ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented rae bareli and amethi constituencies, sharma was a rajya...

14
D eclaring that the right of reputation cannot be pro- tected at the cost of right of life and dignity, a Delhi court on Wednesday threw out former Union Minister and editor MJ Akbar’s criminal defamation suit against journalist Priya Ramani, who has accused him of sexual harassment. Delivering the landmark judgment being hailed as a watershed moment for the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment, the court maintained that a woman has the right to put forward her grievances before any platform of her choice even after decades. A woman cannot be pun- ished for raising her voice against such abuse, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey said as he dismissed Akbar’s com- plaint and held that no charges were proved against Ramani. The time has come for society to understand sexual abuse and harassment and their implications on victims, the judge said while acquitting the journalist. The court asked her to furnish a bail bond of 10,000 in case of an appeal. It feels great to have the truth validated before the court, a beaming Ramani told reporters after the verdict. “It feels amazing, truly does. I feel vindicated on behalf of all the women who have ever spoken out against sexual harassment at the workplace. It was me the victim who had to stand up in the court as an accused,” Ramani, who named Akbar in a tweet with reference to an article titled “To the Harvey Weinsteins of the World” she had written in Vogue India in 2017, added. The tweet was on October 8, 2018, when the #MeToo movement was gathering pace. Seven days later, Akbar, a cel- ebrated editor, filed a criminal complaint against her for allegedly defaming him by accusing him of sexual mis- conduct decades ago when he was a journalist. Two days after that, on October 17, 2018, he resigned as minister of state for External Affairs and denied all the alle- gations of sexual harassment levelled by several women. Delivering a 91-page ver- dict in the keenly followed case, the court said it is shame- ful that incidents of crime and violence against women are happening in a country where epics such as the “Mahabarata” and “Ramayana” were written around the theme of respect for women. “… the right of reputation cannot be protected at the cost of the right of life and dignity of woman as guaranteed in Constitution under article 21 and right of equality before law and equal protection of law as guaranteed under article 14 of the Constitution,” it said. Continued on Page 11 D ays after Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that no clear-cut or final decision has been taken on the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in the private market yet, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Director Dr Randeep Guleria on Wednesday said that the jabs might be available for masses by this year’s end after the prime targeted people are cov- ered and there is an equivalence of supply and demand in the market. “Vaccine will be available in the open market only when prime targets — people to be vaccinated — are covered. And there has to be equivalence in supply and demand. Hopefully, there would be such a situation by year-end or before that. Then, there may be a likelihood of vaccine to come to the open market,” Dr Guleria said. Sharing his experience of his past 28 days (a time dura- tion for the second dose), Dr Guleria, said, “Today I took the second dose of Covaxin vaccine and I haven’t found any side effect from the first dose. “I didn’t face any difficul- ty. I would urge people not to fear the vaccine and it is total- ly safe. People should come out and take the vaccine. This is essential if we want to come out of the pandemic.” He highlighted that pan- demic is still not over and India is in a good position but peo- ple should not have vaccine hesitancy and get inoculated. “Right now our situation is fine and many might believe that in India pandemic case is less but I would say this is our window of opportunity to get the vaccine as the pandemic is still not over and the situation can change anytime. As we have seen in Brazil, Europe, South Africa and the United Kingdom lockdown has been imposed again as the cases spiked. We should maintain the present situation in the coun- try as it is necessary,” the AIIMS Director added. On Monday, the Union Health Minister said that one must appreciate that the vac- cines are approved under Emergency Use Authorisations (EUA). “During the course of EUA, it is the responsibility of the Government to keep things totally under control. This is the reason vaccines are still not available in the open market,” he added. A delegation of foreign diplo- mats from 24 countries on Wednesday arrived on a two-day visit to the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir to take stock of the ground sit- uation and assess how demo- cratic institutions at the grass- roots level were working in the region after the revocation of its special station in August 2019. On their arrival by a spe- cial flight in Srinagar, the del- egation was accorded a red car- pet welcome amid heightened security arrangements. The Modi Government organised similar visits first in October 2019 and the second in January 2020. Envoys of Chile, Brazil, Cuba, Bolivia, Estonia, Finland, France, Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal, EU, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Italy, Bangladesh, Malawi, Eritrea, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Malaysia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan are part of the visiting delegation. Incidentally, parts of Srinagar witnessed shutdown even in the absence of any for- mal shutdown call by any group or political party. Soon after their arrival in Srinagar the foreign diplomats visited Magam in the central Kashmir district of Budgam to witness “Block Diwas”, a pub- lic outreach initiative organised every week by the local admin- istrations in Jammu & Kashmir. At the venue they were briefed on Panchayati Raj and grievance redressal through “Back to villages” programme, when administration reaches the doorstep of people. “The visit provided the envoys an opportunity to inter- act and hear from the public and their local level people’s representatives on function- ing and empowerment of grassroot democratic institu- tions, devolution of power, developmental activities among others,” official sources present at the venue said. Continued on Page 11 W est Bengal is set to wit- ness high voltage politi- cal slugfest over the next few days with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah raising poll pitch in the elec- tion-bound State and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee planning to address counter- rallies. Mamata will address her counter rallies at places where Central BJP leaders including the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and BJP national pres- ident JP Nadda will hold their meetings. Accordingly Mamata will hold a rally at Chinsurah in Hooghly district a day after Modi addresses a rally on February 22. Whereas the Chief Minister and her nephew and MP Abhishek Banerjee will hold simultaneous rallies at South 24 Parganas where Shah will hold rallies on Friday. . Shah will reach Kolkata on Wednesday and flag off the BJP’s fifth and final parivartan rath yatra from Namkhana in South 24 Parganas on Thursday. On the other hand, the PM is expected to hold a public rally in Hooghly on February 22 after inaugurating the 4-km extension of the city’s north-south Metro corridor from Noapara to Dakshineshwar on February 22. The fifth rath yatra will pass through the prestigious constituencies of Diamond Harbour and South Kolkata. The first one is represented by Abhishek Banerjee, while Mamata Banerjee is the MLA of Bhawanipur Assembly con- stituency in South Kolkata. The rally is likely to pro- ceed through Sirakol in Diamond Harbour where the convoy of BJP national presi- dent JP Nadda was attacked on December 10, 2020. About 20 per cent booths of Bengal are violence prone, sources quoting the EC said, adding the poll panel is mak- ing an elaborate arrangement to ensure free and fare polls. Continued on Page 11 T he Samyukt Kisan Morcha on Wednesday accused the Centre of trying to “counter and destroy” the farmers’ movement against the new agri laws and said it has appealed for peaceful protests during the “rail roko” agitation on February 18. The statement of the umbrella body of protesting unions came a day after BJP chief JP Nadda and Home Minister Amit Shah met party functionaries, MPs and MLAs from Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh in the wake of mahapanchayats being organ- ised by farmer leaders. During the meeting, the BJP leaders from the farm community of these States were asked to clear misconceptions about the laws, sources had said. The Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), which had last week announced the rail block- ade to press for its demand to repeal the legislations, said that it “appeals to everyone for a peaceful protest in the nation- wide “rail roko” programme on February 18”. Earlier, farmer unions had called a “chakka jam” on February 6 and a ‘tractor parade’ in Delhi on January 26, during which a section of pro- testers clashed with police, overturned vehicles while some hoisted a religious flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort. “The (rail roko) pro- gramme will be organised from 12 pm to 4 pm in which sup- port is expected from all over the country,” the SKM said in a statement. The SKM has taken note of the high-level meeting of the BJP president, Shah and other ministers with elected party leaders from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan, it said. Continued on Page 11 C ongress leader and former union minister Captain Satish Sharma died in Goa on Wednesday after a brief illness. He was 73. Sharma was suffering from cancer and was ailing for some time. “He died at 8.16 PM at Goa. His last rites would be done in Delhi on Friday, as the body is being brought from Goa,” his son Samir told PTI. A close aide of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Sharma was Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas from 1993 to 1996 in the Narasimha Rao gov- ernment. Born on October 11, 1947 in Andhra Pradesh’s Secunderabad, Sharma was a professional com- mercial pilot. A three-time Lok Sabha MP who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh. He first became a member of Rajya Sabha in June 1986 and was later elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi in 1991 after the death of Rajiv Gandhi. He was later a member of Rajya Sabha from July 2004 to 2016. New Delhi: A 30-year-old man allegedly seen swinging swords with the intent of “motivating” and “energising” protesters at Red Fort during the violence on Republic Day has been arrested, police said on Wednesday. Maninder Singh, who runs a sword training school near his home in Swaroop Nagar in northwest Delhi and works as a car AC mechanic, was arrest- ed around 7.45 pm on Tuesday. United Nations: India, hailed as the pharmacy of the world, on Wednesday announced a gift of 2,00,000 Covid-19 doses for UN peacekeepers. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made the announce- ment at the UN Security Council open debate on the implementation of resolution 2532 (2020) on the cessation of hostilities in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Keeping in mind the UN Peacekeepers who operate in such difficult circumstances, we would like to announce today a gift of 2,00,000 doses for them,” Jaishankar told the UN Security Council in a virtual address. Quoting the Bhagvad Gita, Jaishankar said, “Do your work with the welfare of oth- ers always in mind.” T he Ministry of Civil Aviation on Wednesday released an updated standard operating procedure (SOP) for international passengers arriv- ing in India after cases of the South Africa and Brazil vari- ants of the Covid-18 virus were detected. The Ministry in its updat- ed SOP said the guidelines will supersede the one issued since August 2, 2020 and will come into effect from 23.59 hours on February 22. There are fresh guidelines for all international travellers coming/transiting through flights originating from the UK, Europe and West Asia. Continued on Page 11 T he budget session of Uttar Pradesh Legislature will begin with Governor Anandiben Patel's address to the joint sitting of both Houses on Thursday. The session is likely to be stormy as the opposition parties are likely to put a united front to corner the Yogi Adityanath gov- ernment over the ongoing farm- ers' agitation, coronavirus pan- demic, law and order and cor- ruption. The Yogi government is slat- ed to table its annual budget for 2021-22 on February 22. This will be the fifth and last budget of the Yogi government as the state will go to polls in early 2022. For the first time, UP will witness paperless budget and proceedings of the state legisla- ture. The budget session is expect- ed to continue till March 10. All the legislators will get the budget document on their iPods and the budget literature will only be available on the UP Assembly's website. The legislators have been given training to help them use the iPods smoothly. The opposition, on the other hand, has chalked out an elabo- rate strategy to counter the fail- ures of the government. The members of the principal oppo- sition party, Samajwadi Party, will reach the assembly by bicycle on the opening day before holding a meeting of the legislature party. Against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic, all prepa- rations are being made to con- duct Covid tests of the MLAs, MLCs and other staff members, including security personnel. Assembly speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit, who convened a meeting on Tuesday, said the Covid tests of the legislators were going on while the process for the staff members of the House had been completed. The assembly secretariat had issued a circular making it mandatory for all MLAs and MLCs to undergo Covid test before the commencement of the budget session. Besides the presentation of the annual budget, the govern- ment is also likely to table impor- tant bills, including the all-impor- tant one replacing the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Ordinance, 2020, which was promulgated with the approval of the Governor in November last year. The other bills to be tabled during the session are UP Pension Regularisation Ordinance 2020, UP Cinema (Regulation) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, UP Revenue Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, UP Cane Purchase (Amendment) Ordinance, 2020, State Ayush University, Uttar Pradesh Regulation of Urban Premises Tenancy Ordinance, 2021. Meanwhile, the opposition parties are preparing to grill the government on pressing issues, particularly those relating to the ongoing farmers' protests, law and order, and the tackling of the coronavirus pandemic, among others. Leader of opposition Ram Govind Chaudhary said here on Wednesday that the opposition members would not let the gov- ernment sit on its failures and make the people suffer. "The farmers' agitation along with law and order problem, COVID-19 pandemic, corrup- tion in the government depart- ments and the anti-people acts of the government would be the thrust areas of the opposition," Chaudhary said. Bahujan Samaj party leader Lalji Verma and Congress Legislature Party Leader Aradhana Mishra supported the views of the leader of the oppo- sition. However, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Kumar Khanna, who is also the finance minister, said the government was ready for a debate on all the issues and was prepared to reply to every question of the opposi- tion. W hat could be the first time in the history of independent India, a woman prisoner is to be hanged till death for a rare crime she was found guilty of. Shabnam, who lives in Amroha, will be hanged to death in Uttar Pradesh’s only female hangout in Mathura. Preparations have started for this. Pawan Jallad of Meerut, who hanged Nirbhaya’s accused, has also inspected the hanging house twice. However, the date of hanging is not fixed yet but a decision in this regard will be taken soon. Significantly, in April 2008, Shabnam brutally murdered seven members of her family with an axe with the help of her lover. In this case, the Supreme Court upheld the death sen- tence of Shabnam. The President of India has also rejected her mercy petition. In case the authorities pro- ceed with the hanging, Shabnam will be the first female prisoner to be hanged after Independence. The first female hanging house was built in Mathura jail almost 150 years ago, but no woman has been hanged since Independence. Senior Jail Superintendent Shailendra Continued on Page 11

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Page 1: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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Declaring that the right ofreputation cannot be pro-

tected at the cost of right of lifeand dignity, a Delhi court onWednesday threw out formerUnion Minister and editor MJAkbar’s criminal defamationsuit against journalist PriyaRamani, who has accused himof sexual harassment.

Delivering the landmarkjudgment being hailed as awatershed moment for the#MeToo movement againstsexual harassment, the courtmaintained that a woman hasthe right to put forward hergrievances before any platformof her choice even afterdecades.

A woman cannot be pun-ished for raising her voiceagainst such abuse, AdditionalChief Metropolitan MagistrateRavindra Kumar Pandey saidas he dismissed Akbar’s com-plaint and held that no chargeswere proved against Ramani.

The time has come forsociety to understand sexualabuse and harassment andtheir implications on victims,the judge said while acquittingthe journalist. The court askedher to furnish a bail bond of�10,000 in case of an appeal.

It feels great to have thetruth validated before the court,a beaming Ramani toldreporters after the verdict.

“It feels amazing, truly

does. I feel vindicated on behalfof all the women who have everspoken out against sexualharassment at the workplace. Itwas me the victim who had tostand up in the court as anaccused,” Ramani, who namedAkbar in a tweet with referenceto an article titled “To theHarvey Weinsteins of theWorld” she had written inVogue India in 2017, added.

The tweet was on October8, 2018, when the #MeToomovement was gathering pace.Seven days later, Akbar, a cel-ebrated editor, filed a criminalcomplaint against her forallegedly defaming him byaccusing him of sexual mis-conduct decades ago when hewas a journalist.

Two days after that, onOctober 17, 2018, he resigned

as minister of state for ExternalAffairs and denied all the alle-gations of sexual harassmentlevelled by several women.

Delivering a 91-page ver-dict in the keenly followedcase, the court said it is shame-ful that incidents of crime andviolence against women arehappening in a country whereepics such as the “Mahabarata”and “Ramayana” were writtenaround the theme of respect forwomen.

“… the right of reputationcannot be protected at the costof the right of life and dignityof woman as guaranteed inConstitution under article 21and right of equality before lawand equal protection of law asguaranteed under article 14 ofthe Constitution,” it said.

Continued on Page 11

���� #-��.-/0�

Days after Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan

said that no clear-cut or finaldecision has been taken on therollout of Covid-19 vaccines inthe private market yet, AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) Director DrRandeep Guleria onWednesday said that the jabsmight be available for massesby this year’s end after theprime targeted people are cov-ered and there is an equivalenceof supply and demand in themarket.

“Vaccine will be availablein the open market only whenprime targets — people to bevaccinated — are covered. Andthere has to be equivalence insupply and demand. Hopefully,there would be such a situationby year-end or before that.Then, there may be a likelihood

of vaccine to come to the openmarket,” Dr Guleria said.

Sharing his experience ofhis past 28 days (a time dura-tion for the second dose), DrGuleria, said, “Today I took thesecond dose of Covaxin vaccineand I haven’t found any sideeffect from the first dose.

“I didn’t face any difficul-ty. I would urge people not tofear the vaccine and it is total-ly safe. People should come outand take the vaccine. This isessential if we want to come outof the pandemic.”

He highlighted that pan-demic is still not over and Indiais in a good position but peo-ple should not have vaccinehesitancy and get inoculated.

“Right now our situation isfine and many might believethat in India pandemic case isless but I would say this is ourwindow of opportunity to getthe vaccine as the pandemic is

still not over and the situationcan change anytime. As wehave seen in Brazil, Europe,South Africa and the UnitedKingdom lockdown has beenimposed again as the casesspiked. We should maintain thepresent situation in the coun-try as it is necessary,” theAIIMS Director added.

On Monday, the Union

Health Minister said that onemust appreciate that the vac-cines are approved underEmergency Use Authorisations(EUA). “During the course ofEUA, it is the responsibility ofthe Government to keep thingstotally under control. This isthe reason vaccines are still notavailable in the open market,”he added.

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Adelegation of foreign diplo-mats from 24 countries

on Wednesday arrived on atwo-day visit to the UnionTerritory of Jammu & Kashmirto take stock of the ground sit-uation and assess how demo-cratic institutions at the grass-roots level were working in theregion after the revocation of itsspecial station in August 2019.

On their arrival by a spe-cial flight in Srinagar, the del-egation was accorded a red car-pet welcome amid heightenedsecurity arrangements.

The Modi Governmentorganised similar visits first inOctober 2019 and the secondin January 2020.

Envoys of Chile, Brazil,Cuba, Bolivia, Estonia, Finland,France, Ireland, Netherlands,Portugal, EU, Belgium, Spain,

Sweden, Italy, Bangladesh,Malawi, Eritrea, Cote d’Ivoire,Ghana, Senegal, Malaysia,Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan arepart of the visiting delegation.

Incidentally, parts ofSrinagar witnessed shutdowneven in the absence of any for-mal shutdown call by anygroup or political party.

Soon after their arrival inSrinagar the foreign diplomatsvisited Magam in the centralKashmir district of Budgam towitness “Block Diwas”, a pub-lic outreach initiative organisedevery week by the local admin-istrations in Jammu & Kashmir.

At the venue they werebriefed on Panchayati Raj andgrievance redressal through“Back to villages” programme,when administration reachesthe doorstep of people.

“The visit provided theenvoys an opportunity to inter-act and hear from the publicand their local level people’srepresentatives on function-ing and empowerment ofgrassroot democratic institu-tions, devolution of power,developmental activities amongothers,” official sources presentat the venue said.

Continued on Page 11

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West Bengal is set to wit-ness high voltage politi-

cal slugfest over the next fewdays with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and UnionHome Minister Amit Shahraising poll pitch in the elec-tion-bound State and ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeeplanning to address counter-rallies.

Mamata will address hercounter rallies at places whereCentral BJP leaders includingthe Prime Minister, the HomeMinister and BJP national pres-ident JP Nadda will hold theirmeetings.

Accordingly Mamata willhold a rally at Chinsurah inHooghly district a day afterModi addresses a rally onFebruary 22. Whereas the

Chief Minister and her nephewand MP Abhishek Banerjeewill hold simultaneous rallies atSouth 24 Parganas where Shahwill hold rallies on Friday. .

Shah will reach Kolkata onWednesday and flag off theBJP’s fifth and final parivartanrath yatra from Namkhana inSouth 24 Parganas onThursday. On the other hand,the PM is expected to hold apublic rally in Hooghly onFebruary 22 after inauguratingthe 4-km extension of the city’snorth-south Metro corridor

from Noapara toDakshineshwar on February22.

The fifth rath yatra willpass through the prestigiousconstituencies of DiamondHarbour and South Kolkata.The first one is represented byAbhishek Banerjee, whileMamata Banerjee is the MLAof Bhawanipur Assembly con-stituency in South Kolkata.

The rally is likely to pro-ceed through Sirakol inDiamond Harbour where theconvoy of BJP national presi-dent JP Nadda was attacked onDecember 10, 2020.

About 20 per cent boothsof Bengal are violence prone,sources quoting the EC said,adding the poll panel is mak-ing an elaborate arrangementto ensure free and fare polls.

Continued on Page 11

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The Samyukt Kisan Morchaon Wednesday accused the

Centre of trying to “counterand destroy” the farmers’movement against the newagri laws and said it hasappealed for peaceful protestsduring the “rail roko” agitationon February 18.

The statement of theumbrella body of protestingunions came a day after BJPchief JP Nadda and HomeMinister Amit Shah met partyfunctionaries, MPs and MLAsfrom Haryana, Rajasthan andUttar Pradesh in the wake ofmahapanchayats being organ-ised by farmer leaders.

During the meeting, theBJP leaders from the farmcommunity of these States wereasked to clear misconceptionsabout the laws, sources hadsaid.

The Samyukt KisanMorcha (SKM), which had lastweek announced the rail block-ade to press for its demand torepeal the legislations, saidthat it “appeals to everyone fora peaceful protest in the nation-wide “rail roko” programme onFebruary 18”.

Earlier, farmer unions hadcalled a “chakka jam” onFebruary 6 and a ‘tractorparade’ in Delhi on January 26,during which a section of pro-testers clashed with police,overturned vehicles while somehoisted a religious flag from theramparts of the Red Fort.

“The (rail roko) pro-gramme will be organised from12 pm to 4 pm in which sup-port is expected from all overthe country,” the SKM said ina statement.

The SKM has taken note ofthe high-level meeting of theBJP president, Shah and other

ministers with elected partyleaders from Haryana, UttarPradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan,it said.

Continued on Page 11

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Congress leader and formerunion minister Captain

Satish Sharma died in Goa onWednesday after a brief illness.He was 73. Sharma was sufferingfrom cancer and was ailing forsome time.

“He died at 8.16 PM at Goa.His last rites would be done inDelhi on Friday, as the body isbeing brought from Goa,” his sonSamir told PTI.

A close aide of former primeminister Rajiv Gandhi, Sharmawas Union Minister of Petroleumand Natural Gas from 1993 to1996 in the Narasimha Rao gov-ernment.

Born on October 11, 1947 inAndhra Pradesh’s Secunderabad,Sharma was a professional com-mercial pilot.

A three-time Lok Sabha MPwho represented Rae Bareli andAmethi constituencies, Sharmawas a Rajya Sabha member forthree terms representing thestates of Madhya Pradesh,Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

He first became a member ofRajya Sabha in June 1986 and waslater elected to the Lok Sabhafrom Amethi in 1991 after thedeath of Rajiv Gandhi.

He was later a member ofRajya Sabha from July 2004 to2016.

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New Delhi: A 30-year-old manallegedly seen swinging swordswith the intent of “motivating”and “energising” protesters atRed Fort during the violenceon Republic Day has beenarrested, police said onWednesday.

Maninder Singh, who runsa sword training school near hishome in Swaroop Nagar innorthwest Delhi and works asa car AC mechanic, was arrest-ed around 7.45 pm on Tuesday.

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United Nations: India, hailedas the pharmacy of the world,on Wednesday announced agift of 2,00,000 Covid-19 dosesfor UN peacekeepers.

External Affairs Minister SJaishankar made the announce-ment at the UN SecurityCouncil open debate on theimplementation of resolution2532 (2020) on the cessation ofhostilities in the context of the

Covid-19 pandemic.“Keeping in mind the UN

Peacekeepers who operate insuch difficult circumstances, wewould like to announce todaya gift of 2,00,000 doses forthem,” Jaishankar told the UNSecurity Council in a virtualaddress. Quoting the BhagvadGita, Jaishankar said, “Do yourwork with the welfare of oth-ers always in mind.”

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The Ministry of CivilAviation on Wednesday

released an updated standardoperating procedure (SOP) forinternational passengers arriv-ing in India after cases of theSouth Africa and Brazil vari-ants of the Covid-18 viruswere detected.

The Ministry in its updat-ed SOP said the guidelineswill supersede the one issuedsince August 2, 2020 and willcome into effect from 23.59hours on February 22.

There are fresh guidelinesfor all international travellerscoming/transiting throughflights originating from theUK, Europe and West Asia.

Continued on Page 11

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The budget session of UttarPradesh Legislature will begin

with Governor Anandiben Patel'saddress to the joint sitting of bothHouses on Thursday.

The session is likely to bestormy as the opposition partiesare likely to put a united front tocorner the Yogi Adityanath gov-ernment over the ongoing farm-ers' agitation, coronavirus pan-demic, law and order and cor-ruption.

The Yogi government is slat-ed to table its annual budget for2021-22 on February 22. This willbe the fifth and last budget of theYogi government as the state willgo to polls in early 2022.

For the first time, UP willwitness paperless budget andproceedings of the state legisla-ture.

The budget session is expect-ed to continue till March 10.

All the legislators will get thebudget document on their iPodsand the budget literature will onlybe available on the UP Assembly'swebsite.

The legislators have beengiven training to help them usethe iPods smoothly.

The opposition, on the otherhand, has chalked out an elabo-rate strategy to counter the fail-ures of the government. Themembers of the principal oppo-sition party, Samajwadi Party, will

reach the assembly by bicycle onthe opening day before holdinga meeting of the legislature party.

Against the backdrop of thecoronavirus pandemic, all prepa-rations are being made to con-duct Covid tests of the MLAs,MLCs and other staff members,including security personnel.

Assembly speaker HridayNarayan Dikshit, who conveneda meeting on Tuesday, said theCovid tests of the legislatorswere going on while the processfor the staff members of theHouse had been completed.

The assembly secretariat hadissued a circular making itmandatory for all MLAs andMLCs to undergo Covid testbefore the commencement of thebudget session.

Besides the presentation ofthe annual budget, the govern-ment is also likely to table impor-tant bills, including the all-impor-tant one replacing the UttarPradesh Prohibition of UnlawfulConversion of ReligionOrdinance, 2020, which waspromulgated with the approval ofthe Governor in November lastyear.

The other bills to be tabledduring the session are UPPension RegularisationOrdinance 2020, UP Cinema(Regulation) (Amendment)Ordinance, 2020, UP RevenueCode (Amendment) Ordinance,2020, UP Cane Purchase

(Amendment) Ordinance, 2020,State Ayush University, UttarPradesh Regulation of UrbanPremises Tenancy Ordinance,2021.

Meanwhile, the oppositionparties are preparing to grill thegovernment on pressing issues,particularly those relating to theongoing farmers' protests, lawand order, and the tackling of thecoronavirus pandemic, amongothers.

Leader of opposition RamGovind Chaudhary said here onWednesday that the oppositionmembers would not let the gov-ernment sit on its failures andmake the people suffer.

"The farmers' agitation alongwith law and order problem,COVID-19 pandemic, corrup-tion in the government depart-ments and the anti-people acts ofthe government would be thethrust areas of the opposition,"Chaudhary said.

Bahujan Samaj party leaderLalji Verma and CongressLegislature Party LeaderAradhana Mishra supported theviews of the leader of the oppo-sition.

However, ParliamentaryAffairs Minister Suresh KumarKhanna, who is also the financeminister, said the governmentwas ready for a debate on all theissues and was prepared to replyto every question of the opposi-tion.

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What could be the firsttime in the history of

independent India, a womanprisoner is to be hanged tilldeath for a rare crime she wasfound guilty of.

Shabnam, who lives inAmroha, will be hanged todeath in Uttar Pradesh’s onlyfemale hangout in Mathura.Preparations have started forthis.

