1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire...

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A fter days of political tur- moil and speculation, Trivendra Singh Rawat resigned from the post of Uttarakhand Chief Minister on Tuesday. Accepting his res- ignation, Governor Baby Rani Maurya asked Rawat to func- tion as the officiating Chief Minister till his successor is appointed and assumes charge. Rawat’s resignation comes after days of political turmoil and uncertainty that came to fore on March 6 when the Budget Session of the Assembly at the summer capital Gairsain was adjourned sine die earlier than it was slated to conclude. Apart from Rawat, the Cabinet Ministers and BJP MLAs were rushed to Dehradun to attend the core group meeting which was also attended by Central observer Raman Singh and the party’s State in-charge Dushyant Kumar Gautam among others. After that, Rawat, some Cabinet Ministers, MLAs and party leaders reached Delhi separately. Though BJP State president Banshidhar Bhagat continued to state that no lead- ership change was about to happen, the inner workings of the party machinery continued to progress in another direc- tion. When asked about the reason for his resignation, Rawat said that it was a joint decision and that one would have to ask Delhi for a better answer. According to political observers, Rawat had under- taken various effective and proactive measures during his tenure. However, some of these very measures made him unpopular with the MLAs due to steps like implementation of the Transfer Act and his lack of political correctness. Rawat’s action against corruption also proved in some ways to be detrimental to the usual politics. More recently, his deci- sion to declare Gairsain the third commissionerate of Uttarakhand merging districts of both Garhwal and Kumaon without consulting public rep- resentatives from the regions concerned and the lathicharge on people at Diwalikhal when they were protesting in support of their pending demand for widening the Ghat- Nandprayag road worked against Rawat. He was found to be unpopular in internal sur- veys and the failure of the State Government to keep the bureaucracy under control also worked against him. Another major reason for the change in Rawat’s fortunes was the inefficiency of his team to maintain his image and interaction with the media and public which proved severely detrimental in times when accessibility and public per- ception matter a lot. However, BJP sources in Delhi said before his meeting with Rawat, party president JP Nadda held talks with Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the party’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santosh and general secretary in charge of Uttarakhand Dushyant Gautam. Sources said the BJP leadership was unhappy with Rawat over his handling of the last month’s flash flood in Chamoli as also with the State’s High Court ordering a CBI probe in October last year into corruption charges leveled by a journalist in a video against Rawat. The Chief Minister was accused of allegedly accepting bribe through his relatives in 2016 to facilitate the appointment of a person in Jharkhand. The Supreme Court had stayed the order. T he Delhi Government pre- sented a 69,000-crore Budget themed on “patrio- tism” for financial year 2021-22 on Tuesday, under which the Delhi Government plans to install 500 flag masts and organise programmes on the lives of freedom fighters across the city. Also, it announced free Covid-19 vaccination to all in its hospitals in the coming phases of the ongoing inocu- lation drive, allocating 50 crore for this purpose in the annual Budget. Presenting the Budget, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, said the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government has decided to celebrate country’s 75th Independence Day and will hold programmes for 75 weeks starting March 12. The key highlights of the Budget are: the Government has aimed to make Delhi’s per capital income equivalent to Singapore level by 2047; Government will open its first Sainik Schools and Armed Forces Preparatory Academy aiming to encourage young- sters to join the Indian Armed Forces and for the preparation of NDA; world’s first virtual learning school in which stu- dents beyond Delhi can learn education from anytime/ any- where; 100 special “Women Mohalla Clinics” and installa- tion of national flag of 200 feet at 500 different places in Delhi. Claiming that the Kejriwal’s model of governance has increased the number of projects and programmes, Sisodia said it shows the emphasis of the Government on developmental work and welfare programmes. “The per capita expenditure of Government of NCT of Delhi through budgetary transac- tions is likely to increase from 19,218 in 2015-16 to 33,173 in 2021-22,” said Sisodia in the Assembly, adding that the Government’s target is to achieve the Singapore’s per capita norms with better edu- cation, health, employment and infra to Delhi residents. Sisodia said the Budget is themed on “deshbhakti” (patri- otism) as it pays tributes to freedom fighters and hopes to work towards building the Capital and the country, as envisioned by them. The Delhi Finance Minister proposed to allocate 16,377 crore, one-fourth of the total Budget, for the edu- cation sector while the health sector got 9,934 crore. Sharing the revenue model, Sisodia said the proposed 69,000 crore Budget during the year 2021-22 will be financed by 43,000 crore from own tax revenue, 1,000 crore from non-tax revenue, 325 crore as share in Central taxes, 9,285 crore from small saving loan, capital receipts of 1000 crore, GST compensation of 6,000 crore, 2,088 crore for Centrally Sponsored Scheme, only 657 crore as grant-in-aid from Government of India and the remaining from the open- ing balance. Continued on Page 2 I ndia on Tuesday summoned the British High Commissioner and conveyed its strong opposition to the “unwarranted and tendentious” discussion on the country’s agricultural reforms in British Parliament. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told the envoy that discussions in British Parliament on India’s agri reforms represented a gross interference in politics of another democratic country. “The Foreign Secretary summoned the British High Commissioner and conveyed strong opposition to the unwarranted and tendentious discussion on agricultural reforms in India in the British Parliament,” the MEA said. “The Foreign Secretary made it clear that this repre- sented a gross interference in the politics of another democ- ratic country,” it said. He advised that British MPs should refrain from prac- tising vote bank politics by mis- representing events, especially in relation to another fellow democracy. In London, the Indian High Commission on Monday sharply criticised a debate in British Parliament on the safe- ty of protesting farmers and Press freedom in India, calling it a “distinctly one-sided dis- cussion”, PTI reported. Several MPs from the Liberal Democrats, Labour Party and the Scottish National Party had expressed concern about the safety of farmers protesting on Delhi’s borders. The House of Commons had assigned 90 minutes for a debate on the matters on Monday. C ovaxin, an indigenously developed coronavirus vac- cine, has been found to be “safe with no serious side effects”, The Lancet has said based on the interim result of its phase 2 trial results. “In the phase 1 trial, BBV152 induced high neu- tralising antibody responses that remained elevated in all participants at 3 months after the second vaccination,” The Lancet said in the study pub- lished on Tuesday. “In the phase 2 trial, BBV152 showed better reacto- genicity and safety outcomes, and enhanced humoral and cell-mediated immune responses compared with the phase 1 trial. The 6μg with Algel-IMDG formulation has been selected for the phase 3 efficacy trial,” The Lancet said about the vaccine being cur- rently inoculated along with Covishield of the Pune-based Serum Institute of India. Continued on Page 2 A mid the vaccination drive against the Covid-19 in India, pilots and cabin crew will be allowed to operate flights 48 hours after getting the Covid- 19 vaccination if they do not show any side effects. “If there are no symptoms after 48 hours, the air crew (which includes pilots and cabin crew) is fit to resume “unrestricted” flying duties. Air crew will be monitored for 30 minutes after taking the shot at the Covid-19 vaccination centre itself for any anaphylac- tic and idiosyncratic reaction,” the DGCA said. The DGCA said that Air crew will be “medically unfit for flying” for 48 hours after vaccination. The rules come as Indian carriers have asked the Government to consider their frontline staff priority sector for vaccination so that crew mem- ber and other employees can get the jabs. “If, after 48 hours, the pilot experiences any symptoms, he or she will be reviewed by treat- ing physician or his or her authorised medical attendant”, the DGCA said in its circular. “Such pilots can be declared fit for flying duties provided they are asymptomatic without any medications and medical care certificate’ to this effect to be obtained,” it added. The DGCA said if the medical unfitness period post- COVID-19 exhibition is more than 14 days, then a “special medication examination” will be required to ascertain fitness for flying. B engal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday warned her rival and BJP’s candidate Suvendu Adhikari against playing the Hindu card and asked the people of Nandigram to “fool the BJP on April 1” when the East Midnapore goes to polls. Mamata who held a party workers’ meet at Nandigram a day ahead of filing her nomi- nation, attacked Adhikari and the BJP saying “you are playing with religion … you are play- ing the Hindu card against me but let me tell you that it will serve no purpose as victory will be on the side of truth.” Mamata said, “Those who are claiming Hindutva licence must also know that I too am a Hindu woman and do my own pujas. I never come out of my house without chanting my Durga mantras. How can they question my Hindu cre- dentials? Playing with religion will not do any good to them. This is a ploy to divide the peo- ple of Bengal.” She said, “My opponent is telling that he has the support of 70 per cent meaning there- by that he has Hindu votes with him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will boomerang on him.” Adhikari had in an earlier meeting at Nandigram said that “some are pinning their hopes on 30 per cent votes whereas I have the support of 70 per cent … I dare Mamata Banerjee to contest from Nandigram. I will defeat her by half-a-lakh votes and if I can- not do so I will quit politics.” After the meeting, the Bengal Chief Minister visited a number of local temples and mazars and offered prayers there. Continued on Page 2 Chennai: The ruling AIADMK’s ally DMDK on Tuesday walked out of the alliance following failure of seat sharing talks for the April 6 Tamil Nadu Assembly elec- tions with just days left for the nominations to open. After three-rounds of pro- tracted negotiations with the AIADMK that failed to fructi- fy, the DMDK led by actor- turned politician Vijayakanth said it was moving out of the alliance, that also has the PMK and BJP as partners. Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan quickly invited the DMDK to the front led by him and welcomed other like minded parties as well. The alliance led by him, “is not the third but the first front,” he said. In a statement, Vijayakanth said the decision to snap ties with the AIADMK was taken following a unanimous view reached at a consultative meet- ing with party’s district secre- taries here. Continued on Page 2 I n the last 24 hours, three men were beaten to death in two different incidents. A 32-year- old man was beaten to death allegedly by his neighbours in west Delhi’s Rajouri Garden area while two men were beat- en to death by a mob on Tuesday allegedly over suspi- cion of theft in north Delhi’s Azadpur Sabzi Mandi area. According to Deputy Commissioner of Police, Northwest district, Usha Rangnani, on Tuesday around 7.30 am, police got information that two persons, who were suspected to have committed theft, were beaten by the mob. The duo were declared brought dead in hospital. Continued on Page 2 B oth Houses of Parliament could not function for the second day in a row on Tuesday due to vociferous protest by the Opposition on the issue of ris- ing fuel prices and its impact on the common man. Both the Houses saw repeated adjourn- ments before it was adjourned for the day shortly after lunch break. Incidentally, both the Houses of Parliament returned to normal hours from Tuesday for the first time since the corona pandemic outbreak last year. The Rajya Sabha plunged into chaos soon after the House commenced proceedings for the day at 11 am. The Opposition members, includ- ing Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, Satish Chandra Mishra (BSP), T Siva (DMK) and Priyanka Chaturvedi (Shiv Sena) sought suspension of all business to discuss the price rise issue. However, Deputy Chairman Harivansh set aside the notices and said the mem- bers will get ample opportuni- ties to take the Government to task on the issue during the Appropriation Bill. He also said Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Monday had given a ruling of not admitting the notice by Kharge on the same issue. Naidu had said the Elders can make their point in dis- cussions in the coming days. Continued on Page 2 P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday inaugu- rated the “Maitri Setu” between India and Bangladesh, a bridge built over the Feni river, with Bangladeshi premier Sheikh Hasina asserting that political boundaries should not become physical barriers for trade. Modi also inaugurated and laid the foundation stones of multiple infrastructure pro- jects in Tripura during the online event. Speaking on the occasion via video-conference, he said Tripura is experiencing the change that has come with the Government of “double engine” in the State from the time of the previous Government of 30 years. “The country is also seeing that wherever a double-engine Government is not there, you can look at your neighbour- hood, policies empowering the poor, farmers and daughters were either not implemented or were moving forward at a very slow pace,” the PM said, adding, Tripura, which was pushed back by a “strike cul- ture” for many years, is now working for ease of doing business. In a video message played at the event, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Hasina hailed the inauguration of the “Maitri Setu” as a historic moment. “We are creating a new era in South Asia through provid- ing connectivity to India. We are in a region which has remained conservative in open- ing up and where regional trade is far below potential. I believe political boundaries should not become physical barriers for trade,” she said. “Earlier the nearest seaport for Agartala was Kolkata which is over 1,600 km away. However, today, Agartala’s nearest seaport is Chattogram and the distance to Bangladesh is less than 100 km. Undoubtedly this is a historic moment,” she said. The 1.9-km-long “Maitri Setu” joins Sabroom in India with Ramgarh in Bangladesh.

Transcript of 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire...

Page 1: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

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After days of political tur-moil and speculation,

Trivendra Singh Rawatresigned from the post ofUttarakhand Chief Ministeron Tuesday. Accepting his res-ignation, Governor Baby RaniMaurya asked Rawat to func-tion as the officiating ChiefMinister till his successor isappointed and assumes charge.

Rawat’s resignation comesafter days of political turmoiland uncertainty that came tofore on March 6 when theBudget Session of the Assemblyat the summer capital Gairsainwas adjourned sine die earlierthan it was slated to conclude.Apart from Rawat, the CabinetMinisters and BJP MLAs wererushed to Dehradun to attendthe core group meeting whichwas also attended by Centralobserver Raman Singh andthe party’s State in-chargeDushyant Kumar Gautamamong others.

After that, Rawat, someCabinet Ministers, MLAs andparty leaders reached Delhi

separately. Though BJP Statepresident Banshidhar Bhagatcontinued to state that no lead-ership change was about tohappen, the inner workings ofthe party machinery continuedto progress in another direc-tion. When asked about thereason for his resignation,Rawat said that it was a jointdecision and that one wouldhave to ask Delhi for a betteranswer.

According to politicalobservers, Rawat had under-taken various effective and

proactive measures during histenure. However, some of thesevery measures made himunpopular with the MLAs dueto steps like implementation ofthe Transfer Act and his lack ofpolitical correctness. Rawat’saction against corruption alsoproved in some ways to bedetrimental to the usual politics.

More recently, his deci-sion to declare Gairsain thethird commissionerate ofUttarakhand merging districtsof both Garhwal and Kumaonwithout consulting public rep-resentatives from the regionsconcerned and the lathichargeon people at Diwalikhal whenthey were protesting in supportof their pending demand forwidening the Ghat-Nandprayag road workedagainst Rawat. He was found tobe unpopular in internal sur-veys and the failure of theState Government to keep thebureaucracy under control alsoworked against him.

Another major reason forthe change in Rawat’s fortuneswas the inefficiency of his

team to maintain his image andinteraction with the media andpublic which proved severelydetrimental in times whenaccessibility and public per-ception matter a lot.

However, BJP sources inDelhi said before his meetingwith Rawat, party president JPNadda held talks with UnionHome Minister Amit Shah,the party’s national generalsecretary (organisation) BLSantosh and general secretaryin charge of UttarakhandDushyant Gautam.

Sources said the BJP leadership was unhappy withRawat over his handling of the last month’s flash flood in Chamoli as also with theState’s High Court ordering aCBI probe in October last yearinto corruption charges leveledby a journalist in a videoagainst Rawat. The ChiefMinister was accused ofallegedly accepting bribethrough his relatives in 2016 tofacilitate the appointment of aperson in Jharkhand. TheSupreme Court had stayed theorder.

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The Delhi Government pre-sented a �69,000-crore

Budget themed on “patrio-tism” for financial year 2021-22on Tuesday, under which theDelhi Government plans toinstall 500 flag masts andorganise programmes on thelives of freedom fighters acrossthe city.

Also, it announced freeCovid-19 vaccination to all inits hospitals in the comingphases of the ongoing inocu-lation drive, allocating �50crore for this purpose in theannual Budget.

Presenting the Budget,Deputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia, who also holds thefinance portfolio, said the AamAadmi Party (AAP)Government has decided tocelebrate country’s 75thIndependence Day and willhold programmes for 75 weeksstarting March 12.

The key highlights of theBudget are: the Governmenthas aimed to make Delhi’s percapital income equivalent toSingapore level by 2047;Government will open its firstSainik Schools and ArmedForces Preparatory Academyaiming to encourage young-sters to join the Indian ArmedForces and for the preparationof NDA; world’s first virtuallearning school in which stu-dents beyond Delhi can learneducation from anytime/ any-where; 100 special “WomenMohalla Clinics” and installa-

tion of national flag of 200 feetat 500 different places in Delhi.

Claiming that theKejriwal’s model of governancehas increased the number ofprojects and programmes,Sisodia said it shows theemphasis of the Governmenton developmental work andwelfare programmes. “The percapita expenditure ofGovernment of NCT of Delhithrough budgetary transac-tions is likely to increase from�19,218 in 2015-16 to �33,173in 2021-22,” said Sisodia in theAssembly, adding that the

Government’s target is toachieve the Singapore’s percapita norms with better edu-cation, health, employmentand infra to Delhi residents.

Sisodia said the Budget isthemed on “deshbhakti” (patri-otism) as it pays tributes tofreedom fighters and hopes towork towards building theCapital and the country, asenvisioned by them.

The Delhi FinanceMinister proposed to allocate�16,377 crore, one-fourth ofthe total Budget, for the edu-cation sector while the healthsector got �9,934 crore.

Sharing the revenue model,Sisodia said the proposed�69,000 crore Budget duringthe year 2021-22 will befinanced by �43,000 crore fromown tax revenue, �1,000 crorefrom non-tax revenue, �325crore as share in Central taxes,�9,285 crore from small savingloan, capital receipts of �1000crore, GST compensation of�6,000 crore, �2,088 crore forCentrally Sponsored Scheme,only �657 crore as grant-in-aidfrom Government of India andthe remaining from the open-ing balance.

Continued on Page 2

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India on Tuesday summonedthe British High

Commissioner and conveyedits strong opposition to the“unwarranted and tendentious”discussion on the country’sagricultural reforms in BritishParliament.

The Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) said ForeignSecretary Harsh VardhanShringla told the envoy thatdiscussions in BritishParliament on India’s agrireforms represented a grossinterference in politics ofanother democratic country.

“The Foreign Secretarysummoned the British HighCommissioner and conveyedstrong opposition to theunwarranted and tendentiousdiscussion on agriculturalreforms in India in the BritishParliament,” the MEA said.

“The Foreign Secretary

made it clear that this repre-sented a gross interference inthe politics of another democ-ratic country,” it said.

He advised that BritishMPs should refrain from prac-tising vote bank politics by mis-representing events, especiallyin relation to another fellowdemocracy.

In London, the IndianHigh Commission on Mondaysharply criticised a debate inBritish Parliament on the safe-ty of protesting farmers andPress freedom in India, callingit a “distinctly one-sided dis-cussion”, PTI reported.

Several MPs from theLiberal Democrats, LabourParty and the Scottish NationalParty had expressed concernabout the safety of farmersprotesting on Delhi’s borders.The House of Commons hadassigned 90 minutes for adebate on the matters onMonday.

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Covaxin, an indigenouslydeveloped coronavirus vac-

cine, has been found to be “safewith no serious side effects”,The Lancet has said based onthe interim result of its phase2 trial results.

“In the phase 1 trial,BBV152 induced high neu-tralising antibody responsesthat remained elevated in allparticipants at 3 months afterthe second vaccination,” TheLancet said in the study pub-lished on Tuesday.

“In the phase 2 trial,BBV152 showed better reacto-genicity and safety outcomes,and enhanced humoral andcell-mediated immuneresponses compared with thephase 1 trial. The 6μg withAlgel-IMDG formulation hasbeen selected for the phase 3efficacy trial,” The Lancet saidabout the vaccine being cur-rently inoculated along withCovishield of the Pune-basedSerum Institute of India.

Continued on Page 2

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Amid the vaccination driveagainst the Covid-19 in

India, pilots and cabin crew willbe allowed to operate flights 48hours after getting the Covid-19 vaccination if they do notshow any side effects.

“If there are no symptomsafter 48 hours, the air crew(which includes pilots andcabin crew) is fit to resume“unrestricted” flying duties.Air crew will be monitored for30 minutes after taking the shotat the Covid-19 vaccinationcentre itself for any anaphylac-tic and idiosyncratic reaction,”the DGCA said.

The DGCA said that Aircrew will be “medically unfitfor flying” for 48 hours aftervaccination.

The rules come as Indian

carriers have asked theGovernment to consider theirfrontline staff priority sector forvaccination so that crew mem-ber and other employees canget the jabs.

“If, after 48 hours, the pilotexperiences any symptoms, heor she will be reviewed by treat-ing physician or his or herauthorised medical attendant”,the DGCA said in its circular.

