T he Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested five sus- pected terrorists after an encounter with the police in East Delhi’s Shakarpur area on Monday. Initial probe sug- gests that the five, two from Punjab and three from Jammu & Kashmir, have links to Khalistan and Islamic terror organisations. Police said the suspects were arrested on Monday morning after getting specific intelligence input. Police said, preliminary investigation has revealed that Pakistani spy agency Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) is attempting to link up terror outfits in Kashmir with Khalistan oper- atives and two of them are also allegedly involved in the mur- der of Shaurya Chakra winner Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp- shooters of most wanted gang- ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias Sukh Bhikhariwal, and resi- dents of Punjab while others have been identified as Shabir Ahmad Gojree, Mohammad Ayub Pathan and Riyaz Rather, residents of Jammu & Kashmir. T he Indian Navy has recov- ered the body of the miss- ing naval pilot Commander Nishant Singh off Goa coast. His MIG-29K had crashed into the Arabian Sea 11 days back. The second pilot of the twin- seater was rescued the same day. Both the pilots had man- aged to eject from the jet before it went down. The missing commander’s body was located on the seabed 70 metres below water. The body was found 30 miles off Goa coast. The jet had taken off for a routine sortie on November 26 after taking off from the INS Vikramaditya air- craft carrier. Giving details of the mishap, the Navy had said that day a board of enquiry was ordered to ascertain the cause of the incident. “A MiG-29K trainer air- craft operating at sea met with an accident at about 1700 hrs on 26 November. One pilot has been recovered and search by air and surface units in progress for the second pilot. An enquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident,” the Navy said. The official said intensive aerial, coastal and surface search by the Indian Navy ships and aircraft was in progress to locate the pilot. Underwater search by divers and seabed mapping using specialised equipment in vicin- ity of primary wreckage of MiG-29K was on. The search teams had managed to locate the debris of the ill-fated jet after a few days. It included landing gear, turbo charger, fuel tank engine and wing engine. Sources said mortal remains of a human body were found in the vicinity of the wreckage site. The samples are being sent for DNA testing for confirmation of identity. They also said all sections of the aircraft wreckage includ- ing ejection seats have been accounted for using side scan sonar and high definition cam- eras. Continued on Page 6 A fter US-based drug maker Pfizer applied for the approval of its coronavirus vaccine in India, the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech too have sought from the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation emergency use authorisation for their Covid- 19 vaccines. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is being indigenously developed by the Hyderabad-based com- pany in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). While SII’s Covid-19 vaccine is developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford University. Sources in the Government said that the top drug regula- tor, DCGI, has started review- ing their applications on grant- ing of authorisation, which will be made on the basis of three parameters — safety, quality and efficacy. “As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COV- ISHIELD,” tweeted SII CEO Adar Poonawala on Monday. “This will save countless lives, and I thank the Government of India and Sri @narendramodi ji for their invaluable support,” he wrote. Government officials said that the vaccine, developed from adenovirus which is a common cold virus, will be the first preventive option against Covid-19 available in India and it could be administered to the first priority group com- prising healthcare workers beginning the next month. The Government has already geared up for immunising the identified population. Though the company has not revealed the details of the application sent to the regula- tor, sources said that it will sub- mit the full analysis released by AstraZeneca-Oxford last month. The analysis showed that their vaccine candidate was 70 per cent effective on average in a late-stage trial in the UK and Brazil. In India, a phase 2/3 trial being conducted on 1,600 indi- viduals is aimed at looking for only immunogenicity and not for actual protection against Covid-19 as per the vaccine’s trial design. Also, as the trial in India involves the dosing regimen with two full doses. The regu- lator can accept just the 62 per cent efficacy and the bridging immunogenicity from SII and grant the approval for restrict- ed use, officials said. According to the ICMR, the SII has already manufac- tured 40 million doses of the vaccine under the at-risk man- ufacturing and stockpiling license it obtained from the DCGI. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Centre to go ahead with the proposed foundation stone- laying ceremony for the Central Vista project after the Government assured it that no construction or demolition work would commence till the apex court decides the pending pleas on the issue. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar that there would be only foundation stone-laying ceremony, and no construction, demolition or felling of trees would be done for the project as of now. The revamp, which was announced in September last year, envisages a new triangu- lar Parliament building, with seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs, that is targeted to be constructed by August, 2022 when the country will be cele- brating its 75th Independence Day. The common Central Secretariat is likely to be built by 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone on December 10 for the new Parliament building and the construction is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of 971 crore, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had said on December 5. The SC is seized of pleas which have raised questions over several aspects, including the environmental clearance granted to the project. During the hearing con- ducted on Monday through video-conferencing, the bench asked Mehta to apprise it with- in five minutes about the Government’s view on the issue of construction work for the project. The bench observed that it would not allow con- struction or demolition till its decision on the pending pleas opposing the project. The SC said the Centre can proceed with the requisite paperwork in the meantime. On November 5, the apex court had reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas which have raised questions over the Centre’s ambitious Central Vista project, which covers three km stretch from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate in Lutyens’ Delhi. Continued on Page 6 A head of Tuesday’s Bharat Bandh call given by farm- ers unions and supported by 22 political parties, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked all States and Union Territories to tighten security while asserting that peace and tranquility must be maintained. While the Centre is firm on its stance on the reform laws, farmers want them rolled back as they fear they will be at the mercy of corporates to sell their produce. In a countrywide advisory, the MHA also said the State Governments and UT admin- istrations must ensure that the Covid-19 guidelines issued with regard to health and social distancing are strictly followed. The States and UTs were told that peace and tranquility must be maintained during the Bharat Bandh and precaution- ary measures taken so that no untoward incident takes place anywhere in the country. The Centre’s attempts to resolve the farmers’ agitation through dialogue is making lit- tle headway with a few of the farmer unions remaining adamant on their demand to repeal the new agriculture laws. The Bharat Bandh, called by the farmers’ unions who have been protesting against the three farm laws, got support from trade unions, trans- porters, bank unions and polit- ical parties including the Congress, NCP, DMK, SP, TRS and Left. In a statement of support for the strike on Sunday, the Opposition parties said, “These new farm laws passed in Parliament in a brazen (and) anti-democratic manner (by) preventing a structured dis- cussion and voting, threaten India’s food security, destroy Indian agriculture and our farmers, lay the basis for the abolishment of MSP and mort- gage Indian agriculture and our markets to the caprices of multi-national agri-business corporates.” Meanwhile, traders’ body CAIT and the All India Transporters Welfare Association on Monday said markets across the country including in Delhi will remain open on Tuesday and transport services will also remain oper- ative, notwithstanding the Bharat Bandh call given by protesting farmers. In Mumbai, BEST buses, taxis, auto will continue to ply on the road on Tuesday. Ahead of Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday, the Gujarat Government imposed Section 144 of CrPC in the State. The police would not allow any out- fit or any group to forcefully impose bandh in the State. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused that some political parties are trying to spoil the atmosphere in the country, “especially the present stand taken by them on model APMC Act shows their double standards”. Attacking the Opposition parts at a hurried- ly convened Press conference at his official residence in Lucknow he said that the par- ties which have backed the Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday “should apologise before the nation”. After five rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmers’ unions failed to end the impasse, the two sides are again set to meet on December 9, a day after the countrywide strike. Talks between the Government and protesting farmers remained inconclu- sive on Saturday even after five rounds of discussions as union leaders stuck to their demand for the repeal of the new farm laws and went on a “maun vrat” seeking a clear “yes or no” reply, forcing the Centre to call for another meeting on December 9 to resolve the deadlock. A s the Modi Government braced up to deal with the Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday, the BJP has slammed the Opposition parties for fanning the farmer’s stir by stoking their fear. Senior BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad on Monday described the Opposition parties as “double- faced” and called its stand “utter political opportunism”. Prasad said a majority of Opposition parties, including the Congress, the NCP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) — now backing the farmers — had in the past approved the market- ing reforms in the agriculture sector. Referring to what he said “sudden” support of non-BJP parties to the farmers stir as “shudh rajnetic swarth ki rajni- ti”, Prasad said these are “dou- ble-standards” adopted by the Opposition to save their declin- ing political base. The BJP leader skirted questions on the ongoing talks between the farmers and the Government (with the next round scheduled on December 9) but stressed that new laws which “set free restrictions” were good of the farming com- munity. The Minister said under new farm laws the farmland “will not be sold, leased or mortgaged.” Giving the latest figures of “ higher procurement and pay- ment on MSP”, he said, “we have no intention to end the mandi system” in the country. Prasad quoted 2019 Congress manifesto (page 17, part 2) saying that the party “will repeal APMC Act and make the trade, including export-import, free from restrictions”. In the same vein, the Union Minister pointed out that the Hindi manifesto of the Congress spoke about “amend- ments”! He quoted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement in CMs’ conference in 2013 that “farmers can sell directly in the Congress-ruled States” and that the farmers will be “given free choice”. Prasad said NCP leader Sharad Pawar, “now opposing farm reforms” had as Union Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Minister written to a let- ter on August 11, 2010, to all CMs that “agriculture needs huge investments and private sector investment is essential and so a change in the mandi system”. The BJP leader further said that in an interview in 2005, Pawar had said that six-month time was maximum that was needed to abolish APMC Act. Continued on Page 6 P rotesting against the three recently enacted agricul- ture-related laws by the Centre, farmers, who have been camp- ing in Delhi for the last many days vehemently demanding scrapping of the Bills, said on Monday that emergency ser- vices will be allowed during Bharat Bandh on December 8. Also, they appealed to their affiliates to not force anyone to observe the shutdown. Farmers sitting across the borders in the national Capital have called Bharat bandh and Chakka Jam on December 8 and threatened to intensify their agitation and block more roads leading to the national Capital if the Government does not accept their demands. Addressing a Press confer- ence on Monday, the farmers’ unions appealed to farmers to maintain peace and not to enter into any scuffle to enforce the bandh. “Bandh will be across the country and the Central Government will have to accept our demands to scrap the new farms law,” said Jagjit Singh Dallewala, the president of Bharatiya Kisan Ekta Sangathan. “Why the Government was agreeing to make changes in the legislations now after ini- tially claiming they will bene- fit the peasantry. We want the Government to reinstate the old farm laws even if the Government thinks it is not good for farmers,” said Darshan Pal, farmer union leader. Continued on Page 6 T he Taj city got a gift on Monday when Prime Minister Narendra Modi vir- tually inaugurated the con- struction of the Agra Metro Rail project, describing it as a modern value-addition to the historical city of Agra. The prime minister, on the occasion, said that this his- torical city was now matching its steps with the progress and growth of the 21st century. “In the last six years, the speed and scale at which the metro network worked on the entire country, along with UP, reflects both the govern- ment’s identity and commit- ment. As of 2014, about 215 km of metro lines were oper- ational in the country.” Details on Page 2 C hief Minister Yo g i Adityanath slammed the opposition parties for poison- ing the minds of farmers over the new farm laws, saying that they were adopting double standards as they had sup- ported the legislation in the past. “The opposition leaders are now trying to pull the trig- ger on the government from a gun put on the shoulders of the farmers just for their political mileage,” he said. The chief minister said that the entire opposition, including Congress, NCP, SP, BSP, Akali Dal, DMK, TMC, were playing games. “They have supported the new laws in the Standing Committee meet- ing of Parliament and even dur- ing the passage of the ordi- nance,” he said. Details on Page 2
The Special Cell of the DelhiPolice arrested five sus-
pected terrorists after anencounter with the police inEast Delhi’s Shakarpur areaon Monday. Initial probe sug-gests that the five, two fromPunjab and three from Jammu& Kashmir, have links toKhalistan and Islamic terrororganisations.
Police said the suspectswere arrested on Mondaymorning after getting specificintelligence input. Police said,preliminary investigation hasrevealed that Pakistani spy
agency Inter ServiceIntelligence (ISI) is attemptingto link up terror outfits inKashmir with Khalistan oper-atives and two of them are alsoallegedly involved in the mur-der of Shaurya Chakra winnerBalwinder Singh in Punjab.
The terrorists have beenidentified as Gurjit Singh andSukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, aliasSukh Bhikhariwal, and resi-dents of Punjab while othershave been identified as ShabirAhmad Gojree, MohammadAyub Pathan and Riyaz Rather,residents of Jammu & Kashmir.
����� �09�(02:-
The Indian Navy has recov-ered the body of the miss-
ing naval pilot CommanderNishant Singh off Goa coast.His MIG-29K had crashed intothe Arabian Sea 11 days back.The second pilot of the twin-seater was rescued the sameday. Both the pilots had man-aged to eject from the jet beforeit went down.
The missing commander’sbody was located on the seabed70 metres below water. Thebody was found 30 miles offGoa coast. The jet had taken offfor a routine sortie onNovember 26 after taking offfrom the INS Vikramaditya air-craft carrier.
Giving details of themishap, the Navy had said thatday a board of enquiry wasordered to ascertain the causeof the incident.
“A MiG-29K trainer air-craft operating at sea met withan accident at about 1700 hrson 26 November. One pilot hasbeen recovered and search byair and surface units in progressfor the second pilot. Anenquiry has been ordered toinvestigate the incident,” theNavy said.
The official said intensiveaerial, coastal and surfacesearch by the Indian Navyships and aircraft was inprogress to locate the pilot.Underwater search by diversand seabed mapping using
specialised equipment in vicin-ity of primary wreckage ofMiG-29K was on.
The search teams hadmanaged to locate the debris ofthe ill-fated jet after a fewdays. It included landing gear,turbo charger, fuel tank engineand wing engine.
Sources said mortalremains of a human body werefound in the vicinity of thewreckage site. The samples arebeing sent for DNA testing forconfirmation of identity.
They also said all sectionsof the aircraft wreckage includ-ing ejection seats have beenaccounted for using side scansonar and high definition cam-eras.
Continued on Page 6
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After US-based drug makerPfizer applied for the
approval of its coronavirusvaccine in India, the SerumInstitute of India (SII) andBharat Biotech too have soughtfrom the Central DrugsStandards ControlOrganisation emergency useauthorisation for their Covid-19 vaccines.
Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin isbeing indigenously developedby the Hyderabad-based com-pany in collaboration with the
Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR). While SII’sCovid-19 vaccine is developedby AstraZeneca-OxfordUniversity.
Sources in the Governmentsaid that the top drug regula-tor, DCGI, has started review-ing their applications on grant-ing of authorisation, whichwill be made on the basis ofthree parameters — safety,quality and efficacy.
“As promised, before theend of 2020, @SerumInstIndiahas applied for emergency useauthorisation for the first
made-in-India vaccine, COV-ISHIELD,” tweeted SII CEOAdar Poonawala on Monday.
“This will save countlesslives, and I thank theGovernment of India and Sri@narendramodi ji for theirinvaluable support,” he wrote.
Government officials saidthat the vaccine, developedfrom adenovirus which is acommon cold virus, will be thefirst preventive option againstCovid-19 available in Indiaand it could be administered tothe first priority group com-prising healthcare workers
beginning the next month.The Government has alreadygeared up for immunising the
identified population.Though the company has
not revealed the details of theapplication sent to the regula-tor, sources said that it will sub-mit the full analysis released byAstraZeneca-Oxford lastmonth. The analysis showedthat their vaccine candidate was70 per cent effective on averagein a late-stage trial in the UKand Brazil.
In India, a phase 2/3 trialbeing conducted on 1,600 indi-viduals is aimed at looking foronly immunogenicity and notfor actual protection against
Covid-19 as per the vaccine’strial design.
Also, as the trial in Indiainvolves the dosing regimenwith two full doses. The regu-lator can accept just the 62 percent efficacy and the bridgingimmunogenicity from SII andgrant the approval for restrict-ed use, officials said.
According to the ICMR,the SII has already manufac-tured 40 million doses of thevaccine under the at-risk man-ufacturing and stockpilinglicense it obtained from theDCGI.New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Monday allowed theCentre to go ahead with theproposed foundation stone-laying ceremony for the CentralVista project after theGovernment assured it thatno construction or demolitionwork would commence till theapex court decides the pendingpleas on the issue.
Solicitor General TusharMehta told a bench headed byJustice AM Khanwilkar thatthere would be only foundationstone-laying ceremony, and noconstruction, demolition orfelling of trees would be donefor the project as of now.
The revamp, which wasannounced in September lastyear, envisages a new triangu-lar Parliament building, withseating capacity for 900 to1,200 MPs, that is targeted tobe constructed by August, 2022when the country will be cele-brating its 75th IndependenceDay. The common CentralSecretariat is likely to be builtby 2024.
Prime Minister NarendraModi will lay the foundationstone on December 10 for thenew Parliament building andthe construction is expected tobe completed by 2022 at anestimated cost of �971 crore,Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birlahad said on December 5.
The SC is seized of pleaswhich have raised questionsover several aspects, includingthe environmental clearancegranted to the project.
During the hearing con-ducted on Monday throughvideo-conferencing, the benchasked Mehta to apprise it with-in five minutes about theGovernment’s view on the issueof construction work for theproject. The bench observedthat it would not allow con-struction or demolition till itsdecision on the pending pleasopposing the project.
The SC said the Centre canproceed with the requisitepaperwork in the meantime.
On November 5, the apexcourt had reserved its verdicton a batch of pleas which haveraised questions over theCentre’s ambitious CentralVista project, which coversthree km stretch fromRashtrapati Bhavan to IndiaGate in Lutyens’ Delhi.
Continued on Page 6
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Ahead of Tuesday’s BharatBandh call given by farm-
ers unions and supported by 22political parties, the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) hasasked all States and UnionTerritories to tighten securitywhile asserting that peace andtranquility must be maintained.
While the Centre is firm onits stance on the reform laws,farmers want them rolled backas they fear they will be at themercy of corporates to selltheir produce.
In a countrywide advisory,the MHA also said the StateGovernments and UT admin-istrations must ensure that theCovid-19 guidelines issuedwith regard to health and socialdistancing are strictly followed.The States and UTs were toldthat peace and tranquility mustbe maintained during theBharat Bandh and precaution-ary measures taken so that nountoward incident takes placeanywhere in the country.
The Centre’s attempts toresolve the farmers’ agitationthrough dialogue is making lit-
tle headway with a few of thefarmer unions remainingadamant on their demand torepeal the new agriculture laws.
The Bharat Bandh, calledby the farmers’ unions whohave been protesting againstthe three farm laws, got supportfrom trade unions, trans-porters, bank unions and polit-ical parties including theCongress, NCP, DMK, SP, TRSand Left.
In a statement of supportfor the strike on Sunday, theOpposition parties said, “Thesenew farm laws passed inParliament in a brazen (and)anti-democratic manner (by)preventing a structured dis-cussion and voting, threatenIndia’s food security, destroyIndian agriculture and ourfarmers, lay the basis for theabolishment of MSP and mort-gage Indian agriculture and ourmarkets to the caprices ofmulti-national agri-businesscorporates.”
Meanwhile, traders’ bodyCAIT and the All IndiaTransporters WelfareAssociation on Monday saidmarkets across the country
including in Delhi will remainopen on Tuesday and transportservices will also remain oper-ative, notwithstanding theBharat Bandh call given byprotesting farmers. In Mumbai,BEST buses, taxis, auto willcontinue to ply on the road on
Tuesday.Ahead of Bharat Bandh call
on Tuesday, the GujaratGovernment imposed Section144 of CrPC in the State. Thepolice would not allow any out-fit or any group to forcefullyimpose bandh in the State. UP
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathaccused that some politicalparties are trying to spoil theatmosphere in the country,“especially the present standtaken by them on modelAPMC Act shows their doublestandards”. Attacking theOpposition parts at a hurried-ly convened Press conference athis official residence inLucknow he said that the par-ties which have backed theBharat Bandh call on Tuesday“should apologise before thenation”.
After five rounds of talksbetween the Centre and thefarmers’ unions failed to endthe impasse, the two sides areagain set to meet on December9, a day after the countrywidestrike. Talks between theGovernment and protestingfarmers remained inconclu-sive on Saturday even after fiverounds of discussions as unionleaders stuck to their demandfor the repeal of the new farmlaws and went on a “maun vrat”seeking a clear “yes or no” reply,forcing the Centre to call foranother meeting on December9 to resolve the deadlock.
����� �09�(02:-
As the Modi Governmentbraced up to deal with the
Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday,the BJP has slammed theOpposition parties for fanningthe farmer’s stir by stokingtheir fear. Senior BJP leader andUnion Law MinisterRavishankar Prasad onMonday described theOpposition parties as “double-faced” and called its stand“utter political opportunism”.
Prasad said a majority ofOpposition parties, includingthe Congress, the NCP and theSamajwadi Party (SP) — nowbacking the farmers — had inthe past approved the market-ing reforms in the agriculturesector.
Referring to what he said“sudden” support of non-BJPparties to the farmers stir as“shudh rajnetic swarth ki rajni-ti”, Prasad said these are “dou-ble-standards” adopted by theOpposition to save their declin-ing political base.
The BJP leader skirtedquestions on the ongoing talksbetween the farmers and theGovernment (with the nextround scheduled on December9) but stressed that new lawswhich “set free restrictions”were good of the farming com-munity.
The Minister said undernew farm laws the farmland“will not be sold, leased ormortgaged.”
Giving the latest figures of“ higher procurement and pay-ment on MSP”, he said, “wehave no intention to end themandi system” in the country.
Prasad quoted 2019Congress manifesto (page 17,part 2) saying that the party“will repeal APMC Act andmake the trade, including
export-import, free fromrestrictions”.
In the same vein, theUnion Minister pointed outthat the Hindi manifesto of theCongress spoke about “amend-ments”!
He quoted Congress leaderRahul Gandhi’s statement inCMs’ conference in 2013 that“farmers can sell directly in theCongress-ruled States” and thatthe farmers will be “given freechoice”.
Prasad said NCP leaderSharad Pawar, “now opposingfarm reforms” had as UnionAgriculture and ConsumerAffairs Minister written to a let-ter on August 11, 2010, to allCMs that “agriculture needshuge investments and privatesector investment is essentialand so a change in the mandisystem”.
The BJP leader further saidthat in an interview in 2005,Pawar had said that six-monthtime was maximum that wasneeded to abolish APMC Act.
Continued on Page 6
�������������� ������������� �������������
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Protesting against the threerecently enacted agricul-
ture-related laws by the Centre,farmers, who have been camp-ing in Delhi for the last manydays vehemently demandingscrapping of the Bills, said onMonday that emergency ser-vices will be allowed duringBharat Bandh on December 8.
Also, they appealed to theiraffiliates to not force anyone toobserve the shutdown.
Farmers sitting across theborders in the national Capitalhave called Bharat bandh andChakka Jam on December 8and threatened to intensifytheir agitation and block moreroads leading to the nationalCapital if the Government doesnot accept their demands.
Addressing a Press confer-ence on Monday, the farmers’unions appealed to farmers tomaintain peace and not toenter into any scuffle to enforcethe bandh.
“Bandh will be across thecountry and the CentralGovernment will have to acceptour demands to scrap the newfarms law,” said Jagjit SinghDallewala, the president ofBharatiya Kisan Ekta Sangathan.
“Why the Government wasagreeing to make changes inthe legislations now after ini-tially claiming they will bene-fit the peasantry. We want theGovernment to reinstate theold farm laws even if theGovernment thinks it is notgood for farmers,” said DarshanPal, farmer union leader.
Minister Narendra Modi vir-tually inaugurated the con-struction of the Agra MetroRail project, describing it as amodern value-addition to thehistorical city of Agra.
The prime minister, onthe occasion, said that this his-torical city was now matchingits steps with the progress andgrowth of the 21st century.“In the last six years, thespeed and scale at which themetro network worked onthe entire country, along withUP, reflects both the govern-ment’s identity and commit-ment. As of 2014, about 215km of metro lines were oper-ational in the country.”
Details on Page 2
����� 2/75�A9
Chief Minister YogiAdityanath slammed the
opposition parties for poison-ing the minds of farmers overthe new farm laws, saying thatthey were adopting doublestandards as they had sup-ported the legislation in thepast. “The opposition leadersare now trying to pull the trig-ger on the government from agun put on the shoulders of thefarmers just for their politicalmileage,” he said.
The chief minister saidthat the entire opposition,including Congress, NCP, SP,BSP, Akali Dal, DMK, TMC,were playing games. “Theyhave supported the new laws inthe Standing Committee meet-ing of Parliament and even dur-ing the passage of the ordi-nance,” he said.
I, Army No-7241315K (DFR/NA-Vet) Hridaya Nand Prasad,R/o-Vill-Kalli Paschim RaibareliRoad Near Purbi-Mata Mandir,Post-Kalli Paschim, PS-SGPGI,Teh-Sarojini Nagar, Lucknow(U.P.) 226301, declared that inmy service record my son namewrongly mentioned as KumarDashvant Raj Gupta. His correctname is Deshvant Raj Gupta(Affidavit No-38AE266042)
OBITUARY
HAVILDAR JAGDISH07 FEB 1977 - 29 NOV 2020
ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICALCORPS SOLEMNLY PRAY TO THEALMIGHTY TO BESTOW PEACE TOTHE DEPARTED SOUL AND GRANTSTRENGTH TO THE BEREAVEDFAMILY TO BEAR THE GREAT LOSSOF HAVILDAR JAGDISH WHO DIEDWHILE SERVING WITH 457 FIELDHOSPITAL
FROM: MAJ GEN NAVEEN AGGARWALAND ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICAL CORPS
OBITUARY
OBITUARY
SEPOY MANISH SINGH18 SEP 1994 - 14 NOV 2020
ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICALCORPS SOLEMNLY PRAY TO THEALMIGHTY TO BESTOW PEACE TOTHE DEPARTED SOUL AND GRANTSTRENGTH TO THE BEREAVEDFAMILY TO BEAR THE GREAT LOSSOF SEPOY MANISH SINGH WHODIED WHILE SERVING WITH 153GENERAL HOSPITAL
FROM: MAJ GEN NAVEEN AGGARWALAND ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICAL CORPS
OBITUARY
Notice is hereby given by the undersigned forand on behalf of LIC Housing Finance Ltd. areaOffice-Main, Shahnajaf Road, Lucknow, pursuantto circular No.422/Annexure-E of LIC HFL thatthe original sale-deed dated 06-02-2017 videSerial No.848, registered in the office of Sub-Registrar-Sadar, Sultanpur, executed by RamMukul S/o Jhurhu in favour of Mrs. Sharda DeviW/o Mr. Harishankar Gautam in respect of Plot,part of Khasra No.80, 81 & 86 admeasuring105.71 sq.mt. situated at : Lakshimanpur, Ward-Ghasiganj, Meeranpur, Tehsil & District-Sultanpur, which has been lost. It is informedto us that the above noted original sale-deed ismortgage with any person(s), FinancialInstitution(s), Bank(s) or any other one, mayinform immediately to LIC Housing Finance Ltd.Area Office Main, Lucknow, or Anoop KumarSingh Advocate, LIC HFL, Mobile No.9455032691,9554472272 otherwise the above noted propos-al shall be finalize immediately after the expiryof 15 days of this publication
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With government directions to go soft andavoid direct confrontation with the lead-
ers of farmers’ unions supporting the BharatBandh on Tuesday, the police all over the state,especially in western Uttar Pradesh, have beenput on alert to avert any untoward incident.
Special vigil is being kept to ensure that anygroup not supporting the agitation does not tryto create problems for the law enforcing agen-cies by clashing with those supporting the Bharat
Bandh. Special police deployments have beenmade on all the highways to ensure that no oneis stopped forcibly.
The Central government has also issued anation-wide advisory for Bharat Bandh whichwill be observed by the protesting farmers from11 am to 3 pm. Several opposition parties havesupported the all-India strike call.
The Union Home Ministry has asked thestate governments and Union Territory admin-istrations to maintain law and order and ensurethat the Covid guidelines are strictly followed.
Sources said that directives had also beenissued to ensure that those opening their estab-lishments should not face any trouble and thatpeace must be ensured at all cost.