Pawan Jallad of Meerut,who hanged Nirbhaya’saccused, has also inspectedthe hanging house twice.However, the date of hangingis not fixed yet but a decisionin this regard will be takensoon.

Significantly, in April 2008,Shabnam brutally murderedseven members of her familywith an axe with the help of herlover.

In this case, the SupremeCourt upheld the death sen-tence of Shabnam. ThePresident of India has alsorejected her mercy petition.

In case the authorities pro-ceed with the hanging,Shabnam will be the firstfemale prisoner to be hangedafter Independence.

The first female hanginghouse was built in Mathura jailalmost 150 years ago, but nowoman has been hanged sinceIndependence. Senior JailSuperintendent Shailendra

Continued on Page 11

Page 2: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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OBITUARY

HAVILDAR BHABANATH MONDAL28 MAR 1976-27 JAN 2021

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 BHABANATH MONDALWHO DIED WHILE SERVING WITH427 FD HOSP.

FROM: LT GEN SANDIP MUKHERJEEAND ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICAL CORPS

OBITUARY

OBITUARY

SUBEDAR S MUNI SAMY04 MAR 1972-27 JAN 2021

ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICALCORPS SOLEMNLY PRAY TO THEALMIGHTY TO BESTOW PEACE TOTHE DEPARTED SOUL AND GRANTSTRENGTH TO THE BEREAVED FAM-ILY TO BEAR THE GREAT LOSS OFSUBEDAR S MUNI SAMY WHO DIEDWHILE SERVING WITH MH HISSAR.

FROM: LT GEN SANDIP MUKHERJEEAND ALL RANKS OF ARMY MEDICAL CORPS

OBITUARY

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NOTICE

In school documents D.O.B. ofmy daughter Ragini Rajputwritten by mistake as07-01-2006, where as her cor-rect D.O.B. is 07-01-2008.Please correct accordingly.Gopi Chandra. R/o BarawanKhurd Post Barawan Kalan,Kakori, Lucknow.

NOTICE

"Allotment Letter No.D/1515/D/U dated 25.6.1990 ofmy colony LIG 623 Phase 3Gangapur colony Machhria,Kanpur Issued by KanpurDevelopment authority, hasbeen lost and its use by anyone shall be illegal. Smt. LaxmiDevi wife of Gyan SinghResident of F-1/35 Barra 8,Kanpur Nagar"

NOTICE

Be it known to all that myfather's name has been wrong-ly mentioned as Jai Dev Singhin my marksheet of B.ed 2014from Dr. RMLAU Faizabad(UP) but correct name is JaiDeo Singh in future he will beknown as Jai Deo Singh.Praveer Singh S/o Sri Jai DeoSingh R/o 78, Patel Nagar,Indira Nagar, Lucknow.

NOTICE

In school documents D.O.B. ofmy son Vishesh Kumar Rajputwritten by mistake as15-08-2007, where as his cor-rect D.O.B. is 15-08-2009.Please correct accordingly.Gopi Chandra. R/o BarawanKhurd, Post Barawan Kalan,Kakori, Lucknow.

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I, No JC-701068A, SUB, NameP Lurdu Saviar S/o Sri LPitchainathan Unit-AFMSD,Lucknow hereby declared thatin my Army Service Record myson's name wrongly mentionedas ANDREW WILSON whilehis correct name is LANDREWWILSON, ANDREW WILSONand L ANDREW WILSON areone and the same personname.

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Buoyed by the success of Chief Minister YogiAdityanath's ambitious Varasat drive, the

government has extended it further till February28 next. The drive, the first of its kind in thestate, was launched on December 15 last yearfor two months and it had come to an end onFebruary 15. However, the state governmentextended it in view of the overwhelmingresponse from the rural population.

"About 7.43 lakh matters related to the reg-istration of names of the successors have beensettled while the remaining ones are in differ-ent stages of solution," an official spokesmansaid. Out of these only over 30,000 matters arepending at lekhpal level in the state while about19,000 are lying with revenue inspectors for dis-posal and will be disposed of in due course, headded. This has been a novel idea of UP ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath to resolve long-pending land disputes in the rural areas, witha promise of 'Apki Jameen, Apka Adhikar, SabkoMile Apna Uttaradhikar'. The Varasat campaignhas been conducted in five stages with a batteryof 24,000 lekhpals and 2,700 revenue inspec-tors of the Revenue Department being deployedto visit villages and gather information and dis-pose of the complaints, according to the offi-cial spokesman. In this unique drive to resolveland disputes and prevent fraudulent transac-tions of lands, the chief minister had plannedthe campaign which met with great success withresolution of most of the cases received tillFebruary 16, 2021. Among others, the districtsof Azamgarh, Prayagraj, Hardoi, Jaunpur,Ghazipur, Ambedkarnagar, Ayodhya, Sultanpur,Gonda, Ballia, Gorakhpur, Kaushambi,Pratapgarh Unnao, Lakhimpur Kheri andSitapur have seen most of the cases settled peace-fully, to the credit of revenue officials.

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After initiating construction of afull-f ledged airport in

Ayodhya to enable landing of bigaircraft and to boost religioustourism, the Chief Minister YogiAdityanath has issued directives toaccelerate the expansion of theairstrip and construction of the air-port terminal at Chitrakoot, theplace where Lord Ram is believedto have spent a part of his 14 yearsin exile.

At the chief minister's direc-tions, the airport of Chitrakoot, sit-uated on the border of MadhyaPradesh and amidst theVindhyachal mountain range, willbe developed as the most beautifulairport of the country. The airport,which is undergoing expansion, isexpected to be functional soon.

"The development ofChitrakoot airport will not onlyspur religious tourism in the state

but will also give a major push tothe Bundelkhand region on thepath of progress," a senior govern-ment official said.

The UP chief minister, empha-sising on the importance of con-verting Bundelkhand into a hub ofdevelopment and tourism, viewsthe development of Chitrakootairport as extremely crucial to pre-serve and revive the region. The296-km Bundelkhand Expressway,which is under construction, startsfrom Chitrakoot, which is alsoone of the six nodes of the defenceindustrial corridor.

Under the chief minister'sambitious scheme to promoteregional connectivity in the state,the airport in Chitrakoot isbeing developed as a table-top air-port.

As the name suggests, the run-way of the airport is located on anelevated terrain amidst the VindhyaRange and is being expanded as the

most beautiful airport as it willencompass nature at its best.

The airport, built on approxi-mately 260 acres of land, will beexpanded with a 1,475-metre-longand 23-metre-wide runway.

The work on the new terminal,apron, air traffic controller and acar parking is going on in fullswing.

To ensure the developmentwork progresses rapidly with nointerruptions, the government hasissued a sum of Rs 50 crore out ofthe allocated amount of Rs 92crores for this project.

The projects undertaken by thegovernment to boost regional con-nectivity are supervised by ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath and stateCivil Aviation DepartmentSecretary Surendra Singh.

Prayagraj and Kanpur areexpected to be the first cities to beconnected with air services fromChitrakoot.

The UP government came outwith its new civil aviation policy in2017. It aimed at promotingoverall development of the civilaviation sector in UP and generat-ing greater business and employ-ment opportunities.

Consequently, the civil aviationsector under Yogi Adityanath istouching new heights.

Three-and-a-half years ago,the state had only four active air-ports namely Lucknow, Agra,Varanasi and Gorakhpur whereaswith constant efforts of the Yogigovernment, eight airports, includ-ing Prayagraj, Kanpur, Hindonand Bareilly, are now functioningsmoothly.

The government is also work-ing on developing airports in thestate. As a result, airports atPrayagraj, Kanpur, Hindon andBareilly are ready for passenger air-craft while airports at Azamgarh,Aligarh, Chitrakoot, Moradabad,

Sonbhadra, Shravasti, Ayodhya,Kushinagar and Saharanpur(Sarsawan) are under construc-tion and will be operational soon.

"Once all the 17 airportsbecome functional, UP will get aconnectivity boost, upswing intourism and employment," Singhsaid.

Flights from Bareilly andPantnagar to Prayagraj are alsolikely to be started in the nearfuture.

As a future plan, the airports atMeerut, Jhansi and Ghazipur willalso come up to add to civil avia-tion infrastructure of the state. It isalso to be mentioned that thegrand Noida International Airportwill be developed by Switzerland-headquartered private companyZurich Airport International AGwhile the project's development willbe monitored by NIAL, a nodalagency floated by the governmentof UP.

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On the eve of the budget session,UP Assembly Speaker Hriday

Narayan Dikshit sought the cooper-ation of all political parties for thesmooth conduct of the proceedingsof the House.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,leader of opposition Ram GovindChaudhary and leaders of otheropposition parties assured the speak-er of their cooperation.

Leader of the House and ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath said thegovernment was committed for apositive and meaningful debate inthe House and the government alsowanted maximum number of sittingsduring the budget session.

He pointed out that the Housewas meeting after a gap of sixmonths after successfully tackling thechallenge posed by the coronaviruspandemic.

The chief minister saidserious debate in the House not onlyenhanced the dignity of theHouse but also strengthened the faithof the common people in democra-cy.

Assuring the opposition of pos-itive response from the governmenton all the issues raised by it, the chiefminister said meaningful debateand positive action on all the issuesraised in the House was the jointresponsibility of both the govern-ment and the opposition.

The chief minister also informed

the leaders of the opposition partiesthat the government would presentan e-budget and the proceedings ofthe House would be paperless.

Seeking the cooperation of the

opposition parties, the speaker saidthe UP assembly was the largest statelegislature of India and it was the

duty of all the members to ensurethat the proceedings of the Housewere conducted in a positive andharmonious manner which fulfilledthe aspirations of the common peo-

ple.The leader of opposition and

Samajwadi Party leader Ram Govind

Chaudhary, Congress LegislativeParty leader Aradhana Mishra, ApnaDal leader Neel Rattan Patel and OmPrakash Rajbhar of SuheldevBhartiya Samaj Party assured thespeaker of their cooperation duringthe budget session.

Earlier, Dikshit presided over themeeting of the business advisorycommittee of the House. Dikshitsaid regular sittings of the Housewould be held from February 18 toMarch 10 and the budget for 2021-22 would be presented on February22.

For the second consecutive time,media persons will not be allowedaccess to the press gallery. Two LEDscreens have been put up in the TilakHall, from where they can watch theproceedings.

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The UP Sugar industry haswelcomed the govern-

ment's decision to not changethe State Advisory Price (SAP)for the current sugarcanecrushing season 2020 -21.

The industry saidclimatic factors includingrain, resulted in lower recoveryof sugar from crushing ofcane, which had increased thecost of production of sugar byat least Rs 150 per quintalcompared to the last sugarseason.

So, for the current 2020-21marketing year, the SAP wouldremain at Rs 315 per quintal forthe common variety, whichaccounts for more than half ofthe total sugarcane produce,while the prices for early vari-ety and rejected varieties ofcane would remain at Rs 325and Rs 310 per quintal, respec-tively.

This is the third straightyear when the state govern-ment has decided not to hikethe price of cane. The SAP waslast increased by Rs 10 perquintal in 2017, soon after theYogi Adityanath governmenttook charge.

Sugar mills in UttarPradesh are already finding ittough to pay cane farmerstheir dues because of lowsugar recovery this season,which has, in effect, pushedup the cost of production.So far in the current season,sugar recovery in the state isaround 0.7% lower year-on-year.

The drop in recovery ratehas increased the cost of sugarproduction by approximatelyRs 200 per quintal.

Added to this is the factthat ex-mill prices of sugar inthe local markets have alsodeclined due to a huge carry-over stock.

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Bahujan Samaj Party) supre-mo Mayawati gave indica-

tions of cornering the YogiAdityanath government overthe law and order situation andthe farmers' issue on the eve ofthe budget session of UttarPradesh Legislature.

She gave instructions to herlegislators to make the govern-

ment accountable for the fail-ure to address public griev-ances.

In a tweet on Wednesday,Mayawati said, "It is alarmingto see the killings of leaders,lawyers and traders before theassembly and panchayat elec-tions in UP. Not taking theseincidents seriously, callingthem old rivalry and not initi-ating stringent action against

these criminals is extremelysad and condemnable. Thegovernment should pay atten-tion."

She said, "The party MLAsare directed to make efforts tomake the government account-able to the public in relation tothe important issues of thefarmers and public interest, aswell as the government's grossnegligence and malicious

action in the case of crime con-trol and the law and ordersituation, in the UP assemblysession starting from tomor-row."

On the other hand, theparty sources said that the BSPchief called a meeting of theparty legislature on Wednesdayin which the disgruntled lead-ers of the party were also invit-ed.

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The Central Bureau ofInvestigation filed a

chargesheet in the GomtiRiverfront scam in a local courthere on Wednesday.

The CBI chargesheetincludes the names of half-a-dozen accused, including thethen executive engineer RoopSingh Yadav who was arrestedlast year. The matter is stillunder investigation.

According to sources in theCBI, the team probing the scamclaimed to have gatheredenough evidence and onWednesday it submitted thechargesheet against Roop SinghYadav, then executive engineerof LDSC, Lucknow (also thenincharge superintending engi-neer of XII Circle of IrrigationWorks, Lucknow).

Besides Yadav, the otherscharge-sheeted include RajKumar Yadav, the then juniorassistant in Irrigation Works,Lucknow; Himanshu Gupta,director of M/s KK Spun PipePvt. Ltd; Kavish Gupta, directorof M/s KK Spun Pipe Pvt. Ltd;Badri Shreshtha, senior advisor,M/s Brand Eagles Longjian JV,and lastly Ms KK Spun Pipe Pvt.Ltd. It may be mentioned herethat in November last year, theCBI had arrested the then exec-utive engineer and senior assis-

tant of the IrrigationDepartment in Uttar Pradesh fortheir alleged role in irregularimplementation of the Gomtiriver channelisation and GomtiRiverfront development pro-jects. The accused have beenidentified as Roop Singh Yadav,the executive engineer who wasearlier posted with the Lucknowdivision of Sharda Canal andalso held the additional chargeof superintending engineer ofXII Circle; and junior assistantRaj Kumar Yadav. The firstaccused has now retired. Theagency had registered the FIR onNovember 30, 2017, following areference from the state govern-ment and the notification issuedby the Department of Personneland Training. The case was ear-lier lodged at Gomti Nagarpolice station in Lucknow. It isalleged that there were severalirregularities in the implemen-tation of the projects involvingabout Rs 1,500 crore. The noticeinviting tender (NIT) for theworks was not published and thefunds were diverted. There wasa pooling of tenders in fourmajor works of the GomtiRiverfront Development project,which included the constructionof the diaphragm wall, construc-tion of intercepting trunk drain,construction of rubber damand preparation of vision doc-uments, the agency said.

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Finding them to be involved in a deeprooted conspiracy to spark subversive

activities in Uttar Pradesh, the state gov-ernment has ordered further probe againsttwo members of Popular Front of India(PFI).

The two were arrested by the SpecialTask Force (STF) from Gudamba area inLucknow and arms and explosives wererecovered from their possession.

Reports said that after taking both theaccused on five days custody remand onWednesday, the government handed overthe probe to the UP ATS.

A case has also been registered with theATS to make an in-depth probe.

It may be mentioned here that onTuesday, ADG (Law and Order) PrashantKumar had said that a team of STF arrest-ed Asad Badruddin and Firoz Khan bothPFI members, from near Gudamba area inLucknow.

The duo are from Kerala and hadplanned to trigger explosions at BasantPanchami celebrations by Hindu organi-sations, and at other strategic locations inUP. Their aim was to create religious enmi-ty in society by doing so, Kumar said anddisclosed that the STF recovered 16 highexplosive devices with battery detonators,a pistol and live cartridges from the pos-session of the accused.

The PFI, which claims to be a socialyouth organisation based in Kerala, hasbeen under the radar of the police in sev-eral states. In 2019, many of itsmembers were arrested across UttarPradesh in connection with violent protestsagainst the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and National Register of Citizens(NRC).

Recently, the Enforcement Directoratefiled a chargesheet against office-bearers ofPFI and its students' wing Campus Frontof India (CFI) for allegedly conspiring toincite violence and disturb harmony inUttar Pradesh's Hathras district, where aDalit woman was gang-raped by four uppercaste men last September.

The ED claimed that more than Rs 100crore were deposited in the accounts of PFIover the years and a very large part of thismoney was feared to have come in fromWest Asia.

The organisation is also being probedfor its alleged role in Delhi riots last year.

Kumar said the STF came to knowabout PFI's plan to unleash terror attacksin Uttar Pradesh and recruit educatedyoungsters in the organisation.

"We came to know from intelligencesources that two members of PFI havecome to UP by train. We formed a teamand alerted our sources to track them,"ADG (STF) Amitabh Yash said.

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Rashtriya Lok Dal criticizedthe hike in fuel prices and

said the Bharatiya Janata Partyhad cheated people who voted itto power. In a statement, RLDnational spokesman Anil Dubeysaid the price hike in fuel wascaused by the wrong decisions ofthe Central government.

"The petrol, diesel pricescontinue to increase and this hasresulted in an increase in pricesof other commodities and fareshitting the public hard," he said.

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Page 3: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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Lucknow University is on ‘Mission Zindagi’ withstudents helping people by creating a data bank

of blood donors. DSW Poonam Tandon said it isan initiative by the students. “The students are cre-ating this data bank in which we will have theentire information of the blood donors from thecity. It will also have the contact numbers of sixLU students who can be contacted for the pur-pose. The data bank will be constantly updated,”she said.

The data will also be divided as per differentareas of the city. “If any one wants blood fromAminabad, the students will arrange it by tappingdonors from that area,” she said.

Tandon said the mission had been launchedwith a view of ensuring easy availability of bloodin urgent times. “There are often such situationswhen it is difficult to procure blood, whenrequired urgently, and this is an endeavor toaddress this problem. There are so many peoplewho face this problem, especially senior citizens,”she said.

She added that they have been working on thisidea for the past two to three months. “Apart fromfloating the ‘Mission Zindagi’, we will also be hold-ing blood donation camps at Lucknow University,”she said. “This is an active group of students whowanted to do this on the Lucknow University plat-

form. We will also expand it in a big way. Withthe LU students themselves donating blood andthen inviting others, it can create a great networkof donors,” Tandon said.

Devansh, a student of political science whois spearheading the initiative, said they thoughtof this initiative when they saw and heard manyof their acquaintances and relatives facing thisproblem and hence they felt the need of creating a database of those interested in blooddonation.

“Anyone who needs blood can directly log into the Lucknow University website and go the‘Mission Zindagi’ portal. A number provided therecan be used to call us and we will provide the con-tact numbers of nearest blood donors. We will alsobe doing the coordination,” he said.

He pointed out that people cannot directly tapinto the database for privacy reasons but if theywill be provided required blood units within 10to 15 minutes. On the reason of choosing the LUplatform for this initiative, he said it was becauseof massive number of hits. “The LU website getseight crore hits and the portal on this website willhelp in getting a large number of donors.Registrations are taking place and people can logon to the website and get themselves registeredfor blood donation,” he added.

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A36-year-old woman endedher life by jumping off

Shaheed Path flyover nearKhargapur railway crossingin Gomti Nagar Extensionpolice station area onWednesday afternoon. Policeclaimed that they recovered asuicide note in which shementioned that she was end-ing her life on her own.

A police spokesman saidthat the woman, whose namewas mentioned as Naina in thesuicide note, reached ShaheedPath in the afternoon andjumped off the flyover. Apolice team rushed her to

RMLIMS where she suc-cumbed to injuries.

The spokesman said thatthe woman was unconscious-ness when the police reachedthe site and died during treat-ment at the hospital. “A mobilenumber was scribbled in hersuicide note, but it was foundto be switched off. We arefinding call detail records toreach her kin,” he said.

Meanwhile, a youth waskilled in a road mishap nearKalicharan Degree College inThakurganj police station areaon Wednesday afternoon.

The deceased was identi-fied as Amir (28) of Silver CityColony in Thakurganj. As per

reports, Amir and his friendMusa (also of Silver CityColony) were returning homehome from Chowk by a car,which was being driven byMusa. Around 2:30 pm whenthey reached near KalicharanDegree College, a scooty camein front of the car all of a sud-den. Musa lost control of thevehicle which rammed into aculvert. Both suffered injuriesin the mishap and were rushedto a hospital where Amir suc-cumbed to injuries.

In another incident, a 30-year-old electrician ended hislife at his house in GomtiNagar Extension onWednesday. The deceased was

identified as Akash Kumar,who was a native of Jaunpurand presently living inGeetapuri locality with hisfamily, including his brotherVikas. “Akash did not wake upthis morning and so I went togive him a call. I found thedoors bolted from inside.Later, he was found hangingfrom the ceiling with a dupat-ta tied around his neck.

Elsewhere inMohanlalganj, an unidenti-fied differently-abled man wasfatally knocked down by aspeeding vehicle while cross-ing the road. The police sentthe body for autopsy and start-ed further investigation.

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Ateam of STF nabbed an accused inconnection with the animal hus-

bandry scam from Gautam Buddh Nagaron Wednesday. The accused, identified asAmit Mishra of Amethi, was carrying acash reward of Rs 50,000.

The Hazratganj police had regis-tered a case in this connection and theprobe was later handed over to the STF. Some of the accused, includingprime accused Ashish Rai, were arrestedearlier.

During interrogation, Amit disclosed

that he worked at an electrical shop atChandni Chowk in New Delhi in 2001.There he met Shailesh Pratap Singh, an

MP from Sasaram in Bihar, and becamea close aide of him. As per Amit’s confes-sion, Shailesh later introduced him toChandraswami and he became the latter’spersonal secretary between 2003 and2008. In 2009, he joined as the OSD to thethen Goa Chief Minister and PWDMinister, Churchill Alemao.

Amit opened a big showroom ofhome appliances in Atta Market inGautam Buddh Nagar and Ashish Rai, theprime accused in the Animal Husbandryscam. He was hiding in Gautam BuddhNagar from where he was arrested by theSTF team.

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The department of Mass Communication, BabuBanarasi Das University, has produced a docu-

mentary film title ‘Change-Reforming Forests’,under the aegis of Union Ministry of Tribal Affairsand Chhattisgarh government. The poster andpromo of the film were formally launched by BBDUVice-Chancellor Dr AK Mittal. The documentaryfilm is written, edited and directed by head of theMass Communication department Prof JayceyVikram and his team.

The film is based on transformation of tribalwomen under the prime minister’s ‘Van DhanYojana’ and has been shot in the remote forest areasof Chhattisgarh. The film’s theme incorporates‘Aapda Mein Avasar’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ ini-tiative of the Central government.

“The innovation by tribal women during thepandemic has been showcased in the film which willrelease in May. It is a sequel to the nationally recog-nised documentary titled ‘Change-Reforming Farms’,released last year,” BBDU spokesperson said. Theexecutive producer of the film is Dr MrinaliniSrivastava, senior research associate at NBRI.

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���������� �� Ashni Singh, a class V stu-

dent of City Montessori School,Gomti Nagar Campus I, wonthe first prize in an inter-school singing competition,

which was held under the edu-cational festival, ‘Aashayein’,organised by Shanti AsiaticSchool in Ahmedabad.Students of several notedschools participated in the

contest to exhibittheir talents andAshni impressedthe judges withher melodioussinging. She was

given away a certificate ofappreciation. Chief PRO HariOm Sharma said CMS encour-ages its students to participatein such events to chisel their all-round talents.

Page 4: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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After submitting the firstset of khadi silk garments

for Ram Lalla for BasantPanchami, fashion designerfrom Lucknow ManishTripathi has submitted anentire week’s wardrobe to theRam temple administration inAyodhya.

These garments are indifferent colours with eachday of the week associatedwith a specific colour. “If wego to the Indian traditionand history, colours have beentalked about in a big way andthere are days associated withparticular colours. It’s whitefor Mondays, red forTuesdays, green for

Wednesdays, yellow forThursdays, cream for Fridays,blue for Saturdays and pinkfor Sundays,” he said.

“This project is also asso-ciated with the livelihood ofpeople because this activitywill lead to a lot of workopportunities for those asso-ciated with khadi. With RamLalla wearing khadi garments,many people will be attractedto the idea of khadi and willstart wearing khadi, giving aboost to weavers and crafts-men,” he said.

“The best part is that thisis not a work associated withone particular community orreligion, because many peopleare associated with this kindof work,” he added.

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The Central Drug ResearchInstitute of India (CDRI)

transferred fluorescent dyes andquenchers technology for devel-opment of RT-PCR-based diag-nostic kits and their usage in lifesciences research to aHyderabad-based company onthe occasion of its FoundationDay on Wednesday. CDRIspokesperson Sanjeev Yadavsaid that with the help of thistechnology, fluorescent dyescan be used to highlight partic-ular strains of coronavirus in theRT-PCR diagnostic testing.

“CDRI has developed fluo-rescent probes which can bindwith any particular genome

sequencing and help in taggingit, and thus causing its magni-fication. These are differentand specific colours for eachsequencing as the probes bindwith bacterial or viral genomes.It makes the process of identi-fication of a particular virusstrain very quick in the RT-PCRtesting,” he said.

The research team of seniorprincipal scientist (CDRI) DrAtul Goel transferred the tech-nology to M/s Biotech Desk PvtLtd (BDPL), Hyderabad.

Director Prof TK Kundusaid: “CDRI signed a collabora-tive-cum-licencing agreementwith BDPL on October 27 lastyear for the technology of flu-orescent dyes and quenchers for

the development of indigenousRT-PCR diagnostic kit forCovid testing. This technologywill furnish the indigenousCovid testing kit and it is on thepath of the government initia-tives towards ‘AatmanirbharBharat’.” The project was fund-ed by CSIR under a public-pri-vate partnership scheme tomake India self-reliant in RT-PCR and serological testing forcoronavirus. Dr Atul Goel andhis team started working on thistechnology in July last yearwhen the cost of Covid testingwas Rs 4,000-5,000 per sample.Dr Goel said that RT-PCR is themost robust and reliable methodof testing which utilises import-ed TAQMAN probes.

“Our Indian technology offluorescent dyes and quencherswill reduce the dependency onthe supply of reagents and kitsfrom foreign manufacturers.Our larger goal is capacitybuilding for India to make itself-reliant,” he added.

A ‘Common Research andTechnology Development Hub’,supported jointly by DSIR andCSIR, was also inaugurated onthe occasion. The objectivesare to set up a pharmaceuticalformulation development andnational clinical trial batch pro-duction facility.

“We will be providing ourlabs which are GLP compliantfor preclinical studies and bio-chemical analysis to the differ-

ent companies for technologydevelopment. This is a part ofour social responsibility,” CDRIspokesperson Sanjeev Yadavsaid. To celebrate 70 years inpursuance of affordable health-care, CDRI also started ‘AtalNational Colloquium onHealthcare and Innovation’, aseries of lectures to commem-orate Atal Bihari Vajpayee’svision and support for ‘Vigyan’and CDRI. The series was inau-gurated by Union minister DrHarshvardhan online.

The CDRI Awards-2021for Excellence in Drug Researchwere also announced. Theseawards will be conferred onCSIR’s Foundation Day inSeptember later this year.

