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  • The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias
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T he Special Cell of the Delhi Police arrested five sus- pected terrorists after an encounter with the police in East Delhi’s Shakarpur area on Monday. Initial probe sug- gests that the five, two from Punjab and three from Jammu & Kashmir, have links to Khalistan and Islamic terror organisations. Police said the suspects were arrested on Monday morning after getting specific intelligence input. Police said, preliminary investigation has revealed that Pakistani spy agency Inter Service Intelligence (ISI) is attempting to link up terror outfits in Kashmir with Khalistan oper- atives and two of them are also allegedly involved in the mur- der of Shaurya Chakra winner Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp- shooters of most wanted gang- ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias Sukh Bhikhariwal, and resi- dents of Punjab while others have been identified as Shabir Ahmad Gojree, Mohammad Ayub Pathan and Riyaz Rather, residents of Jammu & Kashmir. T he Indian Navy has recov- ered the body of the miss- ing naval pilot Commander Nishant Singh off Goa coast. His MIG-29K had crashed into the Arabian Sea 11 days back. The second pilot of the twin- seater was rescued the same day. Both the pilots had man- aged to eject from the jet before it went down. The missing commander’s body was located on the seabed 70 metres below water. The body was found 30 miles off Goa coast. The jet had taken off for a routine sortie on November 26 after taking off from the INS Vikramaditya air- craft carrier. Giving details of the mishap, the Navy had said that day a board of enquiry was ordered to ascertain the cause of the incident. “A MiG-29K trainer air- craft operating at sea met with an accident at about 1700 hrs on 26 November. One pilot has been recovered and search by air and surface units in progress for the second pilot. An enquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident,” the Navy said. The official said intensive aerial, coastal and surface search by the Indian Navy ships and aircraft was in progress to locate the pilot. Underwater search by divers and seabed mapping using specialised equipment in vicin- ity of primary wreckage of MiG-29K was on. The search teams had managed to locate the debris of the ill-fated jet after a few days. It included landing gear, turbo charger, fuel tank engine and wing engine. Sources said mortal remains of a human body were found in the vicinity of the wreckage site. The samples are being sent for DNA testing for confirmation of identity. They also said all sections of the aircraft wreckage includ- ing ejection seats have been accounted for using side scan sonar and high definition cam- eras. Continued on Page 2 A fter US-based drug maker Pfizer applied for the approval of its coronavirus vaccine in India, the Serum Institute of India (SII) and Bharat Biotech too have sought from the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation emergency use authorisation for their Covid- 19 vaccines. Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin is being indigenously developed by the Hyderabad-based com- pany in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). While SII’s Covid-19 vaccine is developed by AstraZeneca-Oxford University. Sources in the Government said that the top drug regula- tor, DCGI, has started review- ing their applications on grant- ing of authorisation, which will be made on the basis of three parameters — safety, quality and efficacy. “As promised, before the end of 2020, @SerumInstIndia has applied for emergency use authorisation for the first made-in-India vaccine, COV- ISHIELD,” tweeted SII CEO Adar Poonawala on Monday. “This will save countless lives, and I thank the Government of India and Sri @narendramodi ji for their invaluable support,” he wrote. Government officials said that the vaccine, developed from adenovirus which is a common cold virus, will be the first preventive option against Covid-19 available in India and it could be administered to the first priority group com- prising healthcare workers beginning the next month. The Government has already geared up for immunising the identified population. Though the company has not revealed the details of the application sent to the regula- tor, sources said that it will sub- mit the full analysis released by AstraZeneca-Oxford last month. The analysis showed that their vaccine candidate was 70 per cent effective on average in a late-stage trial in the UK and Brazil. In India, a phase 2/3 trial being conducted on 1,600 indi- viduals is aimed at looking for only immunogenicity and not for actual protection against Covid-19 as per the vaccine’s trial design. Also, as the trial in India involves the dosing regimen with two full doses. The regu- lator can accept just the 62 per cent efficacy and the bridging immunogenicity from SII and grant the approval for restrict- ed use, officials said. According to the ICMR, the SII has already manufac- tured 40 million doses of the vaccine under the at-risk man- ufacturing and stockpiling license it obtained from the DCGI. New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday allowed the Centre to go ahead with the proposed foundation stone- laying ceremony for the Central Vista project after the Government assured it that no construction or demolition work would commence till the apex court decides the pending pleas on the issue. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a bench headed by Justice AM Khanwilkar that there would be only foundation stone-laying ceremony, and no construction, demolition or felling of trees would be done for the project as of now. The revamp, which was announced in September last year, envisages a new triangu- lar Parliament building, with seating capacity for 900 to 1,200 MPs, that is targeted to be constructed by August, 2022 when the country will be cele- brating its 75th Independence Day. The common Central Secretariat is likely to be built by 2024. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will lay the foundation stone on December 10 for the new Parliament building and the construction is expected to be completed by 2022 at an estimated cost of 971 crore, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had said on December 5. The SC is seized of pleas which have raised questions over several aspects, including the environmental clearance granted to the project. During the hearing con- ducted on Monday through video-conferencing, the bench asked Mehta to apprise it with- in five minutes about the Government’s view on the issue of construction work for the project. The bench observed that it would not allow con- struction or demolition till its decision on the pending pleas opposing the project. The SC said the Centre can proceed with the requisite paperwork in the meantime. On November 5, the apex court had reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas which have raised questions over the Centre’s ambitious Central Vista project, which covers three km stretch from Rashtrapati Bhavan to India Gate in Lutyens’ Delhi. Continued on Page 2 A head of Tuesday’s Bharat Bandh call given by farm- ers unions and supported by 22 political parties, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has asked all States and Union Territories to tighten security while asserting that peace and tranquility must be maintained. While the Centre is firm on its stance on the reform laws, farmers want them rolled back as they fear they will be at the mercy of corporates to sell their produce. In a countrywide advisory, the MHA also said the State Governments and UT admin- istrations must ensure that the Covid-19 guidelines issued with regard to health and social distancing are strictly followed. The States and UTs were told that peace and tranquility must be maintained during the Bharat Bandh and precaution- ary measures taken so that no untoward incident takes place anywhere in the country. The Centre’s attempts to resolve the farmers’ agitation through dialogue is making lit- tle headway with a few of the farmer unions remaining adamant on their demand to repeal the new agriculture laws. The Bharat Bandh, called by the farmers’ unions who have been protesting against the three farm laws, got support from trade unions, trans- porters, bank unions and polit- ical parties including the Congress, NCP, DMK, SP, TRS and Left. In a statement of support for the strike on Sunday, the Opposition parties said, “These new farm laws passed in Parliament in a brazen (and) anti-democratic manner (by) preventing a structured dis- cussion and voting, threaten India’s food security, destroy Indian agriculture and our farmers, lay the basis for the abolishment of MSP and mort- gage Indian agriculture and our markets to the caprices of multi-national agri-business corporates.” Meanwhile, traders’ body CAIT and the All India Transporters Welfare Association on Monday said markets across the country including in Delhi will remain open on Tuesday and transport services will also remain oper- ative, notwithstanding the Bharat Bandh call given by protesting farmers. In Mumbai, BEST buses, taxis, auto will continue to ply on the road on Tuesday. Ahead of Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday, the Gujarat Government imposed Section 144 of CrPC in the State. The police would not allow any out- fit or any group to forcefully impose bandh in the State. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accused that some political parties are trying to spoil the atmosphere in the country, “especially the present stand taken by them on model APMC Act shows their double standards”. Attacking the Opposition parts at a hurried- ly convened Press conference at his official residence in Lucknow he said that the par- ties which have backed the Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday “should apologise before the nation”. After five rounds of talks between the Centre and the farmers’ unions failed to end the impasse, the two sides are again set to meet on December 9, a day after the countrywide strike. Talks between the Government and protesting farmers remained inconclu- sive on Saturday even after five rounds of discussions as union leaders stuck to their demand for the repeal of the new farm laws and went on a “maun vrat” seeking a clear “yes or no” reply, forcing the Centre to call for another meeting on December 9 to resolve the deadlock. A s the Modi Government braced up to deal with the Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday, the BJP has slammed the Opposition parties for fanning the farmer’s stir by stoking their fear. Senior BJP leader and Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad on Monday described the Opposition parties as “double- faced” and called its stand “utter political opportunism”. Prasad said a majority of Opposition parties, including the Congress, the NCP and the Samajwadi Party (SP) — now backing the farmers — had in the past approved the market- ing reforms in the agriculture sector. Referring to what he said “sudden” support of non-BJP parties to the farmers stir as “shudh rajnetic swarth ki rajni- ti”, Prasad said these are “dou- ble-standards” adopted by the Opposition to save their declin- ing political base. The BJP leader skirted questions on the ongoing talks between the farmers and the Government (with the next round scheduled on December 9) but stressed that new laws which “set free restrictions” were good of the farming com- munity. The Minister said under new farm laws the farmland “will not be sold, leased or mortgaged.” Giving the latest figures of “ higher procurement and pay- ment on MSP”, he said, “we have no intention to end the mandi system” in the country. Prasad quoted 2019 Congress manifesto (page 17, part 2) saying that the party “will repeal APMC Act and make the trade, including export-import, free from restrictions”. In the same vein, the Union Minister pointed out that the Hindi manifesto of the Congress spoke about “amend- ments”! He quoted Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement in CMs’ conference in 2013 that “farmers can sell directly in the Congress-ruled States” and that the farmers will be “given free choice”. Prasad said NCP leader Sharad Pawar, “now opposing farm reforms” had as Union Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Minister written to a let- ter on August 11, 2010, to all CMs that “agriculture needs huge investments and private sector investment is essential and so a change in the mandi system”. The BJP leader further said that in an interview in 2005, Pawar had said that six-month time was maximum that was needed to abolish APMC Act. Continued on Page 2 P rotesting against the three recently enacted agricul- ture-related laws by the Centre, farmers, who have been camp- ing in Delhi for the last many days vehemently demanding scrapping of the Bills, said on Monday that emergency ser- vices will be allowed during Bharat Bandh on December 8. Also, they appealed to their affiliates to not force anyone to observe the shutdown. Farmers sitting across the borders in the national Capital have called Bharat bandh and Chakka Jam on December 8 and threatened to intensify their agitation and block more roads leading to the national Capital if the Government does not accept their demands. Addressing a Press confer- ence on Monday, the farmers’ unions appealed to farmers to maintain peace and not to enter into any scuffle to enforce the bandh. “Bandh will be across the country and the Central Government will have to accept our demands to scrap the new farms law,” said Jagjit Singh Dallewala, the president of Bharatiya Kisan Ekta Sangathan. “Why the Government was agreeing to make changes in the legislations now after ini- tially claiming they will bene- fit the peasantry. We want the Government to reinstate the old farm laws even if the Government thinks it is not good for farmers,” said Darshan Pal, farmer union leader. Continued on Page 2 A fter various unions and associations of cab drivers and mandi traders decided to join the Bharat Bandh strike called by farmers’ unions demanding the repeal of Centre’s three farm laws, there are fears that transport facilities and supplies of essentials like vegetables and fruits are likely to be hit in Delhi on Tuesday. Some of the taxi and cab unions, including those asso- ciated with app-based aggre- gators, have decided to join the one-day strike. The work at major whole- sale vegetable and fruit markets is likely to be hampered with a section of traders favouring the farmers’ demands. “I have received calls from several traders’ associations for strike on Tuesday. I believe the mandis at Ghazipur, Okhla and Narela will also be closed due to Bharat Bandh called by farmers,” Adil Khan, chairman of Azadapur Mandi, said. He said he personally has appealed to people from all walks of life to support the farmers who feed the country. The chairman of Ghazipur wholesale mandi for vegetables, fruits and poultry and meat said many traders’ association in the market has said they will join the strike. Kamaljeet Gill, president of Sarvodaya Driver Association of Delhi, comprising drivers working with cab aggregators, said drivers will not run their cabs associated with Ola, Uber and other app-based aggrega- tors on the day. Continued on Page 2

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Page 1: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

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The Special Cell of the DelhiPolice arrested five sus-

pected terrorists after anencounter with the police inEast Delhi’s Shakarpur areaon Monday. Initial probe sug-gests that the five, two fromPunjab and three from Jammu& Kashmir, have links toKhalistan and Islamic terrororganisations.

Police said the suspectswere arrested on Mondaymorning after getting specificintelligence input. Police said,preliminary investigation hasrevealed that Pakistani spy

agency Inter ServiceIntelligence (ISI) is attemptingto link up terror outfits inKashmir with Khalistan oper-atives and two of them are alsoallegedly involved in the mur-der of Shaurya Chakra winnerBalwinder Singh in Punjab.

The terrorists have beenidentified as Gurjit Singh andSukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, aliasSukh Bhikhariwal, and resi-dents of Punjab while othershave been identified as ShabirAhmad Gojree, MohammadAyub Pathan and Riyaz Rather,residents of Jammu & Kashmir.

����� �09�(02:-

The Indian Navy has recov-ered the body of the miss-

ing naval pilot CommanderNishant Singh off Goa coast.His MIG-29K had crashed intothe Arabian Sea 11 days back.The second pilot of the twin-seater was rescued the sameday. Both the pilots had man-aged to eject from the jet beforeit went down.

The missing commander’sbody was located on the seabed70 metres below water. Thebody was found 30 miles offGoa coast. The jet had taken offfor a routine sortie onNovember 26 after taking offfrom the INS Vikramaditya air-craft carrier.

Giving details of themishap, the Navy had said thatday a board of enquiry wasordered to ascertain the causeof the incident.

“A MiG-29K trainer air-craft operating at sea met withan accident at about 1700 hrson 26 November. One pilot hasbeen recovered and search byair and surface units in progressfor the second pilot. Anenquiry has been ordered toinvestigate the incident,” theNavy said.

The official said intensiveaerial, coastal and surfacesearch by the Indian Navyships and aircraft was inprogress to locate the pilot.Underwater search by diversand seabed mapping using

specialised equipment in vicin-ity of primary wreckage ofMiG-29K was on.

The search teams hadmanaged to locate the debris ofthe ill-fated jet after a fewdays. It included landing gear,turbo charger, fuel tank engineand wing engine.

Sources said mortalremains of a human body werefound in the vicinity of thewreckage site. The samples arebeing sent for DNA testing forconfirmation of identity.

They also said all sectionsof the aircraft wreckage includ-ing ejection seats have beenaccounted for using side scansonar and high definition cam-eras.

Continued on Page 2

����� �09�(02:-

After US-based drug makerPfizer applied for the

approval of its coronavirusvaccine in India, the SerumInstitute of India (SII) andBharat Biotech too have soughtfrom the Central DrugsStandards ControlOrganisation emergency useauthorisation for their Covid-19 vaccines.

Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin isbeing indigenously developedby the Hyderabad-based com-pany in collaboration with the

Indian Council of MedicalResearch (ICMR). While SII’sCovid-19 vaccine is developedby AstraZeneca-OxfordUniversity.

Sources in the Governmentsaid that the top drug regula-tor, DCGI, has started review-ing their applications on grant-ing of authorisation, whichwill be made on the basis ofthree parameters — safety,quality and efficacy.

“As promised, before theend of 2020, @SerumInstIndiahas applied for emergency useauthorisation for the first

made-in-India vaccine, COV-ISHIELD,” tweeted SII CEOAdar Poonawala on Monday.

“This will save countlesslives, and I thank theGovernment of India and Sri@narendramodi ji for theirinvaluable support,” he wrote.

Government officials saidthat the vaccine, developedfrom adenovirus which is acommon cold virus, will be thefirst preventive option againstCovid-19 available in Indiaand it could be administered tothe first priority group com-prising healthcare workers

beginning the next month.The Government has alreadygeared up for immunising the

identified population.Though the company has

not revealed the details of theapplication sent to the regula-tor, sources said that it will sub-mit the full analysis released byAstraZeneca-Oxford lastmonth. The analysis showedthat their vaccine candidate was70 per cent effective on averagein a late-stage trial in the UKand Brazil.

In India, a phase 2/3 trialbeing conducted on 1,600 indi-viduals is aimed at looking foronly immunogenicity and notfor actual protection against

Covid-19 as per the vaccine’strial design.

Also, as the trial in Indiainvolves the dosing regimenwith two full doses. The regu-lator can accept just the 62 percent efficacy and the bridgingimmunogenicity from SII andgrant the approval for restrict-ed use, officials said.

According to the ICMR,the SII has already manufac-tured 40 million doses of thevaccine under the at-risk man-ufacturing and stockpilinglicense it obtained from theDCGI.New Delhi: The Supreme

Court on Monday allowed theCentre to go ahead with theproposed foundation stone-laying ceremony for the CentralVista project after theGovernment assured it thatno construction or demolitionwork would commence till theapex court decides the pendingpleas on the issue.

Solicitor General TusharMehta told a bench headed byJustice AM Khanwilkar thatthere would be only foundationstone-laying ceremony, and noconstruction, demolition orfelling of trees would be donefor the project as of now.

The revamp, which wasannounced in September lastyear, envisages a new triangu-lar Parliament building, withseating capacity for 900 to1,200 MPs, that is targeted tobe constructed by August, 2022when the country will be cele-brating its 75th IndependenceDay. The common CentralSecretariat is likely to be builtby 2024.

Prime Minister NarendraModi will lay the foundationstone on December 10 for thenew Parliament building andthe construction is expected tobe completed by 2022 at anestimated cost of �971 crore,Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birlahad said on December 5.

The SC is seized of pleaswhich have raised questionsover several aspects, includingthe environmental clearancegranted to the project.

During the hearing con-ducted on Monday throughvideo-conferencing, the benchasked Mehta to apprise it with-in five minutes about theGovernment’s view on the issueof construction work for theproject. The bench observedthat it would not allow con-struction or demolition till itsdecision on the pending pleasopposing the project.

The SC said the Centre canproceed with the requisitepaperwork in the meantime.

On November 5, the apexcourt had reserved its verdicton a batch of pleas which haveraised questions over theCentre’s ambitious CentralVista project, which coversthree km stretch fromRashtrapati Bhavan to IndiaGate in Lutyens’ Delhi.

Continued on Page 2

����� �09�(02:-

Ahead of Tuesday’s BharatBandh call given by farm-

ers unions and supported by 22political parties, the Ministry ofHome Affairs (MHA) hasasked all States and UnionTerritories to tighten securitywhile asserting that peace andtranquility must be maintained.

While the Centre is firm onits stance on the reform laws,farmers want them rolled backas they fear they will be at themercy of corporates to selltheir produce.

In a countrywide advisory,the MHA also said the StateGovernments and UT admin-istrations must ensure that theCovid-19 guidelines issuedwith regard to health and socialdistancing are strictly followed.The States and UTs were toldthat peace and tranquility mustbe maintained during theBharat Bandh and precaution-ary measures taken so that nountoward incident takes placeanywhere in the country.

The Centre’s attempts toresolve the farmers’ agitationthrough dialogue is making lit-

tle headway with a few of thefarmer unions remainingadamant on their demand torepeal the new agriculture laws.

The Bharat Bandh, calledby the farmers’ unions whohave been protesting againstthe three farm laws, got supportfrom trade unions, trans-porters, bank unions and polit-ical parties including theCongress, NCP, DMK, SP, TRSand Left.

In a statement of supportfor the strike on Sunday, theOpposition parties said, “Thesenew farm laws passed inParliament in a brazen (and)anti-democratic manner (by)preventing a structured dis-cussion and voting, threatenIndia’s food security, destroyIndian agriculture and ourfarmers, lay the basis for theabolishment of MSP and mort-gage Indian agriculture and ourmarkets to the caprices ofmulti-national agri-businesscorporates.”

Meanwhile, traders’ bodyCAIT and the All IndiaTransporters WelfareAssociation on Monday saidmarkets across the country

including in Delhi will remainopen on Tuesday and transportservices will also remain oper-ative, notwithstanding theBharat Bandh call given byprotesting farmers. In Mumbai,BEST buses, taxis, auto willcontinue to ply on the road on

Tuesday.Ahead of Bharat Bandh call

on Tuesday, the GujaratGovernment imposed Section144 of CrPC in the State. Thepolice would not allow any out-fit or any group to forcefullyimpose bandh in the State. UP

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathaccused that some politicalparties are trying to spoil theatmosphere in the country,“especially the present standtaken by them on modelAPMC Act shows their doublestandards”. Attacking theOpposition parts at a hurried-ly convened Press conference athis official residence inLucknow he said that the par-ties which have backed theBharat Bandh call on Tuesday“should apologise before thenation”.

After five rounds of talksbetween the Centre and thefarmers’ unions failed to endthe impasse, the two sides areagain set to meet on December9, a day after the countrywidestrike. Talks between theGovernment and protestingfarmers remained inconclu-sive on Saturday even after fiverounds of discussions as unionleaders stuck to their demandfor the repeal of the new farmlaws and went on a “maun vrat”seeking a clear “yes or no” reply,forcing the Centre to call foranother meeting on December9 to resolve the deadlock.

����� �09�(02:-

As the Modi Governmentbraced up to deal with the

Bharat Bandh call on Tuesday,the BJP has slammed theOpposition parties for fanningthe farmer’s stir by stokingtheir fear. Senior BJP leader andUnion Law MinisterRavishankar Prasad onMonday described theOpposition parties as “double-faced” and called its stand“utter political opportunism”.

