are chipped,broken, coloured and dirty) isequal to one kilogram of sand.While currently the project runsout of Udit’s garage, discussionsare on with likeminded organisations to replicate it in other cities.

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SHOWCASE

“When I painted my fi��rst wallwithout any permission, I waited for the day when it wouldmake it to the news. When mywork started getting featured onthe news, I decided I wanted tosell my paintings... Tomorrow,the doors open for my solo exhibition and I have nothing moreto strike off�� now,” writes Mumbaibased anonymous artist Tyler in a rather emotional Instagram post addressed to his67.9K followers on January 13.

Tyler’s fi��rst solo exhibit in India, currently on display atMethod, Bandra and Kala Ghoda, is perhaps a sign that graffi��tiand street art, largely considered “antiart”, has found aplace in the mainstream. The exhibit literally brings street art into a white cube space shininglight on the fact that as much asit is a statement, it is also nothing less than ‘high’ or ‘fi��ne’ art.

Public art destinationAbout a year ago, Chennai’sKannagi Nagar (Off�� Mahabalipuram Road), one of the largest resettlements in India housingthose who have been rehabilitated from river beds and slums,saw a dramatic transformationas 16 artists etched murals onmultiple walls, in a bid to makeit a public art destination.

The art sought to bring thecommunity together. In locations across India, public artwelcomed a similar response asmore art destinations croppedup, courtesy St+art India, a nonprofi��t collective that collaborates with governing authoritiesto drag art out of galleries andinto a public space.

This kind of accessibility andreach that public art provides iswhat still intrigues budding ar

tists and collectives, despite therisks involved. Celebrated Kochibased anonymous artist,Guess Who, who is dubbed as‘India’s own Banksy’ asks, “Isn’tthat the beauty of it? It demystifi��es the aura around art andmakes it approachable for everyone.”

However, there is a runningrisk of the work being tamperedwith. How do artists respond tothat? “I would prefer to see thetampering as a response to theartwork or maybe as part of theconversation the art is trying toprovide,” Guess Who adds. Theartist began commenting onevents, political or otherwise,on walls in Fort Kochi, Bengaluru, Chennai and other parts ofthe country, as early as 2012. Bythe artist’s own admission, thekind of work they do “technically falls under street art”.

In graffi��ti, however, self expression takes precedence; infact it is a form of narcissism,says Chennaibased graffi��ti writer, AKill. “Graffi��ti is ultimatelya call out to the public sayingthat I exist,” says AKill who believes that the art form asserts acertain sense of individualitywhile street art relies heavily ona narrative.

In the country, however, theinception point of this form ofart is diffi��cult to trace. At variedpoints, around the turn of the20th Century, is when street culture in India started emerging.But, the starting point of it all isbelieved to be simple, unassuming wall art mostly used for commercial purposes.

Veteran banner artist and artcritic V Jeevananthan fromCoimbatore remembers seeinghis fi��rst wall art around 1967 as achild: The wall held letteringand motifs that etched out campaign promises by political par

ties contesting for elections atthe time. “That is the fi��rst time Isaw a colourful graffi��ti,” says theartist who recently collaboratedwith St+art India Foundation topaint a mural in Coimbatore onhuman/animal confl��ict.

“Wall paintings used to bedone widely for commercial andpolitical purposes before that. Itwas an employment opportunity for many who went aroundhunting for large walls to painton, after agreeing upon a contract with the owner. Street artin its true sense, however, is anew trend especially in Coimbatore, perhaps only four yearsold,” he adds.

Rooted in the politicalPolitical writing on public wallsseem to be the starting point forstreet art in Kerala as well.

Guess Who adds, “Youwouldn’t call it graffi��ti but theirdistinctive styles of hand painted letters have a lot of characte

ristics that are similar to graffi��ticulture. Unfortunately, thereisn’t much of an individual artistic expression.”

The artist says that thoughthere are individuals and collectives like Trespassers who paintpublic walls, there are too fewtakers for urban art in the State.“The size of it is too negligiblefor it to be called a collectivemovement,” says the artist.

However, it seems like Chennai has a diff��erent story to tell.The graffi��ti culture in the metropolis started picking up around2014, and was a movement thatrose in parallel to the hip hopand bboying scene.

AKill who is also part of T3KCollective says, “In Chennai, cinema and politics play a vitalrole in the societal fabric. For instance, if you go out and paint awall, people automatically assume that they are political adsor something related to cinema.” But street art is neither.

Seven years on, the works aremore original, and are activelyused to beautify the city, says AKill, who had recently fi��nished amural (65 feet by 903 feet) onthe facade of Chennai’s Indira

Nagar MRTS, in a bid to createawareness about HIV/AIDS.

“That is what graffi��ti is moving towards,” he says, addingthat a lot of commissionedworks for cafes, restaurants andprivate walls that his crew receives, is testament to the same.Even in events, live graffi��ti is being commissioned for an “experience”, where people can seeartists paint live, almost asthough it is a performance.

“Now, many young artists areinterested in learning the basics;from tagging (signing one’sname) to throwing up (a moreelaborate version of the tag withmultiple colours and styles) andeven piecing (their masterpiecein a legal spot). Whenever theysee us paint, they stop to ask usabout the work,” says AKill,whose crew tries to claim a wallwherever they travel to.

Commercial or otherwise,street art is a response to theworld around and will continueto be so. Concludes Guess Who,“Like every individual who responds to the realities aroundthem, artists too respond, reactand question the world they livein, through their art.”

Writingon the

WALL

Street art and graffi��ti in India inchcloser to the mainstream, now beingused as tools to brighten cities,transform neighborhoods and bringcommunities together

The facade is my canvas (Clockwise from above) A wall from Chennai’sKannagi Nagar; children in front of a mural by artist A-Kill, a work byanonymous artist Guess Who * M KARUNAKARAN AND SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Gowri S

In a bid to encourage ecofriendlyand conservation practices from ayoung age, Sony BBC Earth andBollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar— via her Climate Warrior initiative— are holding a nationwide contesttitled Young Earth Champions forschool students who can come upwith innovative ideas to build a sustainable future for our cities andcommunities. Open to studentsfrom Class V to IX, entries for thecompetition will be received till February 15. The entries will bejudged by Bhumi alongside a subject expert and the panel will selectone participant as champion, whowill be rewarded with a cash prizeof ₹��50,000 and be given an opportunity to appear on the channel.The top 10 entries will also get tointeract virtually with Bhumi andengage in a conversation aboutpreservation.

Says Bhumi, “Climate change isupon us and its real. Through myinitiative, I try to highlight the seriousness of the crisis and its repercussions. Young Earth Champions

is a great platform to trigger exchange of creative ideas amongkids who have the power to bringabout change.”

For details, log on tosonybbcearth/young

earthchampions

Challenging young ecowarriors

starrer Chakra, is very much anaccidental singer. In the early2000s, AR Rahman heard a CDof hers and gave her anopportunity to sing in Yuva. Shesubsequently teamed up withhim for Sillunu Oru Kaadhal andSivaji, but her biggest claim tofame is undoubtedly ‘Jai Ho’ inSlumdog Millionaire that fetchedher international popularity.

The song, which she cowrotewith AR Rahman, won her aGrammy, and life has not beenthe same since. “If I wear thatcrown and walk around, thatwould be the beginning of myend. I always keep asking, ‘Nowwhat?’ and push myself more. Asa singer, I have learnt and grown,and take every day as it comes.”

Kannum’ from IdhayaKamalam, sung by P Susheelaand composed by KVMahadevan.

“I was very scared because itwas a Susheela amma classic.The minute you think remix, youthink EDM and club music. Butcomposer Girishh has an eclecticmusical sensibility. Heunderstood my strengths as asinger and has combined thatwith the aesthetics of the Tamilclassic,” says Tanvi, adding, “Wekept it soft and gave it an oldschool Latin feel. Even theharmonies were tuned that way.”

Tanvi, whose recent work canbe heard in the Yuvan ShankarRaja composition ‘Scream ofDarkness’ song from the Vishal

Tanvi Shah is known for theinternational fl��avour she bringsto her tracks. Every time a musiccomposer calls her, it is probablyto bring in the ‘world music’ vibeto a number.

When composer GirishhGopalakrishnan called her oneday during the pandemicinduced lockdown, the requestwas something similar, but it hadto do with a Tamil classicnumber. For Carvaan LoungeTamil, a concept by AmazonPrime Music and Saregama,which reimagines hit retroTamil numbers, Tanvi andGirishh have taken on a 1965track, ‘Unnai KaanadhaOld is gold Tanvi Shah and Girishh * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Srinivasa Ramanujam

World of music■ Across

5 A turf event (4,7)

7 Scottish family (4)

8 Island just south of

Corsica (8)

9 Baffle (7)

11 Giddy — silly (5)

13 Monastery (5)

14 As ‘happy’ is to

‘sad’ or ‘long’ to

‘short’ (7)

16 Thread used in

surgery to stop

internal bleeding (8)

17 Fourwheeldrive

general purpose

vehicle (4)

18 Item banged when

seeking entry (4,7)

■ Down

1 Read over quickly

(4)

2 Beauty (7)

3 Lively — slightly

drunk (5)

4 One coming from

Manila? (8)

5 Revolving window

screen (6,5)

6 Dangerous animal,

native to North

America (7,4)

10 Peering

throughfi��ngers

game (8)

12 Cover

completely (7)

15 Tremor (5)

17 Gag (4)

THE GUARDIAN QUICK CROSSWORD-13398

6

The solution will appearon February 11, 2021

Solution No. 13397

To play The Guardian QuickCrossword, The HinduCryptic crossword, Sudoku& other puzzles online, scanthe QR code.

