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Prime Minister NarendraModi will flag off the firstphase of the
pan-India rolloutof world’s largest Covid-19vaccination drive on
Saturdayat 10:30 am via video confer-encing.
The drive involves twovaccines — Covishield andCovaxin —
developed byAstraZeneca-Serum Instituteof India and Bharat
Biotechrespectively.
A day before the vaccina-tion drive against coronavirus,Union
Health Minister HarshVardhan on Friday said the stepis “probably
the beginning ofthe end” of Covid-19. TheDrugs Controller General
ofIndia (DCGI) had earlier thismonth approved OxfordCovid-19
vaccine Covishield,manufactured by the SerumInstitute, and
indigenouslydeveloped Covaxin of BharatBiotech for restricted
emer-gency use in the country,paving the way for a
massiveinoculation drive.
This vaccination pro-gramme will cover the entirelength and
breadth of the coun-try, with a total of 3006 session
sites across all States and UTswhich will be connected
virtu-ally throughout the exercise.
In the first phase, prioritygroups and healthcare workers,both
in Government and pri-vate sectors, including ICDSworkers, in
all-around 100beneficiaries will be vaccinat-ed at each of the
session sites.Adequate doses of both vac-cines have been already
deliv-ered across the country. India,which reported first Covidcase
late January last year iscurrently the world’s secondworst-hit
country with over1.05 crore cases and over 1.51lakh deaths. Over,
213,000cases are currently active.
The phased rollouts willinitially vaccinate one crorehealthcare
and two crore front-line workers, followed byaround 27 crore senior
citizensand people with co-morbiditieslike diabetes,
hypertension,organ transplants, etc. In all, 30crore people are
going to beinoculated by July this year.
Speaking at the 146th IndiaMeteorological Departmentfoundation
day, Vardhan cau-tioned that even if the vacci-nation drive is on,
there shouldnot be lowering of guard and
people must follow Covid-19appropriate behaviour.
“Tomorrow is an impor-tant day...It is the last phase of
the battle against coronavirus.I say, this is probably the
begin-ning of the end of Covid nowwhich is going to start
tomor-
row,” Vardhan, who is alsoScience and Technology andEarth
Sciences Minister, said.
The Minister on Friday
also reviewed preparations forthe vaccination drive as hevisited
the Dedicated CovidControl Room which has beenset up on the Nirman
Bhawanpremises of the Ministry.
He scrutinised the workingof CoWIN, an online digitalplatform,
which will be used todrive the Covid-19 vaccinationprogramme in the
country. Itwill facilitate real-time infor-mation of vaccine
stocks, stor-age temperature and individu-alised tracking of
beneficiariesfor Covid-19 vaccine. This dig-ital platform will
assist pro-gramme managers across
national, State, and districtlevels while conducting
vacci-nation sessions. It will helpthem track beneficiary
cover-age, beneficiary dropouts, ses-sions planned v/s sessions
heldand vaccine utilisation, said anofficial from the Ministry.
The platform enablesnational and State administra-tors to view
& sort data of ben-eficiaries as per their gender,age &
co-morbidity. They canalso view the metadata of vac-cinations and
Adverse EventFollowing Immunizationreported from constituent
dis-tricts across States and UTs.
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The BJP announced fourcandidates for the UttarPradesh
Legislative Councilpolls, including three candi-dates who were
re-nominatedand the fourth candidate isbureaucrat turned
politicianAK Sharma, who joined theBJP on Thursday.
The re-nominated candi-dates are deputy Chief MinisterDr Dinesh
Sharma, State BJPpresident Swantra Deo Singhand Laxman Acharya. The
BJPis yet to announce the remain-ing 6 candidates. The last datefor
filing nomination is January18. There are a total 12 seatsthat will
go to the polls.
BJP sources said a Cabinetreshuffle is likely after thecouncil
polls. Deputy ChiefMinister Dinesh Sharma islikely to be the next
chairman
of the UP Legislative council asincumbent Ramesh Yadav,
whobelongs to the Samajwadi Party,is retiring on January 31.
AK Sharma, former IASofficer who is native of Maudistrict in
east UP, is likely tobe inducted as a Deputy ChiefMinister. Sharma,
a trustedlieutenant of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, is a former
IASofficer from Gujarat cadre of1988 batch.
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The ninth round talksbetween the farmers andthe Government on
Fridayagain failed to end the stale-mate over the farm laws.
Whilefarmers insisted on the repealof the laws and legal
guaranteeof the MSP, the Governmentasked them to be more flexiblein
their approach andexpressed willingness for nec-essary
amendments.
However, both sides haveagreed to continue the dialoguedespite
the Supreme Courtconstituting a committee tomediate on the
issue.
The next round of talks willbe held on January 19, the daythe
court-appointed committeeis likely to start consultingstakeholders
to end theimpasse. This was the firstmeeting after the SupremeCourt
stayed the enactment offarm laws until further orders’and appointed
a four-membercommittee to resolve the dead-lock over farm laws.
In the meeting that lastedfor nearly five hours, includinga
lunch break, the Governmentrequested unions to create aninformal
group to discuss finerpoints of the laws so that a wayforward can
be found in thewake of the Supreme Court’s
direction.Besides their major
demands, unions alleged policerepression on people associat-ed
as well as not associated withthe ongoing protests, NIA raidson
transporters and arthiyas inPunjab who are supportingfarmers’
protests and were pro-viding logistic support for theagitation.
The farmer representativeshave also raised questions onthe cases
that have been lodged
against the farmers and urgedthe Government to addressthis and
prevent it. During themeeting, the Karnal incidentwhere agitating
farmers ran-sacked the venue of ManoharLal Khattar’s “kisan
mahapan-chayat” came up.
“Talks took place overthree farm laws in a cordialatmosphere and
detailed dis-cussions took place on someissues, but couldn’t reach
adecisive stage. We suggested
they can form an informalgroup of people who canunderstand the
laws better andprepare some concrete pro-posals, detailing what are
farm-ers’ expectations and whatclauses are problematic forthem,
which the Governmentcan consider with an openmind,” Union
AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar said after the meetingwith
the farmer leaders.
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Bengali cine star-turnedTrinamool Congress MPShatabdi Roy on
Friday said shewas going to Delhi where “itmay not be out of
ordinary tomeet big politicians” like HomeMinister Amit Shah.
Roy on Thursday set offripples in the party ranks afterposting a
cryptic Facebookmessage dropping hints abouta “decision” that she
mighttake by “2 pm on January 16”.
In Delhi, Amit Shah metsenior BJP leaders from WestBengal to
discuss strategy forthe coming Assembly elec-tions. Sate BJP chief
DilipGhosh and senior leaders likeMukul Roy and KailashVijayvargiya
were among thosewho called on Shah.
Even as Bengal BJPspokesperson SamikBhattacharya said that
seniorpoliticians were welcome in hisparty if they changed
their
ideology, Roy came out morevociferously on Friday con-demning
her party leadershipfor partisan ways.
“There is no pointapproaching the topmost TMCleadership with
one’s issues asthere is no surety that they willbe redressed …
besides you donot know whether you will getchased for this or not,”
Roy saidhours after resigning as thechairperson of
TarapeethDevelopment Authority.
She was asked as to whyshe was not taking up herissues with
Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee.
Reacting to the matter,senior party MP Saugato Roy
said, “Shatabdi has nothingagainst the Chief Minister…and all
other issues can beaddressed … though I thinkshe will not quit the
party.”
Whether the three-timeBirbhum MP would be joiningthe BJP on
Saturday was notmade clear by her but theactor-turned politician
con-sidered close to senior BengalMinister Subroto Mukherjeesaid
she would “take a decisionin Delhi.”
On whether she wouldmeet Amit Shah, she said, “Ican’t say
because it is not out ofordinary to meet big politicianslike him.”
Earlier she said, “If Itake a decision, then I will letyou know at
2 pm on the 16thof January.”
Her Thursday Fan Clubpost reads: “It feels as if somepeople do
not want that I go toyou. I am not informed aboutmany programmes.
If I am notinformed, how can I go? Thisis causing me mental
anguish.”
Roy, who was available forcomments to the media outsideher
residence, however, couldnot be contacted by seniorleaders like
SudipBandopadhyay and Derek OBrien over telephone, partysources
said.
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For health employees, the firstphase of Covid-19 immuni-sation
will take place in MadhyaPradesh at 10.30am, announcedHealth
Minister PrabhuramChaudhary in a media sympo-sium on Friday.
