:_UZR deRcZ_X Re XcZ^ T`c`_R dTV_RcZ` - Daily Pioneer

��

Covid positivity rates areshooting up, caseload spik-

ing, and authorities preparingfor a Covid-19 spread far worsethan the second wave that hitthe country last year in March.India on Tuesday recorded37,379 new cases and 124 fatal-ities in 24 hours.

This is the highest casenumber for a day sinceSeptember 2021. India report-ed just 6,358 cases a week ear-lier on December 28.

The six-fold jump in sevendays points to grim scenariobuilding up.

Maharashtra, Delhi andWest Bengal account for near-ly 80 per cent of the cases, butother States are fast catching up.During the last 24 hours, Delhirecorded 5,481 cases,Maharashtra 18,466 cases andBengal 9,073. Karnataka logged2,479 new cases and positivityrate shot up to 2.5 per centwhile four people succumbedto the virus.

Delhi reported 5,481 newcases and three more deaths onTuesday with positivity rateleaping to 8.37 per cent. Thecity now has 14,889 activecases and 168 people on oxy-gen support. At least 14 patients

are on the ventilator support.Alarmingly, over 81 per

cent of the total samplessequenced over the last twodays were found to have theOmicron variant. In otherwords, of the 187 samplessequenced during the last 48hours, 152 were cases ofOmicron infection, as per thedata shared by the DelhiGovernment.

The Delhi Governmenthas directed private hospitalsand nursing homes with 50beds or more to reserve at least40 per cent of their total bedsfor Covid patients.

The Covid-19 situationworsened in Mumbai on

Tuesday, as a staggering 10,860new positive cases were report-ed from various parts of themetropolis. The 10,860 Covid-19 cases in Mumbai wereamong 18,466 new casesreported from various parts ofthe State. With the 18,466 freshcases, the total number ofCovid-19 cases went up from67,12,028 cases to 67,30494.

Simultaneously, 75Omicron cases were reportedfrom various parts of the Statetaking the total number ofOmicron cases detected in theState to 653.

Of the 75 Omicron cases,Mumbai accounted for a max-imum of 40 cases, followed by

nine cases in Thane, eightcases in Pune, five cases inPanvel, three cases each fromKolhapur and Nagpur, twomcases from Pimpri-Chinchwadand one case each fromB h i w a n d i - N i z a m p u r ,Ulhasnagar, Satara, Amravatiand Navi Mumbai.

As 4,588 patients were dis-charged from the hospitalsacross the State after full recov-ery, the total number of peopledischarged from the hospitalssince the second week of Marchlast year increased from65,14,358 cases to 65,18,916.The recovery rate in the Statedropped from 97.05 per cent to96.86 per cent.

��

��

Gearing up to meet anythreat from China in the

Ladakh region, the BorderRoads Organisation (BRO) forthe first time opened the Zozi-La (mountain pass) in Januaryto ensure sustained logisticalsupport to the front line troopson the Line of Actual Control(LAC).

This major achievementcame against the backdrop ofthe ongoing stand-off in east-ern Ladakh between India andChina for the nearly last twoyears. The Zozi La at a heightof 11,649 feet connects Ladakhwith the rest of the country andremains blocked with snowfor at least three to four monthsduring winters.

In another development,the Indian Army unfurled thenational flag in the Galwan val-ley on New Year’s Day. Thephotographs of the event werereleased on Tuesday, three daysafter the Chinese released pic-tures of its troops hoistingtheir flag on their side in theGalwan valley.

The photographs of theIndian troops holding the flag

were also posted by UnionLaw and Justice Minister KirenRijiju on Twitter with the cap-tion “brave Indian Army sol-diers in Galwan Valley on theoccasion of #NewYear2022.”

In one of the photos,released by sources in theIndian security establishment,around 30 Indian soldiers fromthe Dogra Regiment were seenwith the national flag.

Another photo showed thegroup with four of them hold-ing the national flag and anoth-er tri-colour flying high on aflagpole adjacent to a tempo-rary observation post. Thephotographs were of January 1in the Galwan Valley, sourcessaid here.

The Indian and Chinesetroops exchanged sweets andgreetings at 10 border pointsalong the LAC including ineastern Ladakh and NorthSikkim on January 1.

Giving details about ZoziLa, officials said it will providea boost to strategic connectiv-ity in the Ladakh region.

As many as 72 vehiclescrossed the mountain pass forthe first time ever on January 2.

��

From Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal to Union

Minister Mahendra NathPandey and BJP leader ManojTiwari to TMC leader BabulSupriyo several politicians havetested positive as with eachpassing day India is adding ahuge number of new Covid-19patients to its caseload.

The list includes NCPleader Supriya Sule,Maharashtra EducationMinister Varsha Gaikwad,Yashomati Thakur, HAM pres-ident Jitan Ram Manjhi,Congress leader BalasahebThorat, BJP leader HarishKhurana, and Shiv Sena leaderEknath Shinde.

In a tweet, Kejriwal onTuesday said he has testedpositive for Covid-19 and iso-lated himself at home. “I havetested positive for Covid. Mildsymptoms. Have isolatedmyself at home. Those whocame in touch wid (with) me in(the) last few days, kindly iso-

late urself (yourself) and geturself (yourself ) tested,”Kejriwal tweeted.

The Delhi CM recentlywent to Punjab, Uttarakhandand Goa to campaign for theparty ahead of the announce-ment of Assembly polls. InApril last year, his wife SunitaKejriwal had tested positive forcoronavirus, while he haddeveloped symptoms, he test-ed negative.

Union Minister for HeavyIndustries Pandey was admit-ted to Yashoda hospital,Kaushambi, after he tested pos-itive for Covid-19.

“I was unwell for the lasttwo days due to which I under-went the Covid test and thereport came positive. All thosewho have come in contactwith me in the last few days arerequested to take care of them-selves and get the necessaryinvestigations done,” he tweeted.

BJP MP Tiwari on Tuesdaysaid he tested positive forCovid-19 and has isolated him-self at home.

“Was feeling unwell sinceJanuary 2 night. I could not gofor poll campaigning inRudrapur in Uttarakhand dueto mild fever and cold. Havetested positive today.”

��

Delhi imposed weekendlockdown amid Covid

surge with the national Capitalregistering 5,481 fresh casesand three deaths in past 24hours while positivity ratesoared to 8.46 per cent, accord-ing to health bulletins issued onTuesday.

Meanwhile, in a majorrelief for commuters, authori-ties announced that city busesand metro trains will run attheir full seating capacitythroughout the week in thewake of long queues at variousbus stands and stations. Theorder came as the DelhiGovernment had feared thatbus stops and metro stationscould become super spreadersafter the seating capacity hadbeen halved and long queueswere seen at such places.

The decision to imposefurther restrictions was takenat a high-level meeting of theDelhi Disaster ManagementAuthority (DDMA) chaired byLieutenant Governor AnilBaijal.

The weekend curfew willbe in place from Friday 10pmto Monday 5am.

After the meeting, DeputyChief Minister Manish Sisodiasaid, “In view of the rise incases, the Government took afew decisions at the DDMAmeeting today to help slowdown the spread of the virus.Delhi will now have a weekendcurfew on Saturdays andSundays. We appeal to thepeople to stay at home unlessextremely necessary, such as togo to hospital.”

As per the DDMA order,Government employees, bar-ring those engaged in essentialservices, have been asked towork from home, while privateoffices will remain open with50 per cent capacity.

Shops in malls and shop-ping complexes will be operateon an odd- even basis from 10am to 8 pm and every munic-ipal corporate will be allowedto have only one weekly mar-ket that will be opened with 50per cent capacity.

“All cinema halls, theatresand multiplexes to be shut. Allauditoriums and assembly hallswill be closed. Capacity atrestaurants again reduced to 50per cent and will operate from10 am to 8 pm.”

�� !

"�� #�� $#�$#%��

Washington: The US onMonday reported over 1 mil-lion Covid-19 cases amid rapidspread of the Omicron variant.

The US health authoritiesregistered more than threetimes as many new cases as inany previous wave of the coro-navirus, over 1 million report-ed on Monday alone.

A substantial increase incoronavirus infections wasexpected when this week’snumbers came out, but noth-

ing like this. About 1 of every100 Americans will have beenreported as a positive case justthe last week.

By Monday, Johns HopkinsUniversity data showed about10,42,000 more cases than theday before, and it wasn’t imme-diately clear that all states hadreported in.

That count clearly includes hefty numbers ofbacklogged cases.

About one-fifth of states

reported infections on Saturdayand one-third on Sunday. Still,the previous single-day recordwas about 5,91,000 cases, set onThursday.

The preliminary total forMonday could drive the coun-try to a weekly average of closeto 4,50,000 cases per day.

The previous highest totalfor a whole week, 1.76 million,figures to be not only surpassedbut possibly doubled.

The US has recorded more

than 55 million confirmedCovid-19 cases, or one forevery six people in the country— and more than 8,26,000deaths, according to JohnsHopkins University data.

Meanwhile, the Food andDrug Administration onMonday expanded the emer-gency use authorisation of abooster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccineto include youths 12 to 15.

Agencies

&�� '��(�)�* +��

��

,��-�� ./� ��

0�1 ��.� ��2 � ��2��1�3 �� 4�5�/� ��

��

�� !"�� "��#��

��

��

With the State’s positivityrate touching 6.49 per

cent, the Punjab Governmenton Tuesday imposed night cur-few across the State from 10 pmto 5 am till January 15; shut alleducational institutions;allowed cinema halls andrestaurants to operate at 50 percent capacity, among otherrestrictions.

Witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases, the State Governmentprohibited the movement ofpeople for all non-essential activ-ities within the municipal limitsof all cities and towns during thecurfew hours.

The district authorities havebeen asked to issue prohibitoryorders under section 144 ofCode Criminal Procedure(CrPC), and ensure strict com-pliance with the night curfew.

As per the orders issued bythe State Home Department,the essential activities like oper-ation of multiple shifts at indus-tries, offices (both Governmentand private), movement of per-sons and goods on national andState highways, loading andunloading of cargo, and travelof persons to their destinationsafter disembarking from buses,trains and flights are permitted.

All educational institutionswill also be closed for offlineclasses, however, they areexpected to stick to the acade-mic schedule through onlineteaching. Medical and nursingcolleges, however, are permit-ted to function normally withoffline classes.

Bars, cinemas halls, multi-

plexes, malls, restaurants, spas,museums, and zoos will beallowed to operate at 50 percent of their capacity, provid-ed all the staff are fully vacci-nated against Covid-19.

Sports complexes, stadi-ums, swimming pools, gymswill be closed (except thoseused for training of sportsper-sons for participation innational or international sportsevents or for organizing nation-al or international sportsevents). No spectators or visi-tors are allowed in stadiums.

The orders also stated thatAir-conditioned buses will runat 50 per cent of capacity.

At the same time, only fullyvaccinated staff will be allowedto attend the Government andprivate offices, working spaces,factories, and industries.Following the rule of “no mask,no service”, the orders made itclear that no services should beprovided in offices to peoplewho were not wearing masksproperly.

The district authoritieshave been advised to imposeadditional restrictions, ifdeemed necessary, based ontheir assessment of the situa-tion, but are not allowed todilute the ones imposed by theState Government.

Wearing of masks by allpersons in public places,including workplaces, ismandatory and must be strict-ly observed and enforced, saidthe order, adding that socialdistancing for all the activities shall always bemaintained.

Related report on P2

��$ ��%�� !��%&��"��%�

�� !"��#$��%�� &'�(��#"��#$��%��

��'��'� �� )*��+,��(��-'��%%��

�, ��&��$�.��#��/�0� �0�� +��

�� 1�� 23�1��

��

�� !�"��!�#��$%$$&��$��$

�� !" #��$��+��.0��4544

��%&'()�*

��.��+��++��+�0��0��+��0+��+��++��

��

&+�!�&!�,��++�0��0..��6��0.��.��

��

��

��

More evidence is emergingthat the Omicron coron-

avirus variant is affecting theupper respiratory tract, whichresults in milder symptomsthan previous strains, a WorldHealth Organization (WHO)official said on Tuesday.

“We are seeing more andmore studies pointing out thatOmicron is infecting the upperpart of the body. Unlike theother ones, that could causesevere pneumonia,” WHOIncident Manager AbdiMahamud said, noting that itcould be “good news”.

However, he addedOmicron’s high transmissibilitymeans it will become dominantwithin weeks in many places,posing a threat in countrieswhere a high portion of the pop-ulation remains unvaccinated.

His remarks on thereduced risks of severe diseasechime with other data includ-ing a study from South Africa

which was one of the firstcountries where Omicron wasdetected.

While hailing the poten-tially “good news”, Mahamudstressed that Omicron’s hightransmissibility means it willbecome dominant within weeksin many places - thus posing a

threat in countries where ahigh portion of the populationremains unvaccinated.

His remarks on thereduced risks of severe diseasechime with other data, includ-ing a recent study from South Africa.

However, Mahamud also

sounded a note of caution,calling the country an “outlier”since it has a young populationamong other factors.

Asked about whether anOmicron-specific vaccine wasneeded, Mahamud said it wastoo early to say but noted thedecision required global coor-

dination and should not be leftto the commercial sector todecide alone.

A recent study, which is yetto be peer reviewed, showedthat when compared with bothDelta and the original coron-avirus, the Omicron variantwas quicker at getting into theupper airways and lungs, butmuch slower at infiltrating thelung tissue itself.

A combined United Statesand Japanese study — stillunder peer review — foundthat rodents that were infectedwith Omicron had less lungdamage, lost less weight andwere less likely to die than thoseinfected with Delta.

Meanwhile, a team study-ing the Omicron variant inGlasgow believe this variant isunable to infect the lung cellsas much, because an essentialprotein that usually helpedprevious SARS-COV-2 variantsto gain entry into the lung cellsbound less strongly toOmicron.

��

The Centre is all set toundertake the country’s

first ever cultural survey ofIndia’s villages christened as‘Mera Gaon, Meri Dharohar’through a mobile application.

The Ministry of Culturehas partnered with theCommon Services Centres(CSC), under the Ministry ofElectronics & IT (MEITY), inthis regard.

The survey seeks to docu-ment the cultural identity at thevillage level by involving citi-zens to share what makes theirvillage, block, or districtunique. The entire exercise isexpected to be completed bymid-2022.

Under the survey, a CSCVillage Level Entrepreneurcalled VLEs will conduct meet-ings with citizens at the villagesand then upload interestingfacts about their village, itsplaces of interest, customs andtraditions, famous personali-ties, festivals and beliefs, art andculture, etc., on to the applica-tion. VLEs will also uploadphotos and videos regardingthese aspects of the application.

Speaking about the survey,

Dr. Dinesh Tyagi, ManagingDirector, CSC, said: “India hasa unique cultural identity root-ed in its villages. No one canunderstand it better than theCSC VLEs who are embeddedin the community they serve.This survey builds upon a suc-cessful track record of CSCsengaging on official enumera-tions like the 7th EconomicCensus and some other surveysdone for the state govern-ments.”

Tyagi added “the availabil-ity of digital technology andtools has enabled such a uniqueand massive survey to be con-ducted at the grassroots. CSC, with its skilled team ofdigital entrepreneurs, will assistthe Government in successful-ly mapping the cultural iden-tity of India.”

As per the agreementsigned between the two entities,CSC will develop a mobileapplication and train the VLEsin conducting the survey. Over4 lakh Village LevelEntrepreneurs (VLEs), man-aging the CSCs across thecountry, will conduct the sur-vey in 6.38 lakh villages andupload the details on to theapplication.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt has agreed to hear onWednesday a plea related to theEconomically Weaker Section(EWS) quota in NEET-PGadmissions, after the Centresought urgent hearing in thematter. A bench comprisingChief Justice of India (CJI) NVRamana and justices SuryaKant and Hima Kohli took noteof the submissions of SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta, whoappeared for the Centre, thatthe matter pertains to admis-sions to post-graduate medicalcourses and that students havebeen facing difficulties.

“It concerns EWS of thesociety. There’s a statementmade by us which prevents fur-ther counselling of residentdoctors,” the law officer sub-mitted, seeking urgent hearingof the matter. “Resident doctorsare protesting and their con-cerns are genuine.”

The CJI said, “The problemis it is a three-judge bench mat-ter, this entire week is a mis-

cellaneous week. Let me see iftomorrow, some judge is avail-able, we will constitute a bench.Let me see. If possible, I willconstitute a three-judge benchor it will go before a Divisionbench tomorrow.”

The CJI said the first weekafter the winter vacation is themiscellaneous week and hence,no three judge bench was avail-able except the one led by him.

On Monday, a bench head-ed by Justice DY Chandrachudhad told the Centre that abench of requisite strength canbe set up by the CJI as the EWSquota matter is being heard bya three-judge bench. PTI

��

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has pro-

visionally attached assets worthRs 27.87 lakh belonging to thefamily members and associatesof Dilip Sahni, alias DilipKumar Sahni, alias Nitesh ofHajipur, Vaishali, Bihar underthe provisions of Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA). Sahni is an activemember of the banned CPI(Maoist).

Properties attached are inthe form of three land parcels,LIC policies, fixed deposits; andbalance held in bank and amotor cycle, all amounting toRs 27.87 lakh, the ED said in astatement.

The ED had initiatedmoney laundering investiga-tion on the basis of 12 FIRslodged in various police sta-tions of Bihar, against Sahni.

Scrutiny of theFIRs/chargesheets revealed thathe is a habitual offender and isaccused of the several offencesunder Indian Penal Code,Arms Act, ExplosiveSubstances Act and unlawful activities for the crimerelated to murder, attempt tomurder, criminal conspiracy,use of arms and ammunition in Bihar.

Investigation under PMLArevealed that the accused hasinvested the proceeds of crime,for acquiring various immov-able properties and depositswith bank in the name of hisfamily members so as to pro-ject them as untainted.

Further investigation inthis matter is under progress, it added.

��

The Congress continued tomount pressure on Centre

over its handling over the bor-der issues related to China.Former party president RahulGandhi on Tuesday questionedthe silence of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi over reports ofChina constructing a bridge onthe Pangong Tso Lake inLadakh near the Line of ActualControl (LAC).

“PM’s silence is deafening.Our land, our people, our bor-ders deserve better,” RahulGandhi said on Twitter.

