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Bharatiya Kisan Union(BKU) leader Rakesh Tikaiton Saturday said
that the farm-ers will stay put at borders ofthe national Capital
till October2, demanding to repeal theCentre’s agri-marketing
laws.
“We will sit here tillOctober 2,” said Tikait, who isleading the
ongoing farmers’protest at Ghazipur border,one of the protest
sites. Tikaitalso said that they had receivedinputs regarding some
miscre-ants who will try to disruptpeace during the chakka jamon
Saturday.
“Because of these inputs,we had decided to call off the‘chakka
jam’ in Uttar Pradeshand Uttarakhand,” the 51-year-old Tikait,
credited with reviv-ing the farmers’ stir, said.
“Nobody can touch thefarmlands, the farmers willprotect it. Both
farmers andsoldiers should come forwardfor it,” Tikait said.
Interacting with securitypersonnel who were on theother side of
the barricading,Tikait said, bowing his headand folded hands,
“Mypranaam (a respectful saluta-tion) to you all. Now you allwill
protect my farms.”
Loud rustic protest songsblared from speakers, the
Tricolour fluttered atop trucksand tractors, and commutersmostly
waited patiently asfarmers blocked the KMPExpressway on Saturday
aspart of their three-hour “chak-ka jam” to press their demandfor
repeal of the three new agri-cultural laws. The call for
thenationwide “chakka jam”between 12 pm and 3 pm wasgiven by the
farmer unionsprotesting at the Delhi bordersthe Centre’s
agricultural laws.
“I came to the stretch at 11am. There were very few peo-ple
then, but the numberswelled in no time. The pur-pose is to
peacefully do justwhat is instructed to us by ourleaders — block
the road till 3pm,” said Mukesh Sharma, alocal farmer supporting
themovement.
Biscuits and fruits weredistributed among the protest-ing
farmers sitting on the road.Those coming to the stretchwith their
vehicles were polite-ly informed about the protestand requested to
turn back.
“We don’t want to causeany inconvenience to the peo-ple,” said
Ajit Ahluwalia (29),from Haryana’s Hisar.
“That’s precisely the reasonwhy the call given was forthree
hours only. Securityforces have been blocking oursand theirs
passage for so many
days. We expect the ‘aamaadmi’ to cooperate with us forsome
hours at least. And thetruth is they are,” he said.
Some vehicles, carryingpeople with emergency healthconditions,
were allowed topass without any delay.
The 136-km Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) wasbuilt to decongest the
ever-busyroads of Delhi, especially byreducing the number of
trucksentering the national Capital,thus helping to curb
pollution.The commuters, mostly wait-
ing patiently, said they knewabout the “chakka-jam” buthad to be
out due to social andprofessional engagements.
While Satnam Sandhu(42), a private contractor, hadto attend a
business meeting;Sonu Ahuja and his family
were going for his cousin’swedding.
“We are farmers ourselves,and support the farmers’ move-ment
completely. I have gone tothe Singhu Border many atimes for the
protes,” said 36-year-old Ahuja.
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India has so far suppliedCovid-19 vaccine to 15 coun-tries and
another 25 nations arein the queue at different levelsfor the jab,
External AffairsMinister S Jaishankar said hereon Saturday.
He said there are threecategories of countries whichare keen to
get the vaccine fromIndia — poor, price sensitivenations and other
countrieswhich directly deal with phar-maceutical companies
thatmake the antidote.
“I think right now we havealready supplied to about 15countries
(as per my recollec-tion). I would say there wouldbe another about
25 countrieswhich are at different stages inthe pipeline. But what
it hasdone is today it has put Indiaon the map of the world,”
Jaishankar told reporters in aPress conference.
The Minister said somepoor countries are being sup-plied the
vaccine on a grantbasis while some nations want-ed it on par with
the price thatthe Indian Government pays tothe vaccine makers.
Some countries havedirectcontractswith the Indianvaccine
producing companiesand have negotiated commer-cially, he said.
The Centre has alreadygiven the nod for two Covid-19 vaccines —
Covaxin of city-based Bharat Biotech andCovishield of Oxford,
beingmanufactured by SerumInstitute of India in Pune,which are
being administeredto frontline workers fromJanuary 16, under
EmergencyUse Authorisation.
Drug maker Dr Reddysrecently said it will approachthe Drug
Regulator for theEUA for Russian vaccineSputnik V in March.
Jaishankar said PrimeMinister Narendra Modis ideawas to
establish the country asthe “Pharmacy of the World”,
taking advantage of the domes-tic capabilities and the wayIndia
emerged as IT leader dur-ing the Y2K issue.
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The CRPF women warriorsbroke the proverbial glassceiling on
Saturday as the firstbatch of 34 women personnelentered the elite
CoBRABattalion, an exclusive anti-Naxal force under the
Centralparamilitary force. The CRPFalso formed an all-womenbrass
band on Saturday.
These women will under-go three months of strenuouspre-induction
training beforejoining operations on theground for the
CombatBattalion for Resolute Action(CoBRA).
“The Central Reserve
Police Force has yet againtaken another step towardwomen’s
empowerment byallowing entry of its Mahilapersonnel in the elite
CoBRAwing during the 35th RaisingDay celebrations of 88thMahila
Battalion.
Notably, 88th MahilaBattalion of CRPF has the dis-tinction of
being the first allMahila battalion in the world.In another first,
an all Mahilabrass band was also formed onthis occasion of
momentoussignificance,” the CRPF said ina statement.
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Myanmar’s new militaryauthorities appeared tohave cut most
access to theInternet on Saturday as theyfaced a rising tide of
protestover their coup that toppledAung San Suu Kyi’s
electedcivilian Government.
Numerous internet usersnoted a slow disappearance ofdata
services, especially frommobile service providers, thataccelerated
sharply lateSaturday morning.
Broadband connectionalso later failed, while therewere mixed
reports on whetherlandline telephone service andmobile voice
connections werestill working.
Netblocks, a London-basedservice that tracks internet
dis-ruptions and shutdowns, saidSaturday afternoon that “a
near-total internet shutdown isnow in effect” in Myanmar,with
connectivity falling tojust 16% of normal levels.
The broad outage followedFriday’s military order to blockTwitter
and Instagram becausesome people were trying to usethe platforms to
spread whatauthorities deemed fake news.Facebook had already been
blocked earlier in theweek — though not complete-ly
effectively.
The communication block-ages are a stark reminder of theprogress
Myanmar is in dangerof losing after Monday’s coupplunged the nation
back underdirect military rule after anearly decade-long movetoward
democracy. DuringMyanmar’s five decades of mil-itary rule, the
country’s com-munication with the outsideworld was controlled.
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The registration process forthe H-1B visa applicationfor the
next fiscal year willbegin on March 1 and the suc-cessful
applicants through acomputerised draw of lotswould be notified by
March 31,a federal agency hasannounced.
The notification by the USCitizenship and ImmigrationServices
(USCIS) on Fridaycame a day after the Bidenadministration announced
thatit is delaying the H-1B policyof the previous Trump admin-
istration on the allocation ofthe popular foreign work visasby
continuing with the lotterysystem until December 31,2021, to give
the immigrationagency more time to develop,test and implement the
modi-fications to the registrationsystem.
The USCIS announcedthat the initial registrationperiod for the
fiscal year 2022H-1B cap will open at noonEastern on March 9 and
runthrough noon March 25.
The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows UScompanies to
employ foreignworkers in specialty occupa-tions that require
theoretical ortechnical expertise.
The technology compa-nies depend on it to hire tensof thousands
of employeeseach year from countries likeIndia and China.
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STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR
To provide a market forforest produce andprocessed
products,Chhattisgarh Forest MinisterMohammad Akbar onSaturday
inaugurated an out-let of the Forest ManagementCommittees at
AranyaBhawan in Atal Nagar here.
The Minister said that all
the products kept in the out-let are packed with
naturalqualities, with their purity aboon for good health.