“Such pilots can be declaredfit for flying duties providedthey are asymptomatic withoutany medications and medicalcare certificate’ to this effect tobe obtained,” it added.

The DGCA said if themedical unfitness period post-COVID-19 exhibition is morethan 14 days, then a “specialmedication examination” willbe required to ascertain fitnessfor flying.

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Bengal Chief Minister andTrinamool Congress chief

Mamata Banerjee on Tuesdaywarned her rival and BJP’scandidate Suvendu Adhikariagainst playing the Hindu cardand asked the people ofNandigram to “fool the BJP onApril 1” when the EastMidnapore goes to polls.

Mamata who held a partyworkers’ meet at Nandigram aday ahead of filing her nomi-nation, attacked Adhikari andthe BJP saying “you are playingwith religion … you are play-ing the Hindu card against mebut let me tell you that it willserve no purpose as victory willbe on the side of truth.”

Mamata said, “Those whoare claiming Hindutva licencemust also know that I too ama Hindu woman and do myown pujas. I never come out ofmy house without chantingmy Durga mantras. How canthey question my Hindu cre-

dentials? Playing with religionwill not do any good to them.This is a ploy to divide the peo-ple of Bengal.”

She said, “My opponent istelling that he has the supportof 70 per cent meaning there-by that he has Hindu votes withhim, but let me tell you. I havethe support of the entireNandigram, entire 100 per cent… So there is no point playingthe Hindu card because thatwill boomerang on him.”

Adhikari had in an earliermeeting at Nandigram saidthat “some are pinning theirhopes on 30 per cent voteswhereas I have the support of70 per cent … I dare MamataBanerjee to contest fromNandigram. I will defeat her byhalf-a-lakh votes and if I can-not do so I will quit politics.”

After the meeting, theBengal Chief Minister visited anumber of local temples andmazars and offered prayersthere.

Continued on Page 2

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AIADMK’s ally DMDK onTuesday walked out of thealliance following failure ofseat sharing talks for the April6 Tamil Nadu Assembly elec-tions with just days left for thenominations to open.

After three-rounds of pro-tracted negotiations with theAIADMK that failed to fructi-fy, the DMDK led by actor-turned politician Vijayakanthsaid it was moving out of thealliance, that also has the PMKand BJP as partners.

Makkal Needhi Maiamchief Kamal Haasan quicklyinvited the DMDK to the frontled by him and welcomedother like minded parties aswell. The alliance led by him,“is not the third but the firstfront,” he said.

In a statement, Vijayakanthsaid the decision to snap tieswith the AIADMK was takenfollowing a unanimous viewreached at a consultative meet-ing with party’s district secre-taries here.

Continued on Page 2

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In the last 24 hours, three menwere beaten to death in two

different incidents. A 32-year-old man was beaten to deathallegedly by his neighbours inwest Delhi’s Rajouri Gardenarea while two men were beat-en to death by a mob onTuesday allegedly over suspi-cion of theft in north Delhi’sAzadpur Sabzi Mandi area.

According to DeputyCommissioner of Police,Northwest district, UshaRangnani, on Tuesday around7.30 am, police got informationthat two persons, who weresuspected to have committedtheft, were beaten by the mob.The duo were declared broughtdead in hospital.

Continued on Page 2

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Both Houses of Parliamentcould not function for the

second day in a row on Tuesdaydue to vociferous protest by theOpposition on the issue of ris-ing fuel prices and its impact onthe common man. Both theHouses saw repeated adjourn-ments before it was adjournedfor the day shortly after lunchbreak.

Incidentally, both theHouses of Parliament returnedto normal hours from Tuesdayfor the first time since thecorona pandemic outbreak lastyear.

The Rajya Sabha plungedinto chaos soon after the Housecommenced proceedings forthe day at 11 am. The

Opposition members, includ-ing Leader of OppositionMallikarjun Kharge, SatishChandra Mishra (BSP), T Siva(DMK) and PriyankaChaturvedi (Shiv Sena) soughtsuspension of all business todiscuss the price rise issue.

However, DeputyChairman Harivansh set asidethe notices and said the mem-bers will get ample opportuni-ties to take the Government totask on the issue during theAppropriation Bill. He alsosaid Chairman M VenkaiahNaidu on Monday had given aruling of not admitting thenotice by Kharge on the sameissue. Naidu had said the Elderscan make their point in dis-cussions in the coming days.

Continued on Page 2

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday inaugu-

rated the “Maitri Setu” betweenIndia and Bangladesh, a bridgebuilt over the Feni river, withBangladeshi premier SheikhHasina asserting that politicalboundaries should not becomephysical barriers for trade.

Modi also inaugurated andlaid the foundation stones ofmultiple infrastructure pro-jects in Tripura during theonline event. Speaking on theoccasion via video-conference,he said Tripura is experiencingthe change that has come withthe Government of “doubleengine” in the State from thetime of the previousGovernment of 30 years.

“The country is also seeingthat wherever a double-engineGovernment is not there, youcan look at your neighbour-hood, policies empowering the

poor, farmers and daughterswere either not implemented orwere moving forward at a veryslow pace,” the PM said,adding, Tripura, which waspushed back by a “strike cul-ture” for many years, is nowworking for ease of doing business.

In a video message playedat the event, Bangladeshi PrimeMinister Hasina hailed the

inauguration of the “MaitriSetu” as a historic moment.

“We are creating a new erain South Asia through provid-ing connectivity to India. Weare in a region which hasremained conservative in open-ing up and where regionaltrade is far below potential. Ibelieve political boundariesshould not become physicalbarriers for trade,” she said.

“Earlier the nearest seaportfor Agartala was Kolkata whichis over 1,600 km away.However, today, Agartala’snearest seaport is Chattogramand the distance to Bangladeshis less than 100 km.Undoubtedly this is a historicmoment,” she said.

The 1.9-km-long “MaitriSetu” joins Sabroom in Indiawith Ramgarh in Bangladesh.

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Page 2: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

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Chandigarh: Amid the ongo-ing farmers' agitation againstthe three Central Government’sagriculture laws, the BJP-JJPcombine ruling in Haryanaand the main OppositionCongress have issued whip forthe no-confidence motion ofthe latter in the State LegislativeAssembly against an 'anti-farmer' Government onWednesday.

Even protesting farmunion leaders have urged thepeople and legislators, espe-

cially the Jannayak Janata Party(JJP), to lobby their represen-tatives in the Assembly to sup-port the motion.

Leader of Opposition andtwo-time Chief MinisterBhupinder Hooda said the no-confidence motion would helpclearing the picture that "whoare support the cause of farm-ers and who are not".

Hooda said the no-confi-dence motion was required asthe government has lost pub-lic confidence and taking anti-

people decisions.The motion was moved by

Hooda and signed by 23Congress MLAs. It wasapproved by Speaker GianChand Gupta on March 5 fordiscussion.

Political observers toldIANS that the no-trust motionis a calculated move to embar-rass the JJP, the crucial post-electoral coalition partner withthe BJP-led government, whichis supporting the saffron partydespite claiming to be an out-

fit of a rural Jat-centric partywith the farmers as its core votebank.

The JJP has also been fac-ing criticism within the partytoo for not walking out of thealliance on the issue of farmersand 'clinging to power'.

In an alliance, the JJP hadextended support to the BJP,which won 40 seats in theAssembly polls in 2019, sixshort of the majority mark.

Bharatiya Kisan Unionchief Gurnam Singh Charuni

said the no-confidence motionagainst the government wascrucial.

In a video message, hesaid: "Residents of the stateshould protest in front of theresidences of legislators, whohave been supporting the stategovernment. They should warnthe leaders that they would facesocial and political boycott ifthey continued to support thelaws."

However, a confident ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattar

told the media that "it is for theCongress to keep its flocktogether as there is no threat tohis government".

The current strength ofthe 90-member assembly is 88members with the resignationof INLD's Abhay Chautala anddisqualification of Congress'Pradeep Chaudhary after hewas sentenced to three-yearimprisonment.

The BJP-JJP alliance has amajority with 50 legislators.

IANS

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Gurugram: In a shocking inci-dent, a senior official of theGurugram education depart-ment has alleged sexual harass-ment by a parents' group, thepolice said on Tuesday.

The official, who hasrecently filed a sexual harass-ment case against them, said inher complaint that they hadallegedly created a group inTelegram and abused her onthe messaging application,besides posting a video on asocial media platform.

According to the com-plainant, the parent's wardsare in Classes VI to VIII, while

she deals with studenst ofClasses IX to XII.

She told the police that theparents used abusive and vul-gar language on the Telegramgroup against her and anotherstaff member.

The official said that she isunder stress after the groupallegedly spread false and fab-ricated messages against her tomalign her image. A case inconnection with the incidenthas been filed under the rele-vant sections of the IndianPenal Code (IPC) and the ITAct, a police officer saidrequesting anonymity. IANS

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New Delhi: Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal onTuesday said the nationalCapital will bid to get an oppor-tunity to host the Olympics in2048.

Kejriwal announced thiswhile addressing a press con-ference, stating that the visionfor Olympics was incorporat-ed in Delhi's annual bud-get of 2021-22 presentedon Tuesday.

Kejriwal said, "We willtalk to the Centre in thisregard but before that wehave prepared for it so thatDelhi can be consideredone of the venues for Olympicsin 2048. To grab this opportu-nity, we need to develop world-class stadiums, sports clubs,infrastructure regarding sportsand also develop Delhi asworld-class city to get theattention of the Olympicscommittee."

Meanwhile, the ChiefMinister also appreciated theAAP government's annualbudget for 2021-22 of worth Rs69000 crore which is morethan 6% against the previousannual budget which was Rs

65000 crore.Kejriwal praised Sisodia

for maintaining the surplusbudget of Delhi governmentdespite facing tough phasesduring Covid-19 pandemic."During the Covid-19 pan-demic, revenue resources ofDelhi government went downwhereas expenses increased.

However, the AAP gov-ernment maintained thesurplus in the annualbudget. I congratulate theFinance Minister andeverybody who workedhard for making Delhi'sbudget an example for

others."Through the annual budget

for 2021-22, the Delhi govern-ment has set up a vision forincreasing the per capitaincome of people of Delhi,claimed Kejriwal. "The budgetwill set a vision for makingDelhi's per capita income equiv-alent to Singapore's per capitaincome by 2047. A growth of16% in the income would berequired to successfully achievethis goal. It will be difficult butwe will work towards making ita success." IANS

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The Delhi Governmentannounced a financial sup-

port of �4,367 crore to localbodies.

In the budget, DeputyChief Minister Manish Sisodiasaid “We will provide financialsupport of Rs 4367 crore tolocal bodies. This includes anamount of ? 2298 crore as tiedfund for implementation ofschemes and projects of thelocal bodies and ? 2069 crore asBasic Tax Assignment (BTA).

“In addition to the above,an amount of ? 1805 crore hasbeen provided as share instamps and registration feeand one time parking fee,” hesaid.

“Our Government is thusgiving a total financial supportof ? 6172 crore to Local Bodiesin BE 2021-22, he added.

Mayor of North Delhi JaiPrakash said that the budgetpresented by DelhiGovernment is far from reali-ty. He said the Delhi govern-ment is continuously cuttingthe budget of corporations.“The government has allocat-ed Rs 6930 crore for the cor-poration in the financial year2018-19, Rs. 6380 crore in thefinancial year 2019-20, Rs.6828 crore in the financialyear 2020-21 and made provi-sion for Rs. 6172 crore in thisfinancial year 2021-22,” he said.

�������/����������D�;<(�������!�������� ����New Delhi: The Directorate

General of GST Intelligence(DGGI), Gurugram Zonal Unithas arrested two members of afake invoicing syndicate.

The two members namelyVikas and Manish wereinvolved in GST fraud by wayof issuance of fake GST invoic-es in excess of Rs 4,800 crorewhich defrauded the exchequerof more than Rs 690 crore.

Both the accused, residentsof Sirsa in Haryana, had relo-cated to Nepal in a bid toescape being caught and to per-petuate the fraud.

After a tip off they werenabbed and were found to bein possession of huge incrim-inating documents and gadgetsin the form of multiple laptops,multiple smart phones, debitcards, PAN and Aadhar detailsof multiple persons, multiplenotary stamps among others,the Directorate General of GSTIntelligence said in a statement.

Both the accused werearrested and were sent to judi-cial custody.

Analysis of the huge data isunderway and involvement ofother people and companiescannot be ruled out.

The investigations revealed

that scam was orchestrated byusing various high tech appsand messaging services whichdid not require use of directcalling. They were actively col-laborated by other master-minds in different parts of theCountry.

This present arrest is incontinuance of the case inwhich Directorate General ofGST Intelligence , GZU hadearlier arrested Kabir Kumarwho was caught at the airportwhile fleeing the city and hadbeen arrested for ITC fraud ofRs 527 crore.

Based on evidences avail-able and statements recorded,hundreds of fake firms havebeen created on the basis ofPAN and Aadhar cards ofunknown persons whose datahave been procured by a sep-arate syndicate. The fake firmshave been found to have cre-ated fake invoices in excess ofRs 4,814 crore.

Therefore, the accusedwere arrested on 08.03.2021and produced before the DutyMM and have been remandedfor 14 days of judicial custody,Directorate General of GSTIntelligence said.

IANS

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From Page 1In a symbolic gesture, she

also made a sudden entryinside a tea stall and prepareda few cups of tea for the peo-ple around. While sharing teashe had a gossip with thelocals.

“I visited several temples inNandigram which is full of reli-gious places, met the peoplearound, I heard them, and I amhappy that I was received well,”Mamata said later in theevening adding she wouldmake Nandigram a gateway fordevelopment.

Mamata who will beputting up at a former Armypersonnel’s house inNandigram during the elec-tions also attacked Adhikari forcalling her an outsider who hadreturned to the rural con-stituency after five years to seek

votes.“Some people are calling

me an outsider. If I am a out-sider then who are those goonswho are coming from Delhi,Rajasthan and other places toinfluence the elections withtheir money and muscle power… I am contesting fromNandigram only after takingthe consent of the local people,”she said.

The Chief Minister wenton to add that she had askedthe people in a meetingwhether she should contestfrom here and decided to do soonly when they consented to it.“And if I am an outsider howcould I become the ChiefMinister of this State,” Mamatasaid asking the people of theconstituency to “fool the BJP onApril Fool Day.”

Adhikari had earlieralleged that the “Chief Ministeronly comes to Nandigram dur-ing the elections. She came topower only because ofNandigram and after coming topower she forgot the place. Shereturns here only once in fiveyears… And now she has cometo seek vote as an outsider. ButNandigram will vote only for itsBhumi Putra (son of the soil).”

The election forNandigram constituency willbe held on April 1. “Let themsplurge money … and youknow what to do with thatmoney … but when you reachthe polling booth exercise yourdiscretion and fool thembecause the elections will takeplace on the April Fool Day,”she said.

Mamata was scheduled torelease the Trinamool Congress

manifesto on Tuesday. Themanifesto was likely to give“special importance” to issueslike free rations, further devel-opment of vital services for alllevels of society such as health,education, industry andemployment.

Meanwhile, in a relateddevelopment Adhikari whohas turned out to be the starcampaigner for his party soon

after quitting the TrinamoolCongress last November held amassive roadshow in Jhargramin West Midnapore.

Adhikari, who sported saf-fron “‘tilak” on his forehead andchanted “‘Hare Krishna HareHare, BJP Ghore Ghore’’ (BJPin every household), said afterMay 2 there will be a newBengal emerging and the peo-ple will get back their rights.

From Page 1The phase 3 results of

Covaxin, developed by IndianCouncil of Medical Research(ICMR) and National Instituteof Virology (NIV), Pune inpartnership with Hyderabad-based Bharat BiotechInternational Limited (BBIL),had shown an interim vaccineefficacy of 81 percent in pre-venting Covid-19. The phase 3efficacy rate is yet to be pub-lished in a scientific journal.

The vaccine has beengranted emergency use autho-risation in clinical trial mode bythe government late last year.The phase 3 trial, jointly initi-ated by ICMR and BBIL inmid-November 2020, was con-ducted on a total of 25,800 indi-viduals across 21 sites.

Covaxin had initially raisedconcerns among experts overits emergency approval byIndia’s drug regulator.

The latest study comes aweek after Bharat Biotechannounced that the vaccine hasshown 81 percent efficacy inthe third phase of clinical tri-als, the results of which are yetto be published.

The phase 2 trial to eval-uate the immunogenicity andsafety of BBV152 vaccine wasconducted in healthy adultsand adolescents aged 12-65years at nine hospitals acrossnine states in India. Two intra-muscular doses of vaccine wereadministered on day 0 and day28. The primary outcome wasassessed in all participants whohad received both doses of thevaccine. Safety was assessed inparticipants who received atleast one dose of the vaccine.

Between September 5 and12, last year, 921 potential par-ticipants were screened, 380 ofwhom were enrolled. “Wereport interim findings of thephase 2 trial on the immuno-genicity and safety of BBV152,with the first dose administeredon day 0 and the second doseon day 28,” the authors of thestudy said.

Covaxin is an inactivatedvaccine developed by chemi-cally treating novel coronavirus

samples to make them inca-pable of reproduction.

“The results reported inthis study do not permit effi-cacy assessments. The evalua-tion of safety outcomes requiresextensive phase 3 clinical trials,”the authors of the Lancet studysaid. “We were unable to assessother immune responses inconvalescent serum samplesdue to the low quantity,” theysaid.

Even though direct com-parisons between the phase 1and 2 trials cannot be made, thereactogenicity assessmentsreported in this study was sub-stantially better in the phase 2trial than the phase 1 trial andother trials with a placebogroup, according to theauthors.

From Page 1Sisodia said under the

Entrepreneurship Programmethis year, the Delhi

Government will provide�2,000 per child seed-money tochildren of Class XI and XII.

The Delhi Governmentallocated �16,377 crore foreducation for the next financialyear. “I am happy to inform theHouse that following the trendof the previous 6 budgets, thisyear the education budget isalmost one fourth of the totalbudget,” Sisodia said mention-ing about the new Law uni-versity, Teachers’ training uni-versity and special, VirtualDelhi Model school.

The AAP legislatorannounced that the DelhiGovernment has increased thecapacity to apply vaccines to45,000 persons daily, which willbe increased to 60,000 personsper day in the next few daysbesides free vaccination toevery citizen in Governmenthospitals, moreover theGovernment has allocated anamount of Rs 1,293 crore forvarious capital projects forexpansion in health-relatedinfrastructure.

“We all know that ourmothers and sisters are not ableto talk to us about their healthissues openly. Woman from themiddle class might finds her-self a specialist. But in middleclass and lower income fami-lies, she fails to reach to a gyne-cologist. It is a fact of our soci-ety that women tend to neglecttheir own illnesses. The resultof this is that many women livewith ailment, assuming it asdestiny. The Delhi Government

will now undertake the respon-sibility of having a ‘MahilaMohalla Clinic’ around everywoman in Delhi and services ofgynaecologist and related diag-nostic tests etc. are made avail-able for free. In the first phase,100 ‘Mahila Mohalla Clinics’are proposed to be establishedin different parts of Delhi,which will be progressivelyincreased to at least one clinicin each ward,” Sisodiaannounced.

For the development ofunauthorised colonies, Rs1,550 crore, for water andSanitation Rs 3,274 crore, fortransport and road and bridgesoutlay of Rs 9394 wasannounced by the FM.

Sisodia also said 100 spe-cialised schools of excellencewill be set up across the nation-al capital and a virtual modelschool will be started in Delhito promote and adopt tech-nology. “The DelhiGovernment will also startuniversities for teacher trainingand law studies,” he said. OneSainik school was proposed inDelhi in the budget. Besides,the AAP Government has alsodecided to provide yogainstructors in colonies forwhich an amount of Rs 25 crorehas been allocated in theBudget. Sisodia said water sup-ply will be ensured in all unau-thorised colonies in the nexttwo financial years. It also pro-posed to allocate Rs 3,274crore to the Delhi Jal Board forthe next financial year.

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From Page 1After couple of adjourn-

ment, the House was finallyadjourned for the day after itreassembled at 2 pm.

The Lok Sabha proceed-ings were also repeatedlyadjourned amid din createdby Opposition over the sameissue. After two adjournmentsdue to disruptions caused byOpposition members, main-ly from the Congress whowere protesting rise in fuelprices, the House wasadjourned for the day a littleafter 2 pm.

