T wo more new cases of Omicron infection, SARS- CoV-2 variant of Covid-19 were reported on Saturday in India, one each from Maharashtra and Gujarat. With this, the number of infections from Omicron has gone to four in two days. Two cases of the new variant of Covid-19 were reported from Karnataka on Friday. On Saturday, one case was reported from Jamnagar in Gujarat, another one from Mumbai. A 72-year-old man from Zimbabwe, who reached Jamnagar last week, was found infected with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus dis- ease becoming the first case in the State, the State health department confirmed. Dr S Chatterjee, the nodal officer for Covid-19 at the State-run Guru Gobind Singh Hospital in Jamnagar told reporters, “The man’s samples were sent to the Biotechnological Research Laboratory in Ahmedabad which found him positive for the Omicron variant. He has been kept in isolation ever since his admission to the hos- pital. We had traced all his con- tacts, screened them and they tested negative.” He added, “We will test all his contacts once again after the reports confirmed that he carried the Omicron variant of the virus.” Gujarat’s additional chief secretary (health) Manoj Aggarwal said, “A micro con- tainment zone has been made where he is living. In the area, we will do the tracing, testing of people.” He landed in Jamnagar on November 28. Soon after, he was running a fever and his doctor asked him to go for an RT-PCR test and he was found Covid-19 infected. The officials are also trac- ing 87 people who could have come in contact with him in the Jamnagar district. The man was visiting his in-laws at his native Morakda village near Jamnagar city and has been living in Zimbabwe, which has been classified as an “at-risk” country, for many years. In the second instance, a 33-year-old man, who arrived in Mumbai from South Africa via New Delhi, tested positive for the latest variant on Saturday. The passenger, who is exhibiting mild symptoms, including fever, is currently under treatment at a Covid centre in Kalyan-Dombivali. The infected person arrived from Capetown on November 24 and complained of mild fever, but no other symptoms were noticed. Meanwhile, 30 other pas- sengers coming from Dubai to Ahmedabad and a woman who reached Vadodara from London have tested positive for Covid-19. Continued on Page 2 S etting the stage for Vladimir Putin-Narendra Modi sum- mit here next week, the Indian Government has cleared the much-awaited AK-203 rifle deal. A factory in Korwa in Amethi will manufacture more than six lakh rifles of the latest variant of the AK-47 in a joint venture between India and Russia. In the first phase, the armed forces will get the AK- 203 rifles, and in the second phase the Central paramilitary forces and State police will acquire them as reported in The Pioneer on November 24. The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), headed by the Prime Minister, cleared the AK-203 deal earlier this week, sources said here on Saturday. The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) headed Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had approved the contract on November 24. The deal may be inked during the summit. The CCS nod came days before Putin will hold talks with Modi here on Monday. The high-profile summit will be preceded by the first ever two-plus-two dialogue between the respective defence and for- eign minister of India and Russia the same day. India has such a two-plus-two format with the US, Japan and Australia. As regards the AK-203 deal, Government sources said here on Saturday it will provide a big boost to self-reliance in defence manufacturing in India. It reflects the increasing paradigm shift in defence acquisition from buy (global) to Make in India. This endeavour will be done in partnership with Russia and reflects the deepening partnership between the two countries in the defence sector. The project will provide business opportunities to var- ious MSMEs and other defence industries for supply of raw material and components, which will lead to generation of new employment opportuni- ties. The project marks a sig- nificant stride towards making UP a key contributor in the ascendent defence manufac- turing prowess of India. The 7.62 X 39mm caliber AK-203 Rifles will replace in- service INSAS Rifle inducted over three decades back. Continued on Page 2 P rotesting farmers’ groups on Saturday formed a five- member committee for dia- logue with the Government on their six issues, including a legal backing of the minimum sup- port price (MSP) after Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to two farmers leaders late on Friday and assured them that the Government was serious about their demands. After a meeting under the aegis of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), farmer groups have decided to continue their protests till a formal and satis- factory response from the Government was received. The next meeting of farmers’ groups would be held on December 7. After the meeting, farmer leader and Bharatiya Kisan Union spokesperson Rakesh Tikait said the committee will consist of Balbir Singh Rajewal, Shiv Kumar Kakka, Gurnam Singh Charuni, Yudhvir Singh and Ashok Dhawale. “Farmers’ Morchas will hold its next meeting on December 7 at 11 am to finalise the agenda for talks with the Government. The committee will decide on who will hold talks in various States from the farmers’ side. Farmers would not end their protests until gets confirmation from the Government on their demands,” he said. On Tuesday, the Government had sought five names from Kisan Morcha to discuss the pending demands. “Whatever we talk about with the Centre, we will have that agenda ready. In Haryana, we already have a committee. If the Haryana Government wants to talk, they are ready. Our five-member committee will handle all affairs, and we hope the Centre will be in touch with us through them. It will be responsible for deciding who will talk in respective States,” Tikait added. Continued on Page 2 V eteran journalist Vinod Dua, who started his career with Doordarshan in the black and white era and went on to make his mark in the digital space in the decades that fol- lowed, died in Delhi’s Apollo hospital on Saturday. He was 67. The last rites of the pio- neering television journalist, who was hospitalised with Covid earlier this year and lost his wife, radiologist Padmavati ‘Chinna’ Dua, to the virus in June, will be per- formed at the Lodhi cremato- rium here on Sunday, his daughter and actor-comic Mallika Dua said. Vinod Dua breathed his last at 5 pm at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital where he was battling chronic liver disease, the hospital said in a statement. “He was admitted in the intensive care unit in a critical condition, and was monitored by a team of senior doctors. In this tragic time, our prayers are with his family and dear ones,” it said. Mallika Dua announced the death of her “irreverent, fearless and extraordinary father” on Instagram. Continued on Page 2 D erivatives of the Covid-19 Delta variant have the potential to reduce the neu- tralisation ability of the Covishield vaccine, especially among those who have never been infected with the virus, said ICMR researchers calling for booster doses. They, however, added that even with reduced neutralisa- tion ability, Covishield will protect against severe disease and fatalities. “Delta variant has slowly dominated other variants of concern. Subsequently, Delta has further mutated to Delta AY.1 to Delta AY.126. Of these, Delta AY.1 has been reported from several countries, includ- ing India. It’s considered high- ly infectious and probable escape mutant,” researchers said in the latest study posted on bioRxiv (a repository of pre- print studies). An escape mutant is one that can escape human immune response or vaccine- induced immune response. Researchers had previously evaluated the efficacy of Covaxin against Delta AY.1 (because it is an escape mutant) and found the vaccine to be effective. The study is yet to be peer- reviewed. Researchers evaluat- ed the neutralising potential of blood samples from people who had received two doses of the Covishield vaccine. They studied three types of blood samples. The first was from people who have been fully vaccinated with Covishield and have never been infected with Covid. The second was from people who have been fully vaccinated after recovering from Covid infec- tion in the past. The third was from people who got infected with Covid after being fully vaccinated, that is people who suffered breakthrough infections. They observed the highest reduction in the level of neu- tralising antibodies against the Delta — a reduction of 27.3- fold — among fully vaccinated individuals who had never been infected with Covid, compared to other groups and variants. Neutralisation was reduced against Delta and AY.1 in all three groups. However, the team said vaccines will continue to pro- vide sufficient protection against the severity of the dis- ease and fatality, based on breakthrough infections data they analysed. Continued on Page 2 A mid concerns about rising Omicron variant, the Centre on Friday cautioned Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, Odisha and Mizoram to take necessary steps under the “Test-Track- Treat-Vaccinate-Covid Appropriate Behaviour” strat- egy to curb the spread of Covid-19 and fatality. These States have been reporting surge in infections, weekly pos- itivity rates and weekly deaths. In a letter to these States, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Saturday advised them to undertake enhanced surveillance of international travellers, monitor emerging hotspots, prompt contact-trac- ing of positive people, and send all positive samples for genome sequencing. He also asked them to undertake early identification of cases and review of health infrastruc- ture preparedness, and most importantly, to focus on com- munity sensitisation. He pointed out that Karnataka has reported 8,073 new cases in the month ending December 3 (30 days) and witnessed a slight increase in weekly new cases to 2,272 cases (week ending December 3) from 1,664 cases (week end- ing November 26), along with an increase in weekly new deaths from 22 to 29 over the same period. An increase in weekly new deaths has been noted in Bengaluru Urban, from eight new deaths reported in the week ending November 25 to 14 deaths in the week ending December 2, he said. Rise in weekly cases have also been noted in Tumakuru, Dharwad and Mysuru in the southern State. Similarly, Kerala has reported 1,71,521 new cases in the month ending December 3, with a contribution of 55.8 per cent to the country’s new cases from over the past month. Continued on Page 2 S lamming the Trinamool chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s move to sideline the Congress and emerge as the key Opposition’s face against the BJP, the Shiv Sena on Saturday said that Mamata’s bid to push the grand-old party away from national politics and create a new Opposition front along lines of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was tanta- mount to strengthening the “fascist” ruling party at the Centre. “Mamata’s politics does not augur well for the Congress. Though it is true that TMC fin- ished the Congress, the BJP and the Left in West Bengal, Mamata’s effort to push the grand-old party away from national politics and create a new Opposition front along lines of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) was tanta- mount to strengthening the fas- cist forces in the country,” the Shiv Sena said. In an editorial published in its official mouth-piece “Saamana”, the Shiv Sena said, “We can understand Prime Minister Modi saying the BJP would wipe out the Congress from the political map of the country, because that is a part of the current ruling party’s agenda. But, any thought of fin- ishing the Congress which is fighting Modi and his fascist tendencies poses a serious dan- ger to the country”. “There are no two opinions about the fact that the weak- ening of the Congress during the last ten years is a serious cause for concern. But, the attempt to prevent the derailed Congress from getting back onto the tracks reflects the destructive mindset of some people,” the editorial said. Continued on Page 2 A fter West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the existence of Congress-led UPA, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav has sought to write the obituary of the grand old party in Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. Backing Mamata call for forming an alternative to the UPA, Akhilesh has said he might be open to joining such a political front led by the Trinamool Congress supremo. Talking about the prospect of the Congress in the forth- coming Assembly polls, Akhilesh said, “The public will refuse them... and they will get 0 seats in the upcoming election.” M umbai-born left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel on Saturday entered the record books as he became only the third bowler in the 144-year- old history of Test cricket to take all 10 wickets in an innings on the second day of the sec- ond match against India here. Patel, who had migrated to New Zealand with his parents back in 1996, ended the Indian innings with figures of 47.5-12- 119-10 to equal England great Jim Laker and Indian legend Anil Kumble, who had achieved the rarest of rare feat in Test cricket. The 33-year-old Patel, who is playing in his 11th Test, had only two five wicket hauls and a best match haul of seven wickets before Saturday’s feat. Continued on Page 2
CoV-2 variant of Covid-19were reported on Saturday inIndia, one each fromMaharashtra and Gujarat. Withthis, the number of infectionsfrom Omicron has gone to fourin two days. Two cases of thenew variant of Covid-19 werereported from Karnataka onFriday. On Saturday, one casewas reported from Jamnagar in Gujarat, another one from Mumbai.
A 72-year-old man fromZimbabwe, who reachedJamnagar last week, was foundinfected with the Omicronvariant of the coronavirus dis-
ease becoming the first case inthe State, the State healthdepartment confirmed.
Dr S Chatterjee, the nodalofficer for Covid-19 at theState-run Guru Gobind SinghHospital in Jamnagar toldreporters, “The man’s sampleswere sent to theBiotechnological ResearchLaboratory in Ahmedabadwhich found him positive forthe Omicron variant. He hasbeen kept in isolation eversince his admission to the hos-pital. We had traced all his con-tacts, screened them and theytested negative.”
He added, “We will test allhis contacts once again after thereports confirmed that he carried the Omicron variant
of the virus.”Gujarat’s additional chief
secretary (health) ManojAggarwal said, “A micro con-tainment zone has been madewhere he is living. In the area,we will do the tracing, testingof people.”
He landed in Jamnagar onNovember 28. Soon after, hewas running a fever and hisdoctor asked him to go for anRT-PCR test and he was foundCovid-19 infected.
The officials are also trac-ing 87 people who could havecome in contact with him inthe Jamnagar district.
The man was visiting hisin-laws at his native Morakdavillage near Jamnagar city andhas been living in Zimbabwe,which has been classified as an
“at-risk” country, for manyyears. In the second instance,a 33-year-old man, who arrivedin Mumbai from South Africavia New Delhi, tested positivefor the latest variant onSaturday. The passenger, whois exhibiting mild symptoms,including fever, is currentlyunder treatment at a Covidcentre in Kalyan-Dombivali.
The infected personarrived from Capetown onNovember 24 and complainedof mild fever, but no othersymptoms were noticed.
Meanwhile, 30 other pas-sengers coming from Dubai toAhmedabad and a woman whoreached Vadodara fromLondon have tested positive for Covid-19.
Continued on Page 2
���� -!���!9:,�
Setting the stage for VladimirPutin-Narendra Modi sum-
mit here next week, the IndianGovernment has cleared themuch-awaited AK-203 rifledeal. A factory in Korwa inAmethi will manufacture morethan six lakh rifles of the latestvariant of the AK-47 in a jointventure between India and Russia.
In the first phase, thearmed forces will get the AK-203 rifles, and in the secondphase the Central paramilitaryforces and State police willacquire them as reported inThe Pioneer on November 24.
The Cabinet Committeeon Security (CCS), headed bythe Prime Minister, clearedthe AK-203 deal earlier thisweek, sources said here onSaturday. The DefenceAcquisition Council (DAC)headed Defence Minister
Rajnath Singh had approvedthe contract on November 24.The deal may be inked duringthe summit.
The CCS nod came daysbefore Putin will hold talkswith Modi here on Monday.The high-profile summit willbe preceded by the first evertwo-plus-two dialogue betweenthe respective defence and for-eign minister of India andRussia the same day. India has such a two-plus-two format with the US, Japan and Australia.
As regards the AK-203deal, Government sources saidhere on Saturday it will providea big boost to self-reliance indefence manufacturing in India.
It reflects the increasingparadigm shift in defence
acquisition from buy (global) toMake in India. This endeavourwill be done in partnershipwith Russia and reflects thedeepening partnership betweenthe two countries in thedefence sector.
The project will providebusiness opportunities to var-ious MSMEs and other defenceindustries for supply of rawmaterial and components,which will lead to generation ofnew employment opportuni-ties. The project marks a sig-nificant stride towards makingUP a key contributor in theascendent defence manufac-turing prowess of India.
The 7.62 X 39mm caliberAK-203 Rifles will replace in-service INSAS Rifle inductedover three decades back.
Continued on Page 2
���� -!���!9:,
Protesting farmers’ groups onSaturday formed a five-
member committee for dia-logue with the Government ontheir six issues, including a legalbacking of the minimum sup-port price (MSP) after UnionHome Minister Amit Shahspoke to two farmers leaderslate on Friday and assuredthem that the Governmentwas serious about theirdemands.
After a meeting under theaegis of the Samyukt KisanMorcha (SKM), farmer groupshave decided to continue their
protests till a formal and satis-factory response from theGovernment was received. Thenext meeting of farmers’ groupswould be held on December 7.
After the meeting, farmerleader and Bharatiya KisanUnion spokesperson Rakesh
Tikait said the committee willconsist of Balbir Singh Rajewal,Shiv Kumar Kakka, GurnamSingh Charuni, Yudhvir Singhand Ashok Dhawale.
“Farmers’ Morchas willhold its next meeting onDecember 7 at 11 am to finalise
the agenda for talks with theGovernment. The committeewill decide on who will holdtalks in various States from thefarmers’ side. Farmers wouldnot end their protests until getsconfirmation from theGovernment on theirdemands,” he said.
On Tuesday, theGovernment had sought fivenames from Kisan Morcha to discuss the pendingdemands.
“Whatever we talk aboutwith the Centre, we will havethat agenda ready. In Haryana,we already have a committee.If the Haryana Governmentwants to talk, they are ready.Our five-member committeewill handle all affairs, and wehope the Centre will be intouch with us through them. Itwill be responsible for decidingwho will talk in respectiveStates,” Tikait added.
Continued on Page 2
����� -!���!9:,
Veteran journalist VinodDua, who started his career
with Doordarshan in the blackand white era and went on tomake his mark in the digitalspace in the decades that fol-lowed, died in Delhi’s Apollohospital on Saturday. He was 67.
The last rites of the pio-neering television journalist,who was hospitalised withCovid earlier this year andlost his wife, radiologistPadmavati ‘Chinna’ Dua, to thevirus in June, will be per-formed at the Lodhi cremato-rium here on Sunday, hisdaughter and actor-comicMallika Dua said.
Vinod Dua breathed hislast at 5 pm at the IndraprasthaApollo Hospital where he wasbattling chronic liver disease,the hospital said in a statement.
“He was admitted in theintensive care unit in a critical
condition, and was monitoredby a team of senior doctors. Inthis tragic time, our prayers arewith his family and dear ones,”it said.
Mallika Dua announcedthe death of her “irreverent,fearless and extraordinaryfather” on Instagram.
Continued on Page 2
�������������� � ���������
���� -!���!9:,
Derivatives of the Covid-19Delta variant have the
potential to reduce the neu-tralisation ability of theCovishield vaccine, especiallyamong those who have neverbeen infected with the virus,said ICMR researchers callingfor booster doses.
They, however, added thateven with reduced neutralisa-tion ability, Covishield willprotect against severe diseaseand fatalities.
“Delta variant has slowlydominated other variants ofconcern. Subsequently, Deltahas further mutated to DeltaAY.1 to Delta AY.126. Of these,Delta AY.1 has been reportedfrom several countries, includ-ing India. It’s considered high-ly infectious and probableescape mutant,” researcherssaid in the latest study postedon bioRxiv (a repository of pre-print studies).
An escape mutant is one
that can escape humanimmune response or vaccine-induced immune response.Researchers had previouslyevaluated the efficacy ofCovaxin against Delta AY.1(because it is an escape mutant)and found the vaccine to be effective.
The study is yet to be peer-reviewed. Researchers evaluat-ed the neutralising potential ofblood samples from peoplewho had received two doses ofthe Covishield vaccine.
They studied three types ofblood samples. The first wasfrom people who have beenfully vaccinated withCovishield and have neverbeen infected with Covid. Thesecond was from people whohave been fully vaccinated afterrecovering from Covid infec-tion in the past. The third was
from people who got infectedwith Covid after being fullyvaccinated, that is people who suffered breakthroughinfections.
They observed the highestreduction in the level of neu-tralising antibodies against theDelta — a reduction of 27.3-fold — among fully vaccinatedindividuals who had neverbeen infected with Covid, compared to other groups and variants.
Neutralisation was reducedagainst Delta and AY.1 in allthree groups.
However, the team saidvaccines will continue to pro-vide sufficient protectionagainst the severity of the dis-ease and fatality, based onbreakthrough infections datathey analysed.
Continued on Page 2
���� -!���!9:,
Amid concerns about risingOmicron variant, the
Centre on Friday cautionedKarnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu,Jammu & Kashmir, Odishaand Mizoram to take necessarysteps under the “Test-Track-Tr e a t - Va c c i n a t e - C o v i dAppropriate Behaviour” strat-egy to curb the spread ofCovid-19 and fatality. TheseStates have been reportingsurge in infections, weekly pos-itivity rates and weekly deaths.
In a letter to these States,Union Health Secretary RajeshBhushan on Saturday advisedthem to undertake enhancedsurveillance of internationaltravellers, monitor emerginghotspots, prompt contact-trac-ing of positive people, andsend all positive samples forgenome sequencing. He alsoasked them to undertake earlyidentification of cases andreview of health infrastruc-ture preparedness, and mostimportantly, to focus on com-munity sensitisation.