The government is work-ing to provide employment andadditional
income for the localpeople through forest produce.
The government's ambi-tious Narva, Garuva,Ghurwa, Bari scheme
isbeing linked to the ForestManagement Committees to
enhance the protection offorests. Locals can earn extraincome by
growing vegeta-bles and more along thebanks of rivers, the
Ministeradded.
In this outlet, the materi-als made from forest manage-ment
committees are market-ed under the banner ofChhattisgarh Herbal.
Around120 forest as well asprocessed products are
available, said RakeshChaturvedi, the PrincipalChief Conservator
of Forests.
RAIPUR | SUNDAY | FEBRUARY 7, 2021
chhattisgarh 03
e-PROCUREMENT TENDER NOTICEeProcurement Portal:
https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in
(1st Call)System Tender No. : 71244/NIT No. : 23/SAC/2020-21,
Raipur, Dated : 03.02.2021Online Tenders are Invited for The
Following Works up to24.02.2021 at 17:30 Hour (IST) :-Name of Work
: RENOVATION OF HEAD WORK, WASTE WEIR &
HEAD SLUICE AND REMODELING & C.C. LININGFROM R.D. 0 TO 1620
M. OF MAIN CANAL, CONSTRUCTION OF 08 NOS. STRUCTURE (04 NOS.V.R.B.,
01 NO. AQUADUCT, 02 NO. SYPHON & 01 NO. FALL), 02 NOS. INLET
AND REPAIR OF OLD STRUCTURES OF GOTIYARDIH TANK SCHEME IN ABHANPUR
BLOCK OF RAIPUR DISTRICT.
Probable Amount : Rs. 120.26 Lakhsof Contract
The details can be viewed and downloaded online directly fromthe
Government of Chhattisgarh Integrated e-Procurement
Portal(https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) from Date 10.02.2021, at
17:31Hours (IST) onwards.NOTE :- All eligible/interested
contractors/bidders are mandated
to get enrolled on the Integrated e-procurement
portal(https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) and get approval on specific
vendorclass from PWD under Centralized
Contractor/SupplierRegistration in order to download the tender
documents andparticipate in the subsequent bidding process.
GOVERNMENT OF CHHATTISGARH, WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENTOFFICE OF
THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER
WATER RESOURCES & GROUND WATER SURVEY CIRCLESIHAVA BHAWAN
CAMPUS, CIVIL LINES, RAIPUR (C.G.)
EXECUTIVE ENGINEERWater Resources Division, Raipur
for, Superintending Engineer, Water Resources &Ground Water
Survey Circle, Raipur (C.G.)G- 86894/5 Ryp/Dtd 5.2.21
e-PROCUREMENT TENDER NOTICEeProcurement Portal:
https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in
(1st Call)System Tender No. : 71245/NIT No. : 37/SAC/2020-21,
Durg, Dated : 03.02.2021Online Tenders are Invited for The
Following Works up to 24.02.2021 at 17:30 HourName of Work :
STRENGTHENING OF RIGHT BANK CANAL OF TANDULA MAIN CANAL AND
CONSTRUCTION
OF W.B.M. ROAD FROM MILE 26 TO MILE 44 IN BLOCK PATAN OF
DISTRICT DURG.Probable Amount of Contract : Rs. 574.30 Lakhs
The details can be viewed and downloaded online directly from
the Government of ChhattisgarhIntegrated e-Procurement Portal
(https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) from Date 10.02.2021, at
17:31Hours.(IST) onwards.NOTE :- All eligible/intrested
contractors/bidders are mandated to get enrolled on the
Integratede-procurement portal (https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) and
get approval on specific vendor class fromPWD under Centralized
Contractor/Supplier Registration in order to download the tender
documentsand participate in the subsequent bidding process.
GOVERNMENT OF CHHATTISGARH, WATER RESOURCES DEPARTMENTOFFICE OF
THE CHIEF ENGINEER
MAHANADI GODAWARI BASINRAIPUR (C.G.)
Executive EngineerTandula Water Resources Division, Durg
(C.G.)For, Chief Engineer, Mahanadi Godawari Basin
Raipur (C.G.)G- 86890/7 Ryp/Dtd 5.2.21
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/44-10/2021(1st Call)
Dt. 04-02-2021
2021_MORTH_610398_1
Periodical RenewalWork in Km. 0.000 to48.000 = 48.000 Km.
of N.H. 130D(Kondagaon to
Narayanpur Road) inthe state of
Chhattisgarh onEngineering,
Procurement &Construction (EPC)
mode.
Rs.19.423Crore
22-03-2021
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STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
The Chhattisgarh Congresson Saturday unanimouslypassed a
resolution to againappoint Rahul Gandhi as theIndian National
CongressPresident.
The ChhattisgarhCongress CommitteeExecutive and
DistrictPresidents passed the resolu-tion seeking the services
ofGandhi to again head thecountry's oldest politicalparty, a press
release said.
The meeting was held atRajiv Bhawan in Raipur.
This resolution wasproposed by ChiefMinister BhupeshBaghel and
supported bystate in-charge P.L.Punia and stateCongress
PresidentMohan Markam.
The meeting wasprominently attended byChhattisgarh
CongressIn-charge Secretary DrChandan Yadav, HealthMinister T.S.
Singh Deo,Agriculture MinisterRavindra Choubey,other Ministers
andsenior party leaders.
STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR
Coronavirus vaccination isin full swing inChhattisgarh. Along
withhealth workers, DistrictCollectors andSuperintendents of
Police(SPs) have got vaccine shots.
On Saturday, CollectorsRitesh Agrawal (Bijapur),Pushpendra
Meena(Kondagaon), S.N. Rathode(Korea), Shiv Anant Tayal(Bemetara),
NeeleshKshersagar (Gariaband) andTopeshwar Verma(Rajnandgaon) took
the firstdose of vaccine, an officialpress release said.
Likewise, JashpurCollector Mahadev Kavre
and SP D. Shravan, RaigarhCollector Bheem Singh andDeputy
Collectors besidesother revenue officers gotthemselves vaccinated
on
Thursday.The officers said later that
the vaccine is safe and askedpeople to get themselves andtheir
family vaccinated.
C’garh Congress wantsRahul as party President
District Collectors, SPstake Covid vaccine shots
STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR
Despite the Covid-19 cri-sis, `1,621.67 crores wascollected as
registration rev-enue in Chhattisgarh in2020, or 23.28 percent
morethan in 2019.
In the current fiscal tillJanuary 31, 1.82 lakh docu-ments were
registered and`1,087.19 crores have beencollected as stamp and
regis-tration fee.
In the interest of com-mon people, the govern-ment has lifted
the ban onsale-purchase of small landplots. So, the number
ofdocument registrations fortransaction of small landplots has
nearly doubled in
the last two years.In these two years,
nearly 1.86 lakh small plotsof land were registered.
The government’s deci-sion to reduce guideline rateby 30 percent
has largelybenefited the people.
Reduction in guideline rateof property and liberty
tosell-purchase small plots ofland has made it easier forthe middle
class to buyhouses and other immov-able assets.
The government is pro-viding a concession of 2 per-cent in the
rate of registra-tion fee for deeds related tothe sale of houses
and build-ings up to `75 lakhs sinceAugust 2019.
This has been continuedin 2020-21 as well.
To save parties frominconvenience and to ensurethat the
registration workruns smoothly, the e-reg-istry procedure has
beensimplified to buy and sellproperties in Chhattisgarh.
Registration revenue `1,621Crin Chhattisgarh in 2020 STAFF
REPORTER n RAIPURStates need to carry out eco-nomic activities and
devel-
opment works on a missionmode to improve the slow paceof the
economy, the NITIAayog said on Saturday.
The NITI Aayog convenedthis at a joint meeting of theChief
Secretaries of the statesand the Principal Secretaries tothe Chief
Minister via videoconferencing.
