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The Pioneer · 2020. 11. 20. · ry at Sujapur in Malda district left six people dead, the ruling...

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A mid a surge in coronavirus cases in Delhi, a door-to- door survey for identifying and testing people sympto- matic for Covid-19 in con- tainment and densely packed areas of the city commenced on Friday with the number of containment zones going up to over 4,550 in the national Capital, with the maximum 743 in southwest district and the lowest 148 in northeast district. According to official data, six districts out of the total 11 have more than 400 Covid-19 containment zones - 743 (southwest), 705 (south), 587 (west), 543 (southeast), 490 (central Delhi) and 445 (north- west). The survey will be com- pleted within five days and will cover over 57 lakh people in containment zones, dense areas and identified clusters of virus transmission, officials said. Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain told reporters that the survey is aimed at identifying and testing symp- tomatic people living in con- tainment zones and densely packed areas. District officials said all the containment zones and super spreader areas are being cov- ered through teams including teachers, municipal corpora- tion staff, Asha workers and civil defence volunteers. “All protocols will be fol- lowed to test all symptomatic persons. The survey will be completed within 5 days,” said a district magistrate. Following a meeting between Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, it was decid- ed that the survey in the city will be conducted by teams of AIIMS, the Delhi Government and municipal corporations, and all the symptomatic peo- ple found in the survey would be tested and provided neces- sary treatment.Around 9,500 surveillance teams have been constituted and deployed for conducting a door-to-door sur- vey. Each team has a target to survey 50 households every day, officials added. The national Capital has witnessed a surge in coron- avirus cases since October 28, when the daily rise breached the 5,000-mark for the first time, and it crossed the 8,000- mark on November 11.On Wednesday, the infection tally in Delhi rose to over 5 lakh with 7,486 fresh cases report- ed, while 131 new fatalities, the highest single-day death count till date, took the toll to 7,943.In a containment zone summary as on November 19, the rev- enue department said there were 4,560 such zones in the city. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday held a secu- rity review meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah, NSA Ajit Doval, Foreign Secretary and top intelligence officials in the wake of the killing of four JeM terrorists in Jammu & Kashmir a day earlier. The killed terrorists were reportedly planning “some- thing big” on the anniversary of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack. The fact that the PM him- self reviewed the security sce- nario following the Thursday’s encounter near toll plaza in Nagrota area of Kashmir, showed that this was not just yet another killing of terrorists by the security forces. Sources confirmed that the PMO came into action after intelligence inputs indicated that the terrorists were plan- ning to carry out some deadly plot on November 26. In his tweets following the meeting, Modi said, “Neutralising of 4 terrorists belonging to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e- Mohammed and the presence of large cache of weapons and explosives with them indicate that their efforts to wreak major havoc and destruction have once again been thwarted.” Hailing the security forces, he said they have once again displayed utmost bravery and professionalism. O ffering an olive branch to dissidents, Congress pres- ident Sonia Gandhi has con- stituted three committees, each comprising former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, to accommodate four senior lead- ers who had been critical of the leadership. The move came days after senior party leader Kapil Sibal questioned the party’s decline in the wake of its poor show in Bihar. Sonia formed the commit- tee just before leaving for Goa to escape Delhi’s toxic air on medical advice. Rahul Gandhi accompanied Sonia. Sonia has approved the committees on economic affairs, foreign affairs and national security to discuss related matters and formulate the party’s position on policy matters, the most recent being India staying away from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. The committees have four leaders who recently wrote a letter to Sonia demanding an organisational overhaul. They are Anand Sharma, Shashi Tharoor, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Veerappa Moily. The four leaders, after flag- ging their concerns in the con- troversial letter, refrained from making critical remarks of the leadership. Anand Sharma and Tharoor have been named in the committee on foreign affairs. Sharma had recently contradicted Congress stand on India’s position vis a vis the RCEP and has argued that India should have joined the trade block. This was against the pre- vious party line which Congress leader Rahul Gandhi articulated last year when he repeatedly made public state- ments against India joining the RCEP. Ghulam Nabi Azad and Moily have been made mem- bers of the committee on national security. Each of the three panels consists of five leaders including a convener. A day after a blast in a facto- ry at Sujapur in Malda district left six people dead, the ruling TMC dared the BJP to impose President’s Rule in Bengal and face the conse- quence. The two parties trad- ed intense fire after Union Minister Babul Supriyo accused the State administration of complicity in recurring inci- dents of blasts all across the State and made indirect refer- ence of Article 356. Referring to the falling law and order situation in the State, he said, “More than 130 BJP workers have been killed in Bengal in the last three years. There is a complete law and order failure in the State. BJP does not indulge in violence. Bengal is always in news due to violence. There have been several attacks on our leaders,” adding if Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee thought that the Centre was weak in cracking the whip she was wrong. “If Didi thinks, she can do anything then there are con- stitutional provisions which can be used to remove her. It would be better if Mamata maintains the essence of democracy and the Constitution ahead of the polls,” Supriyo said, reminding there were enough constitu- tional provisions to tame a brutal Government. T he Oxford AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine “Covishield” will be priced at a maximum of Rs 1,000 for two necessary doses for the public by April 2021 and every Indian will get vaccinated by 2024, said Serum Institute of India’s CEO Adar Poonawalla on Friday. “The vaccine will be avail- able for healthcare workers and elderly people by around February 2021 and for the general public by April,” he said at a media event, even as he asserted that every Indian will get vaccinated, probably by 2024. “It will probably take two or three years for every Indian to get inoculated, not just because of the supply con- straints but because you need the budget, the vaccine, logis- tics, infrastructure, and then, people should be willing to take the vaccine. So these are the factors that lead up to being able to vaccinate 80-90 per cent of the population. It will be 2024 for everybody, if willing to take a two-dose vaccine, to be vacci- nated,” he said. SII, the world’s largest vac- cine manufacturer by volume, and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the country’s apex body for bio- medical research, last week had announced the completion of the enrolment of participants for phase 3 clinical trials of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine candidate, Covishield, in India. Talking about its price, the SII CEO said the Central Government will be getting it at a far cheaper price (at around USD 3-4) because it will be buying in bulk. “We are still pricing it far cheaper and more affordable than other vaccines we have in the market today,” Poonawalla added. He also clarified that chil- dren would have to wait a lit- tle longer for the vaccine till the safety data is out, but the good news is that Covid-19 is not so bad and serious for them. Poonawalla said the Oxford vaccine is affordable and safe. It can be stored at a tem- perature of two to eight degrees Celsius, which is an ideal tem- perature for it to be stored in the cold storages of India. He said the SII plans to make about 10 crore doses per month from February. A mid the increasing Covid- 19 infections and deaths in Delhi, the Maharashtra Government on Friday appeared to be pushing for sus- pension of train and air trans- port services between Mumbai and the national Capital. With the fear of Covid-19 wave gripping New Delhi where the number of infections and deaths has increased alarmingly in the recent days, informed sources in the Maharashtra Government said that the Uddhav Thackeray dispensation was considering seriously taking up the matter with the Centre to suspend train and air services between Mumbai and Delhi. Talking to media persons here, State Chief Secretary Sanjay Kumar indicated that the State Government was con- sidering suspension of air and train services between Mumbai. “No decision has been taken in this regard. We are dis- cussing the issue as of now. If we are to suspend the air and train services, we will have to first take permission from the Civil Aviation and Railway Ministries. We can think of suspension of train and air ser- vices between Mumbai and Delhi only after talking to the officials of the two Ministries,” Kumar said. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Railway clarified that the Railways has not taken any decision regarding the cancel- lation of trains between Mumbai and Delhi in view of the increasing infections and deaths in the national Capital. “There have been reports in a section of the media today about cancellation of certain trains in the Delhi Mumbai sec- tor,” the Ministry of Railways said in a tweet put out in the evening. New Delhi: The Delhi Lieutenant Governor amended the Delhi Epidemic Disease Management of Covid-19 regulations 2020, which empowers any “autho- rised person” to slap a fine of 2,000 for a series of activi- ties including not wearing masks. Now spitting in public, violating social distancing and breaking quarantine rules are going to attract Rs 2,000 fine in the national Capital. Authorised persons shall be empowered to impose a fine of 2,000 for offence for violating directives/guide- lines pertaining to the fol- lowing,” says a Delhi Government notification, dated November 20. H aryana Health Minister Anil Vij on Friday underwent the third and final phase trial of the Covid- 19 vaccine produced by indigenous company Bharat Biotech by being the first to be injected with it becoming the first Minister as a Volunteer during trials. Vij said it is a matter of pride for India that indigenous company has had two successful trials of the vaccine earlier and its third and final trials have started. India-based company Bharat Biotech, is preparing a Covid-19 vac- cine and is testing it in collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research.The Health Minister urged the people that there is nothing to fear. As many people as possible should come forward and become part of it. He himself underwent the trial to set an example for the people so that there is no doubt or fear in their minds. The third and final phase of Co-vaccine will be tested on 25,800 people. Vij said that 1000 volunteers will be registered for COVID-19 vaccine test- ing in Haryana. He said that a person of any age can become a part of this campaign as a volunteer. If anyone wants to be a part of the COVID Vaccine Trial, they can contact the PGI Rohtak through Helpline Number 9416447071 or mail to snoh.covid19@gmail com. He said that a team of doctors will periodically examine the volunteers on which the vaccine would be tested. The Minister said that after the suc- cessful testing of the third and final phase, and if the government allows it, in the beginning of 2021, itself people can be vaccinated against COVID-19 so that they don’t have to live in fear. Earlier, a team of doctors examined the health of . Vij and under the super- vision of expert doctors of PGI, Rohtak the vaccine was administered at the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantonment. Vice Chancellor, PGI Rohtak, Dr. OP Kalra, and Haryana Nodal Officer, Dr. Dhruv Chaudhary were present with their team during the vaccine trial. HARYANA CLOSES ALL SCHOOLS TILL NOV 30 Amid a rise in COVID-19 cases, the Haryana government on Friday ordered the closure of all schools in the state until November 30. The move came days after over 150 students test- ed positive for coronavirus. The state’s Directorate School Education ordered the closure of schools in a letter issued to all district education officers, block education officers and other concerned officials. “In view of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases and keeping in mind the health of the students, it has been decided by the Haryana govern- ment that all government and private schools in the state will be closed till November 30,” said the letter. Continued on Page 2 H aryana on Thursday registered a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases with 3,104 people testing positive for the infec- tion and 265 succumbing to the deadly virus. With the fresh cases and casualties, the total number of infections in the state rose to 2,12,355 and the death toll to 2,138. According to the state Health Department’s daily bulletin, of the fresh cases — the highest single-day spike so far — more than half of these were reported from the worst-hit Faridabad (881 cases) and Gurgaon (793) districts, which fall in the National Capital Region. Other districts which reported the sharp rise in Covid-19 cases included Hisar (288), Sonipat (162) and Rohtak (107). Of the fatalities, five were from Faridabad, four from Rohtak, three each from Gurgaon and Jhajjar, two each from Hisar, Rewari, Sirsa and Fatehabad while one death each was reported from Nuh and Ambala districts. Active cases in the state currently are 20,150 while the recovery rate is pegged at 89.50%.
Transcript
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    Amid a surge in coronaviruscases in Delhi, a door-to-door survey for identifyingand testing people sympto-matic for Covid-19 in con-tainment and densely packedareas of the city commenced onFriday with the number ofcontainment zones going up toover 4,550 in the nationalCapital, with the maximum 743in southwest district and thelowest 148 in northeast district.

