Top Banner
A fter dropping to 95 in 2019, the number of tiger deaths breached 100-figure mark again in 2020. At least 60 per cent of these deaths have taken place in the protected zones for big cats in the country, as per the data from the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). The tiger mortality, which stood at 101, 110 and 121 in the three consecutive years before 2019, is now 105 deaths. Analysis of the data shows that last year every month more than 5 tigers were killed except in March when the number was at 4. The reason for the mortal- ity varies from natural deaths, human-animal conflict, includ- ing electrocution, and poach- ing. Developmental pressure has been already taking its toll on their habitats. India is home to about 70 per cent of the global tiger pop- ulation. Today, India has 50 reserves having 2,967 tigers. Of the 105 deaths in 2020, one has been categorised as seizure and another poaching. As per the NTCA, the country’s nodal body working on welfare and protection of tigers, in seizures, a big cat is presumed dead on the basis of the body parts seized by authorities. In 103 cases, the exact cause of the deaths is yet to be verified and investigation details are awaited. Madhya Pradesh topped the list of mortalities with 26 tigers followed by Maharashtra 17. Kerala reported 10 deaths, closely trailed by Karnataka with 9 mortalities. It is the sixth year in a row that Madhya Pradesh has topped the list of States with the highest number of tiger deaths in the country. Month-wise, April proved to be lethal for the tigers when the highest number of mortal- ities was reported with the country losing 15 tigers during the period. At least 60 per cent tigers died inside the tiger reserves, suggesting territorial infighting among the predators for space. Though the data available from the NTCA does not specify the cause of death in 103 cases, experts feel that it may be due to poisoning and electrocution due to man-animal conflicts. Forty per cent of the total mortalities were reported from outside the tiger habitats, which the wildlife experts have termed as a cause of worry. They said that this indicates that either the big cats were in search of food or were forced to move out in the fringes of the reserves due to the loss of their territories to the younger ones. This leaves them vulner- able, the experts said. The total cases of tiger deaths in four years (2015- 2018) are 418 which means on an average eight tigers died every month for the past four years. T he makers of the Amazon Prime Video series Tandav on Monday apologised uncon- ditionally after complaints that one of its episodes had hurt “Hindu sentiments”. The apology came after a case was registered against the makers of the web series in Lucknow and the Information and Union Broadcasting Ministry sought the view of the Amazon Prime on a flood of grievances against the series. The statement from the cast and crew of Tandav said, “We have been closely moni- toring viewer reactions to the web series Tandav and today during a discussion, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting informed us regarding a large number of grievances and petitions received on various facets of the web series with serious con- cerns and apprehensions regarding its content hurting the sentiments of the people. “Tandav is a work of fiction and any resemblance to acts and persons and events is pure- ly coincidental. The cast and crew did not have any intention to offend the sentiments of any individual, caste, community, race, religion or religious beliefs or insult or outrage any insti- tution, political party or person, living or dead. “The cast and crew of Tandav take cognisance of the concerns expressed by the peo- ple and unconditionally apol- ogise if it has unintentionally hurt anybody’s sentiments,” the statement said. A complaint filed by an Uttar Pradesh policeman said that 17 minutes into the first episode, “people dressed up in a very bad manner to represent Hindu gods and goddesses... shown to speak in a very uncalled for language... that hurts religious sentiments”. A mid the ongoing talks to defuse tension at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh, China has added fuel to fire by building a village inside the disputed territory in Arunachal Pradesh. India says it has taken note of the con- struction along the border there and has ramped its infrastructure development projects. The latest development has rung alarm bells in the securi- ty establishment in India. It is apprehended that China wants to maintain the pressure on India by opening several fronts along the 4,000-km LAC stretching from Ladakh in the west to Arunachal Pradesh in the east. The fresh construction detected by satellite images by Planet Labs shows that China has built a new village of about 120 homes. The village is about five km inside the Indian ter- ritory. China has all along dis- puted the claim, sources said here on Monday. Giving details about the new construction, they said the village is on the banks of Tsari Chu river in the Upper Subansiri district. Incidentally, the Chinese troops in 1959 had fired on an Indian post there. “We have seen recent reports of China undertaking construction work along the border area with India. China has undertaken such con- struction activity in the past several years,” the MEA said, adding, “The Government remains committed to the objective of creating infra- structure along the border areas for the improvement of livelihood of its citizens, includ- ing in Arunachal Pradesh.” The latest satellite images pertain to November last year. The image dated a little more than a year before that — August 26, 2019 — does not show any construction activi- ty. So, the village was set up last year. This was the same area where the Chinese army last year detained five locals. The stand-offs now in Ladakh are due to the Chinese alarmed over rapid infrastruc- ture development all along the LAC by India on its own side. However, sources said India has not built any roads or infra- structure development close to the new Chinese village. They also said the maps of the Surveyor General of India earmark that the new con- struction for the Chinese vil- lage is in the Indian zone. Reports said the new vil- lage is a Chinese military post and it was first detected by satellites, including Google Earth, about ten years back. The new pictures of November clearly indicate the post is vast- ly upgraded, thereby posing a challenge to the Indian securi- ty forces. The Indian security estab- lishment maintains that the coming up of this village is a violation of several agreements between the two countries. The pacts clearly say both countries to “safeguard due interests of their settled popu- lations in the border areas’’ and decree that pending an ultimate settlement of the boundary question, the two sides should strictly respect and observe the Line of Actual Control and work together to maintain peace and tranquility in the border areas. T he Supreme Court told the Centre on Monday that the proposed tractor rally on the Republic Day by farmers protesting against the new farm laws is a “law and order” mat- ter and the Delhi Police is the first authority to decide who should be allowed to enter the national Capital. A bench headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde, while hear- ing the Centre’s application seeking an injunction against the proposed tractor or trolley march or any other kind of protest which seeks to disrupt the gathering and celebrations on January 26, said that the Delhi Police has all the author- ity to deal with the matter. “Does the SC say as to what are the powers of police and how they will exercise them? We are not going to tell you what to do,” said the bench, also comprising Justices LN Rao and Vineet Saran. The SC told Attorney General KK Venugopal that it will take up the matter for hear- ing on January 20. “The question of entering into Delhi is a law and order matter and will be determined by the police,” the bench said, adding, “Mr Attorney General, we are adjourning the matter and you have all the authority to deal with this matter.” W est Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has once again looked up to Nandigram for a slice of polit- ical luck and as an apparent strategy to blunt the impact of the defection of her erstwhile spearhead, Suvendu Adhikari, a powerful mass leader of the region. Mamata on Monday told a huge rally at the “ground zero” of what they call Trinamool’s “farm revolution” that she was more than eager to contest from the place as this was a lucky ground for her. “I will fight from Nandigram… Rather I will fight both from Nandigram and Bhawanipore… My soul has told me that this place is lucky for me… it is a holy place… and that I should fight from Nandigram… I have always started my campaign for the Assembly polls from this place,” Mamata said once again attacking the “turncoats” who quit the TMC before elections and vowing once again not to let the BJP capture Bengal. “You may win many elec- tions, you may become all powerful, you may be the Prime Minister of India and you may rule the world but I vow from this holy land of Nandigram that I will never allow the BJP to enter Bengal,” Mamata said, adding how some people were quitting the party as “all these years they have earned huge black money which they want to save.” Mamata’s sharp attack received an equally high-deci- bel reply from Adhikari, who led a road-show down SP Mukherjee Road, past Banerjee’s Kalighat residence. He at once took up the chal- lenge welcoming the TMC supremo at Nandigram and pre-declared the result: a “hands down” defeat for the Chief Minister. “I welcome her to Nandigram… which catapult- ed her to power and which she remembered after five years… Let her contest from Nandigram and if I am fielded by my party there I take a vow today that if I cannot defeat her by a margin of half-a-lakh votes then I will quit politics,” Adhikari said. New Delhi: Protesting union leaders on Monday said farm- ers have a constitutional right to take out their tractor rally peacefully and asserted that thousands of people will par- ticipate in the proposed event on January 26. The reaction came after the SC said the Delhi Police is the first author- ity to decide the entry of protesting farmers into Delhi. T he parliamentary stand- ing committee on Information Technology (IT) has summoned officials of Twitter and Facebook on January 21 in connection with the prevention of misuse of social media. The panel would discuss measures of safeguarding cit- izens’ rights and ways to pre- vent misuse of social media in the light of the evidence pre- sented to it by the committee. “Evidence of representa- tives of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and to hear the views of the representatives of Facebook and Twitter on the subject ‘safeguarding citizens’ rights and prevention of mis- use of social/online news media platforms, including special emphasis on women security in the digital space,” according to Lok Sabha Secretariat notice. This would be the agenda of the committee’s next meet- ing. The sitting will be held from 4 pm onwards on January 21, it said. The 31-member parlia- mentary standing committee on IT is headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday said accepting the new privacy policy of social messaging app WhatsApp was a “vol- untary” thing and one can choose not to use or join that platform if one did not agree with its terms and conditions. “It is a private app. Don’t join it. It is a vol- untary thing, don’t accept it. Use some other app,” Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva said. C hief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will distribute ex-gratia assistance to 10,285 beneficiaries of Sambal Yojana under 'Aapka Sambal-Aapki Sarkar' programme on January 19. Total Rs 224 crore will be transferred in the account of these beneficiaries, from the state level with a single click. Chouhan will inaugurate the programme at 3 pm at Minto Hall. The programme which will be telecast live, will include ministers, public rep- resentatives, officers and ben- eficiaries of Sambal Yojana from various districts.Beneficiaries from 51 districts will be benefited in the programme. Total Rs 1.46 crore will be transferred into the accounts of 67 beneficiaries of Agar-Malwa district, Rs 1.24 crore to 56 ben- eficiaries of Alirajpur, Rs 1.24 crore to 54 beneficiaries of Anuppur district, Rs 24 lakh to 11 beneficiaries of Ashok Nagar district, Rs 14.58 crore to 699 beneficiaries of Balaghat dis- trict, Rs 7.58 crore to 339 ben- eficiaries of Barwani district, Rs 6.92 crore to 314 beneficiaries of Betul district, Rs 68 lakh to 30 beneficiaries of Bhind dis- trict, Rs 2 lakh to 1 beneficia- ry of Bhopal district, Rs 92 lakh to 42 beneficiaries of Burhanpur district... Continued on Page 3 RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008
12

4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

Mar 26, 2023

Download

Documents

Khang Minh
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
Page 1: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

�������������������� ��������� ���������������� ������������ ������������������� ������������������������������� ��������������������������� �������������������� �������������� ��� ���!��������������������������"��#�� ��������$����%�������������������������������������� �� � �!"#" � ���������������&����������������������� ������ �����'������������������������(��(���������� )����� ����*����������+�� �,-�������������$����%

�������

���$���������� ./0��/'1�

After dropping to 95 in 2019,the number of tiger deaths

breached 100-figure markagain in 2020. At least 60 percent of these deaths have takenplace in the protected zones forbig cats in the country, as perthe data from the NationalTiger Conservation Authority(NTCA).

The tiger mortality, whichstood at 101, 110 and 121 in thethree consecutive years before2019, is now 105 deaths.Analysis of the data showsthat last year every monthmore than 5 tigers were killedexcept in March when thenumber was at 4.

The reason for the mortal-ity varies from natural deaths,human-animal conflict, includ-

ing electrocution, and poach-ing. Developmental pressurehas been already taking its tollon their habitats.

India is home to about 70per cent of the global tiger pop-ulation. Today, India has 50reserves having 2,967 tigers.

Of the 105 deaths in 2020,one has been categorised asseizure and another poaching.As per the NTCA, the country’snodal body working on welfareand protection of tigers, inseizures, a big cat is presumeddead on the basis of the bodyparts seized by authorities.

In 103 cases, the exactcause of the deaths is yet to beverified and investigationdetails are awaited.

Madhya Pradesh toppedthe list of mortalities with 26tigers followed by Maharashtra

17. Kerala reported 10 deaths,closely trailed by Karnatakawith 9 mortalities. It is the sixthyear in a row that MadhyaPradesh has topped the list ofStates with the highest numberof tiger deaths in the country.

Month-wise, April provedto be lethal for the tigers when

the highest number of mortal-ities was reported with thecountry losing 15 tigers duringthe period.

At least 60 per cent tigersdied inside the tiger reserves,suggesting territorial infightingamong the predators for space.Though the data available from

the NTCA does not specify thecause of death in 103 cases,experts feel that it may be dueto poisoning and electrocutiondue to man-animal conflicts.

Forty per cent of the totalmortalities were reported fromoutside the tiger habitats, whichthe wildlife experts havetermed as a cause of worry.They said that this indicatesthat either the big cats were insearch of food or were forcedto move out in the fringes ofthe reserves due to the loss oftheir territories to the youngerones. This leaves them vulner-able, the experts said.

The total cases of tigerdeaths in four years (2015-2018) are 418 which means onan average eight tigers diedevery month for the past fouryears.

���� ./0��/'1�2'3!-.40

The makers of the AmazonPrime Video series Tandav

on Monday apologised uncon-ditionally after complaints thatone of its episodes had hurt“Hindu sentiments”.

The apology came after acase was registered against themakers of the web series inLucknow and the Informationand Union BroadcastingMinistry sought the view of theAmazon Prime on a flood ofgrievances against the series.

The statement from thecast and crew of Tandav said,“We have been closely moni-toring viewer reactions to theweb series Tandav and todayduring a discussion, theMinistry of Information andBroadcasting informed usregarding a large number of

grievances and petitionsreceived on various facets of theweb series with serious con-cerns and apprehensionsregarding its content hurtingthe sentiments of the people.

“Tandav is a work of fictionand any resemblance to actsand persons and events is pure-

ly coincidental. The cast andcrew did not have any intentionto offend the sentiments of anyindividual, caste, community,race, religion or religious beliefsor insult or outrage any insti-tution, political party or person,living or dead.

“The cast and crew ofTandav take cognisance of theconcerns expressed by the peo-ple and unconditionally apol-

ogise if it has unintentionallyhurt anybody’s sentiments,”the statement said.

A complaint filed by anUttar Pradesh policeman saidthat 17 minutes into the firstepisode, “people dressed up ina very bad manner to representHindu gods and goddesses...shown to speak in a veryuncalled for language... thathurts religious sentiments”.

���� ./0��/'1�

Amid the ongoing talks todefuse tension at the Line

of Actual Control (LAC) inLadakh, China has added fuelto fire by building a villageinside the disputed territory inArunachal Pradesh. India saysit has taken note of the con-struction along the borderthere and has ramped its infrastructure developmentprojects.

The latest development hasrung alarm bells in the securi-ty establishment in India. It isapprehended that China wantsto maintain the pressure onIndia by opening several frontsalong the 4,000-km LACstretching from Ladakh in thewest to Arunachal Pradesh inthe east.

The fresh constructiondetected by satellite images byPlanet Labs shows that Chinahas built a new village of about120 homes. The village is aboutfive km inside the Indian ter-

ritory. China has all along dis-puted the claim, sources saidhere on Monday.

Giving details about thenew construction, they said the

village is on the banks of TsariChu river in the UpperSubansiri district. Incidentally,the Chinese troops in 1959 hadfired on an Indian post there.

“We have seen recentreports of China undertakingconstruction work along theborder area with India. Chinahas undertaken such con-

struction activity in the pastseveral years,” the MEA said,adding, “The Governmentremains committed to theobjective of creating infra-structure along the borderareas for the improvement oflivelihood of its citizens, includ-ing in Arunachal Pradesh.”

The latest satellite imagespertain to November last year.The image dated a little morethan a year before that —August 26, 2019 — does notshow any construction activi-ty. So, the village was set up lastyear. This was the same areawhere the Chinese army lastyear detained five locals.

The stand-offs now inLadakh are due to the Chinesealarmed over rapid infrastruc-ture development all along theLAC by India on its own side.However, sources said India hasnot built any roads or infra-structure development closeto the new Chinese village.

They also said the maps ofthe Surveyor General of India

earmark that the new con-struction for the Chinese vil-lage is in the Indian zone.

Reports said the new vil-lage is a Chinese military postand it was first detected bysatellites, including GoogleEarth, about ten years back.The new pictures of Novemberclearly indicate the post is vast-ly upgraded, thereby posing achallenge to the Indian securi-ty forces.

The Indian security estab-lishment maintains that thecoming up of this village is aviolation of several agreementsbetween the two countries.The pacts clearly say bothcountries to “safeguard dueinterests of their settled popu-lations in the border areas’’ anddecree that pending an ultimatesettlement of the boundaryquestion, the two sides shouldstrictly respect and observethe Line of Actual Control andwork together to maintainpeace and tranquility in theborder areas.

���� ./0��/'1�

The Supreme Court told theCentre on Monday that

the proposed tractor rally onthe Republic Day by farmersprotesting against the new farmlaws is a “law and order” mat-ter and the Delhi Police is thefirst authority to decide whoshould be allowed to enter thenational Capital.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice SA Bobde, while hear-ing the Centre’s applicationseeking an injunction againstthe proposed tractor or trolleymarch or any other kind ofprotest which seeks to disruptthe gathering and celebrationson January 26, said that theDelhi Police has all the author-ity to deal with the matter.

“Does the SC say as to whatare the powers of police andhow they will exercise them?

We are not going to tell youwhat to do,” said the bench, alsocomprising Justices LN Raoand Vineet Saran.

The SC told AttorneyGeneral KK Venugopal that itwill take up the matter for hear-ing on January 20.

“The question of enteringinto Delhi is a law and ordermatter and will be determinedby the police,” the bench said,adding, “Mr Attorney General,we are adjourning the matterand you have all the authorityto deal with this matter.”

���������� ����.".��*�"$2-4'-"�"

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has

once again looked up toNandigram for a slice of polit-ical luck and as an apparentstrategy to blunt the impact ofthe defection of her erstwhilespearhead, Suvendu Adhikari,a powerful mass leader of theregion.

Mamata on Monday told ahuge rally at the “ground zero”of what they call Trinamool’s“farm revolution” that she wasmore than eager to contestfrom the place as this was alucky ground for her.

“I will fight from

Nandigram… Rather I willfight both from Nandigramand Bhawanipore… My soulhas told me that this place islucky for me… it is a holyplace… and that I should fightfrom Nandigram… I havealways started my campaign forthe Assembly polls from thisplace,” Mamata said once againattacking the “turncoats” who

quit the TMC before electionsand vowing once again not tolet the BJP capture Bengal.

“You may win many elec-tions, you may become allpowerful, you may be thePrime Minister of India andyou may rule the world but Ivow from this holy land ofNandigram that I will never

allow the BJP to enter Bengal,”Mamata said, adding how somepeople were quitting the partyas “all these years they haveearned huge black moneywhich they want to save.”

Mamata’s sharp attackreceived an equally high-deci-bel reply from Adhikari, wholed a road-show down SPMukherjee Road, pastBanerjee’s Kalighat residence.He at once took up the chal-lenge welcoming the TMCsupremo at Nandigram andpre-declared the result: a“hands down” defeat for theChief Minister.

“I welcome her toNandigram… which catapult-ed her to power and which sheremembered after five years…Let her contest fromNandigram and if I am fieldedby my party there I take a vowtoday that if I cannot defeat herby a margin of half-a-lakhvotes then I will quit politics,”Adhikari said.

������������� ���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��� ���������������� ��� ������������������������� ��������� �� �������������� ��������������������������������� ����!����"�����������������������������������������������#$�������%&������������������������ ������������� � ���������� ��� �������� '��(��)�� �*+�����

New Delhi: Protesting unionleaders on Monday said farm-ers have a constitutional rightto take out their tractor rallypeacefully and asserted thatthousands of people will par-ticipate in the proposed eventon January 26. The reactioncame after the SC said theDelhi Police is the first author-ity to decide the entry ofprotesting farmers into Delhi.

���� ./0��/'1�

The parliamentary stand-ing committee on

Information Technology (IT)has summoned officials ofTwitter and Facebook onJanuary 21 in connection withthe prevention of misuse ofsocial media.

The panel would discussmeasures of safeguarding cit-izens’ rights and ways to pre-vent misuse of social media inthe light of the evidence pre-sented to it by the committee.

“Evidence of representa-tives of the Ministry ofElectronics and InformationTechnology and to hear theviews of the representatives ofFacebook and Twitter on thesubject ‘safeguarding citizens’rights and prevention of mis-use of social/online newsmedia platforms, includingspecial emphasis on womensecurity in the digital space,”according to Lok Sabha

Secretariat notice. This would be the agenda

of the committee’s next meet-ing. The sitting will be heldfrom 4 pm onwards onJanuary 21, it said.

The 31-member parlia-mentary standing committeeon IT is headed by CongressMP Shashi Tharoor.