The first phase will cover4.16 lakh health workers thenfrontline
workers and peopleabove 50 years of age and thosewith comorbidity
will be includ-ed in the drive, Chuadhary said.He clarified
presently minors andpregnant women won’t beincluded in the
vaccination drive.
Those with cough, cold andfever symptoms will be made towait
four weeks before they areimmunised, said MedicalEducation minister
Vishwas
Sarang. Arrangements are madeto meet any eventuality duringthe
immunisation, added theminister.In first phase, 4.16 lakhvaccines
will be administered tofrontline workers. Out of these,3.16 lakh
are government sectorhealth workers. The vaccines willbe taken out
on First Expiry, FirstOut basis, added Sarang.The
ministers urged the public torefrain from spreading rumoursabout
the vaccines. Public is rais-ing questions on whether politi-cians
and officers will be vacci-nated in first phase, so I wish
toclarify that initial phases will onlycover frontline workers and
highrisk groups.
`Continued on Page 3
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Duldulghodi Dance BundeliLok Gayan were per-formed at Madhya
PradeshState Tribal Museum here onFriday. The performances wereheld
under Gamak series.
The dance was performedRajamani Tiwari and groupfrom Rewa and
BundeliLokagayan by Kapil Chaurasiaand group, Sagar.
The presentation was start-ed by Kapil Chaurasia andgroup with
Bundeli Lokgayan.He performed Isuri ChaukadiaVandana - 'Mori
KhabarSharda Liyen, Hardaul LalaGeet - Tum Hardam LalaRahio,
Jevanar Geet -Ramchandra Ji Jevan Seetha,Shringar Folklore -
KonauDekha Le hai muiya bahaye se
gori, panihari folk songs -panaghat pe jhoka khawe ri,bambuliya
songs - nikar chalode ke tatiya re and khyal songsjaige naiya bhola
jaga hari jagena and more Bundeli folk songspresented.
Chaurasia has beensinging folk since childhood,you are getting
education ofBundeli music from eminentfolk singer of
BundelkhandShivratan Yadav. He has beenpresenting folk music from
AllIndia Radio, Chhatarpur since2012.
Chaurasia received YoungArtist Scholarship (2007-08)and Junior
Fellowship (2014-15) in Lokagayan by Ministryof Culture, Government
ofIndia.
Apart from All India Radioand Doordarshan, he has per-
formed on many prestigiousforums in the country.
In the presentation he wasaccompanied on Dholak byRamesh
Chaurasia, on Manjiraby Ganesh Prasad Chaurasia,on tabla - on
Rakesh Katarya,on flute by Manoj, on banjo byVijay Barwani and on
Nagadiaby Ritesh Chaurasia.
The second performancewas a Duldulghodi dance byRajamani Tiwari
and col-leagues. In rhe dance RajmaniTiwari, Ratnesh Goswami
andRajveer Tiwari performed thedance and was accompanied
onharmonium by Pramod Sahuon Dholak, Rohan Verma ontabla - Ravendra
Mishra onNagaria, Ramhit Saket onKhajani, Mithun Saket,Jagannath
Saket.
In India, there is a tradition
of dancing dance since ancienttimes. No fair, festival,
cere-mony, rite is considered com-plete without dances inMadhya
Pradesh, Duldulghodifolk dance in India, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan,
Gujarat,West Bengal, Tamil Nadu etc.It is prominently done.
DuldulGhori Dance is also known bythe names Ghori Nritya,
LilliGhorin Nritya etc.Duldulghodi dance is a promi-nent place in
the program ofrituals of human life. Thisdance is mostly performed
bylow and working class artists.
Tiwari loved to dance sincechildhood. In 2000, during
theworkshop of National School ofDrama while performing the-ater,
Duldulghodi got the men-torship of Guru LokanitraSamrat Sajan Kaku.
The agili-
ty of the dance attracted. Sincethen, I have had the
opportu-nity to learn from the tradi-tional gurukul method
andperform with Guru Sajan Kakuas well as perform at
prestigiousevents in the region, afterwhich he received the
YoungFolk Dancer Award from thedistrict administration, sincethen
in the major forums inIndia. Including Dehradun fes-tival.
International arts festivalUjjain, International MahaurKala Sangam
Sidhi, CCRT NewDelhi, Madhya PradeshFoundation Day, Dehat
LokRangparv etc., got an oppor-tunity to perform the endan-gered
Duldulghodi folk dance.Along with the Duldulghodidance, Rimhai is
duly impart-ing traditional training of folkdances.
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National Youth Day toobserve the birth anniver-sary of Swami
Vivekanandawas observed with great enthu-siasm in Sect College on
Friday.
The programme was orga-nized in joint collaborationwith the
National ServicePlanning Unit and SportsDepartment of the college.
Theprogramme started with thespeech by Principal of the col-lege,
Satyendra Khare. On theoccasion Vice Principal Prof.Yogendra
Chauhan, DeanAcademic Prof. Nitin Modh,National Service
PlanningOfficer were present.
The event began with light-ing of rhe lamp in front ofGoddess
Saraswati and SwamiVivekananda statue by NitinDhimole and sports
officerMamlesh Karma.
The Principal of the col-lege, Satyendra Khare,informed the
students aboutthe National Youth Day and
explained the importance ofYoga in life. In the programme,Dean
of the College, AcademicProf. Nitin Modha providedcomplete
information aboutSwami Vivekananda's life andrules of living.
Later, the National ServicePlanning Unit Officer Prof.Nitin
Dhimole explained theutility and importance of yogain life. The
various textsexplained the role of yoga in lifethrough the Gita,
Pantjali YogaSutras and also made studentsand students aware of
yoga byperforming various types ofyoga, asanas, pranayam, band-ha
and mudra.
Vice Principal of the col-lege Prof. Yogendra Chauhanmade the
students aware to livetheir life by making rules. Atthe conclusion
of the program,the Sports Officer MamleshKarma concluded the
pro-gramme by thanking all thefaculty, staff and students.
Theprogramme was conducted byArchana Godvole.
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Ashoka Garden police haverescued a 16-year-old girlwho was
kidnapped on January2 from her house, girl was res-cued from
Bankhedi area ofHoshangabad.
The accused, identified asRavi Dhakad (20) who kid-napped the
minor on January2. After the girl went missing,the police were
informed by thevictim’s father.
Soon after the complaintwas lodged on the details pro-vided by
the victim’s fatherpolice started to search and thedetails of the
missing girl wasprovided to all nearby police
station and police outpost.Initially, the police team
started to search in Bhopal andnearby area and later acting
ontip off searched Pachmari,Matkuli, Piparia, Mohgaonareas and
victim was tracked inBankhedi area underMalakjhara police
station.
The photograph of the kid-napped girl was shared withlocals.
Based on the informa-tion, the police team rushed tothe spot and
searched areawhere the accused youth wasfound with the girl.
Meanwhile, Ratibad policehave nabbed a bootlegger andrecovered
illegally transported66 litres of raw county-made
liquor worth Rs 6600 onWednesday.
According to the police,acting of a tip a man wasdetained late
in the evening andwhen he was searched twobuckets carrying raw
county-made liquor were recoveredfrom his possession.
The accused was identifiedas Kamal Singh of KalyanNagar who has
been involvedfor long in selling countrymade liquor and has
beenbooked for 10 times regardingillegal selling of liquor.
A case under section 34(2)of the Excise Act was registeredand
further investigation hasbeen started.
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Deputy Chief MinisterManish Sisodia inaugu-rated Delhi
Government’s Art,Culture and LanguagesDepartment’s flagship
culturalscheme to support artists, streettheatre and performing
arts fel-lowship at its launch programon Friday.
“This is the first time thatin our country such a uniquescheme
of cultural presentationof over 450 artists has beenlaunched in
Delhi. This willcreate a taste for art and cultureamongst the
people of Delhi.There will be live art perfor-mances on the streets
as wehave created this fellowship togive an opportunity to
theartists to express their art,”Sisodia said.
This fellowship has beenstarted by Sahitya KalaParishad under
theDepartment of Arts, Cultureand Languages and the launchhappened
at Delhi Secretariat.
Overall, 500 artists fromdiverse backgrounds such astheatre,
music, dance and finearts have been selected for thisfellowship,
with 500 more to beadded to the rooster in thefuture.
“Artists from Delhi, overthe past few years, have beenasking me
to promote street artin Delhi. They pointed out thatthough there
are concentratedcultural hubs like MandiHouse, we need to expand
cul-ture to all parts of the city. Togive a platform to street
artiststo showcase their art,” Sisodiasaid.