    According to official data,six districts out of the total 11have more than 400 Covid-19containment zones - 743(southwest), 705 (south), 587(west), 543 (southeast), 490(central Delhi) and 445 (north-west). The survey will be com-pleted within five days and willcover over 57 lakh people incontainment zones, dense areasand identified clusters of virustransmission, officials said.

    Delhi Health MinisterSatyendar Jain told reportersthat the survey is aimed atidentifying and testing symp-tomatic people living in con-tainment zones and denselypacked areas.

    District officials said all thecontainment zones and superspreader areas are being cov-ered through teams includingteachers, municipal corpora-tion staff, Asha workers andcivil defence volunteers.

    “All protocols will be fol-lowed to test all symptomaticpersons. The survey will becompleted within 5 days,” saida district magistrate.Following a meeting betweenUnion Home Minister AmitShah and Chief Minister

    Arvind Kejriwal, it was decid-ed that the survey in the citywill be conducted by teams ofAIIMS, the Delhi Governmentand municipal corporations,and all the symptomatic peo-ple found in the survey wouldbe tested and provided neces-sary treatment.Around 9,500surveillance teams have beenconstituted and deployed forconducting a door-to-door sur-vey. Each team has a target tosurvey 50 households everyday, officials added.

    The national Capital haswitnessed a surge in coron-avirus cases since October 28,when the daily rise breachedthe 5,000-mark for the firsttime, and it crossed the 8,000-mark on November 11.OnWednesday, the infection tallyin Delhi rose to over 5 lakhwith 7,486 fresh cases report-ed, while 131 new fatalities, thehighest single-day death counttill date, took the toll to 7,943.Ina containment zone summaryas on November 19, the rev-enue department said therewere 4,560 such zones in thecity.

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    Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday held a secu-rity review meeting with HomeMinister Amit Shah, NSA AjitDoval, Foreign Secretary andtop intelligence officials in thewake of the killing of four JeMterrorists in Jammu & Kashmira day earlier.

    The killed terrorists werereportedly planning “some-thing big” on the anniversaryof the 26/11 Mumbai terror

    attack.The fact that the PM him-

    self reviewed the security sce-nario following the Thursday’sencounter near toll plaza inNagrota area of Kashmir,showed that this was not just

    yet another killing of terroristsby the security forces.

    Sources confirmed that thePMO came into action afterintelligence inputs indicatedthat the terrorists were plan-ning to carry out some deadlyplot on November 26.

    In his tweets following themeeting, Modi said,“Neutralising of 4 terroristsbelonging to Pakistan-basedterrorist organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed and the presenceof large cache of weapons andexplosives with them indicatethat their efforts to wreak majorhavoc and destruction haveonce again been thwarted.”

    Hailing the security forces,he said they have once againdisplayed utmost bravery andprofessionalism.

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    Offering an olive branch todissidents, Congress pres-ident Sonia Gandhi has con-stituted three committees, eachcomprising former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh, toaccommodate four senior lead-ers who had been critical of theleadership. The move camedays after senior party leaderKapil Sibal questioned theparty’s decline in the wake of itspoor show in Bihar.

    Sonia formed the commit-tee just before leaving for Goato escape Delhi’s toxic air onmedical advice. Rahul Gandhiaccompanied Sonia.

    Sonia has approved thecommittees on economicaffairs, foreign affairs andnational security to discussrelated matters and formulatethe party’s position on policymatters, the most recent beingIndia staying away from theRegional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership.

    The committees have fourleaders who recently wrote a

    letter to Sonia demanding anorganisational overhaul. Theyare Anand Sharma, ShashiTharoor, Ghulam Nabi Azadand Veerappa Moily.

    The four leaders, after flag-ging their concerns in the con-troversial letter, refrained frommaking critical remarks of theleadership.

    Anand Sharma andTharoor have been named inthe committee on foreignaffairs. Sharma had recentlycontradicted Congress stand onIndia’s position vis a vis theRCEP and has argued thatIndia should have joined thetrade block.

    This was against the pre-vious party line whichCongress leader Rahul Gandhiarticulated last year when herepeatedly made public state-ments against India joiningthe RCEP.

    Ghulam Nabi Azad andMoily have been made mem-bers of the committee onnational security. Each of thethree panels consists of fiveleaders including a convener.

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    Aday after a blast in a facto-ry at Sujapur in Maldadistrict left six people dead, theruling TMC dared the BJP toimpose President’s Rule inBengal and face the conse-quence. The two parties trad-ed intense fire after UnionMinister Babul Supriyo accusedthe State administration ofcomplicity in recurring inci-dents of blasts all across theState and made indirect refer-ence of Article 356.

    Referring to the falling lawand order situation in the State,he said, “More than 130 BJPworkers have been killed inBengal in the last three years.There is a complete law and

    order failure in the State. BJPdoes not indulge in violence.Bengal is always in news due toviolence.