New Delhi: The Delhi HighCourt on Monday saidaccepting the new privacypolicy of social messagingapp WhatsApp was a “vol-untary” thing and one canchoose not to use or jointhat platform if one did notagree with its terms andconditions. “It is a privateapp. Don’t join it. It is a vol-untary thing, don’t accept it.Use some other app,” JusticeSanjeev Sachdeva said.

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

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

,� �� ��� ������� �������� ���������������� �������&������� �� ��-��)������������ +�$

�������������������������������������������������������������������� ����!���

�������"#$� �������%������������ ���&�����������!���� ��

����������!���&�����������������

'���� ����������������������������������� ��� ���������� �!��������� ���������"������������#�������� ���$��������� $������������

!�%!&� �" '� &��"(�)%!&*�*+*�%!"�� �#�*�*%*",��%+*�* ")*% � "��-

(���������������)*+�'��������!!������ �������,�����������

�%!.*�/%�!���"*&�00�1�!%*�"))�0*�!#�!��0%��)-2�&"-&�������$�

���������������������%�&�'������ �������( ���

+����� ����.������

��&*& �%*"����"&�& � �&���"&�&5������������67�88�������������9:��������������;9:���������������;:*�����������7�8::��������������76

�3��456 �� ���$��� �����$

�������� ������ 514+"'

Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan will distribute

ex-gratia assistance to 10,285beneficiaries of Sambal Yojanaunder 'Aapka Sambal-AapkiSarkar' programme on January19. Total Rs 224 crore will betransferred in the account ofthese beneficiaries, from thestate level with a single click.

Chouhan will inauguratethe programme at 3 pm atMinto Hall. The programmewhich will be telecast live, willinclude ministers, public rep-resentatives, officers and ben-

eficiaries of Sambal Yojanafrom variousdistricts.Beneficiaries from 51districts will be benefited in theprogramme.

Total Rs 1.46 crore will betransferred into the accounts of67 beneficiaries of Agar-Malwadistrict, Rs 1.24 crore to 56 ben-eficiaries of Alirajpur, Rs 1.24crore to 54 beneficiaries ofAnuppur district, Rs 24 lakh to11 beneficiaries of Ashok Nagardistrict, Rs 14.58 crore to 699beneficiaries of Balaghat dis-trict, Rs 7.58 crore to 339 ben-eficiaries of Barwani district, Rs6.92 crore to 314 beneficiariesof Betul district, Rs 68 lakh to30 beneficiaries of Bhind dis-trict, Rs 2 lakh to 1 beneficia-ry of Bhopal district, Rs 92 lakhto 42 beneficiaries ofBurhanpur district...

Continued on Page 3

�-���������������../������0#+.1"�����!�������������2�����3�4���������� ���� �#��������������)���� ���

<������+����� �� ����&% ��2���������)���������

������������� ���

��������% ��2���������2

='����!� 3%�7�7>��&&+� 7>="��?�� ������/@������"��� ����

+��������#������/'1���'3!-.40 514+"'��5135"./?0"�

�".!1���"�+3� !1".��*"�1��/1�"�3. 1A�/�"5"�� ��"A0"�"

�&*"8��&��9�5:;<RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

�$ ��2�������������� 562�=>=5?� �����5=��57@>

5� % 5%�6�*44���4�#4!3?

4.�?-�''

75�8��1-�/$'�.�!����!��4�5/�-/+���.!3?�4�A�#4��8:��"A?B�'"0A/�

�2�5�'�0.

$/??��?//?��/���.5"�!"C?��/#/"�

��������� �������������������������

Page 2: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

�� ���������� ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

����������� ������ �������������� ������������������������������������� !"#���$"�!"�%&!��������'()*+(),+()-������"������"�����������.��������#����/01232)+4�'�'5���� �������(62���������7/2��8����+�'�'�9�+:���(+#����/0123((4�'�5+%��������;3*66/2663-**+�� ';3-,-)()3)10'&�����;���������+!�"!�9�'��'��&�.<2330<()*3)+!�9�'��'�/2<#��=�<0(<2331/233,+�"!�>!� �!.&��!�'('33&��;������+!����+#�� ���?�+��������@���;��� �A����� ������;#�9����A������'������;��B����+C����=�����;��'1+#�����.�� #�?�+#�������:����9+��?C����/((3332+�����;3((/03((3066+������������=�����;8/)(+������1+�="C�+.���#����9�/23()3(+>'�'�����;3(23/0,*-,33A0,*--33+��� �=�����;C����������D���� �����';3-,1*6*6-))+3-,-2,2-26-+���D��?=�����;0��8����+����������9������+8�E �!��+���D��?2213(1'%���������;3622/2)0100)+2)01000+2)01006'

���������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� ��������������� �� ���������������������������������������������������������� ������������ ����� ��������������� ��������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� �������� �!����������������"���������� ���������������������������� �������������������� ���� ��������������������������������� �����������������������������#��������������������������� ���� ����$����%����&�������������������������� ��������������� �����������������������'����������������������������������� ���������������"��������������������(�����������������������������

�������� ������ 514+"'

SAKSHAM 2021(Sanrakshan Kshamta

Mahotsav) was inaugurated onMonday by Faiz AhmedKidwai, Principal Secretary,(Food & Civil Supplies andConsumer Protection), MPGovernment, in the presence ofPadm Pande, representingState-Level Coordinator ( SLC), MP, at Indian Oil Bhawan,MP State Office, Bhopal.

SAKSHAM is a significantannual event which is orga-nized jointly by PetroleumConservation ResearchAssociation (PCRA) and the oilindustry under the aegis ofMinistry of Petroleum &Natural Gas, Govt. of Indiawith the sole purpose of bring-

ing awareness among the peo-ple on the need for conserva-tion of oil & gas and the meansto do it. During this period,various activities are carried outin sectors like Transport,Industrial, Agriculture andHousehold to spread the mes-sage on Fuel Conservation.

This year, the Ministry ofPetroleum and Natural Gashas decided to conduct this

drive for a month from January16 to February 1 5, 2021 acrossthe country with the theme of“Green & Clean Energy”.

In his keynote address,Kidwai, conveyed that Covid-19has taught us the need for con-serving nature and we need tochange our lifestyles to save theearth from the effects of glob-al warming and the escalatingenvironmental pollution.

He highlighted the variousinitiatives taken by Govt ofIndia, like the switchover to theultraclean BS VI fuels, increasein LPG penetration to 96%through PM Ujjawal Yojna,thrust on increasing share ofGas in energy mix by develop-ment of City Gas Distributionnetworks, plan to start 5,000Compressed Biogas (CBG)plants to produce 15 MMTPAof gas, research in emergingfuels like Hydrogen with CNG,promotion of e-mobilityoptions, etc. In the closing, hestressed that nature-based solu-tions are the best solutions andhe urged all to develop thehabit of using energy in anoptimal way, with aim ofboosting the national economy,providing a healthy environ-

ment, reducing import bill andsustaining the ecosystem.

Padm Pande, in hisInaugural address, elaboratedthe various initiatives taken byOil Marketing Companies ingeneral and IndianOil in par-ticular to provide energyoptions with lower carbonfootprints and reduced envi-ronmental pollution. He high-lighted some of the initiativeslike production of Bio-dieselfrom Repurpose Used CookingOil (RUCO), Bio-ethanol pro-duction plant set up at Panipat,the ongoing efforts to developcost-effective Aluminium-based batteries and starting ofbattery-swapping services atIndianOil outlets, as well as var-ious digital initiatives toimprove energy efficiency.

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

�������� ������ 514+"'

Rajendra Sarilla, an engi-neer by education and an

educator by profession, has aspecial talent for storytelling,which he explores as an authorand occasionally as a stand-upcomedian.

In his book ‘Scarlett – Lostin the Five Lands’ Sarilla pensdown the story of a fifteen-year-old girl who lives in a hid-den world of benign and pow-erful beings, but the peace isshattered by a mighty intrud-er. Scarlett, a warrior princess,gets caught up in the freakishturn of events that follow.

It took Rajendra two yearsto pen down the story into hisfirst novel, Scarlett – Lost in theFive Lands. "Fantasy literature,inspired me to write. I havealways been a passionate read-

er, but the true inspirationcame when I tried to writesomething of my own andrealized that I have a talent forthis.

I relish creating powerfulcharacters and fantasy worlds."Rajendra Sarilla, author

'Scarlett' is one of thosedelectable fantasies that everyyoungster wants to read thesedays. It’s a fantasy tale of a fif-teen-year-old girl who loses her

identity and embarks on athrilling journey of rediscov-ering herself, facing socialissues like racism and dis-crimination. It’s an action-packed story with duels andbattles.

Fantasy lovers of all ageswould enjoy reading the noveleven though it is aimed atyoung adults. Young girls andwomen would find a specialconnection with it because ofthe powerful female characters.

The story has entertainingside characters that add charmto it: powerful villains, craftyassassins, heroes that are wor-shipped, and vulnerable young-sters justlike Scarlett herself.The story has an imaginativeuse of fantasy elements and anoriginal fantasy universe that isthe product of the author’simagination.

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

'�(��� �&� ����/�0&�� ����/�������������12��� 2����� �� � ������

�������� ������ 514+"'

Under the latest and popu-lar online series of Indira

Gandhi Rashtriya ManavSangrahalaya, an exhibit of theweek’ the PALKI, Traditionalwooden palanquin collectedfrom 1997, was on disppay.

The Folk community ofMidnapur, West Bengal. It’sMeasurement Length (includ-ing balli) - 389.5 cm, Height- 90cm., Width – 67 cm. displayedin the audience as The ThirdExhibit of the month ofJanuary, 2021 through officialwebsite, Facebook, Instagramand twitter page of the IGRMS.

In this regard PraveenKumar Mishra, Director,IGRMS said that Indira GandhiRashtriya Manav Sangrahalaya(National Museum ofMankind), Initially this serieswill focus on the masterpieces

from its collection which areconsidered as unique for theircontribution to the culturalhistory of a particular ethnicgroup or area. The Palanquinis perceived to be an ancientmedium of wheelless transportused by humans.

For many centuries, thishuman-powered enclosed vehi-cle also served as an elite formof transport in many a culture.In India, the traditional use ofPalanquin has a symbolic attach-ment to the wedding ceremony.

This Palanquin from WestBengal reflects the glorious tra-dition of bidding the bridefarewell at the wedding time. Invarious provinces of the State,wedding Palanquins are tradi-tionally owned by the Raut com-munity. It was probably a goodinvestment for the owner whocould rent it out many a time.

Regarding this object

Sudeepa Roy said that theobject is made out of wood,having a rectangular box at thecenter, supported by two roundwooden poles on both sides forlifting and carrying purposes.It is painted with floral designsreflecting the aesthetic sense ofthe maker. Various motifs likethe lotus flower, flowerpot,elephant, tiger, and conch usedin the Palki are believed to beauspicious.

The sliding doors at oneside of the Palanquin with itsspacious sitting place allows thebride to travel safely.

The Dusadhs of Puruliadistrict, West Bengal, were pri-marily employed as palanquinbearers at marriage ceremonies.With the advent of modernmeans of transportation, theuse of Palanquin graduallyvanishes from this alluring tra-dition of the State.

�������� ������ 514+"'

Rajya Sabha member and for-mer Madhya Pradesh Chief

Minister Digvijay Singh hasdonated �1,11,111 for the con-struction of Ram temple.

Along with a donation, in aletter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Singh reaf-firmed his faith in lord Ram say-ing his native place Raghogarhhas a 400-year-old Raghoji (lordRam) temple.

“Despite lord Ram beingpresent in my every bit, I nevermixed my religious feelings withmy politics,” claimed the RajyaSabha MP, saying, "I also don’tsee religion tagged with nation-alism, said Singh quotingMahatma Gandhi, “Religion isno test of nationality but a per-sonal matter between man andhis god.”

He claimed that he wasn’taware that which bank accountis meant for depositing dona-tions for Ram temple construc-

tion, so he tagged a cheque of Rs1,11,111 in favour of ‘Shri RamJanmbhumi Teerth Yatra Trust’with the letter forwarded to thePrime Minister on Monday.

He also flayed aggressivestyle of donation collection say-ing such practices can’t be partof any religious activity and notat all part of Sanatan dharma. Hecalled for donation collection incompassionate atmosphere.

He pleaded ignorancewhom Ram Janmbhumi NyasTrust has authorised to collectdonations for the temple con-struction. The senior politicianalso urged the Vishwa HinduParishad for presenting theaccounts of previous donationcollection for Ram temple.

VHP has launched donationcollection for the temple inAyodhya since Jan 15 and politi-cians and common people inlarge number are coming for-ward with donations for thesame from Madhya Pradesh aselsewhere.

��(D�����������7%77'���� ������ �����������������

�������� ������ 514+"'

Wahane Sisters, known forthier flawless jugalbandi

on Santoor and Sitar performedat 13 Swaranjali GharanaFestival. To preserve and pro-mote rich cultural heritageamongst the young generationSwaranjali Mysic Festival isorganised. “13th GharanaFestival 2021,” virtual concertsseries was organised bySwaranjali Society in associa-tion with GunijankhanaHindustani Music. It was fea-tured on YouTube channel.The fest was dedicated toSwami Vivekananda Jayanthi

Sanskriti and PrakritiWahane, Ujjain gave a sponte-neous performance. The sistersplayed Puriya Dhaneshree inBandishe Vilambeet Taal andDrut in Teen taal.

The duo were occompa-nied by Nishant Sharma onTabla.

Sanskrati, born in 1998,made her first debut at the ageof eight. She received her ini-tial education from her fatherLokesh Wahane, Gandabandhdisciple of world famous SitarMaestro Ustad Shahid Parvezji(Etawa Gharana).

Sanskrati’s tradition andstyle of playing is unmatchedand is characterized by a rare

phenomena of purity of Raga,Gayaki and Tantrakari Ang.

Prakrati Wahane, Born in1999, has received God's gift inthe form of music. She startedtaking training of music fromher father, Lokesh Wahane,who is a Master of Santoor. Shemade her debut at an early ageof eight and started pursuingthe traditional music trainingas a devoted artist.

Prakrati is whole hearted-ly devoted to santoor. Prakratistradition and style of playingsantoor is unrivalled. It is char-acterized by rare phenomena ofpurity of Raga, GayakiandTantrakari Ang.

Presently she is flourishingunder the able guidance of herfather Lokesh Wahane , UstadShahid Pravez and TablaMaestro Talyogi Pt. SureshTalwarkar.

�������� ������ 514+"'

A41-year-old man died afterhis scooter was hit by a

speeding vehicle at BhadbhadaMandir under Sukhisewaniapolice station area on Sunday.

Police said that the injuredman was taken to a hospitalwhere he was declared dead. Thedeceased was identified asBhagwan Singh Ahirwar ofPanchvati Colony in Nishatpura.

The vehicle which hit thescooter remained unidentifiedand investigation to establishidentity of errant driver and vehi-cle has been started.

The body was sent for thepost mortem after the prelimi-nary investigation. The policehave registered a case under sec-tion 304 A of the IPC and start-ed further investigation. Thedeceased was hit when he was onhis way of Vidisha in the evening

on his scooter at around 4 in theafternoon. He was rushed to hos-pital where he was declareddead. Meanwhile, a 40-year-oldman was found dead near rail-way tracks at Rachna Nagar inthe night on Sunday; man washit accidentally and died.

Police were informed after aman was found dead at railwaytracks and on the receipt, apolice team reached the spot andstarted investigation.

In the initial investigationnothing was found to help inestablishing identity of deceased.Police found that the man fellfrom speeding train whichcaused his death but detailswere not found from thedeceased.After the preliminaryinvestigation the body was sentfor the post mortem and thepolice have registered a caseunder section 174 of the CrPCand have started investigation.

67,�,������������������(�� ����������� �����

*������ ����+,����-��.��#������� �������.��#��� ��������� ���/�!�

&����� �&��� (���� ���� �3���������� ��� � ������4&�� ��(���5�� ���,�������

������������������� �����

�� �������� ������� � ��

����������� ������� ���!���

"�� ��������������

�������� ������ 514+"'

Upset over a woman SubDivisional Magistrate

(SDM) sending her subordinatetehsildar to accept a memoran-dum from the protestingCongress members in Ratlam,the Sailana Congress MLAHarshvijay Gehlot crossed theline during an angry outburst.

A video of the incident wentviral in social media on Monday

afternoon. “If you were a maleofficer, I would have collared youand handed the memorandum,”an angry Gehlot said to theSDM. Congress party onMonday had taken out a tractorrally in support of the ongoingfarmers’ agitation in New Delhiand afterwards the MLA wishedto hand over a memorandum tothe SDM.

The woman officer howev-er instead of personally accept-ing the memorandum sent atehsildar and this infuriated thelawmaker from the Congressparty who declined to handover the memorandum to thesubordinate officer and insistedthe SDM showed up there.

“You guys don’t value us. Ifyou were a male officer, I wouldhave grabbed you by collar andhanded the memorandum,” saidan upset MLA.

The SDM clarified thattehsildar is also an executivemagistrate and is no inferior per-son to accept the memorandum.The angry MLA then said thatin that case she should have sentany patwari or clerk to receive thememorandum.

The MLA is yet to clarify hisstand on the incident. Recently,a video had gone viral in whichthe Alot MLA of CongressManoj Chawla was also seenthreatening a patwari (revenuedepartment staffer).

�������� ������ 514+"'

The players of State WaterSports Academy gave a

brilliant performance AtNational Canoe MarathonChampionship. Showcasing thebest of their talent, the playersbagged 11 medals including 6gold, 3 silver and 2 bronzemedals.

The championship wasplayed at State capital. After thegrand win, the players metMinister of Sports and YouthWelfare Yashodhara RajeScindia at TT Nagar Stadiumhere on Monday.

While meeting the players,Scindia said that MadhyaPradesh feels proud when our

players come after winningmedals. She asked the playersto set their goals and achievesuccess by working harder andparticipate in other platforms.

Sports Minister, whileaddressing the medal winnersof the National CanoeMarathon Championship con-gratulated all the players andsports coaches who earnedmedals after performing bril-liantly in the championship.

Director Sports and YouthWelfare Pawan Jain, along withother officers and ChiefInstructor of Kayaking-Canoeing Academy Pijush Baroiwere present on the occasion.

In the three-day NationalCanoe Marathon

Championship held at thesmall lake of the capital, play-ers of the Water SportsKayaking Canoeing Academymade Madhya Pradesh proudby winning a total of 11 medalsincluding 6 gold, 3 silver and 2bronze.

Academy players KaveriDheemar, Akshit Baroi, ShivaniVerma and Sonu Verma took15 kms. Earned one gold medaleach in marathon. While 21 kmBalvir Jat and Devendra Senalso won one gold medal eachin the marathon. In the com-petition, Aastha Dangi, SushmaVerma and Himanshu Tandonearned one silver each andShubham Yadav and AmitVerma one each.

���� $��������� ������%���� $���������##���� $�#������ ����%�!01����������

�2�1���������#��&� ��%�)�������%��#� �(�������������� ��!����� �

�������� ������ 514+"'

Amovie depicting the life ofIndian Navy officers and

how the navy works ‘Our Navy’was screened at ShauryaSmarak here on Monday. TheIndian Navy is a well balancedand cohesive three-dimen-sional force, capable of operat-ing above, on and under thesurface of the oceans efficient-ly safeguarding the nationalinterests.

The film was screenedunder the regular film screen-ings held at Shaurya Smarakevery day. The movies screenedhere are based on Indian Army,Navy and other armed forces.Produced by Films Division,this film is directed by MBhavnani.

It is to be noted that thefilm featured about the bravehearts who protects the coun-try from seas and oceans. Thefilm features about theadvanced technologies usedby the Navy even in sub-marines.

The same water surface is

equipped with veneer, fatalwarheads equipped with dead-ly weapons. Modern missiles tocombat the problem of air inthe air above the surface sur-face, the combatants.

There are also the capabil-ities of the aircrafts to be thereon the ships.

The Chief of the Naval Staff(CNS) exercises operationaland administrative control ofthe Indian Navy fromIntegrated Headquarters ofMOD(Navy).

He is assisted by the ViceChief of the Naval Staff(VCNS) and three otherPrincipal Staff Officers, name-ly the Deputy Chief of theNaval Staff (DCNS), the Chiefof Personnel (COP) and theChief of Material (COM).

�������� ������ 514+"'

Misrod police have nabbedtwo miscreants near

Ashima Mall and recoveredgoods worth Rs 1 lakh fromtheir possession on Sunday;one of the miscreant is watchlist criminal of Itarsi and serv-ing externment.

The nabbed accused wereidentified as Govind Yadav(22) and Gopi Dhurve(21) ofItarsi. Nabbed accused havepast criminal record and wereinvolved in burglary and theftsin different areas of the statecapital and Itarsi.

Accused Gopi is watch listcriminal and serving extern-

ment. The accused confessedtwo burglaries on January 9 inShubhalay Parisar and SoumyaFortune Heritage atHoshangabad road.

