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 · 1 day ago · antibodies in a sero-preva-lence survey. +,-ˆ,./# Colonel B Santosh Babu, who...

Date post: 27-Jan-2021
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W hen India and China were preparing for talks last week to defuse tension at the border in Ladakh, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops tried to breach the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Sikkim leading to a minor face-off when Indian Army intercepted the Chinese. Soldiers from both armies were injured. The situation was brought under control fol- lowing the intervention of local commanders. China on Monday, howev- er, denied that such an incident ever took place. The Indian Army, on the other hand, con- firmed the incident and said, “We have received several queries regarding a face-off between Indian Army and PLA troops in the Sikkim sector. It is clarified that there was a minor face-off at the Naku La area of North Sikkim on January 20 and the same was resolved by local commanders as per established protocols. Media is requested to refrain from overplaying or exagger- ating reports which are factu- ally incorrect.” Sources said the injuries were insignificant and minor in nature and roughly about 20 PLA soldiers and four Indians were injured in the melee. The fracas took place when the Chinese patrol tried to enter Indian territory, they added. The Naku La is located at a height of more than 13,000 feet. The latest stand-off took place at a time when the Corps Commanders of the two armies were getting ready for the talks on Sunday. The talks lasted more than 16 hours at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in Eastern Ladakh. However, there was no tangible breakthrough in the parleys. The joint statement released here on Monday said the two sides had a candid and in-depth exchange of views on disengagement along the LAC. The two sides agreed that the ninth round of meeting was positive, practical and con- structive, which further enhanced mutual trust and understanding. The two sides agreed to push for an early dis- engagement of the frontline troops. Talking about the latest face-off, an official said, such an incident had also taken place last year on May 9 at Naku La when tension was building up at the LAC in Eastern Ladakh. Mountain pass is known as La in the Tibetan language. Even then, the troops from both sides exchanged blows after jostling each other. The inter- vention of local commanders prevented the situation from escalating. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesman Zhao Lijian told a daily briefing in Beijing on Monday that he had “no infor- mation to offer” on the reports of clashes. He also said the Chinese troops are committed to main- taining peace at the border and urged India to meet China halfway and refrain from any unilateral actions that may exacerbate the border situation. The Chinese army mouth- piece The Global Times termed the incident as fake news and said there is no record of this incident in the Chinese PLA front line patrol logs. In recent days, the focus of the military’s top leaders on both sides has been on the ninth round of Corps Commander-level talks, not a new border clash, and the two sides have not been involved in such clashes mentioned by the Indian media, it said. There have been minor frictions between the frontline forces of the two countries, but if there had been friction involving casualties, it is impos- sible for them not to be record- ed in the Chinese patrol logs. As regards the Corps Commander-level dialogue, the Indian delegation was headed by 14 Corps chief Lt General PK Menon while Major General Liu Lin led the Chinese team. The statement said the two countries also agreed to follow the important consensus of their state leaders, maintain the good momentum of dialogue and negotiation, and hold the 10th round of the Corps Commander-level meeting at an early date to jointly advance de-escalation. The two sides agreed to continue their effective efforts in ensuring the restraint of the frontline troops, stabilise and control the situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the China-India border, and jointly maintain peace and tranquility. B esides Indian media, a large number of foreign media has also lined up to cover the “kisan parade” on January 26 in the national Capital. A large number of YouTube channels from the UK, the USA, and Canada are present to cover the tractor rally. Farmers’ protests have drawn attention from across the world and foreign media has been highlighting the protests which entered its 61st day on Monday. According to ground reports, a large number of international media, both print and TV, has assembled at three protests sites — Tikri Border, Ghazipur Border and Singhu Border — in the national Capital to cover the tractor rally. This is for the first time since Independence the farm- ers will march in a unique kisan parade with National Flags. As thousands of farmers have started marching towards Delhi borders to participate in the tractor rally on Republic Day, agriculture organisations have decided to hold similar parades at State and district headquar- ters across the country. Foreign media, including BBC, Al Jazeera, Washington Post, the New York Times, Toronto Star, Reuters, the Province, Hamilton Spectator, CNN, CBC 24, Bloomberg, the Guardian and the Sun, were concentrated only on the Singhu Border till date. Now they have set up their crew at Ghazipur and Tikri borders. Farmers’ leaders have reported to have approached a large number of YouTube channels based in Canada, the USA, and the UK to cover their events. Foreign media is covering farmers’ protests in a promi- nent way. Farmers’ protests are making headlines across the world. Recently, a Pakistani singer Jawad Ahmed released an anthem inspired by the protests and dedicated to the farmers in India. Titled Kisana, the song which was released in December 2020, has been viewed thousands of times on YouTube. Several reaction videos on the song have also been released. The lyrics of the song say, “teri sohni dharti maa, tu jag da palan har, hun tu jeea hai (This beautiful Earth belongs to you, you are the patron of this Earth, rise and live),” which roughly trans- lates to peasants need to rise and that they are the providers of the world. Last month, a group of seven American lawmakers had written to then US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to raise farmers’ issue with his Indian counterpart. Continued on Page 2 O pposition parties are like- ly to meet on Thursday to strategise plans to corner the Government in the Budget Session and force it to repeal the farm laws. Sources said leaders of various political par- ties, including the erstwhile NDA partner SAD, have got in touch to make a joint effort to repeal the three laws in the forthcoming Budget Session beginning on January 29. The main aim of the Opposition parties is to force the Government to repeal the law as it cannot be suspended since the laws came into force with the President of India’s accent. Sources in the Congress and a couple of political parties confirmed that the Parliamentary floor leaders will meet to deliberate upon a strategy for the session on Thursday. A bigger convention of Opposition parties may also take place thereafter. The SAD walked out of NDA in protest against the farm laws and its Lok Sabha MP Harsimrat Kaur resigned from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers. Continued on Page 2 T he Centre is all set to impose “Green Tax” on older vehicles in an effort to reduce pollution by phasing out unfit and polluting vehicles. While commercial vehi- cles older than eight years could be charged Green Tax at the time of renewal of fitness certificate at the rate of 10 to 25 per cent of road tax, personal vehicles may be charged Green Tax at the time of renewal of Registration Certification after 15 years. The proposal approved by Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will now go to the States for con- sultation before it is notified. Hybrids, electric vehicles, and those using cleaner fuels like CNG, ethanol, LPG will be exempted from green tax. Similarly, vehicles used in farm- ing, such as tractor, harvestor, tiller too will be exempted. Public transport vehicles will be charged lower green tax, and higher green tax (50% of Road Tax) will be slapped on vehicles registered in highly polluted cities. Continued on Page 2 P utting the blame on “mis- information” for sluggish vaccination drive that started on January 16, the Centre has asked the States to take penal action against those engaged in rumour-mongering. In a communication to Chief Secretaries of all States and UTs, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla also emphasised that the National Regulatory Authority in the country has found that the two vaccines — Covishield, manu- factured by the Serum Institute of India, and Covaxin, devel- oped and manufactured by the Bharat Biotech Limited — were safe and immunogenic. The Central Government, in close collaboration with the State Governments and UT administrations, has launched the inoculation drive of Covid- 19 vaccination from January 16 across the country with the two vaccines. “I would like to strongly emphasise that the National Regulatory Authority in the country has found both the vaccines safe and immuno- genic. However, it has been reported that unfounded and misleading rumours are circu- lating on social and other media, creating doubt about the safety and efficacy of these vaccines. “Such kind of rumour mongering, particularly by vested interests, can create unwarranted doubts among people at large, and there is, therefore, a need to check all such kinds of unfounded scare mongering relating to the safe- ty and immunogenicity of the vaccines,” the communication said. Continued on Page 2 T he national Capital is head- ling towards attaining herd immunity against coronavirus infection as per the outcome of the fifth round of sero-survey in the national Capital, sources said on Monday. One district in Delhi has shown sero positivity of over 60 per cent, according to the 5th sero survey. Experts say herd immu- nity is said to have been devel- oped in a population segment if 50-60 per cent of those are found to have the presence of antibodies in a sero-preva- lence survey. C olonel B Santosh Babu, who along with 19 other Army personnel, was mar- tyred in a brawl with the Chinese troops in the Galwan valley last year, will be award- ed the Mahavir Chakra posthumously on the occasion of Republic Day this year. This medal is the second high- est wartime gallantry medal. Veer Chakra, the third highest wartime gallantry medal, was conferred on five other soldiers. All these sol- diers had died with Babu, the commanding officer of the 16 Bihar Regiment, in the bloody clashes on June 15 in Eastern Ladakh. The Chinese used nailed batons and iron rods to attack the Indian Army team. More than 35 Chinese soldiers were also killed in the free for all. However, China is yet to announce the number of casu- alties on its side. The Veer Chakra awardees include Naib Subedar Nuduram Soren, Havaldar K Palani, Havaldar Tejinder Singh, Naik Deepak Singh and Naik Gurtej Singh. S anyukt Kisan Morcha on Monday announced that they will march towards Parliament from different loca- tions on February 1 when the annual Union Budget is sched- uled to be presented. “We will march towards Parliament on foot from dif- ferent locations on the Budget day on February 1. As far as tomorrow’s tractor rally is con- cerned, it will give the Government an idea of our strength and they will know the agitation is not just limited to Haryana or Punjab but it is an agitation of the whole country,” said Darshan Pal of the Krantikari Kisan Union. “The farmers who have come for the tractor parade will not go back now and will join the protest. The agitation will continue till our demands met. Our stand remains the same,” Pal told a press conference, sharing the farmers’ plans to intensify the protest. The farmers’ unions also claimed that around two lakh tractors are expected to par- ticipate in their tractor rally on the Republic Day in Delhi. The rally is planned to be moved into the city from the Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders. Protesting farmer unions opposing the three contentious farm laws said their parade will not enter central Delhi and it will start only after the official Republic Day parade con- cludes. “It will be big event in the Indian democracy. We will cel- ebrate Republic Day in its true sense tomorrow. The way the political leaders have played with the Constitution by con- stantly introducing amend- ments that kept violating human rights…we will con- tinue to demand that they be rectified. It is the same Constitution in which they have introduced these three laws, which have created a problem not just for the farm- ers but also for the entire pop- ulation of the country, against which this protest has been happening for two months now. The agitation will con- tinue until the government repeals these laws,” Balbir Singh Rajewal of Bharatiya Kisan Union said. To maintain vigil, around 6,000 security personnel have been deployed by the Delhi Police. Facial recognition sys- tem of Delhi Police has also been set up at vantage points for suspect identification. A five-layer security cover comprising border pickets, inner, middle and outer secu- rity has been deployed. Mumbai: The Centre may pass any law undermining the Constitution and on the back of its majority, but once the common man and farm- ers rise, they will not keep quiet until the new farm acts and the ruling party are destroyed, NCP president Sharad Pawar said on Monday. I n order to ensure smooth flow of traffic movement across Delhi on Republic Day, the Delhi Traffic Police on Monday issued an advisory regarding farmers’ tractors rally. Police asked commuters to avoid routes where farmers will conduct the parade. According to Meenu Chaudhary, the Joint Commissioner of Police, traf- fic, the tractor rally will be taken out on Tuesday from three city borders and the traf- fic will remain affected on these routes and the roads leading to these routes. “The first rally will start from Singhu Border to Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar, DTU, Shahabad Dairy, Barwala Village, Pooth Khurd Village, Kanjhawala T-Point, Kanjhawala Chowk, Kutubgarh, Auchandi Border and Kharkhoda Toll Plaza. Continued on Page 2
Transcript
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    When India and Chinawere preparing for talkslast week to defuse tension atthe border in Ladakh, thePeople’s Liberation Army(PLA) troops tried to breachthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Sikkim leading to aminor face-off when IndianArmy intercepted the Chinese.