    There have been severalattacks on our leaders,” addingif Chief Minister MamataBanerjee thought that theCentre was weak in crackingthe whip she was wrong.

    “If Didi thinks, she can doanything then there are con-stitutional provisions whichcan be used to remove her. Itwould be better if Mamatamaintains the essence ofdemocracy and theConstitution ahead of thepolls,” Supriyo said, remindingthere were enough constitu-tional provisions to tame abrutal Government.

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    The Oxford AstraZenecaCovid-19 vaccine“Covishield” will be priced at amaximum of Rs 1,000 for twonecessary doses for the publicby April 2021 and every Indianwill get vaccinated by 2024, saidSerum Institute of India’s CEOAdar Poonawalla on Friday.

    “The vaccine will be avail-able for healthcare workersand elderly people by aroundFebruary 2021 and for thegeneral public by April,” hesaid at a media event, even ashe asserted that every Indianwill get vaccinated, probablyby 2024.

    “It will probably take twoor three years for every Indianto get inoculated, not justbecause of the supply con-straints but because you needthe budget, the vaccine, logis-tics, infrastructure, and then,people should be willing to takethe vaccine.

    So these are the factorsthat lead up to being able tovaccinate 80-90 per cent of thepopulation. It will be 2024 foreverybody, if willing to take atwo-dose vaccine, to be vacci-nated,” he said.

    SII, the world’s largest vac-cine manufacturer by volume,and the Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR), thecountry’s apex body for bio-medical research, last week

    had announced the completionof the enrolment of participantsfor phase 3 clinical trials of theOxford-AstraZeneca vaccinecandidate, Covishield, in India.

    Talking about its price, theSII CEO said the CentralGovernment will be getting itat a far cheaper price (at aroundUSD 3-4) because it will bebuying in bulk. “We are stillpricing it far cheaper and moreaffordable than other vaccineswe have in the market today,”Poonawalla added.

    He also clarified that chil-dren would have to wait a lit-tle longer for the vaccine till thesafety data is out, but the goodnews is that Covid-19 is not sobad and serious for them.

    Poonawalla said theOxford vaccine is affordableand safe.

    It can be stored at a tem-perature of two to eight degreesCelsius, which is an ideal tem-perature for it to be stored inthe cold storages of India. Hesaid the SII plans to makeabout 10 crore doses per monthfrom February.

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    Himachal Chief Minister JaiRam Thakur on Friday saidthat the Covid-19 has badly affect-ed the economy of the state dur-ing the last nine months.

    “Tourism is the core sector of

    Himachal’s economy and it hasbeen badly affected by this dead-ly virus. Though, we should not getafraid of the present situation but,we should play safe by adhering tothe SOPs issued by the concernedauthorities,” the Chief Minister saidwhile addressing a public gather-

    ing at the Gandhi Ground ofMunicipal Council, NagrotaBagwan.

    Thakur urged the people tofollow all directions of the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in thefight against COVID-19 as novaccine is yet available in the

    world.He asked the people not to let

    the reign slip out of their hands inthe fight against Coronavirus as thenumber of positive cases is againon the surge in the state these days.He asked the people to take all nec-essary precautions while being at

    p u b l i cplaces andce lebrateall socialfunctionsand gather-ing withcompletevigilance.

    The Chief Minister said thatPWD works worth Rs 365 croreand Jal Shakti works worth Rs 150crore are being executed in theNagrota Constituency. Heannounced Rs. 5.5 crore forArchitecture College NagrotaBagwan and Rs 2 crore forGovernment Degree College,Baroh.He said the Fruit CanningUnit at Hatwas would come up asper need and the CommunityCenter at Nagrota Bagwan wouldbe reconstructed keeping in viewthe needs of the urban communi-ty after studying the proposals.

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    From page 1The schools will also remain closed for the

    teaching staff and all school campuses will besanitised during their closure. Over 150 schoolstudents from three Haryana districts -- Rewari,Jind and Jhajjar -- had recently tested positivefor coronavirus infection after which theseschools had been closed until further orders.The students who were asymptomatic too hadtested positive during a random samplingdrive carried out by the health department forthe schools. The schools in Haryana hadreopened earlier this month but only studentsof classes 9 to 12 were allowed to attend class-es with the prior consent of their parents. Therehas been a spike in Covid cases this month inHaryana, especially in districts falling in theNational Capital Region including Faridabadand Gurgaon.

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    To check cyber threats in thedigital era, Punjab ChiefSecretary Vini Mahajan onFriday launched a three monthlong cyber campaign “CyberSurakhya” in the state on theoccasion of UniversalChildren’s Day being celebrat-ed on 20th November everyyear.

    This campaign is jointly orga-nized by the state in collabo-

    ration with the CyberPeaceFoundation (CPF), an award-winning leading civil societyorganization and think tank ofcyber security and policyexperts.

    Launching the threemonths long campaign in thepresence of DGP PunjabDinkar Gupta, Mahajan saidaccording to the latest NCRBdata, over 28,000 cyber crimeswere committed in 2019. Sheadded that such campaignsare necessary for educatingthe common public regardingthe risks of losing hard earnedmoney from their bankaccounts merely on account of

    lack of digital literacy. She saidthat the campaign would pro-vide information to womenand children for ways andmeans to ensure privacy whileusing online platforms andhow to ward off and be pro-tected from online stalkers andavenues to approach lawenforcement agencies in timesof need.

    On the occasion, the ChiefSecretary also released theCBSE publication “CyberSafety” which has been trans-lated into Punjabi language bythe Community AffairsDivision of the Punjab Police.

    Speaking about the cam-paign, DGP Dinkar Gupta alsoshared his concern about therise in cyber crimes and therequirement of awarenessamongst women, children andsenior citizens so that theycould save themselves fromonline threats.

    He said that the StateCyber Crime Police Stationwas also looking into impor-tant cases of cyber crimes. Inaddition to this, cyber crimeunits had also been estab-

    lished in all districts of Punjabwho were being impartedtraining for registering andinvestigating cyber crime cases,he added.

    Gupta said the threemonth-long campaign beingrun by Punjab Police and CPFwas designed to promote andbolster the levels of cyber safe-ty awareness amongst neti-zens, particularly children,women, and senior citizens. Inaddition, he said this cam-paign would also focus on allmajor aspects of online/cybersafety and would leverage dig-ital platforms, webinars, radiocampaigns, and a host of otheractivities targeted at various agegroups.

    The DGP said this pro-gram would also include train-ing modules for the policepersonnel working towards acyber safe nation and focus onissues such as child pornogra-phy, stalking and cyber groom-ing crimes being faced bywomen and children on a dailybasis and causes lot of agonyand harassment to the vic-tims.

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    Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar onFriday offered all support andcooperation of the StateGovernment to leading enter-prises of Singapore to furtherexpand their base in the Stateand said that consideringinvestors requirement, con-necting global value chain andto handhold the investorthrough proactive facilitation tonavigate business plans, theState Government has estab-lished a new “ForeignCooperation Department”.

    The Foreign CooperationDepartment would provide allnecessary assistance to theSingaporean companies fortheir up-coming businesses inHaryana, he assured.

    Khattar was speaking at theH a r y a n a - S i n g a p o r eRoundtable Virtual Conferenceorganised by the HaryanaGovernment, Invest India andEnterprise Singapore here.Singapore High Commissionerto India, Simon Wong alsoattended the virtual conference.On this occasion, CEOs andtop representatives of variousleading companies of Singaporeincluding Durapower, YCHGroup, Agrocorp International,Transworld Terminals, SkillSG Ventures, Legend Logistics,Surbana Jurong etc showedkeen interest in expandingtheir units in the fields oflogistics, warehousing, cold

    chain, transport hub, distribu-tion facilities and manufactur-ing of electrical gadgets.

    The Chief Minister saidthat every single day Haryanais growing and achieving newmilestones. He described theclear vision, political will, goodgovernance, empathy, empow-erment and partnerships asthe key words to drive futuresuccess. He said that out of var-ious models of business likeB2B; G2G, B2G etc, we believein the H2H model of workingthat is ‘Heart to Heart’approach of collaboration.

