12
T he nearly 10-month-old stand-off at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh saw some positive development on Wednesday with the Chinese and Indian frontline troops pulling back from the flashpoints at the Pangong Tso (lake). Making this announce- ment in Beijing, Chinese defence spokesperson Colonel Wu Qian said the troops from both the sides started syn- chronised and organised dis- engagement at the south and north banks of the lake. He also said the disengagement com- menced “simultaneously and systematically.” However, there was no official comment from the Indian side, so far, on the statement made by the Chinese defence ministry spokesperson and carried by China’s official media. The Government was likely to make a statement in this regard in Parliament on Thursday, it was learnt. Sources, however, indicat- ed here that the process of dis- engagement had begun. They said some tanks were with- drawn and thinning out of troops had taken place. They also said it was the first step in a long process to restore peace at the LAC. The Chinese spokesper- son said the disengagement began as part of the consensus reached in the ninth round of Corps Commander-level talks between India and China on January 24. Sources said the partial pullback was a confidence- building measure to break the persisting logjam. The withdrawal of the armoured elements or tanks from one of the multiple fric- tion points in the East Ladakh sector comes nearly a fort- night after military comman- ders of the two armies agreed on January 24 to push for an early disengagement of their frontline troops. This move by both the sides was the first such step to defuse tension at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh which also witnessed a bloody brawl on June 15 killing 20 Indian sol- diers, including the com- manding officer. The Chinese side also suffered casualties and unconfirmed reports pegged the number at 35. After the ninth round of talks, a joint statement issued by both the armies said it was agreed to push for an early dis- engagement of the frontline troops. They also agreed to fol- low the important consensus of their State leaders, maintain the good momentum of dialogue and negotiation, and hold the 10th round of the Corps Commander-level meeting at an early date to jointly advance de-escalation. The two sides agreed to continue their effective efforts in ensuring the restraint of the frontline troops, stabilise and control the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the China-India border, and jointly maintain peace and tranquility. Incidentally, the Indian Army in an action in August last year established posts at all the strategic hill tops on the southern and northern banks of the lake. It put the Chinese troops at a great disadvantage as the Indians were able to monitor their every move- ment. Also, the first face-off in May last year started from the Pangong Lake when the Chinese and Indian troops exchanged blows leaving sev- eral injured. The incident occurred when the Chinese stopped the Indian patrol claiming it was in the Chinese territory. Meanwhile, the Chinese reports as mentioned in The Global Times quoted Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University that after a prolonged nine rounds of record-breaking talks between the two militaries, particular- ly the three most recent rounds of meetings in which both sides struck more and more consensus and the atmosphere became more constructive, disengagement became a nat- ural step. “This event will ease the border tensions and play important role in resuming peace and stability to the region as soon as possible,” Qian said. Calling the move a break- through, analysts noted that the location of the disengage- ment had been a focus and a core issue of the months-long border faceoff. The situation in the north- ern bank of the Pangong Tso had long been in deadlock, and as India attempted to force China to make compromise, it made provocations on the southern bank in August 2020, Qian said, noting that the rea- son some of the recent nego- tiations failed to make signif- icant progress is the differences at this location which has been a core issue. C hina, which has been blocking India’s efforts to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council, on Wednesday reiterated its stand on New Delhi’s bid, and called for evolving a “package solu- tion” that is acceptable to all to reform the top organ of the global body. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Wang Wenbin’s comments in response to a question came a day after India and China discussed a wide range of issues relating to top UN body. China is a permanent member of the UNSC while India began its two-year tenure as a non-permanent member on January 1. In August, India is scheduled to serve as the president of the UNSC. Asked about the outcome of the meeting and whether there was any discussion on India’s candidature for perma- nent membership of the UNSC, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang told a media briefing here that during Tuesday’s virtual meeting, the two sides held consultations on Security Council issues. The two sides exchanged views on upholding multilat- eralism, peacekeeping opera- tions and counter-terrorism, he said. “As for India’s bid for per- manent membership to the UNSC, I can reiterate China’s principled position on this issue. China supports UNSC reforms in a manner that increases the authority and efficacy of the UNSC, increas- es the representation and voice of developing countries so that small and medium-sized coun- tries have a greater opportunity to participate in the decision making of the UNSC,” he said. “It should be done through the widest possible democra- tic consultation and seek a package solution that takes into account the interests and concerns of all parties,” he said. China is part of the per- manent five (P5) of the UNSC with veto power has been stonewalling India’s efforts to become member of UN’s pow- erful body for years pointing to lack of consensus even though the other four, US, UK, France and Russia have expressed backing for New Delhi’s mem- bership. Beijing’s all-weather ally Pakistan is also opposed to India becoming a permanent member of the UNSC. India and China on Tuesday held discussions on a wide range of issues relating to the UNSC, the Ministry of External Affairs said in New Delhi. The MEA said the Chinese delegation was briefed about India’s priorities during its UNSC tenure in the meeting that took place in the virtual format. It said both sides agreed to continue their engagement on key issues on the UNSC agenda. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday once again defended the three con- troversial farm laws and accused the Opposition of “misleading” the farmers while calling their protest as a “planned strategy” and reiter- ating his “andolan jivi” jibe against the agitators. Upset with the PM’s remarks, the Congress and the TMC staged walkout from the Lok Sabha. “Kisan Andolan” is sacred, but when “andolan jivi” hijack it and show pictures of those jailed for terrorism, what pur- pose does it serve, the Prime Minister said in the Lok Sabha while speaking on the vote of thanks on President’s address. PM Modi had used the term “andolan jivi” first during his speech in the Rajya Sabha. The Prime Minister invit- ed agitating farmers to “sit across and resolve the issue” as he asserted that the laws offer “one more option” to the agri- culturalists to sell their produce and are not compulsory for everyone to follow. Against the backdrop of the ongoing farmers’ stir on the borders of Delhi and dead- lock in the talks with the Government, Modi stressed the need to move ahead with the farm reforms by breaking the long-held status quo in farming which he said has turned “non-remunerative”. Modi first asked, “Whether new laws taken away the rights available in the old system...?” He then himself answered saying “ye kanun kisi ke liye bandhan nahin hai..this is optional where you have benefits... Virodh ka karan nahin banta”. The PM speech was disrupted by slogan- shouting Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chouwdhury and his party MPs who later stages a walkout from the House. The motion of thanks was passed by the House after the Prime Minister concluded his address. The Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) reacted angri- ly to the PM’s remarks and said: “We condemn the charge made by the PM and we would like to remind him that it was andolan jivi who helped India break free from colonial rulers and so we are proud of being andolan jivi. It is the BJP and its forefathers who have never participated in an agitation against the British. They were always afraid of people’s move- ments and that is why they are afraid of people’s movements even now,” the SKM said in a statement. A mid its stand-off with the Centre, Twitter on Wednesday partly acceded to a Government order to curb the spread of alleged misinforma- tion and inflammatory content around farmers’ protests. The microblogging site said it has suspended over 500 accounts and blocked access to several others within India. Twitter, in a blog post, said it has not blocked accounts consisting of “news media enti- ties, journalists, activists and politicians” as doing so “would violate their fundamental right to free expression” guaranteed under the country’s law. Twitter’s decision to counter the Ministry of Electronics and IT’s order by not cancelling many other accounts and offering a public explanation through a blog has not amused the Ministry. The Ministry termed as “unusual” Twitter’s move to publish the blogpost before a slated talks with the IT Secretary on the issue, as sought by the US company. Interestingly, the Ministry replied to Twitter through a newly-developed homegrown social networking platform, Koo, which has been joined by several Ministers, Ministries and prominent rightwingers. “Upon the request of Twitter seeking a meeting with the Government, the Secretary IT was to engage with senior management of Twitter. In this light, a blog post published prior to this engagement is unusual,” the IT Ministry said in its response on Koo. The Government will share its response soon, the post on Koo said. In the blog post, Twitter said it will continue to advo- cate for the right of free expression of its users and that it is “actively exploring options under Indian law — both for Twitter and for the accounts that have been impacted”. The development comes against the backdrop of the Government on February 4 ordering Twitter to take down 1,178 accounts with links to Pakistan and Khalistan sup- porters that were spreading misinformation and provoca- tive content related to farmers’ protest. In all, Twitter has taken action against over 1,000 accounts — 500 as sought by the Government and an equal number that were found by the company engaging in platform manip- ulation and spam. The Government had late last month sought to block 257 tweets and handles in connection with the agita- tion by farmers over the new pro-market agricultural laws. Twitter complied, only to restore the accounts hours later. This led to the Government issuing a non- compliance notice and a warning of stringent penalties and potential jail terms. P rotesting farmers on Wednesday announced a four-hour nationwide rail blockade on February 18 as they renewed their strategy to intensify their agitation, which also included a candlelight march on February 14 in the memory of those killed in the 2019 Pulwama terrorist attack. In a statement, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha, (SKM) also said toll collection will not be allowed in Rajasthan from February 12 as part of their week-long protest plan. The SKM said in the state- ment that in a meeting on Wednesday farmer unions decided to escalate their agita- tion. “There will be a ‘rail roko’ programme across the country from 12 pm to 4 pm on February 18,” the SKM said. Earlier this month, the protesting farmers had observed a three-hour road blockade to press their demand of repealing the three laws. SKM leader Darshan Pal said candle marches, “Mashaal Juloos” (torch marches) and other programmes will be held across the country on February 14 in respect of the sacrifices of the 40 CRPF personnel who were killed in a terrorist attack in Jammu & Kashmir’s Pulwama on February 14, 2019. He said the farmers also will hold events in a show of solidarity on the birth anniver- sary of Sir Chhotu Ram — who was one of the most prominent pre-partition farmer leaders — on February 16. The announcement comes on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Government and Parliament have great respect for farmers who are voicing their views on the three farm laws. T he Supreme Court on Wednesday ordered status quo on dismantling India’s decommissioned aircraft car- rier “Viraat” which was in ser- vice with the Indian Navy for nearly three decades but issued notice to the Centre and the firm dismantling the aircraft carrier. A private firm has moved the apex court in a last ditch effort to save “Viraat” which has been dismantled about 30 per cent by another company that had bought it through an auction. The petitioner-firm has offered to pay 100 crore for the ship so that it can be con- verted into a museum instead of being dismantled. I ndia has expedited the process of bringing back 18th century Maa Annapurna idol from Canada and sought quotations from private firms handling artefacts to ferry the antiquity here. An official from the Union Culture Ministry said around four firms have submitted the quotations so far showing inter- est in bringing back the idol which was said to have been stolen from a temple in Varanasi and transported to Canada over a century back. “We are in the process of closing the quotation,” said the official while refusing to share further details in the matter. Until recently, the antique idol was part of the University of Regina, Thomas Chase uni- versity’s collection in its MacKenzie Art Gallery in Canada. However, it was hand- ed over by the interim presi- dent and vice-chancellor of the University of Regina, Thomas Chase, to India’s High Commissioner Ajay Bisaria, in a virtual event that was also attended by officials from Global Affairs Canada and Canada Border Service Agency. Initially, it was proposed to be repatriated to India by mid- December last year, but because of various unavoidable rea- sons, it could not happen, the official said. He added that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is the nodal agency to execute the task, being the official custodian of all such repatriated idols. The Annapurna, also spelt Annapoorna, known as the goddess of food, shot in fame after Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentioned about its arrival from Canada to its orig- inal home in Varanasi. The PM was addressing the public on Dev Deepawali Mahotsav on November 30, 2020. “Every Indian would feel proud to know that an ancient idol of Maa Annapurna is being brought back from Canada to India. This idol was stolen from a temple of Varanasi (Modi’s Lok Sabha constituency) and smuggled out of the country around 100 years ago somewhere around 1913,” Modi said. “Mata Annapurna has a very special bond with Kashi (Varanasi). And the return of the idol is very pleasant for all of us. Like the statue of Mata Annapurna, much of our her- itage has been a victim of international gangs,” he added. The Indian High Commission in Canada in a statement said the university recently discovered that the Annapurna statue may have been acquired “under suspi- cious circumstances and did not conform to current princi- ples of ethical acquisition”. Bisaria said, “The move to voluntary repatriate such cul- tural treasures shows the level of maturity and understanding in India-Canada relations.” That it may have been ille- gally brought to Canada was first raised by artist Divya Mehra as she was going through the collection while preparing for her exhibition, which began in August this year. Later, Dr Siddhartha V Shah, curator of Indian and South Asian Art at the Peabody Essex Museum, identified the statue as the Hindu goddess from her “female physical char- acteristics. “She holds a bowl of kheer (rice pudding) in one hand and a spoon in the other. These are items associated with Annapoorna, who is the god- dess of food and the queen of the city of Varanasi,” he has been quoted as saying. A man, arrested from Punjab in connection with the Red Fort violence on Republic Day during farmers’ tractor parade against the Centre’s three new agri laws was sent to 7-day police custody by a Delhi court on Wednesday. Iqbal Singh, carrying a reward of 50,000 on his arrest, was nabbed from Hoshiarpur by the Delhi Police’s Special Cell and brought to the nation- al Capital on Wednesday. He was produced before Metropolitan Magistrate Poorva Mehra, who sent him for custodial interrogation after the police said his interrogation was required to confront him with several videos and iden- tify other accused persons for the violence. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

2 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · on New Delhi’s bid, and called for evolving a “package solu- ... answered saying “ ye kanun kisi ke liye bandhan

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Page 1: 2 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · on New Delhi’s bid, and called for evolving a “package solu- ... answered saying “ ye kanun kisi ke liye bandhan

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The nearly 10-month-oldstand-off at the Line of

Actual Control (LAC) inLadakh saw some positivedevelopment on Wednesdaywith the Chinese and Indianfrontline troops pulling backfrom the flashpoints at thePangong Tso (lake).

Making this announce-ment in Beijing, Chinesedefence spokesperson ColonelWu Qian said the troops fromboth the sides started syn-chronised and organised dis-engagement at the south andnorth banks of the lake. He alsosaid the disengagement com-menced “simultaneously andsystematically.”

However, there was noofficial comment from theIndian side, so far, on thestatement made by the Chinesedefence ministry spokespersonand carried by China’s officialmedia. The Government waslikely to make a statement inthis regard in Parliament onThursday, it was learnt.

Sources, however, indicat-

ed here that the process of dis-engagement had begun. Theysaid some tanks were with-drawn and thinning out oftroops had taken place. Theyalso said it was the first step ina long process to restore peaceat the LAC.

The Chinese spokesper-son said the disengagementbegan as part of the consensusreached in the ninth round ofCorps Commander-level talksbetween India and China onJanuary 24.

Sources said the partialpullback was a confidence-building measure to break thepersisting logjam.

The withdrawal of the

armoured elements or tanksfrom one of the multiple fric-tion points in the East Ladakhsector comes nearly a fort-night after military comman-ders of the two armies agreedon January 24 to push for anearly disengagement of theirfrontline troops.

This move by both thesides was the first such step todefuse tension at the LAC inEastern Ladakh which alsowitnessed a bloody brawl onJune 15 killing 20 Indian sol-diers, including the com-manding officer. The Chineseside also suffered casualtiesand unconfirmed reportspegged the number at 35.

After the ninth round oftalks, a joint statement issuedby both the armies said it wasagreed to push for an early dis-engagement of the frontlinetroops. They also agreed to fol-low the important consensus oftheir State leaders, maintain thegood momentum of dialogueand negotiation, and hold the10th round of the CorpsCommander-level meeting atan early date to jointly advancede-escalation.

The two sides agreed tocontinue their effective effortsin ensuring the restraint of thefrontline troops, stabilise andcontrol the situation along theLAC in the Western Sector of

the China-India border, andjointly maintain peace andtranquility.

Incidentally, the IndianArmy in an action in Augustlast year established posts at allthe strategic hill tops on thesouthern and northern banksof the lake. It put the Chinesetroops at a great disadvantageas the Indians were able tomonitor their every move-ment.

Also, the first face-off inMay last year started from thePangong Lake when theChinese and Indian troopsexchanged blows leaving sev-eral injured. The incidentoccurred when the Chinesestopped the Indian patrolclaiming it was in the Chineseterritory. Meanwhile, theChinese reports as mentionedin The Global Times quotedQian Feng, director of theresearch department at theNational Strategy Institute atTsinghua University that aftera prolonged nine rounds ofrecord-breaking talks betweenthe two militaries, particular-ly the three most recent roundsof meetings in which bothsides struck more and moreconsensus and the atmospherebecame more constructive,disengagement became a nat-ural step.

“This event will ease theborder tensions and playimportant role in resumingpeace and stability to theregion as soon as possible,”Qian said.

Calling the move a break-

through, analysts noted thatthe location of the disengage-ment had been a focus and acore issue of the months-longborder faceoff.

The situation in the north-

ern bank of the Pangong Tsohad long been in deadlock, andas India attempted to forceChina to make compromise, itmade provocations on thesouthern bank in August 2020,

Qian said, noting that the rea-son some of the recent nego-tiations failed to make signif-icant progress is the differencesat this location which has beena core issue.

������������������� ����������

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China, which has beenblocking India’s efforts to

become a permanent memberof the UN Security Council, onWednesday reiterated its standon New Delhi’s bid, and calledfor evolving a “package solu-tion” that is acceptable to all toreform the top organ of theglobal body.

Chinese Foreign MinistrySpokesman Wang Wenbin’scomments in response to aquestion came a day afterIndia and China discussed awide range of issues relating totop UN body.

China is a permanentmember of the UNSC whileIndia began its two-year tenureas a non-permanent memberon January 1. In August, Indiais scheduled to serve as thepresident of the UNSC.

Asked about the outcomeof the meeting and whetherthere was any discussion onIndia’s candidature for perma-nent membership of the

UNSC, Chinese ForeignMinistry spokesman Wangtold a media briefing herethat during Tuesday’s virtualmeeting, the two sides heldconsultations on SecurityCouncil issues.

The two sides exchangedviews on upholding multilat-eralism, peacekeeping opera-tions and counter-terrorism,he said.

“As for India’s bid for per-manent membership to theUNSC, I can reiterate China’sprincipled position on thisissue. China supports UNSCreforms in a manner thatincreases the authority andefficacy of the UNSC, increas-es the representation and voiceof developing countries so thatsmall and medium-sized coun-tries have a greater opportunityto participate in the decisionmaking of the UNSC,” he said.

“It should be done throughthe widest possible democra-tic consultation and seek apackage solution that takesinto account the interests and

concerns of all parties,” hesaid.

China is part of the per-manent five (P5) of the UNSCwith veto power has beenstonewalling India’s efforts tobecome member of UN’s pow-erful body for years pointing tolack of consensus even thoughthe other four, US, UK, Franceand Russia have expressedbacking for New Delhi’s mem-bership. Beijing’s all-weatherally Pakistan is also opposed toIndia becoming a permanentmember of the UNSC.

India and China onTuesday held discussions on awide range of issues relating tothe UNSC, the Ministry ofExternal Affairs said in NewDelhi.

The MEA said the Chinesedelegation was briefed aboutIndia’s priorities during itsUNSC tenure in the meetingthat took place in the virtualformat. It said both sidesagreed to continue theirengagement on key issues onthe UNSC agenda.

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

&���� ������203

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday once

again defended the three con-troversial farm laws andaccused the Opposition of“misleading” the farmers whilecalling their protest as a“planned strategy” and reiter-ating his “andolan jivi” jibeagainst the agitators. Upsetwith the PM’s remarks, theCongress and the TMC stagedwalkout from the Lok Sabha.

“Kisan Andolan” is sacred,but when “andolan jivi” hijackit and show pictures of thosejailed for terrorism, what pur-pose does it serve, the PrimeMinister said in the Lok Sabhawhile speaking on the vote ofthanks on President’s address.

PM Modi had used theterm “andolan jivi” first duringhis speech in the Rajya Sabha.

The Prime Minister invit-ed agitating farmers to “sitacross and resolve the issue” ashe asserted that the laws offer“one more option” to the agri-culturalists to sell their produceand are not compulsory foreveryone to follow.

Against the backdrop ofthe ongoing farmers’ stir onthe borders of Delhi and dead-lock in the talks with theGovernment, Modi stressedthe need to move ahead withthe farm reforms by breakingthe long-held status quo infarming which he said hasturned “non-remunerative”.

Modi f irst asked,“Whether new laws taken

away the rights available in theold system...?” He then himselfanswered saying “ye kanun kisike liye bandhan nahin hai..thisis optional where you havebenefits...Virodh ka karannahin banta”. The PM speechwas disrupted by slogan-shouting Congress leaderAdhir Ranjan Chouwdhuryand his party MPs who laterstages a walkout from theHouse.

The motion of thanks waspassed by the House after thePrime Minister concluded hisaddress.

The Sanyukta KisanMorcha (SKM) reacted angri-ly to the PM’s remarks andsaid: “We condemn the chargemade by the PM and we wouldlike to remind him that it wasandolan jivi who helped Indiabreak free from colonial rulersand so we are proud of beingandolan jivi. It is the BJP andits forefathers who have neverparticipated in an agitationagainst the British. They werealways afraid of people’s move-ments and that is why they areafraid of people’s movementseven now,” the SKM said in astatement.