Lucknow (PNS): The state gov-ernment on Wednesdayapproved a proposal of the con-struction of 20-km four-laneroad, linking the IIM crossingon Sitapur road to Shaheed Pathon Sultanpur road. A high-level meeting will be held onFebuary 19 to finalised the planfor the project and it will beattended by officers of LDA,Lucknow MunicipalCorporation and engineers ofPublic Works Department(PWD). LDA chief engineer ISSingh said Chief Secretary RKTewari will preside over themeeting. The 20-km road will

be constructed at an estimatedcost of Rs 2,084 crore. Fourjunctions will be developed forthe convenience of the people.The first one will come up atShaheed Path and the secondnear Pipraghat. The other twowill come up on Sultanpur roadand at Gomtinagar Extension.The 12-km stretch of the roadwill be elevated.

The road will run parallel tothe Gomti river and LMC willalso be involved in the projectto settle disputes, if any. Theroad will be thrown open for thepublic within two years of itslaunch.

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Over 10,375 frontline work-ers will be vaccinated

under the Covid immunisationprogramme on Thursday.District immunisation officerMK Singh said 83 booths havebeen set up at 21 vaccinationcentres for the exercise.Covaxin will be administeredto beneficiaries at Lok Bandhu,Civil and Rani Laxmi Bai hos-pitals while Covishield at therest of the vaccination centres.

A state-level media work-shop was organised in collab-oration with the Centre forAdvocacy and Research(CFAR) in Lucknow onWednesday. State immuniza-tion officer Dr Ajay Ghai, whilespeaking at the workshop, saidthat the Covid vaccine made inIndia is so safe and effectivethat its demand is rising all overthe world. A special strategy isbeing taken up to increase thegraph of Covid vaccination inthe state. He said that thoseabove 50 years of age will soonbe administered vaccine jabs.

Dr Ghai said that under thenew strategy, the frontline per-sonnel will now be given a list

of eligible beneficiaries so thatthey can contact them.Messages will also be sent topeople, asking them to getvaccinate shots.

“The graph of vaccinationis not very encouraging due tonetwork issues and other prob-lems,” he said. Dr Ghai said thatthe coronavirus infection hasreduced due to governmentand public cooperation in Indiabut it is still on the rise in manycountries.

Head of the RespiratoryMedicine department ofKGMU Dr Surya Kant spokeabout the effects in humanbody after Covid vaccination.

“Apart from fatigue andfever, Covid vaccination has noside effects. We will be safe onlywhen herd immunity developsin the community. For this, 60to 70 per cent of people mustbe vaccinated,” he said.

“We should celebrate theCovid vaccination drive butwith complete adherence toCovid-19 protocols. Holi isround the corner and peoplemust keep it in mind and cel-ebrate the festival in smallgroups,” he added.

Meanwhile, CDRI director

Prof TK Kundu, in a separateprogramme here onWednesday, said that clinicaltrials of ‘Umifenovir’, the drugfor Covid-19, is currently in anadvanced stage.

The CDRI director point-ed out that more than 1.3 lakhsamples have been tested in thefacility till date.

“In collaboration withKGMU and SGPGI, CDRI ini-tiated genome sequencingstudies of coronavirus samplesfrom Uttar Pradesh. Genomicstudies of the samples havegiven us vital clues of genom-ic variation in the sympto-matic and asymptomatic cases,including lethal strains. CDRIhas filed three INDs andreceived permission for clini-cal trials from the DrugController General of India,” hepointed out.

The director said that inthe area of viral infections, incollaboration with AKTU andKGMU, CDRI is working toestablish a centre of excellencefor viral research and therapeu-tics. “Emphasis will be laid oncoronavirus, Japaneseencephalitis and dengue virus-es that are posing renewed

threats to our nation. Ourambitious proposal to establisha centre for drug discovery anddevelopment using naturalproducts at Hengbung village,Manipur, is also in an advancedstage of consideration. Thiscentre will be set up in about a100-acre area of strategicallychosen hilly terrain to exploitthe natural treasury of medic-inal plants and traditionalknowledge therapy,” he added.

Meanwhile, only nine peo-ple tested Covid positive inLucknow on Wednesday while11 patients recovered. There are370 active cases in the district.

Among the fresh casesreported on Wednesday, twowere from Hazratganj and oneeach from Gomtinagar, Cantt,Chowk & Vikasnagar.

In the state, 67 people test-ed Covid positive, includingnine in Ghaziabad, five inGautam Buddh Nagar, andthree each in Varanasi &Meerut, taking the UP tally to6,02,410. There were threeCovid deaths in the state, push-ing the toll to 8,707. Besides,226 patients recovered, takingthe state’s recovery figures to5,91,013.

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Lucknow (PNS): Aam AadmiParty leader Sanjay Singh crit-icised the Bharatiya JanataParty government for the deathof 25-year-old youth KrishnaYadav in police custody inJaunpur.

He demanded action

against the SP, SHO and othercops in the Jaunpur and regis-tration of a case of murderagainst the errant cops

Addressing a press confer-ence here on Wednesday,Singh said law and order haddeteriorated in the BJP rule.

Sharing the details of his talkswith the family of deceasedKrishna, Singh, the AAP leadersaid they were demanding jus-tice to Krishna but the policewere more concerned aboutregistering cases against inno-cents in Uttar Pradesh.

He said in UP, one couldface a jail term for speaking forthe victims or for farmers.

Singh also flayed the gov-ernment for not increasingthe state advisory price (SAP)for sugarcane even by a rupeein four years.

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-�(��� %��������� +�����/�������Lucknow: Within hours of the foundation lay-ing ceremony of the statue of Maharaja Suheldevby Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a controver-sy has erupted over the legendary warrior king'scaste. BJP MP from Basgaon, Kamlesh Paswan,has written a letter to the President Ram NathKovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi andchief minister Yogi Adityanath. Alleging thatsome vested interests had suffixed 'Rajbhar' tothe name of Suheldev whereas the warrior kingbelonged to the Pasi community. He further saidthat the state government should mention hisname as 'Maharaja Suheldev Pasi' on the memo-rial and also on other projects launched by thePrime Minister to mark his contribution. UPminister Anil Rajbhar, meanwhile, claimed that

Maharaja Suheldev belonged to the Rajbharcommunity while Paswan maintained that theminister's assertion was igniting anger amongthe Pasi community that had great admirationregard for Maharaja Suheldev.

The BJP MP said that the state govern-ment should verify historical documentsand add Pasi surname to the memorial andother projects being dedicated to the king. OmPrakash Rajbhar, former UP minister andpresident of the Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party(SBSP), claimed that as per the historical texts,including Mirat-i-Masudi written by AbdurRehman Chishti, Suheldev belonged to the'Bhar' community which is a sub-caste ofRajbhar. IANS

Page 5: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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University GrantsCommission (UGC)

Chairman and former Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of BanarasHindu University (BHU) ProfDhirendra Pal Singh said thatthe Mahamana’s vision hasclearly reflected in the NationalEducation Policy (NEP)-2020as it lays emphasis on multidis-ciplinary studies, holisticeducation and all-rounddevelopment of personality.He was addressing afunction online under theFoundation Day Lecture Serieson Tuesday.

‘The main goal of the NEPis to make India the superpow-er of knowledge in the world.For this we will need a largereducation scope and a clearfocus of education. We have toset big goals,’ he said, addingthat in the NEP, emphasis hasbeen laid on the coordinationof modern knowledge sciencewith ancient best values. ‘Itaims to create a global citizenby staying connected with itsroots, which has been the mainobjective of BHU since its

inception. Whatever is best inthe Indian knowledge traditionneeds to be pursued throughtechnology advancement,’ saidthe UGC Chairman.

According to him, therespect of the V-C of BHU isnot that of the V-C of any otheruniversity in the world. ‘Apartfrom BHU, as a V-C of twomore universities, my experi-ences during my visit to theworld were unique and surpris-ing because the honour of theBHU V-C is still not withregard to the person sitting inthat post but to university’s

founder Malviya ji,’ he said,turning emotional, he added ‘Ifound that even in the personwho occupies this post, peopleshow great reverence towardsthe Mahamana and his ideals.’Congratulating the BHU fam-ily on Basant Panchami andFoundation Day, Prof Singhsaid ‘BHU, the capital of SarvaVidya (all knowledge), isspreading the light of knowl-edge all over the world today.With its unique Faculty ofSanskrit Vidya Dharm Vigyanand institutions like MalviyaMoolya Anusheelan Kendra,

Gandhian Peace Centre, Centrefor Vedic Studies and BharatAdhyayan Kendra, the BHUcan act as a guide for non-vio-lence and peace all over theworld.’

BHU V-C Prof RakeshBhatnagar, in his welcomeaddress, said that BHU wasfounded by Mahamana withthe objective of building char-acter among the youth of thecountry.

‘The university is upgrad-ing and sustaining youth byadding new research anddimensions, innovations in thefield of studies and research inthe education system,’ headded. Chairperson of AlumniCell Prof Sushila also highlight-ed the creation and character-istics of the university.Convenor Dr Dhirendra Raisaid ‘UGC through its academ-ic aura and valued academicethics should become the par-adigm of academic splendor,human values and talentenhancement all over theworld’. The technicalsupport was done byHarshit, Chandrali, Pankaj andRavi.

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Acomprehensive mentalhealth camp was organised

at Primary Health Centre(PHC), Chiragaon on Tuesday.The camp was inaugurated byChief Medical Officer (CMO)Dr VB Singh. He also inspect-ed the medical and healthfacilities and publicity materi-al related to national pro-grammes etc being provided inthe camp. In order to provideproper health facilities to thepeople of Chiragaon block,specialist doctors Dr Ravindra

Kushwaha, Dr Lata Mauryaand counsellor Jyoti, districtconsultant and social workersof National Tobacco ControlProgramme, tuberculosis coun-sellors provided their freecounselling of mental patientsand screening of blood pres-sure, hypertension, diabetesetc under NCD programme.Along with this, under theAyushman Bharat Scheme,facilities for making goldencards were done along withproviding disability certificates,dental treatment facilities, fam-ily planning counselling and

regular vaccinations. Seniorgynecologists and pediatricianswere also present. There wasconstant campaigning byASHA workers to make thehealth camp a success.

Medical Officer inchargeDr Amit Singh said that themain symptoms of mental ill-ness are anxiety, insomnia,stress, confusion, depression,no difference in imaginaryexperience, bad thoughts inconcentration, fear, frustra-tion, thoughts of suicide, desireto cry and uncontrolled rou-tines etc.

According to him, a total of248 patients were seen in thecamp, in which 32 mentalpatients were treated and con-sulted while 52 people wereexamined.

Besides, six disabled certifi-cates were made and bloodpressure of 48 people wasinvestigated.

Deputy CMO Dr SureshSingh, health education officerDr Mansi Gupta, AvinashSingh, Dr Santosh, AjayChoubey, Ashok Kumar, KamalDev, Santosh Singh and otherswere also present.

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Vice-Chancellor (V-C) ProfRakesh Bhatnagar inau-

gurated the computer centre atthe Central Discovery Centre(CDC) building on the occa-sion of Foundation Day ofBanaras Hindu University onTuesday. Along with this, theSmart Class Room was alsoinaugurated and ‘Institutionof Eminence’ website waslaunched. In his address, the V-C said that within a very shorttime, the computer centre fromthe old building has been shift-ed to the CDC. Expressing hap-piness over successfully com-pleting the shifting process, hegreeted the centre coordinatorProf Sanjay Kumar and said‘transferring computer centrewithout disrupting Wi-Fi ser-vice in the university campusfor a long time is a sign of theskill, hard work and teameffort.’ He appealed to theteachers and staff of the BHUto take full advantage of all thefacilities available in this CDCbuilding and contribute to fur-ther enhance the reputation ofthe university. Prof SanjayKumar expressed thanks tothe V-C for his support andsaid that the Computer Centresuccessfully fulfilled a big

responsibility and all this waspossible only by the hard workof the employees and officers.Rector Prof VK Shukla saidthat while the global COVID-19 pandemic created manydifficulties, it has also createdmany opportunities. He saidthat all the work from class-rooms to online mediums hasbecome very accessible and insuch a situation the role of thecomputer centre becomes moreimportant. The programmewas conducted by Dr LaxmanNayak, Dr RS Yadav and DrAbhishek Tripathi while thevote of thanks was proposed byDr Chandan Kumar Rai.

M G K V S T U D E N T S ’UNION ELECTION: Withthe formally submission ofnomination papers, the processfor the election of student’sunion in Mahatma GandhiKashi Vidyapeeth (MGKV)began on Wednesday. But vio-lation of model code of conductwas also seen by the students asthey took out nomination pro-cession on the varsity campusdespite the restriction. Theelection is scheduled to beconducted on February 25.

As per notification of elec-tion, as many as 31 candidateshad submitted nominationpapers online on Tuesday last

and they reached the universi-ty to submit the hard copy ofthe nomination papers alongwith other requisite documentsto be verified. The candidateshad to wait in queue for theirnumber to get the nominationpapers and other documentsverified. The candidates alsotook out nomination proces-sions defying the model codeof conduct as there is restric-tion on taking out the nomina-tion procession. The candidatescan withdraw their nominationon Thursday between 10 amand 1 pm and the final list ofcandidates will be publishedsame day at 4 pm. The electionis scheduled to be conductedon February 25 between 9 amand 2 pm and thereafter thecounting will begin at 3.30pm. The results will beannounced same day.

In view of the offline sub-mission of the nominationpapers, an elaborate securityarrangement has been made onthe campus of university.FRONTLINE WORKERS TOBE VACCINATED TODAY:As many as 7,223 frontlineworkers will be vaccinated in 38sessions at 14 centres in the dis-trict on Thursday. DistrictImmunisation Officer Dr VSRai said that Covaxine vaccine

doses will be administered atLBS Hospital, Ramnagar whileat all other centres, the benefi-ciaries will get Covishield vac-cines. Chief Medical Officer(CMO) Dr VB Singh hasappealed to all the registeredemployees to reach the vacci-nation centres on time andmake the vaccination cam-paign 100 per cent successful.The vaccination will be donefrom 9 am to 5 pm.

He said that all the peopleregistered on the Co-Win por-tal should reach the vaccinationcentre on time because a vial ofCovishield has a dose of 10people, while Covaxine 20doses and after opening thevial, it can be used only for afixed time.

TWO TEST POSITIVE:Two persons have tested posi-tive for coronavirus infection inthe district, taking the tally ofconfirmed cases to 21,968 onWednesday evening. With noCOVID-19 death being report-ed in the last 24 hours, thedeath toll remains at 377. Asmany as five more COVID-19patients have been cured, all ofthem in home isolation. So far,21,554 COVID-19 patientshave recovered in the district—18,580 in home isolation and2,974 in Covid Hospitals.

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UP Board has starteduploading the second list

of tentative exam centresspread across the 75 districts ofthe state to conduct HighSchool and Intermediateexams, 2021. The list can beaccessed on the board’s officialwebsite.

Till now, the board hasuploaded the list of exam cen-tres of 60 districts of the state.Exam centres in districtsincluding Prayagraj,Kaushambi, Fatehpur, KanpurDehat, Jhansi, Gorakhpur, etc.,are in the process of beinguploaded.

The board examinationswould begin on April 24 andend on May 10 for Class X andon May 12 for Class XII.

According to the revised

programme released by theboard on January 21, all DIoSwere instructed to receive theobjections, if any, against theexam centres identified by theboard. They were asked toweigh these objections, tryresolving the same and send-ing their report based on theseobjections to the board byFebruary 9. The objectionswere to be resolved and afterapproved by the district com-mittee, the list was to beuploaded on the board’s web-site.

‘After receiving the reportfrom all the DIoS concernedand resolving the objections, ifany, we have prepared the sec-ond tentative list of the examcentres for conducting theupcoming board exams andthe same is being uploaded atthe website. List for most of the

districts has been uploadedand the remaining would bedone soon,’ said boardSecretary Divyakant Shukla.

Now that UP Board hasuploaded the second tentativelist on its website, if any per-son in any district is dissatis-fied with the resolution ofobjections made by the districtcommittee, he or she can raisetheir case on the board’s emailI [email protected] by February 18.

These objections will beresolved at the level of the cen-tral assessment committee setup at the board. The chairmanof the council committee ischairman of the board andDirector of SecondaryEducation, Vinay KumarPandey and the member sec-retary is Divyakant Shukla,

Secretary of the board. Thefinal list of the centres will bereleased on February 22,resolving all the objectionsreceived by e-mail.

There were 300 centres inPrayagraj in the first list, butafter the disposal of objections,the number of centres hasincreased to 321. The increaseis because of the fact that thecentres for around 30,000 stu-dents were allotted quite faraway and the same was adjust-ed.

Interestingly, both the CivilLines and Rasulabad branch-es of Jwala Devi Inter College,run by Vidya Bharati group,have now become centres inthe new list.

The principals of bothschools had objected to theirschools not being included inthe first list.

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Divisional Commissioner(DC) Deepak Agrawal

emphasised on makingSewapuri block, selected byNITI Aayog, a model in organ-ic farming by encouraging theFarmer ProducerOrganisations (FPOs).According to him, in 17 villagesof the district, 70 farmers aredoing honey production andemphasis should be made onconverting these villages toorganic farming so that thehoney produced there willautomatically become organic.‘Now the Agricultural andProcessed Food ProductsExport Development Authority(APEDA) has been authorisedfor certification of organicfarming in the district itself,’ hesaid, while reviewing the devel-opment works at a meetinghere on Wednesday.

He also reviewed works ofqualitative improvement in thecity in accordance with the

intention of the Prime Minister.According to him, Rudraksh(under-construction conven-tion centre) has a 109 kW solarenergy rooftop and report hasbeen sought to ensure that allcommercial establishments ofthe district ensure use of LEDbulbs in hotels, governmentoffices, vendors, residentialhouses. Electricity departmenthas informed us that powerconnections are increasing, butthe load growth of electricityhas been stable since last oneyear which indicates that LEDbulbs are in use.

Agrawal said thatGodowlia-Dashashwamedhand Godowlia-Madagin roadsare being developed as GauravPath and a database of vendorshas been created in theSwanidhi Yojana. He instruct-ed the officers to complete theongoing projects by Decemberthis year and warned them thatthe responsibility would befixed if the projects are delayed.He directed the Tourism

department to remove theobstacles coming in the way ofthe Seer Govardhan project.‘Initially, a framework has beenmade to build a tent city inVaranasi and the concernedofficers have been asked to pre-pare an action plan,’ he said,stressing on publicising theinfrastructure and facilitiesavailable in the city during thelast four years so that the pub-lic can use it.

‘Banaras is also a hub formedicine in the surroundingstates including Purvanchal,’ hesaid, stressing the need fordeveloping the entire divisiona hub of fisheries. According tohim, Defence land issue hasbeen resolved at PhulwariaRailway Over Bridge (ROB).He also discussed the possibil-ities of works in Varanasi withthe vision of development,tourism, public utility in thecoming times and asked theofficers concerned to makepreliminary roadmaps for pro-posed integrated terminal at

Kashi station, four-lane con-nectivity by road to Ring Roadin Sarnath, development ofroads coming from differentcities in Varanasi on the linesof Babatpur-Varanasi CityRoad, interlocking ofChandpur industrial area, wallpaintings, door-to-door clean-ing, building model areas withfasad lightings, renovation ofghats between Assi and Ravidasghats, providing good connec-tivity to Trauma Centre, devel-oping vacant space underCantt-Lahartara bridge, replac-ing pedal-driven rickshawsinto e-rickshaws, making thecity beggar-free, developing aroad parallel to river Gangabetween Ramnagar to Paraoand many others. DistrictMagistrate (DM) Kaushal RajSharma, MunicipalCommissioner Gaurang Rathi,Chief Development Officer(CDO) Madhusudan Hulgiand other departmental officerswere also present in the meet-ing.

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The Congress is constantlyattacking the BJP.

Especially Priyanka Gandhi, israising every issue. The govern-ment is also besieged by risingprices of petrol and diesel.Through a tweet, PriyankaGandhi said that she has noidea about good days claimedby the BJP government butexpensive days of LPG havearrived. Prayagraj'sCongressmen are also excited

over this tweet. TheCongressmen said that thatPriyanka has become moreactive since her stay inPrayagraj. She is raising issuesvery sharply.

Recently, PriyankaGandhi shared the picture ofsailing drone during Prayagrajstay and wrote the lines ofSohan Lal Dwivedi. She hadquoted that, ‘Lahron se darrkar nauka paar nahi hoti,Koshish karne walo in kabhihaar nahi hoti’

City Congressmen saidthat Priyanka has been ener-gised with renewedvigour and enthusiasm.There is also a lot of enthusi-asm among the workers. Itseffect will be seen in theentire state. The party willbenefit greatly in the 2022election.

Local leaders said thatPriyanka has given a befittingreply to those who questionHindutva by taking a holy dipin the Sangam on Mauni

Amavasya. The ruling partyalways delved on wrong factsand issues. All policies of theCentre are anti-people. TheCongress has always respect-ed the valour of the army. Wesalute the martyrs of Pulwamawhen the ruling party makesit a matter of politics. This isunfortunate. The general pub-lic has to understand this.People will definitely teach theBJP a lesson in the comingelections, added the localleaders.

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Four bathing festivals ofMagh Mela have passed but

there are two bathing festivalsstill left. Millions of Kalpavasisare still performing Kalpavas inthe Mela area. But there is someresentment amongst theKalpvasis over the facilitiesbeing provided by the melaadministration. Kalpavasis arein trouble due to the negligenceof the mela administration.

Kalpavasis said that thebathing festival of BasantPanchami has passed onTuesday. Now the tempera-ture has started increasing andthe effect of heat has started, sothe dust has begun blowingfrom the roads built in the melaarea. There is no regular water

spraying on these roads. Due tothis, dust is gathering at thecamp resulted in creating prob-lems.

In the Mela area, the watercorporation's tankers areresponsible for spraying wateron the road of the checkeredplate. But it splashes water onSangam Marg and TriveniMarg avoids spraying on therest of the routes. On the roadswhere Kalpavasis are inhabited,there has been no water spray-ing on the road for the past sev-eral days.

That's why dust startsblowing in the afternoon. Apartfrom this, cleanliness is also notgetting better.

They have to request theofficials concerned for cleanli-ness again and again. People on

the ghats have made a mess andit needs to be cleaned. Theentire focus of the mela admin-istration remains on SangamNose and Triveni Marg.

Other ghats are beingignored. The cleanliness ofpublic toilets built here is veryless. There is a problem withthe smell of it. There should beregular cleaning of public toi-lets. But cleaning employeesoften disappear.

Besides, the devotees andkalpvasis are also bound to facemobile network problem thistime in the fair area. The melaadministration should haveinstalled towers of all the com-panies here, but they have notdone so. The towers which havebeen erected and are not interms of capacity and the

mobile network remains poorexcept for the main bathing fes-tival. There is an outbreak ofmosquitoes in the fair area.Recently, a complaint was madewith the DM following whichthe fogging was undertaken.Now again fogging is needed.Outbreaks of mosquitoes aremore in sectors three, fourand five.

Mela officer VivekChaturvedi informed thatarrangements are being made.Sanitation workers have beendeployed in every sector, someemployees however, are negli-gent in this regard. They havebeen warned. Big bathing fes-tivals have passed so far.Preparations for two morebathing festivals have nowstarted, he added.

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$�������� �%����� %����������������������������������ALLAHABAD (PNS) : NorthCentral Railway leaps forwardtowards enhanced passengeramenities despite COVID-19situation, said the GM VinayKumar Tripathi. Total 24 liftsand 30 escalators are function-al at different stations of NCRof which five lifts are commis-sioned in the current financialyear and three more areplanned for commissioningbefore March-2021. Duringthe current year, Etawah andTikamgarh have been upgrad-ed as Adarsh stations and min-imum essential amenities havebeen provided on 13 more sta-tions besides raising up of plat-forms on 10 stations for passen-ger convenience. Platforms ofBaad and Mathura Jn. stationshave been extended for 24

coach length trains and nineFOBs have been constructed atdifferent stations of NCR.Chambal Express has beenextended up to Agra Cantt tocater to passenger demand.During the current financialyear Wi-fi facility has beenextended to 17 more stationsand Train Timing DisplayBoard has been integrated withNTES at 25 stations and inte-gration at Etawah, Govindpuriand Phaphund staions isunderway. To ensure sufficientwater availability in trains,quick watering system (QWS)has been installed at PrayagrajChheoki and Jhansi stationsand this facility is being extend-ed to Prayagraj, Kanpur andAgra Cantt. Stations. Washingline at Agra has been equipped

with automatic coach washingplant for quality and uniformexterior cleaning of coacheswith minimal consumption ofwater. All major washing linesover NCR are planned to beequipped with this facility.Many innovative passengerconvenience products like con-tactless ticket checking arrange-ment, luxury traveler lounge,COVID-19 kit sale points andKiosk, baggage sanitation facil-ity are also rolled out at majorstations of North CentralRailway. North Central Railwayin leadership of GeneralManager Vinay Kumar Tripathiis now taking a long stride toupscale passenger facilities atfast pace. In Budget 2021-22,allotment of Rs 492 crore havebeen given for development of

passenger amenities which willgive a major fillip to ongoingworks over Prayayagraj, Jhansiand Agra divisions. Focus is onearly commissioning of impor-tant projects to pass on bene-fits to passengers in time boundmanner. Moving ahead in thisdirection, five passenger liftscatering to all platforms ofKanpur central Station werededicated to public onFebruary 25, 2021. Similarly,many passenger facilities likeextended high-level platform,lift, true colour train displayboard, under vehicular surveil-lance system (UVSS) atMathura Jn. station and extend-ed high level platform at Baadstation were dedicated in ser-vice of passengers on February16, 2021.

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Page 6: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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The 24th convocation ceremony of VeerBahadur Singh Purvanchal University

(VBSPU) was held at its meeting hall onTuesday. Uttar Pradesh Governor andChancellor Anandiben Patelpresented gold medals to 73meritorious students.Besides, 67 were awardedPhD degrees. School bagswere also gifted to 51 chil-dren of classes VI to VIII.“Students should build theirpersonality and characteraccording to culture, this isthe real education,”Chancellor said.“Malnourished children arethe result of child marriage,”she added. In his address,Chancellor of Rani LakshmiBai Central AgriculturalUniversity, Jhansi, and a noted agricultural sci-entist, Prof Panjab Singh, who was the chief gueston the occasion, said revolutionary reforms willhave to be brought in the fields of education,health, agriculture and industry. On the occa-sion Vice-Chancellor Prof Nirmala S Mouryasaid even during the Covid period, the univer-sity continued on the path of progress. The con-

vocation was conducted by Prof Ajay Dwivediwhile the vote of thanks was proposed byRegistrar Mahendra Kumar. On the occasionformer Vice-Chancellor Prof PC Patanjali, ProfSurendra Singh Kushwaha, MLA Brijesh Singh‘Prinsu,’ Dr Leena Tiwari, Prof BB Tiwari, Prof

Manas Pandey,Prof AvinashPathardikar, ProfRamnarayan, DrManoj Mishra,Prof Ajay PratapSingh, Prof AKSrivastava, ProfVandana Rai,Prof RajeshSharma, ProfDevraj Singh, DrVijay Singh, DrRahul Singh, DrRaj Kumar, DrManish Gupta,Dr Pramod

Yadav, Ashok Singh, Dr Santosh Kumar, Dr AlokSingh, Dr Rakesh Yadav, Dr Jagdev, Dr AshutoshSingh, Dr Pradeep Kumar, Dr Vijay PratapTiwari, Dr Digvijay Singh Rathore, Dr SunilKumar, Dr KS Tomar, Mangla Prasad Yadav, DrAwadh Bihari Singh, Ramji Singh, PK Kaushik,Shyam Shrivastava and administrative officialsof the university were present.