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Delhi Congress led by senior Congress leaders Rahul Gandhiand
Priyanka Gandhi on Friday staged a protest outsideLieutenant
Governor of Delhi Anil Baijal's residence demand-ing to repeal the
three anti-farmer agricultural laws 'arbitrarily'passed by the
Centre.
Addressing thousands of party workers, Rahul Gandhi saidthat the
BJP and its core team are harming the interest of thefarmers
through these three anti-farmer agricultural laws.
Rahul said that these laws have not been made to help
thefarmers, but to destroy them, as they are meant only to help
andbenefit big Corporates. Gandhi said that the Congress party
isstanding by the farmers to protect their interest, and will
con-tinue to support them, till the anti-farmer laws are rolled
back.
"The Narendra Modi government earlier tried to take awaythe land
of farmers, when it brought the land acquisition Act andthe
Congress party stopped them at that time. Now the BJP andtheir
two-three friends are once again attacking the farmers andhave
brought these three farm laws," he also alleged.
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Mandsaur police recoveredsmack (opioid) worth�50 lakhs in
Banspura area out-post Bhansodamandi districtand seized 500 gm of
smackfrom a Jhalawar based drugpeddler and car used in thetransport
was also recovered.
The accused identified asLalchand alias Lala Naagarhad tied
smack around hiswaist.
On the instructions of SPPolice Siddharth Chaudhary tocurb the
crimes of drug traf-ficking in the district and takestringent
action against smug-glers under the "Drug FreeIndia" campaign,
receivinginformation police trackedLalchand alias Lala Naagar
ofJhalawar and nabbed and seized vehicle RJ20UA246.
Police have registered caseunder section 8 and 21 of theNDPS Act
has been registeredand started further investiga-tion.
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Extreme cold conditions werewitnessed in the state capi-tal
while harsh weather condi-tions prevailed in the state in thepast
24 hours. The temperatureduring day was witnessed at 27.8degree
Celsius which providedrelief still night temperatureswere recorded
at chilling coldlevels at 8.4 degree Celsius.
Among the nearby regionswhich witnessed freezing coldwere Raisen
which dipped to 3.8degree Celsius.Datia andGwalior recorded night
tem-peratures below 5 degree Celsius.
The east Madhya Pradesh isreeling under intense cold con-dition
as compared to regions ofwest Madhya Pradesh. The low-est night
temperature of the statewas recorded at 3 degree Celsius.Umaria,
Jabalpur, Seoni,Khajuraho, Nowgong andRaisen witnessed cold
waveconditions.
Due to the prevalence of drynorth and northwest winds,
theminimum temperature is likelyto fall to 2-4 degree Celsius
inmost parts of northwest India
during the next 2 days.Cold wave and severe cold
wave conditions are likely overPunjab, Haryana, Chandigarhand
Delhi, Uttar Pradesh,Rajasthan and East MadhyaPradesh during next 2
days.Significant changes are notexpected in most parts of west-ern
part of state for the next 2 to3 days. After this period, thenight
temperature of state islikely to increase by 2-3 degreeCelsius.
From Page 1Commoners, politicians and
officers will be vaccinated later.The minister also
emphasisedthat second dose will be admin-istered to beneficiaries
28 afterthe first one so a vaccinationcycle will need 42 days to
com-plete and in this period, the per-son concerned is required
to
practice all necessary precau-tions. The health officials
saidthat the drive could take 6-7months to complete in the
state.
Union Health ministerHarshvardhan also addressedthe event
through video confer-encing and extended greetings tothe health
staff on the eve of mas-sive immunisation drive.
The state has received overfive lakh vaccine doses andBhopal
division has received94,000 shots. Those registeredbeneficiaries
were informedabout vaccination schedule in anSMS by Friday
evening.
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Manav Sangrahalaya,Bhopal is organising anexhibition centered on
the‘Maa Nanda Devi Raj Jaat’ a rit-ual adieu to HimalayanGoddess.
Programme coordi-nator of the exhibition, R.M.Nayal told that,
Roopkund andHemkund mountain peaks areone of the main sacred sites
ofNanda Devi in Uttarakhand.
Hemavati is mentioned asthe Himalayan daughter in
theCanopanishad. In whichShailputri Nanda has beennamed Yoga Maya
and ShaktiSwaroopa. Maa Nanda has alsobeen considered as the
greengoddess who gives happinessand prosperity.
Maa Nanda Devbhoomi issynonymous with the eternal
faith of Uttarakhand. This is thereason that the names of
manyrivers, mountain ranges andcities here are also named afterMaa
Nanda. Maa Nanda isworshiped as Shakti SwaroopaMaa Parvati.
The Nanda Devi fair startson the Shukla Shashthi of the
month of Bhadra. The incarna-tion of the Goddess on whichshe is
called is Dangariya of theGoddess. Idols are made frombanana trees
to worship MaaNanda. For the selection ofbanana trees, Dangaria
takes riceand flowers in hand and throwsthem towards banana
trees.
The tree that moves isworshiped and brought to themother's
temple. The con-struction of idols of theGoddess begins on the day
ofSaptami, while Ashtami is hon-ored with the pran pratishta ofthe
idol. A grand fair is alsoorganized in the Nanda Devicampus during
this time.Thousands of people join thisRaj Jaat. In this
exhibition,many exhibit, photographs,costumes, instruments
relatedto Raj Jaat will be seen.
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Ahead of the upcomingAssembly polls in fiveStates, the
ElectionCommission (EC) on Fridaystepped in to protect
officialsassigned to the election duty toensure free, fair and
impartialelections. Taking note of vic-timisation of the officials
onflimsy grounds after the elec-tion is over, the
ElectionCommission (EC) on Fridaysaid States and UnionTerritories
will need itsapproval before initiating dis-ciplinary action
against thechief electoral officers andother officers up to the
jointchief electoral officer duringtheir tenure and also up to
oneyear from its expiry.
In a letter addressed to thecabinet secretary, DoPT secre-tary,
chief secretaries and chiefelectoral officers of all Statesand
Union Territories onThursday, the EC said it hasnoted some
incidents of “vic-timisation” of CEOs and addi-tional, joint,
deputy and assis-tant CEOs in the post-electionperiod.
The preparations for theAssembly polls in five States-Tamil
Nadu, Kerala, WestBengal, Puducherry and Assamare on. The terms of
the assem-blies in Tamil Nadu, Kerala,West Bengal, Puducherry
andAssam will end on May 24,2021, June 1, 2021, May 30,2021, June
8, 2021 and May 31,2021 respectively.
In its direction, the EC saidnot reduce facilities such
asvehicle, security and otherfacilities/amenities provided to
the office of the Chief ElectoralOfficer for proper discharge
ofhis/her duties.
The Commission hasnoted some incidents of vic-timization of
CEOs,Addl/Joint/Deputy/AssistantCEO in the post-election peri-od.
Many a times they are tar-geted for political vendetta bycharging
them with discipli-nary cases on flimsy groundsfor their earlier
tenures in theState Government after thecompletion of their tenure.
Anenvironment of fear is createdto convey that the
upright,steadfast and sincere officerscan be taken to task at any
time,on the flimsiest of the grounds,”the EC noted. It said in such
ascenario, these officers are notonly “demotivated but alsotheir
morale is greatly reduced,which severely affect theirefforts to
ensure free and fairelections”. “Left to go on unfet-tered, it
causes a situationwhere officials are reluctant tojoin as CEOs and
those who areinducted face the uncertainty offair treatment in
post-electionphase,” it observed.
“Commission is sanguinein the expectation that all con-cerned
shall strictly adhere tothis regimen in letter as well asin
spirit,” EC said in a com-munication sent to Cabinetsecretary, all
state/UT chiefsecretaries, DoPT secretary
and state chief electoral offi-cers.
The letter states that EC isof the considered view thatpositive
protection to electionofficials from motivatedharassment is
essential toenable the electoral officials incarrying out the
electoral func-tions in free, fair, impartial andfearless manner.
The letterpointed out that the matter oftaking action against any
offi-cer on election duty was sub-jected to the scrutiny of
theSupreme Court. In 2000, theapex court had upheld that nei-ther
any action can be initiat-ed against the officers on elec-tion duty
by the state govern-ment nor can the governmentrefuse to act on its
advice toinitiate action against errantofficials.
The Commission desig-nates a CEO for state andunion territories
in consulta-tion with the respective gov-ernments. Chief electoral
offi-cers are essentially an exten-sion of the Commission in
thestates and union territories tocarry out multifarious
electionrelated functions of theCommission. Once appointed,the CEO
comes under directcontrol, superintendence anddiscipline of the
ElectionCommission and remains ondeputation to
ElectionCommission.