&���� ������203

Amid its stand-off with theCentre, Twitter on

Wednesday partly acceded to aGovernment order to curb thespread of alleged misinforma-tion and inflammatory contentaround farmers’ protests. Themicroblogging site said it hassuspended over 500 accountsand blocked access to severalothers within India.

Twitter, in a blog post, saidit has not blocked accountsconsisting of “news media enti-ties, journalists, activists andpoliticians” as doing so “wouldviolate their fundamental rightto free expression” guaranteedunder the country’s law.

Twitter’s decision tocounter the Ministry ofElectronics and IT’s order bynot cancelling many otheraccounts and offering a publicexplanation through a bloghas not amused the Ministry.

The Ministry termed as“unusual” Twitter’s move topublish the blogpost before aslated talks with the ITSecretary on the issue, assought by the US company.Interestingly, the Ministry

replied to Twitter through anewly-developed homegrownsocial networking platform,Koo, which has been joined byseveral Ministers, Ministriesand prominent rightwingers.

“Upon the request ofTwitter seeking a meetingwith the Government, theSecretary IT was to engagewith senior management ofTwitter. In this light, a blogpost published prior to thisengagement is unusual,” the ITMinistry said in its responseon Koo. The Government willshare its response soon, thepost on Koo said.

In the blog post, Twittersaid it will continue to advo-cate for the right of free

expression of its users and thatit is “actively exploring optionsunder Indian law — both forTwitter and for the accountsthat have been impacted”.

The development comesagainst the backdrop of theGovernment on February 4ordering Twitter to take down1,178 accounts with links toPakistan and Khalistan sup-porters that were spreadingmisinformation and provoca-tive content related to farmers’protest. In all, Twitter hastaken action against over1,000 accounts — 500 assought by the Governmentand an equal number thatwere found by the companyengaging in platform manip-ulation and spam.

The Government had latelast month sought to block257 tweets and handles inconnection with the agita-tion by farmers over the newpro-market agricultural laws.

Twitter complied, only torestore the accounts hourslater. This led to theGovernment issuing a non-compliance notice and awarning of stringent penaltiesand potential jail terms.

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

&%� � ������203

Protesting farmers onWednesday announced a

four-hour nationwide railblockade on February 18 asthey renewed their strategy tointensify their agitation, whichalso included a candlelightmarch on February 14 in thememory of those killed in the2019 Pulwama terrorist attack.

In a statement, theSamyukta Kisan Morcha,(SKM) also said toll collectionwill not be allowed in Rajasthanfrom February 12 as part oftheir week-long protest plan.

The SKM said in the state-ment that in a meeting onWednesday farmer unionsdecided to escalate their agita-tion. “There will be a ‘railroko’ programme across thecountry from 12 pm to 4 pm on

February 18,” the SKM said.Earlier this month, the

protesting farmers hadobserved a three-hour roadblockade to press their demandof repealing the three laws.

SKM leader Darshan Palsaid candle marches, “MashaalJuloos” (torch marches) andother programmes will be heldacross the country on February14 in respect of the sacrifices ofthe 40 CRPF personnel whowere killed in a terrorist attackin Jammu & Kashmir’sPulwama on February 14, 2019.

He said the farmers alsowill hold events in a show ofsolidarity on the birth anniver-sary of Sir Chhotu Ram —who was one of the mostprominent pre-partitionfarmer leaders — on February16.

The announcement comeson a day Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said theGovernment and Parliamenthave great respect for farmerswho are voicing their views onthe three farm laws.

&%� � ������203

The Supreme Court onWednesday ordered status

quo on dismantling India’sdecommissioned aircraft car-rier “Viraat” which was in ser-vice with the Indian Navy fornearly three decades butissued notice to the Centreand the firm dismantling theaircraft carrier.

A private firm has movedthe apex court in a last ditcheffort to save “Viraat” whichhas been dismantled about 30 per cent by anothercompany that had bought itthrough an auction.

The petitioner-firm hasoffered to pay �100 crore forthe ship so that it can be con-verted into a museuminstead of being dismantled.

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

�����'� %��� ������203

India has expedited theprocess of bringing back

18th century Maa Annapurnaidol from Canada and soughtquotations from private firmshandling artefacts to ferry theantiquity here.

An official from the UnionCulture Ministry said aroundfour firms have submitted thequotations so far showing inter-est in bringing back the idolwhich was said to have beenstolen from a temple inVaranasi and transported toCanada over a century back.

“We are in the process ofclosing the quotation,” said theofficial while refusing to sharefurther details in the matter.

Until recently, the antiqueidol was part of the Universityof Regina, Thomas Chase uni-versity’s collection in itsMacKenzie Art Gallery inCanada. However, it was hand-ed over by the interim presi-dent and vice-chancellor ofthe University of Regina,

Thomas Chase, to India’s HighCommissioner Ajay Bisaria, ina virtual event that was alsoattended by officials fromGlobal Affairs Canada andCanada Border Service Agency.

Initially, it was proposed tobe repatriated to India by mid-December last year, but becauseof various unavoidable rea-

sons, it could not happen, theofficial said.

He added that theArchaeological Survey of India(ASI) is the nodal agency toexecute the task, being theofficial custodian of all suchrepatriated idols.

The Annapurna, also speltAnnapoorna, known as the

goddess of food, shot in fameafter Prime Minister NarendraModi mentioned about itsarrival from Canada to its orig-inal home in Varanasi. The PMwas addressing the public onDev Deepawali Mahotsav onNovember 30, 2020.

“Every Indian would feelproud to know that an ancientidol of Maa Annapurna isbeing brought back fromCanada to India. This idol wasstolen from a temple ofVaranasi (Modi’s Lok Sabhaconstituency) and smuggledout of the country around 100years ago somewhere around1913,” Modi said.

“Mata Annapurna has avery special bond with Kashi(Varanasi). And the return ofthe idol is very pleasant for allof us. Like the statue of MataAnnapurna, much of our her-itage has been a victim ofinternational gangs,” he added.

The Indian HighCommission in Canada in astatement said the universityrecently discovered that the

Annapurna statue may havebeen acquired “under suspi-cious circumstances and didnot conform to current princi-ples of ethical acquisition”.

Bisaria said, “The move tovoluntary repatriate such cul-tural treasures shows the levelof maturity and understandingin India-Canada relations.”

That it may have been ille-gally brought to Canada wasfirst raised by artist DivyaMehra as she was goingthrough the collection whilepreparing for her exhibition,which began in August thisyear. Later, Dr Siddhartha VShah, curator of Indian andSouth Asian Art at the PeabodyEssex Museum, identified thestatue as the Hindu goddessfrom her “female physical char-acteristics. “She holds a bowl ofkheer (rice pudding) in onehand and a spoon in the other.These are items associated withAnnapoorna, who is the god-dess of food and the queen ofthe city of Varanasi,” he hasbeen quoted as saying.

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Aman, arrested from Punjabin connection with the

Red Fort violence on RepublicDay during farmers’ tractorparade against the Centre’sthree new agri laws was sent to7-day police custody by a Delhicourt on Wednesday.

Iqbal Singh, carrying areward of �50,000 on his arrest,was nabbed from Hoshiarpurby the Delhi Police’s SpecialCell and brought to the nation-al Capital on Wednesday.

He was produced beforeMetropolitan MagistratePoorva Mehra, who sent himfor custodial interrogation afterthe police said his interrogationwas required to confront himwith several videos and iden-tify other accused persons forthe violence.

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About 37,000 migratorybirds of 75 species have

been spotted and they chose to

nest at the Sultanpur NationalPark (Sultanpur BirdSanctuary), located atSultanpur village onGurugram-Jhajjar highway,

Gurugram, this winter season,said Sultanpur National park(wildlife) Inspector RajeshChahal.

“Every year we conductbird counting in the park tonote the number of birds andthe species that visit the area.

This exercise helps us under-stand the pattern of migrationand the ecology of the park.During bird counting, thenorthern lapwing was spottedfor the first time in Sultanpurnational park,” he added.

Talking to ‘The Pioneer’

over the phone, Chahal saidthat the migratory bird speciesthat were sighted in the parkthis year include common cootbird, bar headed geese, greylaggoose, pintail, northern show-er, common pochard, paintedstork, spoon bills, open bill

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Punjab Government hasnotified the process to link

Aadhaar number of beneficia-ries of the Dependent ChildrenScheme, getting financial assis-tance, with their bank accountsto bring more transparencyand efficiency in the publicdelivery system.

Social Security andWomen and ChildDevelopment Minister ArunaChaudhary on Wednesday saidthat the use of Aadhaar as anidentity document for deliveryof services will avoid multipledocuments for identificationand simplify the governmentdelivery processes. At the sametime, she said that it will enablebeneficiaries to get their enti-tlements directly in a conve-nient and seamless manner.

The Minister categoricallyaffirmed that the SocialSecurity and Women and Child

Development Departmentwould offer Aadhaar enrol-ment facilities for the benefi-ciaries, who are not yet enrolledfor Aadhaar and in case thereis no Aadhaar enrolment cen-tre located in the respectiveBlock or Tehsil.

“Under the DependentChildren Scheme, the childbelow the age of 21 years,whose mother or father orboth have passed away or par-ents regularly absent fromhome or physically or mental-ly incapacitated to look afterthe family, is getting Rs 750 permonth. The State Governmenthas been providing financialassistance to the tune of Rs104.12 crore to 1,56,169 depen-dent children up till November2020 under the scheme,” shesaid adding that the childdesirous of availing the bene-fit shall be required to furnishAadhaar number for authenti-cation.

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Chandigarh: Three zoos ofHaryana have remained closedto the public for nearly a yearnow, earlier due to the Covid-19 pandemic and now therecent scare of Bird flu cases.Haryana Chief Conservatorof Forests (wildlife) MLRajvanshi said that as of now,no proposal has been sent tothe State Government regard-ing approval of reopening theZoos for public owing to ongo-ing Covid-19 pandemic andbird flu. Renovation worksare being done in Zoos of theState, he added.

Rajvanshi told The Pioneerthat no case of bird flu among

migratory birds and Zoo birdsin the State have been report-ed so far. “Zoos have beenclosed due to the twin effectsof Covid-19 pandemic andBird flu,” he said.

Rajvanshi said thatHaryana has three Zoos inRohtak, Bhiwani andKurukshetra. Apart from this,State has two national parks,eight wildlife sanctuaries, twowildlife conservation areas,four animal and bird breedingcenters and one deer park, allof which are managed by theHaryana Wildlife and Forestdepartment.

He further said that the

samples of the dead birds wereearlier sent to the animal dis-ease laboratory in Bhopal,which confirmed the pres-ence of the H-5 strain of birdflu in crows. “No case of birdflu among migratory birdsand Zoo birds in the State hasbeen reported so far. We aretaking all preventive mea-sures,” he added.

"We are maintaining awatch on the birds'' enclosure.We have issued instructionsto the concerned officers ifany unusual behaviour is seenin any bird, it will be taken tothe isolation ward,” he added. SR

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Already facing the protest ofemployees unions over the

issue of power privatization inChandigarh, the UTAdministration on Wednesdaycame under fire from two for-mer MPs at the Administrator’sAdvisory Council meeting.

Two former UnionMinisters and ex-city MPsincluding Pawan Kumar Bansaland Harmohan Dhawanopposed the privatization ofChandigarh ElectricityDepartment.

During the AdvisoryCouncil meeting held underthe chairmanship of PunjabGovernor and UTAdministrator VP SinghBadnore at Hotel Mountviewhere, the former MPs expressedconcern over the adverseimpact of privatization onemployees and pointed out thecontinuous protests held byemployees against the deci-sion.

The workers are worried

about their future as well as theretirement benefits like pen-sion, gratuity and GPF whilethe residents are concernedthat the rates of electricity willbe increased by the private sec-tor, they said.

Both the leaders opposedthe decision requesting theAdministrator to look into thematter while the latter assuredthat the decision will benefitthe Department and employeesas well.

Notably, six firms —Sterlite Power, ReNew WingEnergy, NESCL (NTPC),Adani Transmission Ltd, TataPower and Torrent Power —have submitted their bids forthe privatisation of the elec-tricity wing of the UTEngineering Department. TheEngineering Department hadissued the Request for Proposal(RFP) to 20 intended bidders.

Last month, the SupremeCourt had put on hold the staygiven by the Punjab andHaryana high court for pri-vatisation of the Chandigarh

Electricity Department, thusclearing the decks for theAdministration to go aheadwith the process.

The decision to privatisethe Department was taken onMay 12 last year after thedirections from the Centre.An empowered committee wasconstituted to oversee andimplement the process, and theAdministration had assuredthe Centre that it would becompleted by the end of 2020

Of the 2.25 lakh powerconsumers, 1.75 lakh are resi-dential users in the city.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar on

Wednesday gave approval for con-struction of various link roads inthe state through HSAMB in fur-therance of his commitment in thelast Budget to pave all link pathsthat connect two or more villages.

Among the various projects,construction of link road stretch-ing across a distance of 1.585-kmfrom village Unispur to Bakipur in

District Karnal, at a cost of Rs55.47 lakh.

The construction of roads inSirsa District namely from villageTarkanwali to Makhosaranistretching across a distance of4.22-km at a cost of Rs 170 lakh,another for construction of roadfrom village Tarkanwali toGigarani stretching across a dis-tance of Rs 3.81-km at a cost of Rs155 lakh and construction of roadstretching across a distance of5.15-km from village Kagdana to

Tarkanwali at a cost of Rs 220 lakhwere also approved.

The construction of link roadsKaithal district from Urlana toPunjab Border leading to Arnetustretching at a distance of 1.06-km,Kakheri to Papser stretching at adistance of 2.31-km, Dohar toDayora, Jaswanti Road stretchingat a distance of 3.30-km andAgond Bus Stand to BhunaSultania Road stretching at a dis-tance of 2.50-km in DistrictKaithal.

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With local bodies electionsjust a few days away in

Punjab, the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) and the ShiromaniAkali Dal (SAD) onWednesday lashed out at theCongress Government for let-ting loose the goonda raj in theState.

Elections to eight munici-pal corporations and 109municipal councils and nagarpanchayats in Punjab will beheld on February 14.

Stating that Punjabis werepaying a very high price for thegoondaism let loose by theCongress party, SAD presidentSukhbir Badal castigated theState Election Commission(SEC) for failing to ensure freeand fair elections to municipalbodies. At the same time,Sukhbir requested the GovernorVP Singh Badnore to avert moreloss of lives as had occurred inMoga on Tuesday night.

Condemning the barbaricmanner in which Congressmenran over two Akali workers —Harminder and Jagdeep — inMoga, Sukhbir said that theSEC was directly responsiblefor these deaths as it had failedto rein in Congress goonsdespite repeated complaintssince more than one week.

“Had the SEC done its dutyand directed the State Police totake action in the cases of

armed attacks on SAD workersat Jalalabad and Bhikhiwind,Congress workers would nothave got so emboldened andmurdered Akali workers incold blood like this,” he said.

Asserting that the law andorder situation had gone out ofhand, Sukhbir requested theState Governor to interveneand direct the State police torestore law and order.

“Action should also be takenagainst the police officials whoare working as Congress work-ers and not allowing people toexercise their democratic right,”he said while also requesting theGovernor to direct all Stateagencies to stop harassment ofAkali workers at the instance ofCongress legislators, pointingthat raids were being conduct-ed on business premises of Akaliworkers to intimidate them.

Sukhbir also requested theGovernor to dismiss the StateElection Commissioner forfailing to safeguard democrat-ic principles. “It is more than afortnight that we have demand-ed that paramilitary forces bedeployed to ensure free and fairelections. We have alsodemanded that videographybe allowed in election boothsbesides instant counting ofvotes to avert booth rigging.However, the SEC is sleepingon the matter and behaving likea Sarkari Commissioner.Action should be taken against

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Slamming Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)for “shamelessly” spreading

canards, Punjab Congress presidentSunil Jakhar on Wednesday assertedthat it was the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), led by Parkash Singh Badal,which had passed the nefariousPunjab Contract Farming Act in2013 in collusion with the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP).

“It was this SAD-BJP combinewhich had dared to introduce a jail

term for farmers in the BudgetSession of 2013 after suspendingnine Congress MLAs to throttle theirvoice against these draconian mea-sures,” said Jakhar showing the videoclips of the said session while address-ing the media.

Mincing no words, Jakhar lam-basted AAP for siding with BJP on asensitive issue of farmers’ welfare.“They have bartered their souls totheir political bosses in BJP and areonly hell bent on defaming our farm-ers for their petty political aims,” he

said.Asking AAP’s Punjab unit co-

in-charge Raghav Chadha to apol-ogize to Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh for making falseallegations against him, Jakharpointed that the Congress legislatorswere not part of the proceedingsduring which the questioned Billwas passed after the BJP’sManoranjan Kaila seconded theBill, presented by the then ChiefMinister Parkash Singh Badal.

Watching his political base slip-

ping away, the SAD president is busyprotecting his own turf rather thanprotecting the interests of the farm-ers he espouses so brazenly, Jakharpointed out.

Throwing an open challenge tothe BJP, Jakhar said that rather thanmaking provoking statements, theparty leaders should come to PunjabAgriculture University, Ludhiana, foran open debate on three anti-farmeragriculture laws and make the farm-ers understand about the benefits ofthese laws.

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While speaking at theAdvisory Council meet-

ing, the UT Administrator VPSingh Badnore expressed con-cern over poor COVID-19vaccination coverage in theunion territory.

He said that there are someunfounded apprehensions inthe minds of certain peopleregarding the vaccination. Isolicit your support in spread-ing the correct message in thisregard so that all prioritizedpersons take the vaccines notonly to save themselves butalso all their near and dearones and contribute in pro-viding immunity to the nation,

he added.The overall COVID-19

vaccination coverage stands atjust 28.7 percent in the city, asper the data of Government ofIndia. Chandigarh is placed atsixth position in the list ofworst performing states /UTsin COVID-19 vaccinationcoverage and is among the listof places having vaccinatedless than 40 percent healthcare workers t i l l now.

As per government’s data,6027 healthcare workers andfrontline workers have beeninoculated in Chandigarh. OnTuesday, only 431 beneficiariesagainst the target of 1590 hadturned up at ten sites to get a

shot of vaccination in the city.During the meeting which

lasted for more than threehours, Badnore informed thatthe Administration has hired aprivate consultant to assess thescope of extending the lal dorain the city's village. It was alsoinformed that an IndiaInternational Centre (IIC) willbe developed at the existing siteof conference-cum-media cen-tre in the premises of BeantSingh memorial in Sector 42here. The estimated cost of theproject is Rs 4.93 crore and itwould include basement, cafe-teria, lounge, coffee bat, terracegarden among other features.The work is likely to be com-pleted by June this year.

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stork, Ibis, common teal amongmany other species.

The wildlife officer saidthat the birds arrive during thewinter migration season fromabout 29 countries betweenSeptember and October andmake a return journey byMarch. Following the ongoing

Covid-19 pandemic and birdflu, the department of forest(wildlife) has not yet decided toopen up the bird sanctuary forvisitors.

The migratory birds hadstarted arriving in the Nationalpark much before the onset ofwinter this year. As the park has

an ideal habitat for birds, everyyear a large number of birds flymillions of miles to these wet-lands for resting and feeding.

Chahal further said thatas many as 75 species of birdswere seen during the week-long second round of birdwatching trip held recently.

Chandigarh: BJP nationalgeneral secretary Tarun Chughon Wednesday minced nowords to say that Punjab ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh has let loose hordes of“goondas” in the State to stiflethe voice of the BJP. Chugh,in a scathing attack on theChief Minister, said that CaptAmarinder has subverted alldemocratic norms and hasunleashed a reign of terror andviolence in the State in his ner-vous run-up to the municipalelections.

“Congress has been pro-moting goonda raj in Punjabin the face of its bleak chancesof winning in the municipalpolls. The writing on the wall

for Amarinder is clear, so he isgetting nervous and jitteryand is seeking help of goondasand unlawful elements to cowdown the BJP,” said Chugh.

Reacting to the ChiefMinister's statement that theBJP would be wiped out inthe wake of the farmer bills,Chugh said that CaptAmarinder’s “wishful” think-ing has made him blind to theground realities. “He is livingin a fool's paradise if hethinks that the BJP could bewiped out. Many Congressleaders in the past had suchdreams in their eyes, but theBJP has only grown fromstrength to strength,” saidChugh. SR

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him immediately,” he said.As the civic body polls are

inching closer, the state hasbeen witnessing several inci-dents of violence and clashesbetween the Congress and SADworkers, with attacks on theBJP leaders and workers by theagitating farmers.

On Tuesday, a violent clashbroke out between SAD and

Congress workers in Mogadistrict, wherein two SADworkers were killed.

Earlier this month,Sukhbir’s vehicle was alleged-ly pelted with stones whenparty workers were attacked byCongress members, allegedlyled by the son of CongressMLA from Jalalabad RaminderSingh Awla.