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An old woman was found murdered inAghawar village under Padari police station

on Tuesday. As per the reports, Ganga Devi (70),wife of late Mishrilal Bind, lived alone in herhouse. On Tuesday when she was not seen tillnoon, her neighbours knocked at her door whichwas found closed from outside. When theyentered it after opening its door they were takenaback when they found the woman dead withher clothes soaked in blood. On being informedthe police reached the spot. Besides on the appli-cation of a relative the case was lodged at Padaripolice station. SP incharge and SHO visited thespot along with sniffer dog but could not get anyclue. The police recovered a hammer on the spot

and was investigating the matter.WATERY GRAVE: Two teenagers drowned

in Ganga at Misirpur Ghat under Jigna policestation on Tuesday. As per the reports, SatyamKanaujia (17), son of Ramlal, a resident ofHandia village under Manda police station inPrayagraj and Akash (17), son of Basant, a resi-dent of Manda Khas village under Manda policestation, were on the way with some friends toSitamarhi. The three friends were bathing near thepontoon bridge at Misirpur Ghat when their footslipped and they into the area where water wasdeep. Somehow Ashish could be saved by thelocals but Akash and Satyam could not be rescued.After searching for the hours their bodies couldbe recovered and Jigna police took them into cus-tody for completing the legal formalities.

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The railway administrationkeeping in mind the extra

rush of passengers in mind willattach additional coaches ondifferent dates in the followingspecial trains for their conve-nience, CPRO PK Singh said.

In the 09083 Ahmedabad-Muzaffarpur special train onFebruary 19, 20, 21, 22 and 23two coaches of sleeper class andon February 24 and 25 oneadditional one of sleeper classwill be attached. Likewise in09089 Ahmedabad-GorakhpurSpecial on February 19, 20, 21,22, 23 and 24 two coaches ofsleeper class and one additionalone of sleeper class on February25 will be attached. On theother hand, in 09084Muzaffarpur-Ahmedabad spe-cial train on February 22, 23, 24and 25 two coaches of sleeperclass will be attached and oneadditional one of sleeper classwill be attached on February 26and 27. Besides in the 09090

Gorakhpur-Ahmedabad spe-cial train on February 22, 23,24, 25 and 26 two coaches ofsleeper class and one additionalcoach of sleeper class onFebruary 27 will be attached.

COMPETITION: TheMinistry of Railways (RailwayBoard) is organising ‘Rail YatraVritant’ competition (narra-tion of rail journey) in Hindifor all citizens in which amongthe winning participants thereis a provision for �10,000 forone in the form of first prize,�8,000 for one in the form ofsecond prize, �6,000 for one inthe form of third prize and�4,000 each in the form ofincentive prize for five and acitation. In order to receive railtravel-related experience ofrailway personnel and generalpublic and based on thoseexperiences to improve thefacilities of the railway andincrease the use of Hindi theaforesaid competition has beenorganised at an all India level,Chief Public Relations Officer

(CPRO) Pankaj Kumar Singhsaid. In it the rail travel-relat-ed experience of railway per-sonnel and general public writ-ten in Hindi have been sought.The rail travelogue should be ofat least 3,000 words in Hindilanguage, typed in double spacewith a margin of one inch eachon all four sides and the num-ber of words should be written.In the beginning of the narra-tion the name, designation,age, office or residence address,mother tongue, mobile num-ber, e-mail and number ofwords of the word etc should bementioned. It should be origi-nal and not rewarded under anyscheme of Central or StateGovernments. Besides a certifi-cate to this effect should also begiven. The contestants partici-pating in the competition willhave to send their entry till June30 this year to Assistant Director,Hindi (Training), Room no.536-B, Ministry of Railways(Railway Board), Raisina Road,New Delhi-110001.

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District Magistrate Priyanka Niranjan issuednecessary guidelines in connection with the

forthcoming panchay-at elections at a meet-ing at Vikas Bhawanhall in Orai onWednesday. Stressingon free and fair con-duct of elections sheinstructed all theemployees to get prop-er training. She saidthat everyone mustwrite the key points oftraining in their diaries and in case of doubt theycould call their senior officers. Meanwhile thebirth anniversary of Maharaja Suheldev was cel-

ebrated in Musmaria village near Orai onTuesday. District Magistrate Priyanka Niranjaninaugurated the event by garlanding his statueand lighting the candle. On the occasion she

highlighted thecontribution ofMaharaja Suheldevtowards the devel-opment of society.Besides, studentsof many schoolsperformed danceson various patriot-ic songs on theoccasion. MLAsGauri Shankar

Verma, Moolchand Niranjan and NarendraJadaun and BJP district president RamendraSingh Bana were also present during the event.

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Divisional Commissioner Yogeshwar RamMishra performed ‘Ganga Aarti’ on the

occasion of Basant Panchami on Tuesday.Interacting with people present there the

Divisional Commissioner praised the dedicationof the organisers who continued the ‘aarti’ fromthe day it started. He assured the people that hewill try his best to make it more attractive byorganising more events. Earlier the DC wasaccorded a warm reception by the team of Gangadevotees led by Vibhuti Mishra and Dr RajeshMishra. The ‘aarti’ was performed amidst therecital of the Vedic shlokas by Nitin Awasthi andhis team. Prominent among those who gracedthe event were Akash Dubey, Ajita Srivastava,Jayant Chaturvedi, Alok Mishra, Balaji Kaseraand Manish Rawat.

SIX APPLICATIONS DISPOSED OF:Sampoorna Samadhan Divas was held in all fourtahsils of the district under which the senior offi-cers in each tahsil heard the problems of theaggrieved and directed the officials concernedfor the necessary action. DM Praveen KumarLaxkar was present at Sadar tahsil along withCDO Avinash Singh. On the day out of 73 theDM disposed of six applications on the spot andfor the rest he directed the officials concerned todispose of the matters on the basis of merit butwithout inordinate delay. In six matters three wererelated to revenue and the rest with otherdepartments. Most of the applications were relat-ed to trespassing, measurement of land, paddypurchase, consolidation etc. On the occasion theDM made it clear that the disposal should be doneon the basis of merit and if not done the officialconcerned will face the music. Apart from all thedistrict level officials the meeting was attendedby ASP Sanjay Kumar the, SDM (Sadar) GauravSrivastava and CO (City).

TRIBUTES PAID: Under the series ofprogrammes under ‘Chauri Chaura JankrantiShatabdi Samaroh’ which is being organised fromFebruary 4 to February 3, 2022, PAC band playednational anthem at Shaheed Udyan on Tuesdayto pay tributes to martyrs who had sacrificed theirlives for the cause of the nation. Subedar, PoliceLines, said PAC band was accorded a warm recep-tion by the locals of Narghat area.

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Indian Bank had announcedthe successful launch of the

consolidated CBS Platform onFebruary 15, 2021. This fol-lowed the merger of AllahabadBank with Indian Bank witheffect from April 1, 2020. TheCBS integration was taken upover the weekend of 13 and 14of this month and successful-ly completed in time. The CBSand all channels were madeavailable for use by branchesand customers by 9 am onFebruary 15, 2021.

The integrated CBS is run-ning smoothly across branch-es and channels and this wasa ‘Big Bang’ merger by the CBSprovider, TCS, where the dataof 3,000+ branches and allchannels of erstwhileAllahabad Bank were migrat-ed seamlessly to the IndianBank database.

The customer accountnumbers of both the banksremained unchanged and the

login credentials of internetbanking and mobile bankingwere also retained. Customersof Allahabad Bank have beenmigrated to IndOASIS, themobile banking app of IndianBank, and they can avail them-

selves of the mobile bankingservices with their existingcredentials.

Announcing the success-ful integration of the technol-ogy platform, Indian BankMD and CEO Padmaja

Chunduru said, “This is thefinal step in our amalgamationjourney ‘Project Sangam’.”

She said starting immedi-ately after the announcementof merger, the journey posedsevere challenges underCOVID-19, but the determi-nation and commitment ofour teams from the field andcorporate off ice saw itthrough.

She said that the supportand cooperation from TCS(technology partner) andDeloitte (merger consultant)and the way they workedshoulder to shoulder with thebank’s team made this possi-ble.

She said the organisationhad kept customers informedall through and shall be extravigilant to ensure that thebank continued to delivergood service to the valuedclientele. She thanked the cus-tomers for their support andunstinted co-operation in theamalgamation journey.

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IT Deputy Director(Investigation), Kanpur,

Raghav Gupta, has once againwon accolades for the city andstate by bagging the first prizein the World Wetlands Dayphotography contest organ-ised by the Zoological Surveyof India, Maaty BiodiversityConservation and SocietalResearch Foundation,Dehradun.

The picture which wonthe first prize was that of abronze-winged jacana with itsfledglings.

Talking to The Pioneer,Gupta said jacana were a groupof tropical waders and foundmainly in the tropical regionsof the world. He said theywere famous for their elongat-ed toes and toenails thatallowed them to spread outtheir weight while foraging onfloating or semi-emergentaquatic vegetation.

He said he clicked thispicture after making greatefforts with patience and thenhad sent it for the theme‘Wetlands, water and life’ andit bagged the first prize.

Raghav Gupta now hasumpteen awards under his belt

that have made him one amongthe finest wildlife photogra-phers India currently has.

It may be mentioned herethat Zoological Society of Indiais the premier Indian organi-sation in zoological researchand studies to promote the sur-

vey, exploration and research ofthe fauna in the country.

Similarly MaatyFoundation is based inDehradun and works for con-servation, preservation andmanagement of biodiversity.

Recently, Raghav Guptahad won accolades in the UPEcotourism PhotographyCompetition, 2020), theWildlife Week PhotographyCompetition, 2020 of theWildlife Institute of India andNature-in-Focus 2020.

When asked how he strucka balance between passion andprofession, Raghav Gupta can-didly replied, “Profession isfor the service of the nationwhereas my passion is to makepeople admire nature’s beautyand biodiversity through myeyes.” He added that it wasequally important to stay con-nected with wildlife throughwildlife photography and alsoto spread the message ofnature’s beauty and diversity.

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Chief Manager (Sales)Rakesh Khanna, of

Shubham Goldiee Masale PvtLtd., while addressing the felic-itation function for its distrib-utors and sellers at Sultanpur,said the organisation hadreached the top-most rung ofsuccess ladder more because ofthe customer loyalty, qualityand organisations flexibility inadopting latest technology toprovide better products to itscustomers.

He said in the changingscenario the mantra of successwas latest technology, productexpansion, strong marketingand publicity.

He handed over the keys ofmotorcycles to the outstandingdistributors.

He said the organisationhad always kept customerinterest of prime importanceand this had established theproduct not only in the coun-try but across the world.

He said the organisationhad focused on innovativepackaging, best manufacturingand a strong network and thishad made the product more indemand.

He said the group hadbagged the Self

Entrepreneurship Award, LabTest Award, Udyog RatnaAward, and the small-scaleministry had given it theNational Excellence Award.

He said the group hadbeen awarded ISO 22000:2005certification.

He later handed over meritcertificates to the retailers andsellers.

Ayush Dubey informedabout the various schemes.

Others present on theoccasion were VK Yadav, AmitTripathi and Sharad Tiwari.

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The three-day online train-ing on operation of effluent

treatment plants and analysis ofeffluents as per standard pro-tocols commenced here onWednesday.

The training programmehas been organised by theNational Sugar Institute onbehalf of the Central PollutionControl Board and is beingattended by officers of variousState Pollution ControlBoards. This training pro-gramme is aimed ateducating these officials onStandard OperatingProcedures and making themaware of the newer technolo-gies developed for adoption infuture.

Addressing the trainingprogramme TriveniEngineering and IndustriesLtd, Managing Director TarunSawhney called upon theindustry to explore possibili-ties of developing innovative,low cost, indigenous tech-nologies for their implemen-tation to achieve lower freshwater requirements besidesensuring discharges as perPollution Control Boardnorms.

He said ethanol produc-tion was being taken up in abig way to meet the require-ments and it was expected thatinvestments to the extent ofabout Rs 50,000 crore shall bemade in the near future. Hesaid this would call for man-power well versed with envi-ronmental issues and adop-

tion of innovative technology.He said the Indian sugarindustry could set bench-marks for the sugar industryacross the globe.

National Sugar InstituteDirector Prof NarendraMohan made an elaboratepresentation on the currentscenario of effluent manage-ment in sugar factories anddistilleries and emphasisedupon the adoption of the bestavailable technologies in theunits.

He said while sugar fac-tories could provide surpluswater to society after duetreatment, the molasses-baseddistilleries could help inproducing potash richfertiliser and bricks etc. out ofthe ash obtained from theboilers.

He also presented detailsof spray drying technique forconverting spent wash (efflu-ent) from distilleries intopotash rich powder.

“By adopting such tech-niques, while on the one handwe can meet the requirementsof Pollution Control Boards,on the other, value-addedproducts can be obtained outof the waste,” he said.

Prof D Swain and DrAshutosh Bajpai of the insti-tute also made presentationson the subjects related towater management in sugarfactories and production ofdifferent sugar qualities,respectively. Both said waterand effluent management wasto be made as per the qualityof sugar produced because ofprocess change.

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With the launch of e-chhawani portal and

mobile app by DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh inDelhi, the Cantonment Boardhere has started solving theproblems of its residents online.

Around three lakh peopleresiding in the KanpurCantonment Board area willnow be able to avail basic ser-vices like renewal of leases,birth & death certificates, water& sewerage connections, tradelicences, mobile toilet loca-tors, and payment of varioustaxes and fees, with just a clickof a button.

After the launch of the por-tal, the Cantonment Boardreceived 48 complaints onTuesday and resolved 41 ofthem.

During the virtual inaugu-ration of the portal, KanpurCantonment Board ChairmanBrig Dinar Didhe and ChiefExecutive Officer ArvindKumar Dwivedi were also pre-sent.

Dwivedi said the residents,after logging on to the portal ordownloading the app couldlodge department-wise com-plaints for quick redressal. Hesaid due to effective monitor-ing of the complaints, the offi-cials concerned would beresponsible for their timelysolution.

He said the residents wouldnot be required to visit theCantonment Board office todeposit their house tax, watertax and commercial tax. “Theycan also get birth and deathcertificates, execute dakhil-kharij process, sanction forconstruction work etc. throughthe portal itself. The residentscan also post their complaintsor application on theCantonment Board’s websitekanpur.cantt.gov.in.,: he added.

Kanpur CantonmentBoard Public Relations OfficerAmit Yadav said most of thecomplaints received so relatedto sewer, road, water, land andsanitation.

9�%�������������#�����"���-�#��@�����$����KANPUR (PNS): Members ofAdhivakta Kalyan SangharshSamiti have urged ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath toincrease the Adhivakta KalyanNidhi to Rs 10 lakh from thepresent Rs 1.25 lakh.

They met State LawMinister Brajesh Pathak inLucknow on Wednesday andsubmitted to him a memoran-dum addressed to the chiefminister in this respect.

Adhivakta KalyanSangharsh Samiti convenerRavindra Sharma said prior toassembly elections, theBharatiya Janata Party hadpromised to increase thelawyers’ welfare fund to Rs.5lakh if it was voted to power.

“Now after four years ofBJP ruling the state, it shouldhonour its commitment bymaking provisions for theincreased Adhivakta KalyanNidhi in the ensuing budget,”he said. Sharma also demand-ed implementation of the pen-sion scheme for elderly lawyersand incentives for younglawyers by making necessaryprovisions in the budget.

Pathak has assured thelawyers of making all possibleefforts for increase inAdhivakta Kalyan Nidhi.

The delegation comprisedLawyers Association formerpresident Avinash Bajpai,Ashwani Anand, Mohd QuadirKhan, Satish Tripathi, SarveshShukla, Sanjiv Kapoor, AnkurGoel, Ved Uttam, Anil Mishra,Mohit Shukla, Shahid Jamaland KK Yadav.

KANPUR TEAM WINSOVERALL CHAMPI-ONSHIP: The Kanpur teamemerged overall champions inthe Junior and Senior StatePowerlifting Championship(Men/Women) which con-cluded in Chandausi (Sambhal)recently. Kanpur PowerliftingAssociation General SecretarySaurabh Gaur said the perfor-mance of city girls was judgedthe best. He said as the cityplayers were preparing for thestate championship for the pastseveral months, they were sureof winning several medals.“The winners will now betrained for the national cham-pionship in a special camp tobe organised by the associa-tion,” he added.

Page 7: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved

amendments to the JuvenileJustice (Care and Protection ofChildren) Act 2015, increasingthe role of District Magistratesand Additional DistrictMagistrates.

Addressing the media onthe Cabinet decision, Womenand Child DevelopmentMinister Smriti Irani said inevery district, the DM andADM will get the power tomonitor functions of agenciesresponsible for the implemen-tation of the Act. The districtchild protection unit will alsofunction under the DistrictMagistrate, she said.

Irani said till now therewas no specific direction tocarry out a background checkof people who are to becomemembers of the child welfarecommittees (CWC).According to the amendmentscleared by the Cabinet, beforebecoming a member of theCWC, background and educa-tional qualification checks willbe included, she noted.Minister said earlier any organ-isation which wanted to run achild care institution wouldneed to give its purpose to the

state government. In the proposed amend-

ments, before registration of achild care centre, the DM willconduct its capacity and back-ground check and then submitthe recommendations to thestate government, she said.The DM can independentlyevaluate a specialised CWC,juvenile police unit and regis-

tered institutions. The scope of the Juvenile

Justice Act has been expanded.Child victims of traffickingand drug abuse and thoseabandoned by their guardianswill be included in the defini-tion of "child in need of care"and protection, she said. Atpresent, the Act has three cat-egories of petty, serious andheinous crimes

"One more category willbe included that offences wherethe sentence is more than sevenyears but no minimum sen-tence is prescribed or a mini-mum sentence of less thanseven years is provided shall betreated as serious offencesunder the Act," she said.

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In an effort to speed up mod-ernisation and acquisition

process, the Union Cabinet onWednesday approvedenhanced delegation ofFinancial Powers under CapitalProcurement to levels belowVice-Chief of Armed Forces.

As per the approval, underOther Capital ProcurementProcedure (OCPP) of DefenceAcquisition Procedure-2020,financial powers up to Rs 100crore has been delegated toGeneral Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), FlagOfficer Commanding-in-Chief(FOC-in-C), Air OfficerCommanding-in-Chief (AOC-in-C) at Services Commandand Regional Commanders,Indian Coast Guard (ICG).

Powers up to Rs 200 crorehas been delegated to DeputyChief of Army Staff (CD & S)/MGS (Master GeneralSustenance), COM (Chief ofMaterial), AOM (Air OfficerMaintenance), DCIDS (DeputyChief Integrated Defence Staff)and ADG ICG (AdditionalDirector General Indian CoastGuard).

This delegation of powerswithin Service Headquartersand up to Command Level foritems of Capital nature such as

overhauls, refits and upgradeswill enhance the utility ofexisting assets and will facili-tate faster processing andimplementation of projects formodernization of ArmedForces to meet the securitychallenges.

The Cabinet has alsoapproved enhanced financialpowers in the Make-I catego-ry under which Governmentfunding up to 70% of the pro-totype development cost isavailable for Design &Development of equipment,systems, major platforms orupgrades thereof.

Chief of IntegratedDefence Staff to the ChairmanChiefs of Staff Committee(CISC), Vice Chief of ArmyStaff (VCOAS), Vice Chief ofNaval Staff (VCNS), DeputyChief of Air Staff (DCAS),and Director General CoastGuard (DG(CG)) have nowbeen given powers to sanctionGovernment support up to Rs50 crore towards cost of pro-totype development.

Financial powers have alsobeen enhanced for other com-petent financial authoritiesunder ‘Make-I’ in line with thegovernment’s vision of‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and‘Make in India’ for a robustdefence industrial ecosystem.

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Situation on the Line ofActual Control(LAC) in

Ladakh and continuing bel-ligerence by Pakistan at theLine of Control (LoC) inJammu and Kashmir are like-ly to figure prominently duringPrime Minister NarendraModi’s interaction at theCombined Commanders’ con-ference in March.

Operational readiness todeal with emerging challengesin the Indian sub-continent willalso come up during the con-ference to be held in Kevadia,Gujarat. The Prime Minister isexpected to give the directionto the military top brass onstrategic and international rela-tions, sources said here onWednesday.

The CombinedCommanders’ Conference isheld annually and the PrimeMinister addresses the topcommanders. They includeofficers from the Navy, IndianAir Force and the Army. Chiefof Defence Staff(CDS)and threeServices Chiefs are some of theprominent officers to take partin the deliberations.

Modi will be briefed aboutthe various modernizationprocesses on in the Services tofight the modern day war withthe advent of information tech-

nology and space.The commanders will also

update the Prime Ministerabout the pace of reforms in thearmed forces to make themlean and mean, better utiliza-tion of resources and fightingthe future conflicts jointly. Inthat direction, Modi will takestock of the process of forma-tion of theatre commandsbesides air defence command,officials said.

He will also briefed aboutthe Special Forces Agency,Cyber Security Agency andSpace Agency. These newlycreated organizations havepooled in the resources of thearmed forces for better andfaster utilization of resourcesand manpower.

Besides these issues, thePrime Minister will take stockof current situation at the LACwhere the first stage of pullback of the armies of India andChina is currently on. The

LAC in Ladakh saw a ten-month long stand-off includinga bloody brawl in the Galwanvalley. Twenty Indian armypersonnel including the com-manding officer were killed inthe incident on June 15.

Since then both the sidesramped up their force strengthand at present more than onelakh troops of the two armiesare facing each other.Moreover, the entire 4,000 kmlong LAC is now sensitive andthe Indian security establish-ment has made sure Chinadoes not spring any surprise.The LAC stretches fromLadakh in the west toArunachal Pradesh in the east.

Pakistan continues to vio-late ceasefire in Jammu andKashmir apart from fomentingterrorism there. The overallsecurity scenario may also bediscussed during Modi’s inter-action with the commanders,sources said.

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After granting conditionalpermission to Board of

Control for Cricket in India(BCCI) to use drones for liveaerial cinematography of crick-et matches till December 31, theCentre has allowed Kochi MetroRail Ltd to use drones for theIntegrated Urban Regeneration& Water Transport System(IURWTS) project, subject tocertain conditions. The condi-tional approval is valid tillDecember 31 this year or untilfull operationalisation of DigitalSky Platform (Phase-1),

whichever is earlier."The Ministry of Civil

Aviation (MoCA) and DirectorateGeneral of Civil Aviation(DGCA) have granted a condi-tional exemption for Remotely

Piloted Aircraft System (RPAS)usage to Kochi Metro RailLimited, Kerala for IURWTS," theministry said in a statement.

Kochi Metro Rail Ltd(KMRL) should obtain necessaryclearances from the local admin-istration, defence ministry, homeministry, Air Force and AirportAuthority of India (AAI) asapplicable prior to operating aRPAS.

Senselmage Technologies,engaged by KMRL throughTechno Vision Survey &Mappings Ltd, would only oper-ate the RPAS, as per the state-ment.

Photographs and videographs taken through RPASshould be used by only KMRL,which would also be responsi-ble for safety and security ofRPAS and data col lectedthrough it.

"The operation of RPASshall be restricted to day opera-tions (from sunrise to Sunset),within Visual Line of Sight(VLOS) in uncontrolled airspaceonly...," it said.

Among other conditions, theoperator has to intimate theschedule of operation to DGCAwell in advance for conductingsafety oversight.

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The Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs

(MoHUA) has launched anenrolment module forTECHNOGRAHIS – studentsfrom IITs, NITs, engineering,planning and architecture col-leges, faculty members, acade-micians. This module willenable them to visit six LightHousing Projects (LHPs) acrossthe country.

The foundation stone of sixLHPs was laid by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onJanuary 1, 2021, at Indore,Rajkot, Chennai, Ranchi,Agartala and Lucknow. LHPsare being built as part of theGlobal Housing TechnologyChallenge-India (GHTC-India) initiative under thePradhan Mantri Awas Yojana-Urban (PMAY-U).

Launching the module,

MoHUA secretary DurgaShankar Mishra said that can-didates can register themselvesto visit live laboratories at sixLight House Project (LHP)sites for learning, consultation,generation of ideas and solu-tions, experimentation, inno-vation, and technical awareness.The ministry is promoting sixLHPs as live laboratories.

“This will help them ingetting a first-hand account ofthe technologies being usedand in turn, they can adapt andadopt them as per their require-ments in the construction sec-tor for a ‘Make in India’approach”, Misra added.

The LHPs comprise about1000 houses at each locationalong with allied infrastruc-ture facilities. These LHPswill demonstrate the merits ofthe world-class innovativeconstruction technologies.These projects will demon-

strate and deliver ready to livehouses at an expedited pacewithin twelve months, as com-pared to conventional brickand mortar construction, andwill be more economical, sus-tainable, of high quality anddurability. LHPs showcase thebest of new-age alternate glob-al technology. This technolo-gy revolution is cost-effective,environment-friendly andpromotes speedier construc-tion. The initiative will proveto be a major push towardstechnical transformation inIndia.

Mishra also launched thefirst volume of LHP e-newslet-ter which captures the progressof the projects at each location.Twelve such e-newsletters will bereleased every month to informthe students, faculty, stakehold-ers and public about the devel-opment works. through write-ups and photographs.

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������)����The SupremeCourt Wednesday permittedan NGO to make HimachalPradesh and Madhya Pradeshas parties to a pending peti-tion challenging the contro-versial state laws regulatingconversions due to inter-faithmarriages.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice S A Bobde also allowedMuslim body Jamiat Ulama-I-Hind to become a party to thepetition on the ground that alarge number of Muslims arebeing harassed under theselaws across the country.

The apex court on January6 had agreed to examine con-troversial new laws of UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand reg-

ulating religious conversionsdue to interfaith marriages.The bench, also comprisingJustices A S Bopanna and VRamasubramanian, howeverrefused to stay the controver-sial provisions of the laws andissued notices to both the stategovernments on the petitions.

The pleas, filed by advocateVishal Thakre and others andan NGO 'Citizens for Justiceand Peace', have challenged theConstitutional validity of theUttar Pradesh Prohibition ofUnlawful Religious ConversionOrdinance, 2020 and theUttarakhand Freedom ofReligion Act, 2018 which reg-ulate religious conversions ofinterfaith marriages. PTI

������)����The Supreme Court on Wednesdayallowed the Centre to respond to the "allegations" ofthe Chairman of committee on Chardham projectlinking broadening of the road to the recent flashfloods on Dhauliganga river, which damaged Tapovanhydro project and caused loss of lives in Uttarakahnd.Attorney General K K Venugopal told the apexcourt that he would like to file a response to a letterof the chairman of a top court appointed high-pow-ered committee in which several "allegations" havebeen made with regard to broadening of the roadand the recent disaster in the state.The High-Powered Committee (HPC) is monitoringthe Chardham highway project on the widening ofthe roads up to Indo-China border in Uttarakhand.Venugopal said that the high powered committeechairperson Ravi Chopra has on his own written aletter to the government linking the disaster withthe Chardham project.Taking note of his submis-sion, a bench comprising Justices R F Nariman,Hemant Gupta and B R Gavai, said "You fileresponse to it" and listed the matter for hearing aftertwo weeks. PTI

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Bestowed with a long coastlineof over 7500 km, India will

finally soon have its own BlueEconomy policy outlining thevision and strategy that theGovernment plans to adopt toutilise the plethora of oceanicresources available across thecoastal States in the country.