Valuables stolen from twoburglaries worth Rs 1 lakhwere recovered from their pos-session. The two were stayingin Mandideep and used to tar-

get nearby areas for burglary.More details of the accused

would be searched and detailsof the accused would be pro-vided by the concerned policestations were their records havebeen made as possibly accusedhad commit more crimes in theperiod of externment.

Meanwhile, two miscreants

were arrested by Misrod policeand centring plates and otherconstruction goods worth Rs90000 was recovered from theirpossession which was stolenfrom Akriti Aquacity onSaturday. The accused wereidentified as Lal Singh (32) andManish Rajak(28) and seizedvehicle bearing MP13GA 5776

which was used in the burglaryby the two. During the investi-gation Lal Singh who is deployedas security guard was quizzedand he revealed burglary withthe help of Manish. Accusedwere nabbed after constructionmaterial owned by Zakir wasstolen and complaint was lodgedby him.

�������#������� �$����������������� ���%�

����&�������������������� ��

�������&������������������ ���������'

��������

���������� ������������ ������������� ����������� ������������� ���������������� ������������������'�(���������������������� +����� �����

+ ����&���!� '������� &�� ����������6����������� + �����+������-��)�������������������������������� +����� �����

,� �������� ������!01�������������3!%����� � ���������

Page 3: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

���������(������ ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

From Page 1Rs 1.18 crore to 53 bene-

ficiaries of Chhatarpur dis-trict, Rs 11.72 crore to 550 ben-eficiaries of Chhindwara dis-trict, Rs 14.24 crore to 660 ben-eficiaries of Damoh district, Rs72 lakh to 33 beneficiaries ofDewas district, Rs 70 lakh to 31beneficiaries of Datia district,Rs 1.94 crore to 86 beneficia-ries of Dhar district, Rs 3.22crore to 151 beneficiaries ofDindori district, Rs 26 lakhs to11 beneficiaries of Guna dis-trict, Rs 2.68 crore to 116 ben-eficiaries of Gwalior districtand Rs 1.58 crore 58 lakh to 71beneficiaries of Harda district.

Similarly, people inremaining districts would alsoget benefitted.

�������� ������ 514+"'

In view of the shortfall in sub-sidy, the state government

has urged to increase the sub-sidy given in the centrallyfunded schemes. Similarly, theCentre has also been urged togive approval for obtainingone percent additional loanwithout conditions on GSDP.

Today, during a discus-sion of Finance Ministers ofstates with the Union FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon various budget proposalsbefore the Union Budget,Finance Minister Jagdish Deoramade important suggestions onbehalf of the state governmentto Madhya Pradesh on thebudget proposals suited to theneed of Madhya Pradesh in the

Union Budget.Deora said that inspired by

the vision of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to buildAtmanirbhar Bharat, ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan has prepared aroadmap for creating anAtmanirbhar Madhya Pradesh.This year’s budget will makethis concept come true andAtmanirbhar Madhya Pradeshwill also be formed along witha powerful AtmanirbharBharat.

Deora said that funds arebeing transferred directly fromthe Government of India to thebank accounts under the cen-trally sponsored regionalschemes. The amount of theseschemes should be made avail-able through the Consolidated

Fund of the state. He also helddiscussion on increasing theproportion of centre’s share inthe centrally sponsored andcentrally aided schemes relat-ed to infrastructure works likePradhan Mantri Awas Yojana,Pradhan Mantri Gram SadakYojana, Smart City Missionetc.

The Minister told theUnion Finance Minister that Rs3,685 crore has been demand-ed from the Government ofIndia as compensation for thedamage caused by pest out-break and flood disaster againstwhich only Rs 611 crores hasbeen received so far. Thereshould be provision for morefund to the states for relief andrehabilitation during variousnatural disasters.

�������� ������ 514+"'

The young story tellers mes-merised the audience with

the fascinating narration of sto-ries. An online event KahaniyonKa Karwaan was held onMonday at Facebook Live.Kahaniyon Ka Karwaan wasorganised by Kalaa Kabab AurKisse. It is a show which aims torevive the age old experience oflistening and telling stories.

The participants IyanaBiswas, Aditi and Arpit Kumarnarrated different stories beau-tifully. This was the fourthepisode of Kahaniyon KaKarwaan which recieved a goodresponse by the audience.

Iyana, a 6 year old partici-pant from Kolkata narrated thechildren's story 'Goldilocks and

the three bears'. Another partic-ipant Aditi from Dehradun nar-rated the fitional story TheScholar's Mother tongue'. ArpitKumar narrated the storyNaseeruddin's aim. All the par-ticipants performed brilliantly atthe event. The youngsters werevery confident and clear whennarrating the stories.

Kalaa Kebab aur Kisse is acustomised digital platform forartists which empathise withthe artist and empower the artthat the artist creates. This wholeplatform started during the lock-down and artists who weretrapped inside their homerealised that there is a need fora platform where artists fromacross the globe can talk abouttheir journey and also showcasetheir art.

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

&���! ��������������������������� ���!��������������� �7��8��+ ����� �� ���0������/�� ����� ��������������������� +����� �����

-�����-���������-����������������(����-�������-��-��������

)*�++,)�"�����������$�������������������������%0"�� "�����������������������������?���&����5������$����+�����������!����$������?�(��D�?����!������������������� �����������%�����������������(�����������������������(��������������(�� ���������?���&��%���������������������������(����������!���$������� ����������������������� ��� ������������������ ����@����������������?���&������ ����������������� �������� )���������������������������� ����)������� ���?���&������������������(������)��������������������� �����������)�$�� )�!�����)��� %)��+����?���&��� ����(�����)�����������!���� ����!�������?���&������������������������ �������?���&�����������%!������������������ ���������������������&���������������������������@����������������������� �(��%�������� ������������������������������������&�����������������������������������!����$�����%��������������� ������������������?� ����������������������?��5������5����������������������%

��������������������������� ���������%0"�� !����$������?�(��D�?����!����������� ������������������������E���������������� �����.��������$����)�$��������1���)����)�+�����������"�����)�'�������'������(��"��������$������������� ��������$�&���?��&����%�!����$������!�������@���������������������$����%�/�����)�����1����$��������� ����!����$������!������%�?�(��������������������!�������������������������� ����%

������������$����������������$����%0"�� !����$������?�(��D�?����!������������@������������������(����������������3�����*������$�������-���)����������������������� ���������������������� �������%�!����$�����!����������������3�����*������$�������-������� ������������� ���� �������������������������������%�1����������������������������� ������F��������$�����'����$������&��%�3�����*�����$���������� � �����������������9:%�

�������� ������ 514+"'

A22-year-old youth wasattacked by three unidenti-

fied miscreants with sharp-edgedweapons in Ashoka Garden latein the evening on Sunday; vic-tim escaped with minor injuries,search has been intensified formiscreants.

According to the police,local spotted a youth beenattacked and assaulted by threemiscreants and tried to rescuehim and took him to hospitalwhere his condition is reportedlystable.

Police were informed andbased on the receipt police teamreached and started investigation.After injuring the victim thethree accused escaped the spotand are yet to be identified.

The victim identified asAjay Pathak in his complaintstated that he was travelling inshared auto rickshaw when hehad a fight with the miscreantswho attacked him in his handsand palm, the victim managed toescape and later approachedpolice and lodged complaint. SHO Ashoka Gardenpolice Alok Shrivastava said thatin the investigation it was foundthat the victim hails from Rewaand is pursuing graduation fromprivate college. He was attackedwhen he was travelling in autorickshaw and entered a fight withaccused who attacked him.

8��� ���������� &���,�,����������"���&�*�����

�������� ������ 514+"'

Kolar police have booked anunidentified miscreant

who molested and assaulted a27-year-old girl near JK hospi-tal late in the evening onSaturday; victim was hit bystone by the miscreant.

According to the police, thevictim was on her way to homeafter visiting hospital and whenshe reached outside gateaccused obstructed her wayand tried to molest her andlater assaulted her when shetried to oppose.

The victim raised an alarmafter which locals rushed to herrescue. The accused escapedfrom the spot. The police havestarted investigation and reg-istered case of molestation.

In her complaint victimstated that she was pushedand stone pelted by the accusedwho she had never seen before

but appeared and molestedher, in the attack victimescaped with injuries and hercondition is reportedly stable.

After the victim raisedalert locals rushed to her res-cue and fearing of been caughtaccused escaped the spotthreatening her of life. Based onthe complaint and after the pre-liminary investigation, policeregistered a case of molestation,threatening of life, assaultingthe victim.

Police suspect that theaccused is involved in molesta-tion and other crimes andhabitual criminals of the areawould be quizzed to establishidentity of the accused.

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

7������ ��� ������������� �����2�9���������� ��������� !� �� ��������� ����������������� �����5��� �����:+������������������������ +����� �����

�������� ������ 514+"'

Kotwali police have bookedfive accused who availed

two motorbikes on loan usingdocuments of a police person-nel posted in Raisen; policehave started search for theaccused.The accused wereidentified as Mohammad Adil,Rahil, Riyazuddin, Deepak andAnas who availed two wheel-ers loan using documents ofSantosh Verma.

The complaint was lodgedby the victim after collectionagencies and bank contactedhim as repayment got deferredand then only victim came toknow that two wheeler loan fortwo motorbikes have beenavailed in his name using hisdocuments. The victim losthis documents and purse in theyear 2018 and accused got thedocuments and availed loanusing the documents.

+�� �����&�;�����(������&������� ����������������� ��

���� !1".��*"�1

Shiromani Akali Dal onMonday asked the Central

Government not to deny the“constitutional right” for apeaceful Republic March inDelhi to the law-abiding farm-ers of the country on January26.

SAD’s call to the CentralGovernment came at the end ofparty’s core committee’s three-hour meeting, presided over byits president Sukhbir SinghBadal.

“The meeting consideredthe Government’s dragging ofits feet over permission for thepeaceful democratic March asa grossly violative of the veryConstitution which theRepublic Day symbolizes,” saidPrincipal Advisor to the SADpresident Harcharan SinghBains, giving details of themeeting.

Bains said that the coregroup observed that theCentral Government could nothave chosen a worse and moreinappropriate day and occasionthan January 26 to deny the cit-izens of the country their fun-damental democratic right tofree expression as well as theright to organize democraticactivity.

“The farmers of the coun-

try have already declared thattheir peaceful March would bea celebration of the spirit of thevery Constitution for which thenation observes Republic Day.The March by farmers would,in fact, be a reminder that Indiais a democratic Republic and isneither a monarchy nor dicta-torial set up. The governmentshould, in fact, thank the farm-ers and facilitate the March,”said a resolution passed duringthe meeting.

URGES IMMEDIATE WITH-DRAWAL OF ALL NIANOTICES TO FARMERS

Bains said that the partyCore Committee also camedown heavily against thebrazen abuse of the NationalInvestigating Agency (NIA)against farmers who havedemonstrated to the worldhow disciplined, peaceful, anddemocratic their genuine andtotally justified protest is.

“It is really reprehensiblethat the Government is takingresort to such draconian mea-sures against the country’speaceful bread winners (anna-data) who have not given lawenforcing agencies a singleexcuse in over two months tocomplain of any violation ofpeace or law and order. It is

really absurd that theGovernment sees a threat topeace and security from the lawabiding citizens,” noted thecore committee, while callingupon the Government to with-draw all the notices issued tofarmers and farmer leaders bythe NIA.

PARTY RESOLVE TO CON-TINUE SUPPORT TOFARMERS

Through another resolu-tion, the party resolved to con-tinue to support and strength-en the farmers’ struggle inevery way as it is fully in linewith the ideals and principlesfor which the party has alwaysled the fight from the front.

“The party stands for theestablishment of an egalitarianRepublic and it is in pursuanceof this goal that the party hadresigned from the UnionCabinet and quit the NDA.

It was for the same idealsthat the party patriarch ParkashSingh Badal had returned hisPadma Vibhushan. We cannotremain a mute witness if theGovernment denies to the peo-ple their democratic rights forfreedom of expression andpeaceful assembly,” read theresolution.

&7)� ������� ������������������������� ���������� �� �

���� !1".��*"�1

Ahead of the proposed trac-tor rally on Republic Day,

farmers protesting against theCentre's new agri laws onMonday observed ''MahilaKisan Divas'' in recognition ofthe contribution and support ofwomen in the protests.

At various places in Punjaband Haryana, women speakersmanaged the stage and theprotest site.

In Punjab's Barnala, a func-tion was held where the womenmembers of Bharatiya KisanUnion (Ekta-Ugrahan) stagedprotests at Dhanaula village.

BKU(U) outfit womanactivist Sukhdeep Kaur said,"We want to give a message thatwe fully stand behind our

brothers who are protestingagainst the farm laws. We willkeep our fight on till the farmlaws are repealed by theCentre."

Events as part of ''MahilaKisan Divas'' were held at var-ious places, including Barnala,Ferozepur, Amritsar, Patiala,Moga in Punjab and Hisar,Jind, Bhiwani and Sonipat dis-tricts in Haryana.

Meanwhile, ahead of theproposed tractor rally, farmers'bodies in Punjab and Haryanahave started preparations tomobilise the peasants. Farmersleaders on Monday said laterthis week, several batches ofpeasants are set to begin theirmarch from Punjab andHaryana in their tractor-trolleyfor the rally.

�! "��# �� � $ �������"������ ��� �%�� ��&�� �

�������� ������� ./0��/'1��

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police has arrest-ed the former CEO of National Spot Exchange Ltd Anjani Sinha

for allegedly duping the investors by assuring fixed returns on fic-titious trading.

The accused has been identified as Anjani Sinha. Police saidthat he was arrested on Sunday from Mumbai.

According to Dr O P Mishra, the Joint Commissioner of Police,EOW, the complainants alleged that the brokerage firm M/sIntegrated Commodity Trades Pvt Ltd, Barakhamba Road, Delhi,through its directors has cheated them by inducement and mis-representation regarding commodity trading on the platform ofNational Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL).

"The complainants were induced by the directors to invest incommodity market which is undertaken by them as trading andclearing member of NSEL, presenting it to be completely safe, asbeing regulated by the government authorities," said the Joint CP.

"Being the member of the exchange, the alleged broker was toensure that at the time of issuing the delivery order, the seller of thecommodity satisfies his clearing member that he owns and holdsadequate stocks of the required commodity," he said.

"The trading cum clearing member has to ensure that the com-modities purchased by the clients or investors through contracts weredelivered to the NSEL certified warehouses.

The warehouse receipts were to be delivered by the member toits clients at the time of the settlement of the contracts," said theJoint CP. "The alleged broker in collusion and conspiracy with theexchange (NSEL) and the sellers (trading members) did not col-lect the delivery orders and the warehouse receipts whereas the trans-actions were done on behalf of the complainants," said the Joint CP. "It was alleged that fictitious stocks were traded on the exchangeas a result of which the settlement of contracts was not done on theday of maturity, causing loss to the complainants. The alleged bro-ker had represented to the complainants that NSEL is a national levelelectronic, transparent and institutionalised spot market which pro-vides counter party guarantee in respect of all trades and which wasregulated by Forward Markets Commission (FMC)," said the JointCP.

4��� ������ ��5.������5.6�57������ ���$���������� ���

� �����

�������� ������ *3�3*�"$�

Apilot working with a private airline was killed after a trail-er truck coming from the wrong side crashed into his Honda

accord car on the Dwarka expressway near Sector-114 late onSunday night.

According to the police, a resident of Sector 109 inGurugram, Anmol Verma (40), was returning to his home fromDelhi. At around 1.30 am on Sunday, when he reached the DwarkaExpressway near Sector-114 a trailer coming from the wrongdirection hit the car from the front.

The pilot was seriously injured and was rushed to a privatehospital by some passersby.

They also informed his friend Pankaj Kaushal about the acci-dent by using the pilot’s phone. Kaushal is also a pilot with anoth-er private airline.

Police said that the accident was so terrible that although theairbags of the car worked perfectly, the pilot was injured criti-cally and later died in hospital during treatment. The front partof the Honda accord was badly mangled after the crash.

"We heard a loud boom and it sounded like an explosion.We weren't sure what it was and we went to the accident spotand saw that it was a horrible accident. We figured that there wasa lot of speed involved. It was really terrifying and it was sad tosee it,” a passerby told the police.

The trailer truck driver abandoned his vehicle and is still onthe run. Police suspect that the truck driver may have been com-ing from the wrong way on the expressway which led to this acci-dent.“We have impounded the truck which has a Haryana reg-istration number. With the number we are collecting informa-tion about the absconding truck driver.

������$�'��� �� ������������������� ������ '

Page 4: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

� �����-������ ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

�3��456

���� ./0��/'1�

Union Minister of RoadTransport and Highways,

Nitin Gadkari, on Monday,inaugurated Road SafetyMonth where he highlightedthe central Government's com-mitment towards safety.

"Till now, we have beenobserving National Road SafetyWeek. But from today, we willobserve National Road SafetyMonth. 70% of deaths are in theage group of 18-45 years,"Nitin Gadkari said.

Gadkari also said that thereis a need to save lives in thecountry where 415 people aredying every day due to roadaccidents.

"If we wait till 2030, 6-7lakhs more people will die. So,we've made a commitmentthat before 2025, road accidentsand deaths due to it will bebrought down by 50% withhelp of people's participation,"Gadkari added.

In 2020, the CentralGovernment had participatedin a conference in Sweden,where a vision was conceptu-

alised - to have zero road fatal-ities in India by 2030, he said.

"We had promised toreduce such fatalities by 50%.Tamil Nadu has done it, with asuccess rate of 53%.," Gadkaristated.

Providing details of hisministry about an increasedtarget of per day roads con-struction, Gadkari said, "Wehave achieved the target of con-structing 30 kilometres of road,I believe that by the end ofMarch, perhaps we will achievethe target of constructing 40kilometres of road per day."

"World Bank and ADB(Asian Development Bank)approved two projects worth?7,000 crore each. We'll receiveapproval from finance ministry

soon. So, we'll spend ?14,000crore to improve black spots -death traps - on roads," theUnion Minister of RoadTransport and Highwaysadded.

The event at VigyanBhavan was also attended byDefence Minister RajnathSingh, Union minister VKSingh and chief executive offi-cer (CEO) of Niti AayogAmitabh Kant.

Globally India is one of theworst-hit nations when itcomes to road accidents. Indiaaccounts for about 5 lakh roadaccidents annually, one of thehighest in the world, in whichabout 1.5 lakh people die andanother 3 lakh become crip-pled.

���� ./0��/'1�

North India will continue toreel under the grip of an

intense cold wave for a fewmore days. The IndianMeteorological Department(IMD) on Monday extendedthe cold wave warning in northIndia till January 22.

According to the IMD,change in wind direction fromeasterly to westerly/north west-erly is likely to bring downminimum temperature by 2 to4 degree Celsius during thenext three days and after thatrise by 2-4 degree Celsius overthe northwest India.

RK Jenamani, the seniorscientist, IMD, said that thewarning for the cold wave inNorth India has been extend-ed till January 22. Earlier, theIMD had issued a cold wavewarning for January 13-15 andthen extended it till January 18.A few days back, the weatherbureau had issued a cold wavewarning for 13-15 January andthen extended it till 18 January.A cold day is when the mini-mum temperature is less than10 degrees Celsius and themaximum is at least 4.5 degreesCelsius below normal.

However, Jenamani saidthat the dense fog spreadacross northern plains inPunjab, Haryana, Rajasthan,Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand will begin lifting

from Tuesday. Dense fog willbegin lifting from Tuesdayover northern plains in Punjab,Haryana, Rajasthan, UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand. Thiswill lead to hotter days andcolder nights.

“A fresh WesternDisturbance is likely to affectWestern Himalayan Regionfrom 22nd January. Under theinfluence of its interaction withlow level easterlies from 23rdJanuary; scattered to wide-spread rain/snow likely overWestern Himalayan Regionduring 22nd-24th January,” theIMD said in a tweet.

“Under the influence oflower level wind reversal fromeasterly to westerly/northwest-erly, Cold Wave conditionslikely in isolated pockets overEast Uttar Pradesh, Punjaband Haryana, Chandigarh &Delhi during 18th-20th andWest Uttar Pradesh and northRajasthan during 19th-21st

January, 2021,” the IMD said.In Rajasthan, the night

temperatures dipped to near-zero, and Pilani recorded atemperature of 0.4 degreesCelsius, followed by Churu,which witnessed a temperatureof 1.9 degrees Celsius.Meanwhile, dense fog could bewitnessed in parts of UttarPradesh as major cities such asAgra, Kanpur and Jhansirecorded below six degreesCelsius temperatures, signifi-cantly below season's normal.Moderate fog is expected overisolated places in the state overTuesday and Wednesday. InPunjab and Haryana too, thetemperatures remained belownormal levels. Bathinda record-ed 3.4 degrees Celsius, whileGurdaspur and Faridkot wit-nessed 7 and 5.5 degreesCelsius respectively.Chandigarh recorded a lowtemperature of 8.3 degreesCelsius.