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The Haryana Governmenton Wednesday decided to

grant exemption in motor vehi-cle tax to auto rickshaws andtaxis operating within the Delhi-national capital region (NCR).

The decision was takenduring a meeting of the statecabinet held here under thechairmanship of Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar. An offi-cial statement said the decisionwill ensure seamless move-ment of cabs and auto rick-shaws in NCR and provide bet-ter and efficient transport ser-vices to people.

The exemption was grant-ed as per the contract carriagepermit issued by the NCRstates other than Haryanaunder the reciprocal commontransport agreement (contractcarriage). At present, autorickshaws and taxis registeredin Haryana and having con-tract carriage permits underthe RCTA are not required topay tax while entering andoperating in NCR states --Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan andDelhi -- with Haryana being anexception.

“The decision aims to grantsimilar exemption in the motorvehicle tax by Haryana to auto-rickshaws and taxis operating

within NCR as per contractcarriage permits issued by NCRstates other than Haryana --that is Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthanand NCT of Delhi,' the state-ment said.

“Thus, no tax will becharged from such vehicles ofother NCR states having con-tract carriage permits under theNCR reciprocal commontransport agreement whileentering and operating inHaryana,” it said.

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To encourage sportsper-sons of Haryana especiallythose who are not economicallyweak but have qualified for par-ticipation in the OlympicGames, the government decid-

ed to grant Rs 5 lakh to themas 'preparation money' for bet-ter diet, training and capacitybuilding. This is expected tohelp improve training of play-ers before the competition andwill lead to more medals for theState and the Country in theOlympics.

The players, with the helpof this preparatory money,after getting quality trainingand diet, will excel in sports,which will bring glory to theState in particular and to thecountry as a whole, the state-ment said.The Cabinet decid-ed to create a separate cadre topromote sports in the state. Forthis, 50 posts of group-A(deputy director), 100 posts ofgroup-B (senior coach), 150posts of group-B (coach) and250 posts of group-C (juniorcoach) have been sanctioned.

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The State Governmentapproved the proposal ofCooperation Department forproviding State governmentguarantee for availing termLoan of Rs 113.03 crore byHAFED from the NationalBank for Agriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD) forconstruction of 2.72 lakh MTcapacity godowns at 16 loca-tions in eight districts of theState so as to further strength-en the storage system.

These godowns are beingconstructed at Bhuna, Uklanaand Hobli in district Fatehabad,Barwala in district Hisar, Hisar,Kholawas and Bawani Kheri indistrict Bhiwani, Kharia andPanniwala Mota in districtSirsa, Indri, Manchuri andNissing in district Karnal,Ladwa and Ajrana Kalan indistrict Kurukshetra, Nasirpurin district Ambala and Sevli indistrict Palwal.

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The Budget Session ofHaryana Assembly will

start from March 5, the StateCabinet decided. The sessionwill start at 2 pm on March 5,a Government statement said.

Page 3: 2 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP ... · on New Delhi’s bid, and called for evolving a “package solu- ... answered saying “ ye kanun kisi ke liye bandhan

RAIPUR | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 11, 2021

chhattisgarh 03

The Chhattisgarh Contractors Association held a meeting on Wednesday at a hotel in Raipur to discuss the issues faced by them so that the state government can be asked to resolve them. Pioneer Photo

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

'Arpa Mahotsav' willprovide a new identity

to Gaurela-Marwahi-Pendra,Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel said onWednesday to mark one yearsince the district was carvedout.

The foundation of the‘Mahotsav’ has been laid insuch manner that in comingyears it will see an expandedand grander form, he told theconcluding ceremony of theevent.

Baghel announced that astatue of Dr Bhanwar SinghPorte will be established inthe college and school namedafter him. He also dedicatedand laid the foundation stonefor different works in the

district to the tune of `20crores.

He said the land ofGaurela-Marwahi-Pendrais sacred. The water whichemerges from this landreaches the Ganges,Narmada, Son andMahanadi. ‘Arpa’ is the firstword of the State Song.

“Gurudev RabindraNath Tagore stayed inPendra for a year and a halffor the treatment of hiswife,” recalled Baghel.

The Chief Ministersaid to preserve thememory of PanditMadhavrao Sapre, a pio-neer in journalism, thefoundation stone of thePress Club building hasbeen laid in his name. Itwill be built at a cost of `50lakhs.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh’s Rajya Sabhamember Phulo Devi

Netam on Wednesday soughta separate channel for‘Chhattisgarhi’ inDoordarshan.

Making a special mentionin the upper house, PhuloDevi (Congress) saidChhattisgarh has completed20 years of existence as a state.But no concrete steps havebeen taken for promoting anddeveloping Chhattisgarhi lan-guage, said a press statement.

Different states have sepa-rate channels in Doordarshanbased on the local languages.But in Chhattisgarh,Doordarshan is not operatingany such channel where pro-grammes are transmitted onlyin Chhattisgarhi.

But private regional chan-nels are running programmesin Chhattisgarhi, she pointed

out.She said the state needs

such a channel where art, cul-ture and heritage related pro-grammes are shown and theinterests of local artists areprotected. The state-basedDoordarshan is capable ofrunning such a channel.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Local train services crippled byCovid-19 will now resume

services.The South East Central

Railway (SECR) is commencingthe 12 special trains fromFebruary 12 on the Bilaspur-Raipur-Dongargarh route, said acommunication issued onWednesday.

A SECR Raipur Railwaydivision communication saystrains 08261/08262 (Bilaspur-Raipur-Bilaspur) and08703/08704 (Raipur-Durg-Raipur) MEMU special will runfrom February 12. Train08727/08728 (Bilaspur-Raipur-Bilaspur) MEMU special willstart service on February 13 and14. Train 08717 (Raipur-Durg)MEMU will run from February14 and (Durg-Raipur) MEMU

from February 15. Similarly,08709/08710 (Raipur-Dongargarh-Raipur) MEMU

special will commence serviceon February 12 and 13 respec-tively.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

The Principal Secretaryof Chhattisgarh School

Education Dr. Alok Shuklaon Wednesday told districteducation officers that it ismandatory to comply withthe Chhattisgarh FeeRegulation Act for non-government schools withinthree months.

The officers will beresponsible for any failure,Dr Shukla said whilereviewing the operation ofthe Swami AtmanandEnglish Medium Schools, apress release said.

A strategy has beenchalked out for better

operation of these schools,it said.

He called for a propos-al to cancel deputation of

those teachers who are notinterested in teaching inthese schools.

Dr Shukla wanted chil-

dren of Hindi mediumschools to be motivated byshowing them the benefitsof English mediumschools.

He said that to increasethe quality of these Englishmedium schools, it is nec-essary to have well-organ-ized training.

Dr Shukla also orderedwithholding of incrementsof absentee principals.

The meeting wasattended by SCERTDirector D. Rahul Venkat,Additional Director Dr.Yogesh Shivhare andDeputy Director ofDirectorate of PublicEducation AshutoshChabre among others.

STAFF REPORTER nDANTEWADA

Thirteen Maoists, three ofwhom carried a cash

reward of `1 lakh each ontheir heads, have surrenderedin Chhattisgarh's Dantewadadistrict, police said onWednesday.

The Naxalites said theywere disappointed by theMaoist ideology, meaninglessviolence and hardships ofjungle life in Bastar region, apress release from Dantewadapolice said.

Of the 13, LakhmaMidiyami, a Jan Milita com-mander, Bheema alias KamluKarma, President of theMaoist DKAMS(Dandakaranya Kisan AdivasiMazdur Sangh), a frontal bodyof the Maoists, and JogiMidiyami carried cashrewards for their capture.

According to the police,Mangal Ram Sodhi, who was

involved in an attack on thehouse of Congress leaderAwdhesh Gautam at Nakulnarin 2010, also surrendered.

They surrendered underthe Dantewada police’s specialdrive ‘Lon Vrratu’(Homecoming) launched inJune last year. So far, 310Maoists have surrendered inthe district. Seventy-seven ofthem carried cash rewards.

They were providedimmediate financial assistanceof `10,000 and will be rehabil-itated in accordance with therehabilitation policy of thestate government.

Demand for separate‘Chhattisgarhi’channel raised

Local train services from Feb 12

‘Arpa Mahotsav’ to give newidentity to district: Baghel

13 Maoists surrenderin Dantewada

So far, 310Maoists havesurrenderedin the district

Comply Fee Regulation Act in 3 months: Official

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh Police onWednesday arrested

two young men from NewDelhi and brought themhere on charges of cheat-ing an elderly woman ofgold ornaments and cashvalued at `5.5 lakhs.

Raipur SeniorSuperintendent of PoliceAjay Kumar Yadav told ThePioneer that the two areGopal Solanki (23) andRahul Parmar (22), res-idents of the national capi-tal.

In January, PremlataAgrawal (63) told thepolice that two personscheated her of gold orna-ments valued at `5 lakhand `5,000 in cash inShastri Market area in the

Gole Bazar police stationlimits.

Based on analysis ofmobile phone records,police nabbed them fromseparate localities in NewDelhi.

The two confessed to

the police that they cheat-ed the woman when shewas buying vegetables,with one of the accusedpretending to be hungry.

Police have recoveredtwo mobile phones fromthem.

Two youths held for cheating womanThe two confessed tothe police that theycheated the woman

when she was buyingvegetables, with one ofthe accused pretending

to be hungry

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

There is a feeling that tribesneed water for irrigation

to continue farming in theBastar region, and so theBodhghat project is vital,Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel said onWednesday.

Interacting with the mediabefore leaving for Pendra, hesaid the tribal farmers haveland but no water to cultivate.They are totally dependent onmonsoon. Therefore, an irri-gation project is a necessity.

Additionally, the projectwill ensure drinking water inthe region, Baghel added.

Asked about protests by

some villagers against theproject, the Chief Ministercountered: "Should not thewater reach the crops of tribalfarmers? If anyone has analternate suggestion, they cancome up with it. Those whoare protesting are not support-ing the tribes."

"Tears are tears," he saidcryptically, when asked abouta teary-eyed Prime MinisterNarendra Modi during thefarewell speech by retiringRajya Sabha member GhulamNabi Azad.

Baghel added: "Whenfarmer leader Tikait shedtears, the farmers from UttarPradesh, Rajasthan andHaryana stood by him."

Filaria detectiondrive begins in RaipurRAIPUR: A special drive for filariadetection was launched in Raipur dis-trict, officials said on Wednesday.

The blood sample collection wasstarted in Arang in Abhanpur blockalong with Kasiram Nagar andRajendra Nagar in Raipur city as theseare sensitive filaria spots, a press releasesaid.

Dr Vimal Kishor Rai said healthteams are visiting door to door and col-lecting samples. Also, residents werebeing provided filaria preventive medi-cine.

If filaria is not treated in its earlystage, it becomes incurable.

Filaria is spread by flex and men-sonides mosquitos which leave a para-site when they bite. The parasite repli-cates quickly and is active in outerblood veins at night, the release said,adding this is why samples are collectedat night.

CM stands by projectto irrigate Bastar

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Charging the Governmentwith ignoring the poor in

the Budget for the next fiscal,the Congress leader Kapil Sibalon Wednesday said in theRajya Sabha the NDA regimein last six years “mismanagedeconomy” and encouraged“crony capitalism” by favouring“three or four big boys.”

Rejecting his claim, BJPleader Sushil Kumar Moditermed the Budget as “bold andreformist” and said it tookcare of all sections of the soci-ety. He also listed out severalwelfare measures taken to reachout to the poor during the lock-down period last year.

Listing some of the bigsteps, the newly elected MP tothe Upper House said in hismaiden speech, the next yearwill see more than �100 croreinfused into the infrastructuresector to boost the economy.Modi also said disinvestmentwas needed to raise money andmake the economy vibrant.

Initiating the debate onthe budget presented FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon February 1, Sibal said theBudget document was “jug-glery of data.”

He also questioned theGovernment for not listening

to “mann ki baat” of farmersprotesting at Delhi’s borders,saying their demand wasMinimum SupportPrice(MSP), which is a mini-mum thing that they are ask-ing for unlike big corporates.

Cautioning the govern-ment against the farm laws tobring in reforms in the agri-culture sector, Sibal said suchexperiments in the US andEurope led to corporatisation.Claiming that the number ofsmall farmers had reduced inthe US due to these measures,he said the suicide rate wasmore in rural areas of the USand compared to urban centres.

Noting that subsidies givento farmers were lower in Indiacompared to China, the US andEurope, the Congress leadersaid “In the US, every farmergets from the Governmentabout USD 62,000 aa year. Youare not willing to give our farm-ers MSP. Farmer does not askfor more, your corporates do...”When corporates ask for taxrelief and exemptions, the gov-ernment gives them, he added.

Terming the Budget as“vote bank politics,” he saidwhile it talks about growth itcompletely ignores the peopleof the country. Sibal said sev-eral indicators have shown thatthe economy was in shambles

even before the Covid crisis.Sibal also took critical stock

of AtmaNirbhar Bharat andasked if the Sc and St besidesminorities have become self-reliant. The Congress leaderfurther said the governmentwas not focussing on job loss-es. He said 120 million jobswere lost due to Covid-19 pan-demic but the allocation forMNREGA has been reduced.

Terming that the Budget2021 was “jugglery of data”,Sibal said the government was“perpetuating a rigged eco-nomic system” besides doing a“loot bank politics” as moredevelopment works have beenannounced for poll-boundstates of West Bengal, Assamand others.

While every budget hastwin objectives of growth andequity, the government haspreferred growth and forgottenthe poor people of the country,while also promoting “cronycapitalism”, he alleged.

Sibal, without naming any-one, said one big corporate wasall over in all sectors fromports to airports to gas and rail-ways.

The projects were e givento them overriding think-tankNiti Ayog and FinanceMinistry’s objections, heclaimed.

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The CBI has registered twoseparate cases related to

bank fraud worth about �225crore and conducted search-es on Wednesday at eightlocations in Delhi,Ahmedabad, Gandhinagarand Gurgaon.

The first case was regis-tered against a private com-pany Archon EngiconLtd.based at Ahmedabad oth-ers including its DirectorsChandrashekhar BalkrushanPanchal, NehalChandershekhar Panchal, AjitRaina, Devendra Singh andSunil Mishra besidesunknown public servants/per-sons on a complaint fromState Bank of India.

It was alleged that thesaid company was in the busi-ness of construction, erec-tion and commissioning ofpower transmission and tele-com towers since 2004.

State Bank of India,Ahmedabad Branch had sanc-tioned various credit facilitiesto said company representedby its Managing Director,Directors/ Promoters alongwith SBI (lead Bank), otherbanks including Bank ofBaroda, Bank of India, DenaBank and IDBI Bank hadsanctioned credit facilities tothe company under consor-tium banking arrangement.

It was further alleged thatduring the period from 2014-15 to 2016-17, the accusedentered into conspiracy andafter availing the said limits,

the accused diverted the sanc-tioned facilities by falsifyingbooks of accounts and issuingbogus invoices/bills and there-by causing loss of �182.37crore to SBI.

Searches were conductedat Ahmedabad (Gujarat) andGurgaon (Haryana) at thepremises of accused which ledto recovery of certain incrim-inating documents includingforeign currency of variouscountries, details and keys oflockers; details of investmentin securities, mutual fundsand other investment andcash of � 42 lakh.

The second case was reg-istered on a complaint fromIndian Overseas Bank againsta Delhi-based private firmGoyal Engineering PolymersPvt. Ltd. and others includingits Directors Pawan Goyal,Usha Goyal, Gunjan Goyal,Seiji Itagki and Yogi Sakaibesides other unknown per-sons/public servants on theallegations that the saidaccused had defrauded thebank by giving improperinformation and falsificationof documents.

It was further alleged thatthe firm carried out substan-tial wrongful transactions withsister concerns/associatesshowing wrongful use of bor-rowed funds and diversion offunds to sister concerns,thereby causing loss of �42.72crore to the Bank.

Searches were conductedat the premises of accused atthree places in Delhi yieldedin recovery of incriminatingdocuments.

&���� ������203

The Centre and States oweAir India �498.17 crore as

on December 31, 2020 forVVIP travel, evacuation oper-ations, travel of foreign digni-taries among other services.The Governments in statesand at the Centre owe the air-line �84.57 crore for VVIPtravel, � 12.61 crore for foreigndignitaries’ travel, �9.67 crorefor evacuation operations and�391.32 crore as other out-standing dues, Union CivilAviation minister HardeepSingh Puri told Rajya Sabha ina written reply to a question.

The national carrierincurred a provisional loss of�7,982 crore in 2019-20 ascompared to the net loss of�8,556 crore in 2018-19, Purisaid. The Government is cur-rently in the process to sell its

entire stake in debt-ridden air-line.

“The total amount of out-standing dues owed by theCentral and State Governmentsto Air India for VVIP travel,evacuation operations, foreigndignitaries travel and otheroutstanding dues as on31.12.2020 is �498.17 crore,”Puri stated.

In reply to another ques-tion, Puri said that amid coro-navirus pandemic, domesticpassenger traffic fell from11,99,45,632 during March-December 2019 to 3,77,79,592during March-December 2020,while international passengertraffic fell from 1,96,64,179 to18,55,033.Similarly, Revenuesof major Indian scheduled car-riers fell from �46,711 croreduring April-September 2019 toabout Rs 11,810 crore duringApril-September 2020. Their

full time and contractualemployment which was �74,887as on 31 March 2020 fell to�67,906 as on 30 September2020.

In a written reply to RajyaSabha to a asked by ND Gupta,Union Civil Aviation MinisterHardeep Singh Puri said thatairline carriers have been severe-ly affected due to restrictions ondomestic and internationalpassenger movements.“Domestic air cargo handled fellfrom 1.15 million metric tonnes(MMT) during March-December 2019 to 0.72 MMTduring March-

December 2020, whileinternational air cargo handledfell from 1.74 MMT to 1.19MMT.Deccan Charters Pvt. Ltd.and M/s. Air Odisha AviationPvt. Ltd. have ceased operationsfrom 24 July 2020 and 30 July2020 respectively”, Puri said.

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The Defence GeoinformaticsResearch Establishment has

issued a level-2 danger (low) interms of avalanche outlook forLeh in Ladakh and Lahaul-Spitiand Kullu in Himachal Pradeshtill Thursday evening. This isreplete with partly unsafe con-ditions with possible small sizetriggering along a few extremeslopes. Valley movements aregenerally safe while movementsalong slopes need caution.

Meanwhile, the IndiaMeteorological Departmenthas predicted dry weather inUttarakhand till February 14.According to the IMD, anincoming western disturbancehas moved in closer in theform of a cyclonic circulationto the hills of North-WestIndia as it lay this (Wednesday)morning over North Pakistanwith an overarching troughover Central Pakistan. It hasalready started influencingweather over North-WestIndia.

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In the Lok Sabha, initiatingthe debate on the Budget,

Congress MP Shashi Tharoorslammed the Government forignoring the “aam admi” andshowing insensitivity towardsagitating farmers in the budgetproposals. “The aam aadmihas been let down totally in thelast seven years...And the bud-get has betrayed his most fun-damental aspirations,” saidTharoor, accusing the FinanceMinister of “running out ofideas”.

The finance minister hasneither played defensive nor hitthe ball, he said, adding, “Shehas just run out of ideas. Youcannot cross the sea but justkeep staring at it.” Tharoor saidthe budget has reduced expen-diture on defence and health-care, and “delivered a blow tothe economic system”.Although the nation suffered alot because of the stringentlockdown in the wake of theCOVID-19 pandemic, the gov-ernment’s response to dealwith the sufferings of people“showed no sensitivity”, hesaid,adding, “Bharat shouldbecome aatmanirbhar (self-reliant) and not Bharatvasis.”

Accusing the governmentof ignoring the crisis instead ofrecognising that there is one atthe border with China, Tharoorsaid the Centre seems to haveoverturned the slogan “JaiJawan, Jai Kisan” into “NaJawan, Na Kisan”. The budget,he said, did nothing to assuagethe concerns of the agitatingfarmers with regard to theminimum support price(MSP).

Countering theOpposition, BJP MPMeenakshi Lekhi said due tothe efforts of the NarendraModi government, the countryhas come out of the “fragilefive” economies. Today, India isamong the top five economiesin the world, she said, addingthat the finance minister is nowtalking about a double-digitgrowth rate.

The economy is projectedto grow at 11 per cent during2021-22 after a likely contrac-tion of 7.7 per cent in the cur-rent financial year as a result ofthe impact of the coronaviruspandemic. After saving lives, thefocus is now on promotinglivelihood, which the budget hastried to do, Lekhi said, addingthat the allocations for most ofthe sectors have been doubled.

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In a big relief to highwaycommuters, the National

Highways Authority of Indiaon Wednesday said it hasdecided to do away with therequirement of maintaining aminimum amount in FASTagwallet to ensure seamlessmovement at electronic tollplazas.

It has been decided thatthe users will now be allowedto pass through the toll plaza,if the FASTag account/ walletbalance is non-negative. Aftercrossing the toll plaza, if theaccount balance becomesnegative, the bank can recov-er the amount from the secu-rity deposit, which should bereplenished at the time of thenext recharge by the user.

