˜ & ’ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ......2020/12/30 · NIMHANS of Bengaluru,...

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Caught off guard after sixpeople tested positive for

the super-infectious UK strainof the coronavirus on Tuesday,the Government has nowdecided to conduct genomesequencing on all internation-al passengers who were symp-tomatic and tested positive forcoronavirus in the last 14 days.

The Union HealthMinistry has already decided toconduct genome sequencingon 5 per cent of the totalCovid positive cases detecteddaily to check for new variants.

Experts feel that theresponse is too late as it will notbe an easy task to trace the33,000 flyers from the UK whohad returned to India duringthe last one month.

“Many of them must havecome into contact with theirrelatives and others. The con-tact tracing is going to be a dif-ficult task,” they said amidreports that many UKreturnees in India have eitherswitched off their phone num-bers or are not available at theirresidences.

However, the Governmentassured that the vaccines underdevelopment would also workagainst the mutated pathogenfirst reported in the UK.

“No need to worry aboutvaccines. Vaccines will workagainst the variants detected inthe UK and South Africa.There is no evidence that cur-rent vaccines will fail to protect

against the new mutant strains,”said Principal Scientific AdviserK VijayRaghavan at a presserhere.

At the same time, he said,there is a need to reduce trans-mission through physical dis-tancing, follow all public healthmeasures scrupulously, wearmasks, follow hand-washing,Covid appropriate behaviour,infection control, amplify test,track, isolate efforts.”

The Ministry has so farcarried out genome testing of144 positive Covid samples ofwhich six have been found tobe carrying the new variantreported in the UK.

Three samples inNIMHANS of Bengaluru, 2 inCCMB, Hyderabad and 1 inNIV, Pune have been detectedout of all the 144 samples test-ed.

The new variant of thecoronavirus SARS-CoV-2 thatcauses Covid-19 is believed tobe 71 per cent more transmit-table than the other variants,the Hyderabad-based Centrefor Cellular and MolecularBiology (CCMB) said onTuesday when India confirmedsix cases of the new strain.

The leading research insti-tute has underlined the impor-tance to launch an extensivegenome surveillance of thevirus to assess the extent of thespread of the new virus.

“We should also keep aneye on other variants thatmight emerge independently,as India houses the secondlargest population infected withthis virus, at present,” CCMBDirector Dr Rakesh Mishrasaid as per a news agency.

The presence of the new

UK variant of the coronavirushas already been reported byDenmark, the Netherlands,Australia, Italy, Sweden, France,Spain, Switzerland, Germany,Canada, Japan, Lebanon andSingapore so far.

“The Government was wellaware of the mutated virusdoing the rounds in severalcountries. It should have start-ed genome testing of the flyersreturning from these mutatedaffected countries as was being

done by other nations. But theGovernment was either apa-thetic or negligent towards thisimportant measures which ithas now decided,” said a doc-tor from a Government hospi-tal who refused to be named.

The Government said thatall the persons with the newvariant have been kept in sin-gle room isolation in designat-ed healthcare facilities byrespective State Governments.

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The temporary suspension ofIndia-UK flights is likely to

be extended beyond December31. Union Civil AviationMinister Hardeep Singh Purion Tuesday said he expected aslight extension of temporarysuspension of passenger flightsbetween India and the UKwhere a new variant of coron-avirus has been detected.

“I foresee a slight extensionof temporary suspension ofIndia-UK flights. In the nextday or two, we will find out ifany additional steps need to betaken, or when we can start eas-ing the current temporary sus-pension,” Puri said whileaddressing a Press conference.

India had last week sus-pended passenger flights toand from the UK betweenDecember 23 and 31, after agrowing list of countries likeCanada, Germany, France,Netherlands, Belgium,Denmark and Italy did thesame due to a more infectiouscoronavirus variant there. Thepresence of the new UK vari-ant has already been reportedby Denmark, the Netherlands,Australia, Italy, Sweden, andother countries.

India, UK have 67 weeklyflights operated by four airlines— Air India, Vistara, BritishAirways and Virgin Atlantic.Almost 2,000-2,500 passen-gers fly in daily on these flights.

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Afew hours ahead of thetalks between farmers and

Government scheduled forWednesday, protesting farmunions on Tuesday wrote to theCentre, saying the discussionwill only be on the modalitiesof repealing the three legisla-tions, giving a legal guaranteeon the MSP, and on two otherissues they proposed earlier thisweek for a resumption of thedialogue.

The Government has invit-ed the protesting farmers forthe sixth round of talks onWednesday.

In its letter on Tuesday, theSamyukt Kisan Morcha, whichrepresents 40 farm unions, saidthe modalities for repealing thethree contentious laws and alegal guarantee on the mini-mum support price (MSP)must be part of the agenda forthe talks.

The Morcha further saidthe agenda of the meetingshould also include amend-ments to be made and notifiedin the Commission for the AirQuality Management inNational Capital Region andAdjoining Areas Ordinance,2020 to exclude farmers fromits penal provisions.

Through the letter, theMorcha also formally acceptedthe Government’s invitationfor the dialogue.

The letter also stated thatwithdrawal of the ElectricityAmendment Bill 2020 to pro-tect the interests of farmersshould also be part of theagenda for the dialogue.

The farmers had also writ-ten to the Government onDecember 26 listing the agen-da for talks.

In the letter, the Morchasaid that in its December 26communication to theGovernment, it had mentioned“changes” by mistakes insteadof “withdrawal” of theElectricity Amendment Bill.

Meanwhile, also onTuesday the unions deferred to

Thursday their proposed trac-tor march against the con-tentious agriculture laws, sothat the rally does not clashwith their talks with theGovernment.

Thousands of protestingfarmers, mostly from Punjaband Haryana, have been camp-ing at three Delhi border points— Singhu, Ghazipur and Tikri— for the past 31 days,demanding a repeal of threefarm laws and legal guaranteefor minimum support price.

On Monday, farmer lead-ers agreed to the governmentproposal for holding the nextround of talks on the newagricultural laws on December30, but remained firm on theiragenda of scrapping the laws.

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Lucknow: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Tuesday hitout at previous Governmentsfor delaying the DedicatedFreight Corridor project andignoring modernisation of rail-ways, and said his Governmentengaged with stakeholders tospeed up works and carried outreforms at all levels.

Inaugurating the NewBhaupur-New Khurja sectionof the Eastern DedicatedFreight Corridor (EDFC) viavideo conferencing, Modi saidthe “vibration” and “roar” ofBharat and “AatmanirbharBharat” were clearly heard asthe first freight train ran on theKhurja-Bhaupur freight corri-dor.

Attacking previousGovernment, the PrimeMinister said the project wasgiven permission in 2006 but itwas only on paper as the thenGovernment lacked the seri-ousness and urgency withwhich it had to take it up withthe states.

Till 2014 not a single kmtrack of the project was laid andthe funds sanctioned couldnot be spent properly. PTI

Detailed report on P5

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The Centre on Tuesday saidit has proposed to make

airbag mandatory for the pas-senger in the front seat of avehicle. The step is aimed atimproving passenger safety incase of accidents.

The Road TransportMinistry has issued a draftnotification. The proposedtimelines for the implementa-tion of the move is April 1,2021, for new models and June1, 2021, for existing models.

“In a significant measure toboost passenger safety, theMinistry of Road Transportand Highways (MoRTH) pro-poses to make it mandatorythat an airbag be provided forthe passenger seated on thefront seat of a vehicle, next tothe driver,” the Ministry said ina statement.

The addition of a dualfront airbags would spell anincrease of roughly between Rs10,000 to Rs 20,000 in theprices of entry-level versions ofthe car models.

The MoRTH has plannedto implement this norm for all

new models of cars which aremanufactured from April 1,2021, onwards. For the existingunits, the date for complyingwith the new rule is proposedto be June 1, 2021.

Previously, theGovernment had made havingan airbag mandatory for thedriver’s seat in all cars whichcame into effect from July 1,2019.

“Comments/ suggestionsare solicited from all stake-holders within a month time,”the draft notification by theMoRTH said.

The draft notification fur-ther reads, “Vehicles manufac-tured on and after 1st Day of

April 2021, in the case of newmodels, and 1st day of June2021, in the case of existingmodels, shall be fitted withairbag for the person occupy-ing the front seat, other thanthe driver. The requirement forsuch airbag shall be as per AIS145...under the Bureau ofIndian Standards act, 2016.”

“As of now, only the driver’sseat airbag is mandatory for allcars. However, this leaves thepassenger in the front seatcompletely vulnerable to severeinjury or even death in case ofaccidents as they are not pro-tected by the airbag,” said a senior MoRTHofficial.

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Poet Laureate RabindranathTagore’s Shantiniketan

(abode of peace) once againturned into a political theatreless than 10 days after theUnion Home Minister AmitShah held a massive parade atBolpur in Birbhum district.

Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Tuesdayled an equally impressive road-show attacking Shah and theBJP for importing “fake politicsand hate politics” in the State.

Calling upon the people to“oust the Bargis (Marathainvaders of 18th century werecalled thus in Bengal) who havecome here to generate fake pol-itics, spread hatred and sparkriots,” Mamata said, adding,“they have not only smearedthe Viswa Bharati campuswhich was scarcely politicisedin the past but they have alsonot spared even a Nobel laure-

ate and a son of the soil likeAmartya Sen.”

A time has come when thepeople of Bengal were taskedwith a duty to “oust the Bargiswho are soiling our culture andspoiling our lives by splurgingmoney in order to buy not onlythe people’s representatives butalso the voters,” Mamata said.

She asked the people toaccept the cash offered but notvote for their symbol (lotus) asthey are masters of fake andhate politics whose duty is onlyto spread hatred and igniteriots.

Referring to Shah’s rallyMamata said, “There are someparties that organise roadshowswhere you will find more ban-ners and flags than the people.”

“Hours after the ChiefMinister’s roadshow TMCstrongman and district partypresident Anubrata Mondalsaid at least three lakh peoplehad gathered at the Bolpurrally.”

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Actor Rajinikanth, who haddeclared early this month

that he would announce thedetails of his political party onthe New Year eve, made aquick volte-face on Tuesday byannouncing through socialmedia that he was not launch-ing any political outfit.

This means that TamilNadu may have to wait for longto see an effective and viablethird front to take on the DMKand the AIADMK, the tradi-tional rivals of the State politicsfor the last 35 years. The State’sthirst to see the emergence ofa charismatic leader tooremains unquenched.

“With a heavy heart, Iannounce this: Due to healthreasons I am not able to enterpolitics by launching a politi-cal party. Only I know the painwith which I make thisannouncement,” Rajinikanth

said in the statement.“I will continue to serve

people without coming to elec-toral politics. I will never hes-itate to speak the truth. I appealto all my fans and people ofTamil Nadu to accept my deci-sion. Rajini Makkal Mandramwill continue to function,” theactor said.

He stated that it would notbe fair to campaign throughsocial media. If I develop healthcomplications during my cam-paign, it would severely affectthose who accompany me inpolitics, he said.

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Pierre Cardin, the Frenchdesigner whose famous

name embossed everythingfrom wristwatches to bedsheetsafter his iconic Space Age stylesshot him into the fashionstratosphere in the 1960s, hasdied, the French Academy ofFine Arts said on Tuesday. Hewas 98.

A licensing maverick,Cardin’s name went on thou-sands of products and in thebrands heyday in the 1970s and80s, while goods bearing hisfancy cursive signature weresold at some 100,000 outletsworldwide.

That number dwindleddramatically in later years, ashis products were increasing-ly regarded as cheaply madeand his clothing — which,decades later, remained virtu-ally unchanged from its 60s-era styles — felt laughablydated.

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Four Memorandums ofUnderstanding (MoU) were

signed in the presence ofChhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on Tuesday forthe investment of �2,576 croresfor the establishment of auto-mobile, steel and solar powerplants.

The Industries Departmentand Hira Group signed theMoUs which are expected togenerate employment foraround 10,000 State residents.

Baghel told the event saidthat industrialists will get bet-ter cost by establishing steelplants at Bastar. Adequate gov-ernment land is available forsetting up small industries. Itwould help to generate employ-ment for the tribes.

As per the MoU, MsNanoion Batteries Pvt Ltd,Raipur, will establish a Lithiumbattery manufacturing plantwith production capacity of50,000 batteries with invest-ment of �13.05 crores.

Ms Godavari Electric PvtLtd, Raipur, will establish40,000 electric vehicles manu-facturing plant for �17.71

crores. Ms Spring Solar PvtLtd, Raipur, will set up asolar power plant atRajnandgaon with invest-ment of �245 crore.

Ms Godavari Powerand Ispat Ltd, Raipur, willinvest �1,400 crore at theRaipur division and �900crore at the Bastara division.

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The first ethanol plant underPPP model will be estab-

lished in Chhattisgarh forwhich the MoU was signed inthe presence of ChhattisgarhChief Minister Bhupesh Baghelon Tuesday.

The MoU was signed byBhoramdev Cooperative SugarFactory, Kawardha, andChhattisgarh Distrillry Ltdancillary unit NKG Biofuels for30 years.

The Chief Minister on theoccasion said it would pave the

path for timely payment of sug-arcane farmers and maximumutilisation of the sugar factoryby establishing the ethanolplant. It will generate bothdirect and indirect employ-ment.

It would put Chhattisgarhas a key ethanol productionState.

Cooperative Minister DrPremsai Singh Tekam said theinvestor will invest �100 croresfor the ethanol plant of 40 kilolitre per day (KLPD) capacity.Only land will be provided forthe construction.

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Chandigarh: Haryana Policehas traced 1,716 missing chil-dren in the year 2020 and hand-ed them over to their families indifferent parts of the country.Among the traced missing chil-dren, 771 are boys and 945 aregirls.

The Police also tracked andrescued 1,189 child beggars and1,941 child labourers duringthe year. These children werefound either working in shops ordoing odd jobs for their liveli-hood. Director General of Police(DGP), Manoj Yadava onTuesday said that apart frommaintaining law and order andcurb crime during the hardtimes of a pandemic year, ourofficers and jawans also priori-tized to trace and reunite miss-ing children with their family.

Out of the total, 1433 miss-ing children were traced andreunited by field units and theremaining 283 were traced bythe specialised Anti-HumanTrafficking Units of State CrimeBranch, who have shown greatdedication to this noble cause.

Explaining the objective ofthis noble programme, the DGPsaid that it was started to preventchild trafficking and save theinnocent from persons whotried to engage them in beggingand other antisocial behavior.Under this programme, policevisit public places like bus stands,railway stations and religiousplaces, besides the institutionssuch as shelter homes to searchfor children who may have sep-arated from their parents. Policealso visit shelter homes andmake an effort to track down theparents of missing children whoare unable to reveal much abouttheir families. Our personnelscreened all the missing childrento extract required informationfrom them which helps inreuniting them with their par-

ents, he added.Haryana Police is conduct-

ing this drive to reunite missingchildren with the support ofChild Welfare Councils, Non-Government Organizations anddepartments concerned.

Enumerating the districtwise figure, he informed thatPolice have been able to trace213 missing children in Panipat,50 in Panchkula, 40 inGurugram, 80 each in Faridabadand Rohtak, 55 in Ambala, 98 inYamunanagar, 56 inKurukshetra, 23 in Karnal, 24 inKaithal, 97 in Sonipat, 45 inBhiwani, 39 in Jhajjar, 27 inCharkhi Dadri, 86 each in Sirsaand Hisar, 23 in Hansi, 49 inJind, 41 in Fatehabad, 72 inRewari, 122 in Palwal, 6 inNarnaul and 16 in Mewat. PNS

Chandigarh: To protect therights of property owners bychecking fraudulent transfers,such as sales, the HaryanaGovernment has issued a noti-fication amending the HaryanaRegistration Manual.

Additional Chief Secretaryand Financial Commissioner,Revenue and DisasterManagement Department,Sanjeev Kaushal on Tuesdaysaid that the amendment hadbeen made to ensure that per-sons with valid titles would nothave to seek legal recourse to getthe deed of the fraudulent salecancelled, and may continue tohave the liberty to enjoy theirproperty. This has been done byinserting Para 159-A onDecember 23. The amend-ment would empower register-ing officers to accept and regis-ter cancellation deeds cancellingthe sale deeds earlier registeredfraudulently by a person who isnot entitled to transfer suchproperty. It is also clarified thatif a person has a right in theproperty and someone elsetransfers it without his consent,

the right in that property stillcontinues to subsist in trueowner and the transfer has noeffect on such title.

According to the amend-ment, if a document is registeredat the instance of a person notduly empowered to present thesame, any person claimingunder the document, may, with-in four months from the date ofknowledge that such documentis invalid, present such docu-ment in such event. The regis-tering officer, after following thesame procedure contemplatedunder the Registration Act,1908, can re-register the docu-ment, that is, cancellation deed,as if it has not been registeredpreviously.

If a document relating totransfer by way of sale, gift,mortgage, exchange, lease orotherwise, is registered of‘Shamilat Deh’ land vested ordeemed to have vested in thePanchayat Deh under thePunjab Common Lands(Regulation) Act, 1961, or inMunicipalities, includingMunicipal Corporations, under

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Chandigarh: Punjab YouthDevelopment Board wouldlaunch “Youth of Punjab” cam-paign on January 7 across thestate. “Under the campaign, freesports kits would be distributedto the youth in all districts ofPunjab,” said Punjab YouthDevelopment Board chairmanSukhwinder Singh Bindra.

“Each sports kit wouldinclude kits for cricket, volley-ball, and football, and this sportskit can be used by 70-80 youthin each area because theyinclude kits of team sports,” saidBindra.

Further, he informed thatthe campaign would be officiallylaunched from Ludhiana onJanuary 7 where youth clubs

from the district’s urban areaswould be handed over sportskits, followed by another func-tion on January 28, where youthclubs of rural areas of Ludhianawould be covered. Bindra saidthat hundreds of youth clubs ofLudhiana district would be cov-ered during these two events,and several industrial housessuch as Hero Ecotech, AvonCycles, Kangaroo industries,Highway Industries, KJ Forgingsetc are actively supporting theBoard regarding this campaign.

“Any youth club, which hasworked in the field of sports orfor any social cause or duringCOVID, can apply along withsupporting photographs or doc-uments at my personal e-mail —

[email protected] or at phone number 95772-00003…Once they apply, theircredentials would be checkedand free sports kits would beprovided to them,” he said.

Bindra said that the CaptAmarinder Singh led PunjabGovernment is committed to theprogress of state’s youth in allspheres.