At the meeting, the ViceChairman of NITI Aayog, Dr.Rajiv Kumar,
and NITI AayogChief Executive Officer (CEO)Amitabh Kant gave
informa-tion about important pointsand areas related to
develop-ment works, a press releasesaid.
On the basis of thesepoints, the states will have toformulate
and implement acomprehensive strategy to
accelerate and improve theeconomic activities and devel-opment
works, it added.
Chhattisgarh ChiefSecretary Amitabh Jain,Additional Chief
Secretary tothe Chief Minister SubratSahoo, Principal
SecretaryPlanning Gaurav Dwivedi and
Secretary level officers of thedepartments attended
themeeting.
The NITI Aayog focussedon developing India as a
globalmanufacturing hub, promot-ing sustainable
agriculture,building infrastructure, devel-oping human resources
and
providing comprehensive lev-els of health and nutrition.
The NITI Aayog desiredspecial efforts to promotecommunity
participation.
The Chief Secretaries gavesuggestions for improving theeconomy
and speeding up thedevelopment work and these
will be incorporated into theNITI Aayog's action plan.
A meeting of the SixthGoverning Council of NITIAayog under the
chairmanshipof Prime Minister NarendraModi will be held on
February20 which will be attended bythe Chief Ministers.
Carry out economic activities with zeal: NITI Aayog
In the current fiscaltill January 31,1.82 lakhdocuments
wereregistered and`1,087.19 croreshave beencollected as stampand
registration fee
STAFF REPORTER nDANTEWADA
Security forces shot dead aNaxalite who carried areward of `1 on
his head inChhattisgarh's Dantewada dis-trict on Saturday, police
said.
A gunfight took placearound 10 am in a forestbetween Surnaar and
Tetamvillages when the DistrictReserve Guard (DRG) was onan
anti-Naxalite operation,Dantewada Superintendent of
Police Abhishek Pallava said."After the exchange of fire,
the body of a Naxalite, identi-fied as Muchaki Masa,
wasrecovered from the spot alongwith a weapon," he added.
Masa, who was active as aJan Militia commander, wasinvolved in a
number of vio-lent incidents in the area,Pallava said. A search
opera-tion was launched at the site,around 400 km away
fromRaipur.
STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR
The Chhattisgarh Yoga Commission isgoing to hold a three-day
seminar-cum-webinar on yoga from February 7 atthe State Resource
and RehabilitationCenter in Mana Camp here, it wasannounced on
Saturday.
The objective holding such aprogramme is to present the
ideological
and scientific aspects of yoga for healthylife and overall
personality development,
especially of youths, a press release said.The programme will
have technical
sessions related to yoga, discourse, pres-entation of research
papers and lectureson subject experts.
The webinar will be inaugurated bythe keynote address of yoga
guru DheerajVashistha of Vashistha Yoga Ashram,Ahmedabad.
Minister inaugurates forestproduce, products outlet
Seminar-cum-webinar on yoga from todayThe programme will
havetechnical sessions related toyoga, discourse, presentationof
research papers andlectures on subject experts
Naxalite gunneddown in Dantewada
STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR
Arecent study byrenowned medicaljournal Lancet has statedthat
face mask is very usefulin preventing the spread oftuberculosis
(TB).
A press release from theChhattisgarh HealthDepartment quoted
thestudy as saying that TB hasclaimed about 5 lakh morelives
globally than corona in2020. Several studies haveindicated that
TB's spreadcould be considerablyslowed down by masks.
The study said thatcommunity level accept-ance of the use of
face maskwill be of great help in slow-ing down TB's spread,
espe-cially in a country like Indiawhere large number of TBpatients
exist. Cloth masksare also effective.
The study said that it isnecessary to ensure who,when and where
should theface mask be used. TB
particles disappear easily inair, therefore in TB proneregion it
use should be pro-moted even in indoor envi-ronment.
If said that thoughCovid has affected the TBhealth care
system,increased use of face maskdue to the pandemic couldbe a
help.
The Lancet is a weeklypeer-reviewed general med-ical journal. It
is among theworld's oldest and bestknown general medicaljournals.
It was founded in1823 by Thomas Wakley, anEnglish surgeon.
Face mask effective instopping tuberculosis: Lancet
-
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Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmiron Saturday recorded 65
newcoronavirus cases that raised itstally to 1,24,850, officials
said.
The union territory did notreport any death due to theinfection
in the past 24 hours,they said.Of the fresh cases, 15were recorded
from the Jammudivision and 50 from theKashmir division, the
officialssaid.They said Srinagar districtrecorded the highest of 26
caseswhich included 11 travellers.
While eight districts of theUT did not report any fresh case,10
others had fresh cases in sin-gle digits, the officials
said.Pulwama reported 10 COVID-19 cases. PTI
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Kanpur: Senior BJP leader and Union MinisterMukhtar Abbas Naqvi
on Saturday said “reject-ed politicians” and the “bogus Bharat
bashingbrigade” are involved in a criminal conspira-cy to defame
the country.
Speaking to reporters here, Naqvi said,“Such criminal syndicate
of misinformation andBharat bashing has always been defeated by
thecommitment of the people of India.”
“Such people created a ruckus on the so-called intolerance in
the country, raised ques-tions on surgical strike on Pakistan,
created con-fusion over CAA, and opposed steps taken forthe
well-being of people during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Naqvi said.
Now, the ‘gumrahi' (misleading) gang hashijacked the farmers'
agitation and doing pol-itics over it, he said, adding that some
people in the country still have “feudal arro-gance”.
In a statement, Naqvi said the people ofthe country, while
rejecting all criminal con-spiracies and political hypocrisies of
some vest-ed interests, have expressed trust in the lead-
ership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People gave a massive
mandate to the BJP-
led NDA in 2014 and again in 2019. The mass-es have supported
the policies of the prime min-ister by giving “tremendous support”
to the BJPin assembly, panchayat and local bodies elec-tions in
different states and union territories,he said.
“On one hand, the Bharat bashing brigaderaised false and fake
propaganda of so-calledinsecurity among minorities, on the other
handPM Modi worked tirelessly to make all sectionsof society
including minorities an equal part-ner of mainstream development,”
he said.
“Prime Minister Modi's commitment to‘sabka sath, sabka vikas'
has always exposedthese characters. The entire world is
admiringModi's commitment towards inclusive devel-opment,” he
added.
Naqvi said, “When our security forcesdestroyed terrorist camps
by conducting a sur-gical strike, then some people outside the
coun-try and leaders of the grand old party, demand-ed proof. It
was an amazing 'jugalbandi'.” PTI
Jammu: Asserting that the “negative pow-ers” attempting to
create misconceptions overthe new agri laws would fail, Union
MinisterJitendra Singh on Saturday said the Centreis working with
an open heart to address theongoing farmers' agitation.
He, however, insisted that the new lawsare “pro-farmer” and can
never result in loss-es to them.
“The government is working with anopen heart to address this
issue (farmers agi-tation). All the laws which have been enact-ed
are pro-farmer and even the earlier gov-ernments were discussing
implementingsuch types of laws in the country,” the min-ister of
state in the Prime Minister's Officetold reporters at the BJP
headquarters here.
He said several Opposition leaders hadspoken in Parliament in
support of suchtypes of laws earlier.
“Now they are raising concerns on suchthings which are not part
of these laws.Nobody can say that these laws can result inlosses to
the farmers,” Singh said.
Responding to a question about manyinternational personalities
like pop starRihanna speaking about the farmers' agita-tion, he
said, “Nobody can say these laws canresult in losses to the
farmers.
“Government is prepared to address themisgiving and
misconceptions and this is the
directive from the Prime Minister. I have fullfaith that the
misunderstanding of thefarmers will be addressed and the attemptsto
create misconceptions by negative pow-ers will fail,” he said.
Asked whether IAS officer Shah Faesalhas a genuine change of
heart or some typeof backdoor talks are going on with him sincehe
had started showering praises on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi in the
recenttimes despite being vocal in his criticism ofabrogation of
Article 370 and bifurcation ofthe erstwhile state into two Union
Territoriesin August 2019, Singh said, “There is no issuediscussing
such a thing. The important thingis that there is heart
transformation.”
