`UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

12
P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday once again unleashed a scathing attack on dynastic politics and said the “biggest threat” to the func- tioning of a healthy democra- cy is when a party is run by the same family generation after generation and the entire sys- tem of the party is controlled by it. Without naming anyone, Modi at a Constitution Day event in the Central Hall of Parliament hit out at family- based parties, describing them as “party for the family, party by the family” and added, “I don’t think I need to say any- thing more”. The event was skipped by 15 Opposition parties, on the call by the Congress, which have been alleging that the Government is “undermining Parliamentary democracy”. Besides the constituents of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), parties such as the Biju Janata Dal, the YSR Congress, the Telangana Rashtra Samithi, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Telugu Desam Party attended the event. Addressing the gather- ing, Modi said, “This event was not that of any Government, or of any political party, or of any Prime Minister. The Speaker is the pride of the House. It is a dignified post. It is a matter of Babasaheb Ambedkar’s digni- ty, the dignity of the Constitution.” In an apparent reference to the Congress and some other Opposition parties, Modi said that in the form of family-based parties from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, India is heading towards a kind of a crisis, which is a matter of concern for the people devoted to the Constitution and those who believe in democracy. He said that more than one person from a family joining a party on the basis of merit and people’s blessings does not make a party dynastic, “but a party run by one family gen- eration after generation and the family controlling the entire system of the party is the biggest threat to a healthy democracy”. A fter scientists in South Africa detected a new Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529 with as many as 50 mutations over- all, Covid-19-battered coun- tries were left in jitter with many of them announcing fresh travel curbs, quarantine and vaccination rules for pas- sengers travelling from and via these South African coun- tries. India has called for rig- orous screening of passengers from South Africa, Botswana, and Hong Kong. According to scientists, the new Covid-19 variant is main- ly affecting people in the under 25 age group, among whom the vaccination rate against the virus is only 26 per cent. Current vaccines are not an ideal match so might not work quite as well, experts said but added that “that doesn’t mean they’ll offer zero protection”. Over 100 cases have been detected in South Africa, where the new strain is slowly becom- ing the dominant one. Israel has identified a case of a Covid- 19 variant with a large number of mutations “in a person who returned from Malawi”. A case has surfaced in Belgium too. Two cases have been detected in Hong Kong. In a sign of the growing alarm, the European Union separately proposed prohibiting travel from Southern Africa. The United Kingdom was the first country to declare travel curbs from several south- ern African countries and stat- ed that passengers will have to undergo a mandatory quaran- tine. UK Health Secretary Sajid Javid said six countries would be added to the red list, with flights being temporarily banned. G ood news for travellers, students, corporate and tourism sectors as the Ministry of Civil Aviation on Friday announced to resume sched- uled international flights to and from India from December 15 with 99 countries. The resumption will not cover countries such as China, South Africa, Singapore, Israel, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, countries in Europe, Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana, Mauritius, New Zealand and Zimbabwe, where Covid-19 is still not under control. The decision was taken after consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of External Affairs, and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Scheduled international flights have been on hold in India since March 23 last year due to the Covid- 19 pandemic. In an order, the Ministry stated, “The matter of resump- tion of scheduled commercial international passenger ser- vices to and from India has been examined in consultation with the Ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs and Health and Family Welfare and it has been decided that scheduled commercial inter- national passenger services to and from India may be resumed from December 15, 2021.” The announcement comes two days after Civil Aviation Secretary Rajiv Bansal said international flight operations are expected to return to nor- malcy soon, “by the end of this year”. The Ministry wrote a let- ter to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) ask- ing it to take “further neces- sary action” for the resumption of scheduled international flights. As per the order, the Ministry has divided countries into three parts based on Health Ministry’s Covid analy- sis and accordingly allowed resumption of flights. E xpressing concern over the developments in Afghanistan, India on Friday said it supported an inclusive and representative Government there and urged countries in the region to coordinate respec- tive approaches to terrorism, radicalisation and drug traf- ficking. Making this point here at the 18th meeting of the Russia, India, China (RICS) tri- lateral dialogue at the External Ministers’ level, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also said as a contiguous neigh- bour and long-standing partner of Afghanistan, India is con- cerned about the suffering of the Afghan people. Participating in the meet- ing in the virtual format along with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Russian Minister Sergey Lavrov, he also said India supports other provi- sions of UN Security Council Resolution 2593. India has offered a supply of 50,000 MT of wheat to Afghanistan to address the drought situation and said the RIC countries need to work together to ensure that human- itarian assistance reaches the Afghan people without hin- drance and without politicisa- tion, Jaishankar said. S uccessive Chief Ministers and even Governors who were at the helm of affairs in Jammu & Kashmir in the last decade spent lavishly on hard- selling the theme of “good governance”. However, one such ambi- tious project still under con- struction for over one decade clearly exposes the “work cul- ture” in the region. It is not just any other infrastructure project but the new legislative complex in Jammu. There is no fund for its completion. Ironically, no attempts have been made to expedite the construction work and check the “unproductive” cost esca- lation. The foundation stone of the complex was laid by the for- mer Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Jammu on July 1, 2011. Initially, the project was estimated to be built at a cost of 113 crore. Now the project execution agency — Jammu Kashmir Project Construction Corporation Ltd (JKPCC) — is awaiting the nod of the UT administration to complete the project at a revised cost of over 190 crore. According to the project engineers, the work on the project was going on smooth- ly till 2015 but the same hit the roadblock during the BJP-PDP alliance Government in office. According to these official sources, it is around the same time the project executing agency had sought clearance from the Government as the revised cost was projected to be over 150 crore. So far around 80 crore has been spent by the JKPCC. T he Congress and several Opposition parties on Friday boycotted the Constitution Day event in the Central Hall of Parliament to convey that the Constitution is being undermined during the current BJP regime. Besides the Congress, sev- eral other parties, including the Left, TMC, NCP, DMK, Shiv Sena, IUML, RSP, and the RJD, skipped the event. On the issue of not partic- ipating in the event of Constitution Day, Congress Rajya Sabha member Anand Sharma said the protest was against the “authoritarian” functioning of the BJP Government as laws are enact- ed bypassing Parliamentary scrutiny and Parliamentary democracy is insulted. “Our protest today is based on fundamental princi- ples. We have protested to remind the country that the Constitution is not being respected, the Constitution is being undermined, Parliamentary democracy is being undermined and insult- ed with the enactment of laws bypassing scrutiny which is creating enormous problems because each law enacted by Parliament impacts the mass- es,” Sharma said at AICC Press conference. C hief Justice of India (CJI) NV Ramana on Friday asked lawyers to assist judges and protect the judicial insti- tution from “motivated and tar- geted attacks” besides lending a helping hand to those in need for becoming worthy of the confidence reposed in them by the citizens. “I want to tell all of you, that you must assist judges and the institution. We are all ulti- mately part of one large fami- ly. Protect the institution from motivated and targeted attacks. Do not shy away from stand- ing up for what is right, and against what is wrong,” said the CJI, who was speaking at the Constitution Day celebration organised by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) in the apex court’s lawns here. The SCBA’s two-day event started on Friday to celebrate Constitution Day, also known as National Law Day. On the same day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India had adopted the Constitution which came into effect on January 26, 1950. Justice Ramana stressed the importance of “debate and discussion” and said that the Constitution is richer and a more complex document in comparison to when it was adopted because of the dia- logue which took place inside and outside the courtroom. Mumbai: The Sensex nose- dived 1,688 points while the Nifty slumped below the 17,100-level on Friday as a new and potentially vaccine- resistant coronavirus variant sent shockwaves through glob- al markets. The variant, detect- ed in South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong so far, has an unusual combination of muta- tions, as per initial reports. Countries like Britain and Japan have already imposed travel restrictions, raising the spectre of a fresh wave of lock- downs. Detailed report on P9 O n the completion of one year on November 26 of the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws, the farmer groups on Friday assembled in a large number at Delhi borders — Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur and Shahjahanpur — to show sup- port for the protesters on the first anniversary of the begin- ning of the farm agitation. Farmers flaunting colour- ful turbans, sunshades, long beards and twirling moustach- es danced on tractors, distrib- uted sweets and hugged each other to mark the occasion that seemed like a festival and vowed to continue their agita- tion to fulfil other six demands, including legal guarantee of minimum support price, com- pensation to those who died during protests, memorial for them and the sacking and arrest of Union Minister Ajay Mishra. On the day of completion of one year of farm agitation, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday tweeted farmers have always been victorious in India and will always continue to win in the future as well. Priyanka lauded the move- ment and said that it would be known for the “unshakable ‘satyagraha’ of the farmers, the martyrdom of 700 farmers and the arrogance of the ruthless BJP Government and its atroc- ities towards the farmers,” in a tweet in Hindi. T he State registered 219 new Covid-19 positive cases in 20 districts and the State pool on Friday, with which the total tally surged to 10,48,228. Among the freshly-infect- ed were 32 children in the age group of 0 to 18 years. Notably, the State had recorded 335 cases on Thursday. Of the new cases, 131 were from quarantine and 88 local contacts. Khordha district record- ed the highest 94 cases fol- lowed by Cuttack and Mayurbhanj with 15 each, Sambalpur and Sundargarh 10 each. The districts which recorded below 10 cases were Jajpur nine, Ganjam six, Jagatsinghpur and Puri five each, Baleswar, Jharsuguda and Nayagarh four each, Kendrapada and Keonjhar three each, Bhadrak and Rayagada two each and Angul, Boudh, Dhenkanal and Malkangiri one each. Besides, 22 cases were detected from the State Pool. The active cases stood at 2,385. Two more persons suc- cumbed to the disease, taking the total death toll to 8,403. However, 222 more per- sons recovered on the day, increasing the total recoveries to 10,37,609. C apital Bhubaneswar regis- tered 88 of the State’s 219 cases on Friday, with which the total tally in the city rose to 1,20,986. The active cases were 1,378. Notably, 96 cases had been recorded in the city on Thursday. One more person suc- cumbed to the disease in the city, taking the total death toll to 1,085. “ It is my dream that nobody from Odisha should be forced to go outside for better medical treatment. We shall provide the best in SCB. For 75 years, the SCB has supported us; now it is our turn to give it back.” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said on the occasion of the Platinum Jubilee celebration of the SCB Medical College & Hospital here on Friday. Joining the celebration through videoconferencing, he said the number of lives saved by this institution and its alumni is unmatched. “Hence, it is my dream to see SCB transforming into an AIIMS plus institution to pro- vide the best that modern med- ical science can provide,” he stat- ed. Patnaik said the alumni of SCB have been the ambassadors of Odisha in every corner of the world, from Manhattan to Tokyo. T he Vigilance police have unearthed properties worth crores of rupees in possession of Santosh Kumar Das, Assistant Engineer in the Integrated Tribal Development Agency (ITDA) office at Baripada in Mayurbhanj dis- trict, in multiple raids carried out on Thursday. During the searches, the Vigilance officials recovered a total of Rs 41.77 lakh cash which is the highest ever cash recovery from a Government servant in the State, so far. Raids were carried out at as many as 11 locations includ- ing Bhubaneswar, Baleswar and Mayurbhanj of Das. During searches that were conducted till Thursday night, a total of Rs 41.77 lakh cash and 659 grams gold ornaments were recovered so far. During the searches in Bhubaneswar a four-storied building at Badagada Brit Colony, one flat at Sailashree Vihar and a semi-finished building at Kalinga Vihar were found. A four-storied building and three plots were detected at Baleswar, one four-wheeler and three two-wheelers were found in Das’ possession. Meanwhile, a Vigilance team has brought Das to his Badagada Britt Colony resi- dence in the capital city, which was being searched.

Transcript of `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

Page 1: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

����� ���������

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday once again

unleashed a scathing attackon dynastic politics and saidthe “biggest threat” to the func-tioning of a healthy democra-cy is when a party is run by thesame family generation aftergeneration and the entire sys-tem of the party is controlledby it.

Without naming anyone,Modi at a Constitution Dayevent in the Central Hall ofParliament hit out at family-based parties, describing themas “party for the family, partyby the family” and added, “Idon’t think I need to say any-thing more”.

The event was skipped by15 Opposition parties, on thecall by the Congress, whichhave been alleging that theGovernment is “underminingParliamentary democracy”.

Besides the constituents ofthe National DemocraticAlliance (NDA), parties such asthe Biju Janata Dal, the YSRCongress, the TelanganaRashtra Samithi, the BahujanSamaj Party and the TeluguDesam Party attended the

event. Addressing the gather-ing, Modi said, “This event wasnot that of any Government, orof any political party, or of anyPrime Minister. The Speaker isthe pride of the House. It is adignified post. It is a matter ofBabasaheb Ambedkar’s digni-ty, the dignity of theConstitution.”

In an apparent reference tothe Congress and some otherOpposition parties, Modi saidthat in the form of family-basedparties from Kashmir toKanyakumari, India is headingtowards a kind of a crisis,which is a matter of concern forthe people devoted to theConstitution and those whobelieve in democracy.

He said that more than oneperson from a family joining aparty on the basis of merit andpeople’s blessings does notmake a party dynastic, “but aparty run by one family gen-

eration after generation and thefamily controlling the entiresystem of the party is thebiggest threat to a healthydemocracy”.

����� ��������

After scientists in SouthAfrica detected a new

Covid-19 variant B.1.1.529 withas many as 50 mutations over-all, Covid-19-battered coun-tries were left in jitter withmany of them announcingfresh travel curbs, quarantineand vaccination rules for pas-sengers travelling from andvia these South African coun-tries. India has called for rig-orous screening of passengersfrom South Africa, Botswana,and Hong Kong.

According to scientists, thenew Covid-19 variant is main-ly affecting people in the under25 age group, among whom thevaccination rate against thevirus is only 26 per cent.Current vaccines are not anideal match so might not workquite as well, experts said butadded that “that doesn’t meanthey’ll offer zero protection”.

Over 100 cases have beendetected in South Africa, wherethe new strain is slowly becom-ing the dominant one. Israelhas identified a case of a Covid-19 variant with a large numberof mutations “in a person whoreturned from Malawi”. A casehas surfaced in Belgium too.

Two cases have beendetected in Hong Kong. In asign of the growing alarm, theEuropean Union separately

proposed prohibiting travelfrom Southern Africa.

The United Kingdom wasthe first country to declaretravel curbs from several south-ern African countries and stat-ed that passengers will have toundergo a mandatory quaran-tine.

UK Health Secretary SajidJavid said six countries wouldbe added to the red list, withflights being temporarilybanned.

������� ���� ��������

Good news for travellers,students, corporate and

tourism sectors as the Ministryof Civil Aviation on Fridayannounced to resume sched-uled international flights toand from India from December15 with 99 countries.

The resumption will notcover countries such as China,South Africa, Singapore, Israel,Hong Kong, the UnitedKingdom, countries in Europe,Brazil, Bangladesh, Botswana,Mauritius, New Zealand andZimbabwe, where Covid-19 isstill not under control.

The decision was takenafter consultation with theMinistry of Home Affairs, theMinistry of External Affairs,and the Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare. Scheduledinternational flights have been

on hold in India since March23 last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

In an order, the Ministrystated, “The matter of resump-tion of scheduled commercialinternational passenger ser-vices to and from India hasbeen examined in consultationwith the Ministries of HomeAffairs, External Affairs andHealth and Family Welfareand it has been decided thatscheduled commercial inter-national passenger services toand from India may beresumed from December 15,2021.”

The announcement comes

two days after Civil AviationSecretary Rajiv Bansal saidinternational flight operationsare expected to return to nor-malcy soon, “by the end of thisyear”.

The Ministry wrote a let-ter to the Directorate Generalof Civil Aviation (DGCA) ask-ing it to take “further neces-sary action” for the resumptionof scheduled internationalflights.

As per the order, theMinistry has divided countriesinto three parts based onHealth Ministry’s Covid analy-sis and accordingly allowedresumption of flights.

����� ��������

Expressing concern over thedevelopments in

Afghanistan, India on Fridaysaid it supported an inclusiveand representative Governmentthere and urged countries inthe region to coordinate respec-tive approaches to terrorism,radicalisation and drug traf-ficking. Making this point hereat the 18th meeting of theRussia, India, China (RICS) tri-lateral dialogue at the ExternalMinisters’ level, ExternalAffairs Minister S Jaishankaralso said as a contiguous neigh-bour and long-standing partnerof Afghanistan, India is con-

cerned about the suffering ofthe Afghan people.

Participating in the meet-ing in the virtual format alongwith his Chinese counterpartWang Yi and Russian MinisterSergey Lavrov, he also saidIndia supports other provi-sions of UN Security CouncilResolution 2593.

India has offered a supplyof 50,000 MT of wheat toAfghanistan to address thedrought situation and said theRIC countries need to worktogether to ensure that human-itarian assistance reaches theAfghan people without hin-drance and without politicisa-tion, Jaishankar said.

������������� ���

Successive Chief Ministersand even Governors who

were at the helm of affairs inJammu & Kashmir in the lastdecade spent lavishly on hard-selling the theme of “goodgovernance”.

However, one such ambi-tious project still under con-struction for over one decadeclearly exposes the “work cul-ture” in the region.

It is not just any otherinfrastructure project but thenew legislative complex inJammu. There is no fund for itscompletion.

Ironically, no attempts havebeen made to expedite theconstruction work and checkthe “unproductive” cost esca-lation.

The foundation stone ofthe complex was laid by the for-mer Chief Minister Omar

Abdullah in Jammu on July 1,2011.

Initially, the project wasestimated to be built at a costof �113 crore. Now the projectexecution agency — JammuKashmir Project ConstructionCorporation Ltd (JKPCC) — isawaiting the nod of the UTadministration to complete theproject at a revised cost of over�190 crore.

According to the projectengineers, the work on theproject was going on smooth-ly till 2015 but the same hit theroadblock during the BJP-PDPalliance Government in office.

According to these officialsources, it is around the sametime the project executingagency had sought clearancefrom the Government as therevised cost was projected to beover �150 crore. So far around�80 crore has been spent by theJKPCC.

������������� ������������

����� ��������

The Congress and severalOpposition parties on

Friday boycotted theConstitution Day event in theCentral Hall of Parliament toconvey that the Constitution isbeing undermined during thecurrent BJP regime.

Besides the Congress, sev-eral other parties, including theLeft, TMC, NCP, DMK, ShivSena, IUML, RSP, and the RJD,skipped the event.

On the issue of not partic-ipating in the event ofConstitution Day, CongressRajya Sabha member AnandSharma said the protest wasagainst the “authoritarian”functioning of the BJPGovernment as laws are enact-ed bypassing Parliamentaryscrutiny and Parliamentarydemocracy is insulted.

“Our protest today isbased on fundamental princi-ples. We have protested toremind the country that theConstitution is not beingrespected, the Constitution isbeing undermined,Parliamentary democracy isbeing undermined and insult-ed with the enactment of lawsbypassing scrutiny which iscreating enormous problemsbecause each law enacted byParliament impacts the mass-es,” Sharma said at AICC Pressconference.

����� ���������

Chief Justice of India (CJI)NV Ramana on Friday

asked lawyers to assist judgesand protect the judicial insti-tution from “motivated and tar-geted attacks” besides lendinga helping hand to those in need

for becoming worthy of theconfidence reposed in them bythe citizens.

“I want to tell all of you,that you must assist judges and

the institution. We are all ulti-mately part of one large fami-ly. Protect the institution frommotivated and targeted attacks.Do not shy away from stand-ing up for what is right, andagainst what is wrong,” said theCJI, who was speaking at theConstitution Day celebrationorganised by the SupremeCourt Bar Association (SCBA)in the apex court’s lawns here.

The SCBA’s two-day eventstarted on Friday to celebrateConstitution Day, also known

as National Law Day. On thesame day in 1949, theConstituent Assembly of Indiahad adopted the Constitutionwhich came into effect onJanuary 26, 1950.

Justice Ramana stressedthe importance of “debate anddiscussion” and said that theConstitution is richer and amore complex document incomparison to when it wasadopted because of the dia-logue which took place insideand outside the courtroom.

����������� ���������������������� ��� ��� � ����� ��

�������������� ��������������� ����� ���

��� ��������������������������������� �� �!� ���������������

������������ ������������������� �� �������

����������������� ���������������������������

�� ��"���������� �������� ��������������Mumbai: The Sensex nose-dived 1,688 points while theNifty slumped below the17,100-level on Friday as anew and potentially vaccine-resistant coronavirus variantsent shockwaves through glob-al markets. The variant, detect-ed in South Africa, Botswanaand Hong Kong so far, has anunusual combination of muta-tions, as per initial reports.Countries like Britain andJapan have already imposedtravel restrictions, raising thespectre of a fresh wave of lock-downs.

Detailed report on P9

����� ��������

On the completion of oneyear on November 26 of

the farmers’ agitation againstthe three farm laws, the farmergroups on Friday assembled ina large number at Delhi borders— Singhu, Tikri, Ghazipur andShahjahanpur — to show sup-port for the protesters on thefirst anniversary of the begin-ning of the farm agitation.

Farmers flaunting colour-ful turbans, sunshades, longbeards and twirling moustach-es danced on tractors, distrib-uted sweets and hugged eachother to mark the occasion thatseemed like a festival andvowed to continue their agita-tion to fulfil other six demands,including legal guarantee ofminimum support price, com-pensation to those who diedduring protests, memorial forthem and the sacking andarrest of Union Minister AjayMishra.

On the day of completion

of one year of farm agitation,Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra onFriday tweeted farmers havealways been victorious in Indiaand will always continue to winin the future as well.

Priyanka lauded the move-ment and said that it would beknown for the “unshakable‘satyagraha’ of the farmers, themartyrdom of 700 farmers andthe arrogance of the ruthlessBJP Government and its atroc-ities towards the farmers,” in atweet in Hindi.

����������������������������������������

���������� ���������� ������������������ �����

# �����������!��� �������������� ������$����������� ���� ������������������� ������������������� ���

!���� ���� ��������� �"������������������� �#���� ��������

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

� � ��(�����*��������

+,���� ��-�� ����.��������/�� ��� �� ������� �� ��� ��������01������� 2���� 2���� 3���4�)�������.��������5�.������ ���

$%�� �������������������#�� ���������&�#���������������������#�������$�� ������

������.��������& ����� �.���� ��������� �������������������� ������6/ �!��� ��(�! �5� ��� ��� ��������&�'�(��������)��� ���

����� �� ��������

The State registered 219new Covid-19 positive

cases in 20 districts and theState pool on Friday, withwhich the total tally surged to10,48,228.

Among the freshly-infect-ed were 32 children in the agegroup of 0 to 18 years.

Notably, the State hadrecorded 335 cases onThursday. Of the new cases,131 were from quarantineand 88 local contacts.

Khordha district record-ed the highest 94 cases fol-lowed by Cuttack andMayurbhanj with 15 each,Sambalpur and Sundargarh10 each.

The distr icts whichrecorded below 10 cases wereJajpur nine, Ganjam six,Jagatsinghpur and Puri fiveeach, Baleswar, Jharsugudaand Nayagarh four each,Kendrapada and Keonjharthree each, Bhadrak andRayagada two each andAngul, Boudh, Dhenkanaland Malkangiri one each.

Besides, 22 cases weredetected from the State Pool.

The active cases stood at2,385.

Two more persons suc-cumbed to the disease, takingthe total death toll to 8,403.

However, 222 more per-sons recovered on the day,increasing the total recoveriesto 10,37,609.

����������������������������������

����� �� ��������

Capital Bhubaneswar regis-tered 88 of the State’s 219

cases on Friday, with which thetotal tally in the city rose to1,20,986. The active cases were1,378.

Notably, 96 cases had beenrecorded in the city onThursday.

One more person suc-cumbed to the disease in thecity, taking the total death tollto 1,085.

��!"�������!��#$�!��%�&��������������� ��� ������������

����� ����

����� � ''��(

“It is my dream that nobodyfrom Odisha should be forced

to go outside for better medicaltreatment. We shall provide thebest in SCB. For 75 years, theSCB has supported us; now it isour turn to give it back.” ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik said on

the occasion of the PlatinumJubilee celebration of the SCBMedical College & Hospitalhere on Friday.

