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  • 2021/01/27  · sanctity of agitation is lost. Unlike the last 10 rounds of talks, the 11th round saw both the sides hardening their posi-tions and could not even reach a …
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W ith the Opposition gun- ning for him for the farmers-led chaos in Delhi on the Republic Day, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday took stock of the security situation and mea- sures taken to ensure peace in the city. Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla and senior officers of the MHA and the Delhi Police attended the meeting. “The Home Minister reviewed the law and order sit- uation in Delhi, which wit- nessed violence during the farmers’ tractor rally on Tuesday, an official said. The high-level meeting decided to take action against all leaders responsible for unto- ward incidents on Tuesday in the Capital. Delhi Police was directed to register FIRs on the various incidents. The Central Government has deployed around 4,500 paramilitary troops to assist the Delhi Police in maintaining law and order. Rapid Action Force per- sonnel have also been reposi- tioned in the national Capital and vigil has been intensified in view of the evolving situation. Meanwhile, the Congress blamed the BJP-led Central Government for the violence and vandalism that ensued on the streets of national Capital on Republic Day and demand- ed resignation of Union Home Minister Amit Shah for failing to protect Red Fort. “Union Home Minister Amit Shah is directly respon- sible for the violence carried out in the name of farmers protest. His failure to stop the vandalism despite intelligence inputs means he has no right to remain in his position. We demand that he resign from his position immediately,” Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said at AICC Press conference. Former Congress presi- dent Rahul Gandhi appealed to the Narendra Modi Government on Wednesday to repeal, what he claimed were, “anti-agricul- ture” laws. A day after unprecedented violence in Delhi during the tractor parade, the Government on Wednesday said it has never stated that the doors for dialogue with farm- ers are closed and stressed that it will inform whenever the decision is taken for fresh talks. “We have never said that the doors for dialogue are closed. Have you heard. Whenever talks are held, we will let you know,” Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said, when asked at the Cabinet briefing on whether the doors for talks with farmers are closed now. After the 11th round of talks on Friday last, the Government asked the farmers to reconsider their proposal of holding the three farm laws on hold for 1-1.5 years, but the farmers rejected their propos- al. No decision has been taken on another round of talks with farmers. He said whatever deci- sions with regard to talks with farmers are taken, will be dis- closed at the right time. “We have already told you, if there is any change, we will let you know,” he said. Asked whether Tuesday’s violence was discussed in the meeting of the Union Cabinet, Javadekar said the Cabinet is different from the security committee. The Government’s negoti- ations with representatives of thousands of protesting farm- ers hit a roadblock on Friday as the unions squarely rejected the Centre’s proposal to put three contentious laws on hold. Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar also blamed external “forces” for their rigid stand and said no resolution is possible when the sanctity of agitation is lost. Unlike the last 10 rounds of talks, the 11th round saw both the sides hardening their posi- tions and could not even reach a decision on the next date for the meeting. The Government asked unions to revert by Saturday last in case they agree to the suspension proposal and the talks can continue only thereafter. Farmer leaders, however, are adamant that they would settle for nothing less than repeal of the laws, which they find pro-corporate, and a legal guarantee for the procurement of crops at Government-fixed minimum support price (MSP). D elhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava on Wednesday said farmers’ lead- ers were involved in the vio- lence in national Capital and those involved in the violence will not be spared and a Special Investigation Team (SIT), including officials from Special Cell, Crime Branch and district police, have been constituted to investigate the incident. Police has also registered 25 First Information Reports (FIRs) for riots, robbing, attempt to murder and other criminal offences across the city. The top cop also said by January 25 evening, it became clear that the farmers’ unions were not keeping their words as they brought forward the aggressive and militant ele- ments who occupied the stage at protest site and delivered provocative speeches. The Delhi Police has also named 37 farmer union Sanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM) leaders, including Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, in an FIR registered at Samaypur Badli police station in connec- tion with the violence that took place during a tractor rally by farmers. According to the FIR, in the riot, the protesters had also robbed the official pis- tol with 10 rounds of ammu- nition along with two gas gun on Tuesday. The farmers’ leaders named in the FIR includes Medha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav, Darshan Pal, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, Satnam Singh Pannu, Joginder Singh Ugraha, Surjeet Singh Phool, Jagjeet Singh Dalewal, Balbir Singh Rajewal, Harinder Singh Lakhoval, Gurnam Singh Chanduni and Rakesh Tikait. Addressing the Press con- ference at Police Head Quarters (PHQ) on Wednesday evening, the CP said after five rounds of talks with farmers union regarding the tractor parade on Republic Day there was mutu- al agreement on the parade routes from Singhu, Tikri and Ghazipur borders. “Police laid down the con- ditions, which were agreed by the farmers and the first term was a time that was fixed for tractor rally at all border from 12 pm to 5 on. Second condi- tion laid was that tractor march will be lead by farmers’ union leaders and with every jhatha their leader should lead the rally and tractors should not exceed more than 5,000 in the rally. Police also put a condition to not bring any kind of weapons. The farmers gave undertaking and agreed on the route,” said the CP. “The protesters from Singhu border started their rally, hours before the time allotted, despite request from police officials they did not stop and broke down the barri- cades,” said the CP. “Farmer leader Satnam Singh Pannu, who was with farmers from Singhu border was stopped by police at Mukarba chowk after they deviated from the route. Pannu sat on dharna and gave inflam- matory speech following which the protesters got agitated and broke past the police installed barricades towards ITO,” said the Police Commissioner adding that Darshan Pal Singh, to sat on dharna with other when Pannu delivered the speech. “The farmers’ march from Tikri and Ghazipur started around 8:30 am. The farmers from Tikri border also broke barricades at Nangloi to move ahead towards Red Fort. They overturned trailers and van- dalized vehicles,” said the CP. “Farmer leaders were insti- gating farmers and they were the ones who were refusing to move on the predetermined routes. We have videos which are showing how leaders were instigating farmers. From Ghazipur, many from Rakesh Tikait’s team broke barriers and marched forward,” he said. The Police Commissioner also said not a single life was lost as the Delhi Police showed extreme restraint. “As many as 25 FIRs have been registered so far. Police teams are using the facial recognition system and taking the help of CCTV and video footage to identify the accused. Strict action will be taken against those identified. No culprit will be spared,” said the CP. He said 394 police person- nel were injured while 30 police vehicles were damaged in the violence on Wednesday. Six DTC buses were damaged in the violence. Capital’s ITO area became the main clashing point where several cops and protesters sustained injuries. A day after the violence dur- ing the tractor parade on Republic Day, two farmer unions announced the end of their protest against farm laws. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Bhanu) president Thakur Bhanu Pratap Singh said he was deeply pained by whatev- er happened during the trac- tor parade in Delhi on Republic Day Sardar VM Singh of All India Kisan Sangharsh Coordination Committee said the union is withdrawing from the ongoing agitation as they cannot carry forward a protest with someone “whose direc- tion is something else”. Many farmers’ bodies across northern India blamed actor-turned-activist Deep Sidhu for Red Fort incident. Senior farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal, who has been steering the farmers’ agitation since beginning, on Wednesday termed Punjabi actor Sidhu and Mazdoor Kisan Sangharsh Committee leaders Satnam Singh Pannu and Sarwan Singh Pandher as “biggest traitors” giving a call for their boycott in Punjab. Sidhu, who is in the eye of a storm for egging on protest- ers to put up a religious flag atop the Red Fort on Republic Day, has been considered by several farm bodies as an “agent” of the Government since he joined the protest. “Sidhu is an agent of the Government and he did it at the behest of the Centre to defame the farmers’ agita- tion,” alleged Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) gener- al secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokrikalan on Wednesday. However, Sidhu has sought to defend the action of the protesters at the Red Fort, saying they did not remove the national flag and had put up the “Nishan Sahib” flag as a symbolic protest. VM Singh alleged Rakesh Tikait, the national spokesper- son of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, who is heading the Ghazipur front, misdirected the movement. He also ques- tioned the committee of 40 people negotiating with the Government. Chandigarh: Indian National Lok Dal’s only representative in Haryana Assembly, Abhay Singh Chautala, on Wednesday resigned as an MLA over the three new Central farm laws. “I decided I cannot sit in the Assembly with those who bring resolutions favouring these laws,” Chautala said. New Delhi: The outlawed Sikhs for Justice is learnt to have released a seven-minute video backing the Red Fort siege and announcing a reward of $3,50,000 for those who hoist- ed the Nishan Sahib there. The SFJ has called for a siege of the Parliament when the Budget Session begins. This comes a day after a tractor parade called to protest the agriculture laws. T he Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the Bombay High Court order which acquitted a man under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act saying “groping a minor’s breast without ‘skin to skin contact’ cannot be termed as sexual assault”. A bench of Chief Justice SA Bobde and Justices AS Bopanna and V Ramasubramanian stayed the high court order after Attorney General KK Venugopal men- tioned the matter. The top court also issued notice to Maharashtra Government and permitted the AG to file an appeal against the January 19 verdict of the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court. New Delhi: As cracks began to appear in their ongoing agitation against the agri laws, farmer unions on Wednesday cancelled their planned march to Parliament Budget day on February 1. O ver 5,500 people were administered Covishield shots in Jharkhand on Wednesday, taking the total count of people vaccinated in the state so far to 24,000, fig- ures compiled by the National Health Mission (NHM) revealed. On Wednesday, the state achieved 59 per cent of its vac- cination target as 5587 of the 9414 people registered for vac- cination at various centres across Jharkhand turned up at their respective vaccination centres and were administered the shots. Bokaro achieved 90 per cent of its target on the day by vaccinating at least 270 of the 300 beneficiaries registered for vaccination in the district. Ranchi, on the other hand, vac- cinated only 432 of the 800 reg- istered beneficiaries here, there- by achieving only 54 per cent of its target for the day, high- lighted figures with the NHM. As per figures compiled by NHM, Jharkhand has achieved 60 per cent of its vaccination target so far by administering Covishield shots to 24,000 of 40,245 beneficiaries registered for immunization. At least 22 people, includ- ing 18 from Ranchi alone, complained of adverse effects following immunization on Wednesday. So far, as many as 193 people have complained of adverse effects following immunization and at least 145 of them were residents of Ranchi. Meanwhile, two more Covid patients, one each in Ranchi and Dhanbad, died dur- ing treatment on the day, taking the Covid toll in the state to 1066, the NHM stated in a sep- arate bulletin released on Wednesday night. As per the bulletin, the toll in Ranchi reached 232 on the day, while that in Dhanbad jumped to 112. Recoveries outnumbered fresh cases on the day in Jharkhand, causing a fall in the count of active cases. As per government data, as many as 117 Covid patients recovered on Wednesday, while 70 peo- ple were found infected. As many as 723 people were bat- tling the infection in Jharkhand by the end of Wednesday. Ranchi accounted for more than half of the fresh cases reported in Jharkhand. At least 38 of the 70 people found infected on the day were resi- dents of Ranchi. While 12 dis- tricts did not report fresh cases on the day, East Singhbhum reported 11 cases while Dhanbad reported seven. Ranchi reported 68 recoveries, while East Singhbhum and Dhanbad reported 16 and five recoveries respectively. As per government data, the growth rate of the viral infection in Jharkhand was 0.05 per cent against the national average of 0.11 per cent. The government on Wednesday tested swab sam- ples of 11,372 people and less than 1 per cent of them were found infected. Of the 118495 people infected by the virus in Jharkhand so far, at least 116706 have recovered, helping the state achieve a Covid recov- ery rate of 98.49 per cent against the national average of 96.90 per cent.