Singh congratulated the people ofJammu and Kashmir for getting
back 4Gmobile internet service after 18 months andsaid “media and
students suffered becauseof lack of this facility”.
Praising the Union budget for focusingon key sectors like health
which was givena grant of over Rs two lakh crore by 137 percent
enhancement and infrastructure devel-opment like highways and
railways, he saidat a time when Modi's New India will illu-minate
at the global level, Jammu andKashmir has also been in the focus to
ensurethat it will shine alongside other parts of thecountry as
well. PTI
Thiruvananthapuram/Kottayam:Ahead of the State assembly polls,
theCongress-led United Democratic Frontin Kerala said on Saturday
if the UDFwas voted to power, it would pass a leg-islation on
Sabarimala to protect thecustoms of the shrine, a move dubbedby the
ruling Left front as to “fool thepeople of the state”.
Senior Congress leader and MLAThiruvanchoor
Radhakrishnan“released a draft law”, saying it wouldbe passed if
the UDF comes to powerafter the elections.
“We will enact the law if we cometo power.Under this proposed
law, theban on unauthorised entry intoSabarimala will be ensured in
consul-tation with the Tantri Violation of cus-toms/rituals can
attract imprisonmentof up to two years,” Radhakrishnan
toldreporters at Kottayam.
The Congress had recently askedthe Left government to seek legal
reme-dies to “heal the wounds” created insociety due to its alleged
“hasty deci-sion” to implement the Supreme courtverdict of
September 2018 allowing
women of all age groups to enter theLord Ayyappa shrine at
Sabarimala.
The southern state had witnessedprotests by right wing and BJP
work-ers against allowing women in thebanned 10-50 age group being
allowedin the shrine.
Numerous review petitions arepending in the apex court.
However,CPI(M) state secretary in-charge AVijayaraghavan claimed
the UDF wasfooling the people as it was not possi-ble to formulate
a law in a matter whichis under the consideration of theSupreme
Court.
“The UDF announcement that anew law will be formulated against
thewomen's entry into Sabarimala is justto fool the people of the
state.First ofall, the UDF is not going to come backto power.”
“Secondly, it's not possible to makea law in a matter which is
under theconsideration of a larger bench of theSupreme Court.There
is no legalauthority to do so,” Vijayaraghavansaid. PTI
Guwahati: Assam Congress onSaturday Staged protests infront of
petrol pumps across thestate against rising prices ofpetrol, diesel
and LPG.
Protests were held in dif-ferent blocks of the state by
thedistrict Congres committees,party sources said.
Assam PCC general secre-tary Bobbeeta Sharma said whenUPA was in
power the price ofinternational crude was high butthe Congress
government led byDr Manmohan Singh ensuredthat it did not affect
the commonma. It had kept petrol and dieselprices low and
affordable.
The international crude oilprice is low during PrimeMinister
Narendra Modi's rulebut its benefit has not reached
the common man, she said.The skyrocketing prices of
petrol and diesel have led to theincrease in the price of
essentialcommodities, she said. “Peopleare devastated by the
prevailingsituation of increased joblessnessdue to the sudden
demonetisa-tion and the Covid-19 drivenlock-down”, she said.
The BJP government at theCentre has proved to be “anti-poor and
anti-people” and hasmade no effort to controlincreasing petrol and
dieselprices and that of essential com-modities, Sharma
alleged.
“The prime minister whois arriving in Assam tomorrowhas to
answer all these questionsthat affect each and every com-mon man”,
she added. PTI
�� � �����
Union Minister RaviShankar PrasadonSaturday contributed Rs
11lakh for the construction of theRam temple at Ayodhya.
Prasad handed over thecheque to Mohan Singh andRajesh Pandey,
representativesof Sri Rama JanmabhoomiTeerth Kshetra trust.
Singh, who is RSS region-al general secretary (kshetrakaryawah)
of Bihar andJharkhand and Pandey, theprant Prachar Pramukh ofSouth
Bihar RSS, received thecheque at the organisation'sstate
headquarters here.
Prasad, the union ministerfor law and justice, electronics
and information technologyand communications, said I amextremely
happy that I ammaking an announcement ofcontributing Rs 11 lakh for
theconstruction of a grand Ramtemple at Ayodhya, Prasadsaid.
I was the lawyer for RamLalla in Allahabad High Courtwhere we
won (the case). Itwould be great if I had theopportunity to argue
the casein Supreme Court but since Iwas the (union) law minister,
Icould not argue the case,Prasad said.
Its a matter of pride that Iwill be going out to
collectdonations for the purpose ofconstructing a grand Ram
tem-ple, he added.
Fatehpur (UP): A headless body of anaround 22-year-old woman was
found in anagricultural field of a village under Asotharpolice
station near here on Saturday, policesaid. On being informed about
the body, thepolice reached the village and sent the bodyfor
post-mortem, Fatehpur's AdditionalSuperintendent of Police Rajesh
Kumar said.
The body was found lying around 200metres from a canal,
Thariyaon's CircleOfficer Anil Kumar said.
Prima facie, it appears that the womanhad been murdered
elsewhere around two tothree days ago and the body was disposed
ofhere, he said, adding efforts are on to identi-fy the woman.
People from nearby villageshave been called to identify the body of
thewoman, wearing a pair of blue jeans, a yellowT-shirt and a
sweater but to no avail so far, theCO added. PTI
Guwahati: Assam Finance MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday
saidthe Government will issue a notificationin the next 10 days to
increase the mini-mum wage of tea garden workers in thestate.
Addressing a public rally here in thepresence of Union Finance
MinisterNirmala Sitharaman and Chief MinisterSarbananda Sonowal, he
said the propos-al to raise the minimum wage of tea labour-ers will
be approved in the next cabinetmeeting.
“Wait for 10 more days. We will issuea notification to increase
your wages. Afterthe next cabinet meeting, you'll hear goodnews,”
Sarma told tea garden workers.
The opposition Congress had criticisedUnion Home Minister Amit
Shah after hisrecent visit to the state, alleging that
thegovernment did nothing to grant ST sta-tus to tea garden
workers.
The party also alleged the governmenthas failed to ensure that
tea workers in thestate get the minimum daily wage of
Rs351.Countering these allegations, Sarmaslammed the Congress for
not openingbank accounts of tea garden workers.
He claimed that the BJP-led govern-ment opened over 6.33 lakh
bank accountsin three months after the announcementof
demonetisation in 2016.
Sarma also mentioned that the stategovernment has spent Rs 1,400
crore forbuilding roads inside gardens and openedhigh schools
there.
He said the Sarbananda Sonowal dis-pensation offered Rs 12,000
each to 47,000pregnant women in the estates. Ahead ofthe assembly
polls in Assam, Sitharamanon Saturday distributed Rs 3,000 each
to7.47 lakh tea garden workers in the stateunder the Assam Chah
Bagicha DhanPuraskar Mela Scheme. PTI
Amaravati: In rare occurrence, the AP StateElection Commission
on Saturday issuedorders to the Director general of Police toensure
that Minister P RamachandraReddy is “confined” to his home
tillFebruary 21 for his alleged remarks againstthe commission.
Panchayat polls in the state are sched-uled to begin from
February 9 and will goon till February 21 in four phases.
SEC Ramesh Kumar, in his order saidthe Commission had carefully
looked atvarious alternatives and avenues of reme-dial action and
was invoking its plenarypowers under Article 243K of
theConstitution and directing the DGP to“confine” the Minister for
Panchayat Rajand Rural Development to his residentialpremises till
completion of gram panchy-at elections, which would conclude
onFebruary 21.
The orders issued are in the nature ofreasonable restrictions
and are essentially
preventive measures, taken recourse toensure free and fair
elections and to enablethe voters to exercise their franchise
freely“uninfluenced by threats and intimidation”,the Order
said.