    The Chief Minister saidthat India and Singapore havea long-lasting relationship. Therelationship between Haryanaand Singapore has elevated inrecent years with Singapore’sinvolvement in smart cities,solid waste treatment, waste-water treatment plants andhealth care units in Haryana.Similar to EnterpriseSingapore, the Bureau ofIndustrial Policy andPromotion (BIPP) under theDepartment of Industries andCommerce, Haryana is com-mitted to work with companiesto build capabilities, innovateand internationalize, he added.

    Khatar said that Haryana isone of the most progressivestates of India. The State is notonly the breadbasket of India,but is also considered as anindustrial powerhouse withmore than 250 fortune 500companies based in Haryana.

    ����� �!��3#!A

    16 people succumbed toCovid-19 as 819 fresh pos-itive cases surfaced in Punjabon Friday.According toPunjab’s health bulletin, thetotal toll reached 4572 while thetotal infections stood at 144995in the state.In the last 24 hours,the state reported 16 casualtiesincluding four in Ludhiana,three in SAS Nagar, two inBathinda and Mansa, one eachin Ferozepur, Patiala, Muktsar,Hoshiarpur and Ferozepur.

    Among the fresh cases, amaximum of 195 cases werereported in SAS Nagar, 96 inLudhiana, 95 in Jalandhar, 66in Amritsar, 65 in Patiala, 59 inPathankot, 49 in Bathinda andother cases.As per the bul-letin, the total number ofCOVID-19 recoveries inPunjab has increased to 133919after 492 new recoveries werereported from the state in thelast 24 hours.

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    Shiromani Akali Dal onFriday lashed out at theBJP-led NDA Government atthe Centre for allegedly with-drawing the Z-plus securitycover to former PunjabMinister Bikram SinghMajithia.

    “The SAD condemns thearbitrary, dictatorial and polit-ically motivated decision ofthe BJP-led CentralGovernment to withdraw theZ-plus category security coverof former minister and seniorAkali leader Bikram SinghMajithia,” SAD spokespersonDaljit Singh Cheema said. In astatement, Cheema, also asenior SAD leader, alleged thatMajithia's security cover hadbeen withdrawn because theparty had "stood firmly withfarmers" against the Centre'sfarm laws and the denial of theofficial language status toPunjabi in Jammu andKashmir.

    He said the SAD had votedagainst the Centre's farm lawsin Parliament besides quittingthe Union Cabinet and theNational Democratic Allianceover the issue. It is clear thatMajithia is a victim of politicalvendetta, the statement said,adding that SAD will not becowed down by such tacticsand will continue to standwith farmers and Punjabisagainst the central laws as wellas any other issue which weak-ens the federal structure or isintrinsically anti-Punjab.

    Majithia is the brother offormer Union Minister andSAD's Bathinda MP HarsimratKaur Badal, and brother-in-lawof SAD chief Sukhbir SinghBadal. Cheema said Z-plus cat-egory security cover had beengiven to him in 2010 during theUPA rule on the basis of threatperception and sought to knowwhat had changed suddenlythat the ten-year-old cover waswithdrawn on a single-lineorder.

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    The Central road makingagency NHAI has received“overwhelming response” frommany reputed institutes includ-ing all the IITs for the purposeof adopting road and highwaystretches to be used as a fieldof study for faculty, researchersand familiarise the students ofthe institute with the latesttrends in industry and suggestthe relevant performance para-meters and innovations.

    In line with its vision toprovide world-class NationalHighway (NH) network and tocreate a bridge between tech-nical Institutions and Industry,the National HighwaysAuthority of India had intro-duced a unique initiative toassociate with these reputedTechnical Institutes andEngineering colleges to adoptnearby stretches of NationalHighways, on voluntary basisunder Institution Social

    Responsibility. All the Indian institute of

    Technology IITs (includingIIT Roorkee, IIT Bombay, IITVaranasi, IIT Guwahati, IITKanpur, IIT Kharagpur), 26NITs and 190 other reputedengineering colleges haveagreed to collaborate. Out ofwhich, about 200 instituteshave already signed theMemorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU). Over300 institutes are expected tocollaborate to adopt NHstretches.

    Under this initiative, thepartner institutes will have tostudy improvement prospectsin Road Safety, maintenance,riding comfort, removal ofchoke points, black spots andusage of new technologies onthe adopted stretches and givesuitable suggestions to NHAI.

    The institutes are alsoencouraged to associate withthe Consultants/NHAI duringconceptualisation, design and

    project preparation of newprojects and suggest the rele-vant performance parametersand innovations based onexperience specific to the localclimate, topography andresource potential for bettersocio economic outcome.

    The areas of collabora-tion for improving the effi-ciency of existing highways areimprovements in safety pro-visions by removing existingdeficiencies and offeringpotential solutions to oldrecurring problems based onlocal experience; improve-ments in continual mainte-nance of the stretches andimproving the riding comfortthrough cost effective mea-sures based on innovativetechnologies.

    Other areas of study arelocalised solutions for removalof congestion points andthereby increasing the aver-age traffic speed; viability ofnew wayside amenities forroad users based on the exist-ing traffic pattern and userexpectations etc.

    “NHAI envisions to pro-vide a world class NH networkto meet the Nation’s require-ments by building large num-ber of mega highway projectsin a cost-effective manner.Adoption of NH stretch by anInstitute would facilitate stake-holder engagement and help tomitigate the routine localproblems such as traffic hin-drance, congestion, and imme-diate identification of acci-dent-prone sites and causesthereof,” said a NHAI officialstatement.

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    The NIA on Friday con-ducted searches at five loca-tions in Mallapuram andKozhikode districts of Kerala inthe Kerala Gold SmugglingCase relating to seizure of 30 kggold worth �14.82 crore onJuly 5, 2020 at TrivandrumInternational Airport from thebaggage addressed to the UAEConsulate atThiruvananthapuram.

    The searches were con-ducted at the residence of fiveaccused persons MohamedAslam, Abdul Latheef,Nazarudheen Sha, Ramzan P.and Muhammed Mansoor.These accused persons con-spired with the already arrest-ed accused and facilitatedsmuggling of gold throughimport cargo addressed to theUAE Consulate General, and itsdisposal, the NIA said.

    During searches, severalelectronic items and docu-ments have been seized, theagency said.

    So far, 21 accused personshave been arrested in the caseand further investigation in thecase is continuing, it added.

    Meanwhile, the CBI onFriday then ExecutiveEngineer(Now Retired),Lucknow Division ShardaCanal, Lucknow (also holdingthe additional charge of then

    Superintending Engineer, XIICircle, Irrigation Departmentduring the alleged period)Roop Singh Yadav and aSenior Assistant, IrrigationDepartment, Lucknow, RajKumar Yadav in an on-goinginvestigation of a case.

    The CBI had registered acase on November 30, 2017on the request of UttarPradesh Government and fur-ther notif icat ion fromGovernment of India, andtaken over the investigation ofthe case, earlier registeredvide FIR No.831/2017 atPolice Station, Gomti Nagar,Lucknow.

    It was alleged that irreg-ularities were committed inimplementation of “GomtiRiver Channelisation Project”’and “Gomti River FrontDevelopment” by IrrigationDepartment, Government ofUP. The alleged irregularitiesincluding non publication ofNITs, diversion of funds andpooling of tenders in fourmajor works of Gomti RiverFront Development projectnamely Construct ion ofDiaphragm wall ,Construction of InterceptingTrunk Drain, Construction ofRubber Dam and preparationof Vision Documents are alsobeing investigated in the case.

    It was further alleged thatthe accused favoured somecontractors and executed theagreements with them on thebasis of forged documentswithout the publication ofNIT in the newspapers.

    Both the arrested accusedwere produced before theCourt of Special Judge, CBICases, Lucknow and remand-ed to four days PoliceCustody.

    ����� �01��023

    In a bid to promote ‘per dropmore crop’(PDMC) underthe Prime Minister KrishiSinchayee Yojna (PMKSY) toencourage farmers to installmicro irrigation systems-sprinkler and drip irrigation,the Ministry of Agriculturehas given nod for subsidisedloans worth �3,971.31 crore forimplementing the projects. Themaximum loan has beenapproved for Tamil Nadu, fol-lowed by Haryana and Gujarat.

