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  • 2 3 302454/6 /4 7 ˘ · 2021. 2. 5. · Punjab, Tomar said farmers ... even a single black point was brought out by the farmers rep- ... mation that the regulator may need, the company
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A s the Opposition mounted pressure on the Centre in Parliament to repeal the three farm laws, Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar on Friday said the Government is willing to amend them. At the same time he insisted there were no dis- crepancies in the laws. Making this assertion in the Rajya Sabha, he also said the various kisan unions now agitating at the borders of the national Capital were unable, so far, to pinpoint any lacuna in the laws during the 11 rounds of talks. Insisting that the new laws were meant to increase the income of the farmers and improve their standard of liv- ing, in an obvious reference to Punjab, Tomar said farmers from one State were “misled and misinformed”. He said while the Contract Act now practised in Punjab provided for arresting the defaulting farmers besides imposing a penalty of 5 lakh, the Central law gave protection to them. Elaborating upon this, the Minister said a farmer at any time can opt out of the Central Contract Act, but the corporate or business entity with whom the contract was arrived at cannot do so. Highlighting these points while participating in a dis- cussion on the President’s address, Tomar reiterated the Government’s assurance for continuing talks to resolve the issue. He also said if the Government wanted to make any changes in these laws, it didn’t mean there was any problem with them. “I made it clear that if Govt was ready to make amendments, it did not mean there was any problem in farm laws,” he said. The Minister also said there was misinformation spread among the farmers that their lands will be taken if the laws were implemented. “Let me know if there is a single provision in contract farming law which allows any trader to snatch away the land of any farmer,” he said. Tomar informed the House that the Government was committed to welfare of farm- ers and to the continuation of the mandi system of procure- ment of crops on minimum support price (MSP) based mechanism. The laws give farmers alter- natives to sell their produce outside mandis, and unlike the State Government notified market places, such sale would not attract any tax. “The agitation should have been against the tax levied (by state government) on sale made in mandis but strangely the protests are against freeing of the system from such taxes,” Tomar said. Taking a dig at the Opposition for terming the legislations as “black laws,” he said during the last two months of talks with the farmers not even a single black point was brought out by the farmers rep- resentatives. With regard to the MSP which has been the key issue of the farmers’ movement, the Minister said it was being pro- vided at 50 per cent more than the production cost and the Centre ensured that requisite investment reaches the agri- culture sector. Tomar reiterated the PM is committed towards the welfare of farmers and efforts were on to double their income and also increase the contribution of agriculture towards the coun- try’s GDP rapidly. Under this year’s Union Budget, the Centre had allocated an amount of Rs 2.83 lakh crore for agriculture with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman adding that the MSP regime underwent a change to assure price to farm- ers that is at least 1.5 times the cost of production across all commodities. Continued on Page 2 W hile farmers unions are readying for pan India chakka jam from 12 to 3 pm on Saturday in protest against farm laws, the Supreme Court- appointed expert committee on Friday held discussion with representatives of State agri- culture marketing board, pri- vate mandis operators and food parks of 10 States, includ- ing Kerala, over the three farm laws and sought their com- ments and suggestions to fur- ther improve it. The meeting was held through video conferencing. This was the fifth round of talks with stakeholders engaged in agriculture. The committee members will hold delibera- tions with Industry bodies on February 9. The committee is scheduled to meet State Governments on February 11. The three-member com- mittee is holding consultations with stakeholders both online and in person. The protesting farmers groups have refused to meet the committee over the farm laws. In a statement, the com- mittee said it held a detailed discussion “in person” with managing directors, adminis- trators, directors of State mar- keting boards, private mandi operators and food parks of dif- ferent States and UTs through video conferencing. These officials were from 10 States — Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tripura and Uttar Pradesh. The committee mem- bers requested the participants to give their views on the three farm laws. Continued on Page 2 A head of chakka jam pro- posed by farmers, the Delhi Police have made ade- quate security arrangements at borders of the national Capital. Meanwhile investigating the toolkit document uploaded on a social media handle which the Delhi Police believe script- ed the January 26 violence in the Capital, the police have sought from Google the IP address from which the toolk- it was uploaded. Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava held a meeting with the senior officials of the force and reviewed the security arrange- ments. The police will monitor content on the social media to keep tabs on those spreading rumours against the force. “In view of the violence that took place on January 26, adequate security arrangements have been put in place by the Delhi Police at the borders so that miscreants are not able enter the national Capital. Police teams are monitoring content on the social media to make sure rumours are not spread against the police. The protesters are camping at the borders of Delhi. We are in touch with the police force of other States also,” said Chinmoy Biswal, the Public Relation Officer (PRO) of Delhi Police. Continued on Page 2 T hose looking for Pfizer developed mRNA-based vaccine against Covid-19 will have to wait. Just two days before the pharma major announced the withdrawal of its application for the emer- gency use authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine in India, an expert panel of the country’s drugs regulatory authority rec- ommended against granting such approval to the firm at this stage. Pfizer had said it has decid- ed to withdraw its application for emergency use authorisa- tion of its Covid-19 vaccine in India. The first pharmaceutical firm to seek such authorisation from the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Pfizer on December 5 approached the Indian author- ities for its Covid-19 vaccine, after it secured such clearance in the UK and Bahrain. As of now, two vaccines — Covishield, manufactured by Serum Institute of India, and Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin — have been approved for restrict- ed emergency use in India. On February 3, the Subject Expert Committee (SEC) of the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) deliberated on Pfizer’s application. The firm presented its pro- posal for emergency use autho- risation of Covid-19 mRNA Vaccine BNT162b before the committee, an official said. “The committee noted that incidents of palsy, anaphylaxis and other SAE’s have been reported during post-market- ing and the causality of the events with the vaccine is being investigated. “Further, the firm has not proposed any plan to generate safety and immunogenicity data in the Indian population. After detailed deliberation, the committee has not recom- mended for grant of permis- sion for emergency use in the country at this stage,” states the recommendations of the SEC. A Pfizer company spokesperson in a statement said that in pursuance of the emergency use authorisation of its Covid-19 vaccine, the firm participated in the SEC meet- ing. “Based on the deliberations at the meeting and our under- standing of additional infor- mation that the regulator may need, the company has decid- ed to withdraw its application at this time,” the spokesperson said. T he UPSC civil services aspirants, who ended the last of the attempts in the 2020 examinations amid the Covid- 19 pandemic will get one more chance provided they are not age-barred. The Centre on Friday told the Supreme Court that it is agreeable to give an extra chance as a one-time relaxation. “Relaxation, only to the extent of providing one extra attempt for Civil Service Examination (CSE), specifi- cally limited to CSE-2021, may be granted to only those can- didates who appeared for CSE- 2020 as their last permissible attempt and are otherwise not age-barred from appearing in CSE-2021,” the Centre told a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar and comprising Justice Dinesh Maheshwari. In a note filed in the SC, the Centre said that no relax- ation shall be granted for CSE- 2021 to those candidates who have not exhausted their per- missible number of attempts or to those who are otherwise age- barred from appearing in CSE- 2021 as per the prescribed age limits of different categories, or to any other candidate for any other reasons. “This relaxation for the candidates and to the extent as prescribed above, shall be a one-time relaxation only and shall apply only for appearing in CSE-2021 and shall not be treated as a precedent,” it said. The Centre said the relax- ation “shall not create any vest- ed right whatsoever or any other purported right on ground of parity or otherwise, in favour of any other set/class of candidates at any time in the future.” Continued on Page 2 T he Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday kept inter- est rates on hold for the fourth time in a row but vowed to sup- port growth as long it is need- ed even as it began withdraw- ing some pandemic-era poli- cies. While the Union Budget 2021 earlier this week laid out an expansive fiscal strategy over the medium term to strengthen the growth engine in the economy, the RBI affirmed its support to such a plan through appropriate mon- etary tools. The six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) kept the repurchase or repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent, Governor Shaktikanta Das said. Consequently, the reverse repo rate will continue to earn 3.35 per cent for banks for their deposits kept with the RBI. The central banks had last year cut borrowing costs by 115 basis points before hitting the pause button in mid-2020 over inflation worries. All six members of the MPC voted to continue with the accommodative stance as long as it is necessary to revive growth and mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the economy while ensuring that inflation remains within the target. Signalling rollback of pan- demic-era policies, the RBI announced a increase in the Cash Reserve Ratio (CRR) — the amount of deposits lenders must set aside as reserves — to 3.5 per cent by March and to 4 per cent by May. The cash returning to the central bank can be used by it for open market operations and other liquidity measures. To absorb higher govern- ment borrowings, the central bank provided retail investors a direct option to invest in gov- ernment securities. Acknowledging the strengthening signs of recovery, the RBI applauded the Union Budget for providing a strong impetus for revival while stat- ing that the near-term inflation outlook has turned favourable. RBI expects Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for next year to grow by 10.5 per cent, a tad lower than 11 per cent predicted by the Governments Economic Survey last week. The growth compares to an estimated 7.7 per cent contraction in the economy during the current fiscal ending March 31. The inflation forecasts are pointing to a decline from 5.2 per cent in March 2020 to 5-5.2 per cent in H1-FY22 and 4.3 per cent in Q3. Continued on Page 2 A fter keeping it suspended for 551-long days, the Union Government has final- ly decided to restore high speed mobile internet services (4G) in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir. Confirming the much awaited positive development, spokesman of the Jammu & Kashmir Government and Principal Secretary of Power and Information department Rohit Kansal on Friday evening tweeted, “4G mobile internet services being restored in the entire J&K”. The union territory admin- istration had given its nod to restore the 4G services after gathering feedback from senior security forces during the maiden meeting of the unified command, which was chaired by Lt-Governor Manoj Sinha here in Jammu on January 21. The mobile internet ser- vices were suspended on the eve of the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35-A in August 2019. High-speed mobile inter- net was earlier restored in two districts — one each from Kashmir Valley and the Jammu province — almost a year after the services were suspended throughout the erstwhile State. Reacting to the positive development, former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah wrote a cheerful post, “4G Mubarak! For the first time since Aug 2019 all of J&K will have 4G mobile data. Better late than never”. The student and business community suffered the most due to absence of high speed mobile internet facilities in J&K. The chief of BJP unit in Jammu & Kashmir, Ravinder Raina, had dropped clear hints during the day claiming the 4G mobile internet services would be restored soon across Jammu and Kashmir. T he Congress on Friday effected immediate change in the Maharashtra Congress unit with former Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Speaker Nana Patole appointed as the president of Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee (MPCC). He replaces Balasaheb Thorat, who holds the Revenue portfolio in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government. Patole, the MLA from Sakoli in Bhandara district, had resigned as the Speaker of Maharashtra Assembly on Thursday, creating a new scramble among the con- stituents of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government. A delegation of Congress Ministers, headed by Thorat, had recently met the party leadership in Delhi. Patole, an influential leader from the Vidarbha region, was made the Speaker after the Shiv Sena, the NCP and the Congress joined the ranks to form an alliance Government in November 2019. Patole rep- resents Sakoli (Bhandara dis- trict) Assembly seat in the Legislative Assembly. Further, former Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s daughter Pranati has been appointed as the working pres- ident. Continued on Page 2