Prasad said a majority ofOpposition parties, includingthe Congress, the NCP and theSamajwadi Party (SP) — nowbacking the farmers — had inthe past approved the market-ing reforms in the agriculturesector.

Referring to what he said“sudden” support of non-BJPparties to the farmers stir as“shudh rajnetic swarth ki rajni-ti”, Prasad said these are “dou-ble-standards” adopted by theOpposition to save their declin-ing political base.

The BJP leader skirtedquestions on the ongoing talksbetween the farmers and theGovernment (with the nextround scheduled on December9) but stressed that new lawswhich “set free restrictions”were good of the farming com-munity.

The Minister said undernew farm laws the farmland“will not be sold, leased ormortgaged.”

Giving the latest figures of“ higher procurement and pay-ment on MSP”, he said, “wehave no intention to end themandi system” in the country.

Prasad quoted 2019Congress manifesto (page 17,part 2) saying that the party“will repeal APMC Act andmake the trade, including

export-import, free fromrestrictions”.

In the same vein, theUnion Minister pointed outthat the Hindi manifesto of theCongress spoke about “amend-ments”!

He quoted Congress leaderRahul Gandhi’s statement inCMs’ conference in 2013 that“farmers can sell directly in theCongress-ruled States” and thatthe farmers will be “given freechoice”.

Prasad said NCP leaderSharad Pawar, “now opposingfarm reforms” had as UnionAgriculture and ConsumerAffairs Minister written to a let-ter on August 11, 2010, to allCMs that “agriculture needshuge investments and privatesector investment is essentialand so a change in the mandisystem”.

The BJP leader further saidthat in an interview in 2005,Pawar had said that six-monthtime was maximum that wasneeded to abolish APMC Act.

Continued on Page 2

�������������� ������������� �������������

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Protesting against the threerecently enacted agricul-

ture-related laws by the Centre,farmers, who have been camp-ing in Delhi for the last manydays vehemently demandingscrapping of the Bills, said onMonday that emergency ser-vices will be allowed duringBharat Bandh on December 8.

Also, they appealed to theiraffiliates to not force anyone toobserve the shutdown.

Farmers sitting across theborders in the national Capitalhave called Bharat bandh andChakka Jam on December 8and threatened to intensifytheir agitation and block moreroads leading to the nationalCapital if the Government doesnot accept their demands.

Addressing a Press confer-ence on Monday, the farmers’unions appealed to farmers tomaintain peace and not toenter into any scuffle to enforcethe bandh.

“Bandh will be across thecountry and the CentralGovernment will have to acceptour demands to scrap the newfarms law,” said Jagjit SinghDallewala, the president ofBharatiya Kisan Ekta Sangathan.

“Why the Government wasagreeing to make changes inthe legislations now after ini-tially claiming they will bene-fit the peasantry. We want theGovernment to reinstate theold farm laws even if theGovernment thinks it is notgood for farmers,” said DarshanPal, farmer union leader.

Continued on Page 2

���%%����������� �09�(02:-

After various unions andassociations of cab drivers

and mandi traders decided tojoin the Bharat Bandh strikecalled by farmers’ unionsdemanding the repeal ofCentre’s three farm laws, thereare fears that transport facilitiesand supplies of essentials likevegetables and fruits are likelyto be hit in Delhi on Tuesday.

Some of the taxi and cabunions, including those asso-ciated with app-based aggre-gators, have decided to join theone-day strike.

The work at major whole-sale vegetable and fruit marketsis likely to be hampered with asection of traders favouring thefarmers’ demands.

“I have received calls fromseveral traders’ associations for

strike on Tuesday. I believe themandis at Ghazipur, Okhlaand Narela will also be closeddue to Bharat Bandh called byfarmers,” Adil Khan, chairmanof Azadapur Mandi, said.

He said he personally hasappealed to people from allwalks of life to support thefarmers who feed the country.

The chairman of Ghazipurwholesale mandi for vegetables,fruits and poultry and meatsaid many traders’ associationin the market has said they willjoin the strike.

Kamaljeet Gill, president ofSarvodaya Driver Associationof Delhi, comprising driversworking with cab aggregators,said drivers will not run theircabs associated with Ola, Uberand other app-based aggrega-tors on the day.

Continued on Page 2

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Page 2: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

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The Special Cell of DelhiPolice has arrested five sus-

pected terrorists who hadentered into the national Capitalfor terror activities. Police saidthe suspects were nabbed on thebasis of specific intelligenceinput.

They were spotted inShakarpur area of East Delhiand were over powered by ateam of Special Cell on Mondaymorning after a brief encounter.Police said, preliminary inves-tigation has revealed thatPakistani spy agency InterService Intelligence’s (ISI's) isattempting to link up terror out-fits in Kashmir with Khalistanoperatives and two of them arealso allegedly involved in the

murder of Shaurya Chakra win-ner Balwinder Singh in Punjab.

The terrorists have beenidentified as Gurjit Singh andSukhdeep Singh, both sharpshooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh aliasSukh Bhikhariwal and residentsof Punjab while others havebeen identified as ShabirAhmad Gojree, MohammadAyub Pathan and Riyaz Rather,residents of Jammu Kashmir.

Police said that these sharpshooters have recently killedShaurya Chakra recipientBalwinder Singh Sandhuon onthe instructions of SukhBhikhariwal, who is working atthe behest of ISI.

With their arrest, thehideous nexus of ISI-Pakistan,pro-Khalistan radicals and

Narco-terrorism has beenexposed and a slew of targetedkillings in Delhi have beenaverted.

According to Pramod SinghKushwah, the DeputyCommissioner of Police, SpecialCell, "Since January this year,Special Cell has been workingon credible information that ISIis planning to execute targetedkillings of right-wing leaders inDelhi and its neighboring statesand has activated their K2(Kashmir - Khalistan) desk toexecute the same.

“It was also revealed thatpro-khalistani radicals areemploying the services of gang-sters for executing the killings ofright wing leaders to revive themilitancy. Linkages betweenPunjab-based gangsters and

pro-Khalistani radicals firstcame to notice during the inves-tigation of target killings ofright wing leaders in Punjabduring 2016-17, when a total ofeight murders of right wingleaders took place in Punjab.These killings were executed onthe behest of ISI and executedthrough the linkages betweenPunjab-based gangsters andpro-Khalistani radicals,” saidthe DCP.

“On December 07 specificinputs were received that SukhBhikhariwal has instructed hissharpshooters Gurjit andSukhdeep to commit anothertargeted killing of a right-wingleader in Delhi on the instruc-tions of ISI. Bhikhariwal hadfurther tasked them to meetsome person from Kashmir

near Ramesh Park bus stand,Shakarpur, Delhi, having linkswith banned terrorist organiza-tion Hizbul Mujahiddin,” saidthe DCP.

“Acting on the inputs, a trapwas laid and at about 6:45 AM,two cars were spotted near theplace of information. Sensingpolice presence, the suspectstried to flee by firing at thepolice team following which thepolice team also fired in self-defence,” said the DCP.

“In a swift and clinicaloperation, both the sharp-shooters were nabbed along-with three people fromKashmir. The two Kashmirimen were found in possessionof a total of two kilogram ofHeroin and Rs One Lac cash.Three sophisticated pistols of

different make were recoveredfrom the two sharpshooters. Atotal of 13 rounds were firedduring the exchange of fire,”said the DCP.

“During premilary interro-gation it was revealed that Gurjitand Sukhdeep were roped in bySukh Bhikhariwal through ajailed gangster Ravinder Singhlodged in Ferozepur Jail. Theduo was provided with mone-tary support and were alsogiven sophisticated weapons,”said the DCP.

“In October this year, theywere tasked to execute ShauryaChakra recipient BalwinderSingh Sandhu. On October 16,Gurjit alongwith one otherassociate went to his residencecum school and killed him.Thereafter, they had been hid-

ing at different hideoutsarranged by Sukh Bhikhariwal.They were again being tasked toexecute the targeted killing of animportant person in Delhi.Before divulging more details,Sukh Bhikhariwal asked them toreceive money from their asso-ciates based in Kashmir forarranging logistics,” said theDCP.

“Other accused, AyubPathan was working as OGW ofterrorist organization HizbulMujahiddin. His cousin, AbdulMajeed Khan introduced him toPakistan based operative codename “Sadakat”, another senioroperative of Hizbul Mujahiddinbased in Rawalpindi, Pakistan.Sadakat is said to be handlingchanneling of funds throughNarco-Terrorism,” said the DCP.

“Pathan along with otherswas tasked to receive a con-signment of narcotics which wasinfiltrated to India throughPakistan and deliver the same tohis other contacts in Punjab.They were also tasked to collectthe ill gotten money earnedthrough the sale of drugs anddisburse the same to differentpersons involved in terrorism,”said the DCP.

“On the instructions fromacross the border, Pathan alongwith his associates Shabir andRiyaz came to Delhi for givingone lakh to these gangsters andthat they were also carrying twokg of Heroin which was to begiven to some other associate inlieu of money,” said the DCPadding that further investigationis going on.

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The Delhi Customs officialshave arrested an Air India

crew member and a cateringstaff for allegedly trying tosmuggle into the country goldworth value about Rs 72.46lakh at the Indira GandhiInternational (IGI) airport.

According to a seniorCustoms official, the crew, whohad come in a flight fromLondon on Sunday, after seeingthe customs officers had secret-

ed the gold in the overhead binof the aircraft.

“The officers later appre-hended the staff of the cateringcompany identified asAmbassador Sky Chef andbased on the discussionbetween the above said crew ofAir India and staff of the cater-ing company recovered four‘kadas' of gold coated with sil-ver colour from the aircraft onthe identification of the crew,”said the senior Customs offi-cial.

“The total weight of the

recovered gold is 1.667 kg,having a tariff value of Rs72.47 lakh. The gold was seizedand both the accused werearrested. Further, both theabove said persons admittedtheir role in smuggling of 1.5 kgof gold on December 3, 2020from London into India,” saidthe official.

“Thus, these two personswere directly or indirectlyinvolved in the smuggling ofgold to the tune of 3.11 kg (1.5kg on December 3 and 1.667 kgon Sunday),” he added.

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From Page 1The NCP leader said that the

Centre would not give financialhelp unless reforms were imple-mented in the farm sector,Prasad maintained. To rubbishOpposition protests on farmreform Bills, the Union LawMinister said SP leader MulayamSingh Yadav was in the standingcommittee on the agriculturewhose report had said, “ Farmersbe freed from the trap of themandi system”.

Prasad said nine years agothe Planning Commission hadrecommended that the Centremay enact Inter-State ProduceRegulation Act. “Then SP, RJD,CPI, CPI(M), all were support-ing the Congress-led-UPAGovernment”, he said.

The BJP leader said duringthe Manmohan SinghGovernment from 2007 to 2012, all the Congress-ruledGovernment in Andhra Pradesh,Assam, Chhattisgarh, Goa,Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka,Maharashtra, Mizoram andMadhya Pradesh were running“contact farming”. As for SwarajParty leader Yogendra Yadav“supporting farmers”, he said thesame leader was castigatingModi Government for alleged-ly “washing its hands of onframing the Mandi Act”. OnDelhi CM backing to the farm-ers’ agitation, Prasad said theDelhi CM had notified the newlaw in the State on November 23,2020. The Minister said thoughagitating farmers are saying “noto political parties”, they are still“jumping into the anti-Modibandwagon”.

From Page 1President of Delhi Taxi

Tourist Transporters’Association Sanjay Samrat, ina statement, said severalunions including Delhi StateTaxi Cooperative Society andKaumi Ekta WelfareAssociation will join the strike.

However, many other autoand taxi unions have decidedto continue normal servicesdespite their support todemands raised by the agitat-ing farmers.

Rajender Soni, generalsecretary of Delhi AutoRikshaw Sangh, and DelhiPradesh Taxi Union said“important” auto, taxi andlast-mile vehicle driver unions

will not join the strike.Chandu Chaurasia, vice

president of Capital DriverWelfare Association, said thedemands of farmers need to bemet by the Government but itshould not be achieved bycausing inconvenience to ordi-nary people.

Confederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT) and All IndiaTransport Welfare Association(AITWA), in a joint state-ment, said trade and transportsector will function normallydespite the Bharat Bandh call.

“No farmer body has con-tacted us or sought our sup-port with regard to BharatBandh. So trade and transportservice will continue normal-

ly in Delhi and other parts ofthe country,” the statementsaid.

The Delhi Police has madeadequate arrangements toensure normal movement ofpeople on roads during theproposed Bharat Bandh, anofficial statement.

A traffic advisory has beenissued for the smooth move-ment of vehicles. Anybodywho tries to disrupt normalmovement or forcefully clos-es shops will be strongly dealtwith as per law, it said.

The Delhi Police has madean appeal that the normal lifeof common citizens and resi-dents of the city should not bedisrupted.

From Page 1Meanwhile, the Delhi

Police has made elaboratearrangements to ensure normalmovement of people on roadsfor the proposed Bharat Bandh.

Police on Tuesday alsowarned that strict action will betaken against those trying todisrupt movement of people or"forcefully" shutting shops.

"The Delhi Police has alsoissued a traffic advisory forsmooth movement of vehiclesand commuters. Anybody whotries to disrupt normal move-ment, life or forcefully closesshops will be strongly dealtwith, as per the law," said theDelhi Police PRO.

Gopal Rai, the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) leader and DelhiMinister on Monday said theAAP will hold a peacefuldemonstration in Delhi on

Tuesday in support of theBharat Bandh.

"The AAP will hold apeaceful demonstration onDecember 8 in support of theBharat Bandh called by thefarmers at 11 am at the ITOcrossing of Delhi," said Rai.

Thousands of farmers,mostly from Punjab, Haryanaand Uttar Pradesh, are protest-ing at various border points ofDelhi against the new farmlaws. Several rounds of talksbetween the Centre and farm-ers have failed to break thedeadlock.

Dallewala said the bandhwill be effective across thecountry. "The ModiGovernment will have to acceptour demands. We want noth-ing less than withdrawal of thenew farm laws," farmer leaderBalbir Singh Rajewal said.

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From Page 1Refraining from formally

announcing the recovery of thepilot’s body, they said aerialsearch by maritime reconnais-sance aircraft and helicoptersorties amounting to 270 hourswere undertaken. In addition tonine warships and 14 aircraftengaged in the search efforts, theNavy’s Fast Interceptor Craftwere also deployed to searchwaters along the coast.

This was the third mishapinvolving the MIG-29K in thelast one and half years. At least45 jets manufactured by Russiawere inducted into the Navysome years back for flying fromthe aircraft carrier.

In February this year, aMiG-29K crashed after being hitby birds over Goa. Both pilots

had steered the jet away fromhabitation before ejecting.

In November last year, aMiG-29K trainer aircraft crashedoutside a village in Goa. Both thepilots had then ejected safely. InJanuary 2018, a fighter jetcrashed as it veered off the run-away at the INS Hansa base inGoa. The pilot escapedunharmed. The MIG-29Ks ofthe Navy are based at its base inGoa and operate from the loneaircraft carrier INSVikramaditya.

The MIG-29Ks had recent-ly participated in the presti-gious Malabar series of maritimeexercises with the navies of theUS, Australia and Japan. TheIndian aircraft carrier along withthe US Navy’s aircraft carrierNimitz took part in the secondphase of the four nation drill inthe North Arabian Sea off Goa.

From Page 1The solicitor general had

earlier argued in the top courtthat the project would “savemoney” which is paid as rentfor housing central govern-ment ministries in the nation-al capital.

Mehta had submitted thatthe decision to have a new par-liament building has not beentaken in a haste and no law or

norms have been violated inany manner for the project.

The Centre had also saidthere was no arbitrariness orfavouritism in selecting con-sultant for the project and theargument that the governmentcould have adopted a betterprocess cannot be a ground toscrap the project.

Gujarat-based architecturefirm HCP Designs has won the

consultancy bid for the projectto redevelop the Central Vista.

The top court is hearingseveral pleas on the issue,including the one filed byactivist Rajeev Suri, againstvarious permissions given tothe project by authoritiesincluding the nod to change ofland use.

Earlier, the apex court hadsaid that any change at theground level made by author-ities for the Central Vista pro-

ject will be “at their own risk”.It had made it clear that the

fate of the project, whichincludes several new govern-ment buildings and a newParliament House, will dependon its decision.

The pleas have also chal-lenged the grant of a no-objec-tion certificate by the CentralVista Committee (CVC) andalso the environmental clear-ances for the construction of anew parliament house building.

One of the pleas was filedagainst a Delhi High Court

order which had said the DelhiDevelopment Authority (DDA)was not required to apprise itbefore notifying changes inthe Master Plan to allow theCentral Vista project.

The division bench of theDelhi High Court had onFebruary 28 stayed an order ofits single judge bench whichhad asked the DDA toapproach the court before noti-fying any change in the MasterPlan for going forth with theCentre’s ambitious project toredevelop the Central Vista.

The stay order of the highcourt on the single judgebench’s February 11 directionhad come on the intra-courtappeal of the DDA and theCentre.

The petitioners before thehigh court had opposed theCentral Vista project on theground that it involves a changein land use of the green areaadjoining Rajpath and VijayChowk for building newParliament and governmentoffices. PTI

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For the second consecutiveday and third time in a fort-

night, the Covid-19 deaths slidbelow 50-mark to remain at 40on Monday, while the newinfections plummeted to 3075in the state.

A day after the state logged40 deaths and 4,757 infections,the deaths remained static at 40,while the infections droppedsubstantially to 3075.

Maharashtra, it may berecalled, had recorded 30 deathson November 23.

With 40 fresh deaths, the

Covid-19 toll in Maharashtraclimbed from 47,734 to 47,774.Similarly, with 3075 new infec-tions, the total infected casesjumped from 18,52,266 to18,55,341.

Monday proved to be sig-nificant for one more reason:the number of recoveries wasdouble the number of newinfections recorded during theday.

As 7345 patients were dis-charged from the hospitalsacross the state after full recov-ery, the total number of peopledischarged from the hospitalssince the second week of March

this year rose to 17,30,715. Therecovery rate in the state rosemarginally from 93.08 per centto 93.28 per cent.

Of the 40 deaths reportedon Monday, Mumbai account-ed for a maximum 11 deaths,followed by four deaths each inThane and Nagpur, 3 each inNashik, Pune, Satara andChandrapur, 2 each in Raigadand Yavatmal, and one deatheach in Ahmednagar Latur andBhandara. In addition, two out-siders died in Maharashtra.

With 11 new deaths, theCovid-19 toll in Mumbai wentup from 10,896 to 10,907, while

the infected cases went up by544 top trigger a jump in thetotal infections from 286,053 to286,597.

Meanwhile, the number of“active cases” total cases in thestate dropped from 80,079 to75,767. The fatality rate in thestate dropped from 2.58 percent to 2.55 per cent.

Pune district, which con-tinued to be the worst-affectedcity-district in Maharashtra,saw the total number of casesincrease from 3,57,911 to3,58,369, while the total num-ber of deaths in Pune increasedfrom 7571 to 7574.

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Page 3: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

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On the 12th day of protest,farmers stayed put at

Ghazipur border (UP Gate) tomark their protest against thenew farms law. Following theBharat Bandh call given by thefarmers, scores of farmers fromUttrakhand and Uttar Pradeshcontinued to gather at the UPGate to support the bandh.

Bharatiya Kisan Union(BKU) leader, Rakesh Tikaitsaid that the Bharat Bandh hasbeen called by the farmers' orga-nizations, from 11 pm to 3 PMand emergency services will notbe interrupted during this bandh.

“All ambulance, elderly andwomen will be allowed. Theobjective of the farmers duringthis bandh is not to disturb thepublic but to warn the govern-ment,” said Tikait.

Tikait also appealed to thepeople of the country to coop-erate with the farmers and closetheir shops and businesses andstay at home.

On Monday, Gurtej Singh,Harvinder Singh, Ranveer Rana,Balraj Zafar Jasraj, a group ofstudents, who came from Moga,Punjab, encouraged the farmersby singing a folk song fromPunjab.

Meanwhile, security has

been beefed up at borders. DelhiPolice said that it has made elab-orate arrangements to ensurenormal movement of people onroads for the proposed BharatBandh call given by farmersprotesting against the newlyintroduced farms bills. Police onTuesday also warned that strictaction will be taken againstthose trying to disrupt move-ment of people or "forcefully"shut shops.

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The Gurugram police onMonday beefed up securi-

ty in order to prevent violenceduring the Bharat Bandh calledby several farmers' outfits andpolitical parties on Tuesday.The protest is being reported-ly called by the farmers groupsopposed to the newly passedfarm laws.

ACP (headquarters) UshaKundu said,"we have issued anadvisory to all area concernofficials to take necessary pre-cautionary measures in view ofcalls for Bharat Bandh onDecember 8 by groups of farm-ers and political parties."

“The police have alreadytightened up security and havemade appropriate arrange-ments to prevent any untowardincident, including issue ofprohibitory orders, if necessary.Also, more than 2,000 policepersonnels have been deployedin sensetive locations in the dis-trict. The Gurugram policealso keep in touch with theadjoining districts and state'spolice to follow movement ofthe people," Kundu added.

The police officials havebeen asked to intensifypatrolling in all sensitive loca-tions specially on border areasso as to prevent any loss of lifeor damage to property.