    Soldiers from both armieswere injured. The situationwas brought under control fol-lowing the intervention of localcommanders.

    China on Monday, howev-er, denied that such an incidentever took place. The IndianArmy, on the other hand, con-firmed the incident and said,“We have received severalqueries regarding a face-offbetween Indian Army and PLAtroops in the Sikkim sector. Itis clarified that there was aminor face-off at the Naku Laarea of North Sikkim on

    January 20 and the same wasresolved by local commandersas per established protocols.Media is requested to refrainfrom overplaying or exagger-ating reports which are factu-ally incorrect.”

    Sources said the injurieswere insignificant and minor innature and roughly about 20PLA soldiers and four Indianswere injured in the melee. Thefracas took place when theChinese patrol tried to enterIndian territory, they added.The Naku La is located at aheight of more than 13,000 feet.

    The latest stand-off took place at a time when theCorps Commanders of the twoarmies were getting ready forthe talks on Sunday. The talkslasted more than 16 hours atthe Chushul-Moldo bordermeeting point in EasternLadakh. However, there was notangible breakthrough in theparleys.

    The joint statement

    released here on Monday saidthe two sides had a candid andin-depth exchange of views ondisengagement along the LAC.

    The two sides agreed thatthe ninth round of meeting waspositive, practical and con-structive, which furtherenhanced mutual trust andunderstanding. The two sidesagreed to push for an early dis-engagement of the frontlinetroops.

    Talking about the latestface-off, an official said, such an

    incident had also taken placelast year on May 9 at Naku Lawhen tension was building upat the LAC in Eastern Ladakh.Mountain pass is known as Lain the Tibetan language. Eventhen, the troops from bothsides exchanged blows afterjostling each other. The inter-vention of local commandersprevented the situation fromescalating.

    Chinese Foreign MinistrySpokesman Zhao Lijian told adaily briefing in Beijing on

    Monday that he had “no infor-mation to offer” on the reportsof clashes.

    He also said the Chinesetroops are committed to main-taining peace at the border andurged India to meet Chinahalfway and refrain from anyunilateral actions that mayexacerbate the border situation.

    The Chinese army mouth-piece The Global Times termedthe incident as fake news andsaid there is no record of thisincident in the Chinese PLAfront line patrol logs.

    In recent days, the focus ofthe military’s top leaders onboth sides has been on theninth round of CorpsCommander-level talks, not anew border clash, and the twosides have not been involved insuch clashes mentioned by theIndian media, it said.

    There have been minorfrictions between the frontlineforces of the two countries, butif there had been friction

    involving casualties, it is impos-sible for them not to be record-ed in the Chinese patrol logs.

    As regards the CorpsCommander-level dialogue,the Indian delegation washeaded by 14 Corps chief LtGeneral PK Menon whileMajor General Liu Lin led theChinese team.

    The statement said the twocountries also agreed to followthe important consensus oftheir state leaders, maintain thegood momentum of dialogueand negotiation, and hold the10th round of the CorpsCommander-level meeting atan early date to jointly advancede-escalation.

    The two sides agreed tocontinue their effective effortsin ensuring the restraint of thefrontline troops, stabilise andcontrol the situation along theLAC in the Western Sector ofthe China-India border, andjointly maintain peace andtranquility.

    �#��������� +,-��,./#

    Besides Indian media, a largenumber of foreign mediahas also lined up to cover the“kisan parade” on January 26 inthe national Capital. A largenumber of YouTube channelsfrom the UK, the USA, andCanada are present to cover thetractor rally.

    Farmers’ protests havedrawn attention from acrossthe world and foreign mediahas been highlighting theprotests which entered its 61st

    day on Monday.According to ground

    reports, a large number ofinternational media, both printand TV, has assembled at threeprotests sites — Tikri Border,Ghazipur Border and SinghuBorder — in the nationalCapital to cover the tractorrally. This is for the first timesince Independence the farm-ers will march in a unique kisanparade with National Flags.As thousands of farmers havestarted marching towards Delhiborders to participate in thetractor rally on Republic Day,agriculture organisations havedecided to hold similar paradesat State and district headquar-ters across the country.

    Foreign media, includingBBC, Al Jazeera, Washington

    Post, the New York Times,Toronto Star, Reuters, theProvince, Hamilton Spectator,CNN, CBC 24, Bloomberg,the Guardian and the Sun,were concentrated only on theSinghu Border till date. Nowthey have set up their crew atGhazipur and Tikri borders.Farmers’ leaders have reportedto have approached a largenumber of YouTube channelsbased in Canada, the USA, andthe UK to cover their events.

