12
F inance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday will deliver her promised budget like no other that is expected to provide relief to the pandem- ic-hit common man as well as focus more on driving the eco- nomic recovery through high- er spending on healthcare, infrastructure and defence amid rising tensions with neighbours. As India emerges from the Covid-19 crisis, the ninth bud- get under the Modi Government, including an interim one, is widely expect- ed to focus on boosting spend- ing on job creation and rural development, generous alloca- tions for development schemes, putting more money in the hands of the average taxpayer and easing rules to attract for- eign investments. Sitharaman, who had in her first budget in 2019 replaced leather briefcase that had been for decades used for carrying budget documents with a traditional red cloth “bahi-khata”, had earlier this month stated that the budget for the fiscal year beginning April will be “like never before”. The budget, economists and experts said, will be the starting point for picking up the pieces after the economic destruction caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Continued on Page 2 I nformation and Broadcasting Ministry on Sunday allowed cinema halls across the coun- try to operate at full capacity from February 1 with adher- ence to Covid-19 safety proto- cols. As per the Ministry, Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) adequate physical dis- tancing, mandatory face masks and sanitisation of auditorium after every screening must be adhered to. Digital booking of tickets and staggered show timings to avoid crowding will be encour- aged, said I&B Minister Prakash Javadekar after releas- ing a set of the SOPs. “There is good news. In February, people can watch and enjoy films in theatres as we are allowing full occupan- cy in all cinema halls. Cinema halls can now open at 100 per cent capacity. We encourage as much online booking (of tick- ets) as possible,” Javadekar told reporters here. The development comes days after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) allowed cinema halls and theatres to operate with more people as per fresh Covid-19 reopening guidelines. Continued on Page 2 A day after Narendra Modi said his Government was just a “phone call away” for talks with the farmers’ unions, the Tikait brothers who are leading the agitation asserted on Sunday, that protesting farmers will honour the digni- ty of the Prime Minister, but are also committed to protecting their self-respect. Both Naresh and Rakesh Tikait said they were open to talks with the Government to find a “middle path”, which the former suggested could be the BJP Government not imple- menting the three laws during its tenure. Rakesh, the younger of the two and the national spokesperson for the BKU, said a “respectful solution” should be found to the issue, but asserted they will not agree to anything under pressure. Modi had Saturday said his Government’s offer on agri laws made to protesting farm- ers “still stands” and the Centre was a just a “phone call away” for talks, days after violence broke out in parts of the national Capital on Republic Day. Rakesh said they will honour and respect the digni- ty of the PM, and added the farmers don’t want the Government or Parliament to “bow down to them”. However, he added they will also ensure the self-respect of farmers is protected. During their January 26 parade, many of the pro- testers, driving tractors, had stormed the Red Fort, with some of them hoisting religious flags on its domes and on the flagstaff at the ramparts. Both the brothers con- demned Republic Day vio- lence and said it was unac- ceptable, even though they alleged it was the result of a conspiracy. Continued on Page 2 G iving his first radio talk of the year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday referred to the violence at the farmers’ tractor rally on January 26 saying “India was saddened by the insult to Tricolour on Republic Day”. He also emphasised that the country developed “atmanirbharta” during the coronavirus crisis and ensured vaccine for each of its citizen. Delivering his monthly talk Mann Ki Baat, the PM said a major shift occurred in people’s perspective in the last year and a lot of customers now are demanding “Made In India” products. “India today is self- reliant in the field of medicines and vaccines,” he said. People, he said, have shown their support for “Vocal for Local” and urged manufactur- ers and industry leaders to make world-class products. He said in 15 days, as many as 30 lakh corona war- riors have been vaccinated in India. Developed countries like the US and the UK finished the same task in 18 and 36 days, respectively, he maintained. Modi said India is the fastest in vaccinating its citizens and is setting an example for the entire world. “India’s vac- cination programme is turning out to be exemplary to the world. We are vaccinating our citizens faster than anywhere in the world. In 15 days, India vaccinated 30 lakh corona war- riors whereas it took America 18 days and Britain 36 days to achieve the same feat,” he said. Referring to the violence on January 26 in the national Capital, the PM said, “The country was saddened by the insult to the Tricolour on January 26 in Delhi.” Talking about strides made by women in different fields of activities, the PM said, “You must have witnessed a few days ago, that four women pilots from India took com- mand of a non-stop flight from San Francisco, America to Bangalore. You must have also observed this time in the January 26 parade, where two women officers of the Indian Air Force created a new histo- ry. Whatever be the area, the participation of women of the country is continuously on the rise.” In his address, Modi pointed to a number of do- gooders in the country con- tributing in their own way to the environmental protection and other causes. He gave the example of an elderly man at Kottayam in Kerala cleaning lake-waters daily despite his advanced age, people in Arunachal Pradesh making artificial paper using long-forgotten technique or art and thus saving trees or veg- etable vendors in a “mandi” in Hyderabad making bio-fuel from the vegetable leftovers. Modi described India’s win in cricket test match this month in Australia as historic. Calling the victory inspirational, he said, “This month, there has been very good news from the cricket pitch too. Our cricket team, after initial setbacks made a grand comeback, winning the series in Australia. The hard work and teamwork of our players is inspirational.” The PM said this year, India is going to commence the celebration of 75 years of her Independence Amrit Mahotsav. “This is an excellent time to explore places associ- ated with those heroes on account of whom we attained freedom,” he said. Modi said the Government was starting an initiative for young writers called “India@75”. He said, “This will encourage young writers of all States and of all languages. You can learn more about this initiative on the Ministry of Education website.” Besides, the PM, in his morning talk, also stressed the need to observe road safety and the curtailing road accidents. “From January 18 to February 17 we are observing ‘Road Safety Month’. We should become active stakeholders to reduce road accidents and save lives. The goals with which we started 2021, we all have to work to fulfil them together,” he said. T he World Health Organization (WHO) has altered its guidance for preg- nant women who wish to receive the coronavirus jab, saying those at high risk of exposure to Covid-19 or who have comorbidities may be vaccinated. However, the WHO sug- gestions might not find favour in India where Covaxin and Covishield vaccine manufac- turers Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute of India (SII) respectively in their factsheets have clearly mentioned that pregnant and lactating women should not get the shots as they have not been part of any anti- coronavirus vaccine clinical trial so far. The Union Health Ministry too has made it clear to the States during the launch of the vaccination drive on January 16 that pregnant and lactating women have not been a part of any Covid-19 vaccine clinical trial so far. “Therefore, women who are pregnant or not sure of their pregnancy and lactating women should not receive Covid-19 vaccine at this time,” the Ministry said. The WHO’s earlier guid- ance did not recommend pregnant women to be inocu- lated even though data indi- cated that pregnancy increased the risk of developing severe illness from the virus. Continued on Page 2 T he Indian Coast Guard last year seized contraband worth over 1,500 crore besides apprehending at least 10 foreign boats with 80 miscreants illegally operating in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). These seizures were the result of sus- tained and round the clock sur- veillance by its boats and planes, the Coast Guard said here on its 45th raising day on Sunday. The “Preventive and Measured Response” stance of operations introduced just over a year ago, ensured that more than 6,000 fishing boats with about 40,000 fishermen were escorted to safe harbours during the passage of 11 cyclones last year, thus averting loss of lives and property at sea, it said, adding that despite restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pan- demic, Indian Coast Guard has maintained 24x7 vigil in the EEZ. Continued on Page 2

˘ ˆ *+ ,˘’*& -#./0 % 3%3 4 ’%567 0 .˚& / ˆ˙ +4 ... · 31/1/2021  · (SOP) adequate physical dis-tancing, mandatory face masks ... etable vendors in a “mandi” in Hyderabad

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

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    ����� *�2���34�

    Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Monday willdeliver her promised budgetlike no other that is expected toprovide relief to the pandem-ic-hit common man as well asfocus more on driving the eco-nomic recovery through high-er spending on healthcare,infrastructure and defenceamid rising tensions withneighbours.