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    As the Opposition mountedpressure on the Centre inParliament to repeal the threefarm laws, Union AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar on Friday said theGovernment is willing toamend them. At the same timehe insisted there were no dis-crepancies in the laws.

    Making this assertion inthe Rajya Sabha, he also saidthe various kisan unions nowagitating at the borders of thenational Capital were unable, sofar, to pinpoint any lacuna inthe laws during the 11 roundsof talks.

    Insisting that the new lawswere meant to increase theincome of the farmers andimprove their standard of liv-ing, in an obvious reference toPunjab, Tomar said farmersfrom one State were “misledand misinformed”.

    He said while the ContractAct now practised in Punjabprovided for arresting thedefaulting farmers besidesimposing a penalty of �5 lakh,the Central law gave protectionto them. Elaborating upon this,the Minister said a farmer atany time can opt out of theCentral Contract Act, but thecorporate or business entitywith whom the contract wasarrived at cannot do so.

    Highlighting these pointswhile participating in a dis-cussion on the President’saddress, Tomar reiterated theGovernment’s assurance for

    continuing talks to resolve theissue. He also said if theGovernment wanted to makeany changes in these laws, itdidn’t mean there was anyproblem with them. “I made itclear that if Govt was ready tomake amendments, it did notmean there was any problem infarm laws,” he said.

    The Minister also saidthere was misinformationspread among the farmers thattheir lands will be taken if thelaws were implemented. “Letme know if there is a singleprovision in contract farminglaw which allows any trader tosnatch away the land of anyfarmer,” he said.

    Tomar informed the Housethat the Government wascommitted to welfare of farm-ers and to the continuation ofthe mandi system of procure-ment of crops on minimumsupport price (MSP) basedmechanism.

    The laws give farmers alter-natives to sell their produceoutside mandis, and unlikethe State Government notifiedmarket places, such sale wouldnot attract any tax.

    “The agitation should havebeen against the tax levied (bystate government) on sale madein mandis but strangely theprotests are against freeing ofthe system from such taxes,”Tomar said.

    Taking a dig at theOpposition for terming thelegislations as “black laws,” hesaid during the last two monthsof talks with the farmers not

    even a single black point wasbrought out by the farmers rep-resentatives.

    With regard to the MSPwhich has been the key issue ofthe farmers’ movement, theMinister said it was being pro-vided at 50 per cent more thanthe production cost and theCentre ensured that requisiteinvestment reaches the agri-culture sector.

    Tomar reiterated the PM iscommitted towards the welfareof farmers and efforts were onto double their income and alsoincrease the contribution ofagriculture towards the coun-try’s GDP rapidly. Under thisyear’s Union Budget, the Centrehad allocated an amount of Rs2.83 lakh crore for agriculturewith Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman adding that theMSP regime underwent achange to assure price to farm-ers that is at least 1.5 times thecost of production across allcommodities.

    Continued on Page 2

    ����������� ��������

    While farmers unions arereadying for pan Indiachakka jam from 12 to 3 pm onSaturday in protest againstfarm laws, the Supreme Court-appointed expert committee onFriday held discussion withrepresentatives of State agri-culture marketing board, pri-vate mandis operators andfood parks of 10 States, includ-ing Kerala, over the three farmlaws and sought their com-ments and suggestions to fur-ther improve it.

    The meeting was heldthrough video conferencing.

    This was the fifth round of talkswith stakeholders engaged inagriculture. The committeemembers will hold delibera-tions with Industry bodies onFebruary 9. The committee isscheduled to meet StateGovernments on February 11.

    The three-member com-mittee is holding consultationswith stakeholders both onlineand in person. The protestingfarmers groups have refused tomeet the committee over thefarm laws.

    In a statement, the com-mittee said it held a detaileddiscussion “in person” withmanaging directors, adminis-trators, directors of State mar-keting boards, private mandioperators and food parks of dif-ferent States and UTs throughvideo conferencing.

    These officials were from10 States — Gujarat, Haryana,Jammu and Kashmir,Karnataka, Kerala, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra,Rajasthan, Tripura and UttarPradesh. The committee mem-bers requested the participantsto give their views on the threefarm laws.

    Continued on Page 2

    �������������� ��������

    Ahead of chakka jam pro-posed by farmers, theDelhi Police have made ade-quate security arrangementsat borders of the nationalCapital.

    Meanwhile investigatingthe toolkit document uploadedon a social media handle whichthe Delhi Police believe script-ed the January 26 violence inthe Capital, the police havesought from Google the IP

    address from which the toolk-it was uploaded.

    Delhi PoliceCommissioner SN Shrivastavaheld a meeting with the seniorofficials of the force andreviewed the security arrange-ments. The police will monitorcontent on the social media tokeep tabs on those spreadingrumours against the force.

    “In view of the violencethat took place on January 26,adequate security arrangementshave been put in place by the

    Delhi Police at the borders sothat miscreants are not ableenter the national Capital.Police teams are monitoringcontent on the social media tomake sure rumours are notspread against the police. Theprotesters are camping at theborders of Delhi. We are intouch with the police force ofother States also,” saidChinmoy Biswal, the PublicRelation Officer (PRO) ofDelhi Police.

    Continued on Page 2

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    Those looking for Pfizerdeveloped mRNA-basedvaccine against Covid-19 willhave to wait. Just two daysbefore the pharma majorannounced the withdrawal ofits application for the emer-gency use authorisation of itsCovid-19 vaccine in India, anexpert panel of the country’sdrugs regulatory authority rec-ommended against grantingsuch approval to the firm at thisstage.

    Pfizer had said it has decid-ed to withdraw its applicationfor emergency use authorisa-tion of its Covid-19 vaccine inIndia.

    The first pharmaceuticalfirm to seek such authorisationfrom the Drugs ControllerGeneral of India (DCGI),Pfizer on December 5

    approached the Indian author-ities for its Covid-19 vaccine,after it secured such clearancein the UK and Bahrain.

    As of now, two vaccines —Covishield, manufactured bySerum Institute of India, andBharat Biotech’s Covaxin —have been approved for restrict-ed emergency use in India.

    On February 3, the SubjectExpert Committee (SEC) of theCentral Drugs StandardControl Organisation(CDSCO) deliberated onPfizer’s application.

    The firm presented its pro-posal for emergency use autho-risation of Covid-19 mRNA

    Vaccine BNT162b before thecommittee, an official said.

    “The committee noted thatincidents of palsy, anaphylaxisand other SAE’s have beenreported during post-market-ing and the causality of theevents with the vaccine is beinginvestigated.

    “Further, the firm has notproposed any plan to generatesafety and immunogenicitydata in the Indian population.After detailed deliberation, thecommittee has not recom-mended for grant of permis-sion for emergency use in thecountry at this stage,” states therecommendations of the SEC.

    A Pfizer companyspokesperson in a statementsaid that in pursuance of theemergency use authorisation ofits Covid-19 vaccine, the firmparticipated in the SEC meet-ing. “Based on the deliberationsat the meeting and our under-standing of additional infor-mation that the regulator mayneed, the company has decid-ed to withdraw its applicationat this time,” the spokespersonsaid.