He pointed out thatKarnataka has reported 8,073new cases in the month endingDecember 3 (30 days) and
witnessed a slight increase inweekly new cases to 2,272cases (week ending December3) from 1,664 cases (week end-ing November 26), along withan increase in weekly newdeaths from 22 to 29 over thesame period.
An increase in weekly newdeaths has been noted inBengaluru Urban, from eightnew deaths reported in theweek ending November 25 to14 deaths in the week endingDecember 2, he said.
Rise in weekly cases havealso been noted in Tumakuru,Dharwad and Mysuru in thesouthern State.
Similarly, Kerala hasreported 1,71,521 new cases inthe month ending December 3,with a contribution of 55.8 percent to the country’s new casesfrom over the past month.
Minister Mamata Banerjee’smove to sideline the Congressand emerge as the keyOpposition’s face against theBJP, the Shiv Sena on Saturdaysaid that Mamata’s bid to pushthe grand-old party away fromnational politics and create anew Opposition front alonglines of the United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) was tanta-mount to strengthening the“fascist” ruling party at theCentre.
“Mamata’s politics does notaugur well for the Congress.Though it is true that TMC fin-ished the Congress, the BJP andthe Left in West Bengal,Mamata’s effort to push thegrand-old party away fromnational politics and create anew Opposition front alonglines of the United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) was tanta-mount to strengthening the fas-cist forces in the country,” the
Shiv Sena said.In an editorial published in
its official mouth-piece“Saamana”, the Shiv Sena said,“We can understand PrimeMinister Modi saying the BJPwould wipe out the Congressfrom the political map of thecountry, because that is a partof the current ruling party’sagenda. But, any thought of fin-ishing the Congress which isfighting Modi and his fascist
tendencies poses a serious dan-ger to the country”.
“There are no two opinionsabout the fact that the weak-ening of the Congress duringthe last ten years is a seriouscause for concern. But, theattempt to prevent the derailedCongress from getting backonto the tracks reflects thedestructive mindset of somepeople,” the editorial said.
Continued on Page 2
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���� -!���!9:,
After West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee
questioned the existence ofCongress-led UPA, Samajwadiparty chief Akhilesh Yadav hassought to write the obituary ofthe grand old party in UttarPradesh Assembly polls.
Backing Mamata call for
forming an alternative to theUPA, Akhilesh has said hemight be open to joining sucha political front led by theTrinamool Congress supremo.
Talking about the prospectof the Congress in the forth-coming Assembly polls,Akhilesh said, “The public willrefuse them... and they will get0 seats in the upcoming election.”
Saturday entered the recordbooks as he became only thethird bowler in the 144-year-old history of Test cricket totake all 10 wickets in an inningson the second day of the sec-ond match against India here.
Patel, who had migrated toNew Zealand with his parentsback in 1996, ended the Indianinnings with figures of 47.5-12-119-10 to equal England greatJim Laker and Indian legendAnil Kumble, who hadachieved the rarest of rare featin Test cricket.
The 33-year-old Patel, whois playing in his 11th Test, hadonly two five wicket hauls anda best match haul of sevenwickets before Saturday’s feat.
After a lull of almost three months, novelcoronavirus infection cases spiked in
Uttar Pradesh with 27 people testing positivein the last 24 hours while during the same peri-od eight Covid-19 patients recovered.
A UP Government spokesman said thatthe maximum of nine new Covid-19 caseswere reported from Gautam Buddha Nagar(Noida) followed by five in Mainpuri, three inVaranasi and two each in Lucknow, Mathuraand Bareilly and one each in Ghazipur,Prayagraj and Maharajganj.
At present there are 116 active cases in thestate while 1.51 lakh samples were tested fornovel coronavirus infection in the last 24 hours.
“Following a sudden spike in COVID-19cases, the UP government has intensifiedscreening and strengthened surveillanceacross the state. Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has instructed officials to inten-sify genome sequencing of the Covid samples.In pursuance of the directive, genomesequencing of samples is being carried out ata rapid pace in at Lucknow's KGMU andSGPGIMS,” the official said.
The facilities of genome sequencing areavailable in BHU, CDRI, IGIB, Ram Manohar
L o h i aI n s t i t u t eand NBRIin UP.
New Delhi: PDP presidentMehbooba Mufti on Saturdayaccused the Centre of project-ing Jammu and Kashmir as"peaceful" whereas the fact wasthat blood was being spilled onits roads and people were beingslapped with anti-terror lawsfor expressing their opinion.
Speaking at the Aaj TakSummit here about "NayaKashmir", Mehbooba, a formerchief minister, said her late fatherMufti Mohammed Sayeed hadtied up with the BJP in 2014 onlybecause he wanted to usher in anew regime of peace in the state.
"My father had seen astatesman like Atal BihariVajpayee earlier and he hadhoped that the new regime ofBJP will work on the same ide-ology," she said.
She questioned the use ofthe term "Naya Kashmir" andsaid "the new Kashmir that isbeing advertised is not thereality. Today an 18-month-oldgirl is sitting in a protest to get
the body of her father who waskilled by security forces."
"Today, a Kashmiri Panditwas killed in broad daylight.The road is covered with theblood of a Bihari man and wecall it Naya Kashmir? Is thiswhat we anticipated from theword 'Naya Kashmir'?Everywhere the situation isprojected to be better, then whyare the number of paramilitaryforces increased, fresh bunkersbuilt," she asked.
She also targeted the cen-tral government.
"Forget 'Naya Kashmir' andlet us talk about 'NayaHindustan'.... In NayaHindustan, anyone talkingabout the Constitution islabelled as 'tukde tukde gang',minorities irrespective of beinga roadside vendor or a film starare socially and economicallyoutcast, farmers demandingrepeal (of farm laws) are labelledas Khalistani and booked underUAPA," she said. PTI
��""���� ������ ;:2)(9
If martyrs are not worshiped,then from where will this
seed come, who will put soil onhis forehead after addressingthe Earth as mother. With theutterance of these words,Governor Mangubhai Pateland Chief Minister ShivrajSingh Chouhan paid homageto Jannayak Tantya Mama, asymbol of tribal pride andidentity, on his sacrifice day ina memorial program orga-nized at Nehru Stadium, Indoretoday.
In the remembrance pro-gram, Governor Patel and ChiefMinister Chouhan worshipedthe Gaurav Kalash Yatra orga-nized in the memory of JannayakTantya Mama. They also paidrespect to the descendants ofKrantisurya Jannayak TantyaMama and honored them.
Patel said that he is feelinghappy and proud to participatein the program organized onthe martyrdom day of the greatleader of freedom movementKrantisurya Jannayak TantyaMama. Patel thanked ChiefMinister Chouhan for organiz-ing a grand program to honorthe memory and martyrdom ofJannayak Tantya Mama. Hetold that the Gaurav KalashYatra, dedicated to the sacrifice
of Tantya Mama, came toIndore today after travelingthousands of kilometers. Lakhsof people participated in thisyatra, which itself shows thepopularity of Tantya Mama. Hesaid that efforts are being madeday and night by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andChief Minister Chouhan for thewelfare and all-round develop-ment of the tribal community.
The Chief Minister saidthat the British of even up toEngland were scared by thename of Tantya Mama. TantyaMama, the leader of the free-dom movement, took up armsagainst the atrocities against thepoor. Today is the time toremember the tribal heroeslike Tantya Mama who dedi-cated the last drop of theirbody's blood for the country'sindependence.
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Two days after he was suspended fromservice, the Crime Branch Unit XI of
the Mumbai Police on Saturday filed acharge-sheet against senior IPS officer andMumbai’s former Police CommissionerParam Bir Singh and three others beforea city court, in an extortion case registeredagainst them by a hotelier.
The crime branch sleuths filed a com-prehensive charge-sheet against Singh, incar-cerated dismissed police inspector SachinVaze and two others Sumit Singh andAlpesh Patel, before Additional ChiefMetropolitan Magistrate S. B. Bhajipale, in anextortion case filed by hotelier Bimal Agarwal.
Saturday’s was the first charge-sheetfiled in the five FIRs registered against himin Mumbai and Thane. The developmentcame 48 hours prior to the expiry of inter-im protection from arrest granted to himby the Supreme Court.
Singh and three other accused havebeen booked under sections 384, 386, 388,389 (all sections relating to extortion), 120-b (criminal conspiracy), 201 (destructionof evidence) and 34 (common intent) ofIndian Penal Code.
In his complaint, Agarwal had allegedthat Singh and Vaze -- who is currentlybehind the bars for alleged involvement inthe cases involving the recovery of anexplosive-laden SUV near industrialistMukesh Ambani’s south Mumbai resi-dence and subsequent murder of busi-
nessman Mansukh Hiran—and two otheraccused had extorted cash and valuablesworth Rs 9 lakh from him as a pay-off fornot conducting raids on two of his bars atGoregaon in north Mumbai which he ranin partnership with another person.
Singh and Vaze had allegedly alsoforced him to purchase two smart phonesworth around Rs 2.92 lakh for them.
Apart from Singh and Vaze, AlpeshPatel and Sumit Singh are currently on bail.
Riyaz Bhatti and Vinay Singh aliasBabloo have been named as abscondingaccused in the case. Of the accused,Alpesh Patel was arrested from Mehsanarailway station in Gujarat. Patel hadreportedly destroyed the mobile phone andSIM card used in the offence. One of thetwo mobile phones given to Sachin Wazeby the complainant as part of the extortionhas been seized by the investigators.
Based on Agrawal’s complaint, thepolice had registered a First InformationReport (FIR) against Singh, Vaze and twoothers for offences under Sections 384, 385388, 389 (extortion), 120B (criminal con-spiracy) and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
It was connection with this case thatthe same court had on November 17declared Singh—who had been abscond-ing for more than six months – as “pro-claimed offender and ordered him toappear before the court or the InvestigatingOfficer within 30 days. On November 25,Singh returned to the city and appearedbefore the Crime Branch Unit 11 office of
the Mumbai police.In his complaint, Agarwal had also
alleged that extortion calls were made tohim between January 2020 and March 2021.
The filing of the charge-sheet comesas a major embarrassment for Singh, whowas once the Police Commissioner. Thecity crime branch sleuths were waiting forhis suspension before they filed a charge-sheet against Singh.
On December 2, the Maharashtra gov-ernment suspended Singh from service inview of serious offences registered againsthim and the disciplinary proceedingslaunched into “certain irregularities andlapses” committed him, including hisunauthorised absence from duty.
“The Government of Maharashtra issatisfied that it is necessary and desirableto place Parambir Singh under suspen-sion… in accordance with the Rule 3(1)and Rule 3(3) of the All India Service(Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969,”Venkatesh Bhat, Joint Secretary, stateHome Department, had stated in a three-page order on Thursday evening.
Singh -- who had created a sensation onMarch 20 this year by alleging that StateHome Minister Anil Deshmukh had askednow arrested and dismissed police officerSachin Vaze to "collect" a staggering Rs 100crore per month from bars, restaurants andother sources in Mumbai – has beenbooked for several serious offences registeredagainst him in four different police stationsin Mumbai and neighbouring Thane district.
���� -!���!9:,
At least one in 100 patientshospitalised with Covid-19
are likely to develop centralnervous system complications,like strokes due to cloggedarteries, bleeding in the brain,inflammation of the brain, andother potentially fatal compli-cations, researchers have saidafter analysing nearly 40,000cases of such hospitalisedinfected patients.
Many of the patients hadcomorbidities like hyperten-sion, cardiac disease and dia-betes, as per the study, one ofthe largest multi-institutionalstudies to date on brain com-plications of Covid-19.
Researchers from theThomas Jefferson University inPhiladelphia, US said the mostcommon finding was a strokedue to clogged arteries.
Symptoms led doctors tosuspect brain complications inabout 11 per cent, theresearchers reported at therecent annual meeting of theRadiological Society of NorthAmerica.
The most common com-plication was ischemic stroke,with an incidence of 6.2 percent, followed by intracranialhemorrhage (3.72 per cent)and encephalitis (0.47 per
cent), an inflammation of thebrain.
"Much has been writtenabout the overall pulmonaryproblems related to Covid-19,but we do not often talk aboutthe other organs that can beaffected," said study lead authorScott H. Faro, M.D., FASFNR,professor of radiology and neu-rology and director of theDivision ofNeuroradiology/Head & NeckImaging at Thomas JeffersonUniversity in Philadelphia.
"Our study shows that cen-tral nervous system complica-tions represent a significantcause of morbidity and mor-tality in this devastating pan-demic."
The patients had beenadmitted between September2019 and June 2020. Theiraverage age was 66 years old,and there were twice as manymen as women.
The most common causeof admission was confusionand altered mental status, fol-lowed by fever.
There were 442 acute neu-roimaging findings that weremost likely associated with theviral infection. The overallincidence of central nervoussystem complications in thislarge patient group was 1.2 percent.
spells of 24-10-57-4, 5-0-16-0,6-0-16-2, 12.5-2-30-4 and gothis 10th and final wicket in theform of Mohammed Siraj, whotried a slog and was caught byanother player of Indian originRachin Ravindra.
Patel got a standing ovationfrom the Indian team as theumpires handed him the cov-eted ball while leading histeam off the field.
Incidentally, Patel is thesecond player after DouglasJardine, who has played againstIndia in his city of birth.
From page 1“He lived an inimitable
life, rising from the refugeecolonies of Delhi to the peakof journalistic excellence forover 42 years, always, alwaysspeaking truth to power.
“He is now with our mom,his beloved wife Chinna inheaven where they will con-tinue to sing, cook, travel anddrive each other up the wall,”she wrote on her InstagramStories.
The couple, admitted in ahospital in Gurgaon when thesecond Covid wave was at itspeak, is also parents to elderdaughter Bakul Dua, a clinicalpsychologist.
Vinod Dua’s health hadsuffered ever since he con-tracted Covid and he had beenin and out of hospitals.
He was a pioneer in Hindibroadcast journalism whostarted his career with “YuvaManch”, a programme for theyouth on Doordarshan. But itwas the election analysis he co-anchored with Prannoy Royon Doordarshan in 1984 thatbrought him real acclaim.
Much later, the journalistwith eclectic interests rangingfrom politics to cooking host-ed the popular food pro-
gramme “Zaika India Ka” forNDTV that saw him exploringdistinct food cultures of dif-ferent cities and towns inIndia.
He also anchored “JanGan Man Ki Baat” for TheWire Hindi.
“Deeply mourning the lossof Vinod.He was not just oneof the greatest,he was THEgreatest of his time.I havealways said that:THE greatestAn amazing talent I admiredand respected-and from whomI learnt a lot in the many yearswe worked closely togetherRest in peace my friend,” Roy,his long-time friend andNDTV co-founder, wrote onTwitter.
Dua, who had a degree inEnglish literature from HansRaj College and later obtainedhis master’s degree in literaturefrom the University of Delhi,had won many laurels over theyears.
In 2008, he was honouredwith the Padma Shri for jour-nalism. He was also the firstelectronic media journalist toreceive the Ramnath GoenkaExcellence in JournalismAward.
Condolences poured infrom all quarters. Congressleader Shashi Tharoordescribed Dua’s death as agreat loss to Indian journalism
and our national discourse. Historian S Irfan Habib said hewas one of India’s most cred-ible media veterans. “Amongfew journalists with a spine, adear friend and hugely accom-plished in talking about poli-tics, food, music and Urdupoetry. Had a brief hello onphone last month,” he tweet-ed.
Many in the media worldexpressed their shock.
The Press Club of Indiasaid on Twitter that Dua wasa fearless symbol of the fourthpillar of democracy, a jour-nalist who could hold forth onfood, politics and cultureequally.
“We are poorer in his pass-ing. The PCI stands by hisfamily, especially his daughterswho also lost their motherChinna Dua earlier this year.”
“Mourning Vinod Dua thepioneer of news television inIndia & probably the greatestTV presenter of our times.One of the first times I everappeared on TV Vinod was theanchor & i admired his natur-al, easy style which none of uscould match in the decades tocome. A great loss,” addedjournalist Vir Sanghvi.
Senior journalist Ashutoshtermed Dua a legend of TVjournalism who never com-promised with his values.
From page 1“Several studies have
reported the increase inimmune response in Covid-19recovered cases and break-through infections post-vacci-nation,” the team noted in thestudy.
They said that such a risein immune response actuallyhelps effectively neutralise theimmune escape variants inbreakthrough Covid cases.
“Once the individual getsre-infection after vaccination orvaccination post-recovery,memory B cells (a type ofwhite blood cells involved inimmune response) are trig-gered that generate higher lev-els of immune response,” theteam noted.
They added that a boosterdose vaccination among fullyvaccinated people who havenever been infected withCovid-19 would achieve a pro-tective immune response tofight against emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants.
From page 1
“Also, 13 out of 14 districts are reporting a high num-ber of weekly new cases in the State. Districts of concernin the week ending December 2 are Thiruvananthapuram(5,541), Ernakulam, (4,976), Kozhikode (3,676), Thrissur(2,903) and Kottayam (2,478),” Bhushan noted.
Four districts --Thiruvananthapuram (11.61 per cent),Wayanad (11.25 per cent), Kozhikode (11 per cent) andKottayam (10.81 per cent) -- are showing high weekly pos-itivity of more than 10 per cent, while nine districts are report-ing weekly positivity between 5-10 per cent.
Four other districts -- Thrissur, Malappuram,Kozhikode and Kollam -- are reporting high quantum ofweekly new deaths in the state.
As for Jammu & Kashmir, Bhushan said, it has report-ed 4,806 new cases in the month ending December 3, witha few districts such as Kathua, Jammu, Ganderbal andBaramulla showing an increase in the previous week.
Tamil Nadu has reported 23,764 new cases during thesame period. Vellore, Thiruvallur in Chennai showed anincrease in weekly new cases in the past week while Odishahas reported 7,445 new cases during the same period, witha contribution of 2.5 per cent to India’s new cases fromover the past month.
“It is important to note that Khordha district in theState is reporting a high quantum of weekly new caseswith 900 new cases reported in the week endingDecember 3,” he said.
From page 1A farmer leader said Balbir Singh
Rajewal and Yudhvir Singh got a phonecall from Union Home Minister AmitShah on Friday late evening to sort outthe issues. The committee was formedfollowing that, the farmer leader added.
“The Home Minister said the farmlegislations have been repealed andwanted a committee to communicatewith the Government, so we finallyhave made that committee now,”farmer leader said.
In a statement, SKM said the nextmeeting has now been fixed forDecember 7, with the next two dayskept for the Government to respond itand work along with the five-membercommittee to resolve this agitation toits logical conclusion. The farmersgroups believe the Government wasattempting to divide the farmers bymaking individual calls to certainfarmers requesting to establish a com-munication channel.
Meanwhile, the talks betweenHaryana farm unions leaders andChief Minister Manohar Lal on Fridayremained inconclusive.
From page 1
AK-203 Assault Rifles, withan effective range of 300meters, are light weight, robustand easy to use Modern AssaultRifles with proven technologythat will enhance the combatpotential of soldiers to ade-quately meet present and envis-aged operational challenges.
They will enhance theoperational effectiveness of theIndian Army in CounterInsurgency and CounterTerrorism operations.
The project will be imple-mented by a special purposeJoint Venture called Indo-Russian Rifles Private Ltd(IRRPL). It has been createdwith erstwhile OrdnanceFactory Board (OFB) [nowAdvanced Weapons and
Equipment India Limited(AWEIL) and Munitions IndiaLimited (MIL)] of India andRosoboronexport (RoE) andconcern Kalashnikov of Russia.