The sources further said that senior officerswere also keeping a track on senior leaders ofopposition parties and they might be detainedor even taken in custody if they tried to comeout in the open to support and make the BharatBandh successful on Tuesday.
Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of theCriminal Procedure Code are already enforced
in many places, including Lucknow, and in west-ern UP towns to arrest all leaders, except thoseof farmers’ unions, if they try to force closureof business establishments or block trafficmovements.
Interestingly, almost all the oppositionparties have supported the Bharat Bandh andtheir workers would come out in large numberson Tuesday to make the bandh successful.
The Congress also announced to stagedemonstrations against the new farm billsacross the state on Tuesday.
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Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav was on
Monday detained and bun-dled into a police van after hesat on dharna against the threenew farm bills.
Yadav, who was to take partin a Kisan March on Monday,staged a sit-in protest outsidehis residence in Lucknow afterthe police sealed a road nearthe Samajwadi Party office.
Akhilesh Yadav was sched-uled to go to Kannauj for lead-ing the Kisan March.
Over a dozen oppositionparties have extended supportto the Bharat Bandh call givenby the farmers organisationsprotesting in Delhi.
Akhilesh Yadav, along withhis supporters, broke throughpolice barricades erected nearhis residence on VikramadityaMarg and sat on dharna toexpress solidarity with the
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Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath
slammed the opposition partiesfor poisoning the minds offarmers over the new farmlaws, saying that they wereadopting double standards asthey had supported the legis-lation in the past.
“The opposition leadersare now trying to pull thetrigger on the governmentfrom a gun put on the shoul-ders of the farmers just for theirpolitical mileage,” he said.
Talking to reporters hereon Monday, the chief ministersaid that the entire opposition,including Congress, NCP, SP,BSP, Akali Dal, DMK, TMC,were playing games.
“They have supported thenew laws in the StandingCommittee meeting ofParliament and even during thepassage of the ordinance,” hesaid. “Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)has even issued the notificationon the new Act but now aresupporting the farmers andopposing the Act. Such moveof the opposition shows theirvested interest to create anar-chy in the country at the behestof the farmers,” he said.
Yogi Adityanath said thatin 2010-11, when the UPA wasin power, the then agricultureminister and NCP leaderSharad Pawar had written to allthe states for amendment in the
Agricultural ProduceMarketing Committee(APMC) Act for the benefit ofthe farmers and to end themandi system. “I cannotbelieve that Manmohan Singhas PM, Sonia Gandhi as UPAchairperson and Rahul asCongress general secretarywere not taken into confi-dence by the then agricultureminister,” he said.
“Even during the past elec-tions, Congress and other par-ties had mentioned support tothe APMC Act in their pollmanifesto and after the defeat
of Congress in Delhi electionsin 2014, the then Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi hadclaimed that they lost in theDelhi polls as they could notbring the amended law onAPMC,” he added.
Yogi Adityanath, though,mentioned that the BharatBandh called by the farmers onTuesday over the APMC Actwas illegal and supported bythe opposition merely a polit-ical drama.
The chief minister saidthat even Samajwadi Partypatriarch Mulayam Singh
Yadav in 2019 supported thisBill in the meeting of theStanding Committee onAgriculture . On Monday,Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav was detainedin Lucknow when he was stag-ing a protest when not allowedto go to Kannauj for participat-ing in a kisan march, in sup-port of the agitating farmers.
Yogi Adityanath said thatover the past six years, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadimplemented revolutionaryand historic policies in favourof the farmers.
With the aim to providebetter irrigation facilities tofarmers, tubewell operatorswill be appointed and ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath willgive appointment letters to3,209 tubewell operators onWednesday.
In view of the problemsfaced by the farmers due toshortage of tubewell operators,Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathhad earlier directed the UttarPradesh Subordinate Services
Selection Commission(UPSSSC) to make recruit-ment on the vacant poststhrough a fair and transparentprocedure.
“The UPSSSC selected3,209 tubewell operators andsent the list to the Irrigationdepartment. The departmenthas allocated 3,209 tubewelloperators on merit in a trans-parent and fair manner,” theofficial said.
He said these appoint-ments will make the operationand maintenance of tubewellseasier and provide water for
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The Taj city got a gift onMonday when Prime
Minister Narendra Modi virtu-ally inaugurated the construc-tion of the Agra Metro Railproject, describing it as a mod-ern value-addition to the his-torical city of Agra.
The prime minister, onthe occasion, said that thishistorical city was now match-ing its steps with the progressand growth of the 21st centu-ry.
“In the last six years, thespeed and scale at which themetro network worked on theentire country, along with UP,reflects both the government’sidentity and commitment. As
of 2014, about 215 km of metrolines were operational in thecountry. In the six years, morethan 450 km of metro lines inthe country are operationaland work is going on at a rapidpace on about 1,000 metrolines,” Modi said.
Modi said Agra was theseventh city in UP to be con-nected with a metro rail facil-ity.
“Besides metro rail net-works, metro coaches are alsobeing made in India underMake in India. Not only this,the signal system is also to beconstructed entirely in India.This shows India is becomingself-sufficient even in the caseof metro networks,” he said.
“The present India is
dreaming big. But just dream-ing does not work. Dreams alsohave to be fulfilled withcourage. The youth of India liv-ing in small cities are showingthe same courage. In order tomake small cities the axis ofself-reliant India, a lot of devel-opment is being emphasised,”the prime minister said.
Thanking Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath said the metrorail project would herald anew era of public transport inthe Taj City.
“There were problems inpromotion of tourism in Agrain the absence of a public
transport system and that tooas per the norms of the envi-ronment. The apex court hadexpressed concern over this butthe sustained efforts of PMModi resulted in this projectbeing realised,” he said.
The chief minister said itwas a matter of pride thatunder the guidance of PrimeMinister Modi, public welfareschemes seen on the groundhad benefited the poor, theyouth and the women duringthe trying times of COVID-19while on the other hand, theinfrastructure developmentwent on without any hin-drance.
The chief minister chosethe occasion to congratulate theprime minister as the InvestIndia received UNCTADInvestment Promotion Award2020.
Asserting that this covetedtitle was a true testimony to theglobal recognition of India’sbusiness-friendly environment,the chief minister pointed outthat Invest India was a valuablepartner in the formation ofInvest UP, the premier invest-ment promotion agency thatwould work together withInvest India to bring in moreinvestments into the state.
“I thank the prime minis-ter for the extraordinary mea-sures taken under his leader-ship to improve Ease of Doing
Business (EoDB) in the coun-try. We look forward to work-ing with Invest India to attractand facilitate more investmentsinto the state,”’ he added.
The total cost of the AgraMetro Rail Project is Rs8,379.62 crore and in the firstphase, the Sikandra to Taj EastGate corridor will be con-structed. Two corridors of atotal length of 29.4 km are pro-posed in the project.
All the stations of theAMRP have been planned insuch a way that all the fourmajor railways stations, busdepots, colleges, main markets,and the tourist destinationsare well connected for the easymovement of the locals as wellas the tourists.
�($�"�� �������������� ���������� ����� � �#�������#�irrigation to the farmers conve-niently.
“If any defect is found in thetubewell, it can be repaired intime,” he added..
There are 73 tubewellmaintenance blocks for the oper-ation of 34,401 state tubewellsin the irrigation (mechanical)department in the state.Against these, 18,811 postsof tubewell operators areapproved.
Lucknow (PNS): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath on Monday reviewed the preparations forthe proposed Magh Mela in Prayagraj and SantSamagam to be held from February 16 to 28 Marchin Vrindavan, Mathura.
He asked the officials to ensure cleanliness andgood flow of the river Ganga in Prayagraj andYamuna in Mathura during the mela.
“All the departments concerned should ensurecontinuous reviews at their levels. Weekly or fort-nightly reviews at the chief secretary level should becarried out,” he said.
The chief minister said all facilities should be pro-vided to the devotees, especially the kalpvasi’s visit-ing the Magh Mela and Sant Samagam.
“No compromise should be made regarding this.Arrangements should be made for sanitation andsanitisation for the devotees,” he said.
The chief minister said Covid tests must be doneby RT-PCR method to prevent any spread of thenovel coronavirus infection during the mela. He said
only people with negative reports should be allowedentry into the mela area
“The state government is sensitive towards the
health and safety of the devotees,” he said.The chief minister said that COVID-19 was
under control in the state but the threat had not dis-appeared hence vigilance, safety and caution werenecessary. “If a person is found to be coronaviruspositive, he/she should be sent to hospital immedi-ately and people accompanying him/her should bequarantined,” he said.
The chief minister said toilets should be in ade-quate numbers at the mela area and mobile toiletsshould also be made available. He also stressed onproper arrangement for drinking water.
The chief minister said that clean and continu-ous flow of Ganga in Prayagraj from January 1 toFebruary 16 and Yamuna in Vrindavan, Mathurafrom February 1 to March 28 should be ensured.
On this occasion, the chief minister was alsobriefed about preparations being made in connec-tion with the events by all the departments con-cerned, including the district magistrates of Prayagrajand Vrindavan-Mathura.
“If the new farm laws areintended to help the farmers,then why are they on thewarpath? Why is the govern-ment so adamant? If farmers donot want the new laws, the gov-ernment should take themback,” the SP chief toldreporters at the protest site.
Akhilesh Yadav said, “Wewill raise awareness amongthe farmers that the farm lawsare against them. SamajwadiParty started this Kisan Yatrawhich was stopped by the pre-sent government, my housewas sealed from all sides. I askwhy was it sealed? At the mostwe would have gone to meetand talk to the farmers and putour point before them.”
Yadav was to take part in a13-km-long Kisan Yatra atKannauj in support of theprotesting farmers who aredemanding repeal of the newfarm laws introduced by theBJP government at the Centre.
Accusing BJP of dictator-
ship, Yadav said, “This is BJP’sdictatorial behaviour. BJP hasdestroyed the IndianConstitution and made amockery of it. The BJP does notwant to debate on this issue;they are taking a one-sideddecision. The farmers are angryand are protesting so why is thegovernment not listening tothem?”
SP spokesperson RajendraChaudhary said sealing of theroad leading to the party officewas undemocratic
“The government is afraidthat Akhilesh Yadav is going toparticipate in the Kisan Yatra.Peaceful demonstration is thedemocratic right of every indi-vidual and the government isadamant on violating it,” hesaid.
The police, meanwhile,said that the Kannauj districtmagistrate had denied permis-sion for the rally.
“Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav was to go toKannauj for a programme, butthe Kannauj district magis-
trate did not give permissionfor it. Hence, the portion of theVikramaditya Marg leading tothe SP office was sealed,” apolice official said.
On Sunday, the SP had saidthat it would organise farmerrallies in all districts of UttarPradesh from December 7,beginning with Kannauj.
Meanwhile, the BJPslammed the SP call for KisanYatra. A BJP spokesman saidthat everything being done bythe Samajwadi Party and otherparties was nothing but ‘propa-ganda and these parties did nothave the support of the farm-ers. The BJP spokesperson saidthat the opposition partieswanted to create chaos and takeadvantage of the moment. Hesaid the SP was synonymouswith goonda raj.
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Lucknow University is esti-mating the biodiversity
status of Raj Bhawan.According to director ofInstitute of Wildlife SciencesAmita Kanaujia, it is beingdone under the directions ofGovernor Anandiben Pateland guidance of Vice-Chancellor AK Rai.
She said the governor hadrequested for the biodiversityestimation of Raj Bhawan.“The work is going on and thereport will be submitted inabout eight months,” she said.
Kanaujia said they arestudying the variety and abun-dance of insects, birds andtrees at Raj Bhawan. “We arealso trying to make sure thatalong with Raj Bhawan,Lucknow University andLucknow zoo can become thelungs of the state capital,” shesaid. She added that the gov-ernor initiated the projectafter the university estimatedthe biodiversity index ofLucknow.
“This is the best time todo this estimation and we willagain do it in April. We arespending four hours in themorning and two hours in theevening at Raj Bhawan. There
are four people involved inthis work,” she pointed out.
Kanaujia, who recentlypublished a book on ‘Birds ofthe Lucknow University’, saidthere are 61 bird species atLucknow University. “Thisfigure is good but not verygood. This can be maintained
by making water bodies at theuniversity. The maximumspecies of birds are in Kukrailforest, followed by Lucknowzoo,” she pointed out.
“Out of the all the species,the ones which dominate arehornbills, tree pies and bar-bets. There are some trees at
Lucknow University whichare over 100 years old andattract birds because the woodis old and birds can make ahole in it unlike new trees,”she said.
These trees include pakad,bargad, peepul, semal, jack-fruit, drumstick and kadam.
����������� !"!#"��$%&"'(%)��Lucknow (PNS): Member ofRailway Board (Traction andRolling Stock) Rajesh Tiwariinspected the Modern RailCoach Factory (MRCF) in RaeBareli on Monday. He wasaccompanied by GM VinayMohan Srivastava and seniorofficial Vivek Kumar.
Tiwari sought details ofthe projects underway at thefactory and discussed in detailthe quality and safety issuesrelated to coaches. He dis-cussed future plans with seniorofficials of the factory. He alsohad a word of praise for the fac-tory for bagging shields for bestproduction for two consecutiveyears. He also asked the officialsto promote plantation.
Later, he lighted a lamp asa tribute to Dr BhimraoAmbedkar on his 65th deathanniversary (MahaparinirvanaDiwas) and garlandedAmbedkar’s statue.
Meanwhile, RDSO organ-ised a function on the occasionof Mahaparinirvana Diwas onMonday. RDSO director-gener-al Virendra Kumar paid tributesto Dr Ambedkar. Senior offi-cials of RDSO, including SudhirAgarwal, AK Pandey, RameshPinjani, and office-bearers ofRDSO associations, also paidtribute to Dr Ambedkar.
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Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia andMunicipal Commissioner
Ajay Kumar Dwivedi onMonday flagged off 18 garbagevehicles at Faizullahganj fordoor-to-door collection. “It isoften highlighted thatFaizullahganj faces the issue ofgarbage and which results inincrease in the number denguecases. “In a bid to improvehygiene in Faizullahganj and todo it on a priority basis, the sys-tem of door-to-door garbagecollection has been established.As per our standard of one vehi-cle for 1,000 houses, 18 garbagevehicles have been deputed forFaizullahganj and they will becollecting garbage on a regularbasis,” he said.
He said residents shouldmake separate arrangementsfor wet and dry garbage andhand it over to LMC employees.“It is important to keepFaizullahganj clean to preventdeaths due to dengue,” he said.He added that zones 1, 4, 5 & 8of LMC already have sufficient
number of garbage vehicles andin some areas, the door-to-door collection has reached100 percent.
“In the remaining zones,
we will be deputing garbagevehicles soon,” he said
He added that for theremaining garbage collected inFaizullahganj in the recent years,
they had deputed teams fromother zones. “As many as 350LMC employees will work forthe next eight days to complete-ly clean the area,” he said.
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The Covid positivity rate ofLucknow has come down
to 3 percent this month,according to a senior healthofficial. Fewer number of peo-ple are testing positive even asa larger number of tests arebeing conducted in the district.The per-day cases have alsocome down to below 300.
As per the official, theyremoved the old equipment atthe District ImmunisationCentre in Aishbagh where theCovid vaccine will be stored.“This is being done to createspace for our other logistics asthe old equipment which arenot in use will be auctioned,” hesaid. He added that for the coldchain maintenance, they wouldhave a regular 24-hour electric-ity supply to the centre.Maintenance of the infrastruc-ture is also underway. He saidthe sites where the vaccinationswould be carried out were yetto be decided.
On Monday, 248 peopletested positive for coronaviruswhile 263 patients recovered.Lucknow’s death toll stands at1,030 and there are 3,351 activecases in the district. The freshcases included 24 from
Indiranagar, 20 fromGomtinagar, 16 from Chowk,15 from Rae Bareli road, 14from Vikasnagar, 13 fromMahanagar, 11 from Ashiyana,and 10 each from Hazratganj,Talkatora & Jankipuram.
Across the state, 1,515 per-sons tested positive, including68 in Kanpur, 155 inGhaziabad, 80 in GautamBuddhnagar, 82 in Varanasiand 176 in Meerut, taking theUP tally to 5,56,397. Therewere 20 deaths in the state,
including two each in Kanpur,Fatehpur & Varanasi, and oneeach in Prayagraj, Lucknow,Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur,Muzaffarnagar, Hardoi,Etawah, Gonda, Ghazipur,Sultanpur, Unnao, Mainpuri,Kasganj & Kanpur Dehat, tak-ing the toll to 7,944.
Meanwhile, Dr Zia Hashimfrom SGPGI pointed out thatmost of the patients in the ICUof the Rajdhani Covid hospitalhad been referred from otherhospitals. “Last month, we had
received more than 50 percentof patients in the ICU and theyalready got one-week treat-ment in other hospitals. Earlier,we were getting youngerpatients, but now we are gettingpatients aged 60 years andabove,” he pointed out.
“As far as severity of thedisease is concerned, 3-4patients continue to be on ven-tilator and a few on oxygen,” headded. Dr Hashim said Covidpatients are coming to SGPGIfrom Gorakhpur, Allahabad,Unnao and Kanpur amongother districts.
Spokesperson of RMLIMSDr Shrikesh Singh said they arealso getting about 60-70 per-cent of the patients from otherdistricts and private hospitals.
“Some of the patientsadmitted in private hospitalsget positive reports after test-ing negative two to three times.Some of the private hospitalshave now started co-relatingCovid with symptoms andtheir clinical experience alongwith other investigations andare not going by the tests alone.This is because sensitivity ofRT-PCR is also not 100 percentand sometimes it also gives afalse negative report because ofincorrect technique,” he said.
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In the mysterious death of hislive-in partner Mamta
Singh, sub-inspector RahulSingh Rathor is still underpolice scanner as his call detailrecords and social mediaaccounts are being lookedinto.
ADCP Qasim Abdi saidthe police were given informa-tion about Mamta’s death byher former husband Pawan onSunday night. “However, thecontent had no merit of a com-plaint or an FIR. He just gaveformal information. Mamta’sparents also did not lodgeany complaint. If a complaintis lodged, a case will be regis-tered,” he said.
He confirmed that Mamtahad gunshot injuries on theleft side of head and forensicscientists were studying the sit-uation under which she suf-fered firearm injuries. Headded that the police wereinterrogating Rathor.
Sources said the policewere treating the sub-inspec-tor in question with kid’sglove. “The statements givenby the two domestic helps ofRathor are in his favour. As perthe statements, Mamta com-
mitted suicide. Also, recoveryof a suicide note endorsed thestatements of Rathor and hisdomestic helps. However, thegunshot injury which Mamtasuffered is puzzling. This ismaking the police spend moretime in carrying out investiga-tion into the case,” they said.
Mamta, who was adivorcee, was the live-in part-ner of Rathor, who was previ-ously posted in the cyber cellof Lucknow police. She suf-fered gunshot injuries undermysterious circumstances ather flat in Omega Apartmentin Chinhat on Sunday morn-ing and died.
Rathor and their domestichelps were said to be presentin the house when the incidenttook place. The police teamsrecovered a pistol and the sui-cide note in the evening eventhough they had reached theflat around 10:30 am.
Meanwhile, a 39-year-oldman was found dead near aliquor shop in Vikrant Khandunder Vibhuti Khand policestation area on Monday morn-ing. The deceased was identi-fied as Vijendra Kumar ofVikrant Khand.
As per reports, some com-muters spotted the man lying
near the liquor shop around7:45 am and soon a hugenumber of residents flocked tothe scene. Vijendra’s fatherRam Pratap also reached therearound 11 am and he, alongsome other locals, rushed himto RMLIMS where he wasdeclared brought dead.
Later, the hospital staffsent a memo to the VibhutiKhand police. A police teamwas sent to the hospital to col-lect details related to the inci-dent. The police said autopsyreport would ascertain thecause of death. “Vijendra wasunmarried and he had left hishouse some time on Sundaynight,” the police said.
��%�Thieves made off with cash
and ornaments from a house inHasanganj police station area.Mohammed Ansar Ansari ofBrahma Nagar in the area,along with his family, had goneto Sitapur to attend a marriagefunction. Ansari said they leftfor Sitapur on December 5 andhis brother Saif Ansariinformed him about the thefton Sunday. He said the thievesbroke locks of all the rooms andhad decamped with cash andornaments.
���� �� ����������������� ���������������Lucknow (PNS): The policyimplementation unit for StartupPolicy 2020, chaired byAdditional Chief Secretary (IT&Electronics) Alok Kumar hasapproved the proposal of settingup 7 startup incubators in thestate in a meeting held at LokBhawan on Monday. Theseincubators will act as the firstcontact for startup. The startuppolicy, which was launched inJuly, promises to create a robustecosystem for startups to growand nurture the ideas by settingup more than 100 incubators inthe state, at least one in each dis-trict of Uttar Pradesh.Theseincubators will work under ahub and spoke model to provideprimary information and guid-ance to startups and recommenddifferent startups for the incen-tives given by the state govern-ment under the new policy.
���*� �#�'+�,���(��$ ,Lucknow (PNS): Bahujan Samaj Partyand Rashtriya Lok Dal have also come outin support of Tuesday’s Bharat Bandhcalled by farmers protesting against thenew farm laws.
BSP national president Mayawatiwrote on Twitter on Monday that farm-ers were agitated all over the country forthe withdrawal of three new laws relatedto agriculture and their organisations hadgiven a call for Bharat Bandh onDecember 8 and the BSP supports them.The BSP chief again appealed to theCentre to accept the demands of the farm-ers. RLD state president Masood Ahmadsaid his party workers and leaders wouldhelp farmers in all respects to make thebandh call a success on Tuesday.
He said the Central government haddeceived the annadatas (farmers) bypassing the anti-farmers laws.
Other opposition parties includingCongress, Samajwadi Party, Aam AadmiParty are also supporting the BharatBandh call.
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In a bid to uplift the Dalits, back-wards and underprivileged people
in Uttar Pradesh, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath has implemented theStand-up India Scheme in the state.
“The chief minister has instruct-ed every bank to provide loans to atleast one SC/ST and one womenentrepreneur under the Stand-upIndia Scheme. This initiative willbenefit 36,000 SC/ST and womanentrepreneurs of the state,” the gov-ernment officials said.
UP stands first in the Stand-upIndia Scheme in the country. Till June2020, loans worth Rs 2,386 crore wereapproved on 11,789 applications anda sum of Rs 1256 crore was alsoreleased.
“With this scheme, young entre-
preneurs are not only realising theirdreams but are also changing theimage of the state,” the official said.
Lucknow, Kanpur Nagar, Agra,Varanasi, Ghaziabad, Meerut,Prayagraj, Gorakhpur, GautamBuddha Nagar and Bareilly areamong the top ten districts in thestate under the Stand-up IndiaScheme. The highest amount of Rs195 crore has been approved to 939applications in Lucknow, out ofwhich Rs 117 crore has already beenreleased.
Under the Stand-up IndiaScheme, 12,196 applications in UttarPradesh, 9,235 in Tamil Nadu, 7,154in Maharashtra, 6,647 in Gujarat,5,929 in West Bengal, 5,780 in
Telangana, 5,491 in Andhra Pradesh,5,484 in Karnataka, 4,569 inRajasthan and 3,905 in MadhyaPradesh have been approved.
Under the Stand-up IndiaScheme launched by the Centralgovernment in 2016, loans rangingfrom Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore aregiven at lower interest rates to busi-nessmen belonging to SC/ST,Backward Classes and Women.Income tax exemption is also allowedfor the first three years during thecommencement of business. This isfollowed by an interest rate of 3 per-cent with the base rate, which can-not exceed the tenure premium. Torepay this debt, a time of seven yearsis given to the person.
Lucknow (PNS): The UttarPradesh Tourism departmenton Monday signed a memoran-dum of understanding (MoU)with Inland WaterwaysAuthority of India (IWAI) topromote and encouragetourism industry by developingriver tourism in the state.
The MoU was signed in thepresence of Chief SecretaryRajendra Kumar Tiwari regard-ing the operation of PAX ves-sel in Varanasi.
In his address, the chief sec-retary said that there wasimmense potential for tourismdevelopment in the state. Hesaid there were many places ofreligious, cultural, historicaland wildlife etc., and that waswhy UP was famous as animportant tourist centre in thecountry and abroad due to thecomplete variety of tourist
attractions. The two RoPaxvessels in Varanasi will be oper-ated by the Tourism depart-ment. In this regard, the chiefsecretary gave directions toprepare an action plan to iden-tify the immense possibilities ofriver tourism in the state and toincrease the night stay ofdomestic and foreign tourists.
A presentation was alsomade to promote river tourismon the Saryu river in Ayodhyaand instructions were given tothe Tourism department tomake a package tour onAyodhya. Dr Amita Prasad,Chairman of IWAI, said thatwith the aim to add river cruisetourism in future, the InlandWaterways Authority of Indiaagreed to construct two jettiesin Ayodhya and had requestedthe state government to markthe land for them.
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Lucknow (PNS): In another setbackto Samajwadi Party MP MohammadAzam Khan, a park in Rampur citynamed after his father Mumtaz Khanhas been renamed as Maulana AbulKalam Azad Park.
The renaming ceremony wasinaugurated by Union ministerMukhtar Abbas Naqv on Monday.
Addressing the gathering, Naqvisaid Prime Minister Narendra Modihad brought revolutionary changes inIndia’s political sphere, and thistransformation had jolted those whoconsidered politics their “dynasticproperty”. He said a politician’s iden-tity could not remain dependent ona “family cradle” and only diligenceand hard work could establish a per-son in the field of politics. He said
now politics was not about “khan-daani zamindari” (family fiefdom)but about serving the people. “Thelegacy of ‘champions of dynasty’ isshrinking due to the revolutionarychange in the political work culturebrought by Prime Minister NarendraModi,” Naqvi said in an apparentswipe at the Congress’ Nehru-Gandhifamily.
Naqvi also inaugurated MaulanaImtiyaz Arshi Khan Gate near theRaza Inter College, unveiled a statueof Mahatma Gandhi relocated insidethe Gandhi Samadhi; inaugurated theSahibzada Colonel Yunus Ali KhanGate and the Major Abdul RafeKhan Gate near the Gandhi Samadhiand also inaugurated the Atal Park inPanvadiya.
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,��� �������������� ����9�:��"������ ���'��� ��"Lucknow (PNS): An organisation named after for-mer prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee will workfor propagating the ideas and legacy of Vajpayee,the five-term MP from Lucknow. UP Law Ministerand MLA from Lucknow Central Brajesh Pathaksaid here on Monday that Bharat Ratna Atal BihariVajpayee Memorial Foundation will be set up.
Pathak said the foundation would work forpropagating the ideology of the former prime min-ister in every nook and corner of the country.
He said the foundation would also work forpromoting talent among youth in differentspheres like theatre and literature. He said everyyear, on the eve of the birth anniversary of theprime minister on December 24, a Kavya Sandhyawould be organised. He said seminars were alsoproposed to be organised on the legacy and thepersonality of the former prime minister andresearch projects were also proposed to be initi-ated in universities and degree colleges. He saidthis year on the eve of the birth anniversary ofVajpayee, Kavya Sandhya would be organised onDecember 24.
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Several Samajwadi Party (SP)workers were arrested when
they were protesting against thestopping of party’s presidentand former Chief MinisterAkhilesh Yadav in state capitalwhile the latter was trying to goto Kannauj. After getting thenews of detention of party’schief, the SP workers reachedthe district headquarters andraised strong voices againstthe Central and state govern-ments and demanded immedi-ate withdrawal of three farmlaws.
Led by city chief VishnuSharma when the SP workersstarted raising voices againstthe state government, abouttwo dozen workers includingsenior leaders and ex-corpora-tor Dr OP Singh, corporatorHaroon Ansari, Varun Singh,Satya Prakash Sonu, AbdulKalam and chief of local unit ofwomen’s wing Puja Yadav werearrested. The party workerswere also arrested at differentparts of the district including atChowk and other police sta-tions.