After a hiatus of nearly a yearfollowing the COVID19 pandemic, the scuba divers of Visakhapatnam made a fascinating discovery when theyplunged into the sea off�� Rushikonda Coast, last week.

A team of four scuba diversfrom Livein Adventures whowere exploring dive siteschanced upon a rare rock formation in the shape of anarch about 30 feet below sealevel near Rushikonda. According to Balaram Naidu,founder of Livein Adventures,accessibility makes the areaappealing to scuba divers.“This is the fi��rst time I haveseen such an arch in this partof the coast. There is goodpresence of underwater lifesurrounding the arch,” hesays.

The natural arch is aboutone metre in height and oneandahalf metre in width.The scuba divers say that aperson can easily wadethrough it. The arch alsomakes for an excellent framefor wideangle diver shots.

Winter is said to be the besttime for the good visibility ofthis particular arch. “Now is aperfect time to explore thisarch. This season, the visibility has been particularly excellent,” says Naidu. Here, underwater life consists ofbarracuda, stone fi��sh, Goliathgroupers, sweetlips fi��sh, puff��er fi��sh, parrot fi��sh, morayeels, electric rays, Napoleonfi��sh, star fi��sh, lion fi��sh andfeather stars among otherspecies.

Located at a shallow depth,the site of the arch is easily accessible for even novice scubadivers and nonswimmers. “A15minute breathing practicein shallow waters is enough totake the dive at RushikondaCoast to have a glimpse of thisfascinating rock formation,”says Naidu. According to thescuba divers, the underwaternatural arch is similar to thefamous arch at Mangamaripe

ta beach, which geologists saydates back to the last Ice Age,around 10,000 years ago.

Last month, scientists fromZoological Survey of India,Kolkata, visited the coast forunderwater explorations andstudy of marine life. “Thispart of the coast remains largely unexplored. Researchersare now showing interest,”says Naidu, a former naval offi��cer.

About three years ago, theteam of Livein Adventureshad made a rare discovery ofa centuriesold shipwreck under the sea bed, near Visakhapatnam. The unearthing ofthe sunken vessel had openedup a world of wonders for thescuba diving community inIndia. Says Naidu, “The Visakhapatnam Coast can be oneof the most intriguing divingdestinations with every newdiving site having the potential to throw up surprises.”

Secrets ofthe ocean

A team of scuba divers discovered anatural arch under the sea bed off��

Visakhapatnam Coast

A whole new worldThe arch (seen in thepicture) is one metrehigh and one-and-a-half metres wide

* SPECIAL

AARRANGEMENT

Nivedita Ganguly

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


WORLD

Joe Biden's immigration reform push received a booston Tuesday when the Senateconfi��rmed his pick to headthe Department of Homeland Security, as the U.S.President seeks to roll backDonald Trump’s hardlinepolicies.

Cubanborn AlejandroMayorkas, confi��rmed on amodestly bipartisan vote,becomes the fi��rst Latino andthe fi��rst immigrant to headup DHS.

His approval gives the expansive agency its fi��rst permanent leadership in nearlytwo years, and came aheadof Mr. Biden’s signing ofthree executive ordersaimed at streamlining immigration, including an eff��ortto reunite children separated from their parents at theborder with Mexico.

They are a followup tothe executive orders that Mr.Biden signed on his fi��rst dayin offi��ce as he takes aim at

U.S. immigration policy afterfour years of Mr. Trump’s‘America First’ approach.

‘Eliminating bad policy’“I’m not making new law,I’m eliminating bad policy,”Mr. Biden said as he signedthe orders. The latest measures do not address the status of some 11 million undocumented immigrants livingin legal limbo, which hingeson whether Mr. Biden canpersuade enough congressional Republicans to back aBill off��ering them a path tocitizenship.

The new action by the De

mocratic President is aimedat streamlining the U.S. immigration process, offi��cialssaid, with Mr. Biden to ordera review of all the legal obstacles to immigration andintegration put in place under Mr. Trump. “The reviewwill likely lead to dramaticchanges in policies,” according to a senior governmentoffi��cial, who said the goal is“to restore faith in our legalimmigration system, andpromote integration ofAmericans”.

“President Trump was sofocused on the (Mexico border) wall that he did nothingto address the root cause ofwhy people are coming toour southern border,” the offi��cial said. “It was a limited,wasteful and naive strategy,and it failed.”

“We are going to work toundo the moral and nationalshame of the previous administration that literally, notfi��guratively, ripped childrenfrom the arms of their families...,” Mr. Biden said.

Joe Biden’s HomelandSecurity chief confi��rmed President seeks to roll back Trump’s immigration policies

Agence France-Presse

Washington

Alejandro Mayorkas

Pakistan began its countrywide coronavirus vaccination programme on Wednesday, with the fi��rst jabsadministered simultaneously in all the four provinces, aday after Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the immunisation drive in capitalIslamabad.

As per the schedule, frontline health workers are being vaccinated fi��rst, followed by the elderly citizensand then the rest.

The drive began after halfa million doses of vaccineswere donated by China onMonday.

The nationwide campaign is being held in major

cities of all the provincesand Pakistan occupiedKashmir. Advisor on HealthDr. Faisal Sultan said China’sSinopharm vaccine had proven its eff��ectiveness.

Pakistan begins COVID19vaccination programmeIt is using China’s Sinopharm vaccine


Islamabad

Pakistan PM Imran Khanwitnessing the vaccine beingadministered to a healthworker in Islamabad. * AFP

An Afghan judge was shotdead in an ambush in theeastern city of Jalalabad onWednesday, the policesaid, the third court offi��cialkilled in less than a month.

Judge Hafi��zullah was attacked as he headed towork in a motor trishaw,said Farid Khan, spokesman for the police in Nangarhar province. GulzadaSangar, a doctor at Jalalabad Public Hospital, saidMr. Hafi��zullah had multiplebullet wounds.

The murder of Mr. Hafi��zullah comes after militants shot dead two women judges working for theSupreme Court in Kabul onJanuary 17.

Afghan judgeshot dead inJalalabad


Jalalabad

Over 10,000 detained atNavalny rallies: monitorMOSCOW

More than 10,000 people

were detained at recent

rallies in Russia in support of

Kremlin-critic Alexei Navalny,

with many subjected to

mistreatment in police

custody, monitors said on

Wednesday. Mr. Navalny’s

supporters took to the

streets in cities across the

country on consecutive

weekends last month calling

for his release from detention

and denouncing Kremlin rule.

At nationwide rallies over the

past two weeks, more than

10,000 people were seized

by the police, the OVD-Info

group that monitors oppo-

sition protests reported. AFP

ELSEWHERE

President Hassan Rouhanion Wednesday ruled outchanges to Iran’s nuclear accord with world powers anddismissed calls to broadenthe terms of the deal and include regional countries.

U.S. President Joe Bidenhas voiced support for returning to the accord, fromwhich Donald Trump exited, but has insisted thatTehran fi��rst resume fullcompliance and considerexpanding the deal beyondthe nuclear issue.

Iran’s regional arch rival,Saudi Arabia, has also calledfor a role in any future talkson the agreement.

“No clause of the JCPOAwill change. Know this. Andno one will be added to theJCPOA,” Mr. Rouhani said ata televised Cabinet meeting,using the deal’s offi��cialname, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“This is the agreement. If

they want it, everyone comeinto compliance. If theydon’t, they can go live theirlives,” he said.

Mr. Trump withdrew theU.S. from the JCPOA and imposed crippling sanctionson Iran in 2018, maintaininga policy of “maximum pressure” against the Islamic republic. Iran a year later responded by graduallysuspending its compliancewith most of its key nuclearcommitments in the deal,under which it was promised economic relief for limits on its nuclearprogramme.

Iran’s Rouhani rules outchanges to nuclear deal‘No clause of the JCPOA will change’


tehran

Hassan Rouhani

U.S. President Joe Biden’sadministration on Wednesday extended the NewSTART nuclear treaty withRussia by fi��ve years, saying ithoped to prevent an armsrace despite rising tensionswith Moscow.

One day before the treatywas set to expire, Secretaryof State Antony Blinken saidthe United States was extending New START by themaximum allowed time offi��ve years.

“President Biden pledgedto keep the American people safe from nuclearthreats by restoring U.S. leadership on arms control andnonproliferation,” Mr. Blinken said in a statement.

“The United States iscommitted to eff��ective armscontrol that enhances stability, transparency and predictability while reducing therisks of costly, dangerousarms races.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed off�� on legislation extending the accordon Friday, meaning that thetreaty — signed by thenPresident Barack Obama in2010 — will run until February 5, 2026. The last remaining arms reduction pact between the former Cold Warrivals, New START caps to1,550 the number of nuclearwarheads that can be deployed by Moscow andWashington.