Appealing to the state’syouth to stay away from drugsand show maximum participa-tion in sports, as Punjab is a statethat has produced several inter-national and national level play-ers, he announced that moresuch functions would also beorganized in other parts of theState in coming days. PNS

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Farmers’ unions do not wantthe Punjab Police to bell the

cat over the issue of vandalisa-tion of mobile towers, reportedfrom several parts of the State.The farmers’ leaders haveextended full support to any“victim” of the police action incase of registration of an FIR insuch incidents while, at thesame time, appealing to thefarmers not to disrupt the tele-com services or snap power sup-ply to the mobile towers.

The assertion came a dayafter Punjab Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh hadissued a stern warning againstvandalism of mobile towers anddisruption of telecom services inthe State while also directing thestate police to take strict actionagainst those resorting to suchunlawful activities.

“We will support the farm-ers, or anyone in case the policewill lodge any FIR in such inci-dents,” said Krantikari KisanUnion’s general secretaryBalwinder Singh Zira onTuesday. Zira, responding to theChief Minister’s warning anddirectives to the State Police, saidthat all the farmers’ unions are

appealing the people, especial-ly from villages, to not to indulgein such activities like snappingpower supply or damaging themobile towers, or their cables.“But we have clarified that wewould support anyone if thepolice initiate any action in thismatter,” he added. Notably, fol-lowing the Chief Minister’sdirectives to the state police, thefarmers have maintained thatthe cops were issuing warningsto the villagers. “The farmerorganizations, which are protest-ing against the new farm laws,are against such things. Wenever back such things wheresome people damage mobiletowers or cause damage to pub-

lic or private property,” saidBharatiya Kisan Union (BKU),Ekta-Ugrahan, general secre-tary Sukhdev Singh. He reiter-ated that his outfit and othershave made a strong appeal to thepeople not to do any such actwhich may damage public prop-erty. With more than 1,500mobile phone towers havingbeen vandalized in Punjab amidprotests over the three farm laws,farmer leaders at the agitationsite on the Delhi border onTuesday appealed that thesevital infrastructure should not bedamaged. Notably, as many as1561 mobile phone towers havebeen vandalized in Punjabamidst protests over the three

farm laws. Of these, 146 wereimpacted only on Monday dueto disruption of power supply to32 towers that led to the dis-connection of services of theremaining 114.The government,in its statement on Monday, stat-ed that so far, 433 towers havebeen repaired. The state has atotal of 21,306 mobile towersspread across its 22 districts.

Such incidents were report-ed from Mansa, Barnala,Ferozepur, and Moga withmobile towers of a particulartelecom operator, Reliance Jio,being targeted during the pastfew days, disrupting their ser-vices. The Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh, asserting that

he would not let Punjab plungeinto anarchy at any cost andnobody can be allowed to takethe law into their hands, had onMonday stated that he has beenforced to toughen his stance ashis repeated appeals to perpe-trators of such acts had beenignored.

‘CALL FOR BOYCOTT’Alleging that the Centre’s

new farm laws would benefit thebig corporate houses, includingthat of Ambanis, the farmers’unions had given a call of boy-cotting Reliance Jio. They haveurged the people to port their Jionumbers to other telecom ser-vice providers. Krantikari KisanUnion president Dr Darshan Pal

asserted that the main focus ofthe ongoing farmers’ agitation isonly to boycott the corporateand nothing else. Dr DarshanPal also denied any role of thefarmers in the incidents of dam-aging the telecom towers inPunjab. “The mobile tower andinfrastructure of any companyshould not be damaged as ourcall is only on boycotting a com-pany,” he said while addressingfrom the main stage at Singhuborder on Tuesday where thefarmers’ dharna has entered34th day.

OTHER TELCOS SETUPSPECIAL CAMPS IN PUN-JAB, ERECT STALLS ATSINGHU

Cashing in on the farmers’call to boycott Jio, the other tele-com service providers are orga-nizing special camps in severalareas of Punjab, while specialstalls have also been set up at theSinghu border. The farmers,besides the people, especially invillages, are using the portabil-ity option, which allows a mobilephone user to switch to a dif-ferent network while retainingtheir mobile number. In Punjab,special camps are being orga-nized in villages with shop-keepers making special offersand running discounts toencourage people to switch fromJio to Airtel, Vodafone-Idea andother mobile companies

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader and MLA

from Rajinder Nagar, RaghavChadha on Tuesday said thatfree WiFi hotspots will be setup at Singhu border for theprotesting farmers

“The decision has beentaken by farmers' 'sevadarArvind Kejriwal. We want thefarmers to stay in touch withtheir family. We have identifieda few spots to install the WiFihotspots. This is an initiative ofArvind Kejriwal and the party,”said Chadha.

“We were apprised of thefact that due to poor receptionat Singhu border, they wereunable to speak with theirfamily. Each WiFi hotspot willcover a radius of 100 metres,”said Chadha.

“Whether it’s a soldierguarding our country at theinternational borders, or farm-ers who are at Delhi’s borders, anindividual’s biggest strength is hisfamily. Shri Arvind Kejriwalunderstands this strength. We, atthe Aam Aadmi Party, under-stand this strength, and hope thatthe free WiFi hotspots at Singhuborder will help a farmer see hisold, aged parent; it will allow himto sing a lullaby to his child, hewill be able to speak with his wife,his friends,” said Chadha.

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Senior Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader and the

Municipal Corporation Delhi(MCD) in-charge DurgeshPathak on Tuesday alleged thatthe top brass of the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) has lost allhope on the BJP ruled MCD.

Hitting hard on BJP Pathaksaid that on October 19 theNorth MCD mayor Jai Prakashmet Union Minister of State(Finance) Anurag Thakur;despite the request of themayor, the Center has not pro-vided any aid to the MCD.

He said that MCD hadasked for Rs 2000 crores fromthe Center but they have notprovided any money. Pathaksaid that the BJP has no moralright to stay in power of theMCD because not only thepeople of Delhi but also theirown party leaders do not

believe the BJP ruled MCD.“All the permanent, as well

as contractual sanitation work-ers, have not received theirsalary for the last 4 months.Class 4 employees and Healthworkers of group C have notreceived their salary in the last5 months. DCB employeeshave not received their salaryfor the last 3 months,” saidPathak.

“Nurses, Allopathy doc-tors, and surgeons have notreceived their salary for the lastfour months. Teachers whobuild our student’s destiny havenot received their salary for thelast six months. Group A andB employees also have notreceived their salary for the last6 months. It is an extremely unfortunate situationthat BJP who is ruling the DelhiMCD for the last 14 years isunable to pay its employees,”said Pathak.

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Hundreds of farmers havestayed put at National

Capital’s borders demandingthe Centre to repeal the newfarm laws. The farmers andGovernment are expected tomeet at 2 pm on Wednesday fortalks. However, All India KisanSangharsh CoordinationCommittee (AIKSCC) hasrefuted any possibility of anydiscussion in tomorrow’s talksuntil the agenda of repeal of thethree farm acts and EB 2020 istaken up first. Meanwhile,security remained tight at theDelhi borders with hundreds ofpersonnel deployed at Singhu,Ghazipur and Tikri where thefarmers have been camping.

AIKSCC said it is illogicalfor the government to assertthat these acts are for benefit tofarmers. “Crores of farmerswho know the reality of com-panies better than him are sit-ting at his doorstep for morethan a month. The acts, whichlegally establish corporate, bothIndian and Foreign, will under-mine government mandis andhelp bind farmers in contracts.They will input costs, reduceprices, raise farmer debts andlead both to increased alien-ation from land and suicides,”alleged AIKSCC.

AIKSCC asserted that the

farmer under contract will haveto borrow and the ContractActs provides for such bor-rowing by mortgaging and forrecovery of dues from land.

The farmer unions havedeferred to Thursday theirproposed tractor march againstthe contentious agriculturelaws, so that the rally does notclash with their talks with thegovernment on Wednesday.

The unions have agreed tohold the next round of talkswith the Central governmenton Wednesday, but insist theagenda of the meeting shouldinclude discussing modalitiesfor repealing the three legisla-tions.

Earlier this week, SamyuktKisan Morcha -- an umbrella

body of 40 unions leadingprotests at Delhi border points— had announced a tractormarch from the Singhu and theTikri borders to the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP)Highway on December 30.

Meanwhile, the farmersdemonstrating against theCentre's new agri laws onMonday performed yoga onthe Delhi-Noida Link Road atthe Chilla border where theyhave been camping for 28 daysnow.

The road remained closedfor Noida to Delhi movementbut was open for commuterstravelling from Delhi to Noida.While the traffic movement atSinghu and Tikri bordersremained closed.

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the Haryana Municipal Act,1973, and the HaryanaMunicipal Corporation Act,1994, the Block DevelopmentPanchayat Officer, Secretary orExecutive Officer orCommissioner, MunicipalCorporation or DistrictMunicipal Commissioner,would get the cancellation deedregistered after seeking approvalof the Deputy Commissioner orother superior authority. Thisparameter would be applicablefor ‘Shamilat Deh’ lands illegal-ly partitioned and alienated inthe past without getting thetitle adjudicated under the rel-evant statute by the competentauthority or court, as applicable.

In addition, there could be anunimaginable number of cir-cumstances when the executanthimself of his own volition comesbefore the registering officer anddesires to cancel the earlier doc-ument. In such cases, the regis-tering officer could re-register,that is, cancel the document,totally ignoring the earlier regis-tration, under Section 23A of theRegistration Act, 1908. Theamendment also mentions thatas per Schedule 1A, Article 17, asapplicable to Haryana, of theIndian Stamp Act, 1899 and theIndian Stamp (HaryanaAmendment) Act, 2018, cancel-lation deed, with a stamp fee ofRs. 500, is recognised as a legaldocument in law and a transac-tion for transfer of immovableproperty is no exception. PNS

02�� 1��!New Delhi: Delhi Jal Board(DJB) vice chairmen RaghavChadha on Tuesday saidHaryana has not stopped dis-charging industrial pollutantsinto the Yamuna despite repeat-ed reminders. Chadha urgedthe Central Pollution ControlBoard (CPCB) to take imme-diate remedial measures.

“Ammonia concentrationin the river at the Wazirabadbarrage has increased to 7 ppm(parts per million) against thepermissible limit of 0.8 ppmwhich is likely to affect thewater supply,” said Chadha.

“Discharge of industrialpollutants in Yamuna throughRohtak X-Regulator and DD6has not stopped despite repeat-ed reminders to the Haryanagovt,” Chadha tweeted.

“Such irresponsible behav-iour of Haryana govt adverse-ly impacting the water supplyin Delhi must be dealt withsternly,” he added.

Chadha urged the CPCBand the Upper Yamuna RiverBoard to take immediate cog-nisance of the "nonchalant"attitude of the Haryana gov-ernment and take remedialmeasures. The DJB on Mondaysaid water supply fromWazirabad, Chandrawal andOkhla water treatment plantswould remain affected till theammonia level in the riverreduces to a treatable limit. SR

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Alleging rising resentmentamong farmers,

Chhattisgarh BJP PresidentVishnudeo Sai on Tuesdayasked the government to stepin at the earliest to provideimmediate relief for smoothprocurement of paddy.

Sai said in a statement thatthe farmers in Gariaband citingnon-payment after paddy pro-curement had resorted to roadblockade. He said the Uniongovernment had released`9,000 crore to the state forpaddy procurement.

Then why the delay inrelease of payment within 72hours, he asked.

Sai pointed out that theCentre had announced a hikein procurement of rice for

Central pool quota fromChhattisgarh, with the releaseof funds of `9,000 crore.Against this backdrop, thefarmers are being misled by thestate government by blamingthe central government for theproblems in the paddyprocurement centres.

On the issue of shortage ofgunny bags, Sai said the stategovernment will reimburse `15per sack while farmersprocured them from themarket at `25-30.

STAFF REPORTER n KORBA

Two persons died and anotherfell ill after allegedly con-

suming illicit liquor inChhattisgarh’s Korba district.Two persons involved in sellingthe hooch were arrested, policesaid on Tuesday.

Korba AdditionalSuperintendent of Police KirtanRathore said the incident tookplace at a function to celebratethe birth of a child at the houseof a retired forest officer inGurasiya village in the Bangopolice station area on Sundaynight.

The deceased were identifiedas Sadhuram Gond (55) andRajkumar Kumbhkar (28), bothfrom the same village.

According to preliminaryinformation, Gond and five asso-ciates were cooking food for thefunction and consumed the localbrew sold illegally in the village,the officer said.

At least 13 people had con-sumed the beverage but the

condition of Gond, Rajkumarand Itwar Ram Kumbhkardeteriorated and they startedvomiting. They were rushed to acommunity health centre inPodi-Uproda village.

While Gond was declareddead on arrival, Rajkumar diedduring treatment, the officersaid, adding that the thirdvictim is in treatment at aprivate hospital as his condition

is critical.The exact cause of the deaths

will be known once the autopsyreport comes, the officer added.

RAIPUR | WEDNESDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2020chhattisgarh 03

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a demonstration raising several issues related to universitystudents before the Pt Ravishankar Shukla University in capital city Raipur on Tuesday. Pioneer Photo

NATIONAL OPEN COMPETITIVE PROCUREMENT(Two-Envelope Bidding Process with e-Procurement)

e-PROCUREMENT REQUEST FOR BIDSeProcurement Portal: https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in

CORRIGENDUM NO. 1In Tender ID No. 2020_WRCWB_600233_/RFB No. 10/SAC/2020-21/Rudri/Drip-IIDated 01.12.2020 G.No. 85367 is amendments. Detail amendments is upload in(https://eprocure.gov.in/app)

GOVERNMENT OF CHHATTISGARH, WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENTOFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER

MAHANADI PROJECT, RAIPUR (C.G.)

Executive Engineer,E&M H.E.M.M. Division Rudri

for, Chief EngineerMahanadi Project Water Resources

Department RaipurG- 85925/7 Ryp/Dtd 29.12.20

(CENTRAL TENDER CELL)E-Procurement Tender NoticeMain Portal: https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in

Tenders are invited for the Following Works:-

Last Date of Tender Downloading for S. No. 01,02 Dates 13-01-2021,and S. No. 03,4,5,6,7,8, Date 15-01-2021, and S. No. 9,10,11,12,13 Dates arescheduled as 18-01-2021. For more details on the tender and biddingprocess please visit the above mentioned portal.

OFFICE OF THE ENGINEER IN CHIEFPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, NAVA RAIPUR,ATAL NAGAR

S.No.

SystemTender No.

/ Date

Name of Work PACAmount

(Rupees in Lacs.)

1 70150(First Call)

22.12.20

Construction of H. L. Bridge Across KuriyaNalla on Piparchhedi - Tarsinwa Road.

565.17

2 70149(First Call)

23.12.20

Construction of High Level Bridge AcrossKhairkhuta Nalla on Kishanpur - KhairkhutaRoad.

290.04

3 70201(First Call)

23.12.20

Construction of High Level Bridge i/cApproaches Across Sakri River on Kothardih -Paliguda Road.

642.18

4 70185(First Call)

23.12.20

Construction of Mariguda to Mailbeda Roadlength 5.70 k.m.

280.58

5 70166(First Call)

23.12.20

Construction of High Level Bridge andApproach Road Across Budhra River onDewadand to Pendri Via. Mangora Road.

1794.94

6 70202(First Call)

23.12.20

Widening & Strengthening of AmbikapurRaigarh Road in Km 139 to 157 Total Length19.00 Km. (up to Gharghora Bypass to JampaliSECL Mines

4193.83

7 70205(First Call)

23.12.20

Construction of Pahurbel to Udiyapal Roadlength 4.50 k.m. i/c 04 nos. Culverts.

291.10

8 70186(First Call)

23.12.20

Construction of Pathri to Chinari Road length3.80 k.m. with 03 nos Culvert.

242.90

9 70242(First Call)

26.12.20

Construction of Bawankera To Chirko Road(Length 3.10 Km) at Distt. Mahasamund (Dn.Mahasamund).

329.84

10 70262(First Call)

26.12.20

Construction of Limauguda to kakenchuwaRoad length 4.50 k.m. i/c Culvert's at Distt.Mahasamund. ( Dn. Mahasamund).

476.40


26.12.20

Construction of Parsada To LohjharRoad Length 5.00 Km. i/c Culvert's(Actual Length 1/4 (50)To5/10=4.65 Km.) atDistt- Mahasamund(Dn. Mahasamund.

486.78


26.12.20

Const. of H.L. Bridge Across Amner River onRengakathera- Changurda (Mudpar) Road.

333.82


26.12.20

Construction Of High Level Bridge i/cApproach Road Across Sindoor River onVijaynagar - Mitgai Road.

498.68

Chief Engineer(Central Tender Cell)

Office of Engineer In ChiefP.W.D. Nava Raipur Atal NagarG- 85926/7 Ryp/Dtd 29.12.20

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

For dealing with the newstrain of coronavirus

found in the UnitedKingdom, Chhattisgarh hasbegun preparations and a spe-cial ward with 330 beds isready at AIIMS Raipur.

Chhattisgarh HealthMinister T.S. Singh Deo saidthis on Tuesday during amedia interaction.

“We need to identify thepatients with the new strain ofcoronavirus in India. The newstrain spreads 60 percentfaster but there is no need topanic. Currently we do nothave proper scientific infor-mation about it and we needto monitor people travellingto foreign countries or com-ing to India,” he said.

Replying to a query about10 missing UK returned Covidpatients in Chhattisgarh,Singh Deo said: "I had infor-mation about one missing

person and the department istrying to find the person."

Over a question aboutrequirement of separate hos-pitals for dealing with the new

strain, the Minister said it wasnot a new disease. However, anew wing with 330 beds hasbeen prepared in AIIMSRaipur for such patients.

330 beds at AIIMS Raipur fornew Covid strain: Singh Deo

STAFF REPORTER nDANTEWADA

Eight Naxalites, includingfour allegedly involved in

killing a BJP MLA in Aprillast year, surrendered inChhattisgarh's Dantewadadistrict, police said onTuesday.

The cadres, who wereactive in south Bastar, turnedthemselves in before seniorpolice and CRPF officials onMonday, citing their disap-pointment with the Maoistideology, an official said.

They said the recent sur-render by their colleagues asa part of 'Lon Varratu'(Return to yourHome/Village) campaign ofthe police had encouragedthem to quit violence, theofficial said.

Of the eight, AytuBhaskar (25), who was aSection Commander inPlatoon No 13 of Maoists,carried a reward of `3 lakhon his head, said DantewadaSuperintendent of PoliceAbhishek Pallava.