Earlier, when former UPMinister Surendra Patel and ex-MLA Mahendra Patel, alongwith the party workers weretrying to go to attend the pro-posed Kisan Rally in Kannuaj,they were stopped and housearrested at their residence atBhirbhanpur (Raja Talab)under Rohania police station.On the occasion, the securityforces and the SP supportershad some altercation.
Meanwhile, in protest againstthe farm laws, a group of SPworkers took out a processionfrom Ashapur crossing. Seeingthe cops ready to stop theirprocession, they had adopteddifferent routes and reached thedistrict headquarters led byVishnu Sharma. The otherswho were also present wereJitendra Yadav and Puja Yadav.
Meanwhile, a group ofCongress workers reachedChanduwa Satti and otherplaces and appealed to veg-etable sellers to give their fullsupport to proposed ‘BharatBandh’ on Tuesday. They alsopasted posters in support oftheir demands. Many otheropposition parties and associ-ations of the traders have also
extended their support to theproposed Bharat Bandh.Besides, at a virtual discussionorganised under the auspices ofPandit Kamlapati TripathiFoundation, senior socialactivists like Prof MaheshVikram Singh, VallabhacharyaPandey and Aflatoon expressedtheir serious concern over therigid attitude of the CentralGovernment towards the ongo-ing peaceful agitation of thefarmers. They also stronglycondemned the governmentfor using water cannons againstthe agitators during these daysof winter and lathichargingthe farmers while they tried toreach the national capital.
They said that during 12days long agitation, five meet-
ings with the farmers wereconvened but all of them failedto bring any fruitful result.Annoyed over the attitude ofgovernment, the farmers havegiven a call of bandh, theyadded, appealing to all theparties and social organisa-tions to make the proposedbandh a grand success. Amongothers who also participated inthe discussion were formerstate Congress chief VijayShankar Pandey, ex-presidentof UPCC (IT Cell) Baij NathSingh, Shailendra Singh,Bhupendra Pratap Singh,Pramod Srivastava, AshokPandey, Vinod Singh, PuneetMishra, Vipin Mehta,Mohammed Arshad andSubhash Ram.
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The Prayagraj city continuesto grapple with severe cold
but the Prayagraj MunicipalCorporation (PMC) has failedto keep up. There were manytemporary and permanentshelter homes in various partsof the city but they lacked facil-ities.
The Environmental engi-neer said, ‘We are taking nec-essary steps for providing allkinds of amenities at the shel-ter homes. In fact, white-washing of some shelterhomes is being undertaken.We have purchased about 100mattresses and are in theprocess of buying another 200blankets. This will soon beprovided to the shelter homes.’
There are about 21 per-manent and temporary shel-ter homes functioning in thecity. Out of these, 11 are per-manent shelter homes opera-tional at Leader Road,Noorullah Road in front ofAllahabad junction, MunderaChungi, Lakar Mandi,Khuldabad, Yamuna BankRoad, Baghambari GaddiRoad, Allahpur zonal office,Daraganj station, Daraganjward office and Phaphamau.There are about 10 temporaryshelter homes that have beenset up including All SaintsCathedral in Civil Lines, PDTandon Park, CMP DegreeCollege, Heera Halwai, LaxmiTalkies, Sohbatiya Bagh,Teliarganj and Naini.
A reality check showed alot needs to be done. TheLeader Road Shelter homenear the railway junction andLeader Bus Depot is enoughrepresentation of the condi-tion of these homes. There isno sanitary staff to clean thehome and its toilets. Pan-stains mark the walls of thetwo-tier structure. Tatteredmattresses have been spread inthe room.
Corporator of PMC ShivSewak Singh, said adequatearrangements should be madeso that poor people can rest intemporary shelters.
With the start ofDecember, the time for thepink cold is also gone. For thepast few days, the city hasbeen witnessing biting at nightand light mist in the morning,but now fog will also increase.Fog is expected to increasewith biting cold at the end ofthe week. On Saturday, thetemperature in the city isexpected to be a minimum of11 degrees, while the maxi-mum mercury can reach 28degrees. The weather isexpected to remain clear.
According to theMeteorological Department(IMD), there may be a severewinter this time in NorthIndia. Fog is expected toincrease with biting cold.More cold wave is expected tooccur. IMD said in its winterforecast for December toFebruary that the minimumtemperatures in north and
central India were likely to bebelow normal. Night temper-atures may be below normal,while daytime temperaturesare likely to be above normal.At the same time, the mini-mum temperature is expectedto be above normal in the westcoast and south India.
IMD said in its forecast,‘In the coming winter season(December to February), min-imum temperatures are like-ly to be below normal in mostsub-divisions of North, North-West, Central India and somesub-divisions of East India.Oceanographer and environ-mental expert Prof. ShailendraRoy said that the weather isexpected to remain clear tillthe first week of December.There is no chance of rain.Sunshine can be seen duringthe day and biting cold atnight.
GAS PIPELINE TO BELAID IN VILLAGES: Nowthe villages of Prayagraj willalso be hi-tech. LPG will besupplied from pipes not onlyin the city but also in the vil-lages. Preparations are alsobeing done for this move.Pipeline will be laid in villagessoon. Domestic gas will besupplied from house to housethrough these pipelines.When the villagers came toknow about it, they had nobounds of happiness.
MLA Pratappur HajiMohammed Mujtaba Siddiquilaunched the said scheme inthe Birkaji village of Phulpur
to deliver LPG from door todoor through the pipeline.During this, the MLA saidthat the important scheme ofthe Central Government isstarting in Phulpur. In this,LPG will be delivered to everyhousehold through a pipeline,in which consumers can usegas according to the require-ment by installing meters. Ithas to be paid bill, which willbe much cheaper than LPGgas with cylinders.
Local manager of thecompany Danish Rizvi,Deputy Manager AshishSharma, Sanjay Gautametc. were present on the occa-sion.
Employees of the AdaniGas Private Limited Companysaid that the work of laying thepipeline will start soon. Fewvillages have been selected inthe first phase. In the secondand third phase, the schemewill be operational in all vil-lages. People will have to takea connection for this. Afterthis the company will carrythe pipe to the house. Therewill not be any kind of dangerfrom this move. This gas willbe very economical.
The first phase of workwill be started this month,which will be completed inabout two months. In the firstphase, the pipeline will be laidin half a dozen villages.Thereafter, pipes will be laidin about 50 villages. Then allthe villages of Phulpur will besaturated with the plan.
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Atotal of 53 new coronapatients were reported
within the last 24 hours includ-ing Assistant Bank Manager ofUnion Bank of India located atJohnstonganj, SeniorAccountant of AG Office, headconstable of CRPF, on Sunday,while the number of infection-free was 95. Also, a 68-year-oldman resident of Gaus NagarKareli has also died. Dr RishiSahai, the Nodal Officer of
Corona confirmed this.Dr Sahai said that with the
addition of 53 new patients, thetotal number of corona patientsin the district has increased to26,982. However, 25,905 peo-ple have been cured. Out ofthis, home isolation of 19,402people has been completed.Home isolation of 80 peoplehas been completed on Sundaytoo. Apart from this, 15 peoplehave been discharged fromSRN, Beli and private hospitals.
Till Sunday evening 81
patients were admitted in thesehospitals whereas, 645 peopleare in home isolation. Thetotal number of active cases is726.
The corona test was con-ducted by 4,174 people onSunday. Of them, 2,297 peopletested through antigen tests,1,705 by RT-PCR, 57 by privatelabs and 115 Truenat. UnionBank’s Assistant Manager,CRPF head constable, railwayTT, fire service driver, AGoffice senior accountant, High
Court advocate, High Courtreview officer have been foundto be infected.
In addition, a 68-year-oldman from Gaus Nagar hasdied due to a deadly virus.According to the Healthdepartment report, he was ondialysis for a year. He got hiscorona test conducted throughantigen in the private hospitalwhere he was found positive inthe test. After this he was shift-ed to SRN Hospital. He died onSunday.
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In a heart-rending incident, ahusband killed his wife after
hitting her with a heavy objecton her head over an issue ofdoubt. The incident took placein Katra area in the district lateon Sunday night. However, thehusband was arrested soonafter the accident.
During interrogation, thenabbed husband informed thepolice that he used to havesuspicion over behaviour ofher wife. This often led to afallout between the couple.Police said that the accusedwas also jobless and as a resultof which he was frustrated.Before committing the mur-der, he had consumed liqhor.After this, he went home andattacked his wife.
Madhu (48), a resident ofKatra was a Class IV employ-ee in the women’s hostel.Husband Umesh used to rune rickshaw till lockdown. Hehad been sitting in the housesince March. There was afight between Madhu and
Umesh over some trivialissues on Sunday evening.Umesh walked out of thehouse. He drank heavily andthereafter he returned homeand attacked Madhu with arod.
Madhu had received headinjuries due to rod’s blows andshe fell unconscious. By then,the neighbours living nextdoor had also gathered thespot. Madhu was immediate-ly rushed to the hospital, butshe died soon after.
On receipt of information,Inspector Colonelganj Dixitreached the spot and reviewedthe situation. He said thatMadhu’s body was sent forpostmortem. Accused UmeshKumar has been arrested.During questioning, he toldthe police that he suspectedMadhu. There was a dispute inthe family about over matters.The couple was issueless.Umesh was not doing anywork for the last severalmonths. Madhu used to earnlivelihood for her family. Thatis why Umesh was frustrated.
Husband Umesh has beenarrested for the murder ofMadhu. He used to doubtMadhu. That is why he mur-dered his wife. Sudhir Kumar,Circle Officer Colonelganjadded.
Umesh Kumar andMadhu were married 20 yearsago. Umesh lived in Madhu’shouse in Katra. Madhu’s par-ents and siblings have died.Her other relatives lived sideby side. They said that theyhad a fight in the morning.When Madhu fell on theground bleeding profusely, hehimself had reached the hos-pital with others. When thedoctors declared Madhu dead,he came back home fromwhere the police nabbed him.
VILLAGER KILLED: Avillager was brutally mur-dered with sharp edgedweapon in Pandra village,under the trans-Yamuna areaof Bara on Sunday night. Thepolice could not resolve themystery behind this ghastlykilling in the absence of theclue as to who killed Vinod
Shukla alias Lallu, 55, andwhy.
The incident has sentshock waves down spine of thefamily members who weretaken aback in the morningwhen they came to knowabout this murder. The vil-lagers are in tension.
Forensic team and thesniffer dogs were pressed toresolve the murder mystery,but they also remained clue-less. According to reports,family members of VinodShukla lived in the old housewhile he was staying at hisnearby under-constructionhouse to look after his ailingbuffalo. The new house sansdoors and windows. WhenVinod’s wife reached therewith morning tea, she wasshocked to see the body of herhusband lying in a pool ofblood. Her screams were soloud that the nearby residentsgot alarmed and reached thespot. The police wereinformed immediately, butthe murder mystery stillremains unresolved.
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The passing out parade of2nd batch of 248 lady con-
stable recruits of RailwayProtection Force organised atzonal training centreSubedarganj on Monday inthe gracious presence ofAdditional Director General,Railway Protection Force DrAnoop Shrivastava.
On this occasion, a total of248 lady constable recruits,including 19 of North CentralRailway, 59 of Central Railway,97 of Northern Railway, 2 ofNorth Eastern Railway, 22 ofNorth Western Railway, 47 ofWestern Railway and three ofWest Central Railway success-fully completed nine monthlong rigorous training pro-gramme and formally becamepart of the Railway ProtectionForce by taking part in thepassing out parade.
Additional DirectorGeneral, Railway ProtectionForce Dr Anoop Shrivastavainspected the parade of ladyrecruits and took the salute. All
248 trainees were also sworn-in on the occasion. The com-mander of the parade wasAnita Ola and led the passingout trainees in eight Platoons(Platoon-1 Commander –Trainee Mohini Yadav, Platoon-2 Commander-Trainee Sonia,Platoon-3 Commander -Trainee Khushboo, Platoon-4Commander - Trainee SumanKuntal, Platoon-5 Commander- Trainee K. Nirmala, Platoon-6 Commander- Trainee MadhuKumari, Platoon-7
Commander- Trainee SeemaBandewar and Platoon-8Commander - Trainee ChinuNagar.
During the function organ-ised at zonal training institute,ADG RPF also honouredtrainees Nirmala, SangeetaNatwaria, Priyanka Rana andAnita Ola for their outstandingperformance in training pro-gramme. Speaking on thisoccasion, Additional DirectorGeneral congratulated alltrainees as well as officials of
RPF zonal training centreSubedarganj for successful con-duct of training programmedespite ongoing COVID-19challenges. He also said thatformal induction of these ladyRPF personnel in protectionforce will strengthen securityarrangements and women pas-sengers will get a more securetravel environment.
Dr Srivastava wished suc-cessful future to all RPF recruitsand motivated them to dis-charge their responsibilitiessincerely.
Principal ChiefSafety Commissioner NorthCentral Railway RavindraVerma, Divisional RailwayManager Prayagraj MohitChandra, Principal head ofdepartments of North CentralRailway, Principal zonalRailway Protection ForceTraining Centre Sanjay Piseand other officials were alsopresent in this passing outfunction The programme wasconducted by RPF InspectorSuruchi Sharma and InspectorAnil Dubey.
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Almost after 20 hours, thebodies of three drowned
youths were fished out byevening on Monday. The teamsof National Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF), boatmen anddivers continued their opera-tion to search the body ofanother youth who is also saidto be missing since the boattragedy. Meanwhile, the policedetained the boatman onwhich the youths were board-ed.
It is pointed out that fivefriends had gone across theriver late afternoon on Sundayto enjoy the reunion party asthey had met after five years.These youths had studied in
Udai Pratap Public InterCollege together. After return-ing from across the river, theboat capsized in the evening inthe river in front of BhadainiGhat when they were returningwith others boarded on it as theriver water entered the boat.
When they raised analarm, the boatmen and diverspresent at ghats on that time,lent their help and succeeded inrescuing three friends and fourothers boarded on the boat.After getting information, thepolice and NDRF personnelalso reached the site andlaunched a search operationbut in vain and they have tostop the operation at night. Oneof the rescued youths, VishalSonkar informed the police
that the boatman Manoj Sahanihad allowed six other youths toboard on boat despite beingdenied by them for the same.It was said that there were 11persons boarded on the boatincluding these five friendsamong them two were girls.
The NDRF teams, boat-men and divers again launcheda search operation on Mondaymorning and succeeded infishing out one youth of fivefriends identified as VishalSingh, resident ofLakshmanpur in Bhojubir areaafternoon. The NDRF person-nel also succeeded in fishingout the body of another youthidentified as Junaid ofBajardiha. It was said thatJunaid had gone to across the
river with his friend Shanwajand both were also boarded onthe same boat. During theoperation, the body of Shanwajwas also fished out in theevening. With this, the bodiesof three youths were fished out.But a youth Abhishek Maurya,one of five friends, was stillmissing. The NDRF teamsalong with boatmen and diverscontinued their operation tosearch him. The missing ofsome others was also feared.
Meanwhile, the policedetained the boatman ManojSahani who claimed that fivefriends had not gone across theriver on his boat and added thathe had allowed boarding on theboat when they requested todrop at Tusli Ghat.
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Acycle rally ‘Cyclothon’ wasorganised under the ‘Fit
India’ campaign under the aus-pices of the BanarasLocomotive Works (BLW)Sports Board on Monday inresponse to the call given by theUnion Ministry of YouthAffairs and Sports. The cyclerally was flagged off by GeneralManager (GM) Anjali Goyal.
In this cycle rally, PrincipalChief Materials Manager andpresident of BLW SA DSJangpangi, BLW SA generalsecretary and Principal ChiefPersonnel Officer PK Singh,along with a large number ofother departmental officers,employees, Scouts / Guides,Railway Protection Force (RPF)personnel and others partici-pated. This cycle rally startedfrom Golf Course following theCOVID-19 guidelines and afterpassing through many areas inBLW premises culminated at
Cinema Hall complex.Meanwhile, rich tributes
were paid to Bharat Ratna DrBhim Rao Ambedkar on hisMahaparinirvana Diwas (deathanniversary) at a brief functionheld at the AdministrativeBuilding. Though the anniver-sary was on Sunday but due toholiday the function was heldon Monday. On the occasion,GM Anjali Goyal lit the lampto mark the inauguration of the
programme. She offered floraltributes to Baba Saheb at hisportrait. Then the other officersand employees of BLW alsooffered tributes.
JANMOTSAV OF KALBHAIRAV CELEBRATED:The rush of devotees was seenat Kal Bhaiarv temple on theauspicious occasion of BhairavAsthmi here on Monday whenthey celebrated the Janmotsav(birthday) of Lord Kal Bhairav
by cutting cake a big size ofcake made of five dry-fruitsand other items. Throughoutthe day, the rush of devoteeswas also seen at this famoustemple to have a ‘darshan’ of theAlmighty, known as ‘Kashi KeKotwal’ and offered prayerright from early morning to thenight hours.
According to the mem-bers of organising committee,they have been celebrating theJanmotsav of Baba Kal Bhairavfor last 14 years and heavy cakewas cut and later on, prasadwas distributed among devo-tees after the Aarti of Baba atnoon. The temple was decorat-ed on the occasion.
STREET PLAYSSTAGED: Angry with the ris-ing cases of violence againstwomen at home and workingplace as well, the artistes asso-ciated with Prenna Kala Manchon Monday staged street playsin rural areas to aware womenabout domestic violence.
detected in the district, increas-ing the total number of cases to19,768 on Monday. The daysaw two more deaths, increas-ing the toll to 322. During theday, the follow-up negativereports included 106 and out ofthem, 102 have been recoveredfrom home isolation, whilefour from the hospitals,increasing the number to15,817 and 2,879 respectively.The total number of patientswho have been recovered so faris 18,696, leaving 750 activecases. The recovery rate is94.57 per cent, while the mor-
tality rate is 1.62 per cent.Chief Medical Officer
(CMO) Dr VB Singh hasinformed that in the first reportof the day, 67 positive patientswere found out of 3,471 reportsreceived. Till then, the total testreports received were 4,47,422and the results of 3,278 areawaited. Out of them, 4,27,683were negative, while 19,739positive. The total number ofsamples collected was 4,67,735.Earlier, two females aged 75and 44 from Karaundi andNewada respectively suc-cumbed to COVID-19 at SirSundarlal Hospital, BanarasHindu University (SSH BHU).With the addition of two newred zones, the total number of
hotspots has increased to 2,535including 223 red zones. Fourgreen zones have been convert-ed into red zones again. Thereare 2,312 green zones withthree new ones.
Meanwhile, amidst thegood news being receivedabout the invention of vaccinefor COVID-19 soon, the casesin many parts have startedincreasing, once again, due tochanging weather conditions inthis belt of Purvanchal (easternUP) comprising 10 districts ofthree divisions. On Sunday,167 cases were found whichincluded 69 in Varanasi, 17each in Bhadohi and Mirzapur,15 in Ballia, 11 in Jaunpur, ninein Chandauli, eight each in
Sonbhadra and Mau, seven inAzamgarh and six in Ghazipur.The total number of cases hasincreased to 60,943 but therecovery rate has also improvedsharply as it is 94.84 %. Themaximum cases are in Varanasidivision (35,035) followed byAzamgarh (15,509) andVindhyachal (10,059) but thebest recovery rate is inAzamgarh (96.70%) followedby Varanasi (95.07%) andVindhyachal (94.40%). Thetotal number of death toll hasincreased to 911 and the mor-tality rate is 1.49% with high-est in Varanasi 1.53% (538deaths) followed by Azamgarh1.46% (227) and Vindhyachal1.45% (146).
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The body of a 45-year-old woman, SunainaDevi, wife of Moti Prajapati, a resident of
Rupaudha village under Adalhaat police station,was found along the railway track nearNarainpur market on Sunday. The police ofNarainpur outpost reached the spot and took thebody of the deceased into custody for completingthe legal formalities. In another incident,Sandeep (25), a resident of Judai village underAhraura police station, hanged himself from theceiling in a rented house in Hajipur village underAdalhaat police station on Sunday. On gettinginformation the police reached the spot, brokethe door, recovered the body, took it into cus-tody, completed the legal formalities andinformed his family. Meanwhile another reportsaid that an unknown aged 85-year-old man wasfound dead in Dabak village under Jamalpurpolice station on Sunday. On being informed thepolice reached the spot, took the body into cus-tody for completing the legal formalities and try-ing to ascertain the identity of the deceased.
ELECTROCUTED: Rudra Prasad (42),son of late Seeta Ram, a resident of Siddhi vil-lage under Padari police station, was electrocutedwhen he was operating his mono block pumpon Saturday. On being informed the policereached the spot and took the body into custodyfor completing the legal formalities. Meanwhile,Dharmendra (30), son of late Dukhran, a resi-dent of Hardi Mishra village under Lalganj policestation, lost his life in Harihara village onMirzapur- Sonbhadra road under Madihanpolice station when he fell down from his trac-tor on Saturday.The police reached the spot and
took the body into custody for completing thelegal formalities.
INSPECTED: DM Susheel Kumar Patel hasdirected the district horticulture officer to pro-mote poly house, farming of dragon fruit andbanana to enhance the income of farmers. Suchdirection was given by the DM during theinspection of a poly house located at Nuaanv vil-lage under city block on Sunday. The DM sawthe cucumber in bunches there. About dragonfruit, owner of the farm house, Gyan PrakashDubey, said that it ensured earning for 20-25years and its farming was more lucrative thantraditional one. During the visit of the DMYogendra Singh, a progressive farmer ofKhanpur village under Seekhad block, demon-strated a different type of moringa which notonly was useful for health but also a means toearn a lot. The DM told the farmers to train oth-ers too. He directed the DHO to make the farm-ers aware about such modern type of farmingand provide government facilities.
CERTIFICATES DISTRIBUTED:Chairman Nagar Palika Parishad (NPP) ManojJaiswal stressed on sportsman spirit in games.These views were expressed by him during theconcluding ceremony of taekwondo tournamentorganised at the temple of Bawanbeer locatednear Ojhala bridge in the city on Sunday.Speaking as the chief guest he urged the play-ers to work hard and make not only their fam-ily but the nation proud too. He promised theorganisers to provide the kit to the players andassured to make available the place for propertraining.The function concluded with the dis-tribution of the certificates to the participantswho had secured places in the tournament.
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The railway administration for the conve-nience of passengers will run two pairs of
additional special trains. All coaches in thesetrains will be of reserved category and passen-gers travelling in them will have to follow theCovid-19 guidelines, CPRO PK Singh said.
The 03125 Kolkata-Ghazipur City weeklyspecial train will from December 17 until furtherorder leave Kolkata at 22.45 hrs every Thursday,the next day Barddhaman at 00.06 hrs, Durgapurat 00.58 hrs, Asansol at 01.36 hrs, Dhanbad at 02.55hrs, Gaya at 06:00 hrs, Pandit Deendayal UpadhyayJn at 09:00 hrs, Varanasi at 10.30 hrs and reachGhazipur City at 12.25 hrs. During the return jour-ney the 03126 Ghazipur City-Kolkata weekly spe-cial from December 18 till further order everyFriday leave Ghazipur City at 23.20 hrs, the secondday Varanasi at 01.10 hrs, Pandit DeendayalUpadhyay Jn at 02.35 hrs, Gaya at 04.50 hrs, Dhanbadat 08:45 hours, Asansol at 09.59 hrs, Durgapur at10.27 hrs, Barddhaman at 11.23 hrs and reachKolkata at 13.05 hrs. A total of 19 coaches, includ-
ing two of generator-cum-luggage van, six of gen-eral second, seven of sleeper and three of AC thirdand one of AC second class will be attached inthe rake composition of this train. Meanwhile the03121 Kolkata-Ghazipur City weekly special willfrom December 13 till further order everySunday leave Kolkata at 20.05 hrs, Durgapur at22.13 hrs, Asansol at 22.49 hrs, Madhupur at 23.57hrs, on the second day Jasidih at 00.24 hrs, Jhajhaat 01:50 hrs, Kiul at 02.35 hrs, Hathidah at 03.02 hrs,Bakhtiyarpur at 03.52 hrs, Patna at 05.05 hrs,Pataliputra at 05.45 hrs, Dighwara at 06.37 hrs,Chhapra at 07.45 hrs, Ballia at 08.50 hrs and will reachGhazipur City at 10.30 hrs. During the return jour-ney, 03122 Ghazipur City-Kolkata weekly special willfrom December 14 till further order leave GhazipurCity every Monday at 13.55 hrs, Ballia at 14.55 hrs,Chhapra at 16.50 hrs Dighwara at 17.43 hrs,Pataliputra at 19.25 hrs, Patna at 20.05 hrs,Bakhtiyarpur at 20.57 hrs, Hathidah at 21.36 hrs, Kiulat 22.15 hrs, Jhajha at 23.45 hrs, the second day Jasidihat 00.17 hrs, Madhupur at 00.44 hrs, Asansol at 02.01hrs, Durgapur at 02.31 hrs and reach Kolkata at 05.15hrs. A total of 19 coaches will be attached in the train.
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The railway administration has revised the tim-ings of special trains being run for the con-
venience of passengers as per the new timetable.As a result the following special trains are beingrun as per the revised time. Therefore, the pas-sengers are requested to know about the revisedtimetable of the trains at the time of reservationor before travelling in order to avoid inconve-nience. All coaches in the trains will be ofreserved category and passengers travelling inthem will have to follow the Covid-19 guide-lines, CPRO PK Singh said.
SECUNDERABAD-DANAPUR SPL: The02791 Secunderabad-Danapur daily specialaccording to the revised schedule from December5 will leave Secunderabad at 09.25 hrs, Kazipetat 11.27 hrs, Peddapalli at 12.28 hrs, Ramagundamat 12.40 hrs Manchiryal at 12.55 hrs, Bellampalliat 13.10 hrs, Sirpur Kagaznagar at 13.40 hrs,Balharshah at 15.20 hrs, Chandrapur at 15.40 hrs,Sevagram at 17.07 hrs, Nagpur at 18.25 hrs, Katolat 19.15 hrs, Betul at 21.10 hrs, Ghoradongri at21.51 hrs, Itarsi at 23.45 hrs, on the second dayJabalpur at 03.15 hrs, Katni at 04.35 hrs, Satna at06.00 hrs, Prayagraj Junction at 10.20 hrs,Prayagraj Rambagh at 10.37 hrs, Gyanpur Roadat 11.54 hrs, Bhulanpur at 12.50 hrs, Varanasi at13.40 hrs, Pt Deendayal Upadhyay Jn at 15.00hrs, Dildarnagar at 15:48 hrs, Buxar at 16.15 hrs,Ara at 17.00 hrs and reach Danapur at 18.00hrs. During the return journey 02792 Danapur-Secunderabad daily special will from December7 leave Danapur at 12.15 hrs, Ara at 12.47 hrs,Buxar at 13.40 hrs, Dildarnagar at 14.07 hrs, PtDeendayal Upadhyay Jn at 15.55 hrs, Varanasiat 17.00 hrs, Bhulanpur at 17.14 hrs, GyanpurRoad at 17.58 hrs, Prayagraj Rambagh at 19.28 hrs,Prayagraj Jn at 20.05 hrs, Satna at 23.20 hrs, thesecond day Katni at 00.45 hrs, Jabalpur at 02.15hrs, Itarsi at 05.50 hrs, Ghoradongri at 06.50 hrs,Betul at 07.34 hrs, Nagpur at 11.05 hrs, Sevagramat 12.05 hrs, Chandrapur at 13.33 hrs, Balharshah at15.05 hrs, Sirpur Kagaznagar at 15.52 hrs, Bellampalliat 16.21 hrs, Manchiryal at 16.42 hrs, Ramagundamat 16.59 hrs, Peddapalli at 17.15 hrs, Kazipet at 18.25hrs and reach Secunderabad at 21.30 hrs. Currentlyin the rake composition of this train a total of 24coaches, including two of SLR, two of general sec-
ond class, 13 of sleeper, four of AC IIIrd, two of ACIInd and one of pantry car, are being attached. In02791 Secunderabad-Danapur special fromDecember 10 from Secunderabad and in 02792Danapur-Secunderabad special from Danapurfrom December 12 a total of 22 coaches, one ofgenerator-cum-luggage van, two of generalIInd class, 11 of sleeper and four of AC IIIrd,two of AC IInd, one pantry car and one coachof SLRD will be attached.