    Foreign media is coveringfarmers’ protests in a promi-nent way. Farmers’ protestsare making headlines across theworld. Recently, a Pakistanisinger Jawad Ahmed releasedan anthem inspired by theprotests and dedicated to thefarmers in India. Titled Kisana,the song which was released inDecember 2020, has beenviewed thousands of times onYouTube. Several reactionvideos on the song have alsobeen released. The lyrics of thesong say, “teri sohni dhartimaa, tu jag da palan har, huntu jeea hai (This beautifulEarth belongs to you, you arethe patron of this Earth, riseand live),” which roughly trans-lates to peasants need to riseand that they are the providersof the world.

    Last month, a group ofseven American lawmakershad written to then USSecretary of State MikePompeo to raise farmers’ issuewith his Indian counterpart.

    Continued on Page 2

    ����� +,-��,./#

    Opposition parties are like-ly to meet on Thursday tostrategise plans to corner theGovernment in the BudgetSession and force it to repealthe farm laws. Sources saidleaders of various political par-ties, including the erstwhileNDA partner SAD, have got intouch to make a joint effort torepeal the three laws in theforthcoming Budget Sessionbeginning on January 29.

    The main aim of theOpposition parties is to forcethe Government to repeal thelaw as it cannot be suspended

    since the laws came into forcewith the President of India’saccent.

    Sources in the Congressand a couple of political partiesconfirmed that theParliamentary floor leaderswill meet to deliberate upon astrategy for the session onThursday. A bigger conventionof Opposition parties may alsotake place thereafter.

    The SAD walked out ofNDA in protest against thefarm laws and its Lok SabhaMP Harsimrat Kaur resignedfrom Prime Minister NarendraModi’s Council of Ministers.

    Continued on Page 2

    ����� +,-��,./#

    The Centre is all set toimpose “Green Tax” onolder vehicles in an effort toreduce pollution by phasing outunfit and polluting vehicles.

    While commercial vehi-cles older than eight yearscould be charged Green Tax atthe time of renewal of fitnesscertificate at the rate of 10 to 25per cent of road tax, personalvehicles may be charged GreenTax at the time of renewal ofRegistration Certification after15 years. The proposalapproved by Union Minister

    for Road Transport andHighways Nitin Gadkari willnow go to the States for con-sultation before it is notified.

    Hybrids, electric vehicles,and those using cleaner fuelslike CNG, ethanol, LPG will beexempted from green tax.Similarly, vehicles used in farm-ing, such as tractor, harvestor,tiller too will be exempted.

    Public transport vehicleswill be charged lower green tax,and higher green tax (50% ofRoad Tax) will be slapped onvehicles registered in highlypolluted cities.

    Continued on Page 2

    ����� +,-��,./#

    Putting the blame on “mis-information” for sluggishvaccination drive that startedon January 16, the Centre hasasked the States to take penalaction against those engaged inrumour-mongering.

    In a communication toChief Secretaries of all Statesand UTs, Union HomeSecretary Ajay Bhalla alsoemphasised that the NationalRegulatory Authority in thecountry has found that the twovaccines — Covishield, manu-factured by the Serum Instituteof India, and Covaxin, devel-oped and manufactured by theBharat Biotech Limited — weresafe and immunogenic.

    The Central Government,in close collaboration with theState Governments and UTadministrations, has launchedthe inoculation drive of Covid-19 vaccination from January 16across the country with the twovaccines.

    “I would like to stronglyemphasise that the National

    Regulatory Authority in thecountry has found both thevaccines safe and immuno-genic. However, it has beenreported that unfounded andmisleading rumours are circu-lating on social and othermedia, creating doubt aboutthe safety and efficacy of thesevaccines.

    “Such kind of rumourmongering, particularly byvested interests, can createunwarranted doubts amongpeople at large, and there is,therefore, a need to check allsuch kinds of unfounded scaremongering relating to the safe-ty and immunogenicity of thevaccines,” the communicationsaid.

    Continued on Page 2

    �"������"�� +,-��,./#

    The national Capital is head-ling towards attaining herdimmunity against coronavirusinfection as per the outcome ofthe fifth round of sero-surveyin the national Capital, sourcessaid on Monday.

    One district in Delhi hasshown sero positivity of over 60per cent, according to the 5thsero survey.

    Experts say herd immu-nity is said to have been devel-oped in a population segmentif 50-60 per cent of those arefound to have the presence ofantibodies in a sero-preva-lence survey.

    ����� +,-��,./#

    Colonel B Santosh Babu,who along with 19 otherArmy personnel, was mar-tyred in a brawl with theChinese troops in the Galwanvalley last year, will be award-ed the Mahavir Chakraposthumously on the occasionof Republic Day this year.This medal is the second high-est wartime gallantry medal.

    Veer Chakra, the thirdhighest wartime gallantry

    medal, was conferred on fiveother soldiers. All these sol-diers had died with Babu, thecommanding officer of the16 Bihar Regiment, in thebloody clashes on June 15 inEastern Ladakh.

    The Chinese used nailedbatons and iron rods to attackthe Indian Army team. Morethan 35 Chinese soldiers werealso killed in the free for all.However, China is yet toannounce the number of casu-alties on its side.

    The Veer Chakra awardeesinclude Naib SubedarNuduram Soren, Havaldar KPalani, Havaldar TejinderSingh, Naik Deepak Singhand Naik Gurtej Singh.

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    Sanyukt Kisan Morcha onMonday announced thatthey will march towardsParliament from different loca-tions on February 1 when theannual Union Budget is sched-uled to be presented.

    “We will march towardsParliament on foot from dif-ferent locations on the Budgetday on February 1. As far astomorrow’s tractor rally is con-cerned, it will give theGovernment an idea of ourstrength and they will know theagitation is not just limited toHaryana or Punjab but it is anagitation of the whole country,”said Darshan Pal of theKrantikari Kisan Union.

    “The farmers who havecome for the tractor parade willnot go back now and will jointhe protest. The agitation willcontinue till our demands met.Our stand remains the same,”Pal told a press conference,sharing the farmers’ plans tointensify the protest.

    The farmers’ unions alsoclaimed that around two lakhtractors are expected to par-ticipate in their tractor rally onthe Republic Day in Delhi.

    The rally is planned to bemoved into the city from theSinghu, Tikri and Ghazipurborders.

    Protesting farmer unionsopposing the three contentiousfarm laws said their parade willnot enter central Delhi and itwill start only after the officialRepublic Day parade con-cludes.

    “It will be big event in theIndian democracy. We will cel-ebrate Republic Day in its truesense tomorrow. The way thepolitical leaders have playedwith the Constitution by con-stantly introducing amend-ments that kept violatinghuman rights…we will con-tinue to demand that they berectified. It is the sameConstitution in which theyhave introduced these threelaws, which have created aproblem not just for the farm-ers but also for the entire pop-ulation of the country, against

    which this protest has beenhappening for two monthsnow. The agitation will con-tinue until the governmentrepeals these laws,” Balbir SinghRajewal of Bharatiya KisanUnion said.

    To maintain vigil, around6,000 security personnel have

    been deployed by the DelhiPolice. Facial recognition sys-tem of Delhi Police has alsobeen set up at vantage pointsfor suspect identification.

    A five-layer security covercomprising border pickets,inner, middle and outer secu-rity has been deployed.

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    ����!����!'�!������(��)! *�+�!'�����Mumbai: The Centre maypass any law underminingthe Constitution and on theback of its majority, but oncethe common man and farm-ers rise, they will not keepquiet until the new farmacts and the ruling party aredestroyed, NCP presidentSharad Pawar said onMonday.

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    In order to ensure smoothflow of traffic movementacross Delhi on Republic Day,the Delhi Traffic Police onMonday issued an advisoryregarding farmers’ tractorsrally. Police asked commutersto avoid routes where farmerswill conduct the parade.