The Union Ministry of EarthSciences has rolled out the draftof the proposed policy invitingsuggestions on the plans aimingto achieve holistic growth of thecoastal region through "manu-facturing, emerging industries,trade, technology, services, andskill development"..

"The policy document hasbeen disseminated for pubic con-sultation. Stakeholders have beeninvited to submit inputs andideas by February 27, 2021," anofficial statement said here onWednesday.

The draft has been preparedin line with the Government’sVision of New India by 2030. Ithighlighted blue economy as oneof the ten core dimensions for

national growth, said the state-ment.

Among the seven thematicareas, which the Ministry hasrecognised to emphasize in orderto achieve holistic growth, is"Manufacturing, emerging indus-tries, trade, technology, services,and skill development".

To catalyze the developmentof the Blue Economy, the draftreport says, it aims to set upresearch and development hubsin the nine coastal states and pro-mote use of Artificial Intelligence(AI) and other new technologiesin marine sectors such as deep-sea mining, marine logistics andshipping

India's blue economy is

understood as a subset of thenational economy comprising anentire ocean resources system andhuman-made economic infra-structure in marine, maritime,and onshore coastal zones with-in the country's legal jurisdiction.

The coastal economy sustainsover 40 lakh sherfolk and coastalcommunities. With these vastmaritime interests, the blue econ-omy occupies a vital potentialposition in India's economicgrowth, said the statement.

With a coastline of nearly7,500 kilometres, India has aunique maritime position. Nine ofits 29 states are coastal and thenation's geography includes 1,382islands. There are nearly 199

ports, including 12 major onesthat handle approximately 1,400million tonnes of cargo each year.

The coastal economy sustainsover 40 lakh fisherfolk and coastalcommunities. With these vastmaritime interests, the blue econ-omy occupies a vital potentialposition in India's economicgrowth.

“The draft Policy aims to sig-nificantly enhance the contribu-tion of the Blue Economy toIndia’s GDP in the next fiveyears, improve lives of coastalcommunities, preserve ourmarine biodiversity and maintainthe security of our marine areasand resources.

“Today, the Blue Economyholds the promise of being thenext multiplier of economicgrowth and well-being, providedthat the strategy places sustain-ability and socio-economic wel-fare at the centre stage. Therefore,the proposed roadmap for evolv-ing a Blue Economy Policy wouldbe a crucial step towards unlock-ing the potential of economicgrowth and welfare,” said thereport.

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The NIA on Wednesday said it hasfiled a chargesheet against 11 alleged

terrorists in JMB (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) Dacoity Cases,Bengaluru before the NIA Special Courtin Bengaluru.

The NIA had registered four casesfrom RC-15 to 18/2020 here. Thosenamed in the chargesheet are JahidulIslam, 40 (Jamalpur, Bangladesh), NajirSheikh alias Patla Anas, 25, Asif Ikbal,23, Adil Sheikh, 27, Abdul Karim, 21,and Mosaraf Hossain, 22, all fromMurshidabad District, West Bengal.These besides, Arif Hussain alias MotaAnas, 24 of Barpeta, Assam, Kador Kazi.33, Habibur Rahaman Sk, 28, andMustafizur Rahman, 39 of Birbhum andMd Dilwar Hossain, 28 of Malda havealso been named in the chargesheetunder various Sections of the IndianPenal Coe and provisions of theUnlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

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New Delhi: India is gradually inchingtowards one crore milestone witharound 92 lakh beneficiaries beingadministered Covid -19 vaccine in thecountry so far since the launch of thenationwide vaccination drive kicked offfrom January 16, this year. Around 37people have been hospitalized after thevaccination and 29 deaths have beenreported so far. However, none of themwere related to the jab.

In a media briefing in New Delhion Wednesday, an Union HealthMinistry official said that a total of91,86,757 beneficiaries have been inoc-ulated with Covid-19 vaccine doses. Hesaid that on Wednesday 1,87,527 ben-eficiaries were inoculated.

Maximum number of doses has

been administered today in Karnatakafollowed by Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu,Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh.

The official said that a total of65,21,785 health care workers have beeninoculated with COVID-19 vaccinedoses. “More than 61,79,000 health careworkers have been administered thefirst dose whereas more than 3,42,000have been inoculated with the seconddose so far while 26,64,972 frontlinehealth workers have been administeredthe COVID-19 vaccine jab,” he added.

In terms of first dose coverage,Bihar stands at top position with 84.7per cent coverage followed by Tripura,Odisha, Lakshadweep and Gujarat.Around 37 people have been hospi-talized after the vaccination and 29

deaths have been reported so far.However, no new case of hospitaliza-tion and new death have been report-ed in the past 24 hours.

Meanwhile, India’s total activecaseload currently stands at 1.36 lakh(1,36,549) as on Wednesday, just 1.25per cent of India’s total positive cases.

Eighteen States/UTs have notreported any COVID19 deaths in thelast 24 hours. These are Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, J&K ,Jharkhand, Puducherry, HimachalPradesh, Lakshadweep, Manipur,Ladakh, Assam, Andaman and NagarIslands, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Tripura,Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh andDadar and Nagar Haveli.

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The Bombay High Court onWednesday granted Mumbai-

based activist Nikita Jacob transitbail for three weeks in the GretaTheunberg ‘tool-kit’ case relating tothe farmers’ agitation and ruled thatin the event of her arrest, she wouldbe released on bail on a personalbond of Rs 25,000 and one surety oflike amount.

While granting relief to Jacob,Justice P. D. Naik of the high courtruled: “This protection is granted fora period of three weeks from todayto enable the applicant to approachthe competent court for seekingappropriate relief,”

The high court was hearingJacob’s plea against a non-bailablearrest warrant issued against her and another activist ShantanuMuluk, by the Tis Hazari Court inDelhi.

The high court had reserved its

order on Jacob when the matter washeard here on Tuesday.

In a related development, theAurangabad bench of Bombay HighCourt had on Tuesday granted a 10-day transit bail to Muluk, an engi-neer from Beed, in the same case.

In non-bailable warrants againstthem, the Delhi Police had onMonday charged Jacob and Muluk,who work for a UK-based NGOExtinction Rebellion, with creatingthe toolkit tweeted by Thunberg onthe farmers’ protest.

Jacob has been booked underIPC Sections 124(A) for sedition,153(A) for promoting enmity between dif ferent groups, and 120(B) for criminalconspiracy.

Another accused activist DishaRavi – who was arrested by DelhiPolice on February 13 for allegedinvolvement with an online ‘toolkit’relating to Greta Theunberg-farmers’agitation — is currently in police

custody for five days. On their part, the Delhi Police

have claimed that Disha, Jacob andMuluk had created the ‘toolkit’ relat-ing to the farmers’ agitation whichwas shared with Thunberg.

Ms Jacob had told the high courton Tuesday that there was a Zoommeeting before Republic Day, whichwas attended by Poetic JusticeFoundation founder MO Dhaliwal,and other fellow activists, includingDisha.

Jacob’s lawyer Mihir Desai hadtold the court that the "toolkit" wasprepared by Extinction Rebellion(XR) India volunteers for presentingthe whole picture with a simplebreakdown for an international audi-ence.

Desai had also argued thatJacob was a young woman, practis-ing law since the past 6 to 7 years andwas a responsible environmentalactivist who was moved by the plightof the agitating farmers.

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Page 8: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

of men that the defences ofpeace must be constructed.”The untold sufferings of theWorld Wars and the crueltyon Hiroshima and Nagasakileft people with no option butto strive hard to avoid wars infuture, and sincerely movetowards a world of peace. Toaugment their faith, therewere luminaries like AlbertEinstein and MahatmaGandhi. They motivatedmany more, prominent men-tions being Martin LutherKing, Jr, and Nelson Mandela.Yes, there was an alternativeavailable which preachedglobal brotherhood throughmutual trust and faith intruth and nonviolence.Unfortunately, it has notclicked effectively so far.

The how and why of thedichotomy of the expectationsof the 20th century, and wherewe stand in the 21st at thisstage, deserves an incisivescrutiny. The fundamentalswere not beyond the compre-hension of the luminaries whohad an awareness of factorsthat could lead to serious dis-tortions of the core valuesnecessary for a vibrant democ-racy. When Gandhi respond-ed to Julian Huxley, the thenDirector General of Unesco,on the draft of the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights

Charter, he put on record aneternal guiding principlewhich is the lifeline of sustain-ing humanity on earth: “Ifeveryone does his duty, every-one else would get his right.”Men and women devoted tothe cause of human rights theworld over would not findeven a treatise on the subjectthat could say more. Thisprinciple is to be implement-ed at the grassroots, andshould extend to the top level.There are only two ways toachieve the transformation:Those in control of power andauthority at every level are con-vinced that to create a bettertomorrow for the generationsahead — including their ownkith and kin — they must behonest to themselves and per-form their duties with integri-ty. Without this, they would betotally unfair to their progeny.This could be a national cam-paign. In the long term,schoolteachers could be ropedin to realise how they are theprime movers in the process ofpreparing the next genera-tions. In fact, they are at the topof the workforce pyramid thatcreates national future.

They are the acharyas;people are supposed to followtheir conduct, character andcomposure. They are the orig-inal icons. If a teacher is punc-

tual, sincere, dexterous andempathetic, he would neverhave to tell children about val-ues and human qualities. Thesewould silently be absorbed byhis wards. A national plan onthese lines shall need no finan-cial investment. It is the initialschooling that could — with-out burdening the textbooks —let children learn that naturecould offer sufficient resourcesto meet the need of everyonebut not the greed of anyone. Ageneration could be preparedin about a decade that wouldsincerely realise its primary rolein maintaining the sensitiveman-nature relationship and beready to accept its responsibil-ity to maintain and sustain it.

Human beings have thegift to envision, both individ-ually and collectively. Ashumans we have not appliedour minds, and often humanindiscretion and greed havetriggered disasters that werealready anticipated. The lat-est tragedy in Uttarakhandcould be one more eye open-er. Too many hydel powerplants, cutting of trees andindiscreet mining wereknown to cause disasters. Letthis warning from MotherNature not go unheeded.

(The author works in edu-cation and social cohesion. Theviews expressed are personal.)

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The first two decades ofthe 21st century are over.We are saddled withwars and violence all

around, distrust and apprehen-sions can be smelled across inter-national borders, and terrorismand fundamentalism havewracked the backbone of sever-al nations, leaving them in greaterpoverty and insecurity. Imaginethe plight of those who are forcedto migrate to unfamiliar lands.This happens despite the fact thata considerable number of nationshas moved ahead economicallyand achieved some semblance ofsocial and cultural uplift, besidesthe equality of opportunity inaccess and success. Lookingaround, one would find globaldeliberations getting centredaround markets, GDP growth,economic policies; of courseissues like global warming, cli-mate change and environmentaldegradation do come up regular-ly, but without much commit-ment. The greatest promise of the20th century was inclusion, equal-ity of opportunity, and that meanthuman dignity to all those whohad been deprived of it by vest-ed interests, suffering subhumanpractices like racism, apartheid,caste considerations, gender sub-jugation and a lot more. Thebiggest decision of the 20th cen-tury was to respect diversity andcut down on exclusion.

Numerous initiatives at thenational and international levelmay be cited in support of anemerging climate that wouldpermit every human to savourthe scent of fresh breeze in anenvironment of liberty, equali-ty and fraternity! By implication,it would mean eradication ofignorance, poverty, poor healthand universal access to humanrights. People in such a societymust know their rights and becommitted to performing theirduties. When the UNO (now theUN) was established on October24, 1945, it was expected that theworld would henceforth movetowards global peace, harmonyand brotherhood. The sameyear, Unesco was also born witha preamble to its constitutionthat generated huge hopes allaround: “Since wars begin in theminds of men, it is in the minds

������������������������ ���������Sir—The removal of Kiran Bedi asPuducherry’s Lieutenant Governor (L-G)must be a great relief not only for ChiefMinister V Narayanasamy but also for alarge section of people of the UnionTerritory who were fed up with the man-ner in which Bedi obstructed the function-ing of the Government and halted the devel-opment of the UT and welfare of its peo-ple.

She exhibited only confrontational atti-tude and animosity towards the electedGovernment and did everything that goesagainst the dignity of the post of L-G, andbehaved as if she is subservient only to theinterests of the BJP. Bedi actively promot-ed the interests of the saffron party.However, her autocratic and arrogantmoves have done more damage to the BJPthan benefiting the party and it will defi-nitely reflect in the Assembly electionresults. It is unfortunate that the NDAGovernment at the Centre has decided toremove her only after allowing her to con-tinue with her unconstitutional agenda forso long.

If the party was really interested in thewelfare of the people of the UT, it shouldhave sacked her long back. Further, sheshould not be posted as L-G or Governorin any other non-BJP ruled State as doingso will only bring disgrace to the office ofPresident which makes these appoint-ments. She has manifested very clearly dur-ing her stay in the Raj Nivas that she def-initely doesn’t deserve to hold any consti-tutional post.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

��������������������������Sir —This refers to the editorial ‘Dust bowlpolitics’ (February 17). The Indian crick-et team has always been at the receivingend when it comes to the preparation ofpitches, especially for a Test series at home.During the India-England second Test atChepauk in Chennai, Stuart Broad likeda tweet by ex-Australian batsman MarkWaugh, who called the pitch “unaccept-able”, while Ben Stokes liked a tweet by

Matt Prior who suggested “the pitch is notfor a five-day match”. But England’s losscan’t be entirely blamed on the pitch.

The ground reality is that batting wassurely difficult but Rohit, Rahane andKohli proved in the first innings that it wasfar from being unplayable. Ashwin’s hero-ics with the bat and bowl were a messagefor English cricketers that it had little todo with the pitch and more with intent,skills and experimenting with new tech-niques under tough conditions. The pitch-es of England, Australia and South Africahave seaming conditions when India orany sub-continent team visits there. India’swin was in outplaying England in a justand skilful manner. Nobody should under-estimate or downplay it. Our team is oneof the best teams in the world and the play-ers have proved it time and again.

Nischai Vats | Sultanpur

����������������������������Sir —Accidents have become common inIndia. Every now and then we hear about

some tragic road accident in which peo-ple die for no fault of theirs. The condi-tion of our roads, including highways, ispathetic. Those who survive are just plainlucky.

The condition of State Highways isvery poor as compared to NationalHighways. There are still many roadswhich are not one-way. Further, privatebuses and vehicles, which follow no traf-fic rules, continue to operate with impuni-ty under the patronage of corrupt trans-port department officials and policemen.These corrupt officials do not take actionagainst the errant vehicles or their own-ers and extort money from them. Evenmany school buses don’t undergo regularcheckup that includes checking the effica-cy of their brakes and checking tail lights.It endangers the life of children who go toschool in these buses.

MR Jayanthi | Mumbai

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Page 9: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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Nature’s laws are immutable. Where forestsare removed indiscriminately, drought,pestilence, famine and flash floods rear their

ugly heads. When the green revolution came toIndia in the early 50s, a whopping 1,973.4 millionhectare (Ha) of forest land either went under theplough or was destroyed for various developmentpurposes and this process is still going on. Water,soil health and climate change play a major rolein making or breaking the agrarian economy. Inthe context of the above, the role of trees in enhanc-ing and sustaining productivity of the soil, waterand biodiversity assumes great significance. Hence,the need for agroforestry research and extensionis required in various kinds of marginal land. Forinstance, in Kenya and in other countries realprogress has been made in sustainable agriculturewith the introduction of appropriate trees.

The International Council for Research inAgroforestry (ICRAF) has stated that its central aimis to foster research on the place of woody peren-nials in combination with crops or animals to solvethe problem of small farmers. This approach wonover Chinese peasants to forestry. Chinese farm-ers included timber trees with woody perennialsfor all purposes like orchards, bamboo, groves andso on, while Chinese foresters encouraged anddemonstrated intercropping. It is an irony thatdespite the ongoing farmers’ agitation and the per-sistent agrarian crisis in the country, one seldomfinds any debate highlighting the crunch and itslinkage with the deteriorating health of naturalresources, which apparently is the main factorbehind this messy situation.

There cannot be any denial of the fact that thehealth of the ecosystem in India has come to a stagewhere its carrying capacity has already beenstretched to the limit and it seems to be on the brinkof a precipice. While India’s overall food produc-tion has grown, declining productivity is evidentfor oilseeds and pulses. In the rainfed areas, yieldsare declining and rapid land degradation is evident.Even in the irrigated, high-yield crop areas, stag-nation is apparent and their sustainability is alsoa matter of doubt.

The environmental impact of the green revo-lution that is based on high input and output, iswell-documented but the cost of maintaining itnecessitates various limits and the economicinequality resulting from this development is appar-ent now. Two kinds of fertiliser fertility problemsare commonly encountered in the country: Lowand declining soil fertility. Tackling a decline in fer-tility is linked to working with nature and assist-ing the restoration of the natural processes. It mayalso require external inputs like fertilisers and wateralong with trees. The result of five years of workof the Indian Grassland and Fodder ResearchInstitute (IGFRI) Jhansi has revealed a significantreduction in soil nutrient losses and improvementin soil fertility. In a recently-published article in anational daily, Atul Thakur revealed how produc-tive quality and prices are key factors that have com-bined to keep the Indian farmers poor. Based onquantitative data he observed that returns per Hafrom kharif crops as a per cent of inputs and labourcost are steeply declining. He summarised: “Farmreturns were falling and low to begin with.Divided over four months of the kharif season theaverage paddy farmers’ monthly returns were

�4,903 in 2013-14. That declined to�4,620 by 2017-18.”

“Furthermore, for other crops,the returns have stagnated. Therehas been no significant increase inthe last five years. This means theGovernment’s target of doublingfarmers’ incomes by 2022 willremain a pipe dream,” he says.

Thakur further observes thatIndia’s yield when compared toother countries, is the lowest per Hafor most crops and uses more landand labour to produce lower yields.Indian agriculture adds 16 per centto the Gross Domestic Product(GDP) but provides 41 per cent jobswhereas China adds 71 per cent tothe GDP with 25 per cent labour andBrazil adds 4.4 per cent with nine percent labour. Further, due to highinputs Indian farmers cannot com-pete in the international marketbecause of their high prices.

In India, industrial agriculturewas powered by the Haber-BoschProcess that was invented by FritzHaber and Carl Bosch which pro-duces ammonia for chemical fertilis-ers. This process makes nature’s fer-tilisation via sunlight, macrobioticsoils and crop rotation very margin-al. Ammonia production now con-sumes two per cent of the energysupply globally and produces 1.5-1.6trillion CO2 emissions per year.Nitrogenous fertilisers derived fromthe Haber-Bosch Process currentlyprovide roughly half of all the nitro-gen required for world crops.Organic recycling, manure, cropresidues and atmospheric deposition

provide another half. In India thisratio must be much higher.

Duke University’s SubhrenduPattanayak concludes that industri-al agriculture is a leading cause ofdeforestation as it accounted for 80per cent of it between 2000 and 2010.Soya and palm oil cultivation causedover 30 per cent deforestation acrossAsia and 70 per cent in LatinAmerica.

Industrial monocroppingexhausts soil nutrients, polluteswater channels, destroys habitats andbiodiversity. Industrial agriculturecosts the world over $3 trillion perannum. Sustainable agriculture withagroforestry reduces soil damage,chemical use, diversifies agricultureand protects habitat for biodiversi-ty.

Sir Albert Howard in his treaties,‘Soil and Health’, observes: “Forest isan effective agent in the preventionof soil erosion... The trees andundergrowth break up the rainfallinto fine spray and the litter on theground further protects the soil fromthe impact of descending waterstreams. The roots and residues ofthe trees and animal life in allwoodlands are converted intohumus, which is then absorbed bythe soil underneath, increasing itsporosity and water- holding power.The trees not only prevent soil ero-sion but store large volumes of waterand sequester atmospheric carbon.Mechanical measures to arrest soilerosion like terracing are secondarymatters.

Excessive use of irrigation

required for industrial agriculturegradually destroys the bindingpower of organic matter whichkeeps the soil particles together. Itdisplaces the soil air, which is vitalfor the respiratory function of theroots. The main strategy of indus-trial farming is oriented for rice orwheat at huge indirect and directcost but keeps farmers away fromgrowing fruits, nuts, vegetables andpulses. Intensive industrial mono-culture deserves to be debatedthroughout the country.

The big question remains thatdespite all the obvious advantages ofagroforestry why has it remainedconfined so far to a few places, whereforest-based industries have pushedit for clonal plantation of eucalyp-tus or poplar trees? There is no dis-pute over the capacity of clonal plan-tations combined with crops inindustrial plantations to create jobsthrough forward and backwardeconomic linkage. The growth ofYamunanagar is a shining exampleof how the produce of agroforestryacted as the catalyst to change asmall township into a vibrant indus-trial complex.

Anyone who is conversant withsoil, water and tree should be con-vinced about the limitation of indus-trial agriculture and the potential ofagroforestry in the country.However, for large-scale adoption ofagroforestry its constraints must beremoved first. In such a situation treeplantation can play a complemen-tary role to agriculture and helprestore the health of the land.

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The COVID-19 pandem-ic resulted in the biggestglobal health emergency

in living memory. A whopping24,31,445 Coronavirus-relateddeaths were recorded aroundthe world from the time thecontagion spread in 2019.

India, the second-mostpopulated country in theworld, faced an unprecedent-ed health crisis due to the out-break. However, theGovernment took all the stepsnecessary to flatten the curveand now, over ten monthsafter the first lockdown wasannounced in the countrythere seems to be a ray of hope.As many as 1,06,44,858 peoplehave recovered from the dis-ease so far and the nationalrecovery rate stands at 97.33per cent. India on Wednesdayrecorded just 11,610 newCOVID-19 cases, taking thetotal tally of infections to1,09,37,320, according to data

from the Union HealthMinistry. With 10 more fatal-ities in the last 24 hours, thedeath toll has reached 1,55,913.

There has been a lot ofspeculation and debates overalleged under-reporting ofCOVID-19 deaths in India.However, no robust evidencehas been provided by registra-tion offices located at crema-toriums or burial places, hos-pitals and other registrationoffices. Therefore, it is counter-intuitive to assume that hun-dreds of thousands of deathshave not been reported in thecountry.

Further, accurate and con-tinuous recording of deaths ispertinent for designing imme-diate health interventions inthis unprecedented healthcarecrisis. Hence, the role of theCivil Registration System(CRS) in the complete and reli-able recording of COVID-19related fatalities cannot be

stressed enough.Mortality data obtained

from the CRS is based on real-time and continuous record-ing. Besides, it is verified by thecivil authority, therefore, it ishighly reliable for decision-making. The CRS provides anannual report on birth anddeath statistics with baselinecharacteristics such as age,gender and place of residence.It is an important data sourcefor the causes of death statis-tics.

Accurate and reliableinformation on mortality hasmany utilities for policymak-ers and health officers.Complete death statistics arepertinent for health experts toknow the age and gender-spe-cific death rate, distributionand cause of mortality.

Plus, CRS is the only datasource that provides death sta-tistics at the lower administra-tive level. Adequate and time-

ly information on casualtiesand causes of death at the dis-trict or block level is essentialfor health officers for initiatingimmediate healthcare inter-ventions. Besides, CRS mayprovide an accurate baselinefor assessing excess mortalitydue to COVID-19. Data onfatalities for the last three orfive years could be comparedwith current statistics toobserve the sudden increase or

decrease in the number ofcasualties and its causes.

Although the CRS is per-manent, systematic and func-tional across India’s length andbreadth, it suffers from manychallenges. Lack of staff, logis-tics, irregular training and noregular supervision are somehighlighted performance bar-riers. Apart from this, a delayedand incomplete publication ofthe annual report hasdecreased the utility of this vitaldata. Hence, CRS data is notthe topmost priority amongpolicymakers and health offi-cers, even though it is takeninto consideration.

According to the latestOffice of the Registrar-Generaland Census Commissioner(ORGI) report for 2020, near-ly 14 per cent of deaths werenot recorded in 2018. Besides,the level of registration ofmortalities is widely variedacross the country. Many big-

ger States like Bihar, Jharkhand,Telangana, Uttar Pradesh,Assam and Madhya Pradesh,recorded fewer than 50 percent of the deaths.

Further, information oncauses of fatalities is limitedand not reliable in most cases.As per the latest ‘MedicalCertification of Cause of Death’report only 21 per cent of fatal-ities are medically certified.

Looking at the CRS’ sys-tematic and broader network,complete vital statistics basedon CRS must be published ontime. Also, a monthly reportmay provide critical factors fordecision-making and initiatingpreventive measures at thetime of a health emergency.

Timely information onexcess of deaths at the localadministrative level may alerthealth officials for adequatehealthcare intervention.Moreover, comparing thetrends and patterns of mortal-

ities will give accurate estimatesof excess deaths due to thevirus. It is not practical toexpect medical certificationfor all deaths due to lack ofqualified staff and resourceconstraints, but verbal autop-sy may identify COVID-19related deaths. Further, CRSstaff must be provided withPersonal Protective Equipmentand other resources to contin-ue their duty safely and ade-quately.

Places where facilities foronline death registration areavailable, must record casual-ties on time and share datawith the State headquarters fortimely compilation and gener-ation of a monthly report.

CRS data must be seen asa priority among the authori-ties and stakeholders for itscomplete and timely utilisationby health officers, particular-ly during a health emergency,such as the current pandemic.

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The writer is a formerIFS officer.

The views expressed are personal.

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Gandhi is a developmentpractitioner, educator andwriter, while Kumar is aJunior Research Fellow atJNU. The views expressed

are personal.