SURAT-CHHAPRA SPL: The 09045 Surat-Chhapra special as per the revised time tableDecember 2 will leave Surat at 10.10 hrs, Udhnaat 10.13 hrs, Vyara at 11.01 hrs, Navapur at 11.36hrs, Nandurbar at 12.35 hrs, Dondaicha at 13.19hrs, Sindkheda at 13.27 hrs, Amalner at 14.06hrs, Jalgaon at 15.15 hrs, Bhusaval at 15.45 hrs,Raver at 16.25 hrs, Burhanpur at 16.40 hrs,Khandwa at 17.50 hrs, Harda at 19.04 hrs, Itarsiat 20.25 hrs , Pipariya at 21.25 hrs, Jabalpur onsecond day at 00.20 hrs, Katni at 01.55 hrs, Satnaat 03.30 hrs, Manikpur at 04.55 hrs, Shankargarhat 05.50 hrs, Prayagraj Chheoki at 06.40 hrs,Vindhyachal at 07.35 hrs, Mirzapur at 07.50 hrs,Chunar at 08.22 hrs, Kashi at 10.23 hrs,Varanasi at 10.50 hrs, Jaunpur at 11.52 hrs,Shahganj at 13.05 hrs, Azamgarh at 13.57 hrs,Muhammabad at 14.17 hrs, Mau at 14.50 hrs,Rasra at 15.31 hrs, Ballia at 16.25 hrs,Suraimanpur at 16.59 hrs and reach Chhapra at18.35 hrs. During the return journey 09046Chhapra-Surat special from December 6 willleave Chhapra at 09.00 hours, Suraimanpur atat 09.36 hrs, Ballia at 10.25 hrs, Rasra at 11.07hrs, Mau at 11.50 hrs, Muhammadabad at 12.11hrs, Azamgarh at 12.36 hrs, Shahganj at 14.00hrs, Jaunpur at 14.35 hrs, Varanasi at 16.35 hrs,Kashi at 16.45 hrs, Chunar at 17.00 hrs,Mirzapur at 17.28 hrs, Vindhyachal at 17.42 hrs,Prayagraj Chheoki at 19.05 hrs, Shankargarh at19.44 hrs, Manikpur at 21.15 hrs, Satna at 22.20hrs, Katni at 23.40 hrs, Jabalpur on second dayat 01.15 hrs, Pipariya at 03.20 hrs, Itarsi at 05.00hrs, Harda at 05.54 hrs, Khandwa at 07.52 hrs,Burhanpur at 08.45 hrs, Raver at 09.05 hrs,Bhusaval at 09.55 hrs, Jalgaon at 10.35 hrs,Amalner at 11.40 hrs, Sindkheda at 12.17 hrs,Dondaicha at 12.36 hrs, Nandurbar at 13.17 hrs,Nawapur at 14.04 hrs, Vyara at 14.42 hrs, Udhnaat 15.41 hrs and reach Surat at 16.10 hrs.
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The Carpet ExportPromotion Council (CEPC)
convened a meeting with promi-nent member-exporters throughvideo-conferencing recently. It wasattended by Prof Rakesh MohanJoshi, project leader, and Dr PoojaLakhanpal, Associate Professor,IIFT. CEPC Chairman SiddhNath Singh, second vice-chairman,CEPC Umer Hameed, members,COA, CEPC, Umesh KumarGupta, Sandeep Kataria, HusainJafar Husaini, Sanjay Gupta andExecutive Director, CEPC, SanjayKumar, attended the meeting.Prominent industry representativesi.e. Vinay Kapoor, AslamMahboob, Rajkumar Bothra, VPGupta and Alpa Mewawala werealso present in it. In his open-ing remarks Chairman Siddh
Nath Singh said after Covid-19the business scenario has total-ly changed and we have to main-tain a balance between the vir-tual and physical activities forproper growth of the indus-try. He said handmade car-pet industry is rural-basedcottage industry which ishighly labour intensive and dueto the special nature the require-ments are to remove the restrictionof developed and non-develop-ment countries for providing hos-pitality to buyers, to increase thelimit of participation of membersin overseas activities from threetimes to five, to increase the granton overseas publicity toexporters from present five percent to 20 per cent, governmentshould support the industry forsending small delegation consist-ing of three to five members for
evaluating and exploring thepotential of new markets etc.Some members requested forspecial funding for preparing adetailed documentary on manu-facturing process to educate theend consumers and its telecast inoverseas market, grant/subsidy onfreight of exhibition goods andgrant/ subsidy on e-commerce.Prof Rakesh Mohan Joshi and DrPooja Lakhanpal requested themembers to submit their sugges-tions in the questionnaire at theearliest to enable them to submittheir recommendations to the gov-ernment. Siddh Nath Singhrequested the members for supportand cooperation in submittingtheir suggestion to the Council ontesting facilities in Indian Institute ofCarpet Technology (IICT),Bhadohi, and suggestions for thenew five-year Foreign Trade Policy.
cases on Monday evening.Chief Medical Officer Dr AnilK Mishra said that 65 morepeople had tested positive forcoronavirus infection betweenSunday evening and Mondayevening taking the tally ofconfirmed cases to 31,147cases. He said that no patientwas discharged from hospital.He said two COVID-19deaths in the city were report-ed till Monday evening keep-ing the death toll to 795. TheCMO said at present 903active cases were undergoingtreatment. Dr Mishra said3990 samples were sent fortesting in the city.
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Hundreds of SamajwadiParty workers were arrest-
ed for taking out a processionin violation of the prohibitoryorders in place in the city.
The SP workers and lead-ers holding placards, postersand banners shouted anti-Narendra Modi governmentslogans as they marched,demanding that the “anti-farmer laws” be rolled back andthe farmers be given minimumsupport price for cane, paddyand wheat. They were inter-cepted by the police at GreenPark Stadium
The SP workers allegedthat the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Partyat the Centre was acting in Nazipattern and demanded theunconditional release of theparty president, Akhilesh SinghYadav who stood up against theDraconian laws.
Addressing the party work-ers later, SP city presidentImran said on the directive ofthe Centre and the state gov-ernment, Akhilesh Yadav hadbeen arrested and the partystrongly condemned the auto-cratic and high-handed attitudeof the government.
He warned the govern-
ment to immediately mend itsanti-farmer and anti-peopleattitude or be ready to face amassive agitation.
He said if the strong armtactics of the government con-tinued, the farmers would beforced to withdraw complete-ly from agriculture.
He said the farm marketinglegislations had been preparedat the behest of the multina-tional companies as they wereplanning to force farmers to sellof their produce on throwawayprices so that they could bebenefited.
Imran said today capital-ism had become dominant and
the government was trying tosuppress the voice of the farm-ers. He said what could bemore shameful was that thefarmers and people of thecountry demanding their rightswere being latchicharged offired at.
He said if the SP presidentwas not released immediately,the party workers would take toviolent means of protest.
Prominent among theleaders present were SamajwadiYuvjan Sabha state presidentArvind Giri, Abhishek Gupta,Subhash Dwivedi, Ajai Yadav,Varun Mishra and Abdul MoinKhan.
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Kanpur DivisionalCommissioner Raj
Shekhar, while chairing thefirst meeting of Ganga BarrageArea Development Committeefor the development of GangaBarrage area on Monday, saidthe first and foremost benefit ofthe Ganga Barrage was that ithad successfully diverted themainstream towards KanpurNagar.
He said on the one handthe ghats had been revived andon the other, a special area hademerged which could devel-oped as the new Kanpur andvarious departments had start-ed working in the direction.
The divisional commis-sioner said the main develop-ment works to be taken up inthis area included Lucknowand Mandhana link road,Botanical garden, Atal Ghat,Boat Club and link roadbetween Barrage and CompanyBagh.
He said an exclusive areahad emerged which could besuccessfully developed as res-idential area, variance area onthe banks, water sports andtourist development.
He said the special andmain entry point to this newcity had been constructed butit was observed that land sharkswere encroaching upon thegovernment land and plottingillegally and this need to benipped in the bud before it wastoo late.
The divisional commis-sioner said it was the right timeto ensure that the work wastaken up seriously and metic-ulously so that it could bebenefited through the variousprovisional plans of the stategovernment and the Centre. Heasked all the departments con-cerned to work in perfect coor-dination so that the benefits tothese scheme could be availedof.
He said apart from this, theNational Green Tribunal’sdirectives need to be followedin the right earnest and all theillegal activities should bestopped with an iron hand.
The divisional commis-sioner said in the past meeting
of the Kanpur DevelopmentAuthority, it had been decidedthat the Ganga Barrage areawould be demarcated andnamed the Ganga BarrageDevelopment Area. He advisedthat single window monitor-ing and a special committee beset up on priority.
Shekhar directed theIrrigation department todemarcate the area in thenext 15 days and prepare theplan .
He asked the KDA VC,Irrigation department and thepolice to set up a special teamand identify all the illegal activ-ities going on and take legalaction on top priority.
The divisional commis-
sioner said all the schemeswhich had already been com-pleted and the ones whichwere still proposed be compiledin a booklet form and the offi-cials work out a plan for furtherdevelopment keeping in mindentertainment and tourismaspects.
He said the heavy vehicles,barring buses, be stopped onthis route as they were damag-ing the barrage.
Prominent among thosewho took part in the meetingincluded the KDA ViceChairman and secretary,Kanpur municipal commis-sioner, ADM (City) and ADM(Finance), district police chiefand RTO.
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Under the aegis of VishwaHindu Parishad (VHP)
and Bajrang Dal, Shaurya Divascelebrations were organisedwith fanfare in the city onSunday.
Speaking on the occasion,former district convenor ofBajrang Dal and VHP mediaincharge Satish Bajpai said,“We had been celebrating theevent for the past 28 years. Butthe Shaurya Diwas of this yearbecomes a special event as theconstruction of Ram Temple inAyodhya has started. It wouldnot have been possible hadthousands of karsewaks notdemolished the disputed BabriMosque on December 6, 1992.”.
Satish Bajpai was presenton the Ram Janmabhoomicampus along with hundreds ofparty activists when the dis-puted structure was demol-ished.
Former national convenorof Bajrang Dal, Prakash
Sharma, was also extended arousing welcome.
He was one of the 52accused who faced trial fordemolition of the dispute struc-ture. All the accused were
acquitted by the court whichpronounced its verdict onOctober 1 this year. He alsoaddressed the meeting.
Prominent activists pre-sent in the programme includ-
ed Somnath Tewari, VirendraSingh, Rajesh Tripathi, AdityaShukla, Chandra ShekharPandey, Manu Awasthiand Deepak Sharma (corpora-tor).
KANPUR (PNS): The IndianMedical Association’s Kanpurbranch has expressed concernover the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government tryingto force upon mixopathy andkhichdification and has decid-ed to vociferously protest thismove.
The protest move will bepart of the nation-wide move-ment form Tuesday.
The IMA has decided thatfrom December 11 onward, themedical fraternity would keepthe non-essential and non-Covid services paralysed allover the country.
The IMA-K said in KanpurNagar, all the doctors wouldkeep the clinics, pathologies,nursing homes and hospitalsclosed between 12.00 noonand 2.00 pm in protest againsthe Centre’s move..
Addressing press persons,IMA-K president Dr NeelamMishra and secretary DineshSachan said from timesimmemorial, the pattern ofallopathic mode of treatmenthad been saving millions oflives and it was based on exten-sive research work.
They said the allopathictreatment was based on factand it was a fact that allopath-ic medicines provides imme-diate relief as soon as con-sumed. They said the IMA sup-ported this mode of treatmentand condemned the placebotreatment.
The IMA-K leaders saidthis mode of treatment hadbeen successfully producingnew effective medicines andvaccines after deep research.
They said even theCOVID-19 vaccine which hadhit the markets were meticu-lous research of doctors andthere was no doubt that allo-pathic treatment was success-ful and valid across thewhole world and this was onaccount of being genuine andeffective.
They said the governmentmove to replace allopathy withmixopathy would pose a bigthreat to human life and thusthe IMA strongly condemnedthe khichdification and warnsthat if the demands were notmet with, they would be forcedto give further momentum totheir agitation.
They hoped the govern-ment would reconsider itsstand.
Dr Mishra said treatmentcould not be the privilege of therich and thus it had to be keptgenuine and affordable. Shesaid on account of the exper-tise in medical science andaffordability, India hademerged as the best destinationfor medical tourism.
She said thus in the currentmode of treatment, qualitativeimprovement and uplift beintroduced.
Those present included DrSK Mishra, Dr ArchanaBhadauria, Dr Pravin Katiyarand many more.
KANPUR (PNS): IndianInstitute of Technology,Kanpur, Prof Sandeep Shuklawhile addressing an induc-tion-cum-orientation session atAllen House Institute ofTechnology on Monday said inthe present times the amountof data that was generated byboth humans and machines faroutpaced humans’ ability toabsorb, interpret and makecomplex decisions based onthat data. He said artificialintelligence formed the basisfor all computer learning and
was the future of all complexdecision-making. He said arti-ficial intelligence (AI) was nolonger just contained in sciencefiction films but it was increas-ingly becoming a significantpart of our everyday lives.
He said it was expectedthat the growth of AI in edu-cation would be massive. Hesaid it could help automategrading and with AI, the roleof grader could be passedalong. He added that currentAI technology was already ableto automate grading of multi-
ple choice materials, but as AIdeveloped and became moreintelligent, it was expected thatthe technology would one daybe able to grade more thanstandardised assessments.
Discussing teaching, hesaid in addition AI would beproviding support for teachersin other ways. He said some ofthe routine tasks could bemanaged by AI, as well ascommunication with studentslike one college professor suc-cessfully using an AI chatbot tocommunicate with students as
a teaching assistant all semes-ter without students knowingthey were not talking to ahuman. He said in future thestudents would have an AIlifelong learning companion.He said the next generation stu-dents would grow up with anAI companion that know theirpersonal history and schoolhistory and therefore, it wouldknow each student’s individualstrengths and weaknesses. Hesaid AI will also be able to helpstudents with special needs byadapting materials to lead them
to success. Prof Shukla said it took on
more of a teaching role by pro-viding students with basicinformation, it would changethe role of teachers in theclassroom. He said teacherswould move into the role ofclassroom facilitator or learn-ing motivator.
Others present were DrSwapnil Tripathi, Dr DeepikaPrasad, Dr Atul Agnihotri,Prof Kandesh Balani, DrBhagwan Jagwani and manymore.
earlier argued in the top courtthat the project would “savemoney” which is paid as rentfor housing central govern-ment ministries in the nation-al capital. Mehta had submittedthat the decision to have a newparliament building has notbeen taken in a haste and nolaw or norms have been violat-ed in any manner for the pro-ject. The Centre had also saidthere was no arbitrariness orfavouritism in selecting consul-tant for the project and theargument that the governmentcould have adopted a betterprocess cannot be a ground toscrap the project.
Gujarat-based architecturefirm HCP Designs has won theconsultancy bid for the projectto redevelop the Central Vista.
The top court is hearingseveral pleas on the issue,including the one filed byactivist Rajeev Suri, againstvarious permissions given tothe project by authoritiesincluding the nod to change ofland use. Earlier, the apex courthad said that any change at theground level made by author-ities for the Central Vista pro-ject will be “at their own risk”.
It had made it clear that thefate of the project, whichincludes several new govern-ment buildings and a newParliament House, will dependon its decision.
The pleas have also chal-lenged the grant of a no-objec-tion certificate by the CentralVista Committee (CVC) andalso the environmental clear-ances for the construction of anew parliament house building.
One of the pleas was filedagainst a Delhi High Courtorder which had said the DelhiDevelopment Authority (DDA)was not required to apprise itbefore notifying changes inthe Master Plan to allow theCentral Vista project.
The division bench of the
Delhi High Court had onFebruary 28 stayed an order ofits single judge bench whichhad asked the DDA toapproach the court before noti-fying any change in the MasterPlan for going forth with theCentre’s ambitious project toredevelop the Central Vista.
The stay order of the highcourt on the single judgebench’s February 11 directionhad come on the intra-courtappeal of the DDA and theCentre. The petitioners beforethe high court had opposed theCentral Vista project on theground that it involves a changein land use of the green areaadjoining Rajpath and VijayChowk for building newParliament and governmentoffices. PTI
�����������'''The NCP leader said that
the Centre would not givefinancial help unless reformswere implemented in the farmsector, Prasad maintained.
To rubbish Oppositionprotests on farm reform Bills,the Union Law Minister said SPleader Mulayam Singh Yadavwas in the standing committeeon the agriculture whose reporthad said, “ Farmers be freedfrom the trap of the mandi sys-tem”. Prasad said nine years agothe Planning Commission hadrecommended that the Centremay enact Inter-State ProduceRegulation Act. “Then SP, RJD,CPI, CPI(M), all were support-ing the Congress-led-UPAGovernment”, he said.
The BJP leader said duringthe Manmohan SinghGovernment from 2007 to2012 , all the Congress-ruledGovernment in AndhraPradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh,Goa, Himachal Pradesh,Karnataka, Maharashtra,Mizoram and Madhya Pradeshwere running “contact farm-ing”. As for Swaraj Party leaderYogendra Yadav “supportingfarmers”, he said the same
leader was castigating ModiGovernment for allegedly“washing its hands of on fram-ing the Mandi Act”.
On Delhi CM ArvindKejriwal’s backing to the farm-ers’ agitation, Prasad said theDelhi CM had notified the newlaw in the State on November23, 2020.
The Minister said thoughagitating farmers are saying “noto political parties”, they are still“jumping into the anti-Modibandwagon”.
������0�������0��'''Meanwhile, the Delhi
Police has made elaboratearrangements to ensure normalmovement of people on roadsfor the proposed Bharat Bandh.
Police on Tuesday alsowarned that strict action will betaken against those trying todisrupt movement of people or“forcefully” shutting shops.
“The Delhi Police has alsoissued a traffic advisory forsmooth movement of vehiclesand commuters. Anybody whotries to disrupt normal move-ment, life or forcefully closesshops will be strongly dealtwith, as per the law,” said theDelhi Police PRO.
Gopal Rai, the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) leader and DelhiMinister on Monday said theAAP will hold a peacefuldemonstration in Delhi onTuesday in support of theBharat Bandh.
“The AAP will hold apeaceful demonstration onDecember 8 in support of theBharat Bandh called by thefarmers at 11 am at the ITOcrossing of Delhi,” said Rai.
Thousands of farmers,mostly from Punjab, Haryanaand Uttar Pradesh, are protest-ing at various border points ofDelhi against the new farmlaws. Several rounds of talksbetween the Centre and farm-ers have failed to break thedeadlock.
Dallewala said the bandh
will be effective across thecountry. “The ModiGovernment will have to acceptour demands. We want noth-ing less than withdrawal of thenew farm laws,” farmer leaderBalbir Singh Rajewal said.
������%�������'''Refraining from formally
announcing the recovery of thepilot’s body, they said aerialsearch by maritime reconnais-sance aircraft and helicoptersorties amounting to 270 hourswere undertaken.
In addition to nine war-ships and 14 aircraft engaged inthe search efforts, the Navy’sFast Interceptor Craft werealso deployed to search watersalong the coast.
This was the third mishapinvolving the MIG-29K in thelast one and half years. Atleast 45 jets manufactured byRussia were inducted into theNavy some years back for fly-ing from the aircraft carrier.
In February this year, aMiG-29K crashed after beinghit by birds over Goa. Bothpilots had steered the jet awayfrom habitation before ejecting.
In November last year, aMiG-29K trainer aircraftcrashed outside a village inGoa. Both the pilots had thenejected safely. In January 2018,a fighter jet crashed as it veeredoff the runaway at the INSHansa base in Goa. The pilotescaped unharmed. The MIG-29Ks of the Navy are based atits base in Goa and operatefrom the lone aircraft carrierINS Vikramaditya.
The MIG-29Ks had recent-ly participated in the presti-gious Malabar series of mar-itime exercises with the naviesof the US, Australia and Japan.The Indian aircraft carrieralong with the US Navy’s air-craft carrier Nimitz took partin the second phase of the fournation drill in the NorthArabian Sea off Goa earlier thismonth.
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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on
Monday slammed the BJP,CPI(M) and the Congress forteaming up to bring down herTrinamool CongressGovernment.
Calling the BJP a party of“Bhakshak” (predator) CPI(M)a “Rakshak” (facilitator ofBJP) and Congress a“Takshak” (snake) she saidthat she would never let theseparties to conspire and let thesaffron outfit capture Bengaland make it an anarchic statelike Gujarat. “Remember wewill not let BJP make Bengala Gujarat. We will not let yougive rise to riots here,” she said.
Stopping short of askingPrime Minister Narendra
Modi to resign his post theChief Minister said the BJPGovernment was tormentingthe people from all sides andall walks of life adding thefarm laws were the last in theline of its oppressive legisla-tion. She said BJP Government“should immediately repealthe triple laws or resign frompower,” adding “it had noright to remain in power aftersacrificing the rights of the farmers.”
Reminding the people ofher struggle at Singur andNadigram and her 26-dayhunger strike Banerjee said, “Ihave not forgotten Singur, Ihave not forgotten Nandigram.I have full support to farmers,”adding she had full support forthe farmers’ “causes.”
Asking the people of
Bengal not to fall in the trapof the “outsiders” (read thenational leaders whom theBJP was bringing to Bengal)Banerjee called the BJP a“party of outsiders” adding shewould “never allow the saffroncamp of outsiders to take con-trol of Bengal” and urged thepeople to resist any suchattempt by the outsiders.
Taking a jibe at the lead-ers of her party who were intouch with the BJP she saidBJP was a “big identity card”showing which it was “break-ing other parties.” There werepeople who were black-mail-ing her ahead of the electionsbut she would never succumbto such blackmailing, she saidin an apparent reference torecent alienation of powerful
party satrap SuvenduAdhikari.
Incidentally neitherAdhikari who recentlyresigned from his Cabinetpost, his father and formerUnion Minister Sisir Adhikariand younger brotherDibyendu both TMC MPs toowere not to be seen in theChief Minister’s function.
Though she would notname anyone she made appar-ent references of the “black-mailers and deserters” shesaid “in 2021, we will definite-ly come back to power…. Irequest you all not to supportwho killed Gandhiji,” andappealing to party men whowere in two minds not toconspire against the party andsuccumb under pressure (ofthe BJP.)
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The NCP on Monday hit out at the BJPfor “misquoting & spreading fake
information” about Shri Sharad PawarSaheb on letter by its party chief and thenUnion Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawarto then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshitand Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj SinghChouhan on the need to amend theAgricultural Produce MarketingCommittee (APMC) Act to encourage pri-vate sector to provide alternative market-ing channels .
Slamming the BJP for its “question-able” effort to portray on social media thatits chief wanted to promote privatisationwhen the fact remained that the latter triedto build a broad consensus APMCs invit-ing suggestions for the implementation ofthe enacted legislation. In a statementissued here, NCP’s chief spokespersonMahesh Tapase said: “The model APMCact 2003 was introduced by the VajpayeeGovt. However many state governmentswere reluctant to implement it at that pointof time. Shri Sharad Pawar Saheb afterassuming charge as the Union AgricultureMinister tried to form a broader consen-sus amongst State Agriculture Marketing
Boards by inviting suggestions for theimplementation of the said act.
“The benefit of farmers as per themodel APMC act was explained to vari-ous state governments and many state gov-ernments came forward to implement thesame,” Tapse said.
“Till date the farmers across the coun-try are benefitting from the implementa-tion of the said act which was fine tunedby Shri Sharad Pawar Saheb to protect theinterest of the farmers of the country,” theNCP spokesperson said.
The NCP spokesperson charged thatthe new farm bill introduced by the Modigovernment during the previous session ofthe Parliament had raised several “doubtsand insecurity” in the minds of the farm-ers regarding MSP and other issues “whichthe incumbent government has failed toaddress thereby leading to large scaleprotests & agitation by the farmers of thecountry”.
“The Modi government could notform a broader consensus and has failedto satisfy legitimate apprehensions of thefarmers and the entire Opposition,” Tapasesaid. The NCP spokesperson accused theBJP of spread “misinformation” about theletters written by Pawar to Delhi chief min-
ister Sheila Dikshit and Madhya PradeshCM Shivraj Singh Chouhan when he wasthe then Union Agriculture Minister to
“The BJP now having learnt about theNCP backing the Bharat Bandh and alsoabout the proposed meeting of PawarSaheb with the President has now startedits game of spreading misinformation. Weknew that they would resort to such tac-tics and hence we were prepared,” Tapasesaid. In his letter to Mrs Dikshit, Pawar hadsaid that the agriculture sector needs well-functioning markets to drive growth,employment and economic prosperity inthe rural area of the country.
“This requires huge investments inmarketing infrastructure including cold-chain. And for this, private sector partic-ipation is essential, for which an appropri-ate regulatory and policy environmentneeds to be in place. In this context, theneed to amend the present State APMCAct...,” Pawar had stated.
In a letter on similar lines to Mr ShivrajSingh Chouhan, Pawar had stressed on theneed for investments in post-harvest andmarketing infrastructure from the farmgate to the consumer. “The private sectorneeds to play an important role in thisregard,” he had stated.
After various unions andassociations of cab drivers
and mandi traders decided tojoin the Bharat Bandh strikecalled by farmers’ unionsdemanding the repeal ofCentre’s three farm laws, thereare fears that transport facilitiesand supplies of essentials likevegetables and fruits are likelyto be hit in Delhi on Tuesday.
Some of the taxi and cabunions, including those associ-ated with app-based aggrega-tors, have decided to join theone-day strike.
The work at major whole-sale vegetable and fruit marketsis likely to be hampered with asection of traders favouring thefarmers’ demands.
“I have received calls fromseveral traders’ associations forstrike on Tuesday. I believe the
mandis at Ghazipur, Okhlaand Narela will also be closeddue to Bharat Bandh called byfarmers,” Adil Khan, chairmanof Azadapur Mandi, said.
He said he personally hasappealed to people from allwalks of life to support thefarmers who feed the country.
The chairman of Ghazipurwholesale mandi for vegetables,fruits and poultry and meatsaid many traders’ associationin the market has said they willjoin the strike.
Kamaljeet Gill, president ofSarvodaya Driver Associationof Delhi, comprising driversworking with cab aggregators,said drivers will not run theircabs associated with Ola, Uberand other app-based aggrega-tors on the day.
President of Delhi TaxiTourist Transporters’Association Sanjay Samrat, ina statement, said several unionsincluding Delhi State TaxiCooperative Society andKaumi Ekta WelfareAssociation will join the strike.
However, many other autoand taxi unions have decided tocontinue normal servicesdespite their support todemands raised by the agitat-ing farmers.
Rajender Soni, general sec-retary of Delhi Auto RikshawSangh, and Delhi Pradesh TaxiUnion said “important” auto,taxi and last-mile vehicle dri-
ver unions will not join thestrike.
Chandu Chaurasia, vicepresident of Capital DriverWelfare Association, said thedemands of farmers need to bemet by the Government but itshould not be achieved bycausing inconvenience to ordi-nary people.
Confederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT) and All IndiaTransport Welfare Association(AITWA), in a joint statement,said trade and transport sectorwill function normally despitethe Bharat Bandh call.
“No farmer body has con-tacted us or sought our supportwith regard to Bharat Bandh.So trade and transport servicewill continue normally in Delhiand other parts of the country,”the statement said.
The Delhi Police has madeadequate arrangements toensure normal movement ofpeople on roads during theproposed Bharat Bandh, anofficial statement.
A traffic advisory has beenissued for the smooth move-ment of vehicles. Anybodywho tries to disrupt normalmovement or forcefully closesshops will be strongly dealtwith as per law, it said.