The Gurugram policeagain on Monday startedchecking suspicious vehiclesand also put up barricades onthe carriageway and the state'sHighway for vehicles enteringin Gurugram. A large numberof security personnel, includinga senior police officers, weredeployed in all sensitive loca-tions.

Meanwhile, the Gurugrampolice have claimed they haveidentified 3 to 4 most sensitivelocations in Gurugram andsecurity have already beentightened at these locations.

"The police along withthese locations will also keep aneye on link's road on the bor-der area in view of protest andBharat Bandh," Kundu said.

Also, a senior police officialof the Gurugram police hasalso visited the border area onMonday to take stock of thepreparations.

"The Gurugram police arealready on high alert amid

farmers' protests. The strengthof the personnel has alreadybeen increased at all the con-necting borders of the district.Also, a rapid action force alongand extra force have beenreserved to face any untowardsituations on the border loca-tions, the ACP said.

"The leave applications ofthe police personnels havebeen cancelled and strichorders have been issued toreport on time if required andin view of Bharat Band," Kunduasserted.

���%%������������09�(02:-

The national Capital record-ed 1,674 fresh Covid-19

cases in a day while the posi-tivity rate slipped to 3.15 percent on Monday.

According to the latest bul-letin issued by the Delhi HealthDepartment, these fresh caseswere detected from 53,207Covid-19 tests conducted theprevious day.

Sixty-three more fatalitieswere recorded in a day, push-ing the death toll in the nation-al capital to 9,706, while thepositivity rate dropped to 3.15per cent, the bulletin stated.

The positivity rate onThursday, Friday, Saturday andSunday was 4.96 per cent, 4.78

per cent, 4.2 per cent and 3.68per cent respectively.

The tally of active cases onMonday dropped to 22,486

from 24,693 the previous day.The national capital hadrecorded 2706 fresh COVID-19 cases on Sunday.

The bulletin said that thetotal number of cases of coro-navirus infection has climbedto 5,93,924.

���%%����������� �09�(02:-

Amid reports of frothing inthe Yamuna River, Delhi Jal

Board (DJB) Vice ChairmanRaghav Chadha expressed hisanguish and urged the neigh-bouring States of Uttar Pradeshand Haryana to pull up theirsocks to contain frothing in theriver.

The Vice Chairman said,“While it appears that the gov-ernments of UP and Haryanaare not bothered about releas-ing untreated wastewater intoYamuna, I would like to put onrecord that DJB has been con-stantly working to upgradeand augment its STP capacitiesso that untreated effluents arenot released into the Yamuna.”

Explaining how dealingwith frothing is a challengingtask, Chadha said, “The Okhla

Barrage is under the UP irri-gation department, andbecause of its lackadaisical atti-tude, water hyacinths grow inabundance. One needs tounderstand that when thesehyacinths decompose, theyrelease surfactants like phos-phates. It is for everyone to seethe large number of hyacinthshere.”

“When this water filledwith huge amounts of surfac-tants like phosphates, falls inKalindi Kunj from a height, itproduces foam, which gradu-ally accumulates and floats onthe surface of the water. Thisfoam gets difficult to remove,”Chadha further explained.

Elaborating on furthercauses of foaming and frothingof River Yamuna, the ViceChairman said, “Apart fromthis, the paper and sugar indus-

tries operating in Meerut,Muzaffarnagar, Shamli andSaharanpur in Uttar Pradeshalso release untreated waste-water containing surfactants,which is then released intoYamuna through the HindonCanal at Okhla Barrage nearIndira Kunj. This causes foamto grow and accumulate in the

Yamuna.”“UP’s untreated dirty water

reaches Delhi throughShahdara drain, and Haryana’suntreated dirty water reachesus through Najafgarh drain.Both combined cause immensewater pollution in OkhlaBarrage. DJB has been contin-uously working on treatingsewage and releasing treatedeffluents into the Yamuna Riverthrough its state-of-the-artsewage treatment plants.Having said that, this is notDelhi’s problem alone, and wewill need cooperation fromUttar Pradesh and Haryana tokeep the Yamuna clean,” hesaid.

DJB had earlier apprisedthe NGT-appointed YamunaMonitoring Committee(YMC), regarding the surfac-tants like phosphates released

by the large number of waterhyacinths in the Okhla Barragemaintained by the UPIrrigation Department. In addi-tion, the YMC has also beenapprised of Uttar Pradesh andHaryana releasing approxi-mately 150 MGD of untreatedwastewater into Yamuna.

DJB has been working24*7, round the clock to aug-ment its ‘Sewage TreatmentPlants’ to bring the Biochemicaloxygen demand (BOD) : Totalsuspended solids (TSS) levels tothe requisite 10:10, and treat-ing sewage and wastewater.While DJB is leaving no stoneunturned in bettering itssewage treatment capacity, onthe other hand, Haryana andUttar Pradesh often releaseuntreated water in Yamuna,causing it to become increas-ingly polluted.

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The Delhi Police has madeelaborate arrangements to

ensure normal movement ofpeople on roads for the pro-posed Bharat Bandh call givenby farmers protesting against thenewly introduced farms Bills.The police on Tuesday alsowarned that strict action will betaken against those trying to dis-rupt movement of people or"forcefully" shut shops.

The farmers sitting acrossthe borders in the nationalCapital have called 'Bharatbandh' and Chakka Jam onDecember 8 and threatened tointensify their agitation andblock more roads leading to thenational capital if the govern-ment did not accept theirdemands.

According to Dr EishSinghal, the Public RelationOfficer (PRO) of Delhi Policeadequate arrangements havebeen made by the Delhi Policeto ensure normal movement ofpeople on roads during 'BharatBandh' on Tuesday.

“Delhi Police has also issueda traffic advisory for smoothmovement of vehicles and com-muters. Anybody who tries todisrupt normal movement, lifeor forcefully closes shops will bestrongly dealt with, as per thelaw,” said Dr Singhal.

Delhi Police has alsoappealed to everyone to not dis-rupt life of common citizens andresidents of Delhi.

Taking to Twitter, the DelhiTraffic Police on Monday saidthe Singhu, Auchandi, PiaoManiyari, Mangesh, Tikri and

Jharoda borders are closed.“The National Highway-

44 has also been closed onboth sides. So those travellingare suggested to take alternativeroutes via Lampur, Safiabadand Saboli borders. Traffic hasalso been diverted fromMukarba and GTK road,” DelhiTraffic Police tweeted.

“Those travelling towardsNoida have been advised to takeDND as the Chilla border onthe Noida Link road too isclosed for traffic. The Chillaborder on Noida link road isclosed for traffic from Noida toDelhi due to farmers' protestsnear Gautam Budh Dwar.People are advised to avoid theNoida link road for coming toDelhi and use the DND,” theTraffic Police stated in a seriesof tweets.

“People are advised to avoidNH-24 for coming to Delhi anduse Apsara/ Bhopra/DND forcoming to Delhi,” it added.However, the Badusarai borderis open only for light motorvehicles like cars and two-wheelers and Jhatikara border isopen only for two-wheeler traf-fic, it said.

The Traffic Police said thosetravelling to Haryana can takethe route via Dhansa, Daurala,Kapashera, Rajokri NH-8,Bijwasan or Bajghera, PalamVihar and Dundahera borders.

Thousands of farmers havegathered at Delhi's two bordersto protest against the new farmlaws, which many farmers saywill pave way for the disman-tling of the minimum supportprice system, leaving them at the"mercy" of big corporates.

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Delhi Agricultural MinisterGopal Rai on Monday

requested the CentralGovernment to legalise‘Minimum Support Price’(MSP) following the recom-mendations of theSwaminathan Commission.

Rai who attended a meet-ing with the CentralGovernment AgricultureMinister of State, PurushottamRupala and Kailash Choudharyalong with the Ministers ofPunjab and Haryana to discussways to increase the income ofthe farmers, said that theCenter should not delay inaccepting the demands of thefarmers and resolve the dead-lock in priority basis.

“The Central Governmentmust look into and study thebio-decomposer techniqueused by the Delhi governmentto stop stubble burning andimplement this technique in allthe states. Today the CentralGovernment called a meetingwith the agricultural ministersof the states of Delhi, Haryanaand Punjab,” he said.

Rai said, “In this meeting,we have discussed various ini-tiatives for the farmers and also

discussed how the income ofthe farmers can be increased.On behalf of the Delhi gov-ernment, I have presented threeimportant issues in this meet-ing for the farmers. Firstly,The central government shouldimplement the recommenda-tions of the SwaminathanCommission on the minimumsupport price.

“The tragedy is that thecurrent MSP will not help thefarmers. In some states, theMSP is Rs 1,800 but the farm-ers are forced to sell theircrops for Rs 800, 900 or 1,000.I have requested the CentralGovernment that they shouldlisten to the demands of thefarmers and bring a law tolegalize the MSP. This will helpall the farmers across the coun-try,” he added.

The Minister further said,“I have also presented the out-comes of the bio decomposertechnique of Pusa Institute.This technique can be used toavoid stubble burning and theDelhi government has appliedthis method successfully. I have requested the centralgovernment to look into thismatter very carefully and toimplement this across thecountry.”

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Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal on Monday visit-

ed Singhu border and inspect-ed the arrangements made bythe Government for the farm-ers protesting against the threeanti-farmer laws of the CentralGovernment.

Kejriwal said setting up oftoilets, proper sanitation andavailability of water have beenensured on the protest site andthe farmers are satisfied withthe arrangements.

The Chief Minister wasaccompanied by deputy chiefminister Manish SisodiaSatyendar Jain, Rajendra Pal

Gautam and Imran Hussain.Kejriwal also said he is not vis-iting the area as the Delhichief minister but as a 'sewadar'of the farmers.

Reiterating his support forthe farmers' call for 'BharatBandh' tomorrow, he appealedto the people of the country topeacefully participate in thebandh on Tuesday.

“The Central Governmenthad a full proof plan to put thefarmers into jails located in thestadiums to bring an end totheir movement but we lis-tened to our conscience andrefused to convert stadiumsinto jails," he said.

Kejriwal said, "I am not

present here as a Chief Ministerbut as a sewadar. I have comehere to serve the farmers. Thefarmers put in all their hardwork and efforts and growfood for us. They are in a hugeproblem today, and it is theresponsibility of all the citizensof the country to stand with thefarmers and work for theirservice."

"I have come here today toinspect all the arrangements inthe area. I have seen that thetoilets have been set up andsanitation has also beenensured. The water will bediverted inside with the help ofwater pipes and motors. I haveseen the living and food

arrangements," he added.Kejriwal said the farmers

are satisfied with all thearrangements made for them."Our MLA Jarnail Singh ji washere last night in support of thefarmers. Our MLAs, ministers,officers are serving the farmers.I hope the issue is resolved assoon as possible," said the CM.

The Chief Minister said,"AAP is supporting the farm-ers' call for 'Bharat Bandh' onDecember 8.

“All our volunteers fromacross the country will partic-ipate in the bandh. I appeal tothe people from across thenation to participate in thebandh peacefully.”

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) Delhi convenor and

Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai onMonday said the party will holda peaceful demonstration onDecember 8 in support of theBharat Bandh called by thefarmers.

Rai appealed to all the cit-izens to extend their support tothe Bharat Bandh called by thefarmers tomorrow. He appealedto all to join this bandh peace-

fully and stand in solidarity withthe farmers of our country.

Rai tweeted, "AAP to hold

a peaceful demonstration onDecember 8 in support of theBharat Bandh called by thefarmers at 11 AM at the ITOcrossing of Delhi>"

“Today the farmers of ourcountry are in distress. I wantto appeal to all the citizens ofIndia to support their demandsand to extend their support tothe Bharat Bandh called by thefarmers on Tuesday. I want toappeal all to join this bandhpeacefully and stand in soli-darity with the farmers of ourcountry,” he said.

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Page 4: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

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The Confederation of ExParamilitary Force Welfare

Association has opposed theproposed change in Khaki uni-form of the CRPF anddemanded that Military ServicePay be accorded besides pen-sion restoration for the para-military personnel.

General Secretary of theConfederation Ranbir Singhasserted that the combat dressof the jawans is already therefor those deployed in theNaxal-hit States, Jammu andKashmir, the Northeast and themen even use such uniform inthe national Capital. Even theCRPF DG is often seen in com-

bat uniform, Singh stressed.The khaki has given an identi-ty to the paramilitary person-nel on par with the military andthere is no point in abandon-ing it, he said.

“Instead of changing thedress code, the CRPF DG beingthe chairman of Welfare andRehabilitation Board (WARB)should push for restoration ofpension for the paramilitarypersonnel, send a proposal forrelaxation in GST for CentralPolice Canteen (CPC) andparamilitary service pay onthe lines of military servicepay,” he said.

Singh recalled that it wasthe Khaki uniform which savedParliament from the terror

attack on December 13 in 2001but as a reward theGovernment withdrew thepension of the paramilitaryforces in 2004.

“Despite being chairman ofWARB, DG, CRPF has not heldany meeting with the ex para-military personnel. In this sce-nario, shouldn’t WARB be dis-banded as if is only proving tobe a white elephant,” hestressed, adding that theConfederation representativesmet the CRPF DG twice but noaction has been taken on theissues flagged by it.

The Confederation has alsoplanned a seminar here onDecember 13 to canvass sup-port for these issues.

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In case you are suffering froma single or all of Covid-19

symptoms as specified by theGovernment, don’t panic. For,you might not be infected withvirus despite showing Covid-19symptoms—fever, generalweakness, cough, sore throat,breathlessness, headache andloss of smell and taste—as ateam of doctors fromSafdarjung Hospital & VMMCin Delhi has found after con-ducting a study on suchpatients.

They, however, said thatthose who are old aged, hav-ing work profile like health careworkers and having history ofcontact with positive patientswere more likely to be infect-ed with the virulent virus.

In their study, the healthexperts observed that there isno significant difference insymptoms of Covid-19 positivepatients when compared withthose who reported negativeresults after RT PCR test wasconducted on them.

“Our study has revealedthat Covid-19 symptoms donot indicate that the person issuffering with the disease. Itsonly after the RTPCR test, thatone can conclude about the dis-ease,” said lead author of thestudy, Dr Jugal Kishore,Director Professor and Head,Department of CommunityMedicine, VMMC andSafdarjung Hospital.

He, however, said that onlyat an older age, work profile likehealth care workers and histo-ry of contact with positivepatients were significantly more

associated with RT PCR posi-tive patients.

The study published in theEpidemiology Internationaljournal found that majority ofsymptoms were not predic-tors of Covid-19 and onlyoccupations and history ofcontact remained significantrisk factors of the disease inmultivariate analysis. The studyalso underlines the need forconducting test even in longrun and that public should noton their own start taking med-icines.

The study was conductedamong the patients admitted inCovid-19 wards or visiting thehospital for testing of SARSCoV-2 infection. Contact dataof test results was collectedfrom the medical record anddetailed information was col-lected through telephone calls.103 cases were selected whowere found test positive by RTPCR and 103 negatives wereselected as controls.

However, various comor-bidities were identified amongcases and controls with two ofthe cases reported to be suf-fering from ChronicObstructive Pulmonary

Disease (COPD) and 2 controlshad malignancies.

“On analysing variousunderlying medical conditionsagainst controls and cases, itwas found that there was a sig-nificant difference among casesand controls who hadDiabetes and Hypertension.Around 43 per cent of thepatients who visited the hos-pital for getting tested had ahistory of contact with aCOVID-19 case or suspect.Among the cases, 35.9 percent of the patients reported tohave a contact, and among thecontrols, around 50.5 per centreported to have a contactwith Covid-19 positive cases.”

The others who wereinvolved in the study wereAakanksha Bharti (senior res-ident), Heena (Statistical assis-tant)Geeta Yadav, Professor,all from Department ofCommunity Medicine, NiteshGupta, (Assistant Professor)Department of Pulmonary,Critical Care & Sleep Medicine, and Ramesh Meena,(Assistant Professor),Department of Medicine, allfrom VMMC & SafdarjungHospital in Delhi.

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Cashing in on the growingglobal interest in AYUSH-

based solutions for diseaseresistance and treatment dur-ing the difficult times of theCovid pandemic, the UnionMinistry of Commerce andIndustry and the Ministry ofAYUSH have decided to set upan Export Promotion Councilto boost AYUSH exports.

A decision in this regardwas taken recently in a jointreview of AYUSH trade andIndustry held online by PiyushGoyal, Minister of Commerceand Industry and ShripadNaik, Minister of AYUSH.

“It was also decided in thereview that the entire AYUSHsector will work together toachieve price and quality com-petitiveness to boost AYUSHexports,” said an official fromthe Ayush Ministry.

Highlighting the growingglobal interest in AYUSH-based solutions for diseaseresistance and treatment dur-ing the difficult times of theCovid -19 pandemic, Naiksaid that trade and commercein the alternate traditionalmedicine Sector needed toupscale quickly in order tomeet the growing demandsfrom India and abroad, and toserve the larger number ofpeople who are now lookingup to these systems for main-

taining their health.He shared with the partic-

ipants that the AYUSH immu-nity protocols and the NationalClinical Management Protocolfor Covid 19 for Ayurveda andYoga were timely interven-tions which provided relief tolarge sections of the popula-tion.

“The emerging evidence ofa correlation between the lowCovid -19 mortality rates andlarge-scale adoption ofAYUSH prophylactic solutionsby the population is significantfor the public health practicein the country,” he added.

Goyal, while praising thefrontline role played by theAYUSH Sector in the fightagainst Covid -19 said that theprotection offered by theAYUSH systems to the com-mon people during the pan-demic time neutralised theskepticism that many peoplehad about the efficacy of themedicines and productsoffered by these systems.

“The spurt in exports ofAYUSH products in the recentmonths is a direct reflection oftheir growing popularity inmany countries. The stan-dardisation of the HS codesrelated to export will be con-sidered on priority as a step topromote exports,” he said whilebatting for the need of settingup the AYUSH ExportPromotion Council.

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There is some positive newsfor those air travellers

who had booked flight ticketsto travel via low-cost carrierIndigo during the lockdownperiod. Since the resumptionof operations in May, the lowcost carrier IndiGo on

Monday said that it hasalready paid out 90 percentrefunds amounting to approx-imately �1,000 crore.According to IndiGo, the air-line will disburse customercredit shells and refunds byJanuary 31, 2021.

IndiGo chief executiveofficer Ronojoy Dutta said the

sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting lockdownbrought the airline’’s opera-tions to a complete halt by theend of March. “As our incom-ing cash flow dried up, wewere unable to immediatelyprocess refunds for cancelledflights and had to create cred-it shells for the refunds thatwere due to our customers,”he noted.

However, with theresumption of operations anda steady increase in demandfor air travel, the airline’’spriority has been to refundthe credit shell amounts in anexpedited manner, Dutta said.

“We are pleased to com-mit that we will disburse thefull 100 per cent credit shellpayments latest by January 31,2021,” he said.

India resumed scheduleddomestic passenger flights onMay 25 after a gap of twomonths due to the coron-avirus lockdown. Scheduledinternational passenger flightscontinue to remain suspend-ed in the country since March23 due to the pandemic.

However, airlines havebeen permitted to operatespecial international flightsunder the Vande BharatMission since May and underthe bilateral air bubble pactssince July.

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APIL was filed in theSupreme Court on

Monday seeking direction tothe CBI to submit a statusreport in Bollywood actorSushant Singh Rajput deathcase.

The plea, filed by advocatePuneet Dhanda, said the apexcourt passed an order for theCBI enquiry on August 19 anddespite lapse of almost fourmonths the probe agency is yetto conclude its investigation.

“The CBI is not actingresponsible in the present caseand there is a delay in the con-clusion of the investigation ofthe case,” it said.

“Even in serious offenceslike murder, the law stipulatesfiling of charge sheet in 90 daysbut in the present case the pre-mium investigating agency hasfailed miserably in their roleand the unnecessary delay inthe present case is bringing badname to the administration ofjustice not only in our countrybut across the globe,” the pleasaid.

It sought direction to theCBI to complete its probe with-in two months and submit afinal report in the concernedcourt.

It said Rajput was founddead in mysterious circum-stances and the probe was ini-tially conducted by MumbaiPolice.

“On dissatisfaction beingshown by the family of the lateactor this Court directed theCentral Bureau of Investigationto conduct an enquiry in themysterious death of late actorSushant Singh Rajput,” the pleasaid.

The PIL said that a fair,competent, impartial andspeedy investigation is the needof the hour.

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The Supreme Court onMonday refused to quash

FIRs against News 18 TVanchor Amish Devgan for hisalleged defamatory remarkagainst Sufi saint KhwajaMoinuddin Chisti during ashow on June 15 but said hewill get protection from anycoercive action if he continuesto cooperate with the probe.

A bench of Justices A MKhanwilkar and Sanjiv Khannaalso transferred all FIRs filedagainst Amish Devgan in dif-ferent states, includingMaharashtra, Uttar Pradesh,and Telangana, to Ajmer inRajasthan.

The top court had earliergranted Amish Devgan pro-tection from any coerciveaction in connection with theFIRs.