    ����� ��������

    The UPSC civil servicesaspirants, who ended thelast of the attempts in the 2020examinations amid the Covid-19 pandemic will get one morechance provided they are notage-barred. The Centre onFriday told the Supreme Courtthat it is agreeable to give anextra chance as a one-timerelaxation.

    “Relaxation, only to theextent of providing one extraattempt for Civil ServiceExamination (CSE), specifi-cally limited to CSE-2021, maybe granted to only those can-didates who appeared for CSE-2020 as their last permissibleattempt and are otherwise notage-barred from appearing inCSE-2021,” the Centre told a

    bench headed by Justice AMKhanwilkar and comprisingJustice Dinesh Maheshwari.

    In a note filed in the SC,the Centre said that no relax-ation shall be granted for CSE-2021 to those candidates whohave not exhausted their per-missible number of attempts orto those who are otherwise age-barred from appearing in CSE-2021 as per the prescribed agelimits of different categories, orto any other candidate for anyother reasons.

    “This relaxation for thecandidates and to the extent asprescribed above, shall be aone-time relaxation only andshall apply only for appearingin CSE-2021 and shall not betreated as a precedent,” it said.

    The Centre said the relax-ation “shall not create any vest-ed right whatsoever or anyother purported right onground of parity or otherwise,in favour of any other set/classof candidates at any time in thefuture.”

    Continued on Page 2

    ����� ��

    The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Friday kept inter-est rates on hold for the fourthtime in a row but vowed to sup-port growth as long it is need-ed even as it began withdraw-ing some pandemic-era poli-cies. While the Union Budget2021 earlier this week laid outan expansive fiscal strategyover the medium term tostrengthen the growth enginein the economy, the RBIaffirmed its support to such aplan through appropriate mon-etary tools.

    The six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC) keptthe repurchase or repo rateunchanged at 4 per cent,Governor Shaktikanta Das said.

    Consequently, the reverserepo rate will continue to earn3.35 per cent for banks for theirdeposits kept with the RBI.

    The central banks had lastyear cut borrowing costs by 115basis points before hitting thepause button in mid-2020 overinflation worries.

    All six members of theMPC voted to continue withthe accommodative stance aslong as it is necessary to revivegrowth and mitigate the impactof Covid-19 on the economywhile ensuring that inflationremains within the target.

    Signalling rollback of pan-demic-era policies, the RBIannounced a increase in theCash Reserve Ratio (CRR) —the amount of deposits lendersmust set aside as reserves — to3.5 per cent by March and to 4per cent by May.

    The cash returning to thecentral bank can be used by itfor open market operationsand other liquidity measures.

    To absorb higher govern-ment borrowings, the centralbank provided retail investorsa direct option to invest in gov-ernment securities.

    Acknowledging thestrengthening signs of recovery,the RBI applauded the UnionBudget for providing a strongimpetus for revival while stat-ing that the near-term inflationoutlook has turned favourable.

    RBI expects GrossDomestic Product (GDP) fornext year to grow by 10.5 percent, a tad lower than 11 percent predicted by theGovernments EconomicSurvey last week. The growthcompares to an estimated 7.7per cent contraction in theeconomy during the currentfiscal ending March 31.

    The inflation forecasts arepointing to a decline from 5.2per cent in March 2020 to 5-5.2per cent in H1-FY22 and 4.3per cent in Q3.

    Continued on Page 2

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    After keeping it suspendedfor 551-long days, theUnion Government has final-ly decided to restore high speedmobile internet services (4G) inthe Union Territory of Jammu& Kashmir.

    Confirming the muchawaited positive development,spokesman of the Jammu &Kashmir Government andPrincipal Secretary of Powerand Information departmentRohit Kansal on Friday eveningtweeted, “4G mobile internetservices being restored in theentire J&K”.

    The union territory admin-

    istration had given its nod torestore the 4G services aftergathering feedback from seniorsecurity forces during themaiden meeting of the unifiedcommand, which was chairedby Lt-Governor Manoj Sinhahere in Jammu on January 21.

    The mobile internet ser-vices were suspended on theeve of the abrogation of Articles

    370 and 35-A in August 2019.High-speed mobile inter-

    net was earlier restored in twodistricts — one each fromKashmir Valley and the Jammuprovince — almost a year afterthe services were suspendedthroughout the erstwhile State.

    Reacting to the positivedevelopment, former ChiefMinister Omar Abdullah wrotea cheerful post, “4G Mubarak!For the first time since Aug2019 all of J&K will have 4Gmobile data. Better late thannever”.

    The student and businesscommunity suffered the mostdue to absence of high speedmobile internet facilities inJ&K.

    The chief of BJP unit inJammu & Kashmir, RavinderRaina, had dropped clear hintsduring the day claiming the 4Gmobile internet services wouldbe restored soon across Jammuand Kashmir.

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    The Congress on Fridayeffected immediate changein the Maharashtra Congressunit with former MaharashtraLegislative Assembly SpeakerNana Patole appointed as thepresident of MaharashtraPradesh Congress Committee(MPCC). He replacesBalasaheb Thorat, who holdsthe Revenue portfolio in theMaha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)Government.

    Patole, the MLA fromSakoli in Bhandara district,had resigned as the Speaker ofMaharashtra Assembly onThursday, creating a newscramble among the con-stituents of the Maha VikasAghadi (MVA) Government. Adelegation of CongressMinisters, headed by Thorat,had recently met the partyleadership in Delhi.

    Patole, an influential leaderfrom the Vidarbha region, wasmade the Speaker after the ShivSena, the NCP and theCongress joined the ranks toform an alliance Governmentin November 2019. Patole rep-resents Sakoli (Bhandara dis-trict) Assembly seat in theLegislative Assembly.

    Further, former HomeMinister Sushil Kumar Shinde’sdaughter Pranati has beenappointed as the working pres-ident.

    Continued on Page 2

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    Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia on Fridayinstructed the school authori-ties to take all necessary pre-cautions including maintainingsocial distancing norms at theschool premises to containCovid-19 infection.

    The Minister visitedGovernment Girls Senior

    Secondary School, GandhiNagar to review the ongoingpreparations of the students fortheir examinations. He said thatgradual opening of schools is asign of return to normalcytoday to

    “We cannot wait for ‘ZeroCOVID Case Day’ as it is nec-essary for us to adapt to ournew lives in this pandemic.Students of classes 10th and

    12th were able to strictly followCOVID-19 instructions givento them due to which we areconfident to re-open classes 9thand 11th as well. We are start-ing on a positive note that allour students will followCOVID-19 precautions andstart to get back to their nor-mal life,” he said.

    “Parents had an optimisticreaction to the re-opening of

    classes 10th and 12th. We lis-tened to their request anddecided to re-open classes 9thand 11th as well. Our lives haveslowly begun to get back ontrack. With re-opening of theschools, we are hopeful that wewill be able to face all theuncertain challenges ahead ofus,” he added.

    Sisodia further said that theaim of Delhi Government is toprepare our students to faceadversities in life. “We wantthem to be ready to overcomeall obstacles in their lives.Today, the lost glory of ourschools has returned. I am sohappy and excited to see ourstudents perform their labpractical and meet their friends and teachers maintain-ing all COVID-19 protocols”,he said.

    “The Kejriwal Governmenthas broken the old traditionsand established world classschools in Delhi. But theCentral Government stealthilyapproved a bill which aims togive more power to the LGwhich will directly hamperworking of the elected govern-ment in Delhi and curtail theongoing development ofDelhi," he said.

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    Delhi Congress president Anil Kumar on Fridayaccused the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of diverting people’s atten-tion from immediate problems like the strike of the san-itation workers, and non-payment of salaries to theemployees of the municipal Corporations includingCorona warriors and the farmers’ protest on Delhi bor-ders, demanding the repeal of the three anti-farmer agri-cultural laws.

    Addressing party workers and residents during the“Poll Khol” padayatra at Kalyanpuri and Shiv Vihar,Kumar said that due to the sanitation workers’ strike,Delhi has become a huge garbage dump, to make the livesof the people miserable and life threatening.

    Other prominent leaders such as Delhi Congress vice-president Jai Kishan, Delhi Pradesh Mahila Congresspresident Amrita Dhawan, former MLA Rajesh Lilothiawere present on the occasion. Kumar said that both theBJP and AAP Governments had wasted their time inpointless accusations and allegations to score politicalpoints. He said that it was shocking that around 11 lakhfamilies (nearly 54 lakh people) have been living with-out ration cards. “The Arvind Government betrayed thepeople by not enforcing the Food Security Act, enactedby the UPA Government, headed by Dr ManmohanSingh, at the behest of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,”he said.

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    With an aim to provideuninterrupted water sup-ply in the national Capital,Delhi Jal Board (DJB) ViceChairman Raghav Chadhareviewed the preparation of the2021 Summer Action Plan.

    “The DJB is working on acomprehensive plan to ensureuninterrupted water. A metic-ulous plan is underway toaddress vulnerable areas inDelhi, reduce unaccountedwater consumption, come upwith a solid strategy for wateraugmentation, cater to dryareas, augment the existingpiped water network and a lotmore to ensure nobody facesany water shortages in theupcoming summer," he said.