The Delhi Police has madean appeal that the normal lifeof common citizens and resi-dents of the city should not bedisrupted.
New Delhi (PTI): The DelhiHigh Court Monday soughtresponse from the police on aplea by JNU student and PinjraTod activist Devangana Kalita,accused in a case related tonortheast Delhi riots inFebruary, seeking copies ofvideos of protests against theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA). Justice Suresh KumarKait issued notice and askedDelhi Police to file status reportin the case and listed the mat-ter for further hearing onJanuary 7, 2021. Kalita, in herplea filed through advocatesAdit S Pujari, Tusharika Mattooand Kunal Negi, has soughtcopies of videos of protestsagainst the CAA and otherelectronic data available withthe police in the matter thatwere filed along with the chargesheet in the case.
KOCHI: The research article“Love Jehad: Loving forReligion” authored by SGurumurthy in which heproved that love marriages arebeing used for Islamization ofnon-Islamic nations has givenrise to a call by a senior RSS ide-ologue in Kerala for close coop-eration between Hindus andChristians.
“While Love Jehad is areality and is an ingredient forIslamization of non-Islamiccountries, the same could notbe said about Christianitywhich has been always in syn-chronization with civil rights,democracy and personal free-dom. It is time for the spiritu-al leaders of Hinduism andChristianity to work togetherfor minimizing the impact ofLove Jehad, so as to bringdown the intensity of religiousfanaticism,” said K RUmakanthan, managing editor,Janmabhumi, the RSS mouth-piece.
Umakanthan’s take hasbeen widely welcomed by theChristian Church which itself isat the receiving end of LoveJihad in the state of Kerala.Christian Association for SocialAction, un umbrella organiza-
tion of major Church sectshave been alerting the Centre aswell as State Governmentsthat Christian girls are beingsubjected to Love Jehad as wellas sending them away to fightas jihadis in Islamic State. “Situation is really graveand beyond all expectations,”said K T Thomas, formerSupreme Court judge. He saidhe was all praise for the legis-lation enacted by the UttarPradesh Government banningLove Jihad as well as LoveMarriage for Islamization.
“There are certain formal-ities to be observed when aMuslim man marries a non-Muslim woman. The same isthe case with all kinds of inter-religious marriages. Provisionsof the Special Marriage Actshould be observed and fol-lowed diligently and no com-promise should be made on thisissue,” said Justice Thomas,known for his uncompromisingstance on laws andConstitution.
Gurumurthy in his researchpaper, with input collectedfrom Kerala, Tamil Nadu andeven from studies held byHarvard University has warnedof the dangerous trend of com-
munal polarization as a resultof Love Jehad. “There are hun-dreds of instances of familiesgetting destroyed and commu-nities getting polarized. The sit-uation is deadly and explosive,”writes Gurumurthy. He hasquoted the studies by ProfPhilippe Fargues, sociologistand demographer of theEuropean University Institute,who through his pathbreakingresearch established howIslamic nations have beenIslamising through love andmarriage. “They had used coer-cion in the remote past. Rightnow they use love as a tool,” saidProf Fargues. This is not thefirst time a call for close coop-eration between Christian andHindu religions has been made,pointed out T G Mohandas,RSS ideologue. “Prof JosephPulikkunnel, the chief editor oftheological magazine was alivehe had held discussions withRSS leaders. But the suddendemise of Prof Pulikkunnelresulted in a stalemate,” saidMohandas. Kevin Peter, presi-dent, CASA, told The Pioneerthat his organization as well asmajor sects in the Church weretotally against religious conver-sion of any kind. PNS
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Jammu: The fourth phase ofDistrict Development Councilelections has been conductedsuccessfully in the UnionTerritory of Jammu & Kashmirregistering 50.08 per cent voterturnout, state election commis-sioner KK Sharma said onMonday. State ElectionCommissioner KK Sharma saidthat Jammu division recordedan average voter turnout of69.31% with Poonch Districtrecording the highest percentageof 75.42% followed by Doda dis-trict with 75.03%. The lowestturnout in Jammu division wasin Udhampur district whichrecorded 59.90%. The KashmirDivision recorded 31.95 % aver-age voter turnout withGanderbal district recordingthe highest polling at 56.28 %
followed by Baramulla Districtat 47.43% and Bandipora witharound 45.22% polling.
He said a large number ofpeople came out to cast theirvotes during fourth phase ofDistrict Development CouncilElections 2020. Long queueswere seen right from morningdespite severe cold conditions inKashmir Division and hillyareas of Jammu Division, headded. He said the pollingpassed off peacefully across 34constituencies of DDC includ-ing 17 in Kashmir division and17 in Jammu division. A total of364527 voters (including195206 males and 169321females) voted to choose theirrepresentatives in their respective councils, the SECsaid. PNS
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Rajasthan Chief MinisterAshok Gehlot on Monday
urged Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to listen tothe leaders of farmers unionsand resolve the impasse byrolling back the “black” farmlaws. “It is most worrying tosee that our farmers arespending nights in coldweather on roads, while thegovernment continues toignore their genuinedemands. PM Modi mustintervene directly, listen toleaders of farmer unions andresolve the impasse,” thesenior Congress leader said.
“As more and more farm-ers are joining the agitationfrom across the country andgathering at Delhi border atgreat inconvenience to thewomen and children, who arepart of agitation too, the gov-ernment must not delay pay-ing heed to the welfare issuesof the farmers,” he added.
Gelhot said “the NDAgovernment must shun itsarrogance, insensit ivity,adamant attitude and rollback the 'black' farm laws”.
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ABJP supporter was killed and many otherswere injured on Monday when the saffron
workers clashed with the police during a rally atBengal’s northern city of Siliguri.
While the senior BJP leadership blamed thepolice for its worker’s death the police deniedcharges saying the cause of the deceased BJPworker Ulen Roy would be known only afterpostmortem as the cops did not resort to firingor lathi charge as was alleged by the oppositionparty. As a mark of protest the BJP has calledNorth Bengal bandh on Tuesday which inciden-tally coincides with the Bharat Bandh called bythe opposition parties showing solidarity with thefarmers’ protest against the farm laws brought bythe Centre. Cut to Siliguri: All hell broke looseafter the police stopped hundreds of charging BJPworkers who hurled brickbats at the cops,pulled down barricades and set fire to them,sources said adding the police fired tear gas shellsand water cannons before baton-charging theprotesters in a bid to chase them away. The BJPhad earlier organized a march to Uttarkanya thesecond secretariat of the State Government sit-uated in Siliguri. “The police indiscriminatelylathi-charged and tear-gassed our men who wereorganizing a peaceful rally to raise populardemands,” said Bengal BJP Dilip Ghosh.
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The Confederation of ExParamilitary Force Welfare
Association has opposed theproposed change in Khaki uni-form of the CRPF anddemanded that Military ServicePay be accorded besides pen-sion restoration for the para-military personnel.
General Secretary of theConfederation Ranbir Singhasserted that the combat dressof the jawans is already therefor those deployed in theNaxal-hit States, Jammu andKashmir, the Northeast and themen even use such uniform inthe national Capital. Even theCRPF DG is often seen in com-
bat uniform, Singh stressed.The khaki has given an identi-ty to the paramilitary person-nel on par with the military andthere is no point in abandon-ing it, he said.
“Instead of changing thedress code, the CRPF DG beingthe chairman of Welfare andRehabilitation Board (WARB)should push for restoration ofpension for the paramilitarypersonnel, send a proposal forrelaxation in GST for CentralPolice Canteen (CPC) andparamilitary service pay onthe lines of military servicepay,” he said.
Singh recalled that it wasthe Khaki uniform which savedParliament from the terror
attack on December 13 in 2001but as a reward theGovernment withdrew thepension of the paramilitaryforces in 2004.
“Despite being chairman ofWARB, DG, CRPF has not heldany meeting with the ex para-military personnel. In this sce-nario, shouldn’t WARB be dis-banded as if is only proving tobe a white elephant,” hestressed, adding that theConfederation representativesmet the CRPF DG twice but noaction has been taken on theissues flagged by it.
The Confederation has alsoplanned a seminar here onDecember 13 to canvass sup-port for these issues.
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In case you are suffering froma single or all of Covid-19
symptoms as specified by theGovernment, don’t panic. For,you might not be infected withvirus despite showing Covid-19symptoms—fever, generalweakness, cough, sore throat,breathlessness, headache andloss of smell and taste—as ateam of doctors fromSafdarjung Hospital & VMMCin Delhi has found after con-ducting a study on suchpatients.
They, however, said thatthose who are old aged, hav-ing work profile like health careworkers and having history ofcontact with positive patientswere more likely to be infect-ed with the virulent virus.
In their study, the healthexperts observed that there isno significant difference insymptoms of Covid-19 positivepatients when compared withthose who reported negativeresults after RT PCR test wasconducted on them.
“Our study has revealedthat Covid-19 symptoms donot indicate that the person issuffering with the disease. Itsonly after the RTPCR test, thatone can conclude about the dis-ease,” said lead author of thestudy, Dr Jugal Kishore,Director Professor and Head,Department of CommunityMedicine, VMMC andSafdarjung Hospital.
He, however, said that onlyat an older age, work profile likehealth care workers and histo-ry of contact with positivepatients were significantly more
associated with RT PCR posi-tive patients.
The study published in theEpidemiology Internationaljournal found that majority ofsymptoms were not predic-tors of Covid-19 and onlyoccupations and history ofcontact remained significantrisk factors of the disease inmultivariate analysis. The studyalso underlines the need forconducting test even in longrun and that public should noton their own start taking med-icines.
The study was conductedamong the patients admitted inCovid-19 wards or visiting thehospital for testing of SARSCoV-2 infection. Contact dataof test results was collectedfrom the medical record anddetailed information was col-lected through telephone calls.103 cases were selected whowere found test positive by RTPCR and 103 negatives wereselected as controls.
However, various comor-bidities were identified amongcases and controls with two ofthe cases reported to be suf-fering from ChronicObstructive Pulmonary
Disease (COPD) and 2 controlshad malignancies.
“On analysing variousunderlying medical conditionsagainst controls and cases, itwas found that there was a sig-nificant difference among casesand controls who hadDiabetes and Hypertension.Around 43 per cent of thepatients who visited the hos-pital for getting tested had ahistory of contact with aCOVID-19 case or suspect.Among the cases, 35.9 percent of the patients reported tohave a contact, and among thecontrols, around 50.5 per centreported to have a contactwith Covid-19 positive cases.”
The others who wereinvolved in the study wereAakanksha Bharti (senior res-ident), Heena (Statistical assis-tant)Geeta Yadav, Professor,all from Department ofCommunity Medicine, NiteshGupta, (Assistant Professor)Department of Pulmonary,Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, and Ramesh Meena,(Assistant Professor),Department of Medicine, allfrom VMMC & SafdarjungHospital in Delhi.
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Cashing in on the growingglobal interest in AYUSH-
based solutions for diseaseresistance and treatment dur-ing the difficult times of theCovid pandemic, the UnionMinistry of Commerce andIndustry and the Ministry ofAYUSH have decided to set upan Export Promotion Councilto boost AYUSH exports.
A decision in this regardwas taken recently in a jointreview of AYUSH trade andIndustry held online by PiyushGoyal, Minister of Commerceand Industry and ShripadNaik, Minister of AYUSH.
“It was also decided in thereview that the entire AYUSHsector will work together toachieve price and quality com-petitiveness to boost AYUSHexports,” said an official fromthe Ayush Ministry.
Highlighting the growingglobal interest in AYUSH-based solutions for diseaseresistance and treatment dur-ing the difficult times of theCovid -19 pandemic, Naiksaid that trade and commercein the alternate traditionalmedicine Sector needed toupscale quickly in order tomeet the growing demandsfrom India and abroad, and toserve the larger number ofpeople who are now lookingup to these systems for main-
taining their health.He shared with the partic-
ipants that the AYUSH immu-nity protocols and the NationalClinical Management Protocolfor Covid 19 for Ayurveda andYoga were timely interven-tions which provided relief tolarge sections of the popula-tion.
“The emerging evidence ofa correlation between the lowCovid -19 mortality rates andlarge-scale adoption ofAYUSH prophylactic solutionsby the population is significantfor the public health practicein the country,” he added.
Goyal, while praising thefrontline role played by theAYUSH Sector in the fightagainst Covid -19 said that theprotection offered by theAYUSH systems to the com-mon people during the pan-demic time neutralised theskepticism that many peoplehad about the efficacy of themedicines and productsoffered by these systems.
“The spurt in exports ofAYUSH products in the recentmonths is a direct reflection oftheir growing popularity inmany countries. The stan-dardisation of the HS codesrelated to export will be con-sidered on priority as a step topromote exports,” he said whilebatting for the need of settingup the AYUSH ExportPromotion Council.
There is some positive newsfor those air travellers
who had booked flight ticketsto travel via low-cost carrierIndigo during the lockdownperiod. Since the resumptionof operations in May, the lowcost carrier IndiGo on
Monday said that it hasalready paid out 90 percentrefunds amounting to approx-imately �1,000 crore.According to IndiGo, the air-line will disburse customercredit shells and refunds byJanuary 31, 2021.
IndiGo chief executiveofficer Ronojoy Dutta said the
sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting lockdownbrought the airline’’s opera-tions to a complete halt by theend of March. “As our incom-ing cash flow dried up, wewere unable to immediatelyprocess refunds for cancelledflights and had to create cred-it shells for the refunds thatwere due to our customers,”he noted.
However, with theresumption of operations anda steady increase in demandfor air travel, the airline’’spriority has been to refundthe credit shell amounts in anexpedited manner, Dutta said.
“We are pleased to com-mit that we will disburse thefull 100 per cent credit shellpayments latest by January 31,2021,” he said.
India resumed scheduleddomestic passenger flights onMay 25 after a gap of twomonths due to the coron-avirus lockdown. Scheduledinternational passenger flightscontinue to remain suspend-ed in the country since March23 due to the pandemic.
However, airlines havebeen permitted to operatespecial international flightsunder the Vande BharatMission since May and underthe bilateral air bubble pactssince July.
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APIL was filed in theSupreme Court on
Monday seeking direction tothe CBI to submit a statusreport in Bollywood actorSushant Singh Rajput deathcase.
The plea, filed by advocatePuneet Dhanda, said the apexcourt passed an order for theCBI enquiry on August 19 anddespite lapse of almost fourmonths the probe agency is yetto conclude its investigation.
“The CBI is not actingresponsible in the present caseand there is a delay in the con-clusion of the investigation ofthe case,” it said.
“Even in serious offenceslike murder, the law stipulatesfiling of charge sheet in 90 daysbut in the present case the pre-mium investigating agency hasfailed miserably in their roleand the unnecessary delay inthe present case is bringing badname to the administration ofjustice not only in our countrybut across the globe,” the pleasaid.
It sought direction to theCBI to complete its probe with-in two months and submit afinal report in the concernedcourt.
It said Rajput was founddead in mysterious circum-stances and the probe was ini-tially conducted by MumbaiPolice.
“On dissatisfaction beingshown by the family of the lateactor this Court directed theCentral Bureau of Investigationto conduct an enquiry in themysterious death of late actorSushant Singh Rajput,” the pleasaid.
The PIL said that a fair,competent, impartial andspeedy investigation is the needof the hour.
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The Supreme Court onMonday refused to quash
FIRs against News 18 TVanchor Amish Devgan for hisalleged defamatory remarkagainst Sufi saint KhwajaMoinuddin Chisti during ashow on June 15 but said hewill get protection from anycoercive action if he continuesto cooperate with the probe.
A bench of Justices A MKhanwilkar and Sanjiv Khannaalso transferred all FIRs filedagainst Amish Devgan in dif-ferent states, includingMaharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,and Telangana, to Ajmer inRajasthan.
The top court had earliergranted Amish Devgan pro-tection from any coerciveaction in connection with theFIRs.
Several FIRs were lodgedagainst Amish Devgan forusing a derogatory term for theSufi saint in the news debateshow called “Aar Paar” on hischannel on June 15. AmishDevgan later tweeted an apol-ogy saying he was actuallyreferring to Muslim rulerAlauddin Khilji and inadver-tently ended up naming Chisti.
Amish Devgan throughhis lawyer Mrinal Bharti hadmoved the top court seekingquashing of the FIRs saying itwas a slip of the tongue and he
had already expressed regret forthe ‘’inadvertent” error.
He had told the top courtthat “none of the FIRs said thatpublic order was being dis-turbed”.
Senior advocate ManishSinghvi, appearing forRajasthan, had opposed AmishDevgan’s plea for quashing ofthe FIRs saying the investiga-tion is the right of the police.
The top court, while grant-ing interim relief to AmishDevgan, had also stayed theprobe in the cases related to thetelecast against the journalist.The journalist has said theplea concerned his life and lib-erty.
The Centre has rushed a three-member team of medical
experts to Eluru in AndhraPradesh after Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu spoke onMonday to Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan aftermany children were hospitalisedwith an undiagnosed illness inthe past few days, the VP’sSecretariat said.
The three-member team ofmedical experts to Eluru includesDr Jamshed Nayar, AssociateProfessor (Emergency Medicine)from AIIMS, Dr AvinashDeoshtawar, Virologist, NIVPUNE and Dr Sanket Kulkarni,Dy Director, PH Expert fromNCDC, Delhi.
The unknown disease hasclaimed one life and affectedaround 350 people so far. Amajority of the victims are in the20-30 age group. Around 45 chil-dren below the age of 12 yearshave been admitted. Accordingto the district commissioner’sreport, the sickness is not con-tagious. People from areas whereEluru municipal’s water distrib-ution is not available also fell sick.Even those who drink only min-eral water daily also fell sick, theDC said in its report.
The Andhra Pradesh healthofficials are trying hard to ascer-tain the cause of the mysteriousillness, said a statement from theGovernment.
hear next week a plea filed bya 94-year-old woman seekingto declare as “wholly uncon-stitutional” the proclamationof emergency in 1975.
The plea, which has alsosought compensation of Rs 25crores from the authoritieswho had actively participatedin the “unconstitutional acts”,came up for hearing before abench headed by JusticeSanjay Kishan Kaul.
The bench, also compris-ing Justices DineshMaheshwari and HrishikeshRoy, posted the matter forhearing on December 14.
The petitioner, VeeraSarin, has claimed in her pleathat she and her husbandwere “victims of the atrocitiesinflicted by the then govern-ment authorities and others”during the period of emer-gency which was proclaimedminutes before the midnightof June 25, 1975.
The proclamation wasrevoked in March 1977.
“The petitioner, in a gen-uine desire to bring about anend to the undemocraticnightmare, infamously knownas ‘the emergency' seeks a
peaceful closure, that can bebrought only by an acknowl-edgment and declaration bythe highest court of justice ofthe country in which citizensrepose the highest level ofconfidence and faith, that thesaid incident was unconstitu-tional,” the plea said.
Sarin said that she andher husband, who had aflourishing business of GoldArts in Delhi at that time,were compelled to leave thecountry during emergencyfor fear of being thrown intojail for no justifiable reason,on the “whims and wishes ofgovernment authority in astate where civil rights andliberties stood curbed.”
The plea said later thepetitioner's husband diedand she had to face the legalproceedings initiated againsthim during the emergency.
“ The ordea ls of theemergency and destructioncaused during the said peri-od are being suffered tilldate by the petitioner. Thepetitioner and her familywere made to run from pil-lar to post for the past 35years to vindicate their rightsand restore their properties,”the plea said.
The petition said thatduring that time, the peti-tioner was “shunned by herre lat ives and f r iends”because of the illegal pro-ceedings initiated againsther husband and now she isseeking “closure to the trau-ma of her lifetime, which stillresonates in her mind”.
It alleged that even now,the movable prop er t iesincluding jewellery, artefacts,paintings, sculptures andother valuables have notbeen reinstituted to her fam-ily and she is entitled to be compensated for the actsdone by the concernedauthorities. The plea referredto a December 2014 orderpassed by the Delhi HighCourt which had held thatproceedings initiated underone of the legislations againstthe petitioner's husbandwere b eref t of any jurisdiction.
With Covid 19 death tally inIndia crossing 1.41 lakh so
far, a new survey found that 61per cent people know of one ormore people who have suc-cumbed to the infection.Similarly, 44 per cent peopleknow of one or more individu-als who are likely to have dieddue to coronavirus but theirdeaths were not labelled asCovid deaths.
The survey was conductedvia LocalCircles platform, acommunity social media plat-form. The survey also found thatonly 26 per cent of respondentssaid no one known to them orin their social network - family,extended family, friends, col-leagues, neighbours, businessassociates, etc. - has died due toCOVID-19 in the last eightmonths.
The first question in the sur-vey asked citizens, “How manyin your own social network(family, extended family, friends,colleagues, neighbours, busi-ness associates, etc.) have losttheir life due to COVID-19 inthe last 8 months?”
According to the survey,responses from 9,524 citizenswere received. Notably, 61 per-cent of the respondents have 1or more individuals in their
social network who died ofCOVID-19. Further 26 percentvoted, “No one lost their life andthankfully all recovered”.
More than 16,000 respons-es were received from citizensacross 208 districts of India. Ofthem, 69 percent respondentswere men while 31 percentrespondents were women.According to LocalCircles, 51percent respondents were fromtier 1, 24 percent from tier 2 and25 percent were from tier 3, 4and rural districts.
To gauge the extent of suchcases, the survey asked people,“How many individuals in yourown social network lost their lifein the last 8 months, which wasnot declared COVID-19 deathsbut it was likely related toCOVID or accelerated byCOVID?”
Responses from 6,392 citi-zens were received. Per theresult, 44 percent people nowhave one or more individuals intheir social network who likelylost their life due to COVID-19but were not COVID-19 butwere not declared as COVID-19deaths. This assumes a lot of sig-nificance if the numbers areextrapolated. Now the seventh-most-affected country by activecases, third by fatalities, and sec-ond by total cases, India hasadded 2,45,512 cases in the pastseven days.
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Two minor girls hailing fromPakistan occupied Kashmir,
who had inadvertently crossedLoC and sneaked inside theIndian territory on Sunday,wererepatriated at Chakan-da-bagh inPoonch on Monday.
According to a Jammubased Defence spokesman Lt-ColDevender Anand, “Two girlsfrom Pakistan OccupiedKashmir, Laiba Zabair aged 17yrs and Sana Zabair aged 13 yrsof village Abbasspur, TehsilForward Kahuta who had inad-vertently crossed into Indianside in Poonch in the morninghours of 06 Dec 20 have beenrepatriated from Chakan DaBagh crossing point on Monday”.Before returning home LaibaZubair in a video message said,“after Indian army jawans spot-ted them crossing the LoC theyescorted them to safety andtreated them well. They offeredus food, warm clothes andcomfortably accommodated us.We are thankful to them andappreciate their conduct”. Thecustody of both the minor girlswas handed over to Jammu andKashmir police in Poonch.
During preliminary inquiry theminor girls had revealed theywere in a group of eight girls andlost their way after they took abreak.
According to officialsources, “Both the girls belong toa poor family and have been stay-ing in Abbaspur town for the past10 years. Her grandfather name-ly Abdul Halaq was originally aresident of Srinagar and had exfil-trated in late 1980s. Laiba Zubairclaimed, “her mother and elderbrother identified as Hamzawere forcing her to marry anoth-er local boy, Babar, against herwishes. Babar was receiving train-ing before getting recruited in thePak army. Babar's family hadgiven an assurance to Hamza thathe too would be inducted in thearmy only after his sister wouldmarry Babar. However, Laibawanted to marry anotyer locslboy identified Tariq r/o Peshawar.According to Laiba Tariq is cur-rently serving in te Pak Army andpresently deployed at a forwardpost in Kahuta. Laiba alsoclaimed she along with a groupof her close friends had decidedto run away from their native vil-lage and resettle in Tattapani toescape exploitation.
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The nationalisation ofbanks in 1969 effective-ly ended the corporatedominance in the bank-ing industry, with the
Government taking control of 90per cent of the total banking busi-ness in India. Now corporate hous-es may once again be allowed toenter the banking arena if the rec-ommendations of the Reserve Bankof India’s Internal Working Group(IWG) for reviewing corporatestructure of private sector banks areaccepted by the Government. Thesuggestions are rather sweepingand it is questionable if all the riskshave been weighed carefully. Thereare two major recommendations;the first is to allow large corporateand industrial houses to own banksby amending the BankingRegulation Act 1949, and the secondis to allow large non-banking finan-cial companies (NBFCs) with 10years’ track record, including thoseowned by corporate houses and withan asset size of �50,000 crore andabove, to convert themselves intobanks. The recommendations areopen for comments till January 15,2021.
Some of the biggest industrialhouses already own large NBFCsbigger than many medium-sizedbanks with more than a decade’strack record. Besides HDFC withassets worth �5.6 lakh crore, thereare Bajaj Finservice, SriramTransport, L&T Finance Holdings,Indiabulls Housing, Tata Capital,M&M Finance holdings,Cholamandalam Investment andFinance Company, MuthootFinance and Aditya Birla, which ful-fil the twin criteria. Their total assetswould exceed �14 lakh crore (FY20). There are also Government-controlled NBFCs – for example, theone led by PFC with assets of �6.6lakh crore, followed by REC with�3.2 lakh crore assets, LIC HousingFinance and HUDCO – whichalso fulfil the criteria; their totalassets amount to around �14 lakhcrore. For a COVID-battered andcapital-starved banking sector reel-ing under mounting NPAs, suchhuge capital from private cash-richcompanies could just be rejuvenat-ing, a consideration which probablyweighed with the IWG. Privateplayers were allowed into bankingafter 1993 and since 2016, NBFCshave also been allowed, but so fartheir responses have been tepid. Onereason was the small cap of 15 percent on the promoter’s stake; this is
now proposed to be raised to 26per cent in the long run over 15years. But as Rajnish Kumar, theformer chairman of SBI, said: “Itwill only work well when the sys-tem has three things in place —strong ring-fencing for businessinterest, high-quality corporategovernance and resolutionframework for banks and financecompanies.” This is where therecommendations raise seriousworries and have attracted wide-spread criticism, including fromex-Central bankers RaghuramRajan and Viral Acharya, whocalled it a “bombshell” droppedby the RBI.
Historically, the RBI hasalways been cautious about issu-ing banking licences to corpo-rates on account of the inherentconflicts of interest and poor cor-porate governance. The last twolicences to IDFC First Bank andBandhan Bank were given sevenyears ago after licences given tothe Kotak Mahindra Bank andYES Bank, of which the YESBank has now gone bust due tocrony capitalism and ineffectiveregulatory controls and had to bebailed out like all others.
The global financial crisishad made the developed nationsvery cautious. In response to the2008 global financial crisis, theUS had adopted several mea-sures, including enactment of theDodd-Frank Wall Street Reformand Consumer Protection Act,which introduced a raft of mea-sures to regulate the financial sec-tor and protect consumers. TheAct amended many existing leg-islations, like the SecuritiesExchange Act of 1934 to createan Investor Advisory Committee,an Office of the InvestorAdvocate and an ombudsman. Itinstituted regular reviews of con-flicts of interest within investmentfirms by newly-created over-
sight institutions like theFinancial Stability OversightCouncil for identifying andimproving systemic risks andespecially to monitor designatedSystemically Important FinancialInstitutions, which are deemed“too big to fail.” Even these maynot be sufficient guaranteeagainst future malfeasance.
Nothing of that sort hap-pened in India. Satyam happenedin 2009 and we were in deepslumber. An attempt to strength-en corporate governance and giveit a statutory authority was madeonly in 2013 in the newCompanies Act by incorporatingsome key provisions of Clause 49of SEBI’s listing agreement. Thatthese are hardly effective is evi-denced by the unending series offrauds and scams, which havesince broken upon the Indianbanking scene, the regularity ofwhich no longer surprises us. Theweaknesses of the regulatoryand oversight institutions and themultiple conflicts of interestalong with crony capitalism havewrought havoc in the financialsector time and again. The IL&FSfraud dealt a body blow toNBFCs in India, exposing therisks a large NBFC poses to ourfinancial system. Much of ourNPAs have been the creation ofsuper-fraudsters like VijayMallya, Nirav Modi, MehulChoksi, Rana Kapoor and theirilk who could manipulate the sys-tem with active support fromimportant levers of power. In allthese cases, the RBI’s supervisionhas been lax and ineffective. Ofcourse, the RBI was not alone toblame; the statutory auditors,often from the big four, and thecredit rating agencies equallycontributed to bypassing controls,throwing caution to the winds.