Leader of the Oppositionin the Rajya Sabha, MallikarjunKharge, also targeted theNarendra Modi Governmentby alleging that it is busy inelections when the ‘enemy’ is atIndia’s gate. “China is busybuilding a bridge on PangongTso to make it easier to deploytroops. Meanwhile, BeijingJanata Party leaders led by PM

(Prime Minister) & HM(Home Minister) are busy inelection rallies. Enemy is at ourgates. PM Modi is taking a sies-ta. One has to open their eyesto show the promised LalAankh!” tweeted Kharge.

Congress and RahulGandhi have been critical of theGovernment’s handling of theborder situation with China in

eastern Ladakh and questionedthe Government over mediareports that the Chinese troopshad unfurled the Chinese flagat the Galwan Valley.

“How dare China raise theChinese flag over Galwan val-ley, where only the IndianTricolour can be flown, unfurledproudly. It is a bounden duty ofour government and the PrimeMinister to ensure that Chinesetransgression into India’s terri-tories is defeated decisively,”Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala had said.

��

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has pro-

visionally attached the assetsworth �3.36 crore belonging toPanna Lal Mahto, alias Ganjhu,and others under the provisionof Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) relat-ed to the offences of humantrafficking.

The attached propertiesinclude five land parcels inArgora, Ranchi, four landparcels in Khunti district, cashdeposits of Rs 17.71 lakh in var-ious bank accounts and oneToyota Fortuner vehicle, the

ED said in a statement.The ED initiated money

laundering investigation onthe basis of FIRs andchargesheet registered by AntiHuman Trafficking Unit(AHTU) District-KhuntiJharkhand against Panna LalMahto and his accomplices.

Further, the FIR bearingNo. 07/19 dated July 19. 2019 ofAHTU, Khunti, Jharkhand wastaken over by the NationalInvestigation Agency (NIA),Ranchi which also filedchargesheet under the sectionsof Indian Penal Code, Inter-State Migrant Workmen(Regulation of Employment

and Conditions of Services)Act, 1979 and Juvenile Justice(Care and protection) Act, 2015.

“During investigationunder PMLA, it was revealedthat Panna Lal Mahto and hisaccomplices were runningHuman Trafficking racket inthe guise of several PlacementAgencies in Delhi which usedto do illicit trade of poor andinnocent persons (includingminors) from different dis-tricts of Jharkhand on the pre-text of providing them jobs inDelhi and further traffickedthem to different states asdomestic servant and otherpurposes, who were never paid

actual wages or the wages aspromised to them,” it said.

These placement agencieswere running without obtaininglicense under the Delhi PrivatePlacement Agencies (Regulation)Order, 2014 or the labourers (vic-tims) were registered under theprovisions of The Inter-StateMigrant Workmen (Regulationof Employment and Conditionsof Service) Act, 1979.

Mahto and his accomplicesused to ill-treat the victims anddid not allow them to return totheir respective native villageand forced them to work againsttheir desire. By committing thescheduled offence under the

PMLA, Panna Lal Mahto inconnivance with others hadtrafficked about 5,000 personsthrough their well-organizedplacement agency racket inDelhi as he had himself admit-ted in his statement given to theED that he had acquired assetsto the extent of Rs 4.5-5 crore.

Investigation under PMLA,2002 revealed that Panna LalMahto alias Ganjhu hasacquired various immovableand movable properties to thetune of Rs 3.36 crore,in hisname and in the name of hiswife Sunita Devi and project-ed them as untainted proper-ties, it added.

��'��"!()��

Reports of doctors and healthcare being stung by the

highly transmissible Omicronand Covid-19 have startedemerging from all across thecountry, including the nationalCapital, in what could be calleda worrying development thatmight stress the health systemin the near future.

This is also likely to addanxiety among the doctors,say health experts as they calledfor interventions that empha-sise physicians’ ability to worksafely and efficiently in pro-viding care to the patients.

However, so far most of thedoctors that have been foundpositive have shown mildsymptoms unlike in the secondwave of Covid-19 when deltavirus had taken lives of at least798 doctors in the country ofwhich maximum 128 doctors

lost their lives in Delhi, fol-lowed by Bihar at 115.

“This time symptoms aremostly minor and no hospital-ization is required for any case.Most of the doctors who havereported positive for Covidare all isolating themselves,”said an official from the UnionHealth Ministry, adding thatmost of them have received twodoses of Covid-19 vaccines.

In Delhi, at least a total 180doctors from six big hospitalshave tested positive amid asteep rise in Covid infections.To begin with, in the country’spremier health institution AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS), Delhi, atleast 50 doctors have gone intoisolation after some tested pos-itive while others showedsymptoms of Covid-19. Thehospital has already canceledthe doctors’ winter vacationamid rising Covid cases. In anotice issued on Monday, theAIIMS Delhi directed all fac-

ulty members to join backtheir duty with immediateeffect at the hospital.

Apart from AIIMS, morethan 23 doctors at theSafdarjung Hospital, also in thenational capital, have also test-ed positive for the coronavirusover the past one week.

“These are not Omicroncases. Symptoms are mostlyminor and no hospitalization isrequired for any case. They areall isolating themselves,” said adoctor from Ram ManoharHospital, which caters to alarge number of patients par-ticularly from poor strata. AtLeast 25 medicos are in isola-tion at the RML. There arereports of doctors fromMaulana Azad Medical Collegeand Guru Teg BahadurHospital showing Covid likesymptoms.

In Punjab’s Patiala, a totalof 80 people, including doctors,students and support staff, ofthe Government Rajindra

Hospital and Medical Collegehave tested positive for thevirus as the district is turningout to be the worst-hit regionin terms of a rising number ofcoronavirus cases.

District Epidemiologist DrSumeet Singh said 22 residentdoctors, 34 medical students,nine faculty members and 15support and paramedical staff atthe Government RajindraHospital and Medical Collegehave tested positive for Covid-19.

Similarly, in Bihar, ten med-ical staff of the Indira GandhiInstitute of Medical Sciences(IGIMS) Patna and four med-ical staff of Jayprabha Medantahospital have been found to becorona positive. So were the 96junior doctors of NalandaMedical College and Hospital(NMCH) in the North State.

In Pune, at least 49 femaleMBBS students and two staffmembers from theGovernment Medical Collegeat Miraj in Sangli district havetested positive for coronavirus.“All students are largely asymp-tomatic and stable. As a pre-caution they have been admit-ted to the hospital attached tothe college. The infection wasreported in one section of thehostel as students used to gath-er for meals in the mess,” saidDean Dr Sudhir Nanandkar.

In West Bengal, around 35doctors have been infected at

Dr R Ahmed Dental Collegeand Hospital while 36 doctorshave tested positive for Covidat the Chittaranjan Seva SadanHospital. Regional Institute ofOphthalmology (RIO), theonly state run eye hospital has15 doctors down with Covid, asper reports.

“There is a need to establishmechanisms to reduce the risksof stress and anxiety amongphysicians besides ensuringtheir health, safety and wellbe-ing . Mental health coping inter-ventions through counselingshould be based on COVID-19protocol guidelines,” said Dr JSTitiyal, Professor ofOphthalmology and Chief ofRP Centre for OphthalmicSciences, AIIMS, Delhi.

Covid-19 has exposedhealth workers and their fam-ilies to unprecedented levels ofrisk. Although not representa-tive, data from many countriesacross WHO regions indicatethat Covid-19 infections amonghealth workers are far greaterthan those in the general pop-ulation, says the WHO.

New Delhi: Amid rising casesof new Covid variant Omicronin the country, about a dozen ofpharma firms, includingTorrent, Cipla, Sun Pharma, DrReddy’s, Natco, Mylan, andHetero, are all set to launchCovid antiviral drugMolnupiravir with a price rangebetween �1,399 and �3,000 fora five-day course for mild tomoderate infection.

An expert panel of theCentral Drugs Standard ControlOrganisation had last weekapproved Molnupiravir forrestricted use in emergency sit-uations. It is an antiviral med-ication that inhibits the repli-cation of certain RNA viruses.It is used to treat Covid-19 inthose infected by SARS-CoV-2.

The recommended dose ofMolnupiravir 800 mg is twice a

day for five days. A patientneeds to take 40 capsules con-taining 200 mg of medication.Molnupiravir, developed byMSD and RidgebackBiotherapeutics, is also the firstoral anti-Covid pill approved byUK’s drug regulator. The USFood and Drug Administration(USFDA) has also clearedMolnupiravir for the treatmentof mild-to-moderate Covid-19in adults, and for those who areat a high risk to severe disease.

Siources said Cipla, SunPharma, and Dr Reddy’sLaboratories are expected torelease Molnupiravir capsules inthe coming weeks. Dr. Reddy’sLaboratories will launchMolnupiravir capsules 200mgunder brand name Molflu at Rs35 per capsule. 10 capsulescontained per strip, and the total

course of 40 capsules over 5 dayswill cost Rs 1,400, said a repre-sentative from the pharma com-pany. Mankind Pharma plans tolaunch Molnupiravir at Rs 35per capsule by next week andthe full treatment of Molulife(brand name) will cost Rs 1,400while Cipla intends to marketMolnupiravir under theCipmolnu brand name.Cipmolnu 200mg capsules willbe available in leading phar-macies and Covid treatmentcentres across the country in thenear future.

Majority of companies hadentered into a non-exclusive vol-untary licencing agreement withMerck Sharpe Dohme to man-ufacture and supplyMolnupiravir in India and over100 other low and middle-income countries. PNS

'� �� %�� !"�� "��

��

��*��+�,��- -��*,��.��//��0��1��

��.�,�2��.��*��,��3��/�.��/�

4��3��3��+/�2��524��2��/��6��/��*�/��+�3��.�'�3��7�8+��/��3�,��6�/��3��.��98��*��,�

�/��*��/�,5��.�+��*�2�:�2�2��$��*��,��,��3��/��.��+��

�5�;��,��#

��

6773"89��: �� ;�/��<�� <��

4��8=>2�� ?��@��5��7A

�� (�� )#� ( ��"�#�� *

New Delhi: With rising casesof Omicron creating a scare,the Ministry of Railways onTuesday said it “would restrictthe entry of its unvaccinatedemployees into the RailBhawan”. “In view of prevail-ing Covid scenario, it has beendecided to ensure 100% vac-cination of officials working inBoard’s Office. Accordingly,

DG/AMs/PEDs/EDs andDirectors may issue suitabledirectives to their subordi-nate staff working under theircontrol to ensure 100% vacci-nation of officials working inBoard’s Office,” said a RailMinistry notification onTuesday late evening.

Those who have notundertaken their first dose of

vaccine, or whose second doseis still due may undertakeCovid vaccine as early as pos-sible or may contact O&MUnit for facilitating vaccina-tion, said the ministry.

As the railway officialsare encouraged to get them-selves tested, about 37 officialsin Mumbai have tested positivefor Covid and are undergoing

hospitalisation, according to awestern railway official.

A day earlier the DOPTcut short the attendance toabout 50 per cent for staffbelow under secretary andhas already said biometricattendance marking forGovernment employees maybe suspended till this monthend. PNS

�� "�� $%%��$�---

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

��,,��,��+*)�B�� : ��:��:��

��

<�1��'�00�� /0��

Monday’s arrest of Mariyamfrom Ullal in Mangalore by

the National InvestigationAgency (NIA) for her allegedlinks with Islamic State mighthave sent shock waves across thesociety but her parents say thatthey were expecting it the day sheoverruled them and got marriedwith Anas Abdul Rehman muchagainst their wish.

Mariyam belonged to anaffluent family in Coorg andher name was Deepthi Marla.“She was studying dental sci-ence in a Bangalore collegewhen she fell in love withAnas Abdul Rehman, son oflate B M Idinabba, formerMLA of the Congress fromUllal constituency. All of us hadtried to dissuade her from therelationship as we were awareof the links the Idinabba fam-ily had with extremist outfits.

But she blatantly refused to lis-ten to our pleas and walkedaway with Anas, got convertedto Islam and changed her nameto Mariyam,” said a close rela-tion of her household who didnot want to be named.

O Sruthi, a post graduate inEnglish literature, who got con-verted to Islam and wasbrought back to her originalreligion by the timely inter-vention of Arsha Vidya Samajin Kerala told The Pioneer thatthere were thousands ofDeepthi Marlas from northernKerala and southern Karnataka

who have fallen victims to theoffers and promises made bymissionaries only to be findthemselves as sex slaves in war-torn West Asian countries.

According to sources in NIA,Mariyam and the Idinabba fam-ily were under observation sinceAugust 2021 for their alleged tieswith Mohammed Ameen aliasAbu Yahya, an IS operative.

The NIA team tookMariyam by a special flight toNew Delhi where she would beinterrogated about her links withextremists from Jammu andKashmir.

C��:� �<��D��: ��;�8��

)��)��

Not wanting to take anychances, teams of the

Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) and theMumbai police took charge ofall the passengers on boardCordelia Cruise – including 66passengers who have testedpositive for Covid-19, as the theluxury ship returned andanchored at a passenger ter-minal in south Mumbai onTuesday evening.

The BMC health officials,accompanied by a team ofMumbai police personnel, werewaiting at the passenger ter-minal at Ballard Pier in southMumbai with five 15 seat-seatambulances, when the luxuryship arrived there at 6.30 pmfrom Goa. Shortly afterwards,the BMC officials transported66 infected passengers throughthe green gate on boardCordelia Cruise to Covid care

centre for treatment. “The pos-itive patients have been giventhe option of staying in hotelsat their expense,” a senior BMCofficial said.

More than 1,900 passen-gers, who had gone on a NewYear revelry trip, have beenasked to stay back on board theluxury ship, till they undergoRTPC tests and those who testpositive will be quarantinedeither at them to institutionalquarantine centre at theRichardson & Cruddas at

Mazagaon in south Mumbai orasked to isolate themselves inthe city hotels at their expense.

“The RTPCR testing willbe done at laboratories. TheRTPCR reports are expectedtomorrow by 9 am. It is onlyafter the test reports arereceived that the remainingpassengers will be allowed todisembark from the ship.Those who test negative peoplewill be stamped for 7 dayshome isolation. The passengerswho test positive will either be

sent to institutional quarantineor be asked to stay in isolationin paid hotels,” the BMC offi-cial said.

Meanwhile, the companyoperating the cruise M/sWaterways Leisure TourismPvt Ltd claimed that several odthe guests might have beeninfected before they boardedthe ship for a New Year holidaycruise, while one of their crewmembers tested positive onSunday.

In a detailed statement,Waterways Leisure TourismPvt. Ltd. CEO and PresidentJurgen Bailom said that afterthe sole infected crew memberdisplayed mild symptoms, hewas immediately isolated andthen all the other crew andguests had to undergo Covidtests again.

“...the guests who have test-ed positive as of this morning(Jan. 4) were already infectedwith the virus prior to board-ing. However their tests showedotherwise, hence they werepermitted on board,” Bailomsaid.

Bailom said that there areseveral similar incidents onflights and trains which were‘unfortunate and unexpected’despite everyone taking utmost

care, and the Cordelia Cruises’extreme pro-activeness in con-ducting the RTPCR tests.

Bailom said that his com-pany was ‘compliant’ with allregulations of the Director-General of Shipping. “All crewmembers and guests have tocompulsorily undergo a RTPCR test 48 hours prior toboarding the ship, even if theyare fully vaccinated,” he said.

This is the second occasionwhen Cordelia Cruise has hitthe news headlines for thewrong reasons.

It may be recalled that onthe night October 2, 2021,Bollywood superstar ShahRukh Khan’s son Aryan Khan,Arbaaz Merchant, MunmunDhamecha and five others wereinitially detained on the nightof October 2 and later arrest-ed on October 3, after theNCB officials busted a raveparty and seized 13 grams ofcocaine, 5 grams of MD(Mephedrone), 21 grams ofCharas, 22 pills of MDMA(Ecstasy) and Rs 1.33 lakh incash from Goa-bound CordeliaCruises' Empress ship, off theMumbai coast. Subsequently,12 more persons were arrestedin connection with the mid-searave party.

�� 5��5��2:5� �&�� $�� ;�42�

�� %� �� #��

1(�)�<�� 3��

While the tourists campingin different parts of

Kashmir valley were seen enjoy-ing the fresh spell of snowfall atthe picturesque ski resorts ofGulmarg, Pahalgam and otherexotic locations it was businessas usual for the men in uniformas they engaged two local ter-rorists in Okey village of Kulgamand later neutralised them dur-ing a brief encounter on Tuesday.

Around 42 flights fromSrinagar Airport remained sus-pended due to inclement weath-er conditions. Snowfall was alsorecorded in the higher reaches ofDoda, Kishtwar,Nathatop andTrikuta hills of Jammu region.

In the plain areas of Jammuregion, the Border Security Forcefurther intensified its patrollingdrills with the advent of thefoggy weather conditions.

The foot soldiers have beendeployed in different sectors tophysically dominate the vulner-able pockets in order to preventinfiltration bids from across theInternational border in Pakistan.

During winter season, afterthe snowfall in the higher reach-es block several mountain pass-es the terrorist handlers activatelaunching pads in the Jammuregion to push in small groupsof terrorists and consignments ofarms and ammunition.Inspector General of BSF, Jammufrontier DK Boora Monday saiddeployment of troops and sur-veillance systems have been“strengthened” along the borderwith Pakistan amid intelligenceinputs of heightened activity atterrorist launch pads on theother side ahead of RepublicDay.

He said, the alertness oftroops deployed on the borderled to the seizure amid height-ened terrorist activity on thePakistani side, Boora said,adding that Pakistan continuesto make attempts to push ter-rorists and smuggle arms andnarcotics into Jammu andKashmir.

In Srinagar a policespokesman said, based on a spe-cific intelligence input a jointcordon and search operationwas launched by Police, 9RR and18Bn CRPF in village Okey areaof Kulgam,

During the search operation,as the joint search party pro-ceeded towards the suspectedspot, the hiding terrorists firedindiscriminately upon the jointsearch party which was retaliat-ed effectively leading to anencounter.

In the ensuing encounter,two terrorists of proscribed ter-ror outfit LeT (TRF) were killedand their bodies were retrievedfrom the site of the encounter.They have been identified asAmir Ahmad Wani resident ofAlamgunj Shopian and SameerAhmad Khan resident of TikenPulwama.

As per police records, thekilled terrorist Amir Ahmadwas a categorized terrorist linkedwith proscribed terror outfitLeT (TRF), however the otherkilled terrorist joined terrorfolds recently. Both the killed ter-rorists were part of a groupinvolved in several terror crimecases.