    The Vice Chairman furthersaid, "We have to prepare forevery possible contingencywith respect to water. Everysummer, demand for waternaturally increases and DJB ison its way to meeting suchdemand. The DJB will be opti-mising all available resources inorder to augment water supplyand production and to ensureDelhi residents don't face anysort of water crisis this year.

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    There will be no chakka jamin Uttar Pradesh andUttrakhand on February 6 saidRakesh Tikait, the spokesper-son of Bharatiya Kisan Unionon Friday. He said that thefarmers will give a memoran-dum at the district headquar-ters in Uttarakhand.

    On Friday, a meeting washeld between the farmers

    union leader Rakesh Tikaitand the Kisan AndolanSangharsh Morcha leaderBalbir Singh Rajewal at theGhazipur border in whichdetailed discussions and actionplans were discussed on thenationwide ‘chakka jam’ calledby Samyukta Kisan Morcha(SKM).

    Tikait informed that theharvesting of wheat in Haryanaand Punjab is almost in thefinal stage, where the bandh

    call will continue as before. “Ithas been decided not to invokethe bandh in Uttar Pradesh,” hesaid.

    Farmer unions on Mondayhad announced a countrywide'chakka jam' on February 6when they would block nation-al and state highways for threehours in protest against theinternet ban in areas near theiragitation sites, harassmentallegedly meted out to them byauthorities, and other issues.

    Earlier, whoile issuing theguidelines regarding the chak-ka jam, the SKM issued a state-ment in which they stated thatwill block only the national andstate highways across the coun-try from 12 noon to 3 PM.

    “The protesters will makeway for emergency and essen-tial services like ambulance,school bus, etc. Farmers andother protesters will ensurethat the chakka jam remainscompletely peaceful and non-

    violent. Farmers have beenasked not to indulge in anyconflict with the governmentofficial or ordinary citizens,”SKM stated.

    “The chakka jam will con-clude at 3 PM by indicating theunity of farmers, by blowingthe vehicle horn continuouslyfor 1 minute. We also appeal tothe public to join in at 3 pm toexpress their support and sol-idarity with our annadatas,” theSKM further stated.

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    The Delhi Police has arrest-ed a man while a juvenilehas been apprehended forallegedly stabbing a 45-year-oldperson to death following aquarrel between them over apetty issue.

    Police said that the victimidentified as Manoj Kumar Jhawho was in the transportationbusiness, was stabbed to deathby Abhishek Sharma (18) andthe juvenile on January 31, aday after they had a quarrelwith the deceased.

    “A case was registered andusing technical surveillanceand information, the accusedalong with the juvenile werenabbed on Wednesday. Duringinterrogation, both the accusedconfessed that they had a quar-rel with the deceased over apetty issue on January 30 fol-lowing which they planned tokill him. When they saw Jhaalone at a vacant plot onJanuary 31, they stabbed himmultiple times,” said SantoshKumar Meena, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), Dwarka.

    “Jha was rushed to a near-by hospital where he wasdeclared brought dead. Policehave recovered the knife andthe clothes worn by the accusedduring the crime,” he added.

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    The Economic OffencesWing (EOW) of the DelhiPolice has arrested a kingpin ofa ponzy scheme who hadduped over 100 people.

    The accused has been iden-tified as Sanjeev Upadhyay, aresident of Adarsh Nagar areain Delhi. Police said that theyhad last year arrested his part-ner, Arun Agnihotri whileSanjeev was on run.

    According to Dr O PMishra, the JointCommissioner of Police, EOW,more than 130 complainantsalleged that Sanjeev and ArunAgnihotri who have been run-ning a partnership firm in thename and style of Great India

    Expo”, induced them to investin the said alleged firm with200 per cent assured return onmonthly basis.

    “On the basis of their falseand lucrative representation, alarge number of public fell inthe trap of accused persons andinvested their hard earnedmoney in the above said allegedfirm. When the alleged col-lected a huge amount from thevictims/public, they deliber-ately stopped the payment ofmonthly returns, shut downtheir office premises, switchedoff their phones and ran away,”said the Joint CP.

    “A case was registered andduring investigation, the RBIconfirmed that the alleged firmGreat India Expo has not been

    authorized for functioning asNBFC or for collecting moneyfrom the public at large or tofloat any such scheme,” said theJoint CP.

    “The accused, Arun wasarrested on August 5, 2020while despite numerousnotices, Sanjeev deliberatelydid not join the investigation.Raids were conducted at hisavailable address in Delhi andoutside. He could not be locat-ed. He deliberately avoidedhimself from the investigation.Along with search of theaccused Sanjeev, all possiblelegal recourse were also initi-ated against the accused. Afterexhausting his legal remedies,the accused Sanjeev surren-dered,” said the Joint CP.

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    Delhi Cabinet has approvedMukhyamantri VigyanPratibha Pariksha under which itwill provide Rs 5,000 as sciencescholarship to one thousand mer-itorious students of Class 9th inschools of Delhi.

    The scholarship will provide aboost to science education in sec-ondary classes at school level.Kejriwal said, "It is a crucial stepfor our government to promoteexcellent and talented students.These students are the future ofour country, they will becomefuture scientists, engineers, doctorsand architects and will make ournation proud," he said.

    Deputy chief minister saidthat the Delhi government seeksto promote pursuit of excellenceand scientific temper among thechildren.

    Under the scheme, the stu-dents studying in Delhi schoolswho have secured more than 60per cent in class 8th are eligible for

    the examination. Students belong-ing to SC, ST, PH or OBC catego-ry will be given a relaxation of uptofive per cent of marks.

    In another decision, the DelhiCabinet has decided to complete-ly digitize the education depart-ment. The cabinet on Fridayapproved procurement of close to1200 computers, multi-function-al printers and UPSs for all theschools, branch offices and districtoffices under the educationdepartment.

    Sisodia said that the Delhigovernment is committed toimprove the working environ-ment in all its offices.

    “Digitization plays a crucialrole in easing the workload atoffice. Through digitization, lot ofreporting work gets streamlined,and teachers, principals and theofficers can focus their energy onquality education. Providing agood digital infrastructure in theschools and offices has been ourpriority and this is a huge step inthat direction," he said.

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    The Gurugram Police hasbeen put on high alert inview of the farmer's threat ofblocking toll plazas, state andnational highways in protestagainst the three agriculturallaws on February 6.

    The blockade is scheduledto take place for three hours -12 am to 3 pm.

    The Gurugram police hasintensified security and hasdeployed huge police force onthe Delhi-Jaipur Expressway(NH-48), Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway,Kheri Daula toll plaza on theNH-48 and state highways.

    All the AssistantCommissioner of police

    (ACPs) and DeputyCommissioner of police(DCPs) have been asked toensure patrolling in theirrespective areas. Police pres-ence have been increased alongthe border areas and near theKheri daula toll plaza.

    "The protesters haveannounced to block the high-ways for three hours onSaturday. The Gurugram dis-trict is peaceful since the begin-ning of the farmer's agitationand till now no untoward inci-dent was occurred across thecity but we beefed up securityarrangements to maintainpeace in Gurugram," said K KRao, police commissionerGurugram.

    The police officers saidDelhi-Jaipur Highway and

    KMP Expressway are the life-line. If these two stretches dis-turb for a few minutes, then itaffects every area. In view ofthis, the Gurugram police havedepolyed force along with thestretch, the police said.

    Meanwhile, Rao directedthe entire police force includ-ing senior police officials toensure that law and order in thedistrict is maintained.

    In his directions, Rao saidthat law and order should notbe disrupted at any cost.

    According to official strictinstructions have been issuedin the Gurugram districtadjoining the national capital asa precautionary measure.

    Apart from this, GurugramPolice said they have intensifiedtheir security arrangementsand special instructions havebeen given to the police forceto keep a vigil on suspiciouselements.

    "Policemen have also beendeployed in uniform and plain-clothes in all the crowded areasincluding Sadar Bazar. Thepolice strength has beenincreased around metro sta-tions, railway stations, busstands, crowded places andalso on the Delhi-Jaipurexpressway, state highways andborder area connection thenational capital to ensure lawand order," said Rao.

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    Loud and persistentOpposition protests againstnew farm laws continued toparalyse proceedings in theLok Sabha, even as UnionHealth Minister Dr HarshVardhan on Friday informedthe House in the din that workon seven indigenous anti-Coronavirus vaccines is inprogress and that the third-phase of vaccination wouldcommence from next month.

    As the House proceededfor its business, Oppositionmembers were up on their feetdemanding that the three newfarm laws be rolled-back.

    Responding to queries onthe vaccination process, DrHarsh Vardhan said the UnionBudget presented by financeminister Nirmala Sitharamanhas allocated �35,000 crore forthe purposes of vaccination thisyear and this allocation couldbe increased.

    He said the NationalExpert Group appointed by thePrime Minister is guiding thevaccination programme.

    The health minister said

    besides two vaccines alreadyavailable, work is in progress onseven vaccines with one in“an advanced stage of trial.”

    Dr Harsh Vardhan said 22countries, includingAfghanistan, Egypt, Mongolia,Nepal, Nicaragua, Oman, SaudiArabia, Sri Lanka and UAE,have sought vaccine dropsfrom India. He said 15 coun-tries have been given vaccinegrants or doses.