If the growth of banks andNBFCs continues unchecked
without an effective frameworkto correct asset-liability mis-matches, the financial sector willremain vulnerable to risks andaccidents, dragging the economyin a downward spiral. The con-tinued failure of banks – the lat-est being the Laxmi Vilas Bank(LVB) – points to the gross inad-equacy of the RBI’s regulatoryarchitecture, including its pru-dential norms. Even in the devel-oped world, entry of large corpo-rates into the banking sector isdiscouraged. The IWG has itselfadmitted that “the prevailingcorporate governance culture incorporate houses is not up to theinternational standard and itwill be difficult to ring-fence thenon-financial activities of the pro-moters with that of the bank”; allthe experts it had consulted,save one, on this issue had dis-agreed with its recommenda-tions.
Before allowing large NBFCsinto the banking space, the RBImust ensure a robust and fool-proof regulatory oversight archi-tecture which it clearly lacks. Theurgency being displayed by it tocomplete this process, therefore,legitimately surprises many andraises many unnerving worries.
The biggest concern of theRBI has always been to preventconnected lending and exposurebetween the banks and otherrelated financial and non-finan-cial group entities. It allowed largeindustrial houses to set up theirown payments banks for the firsttime during 2015-16. Many likethe Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis andMahindras had applied forlicence. Of the 41 applications,only 11 got in-principle approval,and seven started operations by2018. But the banking landscapein India is undergoing significanttransformation, with all publicsector banks to be consolidated
into only half a dozen largebanks with balance sheet size of�10 lakh crore each, besides ahandful of large private banks.Hence there may be betteravenues for raising capital ratherthan putting the stability of thefinancial system at stake.
Indeed the stakes are toohigh to treat the matter so casu-ally. First is the enormous risk inconnected lending. As Rajanand Acharya have correctlynoted, “The history of such con-nected lending is invariably dis-astrous – how can the bank makegood loans when it is owned bythe borrower? Even an indepen-dent committed regulator, withall the information in the world,finds it difficult to be in everynook and corner of the financialsystem to stop poor lending.”Besides, the unintended conse-quence of concentration of eco-nomic and hence political andlobbying power in such corporatehouses is likely to follow, givinga further boost to crony capital-ism. Second is the excessivecompetition likely to result fromthe entry of corporates intobanking, leading to erosion ofprofit margin of the existingbanks and forcing them to lendto risky ventures and businesses,thereby further weakening thefinancial system. Ultimately, it isonly the small investors who paythe price, as we have seen in thecases of Sahara, DHFL, PMCBank, Yes Bank and LVB.Corporate governance is weakeven in the largest private banks,as the case of ICICI Bank hasdemonstrated.
The Indian financial land-scape is littered with a highlycomplex web of numerous shellcompanies, front companies tobig corporates they can lend to,opaque onshore and offshoreownership structures of compa-nies and incestuous financialtransactions between corporateentities, who can easily form acartel to evade regulation andoversight. The RBI still does nothave the institutional capacity toenforce regulation and exerciseeffective control – only recentlyit has introduced a separate reg-ulatory and supervisory cadre tomonitor systemic risks arisingfrom the growing sizes and com-plexities of an intertwined andinterconnected financial sector.The question to be addressedbefore embarking upon any suchmisadventure is whether the reg-ulator is adequately equipped tomonitor millions of transactionstaking place via the internet, tra-versing every nook and corner ofthe globe, and follow the mone-tary trails of illegitimate deals.
(The author is a formerDirector-General at the Office ofthe Comptroller & AuditorGeneral of India and an academ-ic)
������������ ���� ��Sir — This is with reference to thearticle, “Girls please, not brides”,published on December 7. TheProhibition of Child MarriageAct, 2006 is only on paper. Inpractice, it is talked about morein breach than in observance andis scarcely followed due to thecrippling poverty in the country.
Now, the pandemic hasworsened the situation for mil-lions of underprivileged living inrural India and they are marry-ing off their girls early due topoverty and job losses, unmind-ful of the impact it will have ontheir lives, development andhealth. This abuse needs to stop,not just through the strict imple-mentation of the Act but also bycreating awareness and lendinga helping hand to the poor as acommunity.
Moreover, our girls should begiven free food in educationalinstitutions so that the parentshave one less mouth to feed. Theyshould be given education freeand trained for a vocation tillthey are financially indepen-dent. Now, the legal age of mar-riage for girls is likely to berevised from 18 to 21 years. It isa good idea. However, it will onlywork well in practice if our girls
are well-protected by free educa-tion, food and job support. Girlsshould be taught martial arts too,so they can be safe in the publicand private space. Above all, theWomen’s Reservation Bill, whichis all but forgotten, should be
revived and translated into law.Sravana Ramachandran
Chennai���������� ���Sir — A pertinent point wasraised in the article ‘Girls please,
not brides.’ We, as a society, maybe against child marriage but dowe do anything concrete to stopit? How can we just expect thelaw enforcement agencies to pre-vent child marriages and not doanything to help the keepers of
the law in any way? The least wecan do is help the underprivi-leged educate their girl childrenso that they can become finan-cially independent one day andlead a more fulfilling life andcontribute to the nation’s econ-omy. The hand that rocks the cra-dle indeed rules the world, butthat hand has to belong to a self-reliant, educated and financiallyindependent woman, not aminor deprived of food, freedomand education.
Rohit RoyNoida
������������� ������Sir — Glad to read that theSupreme Court expressed angerover the way the Centre is“aggressively” going ahead withthe construction work of theCentral Vista and directed thatno construction, demolition orfelling of trees shall take placethere. The people of the nation donot want the Central Vista tochange and this project must bestopped, due to emotional, his-torical and environmental rea-sons.
The recommendation of an Internal WorkingGroup (IWG) set up by the Reserve Bankof India (RBI) to allow industrial houses to
own banks — if they meet the criterion — hasinvited strident criticism from experts, includingthe former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.Asking how a borrower could also be a lender, theyhave debunked the idea, stating that this wouldlead to misdirected lending, mostly to entitiesbelonging to the industrial house that owns thebank. This apprehension is valid but the misuseof public money can happen in any bank, irrespec-tive of the ownership. For instance, in Public SectorBanks (PSBs) till now, businessmen patronised bythe ruling establishment managed loans on con-siderations other than merit. In private banks, too,the situation is no different, as amply demonstrat-ed by the failure of Yes Bank, which is not ownedby an industrial house. There is a dire need tostrengthen regulatory oversight to guard againstirregularities in running banks. The IWG recom-mends allowing promoters to hold 26 per centequity stake in a steady state or after 15 years (upfrom the existing norm of 15 per cent) from thestart, when it should be a minimum of 40 per centof the equity for the first five years. It suggests tak-ing a sympathetic review of whether industrialhouses should be allowed to own banks if theymeet the criterion. And considers allowing Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) with assetsof over �50,000 crore, and in operation for over10 years, to convert to banks, whether or not theyare owned by industrial houses.
These suggestions need to be read in a cer-tain context. Already, after a prolonged tussle, thebanking regulator had allowed promoters of theKotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) to main-tain their stake at 26 per cent despite the 15 percent norm (originally named Kotak MahindraFinance Limited, it was the first NBFC in Indiato convert into a bank in February 2003). Thisprompted promoters of other private sectorbanks, who had lowered their stake to 15 per cent,to demand that they, too, should be allowed toincrease it to 26 per cent. For instance, the HindujaGroup of IndusInd Bank made the appeal.Therefore, by allowing promoters of all privatebanks to have 26 per cent stake, the IWG has takenthe logical step forward.
The 15 per cent threshold was anomalous, aswith a marginal stake, the promoter won’t have thedesired skin in the game. Hence, the much-need-ed seriousness and commitment would be less. Asa result, the management and governance of thebank could suffer. A study by the BostonConsulting Group (BCG), India, shows that thismay well be the case. An analysis of old privatesector banks done by the BCG illustrates that“boards, where equity ownership is diversified, cantake control of a bank and start to direct its oper-ations in a less than optimal manner. The CatholicSyrian Bank and the Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB)are good examples of this. In fact, 12 old privatebanks are laggards in respect to technology andrisk systems and have not grown their share fromfour per cent of the assets of the system.”
Even so, for a promoter to initially start with40 per cent shareholding as per the existing guide-lines and then bring it down to 15 per cent (afterthe efforts during the initial difficult phase haveborne fruit and the operations have stabilised), rel-egating him to a minor player, is unfair. No won-der, the KMBL promoter pleaded with the RBI toallow it to retain a higher shareholding, which thelatter agreed to. The apex bank should implement
the IWG’s recommendation to allow 26per cent shareholding to the promoterin the long-run.
The second major recommendationto allow industrial houses to own banks,after addressing any outstanding issuesor concerns in respect to “connectedlending” and incorporating safeguardsin the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act),needs to be read in conjunction withanother suggestion made by the RBI tothe Finance Ministry early this year. TheRBI had proposed that the Centrereduce its shareholding in six top PSBs,i.e the State Bank of India, the PunjabNational Bank, the Bank of Baroda,Canara Bank, the Union Bank of Indiaand the Bank of India to 26 per cent. Inthe follow-through, the Centre hasalready initiated the process to reduce itsholding to 51 per cent in the next 12-18months.
Realising that the market may nothave the appetite for it, the RBI thoughtthat letting corporates in could help raisethe prospects. There are several corpo-rates with deep pockets who can buy theshares of PSBs, thereby enabling success-ful divestment and at the same time, helpthe Government garner resources to reinin the fiscal deficit in the current diffi-cult year (it is aiming to garner about�43,000 crore). For this to happen, theregulator has to take a policy decision toallow corporates to own a bank. This isprecisely what the IWG has done. Butthis has invited criticism from expertswho say that instead of being based ondue diligence and assessing viability ofthe project, the bank will give loans keep-ing in mind what the owner wants. Putsimply, this will be tantamount to the useof public money for unjust enrichmentof the corporate. This undoubtedlyneeds a vigilant architecture. In PSBs, forinstance, businessmen with political
clout managed loans and got themokayed. Neither did the banks insist onrepayment, nor did the defaulters haveany fear, as those who were expected totake action chose not to act. This led toan increase in non-performing assets(NPAs) to an unsustainable level, forc-ing the Centre to bail them out by usingthe taxpayers’ money.
In private banks, too (albeit thosenot owned by a corporate house), the sit-uation is quite similar. Merely becausean industrial house gets to occupy thedriver’s seat in a bank does not automat-ically follow that public deposits will bemisused. Abuse or otherwise is primar-ily a function of the quality of the man-agement on the one hand and supervi-sion by the banking regulator on theother. If, any of these prerequisites arelacking, then, irrespective of who ownsthe bank, exploitation is inevitable. Tohandle that, there is a dire need tostrengthen regulatory oversight and theRBI should make proactive interventionon “real-time” basis to prevent misman-agement and irregularities — instead ofcontinuing with the present practice ofbolting the stable after the horses havefled.
India needs more banks with ade-quate capital buffer to meet the creditrequirement of a $5 trillion economy by2024-25 (funding on such a mammothscale can’t be done with equity capitalalone). In view of this, and consideringthat the Government wants to open upeven PSBs to the private sector (look atthe decision to reduce its shareholdingin six top PSUs to 51 per cent), there isa dire need to expand the landscape ofpotential investors. The involvement oflarge industrial houses could be of greathelp in this endeavour.
Accordingly, the Governmentshould only consider the IWG’s recom-
mendations after incorporating safe-guards to address issues of “connectedlending” by amending the BR Act. Allbanks, which have other group entities,should be held by Non-OperatingFinancial Holding Companies(NOFHC).
The recommendation for a higherminimum initial capital of �1,000 crore(up from the existing �500 crore) makeseminent sense. However, there is a casefor raising the bar even further to say,�5,000 crore, to ensure that only veryserious entities enter the space.
The third major recommendation ofthe IWG to allow NBFCs with assets ofover �50,000 crore, and in operation forover 10 years, to convert to banks is insync with the RBI’s stance all along. Theonly change mooted now is to permitNBFCs owned by industrial houses toconvert to banks, too. The RBI proba-bly went by the fact that there are a num-ber of well-run NBFCs owned by indus-trial houses who can be good candidatesfor converting to and running a bank.
The group has also batted for “har-monisation” of various licencing guide-lines to ensure that relaxations (or forthat matter, tightening of rules) given atdifferent points of time are applicable toall entities, irrespective of when thelicence was given to each. Some impor-tant recommendations provide for a“clear” and “consistent” definition ofholding by a promoter (use of paid-upvoting equity share capital is prescribedas the right metric); maximum shareholdings of 15 per cent by non-promot-ers uniformly for all, banks not to carryout any activity permissible within thebank, through a separate subsidiary;pledging of bank shares and so on. TheRBI should build in checks and balances.
As India experiences a colderthan usual winter, public opin-ion is firmly set on the premise
that the Coronavirus-driven lockdownreduced pollution levels, thereby result-ing in a season that’s more spirited thanthe previous ones. However, nothingcould be further from the truth. TheIndian Meteorological Department(IMD) has already sounded an alert tothe effect that the winter of 2020-21 willbe colder than usual due to the La Ninaconditions prevailing in the equatori-al Pacific Ocean. La Nina is the cool-ing phase of the El Nino southern oscil-lation cycle in the equatorial Pacific
Ocean as opposed to the warming ElNino phase. As if confirming the IMD’spredictions, Delhi has already witnessedits coldest November in 71 years. Butmiseries brought on by the cold may bethe least of our concerns compared tothe economic impact that lies in waitfor India in the wake of these erratictemperature changes.
The IMD predicts an uneven dis-tribution of minimum and maximumtemperature levels in various parts ofIndia, which could lead to a higher vari-ance between night and day tempera-tures. This, in turn, would impact farm-ing in the Rabi season. Especially thewheat crop which is the main cereal thatis grown in northern and central India.
Other crops that stand to beimpacted are soy and corn. In southIndia, a major cash crop, coffee, whichis extremely sensitive to temperaturevariations, is expected to suffer undu-ly thanks to these weather-relatedanomalies. These developments onthe agricultural front can wreak havocin the form of sudden spike in foodprices and cause unexpected financial
turbulence for the farming communi-ty that is already facing multiple diffi-culties.
The economy would eventuallysuffer the ripple effects of the agrariancrisis, the adverse impact of climatechange, coupled with setbacks onaccount of COVID-19.
The latest Mckinsey GlobalInstitute (MGI) report has presentedunsettling facts that point towardsdwindling economic prosperity due tothe havoc unleashed by climate change.The report states that there is a risk of$200 billion to India’s GDP by 2030 dueto a sharp reduction in outdoor work-ing hours triggered by the increase inambient temperatures. What are cur-rently considered as unsafe outdoortemperatures to work in will increaseby a whopping 15 per cent by 2030,directly impacting productivity andeventually the per capita income of thenation. This is because outdoor workhas immense relevance for the econo-my. As of 2017, it contributed to near-ly 50 per cent of the GDP. It drives 30per cent of the GDP growth and
ensures employment for nearly 75 percent of the labour force or nearly 380million people in India. Hence, climatechange-driven spike in temperaturescan put up to 2.5 to 4.5 per cent of theGDP at risk.
In fact, it is estimated by the MGIreport that nearly 160 to 200 millionpeople bear a clear five per cent possi-bility of being exposed to lethal or fatalheatwaves as early as 2030. As temper-atures rise, so do the costs of air con-ditioning. It is estimated that by 2030,a massive $110 billion would be
required as capital costs for improvingthe air conditioning infrastructure.Urgent remedial measures are neededto avert much of the problems before2030. Although some situations havesurpassed the stage of remedy, all is notlost yet. The authorities must have con-certed plans in place that are able to mit-igate the forthcoming threats. Graduallyshifting of outdoor working hourscoupled with movement of capital andlabour out of the designated high tem-perature hotspots will go a long way inreducing the adverse economic impactthat is being predicted.
Moreover, all the current ongoinginfrastructure and developmental pro-jects must have a critical component ofclimate change adaptation considera-tion built into them. This sensitivity willreduce the carbon footprint of theseprojects and will in turn help avertextreme outcomes in the form of spi-raling heat output signatures.
Yet another aspect that needsurgent attention while in the pursuit ofensuring a safe climate for the future isthe state of our energy supplies. The
average hydel power plant dams that arecurrently operational in the country aredecades old and the constant exposureto the elements, not to mention theever-present interaction with water, istaking a toll on their structure. Thefuture presents a scenario where risingtemperature would mean more melt-ing snows and glaciers, which in turnwould increase the water load on thesedams. An immediate assessment isrequired as to how these ageing con-crete structures would hold up to thisincreased onslaught of water and stilldeliver. This is essential because theneed for gradual decommissioning ofthe coal-fired power plants can nolonger be a long-term strategy but is infact a short-term urgent requirement ifthe erratic temperatures need to bereined in before 2030. Erratic temper-atures are here to stay. But before theydeliver the fatal blow, India has torespond decisively with effectivecounter-measures in order to protectlives and livelihoods.
Domestic equity indices sprintedto fresh lifetime highs on
Monday as investor sentiment got alift after Pfizer and Serum Instituteapplied for emergency use authori-sation for their COVID-19 vaccinesin India.
Robust buying in finance,FMCG and banking counters offsetweak global cues and a depreciatingrupee. Rising for the third straightsession, the 30-share BSE Sensexsoared 347.42 points or 0.77 per centto its fresh closing peak of 45,426.97,after touching a record intra-daylevel of 45,458.92.
Similarly, the broader NSENifty rose 97.20 points or 0.73 percent to an all-time closing high of13,355.75. It touched its recordintra-day peak of 13,366.65 in earlytrade. The Nifty has now madefresh lifetime highs for five straightsessions.
Hindustan Unilever (HUL)was the top gainer in the Sensexpack, jumping 3.09 per cent, followedby Bharti Airtel, HDFC, ITC,IndusInd Bank, SBI, Sun Pharma,ONGC, Tech Mahindra, L&T andICICI Bank.
On the other hand, Kotak
Bank, Nestle India, Tata Steel, BajajFinance and HDFC Bank wereamong the laggards, dropping up to1.37 per cent.
Vaccine major Serum Instituteof India (SII) on Monday said it hasapplied to the Drugs ControllerGeneral of India (DCGI) for emer-gency use authorisation for theAstraZeneca-Oxford COVID-19vaccine in the country.
Earlier on Saturday, the Indianarm of US pharmaceutical giantPfizer became the first company toseek a similar approval from India’sdrug regulator for its coronavirusvaccine in the country, after secur-ing such clearance in the UK andBahrain. “News of progress in theCOVID vaccine and healthy inflowsby FIIs helped markets to continuethe upward trend... We are seeingbuying interest emerging on everydip, thanks to rotational participantsacross the sectors. “Technically,Nifty could face a hurdle around13,450. The stock-specific tradingapproach is yielding decent returnsso far and we suggest continuingwith the same. Also, keep a closewatch on global markets and upcom-ing domestic macro data for cues,”said Ajit Mishra, VP - Research,Religare Broking.BSE telecom,FMCG, healthcare, oil and gas,industrials, teck and capital goodsindices climbed up to 2.78 per cent,while consumer durables and real-ty closed with losses.
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Traders’ body CAIT and the AllIndia Transporters Welfare
Association on Monday said mar-kets across the country includingin Delhi will remain open onTuesday and transport services willalso remain operative, notwith-standing the “Bharat-Bandh” callgiven by protesting farmers. Thousands of farmersprotesting against the Centre’snew agri laws for the past 11 dayshere have called on people to jointheir “Bharat Bandh” or nation-wide shutdown call on Tuesday inlarge numbers.
Issuing a joint statement, theConfederation of All India Traders(CAIT) and All India TransportersWelfare Association (AITWA)said traders and transporters willnot be participating in the BharatBandh called on December 8.“Commercial markets across thecountry will remain open andbusiness activities will take placeas usual whereas the transport ser-vices will also remain operative onDecember 8,” the joint statementsaid. CAIT President B C Bhartia,Secretary General PraveenKhandelwal and Pradeep Singaland Mahendra Arya, Chairmanand President of AITWA respec-tively, stated that so far no farmerorganisation or farmer leadershave approached them seekingsupport for “Bharat Bandh”.
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Alphabet and GoogleCEO Sundar Pichai
on Monday stressed thatgrowing up in India amidpoor access to a comput-er or a phone set him ona course to build a moreinclusive global digitaleconomy and empowerthe next billion people.
Speaking at theSingapore FinTechFestival, Pichai said thatthe question of inclusion and oppor-tunity is deeply personal to him.
“Growing up in India, I didn’thave much access to a computer, ora phone. To make a call, I had to waitin long lines to use a shared phonewith everyone else.
“So when our family finally gotour first rotary phone, it changed ourlives for the better, and it set me ona course to help bring technology tomore people around the world,” heemphasised.
He said the digital inclusion canbe achieved first by acceleratingprogress in closing the digital divide,which means expanding connectiv-ity, financial inclusion, and digitalskills.
“Second, by deepening part-nerships between governments andbusiness, which means building onthe new collaborations we’ve seenduring Covid,” he said.
Pichai mentioned how Google
Pay is helping India bridge the dig-ital divide.
The company launched GoogleTez, now Google Pay in India in2017.
“At the time, my home countrywas still largely a cash-based society.Since then, digital payments serviceshave helped reshape how transac-tions are made. They’ve increasedfinancial inclusion by making pay-ments simple and seamless for overa hundred million Indians,” Pichaiinformed.
“People are using Google Pay todo everything from send moneyhome to their families and split thecheck for dinner. Kirana store own-ers are using it to pay their businessexpenses, as well as receive paymentsfrom their loyal customers”.People inIndia complete more than three bil-lion digital transactions a month, twothirds of which are taking place out-side India’s biggest cities.
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The rupee dropped by 10paise to settle at 73.90
against the US currency onMonday due to a rebound inthe dollar in overseas mar-kets following geopoliticalconcerns.
The dollar recoveredfrom two-and-a-half-yearlow on Monday after reportsthat the US was preparing toimpose sanctions on Chineseofficials, increasing the risk ofgeopolitical tensions.
Concerns over a Brexittrade talks as the EU and theUK were still trying toaddress major differences toavoid a no-deal exit by year-end supported the dollar sen-timent. At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitwitnessed a volatile tradingsession. It opened at 73.79and rose to an intra-day highof 73.70 in the first half.
New Delhi:A joint platform often central trade unions hasextended its moral support tothe ‘Bharat Bandh’ call byfarmer organisations onTuesday. The unions would notgo on strike or abstain fromwork but support the farmers’agitation.They would wearblack batches while on duty,stage protest after or beforeworking hours and also holdrallies after or before their
work schedules. Theunions went on a nationwidestrike on November 26 toprotest against the recently
passed labour codes as well asfarm laws, among otherissues.nd Mazdoor SabhaHarbhajan Singh Sidhu toldPTI that the joint forum wouldextend moral support to thefarmers’ agitation but wouldnot go on strike because anotice is required to be servedfor the purpose. However, hesaid the members of the tencentral trade unions wouldwear black badges, stageprotest peacefully and alsohold rallies after or beforetheir work schedule.
PTI
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The consortium of UAE-based businessman Murari
Lal Jalan and London’s KalrockCapital - which has won the bidto revive Jet Airways - onMonday said it expects to startoperating the airline by thesummer of 2021.
The consortium is awaitingthe NCLT and other regulato-
ry approvals, including rein-statement of slots and bilater-al traffic rights by the civil avi-ation ministry and DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA).It is also planning tolaunch dedicated freighter ser-vices once the carrier takes offthe ground again.The com-mittee of creditors (CoC) hasalready approved the airline’srevival plan submitted by theconsortium in October.
Beijing: China on Mondaycalled for a reset of its troubledties with the US under theincoming administration ofPresident-elect Joe Biden torebuild mutual trust and endmonths of hostility between theworld’s two largest economies.
President Donald Trump’sfour-years in power is regardedas the worst phase in US-Chinarelations as the rulingCommunist Party of China(CPC) headed by President XiJinping struggled to deal withWashington under an unpre-dictable American leader.
“The top priority is thatboth sides should work togeth-er to remove all kinds of dis-ruptions and obstacles, andachieve a smooth transition inChina-US relations,” ChineseForeign Minister Wang Yi saidduring a video meeting withbusiness leaders from the US-China Business Council.
“At the same time, based onthe direction of mutual benefitsfor our two peoples and coun-tries, we need to strive to restartdialogue, return to the righttrack and rebuild trust in thisnext phase of relations,” he wasquoted as saying by the HongKong-based South China
Morning Post.Trump, a Republican,
pushed aggressively on allaspects of US-China ties, includ-ing with his relentless tradewar, challenging China’s militaryhold on the disputed SouthChina Sea, its constant threats toTaiwan and branding coron-avirus as ‘China virus’ after itemerged from Wuhan inDecember last year.
The Trump administrationalso lobbied hard with alliesagainst Chinese telecoms giantHuawei, sanctioning Chineseofficials over human rights abus-es in Muslim-majority Xinjiang.
Earlier this month, Biden, aDemocrat, confirmed that he
will not make any “immediatemoves” to lift the punitive tar-iffs that the Trump administra-tion has imposed on imports ofChinese goods before a fullreview of the existing phase onetrade deal and consultationswith US allies, dampeningChina’s hopes that it would beable to renegotiate the tradeagreement with the new USadministration.
A Write-up in official mediahere, however, say Biden’s tenurecould usher in a “bufferingperiod” for already-tense China-
US relations, and offer an oppor-tunity for breakthroughs inresuming high-level communi-cation and rebuilding mutualstrategic trust between the twocountries.
Outlining his eagerly await-ed China policy, Biden in arecent interview with The NewYork Times said that the “bestChina strategy” was to get all tra-ditional US allies in Asia andEurope “on the same page”,which will be his major priori-ty “in the opening weeks” of hispresidency. PTI
Jakarta: Indonesian policeearly Monday fatally shot sixfollowers of a firebrand clericwho returned last month froma 3-year exile in Saudi Arabiaafter criminal charges againsthim were dropped, officialssaid, prompting fears of moreviolence.
Jakarta Police ChiefMuhammad Fadil Imran saidpolice were following a car car-rying 10 supporters of RizieqShihab, the leader of the IslamicDefenders Front, early Mondaymorning.
The followers attacked thepolice with guns and swords,threatening the officers’ safety,he said.
“The officers then tookfirm and measured action sothat six died from the group of10 people,” he said at a newsconference. He did not give fur-ther details of the violence.
An official of the IslamicDefenders Front, Ahmad
Shabri Lubis, gave a differentaccount, saying that Shihaband his family were heading toa place to deliver a sermon andthat guards traveling with themhad been shot.
“On their way to the ser-mon location, the group wasintercepted by unknown peo-ple that we strongly believedwere part of an operationalgroup to stalk and harm him.
Those unknown peoplestopped and did the shootingof the family guards,” Lubis saidin a statement.
Imran said police had beenscheduled to interrogate Shihabon Monday morning over analleged violation of coronavirushealth regulations during hisdaughter’s wedding receptionon November 14, and theyhad received information aboutplans for a mass mobilizationof his supporters at Jakartapolice headquarters during hisquestioning. AP
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Iran said on Monday it wasglad the United States “got
the message” and modified itsbehaviour in the Persian Gulf,after the top US Navy officialin the region said his forces hadreached a state of deterrencewith Iran after months ofregional attacks and seizures atsea.
“We are happy that theother party has got the messageand made its behaviour morerespectful,” Foreign Ministryspokesman Saeed Khatibzadehtold reporters. He said the USmilitary is the “main source oftension” in the region and thatIranian forces have alwaysacted professionally.