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    With the Opposition gun-ning for him for thefarmers-led chaos in Delhi onthe Republic Day, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah onWednesday took stock of thesecurity situation and mea-sures taken to ensure peace inthe city. Home Secretary AjayBhalla and senior officers of theMHA and the Delhi Policeattended the meeting.

    “The Home Ministerreviewed the law and order sit-

    uation in Delhi, which wit-nessed violence during thefarmers’ tractor rally onTuesday, an official said.

    The high-level meetingdecided to take action againstall leaders responsible for unto-ward incidents on Tuesday inthe Capital. Delhi Police wasdirected to register FIRs on thevarious incidents. The Central

    Government has deployedaround 4,500 paramilitarytroops to assist the Delhi Policein maintaining law and order.

    Rapid Action Force per-sonnel have also been reposi-tioned in the national Capitaland vigil has been intensified inview of the evolving situation.

    Meanwhile, the Congressblamed the BJP-led Central

    Government for the violenceand vandalism that ensued onthe streets of national Capitalon Republic Day and demand-ed resignation of Union HomeMinister Amit Shah for failingto protect Red Fort.

    “Union Home MinisterAmit Shah is directly respon-sible for the violence carriedout in the name of farmers

    protest. His failure to stop thevandalism despite intelligenceinputs means he has no right toremain in his position. Wedemand that he resign from hisposition immediately,”Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Singh Surjewala saidat AICC Press conference.

    Former Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi appealed tothe Narendra ModiGovernment on Wednesdayto repeal, what he claimed were, “anti-agricul-ture” laws.

    ����� ��������

    Aday after unprecedentedviolence in Delhi duringthe tractor parade, theGovernment on Wednesdaysaid it has never stated that thedoors for dialogue with farm-ers are closed and stressed thatit will inform whenever thedecision is taken for fresh talks.

    “We have never said thatthe doors for dialogue areclosed. Have you heard.Whenever talks are held, we willlet you know,” Union MinisterPrakash Javadekar said, whenasked at the Cabinet briefing onwhether the doors for talks withfarmers are closed now.

    After the 11th round oftalks on Friday last, theGovernment asked the farmersto reconsider their proposal of

    holding the three farm laws onhold for 1-1.5 years, but thefarmers rejected their propos-al. No decision has been takenon another round of talks withfarmers. He said whatever deci-sions with regard to talks withfarmers are taken, will be dis-closed at the right time.

    “We have already told you,if there is any change, we willlet you know,” he said. Askedwhether Tuesday’s violence wasdiscussed in the meeting of theUnion Cabinet, Javadekar saidthe Cabinet is different fromthe security committee.

    The Government’s negoti-ations with representatives ofthousands of protesting farm-ers hit a roadblock on Friday as

    the unions squarely rejected theCentre’s proposal to put threecontentious laws on hold.

    Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar alsoblamed external “forces” fortheir rigid stand and said noresolution is possible when thesanctity of agitation is lost.

    Unlike the last 10 rounds oftalks, the 11th round saw boththe sides hardening their posi-tions and could not even reacha decision on the next date forthe meeting. The Governmentasked unions to revert bySaturday last in case they agreeto the suspension proposaland the talks can continueonly thereafter.

    Farmer leaders, however,are adamant that they wouldsettle for nothing less thanrepeal of the laws, which theyfind pro-corporate, and a legalguarantee for the procurementof crops at Government-fixedminimum support price(MSP).

    ������������� ��������

    Delhi Police CommissionerSN Shrivastava onWednesday said farmers’ lead-ers were involved in the vio-lence in national Capital andthose involved in the violencewill not be spared and a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT),including officials from SpecialCell, Crime Branch and districtpolice, have been constituted toinvestigate the incident.

    Police has also registered 25First Information Reports(FIRs) for riots, robbing, attemptto murder and other criminaloffences across the city.

    The top cop also said byJanuary 25 evening, it becameclear that the farmers’ unionswere not keeping their words asthey brought forward theaggressive and militant ele-ments who occupied the stageat protest site and deliveredprovocative speeches.

    The Delhi Police has alsonamed 37 farmer unionSanyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM)leaders, including MedhaPatkar, Yogendra Yadav, in anFIR registered at SamaypurBadli police station in connec-tion with the violence thattook place during a tractor rallyby farmers. According to theFIR, in the riot, the protestershad also robbed the official pis-tol with 10 rounds of ammu-nition along with two gas gunon Tuesday.

    The farmers’ leadersnamed in the FIR includesMedha Patkar, Yogendra Yadav,Darshan Pal, Kulwant SinghSandhu, Satnam Singh Pannu,

    Joginder Singh Ugraha, SurjeetSingh Phool, Jagjeet SinghDalewal, Balbir Singh Rajewal,Harinder Singh Lakhoval,Gurnam Singh Chanduni andRakesh Tikait.

    Addressing the Press con-ference at Police Head Quarters(PHQ) on Wednesday evening,the CP said after five rounds oftalks with farmers unionregarding the tractor parade onRepublic Day there was mutu-al agreement on the paraderoutes from Singhu, Tikri andGhazipur borders.

    “Police laid down the con-ditions, which were agreed bythe farmers and the first termwas a time that was fixed fortractor rally at all border from12 pm to 5 on. Second condi-tion laid was that tractor marchwill be lead by farmers’ unionleaders and with every jhathatheir leader should lead therally and tractors should notexceed more than 5,000 in therally. Police also put a condition

    to not bring any kind ofweapons. The farmers gaveundertaking and agreed onthe route,” said the CP.

    “The protesters fromSinghu border started theirrally, hours before the timeallotted, despite request frompolice officials they did not stopand broke down the barri-cades,” said the CP.

    “Farmer leader SatnamSingh Pannu, who was withfarmers from Singhu borderwas stopped by police atMukarba chowk after theydeviated from the route. Pannusat on dharna and gave inflam-matory speech following whichthe protesters got agitated andbroke past the police installedbarricades towards ITO,” saidthe Police Commissioneradding that Darshan Pal Singh,to sat on dharna with otherwhen Pannu delivered thespeech.

    “The farmers’ march fromTikri and Ghazipur started

    around 8:30 am. The farmersfrom Tikri border also brokebarricades at Nangloi to moveahead towards Red Fort. Theyoverturned trailers and van-dalized vehicles,” said the CP.

    “Farmer leaders were insti-gating farmers and they werethe ones who were refusing tomove on the predeterminedroutes. We have videos whichare showing how leaders wereinstigating farmers. FromGhazipur, many from RakeshTikait’s team broke barriersand marched forward,” he said.

    The Police Commissioneralso said not a single life waslost as the Delhi Police showed

    extreme restraint. “As many as25 FIRs have been registered sofar. Police teams are using thefacial recognition system andtaking the help of CCTV andvideo footage to identify theaccused. Strict action will betaken against those identified.No culprit will be spared,” saidthe CP.

    He said 394 police person-nel were injured while 30 policevehicles were damaged in theviolence on Wednesday. SixDTC buses were damaged inthe violence. Capital’s ITO areabecame the main clashingpoint where several cops andprotesters sustained injuries.

    ��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��������!���������������������"���������#�����

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    Aday after the violence dur-ing the tractor parade onRepublic Day, two farmerunions announced the end oftheir protest against farm laws.Bharatiya Kisan Union(Bhanu) president ThakurBhanu Pratap Singh said hewas deeply pained by whatev-er happened during the trac-tor parade in Delhi onRepublic Day

    Sardar VM Singh of AllIndia Kisan SangharshCoordination Committee saidthe union is withdrawing fromthe ongoing agitation as theycannot carry forward a protestwith someone “whose direc-tion is something else”.

    Many farmers’ bodiesacross northern India blamedactor-turned-activist DeepSidhu for Red Fort incident.Senior farmer leader BalbirSingh Rajewal, who has beensteering the farmers’ agitationsince beginning, onWednesday termed Punjabiactor Sidhu and MazdoorKisan Sangharsh Committeeleaders Satnam Singh Pannuand Sarwan Singh Pandher as“biggest traitors” giving a callfor their boycott in Punjab.