    As India emerges from theCovid-19 crisis, the ninth bud-get under the ModiGovernment, including aninterim one, is widely expect-ed to focus on boosting spend-ing on job creation and ruraldevelopment, generous alloca-tions for development schemes,putting more money in thehands of the average taxpayerand easing rules to attract for-

    eign investments.Sitharaman, who had in

    her first budget in 2019replaced leather briefcase thathad been for decades used forcarrying budget documentswith a traditional red cloth“bahi-khata”, had earlier thismonth stated that the budgetfor the fiscal year beginningApril will be “like never before”.

    The budget, economistsand experts said, will be thestarting point for picking upthe pieces after the economicdestruction caused by theCovid-19 pandemic.

    Continued on Page 2

    ����� *�2���34�

    Information and BroadcastingMinistry on Sunday allowedcinema halls across the coun-try to operate at full capacityfrom February 1 with adher-ence to Covid-19 safety proto-cols. As per the Ministry,Standard Operating Procedures(SOP) adequate physical dis-tancing, mandatory face masksand sanitisation of auditoriumafter every screening must beadhered to.

    Digital booking of ticketsand staggered show timings toavoid crowding will be encour-aged, said I&B MinisterPrakash Javadekar after releas-ing a set of the SOPs.

    “There is good news. InFebruary, people can watch

    and enjoy films in theatres aswe are allowing full occupan-cy in all cinema halls. Cinemahalls can now open at 100 percent capacity. We encourage asmuch online booking (of tick-ets) as possible,” Javadekar toldreporters here.

    The development comesdays after the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) allowedcinema halls and theatres tooperate with more people asper fresh Covid-19 reopeningguidelines.

    Continued on Page 2

    �������������� *�2���34

    Aday after Narendra Modisaid his Government wasjust a “phone call away” fortalks with the farmers’ unions,the Tikait brothers who areleading the agitation assertedon Sunday, that protestingfarmers will honour the digni-ty of the Prime Minister, but arealso committed to protectingtheir self-respect.

    Both Naresh and RakeshTikait said they were open totalks with the Government tofind a “middle path”, which theformer suggested could be theBJP Government not imple-menting the three laws duringits tenure.

    Rakesh, the younger of the

    two and the nationalspokesperson for the BKU,said a “respectful solution”should be found to the issue,but asserted they will not agreeto anything under pressure.

    Modi had Saturday said hisGovernment’s offer on agrilaws made to protesting farm-ers “still stands” and the Centrewas a just a “phone call away”for talks, days after violencebroke out in parts of thenational Capital on RepublicDay. Rakesh said they willhonour and respect the digni-ty of the PM, and added thefarmers don’t want the

    Government or Parliament to“bow down to them”. However,he added they will also ensurethe self-respect of farmers isprotected. During their January26 parade, many of the pro-testers, driving tractors, hadstormed the Red Fort, withsome of them hoisting religiousflags on its domes and on theflagstaff at the ramparts.

    Both the brothers con-demned Republic Day vio-lence and said it was unac-ceptable, even though theyalleged it was the result of aconspiracy.

    Continued on Page 2

    ����������� *�2���34

    Giving his first radio talk ofthe year, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Sundayreferred to the violence at thefarmers’ tractor rally onJanuary 26 saying “India was saddened by theinsult to Tricolour on RepublicDay”. He also emphasised thatthe country developed “atmanirbharta” during thecoronavirus crisis and ensuredvaccine for each of its citizen.

    Delivering his monthly talkMann Ki Baat, the PM said amajor shift occurred in people’sperspective in the last yearand a lot of customers now aredemanding “Made In India”products. “India today is self-reliant in the field of medicinesand vaccines,” he said.

    People, he said, have showntheir support for “Vocal forLocal” and urged manufactur-ers and industry leaders tomake world-class products.

    He said in 15 days, asmany as 30 lakh corona war-riors have been vaccinated inIndia. Developed countries likethe US and the UK finished thesame task in 18 and 36 days,respectively, he maintained.

    Modi said India is thefastest in vaccinating its citizensand is setting an example forthe entire world. “India’s vac-cination programme is turningout to be exemplary to theworld. We are vaccinating ourcitizens faster than anywhere in

    the world. In 15 days, Indiavaccinated 30 lakh corona war-riors whereas it took America18 days and Britain 36 days to

    achieve the same feat,” he said.Referring to the violence

    on January 26 in the nationalCapital, the PM said, “Thecountry was saddened by theinsult to the Tricolour onJanuary 26 in Delhi.”

    Talking about strides madeby women in different fields ofactivities, the PM said, “Youmust have witnessed a fewdays ago, that four womenpilots from India took com-mand of a non-stop flight fromSan Francisco, America toBangalore. You must have alsoobserved this time in theJanuary 26 parade, where twowomen officers of the IndianAir Force created a new histo-

    ry. Whatever be the area, theparticipation of women of thecountry is continuously on therise.” In his address, Modipointed to a number of do-gooders in the country con-tributing in their own way tothe environmental protectionand other causes.

    He gave the example of anelderly man at Kottayam inKerala cleaning lake-watersdaily despite his advanced age,people in Arunachal Pradeshmaking artificial paper usinglong-forgotten technique orart and thus saving trees or veg-etable vendors in a “mandi” inHyderabad making bio-fuelfrom the vegetable leftovers.

    Modi described India’s win in cricket test match this month in Australia as historic. Calling the victoryinspirational, he said, “Thismonth, there has been verygood news from the cricketpitch too. Our cricket team,after initial setbacks made agrand comeback, winning theseries in Australia. The hardwork and teamwork of ourplayers is inspirational.”

    The PM said this year,India is going to commence thecelebration of 75 years of herIndependence — AmritMahotsav. “This is an excellenttime to explore places associ-ated with those heroes onaccount of whom we attainedfreedom,” he said.

    Modi said the Governmentwas starting an initiative foryoung writers called“India@75”. He said, “This willencourage young writers of allStates and of all languages.You can learn more about thisinitiative on the Ministry ofEducation website.”

    Besides, the PM, in hismorning talk, also stressed theneed to observe road safety andthe curtailing road accidents.

    “From January 18 toFebruary 17 we are observing‘Road Safety Month’. We shouldbecome active stakeholders toreduce road accidents and savelives. The goals with which westarted 2021, we all have towork to fulfil them together,” hesaid.

    ����� *�2���34�

    The World HealthOrganization (WHO) hasaltered its guidance for preg-nant women who wish toreceive the coronavirus jab,saying those at high risk ofexposure to Covid-19 or whohave comorbidities may bevaccinated.

    However, the WHO sug-gestions might not find favourin India where Covaxin andCovishield vaccine manufac-turers Bharat Biotech andSerum Institute of India (SII)respectively in their factsheetshave clearly mentioned thatpregnant and lactating womenshould not get the shots as theyhave not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine clinicaltrial so far.

    The Union HealthMinistry too has made it clear

    to the States during the launchof the vaccination drive onJanuary 16 that pregnant andlactating women have not beena part of any Covid-19 vaccineclinical trial so far. “Therefore,women who are pregnant ornot sure of their pregnancy andlactating women should notreceive Covid-19 vaccine atthis time,” the Ministry said.

    The WHO’s earlier guid-ance did not recommendpregnant women to be inocu-lated even though data indi-cated that pregnancy increasedthe risk of developing severeillness from the virus.