Joining the celebrationthrough videoconferencing, hesaid the number of lives saved bythis institution and its alumni isunmatched.

“Hence, it is my dream to

see SCB transforming into anAIIMS plus institution to pro-vide the best that modern med-ical science can provide,” he stat-ed.

Patnaik said the alumni ofSCB have been the ambassadorsof Odisha in every corner of theworld, from Manhattan toTokyo.

���������� �'�����% (���������)�% ����� � ''��(

The Vigilance police haveunearthed properties worth

crores of rupees in possessionof Santosh Kumar Das,Assistant Engineer in theIntegrated Tribal DevelopmentAgency (ITDA) office atBaripada in Mayurbhanj dis-trict, in multiple raids carriedout on Thursday.

During the searches, theVigilance officials recovered atotal of Rs 41.77 lakh cashwhich is the highest ever cashrecovery from a Governmentservant in the State, so far.

Raids were carried out atas many as 11 locations includ-ing Bhubaneswar, Baleswarand Mayurbhanj of Das.

During searches that wereconducted till Thursday night,a total of Rs 41.77 lakh cash and659 grams gold ornamentswere recovered so far.

During the searches inBhubaneswar a four-storied

building at Badagada BritColony, one flat at SailashreeVihar and a semi-finishedbuilding at Kalinga Vihar werefound. A four-storied buildingand three plots were detectedat Baleswar, one four-wheelerand three two-wheelers werefound in Das’ possession.

Meanwhile, a Vigilanceteam has brought Das to hisBadagada Britt Colony resi-dence in the capital city, whichwas being searched.

������������� ��������������� ���

)'�����*+,��!��& "���$��-.��/0���*+1��!��&%���������� �

!!!"������������"#��

�!���2&�/.��/0���*+1��!��&0

��������+ ������ ����� 3�45��&��#&���&2���6�&���"��11*���$*�

,#$*������7&�/��������� �(�8� ��8,������ ��������

��������, � �����9���������� � �:��������;�:����

��������� ��!"#���������������� �����������

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

�&' (�)*����:���:����<'�������'8������44�8��'��'���� '

���'+,-�.

� ,���,� �9���3=�,����'8�����'��8�'�>���8��

�������������� !�"�#� !����$�% %�& '(

'&#+#'+�/���?'��@,��'�'��'������'8�����9��

Page 2: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141� ����������

����������� ������ ������������������� ������������������������� !��������"�� ���#�$!%���&�'��(� !)$&% �&!&�*+(� !)$&% �,%%��$-��(������������./-�����-���������01"�2�1�3$&4�5�������$6�7���$3�������#�2��������1�����"�� ���#�$!%�����1+�����8�1�����(�8��9������:�������1�����(��������:�2:�/�����;:21�<4&��!4&&)!%�62:�9:�=6:<1��:������1��(�������:����������(���0���(��- �>6�-�� ������("�/����>�������������(��?�����3����;�����(��� �"�����<�� "�#��"�������7����/���#3����$�����&������(���$)����)%%���--��������;�����(*$,�������� ��;236�<��-"����/�$&��,���9�������(��&�$)@!5@��>)@!55������A��#;�����()��*���������������/�������*�B �:������A��#&& �� �'���������(�%&&$&,) )),�&,) )))�&,) ))%�

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

����� ��������

The Supreme Court onFriday turned down the

Andhra Pradesh Government’srequest to dispose of the con-tempt of court proceedingsfi led by the OdishaGovernment against it on theKotia dispute for violation ofthe status quo agreed upon byit with the OdishaGovernment more than 50years ago.

The AP Government’srequest was made on a pleathat both the States are head-ing towards a political solutionto the border dispute. If noamicable solution is reachedbetween the two States, thecourt will proceed to seewhether the AP Governmentcommitted contempt or not,informed Odisha Government

advocate Niranjan Sahoo. The Odisha Government

said a Chief Minister-leveldiscussion has already beenheld on the issue, followingwhich the OdishaGovernment has formed acommittee and relevantreports are being collected.The Andhra Government, onthe other hand, said both theStates are trying to solve theproblem at political level.

The apex court postponedthe hearing to the first week ofJanuary next.

*����) ��������$� �����������

����� ������, �

Former Sambalpur MLA andBJD State secretary Dr

Raseswari Panigrahi camedown heavily on the BJP overthe egg hurling issue in PuriBada Danda during ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik’s touron Wednesday.

“Is it Hindutva?” asked DrPanigrahi to the leaders of BJPand the party as a whole.

“When crores of people ofthe whole world includingnon-Hindus keep faith in LordJagannath and respect His wayto the Gundicha temple on theoccasion of Rath Yatra, is notthis a sacrilege to make thatroad sullied with broken eggs?”she asked.

The BJP claims itself to bea champion of Hindutwa andHindus. But what message theBJP has given to the people byhurling eggs on CM NaveenPatnaik when the flag (Bana)and Prasad of the Lord wereinside the vehicle? This is noth-ing but a rowdy culture theparty stands for as its leaderscan go to any extent for votes,"the former MLA said.

Dr Panigrahi furtherrecalled the incident of BJPleaders taking photographs ingroups sitting at the veryentrance (Steps/Pahacha) ofMaa Samaleswari temple withshoes on feet that made themcome under severe public crit-icism. “This exposes their trueskin,” she said.

#)*���+��#)�"� ������,-.�������.//���� ��-#�-��*�,-��0��������12�

ARABINDA KUMARPADHEE

Agriculture sector in Odishahas shown noticeable per-

formance in recent years. Asper SAMRUDHI, the StateAgriculture Policy 2020 of theState, “Odisha’s agriculturalGDP nearly doubled in realterms, clocking an annualgrowth rate of about 4.5 per-cent, higher than the all-Indiaaverage of 3.1 percent” between2000-01 and 2016-17. TheState’s Economic survey (2019-20) informs that agricultureand allied sectors contributed19.9% to the State’s GVA (grossvalue added). The share ofagriculture and allied sectorshas been fluctuating over time,as we all know, mainly becauseof natural shocks. The growthin livestock and fisheries sub-sectors has shown upwardmovements consistently forthe last decade.

What could be the policypathways to transform agri-culture in Odisha, while keep-ing in focus the interests ofsmall and marginal farmers,who account for as high as 92per cent of the farm holdings?The policy intentions of theState Government broadlyaddress them.

But I wish to suggest thefollowing priorities for consid-eration.

I. Shifting to more sus-tainable systems or diversifi-cation: To tackle the twin chal-lenges of climate change andmalnutrition, diversifying exist-ing cropping systems to morenutritious and environment-friendly crops has often been

advocated.Rice is synonymous with

agriculture in Odisha. So,diversification from rice to anyother crop, even if scientifical-ly prescribed, is not going to beeasy. Research findings havealready shown the potentialbenefits of crop diversifica-tion, particularly in those tractswhere rice yields are low. It isnow time, diversification tocrops like pulses, oilseeds, veg-etables, suiting to specific agro-ecological regions of Odisha, beplanned, and implemented. Arange of agroforestry modelssuch as trees on field bunds,inline agroforestry, high densityfruit orchards, etc. are availableto help diversify existing farm-ing systems and achieve medi-um to long term sustainability.The State Government mayweigh all these options andconsider giving incentives tofarmers, at least during thetransition, for such diversifi-cation.

Allied sectors of agriculturelike livestock, fisheries, andaquaculture have huge poten-tial to positively impactOdisha’s rural economy, besidescontributing to the food andnutrition security. Odisha’s fish-eries sector has shown impres-sive growth in recent years. So,policy support for growth ofthese sub sectors will be veryimportant.

II. Strengthening valuechains: As agribusinesses areimportant generators ofemployment and income,improving the efficiency andsustainability of agriculturevalue chains will benefit largesegments of Odisha’s farmers.Since agriculture in the State isdominated by smallholders,aggregating small farms couldhelp reduce transaction costsfor accessing value chains. Thiswill also offset scale disadvan-tages and benefit the farmers toaccess inputs, technology, andthe market.

As far as practicable, theGovernment should push forestablishment of primary pro-cessing facilities closer to thefarm gates. Digital agriculturetools, in the process, could

assist producers to gather mar-ket intelligence and provideinputs for better managementof the entire value chain. TheGovernment policies to incen-tivize agri-tech start-ups andthe private sector, and to devel-op logistics to strengthen valuechains, must also be put inplace. Operationalizing localprocurement of cereals, pulses,millets, and other nutritiousfood items for Governmentschemes and programmesmust be given priority toachieve nutritional outcomes,and at the same time, enhancelivelihood opportunities forrural people engaged in theproduction, primary process-ing, value addition and supplyof these items.

State Government canfacilitate enhanced usage of theagriculture infrastructurefunds, as committed by theGovernment of India, whichcan play a great role in creat-ing and augmenting criticallogistical facilities in the valuechain. Promotion of FPOs,with initial handholding andcapacity building of the pro-ducers and stakeholders, asenvisaged by the StateGovernment, will also benefita large section of farmers.

III. Modifying consumerbehaviour: For the intendeddiversification to succeed,healthy and diversified dietsneed to be incorporated andpromoted in the menu of con-sumers. Interestingly, there isalready an increasing con-sumer interest on safe andnutritious foods. Post Covid-19pandemic, this positive trendfor healthy foods may furtherrise.\

Initiatives of the StateGovernment through OdishaMillets Mission, establishmentof nutrition gardens in schools,Anganwadi centers, and indi-vidual households, etc. coupledwith effective awareness cam-paigns and consumer educa-tion have the potential to fruc-tify enhanced dietary diversi-ty.

IV: Recognizing role ofwomen and empowering them:The importance on the role of

women in agriculture and, onclosing the gender gap is oftenbeing discussed in policy cir-cles. The Mission Shakti ini-tiative of Odisha is a uniqueprogramme in the entire coun-try.

Large numbers of womenSHGs and of late, few FPOs,formed under various schemesare actively involved in pro-duction as well as primaryprocessing of farm producelike rice, millet, pigeon pea,ginger, turmeric, and a varietyof vegetables. However, they areoften deprived of access toimproved cultivars, produc-tion technology, quality seeds,primary processing, and valueaddition opportunities.Strengthening of backward andforward linkages would be thekey when we aim at establish-ing and promoting commodi-ty-based value chains. Thus,targeted women SHGs andFPOs should be linked withright markets and value addi-tion opportunities. All theseactivities cumulatively wouldcontribute to increased house-hold income and promotion ofrural livelihoods.

V. Legalising Land leasing:This is a sensitive political andeconomic question. This is infact the elephant in the roomwhen we discuss reforms inState’s agriculture sector. Thenumbers for sharecroppersremain indirect in absence ofany authoritative statistics,largely due to the concealedtenancy in the State and under-reporting from thetenants/farmers in surveys likeNSSO. The NSSO (2012-13)reported 36 per cent tenancy incoastal Odisha with share-cropping as dominant tenancysystem. Odisha treats share-cropping as the synonym fortenancy. Interestingly, benefi-ciaries of KALIA- the incomesupport or cash transferscheme- include landless share-croppers, besides small andmarginal farmers. Interestingly,leasing in all forms is bannedas per Odisha Land ReformAct, 1960. There is also no for-mal procedure to identify andrecord the lists of tenants in any

revenue law of the State.A piece of legislation to

legalize or formalize the landlease market in Odisha willhave significant positive impacton the agricultural productionsystems.

VI. Investing more in agriresearch and innovation:Investments in research andinnovation will play a key rolein transforming Odisha agri-culture. This is no secret thatthe agriculture R and D ecosys-tem is currently underfunded.Capacity building of scientistsof OUAT- the State AgricultureUniversity and relevant officialsof the State departments, aswell as of lead farmers, shouldalso be a core and integral partof Odisha’s agricultural devel-opment strategy. Inter-State,regional, and even interna-tional exposure visits and train-ings on best practices, newfarming technologies and sys-tems need to be prioritized.This would motivate themachinery to take up andimplement Governmentschemes and programmes.Collaboration, partnerships,and complementarity of OUAT,national and internationalresearch centers would also bemuch desirable.

VII. Ensuring inter-sec-toral synergy : The silosbetween relevant departmentsand stakeholders are oftenattributed to poor delivery ofintended objectives. As weknow, agriculture sector cutsacross many Departments ofthe State Government andtherefore, their coming togeth-er and breaking the silos willultimately help the farm sectorand farmers.

Science-led and evidence-based integrated food systemssolutions have the potential tobring inclusive development ofagriculture sector in Odisha.

(The writer is CountryDirector-India, ICRISAT basedat New Delhi. This article is anabstract of his keynote addressat the 29th Annual Conferenceof Agricultural EconomicsResearch Association heldrecently at Bhubaneswar. Viewsexpressed are personal)

��������������"��������� ���� ������� ������������7����

����� �� ��������

Dream high, be honest, cre-ate own identity without

caring for success or failure assuccess and failure are a part oflife, Governor Prof Ganeshi Laltold students at the 9th con-vocation of the CenturionUniversity of Management andTechnology here on Friday.

Australian HighCommissioner Barry O'Farrellsaid India has always remainedas a source of knowledge for thecomplete world. CenturionUniversity by imparting skill

integrated education is addingvalue to the purpose of spread-ing fragrance of knowledge.

Vice-Chancellor ProfSupriya Patnaik, who present-ed the annual report, said theuniversity has made all effortsto effectively implement thenew educational policy; and asan institution, it always hastried to work for a bettertomorrow by working to satis-fy the needs of sustainabledevelopment goals.

Faculty members andresearch scholars of the uni-versity have got unique

achievement of publishing highnumber of research papers injournals and books and theyhave filed 27 patents and sevencopyrights. To promote entre-preneurship, it has promoted25 start-ups, she added.

On the occasion, 23 schol-ars received their doctoraldegrees and 15 received goldmedals also. UniversityPresident Prof Mukti KantaMishra, Vice-President ProfDN Rao, Registrar Prof AnitaPatra and Academics DeanProf Prashant Mohanty werepresent.

�������+��������#�&����������#�,�������

����� � ''��(

The bodies of all four minorboys, who had drowned in

the Mahanadi here late onThursday, were fished out fromthe waters on Friday, police saidquoting rescue teams engagedin the operation, which lastedfor over 12 hours.

The bodies of the boysaged between 12 and 14 yearswere sent for postmortem andlater handed over to theirrespective families.

The Commissioneratepolice here said the four boysof Potapokhari

locality under the

Chauliaganj police station hadgone to play in the riverbed.When they did not returnhome by evening, family mem-bers frantically looked for themin the nearby localities andspotted their bicycles on theriverbank near Gandhipalli,about two km from theirhomes. “Worried and antici-pating the worst, they informedabout it at the Chauliaganjpolice station around 9 pm,”said Cuttack city DCP PrateekSingh, adding that Fire Serviceand ODRAF personnel wererequisitioned to carry out asearch operation. Around 11pm, the rescue team spotted the

body of one of the boys nearBhadimul Ghat, about one kmdownstream from the spotwhere they had gone missing.

Although the rescue oper-ation went on throughout thenight, the team could trace theremaining bodies only onFriday morning, informed

Chauliaganj PS IIC S Rout.All the boys belonged toPotapokhari and VinayakNagar and were identified asOm Prakash Behera, SubhamSethi, Chandan Behera andAjintia Bahalia,

Police said it was yet to beascertained how the boysdrowned.

0�!� ���1�������� �� ���� ����� ������

����� �� ��������

Attainment and localisationof the globally-decided

sustainable development goals(SDGs) has been brought tofocus by the State Government.A dedicated PMU with expe-rienced consultants has beenset up in the Planning andConvergence Departmentunder the guidance ofDevelopment CommissionerPradeep Kumar Jena.

The PMU held a consulta-tive workshop with all depart-ments here on Friday for chalk-ing out a collaborative initiativefor realisation of the SDGs.

Chief Secretary SureshChandra Mahapatra said, “TheState Government is stronglycommitted to mainstream theSustainable Development

Goals-2030 and many efforts tothat end have been initiatedover the last few years. Whilein some indicators the State hasdone well, other indicatorsneed focussed attention. SDG-linked developmental inter-ventions and their outcomesneed to be properly analysed,coordinated and evidencedwith ground-level database.”.

He said, “Accomplishmentof SDGs requires ‘sustainedefforts’ through evidence-basedplanning, implementation,monitoring and continuousimprovement at all levels.”

Mahapatra directed thedepartments to nominate onenodal officer and two pro-gramme officers for SDG coor-dination. The nominated offi-cers should be well-versedabout the departmental plan-

ning, programme and activi-ties. He also directed the PMUto organise a detail training andorientation programme for thenominated officers.

D e v e l o p m e n tCommissioner Pradeep KumarJena said the team would soonupdate State SDG indicatorframework in collaborationwith the departments. Then,the PMU would prepare thebaseline report for pursuance ofthe SDG attainment. The PMUwould also assist in developingthe standardised data man-agement system for collectionof data, their analysis and pre-sentation in perspectives ofthe specific SDGs. Jena askedthe Secretaries of all depart-ments to extend necessary sup-port to PMU in this collabora-tive exercise.

����� �� ��������

In view of the emergence ofa new variant of Covid-19,‘B.1.1.529’ in South Africa,Hong Kong and Botswana,passengers coming from theseparts would be thoroughlyscreened at the airport inBhubaneswar to curb possiblespread of the virus.

In view of recently relaxedvisa restrictions and openingup of international travel, thereis every possibility that the newstrain of the virus might sneakin, said Director of MedicalEducation and Training(DMET) Rama RamanMohanty on Friday.

“The Centre has issued anadvisory on the newCoronavirus variant- B.1.1.529.As Bhubaneswar is an entrypoint being an internationaldestination, there is a need to

conduct Covid test of the pas-sengers coming from SouthAfrica, Hong Kong andBotswana. We can prevent thespread if such travellers arescreened and kept in isolationfor 10 days,” said Mohanty.

It is still premature to sayanything on the transmissionrate and severity of the newvirus strain.

Extra caution should beundertaken along withincreased surveillance, testingand isolation measures at entrypoints, he added.

On Thursday, the Centreissued directives to all Statesand Union Territories to con-duct rigorous screening andtesting of all international trav-ellers coming from or transit-ing through South Africa,Hong Kong and Botswanafrom where the new COVID-19 variant has been reported.

����� �� ��������

Tension prevailed in theUtkal University campus

here on Friday following alle-gations of senior students rag-ging an IMBA first year stu-dent.

The IMBA first year stu-dents held a demonstrationbefore the Vice –Chancellor’soffice in protest. “We are notfeeling safe in the hostels asoutsiders and nonstudents areinvolved in such harassments,”the juniors said.

“Following the admissionsof first year IMBA students, theseniors have been ragging thejuniors, who are strippednaked, beaten up. Seniors areforcing the junior students to

call them ‘Sir’,” alleged a stu-dent.

PG Council Chairman ProfBasant Mallick said, “Somestudents have alleged that somenonstudents have ragged them.We will conduct a detailedinquiry into the allegation.”

He further said anti-rag-ging measures would bestrengthened in the campus.“The existing security will betightened and steps will betaken to regulate the entrygate (VSS Nagar side) after dis-cussions,” he added.

������� ''��(

Police arrested a notoriouscriminal and seized 270

grams of brown sugar fromhis possession in Cuttack cityon Friday. The peddler wasidentified as Raja Bastia.

Based on a tipoff, theLalbag police conducted araid and nabbed him. Duringfrisking, the cops recovered apacket containing the brownsugar from Raja’s possession.The market value of the seizedcontraband would be aroundRs 27 lakh, police said.

Raja has 19 criminal casespending against him at dif-ferent police stations.

Further interrogation ofthe peddler was on to unearthmore information about theracket and drugs trade in thecity. Notably, in 2021 theCommissionerate police hadseized around 5 kg of brownsugar in Cuttack UPD.

����� �� ��������

Bhubaneswar BJP MPAparajita Sarangi on Friday

held Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik “responsible” for thepelting of eggs and stones at herat Acharya Vihar here alleged-ly by BJD workers on Thursday.

“As the head of theGovernment and the rulingparty, he should be heldresponsible,” she stated.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Sarangi said that as awoman MP, she feels she is‘unsafe’. “Women in the Stateare unsafe; it’s the responsibil-ity of the Government to pro-tect the MP,” she said.

Sarangi said, “I am not surethe Chief Minister is awareabout the incident. We sharethe same locality where we stay.I suspect the information hasnot reached the CM. If it’s so,this is gravely unfortunate sit-uation for 4.5 crore Odias and2.5 crore women of the State,”

She appealed to the StateGovernment to allow her towork. From Friday onwards,she announced, she wouldmove around the State and theState Government is mandat-ed to protect her.

Sarangi alleged that shewas categorically targeted bythe attackers. “I have com-plete faith on police andadministration, but the actionon the culprits needs to betaken within 24 hours,” shestated

She said, “I will raise theissue in the Parliament. I amnot frightened of the incident.I am committed to workingwith renewed vigour.”

BJP State president SamirMohanty told reporters that it’sa violation of the Constitutionalobligations on the part of theState Government. The attackon the MP was a conspiracy ofthe BJD. The incident showsthe political intolerance of thePatnaik Government.

������������ �,��� ����&�������������

��+������������)-���� ������� �������.*��&���������

����� �� ��������

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik has sanctioned Rs

96,500 to Tarachand Rana, astudent belonging toBangomunda block of Balangirdistrict to enable him to getadmitted to the NIIT,Warrangal.

Coming to know thatTarachand, a meritorious stu-dent, was unable to take admis-sion in the college, Patnaikimmediately sanctioned themoney in his favour.

Tarachand’s father UpsuRana’s annual income is report-ed to be Rs 45,000.

���/-�&3����4�,��5/��������� +��,�6�"��4���7���

-��������/��� 0�����#�� �+����������

��=���&#2���A��B�����*��!��#����-������������ ������

����������������������������� ����������

���������

���� �!�"� �����#� �$�����%��������������������������&������� ���������%� �������������

����������������� � �������

���1�+���/�����!�"��"�&�1��&�$�+'�"���� �����(�����������������)*�������������� ����������������������

������'++�),� ������

Page 3: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

���������-�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

�,�'���'�� � ����9���

As many as 67 Governmentschools of Sundargarh dis-

trict were transformed under 5-T initiative recently and theschools are shining and smartclasses have also been intro-duced in these schools butsurprisingly in most of theschools, there is no regularheadmaster. Many teacherposts are also lying vacant inthese schools.

These schools were trans-formed with the funding ofDMF and OMBADC (OdishaMineral Bearing AreasDevelopment Corporation).The schools that were trans-formed in the first phase in thedistrict are from all 17 blocksand three ULBs of Sundargarh,Rajgangpur and Birmitrapur.These schools have been refur-bished with amenities likesmart classrooms, e-librarieswith reading rooms, modernlaboratories, sports infrastruc-ture, safe drinking water facil-ities and lavatories.

12 new computers havealso been installed in the com-puter lab in each school. Under5T initiative, facilities like

smart class, modern sciencelab, e-library and ICT Lab,were being built. Sources said,about Rs 26.80 lakh was spentper school, for the transfor-mation of the 67 high schools.

But surprisingly, the trans-formations in these schoolsnotwithstanding, headmastersare not available in 36 highschools among these highschools for last nine years.These schools are under blocksof Subdega,Rajgangpur,Kuanrmunda,Nuagaon, Lahunipada,Gurundia, Koira, Hemgiri,Lepripara, Balishankara andKutra of Sundargarh district.

Due to non availability ofheadmaster of these schools,inexperienced teachers havebeen assigned to function asheadmasters.

The position of headmas-ter is lying vacant in sevenschools in Rajgangpur blocksince long. In Rourkela, thereis no headmaster inGovernment schools atPanposh and Basanti Colony.

Similarly, there is no head-master in high schools atKacharu, Kadobahal,Dhangirnacha, Padampur,

Jharbeda and Barabang forlast nine years.