    Sidhu, who is in the eye ofa storm for egging on protest-ers to put up a religious flagatop the Red Fort on RepublicDay, has been considered byseveral farm bodies as an

    “agent” of the Governmentsince he joined the protest.

    “Sidhu is an agent of theGovernment and he did it atthe behest of the Centre todefame the farmers’ agita-tion,” alleged Bharti KisanUnion (Ekta Ugrahan) gener-al secretary Sukhdev SinghKokrikalan on Wednesday.

    However, Sidhu hassought to defend the action of

    the protesters at the Red Fort,saying they did not remove thenational flag and had put upthe “Nishan Sahib” flag as asymbolic protest.

    VM Singh alleged RakeshTikait, the national spokesper-son of the Bharatiya KisanUnion, who is heading theGhazipur front, misdirectedthe movement. He also ques-tioned the committee of 40people negotiating with theGovernment.

    Chandigarh: Indian NationalLok Dal’s only representativein Haryana Assembly, AbhaySingh Chautala, on Wednesdayresigned as an MLA over thethree new Central farm laws. “Idecided I cannot sit in theAssembly with those who bringresolutions favouring theselaws,” Chautala said.

    New Delhi: The outlawed Sikhsfor Justice is learnt to havereleased a seven-minute videobacking the Red Fort siege andannouncing a reward of$3,50,000 for those who hoist-ed the Nishan Sahib there. TheSFJ has called for a siege of theParliament when the BudgetSession begins. This comes aday after a tractor parade calledto protest the agriculture laws.

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    The Supreme Court onWednesday stayed theBombay High Court orderwhich acquitted a man underthe Protection of Childrenfrom Sexual Offences(POCSO) Act saying “gropinga minor’s breast without ‘skinto skin contact’ cannot betermed as sexual assault”.

    A bench of Chief Justice SABobde and Justices ASBopanna and VRamasubramanian stayed thehigh court order after AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal men-tioned the matter.

    The top court also issuednotice to MaharashtraGovernment and permittedthe AG to file an appeal againstthe January 19 verdict of theNagpur bench of the BombayHigh Court.

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    New Delhi: As cracks beganto appear in their ongoingagitation against the agrilaws, farmer unions onWednesday cancelled theirplanned march toParliament Budget day onFebruary 1.

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    Over 5,500 people wereadministered Covishieldshots in Jharkhand onWednesday, taking the totalcount of people vaccinated inthe state so far to 24,000, fig-ures compiled by the NationalHealth Mission (NHM)revealed.

    On Wednesday, the stateachieved 59 per cent of its vac-cination target as 5587 of the9414 people registered for vac-cination at various centresacross Jharkhand turned up attheir respective vaccinationcentres and were administeredthe shots.

    Bokaro achieved 90 percent of its target on the day byvaccinating at least 270 of the300 beneficiaries registered forvaccination in the district.Ranchi, on the other hand, vac-

    cinated only 432 of the 800 reg-istered beneficiaries here, there-by achieving only 54 per centof its target for the day, high-lighted figures with the NHM.

    As per figures compiled byNHM, Jharkhand has achieved60 per cent of its vaccinationtarget so far by administeringCovishield shots to 24,000 of40,245 beneficiaries registeredfor immunization.

    At least 22 people, includ-ing 18 from Ranchi alone,complained of adverse effectsfollowing immunization on

    Wednesday. So far, as many as193 people have complained ofadverse effects followingimmunization and at least 145of them were residents ofRanchi.

    Meanwhile, two moreCovid patients, one each inRanchi and Dhanbad, died dur-ing treatment on the day, takingthe Covid toll in the state to1066, the NHM stated in a sep-arate bulletin released onWednesday night. As per thebulletin, the toll in Ranchireached 232 on the day, whilethat in Dhanbad jumped to 112.

    Recoveries outnumberedfresh cases on the day inJharkhand, causing a fall in thecount of active cases. As pergovernment data, as many as117 Covid patients recoveredon Wednesday, while 70 peo-ple were found infected. Asmany as 723 people were bat-tling the infection in Jharkhandby the end of Wednesday.

    Ranchi accounted for morethan half of the fresh cases

    reported in Jharkhand. At least38 of the 70 people foundinfected on the day were resi-dents of Ranchi. While 12 dis-tricts did not report fresh caseson the day, East Singhbhumreported 11 cases whileDhanbad reported seven.Ranchi reported 68 recoveries,while East Singhbhum andDhanbad reported 16 and fiverecoveries respectively.

    As per government data,the growth rate of the viralinfection in Jharkhand was0.05 per cent against thenational average of 0.11 percent. The government onWednesday tested swab sam-ples of 11,372 people and lessthan 1 per cent of them werefound infected.

    Of the 118495 peopleinfected by the virus inJharkhand so far, at least116706 have recovered, helpingthe state achieve a Covid recov-ery rate of 98.49 per centagainst the national average of96.90 per cent.

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    Hajipur: East Central Railwayhas been ranked second in thehalf-yearly review of the per-

    formance of the Zonal Railwaysby the Indian Railways, whichis a major achievement, ECR’s

    General Manager Lalit ChandraTrivedi said while addressingthe Republic Day function atHajipur on Tuesday.

    By the month of Decemberof the current financial year,East Central Railway hasreceived a total initial income ofRs 11, 100 crore, which is 8.6percent more than the target.“Despite the lockdown, we havecarried 99.56 million tonnes offreight till December of the cur-rent financial year. Rs.10, 213crore has been received fromthis, which is 36 percent morethan the target set. In the cur-rent financial year, the averagespeed of goods trains up toDecember was 49.50 kmph ascompared to 23.29 kmph in thesame period last year, which ismore than double.

    ECR is the first Zonal Railof Indian Railways to achievethe 100 percent target for thisambitious project by completingthe purchase and distribution ofthe total 1994 GPRS POSMachine under the DigitalPayment Project for EFT trans-actions by ticket checking staff.“In the field of scrap sales, wehave reached a record Rs 254

    crore so far, surpassing the 230million given by the RailwayBoard in 2020-21,” said Trivedi.

    ECR celebrated RepublicDay with patriotism and joy atits headquarters in Hajipur onTuesday. Trivedi unfurled thetricolour on the occasion andinspected the parade of mem-bers of the Railway ProtectionForce and Scouts and Guides.

    On this occasion,Additional General ManagerAshok Kumar, Principal ChiefPersonnel Officer JKP Singh,Principal Chief SecurityCommissioner S.K. Mayankand other officials were present.

    Addressing the officers andstaff present at the function,Trivedi said that today thewhole world is facing the Covid-19 pandemic and the ECR ishappy that the corona vaccinehas arrived and there is hopethat the vaccine will be availableto all railway employees soon. “Iam proud of our railway menwho not only prevented thespread of Covid-19 but alsomade sure that the wheel of therail continued to run,” he said. PNS

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    Dalmia Cement celebratedRepublic Day at its plantlocated at BIADA Bokaro onTuesday with joy and patrio-tism. Priya Ranjan ,Unit Head,Bokaro unfurled the tricolourin the presence of Senior offi-cers B M Verma , Premchandand various officers and work-ers of the plant .

    During the Republic Dayprogramme, a parade wasinspected by Ranjan. He appre-ciated the good works doneduring Covid-19 by Safety andmedical team of the plant andfelicitated them on the occasionof Republic Day.

    Creative women’s clubpresident Nicky Ranjan andtheir club members were pre-sent during flag hosting andparticipated actively in it, saidunit’s corporate affairs headRajeev Sinha.

    Hajipur: Lalit Chandra Trivedi,General Manager inauguratedthe Zonal Video SurveillanceControl Center for IP basedVideo Surveillance System at 13stations of East Central Railway.On this occasion AdditionalGeneral Manager Ashok Kumar,Principal Chief SecurityCommissioner S. Mayank,Principal Chief Signal andTelecom Engineer RajeshKumar, along with other highofficials of East Central Railwayand senior officers of RailTelwere present.

    RailTel has installed InternetProtocol (IP) based video sur-veillance system (VSS) at 13 sta-tions of East Central Railway.These 13 stations are at Danapurdivision, Biharsharif, Danapur,Mokama, Jhajha, Rajgir;Chopan, Chandrapura,Parasnath, Renukut, Singrauliand Sonepur divisions ofBegusarai and Mansi stations ofDhanbad division. Integratedmonitoring system is also work-ing at 28 other stations of IndianRailways. PNS

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    Chief Minister Hemant Soren,unfurling the national flag atsub capital Dumka on RepublicDay on Tuesday, said that hisgovernment will soon formulatea new domicile policy andreserve 75% jobs in the privatesector for the people of the state.He also said that the governmentwill recruit school teachers andpolice personnel.

    He said, “A new domicilepolicy is being formulated and75 per cent of the posts in theprivate sector will be reserved forlocal people. Rules are beingmade for appointment of teach-ers in minority schools also.” Healso announced to launch auniversal pension scheme toprovide Rs 1,000 a month to allelderly people of the state.

    Soren after unfurling thenational flag at Dumka policelines also announced a host ofwelfare schemes. He said that2021 will be the year of appoint-ments. He said that process forfilling all vacant posts in gov-

    ernment departments will com-mence soon. The Chief Ministerin his address also talked aboutformulation of service rules andregulations of JharkhandCombined Civil ServicesExamination so that examina-tion being conducted by JPSCbecome regular.

    Talking about the commit-ment of his government in pro-viding jobs to sportspersons, hesaid his government will direct-ly appoint 40 sportspersons atgovernment offices who bagmedals at national and interna-

    tional events. He said that in theprocess, every year 50 sportsper-son will get government jobs andto explore the talents ofsportsperson the governmentwill appoint 24 sports officers inall 24 districts.