The rifles will be manu-factured over a ten-year peri-od time. Meanwhile, India willprocure 70,000 AK-203s off theshelf from Russia to maintainoperational preparedness,sources said.
The deal was first
announced in 2018 and thePrime Minister had even inau-gurated the production facili-ty at the Korwa OrdnanceFactory in Amethi in March2019.
On Putin-Modi summit,officials said the two leaderswill review the state of bilater-al ties and discuss ways to fur-ther strengthen the strategicpartnership between the twocountries.
From page 1Their genome sequencing
is being done to ascertain ifthey have been infected withthe Omicron mutant.
India is on a list of at least30 countries where the varianthas been detected though, sofar, the evidence doesn’t suggestit to be more lethal than theDelta variant. However, thesharp rise in cases in SouthAfrica and the significant num-ber of mutations it bore thatpotentially gave it a growthadvantage are factors thatprompted the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) to label
it a Variant of Concern withindays of it being reported by theSouth African medical author-ities.
India currently reportsaround 9,000 coronaviruscases a day, with the bulk ofthem being reported out ofKerala. The India Sars-Cov-2genome consortium, which isin charge of testing a portionof positive samples to ascertaintheir genomes, in an update onMonday underlined that mostof the cases being detected inIndia were of the Delta variantand its associated sub-lin-eages.
From page 1The Sena's criticism of Mamata's efforts to occu-
py the Congress' space by negating the very exis-tence of the UPA comes as a big boost to the belea-guered Congress at a time when it is fighting notjust the BJP but also the detractors within and out-side the non-BJP parties.
Batting for the UPA strongly, the Shiv Sena madeno bones about its displeasure over the statement madeby Mamata in Mumbai: “What’s UPA?.There’s no UPA”.“The BJP under Modi’s leadership may not need theNDA, but the Opposition needs UPA. Forming a par-allel opposition alliance to the UPA is akin to strength-ening the BJP. The question is who should lead the UPA.Those who are opposed to the Congress leading theUPA should come out openly rather than indulging inshadow boxing. This kind of shadow boxing will onlylead to suspicions,” the Sena mouth-piece said.
“Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi should come outand speak about the issue of UPA leadership. Theneed of the hour is to strengthen the UPA. Theyshould take the lead in strengthening the UPA,” the“Saamana” editorial said.
Taking strong exception to poll strategist andMamata’s advisor Prashant Kishor’s statement thatCongress’s leadership of the Opposition was not the“divine right of an individual, especially when the partyhas lost more than 90 per cent elections in last 10 years”,the “Saamana” editorial said : “No one has divine rightof Opposition leadership. No one knows as to whatwill happen in 2024. There was a time when peoplefelt that the BJP would remain in the Opposition allits life but its fortunes changed”.“Today, Rahul Gandhiand Priyanka Gandhi are fighting against those whoare trying to undermine them politically,” Sena mouth-piece said.
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Delhi’s air on Saturday con-tinued to remain in the very
poor category, System of AirQuality and WeatherForecasting and Research(SAFAR), said.
The overall Air QualityIndex (AQI) on the NationalAmbient Air Quality Index(NAAQI) was 342 microgramsper cubic.
According to the shortrange weather forecast, SAFARsaid, for the next three days,winds are likely to be low reduc-ing ventilation leading to degra-dation of air quality but withinthe same category. “FromDecember 7 onwards winds areexpected to increase dispersingpollutants but AQI is likely to
remain in ‘very poor’ category.Partly cloudy sky and low mix-ing layer height are preventingefficient dispersion of pollu-tants,” it said.
As per the SAFAR, the PM10 levels were recorded at 248 inthe ‘moderate’ category and PM2.5 levels were recorded at 148in the ‘very poor’ category. Theair quality in Noida hasimproved from the ‘hazardous’-to the ‘very poor’ category. Theoverall AQI in Noida stood at331. Meanwhile, the air qualityin Gurugram was at the upperend of ‘severe’ category at 480.
An AQI between zero and50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’,301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401and 500 ‘severe’.
��""���� ������ -!���!9:,
The Delhi Police has arresteda 25-year-old man for
allegedly cheating shopkeepersby purchasing mobile phonesshowing fake screenshots ofpayment in the National Capital.
The accused has been iden-tified as Hemant Vashisht, a res-ident of Faridabad in Haryana.
According to police, a casewas registered on Thursday atCyber Police Station in centraldistrict. The matter came to lightwhen a Rajinder Nagar shop-keeper named Mohsin Khanfiled a complaint against analleged fraud. In his complaint,he wrote that in August a cus-tomer came to his shop to pur-chase a Samsung S-21 mobilephone. The customer wanted tomake the payment throughonline mode, he said, and whenhe agreed, the customer showedhim a screenshot of the pay-ment. Later, the shopkeeperfound no payment was made bythe buyer and the screenshotshowed, was fake.
“During investigation,police found that the boughtphone was being used by a mannamed Aslam, living in RameshNagar. When asked about it,Aslam said he had purchased thephone from a shop in GaffarMarket, Karol Bagh. Later, policeinterrogated Sunil Kumar, theshopkeeper from whom Aslamhad bought the mobile,” saidShweta Chauhan, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP),Central district.“Kumar toldpolice that he bought the phonefrom an unknown person. Later,police received a tip-off thatVashisht was coming to sellanother phone to the sameshopkeeper, and arrested himwhen came,” said the DCP.
Vashisht is a commercegraduate from AllahabadUniversity and is currentlyworking as property dealer inFaridabad, she said. He used tocheat people by showing fakescreenshots of payment forexpensive mobile phones andlater sold those mobile phonesto others, the DCP said.
��""���� ������ -!���!9:,
The Delhi Police has instructed its personneland their family members to get fully vac-
cinated, besides following Covid-appropriatebehavior, amid rising concerns over the newCovid-19 variant ‘Omicron’.
According to data shared by the Delhi Police,over 95 per cent of its staff are vaccinated. Ofthe total 77,809 members, 74,289 have been vac-cinated till December 2 while 1,636 have beenmedically exempted due to health-relatedissues.
The department has also called for revivingits Covid-19 Health Monitoring Cells headed byinspector-rank officials, and ensuring availabilityof oxygen cylinders and life saving medicines,they said.
In an order issued on December 2, ShaliniSingh, the Special Commissioner of Police,Welfare has instructed all the 15 police districtsand other units to be fully geared to face any exi-gency related to Omicron through their respec-tive Covid-19 nodal officers.
The force has been asked to ensure pre-paredness of Covid care centres, availability ofoxygen cylinders and concentrators, life saving
medicines, hospital beds, ambulances, sanitiz-ers, masks, gloves, PPE kits and other essentialitems, order stated.
"Deputy Commissioners of Police (DCPs)have been tasked with reviewing the medicalexemption granted to certain police personnelfrom vaccination and encouraging them to getvaccinated after consulting doctors," the orderread.
"The DCPs shall be the nodal officers forensuring proper medical facilities to the policepersonnel and their families, and an officer ofthe rank of inspector or above shall visit the hos-pitalised police personnel and ensure requisiteassistance," the order read.
The department directed that the nodal offi-cers from the hospitals and the DCPs, who arethe nodal officers for the police, share all con-tact information immediately on the depart-ment's official e-mail ID.
Besides, the DCPs will be responsible forensuring that the data on hospitalisation of policepersonnel is e-mailed to the department by 8 ameveryday.
The order laid emphasis on revival ofCovid care centres at Shahdara and Rohini onpriority.
��""���� ������ -!���!9:,
Delhi Congress will “force-fully” oppose the new
liquor policy as it will not onlyruin the health of the youth butcreate law and order situationin the national Capital, formerpresident of the Delhi Congressand former speaker of theDelhi Assembly, SubhashChopra said on Saturday.
Expressing “shock” overthe decision, Chopra said thataround 850 new liquor outletshave been opened across thecity, including at non-con-forming areas. “How could theLieutenant Governor of Delhi,being the chairman of theDelhi Development Authority,allowed opening of liquor out-lets at non-conforming areas,even without seeking the opin-ions of local residents, GramSabhas and social and religiousorganizations,” he asked.
Addressing the media,Chopra said that liquor shopshave been allowed to openwithout following mandatory
distance from places of worshipand educational institutions,and at some places, shops havebeen opened side-by-side sothat more and more youthcould be attracted to liquoraddiction, to further vitiatethe already disturbed law andorder situation in the Capital.
"The Chief Minister whokept criticising the liquor pol-icy of the CongressGovernment before coming topower, has now flouted allnorms to liberalize the excisepolicy," he said.
The Congress leader fur-ther said that the closure ofgovernment operated liquorvends will render nearly 3,000employees jobless. “It is shock-ing to learn that vending licens-es have been issued to compa-nies who have been defaultersof excise duty to the govern-ment. Two companies relatedto the Balaji group, controlledby a politician from AndhraPradesh, have been allottedthree zones (Zone 4, 23 and32), and another successful
bidder, Khao Gali RestaurantsPvt. Ltd, have been allottedZones 2 and 3, though theyhave been black-listed inDelhi,” he alleged.
Elaborating about the issue,he said that the some group ofMadhya Pradesh, which hasbeen black-listed in the Stateover non-payment of excisedues, is also in the list ofanother beneficiary.
He said that there is dis-crepancy in the deposit ofearnest money, as there seemsto have taken place huge cor-ruption in the allotment ofliquor vending zones, as thepolicy will be destructive inmany ways.
Chopra said that the AAPGovernment seems to havelearnt no lessons from the pastexperience as no new ICUoxygen bed has been added inDelhi hospitals, and the con-struction work of the three newhospitals started by theCongress Government atAmbedkar Nagar, Burari andDwarka, is still dragging on.
��""���� ������ -!���!9:,
In view of municipal polls in Delhischeduled next year, Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) has launched a massive ‘MCDBadlaav’ campaign under which the partywill begin a door-to-door membershipcampaign from Sunday.
The campaign seeks to reach voters ineach and every ward and was jointlylaunched by senior AAP leaders ManishSisodia and Gopal Rai in presence of partyworkers, MLAs, councillors and officebearers at the party's headquarters.
Addressing the media, AAP seniorleader Manish Sisodia said that the AAPis not a party, it is a movement; every partyin the country is trying to copy us. “Wehave to change the politics of this coun-try. The Delhi government under ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal so far in educa-tion, healthcare and other sectors, andexhorted the people to vote for the AAPin the upcoming elections to bring theparty at the helm of affairs at the munic-ipal corporations in Delhi,” he said.
Sisodia said that the membershipdrive is beginning tomorrow to reach everyone. “Those who won't work will be count-
ed in negative. You must keep in mind thatbig brother is watching. Just by makingattendance and sharing picture onFacebook and WhatsApp will not help," hesaid.
Speaking on the occasion, Rai target-ed the ruling BJP on the issue of allegedcorruption in civic bodies and said the saf-fron party has given two gifts to the peo-ple of Delhi during its 15 years regime --"three garbage mountains and extortion inevery lane" of the city.
"To bring change in Delhi municipal
corporations, a ‘maha abhiyan’(massivecampaign) is starting from today to oustthe corrupt BJP from power," he said.
As part of the 'MCD Badlaav' cam-paign, a massive membership drive will berolled out on Sunday; he said and askedhis party leaders and workers to ensure itssuccess.
Rai, who is convenor of the AAP'sDelhi unit, also gave his party leaders andworkers a target of making at least 50 lakhpeople members of the party under the‘MCD Badlaav’ campaign.
��""���� ������ -!���!9:,
Delhi Health MinisterSatendar Jain said on
Saturday that DelhiGovernment is planning tomake mandatory free screeningservices and treatment availableof hepatitis B and C for preg-nant women to ensure timelytreatment and for this ‘mohal-la clinics’ staff will be trained.
Jain participated in the24th Hepatitis day at theInstitute of Liver and BiliarySciences. He released a reporton “Hepatitis AwarenessActivities.”
The Minister explainedthat Hepatitis C is easily treat-able with a 12 week medicinecourse. Hepatitis B can also beprevented. “The two ways bywhich Hepatitis B spreads isfrom expecting mother to achild and through blood trans-fusion. This can easily be pre-vented through early detec-tion,” he said, “We will train thestaff of Mohalla Clinic to treatthis disease along with screen-ing and we will make sure thatfree medicines are availablethere to treat the disease at theprimary level.We will devise amechanism to provide freemedicines to patients ofHepatitis B in Mohalla Clinics.Additionally, we will bringHepatitis under the notifiabledisease list of Delhi within thenext few months.”
He also said, “The Delhigovernment will integrate thetest of Hepatitis with itsupcoming Health ManagementInformation System, by this, wewill ensure that every healthcard holder goes through ahepatitis test, once in a life-time.”
Deputy chief ministerManish Sisodia, who was alsopresent, said that Delhi gov-ernment shall stand committedto the elimination of HepatitisB and C and would welcomeany additional policy changesand financial support requiredby ILBS to make this programa success.
��""���� ������ -!���!9:,
Delhi reported 51 coron-avirus cases on Saturday
while the positivity rate of 0.08per cent, according to datashared by the health depart-ment.
As per the health bulletin,A total of 64 826 tests -- 55,421RT-PCR and 9,405 rapid anti-gen -- were conducted a dayago, according to the latesthealth bulletin.
The number of cumulativecases of the disease rose to14,41,295. Over 14.15 lakhpatients have recovered so far.The death toll due to the coro-navirus infection in Delhi stoodat 25,098.
In November, seven Covid-19 deaths were reported in thenational capital, the highestnumber of fatalities due to thecoronavirus infection in the lastthree months in the nationalcapital, according to officialdata. Delhi had recorded fourCovid deaths in October andfive in September.
Concerned over the threatposed by the new omicronvariant of coronavirus, Delhichief minister Arvind Kejriwalsaid on Tuesday that hisGovernment has prepared30,000 oxygen beds andramped up oxygen supply andstorage facilities.
The Delhi Government on Saturdaylaunched the official Business Blasters
website to support young entrepreneurs.Now, anyone can now place orders to
buy products made by the DelhiGovernment’s students on www.the businessblasters.in. Entrepreneurs from all overIndia can register on the website to men-tor or invest in the students' startups.
Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodiaasked people to be a part of the change andhelp Delhi Govt students become self-reliantindividuals, who will be future job providersrather than job seekers.
Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA)from Kalkaji, Atishi said that for anyonewho wants to invest in these young entre-preneurs or mentor them, please register on:www.the business blasters.in. Secondepisode of Business Blasters will be aired thisSunday on December 5, at 7 pm on all majorTV channels.
According to the Delhi Government, itis India’s first of its kind televised eventwhich will give class 11th and 12th studentsof Delhi Government schools an opportu-nity to present their projects to investors andobtain investment capital to take them tothe next level. The show will witness stu-dents’ business ideas, shortlisted from51,000 ideas submitted by 3,00,000 students.
The website will serve as a centralrepository of information on judges, stu-dents and their projects featured in theBusiness Blasters TV show which waslaunched last week. Additionally, it willshowcase various developments, updatesand news about the program. Visitors willalso be able to watch the latest episodes ofthe TV show on the website.
On the launch occasion Dy. CM ShriManish Sisodia, tweeted, "Be a part of thechange and help Delhi Govt studentsbecome self-reliant individuals, who will befuture job providers rather than job seek-ers. To mentor or invest in our youngBusiness Blasters, sign up at http://the-businessblasters.in”
MLA Atishi also tweeted and said,“Have been getting lots of calls and messagesfrom people across the country wanting tosupport Delhi Govt’s young BusinessBlasters! For anyone who wants to invest inthese young entrepreneurs or mentor them,please register on: www.thebusiness-blasters.in"
A special section of the website is ded-icated to the project journeys of studentsand the story behind their ideas. Differentstakeholders can also register their interestin being a part of Delhi Government'sBusiness Blasters Programme as a mentor,investor or a buyer on the official websiteitself.
��""���� ������ -!���!9:,
Tests can be pre-booked at Air Suvidhaportal on www.newdelhiairport.in.
For the convenience of the passengers,Delhi International Airport Limited(DIAL) has set up 20 dedicated counterson arrival piers for passengers who havepre-booked their RT-PCR/Rapid PCRtest. There will be dedicated queues forthese passengers. They will save the timetaken for registration and will proceeddirectly for testing.
“DIAL is also facilitating the RT-PCRtests of 2 per cent international arrivingpassengers who are not from at-risk coun-tries. With DIAL’s facilitation, these testsare being carried out free of cost with noburden on the passengers,” A DIALspokesperson said. Passengers from 11 AtRisk countries, including Europe, have toundergo mandatory RT-PCR/Rapid PCRtest on arrival in India. The arrangementhas been made following a rise in casesof infection by a new variant of Covid-19virus (Omicron).
“A significant number of incominginternational passengers at Delhi Airportare pre-booking their Rapid/RTPCRtests. This number of pre-bookings hasbeen going up ever since the latest test-ing norms have come into practice.These dedicated counters will help easethe process further for passengers,” CEO-DIAL Videh Kumar Jaipuriar said.
Accounts Committee (PAC),President Ram Nath Kovindon Saturday said that the PACupholds prudence, wisdomand propriety in theParliamentary system.
Kovind said Gandhiji con-sidered account keeping asessential for clean public life.He underlined that the phi-losophy of public accounts hasnot been changed from thetime of Kautilya.
PAC was constituted in1921 in the pre-IndependentIndia. Since the sixties, anopposition member has beenheading the committee.
The PAC examines the
accounts showing the appro-priation of the sums granted byParliament to meet the expen-diture of the central govern-ment , the Annual FinanceAccounts of the Government ofIndia and such other accountslaid before the House as theCommittee may think fit.
Several high dignitariesalong with central ministersand members of Parliament ofboth the houses attended thefunction in the Parliament.
Vice President VenkaiahNaidu said, PAC reports alwaysstrive for improvement in thesystem. PAC has detected manyfinancial lapses in its gloriouswork traditions. Naidu alsosuggested that Parliamentshould meet 100 days in a year.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om
Birla said this is one of the mostimportant Committees ofParliament and complimentedthe PAC members for theirdedication to the cause.
In his first address in thefunction, PAC Chairman AdhirRanjan Chowdhury said, thePAC is committed to upholdtransparency and accountabil-ity of the government money.He said the committee alwaysacts in an impartial manner.
The President released aspecial souvenir depicting the100 glorious years of PAC’sjourney and 67 special articlesincluding 15 fromCommonwealth countries. MrKovind also inaugurated anexhibition depicting the mile-stone moments of PAC from1921 to 2021.
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In a relief for Andhra Pradesh,Odisha and West Bengal,
the India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) onSaturday said that cyclonicstorm 'Jawad' weakened into adeep depression on Saturdayand is likely to weaken furtherinto a depression by the time itreaches Puri on Sunday.
The cyclonic storm weak-ened into a deep depressionand lay centered over west-cen-tral Bay of Bengal, about 180km east-southeast ofVisakhapatnam, AndhraPradesh, and 330 km south-southwest of Puri, Odisha at5:30 pm, the IMD said in astatement.
"It is likely to move north-northeastwards and weakenfurther into a depression bytomorrow morning. It is like-ly to reach near Puri aroundSunday noon. Subsequently, itis likely to continue to move
north-northeastwards alongthe coast of Odisha towards thecoast of West Bengal and weak-en into a well marked lowpressure area during the sub-sequent 24 hours," it said.Saudi Arabia has given thecyclone its name 'Jawad' -- theliberal or merciful.
A low-pressure area haddeveloped over the AndamanSea on November 30. It inten-sified into a depression onDecember 2 and further into adeep depression on Fridaymorning. It turned into a cycloneon Friday noon, the IMD said.