There are also about 669teacher posts lying vacant invarious high schools in the dis-trict.

“Advertisement for 574teacher posts were releasedduring the month of Augustand among the applicants,candidates were provisionallyselected through computerbased test. Certificate verifi-cation of provisionally select-ed candidates was completedon November 24. So theteachers vacancy problem indistrict will be solved verysoon.” said District EducationOfficer, Sundargarh AmulyaPradhan.

“The Headmaster postswhich are lying vacant inschools too will be filled upthrough promoted seniorteachers and that will be doneby Director, SecondaryEducation,” informed Pradhan.

Significantly, the 67 trans-formed high schools ofSundargarh district had beendedicated by Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik on November11 under 5T initiative throughvideo conference.

(�� ����!����������� ��2��������� ��3������4�������������

����� ��������

The foundation stone forinfrastructure development

of the Baleswar railway stationwas laid by MP Pratap ChandraSarangi on Thursday. SadarMLA Swarup Das and seniorofficials of SE Railway were pre-sent.

According to the officialsources, a new station buildingwill be constructed with mod-ern facilities. The new buildingwill consist of base kitchen, par-cel, store cloakroom ARM,First Aid, GRP post, rest room,RMS, RPF post and pay and toi-

let along with some essentialrooms like IPS room, relayroom and panel room etc.

It also includes develop-ment of circulating areas andadditional entry facilities etc.

The work will be done inthe first phase with an approx-imate cost of Rs 13 crore andthe contract has already beenawarded, it was informed.

In phase two, for otherancillary works including addi-tional entry, platform, FOB,non-essential amenities at thestation, another Rs 17 crore hasbeen planned, sourcesinformed.

������ �#���������'1�+��� #��������

����� �� ��������

Aworkshop was organised inhybrid mode by the

Building and Wood WorkersInternational (BWI, GlobalUnion Federation) on‘Organised Value Chains inChinese MNCs’ fromNovember 17 to 19.

More than 60 tradeunionists from India,Pakistan, Nepal, Malaysia,Indonesia, Philippines,Australia and South Koreashared the challenges and alsotrade unions’ interventions atthe Chinese MNCs sites vis-à-vis labour violations that per-tained to working conditions,working hours, overtime,wages, social security, paidleaves and occupational healthand safety.

A number of action pointswere deliberated includingcollective actions, networking,case filings, compliance tonational laws, ILO core labourstandards, invokingInternational FinancialInstitutions (IFIs) account-ability mechanisms, socialdialogue and also pushing forrecognition of Covid-19 asoccupational disease.

National vice presidentINTUC and BWI IndianAffiliates Council Chair for-mer MP Dr Rama ChandraKhuntia delivered closingremarks where he voiced con-cerns on the expanding foot-prints of Chinese MNCs andundermining of trade unionsand workers’ rights in theiroperations.

Dr Khuntia noted that in

countries where there arestrong institutions and strongtrade unions Chinese MNCstend to comply with laws andhonour labour standards. Onbehalf of the federation, heassured the trade union lead-ers from the Asia Pacificregion of all support andcooperation to push for adecent work culture at theChinese MNCs.

The other key speakers atthe three-days event includedDave Noonan (Australia),Chair of BWI AP RegionalCommittee, Tos Anonuevo(Switzerland), BWIEducational Secretary,Apolinar Tolentino (Malaysia),BWI Regional Representative,Asia Pacific, Dr Rajeev Sharmaand Prerna Prasad (India),BWI South Asia Office.

'2�+�������)������������������%���1����������� ����

����� '������

On the occasion of fourthannual ceremony of the

Prachina Loka Nrutya Sangha,a grand felicitation programmewas organised here at Talcherto promote and restore theancient folk dances and culturethose are gradually passinginto oblivion.

On the occasion, the

General Manager, HingulaArea, MCL, joined as chiefguest. He said that it was a veryrare event to to felicitate somany artists of ancient cultur-al troupes.

Senior journalistDhiramohan Ray joining aschief speaker said praised theeffort of Prachina Loka NrutyaSangha for its contribution topromoting ancient art and cul-

ture. Social workerBibhutibhusan Sahu, presidentof Suravi Mahila Mandal ofMCL Dali Mishra and DrSasmita Sahu were the otherguests. Over 60 folk artistswere felicitated with flowerbouquets, utariyas and certifi-cates. The programme waspresided over by general sec-retary of the organisationSoubhagya Chandra Nayak.

3� ���������� ����������-� ���� ����� �, �

Young poet and well-knownchildren's writer Dhirendra

Mallick was conferred the"Spiritual and Cultural Award"by the Matilagna SahityaSansad, a literary institution inMalkangiri district.

Editor Kishore ChandraPradhan, Mahadev Satapathyand adviser Durga PrasadPadhi honoured him with thehonor.

Mallick regularly writesstories, poems, especially chil-

dren's literature and publishesthem on various social media,newspapers and magazines,and always strives to promoteOdia language and literature.He has authored more than 400poems.

His poems are regularlypublished in various newspa-pers and are well-received byreaders.

The intellectuals and politi-cians of Dasarathapur areacongratulated him on the occa-sion and wished him a long andprosperous life.

!����4�����+��������%� �����������

����� �����9�

After the Balangir policecracked the murder of one

Biswadev Sahu, whose half-burnt body was found behindthe Rajendra University PGHostel on Tuesday, a video clipfollowing the brutal killinghas now gone viral on socialmedia platforms.

The video clip showed thetwo accused Amit Manhiraand Subham Singh burningthe dead body of Sahu afterkilling him with a sharpweapon and brandishing themurder weapon.

Singh, while recording thevideo, can be seen issuingthreats to someone who wasyet to be identified.

“Dekh jalaya jaa raha hai

maar ke insaan ko. Main yahinjalaya hun. Dekh jaa raheinhain jalake, abhi nikalte hain"(See, a man is being burnt afterbeing murdered. I have sethim on fire at this spot. And,we are going after killing andburning him), Singh said inthe clip.

Threatening fo someoneby brandishing the murderweapon, Singh could be seensaying, “Dekh le beta issi sekhoon hua hai, isse se khoonkiya hoon. Ab teri bari hai" (Ihave killed him with thisweapon and it’s your turnnow).

Earlier on Wednesday,Bolangir Sadar SDPO TofanBag had said Manhira andSahu were in love with a girland had a rift over it .

However, their friend Singhhad turned into a mediatorbetween them and was tryingto solve the dispute.

In order to solve the dis-pute between the two, Singhhad called Manhira and Sahuto the backside of PG Hostel.However, Sahu had an alter-cation with Manhira andSingh, the SDPO said.

The duo lost their cool andin a fit of rage, attacked Sahuwith a sharp weapon killinghim on the spot. Later, they setSahu’s body on fire and fledfrom the spot.

Police picked up both ofthem for questioning suspect-ing their involvement in thecase and during the interro-gation, both confessed to thecrime.

� � �����������!����������!�� ��-������%� ������'� ���"���������� ��

����� ��� ��������8��, �

The farmers are spendingsleepless nights guarding

their ready- to-harvest as wellas harvested crops from boarsand elephants in Binka area ofSubarnapur district.

For last couple of days,hundreds of boars fromSinghijuba, Jampali, Bhandara,Papi, Kadlipali and Chulimalireserve forests under Binikarange are raiding the paddyfields and destroying the ripecrops in the farm lands.

Adding to their woes, ele-phants from Ullunda forestare frequently raiding Binikaafter crossing the Mahanadiriver. These pachyderms arecausing extensive damage tothe crops and are not sparingeven the harvested crops keptin farmlands.

When it comes to savingtheir crops, thinking abouttheir safety as well as health isthe last thing on the farmersminds. Braving winter andmosquito menance, they areguarding their crops at theirfarmlands and farmyards,remaining awake all throughthe night. Some have erectedmanchas from where they arekeeping vigil on their crops

below.As if the wild animals

menace was not enough, theinclement weather has alsoposed a threat. With the paddyprocurement centres, yet to beopened in Binka area, hun-dreds of farmers, who havealready harvested their cropsare in a fix. The unseasonal rainhas aggravated the situation.They apprehend that the har-vested paddy they have savedfrom marauding animalswould be damaged due to themoisture in the atmosphere.

That apart, farmers are yetto receive their assistancemoney for the crops they lostto boars last year. This yearthese animals have already

destroyed huge acres of paddycrops.

While they are under theburden of loans, they are hav-ing a tough time makingmachine and labour payments.

The farmers ofSindurapur,Babupali,Bankighardi,Singhijuba and Papi havedemanded that the adminis-tration consider their problemseriously and take steps toopen the paddy procurementcentres at the earliest and assestheir crop loss. While contact-ed, Binika Ranger SibaprasadNayak assured the affectedfarmers would be compensat-ed for the damages caused bywild animals last year and thecurrent year.

'�������������������� ��� ���������

����� ,����,

Union Minister of State forPorts, Shipping and

Waterways Shantanu Thakurcame on Friday on a two-dayvisited to the Paradip Port toreview the regular works andprojects. The Minister was givena warm welcome by PPTChairman PL Haranadh andDeputy Chairman AK Bose.

Thakur told a media meetthat the Centre would investover Rs 10,000 crore to make theParadip Port a clean, green andsmart port and this port wouldbe the best one in the country onthe east coast.

He also informed about themodernisation and ancillary

development work of the port.The completion of the 1,500-kmpipeline from Paradip to Assamwould increase the port's cargo

traffic. A special terminal berthworth Rs 700 crore would beconstructed for transportationof LPG.

��$�� �����5���4�,����� /��,�����-�4�����

�������-�������������������, �

Afour-day dharna by theDistrict Consumer Court

lawyers here in front of DistrictConsumer Disputes RedressalCommission (DCDRC) herewas withdrawn on Friday aftera discussion with the districtadministration.

Led by Dr Siba PrasadMishra and Kailash ChandraMishra, they alleged that theirnotice given to the PrincipalSecretary, Food Supplies andConsumer WelfareDepartment and Secretary,State Consumer DisputesRedressal Commission, DistrictConsumer Disputes RedressalCommission(DCDRC) for fill-ing up of all the vacanciesincluding the post of Presidentand Members of DistrictConsumer Court as advertisedby the State Government forthe respective commissions ofthe State remained unheeded.

The agitating lawyersalleged further that, out of 31Consumer Disputes RedressalCommissions functioning in 30districts in the State, the post ofPresident is lying vacant in the26 DCDRC courts; so also 42Member posts in these courts

are lying vacant. Mention may be made that,

the State Government hadadvertised on 23.7.21 and21.8.21 to fill up the vacanciesunder different Commissionsof the State. Meanwhile, theSupreme Court reportedlypassed an order directing theState Government to fill up thevacancies within eight weekswhich too remained unheeded,the agitating lawyers alleged.

They further alleged that,due to the inactions of theConsumer WelfareDepartment of the State, thewhole gamut of the consumerdisputes redressal system in the

State not only has been jeop-ardised but also the consumersof the State are deprived of duejustice. As a result, thousandsof consumer disputes “forunfair trade practice of thetraders” are currently pendingunder different Commissionsthereby causing harassment tothe consumers.

Similarly, the very non-fill-ing of vacant post of Presidentand Members lying vacant inthe District Consumer Court atBrahmapur for years indirect-ly encourages unfair trade prac-tice which is unjust anduncalled for, the agitatorspointed out.

*&*�&�� �, ���8�/�0�������#���6�4.����/-�����

-��������������,��-� ���,��� ��'�-� ���+��

$����.��/�01 ��;��!���"����!�&���-��&1#&��$��&����������//#!�*��&/�!+���/1��2!����-��!����������*�1&�/����.���&/�!+�"*�2��%�&�1�!!����!����!����!��%�&����**������"&�/��������""��"�&�1��*�!��&�1��1#&1����.�'�������*���"�!�����!2��"����������*����&��!������������������.

�������,����+����,���$,�������������-� ��

,�.2�3�0�C�'���;���!�����!D�2�&��#!�����!�#�������$*������!����!���/1&���!�*+�����#11�&���/�&2�!�+�!�����!���������&��������E#�&��&�����1���*�(�*���!��.�'�����/1�%����!�#2#&�����$+���/1�!+���1#�+���8�99�,�*%��&����4�#!�����"�$*����%�&����!�����$+��/1*�+�����!�����������1�&�!�&���"�������/1�!+.�����&�����*������!-�8""���&��+�!��$�*�����-�11&������������;���!��?��E#��-�&��1�!���%��!�����$*����$�!-�%��"���!2��!���#������&��2���"�$*�����!�&���!����/��.

��������4��+����-�5���%����6�--��-����%�����

���0��3� �1 ;���!�����&�#2#�������$�22�����������7��������%�&��4�4��!�����%�/�!��/1�%�&/�!������2�&+�"�&�����"*�2���1���//#!��+����*�1/�!��1&�D�����#$��*�6/�����1�&���������F��44G�/�/$�&H��&�!2�**H%�/�!�������+.�'����%�&��&���2!����������""�&����"���/1�!�����!�!��2&���!2��!���!��&!�*���!2���&1�&���������*����1�!��$�*��+��!�����&�1�&����!�.��������!2������%�&����+���8H;���!������&�#2#������1�-,&�����������I8#&��#$��*�6/�����1�&��������������!�!2��6�/1*���"�%�����&1�&�����!����//#!��+�1�&�!�&���1���!��������.J

+'�..�+/0

����� �� ��������

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on

Friday forecast formation of alow pressure area over thesouth Andaman Sea aroundNovember 29. It has led toapprehensions of the Bay ofBengal witnessing anothercyclonic storm as environ-mental conditions arefavourable for the same.

As per Skymet WeatherServices, environmental con-ditions would support intensi-fication of the forecasted sys-tem. Two decisive factors, seasurface temperature and windshear would help in the growthand sustenance of the systemfor few days, after the forma-tion of low pressure area.

Northeast monsoon seasonusually witnesses one or twostorms originating overAndaman Sea or an offshoot ofremnant system from Gulf ofThailand. However, the maid-en storm is yet to form during

the season, this year. Hence, thepossibility of the cyclone for-mation is fairly high, the weath-er office said.

Such storms generally headtowards Andhra Pradesh andOdisha. Also, some of themreach close to the coast andstart re-curving, it added.

The system would benamed as Cyclone Jawad if itintensifies into a cyclonicstorm.

Intensity of the system ispredicted to be that of a depres-sion by majority of the weath-er models by December 3 andfurther intensification into asevere category cyclone duringsubsequent 24 to 48 hours, theIMD said.

Adverse weather is likely toprevail over central and northBay of Bengal as the systemmoves further. Fishermen areadvised to be cautious andavoid venturing into centraland north Bay of Bengal dur-ing December 2 to 5, the IMDsaid.

�#� ���!�+����'�#��'���� &#���5

������.��������& !����� �� ������� ��������%����8�����������. �9���8�'�������% ��������� �% � �.�� �� �:�� ��"�������;���2�� �������"�/ �% �������!����� "������% ���' �����<������ = �������������

Page 4: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

��������1�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

����� ��������

Prime Minister NarendraModi led the nation in pay-

ing homage to the victims ofthe Mumbai terror attacks 13years ago and said the woundscannot be forgotten. ThePakistani envoy to New Delhitoo was summoned here todemand the expeditious trial ofthose responsible for the das-tardly incident in which 166people including 26 foreignnationals were killed.

The attacks by a 10-mem-ber squad of Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) terrorists began onNovember 26, 2008. Pakistanarrested seven LeT operatives,including operations com-mander Zakiur RahmanLakhvi, but there has been lit-tle headway in their trial.

Remembering the victims,the Prime Minister said in avideo, “India can’t forget thewounds of the Mumbai attacks.Now, today’s India is combat-ing terrorism with a new pol-icy and new ways.”

“I pay my homage to allthose who died in the Mumbaiattacks. Many brave police per-sonnel were martyred in thisattack. I also pay homage tothem,” Modi said.

The video said victims ofthe terror attacks “from Indiaand across the world awaitjustice”. It included images ofthe assault on Mumbai’s icon-ic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel andtributes to security personnelkilled in the attacks.

Footage of world leaderssuch as former UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon con-demning the attacks and pay-ing tribute to victims duringvisits to Mumbai were includ-

ed in the video. Among theleaders featured in the videowere former US presidentBarack Obama, the duke andduchess of Cambridge,Belgium’s King Philippe, andUK foreign secretary LizTruss.

Meanwhile, India sum-moned a senior diplomat of thePakistan High Commissionhere and issued a note verbale“reiterating India’s call for anexpeditious trial in theMumbai terror attacks case”.

The note also called on thePakistan government “to abideby its commitment to notallow territories under its con-trol for terrorism against India”,according to a statement fromthe external affairs ministrysaid.

“It is a matter of deepanguish that even after 13years of this heinous terrorattack, the families of 166 vic-tims from 15 countries acrossthe globe still await closure,with Pakistan showing littlesincerity in bringing the per-petrators to justice,” the state-ment said.

“The 26/11 terrorist attackwas planned, executed andlaunched from Pakistani terri-tory. The former Prime

Minister of Pakistan had goneon record and admitted thatthe terrorists were sent fromPakistan’s soil,” the statementsaid, in a reference to formerpremier Nawaz Sharif.

“We once again call on thegovernment of Pakistan togive up double standards andto expeditiously bring the per-petrators of the horrific attackto justice. This is not just amatter of Pakistan’s account-ability to the families of theinnocent victims who fell toterrorists, but also an interna-tional obligation,” it said.

“The Government of Indiawill continue to make everyeffort to seek justice for thefamilies of the victims and themartyrs,” it said adding the gov-ernment and people of Indiaremembered victims of the“dastardly attack” on the 13thanniversary of the event.

A memorial event wasorganised by the Maharashtragovernment at the PoliceMemorial in Mumbai. Indianmissions in the 14 countrieswhose nationals were killed inthe Mumbai attacks alsoorganised memorial events forthe victims and reminded theworld of the continuing glob-al threat of terrorism.

����� ��������

The CBI has received sanctionto prosecute retired

Allahabad High Court JudgeJustice S N Shukla in a corrup-tion case linked to alleged favourgranted to a private medical col-lege through his judicial pro-nouncement.

The CBI had sought per-mission from the High Court toprosecute the retired judge, onApril 16 this year, in line withcompliance of Prevention ofCorruption Act for prosecutinghim, official sources said.

Having secured a sanctionfrom the High Court, the CBIcan now proceed with achargesheet in the case againstthe retired judge as the probe inthe matter has already beenwrapped up, officials said.

The sanction to prosecutethe retired judge, a primeaccused in the case, was soughtby the agency after the probe inthe case suggested prima facieculpability of the named accusedin the case, the sources said.

Besides Justice Shukla of theLucknow bench of theAllahabad High Court, theagency had also named retiredChhattisgarh High Court judgeI M Quddusi (was earlier arrest-ed in this case), Bhagwan PrasadYadav and Palash Yadav of thePrasad Education Trust, theTrust itself and private personsBhavna Pandey and Sudhir Girias accused in the FIR, they said.

The accused persons andthe Trust were booked underIndian Penal Code Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) andprovisions of the Prevention of

Corruption Act.Illegal gratification was

allegedly paid to one of theaccused named in the FIR by theTrust in order to get a favourablecourt order, officials said refer-ring to the FIR.

After registering the FIR, theCBI had conducted searches atmultiple locations in Lucknow,Meerut and the national capitalin December 2019, including atthe then serving judge JusticeShukla’s premises in Lucknow,they said.

It is alleged that the PrasadInstitute of Medical Sciences wasdebarred by the Centre fromadmitting students due to sub-standard facilities and non-ful-filment of the required criteriain May 2017, along with 46 othermedical colleges that were alsobarred on similar grounds forstudents' intake, they furthersaid.

The decision to debar theInstitute from admitting stu-dents was challenged by theTrust before the Supreme Courtthrough a writ petition, theyadded.

Subsequently, a conspiracywas hatched by the accusedpersons and the Trust and thepetition was withdrawn with theapex court's permission.

Another writ petition wasfiled before the Lucknow benchof the High Court on August 24,2017.

It was further alleged in theFIR that the petition was heardon August 25, 2017 by a divisionbench of the court comprisingJustice Shukla and an orderfavourable to the Trust waspassed the same day, they added.

�����������������������������-�� � % ��:������������������� ��

����� ��������

The Supreme Court on Fridaya g re e d

to hear theplea ofP r a s h a n tBhushan-ledNGO challenging the DelhiHigh Court order which upheldthe Centre's decision to appointsenior IPS officer RakeshAsthana as Delhi PoliceCommissioner. A bench ofJustices D Y Chandrachud andA S Bopanna issued notice to theCentre and Asthana and soughttheir response on the plea of theNGO, the Centre for PublicInterest Litigation. The NGO hasfiled a writ petition and anappeal against the appointmentof Asthana as Delhi PoliceCommissioner four days beforehis superannuation on July 31.

Advocate PrashantBhushan, appearing for theNGO, said that they have filedthe appeal as directed by the topcourt on November 18. SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta, appear-ing for Centre and Senior advo-cate Mukul Rohatgi, represent-ing Asthana said that they wouldfile their replies in two weeks.

On October 12, the DelhiHigh Court upheld theCentre's decision to appointAsthana as Delhi PoliceCommissioner, saying therewas “no irregularity, illegalityor infirmity” in his selection.Dismissing a PIL challenginghis selection, it had said thejustification and reasons givenby the Centre for appointingAsthana are plausible, callingfor no interference in judicialreview.

/������� ����� � �����-��� � >� ����������� �(������������������

����� ��������

Taking note of the historicalperspective of barriers and

challenges faced by women inparticipation in elections inIndia, Chief ElectionCommissioner Sushil Chandrasaid on Friday after sevendecades and 17 GeneralElections since Independence,women's participation in Indiahas exceeded that of men andstood at more than 67 percentin the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing an interna-tional webinar on ‘EnhancingElectoral Participation ofWomen, Persons withDisabilities and SeniorCitizens', Chandra narratedhow the Election Commissionmade special efforts to enhancethe participation on women,people with disabilities, seniorcitizens and transgenders.

“Gender gap, a crucialparameter, which was -16.71%in 1962, has not only closed butreversed to +0.17% in 2019. Infact India has witnessed a235.72% increase in femaleelectors since the 1971 elec-tions,” he said. The poll panel,

Chandra said, has made con-sistent efforts and has gone thatextra mile to empower andfacilitate the participation ofsenior citizens and personswith disabilities.

In most countries and ter-ritories, voting rights weregranted to women in a piece-meal manner, he observed.The United States took 144years to give equal votingrights to women, he pointedout.

In India, women got theright to vote the year the coun-try was born. This does notobliviate the fact that manyIndian women campaignedfor equal right to vote. TheIndian suffragette movementgathered momentum with theparticipation of more andmore women in the freedomstruggle, he said.

The real logistics issuecame up in the preparation ofelectoral rolls when a largenumber of women, owing tocustomary practice, refusedto disclose their own namesand wanted to be registered asA's wife or B's mother, herecalled.

��+�+�������������������������)�6�

����� ��������

Army chief General M MNaravane on Friday

reviewed the operational pre-paredness of the armed forcesin Jaisalmer to fight modern-day war in a synergised man-ner.

He undertook the two-dayvisit ending Friday to Rajasthanto an exercise location inJaisalmer to review exercise‘Dakshin Shakti’ conducted bythe Southern Command ofIndian Army with an aim toensure integrated application offorces in Multi-DomainOperations and upholding thenation’s military aims over theentire spectrum of conflict.

During the past one week,units and formations of theIndian Army practiced tacticaland operational manoeuvres by its Infantry,Mechanised Formations andAirborne troops in a fluid bat-tlefield environment, opera-tionalising future technologies.

This was effected byexploiting versatile and indigenous airborne platformssuch as Advanced LightHelicopter (Weapon SystemIntegrated), Swarm Drones

and enmeshing ArtificialIntelligence to provide a cohe-sive operational and intelli-gence picture amalgamatedwithin the Intelligence,Surveillance and Recce (ISR)Architecture.