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Contrary to the approvalgiven by the country’s topdrug regulator
which said thatHyderabad-based BharatBiotech’s Covaxin could
beadministered to those above12 years of age, the UnionHealth
Ministry, in a recentcommunique, has said thatboth shots are
recommendedand approved for people above18 years of age.
Sources said that theMinistry, in a letter issued onJanuary 14,
provided com-parative details of the twovaccines – Bharat
Biotech’sCovaxin and University ofO x f o r d - A s t r a Z e n e c
a’sCovishield which is beingmanufactured by SerumInstitute of India
– approvedby Drug Controller General ofIndia (DCGI).
The factsheet has details ofthe vaccines, which will be
dis-tributed to cold chain pointsand vaccination centres forready
reference.
However, in the letter, theMinistry says that both vac-cines are
recommended andapproved for people above 18years of age. This
contradictsthe earlier DCGI approvalwhich said that BharatBiotech’s
Covaxin could beadministered to those above12 years of age.
The Health Ministry’s let-ter – under the subhead‘Precautions
and contraindi-cations for COVID-19 vacci-nation’ reads: “1.
Authorisedage group: Under the EUA,COVID-19 vaccination is
indi-cated only for 18 years andabove. 2. Co-administration
ofvaccines: If required, COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccinesshould
be separated by aninterval of at least 14 days.
3.Interchangeability of COVID-19 vaccines is not permitted:Second
dose should also be ofthe same COIVD-19 vaccinewhich was
administered asthe first dose.”
However, pregnant andlactating women should not beadministered
the shots as theyhave not been part of any anti-coronavirus vaccine
clinicaltrial so far, the health ministrysaid. “Interchangeability
ofCovid-19 vaccines is not per-mitted. Second dose shouldalso be of
the same Covid-19vaccine which was adminis-tered as the first
dose,” the let-ter written by ManoharAgnani, Additional Secretaryin
the Ministry.
According to the officials,95 per cent of the 1.1 croredoses of
Covishield vaccinepurchased by the Governmenthave been delivered
andshipped to nearly 60 con-signee points across India inlast two
days. Similarly, of the55 lakh doses of indigenouslydeveloped
Covaxin ofHyderabad-based BharatBiotech ordered by the Centre,the
first tranche of 2.4 lakhdoses have been dispatched to12
States.
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The Election Commission(EC) will extend “full assis-tance” to
the Government inidentifying targeted beneficia-ries at the polling
station levelfor the Covid-19 vaccinationdrive, but wants health
author-ities to delete the data once theinoculation exercise is
over.
The EC after detaileddeliberations, wrote back to thehome
secretary on January 4,saying it has decided to render“full
assistance” in the vacci-nation drive. But asked thegovernment to
ensure that thedata is strictly used for the lim-ited purpose for
which it hasbeen sought, the sources said.
On December 31 last year,Union Home Secretary AjayBhalla wrote
to Chief ElectionCommissioner Sunil Arorarequesting the
commission’shelp in identifying peopleabove 50 years of age at
thepolling station level. On theissue of data security, thehome
secretary wrote thatthe Government is complyingwith the current
best practicesfor ensuring cyber security.He has assured the poll
panelthat the data will be used onlyfor the purpose of
vaccina-tion, the sources said.
The commission also saidthat the data should be delet-ed by
health authorities once
the vaccination exercise con-cludes, they said. Some seniorEC
officials will be in touchwith nodal officers of theUnion home
ministry andthe Union health ministry tosettle day-to-day issues,
thesources said.
Last month, officials ofthe Union health ministryand the Niti
Aayog had metthe EC top brass seeking theirhelp in the distribution
ofCOVID-19 vaccine given thepoll panel’s robust network atthe booth
level. The letter bythe home secretary is a followup to the
meeting, the sourcessaid.
According to guidelinesfor the COVID-19 vaccina-tion drive, the
latest electoralroll for Lok Sabha and assem-bly elections will be
used toidentify the priority popula-tion over the age of 50
years.Twelve identity documents,such as Voter ID, Aadhaarcard,
driving licence, passportand pension document, willbe required for
beneficiaryidentification.
According to the govern-ment, the shots will be offeredfirst to
an estimated one crorehealthcare workers, andaround two crore
frontlineworkers, and then to personsabove 50 years of age,
fol-lowed by persons youngerthan 50 years of age with asso-ciated
comorbidities.
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More than traditional caus-es such as poverty, inad-equate
sanitation and pooreducation, it is the climatechange-induced
higher tem-peratures which is majorlycontributing to low diet
qual-ity and malnutrition amongyoung children in many partsof the
world, researchers havefound after assessing diet diver-sity among
one lakh kids underfive in 19 countries.
“Certainly, future climatechanges have been predicted toaffect
malnutrition, but it sur-prised us that higher temper-atures are
already showing animpact,” said lead authorMeredith Niles, an
assistantprofessor of Nutrition andFood Sciences at the
Universityof Vermont and a fellow at theuniversity’s Gund Institute
forEnvironment.
The study published injournal EnvironmentalResearch Letters,
found that thenegative effects of climate —especially higher
temperature—on diet diversity are greaterin some regions than the
pos-itive effects of education, water
and sanitation and povertyalleviation — all commonglobal
development tactics.
Of the six regions exam-ined — Asia; Central and SouthAmerica;
North, West, andSoutheast Africa, five had sig-nificant reductions
in dietdiversity associated with high-er temperatures.
Researchers focused ondiet diversity, a metric devel-oped by the
United Nations tomeasure diet quality andmicronutrient
intake.Micronutrients, such as iron,folic acid, zinc, and vitamins
Aand D, are critical for childdevelopment. A lack ofmicronutrients
is a cause ofmalnutrition, which affects oneout of every three
childrenunder the age of five. Dietdiversity is measured by
count-ing the number of food groupseaten over a given time
period,as per the study.
The researchers found thaton an average, children hadeaten food
from 3.2 foodgroups (out of 10) — includingmeat and fish, legumes,
darkleafy greens and cereal greens-- in the previous 24 hours.
Bycontrast, diet diversity in
emerging economies or moreaffluent countries such asChina have
been more thandouble this average (6.8 forchildren 6 and
under).
“Higher rainfall in thefuture may provide importantdiet quality
benefits in multi-ple ways, but it also depends onhow that rain
comes,” said co-author Molly Brown of theUniversity of Maryland.
“If it’smore erratic and intense, as ispredicted with climate
change,this may not hold true.”
“Diet diversity was alreadylow for this group,” said
UVMco-author Brendan Fisher.“These results suggest that, ifwe don’t
adapt, climate changecould further erode a diet thatalready isn’t
meeting adequatechild micronutrient levels.”
The researchers had used30 years of geo-coded temper-ature and
precipitation data,and socioeconomic, ecological,and geographic
data.
The disturbing findingsdoes not bode well for thefuture
generation with aUNICEF report already point-ing out that some 144
millionchildren worldwide are stunt-ed by malnutrition.
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Sounding a note of warningto China, Army ChiefGeneral MM
Naravane onFriday said no one should testthe patience of India. He,
how-ever, reiterated that the nationis committed to resolve the
cur-rent impasse through dia-logues.
He also said a “befitting”response was given to Chinawhen it
tried to change the sta-tus quo at the Line of ActualControl(LAC).
Addressing theArmy Day parade, Naravanesaid a “befitting response”
wasgiven to the “conspiracy” tomake unilateral changes onthe border
and that the sacri-fice of the Galwan heroes ineastern Ladakh will
not gowaste.
“We are committed toresolve disputes through talksand political
efforts but no oneshould make any mistake oftesting our patience,”
he said.
“I want to assure the coun-try that the sacrifice of theGalwan
heroes will not gowaste. Indian Army will notallow any harm to the
country’ssovereignty and security,” theChief said.
Twenty Indian Army per-sonnel including the com-manding officer
were killed ina brawl with the Chinese troopson June 15 last year
in theGalwan valley. It marked themost serious military
conflictsbetween the two sides indecades.
Though it suffered casual-ties in the hand-to-hand com-bat that
day , China is yet todisclose the number of its sol-diers killed
and injured.Reports indicate that more
than 35 Chinese soldiers werealso killed in the clash.
Stressing the point thatIndia favoured talks to resolvethe
dispute leading to disen-gagement and de-escalation atthe LAC now
on for the lastnine months, Naravane saideight rounds of military
talkswere held between India andChina to bring the situationunder
control.