“In order to increase theFASTag penetration to ensureseamless movement of trafficand to reduce avoidabledelays at the toll plazas, NHAIhas decided to remove themandatory threshold amountfor the FASTag account / wal-let, which was paid by the

user in addition to the secu-rity deposit for the passenger segment(Car/Jeep/Van),” NHAI saidin a statement.

It said issuer banks wereunilaterally mandating somethreshold amount value forthe FASTag account/wallet, inaddition to the securitydeposit amount.

As a result, many FASTagusers were not allowed topass through a toll plaza, inspite of having sufficient bal-ance in their FASTagaccount/wallet, the statement

said adding this was resultinginto unwanted hassles andavoidable delay at toll plazas.

With more than 2.54crore users, FASTag con-tributes 80 per cent of thetotal tol l collection. Daily toll collec-tion through FASTag hascrossed Rs 89 crore mark.

As payment on toll plazasthrough FASTag will becomemandatory from February 15,2021, NHAI is targeting toachieve 100 per cent cashlesstolling at the toll plazas acrossthe country.

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The CRPF on Wednesdayreleased “Warrior’s Creed-

Our doctrines” at a function atCRPF Academy Gurugram.The document is a collation ofCRPF’s operational philosophyand mores aimed at providingthe future leaders with guidingprinciples for administrativeand operational imperatives.

A brain child of DirectorGeneral of CRPF, Dr A PMaheswari, the compilation ofthe doctrine was undertakenjointly by the CRPF Academyand the Operations Directorateof the Force’s headquarters here.The document has recordedand codified the doctrineswhich will also go a long way in‘fostering initiative’ and ‘stimu-lating creativity’.

“It is for the first time in thehistory of CRPF that such a key-stone document has been pro-mulgated. This work has beeninspired by the vision of Dr AP Maheshwari, DG CRPF.CRPF, the nation’s lead CounterInsurgency force, is deployedacross the country, performingmyriad duties, with 90 %strength deployed continuous-

ly in high intensity violence the-atres. Consequently, CRPF isrequired to maintain a high levelof readiness, regardless of theterrain or the weather. CounterInsurgency Ops have, over theyears, become far more complexand challenging, necessitatingthe need for an intellectualstudy framework, which shouldbe coherent enough to provideguidance and flexible enough tobe adapted to given scenarios,”the CRPF said in a statement.

Speaking on the occasion,DG CRPF reiterated that theWarrior’s Creed is not meant tobe sacrosanct or timeless, theywill continue to evolve withchanging times and challenges.They will not act as iron tightprocedures or diktats but as aguide to help commanders tothink, within the parameters ofour charter of duties, and exe-cute operational tasks in the bestpossible manner.

He also stressed thatDoctrines are always ‘unfinishedproducts’ being ‘Evolving innature’, for ready reference as‘Distilled wisdom’ and a‘Referral document’ for the pol-icy makers, CRPF personneland the academia.

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Clinicians should have a“high level of suspicion”

about possible Covid-19 symp-toms in the two weeks follow-ing vaccination, results of a newstudy in healthcare workers hassuggested.

While the study that waspublished in the journalEmerging Infectious Diseasebased its conclusion followingpatients outcomes in a workervaccination programme at alarge Israeli hospital wherethey were given the first dosesof the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccinegiven December last year, suchcases have emerged in India toowhere healthcare workers arebeing given Covishield andCovaxin.

For instance, five doctors inChamarajanagar district inKarnataka in India tested pos-itive for Covid-19 a week afterthey got the first shot of thevaccine in January last this year.

The Israeli study hadexcluded workers who alreadyhad recovered from Covid-19.

Among more than 4,000vaccinated hospital staff mem-bers, 22 developed Covid-19from one to 10 days followingimmunisation (a median 3.5days). Thirteen workers weretested after showing symptoms(typically including fever,chills, cough, headache, mus-cle aches and sore throat). Twoothers were tested due toexposure to confirmed or sus-pected Covid-19 cases, and

asymptomatic cases werefound as part of post-exposurescreening, reported GiliRegev-Yochay, M.D., ofHarvard and Chaim ShebaMedical Center, in Israel.

The takeaway? “Cliniciansshould not dismiss post-vac-cination symptoms as vac-cine-related and shouldpromptly test for Covid-19,”Regev-Yochay and colleagueswrote.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vac-cine is not likely protectiveagainst clinical disease thefirst days after the first dose isgiven, according to results ofclinical trials. Although pro-tection increases to 52% aweek after the first dose, pos-itive Covid-19 test results havebeen found among vaccinerecipients even early after thesecond dose.

“Thus, during a large-scaleimmunisation campaign coin-ciding with rapid nationalincrease in Covid-19 cases,some immunised persons like-ly will develop clinical disease,”the authors of the hospitalstudy concluded.

Health experts have calledfor the need to practice pre-cautions like wearing masks,social distancing norms, handwashing and avoiding crowd-ed areas.

Those who have receivedboth shots of the vaccineshould follow all precautionsuntil a significant percentage ofthe population has been vac-cinated, as per health experts.

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The Central Governmentwill be increasing the num-

ber of inoculation sites to75,000 in a couple of weeksfrom now as a part of a massivecapacity building exerciseahead of the Covid-19 vacci-nation roll out for the peopleabove 50 years

This was stated by Dr N.KArora, Head, OperationsResearch Group, NationalCOVID-19 Task Force at a vir-tual event on Wednesday.

“In the next couple ofweeks, the number of immu-nisation centres will beincreased from 50,000 to75,000 and we would be able tovaccinate about 5 to 7 millionpeople everyday,” he said. Aroraadded that the country has thecapacity to inoculate 1 crorepeople everyday. “We have thecapacity to vaccinate 10 millionindividuals per day,” he said.

Meanwhile, on Wednesdaythe total number of people whohave received Covid-19 vacci-nations in the country reached68,26,898, said Union healthministry joint secretaryMandeep Bhandari. As manyas 2,15,113 jabs were adminis-tered on Wednesday till 6 pm.

Out of the total, the num-ber of healthcare workers whohave been inoculated stands at56,65,172 and the number offrontline workers are 11,61,726.

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The Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs has

said that the heritage buildingof National Archives will beretained while the NationalMuseum will get shifted toretrofitted North and SouthBlocks. As per plan, IndiraGandhi National Centre forthe Arts (IGNCA) will betemporarily housed in therefurbished Janpath Hotelbuilding and will finally beshifted to a new building to beconstructed at JamnagarHouse plot.

In a reply to Rajya Sabha,Union Housing and UrbanAffairs Minister HardeepSingh Puri said that as perCentral Vista Development/Redevelopment Plan evolvedso far, heritage building ofNational Archives will beretained. National Museumwill get shifted to retrofittedNorth and South Blocks.

“Indira Gandhi NationalCentre for the Arts (IGNCA)will be temporarily housed inthe refurbished Janpath Hotelbuilding and will finally beshifted to a new building to beconstructed at JamnagarHouse plot”, he said in a writ-ten reply to a starred questionasked by MP KC Venugopalin Central VistaRedevelopment Project.

“Clearance of HeritageConservation Committee hasbeen obtained on 11.01.2021for construction of NewParliament Building and forCentral Vista Avenue Projectson 02.02.2021. For other pro-jects, it will be obtained,wherever necessary’, Puri said.

The Centre last week heldthe bhoomi poojan for layingthe foundation stone of theredeveloped and restructuredCentral Vista Avenue—thenext phase of the CentralVista redevelopment plan.

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The Supreme Court onWednesday asked the

Centre and some States torespond to a plea which hassought direction to repeal theprovisions criminalising beg-ging saying it leaves peoplewith “unreasonable choice” ofcommitting crime or starving.

A bench of Justices AshokBhushan and R S Reddy issuednotices and sought replies fromthe Centre as also Maharashtra,Gujarat, Punjab, Haryana andBihar on the plea whichclaimed that sections of thestatutes criminalising beggingis violative of Constitutionalrights.

“Issue notice returnable insix weeks,” the bench said,while hearing the petition filedby Meerut resident VishalPathak.

The plea, filed throughadvocate H K Chaturvedi, hasreferred to the August 2018verdict of the Delhi High Courtwhich had decriminalised begging in thenational capital and said thatprovisions of the BombayPrevention of Begging Act,1959 which treats begging as anoffence cannot sustain consti-tutional scrutiny.

“The provisions of thestatutes criminalising the act ofbegging puts people in a situa-tion to make an unreasonablechoice between committing acrime or not committing oneand starving, which goes againstthe very spirit of theConstitution and violates Article21 i.E. Right to Life,” the pleafiled in the top court said.

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The Supreme Court onWednesday issued notice

on a plea seeking contemptaction against Maharashtraprincipal secretary VikasKharge and eight others forrewarding people who hadkilled an alleged 'man-eater'tigress ‘Avni' in Yavatmal dis-trict in 2018.

A bench of Chief JusticeBobde and Justices ASBopanna and VRamasubramanian was told byanimal rights activist SangeetaDogra that the tigress wasnot a man-eater as was evidentfrom the post-mortem reportof the animal.

“Issue notice returnablewithin two weeks. In themeantime, necessary docu-ments will be filed,” the benchsaid.

During the hearing, thebench asked Dogra as to howone can identify from thepost-mortem whether the ani-mal was a man-eater or not.

Dogra replied that if an

animal is man-eater it could beascertained from the DNAreports, hair and nails remainsin the intestines, which last formore than six months.

“The tigress which waskilled, her stomach wasempty,” she claimed.

She said that forest offi-cials of the state ordered killing‘Avni' on the ground that it hadkilled thirteen persons in thearea and was a man-eater.

“The killers of tigress wereawarded by the state and therewas celebration, which was inviolation of the top court'sorder”, Dogra said.

The bench said that itcannot control celebration butit can issue notice if peoplewere rewarded flouting theSupreme Court order.

The top court also askedDogra to file additional doc-uments to substantiate herclaim that the tigress was nota man-eater and said, “Wewant clear finding that thetigress was not a man-eaterand reports on nails, hairs andteeth”.

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Panaji: The Goa Government isconsidering softening the impactof the amended Motor Vehicles(MV) Act, which mandateshefty fines and penalties for traf-fic violators.

In the wake of severe criti-cism of the poor road infra-structure as well as the GoaLegislative Assembly electionsslated for early next year, theState Government has decidedto revise the traffic rules, sourcessaid.

After delaying the imple-mentation of the modified cen-tral act, first due to the onset ofthe pandemic and secondly dueto a lack of consensus in the StateCabinet, Goa's TransportMinister Mauvin Godinho hassaid that the State rules for theamended MV norms would beput in place soon, but finesimposed would be the mini-mum as prescribed under theamended legislation, pushed bythe road transport ministry and

aimed at making the roads safer.“We have done homework

on the Motor Vehicle Act. Forany offence, the law has given azone of consideration in finesfrom Rs 500 to Rs 5,000. So,from Rs 100 at present the finewill go up to Rs 500,” Godinhosaid.

Other traffic offences, forwhich fines have been hiked tobetween Rs 1,000 and Rs 8,000,they have been limited to Rs1,000, he added. “We have keptthe fines at the minimum,because we do not want to finepeople a lot,” Godinho said.

While a formal cabinet deci-sion vis-a-vis implementation ofthe MV Act has not been takenyet, Goa is not the only Indianstate to have taken a minimal-ist view as far as imposition ofthe steep fines, which the lawthat was amended in 2019,mandates.

Soon after the amendedMV Act was passed in the

Parliament, Gujarat was one ofthe first states to implement itand notify the rules, but onlyafter reducing the new finestructure. Other state govern-ments like Uttarakhand andKarnataka have also tweakedand lowered the quantum offines listed in the central law.

According to a GoaMinister, the steep fines in theamended law were unpopularand to impose such fines withthe state assembly electionsaround a year away would incurthe electoral wrath of the pub-lic.

“People are not used topaying such fines. It would notmake political sense to imple-ment such a law with electionsaround the corner. Such fineswould come as a shock to thepeople of Goa, especially whenCovid-19 has already causedeconomic hardship to the peo-ple,” a Minister said on conditionof anonymity. IANS

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For the first time in inde-pendent India, the Preamble

of the Constitution and thefundamental duties were readin the Assembly by GovernorKalraj Mishra before the startof his formal address to thesixth session of the 15thRajasthan Legislative Assemblyon Wednesday.

Mishra introduced thisnew tradition before hisaddress. While reading thePreamble and duties of the con-stitution in the LegislativeAssembly, the MLAs repeatedthem after him.

After administering theoath to all legislators to pro-mulgate the constitution andthe fundamental duties, theGovernor read the completeaddress.

Meanwhile, as theGovernor continued hisaddress, Communist Party ofIndia (Marxist) MLA BalwanPoonia created an uproar rais-ing slogans like 'Andolankari

Zindabad' in protest against thethree farm laws.

The CPI(M) leader con-tinued to create a ruckus in thewell of the House and theGovernor kept reading theaddress.

Many Congress leaders,including party whip MaheshJoshi and state ParliamentaryMinister Shanti Dhariwal, cameto pacify Left leader Pooniawho was joined by other lead-ers who raised slogans in favourof farmers saying 'Jai Kisan'while BJP MLAs continuedchanting 'Jai Shri Ram.'

Later, the Congress leadersconvinced Poonia to come outof the Assembly and took himout as the Governor continuedhis address.

After reading the speechfor nearly 45 minutes, theGovernor left the Assembly.

Earlier, Congress MLAIndira Meena came to theAssembly driving a tractor toshow her support for farmersprotesting against the threefarm laws.

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Jaipur: Information and PublicRelations DepartmentCommissioner Mahendra Sonidirected the newly appointedPublic Relations Officers toensure proper publicity andpublicity of public welfareschemes of the StateGovernment.

Soni, while addressing theofficers on Tuesday at the head-quarters of the Information andPublic Relations Department,apprised them of the depart-mental functioning.

Soni informed the officersabout all the cells of the depart-ment. He also explained aboutpress note writing. Discussed indetail about the language andstyle of advertisements to bereleased by the department.Also instructed the officers tounderstand the platforms ofsocial media and use digital toolsmore and more.

Saharanpur (UP): Congress general sec-retary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra onWednesday promised that his party willrepeal the three “black” central farm lawsand ensure MSPs for different crops assoon as it returned to power at the Centre.

“When the Congress comes to poweragain, we will immediately repeal thesefarm laws. We will also ensure MSPs forall farmers,” she said while addressing a'Kisan Panchayat' in Chilkhana inSaharanpur district.

Priyanka also urged the farmer notto step back from their ongoing agitationacross many states in support of theirdemands and assured that the Congresswould stand with them in “their fightagainst the black laws”.

“There should be no politics withfarmers. Those who do not respect thesentiments of farmers cannot be called

patriots,” the Congress leader said.The Congress leader also flayed

Prime Minister Narendra Modi whilereminding the audience that the BJP hadpromised to clear sugar cane duestotalling Rs 15,000 crore within 15 daysof coming to power at the Centre.

“Instead, the Prime Minister boughttwo planes worth Rs 16,000 crore for him-self and conveniently forgot about thefamers' money,” she quipped.

“When a farmer's son becomes ajawan, he provides security to the PrimeMinister but the latter does not recognisewhat lies in the hearts of farmers.”

“They claim that those protesting onthe Delhi borders are not farmers butanti-social elements. Why do they haveto ridicule the farmers? And what do theymean by using the term 'andolanjivi'?” sheasked. IANS

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The NIA special Court,Kolkata on Wednesday con-

victed the head of JMB (Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) inIndia, Kausar alias Boma Mizanunder the Unlawful Activities(Prevention) Act and IPCSections in connection with theBurdwan Blast Case for 29 years and a fine of Rs35,000.

Kausar is a resident ofShekharbhita village underJamalpur Police Station,Jamalpur district ofMaymansingh division,Bangladesh and was convictedfor offences under IPC Sectionsrelating to criminal conspiracyand various Sections of the UA(P) Act, Sections of Arms Actand provisions of the ForeignersAct.

He JMB is a proscribedorganization. He is also a

charge-sheeted accused inanother NIA Case related toBodh Gaya Blast in Bihar, inJanuary, 2018.

The background of the caseis that on October 2, 2014 atabout 12:15 hours, a powerfulbomb (IED) blast had takenplace at the first floor of a rent-ed house in the busyKhagragarh locality of Burdwandistrict of West Bengal.

The IED had accidentallygone off at the time of its fab-rication by the members ofbanned terrorist organizationJMB. Two terrorists had suc-cumbed to their injuries due tothe bomb blast. The case wasinitially registered by WestBengal Police, which was sub-sequently taken over by NIA onOctober 10, 2014 for investiga-tion.

“Investigation by NIArevealed a conspiracy by JMB( J a m a t - u l - M u j a h i d e e n

Bangladesh) to radicalize,recruit and provide training inarms and explosives to its mem-bers in India for committingterrorist acts and waging waragainst the democraticallyestablished Governments ofIndia and Bangladesh.

A large number of IEDs,explosives, hand grenades,training videos were recoveredduring the investigation of thecase,” the NIA said in a state-ment.

After extensive investiga-tion, a total of 33 accused werecharge sheeted by NIA forcommission of various offencesin this case. Out of 33 accused,31 were arrested. Earlier, 30accused persons were convict-ed and sentenced, to variousterms, by the NIA SpecialCourt, Kolkata. The trial againstthe remaining two abscondingcharge sheeted accused personscontinues, it added.

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The BJP will get a “crow-bite” forthe lies it peddles, Bengal Chief

Minister Mamata Banerjee onWednesday said once again stakingher personal charisma to charm thevoters ahead of the Assembly elec-tions.

She asked the electorate to“ignore who is contesting from agiven seat … only think thatMamata Banerjee is fighting fromall the (294) seats,” prompting hercritics to wonder whether the rul-ing Trinamool Congress was inshort supply of credible faces or“whether it has lost all credibility asa political unit.”

Addressing a huge rally inMalda, Banerjee quoted from afamous Rishi Kapoor-DimpleKapadia number warning “JhootBoley Kaua Katey … (you liars willget the crow-bite) … for all the liesthe BJP is peddling.”

The saffron outfit is a “factoryof liars whose only job is to createdivision among the communities,

castes, religions, Bengalis and non-Bengalis to ignite riots and garnervotes,” Banerjee said remindinghow “BJP makes fake videos --- byimposing clippings from Hindiand even Bangladeshi films --- ofwomen in Bengal being pulled bytheir sarees to fan communal riots.”

She said “the BJP will come toyou with cash … take them as thisis your money … but do not votefor them … do not allow the out-side ideas to ruin Bengal,” addingBengal will not be ruled by Gujarat“Bengal will only be ruled byBengal.”

The BJP leaders have been“falsely propagating against theBengal Government that we havestalled central schemes for farmerswhereas we have given them thenames and answered all the queries… now why are they not paying thefarmers (under Kisan SanmanNidhi),” Banerjee said adding howthe farmers of Uttar Pradesh,Punjab, Haryana, Bihar andMadhya Pradesh were crying andrepenting for having voted the

BJP.“We will not allow the BJP to

loot the farmers of Bengal like theyhave done to those of the otherStates… we will stop them at anycost,” the Chief Minister saidadding how her Governmentpulled the farmers out of theAmphan crisis and how herGovernment was providing freeration to the people of the State andhow “even the mid-day meal forstudents is being reached door-to-door as the schools are closed now-a-days.”

Claiming that even the mediawas not safe under the BJPGovernment Banerjee said how thesenior journalists (of various

English and other channels) werebeing framed by the Government.“They are not even sparing thejournalists who are being falselyimplicated in the farmers’ move-ment in Delhi,” she said.

Taking a dig at the BJP leader-ship for taking out Rath Yatras inBengal “spending crores of ill-got-ten rupees” she said the “we onlyknow about Rath Yatras LordJagannath who is our revered deity… but today the BJP leadershipthinks that it is equal to LordJagannath and so they are ridingRaths,” reminding how even thedemon king Ravan had also riddena Rath while abducting Mother Sita.

Meanwhile, BJP national pres-ident JP Nadda hit back at the ChiefMinister for perpetrating a dicta-torial rule in the State.

“Didi came to power riding theslogan of Maa-Mati, Manush buttoday she is pursuing a policy ofappeasement, dictatorship andextortion,” Nadda said from ameeting at Kalaikunda in WestMidnapore.

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In a fall-out of an order passedby the Bombay High Court

in a litigation between her andthe Bombay MunicipalCorporation (BMC) inNovember last year, Bollywoodactress Kangana Ranaut hasdecided to unconditionallywithdraw her suit against theBMC in the Bombay HighCourt over a 2018 demolitionnotice issued to her for certainalleged irregularities at herbungalow at Khar in north-west Mumbai.

In a submission madethrough her lawyer advocateBirendra Saraf before the highcourt, the actress said that shewould withdraw her case with-in the next four days uncondi-tionally and she would applyfor regularisation of alleged ille-gal portions in her structurewithin four weeks.