    Continued on Page 2

    ����� *�2���34�

    The Indian Coast Guard lastyear seized contrabandworth over �1,500 crore besidesapprehending at least 10 foreignboats with 80 miscreants illegallyoperating in the Indian ExclusiveEconomic Zone (EEZ). Theseseizures were the result of sus-tained and round the clock sur-veillance by its boats and planes,the Coast Guard said here on its45th raising day on Sunday.

    The “Preventive andMeasured Response” stance ofoperations introduced just overa year ago, ensured that morethan 6,000 fishing boats withabout 40,000 fishermen wereescorted to safe harbours duringthe passage of 11 cyclones lastyear, thus averting loss of livesand property at sea, it said,adding that despite restrictionsimposed by the Covid-19 pan-demic, Indian Coast Guard hasmaintained 24x7 vigil in the EEZ.

    Continued on Page 2

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  • ���������������������������� ������ ��� !"�#$#!

    �������������� *�2���34

    Delhi Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia on Sundayaccused the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) of a doctored videoof Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal in which he was seenpromoting farm laws.

    Addressing the media,Sisodia said that the BJP hasfailed in all its machinationsagainst the farmers hence theyplotted a new scheme by ridingon Kejriwal's popularity.

    The AAP will take legalaction against BJP for theircheap tactics, he said.

    Elaborating it further,Sisodia said that the BJP hadtweeted a video claimingKejriwal has supported thethree farm laws. This doctoredvideo was created by selective-ly editing a long interview ofKejriwal and placing fake bytesin some places, he said.

    Sisodia showed the originalinterview of Kejriwal along withthe doctored video, highlighting

    the tampered parts in the doc-tored video. “The BJP is feelinghelpless despite being in poweras people have lost trust in BJPleadership. PM Modi has enu-merated the benefits of farmlaws on several occasions butfarmers have understood thatthey are being cheated. WhenBJP could not explain the farmlaws to the farmers, it startedbranding them traitors andKhalistani. Thereafter the BJPconducted a sponsored protestat the Red Fort and disrespect-ed the national flag” he said.

    The deputy chief minister

    said that after all these theatricsdid not work, it sent its goonsat the Ghazipur border to attackthe farmers. The BJP sent itsgoons to Singhu border wherethey disrespected the Sikhcommunity by throwing theirturbans and attacked theprotesting farmers. They tried toportray it as an attack by thelocals, but thankfully Indianpublic saw through this andunderstood BJP's tactics,” headded.

    In a tweet in Hindi, theNational Spokesperson of BJP,Sambit Patra on Saturday shared

    a video of Arvind Kejriwal andsaid, "Sir ji (Arvind Kejriwal)counts the benefits of farmslaws. See video."

    Farmers have been protest-ing at different borders of thenational capital since November26, 2020, against the farm laws:Farmers' Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, 2020, theFarmers (Empowerment andProtection) Agreement on PriceAssurance and Farm ServicesAct, 2020, and the EssentialCommodities (Amendment)Act, 2020.

    ���������� *�2���34

    Two days after the explosionnear Israel embassy onAbdul Kalam Road in thenational Capital was opened forgeneral public. The Delhi Policehas eneveloped the blast site witha white colour tent to preservethe place of the incident.

    Police also faced some chal-lenges as most of CCTV cameraswere not functional at the timeof incident. The sources said thatthe material used in the bombwill be ascertained after thereport of the forensic science lab-oratory. However according tosources, the possible material ofbomb could be PETN, "HI-Watt" 9 Volt battery, ball Bearings.

    Earlier, the special cell of theDelhi Police had received suchinput regarding some untowardincident around a month agoand they wrote a letter too to topbrass officials that property ofIsrael are on radar of unknownpersons / suspected terrorists ortheir enemies.

    The letter also reads that cellhad inputs that citizen of Israelwho lives in India could also betargeted. The intelligence offi-cials had given a letter to IsraelEmbassy that there could be athreat on them. In fact the threaton them could be all over world,sources claimed.

    Three International flightswere put on hold immediatelyafter the bomb blast took placeoutside Israel embassy, becauselast time in 2012 when thediplomat was attacked with asticker bomb, the suspect had

    run away abroad, said sourcesadding that the agencies havealso met Mossad officials andhave shared details.

    According to the sources, theinvestigating agencies are prob-ing the matter with all angles,however, no suspect has beenidentified yet.

    The letter, which was recov-ered from the spot, addressing toIsrael Embassy ambassadorreferred to the deaths of twoIranians.

    The letter, which was writtenin English, has mentioned thenames of Gen Qassem Soleimani,head of Iran's elite Quds Forcewho was killed in a US air strike,and Iran's top nuclear scientistMohsen Fakhrizad, who playeda crucial role in Iran's nuclearprogramme, was assassinatednear Tehran in November 2020,they said.

    According to sources, policequestioned some persons,including a few Iranian nation-als and a cab driver who droppedtwo persons near the blast sitejust before the explosion.

    Details of foreigners whocame to Delhi recently are beingexamined. Teams from theNational Bomb Data Centre(NBDC) of the NSG and DelhiPolice's Special Cell visited thespot for post-blast analysis. Asenior officer said NBDC's find-ings will be shared with thepolice team investigating thecase. The investigating agenciesare checking IPDR of the area tocheck whether the suspectedpersons used internet to com-municate instead of call.

    ���!���������?��

    Haryana President of theBharatiya Kisan Union(BKU) leader, Gurnam SinghChaduni, who reached theprotesting site in Gurugram onSunday to support the farmers'stir, while addressing the peopleat the protesting site, said thattoday’s power is with the capi-

    talists and hence the present lawhas been made for the benefit ofthe capitalists.

    Chaduni said that theGovernment has passed an agrobusiness law and not the law offarming.

    “The Central Governmentdoes not have the right to makelaws of farming. The farmer’s agi-tation will not end till the gov-ernment rolls back the new

    agriculture laws. These threeagricultural laws will benefit thecapitalists only,” Chaduni toldreporters.

    Giving his view on theRepublic Day violence and insultof the national flag in Delhi,Chaduni asserted that the insultof the tricolour and violence wasa government sponsored pro-gram.

    He said that the governmenthas insulted the tricolour andenacted violence on the occasionof January 26 by plotting a con-spiracy to end the farmer’s agi-tation but the government couldnot succeed.

    “At the Delhi borders it wasthe government who hadattacked the innocent farmersand not the local people; theydidn’t oppose the farmer’s agita-tion. This law will increase prof-iteering for capitalists but on the

    other side the lives of commonpeople will become miserableand it will increase starvation,”Chaudi said.

    Samyukt Kisan Morcha(SKM) Gurugram PresidentChaudhary Santokh Singh, whileaddressing the dharna said, thatthe government wants to breakthe agitation of the farmers bycreating a conspiracy of power.

    “The government isadamant on these three blacklaws. While on the other sideFarmers are being over-whelmed,” Singh said.

    He said that despite the bit-ter cold, hundreds of workersfrom several workers' organiza-tions have been sitting on a dhar-na in support of the demands ofthe farmers. SKM support to thefarmer's brother will continue tillthe roll back of the new agricul-ture laws, Singh added.

    :

  • ��������������������������� ������ ��� !"�#$#!

    ����� *�2���34

    Union Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar onSunday hit out at his prede-cessor and NCP chief SharadPawar, saying his tweets raisingsome objections over the newfarm laws a day before are a

    mix of ignorance and misin-formation.

    “Sharad Pawar ji is a veter-an politician and a formerUnion Agriculture Minister,who is also considered well-versed with the issues and solu-tions relating to Agriculture,”Tomar said in a tweet, adding

    that Pawar had himself triedhard to bring the same agri-culture reforms earlier.