    The health minister saidIndia made “records” against itsfight against Coronavirus. Hesaid the first and second-phaseof vaccination started onJanuary 16 and February twoand third one where thoseabove 50 years of age to be vac-cinated, will start next month.The minister said he will inti-mate the date when it is fixed.

    The health minister madehis responses amidst slogan-shouting and even as theSpeaker Om Birla’s asked mem-bers to cooperate.

    Carrying placards, opposi-tion members sought the with-drawal of three “black laws”and shouted slogans “shame-shame” and “we want justice”.

    The house ran for 18 min-utes before the Speakeradjourned it till 6 pm.

    After house proceedingsresumed, Opposition MPs’shouts of “Pradhan MantriJawab do”, “take back blacklaws” and “kisan ko nyay do”turned louder.

    As soon as ParliamentaryAffairs Minister ArjunMeghwal finished detailingnext week’s business thatincluded discussion on thePresident’s address and theUnion budget, the Speakeradjourned the house tillMonday. The proceedings last-ed barely six Minutes.

    Amid Opposition’s unre-lenting attacks on theGovernment in both Housesover the farmers’ protestagainst the three agriculturelaws and ahead of the nation-wide chakka jam called by thefarmers’ unions, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onFriday held a meeting withHome Minister Amit Shah,Information and BroadcastingMinister Prakash Javadekarand Parliamentary AffairsMinister Pralhad Joshi at theparliament complex.

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    China is funding develop-ment of an airbase nearGwadar port in Balochistanstyled as Gwadar Internationalairport for containing IndianOcean Region (IOR) strategy ofIndia and disrupting the oilsupply lines from the MiddleEast to Indian shores.

    The airbase will also helpChina in keeping an eye onChabahar port of Iran whereIndia has sanctioned USD 14million for development of theport, sources tracking thedevelopment said.

    The construction of the air-base began in January this yearand the project is scheduled tobe completed by the year endin December, they said.

    The move, the sources fur-ther said, is also aimed atcounterbalancing operational-isation of the Sukhoi base inThanjavur, Tamil Nadu by

    India. The Thanjavur air baseis used for patrolling the IndianOcean and also conduct jointexercises with the Australianand Japanese air forces. Thebase also gives leverage toIndia in patrolling the sea lanesthrough fighter jets on the oiland goods business supplyroutes between the Gulf nationsand China.

    The under-constructionGwadar airbase is designed toland heavy military transportaircraft.

    As of now, Gwadar airportis dubbed as a transport basefor heavy lift aircraft and mil-itary landings have not beenspecifically outlined but suchrunways are also capable offacilitating fighter jets’ landings.

    The heavy military trans-port aircraft can also helpBeijing in shipping men andmilitary machines at shortnotice to check any major dis-ruption in the China-PakistanEconomic Corridor (CPEC)

    that faces constant threat fromthe Baloch nationalists.

    In the backdrop of the USadministration under Joe Bidengranting relaxations to sanc-tions clamped by his prede-cessor Donald Trump againstTeheran, the Gwadar airbasecan also be potentially exploit-ed by the Iranians to smugglein uranium and enrichmenttechnology from China as thereis no visa regime betweenPakistan and Iran.

    Amid India developing theChabahar port in Iran which isclose to the Gwadar port underPakistani control, Beijing aimsto counter Indian dominancein the IOR by keeping tabs onmovements in the sea up toMumbai where the portsreceive hydrocarbon suppliesfrom the Gulf countries.

    To camouflage the Chinesegame plan, the Gwadar airportis dubbed as a civilian facilitywhile its construction is cur-rently in full swing.

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    On a day India crossed the50-lakh Covid-19 vacci-nation milestone, theGovernment on Friday saidthat there are plans to com-mence the third phase of inoc-ulation in March covering 27crore people aged 50 years andabove and those with co-mor-bidities

    This was stated by UnionHealth Minister HarshVardhan in Lok Sabha. “It isnot possible to give an exactdate, but we estimate that thisprocess can start in the second,third or the fourth week ofMarch,” he said adding that thevaccination drive for frontlineworkers has begun this week.

    The second phase startedin different parts of the coun-try from February 2 in whichvaccine is being administeredto frontline workers whosenumbers are estimated to bearound two crores. After thecompletion of phase 1 andphase 2, it is possible that inthe next month, the thirdphase will start in which citi-zens over 50 (years) will bevaccinated across the country,”he said.

    In the last 20 days sincethe mega nationwide inocula-tion drive was launched inJanuary 16, nearly 50 lakh ben-eficiaries have been inoculat-

    ed under the countrywideCOVID-19 vaccination exer-cise, while India’s total activecases have dropped to 1.51lakh, the Union HealthMinistry said in a statement.

    Till February 5, 49,59,445beneficiaries have received thevaccination with 5,09,893 peo-ple receiving the shots in aspan of 24 hours across 11,184sessions, the Ministry said.

    A total of 95,801 sessionshave been conducted so far.The ministry said that 61 percent of beneficiaries vaccinat-ed are from 8 states and UTs.Uttar Pradesh accounts for11.9 per cent (5,89,101) of thetotal beneficiaries vaccinatedin India.

    Meanwhile, India’s totalactive cases continues to followa consistent downward slideconsisting of just 1.40 percent of total infections.

    “The higher number ofrecoveries via-a-vis new caseshas widened the gap betweenrecovered and active cases to1,03,44,848,” the ministryunderlined.

    It said 85.06 per cent ofthe new recovered cases areobserved to be concentrated in6 states and UTs. India’s 112deaths per million popula-tion are also amongst the low-est in the world, the ministryunderscored.

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    Known for its myriad prop-erties from being anti-oxi-dants, dietary fiber, essentialamino acids, food to bio-stim-ulants and carbon sequestra-tion, seaweed is now being seenas an effective immune-thera-py to fight Covid-19.

    The observation by theIndian marine scientists fromthe ICAR-Central Institute ofFisheries Technology (CIFT)that the seaweed contains med-ical components that can beeffective to combat thepathogen has drawn the atten-tion of the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) too.

    It has now posted theirarticle published in the Currentscience on its website to helpthe pandemic hit countries totake a cue about the potentialof marine plant found on thecoastal zones.

    In fact, the WHO recog-nistion has come just at a timewhen India has outlined anambitious blueprint for seaweedindustry in the coastal States toensure sustainable livelihood tothe local inhabitants as well astackle climate change threats.

    One of the easily accessibleand most abundant live speciespresent in the marine ecosys-tem, derivatives of seaweed isalready known to have manymedicinal-nutraceutical prop-erties. “Several polysaccharidesisolated from red and green sea-weeds have been evaluated forits antiviral characteristics andfound to have ability to inhib-it the initial attachment of virusto the host cells which in turneffectively block the viral entryto human body,” said AshishJha, Suseela Mathew and CNRavishankar from the CIFT inthe study.

    Carrageenan, a sulphatedpolysaccharide from red sea-weed has already been tried asa therapeutic agent for respira-tory illness like common cold,influenza virus H1N1. In vitrostudy shows that iota-car-rageenan is active against novelpandemic H1N1/2009 influen-za. The study also shows thatuse of sulphated polysaccharideincrease the secretions of inter-feron and interleukins suggest-ing that it is a strong immune-

    stimulator, said the scientists.In view of its immense

    potential, they proposed thatsulphated polysaccharide can bea potent molecule to fightagainst Covid pandemic, hencea candidate molecule to bestudied against SARS-CoV-2.

    In fact, the study holdsimportance in the context ofIndia which has recently out-lined an ambitious blueprint forseaweed industry even as theGovernment in the Budget2021-22 approved setting up ofa multi-purpose seaweed parkin Tamil Nadu.

    While the seaweed can bepotential candidate for an effec-tive immune-therapy to fightCovid-19, these ‘wonder plantsof the sea’ are being used frombeing a good source of colloidalmaterials used as gelling agents,emulsifiers, stabilisers, in phar-maceutical, cosmetic and foodproducts. Hence, a good sourceof livelihood for the coastalcommunities hit by climatechange threats.

    To cash in its potential ofbeing labour intensive vocation,efforts are on to set up cooper-atives particularly women/fish-erwomen to enhance theirlivelihood, said Sundeep KumarNayak, MD of the NationalCooperative DevelopmentCooperation (NCDC). Heinformed that steps are afoot totie-up up with the Asian pacif-ic countries for technologicaland marketing intervention toensure value edition and qual-ity to make the country’s pres-ence felt in the global marketwhich is estimated to shot up toUSD 26 billion by 2026.

    Presently, 96.3 percent ofseaweed aquaculture is con-centrated in six Asian countriesChina (with over 54.0 percentof production), Indonesia, the

    Philippines, Korea, Japan andMalaysia while India standsnowhere despite beingbestowed with 7,500 km coast-line.

    India’s seaweed cultivationproduction is just about 20,000tonnes, valued around USD 500million. “This is one area whichshould take on the high prior-ity level. The aim is to achieveseaweed production at 11.2lakh tones by 2025,” added DrRajeev Ranjan, the then UnionFisheries Department Secretarywhile speaking at an interna-tional webinar on entrepre-neurship development on‘Seaweed Business byCooperatives’ held on January28.