Several FIRs were lodgedagainst Amish Devgan forusing a derogatory term for theSufi saint in the news debateshow called “Aar Paar” on hischannel on June 15. AmishDevgan later tweeted an apol-ogy saying he was actuallyreferring to Muslim rulerAlauddin Khilji and inadver-tently ended up naming Chisti.

Amish Devgan throughhis lawyer Mrinal Bharti hadmoved the top court seekingquashing of the FIRs saying itwas a slip of the tongue and he

had already expressed regret forthe ‘’inadvertent” error.

He had told the top courtthat “none of the FIRs said thatpublic order was being dis-turbed”.

Senior advocate ManishSinghvi, appearing forRajasthan, had opposed AmishDevgan’s plea for quashing ofthe FIRs saying the investiga-tion is the right of the police.

The top court, while grant-ing interim relief to AmishDevgan, had also stayed theprobe in the cases related to thetelecast against the journalist.The journalist has said theplea concerned his life and lib-erty.

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The Centre has rushed a three-member team of medical

experts to Eluru in AndhraPradesh after Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu spoke onMonday to Union HealthMinister Harsh Vardhan aftermany children were hospitalisedwith an undiagnosed illness inthe past few days, the VP’sSecretariat said.

The three-member team ofmedical experts to Eluru includesDr Jamshed Nayar, AssociateProfessor (Emergency Medicine)from AIIMS, Dr AvinashDeoshtawar, Virologist, NIVPUNE and Dr Sanket Kulkarni,Dy Director, PH Expert fromNCDC, Delhi.

The unknown disease hasclaimed one life and affectedaround 350 people so far. Amajority of the victims are in the20-30 age group. Around 45 chil-dren below the age of 12 yearshave been admitted. Accordingto the district commissioner’sreport, the sickness is not con-tagious. People from areas whereEluru municipal’s water distrib-ution is not available also fell sick.Even those who drink only min-eral water daily also fell sick, theDC said in its report.

The Andhra Pradesh healthofficials are trying hard to ascer-tain the cause of the mysteriousillness, said a statement from theGovernment.

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The Supreme CourtMonday said it would

hear next week a plea filed bya 94-year-old woman seekingto declare as “wholly uncon-stitutional” the proclamationof emergency in 1975.

The plea, which has alsosought compensation of Rs 25crores from the authoritieswho had actively participatedin the “unconstitutional acts”,came up for hearing before abench headed by JusticeSanjay Kishan Kaul.

The bench, also compris-ing Justices DineshMaheshwari and HrishikeshRoy, posted the matter forhearing on December 14.

The petitioner, VeeraSarin, has claimed in her pleathat she and her husbandwere “victims of the atrocitiesinflicted by the then govern-ment authorities and others”during the period of emer-gency which was proclaimedminutes before the midnightof June 25, 1975.

The proclamation wasrevoked in March 1977.

“The petitioner, in a gen-uine desire to bring about anend to the undemocraticnightmare, infamously known

as ‘the emergency' seeks apeaceful closure, that can bebrought only by an acknowl-edgment and declaration bythe highest court of justice ofthe country in which citizensrepose the highest level ofconfidence and faith, that thesaid incident was unconstitu-tional,” the plea said.

Sarin said that she and herhusband, who had a flourish-ing business of Gold Arts inDelhi at that time, were com-pelled to leave the countryduring emergency for fear ofbeing thrown into jail for nojustifiable reason, on the“whims and wishes of gov-ernment authority in a statewhere civil rights and libertiesstood curbed.”

The plea said later thepetitioner's husband died andshe had to face the legal pro-ceedings initiated against himduring the emergency.

“The ordeals of the emer-gency and destruction causedduring the said period arebeing suffered till date by thepetitioner. The petitioner andher family were made to runfrom pillar to post for the past35 years to vindicate theirrights and restore their prop-erties,” the plea said.

The petition said thatduring that time, the peti-

tioner was “shunned by herrelatives and friends” becauseof the illegal proceedings ini-tiated against her husbandand now she is seeking “clo-sure to the trauma of her life-time, which still resonates inher mind”.

It alleged that even now,the movable propertiesincluding jewellery, artefacts,paintings, sculptures andother valuables have not beenreinstituted to her family andshe is entit led to be compensated for the actsdone by the concernedauthorities.

The plea referred to aDecember 2014 order passedby the Delhi High Courtwhich had held that proceed-ings initiated under one of thelegislations against the peti-tioner's husband were bereftof any jurisdiction.

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With Covid 19 death tally inIndia crossing 1.41 lakh so

far, a new survey found that 61per cent people know of one ormore people who have suc-cumbed to the infection.Similarly, 44 per cent peopleknow of one or more individu-als who are likely to have dieddue to coronavirus but theirdeaths were not labelled asCovid deaths.

The survey was conductedvia LocalCircles platform, acommunity social media plat-form. The survey also found thatonly 26 per cent of respondentssaid no one known to them orin their social network - family,extended family, friends, col-leagues, neighbours, businessassociates, etc. - has died due toCOVID-19 in the last eightmonths.

The first question in the sur-vey asked citizens, “How manyin your own social network(family, extended family, friends,colleagues, neighbours, busi-ness associates, etc.) have losttheir life due to COVID-19 inthe last 8 months?”

According to the survey,responses from 9,524 citizenswere received. Notably, 61 per-cent of the respondents have 1or more individuals in their

social network who died ofCOVID-19. Further 26 percentvoted, “No one lost their life andthankfully all recovered”.

More than 16,000 respons-es were received from citizensacross 208 districts of India. Ofthem, 69 percent respondentswere men while 31 percentrespondents were women.According to LocalCircles, 51percent respondents were fromtier 1, 24 percent from tier 2 and25 percent were from tier 3, 4and rural districts.

To gauge the extent of suchcases, the survey asked people,“How many individuals in yourown social network lost their lifein the last 8 months, which wasnot declared COVID-19 deathsbut it was likely related toCOVID or accelerated byCOVID?”

Responses from 6,392 citi-zens were received. Per theresult, 44 percent people nowhave one or more individuals intheir social network who likelylost their life due to COVID-19but were not COVID-19 butwere not declared as COVID-19deaths. This assumes a lot of sig-nificance if the numbers areextrapolated. Now the seventh-most-affected country by activecases, third by fatalities, and sec-ond by total cases, India hasadded 2,45,512 cases in the pastseven days.

Page 5: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

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Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehloton Monday urged Prime Minister

Narendra Modi to listen to the leaders offarmers unions and resolve the impasseby rolling back the “black” farm laws.

“It is most worrying to see that ourfarmers are spending nights in coldweather on roads, while the governmentcontinues to ignore their genuinedemands. PM Modi must intervenedirectly, listen to leaders of farmerunions and resolve the impasse,” thesenior Congress leader said.

“As more and more farmers are

joining the agitation from across thecountry and gathering at Delhi border atgreat inconvenience to the women andchildren, who are part of agitation too,the government must not delay payingheed to the welfare issues of the farmers,”he added.

Gelhot said “the NDA governmentmust shun its arrogance, insensitivity,adamant attitude and roll back the 'black'farm laws”.

“The Congress party stands with ourfamers in ensuring the Mandi system,MSP continue, and farmers as well asfarm lands are saved from big corporates,”he added.

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Thiruvananthapuram: Toeing the lineof Kerala Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan, who as soon as parliamentpassed the controversial Farm Billsannounced mulling legal steps,Agriculture Minister V. S. Sunil Kumaron Monday said the Kerala governmentis all set to approach the apex courtagainst the laws.

Kumar told the media that these Billsare against the interests of the farmersand the Kerala government would notimplement them at any cost.

“We will approach the SupremeCourt and are prepared to face the con-sequences arising out of it. The Centrehas no business intruding in the matterswhich comes under the state's jurisdic-tions,” said Kumar.

The Bills -- the Farmers' ProduceTrade and Commerce (Promotion and

Facilitation) Bill, 2020 and the Farmers(Empowerment and Protection)Agreement on Price Assurance andFarm Services Bill, 2020 -- were passedby both the Lok Sabha and the RajyaSabha. The state Advocate General isnow busy preparing to file a petitionbefore the apex court this week.

The lone Kerala leader from the BJPin the Union Cabinet -- Minister of Statefor External Affairs V. Muraleedharanopined that the move is nothing but onewith political overtures. He said the Billis not “anti-farmers” but against the mid-dlemen. Incidentally in January this year,Kerala became the first state in the coun-try to file a legal suit in the SupremeCourt against the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA), 2019 ,follow-ing which other states also followedsuit. IANS

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Lucknow: Samajwadi Party President AkhileshYadav was put under undeclared house arreston Monday morning and by afternoon he wasarrested andtaken away by Uttar PradeshPolice.

The arrest came as the numbers of partyworkers and supporters swelled outside hishouse and the former Chief Minister came outand sat on dharna outside the gates of his res-idence. “The government cannot muzzle thevoice of farmers. If the police want to arrest me,I am ready to go to jail.

“My party will continue to fight with thefarmers for their welfare. The police have arrest-ed and detained SP workers across the state.

“We are fighting to double the income offarmers, as earlier promised by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi,” he told reporters. Minuteslater, he was taken into custody by the policeand taken to an undisclosed destination.

Just ahead of this development, the BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) also extended support to thecall for Bharat Bandh, given by agitating farm-ers, who fear harm to their livelihood ever sincethe new agriculture laws were enacted by theCentre.

The Congress, Samajwadi Party, AamAadmi Party have already announced their sup-port to the Bharat Bandh call.

BSP supremo Mayawati earlier tweeted thather party was supporting the Bharat Bandh calland urged the Centre to be sympathetictowards the farmers and consider theirdemands. IANS

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on

Monday slammed the BJP,CPI(M) and the Congress forteaming up to bring down herTrinamool CongressGovernment.

Calling the BJP a party of“Bhakshak” (predator) CPI(M)a “Rakshak” (facilitator of BJP)and Congress a “Takshak”(snake) she said that she wouldnever let these parties to con-spire and let the saffron outfitcapture Bengal and make it ananarchic state like Gujarat.“Remember we will not let BJPmake Bengal a Gujarat. We

will not let you give rise to riotshere,” she said.

Stopping short of askingPrime Minister Narendra Modito resign his post the ChiefMinister said the BJPGovernment was tormentingthe people from all sides and allwalks of life adding the farmlaws were the last in the line ofits oppressive legislation. Shesaid BJP Government “shouldimmediately repeal the triplelaws or resign from power,”adding “it had no right toremain in power after sacrific-ing the rights of the farmers.”

Reminding the people ofher struggle at Singur and

Nadigram and her 26-dayhunger strike Banerjee said, “Ihave not forgotten Singur, I havenot forgotten Nandigram. Ihave full support to farmers,”adding she had full support forthe farmers’ “causes.”

Asking the people of Bengalnot to fall in the trap of the “out-siders” (read the national lead-ers whom the BJP was bringingto Bengal) Banerjee called theBJP a “party of outsiders”adding she would “never allowthe saffron camp of outsiders totake control of Bengal” andurged the people to resist anysuch attempt by the outsiders.

Taking a jibe at the leaders

of her party who were in touchwith the BJP she said BJP wasa “big identity card” showingwhich it was “breaking otherparties.” There were people whowere black-mailing her ahead ofthe elections but she wouldnever succumb to such black-mailing, she said in an apparentreference to recent alienation ofpowerful party satrap SuvenduAdhikari.

Incidentally neitherAdhikari who recently resignedfrom his Cabinet post, his fatherand former Union MinisterSisir Adhikari and youngerbrother Dibyendu both TMCMPs too were not to be seen inthe Chief Minister’s function.

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KOCHI: The research article “Love Jehad:Loving for Religion” authored by S Gurumurthyin which he proved that love marriages are beingused for Islamization of non-Islamic nations hasgiven rise to a call by a senior RSS ideologue inKerala for close cooperation between Hindus andChristians.

“While Love Jehad is a reality and is an ingre-dient for Islamization of non-Islamic countries,the same could not be said about Christianitywhich has been always in synchronization withcivil rights, democracy and personal freedom. Itis time for the spiritual leaders of Hinduism andChristianity to work together for minimizing theimpact of Love Jehad, so as to bring down theintensity of religious fanaticism,” said K RUmakanthan, managing editor, Janmabhumi, theRSS mouthpiece.

Umakanthan’s take has been widely wel-comed by the Christian Church which itself is atthe receiving end of Love Jihad in the state ofKerala. Christian Association for Social Action,un umbrella organization of major Church sectshave been alerting the Centre as well as StateGovernments that Christian girls are being sub-

jected to Love Jehad as well as sending them awayto fight as jihadis in Islamic State. “Situation is really grave and beyond allexpectations,” said K T Thomas, former SupremeCourt judge. He said he was all praise for the leg-islation enacted by the Uttar Pradesh Governmentbanning Love Jihad as well as Love Marriage forIslamization.

“There are certain formalities to be observedwhen a Muslim man marries a non-Muslimwoman. The same is the case with all kinds ofinter-religious marriages. Provisions of theSpecial Marriage Act should be observed and fol-lowed diligently and no compromise should bemade on this issue,” said Justice Thomas, knownfor his uncompromising stance on laws andConstitution.

Gurumurthy in his research paper, with inputcollected from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and even fromstudies held by Harvard University has warnedof the dangerous trend of communal polarizationas a result of Love Jehad. “There are hundreds ofinstances of families getting destroyed and com-munities getting polarized. The situation isdeadly and explosive,” writes Gurumurthy. PNS

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Two minor girls hailing fromPakistan occupied Kashmir,

who had inadvertently crossedLoC and sneaked inside theIndian territory on Sunday,wererepatriated at Chakan-da-baghin Poonch on Monday.

According to a Jammubased Defence spokesman Lt-Col Devender Anand, “Twogirls from Pakistan OccupiedKashmir, Laiba Zabair aged 17yrs and Sana Zabair aged 13 yrsof village Abbasspur, Tehsil

Forward Kahuta who had inad-vertently crossed into Indianside in Poonch in the morninghours of 06 Dec 20 have beenrepatriated from Chakan DaBagh crossing point onMonday”. Before returninghome Laiba Zubair in a videomessage said, “after Indian armyjawans spotted them crossingthe LoC they escorted them tosafety and treated them well.They offered us food, warmclothes and comfortably accom-modated us. We are thankful tothem and appreciate their con-

duct”. The custody of both theminor girls was handed over toJammu and Kashmir police inPoonch. During preliminaryinquiry the minor girls hadrevealed they were in a group ofeight girls and lost their way afterthey took a break.

According to officialsources, “Both the girls belongto a poor family and have beenstaying in Abbaspur town for thepast 10 years. Her grandfathernamely Abdul Halaq was orig-inally a resident of Srinagar andhad exfiltrated in late 1980s.

Laiba Zubair claimed, “hermother and elder brother iden-tified as Hamza were forcing herto marry another local boy,Babar, against her wishes. Babarwas receiving training beforegetting recruited in the Pakarmy. Babar's family had givenan assurance to Hamza that hetoo would be inducted in thearmy only after his sister wouldmarry Babar. However, Laibawanted to marry anotyer locslboy identified Tariq r/oPeshawar. According to LaibaTariq is currently serving in te

Pak Army and presentlydeployed at a forward post inKahuta. Laiba also claimed shealong with a group of her closefriends had decided to run awayfrom their native village andresettle in Tattapani to escapeexploitation. Official sourcessaid, “ On 05 Dec 20 at around6.30 p.m, the two girls along with06 other girls left their house (asall of them were tortured by theirparents and forced to marryagainst their choice) and decid-ed to go to Tattapani via RangerNala.

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ABJP supporter was killedand many others were

injured on Monday when thesaffron workers clashed withthe police during a rally atBengal’s northern city ofSiliguri.

While the senior BJP lead-ership blamed the police for itsworker’s death the police deniedcharges saying the cause of thedeceased BJP worker Ulen Roywould be known only afterpostmortem as the cops did notresort to firing or lathi chargeas was alleged by the oppositionparty.

As a mark of protest theBJP has called North Bengalbandh on Tuesday which inci-dentally coincides with theBharat Bandh called by theopposition parties showing sol-idarity with the farmers’ protestagainst the farm laws broughtby the Centre.

Cut to Siliguri: All hellbroke loose after the policestopped hundreds of chargingBJP workers who hurled brick-bats at the cops, pulled downbarricades and set fire to them,sources said adding the policefired tear gas shells and watercannons before baton-chargingthe protesters in a bid to chasethem away.

The BJP had earlier orga-nized s march to Uttarkanya thesecond secretariat of the StateGovernment situated in Siliguri.“The police indiscriminatelylathi-charged and tear-gassedour men who were organizinga peaceful rally to raise popu-lar demands,” said Bengal BJPDilip Ghosh alleging theTrinamool CongressGovernment carried out theassault on peaceful protesters“much in Nandigram style asthe police teamed up with the

TMC goons who hurled coun-try bombs from hiddenplaces… The CPI(M) did thisin Nandigram and other placesbefore being thrown away bythe people.

“Now the Trinamool hasbecome so overconfident thatthey too are resorting to staterepression which will not betolerated by the people at large.People are watching all theseand will give a befitting reply inthe coming elections.”

Intermittent violence tookplace as the two sides clashedwith each other at variousplaces from Teenbatti More toPhulbari during which the vic-tim sustained injuries, sourcessaid. Doctors at the privatehospital said that he wasbrought in a gasping conditionwith a number of small holes inhis body that resembled pelletinjuries. He succumbed to hisinjuries soon after.

More people were injuredand had been admitted to var-ious hospitals, BJP nationalgeneral secretary KailashVijaybargiya said adding how “Iwas saved by a whisker when abomb dropped in the vicinityalong with tear gas shells …many of our workers wereinjured from lathi-blows andbomb splinters… it is a com-plete lawlessness here deservinga central rule,” he alleged.

Darjeeling BJP MP RajuBishta too said Bengal meritedPresident’s Rule alleging howthe “Mamata BanerjeeGovernment has taken awaythe minimum right to protestfrom the people. There is no lawand order in the State … theway the police and TMC goonsteamed up to attack the protest-ing BJP workers leaves no otheralternative … but President’sRule and we will take this issueup with the President of India.”

Jammu: The fourth phase ofDistrict Development Councilelections has been conductedsuccessfully in the UnionTerritory of Jammu & Kashmirregistering 50.08 per cent voterturnout, state election com-missioner KK Sharma said onMonday.

Addressing a press confer-ence at the end of the pollingState Election CommissionerKK Sharma said that Jammudivision recorded an averagevoter turnout of 69.31% withPoonch District recording thehighest percentage of 75.42%followed by Doda district with75.03%. The lowest turnout inJammu division was inUdhampur district whichrecorded 59.90%. The KashmirDivision recorded 31.95 %average voter turnout withGanderbal district recordingthe highest polling at 56.28 %followed by Baramulla Districtat 47.43% and Bandipora witharound 45.22% polling.

He said a large number ofpeople came out to cast theirvotes during fourth phase ofDistrict Development CouncilElections 2020. Long queueswere seen right from morningdespite severe cold conditionsin Kashmir Division and hillyareas of Jammu Division, headded.

He said the polling passedoff peacefully across 34 con-stituencies of DDC including17 in Kashmir division and 17in Jammu division.

A total of 364527 voters(including 195206 males and169321 females) voted tochoose their representatives intheir respective councils, theSEC said. PNS

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The NCP on Monday hit out at the BJPfor “misquoting & spreading fake

information” about Shri Sharad PawarSaheb on letter by its party chief and thenUnion Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawarto then Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshitand Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj SinghChouhan on the need to amend theAgricultural Produce MarketingCommittee (APMC) Act to encourageprivate sector to provide alternative mar-keting channels .

Slamming the BJP for its “question-able” effort to portray on social media thatits chief wanted to promote privatisationwhen the fact remained that the latter triedto build a broad consensus APMCs invit-ing suggestions for the implementation of

the enacted legislation.In a statement issued here, NCP’s chief

spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said: “Themodel APMC act 2003 was introduced bythe Vajpayee Govt.

However many state governmentswere reluctant to implement it at thatpoint of time. Shri Sharad Pawar Sahebafter assuming charge as the UnionAgriculture Minister tried to form abroader consensus amongst StateAgriculture Marketing Boards by invitingsuggestions for the implementation of thesaid act.

“The benefit of farmers as per themodel APMC act was explained to vari-ous state governments and many stategovernments came forward to implementthe same,” Tapse said.

“Till date the farmers across the

country are benefitting from the imple-mentation of the said act which was finetuned by Shri Sharad Pawar Saheb to pro-tect the interest of the farmers of the coun-try,” the NCP spokesperson said.

The NCP spokesperson charged thatthe new farm bill introduced by the Modigovernment during the previous sessionof the Parliament had raised several“doubts and insecurity” in the minds ofthe farmers regarding MSP and otherissues “which the incumbent governmenthas failed to address thereby leading tolarge scale protests & agitation by thefarmers of the country”.

“The Modi government could notform a broader consensus and has failedto satisfy legitimate apprehensions of thefarmers and the entire Opposition,”Tapase said.