A formidable display ofthe same including SpecialHeliborne Operations, SwarmDrone and ALH Manoeuvresand coordinated action byground troops were also prac-ticed.

The Army Chief com-mended the SouthernCommand for fielding andexploiting the capabilities ofindigenous equipment induct-ed as part of the ‘Atma NirbharBharat’ initiative. He alsoemphasised the need to constantly evolve tactics, tech-niques and procedure to fight“Future Wars” as well as capa-bility enhancement in Mannedand Unmanned systems.

& � ! �����!��'�������� ����������� ��������������� �� ����

����� ��������

President Vladimir Putinand Prime Minister

Narendra Modi will holdsummit level talks here onDecember 6. The two coun-tries will also have the firsttwo plus two dialogue on the same daybetween the defence and for-eign ministers of their coun-tries.

Making an off icial

announcement about Putin’svisit , the ministr y of external affairs (MEA) saidhere on Friday the Russianpresident will pay an officialvisit to New Delhi for the 21stIndia-Russia Annual Summitwith the Prime Minister.

The Pioneer had reportedabout these two high profileevents a few days back.

In an official statement,MEA spokesperson ArindamBagchi further

confirmed that the first meet-ing of 2+2 dialogue betweenForeign and DefenceMinisters of India and Russiawill be held in Delhi onDecember 6.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankarwill represent the Indian side.Russian Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov and DefenceMinister Sergei Shoigu willrepresent their country.

����"�.������������� �������(����%���?������ ��������

Congress president SoniaGandhi will address a pub-

lic rally on December 12 as partof her party's drive against pricerise and inflation. The Congresspresident and the party havedecided to draw the country'sattention to price rise and infla-tion' by holding a massive"Mehngai Hatao rally" in Delhion December 12, AICC gener-al secretary K C Venugopalsaid.

The rally will be addressedby Congress president SoniaGandhi and former party chiefRahul Gandhi and otherCongress leaders from across thecountry. "It will give a decisivewarning to the present ModiGovernment to stop its loot andreduce the backbreaking prices.We shall continue our struggleuntil the Modi Governmentbacks down," he said in a state-ment.

Venugopal said "Modi and'Mehngai' have become the baneof people's lives" and theunprecedented price rise andinflation have demolished theearnings, the household incomeand budget of every family in thecountry.

He said the people of Indiaare suffering unbearable cruel-

ty and untold misery on accountof the BJP government-drivenprice rise and inflation.

The budget of every house-hold bleeds, even minimumnutrition suffers and people arefinding it difficult to buy andconsume day-to-day food arti-cles as also other consumables,he alleged. "The Modi govern-ment remains oblivious to thisinsurmountable pain and suf-fering of people. Backed by a sec-tion of the electronic media, theonly solution offered by Modigovernment is a divisive reli-gious discourse or sporadicdiversionary statements to resetthe agenda from fundamentalissues affecting the lives of thepeople," he said in the statement.

The Congress has beenprotesting on the issue of pricerise and inflation and havecalled for a check on them. TheCongress leader said the real

issues affecting the people ofIndia are the backbreakingprices of petrol, diesel andcooking gas, which have had aspiralling effect on the prices ofall foods and other consumableitems.

He said every home isaffected by the merciless rise inprices of cooking oil, pulses andother food items and it is per-haps for the first time, price oftomato has surpassed the priceof petrol and diesel in India. Healso alleged that price of con-struction material such ascement, iron and steel has seena rise of nearly 40 per cent to50 per cent "Everything isgradually going out of thereach of the common man.Modi government eitherremains indifferent to the woesand agony of ordinary Indianor mocks it on other occa-sions," he alleged.

/��� ���������� �� ����(���0@ � ���������������"����� ����

����� ��������

In keeping with its focus onpromotion of the North-

East, identifying new destina-tions and developing itinerariesaround them, the Centre iskicking off a three-dayInternational Tourism Marton Saturday in picturesqueKohima in Nagaland, which isblessed with breathtakingunexplored destinations.

Nagaland is holding themart for the first time. It wasearlier held in Guwahati(Assam), Tawang (ArunachalPradesh), Shi l long(Meghalaya), Gangtok(Sikkim), Agartala (Tripura),and Imphal (Manipur).

And the day after theMart wraps up, the StateGovernment will inauguratethe much-awaited HornbillFestival, an annual tourismpromotional event showcas-ing the rich Naga traditionand culture at the NagaHeritage Village, Kisama,

about 12 km from the statecapital.

Nagaland Chief MinisterNeiphiu Rio, Minister of Statefor Tourism & Defence fromthe Centre, Ajay Bhatt andMLA and Advisor Tourism,Nagaland H KhehoviYeputhomi will jointly inau-gurate the InternationalTourism Mart.

“This edition of the Martwill put the spotlight on“Domestic Tourism”. Besidesdeliberations on the promo-tion of tourism in the NorthEast Region in general, theMart will also give a platformfor promoting cultural ties,providing enhanced connec-tivity to the States of NorthEastern Region with otherparts of the country,” said anoff icial from the UnionTourism Ministry which hasorganized the mega event.

The three-day Mart to beattended by a battery of stake-holders will see a string of cul-tural programmes, delibera-tions on the promotion of

tourism in the North EastRegion in general, promotingcultural t ies , providingenhanced connectivity to theStates of North EasternRegion with other parts of thecountry.

Among over 300 dele-gates including governmentofficials, industry stakehold-ers and local participants, theevent is also going to begraced by the HighCommissioner, BruneiDarussalam, HighCommissioner, Malaysia,Ambassador Extra Ordinary,Republic of the Union ofMyanmar, Ambassador, TheSocialist Republic of Vietnam,amongst others attending dig-nitaries and diplomats.

The city is a tourist'sdelight, having been blessedwith rich cultural heritageshowcased in hotspots likeKisama Heritage Village,Kisama War Museum andMorungs, Khonoma Villageand Kohima World War IIWar Cemetery.

&�,����+� +�,�������������-�� ,�2/�'�.���6�3�����,�����6�

����� ����9��

Chairman of the Planningand Finance Committee

at Union Minority AffairsMinistry and a member of theCentral Waqf Council, RaisKhan Pathan, has written toJammu & Kashmir L-G ManojSinha drawing his immediateattention to the recent incidentsin Kashmir where senior jour-nalist Sajid Yousuf Shah, whois also president of All JKYouth Society, received threatsafter he informed the authori-ties about nefarious plans ofterrorists.

“The terrorists are plottingto contaminate the food givento the security forces by inject-ing poison in it. I state withdeep anguish that the recentoccurrence has become a cru-cial concern as informed to meby the journalist by taggingour official handle on Twitter

last week,” Pathan mentionedin his letter and shared newsclippings and news channelclips broadcast in the localmedia.

“Also, it has been informedthat Shah has been attackedseveral times in the past and ison the top hit list of many ter-ror attacks. The situation isgrim and completely dreadful.The viral audios on Twitterwith different names, IDs aredisturbing and are jeopardiz-ing the public safety. Lookingat the situation, it stands as amajor threat not only to thejournalist but also to millionsof security officers, which canrisk the security and stability ofour nation. In this regard, Irequest you to personally inter-vene in the matter and order animmediate high-level investi-gation to review the situationminutely,” Pathan stated in hisletter dated November 23.

92#�/��� 5�� ���������� '����' ������������������������ �����

����� ��������

Expressing "pain" overOpposition parties boy-

cotting the Constitution Dayevent organised by the LokSabha Secretariat on Friday,Speaker Om Birla said stayingaway from such non-partisanevents held by Parliament isnot good for the health ofdemocracy.

Speaking to reporters afterthe programme, Birla said,"This culture of boycottingnon-partisan events, which areof national interest, is not goodfor the health of democracy."He said he will sit with the rep-resentatives from the opposi-tion parties and discuss how itcan be ensured that all politi-cal parties attend such events.

"I am deeply hurt as thepresiding officer of the LokSabha that several politicalparties boycotted the eventorganised by Parliament to

commemorate the ConstitutionDay," Birla said.

He found it strange that theparties boycotting the event didnot even inform him abouttheir decision. "If they hadsome issues, they should havediscussed it with me. I wouldhave tried to resolve theirissues so that they could attendthe event," the Lok Sabhaspeaker said.

The people of the countryexpect Parliament to functionin an orderly manner and allpolitical parties should try toensure that the House runssmoothly, he added.

Arrangements were madefor Leader of Opposition in theLok Sabha Adhir RanjanChowdhury and his counter-part in the Rajya SabhaMallikarjun Kharge -- bothfrom the Congress -- to sit onthe dais. It was also intimatedto both leaders.

Speaking at the event, Birla

said the Constitution is like amodern version of theBhagavad Gita that motivatesevery Indian to work for thenation. "The Constitution ofIndia is like a modern versionof the Gita for us that motivatesus to work for the nation. Ifeach one of us commits toworking for the country, we canbuild 'Ek Bharat, ShresthaBharat'," he said.

�������������������� ���2���� � ������������������������� � �������� ������������������ ����������� �������� ��������3����� ����������)�.� ��

��

/� ���� ' ������������������ ���������"�� ��/�� ���

5�� ������*/6))������� ���1���������� ��&�

Page 5: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

��������*�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

Srinagar: Majority of the shopsand business establishmentsin downtown Srinagar wereshut on the second consecutiveday on Friday while mobileinternet remained suspendedin many parts of the city fol-lowing the killing of three mil-itants, officials said.

The shutdown wasobserved mainly in interiorareas such as Nowhatta,Gojwara, Khanyar, S a f a k a d a l ,Nawakadal, Rajouri Kadal andMR Gunj, they said.

Traffic, however, was ply-ing as usual, the officials said.

Police on Wednesdaygunned down Mehran Shalla,a self-styled commander ofThe Resistance Front (TRF)and a resident of Jamalata areain Nawakadal, and ManzoorAhmad Mir and Arafat Sheikh,both from Pulwama, in a briefencounter in Rambagh area ofthe city.

Police said Mir andSheikh, too, were affiliatedwith TRF, an offshoot ofLashkar-e-Taiba.

Shalla was wanted by secu-rity forces in connection withseveral civilian killings, includ-ing those of two teachersbelonging to minority com-munities inside a school inEidgah area of the city lastmonth, they said. PTI

���+�����+������ (8�(�'�

Youth, women and minorities constitutea sizeable part of the ruling Trinamool

Congress and Left Front’s candidates’ list forthe upcoming Kolkata MunicipalCorporation elections which would take placeon December 19 about two years behindschedule.

Incidentally both the TMC and the Left,left principal opposition BJP behind inannouncing their respective lists with a mori-bund Left on Friday coming out quite sur-prisingly with its own list beating the rulingoutfit by several hours.

In an apparent bid to recognize the riseof women electorate that played a decisive rolein this year’s Assembly elections both theTMC and the Left Front have fielded a size-able number of women candidates.

While senior TMC leader ParthoChatterjee emerging from a core committeemeeting presided by Chief Minister MamataBanerjee announced that “we are fielding 80male and 64 female candidates --- making ita 55%-45% percent affair --- the Marxistshave nominated 56 female and 58 male can-didates out of the 127 seats they are con-testing.

TMC will contest from all the 144 seatsthe Left Front have left 17 seats for the

“Congress, ISF or any other party that candefeat the Trinamool and the BJP.” The Leftwhich announced the names of 114 candi-dates will publish the names of 13 nomineesin a day or two, its leader Kallol Majumdarsaid.

While both the TMC and the LF havepreferred the youth in deciding their candi-dates the average age of the Front candidatesis about 48 years. For the Trinamool Congressit is a tad lower.

Out of the 144 nominations the rulingoutfit has retained 87 councilors and dropped39. “Those who have not been given ticketswould be used in the organizational work,”said Chatterjee. Six MLAs --- all sitting coun-cilors --- figure in the TMC list. Among themare outgoing Mayor Firhad Hakim who is alsoa State minister, Deputy Mayor Atin Ghosh,Mayors-in-council Debashis Kumar andDebabrata Biswas.

Out of the total candidates the TMC hasfielded 19 SCs and 23 minorities, Chatterjeesaid adding out of the minority candidatestwo are from the Christian community.

The West Bengal State ElectionCommission had on Thursday announcedthe date of elections amid rising demand fromthe Opposition parties to hold simultaneouselections to all the 118 municipal boards andcorporations in the State.

�������%������-�� ��������

Indigenously manufactured drones byIndian scientists will be launched from

Saturday for delivering medicines in theinaccessible and tough terrain of Jammuand surrounding areas with a focus onvaccine delivery initially.

"This is going to be a pilot projectfor the area. The drone is developed andmanufactured entirely by our scientists,"Union Minister for Science &Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh toldreporters here. The use of drones hasgained popularity in the last two years,beginning with the World EconomicForum’s “Medicine from the Sky” pro-ject in India. Several States are pilotingsimilar solutions for better access tomedical care among rural communities.

Singh said he himself will be launch-ing the project at Jammu.

The drone is developed by the sci-entists at Bengaluru's NationalAerospace Laboratories (NAL), a con-stituent of Council of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR), anautonomous Society that is headed bythe Prime Minister.

For now, the delivery would be lim-ited to Covid vaccines and once suc-cessful, it would be expanded to be usedfor regular delivery of medicines in theremote, hilly areas. Used for surveillance

and in humanitarian aid delivery, dronesare being increasingly developed totransport medical samples and supplies.

Jammu and surrounding areas aresensitive in terms of their strategicimportance. Some months ago, therewas an attack on an Army installationusing drones.

An official from the Science andTechnology Ministry said, "The droneswould be deployed by authorised agen-cies such as hospitals, not anybody canuse it, nor would any random person bepermitted to use it."

NAL has called the drone an'Octacopter'. It can fly at an operationalaltitude of 500 m AGL and at maximumflying speed of 36 kmph. It can be usedfor a variety of BVLOS applications forlast mile delivery like medicines, vac-cines, food, postal packets, Humanorgans (such as heart for heart trans-plantation) etc.

In an article published inElsevierConnect in 2016, researchers from theJohns Hopkins Bloomberg School ofPublic Health and the PittsburghSupercomputing Center had noted thatthe cost savings would come fromdrones being able to deliver vaccinesmore quickly and cheaply than land-based methods, which are limited byroad conditions and the need for cost-ly fuel and maintenance.

Ballia (UP): A 27-year-oldman has been arrested herefor allegedly raping a minoron pretext of marriage,police said on Friday.

The arrest came onThursday on complaint of a22-year-old woman, who alleged thatthe accused raped her for two yearsbeginning in 2014 promising herthat he will marry her, they said.

She alleged she was 15 when theaccused first raped her and he con-tinued to do so for the next two years.

She approached the police afterhe allegedly broke his promise and

married anotherwoman, Gadwar policestation in-chargeDurgeshwar Mishrasaid.

The woman alsoalleged that the accused

not only abused and assaulted her butalso threatened to kill her.

A case has been registered underthe Protection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act andrelevant sections of the Indian PenalCode, and the woman has been sentto the district hospital for medicalexamination, Mishra said. PTI

�������%������-�� ��������

AParliamentary Standing Committeeon Information Technology headed

by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor hasasked Facebook India officials to appearon November 29 to hear on the safe-guarding citizens’ rights and preventionof misuse of social/online news media platforms including special empha-sis on women security in the digital space.

The committee is also expected totake view point of Facebook India on areport shared by whistle blower SophieZhang, a former employee of the com-pany. The committee has earlier calledFacebook India in June this year to takeview

According to the agenda of the meet-ing, the Parliamentary StandingCommittee on IT will “hear the views ofthe representatives of Facebook India on

the subject ‘Safeguarding citizens’ rightsand prevention of misuse of social/onlinenews media platforms including specialemphasis on women security in the dig-ital space’. The committee will also hearrepresentatives of the Ministry ofElectronics and Information Technologyon the same.

The Congress leader has earlier stat-ed that the the committee would look intoreports that Facebook did nothing to cen-sor hate posts by some Bharatiya JanataParty leaders in the run-up to the LokSabha elections and ask the social mediagiant to respond to the accusations.

The committee has earlier calledFacebook India in June this year to takeview on new the Information Technology(Intermediary Guidelines and DigitalMedia Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 onFebruary 25, 2021. The Rules have comeinto effect from May 26, 2021.

�����+����� � � ���

In a development that wouldaffect 24 lakh consumers in

the metropolis, the MahanagarGas Ltd (MGL) increased theprices of Compressed NaturalGas (CNG) and Piped Naturalgas (PNG) with effect frommidnight of Friday.

This is the third hike inCNG and PNG prices carriedout by the MGL since October14. The hike will hit the domes-tic budgets of 16 lakh peopleliving in the metropolis andneighbouring areas, eight lakhconsumers using gas-poweredvehicles will have to spendmore because of the hike.

The MGL has increased thebasic prices of CNG by

�3.06/kg and domestic PNG by�2.26 per Standard CubicMeter (SCM) for the MumbaiMetropolitan Region (MMR).

As a consequence, therevised all-inclusive prices ofCNG used by vehicles will goup from �57.54 per kg to �61.50 per kg, while the domes-tic PNG will be �36.50 perSCM, in a single slab hence-forth.

Earlier, the MGL had hikedrates twice in the first week ofOctober ahead of the festiveseason. It went in for one morehike on October 14.

On its part, the MGL hasattributed the price increase tothe shortfall in domestic gasallocation for which it is buy-ing higher priced PNG

(imported RLNG) to cater tothe growing numbers of CNGand domestic customers.

“In addition, owing to thesubstantial increase in naturalgas prices in the internationalmarket, the MGL’s input gascost has also gone up. To par-tially offset the increase in theinput costs of gas, we have gonein for the latest price hikes,” anMGL spokesperson said.

However, the MGL saidthat despite the revised rates, itsCNG would help the con-sumers save around 62 percentand 35 per cent respectively incomparison with petrol anddiesel, while the PNG userswere able to save 27 percentcompared with the prices ofdomestic LPG.

Mumbai: IPS officer Param Bir Singh willappear before the one-member commissionprobing corruption allegations against for-mer Maharashtra Home Minister AnilDeshmukh on Monday, his lawyer said. TheJustice K U Chandiwal commission wasformed in March this year to probe the alle-gations levelled by Singh, a former Mumbaipolice chief, against Deshmukh, an NCPleader. On Thursday, the commission hadwarned that if Singh did not remain present,he would face the execution of the bailablewarrant issued against him.

On Friday, Singh's lawyer told thecommission that the senior IPS officer won'tbe able to appear during the day as he wasvisiting Thane in connection with a caseagainst him. Singh was ready to appear onSaturday or any other day, he said. The com-mission said it doesn't sit on Saturday andasked Singh to appear on Monday(November 29).

The commission had fined Singh onmany occasions earlier for failing to appear.A bailable warrant had also been issuedagainst him. Singh, transferred from thepost of Mumbai police commissioner in

March in the aftermath of the Antilia bombscare episode, alleged that Deshmukh,then home minister, had asked police offi-cers to collect Rs 100 crore a month frombars and restaurants in Mumbai. Declaredabsconding by a Mumbai court in anextortion case, Singh surfaced in public onThursday after six months, and appearedbefore the Mumbai crime branch to recordhis statement. Meanwhile, a man, claimingto be a social worker, on Friday approachedthe Justice Chandiwal commission with anintervention application, seeking inquiryagainst Singh for his "misdeeds" during histenure as Thane police commissioner.Singh implicated many builders, business-men and common citizens in false cases, theplea alleged.

The commission took the applicationon record.

Incidentally, Singh appeared beforeThane police on Friday in connectionwith an extortion case filed against him andsome other police officials on the complaintof a local builder. The IPS officer is facingat least five extortion cases inMaharashtra.

����������� � ���

An ex-serviceman of thePakistan Army and well

known terrorist guide, working inclose coordination with Pakistanbased terrorist outfits Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-e-Mohammadsince early 1990’s, was gunneddown by the alert Indian Armytroops while foiling an infiltrationbid along the line of control inBhimbergali area of Poonch lateThursday night.

The terrorist guide has beenidentified as Mohd Arif alias HajiArif, resident of village Matrian,Khuiratta, PoJK.

According to reports, HajiArif 's house was located close tothe line of control and was used bythe terrorist outfits as launchingpads to push terrorists inside theIndian territory.

He was on the radar of theIndian army for a long time.LateThursday night he ran out of hisluck while leading a group of infil-trators inside the Indian territory.

According to the dossier pre-pared by the security agencies,Haji Arif was well versed with the

topography of the regionand was regularly ferryingsmall groups of terroristsinside the Indian territory.

According to thedossier, his name also sur-faced during investigationsafter several operations,IED blasts and even BATattacks by the Pakistanarmy regulars targetingIndian soldiers. He most-ly operated in Tarkundibowl along the line of con-trol. In February 2018when different agencieswere investigating the roleof different players behindthe BAT attack his nametoo had surfaced and sub-stantiated by multipleagencies.

His two sons, identi-fied as Naseer Khan andBilal Khan, are both work-ing as labourers in SaudiArabia and UAE respec-tively while one of his

younger brothers is also workingas a guide of LeT.

���#��� ����� �������&��� ���7����$�����8$���"9���#����� ��

�� $�+��-�����

������������������������� ���� ��� ��� ������ �����*��$�*���!��&!������&�/��!���#�1�!���

,�&�/���&�����11��&�$�"�&���//�����!�*��-�!2��!������&2���2��!�������/#-���!���!��+�

*��,������-�/����� �,��96�-� �,����,�)�66.

%,7�������,�$�,���������5��������:+����

���/� '�4�,�/��.66�,��� �5��+� ,-������� ��/��

��,����� ���-���,�-�����������,-�����

�����+����� � � ���

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat SinghKoshyari on Friday joined senior police

officials, family members of the victims andbrave hearts in paying homage to the mar-tyrs of the 26/11 attack on Mumbai on its13th anniversary at the Martyrs' Memorialerected inside the Mumbai PoliceCommissionerate premises near CrawfordMarket in south Mumbai.

Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, whois recuperating at the HN Reliance Hospitalin Mumbai after a cervical spine surgery thathe underwent on November 12, paid homagethose who lost their lives during the terrorstrikes and expressed his gratitude to thosewho fought the terrorists.

Uddhav described the November 26-29,2008 attack on Mumbai as "a cowardly act".He recalled the services of the police andsecurity forces and the people of Mumbai forwarding off the assault on the country's com-mercial capital and recovering from itseffects.

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, HomeMinister Dilip Walse-Patil, Tourism Minister,Director-General of Police Sanjay Pandey,Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale andother dignitaries also paid their respects atthe Martyrs' Memorial.

A large number of Police personnelturned up to pay homage to their colleagues

who were killed while fighting the terroristsat key locations in south Mumbai.

The 26/11 attack had claimed 166 livesand left more than 300 others injured. Thesites targeted during the mayhem were theworld heritage building Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj Terminus (CSMT), Hotel Taj MahalPalace & Tower, Hotel Trident, NarimanHouse, Leopold Café and Cama Hospital,Wadi Bunder.

While Abdul Rehman, Abu Ali and AbuSoheb marched to the Leopold Café inColaba and then laid siege at Taj MahalPalace Hotel, Abdul Rehman Chota andFahad Ullah headed to the Trident-OberoiHotel.

Nasir Abu Umar and Babar Imran aliasAbu Aakasha targeted Nariman Househousing the Jewish Chabad House, and trio- Isamal Khan, Abu Ismail and Ajmal Amir

Kasab unleashed terror at CSMT, CamaHospital and its precincts, before proceed-ing towards Chowpatty.

All the targets were within a radius ofaround 4-5 km area in south Mumbai, wherethe state secretariat, business and commer-cial hubs, deluxe hotels, residences of min-isters, bureaucrats, diplomats, scientists andbusiness bigwigs are located.

Assistant sub-Inspector Tukaram Omblewas instrumental in catching Kasab alive atGairgaum-Chowpatty in south Mumbai onthe night of November 26,2008. Omble, itmay be recalled, had held onto Kasab evenafter he had been grievously injured by bul-lets pumped into him by the latter. Ombledied before he could be rushed to the hos-pital.