“Our efforts will continueto find a solution to the
currentsituation on the basis of mutu-al and equal security, basis
ofmutual and equal security,” hesaid.
Referring to cross-borderterrorism from Pakistan, theChief said
the neighbouringcountry continues to provide asafe haven to
terrorists.
More than 300-400 ter-rorists are ready to infiltrate,
hesaid.
“There was an increase of40 per cent in the ceasefire
vio-lations last year which is theproof of Pakistan’s
sinisterplans. There were also attemptsto smuggle weapons
usingdrones, he added. Naravanesaid more than 200 terroristswere
killed by the securityforces in Jammu and Kashmirin different
operations last year.
On the issue of modern-ization, he said the army is tak-ing
concrete steps. Outliningsome of the procurementsundertaken in the
last fewmonths in the backdrop of thestand-off at the LAC,
Naravanesaid under emergency and fast-track schemes, the Army
pro-cured equipment worth about�5,000 crores and signed con-tracts
worth �13,000 crores inthe last year under capital
pro-curement.
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Congress leadersRahul Gandhi andPriyanka Gandhi led theparty’s
countrywideprotests, billed KisanAdhikar Divas in supportof the
agitating farmersand said the grand oldparty will not relent
tillthe new farm laws arerepealed which invitedsharp reactions
fromUnion AgricultureMinister Narendra SinghTomar.
On the day when yetanother round of talksbetween the
Governmentand farmers unionsremained inconclusive,Rahul alleged the
PrimeMinister Narendra Modidoes not respect farmersand wants to
tire outthose protesting againstthe new agriculture laws.
Tomar hit back atRahul for his remarksagainst Prime
MinisterNarendra Modi and saideven the leaders of his
own party do not takethe Gandhi scion seri-ously and laugh at
hisremarks. Addressing themedia after the meetingwith the farmers,
Tomarsaid Gandhi’s statementsand actions are laughedat even within
his ownparty.
“The Congress man-ifesto in 2019 itself hadpromised these
reformsand therefore, Congresschief Sonia Gandhi andformer Congress
chiefRahul Gandhi should tellus whether they werelying then or are
lyingnow,” said theAgriculture Minister .
Sitting at JantarMantar protest site,Rahul alongwith his
sib-ling and party generalsecretary Priyanka saidfarmers will not
relent tillthe laws are repealed.The duo was joined byparty MPs in
theirdemonstration againstthe legislations. “Thetalks are being
held only
to delay. PM Modi thinkshe has the power and willtire the
farmers out, buthe is mistaken,” RahulGandhi said talking
tomedia.
Congress has beendemanding a repeal ofthe farm laws,
allegingthat they are against theinterests of farmers andfarming
and are aimed athelping only the “corpo-rate friends” of the
BJP.The three farm laws,enacted in Septemberlast year, have been
pro-jected by the govern-ment as major reforms inthe agriculture
sectorthat will remove middle-men and allow farmersto sell anywhere
in thecountry.
The party on Fridaydemonstrated protest atState capitals cross
thecountry and at placeslike Lucknow protestorswere also
detained.Massive protests werealso reported fromKolkata,
Jaipur.
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The construction work of thenew Parliament buildingstarted on
Friday, a day after‘Makar Sankranti’, consideredauspicious.
“Excavation work hasstarted at the site where a suf-ficient
number of labourershave been engaged to ensurethat the project is
completed ontime”, officials said. The site ofthe construction is
adjacent tothe existing Parliament, whichwas completed in 1927.
The new building is beingconstructed by Tata ProjectsLtd. The
project is estimated tocost Rs 971 crore. Tata ProjectsLtd. said
despite the 35-daydelay in the commencement ofthe construction
work, it isconfident that it will be able todeliver the project on
or beforetime.
The project was scheduledto start in December last,
butconstruction and demolition atthe site was put on hold
whilelegal challenges to the projectwere pending with the
apexcourt. On December 7, theSupreme Court allowed
theground-breaking ceremony totake place after the government
submitted an affidavit that itwould not start
construction,demolition and tree transplan-tation until the court
gave itsjudgment. With the judgmentclearing the project on
January5, the Central Public WorksDepartment moved the HCCfor
approval, which was grant-ed on Monday, according toHUA Secretary
Durga ShankerMishra.
The new Parliament build-ing will have a triangular shapeand is
expected to be complet-ed by the 75th anniversary ofIndia’s
independence in 2022.The government plans to holdthe monsoon
session ofParliament in 2022 in the newbuilding. PM Modi had laid
thefoundation stone for the new
Parliament building onDecember 10 last year.
Earlier this week, a 14-member heritage panel gave itsapproval
to the new Parliamentbuilding while also giving thego-ahead to the
Central Vistaredevelopment project. TheSupreme Court had asked
theCentre to seek prior approvalfrom the panel and other rele-vant
authorities before startingthe construction of the newbuilding.
The construction workcould not start earlier as thegovernment
had assured theSupreme Court that no con-struction or demolition
workwould commence till the apexcourt decided the pendingpleas on
the issue.
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The CBI on Friday con-ducted searches in con-nection with
investigation oftwo separate cases related tobank fraud involving
anamount of about �340 crore.
The agency has registereda case on a complaint fromState Bank of
India (SBI)against a private companyNaftogaz India PrivateLimited
based at Delhi/Noidaand others including its CMDand unknown public
ser-vants/persons for causing analleged loss of about �219.81crore
to SBI.
“It was alleged in thecomplaint that the saidaccused firm has
cheated theSBI by way of diversion ofbank funds, fraudulent
trans-actions, criminal misappro-priation, submission of falsestock
/ debt statements etc.,”the CBI said in a statement.
In the complaint, the SBIalleged that the company
wasincorporated in 2005 startingas EPC contractor for explo-ration,
drilling, extraction andproduction of mineral oils,
natural gas and petroleumproducts. The alleged fraudcame to
light when ForensicAuditors submitted a reporton February 18, 2020
for theperiod April 1, 2010 to March31, 2014.
Searches were conductedat three locations includingDelhi / NCR
at the office andresidential premises of theborrower company and
otheraccused persons, it said.
The other case was regis-tered on a complaint fromPunjab
National Bank (PNB)against a private companyHari Har Overseas
PrivateLtd, Nissing, Karnal (Haryana)engaged in rice milling
activ-ities at Karnal and othersincluding its directors/guar-antor
and unknown publicservants/persons for causingan alleged loss of
about�121.75 crore to the bank.
It was alleged that the saidaccused had fraudulently soldits
stock as well as machinery,which was hypothecated to thebank. It
was further allegedthat the accused had notdeposited the sale
proceedswith the bank.
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The Supreme Courthas sought responsesfrom the Centre and 61iron
exporting firmsincluding Essar Steel andJindal Steel & Power on
aPIL seeking a direction tothe CBI to register an FIRand probe the
allegedduty evasion by them inexporting iron ore toChina since
2015.
A bench headed byChief Justice S A Bobdetook note of the
submis-sions of lawyer and PILpetitioner M L Sharmathat the
companies beprosecuted for allegedevasion of export duty
bydeclaring wrong tariffcode to export the ironore under the
ForeignTrade (Development andRegulation) Act, 1992.
“Issue notice,” saidthe bench which alsocomprised
JusticesJustices A S Bopanna andV Ramasubramanian.
The bench, whichpermitted the petitionerlawyer to argue in
personthe PIL, was told that ironore “smuggling to China”
has been taking place asthese companies havebeen exporting
themwithout paying 30 percent export duty.
The PIL said the min-istries of commerce andfinance control and
regu-late the export policiesand decide as to underwhich
HarmonizedSystem (HS) Codes eachgood will be exported.
It said the govern-ment had set up a firmwith the name of
KIOCLto use low grade iron oreand export them underthe “duty free
Tariff HScode 26011210 which is
exclusively prescribed forKIOCL”.
The PIL said underForeign Trade(Development andRegulation) Act,
1992,“tariff HS CODE NO.26011100 was prescribedto export ‘’all
other kindof iron ore’’ subject to pay-ment of export duty at
therate of 30 per cent”.
The firms werewrongly allowed toexport iron ore using thetariff
code being used byKIOCL and as a resultcrores of rupees havebeen
cheated by them, itsaid.
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Senior advocate and formerSCBA president VikasSingh has
requested ChiefJustice of India (CJI) S ABobde that the
SupremeCourt, which has been hearingcases virtually in view
ofCovid-19 for past severalmonths, resume “normal func-tioning” at
the earliest.