The IMD has forecastheavy to very heavy rainfall atisolated places over GangeticWest Bengal and north Odishaon Sunday, and heavy rainfallat isolated places over Assam,Meghalaya and Tripura onSunday and Monday. Sea con-ditions will remain unsafe forshipping and fishermen in thecentral and north Bay of Bengaltill Sunday.
New Delhi: The RailwayMinistry's focus is on improv-ing passenger experiencethrough world-class railwaystations, Minister AshwiniVaishnaw said on Saturday.
Speaking at an event of theConfederation of IndianIndustries, he maintained thatspending on new railway lines,doubling of tracks and electrifi-cation among others is on track.
With the stations at Bhopaland Gandhinagar now withworld-class features in terms ofcity integration and passengerflow, 40 more stations will betendered shortly, he said.
The Mnister also said thattourism is being created as anew growth segment for therailways and invited the indus-try to participate in this objec-tive. Modern train sets with aircushions are being designedand will be rolled out at the endof the next year, he said.
For reducing cargo costs,Vaishnaw noted that it isimportant to raise the share offreight carried by the railways.For this, the ministry is work-ing on stepping up investmentin new tracks, capacity andother infrastructure, he said.
"The customer interfacemust be made simple with notmore than three months forclearances on cargo terminalsand other facilities. Wagondesigns are being changed tocater to different commoditiesand products. The railways isworking on a hybrid BOTmodel for greater private par-ticipation," he added.
In telecom, the railwayminister said India is develop-ing its own 5G system. ThePostal Life Insurance (PLI)scheme for telecom manufac-turing has been very encour-aging with 35 applications.
In the electronics and
information technology sector,Vaishnaw said electronics man-ufacturing is likely to exceedthe expectation of USD 250 bil-lion of production by FY-26.Similarly, Startup India had tar-geted 100 unicorns by 2025, butmore than 70 are already inplace, he noted, adding that auser-centric and trust-basedregime is being developed.
He also said that the bulkof government's revenues isgoing on capital investment inareas such as healthcare infra-structure.
"Prime Minister NarendraModi has called for changingthe government's operatingsystems under theAtmanirbhar Bharat package.Capacity utilisation is now ris-ing as a result of this strategy.If the capital investment by thegovernment rises, privateinvestment will also pick up,”Vaishnaw added. PTI
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President Ram Nath Kovind on Fridayconferred the National Awards on indi-
viduals, institutions, organisations andstate/district etc. for their outstandingachievements and work done towardsempowerment of Persons with Disabilities(PwDs).
The president was the Chief Guest ata function to celebrate “InternationalDay of Persons with Disabilities” organizedby the DEPwD, Ministry of Social Justice& Empowerment on Friday.
Union Minister for Social Justice andEmpowerment Dr. Virendra Kumar,Ministers of State for Social Justice &Empowerment Ramdas Athawale,Pratima Bhaumik were also present in thefunction.
In his address, Dr. Virendra Kumarexpressed his gratitude to the President forhis presence and guidance from time totime towards empowerment of Personswith Disabilities.
Dr. Kumar said that the Divyangjansare valuable human resources and thePrime Minister gives priority to the issuesof persons with disabilities in the NationalDevelopment Agenda. His motto is"Inclusive growth, development of alland confidence of all". The Governmenthas enacted the Right to Persons withDisabilities Act, 2016 which came intoeffect from 19.04.2017. The Act providesfor 4% reservation in government jobs forpersons with disabilities. In January 2021,
the Ministry has identified 3566 posts suit-able for persons with disabilities, he said.
He also said that the Sugamya BharatAbhiyan (Accessible India Campaign)was launched by the Government on03.12.2015 to provide universal accessi-bility to persons with disabilities so thatthey can live a meaningful life with dig-nity. Public buildings, transport systemand information and communicationtechnology have been included under thiscampaign. Keeping in view the problemsrelated to accessibility faced by the mass-es, the Department has developed aMobile APP to address those problems ina quick and systematic manner as possi-ble.
The Government has set up IndianSign Language Research and TrainingCentre to promote the empowerment ofhearing-impaired persons and to createsign language in India. The Institute,among other functions, is continuouslypreparing sign language dictionaries thathave so far included more than 10,000words.
Hyderabad: Chief Justice of India NV Ramana on Saturday said that theoption of going to courts for disputeresolution should be used as the "lastresort", only after exploringAlternative Dispute Resolution(ADR) mechanisms like arbitrationand mediation.
"My advice, after practicing in thelegal profession for over 40 years indifferent capacities, is that you mustkeep the option of going to courtsas a last resort. Use this last resortonly after exploring the option ofADR- arbitration, mediation andconciliation," he said.
Justice Ramana, who was speak-ing at the Curtain Raiser andStakeholders' Conclave ofInternational Arbitration andMediation Centre (IAMC) here,recalled Lord Krishna's attempt tomediate between the Pandavas andKauravas in the epic Mahabharata.
"It may be worthwhile to recallthat the failure of mediation led todisastrous consequences," he said.
The reasons for conflicts aremany, including misunderstandings,ego issues, trust and greed. Ultimately,small differences of opinion can leadto a big conflict and even big con-flicts can be resolved with someeffort in understanding one anoth-er, he said.
If conflicts arise in personal life,they can be resolved by avoiding
the people we do not like or by sac-rificing some money to get mentalpeace, among others, the CJI said.
A prudent person tries to findways to resolve conflicts amicably,he said.
But in a business, money, hon-our or reputation cannot be lost andthe interests of business or industrycannot be sacrificed. In such a situ-ation also, an easy way of settling dis-putes without wasting much time ormoney or losing peace of mind canbe thought of, he said.
"Now to come back to the real-ity, in business you might have adifference of opinion and disagree-ments. One would usually start by ini-tiating a dialogue to clarify issues. Ifit doesn't happen, you may still lookfor people who can help you resolvesuch issues by negotiating. If this alsodoesn't work, then the only optionpeople consider is to go to courts," hesaid, advising that going to courtsshould be the last option.
Observing that arbitration andmediation are efforts at restoring arelationship, he said the most impor-tant factor behind the resolution ofany dispute is having the right attitudeof leaving aside ego, emotions andembracing practicality.
Once the conflicts enter a Court,much gets lost in the practice andprocedure, he said.
PTI
New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naiduon Saturday urged people not to panic about theemergence of new Covid-19 strain Omicron andadvised them to remain vigilant and keep fol-lowing Covid-appropriate behaviour till the pan-demic is over.
Addressing a gathering at a book launchevent at the Upa Rashtrapati Nivas here, he alsourged people to shed hesitancy and get them-selves vaccinated against coronavirus at the ear-liest.
The vice president said the coronavirus pan-demic has come as a big challenge for the entirehuman race, and appreciated the world's largestvaccination drive currently underway in India,an official statement of the Vice PresidentSecretariat said.
Naidu also referred to the transformation-al changes brought in governance over the pastseven years.
These changes are both empowering andenabling 1.3 billion people to deliver on theirpotential, he said.
"Be it life expectancy, financial inclusion,access to healthcare, employment, owning ahouse, or honouring entrepreneurial ability, thequality of Indian lives is getting better with eachpassing day," Naidu said.
Quoting the prime minister's three wordmantra – 'reform, perform and transform', the vicepresident praised the tremendous progress madeby the nation over the past few years in variousfields such as financial inclusion, insurance cov-erage, number of LPG connections for poorwomen and tap water connection to households.
He said following the principle of 'minimumgovernment and maximum governance', thegovernment is leveraging technologies to bringtransformation in every sector, and expressedsatisfaction over India becoming the third
largest startup ecosystem in the world. "It is a testimony to the government's res-
olute commitment to improve the business envi-ronment in the country that India's ranking roseto 63rd place in World Bank's Ease of DoingBusiness Index 2020," he said.Naidu noted thatIndia's strategic partnerships are based onmutual respect and the nation has given a res-olute response to inimical forces who dared tochallenge its integrity and sovereignty.
"We are guided by our unwavering self-beliefand our dedication to becoming 'atmanirbhar'(self-reliant) in every possible way," he noted.
PTI
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Former Congress presidentRahul Gandhi on Saturday
launched the party's onlinecampaign demanding com-pensation for the families ofthose who died of Covid andaccused the government ofsleeping while people copedwith pain and loss.
The Congress said the aimof the "#SpeakUpforCovidNyay"campaign was to demand thatthe central government dis-close the actual number ofCovid deaths in the country and"properly compensate all fami-lies of the victims with Rs 4lakh".
"When it comes to people'spain and loss, Government ofIndia is sleeping. Let's wakethem up," Rahul tweeted whilelaunching the campaign.
The party alleged theNarendra Modi governmenthas very tactfully tried to coverup its failures in managing theCovid-19 pandemic by dis-torting the number of Coviddeaths, the party alleged.
"#SpeakUpForCovidNyayso the govt is forced to disclosethe correct number of Coviddeaths," it said on its officialTwitter handle.
The party alleged that thegovernment lacked the inten-tion to support the distressed
families."If the government doesn't
have data of Covid deaths, theentire country is willing toshare it with the government.There is no dearth of fund...The real issue is the govern-ment is lacking in the intentionto help Covid-hit families. Wedemand Rs 4 lakh each for thekin of those who died of thepandemic," AICC spokesper-son Pawan Khera said.
"By making up false num-bers, the Modi government isnot only withholding com-pensation for lakhs of families,but it is simply trying to coverup its failure in managing andcontrolling the pandemic,"party said in a statement.
The Congress said that
under the disaster manage-ment guidelines, the govern-ment is required to compensatethe families of COVID-19 vic-tims with Rs 4 lakh.
"The Modi governmenthas carefully tried to wriggle itsway out of compensating thefair amount and is trying to set-tle for compensation of a mea-gre amount of Rs 50,000," italleged.
Several state Congressunits and leaders across thecountry put out videos in sup-port of the online campaignand to press the governmentfor providing compensation ofRs 4 lakh each to the familiesof the COVID-19 deceased.Theparty has raised the demand inParliament too.
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The Centre has accordedsanction to upgrade the
post of one deputy comman-dant (operations) to second-in-command (operations) in eachof the 15 battalions of the RapidAction Force (RAF), 10 CoBRAbattalions and six Mahila bat-talions of the CRPF to tem-porarily stem stagnation at thelevel of deputy commandants.
The proposal was pendingfor over two years when acadre review was undertaken in2016-17 and one deputy com-mandant (operations) in eachof the General Duty battalionswas upgraded to second-in-command (II-I/C). GD battal-ions refer to operational bat-talions of the Force.
While the purpose of thecadre review was to undertakea thorough cadre management,the CRPF opted for ad hoc pro-motion of the deputy com-mandants to II-I/C. This led tostagnation at the level of thedeputy commandants whichwas affecting operational pro-file, CRPF veterans said.
The move will lead to pro-motion of 31 deputy com-mandants in the RAF, special-ized anti-Naxal unit Combat
Battalion for Resolute Action(CoBRA) and MahilaBattalions.
While officials welcomedthe move to promote thedeputy commandants in theRAF, CoBRA and MahilaBattalions, they termed it as atemporary measure which willnot alleviate the long termproblem of stagnation at thejunior and middle level hier-archy of the cadre officers.
While the rank of thedeputy commandants havebeen upgraded to II I/C but thenumber of the posts of thedeputy commandants has beensimultaneously reduced, theysaid, adding the cadre reviewconducted in 2016-17 was aneyewash.
An Assistant Commandantrank officer in the CentralReserve Police Force (CRPF) aswell as the Border SecurityForce (BSF) takes 11 to 12 yearsto get the first promotion to therank of deputy commandant asagainst the army officers gettingtheir first promotion in just fouryears. A deputy commandant ispromoted to the next level of II-I/C in six to seven years. “Thisleads to an increased age pro-file of the junior and middlelevel leadership in the armed
forces under the Union HomeMinistry which is alarmingand detrimental for both themorale of the officers and oper-ational efficiency,” officials said.
While yet another cadrereview is underway but thesame has not been finalized. Ascientific career progressionmanagement of the cadre offi-cers is required to improve thebleak promotion prospects ofthe officers who are recruited bythe Union Public ServiceCommission (UPSC), theyadded.
“The undersigned is direct-ed to refer to CRPF’s (note onthe subject) and to conveyapproval of the competentauthority for upgradation ofone post each of DeputyCommandant (Ops) to therank of Second-in-Command(Ops) in 10 CoBRA Bns, 15RAF Battalions and 06 MahilaBattalions of CRPF at par withmale GD (General Duty)Battalions subject to the fillingup of these posts by the officerswho are already drawing NFFU(non-functional financialupgradation) or higher ranks,”reads an order issued onTuesday by Under SecretaryAshutosh Kumar of PF III deskof the Union Home Ministry.
Jaisalmer (Rajasthan): TheNarendra Modi government isworking to ensure betterhealthcare facilities andincreased housing satisfactionand family time for personnelof the Central Armed PoliceForces, who are guardingIndia's fronts under very diffi-cult conditions, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah said onSaturday.
Addressing BorderSecurity Force (BSF) personnelat the 'Rohitash' post along theIndia-Pakistan border here inRajasthan, the Minister said theGovernment will do "every-thing for the welfare of troopswho spend the golden days oftheir life in protecting themotherland".
Shah, who is on a two-dayvisit to Jaisalmer in the desertstate, is spending the first nightof his trip at the 'Rohitash' bor-der post, where he will sharemeals with jawans during the'bada khana' (feast).
"I am going to stay heretonight with you at this postand this is an attempt to under-stand your difficulties and tofind ways to ease problems,"Shah told troopers during anevening address at a 'SainikSammelan'.
He said the 'Rohitash' post
was witness to the glory andbravery of BSF and army per-sonnel during wars withPakistan.
Shah said his governmenthas made it a point to ensurehealthcare of jawans and theirfamilies and that is why the'Ayushman CAPF' scheme hasbeen launched.
"You can get all the healthbenefits for your families byjust swiping a card...This newscheme will lessen the admin-istrative burden on forces likethe BSF, unlike earlier wherethey had to clear a number ofhealth bills," the minister said.
Quoting official data, Shahsaid 25 lakh 'Ayushman CAPF'health cards have been dis-tributed among personnel ofvarious central armed policeforces (CAPFs) till December2.
In the BSF, 4.5 lakh cardshave been distributed, he said.
"We want to distributethese cards, which will ensureeasy healthcare facilities tojawans and their families, toeach and every personnel andtheir kin by February nextyear," he said.
"We are also working toimprove the housing satisfac-tion level for CAPF personnel," he said. PTI
what is likely her final appealbefore leaving office next weekfor Germans to get vaccinatedagainst Covid-19.
Merkel gave what is expect-ed to be her last weekly videomessage two days after feder-al and state leaders decided ona series of measures meant tobreak a wave of coronavirusinfections.
The measures includeexcluding unvaccinated peopleacross the country fromnonessential stores, restaurantsand sports and cultural venues.In a longer-term move, parlia-ment will consider a generalvaccine mandate.
At least 68.9 per cent ofGermans are fully vaccinatedagainst the coronavirus, short ofthe Government’s aim of a min-
imum 75 per cent vaccinationrate. The number of unvacci-nated residents has been blamedas a key factor in a surge of newvirus cases in recent weeks.
Official figures suggest thatthe infection rate may now be stabilising, but at too high a level.
The national disease con-trol center on Saturday report-ed 64,510 new daily cases anda 7-day infection rate of 442.7new cases per 1,00,000 resi-dents. Another 378 deaths in 24
hours brought Germany’s totalin the pandemic to 102,946.
“Every one of them leavesbehind families or friends,stunned, speechless and help-less,” Merkel said in her videomessage. “This is so bitterbecause it is avoidable. With theeffective and safe vaccines, wehave the key to this in our hands.”
She renewed a plea toGermans to take the virus seri-ously, adding that the newomicron variant “appears to beeven more contagious thanthe previous ones.”
“Get vaccinated, no matterwhether it’s a first vaccinationor a booster,” Merkel said.“Every vaccination helps.”
Merkel is expected to leaveoffice on Wednesday and bereplaced by Olaf Scholz of thecenter-left Social DemocraticParty, who is currently vicechancellor. Scholz said on
Saturday that his Government’s“most important first task” is to“fight the corona pandemic withall the strength that we have.”
“There would be a differ-ent situation now if just a fewmore citizens had also madethe decision to get vaccination,”he said at a convention of theSocial Democrats. “We mustagain make a whole new effort,set in motion a whole newcampaign” to get more shots inarms, Scholz said.
Senior members of theparty denounced a Fridayevening protest outside thehome of Saxony state’s healthminister, Petra Koepping, aSocial Democrat. About 30people gathered with torchesand placards outside the homein the eastern town of Grimma.
The demonstrators chant-ed against coronavirus policiesbefore fleeing in cars whenpolice arrived.
- ��� �$���.���". �����/�(��.���Zambia: Zambia has detectedits first cases of the Omicroncoronavirus variant in threepeople who tested positive forCovid-19 in the past week, thehealth ministry said.
The three cases are a manliving in the district around thecapital Lusaka who travelledabroad recently and is showingmild symptoms, a man in
Chibombo District who alsotravelled abroad recently but isasymptomatic, and a woman inLusaka District who had not travelled abroad recently and had mild symptoms.
The Omicron variant hasbeen detected in 39 countries,up from 23 just two days ago.
Agencies
Seoul: South Korea again brokeits daily records for coronavirusinfections and deaths and con-firmed three more cases of thenew omicron variant as officialsscramble to tighten social dis-tancing and border controls.
The 5,352 new casesreported by the Korea DiseaseControl and PreventionAgency on Saturday markedthe third time this week thedaily tally exceeded 5,000. The
country’s death toll was at3,809 after a record 70 viruspatients died in the past 24hours, while the 752 patients inserious or critical conditionswere also an all-time high.
As the delta-driven surgethreatens to overwhelm hospitalsystems, there is also concernabout the local spread of the omi-cron variant, which is seen aspotentially more infectious thanprevious strains of the virus. AP
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Sri Lanka’s Parliament andPrime Minister Mahinda
Rajapaksa on Saturday con-demned the brutal lynching ofa Sri Lankan national inPakistan and hoped that PrimeMinister Imran Khan will keephis commitment to bring allthose involved to justice andensure the safety of the rest of the island nation’s expat workers.
In a grisly incident onFriday, Priyantha KumaraDiyawadana, who was in his40s, was lynched and his bodyburnt by angry supporters of ahardline Islamist party whichattacked a garment factory inPakistan’s Punjab province overblasphemy allegations.
Diyawadana, a Sri LankanChristian from Kandy city, wasworking as the general man-ager of the garment factory inSialkot district, some 100 kmsfrom Lahore.
New footage shot prior tothe lynching showed a col-league trying to protect the vic-tim on the roof of the factorywhere he had fled while themob of around two dozen peo-ple slowly grew in number.
In the video, some amongthe mob can be heard chanti-ng slogans and saying “he (themanager) will not escapetoday,” while the colleaguetried to shield Diyawadanawith his body, who clung to the
man’s legs, the Dawn newspa-per reported.
The workers had later over-powered the colleague anddragged Diyawadana out onthe road and tortured himwith kicks, stones and ironrods, killing him on the spot.The mob had then set thebody on fire.
The Sri LankanGovernment and theOpposition were united in urg-ing the Sri Lankan authorities tohave talks with Islamabad toensure the safety of the rest of theSri Lankan workers in Pakistan.
Pakistan Prime MinisterKhan said he had spoken to SriLankan President GotabayaRajapaksa “to convey ournation’s anger and shame to
people of Sri Lanka at the vig-ilante killing of PriyanthaDiyawadana in Sialkot”.