Incriminating materialsarms & ammunition including01 AK-47, 01 pistol were recov-ered from their possession,police spokesman added.

��

Lucknow: Congress onTuesday accused the BJP ofmocking women after BJPpresident JP Nadda made acomment on its 'ladki hoon ladsakti hoon' campaign aimed atwomen empowerment.

"BJP President Nadda onMonday mocked a strong slo-gan like 'ladki hoon, lad saktihoon' and the voice of womenof Uttar Pradesh. This is not thevoice of Congress but of everygirl of Uttar Pradesh who wantsto fight for her rights,”Congress spokesperson SupriyaShrinate told media here.

“What is the problem ofNaddaji and his party againstthe empowerment of women?Why are they so afraid ofwomen power?" she asked.Congress coined the sloganahead of the upcoming assem-bly election in Uttar Pradesh.

The party has alsopromised giving 40 per centtickets to women. Shrinateaccused the BJP of reducingwomen needs to gas cylindersone toilets. PTI

3��(��&'�#%�7��#��'��7�#��8&��&��(

Pune: Maharashtra Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar on Tuesdaysaid the administration has decid-ed to shut schools for Classes 1 to8 in Pune district till January 30due to the rise in COVID-19cases.Speaking to reporters afterattending the review meeting ofthe COVID-19 situation, Pawar,who is also the guardian ministerof the district, said teaching inonline mode will continue.

The decision has come a dayafter the Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation announced thatschools for Classes 1 to 9 and 11will remain shut in Mumbai tillJanuary 31. "In view of the ris-ing cases of COVID-19, we havedecided to shut schools in Punedistrict for Classes 1 to 8 tillJanuary 30," Pawar said, addingthat online teaching will continuefor these classes.

Pune district comprises Punecity, Pimpri-ChinchwadMunicipal Corporation area andPune rural. The minister advisedpeople to use three-ply or N95masks, instead of cotton ones.

He further stated that direc-tives have been given to localauthorities to fine people foundwandering without masks. PTI

��

�� '�� % ��

��)�� /0�/��

Even as number of corona casesincreased drastically in Bengal, the

State Government released a new pro-tocol banning cocktail drugs to treatcorona cases “in absence of any cleardirective from the Centre,” a senior StateHealth Department official said. TheState Government also decided vacci-nates all the pilgrims bound for GangaSagar Islands for the holy dip.

“There is no clear directive from theCentre on the use of cocktail drugs …hence the Government has presentlyexcluded it from the list of medicines tobe used for the corona patients,” thesenior officialand a doctor said addingthe revised protocol regarding when apatient will have to be hospitalized.

“If the patient sneezes more than 24times per minute and one’s saturation

drops below 94 then only the doctors canconsider hospitalization,” the officialsaid adding “from now on co-morbidi-tyor beyond-sixty age will not be the onlycondition for hospitalization.”

The Government’s revised guidelinescame at a time when the coronagraphcontinued to climb drastically requiringthe Kolkata and Howrah MunicipalCorporations to mark 27 and 22 con-tainment zones respectively.

For North and South 24 Parganasadjoining Kolkata the authorities marked24 and 52 containment zones, HealthDepartmentsources said adding “thistime round we are witnessing a large num-berof infections among the medical staff.”

While more than 80 doctors andnurses were infected in Calcutta MedicalColleges the figure for NRS MedicalCollege was 70 and for the CalcuttaNational Medical College it was 80 again.

North Bengal Medical College in Siligurihad 17 infected medical staff including 14doctors. About 36 doctors and nurseswere infected in State-runCittaranjanSeva Sadan and 24 had been infected inDr R Ahmed DentalMedical Collegeand Hospital, the only such govern-ment-owned facility in the State.

There was high infection rate in thepolice circle too with at leastsix DeputyCommissioners and two JointCommissioners of policecontacting thedisease. Lal Bazar police headquarters inKolkata reported at least 50 cases of coro-na infection, sources said.

The total number of corona patientstill Monday late evening was 6,128andthe figure was expected to go further upon Tuesday sources said.Politicians likeBabul Supriyo and his entire family werereported to be down with corona andwere in home isolation.

+,�� %�� *��

�� /0�/��

Bengal Governor JagdeepDhankhar on Tuesday

mounted fresh attack on theTrinamool CongressGovernment, wondering why noaudit had been conducted intothe financial transactions of theGorkhaland Territorial Authorityand saying an audit would beordered soon to ascertain theamount of “fraud perpetrated inhandling of the funds.”

The Governor said that theGTA was formed which “highhopes” and“hundreds of croreswere sanctioned for the devel-opment of the area” but despiterepeated reminders “no auditwas conducted” for these manyyears the Governor said allegingit was clear that large amount ofmoney had been “siphoned offfrom the GTA fund.”

No one involved commit-ting fraud with public money

would be spared ---howsoeverpowerful one was and whichever political party one went tofor asylum, the Governorwarned.

“I have been hearing sincelong time that an audit wouldbe conductedinto the GTAfunds but nothing happened,”he was quoted as saying.“Butnext time I will come toDarjeeling after getting theaudit done”. For this he wouldwrite to the Centre, TheGovernor said.

When asked to commenton the Governor’s statementsformer Bengalminister andsenior TMC leader GautamDeb said that the State hadnever seen “such a politicallybiased Governor … It seemsthat he is running a partyoffice at the Governor’s House… he is making statements andacting on behalf of the peoplewho have appointed him.”

�,$�'��,�$&�7�� $��$�&��9�� ,:

)��)��

The Covid-19 situation worsened inMumbai on Tuesday, as a stagger-

ing 10,860 new positive cases werereported from various parts of themetropolis.

The 10,860 Covid-19 positivecases detected in Mumbai were amonga total of 18,466 new cases reportedfrom various parts of the State. Withthe 18,466 fresh cases, the total num-ber of Covid-19 cases went up from67,12,028 cases to 67,30494.Simultaneously, 75 Omicron caseswere reported from various parts of thestate taking the total number ofOmicron cases detected in the state to653.

Of the 75 Omicron cases, Mumbaiaccounted for a maximum of 40 cases,followed by nine cases in Thane,eight cases in Pune, five cases inPanvel, three cases each from Kolhapurand Nagpur, twom cases from Pimpri-Chinchwad and one case each fromBhiwandi-Nizampur, Ulhasnagar,Satara, Amravati and Navi Mumbai.

As 4,588 patients were dischargedfrom the hospitals across the state afterfull recovery, the total number of peo-

ple discharged from the hospitalssince the second week of March lastyear increased from 65,14,358 casesto 65,18,916. The recovery rate in thestate dropped from 97.05 per cent to96.86 per cent.

The number of “active cases” in thestate increased from 52,422 cases to63,308. The fatality rate in the statestood static at 2.1 per cent.

Mumbai accounted for a maxi-mum of 47,476 active cases, whilethere were 7953 active cases in Thane.There were 4202 active cases in Pune,followed by Palghar (1605), Raigad(1235), Nashik (998), Nagpur (526),and Satara (386) and Ahmednagar(380).

Of the 6,95,09,260 +samples sentto various laboratories across the stateso far, 67,30,494 have tested positive(9.68 per cent) for COVID-19 untilTuesday.

Currently, 3,98888,391 people arein home quarantine while 1,110 peo-ple are in institutional quarantine.

Meanwhile, the State recorded75cases of Omicron, taking the totalnumber of new Covid-19 variantcases to 578 cases. All patients havebeen reported by the National Instituteof Virology (NIV).

The following is the break-up ofa total 653 Omicron cases recordedin the state so far, Mumbai: 408, PMC-71, Pimpri-Chinchwad—38, Pune

rural --26, Thane MC- 22, Panvel –16,Nagpur—13, Navi Mumbai-10, Satara-8, Kalyan Dombivli —7 each,Osmanabad and Kolhapur – 5 each,Vasai-Virar-4, Nanded, BhiwandiNizampur —3 each, Aurangabad,Buldhana, Mira-Bhyandar Sangli,Sangli --2 each, Latur, Ahmednagar,Akola and Raigad, Ulhasnagar andAmravati—1 each.Of the total cases259 patients have been discharged aftera negative RT–PCR test.

In a related development, theauthorities said the total number ofpassengers who arrived at Mumbai,Pune and Nagpur airports sinceDecember 1 was 2,29,429 (32,402from At-risk countries and rest1,96027 are from other countries),while passengers whose RT-PC testshave been done are 55,332 (33,402 arefrom high-risk countries and 21,930are from other countries). Similarly,RT-PCR positive and samples sent forgenomic sequencing was 563( 313arefrom at-risk countries and 250 arefrom other countries).

Additionally, field surveillance ofall international passengers who havearrived since 1st November is under-way.

2:5� ��<��-0�� &��-��#��,: �� 2��

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradeshgovernment recently came in forpraise from American virologistand immunologist Dr RobertMalone for its “miraculous”handling of the COVID-19pandemic crisis and for pro-tecting the people of the state byensuring prompt treatment.

During the Decemberepisode of ‘Joe RoganExperience’ podcast, Dr Malonementioned that Uttar Pradeshwas able to take control of thepandemic by providing earlytreatment to coronavirus infect-ed patients.Known for his pio-neering work in mRNA tech-nology, the virologist said,“They deployed early treatmentas packages and managed thepandemic effectively despitebeing densely populated. PNS

Jaipur: Chief Minister ShriAshok Gehlot said that in theform of Omicon variant, anew existential crisis has comebefore the country and theworld. To protect mankindfrom this danger, it is necessarythat it is more than 6 monthsafter the second dose of vac-cine, all such people should getbooster dose as per need andchildren below 15 years of ageshould also be given free of costat the earliest. The StateGovernment will pressurizethe Central Government totake an early decision in thisregard, so that the people of theState can be saved from thedanger of third wave. He directed that just as the StateGovernment has made excel-lent management of vaccina-tion so far with the cooperationof all sections, with the samespirit, 100 percent vaccinationof 15 to 18 years of age groupshould be ensured in the samespirit.

Gehlot was addressing thechildren and parents present inthe inauguration program offree vaccination for the agegroup of 15 to 18 years atGovernment Adarsh GirlsHigher Secondary School,Gangauri Bazar on Monday.

On this occasion, the ChiefMinister encouraged 5 teenagegirls who got the first dose ofCovid and presented themchocolates on his behalf.

The Chief Minister saidthat the threat of Covid epi-demic has shaken the world.After facing the first and sec-ond deadly wave, now a newthreat has emerged in the formof Omicon variant.

In view of the rapidlyspreading infection due to theOmicron variant, which hasreached most countries of theworld, the World HealthOrganization has warned of itstaking the form of a tsunami.We have to understand thegravity of this menace andensure 100% vaccination fromadults to children.

��&��'�!��:�-;�#��'�&��(�#,&'� ��7�$ ��&'��9��'

�#��:��(�&'�%��&�&��:'<&��:�$#��(�#��'

�-��.��-��$'$'��/� ��-��/,��

us that the system of organ-ised medics began in the19th century during theNapoleonic Wars. For theanimals — mainly horses —in Europe and also elephantsand camels in India, there wasnever any medical facilityuntil their deployment inwar died out.

The advent of gunpowderand later the innovation of thefield gun, a revolutionaryweapon, were more damagingto the enemy, but of no pro-tective utility to one’s own sol-diers. The musket was active-ly used in Spain in the Battleof Parma in 1521, with itsdesign undergoing improve-ment to transform into themodern rifle, in which thecartridge travels in a groove.This was developed in the19th century based on themechanics conceived byEnglish mathematicianBenjamin Robins. It wasentirely an offensive weapon.Helmets thereafter havebecome compulsory battle-gear for soldiers. The head-gear is ancient but its consis-tent use began only towardsthe second half of WorldWar I. The bulletproof jack-et is not yet compulsory forall soldiers, although its use isnow being increasingly man-

dated by Special Forces acrossthe world.

The reason for suchsnail’s-pace progress in theevolution of defensive or pro-tective equipment for sol-diers must be sought in themindset of aggrandisers andconquerors, who believed inand lived for conquests. Warswere the most potent meansof attaining the political objec-tives of kingdoms, empiresand, later, nations. Territorialconquests and continualexpansions were the order ofthe age, for much of history.Soldiers were seen and treat-ed as cogs in the wheel of aheartless machinery or, toput it crudely, cannon fodder.They came from the lowestrungs of the socioeconomicladder and the incentive forthe common folk to enlist andshed their lives — other thanthe undeniable attachmentto one’s land, religion and wayof life — was also the promiseof a share in the spoils of war.The last factor was particular-ly crucial for monarchs andadventurers wanting to line upmultitudes of able-bodiedmen for conquests in far-away lands. Soldiers weremeant to fight and die fortheir king, country or God;such was the thinking prevail-

ing till the 19th century.Prince Klemens von

Metternich, diplomat, states-man and Austria’s ForeignMinister during theNapoleonic age, metNapoleon to try and per-suade him to cease his questfor hegemony over Europe atthe expense of human lives.Bonaparte’s bland riposte was:“Aristocrats like you don’tunderstand us soldiers bornin the cantonment (Napoleonwas born in one). They (sol-diers) are meant to fight anddie. I don’t give a damn aboutthem and neither do they.”Things certainly have come along way since those rathersordid days. The two WorldWars, plus the possible horrorof a nuclear holocaust, havecertainly forced a sea changein the approach to conflictand warfare. While only thenaïve would believe that waris a thing of the past, the tech-nologies of the defence or warindustry are undeniablyreflective of increased concernfor the safety of the fightingman and his individual andsocietal welfare.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, anauthor and a former memberof the Rajya Sabha. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

�� Sir — We have been witnessing anoth-er increase in COVID cases in someparts of our nation as well as in othercountries, too. This situation, akin to therising of the Phoenix from ashes, shouldbe a wakeup call for India. At home, thenumber of COVID cases is rising steadi-ly and the States have started imposingthe night curfew as a precautionary mea-sure. The second wave affected our coun-try drastically and the holding of elec-tions in some States was one of the pri-mary reasons for the spread of the virusat that time.

It is ironic that the Election commis-sion has recently given the go-ahead forholding Assembly elections in five Statesin the coming weeks, even after the trag-ic experience of the devastation causedby the second wave. India can ill-affordanother situation like last year. Some ofthe alternatives in this situation areimposing President’s rule in those Stateswhere the elections are due and conduct-ing these when the situation comes undercontrol. Another alternative is to permitelection meetings through live video ses-sions by banning physical meetings. Also,the EC can allow election rallies withsmaller crowds by allowing parties in thepoll fray with strict COVID-appropriatebehaviour.

Nitesh Mandwariya | Neemuch

�� Sir —There were high hopes that thefilm, 83, will become a box office hit. Theinitial reports also revealed that the filmis a money-spinner and that there isevery possibility of the film becoming amajor commercial success. At a timewhen even matinee idol Rajinikanth’sfilm failed at the box office, 83 could notget the much-needed response despite itbeing about the heroics of Kapil Dev andthe entire Indian cricket team inEngland. But there are reasons for sucha setback. COVID-19 is a common fac-tor for these failures as the audiencecould not go to the theatres to see filmswith the same old enthusiasm.

Among other reasons, the most

prominent are that 83 was made on toohuge a budget (�270 crore) and then thepandemic increased costs by �30 crore;also, there was too much cricket in themovie (all matches except Kapil’s 175 areavailable on YouTube); the younger gen-eration does not have the same nostal-gia value for the 1983 win that we have;the overkill of advertising and pre-release marketing; and terrific competi-tion from Spiderman and Pushpa. Theaudiences have proved yet again that onlythe content is king.

MR Subramaniam | Mumbai

�� Sir — Cricket is a team sport where per-formance is the name of the game. TheIndian cricket team currently touringSouth Africa is finding it difficult to crossthe 200 run-mark and that is a worry-ing factor. The top order is making a

mess of the first use of the wicket. AtWanderers, we find the going tough.Both Pujara and Rahane failed to nego-tiate genuine pace and fell in successiveballs. The future hangs on their show-ing in the second innings. In the midstof failures, another seasoned batsmanRavichandran Ashwin stood firm andstroked freely to hit 46 off 50 balls. Thus,he added valuable runs and helped theIndian side cross a decent 200-plus total.

Batting is an art and Ashwin haslearnt it well. As an opener during hisearly days, he made a match of it withhis aggressive batting. Ashwin is a matchwinner in his own right even as abowler and this time he proved his worthas a batsman.

Calicut Krishnan Ramani | Trichy

� # � � � * $ � ) � # ' ' $ � �

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

��

��

'�� -��,��4��/��,=>2�� *�2�

��(�'�'��,(��!��7��&'��8�(��'��''��'��$��-%��$�',��:� ��$�:�'�$�'��!��(��#��&��$��&�'��'��%��'��'��<&��7��#��

��+��1��2��0��

�0��1�+��0+��+0��1+"�

��0��0��+8��+��

�0++ ��0��0�0.��

�0�0��+�8��2��1�.0��+��0��

�0��0�.��.��

�� !��"��#��!