    The Chief Minister also

    talked about formation ofMukhymantri Rozgar SrijanYojana under which there is pro-visions under which beneficia-ries will get loan. Talking aboutthe development works carriedout at Santhal Pargana the ChiefMinister said that constructionof a 500-bed hospital is inprogress on the premises of themedical college in Dumka,which will strengthen the health-care facility in Santhal ParganaDivision. He also talked aboutproviding portable drinkingwater at all households. He saidthat under the process drinkingwater will be provided by prim-itive tribe under which 2251small rural drinking water sup-ply system will be launched.Similarly, drinking water willalso be provided at tolas ofScheduled Caste, ScheduledTribes and marginal section ofsociety.

    The Chief Minister saidthat his government has alreadybrought out an agriculture loanwaiver scheme under whichloans of up to Rs 50,000 would

    be waived.The Chief Minister at

    Dumka also took the salute ofthe parade at Dumka Police andwatched the tableau of variousgovernment departments.

    Meanwhile, at the RepublicDay function in State Capital,Governor Droupadi Murmuunfurled the flag at Morhabadiground. The Governor in hisspeech also talked about variouswelfare schemes launched bystate government.

    He said that governmentwork and effort in its fightagainst corona pandemic is con-demnable. He said that due tostate government’s efforts theCovid 19 recovery rate is muchhigher than the national averageand also the mortality rate is less.She said that the state govern-ment has started corona vacci-nation drive under which vac-cines are provided at 48 placesin state.

    The Governor also talkedabout various welfare schemesfor women particularly forwomen empowerment.

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    The political cold warbetween the Oppositionand State Government inten-sified on Wednesday, with BJPaccusing a ruling party MLA ofgrabbing land of housing coop-erative society in the StateCapital. The allegation wasmade by BJP State presidentDeepak Prakash against aninfluential JMM legislator.Prakash addressing a pressconference at party officealleged that an influential JMMlegislator from Santhal Parganais on spree of illegally grabbinghousing cooperative land atKathal More under Hesal blockof State Capital.

    Prakash said, “We havecome to know that a JMM leg-islator is on spree of grabbingland of Kailashpuri cooperativesociety at Kathal More in Hesalarea. The JMM legislator inconnivance of some land andrevenue department officials isillegally grabbing land of hous-ing society. The said land isaround 12 acres.”

    Prakash further allegedthat in 1983 the Kailashpuri

    Housing Cooperative Societywas formed and land registryand mutations have been madein the cooperative societyname. As per land mutationdocument of 2020-21, the landis in the name of KailashpuriHousing Cooperative Societyand entry has been made inregister 2 of land documents.The Kailashpuri HousingCooperative Society has evenconstructed a boundary wall, asclaimed by BJP state presi-dent.

    Prakash said, “The mem-bers of cooperative societyeven approached CO and otherconcerned officials againstMLA illegally trying to grab thecooperative society land, butthe government officialsrefused to entertain themclaiming that they have beenasked from the top echelon notto interfere on the issue.”

    Prakash the BJP RajyaSabha member said that BJPthe main opposition party willnot sit ideal over the issue as theparty will raise issues pertain-ing to public interest.

    The BJP parliamentarianalso alleged that apart from

    grabbing 12 acres land ofKailashpuri Cooperative soci-ety, the influential MLA hasalso eyed 100 acres of land atMithanchal colony at Hesal.The BJP MP claimed that inpresent government is beingcontrolled by sand mafia,mines mafia and land mafia asthese mafia in connivance ofruling party legislators, bureau-crats are involved in illegalpractices.

    Meanwhile, in anotherdevelopment the BJP presi-dent condemned farmers'protest at Red Fort alleging thatthe farmers’ protests have beeninfiltrated by “anti-nationalelements”.

    The BJP leader condemnedthe actions of a section offarmers who entered the RedFort as part of their tractor rallyand said it violated the symbolof the dignity of India's democ-racy.

    "The Red Fort is a symbolof the dignity of our democra-cy. The farmers should havestayed away from it. I condemnthe violation of this dignity. Itis sad and unfortunate,"Prakash said.

    ����� �����

    SARLA BIRLA SCHOOLSarla Birla School celebrat-

    ed the 72nd Republic Day withgreat enthusiasm. Students par-ticipated in the virtual assemblyto mark the occasion. Studentaalso participated in various cul-tural programmes includingsong, dance and speech remem-bering the leaders who paved theway for a better tomorrow bybringing the Constitution ofIndia into effect. An inter- housepatriotic song competition wasconducted and Rigveda housesecured the first position. SchoolHead Personnel and Admin DrPradip Varma congratulatedeveryone and appreciated thedistinctiveness of the IndianConstitution. Principal ParamjitKaur said that we all should beproud of our nation and takeevery step to fulfill our dutiesand responsibilities towards ourcountry.

    S U R E N D R A N A T HCENTENARY SCHOOL

    Republic Day celebrations atSurendranath Centenary Schoolwas different due to the pan-demic this year. Children ofclasses 5 to 8 presented a pro-gramme online. Vedika of classVIII compared the whole eventwhile Srijit recited a patrioticpoem in Hindi and SamikshaRaj delivered a speech. NCCcadets displayed a spectacularmarch past and sand the song‘Hum sab Bharatiya hae’.Principal Samita Sinha said thatevery Indian ought to read andinfer the true meaning of thePreamble written in ourConstitution. It time for intro-spection and do our dutytowards our nation, the pan-demic year 2020 has taught usto face the difficulties even inadversity so we must not losehope and give our best for thewelfare of our country.

    XAVIER INSTITUTE OFSOCIAL SERVICE

    Republic Day celebrations atXISS, Ranchi were organised bythe students of Programme ofFinance as per tradition.Director Dr Joseph MarianusKujur, Assistant Director Dr

    Pradeep Kerketta, Fr XavierSoreng, Fr David Kullu FinanceOfficer, Dr Anup MukherjeeHead of Programme (Finance),head of programmes of ruralmanagement, marketing andother departments were presentalong with faculty and staffmembers. “We achieved PoornSwaraj and further formed theconstitution of India whichmentions brotherhood, justiceand aa unique identity for every-one,” said Kujur.Kritika Ranjanof Finance Department in herspeech envisaged India to becorruption free while a duetsong was performed by ShaliniTiwari and Candida Barla.Aawaz- official dramatic societyof XISS launched a video on theoccasion ‘Yeh hai Bharat mera’.

    INDIAN INSTITUTE OFMANAGEMENT, RANCHI

    IIM, Ranchi celebrated72nd Republic Day at its per-manent campus. DirectorShailendra Singh hoisted thenational flag and addressed thefaculty, students and staff whowere present physically andconnected through virtualmode. “This day is meant tothank our defense forces who arestanding rock solid at the bor-der and protecting us. It isbecause of them that we cansleep peacefully in our houses.It is the day to thank the farm-ers for feeding each mouth of thecountry. The year 2020 hasbeen a year full of hardships. Wehave lost many souls through-out, many people have gottensick. We thank all the frontlineworkers and volunteers forworking tirelessly for us to behealthy. Thanks to scientists

    and volunteers’ indomitablehard work because of whomtoday we have Covid-19 vac-cines.” Singh administered apledge of the FundamentalDuties mentioned under Article51 (A) of the IndianConstitution.

    DELHI PUBLICSCHOOL, RANCHI

    The 72nd Republic Daywas celebrated with avidity atDPS, Ranchi. Head BoyKingshuk Banerjee delivered anenlightening speech andreminded everyone of the gold-en, opulent and affluent heritageof our country. Deputy CulturalSecretary Savita Kumari mes-merized everyone by t=her flagwaving self-composed poem‘Kiran’. Shivani Singh (HeadGirl) and Pratham Singh(Additional Head Boy) from theprimary wing gave their pre-sentations. Principal Ram Singhstated that Republic Day is therealisation of Independence Dayas on this day the power wasactually held by the people andtheir elected representatives.Singh further stated that every-one should focus more on theirduties toward the motherlandand maintain the unity in diver-sity for which India is renowned.

    NTPC CELEBRATESREPUBLIC DAY

    The 72nd Republic Daywas celebrated at NTPC CoalMining Headquarters, Ranchitoday with great pride and patri-otism. Chief Guest of the event,Sariputta Mishra, Head ofMining (HOM) , Coal MiningHeadquarter unfurled theNational flag. Misra took theguard of honour on this auspi-cious day and made a call toremember the contributions offreedom fighters. He stated thaton this very day, theConstitution of India came intoplace.

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    Governor Draupadi Murmuinaugurated the newlyconstructed Student CreativityCentre at Ranchi University’sMorabadi campus onWednesday.

    Vice Chancellor DrRamesh Kumar Pandey, ProVice Chancellor Dr KaminiKumar, Registrar Dr MukundChandra Mehta, CCDC LGSNShahdeo and other universityofficials were present on theoccasion.

    “Students should now honeand show their skills at theStudents Creativity Centre. It isour endeavour to take thisdepartment to the nationallevel. Every requirement isbeing fulfilled here for thestudy of journalism, video pro-duction, documentary and newmedia,” said the ViceChancellor.

    The construction work ofthe Student Creativity Centrewas started in September 2019.An amount of Rs 3 crore 94lakhs under the RUSA fundwas provided to the State

    Building ConstructionCorporation for this building.

    Mass communicationclasses will also be conductedin this building. The buildingis equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, a studio and anauditorium with a seatingcapacity of 150 people. Filmmaking course will also bestarted here in the future.

    In the two- storey buildingseparate ramps and toilets havebeen built for the differentlyabled. All classrooms areequipped with computers andwhite boards while the build-ing also has an audio- video laband library.