Allowing the Kangana towithdraw the appeal, a HC sin-gle-judge bench Judge JusticePrithviraj K Chavan said “Theappellant (Kangana) is per-mitted to apply for regularisa-tion before the BMC within aperiod of four weeks”. He saidthat the BMC shall decide thesame expeditiously and in

accordance with the law.The Judge also ruled that

no coercive action be taken bythe BMC till it considers anddecides on the actress’ regu-larisation application and fortwo weeks thereafter to enableher to appeal in case of anadverse order on her regulari-sation application.

He said this case which theactress is planning to withdrawrelates to her property inOrchid Breeze building at Kharin which the BMC had serveda demolition notice in 2018 forcertain unauthorised con-structions.

In 2018, the BMC hadserved a demolition notice toKangana for various unautho-rized construction in thepremises, which involvedmerging three apartments onthe 5th floor, constructingmore than permissible limits,and availing 50 per cent or area of the uninhabitedfloor space.

The Dindoshi civil courton December 22, 2020, dis-missed a notice of motion filedby Ranaut against a 2018 BMCnotice for alleged violation andirregularities at her Khar bun-galow. The civil court had,however, extended interim pro-

tection against coercive actionfor another six weeks to enableher to file an appeal before thehigh court.

While quashing and settingaside the latest notice datedSeptember 7 2020 and the sub-sequent oral demolition order,the HC bench had onNovember 27, 2020 allowedKangana to take such steps aswere required to make the saidbungalow “habitable” so thatthe Petitioner can immediate-ly start occupying and using thesame.

The HC bench said that inthe event of Kangana filing anapplication for regularisation ofany unauthorised but demol-ished portion of her bungalowmaking an application to theBMC, the BMC would decideon the application within fourweeks of the receipt of theapplication/plan.

In its ruling on the much-discussed on the Kanganademolition case, the HC benchhad held the action by the ShivSena-ruled BMC as “ex-facieillegal, arbitrary, unjustifiedand highhanded and mala fide”and said that the BMC had

“ignored” its statutory provi-sions and guidelines of theCourts as well as of its own cir-culars and the said action is anabuse of power and authority.“The Petitioner therefore isfully justified in approachingthis Court for redressal of hergrievances and the protectionof her rights,” the judgesobserved.

On the issue of allowingKangana to reconstruct thedemolished portion, the HCbench said: “As regards allow-ing the Petitioner to recon-struct demolished portions ofthe property, we record thatthough parties have taken con-trary positions about the autho-rized or unauthorized offend-ing portions, we have not beenshown any material to justifyeither of the contentions. Wehave, accordingly no occasionto decide one way or the other”

“We must accordingly leavethe parties to their positions inlaw. If, and to the extent thedemolished portions were orig-inally created / constructed inaccordance with law, that is tosay, either as tenantable repairs

for which no permission ofMCGM was required, or sim-ply matters of interior decora-tion and work for which noplanning permission isrequired, or were authorizedhaving regard to the approvedplans, the Petitioner shall bewithin her rights to recon-struct the same,” the judgessaid.

“In case they (Kangana)require a planning permissionand none exists, the Petitionermay apply for such permissionsand the MCGM shall be boundto deal with such application inaccordance with law,” thejudges noted.

It may be recalled that onSeptember 9, the demolitionsquad of the BMC pulled downa portion of Kangana Raut’sbungalow at Bandra in north-west Mumbai, which housedthe office of her film produc-tion company, ManikarnikaFilms Pvt Ltd.

By the time Bombay HighCourt stayed the demolition ofthe process of Kangana’s bun-galow, the BMC employees –who had come armed with bigdrill machines, hammers,sledgehammers and crowbarsand a JCB machine – pulleddown the allegedly illegal por-

tions involving at the bungalow.The BMC, which had

served a notice on the actresson September 7 about thealleged “illegal” constructionsat the bungalow, followed it upwith demolition on September9 after rejecting the reply pro-vided by the actress’ lawyersand pasting a response at thedoor of Kangana’s bungalow.

On the portion that has notbeen demolished by the BMC,the high court said: “As regardsthe area, which is not demol-ished by the MCGM, if theMCGM proposes to take anyaction, it may issue a notice giv-ing 7 days time to the Petitionerto respond to / comply with thesame. .... the Petitioner shallalso be at liberty to make anapplication seeking regular-ization of the works alreadycarried out but not demolishedunder section 53 (3) of theMRTP Act, 1966”.

“In case any such applica-tion is made no further steps inresponse to the notice shall betaken by the MCGM beforedisposal of such applicationand a copy of the order pro-vided to the Petitioner as wellas her Advocate,” the judgeshad ruled.

Saharanpur (UP): The districtadministration in Saharanpurimposed Section 144 ahead of theKisan panchayat that was to beaddressed by Congress general sec-retary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in theafternoon.

District Magistrate Saharanpurissued an order citing various rea-sons including upcoming festivities,the spread of Covid-19 pandemicand the possibility of violence byanti-social elements in the State. Therestrictions have been imposed tillApril 5.

Meanwhile, Priyanka GandhiVadra reached Dehradun onWednesday morning and is on herway to Saharanpur where she willfirst offer prayers at theShakumbhari Devi temple, beforeaddressing the Kisan panchayat.

Congress Leader PriyankaGandhi visits Raipur KhanqahDargah in Saharanpur on 10 febru-ary 2021. IANS

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Agra (Uttar Pradesh): TheSpecial Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offence (POCSO)court has convicted a man to lifeimprisonment for raping hisminor daughter.

The court also slapped a fineof Rs 1.75 lakh on the accusedand dismissed his plea for min-imum sentence, as there was noone in the family to take care ofhis elderly mother.

According to reports, theaccused, labourer by profes-sion, had raped his 12-year-olddaughter for 10 days in 2015, inthe absence of his wife, who hadgone to attend to her sister whowas recuperating after a surgery.

The matter came to lightwhen the girl's mother returnedhome and found her daughterdepressed and silent. After learn-ing about the incident, shelodged a police complaint at theJagdishpura police station inAgra on June 10, 2015. IANS

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Rona J. Wilson, one of primeaccused in the sensitive

Bhima-Koregaon case, onWednesday moved the BombayHigh Court seeking formationof a Special Investigation Team(SIT) to look into the “fake evi-dences” planted into his com-puter ahead of his arrest in thecase, and dismissal of the caseagainst him.

In an application filedthrough his lawyer R.Sathyanarayanan, Wilson citeda report prepared by a US-based digital forensic firmArsenal Consulting which hassaid that a Wilson’s laptop washacked and 10 letters planted init ahead of his arrest.

It may be recalled that thePune Police and later the NIAhad used the letters allegedlyrecovered from the computer ofHuman Rights activists RonaWilson Jacob to make out a caseagainst him other activists arrest-ed in the famous Bhima-Koregaon case.

Among other things,

Arsenal Consulting has claimedthat not only Wilson’s comput-er was ‘attacked and compro-mised’ from June 13, 2016 forover 22 months, but similar mal-ware attacks were made on evenother accused in other high-pro-file Indian cases.

The hacker, who has notbeen identified, had used themalware to create hidden fold-ers where the 10 incriminatingletters were sent using anadvanced version of MS Wordwhich was not available onWilson’s laptop.

The US firm’s report furthersaid that it found no evidencesuggesting that Wilson everinteracted with the top 10 mostimportant documents used toprosecute him, and said he hadin fact never opened those doc-uments.

The scanned copies of letterswere among the virtual andphysical documents recoveredby the investigators during theirsimultaneous raids conducted bythe investigators on April 17

2018 ahead of the arrest ofWilson and other accused in thecase.

On the basis of one of theallegedly incriminating lettersseized from Wilson’s computer,the Pune police had claimed thatthe CPI (Maoist) had hatched a“conspiracy” to “overthrow” theGovernment and “target” thecountry’s highest political func-tionary.

The letter, written by “R”(which the investigators sus-pected might be Rona Jacobhimself) and addressed to onecomrade Prakash, states: “We arethinking along the lines ofanother Rajiv Gandhi-type inci-dent. It sounds suicidal andthere is a good chance we mightfail but we feel the party mustdeliberate over our proposal.Targeting his road shows couldbe an effective strategy. We col-lectively believe that survival ofthe party is supreme to all sac-rifices”.

The letter also talks aboutthe requirement of Rs 8 crore to

procure M-4 rifles as an annu-al supply and four lakh roundsof ammunition.

Among other things, the let-ter states: “Modi-led Hindu fas-cist regime is bulldozing its wayinto the lives of indigenous adi-vasis, in spite of big defeats likeBihar and West Bengal.

Modi has successfully estab-lished BJP govt in more than 15states. If this pace continues thenit would mean immense troublefor the party on all fronts.Greater suppression of dissentand more brutal form of Mission2016 (OGH). Com. Kisan andfew other comrades have pro-posed concrete steps to endModi-raj”.

“Defeating Hindu fascismhas been our core agenda and amajor concern for the party....We are trying to consolidate tieswith like-minded organisations,pol. parties, representatives ofminorities across the country,”the letter stated.

The arrests of five “Maoist-linked” activists were madeunder the FIR registered onJanuary 8, 2018 at the Pune’s

Vishram Baug Police Station inconnection with the ElgarParishad organised onDecember 31, 2017 by the left-ist outfit Kabir Kala Manch(KKM) and RepublicanPanthers Party ahead of theJanuary 1, 2018 Bhima-Koregaon riots. The FIR, origi-nally registered u/s 153(A), 505(1)(b), 117 and 34 of the IndianPenal Code (IPC), was made aconspiracy case in March 2018and now has sections of theUnlawful Activities PreventionAct (UAPA) added to it.

It may be recalled that onJanuary 1, one Rahul Phatangale(28), a Dalit, was killed andanother 40-odd vehicles andsome other property were dam-aged after some miscreantsattacked Dalits celebrating theJanuary 1, 1818 victory of Britishtroops over Peshwa Bajirao II'sarmy at Bhima-Koregaon inPune district of westernMaharashtra. Following the inci-dent, Maharashtra had wit-nessed large-scale Dalit protestswhich turned violent at someplaces.

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has to understand that thereare different types of air trav-el. It is evident from the num-bers emerging that the Indianeconomy is on the upswingand local business travel willalmost certainly recover. Onceall the States fully open up, onecan expect air travel to regainsome normalcy by the middleof 2021. Of course, there areother factors: While evidencepoints to a decreasing caseloadof COVID-19 and the vaccina-tion rollout has been impres-sive in India, the emergence ofnew variants, particularly inBrazil and South Africa againstwhich existing vaccines are lesseffective, is alarming. If one ofthese variants is able to spreadinside India, it could again leadto havoc. That said, domesticair travel will emerge healthi-er post-pandemic, not justbecause of business demandbut also leisure demand astravellers after a year of beingcooped up at home will wantto travel and, with foreigndestinations closed off, domes-tic tourism is bound to pick up.

But as for international airtravel, it could be severalmonths, even a year or two,before things come even closeto recovery. There are howev-er a few trends that mightchange, the first being moredirect connectivity thanks to

nations having different rulesfor transit passengers.

While this might againchange going forward, partic-ularly as a vaccine is deployed,this fundamental change, cou-pled with the emergence ofmodern aircraft, will pose anexistential threat to airlinesthat have for years survivedprimarily thanks to connect-ing passengers.

There is also the likeli-hood of a “vaccine passport”.Anyone travelling to Sub-Saharan Africa or certainLatin American countriesneeds to show that they havetaken a yellow fever shot; nowthis requirement will likely beglobal. Popular destinations,like in South-East Asia, havetravellers from many coun-tries and preventing themfrom interacting is impossi-ble. While COVID-19 rageson in North America andWestern Europe, the only wayto protect both citizens andtourists from bringing in thevirus is some sort of vaccinepassport. This might actual-ly be a good time for India toexplore the opportunity toembed its passports withRFID chips that can store vac-cination information.

Then, of course, therecomes the very concept ofnecessary travel. This pan-

demic has made us all realisethat working from home is anoption for many people.Work travel and large confer-ences are not going to goaway, but will big shows suchas motor shows take place orwill the ‘2020 Auto Expo’ atGreater Noida go down inhistory as the “last big show”?The huge trade shows, evenfor the airline industry suchas the events in Farnboroughand Paris, might never be thesame and that will take a tollon business-class travel. Low-cost international leisure trav-el might come back roaringthanks to the introduction ofnew aircraft such as Airbus’sA321XLR, of which severalare on order by India’s largestairline, IndiGo.

But we do not really knowhow we, air passengers wholove travelling, will react in afew months, once a consider-able number of people havebeen vaccinated. We still don’tknow whether nations willhave quarantine rules up inplace if the virus evolves intoa deadlier form. But one thingis certain, aviation is in a darkplace right now and it couldbe another year before thereis any hope of recovery.

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

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)���������

�������������������� ������ ������Sir— This refers to the editorial ‘Seriousbusiness’(February 10). Ever since heassumed charge, US President Joe Bidenhas made it clear that he will keepAmerican interest above all. He is likely towork out the political equations keepingthis in mind. Biden will not give any spe-cial privilege to India unlike his predeces-sor Donald Trump, who shared a very cor-dial and friendly relationship with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

Biden, who had recently unseated hisarch-rival Trump in the bitterest politicalbattle in the history of America, is likelyto reverse the decisions or policies ofTrump. This will prove antagonistic to theinterests of India and will give opportuni-ty to countries like China to extend theirinfluence in the region. The Indo-American ties need to be revisited as thecircumstances have changed with thechange of regime in America.

However, this bodes well that PM Modiand President Biden have acknowledgedthe significance of continuing the closecooperation between the nations to pro-mote a free and open Indo-Pacific, in theirvery first conversation. It’s good that boththe leaders have shown their commitmentfor resuming the democratic process inMyanmar which is now under militaryrule. India can play a lead role in it and thusestablish close ties with America which willeventually be in its interest.

Azhar A Khan | Rampur

������������������������Sir —Natural calamities are common butat times these turn fatal and cause hugedamage to property. The recent calamityin Uttarakhand reminds us that nature ismighty and can ruin human settlementswithin seconds. It also teaches us not toexploit nature and its resources for our benefit and in the name of development.We must remember that despite all theprogress modern science has made, some-times our scientists fail to predict theimpending danger and then the loss to lifeand property becomes inevitable.

Though storms, downpours and floodscan be predicted soon and forewarningscan be made to evacuate people to saferzones, there are still some natural eventslike lightning and thunderstorms thatsometimes strike and cause severe damageand casualties. A number of States in Indialike Odisha, West Bengal, Jharkhand andBihar witness thunderstorms and lightningbetween April and June.

It is really good to know that the IndiaMeteorological Department (IMD) plansto set up the first-ever thunderstorm andlightning research centre in the country inBalasore district of Odisha. It will provideimportant scientific information, data andupdates that will help in saving lives. Butwe must stop playing with nature before it’stoo late.

M Pradyu | Kannur

���� ����� �������Sir — The return of VK Sasikala, the for-mer aide of late Chief Minister Jayalalithaa,after her long stay in prison to Tamil Nadu

politics will provide new dimensions to thepolitically sensitive State. Her journeybetween Bengaluru and Chennai wasinterspersed with welcoming events, somuch so that she reportedly made at least30 pit stops. She was welcomed with var-ious events on the way, including droneshow, firecrackers and floral reception.

Her popularity will surely worry herpolitical rivals as she might be a gamechanger in the State’s politics. Senior lead-ers of the AIADMK are still under theimpression that it is only some disenchant-ed elements who may cross over toSasikala’s camp.

They feel that the party’s rank and filewill rally behind Chief Minister EdappadiK Palaniswami and Deputy CM OPanneerselvam. They must keep in mindthat her popularity shows that Sasikala isa force to reckon with.

CKR Nathan | Coimbatore

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In the first couple of monthsof 2020, your columnistmade two trips to the WestCoast of the United States.

Each time he boarded flightsthat took over 14 hours, a cou-ple of flights even passed over,as near makes no difference, theNorth Pole. Travel that oncetook days and several transferswith the potential of lost luggageand what not, now took just one,maybe two flights, in relativeluxury even in Economy Class,thanks to inflight WiFi and abetter choice of movies thanmost streaming platforms.

Sure, the food still couldtaste bland but that possibly hadmore to do with the humanbody’s physiology at higher alti-tudes where taste buds often gofor a toss. But the most fascinat-ing thing was that in early 2020,these ultra long-haul flights hadbecome almost ordinary. Indeed,while rumours of an impendingpandemic started to filter out,global air travel was on a mas-sive high. It was growing at anunprecedented pace and a short-age of aircraft after the ground-ing of the Boeing 737 MAX wasthe biggest concern.

Now, while it is far too soonto sound the death knell for verylong-haul flights as Air India hasjust started a Bengaluru to SanFrancisco flight, something thatwould have been technological-ly impossible just a decade ago,global air travel is today in aquagmire. Thousands of planesare grounded across the worldwith demand having collapsedin the wake of the pandemic.International travel, which hadbeen truly democratised withlower fares and increased con-nectivity, is now on life support.It isn’t as if there are no moreflights; with strict quarantinemeasures and several countriesrestricting travel to citizens andlegal residents, travel hasbecome essentially one for emer-gencies and repatriation. Ofcourse, there are some whohave to travel for business, par-ticularly in an age of globalisedworkforces, but that is nowbeing done without families.

Will air travel recover fromthis devastating hit? There aremany ways to look at it, but one

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Experts believe that there will be a surge in casesof mental illness in the aftermath of theCOVID-19 pandemic due to the lasting

mental and emotional impact of physical distanc-ing, quarantine and socio-economic factors.According to the World Health Organisation(WHO), every 40 seconds a person dies by suicide.A paper by the Indian Council of Medical Researchshowed that in 2017, a whopping 197 millionIndians were suffering from mental disorders, ofwhom 46 million had depressive disorders and 45million had anxiety disorders. The spread of theCoronavirus only aggravated the situation. So deepis the fear of the virus that people with no historyof mental illness have developed serious psycholog-ical problems for the first time, including border-line personality disorder, psychosis, mood disorder,depression and psychotic episodes, as a result of thesocial distancing and quarantining that is required.Anxiety, irritability, anger, insomnia, stress and emo-tional exhaustion stand out as being very commonduring the pandemic as evidenced by the increasednumber of suicides across the world. India is noexception to this crisis.

The prolonged and unprecedented countrywidelockdowns, restricted movement and limited avail-ability of public services led to increased loneliness,stress and anxiety, stranding many people in rentalapartments or boarding houses away from home.According to a survey conducted by the IndianPsychiatric Society, within a week of the lockdown,the number of reported cases of mental illness inIndia rose by 20 per cent. A report by the WHOreveals that 7.5 per cent of the Indian populationsuffers from some form of mental disorder and itaccounted for nearly 15 per cent of the global men-tal, neurological and substance abuse disorder bur-den. Before the pandemic, the WHO had predict-ed that by 2020, around 20 per cent of India's pop-ulation would suffer from mental illnesses. Now,with the country in the grip of the contagion, thisnumber is expected to go up. India's NationalInstitute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences(NIMHANS) reveals that nearly 150 millionIndians need active intervention, whereas fewer than30 million get it.

Different people were affected differently by thepandemic. Many were stuck at home with disori-ented families or abusive relationships. This can bejuxtaposed with several others who were able toreconnect with their families and loved ones bet-ter during the lockdown, yet the consequences ofthe pandemic like loss of jobs, fear of death and soon, led to anxiety. According to the Centre forMonitoring Indian Economy, there has been a sharprise in unemployment to 27.11 per cent with dailywage workers (urban poor and migrant labourers)being the worst hit. According to a survey conduct-ed by Impact and Policy Research Institute (IMPRI),56 per cent of the urban poor were found to be anx-ious about their financial future. This was not onlylimited to individuals, even families committed sui-cide due to financial stress. Frontline healthcareworkers experienced stress and burnout due to theshortage of supplies and rapidly increasing cases.Delayed payments and reduced incomes are addingto the stress. With schools closed for nearly tenmonths the lives of millions of students in India arein a limbo, leading to lack of personal space and sep-aration from their friends. Even though the senior

children have been able to go backto school, the younger students arestill stuck at home. The digital dividealso led to feelings of deprivation,resulting in increased incidents of sui-cides among students. People withdisabilities and senior citizens too arefeeling vulnerable to the virus andfear gaps in healthcare, isolation anddependency on their loved ones.Hence, India’s mental health burdenis set to increase.

Sadly, mental health treatment isexpensive due to a huge gap indemand and supply of qualifiedprofessionals for those seeking help.Even health insurance does not ade-quately cover mental illness treatmentdespite the existence of the MentalHealthcare Act, 2017, where offeringinsurance for mental health ail-ments has been made mandatory bylaw. Outpatient treatment, thera-pies and counselling cost thousands,which effectively excludes the mid-dle and lower income groups.Moreover, there exists inadequateknowledge or awareness about thesubject, which makes the situationdire. Plus, India has the added chal-lenge of stigma attached to mentalhealth that can be classified into two:Public stigma and self-stigma.