During Question Houraround 11 am, Speaker OmBirla had to adjourn theHouse till 12 noon followingprotests over the rising fuelprices. During the QuestionHour, Opposition members,mainly from the Congress,entered the Well and startedraising slogans.

Proceedings wereadjourned for the second timetill 2 pm amid protests byOpposition members overthe same issue. When theHouse reconvened at 12 noon,various papers and reportswere laid while the protestscontinued.

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From Page 1"Police reached Azadpur

Sabzi Mandi where two per-sons -- Lokesh (24) and Bhaiya(24) -- were found in injuredcondition. Both were shifted toBJRM Hospital where theywere declared brought dead,"said the DCP. The bodies weresent for the autopsy and furtheraction is being taken, policesaid, adding that CCTVfootages of the locality arebeing analysed.

In the first incident, a 32-year-old man identified asRupesh, a resident of RaghubirNagar near Rajouri Garden,was beaten to death allegedlyby his neighbours. Police saidthey have arrested six people inconnection with the incidentwhich occurred on Mondaynight.

The accused have beenidentified as Ravinder (48),his wife Anita (45), his sonTarun (23), Tarun's wifePriyanka (21), Deepa (30) andGaurav (19). A senior policeofficial said they had receivedinformation on Monday at11.44 pm regarding a quarrel at

Raghubir Nagar."Police reached the spot

and found that the injuredpersons have already beentaken to GGS Hospital. One ofthe injured Rupesh wasdeclared brought dead.Mukesh, the brother of thedeceased, stated that around 11pm, there was a quarrel thattook place between their neigh-bour Tarun and his wifePriyanka. It was later joined byhis father Ravinder, motherAnita, brother Puneet, cousinDeepa and they all were creat-ing ruckus and nuisance byusing foul language," said thesenior police official.

"While Mukesh and hismother objected to this, theaccused persons started quar-reling with them and beatingthem. His brother Rupesh,father Rajbahadur, maternaluncle Rajbir came to pacifythem, but accused Puneet,Deepa and Ravinder calledtheir friends -- Nitin, Kaju,Summi and Gaurav -- and allof them assaulted him and hisbrother Rupesh and other fam-ily members with sticks, policesaid."Mukesh sustained injurieson his head and right hand.

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From Page 1The AIADMK has firmed

up pacts with the PMK andBJP, allotting them 23 and 20assembly seats respectivelyout of the234 at stake. BJP hasalso been given theKanyakumari Lok Sabha con-stituency where a bypoll is tobe held. Apparently stung bythe hard stand taken by theAIADMK, DMDK deputygeneral secretary L K Sudhishclaimed the ruling party wouldbe routed and lose deposit inall constituencies.

He accused AIADMKdeputy coordinator K PMunusamy of working like the‘progaganda secretary’ ofPMK, apparently blaming theruling party leader for the polldeal not getting finalised.Munusamy is the PMK’s sleep-er cell, he alleged.

Politically, the DMDK andPMK had not been on goodterms for a long time thoughthey had sailed together withthe BJP during the 2014 and2019 Lok Sabha elections withthe AIADMK. Asked aboutthe reason for snapping ties,DMDK deputy secretary BParthasarathy told PTI “Wesought 23 segments and want-ed these to be picked from the29 seats we had won in 2011assembly polls.

The AIADMK, however,did not agree and we decidedto break ties.” Terming thedevelopment unfortunate,AIADMK senior leader andFisheries Minister DJayakumar said the DMDKleadership should not expressviews without gratitude as itreceived ‘recognition’ onlyafter aligning with his party in2011 assembly polls.

The DMDK’s expectationof constituencies was not com-mensurate with its strengthand accepting seats offered intune with its influence wasprudence but it failed to utilisethe opportunity, he said.

The loss was only forDMDK, he said addingVijayakanth- led party leadersshould show maturity whileexpressing views.

������������

Page 3: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal lauded the Budgetpresented by Finance

Minister Manish Sisodia onTuesday, saying it covers all aspectsof society from women to theelderly, students, youth, all religionsand castes.

The Chief Minister saidemphasis on “Deshbhakti” (patri-otism) was the defining feature ofthe Budget. "It was an excellentBudget, presented by (Deputy ChiefMinister and Finance Minister)Manish Sisodia amid difficult times.I am happy that the Budget estimateof �69,000 crore is around 6 percent more than previous year's (�

65,000 crore)," he said. “We have only got surplus

budgets ever since our governmentwas formed. Even the CAG has stat-ed that Delhi does not make loss-es; this year's budget is also a sur-plus budget," he said, adding thataround 55 percent of the amountproposed in the budget is meant forschemes and programmes, whichshows an efficient financial man-agement. This budget lays founda-tions of meeting the aspirations ofpeople as the country celebrates75th Independence Day, he said.The city government has also ear-marked Rs 45 crore to install highmasts to hoist the national flag at500 places in the national capital.

Kejriwal said there will be a

“deshbhakti period” in city schools."We are moving towards the 75thyear of Independence and the gov-ernment of Delhi will be celebrat-ing this throughout the year. Inaddition to celebrating the 75 yearsof independence, what is also need-ed is to recognize the aspirations ofpeople today and to have a futurevision i.e. when in 2047 we com-plete 100 years of independencewhat should the country look like.The foundation of the 2047 visionneeds to be built today. I believe thatthe foundation has been laid downin today's budget," added the CM.

He also said that Delhi will bidfor the 2048 Olympics and the gov-ernment will take up whateverinfrastructure and other necessi-

ties that are needed to becreated for the same.

Addressing themedia at the DelhiL e g i s l a t i v eA s s e m b l y ,Kejriwal said “Iam happy toreport that lastyear 's budgetwas 65,000crores while thisyear's budget is69,000 crores i.e.an increase ofalmost six perc e n t

despite the tough circum-stances.”

"We also want tocreate the world's firstvirtual Delhi ModelSchool. It is a dreamproject that has beenpresented in this bud-get, a classroom with-out walls. Apart fromthis, there are many

programs of the gov-ernment in the sectors

of water, environment, san-itation, etc. Everythinghas been covered by this

budget," added theCM.

��������������� #�5��23"

Keeping in line with the theme of“patriotism” for the new Budget,

Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodiasaid the Delhi schools will introduce apatriotic syllabus to instill a sense ofnationalism among the students.

The Delhi Government has allotted�16,377 crore for education for the finan-cial year 2021-22.

Presenting the budget in the Delhiassembly on Tuesday, Sisodia said likethe previous six years, education thistime too will comprise “25 per cent” ofthe �69,000-crore budget.

Sisodia said that the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) government will celebratethe country's 75th Independence Dayand organise programmes for 75 weeksstarting March 12. The city governmenthas also earmarked Rs 45 crore toinstall high masts to hoist the nationalflag at 500 places in the national capi-tal. He said there will be a “deshbhaktiperiod” in city schools, adding that Rs20 crore have been proposed for pro-grammes on the lives of Bhagat Singhand B R Ambedkar during the 75-week"deshbhakti" celebrations.

As part of this syllabus, an entireperiod every day will be dedicatedtowards patriotism, he said. “Through‘deshbhakti pathyakram', we want toensure that every educated personshould become such a hardcore patriotso that if he/she holds a governmentoffice, he should feel bad about floutingeven a red light, let alone take bribes.

“Every educated person must be

respectful towards women, fulfill theirresponsibilities towards the environment,and see patriotismalso in equality andbrotherhood…We aim to create suchpatriots in our schools,” Sisodia, who alsoholds the Education portfolio, said.

He said despite the country beingindependent for 75 years, “95 per cent”of the country's population does not haveaccess to “quality education”.

“Which is why Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal has been insisting thateducation needs to be made a publicmovement,” he said. He also announcedthe establishment of a new army schooland a new armed forces' preparatoryacademy in the city.

“There are 33 army schools inthe country but Delhi does not havea single one. We will be openingDelhi's first army school, and at theacademy where besides their regu-lar education, students will also beprepared to enter the NDA as well asthe Indian army,” Sisodia said.

Among the other major steps thatwill be undertaken by the governmentwill be a new syllabus for classesNursery to 8, establishment of a newDelhi school education board, andthe establishment of 100 schools ofexcellence, he said.

Sisodia said that the govern-ment has decided to introduce anew category of schools in Delhi-the “Virtual Delhi Model Schools”which will be an unique experimentfor regular teaching, learning andinteraction of teachers and studentson the principle of “anywhere living,anytime learning, anytime testing.

“Designing of a “virtual modelschool” had already begun. It wouldbenefit students residing in any part ofthe country but want to get educatedunder Delhi's education model,” headded.

The deputy chief minister also saidthat the government has created aSports University to streamline sportsfacilities and for nurturing sports tal-ents to prepare the student forworld class competitions.

“Our goal is to produce inter-national medal winning champi-ons in at least 10 sports fields,” headded.

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Delhi Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) president

Adesh Gupta criticised theBudget presented by theDelhi Government onTuesday, saying that the bud-get laid emphasis on dreamto be achieved 26 years laterbut is silent on today’s burn-ing issues like deterioratingpollution in the nationalCapital and public transport.

“Pollution is the biggestthreat for Delhi today butsurprisingly the budget 2021-22 gives no work plan forfighting pollution. Apartfrom budgetary allocations,

the government collects hun-dred of crores as pollutioncess yet it offers no work planon pollution,” he said.

While presenting thebudget, Kejriwal

Government claims to begiving a historic budget butit fails to utilize the budgetaryallocations for education,health, pollution and trans-port. “In 2015-16 govern-ment presented a budget ofRs. 41129 crores but 14.4 percent of it lapsed. In 2016-17the budget was of Rs 46600crores out of which 20 percent lapsed,” he said.

In 2017-18 the budgetwas of Rs 48000 crores out ofwhich 14.7 per cent lapsed.Similarly, in 2018-19 12.7per cent part of the Rs. 53000crores budget lapsed while in2019-20 14.7 per cent part ofthe Rs 16000 crores budgetlapsed, he added.

During the presentCOVID-19 struck year 2020-21 almost 9.23 per cent of theRs. 65000 crores budget isexpected to lapsed, he said.

Talking about health sec-tor, he said that the AAP-government came to powerin 2015 then Delhi had 94working hospitals whichreduced to 88. “Similarly, in2015 Delhi had 265 mater-nity homes while today theyhave gone down to 224. In2015-16 almost 35 per centand in 2019-20 almost 37 percent of health budget lapsed.As per sources, almost 25 percent of current year’s healthbudget of Rs 3987 crores islikely to lapsed,”he said.

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Delhi Congress leadersdescribed the Budget pre-

sented by the Delhi Governmenton Tuesday as “visionless”. “Thereduction in the capital expendi-ture from 34 to 24 per cent willimpact infrastructure develop-ment, like creation of new fly-overs, schools, hospitals, roadsand other such facilities,” theysaid.

Delhi Congress reiterated itsdemand for free Covid-19 vacci-nation to all in Delhi as the Rs 50crore allocations for coronavirusvaccination was peanuts.

Addressing the media, formerDelhi Minister Professor KiranWalia, former MLAs AnilBhardwaj, Rajesh Lilothai and

Anil Shastri said that though theArvind Government presentslofty budgets with this year’spegged at Rs 69000 Crore whichwas a Rs 4000 crore jump fromlast year’s 65000 crore estimates.

“The ground reality was thatRs 6000 crore from last year’s bud-get remained unspent, which wasa clear indication of purposelessgovernance. Delhi’s physicaldeficit was one of the worstamong the four states in thecountry with that dubious record,”they added.

They said that a liberalizedexcise policy was a dangerousportent for the future of Delhi. “Itis shocking that the MinoritiesDevelopment Budget has beenreduced by 42 from last year’s33.93 to 19.83 per cet this year.

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The Delhi Government onTuesday announced to

open 100 special womenmohalla clinics across thenational Capital in the nextfinancial year to offer freegynaecological and othermed-ical care services to them with-in walking distance from theirhomes.

Terming it a "revolutionaryannouncement", Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia whoalso holds the finance portfo-lio said the government hasproposed to start a specialmohalla clinic for women --'Mahila Mohalla Clinic' fromnext financial year and termedit.

Sisodia said that the gov-ernment has opened AamAadmi Mohalla Clinics to makehealthcare and medicines forminor ailments accessible topeople, for which otherwisethey had to travel long distancesor shell out large sums ofmoney at a private clinic.

In his budget speech, hesaid "In the first phase, 100'Mahila Mohalla Clinics' areproposed to be established indifferent parts of Delhi, whichwill be progressively increasedto at least one clinic in eachward.

I understand that this istaken in the direction of keep-ing half of its populationrespectfully healthy, which willbe the most important step sofar in the history of 75 years ofindependent India. For a stepsuch as this, what better timecan there be, than the 75thanniversary of our indepen-dence," he said.

The deputy chief ministersaid the step has been taken tomake gynaecological and othermedical care services free andaccessible to women.

Many women can affordservices of a specialist, but in

the middle class and lowerincome families, they manytimes fail to reach to a gynae-cologist. It is a fact about oursociety that many womentend to neglect their own ill-nesses. The result is that manywomen live with ailment,assuming it their destiny, hesaid.

"We also know that ourmothers and sisters are not ableto talk about their health issuesopenly (with the opposite gen-der). The Delhi governmentwill now undertake the respon-sibility of having a 'MahilaMohalla Clinic' within reach ofevery woman in Delhi so thatservices of a gynaecologist andrelated diagnostic tests, etc.Are made available for free,"Sisodia said.

"Better health services andbetter treatment is the right ofevery citizen and in the 75thyear of independence, we needto improve our health servicesso that every citizen can be con-fident about getting healthcarefor their family," he added.

Presenting the govern-ment's annual budget for year2021-22, in which Rs 9,934crore has been allocated to thehealthcare sector that is 14 percent of the total budget, he saidthat the government has pre-pared an action plan to makethe vaccine available to all inDelhi.

“The COVID-19 vaccinewill be made available to thepeople of Delhi free of cost ingovernment hospitals underthe new scheme 'Aam AadmiFree Covid Vaccine' with aproposed budget of ? 50 crore.The government has allocatedan amount of Rs 1,293 crore forvarious capital projects? forexpansion in health-relatedinfrastructure and redesign of19 existing hospitals to augmentthe health infrastructure andstrengthen the public healthsystem.

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The Delhi Government onTuesday allocated �1,550

crore in the Budget for thedevelopment of unauthorisedcolonies in the city.

Presenting the Budget forthe financial year 2021-22,Deputy Chief Minister ManishSisodia, who also holds theportfolio of finance,said so far,construction work has beencompleted or is in progress in1,345 out of 1,797 unauthorisedcolonies of Delhi.

For the development ofunauthorised colonies, Rs 1,550crore has been allocated, hesaid.

Sisodia lauded the efforts ofDelhi Urban ShelterImprovement Board (DUSIB)and said all the slums of NDMC,SDMC and EDMC have been

declared 'Open Defecation Free'.It has provided 674 Jan SuvidhaComplexes with 21,586 westernseats.

The deputy chief ministersaid in 619 slums, 10,16,531metre of concrete pavementsand 250 kilometre of drains havebeen constructed. Twenty-oneslum development centres havealso been built.

Reiterating the govern-ment's commitment to provid-ing 'Jahan Jhuggi, WahanMakaan', Sisodia said inSultanpuri, the work of allotting1,060 houses to the people liv-ing in the nearby slum settle-ments is in the final stage.

Apart from this, the con-struction of 784 multistoriedhouses for the economicallyweaker section has started inDev Nagar, Karol Bagh. Sisodiasaid Rs 5,328 crore has been allo-cated for housing and urbandevelopment projects in 2021.

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Page 4: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

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In a significant milestone inindigenous development of

a system to enable the sub-marines to remain submergedin water for long, the AirIndependent Propulsion(AIP) successfully completedits endurance trial and max-imum power mode.

It means that the AIPwill act as a force multiplier togive a boost to the dieselengines of the submarine torun for longer duration there-by enabling the weapon plat-form to remain submerged inwater and evade the enemy.

Giving details of the newdevelopment by the DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation(DRDO), offi-cials said here on Tuesday theAIP system has “reached thestage of maturity for fitmentinto target vessels”.

They termed it as animportant milestone in per-formance and said the land-based prototype ran smooth-ly during trials on Monday.The plant was operated inendurance mode and maxi-mum power mode as per theuser requirements. The sys-tem is developed by Naval

Materia ls ResearchLaborator y (NMRL) ofDRDO.

The AIP has a force mul-tiplier effect on lethality of adiesel electric submarine as itenhances the submergedendurance of the boat, sever-al folds and reduces chancesof detection. Fuel cell-basedAIP has merits in perfor-mance compared to othertechnologies.

While there are differenttypes of AIP systems beingpursued internationally, fuelcell based AIP of NMRL isunique as the hydrogen isgenerated onboard. Moreover,the API has merits in perfor-mance compared to othertechnologies, they said.

All six Scorpene sub-marines of the Navy areplanned to be equipped withan AIP module in due course.Earlier, the Navy had plannedto install AIP modules on thelast two of six Scorpene sub-marines as they rolled out ofthe production line whichcould not be realised due todevelopmental delays.

The Navy has now drawnup plans to install them on allScorpene submarines as theygo for their first refit.

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As the Covid-19 pandemichas caused roadblocks for

the political parties to launchmass connect initiatives andhold large rallies without wor-rying about physical distanc-ing, the Election Commission(EC) has come to their aid bydoubling the broadcast time onDD and AIR to each nationaland recognised State party ofAssam, Kerala, Puducherry,Tamil Nadu and West Bengalduring the ongoing Assemblypolls.

According to the EC, abase time of 90 minutes will begiven to each national andrecognised state party uni-formly on the regional kendrasof DD and All India Radio inthese five States. Additionaltime will be allocated to theparty on the basis of its pollperformance in the lastAssembly polls in 2016. But ina single Session of broadcast,no party will be allotted morethan 30 minutes.

As per the poll body, BJPhas been allotted 1,082 minuteseach for broadcast and telecastin regional DD and AIR forpoll campaigning in five States.The BJP has been given slots of225 minutes for Kerala cam-paigning; 119 minutes forPuducherry; 427 minutes forAssam; 123 minutes for TamilNadu and 188 minutes forWest Bengal. The Congress has

been allotted a slot of 1670minutes in five States whichinclude 208 minutes for WestBengal; 164 minutes for TamilNadu, 461 minutes forPuducherry, 394 minutes forKerala and 443 minutes forAssam. Trinamool Congresshas been given a slot of 883minutes.

The period of broadcastand telecast will be between thedate of publication of list ofcontesting candidates for theelection and two days beforethe date of polls in Assam,Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, WestBengal and Kerala.

Considering the ongoingCovid-19 pandemic and theenhanced relevance of non-contact campaign, the EC inconsultation with the PrasarBharti Corporation will decidethe actual date and time forthe broadcast and telecast.This will be subject to thebroad technical constraintsgoverning the actual time oftransmission available withthe Doordarshan and All IndiaRadio,” the poll panel said. Theparties will be required to sub-mit transcripts and record-ings in advance.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has

attached seven sugar millsworth over �1,097 crore offormer Uttar Pradesh BSPMLC Mohammed Iqbal andhis family in connection witha money laundering case.

The ED’s Lucknow zonaloffice has issued the provisionalattachment order under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA), offi-cials said.

The attached mills arelocated in Kushinagar, Bareilly,Deoria, Hardoi and Barabankidistricts of Uttar Pradesh andbelongs to Iqbal, officials said,adding the total valuation of theland and other infrastructureincluding plants and machin-ery is �10,97,18,10,250, theysaid.

“These mills were sold toMohd. Iqbal and his familymembers at a throwaway priceof only �60.28 crore throughdisinvestment/sale process inthe year 2010-11,” the agencysaid.

Uttar Pradesh was ruled bythe BSP Government under thestewardship of Chief MinisterMayawati in 2010-11.

The ED alleged these millswere purchased in the name ofshell companies like NamrataMarketing Pvt. Ltd andGiriasho Company Pvt. Ltdthat were under the “control” ofIqbal and his family members.

These shell or dummyfirms allegedly floated seven“paper companies for registra-

tion and execution of saledeeds” of these mills and theywere termed ‘’special purposevehicles (SPVs)’’, it said.

These seven companieswere incorporated on the samedate in 2011, it alleged.