���� ./0��/'1�

COVID-19 pandemic hasrevealed the need to invest

in health, and the call for sus-tainable funding to the WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)so that the global body can fullyrespond to public health needs,Union Health Minister DrHarsh Vardhan said onMonday.

He pointed out that anyproposed increase in budgetneeds to also consider theglobal economic impact of thedisease.

The Minister, who chairedthe 148th session of WHOExecutive Board through videoconference, said the poorestand most vulnerable are thehardest hit by COVID-19 as theimpact of the crisis will reversehard-won development gainsand hamper progress towardsachieving SustainableDevelopment Goals,

Stressing the need toensure fair and equitable dis-tribution of coronavirus vac-cines, Dr Harshvardhan saidthe pandemic has presented anopportunity whereby “health”has been placed on the globalagenda of Governments, part-ners and donors.

He thanked the medicalprofessionals, scientists andresearchers as well as other

essential workers around theworld who continue workingunder difficult and challengingcircumstances to deal with thepandemic. He also offered hiscondolences to the familieswhose dear ones died due tothe disease, according to astatement by the health min-istry.

"We all know how difficultthe year 2020 has been for thewhole world… how humanityhas battled this crisis with all itsmight, but it has also been ayear in which the wisdom andevidence of science was judi-ciously adopted. I call the year2020 as the ‘year of science' anda ‘year of incredible scientificachievement.

“In less than 12 months,researchers have characteriseda novel illness, sequenced a newvirus' genome, developed diag-nostics, produced treatmentprotocols, and established theefficacy of drugs and vaccinesin randomised controlled tri-als," Vardhan was quoted assaying by the ministry.

The Union minister alsoexpressed optimism that inthe current year, the unprece-dented crisis caused by thepandemic shall be mitigatedand successfully reversedthrough committed politicalleadership and sustained glob-al cooperation and solidarity.

������������������� �����$��������(#)�#� �������

���� ./0��/'1�

Union Agriculture MinisterNarendra Singh Tomar,

on Monday said that the pre-vious Governments could notintroduce these reformsbecause of pressure tactics.

“These reforms will go along way in elevating the livingstandard of farmers. Wheneverany reform is introduced,impediments are bound tocome in the way,” Tomar said.

The tenth round of talksbetween the Centre and 41protesting farmers' unions isscheduled for Wednesday at 12noon at Vigyan Bhawan in theheart of the national Capital.Separately, a Supreme Court-appointed panel to resolve thecrisis is also scheduled to holdits first meeting on Tuesday.The previous rounds of talksbetween the Government andfarmers have failed to reach anyconcrete results, as protestingunions have stuck to theirmain demand for repealingthe new laws, but theGovernment has refused to doso.

“Misinformation is beingspread across the country thatMSP (minimum supportprice) is being discontinued

but the government has madeit clear that the MSP will con-tinue. Procurement on MSPhas also been increased.Pulses-oilseeds have also beenincluded in the MSP. Theselaws were expected earlier butthe previous governmentcould not implement becauseof pressure. It was the Modigovernment that took a boldstep and brought these lawspassed in Parliament.. .Whenever a good thing hap-pens, there are obstacles,"Tomar said while addressing anational conference on recentagriculture reforms, Myths vsFacts organized byConfederation of NGOs ofrural India.

The statement is beingseen as a reiteration of the gov-ernment's stand that it was onlywilling to discuss the laws

clause by clause and amendthem suitably – something thathas been rejected by farmers,who called the last round oftalks “120 per cent failure”. Theminister added that the lawswere made after extensive dis-cussions between experts, sci-entists and farmer unionsbased on recommendations ofa panel led by Professor MSSwaminathan, the father of India's Green Revolution.

He also cited agriculturebudget figures for this fiscalagainst those in 2013-14 whenthe PM Modi-led governmentfirst came to power to showcasethe government's commitmenttowards farmers' welfare.“There will be a five-foldincrease in the agriculture bud-get,” he added.

On eve of the tenth roundof meeting, a delegation offarmers representing over 270farmer producer organizationsfrom Madhya Pradesh, UttarPradesh, Assam, Karnataka,Chhattisgarh and Odisha metMinister of State forAgriculture Parshottam Rupalaand appealed not to repeal thelaws. Minister of State forAgriculture KailashChoudhury was also present inthe meeting.''

��� ������!��!�����!����"��!������#�

5>�$������������������

���� ./0��/'1�

The Centre on Monday saidthat avian influenza has

been confirmed in 14 Statesacross the country so far. Ofthem, avian influenza has beenconfirmed in five states inpoultry birds while in nineStates it is confirmed incrow/migratory and wild birds.

“Further, avian influenzahas been confirmed in samplesof the dead heron from TisHazari, and in crow from RedFort, Delhi and advisory in thisregard has been issued to Delhifor taking necessary action,” itsaid.

According to the ministryof animal husbandry, cullingand sanitization operationshave been completed in theepicenters of Latur district inVillage Kendrewadi,Ahmedpur, Village Sukani,and Village Tondar(Vajrawadi) in Udgir talukand village Kurdwadi in Ausataluk.

Further, in MadhyaPradesh (Districts of Harda andMandsaur) and Chhattisgarh(District Balod), rapid responseteams have been deployed forthe culling of poultry birdsaround one km radius of epi-

centers of the outbreak in poul-try. Culling operation of poul-try is continuing in the epi-centers of Haryana (DistrictPanchkula).

“In Maharashtra, rapidresponse teams has beendeployed and culling of poul-try birds is underway in all theaffected epicenters,” it said.

According to the CRISIL’sanalysis that rated 87 poultrycompanies comprising nearly30 percent of the industry’s rev-enue, the bird flu has choppedaround 30 percent off broilerchicken volume, bringing downdaily chicken demand in thecountry from 100 lakh kg inDecember 2020 to an estimat-ed 70 lakh kg in January 2021.

Apart from this, the ratingagency added that wholesaleprices of broiler chicken havecrashed 20-30 percent from Rs105-110 per kg in December toRs 80 per kg. Following this,the overall revenue coulddecline 30-40 percent inJanuary 2021 due to a fall inrealizations and volume.

It noted that as wholesaleprices usually correct sharplyfollowing such outbreaks, thefall in prices tends to be tem-porary.

1���������$��(�� �����������8������9�������

���$���������� ./0��/'1�

Doctors have warned thatpeople should avoid drink-

ing alcohol or taking immuno-suppressant drugs in the daysbefore and after receiving theCovid-19 vaccine to ensurethat it works properly.

“People will have toobserve extra precautions dur-ing the 28 days gap between thetwo doses for the vaccine tobecome effective. The benefi-ciaries should also refrain fromvisiting crowded places, wearface masks, use sanitizers, min-imise contacts and refrain fromconsuming alcohol orimmunosuppressant drugs,"said Dr Jugal Kishore DirectorProfessor and Head,Department of CommunityMedicine, VMMC andSafdarjung Hospital in thenational Capital.

"It's a strain on the body. Ifwe want to stay healthy andhave a strong immuneresponse, don't drink alcohol,"he said.

Dr Ramesh Keshav, HeadCardiac AnesthesiaDepartment at the RMLHospital in the national Capital,who took the first shot on thefirst day of the roll out of thevaccine drive agreed sayingthat heavy drinking and drugabuse should in other timesotherwise also has to be avoid-ed as they compromise with thebody immunity.

He cited the Union HealthMinistry’s guideline that saidthat protective levels of anti-bodies are generally developedtwo weeks after receiving thesecond dose of vaccines.

Dr Kishore explained thatalcohol consumption, intake ofsteroids and tobacco may leadto impaired liver function in aperson who has been vacci-nated and the person’s immuneresponse may be compromised.

“In such a case, the personmay not develop adequateimmunogenicity and the pur-pose of vaccination is defeated,”he said.

In fact, existing scientificliterature on alcohol and theimmune system shows thatexcess alcohol is an immuno-suppressant so people whodrink a lot are more suscepti-ble to infections, a view sup-ported by the doctors worldover.

“Heavy drinkers havemany problems and poorimmune function is one ofthem,” immunologist EleanorRiley at the University of

Edinburgh, UK said.Heavy alcohol use is also

associated with a number ofother health problems, includ-ing an increased risk of heartdisease, cancer, and liver dis-ease.

While alcohol should beavoided, a team of researchersin their study has suggestedthat health behaviours anddepression, stress, or lonelinessalso have been known to alterthe body’s ability to develop animmune response to vaccinesincluding the new Covid-19vaccines.

The international organi-sation Association forPsychological Science (APS)said that simple interventions,however, may maximise thevaccine’s initial effectiveness. Itquoted the study which rec-ommends exercising and get-ting a good night’s sleep in the24 hours before vaccination.The report has been acceptedfor publication in the journalPerspectives on PsychologicalScience.

Health experts say thatwhile vaccination programmesare being rolled out in variouscountries, not everyone willgain the full benefit immedi-ately. “Environmental factors,as well as an individual’s genet-ics and physical and mentalhealth, can weaken the body’simmune system, slowing theresponse to a vaccine,” as perthe APS.

7���������������������� ������� �� ����� ���������������.)���

���� ./0��/'1�

Out of total of 3,81,305 ben-eficiaries, who have so far

been vaccinated for coron-avirus since the rollout of theanti-Covid jab drive on Sunday,at least 580 adverse events fol-lowing immunization (AEFI)have been reported in thecountry. The Union HealthMinistry said that seven werehospitalised but none of themwas serious.

It also said that the death oftwo persons soon after takingCovid-19 vaccine in UttarPradesh and Karnataka was notrelated to the jab.

Manohar Agnani,Additional Secretary in theUnion Health Ministry, whileaddressing a Press briefing

here on Monday said that theydied due to heart related ail-ments. Agnani said “a cumu-lative 580 adverse events fol-lowing immunization (AEFIs)and seven hospitalizations have

so far been reported in thecountry since the nationwideCOVID inoculation drivewhich began on January 16.Majority complained fever,headache and nausea, accord-ing to the provisional data ofongoing vaccination drive.

He said that of the twodeaths reported, death of the 52year male from Moradabad,UP (who was vaccinated onSunday and died next day is notrelated to vaccination as per thepost mortem report. Deathwas caused due to cardiopul-monary disease.

Similarly, he said that thesecond death which was of amale (43), a resident of Bellary,Karnataka was vaccinated onSaturday and died Monday.“The cause of death is anteri-

or wall infarction withCardiopulmonary failure. Thepost mortem is being con-ducted,” he said.

The Government howeverhasn’t given any details aboutthe adverse reactions happenedfor which particular vaccine.

On Monday, till 5 pm,1,48,266 beneficiaries were vac-cinated across 25 states andUnion territories, taking thetotal tall of the vaccinated peo-ple to 3,81,305. On the first dayie Saturday around 2 lakh peo-ple were inoculated, saidAgnani.

Of the 1,48,266 beneficia-ries who were administered thevaccine on Monday, 8,656 werefrom Bihar, 1,822 from Assam,36,888 from Karnataka, 7,070from Kerala, 6,665 from

Madhya Pradesh, 7,628 fromTamil Nadu, 10,352 fromTelangana, 11,588 from WestBengal and 311 were fromDelhi.

In Delhi, three hospitali-sations were reported, out ofwhich, two have been dis-charged, and one with faintingis under observation at MaxHospital, Patparganj.

In Uttarakhand, one of thebeneficiaries is stable andunder observation at AIIMSRishikesh, the official stated. InChhattisgarh, one beneficiaryis under observation, while inKarnataka, two cases of hospi-talizations were reported, hesaid. "No case of serious/severeAEFI attributable to vaccina-tion till date," the additionalsecretary added.

�:������������������ �� �����$������ �

���� ./0��/'1�

The CBI has arrested a ChiefAdministrative Officer of

North East Frontier Railway(NFR), Maligaon (Assam), aDeputy Chief Engineer, anAssistant Executive Engineer ofNFR, an employee of privatecompany based at Guwahati(Assam) and a private person(relative of the arrested CAO)in a case related to allegedbribery of � 1 crore.

The agency recovered�2.39 crore in cash duringsearches at 26 locations, includ-ing Delhi. Uttarakhand, Assam,Tripura and West Bengal,linked to the five accused per-sons.

The arrested accused arethe CAO Mahendra SinghChauhan, Deputy ChiefEngineer Hem Chand Borah,Assistant Executive Engineer(AEN) Lamxi Kant Verma, anemployee of ABCIInfrastructures Pvt. Ltd.Bhupendra Rawat and privateperson Indra Singh.

“The total amount of �2.39crore was recovered. Thesearches includes an allegedbribe of �1 crore, whichexchanged hands on Sunday.During searches, a sum of�18.5 lakh and �6.5 lakh havebeen recovered from thepremises of Deputy ChiefEngineer and AssistantExecutive Engineer (AEN)respectively. In addition, �60lakh was recovered fromDehradun and �54 lakh fromGuwahati premises of CAO, on

Sunday. Besides this, there hasbeen recovery of jewellery anddocuments related to propertyfrom these locations,” the CBIsaid in a statement.

Earlier, the CBI had regis-tered a case against the accusedpersons and unknown othersunder relevant sections of theIndian Penal Code andPrevention of Corruption Act.

It was alleged that theaccused were abusing their

official position for obtainingillegal gratification. It was fur-ther alleged that the arresteddirector of the private compa-ny was in contact with theCAO in various on-going pro-jects in the NFR region. It wasalso alleged that on hisdemand, the said Director,through his employee, deliv-ered a bribe of Rs.1 crore to therelative of said CAO at his res-idence in Dehradun. “Theaccused allegedly exchangingbribe money were caught yes-terday. The alleged bribe of RsOne crore was recovered,” itsaid. .

The agency had on Sundaybusted a major corruptionracket. It was alleged that somesenior public functionaries ofNFR were involved in corruptpractices with private contrac-tors for the on-going projectsunder the division. The con-tractors were allegedly beingfacilitated in awarding the con-tracts, processing of subse-quent bills and release of pay-ments by the public func-tionaries in lieu of bribe, it fur-ther said adding investigationand searches are continuing.

*+,� ��������-.��$$��� �������/�������"��"����� ��

� ����������������.�����������;���������� ���������

;������������-��)����������!�� '��(��)�� �*+�����

) ����������� � ������������#������ �����&&�������� ����&���# �������������� �&� ���.�) ���&�� ���������� � � ������� ������ ����&� ������ ��������������� �� �� �����/������������0�������� � ����� ���*",������

1�'������� � �������������� �������������� ����� ���������-%2���������������������������� ��������� �

/��!����$� ����2��$�%$-3$�44#���&�������������� ��������2�� ��������������� �����$� '��� ��� � �����#���&� ������ ��������� �($3%$(�2

6����������� -����5��!� ������� ����'���&���������

Page 5: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

� �����2������ ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

Etawah (Uttar Pradesh): Eightcows were killed and six wereinjured after speeding RajdhaniExpress mowed them downnear Tamera Ki Madaiya villageon Delhi-Howrah route inJaswantnagar area of Etawahdistrict.

The incident took place onSunday, between Jaswantnagarand Balrai railway stations.

According to the villagers,a herd of cattle was grazingnear the tracks when 14 ofthem were mowed down by theRajdhani Express.

Eight cows died on thespot, while six suffered critical

injuries.The gateman and villagers

alerted the district officialsincluding SDM JaswantnagarJyotsana Bandhu, who rushedto the spot. The SDM super-vised the rescue operation andshifted the six injured animalsto a nearby gaushala for treat-ment, said the police.

“We have shifted theinjured cows to a nearby'gaushala' for treatment. Itappears that the incidentoccurred due to heavy fog inthe area. Further investiga-tions are underway in thisregard,” said the SDM. PTI

0����������������"���� ����1���!���

������$���� �� � -4!1�

It’s time for Republic Day andcelebrities in Kerala are agog

to know who are all those whohave made it to the list of thisyear’s list of civilian awards vizPadma Sri, Padma Bhushan etc.

People in Kerala areobsessed with the titles ofPadma Sree and other Padmaawards. The year 2010 sawfilm director Ranjith making“Pranchiyettan the Saint”, amovie that set the box office onfire. The film is about a busi-nessman in Thrissur who wasduped Rs 1.5 crore by a con-man promising the former aPadma Sree award.

The craze for these awardsis visible only in Kerala thoughthe titles come with a lot of doand don’ts issued by theMinistry of Home Affairs. Thewinner is accorded State hon-ors during his/her final riteswith police band playing theLast Post and gun salute. Thewinner is not expected to dis-play the honorifics anywhereincluding his/her visiting card.

There are no cash incentivestoo. But there were reportsabout a celebrity in the Statespending Rs four crore for thistitle.

Perumbavoor, a small townin Ernakulam district city hasa Padma Sree awardee whodoes not have a house to stay.Acharya Kunhol, a Sanskritscholar who works round-the-clock for the upliftment of theHarijans in the State wasawarded Padma Sree last year.But he stays in a thatched shedeven one year after the title wasconferred on him by thePresident of India.

Though it is customary on

the part of the State adminis-tration to congratulate theawardee, nobody from theKerala Government hadextended that courtesy to himtill date. “Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan issued a state-ment condemning the Centrefor not awarding the titles to atleast one person in the list ofnearly 50 persons that wassubmitted by KeralaGovernment. No need to spec-ify that all the names in the listwere strong critics of NarendraModi. But Vijayan failed tocongratulate Acharya Kunhol,”said K K Sudhakaran, secretary,Tapasya and a close associate ofthe Acharya.

Last year, The Pioneer hadreported about the patheticsituation of the hut in whichthe Acharya stays. He hadexpressed his helplessness inoffering a cup of black coffeewhen a group of media personshad called on him. “I have nocomplaints against anybodyand am content with whatev-er the God has given me,” saidthe Acharya who keeps himself

busy by teaching Sanskrit to thepoor children around. Thoughhe has contacts with all theleading politicians in the State,the Acharya has notapproached any one of themwith requests for help.

His children are all namedafter persons who revolution-ized the world through selflessservices. Ambedkar, GoldaMeir, Martin Luther King, SaiLakshmi , Devadas andAmritanandamayi!

Bobby Chemmannur, abusiness baron from Kerala’sThrissur has said that he wasapproached by people in thegovernment with the offer of aPadma Sree. “But when theydemanded Rs 50 lakh to meetthe initial expenses, I backedout. Later I heard a Keralaentrepreneur who paid Rs 4.5crore was honored with aPadma Sree,” saidChemmannur who is knownfor his friendship with lateDiego Maradonna. He refusedto divulge details about the per-sons and the year of the inci-dent.

<� ���/�+����& ����� ��������������������������=

�$�������$����� �"$$3

Ahead of the Republic Daycelebrations in Jammu &

Kashmir, Director General ofPolice Dilbagh Singh onMonday claimed there areinputs that the terrorists arekeen to carry out some mis-chief as they are desperate todisturb communal harmony,peace and order in theregion.

Chairing a high level secu-

rity review meeting of thesenior officers of Police, Army,BSF, CRPF and Intelligenceagencies here in the policeheadquarters the DGP saidthat the year 2021 will have itsown challenges as new strate-gies have been adopted byPakistan with new terror oper-atives emerging on groundwhich need to be countered.

Last week, a tunnel wasdetected along theInternational border in the

Samba sector by the BSFjawans.

The security agencies arestill investigating whether thesame was recently used to pusharmed infiltrators inside theIndian territory or not. On theoccasion DGP also directedthat the deployments for repub-lic day may be beefed up andthe QRTs, escorts, guards willhave to be alert.

He directed that allarrangements be made so that26th January celebrations areheld peacefully. He said thatthere are inputs that the ter-rorists are keen to carry outsome mischief as they are des-

perate to disturb communalharmony, peace and order. Hedirected the officers to take careof vulnerable persons andplaces to thwart the nefariousdesigns of enemies.He saidthat well coordinated surveil-lance systems must be ensuredto undo nefarious plans of theenemies.

The high level securityreview meeting was attendedby COS 16 Corps MajorGeneral Sharad Kapoor, IGPJammu Zone Mukesh Singh,IGP CRPF Jammu P. S.Ranpise, DIG Udhampur ReasiRange Sujit Kumar, DIG DodaKistwar Ramban Range Abdul

Jabbar, DIG BSF Jammu S. K.Singh, SSP Jammu ShreedharPatil, SSP CIV PHQ RajeshBali, SSP CID CI Jammu TahirSajad Bhat, SSP CID SB JammuRohit Baskotra and othersenior officers.

Meanwhile, in SrinagarInspector General of Police(IGP) Kashmir range, VijayKumar said that the threeyouth killed in Lawaypora gun-fight were involved in militan-cy and that the police willsoon present ‘concrete evi-dence’ to their parents.