    “Since he speaks with someexperience and expertise on theissue, it was dismaying to see histweets employ a mix of igno-rance and misinformation onthe agriculture reforms,” Tomar

    said.The minister argued that

    the new laws facilitate promo-tion of additional choice chan-nel for farmers with choice tosell their produce to anyone,anywhere with hassle freemovement in and outside thestate to realize competitive and

    better net price for their pro-duce. “This does not affect thecurrent MSP system,” he said.

    Tomar reiterated that underthe new ecosystem, mandis arenot affected. “Instead, they willbe more competitive and costeffective in terms of servicesand infrastructure; and both the

    systems will synergistically co-exist for the common interest offarmers,” he said.

    “As he is such a veteranleader, I would like to believethat he was genuinely misin-formed of the facts. Now thathe has the right facts, I hope hewill also change his stand &

    also explain the benefits to ourfarmers,” Tomar said in anoth-er tweet.

    On Saturday, the NCP chiefhad put out a series of tweets,saying that the new farm lawswill adversely affect theMinimum Support Price(MSP) and weaken the mandi

    system.“Reform is a continuous

    process and no one wouldargue against the reforms in theAPMCs or Mandi System, apositive argument on the samedoes not mean that it is doneto weaken or demolish thesystem,” Pawar had said.

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    ����� *�2���34

    The first part of the BudgetSession of Parliament willend on February 13 instead ofFebruary 15 as the Rajya Sabha,on Sunday, decided to changeits sitting after a decision in thisregard in an all-party meetingchaired by Rajya SabhaChairman M Venkaiah Naidu.The house will adjourn twodays ahead of the originalschedule to enable theDepartment RelatedParliamentary Committees toexamine the Demands forGrants of various departmentsand ministries, and will meetagain on March 8.

    Naidu also made a ferventappeal to the leaders of variousparties at an all-party meetingto ensure smooth and effectivefunctioning of the House dur-ing the Budget Session.

    Leaders of various partiesattending the meeting assuredthat there would be full par-ticipation in all the debates anddiscussions in the House, thesources add.

    A number of ministers andaround 25 leaders of variousparties attended the all-partymeeting.

    The leaders sought moretime for the debate on theMotion of Thanks to thePresident’’s address and theGeneral Budget, to whichNaidu asked ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Prahlad Joshiand the others concerned torework the time schedule.

    The chairman observedthat these two discussions offerample opportunities to themembers to reflect on a widerange of issues for which moretime may be allocated.

    He also urged the Ministers

    to learn the art of speaking inbrief, both while moving thebills for consideration andreplying to debates, so thatmembers get more time tospeak.

    The allocation of sufficienttime for members of smallparties and groups in theHouse was also discussed, withthe chairman observing thatefforts were being made to give

    reasonable amount of time forsuch members.

    He, however, noted that itmay not be possible for mem-bers of about 20 such parties tospeak on every issue.

    Besides the minister ofparliamentary affairs, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman,Railway Minister Piyush Goyal,External Affairs Minister SJaishankar and HousingMinister Hardeep Singh Puriattended the meeting.

    Rajya Sabha DeputyChairman Harivansh andLeader of the HouseThawarchand Gehlot alsoattended the meeting.

    Leader of the OppositionGhulam Nabi Azad, Congressdeputy leader Anand Sharmaand chief whip Jairam Ramesh,JDS leader and former primeminister HD Devegowda, BJPleader Bhupinder Yadav, SP’’sRam Gopal Yadav, DMK’’sTiruchi Siva, AIADMK’’s ANavaneethakrishnan, RJD’’sPrem Chand Gupta, BJD’’sPrasanna Acharya, JD(U)leader RCP Singh, TRS leaderK Keshava Rao, YSR Congressleader A Vijaysai Reddy, AAPleader Sanjay Singh, CPI-Mleader Elamaram Kareem andKanakamedala RavindraKumar were among those whoattended the meeting.

    New Delhi: Rajya Sabha MP ofthe CPI(M) KK Ragesh, afamiliar face at the ongoingfarmers’’ protest, has testedpositive for the coronavirusand has been admitted to theMedanta hospital inGurugram. The Left leaderinformed on social media plat-form Facebook that he wasregularly tested for COVID-19and the results were alwaysnegative. Even on January 27,he tested negative for the viraldisease in Parliament and alsoon January 29, when he tookpart in an Opposition protest.

    PNS

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    ����� *�2���34

    In a first-of-its kind study, doc-tors from AIIMS, Delhi havefound that ayurvedic formula-tion BGR-34 along with allo-pathic drug glibenclamide mayhave a significant role not onlyin controlling diabetes but alsohelp lowering risk of heart attack.

    The findings hold impor-tance given that people with dia-betes are 2 to 4 times more like-ly than others to develop car-diovascular disease, deadlycomorbidities that could putthe person at the high risk ofcontracting Covid-19.

    However, giving a ray ofhope, the doctors from the pre-mier hospital in their interimstudy found that pace of diabetesgrowth can be halted while riskof heart attack cut down ifallopathy drug is integrated withBGR-34, a herbal formulationenriched with anti-oxidant prop-erties which does not allow badcholesterol to accumulate in theheart arteries.

    To find efficacy of the BGR-34 with allopathy drug, AIIMSdoctors led by Dr SudhirChandra Sarangi fromPharmacology Department ofthe AIIMS gave the Ayurvedaformulation and allopathic med-icine Glibenclamide separately toone group and in combination toanother group.

    The results were encourag-ing. It was found that the com-bination group who were givenayurvedic BGR-34 andGlibenclamide had moreimprovement in insulin levelthan those given the allopathydrug alone. It also showed thecholesterol lowering (cardio-protective) effect. The improve-

    ment rate also accelerated iealmost from 40 days to 28 days.

    “The outcome from theexperimental model indicatesthat though the medicines fromboth the pathies are effective incontrolling the biochemicalparameters during managingof diabetes to certain extent; butthe combination of two is exclu-sively benefitting to patients inrestoring these biomarker para-meters better than the individ-ual effect from one and nearerto the value in normal subjects,”said the report.

    The study also establishedthat BGR-34 improved lipidprofile in terms of triglyceridesand levels of VLDL (very lowdensity lipoprotein which ismade up of cholesterol, triglyc-erides, and proteins), thus show-ing that it can be safely takenwith synthetic antidiabeticdrugs.

    Formulation of herbs likeVijaysar, Daruharidra, Manjisth,Gudmar, Giloe and Methikafound in the upper region ofHimalayas, BGR-34 has beenprepared after intensive researchby CSIR’s two Lucknow basedlabs—Central Institute ofMedicinal and Aromatic Plants(CIMAP) and NationalBotanical Research Institute(NBRI).

    Recently, a team of scientistsfrom Tehran University scien-tists too had in their separatestudy concluded that herbaldrugs having antioxidant prop-erties can reduce the risk ofCovid-19 in diabetic patients.

    India is home to the second-largest number of people withdiabetes — more than 95 percent of whom have type 2 dia-betes — second only to China.

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    The Central Reserve PoliceForce and the IndianInstitute of Management,Lucknow, have signed aMemorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) toundertake a pilot project ondomestic empowerment offamilies of CRPF personnel toreduce the increasing numberof suicides and fratricides byrelieving the jawans fromfamilial stress.

    “Following the report onthis pilot project, a strategy willbe formulated for fine tuningthe broad framework, underwhich a full-fledged researchwill be conducted, to evaluateand assess the responses and,accordingly, propose, configureand facilitate the way forward,”the CRPF said in a statement.

    It further said, “In the formof IIM Lucknow, the force hasfound expert professionals andacademicians who would con-duct a thorough research, delvedeep into the problem andhelp CRPF in formulating aholistic and comprehensiveplan for the domestic empow-erment of families of its per-sonnel.”

    The CRPF is the largestCentral paramilitary in theworld and remains continu-ously deployed in several the-atres, tackling multifariouschallenges including terror-ism, insurgency and Naxalism.