While nine of the ten terrorists werekilled by the security forces during the attack,the remaining one- --Mohammed AjmalKasab – was caught alive by the police atGirgaum Chowpatty on the intervening nightof November 26-27, 2008.

Kasab was sentenced to death by a trialcourt on May 6, 2010. Later on February 21this year, the Bombay High Court confirmedKasab’s death sentence. After the high court’sverdict, Kasab wrote to the Supreme Courton July 28, challenging his conviction anddeath sentence in the 26/11 case. The apexcourt is likely to hear his case in the com-ing months.

-%��73�������� ����������������������'!$

��/�2��1�������/�&�+&���"��<0��������-��!��3����!!���&��&+

Jaipur: Six people were detainedafter they pelted stones at a Dalitman's marriage procession after herode a mare against their wish,police said on Friday.

Nearly a dozen people wereinjured in the incident that tookplace in Jaipur's Kotputli town lateon Thursday, police said.

"Some people from a certaincommunity had objected to Dalitsriding a mare during marriageceremonies," Pragpura StationHouse Officer Shiv Shankar said.

"Anticipating trouble, theDalit groom's family membershad given a police complaintprior to the marriage. Accordingly,a police team was deployed toensure smooth conduct of the cer-emony. However, some peoplemanaged to pelt stones at the pro-cession," the offices said.

The accused have beenbooked under Scheduled Casteand Scheduled Tribe (Preventionof Atrocities) Act, 1989, and theIndian Penal Code, Shankar said.

He said another person fromthe victim's family is slated to getmarried a few days later, and ade-quate protection will be providedto them. PTI

Palakkad: The death of a three-day oldinfant at a tribal hamlet at nearby Attapadyon Friday, the third such in the last fourdays, prompted the Kerala government toorder a multi-departmental enquiry intothe incident. The deaths occurred atAgali and Puthur regions in the area.

Health Minister Veena George direct-ed the Directorate of Health Services(DHS) to investigate the incident.

Minister for Welfare of ScheduledCastes, Scheduled Tribes and BackwardClasses, K Radhakrishnan, will visit thebackward hamlet in the district on Saturdayto take stock of the situation.

T V Anupama, the Director of theScheduled Tribes DevelopmentDepartment, has been entrusted to enquireinto the matter and submit a report soon.

The Minister will also take part in ameeting in the morning at Agali in the dis-trict.

The infant died at Mannarcaud hos-pital in the district on Friday, PalakkadDMO Ramadevi told PTI, adding that thiswas the third such incident in the last fourdays. "The post-mortem will be con-ducted at the District Hospital in Palakkad,"the DMO said, adding that this was the sev-enth infant death in the tribal hamlet thisyear. Medical officers said some wereIntrauterine Deaths (IUD) and other chil-dren died due to sickle cell anemia. PTI

� ��?���� ����������������������� �( ����� �>��'�����������������

'�&����!"�!���������!�"�#&���+��������11��+B�(�&�*�9�����&��&���!E#�&+

.��%���������������� ��� %��������������� � ���� ������# ��' �������� ����� �������0A��� ���!��� � ��������@?B00������� �� ���"����.�% �����)��� � ���

%���� ����������;�����1��/$��+�

Lucknow: Asserting that both the Centraland the Uttar Pradesh Governments had noright to celebrate Constitution Day, BahujanSamaj Party chief Mayawati hit out at theSamajwadi Party, asking the people to becautious of the party as it “tore the bill onreservation of SCs and STs in Parliament”.

"People should be cautious of partieslike Samajwadi Party which tore the bill onreservation of SCs and STs in Parliament.They did not allow the passage of the bill.This means, parties like SP can never workfor the development of these communities,"Mayawati said at a press conference inLucknow on Friday.

Talking about the reservations for theScheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe com-munities in educational institutions andGovernment jobs, the BSP chief said thatthe Centre and State Government had nottaken any steps to empower these com-munities.

"The quotas are yet to be filled in manyseats reserved for the SC, ST and OtherBackward Classes communities. No stepshave been taken to provide reservation tothese communities in the private sector. TheCentre and State Government are not readyto make a law regarding this. Is this howthe Centre and states are protecting theConstitution?" the BSP chief sought toknow.

"Today, on the occasion of ConstitutionDay, the Central and State Governments

should go for a thorough review whetherthe Government is following the IndianConstitution with full honesty and integri-ty or not. But unfortunately it is well knownthat the Central and State Governments arenot following the Constitutional norms atall. Therefore, the Bahujan Samaj Party hasdecided not to participate in this pro-gramme of the Central and StateGovernments on the occasion ofConstitution Day," she claimed.

Mayawati alleged that the provisionmade in the Constitution by Dr BhimraoAmbedkar for the weaker and neglectedsections had been ignored and these class-es of people were not getting its full bene-fit. She also asked the Governments to apol-ogise to the backward communities.

Speaking on the first anniversary offarmers' agitation against the three farmlaws, Mayawati said that there were otherimportant demands of the farmers whichthe Government should accept at the ear-liest.

��+�%���������-���,����+��������!��&��1����"�&���!����#���!

Page 6: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

pens. Afghanistan has a vibranttradition in music, influencedby Indian and Iranian classicalmusic. Besides, it has had athriving pop music scenariomarked by the syncing of elec-tronic instrumental and dancebeats with more traditionalrhythms.

The justice system alsoappears to be set to return towhat it was under the Taliban’sfirst innings. On September 25,2021, corpses of four men,alleged kidnappers killed in ashootout with policemen, werehung in public areas at sever-al places in the city of Herat toconvey, in the words of theprovince’s deputy governor,Mawlawi Shir AhmadMujahir, the “message” thatkidnappers would not be tol-erated. That this was not anaberration is clear from the factthat it happened just afterMullah Noroddin Turabi, oneof the founders of the Talibanand the head of the dreadedDepartment for the Promotionof Virtue and the Preventionof Vice, which had savagelyenforced the draconian rulesand laws prevailing duringthe Taliban’s earlier rule, hadtold the AP’s Kathy Gannonduring an interview that thepunishments administeredthen will return, though thesemay not be carried out in pub-

lic. “Cutting off hands is verynecessary for security”, he hadsaid, adding that it had adeterrent effect.

The media is under severepressure. The 11-point guide-lines announced by QariMuhmmad Yusuf Ahmed, theinterim director of theGovernment Media andInformation Centre, onSeptember 19, 2021, includedirectives against publishingmatters in conflict with Islamor insulting to national person-alities and instruct journaliststo produce news reports incoordination with theGovernment media office. Theannouncement, a requiem formedia freedom, comes in thewake of sustained attacks onjournalists and other forms ofpressures on them, which havesent many into hiding andeffectively closed down 153media outlets since the Talibancame to power.

The plight of women, itincreasingly seems, may be thesame as during the firstTaliban regime. Not one ofthem was included either inthe first set of 33 ministers inthe caretaker Governmentannounced on September 7,2021; nor in the second one of44, announced on September21, 2021. The Talibanspokesman Zabiullah Mujahid

held out the possibility ofwomen being included laterbut suggested no time frame.The Taliban’s record during itspresent incarnation in powerdoes not hold out much hope,The order not to telecast IPLmatches because of the pres-ence of women in the audi-ence, the Kabul Mayor’s order-ing of women — with theexception of those whose jobscould not be done by men —to stay at home, the reopeningof secondary schools withboys and not girls, the orderby the Taliban-appointed vice-chancellor of the KabulUniversity barring womenfrom the campus as long as “areal Islamic environment isnot provided for”, are instanceswhich reflect an attitudetowards women which doesnot augur well for the futureof their rights under the pre-sent dispensation.

Nothing, however, makesthe Taliban Government’s atti-tude towards women moreominously clear than the shut-ting down of the Ministry ofWomen’s Affairs and the rein-carnation of the Ministry forthe Promotion of Virtue andPrevention of Vice, in thebuilding it had occupied.

(The author is ConsultingEditor, The Pioneer. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

��������������� ���������Sir — Last week, the Prime Minister inhis address to the nation had politely andapologetically said that the Governmentcould not make the farmers understandthe benefits of the contentious threefarm laws which were passed last yearand as a result, these laws were beingrepealed. In over seventy years ofParliamentary history, no PrimeMinister has ever apologised in such ahumble way as PM Modi did. ManyOpposition leaders have been claimingit as their victory as their concerted andpersistent efforts have borne fruits.

My personal opinion is that theGovernment should not have with-drawn these laws as the farmers wouldfurther up the ante with their neodemands, and it has come true. Thefarmers, without applauding PM Modifor his bold and magnanimous stand,have added five more demands to theirlone remaining demand of MSP guaran-tee. Almost all the Opposition parties arebacktracking from their main demandof rescinding the three farm laws, towhich they had said, “if these bills are notwithdrawn, no going back to home.” Notonly this, the recalling of these bills hasopened a pandora’s box for the withdraw-al of other bills such as the Article 370and the CAA. The Government shoulddeal with troublemakers by not accept-ing any more demands.

Sagar Singh | Muzaffarnagar

��������������������������������Sir —Recently, Union Minister DrJitendra Singh launched India's first vir-tual science lab for children under theCouncil of Scientific and IndustrialResearch (CSIR) Jigyasa program. Thetarget audience of the lab will be studentsfrom class 6-12. The primary vision ofthe lab is to provide quality researchexposure to school students to drive theirscientific curiosity. It will enable curios-ity-driven research-based concepts,encourage higher-order thinking skillsand promote entrepreneurship.

In this inspirational science lab, stu-dents will have fun and carry out exper-

iments. It will help connect students withscientists across the country. It is also intune with the National Education Policy(NEP), where students are allowed tochoose any subject of their choice. It isan open source platform and studentswill be able to access content in region-al languages. Science and research webi-nars will be performed to connect withmore students across the country. Thiswill enable students to learn theoreticalconcepts with practical experimentsand presentations.

Vishal Patidar | Ujjain

�������������������������������Sir — The Coronavirus pandemic hasgiven rise to a vicious cycle of loss of jobsand decreased income. Professionallyindependent men and women were onthe backfoot when the pandemic was atits zenith. Their woes have spilled over.Reduction in income and increasedexpenses pushed families to a corner. Anexponential increase in child labour hap-

pened during the pandemic. Even asschools are opening doors, children arebeing “protected” by their parents in adifferent way — through disguised childlabour.

The youngsters “employed” in theirown family enterprises are being pres-sured to stay put by their parents. Forcedlabour is being disguised as “training andassisting” by parents. Almost two yearsand counting, following the pandemic,“well trained” children are being seen asassets by parents for their occupation.This is not to say that it was the pandem-ic that solely bred pressure labour.COVID-19 may have augmented parents'proclivity for forcing their children intofamily businesses. It may not appear asexploitation in the literal sense but thedamage it does to the overall personali-ty of the child is indescribable.

Ganapathi Bhat | Akola

& 7 & , � 5 # ( 3 � & 7 � � # ' +

000�-��/�4��,���� �6"���$��-.��/0���*+1��!��&��K )'�����*+,��!��&��K �!���2&�/.��/0���*+1��!��&0

�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

��

/���� ��������% ������������0���7��.��0839����:�9�

'���&���&�����!���&����2#���!���#*!�&�$*�������&+�!2��!��&1&������!���%����%�#*��2��������'�*�$�!��/1*���11�&�#!��+�����&��-���%!��!��!+�!��

�8'��9���(��'���'�����?�

�''' ���'8������8�����8��

8��8 ��:������'����'����� ''�9

�8���87�'�����'�:�87

�8���?���77�������'��

��������'8��87�'������'�:

78��,�8�8'8��87;�' �����

,��;��'8��87�;���

4/��/�& �5���3/�/6+�5�

� ��:3�(�7��4/7��

�"��&�������*#�$*����//�����!�!2��"���;���-��1��!�/���&*��&��!��#!��+����&���!�'�#&���+������!2��������������!���>�

!���*� 1&�%����� ��� ;�*��� ���� ��#!�&+?�"�#&������&1�!�H�*�����#$/�&�!���%�����*��H�&����������!���!����+��"��&�/�&�����!��%�+��&���"������&��*�.�'�����*���&+��"����������-�#$/�&�!���%�����%���*�#!������!���+��4���������!������/�D�&�������!������&/�"�&����!���!����+��!���&/���"���&�!2����!����1�H$�*��+.�'������;�*��%�**�$�����!�����!����&L��/�!�&$��&?��#���������&+� �!� ���� "��*���"�#$/�&�!��/�!#"���#&�!2.�'������;�*���$#�*�

�!� !���� $+� ��A�2�!� ���-� ���1$#�*��&���#/$����!���**�$�&����!�%������������*�2&�#1�7&�!��������E#�11���%���������*+�/���%��1�!��!������!��������!�*�2����%������&����1�H$*���!�#2�����/�!���&��!����#!��&��!�/+/���/�!���!�����%���&�.

'���������������!��/�D�&��!�#����!��!����!���!����+�%����!���%��-.�'�����*���&+��""�#&��#$/�&�!���M(�*��&���(��!��&���(�&�!D�!��!�%��;�*���%�**�&��""�&/�!���?��1&���!���/�!2����!��*����2&�#1��"���#!�&����%���������1�$�*��+� �������2!� �!��$#�*�� �#$/�&�!��%��������!��������*����!����/$�����1�$�*�H����.� �� �����1&�#��/�/�!��"�&�������#!�&+%�����1&����������!�������!��*�!2�&���1�!H��!���!�����&���#!�&����%��!������/������1&�H�����!2�����%���&�.���%���&�����������/����/��%��/#���&�/�/$�&������%��*������,�-����!����+����"�&�$���!���#&����������!�������+���/#���/�&����1������������!������/�&�����!<4��#$/�&�!���%��*��!��������!?�����!�������*"��"���.��?����/������E#�1�����!���!����+%����/�&���#���$�����.�

���;�������� �0�| ������

������������� !"���� #�$ �"!

���4��"�������-� �&����������

It increasingly seems that theTaliban’s second innings inpower is headed to being aclone of its first (1996-2001).

Women had been shorn of allbasic human rights — to work,education and even healthcare,during the Taliban’s previoustenure. They could also notappear in public unescorted by a“close” male relative — husband,father, son or brother — andwrapped from head to foot in aburqa. Men were deprived of allsources of entertainment andamusement and imprisoned in alife full of taboos. A savage crim-inal justice system was in placewith public executions and pun-ishments like amputation fortheft.

Indications that it will be thesame this time as well are emerg-ing gradually as restrictions areimposed. The latest, according tothe AFP and BBC, are the new“religious guidelines” issued bythe Ministry for the Promotionof Virtue and Prevention of Vice.These direct Afghanistan’s televi-sion channels to, among otherthings, stop showing plays andsoap operas featuring womenactors. Women journalists andpresenters have been ordered towear Islamic hijab on the screen.Films showing ProphetMohammad or other reveredfigures are not to be shown, norshould films considered againstthe principles of Sharia — orIslamic law — and Afghan values.Comedy and entertainmentshows that insult religion or maybe considered offensive toAfghans are also forbidden frombeing shown.

The restrictions are vaguelyworded and vulnerable to vary-ing interpretations, which wouldgive the Taliban enforcers ampleopportunity to crack down onanyone they consider to be anoffender. This has already beenhappening with musicians.While, unlike during Taliban’sfirst innings, music has not beenbanned, musicians are beingharassed. Their establishmentsare being raided and instru-ments broken. They live in fear.Many of them are trying to leavethe country. There is a growingfeeling that music is set to disap-pear from the lives of Afghans. Itwould be a tragedy if this hap-

SOUNDBITE��/������!�&D��/��!��%���������+���!����+��%�������/��!�.�!!���!�1�*����������������&�&��E#�*��+.

$������ �0M �#$&�/�!��!��%�/+

���%��2�������!-�"�&�%����%�������%���*���-��1��!��#&���&���������%�������$��!�*�����!�

������%��������*�������/#��.

����0��� �.�M �������!

'���%�+�(�!2�!���!�#������$#��!2���&+$��+...�������#&��!2�������!��H/�!���"���&��#���//#!�����.�

�-����� �0�M ��%�$���*�-

��/���!�#&����������1�������&�*��N'������1���!O��������"�%����%�**�$����/������

�������#//�&.

����0����.�<������/��0�M ,����#//�!�

)����������*)�����������*+����������&����������,�������-��������������������������������� ����������*)��������������%������������ ���������������������������

�������������������������.����������(����,������������/���� ����(�����0������������������������������� 1��� ��2�������������������%�������3�4����56���������������� �������#���������������������������������������������%�������-��������������������������������������������������������������������� �� �������������#�%�������4��%���4����4������%������������������������

����������0����������������/���� ��� ���������� ������������������ ��������(������#������(���������������������������(������������������������������������ ���������������� ������������ �������"�����������������������.�������78��4���!��&���79�����0�����8��&������������������ ��� ���������������� ����������������������������������������������� �

8������������� ������:����$�����.���0������;������� �����<�������������������������4��������$��� <�������������������

���������=������������������������������������������$�������&�������0�8��������������������>����4����#������������������?�������������������������������������:$��������������������������(������4��������$��� �����������;���������������������"����8���������0������%������4�����@����������$������8��������� ������ ����������������������+���������+��������#���������.���0����������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������$��� ����4���� 4��������������&�A������$�������������������������������������������������������� �����������������������98$������������������ �������������������������"���(����BCBB�9���������������������������4��������$��� �����������������������������������#���&���������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������

#���/���� ���������������� ��+����&�0���0���@����A�����,���������������7?�������/����&���������� �������+����&����������(����������������� ��������������� ����������������)�����������

������������������BCC�������������+���������������������������������&����������������#�������������������� ��������������DCC�������� ��������������&��������5CC������#������&��������������������������������������0���:����E������������� ��%������.��������0���0�������/�������������� ����������������7)���!��������&�#�0���0����������������������� ��������������������������������������������(��������� ���������������������������������� ������+����������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������

����������������������+������ ����(���(������ ����������������������� FC4�������(���������(���������������������?�� ���4������������������������������������� �� ��������������������� �������0���4������������������� ���� ����������������0��������������4�����������������(���������4�����������������������������������#����"����� �������������(���#� ����������������������������������������������������������.������������������������������ ������� �������

��BCFG��������� ������������������+����������$��������,����������(������������������������������������+����&��������������������(����������������������������� ������������������ ���������������������������������������������������������������

+�+������������:����4�����������������������������������������+������� ������������������������#�:����4��������������������������������������������+�����������������������������������������������/���������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������������������������������#��������������������������������������������������,���������0���������������������������������� ������������������� ������������� ����������������������������&������������%������������������������������������������(�� ���������������������������������������(��������������������.������ ������������ �������������������������������� �����$��������H������#���������������1$H#�2���������������� ���������������������������������� ����������������� ������� ��������������������������������������������������7����&�����I������������������������������������ ���������������������������������������

�������

# ������ �%�������<=#����������������������+���������������1����+��������������+��������

+8'���

<������ ���% �%���% ����������������������!�����:�����/�����.�� "�������� � ���

���������������������������� �9�"��������������&����������� ������������������

������*��&!�����$��*��&��$�#��%������/���/"�&��$*�%�����%����%�&-��"�&�/���!��%�������!?�.

�:��0M ��&���#���

Page 7: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

���� ��������%����)��������������������

�4 ����'�6�����������$�������+������+����,��-� �������)�$���+���� ����-��,���6������$�%����,�4���=�,����-������ �������� ������������

�����$���������-�����'�����-��,��-�������������+������'�������$�%��

�$����,������,,�6������� ����=�����$���-������ �������

���+������+

-�������&�����������������9����������������9������������#���� ������"���������%������� ������+����������*� �������.�+���

.��������� �������� "�������� ����� ���� ��� ������������������������=��������������������������(����������������������������������������+��"�>

:40����%��A����0�A�J�8��������:4�������������0����H������������/����� �9�������������������������������������������������#������������"����������������������� ��������7%��K��&��9���������������������+��"�$���0������0��������(A�������#�������������������������������������������������������A������&���������������������������������������������������(����&�������+��������������������������������������(���������� ����������������������������������������E���(������������(�������������������������������(� ��������������������������������������������������(���������� ������ ��������� ������������������#� ������������J������������������������ �������������������������������7�����������&����9���������������(�����"�����������%����0����J��������I=+&�������������

��� ��������������� ��.����������������LF�CCC�>+� ����� ��� ������� �� ���� �������� ��������� ������������������ ���������������������������������� ������������������� �������������������������� �

#�������������������������������������������������(� ���������� ������� �������;��������������"����������������������� ������������(�������������#� ����������������������������� �������������������������������� ��� ������������������������+��� �������� ����� ������������������������ ��������������(������������������������%$4���&���������������#� &���������������H���� �������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������)����������������������������+��"�������A�������&����� ��������������������%�����������?�������(��������������(+���������������������(���������������������(�������+���������������� ��������������������������������(���� �����������1#� ���������#����&�������I=4�����4���>�2?�M ���������(����������������������������������%��K�����������#����������������J������(������������������������������������ ���������#�������������A������&������7���&�������%��K��������������� ������+�&����������������������"���������������(� ���� ���+��"�������������������������������������������(������������������������ ������ ��������(�������#� ��������������� ������������������������������������������������������ ��������� ��������������������+�&����������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������(����������������������������������������������������������������������������������(� �����7��������������&�+�����������*?����������+������������ �A�����������(������������������������-���(��������������������������������������������������

�������� ���������������������� ���������� ������ �������������� ���� �� ���� ����!�"

�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

�9000�-��/�4��,���� �6 "���$��-.��/0���*+1��!��&��K )'�����*+,��!��&��K �!���2&�/.��/0���*+1��!��&0

FIRSTCOLUMN8#99, �: '+,���

:,7(3�% '��7�';,�

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

;�(::��6:/�

���*(�'��<3��83���/�;//

;��������������"����������������������� ��������������(������������

India conceived a plan to provideabout 97 km of mass rapid transit net-work (metro rail) on two north-southand one east-west routes in Kolkata

sometime in the late sixties. This was thefirst major planned urban mass rapid tran-sit system under Ministry of Railways.

In the next decade, a bold step to startconstruction work on the predominantlyunderground North-South (N-S) linebegan with Cut and Cover technology atconsiderable inconvenience to surfacetraffic in a city. The era of metro rail beganin India in 1984 with the commissioningof a three-kilometre stretch.

The next planned MRT system camealmost 25 years later in New Delhi. The firstline went into operation in 2002. With thisthe era of participation of central and stategovernments in setting up of the Metro railsystem began and subsequently MRT ser-vices were planned for Bengaluru andChennai.Since then, the Metro has expand-ed to several cities.

Today in India, around 760 km. ofMetro Rail system is in operation and near-ly 580km. is under construction. Of the fivemost populous states, UP, Maharashtra andMadhya Pradesh have a much larger shareof Metro system in multiple cities. OnlyKolkata features in the Metro map WestBengal. Populous states like Bihar lagbehind with the Metro project only recent-ly taking off in Patna. States like Telangana,Karnataka and Gujarat having lesser pop-ulations have larger route kms. per capita.The development of Metro rail system hasbeen mostly concentrated in Western andSouthern states besides Delhi-NCR.Eastern states like Bihar, West Bengal,Assam, Odisha have lagged behind.

Transportation has long been viewedas a means of energizing and sustainingeconomic growth, generating employ-ment, and fostering holistic development.Unlike other sectors, the demand-supplygap cannot be bridged by increasingimports, but only through capacity-build-ing. It is this unique feature which makestransportation the backbone of a nation’sdevelopment and improved quality of life.However, with the ever-increasing popu-lation and growing urbanization, the stresson transportation is increasing, which isadversely affecting the environment, seam-less travel of people, and asset life deteri-oration. A balance needs to be maintainedfor inclusive and environmentally sustain-able growth to ensure a better livelihoodand right to life, a constitutional right.