Bhaskar had been in jail

for close to 11 months in2019 in connection with theuprooting of railway tracksby Naxalites in Bhansi areaand is currently out on bail.

Raju Karam (25), head ofChetna Natya Mandli (a cul-tural wing of Maoists), andMahesh Kumar Dodi (26)

were involved in various inci-dents and carried rewards of`1 lakh each on their heads,the officer added.

Bhima Barse (28),Lakhma Tati (22), Sona Tati(20), Madka Barse (21) andPitte alias Bhima Mandavi(35) were among the surren-

dered cadres. They wereallegedly involved in the IEDblast which killed BJP MLABheema Mandavi and foursecurity personnel inShyamgiri in Dantewada inApril 2019, he said.

The eight were given animmediate assistance of`10,000 each and will be pro-vided facilities as per the gov-ernment's surrender andrehabilitation policy, the offi-cial added.

Under the Lon Varratuinitiative, the Dantewadapolice have put up posters andbanners in the native villagesof at least 1,600 Naxals, mostlycarrying cash rewards on theirheads, and appealed them toreturn to the mainstream.

Since the drive started inJune, 226 Naxalites havesurrendered in the district.


If the Chhattisgarh gov-ernment runs the

Nagarnar Steel Plant in caseof disinvestment0, theunemployed, particularly inBastar, will benefit, PradeshCongress Committee(PCC) President MohanMarkam said on Tuesday.

In a statement to themedia, he said in 2001 theCongress governmentbegan acquiring land.Under the rehabilitationpackage, one person fromamong land losing familieswas to be given a job in theNMDC project.

In 2001, 293 personswere nominated for jobs.Ten were not given jobs dueto several reasons.

He said that in 2010, the

BJP government acquiredland of 1,052 farmers. Theeligible 624 are given suste-nance allowance, not jobs.Those having studied lessthan Class 8 got `7,080,those who has passedschool `11,000, and gradu-ates and above `12,000.

Markam called it injus-

tice to the landless farmers.He said Bastar falls in

the Scheduled Area and 5thSchedule is effective, butdespite that the central gov-ernment is trying to priva-tize it. It is the first examplein the country where a proj-ect under construction isbeing disinvested.

Slogan competitionto mark NationalYouth DayRAIPUR: To mark SwamiVivekananda’s birth anniversaryon National Youth Day, the gov-ernment of Chhattisgarh is goingto organize a slogan writing com-petition on the topic “GadhboNava Chhattisgarh” and“Chhattisgarhi Yuva”, it wasannounced on Tuesday.

Interested participants canregister online from January 1 to10 on the official website of thePublic Relations Departmenthttp://jansampark.cg.gov.in/ ,http://dprcg.gov.in, the releasesaid.

The slogan must be self-writ-ten and the participants will beresponsible in case of any disputein duplication or taking sloganfrom elsewhere, it added.

The language of slogan will beChhattisgarhi, Hindi and English.Through this competition, select-ed slogans will be used for public-ity by the department.

All the participants will getdigital certificates and the 100 bestslogan writers will be given `1,000each by the department, it added.


Chhattisgarh Panchayatand Rural

Development Minister T.S.Singh Deo on Tuesdayendorsed the need fordevelopment and cleanli-ness in rural areas of thestate. It is an important sub-ject which should be giventop priority.

He was participating inthe Governing Councilmeeting of the departmentat Mahanadi Bhavan, AtalNagar in Raipur, an officialcommunication said.

The Minister helddetailed discussions withthe Janpad members andpublic representatives oflocal bodies for newproposals for infrastructuredevelopment in villages.

Presentations were madeon the projects. He toldthem to ensure cleanlinessin rural areas.

Participating in theGoverning Body of SwachhBharat Mission (Rural), the

Minister had detailed discus-sion with the departmentalofficials. The key issues takenup were community toilets,solid and liquid waste management, and cleanlinessin tourist spots.

Govt-run steel plant tobenefit unemployedin Bastar: Congress

Two die after consuming illicit liquorPanchayat Minister endorsescleanliness in rural areas

C'garh should providerelief to farmers: Sai

Eight Naxalites surrender in Dantewada

‘Patwari Sangh’strike endsRAIPUR: An indefi-nite strike of Patwarisended after assurancesfrom Revenue MinisterJaisingh Agrawal onTuesday to study theirdemands sympatheti-cally.

The Patwaris wereon strike sinceDecember 14 with ninedemands. They metAgrawal and after hisassurance called offtheir strike, a pressstatement said.

They handed overa charter of theirdemands to theMinister.

Meanwhile, statePresident of PatwaiSangh Ashwani KumarVerma said that oftheir nine demands,the government hasaccepted seven and sothey were withdrawingthe strike.

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Soon after the detection of sixcases of new strain of Covid-

19 in the country, theGovernment on Tuesdayassured that the vaccines underdevelopment would also workagainst the mutated pathogenfirst reported in the UK .

“No need to worry aboutvaccines. Vaccines will workagainst the variants detected inthe UK and South Africa.There is no evidence that cur-rent vaccines will fail to protectagainst the new mutant strains,”said Principal Scientific AdviserK VijayRaghavan at a presserhere.

However, he said that evenas the vaccine will providesafety from the new variants,“there is a need to reducetransmission through physicaldistancing, follow all publichealth measures scrupulously,wear masks, follow hand-wash-ing, COVID appropriatebehaviour, infection control,amplify test, track, isolateefforts.”

The scientific advisor’sstatement came hours after 6samples of UK returnees test-ed positive for the new strainin Bengaluru, Hyderabad, andPune.

“There is no evidence that

current vaccines will fail to pro-tect against COVID-19 variantsreported from the UK or SouthAfrica. Most vaccines do targetthe Spike protein, in whichthere are changes in the vari-ants, but vaccines stimulateour immune system to producea wide range of protective anti-bodies. The changes in thevariants are not sufficient tomake the vaccines ineffective,”the scientist explained througha presentation made at thepress briefing here.

He further said, “Thenature of the new variants:eight of the 17 importantchanges are in the part whichcodes for the Spike protein. Onechange (N501Y) increases affin-ity for the ACE2 receptor, usedfor viral entry into human cells.It has been linked earlier toincreased infectivity and trans-mission in animal models.Another change (P681H) pro-motes entry into susceptiblecells and increases transmissionin animal models of infection.

“The South Africa also

shares the N501Y mutationwith the UK variants, in addi-tion to other distinct changes.”

Regarding the variantdetected in the UK,VijayRaghavan sasid, it wasmore transmissible and thevariant is spreading very rapid-ly taking over the frequency ofother variants.

“It is also reflected in a largeincrease in positivity rate in theUK. We must take extraordi-nary precautions to preventthese kinds of variants fromdominating populations.”

The Scientific Advisor fur-ther added, “The IndianSARS-CoV2 GenomicsConsortium is conducting test-ing and sequencing of samplesfrom international travelers.Testing and sequencing of sam-ples also being done fromacross the country and fromthose being admitted to hospi-tals.”

However, he had a word ofadvice. “As vaccines becomeavailable, we should not becomplacent. There is a need toreduce transmission throughphysical distancing, follow allpublic health measures scrupu-lously, wear masks, followhand-washing, COVID appro-priate behaviour, infection con-trol, amplify test, track, isolateefforts,” he added.

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State-run Common ServicesCenters (CSC) on Tuesday

said it has partnered with IIT-Delhi to establish a designand innovation lab which willconduct research on new prod-ucts and services for villagelevel entrepreneurs (VLE).

The labs would conductresearch on design-led inno-vations related to leveraginglivelihood and enhancing all-round entrepreneurial out-look, a statement said.

The project named ‘Designand Innovation in VLE’s

Indigenous NetworkEcosystem’ (Divine) Lab willpromote design and innova-tion among the village levelentrepreneurs (VLE), CSC saidin a statement. CSC managingdirector Dinesh Tyagi said thatCSCs and VLEs are driven byan entrepreneurial spirit.

“The Design Lab will ben-efit from IIT Delhi’s unparal-leled expertise and experi-ences of VLEs who will bringhyper-local realities and chal-lenges of delivering services tothe partnership,” Tyagi said.The Divine Lab aims to pro-vide continuous research into

the rural entrepreneurialecosystem and design newproducts and services forVLEs.

IIT-Delhi Director Prof VRamagopal Rao said that thecollaboration with CSC willsupport IIT students to accessCSC’s network and identifyproblems in rural India.“World-class research infra-structure and expertise avail-able at IIT-Delhi will supportto design and innovate solu-tions for rural problemsthrough the wide network ofVLEs across the country,”Ramagopal said.

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Compelled to move out fromhomes for jobs amid Covid

crisis, more youths are gettinginfected with the virus, whencompared to the old aged peo-ple who are usually in theconfines of their homes.

But when infected, it is thepatients over the age of 65years, account for 55% of India’sCovid-19 deaths while it is 43%for those in the age group of 26-60 years. Gender wise, thevirus has found to be more vir-ulent for males who account-ed for 70 per cent of totaldeaths.

“About 45 per cent of allCOVID-19 deaths in the coun-try have been reported in thosebelow 60 years of age while 70per cent of total fatalities fromthe infection were registered inmen,” Union Health SecretaryRajesh Bhushan said onTuesday.

Addressing a press confer-ence, he said 63 per cent of thetotal cases were reported inmales and 37 per cent cases infemales.

“Eight per cent cases havebeen reported below the age of17 years, 13 per cent in the 18-25 years age group, 39 per centin 26-44 years group, 26 percent in 45-60 years group and14 per cent cases above 60years,” he said.

Bhushan further said 45per cent of the COVID-19deaths so far have been report-ed in those below 60 years ofage and 70 per cent of total

fatalities from the infectionwere registered in men.

About 55 per cent COVID-19 deaths were reported inthose aged 60 and above, 33 percent in the age group of 45 to60 years, 10 per cent in the agegroup of 26-44 years and oneper cent each in those agedbetween 18-25 years and inthose below 17 years, accord-ing to the data presented byBhushan.

He said the number ofactive cases of COVID-19 hasbeen registered at 2.7 lakhs,sliding to a low after sixmonths. The cumulative posi-tivity rate stands at 6.02 percent while the positivity rateduring last week was 2.25 percent.

“Five States and UTs whichaccount for 60 per cent oftotal active COVID-19 casesare Maharashtra, Kerala, WestBengal, Uttar Pradesh andChhattisgarh,” he said.

Bhushan further saidIndia’s rate of cases per millionpopulation — at 7,408 — isamong the lowest in the worldwhile the number of deaths permillion population stood at107.

In the last seven days, 110new cases and two deaths permillion population have beenreported while the number ofactive cases per million hasbeen registered at 194, he saidadding in contrast, the maxi-mum of 52 death was report-ed in Italy, followed by 49 inUK, 47 in US, 33 in France, 27in Russia and 21 in Brazil.

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Senior BJP leader and UnionSocial Justice and

Empowerment MinisterThawarchand Gehlot onTuesday described as “ historic”the Modi-Government’s recentdecision to increase post-matric scholarship to ‘fourcrore ‘Scheduled caste studentsin the next five-year.

The Modi Governmentaims to provide post-matricscholarship to over four crorestudents belonging to theScheduled Castes category overthe next five years, raising thenumber from existing 60 lakhbeneficiaries, said Gehlot hereat a press conference.

He also told reporters thegovernment’s recent decision toraise the Centre’s share in thescholarship amount to 60 percent, and hike it progressivelyto 80 per cent, will result in atotal expenditure of over �59,048 crore by 2025-26 andensure monitory assistance tothe underprivileged students intime.

The Union Cabinet hadlast week approved changes inthe centrally sponsored Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme tobenefit more than four croreScheduled Caste students in thenext five years and approved atotal investment of over�59,000 crore for the purpose.

The Centre had spent onlyaround �1,100 crore annuallyin the last two years under anearlier formula, now changedby the Modi Government,which had led to a rise in state’sshare, with almost half of the 36states and Union Territories not

getting any contribution fromthe Union dispensation, theminister said.

Many States would not payscholarship on time or use thefund for some other purposesresulting in increasing dropoutsfrom SC students due to lack ofscholarship, he said, addingthis will change now.

“Money will be now direct-ly transferred to the student’sbank account and the Centrewill contribute only after theState has done so”, he said.

“This is a historic decision.It will boost educational stan-dards. No State has opposed ourannouncement,” Gehlot, a Dalitface of the ruling party, said.

The percentage of studentsbenefiting from the post-met-ric scholarship has risen to 23from 17 in 2014-15, and thegovernment is working to aug-ment the number of beneficia-ries to 27 per cent, he said.

Also addressing the pressconference, BJP general secre-tary Dushyant Kumar Gautamhit out at the previousCongress-led UPAGovernment at the Centre, say-ing over 50 lakh fake benefi-ciaries were getting scholarshipsat the cost of Dalit students.

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More than six and a halflakh posts are lying

vacant in various State policeand Central forces.

According to the datareleased by the Bureau of PoliceResearch and Development(BPR&D) on Tuesday, 5.31lakh posts in different statepolice forces and 1.27 lakhposts in Central Armed PoliceForces (CAPF) are lying vacant.

Releasing different aspectsof policing in the country as onJanuary 1, 2020, the BPR&Dalso said a total of 1,19,069police men were recruited in2019 in various police forcesacross India. These vacanciesare expected to increase furtherdue to the Covid-19 pandem-ic as many organisations havenot conducted fresh recruit-ment in the entire 2020.

According to the data, thetotal sanctioned police forces inStates and Union Territories is

26,23,225, while there are20,91,488 police personnelactually in service. Therefore,5,31,737 posts in police forcesare lying vacant as on January1, 2020.

The figures include civilpolice, district armed police,special armed police and IndiaReserve Battalions. TheBPR&D, a wing of the Ministryof Home Affairs, said thestrength of women in policeforces is 2,15,504, which is10.30 per cent of the totalpolice force in India.

There has been a 16.05 percent increase of women policeover the previous year, it added.The data said the total sanc-tioned strength of the CentralArmed Police Forces (CAPFs)is 11,09,511 but the actualstrength of the CAPFs as onJanuary 1, 2020, is 9,82,391.The total number of womenpolice personnel in CAPF is29,249, which is 2.98 per centof the total strength. The

CAPFs are CRPF, BSF, CISF,ITBP, SSB, NSG and AssamRifles.

According to the data,there are 800 police districts inthe country and the number ofsanctioned police stations is16,955. The total State ArmedPolice Battalions is 318 and thetotal police commissioneratesis 63. A total of 2,02,925 policevehicles are available with thestates and UTs police, besides4,60,220 CCTV cameras, theBPR&D said. The governmentshas spent Rs 1,566.85 crore in2019-20 for expenditure andpolice training.

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Aplea has been filed in theSupreme Court seeking

directions to the Centre, statesand Union Territories to fill upvacant posts of presidents andmembers of consumer com-missions, saying “inaction” inmaking appointments wascausing pendency of cases.

The petition, which hasalleged that directions passedby various

high courts regarding fill-ing up of vacancies in districtand State consumer commis-sions have been “ignored” bythe authorities concerned, saidthere is a lack of proper infra-structure to run these panelssmoothly.

It has also sought a direc-tion to the authorities to pro-vide proper infrastructure andstaff to the consumer commis-sions as soon as possible andfile a detailed report regardingthis before the apex court.

The plea, filed by law stu-dent Saloni Gautam, claimedthat inaction of the authoritiesin filling up the vacant postshas led to the “violation of theright to speedy disposal ofcases”.

“Petitioner is filing thisPIL....Challenging inaction ofgovernments in appointingpresident, members and staffbefore district consumer dis-pute redressal commissionsand state consumer disputesredressal commissions acrossIndia, which is causing pen-dency of consumer cases allover India and justice is gettingdelayed due to non-action of

the governments across Indiaand is antithesis to the Article21 of the Constitution of India,”said the plea, filed throughadvocate Om Prakash Parihar.

It said that in July, theConsumer Protection Act, 2019came into force, and it changedthe pecuniary jurisdiction forthe district, state and nationalcommissions respectively.

The plea said that pecu-niary limit for district com-mission has been increased toup to Rs one crore, for statecommission, it has beenincreased to up to Rs 10 croresand for national commission, itis now over and above Rs 10

crores.It said the petitioner has

also got RTI replies aboutvacancies in consumer com-missions in several states acrossthe country.

“It is most respectfully sub-mitted that all this clearlyshows that the ConsumerProtection Act, 2019 came intoa force and the pecuniary juris-dictions of the consumercommissions haschanged/increased, but theGovernments have not madeany arrangement in filing thepost of president and membersin these commissions,” the pleaclaimed.

It said various high courtsacross the country haveordered the state governmentsto appoint president and mem-bers in district and state com-mission, but no action hasbeen taken.

“It is also pertinent to notethat various consumer com-missions do not even haveproper infrastructure to runconsumer commission in asmooth manner which at theend leads to cause delay indelivering justice to the con-sumers,” it added.

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Union Health MinisterHarsh Vardhan has been

nominated by the GlobalAlliance for Vaccines andImmunisation (GAVI) as amember on its board, accord-ing to an official statement onTuesday.

The GAVI Board is respon-sible for strategic direction andpolicy-making, oversees theoperations of the VaccineAlliance and monitors pro-gramme implementation.

Vardhan will be represent-ing the South East AreaRegional Office(SEARO)/Western PacificRegional Office (WPRO) con-stituency on the GAVI Board.The seat is currently held byMyint Htwe of Myanmar, theUnion Health Ministry said inits statement.

The Union health ministerwill be representing India at theboard from January 1, 2021,until December 31, 2023, itsaid.

The board normally meetstwice a year in June andNovember-December andholds an annual retreat, gener-ally in March or April. All thesemeetings are normally attend-ed in-person.

With membership drawnfrom a range of partner organ-isations as well as experts fromthe private sector, the boardprovides a forum for balancedstrategic decision-making,innovation and partner col-laboration, the statement said.

GAVI, the Vaccine Allianceas part of its mission to savelives, reduce poverty and pro-tect the world against the threatof epidemics, has helped vac-cinate more than 822 millionchildren in the world’s poorestcountries, preventing morethan 14 million future deaths.

Dr NgoziOkonjo-lwealapresently serves as Chair of theGAVI Alliance Board.

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The year 2020 exposed thevulnerability of our cultur-

al heritage which is dependenton tourism for its survival andforced the government to lookat alternatives to keep not justthe sites and monuments alive,but also to position India as thechoice of destination when thecoronavirus pandemic ends.