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Page 6: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

The nationalisation ofbanks in 1969 effective-ly ended the corporatedominance in the bank-ing industry, with the

Government taking control of 90per cent of the total banking busi-ness in India. Now corporate hous-es may once again be allowed toenter the banking arena if the rec-ommendations of the Reserve Bankof India’s Internal Working Group(IWG) for reviewing corporatestructure of private sector banks areaccepted by the Government. Thesuggestions are rather sweepingand it is questionable if all the riskshave been weighed carefully. Thereare two major recommendations;the first is to allow large corporateand industrial houses to own banksby amending the BankingRegulation Act 1949, and the secondis to allow large non-banking finan-cial companies (NBFCs) with 10years’ track record, including thoseowned by corporate houses and withan asset size of �50,000 crore andabove, to convert themselves intobanks. The recommendations areopen for comments till January 15,2021.

Some of the biggest industrialhouses already own large NBFCsbigger than many medium-sizedbanks with more than a decade’strack record. Besides HDFC withassets worth �5.6 lakh crore, thereare Bajaj Finservice, SriramTransport, L&T Finance Holdings,Indiabulls Housing, Tata Capital,M&M Finance holdings,Cholamandalam Investment andFinance Company, MuthootFinance and Aditya Birla, which ful-fil the twin criteria. Their total assetswould exceed �14 lakh crore (FY20). There are also Government-controlled NBFCs – for example, theone led by PFC with assets of �6.6lakh crore, followed by REC with�3.2 lakh crore assets, LIC HousingFinance and HUDCO – whichalso fulfil the criteria; their totalassets amount to around �14 lakhcrore. For a COVID-battered andcapital-starved banking sector reel-ing under mounting NPAs, suchhuge capital from private cash-richcompanies could just be rejuvenat-ing, a consideration which probablyweighed with the IWG. Privateplayers were allowed into bankingafter 1993 and since 2016, NBFCshave also been allowed, but so fartheir responses have been tepid. Onereason was the small cap of 15 percent on the promoter’s stake; this is

now proposed to be raised to 26per cent in the long run over 15years. But as Rajnish Kumar, theformer chairman of SBI, said: “Itwill only work well when the sys-tem has three things in place —strong ring-fencing for businessinterest, high-quality corporategovernance and resolutionframework for banks and financecompanies.” This is where therecommendations raise seriousworries and have attracted wide-spread criticism, including fromex-Central bankers RaghuramRajan and Viral Acharya, whocalled it a “bombshell” droppedby the RBI.

Historically, the RBI hasalways been cautious about issu-ing banking licences to corpo-rates on account of the inherentconflicts of interest and poor cor-porate governance. The last twolicences to IDFC First Bank andBandhan Bank were given sevenyears ago after licences given tothe Kotak Mahindra Bank andYES Bank, of which the YESBank has now gone bust due tocrony capitalism and ineffectiveregulatory controls and had to bebailed out like all others.

The global financial crisishad made the developed nationsvery cautious. In response to the2008 global financial crisis, theUS had adopted several mea-sures, including enactment of theDodd-Frank Wall Street Reformand Consumer Protection Act,which introduced a raft of mea-sures to regulate the financial sec-tor and protect consumers. TheAct amended many existing leg-islations, like the SecuritiesExchange Act of 1934 to createan Investor Advisory Committee,an Office of the InvestorAdvocate and an ombudsman. Itinstituted regular reviews of con-flicts of interest within investmentfirms by newly-created over-

sight institutions like theFinancial Stability OversightCouncil for identifying andimproving systemic risks andespecially to monitor designatedSystemically Important FinancialInstitutions, which are deemed“too big to fail.” Even these maynot be sufficient guaranteeagainst future malfeasance.

Nothing of that sort hap-pened in India. Satyam happenedin 2009 and we were in deepslumber. An attempt to strength-en corporate governance and giveit a statutory authority was madeonly in 2013 in the newCompanies Act by incorporatingsome key provisions of Clause 49of SEBI’s listing agreement. Thatthese are hardly effective is evi-denced by the unending series offrauds and scams, which havesince broken upon the Indianbanking scene, the regularity ofwhich no longer surprises us. Theweaknesses of the regulatoryand oversight institutions and themultiple conflicts of interestalong with crony capitalism havewrought havoc in the financialsector time and again. The IL&FSfraud dealt a body blow toNBFCs in India, exposing therisks a large NBFC poses to ourfinancial system. Much of ourNPAs have been the creation ofsuper-fraudsters like VijayMallya, Nirav Modi, MehulChoksi, Rana Kapoor and theirilk who could manipulate the sys-tem with active support fromimportant levers of power. In allthese cases, the RBI’s supervisionhas been lax and ineffective. Ofcourse, the RBI was not alone toblame; the statutory auditors,often from the big four, and thecredit rating agencies equallycontributed to bypassing controls,throwing caution to the winds.

If the growth of banks andNBFCs continues unchecked

without an effective frameworkto correct asset-liability mis-matches, the financial sector willremain vulnerable to risks andaccidents, dragging the economyin a downward spiral. The con-tinued failure of banks – the lat-est being the Laxmi Vilas Bank(LVB) – points to the gross inad-equacy of the RBI’s regulatoryarchitecture, including its pru-dential norms. Even in the devel-oped world, entry of large corpo-rates into the banking sector isdiscouraged. The IWG has itselfadmitted that “the prevailingcorporate governance culture incorporate houses is not up to theinternational standard and itwill be difficult to ring-fence thenon-financial activities of the pro-moters with that of the bank”; allthe experts it had consulted,save one, on this issue had dis-agreed with its recommenda-tions.

Before allowing large NBFCsinto the banking space, the RBImust ensure a robust and fool-proof regulatory oversight archi-tecture which it clearly lacks. Theurgency being displayed by it tocomplete this process, therefore,legitimately surprises many andraises many unnerving worries.

The biggest concern of theRBI has always been to preventconnected lending and exposurebetween the banks and otherrelated financial and non-finan-cial group entities. It allowed largeindustrial houses to set up theirown payments banks for the firsttime during 2015-16. Many likethe Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis andMahindras had applied forlicence. Of the 41 applications,only 11 got in-principle approval,and seven started operations by2018. But the banking landscapein India is undergoing significanttransformation, with all publicsector banks to be consolidated

into only half a dozen largebanks with balance sheet size of�10 lakh crore each, besides ahandful of large private banks.Hence there may be betteravenues for raising capital ratherthan putting the stability of thefinancial system at stake.

Indeed the stakes are toohigh to treat the matter so casu-ally. First is the enormous risk inconnected lending. As Rajanand Acharya have correctlynoted, “The history of such con-nected lending is invariably dis-astrous – how can the bank makegood loans when it is owned bythe borrower? Even an indepen-dent committed regulator, withall the information in the world,finds it difficult to be in everynook and corner of the financialsystem to stop poor lending.”Besides, the unintended conse-quence of concentration of eco-nomic and hence political andlobbying power in such corporatehouses is likely to follow, givinga further boost to crony capital-ism. Second is the excessivecompetition likely to result fromthe entry of corporates intobanking, leading to erosion ofprofit margin of the existingbanks and forcing them to lendto risky ventures and businesses,thereby further weakening thefinancial system. Ultimately, it isonly the small investors who paythe price, as we have seen in thecases of Sahara, DHFL, PMCBank, Yes Bank and LVB.Corporate governance is weakeven in the largest private banks,as the case of ICICI Bank hasdemonstrated.

The Indian financial land-scape is littered with a highlycomplex web of numerous shellcompanies, front companies tobig corporates they can lend to,opaque onshore and offshoreownership structures of compa-nies and incestuous financialtransactions between corporateentities, who can easily form acartel to evade regulation andoversight. The RBI still does nothave the institutional capacity toenforce regulation and exerciseeffective control – only recentlyit has introduced a separate reg-ulatory and supervisory cadre tomonitor systemic risks arisingfrom the growing sizes and com-plexities of an intertwined andinterconnected financial sector.The question to be addressedbefore embarking upon any suchmisadventure is whether the reg-ulator is adequately equipped tomonitor millions of transactionstaking place via the internet, tra-versing every nook and corner ofthe globe, and follow the mone-tary trails of illegitimate deals.

(The author is a formerDirector-General at the Office ofthe Comptroller & AuditorGeneral of India and an academ-ic)

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������������ ���� ��Sir — This is with reference to thearticle, “Girls please, not brides”,published on December 7. TheProhibition of Child MarriageAct, 2006 is only on paper. Inpractice, it is talked about morein breach than in observance andis scarcely followed due to thecrippling poverty in the country.

Now, the pandemic hasworsened the situation for mil-lions of underprivileged living inrural India and they are marry-ing off their girls early due topoverty and job losses, unmind-ful of the impact it will have ontheir lives, development andhealth. This abuse needs to stop,not just through the strict imple-mentation of the Act but also bycreating awareness and lendinga helping hand to the poor as acommunity.

Moreover, our girls should begiven free food in educationalinstitutions so that the parentshave one less mouth to feed. Theyshould be given education freeand trained for a vocation tillthey are financially indepen-dent. Now, the legal age of mar-riage for girls is likely to berevised from 18 to 21 years. It isa good idea. However, it will onlywork well in practice if our girls

are well-protected by free educa-tion, food and job support. Girlsshould be taught martial arts too,so they can be safe in the publicand private space. Above all, theWomen’s Reservation Bill, whichis all but forgotten, should be

revived and translated into law.Sravana Ramachandran

Chennai���������� ���Sir — A pertinent point wasraised in the article ‘Girls please,

not brides.’ We, as a society, maybe against child marriage but dowe do anything concrete to stopit? How can we just expect thelaw enforcement agencies to pre-vent child marriages and not doanything to help the keepers of

the law in any way? The least wecan do is help the underprivi-leged educate their girl childrenso that they can become finan-cially independent one day andlead a more fulfilling life andcontribute to the nation’s econ-omy. The hand that rocks the cra-dle indeed rules the world, butthat hand has to belong to a self-reliant, educated and financiallyindependent woman, not aminor deprived of food, freedomand education.

Rohit RoyNoida

������������� ������Sir — Glad to read that theSupreme Court expressed angerover the way the Centre is“aggressively” going ahead withthe construction work of theCentral Vista and directed thatno construction, demolition orfelling of trees shall take placethere. The people of the nation donot want the Central Vista tochange and this project must bestopped, due to emotional, his-torical and environmental rea-sons.

R RaguDelhi

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Page 7: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

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The recommendation of an Internal WorkingGroup (IWG) set up by the Reserve Bankof India (RBI) to allow industrial houses to

own banks — if they meet the criterion — hasinvited strident criticism from experts, includingthe former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan.Asking how a borrower could also be a lender, theyhave debunked the idea, stating that this wouldlead to misdirected lending, mostly to entitiesbelonging to the industrial house that owns thebank. This apprehension is valid but the misuseof public money can happen in any bank, irrespec-tive of the ownership. For instance, in Public SectorBanks (PSBs) till now, businessmen patronised bythe ruling establishment managed loans on con-siderations other than merit. In private banks, too,the situation is no different, as amply demonstrat-ed by the failure of Yes Bank, which is not ownedby an industrial house. There is a dire need tostrengthen regulatory oversight to guard againstirregularities in running banks. The IWG recom-mends allowing promoters to hold 26 per centequity stake in a steady state or after 15 years (upfrom the existing norm of 15 per cent) from thestart, when it should be a minimum of 40 per centof the equity for the first five years. It suggests tak-ing a sympathetic review of whether industrialhouses should be allowed to own banks if theymeet the criterion. And considers allowing Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) with assetsof over �50,000 crore, and in operation for over10 years, to convert to banks, whether or not theyare owned by industrial houses.

These suggestions need to be read in a cer-tain context. Already, after a prolonged tussle, thebanking regulator had allowed promoters of theKotak Mahindra Bank Limited (KMBL) to main-tain their stake at 26 per cent despite the 15 percent norm (originally named Kotak MahindraFinance Limited, it was the first NBFC in Indiato convert into a bank in February 2003). Thisprompted promoters of other private sectorbanks, who had lowered their stake to 15 per cent,to demand that they, too, should be allowed toincrease it to 26 per cent. For instance, the HindujaGroup of IndusInd Bank made the appeal.Therefore, by allowing promoters of all privatebanks to have 26 per cent stake, the IWG has takenthe logical step forward.

The 15 per cent threshold was anomalous, aswith a marginal stake, the promoter won’t have thedesired skin in the game. Hence, the much-need-ed seriousness and commitment would be less. Asa result, the management and governance of thebank could suffer. A study by the BostonConsulting Group (BCG), India, shows that thismay well be the case. An analysis of old privatesector banks done by the BCG illustrates that“boards, where equity ownership is diversified, cantake control of a bank and start to direct its oper-ations in a less than optimal manner. The CatholicSyrian Bank and the Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB)are good examples of this. In fact, 12 old privatebanks are laggards in respect to technology andrisk systems and have not grown their share fromfour per cent of the assets of the system.”

Even so, for a promoter to initially start with40 per cent shareholding as per the existing guide-lines and then bring it down to 15 per cent (afterthe efforts during the initial difficult phase haveborne fruit and the operations have stabilised), rel-egating him to a minor player, is unfair. No won-der, the KMBL promoter pleaded with the RBI toallow it to retain a higher shareholding, which thelatter agreed to. The apex bank should implement

the IWG’s recommendation to allow 26per cent shareholding to the promoterin the long-run.

The second major recommendationto allow industrial houses to own banks,after addressing any outstanding issuesor concerns in respect to “connectedlending” and incorporating safeguardsin the Banking Regulation Act (BR Act),needs to be read in conjunction withanother suggestion made by the RBI tothe Finance Ministry early this year. TheRBI had proposed that the Centrereduce its shareholding in six top PSBs,i.e the State Bank of India, the PunjabNational Bank, the Bank of Baroda,Canara Bank, the Union Bank of Indiaand the Bank of India to 26 per cent. Inthe follow-through, the Centre hasalready initiated the process to reduce itsholding to 51 per cent in the next 12-18months.

Realising that the market may nothave the appetite for it, the RBI thoughtthat letting corporates in could help raisethe prospects. There are several corpo-rates with deep pockets who can buy theshares of PSBs, thereby enabling success-ful divestment and at the same time, helpthe Government garner resources to reinin the fiscal deficit in the current diffi-cult year (it is aiming to garner about�43,000 crore). For this to happen, theregulator has to take a policy decision toallow corporates to own a bank. This isprecisely what the IWG has done. Butthis has invited criticism from expertswho say that instead of being based ondue diligence and assessing viability ofthe project, the bank will give loans keep-ing in mind what the owner wants. Putsimply, this will be tantamount to the useof public money for unjust enrichmentof the corporate. This undoubtedlyneeds a vigilant architecture. In PSBs, forinstance, businessmen with political

clout managed loans and got themokayed. Neither did the banks insist onrepayment, nor did the defaulters haveany fear, as those who were expected totake action chose not to act. This led toan increase in non-performing assets(NPAs) to an unsustainable level, forc-ing the Centre to bail them out by usingthe taxpayers’ money.

In private banks, too (albeit thosenot owned by a corporate house), the sit-uation is quite similar. Merely becausean industrial house gets to occupy thedriver’s seat in a bank does not automat-ically follow that public deposits will bemisused. Abuse or otherwise is primar-ily a function of the quality of the man-agement on the one hand and supervi-sion by the banking regulator on theother. If, any of these prerequisites arelacking, then, irrespective of who ownsthe bank, exploitation is inevitable. Tohandle that, there is a dire need tostrengthen regulatory oversight and theRBI should make proactive interventionon “real-time” basis to prevent misman-agement and irregularities — instead ofcontinuing with the present practice ofbolting the stable after the horses havefled.

India needs more banks with ade-quate capital buffer to meet the creditrequirement of a $5 trillion economy by2024-25 (funding on such a mammothscale can’t be done with equity capitalalone). In view of this, and consideringthat the Government wants to open upeven PSBs to the private sector (look atthe decision to reduce its shareholdingin six top PSUs to 51 per cent), there isa dire need to expand the landscape ofpotential investors. The involvement oflarge industrial houses could be of greathelp in this endeavour.

Accordingly, the Governmentshould only consider the IWG’s recom-

mendations after incorporating safe-guards to address issues of “connectedlending” by amending the BR Act. Allbanks, which have other group entities,should be held by Non-OperatingFinancial Holding Companies(NOFHC).

The recommendation for a higherminimum initial capital of �1,000 crore(up from the existing �500 crore) makeseminent sense. However, there is a casefor raising the bar even further to say,�5,000 crore, to ensure that only veryserious entities enter the space.

The third major recommendation ofthe IWG to allow NBFCs with assets ofover �50,000 crore, and in operation forover 10 years, to convert to banks is insync with the RBI’s stance all along. Theonly change mooted now is to permitNBFCs owned by industrial houses toconvert to banks, too. The RBI proba-bly went by the fact that there are a num-ber of well-run NBFCs owned by indus-trial houses who can be good candidatesfor converting to and running a bank.

The group has also batted for “har-monisation” of various licencing guide-lines to ensure that relaxations (or forthat matter, tightening of rules) given atdifferent points of time are applicable toall entities, irrespective of when thelicence was given to each. Some impor-tant recommendations provide for a“clear” and “consistent” definition ofholding by a promoter (use of paid-upvoting equity share capital is prescribedas the right metric); maximum shareholdings of 15 per cent by non-promot-ers uniformly for all, banks not to carryout any activity permissible within thebank, through a separate subsidiary;pledging of bank shares and so on. TheRBI should build in checks and balances.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst)

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As India experiences a colderthan usual winter, public opin-ion is firmly set on the premise

that the Coronavirus-driven lockdownreduced pollution levels, thereby result-ing in a season that’s more spirited thanthe previous ones. However, nothingcould be further from the truth. TheIndian Meteorological Department(IMD) has already sounded an alert tothe effect that the winter of 2020-21 willbe colder than usual due to the La Ninaconditions prevailing in the equatori-al Pacific Ocean. La Nina is the cool-ing phase of the El Nino southern oscil-lation cycle in the equatorial Pacific

Ocean as opposed to the warming ElNino phase. As if confirming the IMD’spredictions, Delhi has already witnessedits coldest November in 71 years. Butmiseries brought on by the cold may bethe least of our concerns compared tothe economic impact that lies in waitfor India in the wake of these erratictemperature changes.

The IMD predicts an uneven dis-tribution of minimum and maximumtemperature levels in various parts ofIndia, which could lead to a higher vari-ance between night and day tempera-tures. This, in turn, would impact farm-ing in the Rabi season. Especially thewheat crop which is the main cereal thatis grown in northern and central India.

Other crops that stand to beimpacted are soy and corn. In southIndia, a major cash crop, coffee, whichis extremely sensitive to temperaturevariations, is expected to suffer undu-ly thanks to these weather-relatedanomalies. These developments onthe agricultural front can wreak havocin the form of sudden spike in foodprices and cause unexpected financial

turbulence for the farming communi-ty that is already facing multiple diffi-culties.

The economy would eventuallysuffer the ripple effects of the agrariancrisis, the adverse impact of climatechange, coupled with setbacks onaccount of COVID-19.

The latest Mckinsey GlobalInstitute (MGI) report has presentedunsettling facts that point towardsdwindling economic prosperity due tothe havoc unleashed by climate change.The report states that there is a risk of$200 billion to India’s GDP by 2030 dueto a sharp reduction in outdoor work-ing hours triggered by the increase inambient temperatures. What are cur-rently considered as unsafe outdoortemperatures to work in will increaseby a whopping 15 per cent by 2030,directly impacting productivity andeventually the per capita income of thenation. This is because outdoor workhas immense relevance for the econo-my. As of 2017, it contributed to near-ly 50 per cent of the GDP. It drives 30per cent of the GDP growth and

ensures employment for nearly 75 percent of the labour force or nearly 380million people in India. Hence, climatechange-driven spike in temperaturescan put up to 2.5 to 4.5 per cent of theGDP at risk.

In fact, it is estimated by the MGIreport that nearly 160 to 200 millionpeople bear a clear five per cent possi-bility of being exposed to lethal or fatalheatwaves as early as 2030. As temper-atures rise, so do the costs of air con-ditioning. It is estimated that by 2030,a massive $110 billion would be

required as capital costs for improvingthe air conditioning infrastructure.Urgent remedial measures are neededto avert much of the problems before2030. Although some situations havesurpassed the stage of remedy, all is notlost yet. The authorities must have con-certed plans in place that are able to mit-igate the forthcoming threats. Graduallyshifting of outdoor working hourscoupled with movement of capital andlabour out of the designated high tem-perature hotspots will go a long way inreducing the adverse economic impactthat is being predicted.

Moreover, all the current ongoinginfrastructure and developmental pro-jects must have a critical component ofclimate change adaptation considera-tion built into them. This sensitivity willreduce the carbon footprint of theseprojects and will in turn help avertextreme outcomes in the form of spi-raling heat output signatures.

Yet another aspect that needsurgent attention while in the pursuit ofensuring a safe climate for the future isthe state of our energy supplies. The

average hydel power plant dams that arecurrently operational in the country aredecades old and the constant exposureto the elements, not to mention theever-present interaction with water, istaking a toll on their structure. Thefuture presents a scenario where risingtemperature would mean more melt-ing snows and glaciers, which in turnwould increase the water load on thesedams. An immediate assessment isrequired as to how these ageing con-crete structures would hold up to thisincreased onslaught of water and stilldeliver. This is essential because theneed for gradual decommissioning ofthe coal-fired power plants can nolonger be a long-term strategy but is infact a short-term urgent requirement ifthe erratic temperatures need to bereined in before 2030. Erratic temper-atures are here to stay. But before theydeliver the fatal blow, India has torespond decisively with effectivecounter-measures in order to protectlives and livelihoods.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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Page 8: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

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Beijing: China on Mondaycalled for a reset of its troubledties with the US under theincoming administration ofPresident-elect Joe Biden torebuild mutual trust and endmonths of hostility between theworld’s two largest economies.