Rail-based mass transit system is by farmore efficient and climate friendly. Itreduces transport congestion on road andassociated pollution. Any congested citywith large transport volume is ideal for theprovision of Metro.

Though Kolkata was the first city tohave metro rail, no further metro projectwas sanctioned for any eastern states tillrecently when metro rail was sanctionedfor Patna and Guwahati.

Kolkata with high population density

'����,8�'�'8������8�9�����

;���������������87

����9��9����� �'���9��8�8��9�8�'��

9�����'�9��,�8:���'����

78�'���9�8��'�

��;��8,���'. ��(��8'������'8����'��

������H� ,,�:9�,�����8'���

���9����:�������9

�,8�'���� '8��:�'��8 9�

��,��':�� ���9

and only six-eight per cent of roadspace deserves Metro rail as ameans of Mass Raid transit.Congested roads not conducive tobuilding the Metro along roadsposes a great challenge to planners.

Kolkata Metro was set up beforeany guidelines or policy on MRTSwas issued by the Ministry of UrbanDevelopment and is the only systemthat is under direct control of theMinistry of Railways.

There has been no proper tech-no-economic and socio-economicstudy for planned expansion ofMetro rail in Kolkata to overcometravel issues of citizens in the twincities of Kolkata and Howrah. In 75years since independence only tworoad bridges have been addedacross the river Ganges which aremiles apart unlike cities like London,Paris, Moscow, et cetera, that haveextensive underground rail androad networks criss-crossing therivers that pass through the cities.

It is unfortunate that no plan-ning of rail-based transport systemfor urban conglomerates likeAsansol — Durgapur, Siliguri-Jalpaiguri, which have proximity tofairly busy airports like Bagdograand Andal has been conceived.

Metro rail projects in Kolkatahave always suffered for one reasonor the other and 36 years after thefirst Metro started in Kolkata, only32.25 km of one N-S line and sevenkm of East-West line is commis-sioned. Around 28 km of routes canbe added in next two-three yearswith the likely commissioning ofPhoolbagan-Howrah Maidan (9.34km), Noapara-NSCBI airport(6.87km), Joka-Majerhat (7 km) andNew Garia-Ruby(5 km) sections.

This will leave around 36 km moreto be completed on the Joka-Esplanade and New Garia-NSCBIairport lines which may take four orfive years. Another about 25 km.route where the Metro was sanc-tioned a decade ago for expansionon the northern fringes of the cityis yet to take off with no funds sanc-tion.

Kolkata and Howrah needmetro systems with increased fre-quency and faster travel to reducedependency on road transport toprovide seamless travel to citizens.The suburbs of Kolkata need to bebrought into the Metro map toreduce dependence on suburban railand road.

Apart from routes under con-struction or planned, Kolkata needsmore east-west and north-southroutes with interchange facility anda ring route on its outer periphery.Some of the routes that could ben-efit a large population with metroconnectivity can be: Extension of E-W metro to Uluberia; New East -West route from Shalimar toJadavpur covering west and southkolkata

Extension of N-S route tosonarpur; New North south routefrom Bally to Garia-IIM/Joka insouth; Extension of Joka-Esplanaderoute to Diamond harbour.

The feasibility of the variousoptions needs to be explored criti-cally.

Two important projects sanc-tioned a decade back, Baranagar-Barrackpur and NSCBI Airport-Barasat, which can serve a largepopulation, are presently on holddue to civic issues. These need to berevived using modern technology.

We need to rope in top-class tech-nical expertise wherever available tofind ways and means to overcomethe constraints.

Project delays lead to cost andtime overrun and citizens are deniedthe benefits. These projects will con-siderably ease pressure on landroutes and as such, a final decisionby stakeholders cannot be delayed.

Besides, the Metro rail systemin places like Siliguri-Jalpaiguriarea including Bagdogra Airport,Durgapur-Asansol area includingAndal Airport, Kalyani-Krishnanagar-Shantipur-awadiparea need to be planned now toaddress the congestion due to sec-toral urbanization and developingindustrial conglomerates.

It takes at least 8-10 years for aproject from planning stage till itsees the light of the day if all goeswell at every stage. The state mustidentify routes and areas to beserved and quality DPRs need to beprepared identifying possible routesthrough established agencies likeRITEs, DMRC with clear Right OfWay. Duly approved DPRs can bebasis for generating demand at thecentre with prioritizing projects.

The stake holders need toremove bottlenecks for expeditiouscompletion of sanctioned works. Itis the common man who will reapthe benefits of such state of art infra-structure.

Metro rail contributes tremen-dously on environment front, gen-erates carbon credits, reduces green-house gas emissions. It has hugepotential to generate solar powerand contribute towards India’sdream of fulfilling its target for alter-nate energy.

(The writer is a retiredrailway professional and an independent consultant on Metro railway. The views

expressed are personal.)

There is a saying, “out ofsight out of mind”, thatmeans we forget about

things we don’t see. It’s thesame thing with sanitationand hygiene. As long as thefilth or faeces is visible to oureyes, we are concerned aboutit, but as soon as it’s flushed,we stop thinking about whathappened to it faeces,whether it was properly dis-posed of or covered up osten-tatiously. It happens becauseeither we are careless or welack correct information.

Now take the example ofseptic tanks built in cities,how many of us know aboutthe ‘sanitation value chain’?How many of us know how tomake the correct septic tank,what is the right design andmeasurement? How many ofus are aware that to keep the

septic tank working smooth-ly and effectively, the septictank should be cleaned every3 to 5 years? How many of usknow that due to the lack ofregular cleaning of the septictank, the sewage treatmentprocess in the septic tankstops and untreated septagecauses health problems? Howmany of us know thatuntreated septage from theseptic tank goes into smalland big rivers through drainsand contaminates rivers?

All we know is that weflushed the toilets and theexcreta was out of sight, nowwhether it has gone to theseptic tank, went to the drainor river, what difference doesit make to us? In many citiessewer treatment plants orfaecal sludge treatment plantsare in the process of being

built, and in cities wherethey exist, they are insuffi-cient. So, the question ariseswhether we are even aware ofthis issue, the environmentalproblems it causes, and if wewant to understand and playa part in this.

Generally, in urban areasor even in villages nowadays,the septic tank is nothing buta container without any prop-er process or method forsewage treatment and it is safein the long run. Local buildersand contractors are also not

concerned with how the struc-ture should be. The ownersunderstand it as a big-roomlike structure under theground built as a septic tankfor which they do not have toworry for 30-50 years.

Cleanliness cannot beachieved by making rules andregulations. We can definite-ly control it temporarily but‘behaviour change’ is the solu-tion. It should become a massmovement.

When talking about san-itation, there is a need to gobeyond just the constructionof toilets. Faecal SludgeManagement has been calledthe missing and ignored com-ponent of the sanitation as safemanagement of faecal sludgerequires more than just accessto a toilet and use of a mereseptic tank. Improving city-

wide urban sanitation is com-plex as it must consider bothon- and off-site systems,encompass the entire servicechain, serve different cus-tomers and be acceptable to abroad range of stakeholders.

As much as it is theresponsibility of the govern-ment and the governmentmachinery, it is our responsi-bility also to understand theproblem. The population is yetto be fully persuaded tochange the age-old practice ofdefecating in the open, con-struct proper septic tanks, getinto the habit of scheduleddesludging and not neglectbasic sanitation practices. Wealso have to be aware of thecorrect structure and design ofthe septic tank, in how manydays it is necessary to emptythe septic tank, who is the con-

cerned authority to contact toget the septic tank emptied.We also have to monitor thatsolid waste from the septictank is disposed of properlyand not put in the drain oropen ground. Single houseswhich do not have anydrainage channels should havea soak-pit system unless thelocal panchayat or municipal-ity makes some other concretearrangement. Every effort hasto be made to avoid waterlog-ging, whether through pit orby planting trees that absorbwater or by applying otherenvironmentally friendlymethods.

We have to make efforts toensure environmental cleanli-ness so that when we lookaround we see and feel clean-liness in both visible andinvisible things.

����������������� ��������� ������ �������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������

��4������������������� #�&�������������

!� !� ��83�'6��

(The writer is ProgrammeCoordinator, WaterAid India. The

views expressed are personal.)

Page 8: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+��123�141� ,5�46���<

Brussels: A slew of nationsmoved to stop air travel fromsouthern Africa on Friday, andstocks plunged in Asia andEurope in reaction to news ofa new, potentially more trans-missible Covid-19 variant.

“The last thing we needis to bring in a new variant thatwill cause even more prob-lems,” said German HealthMinister Jens Spahn, amid amassive spike in cases in the27-nation European Union,which is recommending a banon flights from southernAfrican nations.

Within a few days of thediscovery of the new variant, ithas already impacted on a jit-tery world that is sensitive tobad COVID-19 news, withdeaths around the globe stand-ing at well over 5 million.

Medical experts, includ-ing the World HealthOrganization, warned againstany overreaction before all ele-ments were clear but nationswho acted said their concernswere justified.

“Early indications showthis variant may be more trans-missable than the delta variantand current vaccines may beless effective against it,” BritishHealth Secretary Sajid Javidtold lawmakers. "We must

move quickly and at the earli-est possible moment,” he said.

Belgium became the firstEuropean Union country toannounce a case of the variant.

“We have one case of thisvariant that is confirmed. It'ssomeone who came fromabroad,” said Health MinisterFrank Vandenbroucke. “It's asuspicious variant. We don'tknow if it's a very dangerousvariant.”

Israel, one of the world'smost vaccinated countries,announced Friday that it hasalso detected the country's firstcase of the new variant, in atraveler who returned fromMalawi. The traveler and twoother suspected cases havebeen placed in isolation. Itsaid all three are vaccinated butthat it is currently looking intotheir exact vaccination status.

The new variant imme-diately infected stock marketsaround the world. Major index-es fell in Europe and Asia andDow Jones futures dipped 800points ahead of the marketopening in the U.S.

“Investors are likely toshoot first and ask questionslater until more is known,” saidJeffrey Halley of foreignexchange broker Oanda.

AP

Brussels— The EuropeanUnion said Friday it is planningto stop air travel from southernAfrica to counter the spread ofa new COVID-19 variant as the27-nation bloc is battling amassive spike in cases.

"The last thing we need isto bring in a new variant thatwill cause even more prob-lems," said German HealthMinister Jens Spahn.

EU Commission PresidentUrsula von der Leyen said in astatement that she "proposes, inclose coordination with themember states, to activate theemergency brake to stop airtravel from the southernAfrican region."

A new coronavirus varianthas been detected in SouthAfrica that scientists say is aconcern because of its high

number of mutations and rapidspread among young people inGauteng, the country's mostpopulous province.

Germany said von derLeyen's proposal could beenacted as soon as Friday night.Spahn said airlines comingback from South Africa willonly be able to transportGerman citizens home, andtravelers will need to go into

quarantine for 14 days whetherthey are vaccinated or not.

Germany has seen newrecord daily case numbers inrecent days and passed themark of 100,000 deaths fromCOVID-19 on Thursday.

The WHO says Covid-19cases in Europe have risen steadily over the past 5weeks.

AP

Geneva: Advisers to the WorldHealth Organisation are hold-ing a special session in Genevato flesh out information abouta worrying new variant of thecoronavirus that has emergedin South Africa, though a topexpert says its impact onCovid-19 vaccines may not beknown for weeks.

The technical advisorygroup on the evolution ofCOVID-19 was meeting virtu-ally to discuss the so-calledB.1.1.529 variant that hascaused stock markets to swoonand led the European Union torecommend a pause in flightsto southern Africa.

The group could decide ifit's a "variant of concern" — themost worrying type, like thewell-known delta variant — or

a "variant of interest", andwhether to use a Greek letter toclassify it.

"We don't know very muchabout this, yet. What we doknow is that this variant has alarge number of mutations,and the concern is that whenyou have so many mutations itcan have an impact on how thevirus behaves," Maria VanKerkhove, WHO's technicallead on COVID-19 Maria VanKerkhove said in a social-media chat on Thursday (localtime). Fewer than 100 fullgenome sequences of the vari-ant are so far available, she said.

"It will take a few weeks forus to understand what impactthis variant has on any poten-tial vaccines, for example," MsVan Kerkhove said. AP

Jerusalem: Prime MinisterNaftali Bennett said on Fridaythat Israel is "on the thresholdof an emergency situation”after authorities detected thecountry’s first case of a newcoronavirus variant and barredtravel to and from most Africancountries.

The Health Ministry said itdetected the new strain in atraveler who had returned fromMalawi and was investigatingtwo other suspected cases. Thethree individuals, who had allbeen vaccinated, were placed inisolation.

A new coronavirus varianthas been detected in SouthAfrica that scientists say is aconcern because of its highnumber of mutations and rapidspread among young people inGauteng, the country’s mostpopulous province.

At a Cabinet meeting con-vened Friday to discuss the newvariant, Bennett said it is morecontagious and spreads morerapidly than the delta variant.He said authorities were stillgathering information on

whether it evades vaccines or isdeadlier.

“We are currently at thethreshold of an emergency sit-uation,” he said. "I ask everyoneto be prepared and to fully joinin the work around the clock.”

government later said thatall countries in sub-SaharanAfrica would be considered“red countries” from whichforeign nationals are barredfrom traveling to Israel. Israelisare prohibited from visitingthose countries and thosereturning from them mustundergo a period of isolation.

The Israeli military willwork to locate all individualswho have been to red countrieswithin the past week andinstruct them to go into isola-tion while testing is carried out,it said. Israel launched one ofthe world's first and most suc-cessful vaccination campaignslate last year, and nearly half thepopulation has received abooster shot. Israel recentlyexpanded the campaign toinclude children as young as 5.

AP

Calais (France): French fishingcrews are threatening to blockFrench ports and traffic underthe English Channel on Fridayto disrupt the flow of goods tothe U.K., in a dispute over post-Brexit fishing licenses.

It’s the latest tension pointbetween the neighboring coun-tries, who are also tradingblame for not doing enough toprevent the deaths of at least 27migrants whose boat sankWednesday off Calais, in thechoppy waters of the world’sbusiest shipping route.

French fishermen areangry at the British govern-ment for not granting morelicenses to fish in U.K. waters— and angry at their owngovernment for not doing moreto defend them.

The fishing industry iseconomically tiny but sym-bolically important for both

Britain and France.Friday’s threatened block-

ades are “a warning shot,”Olivier Lepretre, president ofthe regional fishing committee,told reporters.

Fishing crews are expectedto use their boats to block portsin Calais, Saint-Malo andOuistreham, and to use cars toblock the highway leading tothe tunnel beneath theChannel.

The fishers are protestingto “respond to the derisiveand humiliating attitude of theEnglish,” Gerard Romiti, pres-ident of the national fishingcommittee, told reporters.

A spokesman for PrimeMinister Boris Johnson said theU.K. was “disappointed bythreats of protest activity.”

Before Brexit, French fish-ermen could fish deep insideBritish waters. AP

5�������������� ���� �������� ��!������� �������� �7����

��8��������1����*�/����!2�!�%�&&+�!2�!�%���������&��!�

��� ���' �������6�������� > �����������������'���� ��

� �%�!���������1�"*�2����"&�/���#���&!��"&�������&���&��!��

3��������������& ��������������+���/*

MOSCOW: Russian PresidentVladimir Putin is hosting theleaders of Armenia andAzerbaijan for talks on Friday,during which the three areexpected to discuss ways toresolve the tensions over theseparatist region of Nagorno-Karabakh.

In the southern city ofSochi, Putin held a bilateralmeeting with Azerbaijan'sPresident Ilham Aliyev,Kremlin spokesman DmitryPeskov told reporters on Friday.After that, the Russian presi-dent is to sit down with Aliyevand Armenia's Prime MinisterNikol Pashinyan together, andthen have a separate bilateralmeeting with Pashinyan.

Armenia and Azerbaijanhave been locked in a decades-old dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, a region that lieswithin Azerbaijan but wasunder the control of ethnicArmenian forces backed byArmenia since a separatist warthere ended in 1994.

The Azerbaijani militaryrouted the Armenian forces in44 days of fierce fighting in thefall of 2020, which ended witha Russia-brokered peace dealthat saw Azerbaijan gain con-trol of a significant part ofNagorno-Karabakh andreclaim all the regions con-trolled by Armenian forcesoutside the separatist region.

AP

TAIPEI, Taiwan: Five U.S. lawmakers met with TaiwanPresident Tsai Ing-wen Friday morning in a surprise one-day visitintended to reaffirm the United States' "rock solid" support forthe self-governing island.

The bi-partisan group of lawmakers from the U.S. House ofRepresentatives arrived in Taiwan on Thursday night and wereplanning to meet with senior leaders including Tsai, said theAmerican Institute in Taiwan, the de facto embassy. No furtherdetails were provided about their itinerary.

The visit comes as tensions between Taiwan and China haverisen to their highest level in decades. Taiwan has been self-ruledsince the two sides split during a civil war in 1949, but Chinaconsiders the island part of its own territory.

"When news of our trip broke yesterday, my office receiveda blunt message from the Chinese Embassy, telling me to call offthe trip," Representative Elissa Slotkin, D-Mich., who is part ofthe delegation, wrote on Twitter.

Representatives Mark Takano, D-Calif., Colin Allred, D-Texas., Sara Jacobs, D-Calif., and Nancy Mace, R-S.C., are alsopart of the visiting delegation. AP

,#��!���������*����&���"�&/�!�����A�&$��D�!�"�&���*-�

�/�� '� ����������'���� �' �����$������������!����

CAIRO: The deal struck inSudan to reinstate the primeminister following a militarycoup is imperfect but has savedthe country from sliding intocivil strife, the U.N. envoy toSudan said on Friday.

Special Envoy VolkerPerthes was speaking of theagreement between Sudan'smilitary leaders and PrimeMinister Abdallah Hamdok,who was deposed and putunder house arrest followingthe coup last month that stirredan international outcry.

The military takeoverthreatened to thwart theprocess of democratic transi-tion that the country hadembarked on since the ousterof longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir.

The deal, signed onSunday, was seen as the biggestconcession made by the coun-try's top military leader, AbdelFattah al-Burhan, since the

coup. However, the country'spro-democracy groups havedismissed it as illegitimate andaccused Hamdok of allowinghimself to serve as a fig leaf forcontinued military rule."Theagreement of course is notperfect," Perthes told TheAssociated Press.

"But it is better than nothaving an agreement and con-tinuing on a path where themilitary in the end will be thesole ruler."Both signatories feltcompelled to make "bitter con-cessions" in order to spare thecountry the risk of more vio-lence, chaos and internationalisolation, he added.

"It would not have beenpossible to exclude a scenariowhich would have broughtSudan to something close towhat we have seen in Yemen,Libya or Syria," Perthes said.

He spoke to the AP viavideoconference fromKhartoum. AP

���!��+C��#��!>��!�%����*��������#!�&+�"&�/�����*�%�&

TOKYO: Japan's Cabinet on Friday approved a 770 billion yen($6.8 billion) request for an extra defense budget through Marchto expedite the purchase of missiles, anti-submarine rockets andother weapons amid rising concern over the escalation of mil-itary activities by China, Russia and North Korea.

The request, still pending parliamentary approval, bringsJapan's military spending for the current year to a new high ofmore than 6.1 trillion yen ($53.2 billion), up 15% from 5.31 tril-lion yen in 2020.

The Defense Ministry says its "defense power reinforcementand acceleration package" is designed to speed up deploymentof some of the key equipment from the 2022 budget request.

AP

CAIRO: The U.N. mission in Libya con-demned on Friday an attack by armed men onan appeals court as it was set to re-examine anearlier decision that disqualified the son oflongtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi fromrunning for president.

On Thursday, armed men surrounded thecourt in the southern town of Sabha and pre-vented judges from convening to look into Seifal-Islam Gadhafi's appeal.

Earlier, the country's electoral body haddeemed Seif al-Islam ineligible to take part inthe presidential race set for next month, cit-ing his previous convictions.

"Attacks against judicial or election facil-ities or judicial or elections personnel are notonly criminal acts, punishable under Libyanlaw, but also undermine Libyans' right to par-ticipate in the political process," tweeted theU.N. mission, known as UNSMIL.

Libya is to hold the first round of presi-dential elections on Dec. 24, after years of U.N.-led attempts to usher in a more democraticfuture and end the country's civil war. However,the upcoming vote faces many challenges,including unresolved issues over laws gov-erning the elections and occasional infightingamong armed groups. Other obstacles includethe deep rift that remains between the coun-try's east and west and the presence of thou-sands of foreign fighters and troops.

The oil-rich North African county is cur-rently governed by an interim government thatwas elected by Libyan delegates after U.N.-ledtalks in Geneva in February.

Interim Interior Minister Khaled Mazenvowed to hunt down and prosecute theassailants in Thursday's attack.

AP

�����&���������-��!��#&���!���$+��������"�!����!�*�����

�1�!����-���6�&����"�!���$#�2���/������!�����(�&�����!��&!

Page 9: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

���������$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

.�+/0&���� ���6,�� ����,�,-����()(�'�������!��������!��"�����/��"*�����/�&��*�����#&��%����!�#�����$+�����/���"*���!���**�$�&����!�%���� !������&������!����#����"�!���N �O������%���*����!��<�����4��.�����/���"*����!� ��������2!����!��� ��!7�$��4�4��������$*����������&�"��6��**�!���"�&���#�����1&�/�&�*+�����!��/1�������#����"���&��������!������&�2��!���/1�&��!���"&�/�9��H��&���2���1��!���"����%.�'���!�#2#&�*�������!�%�����!�#�������&�#2������$�!�&��!��4�4��!�����"�&���1�+����*�"�&/����$��!2���!�#����������+��&.���

�&#!�������9�!�&�*����&���&+�P��&.�,&����1�(#*��&���������!��!�&�"���������!*+�&�2����&����1�6�$��+��"�,��P���������&-���!21&�"�����!�*��,#$*�����*����!��������+�2&�������&.���������������-�!2���&2���"���$�!�����!����&�"�&���1�&�/�!���"�,#$*������*���!2�!��&�!2�P�9&�#!������&���������""���

��-�+����4���%�,�+���%��,�1 �6�&�/�&-����!���'����2��!����!!�#!��������*�#!����"����!�%�*�2������#�*����!���+���!������2�&+�1������!�!2��!�7&���+.�'���!�%�����&��"�����*�2���!�"�&/��"��!���&1*�!���+/$�*�A�������&�!�%���$&�!��/$����!��"���*1�!2���#��!��?��&��/����-��"*�2�����&�#2����/�&�1�&��!�*�������&���������!����*������*��&!�!2��61�&��!��.������-(#*��&���������8���6�&�/�&-����������I'���&�$�����"��#&�*�2���!�����*��&!�!2��11�������*��&�&�"*�����!��"�������*#��%����*���&����*��&!�&���"�**��2��2&�#1�M��&��������/#*��H"��������"#�#&�H"���!2���!��/���&!.J

���� �� �����

Aslew of nations moved tostop air travel from south-

ern Africa on Friday, and stocksplunged in Asia and Europe inreaction to news of a new,potentially more transmissibleCovid-19 variant.“The lastthing we need is to bring in anew variant that will causeeven more problems,” saidGerman Health Minister JensSpahn, amid a massive spike incases in the 27-nationEuropean Union, which is rec-ommending a ban on flightsfrom southern Africannations.Within a few days ofthe discovery of the new vari-

ant, it has already impacted ona jittery world that is sensitiveto bad Covid-19 news, withdeaths around the globe stand-ing at well over 5 million.Medical experts, including theWorld Health Organization,warned against any overreac-tion before all elements wereclear but nations who actedsaid their concerns were justi-fied. “Early indications showthis variant may be more trans-missable than the delta variantand current vaccines may beless effective against it,” BritishHealth Secretary Sajid Javidtold lawmakers. "We mustmove quickly and at the earli-est possible moment,” he said.

Mumbai:The Reserve Bank onFriday accepted most of therecommendations of its work-ing group on corporate own-ership of private sector banks,by allowing unrestrained pro-moter shareholding in the firstfive years of operations andhiking the same to 26 per centafter 15 years from the extant15 per cent and also the newcapital requirements.