While acknowledging thatin 2021, both approachestowards policy making andimplementing them would bevastly different from what wasdone so far, Union Minister forTourism and Culture PrahladPatel said he wants to be cau-tious about the way forward.

“We are still dealing withthe pandemic and alternativesthat work now, like our activ-ities on the digital platforms,they might or might not workwhen things are normal. Wehave to analyse if people wouldstill prefer online platforms ata time when they can visit andactually see the sites. We haveto be cautious and not take anydrastic steps,” Patel told PTI.

In the past nine months,the ministry conducted morethan 65 webinars depictingthe culture, tradition, muse-ums, monuments and artistesof the country under theDekho Aapna Desh initiative.

The tourism sector is oneof the largest industries andaccounts for 6.23 per cent of thecountry’s gross domestic prod-uct (GDP) and providesemployment to 8.78 per cent ofthe population.

It managed to generatearound 275.5 billion dollars inrevenue in fiscal 2018 with anannual growth rate at 9.4 percent.

The tourism sector expe-rienced a crippling effect withthe nationwide lockdownannounced in late March coin-ciding with the peak tourismseason kickstarting from earlyApril onwards.

Guides, tour operators,vehicle drivers, hotels, restau-rants, shops and other facilitiesrelated directly or indirectly totourism have taken a hit owing

to the spread of the virus.With both flights, inbound

and outbound, and domestictrain operations suspended,the Indian tourism industry isprojected to book a revenueloss of Rs 1.25 trillion in cal-endar 2020 as a fall-out of theshutdown of hotels and sus-pension in flight operationsafter the onset and spread ofthe pandemic.

A study by CARE Ratingsnotes that the figure corre-sponds to a 40 per cent declinein revenue over calendar 2019.

The report assumes theimpact of the pandemic ontourism at about 50 per centduring January and February2020, while it may be higher at70 per cent in March alone, fol-lowing the suspension of inter-national flights.

During April-June, theIndian tourism industry isexpected to book a revenueloss of Rs 69,400 crore, denot-ing a year-on-year loss of 30per cent.

Patel said now is the timeto look inwards and promoteunexplored parts of the coun-try. If one cannot go abroad fortheir holidays or foreigntourists can’t come in, domes-tic tourism is the only way tokeep the sector above water, hesaid.

“The loss to the tourismsector cannot be ascertained atthis time as the pandemic isstill underway. But, domestictourism is the way to revive thetourism sector. Unexplored,unexploited destinations haveto be identified and promoted.That is what we are trying todo, encourage people to visitplaces within the country,”Patel said.

He also said that India’shealth, wellness centres, Ayushhospitals offering alternativecare will draw tourists post thepandemic and they should bepromoted as post-COVID caresolutions.

The ministry is in talks totie up such centres with insur-ance firms so that tourists canavail the insurance beforearriving in India for treat-ment.

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The CBI Tuesday filed acharge sheet against Parekh

Aluminex Ltd (PAL) and itsdirector, besides some officialsof Indian Overseas Bank (IOB)in an alleged bank fraud caseworth �297.80 crore, officialssaid.

The company which is intomanufacturing of AluminumFoil Containers, AluminumFoil Rolls, Lids and other relat-ed products is facing multipleCBI cases with outstandingdues of �917.61 crore to vari-ous banks as detected by theCBI so far, they said.

In the case related to theIOB, the agency haschargesheeted 24 accused per-sons including the Mumbai-based company, its director,

chartered accountant, thenofficials of the public sectorbank and directors and pro-prietor of associated compa-nies, they said.

“It was alleged that theaccused allegedly aided indiversion of funds and facili-tated in siphoning-off funds byway of submitting fake andforged purchase invoices andLCs.

“It was also alleged that thesaid company had availed cred-it limits from various banks andfinancial institution. Out ofthese Nationalized

banks, Indian OverseasBank Mumbai Branch has dis-bursed credit facilities to thetune of �292.20 crore (approx)under consortium arrange-ment,” CBI Spokesperson RCJoshi said.

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Lucknow: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Tuesday hitout at previous Governmentsfor delaying the DedicatedFreight Corridor project andignoring modernisation of rail-ways, and said his Governmentengaged with stakeholders tospeed up works and carried outreforms at all levels.

Inaugurating the NewBhaupur-New Khurja sectionof the Eastern DedicatedFreight Corridor (EDFC) viavideo conferencing, he saidthe “vibration” and “roar” ofBharat and ‘AatmanirbharBharat’ were clearly heard asthe first freight train ran on theKhurja-Bhaupur freight corri-

dor. Attacking previous gov-ernment, the prime ministersaid the project was given per-mission in 2006 but it was onlyon paper as the then govern-ment lacked the seriousnessand urgency with which it hadto take it up with the states.

“Till 2014 not a single kmtrack of the project was laid andthe funds sanctioned couldnot be spent properly. After2014 ,it was restarted and offi-cials asked to take it forwardand by then the budget hadgone up by 11 times”, the primeminister said.

The 351-km section, whichhas been built at a cost of Rs5,750 crore, will open new

avenues for local industries inUttar Pradesh.

The EDFC is 1,840-km-long and extends fromLudhiana in Punjab to Kolkatain West Bengal.

Modi also inaugurated theEDFC’s operation centre atPrayagraj and flagged off thefirst 1.5 km long goods trains.

The prime minister saidthat on coming to power, hepersonally monitored the pro-ject and held a dialogue withthe stakeholders and got newtechnology as a result of whichabout 1100 km work will becompleted in the next fewmonths.

Political apathy not just hampered the freight corridor project but also had a bearing

on the entire Railways system,he said adding that earlier thefocus was on increasing num-ber of trains for political ben-efit in elections but not on thetracks on which the trainswere run as there was noinvestment on it.

There was no seriousnesstowards modernisation of therail network, trains were beingrun on slow speed and theentire network was full of dan-gerous unmanned crossings, hesaid.

“We changed this workculture and thinking after 2014and ending the separateRailway budget, invested inrail tracks, ended unmanned

crossings, focussed on broad-ening and electrification of thenetwork”, he said.

The Vande Bharat express,the semi high speed train isnow being run, he said, addingthat now Indian rails are moresecure than before. In the pastfew years reforms have beencarried out at all levels and canbe seen, he added.

The new freight sectionwill open new vistas of oppor-tunity for local industries suchas aluminium industry inPukhrayan region of KanpurDehat, dairy sector of Auraiya,textile production and blockprinting of Etawah, glasswareindustry of Firozabad, pottery

products of Khurja, asafoetidaor ‘heeng’ production ofHathras, and locks and hard-ware of Aligarh district, accord-ing to officials.

The section will alsodecongest the existing Kanpur-Delhi mainline and will enablethe Indian Railways to runfaster trains.

Noting that a state-of-the-art Operation Control Centreat Prayagraj will act as the com-mand centre for the entireroute length of the EDFC, theysaid this is one of the largeststructures of its type globallywith modern interiors,ergonomic design and best-in-class acoustics. Agencies

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Ace car designer andfounder of DC design Dilip

Chhabria, who runs a car mod-ification studio, was arrestedlate on Monday night for hisalleged involvement in a dubi-ous car finance and fake regis-tration racket involving high-end luxury cars.

Acting on a tip-off that atwo-seater sports-car DC-Avanti designed by Chhabriaallegedly bore a fake registra-tion number, the Mumbaipolice crime branch sleuthskept a watch on the movementof the car, which was initiallyexpected at Hotel Trident atNariman Point in southMumbai on December 17, butfailed to turn up there.

On the following night,the Crime Intelligence Unit(CIU) laid a trap near theHotel Taj Mahal at Colaba,intercepted the vehicle andseized it. During the question-ing, the owner of the carIndermal Ramani producedthe ownership documents ofthe vehicle as registered withChennai RTO, which werefound to be genuine.

However, during the inves-tigations, the police found thatthere was another car with thesame engine and chassis num-ber registered with HaryanaRTO.The investigations haverevealed Chabaria’s allegedinvolvement in the car financeand fake registration racketinvolving high-end luxury cars.

Acting on a complaint reg-istered against him 10 days,Chhabria was nabbed fromhis garage at the MIDC area atAndheri’s MIDC in north

Mumbai. His arrest hasshocked car enthusiasts andthose in the automobile financeindustry.

Chhabria -- whose brandDC Design involved in modi-fying cars into luxury loungeslaunched India’s first sportscar“the DC Avanti” and also show-cased its second product – theTCA at the Auto Expo ---hasbeen booked under Sections420, 465, 467, 468, 471, 120(B)and 34 of the Indian PenalCode or IPC.

The investigations havealso revealed that Chhabria’sfirm Dilip Chhabria DesignsPvt. Ltd. (DCDPL) produced127 DC-Avantis and sold themto customers in India andabroad. The Crime branchsleuths suspect that many ofthese vehicles might have beeninvolved in the car financeand fake registration racket.

The police said that multi-ple loans, averaging to Rs. 42lakh per vehicle, had beentaken with respect to 90-oddcars by DCDPL, allegedly pos-ing as customers for their ownmanufactured vehicles.

The modus operandi wasto take loans, sometimes evenmultiple loans from financialinstitutions on cars and sellthese hypothecated cars toother customers before or afteravailing the finance throughthe fraudulent means. Theinvestigators are to quantify theexact losses suffered by the gov-ernment by way of unpaidtaxes, customs duties and GST.The investigators estimatedthat the loss to the state exche-quer could be around Rs 40crore.

The investigators suspect

that the DCDPL, which was setup in 1993 but went bankruptin 2018, might have cheatedmany automobile finance com-panies and banks.

Apart from designing thelounge for the MahindraMarazzo, DC Designalsoreleased the lounge conversionof a slew of new car and it hadseveral high-profile clients likeMadhuri Dixit and HrithikRoshan who reportedly hadtheir vehicles customised fromthis brand. Some populardesigns from DC Designinclude the lounge design kitsof the Mahindra XUV500,Duster, Toyota Fortuner andInnova. Chhabria has alsomodified cars in the interna-tional market like Rolls Royceand Land Cruisers. His newbrand DC2 has plans forlaunching electric cars infuture.

Chhabria -- who came intolimelight in the nineties after heproduced some fancy modifiedprivate cars for celebrities andvanity vans of Bollywood per-sonalities – went onto designconcept cars, luxury passengerbuses, and even aircraft interi-ors.

DCDPL rolled out its firstindigenously-made sports-car”the DC Avanti” in 2016, ayear after securing approvalsfrom the Automative ResearchAssociation of India (ARAI).

However, DCDPL ran intorough weather before the firstsportscar was launched, ascricketer Dinesh Karthik moveda Chennai-based ConsumerCourts over the car dealer’sfailure to refund the bookingamount of Rs.5 lakh for a carcosting nearly Rs.35 lakh.

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Braving bone chilling weath-er conditions the joint team

of security forces were put onthe job to neutralise a group ofholed up terrorists in theLawaypora area of Srinagarlate Tuesday evening.

Till the time of filing thereport, intense exchange of fir-ing was going on in the thick-ly populated area. The addi-tional reinforcements were alsorushed to the spot to plug theexit routes and to contain pub-lic anger in the area followingsporadic incidents of stonepelting from nearby areaswhere the gun fight was ragingon. The traffic on the Srinagar-Baramulla highway was alsodisrupted after the gunfightbroke out.

The twitter handle of theKashmir Zone police posted atweet claiming, “Encounter hasstarted at Lawaypora area ofSrinagar. Police and securityforces are on the job. Furtherdetails shall follow”.

Meanwhile, a CRPF officerand an Army jawan, injured inseparate incidents of terrorist

violence last week, succumbedto their injuries in the last 24hours in Kashmir valley.

Official sources said,Assistant sub-inspector of theCentral Reserve Police Force(CRPF) Netrapal Singh, whogot injured in a grenade attackat Ganderbal on December23, died at a hospital here onTuesday.

This has taken the deathtoll of CRPF personnel in thegrenade attack to two as ajawan had succumbed to hisinjuries a day after the attack.

Army Havildar A K Tomarbreathed his last at the Army”s92 base hospital here onMonday, the officials said.

They said Tomar had sus-tained grievous injuries duringa gunfight with terrorists in theKanigam area of Shopian onFriday. Two terrorists werekilled in the operation.

The Army paid tributes toTomar at a solemn ceremony atthe Badamibagh cantonment.

Tomar (40) had joined theIndian Army in 2001. Hebelonged to Sisauli village inUttar Pradesh”s Meerut district.He is survived by his wife andtwo children.

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Shri Mata Vaishno DeviShrine Board authorities are

fully geared up to welcome thepilgrims on the eve of the NewYear 2021.

The Fresh spell of snowfallat the cave shrine has alreadybecome an attraction point andkey motivating factor for pil-grims to pay a visit and offerspecial prayers before usheringin the New Year 2021. TheShrine board is also hoping torecord substantial rise in thetotal offerings with the increasein the footfall of pilgrims. OnSunday the highest number ofaround 13,000 pilgrims wereregistered by the Shrine Board.

Local markets, whichremained deserted for aboutnine months, are already brim-ming with a lot of activity.

Street food vendors aredoing brisk business while thelocal tour operators, business-men and hoteliers are also keep-ing their fingers crossed andlooking forward to welcominga large number of pilgrims onthe eve of the New Year 2021.

For the last three days theregistration counter at the Katra

base camp is recording a grad-ual increase in the pilgrim traf-fic.

The numbers are expectedto rise in the run up to the NewYear celebrations as a largenumber of pilgrims prefer ush-ering in the New Year at the caveshrine, located in the Trikutahills. As of now an upper limitof 15,000 pilgrims per day hasbeen fixed by the UnionTerritory administration in thewake of Covid-19 guidelinesand protocols.

During Covid-19 pandem-ic when the pilgrims were notable to visit the shrine specialarrangement was made to beam'live' coverage of Aarti at theshrine via special mobile appand arrangements were alsodone to home deliver packets of'prasad' at the doorsteps of a pil-grim in collaboration with Indiapost. Ramesh Kumar, CEOShri Mata Vaishno Devi ShrineBoard said, “We have receiveda very healthy response from thepilgrims from all over the coun-try”. We have already deliveredmore than 15000 packets andpilgrims are still booking theirorders via Mobile App andthrough the website as well.

Ramesh Kumar said, “keepingin view the prevailing Covid-19restrictions, elaborate arrange-ments have been made toensure strict adherence of theprotocol and social distancingon the eve of the New Year”.

Ramesh Kumar said, “Weare ready to welcome pilgrimsin the New Year ahead and havemade elaborate arrangements toensure their safety and securi-ty”. He said besides offeringthem battery car facility, heli-copter services and betteraccommodation facilities wehave ensured adequate medicalcare facilities remain in place tolook after the health needs ofany patient during the yatraperiod.

The Shrine Board CEOsaid, “ambulances have beendeployed along the yatra trackto tackle any emergency”.

Talking about future pro-jects which are in the pipeline,Ramesh Kumar said, “ in theyear 2021 the Shrine Board isgoing to install 7 big screens atdifferent locations to beam visu-als of Atka Arti live for the ben-efit of pilgrims. We are alsofocusing on expanding the baseof Today's darshan live via

Mobile App.In addition, he said, con-

struction work of Durgabhawan, with a capacity toaccommodate 1700-1800 pil-grims during one shift is goingto be launched and completedsoon. In addition, 50 percentwork on underground cablinghas been completed while workis in progress on providingCCTV surveillance along theyatra track.

Rakesh Wazir, President ofthe Katra Hotel and Restaurantassociation said, recently we hadappealed to the government tolift the upper sealing of per-mitting 15,000 pilgrims perday. Rakesh Wazir said, “wehave been repeatedly urging thegovernment to lift the sealingand allow interstate bus servicesto ply normally so that pilgrimsfrom the neighboring states ofPunjab, Himanchal Pradesh,Haryana, Delhi andRajasthan can smoothly visitthe shrine”.

Wazir said, “all overIndia the local governmentshave lifted restrictions andpilgrim traffic is movingsmoothly. The UT adminis-tration must respond to their

demands to allow them torestart their businesses, whichsuffered huge losses on accountof complete shutdown due toCovid-19 pandemic”. RakeshWazir said, “majority of pilgrimsvisiting Mata Vaishno DeviShrine are returning the sameday and only a small fraction isstaying back and looking forhotel accommodations”.

Ramji Lal, a tourist fromBharatpur area of Rajasthantold this correspondent in Katra,we are a group of 103 pilgrimsfrom Rajasthan who visited thecave shrine. We wanted to comeearlier but due to restrictions westayed back. He appreciatedthe facilities and other logisticssupport extended by the ShriMata Vaishno Devi Shrineboard authorities to facilitate pil-grimage.

Kolkata: Now corona virus hasstarted hitting the neo-natalarena with two cases appearingfrom East Midnapore.

According to sources in theState Health Department twoinfants have been identifiedwith suffering from the dead-ly virus and had been under-going treatment at a privatehospital at Kolaghat 60 km offKolkata. The incident came tolight when the two patientsshowed corona like symptoms.“Anti-body was found in theirbody,” doctors said adding boththe patients were serious andwere in neo-natal care unit.

The first victim is 6-day-old and the second one is 13-day-old, said the doctors treat-ing them adding “while one isfrom Haldia the other is fromBhagbanpur both in EastMidnapore.”

Though the doctors couldnot confirm for sure how thepatients contacted the diseasethey said the little ones mighthave got the virus from theirmothers who were not testedbefore admission or duringdelivery.

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AVarsha Raut, wife of Shiv Senaleader Sanjay Raut, on Tuesday

sought and obtained four more days’time to appear before theEnforcement Directorate (ED) inconnection with the PMC Bankscam, even as her husband and SenaMP said that being a lawmaker him-self, he respected law and wouldrespond to the notice as per the stip-ulated timeline.

Talking to media persons here,Raut said: “We have asked for aboutfour more days ( to respond tonotice)... I have still not seen the noticebut will reply to it. Despite our polit-ical differences (with the ruling BJPat the Centre), we respect the centralagencies. The ED action is nothing but

political vendetta and everybodyknows it. I am a Rajya Sabha MP anda lawmaker. I will respect the law andwill respond to the notice”.Unconfirmed reports said that Varshahad sought time till January 5 toappear before the ED.

The ED is investigating allegedfinancial transactions between VarshaRaut and Pravin Raut, who is underarrest in the PMC Bank case.

The ED is understood to have laidhands on the details linking transac-tions between the accounts of Varshaand Pravin Raut. Meanwhile, formerMP and BJP leader Kirit Somaiyademanded to know as to what is therelation between Varsha Raut andPravin Raut. “This is the 3rdSummons of ED. Sanjay Raut Familynot appearing before ED Why Sanjay

Raut Family running away? EDInvestigating Crores of RupeesTransactions between PMC Bank,HDIL, Pravin Raut Family & SanjayRaut Family What is Special Relationsof Sanjay Raut Pravin Raut Family,”Somaiya tweeted.