The seven paper/shellcompanies purchased byGiriasho Company Pvt Limitedand Namrata Marketing PvtLimited

are Ablaze Sugar MillsPrivate Limited , Adarsha SugarSolutions Private Limited, AgileSugar India Private Limited,Eikon Sugar Mills PrivateLimited, Majesty SugarSolutions Private Limited,Mastiff Sugar Solution PrivateLimited and Okra SugarsPrivate Limited.

“These mills were acquiredby the accused “through laun-dering of illegitimate moneythrough various shell compa-nies having dummy directorsand sham transactions,” theagency further alleged.

The role of some otherpeople connected or patronis-

ing Iqbal is under the scannerof the agency, sources said.

Earlier, the agency hadconducted searches at thepremises of the former legisla-tor based in Saharanpur, inOctober last year.

It had filed a money-laun-dering case against Iqbal andothers after taking cognisanceof a criminal complaint filedby the Serious FraudInvestigation Office (SFIO)and cases registered by theCentral Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) in con-nection with illegal sand-min-ing and sale of sugar mills.

In 2016, the SupremeCourt had directed the CBI toconduct a probe against Iqbalafter a public interest litigation(PIL) was filed before it, alleg-ing that the former legislatorwas indulging in corruptionand money laundering.

The agency said an auditcarried out by the Comptrollerand Auditor General (CAG)into the sale of these mills had“highlighted the administra-

tive and financial discrepan-cies and irregularities in dis-investment”.

It said the probe foundthat the two alleged shell com-panies “participated in thebidding process of sugar millsof Uttar Pradesh Rajya ChiniEvam Ganna Vikas NigamLimited (UPRCGVNL).”

“The companies did notsubmit the shareholding pat-tern and the background of keypromoters which were the stip-ulated conditions at the time of

bidding,” the ED alleged.The agency “noticed dur-

ing investigation that the fundswere infused either into thesecompanies through cashdeposits made in the bankaccounts of shell companiesand further routed into thesetwo companies through shamtransactions or there was infu-sion of funds disguised in theform of share applicationmoney for subscription toshares of these two companiesat high premium.”

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Tuesday searched the premis-es of Punjab MLA SukhpalSingh Khaira at five locationsin Punjab, one in Chandigarhand two in Delhi in connec-tion with a money launderingcase linked to illegal narcoticstrade and fake passport rack-et.

Besides Khaira, premisesof few others linked to himwere also searched, sourcessaid.

The searches were spreadacross Chandigarh, someother locations in Haryana aswell as in Punjab and Delhi.

The action is being carried

out under the provisions of thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) andis aimed at gathering more evi-dence to take forward theprobe and unravel the largerconspiracy, the sources said.

The PMLA probe is relat-ed to alleged drugs traffickingand the fake passport racketthrough which the MLA issuspected to have facilitatedhuman trafficking, they said.Some of the accused in thecase are undergoing judicialcustody.

Khaira is a legislator ofPunjab Ekta Party, floated byhim. He was elected to thestate Assembly in 2017 on aticket of the Aam Aadmi Party(AAP).

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There is no shortage of anti-Covid vaccines in

Rajasthan, the Union HealthMinistry said on Tuesday as itrefuted the State’s claim that itwill run out of vaccines soon ifthe Centre does not urgentlysend more supplies.

The State Government hadasked the Centre for moredoses to be sent as it sloweddown the pace of the vaccina-tion drive with only those whoneed their second dose beingadministered the shot onTuesday.

“The factual position isthat there is no shortage ofCovid-19 vaccine with the stateat present. Rajasthan has beensupplied 37.61 lakh doses andhas consumed only 24.28 lakhdoses till Monday night. Thecentral government is regular-ly monitoring availability ofvaccine supply in all states andUTs (union territories), andproviding the doses as per theirrequirement and consumptionpattern,” the centre said.

Rajasthan, which has beenvaccinating 2.5 lakh people perday, says it is now only left with5.85 lakh doses for the next twodays, said state’s Health Ministersaid Dr Raghu Sharma who hadsent an SOS message to the cen-tre, asking for a buffer stock ofvaccine doses for the state.

“We have vaccines for threedays. If the vaccines don’t reachus... we asked for 60 lakh vac-cines needed in March alone tocontinue the drive as is. If wedon’t get vaccines, the drivecould stop mid-way... If wedon’t have the stock, how willthe drive run?” Sharma told anews channel.

The centre has alreadyrushed 85,000 emergency dosesof anti-Covid vaccines to thestate.

Meanwhile, the Ministryon Tuesday said Maharashtra,Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu,Gujarat and Karnataka contin-ue to report a surge in the dailynew cases and that they cumu-latively account for 84.04% ofthe new cases reported in thepast 24 hours.

India has reported 15,388cases in the last 24 hours.Maharashtra has reported thehighest daily new cases at 8,744,followed by Kerala 1,412 andPunjab 1,229. “ArunachalPradesh, Nagaland, Sikkim andTripura did not report any newcases, while Maharashtra,Punjab and Kerala reportedover 1,000 new cases in the last24 hours,’’ said the Ministry.

The active caseload hasreached 1,87,462 which standsat 1.67% of the positive cases.

Delhi, Gujarat, Karnataka,Haryana, Maharashtra, TamilNadu, Punjab and MadhyaPradesh are displaying anupward trajectory in daily newcases, said the Ministry.

���� #�5���23"

Just as the world is battlingcoronavirus, another highly

contagious infection,Diphtheria, is rearing its uglyhead with a study pointing outthat a relatively easily-pre-ventable disease is graduallybecoming resistant to a num-ber of classes of antibiotics andin future could lead to vaccineescape.

An international team ofresearchers from the UK andIndia in a study published inNature Communications, haswarned that the impact ofCovid-19 on diphtheria vacci-nation schedules, coupled with

a rise in the number of infec-tions will risk the disease oncemore becoming a major glob-al threat.

Diphtheria affects the noseand throat, and sometimes theskin. If left untreated it canprove fatal. In the UK and otherhigh-income countries, babiesare vaccinated against infection.However, in low-and middle-income countries, the diseasecan still cause sporadic infec-tions or outbreaks in unvacci-nated and partially-vaccinatedcommunities.

The number of diphtheriacases reported globally hasbeing increasing gradually. In2018, there were 16,651 report-

ed cases, more than double theyearly average for 1996-2017(8,105 cases).

The researchers usedgenomics to map infections,

including a subset from India,where over half of the global-ly reported cases occurred in2018.

The researchers found

clusters to genetically-similarbacteria isolated from multiplecontinents, most commonlyAsia and Europe. This indicatesthat C. diphtheriae has beenestablished in the human pop-ulation for at least over a cen-tury, spreading across the globeas populations migrated.

Professor Gordon Douganfrom the Cambridge Instituteof Therapeutic Immunologyand Infectious Disease (CITI-ID) said: “”The diphtheria vac-cine is designed to neutralisethe toxin, so any genetic vari-ants that change the toxin’sstructure could have an impacton how effective the vaccine is.While our data doesn’t suggest

the currently used vaccine willbe ineffective, the fact that weare seeing an ever-increasingdiversity of tox variants sug-gests that the vaccine, andtreatments that target the toxin,need to be appraised on a reg-ular basis.”

Robert Will, study’s firstauthor, said: “The C. diphthe-riae genome is complex andincredibly diverse. It’s acquir-ing resistance to antibioticsthat are not even clinicallyused in the treatment of diph-theria. There must be other fac-tors at play, such as asympto-matic infection and exposure toa plethora of antibiotics meantfor treating other diseases.”

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The Rajya Sabha, for thesecond consecutive day on

Tuesday, could not transactany business due to vociferousprotests by the Opposition onthe issue of rising fuel pricesand its impact on the commonman. The house saw repeatedadjournments before it wasadjourned for the day shortlyafter lunch break.

Din over the issue onTuesday began soon after thehouse commenced proceed-ings for the day at 11.00 am.Incidentally, both the houses ofParliament returned to normalhours from Tuesday for the firsttime since the corona pan-demic outbreak last year.

Opposition membersincluding Leader of OppositionMallikarjun Kharge, SatishChandra Mishra(BSP), T.Siva(DMK) and PriyankaChaturvedi(Shiv Sena)soughtsuspension of all business todiscuss the price rise issue.

However, DeputyChairman Harivansh set asidethe notices and said the mem-bers will get ample opportuni-ties to take the Government totask on the issue during theappropriation Bill. He also said

Chairman M Venkaiah Naiduon Monday had given a rulingof not admitting the notice byKharge on the same issue.Naidu had said the Elders canmake their point in discussionsin the coming days.

The agitated members did

not pay heed to the DeputyChairman and started raisingslogans and came into the wellof the house. The chair repeat-edly asked the Congress mem-bers to go back to their seatsbut they were in no mood tooblige.

���� #�5���23"

Aday after a Delhi court pro-nounced judgement in the

killing of Inspector MohanChandra Sharma in the 2008encounter at Batla House,Union Minister for Law andJustice Ravi Shankar Prasad onTuesday attacked theOpposition and castigated WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee for raising suspicionover the Delhi Police and call-ing the Batla House encounter

“fake”.“There was a conscious,

consistent and deliberateattempt to paint Batla houseencounter a fake and demoralisethe Delhi police,” said Prasadadding it was a “clear appease-ment and vote bank politics”.

“I will expose you today.Politics is being played on thearrest of Ariz Khan,” theMinister said.

Pradad said that Khan wasinvolved in not just one, butmany terror attacks in India and

the court has found him guilty“on the basis of evidence thatwas collected by the DelhiPolice from 100 people”.

The Law Minister recalledthat Khan was arrested fromNepal in 2018. He stressed thateven as the crime took placeunder the Congress govern-ment, “Khan was arrested onlyunder the Narendra ModiGovernment”.

He took a jibe at the WestBengal Chief Minister saying,”Mamata Banerjee in 2013

raised suspicion over DelhiPolice and called the incident atBatla House to be a ‘fakeencounter’. She had evendemanded a judicial probe intothe matter while she hadclaimed in 2018 that she willquit politics if the case and thefindings are true.”

He slammed theOpposition Congress and itsleaders for ‘consciously makingdeliberate efforts to weaken thecase’, while raising doubts overthe conduct of Delhi Police.

���� #�5���23"

The Union Home Ministryon Tuesday informed the

Parliament that 230 peopleare currently being providedsecurity by the CentralArmed Police Forces (CAPFs)such as the CRPF and theCISF under different cate-gories like “Z-plus”, “Z” and“Y”.

In a written reply to aquestion in the Lok Sabha,Union Minister of State for

Home G Kishan Reddy, how-ever, did not disclose theexpenditure incurred on pro-viding security to these pro-tectees, saying it cannot beestimated as different stategovernments and variousagencies are involved in making the security arrange-ments for them.

“Security to protectees incentral list is provided on thebasis of threat assessment bycentral security agency and issubject to periodic review.

Based on such review, thesecurity cover is continued,withdrawn or modified. Thenumber, therefore, variesfrom time to time.

However, present lyaround 230 protectees arebeing provided security in thecentral list,” he said, addingthat in general, the expendi-ture on security for an indi-vidual is borne bytheGgovernment.

Reddy said the responsi-bility for providing security to

an individual lies primarilywith the State Governmentconcerned and the list of stategovernment protectees is notmaintained centrally. The top-most category is “Z-plus”,which entails a static andmobile contingent of about22-30 commandos for theprotectee, followed by “Z”that has about 15-18 person-nel and the further smallerVIP security categories of “Y-plus” (8-12 personnel) and“Y” (6-10 commandos).

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Lok Sabha proceedings tooremained disrupted for the

second consecutive day withthe Opposition continuing itsloud protests over rising fuelprices and forcing its adjourn-ment for the day.

As the House proceedingstarted, Congress leader AdhirRanjan Chowdhury spokeabout the “digital discrimina-tion” and “divide” with the LokSabha TV “not showing theirprotests.”

Chowdhury said protestswere also part of parliamentaryproceedings.

Parliamentary Affairs

Minister Pralhad Joshi retort-ed saying, “You want to showhungama to the people”.

Amidst opposition slogan-shouting, former unionMinister and Akali Dal leaderHarshirmat Kaur criticisedFood Corporation of India(FCI) ‘s decision to procureonly from those farmers whohave uploaded their land-hold-ing details. “ In Punjab, 40 per-cent farmers don’t have land-holdings, where do they go,”she asked.

Union Minister PiyushGoel said his Governmentwants “honest and transparentprocedures” by updatingrecord digitally.

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India has exported 87,000tonnes of onion in the

January-February period afterthe ban was lifted in view ofgood kharif crop estimates.

In a written reply to theLok Sabha, Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar on Tuesday said thatafter the recent lifting of theban, the export of onion in themonths of January andFebruary 2021 has been 56,000tonnes and 31,000 tonnesrespectively, as against month-ly average export of 2.18 lakhtonnes prior to imposition ofban in September, 2020.

The Government lifted theban on export with effect fromJanuary 1 in view of goodprospects of kharif and latekharif production estimates,he said. The all-India averageretail prices of onion inDecember 2020 was �44.33per kg, whereas during Januaryand February 2021 the priceshave been �38.59 per kg and �44.08 per kg, respectively, headded.

In 2019-20, the countryexported 11.50 lakh tonnes ofonions at a value of �2,320.70crore. The minister said thegovernment has approved cre-ation of 2 lakh tonne of onionbuffer during 2021-22 underthe Price Stabilisation Fund(PSF), which would be built by

procuring the Rabi crop arriv-ing from March this year.

To augment domesticavailability of onion throughimport, the government hadeased the fumigation and quar-antine norms and also accord-ed approval for procuring anddisposal of the imported onionby the National AgriculturalCooperative MarketingFederation of India Ltd(NAFED) at pre-decided ceil-ing price through the issue oftenders at regular intervals.

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Private companies havedeveloped 38 farm markets

in four States with a totalinvestment of over �300 crorein the last three years. TheAgriculture Minister said thatthe new farm laws aim atboosting investment in agri-infrastructure.

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Page 5: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

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Some more personsremained missing even as

the death toll in Monday’shigh-rise fire in Kolkata roseup to 10 on Tuesday. Amongthe dead included five StateGovernment employeesincluding four firemen and apolice sub-inspector.

The remaining victimsincluded a Deputy ChiefCommercial Manager of theEastern Railways, his person-al security staff and an RPFpersonnel. The bodies of theremaining two could not beidentified because they hadbeen charred beyond recogni-tion sources said.

“We still have complains ofsome missing persons and weare not sure whether they aretrapped inside,” a Hare Streetpolice official said even as theState forensic team that reachedthe place early on Tuesdaymorning confirmed the fire onthe 13th floor of the Eastern

railway’s Koilaghata office hadresulted from sparks insidethe cable room.

Meanwhile even as theState Police and Fire

Department initiated their owninquiries the Railway authori-ties too started investigationsinto the cause of the fire,sources said.

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New Delhi: President RamNath Kovind and PrimeMinister Narendra Modiexpressed grief over the loss oflives due to the fire tragedy inKolkata.

Nine persons were killedafter a massive fire engulfed abuilding in city Strand Road onMonday evening.

In a tweet, the PresidentRam Nath Kovind said, "Painedbeyond words by the extreme-ly tragic fire accident at abuilding in Kolkata. My deepsympathy and condolences forthe bereaved families. I wish forthe speedy recovery of theinjured."

Prime Minister NarendraModi also took to Twitter andsaid, "Saddened by the loss of

lives due to the fire tragedy inKolkata. In this hour of sad-ness, my thoughts are with thebereaved families. May theinjured recover at the earliest."

Among the dead are fourfiremen, a police officer, aRailways officer, and a securi-ty person. Five of the nine bod-ies were found in an elevator onthe 12th floor of the buildingin central Kolkata's StrandRoad where the fire broke outon Monday evening. The vic-tims appeared to have suffo-cated and burnt to death insidethe lift.

Railway Minister PiyushGoyal also expressed grief overthe incident and ordered ahigh-level probe to ascertainthe cause of the fire. IANS

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Patna: The negligence of the BiharHealth Department came to the forewhen it promoted and transferred adead medical officer to the post of civilsurgeon in Sheikhpura district.

The transfer order came onMonday evening and the list had thename of Dr. Ramnarayan Ram apartfrom 16 other medical officers.

Dr. Ramnarayan Ram, was in-charge of Bikramganj sub-divisionalhospital in Rohtas district when hepassed away on February 7. A day later,his colleagues had also organised a con-dolence meeting.

Interestingly, the list had the sig-nature of Anil Kumar, the joint secre-tary of the Health Department.

When the goof up was brought tothe notice, Dr. Sudhir Kumar, the civilsurgeon of Rohtas district was aston-ished. He also confirmed that Dr. Ramdied on February 7 and a new doctorwas deployed there as in-charge.

"As soon as I came to know aboutthe development, I informed the HealthDepartment to rectify it," Kumar said. IANS

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Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesdayfaced an embarrassing situation after

the newly elected members of the 20District Development Councils, cuttingacross party lines, boycotted the two daylong training program besides staging amassive protest demonstration in sup-port of their demand for better statusand monthly honorarium in theprecincts of Jammu convention centre.

The Department of RuralDevelopment and Panchayati Raj hadcirculated full page advertisements in alllocal dailies welcoming the participa-tion of DDC members in the two daylong capacity building program.

Ahead of the arrival of the Lt-GovManoj Sinha at the venue angry DDCmembers assembled in front of the entrygate and started raising slogans in sup-port of their demands.

The members were unhappy withthe honorarium fixed by the govern-ment and the new warrant of precedencewhich had placed the DDC chairpersonsequivalent to administrative secretaries,vice chairpersons to vice-chancellors ofuniversities and the DDC members todistrict magistrates.

As per the government order, theDDC chairpersons were entitled to get

monthly honorarium of Rs 35,000including Rs 1,500 travel allowanceand Rs 500 telephone charges. Vicechairpersons will get Rs 25,000 includ-ing Rs 1,500 travel allowance and Rs 500telephone charges and members will getRs 15,000 including Rs 1,500 travelallowance and Rs 500 telephone charges.

Terming it as a 'cruel joke' severalmembers announced the decision toboycott the training program in front ofthe media persons.

Senior bureaucrats and police offi-cers present at the venue went in to tizzyand immediately informed the LtGovernor's secretariat to wait for the sig-nal before coming to the venue for thetraining program.

Several attempts made by the seniorofficers to convince the elected membersfailed to break the ice. As the protestswent on in the premises the Lt-GovManoj Sinha was forced to cancel hisvisit to inaugurate the training program.Later he left for New Delhi to attend abook release program.

Through out the day the DDCmembers remained present at the venueand demonstrated in support of theirdemands including ministerial status forthe DDC chairperson and minister ofstate (MoS) status for vice chairperson.

Secretary Rural Development and

Panchayati Raj Sheetal Nanda maderepeated attempts to hold dialogue withthe slogan-shouting protesters but failedto convince them.

“We have unanimously decided toboycott this programme and lodge ourprotest. We want the administration toreview its wrong decision and accordministerial status to the chairperson,MoS status to vice-chairperson andmembers to a status as given to MLAs,”DDC chairperson and senior BJP leaderBharat Bushan told reporters.

DDC Vice chairperson from ReasiSajra Qadir said the government hasplayed with their honour by loweringtheir status and left them red facedbefore their electorate.

Shah Nawaz Choudary and electedmember from Poonch said we will nottoletae this insult.I appeal to the Lt-GovManoj Sinha to review the decision andrestore dignity of the elected DDCmembers.

DDC member from RS PuraTaranjeet Singh also demanded theimmediate intervention of the centralgovernment and the Lt Governor inaddressing the issue. We will continueour protest till our demands are met, hesaid. During their protest, the membersrefused to eat lunch hosted by the gov-ernment.

New Delhi: Amidst an august gath-ering, Pritika Kalra Gandhi, notedIndian Classical Danseuse, receivedthe Swaavlambika Samman – an iden-tity of an Independent Women, on 7March 2021 at the Women AchieversFiesta. The event attended by suc-cessful and dynamic women profes-sionals from the academia, media, art,fashion and the corporate, was organ-ised by EBS India working in the areaof Women empowerment. It wasorganised at the Constitution Club ofIndia today at Delhi.

Pritika was conferred the TalentAward for Excellence in Promotion ofWomen Empowerment throughDance. Sri Ram Niwas Goel, Speaker,Delhi Legislative Assembly, conferredthe award.