“Spoke to Sri LankanPresident Gotabaya Rajapaksatoday in UAE to convey ournation’s anger & shame to peo-ple of Sri Lanka at vigilantekilling of PriyanthaDiyawadana in Sialkot. Iinformed him 100+ ppl arrest-ed & assured him they wouldbe prosecuted with full sever-ity of the law,” he said in a tweeton Saturday.
Khan’s response came afterSri Lankan Prime MinisterRajapaksa said in a tweet thathe was shocked to see the“brutal and fatal” attack onDiyawadana by extremist mobsin Pakistan.
Lahore: Over 800 people havebeen booked under terrorismcharges while 13 prime sus-pects are among 118 arrested sofar in the horrific lynching ofa Sri Lankan national overallegations of blasphemy inPunjab province of Pakistan, atop police official said onSaturday, as pressure mountedon the government to bring theguilty to justice.
In a shocking incident onFriday, angry supporters of thehardline Islamist party Tehreek-
e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP)attacked a garment factory andlynched its general managerPriyantha Kumara Diyawadanabefore setting his body on fireover allegations of blasphemy.
Diyawadana, who was inhis 40s and was from SriLanka’s Kandy city, was work-ing as the general manager inthe Rajko industries (dealing ingarments — sportswear) inSialkot district, some 100 kilo-metres from Lahore, for the lastseven years or so. PTI
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The phones of 11 US StateDepartment employees
were hacked with spyware fromIsrael’s NSO Group, the world’smost infamous hacker-for-hirecompany, a person familiarwith the matter said on Friday.
The employees were alllocated in Uganda and includ-ed some foreign service offi-cers, said the person, who wasnot authorised to speak pub-licly about an ongoing investi-gation. Some local Ugandanemployees of the departmentappear to have been among the11 hacked, the person said.
The hacking is the firstknown instance of NSO
Group’s trademark Pegasusspyware being used againstUS Government personnel.
It was not known whatindividual or entity used theNSO technology to hack intothe accounts, or what infor-mation was sought.
“We have been acutely con-cerned that commercial spy-ware like NSO Group softwareposes a serious counterintelli-gence and security risk to USpersonnel,” White House presssecretary Jen Psaki said atbriefing on Friday.
Senior researcher JohnScott-Railton of Citizen Lab,the public-interest sleuths at theUniversity of Toronto whohave been tracking Pegasus
infections for years, called thediscovery a giant wake-up callfor the US Government aboutdiplomatic security.
“For years we have seenthat diplomats around theworld are among targets,” hesaid, “and it looks like themessage had to be broughthome to the US Government inthis very direct and unfortunateway. There is no exceptionalismwhen it comes to Americanphones in diplomats’ pockets.”
News of the hacks, whichwere first reported by Reuters,comes a month after the USCommerce Department black-listed NSO Group, barring UStechnology from being used bythe company.
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President Joe Biden haspledged to make it “very,
very difficult” for Russia’sVladimir Putin to take militaryaction in Ukraine as US intel-ligence officials determinedthat Russian planning is under-way for a possible militaryoffensive that could begin assoon as early 2022.
The new intelligence find-ing estimates that the Russiansare planning to deploy an esti-mated 1,75,000 troops andalmost half of them are alreadydeployed along various pointsnear Ukraine’s border, accord-ing to a Biden administration
official who spoke on the con-dition of anonymity to discussthe finding.
It comes as Russia haspicked up its demands onBiden to guarantee that
Ukraine will not be allowed tojoin the NATO alliance.
The official added that theplans call for the movement of100 Russian battalion tacticalgroups along with armor,artillery and equipment.
Intelligence officials alsohave seen an uptick in Russianpropaganda efforts throughthe use of proxies and mediaoutlets to denigrate Ukraineand NATO ahead of a poten-tial invasion, the official said.
Asked about the intelli-gence finding as he set out forthe presidential retreat at CampDavid on Friday evening, Bidenreiterated his concerns aboutRussian provocations.
Islamabad: Pakistan onSaturday received $3 billionfrom Saudi Arabia as part of afinancial assistance sought fromthe Kingdom to stabilise thecountry’s economy, accordingto a senior Government official.
Saudi Arabia’s financialsupport comes more than onemonth after PM Imran Khanvisited Riyadh and held talkswith the Crown PrinceMohammad bin Salman.
Following the talks, SaudiArabia had agreed to provide$4.2 billion worth of assis-tance to Pakistan, out of which$3 billion was to be transferredas deposit in Pakistan’s centralbank. PTI
Lumajang: The highest volcanoon Indonesia’s most denselypopulated island of Java spewedthick columns of ash, searinggas and lava down its slopes ina sudden eruption triggered byheavy rains on Saturday. At leastone villager died from burnsand dozens were hospitalised.
Mount Semeru’s eruption
in Lumajang district in East Javaprovince left several villagesblanketed with falling ash.
A thunderstorm and daysof rain, which had eroded andfinally collapsed the lava domeatop the 3,676-meter Semeru,triggered an eruption, said EkoBudi Lelono, who heads thegeological survey center. AP
New Delhi: Asserting that a lotof speculation is taking placeon cryptocurrencies, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon Saturday said these specu-lations are not "healthy at all."
Her comments comeagainst the backdrop of thegovernment preparing to comeout with legislation to regulatecryptocurrencies.
Speaking at the HTLeadership Summit, theFinance Minister said there iscertainly a well consulted billwhich is coming in Parliamentafter the Cabinet nod.
"There is a lot of specula-tion...That's not healthy at all,"she said in a reply to a questionif she thinks that a lot of unreg-ulated speculation is takingplace on crypto.
The Cryptocurrency andRegulation of Official DigitalCurrency Bill, 2021, has beenincluded in the Lok SabhaBulletin-Part II for the intro-duction in the ongoing WinterSession.
The bill seeks to create afacilitative framework for thecreation of the official digitalcurrency to be issued by theReserve Bank of India (RBI),the Bulletin said.
It also seeks to prohibit allprivate cryptocurrencies inIndia, however, it allows forcertain exceptions to promotethe underlying technology ofcryptocurrency and its uses.Earlier this week, Sitharamanin the Rajya Sabha while reply-ing to a series of questions had
said the new bill takes intoaccount the rapidly changingdimensions in virtual curren-cy space, and incorporates fea-tures of the earlier bill thatcould not be taken up.
Asked if the governmentproposes to ban misleadingadvertisements in media, shehad said the guidelines ofAdvertising Standards Councilof India are being studied andtheir regulations are also beinglooked into "so that we cantake, if necessary, some kind ofa position or a decision to seehow we are going to handle it".
She had said the govern-ment, RBI and Sebi have beencautioning people about thecryptocurrencies that could bea "high risk" area and "more canbe done" to create awareness.
On the economic growth,Sitharaman at the HTLeadership Summit said, theGDP number this year wouldbe very encouraging and Indiawould emerge as the fastest
growing large economy in theworld.
With regard to food infla-tion, she said, there are supplyconstraints because of floods insome parts of the country lead-ing to price rise of perishableproducts.
She, however, expressedhope that prices of those com-modities in short supply wouldcool down by January.
On edible oil, she said,enough and more imports havebeen allowed and that shouldtake care of the spike in prices.With a fresh harvest of mustardseeds, she said prices of thatwould also moderate soon.
Asked about meeting thedisinvestment target of Rs 1.75lakh crore during the currentfinancial year, she said, "we areprogressing with each one ofthem (BPCL strategic sale, LICIPO). The detailing requires alot of time."
Air India handing over toTata Group would be done byDecember 31, she added. PTI
Washington: India has beenexemplary in publishing itsforeign exchange market inter-vention, the US TreasuryDepartment said on Fridayadding that New Delhi shouldallow the exchange rate tomove flexibly to reflect eco-nomic fundamentals.
"The (Indian) authoritiesshould allow the exchange rateto move flexibly to reflect eco-nomic fundamentals, limit for-eign exchange intervention tocircumstances of disorderlymarket conditions, and refrainfrom further significant reserveaccumulation," it said.
"As the economic recoveryprogresses, the authoritiesshould continue to pursuestructural reforms that canhelp lift productivity and livingstandards, while supportingan inclusive and green recov-er,” the Treasury said.
In its semi-annual Reportto Congress onMacroeconomic and ForeignExchange Policies of MajorTrading Partners of the UnitedStates, the Treasury reviewedand assessed the policies of itsmajor trading partners, com-prising more than 80 per centof its foreign trade in goods andservices, during the four quar-ters through June 2021.
In accordance with the
Omnibus Trade andCompetitiveness Act of 1988(the 1988 Act), the Reportconcludes that no major UStrading partner manipulatedthe rate of exchange between itscurrency and the US dollar forpurposes of preventing effec-tive balance of paymentsadjustments or gaining unfaircompetitive advantage in inter-national trade.
However, it found that 12economies warrant placementon the Treasury's “MonitoringList” of major trading partnersthat merit close attention totheir currency practices: China,Japan, Korea, Germany,Ireland, Italy, India, Malaysia,Singapore, Thailand, Mexico,and Switzerland. All exceptSwitzerland were on theMonitoring List in the April2021 Report.
"India has been exemplaryin publishing its foreignexchange market intervention,both monthly spot purchasesand sales and net forwardactivity, with a two-month lag.While the RBI frequently inter-venes in both directions, theRBI purchased foreignexchange on net in 10 of the 12months through June 2021,with net intervention reachingUSD 131 billion, or 4.6 per centof GDP," it said.
Canacona (Goa): Automotiveresearch and developmentbody Automotive ResearchAssociation of India (ARAI) isworking on developing fastchargers for e-vehicles, HeavyIndustries Minister MahendraNath Pandey said on Saturday.
The Pune-basedautonomous institution hasalready developed a prototypeof the product, he told PTI onthe sidelines of the 'RoundTable To Promote ElectricMobility' event organised bythe Ministry of HeavyIndustries here.
When asked about thechallenges related to the usageof e-vehicles, he said, "This(issue) is being talked aboutthat it consumes more time (tocharge an e-vehicle battery).ARAI has been directed towork on it. In fact they havedeveloped a prototype of afast charger and the product isexpected to be ready byDecember 2022."
The ARAI has been askedfor completion of the project byOctober 2022, so by December,it can be made available to theusers for use, he informed.
The launch of fast chargerswill address the issue of charg-ing and boost demand for thebattery vehicles, the Ministersaid adding the research is stillunderway and after its com-pletion, the specific chargingtime of a two-wheeler e-vehi-
cle, three-wheeler and four-wheeler e-vehicle will beknown.
Pandey further said hisministry is also in talks with theMinistry of Petroleum andNatural Gas for installation ofchargers at 22,000 petrolpumps across the country.
Without sharing any time-line, he said there are about70,000 petrol pumps acrossthe country, and as per the plana charging station would be atan interval of 25 km on high-ways and with a radius of 3 kmin cities.
The minister also said thatat the round table he has askedthe industry stakeholders toapprise his ministry of theirissues. "I have asked the play-ers to discuss and inform abouttheir concerns. I assure them offull support in addressing the
issues brought to my notice."Transport ministers of
eight states, top officials from19 states and industry leadersfrom the automotive sectorattended the round table delib-erate about ways to promoteelectric vehicles in the countryand attract investments.
Meanwhile in a statementissued by the Ministry of HeavyIndustries, quoted Pandey assaying,"India's transition toElectric Mobility System cansave �20 lakh crore by 2030 onavoided oil imports alone."
The statement said thatthe minister directed the Indianautomakers to look for majorshare of global electric vehiclemarket.
Growth of the autoIndustry will also help Indiaachieve the commitments givenby Prime Minister NarendraModi in COP26, he said.
New Delhi: Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Saturday urged officials of intel-ligence wings to take every case to logical con-clusion expeditiously, so that it can deter per-petrators of economic crime like smuggling.
Speaking at the 64th DRI Foundation Day,the Finance Minister said logical conclusion isimportant but speedier conclusion is what willkeep the heat on people who are promoting thesekinds of activities.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence(DRI), under the Central Board of Indirect Taxesand Customs (CBIC), is an intelligence andenforcement agency of the Government of Indiaon anti-smuggling matters.
She stressed on capacity building so that theofficials are quick to pick up right intelligence
inputs and act on time."You get a lot of intelligence
input, but sometimes and manytimes it is difficult to identify ifit is really actionable, sometimesthey're so generic. To act on itbecomes difficult...Capacity to bebuilt within these institutions tomake sure you're able to seewhich of these intelligence inputsare so quickly actionable," shesaid.
Agencies like DRI based ontheir experience can give ideason the methods through thoseillegal acts can be prevented, shesaid.
"I think attempts at pre-venting will also have to be undertaken by uswhile deterrence and detection will always haveto be on the high," she said.
She exhorted the DRI to be vigilant withregard to toxic waste being dumped into thecountry.
In emerging economies "because of the wayin which we have built over the decades capac-ity to recycle materials, I'm afraid quite a largeattempt and frequent attempt is being made onbringing in toxic waste to our shores and leavethem there. So I would think that is an area onwhich I would like to see DRI more active", shesaid.
She also observed that greater media cov-erage of success of DRI's would also deter theperpetrators of illegal activities. PTI
New Delhi: The Government on Saturdaysaid that coal production from captivemines is likely to touch 85 million tonnes(MT) during the ongoing fiscal, which issignificantly higher than last year's 62 MT.
The coal production from from cap-tive mines during this year till Novemberhas already reached around 50 milliontonnes, the coal Ministry said in a state-ment.
In order to further enhance coal pro-duction, Coal Secretary Anil Kumar Jain
reviewed the issues related to environmentand forest clearances impacting develop-ment of new coal blocks, with senior offi-cers of the Ministry in view of highdemand for domestic coal.
Coal production from captive minesis expected to reach 120 MT during thenext financial year.
"This achievement will further fulfilthe vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat indomestic coal production," the Ministrysaid. PTI
New Delhi: More than 550 appli-cants are in fray for the BEE ener-gy conservation awards that havebeen instituted to push industriesand sectors to develop innovativeenergy efficiency efforts in theirunits as well as reduce power con-sumption, the Power Ministry saidon Saturday.
Under the National EnergyEfficiency Innovation Awards(NEEIA), a total of 149 applicantsparticipated by the due date. Onlineapplications were invited fromCategory A (industry, transport,building) and Category B (students& research scholars) under theNEEIA awards.
The Ministry said that 408applicants participated in theNational Energy ConservationAwards (NECA), which have beeninstituted to promote industrialunits, institutions and establish-ments to reduce energy consump-tion.
The Ministry explained thatthe National Energy EfficiencyInnovation Award is the need of thehour to promote newer technolo-gies, ideas, and pave way for the
adoption of these innovations bylarger groups. As promotion ofenergy efficiency and Renewableenergy are major pillars for low car-bon energy transition, recognitionof such efforts undertaken by vari-ous participants stimulate furtheraction in accelerating the transition.Outcomes of which eventually con-tribute towards meeting India'sNationally DeterminedContributions (NDCs) and broad-er climate goals, it stated.
The BEE recognises andencourages endeavors of industrialunits, institutions and establish-ments in reducing energy con-sumption by felicitating them withNational Energy ConservationAwards (NECA).
This year, the NECA and theNEEIA awards are being organizedas part of the “Azadi ka AmritMahotsav”. The awardees of theNational Energy ConservationAwards and National EnergyEfficiency Innovation Awards wouldbe felicitated on 14th December2021, on the occasion of NationalEnergy Conservation Day, by high-level dignitaries, the Ministry said.
New Delhi: Union Labour MinisterBhupender Yadav on Saturdaylaunched annual preventive healthcheck-up programme for Employees'State Insurance Corporation's insuredmembers aged 40 years and above inpilot mode at ESI hospitals inAhmedabad, Faridabad, Hyderabadand Kolkatta.
Besides, in the ESIC's 186th meet-ing here chaired by Yadav, a proposalwas also cleared for construction of500-bed ESIC Hospital at Gurugram(Manesar) for expansion of services ofexisting 100-bed hospital.
Talking to the media after themeeting, Yadav said, "We have starteda pilot project under which we are pro-viding for free medical check forinsured persons (IPs) of ESIC who areof 40 years or above age every year. Wehave a dream of 'swasth Bharat'. Wehave around 3.5 crore IPs. So if we alsorun preventive care moment in ESICalong with curative, then we canachieve that vision."
The minister also informed thatthis pilot would be further expandedin coming days with the increase innumber of IPs to five crore withimplementation of Social SecurityCode.
The minister said the ESIC alsowants to improve its hospitals to superspeciality ones so that referral to oth-ers can be reduced in coming days.
The minister also talked about rollout of a mobile app 'Santusht' for ESICbeneficiaries for improving delivery ofservices. Yadav further said that theconstruction of two ESIC hospitals atBihta in Patna and Alwar in Rajasthanhas been completed and soon thesewould be inaugurated.
Informing about approving theproposal for construction of 500-bedESIC Hospital at Gurugram (Manesar),Yadav said that ESIC has approveddeposit of funds required for the pur-pose. On ESIC's request, theHaryana government has identified 8.7acres of land for allotment. The ESICon Saturday approved the proposal to
set up 500-bed ESIC Hospital at HSI-IDC, Manesar and of acquisition of thisplot for the purpose.
He also informed that a 100-bedESIC hospital would be built. TheUttar Pradesh Government has iden-tified a piece of land measuring 2hectares and conveyed approval for freeof cost transfer of the land for 90 years.The ESIC on Saturday approved pro-posal and process of acquisition ofidentified land for construction of 100-bed ESIC Hospital at Meerut.
It also approved taking over of thestate government-run ESIC Hospital,Tinsukia, Assam by the ESIC. Its sub-sequent running as a 100-bed ESIC-run hospital state government ofAssam has consented for handingover the state run hospital at Tinsukiato ESIC.
The ESIC also approved acquisi-tion of land for proposed 30-bedESIC Hospital at Atchutapuram,Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Land measuring 2 acres or8,089.07 sqm has been allotted inAtchutapuram, Vishakhapatnam freeof cost.
ESIC also approved setting up ofa Sub-Regional Office (SRO) of ESICat Jharsuguda in Odisha. The ESIScheme is implemented in 24 districtsof the State.
The ESIC also relaxed the con-tributory condition in the ESICCOVID-19 Relief Scheme. Inorder to provide help and succour tothe families of the IPs who died due toCOVID-19, the ESIC COVID-19Relief Scheme was introduced.
This contributory condition ofpayment of 70 days contribution is pro-posed to be relaxed to an extant thatcontributions for at least 35 daysshould have been paid instead of 70days. The ESIC also adopted theAudited Annual Accounts of the ESICfor the Financial year 2020-2021together with the report of the C&AGof India. It also adopted annual reportof the ESIC for the year 2020-2021 andAnalysis thereof. PTI
Ahmedabad: Union Minister of Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME)Narayan Rane on Saturday urged Indianentrepreneurs to take advantage of clo-sure of factories in China.
Indian industrialists should startmanufacturing the products which areno longer produced in China, he said,speaking at an event at theEntrepreneurship Development Instituteof India (EDII) here.
"China is number one in the worldin terms of production. China is lead-ing with 64 per cent share in global man-ufacturing. However, many companiesare shutting down (in that country),"Rane said.
"I have urged large and mediumindustrialists to capture this opportuni-ty and start manufacturing these prod-ucts in India," he said. "We should alsotake up marketing and export of theseproducts. At present,
India's manufacturing share is near-ly six per cent. If we add another 10 percent, our GDP would increase signifi-cantly. This will help the country becomea super power," the Minister added. Ranehad been invited by the EDII to addressstudents and entrepreneurs on the "Roleof MSMEs in Enhancing Growth andCompetitiveness".
He also said the latest machineryshould be used for manufacturing the
products which are no longer made inChina, so that India can capture globalmarkets by maintaining quality.