    Director cum Registrar of

    the Departmentof Journalism andM a s sCommunicationDr MC Mehta,Deputy DirectorDr VC Mahatoand CordinatorDr DK Sahayexpressed greatpleasure on theachievement of anew building andpledges to makethis department ofRU the most pres-tigious institution

    in the country.Murmu on Wednesday

    also inaugurated a newly con-structed women's college atBarhi in Senha block ofLohardaga and a Model DegreeCollege in Ghaghra block ofGumla district. On this occa-sion, the Governor also plant-ed saplings in the college cam-pus.

    She said that at present top-notch facilities are being pro-vided to students, and sheregrets why she was not bornin the present time so that shecould get an opportunity tostudy in such colleges.

    The governor said thateducation is the key to devel-

    opment. The proportion ofwomen in Jharkhand is high-er than other states, but thereare no women universities inthe state, she lamented. Earlier,Mahila Vishwa Vidyalaya hasalso been started inJamshedpur but it is not run-ning in a full-fledged way.

    The Governor said thatduring her tenure, she got achance to visit many KasturbaGandhi Balika Vidyalayas(KGBVs). Today the facilities inthe KGBV have increased.Education is going very well inthese schools. The results aregetting better. The Governorsaid that there is no discrimi-nation between sons anddaughters in Jharkhand. Girlswill find their own way of lifeby studying. “Despite beingfrom the state of Odisha, I feelthat I am from Jharkhandbecause I got a lot of love fromthis state. I told the people ofthe present that today daugh-ters must be taught. Do tellthem the good and evil of life.The government makesschools, colleges. It is yourduty and duty to protect it.People should have moreresponsibility for it. Daughtersshould be taught to take care ofsociety, she said.

    Ranchi: As per the directives ofRanchi Deputy Commissioner(DC) Chhavi Ranjan, ‘SarkarAppke Dwar’ programme willbe organised in all the blocksand panchayat headquarters onThursday.

    The programme is beingorganised on every Thursday inthe block and panchayat head-quarters to ensure that the ben-efits of the various welfareschemes of the State governmentare available to the eligible peo-ple. A senior in- charge officerhas been appointed for theSarkar Appke Dwar programmein all the blocks and panchayatheadquarters of the district.

    During this programmepending payments of beneficia-ries of person based social secu-rity schemes, honorarium ofAnganwadi sevika and sahiya,pending salary payment of parateachers, Madarssa teachers andSanskrit teachers, pending pay-ments of personnel working atvillage level on various schemeswill be done. In the camps peo-ple can also submit applicationsfor general complaints and prob-lems.

    Meanwhile, the DC alsoreviewed the work being doneunder the Jal Jeevan Missionprogramme on January 27.

    Deputy DevelopmentCommissioner, Project DirectorITDA, Director DRDA,Superintending Engineer(Drinking Water and Sanitation)Ranchi Zone, Doranda Ranchi

    and Executive EngineerDrinking Water and SanitationEastern and Western DivisionRanchi were present in thereview meeting. PNS

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    The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) has taken upprobe into the murder ofComrade Balwinder SinghSandhu of Punjab. Sandhu wasa Shaurya Chakra awardee andhe was shot dead by two uniden-tified men in the early hours ofOctober 16, 2020 at the resi-dence-cum-school run by himin Bhikiwind, Tarn Taran,Punjab.

    After committing the mur-der, the assailants had imme-diately escaped on a motorcy-cle. A case FIR No: 174 /20dated October 16, 2020 wasfiled under Indian Penal Code(IPC) Sections relating to mur-der and common intentionbesides provisions of the ArmsAct in connection withSandhu’s murder on the state-ment of the wife of thedeceased, Jagdish Kaur.

    “During the peak of ter-rorism in Punjab, ComradeBalwinder Singh and his fam-ily had fearlessly fought ter-rorists. For this fearless fight,the Government of India,awarded him “Shaurya Chakra”in 1993. Besides BalwinderSingh Sandhu and his wifeJagdish Kaur, his elder broth-

    er Ranjit Singh and his wifeBalraj Kaur had also receivedthe Shaurya Chakra,” the NIAsaid in a statement.

    During the initial investi-gation by Punjab Police, it wasrevealed that the killing was exe-cuted under a conspiracyhatched by Pakistan-basedKhalistani terrorist Lakvir SinghRode and his handlers inPakistani intelligence agency,ISI, it said.The killing ofComrade Balwinder Singh wasexecuted through SukhmeetPal Singh alias Sukh Bhikariwalof village Bhikariwal, Kalanaur,Gurdaspur, a gangster- turned-terrorist, it further said.

    “Considering the gravity ofthe offence and its inter-stateand international ramifica-tions, the Ministry of HomeAffairs, Government directedNIA to take up the investiga-tion of the case. In complianceof these directions, NIA has re-registered the case and hastaken up the investigation,” itadded.

    ����� ��������

    The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) hasattached movable property inthe form of seized cashamounting to � 80 lakh in amoney laundering case relatedto corruption and criminalmisconduct by MP Dixit, thethen Chairman-cum-Managing Director of SouthEastern Coalfields Ltd. (SECL).

    Dixit had allegedlydemanded and agreed to acceptillegal gratification of �1 crorefor illegally favouring a privateentity Maruti Clean Coal &Power Ltd. (MCCPL).

    Investigation underPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) wasinitiated on the basis of the FIRregistered by CBI, Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU)-II,New Delhi under Indian PenalCode Section relating to crim-inal conspiracy and provisionsof the Prevention ofCorruption Act, 1988 againstDixit, Vijendra Singh, SurojitSamanta, VN Singh, BajrangLal Aggrawal, Ram AvatarAggarwal, Sanjay Singh, VinodBaid and Naveen Sharma.

    “Investigation underPMLA revealed that accused

    MP Dixit, the then Chairman-cum-Managing Director ofSouth Eastern Coalfields Ltd.(SECL), had demanded andagreed to accept illegal gratifi-cation of � 1 crore for illegal-ly favouring a private entitynamely Maruti Clean Coal &Power Ltd. (MCCPL). MPDixit in connivance with oth-ers, through a maze of events,attempted to indulge in acqui-sition of � 80 Lacs as part pay-ment which was received byVN Singh on behalf andinstructions of MP Dixit. Theamount of � 80 Lacs acquiredas a result of criminal activitiesrelated to the scheduled offenceof criminal conspiracy andcorruption, being proceeds ofcrime, has been provisionallyattached under PMLA,” it said,adding, further investigation isunder progress.

    ����� ��������

    The World HealthOrganisation (WHO) hastaken exception to the bilater-al deals on Covid-19 vaccinesbeing carried out betweencountries and companies,warning that such moves wereputting at risk the promise ofCovax, the WHO led globalinitiative aimed to ensure rapidand equitable access to thejabs against the pathogens.

    “Of some 50 countrieswhere Covid-19 vaccines arebeing administered, nearly allare wealthy nations and 75 per-cent of doses have beendeployed in only ten countries,”said WHO Director-GeneralTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusin his speech at a meeting inGeneva. COVAX is the globalinitiative to ensure rapid andequitable access to COVID-19vaccines for all countries,regardless of income level.

    “At least 56 bilateral vac-cine deals have been signed,which fragments the market,forces countries to compete,and drives up prices of Covid-19 vaccines,” he pointed out.

    "Vaccine nationalism isself-defeating and inefficient,leaving the world's poorest andmost vulnerable people at risk,"he warned. "The emergence ofrapidly spreading variantsmakes the urgent and equitablerollout of vaccines all the moreimportant."

    "It is understandable thatgovernments want to prioritizevaccinating their own healthworkers and older people first.But it is not right that younger,healthier adults in rich coun-tries are vaccinated beforehealth workers and older peo-ple in poorer countries," Tedrossaid.

    "The situation is com-pounded by the fact that mostmanufacturers have prioritizedregulatory approval in richcountries where the profits arehighest, rather than submittingfull dossiers to WHO," he said."To put it bluntly: many coun-tries have bought more vaccinethan they need."

    The WHO chief called onall manufacturers of vaccinesthat meet international stan-dards of safety, efficacy, andquality to prioritize their sub-mission to WHO forEmergency Use Listing, theXinhua news agency reported.

    He stressed that Covaxneeds to "receive extra dosessoon, and not the leftoversmany months from now."

    Last week, COVAX hadannounced that, pendingWHO emergency use listings,nearly 150 million doses of theAstraZeneca/Oxford candidateare anticipated to be availablein the first quarter of 2021, viaexisting agreements with theSerum Institute of India (SII)and AstraZeneca.

    "2021 could be a year with

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    The proposed � 9,167-croremultipurpose hydropowerdam on river Ujh in Jammu &Kashmir's Kathua region isinching towards reality. The twocentral green panels have givennod to the diversion of 4,350hectares of land including about680 hectares of forest land andfelling of over two lakh trees forthe project, which they said isof ‘national importance’.

    The project, which envis-ages construction of a 116-metre dam, is part of India’sendeavour to step up use of thewater available under the IndusWater Treaty and is proposedon rive Ujh, a tributary ofRiver Ravi that flows intoPakistan--a part of the Indusriver basin system.

    It was considered for envi-ronment and forest clearanceby the Union EnvironmentMinistry’s expert appraisalcommittee (EAC) and forestadvisory committee (FAC)respectively in December 2020.Both the expert panels haverecommended clearance to theproject. Wildlife clearance wasalready granted to the projectin August 2020.

    The project comprises of a116-metre high concrete facerockfill dam, a powerhouse of

    installed capacity 186megawatts and a barrage 11.5kilometre downstream of thedam, ensuring annual irriga-tion of about 31,380 hectares.