“Recent turn of eventshave created a situation where-by the
interests of the Bar arebeing neglected and the Benchis taking
unilateral decisionswith regard to the functioningof the
institution,” he said.
Bar and Bench are thetwo main pillars on which thesystem of
justice stood, the for-
mer Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) presidentsaid in a
letter to the CJI onThursday.
Singh said: “In my viewwhen the entire country isopening up, of
course with suf-ficient safeguards, I see no rea-son why the
Supreme Courtwhich is the foundation of ourdemocratic polity should
notresume full normal function-ing by putting in place suffi-cient
safeguards for the saidopening.
“While the judges and thecourt staff are completely pro-tected
being away from theareas where the lawyers, liti-gants and media
come, till dateno effort has been made toeven think of a method
where-
by the number of people enter-ing the Court is restrictedand
normal functioning ofcourts starts on that basis”.
He added that the largeststakeholders in the function-ing of the
Supreme Courtwere the litigants for whosebenefit this entire
institutionhad been created and while theissue of the pandemic
waslooming large in this country,the litigants could not beignored
by the non-function-ing of the SC in a proper man-ner.
While pointing out theband-width issues for allowingmentioning,
he also said thatany technological shortcomingcould not be an
impediment inthis vital activity.
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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on Fridaygrilled senior NCP
leader andformer Minister EknathKhadse in connection with
aquestionable land deal in Pune,for seven-long hours.
Khadse —who was to haveappeared before the ED onDecember 30, but
had soughttime to do so because of hisindisposition —arrived at
theinvestigation agency’s office at11 am. After a
seven-hour-longgrilling, he stepped out of theED’s office at around
6 pm.
Talking to media personsafter the first round of ques-tioning,
Khadse said: “I coop-
erated fully with the ED todayand will continue to do so evenin
future. I have replied to alltheir questions and provided
allevidence required in the mat-ter. I will continue to
providewhatever information theyrequire from me”.
S i x t y - e i g ht - y e a r- o l dKhadse, who had quit the
BJPand joined the NCP onOctober 23, had said soonafter joining the
Sharad Pawar-led party that “if the BJPunleashes ED against me,
thenI will release CDs against theBJP leaders”.
Responding to the ED’ssummons, Khadse had earliersaid: “The land
in the MIDCdeal has been transferred in the
name of my wife. I haveabsolutely nothing to do withthis land
deal. Earlier, the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Pune, theAnti Corruption
Bureau,Nashik, Income Tax depart-ment and a judicial
committeeheaded by retired Bombay HCjudge Dinkar Zoting, hadlooked
into the allegationsagainst me. Now the ED hassummoned me for
questioning.I will appear before it,” Khadsehad said.
It may be recalled that onJune 4, 2016, Khadse hadresigned from
his post as theState Revenue Minister overirregularities in the
purchase ofa plot of land at Bhosari inPune district.
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The CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment in Keralawould create “at least”
two mil-lion jobs for the unemployedpeople in the State in the
nextfive years, according to ThomasIssac, Minister of Finance.
Presenting the fifth and lastbudget of the Government ledby
Pinarayi Vijayan in the Stateassembly on Friday (Keralagoes to the
polls to elect a newlegislative assembly by April2021) , Isaac said
despite thenon-coopetration from theCentre, Kerala has
doneexceedingly well in the last fiveyears.
“The changes that has hap-pened in the global employ-ment market
and the superbexpertise gained by Kerala incontrolling the Covid-19
pan-demic has helped us to addressthe problem of unemployment.We
are opening a digital plat-form in February 2021 tolaunch the
massive employ-ment generation programme.This would be a trend
setter forthe rest of the world,” disclosedIssac in his
record-breakingbudget speech which he readout in 3 hours 20
minutes.
All people in the Statewould get ba minimum month-ly pension of
Rs 1600, said theminister. “Every householdwould be given laptops
and freeinternet connection. Poor sec-tions of society would
contin-ue receiving food kits free ofcost. The government
wouldgenerate eight lakh jobs in2021-2022 itself. Those desiringto
set up business ventureswould be given loans to buycomputer and
allied instru-ments for their office work.
The minister who has a PhD in changing life style of coirworkers
in the State has allo-cated Rs 112 crore for the coirsector in the
State. “We will cre-ate two lakh jobs in agriculturesector. We will
also makeKerala free of fallow land,”said Issac.
There are no new taxes inthe budget proposals. The min-ister has
promised soft loans toall homemakers in the State tobuy smart
gadgets to simplifyand minimise their workloadin kitchens.
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Possibilities of VK Sasikala(the jailed former aide of
lateJayalalithaa) joining hands withthe AIADMK led by ChiefMinister
Edappadi Palaniswamyand his deputy OPanneerselvam got brightenedon
the auspicious occasion ofPongal which was observedwith gaiety
across Tamil Naduon Thursday.
The initial signals of such ascenario came from SGurumurthy,
Tamil Nadu’s lead-ing political commentator andchief editor of
Thuglak, thepopular magazine launched bylate Cho Ramaswamy.
Sasikalawho has been convicted forfour years in a disproportion-ate
wealth case will come out ofthe Bangalore jail anytime afterJanuary
27, according to SPandian, her lawyer.
“If there is a realignment offorces and there is unity, it
isalways good. But the final wordis with the party leadership,”
saidVaigaichelvan, former Ministerand AIADMK's spokesman.
Terming the Dravidianpolitical parties and other fringeparties
as the major threat facedby Tamil Nadu and India,Gurumurthy said it
was the
responsibility of all patrioticpeople in the State to ensure
thedefeat of the DMK and its allies.“The DMK is an embodiment
ofcorruption, favoritism, com-munalism and anti-national-ism.
Though the AIADMK toois corrupt, it has got certain pos-itive
characteristics. TheAIADMK is nationalistic asenvisaged by party
founderMGR and his chosen successorJayalalithaa. But the DMK is
afamily owned enterprises whichhas made corruption its hall-mark,”
said Gurumurthy whileaddressing a public meetingheld late Thursday
evening tomark the 51st anniversary of themagazine Thuglak.
He said he was borrowingthe words of Arun Shourie whoasked all
non-Congress politicalparties in 1989 to come togeth-er to defeat
the Rajiv GandhiGovernment. “Those were thedays when the Government
atthe Centre was enmeshed in cor-ruption charges. Military
dealsinvolving purchase of Bofors,HDW ships, Scorpene submarines
and the Fairfax con-troversy were plaguing the RajivGandhi led
Government. Theopposition parties were dividedand were confused
over aligningwith the rival parties. It was thenthat Arun Shourie
who was the
editor of Indian Express toldthen that their house was in
fireand not to waste time waiting forGanga water to douse the
flames.Shourie told them to make useof even drainage water to
dousethe fire,” said Gurumutrthy.
He explained that his friendRajinikanth opted out of
thepolitical race only because of illhealth. “You should
rememberthat we don’t have an alternateleader to take over
fromRajinikanth if there is moredeterioration in his health.
Wecannot afford to lose Rajini,” saidGurumurthy.
What stood out in hisspeech was the comments hemade about
judiciary. “Most ofthe judges, from trial courts tothe apex court,
are having alle-giance to the persons whoappointed and promoted
them.The case involving former ITminister and DMK leaderDayanidhi
Maran is an idealexample.
A judge belittled the find-ings that the nation has lost
hun-dreds of crores because of theprivate telephone exchange setup
by Maran in his Chennaihome misusing his officialpower. But the
judge asked theformer minister to pay up Rs 1.5crore and disposed
of the case,”said Gurumurthy.
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Vehicular traffic and move-ment of security convoys,which
remained suspendedalong the 300-Km longJammu-Srinagar
NationalHighway since January 3, is setto be restored from
Sundaywith the completion of 120-foot-long, 40-ton bailey
bridgenear Kela Morh in Ramban dis-trict in a record time of
threedays.
After the mandatory test-ing of the bailey bridge the roadlink
would be thrown open torush essential supplies to thekashmir
valley. Braving intensecold wave conditions, men andmachinery of
the Border RoadsOrganisation (BRO) are work-ing round the clock to
completethe job at hand.
Chief Engineer of ProjectBeacon of the Border RoadsOrganisation,
Brigadier IKJaggi along with DeputyCommissioner Ramban,Nazim Zai
Khan Friday super-vised the bridge constructionwork on ground
zero.