“Unfortunately, the US hasoften had an unprofessionalapproach toward Iran’s navy,”he said.
He was responding to ViceAdm. Sam Paparo’s remarks,delivered at a conference inBahrain on Sunday.
Paparo, who oversees theNavy’s 5th Fleet based inBahrain, said the two sides hadreached a state of “uneasydeterrence” and that he had a“healthy respect” for Iran’s reg-ular navy and the naval forcesof its Revolutionary Guard.
Tensions remain high overthe Islamic Republic’s nuclearprogram after PresidentDonald Trump withdrew theUS from the 2015 nuclear dealbetween Iran and world pow-ers and imposed heavy sanc-tions on Iran.
The killing of Iran’s topgeneral in a US drone strike inIraq in January pushed the twocountries to the brink of war,with Iran responding with amissile attack on US forces.
Washington: Rudy Giuliani,the personal lawyer to DonaldTrump, has tested positive forCOVID-19, becoming the lat-est person in the US president’sinner circle to be infected bythe deadly virus.
Giuliani, 76, has been takento the Medstar GeorgetownUniversity Hospital inWashington DC, according toUS media reports.
The news of the formermayor of New York testingpositve was first tweeted byPresident Trump on Sunday.
The president and his teamhave been criticised for shun-ning COVID-19 safety guid-ance. Trump, 74, was testedpositive in October.
Trump, a Republican, whois yet to concede defeat in theNovember 3 presidential elec-tion, tweeted: “Get better soonRudy, we will carry on!”
Giuliani has been leadingthe Trump campaign’s legalchallenges to the 2020 electionwon by former vice presidentJoe Biden, a Democrat.
In a tweet, Giulianithanked well-wishers for theirmessages, and said he was“recovering quickly”. Giuliani isconsidered at high risk forcomplications from the coron-avirus due to his age, CNNreported. PTI
Hong Kong: Hong Kongauthorities on Monday arrest-ed eight people in connectionwith an unauthorised protest ata university campus last month,police and local media said,amid a widening crackdown ondissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.
The arrests were reported-ly made in relation to a demon-stration at the ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong inwhich over 100 people protest-ed a decision to hold gradua-tion ceremonies online. Suchceremonies are often used as away for students to expresspolitical views.
Some protesters had calledfor Hong Kong’s independence,and held up signs that read
“Liberate Hong Kong,Revolution of our times,” whichare considered to have seces-sionist notions and are out-lawed under the city’s nation-al security law.
Police said they arrestedeight people for an unautho-rized protest and inciting seces-sion, but did not specify whothey were or whether the
arrests were related to the uni-versity protest.
Arthur Yeung, a graduatefrom the university who alsoran in the city’s district coun-cil elections last year, is sus-pected to be among thosearrested. A post on Yeung’sFacebook page said he wasarrested at his home onMonday morning.
Two district councillors,Isaac Lee and Eason Chan,were also arrested, according toposts on their respectiveFacebook pages. The eightarrested are currently beinginvestigated by national secu-rity officers, according to localnewspaper South ChinaMorning Post, which citedunnamed sources. AP
Sydney: More than60,000 koalas werekilled, injured or dis-placed in Australianbushfires last sum-mer, the World WideFund for Nature(WWF) has estimat-ed, in what it called adeeply disturbingnumber for a speciesalready in trouble.
Last summer’sbushfires, which Prime Minister Scott Morrisonhas dubbed Australia’s “black summer”, alsokilled 33 people and razed over 24 millionhectares (59 million acres) in the country.
Nearly 3 billion native animals would havebeen in the path of the bushfires, the WWFstudy said.
Even before the fires, koala habitats hadbeen in rapid decline due to land clearing foragriculture, urban development, mining andforestry.
A 2016 report by a panel of koala expertshad put the koala population in Australia at329,000 but there have been bushfires annual-ly since then, reducing the number further.
“That (60,000 figure) is a devastating num-ber for a species that was already sliding towardsextinction in Eastern Australia. We cannotafford to lose koalas on our watch,” WWF-Australia Chief Executive Dermot O’Gormansaid in the report.
South Australia’s Kangaroo Island was theworst-hit area for koalas, with some 40,000koalas impacted by the fires, the WWF said.Nearly 11,000 in Victoria and 8,000 in NewSouth Wales (NSW) were also affected.
A NSW parliamentary inquiry in June con-cluded after a year-long inquiry that koalas inthe state could become extinct by 2050 unlessthe government immediately intervened to pro-tect them and their habitat.
The WWF aims to double the number ofkoalas in eastern Australia by 2050. The planincludes a trial of drones to disperse seeds ofeucalyptus trees which provide both food andshelter for koalas, and the establishment of afund to encourage landowners to create koalasafe havens. AFP
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Chicago: As Donald Trump’spresidency winds down, hisadministration is throttling upthe pace of federal executionsdespite a surge of coronaviruscases in prisons, announcingplans for five starting Thursdayand concluding just days beforethe Jan 20 inauguration ofPresident-elect Joe Biden.
If the five go off asplanned, it will make 13 exe-
cutions since July when theRepublican administrationresumed putting inmates todeath after a 17-year hiatus andwill cement Trump’s legacy asthe most prolific executionpresident in over 130 years.He’ll leave office having exe-cuted about a quarter of all fed-eral death-row prisoners,despite waning support forcapital punishment among
both Democrats andRepublicans.
In a recent interview withThe Associated Press, AttorneyGeneral William Barr defend-ed the extension of executionsinto the post-election period,saying he’ll likely schedulemore before he departs theJustice Department. A Bidenadministration, he said, shouldkeep it up. AP
Washington: Nikki Haley, theformer US envoy to the UnitedNations, on Monday opposedPresident-elect Joe Biden’s planto re-join the Iranian nucleardeal, saying the Trump admin-istration’s sanctions on Tehrandeprived the regime of themoney it needed to harmAmerican military.
“The Iran deal is only asreliable & trustworthy as thepartner who signs the agree-ment & Iran is neither of those.
Iran continues to enrich urani-um, sponsor terrorists & call forIsrael & America’s destruction.Members of the Iranian parlia-ment recently chanted ‘Death toAmerica’,” Haley tweeted.
In an interview to TheNew York Times, President-elect Joe Biden had expressedhis desire to rejoin the Iraniannuclear deal, which was one ofthe key foreign policy accom-plishments of the previousObama Administration. PTI
surprise lead over the govern-ing National Liberals after aparliamentary election butappear less likely to emerge ontop in what promises to be pro-longed post-election wranglingto form a new coalition gov-ernment.
With 95 per cent of ballotscounted Monday, the pop-
ulist, corruption-prone andfiscal ly reckless SocialDemocrat Party (PSD) hadaround 30 per cent of the vote,with the reformist center-right National Liberal Partytrailing them by about 5 percent.
The progressive USR-Plusalliance, which has pledgednot to be part of any SocialDemocrat-led government,won about 15 per cent of thevote.
party was poised to gain con-trol of the National Assembly,the country’s last major inde-pendent institution, in con-gressional elections boycottedby the main opposition coali-tion.
Official results had not yetbeen released by late Sundaynight, but analysts they say area near-foregone conclusionwith the vote largely shunnedby rival candidates anddeclared a sham by the US,European Union and severalother nations.
Brussels: Under pressure to deliver anupdated climate target this month,European Union leaders are unlikely toagree on a more ambitious number whenthey meet this week if they can’t com-promise on the 27-nation bloc’s long-term budget, top European diplomatsays.
The last time EU leaders discussedclimate targets in October, they could notimmediately adopt a proposal requiringunanimous support to cut greenhousegas emissions by at least 55 per cent by2030 compared to 1990 levels, anddecided to try again during theirDecember summit. But a dispute overthe bloc’s money has since emerged asPoland and Hungary now threaten toveto a major coronavirus pandemic aidpackage and the EU’s budget for 2021-2027 because of a mechanism linking EUfunding with members’ adherence todemocratic standards.
According to the diplomat, who wasnot authorised to speak publicly beforethe EU summit that starts talks Thursday,it will be “difficult to see” any agreementon climate if there is no agreement onthe EU’s long-term budget and recoverypackage. In her ambition to make the EUcarbon neutral by mid-century, thepresident of the European Commission,Ursula von der Leyen, has said she wants37 per cent of the 750 billion euros (near-ly USD 900 billion) in the coronavirusrecovery money to be given to EU coun-tries to spend on environmental objec-tives.
A report published on Monday byenvironmental groups gave the EU a“high” performance rating for its climateefforts, weighed down by the poor per-formance of members such as asHungary, Slovenia and Poland.
Audrey Mathieu, a senior analyst atthe group Germanwatch, which co-pub-lishes the annual Climate ChangePerformance Index, said the 27-nationbloc stands at a crossroads.
Noting that the European Parliamenthas called for a 60 per cent drop in emis-
sions, not including measures to removecarbon from the atmosphere, Mathieusaid the current draft proposal for a 55per cent cut being discussed by leadersin Brussels would be a “a huge step, butdoes not go far enough.”
“This December council will set thebar for the EU’s overall climate ambitionfor the coming decade,” she said.
Even before the budget spat, EU east-ern countries had been reluctant to com-mit to a more ambitious climate goal,arguing about the social and economiccosts of a quicker transition to a green-er economy.
Poland, which gets the vast majori-ty of its energy from coal, did not com-mit last year to the EU’s 2050 climateneutrality goal and has asked for moredetails about the measures planned todeliver the revised emissions target.
World leaders agreed five years agoin Paris to keep the global warmingincrease to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6degrees Fahrenheit), and ideally nomore than 1.5 degrees C (2.7 F) by theend of the century. Under the Parisaccord, countries are required to submitupdated climate targets by the end of thisyear.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnsonannounced last week he wants the U.K.to cut greenhouse gas emissions by atleast 68 per cent from 1990 levels by 2030— a more ambitious goal than the EU’s.
Another delay in revising the EU’scurrent 40 per cent emission cuts targetfor 2030 up to 55 per cent would also beparticularly ill-timed ahead of the virtualClimate Ambition Summit markingfive years since the Paris agreement. Theevent on Saturday will be co-hosted bythe U.K. with the United Nations andFrance.
The aim of the virtual summit is tomaintain international momentum oncombating global warming ahead of thenext round of annual U.N. climate talksin November 2021. This year’s gatheringwas postponed due to the coronaviruspandemic. AP
Jerusalem: In the comingyears, Israelis will be able tocommute into Jerusalem andTel Aviv from settlements deepinside the West Bank via high-ways, tunnels and overpassesthat cut a wide berth aroundPalestinian towns.
Rights groups say the newroads will set the stage forexplosive settlement growth,even if the incoming USadministration somehow con-vinces Israel to curb housingconstruction.
The costly infrastructureprojects signal that Israelintends to keep large swaths ofthe occupied territory in anypeace deal and would make iteven harder to establish aviable Palestinian state.
“This is not another hun-dred housing units there orhere,” said Yehuda Shaul, anIsraeli activist who has spentmonths researching and map-ping out the new projects.
“This is de facto annexa-tion on steroids.”
Construction already isunderway on a huge tunnelthat Shaul says will one dayallow settlers from MaaleAdumim, a sprawling settle-ment east of Jerusalem, todrive into the city and onwardto Tel Aviv without passingthrough a military checkpointor even hitting a traffic light.
South of Jerusalem, workis underway to expand the
main highway leading to theGush Etzion settlement blocand settlements farther south,with tunnels and overpassesdesigned to bypass Palestinianvillages and refugee camps.
Palestinians will beallowed to drive on many ofthe new roads, but the infra-structure will be of limited useto them because they need per-mits to enter Israel or annexedeast Jerusalem.
Israel seized the West Bankand east Jerusalem in the 1967war and has since built a far-flung network of settlementsthat house nearly 700,000Jewish settlers.
The Palestinians want bothterritories for their future stateand view the settlements as aviolation of international lawand an obstacle to peace — aposition with wide interna-tional support.
Supporters of settlementsview the West Bank andJerusalem as the historical andbiblical heart of Israel, seeingthe settlements as a way of pre-venting any partition of theHoly Land.
But most Israelis live andwork in the main cities. Exceptfor an ideological minority,most Israelis would be uncom-fortable living deep inside theWest Bank, where two-laneroads pass through militarycheckpoints and Palestinianvillages, and where clashes
and rock-throwing can erupt atany time.
The new roads promise tochange all that, transformingsettlements into affordablesuburban communities withsafe, easy access to cities andpublic transportation.
Shaul estimates the newinfrastructure could facilitateplans for more than 50,000 set-tler housing units in the WestBank and another 6,000 in eastJerusalem.
“People don’t bring roads,roads bring people,” he said.
Shaul, an army conscriptduring the Israeli military’ssuppression of the secondPalestinian uprising in theearly 2000s, is a co-founder ofBreaking the Silence, a groupof former Israeli soldiers whodocument human rights abus-es in the occupied territories.In recent months, he hasturned his attention to Israeliplanning.
His findings are based onminutes from several meetingsheld in recent years by parlia-mentary subcommitteescharged with improving WestBank infrastructure. He alsocites a strategic plan present-ed by Transportation MinisterMiri Regev, a hard-line sup-porter of settlements, to agroup of settlement mayors lastmonth.
In a statement after themeeting, Regev called it “an
exciting day for the settle-ments and for the state ofIsrael, which builds and isbuilding in all areas of thehomeland.” She said itprovided a “holistic vision”for “a future development planfor the region.” The ministrydid not respond to requests forcomment.
Oded Revivi, the mayor ofthe Efrat settlement in theWest Bank who attended themeeting, said the draft planwas “very thorough,” and thatthe ministry was open to sug-gestions, “taking into accountthe needs of both populations,both the Jews and the Arabs.”
He said US PresidentDonald Trump’s Mideast plan,which would allow Israel toannex about a third of the WestBank, including all its settle-ments, had proven that the set-tlements are not an obstacle topeace.
That plan was immediate-ly rejected by the Palestiniansand is likely to be scrapped byPresident-elect Joe Biden, whoopposes annexation.
Alon Cohen Lifshitz, anexpert at Bimkom, an Israelirights group that focuses onurban planning, said the mainaim of the road projects is tocreate a “matrix of control” thatensures the free movement ofIsraelis while further frag-menting the areas governed bythe Palestinian Authority. AP
Islamabad: Pakistan on Monday recorded 3,795 coronaviruscases, the highest spike in daily new infections since July 2, rais-ing the nationwide case count to 4,20,294, the health ministrysaid. The country also reported 37 more deaths in the last 24hours, pushing the total number of fatalities to 8,398. A total of2,539 virus patients are in critical condition, said the Ministryof National Health Services.
The 3,795-new cases has also raised the country-wide coro-navirus positivity rate to 9.71 per cent. It was also the highestdaily case count since July 2 when the country reported 4,087cases, the Dawn newspaper said.
Monday was also the fifth straight day that more than 3,000new cases have been reported. PTI
Regardless of the cause, con-genital disorders or com-monly known as birthdefects usually result in
disabilities which may affect phys-ically, intellectually or cause devel-opmental delays. While such com-plications may hamper the quali-ty of life of the child for life-long,timely intervention may help incurbing down the symptomaticcomplications and improve thefunctional outcomes.
Chiari Malformation is onesuch defect which is majorly a con-genital defect which may or maynot present its symptoms untilearly teenage. It is a structuraldefect in the cerebellum part(which is responsible for control-ling body balance), where thebrain tissues extend into the spinalcanal abnormally. This defect usu-ally triggers its progression fromthe fetal development stage.
While the majority of the casesof Chiari malformation occursduring fetal development, only ina few cases the condition may beacquired at later stages of lifewhen excessive amounts of cere-brospinal fluid may drain out dueto some reason (injury/infectionetc).
Attributing to a plethora of rea-sons including genetic mutation,improper diet during pregnancy bythe mother due to lack of essentialnutrients, trauma during preg-nancy, infection or exposure to anytoxic substance etc, the bony spaceat the base of the skull remainsabnormally small. This in turnexerts pressure on the cerebellumblocking the flow of the CFS whichsurrounds and helps in protectingthe brain and spinal cord.
Prevalence and identificationThis condition is considered to
be one of the rare birth defects, andvarious reports suggest that itsprevalence is only one in a thou-sand births in the last decade. Butwith advancement in technologyand diagnostic imaging techniques,the condition may have beenunder-reported. In most of thecongenital cases, the new born donot have any visible symptoms orthe symptoms become prominent
around their adolescence, whichmake the exact estimation of thisdefect extremely difficult. For spo-radic reasons, this defect is knownto affect females more than male.
This complication can beclassified into four categories:
Type I: The prevalence of thistype of malformation is the mostcommon among children, whereonly the lower part of the cerebel-lum (excluding the brainstem)extends into the opening at thebase of the skull, which usually hasopening only for the spinal cord.This is the only type which can beacquired.
Type II: This type is usually aconsequence in children born withspina bifida (split spine defect).Also known as the classic ChiariMalformation, in this both, thecerebellum and the brain stemextend into the opening.
Type III: This, despite being arare case, is the most serious form,as it involves herniation and pro-trusion of the cerebellum and thebrain stem into the opening whichhas a great potential to causesevere neurological defects.
Type IV: Being the rarest of allthe other types, this type of mal-formation involves an incomplete/underdeveloped cerebellum and issometimes associated with exposedparts of the skull.
While birth defect in the spine(spina bifida) is a common reason,yet other conditions associatedwith the Chiari Malformation canbe excessive build-up of the cere-brospinal fluid(hydrocephalus),cyst development in the centralcanal of the spinal cord
(syringomyelia), disorder in thespine which is progressive thatleads to the attachment of spinalcord to the bony spine, or otherspinal curvature deformities likescoliosis.
Symptoms:Depending upon the type and
severity of the malformation, thesymptoms may vary from personto person. While some may be pre-sent with no symptoms until lateadulthood, others may have persis-tent symptoms in the early child-hood itself.
The most common symp-toms include:� Complications with body bal-ancing and coordination� Poor vision� Mild to severe episodes ofheadaches� Weakness in the muscles andnumbness� In mild cases of Type I, peoplesuffering from this condition donot even know until the malforma-tion is diagnosed accidentally. Butin its severe form the patient mayundergo severe pain in the lowerback of the head connecting to theneck. This intensifying pain trig-gers with any activity that exertspressure in the brain such assneezing or coughing.
Unlike Type I, congenitalpatients with Type II developexcess CSF accumulation whichcauses debilitating pain duringbending, coughing or sneezing,constipated bowel movement, orstrenuous physical activities.
Is it treatable? – Yes!Upon suspicion of the malfor-
mation, the treating doctors
require physical examination toconfirm the condition whichinvolves inspecting the properfunctioning of the spinal cordand cerebellum. If the person hasproper and normal body balance,motor skills, sensation, reflexes,this condition may be ruled out forfurther diagnostics. On the con-trary, other diagnostics like CTscan and MRI may be used toidentify the condition with preci-sion.
If the symptoms are not per-sistent and do not hinder with thequality of life, then treatment maynot be necessary.
While surgery remains thelast resort to correct the function-al outcomes or curb down the pro-gression of the damage rate to thenervous system, the surgery aimsto relieve the pressure on thebrain and spine, and re-establishthe normal fluid circulation.
Various surgical interventionsinclude:
Decompression surgery of thebrain stem opening — this proce-dure requires to surgically removea minor portion from the bottomof the skull or spinal column torectify the irregular structure, andcreates additional space for theproper circulation of the CSF.
Spinal Laminectomy — In thisprocedure, a part of the archedbone roof In the spinal canal isremoved to increase the canalsize and reduce the pressure on thenerve roots and spinal cord.
Eyes are a window to the world and any damage to or weak-ening of these vital structures especially at a young age can
determine the difference between a life of normalcy and fulfill-ment and a lifetime of misery and dependence. From the timeof birth to early childhood and adolescence, eye care for chil-dren must be a special focus of families and paediatricians. Yet,India has the dubious distinction of not only having the largestnumber of blind in the world, but also possibly the largest num-ber of blind children with estimates ranging between 1.6 to 2 mil-lion. Although blindness in children is a reflection of generalhealth and nutritional deficiencies, there are many eye-relatedconditions arising either congenitally or due to complicationsduring birth that lead to a child turning blind.
Traditionally, corneal clouding and scarring were consideredthe most common causes of childhood blindness in India. Studiesin the early 2000s concluded that refractive errors constitutedthe biggest cause of childhood blindness followed by retinaldegenerations, corneal opacities, congenital eye anomalies andamblyopia in that order. More importantly, it was treatable refrac-tive error that constituted one-third of the cases of blindnessamong children. One-sixth cases were due to preventable caus-es such as Vitamin A deficiency and amblyopia post-cataractsurgery.
The remaining cases of childhood blindness were found tobe a result of congenital eye anomalies and retinal degeneration.
Another study has foundmyopia to be the cause of one-third of refractive error casesfollowed by astigmatism andhypermetropia.
Although there is no treat-ment yet available for gene-related ocular conditions suchas microphthalmos and anoph-thalmos which lead to blind-ness in children, refractiveerrors can indeed be treatedand therefore any possibleblindness on account of themcan be staved off. Mere timelyintroduction of corrective glass-es or lenses for childrendepending on the degree ofseverity can go a long way inpreventing blindness among
nearly one-third of children impacted. Similarly, nutritional blind-ness among children can be averted by timely administration ofVitamin A doses to children according to their age.
Deficiency of Vitamin A can lead to a range of eye condi-tions: from xerophthalmia (incapacity to produce tears) leadingto severe dryness of the cornea and conjunctiva and nyctalop-ia (night blindness) to keratomalacia (clouding and softening ofthe cornea) which can lead to corneal rupture and permanentblindness. Congenital cataract can cause blindness but this canbe prevented if treatment is undertaken at an early stage. Aftersurgical removal of cataract, use of spectacles and patching canreverse the amblyopia.
Given the enormity of the problem, blindness among chil-dren can be addressed at the following levels.
First, at the family level, parents must be able to identify earlysigns of a disorder in the eye. It is known that children have unco-ordinated eyes or cross eyes at birth. This is because it takes timefor coordination between eyes to develop. However, if there ispersistence of cross eyes, parents must visit a paediatric ophthal-mologist. Cross eyes can be corrected by spectacles, exercises orsurgery. In terms of preventive treatment, timely Vitamin A sup-plements should be administered to children as well as moth-ers post-delivery and children should be immunised againstmeasles. Food rich in Vitamin A, leafy vegetables and milk mustbe consumed. Also, it is better to avoid any home treatment with-out consulting an ophthalmologist.
�����������The Parnsnip isa root vegetable closelyrelated to carrots. It containshigh levels of minerals likecalcium, potassium,manganese, magnesium,phosphorous, zinc, and iron.
They have an impressiverange of vitamins, includingfolate, thiamin, pantothenicacid, Vitamin B6, C, E, and K.They also have high levels offiber, water, and protein.
The most impor-tant health ben-efits of parsnipsinclude theirability toimprove hearthealth, enhancedigestion, reducebirth defects, aid in weight loss,and boost the immune system.Parsnips also enhance vision,
promote growth, boost oraland skin health, prevent dia-betes and cancer, as well asstrengthen brain health.
They have low carbohy-drates, sodium, and calories.They also contain poly-acety-lene antioxidants such as fal-carinol, falcarindiol, panaxadi-ol, and methyl-falcarindiol.
Parsnips make deliciouschips or wedges; chop and addto braises or stews; use in stir
fries, salads, pies, soups,soufflés. Parsnips
can be includ-ed witho t h e rroast veg-
e t a b l e s ;boiled and mashed with
carrots and parsnip cake issimilar in texture to carrotcake.
Urinary Tract Infectionor UTI can beextremely painful
and uncomfortable for peo-ple of all ages. The burningsensation while relievingyourself or frequent visitsto the washroom,are all symptomsof UTI.
Here are afew tips thatcan help tokeep the infec-tion at bay.
Water is life:Keeping yourselfhydrated is the key tonot inviting UTI. Drinkplenty of water and otherliquids.
Never skip your wash-room break: As weird it maysound, but it is essential torespond to the Nature’s calland relieve yourself at reg-ular intervals. Do this on
priority if you don’t want tocatch this nasty infection.
Maintain hygiene: Keepgood care of hygiene, espe-cially if you have to use pub-lic washrooms. Make sure
the area is clean and sani-tised. You can carry a
toilet seat sanitiserto be on the safeside.
I n c r e a s eVitamin Cintake: VitaminC is thought to
work by increas-ing the acidity of
the urine, therebykilling off the bacteria thatcauses infection.
Take help of unsweet-ened cranberry juice:Cranberries work by pre-venting bacteria fromadhering to the urinarytract, thus preventing infec-tion. A glass a day can help.
Urinary Tract Infection is com-mon if one fails to drink plentyof water. However, women are
more prone to such infection.ROSHANI DEVI shares easyhome remedies that can helpease the pain and discomfort
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Apart from being popular as one of thecountry’s leading exports, tea plays an
integral role in Indian society. Our love forthe beverage surpasses trade figures. For us,tea sets the tone for a hearty conversation. Infact, most of us begin our day with a cup offreshly brewed tea. After all, it gives us thatrefreshing zap of energy and much-neededwarmth while hanging out with friends ona cold day.
However, various studies also link theconsumption of highly caffeinated drinkswith several unwanted health concerns. So,how to turn your tea into a cup of holistichealth?
Well, let’s take you into the amazingworld of infusion teas.
An infusion tea is obtained by steepingflowers, fruits, spices, roots, and leaves ofa particular plant in hot or cold water toextract its beneficial properties and aromas.They are a tasty and healthy spin to yourregular tea and wholesome to incorporateinto your daily life.
Fresh brew infusions or tea blends arefor individuals who want to improve theirhealth organically. Unlike other caffeine-laden beverages such as coffee, infusion teasare caffeine-free and rich in nutritionalvalue. Infusions have multiple health ben-efits that can help with pain reduction,relaxation, improved digestion, a strongerimmune system, among others. Here is howthese infusions help you:
Sleep inducer and helps againstinsomnia: We know that a high intake ofcaffeine is bad, especially before bed, as thecaffeine content makes your mind wideawake when your body seeks some rest. Sowhat can we substitute as our bedtime drinkto get a sound sleep? Rose infusion is theanswer. It has a delicate flavor and alluringaroma and has been used for peace andrelaxation since time immemorial. Rosepetals also contain flavonoids and anxiolyt-ic compounds that induce sleep.
Soothing and relaxing properties:Chamomile tea finds its origin in ancientEgypt and Greece and is known for its heal-ing properties. It is known to alleviate sleepproblems, menstrual cramps, muscle twitch-es, sore stomach, as well as anxiety andstress. It has a sweet intoxicating fragrancewith a light and earthy flavor. This makesit the perfect hot beverage after a long andstressful day.
Helps in improving metabolism: Thegoal to lose weight, or say, staying fit stayson top of our minds. The good news is thatyou can accelerate your weight loss bydrinking some of your favorite beverages.Instead of reaching for sugary sodas or dan-gerous weight loss pills, simply pour your-self a cup of infusion tea and sip your wayto a robust metabolism, which is a key tooverall well-being.
Helps strengthen immunity: Buildingimmunity is a vital task, especially, duringtimes like these when there is a heightenedrisk of illnesses. Most of the infusion teas-possess catechins and theaflavins, to somelevel. Both these components could help infighting viruses on the cellular level, there-by strengthening immunity.
Longer working hours, addi-tional household chores,increased screen time and
higher levels of stress and fatiguehave been something that all of ushave been trying to combat in thepast few months. When coupledwith a reduction in me-time, self-care and moments of unwinding,this shift in our lifestyles has hadan unhealthy effect on our skin.
Presenting OxyBlast, a sevenstep in-salon facial that is nowavailable at home in the form ofa DIY single use kit. Specificallydesigned to provide an instantsolution to skin that has lost itsradiance and glow. Available forjust �300 on Nykaa and Amazon.