President Donald Trump’sfour-years in power is regardedas the worst phase in US-Chinarelations as the rulingCommunist Party of China(CPC) headed by President XiJinping struggled to deal withWashington under an unpre-dictable American leader.

“The top priority is thatboth sides should work togeth-er to remove all kinds of dis-ruptions and obstacles, andachieve a smooth transition inChina-US relations,” ChineseForeign Minister Wang Yi saidduring a video meeting withbusiness leaders from the US-China Business Council.

“At the same time, based onthe direction of mutual benefitsfor our two peoples and coun-tries, we need to strive to restartdialogue, return to the righttrack and rebuild trust in thisnext phase of relations,” he wasquoted as saying by the HongKong-based South China

Morning Post.Trump, a Republican,

pushed aggressively on allaspects of US-China ties, includ-ing with his relentless tradewar, challenging China’s militaryhold on the disputed SouthChina Sea, its constant threats toTaiwan and branding coron-avirus as ‘China virus’ after itemerged from Wuhan inDecember last year.

The Trump administrationalso lobbied hard with alliesagainst Chinese telecoms giantHuawei, sanctioning Chineseofficials over human rights abus-es in Muslim-majority Xinjiang.

Earlier this month, Biden, aDemocrat, confirmed that he

will not make any “immediatemoves” to lift the punitive tar-iffs that the Trump administra-tion has imposed on imports ofChinese goods before a fullreview of the existing phase onetrade deal and consultationswith US allies, dampeningChina’s hopes that it would beable to renegotiate the tradeagreement with the new USadministration.

A Write-up in official mediahere, however, say Biden’s tenurecould usher in a “bufferingperiod” for already-tense China-

US relations, and offer an oppor-tunity for breakthroughs inresuming high-level communi-cation and rebuilding mutualstrategic trust between the twocountries.

Outlining his eagerly await-ed China policy, Biden in arecent interview with The NewYork Times said that the “bestChina strategy” was to get all tra-ditional US allies in Asia andEurope “on the same page”,which will be his major priori-ty “in the opening weeks” of hispresidency. PTI

Jakarta: Indonesian policeearly Monday fatally shot sixfollowers of a firebrand clericwho returned last month froma 3-year exile in Saudi Arabiaafter criminal charges againsthim were dropped, officialssaid, prompting fears of moreviolence.

Jakarta Police ChiefMuhammad Fadil Imran saidpolice were following a car car-rying 10 supporters of RizieqShihab, the leader of the IslamicDefenders Front, early Mondaymorning.

The followers attacked thepolice with guns and swords,threatening the officers’ safety,he said.

“The officers then tookfirm and measured action sothat six died from the group of10 people,” he said at a newsconference. He did not give fur-ther details of the violence.

An official of the IslamicDefenders Front, Ahmad

Shabri Lubis, gave a differentaccount, saying that Shihaband his family were heading toa place to deliver a sermon andthat guards traveling with themhad been shot.

“On their way to the ser-mon location, the group wasintercepted by unknown peo-ple that we strongly believedwere part of an operationalgroup to stalk and harm him.

Those unknown peoplestopped and did the shootingof the family guards,” Lubis saidin a statement.

Imran said police had beenscheduled to interrogate Shihabon Monday morning over analleged violation of coronavirushealth regulations during hisdaughter’s wedding receptionon November 14, and theyhad received information aboutplans for a mass mobilizationof his supporters at Jakartapolice headquarters during hisquestioning. AP

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Iran said on Monday it wasglad the United States “got

the message” and modified itsbehaviour in the Persian Gulf,after the top US Navy officialin the region said his forces hadreached a state of deterrencewith Iran after months ofregional attacks and seizures atsea.

“We are happy that theother party has got the messageand made its behaviour morerespectful,” Foreign Ministryspokesman Saeed Khatibzadehtold reporters. He said the USmilitary is the “main source oftension” in the region and thatIranian forces have alwaysacted professionally.

“Unfortunately, the US hasoften had an unprofessionalapproach toward Iran’s navy,”he said.

He was responding to ViceAdm. Sam Paparo’s remarks,delivered at a conference inBahrain on Sunday.

Paparo, who oversees theNavy’s 5th Fleet based inBahrain, said the two sides hadreached a state of “uneasydeterrence” and that he had a“healthy respect” for Iran’s reg-ular navy and the naval forcesof its Revolutionary Guard.

Tensions remain high overthe Islamic Republic’s nuclearprogram after PresidentDonald Trump withdrew theUS from the 2015 nuclear dealbetween Iran and world pow-ers and imposed heavy sanc-tions on Iran.

The killing of Iran’s topgeneral in a US drone strike inIraq in January pushed the twocountries to the brink of war,with Iran responding with amissile attack on US forces.

Washington: Rudy Giuliani,the personal lawyer to DonaldTrump, has tested positive forCOVID-19, becoming the lat-est person in the US president’sinner circle to be infected bythe deadly virus.

Giuliani, 76, has been takento the Medstar GeorgetownUniversity Hospital inWashington DC, according toUS media reports.

The news of the formermayor of New York testingpositve was first tweeted byPresident Trump on Sunday.

The president and his teamhave been criticised for shun-ning COVID-19 safety guid-ance. Trump, 74, was testedpositive in October.

Trump, a Republican, whois yet to concede defeat in theNovember 3 presidential elec-tion, tweeted: “Get better soonRudy, we will carry on!”

Giuliani has been leadingthe Trump campaign’s legalchallenges to the 2020 electionwon by former vice presidentJoe Biden, a Democrat.

In a tweet, Giulianithanked well-wishers for theirmessages, and said he was“recovering quickly”. Giuliani isconsidered at high risk forcomplications from the coron-avirus due to his age, CNNreported. PTI

Hong Kong: Hong Kongauthorities on Monday arrest-ed eight people in connectionwith an unauthorised protest ata university campus last month,police and local media said,amid a widening crackdown ondissent in the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

The arrests were reported-ly made in relation to a demon-stration at the ChineseUniversity of Hong Kong inwhich over 100 people protest-ed a decision to hold gradua-tion ceremonies online. Suchceremonies are often used as away for students to expresspolitical views.

Some protesters had calledfor Hong Kong’s independence,and held up signs that read

“Liberate Hong Kong,Revolution of our times,” whichare considered to have seces-sionist notions and are out-lawed under the city’s nation-al security law.

Police said they arrestedeight people for an unautho-rized protest and inciting seces-sion, but did not specify whothey were or whether the

arrests were related to the uni-versity protest.

Arthur Yeung, a graduatefrom the university who alsoran in the city’s district coun-cil elections last year, is sus-pected to be among thosearrested. A post on Yeung’sFacebook page said he wasarrested at his home onMonday morning.

Two district councillors,Isaac Lee and Eason Chan,were also arrested, according toposts on their respectiveFacebook pages. The eightarrested are currently beinginvestigated by national secu-rity officers, according to localnewspaper South ChinaMorning Post, which citedunnamed sources. AP

Sydney: More than60,000 koalas werekilled, injured or dis-placed in Australianbushfires last sum-mer, the World WideFund for Nature(WWF) has estimat-ed, in what it called adeeply disturbingnumber for a speciesalready in trouble.

Last summer’sbushfires, which Prime Minister Scott Morrisonhas dubbed Australia’s “black summer”, alsokilled 33 people and razed over 24 millionhectares (59 million acres) in the country.

Nearly 3 billion native animals would havebeen in the path of the bushfires, the WWFstudy said.

Even before the fires, koala habitats hadbeen in rapid decline due to land clearing foragriculture, urban development, mining andforestry.

A 2016 report by a panel of koala expertshad put the koala population in Australia at329,000 but there have been bushfires annual-ly since then, reducing the number further.

“That (60,000 figure) is a devastating num-ber for a species that was already sliding towardsextinction in Eastern Australia. We cannotafford to lose koalas on our watch,” WWF-Australia Chief Executive Dermot O’Gormansaid in the report.

South Australia’s Kangaroo Island was theworst-hit area for koalas, with some 40,000koalas impacted by the fires, the WWF said.Nearly 11,000 in Victoria and 8,000 in NewSouth Wales (NSW) were also affected.

A NSW parliamentary inquiry in June con-cluded after a year-long inquiry that koalas inthe state could become extinct by 2050 unlessthe government immediately intervened to pro-tect them and their habitat.

The WWF aims to double the number ofkoalas in eastern Australia by 2050. The planincludes a trial of drones to disperse seeds ofeucalyptus trees which provide both food andshelter for koalas, and the establishment of afund to encourage landowners to create koalasafe havens. AFP

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Chicago: As Donald Trump’spresidency winds down, hisadministration is throttling upthe pace of federal executionsdespite a surge of coronaviruscases in prisons, announcingplans for five starting Thursdayand concluding just days beforethe Jan 20 inauguration ofPresident-elect Joe Biden.

If the five go off asplanned, it will make 13 exe-

cutions since July when theRepublican administrationresumed putting inmates todeath after a 17-year hiatus andwill cement Trump’s legacy asthe most prolific executionpresident in over 130 years.He’ll leave office having exe-cuted about a quarter of all fed-eral death-row prisoners,despite waning support forcapital punishment among

both Democrats andRepublicans.

In a recent interview withThe Associated Press, AttorneyGeneral William Barr defend-ed the extension of executionsinto the post-election period,saying he’ll likely schedulemore before he departs theJustice Department. A Bidenadministration, he said, shouldkeep it up. AP

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Washington: Nikki Haley, theformer US envoy to the UnitedNations, on Monday opposedPresident-elect Joe Biden’s planto re-join the Iranian nucleardeal, saying the Trump admin-istration’s sanctions on Tehrandeprived the regime of themoney it needed to harmAmerican military.

“The Iran deal is only asreliable & trustworthy as thepartner who signs the agree-ment & Iran is neither of those.

Iran continues to enrich urani-um, sponsor terrorists & call forIsrael & America’s destruction.Members of the Iranian parlia-ment recently chanted ‘Death toAmerica’,” Haley tweeted.

In an interview to TheNew York Times, President-elect Joe Biden had expressedhis desire to rejoin the Iraniannuclear deal, which was one ofthe key foreign policy accom-plishments of the previousObama Administration. PTI

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Romania’s opposition SocialDemocrats have taken a

surprise lead over the govern-ing National Liberals after aparliamentary election butappear less likely to emerge ontop in what promises to be pro-longed post-election wranglingto form a new coalition gov-ernment.

With 95 per cent of ballotscounted Monday, the pop-

ulist, corruption-prone andfiscal ly reckless SocialDemocrat Party (PSD) hadaround 30 per cent of the vote,with the reformist center-right National Liberal Partytrailing them by about 5 percent.

The progressive USR-Plusalliance, which has pledgednot to be part of any SocialDemocrat-led government,won about 15 per cent of thevote.

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Venezuelan PresidentNicolás Maduro’s socialist

party was poised to gain con-trol of the National Assembly,the country’s last major inde-pendent institution, in con-gressional elections boycottedby the main opposition coali-tion.

Official results had not yetbeen released by late Sundaynight, but analysts they say area near-foregone conclusionwith the vote largely shunnedby rival candidates anddeclared a sham by the US,European Union and severalother nations.

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Domestic equity indicessprinted to fresh lifetime

highs on Monday as investorsentiment got a lift after Pfizerand Serum Institute applied foremergency use authorisationfor their COVID-19 vaccines inIndia.

Robust buying in finance,FMCG and banking countersoffset weak global cues and adepreciating rupee.

Rising for the third straightsession, the 30-share BSESensex soared 347.42 points or0.77 per cent to its fresh clos-ing peak of 45,426.97, aftertouching a record intra-daylevel of 45,458.92.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty rose 97.20 points or 0.73per cent to an all-time closinghigh of 13,355.75. It touched itsrecord intra-day peak of13,366.65 in early trade. TheNifty has now made fresh life-time highs for five straightsessions.

Hindustan Unilever(HUL) was the top gainer inthe Sensex pack, jumping 3.09per cent, followed by BhartiAirtel, HDFC, ITC, IndusIndBank, SBI, Sun Pharma,ONGC, Tech Mahindra, L&Tand ICICI Bank.

On the other hand, KotakBank, Nestle India, Tata Steel,Bajaj Finance and HDFC Bank

were among the laggards, drop-ping up to 1.37 per cent.

Vaccine major SerumInstitute of India (SII) onMonday said it has applied tothe Drugs Controller Generalof India (DCGI) for emer-gency use authorisation forthe AstraZeneca-OxfordCOVID-19 vaccine in thecountry.

Earlier on Saturday, theIndian arm of US pharmaceu-tical giant Pfizer became thefirst company to seek a similarapproval from India’s drug reg-ulator for its coronavirus vac-cine in the country, after secur-ing such clearance in the UKand Bahrain.

“News of progress in theCOVID vaccine and healthyinflows by FIIs helped marketsto continue the upward trend...We are seeing buying interestemerging on every dip, thanksto rotational participants acrossthe sectors. “Technically,Nifty could face a hurdlearound 13,450. The stock-spe-cific trading approach is yield-ing decent returns so far and wesuggest continuing with thesame. Also, keep a close watchon global markets and upcom-ing domestic macro data forcues,” said Ajit Mishra, VP -Research, Religare Broking.BSEtelecom, FMCG, healthcare,oil and gas, industrials, teck andcapital goods indices climbedup to 2.78 per cent, while con-sumer durables and realtyclosed with losses. BroaderBSE midcap and smallcapindices rallied up to 1.30 per.

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Traders’ body CAIT and theAll India Transporters

Welfare Association onMonday said markets acrossthe country including in Delhiwill remain open on Tuesdayand transport services will alsoremain operative, notwith-standing the “Bharat-Bandh”call given by protesting farmers.

Thousands of farmersprotesting against the Centre’snew agri laws for the past 11days here have called on peo-ple to join their “Bharat Bandh”or nation-wide shutdown callon Tuesday in large numbers.

Issuing a joint statement,the Confederation of All IndiaTraders (CAIT) and All IndiaTransporters WelfareAssociation (AITWA) saidtraders and transporters willnot be participating in theBharat Bandh called onDecember 8.

“Commercial marketsacross the country will remainopen and business activitieswill take place as usual where-as the transport services willalso remain operative onDecember 8,” the joint state-ment said.

CAIT President B CBhartia, Secretary GeneralPraveen Khandelwal andPradeep Singal and MahendraArya, Chairman and Presidentof AITWA respectively, statedthat so far no farmer organisa-tion or farmer leaders haveapproached them seeking sup-port for “Bharat Bandh”.

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Alphabet andGoogle CEO

Sundar Pichai onMonday stressed thatgrowing up in Indiaamid poor access to acomputer or a phoneset him on a course tobuild a more inclusiveglobal digital econo-my and empower thenext billion people.

Speaking at theSingapore FinTech Festival,Pichai said that the question ofinclusion and opportunity isdeeply personal to him.

“Growing up in India, Ididn’t have much access to acomputer, or a phone. To makea call, I had to wait in long linesto use a shared phone witheveryone else.

“So when our family final-ly got our first rotary phone, itchanged our lives for the bet-ter, and it set me on a course tohelp bring technology to morepeople around the world,” heemphasised.

He said the digital inclu-sion can be achieved first byaccelerating progress in closingthe digital divide, which meansexpanding connectivity, finan-cial inclusion, and digital skills.

“Second, by deepeningpartnerships between govern-ments and business, whichmeans building on the new col-laborations we’ve seen duringCovid,” he said.

Pichai mentioned howGoogle Pay is helping Indiabridge the digital divide.

The company launchedGoogle Tez, now Google Pay inIndia in 2017.

“At the time, my homecountry was still largely a cash-based society. Since then, dig-ital payments services havehelped reshape how transac-tions are made. They’veincreased financial inclusion bymaking payments simple andseamless for over a hundredmillion Indians,” Pichaiinformed.

“People are using GooglePay to do everything fromsend money home to theirfamilies and split the check fordinner. Kirana store owners areusing it to pay their businessexpenses, as well as receive pay-ments from their loyal cus-tomers”.People in India com-plete more than three billiondigital transactions a month,two thirds of which are takingplace outside India’s biggestcities.

Digital payment transac-tions across Southeast Asia areset to almost double to $1.2 tril-lion by 2025.

Mumbai:Healthy foreign fundinflows, along with strong buy-ing support for the financialsector stocks as well as positiveglobal cues, lifted the keyIndian equity indices onMonday.Both the two keyindices -- NSE Nifty50 andS&P BSE Sensex -- reachednew record intra-day highs.TheS&P BSE Sensex rouched arecord intra-day high of45,458.92 points, while theNifty50 on the National StockExchange touched new reordhigh of 13,366.65 points.

Furthermore, the Indianmarkets received healthy for-eign inflows of Rs 3,792.06crore.Buying was witnessed inmedia, PSU bank, pharma,infra and FMCG stocks.

However, global shares fellon Monday as growing risks ofa no-deal Brexit that hit thepound hard and fresh Sino-UStensions led traders to takeprofits from higher levels inearly trade.

Due to operational reasons,the timings / stoppages of

some trains have been revisedfrom 01.12.2020 and onwards.Therefore, rail passengers areadvised:

1. Please check and verifythe revised train timings per-taining to their rail journeyswell before their commence-ment of journeys, either withIntegrated Enquiry No. 139(or) National Train EnquirySystem (NTES) website (or)IRCTC website (or) approach-ing authorized person in thenearby reservationcounters/railway stations.

2. Please mention yourown mobile number only whilefilling the reservation requisi-tion form. It will help Railwaysto provide the trains cancella-tion or change in trains oper-ation related information tobonafide rail passengersthrough SMS. NorthernRailway seeks the co-operationof rail passengers so as toensure a safe and hassle free railtravel to the passengers.

Kolkata:The 65thMahaparinirvan Divas ofBharat Ratna Dr. B.R.Ambedkar was observed inMetro Railway today i.e. on07.12.2020 instead of 6thDecember as that date was aclosed holiday.In this connec-tion, Shri Manoj Joshi, GeneralManager, Metro Railway paidhomage to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar,architect of our Constitution bygarlanding his photograph at

Metro Rail Bhavan in a solemnfunction today. Principal Headsof Departments, other officersand staff of Metro Railwayalso paid homage to BharatRatna Dr. B.R. Ambedkar bygarlanding and offering floraltributes to him.

All Metro staff and officersfondly remembered the worksof Babasaheb and his out-standing contribution for thecause of the society.

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Vice President VenkaiahNaidu will on Tuesday

inaugurate the world’s largestentrepreneurship summitbeing organised by The IndusEntrepreneurs (TiE).

To be held virtually, theevent will continue tillDecember 10, non-stop for 60hours across global time zones.

TiE, the world’s largest net-work of successful entrepre-neurs and professionals, will behosting the ‘TiE GlobalSummit 2020’ through anonline platform due to Covid-19 pandemic as there are trav-el, and social distancing restric-tions the world over.

The summit will focus onissues faced and challenged byentrepreneurs, provide a plat-form for funding, insights intostrategies to grow and scalebusiness with focus on newstart-up ideas, investments in

start-ups, pitching tactics tohelp start-ups attract b2b andb2c businesses and scalingstrategies to grow their businessby 10x.

According to organisers,this is the world’s largest entre-preneurs summit ever held. Itis expected to have 50,000attendees.

The registrations havealready crossed 32,000.

The summit will be attend-ed by over 200 global investorswho have potential ability toinvest about $250 to $500 mil-lion to fund the most suitableentrepreneurs.

Union Road Transportand MSME Minister NitinGadkari, Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejirwal, Telangana’sIT and Industry Minister K.T.Rama Rao and formerAndhra Pradesh ChiefMinister N. ChandrababuNaidu will address the inau-gural.

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The rupee dropped by 10paise to settle at 73.90

against the US currency onMonday due to a rebound inthe dollar in overseas mar-kets following geopoliticalconcerns.

The dollar recoveredfrom two-and-a-half-yearlow on Monday after reportsthat the US was preparing toimpose sanctions on Chineseofficials, increasing the risk ofgeopolitical tensions.

Concerns over a Brexittrade talks as the EU and theUK were still trying toaddress major differences toavoid a no-deal exit by year-end supported the dollar sen-timent. At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitwitnessed a volatile tradingsession. It opened at 73.79and rose to an intra-day highof 73.70 in the first half.

The local unit, howev-er, lost momentum anddropped to a low of 73.96before closing at 73.90 a dol-lar, registering a decline of 10paise over its previous closeof 73.80.

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New Delhi:A joint platform often central trade unions hasextended its moral support tothe ‘Bharat Bandh’ call byfarmer organisations onTuesday. The unions would notgo on strike or abstain fromwork but support the farmers’agitation.They would wearblack batches while on duty,stage protest after or beforeworking hours and also holdrallies after or before their

work schedules. Theunions went on a nationwidestrike on November 26 toprotest against the recently

passed labour codes as well asfarm laws, among otherissues.nd Mazdoor SabhaHarbhajan Singh Sidhu toldPTI that the joint forum wouldextend moral support to thefarmers’ agitation but wouldnot go on strike because anotice is required to be servedfor the purpose. However, hesaid the members of the tencentral trade unions wouldwear black badges, stageprotest peacefully and alsohold rallies after or beforetheir work schedule.