    “The commitment,courage, and professionalism ofthe force has earned it gloryand success making it the most

    dependable Force in matterspertaining to internal security.But, this has also resulted inCRPF’s overarching nature ofdeployment with little oppor-tunities for respite leading toconsequent stress and strainswhich not only affect the life ofits personnel but their familiesas well,” the paramilitary fur-ther said.

    The unpredictability ofdeployment, frequent move-ments, and lack of alternatesupport system due to break-down of joint families furtheraggravate the problem of pro-longed separation betweenpersonnel and families. “Thishas resulted in an increasednumber of suicides and fratri-cides,” it said.

    Director General of CRPF,AP Maheshwari, expressed hisgratitude to IIM, Lucknow forthis “noble” association and

    said that it will not just lead todomestic empowerment ofCRPF families but will even-tually reflect as self-empower-ment of its personnel too.

    The DG also expressedhope that the outcome of thisendeavour will be a great reliefto the personnel who aredeployed far away from theirhomes to serve the nation andare concerned about their fam-ilies back home.

    Saluting the Force for itscourage and sacrifice, Directorof IIM Lucknow, Prof. ArchanaShukla said that the Institutionis proud of this associationwith CRPF and is glad to servethe nation by putting its exper-tise to the benefit of CRPFbravehearts. She also assuredthat the IIM team will strive tofurnish meaningful recom-mendations after thoroughresearch.

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    ����� *�2���34

    Ayear after India reported itsfirst Covid-19 case fromKerala and the tally now touch-ing 1.07 crore and 1.54 lakhdeaths due to the virus infec-tion, Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan on Sunday saidthat the country was able tofight the pandemic much bet-ter than other countries

    because of its ‘whole ofGovernment’ and ‘whole ofsociety’ approach.

    Addressing the BritishAssociation of Physicians ofIndian Origin (BAPIO) Walesat their annual conference viavideo link on Saturday night, hehighlighted that India’s Covid-19 recovery rate was 97 per centwhile its 1.44 per cent fatalityrate was the lowest in theworld.

    “Covid-19 pandemic brokeout in December 2019 andspread around the world. Withthe ‘whole of government’ and‘whole of society’ approach, wewere able to fight the pandem-ic much better than other coun-tries,” Vardhan said according toa statement by the health min-istry.

    He also took the opportu-nity to slam the critics sayingthat many naysayers linked to

    top universities predicted doomfor the country with the pre-diction of 300 to 400 millioncases and a death toll of around6 million. “India’s total cases incontrast stand at 10.7 million(with 10.4 million already recov-ered), the active caseload amere 1.58% of total cases, therecovery rate touching 97%while fatality rate of 1.44%remains lowest in the world.”

    Dr. Harsh Vardhan also

    attributed to the scientific com-munity for developing and test-ing the Vaccine.

    “All our scientists rose to theoccasion and engaged tireless-ly in developing vaccines. Theunique digital platform- Co-WIN (Winning over COVID)was developed to support thevaccination activity with realtime information ensuring thatthe vaccine is given to the rightpeople at the right time.

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    Around 89 lakh childrenunder five years of age, asper provisional data, were givenpolio drops across the countryon Sunday on the occasion ofPolio National ImmunizationDay, the Union HealthMinistry said.

    All measures have beentaken to ensure safety duringthe times of COVID-19 pan-demic by maintaining coron-avirus appropriate practicessuch as preventing overcrowd-ing at booths, maintainingphysical distance of two metres,wearing masks, washing handsand administering polio dropsin well ventilated settings, theMinistry underlined.

    The vaccination was doneat around 7 lakh booths whichwere staffed with 12 lakh vac-

    cinators and 1.8 lakh supervi-sors.

    “The booth activity will befollowed by house-to-housesurveillance (mop-up rounds)over the next two to five daysto identify and vaccinate chil-dren who missed getting vac-cinated at the booths,” theMinistry said.

    Vaccination teams havealso been deployed at bus ter-minals, railway stations, air-ports and ferry crossing tovaccinate children in transit toensure no child misses thelife-saving dose.

    President Ram NathKovind had launched theNational Polio ImmunisationDay for 2021 by administeringpolio drops to children lessthan five years of age atRashtrapati Bhawan on January30.

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    Actor Sonu Sood has movedthe Supreme Court chal-lenging the Bombay HighCourt order which dismissedhis appeal against a BMC noticeover alleged illegal constructionat his residential building inMumbai’s Juhu area.

    Sood’s petition stated thathis application for conversionhas been approved by theMunicipal Commissioner sub-ject to Maharashtra Coastal

    Zone Management Authority(MCZMA) permission.

    It said the high court orderdated January 13, 2021 hasbeen passed without consider-ing the provisions of Section 43(1) of the MaharashtraRegional and Town PlanningAct, 1966.

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    Aday after three TrinamoolCongress MLAs, a formerState Minister Rajib Banerjeeand a galaxy of Bangla actorsjoined the BJP, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah on Sundaylaunched a scathing attack onthe Mamata BanerjeeGovernment saying soon shewould be thrown out of poweras all her aides would join thesaffron outfit leaving her alone.

    Addressing a virtual rally atDomjur in Howrah — where alarge number of TMC func-tionaries joined the saffronoutfit — Shah said Banerjeewas keeping the ChiefMinister’s seat warm fornephew Abhishek Banerjeeadding however that in thecoming Assembly elections theBJP will oust TMC and come

    to power with a thumpingmajority.

    “The one point agenda ofMamata Banerjee is to see thenephew on the Chief Minister’schair,” he said adding “tenyears ago Mamata Didi hadraised the slogan of Maa, Maati,Maanush and came to powerpromising Poriborton (quali-tative change) after defeatingthe Left … but after a decadeBengal has slid further downfrom where the communistsleft … today dictatorship,Tolabaji (extortion) andappeasement is thetrademarkof Trinamool Government.”

    Shah was to visit Bengal ona two-day trip during which hewas supposed to hold a coupleof road shows but hisprorgamme got alteredin thewake of the Delhi blast, sourcessaid. “The way TMC leaders are

    leaving that party MamataBanerjee should introspect whythey are doing so … a time willcome when she will be left withnone in the party.”

    Shah hit out at Banerjee forstalling central schemes likeAyushman Bharat and KisanSanman Nidhi saying crores ofcommon people and farmershad been deprived of the cen-tral schemes as the TMCGovernment had blockedthem.

    Earlier on Saturday a num-ber of TMC leaders includingformer Minister Rajib Banerjee,MLAs Vaishali Dalmiya, PrabirGhoshal, former HowrahMayor Rathi Chakrabarty,actor Rudranil Ghosh took achartered flight--- sent by Shah--- to Delhi and joined the saf-fron party in his presence. OnSunday a host of other BJP

    functionaries including its Statecommittee member BaniSingha Roy joined the saffronoutfit.

    Union Minister SmritiIrani who substituted Shahtold the impressive rally atDumurjala in Howrah Iranithat “no one would stay in aparty that thrives on infighting,that insults the slogan of ‘JaiShree Ram’.”

    She said, “I want to tell Didi

    that you may have abandonedthe ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogan, butunder PM Narendra Modi, aRam temple is being madeand Ram Rajya is knocking onBengal’s doors,” said SmritiIrani.

    Former TMC heavyweight,Suvendu Adhikari who recent-ly joined BJP said, “TMC is nolonger a party but a private lim-ited company. By February 28,that company will be left with

    nobody.”Rajib Banerjee said, “We

    want double engine govern-ment in Bengal. We wantBharatiya Janata Party govern-ment at both the Centre andState so that we can achieve thegoal of a Sonar Bangla,” ques-tioning Banerjee’s recentscheme of Duarey Sarkar(Government at the doorsteps).