The Minister also emphasized theimportance of having an "industrial envi-ronment".
"A flourishing industrial environ-ment brings stability to society by pro-viding innovative solutions. It alsoinspires the younger generation to thinkcreatively and dares them to take theplunge.
Hence the emphasis on MSMEgrowth and sustenance is a must," hesaid. Rane also released the GlobalEntrepreneurship Monitor India Report2020-21 on this occasion.
The report is touted as the largestannual study of entrepreneurial dynam-ics in the world. The Minister also inau-gurated the MSME Ministry-supportednewly constructed facilities on EDIIcampus and presented the Gujarat Start-up Awards 2021. PTI
Ajaz Patel had an unforget-table afternoon when he
entered the annals ofTest cricket historywith a 10-wicket haulbut Indian bowlersmade it a forgettable
evening for him as wellas his team by dismissingthe visitors for a paltry 62,taking a massive stridetowards a series victory.
By the end of theday, India were 69 for noloss in their secondinnings with Virat
Kohli decid-ing against
enforcing the follow-on in thesecond and final Test.
Cheteshwar Pujara, comingout to open in place of aninjured Shubman Gill, lookedgood during his 29 not out whileMayank Agarwal, after his fine150 in India’s first innings totalof 325, remained unbeaten on38.
The lead swelled to 332 forthe hosts and in these condi-tions, the Indians will brace upfor a three-day finish to earnsome rest before boarding thecharter flight to Johannesburgon December 16.
The second day of the sec-ond Test should have solelybelonged to the 33-year-oldPatel, who had figures of 47.5-12-119-10, to join the ‘EliteList’, where he has late Jim Lakerand Indian great Anil Kumblefor company.
By keeping India’s firstinnings total down to a manage-able level, Patel must have hada sense of elation but before the
plethora of congratulatory mes-sages on social media would stopcoming, his batters just flatteredto deceive as they managed tobat out only 28.1 overs.
The team ended up scoringthe lowest total by an overseasside on Indian soil.
The Black Caps batted 14.4overs less than what their pre-mier spinner took to get all theIndian players out.
They didn’t even let thefeat sink in before MohammedSiraj’s (3/19) hostile four overspell literally decimated them.There were two deliveries thatstraightened and had enoughpace to beat the batter’s defencewhile the other was a meanbouncer.
Ravichandran Ashwin (4/8in 8 overs) and Axar Patel (2/14in 9.1 overs) were expectedly justtoo good on this track. Theopposition batters simply could-n’t counter the turn and bounce.
The New Zealand inningsfinished even before the Indianbowlers were nicely warmed upand it was understandable thatKohli wanted some batting timeagainst a battered opposition
which would give him andPuara requisite confidence.
With the match all but intheir pocket, Pujara strokedfreely and also got a pulled sixoff Patel — a rarity from anexponent of defensive batting.
While Pujara will certainlyvalue these welcome runs but itcan’t be seen in isolation that itcame when the pressure wasalready completely released dueto a mammoth 263-run firstinnings lead.
Patel started the day withtwo quick wickets beforeAgarwal and Axar added 67runs for the seventh wicket totake the score towards the 300-run mark. Axar got his first 50and batted with a lot of cautionand occasional aggression.
The best delivery of the sixwickets that he got on the day,was the one that gotRavichandran Ashwin out as hedrew the batter forward andturned enough to clip the bails.
Ashwin hilariouslyappealed for DRS without real-ising that he has been bowledas he thought that the bowlerhad appealed for caught behind.
The review was wasted ashe had already asked for it andonce he realised that he wasbeaten lock, stock and barrel, hedidn’t wait for the final verdict.
No wonder when Patel gotSiraj as his 10th and final vic-tim, Ashwin was seen givinghim a standing ovation fromthe Indian dressing room.
But little would Patel haveknown that it would turn intoan anti-climax after Siraj’s open-ing burst which was as good asone saw in home Test matcheswhere pitches aren’t conducivefor pace bowling. However,this one had extra bounce.
The delivery that got RossTaylor out was perhaps thebest of the match.
The ball came in as Taylorshaped to play a defensive shotonly to find enough deviationwhich beat the outside edge ofhis bat and knocked back theoff-stump.
That was one of a kind dis-missal after which there was nochance of a recovery for theNew Zealanders, who will nowonly look to delay theinevitable.
MUMBAI INDIANS: Thefive-time champions retainedskipper Rohit Sharma, fastbowler Jasprit Bumrah, middleorder batsman SuryakumarYadav and all-rounder KieronPollard ahead of the mega auc-tions. And let go the likes ofIshan Kishan, Hardik Pandya,Trent Boult, and Quinton deKock, among others. Eventhough MI retained the core ofRohit, Bumrah and Pollard,they could have picked Ishanover Surya as the pocket-sizeddynamo is developing into anexplosive batsman and couldhave served the franchise formany more years to come.Also, Hardik’s departure is sur-prising considering he is one ofthe biggest match winners inthe T20 circuit, but his inabil-ity to bowl might have workedagainst him.
CHENNAI SUPERKINGS: The defending cham-pions kept dynamic RavindraJadeja, inspirational leader MSDhoni, 2021 Orange Cap win-ner Ruturaj Gaikwad, andEnglish all-rounder MoeenAli.The Dad’s Army went for
Ruturaj Gaikwad instead ofSuresh Raina and Faf duPlessis, mainly because of theage factor and considering thathe could be a long-term invest-ment for the franchise. WhileJadeja and Dhoni were theexpected names before, whatcame as a surprise was thatJadeja was the team’s firstchoice player, meaning that hewill now earn 16 crore per sea-son. The yellow army alsowent for Moeen Ali, maybebecause, apart from being adependable batter, Ali canprove very useful on a Chennaiwicket.
ROYAL CHALLENGERSBANGALORE: Virat Kohliand Glenn Maxwell were the
two obvious choices for theteam, but RCB surprised every-one by picking MohammedSiraj over Yuzvendra Chahal,Devdutt Padikkal, and HarshalPatel for the 2022 IPL. Siraj,without a doubt, is one of themost talented bowlers in theIndian unit, but the franchise’sdecision to let go Chahal wasshocking, especially when theleggie was the team’s bestbowler in the last five years.Also, letting go of 2021 PurpleCap winner Harshal Patel andupcoming star DevduttPadikkal might come back tohurt RCB. Especially Padikkal,who’s going to make a bigname for himself in the inter-national arena.
DELHI CAPITALS: TheDelhi Capitals have decided tokeep Rishabh Pant as their cap-tain for the upcoming seasons,effectively closing the door onShreyas Iyer, who was lookingfor a leadership role in the IPL.The Delhi lad, Pant, was impres-sive in his first season as captainand led DC to the play-offs afterthey finished first in the 2021league table. Apart from Pant,DC went with Axar Patel,Prithvi Shaw, and South Africanpacer Anrich Nortje and left out
Shikhar Dhawan, who still hasa lot to offer despite him not get-ting any younger, andRavichandran Ashwin, who isIndia’s No. 1 all-format spinner.Also, leaving someone likeKagiso Rabada, who won thePurple Cap in 2020, was amassive call.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS:The winners of the inauguraledition retained skipper SanjuSamson, English keeper-bats-man Jos Buttler and young
Yashasvi Jaiswal, and let goEnglish all-rounder Ben Stokesand fast bowler Jofra Archer.The Royals had a tough choiceto make between the threeEnglish superstars, but theystuck with Buttler alone, whohad a good T20 World Cup out-ing in the UAE this year. Archerand Stokes have struggled withinjuries this year, and this wasone of the main reasons why theRoyals didn’t go with them.
PUNJAB KINGS: Theirbest batsman in the last four sea-sons, KL Rahul, wanted tomove out, and PBKS respectedthat decision, which is going tobe a blessing for whatever sidehe represents next. In theabsence of the Karnataka stal-wart, Punjab retained Rahul’sbest friend and opening partnerMayank Agarwal for theupcoming season, along withyoungster Arshdeep Singh, whowas impressive in the 2021 edi-tion. The Mohali-based sidedidn’t have much to choose
from after the poor show theplayers put on in the last fewseasons, but they could havekept hold of Mohammed Shamior Ravi Bishnoi. The duo hasimpressed while representingPunjab.
KOLKATA KNIGHTRIDERS: KKR turned thetables the other way round inthe second half of the 2021 IPL,where they reached the final aswell. Their success in the UAEwas primarily built around onebatsman, Venkatesh Iyer, andthe Kolkata-based franchiseretained their prized asset, whowill now earn eight crores perseason - a 3900% increase fromthe 10 lakh rupees which heearned in the 2021 edition. Butwhile they kept hold of Iyer,along with seasoned campaign-ers Andre Russell and SunilNarine and mystery spinnerVarun Chakravarthy, KKR letgo of Shubman Gill and skipperEoin Morgan. Gill’s exclusionespecially raised eyebrowsbecause the 2018 U19 WorldCup winner was KKR’s best bat-ter in the last few years and wasseen as the future captain as
well. Pat Cummins, former cap-tain Dinesh Karthik, and themiddle order duo of NitishRana and Rahul Tripathi areamong those who have beenreleased.
SUNRISERS HYDER-ABAD: David Warner, RashidKhan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar,Jonny Bairstow, Jason Holder,Jason Roy, Manish Pandey, andT Natarajan. SunrisersHyderabad had so much tochoose from, but instead theychose to retain Kiwi captainKane Williamson and twoIndian youngsters from Jammuand Kashmir - Abdul Samadand Umran Malik - ahead of themega auctions. The franchise’sdecision to let go Rashid Khan,who is the best T20 bowler inthe last five years, is still not easyto digest for anyone in thecricketing fraternity. Eventhough Warner, who led themto the 2016 IPL title and was theOrange Army’s best batter inIPL history, was excluded, it wasexpected following his sourrelationship with the team man-agement by the end of the 2021edition.
clash of BWF World TourFinals with a hard-fought winover Akane Yamaguchi ofJapan in the semifinals here onSaturday.
Sindhu, the reigning worldchampion and two-timeOlympic medallist, beatYamaguchi 21-15 15-21 21-19in a thrilling match that lastedone hour 10 minutes.
She will face Korea’s AnSeyoung, who beat PornpaweeChochuwong of Thailand 25-23 21-17 in the other semifinal,in the summit clash on Sunday.
It will be Sindhu’s thirdfinal appearance in the season-ending tournament. She hadwon the title in 2018 to becomethe only Indian to achieve thefeat.
The world number 7Indian had come into thematch with an overall head-to-head win-loss record of 12-8against the world number threeJapanese.
Sindhu has been in fineform after picking up a bronzein the Tokyo Olympics. She hadreached the semifinals in her
last three events — FrenchOpen, Indonesia Masters andIndonesia Open — before com-ing into the BWF World TourFinals.
She had finished runner-up in the Swiss Open in March.
But it won’t be easy forSindhu in the final againstSeyoung who had come intothe season-ending tournamentwith back-to-back titles in theIndonesia Masters andIndonesia Open.
The world number sixSeyoung had also beatenSindhu in the quarterfinals ofthe Denmark Open in October.
Against Yamaguchi,Sindhu trailed 0-4 in the first
game but quickly came to levelterms at 4-4 and then 9-9. Theduo were neck and neck butSindhu zoomed ahead from15-14 to reach 18-15. She thentook three straight points topocket the first game.
The second game was alsoa tight contest as the two play-ers were levelled at 10-10 beforeYamaguchi shifted the gear topocket it without much fuss.
In the deciding game,Sindhu and Yamaguchi weretied at 5-5 before the Indianreeled off seven straight points.The Japanese made a sort ofcomeback by narrowing downthe gap to 11-13 but Sindhucruised to 17-12.
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Skipper Babar Azam hit ahalf-century to help
Pakistan recover from earlytrouble and reach 161-2against Bangladesh on theopening day of the secondtest, which was halted sever-al times for bad light and rainon Saturday. The bad lightfinally ended play with Babar
batting on 60 and Azhar Alion 36. Left-arm spinner TaijulIslam (2-49) bowled brilliant-ly in the morning session to
put Bangladesh on top afterthe visitors seemed headedtoward a big score.
Openers Abid Ali andAbdullah Shafique brought up50-run partnership in thefirst hour as Babar elected tobat first after winning the toss.
Abid struck the first threeboundaries of the day as theBangladeshi pacers erred theirlength.
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The Indian cricket team’s tourof South Africa will go ahead
but the team’s departure hasbeen postponed by a week andT20 Internationals are no longera part of the schedule, the twoboards announced on Saturday,ending the speculation sur-rounding the series after a newCOVID-19 variant triggeredanxiety. The four T20s will beplayed at a later date and CricketSouth Africa said it will confirmthe venues for the new schedulein the next 48 hours.
The Indians were original-ly set to leave on December 9 butthe travel plans have changed,which means that the Tests are
unlikely to start on December 17as planned earlier.
India are scheduled to playthree Tests and three ODIs dur-
ing the tour. CSA and BCCISecretary Jay Shah’s statementscame as the Indian Board offi-cials met for an Annual General
Meeting here.“BCCI has confirmed (to
the) CSA that (the) Indian teamwill travel for three Tests andthree ODIs. The remaining fourT20Is will be played at a laterdate,” Shah said in a statement.
Cricket South Africa appre-ciated BCCI’s commitment tothe series.
“Cricket South Africa canconfirm that the India Tour willcontinue as originally scheduled,with a few adjustment to thelogistical arrangements, such asthe arrival time of the IndiaTeam,” the CSA said.
“...The tour is now con-firmed and the arrival timings ofthe India team will be moved outby a week, to allow for effective
logistical planning.“...CSA is pleased to
announce that this tour will alsotake place under the strictestCOVID-19 guidelines,” it addedin a statement.
South Africa’s discovery ofthe Omicron variant has causedmuch trepidation as cases havesoared in the country.
The Netherlands tour ofthe Rainbow Nation also had tobe abandoned after the emer-gence of the new variant trig-gered panic all around the worldwith many countries imposingtravel bans on the country.
CSA also had to postponeits domestic fixtures after someof the players tested positive forthe virus on arrival.
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Tokyo Olympics gold medallistNeeraj Chopra on Saturday
launched an ambitious outreachprogramme that connects India’s aceathletes with school children.
On the occasion, he met withstudents from 75 schools andemphasised on balanced diet, fitnessand sport during an interactionorganised at Ahmedabad’sSanskardham School. Neeraj played
a variety of sport with the studentsand gave them tips on throwing thejavelin. He held them in thrall withhis spontaneous responses to theircurious queries, his inimitablestory-telling style endearing him tohis attentive audience.
He drew applause when, inresponse to what his favourite foodis, he described how he liked tocook vegetable biryani, withoutmaking it spicy, and have it with curd.
After Delta, any other variantwhich has stirred fear amongpeople is the new Omicronmutant. Originating in SouthAfrica, it has now spread to 24
countries including India. On December 2,2021, the country observed and confirmedits first two cases in Karnataka. One of themwas a South African national.
Based on the evidence presented to theWorld Health Organization’s TechnicalAdvisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE) that Omicron has several mutations thatmay have an impact on how it behaves, onNovember 26, 2021, WHO designated thevariant Omicron (B.1.1.529) a variant ofconcern (VOC) on the advice of TAG-VE.According to WHO, this variant has a largenumber of mutations, some of which areconcerning. Preliminary evidence suggestsan increased risk of reinfection with thisvariant, as compared to other VOCs.
Scientists are still gathering data toestablish how contagious Omicron is, andthe severity of the illness it causes. “Omicronvariant has a large number of mutations,some of which are concerning. Researchersaround the world are conducting studies tobetter understand transmissibility, severityand immune escape capabilities of Omicron.WHO commends countries which have beenable to quickly detect and report cases of thenew Variant of Concern,” says Dr PoonamKhetrapal Singh, Regional Director, WHOSouth-East Asia Region.
Talking about the severity of infection,Dr Anurag Aggarwal, Consultant InternalMedicine, says, “This variant has a largenumber of mutations, some of which areconcerning. Preliminary evidence suggestsan increased risk of reinfection with thisvariant, as compared to other variants ofconcern.”
Aggarwal, citing Professor Tulio deOliveira, the director of the Centre forEpidemic Response and Innovation in SouthAfrica, tells us that there was an ‘unusualconstellation of mutations’ and that it was‘very different’ to other variants that havecirculated. “It is incredibly heavily mutated.There were 50 mutations overall and morethan 30 on the spike protein, which is thetarget of most vaccines and the key the virususes to unlock the doorway into our body'scells. Further, the receptor binding domain(that's the part of the virus that makes firstcontact with our body's cells) has 10 muta-tions compared to just two for the Deltavariant that swept the world,” explainsAggarwal.
After travel rules easing down post-sec-ond wave, it is obvious that people wouldtravel everywhere after being caged for morethan a year. With that, it is understandablethat people will carry the virus from oneplace to another, even after the major chunkof the population is vaccinated.
“The confirmation of the Omicron, avariant of concern today by India, the firsttwo cases in WHO South-East Asia Region,was not unexpected in view of the intercon-nected world that we live in. This emphasisesthe need for all countries to step up surveil-lance, to be on alert and rapidly detect anyimportation and take measures to curtailfurther spread of the virus,” says Singh.
She adds that the response measures forall variants, including Omicron, is the sameas that for SARs CoV2. Comprehensive andtailored public health and social measures byGovernments, and strict adherence to pre-ventive and precautionary measures by indi-viduals, is a must. People must wear a well-fitting mask which covers their nose andmouth well, keep distance, avoid poorly ven-tilated or crowded spaces, keep hands clean,cover cough and sneeze and get vaccinated.And continue to take all precautionary mea-sures even after getting vaccinated. All trav-elers must adhere to public health and socialmeasures at all times and remain vigilant forsigns and symptoms of COVID-19.
Talking about the number of mutations,Dr Arunesh Kumar, HOD & SeniorConsultant- Pulmonology tells us that thisnew variant is a matter of concern in Indiatoo. It has more than 30 mutations. Withtime, we will get to know more about thisnew variant. “This virus can invade ourimmunity. Therefore, we need to followCOVID appropriate behavior” he says.
The existing vaccines might or might notbe effective against the Omicron variant andextensive research is being done to find outthe same. “It is still to be known how effec-
tive vaccination would be in such a case,” hetells us.
Talking about the new wave smashingEurope, Kumar says the main reason behindthe new COVID wave in Europe is peoplenot wearing masks. From the last couple ofmonths, many Governments have putleniency when it comes to wearing masks.This actually has led to a new wave. “If wedon’t let our guards down, we can controlCOVID,” he adds.
Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder Director,Ujala Cygnus Group of Hospitals says, “Thisis the 5th variant of concern and overall the15th variant of COVID-19. We already haveflights being banned and travel restrictionsin place. Therefore, we need to followCOVID-appropriate behavior like wearingmasks, following social distancing, and regu-lar use of sanitizer.
With the festive season upon us, we needto make sure that we take proper measuresand keep safe as much as possible. "Althoughthe so-called third wave has not eventuate asyet, the sudden appearance and the spread ofomicron – a new variant of COVID-19 –across several countries has brought backmemories of the second wave and its visiblydevastating all-round consequences on peo-ple in the country. This means that we mustshake off the complacency which was creep-ing in and instead get back to observing thesame COVID-appropriate protocols andbehaviour as we did before with utmost seri-ousness and discipline. So, while we resumewearing double masks, using sanitizers andmaintaining social distancing, because of thefact that the virus can be airborne and trans-mitted through the air, we must also contin-ue to employ indoor air purification systemsin order to pre-empt any threat from thenew strain, or any strain of the virus for thatmatter. Since people are now more likely tostay indoors for a greater duration due to thenewly-perceived threat from the new variant,the role of indoor air purifiers with theirability to inactivate microbial pathogensincluding viruses and bacteria will continueto be critical to people’s health," saysHimanshu Agarwal, CEO, MagnetoCleanTech.