Along with his second tweet,Somaiya put out a copy of companymaster sheet of Siddhant Syscon PvtLtd, of which he alleged VarshaSanjay Raut & Madhuri Pravin Rautwere directors. “#SanjayRaut SachBolo. Raut Families are Partners.Varsha Sanjay Raut & Madhuri PravinRaut were Directors in SiddhantSyscon Pvt Ltd #PravinRaut Directorin HDIL's Subsidiary GuruAshishConstruction Co Crores of Rupeestransferred from #PMCBank to#HDIL to Raut's Companies,” the BJP

leader tweeted. It may be recalled thaton September 24 last year placedPunjab & Maharashtra Cooperative(PMC) Bank Ltd under regulatoryrestrictions, following the detection ofthe scam.

The ED registered a case ofmoney laundering against HDIL pro-moter Rakesh Kumar Wadhawan, hisson Sarang Wadhawan, WaryamSingh and Joy Thomas, the thenChairman and Managing Director ofPMC Bank Ltd, respectively and oth-ers on the basis of an FIR registeredby the Mumbai Police's EconomicOffences Wing in September last year.The FIR was registered for causingwrongful loss to the tune of Rs 4,355crore to PMC Bank and correspond-ing gain to themselves.

Hitting out at the BJP-led NDA

for “misusing” its investigating agen-cies against its political rivals, Raut hadsaid at a news conference here onMonday : “Targetting the women ofa household is an act of cowardice. Weare not scared of anyone and willrespond accordingly. The BJP’s actreflects its frustration against him,owing to his role in the formation ofthe Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) gov-ernment in the state last year and hisrefusal to yield to pressure to make itunstable”.

Raut, it may be recalled , hadplayed a key role in bringing the ShivSena, NCP and Congress, together toform a three-party alliance govern-ment in Maharashtra in Novemberlast year.

Asserting that the BJP shouldlearn to learn to face political battles

should be “fought face to face” insteadof using its investigating agenciesagainst political rivals, Raut said: “Ihave spoken to Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray in this regard. TheShiv Sena will respond to the BJP inits own way. There’s no need topanic”.

Alluding to the “blatant misuse”of the Central investigating agenciesagainst its political rivals, Raut hadsaid: “During the past one year, ourleaders like Sharad Pawar, EknathKhadse and Pratap Sarnaik got noticesfrom the ED. Now I am being dis-cussed in connection with the sum-mons issued to my wife... All thosewho played key roles in the formationof MVA government last year arebeing targeted by the BJP-led gov-ernment through various agencies”.

The vertical split in theNepal Communist Party(NCP) was inevitable.After all, it was an arti-

ficial alliance of two ideologicalvariants of Marxist-Leninist ide-ology and bitter rivalry betweentwo unrelenting leaders —Prachanda, who led the Maoistsin the civil war and set the stagefor transformation in Nepal, andPrime Minister KP Oli (UnitedMarxist-Leninist) who createdthe tsunami of nationalism tosweep the polls on a largelyanti-India sentiment. The merg-er of the two parties and power-sharing on the basis of votes wonwas at the root of the “two-and-a-half years each” agreementbetween Oli and Prachandabecoming untenable. Theattempt at gluing fractures fol-lowing multiple crises was alsobound to fail.

The key actors in Nepal’smake-and-mend process arePresident BD Bhandari andChinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi.For China, it is a no-holds-barred effort to maintain unity inthe NCP which it had helped toforge and establish primacy inNepal over India for the first timein nearly 200 years. Its ongoingsalvage operation includes dis-patch of a four-member ChineseCommunist Party (CCP) delega-tion to Kathmandu over theweekend to patch up the Oli-Prachanda feud with whatever ittakes. China wants Oli to remainthe Prime Minister, withPrachanda and former PrimeMinister Madhav Nepal as theparty’s co-chairs, no revival ofParliament and elections, when-ever feasible. But the players arekeeping their options open.

Global Times, though, hasreported that China has no pref-erence for any party; it justwants a stable Government.India’s anodyne statement that“we have noted recent politicaldevelopments in Nepal; these areinternal matters for Nepal todecide as per its democraticprocess”, does not mean that it isa bystander. The split has alsodestabilised six of the sevenNCP provincial governments.

While both sides haveappealed to the ElectionCommission for ownership ofthe party’s name and symbol, theSupreme Court will decidewhether the dissolution of theHouse was legal and whether itsrevival is possible, and start thehearings next week. The mid-term elections slated for

April/May 2021 are unlikely tobe held on time. Oli hasexpanded his Cabinet, accom-modating several ofPrachanda’s people.Conspicuous is the lack of sup-port and empathy for Oli’sunconstitutional and undemocratic actions withnearly all political parties andcivil society condemning hismove, the latter even calling it ‘Oli-garchy’.

On the streets ofKathmandu, people are saying“India has done it”, or that“There was a phone call fromDelhi.” Some reports are sug-gesting that Oli and/or ForeignMinister Pradip Gyawaliwould visit New Delhi short-ly, the latter mentioned onMonday by NepaliAmbassador to IndiaNilambar Acharya. WhenIndia was the dominant powerin that country, Nepal’s criseswere blamed on New Delhi’s“micro-management”. NowChina is being accused ofinterfering in Nepal’s internalaffairs after Yanqi began herlatest round of interventions.Last week’s protest held out-side the Chinese Embassy inKathmandu was an extreme-ly rare event as the media andpublic angst is generallyreserved against India.

The Nepalese are linkingthe “phone call” to the flyingvisit to Kathmandu in Octoberby R&AW chief Samant Goel,who had a long conversationwith Oli that extended beyond

midnight. If India is indeed behind the friendlypersuasion of Oli in dissolvingParliament, it is a victory for the “agencies”, the name bywhich R&AW is called inNepal. For India, the breakupof the NCP is a triumph forNSA Ajit Doval.

In the past, the “agencies”have failed also spectacularly:Preventing the Dasehraalliance of the Left parties inOctober 2017 or Nepal’sConstitution-making coup in2015. On both occasions, Indiawas stumped. Chinese intelli-gence saved the short-livedOli-Prachanda coalitionGovernment once in 2017 butnot the second time whenPrachanda split and joinedthe Nepali Congress-led coali-tion. China supported the LeftAlliance in the 2017 electionsand the merger of the Allianceinto the NCP.

The CCP and the NCPenjoy fraternal relations andthe Chinese party’s ideologueshave been teaching the NCPcadres the “Xi JinpingThought”. China is investedheavily in Nepal — politically,economically, militarily andpeople to people. They will noteasily give up their recent pre-eminence in Nepal.

Two scenarios are beingpredicted. First, no revival ofParliament and no elections asscheduled, with Oli carryingon as the caretaker PrimeMinister indefinitely. Informedobservers say this is an Oli-

fixed match that India is sup-porting. The second scenarioenvisions restoration ofParliament, a coalitionGovernment formed byPrachanda-NCP with supportfrom the Nepali Congress andthe Janata Samajwadi PartyNepal. This combination alongwith its variant — Deuba sup-porting Oli in forming theGovernment — has been doingthe rounds for a long time.There is a third outcome whichthe Chinese are pursuing:Same as the first scenario butwith the NCP reunited andPrachanda and Madhav Nepalas party co-chairs. No one hasso far petitioned for a caretak-er Government for electionslike the one in 2012 headed byChief Justice Khilraj Regmi.

In 1994, Prime MinisterGP Koirala’s dissolution of theHouse was upheld by theSupreme Court. In 1995, PrimeMinister Manmohan Adhikaridissolved his minorityGovernment but the Housewas revived. In 2002, KingGyanendra dismissed PrimeMinister Sher Bahadur Deubafor failure to hold elections,calling him “incompetent”.

The same year, when theDeuba faction split from theNC under GP Koirala to formthe NC (Democratic), the sym-bol and name of the party wasretained by the Koirala faction.Consequent to the lessonsfrom frequent turnover ofGovernments (11 PrimeMinisters in 12 years), the

2015 republican Constitutionmade no provision for dissolu-tion of the House.

Neither Oli nor Prachandawant to be seen as splitting the party. Currently, the deckis arrayed in favour ofPrachanda retaining theparty’s name and symbol, theSun. He has the support of 300 of the 441 CentralCommittee members and 100of the 176 lawmakers. Whilethe EC will take a call on theownership of the party’s nameand symbol, the SupremeCourt will determine the legality and wisdom of termi-nating Parliament after 31months, with more than twoyears of its term remaining.

The Doval game planappears to be to support bothsides: Oli to keep Parliamentin abeyance and hold electionslater, and Prachanda to keepthe party divided even if theHouse is restored. China isbetting on both too, but tokeep its flock together. Oli’sFinance Minister BishnuPoudel came up with thisgem: “China should be happy.It has two NCPs — one inGovernment and the othertrying to restore the old one.”Best of both worlds is not aHappy 2021 for Nepal!

(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander, IPKFSouth, Sri Lanka, and foundermember of the Defence PlanningStaff, currently the IntegratedDefence Staff. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

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�� Sir — This refers to the article‘The media must become thevoice of people’ (December 29).With the world “media” or theFourth Estate comes to mind asense of honesty, responsibili-ty, transparency, truth and clar-ity of expression about all theimportant developments hap-pening domestically andaround the world.

The media’s role assumessignificance as it keeps peopleabreast of news and explains thenuances of complicated andintricate issues. The role of themedia in disseminating infor-mation and spreading awarenessagainst Government policiesalso keeps the ruling dispensa-tion on its toes. The elected rep-resentatives often cite the issuesraised by the media to attract theattention of the Government topeople’s concerns.

This is really a sorry state ofaffairs that the media seems tohave lost track of importantnews and is focusing its energyand attention on several mun-dane and insignificant issuesonly to obfuscate the matters ofpublic interests.

Azhar A KhanRampur

�� Sir — The recent announcementby the Railway Board regardingthe complete electrification of itsrailway network by 2023 is a wel-come step. The Railways is muchdependent on fossil fuel and thediesel-powered locos affect theenvironment badly. The electri-fication of its entire network willreduce carbon emission levels

and make it a highly sustainableand eco-friendly organisation.

The 2023 target should beachieved well in time by work-ing in phases across all the rail-way zones, including the railwaylines along the Konkan Railwayroute. The complete electrifica-tion move would bring immenseopportunities to the IndianRailways, both in terms of pas-

senger commute and freighttraffic, and may help identifyways to reduce the burden on theexchequer. The organisationshould make all the efforts toinch closer towards achievingeco-friendly electrified lines bydoing away with diesel-pow-ered locos by 2023.

Varun DambalBengaluru

��Sir — The plight of migrantworkers after the outbreak ofthe COVID-19 virus willremain imprinted in our mindsfor a long time, perhaps as longas we live.

However, the scene aroundus wasn’t all bleak all the time.Punctuating the poignantimages we saw around us mostof the time, were also stories ofgrit, determination and heroism.

The sheer dedication ofdoctors, healthcare staff, police-men, suppliers of daily needs,safai karamcharis et al stood outand we honoured them with anew name, Corona Warriors.Indeed, they helped millions ofIndians by putting their ownlives in danger.

While the pandemicshowed us the positive side ofhumanity, poor public health-care infrastructure was onceagain exposed. Hopefully, theGovernment has learnt itslessons and will now pay swiftattention to improving it on awar footing.

Bal GovindNoida

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This was a unique year in many differentways and is bound to be remembered asone of the most eventful ones in living

memory. However challenging it might havebeen for Governments, world leaders and thecommon man, for the Indian judiciary, 2020 wasa year of major challenges and lost opportuni-ties. It was unusual for the judiciary and partic-ularly for the apex court, because the challengesposed before it were unprecedented and theexpectations from it were extraordinarily high.This was a year of major constitutional changes,the consequences of which were exacerbated bythe Coronavirus pandemic and the challengesposed by it. For the judiciary, particularly theSupreme Court of India, this could have beenan opportunity that it might have wanted to grabon to and send out a strong message that it func-tions independently.

It should have sent out the message that itis not an executive court: An image that has beenassociated with it only recently. However, at theend of the year, the results are starkly differentand suffice it to say that they don’t seem to bein favour of the top court.

At the end of last year, the Centre hadbrought in the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA). The challenge to the constitutionality ofthe CAA and its supposedly deadly combinationwith the National Register of Citizens (NRC) andlater the National Population Register (NPR) wasbrought before the Supreme Court.

The CAA is arguably one of the most con-troversial pieces of legislation in the recent past.The Act amends the Citizenship Act of 1955 andallows Indian citizenship for Hindus, Sikhs,Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians who havefled from the neighbouring Muslim majoritycountries of Pakistan, Bangladesh andAfghanistan due to religious persecution or fearof religious persecution. This is all well and goodand a helpful move for the people fleeing per-secution. However, the Act perpetuates the exclu-sion of many who have already sought and con-tinue to take shelter in this country.

Reports have shown that State Governmentsin several parts of the country have started con-structing detention centres for those who willnow become illegal immigrants in the countrythey have considered to be their motherland andhave contributed to as well. Those who have beena witness and part of its growth and developmentstory.

In a democracy, when governments turnmajoritarian the only option left before the peo-ple is to either protest or seek a remedy beforethe courts. There were widespread protestsagainst the CAA across the country. TheShaheen Bagh protest in the Capital hadacquired international fame because of itsrelentless effort to start a dialogue with the State.The State, on the other hand, had continuous-ly termed the protest and the protesters “anti-national.”

In extreme distress, several petitionersapproached the court under Article 32 of theConstitution of India challenging the constitu-tionality of the CAA and the NRC. The respon-dents, in another petition, also approached thecourt challenging the right to protest of the pro-testors at Shaheen Bagh. In the Amit Sahni vs.Commissioner of Police case, it was argued thatthe protestors must not be allowed to protest at

public places for an indefinite periodbecause such demonstrations causeextreme inconvenience to the public atlarge and would, therefore, fall withinthe ambit of the restrictions withinArticle 19(2). So, at this point, therewere two petitions tabled before thecourt: One on the constitutionality ofthe CAA and the second on the pro-tester’s right to protest at public spaces.

The court has until today notheard the CAA petition, whereas thejudgment in the second petition hasalready been delivered, wherein thecourt has held that public places can-not be occupied for an indefinite peri-od for the purpose of a protest and thatthe State must provide an alternativespot for the same. This, especially whenthe Government was arresting protest-ers from several parts of the country.

Even until this day, members fromthe ruling party continue to make state-ments during election rallies withrespect to throwing out illegal immi-grants from the country and theSupreme Court has still not heard thematter to clear the air of confusion sur-rounding it. This has led to the rulingparty gaining more and more groundelectorally while the protest seems toseep down to irrelevancy with everypassing day.

Similar is the fate of the petitionthat is pending before the court againstthe abrogation of Article 370 thattook place on August 5, 2019. Therewere three kinds of pleas before thecourt post the abrogation. First werethe habeas corpus petitions against thedetention of several prominent polit-ical leaders in the Valley.

Former Chief Ministers and UnionMinisters who have served not just thepeople of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)

but also the country were locked upand detained for more than a year andmany continue to be detained eventoday. Many habeas corpus petitions arepending before the court and no judg-ment has been delivered to date. Manyof these petitions have become infruc-tuous after the executive branch of theState decided to release the detainees.But the court took no notice of it.

Second were the batch of petitionson media restrictions and communi-cations blackout. To its credit, the courtpassed a pathbreaking judgment in theAnuradha Bhasin and Ghulam NabiAzad vs. Union of India case this year,upholding the freedom of speech andexpression through the internet.However, the judgment was not fol-lowed by the J&K Administration anda contempt petition is pending beforethe court for over eight months now.The challenge to the constitutionalityof abrogation of Article 370 is alsopending for more than a year.

The court faced flak also withrespect to its selective outrage on theissue of arrest of citizens, socialactivists, politicians, free thinkers andwriters. The stark dichotomy becamea matter of contention and citizenswent on to criticise the court on everysocial media platform. Many journal-ists and social activists are underarrest even today and the court hastaken little to no notice of it, citingsome technical ground on which thepetitioners have failed to establishtheir case.

The last issue that I would like tobriefly touch upon is the Electoral BondScheme. The Finance Bill, 2017, intro-duced electoral bonds, that are inter-est-free bearer bonds. It is an instru-ment that is used to donate money to

political parties. The parties involvedwill probably be a donor, a politicalparty and the Reserve Bank of India —which acts as the intermediary. Such ascheme introduced in India is one thatis first of its kind in a democracy.Political parties are being funded in anon-transparent way and such ascheme would only add to the woundsof Indian democracy. The scheme waschallenged before the court as early as2018; however, the top court has notheard the matter until today.

The fact that the judiciary was inthe news this year for the way it hasfunctioned in the recent past is trou-bling. Contempt petitions against thosecriticising its style of functioning wereevidence of the fact that the judiciaryhas narrowed its understanding of therole it is supposed to play in a democ-racy. Citizens have either ways taken tothe streets this year and have protest-ed in solidarity with those who havebeen at the wrong end of the rope whenit comes to the protection of their fun-damental rights.

While 2020 was a year of majorchallenges and lost opportunities, 2021will be a year of aspirations from thejudiciary. Parties before the courts willwant to see a different image of thejudiciary: One that is more empathet-ic, strong, a protector of people’s fun-damental rights, authoritative and onethat doesn’t back down before the exec-utive. Citizens would want their caus-es to be heard with more alacrity andmore concern. In the new year the judi-ciary needs to redefine its role in ademocracy and it cannot be the onethat it has chosen to play in 2020.

(The writer is from the NationalLaw University, Visakhapatnam. Theviews expressed are personal.)

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As we approach 2021, we can-not help looking back at thetrail of death and devastation

left behind by the COVID-19 pan-demic. The year 2020 was no lessthan a nightmare as governmentsworldwide grappled with the viruseven as the global economy plum-meted to a new low, leaving millionsunemployed and at their wits’ end.

During the fight againstCOVID-19 in India, environmentalconcerns and priorities took a backseat as the Government put all itsweight behind fighting the deadlyvirus and its socio-economic impact

on the nation. As per the latest count,India had a total of 10,224,797COVID cases and 1,48,190 casualties,while the number of cases worldwidetouched 81,767,170 with 1,784,026people succumbing to the infection.