    During its meeting onDecember 22, 2020, the FACobserved that this project is of“national importance whichprovides geopolitical strategicadvantage in form of moreeffective use of water of UjhRiver.”

    “This project will amelio-rate the agricultural and powersectors in the otherwise barrenKandi area. It will also be aboon in the dry Kandi beltwhich is reeling under theperil of impending water crisisduring the dry season and alsoreduce the miseries of floods inthe monsoons,” noted the min-utes of the FAC’s meeting.

    The minutes highlightedthat that the panel accepted the“justification” given by the J&Kauthorities regarding “consid-ering a patch of compensatory

    afforestation area that is ofless than five hectares afterdetailed deliberation on theoverall proposal.”

    The FAC recommendedthe project after “thoroughdeliberation” and noted that alarge number of trees are pro-posed to be cut due to the pro-ject. “Every effort shall be madeto ensure that trees are felledonly when felling is unavoidableand it shall be done in a phasedmanner. The administrationshall therefore also ensure thatcompensatory afforestation istaken up in the first year of theconstruction of the project,and adequate post-plantingmeasures are taken to ensurehealthy growth of the regener-ated forest,” as per the minutes.

    The panel also asked theauthorities to ensure that theresettlement and rehabilitationplan is not proposed over for-est land.Following FAC nod,the project was discussed byministry’s EAC for river valleyand hydroelectric project whichnoted that in all 52 villages with3,700 families are likely to losetheir homes in the land acqui-sition process for construc-tion of the dam.

    “The project will providerelief from the miseries offloods to the people living inthe area. The project has the

    scope of indirect benefits suchas pisciculture, tourism andother progressive development.Job opportunities will drasti-cally improve in this area. Atpresent most of the populationsustains on agriculture andallied activities. There are nomajor industries or otheravenues of occupation in thearea,” the EAC’s minutes said.

    It further said that the “ter-restrial fauna in the Ujh multi-purpose project” area includesmammals, birds, reptiles, but-terflies and amphibians. Someof the birds found in the regioninclude Black-winged Kite,Great-horned Owl, Black-facedBanting, Blue-throated barbet,Common Hawk Chuckoo,Common Indian Nightjar andCommon myna … Some ofthem (mammals) found in theproject vicinity are AsiaticJackal, Barking deer, CommonGrey Mongoose, Grey MuskShrew, Himalayan Hoary belliedsquirrel, Himalayan palm civet,Himalayan rat, House Rat,Indian Fox besides jungle catand leopard, which have thehighest protection under India’swildlife laws.

    The panel has also called forreview of the project regardingits impact on environment“after five years of its commis-sioning.”

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    Flagging health of the soiland post-harvest manage-ment as major areas of concernfor the Indian farm sector,Agriculture Minister NarendraSingh Tomar on Wednesdaysaid the Government has set upa �1 lakh crore fund underAatmanirbhar Bharat pro-gramme to strengthen the stor-age infrastructure and reducepost-harvesting losses.

    Speaking at a panel dis-cussion on 'UnlockingInnovation to Transform FoodSystems' during the WorldEconomic Forum's week-longonline Davos Agenda Summit,the minister also said morethan 80 crore people are beingprovided adequate foodthrough the National FoodSecurity Act, under which theGovernment provides five kg of

    wheat and rice per person, permonth at a highly subsidisedprice of Rs 2-3 per kg.

    He was replying to a queryon what actions the govern-ment of India was taking tocatalyse innovations and seekfresh solutions to transform thefood systems. Tomar said nutri-tion is a big focus and priorityarea for the country and theGovernment has launched aNational Nutrition Missionalso.

    On the other hand, wider

    research by the Indian Councilfor Agriculture Research(ICAR) is taking place for pro-ducing new varieties that canreach everyone. "The concernis primarily of the soil health.Prime Minister Narendra Modilaunched a programme in 2016under which 12 crore farmershave been given soil-healthcards. We are now emphasisingon adoption of these cards touse balanced fertilisers in amore efficient manner and toincrease productivity," Tomarsaid.

    Production and produc-tivity are being ramped up bystrong research and develop-ment network and we alreadyseeing an upward trend in agriproduction, he said, addingthat ICAR is focussing ondeveloping climate-resilientand nutritious varieties. Tomarfurther said, "Post-harvestmanagement is also a majorconcern for us and to deal with

    that, Prime Minister Modi hasgiven a slogan of making Indiaself-reliant."

    "Under the AatmanirbharBharat Yojana, we have set upa USD 13 billion dollar (Rs 1lakh crore) fund for strength-ening agri-infrastructure andcold storage, hence reducingpost-harvest losses," he said.

    “As far as agriculture isconcerned, we are also layingemphasis on Research andDevelopment for production &productivity. It is our effort tosee that the crop can be man-aged in a proper manner afterharvesting,” he said. Speakingin the same panel, global fer-tiliser major YaraInternational's CEO Svein ToreHolsether said as ministerTomar said, it all comes downto soil health and technologycan improve soil health.

    "Healthy soil can not onlyprovide better quality andincreased farming, but it alsoleads to reduced carbon foot-print and the opportunity tocapture carbon from theatmosphere as well," he said."Besides, a large agriculture sec-tor has a direct effect on theeconomy as a whole. With thetech connectivity and farming,we can really benefit eachfarmer and society as a whole,"Holsether added.

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    At least 23,28,799 peoplehave been vaccinated incountrywide Covid-19 vacci-nation program till date onWednesday since January 16with nine people dying aftertaking the jab. However, theUnion Health Ministry saidthat these deaths were in noway linked to the vaccine

    “The cumulative numberof healthcare workers vacci-nated against Covid-199 hascrossed 23 lakh on Wednesday.A total of 23,28,779 beneficia-ries (till 6 pm) were vaccinat-ed through 41,599 sessions, asper the provisional report. Atotal 2,99,299 beneficiarieswere vaccinated onWednesday alone through5,308 sessions held till 6 pm,”said the Ministry.Final reportswould be completed for theday by late tonight.

    At least 79 per cent ofbeneficiaries vaccinated onWednesday were from fiveStates Karnataka, West Bengal,

    Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh and Rajasthan.

    The Ministry said that onthe twelfth day of the vacci-nation drive, 123 AEFIs havebeen reported while a total 16persons have been hospital-ized so far. 0.0007 per centpeople have recorded hospi-talization against vaccinations.

    In the last 24 hours, oneperson who is suffering frombacterial sepsis has been hos-pitalized at Apollo Hospital,Chennai. He was vaccinated on23rd January and was hospital-ized on 24th January, said theMinistry.

    “Total 9 deaths have beenreported so far. None of thesedeaths have been causallylinked with COVID-19 vacci-nation,” it added.

    In the last 24 hours, oneperson aged 23 years, a resi-dent of Odisha has died. Thepost-mortem report is await-ed, the Ministry said addingthat no case of serious/severeAEFI/Death attributable tovaccination till date.

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    renewed hope that we canovercome the acute phase ofthe pandemic," he said. "We

    cannot succeed as countriesacting alone. Global solidarityis the only way forward."

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    BANGALORE: VK Sasikala, formergeneral secretary of the AIADMKand aide to late J Jayalalithaa wasreleased from the Parappana AgraharaCentral Prison in Bangalore onWednesday morning, it was officiallyannounced by the Government ofKarnataka and her nephew TTVDhinakaran.

    Hectic parleys are underway inChennai where Chief MinisterEdappady Palaniswami and his deputyO Panneerselvam are chalking outstrategies to counter the moves fromSasikala camp. EPS had meade it clearduring his trip to the national capitalthat Sasikala has no place in theAIADMK.

    “There are possibilities of formerministers and MPs joining Sasikala indays to come. Anwar Raja, the formerRamanathapuram MO and GokulaIndira, former Tamil Nadu minister arelikely to cast their lots with Sasikala,”said G Satyamurthy, veteran scribe andlong time specialist in AIADMK mat-ters.

    But Sasikala is undergoing treat-ment for Covid-19 at the Victoria

    Hospital in Bangalore where she wasadmitted on January 20.

    A medical bulletin issued by thehospital on Wednesday said though shehas been tested negative for the pan-demic, as per medical protocol, shewould be discharged on tenth day(January 30) if she is asymptomatic andfree of oxygen support for at least threedays.

    “The decision for her to continuetreatment in Victoria Hospital has beentaken by her and her family members,”said the bulletin signed by medicalsuperintendent and director cumdean of the hospital.

    A team of astrologers are workingto find out the auspicious day forChinnamma (as she is addressed byparty cadre) to return to Chennai. Itwas on February 15, 2017 she left forBangalore to serve the four-year rig-orous imprisonment term slapped onher by the Special Court Judge in con-nection with the disproportionateasset case.

    Her nephew Sudhakaran, cousinIlavarasi and former chief ministerJayalalithaa were the co-accused in the

    case. Since Jayalalithaa bfreated her laston December 5, 2016, the supremeCourt which upheld the trial court ver-dict had released her from the case.

    Since her departure to Bangalore,the AIADMK of which she was thegeneral secretary went a total trans-formation as the EdappadiPalaniswamy and O Panneerselvan duotook control of the party and eased outthe Mannargudi Mafia (as Sasikala andher relatives were known) from theAIADMK.

    Dhinakaran launched the AmmaMakkal Munnetra Kazhakam(AMMK) in 2017 reportedly with theblessings of Sasikala. The split in theAIADMK had its repercussion in the2019 Lok Sabha election as the DMK-led alliance swept the polls by wrest-ing 38 out of the 39 constituencies inthe State.

    While the DMK-led front polled52.3 per cent votes, the AIADMK andits allies had to cintent with just 31.26per cent votes. The general feeling isthat had the AIADMK faced the pollsunitedly, the result would have beendifferent. PNS

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    Board of Control for Cricketin India president SouravGanguly was on Wednesdayhospitalised with cardiac dis-comfort barely three weeks afterbeing discharged from a hospi-tal where he was treated for heartblockage.