He said that the bodies ofslain militants aren’t beinghanded over to families in

view of the Covid-19 pandem-ic as people would assemble infunerals and break the Covidprotocol.

Talking to reporters on thesidelines of a road safety weekfunction in Srinagar, the IGPsaid: “We have collected 60 per-cent evidence and in next days,we will collect more evidenceincluding the technical oneand will first convince the par-ents of slain trio that their sonswere involved in militancy andwere providing logistic supportto militants.”

IGP Kumar while replyingto a query that the father of oneof the slain youth has demand-

ed the body of his son, said thatbecause of the Covid-19 pan-demic, bodies of slain militantsaren’t being handed over totheir families.”If we hand overthe bodies, people will assem-ble for funerals and break thecovid protocol, which wouldendanger the lives of people.The bodies of slain militants arebeing buried in the presence oftheir family members.”

The families of the slainyouth have demanded a probeinto their killings, saying theywere innocent and were killedin a staged gunfight. Severalpolitical parties have alsodemanded a fair probe into the

gunfight.Earlier this month, the

families of the trio staged aprotest at the Press Enclave inSrinagar, demanding a probeand return of the bodies.

The IGP said that, of late,youth are being lured into mil-itancy as OGWs as they arebeing provided with pistolsand grenades.

“Yesterday, we arrested ayouth from Anantnag, alongwith a pistol and grenade whowas tasked to kill someone. Weare at it and will counter thetrend through human trackingand this is our top priority,” hesaid.

$������������%�����������������������������&'( )��8�&�������'�������������������(��(���������� )������*+

Kolkata: In a grim reminder forthe Election Commission of Indiathat comingAssembly elections inthe State could be splattered inblood, supporters of TrinamoolCongress and the BJP clashed atthree places with rods and brick-bats during a three-km saffronrally led by Suvendu Adhikari andBengal BJP president Dilip Ghoshin South Kolkata.

The incident tended to mimicthe December 10 attack on NJPpresident JP Nadda’s convoy atDiamond Harbour with a groupof Trinamool supporters cap-tured on camera throwing brick-bats at the BJP rally passing downthe SP Mukherjee Road some twokm away from Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee’s Kalighat res-

idence.The initial attack by the TMC

men sparked the clash when theBJP men counter attacked,sources said. “The BJP workersthen chased them right insidetheir mohalla (locality) and beatthem up,” sources said adding theclashes took place near CharuMarket, a few hundred yardsaway from the Tipu SultanMosque. The police rushed to thespot and controlled the crowd,sources said.

Subsequently the TMC mentoo gathered at different placesand attacked the BJP men whowere returning from the rally. Anumber of people were injured inthe skirmish, sources said addingmotorbikes and some shops were

also vandalized.Reacting to Monday’s inci-

dent Adhikari a former BengalMinister said “we had obtainedthe necessary police permissionfor this rally but still they made ascanty police bandobast makingroom for some TMC men tomount the attack… it was a pre-planned attack as a few men wereseen pelting stones before disap-pearing inside the lanes…Butthese tactics will not work becausepeople of Bengal are with us andthey want a change.”

Bengal Minister Arup Biswashowever blamed the BJP workers“who came from outside andattacked our men who were justfixing party flags for future polit-ical programmes.” PNS

+2 ��3�*��� ��� ��������� ���

7 ��� ���������������������������������5�� �� �������<������������ +�$

������$���$��� $3$5"�

ANigerian drug peddler’s effort to befoolthe Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB)

sleuths fell flat on his flat, as the NCB –though the doctors’ intervention --had adozen of Cocaine pellets extracted fromabdominal cavity where they had reachedafter he had gulped seeing the agency offi-cials come to arrest him.

The NCB said here on Monday that theincident took place on January 14 when itsofficials zeroed in on the accused NigerianIfeamyichukwu Pius moving around a five-star hotel at Juhu to deliver pellets contain-ing Cocaine.

At that time, Pius had concealed Cocainepellets in his mouth. Seeing the NCB officialsrush towards him, the accused peddler

gulped a dozen pellets – containing 1 grameach of Cocaine and the Cocaine pellets land-ed in his stomach.

Without losing any time, the NCB offi-cials rushed him to J J Hospital, where an x-ray and CT scan examination confirmed thatthe pellets were lodged in his abdominal cav-ity,The doctors extracted the dozen pelletsfrom his abdomen. The retrieved cocaine pel-lets were handed over to the NCB officials.

“Accused Nigerian drug peddler was dis-charged from the hospital today. We are try-ing to ascertain his antecedents and also whoare his associates in Mumbai,” NCB’s ZonalDirector Sameer Wankhede said.

This is the first instance where a peddlerwas carrying drugs in his mouth and dis-tributing them to the customers.

�*+ � "������'���������4�� ������ ����'�������$�������� "�����

Kakinada: At a time when alle-gations of multiple templeattacks are making headlines inAndhra Pradesh, the initiativeof installing surveillance cam-eras at all religious places hasenabled the state's EastGodavari district police onMonday to arrest a drunkenbutcher for damaging the tri-dents (trishul) of a local tem-ple in Kakinada more than aweek ago.

The police arrestedVanumu Lakshmana Rao, 39, aresident of Kondayyapalem inKakinada, and also managed toprocure the footage of hiscriminal act. The police sharedfootage of an inebriated Raodancing and talking in front ofthe goddess idols holding thetridents and touching them.

In another video capturedby a CCTV camera from theleft side, Rao raised his handand pushed the idol's trident,resulting in its top part break-ing.

He committed the crime injust 10 minutes: between 10:20p.m. and 10:30 p.m. on thenight of January 9 at SriNookalamma Temple inKakinada's Kondayyapalem.

“He (Rao) was subjected toa thorough interrogation. Thearrested accused has confessedto have committed thisoffence,” said a police official.

On that fateful day, Raoborrowed his friend's bicycleand got drunk. He later went tothe temple, broke the tridentsand went away.

In the footage shared by thepolice, the bicycle was foundfallen on the ground as Rao wasseen dancing, talking andbreaking the tridents, even aspassersby zipped by on theroad beside unbothered.

“Priest of the templeattended as usual in the morn-ing at about 6 a.m. on January10th and noticed that the twotridents outside the templewere partly broken,” said theofficial.

The cement idols standingon either sides of theNookalamma temple's entrydoor used to hold two tridents.

Following a complaint bythe temple's committee presi-dent Karri Gangaraju at 1 p.m.on January 10, next day of thecrime, that two tridents weredamaged, police managed toarrest Rao on Monday. IANS

Amaravati: In a bid to ensurethat students of Governmentschools in Andhra Pradesh donot play truant, the StateGovernment on Mondaylaunched a special mobile app tomonitor the regular attendanceof the students in all the schools.

The app was designed toreview the students' attendance,which can be accessed both bythe teachers and the parents.

Officials said that 90 percent of the information per-taining to the guardians andtheir wards has been furnishedinto the app.

The application will send analert message to the parentsabout their child's attendance ona daily basis. The same messagewill also be sent to the village andward volunteer, an integral cogin the decentralization of gov-ernance system introduced inthe southern state.

“If the child is absent formore than two days, a volunteerwill visit the household andascertain the reasons,” said theofficial. IANS

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralaon Monday reported 3,346new Covid-19 cases, said state'sHealth Minister K.K. Shailaja,adding that the test positivityrate now stands at 10.11 percent.

As many as 68,399 peopleare under treatment in variousfacilities across the state.

Ernakulam has the highestnumber with 574 cases, whileKasargod with the least num-bers with 574 infections.

As many as 2,965 positivecases are through contacts.Atleast 17 fatalities were report-ed on Monday, pushing the tollin the state to 3,480. 53 healthworkers have tested positive forthe coronavirus on Monday.

2,09,786 people are underobservation at various places inthe state. Of this 1,98,681 areunder institutional quarantine,while 11,105 under observationat various hospitals in the state. IANS

Bengaluru: The anti-cow slaughter ordinance cameinto effect in Karnataka on Monday, with provisionsof up to seven years in jail and (or) a fine of up toRs 10 lakh for those 'illegally' involved in cow slaugh-tering, smuggling or selling of beef in the State.

“All provisions of the Karnataka Prevention ofSlaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance,2020 to come into force from January 18,” theKarnataka government has said in an order.

The new amended law bans transportation ofcattle within Karnataka or to other states. The trans-portation is allowed only with due permission fromthe competent authority and against the paymentof fee, if the purpose is to use cattle only for the agri-cultural or animal husbandry activities.

The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter andPreservation of Cattle Act, 2020, which envisagesa ban on all forms of cattle slaughter and stringentpunishment for offenders, is a revised version of aBill that was passed in 2010 when the BJP was inpower.

Subsequently in 2013, Congress came to powerand the BJP's 2010 contentious Bill was shelved. TheCongress had reverted to the less stringentKarnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter andPreservation of Animals Act, 1964, which allowscow slaughter with certain restrictions.

While the 1964 law banned the killing of “anycow or calf of she-buffalo”, it allowed the slaughterof bullock, buffalo-male or female if it was certi-fied by a competent authority to be above the ageof 12 years or incapacitated for breeding or deemedsick.

Due to lack of majority in the Upper House, theruling BJP was unable to move this Bill there anddecided to take an Ordinance route and promul-gated the Ordinance on December 28.

After the state Cabinet passed it, the Ordinancewas sent for the approval of the Governor VajubhaiRudabhai Vala. The Ordinance was formallyapproved on January 5 and it is coming into effectin the state from Monday onwards.

According to the order, three to seven yearsimprisonment and a fine starting from Rs 50,000to Rs 5 lakh can be imposed under this law and sub-sequent repeat offences can invite fines up to Rs 10lakh. IANS

Lucknow: All ten BJP candi-dates for the biennial electionsto the Uttar Pradesh LegislativeCouncil on Monday filed theirnomination papers. ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath waspresent when the candidatesfiled their nomination papers.

Among the candidates arestate BJP chief Swatantra DevSingh, Deputy Chief MinisterDinesh Sharma, former bureau-crat Arvind Sharma, LaxmanPrasad Acharya, Salil Bishnoi,

Govind Shukla, KunwarManvendra Singh, AshwiniTyagi, Dharamvir Prajapati andSurendra Chaudhary.

Earlier, all the candidatesreached the BJP's state head-quarters where they were givena warm welcome by party work-ers to the beating of 'dhols'. Thecandidates offered prayers at atemple and then went togetherto the Vidhan Bhawan, locatedacross the road, to file the nom-ination papers. IANS

5�+� �������������������������3+� �����+������

1������� �����#���$����#$������� ��#������<����������������������

"������������ ����������������������� ����� �������������

-�������������8)86�������!�(�� ����

Saharanpur (UP): The body of Ankur Agarwal, brother of LuvAgarwal, an IAS officer posted in the Health Ministry, was foundin mysterious circumstances in the Sarsawan industrial area onMonday night. Ankur’s licensed pistol was found lying near hisbody.

Senior police officials reached the site on learning of the inci-dent and sent the body for post-mortem analysis.

SP (rural) Saharanpur said that prima facie, it seemed to bea case of suicide but further investigations would reveal the rea-sons behind the death. Sources said that a family dispute mayhave led to Ankur taking the drastic step. Further details are awaited. IANS

�1�� ������=��#� ������ $���������������� $������$�������

������$���$��� $3$5"�

The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) partners – Shiv Sena,

NCP and Congress – wrested powerin a majority of the Gram Panchayatsin Maharashtra on Monday, amidclaims by the Opposition BJP that ithad emerged number one party in theelections.

Given that the Gram Panchayatelections are not fought on party sym-bols, there was no official data on thepoll outcome. However, unconfirmedreports indicated that the rulingMVA had collectively captured powerin a maximum number of GramPanchayats in the elections to 14,234local self-bodies that went to polls.

However, as per the electionresults available till late in the eveningsuggested that of the total gram pan-chayats that went to polls, the candi-dates in elections in 1,523 local bod-ies were elected unopposed.

From the results trends available,the ruling Shiv Sena had emerged assingle largest party with 1,900 grampanchqyats in its kitty already, whileits alliance partner NCP had also cap-tured power 1,507 gram panchayatsand the Congresss had walked awaywith 1,365 gram panchayats. On its,the BJP competing neck and neckwith the Shiv Sena by winning littlebelow or around 1900 gram panch-yarts.

On his part, Maharashtra PradeshCongress Committee Chairman andState Revenue Minister BalasahebThorat claimed that the MVA part-ners had won 80 per cent of the14,000-odd gram panchayats thatwent to polls and that the Congresshad won a majority in 4000 grampanchyats across the state.

“With these results, it is clear thatthe people of the state have showntheir faith in the work done by the

Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi govern-ment in the last one year. The BJP hassuffered a crushing defeat in the stateand the BJP leaders should accept thedefeat with open heart instead of mis-leading the people by giving false fig-ures,” Thorat said.

In a related development, formerchief minister and senior BJP leaderDevendra Fadnavis claimed that theBJP had emerged as the number oneparty in the Gram Panchayat elec-tions. “In Vidarbha, we have scoreda pheneominal victory. In Konkan weare getting good results. Especially inSindhudurg where Rane family andRavindra Chavamn worked, we havewon 80 per cent of theGrampanchayats,” Fadnavis said.

Disputing the claims of a victo-ry by Fadnavis, Thoart said that thepeople of the state had shown greatfaith in the MVA government and theresults of today's Gram Panchayatelections have further validated theirtrust.”In Kolhapur, Nandurbar, Latur,Nanded, Amravati, Yavatmal, Nagpur,Wardha, Chandrapur, Osmanabad,Washim and Buldhana districts,Congress has emerged as the No. 1party. The people have shown faith inthe candidates of Congress, NCP andShiv Sena by defeating BJP in theseelections as well just like they did inthe recent legislative council elec-tions,” he said.

Thorat said that in the Vidarbharegion, the Congress party hasachieved great success and has wonmore than 50 per cent of the GramPanchayats. The people of Vidarbhahave helped Congress gain unprece-dented success in these elections.Thorat also expressed confidencethat the Congress would emerge asthe number one party in Marathwada.The voting percentage and seats of theCongress had increased inMarathwada.

��$�� ���$����� ����

$ "�*�(������������������D��������������� ������� �����������$����������������������� ����

<=����=������6� ����$��������� ������ ��������� �! ����

Page 6: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

After decades of intransi-gence, the UnionGovernment and policy-makers in the education

sector have come up with aNational Education Policy (NEP)which is more in tune with nation-al priorities and contemporaryrealities. This is so because the newpolicy pays special attention to threevery important areas that have beenneglected for long — holistic andmultidisciplinary education, voca-tional education and impartation ofskills and equalisation of opportu-nity for digital education.

The Centre has drafted educa-tion policies in the past. However,like many things which werethought of earlier, these plans havefallen by the wayside for the lack offoresight, funds and commitment.Eventually they just ended up as astring of shibboleths — high sound-ing but vacuous prose — justmeant for the printer contracted bythe Government to make a killing!

But, this time it is differentbecause it seeks to diagnose andconfront the real problems that weface in the field of education, be itearly childhood care and learning,curriculum and pedagogy inschools, language education, holis-tic and integrated learning, voca-tional education and promotion ofIndian languages, art and culture.It is difficult in a single column tocover all aspects of this policy, sobetter limit the attention to just afew aspects like holistic, multidis-ciplinary and vocational education.

The NEP talks about the mul-tidisciplinary approach of univer-sities like Takshashila and Nalandawhere good education meant goodknowledge of 64 “kalaas” or artswhich included singing, painting,chemistry, mathematics, medi-cine, engineering and vocationalsubjects such as carpentry, cloth-making and soft skills such as com-munication and debating. In otherwords, it was holistic knowledge —complete, comprehensive educa-tion that gave an individual morethan rudimentary understandingof various disciplines of learningand equipped him/her for life’schallenges. The NEP says: “Thevery idea that all branches of cre-ative human endeavour, includingmathematics, science, vocationalsubjects, professional subjects andsoft skills should be considered artshas distinctly Indian origins.”Therefore, this ancient under-standing of education “must bebrought back to Indian education,as it is exactly the kind of educa-tion that will be required for the21st century.”

This statement of intent inthe NEP, if implemented withutmost commitment, will revo-lutionise higher education in thecountry, which fell into the rutof clearly separating the arts andthe sciences for decades as ifthese disciplines were enemies ofone another. This policy was pur-sued with such ferocity thateven students who acquiredMasters’ and Ph.D degrees felt asense of incompleteness to theireducation and understandingof the world, and consequentlylost out to their peers in the west-ern world who were blessedwith holistic education.

It is indeed sad that ourpoliticians, bureaucrats and edu-cationists persisted with such apolicy that segmented knowl-edge, put students into a straitjacket and virtually prohibitedthem from venturing into areasoutside their syllabus.

All those responsible forthis short-sighted policy must beidentified and asked why theysubjected millions of Indian stu-dents to such mindless compart-mentalisation.

The second issue is voca-tional training. SinceIndependence, Indians were toldthat blue-collar jobs like runninga lathe machine or being a fitteror turner in a factory; operatinga bulldozer or heavy earth-mov-ing equipment; carpentry,plumbing, basic electrical workand so on were meant for the lesseducated or those who passedout of Industrial TrainingInstitutes (ITIs). Good middle

class boys would go to college,acquire their degrees (with verylittle skills) and become “boxwal-lahs” or private sector executivesor teachers. The less fortunateamong them would becomeGovernment clerks, whereas thesmarter ones would take civil ser-vice exams and become babus.Further, “safe” Government jobsbecame the ultimate dream forthe youth. The system did notignite the entrepreneurialinstincts of students or challenge

them to explore new avenues.Thus, persons with passable lan-guage skills and a smattering ofEnglish were the smart guys withgood incomes, whereas the oneswith real skills — the lathe oper-ators, the electricians and so on,who ran our industries and themanufacturing sector, who keptthe country’s Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) rising —belonged to a lower grade, theworking class.

This anomaly persisted fordecades because the Indianmiddle class declared that adegree certificate was a must toenter its precincts and to be inits marriage market. This couldhave been easily set right byawarding degrees after three-year training at an ITI to thosepassing out. Finally, the newNEP recognises this lacuna andseeks to remedy it.

It is indeed a shame that thisconvoluted middle class habit ofhonouring skill-less educationwas allowed to persist for over 70years after Independence.

This has cost us dearly,because the 12th Five-Year Planestimated that only five per centof the Indian workforce in theage group of 19-24 yearsreceived formal vocational edu-cation, whereas it was 52 percent in the US, 75 per cent inGermany and 96 per cent inSouth Korea. That means themost advanced nations have ahigh percentage of youth withvocational education, some-thing that the Indian middleclass and policymakers scoffed

at. This happened because voca-tional education was focusedlargely on grade eighth dropoutsor students in class 11 and 12who opted for vocational train-ing.

As a result “vocational edu-cation is perceived to be inferi-or to mainstream education andis meant largely for students whoare unable to cope with the lat-ter”, says the NEP. It also seeks toovercome the social status hier-archy associated with vocation-al education.

So, now, the plan is that 50per cent of students throughschool and higher educationshould have vocational educationby 2025. It will also be possiblefor students with vocationalskills to get Bachelor’s degrees.Alternately, students in under-graduate courses can join four-year multidisciplinary pro-grammes and walk out withworthwhile skills apart fromtheir degrees. In short, theapartheid created by the educa-tion system separating the skilledand qualified certificate holdersfrom the unskilled but “packageddegreewallahs” will come to anend. The day we see the skilledworkers getting their due, Indiawill take a big leap forward.

We must now keep the pres-sure on the Government andpolicymakers to see that the NEPis implemented with utmosthonesty and diligence.

(The writer is an author specialising in democracy

studies. The views expressed arepersonal).