    According to MeenuChaudhary, the JointCommissioner of Police, traf-fic, the tractor rally will betaken out on Tuesday fromthree city borders and the traf-fic will remain affected onthese routes and the roadsleading to these routes.

    “The first rally will startfrom Singhu Border to SanjayGandhi Transport Nagar, DTU,Shahabad Dairy, BarwalaVillage, Pooth Khurd Village,Kanjhawala T-Point,

    Kanjhawala Chowk,Kutubgarh, Auchandi Borderand Kharkhoda Toll Plaza.

    Continued on Page 2

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    The Centre on Mondayrefuted the claim that theportrait of Netaji SubhasChandra Bose unveiled byPresident Ram Nath Kovind in‘Rashtrapati Bhawan’ was “fake”and that of Bengali actorProsenjit Chatterjee, who hadplayed the role of Bose in afilm.

    This is yet another contro-versy over which BJP and TMChave clashed with each other asthe latter charged the formerwith showing disrespect to‘Netaji’.

    Terming the debate as“fake”, the CentralGovernment clarified that theportrait of Netaji in‘Rashtrapati Bhavan’ is basedon an original photo of thefreedom fighter. “Shows howthe entire debate is fake andbased on poor research,” theGovernment said.

    President Kovind onJanuary 23 unveiled a portraitof Bose at the RashtrapatiBhavan to mark the beginningof celebrations to commemo-

    rate the freedom fighter’s125th birth anniversary.

    TMC MP Mahua Moitra,however, claimed on Twitterthat there was a mix-up andthat the portrait unveiled bythe President was not of Netajibut of actor Prosenjit.

    Actor Prosenjit playedBose in a 2019 Bengali filmGumnaami, which deals withthe freedom fighter’s deathmystery.

    The ‘Gumnami Baba’, wholived in an out-house of ‘Ram-Bhawan” at Faizabad, UP,since 1983, died in 1985,without anyone, outside hisclose followers, ever seeinghim.

    It is claimed by some thathe was Netaji himself living inanonymity. After his death,bundles of The Pioneer daily,besides other things, werealso reportedly recoveredfrom his mysterious dwelling.

    The TMC MP not onlyattacked the Central govern-ment over the alleged faux pasbut also had a dig at thePresident. The TMC MPtweeted, “After donating �5

    lakh to the Ram temple thePresident honours Netaji byunveiling a portrait ofPrasenjit, the actor who playedhim in biopic. God Save India(because this government cer-tainly can’t),” Moitra said.

    According to an officialstatement, the portrait ofNetaji Subhas Chandra Bosewas unveiled at the‘Rashtrapati Bhavan’ to markthe beginning of year-longcelebrations to commemoratehis 125th birth anniversary.

    The Government hasdecided to observe January 23as “Parakram Divas” to com-memorate the birth anniver-sary of Bose, who was born onthis day in 1897.

    BJP sources said the photowas provided by Netaji’s fam-ily to famous Padma Shriaward-winning artist PareshMaity, who painted the por-trait. “The photo does notresemble Prosenjit at all. It isan unnecessary controversy,”the sources said.

    Chandra Kumar Bose,Netaji’s grand-nephew and amember of the BJP, also post-ed on the micro-blogging sitethat the portrait was based onthe leader’s original photo-graph.

    In fact, Prosenjit also him-self tweeted to put the con-troversy to rest: “Would like tocongratulate Paresh Maity forthe wonderful piece of art inremembrance of our Nationalhero Netaji Subhas ChandraBose. As an Actor, I’m elatedthat people thought, that thepainting resembles my char-acter in Gumnami.”

    TMC MP Moitra has sincedeleted her tweet.

    ����������������������������������������� ����� +,-��,./#

    Prime Minister NarendraModi on Monday laudedthe contribution of children inraising awareness about hand-washing during the Covid-19pandemic, and said that a pro-gramme tastes success if theybecome part of it. In an inter-action with the ‘PradhanMantri Rashtriya BalPuraskar’awardees via videoconferencing, Modi praisedthe winners and said theyshould never stop working andstay humble all the time.

    Thirty-two children havebeen chosen for the PradhanMantri Bal Puraskar this yearfor displaying valour, excep-tional abilities and outstandingaccomplishments in variousfields, including arts, culture,archery and swimming.

    Modi asked them to workfor the country, urging them tothink of what they can do as thenation approaches the 75thyear of its Independence. ThePrime Minister also asked themto read biographies and said itwill keep inspiring them. UnionMinister Smriti Irani also inter-

    acted with the children. Jyoti Kumari, 16, cycled to

    her native place Darbhanga dis-trict in Bihar from Gurgaon inHaryana covering around 1,200km with her father on the rearcarrier amid the nationwidelockdown in May last year. Shehas been awarded for her brav-ery. “During the COVID-19lockdown, she traversed 1,200kms from Sikandarpur inHaryana to Darbhanga in Biharto reach home,” the citationissued for her by the Womenand Child DevelopmentMinistry said.

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    CRPF Assistant SubInspector (ASI) Mohan Lalwho “chased and fired” at anexplosives-laden car thatrammed into a force bus inPulwama killing him and 39troops onboard in 2019 hasbeen decorated with the high-est police medal for gallantryon the eve of the Republic Dayon Monday. A total of 207police bravery medals weredeclared by the Governmentapart from 89 President’s policemedals for distinguished ser-vice and 650 police medals formeritorious service, as per a listpublished by the Union HomeMinistry.

    Only two police personnelhave been decorated with thetop category President’s PoliceMedal for Gallantry (PPMG)this time, CRPF’s Lal and lateJharkhand Police ASI BanuaOraon. As many as 205 per-sonnel have been decoratedwith the second-highest policemedal for gallantry or thePMG. 50-year-old ASI Lal wasthe picket commander of theCRPF road opening partydeployed on February 14, 2019at milestone number 272 nearthe BSNL Tower in Lethpora,Pulwama on the Jammu-Srinagar highway when thedastardly terror attack was car-ried out by the Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist outfit.

    The attack car was beingdriven by suicide bomber AdilAhmed Dar with about 200 kgsof explosives inside. The CRPFsaid Lal, after passing of fewvehicles of the cavalcade,noticed this car “runningalongside the convoy and try-ing to enter between the con-voy vehicles.” The brave official“signalled and chased the car tostop but could not match itsspeed”. “Ultimately, finding noother option, he fired towardsthe suspicious car to stop butthe car rammed into a nearbyrunning CRPF bus and a hugeblast took place,” the forcesaid. The massive blast killed atotal of 40 CRPF personnel, 39

    on the bus and Lal, it said. The Central Reserve Police

    Force (CRPF), the lead force foranti-Naxal operations andcounter-terrorist operations inJammu and Kashmir, also ledthe gallantry medals tally witha total 69 medals (1 PPMG and68 PMG) followed by 52earned by the JK Police, 20 bythe Border Security Force, 17by the Delhi Police and 13 byMaharashtra Police and others.Two personnel of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)force, tasked to guard the Lineof Actual Control with China,have also been given the policemedal for gallantry.

    Deputy CommandantRajesh Kumar Luthra has beendecorated for displayingcourage and presence of mindto defuse a faceoff withChinese troops at Ladakh inJuly, 2019 while another offi-cer of the border guardingforce, Assistant CommandantAnurag Kumar Singh, hasbeen given a gallantry medalfor the second time for under-taking a counter-terroristoperation in Jammu andKashmir in 2017.

    The other recipients fromITBP include InspectorGeneral (IG) Deepam Seth,awarded the meritorious ser-vice medal, and Deputy IG(veterinary) SudhakarNatarajan who has beenbestowed the distinguishedservice medal. Seth, a 1995-batch Indian Police Serviceofficer of Uttarakhand cadre,is heading the ITBP northwestfrontier formation based inLadakh since mid-2019.

    Delhi Police off icerMahesh Bhardwaj, deputed asSenior Superintendent ofPolice in the CBI to probeextrajudicial kil l ings inManipur, has been awardedthe President’ Police Medal forDistinguished Service on theoccasion of Republic Day.Bhardwaj, who joined DelhiPolice as AssistantCommissioner in the year1993, has worked extensivelywith United Nations Police,

    Andaman Nicobar andMizoram police, NationalHuman Rights Commission(NHRC) and the CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI).In February, 2018, he wasdeputed in the CBI on thedirection of Supreme Court toassociate with the investigationof alleged extra judicial killingsand human rights violations bysecurity forces in Manipur.