China’s arsenalFormer President DonaldTrump’s administration toreup previous agreementswith Moscow and unsuccessfully sought to expandNew START to cover China.

Mr. Blinken said the U.S.would use the coming fi��veyears to pursue diplomacythat addresses “all” of Russia’s nuclear weapons andto “reduce the dangers fromChina’s modern and growing nuclear arsenal”.

U.S. extends New STARTnuclear treaty with RussiaCommitted to arms control: Blinken


Washington

A BritishIranian academicsaid on Wednesday that hefl��ed Iran across a mountainborder after being sentenced to nine years in jailfor collaborating with a hostile government.

Kameel Ahmady, a socialanthropologist studying female genital mutilation andchild marriage in Iran, toldthe BBC and The Guardiannewspaper that he escapedwhile on bail after being sen

tenced, as he feared hewould not see his young sonagain. “I just simply left. Ipacked my bag with shavingkit, a few books of mine anda laptop and I think pyjamas... and warm clothes,”he said.

After being detained forsuspected links with foreignintelligence services, hespent three months in Tehran’s notorious Evin prison,where he said he was subjected to “socalled whitetorture, a psychological

pressure they put on you”. He was then released on

bail and later sentenced inDecember last year andfi��ned €600,000 for receiving “illegitimate funds” andworking on projects with“subversive institutions”,Iran’s Tasnim news agencyreported.

British media reportedthat he escaped while onbail pending his appeal. Hedescribed the journey as“very cold, very long, verydark and very scary”.

BritishIranian academic sayshe fl��ed Iran while out on bailAgence France-Presse

London

Myanmar’s ousted leaderAung San Suu Kyi was formally charged on Wednesday, two days after she wasdetained in a military coup,as calls for civil disobedienceto oppose the putsch gathered pace.

The Southeast Asian nation was plunged back intodirect military rule when soldiers arrested key civilianleaders in a series of dawnraids on Monday, ending theArmy’s brief fl��irtation withdemocracy.

Ms. Suu Kyi, who has notbeen seen in public since,won a huge landslide withher National League for Democracy (NLD) last November but the military — whosefavoured parties received adrubbing — declared thepolls fraudulent.

On Wednesday, the NLD’spress offi��cer said the 75yearold Ms. Suu Kyi was formallycharged with an off��ence under Myanmar’s import andexport law, with a court signing off�� on remand for twoweeks.

The unusual chargestemmed from a search ofher house following her arrest in which walkietalkieswere discovered, accordingto a leaked police chargingdocument seen by reporters.

A similarly unorthodoxcharge under the country’sdisaster management lawagainst President Win Myintrevolved around him allegedly breaching anticoronavirus measures by meetingvoters on the campaign trail.

With soldiers and armoured cars back on thestreets of major cities, the takeover has not been met byany large street protests. Butsigns of public anger andplans to resist have begun tofl��icker.

The new government hasalready issued a warning telling people not to say or postanything that might “encourage riots or an unstable situation”.

On Wednesday, the NLD

announced the military hadcommitted “unlawful acts”in the coup’s aftermath, raiding their party offi��ces acrossthe country and seizing documents and computers.

International censureThe actions have been metwith a growing chorus of international condemnation.

On Tuesday, the State Department formally designated the takeover as a coup,meaning the U.S. cannot as

sist the Myanmar government. Any impact will bemainly symbolic, as almostall assistance goes to nongovernment entities and Myanmar’s military was alreadyunder U.S. sanctions over itsbrutal campaign against theRohingya minority.

The Group of Seven largest developed economiescondemned the coup onWednesday and said theelection result must berespected.

Suu Kyi charged, remanded for 2 weeks Ousted leader charged with ‘violation’ of importexport law; Army asks people to stay away from protests


Yangon

Show of support: People from Myanmar staging a protest inTokyo on Wednesday. * REUTERS

Calls for a civil disobediencecampaign in Myanmar gathered pace on Wednesday asthe United States formallydeclared the military’s takeover a coup and vowed further penalties for the Generalsbehind the putsch.

Doctors and medical staff��at multiple hospitals acrossthe country announced thatthey were donning red ribbons and walking away fromall nonemergency work toprotest against the coup.

“Our main goal is to accept only the government weelected,” Aung San Min,head of a 100bed hospital inGangaw district, said.

Some medical teams posted pictures on social mediawearing red ribbons — thecolours of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy — and raising athreefi��nger salute, a protestgesture used by democracyactivists in Thailand.

“My protest starts todayby not going to the hospital...I have no desire to work un

der the military dictatorship,” said Nor Nor WintWah, a doctor in Mandalay.

Activists were announcingtheir campaigns on a Facebook group called “Civil Disobedience Movement”which by Wednesday afternoon had more than1,50,000 followers within 24hours of its launch.

The clatter of pots andpans — and the honking ofcar horns — also rang outacross Yangon on Tuesdayevening after calls for protestwent out on social media.

Signs of public anger and plans to resist have begun to fl��icker


Yangon

Medics lead sprouting civil disobedience calls

Myanmar’s new leader saidthe military governmentplans to investigate allegedfraud in last year’s electionsand will also prioritise theCOVID19 outbreak and theeconomy, a state newspaperreported on Wednesday.

Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing announced the moves onTuesday at the fi��rst meetingof his new government in thecapital, the staterun Global

New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.

The military has said thatone of the reasons for ousting the elected governmentof Aung San Suu Kyi was because it failed to properly investigate its allegations of alleged widespread electoralirregularities. The UnionElection Commission declared four days before themilitary takeover that therewere no signifi��cant problemswith the vote.

Military junta to probe pollAssociated Press

Yangon

Public resistance: Medical workers protesting against thecoup at Yangon General Hospital on Wednesday. * REUTERS

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

CMYK

M ND-NDE

BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


NIFTY 50

PRICE CHANGE

Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 560.10. . . . . . . . . 9.30

Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2453.65. . . . . . -10.00

Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 733.80. . . . . . . 19.60

Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 4236.35. . . . . . . 34.90

Bajaj Finserv. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 9536.05. . . . . . . 59.75

Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 5245.10. . . . . . . 71.90

Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 608.85. . . . . . . . . 9.50

BPCL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 414.90. . . . . . . . . 6.90

Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3516.50. . . . . . . 15.25

Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 849.25. . . . . . . 27.65

Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 137.25. . . . . . . . . 6.00

Divis Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3680.25. . . . . 131.65

Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . .. . . . 4649.55. . . . . 167.05

Eicher Motors. . . . . . . . .. . . . 2916.90. . . . . . . 12.05

GAIL (India). . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 130.45. . . . . . . . . 0.75

Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1190.85. . . . . . . . . 0.85

HCL Tech. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 959.90. . . . . . . . . 5.25

HDFC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2703.55. . . . . . . 44.55

HDFC Bank. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1574.80. . . . . . . 14.25

HDFC Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 689.20. . . . . . . . . 8.15

Hero MotoCorp . . . . . .. . . . 3380.80. . . . . . . 86.95

Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 257.25. . . . . . . . . 1.90

Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . .. . . . 2232.85. . . . . . . . . 2.40

ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 622.35. . . . . . . . . 5.00

IndusInd Bank . . . . . . . .. . . . 1048.55. . . . . . . 72.90

Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1284.65. . . . . . . 13.40

Indian OilCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 101.85. . . . . . . . . 3.05

ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 216.75. . . . . . . . -1.45

JSW Steel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 392.90. . . . . . . . . 3.90

Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1852.20. . . . . . . . -9.10

L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1528.55. . . . . . . . . 8.35

M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 833.20. . . . . . . 16.35

Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . .. . . . 7589.20. . . . . . -65.50

Nestle India Ltd. . . . .. 17166.40. . . . . . -23.90

NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 96.95. . . . . . . . . 2.80

ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . 93.35. . . . . . . . . 0.50

PowerGrid Corp . . . . .. . . . . . 206.50. . . . . . . 12.30

Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1930.65. . . . . . . . . 4.85

SBI Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 866.15. . . . . . . . . 0.80

State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 335.95. . . . . . . . . 2.85

Shree Cement . . . . . . . .. 25994.40. . . -438.15

Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 629.20. . . . . . . 19.75

Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 331.00. . . . . . . . . 9.00

Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 653.15. . . . . . . 11.50

TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 3200.05. . . . . . . . -3.40

Tech Mahindra . . . . . . .. . . . . . 981.45. . . . . . . 24.25

Titan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 1525.15. . . . . . . 39.70

UltraTech Cement. .. . . . 6074.70. . . . . . -48.85

UPL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 558.25. . . . . . . . -8.05

Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 433.50. . . . . . . . . 5.15

EXCHANGE RATES

Indicative direct rates in rupees a unitexcept yen at 4 p.m. on February 03

CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 72.76. . . . . . . 73.08

Euro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 87.47. . . . . . . 87.87

British Pound. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 99.23. . . . . . . 99.68

Japanese Yen (100) . .. . 69.25. . . . . . . 69.57

Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 11.26. . . . . . . 11.31

Swiss Franc . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . 80.94. . . . . . . 81.31

Singapore Dollar . . . . . . .. . 54.57. . . . . . . 54.82

Canadian Dollar. . . . . . . . .. . 56.89. . . . . . . 57.15

Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . .. . 17.95. . . . . . . 18.05

Source:Indian Bank

market watch

03-02-2021 % CHANGE

Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddd 50,256 ddddddddddddddd0.92

US Dollardddddddddddddddddddd 72.95 ddddddddddddddd0.00

Gold ddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 47,387 ddddddddddddd-0.66

Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddd 58.50 ddddddddddddddd1.19

Employees making contributions of more than ₹��2.5 lakha year into their ProvidentFund (PF) accounts, willhave to include the intereston the investments exceeding ₹��2.5 lakh in their annualincome starting 202122 andfi��le tax returns accordingly,Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chief P.C. Modytold The Hindu.