#����������������� ������������� ���������)������ ������������������������� �������������������������

����������������������������������������$������(�������������� ��������*���&���#�����������������������+������*���������*���������,������-����� �������� ��������������������.��(��(#��/.##0��������������1����� 23�#�4������ �1�����$��� /41$0������������������������ �������� ������������� ��5���+�����6���,����������41$,5�!��*�������(��������������������,�����&�%��������$����+������ ��� ����� �� �� ���� �� �� ����� ��

��������� ������������������������� (����������������������������������������������������������������������������$���������� ��������������������6��4��������������������������� ������ &����������7��������8����������#���*������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������7�������������8�����(� ��,���� ������������ ��������� ������������������������������������������������������������������#� ������������������������������������������� ���������������)������&����7�������������8�������7�� ������������������������������������ ������������8*��������������������������������9��������������:��&������������������(������������+��������� ���������������������;�������� ������������������������������� ����������9�����������������������������(�����������������������

������41$����,����*�������,$����,����� ����(<������������,������ ��=�������������4�����������/='40����������������������������������9�������������������������������������������6�����41$��������������>������='4,������ ���������� ��������������������������� ����������#�%������������ �������.##��������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������='4,������ �����������������������������������������������������#������������������������ �����������������������������������������������������������������=�����>����������������������#���������������������(�����������������������������������������������������&������ ������������������������������������ �������� � ����������������������������� ����� ������������������4�����������������������������������������79������������8����������������� ������ �9�����=�������� ���������� �����������������������������������������������������%�������������������7�������8���������������������� ������������������������������������������������������?9����������� �������������������������������������������� �������� ������������ �����������)������&����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������;=!����������������������������������������,����������������5�������!������ ���������������������������� �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������#�������������� �������������������������)������&�4������������ ������������=����������������������&������������� ���������������������������.##���������������������������������������� ��������������� ����������������=��������������������������������������������������������������������

)���%���%�#��

=��������������=�����������������6����������������� �������(�����������������������������������(�����������������������

�� �������������������������������(����������:����)=�����&�������� ���������������=�*�����9�����������(1������������(#����������������������������=�����������(� /9���������������)4����&��������������� ��#������������0�������������������������������������@����+����/@+0������ ���� �������������������������������������(���������$�������� �����9�������������������+����������#���������������������(������������=����&�;�����,������+1����������

���������9��������������������������AB=�����(���������������4���(9��������������������������������������1����� AB�������������������������������������������� ��������� (6���#�������������������������.��������������������������*����,���/�������)*��$��&0������������������������=������������9�����������������������=���������������������������������������������������=�����(�����������(�����4����1������&�>������>��������!����+�������9��+����� $����$����6������=���������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������6������ ���������������������� ���� =����������������� ������� ������� �������� �� �����������=�������� �����������������������������������=������� ������������������������������������������������=�����

=������������ ���� ����=�����(����������������������������������������6�������������������������"�:��=���������� �����������������@+!���������$������1� �������������������������#���������������������������������������&�������������=���������������������>���������������������������������������#�C������������������������1�������@+���=������������ ���������������� �4���$���,������ ������,���&��������������� ������������@+$������������#�������������AB2D����� ��9���������#����&������ ��=�������� �����������������������(��������=���������� ��������������������������������������������=����������@+���������������������������������������,�� =�����������7�������8����� ������6���������������� ����������������+��1���>������������<������ �1�� ��������������������=��������������������=�������������������������� ��=����������������������������������������������������������� ��������=�������������������(� ��=���������������������������������������������6����������������������������������������=����������������

� � * + , - $ . � � � - / 0

���5� ���'������5����� ����&% ��2�����������G <������+�������G ��������% ��2���������2

�������������� ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

�4

/$$ ������

"���������>������<��� %�� ���������>������������?!�#���� ������������������ �������������� �� ���

*� $����������� ��#����������#��������� ������������%�#$��7**�� ������� ��������� �#����������$�

/ ��� �� �$�� �������

6��7.86��,�5��6

������������� ����� ���Sir — It is sad that the SupremeCourt on Monday refused to passany order on the farmers’ pro-posed tractor rally which seeksto disrupt Republic Day (R-Day) celebrations on January 26in the Capital. The apex courtBench headed by the ChiefJustice of India (CJI) said that theproposed tractor rally by thefarmers protesting on the borderscomes under the category of “lawand order” and Delhi Police is thefirst authority to decide whoshould be allowed to enter theCapital and it was not the job ofthe Supreme Court. CJI Bobde’sorder came as a great setback tothe Centre. Now, the chances ofviolence on R-Day haveincreased manifold as the policemight deal with the farmers in ahigh-handed manner which willin turn instigate the cultivators toretaliate with force.

Further, if any rally or protestby the farmers disrupts the R-Day parade, it will be an embar-rassment to the country as it isassociated with the nation’s pride.With this the Centre and theDelhi Police are in fix as theyhave no clue what to do now.

Bhagwan Thadani Mumbai

������������ ���������Sir — With Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee announcingthat she will contest the BengalAssembly election fromNandigram, politics in the Statehas taken an interesting turn.Now, the fight for the BJP is def-initely not a cakewalk and theparty will have to devise its strat-

egy accordingly. The announce-ment is significant as Nandigramis the constituency of her formerright hand man SuvenduAdhikari, who crossed over to theBJP last month. Only the futurewill tell whether the announce-ment will help “Didi” and stop thedefections from her party to theBJP. She has also supported theongoing farmers’ agitation which

has been continuing for over 50days in Delhi-NCR. In 2007, asmany as 14 people were killed inclashes in Nandigram betweenprotesting farmers and the police.In the subsequent election, theTMC crafted the “Ma, Maati,Manush” campaign and registereda landslide victory.

Yash Pal Ralhan Jalandhar

������������� ����Sir — Taking cognisance ofcomplaints that Hindu gods andgoddesses have been ridiculed inthe web series ‘Tandav’, theMinistry of Information andBroadcasting sought an explana-tion from the online streamingplatform Amazon Prime Video. Inthe end the series has proved tobe one more case of controver-sial cinema.

It is quite clear that suchshows are produced only to cre-ate controversies and get the eye-balls. It seems that the makers ofthe web series have deliberatelymocked Hindu gods and disre-spected Hindu religious senti-ments for their own selfish gains.The show clearly reveals a lack-adaisical attempt at portrayingIndia’s diverse polity.

India is the land of peace,harmony and tolerance. Nobodyhas the right to hurt the senti-ments of a religious communityjust for the sake of entertainment.So, it is in the interest of every-one that such films should beoutrightly banned.

Krishnan RamaniCoimbatore

�������� ��� ������� ����� ��� ���������� �!��

�������������!4 ��,7H�(� ��������(������ �������������7�������������� �����������������������������&����������������������������������

���������� %�������)�������������������(��)����������������%�������������� ���������(� ������������������������������������%� � �������������(�������� ��,�������������� �(�������� ���� �������(�������������,(���������������������!�����(������������� ���������������������������� %���������������������������������� ���������������������%

���������������(� ��������������� &������ �������������������� �����%�0�������������������� �,�����7::������������ �� ����������������������������������������� ����������������%�0������)������ ,����������� �����������E%�+���������������(�� ���,��� ��������(� ���%����������������������������������������������(� �������������%�"��������������,� ��������� � �����)������������������(������������������� ���� ���� �(������ ��� (� ���� ���� ������� ���������� ��������������������&��������(������ , ���%����������������������������������� ��������%������� ����@�)� ����������� ��� ���������� �������

������������� �%���� ���������������� ����@� ��(���������� ��,

�������&�������D������������ ������ �)�������������� ���� 5���� ���� ���� ������ ������ �������%� ���*�(������������������ ����������(������� �� ��������(� ������������ �����%������������(������ ���,��������(������� �E��������(� �����������%

G David Milton Tamil Nadu

&������� ��� ��!���.��**� &*%0�%!�� A#'"��7)%'�

� � � � � , � � / � �� 6 � � � 7 ) � / ,

"���������������������������(������)����������������������������������� ����������������%0��������?����������������������%

�)*% -�������������

����)����������&�����D����� �������� ������ �%����������������������������������������������%�

�'����!�&*� �.��������$��

�������� �������(��������������������������������������������������� &����������������������������%�0����������������������(����� ��������� ������( ��%

�"0"!�&�� �'����!�&*� ��A�������?���

� / � * 7 + ) � �

����./+��������������������������������������� �����������������%��������������������������������������������� ������������

������������� ���������������������%�?��D)������������������� &���������������������������������������������������%�

�% '� �) �),�*� �������?�����

�1/�!/.��/�1"?��"#�/��/�3!"��4.

+4'�!�/?��.��1/+"?�%�140/ /�)

'�-/�$".A��1�.*?01�!1�0/�/�143*1��4#

/"�'�/�)��1/?/+'".?�1" /�#"''/.

5A��1/�0"A?��/#4���1/�'"!-�4#

#4�/?�*1�)�#3.�?".��!4$$��$/.�

Page 7: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

������$�������������� $��

������������������.�������$�4� �����������������������������$����$�������������

������������������������������$�����������7B��$����$�����$������������

��$�3��$�������

���������������������������������������������������$����������$�������7�����������$��7��B�����������$������������������������ ��

,�3�/�*��, ,�3�

In its findings on the Section 301 probe conduct-ed under the US Trade Act, 1974, the US TradeRepresentative (USTR) has inter alia conclud-

ed that India’s digital services taxes (DST) or theso-called equalisation levy (EL) at the rate of twoper cent, unfairly targets US companies. The USTRraised three aspects that, it alleges, are inconsistentwith global tax principles: First, the levy on UScompanies has extra-territorial application; second,DST is a tax on the firm’s revenue, not its income;and third, it subjects US companies to double tax-ation.

The above findings could lead to the US impos-ing duties on Indian goods; restrictions on importof goods and services; restrictions/denial onissuance of service sector authorisations; askingIndia for compensatory trade benefits and takingbinding commitments from New Delhi to phaseout the levy.

The stance taken by the US Administration isuntenable and totally unjustified. At the outset, letus take a close look at the DST and the reason whyIndia had to introduce it.

The operations of multinational corporations(MNCs) are transnational, with entities located inseveral countries involving a high-level of inter-dependence and cross-border flow of goods andservices between them, as also direct supplies toretailers and consumers. For firms such as Google,Facebook and Amazon, who do business in digi-tal mode, physical boundaries get blurred. Theystructure their investment arms through a mazeof subsidiaries held outside India in low-tax juris-dictions such as Singapore, Mauritius and Irelandamong others.

These technology giants invoice Indian cus-tomers through these offshore entities despite hav-ing significant revenue, users or paying customersin the country, even as their Indian entity is craft-ed more like a service company or commissionagent to the parent company located abroad. Thishelps them in booking an overwhelming share ofrevenues in the parent company (registered in atax haven) while a very small portion ofservice/commission revenue and income is report-ed in the entity registered in India.

In short, these firms make money from theiroperations in India but don’t pay taxes to theGovernment. On the other hand, India-based e-commerce operators are subject to taxes in thecountry for revenue generated from the Indianmarket.

To address this anomaly, in 2016, the NarendraModi Government introduced EL with an intentto tax Business to Business (B2B) and e-com-merce/digital transactions. This tax is levied at sixper cent on the payment made by a resident firmto foreign e-commerce companies for online adver-tisements run on the latter’s platform. While mak-ing a payment, the resident firm has to deduct taxfrom the consideration payable and deposit it tothe department.

Through an amendment to the Finance Act,2020, the scope of EL was extended to all sales, grossreceipts or turnover of non-residents not havinga Permanent Establishment (PE is a fixed place ofbusiness normally located in the territory of thesource country), who is providing the online saleof goods or provision of services or both to a per-son residing in India or a non-resident in specif-ic circumstances, such as the sale of advertisementtargeted to the Indian market or sale of data col-lected from it. This levy is at two per cent on thesum received or receivable by an e-commerce oper-

ator and is payable directly to theCentral Government on a quarterlybasis.

Though the USTR has objected tothe two per cent DST, it is silent on thesix per cent EL on online advertising rev-enue. All the aforementioned objectionsraised by it are untenable. At the outset,the levy does not discriminate against anyUS company as it applies equally to allnon-resident e-commerce operators,irrespective of their country of residence.Just because out of the 119 companieslikely to be taxed, 72 per cent happen tobe American, does not mean that the lat-ter alone have been targeted.

Second, contrary to what is claimedby the USTR, the levy is applied only onsales occurring in the territory of Indiathrough digital means. Consequently, thecharge that it has extra-territorial appli-cation is baseless.

It is ironical that the digital giants firstuse a disingenuous architecture to showrevenue generated from Indian opera-tions as happening in foreign jurisdic-tions and then, claim that the IndianGovernment has no right to tax theirprofits. But, they and the US administra-tion can’t get away from the fact that theyare making profit from their operationson Indian soil. Hence, they are liable totax here. In the normal course, for a for-eign firm having a PE from where it con-ducts transactions — including salesmade in India — and maintainsaccounts, receipts, expenditure, profit andso on for local operations, the taxdepartment has a smooth sail. But tech-nological giants don’t have a PE on Indiansoil. To overcome this hurdle, in 2018, acommittee set up by the Central Boardof Direct Taxes (CBDT) had mooted theconcept of digital permanent establish-ment (DPE). The Income-Tax Act pro-

vides for levy of tax on the profit attrib-uted to the Indian operations of such off-shore enterprises in the country. Thecommittee proposed tax at the rate of 30-40 per cent, depending on the user baseand revenues (only firms with a user baseover 2,00,000 would be considered).

As a follow up, in the Finance Act2018, the Government proposed that“such offshore firms should be taxed inIndia if they have a market presenceabove a threshold to be defined interms of their customer base and rev-enue.” But this needs an amendment toIndia’s tax treaties with all its trade andinvestment partners. Till that is done (atime-consuming process) theGovernment has levied tax on theamount received or receivable by an e-commerce operator.

This brings us to the third charge lev-eled by the USTR: “The DST taxes acompany’s revenue, not its income.”Ideally, the profits (or income) made bythe foreign entity from its operations inIndia should be taxed. However, inview of the digital giants not having a PEhere and the concept of DPE yet to getincorporated in tax treaties with India’strade and investment partners or till suchtime an agreement at the internationallevel which is acceptable to all is reached,a levy on the revenue is the only logicalway forward. However, efforts are alreadybeing made under the aegis of theOrganisation for Economic Cooperationand Development (OECD) to arrive ata so-called base erosion profit shifting(BEPS) framework agreement. TheOECD had released a draft report on“taxing digital companies” on October 9,2019, however, progress got stalled dueto the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for the accusation of US compa-nies being subject to double taxation, it

is for them to sort out with the countrywhere it is incorporated (or country ofresidence). Merely because they pay taxin the country of residence resulting indouble taxation, it can’t be a valid basisfor denying tax to a jurisdiction whereit is legitimately due (India). Even so, sev-eral countries of residence happen to below or nil tax jurisdictions or they pro-vide set-off for taxes paid by MNCs inthe country of operation, effectivelyensuring nil tax.

India’s right to collect tax is also insync with the stance taken by the OECDunder the BEPS framework agreement.It states: “Profits of MNCs should beavailable for taxation in the countrywhere their customers are, irrespectiveof any physical presence in that market,and that a formula should be evolved forsuch taxation.”

To conclude, all objections raised bythe USTR on the two per cent DST leviedby the Indian Government on foreigntechnology companies are baseless andunsubstantiated. India must not yield tothe pressure tactics of the US adminis-tration by withdrawing the tax.

At the same time, India should workfor early finalisation of the BEPS frame-work agreement at the OECD. It shouldevolve a consensus on acceptance of theDPE concept and also get ready with acriteria for treating a foreign company asa DPE. The criteria should give appro-priate weight to three crucial parametersi.e. the number of users, paying cus-tomers or annual revenue. The tax rateon such companies — treated as DPE —should be equal to the rate applicable todomestic companies to ensure fair playand non-discrimination.

(The writer is a New Delhi-based policy analyst. The views expressed are personal.)

1��� #@���� ����������#������>�*�� ������3�*��������#�������� ��� �������������������#�������?*���/ ���$���� ��������� ����������$����������� ������>������������� ��#�������������������.�

�8" ) , � � � / � � ! *

9� �����$��������$����

.6� ��6�,9�

����������!�����(���������� �����?!������������ ��������������������

��(���������������������

7336��1����

����?���4.�!"'��1"����*��"'*�".�?�#��?��

3?/�"��?�.*/.343?"�!1��/!�3�/�

�4�?140��/ /.3/*/./�"�/��#�4$

�.��".�4+/�"��4.?"?�1"++/.�.*�

�.�#4�/�*.�3��?��!��4.?�

".���1/.)�!'"�$�1"���1/��.��".

*4 /�.$/.��1"?�.4���*1���4��"I��1/��+�4#��?%�53�)�

�1/A�".���1/�3?"�$�.�?��"��4.!".���*/��"0"A#�4$��1/�#"!��1"���1/A�"�/$"-�.*�+�4#��

#�4$��1/��4+/�"��4.?�4.

�.��".�?4�'%1/.!/)��1/A�"�/�'�"5'/�

�4��"I�1/�/

#�>.E=�(2D��������� ������� ���������=���������� �����+����>�����!����� /+>!0�����������(����� ��������������+������+����������������� �������(

���������������������������9 �����������������������4�����@����$�����/@$0���.������+���������������������������������������������������������������������������� �����F�����������������������������������/��0�������������� ����������� �������������F��+>!������������������=���������������������������������� �������������������������������������������������#�+>!������������������������������������5��������� ���9 ��������9������1������������� ��,� 2�ABAB��������� AGA ������ ������ ���� ��� �������� ������ �� #��������,�������������������$������������������������ ������� ����(6��=����������������������������+>!�������������H�2H�3BB������������������ ���������������������GH+������+������������������������������2A������

=������������������>��������������������+>!����(�������������������������������������������������������������������#�+>!��������������������������(����������������������������������������� �����������������(���������������������������������������� �����������(���������$���������� �������������������$������$�������<"������/$$<0��������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������#� ����������������������������������������������>.E=�����������=��� ������������������"�����������������������������������������������������������(������+�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������=�����!����� >���������#������>����������/=!>#>0�������� ��(%���������.������������/ %.�0�����������>.E=�(2D�����������������������������������������������������������������,� 3�����������������������(���E�:���>���"���� ��������������������������������+������+����������������������������� ������ ����������������������������������������� �

9��������������������������������������������(����� �����+>!������������������������������������������(������������������������������������ ����������������������� 6�� ������ ����� ������ �� ��� ���� �� �*������������������9 �������� �%������������ ���������� ����������������������������#�>.E=�(2D���(�����������!����� ������������� ��������������������������������������������������������*�������+�$����5�����I������� ������������I���������*�����I���������� �������I�� �����������!�� ���������������������������������� �:�������������������4���������

#����(=������������������������������������������������������������+>!������ ����������������������������������������� %�������!����4������2DJJ����������������������������������������������������������(���������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������GH ��������������������������������������������(��(����������� ��������HK(����������������������������#���������������������������������������$�����C����!�� ���+ ���/$C!+0��������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������+������� ��������������������������������� ������2DJB��*�:�������������������������������������$�(+�����>�����/$+>0�������������������������� ������(������������������JA���������������������������������(��������������� �+������� ���E��� ����� ����������������� ����� ����(+�������<���>���������������������������(�������������������������������#��������������$+>�������������������������=�����L�A3J������������������������������������������������#����������������������������������GG���������������������������������� ����(+���������������(*�������������������������������������2GD����������������(������������������

6�����������������������GG�����������������������(�������+>!�������� �� ����������������������� ��������(����������"���������������������2�B2J������������������������������#�+>!&���������������������������������������� �:��+���!����� ����������������(����� ������������������������������������������(������������������������#��������������������������������(����������������������+>!��������������������������������+>!���������������������������������+>!������������� ����������� ������� ���������������� �

/����!�����������������"�#���!���$���%��������!����&��������&������%0

US President-elect Joe Biden isthrice-blessed. Not only didhe win the Democratic nom-

ination and then the presidentialelection but as a result of the eventsof January 6 — when supporters ofoutgoing President Donald Trumpattacked Capitol Hill — he takesoffice when the RepublicanOpposition is in utter disarray andlikely to stay that way for a longtime. None of that was foreor-dained, or even very likely.

“Just days ago the media and thepundits had declared this candida-cy dead,” Biden marvelled almostexactly a year ago after winning the

South Carolina primary election bya landslide. It had been dead, too,until African-American voters inSouth Carolina gave him their over-whelming support.

It was the first primary he hadwon, and it put him back in the race.Two days later Biden won 10 out of14 States on “Super Tuesday” andpractically wrapped the nominationup. But if South Carolina had sched-uled its primary even a few dayslater, he would have gone into“Super Tuesday” as a loser and prob-ably been written off.

So he got lucky once but it wasa bad year for a Democrat to be run-ning for the presidency. DonaldTrump was mocked and loathed bythe rest of the world and by almostexactly half the US population butTrump’s “base” didn’t care and theUS economy was in excellent shape.

The US media were doing theirbest to make the presidential racelook exciting, because that’s whatthey were going to have to talk andwrite about through most of 2020.But the fact is that incumbent US

presidents running for re-electionwhen the economy is good almostalways win.

Biden’s second stroke of luckcame just 10 days before he won theSouth Carolina primary, when thefirst case of COVID-19 showed upin America. By March it was run-ning wild, but Trump, aware that hisre-election depended on a boomingeconomy, avoiding taking any pub-lic health measures that would slowit down. Other populist leaders didthe same. British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson has been a week ortwo late on every pandemic-relateddecision and Britain’s per capitaCOVID death toll is even worsethan America’s. President JairBolsonaro in Brazil downplayedthe COVID threat, as did PrimeMinister Viktor Orban in Hungaryand their people paid a high price,too. But none of them were runningfor re-election in 2020.