��$! %#�%

��'��8�7��(�'��,�$�'��&'�� '�� >�� $+%��'&��:��&�'��,'8��#�$

��'�� '�� '�� !�� 8� ��#��&'��$��$��(�'��(��(�'?�$�'��$�'��,��(��,�(&'��&� '�'�!��,%�&%��'&��&��"�'��&�'�,��'��'454@�7�&��7�'��&��$��'��&%��'?��(��8��&��'�%��$,��$�'�� &'��:��%��?��#�� 0��#%��&� �� '�� ,�'��8��,$��(��>��%��<&��&'��(��$��

'��>�:��'��7��$�'�� A��#��<&��!�� &�� '�� &��7� 0��#%��&� ��@BC58� �#��(� �'�� $�:�$,�� '&"��7�:��8� &�:��0��#%��#�$��&� $�� '��'�'��'�,��%�'��'��(��$�%�%?,��,&��,�'��!��$��"

�� &� �� $��'�� '��'8� �'� >,&'��$&�'�� '�%%�$��$��&&�$�'��'&'�,��%�'��'��"��'�8��7�:��8��&�$��?��'"��'��'��!�'��,��(�'��&'8�'��&%��'&�� '��'��%��?��&&��&�&'�#8��&,�'��(��,!�7��#��&%��&��#�'��%, ��8�'�� (�'?��(�'��&��'��'�� !(��,�$"�'��&��7��?$�� '�� '��'� &%��'&� �&� �� :�� %'�� $��&� ��'� (�'� '�� ''��'�� '$�&��:�&"��&,��&&�&'��&��8�'��+8�3�%��$��'��,��%��,�'��&&%��!�:��,#�&�� ,'�'��&'��(�&%��'?��(��,�',��&��&��$�,��:��&�'��&"��$��8��'��(��&�%��'��&%��'&��&�&?'�#�'��'��'��&�'��'��$&��$��&%��?'��&��,�(&'��&��%��(�'��#�!��'�%��?��&&��7��(��(�7��&��('��$��#"�

�?�5��/>��6�,��| ��

�� !"�#

7:�� E��<��

It is a military axiom that anoffensive military opera-tion generally costs thricethe blood, money and

resources than a defensive one.Yet, conquerors — ambitiousand impatient as they usually are— do not wait long enough foran adversary’s provocation toattack. In the last century, AdolfHitler was an outstanding exam-ple of not being patient enoughto wait for the enemy to attackfirst. In the 19th century,Napoleon Bonaparte was a sim-ilar case. Napoleon and Hitlermet with defeat; the latter alsowith death. In Hitler’s case, alady crystal-gazer had predict-ed that he had to fulfil his mil-itary ambitions by 1943.Thereafter, her crystal showed adark curtain. Hitler too haddeclared on Radio Berlin that hewould rather fight in his 40sthan wait till his 50s.

Training and sustaining asoldier are expensive. Added tothis expenditure is the human-itarian factor like the life of one’sbrethren who have volunteeredto defend one’s country.Incidents of our country’s sol-diers falling in action makemost Indians grieve. Our latestexperience has been the tragicdeath of Chief of Defence StaffGen Bipin Rawat and 13 othersin a helicopter crash. Emotionof this intensity might not beseen or felt if an Air Force planecrashes or a naval ship sinks; asdid INS Khukri in the 1971 war.

Most countries term theirfunctionaries in charge of themilitary forces as Ministers orSecretaries of Defence, althoughin a few nations they are knownas Secretary of War; the UnitedKingdom in WWI, for instance.This might be because of theimplicit embarrassment of aMinister being proudly called awarmonger. Yet, right throughknown history, greater attentionand expenditure have beendevoted to killing enemy sol-diers than to protect one’s ownsoldiers. The sword and thespear cost more than the shield.In the centuries gone by, therewere no medics in the event ofinjuries to soldiers; nor was anambulance available to salvagethe wounded soldier. TheStanford Encyclopedia informs

SOUNDBITE��:��'�&'�$�%�&�'�:��02�?@B"��$&�#%'�#&"��:��&��'�$�#�&��'��#�"

��'��.�1�/��,�D��:��$�/�>��7��

��/E&�+'�'�?�,��&%�'��&�7��&�$�� %��&&,��'��#��(�7��!&"

;,��,�2��1�/��,�D ��&�3��&��

�:��&��(��(�'��$�/��&��%%��&��#�$��#&��$�'��&#��'��'�7��&��#�'��:��#��'��"

��2�?+��,�5�*��.D�!��&��1�$�:

�$��E'�'��!�2��'/��&�'��#,��&&,��%��( �,��&"�'E&�>,&'� �,'�!��7��(�7��,��?&',#%��&"

',�*6��*�22�/��,�D��!�&��%��

�� !��

�� "#�� !��$��%�� "�&��'��()�� $��

��!��*��+��#��*�� "�,�� -�� ()��"�� ()�� "�.�� "

��/��0��1�+�� *��

��#��*��#��!��*��+��2�� "�� 343(��1�+��$�� "�5��67*�0*�0��+�/�� 8�� 9��"�/��0*��:�� ;��<�� =#��!��>�� 0��;�8��9��7��3"�� #��0��&��0��:��*��/0��6��$� ��6��0�7��0��+��1��!��-��0��6��:��(4�0��34�05��0��"�:�� %��!��2��"�:��-��!�� "��;�+��!��"

&��,��6"("?@4"3��&#"�2�� "��

�� !��$�� "�,�� (4� ��"��0�� "�/�� $�� ;��"�� !�� "�0��!�"�*�� !�� "�� ".�� "�/��!��!�� !��"�/�� "��A��

�� "�/�� 2�� "�� @B��"

��!��"�/��0�� C4� �� %��"�D��E��;� �� "

0��2�� 34�444�� !��"��0��"�� "�/�� !��!��"�/�� !�� "�.��$�� "��!��"��7��F��((�C@�F43�� A�%�� "�� $� ��)�(3��!��!��"�� ;��0��G@"@�C�� "��()��(?"B��"

��

'��/��8�� 5� �� <��

��

� �� %�� ( �% � ��.�� #��/ ��

&: �� <�� :�� <��9�� <��

��:��$��"��:��'��%��%��$��:��'��$"�'<&��:��7��#��$�7��?��#��(��'#�&%��:��'��"

�*��,D��&��#&7��'�

3��3B=8/�� :��

)��;"��@��0��;�'��)��)�@)�A�00��0�0�B�(��0��C��;��0�� )��;��'(1�0�)�0!�"(0)�� D��0��)!�'��@�1��)��1��(��

0�B�(��(�� 00��()�;��00( ��)(�(��)��0��(��0�'��'((0��)��0��

D��0��;"��'��@��)�

3�� <��D�� :��,F=A"�%� �� <��

�� "��

��"�/�� !��)� ��2�*�� ,D3433��1�� "�<�� HC� ��3433�� !�� 343F"�/�� ***��"/��IF�,D�3433��

�� ,��3433��"�/��2�� !�� "�/�� !��'��34H4"�/�� "�/�� !��"��B@� �� (3� �� "�/�� )4� ��"�<� ��2��5��6*�5�� "�/�� "�� "�/��2�� !�� "�/��()�� "�<�� %��!��"�� :$�5��%��J@"C��"�/��0��3434"�/��!�� !�� !�� "�/��=:62$>��"�&��%��!�� IF�,D3433"�/��I@�,D3433�� "�/�� !��!�� "�/�� !�� "�

�� !� �� "�#

��

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

FIRSTCOLUMN��#�$%"$�!'0��1��#�'$�$��

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

� !�"� '(��" ��"%

�� #�$!)%"%�%*

0��

For the last two years, humanity isgoing through a terrible pandem-ic whose end is not in sight in thenear future. Instead of ending,

the pandemic appears to be worseningwith wave after wave. In the last fewweeks, due to the spread of a new typeof variant named Omicron, there hasbeen an atmosphere of fear in theworld. Humanity is not only faced withthe burden of disease, lack of vaccina-tion in a major part of the world andexpensive medicines and treatmentafter the disease is haunting all especial-ly, the poor.

In such a situation, universal avail-ability of vaccines and cheap medicinesand treatment in case of disease, hasbecome a necessary condition to savehumanity. It is worth noting that com-panies have patents and other intellec-tual property rights of medicines andequipment necessary for the treatmentof COVID-19. Moreover, companiesalso possess control over the formula-tions and raw materials for the vaccines.

Due to the alertness of the govern-ment, the efforts of scientists and thehard work of the coronavirus warriors,India has been better off than manycountries of the world in battling thispandemic. With nearly 142 crore vacci-nations, 65 percent of the country’s adultpopulation fully vaccinated and about80 percent with at least one dose, it isbelieved that Indian population has gotgood immunity to fight COVID-19. Itis hoped that India will also be able tosave itself from the new Omicron vari-ant as well. But the rest of the world isnot so fortunate. There are many coun-tries in the world where the process ofvaccination has not yet started.Expensive medicines and treatment areno less than a death knell for the poorpeople of these countries.

What does an exemption fromTRIPS mean? In October last year, apetition was made by India and SouthAfrica in the World Trade Organizationseeking exemption from Trade RelatedIntellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), sothat vaccines and corona medicines inthe world are available to the entirehumanity on affordable basis. Globally,TRIPS mandates countries to honourintellectual property rights. The exemp-tion from TRIPS would mean thatcompanies that have intellectual prop-erty rights on vaccines, medicines andmedical equipment would be revokedfor the period so decided, and manycountries of the world, including India,would be able to produce these vaccines,medicines and devices on their own.This demand of India and South Africagot the support of more than 100 mem-ber countries of WTO. Although initial-ly, the US was opposing it, later itchanged its stand and supported exemp-tion from TRIPS, though only for thevaccine. The European Union continued

��+��0�.0��

��+0��.��

��.0��+��2��+��0��0��1

.0��+��2�+ ��.0��1"�+0��.0��.��+��2��2��

20��1��+�+�0.��+

��++��1�.0��

0.��0�0��2��+��

+�+��2��1��"��0��2��8.��+��+��F��

.�0��+��02+0�+8��1�� 0��..0��

to oppose the proposal. Althoughthere has been some relaxation intheir stance recently, but still, theyare proposing many conditionsbefore giving their consent.

The Ministerial Conference ofthe World Trade Organizationfrom 30th November to 3rdDecember in Geneva(Switzerland), where a decisionwas expected, has been post-poned due to the spread of thepandemic. Due to the threat ofOmicron, now again there isconcern in the whole worldwhether humanity will continueto suffer without vaccine andtreatment, or a decision will betaken soon for this. It is believedthat had the proposal of India andSouth Africa on TRIPS waiverwas accepted in time, the speedof vaccination across the worldwould have been much faster. Butit is a matter of regret that thecountries l ike the US andEuropean Union, whose compa-nies possess most of patents andother intellectual property rights(IPRs), had been blocking theprevention and cure from disease.It is worth noting that the US,though has consented for TRIPSexemption from vaccine, but hasnot yet agreed to extend thesame for medicines.

The TRIPS waiver is neededmore now than ever before. Withthe advent of Omicron, theimportance of TRIPS waiver hasincreased much more. It is truethat if this decision is takensoon, we can still save manylives. Although some people in

India, are also arguing that today,India is capable of vaccinating itsentire population and it will soonachieve the objective of universalimmunisation; moreover, whenmany companies are already giv-ing voluntary licenses of theirpatented medicines to Indiancompanies, there is hardly anyimportance of TRIPS waiver forIndia. They also say that India hasmanufactured an effective vac-cine, sufficient for India andeven for export. It can also takeadvantage of IPR and sell thesame to the world. In this regardwe must not forget that theIndian and South Africandemand for TRIPS waiver wasnot only for themselves but forthe whole of humanity. Some for-eign companies in India havegiven voluntary licenses of med-icines necessary for the treatmentof coronavirus to Indian compa-nies and their price is still veryhigh. However, if these drugs areexempted from the provisions ofTRIPS, then they will be muchmore affordable and help thepoor people in their treatment inIndia and the rest of the world.Not only this, according to theterms of the voluntary license,Indian companies can generallymake and sell these medicines inIndia itself.

In such a situation, it isbelieved that even after gettingvoluntary licenses, these medi-cines will not be available tomore than half of the world’spopulation, which will be a veryunfortunate situation for the

humanity. In fact, the delay in theTRIPS waiver goes against thespirit of the TRIPS Agreement ofthe World Trade Organizationand the ‘Doha Declaration onTRIPS and Public Health’.Therefore, a voluntary license isno substitute for a compulsorylicense.

Today a new type ofapartheid is emerging in theworld and that is between vacci-nated and unvaccinated.Recently, in the ministerial con-ference, which was to be held inGeneva, Switzerland, it was alsostipulated that only those whohave been fully vaccinated witha vaccine certified by WorldHealth Organisation, would beable to participate, and otherswill have to satisfy organisers bygetting the RTPCR test done,every 72 hours. Significantly,there are many countries in theworld where vaccination has notyet started or is in a very nascentstage. Such countries whose rep-resentatives are not vaccinatedwill be left unrepresented ininternational forums.

In such a situation, the needof the hour is that all the richcountries including the US andEurope, who are endangeringhumanity by opposing thedemand for TRIPS waiver, beforced to change their stand.Thepress, media, intellectuals andpeople’s representatives shouldcreate such an environment thatthese countries give their consentfor TRIPS waiver. This is the onlyway to save the humanity.

(The writer is Professor,PGDAV College,

University of Delhi. The views expressed

are personal.)

Many people doubtwhether it is neces-sary to hold the

upcoming Assembly polls inthe poll-bound states nextmonth or postpone them, asthe Allahabad High Court hassuggested.In the previousround of elections last year, theMadras High Court had heldthe Election Commission irre-sponsible for conducting thepolls during the pandemic.Some argue that, after all,there are precedents of post-ponement of polls earlier eventhough former Chief ElectionCommissioner S.Y Quereshithinks Constituti-onally it isnot possible.

With the scheduled elec-tions in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,Goa, Manipur, andUttarakhand, next month it isclear that the people can escape

the killer Covid-19 only if theElection Commission guide-lines are strictly enforced.

Nearly 70 countries theworld over have deferred elec-tions because of the pandem-ic. Forty-two countries havepostponed national electionsand referendums. Even if theEC could not delay the polls asthe political parties want tostick to the schedule, can theCommission at least ban thesuper-spreader poll rallies?

The poll panel decided tohold the elections after dis-cussing with all the stake-holders even though theMarch- April 2021 electionshad resulted in a massiveincrease of Covid-19 cases inWest Bengal, Tamil Nadu, andother poll-bound states. FromApril 1 to 14, coronaviruscases increased by 532 percent

in Assam, 420 percent in WestBengal, 165 percent inPuducherry, 159 percent inTamil Nadu, and 103 percentin Kerala, according to officialfigures.

In the past few months, asinfections fell, India had liftedmainly restrictions on publicgatherings, travel, and publicspaces. However, the new vari-ant Omicron is spreading fast.Covid-19 cases in several stateshave been rising, and the thirdwave may peak aroundFebruary. Things are compli-

cated by people refusing towear face masks. They get test-ed less frequently than before,and congregate in large num-bers.

Explaining the decision,Chief Election CommissionerSushil Chandra said recently:I have been told that 86 percent of people in the state havegot the first dose and 49 percent the second shot of Covidvaccine. We have been assuredthat in 15 to 20 days, all eligi-ble people will get their firstdose. We have asked forincreasing vaccination.

The Commission hasdecided to increase the votingtime by an hour to make thevoting easy, assuring that allpoll officials on duty would befully vaccinated. The poll bodywill reach out to the doorstepsof those who cannot come to

the polling booth to vote.Additionally, live webcastingfacilities will be available ataround one lakh voting boothsto ensure transparency in theelection process. Chandra saidbecause of the pandemic, thenumber of polling booths inthe state would be increased by11,000 to maintain propersocial distancing.

While poll-bound stateshave taken many steps tocheck the pandemic, partyleaders enjoy addressing mas-sive rallies. As parties scram-ble for votes, politicians are notthe shining examples of how tofollow Covid-10 regulations.They are brazenly going aheadwith mega rallies. For instance,SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’sUnnao rally, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah’s road-show in Hardoi, and Priyanka

Gandhi’s women’s march drewmassive crowds. The mostprominent state among the fiveelection states, Uttar Pradesh,has been declared a Covid-affected state. Some wonderwhy poll rallies are unregulat-ed when the government hasregulated the number of peo-ple at weddings.

Can the nature of pollcampaigns change? Most par-ties are now active in socialmedia and use Whatsapp andmobile communicationbesides TV ads. A digital cam-paign is also an option.

Due to the efforts of theUnion and state governments,we have controlled the pan-demic to a great extent. But noone knows the trajectory of theOmicron variant. The govern-ment machinery is on highalert, but people have to obey

government regulations likewearing the mast, keeping thesocial distance, and avoidingcrowded places.

If Omicron spreads further,as it has in the United Statesand Europe, political partieshave an equal share of theblame. In any case, all thosewho come to listen to their‘netas’ do not always vote forthe party. If wiser counsel pre-vails, leaders might opt for vir-tual rallies and other methodsof digital communication.Ideally, the nature of poll cam-paigns must also change, andthe political fraternity shouldcome together and think ofsafe campaigning methods.Above all, it is for the peopleto comply with Covid-19 reg-ulations as the governmentalone cannot do everything tocontain the pandemic.

��

/��:�� <� �<� ��

��%�$!�"%*'%

(The writer is a senior journalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

�� +��,��-

��'��@��'�7��0��0�

Britain on Tuesday facedwarnings of an impending

hospital crisis due to staffshortages caused by a wave ofOmicron infections, as thecountry returned to work afterChristmas.

Daily case numberschalked up multiple records inthe run-up to New Year, withPrime Minister Boris Johnsonpromising action to plugstaffing gaps in the worst-hitareas. Hospital admissions havenot hit anything like the peaksof previous waves of the pan-demic and the number of peo-ple requiring ventilation hasremained flat so far.

But the state-run NationalHealth Service (NHS), which isregularly under strain duringthe winter months from sea-sonal respiratory infections, isstruggling with staff forced tostay at home after testing pos-itive.

Transport networks alsobattled absences, leaving com-muters facing long waits ontheir return to work, whileother public services such ashousehold bin collections werehampered. Minister for vac-cines and public health MaggieThroup told Sky News it wasunclear how many Britonswere currently in self-isolationafter the Christmas surge in thehighly transmissible virusmutation. "But what is good

news, it doesn't seem to beresulting in severe diseases assome of the other variantsdid," she told Sky News.Around 50,000 NHS staff wereabsent from work last weekbecause they were ill or self-iso-lating, The Sunday Times hasreported. At least six hospitaltrusts have declared criticalincidents, which mean crucialservices may be under threat.

'Almost impossible'Matthew Taylor, chief exec-

utive of the NHSConfederation which repre-sents healthcare providers inEngland, Wales and NorthernIreland, said cases appeared tohave levelled off in London. Buthe told Times Radio that staffshortages and rising casesacross the rest of the countrywere a concern."The unpre-dictability of staff absencemeans NHS leaders having towork around the clock justthinking about how they candeploy their resources best todeal with the most urgent andpressing needs," he added.

"Even using all their imag-ination and creativity, it isbecoming almost impossible,which is why we see hospitalsdeclaring critical incidents."

Anyone testing positive forthe virus has to self-isolate for10 days, or seven days if theyproduce a negative test. Therehave been calls to ease thoserestrictions for health staff toease what Johnson on Monday

said was "considerable pres-sure" on hospitals. Taylor saidreducing the self-isolation peri-od to five days should only bedone if the data indicated it was"absolutely safe".Pupils return-ing to school also faced theprospect of mass staff absencesand merged classes. Secondaryschool pupils have beenadvised to wear face masks inclass as a "temporary" measure.