The Union Budget hasproposed tax on interest income on PF contributionsexceeding ₹��2.5 lakh a year.Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said on Mondaythat some people were investing as much as ₹��1 croreeach month into PF and sug

gested it was unfair that theyget tax concessions.

“The interest portion iscalculable on a yeartoyearbasis... so that is taxable onyour calculations in that particular year,” Mr. Mody said.

“If I am contributing into theGPF [General ProvidentFund for government employees], I know how muchinterest I have received thatyear. That should be broughtto tax in that very year. That

is very simple, it’s just likebank interest,” he said.

“So, at the time of fi��lingtax returns, you have to factor in the interest which youare receiving on that. It is forboth the government employee and private sectoremployees,” he added.

Analysts said the changethrows up uncertainties.

“It will result in implementation diffi��culties giventhe design of Employees’PF,” said Amit Gopal, principal, Mercer Consulting. “PFbeing an interestbearingproduct with annual compounding, tracking interestacross years that is attributable to only employee contributions will be a challenge,”Mr. Gopal added.

‘Interest on PF contributions ofover ₹��2.5 lakh must in IT fi��ling’CBDT’s Mody says interest calculable on annual basis, should be taxed that year

Vikas Dhoot

NEW DELHI

Higher math: Tracking interest on only employee contributionacross years will be a challenge, says an analyst. * NAGARA GOPAL

The government’s focus inBudget 2021-22 is to maketax compliance easy andsimple so as to boost volun-tary compliance even whilecracking down on tax evad-ers, said Central Board ofDirect Taxes ChairpersonP.C. Mody. Excerpts:

You have assumed a

signifi��cantly higher tax

buoyancy from corporate

income tax. Could you give

us a sense of the target

setting exercise?

■ The current year’s projections are very realistic, so arethe projections for next year.But the pandemic made thisan exceptional year, so a revision was required and wasmade. Based on that, nextyear’s projection has beenmade. One has also to factorin the ease of compliancethat has been brought about,the certainty of the tax culture. You are getting bettertax administration and processes, with information youhave entered in your ownportal to enable you to fi��leyour returns properly andconveniently.

All of this together shouldcreate an environment thatthe tax liability gets discharged by each individual,corporate and entity, in acorrect and proper manner.

The synergy in exchangeof information between different arms (of the government) is part of this exercise.

On the one hand, you aretrying to create an atmosphere for voluntary compliance, and on the other,you are not sparing the persons trying to game the system. Together, this shouldbring in the buoyancy.

Could the decision to limit

reopening of tax assessments

to 3 years from 6 pose a

challenge to the department?

■ No. It has to be seen fromtwo perspectives. First, trying to give some certainty tothe taxpayer so he shouldnot have the lurking fear ofwhen his tax matters may getresolved. Yes, it does bring achallenge of completingthings at our end much earlier, but with the help oftechnology, that is possible.

I have kept the option thatif the evasion is of ₹��50 lakhand above, I can review it upto 10 years, but again with afi��lter — with the approval ofthe highest person in thefi��eld and proper applicationof mind. Whenever I havethe occasion to revisit a taxpayer’s case, I give him thereasons upfront, take hisreply and in the event of anonsatisfactory reply, onlythen will I go for this. It’sclearly defi��ned.

How will the dispute

resolution committees for

small taxpayers work? How

much do such disputes

account for in the overall

pending disputes?

■ It will be a dispersed setup, as you can’t expect taxpayers to be moving to andfro. But it would be again afaceless mechanism. Faceless is the new normal. Outof my current pendency, asubstantial portion of the taxdisputes are in this category.

Really speaking, theydidn’t have an alternate mechanism except for the appellate process. The wholeidea is to make the processof compliance for the taxpayer as easy and simple aspossible so as to promote voluntary compliance.

How many cases have been

resolved through the larger

tax dispute resolution

scheme, Vivad Se Vishwas?

■ It’s been a great success. Ihave so far received almost1.18 lakh forms, resolving1.32 lakh disputes with aquantum of nearly ₹��95,000crore. This entire month isstill left. [Those] who havenot yet made a decision, canstill go for this. This is almostonefourth of the total 5 lakhsuch cases.

Citizens aged 75 years or

older don’t have to fi��le tax

returns in some cases. How

will this work?

■ A senior citizen normallyhas pension income, and outof that if he has been able tosave something, he will put itin a fi��nancial instrument likea fi��xed deposit. Both attractTDS. So once TDS has beendone, there is no need for apaper return. The caveat is,it has to be from the samebank. If there are deposits inmultiple banks, then you willhave to do the calculationbecause banks don’t havethat infrastructure.

INTERVIEW | P.C. MODY

‘Small tax disputes accountfor substantial pendency’ ₹��95,000cr. disputes resolved in larger scheme: CBDT head

Vikas Dhoot

The Union Budget’s focus onhigher capital expenditure,fi��nancial sector reforms andasset sales would help tostimulate growth and supplybroadbased credit support,but India’s weak fi��scal position would remain a key credit challenge compared withits rating peers, Moody’s Investors Service said.

The budget projects a narrowing of the central government’s fi��scal defi��cit to 6.8%of GDP in fi��scal 2022 from anestimated 9.5% in fi��scal 2021.

“We previously expecteda smaller central govern

ment defi��cit target of about5.5% of GDP for fi��scal 2022down from around 7.5% ofGDP in fi��scal 2021,” Moody’ssaid on Wednesday.

“However, comparedwith previous budgets, thegap between our forecastsand the government’s largely refl��ects increased transparency on subsidy spending

and more credible overall assumptions,” it added.

The ratings agency saidthe widening of the defi��cit infi��scal 2021 was driven almostentirely by expenditure tosupport Indian householdsand the economy from thepandemic shock.

“Given India’s very highdebt burden...this gradualpace of consolidation willprevent any material strengthening in the government’sfi��scal position over the medium term, unless nominalGDP growth were to pick upsustainably to historicallyvery high rates,” the creditratings agency added.

‘India’s weak fi��scal position toremain a key credit challenge’ Moody’s sees increased transparency on subsidy spending


MUMBAI

The Delhi High Court willon Thursday hear an appeal fi��led by Future RetailLtd. (FRL) challenging anorder of a single judge ofthe court ordering it tomaintain status quo withregard to its assets’ saledeal with Reliance Retail.FRL’s petition is listed before a bench headed byChief Justice D.N. Patel.

The judge had also saidhe was of the prima facieview that an order of theemergency arbitrator restraining FRL from transferring its retail assets was enforceable in India. Amazonhad sought arbitration toblock the FutureRIL deal.

Delhi HC tohear Future’sappeal today

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

IN BRIEF

Ramco Cements Q3 netprofi��t jumps to ₹��201 cr. CHENNAI

The Ramco Cements Ltd.’s

third quarter standalone net

profi��t more than doubled to

₹��201 crore due to cost

control measures and

premiumisation of products.

Revenue from operations

grew by 4% to ₹��1,324 crore,

the company said in a fi��ling.

Cement sales dipped by 8%

to 2.61 MT due to extended

monsoon in southern

markets, and registered good

growth in eastern markets.

GEPC, BLP Industry.AI inpact to help wind farmsCHENNAI

GE Power Conversion (GEPC)

has entered into a pact with

BLP Industry.AI to provide

next generation artifi��cial

intelligence technology and

asset performance

management solutions to

help wind farm operators.

GEPC’s engineering design

centre in Chennai will

leverage its asset

performance management

solutions for sectorspecifi��c

applications, the fi��rm said.

Private sector lender CityUnion Bank Ltd.’s (CUB)standalone net profi��t forthe third quarter endedDecember declined 11% to₹��170 crore from ₹��192 crore.

Net interest income roseby 14% to ₹��489 crore andinterest income contractedto ₹��1,048 crore from ₹��1,061crore.

Net interest margin increased to 4.16% from3.96%, the bank said in aregulatory fi��ling.

During the quarter, thelender made a total provision of ₹��289 crore, ofwhich ₹��125 crore was towards COVID19, ₹��70 crorefor income tax and ₹��50crore towards standardsassets among others.

The private sector lender also restructured 60accounts amounting to₹��321 crore.

CUB Q3 netprofi��t slips 11%on provisions


Chennai

After six straight quarters oflosses, telecom operatorBharti Airtel on Wednesdayposted a consolidated netprofi��t of ₹��854 crore for theOctoberDecember 2020quarter, mainly due to aonetime gain along withhigher mobile data traffi��c.

The company, which hadregistered a loss of ₹��1,035.3crore in the yearearlier period, posted its highest everconsolidated quarterly revenues of ₹��26,518 crore, an increase of 24.2% from₹��21,344 crore in the samequarter of 201920.

“Despite the unprecedented volatility that wehave confronted throughthe year, we deliveredanother strong performance this quarter,” GopalVittal, MD and CEO, India &South Asia, said.