The successive waves of infectionand the lockdown necessitated by theCOVID-19 pandemic left India’seconomy shattered and ruined.Unemployment figures drasticallyrose from 6.7 per cent in March to26 per cent in April, which translatesto nearly 140 million people losingtheir jobs in a shockingly short spanof time.

Further, during the same period,business activity fell sharply from 82per cent to 44 per cent, followed bythe largest ever Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) contraction of minus24 per cent in the First Quarter (Q1)of the Financial Year (FY) 2020-21.In fact, the Indian economy is esti-mated to have suffered a loss of �7-8 trillion during the first 21 days ofthe lockdown. The world has notfared well either. According to a study

conducted by the AsianDevelopment Bank, the economiclosses triggered by the pandemic areexpected to hit nearly $8 trillion,which is nearly nine per cent of theglobal GDP.

Among the adverse impacts ofthe pandemic, much less debated ortalked about is the severe blow towomen in the workforce. Many of thewomen, who lost their jobs or tooktime off during the pandemic inIndia and globally, are now findingit difficult to return to any gainfulemployment. Adding to their woesare a host of factors includingunavailability of domestic help, theburden of household chores, carework and online schooling of chil-dren forced to stay at home duringthe pandemic.

Other factors, too, have dealt anunexpected blow to the economywhich suddenly finds itself bereft of30 per cent of its dedicated andskilled workforce. This has not onlyimpacted household finances but alsoproved to be a setback to gender

equality at the workplace. Accordingto the Zinnov-Intel Gender Diversitystudy only 11 per cent of the Indianworking women make it to topleadership positions compared to theglobal average of above 20 per cent.This bleak scenario is set to get worseas women find it difficult to find jobsin the current environment.

Needless to say, these extraordi-nary circumstances have sentGovernment departments into atizzy and the overburdened admin-istrative machinery has been unableto pay attention to other pressingareas that were already in a criticalstage before the outbreak.

Environmental deterioration inthe wake of climate change spurredby rising greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions was a contentious issue,with feverish debates and delibera-tions happening both on the nation-al and international forums.However, the contagion put anabrupt halt to all this. For a belea-guered environment, this is akin toa death knell.

Even before the pandemic hit theworld, the deteriorating state of theenvironment and the impact of cli-mate change were putting a hugestrain on the economy. A report pre-pared by the United Nations titled‘Economic Losses, Poverty andDisasters 1998-2018’ pegged thelosses suffered by the Indian econo-my due to climate change at $79.5 bil-lion in a period of two decades. Thisunderlines the pitiable condition ofthe environment and the toll it is tak-ing on our economy.

The pandemic has taught usmany painful and expensive lessonsbesides revealing the vulnerabilitiesand the strengths of our nation.Amid this suffering, an optimisticIndia must discover the silver liningand chart the future course keepingthe best interests of the environmentin mind. The gravity of the pandem-ic forced us to evolve the bestresponse mechanism that was able tomitigate the spread of the infectionto a certain extent, which bought ussome time to develop a vaccine. The

same determination now needs to beapplied to climate change adaption,environmental preservation and sus-tainable development.

More or less, the strategies adopt-ed to tackle the COVID-19 pandem-ic should also be applied in handlingthe problem of environmental degra-dation. The very first stage in fight-ing the contagion involved acceptingthe problem. As the pandemic struck,the affected nations, especially India,rapidly acknowledged the problemand set about addressing it. The samestrategy needs to be followed for han-dling environmental deteriorationand exploitation. We need to active-ly understand and acknowledge thedepth of the problem that pollutionand climate change present.

Second, the COVID-19 out-break has shown a superlative levelof communication between theGovernment and the common man.This raised the level of public aware-ness regarding the pandemic andhelped in ensuring that each andevery member of the community

became aware of the infection andthe safety protocols. This became oneof the largest public awareness pro-grammes ever conducted in India. Asimilar large-scale public awarenessprogramme must be kick-started bythe Government for the conservationof the environment.

Third, the Government showedexemplary will by strictly enforcingthe rules pertaining to COVID-19prevention and management. Itensured that people adhered toCOVID protocols and proceduresthat helped slow the transmission ofthe infection. This kind of enforce-ment, if practised for preserving theenvironment and ensuring climatechange adaption, will go a long wayin preserving the environment andprotecting it. As we enter 2021, onecan only hope that the Governmentwill put its might behind fighting cli-mate change and environmentaldegradation.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist. The views expressed arepersonal.)

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Paris: More journalists arebeing killed outside of warzones, and the overwhelmingmajority of this year’s grim totalof at least 50 dead were delib-erately targeted, many of themmurdered while investigatingorganized crime, corruptionand environmental degrada-tion, Reporters WithoutBorders said Tuesday.

Its tally of journalists andmedia workers killed in con-nection with their work bymid-December was just slight-

ly lower than in 2019, when thepress freedom group counted53 dead, even though many

journalists reported less fromthe field in 2020 because of thecoronavirus pandemic.

The group said 68% werekilled outside of war zones thisyear. That confirms a trend

noted by the group since 2016,when only four out of 10 deathswere in countries not at war.

Targeted killings of jour-nalists surged in 2020, account-ing for 84% of deaths, sharplyup from 63% in 2019, thegroup said.

It again listed Mexico as thedeadliest country for mediaworkers, counting at least eightjournalists killed there in con-nection with their work in 2020.Among them was Julio Valdivia,a newspaper reporter whosedecapitated body was found inSeptember in an area riddenwith organised crime. AP

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Astrong earthquake hitCroatia on Tuesday, with

some injuries reported as wellas considerable damages toroofs and buildings southeastof the capital.

The EuropeanMediterranean SeismologicalCenter said an earthquake of6.3 magnitude hit 46 kilome-ters (17 miles) southeast of

Zagreb. Initial reports said theearthquake caused wide dam-age, collapsing roofs, buildingfacades and even some entirebuildings.

The same area was struckby a 5.2 quake on Monday.

The regional N1 televi-sion reported live Tuesdayfrom the town of Petrinja,which was hard-hit in theMonday quake, that a col-lapsed building had fallen on

a car. The footage showed fire-fighters trying to remove thedebris from the car, whichwas buried underneath. Thereport said a man apparentlywas in the car when the quakehit.

The earthquake was feltthroughout the country and inneighboring Serbia andBosnia.

The same area was struckwith a 5.2 quake on Monday.

Tehran: The first study of thesafety and effectiveness of acoronavirus vaccine in Iranbegan Tuesday, state TV report-ed, with dozens due to receivethe domestically developed shotin the hardest-hit country in theMiddle East.

The vaccine, produced byShifa Pharmed, part of a state-owned pharmaceutical con-glomerate, is the first in thecountry to reach human trials.Rouhani has said Iran is coop-erating with a “foreign country”to produce another vaccineexpected to run in tests in vol-unteers in February, withoutoffering further details. AP

Dhaka: Five Bangladesh navyships carrying more than 1,700Rohingya refugees left thesoutheastern port city ofChittagong on Tuesday for anisolated island where they willbe relocated despite concernsamong human rights groupsabout their safety.

The refugees were expect-ed to reach Bhashan Char

island after a three-hour navaljourney, a government officialinvolved with the process said.The official, who spoke oncondition of anonymitybecause he was not authorizedto talk to the media, said therefugees were taken toChittagong from their camps inCox’s Bazar by buses onMonday and stayed overnight

in a temporary camp.Authorities insist the

refugees were selected for relo-cation based on their willing-ness, and that no pressure wasapplied on them. But severalhuman rights and activistgroups say some were forced togo to the island, located 21miles (34 kilometers) from themainland. AP

Hong Kong: Relatives of the 10Hong Kongers accused of flee-ing the city by speedboat dur-ing a government crackdownon dissent say they’ve beeninformed that the group plead-ed guilty and that the verdictswill be delivered by a court inmainland China on Wednesday.

The families wereinformed by court-appointedlawyers on Tuesday, accordingto the 12 HongkongersConcern Group, which isassisting the families of thedetainees.

The 10 defendants all facedcharges of illegally crossingthe border, while two of them

faced additional charges oforganizing the attempt, accord-ing to an indictment issued inthe southern city of Shenzhen.

The trials began on Mondayafternoon, according to a state-ment issued by the ShenzhenYantian District court.

Separate hearings wereexpected for two minors whowere also aboard the boat thatwas apparently heading forTaiwan when it was stopped bythe Chinese coast guard onAug. 23.

The defendants arebelieved to have feared theywould be prosecuted for theirpast activities in support of

Hong Kong’s democratic oppo-sition.

Hong Kong media reportssaid at least one may have hada warrant out for his arrestunder a tough new nationalsecurity law imposed on thesemi-autonomous territory byBeijing in June.

Relatives of the defendantssay that they have been pre-vented from hiring their ownlawyers and that the accusa-tions are politically motivated.

The defendants can besentenced to up to a year inprison for crossing the borderand seven years for organisingthe trip. AP

Kathmandu: Chairman of theruling Nepal Communist Party’srival faction Madhav KumarNepal said on Tuesday that theparty could still be united ifPrime Minister KP Sharma Oliwas willing to accept his mis-takes, as thousands of protestersmarched through the streets ofKathmandu against the disso-lution of Parliament.

Madhav Nepal made thecomments while addressing amassive protest rally organisedby his faction in Kathmandu,which was attended by formerprime ministers Pushpa KamalDahal ‘Prachanda’ and JhalaNath Khanal.

“We are ready to forgeteverything if Oli accepts his mis-takes,” Madhav Nepal, the for-mer prime minister who hasreplaced Oli as chairman of thePrachanda-led faction, told therally.

He also accused PrimeMinister Oli of practicing anti-democratic activities by makingdecisions against theConstitution and the generalpublic.

“All the political parties,intellectuals, teachers, studentsand public are on the streetsagainst the unconstitutionalmove of the Oli-led government.The lower house will soon berevived,” Madhav Nepal was

quoted as saying by MyRepublica newspaper.

Nepal plunged into a polit-ical crisis on December 20 afterPrime Minister Oli, known forhis pro-Beijing leanings, in a sur-prise move, recommended dis-solving the 275-member House,amidst a tussle for power withPrachanda.

Acting on the prime minis-ter’s recommendation, PresidentBidya Devi Bhandari dissolvedthe House the same day andannounced fresh elections onApril 30 and May 10, sparkingprotests from a large section ofthe NCP led by Prachanda, alsoa co-chair of the ruling party.

Addressing the rally,Prachanda said that PrimeMinister Oli’s recent move to

dissolve the House ofRepresentatives is aimed atkilling federalism and republi-canism which were achievedafter decades of struggle by thepeople.

“The act of dissolving par-liament is totally unconstitu-tional. It has taken the countrytoward another round of polit-ical instability.

“We did not even imaginethat we would be forced to taketo the streets against Oli’s regres-sive move. Now, we have to fightcollectively against this move,”said Prachanda, who claimscontrol over the ruling partyafter removing Prime MinisterKP Sharma Oli from the postsof the party’s parliamentaryleader and chair. PTI

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Wilmington: President-electJoe Biden is warning of massivedamage done to the nationalsecurity apparatus by the Trumpadministration and “roadblocks”in communication betweenagency officials and his transi-tion team that could undermineAmericans’ security.

During remarks onMonday in Wilmington,Delaware, Biden said his teamhas faced “obstruction” from the“political leadership” at theDefense Department and theOffice of Management andBudget as they’ve sought togather necessary information tocontinue the transition of power.

“Right now we just aren’tgetting all the information thatwe need from the outgoingadministration in key nationalsecurity areas. It’s nothing short,in my view, of irresponsibility,”Biden said.

He warned that his teamneeds “full visibility” into thebudget process at the DefenseDepartment “in order to avoidany window of confusion orcatch-up that our adversariesmay try to exploit”.

Biden’s remarks came afterhe was briefed by members ofhis national security and

defense teams and advisers,including his nominees forsecretary of State, Defense andHomeland Security, as well ashis incoming national securi-ty adviser.

The president-elect said histeam found that agencies “crit-ical to our security haveincurred enormous damage”during President DonaldTrump’s time in office. AP

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Dharamshala: The TibetanParliament in exile hasexpressed gratitude to UnitedStates President Donald Trumpfor signing a new Tibet policy.

On Sunday, Trump signedthe Tibetan Policy and SupportAct of 2020 to modify and re-authorise various programmesand provisions related to Tibet.The bill reaffirms the right ofTibetans to choose a successorto the Dalai Lama and calls forestablishing an American con-sulate in the country.

In a statement issued by theDharamshala-based TibetanParliament in exile, its SpeakerPema Jungney said, “This actofficially endorses that recog-nition of the reincarnation ofthe Dalai Lama is the soleauthority of the great XIV DalaiLama, the Tibetan Buddhistleaders and the Tibetan peoplewith no interference from theChinese government (People’sRepublic of China).”

“This act also recognisesthe importance of the Tibetan

Plateau and the threat that cli-mate change poses on Tibet,”the statement said.

“Over the years, the presi-dents of the United States ofAmerica have consistently sup-ported the Tibet cause and weare immensely grateful for yourindefatigable support in takingstrong measures against China,a government that is econom-ically the most powerful yethaving the record of worsthuman rights violations,” itadded. PTI

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Washington: SeveralRepublicans have sued US VicePresident Mike Pence in animprobable bid to overturnPresident-elect Joe Biden’s vic-tory, according to mediareports.

The last-ditch legal effort,filed on Sunday, came fromRepresentative Louie Gohmert,an eight-term congressmanfrom Texas, along with 11Arizona residents who had beennominated by that state’sRepublican Party to serve aselectors, The Hill reported. PTI

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Equity benchmark indicesSensex and Nifty scaled

fresh record highs on Tuesday,extending their bull run for thefifth straight session on theback of gains in banking and ITstocks.

The BSE gauge Sensex set-tled with gains of 259.33 pointsor 0.55 per cent at a new clos-ing high of 47,613.08.

Starting off on a bullishnote, the 30-share index wenton to hit its all-time intradayhigh of 47,714.55 before paringsome gains.

Likewise, the NSE barom-eter Nifty ended higher by59.40 points or 0.43 per cent ata fresh closing high of13,932.60. Intraday, the 50-share Nifty marked its all-time

record at 13,967.60.“Financials helped key

Indices to close the day wellinto positive territory with thebroader markets seeingdemand for gas stocks. The dayalso witnessed upmoves innames that are not usuallyseen frequently amongst gain-

ers as savvy investors wereseen scouting for value in a BullMarket,” S Ranganathan, Headof Research at LKP Securitiessaid.

On the Sensex chart,IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, TechMahindra, HDFC, ICICI Bank,HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, SBIand ITC were prominent gain-ers. On the other hand, Nestle,NTPC, PowerGrid, Dr Reddy,Reliance Industries, ONGC andMahindra & Mahindra wereamong the losers.

Sectorally, banking indexrallied 1.41 per cent, followedby finance (1.06 per cent) andIT (0.65 per cent).

Of the 19 sectoral indices,12 ended in the red and sevenin the green. Among the toplosers, BSE metal, power andenergy slid up to 1.32 per cent.

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Rising for the fourth straightsession, the rupee appre-

ciated by 7 paise to close at73.42 against the US dollar onTuesday, amid heavy buying indomestic equities and unabat-ed foreign fund inflows.

A weaker greenback in theoverseas markets also sup-ported the rupee, forex deal-ers said.

At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitopened at 73.42 against the USdollar and witnessed an intra-day high of 73.34 and a low of73.44.

The local unit finally set-tled at 73.42 against theAmerican currency, register-ing a rise of 7 paise over itsprevious close.

On Monday, the rupeehad settled at 73.49 against theUS dollar.

Equity benchmark indicesSensex and Nifty scaled freshrecord highs on Tuesday,extending their bull run forthe fifth straight session on theback of gains in banking andIT stocks.

The BSE gauge Sensexsettled with gains of 259.33points or 0.55 per cent at anew closing high of 47,613.08.

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The Government’s proposalto make dual front airbags

mandatory will lead to increasein price and vehicle manufac-turers should absorb the majorhike in costs to prevent impacton sales, the Federation ofAutomobile DealersAssociations (FADA) said onTuesday.

In a draft notification, theMinistry of Road Transportand Highways (MoRTH) pro-posed to make it mandatory forautomakers to provide anairbag for the front passenger,over and above the existingairbag for the driver of pas-senger vehicles.

The Ministry has proposedApril 1, 2021 as the date forimplementation of the movefor new models, while it has seta deadline of June 1, 2021 for

existing models.“FADA welcomes

MoRTH’s intention for man-dating dual front airbags. Thisis a much needed safety normwhich India should adopt andbe at par with global standards,”FADA president VinkeshGulati said in a statement.

He, however, added thatwhile the Government’s visionto make driving safer for its cit-izens is appreciated, it will def-initely increase the price ofvehicles.

The implementation of BS-

VI emission norms led to a bigprice increase, and this will alsocome with a price increase, headded.

“We hope OEMs (originalequipment manufacturers)should absorb the major cost ofinput due to the second airbagas it will impact the sales inshort-term which will be badfor the industry, which is ableto show growth on MoM(month-on-month) basis, butstill lags in YoY (year-on-year)basis after Covid hit us hard,”Gulati said.

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With an epic battle of bil-lionaires for supremacy

in one of the world’s most pro-lific markets and a pandemic-propelled surge in online shop-ping in the background, India’snearly trillion-dollar retail mar-ket is hoping to touch 85 percent of the pre-Covid businessin the first half of the new year.

In a year when the Covid-19 carnage ripped apart theretail business, circa 2020 willbest go down for the unravel-ling of the war between JeffBezos, the world’s wealthiestman, and richest IndianMukesh Ambani for pre-emi-nence in the booming marketthat is estimated to reach $1.3trillion by 2025.

It all started with Ambani’sReliance Industries agreeingin August to buy assets of thenation’s second-largest retailerfor �24,713 crore, just a yearafter Bezos’ Amazon purchasedan indirect stake in the indebt-ed Future Retail. Amazon

opposed the deal, claiming itviolates Future Group’s invest-ment agreement with it.

Since then, the story hasbeen playing out in Singaporeand Indian courts, and theoutcome may shape India’sretail landscape for years tocome.

Amazon’s success will slowReliance’s plans to expand its e-commerce business and thecountry’s largest offline retailchain while a win for Ambani,who has already armed himselfwith �47,265 crore of fundsraised through minority stakesales in his retail venture in amatter of 45 days duringCovid-19 period, will putbrakes on expansion plans ofthe US giant.