Public stigma involves the prej-udices and beliefs endorsed by thecommon man. This, in general influ-ences personal feelings. Public stig-ma such as fear, exclusion andauthoritarianism lead to the exclusionof mentally ill people from main-stream society. Research has shownthat people are less likely to pity per-sons with mental illness, instead

reacting to psychiatric disability withanger and believing that help is notdeserved. Sadly, public stigma trans-lates into self-stigma where an indi-vidual's self-confidence is eroded dueto constant exclusion and fear andthey start harming themselves. Thisresults in suicides and sometimesmurders of others in extreme cases.Stigma results in reluctance to seekhelp or treatment, lack of under-standing by the family, friends, co-workers or others, fewer opportuni-ties for work, school, social activities,trouble finding housing, bullying,physical violence or harassment.The stereotype attached with thetreatment of mental illness — whereit is believed that everyone with amental disorder has to be admittedto a mental asylum — is stoppingpeople from seeking proper treat-ment. The most worrying factor isthat people in India are dealing withtwo pandemics. One is the virus, theother is the “infodemic” that hasdominated all social media platformsand has resulted in increased timespent online. Increasingly newcrimes, trends and terms are beingidentified due to the extreme use ofsocial media. The lives of people arebeing run by social media whichencourages jealousy, hatred and isbreeding a judgmental group ofpeople. According to a study con-ducted by the Population Foundationof India, among the youth of threeStates during the lockdown andsubsequent reopening of the econo-my, 68 per cent respondents in UttarPradesh reported an increase insocial media use. Of those respon-

dents who reported feeling depressed,social media use was higher at 92 percent. These figures show that peoplein India are dealing with dual pan-demics.

The significance of ensuringdissemination of correct informationand dispelling myths and pseudo-sci-entific practices cannot be empha-sised enough. At the same time, glob-al grassroots policy experiences sug-gest that in a country like India,health-related information alonehelps little. It is imperative to bringbehavioural changes to reap maxi-mum benefits from public healthinterventions. To what extent suchchanges can be brought about in ashort period is debatable, yet remainscritical as the outbreak is expected tolinger till the end of this year.

Social and behavioural changecommunication (SBCC) may beemployed as a potential strategy toincrease awareness of the effective-ness and the necessity of preventivemeasures. SBCC employs massmedia, community-level activities,interpersonal communication, infor-mation and communications tech-nology and new media to carry outits objectives. Such evidence-basedcommunication programmes canhelp enhance knowledge, shift atti-tudes and change public behaviour.Fighting the COVID-19 crisis andthe mental health woes that it hasbrought with it essentially requires aholistic approach that sufficientlyintegrates infrastructural, social,behavioural and psychologicalaspects to prepare for any emergencyresponse.

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One point that supportersof Prime Minister ImranKhan really like to assert

is that, “he is a self-made man.”They insist that the countryshould be led by people like himand not by those who were“born into wealth and power.”According to the Americanhistorian Richard Hofstadter,such views are largely aired bythe middle-classes. ToHofstadter, this view also has anelement of “anti-intellectual-ism.” He says that, as the mid-dle-class manages to attain polit-ical influence, it develops astrong dislike for what it sees as“political elite.” But since thiselite has more access to betteravenues of education, the mid-dle-class also develops an anti-intellectual attitude, insistingthat, as a ruler, a self-made manis better than a better educatedman. Khan’s core support comesfrom Pakistan’s middle-classes.And even though he graduated

from the prestigious OxfordUniversity, he is more articulatewhen speaking about cricket —a sport that turned him into astar — than about anythingrelated to what he is supposedto be addressing as the country’sPrime Minister.

But many of his supportersdo not have a problem with this,especially in contrast to hisequally well-educated oppo-nents, Bilawal Bhutto andMaryam Nawaz, who sound alot more articulate in matters ofpolitics. To Khan’s supporters,these two are “dynastic elite”who cannot relate to the senti-ments of the common man. It’sanother matter that Khan is notthe kind of self-made man thathis supporters would like peo-ple to believe. He came from awell-to-do family that had rootsin the country’s military-bureaucracy establishment. Hewent to prestigious education-al institutions and spent most of

his youth as a socialite inLondon. Indeed, whereas theBhutto and Sharif offspringswere born into power which isaiding their climb in politics,Khan’s political ambitions werecarefully nurtured by the mili-tary establishment.

Nevertheless, perhaps con-scious of the fact that his person-ality is not suited to support anintellectual bent, Khan has posi-tioned himself as a self-mademan who appeals to the ways ofthe common man. He doesn’t.For example, wearing thenational dress and using com-mon everyday Urdu does notcut it anymore. It did when ZABhutto did the same. But yearsafter his demise in 1979, suchpopulist antics have become acliche. The difference betweenthe two is that Bhutto was abonafide intellectual. Even hisidea to present himself as a “peo-ple’s man” was born from a rig-orous intellectual scheme.

However, Khan does appeal tothat particular middle-class dis-position that Hofstadter waswriting about. When heattempts to sound profound, hisviews usually appear to be amishmash of theories of certainIslamic and so-called “post-Colonial” scholars. The result isrhetoric that actually ends upsmacking of anti-intellectualism.

So what is anti-intellectual-ism? It is understood to be aview that is hostile to intellec-tuals. According to WalterHoughton, the term’s first

known usage dates back to1881 in England, when scienceand ideas such as the “separa-tion of religion and the State”,and the “supremacy of reason”had gained momentum. Thistriggered resentment in certainsections of British society whobegan to suspect that intellectu-als were formulating these ideasto undermine the importance oftheology and long-held tradi-tions. According to theAmerican historian RobertCross, as populism started tobecome a major theme inAmerican politics in the early20th Century, some mainstreampoliticians politicised anti-intel-lectualism as a way to portraythemselves as men of the peo-ple. For example, US PresidentsTheodore Roosevelt andWoodward Wilson insisted that“character was more impor-tant than intellect.”

Across the 20th Century,the politicised strand of anti-

intellectualism was active invarious regions. Communistregimes in China, the SovietUnion and Cambodia system-atically eliminated intellectualsafter describing them as rem-nants of overthrown bourgeoisiecultures. In Germany, the far-Right intelligentsia differentiat-ed between “passive intellectu-als” and “active intellectuals.”Apparently, passive intellectualswere abstract and thus uselesswhereas the active ones were“men of action.” Hundreds ofpassive intellectuals wereharassed or killed in NaziGermany.

According to the US histo-rian of science Michael Shermer,a more curious idea of anti-intellectualism began to devel-op within Western academia as“postmodernism” had begun tohijack various academic disci-plines in the 1990s.Postmodernism emerged in the20th Century as a critique of

modernism and derided it as adestructive force that had usedits ideas of secularism, democ-racy, economic progress, scienceand reason as tools of subjuga-tion. “Post-colonialism” or thecritique of the remnants ofWestern colonialism was verymuch a product of postmod-ernism as well.

Imran Khan is a classicexample of how “postmod-ernism” and “post-colonialism”have become cynical anti-intel-lectual pursuits. Khan oftenreminds us that social and eco-nomic progress should not beundertaken to please the Westbecause that smacks of a colo-nial mindset. So, as his regimepresides over a nosediving econ-omy and severe political polar-isation, Khan was recentlyreported as discussing with hisMinisters whether he shouldmandate the wearing of thedupatta (a stole) by all womenTV anchors. Go figure.

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Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday targeted

Abha International Airport in southwestern Saudi Arabia,causing a civilian plane on the tarmac to catch fire, thekingdom’s state televisionreported.

The state-owned Al-Ekhbariya TV said that fire-fighters have brought the blazeunder control. The initialreports offered no word on anypossible casualties from the

attack. Saudi officials did notimmediately respond torequests for commentWednesday.

Col. Turki al-Maliki, thespokesman for the Saudi-ledmilitary coalition, said coalitionforces intercepted anddestroyed two bomb-ladendrones launched by theHouthis toward the kingdom.He condemned the assault as a“systematic and deliberateattempt to target civilians in thesouthern region” of SaudiArabia.

Baton Rogue (US): RepublicanSenator Bill Cassidy ofLouisiana joined Democratsin voting against endingDonald Trump’s impeachmenttrial, a surprise reversal thatCassidy said was a response tothe former president’s lawyersdoing “a terrible job” of argu-ing their case.

Cassidy was among sixRepublican senators who sidedwith Democrats on the questionof whether a former presidentcan be tried after leaving office.The Louisiana senator’s positionwas a switch from January,when he voted to end the pro-ceedings on the grounds thatthey were unconstitutional.

The vote drew swift criti-cism from Republicans in thesenator’s deeply conservativestate. But Cassidy said Trump’sattorneys didn’t make theircase. While the Democrats’impeachment managers were“focused, they were organized,”relying on precedent and legalscholars, Trump’s team “wasdisorganised, random, hadnothing,” he said.

“They talked about manythings, but they didn’t talk

about the issue at hand,” Cassidysaid after the vote on Tuesday.

Still, the senator said hisdecision to move ahead withthe trial shouldn’t be taken asa sign he will later vote to con-vict the former president. Inrecent calls with reporters,including one Tuesday morn-ing, Cassidy has refused to saywhether he believes Trumpcommitted an impeachableoffense.

“I have not yet decided on

how I will vote,” he said.Trump is the first president

to face impeachment chargesafter leaving office. The Houseaccused him of inciting aninsurrection for his role in theJan 6. Siege on the U.S. Capitol.Hundreds of rioters ransackedthe building to try to stop thecertification of Democrat JoeBiden’s victory, a domesticattack on the nation’s seat ofgovernment unlike any in itshistory. Five people died. AP

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Crowds demonstratingagainst the military

takeover in Myanmar againdefied a ban on protestsWednesday, even after securi-ty forces ratcheted up the useof force against them and raid-ed the headquarters of thepolitical party of ousted leaderAung San Suu Kyi.

Fresh protests were report-ed in Yangon and Mandalay,the country’s two biggest cities,as well as the capital Naypyitawand elsewhere.

The protesters aredemanding that power be

restored to Suu Kyi’s deposedcivilian government. They’realso seeking freedom for herand other governing partymembers since the militarydetained them after blockingthe new session of Parliamenton Feb. 1.

The military says it actedbecause November’s election,which Suu Kyi’s NationalLeague for Democracy won ina landslide, were marred byirregularities. The electioncommission had refuted theallegation.

The growing protests andthe junta’s latest raid suggestthere is little room for recon-

ciliation. The military, whichheld power directly for fivedecades after a 1962 coup,used deadly force to quash amassive 1988 uprising and a2007 revolt led by Buddhistmonks.

In Naypyitaw andMandalay on Tuesday, policesprayed water cannons andfired warning shots to try toclear away protesters. InNaypyitaw, they shot rubberbullets and apparently liverounds, wounding a womanprotester, according to wit-nesses and footage on socialmedia. The reports could not beindependently confirmed.

Kathmandu: Chairperson ofthe Nepal Communist Party’ssplinter faction Pushpa KamalDahal ‘Prachanda’ onWednesday warned that a mil-lion people would be forced topicket Singha Durbar andBaluwatar if Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli failed to correcthis mistakes, as thousands ofpeople staged a massive rally inthe capital against dissolution

of Parliament.“Prime Minister Oli has

committed a huge crime bykilling the constitution andpeople have now understood itvery well,” Prachanda told therally organised by his faction atBhrikutimandap inKathmandu.

Prachanda warned that inthe next protest rally he willmobilise a million people who

will surround Singhdurbar,that houses Prime Ministers’Office, and Baluwatar, the offi-cial residence of the PrimeMinister.

He also warned PrimeMinister Oli against deceivingthe people by making falsestatements and threateningElection Commission andinfluencing other constitutionalbodies. PTI

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Washington: Prosecutors seek-ing to impeach Donald Trumpfor a historic second time onTuesday invoked the trial ofWarren Hastings, the firstBritish Governor-General ofIndia, by the House of Lords inthe 18th century after he hadleft office, to rebut the formerUS president’s stand that thetrial by the Senate was uncon-stitutional as he was no longerin power.

The US Senate on Tuesdayconfirmed the constitutionali-ty of Trump’s impeachmenttrial by 56-44 votes following presentation fromboth sides — House impeach-ment managers and lawyersrepresenting the former presi-dent — paving the way for thehistoric impeachment trial ofthe 45th President of theUnited States who left office onJanuary 20. PTI

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Dhaka: A special anti-terror-ism tribunal in Bangladesh onWednesday sentenced to deatheight Islamic militants, includ-ing a sacked military officer, forkilling a publisher of books onsecularism and atheism at hisoffice in 2015.

Islamist militants hackedto death publisher Faisal ArefinDipon, the owner of JagrityPublishers, at his office at cen-tral Dhaka’s Shahbagh area onNovember 31, 2015. Anti-Terrorism Tribunal JudgeMohammad Mojibur Rahmanannounced the sentence as six ofeight convicts, all belonging tooutlawed Ansar Al Islam ter-rorist group, also known asAnsarullah Bangla Team (ABT),were present in the court. PTI

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Warsaw: Independent mediaoutlets in Poland suspendednews coverage on Wednesdayto protest a planned new adver-tising tax that they view as anattempt by the right-wing gov-ernment to undermine pressfreedoms.

The government says thetax will raise money after statefinances have been badlystrained by the coronaviruspandemic.

A letter signed by 45 mediacompanies said the tax wouldbe extremely burdensome, not-ing that they already pay manytaxes, and said it could pushsome to collapse.

“We strongly oppose theuse of the epidemic as anexcuse to introduce another

new, exceptionally heavy bur-den on the media,” they wrote.

The US threw its supportbehind the media companies,with Chargé d’Affaires Bix Aliucalling free media “a corner-stone of democracy” in a tweetand saying “the United Stateswill always defend media inde-pendence.”

Gazeta Wyborcza, thecountry’s leading newspaperand a liberal critic of the pop-ulist government, called theadvertising tax “a powerfulblow to free media.” In place ofthe usual news items on itswebpage was a black screen anda warning that if the tax ispassed, it could lead readers toone day lose access to inde-pendent news. AP

Paris: France’s Governmentwants to set the age of sexualconsent at 15 and make it easi-er to punish long-ago child sex-ual abuse, amid growing publicpressure and a wave of onlinetestimonies about rape and othersexual violence by parents andauthority figures.

Calling such treatment ofchildren “intolerable,” the justiceministry said in a statement that“the government is determinedto act quickly to implement thechanges that our societyexpects.”

“An act of sexual penetra-tion by an adult on a minorunder 15 will be considered arape,” Justice Minister EricDupond-Moretti said Tuesdayon France-2 television. Consentwould no longer be able to becited to diminish the charges,

but exceptions would be madefor teenagers having consensu-al sex, he said.

The change would still needto be enshrined in law, but theannouncement is a major stepafter years of efforts to toughenFrench protection for childrenvictims of rape and sexual vio-lence. A push to set France’s firstage of consent 3 years ago in thewake of the global #MeToomovement failed amid legal com-plications. But the effort hasgained new momentum sinceaccusations emerged last monthof incestuous sexual abuse involv-ing a prominent French politicalexpert, Olivier Duhamel. Thatunleashed an online#MeTooInceste movement inFrance that led to hundreds ofsimilar testimonies. AP

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Beijing: A Chinese spacecraftentered Mars orbit onWednesday on a mission to landa rover and collect data onunderground water and possi-ble signs of ancient life, statemedia said.

“China’s probe Tianwen-1successfully entered the orbitaround Mars on Wednesdayafter a nearly seven-month voy-age from Earth,” the XinhuaNews Agency said in a briefreport.

The orbiter-rover combobecame the second spacecraft intwo days to reach the red plan-et. An orbiter from the UnitedArab Emirates led the way onTuesday. Next week, the U.S.Will try to land its Perseverancerover on the Martian surface.Only the U.S. Has successfullytouched down on Mars — eighttimes beginning with two

Viking missions. A lander androver are in operation today.

All three Mars missionslaunched last July to take advan-tage of the planet’s close align-ment with Earth that occursonly every two years.

The Chinese mission is itsmost ambitious yet. If all goesas planned, the rover would sep-arate from the spacecraft in afew months and attempt totouch down. If all goes asplanned, China would becomeonly the second nation to do sosuccessfully. AP

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Even as the oil prices aresoaring, Petroleum Minister

Dharmendra Pradhan onWednesday ruled out any cut inthe excise duty, for now, to giverelief to consumers.

Making this assertion inthe Rajya Sabha, he said “Thereis no such proposal at present.”This reply came when he wasasked if the Government waslooking at cutting taxes to cooloff prices. Petrol price crossedthe �94-mark in Mumbai anddiesel soared to �84.63 per litreon Wednesday. Retail pumprates have not seen a reductionin almost 11 months.

International benchmarkrates had plunged to decadelows in April. The Governmenthad hiked excise duty on petrolby a record �13 per litre and ondiesel by �16 a litre to mop upgains arising from the fall inrates but did not cut taxes when

oil prices bounced back. Retailpetrol price have risen by�18.01 per litre since mid-March 2020 and diesel rateshave gone up by �15.44.

Replying to questions on ris-ing fuel prices, Pradhan saidretail pump rates are governed byinternational prices as India is 85per cent dependent on importsfor meeting its need. Both cen-tral and State Governments relyheavily on collections from taxeson these products for meetingtheir developmental and welfarepriorities, he said.

“They need someresources... (and) this (taxingpetrol and diesel) has been aproven and substantial route byall the Governments, whetherthe State Governments or theCentral Government,” he said.

The current rally in fuelprices is because crude oilprices have touched $61 perbarrel mark for the first time inmore than a year.

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Fitch Ratings on Wednesdaysaid India’s high fiscal deficit

would pose a challenge in low-ering the debt to GDP ratio,which is expected to rise above90 per cent in the next fiveyears.

It said India entered thepandemic with little fiscalheadroom from a rating per-spective. Its general govern-ment debt/GDP ratio stood at72 per cent in 2019, against amedian of 42 per cent for'BBB' rated peers.

Fitch said the budget pointsto a loosening of fiscal policyto support the country's ongo-ing economic recovery fromthe pandemic and will conse-quently lead to a rise in publicdebt. The debt/GDP trajectoryis core to our sovereign ratingassessment, meaning higher

deficits and a slower consoli-dation path will make India'smedium-term growth outlooktake on a more critical role inour analysis, Fitch Ratings saidin a statement.

It now expects publicdebt/GDP to rise above 90 percent of GDP over the next fiveyears, based on the revisedbudget targets. However, recentreforms and policy measures,including those announced inthe budget, could also influencethe rating agency's growthexpectations and its debt tra-jectory forecasts.

Fitch estimated India toclock a 11 per cent growth inthe fiscal beginning April andthen grow at 6.5 per cent a yearthrough to 2025-26 fiscal.

The agency had in June lastyear revised India's 'BBB-' rat-ing outlook to negative fromstable based on its assumptions

of the likely impact of pan-demic on public finance.

" The budget's deficit pro-jections for the fiscal yearsending March 2022 (FY22) toFY26 are about 1pp (percent-age point) a year above ourprevious estimates between,which could make it morechallenging to put debt/GDPon a downward trajectory,"Fitch said.

India has exceeded its fis-cal deficit target of 3.5 per centin the current fiscal by a widemargin due to higher spend-ings to stimulate the economyamid the pandemic.

The fiscal deficit — theexcess of government expen-diture over its revenues — hasbeen pegged at 9.5 per cent ofthe gross domestic product(GDP) in the current fiscalending March 31, as per therevised estimate.

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The Parliamentary StandingCommittee on Commerce

on Wednesday recommended aslew of measures, includingchanges in GST rates of certaincommodities, to improve theinvestment scenario in thecountry. The panel, headed byYSRCP leader and a RajyaSabha member V VijayasaiReddy, said the main challengesfaced by the country presentlyincluded administrative andregulatory hurdles, inadequateand costly credit facility, tediousland acquisition procedure,inadequate infrastructure facil-ities, high logistics cost and largeunorganised manufacturingsector, among others.

The panel, in its reporttitled “Attracting Investment in

Post-Covid Economy:Challenges and Opportunitiesfor India”, welcomed the poli-cy changes and incentiveschemes brought in by theCentre to overcome the chal-lenges. Stressing the need tosensitise the State machin-ery/administration towards theimportance of investment andbusiness, the report said coun-tries are competing to attractforeign investors.

“The Committee recom-mends that the Department(the Department forPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade) should lookinto the policy changes broughtin by countries such asVietnam, Taiwan, Thailand,etc that made them moreattractive to the companiesshifting their bases from

China,” the report said. It askedthe Centre to enter into moreinternational trade agreementsthat are beneficial to the coun-try in order to boost its inter-national trade relations.Consensus on land reforms

The panel said a long-termsolution should be worked outin a structured manner to theland issue. It suggested that theCentre constitute anEmpowered Committee of StateMinisters and the concernedCentral Ministers to discussissues regarding land acquisitionand build a consensus on landreforms, in consultation withindustry and other stakeholders.