    BSF’s AssistantCommandant Gajender Singh,ASI Braj Kishore Yadav,Constables Amresh Kumarand Abhijit Nandy wereawarded gallantry awardsposthumously. Gallantryawards were given to DIGSurjeet Singh Guleria, DIGHari Lal and AssistantCommandants Raman Guptaand Prateek Vashishth. Medalsfor distinguished service wereawarded to DIGs UmeshKumar Nayal, Surjit Singh,Dharmendra Pareek, AjitKumar Tete and RanveerSingh Shaktawat.

    Officers and personnel ofNational Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF) have beenawarded with the prestigious‘Police Medal for MeritoriousService’ on the occasion ofRepublic Day-2021. The PoliceMedal for Meritorious Serviceis awarded to the personnel ofCentral police and securityorganization who have com-pleted a minimum service of 18years. The medal is awarded topersonnel for their commend-able work whether operationalor administrative. Love Kumar,S e c o n d - i n - C o m m a n d ,Surendra Kumar, AssistantCommandant, InspectorRamakant Singh and AssistantSub-Inspector MoenuddinKhan have been awarded withthe ‘Police Medal forMeritorious Service’ in recog-nition to their outstanding ser-vices. So far 10 NDRFOfficers/personnel have beenawarded with President’s PoliceMedal for Distinguished Serviceand 74 personnel with PoliceMedal for Meritorious Service,said NDRF in statement.

    251�����������-��������������6��+�����'�������������������7��������������

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    President Ram Nath Kovindon Monday awardedPadma Vibhushan awards toseven eminent persons includ-ing late singer SPBalasubramanian and Japan’sformer Prime Minister Shinzo

    Abe and noted archeologistB.B.Lal who headed excavationof Ayodhya. Others are famousdoctor BM Hegde, spiritualleader Maulana WahinduddinKhan, artist Sudarshan Sahooand US based scientist lateNarinder Singh Kapany.

    10 persons were awardedPadma Bhushan including lateChief Ministers of Gujarat andAssam Keshubhai Patel andTarun Gogoi and former UnionMinister late Ram VilasPaswan. Former Lok SabhaSpeaker Sumitra Mahajan andNripendra Misra, formerPrincipal Secretary of PrimeMinister. Other who got PadmaBhushan are Tarlochan Singh,

    former Chairman of MinortiesCommission, spiritual leaderlate Kalbe Sadiq, noted singerK.S. Chitra, ChandrasekharKambara, writer fromKarnataka and industrialist RDShroff.

    102 persons are awardedPadma Shri. “This year thePresident has approved con-ferment of 119 Padma Awardsincluding 1 duo case (in a duocase, the Award is counted asone) as per list below. The listcomprises 7 PadmaVibhushan, 10 PadmaBhushan and 102 Padma ShriAwards. 29 of the awardees arewomen and the list alsoincludes 10 persons from the

    category ofForeigners/NRI/PIO/OCI, 16Posthumous awardees and 1transgender awardee,” saidGovernment in a statement.

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    President Ram Nath Kovindon Monday paid tributes tofarmers saying every Indian isgrateful to them for ensuringfood security in our vast andpopulous country, and gave theassurance that the Governmentis devoted to farmers’ welfare.

    “Every Indian salutes ourfarmers, who have made ourvast and populous countryself-reliant in food-grains anddairy products. Despite adver-sities of nature, numerous otherchallenges and the COVID-19pandemic, our farmers sus-tained the agricultural pro-duction,” he said in his addresson the eve of the 72nd RepublicDay.

    “A grateful nation is fullycommitted to the welfare of ourfarmers. Just as our hardwork-ing farmers ensure food secu-rity for the country, the bravesoldiers of the armed forcesensure security of our nation-al boundaries amid severestconditions,” Kovind said.

    The comments by thePresident come against thebackdrop of the ongoing agi-tation by farmers against threenew farm laws.

    The President said the pathto reforms in the initial stagesmay cause misapprehensions,but the government is devotedto farmers’ welfare.

    “Economic reforms havecontinued apace and have beensupplemented by long-pendingreforms in the areas of labourand agriculture through legis-lation. The path to reform atthe initial stages may causemisapprehensions.

    However, it is beyonddoubt that the governmentremains singularly devoted tofarmers’ welfare,” he said.

    Kovind said the country’sfarmers, soldiers and scientistsdeserve special appreciationand the entire nation is grate-ful to them.

    “From space to the farms,from educational institutions tohospitals, the community ofscientists has enriched our lifeand work. Our scientists havebeen working day and night fordecoding the Coronavirus andthey have succeeded in devel-oping the vaccine in recordtime. With this accomplish-ment, our scientists have addeda glorious chapter of contribu-tion to the well-being ofhumanity.

    ����� +,-��,./#

    President Ram Nath Kovindon Monday termed the suc-cessful conduct of electionsduring pandemic an extraor-dinary achievement of ourdemocracy and said that theright to vote must be respect-ed, noting that people aroundthe world have struggled a lotto earn this right.

    Addressing through vir-tual mode an event to celebratethe 11th National Voters’ Day,Kovind said even in America,one of the leading democraciesin the world, people had toundertake decades of struggleto get this right. In Britain,women got the right to voteafter a long fight, he said.

    The condition was similarin India before Independence.

    But after India earned its free-dom, anyone of 21 years of ageand above were allowed tovote which was later reduced to18, he said. “We should alwaysrespect the valuable right tovote. The right to vote is not asimple right. People around theworld have struggled a lot forthis. Since Independence, ourConstitution has given equalvoting rights to all citizenswithout any discrimination onthe basis of merit, religion, race,caste,” Kovind said.

    For his part, Law MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad defendedthe Electronic Voting Machine,describing it as an instrumentdesigned to empower the ordi-nary Indian. “We can havedifference of opinion on the useof electronic voting machine.But can we deny that the EVM

    is an instrument which hasgiven power to nearly all thepolitical formations of India indifferent parts, in varyingdegree,” he asked. Oppositionleaders including JairamRamesh of Congress and DerekO’Brien of the TrinamoolCongress were present whenPrasad made these remarks.

    Some parties have on mul-tiple occasions questioned thereliability of the EVMs. TheElection Commission has allalong maintained that themachines are tamper-proof.Prasad also launched the e-EPIC programme and distrib-uted e-EPICs and ElectorPhoto Identity Cards to fivenew voters. Three publica-tions were also launched byPrasad.

    The electronic version ofthe voters’ photo identity cardcan be stored on mobile phonesand downloaded on personalcomputers.

    Chief ElectionCommissioner Sunil Arora saidthat the mock trials for remotevoting facility for electorswould begin soon. A researchproject on remote voting usingcutting-edge technology hasalready begun, he revealed.

    ����� +,-��,./#

    The Congress on Mondaylashed out at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi stating that hisalleged silence over the Chineseencroachment in the country’sborder, was increasing theenemy’s spirits.

    Taking to Twitter, formerCongress chief Rahul Gandhistated that China is expandingits occupation into the Indianterritory, while the PrimeMinister has not said the word‘China’ for months. SlammingPM Modi, the Congress leadersaid, “Mr 56-inch,” who hadpromised to never compromisethe border security, could startby saying the word ‘China’.

    Congress chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala alsoattacked the Prime Minister,stating that his alleged silenceover the Chinese encroach-ment in the country’s border,was increasing the enemy’s spir-its. He called on the governmentto come to clear the situationalong the border and to take thenation in confidence.

    New Delhi: Foreign invaderschose Ram temple for demo-lition because they knew thatthe soul of India resides there,said Union Minister PrakashJavadekar on Sunday.

    Speaking at a felicitationevent for donors of Shri RamJanam Bhoomi Mandir NidhiSamarpan Abhiyan in Delhi,the Union Minister said thata “historical mistake” wascorrected on December 6, 1992, with thedemolition of Babri Mosquein Ayodhya.