The move will benefit lead-ing banks like Kotak Mahindra

Bank and IndusInd Bank,among others, which have beenseeking more time from theregulator to divest their stakesfor many years now.

Accepting 21 of the 33recommendations of the inter-nal working group, the centralbank said the remaining sug-gestions are under its consid-eration. The RBI constitutedthe working group on June 12,2020, and the panel submittedthe report on November 20,

2020, inviting comments ofstakeholders and members ofthe public by January 15, 2021.

The RBI accepted the rec-ommendation that no changesbe made to the extant instruc-tions related to the initial lock-in requirements of holding aminimum 40 per cent of thepaid-up voting equity sharecapital of the bank for the firstfive years but said no cap on thepromoters holding during thesame period. PTI

����� � ���

The Sensex nosedived 1,688points while the Nifty

slumped below the 17,100-level on Friday as a new andpotentially vaccine-resistantcoronavirus variant sent shock-waves through global markets.

The variant, detected inSouth Africa, Botswana andHong Kong so far, has anunusual combination of muta-tions, as per initial reports.

Countries like Britain andJapan have already imposedtravel restrictions, raising thespectre of a fresh wave of lock-downs.

The 30-share BSE Sensexplummeted 1,687.94 points or2.87 per cent to close at57,107.15 following an across-the-board selloff. Similarly, theNSE Nifty plunged 509.80points or 2.91 per cent to17,026.45. Currency marketstoo were not spared, with therupee sinking 37 paise versusthe US dollar, in tandem with

other emerging market cur-rencies.

�������������� ���������������������������������

Mumbai:The rupee on Fridayplunged by 37 paise or 0.50per cent against the US dol-lar to close at a nearly month'slow as investors turned cau-tious in view of massive sell-offs in domestic equities andworries over a new variant ofCovid-19.The rupee erased allof its gains in the monthwhile suffering its worst week-ly loss of 59 paise sinceOctober 8 due to month-enddollar demand and on antic-ipation that the US Fed willaccelerate asset tapering andhike interest rates aroundmid-2022, analysts said. PTI

�#1���1*#!2��3=�1���������!����/�!��>��*�%�!�������%�&&���

�!��% �������������� ������������@?C� ����0D� ��"�'����� !�����%�����������������

2�� ����������������+������������������������������

����� ���������0��������

The Department of AnimalHusbandry & Dairying,

Union Ministry of Fisheries,Animal Husbandry &Dairying; National DairyDevelopment Board (NDDB)and other institutions -GCMMF Ltd, Kaira MilkUnion (Amul Dairy), NCDFILtd, IRMA, Mother Dairy Fruit& Vegetable Pvt Ltd.

IDMC Ltd, IndianImmunologicals Ltd, NDDB

Dairy Services and Anandalayajointly celebrated (NDDB)“National Milk Day” to com-

memorate the birth centenaryof Dr Verghese Kurien onNovember 26, 2021 at NDDB’sTK Patel Auditorium.

During the ceremony,Parshottam Rupala, UnionMinister of Animal Husbandry& Dairying conferred theGopal Ratna Award to thewinners of the Best DairyFarmer rearing indigenous cat-tle/buffalo breeds, BestArtificial InseminationTechnician and Best DairyCooperative Society (DCS)/Milk Producer Company/Dairy Farmer ProducerOrganisation in the country.

�;��'8���,88�����:��=.3Q���(����

& ������ ����%����� ���!��� � ���6.����. �5�;�������������

Page 10: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

��56���������������������#��������������� ��

#����3����!�����!���������"7

8)������9������

���::!!!"������������"#��:����#��:

�����!���

L"���/��!����+���L���!?�$�*������!��%�&��?�������$���#������+����!?��2����!�.

����&���&���������"�%���&�1&���������������2&����&����!�!+��%�&�.����%�&-�"�&�11&�������!.�'��������#&�$#��H!�����%����������&#!��#&��#��������&�������"�!�!���*�������������$��*#��*+.��#���"+�#�1&������!�����&�����%�**�$���11+.����%�&-�"�&�1&����.?

&35��8+�8=+�&

L��!!�!2�������&����&?�����%��*���*������&&�!2��!�����"�*/���!�����+�"����$#��+�#����������������������!����*/�%���%���������,���*���!�*�����.������"��#������!��-!�%��%������%�!��.����������1�!����*���"���/����2����&�%������!*+��*1���&�������2����#!��&H���!��!2�$��%��!�����&����&�!����������&.?

L�&������//�!���*�-�L��*/�!�(��!����#*������*�#!���������2��!�������"��+#������&/�?��!��*��-�*�-����2�&*��!�����#*�!������.��"��&�����������+���%�+�"&�/������*�/����.��������1#$*�������#!���!!���2&�/���������!?���!�*���?/�!����!�'%����&.���&�*+�&������//�!���!������*�/�����!�%.?

�#87+:7 �83, 7+: ,5��7 %#,9:L���"�!���*+����!-��!�&�%9�&"��*�?���1���&H��!�%�#*�$��1&���+��#�1�����"������� &�!���!.�����!-����%�#*��$��#&!����""�$+������6���������$�**��!��&���&�**��!��&������#���"&�!���!.���+$���/+�,���&,�&-�&���#*��%�-��'�!+����&-"&�/������%!��2�����&������*���*��$��.���?**�!���&�-!�%.?

77-<�3��37 �77�3#�3,8��7�3�37+

L����!-��#���!����%�**�$����&+�#&1&����.������ ����� ����!�����&��.������"#!�����������"�*/����?���6�*#����*+��!������&����!��?/��6�������$�#������$���#����*����2��!2�������/�����.�����#�**+�%�&-�������/����������&��%��!��%�����-��.�!���2���"�&���"�&���**�!2�%����#������$��-����&.��%���D#����!�!�&�1&�!�#&.?

=7 ,:�9,('

Unlu, a learning platform in cre-ative education, has onboard-

ed India’s popular lyricist SameerAnjaan to teach lyrics-writing ontheir platform. This lyrics-writingclass will help aspiring content cre-ators learn the art of lyrics writingfrom an industry veteran and willopen avenues to commercialisetheir content to build a sustainablecareer in songwriting.

Anjaan moved to Mumbai in1980 to pursue his career. In a shortspan of time, he became one of themost sought-after lyricists in theBollywood industry. He is an award-winning songwriter and a GuinnessWorld Record holder for writing themost songs. With his immenseknowledge and experience, Anjaanwill help the aspirants learn theprocess of lyrics writing in his Unluclass.

Commenting on his exclusiveclass, Anjaan said, “It has alwaysbeen my dream to teach people tobecome songwriters so when Unlucame to me, asking to take thisopportunity, it was really a no-brain-er. When you write lyrics there are

many nuances one needs to takecare of, but if you know how toapproach all the challenges that aregoing to come your way, you canreally excel.”

He continued, “So, here’s theopportunity that will help aspi-rants’ inner songwriters to stepinto the sunlight and show them theway forward to express their ideasand emotions.”

In this class, Anjaan will sharewhat it took for him to become asuccessful songwriter and how onecan use his methodology/process tobecome a songwriter in their ownright. Beginning from his journeyas an artist to helping them in dis-covering themselves, he will take thelearners through the completeprocess of making it as a lyricist. Thecourse will help the students becomefamiliar with the structure of lyrics,language and its process. Apartfrom this, they will be taught aboutthe types of lyrics writing, genresand how to make a mark in theindustry. On the completion of thecourse, students will receive a cer-tificate of completion.

Ace Bollywood director GopiPuthran has been vocal about

rights of women which camethrough in Yash Raj Films’Mardaani and Mardaani 2, forwhich he wrote the script too.Gopi wants society to be openabout admitting that violenceagainst women is an epidemic andhopes that people engage witheach other immediately on how totackle this menace.

Gopi says, “Violence againstwomen keeps breeding because ofa toxic, stagnant culture that refus-es to acknowledge the equal exis-tence and independent agency ofwomen in the fabric of society.And this culture has little to dowith the socio-economic strataand has to do with the patriarchalvalues which have seeped into ourday to day behaviour, cuttingacross economic and social con-

ditions.”He adds, “But cultures don’t

change overnight and they defi-nitely don’t change by shovingglaring issues under the carpet.The more we talk about the extentand impact that violence has onwomen’s lives and the permanenttrauma that it causes, the more wecan hope to bring about somebehavioural change.”

He further states, “As someone

who’s been raised and influencedby strong, independent women Ifeel deeply that one of the waysthat crime against women can becurbed is by talking about suchcrimes openly and without attach-ing ‘shame’ and ‘guilt’ to thewomen who go through it. Theyare not ‘victims’ that need rescu-ing, they are ‘humans’ who seekjustice for the wrongs they’vefaced.”

Drummond William ThomasMoney-Coutts, also lovingly knownas DMC, is one English magician

and card shark specialist you ordinarily willnot find but, at the same time, a personwhose friendliness and tricks (magictricks, duh) you’d fall for instantly.

The heir apparent to the LatymerBarony, DMC decided to take the roadleast travelled and make a name for him-self. Somebody was right, when you lovewhat you do, you’ve already won at life.

I recently had the opportunity to con-verse with one of the most eminent magi-cians in the world, where he opened upabout how magic was a choice that madeitself. Read on for excerpts from the inter-view:

You have many successfully runningshows, The Card Shark, Beyond Magicwith DMC, Death By Magic and so on.

Tell us about your journey. My journey started as a child. I was

one of the strange children who was alwaysobsessed with unusual things, magic andmysteries. When I was eight, my fathertook me to a magic show. Now, my fathercomes from a very old banking family,called Money-Coutts. It originally used tobe a part of the family, it’s is a private bankin UK. Underneath the bank was the old-est magic shop in UK. He took me thereand that’s when I learnt that magic wassomething that could be learnt and thatcould give other people that incredible feel-ing that magic has always given me. I, veryquickly, decided that that’s what I will givemy life to, and I never looked back.

You've risked your own life duringthe stunts. What is it like?

It’s a crazy thing, you know. Becausepart of it is making a show like Death ByMagic. There's never enough time. Therewere six episodes back-to-back and sixcities that we had to cover across four dif-ferent continents. So, we almost never haveenough rehearsal time or prep-time. Ofcourse, when you’re dealing with very dan-gerous stunts, things go wrong. And,unfortunately, things did go wrong. I hadto see a medical team thrice in the courseof eight stunts, so almost half the showwent badly south. It was ironical that wewere creating a show that was a eulogy tovery incredible magicians who had giventheir lives in pursuit of magic.

On those lines, how real is Death ByMagic? What type of illusions do you cre-ate around it?

I’ve always thought of myself as theforger of the impossible. So, I create whatlook like forgeries of impossible momentsand, of course, in order to do that, we, asmagicians, use very many different tech-

niques — some are more psychological,some are the tricks of hand. Many differ-ent elements are at play and, of course, weuse all manners of different techniques. Butfor me, the secret is a very small part ofthe entire experience. Many people seemto be fascinated by the secret of how it isworking. For me, it is not so much aboutthat but more is about the journey and theexperience that is created out of it.

We know a magician never revealshis tricks, but one always wonders...What are your thoughts about shows likeMagic's Greatest Secrets Revealed?

To me, it feels like one of the thingsthat when a person learns makes him dis-appointed. It is rare that a person learnsthe mystery behind a trick and they areblown away. Usually, it’s something veryclever but more often than not, something

extremely simple. I believe it is like a snake.If a magician stops running away from it,it’ll stop chasing him. If a child is holdingon to a toy fiercely, then other childrenwant it even more but as soon as the toyis left on the ground, people lose interest.

I can vouch for it, the secrets behindmagic are absolutely not the most fascinat-ing part of what we do. It’s just, magiciansmake a big fuss about guarding the secret.So, of course, in doing so, they encouragepeople to come and chase after them. So,if they gave less importance to it, our audi-ences would do the same.

You travel around the world andentrance people with magic tricks. Whatdoes magic mean to you? Is it an escapeor a world where the surreal seems real?

It’s one of those beautiful questions,what magic is, and I’ve thought about it a

lot over the years. As a child, it was verymuch an escape. It was a happy place thatI would dissolve into. I would read aboutmy heroes and great stories from the past.

Now, for me, magic is equivalentwith love on some level. What magicmeans to you or me, to a monk or let’s saya young girl, will all mean very differentthings. Everyone will have their uniqueinterpretations of magic based on theirexperiences. For everyone, their experi-ences dictate their judgment. Someonemight have seen a brilliant magicianwhen they were a kid, while others mighthave experienced a terrible magic show ata party. That will inform, of course, theirunderstanding and definition of magic.

What is it that keeps calling you backto India?

Magic can be so much richer, deeper.

We can find magic in almost anything inlife. That is one reason why I keep return-ing to India.

There's an energy here. There's a senseof magic that I get from India — and itsculture, history, people — which is veryhard to capture, define or explain in words.But I put it on a very similar level of magic.

In India, you have this beautifultapestry of magic in many forms, this canbe a mere belief in the magic, but also youhave a very long history of people perform-ing magic.

I've travelled to parts of the worldwhere magic is something darker and seenas something much more sinister and canbe associated with witchcraft and blackmagic and voodoo. People are scared of it,generally. Because there's no history of per-forming magic.

So, for me, India is very unique.There's a wide interpretation of magic here,a real appetite of magic that I can feel.

You've performed a lot of publicstunts like public treasure quests. Whatis your objective behind these?

You know, that was just an idea. I thinkwhen I started my professional career, I wasbeginning to make money and I havealways loved the thrill of treasure hunts.I put it at an equal level with the exhila-ration of magic.

I had an idea one day. I bought little

envelopes and stuck into them what mustbe lakhs of rupees. I hid them then andwalked around, watching people findthem. They'd be overjoyed and confused,both. It was very special, wasn't particu-larly magical but it made me very happyto watch.

You come from a royal background.And are an heir to Baron Latimer.When and how did you decide to driftaway from the lineage and become a self-made magician?

I don't know if that was a particularmoment. That realisation was somethingalways there. As soon as I found magic, Iknew it would be my life. I attempted moreconventional/professional careers for awhile, worked at banks, but none of thesethings touched. The strength of magic wassomething else. I couldn't bring myself tosit if I knew I could bring magic into otherpeople's lives. In many ways, it was a choicethat made itself.

I was 18 and my father and I wereclimbing a mountain in Africa, I don'tremember this but he tells me that he askedme what my plan A was. I answered,'magic'. He then asked what plan B was andI responded, 'to make plan A work.'

Magic was everything for me.

You've a tattoo on your left ear thatsays 'Hausla Pyaar Wishwas', if I'm notwrong. Could you elaborate what thatmeans to you?

Yes (smiles). When I came to India, itwas my second time, and I had commit-ted to be coming a magician. I was inRajasthan and was inside a book shop. Iwas reading books that spoke of mantrasand guiding principles in life. I decided Iwanted three foundational mantras formyself, things I would hold on to, andwrote these three phrases.

When I landed in London, I wrote tomy friend in Udaipur and asked what theseprinciples in Hindi would be captured as.He said they'd be 'hausla, pyaar, wishwas'.

It is my little piece of India. No mat-ter what happens in my life, I return tothese mantras and my guiding principles.

What do you prefer more: Live per-formances or recorded shows?

I far prefer live performances becauseit's uniquely my own work. And I love thechallenges of television, it's different,many dozens of people making dozens ofcreative choices, but not all of which you'regonna agree with.

With Netflix, we had 100s of peoplein the crew. So not everything would gomy way. It is big and cumbersome. I loveit for many reasons but it is slower.

There's immediacy with live magic, itis right there. I can do it every day.

���� '���� �����- �(�!��������������� ����� �����������������������"����"� ��;���� $ ����&�'�(������������� =�������% �� �� ��� �

Last month, Zee TVreturned with its

longest-running singingreality show, Sa Re Ga MaPa 2021. With a legacy ofover 25 years, Sa Re Ga MaPa has been successful indiscovering some gems ofmusic fraternity. Theshow's contestants havemanaged to impress theaudience. However, viewersare in for a treat this week-end...

The upcoming episodeof Sa Re Ga Ma Pa will seeSalman Khan as the specialguest. During the shoot, hewill not only be seen shar-ing some memories fromhis career, but also sharescreen time with the threejudges, host and contes-tants from the show. In fact,during the shoot, Salmanshared a never heard before

anecdote about Sa Re GaMa Pa host AdityaNarayan.

Salman revealed, "I hadworked with Aditya whenhe was just three or four

years old. We shot for JabPyaar Kisise Hota Hai. Iused to wipe his nose whenhe was a kid." Narayanalso added, "I always had arunny nose, and he came to

my rescue. But look howI've grown up, but SalmanBhai is still the same young,dashing man."

While Salman Khan'srevelations will leave yousurprised, Sanjana andNeelanjana's soulful rendi-tion of songs like KaheToh Se Sajna and TereNaam Humne Kiya Haicannot be missed!

(Tune into Sa Re GaMa Pa this Saturday andSunday at 9 pm, only on

Zee TV.)

#�(�:*�3�; &�� ��8����8��:H�8 ''������ ���&������&�!�����/�&������#������������"�����/�2���%��������E#���*�!�����*����"�&���/��!��&����*�������6�&��&��!�&+����&����!�"�&�!���.��+�(� ��� (�'

< ������ ������ ����%�**���*1���1�&�!��?��!!�&���!2%&���&��������1��!�������#!*�2������//�!��������������� �!����*+&���H%&���!2��*�����!� !*#.��+�'��� ;;�

� ���*���1����� ������'�������&������!��!��&����!2��!����!�����&�*�����$�#����!2�&���':������:��.��+�'��� ;;�

�����������������+������,�$�$/-.>�� �� ������������������������ �����������+����?'#-6�% 0�0�

*�,=����-���/���,�����.���

Page 11: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

- > � 0 6 7 ' / ,

�$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

��� �"�����::!!!"������������"#��:����#��:

The expanse of sand spreadendlessly, interspersed withscrub, a few high rises, and carsthat were moving at a speed

that is possible only when viewed fromthe air. But as the plane circled andswooped to land, like the desert falcon,the high-rises that Dubai is known forsuddenly came into view. The spectac-ular buildings are just one of the manythings that add up to create anunmatched aura of the foremost of theseven Emirates, which exercises anunimaginable pull over blue- andwhite-collar workers, holidaymakersand shoppers alike. Dubai is nothingshort of a man-made mirage, whereevery flight of fancy, howsoever muchbizarre, finds a ready-to-take-off run-way.

But then, all of these thoughtscrossed my mind much after I had beenthrough a gruelling 10 hours before hit-ting the tarmac in the ‘Promised Land’of shopaholics. I say, ‘gruelling’ asinternational travel post-pandemic is abeast that is unrecognisable from itspredecessor. Despite that, having beenhemmed in within the boundaries thatanswer to the political description ofIndia — for almost two years now —the break was welcome. What wasn’tmet with equal enthusiasm was themandatory arrival at the airport sixhours before the flight for a RT-PCRtest. For people like me, who even ear-lier found the long check-in hours bur-densome, this was excruciating, to saythe least. So for a seven o’clock flight, Ihad to reach no later than 1 in themorning! The sight that greeted me wasunlike any that I had seen at any airportbefore. Queues of people — who wereawaiting results — sleeping on parapets,rows of cubicles where their details werenoted and bills generated as well as testsconducted while the luggage lay in a bitof disarray while the owners ran helter-skelter.

With the tests done, the reportsfinally filtered in two hours later. Andanother queue to pick it up followed byyet one more to confirm whether thetwo reports and visas were in order.And finally, check-in! However, onething hadn’t changed at the T3 airportin Delhi. If you wanted to catch a wink,all the sleeperettes were sure to be occu-pied.

It was only when the flight landedthat we

were ushered into more cubicleswhere yet another test was conducted.But post that, it was business as usual...

...Except for the heat. It seemed tohave been channelled straight from ablast furnace... that is if you had thebravado to step outside the air condi-tioning. I quickly took shelter in the

waiting car at the airport. Makingmy way to Atlantis, The Palm — whichwas to be my abode for three days — Isped past chrome and glass buildings,cars in every imaginable colour thatcould put a woman’s wardrobe toshame, malls on roads that were sosmooth that would have you steppingon the accelerator with glee.

We were headed towards PalmIsland, the largest man-made islandwhich is referred to as the ‘eighth won-

der of the world’. The Palm’s shape wasselected to ensure all buildings on theisland would have a sea view and beachaccess. The finished island covers anarea equivalent to 600 football pitchesand is four times as big as London’sHyde Park. Today, the 17 fronds arehome to around 1,500 beachfront man-sions, with a further 6,000 apartmentson the trunk.

Soon enough, the car was runningparallel with the beach and a turn ledit to the hotel. And since Dubai does notdo anything which is less than grand,Atlantis is spread over 46 hectares or —to make a layperson understand its scale— is the size of 64 Wembley footballpitches. Atlantis was the first resort toopen its doors on The Palm. With 1,548rooms, seven signature suites and 22storeys, it has played host to citizens of227 different countries. Its signatureRoyal Bridge Suite, measuring 924 sqm costs US$27,000 per night, is anattraction — especially for Indians —as actor Shah Rukh Khan has stayedhere. Another, the Underwater Suite —at 165 sq m, has a master bedroom withdirect views of The AmbassadorLagoon aquarium, creating an illusionof being beneath the sea — is anotherpopular option. The hotel is a micro-cosm of the Emirate which does notbelieve in living life which is not kingsize.

Checking in, I couldn’t help butadmire the handblown glass installationin a myriad of colours and kept steal-ing looks as the Russian lady at the frontdesk completed the formalities. Thepriceless Dale Chihuly sculpture wascreated using 3,000 hand-blown piecesthat were individually placed to buildthe 10-metre-high entry centerpiece.Even in Dubai where everything com-petes for attention — by being evenmore mammoth than larger than lifeand opulent — this is a showstopper.

Ushered in my room, I immediate-ly raced to the balcony as views froma hotel room have often been behind

my impulsive decisions to stay or leavea place since childhood. The vista thatgreeted me, despite the heat, had metongue-tied (a rare occurrence) forsome time. From the 13th floor, theview that spread out till the horizon hadthe deep blue sea with several yachtsskimming on the surface (rememberhabibi, money CAN buy you happinessin Dubai), the Burj Khalifa shimmer-ing in the heat, a stretch of greenerybefore it was interrupted bythe new Atlantis, The Royalslated to open sometimenext year, a monorailspeeding past and alsoa teeny weeny glimpseof the famous Palmwith its fronds thathouses the whos who(including our very ShahRukh Khan who is also thebrand ambassador of Dubai).Peeking down, I saw another waterbody just below. I wondered what it wasbut couldn’t ponder over it for too longas I had to leave for lunch.

It was the descent from the lobbyto the ground level which brought usface to face with a glass wall with a myr-iad of sea animals — stingrays, sharks,eels and 65,000 others — swimming (itseemed without care) in what could beclosest to viewing them in their natur-al habitat without getting wet. I watchedon mesmerised as realisation dawnedthat this was the water body I saw fromabove. This aquarium recreates Atlantis,the fictional island mentioned in anallegory on the hubris of nations inPlato's works Timaeus and Critias.Since the hotel is named after it, it is notsurprising that floor-to-ceiling unbreak-able glass practically brings in thewater world at every turn. I would havestared on, lost in thought, had not mystomach let out a low growl complain-ing about the hours of neglect and inanticipation of the feast that I knew wasin store.