    It was jointly organized byDepartment of Fisheries,LINAC-NCDC, Departmentof Agriculture, Cooperation&Farmers Welfare, and Bangkok-based NEDAC. National andglobal experts from India andcountries like Canada,Phillipines and Vietnam amonga few others participated at theinternational webinar.

    Dr Ranjan, who is nowChief Secretary of Tamil Nadusaid that among some 844species of seaweeds reportedfrom Indian seas (standingstock estimated to be about58,715 tonnes (wet weight)),

    221 species are commerciallyimportant and abundant alongthe Tamil Nadu and Gujaratcoasts and aroundLakshadweep and Andaman& Nicobar Islands.

    The Government hasalready allocated � 637 crore forthe cultivation of these nutri-tion-rich marine plants, as partof the �20,050-crore centralscheme Pradhan Mantri MatsyaSampada Yojana (PMMSY).

    Identification of four entre-preneurs from each coastalState/UT to be supported withtechnical and financial sources,setting seaweed banks for keyspecies, seaweeds are among thepart of the blueprint proposedto be taken up in the comingyears.

    Apart from Tamil Nadu,seaweed parks are proposed tobe established in Gujarat whileLakshadweep will be devel-oped as a centre for develop-ment of seaweed. NIOT andICAR- CMFRI will undertakeefforts for development of sea-weed culture in Lakshadweep,as per the blueprint.

    Also, mapping of potentialsites and cultivation will be pro-moted for native seaweedspecies like Gracilaria dura,G.edulis, Gelidiella acerosa,Sargassum wightii etc, said theSecretary.

    ����� ��������

    Conduct of functions mustnot disturb other citizensright to a peaceful and cleanenvironment, the NationalGreen Tribunal has said whiledirecting all the states and unionterritories to implement guide-lines for control of pollution inmarriage and banquet halls.

    A bench headed by NGTChairperson Justice AdarshKumar Goel said apart from thelicensing provisions for fire safe-ty, building safety, etc, the reg-ulatory bodies must enforce theenvironmental norms to ensurethat water and air pollution isprevented and the environmentis not degraded.

    "Effluent Treatment Plantsneeds to be installed by all thebig units, not connected to thesewer lines, apart from ensuringcompliance of rainwater har-vesting systems, adequate safe-guards in operating the kitchenneed to be adopted, compostingfacilities, control of noise levelsand providing parking space,"the bench said.

    Without such safeguards, noconsent should be given orrenewed even in respect of theestablishments already set up,the green panel clarified.

    The tribunal said that thismay be strictly ensured by thestate pollution control boardsand further overseen by theCentral Pollution Control Boardby laying down a compensationregime against the violatingestablishments.

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    The number of registeredunrecognised politicalparties has increased two-fold from 2010 to 2019. From1,112 such parties in 2010, thenumber of unrecognised reg-istered parties has increased to2,301 in 2019. Of the total2,301, only 78 registeredunrecognised political par-ties or 3.39 percent parties in2018-19 and 82 or 3.56 per-cent in 2017-18 submittedtheir contribution details sofar to the ElectionCommission.

    These registered unrecog-nised parties received �90.05crore in 2017-18 and 2018-19from 12,998 donors.

    According to theAssociation for DemocraticReforms (ADR) analysis,Apna Desh Party of UttarPradesh declared the highestdonations for both financialyears combined of �65.63crore (4300 donations) or72.88% of the total declareddonations by unrecognizedparties in their contributionreports of 2017-18 and 2018-19.

    As per the notificationissued by the ElectionCommission dated 15thMarch, 2019, there are a totalof 2,360 political parties reg-istered with the Commission.2,301 or 97.50% of registeredpolitical parties are unrecog-nised parties. The number of

    registered unrecognised polit-ical parties has increased twofold in the last 10 years. From1112 parties in 2010, the num-ber has spiked to 2,301 in2019. It is important to notethat the number of such par-ties increases disproportion-ately during the year ofParliamentary elections espe-cially. Between 2018 and 2019,it increased by over 9.8%while between 2013 and 2014,it increased by 18 percent.

    Of the total of 2,301 reg-istered unrecognised parties,653 parties or 28.38% belongto Uttar Pradesh, followed by291 parties or 12.65% fromDelhi and 184 or 8% fromTamil Nadu.

    57 parties of the 138 polit-ical parties analysed declaredNIL donations or their dona-tions statements were unavail-able for either of the twoyears.

    The ADR report said thatthe contribution reports of atotal of only 78 or 3.39% of thetotal 2,301 registered unrecog-nised parties is available in thepublic domain for 2018-19,and for 2017-18, the reportsare available for only 82 par-ties or 3.56% of the total reg-istered unrecognised parties.

    “The registered unrecog-nised parties analysed in thisreport declared a total of 6860donations worth �65.45 crduring FY 2018-19 and 6138donations of �4.6 cr for FY2017-18, amounting to 12,998

    total declared donations of�90.05 cr in two years. ApnaDesh Party of Uttar Pradeshdeclared the highest donationsfor both financial years com-bined of �65.63 crore (4300donations) or 72.88% of thetotal declared donations byunrecognised parties in theircontribution reports of FY2017-18 & 2018-19. Of the138 parties analysed in thisreport, more than 50 parties’contribution reports areunavailable in the publicdomain for either of the twofinancial years,” the reportsaid.

    The report said a total ofRs 54.206 cr (3511 donations)was donated to the unrecog-nised parties from Gujarat,followed by Rs 12.239 cr (6526donations) from Maharashtraand �3.294 cr (179 donations)from Uttar Pradesh. The con-tribution reports of only3.06% or 20 of the 653 totalregistered unrecognised par-ties of Uttar Pradesh are avail-able in the public domain forthe year 2018-19. For the year2017-18, 1.68% or 11 parties’contribution reports are avail-able on the CEO website ofUttar Pradesh.

    In case of Delhi, 6.19% or18 registered unrecognisedparties’ contribution reportsare available in the publicdomain for the year 2017-18.However, none of the parties’donation statements are avail-able for the 2018-19.

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    India has not given permissionfor use of any vaccine againstbird flu nor have other countrieslike the US, UK and theEuropean Union approved anysuch vaccine. The Governmenthas maintained that bird flu hasbeen confirmed in 14 States /UTs across the country.

    “As per World Organizationof Animal Health (OIE), vacci-nation is not considered thesolution for the control of AvianInfluenza (Bird Flu) if eradica-tion is the desired result,” UnionMinister Sanjeev Kumar Balyansaid in a written reply to theRajya Sabha.

    Without the application ofmonitoring systems, strict biose-curity and depopulation in theface of infection, there is a pos-sibility that these viruses couldbecome endemic in vaccinatedpoultry populations, he said.

    Long-term circulation ofthe virus in a vaccinated popu-lation may result in both anti-genic and genetic changes in thevirus and this has been report-ed to have occurred in severalcountries, the Minister of Statefor Fisheries, Animal Husbandryand Dairying said.

    The minister added thatwith the long-term use of vac-cination either the diseasebecomes endemic and thereforewidespread, or the infection inaffected animals gets too diffi-cult to detect. “The Governmenthas not permitted use of any vac-cine against bird flu in thecountry. Further, it is gatheredfrom the Central DrugsStandards Control Organization(CDSCO) that no such vaccineis approved in countries like theUSA, UK, EU etc. toprevent/cure bird flu in birds,” henoted. In a separate reply, theminister said bird flu amongcommercially reared and wildbirds have been confirmed from14 states and union territoriesnamely Kerala, Haryana,Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab,Himachal Pradesh, Bihar,Rajasthan, Delhi, and Jammuand Kashmir.

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    Two days after J P Nadda, theBJP national president lam-basted the CPI(M) and theCongress for entering intoalliance in rest of India whileposing as enemies in Kerala, theCongress has charged that theHindutwa party for establishinga secret deal with the CPI(M) todefeat the Congress-led UDF inthe State.

    T h i r u v a n c h o o rRadhakrishnan, formerMinister and seven time mem-ber of the Legislative Assemblytold The Pioneer that therewere enough proofs to doubtthe secret CPI(M)-BJP tie up fordefeating the Congress in theupcoming election.

    “It is nothing new for boththe parties. They have the trackrecord of doing such things inpast election,” saidRadhakrishnan. He alleged thatthe CPI(M) and the BJP wereresponsible for the Sabarimalashrine controversy and theCongress-led UDF wouldexpose the parties in days tocome.

    K C Joseph, deputy leaderof the Congress LegislatureParty and former minister saidthe BJP’s reaction to KSudhakaran’s outburst againstChief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan

    was dubious. Sudhakaran, theCongreess MP from Vadakarain Kerala had lambasted Vijayanfor his wanton profligacy in mis-using of government funds.“Why Vijayan, son of a toddytapper, requires helicopter to goaround such a small State likeKerala?” Sudhakaran, knownfor his blunt talk, had askedwhile addressing a meeting inKannur.

    The BJP has been in theforefront attacking Sudhakaranand blamed the latter for “castebased” remarks. A pro-BJPnews channel held debates overthe comments of Sudhakaran,which were ignored by even theMarxist dominated Keralamedia. But Joseph has more tosay about the evolving CPI(M)-BJP ties to weaken the Congress.“The by-election held in theTillankeri division of Kannurdistrict panchjayat in mid-January speaks a lot about theBJP-Marxist understanding todefeat the Congress,” Joseph toldThe Pioneer,

    The by-poll in Tillankerinecessitated by the death of theUDF candidate was won by thyeCPI(M) candidate. “This was atraditional stronghold of theCongress. What stands out inthe results of the by-poll is thevotes polled by the BJP candi-date.