The consolidated net lossbefore exceptional items forthe quarter stands at ₹��298crore. The consolidated netincome after exceptionalitems for the quarter standsat ₹��854 crore, the companysaid.

Mr. Vittal added that thehighlight of the quarter wasthe addition of more than 13million 4G customers, following which revenue grewby about 25%.

Bharti returns to blackwith ₹��854 cr. Q3 net profi��t ‘Telco added 13 million 4G subscribers’


NEW DELHI

Airbus, Flytech sign MoUto train drone pilots BENGALURU

Airbus has signed an MoU

with Flytech Aviation

Academy, an aviation training

fi��rm, to explore collaboration

opportunities in remotely

piloted aircraft system

training. Airbus has

experience in aviation

training, course ware

development, safety and

quality standards, while

Flytech is into aviation

training services, including

piloting of UAVs.

<>The whole idea

is to make the

process of compliance

easy and simple

SEBI bans Biyani frommarket for one yearNEW DELHI

SEBI on Wednesday barred

Kishore Biyani and certain

other promoters of Future

Retail Ltd. from the

securities market for one

year for indulging in insider

trading in the shares of the

company. Apart from Mr.

Biyani, who was the CMD and

promoter of Future Retail

Ltd. (FRL), others facing the

ban are Future Corporate

Resources Pvt. Ltd., Anil

Biyani and FCRL Employee

Welfare Trust. PTI

Amazon.com Inc on Tuesday said founder Jeff�� Bezoswould step down as CEO andbecome executive chairman, as the company reported its third consecutive record profi��t and quarterlysales above $100 billion forthe fi��rst time.

The transition, slated forthe third quarter, will makecurrent cloud computingchief Andy Jassy Amazon’snext chief executive offi��cer.

Holiday shoppingNet sales rose to $125.56 billion as consumers turned tothe world’s largest online retailer for holiday shopping,beating analyst estimates of$119.7 billion, according toIBES data from Refi��nitiv.

Mr. Bezos, who startedthe company 27 years ago as

an Internet bookseller, saidin a note to employees posted on Amazon’s website, “AsExec Chair I will stay engaged in important Amazoninitiatives but also have thetime and energy I need to focus on the Day 1 Fund, theBezos Earth Fund, Blue Ori

gin, The Washington Post,and my other passions.”

He added, “I’ve never hadmore energy, and this isn’tabout retiring.”

Since the start of the U.S.COVID19 outbreak, consumers have increasinglyturned to Amazon for delivery of home staples andmedical supplies.

Brickandmortar shopsclosed their doors; Amazon,the world’s largest online retailer, instead recruited anadditional 4,00,000 workers and posted consecutiverecord profi��ts.

Amazon CFO Brian Olsavsky told reporters on a conference call that costs associated with the pandemic inthe fi��rst quarter were expected to total $2 billion,down from $4 billion in thefourth quarter.

Andy Jassy to take over, Bezos set to be executive chairman

Reuters

Jeff�� Bezos

Amazon’s Bezos to step down asCEO, sales top $100 bn fi��rst time

CMYK

M ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


SPORT

SUDOKU

Solution to puzzle 13161 Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Bhagavad Gita brings the realisation of the highesttruth within the grasp of each and every individual who iskeen to seek it. At every stage of His teaching, Krishna narrows the gap between philosophy and practicality to enableevery seeker participate in this quest, said Srimati Sunandain a discourse. The power of yoga is the fundamental factorin the sphere of spiritual advancement and it pertains to inner life. Krishna shows how this power can be accessed andharnessed with continuous eff��ort and onepointed determination. All depends on how one learns to guard oneself fromthe pulls of the body mind intellect to remain with thethoughts of the Truth of Brahman in one’s inner self. This isthe state of realisation. It is not attained by mere study andmastery of the Vedas.

A course in the Vedas and the Upanishads may make onea Vedic scholar. He may be adept to discuss and debate onthe theory of the self or Brahman with much felicity andeven hold audiences spell bound. But whether he has realised the truth as an inner experience is the question and healone can answer it. It is gauged only by each one’s honestself testimony.

Rabindranath Tagore’s observation that the world is fullof sound scholars but it is rare to fi��nd sound men draws attention to the diff��erence between knowledge acquisitionand knowledge assimilation. So, when realised souls such asthe seers in the Upanishads speak of their awareness of theimperishable Brahman, and state with conviction “I knowthe Supreme Brahman of eff��ulgence beyond the darkness,”the words ring with the very vision and experience of theEternal Truth. The imperishable quality of Brahman is to berealised as a truth and not as an utterance.

FAITH

Power of yoga + 13162(set by Vulcan)

Are you the digitally-savvy type?

Type your answers into online grids!

@ https://qrgo.page.link/jjpTn

■ ACROSS

1 Clairvoyant old prophet eventually perceiving something different

(12)

10 One hears/heard rumours in part (7)

11 A condition mostly intrinsic — extremely unstable (7)

12 Protein in excess ends in excretion (6)

13 ID American men are using (8)

15 On second thoughts, the horse isn’t tailless (4,5)

16 Right caption (5)

17 Write about English coins (5)

19 City reelects corrupt one in (9)

22 Left with pain, weaken (8)

24 Time to wear a fatigue dress (6)

26 It joints, it cuts and it’s soft on the inside (7)

27 It’s in one friend’s copy (7)

28 Infl��uence from others to leak reports initially to the media — not

quite certain (4,8)

■ DOWN

2 Change direction by error — endlessly travelling further at regular

intervals (7)

3 Match later turned around in the middle (9)

4 Lame activity (4)

5 A bit insane at work while not present (2,8)

6 Soccer team going through main terminal (5)

7 Obtain essence (7)

8 Power to stop, say (6)

9 School’s toppers in every mechanical engineering program (6)

14 Pear, plums and yogurt basically mixed with sweet liquid (5,5)

16 Drama created by the racist (9)

17 European style (6)

18 New working position providing security (34)

20 One will not be seen here (4,3)

21 Transfer energy inside a conveyance (6)

23 Relative is hesitant to leave Arkansas (5)

25 Resort city in scenic environment (4)

SCAN TO PLAY

England batting consultantJonathan Trott said on Wednesday that big fi��rstinningstotals were vital if touringsides wanted to succeed inIndia, adding that deep batting lineups helped in thisregard.

Lucky to have Stokes“It is always a luxury if youcan [have a long battinglineup],” Trott said. “Butyou have got to make sureyou have the right optionswith the ball as well. You aretrying to fi��nd that balanceall the time. Someone likeBen Stokes adds that balance and we are very luckyto have him.

“It is key for all the lowerorder batters to make surethey have a good gameplanand chip in and hold up anend. Working with thoseguys is always enjoyable forme as a batting coach. It isimportant to make surethey are ready to performwhen called upon,” headded.

On the lessons learnt

from England’s previousTest series in India in 2016,which the touring side lost40, Trott said, “There weresome fl��at wickets. So thefi��rstinnings runs are veryimportant. You have to tryand be a little bit ahead ofthe game at the start of thesecond innings.

“Playing catchup againstIndia, who are so good intheir home conditions, is always tough. You have tomake sure you start thegame well, whether it iswith bat or ball. And youhave got to be clinical withall the chances you get onthe fi��eld,” added the formerEngland batsman.

Pope added to squadMeanwhile, the 23yearoldOllie Pope, who has recovered fully from a shoulderinjury that kept him out ofthe Sri Lanka series, hasbeen added to the Englandsquad. Pope has been training with the English teamfor the last two days at theM.A. Chidambaram Stadium. His fi��tness was also assessed then.

Firstinnings runs veryimportant, says TrottEngland batting consultant feels

it’s tough playing catchup in IndiaS. Dipak Ragav

Chennai

Infl��uencer: Given the form he is in, Root will look to driveEngland forward in the Test series against India. * ECB

Big things come in smallpackages. Ajinkya Rahane israther diminutive but packsa hefty cricketing punch.

Whether slicing open anattack with rapierlikestrokes — cutting, pulling, ordrilling the ball through thegaps with a surgeon’s precision — or leading the Indianteam with tactical nous andsteely resilience, Rahanedoes it all and more.

After heroically captaining India in the last threeTests Down Under for a remarkable 21 Test series triumph following the disastrous 36 all out in the fi��rstTest, Rahane is settling in hisrole as the vicecaptain. “Virat is the captain. My job asvicecaptain is to visualisethe fl��ow of the game and off��er suggestions to Virat whenever he asks me,” he saidmodestly during an interactive chat with the media onWednesday.

Not complacentThe fi��rst Test against England looms on Friday atChepauk and Rahane saidthe Indian team was notcomplacent after the high ofAustralia. “Australia wasawesome and I rememberthe celebrations that wentinto the night at Brisbane.But we have to live in thepresent and England is a very good side. We have to playreally well to beat them,” hesaid.

The 32yearold Rahanehas 4,471 runs in 69 Tests at42.58 and most of his contributions have come when histeam needed him to score.

Always fl��exible for theteam’s cause, Rahane is making the adjustments neededto bat No. 5 again, with Kohli

returning to the side. “Itshould not be diffi��cult, it is amental switch,” he said.