Britain has seen nearly149,000 deaths since the startof the pandemic in early 2020and Johnson has defended hisdecision not to increase restric-tions over Christmas inEngland, unlike in other partsof the UK.A review of restric-tions is expected this week.

(��,��,�� ,��

TOKYO: Japan’s PrimeMinister Fumio Kishida vowedTuesday to speed up coron-avirus vaccine booster shots,secure imported supplies ofdrugs to treat COVID-19 andreorganize medical facilities torespond to the fast-spreadingomicron variant.

Kishida, who took office inOctober, said he had orderedstrict border controls fromNovember to buy time forsuch preparations. Japan hasbasically shut out incomingtravel except for returning res-idents and Japanese nationals.

The response to the conta-gious omicron variant will nowshift to domestic measures,such as making free coron-avirus tests more readily avail-able, while border controls willcontinue, he said.

“I just offered prayers sothat we may overcome thecoronavirus pandemic and thisyear will be a fantastic year forall of you,” he told reportersafter praying at the Ise Shrinein Mie Prefecture, southwest ofTokyo. Japanese leaders visitthe picturesque shrine complexat the start of every year,although Kishida’s predecessorYoshihide Suga canceled it last

year because of the pandemic.Kishida said the oral drug

from Merck has been distrib-uted to thousands of hospitals,and efforts were underway toprocure the Pfizer oral drug aswell, for use starting nextmonth in treating sympto-matic coronavirus cases.

“I want to make this yearone of dramatic challenges toforge ahead with a new era. Butin areas where we need to exer-cise caution, we must not for-get the humility to proceedwith caution,” Kishida added,noting care was needed for aproper pandemic response.

He said everyone who testspositive for COVID-19 andneeds hospitalization will bespeedily admitted for treat-ment, while those who canrecover at home should do so,monitored by medical profes-sionals. Other facilities willalso be readied for those whodon’t need to be hospitalizedbut need to quarantine,depending on symptoms, hesaid. Although COVID-19cases and deaths have fallenlately in Japan, worries aregrowing about another “sixthwave” of infections because ofthe omicron variant. AP

&�� '�� (��

SYDNEY: New virus casesin Australia surged to recordlevels on Tuesday, increasingthe strain on hospitals and test-ing centers across country. InNew South Wales, Australia’smost-populous state, 23,131new cases were reported, anincrease on record of 22,577cases on New Year’s Day. Therewere 1,344 people in hospitals,up 140 on the previous day and78 more than record previous-ly set in late September. Thenew cases were detected from83,376 tests, a positivity rate of28%.

Victoria state reported14,020 cases on Tuesday, eclips-ing record of 8,577 set onMonday. There were 516 peo-ple in hospitals, including 108in intensive care. The numbersdo not necessarily reflect truespread of virus as they onlyinclude number of recordedcases. The new numbers, how-ever, confirm that Australia haspassed the milestone of 500,000COVID-19 cases. New SouthWales Chief Medical OfficerKerry Chant on Monday urgedpeople not to seek hospitaltreatment unless absolutelynecessary. AP

#��2� 345��,��.��

',�� 2��,�� ,��-�,�� 1��

Police in Germany havereported sporadic violence at

demonstrations against thecountry’s pandemic restrictions,with one protester in the east-ern town of Lichtenstein bitingan officer and another attempt-ing to steal a service weapon.

Tens of thousands of peo-ple in total took to the streets inscores of German towns andcities for weekly marches thathave organizers have labeled“strolls” in an attempt to bypassrestrictions on public gatherings.

Counter-protests were alsoheld in towns such as Rostockand Trier, the dpa news agencyreported. Most of rallies passedpeacefully, though many brokerules on social distancing,prompting officers to inter-vene.

People detained dozens ofpeople, some of whom facecriminal charges or fines forbreaching COVID-19 rules.Police in eastern state of Saxonysaid the incident late Monday inLichtenstein, about 20 kilome-ters (12 miles) west ofChemnitz, occurred when offi-cers tried to pull about 60rowdy people out of a march to

check their identities. Several ofthe protesters attacked policeand sprayed them with chemi-cal irritants.

“One person attempted toseize an officer’s service weaponand another police officer suf-fered a bite wound from a par-ticipant of the gathering,”Saxony police said in a state-ment. In Bautzen, further east,some participants of a 600-strong march attempted tobreak through a police cordon.Officers responded with pepperspray and batons.

In Magdeburg, the capital ofneighboring Saxony-Anhaltstate, protesters hurled bottlesand fireworks at police. Noofficers were injured, policesaid. The protests took placebefore a meeting Tuesday ofGermany’s pandemic expertpanel, which is expected tosubmit new recommendationsto the government for how torespond to outbreak. A meetingof state and federal leaders isscheduled for Friday. Thenational disease control center,the Robert Koch Institute, saidTuesday that 30,561 new coro-navirus cases were reported inpast 24 hours, over 9,000 morethan a week earlier.

BERLIN: Germany hasrelaxed restrictions on travelfrom the U.K., South Africaand seven other southernAfrican countries that wereimposed following the emer-gence of the new omicroncoronavirus variant. The ninenations were removed Tuesdayfrom Germany’s list of “virusvariant areas.” Airlines andothers are restricted largely totransporting German citizensand residents from countrieson that list. AP

1��6��2��7��

�)�� 3��

Chinese President Xi Jinpingon Tuesday issued a new

mobilisation order for thetraining of armed forces witha focus on developing an eliteforce capable of fighting andwinning wars.

Xi, 68, heading the rulingCommunist Party of China(CPC) since 2012 followed bythe Presidency and Chairmanof the Central MilitaryCommission (CMC) - theoverall high command of thecountry's two million-strongmilitary - has prioritised real-time training with constantup-gradation of technologybesides in-depth of reformssince he took over power.

Unlike his predecessors,Xi is widely expected to con-tinue in power at the end of the2nd five-year tenure this yearand start a record third termafter the once in a five-yearCPC Congress scheduled to be

held in the middle of this year.Since 2018, he has been issuingmobilisation orders every year,setting operational priorities forthe military which now enjoysover USD 200 billion annualdefence budget.

In this year's order, Xi saidthe armed forces must closelyfollow the evolution of tech-nology, warfare and rivals,redouble their efforts to bettercombine training with combatoperations, and strengthen sys-tematic training and the use oftechnologies to develop anelite force that is capable offighting and winning wars,state-run Xinhua news agencyreported.

All officers and soldiersshould uphold the spirit of fear-ing neither death nor hardship,and conduct training in a vig-orous, well-designed and safemanner to boost their com-manding and fighting capabil-ity and foster excellent conduct,the order said.

8�� G � �� : � �� <��

�� ++��+

NATO announced Tuesdaythat the alliance will hold

a virtual meeting of foreignministers from the 30 membernations this week to assess thesituation in Ukraine andupcoming talks with Russia.

The extraordinary meetingof the alliance members onFriday will kick off a week ofintense diplomacy over themilitary buildup on Ukraine’sborders and initiatives to easethe tension between the ColdWar foes.

US President Joe Bidenhas warned Russian PresidentVladimir Putin thatWashington could impose newsanctions against Moscow if ittakes further military actionagainst Ukraine.Putin respond-ed that such a US move couldlead to a complete rupture ofties between nations.

6&3,�� <��: � ��:�� <��.�� .��/.��

Germany OPEC and alliedoil-producing countries

decided Tuesday to pump moreoil to the world economy amidhope that travel and demandfor fuel will hold up despite therapid spread of the omicronvariant of COVID-19.

The 23-member OPEC+alliance led by oil cartel mem-ber Saudi Arabia and non-member Russia said it wouldadd 400,000 barrels per day inFebruary, sticking with a roadmap to slowly restore cuts inoutput made during the depthsof the pandemic.

Oil prices rose with thenews: U.S. crude traded 1%higher on the New YorkMercantile Exchange, at $76.79per barrel, while internationalbenchmark Brent crude was up1.2%, at $79.89 per barrel.After the first reports about theultra-contagious omicron vari-ant in late November, oil pricesplunged and stocks slid.

�� ,�� ,�/�

�� 228�+��

Israel’s health minister saidTuesday that same-sex cou-

ples will be able to have chil-dren through surrogate moth-ers in Israel starting next week,following a Supreme Courtdecision made last year.

The court in July annulledparts of a surrogacy law thatprevented gay couples fromhaving children through a sur-rogate in Israel. That movecame after court ruled in 2020that law, which had expandedaccess to single women butexcluded gay couples, “dispro-portionately harmed right toequality and right to parent-hood” and was unlawful.

It gave government ofthen-Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu a year to draw up anew law, but parliament failedto meet the deadline. The courtsaid last year that change in lawwould take six months to comeinto effect, on Jan. 11, to allowformation of professional

guidelines. “Full equality. Thatis simple demand and it is goalof LGBT struggle, the longstruggle of my community,”said Health Minister NitzanHorowitz, who is openly gay.“Equality before law and equal-ity of parenthood.”Horowitzsaid change in law would alsoexpand surrogacy to singlemen and transgender peo-ple.Under previous regulations,Israeli same-sex couples look-ing to become parents couldnot engage a surrogate, andwere often deterred by addi-tional costs of finding oneabroad.

The state had argued thatthe law was intended to protectsurrogate mothers but courtruled that it would be possibleto strike a balance that wouldnot discriminate.

In contrast with much ofthe conservative Middle East,Israel is generally toleranttoward its LGBTQ communi-ty. Gays serve openly in Israel’smilitary and parliament, andmany popular artists and enter-tainers are openly gay.

�� % �� 0�� 0��

��.��/��

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Tuesday notified the marketmaking scheme to promote retail par-ticipation in government securities byproviding prices/quotes to retail direct gilt(RDG) account holders enabling them tobuy and sell securities under the RBIRetail Direct Scheme.

Prime Minister Narendra Modihad launched the RBI Retail DirectScheme launched on November 12,2021, to provide one-stop access to facil-itate investment in government securitiesby retail investors.

In this connection, to provide liq-uidity in the secondary market, a mar-ket making arrangement, wherein the pri-mary dealers shall be present on theNDS-OM platform (odd-lot and Request for Quotes segments) through-out market hours and respond to buy/sellrequests from Retail Direct Gilt AccountHolders (RDGAHs) has been notified.

According to the market makingscheme, primary dealers will rely on theKnow Your Customer (KYC) verificationof the RDG account holders done underthe retail direct scheme.

"No further KYC verification isrequired for transacting with RDGaccount holders on the RFQ segment ofNDS-OM," the RBI said.

'NDS-OM', or Negotiated DealingSegment- Order Matching, refers to theRBI's screen-based, anonymous elec-tronic order matching system for tradingin government securities in the secondarymarket.

The 'Request for Quotes (RFQ) seg-ment' refers to the on-screen negotiationsystem of the RBI's NDS-OM system.Under the RBI Retail Direct Scheme,retail investors (individuals) have thefacility to open an online Retail DirectGilt Account (RDG Account) with RBI.These accounts can be linked to their sav-ings bank accounts. PTI

�)��

Withdrawing its schemefor a new corporate

structure announced in April2021, Bharti Airtel on Tuesdaysaid it will merge wholly-owned subsidiary TelesonicNetworks with itself, resultingin consolidation of fibre assetsinto the company, while NettleInfrastructure Investments toowill be merged with Airtel.

The scheme of arrange-ment for the new corporatestructure announced on April14, 2021 stands withdrawn asthe board is of the view that theexisting corporate structure ofthe company is optimal forleveraging emerging opportu-nities, unlocking value whilecontinuing to scale up the dig-ital businesses, it said in astatement.

The company, asannounced earlier, will pursueits plan to eventually fold theDTH business (BhartiTelemedia) into Airtel, thestatement added.

"Under a modifiedscheme, the company, as pre-

viously approved by the board,will merge its wholly-ownedsubsidiary Telesonic NetworksLimited, resulting in consoli-dation of its fiber assets intoAirtel," the statementsaid.

Nettle InfrastructureInvestments Limited will alsobe merged with Airtel.

"As announced earlier, thecompany will pursue its plan toeventually fold the DTH busi-ness (Bharti Telemedia) intoAirtel to move towards theNDCP vision of convergedservices to customers," it added.

NDCP refers to theNational DigitalCommunications Policy. Thecompany's businesses continueto be categorised under fourkey verticals -- India, Digital,International andInfrastructure.

Airtel noted that the "sem-inal" telecom sector reformspackage announced by thegovernment has significantlyboosted the outlook andinvestor confidence for theindustry while simplifying thelicence framework.

New Delhi: Equity investors are ahappy lot as their wealth jumped byover �5.36 lakh crore in the first twodays of trading in the New Year, dri-ven by optimism in the broader mar-ket amid firm global cues.

The 30-share Sensex zoomed672.71 points or 1.14 per cent to set-tle at 59,855.93 on Tuesday. Thebenchmark had jumped 929.40 pointsor 1.60 per cent to close at 59,183.22on Monday, the first trading day of2022. Helped by the ongoingrally, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies jumped by �5,36,139.91 crore in just two tradingsessions to reach �2,71,36,351.46 crore.On Tuesday, NTPC was the lead gain-er in the 30-share Sensex pack, jump-ing 5.48 per cent, followed byPowerGrid, SBI, Titan Company,

Reliance Industries Limited and AxisBank. In the broader market, themidcap and smallcap indices jumpedup to 0.39 per cent.

"Markets traded buoyantly andended higher for the third consecutiveday. Upbeat global cues led to a firmstart, which further strengthened withhealthy buying in energy, banking, andIT majors.

"Markets are currently followingtheir global counterparts while thedomestic factors are showing mixedindications. Besides, the earnings sea-son is also around the corner and itseems that participants are expectinga positive trend," said Ajit Mishra, VP- Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

In 2021, equity investors reapedhandsome rewards as their wealth grewnearly by � 78 lakh crore. PTI

Mumbai: The RBI on Tuesdaysaid state-owned SBI, alongwith private sector lendersICICI Bank and HDFC Bankcontinue to be DomesticSystemically Important Banks(D-SIBs) or institutions whichare 'too big to fail'.

SIBs are perceived asbanks that are 'too big to fail(TBTF)'. This perception ofTBTF creates an expectation ofgovernment support for thesebanks in times of distress. Dueto this perception, these lendersenjoy certain advantages inthe funding markets.

"SBI, ICICI Bank andHDFC Bank continue to beidentified as DomesticSystemically Important Banks(D-SIBs), under the same buck-eting structure as in the 2020list of D-SIBs," the ReserveBank said in a statement.

The additional CommonEquity Tier 1 (CET1) require-ment for D-SIBs was phased-in from April 1, 2016 andbecame fully effective fromApril 1, 2019. The addi-tional CET1 requirement willbe in addition to the capital

conservation buffer.The Reserve Bank of India

(RBI) had announced SBI andICICI Bank as D-SIBs in 2015and 2016.

Based on data collectedfrom banks as on March 31,2017, HDFC Bank was alsoclassified as a D-SIB.The current update is based ondata collected from banks as onMarch 31, 2021. Theframework for dealing with D-SIBs was issued in July 2014.The framework requires theRBI to disclose the names ofbanks designated as D-SIBsstarting from 2015 and placethese lenders in appropriatebuckets depending upon theirSystemic Importance Scores(SISs). Based on the bucket inwhich a D-SIB is placed, anadditional common equityrequirement has to be appliedto it.

The Additional CommonEquity Tier 1 requirement as apercentage of Risk WeightedAssets (RWAs) in case of SBI is0.6 per cent, and 0.2 per centfor ICICI Bank and HDFCBank. PTI

New Delhi: CompetitionCommission has ordered adetailed probe against state-owned IREL (India) Ltd, whichis into mining and productionof minerals, for alleged abuse ofdominant position.

It was alleged that IRELabused its dominant positionby indulging in prohibitiveincrease in the sillimaniteprices by following discrimi-natory pricing against the inter-ests of the micro, small andmedium enterprises in thedomestic market.

The informant also allegedthat the company favouredmulti-nationals and/or foreignparties and fixed the supply ofsillimanite as per its whims andfancies and forcing its customerto accept arbitrary quantity.

Competition Commissionof India (CCI) said that basedon facts and circumstances ofthe present case, it is primafacie noted that OP is the onlyentity engaged in the miningand supply of beach sand min-eral in India, which allows it tooperate independently of themarket forces.

The Commission has alsoperused the allegation in theinformation pertaining tounfair and discriminatory pric-ing, for which no responsehas been forthcoming from theOP. PTI

��

The Centre on Tuesdayopposed a plea filed by

BJP leader SubramanianSwamy in the Delhi HighCourt alleging that themethodology adopted by thegovernment in the valuation ofnational carrier Air India was"arbitrary, illegal and againstpublic interest". Swamy hassought to set aside and revokeany action or decision or grantof any further approvals, per-missions or permits by author-ities with respect to the AirIndia disinvestment process.

The bench of Chief JusticeD N Patel and Justice JyotiSingh heard the arguments putforward by Swamy, SolicitorGeneral Tushar Mehta andsenior advocate Harish Salve,who appeared in the matter onbehalf of Tata Group’s TalacePrivate Limited. The Benchsaid it will pass an order on thepetition on January 6. Thecourt also asked the counsel forthe Centre and the otherrespondents to file a short noteduring the day and granted lib-erty to Swamy to file a shortnote by Wednesday.

Swamy has also sought aCBI investigation into the roleand functioning of authoritiesand the submission of adetailed report before the court.In October last year, the Centreaccepted the highest bid madeby a Tata Sons company for 100per cent equity shares of AirIndia and Air India Express,along with the government's 50per cent stake in ground-han-dling company AISATS -- the

first privatisation in the coun-try in 20 years.

Swamy submitted that aconsortium led by SpiceJet wasthe other bidder but as insol-vency proceedings are going onagainst the airline in theMadras High Court, it was notentitled to bid and therefore,effectively there was only onebidder. "The methodologyadopted by the government inthe valuation of Air India wasarbitrary, illegal, corrupt, malafide and against public interest,"he said.

Mehta contended that thepetition was founded on threemisconceptions and it doesnot need any consideration. Hesaid according to the petition-er, SpiceJet was the secondbidder, but the fact is that theairline was never a part of theconsortium that submitted thebid and proceedings pendingagainst it have no relevancehere.