That apart, the $854 billion(�63 lakh crore) retail sector ishoping that the first half of 2021would bring it close to normallevels of business althoughindustry players feel that recov-ery will not be possible without‘unconventional solutions andGovernment support’.

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Tata Sons will increase itsstake in budget carrier

AirAsia India (AAI) to 83.67per cent by acquiring an addi-tional 32.67 per cent for $37.66million from AirAsiaInvestment Ltd (AAIL),according to a regulatory filing.

Currently, AAIL, which isa wholly-owned subsidiary ofMalaysia-based AirAsia, holds49 per cent stake in theBengaluru-based AirAsiaIndia.

In a regulatory filing tostock exchange Bursa Malaysia,AirAsia said, "The board ofdirectors of AirAsia wishes toannounce that its wholly-owned subsidiary AAIL andTata Sons Pvt Ltd, India, onDecember 29, entered into a share purchase agree-ment."It added that the pact is

for disposing of AAIL’s equityinterest of 32.67 per cent inAirAsia India to Tata Sons "fora total consideration sum of$37,660,000 (or MYR 152.58million)".

AirAsia India started oper-ations on domestic routes inJune 2014 following the thenUPA Government allowingforeign airlines to invest up to49 per cent in the Indian car-riers.

"The share of losses overthe years has resulted in thecarrying value of the invest-ment at the date of transactionto be Nil," AAIL said in the fil-ing.

It added that the proposeddisposal will, therefore, result ina gain on disposal of$37,660,000 (equivalent toabout 152.58 million Malaysianringgit) in the fourth quarter of2020 at both AAIL and con-solidated group level.

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Former Economic AffairsSecretary Atanu

Chakraborty is likely to be thenext Chairperson of the coun-try’s largest private sectorlender HDFC Bank, sourcessaid. He would replaceShyamala Gopinath, who isset to complete her term inJanuary.

According to the sources,the bank has recommended thename of Chakraborty forappointment as the part-timeChairperson, subject to theReserve Bank of India’sapproval.

Chakraborty, a 1985 batchIAS officer of Gujarat cadre,retired as Secretary ofDepartment of EconomicAffairs in April 2020. Prior tothat, he was Secretary ofDepartment of Investment andPublic Asset Management(DIPAM). Both departmentscome under the finance min-istry.

The tenure of Gopinath, aformer RBI Deputy Governor,is ending on January 1, 2021.She was appointed as theChairperson in January 2015.

The bank’s board, at itsmeeting held on Monday,decided to recommend thename of Chakraborty and sub-mitted its recommendation tothe RBI for approval underSection 35B of the BankingRegulation Act, 1949, thesources said.

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In an innovative idea to easethe documentation process

and provide treatment topatients in seamless manner,Northern Railway CentralHospital, New Delhi hasinstalled a HIMS System in theHospital.

VK Yadav, chairman cumCEO Railway Board, inaugu-rated the HIMS System at

Northern Railway CentralHospital, New Delhi onTuesday. Asutosh Gangal,General Manager Northern

Railway joined the eventthrough video link while SCKhorwal, MD Central Hospital,Senior doctors and other seniorrailway officials also witnessedon the occasion.

Speaking on the occasionYadav said that the HIMSinstalled at Hospital will easethe system for patients anddoctors being electronic docu-mentation and proved to bevery helpful in future.

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Cautioning of imminentstress in the banking sector

after unwinding of the mea-sures taken to combat theimpact of Covid-19, theReserve Bank on Tuesday saidbanks will need to adapt andadjust themselves to meet theupcoming challenges.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI), in its report on ‘Trendand Progress of Banking inIndia 2019-20’, said that thecentral bank initiated timelymeasures to relieve stress onbank balance sheets, corporatesand households following theoutbreak of the coronaviruspandemic.

Observing that bankingsoundness indicators areobscured under the asset qual-

ity standstill, it said, banks areraising capital in preparation ofthe imminent stress.

“With the moratoriumcoming to an end, the deadlinefor restructuring proposals isfast approaching and with thepossible lifting of the assetquality standstill, banks’ finan-cials are likely to be impactedin terms of asset quality andfuture income.

“Going forward, banks willhave to adapt and adjust to therapidly evolving economic land-scape due to these challengesand also the entry of niche play-ers and emerging financialtechnologies,” the report said.Improvement in the health ofthe banking sector henceforthhinges around the pace andshape of economic recovery, theRBI report said, adding, “The

challenge is to rewind variousrelaxations in a timely manner,reining in loan impairment andadequate capital infusion for ahealthy banking sector.”

The report further saidthat in the wake of a severe andunprecedented macroeco-nomic shock caused by theCovid-19 pandemic, the RBI’sactions veered towards pro-viding a stimulus to the econ-omy while ensuring financialstability.

The troika of policy ratecuts and liquidity infusion;regulatory forbearance; andtime-bound resolution withadditional provisions wasemployed to ease immediateconcerns emanating from thepandemic as well as aid theeconomic revival going for-ward, it said.

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Ashutosh Gangal, general manager NorthernRailway held a review meeting with the

departmental heads of Northern Railwaythrough video conferencing.

The focus of the meeting was on safety,punctuality and Kumbh Mela arrangements. Hesaid that, Northern Railways prime focus is onsafety of passengers. He reviewed arrangementsfor upcoming Kumbh Mela to be held atHaridwar from January, 2021. He informed that,a disaster management committee consistingfour junior scale officers has been constitutedfor weekly progress of arrangements.

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Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW) hasproduced 250 electric locomotives (WAG-

9 HC, 33071) in 188 working days upto 29thDecember of the current financial year 2020-21. Last 50 locos are manufactured in only 29working days.

Satish Kr Kashyup, General Manager flaggedoff the 250th locomotive of WAG-9HC seriesbearing no. 33071 from CLW accompanied withsenior officers.

Kashyup had congratulated the entire teamof loco production and appreciated their effortin successful production of 250 locomotives.With this trend in production, it is expected that,CLW will be able to achieve yet another high-est production figure in manufacturing ofrecord numbers of latest technology electriclocomotives in a financial year.

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Education is an essential andmost important aspect of life. In

this world of advancement andtechnology education is the only keyto pass through the gate of success.Education is the safest means toachieve your dreams, goals andaims. Relevancy and importance ofeducation is increasing day by dayand so its expenses. To secure edu-cational future of your child or yourown, one should save money to har-binger the message of smoothnessand prosperity in one’s life. Toimplement this task, SystematicInvestment Plans (SIP) is here foryour help. Don’t take any pressure,whether you want to go over boardor abroad, SIP is here for you tomake you ride on the goal board.

In the world of modernadvancement, dearness and uncer-tainty, one has to be certain in theirdecision to have secure future.Investing in education, for educa-tion and by education is profitablein all terms. Inflation is spiking dayby day to fulfill basic needs i.e., food,water, shelter and education oneshould not restrict on single income,make income through investmentto create a second source.Educationis the passport to the future, fortomorrow belongs to those whoprepare for it today. SIP gives anopportunity to you to invest as peryour convenience.

Being humans, we cannot pre-dict future but being responsible forour family and future one can pre-pare oneself for future. All days arenot same. Save for a rainy day.When you don’t work, savings willwork for you. It works as a helpinghand to you. It is easy on pocket,

Starting with as low as �500 permonth towards your first step tofinancial freedom. Depending onyour current financial situation, riskappetite and the nature of your goal,you can choose a scheme from debtasset class to equity.

The formula to create wealth istime invested not the timing.SIPsbringfinancial discipline in yourboth spending and investing behav-ior by making you save first beforeyou spend. Buffet rule, helps one tolead the independent thought inright direction independently. It canhelp you to create your short term

and long-term goals and allows yourmoney to work for you while youare focusing on career and family.

Power of Compounding ishighlighted by well-known scientistand mathematician Albert Einstein,“Compound interest is the eighthwonder of the world. He, whounderstands it, earns it…he whodoesn’t… pay it. Is the one and onlynon-biased phenomenon on earthas it doesn’t care about your colour,age or gender? It works for bothpoor and rich. The most importantfactor that works in compoundingis the time invested. Along with

reward, it teaches you discipline,patience and living in your means.It gives wings to your dream. If youdream big, experience the eighthwonder of the world.

When money realises that it isin good hands, it wants to stay andmultiply in those hands." It's yourmoney, your goals, and your con-venience. SIPs offer you conve-nience from choosing the date ofinvestment, amount that you canafford and most importantly the liq-uidity to call for your money whenyou need it. Our life has ups anddowns and so do our investments!

The economy depends about asmuch on economists as the weath-er does on weather forecasters."Jean-Paul Kauffmann. SIPs give usan opportunity to spread our riskthrough fixed amounts and datesacross the years, capturing thevolatility and benefiting from thehighs and lows by investing in thelowest NAVs to bring down the pur-chase costs. While you focus onyour daily affairs, this technique ofrupee cost averaging works for youto bring the maximum benefit to theportfolio.

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The FORE School ofManagement has

recently organised an onlineCOVID-19 HealthcareConclave 2020 in associa-tion with the PrincipalDirectorate, SouthernCommand, Indian DefenseEstates Service.

The conclave gatheredaround 50 doctors, ChiefExecutive Officers ofCantonment Boards, andprominent industry expertswho presented their papers

and participated in paneldiscussions from December21 to December 23, 2020.The keynote address wasdelivered by Ajay KumarSharma, Principal Director,and Southern Command.

The panel discussionswere based on differentthemes. Day 1 marked amoderated panel discus-sion with CEOs on‘Ground-level Challengesand Drivers inAdministering Healthcareentities during COVID-19— the Role of Technology’.

The year 2020 can be termed as a year oftwo major paradigm shifts for the edu-cation sector. While one forced the teach-

ers and students to adopt and adapt to suddenchange for the very continuance of education,the other is a welcome announcement of achange long overdue in the Indian education-al system.

The educational institutes barring theresearch levels continue to be in a veritable lock-down since March 2020 following the outbreakof the Covid-19 pandemic. Almost overnight,the education institutions had to shift theirdelivery model from on-campus face-to- faceto an online one. They had to quickly shift froma classroom setup to a virtual technology dri-ven setup. The forward-looking institutionswere better prepared with having some tech-nological systems in place and could quicklyadopt technology solutions such as Zoom, MSTeams or Google meet and onboarded theiraudience to the platform.

However, many institutes which werealready lagging in technological adoptionsdue to paucity of time, effort or budget con-straints, struggled and their students sufferedas well. Knowledge sharing at such places wasseverely limited and remained restricted tomonologue/non-interactive modes limited tomessaging, sharing scanned sheets and textedinstructions.

The pandemic has tested all aspects of edu-cation from delivery of classroom lectures toconduct of examination to internships andadmissions. New formats of conducting the stu-dent assessments like online Open BookExamination or Multiple Choice Questionbased examinations were tried out. However, alarge section of the student population living innon-urban areas had internet bandwidth con-cerns and faced huge challenges while appear-ing in examinations.

Similarly, industry internship is an impor-tant part of the professional degree in highereducation. Visionary education institutionsconverted the site-based industry internshipsinto desktop research-based internships but stillcould not completely fulfill the onsite practice-based learning requirement.

The pandemic also had a huge impact onthe student acquisition activity in the educationsector. The admission processes changed fromon-campus examinations and interviews to vir-tual campus walks, video interviews, online eval-uations and selections. There is a growing feel-ing that the pandemic will continue to impacteducation and admissions are never going to bethe same again. There has been a decrease ininternational student enrollment. Also, studentsare unsure about opting for technical programswhich need on-campus practice-based learning.It is anticipated that in future the student pref-

erence on college admission would shift focusto college as an experience rather than as abrand.

This period has also provided us with thetime to reflect upon where our limitations lie interms of our personal digital skills and tech-nology. Training faculty on technology usage,preparing content for online learning, internetconnectivity, bandwidth, digital etiquetteremained a challenge. Different types of healthconcerns related with screen time, body posturerelated health concerns, depression in isolationhave surged amongst the students this year.

But there has been a big welcomeannouncement for the education sector in Indiathis year. The greatest gift for education sectorin 2020 was the launch of the new NationalEducation Policy (NEP 2020), which waslaunched on July 29 superseding the last poli-cy that was released 34 years ago. The NEP 2020is a visionary policy which aims to bring manyrelevant changes like universal access to schoolsfor all children in the next decade and stress-es on increasing the Gross Enrolment Ratio(GER), putting a stop to the spiraling drop-outrate in India.

The NEP also proposes sweeping changesincluding opening of Indian higher educationto foreign universities and focuses on over-hauling the curriculum, easier board exams, areduction in the syllabus to retain core essen-

tials and thrust on experiential learning and crit-ical thinking. However, a strong need fordeveloping good number of trained qualityteachers is needed to meet the challenges of theindustry. Many believe that if the new policycould be implemented sincerely with a carefuldesigning of syllabi and curricula, it has thepotential to transform India into a self-reliantknowledge superpower.

Finally, it is felt that future will witness phe-nomenal change and disruption in the field ofhigher education. Technology will take a leadin shaping the delivery, teaching methodologyand the evaluation process. One clear area ofevolution could be a shift of focus from marksbased academic curriculum to life based over-all development.

Currently there is a huge gap between whatthe students study and what the industryrequires. We are on the verge of breaking thebarriers that exist between academia andindustry. While there are few institutes whichclosely work with industry to customise theircurriculum and prepare industry ready grad-uates, the need gap is huge. A closer industry-education engagement at the very grassrootstages can drive the development of curricula,teaching methodologies and applied learningexperiences.

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Accessibility of education hasbeen one of the major prob-lems prevalent in our country,

which despite several efforts, is still afar-flung reality. The lockdownimposed due to Covid outbreakacross the globe added more woes tothe education sector. However, withthe Government putting emphasis ononline education and stakeholders ofthe ecosystem adopting it quickly, theaccessibility of the education to themasses somehow improved and theball kept rolling.

Accessibility should be seen asequal opportunities, from educationto employment, for all in everyaspect of life. Providing accessibili-ty to all helps in facilitating empow-erment which is directly connectedto inclusive and accessible educationfor all. Though a lot of people whodon’t have the facility of mobility areforced to choose between the rightto education and an inclusive edu-cational environment.

Not only this, but access to edu-cation should be beyond trans-portational and infrastructural pro-visions. It is important to understandthat in order to provide access toeducation to the people with lack offacilities, some extra efforts need tobe put in and ensure their reach tointendent people.

Though a lot of initiatives have

been taken by the Government andthe educational institutes have beensmart enough to adapt to the newnormal, there still remains a gapwhich needs to be filled. This wouldrequire involvement of many moresectors and a greater participationfrom the corporates as well as pri-vate firms.

The new National EducationPolicy shows a lot of promise interms of educational reforms but itsactual implementation will takeserious efforts. The policy provisionscomprehensive use of resources soas to make quality education acces-sible to all. More importantly, thehybrid or the blended mode ofeducation where classroom andonline education needs to remain

the focus.Going forward, blended mode

of education seems to be the futureand, in such a scenario, the measuresto strengthen the basic infrastructureare pivotal. This, however, wouldrequire private players to jump intothe fray and provide their expertiseto fulfil the goal of education to all.As of now, internet connectivity isa major issue in a lot of schools/col-leges and due to this online classesare a distant dream. Also, the onlineexaminations are full of technicalglitches and timely results are con-sidered out of question. This calls foran urgent need of a fruitful part-nership between private players andthe Government agencies.

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In continuum to the ongoing ‘ThePrincipal Round Table’, the Education

Leaders Confluence 2020 (ELC) saw yetanother fruitful session on “Challenges forPrimary School Kids in the ChangingEducation System”, that was successfullyconducted on December 21, 2020.

Organised by Pratham Test prep, theconfluence focuses on holistic developmentand has also restructured and re-engineeredmodules to cater to children right from mid-dle school to help them understand theimportance of aptitude building.

The ELC 2020 constitutes a series oftalks and discussions, conducted to hear outthe experts and discuss various issues and

opportunities available in the education sec-tor. Even though India has made significantprogress on access to schooling and admis-sions in primary education, the on-goingpandemic has brought new challenges infront of the education system especially inIndia where we are still in the process tolearn and improve.

“There is a paradigm shift witnessed inthe education sector in India for the last fewmonths due to the pandemic. The teachershad to adapt to e-learning leaving the tra-ditional way of teaching. Many teachers werereluctant of this adaption, but there was noway out and the result was new innovativeways to teach to make the class engaging andinteresting,” said Ankit Kapoor, ManagingDirector, Pratham Test Prep.

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challenges our countryis facing. Each of thesechallenges offers an oppor-tunity for innovation, saidDr K Sivan, Chairman ofISRO, Bangalore andSecretary, Department ofSpace, Government ofIndia. Addressing studentsvirtually at the 16th AnnualConvocation of SRMInstitute of Science &Technology (SRMIST),Kattankulathur, Dr Sivansaid, “The job scenario isvibrant today and one must

definitely work more thanothers, know more thanothers and expect less thanothers.”

About 17,204 studentsbelonging to the Faculties ofEngineering andTechnology, Faculty ofScience and Humanities,Medicine & Health Sciencesand Management studiesincluding 129 PhD scholarsreceived their degrees.

Based on the restric-tions imposed by the StateGovernment only RankHolders and PhD degree

awardees were given theirdegrees in person at Dr TPGanesan Auditorium, maincampus, Kattankulathur.The rest of the eligible grad-uands attended the eventthrough virtual mode.

In his convocationaddress, Dr Sivan said,“SRMIST has the honour ofdesigning, developing, andbuilding its own nano-satellite, SRMSAT, in col-laboration with ISROwhich was launched withthe twin scientific objec-tives of monitoring and

estimating carbon dioxideand water vapour in thetropical atmosphere glob-ally. Our Government hasalready announced spacesector reforms for greaterparticipation of non-Governmental entities inspace activities. Our nextPSLV launch will havesatellites from start-upagencies as the first productof these reforms. I nowinvite SRMIST to joinhands with ISRO to workon similar projects infuture.”

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The fashion industry, as weall know, drives significantglobal economic value.

According to the Statista marketforecast, the revenue in thisindustry is expected to show anannual growth rate (CAGR 2020-2024) of 14.1%, resulting in aprojected market volume of$22,291m by 2024

Apart from being an influ-ential business sector, new andinnovative approaches to fashionbusiness and fashion manage-ment aim to tackle complex glob-al and local issues.