According to the SEC Order, theMinister, in a press conference
on Thursday,warned that Collectors and ReturningOfficers not to
obey the instructions of the“madcap Election Commissioner” and
ifthey do so (preventing forced unanimouselections), action will be
taken against thoseofficials and they will be blacklisted afterthe
polls are over.
Reddy also allegedly attributed polit-ical motives to the SEC,
saying RameshKumar is favouring the opposition TeluguDesam Party
with view to get its MP orMLC seat in future.
Reacting to SECs order, Reddy said hejust watched the news in TV
channels andif the DGP has to implement the SECsOrder, he can do
it. PTI
Ahmedabad: Gujarat reported 252 freshCoronavirus positive cases
on Saturday, tak-ing the count of infections to 2,63,200, thestate
health department said.
With one death in Mahisagar district,the overall COVID-19 death
toll in the staterose to 4,394, it said.
A total of 401 patients were dischargedduring the day, taking
the count of recov-eries in Gujarat to 2,56,315, the departmentsaid
in a release. With this, Gujarat's caserecovery rate improved to
97.38 per cent.The state now has 2,491 active cases, it said.
At 81, Vadodara recorded the highestnumber of new COVID-19 cases
in the statein the day, followed by 41 in Ahmedaabd,33 in Rajkot,
and 31 in Surat.
Among other districts, Anand andPatan recorded six new cases,
Sabarkanthafive, while four cases each were reportedfrom Gir
Somnath, Kutch, and Narmada,the department said. PTI
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Punjab & Sind Bank onSaturday said its net loss inDecember
quarter 2020-21 spi-ralled to �2,375.53 crore onhigher provisions
for bad loans.
The lender had posted anet loss of �255.49 crore in thesame
period a year ago. InSeptember quarter also, thebank had a loss of
�401.27crore.
Total income in the quar-ter under review also fell to�1,982.52
crore from � 2,077.01crore in the same period of2019-20, Punjab
& Sind Banksaid in a regulatory filing.
Net income fell 9.1 percent to �1,763.10 crore andincome on
investments wasdown 12.1 per cent to �455.42crore.
The bank's gross non-per-forming assets (NPAs)remained high at
13.14 per centof the gross advances as ofDecember 31, 2020,
comparedto 13.58 per cent by the year-ago same period.
In value terms, gross NPAsor bad loans stood at � 8,489.89crore
by the end of December2020 as against �8,923.49 croreearlier.
Net NPAs came downsignificantly at 2.84 per cent(�1,638.25
crore) as against8.71 per cent (Rs 5,417.79crore). Provisions for
badloans and contingenices spikedto Rs 2,924.69 crore during
thequarter, as against Rs 494.30crore. Of this, provisions forbad
loans were Rs 1482.17crore, which was higher thanRs 464.01 crore a
year ago.
���� ��0���
Ahead of the assembly pollsinAssam, Union FinanceMinister
Nirmala Sitharamanon Saturday distributed �3,000each to 7.47 lakh
tea gardenworkers in the State, totalling� 224 crore.
The Union finance minis-ter was in the city to participatein the
programme to offerfinancial assitance to tea work-ers under the
third tranche ofthe Assam Chah Bagicha DhanPuraskar Mela
Scheme.
Before 2014 Lok Sabhapolls, Narendra Modi ji hadwished to work
for the uplift-ment of tea garden workers andaccordingly several
schemeswere launched after the NDAcame to power, the Unionminister
said.
As part of the third trancheof the flagship scheme, anadditional
amount of �3,000each will be credited to thebank accounts of
7,46,667workers.
Each tea worker had ear-
lier received �5,000 in twophases.
The incentive was madethrough direct benefit transfer(DBT) mode
to 6,33,411 bankaccounts of tea gardens in2017-18 and 7,15,979
accountsin 2018-19 across 752 tea gar-dens.
Sitharaman said, all mid-dlemen have been eliminatedwith
introduction of the DBTmode in various schemes andthe Centre will
continue to sup-port tea gardens in Assam infuture.
"PM Modi favoured usingtechnology for the benefit ofpeople while
implementing theschemes and so the concept ofDBT was introduced.
Due tothis, middlemen were totallyeliminated and the
benefitsreached directly to the benefi-ciaries," she said.
Sitharaman said that theUnion budget for 2021-22 hasallocated Rs
1,000 crore for thewelfare of women and childrenof tea gardens in
Assam andWest Bengal as per the request
of the BJP-led government inthe northeastern state.
"After bank accounts wereopened for tea garden labour-ers, some
issues cropped up.But when I instructed thebankers in February last
year tocorrect the anomalies theyworked tirelessly, even duringthe
COVID-19 crisis, andeverything is on track now," shesaid.
Speaking on the occasion,Assam Finance MinisterHimanta Biswa
Sarma saidthat Rs 224 crore will be spenton transferring the
thirdtranche of the scheme to thebeneficiaries.
"We spent Rs 158 crore inthe first year and it increased toRs
202 crore during the secondyear.
The scheme won't stophere at Rs 3,000 each as we havealready
begun the process tosend such an amount everymonth," he added.
Elections to the 126-mem-ber Assam Assembly are due
inMarch-April this year.
���� $$A��
The National Bank forAgriculture and RuralDevelopment (Nabard)
onSaturday said it has sanctioned�30,200 crore and disbursed
�16,500 crore for various ruralinfrastructure projects acrossthe
country under the RuralInfrastructure DevelopmentFund (RIDF) in the
first 10months of the current financialyear.
The RIDF, which was setup in 1995, is a dedicated fundto create
social assets in ruralIndia.
"In FY21, the sanctions tothe RIDF stood at �30,200crore as
against the corpus of�30,000 crore. The disburse-ment for the
current financialyear as on January 31, 2021stands at �16,500
crore,"Nabard chairman G R Chintalasaid in a statement.
Since the inception of thefund, Nabard has disbursed�3.11 lakh
crore for differentrural infrastructure projects, itsaid.
Chintala said this fund has
constituted around 10 per centof gross capital formation inrural
areas. Over the years,the RIDF has become adependable source of
fundingfor states and union territoriesfor building.
������ $$A��
The start of vaccination dri-ves in several countriesglobally
along with higher fleetdeployment levels will sup-port the recovery
of the airtransport sector in the comingmonths, India Ratings
andResearch (Ind-Ra) said.
Accordingly, the agency'sIndia logistics sector reportsaid:
"While passenger num-bers for airlines are still downon a YoY
basis, the start of vac-cination drives in several coun-tries
globally and the Indiangovernment allowing 80 percent of fleet to
be deployed arekey positives recently."
"While both these devel-opments should be supportiveof a
recovery in operating cash
flow and liquidity in comingmonths, this will likely be off-set
at least partly by ongoinghigher fuel prices."
According to the report,since resumption of opera-tions on May
25th, domestic airtraffic continued to sequentiallyimprove in
December 2020.
The domestic passengertraffic rose 15 per cent MoM inDecember
2020, although wasdown 43 per cent YoY.
"In the domestic opera-tions, passenger load factorstood at
65-78 per cent during
December 2020.""However, approval for
vaccines and governmentsundertaking vaccination drivesin major
countries will likelyraise consumer confidence inair travel and be
supportive ofa recovery over the mediumterm."
On an overall basis, inDecember 2020, key metricsfor the wider
logistics sectorcontinued to report a sequen-tial recovery.
"India's port volumes grew4 percent YoY, while E-way
billgeneration increased 16 percent YoY during the month."
"Railway volumes also rose9 per cent YoY in December2020, though
they remaineddown 2 per cent YoY in April-December 2020."
������ �.���./0�
The large fiscal deficit thathas been proposed inUnion Budget
2021-22 couldbe inflationary in nature butnot an immediate threat,
saidCrisil Research.
Accordingly, the budgethas replaced fiscal consolida-tion as a
priority with expan-sion, well into the mediumterm.