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Page 10: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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DRREDDY 4696.6 4704.1 4580 4601.65DALBHARAT 1435.15 1475.05 1406 1455.05ABCAPITAL 97 104.85 97 104.05PAGEIND 28800 29466.5 27749.45 28291.6BHARATFORG 630.75 653.3 629.8 637.85TECHM 978 996 971.85 980.75CHOLAFIN 534 534 523.25 527.75SAIL 64.75 65.9 63.65 64.6MFSL 852.9 884.95 841.15 868ONGC 102.35 103.5 100.85 102.2SONATSOFTW 394.05 397.25 386 387.3PIDILITIND 1799.5 1819 1760 1765.05CADILAHC 470.3 471.25 460.85 464.7SPICEJET 87.1 90.6 86.2 88.4SUNPHARMA 632.45 632.45 620 621.2IDBI 28.9 31.3 28.7 30.7L&TFH 98.95 99.15 97.2 97.9DIVISLAB 3685.35 3685.35 3590.15 3618.05JUBLFOOD 2882 2943.2 2867.8 2881.8KEI 498 509.65 493.6 499.5ULTRACEMCO 6470 6544.1 6395 6419.8HINDCOPPER 75.55 80.7 75.15 78.55ADANIPOWER 55.4 55.45 52.75 54.3INDIANB 129.85 142.8 129 142.8VOLTAS 1037 1048.25 1017.35 1033.4SOUTHBANK 8.16 8.83 8.14 8.68UPL 528 542.45 526.3 538.9DELTACORP 154 159.85 153.1 154.5CIPLA 850 853.95 832.6 835.8SUZLON 5.59 5.59 5.12 5.24HDFCLIFE 697.9 711.6 695.35 703.2QUESS 722 728.6 702.9 716.95PNBHOUSING 412 440.8 412 432.2BAJAJ-AUTO 4132 4205.35 4112.95 4166.2ACC 1826.8 1836.75 1808 1819.65STAR 894.05 901.15 883 890.55BERGEPAINT 775 775 746 753.25AMARAJABAT 904.75 915.5 896.8 902.7BATAINDIA 1535 1535 1496.8 1509.2CUMMINSIND 776 795.35 762.75 791.25IEX 277.95 294 277.4 283.75ICICIGI 1482.05 1541 1482.05 1497.45DIXON 18749 19341.4 18489.85 19185.35TATAELXSI 2899.8 2899.8 2791.1 2816.9PHILIPCARB 201 205.35 195.3 197.6NMDC 116 117.15 114.45 116.5TRENT 751.9 778.15 731 768.85ESCORTS 1380.05 1393.3 1364.25 1377.95INDUSTOWER 248.9 258.5 247.1 256.6AFFLE 5299 5436.9 5185 5407.85MANAPPURAM 176.5 178.95 175 177

TANLA 789 812.3 760.55 812.3COALINDIA 133.95 135.75 133 135.25EXIDEIND 212 213.85 208.85 209.75J&KBANK 28.8 31.25 28.5 30.15NOCIL 175 179.65 172.25 174.5BLISSGVS 178.95 182.9 177 178.15GRANULES 352.95 352.95 340 340.7JUSTDIAL 665 681.25 652.75 663.8FORTIS 161.95 165 157.75 160.7MINDTREE 1686.9 1711.05 1670.1 1678.4PTC 68.85 74.35 68.7 71.6ICICIPRULI 494.9 503.4 487 488.5RAIN 139.45 144.9 138.1 141.5TCNSBRANDS 403.15 483.7 398 441.55GRASIM 1235 1249.05 1227.45 1238.05NATIONALUM 50.15 51.1 49.7 50.5LAURUSLABS 375.6 377.7 364.3 366.85TORNTPOWER 342.55 353.65 335.6 345.053MINDIA 21262.55 22019.9 21163.8 21964.6GLENMARK 505 507.45 492.7 494.55LTI 3989 3989 3869 3885.05LINDEINDIA 1261 1465 1261 1383.6ENGINERSIN 71.35 72.65 71 71.15SCI 85.6 91.55 85.25 90.3TATACOMM 1063 1082.35 1031.65 1057.95TATAMTRDVR 133.05 133.15 131.1 131.75SRF 5799.95 5840.35 5650.05 5685.05ATUL* 6736.15 7021.25 6635 6747.55PFC 133.7 133.7 129.6 130.05JKPAPER 139.6 146.7 139.05 142.3KTKBANK 65.45 67.9 65.4 66.75RAYMOND 330.05 344.3 328.55 340.9CGCL 323.85 334.2 323.85 329.8SBICARD 1018.2 1028 1011.3 1024.2HAL 1029 1052 1009.6 1039.85NAM-INDIA 346.7 351.55 341.2 345.15BOMDYEING 71.5 73.45 70.85 73.05BAJAJELEC 1060 1070.55 1006.5 1017.05PETRONET 243.85 244.2 239.2 240.5GODREJPROP 1529.9 1529.9 1489.8 1505.55

SHREECEM 28610 28824.1 28160.65 28253.15COFORGE 2370.9 2617.2 2370.9 2583.9JKCEMENT 2700 2804.4 2696.2 2732.45IDFC 48.7 51.3 47.75 48.9GODREJCP 723.8 725 715.15 720.6BAJAJCON 243.9 244.9 235.25 240.9SWANENERGY 146 147 144.9 145.2ALKYLAMINE 5001.2 5316.85 5001.2 5146.1JAICORPLTD 88.45 95.6 88.15 94.55BEML 937.3 981.1 937.3 976.4JBCHEPHARM 1247 1247 1157.85 1172.6GUJGAS 444.45 454.4 436.6 444.65ASHOKA 116.9 118.65 113.45 114.3DISHTV 11.47 12.36 11.24 11.89SBILIFE 872.5 883.35 871.5 877.2CANFINHOME 514 519.5 501.1 507.3MRPL 34.9 39.6 34.65 38.9IRCON 93.35 97.75 92.55 96.05AARTIIND 1226 1258.95 1220.1 1236.15MGL 1157 1157 1130.4 1151.6SIEMENS 1843.85 1875.55 1827.85 1869.55RVNL 30.6 31.3 30.4 30.7JKTYRE 125 128 123.55 124.9POLYCAB 1340 1364 1323 1350DCBBANK 114.7 116.9 113.45 115.1INDHOTEL 127.75 129.25 124.3 125.7NATCOPHARM 821 832.65 796 806.85COROMANDEL 782.9 783 766.2 778.7ASTRAZEN 3800 3800 3670.55 3697CEATLTD 1628 1650 1601.5 1634.25UJJIVAN 246.7 247.15 241.6 242.25PIIND 2229 2249.8 2200 2221.6BOSCHLTD 15709.9 15864.75 15442 15799.4CUB 164.3 168.8 164.3 167.1POLYMED 625.95 665.95 610 651.5TATAMETALI 763 765.5 751 757.55ASTRAL 2006 2072 2006 2060.5GMRINFRA 25.05 25.4 25 25.1MCX 1533 1541.9 1496.7 1504.75COLPAL 1574.05 1601 1574.05 1594.8VAKRANGEE 59.35 59.35 57.6 58.4TRIDENT 13.85 14.04 13.42 13.96LTTS 2655.1 2689.45 2621.1 2660.6PNCINFRA 266.2 281 266.05 273.8BIRLACORPN 909 911 879.65 889.9UFLEX 355.1 374.6 351.05 365.75VBL 901.65 950.45 901.65 944.95TVSMOTOR 630.7 630.7 616.3 619BSOFT 243.4 246.95 241.4 243.25AMBER 3210 3247.45 3100.1 3120.5APLLTD 960 966.9 942.15 956.35ALKEM 2860 2888.75 2786.7 2826.6IGL 548.9 554.5 543.05 544.85HDFCAMC 3022.95 3023.25 2980 2984.9INDIACEM 168.25 172.5 167.9 168.45DABUR 522.7 526 519 520.25AUBANK 1109.5 1111.8 1080.5 1097.75KRBL 190 199.35 187.9 196.75BLUEDART 4875 4950 4685.3 4746.4FSL 96.5 96.5 93.35 94.55RADICO 561.05 567.65 559.25 563.3DBL 554.85 567.45 551.3 561INOXLEISUR 326 330.9 323.55 325.15NAVINFLUOR 2516.4 2543.5 2488.8 2502.1IFCI 8.6 9.45 8.46 9.16SWSOLAR 232.35 235.3 230.5 231.75AARTIDRUGS 669 677.6 652.9 655.05VRLLOG* 230 246.6 228.8 245.15MIDHANI 185.9 189.8 184.2 187.85MAHINDCIE 200.45 210.3 195.1 199.4CYIENT 600 628.65 600 617.9GARFIBRES 2262.6 2538 2215 2406.05ALOKTEXT 20.5 20.7 20.25 20.3SUMICHEM 299.85 309.95 294 298.55IBREALEST 84.4 84.8 82 82.4FINOLEXIND 665.2 668 659 662.7KEC 442.8 442.95 431.9 433.25KALPATPOWR 371.3 385.6 366.25 375.2IOLCP 655 672.3 650.45 653.4HINDZINC 305.5 308.75 301.4 305.55CASTROLIND 127 127.65 125.4 125.75IPCALAB 1900.5 1900.5 1869 1889.55CARBORUNIV 500.3 524.35 500.3 519.7CHAMBLFERT 234.75 236.75 231.2 232.3JINDALSAW 71.25 72.9 68.75 70.1RAJESHEXPO 485 486 481.8 483.05ISEC 414 421 413.05 417.25SIS 435.45 440 432.6 433.75JAGRAN 44.15 47.9 44 46.8IIFL 243.95 243.95 217.25 221.35ABBOTINDIA 14780 14780 14500 14673ABFRL 164.25 164.5 161.1 162.4WHIRLPOOL 2452.35 2473.9 2410 2420.9GSPL 239.8 241.65 237.15 239.25SCHNEIDER 99.4 107.9 99 104.85VINATIORGA 1500.1 1518.1 1458.4 1469.9OFSS 3130 3158 3069.55 3087OIL 118.5 120.2 118.1 119.55HAWKINCOOK 5674.95 5674.95 5561.3 5612.3GODFRYPHLP 922 936.35 922 923.4HERITGFOOD 283.5 306.45 276.4 301.2GICRE 140.2 144 140.2 142.45FRETAIL 76.55 76.9 75.2 75.5AJANTPHARM 1800 1800 1760.65 1784.8WOCKPHARMA 503.5 507.65 489.5 491.45HSCL 44.65 45.15 44.35 44.65JAMNAAUTO 69.55 70.8 68.95 70.4CROMPTON 398.65 407.15 392.7 395.2

BALRAMCHIN 157 160.15 157 159.55VARROC 390 404 385.75 399.7SUNTECK 364.25 365 356.05 358.85ZENSARTECH 229.15 242.5 227.55 239.4SUNDRMFAST 653 686.3 653 667.7ADVENZYMES 369 377 366.1 367.65JSLHISAR 125.25 126.5 119.4 119.85CESC 617.5 622.85 604 606.1MOTILALOFS 601.5 614 600.05 610.15GNFC 230.8 230.8 224.25 225.45TATACOFFEE 111 111.4 107.15 107.5

RAMCOCEM 989.5 996.2 975.9 979.75GODREJAGRO 495 501 490.7 493.5CHENNPETRO 94 98.4 94 97.3PFIZER 4640 4671 4567.25 4611.45MPHASIS 1693 1693 1630 1650.05MMTC 27.5 29.1 27.5 28.3NETWORK18 36.7 36.75 36.25 36.5SOLARA 1537.5 1538.75 1500 1507.3METROPOLIS 1960 2037.4 1935.75 2019.45HONAUT 43550 44453.7 42942.75 44290.05PHOENIXLTD 840 854.65 821.6 844.9RALLIS 269.95 269.95 260 262.45NLCINDIA 51 51.55 50.9 51.05FORCEMOT 1351.95 1408.5 1342.2 1367.7NBCC 32.35 32.6 32.2 32.25KAJARIACER 979.4 989.1 967.8 982.5SCHAEFFLER 5099 5240 4985.6 5138.85ENDURANCE 1470.2 1477.45 1426.25 1443.35RCF 53 53.55 52.75 53.2SHOPERSTOP 210.85 218.95 209.4 213.95THERMAX 1147.95 1227.65 1138 1157.3SUVENPHAR 499.5 501.65 492.05 494.65RITES 246 250.2 245 248.6ABB 1515 1515 1484.35 1497.95DEEPAKFERT 153 160.8 153 159.2EIDPARRY 315.55 329 313.45 325.85PRSMJOHNSN 113 117.8 112.45 117.4TTKPRESTIG 7307.4 7394.7 7202.85 7262.55BAJAJHLDNG 3610 3611.45 3538.55 3598.45PRESTIGE 286.9 299.5 286.9 294.9SYNGENE 595.55 596.65 587.9 591.05TIINDIA 1042 1048.45 1015.3 1027.6EDELWEISS 67 67.5 65.15 65.45KNRCON 222.9 222.9 217.25 219.05KPITTECH 132 135.7 130.4 132.9REDINGTON 174.5 186.15 170.9 177.35ORIENTELEC 288 288 268.55 270.85CSBBANK 219.95 223 219.95 222.05MEGH 78.6 79.35 77.1 77.45KSCL 515.1 521.75 507.9 510.8AAVAS 2227.05 2287.95 2165.55 2254.35CCL 247.35 247.35 238.95 239.85PERSISTENT 1785 1785 1695.05 1710ORIENTCEM 95.95 98.5 95.35 96.1RELAXO 875 879.1 857.15 865.9BASF 1978.55 2070.35 1969.65 2055.55VIPIND 381.65 385.95 370.95 381.35CERA 3990 4013.95 3911 3940.8JSWENERGY 75 75.55 74.05 74.4SOLARINDS 1284.65 1289.15 1232.85 1271.7FINCABLES 370.05 389 370.05 386.75AVANTI 485.05 496.9 480.1 489.55SANOFI 7843 7851.7 7762.85 7794.3EPL 220 223.2 218 219.8LUXIND 1830 1867.5 1814.75 1822.8DBCORP 86 93.3 85.8 90GRSE 196.65 205.8 196.45 204.7SUPREMEIND 1921 1963 1900 1908.4THYROCARE 931.55 943 914 921.75GESHIP 258 269.05 256 267.2ALLCARGO 130.05 133.6 129 130.4HUDCO 44.45 45.35 43.9 44.4JMFINANCIL 93 93.3 91.7 92.35FINEORG 2407.9 2417.75 2375 2382NHPC 25.5 25.5 25.2 25.25PGHH 13393.5 13406.3 12891 13154.35GSFC 76 77.85 75.75 77.65VENKYS 1605.95 1616.5 1589 1593.4JSL 71.8 72.4 70.55 70.8BALMLAWRIE 114.5 115.7 113.45 114.35NILKAMAL 1795 1895.2 1788 1826.7MINDAIND 580.1 585.3 568.4 571.65WELCORP 124.95 125.75 123.35 124.15BAYERCROP 5200 5203.8 5142 5148.25

TRITURBINE 100.25 101.35 95.3 99.7EIHOTEL 99.05 99.2 96 97.25TV18BRDCST 29.55 30.15 29.55 29.85OBEROIRLTY 573.9 575.8 565.25 571.75SEQUENT 248.8 254.1 247.55 248.2SPARC 181.5 181.85 178.55 179.3BDL 342.35 346.75 341.25 344.65BLUESTARCO 817.7 821.7 803.65 807.7LAXMIMACH 6166 6239.2 6070 6089.3CENTURYPLY 307.25 317.65 305.95 315.35DCMSHRIRAM 479.65 479.65 463.85 464.75JYOTHYLAB 150.3 153.45 150.3 151.9GODREJIND 442 447.7 442 445IRB 107.1 108.75 106.25 106.65LEMONTREE 43.65 43.65 42.5 43HEIDELBERG 232.4 238.95 231.2 232FDC 295.6 296 290 291.85EQUITAS 82 84.95 82 84.4CHOLAHLDNG 592.65 601.7 581.65 590.75SJVN 27.25 27.3 26.9 27.2AKZOINDIA 2181 2190 2160.1 2171.75KANSAINER 587.4 590.4 580.1 587.6TVSSRICHAK 2100 2100 1977.5 1995.95DCAL 121.05 122.05 119.3 119.95ECLERX 925 973.15 924.85 956.4CREDITACC 701.35 717.25 701.35 708.8ASTERDM 152.25 152.5 148.4 150.3NBVENTURES 58.35 59.35 57.8 58WELSPUNIND 67 67.7 66.55 66.65IFBIND 1280 1301.55 1260 1283.7KPRMILL 931 931 897.6 902.2CARERATING 497.8 497.8 482.8 483.8FCONSUMER 8.2 8.22 8.02 8.13SUPRAJIT 255.5 260.9 252.7 258.15VAIBHAVGBL 2941.35 2941.35 2765 2802.75BBTC 1200 1208.4 1190 1191.5EMAMILTD 479.9 482.45 468 469.85GDL 160.15 167.85 159.35 166.5ZYDUSWELL 1882.3 1897.2 1864.65 1889.8VMART 2750 2760.45 2700 2724.7MAHLIFE 499 499 479.1 483.7TVTODAY 270 270 264.15 267.6TIMETECHNO 51.9 52.85 51.5 52.6MOIL 139.05 140.75 135.6 137.75TEAMLEASE 3078 3181 3078 3163.3TATAINVEST 1075 1080.6 1055.6 1063.35GMDCLTD 54.95 55.4 54.5 55.1DHANUKA 760 760 743.55 745.8SHK 123.35 123.35 121.15 121.8GHCL 208 212.4 207.75 210.6GEPIL 276.2 278.15 272.45 275.35WABCOINDIA 5960 6104.9 5950.2 5963.95GRINDWELL 852.7 877.95 841.8 844.5UJJIVANSFB 36 36.15 35.55 35.65NH 465.35 470 461 462.15JKLAKSHMI 379.8 379.8 372.5 375.4SFL 2023 2031.95 2004.35 2019.85CRISIL 2004.75 2007.3 1948.05 1966.8PGHL 7370 7495 7195.45 7237.05SHILPAMED 427 429.1 419 426.1SKFINDIA 2354.55 2375.1 2325.8 2353.45LAOPALA 216.25 218.9 210 214.45GUJALKALI 310 313.8 307.45 309.4STARCEMENT 92.45 98.25 92 97CHALET 172.9 174.05 171.25 171.9CAPPL 470.1 470.1 463 465.75BRIGADE 281.7 289.15 279.95 281.85SYMPHONY 1066.25 1078.95 1056.3 1062AIAENG 1949 1949.9 1920 1927.35JTEKTINDIA 89.6 90.8 86.75 87.3TCIEXP 947.65 992.25 947.65 981.15SOBHA 453 459.15 450.5 457.15MINDACORP 95.8 96 93.9 94.45IIFLWAM 1187.95 1247 1187.95 1222.65COCHINSHIP 364.9 364.9 355 358.7RATNAMANI 1671.3 1700.1 1640.65 1669.55MAHSCOOTER 3920 3929 3865 3883.7AEGISLOG 301 302.55 293.25 294.5MHRIL 230.4 231.75 222.5 223.45FLUOROCHEM 570.75 575.6 556 557.45TIMKEN 1360 1365.05 1321.5 1325.65KSB 683.4 685.15 667.2 675.3GLAXO 1450 1450 1433.35 1443.45GALAXYSURF 2191.8 2236 2171.4 2208.1INDOSTAR 317.2 327.25 316.3 322.35JCHAC 2448.85 2490 2445.55 2463.7NIACL 136 137.5 135.9 136.85ERIS 576.6 585 574.65 576.35MASFIN 838 854 827 848.4SUDARSCHEM 503 503.7 498 499.55NESCO 612.8 617.4 602 605.85ORIENTREF 231 242 231 236.6INDOCO 294 295.65 292 293.85GPPL 95.5 95.8 93.45 94.65SPANDANA 747.8 747.8 686 689.8NAVNETEDUL 83.7 84 82.4 83.8TASTYBIT 14578.9 14618.6 14014.75 14299.05GILLETTE 5664 5666 5630.9 5642.35VSTIND 3724 3724 3547.3 3559.55RESPONIND 181.25 183.7 173.2 175.5VTL 1040.4 1086.4 1039 1074.25ITDC 300.85 306.7 300.65 302.95MAHLOG 500.1 507.95 492 495.2ESABINDIA 1890 1890 1855.45 1859.2HATHWAY 29.5 30.3 29.5 30WESTLIFE 457 460.45 446 450.65MAHSEAMLES 284 284.95 282.3 283.3SHRIRAMCIT 1482.9 1488.85 1470 1478.6

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 15,279.90 15,314.30 15,170.75 15,208.90 -104.55HEROMOTOCO 3,463.45 3,595.00 3,457.25 3,583.00 121.45BPCL 404.5 413.9 401.55 413.6 11.65SBIN 403 414.85 400.15 413.4 11.05ADANIPORTS 658 670 646.9 654 17.45POWERGRID 225.5 231.2 222.2 230.35 4.8GAIL 132.5 136.95 132 135 1.9HDFCLIFE 696 711.5 693 704 8.65COALINDIA 133.3 135.75 132.9 135.4 1.65NTPC 97.85 100.15 97 99.2 1.2RELIANCE 2,060.00 2,095.95 2,050.60 2,079.20 19.7BHARTIARTL 596.95 598.8 590.05 598 4.05BAJAJ-AUTO 4,117.00 4,205.00 4,111.00 4,156.35 23.5HINDALCO 302.7 308.5 301 304.1 1.4SBILIFE 870 883.15 870 875 3M&M 905 920.15 904.6 913.8 1.6TATAMOTORS 326.9 334.25 325.45 329.7 0.5JSWSTEEL 406.35 411 401 408.05 0.4AXISBANK 774 785 764.3 775.5 0.45LT 1,544.00 1,567.00 1,533.00 1,549.95 0.5ONGC 102 103.5 100.8 101.95 -0.05ITC 217.6 218.4 216.55 217.95 -0.3UPL 525.3 542.6 525.3 537.3 -1.65GRASIM 1,228.10 1,249.00 1,228.00 1,237.90 -5.85ULTRACEMCO 6,457.80 6,544.50 6,390.95 6,424.25 -33.55TATASTEEL 697.65 703.5 687.5 695.4 -3.8TECHM 989 996.6 971.4 981.5 -5.3TITAN 1,469.40 1,483.00 1,449.50 1,463.80 -8.05ICICIBANK 654.8 664.95 649.35 654.5 -3.85IOC 95.55 95.7 94.65 95 -0.6BRITANNIA 3,370.00 3,404.85 3,360.00 3,364.65 -24.8INFY 1,290.40 1,294.50 1,275.00 1,280.50 -9.9SHREECEM 28,569.40 28,840.45 28,150.05 28,340.00 -257.4HCLTECH 952 958.4 941 943 -9.3BAJFINANCE 5,730.00 5,799.00 5,670.00 5,696.00 -64.25TCS 3,105.10 3,132.85 3,045.55 3,073.45 -35.35EICHERMOT 2,720.00 2,745.00 2,685.00 2,688.90 -38.05HINDUNILVR 2,196.00 2,201.55 2,160.00 2,165.00 -31.1KOTAKBANK 2,015.10 2,023.50 1,969.15 1,988.95 -30.7SUNPHARMA 628.7 632.4 619.8 621.45 -9.7CIPLA 849.45 854.7 833 834.6 -13.75WIPRO 435.9 439 428.5 430.3 -7.25HDFC 2,850.25 2,856.60 2,787.85 2,797.55 -61.1DRREDDY 4,696.60 4,709.95 4,580.00 4,595.25 -101.35INDUSINDBK 1,080.00 1,085.00 1,026.20 1,032.10 -26.15DIVISLAB 3,672.00 3,675.00 3,590.00 3,595.00 -91.5HDFCBANK 1,620.00 1,621.80 1,583.00 1,586.20 -40.45BAJAJFINSV 10,420.00 10,498.80 10,112.20 10,195.00 -265.6MARUTI 7,679.95 7,691.50 7,471.30 7,501.00 -196.05ASIANPAINT 2,436.00 2,455.05 2,382.00 2,386.00 -64.25NESTLEIND 16,900.00 16,900.00 16,350.00 16,700.00 -517.25

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 35,179.95 35,326.10 35,039.10 35,205.15 71.95MOTHERSUMI 212 229.4 210.75 227.6 14.15BANKBARODA 79.6 85.5 79.15 84.15 4.45PNB 39.5 42.5 39.3 41.35 1.85HINDPETRO 225.65 235 224.95 234.7 9.05INDUSTOWER 247.15 258.2 246.15 256.7 9.55SIEMENS 1,827.00 1,877.00 1,820.00 1,875.40 43.85PEL 1,830.00 1,895.00 1,820.00 1,881.10 39MARICO 408.4 418 407.5 417.9 8.65DMART 3,120.00 3,242.00 3,090.00 3,190.00 59.15PGHH 13,323.00 13,478.35 12,855.10 13,300.00 190.65AMBUJACEM 285.75 290.4 284.2 287.7 3.65MUTHOOTFIN 1,313.65 1,353.40 1,285.00 1,330.00 14.7BOSCHLTD 15,644.25 15,885.00 15,437.70 15,751.00 171.4ADANIGREEN 1,085.00 1,127.00 1,051.05 1,090.00 11.7TATACONSUM 636 645.7 624.25 632.85 4.5CONCOR 532.5 566.85 532.5 540.95 3.8GICRE 142.1 144.5 140.5 142.75 0.8COLPAL 1,583.95 1,601.65 1,577.25 1,589.25 8.2SBICARD 1,015.00 1,028.00 1,011.10 1,024.00 4.65NMDC 115.75 117.25 114.45 116 0.5HINDZINC 304.95 308.9 301.5 305 0.3ACC 1,820.00 1,837.00 1,807.00 1,820.30 1INDIGO 1,609.45 1,628.85 1,577.20 1,611.00 0.55BIOCON 418.95 422.95 415.2 417.5 0.1GODREJCP 725 726 715.1 719.5 -1.6ABBOTINDIA 14,710.70 14,760.45 14,485.20 14,650.00 -50.7DABUR 523.2 526 519 520.2 -2.4ICICIPRULI 493.7 503.5 486.6 488.5 -2.25BAJAJHLDNG 3,618.00 3,621.50 3,583.05 3,602.00 -16.95IGL 547.65 554.6 543 544.8 -2.85ICICIGI 1,499.00 1,541.80 1,495.05 1,495.90 -9MCDOWELL-N 567.95 567.95 560.65 565 -3.45HDFCAMC 3,000.10 3,024.00 2,978.10 2,979.00 -21.55BANDHANBNK 350 353.8 343.65 347.35 -2.8UBL 1,280.95 1,288.60 1,257.95 1,264.40 -12.3ADANITRANS 767 820 712 756 -7.55CADILAHC 470 471.5 460.7 464.15 -4.75OFSS 3,149.00 3,149.90 3,065.00 3,103.00 -31.7BERGEPAINT 759 761.95 746 751 -8.55PETRONET 243.5 244.35 239.1 239.95 -2.85DLF 318.7 321.55 313.2 314.9 -4.1PIDILITIND 1,800.00 1,808.90 1,760.00 1,762.90 -26.25LTI 3,956.00 3,974.55 3,867.00 3,885.90 -59.05AUROPHARMA 935 943 915.65 920.9 -14.95TORNTPHARM 2,587.70 2,600.00 2,525.05 2,545.00 -43.8HAVELLS 1,220.40 1,231.90 1,183.50 1,194.00 -22.15ALKEM 2,880.00 2,889.00 2,786.95 2,802.00 -74.2PFC 132.95 133.75 129.55 130.25 -3.45LUPIN 1,100.00 1,109.00 1,060.00 1,061.55 -35.25NAUKRI 5,120.00 5,125.00 4,828.00 4,915.30 -179.9

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Wednesday

addressed the board of marketsregulator Sebi for the first timeafter the presentation of theUnion Budget earlier thismonth. After the presentationof the Budget every year, it iscustomary for the finance min-ister to address the boards ofSebi and RBI.In a tweet, thefinance ministry saidSitharaman addressed theboard of Sebi (Securities andExchange Board of India) inthe national capital onWednesday. The ministry alsotweeted photos of the meeting.

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Equity indices buckled underselling pressure for the sec-

ond straight session onWednesday as risk appetiteremained subdued amid abearish trend overseas.