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Aday after the National InvestigationAgency (NIA) took over the investi-

gations into the recovery of gelatin sticks’laden SUV near Industrialist MukeshAmbani’s residence on February 25, theOpposition BJP on Tuesday clamoured forthe suspension and arrest of encounter-spe-cialist Sachin Vaze over the death of theSUV owner and businessman MansukhHiren.

Having landed potential issue toembarrass the Shiv Sena-led MVA gov-ernment, the BJP forced four noisyadjournments in the Maharashtra Assemblyby taking a stand that it would not settle foranything but the suspension and arrest ofAssistant Police Inspector Vaze, based onthe allegation made by the businessman’swife that the police had “murdered” herhusband.Upping the ante over the issue,leader of the Opposition DevendraFadnavis of the BJP demanded to know asto why Vaze had not been suspended and

arrested yet in connection with the deathof Hiren, whose body was recovered fromthe marshy Reti-Bunder creek Mumbra inthe neighbouring Thane district on Fridaylast. Hiren, a Thane-based businessmanwhose “stolen” SUV with 20 gelatin stickswas recovered by the police nearIndustrialist Mukesh Ambani’s skyscrapermansion “Antilia” in south Mumbai onFebruary 25, hit the headlines after his bodywas found in mysterious circumstances onFriday afternoon. Hiren (48), who was intothe car accessories business, had reportedlybeen missing from his Thane home sinceThursday.

It may be recalled that the police hadrecovered 20 gelatin sticks and a letter wererecovered from what was later described asMahindra Scorpio that was found aban-doned in the vicinity of Mukesh Ambani’s27-storey residence “Antilia” on CarmichaelRoad in south Mumbai.

Reading out the statement made to thepolice by Hirean’s wife Vimla Hiren,Fadnavis said: “Hiren’s wife has said that

encounter-specialist Vaze has murdered herhusband. The allegation is serious. Wedemand the suspension and arrest ofVaze”. Among other things, Fadnavis quot-ed Hiren’s wife as telling the police in herstatement: “Vaze had asked him to getarrested and that he will get him out on bailwife advised against it and he had soughtlegal help for anticipatory bail on wife'sadvice”.

“On the morning of February 26 ( a dayafter the recovery of gelatine sticks ladenSUV), my husband went with Vaze to theCrime branch and he told me he was withVaze all through the day. Again he went tothe crime branch on February 28. Vazehimself recorded his statement,” Fadnavissaid quoting the statement of Hiren’s wife.

“In view of the circumstances leadingto the recovery of her husband’s body,Hiren’s wife is pretty certain that her hus-band has been murdered. She has said inher statement that she has strong reason tobelieve that Vaze has murdered her hus-band,” Fadnavis said.

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KOCHI: In what is being seenas a major embarrassment to theruling CPI(M), hundreds ofparty cadre including womentook to the streets in Kuttiyadiand Ponnani against the decisionof the party leadership to‘impose’ outsiders ascandidates in these Assembly

constituencies.But what is disturbing the

CPI(M) is the composition ofthe cadres who staged protestmarches in these towns as mostof them were from one partic-ular community. “They are upsetthat the candidates belonging totheir community were shownthe door,” said a CPI(M) insid-er who did not want his nameto be quoted.

Dr N R Madhu, chief editor,Kesari weekly and a CPI(M)observer is of the view that thedevelopments underscore theearlier findings that the CPI(M)has been Islamized.

“It is the SDPI fraction, anextremist outfit, that led the agi-tation we saw on Monday. TheCPI(M) leadership would beforced to toe the SDPI line inorder to placate the extremists,”Dr Madhu told The Pioneer.

The rebellion is against theparty leadership ignoring T MSiddique, leader of the party’sMalappuram district committeewhile selecting the candidate forPonnani. P Nandakumar, a rankoutsider has been named as theparty candidate. PNS

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Aligarh: Lokendra Singh (25),a resident of Kagraul area ofAgra district, died on in ahotel room located in DubeyPadav. The constable of thetraffic police was posted in thecontrol room.

Along with the police, thefamily was also stirred up onthe news of this incident andthe family reached here on thenews. The reason for the sui-cide is not yet clear The policeis investigating the case basedon evidences found in roomand the call details.

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ADalit teenager from village Gaunda police sta-tion area was raped by a youth in a village in

Iglas. The police have registered a report of non-payment and intimidation by the accused youth aswell as the kiln owner and an associate. The vic-tim used to live on a kiln with relatives.

In a village under Gorai Chowki area, a Dalitfamily resident of village Gonda area is working onthe kiln. The laborer's daughter went to the toilet.During this time, Rahul's son of Razua, resident ofShahpur Thathoi dragged her to the wheat field andraped the teenager. It is also alleged that the vic-tim was not given wages by the kiln masters AshokKumar and Dharmaraja and she was threatened. Inconnection with the incident, the victim's motherreached police station with her daughter. Informedthe police about the incident. A case has been reg-istered against the trio on the victim's mother'sstatement. The victim's mother says her daughterwent to the wheat field near the kiln to defecate on5th of march.

CHENNAI: While it is raining free-bees in Tamil Nadu in the run up tothe April 6 election to the StateAssembly, leaders are political partiesare accusing each other of hijackingand espionage of a different kind.

Monday morning saw ChiefMinister Edappadi Palaniswamydeclaring that if re-elected to power,the AIADMK Government wouldpay a honorarium of Rs 1,500/- permonth to woman head of each fam-ilies in the State. In yet another dis-closure, Palaniswami said each house-hold in the State would receive sixdomestic LPG cylinders per year freeof cost.

Sources in AAIADMK told ThePioneer that these are some of theteasers from the yet to be releasedelection manifesto of the party. Thechief minister accused DMK presi-dent M K Stalin of stealing from the

AIADMK manifesto under prepara-tion following the latter’s announce-ment that his party would pay amonthly allowance of Rs 1,000/- toall home makers in the State if theDMK wins the election.

But much before the announce-ments by Palaniswamy and Stalin,film actor-turned-politician KamalHaasan had announced that his partyMNM would offer Rs 1000 permonth to women heads of all fami-lies if they are voted to power.

Palaniswamy , in a brief interac-tion with the media at the AIADMKheadquarters on Tuesday said that theparty manifesto was under prepara-tion and the information regardingthe monthly allowance to womenheads of families got leaked to Stalinand that was why he announced thesame even before releasing his partymanifesto. PNS

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Jammu : In a successful operation a jointteam of the security forces late Tuesdayevening gunned down a terrorist com-mander of Al-Badr terrorist outfit inTujjar area of Sopore.

The operation was launched in thearea on the receipt of intelligence inputabout the presence of terrorists in thearea.

While the security forces were tight-ening the cordon in the area they werefired upon by the terrorists.

In the ensuing gunfight, a terroristcommander identified as Gani Khawajawas eliminated by the security forceswithout suffering any collateral damage.

Inspector General of Police Kashmir,Vijay Kumar in a statement to a localnews agency in Srinagar confirmed Al-Badr chief Gani Khawaja was killed in thegunfight in Tujjar area of Sopore. He saidit is a major success for the security forces.

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The Maharashtra Government on Tuesdayannounced the setting up of a Special Investigation

Team (SIT) to probe mysterious circumstances lead-ing to the death of seven-time Dadar and Nagar HaveliMP Mohan Delkar.

Making an announcement, Home Minister AnilDeshmukh said the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly,state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said: “Thedeceased MP Delker’s wife Kalaben Delkar and sonAbhinav Delkar met and requested our for thoroughinvestigations into her husband’s death. He was aseven-time MP and was being constantly harassed. Wewould go deep into the case. We are setting up an SITto investigate the entire incident’.

Deshmukh said that in the suicide note recoveredby the police, Delkar had named Praful Khoda Patel,a former BJP minister in Gujarat and the currentadministrator of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Damanand Diu, for allegedly harassing him and trying to fin-ish off his political and social career.

The announcement about the setting up of an SITto be probe the mysterious death of Delkar came a dayafter the National Investigation Agency (NIA) tookover the investigations into the recovery of gelatinsticks’ laden SUV near Industrialist Mukesh MukeshAmbani’s residence on February 25.

Miffed apparently by the Centre’s move to ask NIAto take over the investigations into Ambani-SUV bombscare case, Maharashtra chief minister UddhavThackeray had said on Monday that the Maharashtragovernment would investigate the BJP leader-liked

In a related development, Delkar’s wife Kalabenand her son Abhinav and daughter visited theVidhan Bhavan complex and called on MaharashtraChief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar and Home Minister Deshmukh.

Talking to media persons after the meeting,Kalaben said: “We are sure, we will get justice”.

“We have faith in the MVA government that itwould go to the bottom of the case and bring out thetruth. I thank them for giving us a hearing....my fatherwas being harassed, humiliated...he (Patel) has alsoasked for a big amount....he was misusing the admin-istrative machinery against us,” the deceased MP’s sonAbhinav said.

“The family told us that they have faith in UddhavThackeray ji and Sharad Pawar saheb....they narrat-ed how Delkar ji was being harassed.” According tohim, he felt that if he ended life in Mumbai, he wouldget justice.

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Page 6: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

No one knows the num-bers involved but approxi-mately 2,000-3,000 troops (abrigade) from each side havepulled back, not pulled out.Both sides have 50,000-70,000soldiers posted on the frontlines. The additional deploy-ments and capital costs aswell as maintenance and logis-tics put together for one yearare estimated to be nearly�30,000 crore (�21,000 crore incapital expenditure alone).Then there is the cost of re-posturing troops fromPakistan to China’s front whichis work in progress. This levelof additional expenditure hasnever been incurred on theLine of Actual Control (LAC)and the revenue cost will fur-ther undercut modernisation.China’s defence budget hascrossed $200 b, roughly fourtimes India’s. Its internal secu-rity bill is even higher as it isthe main driver of internalcohesion. The India-Chinacapability gap can be measuredfrom the investment differen-tial and willingness on the partof China to use the power quo-tient for coercion on the LAC.

Indian Generals’ promi-nent reference to Chinese dis-engagement from the lakes as“loss of faith” was seen asinsulting (and beginning of

practical difficulties). The PLA’swithdrawal from the Fingersarea was traded for vacation ofthe strategic Chushul heightsthey had occupied for the firsttime since 1962. Yielding thekey bargaining chip for animmediate political imperative— provincial elections — mayprove costly. But this give-and-take was necessary forthe Narendra ModiGovernment to depict the dis-engagement as victory againstChina. The Government hasutilised the military’s strategicprowess — Uri (2016), Doklam(2017), Balakot (2019) andnow Ladakh (2021) — as polit-ical success stories againstChina and Pakistan.

The backchannel talkswith Pakistan’s NSA MoefYusuf, which India has denied,took place after the Galwanclash because the two-front sit-uation began to hot up. It wasa wise move, coming as it didafter Indian security plannersdecided to switch four divi-sions facing Pakistan towardsthe North. The ceasefire couldlead to a new India-Pakistannormal. Suddenly, pieces of thetwo-front puzzle are seen com-ing together despite theabsence of a national securitystrategy. That says something.

New Delhi is on the thresh-

old of major defence reforms:‘The India Way without anIntegrated Review’ or ‘StrategicDefence and Security Review’.Military commanders in chargeof these reforms must not triv-ialise the process by allowingsymbolism and politicisation tocreep in to please the politicalelite. Last week the tri-servicecommanders were lined up inGujarat for their review meet-ing in front of the towering stat-ue of “Iron Man Sardar Patel”,when that photo-op shouldhave been with the images ofmilitary icons like Field MarshalSam Manekshaw and Air ChiefMarshal Arjan Singh, becausethe PMO wanted it. Regrettably,military ethos and traditions arealien to most Indian politiciansand civil servants.

But the partial disengage-ment deal, achieved by theForeign Ministers under con-ditions of power asymmetry,reflects India’s willingness toaccept that the “price of apragmatic settlement (withChina) will be less than thecost of a difficult relationship”.

(The writer, a retired MajorGeneral, was Commander,IPKF South, Sri Lanka, andfounder member of the DefencePlanning Staff, currently theIntegrated Defence Staff. Theviews expressed are personal.)

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With five State elec-tions planned overthe next fewmonths by accident

or design, India might have hit astrategic sweet spot: Defusing itstwo-front standoff against Chinaand Pakistan. With a partial andselective disengagement securedon China’s terms, India is por-traying this as victory in syncwith its policy of “resoluteresponse” to force the Chinesewithdrawal from heights astridethe Pangong Tso, leaving otherPeople’s Liberation Army (PLA)intrusions from Depsang toDemchok intact. Last ThursdayMEA spokesperson AnuragShrivastava, sounding abundantcaution, said it was India’s expec-tation that China will work withit to complete disengagement inthe remaining areas which willlead to de-escalation in EastLadakh. That alone will lead topeace and provide conditions forprogress in bilateral relations. LastSunday, Chinese ForeignMinister Wang Yi was singing anold tune on the rights and wrongsof the standoff, blaming Indiaand reiterating that neither coun-try was a threat to the other.

After the standoff, Chinahas adopted a substantially dif-ferent position by not placing theborder dispute as central to bilat-eral relations. On February 25,Wang informed Foreign MinisterS Jaishankar of “some waveringand back-pedalling” affecting“practical cooperation betweenthe countries”. This is reasonenough to delay future meetingsto defuse other friction points. Itis fair to assume that for China,the disengagement process isover with Beijing managing to getthe strategic Chushul heightsvacated on the cheap. The refer-ence to “difficulty in practicalcooperation” will make futuremilitary and civilian dialogue onrestoration of status quo anteApril 2020 highly unlikely — cer-tainly not before July 1, theChinese Communist Party’s cen-tenary conclave. India’s readinessto make concessions to Chinacomes straight out of Jaishankar’sbook ‘The India Way: StrategiesFor An Uncertain World’.

SOUNDBITE�������������� ������������������Sir — The second phase of the vaccinationdrive may have commenced with greateuphoria, but much confusion prevails. Inmany instances, healthcare workers couldnot register on the portal and were seenrushing to the centres for on-the-spot reg-istration. Even the elderly are flocking thecentres which seem to be always crowdedwith at least 100-200 people at a time.

The elderly, especially those who havecomorbidities are vulnerable and such a sit-uation is not safe. Adequate seating arrange-ments ensuring social distancing should beensured by the authorities at the vaccina-tion centres. The solution also lies in rop-ing in more private hospitals. Senior citi-zens must be intimated at least two daysbefore they receive their vaccination.Moreover, healthcare workers must beallotted specific areas and time slots in hos-pitals or primary healthcare facilities to helpease the rush. This will avoid crowding atthe centre.

Vaccination camps can be conducted atindustries, big apartment complexes andshopping malls; vaccination can be done onSundays too, which will benefit office-goers.Since the Government has fixed an afford-able price of �250 for the vaccine, privatehospitals can handle the situation comfort-ably. However, the number of cases isincreasing and that is a cause of concern. Wemust follow all the protocols and wearmasks, maintain social distancing andsanitise our hands regularly. We cannot takeany risk at this stage when the number ofdaily cases in some States is on the rise again.

CK Subramaniam | Chennai

������������������Sir —The AIADMK in Tamil Nadu onMonday assured an assistance of �1,500 permonth to women family heads. Theannouncement bettered the DMK’s pollpromise of �1,000 made a day ago, with theruling party claiming it had been in thepipeline.

The State is already reeling under hugedebt, amounting lakhs of crores. From wherewill the money be generated? There are over

2.1 crore ration card holders in the State.One family will get around �25,000 perannum. The total cost to be incurred onsuch schemes is huge. This will set a badprecedent and politicians will try to win elec-tions by announcing freebies and sops.

It will make the people of the State lazy.With mounting debts, the State will see nodevelopment activity and its economy willfurther spiral downwards . Wasting taxpay-ers money in return for votes amounts tobribing the voters and is a crime. It is noth-ing but robbing Peter to pay Paul. The free-bie culture is increasing these days and vot-ers fail to understand that they compromisethe long-term interest of the people of thecountry for getting gifts or cash. The apexcourt should take cognisance and end sucha culture once and for all. As a taxpayer, Iam against freebies from the State exchequer.

Sravana Ramachandran | Chennai

���������������������������������Sir — On the special occasion of

International Women’s Day, KarnatakaChief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappahas announced a proposal to grant six-month childcare leave to female StateGovernment employees. This is a goodmove and comes as a relief to many work-ing women. It is seen that politicians areoften unconcerned about the plight of work-ing women and don’t care to make policiesfavouring the fair sex.

Not only the Government but also pri-vate entities should take measures to makeworking conditions easy and friendly forwomen. They should be granted adequateleaves and must be provided with essentialand basic facilities, like breastfeeding roomsand creches, at their workplace. Women aresecond to none and have proved it beyonddoubt. Other State Governments should alsotake such measures to empower women.

Anshita Rochwani | Ujjain

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Page 7: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

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In the Union Budget for 2021-22, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman has proposedsetting up of a bad bank. Crafted as an asset

reconstruction company (ARC), it will bundle upall the non-performing assets (NPAs) of banks,buy these at a negotiated (albeit discounted) priceand sell them to investors such as private equi-ty funds, alternative investment funds (AIFs) andso on, by putting a turnaround plan in place. Anasset management company (AMC) will work ona detailed turnaround-cum-execution plan.

The banks plan to transfer nearly �2,00,000crore of bad loans to the ARC. Every loan (albeitbad) account involving �500 crore plus will beconsidered for transfer. In return, the ARC willprovide 15 per cent upfront cash to banks andissue security receipts for the remaining 85 percent, to be guaranteed by the Government. TheARC will require a capital infusion of at least�10,000 crore. A majority share holding in theentity will be held by public sector banks(PSBs); though some private banks will also beinvolved.

According to the 22nd Financial StabilityReport (FSR) released by the Reserve Bank ofIndia (RBI) on January 21, the gross NPA(GNPA) ratio of all scheduled commercialbanks (SCBs) is projected to increase from 7.5per cent in September 2020 to 13.5 per cent bythis September. Even as the Coronavirus pandem-ic gripped the economy from the beginning ofMarch 2020, its impact on the bad loan scenariodid not reflect till September 2020 in view of theRBI’s decision to grant moratorium on loanrepayments (March 1-August 31, 2020) andexclude the moratorium period for the purposeof declaring an account as an NPA.

Meanwhile, the Government had made anamendment to the Insolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC) to ensure that proceedings againstbad loan accounts by the National Company LawTribunal (NCLT) are not initiated until March24 this year. Once this embargo is removed (fornow, the powers that be are in a wait-and-watchmode but they will have to decide sooner thanlater), there will be a spike in NPAs as then thebanks will be forced to reflect the real position.This is what worries the Finance Minister.

Having already infused close to �3,00,000crore of capital in PSBs during the last four finan-cial years, and given its precarious budgetaryresources, the Government is in no mood topump another �2,00,000 crore or so needed toprevent erosion in their capital. At the same time,it wants to unshackle the banks from the burdenof bad loans so that they are in a position toincrease credit availability required for achiev-ing 11 per cent plus growth during 2021-22 andput the economy on a sustained growth path ofseven-eight per cent till 2025-26.

To wriggle out of this dilemma, Sitharamanhas resurrected the idea of a ‘bad bank’ that wasmooted in 2018 by a committee under the for-mer Chairman, Punjab National Bank (PNB),Sunil Mehta, to be named ‘Sashakt India AssetManagement’ for fast-track resolution of large badloans. In May 2020, this was reiterated by theIndian Banks Association (IBA) with a stipula-tion that the Union Government should anchorthe bad bank with majority equity holding.

Accepting this proposal wouldhave meant that eventually, theresponsibility for handholdingwould have come on the latter.Therefore, the Finance Ministryrejected that suggestion outright.

Under its new incarnation, thebad bank will be majority ownedby PSBs which tantamounts toownership and control vestingwith the Government itself —though indirectly. But the morecrucial point is that the securityreceipts issued by the bad bank tocover 85 per cent of the transfervalue of the loan will be promisedsovereign guarantee. As a result,while on one hand, the banks’ bal-ance sheet will be fully shieldedagainst any default in redemptionon maturity (they need not makeany additional provision whichotherwise would have beenrequired as per the RBI’s circulardated September 1, 2016), on theother hand even the bad bank neednot worry too much about recov-ering it.

If it is unable to recover, thenalso the guarantor (theGovernment of India) will pay up.In short, the bad bank has beencrafted in a manner such that it willbe a win-win for all stakeholderslike the banks, the bad bank,defaulting borrowers and so on,except the taxpayer whose moneythe Union Government will even-tually be using for bailing out thebanks.