Besides, the fiscal glidepath "itself has become foot-loose"
with a deficit at 9.5 percent for FY21, 6.8 per cent inFY22 and 4.5
per cent by fiscal2026.
"A large fiscal deficit couldbe inflationary but given thereare
under-utilised capacitiesand the economy continues togrow below
potential, this maynot be an immediate threat,"Crisil Research said
in a note.
"But sticky inflation, espe-cially core, and surplus liquid-ity
sloshing around can poten-
tially breed trouble."In terms of the growth,
Crisil Research said the thruston public investment will
bepositive for growth, not only inthe short but also the mediumterm
as it has a higher multi-plier effect than revenue spend-ing and
augurs well for jobs.
Besides, the note said thequality of expenditure isimproving,
with capex risingand revenue expenditure stay-ing below trend.
"Receipts, on the otherhand, are estimated to remain27 per cent
below the trend infiscal 2022. To be fair, this alsopartly reflects
the somewhatconservative revenue targetsfor fiscal 2022."
"Government revenue, par-ticularly tax collections, go updue to
either base effect or rateeffect.
Nominal gross domesticproduct (GDP) in fiscal 2022 isestimated
at 10 per cent belowthe trend seen before the pan-
demic."According to Crisil
Research, the government, forgood reasons, has also
notintroduced tax proposals. Thus,while the base has shrunk,rates
have not changed.
"This will lead to under-performance of revenue con-tinuing
beyond fiscal 2022,unless compliance goes upsubstantially."
In addition, the note citedoff-budget expenditures such asFood
Corporation of India'sloans from the National SmallSavings Fund and
govern-ment's fully serviced bondswill now be accounted forwhen
calculating the fiscaldeficit.
"Excluding these two items,the fiscal deficit could havebeen
lower by 0.5-1 per cent infiscal 2021 and 0.6 per cent infiscal
2022. That is to say, in themore transparent schema, thefiscal
consolidation path maystretch longer."
������ �.���./0�
The Union Budget 2020-21proposal to reduce cus-toms duty on gold
and silverwill curtail the increasing trendof smuggling of these
preciousmetals in the country, IndiaRatings and Research has
said.
Accordingly, the Budgethas proposed to reduce the cus-toms duty
on gold and silver to7.5 per cent from 12.5 per cent.
"The move will alsoimprove the government'soverall revenue from
the sec-tor," Ind-Ra said in a report.
"The duty reduction willsupport sectoral demand in thelong term,
as jewellery costswill come down and customers'purchasing power
willimprove."According to thereport, the erstwhile duty struc-ture
gave incentives for goldsmuggling into India.
In July 2019, as part of therevenue-raising budget, thecustoms
duty on import of goldwas increased to 12.5 per cent
from 10 per cent.As per Ind-Ra's estimates,
unofficial imports of gold rangebetween 150-180 tonnes com-pared
to the official goldimport numbers of 600-700tonnes for FY20.
"Ind-Ra believes thatreduction in import duty thusis favourable
for the domesticorganised jewellery players."
"The move will alsoimprove the government'soverall revenue from
the sector.The duty reduction will sup-port sectoral demand in
thelong term, as jewellery costswill come down and
customers'purchasing power willimprove."
Besides, the report saidthe majority of the gold jew-ellery
demand in India is pricesensitive."Overall demand stallsfor any
sharp rise in goldprices. Consequently, amid asharp rise in gold
prices, rev-enue for the top organisedplayers declined by average
32per cent YoY in 1HFY21."
������ �.���./0�
Four more States - Assam,Haryana, Himachal Pradeshand Punjab
have undertaken"Ease of Doing Business"reforms stipulated by
thefinance ministry.
With this, these States havebecome eligible to
mobiliseadditional financial resourcesand have been granted
per-mission to raise additional�5,034 crore through OpenMarket
Borrowings.
The total number of statethat have undertaken the stip-ulated
reforms to facilitate easeof doing business has gone upto 12.
Earlier, Andhra Pradesh,Karnataka, Kerala, MadhyaPradesh,
Odisha, Rajasthan,Tamil Nadu and Telanganahave also reported
completion
of this reform, which was con-firmed by the Department
forPromotion of Industry andInternal Trade (DPIIT).
On completion of reformsfacilitating ease of doing busi-ness,
these twelve states havebeen granted additional bor-rowing
permission of Rs 28,183crore.
The ease of doing businessis an important indicator of
theinvestment friendly businessclimate in the country.Improvements
in the ease ofdoing business will enablefaster future growth of
thestate economy, a finance min-istry statement said.
Government in May lastyear had decided to link grantof
additional borrowing per-missions to states that under-take the
reforms to facilitateease of doing business.
������ �.���./0�
Petrol and diesel price risewent on the pause mode onSaturday
after two consecutivedays of sharp increase wherepump price of the
auto fuelsrose by 65 paise per litre.
The pause came on a daywhen global crude prices roseby close to
1 per cent to reachthis years' high level of $60 abarrel.
Petrol, diesel and other oilproduct prices in India
aredetermined on the basis ofpetroleum product price inthe global
markets and notcrude price. But movement inbenchmark crude has a
bearingon pricing across the productcategories.
With price on the pause on
Saturday, the retail price ofdiesel remained at Rs 77.13 alitre
in Delhi while petrol pricesremained at new high level ofRs 86.95 a
litre in the capital.The retail price of the twoproducts had risen
on February4 and 5, increasing the pricesby 65 paise per litre.
Across the country as well,the fuel prices remained atFriday's
level.
Though firm global crudeand product price is the reasonfor the
increase in retail priceof petrol and diesel in past days,it is
interesting to note that eventhough crude has been hover-ing just
over $55 a barrel for along time, OMCs had gone infor both a pause
in price of autofuels as well increase in its retailprices on
consecutive days.
Crude price have remainedfirm for last few weeks in wakeof
unilateral production cutsannounced by Saudi Arabiaand a pick up in
consumptionin all major economies global-ly.The petrol and diesel
priceshave increased 12 times in2021 with the two auto
fuelsincreasing by Rs 3.24 and Rs3.26 per litre respectively so
farthis year.
The last few increases inpump prices in petrol anddiesel has
taken its price torecord levels across the coun-try in all major
metro cities andother towns. The last time theretail price of auto
fuels werecloser to current levels was onOctober 4, 2018 when
crudeprices had shot up at $80 a bar-rel.
Ghaziabad: At present, about355 acres of GDA land in
themetropolis is occupied by theland mafia. The GDA admin-istration
has prepared a blue-print to get this land occupied.To mark the
land, the landacquisition department ofGDA is presently engaged
inscrutinizing the land records.After the land washout fromthe
occupation of landfields,the GDA will create a landbank where the
entire record ofthe land will be kept with due
diligence. After this land will beused in various schemes
ofGhaziabad. The GDA is churn-ing with its subordinate officersto
washout the land with theuse of land and occupation ofland mafia.
In this regard,GDA Vice President KrishnaKarunesh has issued
instruc-tions to the Engineers of GDAEnforcement Zone
EngineeringDivision to instruct them thatnot even one inch of GDA
landshould be in the possession ofmafias.
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Washington: The impeach-ment trial of Donald Trump ismore than
an effort to convictthe former president of incitingan
insurrection. It’s a chance fora public accounting andremembrance
of the worstattack on the US Capitol in 200years.
In the month since the Jan.6 siege by a pro-Trump mob,encouraged
by his call to “fightlike hell” to overturn the elec-tion,
defenders of the formerpresident say it’s time to moveon.
Trump is long gone,ensconced at his Mar-a-Lagoclub, and Democrat
Joe Bidenis the new president in theWhite House. With the trial
setto begin Tuesday, and a super-majority of senators unlikely
toconvict him on the singlecharge, the question arises:Why bother?
Yet for manylawmakers who were witness-es, onlookers and survivors
ofthat bloody day, it’s not over.
One by one, lawmakershave begun sharing personalaccounts of
their experiences ofthat harrowing afternoon.