PTI

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The consortium of UAE-based businessman

Murari Lal Jalan and London’sKalrock Capital - which haswon the bid to revive JetAirways - on Monday said itexpects to start operating theairline by the summer of 2021.

The consortium is await-ing the NCLT and other reg-ulatory approvals, including

reinstatement of slots andbilateral traffic rights by thecivil aviation ministry andDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA).It is alsoplanning to launch dedicatedfreighter services once thecarrier takes off the groundagain.The committee of cred-itors (CoC) has alreadyapproved the airline’s revivalplan submitted by the con-sortium in October.

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New Delhi: The NationalAssociation for the Blind-Delhi(NAB-Delhi) and GoldenShine Cultural Welfare Trustjointly organised MEDHA2020, an event showcasing tal-ents of visually impaired, alongwith national awards ceremo-ny to commemorate WorldDisability Day 2020.“We are very pleased to part-

ner with NAB and GoldenShine in furthering theirendeavour in building aware-ness, education and sustain-ability movement towards aworld inclusive and accessiblefor and with persons with dis-abilities,” said Sumi Gupta,director, TATSAT Foundation.

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Page 10: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

Regardless of the cause, con-genital disorders or com-monly known as birthdefects usually result in

disabilities which may affect phys-ically, intellectually or cause devel-opmental delays. While such com-plications may hamper the quali-ty of life of the child for life-long,timely intervention may help incurbing down the symptomaticcomplications and improve thefunctional outcomes.

Chiari Malformation is onesuch defect which is majorly a con-genital defect which may or maynot present its symptoms untilearly teenage. It is a structuraldefect in the cerebellum part(which is responsible for control-ling body balance), where thebrain tissues extend into the spinalcanal abnormally. This defect usu-ally triggers its progression fromthe fetal development stage.

While the majority of the casesof Chiari malformation occursduring fetal development, only ina few cases the condition may beacquired at later stages of lifewhen excessive amounts of cere-brospinal fluid may drain out dueto some reason (injury/infectionetc).

Attributing to a plethora of rea-sons including genetic mutation,improper diet during pregnancy bythe mother due to lack of essentialnutrients, trauma during preg-nancy, infection or exposure to anytoxic substance etc, the bony spaceat the base of the skull remainsabnormally small. This in turnexerts pressure on the cerebellumblocking the flow of the CFS whichsurrounds and helps in protectingthe brain and spinal cord.

Prevalence and identificationThis condition is considered to

be one of the rare birth defects, andvarious reports suggest that itsprevalence is only one in a thou-sand births in the last decade. Butwith advancement in technologyand diagnostic imaging techniques,the condition may have beenunder-reported. In most of thecongenital cases, the new born donot have any visible symptoms orthe symptoms become prominent

around their adolescence, whichmake the exact estimation of thisdefect extremely difficult. For spo-radic reasons, this defect is knownto affect females more than male.

This complication can beclassified into four categories:

Type I: The prevalence of thistype of malformation is the mostcommon among children, whereonly the lower part of the cerebel-lum (excluding the brainstem)extends into the opening at thebase of the skull, which usually hasopening only for the spinal cord.This is the only type which can beacquired.

Type II: This type is usually aconsequence in children born withspina bifida (split spine defect).Also known as the classic ChiariMalformation, in this both, thecerebellum and the brain stemextend into the opening.

Type III: This, despite being arare case, is the most serious form,as it involves herniation and pro-trusion of the cerebellum and thebrain stem into the opening whichhas a great potential to causesevere neurological defects.

Type IV: Being the rarest of allthe other types, this type of mal-formation involves an incomplete/underdeveloped cerebellum and issometimes associated with exposedparts of the skull.

While birth defect in the spine(spina bifida) is a common reason,yet other conditions associatedwith the Chiari Malformation canbe excessive build-up of the cere-brospinal fluid(hydrocephalus),cyst development in the centralcanal of the spinal cord

(syringomyelia), disorder in thespine which is progressive thatleads to the attachment of spinalcord to the bony spine, or otherspinal curvature deformities likescoliosis.

Symptoms:Depending upon the type and

severity of the malformation, thesymptoms may vary from personto person. While some may be pre-sent with no symptoms until lateadulthood, others may have persis-tent symptoms in the early child-hood itself.

The most common symp-toms include:� Complications with body bal-ancing and coordination� Poor vision� Mild to severe episodes ofheadaches� Weakness in the muscles andnumbness� In mild cases of Type I, peoplesuffering from this condition donot even know until the malforma-tion is diagnosed accidentally. Butin its severe form the patient mayundergo severe pain in the lowerback of the head connecting to theneck. This intensifying pain trig-gers with any activity that exertspressure in the brain such assneezing or coughing.

Unlike Type I, congenitalpatients with Type II developexcess CSF accumulation whichcauses debilitating pain duringbending, coughing or sneezing,constipated bowel movement, orstrenuous physical activities.

Is it treatable? – Yes!Upon suspicion of the malfor-

mation, the treating doctors

require physical examination toconfirm the condition whichinvolves inspecting the properfunctioning of the spinal cordand cerebellum. If the person hasproper and normal body balance,motor skills, sensation, reflexes,this condition may be ruled out forfurther diagnostics. On the con-trary, other diagnostics like CTscan and MRI may be used toidentify the condition with preci-sion.

If the symptoms are not per-sistent and do not hinder with thequality of life, then treatment maynot be necessary.

While surgery remains thelast resort to correct the function-al outcomes or curb down the pro-gression of the damage rate to thenervous system, the surgery aimsto relieve the pressure on thebrain and spine, and re-establishthe normal fluid circulation.

Various surgical interventionsinclude:

Decompression surgery of thebrain stem opening — this proce-dure requires to surgically removea minor portion from the bottomof the skull or spinal column torectify the irregular structure, andcreates additional space for theproper circulation of the CSF.

Spinal Laminectomy — In thisprocedure, a part of the archedbone roof In the spinal canal isremoved to increase the canalsize and reduce the pressure on thenerve roots and spinal cord.

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Eyes are a window to the world and any damage to or weak-ening of these vital structures especially at a young age can

determine the difference between a life of normalcy and fulfill-ment and a lifetime of misery and dependence. From the timeof birth to early childhood and adolescence, eye care for chil-dren must be a special focus of families and paediatricians. Yet,India has the dubious distinction of not only having the largestnumber of blind in the world, but also possibly the largest num-ber of blind children with estimates ranging between 1.6 to 2 mil-lion. Although blindness in children is a reflection of generalhealth and nutritional deficiencies, there are many eye-relatedconditions arising either congenitally or due to complicationsduring birth that lead to a child turning blind.

Traditionally, corneal clouding and scarring were consideredthe most common causes of childhood blindness in India. Studiesin the early 2000s concluded that refractive errors constitutedthe biggest cause of childhood blindness followed by retinaldegenerations, corneal opacities, congenital eye anomalies andamblyopia in that order. More importantly, it was treatable refrac-tive error that constituted one-third of the cases of blindnessamong children. One-sixth cases were due to preventable caus-es such as Vitamin A deficiency and amblyopia post-cataractsurgery.

The remaining cases of childhood blindness were found tobe a result of congenital eye anomalies and retinal degeneration.

Another study has foundmyopia to be the cause of one-third of refractive error casesfollowed by astigmatism andhypermetropia.

Although there is no treat-ment yet available for gene-related ocular conditions suchas microphthalmos and anoph-thalmos which lead to blind-ness in children, refractiveerrors can indeed be treatedand therefore any possibleblindness on account of themcan be staved off. Mere timelyintroduction of corrective glass-es or lenses for childrendepending on the degree ofseverity can go a long way inpreventing blindness among

nearly one-third of children impacted. Similarly, nutritional blind-ness among children can be averted by timely administration ofVitamin A doses to children according to their age.

Deficiency of Vitamin A can lead to a range of eye condi-tions: from xerophthalmia (incapacity to produce tears) leadingto severe dryness of the cornea and conjunctiva and nyctalop-ia (night blindness) to keratomalacia (clouding and softening ofthe cornea) which can lead to corneal rupture and permanentblindness. Congenital cataract can cause blindness but this canbe prevented if treatment is undertaken at an early stage. Aftersurgical removal of cataract, use of spectacles and patching canreverse the amblyopia.

Given the enormity of the problem, blindness among chil-dren can be addressed at the following levels.

First, at the family level, parents must be able to identify earlysigns of a disorder in the eye. It is known that children have unco-ordinated eyes or cross eyes at birth. This is because it takes timefor coordination between eyes to develop. However, if there ispersistence of cross eyes, parents must visit a paediatric ophthal-mologist. Cross eyes can be corrected by spectacles, exercises orsurgery. In terms of preventive treatment, timely Vitamin A sup-plements should be administered to children as well as moth-ers post-delivery and children should be immunised againstmeasles. Food rich in Vitamin A, leafy vegetables and milk mustbe consumed. Also, it is better to avoid any home treatment with-out consulting an ophthalmologist.

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�����������The Parnsnip isa root vegetable closelyrelated to carrots. It containshigh levels of minerals likecalcium, potassium,manganese, magnesium,phosphorous, zinc, and iron.

They have an impressiverange of vitamins, includingfolate, thiamin, pantothenicacid, Vitamin B6, C, E, and K.They also have high levels offiber, water, and protein.

The most impor-tant health ben-efits of parsnipsinclude theirability toimprove hearthealth, enhancedigestion, reducebirth defects, aid in weight loss,and boost the immune system.Parsnips also enhance vision,

promote growth, boost oraland skin health, prevent dia-betes and cancer, as well asstrengthen brain health.

They have low carbohy-drates, sodium, and calories.They also contain poly-acety-lene antioxidants such as fal-carinol, falcarindiol, panaxadi-ol, and methyl-falcarindiol.

Parsnips make deliciouschips or wedges; chop and addto braises or stews; use in stir

fries, salads, pies, soups,soufflés. Parsnips

can be includ-ed witho t h e rroast veg-e t a b l e s ;

boiled andmashed with carrots and

parsnip cake is similar in tex-ture to carrot cake.

Urinary Tract Infectionor UTI can beextremely painful

and uncomfortable for peo-ple of all ages. The burningsensation while relievingyourself or frequent visitsto the washroom,are all symptomsof UTI.

Here are afew tips thatcan help tokeep the infec-tion at bay.

Water is life:Keeping yourselfhydrated is the keyto not inviting UTI. Drinkplenty of water and otherliquids.

Never skip your wash-room break: As weird it maysound, but it is essential torespond to the Nature’s calland relieve yourself at reg-ular intervals. Do this on

priority if you don’t want tocatch this nasty infection.

Maintain hygiene: Keepgood care of hygiene, espe-cially if you have to use pub-lic washrooms. Make sure

the area is clean and sani-tised. You can carry a

toilet seat sanitiserto be on the safeside.

I n c r e a s eVitamin Cintake: VitaminC is thought to

work by increas-ing the acidity of

the urine, therebykilling off the bacteria thatcauses infection.

Take help of unsweet-ened cranberry juice:Cranberries work by pre-venting bacteria fromadhering to the urinarytract, thus preventing infec-tion. A glass a day can help.

Urinary Tract Infection is com-mon if one fails to drink plentyof water. However, women are

more prone to such infection.ROSHANI DEVI shares easyhome remedies that can helpease the pain and discomfort

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Apart from being popular as one of thecountry’s leading exports, tea plays an

integral role in Indian society. Our love forthe beverage surpasses trade figures. For us,tea sets the tone for a hearty conversation. Infact, most of us begin our day with a cup offreshly brewed tea. After all, it gives us thatrefreshing zap of energy and much-neededwarmth while hanging out with friends ona cold day.

However, various studies also link theconsumption of highly caffeinated drinkswith several unwanted health concerns. So,how to turn your tea into a cup of holistichealth?

Well, let’s take you into the amazingworld of infusion teas.

An infusion tea is obtained by steepingflowers, fruits, spices, roots, and leaves ofa particular plant in hot or cold water toextract its beneficial properties and aromas.They are a tasty and healthy spin to yourregular tea and wholesome to incorporateinto your daily life.

Fresh brew infusions or tea blends arefor individuals who want to improve theirhealth organically. Unlike other caffeine-laden beverages such as coffee, infusion teasare caffeine-free and rich in nutritionalvalue. Infusions have multiple health ben-efits that can help with pain reduction,relaxation, improved digestion, a strongerimmune system, among others. Here is howthese infusions help you:

Sleep inducer and helps againstinsomnia: We know that a high intake ofcaffeine is bad, especially before bed, as thecaffeine content makes your mind wideawake when your body seeks some rest. Sowhat can we substitute as our bedtime drinkto get a sound sleep? Rose infusion is theanswer. It has a delicate flavor and alluringaroma and has been used for peace andrelaxation since time immemorial. Rosepetals also contain flavonoids and anxiolyt-ic compounds that induce sleep.

Soothing and relaxing properties:Chamomile tea finds its origin in ancientEgypt and Greece and is known for its heal-ing properties. It is known to alleviate sleepproblems, menstrual cramps, muscle twitch-es, sore stomach, as well as anxiety andstress. It has a sweet intoxicating fragrancewith a light and earthy flavor. This makesit the perfect hot beverage after a long andstressful day.

Helps in improving metabolism: Thegoal to lose weight, or say, staying fit stayson top of our minds. The good news is thatyou can accelerate your weight loss bydrinking some of your favorite beverages.Instead of reaching for sugary sodas or dan-gerous weight loss pills, simply pour your-self a cup of infusion tea and sip your wayto a robust metabolism, which is a key tooverall well-being.

Helps strengthen immunity: Buildingimmunity is a vital task, especially, duringtimes like these when there is a heightenedrisk of illnesses. Most of the infusion teas-possess catechins and theaflavins, to somelevel. Both these components could help infighting viruses on the cellular level, there-by strengthening immunity.

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INFUSED WITHGOODNESS

Longer working hours, addi-tional household chores,increased screen time and

higher levels of stress and fatiguehave been something that all of ushave been trying to combat in thepast few months. When coupledwith a reduction in me-time, self-care and moments of unwinding,this shift in our lifestyles has hadan unhealthy effect on our skin.

Presenting OxyBlast, a sevenstep in-salon facial that is nowavailable at home in the form ofa DIY single use kit. Specificallydesigned to provide an instantsolution to skin that has lost itsradiance and glow. Available forjust �300 on Nykaa and Amazon.

Benefits:Oxygen for your skin: Backed

by science, this one of a kind facialprovides your skin with a ‘blast’ ofoxygen to revitalise and regener-ate the skin by boosting cellularfunction and giving you visibleradiance

The goodness of anti-oxidantingredients: The anti-oxidantingredients help in protecting theskin from everyday aggressionspollution, UV-induced damagesand oxidation, fruit enzymes exfo-liate dead cells to reveal fresh radi-ant skin and Vitamin E hydratesand nourishes the skin while aloevera powder help in soothingskin.

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Let’s welcome the change.Though everybody prefers

cool & pleasant weather, win-ter can be harsher than summerespecially for your skin.

Winter does come withsome challenges like dullness,itchiness, chapped lips andparched skin. So, it is time totake a little extra effort to keepyour skin soft, supple, healthy&glowing.

Fret not, be ready to com-bat these winter skin issues witha tweak in your regular skincareregime:

Cleansing: It is recom-mended to wash your facewith lukewarm water andchoose a mild moisturisingcleanser to maintain the natur-al oil of your skin.Though itfeels good to take hot showersit is advised to take quickshowers and opt for mild show-er gels & soaps containing nat-ural oils, glycerin& humec-tants to avoid dryness.

Tip: Opt for SLES com-

pared to SLS which are mildersurfactants.

Moisturising: It is advisedto opt for moisturiser thathelps the skin to heal, hydrateand lock in the benefits. Youmay opt for moisturisers basedon your skin type. If you havedry skin try rich cream or oilbased whereas combination tooily skin can go for light weightgel based moisturisers. Ensureto always moisturise your skinto keep it healthy and fine linefree. Opt for ingredients thathas hyaluronic, glycerin or VitE to form the skin protectivebarrier.

Sun protection: Most of usare unaware that the winter UVrays are equally damaging asthe summer sun. UVA is alwayspresent and can penetrate deep-er into the skin damagingelastin & collagen resultinginto premature ageing.Sunscreen is an important pre-ventive healthy habit thatshould be maintained all the

year. Choose a sunscreen thatprovides broad-spectrum pro-tection and has anti-ageingproperties. Remember to re-apply sunscreen every three-four hours to help maintain aneven skin tone.

Care for your hands &feet: The skin on your hands &feet has fewer oil glands mak-ing the moisture to evaporatequickly. Make sure to use a gen-tle exfoliator and apply a mois-turisers that heals & seals thedryness

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With the passing away ofneo-tantric abstraction-ist and printmaker

extraordinaire Dipak Banerjee,India loses a pedagogue and bril-liant artist who wove into his workthe principles of ‘Purusha Prakriti’and the traditional nuances ofIndian miniature painting.

Banerjee breathed his last inKolkata on November 26. As ayoung artist, who graduated fromGovernment College of Art,Kolkata, his first job for theHandicraft Board was to collectdifferent cultural motifs. He usedto copy motifs engraved on thewalls of temples in Kolkata. Fromthe little bylanes of Kolkata’s tem-ples and Kalighat elements,Banerjee got a prestigious schol-arship from the French govern-ment and left for Paris in 1965. Hestudied printmaking under thefamed William Hayter of Atelier17 as well as Krishna Reddy.

MODERN MANDALASIn 1990s Delhi, he used to

have a show at Gallerie Ganeshaannually. His intaglios were likemodern mandalas, a medley ofgeometry and symbolism. Thetantric elements and the motifs ofIndian miniatures all meshedinto meticulous variations thatexuded a deep spirituality.

To gaze at a Dipak Banerjeeprint is to be drawn into a king-dom that seeped into your soul.His command of a free fluidity oflines and the warmth of colourzones all became a precise permu-tation of in-depth exactness andbalance of choreography. HisVishnupada, Chausath Yoginisand Kali intaglios have aboutthem an antique aura that isunseen in today’s world.

He said during one of hisshows in Delhi, “I am not a prac-ticing tantric but I graduallymoved to the tantric mode of self-realisation during my manyexplorations. In my collection oftemple motifs, I was unconscious-ly gaining an album of tantricsymbolic motifs like PurushaPrakriti, Vishnu, Sahasra, Nathjiand Kundalini, which presentedthe spiritual dynamics of contentin ancient Indian art. So you couldsay that the journey which beganin Paris got its final directionthrough the lanes of Benaras.”

EARTH SONGS IN SPIRITAfter returning from Paris in

1967, Banerjee taught for years atBenaras Hindu University. As apedagogue at the department ofprintmaking in BHU, he wasamong the finest. His attention todetail and the earth-toned colourstalk about the spiritual and thesublime. Ornamentation in lin-guistic alphabets became thenorm in his work. The gods andgoddesses appeared as miniaturedivinities settled into the cosmic

realm of his design dynamics.Sometimes his works includ-

ed a series of mandalas whichinvolved designs like a circlewithin a square and a square with-in a circle. These variations madehis works iconic. Within the dic-tums of tantric symbolism, hefound an intense expression ofevocative elegance. His work wasa quest that transcended beyondspace and time, and was a com-munion with the Absolute.

Banerjee stood among theneo-tantric practitioners in India— stalwarts like Ghulam RasoolSantosh, Biren De, and SohanQadri. In his works, we canobserve a lexicon that distilled therootedness of Vedic sciences. Hisperfection of creating multi-hued colourative etchings showed

his richness of repertoire and acontrolled construction of thenarrative. His last exhibition washeld at Sanchit Art in 2017 inDelhi.

For him, Tantra was morethan just a motif. It was a perspec-tive that conveyed the proverbialimage of the omniscient.Juxtapositions and islands ofluminosity were of an incandes-cent idiom. His understanding ofthe realms of the chakra wentdeep into exploring the mathe-matical nuances of absoluteknowledge.

COLOUR AND COSMOSHis universe lay within the

symmetric and geometric patternsof tantric symbols rooted inHindu, Buddhist and Jain icono-

Actor Chandan Roy Sanyal isone of the few performers to

have shone to the fore with thedigital boom in the entertainmentindustry. With a strong back-ground in theatre, there is amethod to the actor’s madnessand his body of work goes toshow that he’s a characterchameleon.

In the course of his career,Sanyal has been appreciated for astring of performances. The lat-est one to have won him tremen-dous acclaim is for the role ofBhopa Swami in Prakash Jha’sAashram Chapter 2. The actorplayed the role of the right-handman of Kashipur Waale BabaNirala. In the much loved crimeseries, he’s a mercenary whosilences his detractors in a mat-ter-of-fact way.

Jha’s digital foray has markeda turning point in the actor’scareer trajectory. The streak of

acclaim began for him with the2009 caper thriller film Kamineyand his Bengali debut, the 2010

film Mahanagar@Kolkata. He then went on to receive

recognition for his performances inthe 2012 Bengali drama filmAparajita Tumi and as an insom-niac artist in the 2013 romanticdrama Prague.