If, that is the real intent, whynot give the capital directly fromthe Budget instead of following a

circuitous route, making thingsnon-transparent, setting up newinstitutions and adding to admin-istrative and overhead costs?

It is ironical that each timebanks are faced with erosion intheir capital due to delinquentborrowers, the Government takesrecourse to cosmetic solutions thatare often laced with fancy nomen-clature to make them look credi-ble. This approach should be aban-doned. Instead, it should adopt andbuild on sustainable solutions tothe problem of increasing NPAs.

In this regard, the IBC frame-work offers the best bet. This,together with the amendedBanking Regulation Act (this givesthe RBI the necessary powers toforce the banks to act), provides afoundational basis for successfulresolution of NPAs.

As per the RBI’s circular datedFebruary 12, 2018, for accountswith aggregate exposure greaterthat �2,000 crore, as soon as therewas a default in the account withany lender, all lenders — singly orjointly — shall initiate steps to curethe default by preparing a resolu-tion plan. The resolution planapproved by all lenders had to bereadied within six months from thedefault date. If the deadline wasmissed, proceedings under theIBC would be initiated by referringthe case to the NCLT which wouldget six months to complete the res-olution process.

The banks got six months tocome up with a resolution plan; ifthey didn’t, the NCLT would have

to do it within six months.Therefore, at the outer limit, it wasone year to get the resolutionkicking (wherever delays hap-pened, those were due to the casesbeing taken to courts — either bythe promoter or competing suitor).

The best part was that the tri-bunal was to facilitate selling of thedefaulter’s firm as a “going concern”to fetch maximum realisation. Theresults are there for all to see. Underthis arrangement, the lenders wereable to recover about �3,00,000crore which resulted in lowering ofthe GNPA ratio from a high of 11.2per cent as on March 31, 2018 to8.5 per cent as of March 31, 2020.

However, as per the directionsof the Supreme Court, the RBIcame out with a revised circulardated June 7, 2019, which giveslenders 30 days to enter into aninter-lender agreement to decideon a resolution plan. After this, theyget 180 days to come up with plan;if they don’t, they are only requiredto make an additional provision of20 per cent.

If they don’t finalise it within365 days, they have to make anadditional 15 per cent provision. Inshort, unlike the February 12,2018 guidelines, banks are notobliged to refer the case to theNCLT in a time-bound manner.This has literally rendered resolu-tion under the IBC process dys-functional.

There is an urgent need to revi-talise the process and make itrobust instead of looking for short-term solutions.

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The Indo-Gangetic Plain(IGP) is a 2.5-million sqkm fertile plain that is

the backbone of Indian agri-culture. It has greatly con-tributed to the country’s foodsecurity and the green revolu-tion. However, the pressure ofthe increasing population anduneven natural phenomenonlike unseasonal hailstorms,failing rains, cyclones,droughts and so on, haveadversely affected yield. Theseconditions have long requireda sustainable solution so thatthe Indian agriculture sectorcan fight climate change on theone hand and maintain arespectable agricultural yield tomeet the burgeoning demandof food grains on the other.

In these trying conditions,a study has established that theuse of field-specific fertiliser inthe IGP can not only increasegrain yield and increase farmincome but also significantly

reduce greenhouse gas (GHG)emissions and farming costswhen compared with tradi-tional farmer fertilisation prac-tices (FFP). The study, execut-ed by an international team ofscientists led by theInternational Maize andWheat Improvement Centre,compared 1,594 farms acrossHaryana, Punjab and Biharand published the findings inthe ‘Nature Scientific Report2021’. The management ofnutrient input and balancedfertiliser use has emerged asthe key mitigation option inagriculture that can pave theway for enhanced producethat does not come at the costof the environment.

The study was conductedon two farms, wherein the fer-tiliser input was decided by thedigital nutrient tool —Nutrient Expert (NE) — inone farm while the FFP wasthe determinant in the other.

The application rates of nitro-gen, phosphorous and potashwere studied in each compar-ison trial in the rice and wheatfields under the NE and FFP.The NE is not a new conceptand was developed in 2013 bythe International PlantNutrition Institute and theInternational Institute ofTropical Agriculture and pro-vided nutrient recommenda-tions for individual farmerfields in the absence of any soilhealth data.

Its usage has reduced farmnitrogen input by 15-35 percent and also increased grainyield by four to eight per cent,besides reducing global warm-ing. The study further estab-lished that more than 80 percent of the participating farm-ers reported a rise in crop yieldand farm income and a per-ceptible fall in agriculturalexpenses.

The study reported an

actual increase in rice andwheat production by 13.92million tonnes and 1.44 mil-lion tonnes respectively withless fertiliser use.

It also revealed a criticalaspect pertaining to the quan-tum of nitrogen used in ricecrops. As per the study, nitro-gen input can be controlledconsiderably as compared tothe traditional farming prac-tices. Besides this, the study has

also helped underline the factthat the excess and improperuse of nutrients in crop pro-duction has many adverseimplications on the environ-ment, food security as well ason the farmers’ livelihood.The findings confirmed that ameasured and balanced nutri-ent use is critical in safeguard-ing the environment. In thebackdrop of this pathbreakingreport, the Government canmake a huge and considerabledifference in the lives andfinancial well-being of thegrowers.

The digital tool can beused to rapidly map variousgeographical locations andaccordingly evolve templatesthat determine the optimumbalance of nutrients and fer-tilisers keeping the soil type,water availability and weatherin mind. These templates canhelp drastically improve farmyields and reduce expenses by

the farmers, especially thosewho are dependent on theMinimum Support Priceguaranteed by theGovernment. This initiativecan be scaled up by enlistingthe active participation of thegrowers and sensitising thecommunity and creatingawareness for the well-being ofthe environment.

The polluted soils andgroundwater table of farm-lands of Punjab are a testamentof the dangers of indiscrimi-nate use of fertilisers toincrease the yield. In the longrun, the farmers have suf-fered as the chemical-lacedlands have caused dreadeddiseases such as cancer.

Advanced technology-based tools can change thenarrative for farmers and pro-tect them, the environmentand the consumers of thefarm produce from an over-dose of chemical fertilisers.

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The writer is a New Delhi-based policy

analyst. The viewsexpressed are personal.

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FOREIGNEYE

Page 8: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

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London: Buckingham Palace issaid to be in turmoil onTuesday, a day after PrinceHarry and Meghan Markle’sexplosive interview withAmerican chat show hostOprah Winfrey was aired in theUK and even Prime MinisterBoris Johnson was asked tocomment on the allegations ofracism that had emerged.

According to some Britishmedia reports, a palace state-ment has been prepared butQueen Elizabeth II is yet to signit off as crisis talks continueafter damaging claims emergedaround the 39-year-old formeractress’ suicidal thoughts as anewly-married Duchess ofSussex.

Harry, 36 and Meghan alsorevealed some racist under-tones within royal ranks asunnamed royals raised con-cerns over the skin tone of theirfirst-born son, Archie, even as

they were told he would not bemade a prince and thereforenot provided with security.

“I have always had the high-est admiration for the Queenand the unifying role that sheplays in our country and acrossthe Commonwealth,” saidPrime Minister Johnson, whenasked about the allegations dur-ing a Downing Street briefingon Monday evening.

“As for all other matters todo with the royal family, I havespent a long time now not com-menting on royal family mat-ters and I don’t intend to departfrom that today,” he said, refus-ing to be drawn into the con-troversy.

Opposition Labour leaderSir Keir Starmer said allegationsmade in the interview should betaken “very, very seriously”.

“It is really sad to see thefamily in turmoil like this. Theissues that Meghan has raised

of racism and mental health arereally serious issues,” saidStarmer.

“It is a reminder that toomany people experience racismin 21st-century Britain. We haveto take that very, very seriously.Nobody, but nobody, should beprejudiced (against) because ofthe colour of their skin orbecause of their mental healthissues,” he said, when askedabout the controversy during avisit to a school in east London.

“This is bigger than theroyal family. For too many yearswe have been too dismissive andtoo willing to put these issues toone side,” he added.

Asked by Oprah Winfreywhether there were concernsamong royals that her childwould be “too brown” and thatwould be a problem, Meghansaid: “If that is the assumptionyou are making, that is a pret-ty safe one.” PTI

Kabul: Frustrated by a stalledpeace process and escalatingviolence, the US has presentedan eight-page draft peace agree-ment to Afghanistan’s warringsides for review.

The US told the parties tocome to Turkey in the comingweeks ready to move on it,according to Afghans on bothsides of the table.

The draft was obtained byThe Associated Press onMonday. The document out-lines the terms of a cease-fireand its enforcement, calls forthe protection of the rights ofwomen, children and minori-ties and envisions a truth andreconciliation commissionaimed at healing 42 years ofconflict.

US State Departmentspokesman Ned Price wouldnot confirm the draft, saying“It’s often important for ourdiplomatic efforts that we’re ableto conduct them in private.”

The Taliban received thedraft and were reviewing it,said spokesman MohammadNaeem.

There was no immediatecomment from AfghanPresident Ashraf Ghani on thedraft proposal or a sternlyworded letter from USSecretary of State AntonyBlinken.

In the letter, Blinken saidWashington wanted to seeprogress on peace talks andmentioned the draft peaceagreement, which calls for a

new, inclusive government —which Ghani has resisted. Inrecent speeches, Ghani has saidno interim government wouldbe formed “as long as I amalive.” But Blinken was uncom-promising in his letter, whichwas released by Afghanistan’sTOLO TV. “I am making thisclear to you so that you under-stand the urgency of my toneregarding collective work,” hewrote.

In the letter, Blinken said aMay 1 deadline for a finalwithdrawal of US troops —stipulated in a Taliban-US deallast year — is still on the table.Even with America’s $4 billionin aid to Afghanistan’s NationalSecurity Forces, a US with-drawal could mean quick ter-ritorial gains for the Taliban.

Ghani’s first vice president,Amrullah Saleh, said the pres-ident had received the letter andwas unmoved by its contents.He said Ghani was not ready to

embrace the secretary of state’saccelerated pace toward a set-tlement.

“We are neither concernedabout the letter nor has itchanged our position,” Salehsaid. He thanked the US for itssacrifices and financial assis-tance over the past 20 years butsaid the Afghan governmentwon’t succumb to dictation.

“We will make peace withdignity, but never... an imposedpeace,” he said at a ceremony onthe anniversary of the death ofa former defense minister.Ghani has been accused by hispolitical opponents of trying tocling to power at all cost.

Fawzia Koofi, one of onlyfour women at the negotiationtable in Doha, warned againsthaste and a May 1 withdrawal ofUS troops, saying it would causechaos. She confirmed that allsides had received the US-craft-ed draft agreement. AP

Bangkok: Politicians are often accused of sani-tising the news. On Tuesday, Thailand’s primeminister sanitised members of the press.

After fielding a slew of questions from jour-nalists at his weekly news conference in Bangkok,the famously mercurial Prayuth Chan-ochasprayed back — with disinfectant.

Riled by a final question about a possibleCabinet reshuffle, he told reporters to mind theirown business, then grabbed a container of alco-hol mist and doused the front row before saun-tering off.

The quick-tempered former army com-mander, who overthrew the elected governmentin a 2014 coup, is known for his unpredictablebehaviour. AP

Mandalay: About a thousanddemonstrators against lastmonth’s military seizure ofpower in Myanmar emergedcautiously Tuesday onto thestreets of the country’s second-biggest city, those in the van-guard carrying homemadeshields bearing images of thethree-fingered salute, the move-ment’s symbol of defiance.

The protest in Mandalaytook place even though securi-ty forces have shown littlereluctance to use lethal force tobreak up crowds. Those whomarched gathered for just a fewminutes before dispersing toavoid a possible confrontationwith riot police. Another groupmade a mobile protest, drivingthrough the streets on motor-bikes.

The protesters have adapt-ed their tactics in response toescalating violence from secu-rity forces, including the firingof live ammunition at crowds.The government’s crackdown

has left more than 50 protest-ers dead but has failed to slowthe widespread protests againstthe February 1 coup that oust-ed the elected government ofAung San Suu Kyi.

In what has become a dailyoccurrence, protest marcheswere held Tuesday in citiesand towns across the country,according to reports by local

news media and on socialmedia.

Protests occurred in Ye, atown in Mon State in southernMyanmar; Kyaukpadaung, atown in central Myanmar;Mohnyin, a town in KachinState in the north; and MyeikTaung, in the southeast. Theauthorities reportedly usedforce in each case. AP

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London: The British monar-chy maintained its silence onTuesday, after Meghan andPrince Harry accused a fami-ly member of making a racistremark about their son andsaid she had been alienated tothe point of contemplatingsuicide.

Oprah Winfrey’s tell-allTV interview with the couplehas dragged the royals into thebiggest crisis since the death ofHarry’s mother Diana in 1997,when the family, led by QueenElizabeth, was widely criticisedfor being too slow to respond.

In the two-hour show,originally aired on CBS onSunday evening, Harry also

said that his father, heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles, had lethim down.

Charles, while on a visit toa vaccine pop-up clinic at theJesus House Church inLondon, was asked by areporter what he thought ofthe interview. He stopped andlooked up before turning andwalking off without comment.

“Worst Royal Crisis in 85Years,” read the front page ofthe Daily Mirror newspaper,while the Daily Mail’s coverasked “What Have TheyDone?”. The Sun columnistTrevor Kavanagh questioned ifthe interview meant the endfor the royals. AFP

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,��5�) ��������������*�8��������������������Moscow: Russia and China agreed Tuesday tobuild a lunar space station, as Moscow seeksto modernise its extraterrestrial might and catchup with the United States in the space race.

Russia, which sent the first man into spaceduring the Soviet Union, has been laggingbehind Washington and Beijing in the explo-ration of the Moon and Mars.

Russia’s space agency Roscosmos said in astatement that a memorandum was signed byits head Dmitry Rogozin and Zhang Kejian ofChina’s National Space Administration(CNSA).

It said the lunar station will be designed asa “complex of experimental research facilitiescreated on the surface and/or in the orbit of theMoon”.

It would be available for use by other inter-ested countries and international partners, thestatement said, without details about the com-pletion date.

Despite its former Soviet glory, Russia’sspace sector has suffered greatly in recent yearsfrom a lack of financing and corruption.

Moscow and Washington are collaborat-ing in the space sector — one of the few areasof cooperation left between the Cold Warrivals.

Russia last year lost its monopoly formanned flights to the International SpaceStation (ISS) after the first succesful missionof the US company Space X. AFP

Islamabad: The LegislativeAssembly of Gilgit-Baltistanon Tuesday unanimouslyadopted a joint resolution ask-ing the federal Pakistan gov-ernment to grant it provincialstatus and provide it with rep-resentation in Parliament andother constitutional bodies.

The resolution was movedin the Legislative Assembly byGilgit-Baltistan Chief MinisterKhalid Khurshid Khan whorepresented the PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party ofPakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan. He was joined in tablingthe resolution by Oppositionleader Amjad Hussain fromPakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP),Pakistan Muslim League-

Nawaz (PML-N) representativeGhulam Muhammad, MajlisWahdatul Muslimeen (MWM)member Muhammad Kazimand Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam Fazl(JUI-F’) leader Rehmat Khaliq.

India has previouslyslammed Pakistan’s attempt toaccord provincial status to the“so-called Gilgit-Baltistan”, say-ing it is intended to camouflagethe “illegal” occupation of theregion by Islamabad.

The leaders of Gilgit-Baltistan on Tuesday demand-ed that the government ofPakistan give the region provi-sional provincial status andprovide it with representationin Parliament and other con-stitutional bodies. PTI

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Colombo: Sri Lanka said onTuesday that there was no evi-dence to back the claim that thewife of one of the suicidebombers belonging to a localextremist group that carriedout the deadly Easter Sundaybombings had fled to India toavoid arrest.

“This is only a rumour.There is no confirmation of this,”Cabinet spokesman and minis-ter Udaya Gammanpila said inresponse to a media query.

Pulasthini Rajendran aliasSarah, the wife of AchchiMohammdu MohammaduHasthun who blew himself up atSt. Sebastian’s Church in thewestern coastal town ofNegombo on April 21, 2019, wasbelieved to be a key figure in thedeadly bombings.

Gammanpila said if thegovernment gets any credibleinformation of her presence inIndia it would make an extra-dition request. PTI

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The Government has decid-ed to not provide support

to gas-based power plants thatare stranded or running at asub-optimal level in view of thestates’ reluctance to give anyconcession to these projectsand rise in capacity utilisationof these plants, Parliament wasinformed on Tuesday.

“In the light of the reluc-tance of the States to give anywaiver/ concession and thefact that gas-based power gen-eration grew without any sup-port, it was decided that theremay not be any need to haveany policy on providing sup-port to the gas-based powerplants at this juncture,” PowerMinister RK Singh said in awritten reply to the RajyaSabha.

Mumbai:Benchmark BSESensex rallied 584 points toclose above the 51,000-level ina volatile session on Tuesday asprivate banks, IT and con-sumer goods stocks advancedamid positive global cues.

The 30-share BSE barom-eter ended 584.41 points or1.16 per cent higher at51,025.48 with 19 of its con-stituents ending in the green.

The index had openedhigher at 50,714.16 but paredgains to hit an intra-day low of50,396.10 in mid-session due to

profit booking in energy andinfra stocks.

However, positive globalcues, a fall in US bond yieldsand gains in US Futures helpedthe index rebound and closeabove the 51,000 level.

The broader NSE Niftysurged by 142.20 points or0.95 per cent to close at15,098.40 with 24 of its stocksadvancing.

The 50-issue indextouched a high of 15,126.85and a low of 14,925.45 in theday trade.

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Private companies havedeveloped 38 farm markets

in four states with a totalinvestment of over �300 crorein the last three years,Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar said in the LokSabha on Tuesday and addedthat the new farm laws aim atboosting investment in agri-

infrastructure.As per the 2006 National

Commission on Farmers’Report, the minister said thereshould be one market to serve80 square kilometre (sq km),whereas presently one regu-lated market serves 473 sqkm.

In order to realize a greaternumber of markets in thecountry and to induce com-petitiveness and efficiency inthe marketing ecosystem, thereis a felt need for investment infarm marketing.

“Farm laws aim at pro-moting agriculture marketinginfrastructure and supplychains for efficiently connect-ing farm gates to markets forthe benefit of farmers byencouraging investments,”Tomar said in his written replyto the Lower House.

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Vehicle registrationsdeclined on both sequen-

tial and year-on-year (YoY)basis in February 2021.

On Tuesday, the datareleased by the Federation ofAutomobile DealersAssociations (FADA) showedthat vehicle registrationdeclined by 13.43 per cent toaround 14.99 lakh in February2021, compared to over 17.31lakh units reported for thecorresponding period of lastyear.

Similarly, the registrationcount declined on a sequentialbasis to around 14.99 lakh inFebruary from over 15.92 lakhin January 2021.

However, in February2021, registration of personalvehicles grew by 10.59 percent on a YoY basis to 254,058units.

Similarly, tractor registra-tion rose 18.89 per cent on aYoY basis in February to 61,351units. In contrast, two-wheel-er registration fell by 16.08 percent to over 10.91 lakh units.

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Share prices of the oil mar-keting companies (OMC)

dropped on Tuesday with thescrip of privatisation-boundBharat Petroleum CorporationLtd (BPCL) falling over 5 percent.

At 2.16 p.m., BPCL shareson the BSE were trading at�441.05, lower by �25.95 or5.56% from its previous close.Its shares fell amid reports ofthe company selling 4 % oftreasury shares worth �3,774crore in a bulk deal.

Shares of other OMCs alsodeclined on Tuesday withstocks of Indian Oil

Corporation Ltd (IOCL) trad-ing 3.67% lower at �99.75 pershare.

Hindustan PetroleumCorporation’s (HPCL) shareswere trading at �234.60, lowerby 3.62% from its previousclose.

Further, revenues of OMCsare likely to remain underpressure for some time now asofficial sources indicated thatwith fuel price rise becomingan election issue, the Centrewould not like to further esca-late the matter with moreincreases in the auto fuel pricesrequired in the wake of firm-ing of prices in the global oilmarket.

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The Government has madeit mandatory for business-

es with over �50 crore turnoverto generate e-invoices for B2Btransactions from April 1.

Under Goods and ServicesTax (GST) law, e-invoicing forbusiness-to-business (B2B)transactions has been mademandatory for companies withturnover of over �500 crore and�100 crore from October 1,2020, and January 1, 2021,respectively.