“In the festive season, people tend to putall the COVID appropriate behavior on theback seat. But, time has again come when wehave to adhere to all the COVID-appropriatebehavior diligently. Avoiding social gather-ings is essential. It’s understandable thatwe’ve all been compelled to stay inside andavoid social interaction for almost twentymonths. However, if we are to completelyeradicate this virus, we must limit its spread.This means we'll have to avoid social gather-ings for a while longer. Even if you are fullyvaccinated, following the protocol and avoid-ing social gatherings will help. When you'reoutside, maintain social distance,” saysKumar.
The 21st bilateral India-Russia Summitscheduled for December 6, 2021marks the coming of age of the specialand strategic privileged partnershipbetween the two countries. This will
be President Vladimir Putin’s second foreignvisit after the onset of the Covid pandemic inMarch 2020, and his first to any country in Asia,signaling the salience and resilience of the India-Russia strategic partnership. The annual summitmechanism, proposed by Russia’s President dur-ing his first official visit to India in October2000, has vindicated its role in steering theIndia-Russia strategic partnership through themomentous changes of the past two decades.
� ������The 2019 India-Russia Summit at
Vladivostok charted innovative approaches tosustain and broaden India-Russia relations.These included the long-term participation ofboth countries in each other’s strategic sectorssuch as defence, energy, and technology. Theresource-rich Russian Far East was added as anew dimension for trade and economic coopera-tion between enterprises of India’s constituentstates and Russia’s eastern regions, pushing coop-eration in Asia as the new frontier of India-Russia relations. A $1 billion Indian line of creditwas earmarked to implement this initiative,which would be sustained by a new maritimelink between Vladivostok and Chennai throughthe Pacific and Indian oceans.
����������� �����The unexpected Covid pandemic created a
barrier to the smooth implementation of theseobjectives, leading to the postponement of the2020 India-Russia Summit. Despite this setback,the close personal interaction between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi and President Putin,who have met 19 times since 2014, bridged thephysical gap by using digital communicationstechnologies to maintain the momentum, trust,and dialogue that are the hallmarks of India-Russia strategic relations.
A phone conversation on March 25, 2020between the two leaders resulted in an agree-ment on ways to maintain the progress andwarmth of bilateral relations. A joint response tothe pandemic began in April 2020, when Indialifted its ban on export of medicines to Russia tomitigate Covid. By mid-2020, the GamaleyaResearch Institute of Russia developed theSputnik-V human adenovirus vector platformvaccine against Covid. In April 2021, after clini-cal trials in India, the Sputnik-V vaccine joinedCovishield and Covaxin on the list of vaccinesregistered for emergency use in India. In May2021, joint manufacturing of the Sputnik-V vac-cine in India through the Russian DirectInvestment Fund (RDIF) was initiated, adding tothe pool of Indian manufactured vaccinesagainst Covid for domestic and international usein third countries.
������� ����������������� �����President Putin and Prime Minister Modi
agreed in a telephone conversation on April 28,2021 to institutionalise a 2+2 Ministerial India-Russia Dialogue on foreign and defence cooper-ation to anchor the bilateral strategic partner-ship.The first India-Russia 2+2 Dialogue isexpected to take place on the margins of the 21stSummit,
The ferocious border confrontation betweenIndia and China in May 2020 at Galwan causedanother challenge for India-Russia relations, asRussia was chairing the trilateral Russia-India-China (RIC) grouping in 2020. However, by par-
ticipating in the RIC videoconference meeting offoreign ministers on June 23, 2020, and subse-quently in a physical ministerial meeting inMoscow on September 10, 2020, Indian andChinese foreign ministers were able to hold abilateral “frank and constructive discussion” andagree on the need for new confidence-buildingmeasures. India has acknowledged its apprecia-tion for Russia’s regular arms supplies to Indiafor Russian origin defence equipment duringthis period.
The focus on long-term India-Russiadefence cooperation benefited from regularinteraction between India’s Raksha Mantri ShriRajnath Singh and Russian Defence MinisterGeneral Sergei Shoigu during the past two years.The Raksha Mantri participated in the events inMoscow marking the 75th anniversary of theSoviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany onJune 24, 2020, and interacted bilaterally with hisRussian counterpart during his visit to Moscowfor the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO) Defence Ministers meeting on September3, 2020, and the SCO Defence Ministers meetingin Tajikistan on July 28, 2021.
The outcome of this interaction includes thefirst manufacturing joint venture between Indiaand Russia with transfer of technology for about600,000 world-class AK-203 Kalashnikov riflesat the Korwa Ordnance Factory in Amethi, UttarPradesh. Other outcomes include the manufac-ture and co-production of four Project 1135.6naval Frigates; the supply of 400 more T-90tanks; additional supplies of Su-30 MKI, as wellas the MiG-29 aircraft; and additional supplies ofthe MANGO ammunition & VSHORAD sys-tems. The supply of the first unit of the S-400 airdefence systems from Russia to India contractedin 2018 is to be completed by the end of 2021.India and Russia are expected to sign an agree-ment on reciprocal logistic support for eachother’s armed forces that come for exercises ineither country.
The current value of India-Russia defencecontracts is between $9-10 billion, makingRussia a top defence partner of India. By partici-pating in the Make in India programme, Russiahas committed to the transfer of defence tech-nologies to India that it does not share withother countries, while Russian investments inIndian defence production will generate employ-ment and boost defence exports. This approachmirrors India’s investments in Russia’s defencemanufacturing sector two decades ago, whichresulted in the supply of technologicallyadvanced equipment for all three services ofIndia’s armed forces, including the BrahMosmissile system. The Summit is expected toextend the mandate of the India-Russia MilitaryTechnical Cooperation platform chaired by thetwo Defence Ministers by ten years to 2031.
A similar process of regular interactionbetween India’s External Affairs Minister Dr SJaishankar and Russian Foreign Minister SergeiLavrov has enabled the India-Russia strategicpartnership to respond in a calibrated manner tointernational challenges. Besides the RIC meet-ing of 2020, India’s foreign minister has visitedMoscow for the SCO Foreign Ministers meetingin September 2020 and for a bilateral visit in July2021, while the Russian foreign minister visitedIndia in April 2021. The two ministers haveinteracted in the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) framework twice throughvideoconferencing during Russia’s chairmanshipin 2020, and once in 2021 under India’s chair-manship.
This interaction has been buttressed by con-sultations on India-Russia engagement on bilat-eral, regional, and multilateral issues. Experts
from both sides met in December 2020 to coor-dinate views on issues on the UN SecurityCouncil (UNSC) agenda, while discussions onthe 21st Summit were held at foreign secretarylevel in Moscow in February 2021.The conver-gence of Indian and Russian positions in theUNSC on Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, theUNSC Taliban sanctions regime, and UN peace-keeping operations during 2021 reflect the out-come of this cooperation.
� �������������� ������������The strategic rapport between the top lead-
ers of India and Russia was on international dis-play on August 9, 2021, when Prime MinisterModi chaired a special meeting of the UNSC onmaritime security. President Putin was the onlyHead of State of a UNSC permanent memberwho spoke at this meeting, which endorsed aholistic approach to maritime security.
Russia’s proposal in August 2019 to establish“a security and cooperation organisation in theGulf” has assumed a deeper significance for theIndia-Russia strategic partnership in 2021. Apartfrom its impact on stability in the Gulf regionincluding Iran, such a regional structure cangenerate confidence in two major connectivityprojects that India and Russia have pursued inrecent years — the International North SouthTransport Corridor (INSTC) linking Russiathrough Iran with India proposed in 2000, andthe Chabahar project linking India, Iran,Afghanistan, Central Asia, and Russia proposedin 2016.
Greater regional cooperation in the westernIndian Ocean will provide stability for the freeflow of navigation along two major sea lanes ofcommunication through the Red Sea andYemen, and through the Straits of Hormuz.These routes transport a significant volume ofIndia’s international trade, energy imports andinternational digital traffic.
A similar holistic approach to maritimesecurity will sustain the Eastern MaritimeCorridor proposed by the India-Russia Summitin 2019 to link Russia and India through thePacific and Indian Oceans as part of India’s ActFar East policy.The first steps to modernise theport infrastructure of Chennai and Vladivostokhave been initiated during the past six months.Eventually, the Eastern Maritime Corridor willconnect India to ports in the Arctic.
India has emphasized the “centrality” of theASEAN in any sustainable maritime securityarrangement in the Indo-Pacific. The first-everRussia-ASEAN naval exercises off Sumatra inearly December 2021 demonstrates a similaremphasis on ASEAN-centrality, leading to India-Russia convergence in the maritime domain.
��� ��� � ����������������President Putin and Prime Minister Modi
held a telephonic conversation on August 28,2021 on the unexpected takeover ofAfghanistan by the Taliban disregarding callsfor an “inclusive” government. The leadersagreed to cooperate in countering the commonthreats emanating from Afghanistan, such asterrorism, drug trafficking and the impact onCentral Asian security. This objective has beenintegrated into the India-Russia strategic part-nership by the first meeting of the India-RussiaHigh Level Mechanism on Afghanistan onSeptember 8, 2021, India’s official participationin the Moscow format talks on Afghanistan inMoscow on October 20, 2021, and Russia’s par-ticipation at the National Security AdvisersConference on Afghanistan hosted by India onNovember 10-11, 2021, in which Iran and thefive Central Asian states participated, butPakistan and China did not.
We are into strange times. Contradictory things aremoving in tandem. These are times of vulgar con-sumerism. These are times of brazen commercial-
isation. These are times of unabashed consumption.Snobbery is on the rise. But another trend is catching up.A trend that is not in tune with whatever is discernible. Thetrend of unreserved display of compassion and kindness.So we find that intentional acts of kindness and compas-sion are being institutionalised and marketed. Special daysare observed to market age old values. Values that were pas-sionately adhered to in the past are becoming a fashion. Sowe observe world kindness day and the like. Even as unnec-essary private consumption driven by ego continuesunchecked, we are finding that showcasing compassion andkindness also goes with a lot of noise, and is also ego dri-ven. Sometimes for public consumption and sometimes forpublicity. While the ancient Indian thought mentioned about‘Gupt Daan’ or charity with humility and quietude, in thepresent days, there’s pomp and show. This is not to demeanthose acts of charity, or question the motive behind com-passion. But certainly a gentle reminder that ego driven char-ity is not as impactful as passionate compassion. Wastefulconsumption is antithetical to genuine compassion. A casein point is the kind of food wastage that goes in the eliterestaurants which on close observation will seem reminis-cent of the Roman kings of the yore, who ate, drank andmade merry oftentimes biting more than they could chew.Food wastage in a party is something that can be bracket-ed as criminal because even by disciplined eating, a lot canbe spared for the needy. Ironically, it is the same class thatwastes food in the elite eateries that also loudly carries outthose acts of compassion. Political correctness and socialapproval are highly sought after these days and have becomekey motivating forces driving human action. Without debat-ing on whether this is good or bad, let us think of the essenceof ethics which has become a subject matter of popular dis-course these days. Goswami Tulsidas had very successful-ly pointed out that compassion is the essence of Dharmawhereas Pride is the source of sin. But these days we findthat even compassion is a by-product of pride. So even actsof compassion feed pride though they are mutually exclu-sive. Conscientious consumption and passionate compas-sion need to be a self-imposed code of conduct. The worldstill has enough for everybody’s need. But the problem isgreed. Even one man’s greed can upset the apple cart. Wherewe do we go wrong? The answer is very simple. Just try tointrospect, if whatever we want is actually needed. Next timewhen you go to have food in a restaurant that offers youwhatever you can eat for a given price, assess you need first.How much of what can you eat? It is rather common placeto see people order extra to get full value for what they havepaid. Be a little reasonable and think of those who are stillstruggling to get a square meal a day. Perhaps you will savea lot of food wastage. Numbers of poverty reduction makedifference to governments, not the governed. Despite allthose data about GDP growth and rising economy pover-ty is still a problem the world needs to contend with.
This Sanskrit word means dis-tressed, troubled, etc. LordKrishna refers to such persons in
the verse # 7.16 of the Bhagavad Gita,when He refers to four kinds of virtu-ous people, who worship God. LordKrishna commends them as reallynoble, because they choose to seek helpfrom God (7.18) Three kinds of suffer-ings are common to everyone on thisplanet earth, which the Lord hasdescribed as impermanent place of mis-eries. (8.15) These are what we get dueto punishable acts (karmas) done in thepast, which include previous lives.Then, others give us trouble. And nat-ural forces also cause sufferings, like thispandemic.
The artah stage of a soul marks thestart of his spiritual journey. Yes, it isdriven by material needs/difficulties,but such persons have taken the firststep out of four steps needed to reachthe final stage of being a wise person.Then, one becomes just like God, thatis his consciousness is yoga-based andhe remains well established only inGod-the supreme destination. (7.18) Inthe artah stage, the consciousness ismuch lower, and is influenced by all thethree modes, with the lower modes stillplaying substantial roles. In compari-son, a person becomes wise after hav-ing transcended all the three modes.Some advanced artah persons also pos-sess attributes of the next two stages,that is of being seekers of wealth andbeing inquisitive about God.
Though artah stage is the initialstage in the spiritual journey, such per-sons have faith in the existence of God.That is the reason they approach Godfor relief. They are aware that God issupreme. However, what everyonedoes not realise is that the “karmapha-
la principle” is being administered byhigher authorities. And they act strict-ly as per guidelines set by God. Anothermistake by most people is to assumeworld to be a place of fun. Yes, thisworld is not as bad as hell but heavenit is certainly not. The expectation fromGod is also faulty in most cases. Oneexpects God to erase/delete all troublesinstantly. He won’t.
What, then, is the proper way toapproach God? First of all, one mustaccept that whatever is happening tohim is all due to his faulty past act/acts.This acceptance is crucial to get start-ed. There must be remorse also for whatshould not have been done. The thirdimportant requirement is preparednessto tolerate whatever punishment isbeing meted out. Yes, God has unlim-ited powers to do anything, but Hedoesn’t exercise them just like that.Because the creation can only functionbased on sound principles. Therefore,even if approached properly, God hasto see whether the purpose of punish-ment has been served or not. However,artah are much better placed than those
who don’t approach God and worryendlessly.
Artah worshippers stand to gain alot by approaching God. They get reliefas decided by God. He does so throughmediums chosen specifically for thispurpose. Thus artah worshippers getchance to reform themselves. At thesame time they begin to realise the real-ity of this world, its karmaphala prin-ciple. Slowly, they get rid of the falsenotion that this world is there for lust-ful enjoyments. There is no doubt thatpleasures are also there, but which areaccording to “dharma”. They thusbegin to stop themselves from doingharmful acts, which would bring pun-ishments in future. God begins to guideand help them in subtle ways. This isalso the start of “bhakti”.
What is the conclusion then? If introuble, do whatever to try to get outof it, but do not forget the given of realand absolute relief. Take God’s shelterfor guidance. But one must rememberto have the right expectations. /� ����������������������!��"����! ��
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If we wish for the world to be bet-ter than what we have seen in thepast century, then we must bewilling to make peace and love apart of our lives. We must wash
away any hatreds and prejudices thathave stained our hearts and souls. If wewant others to be peaceful, we must bemodels or peace ourselves.
�������������No one said that attaining peace is
easy. The hardest step towards peace isthe first step, and that is forgiveness. Wemust learn to forget the past and for-give our enemies. We must developcompassion for those who have hurt usin the past. We must realise that we haveall been victims of the hatred and dis-cord of our ancestors. It is time to puta stop to it. Revenge must be replacedby forgiveness and compassion.
How can we take those first steps?How can we cleanse ourselves of angerand hatred and replace them with loveand forgiveness? Compassion, forgive-ness, and peace can be ours throughspirituality.
�� ����������� ������Spirituality is the recognition that
our true self is our soul. It is recognis-ing that our soul is one with God. It isrealising that we are not merely ourbody and mind, but a soul that inhab-its the body. We may think of ourselvesas being a body bearing a name, thatwe are a citizen of India or Colombiaor France, or that we are from a certaincaste or religion. But spirituality isrecognising that behind these outernames and outer labels we are all souls,a part of the one Creator. We are all con-nected at the level of our soul as we arechildren of the same Creator.
When we develop this angle ofvision, we no longer see through theeyes of prejudice and discrimination.We start breaking down the barriersthat separate one human being fromanother. We start feeling like we are allconnected at the level of soul. When weexperience our unity and connected-ness, we start caring about each other.We want to help and serve each other.The hungry cries of our neighbour’schildren will cause us as much pain asthe cries of our own children. We willsee the homeless person on the streetas per own homeless grandfather, andwe will be moved to help him. Ourvision will be broadened and we willhave compassion for the suffering of allhuman beings and will want to helpthem with all our heart.
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We can do so by awakening spiri-tually. A method can open our spiritu-al sight so that we can wash away hatred
and replace it with love and peace. Thatmethod is a simple technique of med-itation, by sitting in stillness for sometime, we can get in touch with our soul.We will find that we are much morethan this outer body and mind. We willdiscover our spiritual essence that isfilled with love, peace and bliss. Whenwe identify with our soul, we will realiseour oneness with God.
How many of us have yearned tohave a divine vision of God? Formany, finding God is a dream that hard-ly seems possible, but many peoplethrough the ages have seen God. Theyhave merged with God. How did theydo it? They all used one technique. Wemay call that technique inversion,concentration, or meditation. Theysat in the stillness, directed their atten-tion within, and ultimately discoveredtheir soul and God. When we do so, weattain the state reached by all the greatsaints and founders of religions. Webecome loving, kind, peaceful andgiving human beings.
In Meditation we come in contact
with a divine power. This power man-ifests itself as a loving light. When wecontact this light within ourselves, weexperience a profound peace, bliss, hap-piness unlike any we can find in thisworld. The beauty of meditation is thatthis intoxication remains with us evenafter we resume our daily activities.
When we rise above our physicalbody and experience the Divine Light,we also see that all other beings are alsosouls. We see that the same Light iswithin us is within everyone else. Westart to realise that we are all souls, allpart of God. Thus we start caring aboutall living things. In this way, our per-sonal attainment of peace and happi-ness will contribute to a golden age ofpeace and happiness on earth.
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We can develop our spiritual side.By learning meditation, we can spendsome time each day coming in contactwith God within ourselves. As Godbathes us in love and bliss, we are
cleansed of the years of habits thatcaused us to have hatred and prejudices.In this state of peace and love, we arethen able to develop the qualities of for-giveness and compassion for those whohave hurt us. God instilled in us thequalities of love, forgiveness, and com-passion. The Lord holds our hands aswe take our first step toward reconcil-iation and peace.
As we become more peaceful our-selves, we begin to radiate peace to allthose with whom we come in contact.Peace begins with us. By transformingourselves, we can transform others,including our family, community, soci-ety, and eventually the whole world. Inthis way, we will be building a peace-ful, safe world for our children, poster-ity, and ourselves. It all begins with thefirst step and that is forgiveness.Forgiveness will lead to inner peace, andthis inner peace will blossom into outerpeace in the world, enriching everyheart and making this world a muchbetter and peaceful place to live.
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The primary driver of the India-Russiastrategic partnership is its contribution tothe transformation of the two countries inthe 21st century. Bilateral cooperation inenergy, technology, and trade to achieve thisobjective is a priority for both countries. TheSummit is expected to endorse three energycooperation projects, viz. investments byONGC-Videsh, Indian Oil and Oil Indiainto Russia’s Rosneft owned Vostok whichhas an estimated reserve of about 6 billiontonnes of crude oil; potential Indian invest-ment into the Arctic LNG-2 gas field inSiberia which has 461 billion cubic metres ofnatural gas; and possible Russian investmentinto the Paradip cracker plant in Odisha,which will open a new avenue of coopera-tion in petrochemicals.