Trump’s refusal to back anti-COVID measures like using masks,social distancing and a countrywidelockdown were driven more by

electoral concerns than ideology:Stall the economy and he could losethe election. But of course massdeath will also stall the economy inthe end, so he couldn’t win. Heended up with a crashed economy,4,00,000 COVID deaths and a lostelection, too.

And then, incredibly, he gaveBiden another gift: The assault onthe Capitol Hill by his followers twoweeks ago. In fact, Trump hadwanted to join the thousands ofhardcore followers who assembled

at Capitol Hill and had told aides inthe days leading up to the rally thathe planned to accompany them todemonstrate his ire at Congress asit moved to certify Biden’sNovember election victory. But theSecret Service kept warning him thatagents could not guarantee his safe-ty if he went ahead. Trump relent-ed and instead hunkered down atthe White House to watch televisionimages of the mob rioting he isaccused of triggering.

Before that attack on Capitol

Hill, Biden was facing a grim timein office, with at least 70 per cent ofRepublican voters and a majority ofRepublicans in the House ofRepresentatives seduced by Trump’s“big lie” that he really won the elec-tion by a landslide and that theDemocrats had somehow “stolen” it.It was Adolf Hitler, not JosephGoebbels, who gave the techniquethat name, but it still works.

“In the big lie there is always acertain force of credibility,” Hitlerwrote in ‘Mein Kampf (My Struggle)’:“Because...in the primitive simplic-ity of their minds (the great mass-es) more readily fall victim to the biglie than the small lie, since theythemselves often tell small lies in lit-tle matters but would be ashamed toresort to large-scale falsehoods.

“It would never come into theirheads to fabricate colossal untruths,and they would not believe that oth-ers could have the impudence to dis-tort the truth so infamously. Eventhough the facts which prove this tobe so may be brought clearly to theirminds, they will still doubt and

waver and will continue to think thatthere may be some other explana-tion.”

That is what Biden faced onlytwo weeks ago: A nightmare time inoffice with the “big lie” rampant andTrump its proud purveyor. And thensuddenly Trump, in his manicdetermination to hold onto power,sent his mob off to try a foredoomedcoup in the “Temple of Democracy”,as American commentators call it.End of game. Trump is discreditedeven with a modest but significantproportion of his own base and agrowing number of Republicanoffice-holders are in rebellionagainst the party’s subservience tothe “Tangerine Tyrant.” Biden’s yearsin office will be enlivened by avicious Republican civil war, quitelikely ending in a permanent split ofthe American Right. This will giveLucky Joe time to do some usefulwork.

(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is‘Growing Pains: The Future ofDemocracy and Work.’ The viewsexpressed are personal.)

0����0$�������#��������������� � ������������������ ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ �����������������

:(8��; 79�,

������ ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

���5� ���'������5��� ������

Page 8: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

�������3������ ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

�"!#+���!�������"�� ��������� �� ������������ ��������$�����������+��������#������"� �����������������,��� ���)������������� ������������(���� ��������������������������������(����&����� �����%�"*�'"!9+��.������������� ����������� ��������������� �����(���(���������������������������3-����������)�����$��������1���������+����������������$����%�&*"!8+���*������������������������ ���������������������&��� ��������������������&�� �����)�������������������������������&��,/����������������%�%&)%���$�� ���������������J� &��������������� �������������������3?�+�������,��� ������5��������@�������������������������� ��������� �)�� ���@�������D�����(���������&�)������������������������$����%�$������������&�������������������+�������������������������������������������������@��������������.��?�"�����������(����������������������������� ��%������� �����������@�������#��%�;%�%!9%!����� &����������5��������������������� ������$�������+�����������'��������������������5��@�,�������������������� ����������� ������������������%�����(�(�C�& "��D� ������������ �������������������������������� �������������K��������������L������� ���������� ������M�����(������������������������� ������������������������������������������������� ����������������������� ��������������+�����������������������������K��������L������%

1� $������1� $������

/� #�/� #�Washington: Ahead of theinauguration of President-electJoe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris onWednesday, the American cap-ital has been virtually turnedinto a garrison city, amidstmultiple reports of threats andmore armed violence by pro-Trump supporters to disruptthe events.

In the aftermath of lastweek’s Capitol riots,Washington DC is preparingfor the scaled down inaugura-tion of the 46th US Presidentwith extreme security mea-sures - closing roads, erectingbarbed wire fences and deploy-ing more than 25,000 NationalGuards along with thousands oflocal police personnel and thosefrom other security agencies.

The area in and aroundCapitol Hill, a large part ofPennsylvania Avenue and theWhite House has been made

out of bounds for the generalpublic with eight-feet high ironbarricades being erected.

US Marshals are deploying4,000 officers to WashingtonDC. Major parts of the majes-tic National Mall, which duringthe inauguration is usuallythronged by thousands of peo-ple, have been closed off.

The entire city is on high-alert as authorities are receivingmultiple reports of violentthreats from various groups atthe level of the incident thathappened on January 6 -- whenhundreds of supporters of out-going President Donald Trumpstormed Capitol Hill, disrupt-ing the constitutional process ofcertification of electoral collegevotes.

The unprecedented vio-lence forced hundreds of law-makers to take shelter at safelocations within the iconicbuilding amidst vandalism by

the mob. At least five people,including a police officer, diedin the incident.

Despite the heightenedsecurity concerns, Biden plansto go ahead with the inaugura-tion ceremony in its tradition-al location.

In addition to convertingdowntown Washington D.C.Into a fortress, security in andaround 50 State Capitols hasalso been put on high alert toensure a peaceful transition ofpower.

“I think this will be an inau-guration unlike any other. It wasalready destined to be, givenCovid concerns and some ofthe limited seating and publicaccess. But having our fellowAmericans storm the Capitol inan attempt to overthrow thegovernment certainly warrantsheightened security,” Mayor ofWashington DC, MurielBowser, told NBC News. PTI

Kampala: The oppositionparty of Ugandan presidentialchallenger Bobi Wine said onMonday that police have pre-vented top officials from goingto their headquarters in thecapital, Kampala, as they pre-pare to launch a legal challengeto Wine’s house arrest.

Police swooped in at dawnat the offices of Wine’s NationalUnity Platform, diverted traf-fic, and stopped people fromentering, party spokesman JoelSsenyonyi, told The Associated

Press.Wine, whose real name is

Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, was themain opposition challenger inpresidential elections last weekthat electoral authorities saylong-time leader YoweriMuseveni won with 58 per centof the vote.

Wine, who took 34 percent of the vote, has rejected theofficial outcome as fraudulentand insists he will use all legalmeans to protest the “cooked-up” results.

Wine’s party has said it hasvideo evidence of the militarystuffing ballot boxes, castingballots for people and chasingvoters away from polling sta-tions.

Opposition lawmakerMedard Sseggona, an attorneyfor Wine, said he feared policewould seize any vital informa-tion related to the elections thatwas kept at the party’s head-quarters. Museveni has dis-missed the claims of vote-rig-ging. high. AP

Washington: Kamala Harriswill make history onWednesday when she becomesthe nation’s first female vicepresident — and the first Blackwoman and the first woman ofSouth Asian descent to holdthat office.

But that’s only where herboundary-breaking role begins.

With the confluence ofcrises confronting Joe Biden’sadministration — and an even-ly divided Senate in which shewould deliver the tie-breakingvote — Harris is shaping up tobe a central player in address-ing everything from the coro-navirus pandemic to criminaljustice reform.

Symone Sanders, Harris’chief spokeswoman, said thatwhile the vice president-elect’sportfolio hasn’t been fullydefined yet, she has a hand inall aspects of Biden’s agenda.

“There are pieces that

Biden may specifically ask herto champion, but outside ofthat she is at the table for every-thing, involved in everything,and giving input and feedbackand being a supportive partnerto him on all pieces,” she said.

People working closelywith Harris on the transitionresist the idea of siloing her intoany specific issue early on,because the sheer number ofchallenges the Biden adminis-tration faces means it will be“all hands on deck” duringtheir early months. PTI

Beijing: Chinese state media say12 out of 22 workers trapped fora week by an explosion in a goldmine are alive, as hundreds ofrescuers seek to bring them tosafety. The Xinhua News Agencysaid on Monday a note passedthrough a rescue shaft Sundaynight reported the fate of theother 10 remains unknown.The note said 4 of the workerswere injured and that the con-dition of others was deteriorat-ing because of a lack of fresh airand an influx of water. AP

92����������� ������������������������

�$�����������.������������

-�������5�� ����!����������6&��������� ���������� ���� 7+

A��������������� ����������� ����� ����-��2A

Moscow: A judge on Mondayordered Alexei Navalny to beremanded in custody for 30days, the Russian oppositionleader’s spokeswoman KiraYarmysh said on Twitter.

The ruling concluded anhours-long court hearing set upat a police precinct where thepolitician was held since hisarrest at a Moscow airportSunday.

Navalny flew to Russiafrom Germany, where he hadspent five months recoveringfrom nerve agent poisoningthat he blames on the Kremlin.He was detained at passportcontrol at Sheremetyevo airportafter flying in Sunday eveningfrom Berlin, where he wastreated following the poisoningin August.

Navalny’s arrest prompteda wave of criticism from USand European officials, addingto existing tension betweenRussia and West.

German Foreign MinisterHeiko Maas noted that Navalnyhad returned of his own voli-tion and said “it is completely

incomprehensible that he wasdetained by Russian authoritiesimmediately after his arrival.”

“Russia is bound by itsown constitution and by inter-national commitments to theprinciple of the rule of law andthe protection of civil rights,”Maas added.

“These principles must ofcourse also be applied to AlexeiNavalny. He should be releasedimmediately.”

The politician’s allies saidMonday he was being held ata police precinct outsideMoscow and has been refusedaccess to his lawyer.

The court hearing intowhether Navalny shouldremain in custody was hastilyset up at the precinct itself, andthe politician’s lawyers saidthey were notified minutesbefore.

“It is impossible what ishappening over here,” Navalnysaid in video from the impro-vised court room, posted on hispage in the messaging appTelegram.

“It is lawlessness of the

highest degree.” Calls for Navalny’s imme-

diate release have come fromEuropean CommissionPresident Ursula von derLeyen, the office of the UNHigh Commissioner forHuman Rights, British ForeignSecretary Dominic Raab andtop officials of other EUnations.

US President-elect JoeBiden’s pick for national secu-rity adviser called on Russianauthorities to free Navalny.

“Mr Navalny should beimmediately released, and theperpetrators of the outrageousattack on his life must be heldaccountable,” Sullivan tweeted.

The outgoing US secretaryof state, Mike Pompeo, said theUS “strongly condemns” thedecision to arrest Navalny.

Nevertheless, the judgeordered that Navalny beremanded in custody until Feb15, Yarmysh said on Twitter.Navalny’s lawyer VadimKobzev told the Interfax newsagency that the defense plans toappeal the ruling. AP

<�������������� �#����������$�� ���� ��)������9�0�����

>������ ����$�� $��� ������� � #��2���-��7�� ���� �������

0.������������������������������������������������� �

Dubai: Saudi Arabia, for yearsone of the world’s most prolificexecutioners, dramaticallyreduced the number of peopleput to death last year, followingchanges halting executions fornon-violent drug-related crimes,according to the government’stally and independent observers.

The Saudi government’sHuman Rights Commissionsaid Monday it documented 27executions in 2020.

That’s compared to an all-time high of 184 executions theyear before as documented byAmnesty International andHuman Rights Watch. Thechange represents an 85 percent reduction in the numberof people put to death last year.Compared to 2019.

“The sharp decrease wasbrought about in part by amoratorium on death penaltiesfor drug-related offenses,” the

Saudi rights commission said.When asked by The

Associated Press, the commis-sion said the new law orderinga stop to such executions cameinto effect sometime last year.The new directive for judgesdoes not appear to have beenpublished publicly and it wasnot immediately clear whetherthe law was changed by royaldecree, as is typically the case.

The AP previously report-ed that Saudi Arabia last yearalso ordered an end to thedeath penalty for crimes com-mitted by minors and orderedjudges to end the controversialpractice of public flogging,replacing it with jail time, finesor community service.

The force behind thesechanges is 34-year-old CrownPrince Mohammed binSalman, who has the backing ofhis father, King Salman. AP

) ������� ����&�����>����������� �����������������

Geneva: The World HealthOrganisation chief on Mondaylambasted drugmakers’ profitsand vaccine inequalities, sayingit’s “not right” that younger,healthier adults in wealthycountries get vaccinated againstCOVID-19 before older peopleor health care workers in poor-er countries and charging thatmost vaccine makers have tar-geted locations where “profitsare highest.”

Director-General TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus kickedoff WHO’s week-long executiveboard meeting — virtually fromits headquarters in Geneva —by lamenting that one poorcountry received a mere 25 vac-cine doses while over 39 milliondoses have been administered

in nearly 50 richer nations.“Just 25 doses have been

given in one lowest incomecountry — not 25 million, not25,000 — just 25. I need to beblunt: The world is on thebrink of a catastrophic moralfailure,” Tedros said. He did notspecify the country, but a WHOspokeswoman identified it asGuinea.

“It’s right that allGovernments want to prioritizevaccinating their own healthworkers and older people first,”he said.

“But it’s not right thatyounger, healthier adults inrich countries are vaccinatedbefore health workers and olderpeople in poorer countries,” headded. AP

4 �������� ����������� $��#�� ��� ��9�2A7

Page 9: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

�������:������ ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

)*+,)�"���������������������������$$���� ��$����

���������� ����� ��?� ������"D��-��������������������?�� �����+�&��������������*�������$����%�������������� �������� ���������� ���������������� ����)��������������������� ������������������@����� ������ ������������������� �������������?�� �������������������(����������2!�(�%�����������)�����.!!� ����������������������� �� ������ ������?�� �������������������������������������������.�&&���.���&��������������� ������ ����������������������������������+������������������� �?� �����%�

�3�� ������������������$ ���$� ������"#�0"*� 5��������"?���D&�����A���(�����:78���� ����&� ��������������H������� ��$������������5���������� �%�"�������&������ ��� �����)������������� �$�����������D&�����A���(�������� �������������������������������������� ���������� ������������������� �%0��������������%����&��������������)����� �$�����������D&�����A���(�������������&������������������������������( ������������������*����+�� ���������1�������������������������� �%�+�����������������������������������(����������*�(���������� �������5����������� �%��$���D&�����A���(�������������������������������������*��E��������� �����������������������'� &���)�"�������������������������%�1��������������������������������������������������( ������������� ������&��5����������� ������������� ���%

���������������������������������������������� ��!���������� �����������������������$�����C������?�����"���������?���������������3������&����N?�3�O�������������:7H,�:�P��:�:,�7�������K3�����4��������L� �������������������������� �����%���D�����?���)�$�������������� �)�.���*��&��)$������N��P1O)�*��%N��%O� D��-�����?���)�$���������?����N��P1O)�*�(���������������)������(���������������� D��-����5����)�$�)���!�������� ������������+������1���)� ����5�����).�����������$����%�

����.�� ����������������3�����5� ������� $������������ ���)������������������������������������������������)������ ����������� �������������������(��(��������@�*������������� ���������K ����7�+�4L������������ ������%;��� �1�Q�0�������������������������������������������&��������"�!�����)�����,��� ����������������������������� ������ &��������� ������ ���������������%�+� ��������);HH)� ����7�+�4���J����������7�%;�� ��N�%;��� �O�1�Q��+?�0����������� ��������������:BH����� ������)�6):::�"��',+������������������*5��"$�Q8�*5��4$����� ��������%

����������������������$��������������������������������B�0���������������������������������������������������� ���)�!������)�������������������������������������?����) ���� �������&�� �������M �����������������B������������N�@����� ��� ����O)���������N ����������������� �O�������������N��������D���� ������������ �(�O�M���.�������%�K����(�����@������!�������������������������������������������������(��)L�����"�������� ���)�$��P� ����������)�?���������%

���� $3$5"�

Equity benchmarks wiltedunder selling pressure for

the second consecutive ses-sion on Monday as investorsstayed on the back foot amidlacklustre global cues.

A sharp drop in the rupeefurther sapped risk appetite,though gains in market heavy-weights RIL and HDFC Bankcushioned the fall.

After a choppy session,the 30-share BSE Sensex ended470.40 points or 0.96 per centlower at 48,564.27.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty tumbled 152.40 points or1.06 per cent to 14,281.30.

ONGC was the top loser inthe Sensex pack, slumping 4.59per cent, followed by SunPharma, IndusInd Bank,PowerGrid, Bajaj Finance, BajajFinserv, SBI and NTPC.

Only four index stocksclosed in the green — RelianceIndustries, Titan, HDFC Bankand ITC, climbing up to 2.37per cent.

HDFC Bank spurted 1.15per cent after the country’slargest private sector lender on

Saturday reported a 14.36 percent jump in consolidated netprofit to �8,760 crore for theDecember quarter, driven by a surge in coreincome.

Global markets retreated asrising Covid-19 cases cloudedoptimism over economicrecovery, even as Chineseshares rose after positive GDPdata.

“Domestic equities wit-nessed pullback for secondconsecutive day as weak glob-al cues continued to weigh oninvestors’ sentiments...Whileunderlying strength of marketsremains intact consideringrebound in key economic data,

sustained growth in corporateearnings in 3Q FY21 withupbeat managements’ com-mentaries and commencementof vaccination process.

“Additionally, favourablemonetary policies of globalcentral bankers, weak dollarand large fiscal stimulus in theUS are expected to ensure sus-tain FPIs flow in domesticequities. However, for the weekmarket is expected to bevolatile ahead of some crucialglobal events. Further, as UnionBudget is just two weeks away,rotational trading might bevisible in the market,” saidBinod Modi, Head - Strategy atReliance Securities.

2����:������!����������������������������������A3"�� ���������������B)��� �

Tokyo: Markets got off to aslow start for the week despitenews that the Chinese econ-omy grew 2.3% in 2020 aftera sharp contraction early inthe year. Shares fell in Paris,London and Tokyo butadvanced in Hong Kong andShanghai. Most U.S. Marketsare closed Monday for anational holiday.

Investors appear to havegrown increasingly wary overthe deepening economic dev-astation from the pandemicdespite hopes that Covid-19vaccines and fresh aid for theU.S. Economy might hasten aglobal recovery.

Germany’s DAX edged0.1% lower to 13,769.97 andthe CAC 40 in Paris shed 0.4%to 5,588.28. In Britain, theFTSE 100 lost less than 0.1%to 6,731.23. The futures for theS&amp;P 500 and the Dowindustrials both were down0.3%. China was the firstcountry to suffer outbreaks ofthe new coronavirus and thefirst major economy to beginrecovering as meanwhile US,Europe and Japan are strug-gling with outbreaks. AP

���� $3$5"�

The rupee plunged by 21paise to settle at a week’s

low of 73.28 against the US dol-lar on Monday, tracking weakdomestic equities and arebound in the American cur-rency.

At the interbank forex mar-ket, the domestic unit openedat 73.21 against the greenbackand swung between a low of73.30 and a high of 73.18 dur-ing the session.

It finally settled down by 21paise at 73.28, the lowest clos-ing level since January 11. OnFriday, the rupee had settled at73.07 against the Americancurrency. Meanwhile, the dol-lar index, which gauges thegreenback’s strength against abasket of six currencies, rose0.15 per cent to 90.91.

“Indian rupee depreciatedamid strong dollar and riskaversion in the domestic mar-kets,” said Saif Mukadam,Research Analyst, Sharekhanby BNP Paribas.

Demand for the US dollarincreased on worries over ris-ing coronavirus cases across theglobe and decline in stockmarkets.

���� ./0��/'1�

The Delhi High Court onMonday said that according

to the Supreme Court’s decisionon withdrawal of money bydepositors of scam-hit PMCbank for exigencies, excep-tions can be carved out forurgent medical and educa-tional requirements.

A Bench of Chief JusticeDN Patel and Justice JyotiSingh asked the depositors,whose needs have been high-lighted before the court in aPIL, to once again approach theRBI-appointed administrator ofPMC bank giving details of

their financial needs along formedical or educational reasonswithin three weeks.

The Bench asked theadministrator to look into theapplications by the depositorsand take a decision within afurther period of two weeksand communicate the same tothe court before the next dateof hearing on February 26.

During the hearing, theReserve Bank of India (RBI) toldthe court that the apex courtasked it to consider the educa-tional and medical requirementsof depositors as per directivesissued by the top bank.

RBI said its directives only

provide for considering med-ical emergencies and not edu-cational emergencies whicheveryone would have.

The Bench, however, saidthe apex court has clearly men-tioned both medical and edu-cational emergencies and itwas going to go by that.

The court was hearing anapplication by consumer rightsactivist Bejon Kumar Misraseeking directions to the RBI toconsider other needs of PMCBank depositors such as edu-cation, weddings and direfinancial position, not just seri-ous medical emergencies asbeing done at present.