E-invoicing will be extend-

ed to companies with turnoverover �50 crore from April 1, theCentral Board of Indirect Taxesand Customs (CBIC) said in anotification.

Under e-invoicing, tax-payers have to generate invoic-es on their internal systems(ERP/accounting/billing soft-ware) and then report themonline to the InvoiceRegistration Portal (IRP).

The IRP will validate theinformation provided in theinvoices and return the digitallysigned e-invoices with a unique‘Invoice Reference Number

(IRN)’ along with a QR Codeto the taxpayer.

EY Tax Partner AbhishekJain said e-invoicing has beenmade mandatory for busi-nesses for �50 crore plusturnover from April 1, whichshowcases the proactivenessand the intent of the govern-ment to wider the net of digi-tisation.

“As limited time is left,industry players in this segmentwill need to proactively mapout the IT and process changesand start implementing thesame,” Jain added.

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Telecom regulator TRAI onTuesday suspended the

newly-implemented norms forcommercial text messages forone week, following major dis-ruptions in SMS and OTPdeliveries for banking, pay-ment, and other transactions.

The norms that pertain tocontent template checks andbalances for text messagescame into effect on Monday. Itstemporary suspension nowwould give commercial entities,sending out messages and

OTPs to customers, a reprieveand more time to comply withthe stipulated requirements.

The move to suspend thenorms would enable the ‘prin-cipal entities’ to register thetemplate of SMS so that noinconvenience is faced by thecustomers, Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (TRAI) saidin a statement. “In order to pro-tect the interest of consumers,it has been decided that scrub-bing of SMS by telecom serviceproviders shall be suspendedtemporarily for seven days...,”it said.

According to the regulator,telecom operators are beingasked to inform their ‘principalentities’ to take immediate nec-essary action in this regard andfacilitate their registration,including SMS template, in atime-bound manner. The tem-porary suspension comes aftertransactions, including bank-ing, credit card payment andcertain other services thatinvolve SMSs and OTP gener-ation, faced a major outage onMonday, and some estimatespegged the delivery failure anddelays of such SMSes at 40%.

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International Women’sDay-2021, Ambala Divisionorganized a FelicitationCeremony on 8th March, 2021on the theme “Women inLeadership: Achieving an equalfeature in COVID-19 world”.

The felicitation ceremonywas conducted during theGeneral Manager NorthernRailway’s inspection of AmbalaDivision. Sh. Ashutosh Gangal,General Manager, NorthernRailway was the Chief Guest forthe programme. Ms. PramilaBhargava, Principal ChiefPersonnel Officer, NorthernRailway and Sh. GurinderMohan Singh, DivisionalRailway Manager, AmbalaDivision were also present.

The cash awards weregiven to 10 women staff ofAmbala Division for the excel-lence shown in working duringthe COVID-19 lockdown.

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The Great Learning, anedtech company for pro-

fessional and higher educa-tion has announced that itwill be hosting a webinar onUX Design Portfolio forFreshers on March 12, 2021.The half-hour long live ses-sion is free of cost and can beattended by anyone who islooking to explore a career asUX designer.

The live session on “UXDesign Portfolio forFreshers” by RamendraTripati, Expert of Ui/UX &

DevOps will shine a spot-light on the most commonqueries faced by profession-als when considering UX asa career option.

The session aims totouch base with necessaryconcepts that will helpbeginners get started with aUX Design portfolio withease.

Interested students canregister for the webinar byclicking on this link:https://www.greatlearning.in/a c a d e m y / l e a r n - f o r -free/courses/ux-design-port-folio-for-freshers.

The 10th & 12th board examina-tions are critical stepping stonesin every student’s life & future.

The results will help them come clos-er to their chosen professional dream.

COVID-19 pandemic scenariomade digital or online education thenorm and brought 360 degree changein the Indian educational system.Amidst this, the 2021 board exami-nations will be the testing grounds forthe future of the students and theIndian education system.

Here are reasons for Boards beingcritical for both students & teachers.

�These exams are the litmus testfor the teachers and students alike.The effectiveness of their year-longdigital education will be put to test.There were no practicals & majorexams or assessments, etc, as there wasminimal or no physical school. Theboard exams will be consequently heldfor the first time amidst such testingconditions.

�The vaccination procedure hasstarted on war level, but has sent somein a panic mode with regards the gen-eral safety of those involved. Many arealso worried about the fairness of theresults, as these exams will be con-ducted on the basis of the online edu-cation provided.

�Average & below average stu-dents can face a major challenge.Focused students as a rule managedtheir timetable and studies well dur-ing the pandemic. But average &below average students can be amajor contributor to a dip in overallresult, due to their lack of ability tohandle the year-long online studies.The topper percentage can remainunchanged though.

�Students might have issues relat-ed to the practical exams due toalmost non-existent practical examsheld during the pandemic schoolyear. A major responsibility in the2021 exams would be conducting

these exams that are critical for theoverall scores.

�Students will indeed face amajor issue of scoring higher marksthan the ones scored by others in theearlier exams. Scoring high marks isaspired by the students and their par-ents. And these aspirations & expec-tations can be detrimental for thosestudents’ mindset who might notachieve the same high scores.

�A 30 per cent cut & syllabusreduction has been one of the effectsof the pandemic. This has made theprevious model/sample test papersbased on the full syllabus useless.Teachers now face the challenge ofcoming up with sample/mock testpapers based on this new syllabus.Schools have to talk extensively withthe students about the reduced syl-labus & the resultant probable papers.They also need to make the studentstake these new papers at length forbetter preparations.

�Waking up early to reach theexam centres can be another challengefor students. This is because these stu-dents have been attending onlineclasses from home and have lost thehabit of waking up early for school.

�Safety at the exam centres willbe a vital aspect & challenge.Attendance will have to be under strictpreventionary codes. Every centremust have fewer students. The num-ber of centres & teachers handlingthem will thus increase. All this willgive priority to social distancing pro-tocols. The centres will be reservedsolely for these exams for safety pur-poses.

These indicators truly give cluesas to why the 2021 Class X and XIIBoard Examinations are so decisive forboth students & teachers. It is a pre-cursor to the educational future ofIndia.

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There is a need to proactivelyaddress the issue of India’s under-

developed research and development(R&D) infrastructure to meet thedemands for quality education andhealthcare.

If numbers are anything to go by,India’s expenditure on R&D has con-tinued to remain stagnant at 0.7% ofGross Domestic Product (GDP) forclose to three decades, with the pub-lic sector accounting for 51.8% ofnational R&D expenditure. Thiscompares to around 2.8% of GDPfor the US, 2.1 per cent of GDP forChina, 4.4% of GDP for Korea andaround 3% for Germany where theprivate sector remains prominentthrough its spending on R&D.

Furthermore, while India’s pub-lic R&D expenditure on healthcareas a share of Central Governmentspending on R&D has increased to5.5%, a figure that is now compara-ble to that in Germany, it remainslow compared to over 25% in the USand around 9% in Korea.

R&D for new health technolo-gies is an essential part of the solu-tion to the emerging health chal-lenges and one of the biggest driversof health improvements. Moreover,health R&D has a multiplier effect.It not only saves and improves lives,but also creates cost savings and dri-ves economic growth. While the

Government has set a target ofincreasing the investment in R&D to2% of GDP by 2022, whether thiswould be feasible in the post-Covid-19 scenario, is too early to predict.Over a period of time, healthcare hasbecome one of the key priorities ofthe Central Government for whichit has launched new policies andprogrammes to boost local accessand affordability to quality health-care.

It is imperative to improve thequality of various education insti-tutions along with quantitativeexpansion. Also, academic institu-tions are generally considered as theresearch undertakings driving inno-

vation at the most elementary levelin a sector. Over a period of time,various expert committees haveobserved the importance of privatesector investment in higher educa-tion to raise this expenditure.

For a country of India’s size andat its stage of development, relyingprimarily on public expenditure forinitiating R&D activities will sub-sequently lead to inefficient use oflimited resources, besides delay incapitalising its vast potential.

The inclusion of private playerscan be looked at towards creating arobust R&D infrastructure in thecountry and this way it would bealso possible to revolutionise health-care and education sectors.

It may be noted that privateplayers ensure necessary invest-ments into the prominent sectors ofhealthcare and education, apartfrom ensuring more effectiveresources management throughtheir experience. In a way, strengthsof private players will create a win-win situation for all the stakehold-ers. Besides, it would ensure high-er quality and timely developmentof R&D infrastructure. Thus, privatesector expertise and experience canbe suitably utilised in promotion ofR&D infrastructure on a long-termbasis.

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The 69th Senior National Volleyball(men & women) Championship 2020-

21 has been inaugurated at Biju PatnaikIndoor Stadium, KIIT Deemed to beUniversity on March 5, 2021. TusharkantiBehera, Minister Sports & Youth Servicesand Electronics & Information Technology,Govt of Odisha joined as Chief Guest in theinaugural ceremony while Anil Choudhary,Secretary General, Volleyball Federation ofIndia (VFI); Rathin Ray Choudhury, Sr VicePresident, VFI and Chairman, ControlCommittee; Dr Achyuta Samanta, MP,Kandhamal; President, VFI and Founder,KIIT & KISS; Prof Sasmita Samanta,Organising President and Pro-VC, KIIT

Deemed to be University, Prof H KMohanty,VC, KIIT DU joined as guests and gracedthe occasion.

On the occasion of legend BijuPatnaik’s 105th birth anniversary, theinaugural ceremony happened after giv-ing floral tribute to late Biju Babu.

For the first time in the history ofIndian volleyball, Odisha as a state host-ed the senior national championship con-secutively after successfully conducting the68th Senior National Volleyball (M&W)Championship last year. Also for the firsttime all the matches would be played inindoor courts with live streaming. All thematches will be played at Biju PatnaikIndoor Stadium as per COVID guidelinesof Govt of Odisha.

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Dr Sunita Gandhi, edu-cationist, visionary

and founder of GlobalDream Programme,Global Classroom PrivateLimited (GCPL) & GlobalEducation & TrainingInstitute (GETI), hastaken an initiative bylaunching the ‘One WordLiteracy Challenge’ onInternational Women’sDay, and has invited vol-unteers from all sectionsof society to take up thechallenge to make India

100% literate. As part of this, vol-

unteers will complete theone-hour Name LiteracyChallenge where they willcommit an hour to teachan i l l iterate learner(preferably female) to readand write her name.

After completing thechallenge, volunteers areencouraged to sign-up forthe 30-hour ‘CompleteLiteracy Challenge’ tomake their learner com-pletely literate andnumerate at the founda-tional (Standard 3) level.

Dr Gandhi explains:“Literacy of women isvital to our country’ssocio-economic develop-ment. Teaching them howto read and write wouldresult in a huge socialt r a n s f o r m a t i o n .Empowering women andeducating them translatesto educating an entiregeneration. A well-learned woman alsoensures there is literacythat runs in her family onthe one hand and overallquality of human life onthe other.”

Dr Gandhi alsoemphasizes on the impor-tant of starting with thename. She says: “Our firstname is our identity, oursignature, and knowinghow to write can make anilliterate person immense-ly confident and full ofself-esteem. We invite stu-dents, working and retiredprofessionals, home-mak-ers, corporates, civil soci-ety organisations and vol-unteers from all sectionsof society participate. Youcan change someone’sworld with one word.”

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In today’s world, it has become moreimportant than ever for organisa-

tions to hire the best available staffas well as find ways to keep themmotivated and committed. Motivatedemployees bring in increased pro-ductivity by achieving higher levelsof output. However, often at times,there is a lack of motivation andengagement in the workplace thatmakes employees feel demoralisedand of less significance to the organ-isation. This acts as a significant con-tributor to emotional distress andburnout that eventually leads to arange of psychological disorders.

A study by ASSOCHAM inApril 2015 stated that nearly 42.5%of employees in private sectors suf-fered from general anxiety disorderor depression.

To promote psychological healththrough motivation and engage-ment in an organisation, the humanresources (HR) role is critical. Theirpurpose is to promote self-confi-dence, creativity, autonomy, and ini-tiative which are the essential char-acteristics to meet the internaldemands of the organisation andstreamline the productive flow forwork performance.

In organisations, the role of thehuman resources is of strategicimportance. With their activities, thehuman resources can increase moti-vation, thus increasing the quality ofwork-life balance for the employees.Simultaneously, the organisational cli-mate improves that directly impactsproductivity.

The HR manager needs tounderstand that motivation is direct-ly proportional to the improvementof individual performance. While

several employees across the globecan and do work while experiencingmental health issues, like depressionor anxiety, with little impact on pro-ductivity but there are situationswhere an individual is not able towork because of the severity of thecondition. In the majority of cases,supportive HR intervention can bethe key to continued productivity.

Strategies: Since employee moti-vation and well-being have a stronginfluence on organisational health,financial success along with customersatisfaction and loyalty, HR managerscan adopt certain strategies to putinto practice in this context.

Pleasant working environment:Professional well-being stems fromhealthy and pleasant working con-ditions. Therefore, it is necessary toprovide employees with a comfort-able, clean, and if possible, cus-tomised workspace. Other than that,flexible working hours or work fromhome opportunities (if compatiblewith the work activities) can also beoffered that can increase motivationlevels.

Identifying positive attitudes:HR managers should value employ-ees who have proactive and success-ful attitudes. Since autonomy intro-duces more dynamism and flexibil-

ity to work, this professional stanceis presently in demand. Apart fromthat, passing on work-related com-pliments and positive feedback cango a long way in showing employeesthat positive attitudes never go unno-ticed.

Encourage creativity:Innovation happens through cre-ativity. Thus, human resources shouldalways be open to adopting tech-niques that promote this process.Such processes shouldn't focus onexaggerated structuring and insteadadopt flexibility to thrive. TheHackamonth programme imple-mented by Facebook allows employ-ees to work with a different team andproject for a month. Through thisapproach, integration between dif-ferent teams is stimulated, and alsothe employees are able to developnew experiences and perspectivesfrom their peers.

Transparent and open com-munication channels: HR man-agers should always be open to talksor discussions with employeesregarding any issue. Anxieties, frus-trations, and possible problems needto be heard and properly addressedto stall negative impacts on theorganisation.�� ���� ���9 �"� ! ����� ��� ! � ����

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�������������������A���$�Offered by Tel Aviv

University — one of the glob-al centers of cyber leadership,the MA in Cyber Politics andGovernment is a new graduateprogramme for 2021-22. Theprogramme bridges strategicgovernance and policy withtechnology and is designed tohelp students gain the criticaltools for developing strategicplanning, management, andleadership in the challengingera of big data, cyber threatsand new evolving technologies.

The programme is open toeveryone with a bachelor’sdegree in any field from anaccredited institution of high-er education. The students arerequired to have a GPA of atleast 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, or 80 ona 100 scale.

Conducted from Octoberto August, the graduate pro-gram is a three semester (10month) program with the thirdsemester (summer) runningfor seven weeks.

Applicants can apply forthe course by registering at:https://portal.telavivuniv.org/createprofile.php.

��������������������The Indian School of

Business and Finance (ISBF)has announced that the firstround of applications for its BSc(Hons) Business Managementprogramme, that it offers inpartnership with UK-basedKingston University (KU), isset to close on March 13, 2021for the academic year 2021-22.

This programme offers stu-dents the unique opportunityto undertake the first two yearsof this degree in India at ISBF,and then move to KingstonUniversity for the third yearand graduate in London, thusgliding over the health andfinancial risks of living abroadthis year and still gaining aninternational education withthe certainty of graduatingabroad.

All candidates who have

completed Class XII, or will becompleting it in 2021, are eli-gible to apply for the KingstonUniversity’s Bachelor’s inBusiness Management pro-gramme, irrespective of theirstream, or combination of sub-jects, in school, subject to thefollowing minimum require-ments:

IB/A Levels: Minimum 100UCAS tariff points

CBSE or ISC Board:Minimum 60% in Class XII*

State Boards: Minimum65% in Class XII.*

*Note: Students must alsoscore at least 70 per cent inEnglish, failing which they willhave to appear for IELTS todemonstrate proficiency in theEnglish language.

Students can submit theirapplications for KingstonUniversity London pro-grammes at: https://isbf.nopa-performs.com/

������������A�����������The University of Sheffield,

UK invites applications forMechatronic and RoboticEngineering with a year inIndustry BEng course startingin September 2021.

This specialist, four-yearBEng will develop your engi-neering skills across key areasof mechatronics and robotics,including mechanical design,electronics, computing andcontrol.

The eligibility is 80 per centmarks in Class XII includingMaths and a science subject.IELTS grade of 6.0 with a min-imum of 5.5 in each compo-nent; or an alternative accept-able English language qualifi-cation. For further informationcontact: [email protected].

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�What is Unlu about?Launched during the lockdown in

2020, it is a celebrity engagement plat-form which enables fans or brands toreach out to celebrities of their choiceand possibly interact with them. It hasvarious different services like celebri-ty shoutout, brand endorsements, Unluclass and live shows. Together theseproducts have over 2000-plus celebri-ties from different fields like sports,Bollywood and music. Users can booka personalised video message for theirfriends and family members; whilesmall and medium sized brands canhave their products endorsed by thecelebrities at a minimal price. �How did the idea come up?

My last start-up was Cricnwinwhich connected cricket fans to thefranchises and players. I am very fondof this industry overall and the entiremotive behind these platforms is tosolve queries and make social mediamore democratised. I wanted to makethis entire process transparent andbring fans closer to their favouritecelebs. We are trying really hard tobridge this gap between fans andcelebrities by creating mediums ofengagement. �What is the aim?

The motive behind this platform isto let people know how much hardwork they put in their work to be wherethey are. We want the fans and audi-ence to know and value their hard workand respect them. Also, to ensuring thatthe users are aware of the fair pricerather than paying high prices due toindirect connects.�How does it work?

The platform works on a pay perservice model. For every shout-outvideo message from the celebrity thereis a fixed amount dedicated to eachcelebrity and for Unlu class one has tobuy each celebrity’s lesson at the nom-inal price of �499. �The need for this platform?

Social media does not fully enablea fan to communicate with the celebri-ties and most of the times their com-ments and messages get overlooked bythem. This is primarily because of thehuge number of conversations on eachpost, quite difficult to keep a track of,

by anyone. �You started off as a teacher, why thisventure?

I started my professional journeyas a teacher, to sustain myself and makeenough money in order to fund myeducation. Though it constitutes as asignificant part of my struggle butteaching was never my passion or goalas, I always wanted to be an entrepre-neur. But my past exposures in lifemade me confident at dealing with dif-ferent sets of people and managing dif-ferent personalities that contributed toteam building skills. Also, it helped atenhancing entrepreneurial skill. �Is it just for students?

Its various service verticals cater todifferent categories of end users. It isalso for those people who are interest-ed in knowing the journey and storiesof these celebrities and looking forinspiration. Last, the platform is also forthose who just want to learn these skillsout of choice, just as an extracurricu-lar activity. There will be a lot of amaz-ing stories which you might get to knowonly from these Unlu classes. In con-clusion, everyone who aspires to learnand eventually do something big intheir life is a part of our targetaudience.

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The Triumphant Instituteof ManagementEducation (TIME) Pvt.

Ltd is conducting GATEQuestScholarship test on March 14,2021.

The test is open to studentswho wish to prepare for GATE2022.The test will be conduct-ed in two slots — 10 am and 6pm. This tesy (exclusive toGATE 22 students) will beavailable in the online modewhich the test takers would beable to write from anywhere.

The test will contain multi-ple-choice questions onQuantitative Ability, DataInterpretation, and VerbalAbility, Engineering syllabus.The entire test expected to takeapproximately an hour. Basedon performance, students writ-ing this examination willbecome eligible to get up to a100 per cent scholarship ononline GATE 2022 course.

How to apply: Register:https://www.time4education.com/local/articlecms/page.php?id=4584.

Application deadline:Enroll between March 8-14,2021for the online GATE 22course at an assured discount of50 per cent, whereas the specialfee is �14,750 only.

The Plaksha hasannounced Bharti Scholarshipfor undergraduate students.

Launched in association withBharti Foundation with an

aim of going beyond a financialcommitment, the scholarshipwill be extended to exception-al students from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to pur-sue full-time undergraduatestudies at Plaksha. The schol-arship also aims to promotewomen in technology.

The scholarship will beawarded on an annual basis todeserving candidates subject toeligibility through a stringentselection process.