    The former Team Indiacaptain was rushed to the ApolloHospital ---after the StateGovernment created a special“green corridor” for hisvehicle --- following mild chest pain anduneasiness, sources said addinghe had a disturbed sleep onTuesday night.

    The former Indian south-paw had undergone an angio-plasty early this month after doc-tors treating him found morethan 90 percent blockage in one

    of his coronary arteries. Theother two arteries also havesimilar blockages and the doc-tors had decided to addressthose problems at a later date.

    The doctors said his ECGand echocardiogram reportswere not normal adding he anangiogram to ascertain his con-dition would be conducted onThursday.

    Incidentally Ganguli’s elderbrother Snehashis Ganguli alsoa former first class cricketer andBengal captain too underwentan angioplasty days after theBCCI president was treated forthe same ailments. Their fatherChandidas Ganguli too hadsimilar problems sources said.

    The doctors weretightlipped on whether he wouldrequire more angioplasties. “Ateam of four doctors led by Dr

    Aftab is monitoring his condi-tion, and they will take thedecision as and when necessary,”family sources said adding thecricketer was doing fine at pre-sent.

    Earlier the doctors treatinghim at the Woodlands Hospitalshad said that “he would notrequire a by-pass surgery atthis moment as he is compara-tively young and fit. He wouldreturn to normal life within 3-4 weeks.”

    Meanwhile, anxious callshad started pouring in from allparts of the country with HomeMinister Amit Shah beingamong the first persons toenquire about the cricketinglegend’s health. He called upBengal BJP observer KailashVijaybargiya to enquire about hishealth, sources said.

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    As the number of Covid-19 patients inKerala crossing the 72,000 mark byWednesday, the Indian Medical Association hasissued a note of caution of an impending hikein the pandemic. According to the latest datareleased by KK Shylaja, Minister for Health, theTest Positivity Rate in the State as onWednesday was 11.07 per cent while 5,659 newpatients were diagnosed with the pandemic ona single day.Though all States are registeringa drastic reduction in the number of patientsdiagnosed with Covid-19, situation in Keralais alarming, warns the IMA which has calledfor stringent preventive measures to check thepandemic.

    A joint statement signed by Dr RajivJayadevan, former president of IMA, Dr T VRavi and Dr Atul Manual, office bearers of theKerala chapter, says that Kerala has the high-est per centage of Covid-19 patients in thecountry. “It is with concern we are watchingthe hike in the TPR on a daily basis while theIntensive Care Units in hospitals across the Stateare getting filled up to capacity. The situationcalls for emergency measures as the State is onthe verge of a third wave of attack by the pan-demic,” said the doctors.

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    Jammu: An Army jawan, deployed on RoadOpening party duty, was killed and threeothers received splinter injuries when animprovised explosive device (IED) explod-ed near Shamshipura area of Khanabal inKulgam district on Wednesday.

    The IED blast took place when jawansof the road opening party were sanitising thegeneral area near Khanabal in Kulgam. Soonafter the blast took place the entire area wascordoned off by the security forces to con-duct general searches in the area. Meanwhile,all the four injured jawans were rushed tothe 92 Base hospital in Srinagar.

    Defence PRO in Srinagar Col RajeshKalia said, “The IED blast took placearound 10.15 a.m in which four jawans ofthe road opening party received splinterinjuries in general areaShamshipura,Khanabal in Kulgam districton Wednesday”.

    Defence PRO said, all the four injuredjawans were given first aid and rushed to the92 Base hospital where one of them suc-cumbed to his injuries.

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    Amaravati: Government employee associationsin Andhra Pradesh have been assured by the StateGovernment of safety in the forthcoming pan-chayat elections.

    The state government promised it will makesure there are no hiccups.Chief Secretary AdityaNath Das spoke to the employee unions and toldthem about the model code of conduct and theirduties.

    As it is not an easy task to carry out electionsand vaccination at the same time, he informed theemployees that the state government had writtento the central government for guidance.

    Das also told the employees that he will dis-cuss with State Election CommissionerNimmagadda Ramesh Kumar about the concernsraised by the employees.

    Meanwhile, representative of the employeesunion Venkatrami Reddy said they requested thegovernment to provide all facilities for protectionduring election duty.”We requested the governmentto grant compensation of Rs 50 lakh to thoseemployees who succumb to coronavirus duringelection duty,” said Reddy.

    They also requested the government not todeploy women employees over 50 years of age forelection duty, including those employees suffer-ing from health problems. The employees' repre-sentatives said they will extend all support for theelections. Chandrasekhar Reddy, another repre-sentative, said they requested Das to vaccinateemployees and then deploy them on election duty,which he said will discuss with the SEC.

    Bopparaju Venkateshwarlu, revenue employ-ees representative, said he requested the chief sec-retary to ensure that employees receive PPE kitswhich the SEC promised them. IANS

    Panaji: The political leadership in Goashould take lessons from global lead-ers like Russian President VladimirPutin and all 40 MLAs in the Stateshould volunteer to get themselves vac-cinated with Bharat Biotech's 'Covaxin'vaccine, doubts about whose efficacycontinue to linger, Goa OppositionMLAs said on Wednesday.

    “Covid management has becomea carnival (in Goa). If you vaccinatepeople with Covaxin and if it impactspeople negatively, it will create a big-ger problem,” former Deputy ChiefMinister and Goa Forward MLA VijaiSardesai said.

    “If you have confidence in the vac-cine, let the leaders get vaccinated first.Even Putin got it administered to him-self first,” Sardesai said, adding that Goaranked 23rd out of 29 states in termsof vaccine coverage, which he said,meant that people of Goa had no faithin 'Covaxin'.

    Sardesai was speaking during acongratulatory motion moved in thestate Assembly to congratulate PrimeMinister Narendra Modi for efficienthandling of the Covid-19 crisis, as wellas quick roll-out of the country's vac-cination programme.

    The motion was moved by BJPMLA from Shiroda constituencySubhash Shirodkar, who said that at atime when countries around the worldwere exploring options for a secondlockdown, India had already launchedheadlong into a vaccination drive.

    “Our indigenously developed vaccinewill be administered not just in India,but also in neighbouring countries,”Shirodkar said.

    “Except Pakistan, all our neigh-bours are using our vaccine (Covaxin).Even Brazil is using the vaccine,” GoaTransport Minister Mauvin Godinhosaid.

    Opposition MLA and former min-ister Rohan Khaunte however urgedthe government not to give people asense of “false confidence” aboutCovaxin, which he said had not beenput through the critical third stage tri-als.

    “I request the CM to ensure that all40 MLAs should take the vaccinefirst, only then people will get confi-dence to get themselves vaccinated,”Khaunte said, adding that MLAs werebeing asked as to why they were notone of the first lot to be vaccinated.

    Summing up the discussions onthe congratulatory motion, ChiefMinister Pramod Sawant thanked thePrime Minister for imposing a quicklockdown, which Sawant said keptCovid-19 cases in the country to theminimum.

    “We are sad that more than 700have died (in Goa). But we have alsomanaged to save more than 50,000.Suggestions are welcome but we needto stand together in this time of need,”Sawant said.

    “The PM is being praised global-ly for his leadership,” he said. IANS

    Patna: Bihar Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Afzar Shamshiwas shot at by three unidentified assailants from close range in Bihar'sMunger district on Wednesday.

    Munger Superintendent of Police (SP), Manavjit Singh Dhillon, toldIANS that Shamshi received a gunshot injury in the lower back side ofhis head and was referred to Patna for treatment.

    “We have arrested one person identified as Lalan Kumar Singh inconnection with the case,” Dhillon said.

    The incident took place at nearly 12.30 p.m. when Shamshi was onhis way to Ramsakha Satyabhama Evening Inter College at Munger.Shamshi is a professor in this college and also has an influential role inits administration.

    After reaching the college gate, Shamshi stepped out of his car andentered the college. At the same time three assailants fired three to fourtimes at him and one of the bullets hit him in the lower back side of hishead.

    Shamshi fell to the ground in an unconscious state. The college's staffrushed him to the Sadar hospital.

    “Shamshi gave a statement and his condition is said to be stable. TheBihar BJP leader alleged that one of the college faculty identified as LalanKumar Singh is responsible for the attack. The accused pressured Shamshito hand over the finance department of the college to him and also want-ed other departments as well which led to a dispute between them,”Dhillon told IANS.

    “We have arrested Lalan on charges of attempt to murder and crim-inal conspiracy and efforts are on to nab three other persons who wereallegedly hired by him to execute the crime,” he added.

    Following the incident, the BJP state President Sanjay Jaiswal, saidhe would talk to Director General Of Police (DGP) S.K. Singhal for speedyinvestigation in the matter.

    “The incident is extremely shocking and painful,” he added.

    Maintaining law and order is turning out to be quite a challenge forthe Bihar police with Indigo Airlines Bihar Chief Rupesh Kumar Singhbeing gunned down on January 12, an Agriculture official Ajay Kumarkidnapped and murdered on January 20, a youth killed in Patna city onJanuary 26 and now the latest case of the BJP Spokesperson being shotat in Munger. IANS

    Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Pradesh CongressCommittee president Mullappally Ramachandran said onWednesday that he would not contest the Assembly elec-tions slated to be held this year.

    The former Union Minister of State for Home saidthat he would instead continue as state party chief andlead the Congress-led UDF to electoral victory, just as ithad done by winning 19 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in the2019 general elections in the state.

    “I will not contest in the coming elections. My soleaim is to bring the Congress and the UDF back to powerin Kerala. The misrule and anti-people policies of the Leftgovernment has taken a toll on the state's people. My can-didature is not a big issue. As a responsible stateCongress President, I am working tirelessly to bring backthe party to power,” Ramachandran told IANS on phone.