    In a statement, the ministrysaid the steering committee ofMIF has approved projects forloan worth �3,971.31 crore.The interest subvented loansare being offered under MicroIrrigation Fund (MIF) createdwith National Bank forAgriculture and RuralDevelopment (NABARD) forimplementing micro-irrigationprojects.

    Out of this, maximum loanof �1,357.93 crore has beenapproved for Tamil Nadu, fol-lowed by �790.94 crore for

    Haryana, �764.13 crore forGujarat, �616.13 crore forAndhra Pradesh, �276.55 crorefor West Bengal, �150 crore forPunjab and �15.63 crore forUttarakhand, it said.

    However, NABARD hasso far released a total loanamount of �1,754.60 crore tothe States. Of this, about �659.70 crore has been releasedto Haryana, Tamil Nadu andGujarat. About �616.13 croreloan has been released toAndhra Pradesh, � 937.47 croreto Tamil Nadu, �21.57 crore toHaryana and �179.43 crore toGujarat so far, it added.

    This fund with a corpus of�5,000 crore was opera-

    tionalised in the 2019-20 fiscalyear with an objective to facil-itate States in availing sub-sidised loans for expandingcoverage of micro irrigation.

    Under the MIF, subsidisedloans are provided for not onlytaking up special and innova-tive projects but also for incen-tivising micro irrigationbeyond the provisions availableunder Pradhan Mantri KrishiSinchayee Yojana (PDMC) toencourage farmers to installmicro irrigation systems.

    During the last five years(2015-16 to 2019-20), an areaof 46.96 lakh ha has been cov-ered under Micro Irrigationthrough PMKSY-PDMC.

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    Comptroller & AuditorGeneral of India (CAG)Girish Chandra Murmu, hasbeen elected as external auditorof the Inter ParliamentaryUnion (IPU), Geneva for athree-year term.

    Murmu, the 14th CAG,will assume the charge fromSupreme Audit Institution ofSwitzerland.The election tookplace at the virtual meeting of284th session of the IPU whichis a 179 countriesParliamentarians body, alsohaving 13 Associate Members.The IPU has permanentobserver status at the UnitedNations General Assembly. Theresult of the Election has beenconveyed by Martin Chungong,Secretary-General of the IPU.

    Murmu, while accepting theappointment as ExternalAuditor of IPU, has expressedhis thanks to the ExecutiveCommittee and wished for astrong partnership in fulfillingthe strategic objectives of theIPU.

    The CAG of India has beenthe external auditor of variousinternational organizations.

    He has earlier also been onthe UN Board of Auditors from1993 to 1999 and 2014 to 2020.Presently, he is the externalauditor of the World HealthOrganization, Geneva andFood & AgricultureOrganization, Rome. In therecent past, he has been theExternal Auditor of World FoodProgramme, World IntellectualProperty Organization,International Atomic EnergyAgency, UN World TourismOrganization, InternationalOrganization for Migration,International MaritimeOrganization and Organizationfor Prohibition of ChemicalWeapons.

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    India’s Covid-19 caseloadbreached the 90-lakh markon Friday with 45,882 newcases, while the recoveriessurged to 84.28 lakh pushingthe national recovery rate to93.6 per cent, according to theUnion Health Ministry data.With 45,882 new cases, thecountry has witnessed a rise inactive cases after 48 days.

    The total coronavirus casesmounted to 90,04,365 and thedeath toll climbed to 1,32,162with the novel coronavirusvirus claiming 584 lives in aspan of 24 hours in the coun-try, the data updated at 8 amshowed.

    The Covid-19 case fatalityrate has further declined to 1.46per cent. There are 4,43,794active cases of coronavirus

    infection in the country whichcomprises 4.92 per cent of thetotal caseload, the data stated.

    Among most-infectedStates, Delhi continues toreport highest daily new casesin India (7,500) followed byKerala (5,700) andMaharashtra (5,500) whileother NCR cities have report-ed 1,600 new cases.

    Cases per million popula-tion in India is now 6,500,while the world average is7,341.

    According to the ICMR, acumulative total of 12,95,91,786samples have been tested up toNovember 20 with 10,83,397samples being tested onThursday. India’s Covid-19 tallyhad crossed the 20-lakh markon August 7, 30 lakh on August23 and 40 lakh on September5.

    It went past 50 lakh onSeptember 16, 60 lakh on

    September 28, 70 lakh onOctober 11 and crossed 80 lakh

    on October 29, said theMinistry.

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    Infectiousness peaks early inCovid-19 patients and antivi-ral drug remdesivir is not sug-gested for patients admitted tohospital with Covid-19,researchers have said in twoseparate studies.

    The study published inthe journal The LancetMicrobe, said that peopleinfected with coronavirus aremost likely to be highly infec-tious in the first week aftersymptom onset and there is aneed to quickly identify andisolate cases before the virusspreads.

    The researchers usedmeta-analysis to assess 98 stud-ies on Covid-19, SARS andMERS wherein the researchersstudied all three diseases was todetermine why Covid-19 hasspread more rapidly than theearlier diseases.

    “This is the first systemat-ic review and meta-analysisthat has comprehensivelyexamined and compared viral

    load and shedding for thesethree human coronaviruses,”said study lead author MugeCevik from the University of St.Andrews in the UK. “It pro-vides a clear explanation forwhy SARS-CoV-2 spreadsmore efficiently than SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV and is somuch more difficult to con-tain,” Cevik added.

    In another study, WHOGuideline Development Group(GDG) panel of internationalexperts pointed out in TheBMJ that remdesivir hasreceived worldwide attention asa potentially effective treatmentfor severe covid-19 and isincreasingly used to treatpatients in hospital. But its rolein clinical practice hasremained uncertain, they saidciting data from four interna-

    tional randomised trials involv-ing over 7,000 patients hospi-talised for covid-19.

    After thoroughly reviewingthis evidence, the WHO GDGexpert panel, which includesexperts from around the worldincluding four patients whohave had covid-19, concludedthat remdesivir has no mean-ingful effect on mortality or onother important outcomes forpatients, such as the need formechanical ventilation or timeto clinical improvement.

    The panel acknowledgedthat the certainty of evidenceis low and said the evidence didnot prove that remdesivir hasno benefit; rather, there is noevidence based on currentlyavailable data that it doesimprove important patient out-comes.

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    Sowing of winter crops hasstarted in the country, withfarmers planting wheat inabout 97.27 lakh hectare so farin this rabi season. Total areasown to all rabi crops hasincreased to 265.43 lakhhectare so far this season, from241.66 lakh hectare area duringthe corresponding period oflast year.

    According to the agricul-ture ministry, wheat has beensown in 97.27 lakh hectare sofar in the rabi season of 2020-21 as against 96.77 lakh hectarein the year-ago period. Wheatis the main winter or rabicrop. Rice and pulses, such asgram, urad, moong as well asoilseeds like groundnut andsunflower, are other rabi cropsgrown in this season.

    As per the sowing datareleased by the ministry, therehas been no impact of COVID-19 on progress of area coverageunder rabi crops as on date.Among other rabi crops, paddyhas been sown in more area at7.26 lakh hectare when com-

    pared with 6.98 lakh hectare,while pulses has been plantedin 82.59 lakh hectare as against64.57 lakh hectare area in thesaid period.

    Coarse creals have beensown in slightly more area at22.78 lakh hectare so far in thecurrent season, against 21.26lakh hectare in the year-agoperiod.

    According to the ministry’sdata, farmers have sownoilseeds in 55.53 lakh hectarearea so far this season, against

    52.08 lakh hectare area a yearago. Much of the coverage isunder mustard at 52.25 lakhhectare so far.

    The ministry said thecountry received 4 per cent lessrains during the winter periodbetween October 1 andNovember 19. However, theCentral Water Commissionhas informed that water stor-age level in 123 reservoirsstands at 93 per cent as com-pared with the year-ago period,it added.