We were headed towards Gordon

Ramsay’s (yes, THE Multi-Michelinstarred British chef and star of the smallscreen known equally well for his foodand his temper) Bread Street Kitchen& Bar. This is just one of the 29 restau-rants including three outlets

by celebrity chefs, Nobu Matsuhisa,Giorgio Locatelli and

Gordon Ramsay.Done up in wood, with a profusion

of lights in different shapes and sizes,the restaurant had an eclectic

appeal that was tough tomiss despite me being

consumed by a state ofsleep deprivation.While one mightassume that it wouldbe meats that dominate

the menu, sinceRamsay has often

expressed his dislike for veg-etarianism, the vegan trend has

made inroads into his restaurant — cer-tainly as unlikely a place as can be. Andsurprisingly, it was the Rigatoni withhandpicked mushrooms — withouteven so much as a hint of animal pro-tein — that was the star of the tabledespite an array of treats that werecooked and plated to perfection. But theside-effects of stuffing oneself with adish of creamy carbohydrates soonbecame apparent. The four people at thetable begin to nod off... especiallysince the night before had been less thanrestful. However, since no meal iscomplete without a dessert, an assort-ed platter followed. The Medjool date& banana sticky toffee pudding had usnodding in approval (and digging inseveral spoonfuls immediately afterloud proclamations of being stuffed tothe gills).

An afternoon siesta was called forafter such an immensely satiating meal.Waking up refreshed, I was raring tohead out for the Fish Tales Tour at TheLost Chambers Aquarium. For a hotelin the centre of a desert, the abundanceof water, even if it is saline, is certain-

ly a feat. And if you add the upkeep of a whop-ping 65,000 marine animals of 250 species, itcertainly becomes even more mind-boggling.The Ambassador Lagoon at Atlantis is an 11million litre marine habitat and one of the top10 largest aquariums in the world. Its viewingpane is 10 meters long and 70 cm thick and ifall its water was drained it would fill 4.5Olympic-sized swimming pools!

While I, along with three others, exploredthe site on my own, it was the behind-the-scenesduring the guided tour that had us holding onto every word. A fish hospital (my, my, did youknow that existed?), a kitchen to prepare theirfood

(400 kg of the same quality as is served tothe hotel’s guests), a water filtration plant, a test-ing centre, several fish tanks where the youngare kept and more were oohed and aahed over.

We wandered around before ending witha dinner at Hakkasan. While we were still quitefull from the lunch, the hostess’ recommenda-tion of Stir-fry vegetable and pine nut lettucewrap was certainly a revelation and was quick-ly wrapped up (pun intended). However, wecould not do justice to the main course as ourstomachs collectively groaned under theonslaught of a constant barrage of delicacies.Practically collapsing into bed, we were soonoff to la-la land,

Post a delicious spread of South-EastAsian, local and international offerings at thebreakfast buffet at the Saffron, we were up forsome activities that were a little more adven-turous than eating and walking about to takein the sights. We headed towards the WhiteBeach, the seafront of the eponymously-namedrestaurant, which is exclusively used by the hotelguests. The sun beating down in all its inten-sity did not flag our spirits as we bravely ven-tured where we had never gone before — a ses-sion of paddleboarding. Donning the life jack-ets ensured that our courage was boosted man-ifold and we weren’t daunted by the open seathat stretched out till the horizon. If we werebeing marked, the first person to take off fromthe start point would have scored a perfect 10.Paddling gently on both sides, she stood up withperfect poise without losing balance and aftera carefully executed pirouette, she headed backto safe shores exultant to have done it in one

perfect sweep. I was up next and I have alwaysbeen pretty confident –— that balance issomething I always take time to achieve whileperseverance is my strong point. And yet again,my hunch was not off the mark. Within min-utes (or was it seconds?) of standing up, a loudsplash followed and I was floating on my back.While the instructor was telling me not to panic,I promptly responded

by standing up in the neck-deep (okay, okay for a 5’1” me) water and wading back to the shore to attempt it yet again. And yes, this

time I was successful.But I was not yet done with the water

(blame it on me being a water sign) and draggedout a kayak along with a companion. The 20minutes we paddled around were frequentlyinterrupted by peels of laughter as we tried tomanoeuvre the kayak without bumping intoobstacles. Deeply tanned but exuberant, wemade our way back...

Lunch was at White, the beachfront restau-rant which specialises in Mediterranean cuisine.An all-white decor, fresh ingredients and a mealthat was light were just what we needed. But itwas the dessert, with its seemingly incongru-ous nomenclature of ‘bread’ that had everyonefloored. Called the Monkey bread, with a hintof cinnamon and coffee, we eyed its large sizewhen it arrived at the table and thought wewould never finish it. We could not have erredmore. And that was just another incorrectassumption about the dish. We sliced off a smallbite and then another, and one more... till theplate was almost empty. And yes, even now, Ican almost taste its delicious gorgeousness. Sigh.

However, there was more to come. On thelast day of our stay, we were lined up for a dol-phin and sea lion tour where we learnt the intri-cacies. The Dolphin Bay, spread over 4.5hectares, is home to Indo-Pacific Bottlenose dol-phins that eat between five and seven kg of fishper day. The Sea Lion Point is the only one ofits kind in the region. Its residents are SouthAfrican Fur Seals and are cared for by experi-enced Marine Mammal Specialists.

The trainer explained that diet regulation,regular health check-ups, exercise and morewere some of the things that ensured that boththe physical and emotional well-being of thesemarine animals were well looked after. With thedolphin parks having come in for increased crit-icism from animal rights activists, we watchedthe marine animals from afar.

From there we headed straight toAquaventure, the water playground of more

than 18 million litres of water. With 79 ridesspread across three towers 26 marine and water-sport experiences, anyone who loves water parksthis is a dream destination. While I debatedwhether I should take the Leap of

Faith — a sheer drop of 98-feet mega whichplummets in a near-vertical fashion at fright-ening speed of 60 km/h in three seconds, shoot-ing you through a clear acrylic tube surround-ed by sharks and cownose rays —

I took some of the relatively tamer rides. SoI went on a safari of a different kind in SharkAttack, where the fibreglass gives a 360° viewof the shark-filled lagoon. Then, there were theRapids, a 1.6-kilometre river and theAquaconda, a 210 metres long and 25 metreshigh six-person waterslide tube.

Certainly, impossible is not a word thatexists in Dubai’s dictionary.

IMPOSSIBLE... IS NOTHING����&��&� �����������������#������������������� ������-��$� ����������������������������#� ���� �����������"��������� ���@������A�

Page 12: `UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

��� ������$%�&'()*&+�,�)&-%+�&. ,�'�/(0�(+�123�141�

����� (��, �

Tim Southee bowled anincisive morning spell totake five wickets which

was then brilliantly comple-mented by openers Will Youngand Tom Latham as NewZealand dominated India toreach 129 for no loss on thesecond day of the openingTest here on Friday. The onlyhighlight for India in an other-wise disappointing day wasShreyas Iyer’s (105 off 171balls) debut hundred.

Playing his 80th Test match,Southee (5/69) took his 13thfive-wicket haul on an unre-sponsive track to send Indiapacking for 345 after they start-ed the day at 258 for 4.

Young then held centre-stage in his fourth Test appear-ance as he looked composed andunperturbed during his unbeat-en knock of 75 off 180 balls.

Latham (50 batting off 165balls), the seasoned campaign-er, survived three on-field deci-sions (two leg before and onecaught behind), negated by DRS,and decided to frustrate the twoIndian spinners with a grittydefensive game. The Green Parktrack became better for battingon the second day and the turnthat was on offer was minimal.The variable bounce wasn’t alsothere for the better part of the 57overs that they batted.

Since it was slow turn, the

Black Caps duo mostly plonkedtheir front-foot and neutralisedthe turn. And when they playedon the back-foot, there wasenough time to manoeuvre onboth sides of the wicket.

Both were able to adjust onthe back-foot against RavindraJadeja (14-4-28-0) andRavichandran Ashwin (17-5-38-0), both of whom didn’t lookthreatening on the day.

Also what made it worse forIndia was that hardly any deliv-ery kept dangerously low, which

could have brought the leg-before into the equation.

The most disappointing ofall was Axar Patel (10-1-26-0),whose accuracy on the legstump line was of little or novalue and it was once againproved that without assistancefrom the track, he is not evenhalf the bowler that he is withsome help from surface.

Young, in particular, got asmany as 12 boundaries whileLatham helped himself to fourhits to the fence.

While Indian spinners cancome back on the third day ifthe pitch considerably deterio-rates but New Zealand wouldlike to take the game deep bygetting somewhere close toIndia’s first innings total andtake it from there.

In the morning, Iyer becamethe 16th Indian cricketer toscore a hundred on Test debutbut the home side’s lower-mid-dle order caved in meekly saveAshwin (38 off 56 balls), whosecounter-attacking effort took

them close to 350.The credit for that went pri-

marily to Southee (27.4-6-69-5),who was tirelessly bowling anextended spell of more than 10overs from one end, causingextensive damage. The seasonedcampaigner’s 13th five-wickethaul came in his 80th Test.

Resuming on his overnightscore of 75, Iyer followed thegreat Gundappa Vishwanath inreaching the milestone at thisground.

Ashwin did the bulk ofscoring in the morning sessionas India added only 87 runs, los-ing six wickets in the process.

Southee was on target withthe second new ball first up ashe sent back Ravindra Jadeja(50) on his overnight score.

He used the width of thecrease cleverly to trouble Jadejaand got the ball to move fromlength which was too much forthe lower-order players to nego-tiate. Wriddhiman Saha andAxar Patel nicked at those deliv-eries that moved away at drivablelengths.Sensing that he is nowbatting with the tail as Saha (1 off12 balls) is no longer a batter onwhom one can repose his faith,Iyer hit a flurry of boundaries butthe best shot was a cover driveoff Kyle Jamieson (22.2-6-85-3)which took him to 96.

A glide towards wide ofthird man off Jamieson got hima double and the moment thatevery batter dreams of.

����� ���

India’s two-time Olympic medal-win-ning shuttler P V Sindhu came back

from a game down to beat SouthKorea’s Sim Yujin and enter the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open Super 1000tournament here on Friday.

The men’s doubles duo ofSatwiksairaj Rankireddy and ChiragShetty later beat Malaysia’s Goh Sze Feiand Nur Izzuddin 21-19 21-19 instraight games to also make the semi-finals of the tournament, making it agreat day for the Indian contingent.

Third seed Sindhu, the reigningworld champion, had to toil hard to getthe better of Yujin 14-21 21-19 21-14 inthe quarterfinal that lasted an hour andsix minutes.

The Indian will play second seedRatchanok Intanon of Thailand, whogot the better of Japan’s Asuka Takahashi

21-17 21-12 in another women’s singlesquarterfinal match, in her last four clashof the USD 850,000 event. It was notsmooth sailing from Sindhu againstYujin.

The Indian started confidently rac-ing to a 7-1 lead before the Japanesepocketed six straight points to draw thefirst game level.

But once Yujin took a slender 11-10 lead at the break, she didn’t look backand won the game comfortably to grabthe early momentum.

The Japanese continued in thesame vein in the second game andmatched Sindhu stroke for stroke till thefirst seven points before the Indianupped her game.

Sindhu displayed better controland authority over her strokes andengaged her rival in long rallies to surgeahead 14-8 before Yujin fought back.

Sindhu used her vast experience

and held her nerves to draw the con-test level.

In the decider, Sindhu enjoyed theearly exchanges to race to a comfortable11-4 lead but the Japanese secured sevenconsecutive points to make it 11-11.Sensing trouble, Sindhu took her gameto the next level just at the right timeto outwit her rival and seal the matchin her favour.

The combo of Satwik and Chiragtook 43 minutes to win their men’s dou-bles quarterfinal against the Malaysians.

The other Indian in fray, B SaiPraneeth, will play Olympic championand former world No.1 Viktor Axelsenof Denmark in the men’s singles quar-terfinals later in the day.

Praneeth, world no.16, staved off aspirited fight from France’s world no 70Christo Popov, claiming a 21-17 14-2121-19 win in a gruelling second roundmatch on Thursday.

���� ����8 ���

Former Australia Test crick-et captain Tim Paine is set

to miss the first Ashes Test andis taking an indefinite mentalhealth break from the game.

The news comes a weekafter Paine tearfully quit as cap-tain after revelations of a scan-dal involving the sending ofinappropriate texts to a femaleco-worker in 2017.

Cricket Australia said onFriday that Paine advised themhe would be “stepping awayfrom cricket for a period oftime.”

“We recognise that this isan incredibly difficult time forTim and his family and arecommitted to supportingthem,” Cricket Australia chiefexecutive Nick Hockley said ina statement.

“We respect and under-

stand Tim’s decision to have abreak at this time to focus onhis and his family’s well-being.”

Paine’s teammates werehoping for the wicketkeeper toplay on December 8 — his 37thbirthday — when Australia’sfive-test series against Englandbegins in Brisbane. As ofThursday, the veteran wasscheduled to join the test squadthis weekend.

Paine was called up and setto bat in Tasmania’s one-daymatch against WesternAustralia on Friday, giving hima chance to play five consecu-tive days of cricket after a low-key return via the state’ssecond XI.

But Cricket Tasmania (CT)said Friday that Paine wouldnot take his spot in the side.

“Following discussionsover the last 24 hours, TimPaine has advised CricketTasmania that he will be takinga leave of absence from all

forms of cricket for theforeseeable future,” CTsaid in a statement.

“Cricket Tasmania willcontinue to support Timand his family both profes-sionally and personallyover the summer.”

Likely wicketkeeperreplacements for Paine in

the test side are Alex Careyor Josh Inglis.

����� (8�(�'�

Legendary former India cap-tain Kapil Dev on Friday

asked whether Hardik Pandyacan be called an all-roundergiven that he has not beenbowling as much as the roledemands.

A vital cog in India’sscheme of things in white-ballcricket, the flamboyant Pandyabowled in just two matches inthe recent T20 World Cupwhere India went out in thegroup stage itself.

He is also under fire for notrevealing the extent of his sev-eral fitness issues and wasdropped from the home T20series against New Zealand,which India won 3-0.

“He has to do both the jobsto be considered an all-rounder.He is not bowling so can we callhim all-rounder? Let him bowl,he has come out from theinjury,” Kapil said at the RoyalCalcutta Golf Course here.“He is an extremely importantbatter to the country, forbowling he has to play a lotmore matches, perform andbowl and then we will say,”added India’s firstWorld Cup-winningc a p -t a i n .K a p i l

also predicted that RahulDravid the coach will be a big-ger success than the immense-ly accomplished Dravid thecricketer.

Dravid began his newinnings as the Indian team’shead coach in the ongoingseries against New Zealand, apost he has been given till the2023 ODI World Cup in India.

“He’s a good man, a goodcricketer. He will do a better jobas a coach than as a cricketerbecause in cricket nobody hasdone better than him. I’m justkeeping my fingers crossed,”Kapil said. Dravid earlier

served as the head ofNational Cricket Academyand was also the coach ofIndia’s Under-19 and A

teams, nurturing sever-al young talents who

went on to repre-sent the countrywith distinc-tion.

���� ���''89���

Pakistan bowlers used some variety to take fourwickets in the first session of the first test against

Bangladesh on Friday, leaving the home side in trou-ble at lunch. Fast bowlers Shaheen Afridi and HasanAli, medium pacer Faheem Ashraf and offspinnerSajid Khan shared the four wickets to leave Bangladeshat 69-4 after Bangladesh captain Mominul Haqueopted to bat first after winning the toss.

Liton Das was batting on 11 with MushfiqurRahim on 5 at the break.

Saif Hasan hit Ali for two boundaries in the sec-ond over to give a hint of a good start for Bangladesh.

But his opening partner Shadman Islam strug-gled against Afridi, who moved the ball well, but Saifgrew with confidence, driving the left arm pacerthrough mid-off for four.

Afridi broke through in the next delivery whenSaif fended a short delivery to short leg for 14.

Shadman also fell for 14, as Hasan had him leg-before after leaking runs in his opening spell.

Khan gave the side a big breakthrough when hereviewed successfully to dismiss captain MominulHaque for 6. Najmul Shanto then followed him, giv-ing a straight catch to point for 14 as Bangladesh crum-bled under pressure.

����� ���� ��N���R�O

The Indian women’s footballteam scored one goal and

kept mighty Brazil at bay tilllate in the first half but even-tually lost 1-6 in its first matchof the four-nation interna-tional tournament here onFriday.

Manisha Kalyan equalisedin the eighth minute for Indiaafter Debora Oliveira had putthe 2007 World Cup runners-up in the lead in the very firstminute of the match.

Giovana Costa put Brazilin the lead again in the 36thminute to give the home sidethe advantage at the breather.

���� �8��8�

Celtic’s chances of progress in theEuropa League were ended by a

late Bayer Leverkusen rally to lose 3-2 in Germany on Thursday as RealBetis, Lazio and Galatasaray securedtheir places in the knockout stages.

Leverkusen had already qualifiedbut made sure of top spot in GroupG and a place in the last 16 thanks totwo goals in the final eight minutes atthe Bay Arena.

Robert Andrich headed the hostsin front before Josip Juranovicequalised from the penalty spot.

Jota’s sweet strike 11 minutesinto the second half had Celtic oncourse for their first ever win onGerman soil. But Andrich smashedhome his second of the game betweenJoe Hart’s legs before Moussa Diabybeat the former England internation-al from the edge of the box. Celtic are

assured of dropping into the EuropaConference League in the new year,but cannot now catch Betis, who beatFerencvaros 2-0 to guarantee secondin the group. Lazio and Galatasaraywill face off in two weeks’ time for topspot in Group E after securing qual-ification in style.

The Italians were 3-0 winners overLokomotiv Moscow, who are set tolose head of sports and developmentRalf Rangnick to Manchester Unitedaccording to reports.

Ciro Immobile scored two secondhalf penalties before Pedro Rodriguezrounded off the scoring.Galatasarayhold a three-point lead at the top ofthe group after ending Marseille’schances of progress in a 4-2 thriller inIstanbul. West Ham’s fine return toEuropean football continued with a 2-0 win over Rapid Vienna despiteDavid Moyes naming a much-changed line-up.

����� ���

DelhiHockey India on Fridaynamed the 20-member

Indian Men’s Hockey Team forthe upcoming Hero Men’s AsianChampions Trophy which isscheduled to be held betweenDecember 14– 22, 2021.Defending Champions Indiabegin their campaign on theopening day against Korea (Dec14).

In this edition, they willbattle it out against Korea,Japan (Dec 19), Malaysia (Dec18), Pakistan (Dec 17) andhosts Bangladesh (Dec 15) inthe single-pool tournament fortop honours.

The Semi Finals will beplayed on 21 December fol-lowed by the Final on 22December.

The Indian team will seeManpreet Singh captain theside along with HarmanpreetSingh who will be his deputy.

The team includes goal-keepers Krishan B Pathak andSuraj Karkera. India’s defencewill see Harmanpreet Singhlead the charge along withGurinder Singh, JarmanpreetSingh, Nilam Sanjeep Xess,Dipsan Tirkey, Varun Kumarand Mandeep Mor.

With this line-up India willhave four options for dragflick.

����� (��, �

Shreyas Iyer on Fridaybecame the 16th

Indian batter to make a hun-dred on his Test debut, joiningan illustrious list whichincludes the legendary LalaAmarnath, GundappaViswanath, and BCCI president Sourav Gangulyamong others.

The elegant right-hander,who hails from Mumbai’s Worliarea, achieved the feat in theongoing first Test against NewZealand on the second day of

the match at the Green ParkStadium here. Iyer scored 105off 171 balls, striking 13 foursand a couple of sixes during hisbrilliant effort.

He was dismissed by TimSouthee. He became the secondbatter after Viswanath to scorea hundred on his Test debut atKanpur.

The 26-year-old is also thethird Indian to score a hundred on debut against New Zealand.

Arjan Kripal Singh, whoachieved the feat in 1955, andSurinder Amarnath, who

scored a hundred against theBlack Caps on his debut in1976, are the other two Indians

to have achieved the same. Iyer is also the third

Mumbai player after Rohit

Sharma and Prithvi Shaw to slam a hundred on Testdebut.

� ����� �������� ��� ����%�� ��������������SOUTHEE, OPENERS BRING NZ BACK IN GAME

:���������%�'��������� ��'��� ������� ��2������E� �����-��9�7&�:-�(��

��������������+�#�������������������������

,����3��)������ �)4�>���%��?�8�������2��

Indian teamannounced for AsianChampions Trophy

,�-����!���-���F���&*+�%��-��������!2*�������!���������

���������$� ���������9+���������!�����.����#2�

���#���#���:����������� ���==��-�����&��

INDIA BEATEN 1-6 BY BRAZIL INWOMEN’S FOOTBALL

� 3 / � + 4 4 = & � � + 5 = & � 4 + & �� ��*���/�&!�������!2*�!����33

( ���1�-�������!���,�-����!���Q�

>��&D�!�(&�1�*���!2������%�R��*�!����QQ

#��$$����*�����2����!2*�!����Q�

?���!#/�!����!2�����!2*�!����<F

"�9�;���%�!�������#��&�*�����<�

���#&�!��&��/�&!��������%�R��*�!����=<

!�������A��&#���!��!2*�!���� F

@�,&���!��/&������#����"&��������

�)���#&���9�!2#*+����!2*�!�����<

���;�&�!��&����%�2�����#����"&�����44�

�(��#&�������!�����&����!-���4�4

�>����-��&����%�!����#��&�*����4�

�# ���������&/���������!������4�3

�?�,&���������%��������!������4�

�"���&�+���+�&�����%�R��*�!���4��.

$�$���%��1�Their campaignmight be back on track follow-ing a massive win over lowlyCanada, but defending champi-ons India are still not out of the

woods and would need to beatPoland in their final Pool Bmatch to qualify for the quarter-finals of the FIH Men’s JuniorHockey World Cup here on

Saturday. The Indians, one ofthe pre-tournament favourites,were given a rude shock in theiropener when France stunnedthem 5-4. PTI


may go to jail: Javadekar - Daily Pioneer

may go to jail: Javadekar - Daily Pioneer

ICMR 'suspends' rapid test kits - Daily Pioneer

ICMR 'suspends' rapid test kits - Daily Pioneer

Differing scene in TS, AP - Daily Pioneer

Differing scene in TS, AP - Daily Pioneer

Death for brutal child rape - Daily Pioneer

Death for brutal child rape - Daily Pioneer

A`]ZeZTd ` - Daily Pioneer

A`]ZeZTd ` - Daily Pioneer

MODI'S ELECTION BLITZ FROM SPACE - Daily Pioneer

MODI'S ELECTION BLITZ FROM SPACE - Daily Pioneer

ARhRc deR_Ud Sj >RYR 9> - Daily Pioneer

ARhRc deR_Ud Sj >RYR 9> - Daily Pioneer

DfcgVj TYRced >`UZ UcVR^ aReY - Daily Pioneer

DfcgVj TYRced >`UZ UcVR^ aReY - Daily Pioneer

KTR wins Kitex for TS - Daily Pioneer

KTR wins Kitex for TS - Daily Pioneer

4bcPQ[XbWTS '%# A0=278 BD=30H - Daily Pioneer

4bcPQ[XbWTS '%# A0=278 BD=30H - Daily Pioneer

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

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

DaVR\Vc `fded "% ^`cV >=2d - Daily Pioneer

DaVR\Vc `fded "% ^`cV >=2d - Daily Pioneer

`UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

`UZ ReeRT\d Uj_RdeZT a`]ZeZTd - Daily Pioneer

The Government has - Daily Pioneer

The Government has - Daily Pioneer

@aa RTeZgZeZVd aZT\ fa - Daily Pioneer

@aa RTeZgZeZVd aZT\ fa - Daily Pioneer

Floodwater level rises in Krishna - Daily Pioneer

Floodwater level rises in Krishna - Daily Pioneer

Telugu students caught off guard - Daily Pioneer

Telugu students caught off guard - Daily Pioneer

4`gZU WZXYe YZ_XVd `_ "& TZeZVd - Daily Pioneer

4`gZU WZXYe YZ_XVd `_ "& TZeZVd - Daily Pioneer

:A= TRfXYe S`h]VU - Daily Pioneer

:A= TRfXYe S`h]VU - Daily Pioneer

Flooded homes, roads; chaotic traffic - Daily Pioneer

Flooded homes, roads; chaotic traffic - Daily Pioneer