In a teamgame you haveto play diff��erent roles and atdiff��erent slots and Rahane issomeone who believes in togetherness. “It is not aboutindividuals. You have to playtogether as a team.”

He said the Indian playerscould stay for long periods inthe bubble because “we en

joy each other’s company.”More so on a pitch that

off��ers turn. Asked about thesurface for the fi��rst Test, Rahane replied, “There will bespin. We will play to ourstrengths.”

England won the recentseries against Sri Lanka 20but its batsmen struggledagainst the leftarm spin ofLasith Embuldenia, whopicked up 15 wickets in the

two Tests.Under the circumstances,

would India play leftarmspinning allrounder AxarPatel as a likeforlike replacement for Ravindra Jadeja in the fi��rst Test?

The vicecaptain kept hiscards close to his chest, notrevealing the team composition. The indications are thatWashington Sundar will playhere in a threepronged spin

attack after his matchwinning allround display in thepulsating decider at the Gabba.

Rahane revealed that themercurial Hardik Pandyawas batting and bowling inthe nets.

Playing as much with hishead as his willow, Rahane isup for the English challenge.He’s a big guy in a smallpackage.

‘We have to play really well to beat England’My job is to visualise the fl��ow of the game and off��er suggestions to Virat whenever he asks me, says Rahane

S. Dinakar

Chennai

Familiar position: With Kohli returning to the side, Rahane willbat at the No. 5 slot in the England series. * GETTY IMAGES

ENGLAND IN INDIA

Pakistan vs South Africa: Second Test, Sony Ten 2 (SD & HD),10.30 a.m.ATP Cup: Eurosport (SD & HD), 4 a.m.PGA Tour: Eurosport (SD & HD), 1.30 a.m. (Friday)Premier League: SS Select 1 (SD & HD), 1.30 a.m. (Friday)ISL: Star Sports 2 & 3 (SD & HD), 7.30 p.m.

TV PICKS

England opener ZakCrawley is a doubtfulstarter for the fi��rst Testbeginning here on Friday.

A media release fromthe England camp onWednesday said, “ZakCrawley did not traintoday during England’spractice session inChennai. He slippedoutside the dressing roomyesterday [Tuesday] andhas injured his rightwrist.

“We are awaiting theresults of the scans andwill know more onThursday ahead of ourfi��nal practice,” the releaseadded. Crawley played inboth Tests in Sri Lanka,partnering Dom Sibley atthe top of the order.

Crawleyinjures right wrist

S. Dinakar

CHENNAI

Sri Lanka’s national coachMickey Arthur and toporder batsman Lahiru Thirimanne have tested positivefor the coronavirus, thecountry’s cricket boardsaid Wednesday, castingdoubt over the upcomingWest Indies tour.

“Considering the current situation, Sri LankaCricket is exploring thepossibility of reschedulingthe tour of West Indies,which was scheduled tocommence on Feb. 20,” thegoverning body said in astatement, after the 36member squad was testedahead of its planned departure in two weeks.

It is the fi��rst time thatmembers of the nationalteam have tested positivefor COVID19.

Thirimanneand Arthurtest positive


COLOMBO

Opener Shadman Islamstruck a patient halfcenturyand leftarm spinner JomelWarrican claimed threewickets for 48 as Bangladeshand the West Indies sharedthe honours on the openingday of the fi��rst Test onWednesday.

The hosts ended the dayon 242 for fi��ve, with Shadman leading the way with 59off�� 154 balls — and severalothers chipping in with useful knocks. Mushfi��qur Rahim (38), Mominul Haque(26) and Najmul Hossain (25)all got modest starts afterBangladesh opted to batfi��rst, but could not marchon.

The visiting bowlers managed to strike whenever apartnership started to fl��our

ish, keeping Bangladesh incheck. Kemar Roach madethe breakthrough when hebowled opener Tamim Iqbal. Warrican claimed thefi��rst of his three wickets bysetting a trap for Bangladeshskipper Mominul Haque,

who obliged by lofting acatch to John Campbell atmidwicket. It ended Mominul’s promising 53run thirdwicket stand with Shadman,who followed his captainshortly after, falling to thesame bowler.

Shadman and Warrican shineOpener scores a halfcentury, leftarm spinner scalps three

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

CHATTOGRAM

WI IN BANGLADESH

Shadman. * AFP

Bangladesh — 1st innings:Shadman Islam lbw b Warrican59, Tamim Iqbal b Roach 9,Nazmul Hossain run out 25,Mominul Haque c Campbell bWarrican 26, Mushfi��qur Rahim cCornwall b Warrican 38, ShakibAl Hasan (batting) 39, LitonDas (batting) 34; Extras (b2,lb2, nb3, w5): 12; Total (forfi��ve wkts. in 90 overs): 242. Fall of wickets: 123, 266, 3119, 4134, 5193. West Indies bowling: Roach165441, Gabriel 173510,Cornwall 221560, Mayers 72160, Warrican 245583,Brathwaite 40130. Toss: Bangladesh.

SCOREBOARD

Former England skipper Michael Vaughan, on Wednesday, questioned Australia’sdecision to postpone its tourof South Africa and expressed doubts if it wouldhave done the same with apowerful cricket nation likeIndia.

Cricket Australia announced its decision topostpone the trip to SouthAfrica, citing “unacceptablehealth and safety risk” inthat country because of afresh COVID19 outbreak.

Vaughan said it was not agood precedent set byAustralia.

“The Aussies pulling outof the tour of SA is a hugeworry for the game... Wouldthey have pulled out of atour to India is the question??!!,” Vaughan wrote on hisTwitter handle.

The former captain saidthe three big cricketing nations — India, England andAustralia — should insteadhelp the cricket boards,which are feeling the heat ofthe pandemic.

“It’s so important in thesetimes that the big 3 do everything they can to help outthose without the fi��nancialclout,” his tweet read.

Vaughan slams Australiafor pulling out of SA tourPress Trust of India

New Delhi

Vaughan. * FILE PHOTO

IOC releases a ‘Playbook’TOKYO

Olympic officials on

Wednesday unveiled the first

of many COVID19 rules for

the Tokyo Games this summer,

banning singing and chanting

during events and mandating

participants to wear masks at

“all times” except when

eating, sleeping or outdoors.

SHORT TAKES

CA to deal case by casefor IPLbound playersMELBOURNE

Cricket Australia, on

Wednesday, said it will grant

No Objection Certificates to its

IPLbound players on a “case

bycase” basis. “As and when

applications are made, we will

consider each of those case

bycase, on their merits,” said

CA interim CEO Nick Hockley.

The announcement comes a

day after CA postponed the

tour of South Africa due to a

fresh COVID19 outbreak in

that country.

Pandemic nixes Asian mixed team badminton eventNEW DELHI

Badminton Asia Mixed Team Championship, scheduled to be held

in Wuhan in China next week, was on Wednesday cancelled due to

travel restrictions and strict quarantine protocols imposed by

many countries in the wake of the COVID19 pandemic. PTI

CMYK

M ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SPORT

The tennis world is buzzingwith activity, with the fansexcited about the AustralianOpen starting next Monday.

However, Olympian Vishnu Vardhan is having ‘an extended off��season’, albeittraining very hard on thecourt and in the gym, as hehas been unable to fi��nd suitable events to get back intothe circuit.

“I was planning to compete in a Challenger in SouthAfrica, but the main personin Mumbai fell ill and shutthe consulate,” said Vishnu,from his home inHyderabad.

Of course, Vishnu is excited about the tournaments to

be held at home, which willserve as good preparationbefore he steps out for bigger events. “I haven’t playeda match for nearly a year,”said Vishnu, stressing theneed to get match sharp.

Till he gets back on the circuit, Vishnu is looking forward to watching the Indianplayers and the stars in Mel

bourne on television. Vishnu has high hopes on

Sumit Nagal, with whom hehad a tough ‘physical fi��ght’on the tennis court whenthey last played against eachother a few years ago.

“Sumit has done extraordinary well at the US Open.At the French Open, he had atricky opponent. He can dowell in Melbourne, as thehigh bounce would suit hisforehand. The heat will bean advantage, as Sumit oftenreduces a tennis match intoa physical battle,” saidVishnu.

Equally delighted abouthis erstwhile partner DivijSharan consolidating his position in the Grand Slamswith regular appearances,Vishnu said that Divij hadreally worked very hard overthe years to strengthen his

game, and compete verywell irrespective of the manypartners.

“That is one thing I wantto learn from Divij. I playwith one or two partners.

“He has focused on hisgame and done well despitenot having a regular partner.He can do so much betterwith a good partner,” saidVishnu.

Even though he has greatrespect for Rafael Nadal andNovak Djokovic, Vishnupicked Dominic Thiem as“hard to beat”. He was quickto pick Serena Williamsamong women, but equallyquick to say that the women’s event had become very unpredictable with so many good players.

(Watch the AustralianOpen live on Sony Ten 2, Ten3 and Sony Six from Feb. 8).

Vishnu looking to end extended off��seasonFeels that Sumit can do well in Melbourne as the high bounce will suit him

TENNIS

Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI

Vishnu Vardhan.

Italy and Russia ensured aplace in the semifi��nals of theATP Cup with identical 21wins over France and Japanrespectively on Wednesday.