    The seven-term MP has thus put to rest speculationson his candidature from the Kalpetta seat in Wayanad dis-trict or Koyilandi in Kozhikode district.

    Ramachandran, who enjoys an unblemished politi-cal track record, has been a “giant killer”. He had defeat-ed CPI-M's then sitting MP P Sathidevi by a huge votemargin from the red bastion of Vatakara in Kozhikodedistrict in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

    It was after several decades that the Congress hadwrested the seat from the CPI-M. Kozhikode is the hometown of Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and former CPI-M Secretary and Politburo member KodiyeriBalakrishnan.

    There were rumours that Ramachandran would beprojected as a chief ministerial candidate along withOommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala, and that theCongress high command would make Kannur MP KSudhakaran as the KPCC chief if Ramachandran optedto throw his hat in the electoral ring.

    Even Sudhakaran had told the media that he wouldlike to become the KPCC President and that he woulddo justice to the post. IANS

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    Jammu : A sensational case offraudulent loot of 1.34 croresfrom the Ministry of MinorityAffairs has come to light aftera team of Jammu and KashmirCrime Branch Wednesdayarrested one of the accused hail-ing from West Bengal.

    “A team headed by aDeputy Superintendent ofPolice proceeded to West Bengaland arrested accused SelimSekh of Tinsatabighi Berabadvillage in Malda district. He waswanted in many FIRs pertain-ing to fraudulent siphoning ofGovernment funds,” a CrimeBranch statement said.

    The investigations weregoing on in the case FIR no04/2020 U/S 420,468, 120b-RPC, 66(D)IT Act, 5(2) PC Actof Crime Branch Kashmir.

    Sharing details of modusoperandi of the accused, thecrime branch statement said,the accused in criminal con-

    spiracy with co-accuseduploaded fake application formson the National ScholarshipPortal for Merit cum MeansScholarship under the MinorityQuota for Jammu and Kashmirstudents during 2018-19 forKulgam district. Subsequently,fake verifications were con-ducted from institutes that didnot exist in states mentioned inthe application forms.

    The accused allegedlyshowed fake beneficiaries as res-idents of Kulgam district and thusgot it verified by the district SocialWelfare Officer through deceitand managed to transfer Rs 1.34crore from the Ministry ofMinority Affairs into accounts of463 fake beneficiaries in branch-es of State Bank of India, Bank ofBaroda, United Bank of India(now PNB), Allahabad Bank,IDFC Bank and Bangiya VikasGramin Bank in different dis-tricts of West Bengal. PNS

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    Agartala: At least 87 teachersand 17 police personnel wereinjured in a pitched battle onWednesday with the securityforces knocking down the tentsin which thousands of TripuraGovernment schoolteachers,who had lost their jobs follow-ing the court's verdict, havebeen holding sit-in protest forthe past 52 days demandingrestoration of their jobs.

    Inspector General of Police(Law and Order) ArindamNath told IANS that 223 agi-tating teachers were arrested asthey assembled near the officialresidence of Chief MinisterBiplab Kumar Deb.

    West Tripura DistrictMagistrate and CollectorShailesh Kumar Yadav, beforethe gathering of the teachersnear the CM's residence, hadpromulgated prohibitoryorders 144 Cr Pc in the entireAgartala MunicipalCorporation areas banning

    assembly of five or more peo-ple.

    “In all 87 teachers and 17police personnel were injuredin today's (Wednesday) inci-dents (police lathicharge, use ofwater cannon and burst of teargas shells). The agitating teach-ers also damaged four policecars. Considering the situation,the prohibitory orders wereextended for another 48 hours,”Yadav told the media.

    Police spokesman SubrataChakraborty said that twocases were registered againstthe agitating teachers.

    The injured teachers,including many women, wereadmitted in the AgartalaMedical College and Hospitaland Indira Gandhi Memorialhospital here.

    Opposition CommunistParty of India-Marxist,Congress and other politicalparties condemningWednesday's incident said that

    “indiscriminate police actionand lathicharge were barbaric”.

    Ruling Bharatiya JanataParty said that the teachers' agi-tations were backed by theCPI-M and politically moti-vated. “The teachers had losttheir jobs following the courts'verdict. The BJP governmenthas been making alternativearrangements for them. Onlyfew hundred teachers withpolitical purpose are organisingagitations,” BJP spokesmanNabendu Bhattacharjee toldthe media.

    Referring Wednesday'spolice action, CPI-M state sec-retary Gautam Das said thatTripura never witnessed suchpolice barbarism.

    “An unprecedented num-ber of security personnel weredeployed to deal with the hap-less teachers. Police used lathi,water cannon and burst tear gasshells to disperse the teachers'gatherings.

    “Ten policemen collective-ly seen used their batons on ateacher. Women teachers werealso not spared by the manpolicemen,” Das, also theparty's central committeemember, told the media.

    Braving the cold weather,men and women teachers con-tinued their indefinite sit-in inAgartala since beginning theprotest on December 7 lastyear, demanding their rein-statement.

    The agitating teachers fromundergraduate to postgraduatelevel have rejected the BJP-ledgovernment's appeal to applyafresh for the vacant posts indifferent departments forwhich separate notificationswere issued at the end of lastyear.

    Dalia Das, joint convenerof the Joint MovementCommittee (JMC), which isspearheading the stir since lastyear, said that of the 10,323

    retrenched government teach-ers, 84 persons died due to var-ious reasons, including threepersons who committed sui-cide.

    “Many out of the 10,323teachers after losing their jobsfell sick due to depression andeconomic paucity and 84 ofthem died. The family mem-bers of all the retrenched teach-ers are in great distress, espe-cially of those who have died,”she said.

    Small kids, children andfamily elders of the agitatingteachers occasionally take partin the round the clock sit-in.

    Both Chief Minister andEducation and Law MinisterRatan Lal Nath have on anumber of occasions request-ed the agitating teachers tocompete for around 9,000vacant posts in various depart-ments, including the EducationDepartment, for which thestate government issued

    recruitment notifications.Nath repeatedly accused

    the previous Left Front gov-ernment for the teachers' plightand told the media that thegovernment cannot providejobs to any one without fol-lowing the stipulated formali-ties, including conductinginterviews.”The Supreme Courthad relaxed the stipulated agelimit for government jobs forthese teachers - they shouldavail the scope,” he said.

    After visiting the hospital,where the injured teachers arebeing treated, former ChiefMinister Manik Sarkar, who isnow the opposition leader, toldthe media that after the TripuraHigh Court and the SupremeCourt had terminated the jobsof 10,323 government teachersin 2011, 2014 and 2017, thethen Left Front governmenthad created 13,000 posts toaccommodate these teachersalternatively.

    He said the BJP leadersbefore the 2018 Assembly pollshad promised to regularisetheir jobs if they came topower, but nothing has beendone by them for these teach-ers. Sarkar, who's also a polit-buro member of the CPI-M,recently led separate delega-tions of Left MLAs to GovernorRamesh Bais and the ChiefMinister and requested them totake suitable steps for the teach-ers' reinstatement.

    On the government's offerof jobs, JMC leader Das saidthe teachers have already com-pleted their government servicefor seven to 10 years and sev-eral of them crossed their stip-ulated age limit and the stategovernment's offer is “unrea-sonable” and against the inter-est of the teachers.

    She said the protesters hadsuspended their agitation ear-lier after the Chief Minister onOctober 3 last year assured to

    take steps to resolve their prob-lems permanently within twomonths.

    “Today (Wednesday) wehave planned to meet the ChiefMinister at the civil secretari-at. Before that we had takenone of our injured womanteachers to the hospital and atthat time police suddenly start-ed lathi charging on teachers,”Das told the media.

    “After waiting for morethan two months, we resumedour sit-in stir on December 7but the state government is yetto take any step. We wouldsoon intensify our agitation,”Das said.

    The state government hadearlier given a lump-sum finan-cial aid of Rs 35,000 each to8,882 government schoolteachers, who lost their jobs onMarch 31 last year, as thecourts in their verdicts hadcited “discrepancies in recruit-ments”. IANS

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    In a second arrest in less thanone year, the EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has arrestedformer chairman of Yes BankRana Kapoor in a money laun-dering case linked to the MackStar Group-Rs 4300 crore PMCBank scam case.

    Rana Kapoor is the thirdperson to have been arrested inthe Mack Star Group-PMCBank scam case. On January 23,ED had arrested Mehul Thakurand Madan Gopal Chaturvediin this year. A day ahead ofthese arrests, the ED conduct-ed raids at ten premises includ-ing the residence of formerunderworld don Bhai Thakurand offices of Viva Groupwhich is controlled by his fam-ily.

    Sixty-three-year-old RanaKapoor -- who had earlier beenon March 8 last year for allegedmoney laundering involving

    Yes Bank and scam-hit realitycompany Dewan HousingFinance Limited (DHFL) – iscurrently in jail in the DHFLcase.

    Rana Kapoor, who faces thecharge of sanctioning a Rs.200-crore loan to Mack StarMarketing Pvt. Ltd (a group ofthe HDIL promoters RakeshWadhawan and SarangWadhawan), was producedbefore a PMLA court whichremanded in ED custody tillJanuary 30.

    The ED’s charge againstRana Kapoor is that he hadsiphoned off the loan amountsand given a lifeline to HDIL’sgroup companies to settle theiroutstanding with Yes Bank toprevent them from becomingNPAs.

    HDIL’s Rakesh Wadhawanand Sarang Wadhawan, who arealso prime accused in the PMCBank scam, held a stake inMack Star which is under the

    ED scanner for a Rs.200-croreloan given by Yes Bank for ren-ovating its premises.

    This is the secon


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