Briefing media personsBrigadier IK Jaggi said “Morethan 50
percent of the work on
120 foot long, 40 ton baileybridge has been completed andthe
left over work is expectedto be completed on January 16.After
mandatory testing thelocal authorities are hoping tothrow open the
road link formovement of traffic on January17.
Brigadier IK Jaggi said,“we had launched the con-struction work
of the 120 footlong bailey bridge at the loca-
tion on January 14 and bySaturday evening we will com-plete the
task”. He said, due tothe collapse of the retainingwall of the
existing bridge a 28meter long gap was created. Hesaid, “we have
covered the gapusing a 120 foot long span as itis considered safe
to restore thelink”.
Chief Engineer BRO said,
“we have put all the resourcesavailable for completing
thebridge”. “Work is going on warfooting as all men and machin-ery
have been put to use. Weare sure that by tomorrowevening the Bailey
bridge willbe completed and ready fortraffic” he added.
Deputy CommissionerRamban Nazim Zai Khan said,
construction of Bailey bridge isnearing to completion at
KelaMorh and a trial run would beconducted tomorrow beforestarting
the movement of vehi-cles on the bridge.
He said that the construc-tion of Bailey bridge is going onround
the clock and BorderRoads Organization (BRO) hascompleted more than
50 per-cent of bridge launching worktill early Friday morning.
Due to prolonged suspen-sion of traffic movement on thestrategic
highway the commonpeople are facing many hard-ships. Convoy
movement ofsecurity forces was also affect-ed due to suspension
oftraffic.
Initially, the traffic on theNational Highway was sus-pended on
January 3 follow-ing a fresh spell of snowfall.After remaining
closed for sixlong days the traffic was par-tially restored on
January 9 toclear the rush of stranded vehi-cles and essential
supplies. Aday later the traffic was sus-pended again after a
retainingwall of a bridge collapsed nearKela Morh in Ramban
districton January 10.
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In a second major drug haul in lessthan a week, the Mumbai
Police onFriday seized 345 kilograms of Ganja(marijuana) worth
around Rs 5.2crore and arrested one person in con-nection with the
seizure.
Six days after the NarcoticsControl Bureau (NCB) seized
200kilograms of ganja and importeddrugs like ''OG Kush'' (a strain
ofcannabis Indica) in raids conductedin Mumbai’s north-western
suburbs,the Mumbai police raided a small flatat Chandivali’s
Sangarshnagar local-ity in north-east Mumbai and seizedhuge
quantity of drugs.
Acting on a tip-off, the Mumbaipolice raided a small flat in
buildingno. 10 of the Slum RedevelopmentAuthority complex at
SangharshNagar area of Chandivali and seized345 kilograms of Ganja
(marijuana)worth around Rs.5.2 crore.
“After examining the CCTVfootage in the area, we have arrest-ed
one - Ashok M. Metre (39). Wehave arrested him and booked himunder
the NDPs Act,” Deputy
Commissioner of Police (Zone 10)Maheshwar Reddy said.
Following the seizure of drugs,the Saki Naka Police are keeping
aclose watch on the illegal activities inthe area.
Friday’s was the second majordrug seizure in less than a week.
OnJanuary 9, the NCB personnel hadseized 200 kilograms and
arrestedthree persons Karan Sajnani, a Britishnational, and two
others RahilaFurniturewala and ShaistaFurniturewala
The drugs, seized from Khar andBandra areas in north-west
Mumbai,included ganja, imported contrabandlike ''OG Kush'' (a
strain of cannabisindica), and curated marijuana.Some of the seized
drugs had beensourced from the United States.
Subsequently on January 12(Tuesday, the NCB arrestedRamkumar
Tiwari, one of the broth-ers who own ''Muchhad Paanwala''shop at
Kemps corner in southMumbai in connection of cannabis-related drugs
seizure.
A day later, the NCB arrestedMaharashtra Minister Nawab
Malik's
son-in-law Sameer Khan in connec-tion with a drugs case.
Sameer's arrest came at the endof a day-long questioning of him
inconnection with a drugs case inwhich three arrests, including
thatone of the owners of famous''Muchhad Paanwala'' shop, havebeen
made so far.
Sameer was placed under arrestby the NCB after it questioned
himin connection with a google paytransaction of Rs 20,000 between
himand one of the arrested accusedKaran Sajnani, a British
national.
Earlier on Tuesday, the NCB hadarrested''Muchhad Paanwala''
shop’sco-owner Ramkumar Tiwari wasarrested in connection with
thesame drugs case. The NCB said thatit had seized “half a kg of
cannabis-related drugs” at a warehouse inMumbai. The allegation is
that it wasSajnani who provided drugs toTiwari.
Started in 1977, MuchchadPaanwala is one of the most famouspaan
shops in Mumbai, which is fre-quented by celebrities and whichtakes
orders on its web site.
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In what came to his party’sMinister accused of rapeDhananjay
Munde, NCP chiefSharad Pawar on Friday soft-ened his stand over the
accu-sation of rape made by awoman against DhananjayMunde after two
more politi-cal leaders alleged that thewoman was trying to
honeytrap them, and said that thepolice be allowed to
investigatethe matter.
Ruling out indirectly anypossible action against Mundeat the
party level, Pawar said:“Since allegations have beenmade against
the woman whohas complained against Munde,we have come to a
conclusionthat the police be allowed to doa comprehensive probe
into thematter. We are confident thatthe police will do a good
job.Hence we will not interfere inthe probe. All we have sug-gested
to the government thatACP-level be woman be askedto conduct the
probe”.
On Thursday, Pawar hadtermed the charges made by awoman were
“serious” and saidthat he would take a call on theissue, after
consulting his seniorparty’s important colleagues.“The charges are
serious..Thematter is with the police...it isalso in court...they
will decide,however, we as a party wouldhave to decide on it. I
will speakto my colleagues and decide,”Pawar had said.
Alluding to his yesterday’scomment, Pawar said:“Yesterday when I
had com-mented on Dhananjay Mundeissue, I said that the issue
wasserious. But by then, certainfacts were not in the publicdomain.
I came to know thatthere was a similar complaintsagainst the same
lady by dif-ferent political party leaders,”Pawar said.
In effect, Pawar was refer-ring to the statements made byBJP
leader Krishna Hegde andMNS leader Manish Dhuri,who had come in
indirect sup-port of Munde by claiming thatthe woman who had
made
allegations of rape against theNCP minister had tried
to“honey-trap” them .
In a related development,Maharashtra’s Home MinisterAnil
Deshmukh said: “Lawwill take its own course.Everyone is same
beforelaw...'santri' or 'mantri'...thematter would be investigated
asper law”.
Munde has been accused ofrape by a singer Renu Sharma,with whose
sister KarunaSharma the minister has admit-ted to have been in a
relation-ship and sired children.
After Pawar distancedhimself from the controversyby saying that
the chargesagainst Munde were “serious”,Munde had on
Thursdayreceived support from an unex-pected quarter, as Hegde
andDhuri trained their gun on thewoman who had accused theminister
of having raped hersister.
“Renu Sharma has beencalling me, messaging me andcoaxing me
since 2010 to havea relationship with her. Thisharassment went on
to thepoint of stalking. Through mysources I found out that she isa
dubious person who is settingup a honey trap. I totally avoid-ed
meeting her,” BJP leaderKrishna Hegde had said in hiscomplaint
lodged with SeniorInspector of Amboli policestation Kamte.
On his part, MNS leaderManish Dhuri had said sepa-rately: “The
woman (RenuSharma) who has now com-plained against Munde
hadobtained my telephone num-ber. She used to follow me. Shetried
many times to get to closeto me. Having realised that shehad honey
trap several influ-ential people, I tried to distancemyself from
her..... If I had gotinvolved with her, I wouldhave become
anotherDhananjay Munde”.
Meanwhile, having comeunder fire various quarters,Renu Sharma –
who hasaccused Munde of rape – saidthat she would take a stepback
if all wanted her to do so.
Pilibhit (UP): A 65-year-oldman has been booked forallegedly
raping two sisters ata village here, police said onFriday.
An FIR was lodged againstSatnaam Singh (65) on thecharge of rape
on Thursdayafter a probe into it by CircleOfficer Pramod
Kumar,Superintendent of Police JaiPrakash said. The two girls,aged
15 and 13, worked atSingh's place and were alleged-ly raped by him
for a year,police said.
The victims' family alleged
that they have trying to lodgea complaint in this regard forthe
past one month but policedid not listen to them.