Nuclear energy, with its strong linkagewith international security, plays a big role inIndia’s energy security framework. Today,Russia is the only major nuclear power part-nering India after the historic 2008 waivergiven by the Nuclear Suppliers Group. India’slargest nuclear power plant at Kudankulamin Tamil Nadu is an India-Russia project forsix nuclear power reactors of 1000W each, ofwhich two units came on stream in 2017,two more are expected to be operational in2027, and construction of the fifth and sixthunits was begun on 29 June 2021.
Three areas with a strong technologicalimprint, viz. cooperation in outer space, thedigital economy, and the Blue Economy, areexpected to transform the contribution ofIndia-Russia scientific and technological col-laboration to the strategic partnership. Spacecooperation has built upon on existing satel-lite launches, the GLONASS navigation sys-tem, and cooperation in training India’sastronauts in Russia for India’s first mannedspace mission (Gaganyaan) due to belaunched in late 2022 or early 2023. Digitalcooperation is spearheaded by youth-drivendigital innovation involving India’s AtalInnovation Mission and Russia’s Sirius, andencompasses areas such as additive manu-facturing, 3D printing, blockchain, Artificial
Intelligence, and Big Data Analytics.Cooperation in the Blue Economy, as part ofIndia’s SAGAR Indian Ocean policy, willlook at deep sea research and shipbuilding.The Summit is expected to agree to establisha Joint Commission on Science andTechnology.
The 2019 Vladivostok Summit’s target ofreaching $30 billion two-way trade by 2025has been set back by the unexpected con-traction of the economies of both countriesdue to the Covid pandemic. In the financialyear ending March 2021, two-way trade wasvalued at $9.31 billion, with Russian exportsto India accounting for $5.83 billion andIndian exports to Russia $3.48 billion, most-ly the result of public sector led trade.Despite a growth of about 30% in the firstsix months of 2021 compared with the sameperiod in 2020, the Summit will need to findways to significantly increase private sectorparticipation from both countries in tradeand investment relations, including throughgreater financial sector cooperation.
����������������On 22 January 2020, India hosted the
first Ganga-Volga Dialogue, an idea thatemanated from discussions betweenPresident Putin and Prime Minister
Modi.The Dialogue touched upon fourbroad themes in the context of India-Russiabilateral cooperation; viz. education, culture,and civilisation; entrepreneurship and inno-vation; trade routes including inland naviga-tion; and India, Russia and Greater Eurasia.The Summit’s endorsement of this initiativewill be a major impulse to encourage greaterpeople-to-people interaction and sustaintheir strategic partnership.
����� �� �� �On 8 July 2021, speaking at the presti-
gious Primakov Institute in Moscow,External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankaridentified “geo-political compatibility, lead-ership trust and popular sentiment” as thekey drivers of the India-Russia special andprivileged strategic partnership. Both Indiaand Russia seek a multi-polar world, where“no single country is able to impose its willthrough domination or through militaryforce.” This will be the key takeaway of the21st India-Russia Summit.
The author was India’s Ambassador tothe United Nations (2013-2015) and India’s
Deputy Ambassador to the RussianFederation (2001-2005). He is a
Distinguished Fellow of the VivekanandaInternational Foundation, New Delhi
COMING OF AGE: THE 21ST INDIA-RUSSIA SUMMIT���$� ��'� ����G������������1���������� �����������������������������������������+�� �'1��������(0,��/.*(@�;, :-2,
��������� �����%���-���'� ������������The countdown for the post-
Merkel era has just begun.The historic sixteen long years(four terms) of Angela Merkelchancellorship will be over bythe end of this month. A newChancellor is all set to takeover. And once again, a rag-tagcoalition has come to an agree-ment to form the nextGovernment of Germany, the economic powerhouse of Europe.
Olaf Scholz, theChancellor-elect, is a left lean-ing leader of the SPD (SocialDemocratic Party). He wasborn on June 14, 1958. Scholzis currently serving as theFederal Finance Minister andVice Chancellor in the MerkelGovernment since March 14,2018. Earlier, he served as theMayor of Hamburg fromMarch 7, 2011 to March 13,2013. He also worked as the acting leader of the SPD in 2018.
The national election inGermany took place onSeptember 2021. And now theGermans have got a newBundestag (the Lower House ofthe German Reichstag i.e.Parliament), the 20th one in itspost-war federal history. Thecurrent German Constitutionstipulates that Parliament mustmeet 30 days at the latest afterthe election day, ending theterm of its predecessor.
It would be really difficultfor Scholz to match his prede-cessor’s record. Merkel is thefirst woman leader ofGermany; the second longestserving Chancellor ever andthe first modern Chancellor tohail from eastern part of thecountry. Helmut Kohl was thelongest serving Chancellor ofGermany and he was in officefrom October 1, 1982, toOctober 26, 1998. If therewould have been no announce-ment of a new government byDecember 17, Merkel wouldhave surpassed Kohl’s record.But now, the new Traffic LightCoalition (TLC) has alreadydeclared Scholz as the newChancellor of the country.
The TLC is named after thethree parties’ respective coloursin the alliance. All the threepartners wanted to acceleratethe transition to a green econ-omy and digitalisation whilemaintaining strict fiscal disci-pline according to a 177-pagepact signed by the SPD, theGreens and the FreeDemocrats. Interestingly, at apress conference held recentlyin Berlin along with the lead-ers of the Greens and the FDP,Scholz recalled when the “firsttraffic light” was installed at thecity’s Potsdamer Platdz in 1924,
many people doubted whetherit could really work. But he toldpeople that this traffic lightpartnership will be indispens-able for Germany. This coali-tion will see the first womanForeign Minister of Germany,i.e. the Green’s co-leaderAnnalena Baerbock. Again,FDP leader Christian Lindneris going to take over as theFinance Minister and Green’sco-leader Robert Habeck isexpected to take on as thenewly expanded Economy andEnvironment Minister. Further,the brand-new coalition willtry to balance the Green Party’scall for a tough stance onRussia and China on humanrights. But Scholz is attemptingnot to risk a direct confronta-tion with the two authoritari-an regimes on complex issuessuch as Taiwan and Ukraine.This government will alsoallow multiple citizenships andlegalize the sale of cannabis forrecreational use at all registeredoutlets across the country.
Again, Merkel has set arecord in history for the factthat she will be the firstChancellor to leave her officeat a time of her own choice.However, many political ana-lysts say that she did face seri-ous internal pressure in herCDU (Christian DemocraticUnion) party to step down afterthe refugee crisis (mostlyrefugees came from war-tornnations like Syria, Iraq) rockedEurope, particularly Germany.But she announced on herown that by autumn 2021, shewill relinquish the top job ofGermany. Interestingly, fromKonrad Adenauer throughHelmut Schmidt to HelmutKohl, all of the country’s greatleaders left their offices eitherunder extreme party pressureor through an outright defeatin a national election.
For now, Merkel will con-tinue as caretaker Chancellortill the new government isformed. Generally, the forma-tion of coalition takes longerthan usual in Germany. In2017, when Merkel formedher last alliance government, ittook nearly six months to inkthe pact with the partners.
German election heraldsabsolutely a messier politicalenvironment. It has graduallyresulted into a much weakerleadership in comparison toMerkel for now. After thenational election in thisSeptember, the new GermanParliament looks like this: theChristian Democratic Union(CDU)/Christian Social Union(CSU) of Merkel gets 196 (-50)i.e. 24.1%; the SocialDemocratic Party (SPD) of
Scholz gets 206 (+ 56) i.e.25.7%; the Green Party 118(+51) i.e. 14.8%; the FreeDemocratic Party (FDP) 92(+12); the Alternative forGermany (AfD) 83 (-11) i.e.10.3%; the Left (Linke) 39 (-30)i.e. 4.9% and others 1 (+1) i.e.8.7%. Merkel’s Conservatives isthe most successful party in thehistory of the Federal Republicof Germany. The SPD is tradi-tional Centre-Left party. Itappears intermittently in suc-cessive governments, some-times in alliance with the CDU.The FDP is little less sociallyconservative party than theCDU. Though it is small, it iscoherent and known for itspro-business approach. TheAfD is a strong right-wingparty that firmly opposesimmigration and is absolutelysceptical about the EU. TheGreens are influential and havetied up with many govern-ments both at the centre and insome states.
This election showed themost consequential gains for theSPD, particularly in EastGermany. Besides, the party hasalso recovered grounds in itstraditional homelands such as
the Rhineland and in the north-west Germany, where it sharedsome of the advances with theGreen Party. Despite losingsome grounds, the AfD was ableto muster support in Thuringiaand other parts of the EastGermany. Sadly, the CDU lostmost of its support bases almosteverywhere, but its partnerparty CSU could do better inBavaria. The Linke Party lost biggrounds in the East.
As legendary Merkel istipped to tiptoe into Germany’spolitical sunset, Scholz is tak-ing up all challenges andopportunities left behind by theCDU leader. Today Germansare talking about a radical shiftin the ‘machtarchitectur’, i.e. thearchitecture of power structureof the country. And the newSPD-led coalition is headingfor wide policy changes both athome and abroad. During thefour tenures of Merkel, thecoalition partners like the SPDand others have always com-plained about their minimalrole in policy making and inpublic appearances. She wasadopting a pure top-downapproach in running her frag-ile coalition government in all
the last 16 years in office. Butthis time, with Scholz, thepower arrangement with part-ners is quite different. Hispartners are the Greens and theFDs which are handed overcrucial ministries such as theforeign, finance, new economyand environment. Moreover,the Ministers and major lead-ers of these parties are muchyounger and dynamic thanScholz. They have a broadervision of Germany than him.Therefore, it would be too dif-ficult for him to clip theirwings or rather side-line themthe way Merkel did with herpolitical allies.
It seems Scholz has alreadyconvinced the German elec-torate that he would be able toreplace the maverick Merkel.Truly speaking, her departurehas not only ushered in a newera in Germany but also liter-ally shakes up the fragile powerbalance among the competingpowers in the covetedEuropean Union. At a timewhen Russia under Putin isincreasingly becoming aggres-sive and Lukashenko is push-ing the migrants towards theborder between Belarus and
Poland, the EU demands therole of accommodating andtough decision makers likeMerkel. Her successor-in-wait-ing Scholz has a much biggerrole to play — leveragingGerman power to handle adeadly pandemic Covid-19and an ever-growing trend ofmigration of people from WestAsian countries to Europe.Many in Europe today seehuge potential in FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macron,Italian Prime Minister MarioDraghi and Scholz as con-tenders for leading Europe tothe world stage. And probablyto take over Merkel’s mantle asthe unquestioned leader ofEurope, the world’s anothercrucial power bloc. But thebiggest hurdle for all thesethree statesmen would be tocope up with an EU minus thepresence of the UK and the fastmarginalisation of the group inglobal politics.
Scholz, a terse, well-briefedand a grounded professionalpolitical leader, would be noless a competent figure thanMerkel to steer Germany aheadin this time of crisis.Undoubtedly, he would be
offering his long innings inGerman politics both for thebenefit of his country and forEurope. Thus, RobinAlexander, a long-time politi-cal observer of Merkel andScholz, aptly describes his cre-dentials: “He is like a soccerplayer who studies videos ofanother player and changes hisgame. From temperament andpolitical style all the way downto facial expressions, Scholznow channels Merkel. If Scholzwas a woman, he would wearpantsuits”.
Now it remains to be seenhow the new Chancellor willtake Germany to the post-Merkel era to overcome bothfears and challenges in thedays ahead.
(Dr Makhan Saikia hastaught political science andinternational relations for overa decade in institutions ofnational and internationalrepute after specialisation inglobalisation and governancefrom Tata Institute of SocialSciences, Mumbai. He is thechief editor of the Journal ofGlobal Studies, an internation-al research journal)
������� �������������������0�����Afemale judge, Muska, was
hiding with her familyfrom newly empoweredTaliban militants inAfghanistan when an apparentreading mistake 7,000 milesaway helped to drasticallychange her life.
Brazilian President JairBolsonaro opened his nation’sdoors to potential refugeesfrom the Asian nation duringremarks at the United NationsGeneral Assembly onSeptember 21. “We will granthumanitarian visas for AfghanChristians, women, childrenand judges,” he read on theteleprompter — apparentlymispronouncing the finalword, which was “jovens” —youngsters — in his printedspeech as “juizes,” or judges.
Error or not, his govern-ment fulfilled that offer.
Muska and her family weretaken by bus to the northerncity of Mazar-i-Sharif and werethen flown to Greece with sixfemale colleagues. By the endof October, they found them-selves in Brazil — a countrywith very little in common withAfghanistan beyond theirshared love of soccer.
Speaking to international
media for the first time, Muskatold The Associated Press thisweek that she and the otherjudges still fear retributionfrom the Taliban — some ofwhose members had been sen-tenced for various crimes intheir courts.
She asked that her truename not be used, nor her pre-cise location - at a Brazilianmilitary installation - be pub-lished. Her colleagues declinedto speak to the news media.Muska had been a judge foralmost 10 years before theTaliban captured power inAugust and she said her homein the capital, Kabul, hadrecently been searched.
Afghanistan had about 300female judges, Muska said, andmany are now in hiding, theirbank accounts frozen.
“We knew they (theTaliban) wouldn’t let thewomen judges work. We wouldhave serious threats to ourlives,” she said. “They releasedall the criminals from theprison. These were the crimi-nals that we sentenced.”
The judges who remain“are very scared, in hiding.They have serious financialproblems, no salary, lost their
jobs, had their bank accountsblocked. They are still in dan-ger,” the judge said. “It is notgood in Kabul.”
The Taliban won wide-spread support in Afghanistanin part because the toppled US-backed government was wide-
ly seen as corrupt. “But womenjudges were the bravest,strongest and most honest offi-cials in the previous adminis-tration,” said Muska, who saidthe decision by US PresidentJoe Biden to end Americanpresence in the country meant
she quickly had to leave.“Everything happened
suddenly,” she said.Judge Renata Gil, the head
of the Brazilian Association ofMagistrates that is sponsoringthe refugees, said the Afghansarrived “in a lot of fear, still feel-
ing threatened.” “They arebeing chased because they con-victed Taliban fighters,” she saidnoting that she herself hadreceived death threats “becauseI sentenced drug dealers. Forwomen this is much harder.”
Speaking at the associa-tion’s headquarters in the capi-tal, Brasilia, she said, “I hopethey are able to live their livesindependently. But as long asthey need, we will be here tohelp.”
The judges and their 19family members — apparent-ly the only Afghan refugeeswho have come to Brazil sincethe Taliban returned to power— now have Brazilian bankaccounts and health care.Those who can are takinglessons in Portuguese. It’s notclear yet what the future holdsfor them in Brazil, where atleast they are protected. ButMuska said they’d like to returnhome one day.
“I hope I can join my fam-ily members in Kabul. I havethis dream I am in my house. Imiss everything,” the judgesaid. Muska hasn’t seen muchof Brazil due to security rea-sons, difficulties with the lan-guage and her own fears. But
she has found people withempathy for her situation.“They cry with us, we knowthey can sense our feelings,” thejudge said with tears in her eyes.
Muska’s three children,including a toddler, are alsohaving a tough time adapting.The judge used to have her par-ents and nannies to help, but inBrazil she’s largely on her own,while worrying about herfuture, and theirs.
The children look happyand energetic as they run andjump at a public playground,speaking Dari among them-selves. But the judge said hereldest daughter has questionsshe cannot answer. “She isalways asking about my par-ents, her friends, her cousins,”Muska said. “She always asks usquestions about the Taliban, ifthey will kill us.”
Despite the difficulties,Muska said she believes thefuture will be brighter for herchildren than for those still inAfghanistan.
“I have hope for them.That they have their studies ina good situation, in a good edu-cational system,” she said.“They will have their choice onwhat they can do.” AP
As we established in the previoustwo issues that human beings areempowered to guide their actions
by choice and discrimination, this exclu-sive human prerogative also enjoins upona being to make conscientious choice tomodify even their destiny indications.The obvious implication is that ‘freewill’has a role to play in human life, usingwhich, we even reshape our destiny. Howwell we use that option is altogether a dif-ferent matter. The fatalists may still insistthat destiny is beyond change. What theyforget that civilisation has successivelygrown thus far out of its primitive stagethrough human efforts only. If expectan-cy of life in India has risen to around 70from below 50 since Independence, it isnot that destiny of Indian people haschanged by itself. Medical facility hasimproved and people have become morehealth conscious, which is nothing buthuman effort. If you still continue to befatalist, you will be left behind in the runof time. The western world has been con-fidently using their power of freewill.They would be committing many mis-takes in the way, yet they have grownfaster and far beyond us.
It needs to be appreciated here that in
a unified world we live in, where no indi-vidual has a reality independent of theentirety, all set into an interdependentmechanism, ‘freewill’ cannot be absolute.In such a framework, we all have a shareddestiny. So, you can’t just blindly pursueyour whims and fancies. You are withinyour right to pursue aspirational urges,but it will not yield desired result, if it isin conflict with the callings of collectiveexistence. We, therefore, need to learnhow to use our freewill option rightfully.It would be possible only when weremain alert to invoke our discriminatoryfaculty before taking any call. The irony,however, is that caught up in the flirta-tions of mind, we are not left withenough of mind-space necessary for duediligence before exercising our option.
Truth remains that human potential— mind power — is immense, whichunfolded in full will know limits. Butmajor part remains buried under the lim-itations of mind. The irony, however isthat human beings have access to hardly5 to 7 percent of the faculties of mind.That is available by default. More thanthat is subject to our conscious efforts.Even what is available by default, if itcould be optimally utilised, one will be
able to negotiate the callings of life withrelative ease. The paradox, however, isthat engaged in unnecessary broodingand contemplation, dreaming, worrying,dealing with sense of fear and insecurity,we more often dissipate considerableamount of mind power towards unpro-ductive ends. Consequently, we are hardlyleft with enough to do justice to our pri-ority preferences. When we fail, we find itconvenient to shift the blame on destiny.Going by what Swami Vivekand says, wedo not fail in life because destiny is soscripted. We rather don’t strive sufficient-ly to unfold immense power within. It isbelieved that Einstein and those in his ilkwould have used around 10 percent oftheir mental abilities to have created his-tory. The ancient India’s learned masterswould have been able to access full land-scape of mind to have realised even subtlerealities of life operative at intangiblelevel.
What’s the way forward then?Identify and acknowledge limiting ten-dencies of mind by self-reflection andaddress them through fresh educativeinputs. Our ego, however, doesn’t let usacknowledge our infirmities. HereAstrology comes handy as an effective
diagnostic tool to dispassionately figureout the basic fabric of an individual’smaking. For, it does energy mapping of abeing, which a horoscope is. And energyknows no bias. Becoming aware, thus,guided by a proven Guru, purify themind of its limiting tendencies. Sufficientmind-space will then be available, neces-sary for processing your thoughts objec-tively, and thereby all actions on yourpart. With such an expanded vision, andthereby mind-power, first, you will nottake things on its face value. So, you willnot will upon any action without due dili-gence.
Second, you will look at issues inhand with an open mind without anylimitations whatsoever. You will, there-fore, be able look at things in the rightperspective due. You may then be able todiscriminate between ‘what you want’and ‘what is right’, and accordingly makemost appropriate choices. Also, you willbe able to intelligently deal with unfore-seen challenges coming your way, andwith relative ease.
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