    “The launch of DuareySarkar scheme only proves thatthe Government has donenothing in the past 10 years andthat all their claims were false,”he said adding the people haveunderstood the TMC’s tricksand have made up their mindsto change the Government.

    Meanwhile, at least threeBJP members were grievouslyinjured in a BJP-TMC clash atBantra market in Howrah

    while they were returning fromthe Dumurjala rally.

    “Men from a TMC pro-cession blocked the vehiclescarrying the BJP workers,

    attacked and injured them,” BJPState spokesperson SamikBhattacharya said adding theyhad been admitted to theSSKM Hospital.

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    Kolkata: Trinamool CongressMP Abhishek Banerjee onSunday attacked the BJP lead-ership for improperly singingthe National Anthem atDumurjala rally saying PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andHome Minister Amit Shahshould apologise for the laps-es committed by their partymen.

    He was referring to alleged“wrongly sung” lines of the

    National Anthem. The people who swear by

    nationalism cannot even singthe National Anthem proper-ly, he said adding the PrimeMinister and Home Ministershould apologise for the laps-es of their party men.

    State BJP spokespersonSamik Bhattacharya howeverdenied the charges of wrong-ly sung National Anthem.

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    Jaipur: The ruling Congresshas won 1,197 out of 3,034wards in 90 urban local bodiesin Rajasthan for which theresults were announced onSunday.

    The elections were held in3,035 wards of 90 urban localbodies across 20 districts. Theresults have been announced in3,034 wards.

    The opposition BJP won1,140, BSP 1, CPI(M) 3, NCP46, RLP 13 wards while 634independent candidates wonthe elections.

    Polling in the local bodieswas held in Ajmer, Banswara,Bikaner, Bhilwara, Bundi,Pratapgarh, Chittorgarh,Churu, Dungarpur,Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer,Jalore, Jhalawar, Jhunjhunu,Nagaur, Pali, Rajsamand, Sikar,Tonk and Udaipur districts onThursday. PTI

    KOCHI: Film fraternity inKerala is up in arms againstChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanwhom the former accuses ofhumiliating the State FilmAward winners. The top awardsfor Malayalam films released in2019 were to be given away bythe Chief Minister at a glitter-ing function held atThiruvananthapuram late onFriday evening.

    The star-studded showturned out to be an eventwhich the award winners, thepatrons of Malayalam filmindustry and the cultural iconsof the State would like to for-get reportedly because of the“rude” attitude of PinarayiVijayan.

    All award winners includ-ing Suraj Venharammoodu(best actor), Kani Kusruthi(best actress) and veteran direc-tor Hariharan, who was hon-oured with J C Daniel for his

    Life term achievements were infor a shock as Pinarayi Vijayanrefused to hand over the cita-tions and plaques to them.The awards were kept on atable and the winners wereasked to take it straight awaywithout coming anywhere nearthe Chief Minister.

    Officials of the PublicRelations Department claimedthat this was done as a precau-tionary measure in view of theCovid-19 pandemic. “If that is

    the case, they could have post-poned the award distributionceremony to another occasion.The award winners were sub-jected to Covid-19 test onThursday itself before usheringin to Tagore Theatre were thefunction was held,” G SureshKumar, producer eminence,told The Pioneer.

    Suresh Kunar, who neverhesitates to tell the world thewoes faced by film industry,said the Government instead ofinviting the film personalitiesand insulting them like thiscould have deputed somesenior officers to the residencesof the winners and handed overthe awards. “We have neverseen such things happeningeven during the rule ofMaharajas and dictators fromanywhere in the country,” saidSuresh Kumar.

    An award winner ques-tioned the logic behind the

    Chief Minister’s action. “Wewere asked to assemble in thecapital city on Thursday andwere subjected to Covid-19tests. It was only after con-firming that we were notafflicted with Covid-19 wewere allowed for the awardfunction. But what happened isunfortunate and condemnable.It has lowered the dignity of theprofession as well as that of thechief minister,” said the awardwinner who did not want hisname to be quoted for fear ofpolitical consequences.

    Prof V T Rema, a lead cul-tural figure in the Stateexpressed her shock over themanner in which film person-alities were humiliated by theKerala Government. “The sameawardees were shouting fromrooftops in 2018 when nation-al film awards were handedover by the then ministerSmrithi Irani. PNS

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    On the eve of presentation ofthe Union Budget 2021-22by Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in Parliament, theTiruppur Exporters’Association, the trade bodyrepresenting the knitwear man-ufacturing units in TamilNadu’s Tiruppur cluster, haswritten to the Government ofIndia seeking concessionswhich would help the indus-tries to sustain the export earn-ings as well as generating moreemployment.

    While the thanking theCentre for the concessionsoffered to them to tide over thepandemic crisis during 2020,the TEA president Raja MShanmugham, in a plea to thefinance minister has asked forthe immediate announcementof Remission of Duties andTaxes on Exported Products

    (RoDTEP) and short-term sopsto navigate the industrythrough the hard times arisingout of post-Covid-19 situa-tion.

    “While the Centre reim-burses the GST on products tobe exported, there are certaintaxes like Mandi Tax and elec-tricity tax which are not incor-porated in the GST and hencedoes not find place in RoDTEP.The post-Covid scenario hasled to a steep hike in the pricesof yarn.

    Only 20 per cent of theindustries in Tirupur have theirown yarn manufacturing millswhile nearly 800 knitwear mills(constituting 70 per cent of theunits) struggle to get yarn formanufacturing. This has put usin a major crisis,” Shanmughamtold The Pioneer.

    He said if the governmentannounces the RoDTEP andfurther sops to compensate

    for the embedded taxes, theunits would be able to producemore and earn high foreignexchanges. “Thanks to the sopsannounced by the Governmentas part of its AatmanirbharBharat programme, we couldexport products worth Rs24,000 crore in 2020-21. Theyear before (2019-20) we hadexported products worth Rs27,280 crore,” he said.

    Shanmugham also saidthat Tiruppur units control 51per cent of the export marketin the knitwear industry. “Theyarn prices have gone up andthe supply has become erratic.To retain the tranquillity in thetextile industry and to make itmore competitive, the govern-ment should listen to our pleasfor reasonable sops. In returnwe offer to generate more jobs,especially to women from ruralareas of south west TamilNadu,” he said.

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    Bengaluru: Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala was discharged from a hospi-tal here on Sunday after recovering fromCovid-19, days after she was set free bythe prison officials on completion of herjail term in a corruption case, authoritiessaid.

    Sending a strong signal, Sasikala, aclose aide of late Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister J Jayalalithaa, travelled in a carthat sported the AIADMK flag from thehospital, with the ruling party question-ing the propriety of her action when shehad been ousted from the party.

    The AIADMK has time and againmade it clear that the 66- year oldSasikala would not be taken back and herrelease would not have any impact on theparty, which is keen retain power in theassembly elections, expected in April-May. It has already declared incumbentK Palaniswami as the chief ministerialcandidate for the polls.

    Sasikala was expelled from the partyin September, 2017 along with hernephew TTV Dhinakaran and others bythe general council of the combinedAIADMK under the leadership ofPalaniswami and his deputy O

    Panneerselvam after the two merged theirrespective factions.

    On Sunday, the AIADMK in its twit-ter handle said the use of its flag bySasikala was against the law and quotedsenior party leader D Jayakumar. “HowSasikala, who is not even a party mem-ber could use the party flag? This isagainst the law,” Jayakumar, who is alsothe Fisheries Minister, said.

    Defending Sasikala, Dhinakaran,who is the general secretary of AmmaMakkal Munnetra Kazhagam floated byhim in March, 2018 as an arrangementto retrieve the AIADMK, claimed “she(his aunt) is the general secretary of theAIADMK.”