    5����������,�����������0#67!�/������������������ ����� �01��023

    To boost ethanol productionas part of its efforts toachieve 20 per cent blendingwith petrol, the Governmenthas given in-principle approvalto 185 sugar mills and stand-alone distilleries to avail�12,500 crore of loans forcapacity addition of about 468crore litre of ethanol perannum. Apart from promotingethanol production from sug-arcane, the food ministry ismaking efforts to manufac-ture ethanol using surplus ricewith state-owned FCI as well asmaize. The move is aimed atboosting ethanol blending withpetrol, which currently standsat nearly 5 per cent. In the lasttwo years, 70 ethanol projectswere sanctioned loans of �3,600crore.

    In the normal sugar season,about 320 Lakh Metric Tons(LMT) of sugar is producedagainst domestic consumptionof 260 LMT. This 60 LMT ofsurplus sugar which remainsunsold, blocks funds of sugarmills to the tune of about Rs.19,000 crore every year there-by affecting liquidity positions

    of sugar mills resulting in accu-mulation of cane price arrearsof farmers.

    “Under the ethanol interestsubvention scheme formolasses-based distilleries, thegovernment in September 2020has opened a window for 30days to invite more applicationsfrom sugar mills/ distilleries,which were examined byDFPD... “about 185 applicants(85 sugar mills and 100molasses-based standalone dis-tilleries) are being granted in-principle approval for availingloan amount of �12,500 crorefor capacity addition of about468 crore litres per annum,” theFood Ministry said in a state-ment. These projects would becompleted in another 3-4 years,thus help in achieving thedesired blending target, itadded.

    In the past two years, loansof about Rs. 3600 crores havebeen sanctioned for 70 suchethanol projects (molassesbased distilleries) which involvecapacity enhancement of 195crore litres; out of these 70 pro-jects, 31 projects have beencompleted adding a capacity of102 crore litres so far. With the

    efforts made by Government,the existing installed capacity ofmolasses based distilleries hasreached to 426 cr ltrs.

    In the current EthanolSupply Year 2019-20 only 168crore litres of ethanol is likelyto be supplied to OMCs forblending with petrol therebyachieving 4.8% blending levels.However, in the ensuingEthanol Supply Year 2020-21,efforts are being made to sup-ply 325 crore ltrs of ethanol toOMCs thereby achieving 8.5%blending; and in the ethanolsupply year 2021-22 ending inNovember, 2022 efforts arebeing made to achieve 10%blending target which is quitepossible in view of the con-certed efforts made by theGovernment.

    For Year 2020-21, bids of322 crore litres (289 crore frommolasses and 34 crore litrefrom grains) have already beenreceived in first tender floatedby OMCs and in subsequenttenders more quantity frommolasses and grain based dis-tilleries will come, thusGovernment will be able toachieve 325 crore litre and8.5% blending target.

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    At a time when many stu-dents are facing fundcrunch amid Covid-19 pan-demic, Delhi-basedSasakawa- India LeprosyFoundation(S-ILF) gave a rayof hope to 40 meritoriousstudents hailing from familiesafflicted with leprosy. OnFriday, at an event heldonline, it bestowed upon them scholarships forhigher professional educa-tion.

    NK Singh, Chairman,15th Finance Commission,who was chief guest at theevent which was organised aspart of the S-ILF’s 14thFoundation Day, hoped thatthese scholarships will helpthe students break free stigma and discriminationand enable them to lead a lifeof dignity.

    On the occasion, TarunDas, Chairman, S-ILF saidthat the scholars symbolized

    courage and success while DrVivek Lal, CEO, S-ILF saidsteps will be taken to furtherincrease the opportunities foreducation and livelihood sup-port for the persons affectedby leprosy and their families.In keeping with this, thenumber of Scholarships pro-vided this year has beenincreased, he said.

    Tehseen Zaidi, ProgramManager, Communications &Advocacy from S-ILf sharedthat Nursing Scholarship(Batch X) and HolinesstheDalai Lama- Sasakawa schol-arship (Batch V) were givenrespectively to 15 and 25meritorious students fromacross the country for 2020.Till date, the organisationworking for the empower-ment of the sector has provided 115 Nursing schol-arships and 124 His Holinessthe Dalai Lama-Sasakawascholarship for higher pro-fessional education, sheadded.

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    Attorney General KKVenugopal Friday gave con-sent for initiating contempt pro-ceedings against stand-up comicartist Kunal Kamra for hisNovember 18 tweet, saying it was“grossly vulgar and obnoxious”and tended to lower the author-ity of the Supreme Court.

    The top law officer had lastweek granted consent for initia-tion of contempt proceedingsagainst Kamra for his earliertweets which allegedly criticisedthe apex court, saying they werein “bad taste” and it was timepeople understood that attackingit brazenly will attract punish-ment.

    The consent of either theAttorney General or the SolicitorGeneral is necessary, under sec-tion 15 of the Contempt ofCourts Act, 1971, for initiatingcontempt proceedings against aperson.

    Venugopal granted the freshconsent on a request made in thisregard by Prayagraj-based advo-cate Anuj Singh. Kamra, in hisNovember 18 tweet, had made anobjectionable gesture while mak-ing a comment against the ChiefJustice of India.

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    Hathras: Chhotu seems to be crucial forthe CBI investigation in the Boolgadhi case.CBI has questioned Chhotu many times.Narco and polygraph test can be conduct-ed for Chhotu and others related to thiscase.

    The CBI has intensified their investi-gation since they have received orders fromthe High Court to file a status report on 25November. The deceased has been ques-tioned several times by the CBI, besides therelatives of the accused, and others asso-ciated with the incident. Chhotu seems tobe crucial for the CBI since the spot wherethe incident happened belongs to Chhotuand he claimed to reach the spot first afterhearing the victim's scream. Chhotu hadalso given statements to SIT. PNS

    Aligarh: Cash was stolen fromthe home of a gazetted policeofficer posted in the district.This news was kept highlyconfidential but came out likea fire in the forest. After this,the authorities are tight-lippedabout it. The follower is sus-pected who is under interro-gation by the police.

    The incident occurred atthe civil lines based official res-idence of a gazetted policeofficer posted in the city. OnWednesday late evening, theofficer was packing bags forgoing to Allahabad for gov-ernment work. PNS

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    With less than 10 days to go for thefirst phase of polling of theDistrict Development Council (DDC)polls beginning November 28, thesound and fury of the electioneering ismissing on ground zero, especially inKashmir valley.

    Absence of a level playing field ispreventing candidates belonging to theopposition parties from freely contest-ing maiden elections after theAbrogation of Article 370 and 35-A.

    Allegations have already surfacedfrom different quarters where candi-dates, accommodated in secured zonesto ensure their safety and security, havebeen barred from campaigning freely.

    The contesting candidates, who arefacing these security restrictions, havealready apprised their party high com-mand to take up the issue with the con-cerned authorities in the administrationand seek redressal for the same from the office of state election com-missioner.

    Speaking to The Pioneer over tele-phone from Srinagar, NationalConference Provincial President NasirAslam Wani said, “ the candidates havenot been treated at par for a variety ofreasons”. “On one hand the BJP candi-dates and their junior-level workers areprovided individual personal securityand bulletproof vehicles, while all oth-ers are accommodated in governmentaccommodations”. He further said thecandidates have been permitted toorganise their campaign meetings

    between 12.00 to 3.00 p.m. Electioncampaigns are not organised like this,he added.

    He said, if the government machin-ery was not prepared to hold free andfair polls, why penalise candidates.Wanitold The Pioneer,at many places can-didates have not been allowed to ven-ture out before noon. In some of thecases they are told to wind up their cam-paign meetings before 4 p.m.

    Inspector General of Police,Kashmir range, Vijay Kumar said pro-viding security to each candidate con-testing the polls is difficult. “We are pro-viding them collective security and theyare being put up in secure areas,” hesaid.Rayees Mattoo, a NC candidate ofthe PAGD from Khag area of centralKashmir’s Budgam district, said he hasbeen put up at a hotel here and candi-dates of the alliance are not allowed tocampaign even while their competitorsare freely working in the field.

    Jammu and Kashmir Apni Partycandidate from Sangrama Shoaib Lonetold The Pioneer, “the government isproviding security to only those can-didates who already figure in the list ofprotectees”. He said it is not possible forthe security establishment to extendexclusive cover to each and every can-didate. Referring to the peoples partic-ipation in the DDC polls Lone said, sofar people are supporting and attend-ing campaign meetings. “I am prayingno untoward incident should happen todampen the voter's spirit in the run upto the polling day”.