    When foreign invaderslike Babur came to India,why did they choose the Ramtemple for demolition becausethey knew that the soul of thecountry resides in Ram tem-ple.

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    Two days after the VictoriaMemorial incident whenMamata Banerjee refused todeliver a speech after beingallegedly “teased” with Jai ShriRam slogans by BJP supportersthe Bengal Chief Minister onMonday attacked the saffronleadership for not only insultingher but also Netaji SubhasChandra Bose in whose remem-brance the grand event wasorganized by the UnionGovernment. The programmewas attended by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

    Lashing out at the BJPBanerjee said “Netaji stood forcommunal unity … he belonged

    to everyone … but what BJPsupporters did in a bid to teaseme in front of the PrimeMinister has not only insultedme but also Netaji and Bengal.”

    Terming the BJP as BharatJalao Party (Burn India Party)Banerjee said that the BJP hasbeen continuously insulting theicons of Bengal, Netaji being the“latest addition to the list.” Shehad earlier flayed the BJPnational president JP Nadda forinsulting Rabindranath Tagoreby wrongly quoting his place ofbirth and the saffron workers forvandalizing the statue of 19thcentury reformer IshwarChandra Vidya Sagar during a2019 political rally of HomeMinister Amit Shah.

    “Will you invite me to yourhouse for a dinner and then slapme and turn me out … this iswhat they did … They shoutedslogans --- which had no rela-tion with Netaji’s anniversary --- only to tease me… I wasinsulted in front of the PrimeMinister of the country… Iwas invited to that programme… This is their culture … butthis cannot be the culture ofBengal or our country,” Banerjeesaid adding she would have notobjected had the slogans beenraised hailing Netaji.

    Major controversy wassparked after Banerjee publiclychased BJP supporters, --- andthreatened them with dire con-sequences --- who raised Jai Shri

    Ram slogans when her convoypassed their areas during 2019general elections.

    Attacking the turncoatswho were quitting theTrinamool Congress to join theBJP, Banerjee said “these peopleare leaving the party becausethey know that they will not getticket from TMC… I wantmore such people to quit theparty early so that our workbecomes easier.”

    About a dozen TMC min-isters, legislators and other func-tionaries like Suvendu Adhikari,Laxmi Ratan Shukla, RajivBanerjee, Sunil Mandal, andothers have either quit theCabinet or the party in the pastone month. The “betrayers,”

    would never be welcomed back,she said.

    The BJP soon hit back at theChief Minister saying she alwaysfailed to appreciate in herurgency to play vote bank pol-itics that Lord Rama had alwaysbeen an essential part of Indianculture.

    “She is known for her ear-lier reactions to Lord Rama’sname … His name is takenwhenever there is a festive occa-sion … January 23 was a festiveoccasion when we were cele-brating Netaji … but she had toappease a section of people forvote bank politics and so thiscontroversy was created …shecould have ignored this,” BJPleader Samik Bhattacharya said.

    ��������������������������������Chennai: Expelled AIADMK leader VK Sasikala,serving a jail term in Bengaluru in a corruptioncase and presently under treatment for coron-avirus, will be released from prison onWednesday “according to all our expectations,”her nephew T T V Dhinakaran said on Monday.

    With the former aide of late Tamil NaduChief Minister J Jayalalithaa recuperating in aBengaluru hospital, her discharge from the med-ical facility will be made known later, he said ina tweet.

    “According all our expectations...Chinnamma (Sasikala) will be released (fromprison) day after tomorrow, 27-01-2021,”Dhinakaran said.

    Independent legislator Dhinakaran, Sasikala'snephew and founder of Amma MakkalMunnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) said his aunt wasrecuperating from coronavirus and that her dis-charge from the hospital will be made known laterafter consulting doctors. PTI

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    After failing to clinch a seat-sharing deal in earlierrounds of talks the Left Frontand Congress on Mondayarrived at an understandingover 77 seats, senior Left leaderBiman Bose and his Congresscounterpart PradipBhattacharya said.

    “We have an understandingon 77 seats for the comingAssembly elections and willhold talks on the remaining 217seats on January 28,” the Leftleaders said adding by February2 the seat-sharing talks would be

    over.The Left had won about 7.5

    percent vote share while theCongress little more than 5percent in the 2019 generalelections. Meanwhile, theElection Commission of Indiasources said that 1000 compa-nies of central forces would besent to Bengal for a peacefulconduct of elections. In 2019parliamentary polls 700 com-panies of CPF were deployed.

    According to sources theECI which had a full benchvisit of Bengal last week mayannounces elections in the firsthalf of February.

    ���������������������������������������� Jaipur: On

    Monday, on theoccasion ofNational Voters'D a y ,CommissionerMahendra Soniat theInformation andPublic Relations Headquarters at the Secretariat, saidthat all the officers and employees of the departmentare fearless keeping the dignity of democratic tra-ditions and keeping the dignity of free, fair and peace-ful elections intact. Sworn to exercise all his fran-chise without being influenced by class, caste, com-munity, language or any other inducement.

    Taking the oath, Covid-19 safety standards wereenforced collectively by all officers and employees.

    Jammu: Indian Army's AdvancedLight Helicopter (ALH) Dhruvmade a forced landing after itdeveloped a technical snag inLakhanpur area of Kathua districtlate Monday evening. Two pilotsreceived injuries.

    One of the two seriouslyinjured pilots succumbed to hisinjuries in the Military BaseHospital in Pathankot lateMonday evening while the con-dition of the other pilot continuesto be critical.

    Official sources said theother is struggling for life on theventilator support. Meanwhile,district authorities in Kathua whorushed to the spot confirmed, theArmy helicopter made a forcedlanding around 7.10-715 p.m

    inside an Army camp inLakhanpur.

    The district authorities said,“The helicopter was on a routinereconnaissance sortie when itabruptly developed a technicalsnag and made a forced landinginside an army area inLakhanpur”.

    The injured pilots were rushedto the military base hospital inPathankot. Local media reportsclaimed eyewitness reports sug-gested soon after the helicoptertook off it crash landed inside theArmy camp due to some techni-cal snag. The Army authorities areexpected to announce a formalinquiry to ascertain the exactreason behind the forced landing. PNS

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    New Delhi: Ahead of the tractorrally, Union Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar onMonday termed theGovernment's proposal to sus-pend new farm laws for 1-1.5years as the “best offer” andhoped that the protesting farm-ers' unions will soon reconsiderit and convey their decision. TheMinister also said that the agi-tating farmers could have chosen

    some other day instead of January26 for the tractor rally.

    The talks between the gov-ernment and 41 protesting farmunions have remained inconclu-sive even after 11 rounds of dis-cussions.

    During the 10th round oftalks, the government hadclimbed down and offered aproposal to keep the new laws inabeyance for 1-1.5 years, but it

    was rejected by the unions. In the11th round of discussion, thegovernment asked unions toreconsider the proposal and con-vey their final decision. “The gov-ernment has given the best offerto farmers' unions. I am hopefulthat they will convey their deci-sion to us after discussing itamong themselves. Once theycommunicate, we will take it for-ward,” Tomar said. PNS

    New Delhi: On the tenth day of the nation-wide vaccination against Covid-19 waslaunched on January 16, as many as 3,34,679beneficiaries were given the anti-pathogen jabthrough 7,171 sessions till 7.10 pm onMonday.

    As a result, the cumulative number ofhealthcare workers vaccinated against Covid-19 has crossed 19.5 lakh till date. A total of19,50,183 beneficiaries (till 7.10 pm today)were vaccinated through 35,785 sessions, asper the provisional report available from the

    Union Health Ministry.Final reports would be completed for the

    day by late tonight, said an official from theMinistry. On the tenth day, 348 AEFIs havebeen reported till 7.10 pm following the vac-cination drive.