    Cases relating to her so-called 'expul-sion' and connected matters were pend-ing before the court in Tamil Nadu, hetold reporters, adding “I have already toldyou that legal fight will continue (toretrieve the AIADMK).”

    The very purpose of floating theAMMK was to retrieve the AIADMK ina democratic way and 'Thiyaga ThalaiviChinnamma' (leader of sacrifices, junior'Amma') would continue legal efforts towin back the party, he said. PTI

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    Jammu: The Udhampur andPoonch districts of Jammuregion have reported their firstcases of avian influenza assamples taken from three deadbirds tested positive for the dis-ease, prompting precaution-ary measures including theculling process, a senior officialsaid Sunday.

    The Deputy Director(Poultry and Research) of theAnimal HusbandryDepartment, Jammu, D DDogra said while samples froma peacock and a domestic fowlhave returned positive forH5N8 from Juganu block in Udhampur, a wildcrow was tested positive forH5N1 from Mandi area ofPoonch.

    “These are the first posi-tive cases in Jammu region butthere is no need to panic asmajority of the test reports arenegative,” he told PTI.

    Dogra said the departmenthad so far collected and dis-patched 218 samples for testingat Jalandhar in Punjab.

    Barring the three positivereports from Udhampur andPoonch, which were cross-checked from the Bhopal lab-oratory, 115 reports came neg-ative while the result ofrest of the cases is awaited, hesaid. PTI

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    Sitapur (UP): Four police personnel, includingthe SHO and an SI of the Sandana police station,have been suspended for improper policing andnegligence following a case of molestation andattempted rape of a government primary schoolteacher by a group of men in this Uttar Pradeshdistrict.

    The woman was on her way home from workwhen she was allegedly attacked and molestedby the drunken men in Sandana on January 28.

    Even though one of the accused, Ram Jivan(28), was arrested and sent to jail on the day ofthe incident itself, the victim levelled allegationsof laxity and the lack of a prompt response againstthe local police. PTI

    Srinagar: A total of 57 new Covid-19 cases wererecorded in Jammu and Kashmir on Sundaywhich pushed the infection tally to 1,24,506,officials said.

    No new death due to Covid-19 was report-ed in the last 24 hours, they said.

    Of the cases, 14 were from Jammu divisionand 43 from Kashmir division.

    Srinagar district recorded the highest 27cases, which included seven travellers, officialssaid. While seven districts – Bandipora, Shopian,Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, Poonch and Reasi -- did not report any new case, the remaining12 districts recorded new cases in single dig-its, the officials said. PTI

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  • The remains of these animalshad to be packed in a greenplastic bag for disposal.Immigrants cannot be offen-sive to the original citizens.Cooking with strong masalasin a White locality was foundto be highly objectionablesome years ago. Potentialemigrants must be systemat-ically informed to take specialcare in order to make theiracceptance in the new coun-try as smooth as possible.

    An objectionable prac-tice of cricket-crazy Indianand Pakistani immigrants iswaving the flag of their for-mer nationalities duringcricket matches in their hostcountry, particularly Englandor Australia. British orAustralian Whites must feelhurt, although they may notshow it. But it stands to rea-son that their resentmentwould express itself throughdiscrimination.

    Traditionally in India,families expect new bridescoming in to accept their newfamily customs in totalityand not display overt nostal-gia for their parental homes.This would be a useful exam-ple for immigrants to emulateupon relocation to a newcountry. With the advent ofglobalisation and obsoles-cence of colonialism, Indianeeds to have not only more

    overseas contacts but alsoinfluence. One sure way is bywinning the hearts of the peo-ple of those countries, bybecoming welcome immi-grants. Indians have anotheradvantage over virtually allothers, which is the readyspiritual potential ofHinduism. Though it is anAmerican initiative, ISKCONhas gone quite far. With anIndian initiative and goodorganisation, it could possi-bly go farther still. Withincreasing education andspread of awareness, it hasbecome difficult for people tobe confined to a single holybook that tells believers whotheir prophet and “only god”is. Today’s enlightened youthare unlikely to accept diktatsunless backed by proof.

    Hinduism has little com-pulsion; if a person believes incause and effect, he or she canbe a Hindu without abandon-ing his or her alternative reli-gion. In short, acceptance ofkarma is sufficient to feel andbe looked upon as a Hindu.Swami Vivekananda, in hisshort life, could explain to andinspire many in the West,which shows the worldly prac-ticality of our spirituality.

    Kamala Harris comes inat a time when America isconfused, if not also dividedbetween the so-called liberals

    and conservatives. There aredifferences between thosewho believe that since the USwas sown and grown by con-tinual immigration, its gatesshould remain open for newpeople, regardless of theirethnicity, and those who feelthat indiscriminate immigra-tion will threaten America’svery character that has madeit the world’s wealthiest andstrongest country.

    President Joe Biden is theoldest candidate ever to beelected to office, and the focustherefore is more on Vice-President Harris than general-ly would be the case. She hasrepeatedly claimed to be Black,although she looks moreIndian and is married to aJewish gentleman — an unusu-al combination with politicalimplications. She is evidentlyintelligent and perceptive andit would be interesting to seehow she rides the trapeze ofpolitics over the next few years.Unlike the President, she has abigger stake in the revolvingkaleidoscope of US politics.

    Harris’ performance inWashington would also buildor un-build the Asian personaand a woman’s image at thetop of the country’s ladder.

    (The writer is a well-known columnist and anauthor. The views expressedare personal.)

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    Sir — It is indeed a cause of worry for Indiathat its Corruption Perception Index(CPI) has slipped to 86th position for 2020from the earlier 80th in the global rank-ing of 180 countries, as per the latest reportpublished by Transparency International.No improvement was noted in terms ofcurbing corruption even after a change inregime in India in 2014 and after steps likedemonetisation. The goal of IndianGovernment should be to reach the leagueof honest countries like Denmark and NewZealand.

    India is known for conducting lux-urious study tours on public expense in thename of national interest. Study teamsshould be sent to the least corrupt nationsto study ways to minimise corruption. Ahigh-powered autonomous commissionshould be formed to suggest ways to makeIndia compete with the most honestcountries of the world, with an authorityto implement its findings and recommen-dations without any direction from theGovernment. Currently, electoral bondshave contributed the most in lowering ofHonesty Index for India. These should bemade perfectly transparent.

    The Indian Government should followthe ideals of former President APJ AbdulKalam who considered gifts and tips as apolished form of bribe. Rather than ban-ning tips, the Government should encour-age voluntary tipping in exchange ofrestaurants adding unethical service chargeto their bills.

    Subhash Chandra Agarwal | Delhi

    �����������������Sir — This refers to the article ‘11 per centgrowth with V-shaped recovery: EconomicSurvey’ (January 30). The Economic Survey2020-21 reiterated the benefits of focusingon long-term gains over myopic policy-making. Despite tumultuous internation-al developments and unprecedented mis-eries unleashed by the COVID-19 pan-demic, the Government should be laudedfor not indulging in any ill-advised fiscaladventurism. Instead, it chose to provide

    calibrated fiscal and monetary supportthrough a unique four-pillar strategy ofcontainment, fiscal, financial and long-termstructural reforms.

    The resilience shown by the agricul-ture, manufacturing and services sectors incushioning the vulnerable during thelockdown and boosting consumption andinvestment while unlocking shows that theseries of progressive reforms undertakenby the Government has contributed tonourishing a vibrant economy. It is heart-ening to see that India did not waste itsscarce fiscal resources in trying to pumpup discretionary consumption. It is time wemade concerted efforts to find a sustain-able solution to the policy dilemma of “livesversus livelihoods”.