Some were in the Capitol flee-ing for safety, while
otherswatched in disbelief from adja-cent offices. They tell of
hidingbehind doors, arming them-selves with office supplies
andfearing for their lives as therioters stalked the halls,
pur-sued political leaders andtrashed the domed icon
ofdemocracy.
“I never imagined whatwas coming,” said Rep. MarkTakano,
D-Calif., recounted ina speech on the House floor.
Memory is a powerful tool,and their remembrances,alongside the
impeachmentproceedings, will preserve apublic record of the attack
forthe Congressional Record.
Five people died and morethan 100 people have beenarrested in a
nationwide FBIroundup of alleged ringleadersand participants, a
dragnetunlike many in recent times.While that is sufficient
forsome, assured the perpetratorswill be brought to justice,
oth-ers say the trial will forceCongress, and the country,
toconsider accountability. AP
Cairo: Aid agencies working inwar-torn Yemen on Saturdaywelcomed
plans by PresidentJoe Biden’s administration torevoke the terrorist
designationof Yemen’s Houthi rebels inorder to mitigate one of
theworld’s worst humanitariandisasters.
David Miliband, head ofthe International RescueCommittee, said
thoe designa-tion would have done nothingto address terrorism in
theArab world’s poorest country,and would only hinder much-needed
aid deliveries toYemenis living in Houthi-heldareas.
“This is a further, vital, cor-rect decision to bring hope
toYemen’s crisis-stricken popu-lation,” he said. “The next
steps
are to raise aid flows, negotiatea permanent cease-fire, and
getthe diplomatic process movingto establish a sustainable
polit-ical settlement.”
For years, the Iranian-backed Houthis have ruled thecapital and
Yemen’s northwhere the majority of the pop-ulation lives, forcing
interna-tional aid groups to work withthem. Agencies depend on
theHouthis to deliver aid, and theypay salaries to Houthis to do
so.
Mohamed Abdi, Yemendirector for the NorwegianRefugee Council,
said themove represents a “sigh ofrelief and a victory for
theYemeni people,” that sends a“strong message” that the USCares
first about the interestsof Yemenis. AP
United Nations: In a first con-tact between the UN andMyanmar
Army since generalsseized power in a bloodlesscoup, the Secretary
General’sspecial envoy on Myanmarspoke with the country’s
deputymilitary chief and expressed“strong condemnation” of
itsaction and called for the imme-diate release of all
detainedleaders.
Special Envoy of theSecretary-General onMyanmar, Christine
SchranerBurgener, spoke overnight withDeputy
Commander-in-ChiefVice-General Soe Win in cap-ital Nay Pyi Taw,
StephaneDujarric, Spokesman forSecretary-General AntonioGuterres,
told reporters at thedaily press briefing on Friday.
Through the virtual meet-ing with the DeputyCommander-in-Chief
of thearmed forces of Myanmar,Burgener “reiterated
theSecretary-General’s strong con-demnation of the military’saction
that disrupted the demo-cratic reforms that were takingplace in the
country,” Dujarricsaid.
Dujarric said Burgener alsoreiterated her call for the
imme-diate release of all detained per-sons.
She emphasised the need toadvance progress on key areas
on the safe, dignified, voluntaryand sustainable repatriation
ofthe Rohingya refugees, thepeace process, accountabilityand
particularly engaging withthe International Court ofJustice (ICJ)
on the ongoingcase.
Dujarric added thatBurgener and the deputy mil-itary chief had
“quite a long”and “a very important” con-versation since it was the
firstcontact the UN had with themilitary authorities since thecoup
on February 1.
The 15-nation SecurityCouncil, the most powerfulorgan of the
world organisa-tion, issued a press statementThursday on the
situation inMyanmar three days after themilitary seized power in
theSoutheast Asian nation.
The Council membersexpressed “deep concern” at thedeclaration of
the state of emer-gency imposed in Myanmar bythe military on
February 1 andthe arbitrary detention of mem-bers of the
Government, includ-ing State Counsellor Aung SanSuu Kyi and
President WinMyint and others.
“They called for the imme-diate release of all thosedetained,”
the press statementsaid.
Dujarric described theCouncil statement as a “very
positive first step” in terms ofa “unified” voice from
theorganisation’s body entrustedwith keeping peace and secu-rity.
He added that theSecretary General continuesto have various
contacts and hisSpecial Envoy also continues tohave her
contacts.
Burgener has spoken tovarious representatives of theASEAN
(Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations),including the bloc’s
Secretary-General to “ensure that we’re allworking with the same
goal.”
As the Security Councildeliberated a statement on thesituation
in Myanmar, India
played the role of an “impor-tant bridge” among variousviews and
engaged very con-structively to ensure a “bal-anced” outcome that
stronglyunderlined the importance ofthe democratic process
andtransition while not being con-demnatory in nature, sourceshave
said.
An initial draft statement,prepared by the Council pres-ident
for the month ofFebruary the UK, had called onthe Security Council
membersto “condemn the military coup,”according to a report in
thePolitico.
In the final Council state-
ment, the language waschanged to not have any men-tion of a
coup.
India, into the secondmonth of its tenure as non-per-manent
Council member,engaged “very constructively”during deliberations
over thepress statement.
Sources told PTI that Indiaplayed the role of an
“importantbridge”, bringing together vari-ous views and wanted to
ensurean outcome which was bal-anced. It also wanted a
statementwhich was not “condemnatory”in nature, but one which
helpedthe process and not becomecounter-productive. PTI
Nairobi: Life for civilians inEthiopia’s embattled Tigrayregion
has become “extremelyalarming” as hunger grows andfighting remains
an obstacle toreaching millions of peoplewith aid, the United
Nationssaid in a new report.
And the UN special advis-er on genocide preventionwarned Friday
that withouturgent measures the risk ofatrocity crimes “remains
highand likely to get worse.”
The conflict that has shak-en one of Africa’s most power-ful and
populous countries —a key US security ally in theHorn of Africa —
has killedthousands of people and isnow in its fourth month.
But little is known aboutthe situation for most ofTigray’s 6
million people, asjournalists are blocked fromentering,
communications arepatchy and many aid workersstruggle to obtain
permission toenter.
One challenge is thatEthiopia may no longer controlup to 40 per
cent of the Tigrayregion, the UN SecurityCouncil was told in a
closed-door session this week.
Ethiopia and allied fightershave been pursuing the now-fugitive
Tigray regional gov-ernment that once dominatedEthiopia’s
government for near-ly three decades. AP
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Beijing: In its first contactwith the Biden administra-tion,
China on Saturday askedthe US to rectify the “mistakes”of former
President DonaldTrump’s aggressive policiestowards Beijing and
flaggedTaiwan as the most importantand sensitive core issue for
it.
China resents US supportfor Taiwan, which Beijing viewsas a
rebel province that must bereunified with the mainland,even by
force.
During his tenure, Trumppushed aggressively on allaspects of
US-China ties,including with his relentlesstrade war, challenging
China’smilitary hold on the disputedSouth China Sea, its
constantthreats to Taiwan, the massdetention of Uyghur Muslimsin
Xinjiang, branding coron-avirus as “China virus” after itemerged
from Wuhan inDecember 2019 as well asXinjiang and Tibet issues.
Newly-appointed USSecretary of State AntonyBlinken and senior
Chinesediplomat Yang Jiechi onSaturday held what observershere say
as blunt and outspo-ken conversation over thephone during which
both sidessought to highlight the issues ofconcerns that will shape
the tiesbetween the top two economiesof the world in the next
fouryears.
Yang, a member of thePolitburo of the ruling
Communist Party of Chinaand director of the Office of theForeign
Affairs Commission ofthe CPC, is Beijing’s point manfor
Washington.
While Blinken told Yangthat the Biden administrationwill hold
China accountable forits abuses of the internationalsystem and
raised with him theissue of human rights violationsin Xinjiang,
Tibet and HongKong and Myanmar, theChinese diplomat said bothsides
should respect eachother’s core interests and choic-es of political
system.