“The EmpoweredCommittee should look intoissues relating to land acquisi-tion policies, digitisation ofland records and simplifying

administrative procedures likeregistration and land use con-version. Further, the possibili-ty of having a land bank thatwill be made readily availablefor developmental projects maybe discussed with concernedstakeholders,” the report said.

For boosting domesticdemand in automobile sector,the panel suggested that the rateof GST should be reduced from28 per cent to 18 per cent for allcategories of vehicles and autocomponents. It also recom-mended an incentive-based vehi-cle scrappage scheme that shouldbe introduced at the earliest.

To help the pharmaceuticalindustries during periods ofhigh demand, the panel said anincrease in 15 per cent over theapproved pollution load may beallowed for a particular month.

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(�������������/���������������������� ��Mumbai: Pencilling in a GDP

growth in third and fourthquarters, SBI Research onWednesday revised its con-traction forecast for the currentfiscal year to 7 per cent. Theagency had earlier forecast a 7.4per cent contraction in 2020-21GDP numbers. In April-September, the economy con-tracted 15.7 per cent but thesecond half may see a surprise2.8 per cent growth, if the SBIanalysis turns out to be correct.

Soumya Kanti Ghosh,group chief economic adviserat State Bank of India (SBI) saidof the 41 high frequency lead-ing indicators, 51 per cent areshowing acceleration whichshould help the economy turnaround to the green from thethird quarter with a 0.3 per-centage point growth which islikely to surprise positivelywhen the final numbers are out.

In April-June, the Indianeconomy contracted by arecord 23.9 per cent, but dra-matically improved to -7.5 percent in the second quarter.PTI

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With the production ofpulses gone up from 14

million tons to 24 million in thelast 5-6 years, Union AgricultureMinister Narendra Singh Tomaron Wednesday said that theGovernment has saved �15,000annually reducing the depen-dence on imports for pulses. "Inthe last five-six years, due to thetireless hard work of farmers,scientists and farmer-friendlypolicies of the central govern-ment, the country has increasedits pulses production from 140lakh tonnes to 240 lakh tonnes.Now we also have to pay atten-tion to future requirements,”Tomar said while addressing onthe occasion of world pulses day.

“We are working towardsachieving self sufficiency inpulses production since the

Modi government took over.Now we need to work towardsmeeting requirement which islikely to go up to 32 milliontonnes by 2050. We have focusedheavily on cultivation of pulses.This has reduced the import ofpulses drastically,” Tomar said.He said that the government haspromoted cultivation of pulsesby purchasing pulses at mini-mum support price (MSP). “Wehave increased MSP of pulses by40-73% in last 6 years. The pay-ment to pulses farmer has goneup by 40 times to �10,530 crore,”the minister said.

The sowing of pulses in thiswinter season has gone up by 3%to 16.73 million hectares. Theacreage in summer season was alsoup by 5% to 14 million hectare.“The production is likely to cross24 million tonnes this year alsomeeting the needs of the country.

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Mumbai: Equity indices closed with mild loss-es for the second straight session on Wednesday,weighed by selling in banking counters, asdomestic sentiment remained subdued despitea bullish trend overseas.

After swinging 666.64 points intra-day, the 30-share BSE Sensex settled 19.69 points or 0.04 percent lower at 51,309.39. Similarly, the broader NSENifty slipped 2.80 points or 0.02 per cent to closeat 15,106.50. Index heavyweight HDFC Bank wasthe biggest laggard in the Sensex pack, shedding1.77 per cent, followed by Bharti Airtel, Axis Bank,ONGC, Nestle India, L&T, Infosys and SBI.

On the other hand, Bajaj Finserv, M&M,Bajaj Finance, TCS and Reliance Industries wereamong the gainers, spurting up to 2.96 per cent.

PTI

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Mumbai: The rupee firmed up by 3 paise to set-tle at 72.84 against the US dollar on Wednesdayin a restricted trade amid muted trend in thedomestic equity market.

At the interbank forex market, the local unitopened at 72.87 against the greenback and wit-nessed an intra-day high of 72.81 and a low of72.88. It finally ended at 72.84 against theAmerican currency, registering a rise of just 3paise over its previous close. PTI

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With Valentines Day round thecorner, romance is in the air

and on OTT platforms too. Fromnew-age love stories to heartbreak-ing saga, there are many romantictitles lined up for release.

Here are the titles releasingaround February 14, which promiseto take you on a ride full of emo-tion.

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The final film in the romanticfranchise, To All The Boys, willrelease on February 12. The fran-chise featuring Noah Centineo andLana Condor is based on JennyHan’s bestselling trilogy followinghigh schooler Lara Jean’s romanticentanglements. The final part showsCondor’s Lara Jean preparing forthe end of high school, as she re-imagines what life with her family,friends, and Peter (played byCentineo) will look like after grad-uation. The film will release onNetflix.

������������The film follows 17-year-old

Daryn who finds out that his girl-friend is dying. He sets out to giveher an entire lifetime’s joy in the lastyear that she has left. Directed byMitja Okorn, and written by JeffreyAddiss and Will Matthews, thefilm stars Cara Delevingne, CubaGooding Jr, and Nia Long. It pre-mieres on Amazon Prime Video onFebruary 14.

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� ����The science-fiction rom-com

follows the story of two teens whoare stuck in an endless loop, and fallin love with each other. It stars KyleAllen and Kathryn Newton. It willbe released on Amazon PrimeVideo on February 12.

� ��������The Netflix series follows six

engaged couples as they plan theirlavish dream weddings. The seriespromises all the revelry, dance andemotions, while taking a look atIndia’s multibillion-dollar weddingindustry. It will be released onFebruary 14.

��������� ���The Indo-Nigerian film nar-

rates an interracial romance withhumorous and heart-wrenchinghiccups. Directed by HamishaDaryani Ahuja, the film starsRuslaan Mumtaz and Ini Dima-

Okojie. It will be released onValentine’s Day on Netflix.

������ ����From romance to complexities

of relationships, the series willexplore the everyday lives of fourstudents, as they come together todeal with their own personal issues.The show features SrishtiShrivastava, Shreya Mehta, AhsaasChanna, Parul Gulati and SimranNatekar in lead. It will be releasedon SonyLIV on February 19.

���� The series tells the tale of four

siblings, who were separated at avery young age after their parentsdied in a horrible crash. It’s a storyhow their lives are interconnected.The show stars actors Aditi Sharma,Anushka Sen, Zain Imam, KunjAnand and Rohan Mehra. It willrelease on February 14 on AltBalaji and Zee5.

Valentine’s day is on the hori-zon and it falls by the endof this week where people

express their love in a fanciful wayto their kindred souls. But manyfind themselves on the horns ofdilemma and wonder what wouldbe the perfect gift for someonewho loves being cosy. If you plannot to bore your Valentine by giv-ing typical gifts like chocolates,cakes and flowers, and insteadwant to charm them by going outof the ordinary way?

Here are five gifting ideas tosurprise your partner who lovesbeing cosy this Valentine’s week. Asmooth move which will set yourloved one on a promenade to thecosy dreamland.

Ayurvedic Mattress: Everyonedeserves a good undisturbed sleepeveryday. It makes you activethroughout the day. If your part-ner is not getting enough sleep, aneco-friendly ayurvedic mattress isthe best gift to make your partnerfeel loved. Moving beyond harm-ful, artificial materials, Livepure’smattresses are made from materi-als like plant & nut-based oils andsandalwood infused latex. Thememory foam is made from plant-based oils and latex is obtainedfrom Kerala rubber plantations.Best part is the lavender infusedcover which releases a faint laven-der scent when you touch the fab-ric.

Eye Pillow: Eye pillow plays avery important role in the sleepexperience. If your partner worksday to night in front of screens, agood lavender eye pillow is one ofthe best gifting options forhim/her. Yogasya’s lavender eye pil-low will help anyone slip into deeprelaxation with the subtle scents oflavender. One can use this pillowduring yoga, before bed or anytime you want to feel relaxed.

Aroma Essential OilDiffuser: If you are planning tospend a cozy time with your loverat your home on V-Day, then don’t

forget to carry aroma essential oildiffuser as a gift to your partner’splace. Shoppoworld ElectronicUltrasonic Aroma Essential OilDiffuser can be a good choice. Itprovides pleasant aromas andcolour-changing mood lightingto create a calm, relaxing environ-

ment anywhere. This will surelymake your day romantic and stressfree.

Comfy Pj’s: If you and yourpartner are deciding to go low keyon this Valentine’s day and havedecided to celebrate indoors, then

gifting a comfortablepj set is the bestoption. Sneakinginto your pyjamasand having a cozy cof-fee date at home wouldbe very relaxing for mostof the couples. Zivamehas a wide varietyof nightwearsin their col-lection. Buy aquirky yet cutenightwear setto light up theValentines evening.

Vinyl Record Player: Giftingmusic to your partner is always agreat way to surprise and expressyour love through songs. And ifyou are doing that then you mightwant to do it in a classy way. Vinylrecord players are purely classyfrom the design aspect. Thesemusic machines had gone out offashion in the 2000s due to thearrival of CDs Players. And todayit has come back and people are

calling it the “famedvinyl revival.” Thereal appeal of lis-tening to a Vinylrecord is undeni-ably the sound.The differencesin listening to aCD or Digitalmusic com-

pared to a vinylrecord are enor-mous. Yourpartner will def-

initely get wrappedup in it because the

music through a vinylrecord will sound vivid, and real.Wockoder’s latest model is purevintage style and will certainly takeyou back to a classic design and agreat setup that will elevate the lis-tening experience. Also don’t letthe vintage design fool you becauseinside, this model is packing somegreat modern features includingwireless capability. Hence, it wouldbe one of the best gifts for yourValentine.

Actor Rahul Bhat had to shoot inminus clothes for the forthcom-

ing film titled Man Naked. He saysthe challenge lay in the fact that thetwo-hour film was canned as a sin-gle shot project.

Man Naked revolves around a40-year-old struggling actor namedRonnie who realises that his careeris finished. He gets drunk and pass-es out naked, only to hear the door-bell ring in the middle of the night.In a bizarre turn of events, his des-tiny changes as his nude video clipsgo viral and Ronnie becomes a star.

The film is directed by debutantSanjeev Kaul, who carved his nichein theatre.

It is rare for an actor to bare allin Indian films, and the unit had toundergo several mock shoots withreal camera and technicians to get itright in a single shot.

“The challenge of doing this partwas not only that it was a single shotfilm but also I had to be totally nakedin most of it and also I had to remem-

ber an entire pros from the ‘Soul ofLilith’ and perform the monologue inthe middle of the single shot in onetake,” said Rahul.

Director Kaul said: “I wanted toportray an actor struggling to crackthe formula for success and take histalent to the world. The film followshim over the course of one night inMumbai and how his life changesafter an incident.”

He added, “The idea of shootingthe film entirely in one shot camefrom the need to be with our protag-onist at every step and get intertwinedin his environment just as he sees it.”

The film has been screened atseveral film festivals. It was a finalistat Tokyo International Film Festivaland a semi-finalist at Montreal FilmFestival. The film is an official selec-tion at Venice Shorts, CannesIndependent Film Festival, Goa FilmFestival and a winner in the cate-gorised of Best Film, Best Actor andBest Director at The NextInternational film festival.

As the 93rd Academy Awardsannounced the first shortlisted

candidates for the Short Film in LiveAction Category, Indian WomenRising’s first project Bittu emergesamong the Top 10 candidates for theOscars.

After recently bagging the hon-our of Best Asian American StudentFilmmaker Award in East Region bythe Director’s Guild of America’,Karishma Dev Dube’s Bittu is nowinching closer towards the Oscarsrace. Competing among 174 filmsfrom across the globe, Bittu hasqualified for the top 10 after the firstround of voting and will now be sub-jected to the votes of members of theshort films and animation branch todetermine the shortlists and thenominees.

The second round of votingbegins on March 5 that woulddecide the top five films across theglobe, making it to the final nomi-nations to be announced on theMarch 15.

The short film is inspired by theinfamous school poisoning of 2013and explores the close friendshipbetween two school girls on thisseemingly normal day at school. Setin the picturesque locations againstthe backdrop of Himalayas, it fol-lows the story of an eight-year-oldwho must take matters into her ownhands when her community fails toprotect its most vulnerable.

Karishma said, “It’s every film-maker’s dream to be recognised bythe academy, and I’m overwhelmedby the gratitude. This recognition,however, is not mine alone. I madethis film with an incredible cast and

crew, all of whom I’m so grateful for.I’m just very happy that Bittu is ableto represent this team and my coun-try at this platform.”

The film has been presented byEkta Kapoor, Guneet Monga andTahira Kashyap under their IndianWomen Rising initiative. They, in ajoint statement, shared, “Exhilarated,proud and overwhelmed to witnessthe journey of Bittu unfold so grace-fully. Karishma’s excellent story-telling compelled us to come onboard for the project and now as theworld is recognising and appreciat-ing the efforts, we are nothing butproud of the film and the entire teamthat made it possible to achieve thisfeat. We are all geared up for the nextsteps that lay ahead of us in this jour-ney and look forward to continuedsupport we received so far. Trulyhumbled.”

The film has been screened atseveral prestigious film festivals likeBFI London Film Festival, Telluride,Palm Springs Shortest, DharamshalaFilm Festival and the HollyShortsFilm Festival.

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Why is there so much protest bythe farmers at the Delhi border?

Why isn’t the government preservingits rural vote-bank? What makesthem uphold the farm laws and pro-mote their “reform agenda?” I teachthe power of incentives in undergrad-uate economics. I urge my studentsto uncover the underlying incentivesin economic activities by producers,consumers, and the government alike— promising them that these incen-tives will lead them to uncover rea-sons for their actions. In this piece, Iexplore the theory behind this gov-ernment’s position on the farmprotests — potential conjectureswhich dictate their stance and help usunderstand this deadlock.

The economic motivation forintroducing the laws is that the exist-ing agricultural commodity mar-kets, controlled by the government,are inefficient. This inefficiency hurtsfarm incentives and prevents growthin farm incomes. Hence the idea isthat these laws would remove theseinefficiencies and promote farmincomes, eventually make farmersbetter off. Then why is there so muchprotest?

This logic is based on two crucialpresumptions. First, if a market is leftto private players, it will be more effi-cient than one operated by the gov-ernment. Does the government admitits own inefficiency? Is this a case ofimproving existing institutions with-out necessarily a need to change themarket structure? Perhaps it is. Amove towards privatisation of the

produce market increases uncertain-ty involved in predicting the marketstructure when private players com-pletely replace the existing system.Will the market be a private monop-oly where farmer have lesser say intheir incomes or can the farmers dic-tate private companies and bargain ahigher price for their produce? Thisis anybody’s guess.

Second, when private companiesare allowed to buy farm producedirectly, will they ‘jump’ at this offer?They will enter the produce marketonly if they find it lucrative in com-parison with other markets to whichthey could potentially expand. Whenthey enter, the assumption is that theirincrease in profits would also bene-fit the farmers who might receivehigher incomes. These benevolentcompanies will share their profits.Then why is there so much protest?

We assume that when these com-panies enter the market, they do notdistort the market in any way possi-ble. The protest is wary of the possi-bility that these markets would nolonger remain competitive. Farmerswill be at the whims of private pro-curement companies, who couldeventually gain control of the prima-ry produce market. In fact, it is rareto see markets remain competitiveover time. A company’s growth (instock prices or its acclaim) is tied tohow it increasingly captures more andmore market space.

This brings us back to the under-lying economics of these farm laws.Even economists agree that there is

far too much uncertainty to predictthe implication of these laws onfarm incomes. Then why shouldthere be no protests? If we face thepossibility of getting a salary reduc-tion, we agitate and fight with humanresources. When farmers agitate,they are fighting this very uncertain-ty. In fact, most developed world —US and EU especially have systemat-ically kept agriculture protected withfarm subsidies and tariff barriers toovercome this uncertainty.

The thrust with which these lawswere introduced in the parliamentindicate that it is in the political inter-est of the government to push thisreform agenda. Surely none of usbelieve that “reform legacy” is the keymotivation behind government’s pushfor these farm laws. It should be pure-ly political and entirely perceptible to

a student of economics too. We sim-ply have to conjecture about thepotential benefits to the governmentwhen these farm laws are operational.Again, this is merely a thought exper-iment which we all must do.

It is entirely possible to conjectureabout the political benefits of creat-ing newer and more lucrative markets— private procurement market in thisinstance. Corporate electoral supportand potentially larger contribution inGDP for the agrarian sector. However,the flip side of this potential benefitis the threat to vote banks dominat-ed by farmers. For India, it becomestricky. Since a major part of the pop-ulation is still either directly or indi-rectly dependent on the agrarian sec-tor, the threat of persisting withfarm laws could be a great electoralrisk.

If the net benefit is positive andsignificant, then it is prudent to takethe decision in favour of thrustingthese laws within the ambit of a par-liamentary democracy. The metric issimple and indicates a potential pos-itive and sizable net benefit. Onecould also examine the observedresponse by the government to inferabout their motivations. The spikesaround the farmers protest and theirintent to hold ground on the lawsindicate their clear choice.

Has this been done before? Yes.Historically, there have been caseswhere government either erects legalor administrative institutions toensure that private markets functionproperly or directly enters the mar-

ket. The former ensures that investorconfidence is not wavering while thelatter makes the risk of market uncer-tainty public.

Why did these companies wait till2020 to take part in private agricul-tural markets? Agriculture in the late50s and early 60s was ridden withproduction uncertainties — cropfailures, rainfall dependence etc. Itwas only after government interven-tion through the green revolution thatprivate production could sustain andgenerate a food surplus. The presenceof this surplus meant that productionissues were systematically reduced bygovernment intervention. With suc-cessive improvements in farming(debatable), fluctuations in agricultur-al production stabilised and it becamelucrative to enter these markets.

The crucial question then iswhether potential entrants into theproduce market could predict thisagitation. Perhaps they could and per-haps they believe that political moti-vations of this government in termsof electoral certainty through finan-cial support could incentivise the gov-ernment to stand firm. In theory,while the economics underlying theselaws is as unpredictable as the weath-er, the motivations for persistingwith these laws seem to favour polit-ical certainty. But this is still just a the-ory and we have to start asking ques-tions.

(The writer is Assistant Professorof Economics at Jindal School ofGovernment and Public Policy. Viewsexpressed are personal.)

People have been visiting theTribes India Aadi Mahotsav atDilli Haat to get a peek into the

rich tribal culture of our country. Thefestival is TRIFED’s attempt to famil-iarise the people with the rich anddiverse craft, culture and cuisine oftribal communities across the coun-try at one place.

A major attraction of the festivalhas been the cultural programmes,which showcase the diversity andvariety of Indian tribes. This was ahighlight especially on day six, as peo-ple enjoyed cultural programmes inthe evening. One striking aspect of theprogramme was a tribal fashion showthat featured designs and clotheshandcrafted by tribal master crafts-men and curated by the tribal artisanRuma Devi and the renowned fashiondesigner Rina Dhaka. The resplendentweaves and fabrics came to life in thecrafted designs that reflect the closeconnection tribals have with nature.

The show featured tribal weavesfrom various parts of the country —saris, kurtis, tops, shawls, stoles and

exquisite accessories like jewelleryfrom the North East and dhokra jew-ellery and bags.

“The Aadi Mahotsav showcasestraditional art and handicrafts and therich, diverse cultural heritage of ourtribes. Their close connection withnature and simplicity can be seen intheir weaves, clothes, fabrics and art-forms. I am happy that TRIFED ispopularising tribal culture,” said PravirKrishna, Managing Director, TRIFED.

Senior IAS officials such as

Deepak Khandekar, Secretary,Department of Personnel andTraining; R.P. Gupta, Secretary,Ministry of Environment and Forestand Climate Change; Ajay Tirki,Secretary Ministry of RuralDevelopment; Richa Sharma, JointSecretary, Ministry of Environmentand Forest and Climate Change; MsManju Pandey, Joint Secretary,Ministry of Environment and Forest& Climate Change; Neerja Adidam,Joint Secretary, Ministry of

Agriculture, Sudhanshu Pandey,Secretary, Department of Food &Public Distribution, P K Tripathi,Secretary, Ministry of Steel, and LeenaNandan, Secretary, Ministry ofConsumer Affairs among other dig-nitaries attended the festival.

Other scintillating art forms ondisplay during cultural performanceson Saturday evening included Baigiparondha nritya from MadhyaPradesh, Kharsawan Chhau fromJharkhand; Sambalpuri nritya fromOdisha; and Jaunsari nritya fromUttarakhand.

Apart from this, a special focus ison the stall dedicated to 50 tribal GIproducts. They occupy a prominentplace and all visitors have been visit-ing this stall with much interest. Onenotable visitor was Bhaskar Khulbe,Advisor to the PM. He visited the eventon Sunday and took a look at the VanDhan demo centre, stalls featuringtribal handicrafts and expressed hisappreciation for the focus that the GIproducts have been given.

On the occasion, Khulbe said, “I

am pleased to note that TRIFED hasactively taken up the cause to promoteGI tagged products and transform intoa brand, thus empowering tribal arti-sans.”