Benefits:Oxygen for your skin: Backed
by science, this one of a kind facialprovides your skin with a ‘blast’ ofoxygen to revitalise and regener-ate the skin by boosting cellularfunction and giving you visibleradiance
The goodness of anti-oxidantingredients: The anti-oxidantingredients help in protecting theskin from everyday aggressionspollution, UV-induced damagesand oxidation, fruit enzymes exfo-liate dead cells to reveal fresh radi-ant skin and Vitamin E hydratesand nourishes the skin while aloevera powder help in soothingskin.
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Let’s welcome the change.Though everybody prefers
cool & pleasant weather, win-ter can be harsher than summerespecially for your skin.
Winter does come withsome challenges like dullness,itchiness, chapped lips andparched skin. So, it is time totake a little extra effort to keepyour skin soft, supple, healthy&glowing.
Fret not, be ready to com-bat these winter skin issues witha tweak in your regular skincareregime:
Cleansing: It is recom-mended to wash your facewith lukewarm water andchoose a mild moisturisingcleanser to maintain the natur-al oil of your skin.Though itfeels good to take hot showersit is advised to take quickshowers and opt for mild show-er gels & soaps containing nat-ural oils, glycerin& humec-tants to avoid dryness.
Tip: Opt for SLES com-
pared to SLS which are mildersurfactants.
Moisturising: It is advisedto opt for moisturiser thathelps the skin to heal, hydrateand lock in the benefits. Youmay opt for moisturisers basedon your skin type. If you havedry skin try rich cream or oilbased whereas combination tooily skin can go for light weightgel based moisturisers. Ensureto always moisturise your skinto keep it healthy and fine linefree. Opt for ingredients thathas hyaluronic, glycerin or VitE to form the skin protectivebarrier.
Sun protection: Most of usare unaware that the winter UVrays are equally damaging asthe summer sun. UVA is alwayspresent and can penetrate deep-er into the skin damagingelastin & collagen resultinginto premature ageing.Sunscreen is an important pre-ventive healthy habit thatshould be maintained all the
year. Choose a sunscreen thatprovides broad-spectrum pro-tection and has anti-ageingproperties. Remember to re-apply sunscreen every three-four hours to help maintain aneven skin tone.
Care for your hands &feet: The skin on your hands &feet has fewer oil glands mak-ing the moisture to evaporatequickly. Make sure to use a gen-tle exfoliator and apply a mois-turisers that heals & seals thedryness
Lip care: Lip skin is verythin and delicate and is oftenthe first sign to feel the weath-er change. To keep your lipssmooth and plump look forsoothing and healing ingredi-ents like shea, Vit E, hemp andsunscreen. Avoid licking andpeeling theskin with your teethor finger. Instead scrub it offgently and apply balm or but-ter.@���� ��� �4����@�� � ��#�������
With the passing away ofneo-tantric abstraction-ist and printmaker extra-
ordinaire Dipak Banerjee, Indialoses a pedagogue and brilliantartist who wove into his work theprinciples of ‘Purusha Prakriti’ andthe traditional nuances of Indianminiature painting.
Banerjee breathed his last inKolkata on November 26. As ayoung artist, who graduated fromGovernment College of Art,Kolkata, his first job for theHandicraft Board was to collectdifferent cultural motifs. He usedto copy motifs engraved on thewalls of temples in Kolkata. Fromthe little bylanes of Kolkata’s tem-ples and Kalighat elements,Banerjee got a prestigious schol-arship from the French govern-ment and left for Paris in 1965. Hestudied printmaking under thefamed William Hayter of Atelier17 as well as Krishna Reddy.
MODERN MANDALASIn 1990s Delhi, he used to
have a show at Gallerie Ganeshaannually. His intaglios were likemodern mandalas, a medley ofgeometry and symbolism. Thetantric elements and the motifs ofIndian miniatures all meshed intometiculous variations that exud-ed a deep spirituality.
To gaze at a Dipak Banerjeeprint is to be drawn into a king-dom that seeped into your soul.His command of a free fluidity oflines and the warmth of colour
zones all became a precisepermutation of in-depthexactness and balance ofchoreography. HisVishnupada, Chausath Yoginisand Kali intaglios have aboutthem an antique aura that isunseen in today’s world.
He said during one of hisshows in Delhi, “I am not apracticing tantric but I grad-ually moved to the tantricmode of self-realisation dur-ing my many explorations. Inmy collection of templemotifs, I was unconsciouslygaining an album of tantricsymbolic motifs like PurushaPrakriti, Vishnu, Sahasra,Nathji and Kundalini, whichpresented the spiritualdynamics of content inancient Indian art. So youcould say that the journey
which began in Paris got its finaldirection through the lanes ofBenaras.”
EARTH SONGS IN SPIRITAfter returning from Paris in
1967, Banerjee taught for years atBenaras Hindu University. As apedagogue at the department ofprintmaking in BHU, he wasamong the finest. His attention todetail and the earth-toned colourstalk about the spiritual and thesublime. Ornamentation in lin-guistic alphabets became the normin his work. The gods and god-desses appeared as miniaturedivinities settled into the cosmicrealm of his design dynamics.
Sometimes his works includ-ed a series of mandalas whichinvolved designs like a circle with-in a square and a square within acircle. These variations made his
Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal isone of the few performers to
have shone to the fore with the dig-ital boom in the entertainmentindustry. With a strong back-ground in theatre, there is amethod to the actor’s madness andhis body of work goes to show thathe’s a character chameleon.
In the course of his career,Sanyal has been appreciated for astring of performances. The latestone to have won him tremendousacclaim is for the role of BhopaSwami in Prakash Jha’s AashramChapter 2. The actor played therole of the right-hand man of
Kashipur Waale Baba Nirala. In themuch loved crime series, he’s amercenary who silences his detrac-tors in a matter-of-fact way.
Jha’s digital foray has markeda turning point in the actor’scareer trajectory. The streak ofacclaim began for him with the2009 caper thriller film Kamineyand his Bengali debut, the 2010film Mahanagar@Kolkata.
He then went on to receiverecognition for his performancesin the 2012 Bengali drama filmAparajita Tumi and as an insom-niac artist in the 2013 romanticdrama Prague.
Says Chandan, “Aashram gaveme a special identity as an actor.I’m grateful that the year turnedout so fruitful for me with suchamazing and unique projects.Currently, I’m in the middle offinalising some super exciting pro-jects and I can’t wait to sink myteeth into different roles and col-laborate with the greats of theindustry.”
His act as Swapan, a paralysedoverlord in Kaali Season 2 and asa husband looking to rekindle hismarried life in Forbidden Love aresome of his other notable perfor-mances this year.
As the world awaits the vaccine forCOVID-19, the unprecedented
novel Coronavirus continues to rage on.While most lockdown restrictions havebeen lifted and the country has inchedcloser to normalcy, plethora of informa-tion on combatting the spread of thevirus, preventing potential infection, andsafeguarding oneself through the con-sumption of certain DIY immunityboosting concoctions is making roundson social media. However, experts arenoting a surge in side-effects amongstpeople who are consuming these home-made ‘kadhas’; the issue being repeat-ed and high dose consumption of thesehome remedies.
COVID-19 scare has promptedwidespread consumption of ekadha(herbal concoction) that usuallyincludes ginger, lemon, garlic, turmer-ic, pepper, aloe vera or berries.
Talking about the impact of exces-sive consumption of homemade‘kadha’s’, Dr Sanjay Shah, GeneralPhysician, Fortis Hospital, Mulundrecalls a peculiar case. He says, “In ayoung patient, bleeding was spottedpost-operatively; upon investigatingthe matter and detailed assessment of hismedical history, we found that thepatient was consuming a homemadekadha in large quantity. This had led tointernal bleeding”. Another patient wasbrought in to the ER with acute breath-
lessness, he was pale and his hemoglo-bin levels were low. On investigating, itwas noted that he was consuming fourto five glasses of kadha on a daily basis,for the past five months.” He added that,“The patient mentioned that his stoolswere black in colour for the last two
months and that he believed that tox-ins were being excreted, as a result of thekadha. Hence the patient prolonged hisvisit to the hospital, till such time he feltexcessive fatigue.”
While individuals continue to beinundated with social media messages
about homemade recipes or supplementmarketers advocating vitamins andother immunity boosting alternatives,here’s a reminder that there is no suchmagic pill or potion. Most often, theseare offered to the family in a bid to safe-guard them against COVID but whatneeds to be understood is that peoplereact differently to it. As a rule of nature,anything consumed in the right man-ner and quantity will reap benefits.However, if consumed recklessly, itcould be dangerous.
Profuse use, particularly by thosewho have comorbidities, patients whoare on blood thinners or medications forchronic diseases, it could be dangerous,increasing the risk of bleeding tenden-cy. Depending on the bleeding location,whether the brain or the intestine, thecase criticality could range from normalto life threatening.
Consuming warm concoctions inexcess could lead to side effects such asulcers or superficial bleeding in themouth. Condiments in homemade con-coctions generate excessive heat in thebody and could cause nose bleeding; itupsets the esophagus causing esophagealerosion, it also causes Gastro-Esophageal Reflux affecting digestion.When digestion is affected, this couldpotentially impact one’s immunity.
Components in ingredients liketurmeric and aloe vera, if used in
excess could harm the liver, which fur-ther increases the chance of beingdiagnosed with Jaundice. This mayalso cause bleeding in the organ whichcould lead to life threatening liver fail-ure or injury.
Arsenic Album is another com-monly used immunity booster. If usedin limited and supervised quantities itcould be beneficial to one’s health; how-ever, if used in excess it could harm thekidneys, liver or brain, at times leav-ing a patient unconscious due toarsenic toxicity and in need of criticalcare.
Excess Vitamin D increases the cal-cium content in the body leaving a per-son irritable and sometimes uncon-scious. Spike in blood and urine calci-um levels due to high Vit-D levels caus-es nausea, dehydration, giddinessamong other fluctuations. It is impor-tant to note that when consumed insmall quantities and under medicalguidance of your physician, theseingredients are harmless.
Serious consequences are facedwhen there is an imbalanced intake; besafe, be aware. Speak to your physicianbefore beginning your course of home-made kadha’s, understand the role ofeach ingredient and the frequency atwhich it is to be had; don’t be recklesswith these.
works iconic. Within the dictumsof tantric symbolism, he foundan intense expression of evoca-tive elegance. His work was aquest that transcended beyondspace and time, and was a com-munion with the Absolute.
Banerjee stood among theneo-tantric practitioners in India— stalwarts like Ghulam RasoolSantosh, Biren De, and SohanQadri. In his works, we canobserve a lexicon that distilledthe rootedness of Vedic sciences.His perfection of creating multi-hued colourative etchingsshowed his richness of repertoireand a controlled construction ofthe narrative. His last exhibitionwas held at Sanchit Art in 2017in Delhi.
For him, Tantra was morethan just a motif. It was a per-spective that conveyed the
proverbial image of the omni-scient. Juxtapositions and islandsof luminosity were of an incan-descent idiom. His understand-ing of the realms of the chakrawent deep into exploring themathematical nuances ofabsolute knowledge.
COLOUR AND COSMOSHis universe lay within the
symmetric and geometric pat-terns of tantric symbols rooted inHindu, Buddhist and Jain icono-graphies. His modernist interpre-tation was born of a voice bothlocal and universal. Within thesymmetry of his lines, we glimpsea thematic exactitude floating inthe flow of colours, an embrac-ing of Indian folk traditionsexpressed within the organicextension of technique into therealms of spiritual abstraction.
Rooted in a larger allegory ofluminosity — both in terms ofthe canvas treatment and in therealm of our interpretation ofcosmic unity/oneness — DipakBannerjee leaves behind a suiteof spiritual wonders. He bringsalive the words of the greatabstractionist Wassily Kandinskywho said, “Colour directly influ-ences the soul. It is the keyboard,the eyes are the hammers, thesoul is the piano with manystrings. The artist is the hand thatplays, touching one key or anoth-er purposively, to cause vibra-tions in the soul.”
The series pocketed andtheir confidence restored,India would eye nothing
less than a clean sweep whenthey take on an Australian sidesignificantly weakened by injuryblows, in the third and final T20Iat Sydney Cricket Ground onTuesday.
Skipper Virat Kohli and hismain protagonist of the white-ball leg, Hardik Pandya, will feela sense of deja vu given that thescript has panned out exactly like2016 when the team got wal-loped in the ODIs but came backstrongly to rout the Aussies 3-0in the T20I series.
After a couple of crushingdefeats in the first two ODIs, theIndians have turned a cornerstarting with the final ODI inCanberra.
Even the absence of a white-ball pro like Ravindra Jadeja did-n’t have an impact during theirconvincing six-wicket win in theseries-clinching second T20 onSunday.
What will boost the Indianteam’s morale manifold is thefact that it had the confidence torest both Mohammed Shamiand Jasprit Bumrah, relying ona troika of pacers, who betweenthem haven’t played even 40games collectively.
India’s new white-ball sen-sation Thangarasu Natarajanhas had a superb initiation ininternational cricket withAustralian batsmen still findingit difficult to read him.
As Pandya so rightly put it,Natarajan’s spell and the 10runs that Australia failed to
score became the differencebetween winning and losing.
The difference betweenboth teams during the last gamewas the batting of the two teamsduring the middle overs.
Australia lost a bit ofmomentum after stand-in skip-per Matthew Wade was dis-missed while his opposite num-ber Kohli played some outra-geous shots after the Powerplayto up the ante.
Shreyas Iyer’s induction inplace of an injured Manish
Pandey also worked well for thevisitors.
The only glitch in an other-wise solid show was YuzvendraChahal’s rare off-day. Not hav-ing a sixth bowling option meantthat Kohli was forced to have hispremier leg-spinner completehis quota.
For Australia, the absence of
regular skipper Aaron Finch,David Warner, Mitchell Starc,Pat Cummins and JoshHazlewood did have an impactalthough three of the five didplay in the first T20I that Indiacomfortably won by 11 runs.
D’Arcy Short hasn’t lookedthe part as an opener in the twogames and one would expectMarcus Stoinis and GlennMaxwell to shoulder moreresponsibility as senior players.
But Australia’s thin-on-experience bowlers will have to
play out of their skins to stop theIndian juggernaut which hasstarted rolling.
A 3-0 win would be the per-fect booster shot for it before theall-important Test series.
In case of Australia, while athrashing would impact them alot but they would try and lookat it from a different perspective— most of their Test specialistswill not have the scars of a cleansweep when they take on Indiaunder the lights at the AdelaideOval, starting December 17.
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Senior pros Umesh Yadavand Ravichandran Ashwin
staked strong claims to beincluded in India’s playing XIfor the first Test with impres-sive performances againstAustralia A, which scored 286for 8 on the second day, ridingon Cameron Green’s unbeatencentury.
Australia now have a 39-run lead after India A declaredtheir innings at 247 for 9 in thefirst hour of the second day,with skipper Ajinkya Rahaneremaining unbeaten on 117.
With Mohammed Shamiand Jasprit Bumrah beingautomatic choices, Umesh (18-3-44-3), fighting for thirdpacer’s slot, certainly lookedmore penetrative comparedto Mohammed Siraj (19-4-71-2) with the new ball.
The ‘Vidarbha Express’removed both rival Test teamopeners Will Pucovski (1) andJoe Burns (4) in his third andfourth over with the new ballto make initial inroads.
Ashwin (19-2-58-2) alsodid his Test chances no harm.
For Australia A, the giantall-rounder Green continuedhis rich vein of Sheffield Shieldform with an unbeaten 114 off173 that had 10 fours and a six.
He showed good tempera-ment against the Indian attackwhile adding 104 runs for thesixth wicket with his nationalskipper Tim Paine (44) afterbeing reduced to 98 for 5.
Another 49 for the eighthwicket with paceman MichaelNeser (33) ensured thatAustralia A recovered wellfrom a batting collapse.
India started well with the
new ball as Umesh maintaineda good channel outside off-stump as Pucovski trying tocut a back-of length deliverygave a simple catch toShubman Gill at point.
Burns edged one thatmoved a shade away to wick-etkeeper Wriddhiman Sahabehind the stumps.
Skipper Travis Head (18)and Marcus Harris (35) thenadded 55 runs to steady theinnings before Siraj got into theact, cleaning up the AustraliaA skipper in the 21st over.
Siraj, who is also trying toseal a place in the Tests,troubled Harris (35) a lotwith semi-new ball beforeAshwin ended his stay withRahane snapping one in theslip cordon.
The experienced off-spin-
ner was again in action in the31st over when he trapped NicMaddinson (23) with a deliv-ery that kept straight.
Green and Tim Painethen scripted another recov-ery act to take Australia A to186-5 at tea.
After the break, Umeshpeppered Paine with bouncerswith one hitting him on thehelmet. The strategy worked asPaine pulled one only to bebrilliantly caught by PrithviShaw at backward square leg,ending their 104-run stand.
Siraj then got his secondscalp in the 67th over, remov-ing James Pattinson (3) butMichael Neser (33) frustratedIndia A before being run-outin 80th over.
Green, who was droppedon 24 by Hanuma Vihari insecond slip and then on 78 byWriddhiman Saha, completedhis hundred with a four in the81st over.
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England’s ODI series in South Africa was cancelledon Monday after an outbreak of Covid-19 cases
at the luxurious Cape Town hotel where both teamsare staying.
Both squads have had members infected, whiletwo staff members at the hotel have also contractedthe disease.
The decision to call off the series was taken byboth the England and Wales Cricket Board andCricket South Africa, the two federations said in astatement, and was made “to ensure the mental andphysical health and welfare of players from bothteams.” The opening game of the series was sched-uled for Friday but was postponed to Sunday after aSouth African player tested positive for Covid-19 onthe morning of the game.
That first ODI was then cancelled completely onSunday after it was revealed two hotel staff membershad been infected with Covid-19, forcing theEngland contingent to undergo a new round of tests.
Two members of the England group then testedpositive for Covid-19, although the ECB said it want-ed the tests verified by an independent medical teambefore making a decision on the remainder of the tour.
Both the ECB and Cricket South Africa hadhoped that the remaining two ODI games would beable to go ahead but that was ended with Monday’sannouncement.
The ECB and CSA said they were effectively post-poning the series until a suitable time could be foundfor England to travel back to South Africa to play thegames.
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Australia’s stand-in T20 skip-per Matthew Wade on
Monday said batting mainstaySteve Smith, who has “plenty ofsay” in how the team is drivenon the field, would do a “greatjob” if he is given the leadershiprole again.
Wade took over the captain-cy reins for the second T20 onSunday after Aaron Finch pickedup an injury in the openinggame.
Asked about Smith, wholost the captaincy role becauseof his role in the 2018 ball-tam-pering scandal, Wade said theteam has a lot of options andthey include the batting star.
“We have so many goodleaders, I have been given the
captaincy but we have got Smith,we have got Moises (Henriques),who captains his BBL team. Wehave guys with a lot of experi-ence, there is a lot of discussionsamong the seniors but we are allworking together,” Wade said.
“It is not me driving thefield, obviously Finchy (AaronFinch) is our captain and we allwork together when he playswell. So Smith has plenty of say,he has been a great captain fora long time and he will do a great
job if he gets an opportunity,” headded.
Coach Justin Langer saidAustralia’s T20 against India onSunday was too early for SteveSmith to regain the captaincy.
“Of course, we talked abouta number of things,” Langer toldFox Sports, when asked if Smithwas considered. “We’ve got somany options. Steve has done abrilliant job in the past. There’sprobably a bit of a process weneed to go through until hebecomes captain again. We’ll gothrough that.”
Langer added: “When theEnglish crowd gave him a stand-ing ovation at The Oval last year— talk about earning respect ...he’s doing all the right things toshow leadership without a titleat the moment.”
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New Zealand captain KaneWilliamson on Monday
moved up a rung to join hisIndian counterpart Virat Kohliat the second spot in the latestICC Test rankings for batsmen.
On the other hand, WestIndies captain Jason Holderconceded his top ICC Test all-rounder’s ranking to Englandstar Ben Stokes after an unim-pressive outing against NewZealand in the first Test whichhis team lost by an innings and134 runs.
Australia’s Steve Smith, with911 points, kept his hold on thepole position in the battingcharts ahead of Kohli andWilliamson, who hit a match-winning double hundredagainst the West Indies in
Hamilton.India’s Chesteshwar Pujara
remained seventh on the listahead of Stokes (8th) andEngland captain Joe Root (9th)respectively.
New Zealand opener TomLatham entered the top-10 atthe 10th position.
Ajinkya Rahane (11th) andMayank Agarwal (12th) haveboth dropped a place each.
������/�� C���D� Indian all-rounderRavindra Jadeja is likely to miss theopening Test against Australia owingto the concussion and a hamstringinjury that he sustained during theopening T20I on Friday.
The 32-year-old, who is on thecusp of his 50th Test, is likely to be outfor at least three weeks which certain-ly rules him out of the first Day/NightTest in Adelaide starting December 17.
In case it turns out to be a ham-string tear, it could well rule him outof the second Boxing Day Test inMelbourne from December 26.
“As per ICC’s concussion proto-cols, after any head injury, a playerneeds to be rested for 7 to 10 days,which effectively rules Jadeja out of thethree-day day/night warm-up game at
the SCG from December 11,” a BCCIsource told PTI.
“Therefore, it is next to impossi-ble that the Indian team managementwould field Jadeja, without any warm-up game time ahead of the openingTest,” the source added.
However, more than concussion,it is understood that the hamstringinjury is likely to keep Jadeja out ofaction for at least one Test if not two.
In fact, one of the on-air commen-tators, during the second day of thewarm-up game between India A andAustralia A, said that “news is Jadejais out for three weeks” due to concus-sion. However as per BCCI sources,while he is recovering well from con-cussion, to be fully fit from a dodgyhamstring may just take some time.
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Liverpool manager JurgenKlopp said he had “goose-
bumps” as fans returned toAnfield on Sunday, roaring thePremier League champions onto a comprehensive 4-0 winagainst Wolves.
The Reds have not had thechance to play in front of theirsupporters since they endedtheir 30-year wait to be crownedEnglish champions in June.
But they made up for losttime, swaggering to a comfort-able win as the 2,000 fans permit-ted to attend due to coronavirusrestrictions sang the club anthem“You’ll Never Walk Alone”.
Wolves showed glimpses ofa threat early on but the resultwas rarely in doubt onceMohamed Salah had given thehome side the lead midwaythrough the first half.
Second-half goals fromGeorginio Wijnaldum, JoelMatip and a late own goal fromNelson Semedo underlinedLiverpool’s superiority as theyjoined leaders Spurs on 24 points.
“The game, the atmosphere,it was so nice I had goose-bumps,” an emotional Klopptold the BBC. “They started‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ — real-ly nice. I never knew it could feelthat good.
“This started in Februaryand we were waiting to get nor-mality back. Normality is good— I don’t think we appreciatedit as much. It was very, verytouching.”
The home fans had some-thing to cheer in the 24th
minute. There did not appear tobe much danger when Liverpoolcaptain Jordan Henderson senta long ball over the top into theWolves penalty area.
But Wolves captain ConorCoady, who used to be onLiverpool’s books, got his calcu-lations wrong. The ball came offhis chest and Salah nipped in tofire home left-footed.
Wolves were awarded apenalty in the dying minutes ofthe first half after Mane wasadjudged to have fouled Coady.
But VAR ruled out the spot-kickafter the TV replay showedthere had been no contact.
Wolves searched for a wayback into the match in the earlystages of the second half andCoady found himself in a threat-ening position in the Liverpoolbox before Fabinho whipped theball away.
Seconds later, Liverpoolwere charging forward again onthe counter-attack, towards theKop. Henderson played a longball which Wijnaldum collectedbefore producing a measured,curled finish into the top left-hand corner of Rui Patricio’s net.
Liverpool put the resultbeyond doubt in the 67thminute when Salah’s inswingingcross was met by Matip, whoheaded in from close range. Bynow the home side were in totalcontrol.
Liverpool’s fourth goal camewhen substitute TrentAlexander-Arnold, returningfrom injury, produced a deli-cious cross from the right whichwas turned in by Nelson Semedofor an own goal.
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Sergio Perez, who may be out ofwork next season, took advan-
tage of his rivals’ misfortunes onSunday to drive from last positionto claim his first Formula One vic-tory in a chaotic and crazy SakhirGrand Prix.
The 30-year-old Mexicanrecovered from a first-lap crashthat dropped him to the back ofthe field in his 190th race.
Yet he benefitted from a shockMercedes pit-stop tyre bungleand a late puncture for GeorgeRussell, who dazzled as substitutefor Lewis Hamilton, to secure hismaiden triumph.
Perez became the firstMexican victor in F1 since PedroRodriguez in 1970, ending aseries of races dominated by
Mercedes for whom ValtteriBottas finished eighth and Russellninth.
“I’m speechless,” said Perez,
who wept through most of his vic-tory lap after taking the flag. “Ihope I’m not dreaming... Tenyears it has taken me and I don’t
know what to say.“After that first lap, the race
was gone, but I didn’t give up. Inthe end, my pace was goodenough to hold off George.”
Perez is being released byRacing Point to be replaced byfour-time world championSebastian Vettel of Ferrari nextyear, when the team will berebranded as Aston Martin.
Perez is without a 2021 raceseat, but he is in contention toreplace Alexander Albon at RedBull alongside Max Verstappenwho crashed out on the openinglap along with Ferrari’s CharlesLeclerc.
Perez came home ahead ofEsteban Ocon of Renault, whoclaimed his first podium finish,and Lance Stroll, his Racing Pointteam-mate.
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AC Milan kept hold of theirfive-point lead at the top of
Serie A on Sunday after a hard-fought 2-1 win at Sampdoria,while Napoli moved third afterstrolling to 4-0 victory over bot-tom side Crotone.
Franck Kessie’s penalty onthe stroke of half-time andSamu Castillejo’s 77th-minutestrike were just enough for theseven-time European champi-ons, who were without injuredtalisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic, tomove up to 26 points and keepsecond-placed local rivals InterMilan at arm’s length.
Ivory Coast midfielderKessie coolly struck home hisspot-kick after Jakub Janktounluckily handled while chal-lenging for the ball with TheoHernandez.
Sandro Tonali hit the postfor Milan just after the breakbut the away side were on theback foot for much of the sec-
ond half until substituteCastillejo doubled their leadwith his first touch, set up by afine pull-back from Ante Rebic.
Stefano Pioli’s team wereleft to sweat out the final min-utes after Albin Ekdal’s power-ful header just escapedGianluigi Donnarumma’sclutches, and their lead at thetop of the table would havebeen cut to three had SwedeEkdal not put another aerialeffort wide with the last attackof the game.
Earlier, Napoli are sixpoints back in third after goalsfrom Lorenzo Insigne, HirvingLozano, Diego Demme andAndrea Petagna earned the
away side a 4-0 win at Crotone.Insigne opened the scoring
with a trademark curling strikeafter cutting in from the leftwith half an hour gone, andthen he laid on Lozano for thesecond with a superb long passthat left the Mexican with asimple finish, and Demmemade sure of the result with adrilled low strike 14 minutesfrom the end following a lay-offfrom substitute Mertens.
Belgium forward Mertensthen supplied the pass thatallowed Petagna to hammerhome the fourth in stoppagetime as Napoli temporarilyclosed the gap between themand Milan.
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The touring Pakistan squadhas returned negative in a
fifth round of Covid-19 testsand will now be able to leavetheir managed isolation onTuesday, subject to clearancefrom the health ministry, NewZealand Cricket said onMonday.
The 53-member Pakistanteam was denied the right totrain while in managed isola-tion in New Zealand aftereight members of the touringsquad had tested positive forCovid-19.
“This is to advise thePakistan squad’s fifth and finalday 12, Covid-19 tests have allbeen returned as negative,”NZC said in a statement.
“As a consequence, andpending final Ministry ofHealth approval, the squadwill leave managed isolationtomorrow and f ly toQueenstown, where they willtrain ahead of the T20 and Testseries against the BLACK-CAPS.”