The KC MahindraEducation Trust invites appli-cations for scholarship for PGstudies abroad from meritoriousgraduates. Successful applicantscan avail an interest free loanscholarship up to a maximumamount of �4 lakh. Three schol-ars being recognised as KCMahindra Fellows will be con-ferred scholarship up to �8lakh per scholar.

Eligibility: Must be anIndian citizen possessing a first-class degree or equivalent froma recognised university. Securedadmission or applied for admis-sion to a reputable university orinstitution abroad. The pro-gramme should commencebetween August 2021 andFebruary 2022. Shortlisted stu-dents will be called for the finalinterviews which will be held inJuly 2021.

How to apply: Fill form onthe website: www.kcmet.org.

Application deadline: It isMarch 31, 2021.

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As the countries of the worldprepare for COVID-19 vac-cination drives to safeguard

citizens from any further impactof the pandemic, the tenure of theCOVID-19 and its widespreaddevastating impact will always beremembered as one of the mostturbulent times in recent historyof the modern world.

For time immemorialmankind has been thrown intoexternal turbulent circumstancessuch as pandemic, wars, environ-mental changes, social and polit-ical changes, economic and tech-nological changes and also innerturbulences in the form of fear,anxiety, jealousy, desperation,greed and lust.

However, it has also been wit-nessed that at each such turbulentjuncture the success and survivalof mankind was directly co-relat-ed to the advancement madetowards self-development and theability to adapt.

As for the education sector atlarge the biggest challenge in thispandemic has been to keep thefaith of students and parentsanchored in the system of educa-tion. Educators have workeddeterminedly to create a sense ofcontinuity of learning for their stu-dents despite technological deter-

rents and poor accessibility tomeans of communication.

After rowing in the stormywaters of the virtual educationworld for almost a year, educa-tional institutes are now preparingto open their campuses again.However, until the COVID-19battle is wholly won, education forstudents will need to be a mergerbetween learning at the schoolcampus and at home-based studystations.

School leaders and teachersmust awaken themselves to thebasic needs of the students andmust re-create their strategies andcurriculum in such a way thatdespite the constraints of the pan-demic and it’s after effects theseneeds are met.

According to theorist,Abraham Maslow the needs of thestudents are broadly identifiedas; physiological needs, safetyneeds, need for love and belong-ing, need for self-esteem and alsoa spiritual need for self-actualisa-tion.

During the COVID-19 ensur-ing physical safety of the studentswill remain a focal point. The edu-cation atmosphere should be freeof any kind of fear or desperationif we intend our students to max-imize their potential.

School leaders must focus onmaking the schools physical infra-structure- COVID safe, by fol-lowing all necessary Governmentnorms and protocols. A depart-ment, within the school should beformed which works full time inpreventing and handling ofCOVID related contingencies.

Schools should begin prepar-ing blueprints to include changessuch as; installations of thermalscanners at the entry and exitpoints, socially distanced indoorclassroom settings, physically dis-tanced desk arrangements, out-door class-rooms, plans for disin-fecting classroom and school fur-niture, systems for improvedwash-room practices and so on.

Coming to educational con-tent; schools will need to redesignnot only the method of delivery'of teaching but also content thatneeds to be delivered. Schoolsmust consider shifting focus fromadvance knowledge to foundationconcepts, as an interim solutionduring the pandemic. Time-tables,school working days and schoolworking hours will also need to bereworked. Even if the schoolsreopen, it may still not be advis-able to congest or overpopulate theschool premises.

Ideally schools should follow

a staggered re-opening approach,which is expected to offer a com-fortable transition period, from acomplete house arrest to full timeschool, for students.

For the staggered re-opening,some of the approaches could be;students attending schools 'resi-dential zone wise, opening theschool class-wise or offering homeschooling by teachers in smallgroups.

Whatever may be the contextor times, the role of a school in achild's life is quite cut out; it is tobring forth the innate capacity andcapability of each child and to gobeyond the realms of technicalknowledge and basic skills.

School education should notbe limited to a few deliberate con-cepts and pre-planned strategies.In the words of western philoso-pher Lodge: “All experiences aresaid to be educative — the bite ofmosquito, the taste of a water-melon, the experiences of fallingin love, of flying in an aeroplane,of being caught in a storm in asmall boat experiences have direct-ly educative effect on us. Whateverbroadens our horizon, deepensour insight, refines our reactions,and stimulate thought and feelingeducates us.

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Page 12: 1 # · 2021. 3. 9. · him, but let me tell you. I have the support of the entire Nandigram, entire 100 per cent … So there is no point playing the Hindu card because that will

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Veteran Jhulan Goswami’sfour-wicket haul was

beautifully complemented bySmriti Mandhana’s sparkling80 not out as Indian womenoutplayed South Africa by

nine wickets in the secondODI to level the five-matchseries 1-1 here on Tuesday.

The 38-year-old Goswamireturned with figures of 10-0-42-4 and she was ably support-ed by fellow seamer MansiJoshi (2/23) and left-arm spin-

ner Rajeshwari Gayakwad(3/37) as India dismissedSouth Africa for a paltry 157after opting to field.

Opener Mandhana (80 notout off 64 balls) and Raut (62not out, 89 balls) then sharedan unbeaten 138-run part-nership for the second wicketwith India overhauling thetarget in only 28.4 overs tobounce back from their eight-wicket loss in the first ODI.

Mandhana blasted 10fours and three sixes whileRaut dropped anchor at oneend but also hit eight bound-aries.

Mandhana made herintentions clear right fromthe start when she clubbed thefirst two balls of her inningsfor sixes off Shabnim Ismail(1/46) and also scored thewinning runs with successivefours in the 29th over.

Earlier, Lara Goodall wasthe most successfulbatswoman for South Africa asshe scored a 77-ball 49, whileskipper Sune Luus chipped inwith a 57-ball 36.

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Germany’s World Cup-win-ning head coach Joachim

Löw will step down after theEuropean championships thisJuly, the German FootballAssociation said on Tuesday.

Löw will leave with a yearleft on his contract havingsigned up until the 2022 WorldCup finals in Qatar.

In a statement, Löw said hewas “full of pride and enormousgratitude” after nearly 15 yearsas national coach and that hewas “motivated” for his swan-song at the rearrangedEuropean championships fromJune 11-July 11.

Fritz Keller, the president ofthe German football association(DFB), said Löw’s decision“gives us the necessary time toname his successor calmly”.

Liverpool managerJurgen Klopp and BayernMunich boss Hansi Flick,who was Löw’s assistantcoach when Germanywon the 2014 WorldCup, have been men-

tioned as early frontrunnersfor the job.

Löw has vowed to go out ona high at the European champi-onships but Germany face atough task as they are drawn inthe same group as world cham-pions France and holdersPortugal.

“I still feel the will, greatenergy and ambition,” Löwinsisted.

“I will do my best to makeour fans happy and be success-ful at this tournament.”

The 61-year-old nicknamedJogi has been in charge of

Germany since2006.

The 2014 tri-umph in Brazil,where his side

beat Lionel Messi’sArgentina in

the final thanks to MarioGoetze’s extra-time winner, wasthe highpoint of his reign.

But Löw has faced threeyears of criticism since holdersGermany crashed out of the2018 World Cup in Russia atthe group stage.

The calls for him to resigngrew louder since Germanywere hammered 6-0 by Spain inthe Nations League lastNovember.

Until the 2014 debacle, theGermans had reached at leastthe semi-finals of every tourna-ment under Löw.

“I have worked with thebest footballers in the countryand supported them in theirdevelopment,” Löw said onTuesday.

“I have had great triumphswith them and painful defeats,but above all many wonderfuland magical moments — notjust winning the 2014 WorldCup in Brazil.”

His record as coach is animpressive 120 wins in 189games with Germany as well as38 draws and 31 defeats.

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Ronald Koeman insistsBarcelona can pull off

another incredible comebackagainst Paris Saint-Germainon Wednesday, especially ifLionel Messi plays at his sen-sational best.

Barca were thrashed 4-1 inthe first leg of the ChampionsLeague last 16 last month butKoeman believes his team canrepeat the remontada of 2017,when they overturned a 4-0defeat by PSG with an astonish-ing 6-1 victory.

“There is always a chance,”said Koeman in a press confer-ence on Tuesday. “It dependshow we start the game, theenergy we put into making lifedifficult for them and howruthless we are.

“They were ruthless in thefirst leg but we always createchances, so if we can beabsolutely ruthless, nothing isimpossible.”

PSG will also be withoutNeymar again in Paris after theclub confirmed he is still suf-

fering from a thigh injury.“Neymar is one of the best

players in the world,” saidBarca midfielder Frenkie deJong. “If he isn’t in front of you,

it’s easier, of course.”Despite scoring a penalty

in the first game at Camp Nou,Messi was overshadowed by astatement performance from

PSG’s Kylian Mbappe, whoripped Barcelona apart with astunning hat-trick.

But Messi has been in goodform with seven goals in his lastseven games and Koemanbelieves his captain can pro-

duce something special to turnthe tie.

“If Leo can play one of hisbest matches, everything ispossible,” Koeman said. “He isthe kind of player than candecide any match, at any time.”

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All-rounder HardikPandya has startedbowling full tilt at the

nets with a slightly tweakedaction ahead of the five-matchT20 series against England,giving the Indian team anadditional bowling option inwhite-ball format that theyhave missed for some time.

Hardik uploaded a videoof his net session on his Twitterpage, which mainly was a col-lage of his booming hitsincluding his customised ver-sion of helicopter shot as headcoach Ravi Shastri, battingcoach Vikram Rathour andskipper Virat Kohli lookedintently.

However, it was the last 10seconds of footage that reallycaught the attention when hestrode into bowl.

Since suffering stress frac-tures in his back in 2019,Hardik has rarely bowled. Hewas forced to bowl during theAustralia ODIs at a time whenhis action was undergoing achange.

Former national selectorand Test batsman DevangGandhi has noted the changein his action.

“It seems that he hasreduced the length of his jumpand in turn the stride is short-er. If you have a big jump, auto-matically, your stride will belonger and there will be morepounding on landing,” Gandhisaid.

The economy of actionwill put lesser stress on his backas Pandya could be an impor-tant cog not only during theT20 World Cup in October butalso the seamer all-rounderthat India will desperately needin England where they arescheduled to play six Testmatches, beginning withWorld Test Championshipfinal in Southampton.

DHAWAN MAY MISS OUTVeteran opener Shikhar

Dhawan is unlikely to get anygame in the five-match T20series unless one among KLRahul and Rohit Sharma iseither injured or rested.

It has been learnt that as ofnow, Dhawan has no chance ofmaking it to the playing XI inthe T20 format although hewill remain the first choiceback-up opener.

Dhawan, who was sec-ond-highest scorer behind KLRahul in last year’s IPL, willfind it difficult to get a look in,in this shortest format withRohit, who was injured duringthe white ball leg, is back in thethick of things.

“KL and Rohit are youropening pair in T20s goinginto the World T20. Shikharwill be the reserve opener andwill have to wait for his turn.

May be during the ODIs, hecan be given a chance if theODIs are also treated as anextension of T20 preparation,”Gandhi, who till recently wasin selection panel commented.

PANT AT 4, SURYA AT 5Gandhi feels that Rishabh

Pant should bat at number 4which will give him a lot oftime to play his destructivegame and he would like to see

Suryakumar Yadav being triedout at number five in theline-up.

The toss-up for one spe-cialist middle-order slot isbetween Surya and ShreyasIyer and Gandhi’s vote is withthe Mumbai Indians man.

“Surya has had tremen-dous success for MumbaiIndians in the IPL batting atthat particular slot. If you arelooking at him going into theWorld T20, give him as manygames as possible in the leadup. He should also be kept inthe ODI squad.”

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Former batsman VVSLaxman believes Rishabh

Pant can be a match-winner forIndia in the T20 format andneeds to be given a longer ropekeeping the upcoming T20World Cup in mind.

The 23-year-old wicket-keeper batsman was recentlynamed in the limited oversquad for the upcoming fiveT20Is against England afterbeing dropped from the white-ball leg of the Australia tour.

“We have seen him playunder pressure for DelhiCapitals and win matches. Asa left-hand batsman, he givesthat option where the opposi-tion captain can feel the heatonce he gets going,” saidLaxman said on Star Sportsshow Game Plan.

“I think he is a great addi-tion and I hope they don’t judgehim by one or two inningsbecause if you’re keeping inmind the World Cup, it can bea long rope. Once he has thesecurity, we know that he canwin matches just by himself.”

Pant had cracked a breath-taking 101 off 118 balls to helpIndia score 365 in the fourthTest, besides scoring a 97 atSydney and an unbeaten 89 atBrisbane that led India to a his-toric series win against

Australia in January.Laxman, a veteran of 134

Tests, feels Pant can fulfil thefinisher’s role in the team alongwith Hardik Pandya andRavindra Jadeja.

“In this situation, it couldjust strengthen the finishers inthe Indian team because overthe last one and one and halfyears, we are overly dependenton Hardik Pandya, and(Ravindra) Jadeja when hecomes at number 7,” Laxmansaid.

“But if there is one batsmanin the Indian batting line-upwho from the first ball can playthose shots is Pandya. Pant withthe kind of form and maturi-ty; it’s not only about the formbut the maturity with whichhe’s batted in Test matches, Ithink he (Pant) will be a match-winner.”

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Skipper Prithvi Shaw blazedhis way to an unbeaten 185

off just 123 balls as Mumbaistormed into the semi-finals ofthe Vijay Hazare Trophy witha crushing nine-wicket winover Saurashtra in the fourthquarter-final here on Tuesday.

Opting to bat, Saurashtrarode on Samarth Vyas’ unbeat-en 90 to post 284 for 5, but itwas overshadowed by Shaw’sblitzkrieg, as Mumbai chasedthe target in just 41.5 overs.

Shaw smashed his thirdhundred in the tournamentafter slamming 105 not outagainst Delhi and 227 not outagainst Puducherry in theleague stage.

Chasing 285, Shaw wenton the offensive from theword go as Mumbai scored 67for no loss after nine overs.

The diminutive right-han-der did not spare any of theopposition bowlers as he hit 21fours and seven sixes in hiswhirlwind innings.

With Shaw in full flow,Yashasvi Jaiswal (75 off 104balls) played the perfect sec-ond fiddle.

Shaw, who now holds therecord for the highest individ-ual score in the tournament,kept playing his shots andcompleted his 50 off 29 balls.

The youngster continuedthe onslaught and notched up

his hundred in 67 balls even asthe opening duo added 238 forthe first wicket and laid thefoundation for the win.

Jaiswal hit 10 fours and asix, but perished whenMumbai was on the cusp of awin.

Shaw, then in Aditya Tare’s(20 not out) company complet-ed the formalities with ease.

Earlier, Samarth Vyas,who came in at number six,and Chirag Jani (53 not out off38 balls), rallied the inningsand provided the much-need-ed momentum with their 129-run unbroken stand for sixthwicket.

Vyas hammered sevenboundaries and four maxi-mums, while Jani struck fivefours and one six, as the duotoyed with the Mumbai attack.Brief Scores: Saurashtra 284/5(Samarth Vyas 90 not out,Chirag Jani 53 not out; ShamsMulani 2/51; Tanush Kotian1/30) lost to Mumbai 285/1(Prithvi Shaw 185 not out,Yashasvi Jaiswal 75; JaydevUnadkat 1/52) by 9 wickets.

UP BEAT DELHIIn the other semifinal

match played at Feroz ShahKotla, a disciplined UttarPradesh put up a thoroughly

professional performance tooutwit Delhi by 46 runs.

UP will now meet Gujaratin the first semi-final whileheavyweights Mumbai will bepitted against Karnataka in theother last four clash.

Uttar Pradesh rode onkeeper-batsman UpendraYadav’s stroke-filled 112 off101 balls and skipper KaranSharma’s 83 off 100 deliveriesto post a competitive 280/7.

The UP bowlers then didwell enough to restrict Delhito 234 in 48.1 overs with noneof the middle-order batsmengetting a move on after a top-order collapse, having losthalf of the side within 20overs.

Shivam Mavi 1/31 in 8.2overs was brilliant until he hadto be taken off the attack forbowling a couple of beamers.

But it was the spinnersShivam Sharma (1/33 in 10overs) and off-spinner SameerChoudhary (0/25 in 6 overs)who put the brakes in the mid-dle overs when Lalit Yadav (61off 78 balls) and Anuj Rawat(47 off 64 balls) couldn’t breakthe shackles.Brief Scores: Uttar Pradesh280/7 (Upendra Yadav 112,Karan Sharma 83; PradeepSangwan 2/49, Simarjeet Singh2/51) beat Delhi 234 in 48.1overs (Lalit Yadav 61, AnujRawat 47, Akshdeep Nath2/29, Shivam Mavi 1/32).

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Japan has decided to stage thissummer’s Tokyo Olympics

and Paralympics without over-seas spectators due to publicconcern about Covid-19, Kyodonews agency said on Tuesday,citing officials with knowledgeof the matter.

The Tokyo 2020 gamesorganising committee said inresponse that a decision wouldbe made by the end of March.

The Olympics, postponedby a year because of the pan-demic, are scheduled for July 23to August 8, and theParalympics from August 24 toSeptember 5.

Kyodo said the JapaneseGovernment had concludedthat welcoming fans fromabroad would not be possiblegiven public concern about

the coronavirus and the detec-tion of more contagious vari-ants in many countries, Kyodocited the officials as saying.

The opening ceremony ofthe torch relay would also beheld without any spectators,Kyodo said.

“The organising committeehas decided it is essential tohold the ceremony in thenortheastern prefecture ofFukushima behind closeddoors, only permitting partic-ipants and invitees to take partin the event, to avoid largecrowds forming amid the pan-demic,” Kyodo said, quoting theofficials.

Tokyo 2020 PresidentSeiko Hashimoto has said shewants a decision on whether tolet in overseas spectators beforethe start of the torch relay onMarch 25.

Leipzig: RB Leipzig coachJulian Nagelsmann insists hisside remain underdogs inWednesday’s ChampionsLeague, last 16 clash againstcrisis-hit Liverpool after theGermans lost 2-0 to the Redsin the first leg.

“We are heading into thegame with the necessaryhumility and respect,”Nagelsmann said on Tuesday.

He added that Liverpool’smiserable run of six defeatsfrom their last seven leaguegames had no bearing onLeipzig’s chances in theChampions League.

“We’re not interested inLiverpool’s league results,because we are losing this tieat the moment. We are thechallengers, not the favourites,”said the 33-year-old Leipzigcoach.

Nagelsmann added that hebacked Liverpool to bounceback under fellow Germanboss Jurgen Klopp.

“It’s a hard phase for them,but they are still a world-classteam with a world-class coach,”said Nagelsmann.

“Jurgen has already mas-tered a few crises in his career,”he added. AFP

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India’s teenaged batting sen-sation Shafali Verma moved

up a place to second whilevice-captain Smriti Mandhanaretained the seventh spot inthe latest ICC women’s T20Irankings, released on Tuesday.

With 744 rating points,Verma is behind leader BethMooney (748) of Australiawhile Mandhana has 693points.

Jemimah Rodrigues —with 643 points — remainedat the ninth spot to be the

third Indian batswoman in thetop 10.

All-rounder DeeptiSharma (6th), spinners RadhaYadav (8th) and PoonamYadav (9th) were in the top 10in the bowlers list.

England’s SophieEccleston (799) continued tolead the bowlers’ list and wasfollowed by Shabnim Ismail(764) of South Africa in thesecond spot.

Deepti was the loneIndian to figure in the all-rounders’ list. She is placedfourth with 302 points.

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�).�������)�����' (� ��4���� �+����*.���� �New Delhi: India’s off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin was onTuesday named the ICC men’sPlayer of the Month (February)for his stellar show againstEngland in a four-match Testseries.

In the three Tests he played,Ashwin scored a 106 in the sec-ond innings of India’s secondTest victory over England atChennai and took his 400th Testwicket in the third Test victoryat Ahmedabad.

Besides the century, Ashwinscalped a staggering 24 wicketsagainst England in February tohelp India pocket the four-match Test series 3-1 and helphis team secure its spot in theWTC final against New Zealandat the iconic Lord’s in June.

Scoring a total of 176 runsacross these games and taking 24wickets, Ashwin was the unan-imous choice to win in themen’s category for February andgarnered the most votes in thefan vote, the ICC said in a state-ment.

Tammy Beaumont fromEngland was adjudged women’sPlayer of the Month. PNS

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