    A senior PDP leader said, having a

    level playing field is the essence ofdemocracy but every effort is beingmade to stop the contesting candidatesof Peoples Alliance for GupkarDeclaration from campaigning byhounding and caging them in thename of security. Is this how democracyis redefined in naya Kashmir.

    In contrast to this the election sceneis hotting up in Jammu region ahead ofthe first phase of polling.The BJP is run-ning an aggressive campaign to ensurevictory for the majority of its candi-dates.The party leadership supervisingthe poll preparations are relying on thecharisma of the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to woo the voters.

    Congress party is the enemy num-ber 1 of BJP and the entire campaignis designed to corner the grand old partyand question its double standards overjoining hands with the Kashmir basedPeoples Alliance for GupkarDeclaration.On its part, the local con-gress leaders are leaving no stoneunturned to expose the divisive politicsof the BJP.

    Lashing out at the BJP Govt, JKPCCPresident said people have realized asto what BJP has done since it assumedpower at Centre and erstwhile J&K Stateand how it pushed people of J&K to wallfor electoral gains.

    Addressing a gathering of partyworkers in Verinag, G.A.Mir assuredthat Congress Party will continue towork for the wellbeing of the people,despite the concocted and false propa-ganda unleashed by the BJP against theParty (Congress).

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    Responding to the allega-tions of not allowing levelplaying field to the contestingcandidates belonging to theOpposition parties Jammu andKashmir Lt Governor ManojSinha on Friday assured polit-ical parties of smooth cam-paign for the upcoming localbody elections and said thepolls would go a long way instrengthening panchayati rajinstitutions in the UnionTerritory.

    Responding to a letter byCPI(M) leader MohammedYusuf Tarigami who had raisedthe issue of candidates beingkept away fromtheir constituencies and not

    being allowed to campaign, Sinha said he has taken note ofthe concerns and conveyed “necessary instruc-tions”.

    Tarigami, a former MLAfrom the militancy-hit Kulgamdistrict of south Kashmir, hadinformed the Lt Governor thatafter filing their nominationpapers, the candidates were not allowed to campaign

    due to “perceived threat totheir lives” and had been bun-dled in “cluster accommoda-

    tion”. “Confining candidates

    against their wishes has severe-ly restricted their movementand ability to campaign. Evenin some cases, they are notallowed to attend party meet-ings,” the letter said.

    Tarigami said that therehad been instances that rivalcandidates were sent in thesame vehicle and asked tocampaign together. “Severalcandidates from far-off placeswere sent to hotels in Srinagarsoon after they filed the nom-ination forms last week. Notjust the voters, but the familiesof the candidates are also con-cerned,” hesaid.

    In his response, the LtGovernor said, “I am surethat the coming elections willgo a long way in strengthen-ing the Panchayati RajInstitutions.” Tarigami releasedthe Lt Governor's letter. Theformer MLA said sucharrangements were a big con-cern and there was a lot of dis-satisfaction on ground over it.“Who wins and who loses, thedecision must lie on the elec-torate. Democracy must final-ly win. For that the processmust be made secure andcredible, Tarigami added.

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    Apprehending a secondwave of Covid-19 sweepingthe country and Maharashtra,the authorities on Fridayannounced that all schools andjunior colleges in Mumbai andneighbouring Thane wouldremain closed December 31 asa precaution against the spreadof Covid-19.

    While the BrihanmumbaiMunicipal Corporation (BMC)ordered the closure of allschools and junior colleges thecountry’s national capital tillDecember 31, Thane’s districtguardian minister Eknath

    Shinde directed CollectorRajesh Narvekar to close downall schools and junior collegesin Thane, Navi Mumbai,Kalyan and Dombivli till theend of December 2020.

    The Maharashtra govern-ment had earlier permittedschools and junior colleges toreopen in phases beginningfrom November 23 for Class 9to Class 12, and later for otherlower classes. However, theauthorities on Friday post-poned the re-opening ofschools and junior colleges tillDecember 31.

    “As per the earlier orders ofthe Maharashtra government,

    we were prepared to re-openclasses for students from 9thand 12 standards fromNovember 23. Though theCovid-19 situation is very muchunder control in Mumbai, onecannot rule out the possibilityof the second wave of Covid-19sweeping the country and alsoMaharashtra. Hence, we needto take extra precautions tocheck the spread of deadlyvirus during the next four to sixweeks,” the BMC stated, whileannouncing the postponementof reopening of schools

    and junior colleges tillDecember 31.

    However, the BMC

    announced that the SSC (10thstandard) and 12th standard(12th standard) examinationswill be held as per the normalschedule.

    Welcoming the BMC’sannouncement deferring thereopening of schools and juniorcolleges till December 31,Mumbai Principals Association(MPA) Secretary PrashantRedij said: “We had suggestedto the government to first openschools in green zone, study theimpact before allowing otherzones. We did not expect morethan 15-20 percent students toattend the classrooms startingfrom Monday”.

    Srinagar:The BJP on Friday assertedthat Article 370, which was revokedby the Centre last year, would neverbe restored in Jammu and Kashmir,and alleged that parties of 'Gupkaralliance' were befooling people bymaking promises over its restoration.

    Addressing a press conferencehere, BJP national spokespersonShahnawaz also said the upcomingDistrict Development Council (DDC)polls were being fought over localdevelopmental issues and its resultswould not be a referendum on theCentre's last year's decision of revo-cation of the special status of the erst-while state.

    “We believe that when someonedies, he cannot return from the grave.Article 370 has also been buried andit will never return. It can never berestored and no world power can helpin its restoration,” he said.

    The BJP leader, who is the party'sincharge for Kashmir for the polls, saidNC president Farooq Abdullah andPDP chief Mehbooba Mufti werebefooling people by showing themdreams, but asserted their dreamswould never come true.

    “They are showing the peopledreams and befooling them. There isno big a lie than that. These are thesame leaders who were claimingArticle 370 cannot be scrapped andeven stated that nobody in J-K willraise tricolour if it is scrapped.However, the people are now raisingtricolour without any objection,” hesaid.

    Hussain said the leaders of thePeople's Alliance for GupkarDeclaration (PGAD) - an amalgam ofseveral parties, including the NCand the PDP, seeking the restorationof the special status of the erstwhilestate - had accepted the Centre's deci-sion of revocation of Article 370.

    “They have accepted this decisionand are now participating in the elec-tions. They have ganged up. They havebefooled the people of J-K. They haveindulged in politics over the bodies ofthe youth of J-K to save their chair.They are sinners and no one will for-give them. They have committed bigsins and are worse than gangsters andthey live only for power and to ben-efit their families and relatives,” hesaid. PTI

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  • The Indian seed industry hasmade rapid progress overthe past 50 years, maturingbecause of the ceaseless efforts ofthousands of men and women,who have created a strong R&Dbase and given us a competitiveadvantage in ensuring quality.India is endowed with diverseagro-climatic conditions, highlevel of technology expertise,trained and skilled manpower,suitable land and abundant sun-shine for agriculture. The country,therefore, has immense potentialto emerge as the leading providerof seeds to the world. We canexport varietals for all kinds offield crops, vegetables, foragecrops and flowers.

    However, considering thedevelopments in terms of the newand emerging disruptive businessoperating models and processesaligned with innovative technolo-gy interventions, there is a need toinvest in concrete initiatives forfurther strengthening the Indianseed industry as part of“Atmanirbar Krishi.”

    The Indian seed industry, as asub-sector of the agri-inputsindustry, has been the most vibrantin terms of innovation and growthover the past four decades, con-tributing to a significant increasein productivity and profitability offarmers in India. The well-bal-anced seed quality legislativeframework, set up by the Seed Act,the New Seed policy, 1988 andNational Seed Policy in 2002,boosted private sector participa-tion in a sector that had its foun-dations laid by public sector seedsystems. However, much needs tobe done in terms of furtherreforms and policy interventions.