�-��The soft skills that are need-

ed are: Creativity, persuasion, col-laboration, adaptability and emo-tional intelligence. The hard skillsneeded are: Block Chain, CloudComputing, AnalyticalReasoning, Artificial Intelligence,UX Design, Business Analysis,Aff i l iate Marketing, Sales,Scientific Computing and VideoProduction

Students going into theindustry in the coming 10, or 20years require skills very much dif-ferent from the past ones, a shiftfuelled by the COVID-19 pan-demic. Acquiring and training insoft skills like communication,problem-solving, along with thenow essential hard skills likeanalytical reasoning, businessanalysis, sales amongst others areimportant skills for the futureleaders of this world.

Aspirants seeking to join thisfast-growing fashion industry,do not have only fashion design-ing as a career option, but manyother functions which concen-trate on the business and man-

agement of this industry. Broadening of skillsets:

Agility and Quick Response tochallenges and current develop-ments in business and society, tomake informed managerial deci-sions that consider ethical, eco-nomic, social and cultural impli-cations, enabling one to work onreal-life challenges, solving prob-lems, prioritising resources usinganalytical, cost-ef fectiveapproach.

Communication: Analysisof cases to diplomatically respondto conflicts and to present inno-vative ideas to interested parties.

Employability: Transferableskills and strong business knowl-edge that could be used for con-sultancy, marketing and adver-tising, human resources, retailand sales, and finance.

Multidisciplinary: Skillsacquired can be applied in dif-ferent roles across the fashionsupply chain, contributing to thesuccess of a business, rangingfrom human resource manage-ment, entrepreneurship, finance,service operations, consultancy,supply chain management toglobal business.

�� Fashion Merchandisers:

Analysing market trends,strategic production plan-ning and managing pur-chase negotiations.

� Fashion Buyers: Travel toproduction facilities, tradefairs and fashion showsworldwide to see what acompany will showcasebased on emerging season-al trends.

� Sourcing agents: Assessingthe needs of the company,locating suppliers, and meet-ing them to see if they willbe able to take on the orders.

� Sales and Distribution man-agers: Processing orders andreorders, updating stock lev-els, dealing with any queries,logistical problems, distrib-ution management and con-tinually visiting retail storesto get updates on customerfeedback.

� Fashion Product managers:Thorough understanding ofthe market and is thereforeable to analyse the con-sumer requirement of theproduct at appropriate pric-ing.

� Fashion Brand managers:Devises strategies toimprove the brand value in

the eyes of the customer andtakes it to a next level.

� Retail Merchandisers: Linkbetween buyers and the salesfloor, ensuring the rightstock is in the right place atthe right time to maximisesales and margin perfor-mance. They decide whichproducts, sizes, colours,quantity should be there instore.

� Visual Merchandiser :Promote the image, prod-ucts and services of retailbusinesses and other organ-isations. They create eye-catching product displaysand store layouts and designto attract customers andencourage them to buy.

� Fashion Market managers:Increase the market share oftheir product through devel-oping marketing strategiesthat draw the customers tobuy their products.

� PR and Event managers:Public relation and eventpersonnel work to generatepositive publicity and clientbrand recognition. Theseindividuals engage in net-working initiatives withcelebrities, models and otherpublic figures who can ele-vate a brand.

� Fashion E-Commerce: Inthe 21st century, it is veryclear that E-commerce isexpanding rapidly. Not onlydo their employees work inan innovative environment,they are also at the forefrontof the latest developments infashion and technology.

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There’s no denying that a postgraduate diploma inManagement (PGDM) course

requires a substantial amount of invest-ment, both in terms of money andtime. Your selection process is naturallythe most vital step. Here are a few tipson how you can choose the best insti-tute for your preferred PGDM course.

Look into the saculty Strength ofthe department: If you want yourPGDM in marketing, look into the fac-ulty profiles of the marketing depart-ment. This will help you to narrowdown your institution list and choosethe best among them. There are timeswhen a particular department in thebest college does not perform that wellas the same department in some othercollege. You must enroll into the lateras the college name will hardly help youlater.

There are a few ways to judge fac-ulty strength. The detailed profile willgenerally be available on the collegewebsite. You can also take to LinkedInto individually search for the facultiesand read more about their expertise.Keep a lookout for permanent facul-ties and visiting faculties. The bestdepartment in the best college will havea combination of both.

Research into the type of com-panies that come for recruitment: Afinance company coming for campushiring will rarely look for an operationexpert. Again, human resource man-agers can land a job in almost any sec-tor. Similarly, there is a steady rise inthe demand for digital marketing pro-fessionals and almost all companies willlook for PGDMs in the near future.These are factors you should evaluatewhile selecting an institution. Dogood companies come to hire fromyour department? What are the currentscenarios and future prospects?

Colleges advertise the companiesthat come to their colleges to hire. Youcan evaluate the sector of firms thatvisit the most. This will further narrowdown your list of potential institute.

Make a list of the average salaryoffered: The most lucrative thingabout a PGDM course is the salaryprospects after graduation. Many stu-dents do have it as an evaluating fac-tor and with good reason. Return oninvestment is something you should

always consider while choosing theinstitute that you are about to join. Youneed to know perfectly how muchsalary you can expect from the cam-pus recruitment programs and for howlong will you be paying the EMI.

There are websites that list theaverage salary secured by graduatingstudents after their PGDM. If youresearch well, you will get a year by yearbreak up of each institute. Combinethis with the above two factors and fil-ters your options further. Look for themedian figures as the mean may notalways be the correct figures to judge.

Look at the facilities you will getfrom your department: Most of theworkshops and events are organised bythe individual departments of the topcolleges. While classroom studying isfine, you should consider those man-agement colleges who conduct frequentcollege events for their PGDM stu-dents. They bring in field experts tobroaden your education scope and giveyou an insight into the corporateworld.

Again, the college website is thebest place to research this. Check outhow frequently these events happenand which department conducts themost. Also look into the profiles of thevisiting guests to understand the depthto which you can learn from these ses-sions. Exposure is going to be valuablefor your career and the more you haveit, the better it is for you.

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The Internshala hasannounced its annual schol-arship, Internshala Career

Scholarship for Girls (ICSG)-2021. The ICSG is an annualaward of �25,000. The reward ismeant to recognise a girl who hasfought against odds to pursue acareer of her dreams in any fieldlike academics, sports and arts.

Eligibility: Any girl of Indiannationality between the age groupof 17 to 23 years (as of December31, 2020) is eligible to apply.

Application process: It hasthree steps: Online form—Submission of application.Interview: A short-list for a tele-phonic interview would beannounced and interviews wouldbe conducted.

You would be asked to furnishall the necessary documents andproofs before the interview.

Referee check: After the inter-view, your referee (provided in theform) would be contacted for ver-ification, after which the finalwinner would be selected andannounced.

How to apply: To apply, thegirl students need to fill form andstate their career objective. Theapplications will be shortlistedbased on four elements includingthe fight against odds, achieve-ment, purpose, and need.

For more information or toapply to the scholarship, visit:http://bit.ly/ICSG-21.

Application deadline: The

last date to apply is January 15,2021.

With the intention of provid-ing a world-class education forhigh-calibre international students,the University of Waterloo isoffering the International StudentEntrance Scholarships in Canada.

Benefits: Each successfulscholar will receive the amount of$10,000 accredited towards tuitionfees.

Course Level: UndergraduateIndia students can apply.Eligibility: Students are oblig-

ed to enrol in a bachelor’s degreeprogramme at the University ofWaterloo.

The sponsorship will be award-ed in any subject offered by theuniversity.

Supporting documents: Mustattach your academic transcripts ofall the previous school attendedand copy of passport.

Admission requirements: Forbeing admitted, you must have aminimum 90% admission averageand also meet the admissionrequirements of the university.

Language requirement:Having good English languageproficiency is important for anundertaking degree programme atthe university.

How to apply: If you want toempower with this educationalaward, the interested student hasto take admission in the under-graduate degree coursework at theuniversity and also complete theadmission information form.

Application deadline: Thelast date to apply for this scholar-ship is June 1, 2021.

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Hungry for redemption, Indiarecorded a win for the agesunder an inspirational Ajinkya

Rahane, beating Australia by eight wick-ets in the second Test to level the four-match series 1-1 here on Tuesday.

The target of 70 was never a big onebut for a team that was bowled out forits all-time lowest score of 36 only 10 daysback, one can’t fault them if that playedat the back of their minds.

Shubman Gill (35 not out) andskipper Rahane (27 not out) knocked offthe runs in 15.5 overs to com-plete the victory.

This was after the quartetcomprising Jasprit Bumrah(2/54 in 27 overs), debutantMohammed Siraj (3/37 in21.3 overs), RavichandranAshwin (2/71 in 37.1 overs)and Ravindra Jadeja(2/28 in 14 overs)showed maniacalconsistency over aperiod of 100overs on theflattest of decks,where extrabounce becametheir go-toweapon.

“The talk was allabout showing attitude,intent and character.One hour took thegame away from us inAdelaide, but we stillhave a lot to learn,”

Rahane said.Indian teams, since the turn of the

new millennium, have had some mem-orable overseas victories but when thebackdrop and context of this Test at theiconic MCG is recorded for posterity,Rahane and his magnificent bowling unitwill find more than an honourable men-tion in the pages of history.

“Really proud of all the players,credit to our debutants Gill and Siraj.The way they showed character was

amazing,” Rahane said.The Indian teams of yore used tolose stomach for a good scrap after

humiliating defeats but not thisone. It stood out for the man-

ner of its comeback in theabsence of a genius calledVirat Kohli and a magi-cian in MohammedShami.

Australia captain TimPaine had nothing to offer

as an explanation for why hisside could not capitalise on the

big absences.“Very disappointed, played

poor cricket, sloppy cricket. Let’snot take anything away fromIndia, they forced us to makemistakes,” he said.

In the last three and half days,Rahane, first with his hundred and thenwith solid leadership, showed whatKohli meant when he spoke about ‘NewIndia’.

Along with skills, it was the mentalfortitude that shone through as theteam didn’t take too much time to burythe ghosts of Adelaide and clear the cob-webs in their minds getting Australia all-out for 195 and 200 in two innings.

On the first day, it was about assess-ing the moisture on the surface and giv-

ing Ashwin a go before debutant Siraj inthe first hour of the match, all the whilekeeping that leg gully in business for SteveSmith.

It worked wonderfully well andthen he understood pretty quickly thatSiraj, with his hit-the-deck bowling,could work wonders with the semi-newor old kookaburra when the seam wouldflatten.

While batting, he was like thatbandmaster, who knew how to conducthis orchestra whether it was young Gill

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DIEGO MARADONA, 60Maradona’s death brought

Argentina to a standstill and causeda wave of grief in his adopted homeof Naples. He brought joy to thesouthern Italian city by leadingunfashionable Napoli to two SerieA titles and the 1989 UEFA Cup.

The passing of Maradona,who dragged Argentina to glory atthe 1986 World Cup where hescored the ‘Goal of the Century’against England — as well as theinfamous ‘Hand of God’ goal, ledto three days of national mourningin his home country.

KOBE BRYANT, 41

Bryant was killed in Januaryalongside his 13-year-old daughterin a helicopter crash outside LosAngeles that also took the lives ofseven other people.

LA Lakers icon Bryant was afive-time NBA champion in acareer that began in 1996 straightout of a high school.

He was a two-time Olympic

Gold medallist, helping spark theUS squad to titles in 2008 and 2012.

PAOLO ROSSI, 64

Rossi is a national hero in Italyfor firing the Azzurri to World Cuptriumph in 1982.

He finished the tournament astop scorer after scoring six goals,including a hat-trick in a 3-2 winover flamboyant Brazil, both goalsagainst Poland in the semi-finalsand the opener in the final win over

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West Germany.Pablito only played in Spain after

returning from a ban for his part in thebetting scandal.

BALBIR SINGH SR, 96Three-time Olympic Gold medal-

winning hockey legend Balbir SinghSr died on May 25 after battling mul-tiple health issues. His world recordfor most goals scored by an individ-ual in the men’s hockey final of theOlympics still remains unbeaten).Balbir Singh, who captained India at the

1956 Olympic Games and was the man-ager of 1975 World Cup winning team.

CHUNI GOSWAMI, 82 Legendary Indian footballer

Chuni Goswami, whocaptained the 1962

Asian Games Gold-winning team andfinished runner-upat the Asian Cup in1964, died after suf-

fering a cardiac arrest.He was a striker during

the golden generation of Indian football.In a celebrated career, Goswami played50 international matches for the nation-al team from 1956 to 1964, and spenthis entire career playing forMohun Bagan in clubfootball. The iconicsportsperson, whoalso played first-classcricket for Bengal.

PK BANERJEE, 83Pradip Kumar

Banerjee was among

those who put Indian football on aninternational stage through hisfeats, first as a record-breakinggoalscorer and then as the most suc-cessful Indian coach. He was part ofthe 1962 Asian Games Gold medal-list team and also led India in the1960 Rome Olympics, in which hescored the equaliser against Franceto help his side secure a 1-1 drawagainst the European giants. He wasawarded the FIFA Order of Merit in2004. He was also the first Indianfootballer to win the Arjuna Award— he won in 1961, the year theawards were instituted.

CHETAN CHAUHAN, 73

Former India cricketer andcabinet minister in Uttar Pradeshstate Government Chetan Chauhan,passes away due to complicationsand multiple organ failure. He wasSunil Gavaskar’s long-time openingpartner, and despit scoring 16 fiftyplu scores in Test cricket, he finishedwith a zero in the centuries’ columnin the format, despite coming closeon many occasions: he got to 80seven times, on two of those occa-sions getting to 93 and 97. He helda dubious record — most Test runswithout scoring a century — formany years before being topped byShane Warne.

DEAN JONES, 59

The Australian World Cupwinner and prominent commenta-tor died of a heart attack while inMumbai to do IPL commentary. Hecollapsed, was rushed to the hospi-tal and declared dead there.

TONY LEWIS, 78Lewis was one of the men

behind the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method used in weather-affected limited-overs cricketmatches. He devised the

method alongside fellow math-ematician Frank Duckworth.

GÉRARD HOULLIER, 73

The Frenchman put Liverpoolback on track to domestic andEuropean glory as manager from1998 to 2004, winning a treble oftrophies in 2001 and paving the wayfor the long-term recovery of a clubhe cherished.

ANGELA BUXTON, 85Two-time Grand Slam champi-

on Buxton, who had Jewish heritageand was refused entry to tennisclubs her entire career, was a dou-bles partner and lifelong friend ofAlthea Gibson, whose 1956 FrenchOpen title was the first Grand Slamsingles triumph by a black Americanplayer.

Buxton won the women's dou-bles alongside Gibson at bothRoland Garros and Wimbledon in1956, the latter of which was the firstAll England Club title to be won bya British-Jewish player.

RAJINDER GOEL, 77

Rajinder Goel was born at thetime when there was no shortage ofgood spinners in the country butonly one was selected to play forIndia. And despite not being able torepresent India in the longest for-mat of the game, he keep takingwickets in the domestic cricket andwent on to become the recordwicket taker in Ranji Trophy (637).A record that still stands.

RAY CLEMENCE, 72Former England and Liverpool

goalkeeper Clemence was one of thefinest stoppers of his generation,winning three European Cups andfive First Division titles during 14years.

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South Africa took little time inclosing out an innings and

45-run victory over a depletedSri Lanka in the first Test onTuesday as the tourists’ promis-ing start to the match and theseries was undone by a string ofinjuries.

Four of the five Sri Lankansto get hurt during the test stillcame out to bat in a vain effortto save their team, but it didn’tmatter.

South Africa’s fast bowlersneeded just over a session on thefourth day to finish off SriLanka’s second innings. SriLanka, starting the day 65-2 andfacing defeat, was bowled out for

180 in 46.1 overs.Allrounder Dhananjaya de

Silva was the one casualty whowasn’t able to bat at all becauseof his thigh injury, meaningSouth Africa needed just ninewickets in the end to win.

South Africa took five wick-ets in the day’s first session andfinished Sri Lanka off with thelast two wickets less than half-an-hour after lunch, despitesome resistance from KusalPerera (64) and WaninduHaranga (59).

South African pacers LungiNgidi, Anrich Nortje, WiaanMulder and Lutho Sipamla allcollected two wickets each in theinnings. Sri Lanka’s heavy defeatwas the result of a marked turn-

around in the test after the SriLankans made a strong start,posting 396 in the first inningsfor their best test total in SouthAfrica.

But Sri Lanka was depletedby the stream of players leavingthe field injured: de Silva left onthe first day while batting, fastbowler Kasun Rajitha wasinjured on Day 2 having bowledjust 13 deliveries, and bowlersLahiru Kumara and Harangaand batsman Dinesh Chandimalwere hurt on Monday.

“If the world was normal Idon’t think we’d be in this situ-ation,” Arthur said, "because Ithink the conditioning would beperfect and I think the guyswould be ready to go.

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or the seasoned Ravindra Jadeja.Rahane rates his hundred in

a winning cause at Lord's sixyears back as his best effort butfor fans, the innings atMelbourne will always be waymore precious.

On fourth morning,Rahane, after giving a three-over

spell to Bumrah on the, under-stood instantly that the old ballis not doing anything and tookhim off the attack to keep himfresh for the second new ball.

It was another great tacticaldecision as Bumrah bouncedCummins to end the stand thatconsumed more than 36 overs.

The second new ball did thetrick as Cameron Green (45 off146 balls) and Cummins (22 off103 balls) were dismissed aftertheir frustrating 57-run stand forthe seventh wicket.

Green’s gutsy knock had fiveboundaries as he tried to getAustralia out of the woods dur-ing a classical Test match ses-sion.

It was a well-directedbouncer aimed between thebatsman's jaw and shoulderand the awkward fend wastaken by Mayank Agarwal atsecond slip.

Green, who was starting tobecome a thorn in the flesh,

tried to pull Siraj but the extrabounce did him in as RavindraJadeja, fielding at mid-wicket,timed his spot jump to perfec-tion ending the batsman’s vigil.

Siraj and Ashwin thenmopped up the tail setting a totalof 70 for their batsmen.

The victory was unques-tionable but again it was Rahane,a former Karate 10th Dan blackbelt, decided to guide Gill, doinghis apprentice in Test cricket.

The skipper first played aperfect Sunil Gvaskar-like for-ward defensive stroke where theball lands on the feet of the bats-men like an obedient cockerspaniel.

The next ball, brought outan imperious pull-shot, showingthe intent which let Gill blossomin that short period of time.

It was only fitting that hefought fire with fire during thatbrief knock and it was poeticjustice that he was there till theend.

˜ & ’ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ......2020/12/30 · NIMHANS of Bengaluru,...

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Transcript of ˜ & ’ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ......2020/12/30 · NIMHANS of Bengaluru,...