In Group C, Fabio Fogninibounced back to battle pastBenoit Paire 61, 76(2) andgive Italy a 10 lead. MatteoBerrettiniclinched the tiewith a comfortable 64, 62victory over Gael Monfi��ls.

In the RussiaJapanmatch, World No. 8 AndreyRublev crushed YoshihitoNishioka 61, 63 beforefourthranked Daniil Medvedev cruised past Kei Nishikori 62, 64.

Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas opened theirseasons with fi��ghting wins.The results:

Group A: Germany bt Canada21 [JanLennard Struff�� bt Milos

Raonic 76(4), 76(2); Alexander Zverev bt Denis Shapovalov67(5), 63, 76(4).

Struff�� & Kevin Krawietz lostto Peter Polansky & StevenDiez 67(4), 76(6), 310].

Group B: Australia bt Greece21 [John Millman bt MichailPervolarakis 62, 63; Alex de

Minaur lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas 36, 57; John Peers & LukeSaville bt Pervolarakis & Tsitsipas 63, 46, 105].

Group C: Italy bt France 21 [Fabio Fognini bt Benoit Paire 61,76(2); Matteo Berrettini btGael Monfi��ls 64, 62; SimoneBolelli & Andrea Vavassori lost

to Nicolas Mahut & EdouardRogerVasselin 36, 46].

Group D: Russia bt Japan 21[Andrey Rublev bt YoshihitoNishioka 61, 63; Daniil Medvedev bt Kei Nishikori 62, 64.

Evgeny Donskoy & Askan Karatsev lost to Nishioka & BenMcLachlan 64, 36, 1012].

Italy, Russia seal semifi��nal spotsAlexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas open their season with fi��ghting wins

ATP CUP


MELBOURNE

Pulling through: Germany’s Zverev had to dig deep to overcome Canada’s Shapovalov. * AP

Fred VanVleet set a club record with 54 points, including a careerbest 11 3pointers in 14 attempts, asthe visiting Toronto Raptors defeated the OrlandoMagic 123108 on Tuesday.

VanVleet’s 54 pointswere the most ever by anundrafted NBA player, surpassing the 53 scored byMoses Malone of the Houston Rockets against thethenSan Diego Clippers in1982.The results:

Toronto 123 bt Orlando108; Brooklyn 124 bt LA Clippers 120; Indiana 134 btMemphis 116.

Portland 132 bt Washington 121; Utah 117 bt Detroit105; Boston 111 bt GoldenState 107.

VanVleet does

it for RaptorsReuters

ORLANDO

Yubrani stops Anjali SONIPAT: Top seed YubraniBanerjee stopped AnjaliRathi 64, 63 in thequarterfi��nals of the₹��1,00,000 AITA women’sranking tennis tournamentat the Little Angels SchoolSports Complex onWednesday.The results (quarterfi��nals):

Yubrani Banerjee bt Anjali

Rathi 64, 63; Niyati Kukreti

bt Disha Sehrawat 62, 64;

Renne Singla bt Riddhi

Kakarlamudi 63, 63; Kalluri

Reddy bt Maithili Mothe 61,

62.

Tejas enters semifi��nalsJHAJJAR: Qualifi��er TejasAhuja beat fellow qualifi��er

Jai Rana 63, 57, 63 in theboys’ quarterfi��nals of theAITA Super series under16tennis tournament at theJoygaon Academy here onWednesday.Other results

(quarterfi��nals): Boys: Daksh

Prasad bt Bhavya Singhmar

62, 62; Rushil Khosla bt

Vansh Nandal 63, 76(5);

Manish Yadav bt Mayank

sharma 63, 63.

Girls: Hannah Nagpal bt

Suhani Gaur 75, 63; Samiksha

Dabas bt Aishwarya Jadhav

61, 63; Sahira Singh bt

Ikaraju Kanumuri 64, 46,

63; Thaniya Sarai

Gogulamanda bt Anannya

Bhatia 61, 16, 64.

CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

\ REGIONAL ROUND-UP \

Players wanting to staredown or glare at a line judgeat the Australian Open after aclose or contentious call willhave diffi��culty doing so thisyear, as there won’t be any.

In a Grand Slam fi��rst,there will be no oncourt linejudges on any of thetournament courts in aneff��ort to reduce the numberof staff�� onsite during thepandemic. Only players,chair umpires and ball kidswill be on the court.

Tennis Australiaannounced on Wednesdaythe introduction of liveelectronic line calls, sayingmovementactivated and

prerecorded voices will beused for the terms “Out”,“Foot Fault” and “Fault” inmatches.

Live electronic line callingis delivered through remotetracking cameras around thecourt, automatically sendingthe audio line calls in realtime.

“The Australian Open willbe the fi��rst Grand Slamtournament to introduce liveelectronic line calling on allcourts,” Australian OpenTournament Director CraigTiley said.

The new system shouldmean fewer challenges ofline calls by players, and lesstime spent reviewing replayson the big stadium screens.

No oncourt line judgesat Australian OpenAssociated Press

MELBOURNE

Divij Sharan and Igor Zelenay of Slovakia moved intothe doubles quarterfi��nals ofthe in the $320,775 ATP tennis tournament here with a46, 63, [108] victory overGuillermo Duran and AlbertRamosVinolas.

Rohan Bopanna and Frederik Nielsen of Denmarklost to James Duckworthand Marc Polmans of Australia in the fi��rst round.

Ramkumar Ramanathanwon his fi��rst round 46, 64,76(5) against Gian MarcoMoroni of Italy in the Challenger in Antalya, Turkey,but lost the doubles fi��rstround with Purav Raja.The results: First round: $320,775 ATP, Melbourne,Australia: James Duckworth &Marc Polmans (Aus) bt FrederikNielsen (Den) & Rohan Bopanna 64, 63; Igor Zelenay (Svk)& Divij Sharan bt Guillermo Du

ran (Arg) & Albert RamosVinolas (Esp) 46, 63, [108].€44,820 Challenger, Antalya,Turkey: Ramkumar Ramanathan bt Gian Marco Moroni (Ita)46, 64, 76(5). Doubles: Rafael Matos & FelipeMeligeni Rodrigues Alves (Bra)bt Purav Raja & Ramkumar Ramanathan 63, 64.$15,000 ITF women, Monastir,Tunisia: Zeel Desai bt NaokoEto (Jpn) 60, 60.$15,000 ITF women, Manacor,Spain: Shiho Akita (Jpn) & Karman Kaur Thandi bt MargauxKomano (Fra) & Karola Suviste(Est) 64, 61.$25,000 ITF men, Villena,Spain: Dan Added (Fra) bt Arjun Kadhe 63, 64. Doubles:Dan Added (Fra) & Arjun Kadhebt Alberto Barroso Campos &Benjamin Winter Lopez (Esp)62, 75.$15,000 ITF men, Sharm ElSheikh: Yu Hsiou Hsu (Tpe) &Shintaro Imai (Jpn) bt AnirudhChandrasekar & Niki Poonacha64, 64. Women: En ShuoLiang (Tpe) & Kyoka Okamura(Jpn) bt Michika Ozeki (Jpn) &Ashmitha Easwaramurthi 64,60.

Divij & Zelenay enter the quarterfi��nals

INDIANS ABROAD

Sports Bureau

Melbourne

Ignoring the budget allocation for the current fi��nancialyear citing the pandemic,Sports Minister Kiren Rijijuchose to compare the fi��guresfor 202122 with those of 201920 and sounded pleased despite the truncated allocationand assured that “there wasno dearth of funds for theathletes”.

The latest Union Budgetheld no reason for joy as theMinistry’s allocation wasslashed from ₹��2826.92 croreto ₹��2,596.14 crore — a decrease of over 8%. However,Sports Secretary Ravi Mittalwent to the extent of saying,“We are very happy with thebudget.”

Rijiju spoke at a hurriedly

organised media conferenceon the sidelines of the inauguration of the FIT India offi��ceat Nehru Stadium on Wednesday. This interaction was inline with the Government’sdirective to all Ministries tobrief the media before Feb. 14about the available funds forthe next fi��nancial year.

Leaving no opportunity tostrike an optimistic note, theSports Ministry convenientlyleft out the “ongoing COVIDyear” and chose to highlightthe higher percentage ofgains as refl��ected in the twoyear period.

Shocking was the assertions made in the briefi��ngpertaining to the “increase”in funding for the Khelo Indiascheme. The Games couldnot be held last year due tothe pandemic.

The fi��gures for Khelo Indiaclearly show a massive cut infunds — from ₹��890.42 crorelast year to ₹��657.71 this year.But what was highlighted inWednesday’s briefi��ng was,the allocation which was₹��500 crore in 201920, at present stood at ₹��657.71.

Even the funds meant forSports Authority of India provided the Ministry a reason toproject a higher percentage ofincrease. Indeed, the fundsprovided saw an increasefrom ₹��500 crore last year to₹��660.41 crore this year. Butthe Ministry chose to go bythe 201920 fi��gures of ₹��450crore and projected a higherpercentage of raise this year.

However, the Ministrycould not make similar projections in the funds meantfor National Sports Federations. The allocation, constant for two previous yearsat ₹��245 crore, has been raisedto ₹��280 crore.

No doubt, the Ministry canalways seek additional fundsciting valid reasons duringthe fi��nancial year.