    The role of new technologies,like molecular-marker based selec-tion approaches to fast-trackbreeding programmes for develop-ment of new/superior plant vari-eties, needs to be further strength-ened as an integral part of the seedindustry. Also biotechnologicaland molecular approaches canimprove the quality assurancesystems. An emerging area, whichutilises biotechnology and nano-technologies and can contributesignificantly to productivity andprofitability of farmers, is seedtreatment with biological inocu-lants. This can also be promotedon a large scale as part of seed-applied technologies.

    The Indian seed industry can

    become a globally competi-tive, export-oriented and self-reliant industry, especially forseveral Asian, African, EastEuropean and South Americancountries, which share similaragro-climatic conditions likeIndia as, with respect to inter-national trade, most countriesallow seed imports subject tothe following: (a) Import per-mit based on sanitary and phy-tosanitary certificates and (b)Variety evaluation in theimporting country to ascertainits suitability to the agro climat-ic conditions.

    Currently, there are no sig-nificant export incentives avail-able to the seed sector thoughthe export potential is esti-mated at more than $ 5 billionper year based on variousindustry estimates. India canoffer seeds for export to manycountries with suitable sub-tropical and tropical agro-cli-matic regions in Asia, Africa,Eastern Europe and so on ataffordable prices similar to ourpharma and agro-chemical sectors. The following incen-tives can help.

    Incentive to the extent of 20per cent of the seed value thatis exported must be consideredbecause in sectors like pharmaand garments, similar incen-tives have been available for along time to encourage exportsin the initial stages. Theseincentives can be graduallybrought down to 10 per centafter five years. A provision of�100 crore may be adequate forthe next five years and �100crore for the next six to 10 years.

    Reimbursement of the costof variety evaluation in any for-

    eign country is a progressivepolicy. It may be consideredhere, too, as the seed companieshave to incur heavy expensesfor variety evaluation, which isa pre-condition for obtainingexport orders. This expenseneeds to be reimbursed at leastto the extent of 75 per cent bythe Government. A provision ofabout �100 crore may be ade-quate for the next 10 years formeeting plant variety evalua-tion expenses for export pur-poses. Seed manufacturers addto economies of the importingcountries and help get more for-eign reserves into the country.Hence they should be reward-ed with up to 30 per cent sub-sidy.

    India has lacked a seedexport promotion council for along time. The Government,under the trade and export pro-motion council, should instituteone with industry representa-tives and ensure that seedexports amount to 10 per centof total agriculture exports.

    India has three major seedhubs in the country. But givenour vast agro-climate, we cancater to demands from Africato ASEAN countries. TheGovernment needs to allowIndian and foreign seed com-panies to breed seeds for exportpurposes in special agro-zones.These zones may function likeSEZs. They need to be equippedwith dry docks, good trans-portation, seed testing facilitiesand so on to facilitate swiftexports. A single window clear-ance counter can be estab-lished for fast tracking permis-sions.

    An “Atmanirbhar Krishi” or

    self-reliant seed sector needs theSAARC markets and good eco-nomic relations betweenSAARC countries. TheGovernment and industry needto step forward and create aSAARC seed forum, which willhelp ease-of-doing-business inthe sub-continent and also pro-vide avenues for internationaltrading without restrictions.This body should strictly be aneconomic one for policy andregulatory advocacy among theSAARC countries. The Indianseed sector will grow immense-ly if we can spearhead this drive.

    Finally, climate change iscausing a rapid shift in thedemands of seeds globally. Verysoon, many nations won’t havethe financial resources to evadethis crisis. But we can be a hubfor seed research for the world.Our versatile climate allows usto research and co-evolve newvarieties that may be suited formany countries. For even oneor two varieties at the right timecan change the fate of thenation and bring millions ofdollars into India. Hence theGovernment needs to providedevelopment grants to IndianR&D companies so that theycan track future challenges,assess demand and create a seedbank for Africa, Latin Americaand ASEAN countries. TheGovernment may also partnerwith African nations to out-source their seed R&D to us.This would boost innovationhere while providing lesserdeveloped nations an access tocheaper research and seeds.

    (The author is Director,Policy and Outreach, NationalSeed Association of India)

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    ���������������Sir — It should ease our mindsthat the Supreme Court is seizedof the blatant misuse of mediafreedom by some TV news chan-nels and is keen on nudging theGovernment to take steps to rec-tify the situation. Indeed, itrequires urgent attention sincedrawing a false equivalencebetween “free speech” and “hatespeech” and between “virulentnationalism” and “civic national-ism,” certain channels continue topeddle rabidly communal stuff.This is devoured with relish bymany viewers. But then, massviewership or popular consump-tion is not a good enough reasonto allow them to present news sto-ries in adversarial terms andspread the poison of religioushatred. There is a fine line betweeninforming the public and polar-ising society. One of the media’sroles is to edify and unite peopleand not to divide them or cater totheir baser instincts.

    On-air bigotry is just as bad.Loosely describing participants inthe Tablighi Jamaat conference as“intentional superspreaders”, theinduction of Muslim youth intocivil services as “UPSC jihad” andinter-faith marriages as “lovejihad” brings the media into dis-

    repute. Masquerading of vicioushate-mongers as TV anchors is acurse on Indian journalism.Dissemination of falsehoods andpost-truths cannot go on withoutdebilitating the country andwrecking its foundational values.It is in this context that “regula-tion” assumes relevance andbecomes an urgent need. Ideally,a democracy should do with the

    voluntary regulation of the Press.But the way some channels goabout playing their roles justifiesthe need for some sort of regula-tory oversight by, say, a judicialbody or a parliamentary panel.The ruling party’s double standardmanifests itself in describing jour-nalists who act as their mouth-piece as “nationalists” and inde-pendent journalists as “anti-

    nationals.” The country now needsmore of good and ethical journal-ism for us to be a vibrant democ-racy.

    David Milton Maruthancode

    �����������������Sir — Three months ago, theCongress “letter writers” shocked

    the nation by asking party chiefSonia Gandhi to revitalise theparty and restore its organisation-al democracy, indecisive leader-ship being their top concern.Sonia Gandhi did a cosmeticrejig of the party, leaving nodoubt who was the boss. Now,Kapil Sibal has fired a fresh salvo.In a newspaper interview, he hasquestioned the “nomination cul-ture” of the party. The CongressWorking Committee (CWC) ispacked with Gandhi loyalists.Independent-minded leaders haveno place in it. So an election to theCWC looks far-fetched. Till menand women with their own mindfind a place in the highest deci-sion-making body, the party willcontinue to find itself in a hole.

    Sibal wants more “dialogue”within the party, a tough ask. InCongress, there are no discus-sions, only orders. After the Biharelection results, it is clear theCongress is satisfied to be an “alsoran.” How can a national partyhope to capture power at theCentre without some of the Statesin its kitty? This is something theCongress needs to think about.

    Ganapathi BhatAkola

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    The multiple gun attacks in Vienna are the nefar-ious outcome of a deliberate misinterpretationof religious identity. This kind of narrative hasled to the beheading of a history teacher in Franceand stabbing of three innocents in Nice and so on.All these incidents are clear indicators that post-mod-ern terrorism is likely to haunt the world in gener-al and Europe in particular. These attacks are also areminder of an array of socio-political and globalissues which Europe has to come to terms with.Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz has already hint-ed towards Huntington’s Clashes of Civilisations the-ory coming true. He called the recent gun attack byan Islamist terrorist “an attack of terror driven byhatred of our way of life, our democracy.” Thisupsurge in religiously-motivated hitback attacks hasmarked the beginning of the pernicious era of ter-rorism. The rising tide of immigration and humansmuggling across the borders in Europe has posedserious logistical and security challenges to France,Germany and Britain. Undoubtedly these are defin-ing moments for the leaders of Europe. It is high timecountries developed sophisticated mechanisms tohandle the problem head on as it has already causedsevere tension between various nations and com-pounded the problem of human trafficking andrefugees across the globe. In certain pockets, the prob-lems of migration and refugees have resulted in aquagmire. The influx of refugees, who have fled dueto disturbances in Afghanistan and Uzbekistan, hasadded a new dimension to the existing problem ofviolence and crime in Central Asian Republics. Inan era of globalisation, the world is becoming smalland integrated but


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