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    Lucknow: The Budget presentation in theUttar Pradesh Assembly on February 19 willbe read out by the State's Finance MinisterSuresh Khanna from his tablet and notpaper.

    This will be the first time that the stateBudget will go digital, like the UnionBudget.The legislators will not get printedbooklets of the Budget but can view it ontheir tablets and phones on the given link.

    A training session for legislators in theuse of devices will be held from February 11to 13 by officials of the National InformaticsCentre.

    The state government is also conduct-ing a training workshop for Ministers andsenior officials for seamless transition to thee-cabinet system with an emphasis onsecurity protocols.

    Ministers were advised to undertaketraining at home to achieve hands-on com-fort with the new system.

    The first e-cabinet meeting was held onTuesday through several minister struggledwith the new technology.

    “Following the mantra of 'MinimumGovernment and Maximum Governance',the Chief Minister decided to implement

    paperless cabinet meetings, paperless Budgetpresentation and paperless proceedings ofthe legislature. He has already set rolling adigital policy to push governance in thecountry's most populous state from directbeneficiary transfer to accounts and use ofe-POS machines,” a state governmentspokesperson said.

    Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said thatMLAs and MLCs would be provided withthe tablets before the Assembly session toenable members to work online and curb useof paper.

    However, most of the legislators are notyet comfortable with the digitalisation of theassembly proceedings.

    “I am not a very tech-savvy person andthe government should give us at least sixmonths to fully adopt e-governance.Elections are just a year away and a break-down of communication at this stage withthe bureaucracy could prove detrimental,”said a senior MLA of the ruling BharatiyaJanata Party.

    A number of legislators said that theywere not conversant with Hindi/English typ-ing and will have to first learn this beforelearning how to operate the devices. IANS

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    ���������������� Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh has

    become the first State in thecountry to have vaccinated over5.5 lakh people against Covid-19.

    According to informationfrom the state health depart-ment, as many as 5.89 lakhhealth workers have received thevaccine against coronavirus sofar against a cumulative target of8.44 lakh till Thursday.

    Additional Chief Secretary,health and family welfare, AmitMohan Prasad said that this isthe largest in the country.

    “UP is the first state to havevaccinated over five lakh personsagainst the pandemic infection,”he stated adding that the activ-ity will continue on Friday too.The official spokesperson said,“Of the total 5.89 lakh personsvaccinated so far, 1,25,308 healthworkers were immunised onThursday. Keeping the day'starget of 1,72,396 in mind, theturnout was 72.69 per centwhich is exemplary for a state

    like UP.” The spokesperson stat-ed that all the 1,607 planned ses-sions were held and both,Covishield and Covaxin, wereadministered to health workers.Those vaccinated on Thursday,will get the second dose onMarch 4.

    Among districts, Gondaranked number one with 115per cent turnout, while Sambhal(101 per cent), Unnao (99.4 percent), Sant Kabir Nagar (99 percent) and Firozabad (96.27 percent) made it to the top five.

    Gautam Buddha Nagar,Aligarh, Kasganj, Bulandshahrand Agra were placed in the bot-tom five. The state capital,Lucknow, recorded a turnout of63.14 per cent.

    General manager, immuni-sation, National Health Mission,UP, Manoj Shukla said that theremaining health workers wouldbe covered in the sessions onFriday when the vaccination offrontline workers will alsostart. IANS

    Jammu: The J&K Governmenton Friday said that at least 10.77lakh golden cards and 10,000treatments have been done inthe region in the first 40 daysafter the launch of theAyushman Bharat PradhanMantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme.

    The scheme was e-launched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on December26, 2020.

    Since the roll out of thescheme, 10,000 free and cash-less treatments worth Rs 7.21crore have been provided to the

    eligible beneficiaries under thescheme, in the first 40 days.

    Besides, 10.77 lakh goldencards have been issued in addi-tion to 12.90 lakh golden cardsissued under the AB-PMJAYSEHAT scheme.

    Financial Commissioner,Health & Medical Education,Atal Dulloo said: “AB-PMJAYSEHAT scheme is a historicalstep in the direction towardsUniversal Health Insurance.We have made a humble begin-ning but there is a long way togo. It is heartening to see resi-dents availing the free and

    cashless benefits from reputedempanelled hospitals of Jammuand Kashmir.” He further said,“Residents of J&K have alreadystarted availing benefits underthe scheme from the reputedhospitals outside the UT.”

    He added that since thelaunch of scheme, 155 patientshave already availed benefits inempanelled hospitals from out-side J&K using the portabilityfeature of the AB-PMJAYSEHAT scheme.

    AB-PMJAY SEHATscheme launched by the gov-ernment covers all the residents

    of Jammu and Kashmir includ-ing the employees and thepensioners as well as theirfamilies.

    AB-PMJAY SEHATscheme in convergence withPMJAY aims to provideUniversal Health InsuranceCoverage of Rs 5 lakh perfamily on a floater basis. AB-PMJAY SEHAT has the samebenefits as available under AB-PMJAY. AB-PMJAY SEHATscheme provides cashless accessto empanelled healthcare services for the benefi-

    ciaries. IANS

    Patna: Opposition parties' leadersin Bihar have organised humanchains, tractor rallies, Raj Bhavanmarch, dharnas and protests insupport of the farmers' agitationat the Delhi borders, but havefailed to enthuse the farmers hereto join the stir. They are still main-taining a distance from theprotests.

    Tejashwi Yadav, the Leader ofthe Opposition in the BiharAssembly, has appealed to thestate's farmers to join the farmers'agitation. Apart from Tejashwi,Gurnam Singh Chaduni, a seniorleader of the Sanyukt KisanMorcha (SKM), who is involved inthe farmers' agitation at Delhi'sborders, came to Bihar and urgedthe farmers here to join themovement, but they are not enthu-siastic about it. Many farmers inthe region are not even aware ofthis movement.

    Ramadhar Singh, All India

    Kisan Sabha Secretary, says thatthere is a lack of consciousnessamong the farmers in Bihar. Hesaid even today the farmers hereare selling their produce at throw-away prices, but due to lack ofawareness, they are not joining thefarmers' movement. He said thepeople of his farmers organisationwill visit every village fromFebruary 10 to March 10 to set uppanchayats and create awarenessamong the farmers.

    On January 30 this year, all theopposition parties united andorganised a human chain in thestate to demand the repeal of thethree new farm laws on the call ofthe opposition Rashtriya JanataDal (RJD). Even in this humanchain, farmers were nowhere to beseen. Anand Murari, a farmerfrom Tal region and Coordinatorof the Tal DevelopmentCommittee, which is known forpulses production in Bihar says

    that the farmers here mainly dotraditional farming and are notconcerned with Union farm laws.

    Ram Pravesh Rai, a farmerfrom Bihata near Patna, asks whowill be the farmer marching on thestreets for the movement. He saidif the farmers here do not work inthe fields, what will they eatthroughout the year? Expressinganger, he said everyone wants toindulge in politics.

    The APMC Act in Bihar wasabolished in 2006.

    In Bihar, the leaders of the rul-ing party have been saying that thefarmers of Bihar are with theNational Democratic Alliance(NDA). They know what used tohappen to farmers earlier.

    BJP Spokesperson NikhilAnand says that the Central gov-ernment is committed to doublingthe income of farmers and effortsare being made continuously toachieve this. IANS

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    Amaravati: Andhra PradeshState Election Commissioner(SEC) Nimmagadda RameshKumar has annulled the TeluguDesam Party's (TDP)Panchayat elections manifesto,and ordered it to withdraw itscopies as it defeats the very pur-pose of and object of apoliticalnature of gram panchayat elec-tions.

    “TDP Panchayati EnnikalaManifesto - 2021 is a suggestiveaffiliation of political party inthe context of gram panchay-at elections held on non-partybasis, which is a clear violationof the commission's orderdat-ed October 25, 2018 and itdefeats the very purpose andobject of apolitical nature ofgram panchayat elections,” saidKumar.

    Lella Appi Reddy, a leaderof the ruling Yuvajana SramikaRythu Congress Party(YSRCP), complained toKumar on January 29 about theparty-affiliated manifestoannounced by TDP nationalpresident Nara ChandrababuNaidu. Incidentally, Kumar wasnot satisfied with the explana-tion given by the TDP leadersas to why it released a partymanifesto banned in rural localbodies elections. IANS

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    Little over a fortnight after hefell out with his party’s lead-ership over allegations the rapecharge made against a NCPminister, BJP’s Mumbai unitpresident and former MLA fromVile Parle Krishna Hegderesigned from his party andjoined the ruling Shiv Sena hereon Friday evening.

    Fifty-four-year-old Hegdewas welcomed by Shiv Senapresident and Maharashtra chiefminister Uddhav Thackeray intothe Shiv Sena by tying the tra-ditional “Shiv bandhan” on hishand.