Despite fundcut, Ministry happy with budgetIt chose to highlight higher percentage of gains as refl��ected in the 2year period

RAKESH RAO

NEW DELHI

Kiren Rijiju. * FILE PHOTO

Stan Wawrinka clawed pastMikhail Kukushkin 46, 63,61 at the Murray River Openon Wednesday to keep alivehis hopes of a fi��rst title since2017 as he battles back froma case of COVID19.

Teen Jannik Sinner sweptpast Australia’s AleksandarVukic 62, 64 in the GreatOcean Road Open, beingplayed concurrently at Melbourne Park.

Serena Williams beat Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova61, 64 victory in the YarraValley Classic.

Naomi Osaka was made towork hard against informKatie Boulter to reach thequarterfi��nals in the Gippsland Trophy.

Ashleigh Barty recoveredfrom a secondset stutter tobeat Marie Bouzkova 60,

46, 63.Important results: GippslandTrophy: Third round: SimonaHalep bt Laura Siegemund 62,64; Elise Mertens bt CarolineGarcia 76(1), 63; Elina Svitolinabt Jelena Ostapenko 67(4), 63,62; Naomi Osaka bt Katie Boulter 36, 63, 61.Yarra Valley Classic: Thirdround: Ashleigh Barty bt Marie

Wawrinka, Sinner stay in huntSerena sizzles as Osaka and Barty struggle

TENNIS ROUND-UP


Melbourne

Stan Wawrinka. * AFP

Bouzkova 60, 46, 63; ShelbyRogers bt Petra Martic 76(1),63; Danielle Collins bt KarolinaPliskova 76(5), 76(3); SerenaWilliams bt Tsvetana Pironkova61, 64; Sofi��a Kenin bt JessicaPegula 57, 75, 62; Garbine Muguruza bt Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 61, 62.Grampians Trophy: Firstround: Angelique Kerber bt Katerina Siniakova 63, 46, 63;Anett Kontaveit bt ChristinaMcHale 61, 63; Jennifer Bradybt Svetlana Kuznetsova 63, 60.Murray River Open: Secondround: Stan Wawrinka bt Mikhail Kukushkin 46, 63, 61;Daniel Evans bt Pedro Sousa63, 75.Great Ocean Road Open: Second round: Carlos Alcaraz btDavid Goffi��n 63, 63; Mario Vilella bt Nikoloz Basilashvili 75, 63;Stefano Travaglia bt Sam Querrey67(7), 63, 64; Alexander Bublik bt Christopher O’Connell 76(2), 67(6), 64.

Aljaz Bedene bt Dane Sweeny60, 64; Jannik Sinner bt Aleksandar Vukic 62, 64; KarenKhachanov bt Max Purcell 76(5), 63.

Naocha Singh found thegoal twice to help SudevaDelhi FC ease past ChennaiCity FC 40 in an ILeaguefi��xture here on Wednesday.Mahesh Singh and ManvirSingh found the targetonce each as Sudeva Delhiposted its second win ofthe tournament and tookits points tally to eight fromsix outings.

Chennai City failed to recover from the crisis despite earning a few chances,which it could not convert.

The results: CCFC 0 lost toSudeva Delhi FC 4 (NaochaSingh 7, 10, Mahesh Singh 51,Manvir Singh 72); Mohd.Sporting 0 drew with NEROCA FC 0; Churchill BrothersFC 0 drew with Aizawl FC 0

Sudeva FCcrushes CCFC

Sports Bureau

Kolkata

Ajay Singh was reelectedthe president of the BoxingFederation of India (BFI) inthe elections held at Gurugram on Wednesday.

Ajay defeated Maharashtra MLA Ashish Shelar.

Ajay polled 37 votesagainst Shelar’s 27.

Hemanta Kumar Kalita

was elected secretary, beating C.V. Raje.

Digvijay Singh beat AnilMishra to take the treasurer’s post.

Former secretary Jay Kowli did not contest the elections, which was earlierpostponed due to thepandemic.

“This is an importantyear. Nine boxers have qualifi��ed for the Tokyo Olympicsand we hope more boxerswill qualify,” said Ajay.

Ajay said the BFI wouldwork towards developingboxing at the grassroot leveland conducting more openchampionships.

He also promised a stronger sports science backupfor boxers and focus on women's boxing.

Asian championshipsAjay informed that the Asianchampionships would beheld in Delhi either in Aprilor May this year.

Ajay Singh reelected BFI chief

Ajay Singh.* SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

BOXING


Kolkata

Play at the Australia Openwarmup tournaments hasbeen cancelled forThursday after acoronavirus scare, theorganisers announced.

There will be nomatches at any of the sixATP and WTAtournaments after up to600 players and offi��cialswere told on Wednesdayto isolate and get testedbecause a worker at ahotel tested positive forCOVID19.

The tournaments arebeing held at MelbournePark.

Organisers said theywould work to “facilitatetesting” as quickly aspossible.

Warmup

matches

cancelled after

COVID scareAgence France-Presse

MELBOURNE

For the second time insidefour days, there was

heartbreak for Kerala Blasters. The men from Kochiwent down 21 to Mumbai City at the GMC Stadium, Bambolim (Goa), on Wednesdaynight.

There may well have beena sense of deja vu for them;in the previous match, theyhad gone 20 ahead beforelosing 32 to ATK Mohun Bagan. They remain on 15points and third from thebottom, while Mumbai is sitting pretty on top of the ISLtable with 33 points, sixahead of ATK.

After Vincente Gomez’sgoal put Blasters in front inthe fi��rst half, Bipin Singh and

Adam Le Fondre, from thepenalty spot, scored forMumbai.

Dramatic start

The game started dramatically, with Blasters winning acorner kick in the openingminute. Before long though,the action moved to the oth

er end of the fi��eld, withMumbai putting considerable pressure on the Blastersdefence.

Hugo Boumous and LeFondre combined beautifully to create chances forMumbai.

A superb cornerkick fromSahal Abdul Samad enabled

Gomez to come up with aperfect header to beat Mumbai’s hardworking custodianAmrinder Singh for once.That goal separated theteams till the end of the fi��rsthalf that produced some delightful endtoend football.

But just 20 seconds intothe second half, Mumbaiequalised.

Bipin Singh did well toscore off�� a defl��ection fromCosta Nhamoinesu, who hadcome in the way of Cy Goddard’s attempt. Twentyoneminutes later, Mumbai wentahead, as Le Fondre converted the penalty awarded forthe charge on him by Costa.

The result: Kerala Blasters 1(Vincente Gomez 27) lost toMumbai City 2 (Bipin Singh 46,Adam Le Fondre 67pen).

Thursday’s match: NEUFC vs FCGoa, 7.30 p.m.

Mumbai City engineers comefrombehind winYet another heartbreak for Kerala Blasters in match of end to end action

ISL 2020-21

Sports Bureau

Coolly taken: Adam Le Fondre rifl��es in Mumbai City’s winnerfrom the spot against Kerala Blasters. * SPORTZPICS/ISL

NEW DELHI: Stuart Baxter hasbeen sacked as the managerof ISL’s Odisha FC for “unacceptable” comments aboutrape during a postmatch interview, the club said.

On Monday, he said in acomplaint against referees: “I

think one of my playerswould have to rape someoneor get raped himself if he wasgoing to get a penalty.” Odisha FC said it “unreservedly”apologised for his remarks,before tweeting on Tuesdaythat he had been sacked.

Odisha FC coach sacked

Manchester United reignitedits title challenge in spectacular fashion with a recordequalling 90 thrashing ofhapless Southampton on anight of goals, red cards andyet more VAR controversy inthe Premier League onTuesday.

Seven diff��erent playerswere on the scoresheet for

United as it ran riot afterSouthampton’s teenagedmidfi��elder Alexandre Jankewitz was shown a straightred card after two minutes.

Southampton ended withnine men, as did Arsenalwhose revival hit the buff��erswith a 21 loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers forwhom Joao Moutinho secured victory with a secondhalf wonder strike.

Crystal Palace recoveredfrom conceding a goal in thesecond minute to beat New

castle United 21United became only the

third side to win a PremierLeague game 90, matchingits 90 win over IpswichTown in 1995 and also Leicester City’s away rout ofSouthampton in 2019.

Aaron WanBissakaopened the scoring, and thefl��oodgates. Marcus Rashfordmade it 20 and Bednarek’sown goal and Edinson Cavani’s eff��ort made it 40 at halftime. Anthony Martialscored two after the break

with Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes and DanielJames also on target.The results: Manchester United9 (WanBissaka 18, Rashford25, Bednarek 34og, Cavani 39,Martial 69, 90, McTominay 71,Fernandes 87pen, James90+2) bt Southampton 0.

Newcastle 1 (Shelvey 2) lostto Crystal Palace 2 (Riedewald21, Cahill 25); Sheffi��eld United 2(Bogle 56, Sharp 73) bt WestBrom 1 (Phillips 41).

Wolves 2 (Neves 45pen,Moutinho 49) bt Arsenal 1(Pepe 32).

Spectacular Man United hammers SaintsPREMIER LEAGUE

Reuters

London

thursday, february 4, 2021 DELHI - Tenhard India

Documents

Transcript of thursday, february 4, 2021 DELHI - Tenhard India