"One individual, AjaySingh, was part of the consor-tium, which was the secondbidder and not SpiceJet," thesolicitor general said. Howeverit is well known that AjaySingh is promoter of SpiceJet.

He said Air India's disin-vestment was a policy decisiontaken by the Centre, keeping inview the huge losses beingincurred by the airline, and thatthe government was competentto take such a decision. Salvecontended that there was noth-ing in the petition and that thebids were complete, the shareagreements signed and all thishas been in public domain forquite some time.

�)��

Solar open access installationsin India jumped 85 per cent

to 307 megawatt (MW) inJuly-September period of 2021,Mercom India Research said ina report.

The installations stood at166 MW during the samequarter in 2020, the researchfirm said in its report titled"India Solar Open AccessMarket Report Q3 2021" onTuesday.

It said the countryinstalled 935 MW of openaccess solar capacity duringJanuary-September 2021, reg-istering a rise of 143 per centcompared to 385 MW installedduring the same nine-monthperiod of 2020. The pipeline of solar openaccess projects under develop-ment and pre-construction isestimated to be over 1.1 GW(gigawatt), the report added.

It has also expanded cov-erage to include two new mar-kets, Uttarakhand and Punjab.Uttar Pradesh had the mostinstallations, constituting about35 per cent of the projectsinstalled during the quarter.

Maharashtra, Gujarat andKarnataka accounted for 11 percent, 10 per cent, and 7 per centof the installations, respective-ly during the quarter.

"The power crisis trig-gered by the depleting coalstocks in thermal power plantsin Q3 2021 was a major wake-up call for the C&I (commer-cial and industrial) segment toopt for alternative sources ofpower procurement.

��'��7�'�$��7&�&��#��7��%��'��&'�,�',��,��$��%��454@

�($+'($�$�$�$(��/�)% �(��/��,��/�

+��%��&&��&'��'��&�&��'7��$&�'��G5H��3,��?+�%'9��%��'�

$�2��.��8��9:;<��/��.� �� =>==

��'��'�+��#�9�� '��&#��!�'�#�!��(�&��#��'��%��#�'��'��%��'��%�'��?+��&

��'��%%�&�&�+7�#�E&�%��&��!��(�'��&�'��&�$��$��$�&��:�&'#��'�%��&&

�� % ��123�4�� 5�� %��

Higher education plays a significantrole in shaping human capital inIndia, coupled with The Ministry of

Education's mission to create a higher edu-cation environment that fosters academic andinstitutional excellence. In the 21st centuryIndia, there is a need for institutions of high-er education that are forward-looking bothacademically and societally. Society containsthe conventional truths and dynamics of anevolving organism that is continually chang-ing to maintain a degree of stability amongits citizens.

It also argues that students, especially athigher education institutions, must comprisean integral part of the struggle for socialimprovement as they strive to become par-ticipating citizens in a democratic society.Social change results only when students takeupon themselves the task of getting involvedand making a difference.

Today's students are different in manyways from the students of the previous gen-eration, as many articles on the Millennialshave noted. They have access to the Internet,and social media tools veterans never imag-ined. In addition, they are far more broad-ly and deeply engaged in community servicethrough student organisations, faith com-munities, service-learning courses, alterna-tive breaks, and numerous other organisedactivities.

The college needs to facilitate high-qual-ity learning experiences to know that criti-cal reflection plays an essential role. Institutesmust train students by providing essentialskills to contribute to society more effectively.

In college, learning is as diverse as the rangeof social experience in general, and the activ-ities to are of a wide variety. They could offerthe specialisation of appropriate choices inany particular social context having socio-logical implications. Specialisation choiceswill positively contribute to the ability of stu-dents to make appropriate choices in a par-ticular social context.

The author recommends using a rangeof activities from discussion and Think-Pair-Share to concept mapping, debate, role-play to cultivate social moments where stu-dents dialogue, master vital cultural skills,and explore social realities. Uses of casescentred on violence, substance abuse, iso-lation, inequality and more empower thestudents to advance their understanding ofsocial change to become more competentmembers of society.

For example, In India, many familieshave

limited access to health care but are also deal-ing with discrimination, poverty and livingin dangerous environments; the chance ofcontracting an illness increases drastically.With evidence-based social strategies, stu-dents can help bridge the healthcare gap andprovide practical solutions to families inneed.

Before acquiring the skillset that willallow for their effective social participation,they have to understand the processes andvalue of the society. They might be short ofsuch mindfulness. Students might not knowhow to talk, how to think, what to do, whatto value. However, student past social expe-rience plays a significant role in their adapt-ability and later ability to deal with others. Fewsignificant challenges comprise adaptability,self-awareness, which significantly influ-ence their action and how they respond andinterpret the meaning of the environment.

In conclusion, the author argues that col-leges must develop partnerships with like-minded organisations, which conduct dis-trict-wide training on social dimensions.Social, family-focused interventions canhelp individuals identify abuse early on andprevent it from happening in the future. Byadopting new policies that support income

generation and decrease economichardship, students more effec-

tively guide/serve strugglingfamilies.

��

6�� 1��# � %�� 7812�'��# � %��

The ongoing pandemic andthe subsequent hybridwork model has broughtin significant disruptionin the way the HR func-

tion operates. As we enter 2022, theHR function would need to signifi-cantly reimagine and reinvent itselfto keep pace with the changingtime and needs of people. The crit-ical asks in front of the HR functionwould be to:

�Evolve from being enforcer ofHR Policies to representing peopleto frame new set of policies

�Building organizational culturein a Physi Virtual world

�Creating a new paradigm oncommunication when you don’t seeor meet your employees regularly

�Address the enhanced anxietylevel of employees and help them ontheir overall well-being

HR practices would berealigned to be in sync with thehybrid work model

A hybrid mode of working withsome employees working fromoffices and some from home oraway from office is a reality and isexpected to remain the same.

Even when the pandemicrecedes, many companies are expect-ed to continue with a hybrid modeof working.

The HR function needs to alignand rediscover itself to the same andbring in policies, procedures and

practices that support this. For exam-ple, policies on eligibility of transportallowance for employees may need tochange, the process of recruitmentwould change with less in-personinterviews, learning & developmentprograms may need to be more dig-ital etc. Similarly, companies may beable to offer more attractive workpolicies for returning mothers withoptions of work from home.

The benefit and reward man-agement system would need criti-cal refinement

The benefit and reward man-agement system would need to lookbeyond traditional monetary bene-fits and bring in aspects that promotemental health and overall well-beingof employees and their family.Organizations that look at the holis-tic benefit of employees would con-tinue to thrive and grow.

Digital HR will be the need ofthe hour

The HR function would have tocome alive on a robust digital plat-form, especially on a mobile app, toensure easy access to all employeesas in-person meetings and discus-sions will be rarer.

Companies would look at invest-ing in a digital platform that canbring the whole HR function, includ-ing organization culture, ethos andvalues into a digital platform foremployees to feel and understand theorganization they are working in.

HR would need to supportMental health and well-being of theteam

The HR function will movebeyond supporting the needs ofemployees at office and look at over-all well being of the team, with specialfocus on mental health. The HR func-tion would need to be strengthenedwith psychologists, psychiatrists, coun-sellors working with the team.

HR would look beyond sup-porting the employees and look at thewell-being of their family

With the distinction betweenhome and workplace becoming hazyand work timings becoming flexible,the HR function would not only haveto focus on the mental health and wellbeing of their employees, but evenextend it to their families. Initiatives likeawareness sessions, counselling ses-sions, meditation sessions for familymembers would have to be brought inthe future.

There would be tremendousfocus on virtual team bonding

With the hybrid working envi-ronment becoming a reality, the tra-ditional concept of a team workingtogether at the same location or inoffice premises would change and theHR function would need to reinventitself in being able to help teamsbond, collaborate and build cama-raderie even when they are located farfrom each other. This would be a crit-ical area that would define success of

companies and organizations which areable to drive, motivate and build acohesive team even when they arelocated in separate places would thriveand win in the marketplace.

The Learning and Development(L&D) function would need to bringin digital interventions for upskillingand development of the team

The pandemic and the subse-quent hybrid work model and digitaldrive have ensured that people wouldneed newer skills to succeed in thischanging work environment and mar-ketplace. Most of the new skills andupskilling initiatives would have to bedelivered virtually and hence the L&Dfunction would need to change andbring in online learning programs withuse of new age digital interventions likegamification, simulations, VR to bringin an enhanced learning experience.

2022 promises to be a special yearfor the HR function with a clear needand scope of reimagining and rein-venting itself. The focus would be a lotmore on digital and overall health andwell being of employees and theirimmediate families. The hybrid workenvironment would also offer themscope for bringing in numerous ben-efits including a chance to offer moreattractive work options for returningmothers, which they should consider.Organizations that would thrive inthese challenging times are the oneswhere the HR function will be up tothe task and meet these challenges.

�� 0��1�)�*�"*�� "��%

��,�� ,��,��+��2�� 2��,��,� ��3��+��,��4

5�� 0�6

��

Pertaining to the increasingCOVID cases (omicron vari-

ant) in the country, VidyamandirClasses (VMC), National Institutefor JEE and NEET preparation isall set to conduct its NationalAdmission Tests (NAT) on 15th,16th 22nd and 23rd Januarythrough online mode.

While the Government hasreleased an order to shut offlineschools but continue the curricu-lum as scheduled, until further

notice, the online test will providea big boost to JEE & NEET aspi-rants throughout their preparationjourney with mentorship, freedoubt resolution and hand hold-ing support at the nearest VMCcentre all days a week, motivationsessions, and free mock tests andpractice board tests for presentclass final exams from the comfortof their homes.

This online test is an oppor-tunity for students of Class VI, VII,VIII, IX, X, XI & XII to join oneof the various courses available at

Vidyamandir Classes (both class-room and online courses) forbatches starting from September2022, providing them with anearly start advantage and an oppor-tunity to grab scholarship of upto100 per cent.

The National Admission Testwill provide an Early Start advan-tage for students of class VI, VII &VIII and assisting in buildingstrong fundamental which will bean added advantage for variouscompetitive exams like IIT-JEE(Main & Advanced), NEET, NTSE,

KVPY and Olympiads as well.With exposure to competitiveexams at an Early stage, Best-in-class faculty and a comprehensiveteaching methodology, studentswill be geared up for Scholastic/Competitive examinations.

This test is planned for JEEand NEET candidates who want tobe a part of top-ranked engineer-ing and medical colleges of thenation. These online sessions willbe taken by the best of the facultymembers including VMCFounders.

9�� -�� %� � ��

��E��)��)�)�)��(@��)��

The Indian Institute of Artand Design (IIAD) in col-

laboration with KingstonSchool of Art, London offersundergraduate programmes inFashion Design, FashionBusiness Management,Communication Design andInterior Architecture & Design.It also offers postgraduate pro-grammes in Fashion Designand Fashion BusinessManagement.

The Institute offers theseprogrammes through its cre-ative studio-based educationand strives to groom the nextgeneration of designers anddesign thinkers at its state-of-the-art campus in New Delhi.

To know more about theadmission process and schol-arships, visit our website.

Website: www.iiad.edu.in Admission Process: IIAD

Entrance Test Last Date to Apply :

January 24, 2022Exam Date: January 29,

2022Helpline: +91 98713

83633, +91 11 4138 0000

1�';�(��)!��'(��)�(�

The University of Sheffield,UK is inviting applications

for its MSc in Biodiversity andConservation course starting inSeptember 2022.

Develop fundamentalknowledge about major con-servation issues and theirhuman and environmental dri-vers, including marine plastics,urbanisation, tropical loggingand the balance between sus-tainable food production andbiodiversity.

Duration: 1 yearEligibility: Holders of a

three year bachelor degree witha minimum of 60% or "firstclass" from a reputable univer-sity in biological sciences orother relevant science subject

Fee - Overseas is £28,500

�� Energy is an integral part of our

everyday life—from lighting,cooking, and entertainment to

manufacturing, transportation andmore. With the growth in the glob-al population and economies, theoverall energy needs have risen sig-nificantly.

Currently, our country aloneaccounts for more than a quarter ofthe net global primary energy wants.By the year 2040, the population ofIndia is anticipated to surge by morethan 267 million causing an 11 percent jump in primary energydemands.

This will lead to the doubling ofCO2 emissions by 2040, triggeringserious and possibly irreversibledamage to the environment. Thedependency on energy is only goingto rise, therefore, we must take stepsto effectively tackle the energy needsof the growing population.

One of the ways to address theever-escalating energy needs andthe resultant issues that it brings isby focusing on energy conservationand sustainability. Energy conserva-tion is a mammoth task that cannotbe achieved alone.

To create awareness and priori-tize energy conservation, the gov-ernment of India has established theBureau of Energy Efficiency. It haspassed many laws, strategies andpolicies to reduce the energy inten-sity of the Indian economy. However,the task at hand requires more tar-geted action through a collaborativeeffort from people, administration aswell as the electrical and powerindustry.

By taking measures like switch-

ing to energy-efficient appliances,switching off lights and electronicappliances when not in use, turningdown the heat in geysers and ther-mostats, installing LEDs in homesand offices, we can significantlyreduce our energy consumption.Furthermore, installing solar panels,upgrading to energy star certifiedproducts and electric vehicles willhelp in energy conservation in thelong run.

Another driver of change inmodern society and the way it func-tions today is technology. Moderntechnology has opened the gatewayto infinite possibilities. Scientistsand corporations are working togeth-er to develop new technology to offerlong term solutions and alterna-tives. For instance, integrating cleantechnology and green practices willhelp in creating a sustainable envi-ronment.

With India’s ambitious target toachieve a net-zero carbon economyin a few decades, immediate andactionable steps need to be taken toachieve the target. However, one ofthe major challenges in the way isreducing emissions from the alreadyexisting energy infrastructure likesteel mills, coal plants and other fac-tories.

Energy conservation and effi-ciency appears to be a dauntingtask. But it can be achieved easily bymaking a few small changes in ourroutine habits. We must educateourselves as well as our peers inadopting sustainable, clean andgreener alternatives in our daily life.

��:�� ; ��"�� (�� 2��

C <�� :��

F ��:�� 6&3��

�&'�','�&�#,&'�'��&',$��'&� ��%��:�$��(��&&��'��&!��&�'��'�� ,'��'��&��'��#��'�:��"� ��I,��(�'��&!��&�'�'��'�7��7��'��'�:��&��%��'��%�'��8�'��:��'��,�$��&'��$�'��%��&&�&��$�:��,��'��&��'�8�&��&��+�/��

��

Youva, the domestic sta-tionery brand from the

house of Navneet is all set tobegin the new year with thelaunch of a new sub-categoryof premium long books ‘YouvaStellar’, a much-requiredupgrade with an aim to pro-vide a better-quality writingexperience for students.

Over the years we haveseen so many upgrades in

categories like mobile, fashion,automobile but the studentlongbooks space was neglect-ed. Longbooks are used by col-lege students to write theirstudy notes, practice, andrevise answers. It is an integralpart of college life and remainswith the individual all thetime. Many students com-plain about the paper qualityor the impression of ink com-ing onto the other side of thepage while writing. Youva

identified this problem anddeveloped a new subcategoryfor students who want no dis-tractions while studying andthat is why it is essentially anupgrade. Youva seeks to intro-duce this unique productrange as a symbol of their pro-gressive move towardsenhancing students’ user expe-rience. Over a period of time,everyone evolves. There is aconstant thirst to upgrade ourlives, habits, preferences and

Youva Stellar is an extension ofthis.

The thicker papers (64gsm) will ensure not leavingany mark on the other side,helping them retain theirattention on the work they aredoing. It is also a fact that writ-ing on a thicker and better-quality paper inspires one towrite with good handwriting.

Stellar longbooks offer asophisticated and finishedmatte look.

4544�%��#�&�&�'�� &%��'��,��'��7�'��$��$�&��%��#�(��(

��$��:��'��(��'&��"��,&�7�,�$� ��'

#��$�(�'��$��:��'��$�7��? ��(��#%��&8�&��&��2�00��

6&F�4��,�� :��<��H�� 3��

Education is one of the worsthit sectors during the

unprecedented coronaviruspandemic and has left manychildren especially thosebelonging to the lower-eco-nomic section of the society outof the school.

In order to provide con-tinuous learning facilities tosuch destitute learners, city-based ITes solutionsprovider NAV BackOffice hasdecided to distribute pulloversand given a cheque of one lakhto purchase tablets and bicyclesso that nothing can be a hin-drance in attaining quality edu-cation.

The company has collabo-rated with two different NGOsI-India and Top Neurons so

that they can cater to the needyones in large numbers.

According to a latest reportfrom UNESCO, education hasbeen hit particularly hard bythe COVID-19 pandemic with1.53 billion learners out ofschool and 184 country-wideschool closures, impacting87.6% of the world’s totalenrolled learners. Drop-outrates across the globe haverisen as a result of this massivedisruption to education access.

NAV BackOffice has beenrunning a unique campaign tomount such humanitarianassistance to common peopleaffected in any way by COVID-19. The campaign, titled ‘HumLayenge Khushiyan’ rolled outacross Jaipur and leveragedthe 1500-strong employee baseof the company.