They approached officialsat Puranpur tehsil andinformed them
about it afterwhich an FIR was registered onThursday. The SP said a
probehas also be ordered against thearea SHO for not taking thecase
seriously. The SP said intheir complaint, the girls' fam-ily did
not give any date of theincident and alleged that theywere being
raped for the pastyear. PTI
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Thiruvananthapuram: As many as 5,624more persons tested positive
for coronavirus inKerala on Friday while 4,603 patients
recoveredfrom the disease, Health Minister KK Shailaja'soffice said
in a statement here.
The state's test positivity rate is 8.94 percent. A total of
67,496 COVID-19 patients areunder treatment in various
hospitals.
Ernakulam recorded the highest 799 newcases and Kasargod the
least 97 cases on Friday.
A total of 23 more fatalities took the state's death toll to
3,415, the statementadded.
In all, 58 positive cases have come from out-side Kerala,
whereas 5,110 others tested posi-tive through contact. The source
of contact of394 persons is unknown.
As many as 62 Kerala health workers alsotested positive on
Friday -- including 14 inKozhikode, 10 in Pathanamthitta, 9
inThiruvananthapuram, six in Thrissur, four eachin Ernakulam,
Palakkad, Wayanad, and Kannur,three each in Kollam and Idukki, and
one inMalappuram.
In all, 2,02,080 persons are under obser-vation, including
1,90,999 in home or institu-tional quarantine, and 11,081 in
various hos-pitals in Kerala. vTwo new hotspots declaredon Friday
-- Puthupariyaram (ContainmentZone ward 12) in Palakkad district
andManalur (Ward 18) in Thrissur district -- tookthe total to 419
in Kerala. IANS
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-
Makar Sankranti marksthe Sun’s entry intoMakar raashi,
identi-fied with the sign ofCapricorn. The reference here ismerely
to the apparent motion ofthe Sun resulting from Earth’syearly
revolution. Annually, therewould be a dozen suchSankrantis, because
of the Sun’stransit across 12 signs of the celes-tial zodiac. No
other Sankrantienjoys religious significance,though each of them
marks thebeginning of a new month in thesidereal solar calendar. In
India,several States like Tripura, Assam,West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil
Nadu,Kerala, Punjab, Haryana and soon follow a sidereal solar
calen-dar. Several other States likeMaharashtra, Gujarat,
Karnatakaand Andhra Pradesh-Telanganain addition to the
Hindi-speakingbelt follow the luni-solar calendar.
In the luni-solar calendar, themonths are based upon a
lunarcycle of 29-½ days, resulting in ayear length of 354 days.
Therefore,it has to be adjusted against the solaryear by insertion
of intercalarymonth (Adhimasa) every threeyears. The luni-solar
calendar,besides being expressly followed inseveral parts of India,
is also implic-it to the solar calendar because ofits religious
significance. All Hindureligious festivals including vrats,parvas
and most jayantis are deter-mined as per the 354-day lunar
cal-endar. This results in a drift of datesfor religious
festivities and auster-ities (within a bracket of 25 days)vis-a-vis
the Gregorian calendar.
Why is Makar Sankranti cele-brated with such great fanfare
evenin parts of India where the writ ofsolar calendar does not run?
Thisis due to a belief that MakarSankranti marks Uttarayana
(liter-ally meaning sun turning north).Uttarayana is a function of
a trop-ical solar calendar like theGregorian calendar. Tropical
calen-dar has zero connection with zodi-ac background. It stands on
fourpillars — Vernal Equinox (March21), Summer Solstice (June
21),Autumn Equinox (September 21)and Winter Solstice (December
21).In the two equinoxes, the day andnight are of equal length all
over theworld. In June solstice, the day islongest across the
northern hemi-sphere, shortest in the southern. InDecember
solstice, the day is short-est in the northern hemisphere
andlongest in the southern. This inter-play of ‘light and shadow’
is due tothe fact that the axis of Earth’s rota-tion is inclined to
the plane ofEarth’s revolution at 23.50. As a
result, different zones of theglobe receive direct light
where-as others pass into shadow. This,in the extreme, results in
sixmonths of day and six months ofnight between one equinox to
theother in alternating polar zones— the Arctic and Antarctic.
In winter, the sun travels lowacross the sky in the
northernhemisphere. On December 21,the declination is the least
andthe Sun is directly overhead theTropic of Capricorn (23.50 S)
atthe local noon. The trend is,however, reversed on the mor-row of
Solstice. The Sun, figura-tively speaking, turns north-wards. Thus,
as per one belief,December 22 should be thereal Uttarayana. A
commonfactor, coincidental at first sight,is the name Capricorn.
OnDecember 21, the Sun is over-head the Tropic of Capricorn,
animaginary line; and on January14 it enters the Sign ofCapricorn.
However, we realisethat it is more than mere coin-cidence when the
same thing isrepeated in the summer. Whileon June 21 the Sun is
directlyoverhead at the Tropic of Cancer,it enters the Sign of
Cancer onJuly 16. The gap is 24 days.
Now, 24 days seems to bethe new common factor. Whatexplains this
24 days’ time lagthat links the name of a tropic(an imaginary line)
with a con-stellation? The secret might liein the factor called
“precessionof equinoxes” or “axial preces-sion” called ayana-chalan
inSanskrit. The axis of the Earthis not exactly stable but
describesa conical motion. This motion,similar to the wobble of a
spin-ning top, results from the Sun’s
gravitational pull acting differ-ently at the equator from
thepoles. The conical motionwould be complete in 28,500years during
which the NorthPole would point at several dif-ferent stars — like
Thuban,Polaris and Vega. During thesame interval the point of
theequinox, where the plane of rev-olution intersects the plane
of
rotation, goes round the entirezodiac. The amount of preces-sion
is 50” (less than 1/60th ofone degree, when one segmentof zodiac is
of 30 degrees).
We get the seasons from theSun, not from the zodiacalbackground.
Thus, measuringseasons from the zodiac signs byignoring the effect
of precession(the Nirayana calendar) is notthe best way. The
sidereal orNirayana year (365 d 06 hrs 09m 10 s) is 21 minutes
longerthan tropical year (365 d 05 h 48m 46 s). A sidereal year,
there-fore, would disengage from theseasons twice as fast as
Juliancalendar (which assumed yearlength to be flat 365 d and 6
hrs)did before being reformed byPope Gregorian XIII in 1582.
“The difference betweenthe sidereal and the tropicalyear is 20.4
minutes,” says BalGangadhar Tilak, “which caus-es the seasons to
fall back near-ly one lunar month in about2,000 years, if the
sidereal solaryear is to be taken as the stan-dard of measurement”
(TheOrion, P.19). This would explainthe mystery of the lost 24
days.Possibly two millennia ago, theSun went overhead in
thesouthernmost tropic when itentered the sign of Capricorn.In the
ancient times, Uttarayanaand Sun’s entry into Capricornwould have
coincided. That isno longer true.
Tilak (1856-1920), howev-er, hinted at a different possibil-ity
on Uttarayana. Known as atough politician, he was also anoted
Sanskrit scholar whofound time to delve deep intoHindu astronomy to
recon-struct Vedic history. It is reflect-
ed in his books like The Orion,or, Researches Into The
Antiquityof the Vedas (1893) and ArcticHome in the Vedas (1903). In
hisbook, viz., The Orion, the authorsays that Uttarayana is
suscep-tible to two meanings. Tilakstates: “It might mean
‘turningtowards the north from thesouthernmost point’ or it
mayindicate ‘the passage of the Suninto the northern
hemisphere,i.e. to the north of the equator’.If we adopt the first
meaning,Uttarayana and the year must beheld to commence from
thewinter solstice while, if the sec-ond interpretation is
correct,Uttarayana and the year musthave commenced with the ver-nal
equinox.” Citing the RigVeda, Tilak says: “The facts thatthe
central day of annual satrawas called vishuvan, the Vasantor spring
was considered thefirst of the seasons and theagrayaneshtis or the
half-yearsacrifices were required to beperformed every
Vasant(Spring) and Sharad (autumn)clearly show that the
secondinterpretation is more likely tobe correct (The Orion,
P.22).”
Tilak, thus, maintainedthat Uttarayana was the vernalequinox
(March 21). He furtherbelieved that the six-monthperiod from vernal
equinox toautumn equinox, when theSun moves along the
northernlatitude, is Devayana (way ofthe gods) in the Rig Veda
andfrom autumn equinox to ver-nal equinox Pitriyana (way ofthe dead
ancestors) as men-tioned in the Rig Veda.
(The writer is an author andindependent researcher. The
opin-ions expressed are personal.)
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