Yang said the US “shouldrectify its mistakes made overa period
of time,” in an appar-ent reference to hardline poli-cies pursued
by the Trumpadministration towards China,pushing the ties between
thetwo countries to a new low.
He said the US shouldwork with China to uphold thespirit of no
conflict, no con-frontation, mutual respect andwin-win
cooperation.
The Taiwan question, themost important and sensitivecore issue
in China-US rela-tions, bears on China’s sover-eignty and
territorial integrity,state-run Xinhua news agencyquoted Yang as
telling Blinken.
China considers Taiwan aspart of its mainland and appre-hends
that the US is stepping itsengagement with Taipei withmilitary and
political assistance.
The US should strictly
abide by the one-China prin-ciple, Yang said, adding thatHong
Kong, Xinjiang andTibet-related affairs are allChina’s internal
affairs andallow no interference by anyexternal forces.
Any attempt to slanderand smear China will not suc-ceed, and
China will continueto firmly safeguard its sover-eignty, security
and develop-ment interests, Yang said.
He urged the US to play aconstructive role in promotingpeace and
stability in the Asia-Pacific region involving thedisputed South
China Sea,where America looks to step upits engagement with allies
tocontain Beijing.
China claims almost all ofthe 1.3 million square-mileSouth China
Sea as its sover-eign territory. China has beenbuilding military
bases on arti-ficial islands in the region alsoclaimed by Brunei,
Malaysia,the Philippines, Taiwan andVietnam.
On the Myanmar coup,Blinken and Yang presenteddifferent
views.
While Blinken condemnedthe military coup in Myanmarand
threatened sanctionsagainst the military govern-ment, Yang stressed
that theinternational communityshould create an enablingexternal
environment for theproper settlement of theMyanmar issue. PTI
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Istanbul: Turkey’s presidenthas ordered the establishmentof two
new departments in thecountry’s most prestigious uni-versity, which
has been rockedby weeks of demonstrationsprotesting his appointment
ofa new rector with governmentlinks.
President Recep TayyipErdogan’s decision, publishedin the
Official Gazette Saturday,says law and communicationsfaculties are
to be launched inBogazici University. Critics saythe establishment
of newdepartments would allow thepresidentially appointed rectorto
staff them with government
loyalists.For over a month, stu-
dents and faculty have ledmostly peaceful protestsagainst the
new rector, MelihBulu, who has l inks toErdogan’s ruling party.
Theyare calling for Bulu’s resigna-tion and for the university tobe
allowed to elect its ownpresident.
In an open letter toErdogan, protesting Bogazicistudents called
the decision toopen new departments intim-idation and “petty
tricks.”
“Your attempts to pack ouruniversity with your own polit-ical
militants is the symptom of
the political crisis you have fall-en into,” the letter
said.
Police have detained hun-dreds of demonstrators at theuniversity
and in solidarityprotests elsewhere, some takenaway following raids
of theirhomes. Most were laterreleased.
Top government officialshave said terrorist groups areprovoking
the protests, andErdogan has called the protest-ing students
terrorists. Istanbulgovernor’s office press state-ments have listed
detentionnumbers with alleged links tooutlawed leftist and
Kurdishmilitant groups. AP
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China will provide 5,00,000doses of Covid-19 vac-cines to Nepal
on a grant basis,officials here said on Saturday,supplying the
first batch of vac-cine aid for the Himalayannation.
During a telephonic con-versation with his Nepali coun-terpart
Pradeep Gyawali onFriday evening, ChineseForeign Minister Wang
Yiassured that China wouldaccord priority to Nepal in vac-cine
cooperation, according toa press statement issued by theMinistry of
Foreign Affairshere.
Wang announced that China will provide5,00,000 doses of
Covid-19vaccine to Nepal on a grantbasis, it said.
According to a report bythe official Chinese newsagency Xinhua,
during thephone conversation withGyawali, Wang said Chinaattaches
great importance toNepal’s urgent need of Covid-19 vaccines and has
decided toprovide the first batch of vac-cine aid for the
country.
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Washington: President JoeBiden’s administration is mov-ing to
revoke the designation ofYemen’s Houthis as a terroristgroup,
citing the need to mitigateone of the world’s worst human-itarian
disasters.
President Donald Trump’sadministration had branded
theIranian-backed Houthis as aforeign terrorist organisation, amove
that limited the provision
of aid to the beleaguered Yemenipeople, who have suffered undera
yearslong civil war and famine.
A State Department officialconfirmed the move Friday
aftermembers of Congress were noti-fied of the admin’s plans.
Theofficial, who wasn’t authorizedto speak publicly and spoke
oncondition of anonymity, said theremoval changed nothing aboutthe
Biden administration’s views
of the Houthis, who have tar-geted civilians and
kidnappedAmericans.
“Our action is due entirelyto the humanitarian conse-quences of
this last-minute des-ignation from the prior admin,which the UN and
humanitar-ian organisations have sincemade clear would
acceleratethe world’s worst humanitariancrisis,” the official said.
AP
Gaza City: The father of aPalestinian boy killed in anIsraeli
missile strike in 2014expressed renewed hope forjustice Saturday
after theInternational Criminal Courtpaved the way for a
possiblewar crimes probe into Israelimilitary actions.
The court ruled Fridaythat its jurisdiction extends tothe
territories occupied byIsrael in the 1967 Mideast war,including the
Gaza Strip whereSubhi Bakr’s 10-year-old sonMohammed and three of
theboy’s cousins were killed as theyplayed soccer on a beach.
“Better late than never,”said Bakr, walking Saturday onthe beach
where the boys werekilled during the 2014 warbetween Israel and
Gaza’srulers, the Islamic militantgroup Hamas.
The ICC ruling openedthe door for possible war crimesprobes into
Israeli militaryactions during that war andIsraeli settlement
constructionon war-won land. Hamas couldalso come under scrutiny
forindiscriminate rocket fire intocivilian areas of Israel.
The international tribunal’schief prosecutor, FatouBensouda, has
yet to launch anofficial investigation. In 2019,Bensouda said there
was a“reasonable basis” to open awar crimes probe, but she
asked the court to determinewhether she has
territorialjurisdiction before proceed-ing. That came after the
five-year preliminary inquiry todetermine whether war crimeswere
committed during the2014 fighting.
Hamas, which has ruledthe Gaza Strip since 2007, wel-comed the
ICC’s finding, call-ing it “an important step”toward justice for
thePalestinian people. HazemQassem, a Hamas spokesman,urged the
court to take “prac-tical measures on the ground”to hold Israel
accountable forwhat he said were its crimes.
Hamas declined to com-ment on the possibility that itcould also
be the subject of anyfuture probe. Bakr, thebereaved father, is
anxious tosee quick action by the court.
“The most important thingfor the investigation is to start;if it
did not, then there is nojustice in the world,” he said.
The story of the Bakrcousins, who were all between10 and 11
years old, grabbedthe world’s attention as manyforeign journalists
witnessedthe 2014 incident from theirseaside hotels. Images
showedthe children desperately run-ning away from a jetty as
themissile falls, and then the boysfalling to the ground one
afterthe other. AP
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Skipper Joe Root contin-ued to torment theIndian spinners with
amajestic double century thatplaced England in a com-manding
position and scut-tled home team’s chances of
enforcing a favourable resultin the first Test here on
Saturday.England ended the day two
at an intimidating 555 for eight,built around Root’s 218 that
wasresult of a near nine-hour effortin which he faced 377
balls.
Root became the first crick-eter to score a double hundred inhis
100th Test but more impor-tantly it was an innings that willbe
archived for future generationsas a ready reference on how toplay
spin on Indian pitches.
The pace of his innings on thesecond day was a bit in contrastto
how he played on the first daywhen he was the enforcer andDom
Sibley the grafter.
On the second morning, itwas Ben Stokes who entered thestage and
made it his own with bighitting. He smashed 82 off 118balls
with