Profit-booking was seen infinance, IT and FMCG coun-ters, while a depreciating rupeealso weighed on investor sen-timent, traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensexslumped 400.34 points or 0.77per cent to close at 51,703.83.

The broader NSE Nifty tum-bled 104.55 points or 0.68 percent to 15,208.90.

Nestle India was the toploser in the Sensex pack, shed-ding 2.80 per cent, followed byBajaj Finserv, Asian Paints,HDFC Bank, IndusInd Bank,Maruti, Dr Reddy’s and HDFC.

HDFC twins accounted forover half of the benchmark’slosses. On the other hand, SBI,PowerGrid, NTPC, RelianceIndustries and Bajaj Auto wereamong the gainers, climbing upto 2.39 per cent.

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S&P Global Ratings onWednesday said India will

be one of the fastest growingemerging market economieswith a 10 per cent growth in thenext fiscal, and future sovereignrating action would hinge onlowering fiscal deficit and sus-taining debt burden.

S&P Director, Sovereign &International Public FinanceRatings, Andrew Wood saidthe forecast for India in 2021 ison stronger side and shows thata lot of economic activity,

which was frozen last year, iscoming back on line to nor-malisation thereby brighteningthe growth prospects, as well asstructural strengths of Indianeconomy coming back to thefore.

“India will be one of thefastest-growing economy inthe EM (emerging market)space. India’s contraction thisyear was steep and may bedeeper than global average,but bounce back of 10% that weare expecting next fiscal yearwill be putting India amongstthe fastest growers in 2021and more importantly we seeIndian economy growing at 6%over medium term, may beslightly higher, and that com-pares very well to EM all

around the world,” Wood saidin a webinar on India outlookfor 2021.

S&P said India’s economyhas stabilised over recentmonths, with progressively bet-ter manufacturing, services,labour market, and revenuedata. The hard part will be con-verting these trends into a sus-tained recovery over the nextfew years.

India has exceeded its fis-cal deficit target of 3.5 per centin the current fiscal by a widemargin due to higher spend-ings to stimulate economyamid the pandemic.

The fiscal deficit - theexcess of government expen-diture over its revenues - hasbeen pegged at 9.5 per cent of

the gross domestic product(GDP) in the current fiscalending March 31, as per therevised estimate.

For the next 2021-22 fiscal,the deficit has been put at 6.8per cent of the GDP, which willbe further lowered to 4.5 percent by 2025-26 fiscal endingMarch 31, 2026.

“Vast economic growth iscrucial and critical for main-taining those deficits at thoserates financing them and keep-ing debt stocks from rising evenfurther.

If that were the case if theeconomy were to recover at amuch lower pace than expect-ed we would have additionalconcerns regarding the sus-tainability of those fiscal

accounts,” Wood added.S&P currently has a ‘BBB-

’ rating on India, with a stableoutlook.

To a query on what couldput downside pressure on rat-ings, Wood said, “If we have amuch lower than expectedrecovery, slower nominal GDPgrowth, that would be a con-cern.

If economy is not growingquickly then fiscal deficit wouldbe lot higher and debt stockcould be rising rather than sta-bilising. That would entail highgovernment

deficit and higher generalgovernment debt stock whichcould cause us to question thesustainability of India’s publicfinances.”

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Global forecasting firmOxford Economics on

Wednesday revised India’s eco-nomic growth projection for2021 to 10.2 per cent from theearlier 8.8 per cent, citingreceding Covid-19 risks andthe shift in the monetary pol-icy outlook.

It further said the Budget2021-22 will create positive

externalities for the privatesector, and forecast slower fis-cal consolidation in FY22 thanthe government projections.

“Alongside the plannedgovernment spending boostin Q1 and receding Covid-19risks, the shift in the monetarypolicy outlook supports our2021 growth upgrade to 10.2 per cent from 8.8 per centearlier,” Oxford Economicssaid.

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On a day when petrol crossedthe Rs 100 mark, Prime

Minister Narendra Modi onWednesday said the middle-class would not have been bur-dened if the previous govern-ments had focussed on reducingIndia’s energy import depen-dence. Without referring to therelentless increase in retail fuelprices, which are linked to inter-national rates, he said Indiaimported over 85 per cent of its

oil needs in the 2019-20 finan-cial year and 53 per cent of itsgas requirement.

“Can a diverse and talent-ed nation like ours be so ener-gy import dependent?” he asked,addressing an online event toinaugurate oil and gas projectsin poll-bound Tamil Nadu.

“I do not want to criticiseanyone but I want to say (that)had we focused on this subjectmuch earlier, our middle-classwould not be burdened,” hesaid.Price of petrol crossed the Rs

100 per litre mark in Rajasthanafter fuel rates were hiked for theninth day in a row. Since Indiaimports the majority of its oilneeds, retail rates are bench-marked to international prices,which have spiralled in recentweeks. Opposition partiesincluding Congress have criti-cised the price hikes, blaming iton the Modi government raisingtaxes to scoop out the benefit thatarose from international oil ratesplunging to a two-decade low inApril/May last year

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The Government onWednesday approved a

12,195 crore production-linkedincentive (PLI) scheme fortelecom gear manufacturingin India which is expected toencourage production of equip-ment worth Rs 2.44 lakh croreand create direct and indirectemployment for about 40,000people, Union minister RaviShankar Prasad said.

The PLI scheme for tele-com gear manufacturing willbe operational from April 1,

2021.“In the coming five years

we hope to have incrementalproduction of Rs 2,44,200crore, export worth Rs 1,95,360crore, direct and indirectemployment to 40,000 peopleand tax revenue of approxi-mately Rs 17,000 crore to thecountry,” telecom minister RaviShankar Prasad said after theCabinet meeting.According toan official statement, thescheme is expected to bringinvestment of over Rs 3,000crore and generate huge directand indirect employment and

taxes both. Addressingreporters after the Cabinetmeeting, Prasad said that thegovernment is positioningIndia as a global powerhousefor manufacturing, and hascreated a conducive environ-ment for ease of doing business.

“Cabinet has approved PLIfor telecom sector ... To ensurefurther progress of Make-in-India in telecom equipmentspace...5G equipment will alsocome...So it was important togive incentives. We held wide-spread consultation with stake-holders,” Prasad said.

Page 11: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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Thousands of demonstra-tors flooded the streets of

Myanmar’s biggest cityWednesday, in one of largestprotests yet of a coup, despitewarnings from a UN humanrights expert that recent troopmovements could indicate themilitary was planning a violentcrackdown.

In Yangon, protestersmarched carrying signs callingfor ousted leader Aung San SuuKyi to be released from deten-tion, while others feigned cartrouble, strategically abandon-ing their vehicles — and leav-ing the hoods up — to preventsecurity forces from easilyaccessing the demonstrations.Large rallies were also held inthe country’s second-biggestcity, Mandalay, and the capitalof Naypyitaw, in defiance of anorder banning gatherings offive or more people.

One motorist, who spokeon condition of anonymitybecause he feared being tar-geted, explained tongue-in-cheek that his car had broken

down “due to the sufferingthat our people are undergoingnow. We just stopped the carshere on the road to show thatwe do not want the military

regime.”The demonstrations came

a day after UN rapporteurTom Andrews expressed alarmat reports of soldiers being

transported into Yangon, not-ing that such movements hadpreviously preceded killings,disappearances and massarrests.

“I am terrified that giventhe confluence of these twodevelopments­ — plannedmass protests and troops con-verging — we could be on theprecipice of the military com-mitting even greater crimesagainst the people ofMyanmar,” he said in a state-ment issued by the UN HumanRights office in Geneva.

By Wednesday evening,there had been no reports ofmajor violence.

The military seized poweron February 1, the day newlyelected parliamentarians weresupposed to take their seats —a shocking backslide for acountry that had been takingtentative steps toward democ-racy.

The junta said the takeoverwas necessary because SuuKyi’s government had failed toinvestigate fraud claims in elec-tions her party won in a land-slide; the election commissionhas dismissed those claims.

The high protest turnoutcame a day after junta leadershad declared that the demon-strations were dying down —

and Kyi Pyar, a former law-maker from Suu Kyi’s party,said that dismissal only servedto spur on the resistance.

“This upset the people,” shesaid. “We are not weak, we willnever step back in the fightagainst the military regime. Sowe are back on the street again.”

In Naypyitaw, thousands ofpeople, including private bankemployees and engineers,marched down the city’s wideboulevards, chanting for therelease of Suu Kyi and PresidentWin Myint.

Protesters also poured intothe streets of Mandalay, whereearlier in the week securityforces pointed guns at demon-strators and attacked themwith slingshots and sticks.Local media reported that sev-eral people were injured.

The marches have beenorganised as part of a civil dis-obedience movement, spear-headed by medical workersand supported by many civilservants. Police filed a newcharge against Suu Kyi, herlawyer said Tuesday, a movelikely to keep her under house

arrest and further fuel publicanger. It was the second chargeagainst Suu Kyi — the first forillegally possessing walkie-talkies, the second for analleged violation of coronavirusrestrictions — both apparentattempts to provide a legalveneer for her detention.British Prime Minister BorisJohnson issued a strong denun-ciation of the legal maneuver.

“New charges against AungSan Suu Kyi fabricated by theMyanmar military are a clearviolation of her human rights,”he tweeted.

“We stand with the peopleof Myanmar and will ensurethose responsible for this coupare held to account.”

On Tuesday night, the mil-itary for a third day in a rowordered an internet blackout —almost entirely blocking onlineaccess from 1 am to 9 am.

While the military did notsay why the internet was beingblocked, there is widespreadspeculation that the govern-ment is installing a firewall sys-tem to allow it to monitor orblock online activity.

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Four weeks into his presi-dency, Joe Biden says he’s

still getting used to the trap-pings of the office.

Biden offered a frankdescription of what it’s like tolive at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.During his CNN town hallTuesday night, referencing pastpresidents who have spoken ofthe building as “a little like agilded cage.”

“I get up in the morningand look at Jill and say, Wherethe hell are we?’” Biden joked,adding that he wasn’t used tohousehold staff waiting onhim.

“I find myself extremelyself-conscious,” Biden added,saying he was unaccustomed tosomeone “handing me my suit-coat.”

Biden’s working-classupbringing in Scranton,Pennsylvania, has long been acentral part of his politicalbrand. He most recently lived

in a large house in theWilmington, Delaware, sub-urbs.

The White House featuresa spacious lawn that has anunimpeded view of theWashington and LincolnMonuments, but is otherwisesurrounded by high fencingand a small army of guards.Biden said it’s “totally different”from the vice president’s resi-dence, set on 80 acres and

offering ample room to swim,explore and exercise in greaterprivacy.

The former vice presidentsaid he’d been in the OvalOffice 100 times or more overthe years, but had never beento the residential areas of theWhite House.

Even if the residence stillfeels new, Biden suggested he’salready settled deeply into thework of the presidency.

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Donald Trump has launcheda scathing personal attack

on Mitch McConnell, callinghim a “dour, sullen and unsmil-ing political hack,” days afterthe top Republican Senatorand former close ally voted toacquit the ex-US president inhis second impeachment trial.

McConnell, who led theSenate for years, voted to acquitTrump in his impeachmenttrial last week. But the 78-year-old Senator from Kentuckythen attacked Trump as“morally responsible” for thedeadly US Capitol riot onJanuary 6.

Trump and McConnell —the two most powerful men inthe Republican Party — havebeen estranged in recentmonths after working closelyduring the former president’sfour years in office. But things

changed after Trump lost theNovember 3 election to hisDemocratic rival, Joe Biden.

“Mitch is a dour, sullen,and unsmiling political hack,and if Republican Senators aregoing to stay with him, theywill not win again,” Trump saidin the terse statement onTuesday against the SenateMinority Leader.

“He will never do whatneeds to be done, or what isright for our country. Wherenecessary and appropriate, Iwill back primary rivals whoespouse Making America GreatAgain and our policy ofAmerica First. We want bril-liant, strong, thoughtful, andcompassionate leadership,” the74-year-old former president said.

Trump asserted thatMcConnell’s shortcomings hadcontributed to the RepublicanParty’s loss of the Senate

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The United Nations’ humanrights body said

Wednesday it will seek infor-mation from the United ArabEmirates about a daughter ofDubai’s powerful ruler after shesaid in video messages that shewas being imprisoned in aheavily guarded villa.

Sheikha Latifa bintMohammed Al Maktoum triedto flee the wealthy Gulf state in2018 but was detained by com-mandos in a boat off India. Shehad not been heard from until

Tuesday, when the BBC’s“Panorama” investigative pro-gramme broadcast video mes-sages from the sheikha.

In the videos, which appearto have been recorded covert-ly, the 35-year-old princesssays she is “worried about mysafety and my life.”

“I don’t really know if I’mgoing to survive this situation,”she says in one of the videos.The BBC said they were record-ed over months on a phone shesecretly received about a yearafter her capture.

Marcus Essabri, a cousinwho lives in England, told the

BBC that the videos stoppedabout six months ago and therehad been no word from Latifasince then.

“I fear they caught herwith the phone and now I amfearful for her safety,” he said.The Office of the UnitedNations High Commissionerfor Human Rights said itwould “raise these new devel-opments with the UAE.”

“Other parts of the UNhuman rights system with rel-evant mandates may alsobecome involved once theyhave analysed the new mater-ial

Taipei: Ma Xiaolin frequentlywrote about current affairs onone of China’s leadingmicroblogging sites, where hehas 2 million followers. Butrecently, he said in a post, theWeibo site called and asked himnot to post original content on

topics ranging from politics toeconomic and military issues.

“As an international affairsresearcher, it looks like I canonly go the route of entertain-ment, food and beverage now,”the international relations pro-fessor wrote on Jan. 31. AP

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Accepting Ramani’s contentionthat Akbar is not a man of stellarreputation on the basis of testi-mony of witnesses, the court saidit cannot be ignored that theoffence of sexual­ harassment andsexual abuse mostly takes placebehind closed doors.

Sometimes victims themselvesdo not understand what is hap-pening to them or that what is hap-pening to them is wrong, itobserved.

Despite how well respectedsome persons are in society, “theyin their personal lives could showextreme cruelty” to females, itadded.

The court also made note of“systematic abuse at workplace”due to the lack of mechanisms toredress grievances of sexual­harassment at the time of the inci-dent, before the Vishaka guidelineswere issued and the enactment ofThe Sexual Harassment of Womenat Workplace (Prevent ion,Prohibition and Redressal) Act,2013.

“The ‘glass ceiling’ will not pre-vent the Indian women... For theiradvancement in the society, ifequal opportunity and social pro-tection be given to them,” it said.

The court referred to “socialstigma” and “shame” attached withthe sexual harassment of womenand the trauma they have to face.Sometimes, victims of sexual abusedon’t speak a word for many years,the judge said, adding, “The victimmay keep believing that she is atfault and victim may live with thatshame for years or for decades.”

The sexual abuse takes “awayher dignity and her self confi-dence”, the court said.

React ing to the verdict ,Ramani’s lawyer Rebecca John saidit was perhaps the most importantcase of her career. “It was anextremely difficult trial. Whenyou fight powerful people andyou have only truth on your side,the journey becomes very very rel-evant to you personally,” she toldreporters.

As the case drew to a close aftertwo years, scores of womenactivists, lawyers, showbiz celebri-ties and civil society members

welcomed the decision which theywas an empowering one that wouldgive courage to more women tospeak up against abuse andexploitation.

“Bravo #PriyaRamani. Yourabuser @mjakbar hit you with aSLAP suit but you stand vindicat-ed. Verdict empowers women, say-ing we should understand thatsometimes a victim may for yearsnot speak up due to mental trau-ma, cannot be punished for raisingher voice against sexual abuse,”said Kavita Krishnan, secretary ofthe All India Progressive Women’sAssociation.

Senior advocate Indira Jaisingcalled the verdict a big win forwomen.

“Congratulations to PriyaRamani and her able legal team ledby Rebecca John, a big win forwomen in general and for her inparticular. Thank you Priya forspeaking up when you did. This isa big victory for the #MeToomovement,” she tweeted.

“Thappad” star Taapsee Pannusaid the verdict had instilled herfaith in justice at a time when theworld looked bleak.

“Amidst all the wrongs andunfair happening around, this didbring a ray of hope that somewheresomething is keeping our hope inrighteousness alive. Long live truthand justice,” she wrote on Twitter.

Filmmaker Onir called theDelhi court’s verdict a “milestonejudgement”. “This is spectacular. Amilestone judgement when itcomes to sexual harassment.Important that the court points outthat it’s not time-bound. Amazing#PriyaRamani #Rebeccajon” hetweeted.

Screenwriter-editor ApurvaAsrani said Ramani’s acquittal is a“relief ” for those women whofound the courage to call out theirabusers but said it’s only half thebattle won. “MJ Akbar must beheld accountable for the harass-ment that she has endured.#MeToo,” he wrote.

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The government has suspended

international scheduled flights tillFebruary 28.

"Attention Passengers! To reducethe risk of importation of mutantstrains of SARS-CoV-2, SOP forInternational Passengers arriving inIndia have been updated in supers-ession of all guidelines on the sub-ject since 2 Aug20. The new SOP willbe in effect on 23:59 hrs on 22ndFeb,21," the Ministry posted on itsofficial Twitter handle.

The updated SOP consists ofparts A and B; the former is for allinternational travellers arriving inIndia except those arriving in flightsoriginating in the United Kingdom,Europe and Middle East. Part B,meanwhile, is for all internationaltravellers coming/transiting throughflights originating from these places.

Part A of the SOP is divided intofour sections-planning for travel,before boarding, during travel and onarrival. When planning for travel toIndia, passengers are required to sub-mit a self-declaration form and pro-vide a negative Covid-19 RT-PCRtest report. They are also required tosubmit an undertaking that theywould follow the decision of anappropriate authority to undergohome quarantine for 14 days. Forthose arriving in the country in theevent of a death in their family, nonegative RT-PCR report is required.

“All travellers should (i) submita self-declaration form on the onlineAir Suvidha portal (www.newdelhi-airport.in) before the scheduledtravel (ii) upload a negative COVID-19 RT-PCR report. This test shouldhave been conducted within 72 hrsprior to undertaking the journey.Each passenger shall also submit adeclaration with respect to theauthenticity of the report and will beliable for criminal prosecution iffound otherwise,” it said. They shouldalso give an undertaking on the por-tal or otherwise to the Ministry ofCivil Aviation, Govt. of India,through concerned airlines beforethey are allowed to undertake thejourney that they would abide by thedecision of the appropriate govern-ment authority to undergo homequarantine/ self-monitoring of theirhealth for 14 days, or as warranted.

“Arrival in India without a neg-ative report shall be allowed only forthose traveling to India in the exi-gency of death in the family. If theywish to seek such exemption underpara (iii) above, they shall apply to

the online portal (www.newdelhi-airport.in) at least 72 hours beforeboarding. The decision taken by thegovernment as communicated on theonline portal will be final,” it said.

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Bengal will to polls in a coupleof months from now. According toEC sources, about 18,801 boothshave been identified as highly sen-sitive whereas “about 50 per cent oftotal numbers of booths are critical.”

The State has more than 1 lakhbooths.

In 2016 and 2019 electionsBengal had 78,903 polling booths.However, considering pandemic sit-uation the EC has increased thenumber of booths to 101,790.Considering about 30 per cent risein the number of booths the pollpanel has decided to deploy a record1 lakh Central security personnel inthe State which is about 25,000more than what it was in 2019 or2016 elections.

According to sources theCommission has identified five dis-tricts as highly sensitive and is tak-ing measures accordingly. Thesedistricts are Murshidabad, Nadia,South 24 Parganas, Hooghly and EastMidnapore. While in Murshidabadthe ruling TMC is likely to get a stiffchallenge from the Left-Congresscombine in the remaining four placesthe TMC will have a tough fight withthe BJP.

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“It is clear that instead of resolv-ing the ongoing struggle and emands,the BJP is trying its best to counterand destroy it. SKM condemns thisattitude of the ruling party,” the SKMsaid. It demanded that the govern-ment resolve farmers’ issues imme-diately. “SKM avows that it willintensify the struggle and mobilisemore farmers in its support,” the out-fit asserted.

Union Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar and his cab-inet colleague Sanjeev Balyan were

also among those who attended themeeting called by Shah and Naddaon Tuesday.

Farmers, mostly from Punjab,Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, areprotesting at Delhi’s borders againstthe legislations since November 28last year and demanding these berepealed.

Their agitation is against theFarmers (Empowerment andProtection) Agreement of PriceAssurance and Farm Services Act,2020, the Farmers Produce Trade andCommerce (Promotion andFacilitation) Act, 2020, and theEssential Commodities(Amendment) Act, 2020.

In a mahapanchayat held inBilari in Uttar Pradesh onWednesday, the “impressive” turnoutof farmers in the public meetingindicated that the ongoing farmers’movement is gathering morestrength, the SKM statement said.

The outfit also alleged an attackby an outfit on a “peaceful” protestthat was being organised by All IndiaKrishak Khet Majdoor

Sangathan in Muzaffarpur. Thebanners, placards and sound systemof the protestors were destroyed bythe attackers, SKM said and alleged“inaction” of the local police.

The farmers protests at Delhiborders continue as 11 rounds oftalks between their leaders and thecentral government failed to breakthe deadlock.

The three farm laws, enacted inSeptember last year, have been pro-jected by the government as majorreforms in the agriculture sector thatwill remove middlemen and allowfarmers to sell anywhere in thecountry.

However, the protesting farmershave expressed apprehension that thenew laws would pave the way foreliminating the safety cushion ofMinimum Support Price and doaway with the mandis, leaving themat the mercy of big corporates. TheCentre has repeatedly asserted thatthese mechanisms will remain.

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DDC chairman, Budgam NazirAhmad Khan, who also interactedwith the foreign diplomats said, “It’sbeen a month since we assumed ourposts and we received the opportu-

nity to interact with foreign delega-tion. We interacted about our devel-opment schemes, work done andwork which remains to be done.”

Later, the diplomats attended aseparate luncheon meeting with theelected district development councilmembers, elected members of theurban local bodies and representa-tives of political parties.

The Mayor of SrinagarMunicipal Corporation Junai AzimMattu, who also attended the meet-ing, told reporters that the visitingdignitaries were apprised of thelandmark elections of DDC andurban local bodies. “They wanted toknow the ground realities. Electedrepresentatives from all politicalopinions and parties participated,” hesaid.

The key issue discussed wasdecentralisation of power and plan-ning and empowerment of the grass-roots representatives. “I believe themost important thing happeningnow is the empowerment of localelected representatives at grassrootslevel,” he said.

The members of the delegationalso visited the revered shrine ofHazratbal located on the banks ofworld famous Dal Lake.

The group of foreign envoys wasreceived by the Imams of theHazratbal shrine in Srinagar and wasbriefed on its historical significanceas the holy relic of ProphetMuhammad is preserved in themosque. The delegation is scheduledto visit Jammu on Thursday. Duringtheir day-long visit they are expect-ed to meet Lt-Gov Manoj Sinha,members of the civil society and oth-ers before returning to the nationalCapital.

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Kumar Maitreya said that thedate of hanging was not fixed yet.“But we have started preparations.Shabnam will be hanged as soon asthe death warrant is issued,” he said.

According to the jail superin-tendent, Pawan Jallad (executioner)has inspected the hanging housetwice and has asked to make someimprovements in the lever and theboard to be used in the hanging. Therope is being brought for hangingfrom Buxar.

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Reaffirming the Congress’trust among Punjab voters,

the ruling party on Wednesdaycaptured six of the sevenmunicipal corporations, theelections for which were heldamid the farmers’ agitation,with the BJP finishing close toa complete wipeout.

The Congress wonBathinda, Hoshiarpur,Kapurthala, Abohar, Batala,and Pathankot corporations,besides 106 of the total 109municipal councils or nagarpanchayats that went for pollson Sunday, registering 71 percent voter turnout.

In Moga Corporation, theCongress though secured thehighest 20 seats, it failed tosecure majority. The result forMohali Municipal Corporationwould be declared on Thursdayas the State’s poll panel haddeferred the counting of votesfor a day to conduct a repoll ontwo polling booths.

The election result hascome as a boost for theCongress, which is also eyeingto win the Assembly electionsdue early next year, with ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh terming it as a “foretaste”of 2022 Assembly elections.

Punjab Congress chiefSunil Jakhar, elated over party’sperformance, maintained,“This victory has furtherincreased the party’s responsi-bility towards the State and itspeople, and party is initiatingits campaign for next yearAssembly polls.‘Captainfor2022’ — the party’smission under Chief MinisterCapt Amarinder Singh is beinglaunched today,” he declared.

Other Opposition parties— the Shiromani Akali Dal, theAam Aadmi Party, and the BJP— failed to make a mark in theelections for the municipalcorporations.

Independent candidatesfinished second by securing 20per cent of the total seats.

Page 12: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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The world is a beautifulplace with many chal-lenges. And on our jour-

neys, we change! One thingthat remains constant is the

fact that it needs power. Mymantra has always been

— we learn to bend sothat we may seldombreak. I push my lim-

its every single day,”reads one of the cap-tions on actor Malaika

Arora’s Instagramaccount. Well, these lines

quite evidently reflect theactor’s approach and perspec-

tive towards life and its chal-lenges.Though the fitness enthusiast is

not too often seen on the big screen, she hasbeen giving us some major fashion and fit-ness goals. Here she shares a few healthtips. Excerpts

�How do you choose to associate withany brand?

To attach myself to a brand, I need tostrongly believe in its ethos. It should add

relevance to my life.For instance, I have been a strong stand-

ing partner with Reebok because I love itsproducts and the brand has helped me growwithin my fitness journey.

�What has been your fitness mantra?I start my day with yoga and meditation

in the morning, followed by a walk. I thencome back and eat a nutritious meal. I lookforward to each day with positive energy andenthusiasm which keeps me mentallyhealthy too.

�Can you give us a breakdown of the dietyou follow to stay in shape?

I usually don’t follow any particular diet.I try to eat everything that my bodydemands but of course in moderation — beit avocados or biryani.

�You have been giving us some major‘yoga goals’ through your Instagramaccount. Can you give us a deeper insightinto your fitness journey?

I discovered yoga when I had a leginjury. It didn’t just give me the mentalstrength to recover from my injury but alsohelped me heal from inside out. It was thenI realised that I need to include this as a partof my routine.

�A lot of people take supple-ments nowadays. How essen-

tial are they to our health?As long as you are aware of using the

right supplements that won’t have any sideeffects on your body, it is okay to use themsince it provides a boost to your body whichhelps you achieve your goals. I strongly urgeeveryone to consult a dietician and a phys-ical trainer before taking any supplement.

�During the lockdown, most of us wereworking out from home, with the help ofonline fitness apps. What would you sayabout their increasing popularity?

I feel the lockdown period has helpedto raise awareness about how fitness is anessential part of our lives. People took thetime out to research how to make themselvesmore efficient and how fitness can helpaccentuate their daily performance. Fitnessapps fit in well here since gyms or parksweren’t open for exercise.

�Please share a few fitness tips that you’dwant your audience to follow.

A few fitness tips that people can followare:

�Choose the right gear (clothes andshoes) that makes you feel comfortable.