�� 7��<�# � %��%��"��

�"��

7�% %"�%#

�"��

7�% %"�%#

��2��,�0��8

8�� 8��+�� 9��,�,

��2��:�+ �� ,��,��+�,��2��,��4��:��.��,��0�� 8��,�0�,��

�,��.��3��.��,�8��0�� 88��2��

� ��

0��+��0�+��0��2��+��+��0��+��.��0�� 0��+/��+��+

�&�'��'��7�&��:��(��#�'��#%��'��&��,&�$� ��'��4�$�7�:��02�?@B8�%��%��'��,(�'�'��'�'��&

��,�$� ��(��$�'��'��,��'��'��$��-��'�"��7�:��8�7�'��'��-%��&��'��7&��'��7��02�?@B�:��'8�0#��8%��%��:��'��'��(��%&��-��'��$��'��,',��(��"��#%��&��:�� (,��'��%,'��&%��'��',��?'�?��#�$�8��$��%��&�� (&'��$8��$�#�&&�(�'��(&�� (��&�$��$��'��(��"�

��$��(�'��'�&,�:��$,�'�$ ��1�,��0+�8��,�$�;J�%��'��'��

��&%��$��'&��:��'��

��,�'��%��'�$�'��'�'��&'��&&�$�'��%��'�'��'��'�7�&��'��(�'��&��%��$%��$,�'�:�'�"��'��#�'��&�-%��$� ��'��%��%��$��(�'��'��%��'��,$�9

�/:��5F .��,��'��'��$��'��,��&��-��'�8� ��,&��%��%��'��$�'��&��'��'��'��,(�'&��#�(��(�'��7��&'��&��&��&"

�/>�,F ��(��&�(��&�'��'�7��:�� '��'��$��$�$�%��:�$��,��-%��'�'��&$,��'��&&��'��&�',�'��&"

0�/��/��F +��&��(��&� ��#��$�&'��'�$��#�$,��'��7��%��%��#��'��:��8�'��((��(�#��&'��&&��$

$�%��&&��"�#��(�'��,�'��&&��(�'�:�&8��&��:��

��(��#�'��%��$�#��&� ��'��'��7��&&��$��#%��'��'��'��$��#�'�� (��&��:�$��#%��%��"�

��&,�:��$,�'�$� ��:��:��,(��.�,�$�'��%��'�$�'��'��,�$�B4�%��'��'��&%��$��'&�&��$'��'�'��7�,�$�&��!�'��'#��'��$��&�&,%%��'��%��&��&��!��(�'��'#��'��

#��'��&&"��$�#��%��%��%��'��:��(��:��&�'��&��,�$��&&8��&�#��8��$,��$�%��$,�'�:�'�8��$��-��'��'��:�� "�

��'��'��7&��'��%�$�'��&#�&&��'��7�0#��:��'8��,��'��'��$��-��'�� (��'��7��,%�'��#��$&��'��%��%��"��,�%��$��'� ��'�7�'��'��:��$��(�:��'&��,�'��&�&�'��&,&��%'� ��'��'��#��'��'��&&,�&��'��(��"��&�#��

'��7��&�'��$��7�'��'��,��'��'�9�.��,&��7��'�� '��$9

��'�#��&��'��&��'�'��'��!��(� �,'�'��7��&'��&��&��&8�'��'��&�'��#�'&�� (��'��'�&%��$��,&��'��%��&��'�#�#��'"��&�#�!�&�,&��'��'��8�'�� $,��(�'��?��'��(��-��'�"�

��!��,��'�#��#��(�#��'&!��&9��,��-'��#��:��7��#�$8��$�'��-��,&�'��,(�'&��'��,�%��$,�'�:�'�8�'�!��&'�%� ��!��$�%��&#��'�&#��'�(��&"��'�&��,��'�&!&��$�&�'�$��$��&�&��'��'��,��'��'��(&"�

� ,��$��&,%%��'�&�&'�#9��&&��7��&��'��%��$�#��&'��&&� ��,&��' ��#�&�$��,�'�'��:��'��,'��(&"��!�'��,��:�$��&8��#��$��$&?7��:��#�!�&��,��$��$�:��$�'�&��,��(&"��:��$��(��:��&�'��&� �,'�'��7�:��'��$�'��%��!��(�,%'�%��&�'��'��'��&'��,��$��,��:�$��&"�

�+��!�%��&&��%9��'��'��&&��&��I,��$��$�'��$�'��%�%��%��7�'��&'��&&��$��-��'�"��,��!�8��,'�'��,�&��'�,�$��&'��$��$�&��:��,��&&,�&� �''��"

��1�� '��%"��28��"��8'�

�� 0��11

) �*# � �

�('��0�1��1��<�)��)�'��1��')��)1��)��'��9��!�.��#��#�+'�%��$9��@J8555�%��#��'��!9��'��&��"��#�$$5G��$��9�3��,��@G8�4544

��(�1�<��E��)��)�@��)��)��'��9��!�.��#��#�+'�%��$9��@J8555?�458555�%��#��'��!9��'��&��"��#� 5GBH ��$��9�3��,��@48�4544

'(�)��)�'((��)�(��G��)��)��'(11��'��'��9��+'�%��$9��B8555?�@J8555�%��#��'��!9��'��&��"��#�J@4;$4��$��9�3��,��@G8�4544

�;��0(�1��)��)��)(�'�(0�)�(��'��9��,�!��7+'�%��$9��@58555?�@J8555�%��#��'��!9��'��&��"��#�)� � 4��$��9�3��,��C8�4544

��)� (�<'��'( (�<��'��9��$�(��+'�%��$9��@58555�%��#��'��!9��'��&��"��#�45�$;$��$��9�3��,��@48�4544

;��0(�1��)�A��0��C��)�(��H�@((��'��'��9� �, ��&7��+'�%��$9��@48555�%��#��'��!9��'��&��"��#�4��C5G��$��9�3��,��@58�4544

��(��0!)�'��0��)��'��!��(��(0�)�(��'��9��!�.��#��#�+'�%��$9��G58555�%��#��'��!9��'��&��"��#�J�4 $4��$��9�3��,��@G8�4544

�How is the institute reshaping schooleducation in India?

Our mission is to transform schooleducation in India. We serve 2000-plusschools across 400-plus cities, andreache eight lakh-plus students and 10kplus teachers. As long as a school hasteachers, students, a building and fur-niture, our integrated school system pro-vides everything else — software, hard-ware curriculum, books, a school kit,and training sessions. Our uniquelydesigned ed-tech system covers theentire breadth of schooling, from pre-primary through Class X. �How are you different from other ed-tech players?

Most other institutions offer eitherpiecemeal or peripheral digital solutions,whether it is in the area of higher edu-cation, tutorials or upskilling. We areaddressing the challenges at the coreeducation level and transforming con-ventional schooling in India with its techintegrated solutions. We replace thepurely textbook-based listen and repeatsystem with multimodal learning. Theinstitute also replaces twice a yearassessments that used results to labelchildren as 'good' or 'bad' with multipleassessments throughout the year withample opportunity for remediation builtinto the timetable. �What is your vision for schools inIndia?

We want to transform the arc of edu-cation with superior technology solu-tions. The new normal driven by schooled-tech is an opportunity for schoolseverywhere to recoup learning loss,infuse digital technology into pedagogy,revise curricula to maximise high-qual-ity learning and become innovative inhow we teach students. Schools can andmust - reimagine the classroom, trans-form schools into tech-based centers ofexcellence, make learning both engag-ing and exciting.�What is the on-ground reality ofschools and what is needed?

The COVID-19 has impacted schooleducation, especially the delivery ofquality education as well as classroom-based teaching and learning. It hasbecome one of the major concerns forparents. Over 130 million students whogo to Government schools weredeprived of any learning. At school

learning is core to education and criti-cal to impact learning outcomes of the270 million students in the country.Schools must focus beyond academicsin schools. �Will go back to their old ways oncephysical schooling starts completely?

While the learning losses acrossgrades can’t be measured, it has allowedschool owners, educators and teachersto transform education — not to the pre-COVID-19 days, but a post-pandemicnew normal backed by a robust schooled-tech. Schools have to integrate tech-nology into every aspect of education,whether in the classroom or at home andgive the students the best of blendedlearning. In the new normal, schools willhave to integrate technology not justwith pedagogy and curricula but alsoroutine administrative tasks, attendancemanagement, extracurricular activitiesand PTA meetings.�What are the future plans?

We aspire to reach 26 million stu-dents and 60,000 schools by 2026.Second, we are looking to deliver teacherdelight so that she has more time toteach. We will use AI and ML to auto-mate homework checking which takesup 20 per cent of a teacher’s time. Finally,we want to enhance personalisation,both for the teacher to build her skill andfor the student.

)'�� %� ��%�*

.��:�� <��<�� 5�� :��:��/.277327C3&

'��##� �28��"�32��

The Internshalainvitesapplications for its annu-al scholarship —

Internshala Career Scholarshipfor Girls (ICSG)-2022. Thereward is �25,000 and meant torecognise a girl who has foughtagainst odds to pursue a careerof her dreams in any field —academics, sports, arts, or anyother field.

The scholarship will beawarded as an allowance forpursuing an internship orundertaking a project in thechosen field, payment towardsa specialised training pro-gramme and special equipment.

Eligibility: Any girl ofIndian nationality between theage group of 17 to 23 years (asof 31st December 2021) is eli-gible to apply for the scholarshipby 15th January 2022. To apply,the girl students need to fill thisform and state their careerobjective. The applications willbe shortlisted based on four ele-ments including the fightagainst odds, achievement, pur-pose, and need.

Interview: A short-list for atelephonic interview would beannounced and interviewswould be conducted. You wouldbe asked to furnish all the nec-essary documents and proofsbefore the interview.

Referee check: After theinterview, your referee (provid-ed in the form) would be con-

tacted for verification, afterwhich the final winner would

be selected and announced.How to apply: Submission

of applicationonline.For more information or to

apply to the scholarship, visit:https://bit.ly/ICSG-22

The Agency for Science,Technology & Research atNanyang TechnologicalUniversity, the NationalUniversity of Singapore andthe Singapore University ofTechnology and Design inviteapplication for SingaporeInternational Graduate Awardin Singapore.

Eligibility: Open for appli-cation to all international grad-uates with a passion for researchand excellent academic results

Good skills in written andspoken English; Good reportsfrom academic referees.

Supporting documents:Browse PhD Research Projects

Transcripts and reports;bachelor’s and/or Master’s aca-demic transcripts; bachelor’sdegree certificate(s)/scroll(s) ora letter of certification from theuniversity on your candidatureif your degree certificate/scrollhas not yet been conferred.Two recommendation reports(to be completed and submittedonline by the referees).

How to apply: For applying,you must complete the onlineapplication form.

Application deadline:Applicants must submit allrequired application materialsuntil June 1, 2022.

After two challenging yearsacross the globe, a stableoutlook is expected in 2022

for higher education. Everyonemust take responsibility to stop theOmicron spread.

If all goes well, the announce-ment of new progressive policies/measures adopted by the interna-tional education hubs like theUS, the UK, Canada, and Australiawill welcome international stu-dents. Emerging destinations likeGermany, France and UAE are alsoin process of building essentialinfrastructure, policies, that willhelp them to join the league in2022.

The US will continue to be thefavoured destination by studentsowing to a higher education sys-tem that features outstanding stu-dent support, massive and uncon-ventional academic programmesoffering a global standpoint, cul-tural diversity, and providing bet-ter work and growth prospects.

Today, students are muchmore aware. They should be calledthe explorers. They are abreast ofall new developments and comefor admissions carrying complete

knowledge about the universi-ties. They are aware of variousfields and which of them has a bet-ter future. Accordingly, theyresearch a good institution thatprovides them with an integratedlearning approach in their field ofinterest. They know what to takeas major and minor areas of study.

Besides, they are equally cau-tious about making a safe choice.Now students add healthcare ser-vices to their list of top prioritieswhile selecting a country andrespective university there. Thus,leading higher education destina-tions and their leadership or gov-ernment must work towardsbuilding a strong and supportivereaction to handle any untowardhealth crises.

The year 2022 will continue toobserve decent impetus in onlineand hybrid programmes. Whilemany institutions are now lookingand preparing for transitioningback to in-person classes fromSpring 2022, the accessibility ofonline and hybrid courses willcontinue to dominate conversa-tions around programme devel-opment and recruitment over the

next decade. As faculties get better at teach-

ing in an online environment, theywill keep learning employment ofnewer technologies, software tools,and how other resources canimprove the quality of the onlineteaching/learning experience. Themost important consequence ofthe adoption of digital and hybridlearning will be the enhancementin the level of access to quality edu-cation across nations. Institutionscan now involve faculty who maynot otherwise be able to teach ata particular university. TheInternet has made classes global —both for faculties and students.

Bringing international stu-dents back on campus premises tothe extent acceptable in the face oftravel restrictions and otherimpediments to travel, will be oneof the top priorities of interna-tional universities. While there willbe many faculties who choose toreturn to the conventional class-room settings, but their teachingwill unquestionably be shaped bytheir digital teaching experience.

As the pandemic continues,the focus will stay on the sole

objective of offering the best qual-ity teaching and learning envi-ronment while opening doors formany students to educate them-selves. Academic institutions willfurther endure emphasis on diver-sity and inclusion in their missionand strategic planning, as well asre-examine the ways to be moretransparent with their audiences.Institutions must look at sustain-ing and increasing their efforts toaim for more diverse faculty andstaff to reach levels of representa-tion mirroring their student body.

Interestingly, India hasbecome the second-largest marketfor e-learning after the US, accord-ing to the KPMG report. Underthe New Education Policy 2020,the integration of the Indian high-er education system with interna-tional education will set theThestage to take India to the globalstage that it long deserved. NEPwill be a landmark transformativeinitiative to improve the quality ofhigher education in India, but alsoits reach; making it globally com-petitive. �� 4'�� 5

�� '� ��=��

��$,� ��$�#�� '�$�7�'��'��7��$E&�#�&'�%��&'�(��,&

��'��$��'��'��,��:��&�'��&��(� ��%��(��##�&��.�&��&�(�8.�&�� ,&��&&��(�#��'8��##,��'��&�(��$

�'��'��',��6��&�(�"�'��&��&�%�&'(��$,�'�%��(��##�&��.�&��&�(��$�.�&��'��(�"��

'��,��$��$#�&&��&��''��$,� ��$�#��+��&�(��8��$$�%��#�?��:��,�&�&"

��$��&'�','��(�

��$��7�'��&&�$��'��$7�'��:�#��'&��$�:��&��&��'��&��(��(��#��6�8

��$�#��&8��'��%��,�&��%8��$��:�'��&"454@�&�7��&�(��'��&��'��,# ��&%��&��$��&��%��>��'&��$��,�$��(

��$�"��'�'��,# ��%��>��'&�&��'��$��'��454@��G48�7�'��'��&��'��$��#�,�'��:��@)")@��&"� �

��'��$,��'��&��#��(�,%�7�'�� ?A�E&��'��%��&%��?

��(��&%��'&�45447�'��(��'�"��7��(�'��'��-%��'(,�$��#�#�$��%��?��&&��&"�

��'��(��#&'��%��:�$��I,��'��(,�$��$�'��(�'��&%�?��'&��'��'��(� ��'��,#��'��&'�K��L�,�$��$��<&��%��$��.��,�'��&"

��&%��$�&�(��$��',��'��&��%%�%��:�$�&&',$��'&�'��:��'��'��&�7��,$�%��&��&8��#�&'��8��$ ��(��&&�&�,�$��-%�?��$�'��&��'&�%%��'��7�'��,'�%��(��&��(��,%��"�

�%��'��#�'��&8��&',$��#�'��8�$�, '�&�&?&��&8�#��!�'�&'&8��$�'��',��&��'��%%#�!��'��&��#%��'�%��!�(��&%��'&"

��##��'��(��%%8.�,�$��8��$��08�2�&�,��%�'��&��$9�M.��?��(��'��&��''�#%'�'��$,��'��&'��&&��$��?�� ,�$��#�$��&',?$��'&"��'��',��&��$��#%��'��&',$��#�'��7�� #�$��:�� '��(�&'��$�&',$��'&7�'��,'��&'"��&�8�-%��$�#�$��%��?��&&��&�7��'�'�(,�$��&',$��'&�'��,(�7� ��&��'��&�%��'��#"N

��$,�'��(�#��'��$#�&&��,��K��L8��$#��&'��'��'�� -�#��$��(��

�&&��'��$��(�(��$,�'�� ,&��&&&��&8�'�$��,��$�'��$$�'��(�&'��'��7��$�7��'�� -�#�&'��'��(�3��,��G�,�'��3��,��B8�4544"�

'��&� ��<&�&��(,��,&�'��%��$�$�'�&��$�&��&��'��,��'��%��'��:��',��8��:��?��(��(��:��?#��'"��'&��'�'��&,%%��'��$�$�'�&7��&%��(�'��%,�&,��'��#��(�?#��'�$�(��8�'��&��&�'��&��$��7�'��'��&��(��$$�'��(�&'��'��7��$�7�'��&',$��'&"

��-'��#��!&��&��,��$��&��,�&�

O3��'/��'��%&',$��'&�%��%��3��'��'��-�#��'��K3��L�4544"��##��(��G�$�3��,��45448�'��&�&&��&�7�� $,�'�$ ��'�%?��!��(�3��-%��'&��$��,�'��&��&8��#�&'��8��$��'��#�'��&��3��&%��'&�7��7��'�'��(�'��'��'��'�%?��'��(��(��(�&��$��"

��02�?@B��&��'�$�'��%��%��'��'��,&��$&��&',$��'&&',$��(��8��$��-'��#��!&��&�(��(��-'��#��'��&&�'��3��%��%#�'��:��-'��#��!&3��1�,�, ��$�-'��#��!&��%%"

��#%��&�:��&��,�&��#�$,��&$�&�(��$� ��3��,�'��$��-%��'&��'��-'��#��!&P'��:�&��'��'��&�� ,&��>,&'�H5�$��&7�'��@@J?%�,&��,�&��:�

&�&&��&8�@G?%�,&��#%��#��'��#��!�'�&'&'��%� ��&'�&��&��$H5?%�,&�%��'��7��!&��'&��'�A��&'"�

��-%��'&�7��'�,�� &��&��%��'��'�%��&��-'��%��%��'��$%��&��(��%'&8��&',$��'&��:��&��%��%��'��8� ��'�? �(��8��'��#�$��'��$:��$"��-%��'&�7��&�� &��(�'�%&�6'��!&8�$�, '�&��:��(8��$��&�&�'��(�'&',$��'&��-�#?��$�"

@��(��)��;��'��1!

�'��1��)�@(��)�1��

��'0��@(��)�$%$$��)��)��(�'(�)

�1�'��(��'��)�(��0��)��)�(�� (

@��'��'(��$%$$�@(��00�"��)�1��)��I��(��11��0�')��'��'0��

�*; ��<

� ��.��=�==+��3��0�

,��8��,

.3��,8��2��4> ��.