    Shreyans Jain | Delhi

    ������������������Sir — Social activist Anna Hazare, whocancelled his fast in support of farmersprotesting against the agriculture lawsafter meeting senior BJP leader Devendra

    Fadnavis, must clarify his position on thisissue.

    First of all, Anna gave the impres-sion that he has taken a stand in favourof the farmers but afterwards he took aU-turn, making people wonder about hisstand. We don’t know whether he is sup-porting the protesting farmers or theCentral Government. Anna must keep itin mind that the protest against the threefarm laws is not only in Delhi and adjoin-ing areas but also in Maharashtra. Whenold farmers are protesting on the borders,Anna should have stood by them. Sittingin Ralegan Siddhi and meeting with theBJP leaders is pointless. He should at leasttell the farmers of Maharashtra about hisstance. His activities raise doubts onwhether he is really concerned about thewelfare of framers or he is a Governmentagent. Anna must clarify.

    Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

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    Even for India, a country full of surprises andsensations, the specter of COVID-19 has leftmultiple scares. The Coronavirus pandemicmarked the declension of the Indian way of life inthree ways as it proved to be a setback in realisingpast dreams, acted as a present nightmare and triedits best to land our future in oblivion. Shame, stig-ma, separation, fear of suffering and death were theindices of people’s mental health.

    Leprosy, the oldest known affliction to mankind,has always invoked a feeling of disgust and revul-sion. Historically, it has been associated withscorn, rejection, seclusion and with untouchabili-ty. With India having the largest number of leprosypatients in the world, it was Mahatma Gandhi whobegan to nurse and host people afflicted by leprosyat his ashram. He had actively embraced inclusiveprinciples and rejected the stigmatisation of personssuffering from this disease, asking: “Why should Icall those my brothers if I do not mix with them?”

    Wanting to pay homage to the life of MahatmaGandhi and his death on January 30, 1948, theFrench humanitarian Raoul Follereau selected thedate for observing World Leprosy Day. This was atribute to Bapu’s work with leprosy patients. Sincethen, the day is observed on the last Sunday ofJanuary every year, though in India it is alwaysobserved on January 30, the martyrdom day of theMahatma.

    With India launching the world’s biggest vac-cination drive against the raging Coronaviruspandemic, it may be apt to rewind to the year 2000when Prasar Bharati — Doordarshan (DD) andAkashvani (AIR) — achieved a singular milestonein its campaign against leprosy elimination.

    Alarmed by India being host to 66 per cent ofall leprosy patients in the world and in pursuit ofthe 44th World Health Assembly resolution whichcommitted member States to attain the goal of glob-al elimination of leprosy as a public health prob-lem by 2000, the Ministry of Health and FamilyWelfare (MoHFW) thought of launching a mediacampaign to address the prevailing prejudices andapprehensions about leprosy and to sensitise thepeople to opt for the multi-drug therapy (MDT) thathad proven effective in combating the disease.

    A year-long media campaign involving theMinistry, Prasar Bharati and BBC World ServiceTrust (now called BBC Media Action), the philan-thropic arm of the BBC, armed with BritishGovernment funding, was launched in 2000.While DD and AIR were responsible for providingprogramme design and the creativity, planning, strat-egy, creative personnel, equipment, studios, freebroadcast time for spots and advertisements andprogrammes, the BBC arranged for research,workshops, training, logistics and so on. TheMoHFW identified the thrust areas of the campaignand advised on policy issues and technical aspectsof the disease.

    The campaign was mounted in two phases fromfive DD kendras and several AIR stations for the fiveworst-affected States of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh(MP), Odisha, Uttar Pradesh (UP) and WestBengal. In the first phase, that is, January-March2000, as many as 23 spots were produced for tele-cast by DD whereas AIR made and broadcast 140jingles. While the second phase (June-August) saw12 dramas, four documentaries, two interview pro-grammes and one live event being hosted on DD,

    the AIR broadcast an eight-partseries, musicals and phone-in pro-grammes in Hindi and regional lan-guages. This translated into 22 hoursand 31 minutes of airtime on DD and266 hours 48 minutes on AIR whichin monetary terms amounted toabout �8 crore. The BBC, on theother hand, contributed �2.7 croretoward the campaign out of the £1.1million grant, with the remaining 65per cent going to establishmentcosts, staff salaries, travel, enter-tainment and so on. At the end ofphase 1 of the campaign, Roy, Head,Health Projects Director of BBCWorld Service Trust, wrote a letter inMay 2000 to DD stating: “The DD-BBC leprosy project has been an out-standing success. The independent(ORG Marg) audience research datawe have just received shows, forexample, that the number of peoplewho believe that leprosy is hereditaryhas fallen from 81 per cent to 31 percent in Bihar, and from 71 per centto 26 per cent in MP over a threemonth period. These figures are sim-ply extraordinary. I have been told bythe World Health Organisation andby leading research institutions in theUS that these results represent one ofthe most successful health cam-paigns to have taken place anywherein the world, ever…this is a tremen-dous tribute to the outstanding workof the Doordarshan/AIR producerson the project.”

    Without even waiting for the sec-ond phase to start, he went on tosolicit an extension of the DD-BBCpartnership for another health pro-ject —HIV/AIDS. Was this achieve-

    ment accidental or conjured fromthin air? Not that the good old DDhad never created a “miracle” in thepast. There were many in that league.For instance there was the year-longSatellite Instructional TelevisionExperiment (SITE) project in 1975covering more than 2,400 villages, theAsian Games in 1982 and the intro-duction of colour TV in India, thecoverage of the Bangladesh War orearlier, the launch of School TV,Krishi Darshan, or even ZubinMehta’s first concert to go live in Indiaon DD in 1984, and which alsomarked an innovation in filmingsymphony concert on internationalTV, to name a few. But unfortunate-ly, neither the country nor DD itselfremembers these milestones.Ironically, what is remembered arethe entertainment programmeswhich were not produced or creat-ed by DD itself. DD only providedairtime at a cost to private produc-ers. The staff and internal resourceswere utilised for dishing out routineor “obligatory” programmes in acycle of tireless repetition of exigency.A colleague in DD used to sneer, “Weonly attend to urgent matters, not theimportant ones.”

    While drafting the memoran-dum of understanding (MoU), I wasparticularly conscious of the lowmorale of the overburdened creativestaff, as no recruitment had takenplace for over a decade. As such, cer-tain clauses, particularly entitling theproduction teams to fly, stay inthree or four-star hotels, reimburse-ment of expenses incurred by themduring the project — perquisites that

    were sine qua non in most Indianchannels, and considered de rigueurin international media organisationsbut not applicable in DD/AIR — wereincorporated into the MoU.Moreover, extensive brainstorming,training and workshops by leadingprofessionals and hand-holding byPeter Gill, and Lori McDougall ofBBC World Service Trust helped theteam members to come up with scin-tillating ideas, that too, in a range ofgenres — comedy, tragedy, sus-pense, mythology, folk drama, musi-cal et al in a bid to demolish people’smisconceptions, beliefs, attitude andthe stigma associated with leprosy.

    Extensive research and fieldinterviews with the victims of thisscourge gave the producers an insightinto the suffering, pain, trauma anda vehement feeling of rejection bysociety, resulting in loneliness.

    Phase 2, which primarily hadlonger duration programmes andconcentrated more on driving themessage that leprosy is curable, cre-ated an even more positive influenceon the viewers. In the end, DDbagged the CommonwealthBroadcasting Association’s Awardfor the best social action televisionprogramme in 2001 for its leprosyawareness and prevention campaign.

    That was a proud day for all asso-ciated with the campaigns. Now, asIndia goes deeper into itsCoronavirus vaccination drive maybeit can take a few lessons from this lep-rosy campaign on DD and AIR andhelp people overcome their vaccinehesitancy. Good old DD and AIR arealways at the service of the nation.

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