�Create a routine that works for you.�Set reasonable expectations to keep

yourself motivated throughout.�For beginners, take up walking as an

exercise as it has multiple benefits for yourbody and mind. With Reebok introducingits new walking category with shoes likeReebok Ever Road DMX, Austin, Druhan,Ease Slip On, Fusion Lux, Motionpulse, thisis the best time to grab a pair and begin yourfitness journey.

Whenever we think of dec-orating our homes, walls

fall last into the list or might noteven get a chance. They oftenremain neglected as we focus onfurnishings, furniture andaccessories to add a spark.

Sushhmita Siingh, thePrinciple designer at SushmitaSingh Design shares a few ideasthat one can explore to makeyour walls speak. Let theseideas be an inspiration in mak-ing your walls your canvas ofself-expression.

HANG PICTURES ANDPHOTOS

The paint colour of yourwall is relevant when you makea collage of memories on yourwall. The images you choose todisplay should have a contrastor light and dark monochromeones. The frame that youchoose need to balance the sizeof the wall and the room. Weoften see a huge painting withreally broad frames when theroom size id 12ft x12ft, whichis totally out of context. A senseof balance is extremely impor-tant. Often people tend to over-look such minor but veryimportant details, which canadd or destroy the look. Familyportraits, paintings, posters(digitally printed, hand paintedones) add emotions to the wall.

It becomes a great conversationstarter and lends your walls anovel persona.

GREENERY INDOORSInstead of having plants

that sit comfortably on yourfloor, hang them on the wall ifspace and cleaning is a con-

straint. Fix wall hanging potsand fancy holders that makeyour greens look attractive.Greenery can be seasonalcolourful flowers and colouredleaf plants that add colour to anotherwise plain wall. You canalso decorate an entire wall fullof crawlers covering the wall in

beautiful patterns, formed nat-urally. Nowadays availability ofgood quality artificial plantscome in handy when maintain-ing real plants is an issue. Theyhave size variants, which ishelpful. Digital wallpapers,block printed fabric wall papersalso are a great add-ons toyour walls, which can be bothformal and informal.

DIY IDEASIf you are a creative person

or like to use your free time increating things, you can dedi-cate a wall for your creativespace. Hang your paintings,your origami objects and craftson the wall. Use the walls tosupport your creations. If yousculpt then use it to keep itagainst a wall, it has a dedicatespace. Make selves on the wallto display your DIY projects andstay motivated on your creativejourney.

BOOKSHELVESDedicate a wall to your

books. Books lend character toany room. If you don’t own toomany, you may fill the space withmemoires and display articlesfrom your latest collection.Pillows and decorative ceramicsmake for great space filler on ashelf as well. You may also usebookshelves as storage spaces.Also photo frames and smalllamps to highlight the acces-sories can be displayed.

WANDERLUSTDecorate your wall with a

large size map of the world.Scratch out maps is also intrend. You can also display yourpurchases on your journeyacross the globe. If you have nottravelled much you can alwaysuse this space to make a moodboard and manifest your traveldreams.

LIGHTSFancy LED lights on walls

create a pattern which adds tothe ambience as well as con-tributes to the illumination ofthe room, thus a multifunction-al element and also value formoney.

When you style a wall, youmust know that it is a place youwill be looking at often. So havesomething that will inspire you.

Producer Ekta Kapoor is all set to release newweb series, The Married Woman, and she

says she waited to make the intense drama showon a digital platform because it wouldn’t be pos-sible to do justice to its content on televisionor film.

The web series is based on Manju Kapur’sbook of the same name, and stars Ridhi Dograand Monica Dogra in lead roles.

Asked why she decided to make the showbased on the book, Ekta said, “I read the bookand I liked it, so I wanted to make a show outof it. When I met Manju (Kapur) ji, I thoughtit’s a great book but there was no way I coulddo it on television or film. So, I waited for amedium that gave birth to individual viewing.This was probably the show that was waitingto be made and I thought the digital mediumwould be a perfect platform for it.”

The trailer of the show delves into the char-acters of Astha (Ridhi) and Peeplika (Monica).Set in the nineties, the story revolves aroundAstha, a dutiful wife and a doting mother, whosets out on a journey of self-discovery after shemeets an unconventional artist, Peeplika.

Asked how responsible she feels to bringvaried stories to the audience through the dig-ital platform, Ekta said, “I cater to every kindof audience and I have no problem when I caterto the masses. I make really aspirational and,at times, escapist programming for people whowant to enjoy themselves. At times I make relat-able, heartwarming and really touching storiesbecause for me it is therapeutic as I get theopportunity to tell different kinds of stories.”

“When you do one show for television, itgoes on for 20 years or sometimes 5,000

episodes. So, at one point you get tired of it. Infilms, it’s all actor-driven. I enjoy telling a vari-ety of stories and the language in the show isdifferent from a lot of other shows,” sheadded.

The series also stars Imaad Shah, AyeshaRaza, Rahul Vohra, Divya Seth Shah, NadiraBabbar and Suhaas Ahuja in key roles.

(The series will stream on ALT Balaji andZee5 from March 8.)

Nushrratt Bharuccha recentlylaunched her first ever music

video with Honey Singh. Featuringin Saiyaan Ji has been a special jour-ney for the actor, here’s why.

She says, “It is extremely closeto my heart as its my first ever withHoney Sir. This is our fourth songtogether, after Dil Chori, Care NiKarda and Chote Chote Peg. Withthe song now crossing 100 millionviews, we have maintained our win-ning streak. I’m overwhelmed withall the love coming my way from theaudiences. The fact that the song hasbecome such a massive hit, is suchan amazing hype for us.”

“The song is also special to me,as I shot it right after the lockdownwas lifted. That time, I was promot-ing Chhalaang, and was runningbetween one activity to another, butsomehow we fixed up the dates andworked it out — even if it meantshooting for 18 hours a day. I’m real-ly glad that it bore a fruitful out-come,” the actress added.

Next in her pipeline is Hurdangopposite Vijay Varma, Janhit MeinJaari and Chhorii for which she wasrecently seen shooting.

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Tpandemic has mutated everythingfor the global populace. Its impacthas compelled people in every

industry to arch and evolve in real-time.The very ways in which we live, work,learn, and even design have altered dra-matically during the days of the crisis.In many ways, the fluctuations are hereto stay.

Futuristic trends heralding a para-digm shift in the domain of design are:

Industry’s macro-vision and co-creation skills: The industry’s presentscene necessitates budding studentsand fresher’s to emphasize on how to doit, rather than what to do.Comprehending this process and beingproficient of networking with the rightpeople and experts will help offer a seaof exposure to students. This set of skillswill reinforce the co-creative capabilityrequired for a designer. To enabledesigners to build sturdy structuresalongside forging strong relationships,the industry must focus on specialisa-tion and fragmentation of knowledge. Byadapting to the formation of collectivesand the process of collaboration, the sec-tor of interior design education can helpstudents in sharing spaces, facilities andideas all under one roof.

VR as a social experience: A mul-titude of web platforms facilitates userswith a dual experience, wherein they canget access to three-dimensional envi-ronments from their desktops as well aswith their VR goggles. In case of a designstudio, this technological applicationpresents an exciting opportunityenabling students to network in thespaces they have planned in real-time.

Hybrid learning reinventing designeducation: Blended learning combinesthe best of face-to-face and onlineexperiences to produce improved learn-ing outcomes. Its potential for change ishuge in transforming the foundation ofarchitectural education, be it in variousdesign disciplines like industrial andinterior design, architecture or planning.Following a hybrid approach to learn-ing will facilitate in creating a learnercentred experience that is tailored, rel-evant, and engaging. Through this wayeducational skills can be augmented bylending student centred approaches to

meet the diverse pedagogical require-ments of learners.

3D scanning lending a flip to thetraditional classroom: This technolo-gy has become accessible over the pastfew years. Scans are an instant way tointercede between physical and simu-lated environments, enabling students toscan architectural and design modelsand environments. The choice ofuploading these models to the web lendsanother level of interactivity and shareability.

Chart career creatively: The inte-rior design courses offer a 360-degreeshift in public and private design spacesenabling graduates to choose from aplethora of opportunities in the profes-sional market. These consist of roles likeinterior architect, design educator, inde-pendent researcher, product designer,sustainable interiors consultant andlandscape designer to name a few.Design entrepreneurs are required toapply rigorous R&D processes thatencompass detailed market and userresearch.

Working in amalgamation with theother edifices, the world, of interiordesign education can truly be a game-changer in the edification domain.

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Applications are open for theinternational scholarshipsfor the academic year 2021-

2022. This funding programme isadministrated by the FairleighDickinson University.

Indian students can apply.Award: Up to $22,000 per yearEligibility: Must have a high

school certificate with an excellentrecord. Supporting Documents: Toapply, candidates must be ready tosubmit the previous transcripts atthe university.

Undergraduate degree will beawarded in any subject offered bythe university

Admission requirements: Foradmission, applicants must meet allentry requirement of university.

Language requirement:Students need to demonstrate thatthey have a good level of written andspoken English.

How to apply: If you want toapply for this studentship then youare required to take admission in anundergraduate degree at the uni-versity. After being enrolled, appli-cants can apply through the onlineapplication form.

Application deadline: May 1,2021.

Applications are invited forStudy a Bachelor’s in the USScholarship providing a tuitionaward for undergraduate studentsfor the 2021 fall semester.

There is one scholarship of$5000 that will help you cover your

tuition and get you one step closerto your next great adventure. Theprogramme is open to studentsfrom any country who will bestudying a bachelor’s degree abroadat a college or university in the US.

Eligibility: You must haveapplied (or will apply) to a collegeor university in the US. You musthave applied (or will apply) for abachelor’s-level degree starting inthe Fall 2021 semester. The degreeprogramme must be studied eitheron campus or online via distancelearning from an institute based inthe US. You must hold or be eligi-ble to apply for a relevant study visa

You mustn’t be a US citizen andyou can’t currently reside in the USunless you’re currently studyingabroad. You must be at least 18 yearsold by the time of the applicationdeadline.

Admission requirements:Applicants must hold a previousdegree with excellent marks.

Language requirement: Mustbe proficient in written and spokenthe English language.

Supporting documents:Submitting a short essay (500-700words) that answers the question:Why did you choose the US as astudy abroad destination, and howwill it help you to shape your future?Proof of acceptance into a univer-sity in the form of a copy of youracceptance letter. Proof that you’vefinished high school in the form ofa copy of your transcript. A copy ofyour passport to prove your iden-tity

How to apply: Submit essay [email protected].

Application deadline: August31, 2021.

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� ���0������5�Fire engineering is one of the

toughest and demandingfields which deal with the

prevention of fire. It is a danger-ous profession which requires astrong sense of commitment topublic services. It deals with pre-vention and protection of all liv-ing beings and buildings from thefire outbreak.

Fire engineering can be clas-sified into Fire PreventionEngineering, Fire SafetyEngineering, Fire ProtectionEngineering and Fire ControlEngineering involving the tech-nological knowledge to preventdeaths loss of property in case ofa fire. When fire expands, it isdangerous and can cause a dis-aster, which is when the servicesof the such professionals arerequired.

Fire engineering can be clas-sified into Fire PreventionEngineering, Fire SafetyEngineering, Fire ProtectionEngineering and Fire ControlEngineering.

���A fire engineer has to adapt

to changes as quickly as possible.Fire engineering also deals withreducing the causality which

happens on a day to day basis byproviding safety measure andincreasing the parameters of thestandard of living. It helps oneunderstands the phenomena offire and the effect of it. Drive firetrucks and other emergency vehi-cles. Put out fires using waterhoses, fire extinguishers, andwater pumps. Find and rescuevictims in burning buildings orin other emergency situations.

This profession demandscommitments to public servicesleaving aside the personal safetyhence it is lucrative on one handbut very risky on the other.Discipline, quickness, reliability,confidence are some of the traitsof a good fire engineer. Theyneed knowledge about fire fight-ing, different types of fires andhow to prevent and control themand rescue methods and equip-ments in case of a fire break-down.

���))�Fire engineers should posses

some specific skills like physicalfitness, good communication, bea team player, practical skills inoperating and using tools, skillsin evaluating situations, makingquick decisions and solving prob-

lems, physical agility and mentalskills to tackle problems underany circumstance.

�����������)�����)� There are several certificate,

Diploma and degree courseswhich one can pursue after 10-plus 2 with Mathematics, Physics,and Chemistry or its equivalentexam. Certificate programmesare also offered to Class 10 (withScience and Mathematics) passout students. The course offerspractical training in firefightingtechniques handling of fireequipment and appliances, life-rescue techniques and more. Thestudents are also taught fire engi-neering science, safety engineer-ing and management. The cur-riculum also includes lessons onnuances of Safety Act and law.

Apart from the educationalqualification, the candidateshould possess specified physicalqualification — should be phys-ically fit and free from organicdisease to undergo practicaltraining. Minimum acceptablephysical standards for the fireengineering course are Height:Minimum 165 cm, Weight: 50 kg.Chest measurement: 81 cm, withf ive-centimeter expansion,

Vision: 6/6, preferably withoutany aid.

���� �Engineers of this field can go

in any sector either governmentor private according to theirinterest and choices. They canalso get employed in other indus-tries such as chemical or inflam-mable products manufacturingfirms like petroleum refineries,petrochemicals, textiles and fer-tilisers. They can work with busi-ness corporations, educationalinstitutions, consultancies andother government organisationsaround the world. Fire Safetydepartment in MNCs. In thesesectors candidate may be postedas Safety Inspector, SafetyEngineers, Safety Officer, SafetySupervisor, Safety Auditor, FireMen/Fire Fighter, Fire Supervisorand Fire Engineer.

�������� ��An average salary of a fire

engineer is �3 to �3.5 lakh peryear. This is the starting salaryand can increase based on theperformance, abilities and expe-rience of the person.'���%���������&����� ���&����� ����

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Page 14: ˇ* · 2/17/2021  · who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand

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Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipasrecovered from two setsdown to stun Rafael Nadal

in the Australian Open quarter-finals on Wednesday, ending theSpaniard’s bid for a record 21stGrand Slam title.

Second seed Nadal was oncourse for a comfortable victorybefore the 22-year-old Tsitsipasturned the match around to prevail3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 7-5.

It was just the second timeNadal had lost when two sets up ina Grand Slam, having previously fall-en to Fabio Fognini in the thirdround of the 2015 US Open, and thethird time in his career after a 2005match against Roger Federer.

Fifth seed Tsitsipas will nowattempt to reach his first Grand Slamfinal when he plays the in-formDaniil Medvedev in the semi-final.

“I don’t know what happenedafter the third set — I fly like littlebird, everything was working for me,”said Tsitsipas, who hit 49 winners and17 aces. It was just his second winover Nadal in eight matches.

“The emotions at the end wereindescribable, they were some-thing else.”

The 22-year-old credited acomposed temperament for histurnaround.

“I was able to be consistent withmy mood and be calm in the cru-cial moments,” he said. “I’ve beentrying to keep everything to myselfand I’m happy with my attitude Ishowed on the court.”

Nadal, sweating profusely inthe muggy conditions, was in vin-

tage form until a nerveless Tsitsipasturned the match on its head aftersnatching the tiebreak in the thirdset of the fixture.

The momentum shifted towards

Tsitsipas in the fourth set and hefinally cracked Nadal’s serve to forcea deciding set.

Both players served well underpressure in a tense fifth set before

Tsitsipas gained the pivotal break inthe 11th game and then clinched hismemorable victory with a backhandwinner down the line.

That drama had appeared

unlikely when an aggressive Nadalcruised through the opening twosets, toying with Tsitsipas and mov-ing him around the court.

Tsitsipas, however, hung inthere to force a third set tiebreak,where Nadal’s loose play ultimate-ly proved fatal.

Another tough challenge awaitshim in the semi-final as he has 1-5 record against the RussianMedvedev.

“He’s playing very well and is ingood shape. I know he is going togive me a difficult time on thecourt. I need to recover and do anice ice bath.”

WINS HEAT & RUBLEVEarlier in all-Russian battle

Daniil Medvedev came out on top ofa brutal clash against Andrey Rublevto move into his first AustralianOpen semi-final and inch closer toa first Grand Slam title.

The fourth seed had more fire-power than his younger, seventh-seeded rival in scorching conditionson Rod Laver Arena, grinding himdown 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 to extend hiswin-streak to 19 matches.

“I would say the three lastpoints when I was getting ready forthe serve I could not really movemy left leg,” he said, with both play-ers cramping in the “super-tough”conditions.

“But I’ve known him a longtime and I know how to neutralisehis big shots. That’s definitely oneof the best matches I’ve played late-ly, not even just here but last year,”Medvedev added.

“It was unbelievable, because hewas playing really good and I man-aged to beat him in three sets.”

Medvedev is now riding a 19-match run dating back toNovember, taking in titles at theParis 1000, the ATP Finals inLondon and the ATP Cup withRussia in the lead-up to the open-ing Grand Slam of the year.

He is into his first semi atMelbourne Park as he continues toknock on the door of Grand Slamsuccess, having reached the 2019US Open final and the last four inNew York in 2020.

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Kylian Mbappé outplayedLionel Messi as Paris Saint-

Germain put Barcelona up againstthe ropes in the ChampionsLeague again.

And with Mbappé in thatkind of form, it’s hard to seeBarcelona staging another epiccomeback this time.

After Messi put Barcelonaahead from the penalty spot,Mbappé netted a hat trick at theCamp Nou on Tuesday to givePSG a 4-1 win in the first leg oftheir round-of-16 matchup.

It was the team’s first meetingsince Barcelona erased a 4-0 deficitby winning the second leg 6-1 atthe same stage of the competitionfour years ago. But Ronald

Koeman’s team was thoroughlyoutplayed at home, even withPSG missing Brazil star Neymar,and now has to attempt a come-back in Paris instead.

“It was a very importantmatch for us,” Mbappé said.

“We wanted to come hereand win. We did that in style.Tonight was magnificent,but we haven’t won any-thing yet.”

Mbappé scored fiveminutes after Messi’sopener and added twosecond-half goals tobecome the first play-er to score an awayhat-trick at the CampNou in theChampions Leaguesince Andriy Shevchenko for

Dynamo Kyiv in a 4-0 win in 1997.His dominance was epito-

mized by the image of GerardPique — making his return froma long-term injury layoff — pullingat Mbappé’s shirt in an unsuccess-ful attempt at slowing down theFrance star as he rushed forward

in attack.“There’s no doubt that

Kylian is one of the best play-ers in the world, despite hisyoung age,” said PSG coachMauricio Pochettino, who wasin charge of his firstChampions League game withthe French club, having ledTottenham to the final twoyears ago.

“He’s already done extraor-dinary things. But we have tostay humble.”

Moise Kean also scored inthe second half for PSG, last sea-son’s finalist which looked farmore dangerous than the hoststhroughout the match at theempty Camp Nou.

The second leg will be onMarch 10 in Paris.

“I’m not going to lie, it’s verydifficult to come back from a 4-1first-leg loss at home,” Koemansaid.

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Liverpool rediscovered lost formand seized the initiative against RB

Leipzig in the first leg of theirChampions League last-16 clash bycruising to a 2-0 win in a chillyBudapest on Tuesday.

Clinical early second-half strikesfrom Salah and Mane, both courtesyof dreadful defensive errors, proveddecisive and left the German side fac-ing a formidable task in the return legon March 10.

The win moves Jurgen Klopp’smen to the brink of the ChampionsLeague quarter-finals and also endsa run of three straight defeats that hasleft the English champions 13 pointsbehind leaders Manchester City in thePremier League.

“It was a game we wanted it wasa game we needed tonight,” Klopptold BT Sport afterwards. “Leipzig canbe a real monster. The way they playin the Bundesliga they overrun teams,they can be really physical in every-

thing and tonight we controlledthem in an exceptional way.

“They had their momentsbecause of the quality they have butwe controlled the game so tonight Ithink we got the result we deserved,”he said.

“We made two huge mistakes

which would be punished at anylevel,” Nagelsmann told DAZN.“Mistakes happen, we didn’t playbadly and we have to live with theresult, we have to score twice just totake the game (return leg) to extratime, but we will try to do our best,”he said.

Johannesburg: Former South Africa captain Faf duPlessis on Wednesday announced his retirement fromTest cricket to focus on the shorter formats with T20being his priority.

The 36-year-old made the announcement througha statement on his Instagram page.

“It has been a year of refinement in the fire forus all. Uncertain were the times but they broughtclarity for me in many aspects. My heart is clearand time is right to walk into a new chapter,” duPlessis posted.

“It has been an honour to play for my country inall formats of the game but the time has come for meto retire from Test cricket.”

Du Plessis said his focus now shifts to T20 crick-et but ODIs will also remain a part of his plans.

“The next two years are ICC T20 World Cup years.Because of this my focus is shifting to this format andI want to play as much of it as possible around the worldso that I can be the best player I can possibly be.

“I strongly believe I have a lot to offer to the Proteasin this format. This does mean that ODI cricket is nolonger in the plans, I am just making T20 cricket pri-ority in the short-term,” he said.

Du Plessis played 69 Tests, scoring 4163 runsat an average of 40.02 including 10 hundreds and21 fifties.

He stepped down as South Africa’s Test and T20captain last year after taking over from the charismat-ic AB de Villiers back in 2016. He captained the teamis 36 Tests, winning 18 of them. PTI

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Flamboyant Australian GlennMaxwell is expected to be a

favourite, despite his under-whelming record, along withEngland’s spin bowling all-rounder Moeen Ali during acondensed IPL players auctionslated here on Thursday.

A total of 292 players havebeen enlisted for the shortenedauctions — 164 of them Indianand 125 overseas. There willalso be three associate players inthe auction.

With 61 slots across eightfranchises up for grabs, RoyalChallengers Bangalore has themaximum, 11 vacancies, to fillwith a purse of �35.4 crore whileSunrisers Hyderabad has onlythree slots available with �10.75crore in its kitty.

The highest purse avail-able is with Anil Kumblecoached Punjab Kings, former-ly Kings XI Punjab, which has�53.20 crore available for spend-ing on nine spots.

With the IPL back in Indiaafter being held in the UAE lastyear, focus will be on big-hittersas well as slow bowlers andMaxwell and Moeen fit the cat-egory to the T.

However, Maxwell averages22 in the tournament, havingplayed 82 matches for his 1505runs. He last played for Punjab.

Moeen, on the other hand,was seen in action for RoyalChallengers Bangalore in theprevious season.

While Maxwell and his for-mer skipper Steve Smith are

both in the highest biddingcategory of �2 crore, one namethat will surely attract attentionis world’s No 1 ranked T20 bats-man Dawid Malan.

A strike-rate of nearly 150in 19 T20Is has catapultedMalan into limelight and a fewteams may like to raise theirbids for the 33-year-old with abase price of �1.5 crore.

One of the most keenly-watched teams going into theauction will be Chennai SuperKings after a nightmarish 2020season when they failed toqualify for the IPL play-offs for

the first time in tournament’shistory.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni andhead coach Stephen Fleminghave always valued experienceway more than exuberance ofyouth in their team.

So, with �19.90 crore tospend and six vacancies to fill,Dhoni will look at some poten-tial big hitters to help him,Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessisin the middle.

Since the IPL will be held inIndia, Maxwell despite hisunder-achieving stats could bepicked for his skills as a tight

off-break bowler on slowertracks.

In case of Malan, Kings XIPunjab could walk away withhim considering their purseand lack of consistent firepow-er at the top of the order.

The only part that is debat-able about Malan is how goodhe is when it comes to playingslow bowlers in Indian condi-tions.

Among Indian players, thethree notable capped namesare Kedar Jadhav, veteran off-spinner Harbhajn Singh and fastbowler Umesh Yadav.

The auction dynamics,when it comes to Indian play-ers, have been very differentcompared to foreign playersdue to the limited availableslots (8) in each squad.

That’s the reason SunrisersHyderabad or a RajasthanRoyals won’t mind having anUmesh on board because of hisexperience at the highest level.

Similarly, Kedar andHarbhajan, with high-end baseprices may go unsold during thefirst lot. But they are likely topicked up in the final hour afterfranchises have settled squads.

Ditto for Steve Smith,among those with the highestbase price but having a strike-rate which is not the greatest fora top-order batsman, might notfind too many bidders unlessany franchise is looking for asuitable captaincy candidate.

As usual, there would besome eye-popping bids for theuncapped domestic players likeKerala’s MohammedAzharuddeen (Junior), TamilNadu’s handsome hulk ShahRukh Khan, all-rounder R SonuYadav, Baroda’s Vishnu Solankiand Bengal’s Akash Deep. Theycould invite mini-bidding warswith their lowest base pricebracket of �20 lakh.

Sachin Tendulkar’s sonArjun, a left arm fast bowlerwho made his senior Mumbaiteam debut this year, is brack-eted in the �20 lakh categoryand the kind of traction that theyoung kid brings along couldmean that some bidders will bethere for him.

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The selectors on Wednesdayretained 17 of the 18 members in

the Indian squad for the final twoTests against England while seniorpacer Umesh Yadav’s inclusion woulddepend on his fitness assessmentahead of the Day/Night game inAhmedabad.

Shardul Thakur is the only play-er who has not been kept as he willbe released to compete in the VijayHazare Trophy.

The anticipation was aroundsenior pacer Mohammed Shami’s fit-ness and it has been learnt that he isstill not 100 percent fit for the rigoursof five-day games.

“Umesh Yadav will join the teamin Ahmedabad and after his fitnessassessment will replace ShardulThakur, who will be released forVijay Hazare Trophy,” BCCI secretaryJay Shah said in a press release.

Predictably, left-arm spinnerShahbaz Nadeem has been droppedfrom stand-by list after his poorshow in the first Test. Leg-spinnerRahul Chahar and keeper-batsmanKona Srikar Bharat are stand-by play-ers.

Priyank Panchal and AbhimanyuEaswaran have also been released toplay Vijay Hazare Trophy.

The five net bowlers, who were inChennai will also join the team inAhmedabad. They are Ankit Rajpoot,Avesh Khan, Sandeep Warrier,Krishnappa Gowtham and SaurabhKumar.

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Karolina Muchova staged astunning comeback on

Thursday to upset Ashleigh Bartyand storm into the AustralianOpen semi-finals, rallying from aset down to shatter the worldnumber one’s dreams.

The Czech 25th seed lookedon her way out after Barty racedthrough the opening set, but aftera medical timeout Muchovareturned a different player to win1-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Rod Laver Arenaas the Australian crumbled.

She will now face JenniferBrady for a place in the final afterthe big-serving American stageda comeback three-set victory overfellow countrymate Jessica Pegulain a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win.

“I started feeling a bit lost bythe end of the first set. She playedalmost like no mistakes,” saidMuchova, whose best previous

Grand Slam run was to the lasteight at Wimbledon in 2019.

“It was very tough and I wasa bit lost on the court and my headwas spinning so I took a break. Ithelped me. I tried to get back,played a bit faster rallies so wedon’t play the long ones as in thefirst set and it worked well.”

Her come-from-behind winended top seed Barty’s hopes ofbecoming the first home winnerat the Australian Open in 43years after Chris O’Neil’s break-through in 1978.

Barty, the 2019 French Openchampion, had made a flyingstart to her year, winning thewarm-up Yarra Valley Classic andhad not lost a set before meetingMuchova.

“It’s heartbreaking, of course,”Barty said. “But the sun will comeup tomorrow. You’re either win-ning or you’re learning, and todayis a massive learning curve for me.”

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