    Meanwhile, India’s active caseload has fall-en to 1.84 lakh (1,84,182) on Monday. Theshare of active cases in the total positive caseshas further shrunk to 1.73 per cent. A bulkof the active cases is contributed by merely twoStates. PNS

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    Maharashtra Governor BhagatSingh Koshyari found him-self at the receiving end of farm-ers’ protests in Mumbai onMonday, as NCP chief SharadPawar charged that the Governor“has time to meet Bollywoodactress Kangana Ranaut but notour farmers” and the agitatingfarmers tore down copies ofmemorandum addressed Koshyaridemanding the repeal of threecontroversial farm laws in protestagainst his failure to meet them.

    Anger erupted among the agi-tating farmers gathered at thehistoric Azad maidan when theyheard from Pawar about theunavailability of the Governor fora meeting with their leaders.During his address to the farm-ers, Pawar disclosed that Koshyarihad left for Goa without bother-ing to meet them and charged thatthe latter had neither “moralresponsibility” or “decency” tolive up as a person holding thegubernatorial office.

    Mincing no words in his attackagainst the Governor, Pawar toldthe famers’ gathering: “While Iappreciate you for your mammothshow of strength against the pow-

    ers-that-be who are out to destroyyour lives, the Governor whomyou are scheduled to meet afterthis rally has gone away to Goa.Maharashtra has not had such aGovernor as the current one in itshistory. He has time to meetBollywood actress KanganaRanuat but has no time to meetour farmers''.

    “It was the Governor’s moralresponsibility to meet the agitat-ing farmers and accept their mem-orandum. He was expected tocome face to face with the farm-ers (who have marched from var-ious districts of the state to meethim). But he had no decency tomeet them. At least he should havebeen staying put at Raj Bhavan toreceive the farmers’ memoran-dum,” Pawar said.

    Ticked off by the “shocking”absence of the Governor inMumbai at a time when theywere go and meet him, the farmerand political leaders –led by AllIndia Kisan Sabha (AIKS)President Dr. Ashok Dhawale andMumbai Congress’ new presidentBjhai Jagtap – tore copies of mem-orandum demanding the repeal ofthree farm bills, that they were car-rying with them to submit toKoshyari in protest against the lat-ter’s failure to meet them.

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    Kaamya Karthikeyan, the teenaged daughter ofIndian Navy Commander S Karthikeyan andLavanya, is among the five children fromMaharashtra chosen for the Pradhan MantriRashtriya Bal Shakti Puraskar (PMRBSP)-2021 onthe occasion of Republic Day.

    She is the only girl among five children fromMaharashtra who have bagged the PMRBSP-2021honour for their excellence in different fields. Theother award winners are: Shreenabh MuojeshAgrawal, Kameshwar Jagannath Waghmare, ArchitRahul Pani and Sonit Sisolekar. Thirteen-year-oldKaamya is studying in Class VIII of the NavyChildren School here. She is awarded for herunprecedented feats in mountaineering and this isthe highest award for citizens below 18 years.

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  • sion”. It is derived from theexperiment conducted in 1997by Nathan Zohner, a 14-year-old student, who gatheredpetitions to ban “DHMO”, orDihydrogen Monoxide, as thebasis of his science project,titled “How Gullible Are We?”The experiment involved call-ing water by an unfamiliar sci-entific name and listing someof its effects in a particularlyalarming manner, such ascausing burns when in agaseous form, accelerating cor-rosion and causing suffocation!Incidentally, Zohner con-vinced 86 per cent of his class-mates to sign the petition call-ing for its ban, which tells usa lot about human nature.

    Trump used this phenom-enon to good effect. Whileestablished media outlets maynot have fully played along,the conservative and extremeRight-wing media outlets, likeFox News and One AmericaNews Network, did broadcasthis lies and conspiracy theo-ries with telling effect. The dig-ital social media platforms too,such as Facebook and Twitter,were no less complicit inspreading his message of hatetill they finally banned him forinciting violence.

    After what we have wit-nessed during his presidency, itwould be fair to say that theAmerican democracy, despite

    its deep roots stretching back244 years, has survived a directassault on its very foundationby Trump and his acolytes bya hair’s breadth. Thanks, in nosmall measure, to the strengthof its democratic institutionsand the upstanding character ofthe people who run these. Anoutstanding example, but notthe only one, being that of for-mer Vice-President MikePence, who did not let hisunswerving support and loyal-ty to President Trump get in theway of doing the right thing,despite intense pressure to sub-vert the constitutional process.The other institution thatdeserves accolades, survivingwith its dignity and reputationintact, was the judiciary. Trumphad expected that havingappointed a total of 200 FederalJudges with lifetime tenures,including two to the SupremeCourt, they would remainbeholden to him and act in amanner to support his agenda.He was, therefore, understand-ably shocked and disappointedwhen nearly all of his 60-pluschallenges to the election resultswere summarily rejected by thecourts, including two by theSupreme Court.

    While Trumpism may beon the decline in America, it isalive and flourishing here inIndia. Make no mistake, thecurrent dispensation — while

    more circumspect and lesscolourful — has been just asdamaging for our democracy.Our secular traditions are in tat-ters, empathetic behaviour for-gotten and democratic institu-tions have all but crumbled,lacking even a shred of credi-bility. A vast majority of ourmedia have become willinghandmaidens of theGovernment. The military isbeing incrementally politicisedand even our final bulwark, thejudiciary, especially the apexcourt, is perceived to be func-tioning in tandem with theGovernment. Worst of all, wehave no Opposition leadershipworth the name, debilitated bythe cancer of dynastic ambition.

    Yet, hope springs eternal.After all, we have just witnesseda young untested Indian crick-et team rise like a phoenix fromthe ashes of its worst defeat.Despite being deprived of itscharismatic leader, anotherstepped up from the shadows,doing the impossible and lead-ing the team to victory.Similarly, we too should shunfear and do the right thing; therest will follow.

    (The writer is a militaryveteran, who is a consultantwith the Observer ResearchFoundation and Senior VisitingFellow with The PeninsulaFoundation, Chennai. Theviews expressed are personal.)

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    �����������������������������Sir — The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) isplaying dirty politics in West Bengal. Theparty and its leaders are trying to gain sym-pathy of voters by portaying that they arethe only ones who really respect the greatNetaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his ide-ology. The visit of the BJP leaders to WestBengal on the 125th birth anniversary ofBose on January 23 was only a politicalstunt with an eye on the forthcomingAssembly elections. The BJP is remind-ed of such great leaders only at the timeof elections.

    The ruling party leaders are trying tofool the people but the voters of WestBengal are wise enough not to fall intotheir trap. The people have realised thatthe BJP leaders can go up to any extent justfor the sake of winning the elections. TheState can even be plunged into widespreadviolence for the sake of politics. The BJPwill gain votes by creating a law and ordersituation. It is high time that the BJP con-centrated on the real issues confronting theState and its people rather than showingoff its bogus image. West Bengal is grap-pling with poverty, unemployment, illit-eracy and several other problems besidesCOVID. Both the Centre and the StateGovernment must focus on the real issuestroubling the people and not on poll gim-micks.

    Bhagwan Thadani| Mumbai

    ������������������������Sir — India is all set to witness a majesticmarch past at the Rajpath and a mammothtractor rally by the farmers in Delhi on theRepublic Day. The farmers’ rally willattract wide attention. The farmers havereiterated that repeal of the laws is the onlyacceptable proposition for withdrawal ofthe agitation. In fact, the offer of theGovernment to put the laws on hold for18 months itself is illogical as the SupremeCourt has already stayed their implemen-tation until further orders. However, thecourt can withdraw the stay soon, and thelaws will come into force immediately.Faced with such vagueness, farmers fear

    that a decision to retreat after accepting theoffer could prove costly for them eventu-ally.

    An argument advanced against giv-ing legal status to the Minimum SupportPrice (MSP) is that it would put a heavyburden on the national exchequer. It runscounter to the repeated assertions thatfarmers are free to sell their produce any-where in the country. Here, wouldn’t theenvisioned higher prices for agriculturalproduce in the market — being ‘openedup’ now — reduce the dependence on theMSP and lessen the burden on the Budget?Farmers have deciphered the intentionsand the arguments.