Says Chandan, “Aashram gaveme a special identity as an actor. I’mgrateful that the year turned out sofruitful for me with such amazingand unique projects. Currently,I’m in the middle of finalising somesuper exciting projects and I can’twait to sink my teeth into differentroles and collaborate with thegreats of the industry.”

His act as Swapan, a paralysedoverlord in Kaali Season 2 and asa husband looking to rekindle hismarried life in Forbidden Love aresome of his other notable perfor-mances this year.

As the world awaits the vaccine forCOVID-19, the unprecedented

novel Coronavirus continues to rage on.While most lockdown restrictions havebeen lifted and the country has inchedcloser to normalcy, plethora of informa-tion on combatting the spread of thevirus, preventing potential infection, andsafeguarding oneself through the con-sumption of certain DIY immunityboosting concoctions is making roundson social media. However, experts arenoting a surge in side-effects amongstpeople who are consuming these home-made ‘kadhas’; the issue being repeat-ed and high dose consumption of thesehome remedies.

COVID-19 scare has promptedwidespread consumption of ekadha(herbal concoction) that usuallyincludes ginger, lemon, garlic, turmer-ic, pepper, aloe vera or berries.

Talking about the impact of exces-sive consumption of homemade‘kadha’s’, Dr Sanjay Shah, GeneralPhysician, Fortis Hospital, Mulundrecalls a peculiar case. He says, “In ayoung patient, bleeding was spottedpost-operatively; upon investigatingthe matter and detailed assessment of hismedical history, we found that thepatient was consuming a homemadekadha in large quantity. This had led tointernal bleeding”. Another patient wasbrought in to the ER with acute breath-

lessness, he was pale and his hemoglo-bin levels were low. On investigating, itwas noted that he was consuming fourto five glasses of kadha on a daily basis,for the past five months.” He added that,“The patient mentioned that his stoolswere black in colour for the last two

months and that he believed that tox-ins were being excreted, as a result of thekadha. Hence the patient prolonged hisvisit to the hospital, till such time he feltexcessive fatigue.”

While individuals continue to beinundated with social media messages

about homemade recipes or supplementmarketers advocating vitamins andother immunity boosting alternatives,here’s a reminder that there is no suchmagic pill or potion. Most often, theseare offered to the family in a bid to safe-guard them against COVID but whatneeds to be understood is that peoplereact differently to it. As a rule of nature,anything consumed in the right man-ner and quantity will reap benefits.However, if consumed recklessly, itcould be dangerous.

Profuse use, particularly by thosewho have comorbidities, patients whoare on blood thinners or medications forchronic diseases, it could be dangerous,increasing the risk of bleeding tenden-cy. Depending on the bleeding location,whether the brain or the intestine, thecase criticality could range from normalto life threatening.

Consuming warm concoctions inexcess could lead to side effects such asulcers or superficial bleeding in themouth. Condiments in homemade con-coctions generate excessive heat in thebody and could cause nose bleeding; itupsets the esophagus causing esophagealerosion, it also causes Gastro-Esophageal Reflux affecting digestion.When digestion is affected, this couldpotentially impact one’s immunity.

Components in ingredients liketurmeric and aloe vera, if used in

excess could harm the liver, which fur-ther increases the chance of beingdiagnosed with Jaundice. This mayalso cause bleeding in the organ whichcould lead to life threatening liver fail-ure or injury.

Arsenic Album is another com-monly used immunity booster. If usedin limited and supervised quantities itcould be beneficial to one’s health; how-ever, if used in excess it could harm thekidneys, liver or brain, at times leav-ing a patient unconscious due toarsenic toxicity and in need of criticalcare.

Excess Vitamin D increases the cal-cium content in the body leaving a per-son irritable and sometimes uncon-scious. Spike in blood and urine calci-um levels due to high Vit-D levels caus-es nausea, dehydration, giddinessamong other fluctuations. It is impor-tant to note that when consumed insmall quantities and under medicalguidance of your physician, theseingredients are harmless.

Serious consequences are facedwhen there is an imbalanced intake; besafe, be aware. Speak to your physicianbefore beginning your course of home-made kadha’s, understand the role ofeach ingredient and the frequency atwhich it is to be had; don’t be recklesswith these.

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graphies. His modernist inter-pretation was born of a voiceboth local and universal. Withinthe symmetry of his lines, weglimpse a thematic exactitudefloating in the flow of colours,an embracing of Indian folktraditions expressed within theorganic extension of techniqueinto the realms of spiritualabstraction.

Rooted in a larger allegory ofluminosity — both in terms ofthe canvas treatment and in the

realm of our interpretation ofcosmic unity/oneness — DipakBannerjee leaves behind a suiteof spiritual wonders. He bringsalive the words of the greatabstractionist Wassily Kandinskywho said, “Colour directly influ-ences the soul. It is the keyboard,the eyes are the hammers, thesoul is the piano with manystrings. The artist is the handthat plays, touching one key oranother purposively, to causevibrations in the soul.”

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AN ODE TO DESIGN

Page 12: The Pioneer...Balwinder Singh in Punjab. The terrorists have been identified as Gurjit Singh and Sukhdeep Singh, both sharp-shooters of most wanted gang-ster Sukhmeet Pal Singh, alias

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The series pocketed andtheir confidence restored,India would eye nothing

less than a clean sweep whenthey take on an Australian sidesignificantly weakened by injuryblows, in the third and final T20Iat Sydney Cricket Ground onTuesday.

Skipper Virat Kohli and hismain protagonist of the white-ball leg, Hardik Pandya, will feela sense of deja vu given that thescript has panned out exactly like2016 when the team got wal-loped in the ODIs but came backstrongly to rout the Aussies 3-0in the T20I series.

After a couple of crushingdefeats in the first two ODIs, theIndians have turned a cornerstarting with the final ODI inCanberra.

Even the absence of a white-ball pro like Ravindra Jadeja did-n’t have an impact during theirconvincing six-wicket win in theseries-clinching second T20 onSunday.

What will boost the Indianteam’s morale manifold is thefact that it had the confidence torest both Mohammed Shamiand Jasprit Bumrah, relying ona troika of pacers, who betweenthem haven’t played even 40games collectively.

India’s new white-ball sen-sation Thangarasu Natarajanhas had a superb initiation ininternational cricket withAustralian batsmen still findingit difficult to read him.

As Pandya so rightly put it,Natarajan’s spell and the 10runs that Australia failed to

score became the differencebetween winning and losing.

The difference betweenboth teams during the last gamewas the batting of the two teamsduring the middle overs.

Australia lost a bit ofmomentum after stand-in skip-per Matthew Wade was dis-missed while his opposite num-ber Kohli played some outra-geous shots after the Powerplayto up the ante.

Shreyas Iyer’s induction inplace of an injured Manish

Pandey also worked well for thevisitors.

The only glitch in an other-wise solid show was YuzvendraChahal’s rare off-day. Not hav-ing a sixth bowling option meantthat Kohli was forced to have hispremier leg-spinner completehis quota.

For Australia, the absence of

regular skipper Aaron Finch,David Warner, Mitchell Starc,Pat Cummins and JoshHazlewood did have an impactalthough three of the five didplay in the first T20I that Indiacomfortably won by 11 runs.

D’Arcy Short hasn’t lookedthe part as an opener in the twogames and one would expectMarcus Stoinis and GlennMaxwell to shoulder moreresponsibility as senior players.

But Australia’s thin-on-experience bowlers will have to

play out of their skins to stop theIndian juggernaut which hasstarted rolling.

A 3-0 win would be the per-fect booster shot for it before theall-important Test series.

In case of Australia, while athrashing would impact them alot but they would try and lookat it from a different perspective— most of their Test specialistswill not have the scars of a cleansweep when they take on Indiaunder the lights at the AdelaideOval, starting December 17.

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Senior pros Umesh Yadavand Ravichandran Ashwin

staked strong claims to beincluded in India’s playing XIfor the first Test with impres-sive performances againstAustralia A, which scored 286for 8 on the second day, ridingon Cameron Green’s unbeatencentury.

Australia now have a 39-run lead after India A declaredtheir innings at 247 for 9 in thefirst hour of the second day,with skipper Ajinkya Rahaneremaining unbeaten on 117.

With Mohammed Shamiand Jasprit Bumrah beingautomatic choices, Umesh (18-3-44-3), fighting for thirdpacer’s slot, certainly lookedmore penetrative comparedto Mohammed Siraj (19-4-71-2) with the new ball.

The ‘Vidarbha Express’removed both rival Test teamopeners Will Pucovski (1) andJoe Burns (4) in his third andfourth over with the new ballto make initial inroads.

Ashwin (19-2-58-2) alsodid his Test chances no harm.

For Australia A, the giantall-rounder Green continuedhis rich vein of Sheffield Shieldform with an unbeaten 114 off173 that had 10 fours and a six.

He showed good tempera-ment against the Indian attackwhile adding 104 runs for thesixth wicket with his nationalskipper Tim Paine (44) afterbeing reduced to 98 for 5.

Another 49 for the eighthwicket with paceman MichaelNeser (33) ensured thatAustralia A recovered wellfrom a batting collapse.

India started well with the

new ball as Umesh maintaineda good channel outside off-stump as Pucovski trying tocut a back-of length deliverygave a simple catch toShubman Gill at point.

Burns edged one thatmoved a shade away to wick-etkeeper Wriddhiman Sahabehind the stumps.

Skipper Travis Head (18)and Marcus Harris (35) thenadded 55 runs to steady theinnings before Siraj got into theact, cleaning up the AustraliaA skipper in the 21st over.

Siraj, who is also trying toseal a place in the Tests,troubled Harris (35) a lotwith semi-new ball beforeAshwin ended his stay withRahane snapping one in theslip cordon.

The experienced off-spin-

ner was again in action in the31st over when he trapped NicMaddinson (23) with a deliv-ery that kept straight.

Green and Tim Painethen scripted another recov-ery act to take Australia A to186-5 at tea.

After the break, Umeshpeppered Paine with bouncerswith one hitting him on thehelmet. The strategy worked asPaine pulled one only to bebrilliantly caught by PrithviShaw at backward square leg,ending their 104-run stand.

Siraj then got his secondscalp in the 67th over, remov-ing James Pattinson (3) butMichael Neser (33) frustratedIndia A before being run-outin 80th over.

Green, who was droppedon 24 by Hanuma Vihari insecond slip and then on 78 byWriddhiman Saha, completedhis hundred with a four in the81st over.

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England’s ODI series in South Africa was cancelledon Monday after an outbreak of Covid-19 cases

at the luxurious Cape Town hotel where both teamsare staying.

Both squads have had members infected, whiletwo staff members at the hotel have also contractedthe disease.

The decision to call off the series was taken byboth the England and Wales Cricket Board andCricket South Africa, the two federations said in astatement, and was made “to ensure the mental andphysical health and welfare of players from bothteams.” The opening game of the series was sched-uled for Friday but was postponed to Sunday after aSouth African player tested positive for Covid-19 onthe morning of the game.

That first ODI was then cancelled completely onSunday after it was revealed two hotel staff membershad been infected with Covid-19, forcing theEngland contingent to undergo a new round of tests.

Two members of the England group then testedpositive for Covid-19, although the ECB said it want-ed the tests verified by an independent medical teambefore making a decision on the remainder of the tour.

Both the ECB and Cricket South Africa hadhoped that the remaining two ODI games would beable to go ahead but that was ended with Monday’sannouncement.

The ECB and CSA said they were effectively post-poning the series until a suitable time could be foundfor England to travel back to South Africa to play thegames.

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Australia’s stand-in T20 skip-per Matthew Wade on

Monday said batting mainstaySteve Smith, who has “plenty ofsay” in how the team is drivenon the field, would do a “greatjob” if he is given the leadershiprole again.

Wade took over the captain-cy reins for the second T20 onSunday after Aaron Finch pickedup an injury in the openinggame.

Asked about Smith, wholost the captaincy role becauseof his role in the 2018 ball-tam-pering scandal, Wade said theteam has a lot of options andthey include the batting star.

“We have so many goodleaders, I have been given the

captaincy but we have got Smith,we have got Moises (Henriques),who captains his BBL team. Wehave guys with a lot of experi-ence, there is a lot of discussionsamong the seniors but we are allworking together,” Wade said.

“It is not me driving thefield, obviously Finchy (AaronFinch) is our captain and we allwork together when he playswell. So Smith has plenty of say,he has been a great captain fora long time and he will do a great

job if he gets an opportunity,” headded.

Coach Justin Langer saidAustralia’s T20 against India onSunday was too early for SteveSmith to regain the captaincy.

“Of course, we talked abouta number of things,” Langer toldFox Sports, when asked if Smithwas considered. “We’ve got somany options. Steve has done abrilliant job in the past. There’sprobably a bit of a process weneed to go through until hebecomes captain again. We’ll gothrough that.”

Langer added: “When theEnglish crowd gave him a stand-ing ovation at The Oval last year— talk about earning respect ...he’s doing all the right things toshow leadership without a titleat the moment.”

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New Zealand captain KaneWilliamson on Monday

moved up a rung to join hisIndian counterpart Virat Kohliat the second spot in the latestICC Test rankings for batsmen.

On the other hand, WestIndies captain Jason Holderconceded his top ICC Test all-rounder’s ranking to Englandstar Ben Stokes after an unim-pressive outing against NewZealand in the first Test whichhis team lost by an innings and134 runs.

Australia’s Steve Smith, with911 points, kept his hold on thepole position in the battingcharts ahead of Kohli andWilliamson, who hit a match-winning double hundredagainst the West Indies in

Hamilton.India’s Chesteshwar Pujara

remained seventh on the listahead of Stokes (8th) andEngland captain Joe Root (9th)respectively.

New Zealand opener TomLatham entered the top-10 atthe 10th position.

Ajinkya Rahane (11th) andMayank Agarwal (12th) haveboth dropped a place each.

������/�� A���B� Indian all-rounderRavindra Jadeja is likely to miss theopening Test against Australia owingto the concussion and a hamstringinjury that he sustained during theopening T20I on Friday.

The 32-year-old, who is on thecusp of his 50th Test, is likely to be outfor at least three weeks which certain-ly rules him out of the first Day/NightTest in Adelaide starting December 17.

In case it turns out to be a ham-string tear, it could well rule him outof the second Boxing Day Test inMelbourne from December 26.

“As per ICC’s concussion proto-cols, after any head injury, a playerneeds to be rested for 7 to 10 days,which effectively rules Jadeja out of thethree-day day/night warm-up game at

the SCG from December 11,” a BCCIsource told PTI.

“Therefore, it is next to impossi-ble that the Indian team managementwould field Jadeja, without any warm-up game time ahead of the openingTest,” the source added.

However, more than concussion,it is understood that the hamstringinjury is likely to keep Jadeja out ofaction for at least one Test if not two.

In fact, one of the on-air commen-tators, during the second day of thewarm-up game between India A andAustralia A, said that “news is Jadejais out for three weeks” due to concus-sion. However as per BCCI sources,while he is recovering well from con-cussion, to be fully fit from a dodgyhamstring may just take some time.

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Liverpool manager JurgenKlopp said he had “goose-

bumps” as fans returned toAnfield on Sunday, roaring thePremier League champions onto a comprehensive 4-0 winagainst Wolves.

The Reds have not had thechance to play in front of theirsupporters since they endedtheir 30-year wait to be crownedEnglish champions in June.

But they made up for losttime, swaggering to a comfort-able win as the 2,000 fans permit-ted to attend due to coronavirusrestrictions sang the club anthem“You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

Wolves showed glimpses ofa threat early on but the resultwas rarely in doubt onceMohamed Salah had given thehome side the lead midwaythrough the first half.

Second-half goals fromGeorginio Wijnaldum, JoelMatip and a late own goal fromNelson Semedo underlinedLiverpool’s superiority as theyjoined leaders Spurs on 24 points.

“The game, the atmosphere,it was so nice I had goose-bumps,” an emotional Klopptold the BBC. “They started‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ — real-ly nice. I never knew it could feelthat good.

“This started in Februaryand we were waiting to get nor-mality back. Normality is good— I don’t think we appreciatedit as much. It was very, verytouching.”

The home fans had some-thing to cheer in the 24th

minute. There did not appear tobe much danger when Liverpoolcaptain Jordan Henderson senta long ball over the top into theWolves penalty area.

But Wolves captain ConorCoady, who used to be onLiverpool’s books, got his calcu-lations wrong. The ball came offhis chest and Salah nipped in tofire home left-footed.

Wolves were awarded apenalty in the dying minutes ofthe first half after Mane wasadjudged to have fouled Coady.

But VAR ruled out the spot-kickafter the TV replay showedthere had been no contact.

Wolves searched for a wayback into the match in the earlystages of the second half andCoady found himself in a threat-ening position in the Liverpoolbox before Fabinho whipped theball away.

Seconds later, Liverpoolwere charging forward again onthe counter-attack, towards theKop. Henderson played a longball which Wijnaldum collectedbefore producing a measured,curled finish into the top left-hand corner of Rui Patricio’s net.

Liverpool put the resultbeyond doubt in the 67thminute when Salah’s inswingingcross was met by Matip, whoheaded in from close range. Bynow the home side were in totalcontrol.

Liverpool’s fourth goal camewhen substitute TrentAlexander-Arnold, returningfrom injury, produced a deli-cious cross from the right whichwas turned in by Nelson Semedofor an own goal.

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Sergio Perez, who may be out ofwork next season, took advan-

tage of his rivals’ misfortunes onSunday to drive from last positionto claim his first Formula One vic-tory in a chaotic and crazy SakhirGrand Prix.

The 30-year-old Mexicanrecovered from a first-lap crashthat dropped him to the back ofthe field in his 190th race.

Yet he benefitted from a shockMercedes pit-stop tyre bungleand a late puncture for GeorgeRussell, who dazzled as substitutefor Lewis Hamilton, to secure hismaiden triumph.

Perez became the firstMexican victor in F1 since PedroRodriguez in 1970, ending aseries of races dominated by

Mercedes for whom ValtteriBottas finished eighth and Russellninth.

“I’m speechless,” said Perez,

who wept through most of his vic-tory lap after taking the flag. “Ihope I’m not dreaming... Tenyears it has taken me and I don’t

know what to say.“After that first lap, the race

was gone, but I didn’t give up. Inthe end, my pace was goodenough to hold off George.”

Perez is being released byRacing Point to be replaced byfour-time world championSebastian Vettel of Ferrari nextyear, when the team will berebranded as Aston Martin.

Perez is without a 2021 raceseat, but he is in contention toreplace Alexander Albon at RedBull alongside Max Verstappenwho crashed out on the openinglap along with Ferrari’s CharlesLeclerc.

Perez came home ahead ofEsteban Ocon of Renault, whoclaimed his first podium finish,and Lance Stroll, his Racing Pointteam-mate.

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AC Milan kept hold of theirfive-point lead at the top of

Serie A on Sunday after a hard-fought 2-1 win at Sampdoria,while Napoli moved third afterstrolling to 4-0 victory over bot-tom side Crotone.

Franck Kessie’s penalty onthe stroke of half-time andSamu Castillejo’s 77th-minutestrike were just enough for theseven-time European champi-ons, who were without injuredtalisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic, tomove up to 26 points and keepsecond-placed local rivals InterMilan at arm’s length.

Ivory Coast midfielderKessie coolly struck home hisspot-kick after Jakub Janktounluckily handled while chal-lenging for the ball with TheoHernandez.

Sandro Tonali hit the postfor Milan just after the breakbut the away side were on theback foot for much of the sec-

ond half until substituteCastillejo doubled their leadwith his first touch, set up by afine pull-back from Ante Rebic.

Stefano Pioli’s team wereleft to sweat out the final min-utes after Albin Ekdal’s power-ful header just escapedGianluigi Donnarumma’sclutches, and their lead at thetop of the table would havebeen cut to three had SwedeEkdal not put another aerialeffort wide with the last attackof the game.

Earlier, Napoli are sixpoints back in third after goalsfrom Lorenzo Insigne, HirvingLozano, Diego Demme andAndrea Petagna earned the

away side a 4-0 win at Crotone.Insigne opened the scoring

with a trademark curling strikeafter cutting in from the leftwith half an hour gone, andthen he laid on Lozano for thesecond with a superb long passthat left the Mexican with asimple finish, and Demmemade sure of the result with adrilled low strike 14 minutesfrom the end following a lay-offfrom substitute Mertens.

Belgium forward Mertensthen supplied the pass thatallowed Petagna to hammerhome the fourth in stoppagetime as Napoli temporarilyclosed the gap between themand Milan.

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The touring Pakistan squadhas returned negative in a

fifth round of Covid-19 testsand will now be able to leavetheir managed isolation onTuesday, subject to clearancefrom the health ministry, NewZealand Cricket said onMonday.

The 53-member Pakistanteam was denied the right totrain while in managed isola-tion in New Zealand aftereight members of the touringsquad had tested positive forCovid-19.

“This is to advise thePakistan squad’s fifth and finalday 12, Covid-19 tests have allbeen returned as negative,”NZC said in a statement.

“As a consequence, andpending final Ministry ofHealth approval, the squadwill leave managed isolationtomorrow and f ly toQueenstown, where they willtrain ahead of the T20 and Testseries against the BLACK-CAPS.”

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