The stall features renowned,exquisite items such as Rajasthan’s bluepottery, the Kota Dariya fabric,Madhya Pradesh’s Chanderi andMaheshwari silk, Bagh print, Odisha’sPattachitra, Karnataka’s Bidriware,Banarasi silk from Uttar Pradesh,Darjeeling tea from West Bengal,Kala jeera from Himachal Pradesh, theextremely spicy Naga chilli, and thelarge cardamom from the North East.

Besides these GI products, one canalso find other ethnic tribal handicraftsand products and organic items —from the natural and immunity-boosting tribal produce such as organ-ic haldi, dry amla, wild honey, blackpepper, ragi, triphala and lentil mixessuch as moong dal, urad dal, whitebeans, and dalia to artefacts andpaintings in various styles.

(The festival is on at Dilli Haat tillFebruary 15 from 11 am to 9 pm.)

ICAR-Central Research Institutefor Jute and Allied Fibres celebrat-

ed its 68th foundation Day onTuesday. On this occasion a “FieldDay-cum-Demonstration-cum-Exhibition for showcasing theICAR-CRIJAF proven technologiesto wider group of stakeholders” wasorganised in the institute campus atBarrackpore. The programme wasattended by delegates from Industry,Govt. Institutions (NJB, JCI, IJIRA,Govt. of West Bengal etc.), ICARInstitutes, Regional Stations andMedia persons and farmers. Theproven technologies were show-cased in different exhibition stallsfor the knowledge of all the stake-holders and farmers.

Prof. Swapan Kumar Datta,Vice Chancellor of Biswa BanglaUniversity and former DeputyDirector General (Crop Science),ICAR, New Delhi graced the occa-sion as the chief guest. A. K. Jolly,Managing Director, JuteCorporation of India, Dr. B. K. Das,Director, ICAR-CIFRI, Barrackporeand Dr. D. B. Shakywar, Director,NINFET, Kolkata were the guests ofhonour. The guests inauguratedthe exhibition stalls displayingproven technologies developed byCRIJAF and other ICAR institutes,industries and SHGs.

In his welcome address Dr.Gouranga Kar, Director, ICAR-CRIJAF mentioned about the majorachievements, varieties and tech-

nologies developed by the instituteto resolve the bottlenecks and prob-lems faced by the farmers in the cul-tivation of jute and allied fibrecrops vis a vis enhancing the pro-ductivity and profitability throughyield and quality improvement andreduction in cost of cultivation. Hehighlighted the role of these cropsbeyond fibre yielders as ideal can-didate crop for ecosystem service,nutraceuticals and other by prod-ucts.

Increasing labour cost, scarcityof water during the retting seasonhave made the quality retting a dif-ficult task for the farmers. Dr. Kartold that the quality of jute fibrelargely depends on retting method-

ology. Hence, the institute hasdeveloped pond-based in situ rettingbased self-reliant eco-farming tech-nology mediated through microbialconsortium for better fibre qualityeven if the retting is conducted instagnant water. This technologyensures better quality fibre, reducedretting duration and enhancedincome for jute farmers. This typeof model for jute retting is verymuch climate resilient whichensures not only clean rettingprocess there by reducing pollutionbut also multiplies the net incomeof farmers from unit area of jute cul-tivation.

He further highlighted thatJAF-Safe App developed by the

institute is becoming much popu-lar among the extension workers,field functionaries and other stake-holder for proper identification ofpests and diseases and their timelymanagement. JAF-Kisan App devel-oped during the pandemic timehelped in collection of real timeinformation on jute cultivation,various problems faced by the farm-ers and delivering the solutionthrough filed functionaries. Besideshe emphasised the importance andspecial initiatives of the institute infacilitating formation of jute- basedSelf Help Groups and Farmers’Producers Organisation and train-ing on manufacturing of valueadded jute diversified products thatis going to encourage entrepre-neurship and ensure higher incomeof farmers and other stakeholdersengaged in jute sector.

Dr. Prateek Satya, PrincipalScientist of ICAR-CRIJAF also high-lighted overall activities of the insti-tute during past one year. TheFoundation Day Awards in differ-ent categories were awarded.

More than forty farmers attend-ed the exhibition and farmers-sci-entist interaction in which the sci-entists addressed the problemsfaced by jute farmers. The guestsand farmers also visited the muse-um and research field of the insti-tute to get acquainted about themandated fibre crops and technolo-gies demonstrated in the field.

On February 3, 2021 Indian RailwayFinance Corporation Limited priced

its USD 750,000,000 bonds based on a Rule144A/Regulation S offering format underIRFC’s recently updated USD 4 billionglobal medium term note programme.

The bonds were issued on February10, 2021 for a tenor of 10 years at a fixedrate of 2.80 per cent. The bonds carry semi-annual interest payment and bullet prin-cipal repayment.

Commenting on the issuance,Amitabh Banerjee, Chairman andManaging Director, IRFC, said, “Theamount is a part of our USD 4 billion glob-al term note programme. We will be look-ing to raise the rest of the amount by theend of this fiscal. Our credit ratings aresimilar to the sovereign rating of the coun-try which help us in getting competitiverates with suitable tenors.”

“IRFC launched its USD 750 mn144A/Reg S USD Bonds under the 4 bil-lion GMTN programme on 3rd February,2021. The bonds received overwhelmingresponse from diverse set of investors. Thefact that IRFC has been able to achieve apricing even below the price at which itsown secondary paper was trading in theinternational market, is a remarkableachievement,” he added.

The bonds will be listed on theSingapore Exchange Securities TradingLimited, India International Exchange(IFSC) Limited and InternationalSecurities Market of the London StockExchange.

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ICAR-CRIJAF celebrates 68th foundation day

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India could go for one changeto their playing XI in the sec-

ond Test against England start-ing Saturday with Jharkhandleft-arm spinner ShahbazNadeem making way for fit-again all-rounder Axar Patelafter his poor show in the series-opener in Chennai.

While Nadeem’s replace-ment will be decided by Friday,one can expect Patel to replacehim after his debut was put onhold by an injury.

“Axar had a minor knee nig-gle and has already started bat-ting at the nets. He is expectedto start bowling during the nextcouple of days,” a senior BCCIsource said on Wednesday.

“He was always the firstchoice to play the opening Testbut it will depend on skipperVirat Kohli, head coach RaviShastri and bowling coachBharath Arun,” he added.

Indian captain Virat Kohlididn’t hide his disappointmentwhen it came to Nadeem’s per-formance during the post-matchpresentation where he said thathe and Washington Sundar

couldn’t keep up the pressurethat was created by JaspritBumrah, Ishant Sharma andRavichandran Ashwin.

Nadeem had four wickets inall but gave away 233 runs in 59overs across two innings with aneconomy rate of close to 4 runsper over. And if that wasn’tenough, as a slow bowler, a totalof nine no balls at the Test matchlevel can be considered criminal.

Washington bowled 26overs for 98 runs in the firstinnings and got a solitary overin the second innings.

However, Washington, whowas impressive with the bat inthe first innings, is likely to retain

his place in the playing XI.

ASHWIN HURT BUT IS OKAYA welcome news for India

will be that Ashwin is doing fineafter he sustained a painfulblow from a Jofra Archer shortball during the Indian secondinnings and needed immediateattention from the physio NitinPatel.

India’s best bowling per-former in Chennai wasn’trequired to go for any precau-tionary scans which will certain-ly be a relief for Kohli as heexpects a friendlier pitch duringthe next Test starting fromSaturday.

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Eight-time champion NovakDjokovic was made to sweatat the Australian Open on

Wednesday, as Serena Williamsmade serene progress in her bidfor a record-equalling 24th GrandSlam singles title.

As Major winners StanWawrinka, Bianca Andreescuand Petra Kvitova were second-round casualties, Djokovicdropped his first set of the eventbefore grinding past America’sFrances Tiafoe 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.

“I was fortunate to getthrough the third set today, it wasanybody’s game,” said the defend-ing champion, after his win in hotconditions on Rod Laver Arena.

The top seed looked in con-trol after taking the first set, butlightning-quick Tiafoe, whoreached the quarter-finals twoyears ago, refused to go quietly.

The American bounced backto take a close second set butimploded as tensions rose in thefourth, receiving a code violationfor an audible obscenity asDjokovic took charge.

The Serb is targeting arecord-extending ninth title andhis 18th Grand Slam trophy over-all as he snaps at the heels ofRafael Nadal and Roger Federer,who top the all-time list with 20each.

He avoided the fate of 2014winner Wawrinka, who blewthree match points in the fifth-settiebreaker in his four-hour epicwith Hungary’s MartonFucsovics, who won 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 2-6, 7-6 (11-9).

“I had some chance to finishthe match, I didn’t finish,” said the35-year-old Swiss, a three-timeGrand Slam winner.

Earlier, the 39-year-oldWilliams continued her quest toequal Margaret Court’s all-timemark of 24 tennis Grand Slamswith a 6-3, 6-0 romp past 99th-ranked Serbian Nina Stojanovic

in just 69 minutes on Rod LaverArena.

Williams hit 27 winners inher 101st Australian Open matchwhile again sporting her unique,one-legged catsuit inspired bytrack legend ‘Flo-Jo’.

In the evening session,Japanese sensation Naomi Osakathwarted Caroline Garcia with aneffortless straight-sets victory, asshe stormed into the third round,where she will face 27th seed OnsJabeur.

The third seed, faced a trickycontest against the Frenchwoman,who was ranked a career-high offourth in late 2018 but never gaveher a sniff in the 6-2, 6-3 victoryin 61 minutes.

“I stayed focused throughoutthe match and I tried to playwithin myself,” Osaka, who hit 23winners, told the crowd at RodLaver Arena.

The three-timeGrand Slam winner isriding a 16-matchunbeaten streak —including the US Openfinal — dating back 12months, and is buildingmomentum having not playedbefore arriving in Australia sinceher triumph in New York.

Osaka is eyeing redemptionafter her title defence last yearended with a shock loss toAmerican teenager Coco Gauff inthe third round.

‘CROWD HELPED ME FIGHT’Williams’ older sister Venus,

40, however, was a major casual-ty when she painfully rolled her

ankle in the first set against SaraErrani before hobbling through a6-1, 6-0 defeat.

And Andreescu, the 2019US Open champion who missed

the entire 2020 seasonwith a knee injury, sawher comeback come to anabrupt end, losing 6-3, 6-2 to Chinese Taipei’sHsieh Su-wei.

“You need to find away to get through and the crowdhelped me fight,” said Hsieh,after beating the Canadian, whowas coming off a draining three-setter against MihaelaBuzarnescu.

Elsewhere Kvitova, the for-mer Wimbledon champion andMelbourne runner-up in 2019,committed 44 unforced errors inher 6-4, 1-6, 6-1 defeat byRomania’s Sorana Cirstea as thebig names tumbled on day three.

However, reigning US Openchampion Dominic Thiem, run-ner-up to Djokovic last year, wasall smiles as he beat Germany’sDominik Kopfer 6-4, 6-0, 6-2.

“It was great, to be honest,”the Austrian said of his perfor-mance on Margaret Court Arena.

“I really love this court andhave pretty good stats on it, sosuper happy to be back.”

Eighth seed DiegoSchwartzmann also hurried intothe last 32, brushing asideFrenchman Alexandre Muller 6-2, 6-0, 6-3 in 1hr 32min onShow Court 2.

Sixth seed Alexander Zverevground past Maxime Cressy buthe made heavy weather of oust-ing the qualifier.

The German, a semi-finalistlast year who is gunning for amaiden Grand Slam title, strug-gled to snap the American’s resis-tance in a tight first set.

He finally made a break-through in the 11th game to sealthe set and went onto win 7-5, 6-4, 6-3 in 2hr 4min.

His reward is a tricky clashagainst France’s Adrian

Mannarino, the 32nd seed whoswept past Serb MiomirKecmanovic 6-1, 6-2, 6-4.

Volatile Australian NickKyrgios, meanwhile smashed aracquet, delivered underarmserves, ranted at the umpire andsaved two match points on hisway into the third round.

The 25-year-old drew a rau-cous, socially distanced crowd tohis favoured John Cain Arena andkept them highly entertained,with the atmosphere electric in agripping clash with FrenchmanUgo Humbert.

He eventually came through5-7, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 after3hr 25min against the 29th seedto set up a blockbuster clash withthird seed Thiem.

Women’s second seed SimonaHalep was rattled by big-hittingAlja Tomljanovic, anotherAustralian, but won five games ina row to survive a major scare andreach the third round.

The two-time Grand Slamwinner was pushed to the brinkin a see-saw clash before finallyprevailing 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in 2hr34min.

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India skipper Virat Kohli wason Wednesday pushed to

the fifth spot by his Englishcounterpart Joe Root, who rosetwo rungs to third in the latestICC Test rankings for batsmen,even as Jasprit Bumrah and RAshwin moved up in thebowlers’ chart.

Kohli, who had had scoresof 11 and 72 in the open-ing Test againstEngland, has 852points and downone spot in the lat-est chart issued onWednesday.

Veteran spin-ner Ashwin andpacer Bumrah havejumped a rung each tobe seventh and eighthrespectively.

Root, whohelped his team toa memorable 227-runvictory in Chennaithat kept Englandin contentionfor the WorldT e s t

Championship final, hasreached 883 rating points.

It is his highest positionsince September2017 after afabulous run in the sub-conti-nent saw him accumulate 684runs in three Tests, two ofwhich were in Sri Lanka.

Ahead of Kohli for thefirst time since November2017, Root is now 36 points

behind top-ranked KaneWilliamson and trails

Steve Smith by onlyeight points. WithM a r n u sLabuschagne alsoin the mix, com-petition for thetop five slots isintense with all of

them above 850 rat-ing points.

For India,R ishabh

Pant’s

knock of 91 in the first inningshas helped him become thefirst full-time wicketkeeperfrom his country to reach 700rating points as he retained the13th position among batsmen.

Opener Shubman Gillprogressed seven places to40th position while all-rounder Washington Sundar is81st after moving up two slots.Left-arm spinner ShahbazNadeem too has gained twoplaces to reach 85th positionamong bowlers.

English players made theway up in the bowling rank-ings presently led by Australiafast bowler Pat Cummins.

Formerly top-rankedJames Anderson is up to thirdfrom sixth and only fourpoints behind compatriotStuart Broad, a fellow-memberof the 500-wicket club.

Anderson is at his highestranking since the start of theICC World TestChampionship while spinnersJack Leach and Dominic Bessare both at career-best ratingpoints, moving up to 37thand 41st positions, respec-tively.

West Indies batsman KyleMayers, whose scores of 40

and 210 not out helped scriptan epic win in the first Testagainst Bangladesh in

Chittagong, has entered therankings in 70th position with448 rating points.

Madrid: A depleted Real Madridmoved to within five points of LaLiga leaders Atletico Madrid onTuesday by beating strugglingGetafe 2-0.

Madrid were without ninefirst team players, promptingZinedine Zidane to adopt a 3-5-2 formation which he admittedthey had not practised, withMarcelo and the 20-year-oldMarvin Park as wing-backs.

Karim Benzema andFerland Mendy scored the goalsat Valdebebas, with Mendy’sfinish teed up by his fellow left-back Marcelo, who revelled in hisnew role.

Madrid’s victory puts themin sight of city rivals Atletico evenif Diego Simeone’s side haveplayed two games fewer.

“We have to believe in our-selves, we have to fight,” saidZidane. “There is a lot of theleague left, a lot in front of us.”

Atletico had slipped up forthe first time in nine leaguematches on Monday night, giv-ing Madrid and Barcelona a rayof hope in the title race. Andwhile the trophy remains verymuch in Atletico’s hands, Madridcan only hope to increase thepressure by building somemomentum themselves. AFP

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Juventus are in the final ofthe Italian Cup after a goal-

less draw with rivals InterMilan on Tuesday put themthrough 2-1 on aggregate.

Andrea Pirlo’s side willface one of Napoli or Atalanta,who are locked at 0-0 ahead ofWednesday’s second leg inBergamo, in May’s final aftercomfortably holding Inter ina disciplined display at theAllianz Stadium.

Inter barely trou-bled veteran Juveg o a l k e e p e rGianluigi Buffondespite the returnof Romelu Lukakuand AchrafHakimi, whileC r i s t i a n oRonaldo wast w i c edenied byfine SamirHandanovicsaves at theother end.

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer warned“wasteful” Manchester

United to be “more clinical” afterthey edged into the FA Cupquarter-finals with a hard-fought1-0 win against West Ham onTuesday.

Solskjaer’s side were wellbelow their best in a scrappy fifthround tie at freezing, snow-dust-ed Old Trafford. But a fine fin-ish from Scotland midfielderScott McTominay ensuredUnited advanced to the lasteight for a seventh successiveseason.

United last won the FA Cupin 2016 and McTominay’s thirdgoal in three games kept themin the hunt to lift the trophy forthe 13th time.

After the frustration of thelate Everton equaliser that dent-ed their Premier League titlechallenge on Saturday, this wasan essential result to lift themood at United.

It was hardly an eye-catch-ing performance however, withUnited labouring against defen-

sive West Ham untilMcTominay and BrunoFernandes were introduced assecond half substitutes.

CHERRIES SHOCK BURNLEYIn Tuesday’s other fifth

round tie, Burnley suffered asurprise exit as second tierBournemouth won 2-0 at TurfMoor.

Sean Dyche’s side fell behindto Sam Surridge’s first half goaland Junior Stanislas finishedthem off with a late penalty.

While the loss was embar-rassing, it will be forgotten ifDyche ensures Burnley retaintheir Premier League status.

Burnley are currently 17thin the Premier League, sittingeight points clear of the relega-tion zone.

It could have been an evenmore chastening night forBurnley, who initially includedthe ineligible Erik Pieters in theteam before being alerted to theissue by Bournemouth’s mediachief.

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Pakistan are hoping to turntheir T20 fortunes around

when they take on a depletedSouth Africa in a three-matchseries starting in Lahore onThursday.

The hosts have won justone of their last eight T20series, with victory comingagainst lowly Zimbabwe.

But they are seeking areturn to the form that sawthem win 11 series in a rowfrom September 2016 toNovember 2018, lifting themto the top of the world rank-ings.

Pakistan’s spirits are ridinghigh after beating South Africaby 95 runs in Rawalpindi onMonday to take the two-matchTest series 2-0 — their first winover South Africa since 2003.

South Africa will be with-out regular skipper Quinton deKock, as well as establishedstars such as Faf du Plessis,

Rassie van der Dussen, KagisoRabada and Lungi Ngidi.

They returned home asscheduled after the secondTest to prepare for a tour byAustralia, but that has nowbeen postponed because ofthe critical coronavirus situa-tion in South Africa.

Still, Pakistan’s bowlingcoach Waqar Younis refused totake the new-look South Africaside lightly.

“They are an internation-al team and we need to play toour potential to finish a perfectseason,” he said.

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1������,��G�� �������%������0����% ��%Melbourne: India endured a sec-ond successive disappointingresult at the Australian Open withRohan Bopanna and BenMcLachlan bowing out after aclose opening-round defeat to JiSung Nam and Min-Kyu Song inthe men’s doubles event, here onWednesday.

Bopanna and his Japanesepartner lost 4-6, 6-7(0) to theKorean wild card pair in one hourand 17 minutes.

Not having enough courttime due to hard quarantineseemed to have an effect on

Bopanna’s sharpness. McLachlan,on his part, struggled to negoti-ate volleys and that hurt them.

Bopanna had spent 14 daysin his room and came out only onJanuary 30, jumping into thetune-up event, only to lose hisopening round with FrederikNielsen.

The Indian did not getenough competition time to beready for the season’s first major.

India now have Divij Sharan(men’s doubles) and debutantAnkita Raina (women’s doubles)left in fray. PTI

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Former England captainNasser Hussain feels

incumbent Joe Root is“arguably” the country’s bestever player of spin and canbreak all the Test battingrecords accumulated by thenation’s batsmen.

Root struck 218 inEngland’s first innings on aspin-friendly pitch to lead hisside to a 227-run win overIndia in the first Test inChennai on Tuesday.

“Root sure is one ofEngland’s greats. He willprobably end up breaking allrecords, he will probably gopast Sir Alastair Cook’s 161Test matches and probablytally of runs as well,” Hussainwrote in his column for SkySports.

“He is in great nick, only30 years old, and if you did alist of all-time England bat-ting greats — the ones I haveseen anyway — you’d have to

have Root with Cook,Graham Gooch and KevinPietersen.

“I would say he isarguably England’s best-everplayer of spin, the way hesweeps spin away is out-standing to watch.”

The 52-year-old Hussainsaid the massive win againstIndia in their own den was a“perfect performance” andwill go down as one of thegreat England Test wins.

“People were writingEngland off, saying this seriescould be 4-0 to India. No onereally gave this side much ofa chance. India had won inAustralia, Virat Kohli wasback and India is a very dif-ficult place to go and win inTest match cricket.

“So, this win for Englandhas to be right up there,especially away from home.They put in the perfect per-formance. From ball one tothe final delivery, it was out-standing.”

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