    Haridasan Rajan | Kozhikode

    ������������������������������Sir — In 2020, all the countries includ-ing India faced an unprecedented chal-lenge in the form of the COVID-19 pan-demic. In some countries like the UK andthe US, Coronavirus is still rearing its uglyhead and hospitals are looking like war

    zones. It will take some more time for allthe countries to recover from the unwel-come guest’s impact. At this juncture, thedecision to supply millions of COVID-19vaccines free of cost from India to multi-ple countries like Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives,Myanmar, Seychelles, Mauritius, Brazil,Morocco and so on is really laudable. TheUK, Dominica, South Africa, Kenya,Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the UAE aresome other countries interested inCOVID-19 vaccines from India as thesevaccines are safe and cost-effective with-out compromising on safety standards.

    India is clearly upstaging China in theCOVID vaccines’ supply. India is planningto vaccinate its 300 million people, almostthe population of the US. Indians shoulddismiss all their apprehensions in takingvaccine jabs. We must come forward tomake the inoculation drive successful.

    V Nagendra Kumar | Hyderabad

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    Former United StatesPresident DonaldTrump’s blatant disre-gard for all norms ofcivilised behaviour, hisovert racism combined with anoutsized ego and the propensi-ty to lie — 21 per day during histerm as per The Washington Post— are well known. Yet, despitethis, or the 400,000 pandemicdeaths directly attributable to hislack of leadership, or his futileand rather ludicrous attempts tooverturn the election results, hestill continues to enjoy the sup-port of approximately 34 percent of the population as per thelatest Gallup Poll.

    This is indeed intriguing, andwhile much of it can be attributedto racism, bigotry and illiteracy, itwas his sophisticated use of themedia, especially social media,that was probably the game-changer. Unfortunately, while hisbrash and uncouth ways may havemade him a laughing stock inter-nationally, it also made for a verydangerous and unstable world, inwhich America had abdicated itsrole as the beacon of democraticnorms and human decency.Worse, he became the poster boyfor a cohort of other tinpot dic-tators and autocrats globally, sud-denly free to do as they pleased,with little fear of retribution.

    “If you tell a lie big enoughand keep repeating it, people willeventually come to believe it,” saidJoseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Ministerfor Propaganda. However, he didadd a caveat: “The lie can be main-tained only for such time as theState can shield the people fromthe political, economic and/ormilitary consequences of the lie.It thus becomes vitally importantfor the State to use all of its pow-ers to repress dissent, for the truthis the mortal enemy of the lie andthus, by extension, the truth is thegreatest enemy of the State.” It’ssomething every autocrat and dic-tator instinctively understands.

    While swatting flies with asledgehammer has its advan-tages, there are those who haveunderstood and utilised the con-cept of “Zohnerism” to theirbenefit. The term, coined by jour-nalist James Glassman, refers to“the use of true facts to lead a sci-entifically and mathematicallyignorant public to a false conclu-

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    Washington: As the House prepares tobring the impeachment charge againstDonald Trump to the Senate for trial,a growing number of Republican sen-ators say they are opposed to the pro-ceeding, dimming the chances thatformer president will be convicted onthe charge that he incited a siege of theUS Capitol.

    House Democrats will carry the soleimpeachment charge of “incitement ofinsurrection” across the Capitol lateMonday evening, a rare and ceremoni-al walk to the Senate by the prosecutorswho will argue their case. They are hop-ing that strong Republican denuncia-tions of Trump after the Jan. 6 riot willtranslate into a conviction and a sepa-rate vote to bar Trump from holdingoffice again.

    But instead, GOP passions appearto have cooled since the insurrection.Now that Trump's presidency is over,Republican senators who will serve asjurors in the trial are rallying to his legaldefense, as they did during his firstimpeachment trial last year.

    “I think the trial is stupid, I thinkit's counterproductive,” said Sen. MarcoRubio, R-Fla.. He said that “the firstchance I get to vote to end this trial, I'll

    do it” because he believes it would bebad for the country and further inflamepartisan divisions.

    Trump is the first former presidentto face impeachment trial, and it will testhis grip on the Republican Party as wellas the legacy of his tenure, which cameto a close as a mob of loyal supportersheeded his rally cry by storming the

    Capitol and trying to overturn JoeBiden's election.

    The proceedings will also forceDemocrats, who have a full sweep ofparty control of the White House andCongress, to balance their promise tohold the former president accountablewhile also rushing to deliver on Biden'spriorities. AP

    Washington: Federal law enforcementofficials are examining a number ofthreats aimed at members of Congressas the second trial of former PresidentDonald Trump nears, including omi-nous chatter about killing legislators orattacking them outside of the U.S.Capitol, a U.S. Official told TheAssociated Press.

    The threats, and concerns thatarmed protesters could return to sackthe Capitol anew, have prompted theU.S. Capitol Police and other federal lawenforcement to insist thousands ofNational Guard troops remain in

    Washington as the Senate moves for-ward with plans for Trump's trial, theofficial said.

    The shocking insurrection at theCapitol by a pro-Trump mob prompt-ed federal officials to rethink securityin and around its landmarks, resultingin an unprecedented lockdown forBiden's inauguration.

    Though the event went off with-out any problems and armed protestsaround the country did not material-ize, the threats to lawmakers ahead ofTrump's trial exemplified the contin-ued potential for danger. AP

    Washington: President Joe Biden is set to issue an exec-utive order to reverse a Pentagon policy that largely barstransgender individuals from joining the military, dump-ing a ban ordered by President Donald Trump in a tweetduring his first year in office, a person briefed on the deci-sion tells The Associated Press.

    Biden has been widely expected to overturn theTrump policy in his early days in office.

    The White House could announce the move as earlyas Monday, according to the person briefed on the deci-sion who spoke on the condition of anonymity to dis-cuss the order.

    The move to reverse the policy has the support ofBiden's newly confirmed defense secretary, retired ArmyGen. Lloyd Austin, who spoke of the need to overturnit during his Senate confirmation hearing last week.

    “I support the president's plan or plan to overturnthe ban,” Austin said. “If you're fit and you're qualifiedto serve and you can maintain the standards, you shouldbe allowed to serve.”

    The decision comes as Biden plans to turn his atten-tion to equity issues that he believes continue to shad-ow nearly all aspects of American life. Ahead of his inau-guration, Biden's transition team circulated a memo fromRon Klain, now the White House chief of staff, thatsketched out Biden's plan to use his first full week as pres-ident “to advance equity and support communities of colorand other underserved communities.”

    The move to overturn the transgender ban is also thelatest example of Biden using executive authority in his firstdays as president to dismantle Trump's legacy. AP

    Washington:US President Joe Bidenwill sign a series of executive orders onMonday to promote “Made in America”products and strengthen supply chains,senior officials said, asserting that thenew administration remains commit-ted to working with partners and alliesto modernise international trade rules.

    Prominent among the executiveorders include a strict enforcement ofprocuring products made inside thecountry by federal agencies. This is verysignificant given that contracting aloneaccounts for nearly USD 600 billion infederal spending.

    Biden is taking action to reset theUS government's longstandingapproach to domestic preferences tocreate an approach that will remaindurable for years to come and growquality, union jobs, according to asenior administration official.

    It is long overdue that the US gov-ernment utilises the full force of cur-rent domestic preferences to supportAmerica's workers and businesses,strengthening the economy, workers,and communities across the country,the official said.

    The President's Executive Orderestablishes the goals and standards nec-essary to use federal purchasing, andother forms of federal assistance withdomestic preference requirements, as

    a way to proactively invest in Americanindustry so it can continue to lead inthe global marketplace, the WhiteHouse said.

    For the executive order, Made inAmerica refers to domestic preferencesrelated to federal procurement, feder-al grants, and other forms of federalassistance. Buy American and BuyAmerica refers to the specific statutesthat go by those names, it said.

    The executive order to be signed byBiden at the White House, directs agen-cies to close current loopholes in howdomestic content is measured andincrease domestic content require-ments and appoints a new seniorleader in the Executive Office of thePresident in charge of the government'sMade in America policy approach.

    This order creates a central reviewof agency waivers of 'Buy American'requirements, fulfilling the president'scommitment to crack down on unnec-essary waivers. It also directs theGeneral Services Administration topublish relevant waivers on a publiclyavailable website.


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