��+��9��2��,8��8��2��23��9��

��8��8��2

��$��&'�','��(��$��&��&�(��('��,��&'��<&

��(��#��'��2��&"��&��'��$�&��%��,��(��7�� &'�'��&',$��'&<��(�(�#��'�7�'�� '��$7�� $��'&� ��$�,��(��+',$��'&"��&

%��(��#�7��'��&��%� ��'��&��'��&�-��'��(��$"

+',$��'&��-%��'�$�'��

��'��&�%��(��##��#3��,��4544�$,��(�'��'��$�� $�$,��$�(��%��(��##�&"��'��'�!��&��-%��'�$�'�� 4J�&',$��'&"

��&',$��'&�(��$,�'��(��#�'��&�%��(��#�7��:��'��&!��&�'&��I,��$�'��%,�&,��>� �%%��',��'��&��2��$,�'��:��%#��'��,$��(��2�'�(��'��8�2��((��(�'��(��(8��##,��'��$�� '��8�2��'��$2��$�'��8��$��$,�'��$��'��("

��&&��"��"��&�!��8��$8��%��'#��'��(��(��&�(�8��$��&8�&��$9�M��,�&��7�� '��&,�'��(�'�$�%��'#��'&�� '��(�'��$,�'�'��&!��&��I,��$��&',$��'�'��(��'��2��&"��'��'��$��&��,��,��'�$�'�� ,��$�&,��'�$�%'��$�#��8�&'��'��(��#2�� &��&��$�(��(�'��:��&%��2��((��(�'�&��,$��( �''��&��$��'��&"N

&��?$�1#)�#%&��?$�1#)�#%

��,��#��'��7�%��(��&&�:��%��&��$�#��&,��&��$�%'�$� ��$,��'��, &��!��'��+8�'��/8��$�8��$��,&'��7��7��#��'��'��&',$��'&"��&'��'��&��!��#��8�.��$��&�� ,��$��(��&&��'��&'�,�',��8�&��&��/��3��

�8��1=��

�� +

Kylian Mbappe scored asecond-half hat trick as

French Cup holder Paris Saint-Germain won at fourth-tierVannes 4-0 to reach the last 16.

Goalkeeper Clement Petrelmade a couple of smart savesbefore PSG central defenderPresnel Kimpembe stooped toscore a powerful header froma Nuno Mendes corner in the28th minute.

Mbappe was kept quiet bythe Vannes defense in the firsthalf on a rainy night in the

Brittany region of northwest-ern France. But he made it 2-0 in the 59th when he latched

onto Kimpembe’s long passfrom defense to sprint clearand finish with a low shot that

looped in. His next goal was farmore emphatic as he arroweda shot high into the net from20 meters, after good workfrom midfielder Marco Verrattiallowed 18-year-old Dutchmidfielder Xavi Simons tosend Mbappe through in the71st.

His third goal was fromclose range after swappingpasses with substitute EricEbimbe in the 77th. It markedhis 18th goal in 25 gamesoverall. PSG coach MauricioPochettino also picked 18-year-old French midfielder

Edouard Michut, whoimpressed with his technicalability albeit against modestopposition.

PSG was without LionelMessi, isolating at home inArgentina after being amongfour players who tested posi-tive for the coronavirus duringa brief winter break.Pochettino was uncertain ifMessi will recover in time toplay at Lyon in the league onSunday.

Lens hosts Lille in a north-ern derby on Tuesday for thefinal spot in the last 16.

�)�� 3/0�

Former Saurashtra cricketerAmbapratasinhji Jadeja died

of COVID-19 infection onTuesday, the Saurashtra CricketAssociation (SCA) said.

He was 69.“Everyone at Saurashtra

Cricket Association are deeplysaddened on the sad demise ofSaurashtra’s yesteryears’ crick-eter late Shri AmbapratapsinhjiJadeja. He passed away todayearly morning at Valsad fight-ing hard battle against Covid-19,” the SCA said in a mediastatement issued here.

Hailing from Jamnagar,Jadeja was a prominent right-arm medium pacer and right-handed batsman. He playedeight Ranji Trophy matchesrepresenting Saurashtra.

He was a retired DSP,Gujarat Police.

In a condolence message,former BCCI secretaryNiranjan Shah said,“Ambapratapsinhji was aremarkable player and I haveinteracted good cricketingmoments with him. May hisnoble soul rest in the shelter ofthe Almighty.”

�)��

On an all-win day for Indiantennis players, Sania Mirza

and the pair of RamkumarRamanathan and RohanBopanna emerged victorious intheir respective first roundmatches, albeit in contrastingfashion, in the ATP and WTAtournaments, here on Tuesday.

Sania and her Ukrainianpartner Nadiia Kichenok over-came a first-set thrashing toknock out second seeds

Gabriella Dabrowski andGiuliana Olmos 1-6 6-3 10-8 inthe WTA 500 event.

In the ATP 250 men’sevent, the Indian combinationof Ramkumar and veteranBopanna, pairing up togetherfor the first time on the ATPtour, had an easy day out.

They trounced AmericanJamie Cerretani and BrazilianFernando Romboli 6-2 6-1 toset up the pre-quarterfinal witheighth seed American pair ofNathaniel Lammons and

Jackson Withrow.“We had a good match.

Both of us served And returnedwell. We combined well andstuck to the plan,” Ramkumartold PTI.

“We had practiced oncewith the same team before thedraw which helped us.

“I am always happy to playwith Bops (Bopanna), who is soexperienced and is someonewho has always been of goodsupport and helps me with mytennis with all the experiencehe has,” he added.

Since India will hostDenmark on grass courts inNew Delhi in their next DavisCup tie in March, it is a possi-bility that Bopanna andRamkumar, who has devel-oped a fantastic serve and vol-ley game, may pair up for thedoubles.

This tournament will givethem that opportunity to findout what works for them, if atall the captain decides to fieldthem as a team.

Interestingly, Ramkumargot a chance to play withDenmark’s top singles playerHolger Rune in the singlesQualifiers and lost 4-6 6-7(7) ina close first round match.

Rune, ranked 103, eventu-ally qualified for the maindraw.

The match must have givenhim a fair idea of what to expectfrom Rune when he lands inDelhi for the Davis Cup.

�� +1��1

Scott Boland has retained his spot inAustralia’s bowling attack for the fourth

Ashes test after his starring role on debutin the series-deciding victory over Englandlast week.

Boland took six wickets for seven runsas England collapsed in the second inningsto be all out for 68 in Melbourne, allowingAustralia to retain the Ashes with twomatches to spare.

Any debate about Boland’s spot in thestarting XI ended when veteran pacebowler Josh Hazlewood was ruled out fora third consecutive match because of a sidestrain.

Australia made one injury enforcedchange for the fourth test startingWednesday at the Sydney Cricket Ground,with Usman Khawaja replacing middle-order batter Travis Head.

Khawaja’s return for the first time since2019 comes after Head was ruled out fol-lowing a positive COVID-19 test.

England’s coronavirus concerns havemainly been off the field, with head coachChris Silverwood among the support staffin isolation in Melbourne and missing theSydney match.

Assistant coach Graham Thorpe, whowill guide the squad in Silverwood’sabsence, recalled 35-year-old pacemanStuart Broad in the only change to England’slineup. Broad missed selection for the first

and third tests but returned to replace OllieRobinson, who leads the team with ninewickets in this series but has been sidelinedwith a shoulder problem.

Australia’s pace bowling stocks arestrong, with skipper Pat Cummins andMitchell Starc getting good support acrossthe last two tests from Boland in Melbourneand from Richardson and Michael Neser inAdelaide, as well as allrounder CameronGreen.

After inspecting the SCG pitch,Cummins opted against bringing in MitchSwepson as a second spinner to work withNathan Lyon. “You need that disciplined

stump to stump bowler. That’s what Scottbrings to the table,” Cummins said.

“It’s no secret. If Josh Hazlewood wasavailable he was going to play. (But) it wouldhave been a real shame to see Scotty not playthis week after his efforts last week.

I’m really glad he gets another crackout here.”

Thorpe said Broad and star allrounderBen Stokes, who is yet to hit top form sincereturning in Australia from a prolongedbreak, were like a “couple of caged tigers”ahead of the Sydney match as England triesto end a run of 13 Ashes tests in Australiawithout a win.

�� 0��Q��

Ebadot Hossain bowled Bangladesh to thebrink of a famous victory over World Test

Champion New Zealand in a fiery spellTuesday on the fourth day of the first crickettest.

On a pitch on which Bangladesh and NewZealand collectively amassed 786 runs in theirfirst innings — with the tourists taking a 130-run lead — Ebadot reduced New Zealand to147-5 at stumps, a lead of only 17 runs.

After dismissing first innings century-maker Devon Conway for 13, Ebadot removedWill Young (69), Henry Nicholls (0) and TomBlundell (0) in the space of six balls to forti-fy the strong position the Bangladesh battershad created.

“The first thing to know about Ebadot asa person is that he only came to cricket aboutfive years ago,” Bangladesh’s West Indies-bornbowling coach Ottis Gibson said.

“He won a fast-bowling competition some-where and two years later he was playing inter-national cricket.

“He’s a joy to work with because he’s enthu-siastic and he wants to learn so much. Whenhis confidence is high he can bowl spells likethis.”

New Zealand was just hanging on atstumps in the face of Ebadot’s aggressive swingbowling. Veteran Ross Taylor, in his penulti-mate test match before retirement, was 37 andallrounder Rachin Ravindra was 6.

Bangladesh hasn’t won any of its previous43 matches in New Zealand across all three for-mats and wasn’t expected to test New Zealandin this match in the absence of veteran play-ers such as Shakib Al Hasan, Tamim Iqbal andMahmudullah.

But the tourists have steadily got on top ofNew Zealand, and Ebadot rammed home theiradvantage on Tuesday, finishing the day withfigures of 4-39.

Bangladesh first dismissed New Zealandfor 328, claiming the last five wickets for 70runs to leave it short of a par score on a docilepith at the Bay Oval. Bangladesh replied with458, lifted by the contributions of captain

Mominul Haque (88), Liton Das (86),Mahmudul Hasan Joy (78) and NajmulHossain Shanto (64).

Resuming on Tuesday at 401-6, Bangladeshadded a further 57 through Mehidy Hasan (47)and Yasir Ali (26).

When the tourists finally were all out, NewZealand had been in the field for more than176 overs — the better part of two days — inhot conditions and seemed wilted when theirsecond innings began.

Latham again was out cheaply when hedragged a short ball from Taskin Ahmed ontohis stumps. Ebadot had his first wicket whenConway was caught at slip by Shadman Islam,though the Decision Review System wasneeded to confirm the dismissal.

�� + ��

Novak Djokovic will get a chance todefend his Australian Open title

after receiving a medical exemption totravel to Melbourne, ending months ofuncertainty about his participationbecause of the strict COVID-19 vacci-nation requirements in place for thetournament.

The top-ranked Djokovic wrote onInstagram on Tuesday he has “anexemption permission” to travel toAustralia.

Djokovic, who is seeking a record21st Grand Slam singles title, has con-tinually refused to reveal if he is vac-cinated against the coronavirus.

The Victoria state government has

mandated that all players, staff and fansattending the Australian Open must befully vaccinated unless there is a gen-uine reason why an exemption shouldbe granted.

Australian Open organizers issueda statement later Tuesday to confirmDjokovic will be allowed to compete atthe tournament, which starts on Jan. 17,and is on his way to Australia. He ear-lier withdrew from Serbia’s team for theATP Cup, which started last weekendin Sydney.

“Djokovic applied for a medicalexemption which was granted follow-ing a rigorous review process involv-ing two separate independent panels of medical experts,” the state-ment said.

�)�� 0��

Multiple COVID-19 out-breaks inside bio-bubbles

threw Australian domesticleagues haywire on Tuesday ascricket administrators grappledto keep schedules on track whileplayers complained of anxiety.

Both the men’s and women’sdomestic games were hit hardand Cricket Australia (CA) wasforced to make many late sched-ule changes.

Two matches of theWomen’s National CricketLeague involving WesternAustralia were postponed tillMarch due to border closuresafter a spike in COVID-19 cases.This has pushed the women’sdomestic 50-over final to mid-March.

WA were scheduled to playTasmania in Hobart twice thisweek, on January 7 and 9, but thegames have been pushed back toMarch 9 and 11 given the west-ern state’s hard border with therest of the country.

�)��

Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and HarbhajanSingh will be among a host former stars in

the India Maharaja team which will take part inthe inaugural edition of the Legends LeagueCricket (LLC), starting on January 20 in Oman.

The first season of LLC, which is a profes-sional cricket league for retired internationalcricketers, will be played at the Al Amerat CricketStadium in Oman among three power-packedteams.

The other two teams would be representingAsia and rest of the world.

Apart from the above trio, Irfan Pathan, YusufPathan, Badrinath, RP Singh, Pragyan Ojha,Naman Ojha, Manpreet Gony, Hemang Badani,Venugopal Rao, Munaf Patel, Sanjay Bangar,Nayan Mongia and Amit Bhandari will also bepart of the India Maharaja team.

75��4��<�� 6��)��

+��?/��!8��#!,#��? �%��$:��$��$�

#� �� '(�� . ��>�?��7��

Multiple COVID-19outbreaks hitAustraliandomestic leagues

�>�!�:��(�:��#�$��-�#%'��'��%��'��,&'��0%��

Sehwag, Yuvraj, Harbhajan to play for India Maharaja ininaugural Legends League Cricket

.��#��+�,��&�'��%��# �%��'�&��3�$�>��$��&��02�?@B��'��

;��,��8��%��8�� %� ��

�)�� 30��+ ��

Unheralded seam bowler ShardulThakur turned out to be an unlike-ly hero with a career-best 7 for 61to keep India on even keel against

South Africa on an intriguing second day ofthe second Test here on Tuesday.

Standing at 5 feet 7 inches and with aphysique which is an antithesis of what is per-ceived to be a fast bowler’s body, the skiddyThakur (17.5-3-61-7) landed crucial blows atopportune moments to send the Proteaspacking for 229 in their first innings.

It was his effort that nullified India’s seem-ingly inadequate first innings score of 202with the lead being restricted to 27 and thenerased by visitors as they reached 85 for 2 atstumps, losing stand-in skipper KL Rahul (8)and Mayank Agarwal’s (23) wicket.

The two under-fire seniors CheteshwarPujara (35 batting) and Ajinkya Rahane (11batting) were at the crease and for a changeshowed lot of positivity and intent. India nowlead by 58 runs.

Shardul means ‘Tiger’ in Sanskrit and histeammates teasingly call him ‘Lord Beefy’which incidentally is legendary all-rounderIan Botham’s nickname.

The ‘Tiger’ was in a mood to hunt insidethe ‘Bull Ring’ under sunny the Johannesburgskyline and he did exactly that, coming up

with a performance which is over and abovewhat even coach Rahul Dravid would haveexpected. On a pitch with spongy, tennis balllike bounce, a total of 180 to 200 will be anonerous fourth innings chase for South Africaas the match is expected to end well withinfour days if the weather doesn’t play spoil-sport. The day started nicely for South Africaas their dogged skipper Dean Elgar (28 off120 balls) was happy to play the ugly wait-ing game while allowing his younger col-league Keegan Peterson (62 off 118 balls) to

play an attacking role.It was going well in a stand of 74 as South

Africa reached 88 for one before Thakur wasbrought into the attack in the 34th over as thesecond change.

With Mohammed Siraj bowling from ashorter run-up and not able to exert himselffully due to a hamstring injury, the man fromMaharashtra’s Palghar district had to takemore responsibility with the team virtuallyone bowler short.

Mohammed Shami (2/52 in 21 overs)

and Jasprit Bumrah (1/49 in 21 overs) onceagain bowled their hearts out, beat the out-side edges without much luck before Thakurcame into the picture and dealt three blowsin quick succession just before lunch.

��7��)��<�00��)��;�)��!��@@�')��

Thakur, when he burst into the domes-tic scene, was more of a 135 kmph plus bowlerbut over the years, he is bowling in the 120-130 kmph band but possesses a meanoutswinger and a lethal off-cutter deliveredwith scrambled seam and grip of a slowerdelivery.

In case of a scrambled seam, the stitchedpart of the ball doesn’t hit the ground and ifthe ball’s shine is maintained well, which theIndian team did diligently, it lands on the skin(red part) and starts skidding at a pace whichis more than what the batters can apprehend.

“Since he has a habit of bowling a lot ofoff-breaks (slower delivery for pacers withtweak of finger) in limited overs cricket, heis using that skill effectively in Tests also. Hemight bowl at 130 kmph but with thescrambled seam, he hurries the batter a touchmore),” his childhood coach Dinesh Lad toldPTI from Mumbai.

The delivery that got Peterson was a con-ventional outswinger which wasn’t at drivablelength and the batter went for a non-existent

punch through covers only to land in secondslip Agarwal’s palms.

Before that, Peterson’s left-handed skip-per Elgar got one that moved late taking theoutside edge.

Similarly, in the second session, just whenTemba Bavuma (51 off 60 balls) and KyleVerreynne (21) added 58 and looked likeheading for a sizeable lead, Thakur produceda fuller one with scrambled seam that land-ed on the ‘fifth off stump’ and cut back sharplyto trap the young keeper leg before.

In case of Bavuma, the delivery was firedtowards his rib cage and was drifting downbefore Rishabh Pant took an extraordinarycatch down the leg-side.

��'(�)��)�(��'��)�;��Out of Shardul’s seven wickets, the dis-

missal of Rassie van der Dussen did createsome controversy as TV replays turned outto be inconclusive whether Thakur’s off-cut-ter, that literally had the batter cut into half,was taken cleanly by Pant.

One angle seemed to suggest that it waspicked on the bounce and it was learnt thathome team captain Elgar visited the matchreferee’s room to have a chat.

In 2011, Mahendra Singh Dhoni in anexemplary show of sportsmanship had calledback Ian Bell after the batter was adjudgedrun-out in the post lunch session.

�)��

India’s premier domestic first-classcompetition Ranji Trophy will

not start as scheduled on January 13due to a massive surge in COVID-19 cases across the country, a BCCIofficial told PTI on Tuesday.

The first round was to start inmultiple cities on January 13 but hasbeen put off and the BCCI willdeliberate on when to conduct theblue riband tournament some timelater.

“Yes, the Ranji Trophy has nowbeen put on hold and will not starton January 13,” a BCCI tournamentcommittee member told PTI onconditions of anonymity.

Recently, the Bengal teamreported six COVID-19 cases,including five players whileMumbai’s India player Shivam Dubealso tested positive and is in isola-tion. The Ranji Trophy is being heldin six cities including Bengaluru andKolkata among others.

��>��%��%,'��$�$,�'��&,�(��:�$��&�&��,��.,�2�"�/��-

#��-��.�/��/� 0��

:_UZR deRcZ_X Re XcZ^ T`c`_R dTV_RcZ` - Daily Pioneer

Documents

Transcript of :_UZR deRcZ_X Re XcZ^ T`c`_R dTV_RcZ` - Daily Pioneer