    Hegde, who has a sizeablefollowing in Vile Parle Assemblyconstituency that he had repre-sented in the State Assembly, isbeing seen as a boost to ShivSena in the run-up to theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) to be held in 2022. Hegde isexpected to be given an impor-tant party post ahead of theBMC polls.

    A former Congress MLAfrom Vile Parle and once closeconfidant of former MP PriyaDutt, Hegde had resigned fromthe party in 2017 following hisserious differences with the thenMumbai Congress presidentSanjay Nirupam and joined theBJP where he had remained forthe past four years.

    Hegde, it may be recalled,had hit headlines on January 14when he went to indirectdefence of Maharashtra’s NCPMinister Dhananjay Munde, byclaiming that the woman whohad made allegations of rapeagainst the NCP minister hadtried to “honey-trap” them.Hegde lodged a complaint withthe Amboli police against RenuVerma for allegedly “coaxing”him since 2010 into having arelationship with him.

    “Renu Sharma has beencalling me, messaging me andcoaxing me since 2010 to havea relationship with her. Thisharassment went on to the pointof stalking. Through my sourcesI found out that she is a dubiousperson who is setting up a

    honey trap. I totally avoidedmeeting her,” Hegde had said inhis complaint.had

    Hegde was elected to theMaharashtra Assembly on aCongress ticket from the VileParle constituency in 2009, butin 2014 elections he was defeat-ed by BJP’s Parag Alvani.

    Hegde was instrumental insecuring the release of BhaveshParmar, a jobless IT engineerfrom Mumbai, who had gone toAmritsar where he boarded theSamjhauta Express in 2005 andreached Pakistan.

    Parmar was caught therewithout a passport, visa or anyother documents and conse-quently spent 7 years in aPakistan prison before he wasrepatriated home in 2012.

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    Jammu: A 12-year-old Jammugirl, Guhika Sachdev, has set anexample for others to follow bydonating Rs 1.11 lakh, whichshe earned by sharing hersinging video on Youtube.

    Guhika donated theamount to Dr. Shashi SudhanSharma, Principal GovernmentMedical College Jammu, forfighting corona virus and tohelp the needy patients.

    As per Guhika, she postedher video on Youtube inNovember which went viral byreceiving a huge response fromthe netizens. “During lock-

    down I saw migrant labourerswalking thousands of kilome-ter and my heart really sank onseeing them travelling withoutfood and water” Guhika said

    and hoped that her donationwill help the needy in a littleway.

    “If God has given us every-thing then we should also help

    others” Guhika added and saidthat she got this inspirationfrom her grandfather andfather. The Principal GMC &AH appreciated her humani-tarian gesture and asked her tocontinue to help the needy in asimilar way.

    Hailing Guhika, Dr Sudhansaid that she is a role model foryouth and society to follow. Sheurged the people to join handsand help each other in the timesof distress. “Our Committeemembers will also contributefor this novel cause” thePrincipal said. PNS

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  • Tatmadaw’s share of reservedseats in both Houses ofParliament from 25 per cent tofive per cent. The move failedbut the intention to clip the mil-itary’s wings it conveyed rattledthe generals who, like theirPakistani counterparts, report-edly have links with manylucrative economic ventures,which they may lose under astrong civilian Government.

    What now? The Myanmarpolice charged Suu Kyi in acourt on February 3 claimingthat walkie-talkie radios, foundduring a search of her home inthe capital, Naypyidaw, wereimported illegally and usedwithout permission. Theysought her custody till February15 “in order to question wit-nesses, request evidence andseek legal counsel after ques-tioning the defendant”.

    The charge has been wide-ly condemned as spurious. SuuKyi had every opportunity tolegitimately import the walkie-talkie sets when she was head-ing the Government as StateCounsellor. Besides, the charg-ing of Myanmar’s overthrownPresident Win Myint withoffences under the DisasterManagement Law indicatesthe targeting of the NLD’s topleadership. In a report, AlJazeera has quoted Ali Fowle,reporting from Myanmar, as

    saying that the country’simport-export Act was “noto-riously vague”. She added: “Itcould be anything from a faxmachine to a walkie-talkie. It’s a notorious law because itwas used under the former mil-itary regime all the time toframe political prisoners.”

    Not surprisingly, UNspokesman Stephane Dujarrictold reporters that the chargesagainst Suu Kyi “just com-pound the undermining ofthe rule of law in Myanmarand the democratic process”.He added: “We continue tocall for her immediate releaseand the President’s immedi-ate release and all others whohave been detained by themilitary in the last few days.”The chances of the militaryobliging are negligible. Norcan one foresee the protests,which have broken out in theform of doctors and otherstaff staying away fromGovernment hospitals andpeople banging their pots,snowballing to oust theregime, which will stop atnothing. It has alreadybanned Facebook, used by theprotestors, at least until theend of February. China andRussia will back the generals.Much will, therefore, dependon the pressure that the USand European countries,

    which have strongly con-demned the coup, bring tobear on the generals.

    India’s External AffairsMinistry had issued a state-ment on February 1: “Wehave noted the developmentsin Myanmar with deep con-cern. India has always beensteadfast in its support to theprocess of democratic transi-tion in Myanmar. We believethat the rule of law and thedemocratic process must beupheld. We are monitoringthe situation closely.”

    India has to tread withcaution. The Tatmadaw hasbeen cooperating closely withit in dealing with the ethnicinsurgents of its North-East. Ithas developed deep econom-ic ties with Myanmar and, in2019, emerged as the latter’slargest supplier of militaryhardware, selling arms worth$100 million. It cannot, how-ever, watch the rape of democ-racy in Myanmar silently, andmust continue expressing dis-approval of the Tatmadaw’saction and pressuring it firm-ly to release Suu Kyi and theothers, and allow her party to form the Government onthe basis of the Novemberelection’s results.

    (The author is ConsultingEditor, The Pioneer. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

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    As the darkness of the night begins to set in,there is only one house in Pune’s bustlingBudhwar Peth area which is lit by oil lamps.In this small house lives Hema Sane, a retired pro-fessor of botany. The 80-year-old Sane has authoredover 25 books, many of which are course books forgraduate students of botany studying at the city’sfamed Savitribai Phule University. But this is not whyshe is pleased with her efforts. What makes herhappy is that she was able to continue her habit ofwriting even at night despite not having electrici-ty. Writing by candlelight was not new or strangeto her. With no electricity in the house since birth,Sane became an expert in managing without it. Herdoctorate (Ph.D) in botany was also completed withthe help of oil lamps and candles. “I don’t have arefrigerator, television or oven because I don’t haveelectricity. My parents also didn’t have power. I havelived all my life without electricity and don’t see theneed for it. I am happy living in harmony withnature,” she says.

    Many are of the opinion that she is insane tolive the way she does, surrounded by trees, plants,birds, cats, dogs and piles of books. “If you type mysurname (Sane), the internet will tell you it meanssensible. The opposite of sane is insane or mad. Thisis what some people say about me (that I am mad)when they hear I have chosen to live without elec-tricity,” says Sane with a chuckle. Living withoutpower amid the hustle and bustle of a cosmopoli-tan city is not the only factor that makes Sane’s lifeso fascinating. She is an institution in herself (herimpressive academic record includes degrees inIndology as well) and inspired one of her botanystudents to name a new plant variety after her name.

    It also motivated film-maker Ramana Dumpalato make her the subject of his award-winning doc-umentary film. Aptly named ‘Glow Worm in aJungle,’ the film explores her life and work, and hersteadfast refusal to give up her rundown house toa builder because it would mean leaving her bestfriends — the trees, plants, birds and animals —behind. Interestingly, the film-maker shot the entirefilm in the light that filtered in during the day andfrom the oil lamps and newly-acquired solarlamps in the night to honour her philosophy of usingnatural resources.

    Sane’s abiding bond with nature, the courage tochallenge existing values and practices and offer newperspectives about ways of living is also why thisfilm was chosen as a part of the ongoing ‘RisingGardens Film Festival.’ A part of the One BillionRising (OBR) campaign in India, the onlineFestival showcases acclaimed documentary and ani-mation films on women and their cosmic connec-tion with nature, agriculture and the environment.Held annually, the OBR focuses attention on thestrength of women through various forms of cre-ative expression. This 2021 campaign explores theinfluences that have shaped the world, its revival,restoration and transformation. Since OBR waslaunched in 2012 as a call for the world to rise againstthe widespread violence against women and girls,this year’s theme of ‘Rising Gardens’ has been sonamed to underline that communities must rise torespect and protect both women and mother Earthif life is to exist.

    The exploitation of nature and the oppressionof women are deeply linked, contends Kamla Bhasin,coordinator, OBR South Asia. “It is the larger, unjust

    systems that make this violenceagainst nature and women acceptableand even necessary for its perpetu-ation. In response to this, the OBRcampaign is pushing us to worktowards healing the environment andour communities by growing gar-dens, directly challenging capitalistpatriarchy which has increasinglypushed us away from mother nature.We call to build gardens and commu-nities where everyone can flourish,”says Bhasin.Curated by ReenaMohan, an award winning indepen-dent documentary film-maker, thefestival has been organised by Sangat,a feminist network. The aim of pre-senting 48 films of hope andresilience from 11 countries over thenext four months is to show thatcommunities can imagine a betterway to live withou


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