New Delhi: The FinanceMinistry on Monday releasedthe 12th instalment of �6,000crore to States to meet the GSTcompensation shortfall, tak-ing the total amount released sofar under this window to�72,000 crore.

The Centre had set up aspecial borrowing window inOctober 2020 to meet the esti-mated shortfall of �1.10 lakhcrore in revenue arising onaccount of implementation of

GST. The ministry in a state-ment said it has released the12th weekly instalment of�6,000 crore to the states tomeet the GST compensationshortfall. Out of this, anamount of �5,516.60 crore hasbeen released to 23 States and�483.40 crore has been releasedto the 3 Union Territories (UT)with Legislative Assembly(Delhi, J&K & Puducherry),who are members of the GSTCouncil. PTI

���� $3$5"�

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely tospend at least $20 billion more to support the

rupee and increase the forex kitty through thereminder of the financial year, taking its overallforex intervention to $93 billion, according to areport.

The report by the Wall Street brokerage Bankof America Securities also expects the centralbank to raise banks’ HTM (held-to-maturity) lim-its of excess government securities by 2 per centof their books to fund the fiscal deficit if highforex intervention limits its open market oper-ations (OMOs).

New Delhi: As part of pre-Budget deliberations, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanon Monday held a meetingwith State Finance Ministerswho suggested steps to revivegrowth and boost revenue col-lection against the backdrop ofCovid-19 crisis.

The Finance Ministry in astatement said the meetingwas held through video con-ference and was attended byChief Ministers, deputy Chief

Ministers, Finance Ministers,Ministers and senior officersfrom the States and UnionTerritories and the UnionGovernment.

Sitharaman highlighted theimportance of this meeting asa sign of cooperative federalismand indicated the manner inwhich the Union Governmentwas strongly supportive ofStates/Union Territories (withLegislature) fight against thepandemic. PTI

7 '(���7�8�5)�-5%;3�)�5-��-��*�%$

?>����������� ��� ������� ��� ���������������� �.@���'�$

7�������������������������������������������!���������

� �� ���#������ ��6������ � ��C������

4������� �������6 $��������������������"!�

)�������-��������������������������������!��6$�������2�������������<2'�������������������!�

)���:������ ����������* ���������=>?������-������������

�������� �� ������������-����7���� ������������������� �������-����7���� ���A������������� ����� ����������-����&���� 2B�������� +����� �����

Page 10: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

��������� Also known asgur, jaggery makes for thebest companion for winters.It is not only better thanwhite sugar, but it also offersseveral health benefits.

It prevents constipation byaiding digestion. It activatesthe digestive enzymes in ourbody, thus helps in properdigestion of food. That’swhy many people prefer eat-ing jaggery after a meal.

It acts as a detox,as it helps cleansethe liver by flushingout nasty toxinsfrom the body.

Jagger y isalso loaded withantioxidants andminerals like zinc andselenium, which helpprevent free-radicals;

responsible for early ageing. It helps boost resistance

against infections, hencebuilding stronger immunity.

Eating a piece of jaggerydaily can help women combatPMS symptoms includingmood swings, menstrual

cramps and abdomi-nal pain.

As we enter the New Yearwith the hope of thingsreturning to normal inthe days to come, our

country might need to brace itselffor yet another virus attack.

Currently, the country withmore than one billion populationis facing a double whammy withcoronavirus and avian flu loominglarge. The Covid-19 pandemic hasalready brought our lives to ascreeching halt in the past elevenmonths and to add to this, bird fluor avian flu has knocked on thedoors yet again.

With the country goingthrough a tough time facing twomajor diseases at the same time,people are bombarded with somuch information that they can'tseem contemplate the differencebetween the diseases.

To address the dilemma, let usfigure out the differences betweenthe two:

What Is Avian Flu?Bird flu or Avian influenza is

caused by the H5N1 influenzavirus, which occasionally infectshumans. These viruses are foundworldwide among wild aquaticbirds and can infect domesticpoultry and other bird and animalspecies.

According to the WHO, avianflu is not normally known toinfect humans, however, sporadichuman infections have occurred inthe past. Since the first case ofhuman infection in 1997, nearly 60per cent of the people who havebeen infected with H5N1 havebeen killed.

What Is COVID-19?COVID-19 is caused by a

newly discovered coronavirus thataffects the respiratory system andbrings about many illnesses,including the common cold andflu. The disease is likely to take asevere turn in elderly and peoplewith co-morbidities. Most peopleinfected with COVID-19 virusexperience mild to moderate res-piratory illness, and may recoversoon, says the WHO.

Both bird flu and COVID-19being flu-like illnesses presentwith overlapping features and itcan be difficult to differentiatebetween the two.

According to experts, the twoillnesses present with symptomsincluding fever, cough, cold, bodyache and breathlessness. In addi-tion, patients with bird flu are like-ly to develop encephalopathy(damage to the brain) and confu-sion. Covid-19 patients on theother hand, often present withdiarrhoea and loss of sense of smelland taste.

While avian influenza rarelyspreads from one human to anoth-er, Covid-19, on the contrary ishighly contagious and spreadsrapidly between human. TheCoronavirus has a low mortalityrate — around 1-3 per cent glob-ally which is the opposite of avianflu that has a high mortality rate.

Today, people are having a lotof questions or doubts about con-suming meat during this bird fluepidemic and also what precau-tions needs to be taken. Peopleshould not panic and tackle this sit-uation calmly. The most com-monly consumed poultry productsare chicken, eggs or ducks inIndia.

According to the UN foodand agriculture organisation if themeat is cooked properly then itwould be safe to consume it. Theprecautions one must take isthroughout the cooking process ofchicken or any meat one needs tomake sure that the boiling temper-ature or cooking temperature isabove 70 degree Celsius and dur-ing this cooking process no part ofthe meat should be left uncooked,half cooked or raw. Any poultryproduct cooked above 70 degreeCelsius would be safe and non-infected to consume.

People who have habit of eat-ing raw eggs or raw meat especial-ly raw eggs should be strictlyavoided. Also poultry workersshould wear protective gear whileworking in the farm or touchingany infected animal.

If you see any kind of symp-toms or infection in your bodyimmediately consult a doctor. Tilldate we have not found any case ofa patient who have cooked the meatproperly and has been infectedwith the bird flu therefore, no needto panic.

Coronavirus is still an activeoutbreak and with the onset of avianflu, it’s all the more important to takesteps to reduce both your chance ofcontracting it and spread of diseaseif you do fall ill. Therefore, do notforget to practice social distancing,wear a mask where necessary, andwash your hands frequently withalcohol-based hand rub or soap andwater. Also, seek timely medical careif you have fever, cough and diffi-culty breathing.���� ��� ������������+���������:�����

@��������+���

7/��� �����//+"-��/0".

������������ ������������������ ����������������� ��� ��������$� ����

&������ ����$������4���

When you have Diabetes, it’s pivotal to take care of your kid-neys as they perform an important job of filtering waste

and removing it from your blood, maintaining water balance,taking care of bone health, synthesis of vitamin D & erythro-poietin a substance which maintains level of hemoglobin. ButDiabetes can damage the kidneys and can result in progressiveloss of its function. This becomes the leading cause of kidneyfailure globally. People with advance kidney failure need eitherdialysis or a kidney transplant. However, one can slow down theprogression of kidney damage and keep it from getting worseby making certain modifications in their lifestyle, diet and beingvigilant towards their health, besides seeking consultation froma Nephrologist.

Also, care during winters is especially essential for Diabetespatients. As the days shorten, we experience less of the sun, whichcan be a real mental challenge. The lack of sunlight meansincreased levels of stress and tiredness. Excess winters stressesand strains the body. This stress often releases hormones suchas adrenalin and cortisol. These survival hormones cause the liverto release more glucose for energy, which can result in higher-

than-normal blood sugar levels.Similarly, the cold weather canpredispose to clotting as theblood become thicker in thisseason, coupled with dimin-ished physical activity in win-ter months. Such conditionscanpose serious threats to the livesof Diabetic patients, who alsotend to have increased bloodpressure.

Besides the temperatureand weather conditions, bloodsugar depends upon hydra-tion, exercise, and the food youeat, but hydration is probablythe single most important ele-ment to help us stay healthyoutdoors. People suffering fromDiabetes are prone to dehydra-tion, which can become dan-gerous if left uncheckedbecause it can lead toDiabeticketoacidosis. At the

same time, dehydration can cause confusion, which may makea person unaware of low blood sugar. Therefore it’s essential forDiabetes patients to remain well hydrated in winters and shouldtest their blood sugar more frequently.

Taking care of kidneys�Control your blood pressure. High BP is more likely to cause

kidney damage. It becomes essential to keep a check on BP forcardiovascular and renal health. If BP increases, it canpotential-ly lead to kidney damage. Keeping recommended cholesterol lev-els is also essential for patients with Hypertension.

�Good diet. Avoid eating junk foods. They contain lot ofsalt as preservative. And salt intake is directly related toHypertension.Your diet shouldn’t have too much sugar as it pro-duces an excess of toxins in your body. A diet based on fruits,vegetables, cereals, grains, and a high amount of fiber is the bestway to take care of these vital organs.

�Keep yourself well hydrated. Adequate hydration helps ourkidneys dissolve and eliminate toxins and waste products fromour body. Literally speaking our kidneys and other organs mightdry out if we don’t drink enough water. This means that they'llre-absorb or will be able to filter less toxins which will then accu-mulate in the body.

7�#� ��������� ���'���������������� ���������������������&�� ��&�� ���.

�����#������ ��������������&

'������&��������#���.��6������$

��������������� ����������������&'�����������#�

�'������ ������&� �������� ����

��&�� ���$���� ���#�����������

������ �������� �

������� �����&���� ������� ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!%�

�'��()�� )��� � )�*���+,-��� -��./� ����)�'(�)������������

0 ���1��#��'���������2������/����3#$+�'2 (��*)� � ����/��3���4/���/������

(')#�'�(�*2���)'�)�)'���������)����2(��*���)'���(�5�� ��3�����('�67(�)������('�68��2��)�5�� ��2���� ����(��(�8

���'���3���

The cold breeze is sureto give many aheadache if they

don’t prefer to cover theirhead with a scarf or cap.

As painful as it can be,it is just as annoying.Here are a fewremedies thatcan help clearup a headcold.

F i r s t ,keep your-self hydrat-ed. Drinkplenty ofwater. It willhelp clear out themucus and promotenasal drainage therebyrelieving the pain caused bycold.

Second, try warm com-press. Moisten a washclothwith warm water and applyit to your face a few times a

day. This will help relievethe pain.

Third, try a deconges-tant. Over-the-counterdecongestants can helpdecrease swelling and con-

gestion by opening upyour nasal passages

and decreasingthe pain and

pressure.Fou r t h ,

take help ofhot waterbag. Place ahot water bag

on your chestor back for five-

10 minutes. Theheat will help relieve

the pain caused by cold.Fifth, take steam. Cover

your face with a towel andinhale the steam for about10-15 minutes. Steam canhelp release the mucus andhence, eliminate the pain.

Headaches are common,more so if you don’t prefer to

cover your head during thechilly winters.

ROSHANI DEVI sharesremedies that can help

relieve the pain

����������

� � � � � � � �

According to Grand View Research’sMarket Analysis Report of IndustrialHemp 2020-2027, the global indus-

trial hemp market size is expected to reg-ister a revenue-based CAGR of 15.8 percent over the forecast period, a sharp risefrom USD 4.71 billion in 2019.

The expanding market of industrialhemp is driven by the growing demand forhemp oil and fibres in food and beverage,automotive, construction, textile industriesand personal care. Additionally, low pricesof crop encourage farmers to diversify theircrop options, subsequently, increasing thenumber of producers. Further, increasingawareness regarding the dietary advantagesof its oil, coupled with the growing demandfrom the personal care and cosmeticsindustries is expected to drive the marketgrowth.

Unlike popular belief, hemp does nothave psychotropic effects on the humanbody. In fact, its seed has many healthy ben-efits and is actually 33 per cent protein. Thesmall, brown seeds are rich in fibre, protein,and healthful fatty acids, including omega-6 and omega-3s. Their antioxidant proper-ties may reduce symptoms of numerous ail-ments in addition to improving the healthof the heart. The nutritional power and har-diness of hemp seed could significantlyaddress the global protein needs and star-vation problems.

Raw hemp seeds are one of the richestsources of complete protein as it is packedwith 33-37 per cent pure digestible protein.Only algae such as marine phytoplankton,AFA blue-green algae and spirulina exceedhemp in protein. Additionally, 47 per centof a hemp seed is composed of good fats,a vital composition of omega-3 and omega-6. Here are a few benefits of hemp seeds:

May control the risk of heart diseaseHemp seeds contain good amounts of

the amino acid arginine, which producesnitric oxide in the body. It is a gas moleculethat makes blood vessels relax and dilate,which leads to controlled blood pressureand a reduced risk of heart disease.According to Pub Med, increased arginineintake coupled with decreased levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) and high levels ofCRP is linked to heart disease in the major-ity of people.

Helpful in skin disordersA balance of omega-6 and omega-3

fatty acids in the human body are signifi-cant to the immune system and hemp seedsare a good source of these fatty acids withabout a 3:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3.Hemp seed oil relieves people from dry skin,itchiness, inflammation and thus, reducesthe need for skin medication.

A source of plant based proteinPlants often lack the amino acid lysine

which is why complete protein sources arerare in the plant kingdom. Hemp seeds areconsidered a complete protein source asthey provide all the essential amino acidsand contain high levels of arginine and glu-tamic acid.

Helps control stress and anxietyCannabidiol or CBD is considered a

cannabinoid which is leaf extract of thecannabis plant. CBD is known to have ben-efits on stress, seizure disorders, anxiety andpain relief.

���� ��� ��)� ���� �@���@� �8��

>������� �$���#�����%����� ���� ����������� �� ����������?�������%�����������������������#�������%�����

�7A�*��A1A�

PLATE FULL OF HEALTH

2������������������������7D�36�E����������� �� ����"�$���������$����#������������?�3��!1A543�1�313<5������������ ����� $��������������

����� �� �����������

With a drop in thehumidity and temper-

ature, our skin tends to getdry, and if it is not mois-turised, then it can lead toflaky skin. Following a goodskin care routine, especial-ly a nightlong moisturisationroutine and using productsinfused with natural ingre-dients like Cocoa Butterand Wheat Germ Oil can bebeneficial in achieving nour-ished and hydrated skinduring the winters.

Additionally, forcracked lips, one can lookfor a lip balm with thegoodness of herbs like SweetIndrajao, and Carrot SeedOil, as these ingredientshelp protect and nourishchapped lips.

Below are a few tips forgood skin care:

Moisturise at bedtime:Moisturisers and winter skincare regimen go hand inhand. As much as moistur-

ising skin right after a show-er is necessary, moisturisingbefore going to bed canhelp in waking up to healthyand rejuvenated skin. Whenlooking for a moisturiser,opt for one with ingredientssuch as Cocoa Butter andWheat Germ Oil. CocoaButter is known to retainskin’s moisture and nourishit as well as making it sup-ple, while Wheat Germ Oil,a rich source of Vitamin E,helps protect skin from dry-ing.

Protect your lips:Winters and harsh coldwinds can leave our lips dryand chapped and hidingthem under our masks cando more harm than weknow. For smooth and sup-ple lips, it is essential to usea good lip balm. The bestway to choose the right lipbalm is to look for oneinfused with goodness ofherbs and oils like Sweet

Indrajao, Carrot Seed Oil, orCocoa Butter, and Sal Butter.These ingredients areknown to intensely mois-turise lips to keep them softand supple.

Remind yourself tostay hydrated: Keepingyourself hydrated is impor-tant during winter too.Drinking eight-12 glasses ofwater every day can helpnourish and hydrate yourskin as well.

Include seasonal fruitin your diet: Veggies andfruit found during the sea-son not only taste good butalso contain ingredients thatsuit the body’s need duringthat time of the year.Additionally, consumingfood rich in Omega 3,Vitamin A, C, and E can beuseful in having moisturisedand healthy skin.

���� ��� ��7�� ����?>�� ��'���� ��C)�����������

���@�������) ���������

" �� ������ ������������� $����%������������������ �� ���$������ �� �������$��%������3���>�A�>*A1��<

)/123* $$ �)/123* $$ �

"!!4���.*��4�1/�3.�#44��".�"*��!3'�3�/4�*".�?"��4.��#��1/�$/"���?�!44-/�

+�4+/�'A��1/.���043'��5/�?"#/�4�!4.?3$/���%140/ /�)�4././/�?��4�$"-/?3�/��1"���1/

!44-�.*�/$+/�"�3�/��?"54 /�9:��/*�//!/'?�3?�".��3��.*��1�?+�4!/??�.4+"���4#��1/

$/"��?143'��5/'/#��3.!44-/�)1"'#�!44-/��

4���"0

�������

In India, chai is not just a hot beverage, it’san emotion, slowly picking pace with the

developing tastes of India! With the upcom-ing winter chill, VAHDAM® India, the digi-tally native consumer brand shipping India’sfinest teas and superfoods to over 104 coun-tries has launched Instant Tea Chai Premixes.

With a massive shift to wellness andimmunity boosting products across theglobe, Vahdam has upgraded the daily chairoutine by infusing these ready-to-drink pre-mixes with the goodness of healing spices andsuperfoods like Turmeric, Matcha,Ashwagandha, Ginger, and blending it withreal black tea and sugarless whole milk pow-der.

A one-of-a-kind chai premix, these con-tain only 35 calories per serving and aresweetened by less than two grams of organ-ic cane sugar per serving with Stevia.

“Convenience is the key for the modernconsumer today. Celebrating India’s love fortea and addressing the need for daily dosesof immunity, we have forayed into the mar-ket of instant tea chai premixes,” said BalaSarda, Founder, VAHDAM® India.

Turmeric Ginger for energy: A cup ofwellness with turmeric and ginger for immu-nity, fatigue and improved digestion.

Ashwagandha Cinnamon for rejuvena-tion: An earthy cup with ayurvedic adapto-genic ashwagandha and cinnamon for stressreduction, better sleep and powerful antibac-terial benefits.

Matcha Lemongrass for focus: A cupfortified with the superfood benefits formindfulness, powerful antioxidant benefitsand improved overall health.

Page 11: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

������ ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$! ���� ��%%

As the nation gears up to cel-ebrate its 72nd Republic Day,

discovery+ is all set to launch theshow — Mission Frontline.Featuring actor-producer RanaDaggubati, the show highlightsthe life of Border Security Force,our frontline heroes, fighting atthe border to keep the countrysafe.

In the special episode, RanaDaggubati will experience first-hand, the difficult life of a BSFJawan and live with the bordermen at the Murar Post, Jaisalmer.The Jaisalmer base camp hasone of the richest histories as it ishome to rich martial traditionsand a witness to numerous bat-tles. Providing an intimateglimpse into the lives of bordermen who put themselves at riskevery day, this special documen-tary is bound to evoke a deep

sense of appreciation for theseunsung heroes.

The audience will get to seeRana in a never-seen-beforeavatar, performing tasks just likea Jawan, including physical train-ing routines like learning tosalute; running drill with weaponsand backpack; fireman’s lift andhurdle jump. Rana will also betrained to use weapons, firing liverounds, patrolling on Camel,taking part in a simulated mission

to track down and neutraliseinfiltrators and traveling on sandscooters among many other gru-eling tasks.

Talking about his experi-ence, Rana said, “India’s BorderSecurity Force — or the country’sfirst line of defense has no holi-days, no breaks and no breathers.If it isn’t for those brave-heartsalways on their toes, our nationstands at risk. I feel grateful tohave been able to meet, live and

train with them. As a civilian andcountryman, this experience gaveme perspective on what goes intoguarding our frontiers, 24/7.These Jawans are our lifeline, ourguarantee to sovereignty, and thetrue heroes.” He added, “Going bywhat I experienced in Jaisalmer,the show is a tribute to thoseJawans’ grit and spirit, with theintention to drive home someinspiration and gratitude for ourdefense forces, whose service weoften take for granted.”

Issac John, Direct-to-Consumer Head, APAC —Discovery, said, “With exclusiveaccess to the Indo-Pak border, theshow gives the viewers a chanceto know more about the lives ofJawans and the extreme trainingthey go through.”

(The show will premiere ondiscovery+ from January 21.)

The pandemic has changedIndians’ outlook on health as

70 per cent Indians says they willprioritise dietary and lifestylechanges in 2021 to manage bothemotional and physical health,according to a survey.

It added that 60 per centIndians say that they will de-pri-oritise going to a gym. For 73 percent Indians, taste reigns supremein their decision to buy foodproducts and poor taste of healthproducts is an obstacle to mak-ing the right dietary choices, saidthe finding by Habbit.

A majority of Indians — 71per cent, felt that their health isworse off today than pre COVID-19 due to broken eating and fit-ness habits. There are a numberof reasons cited as barriers to bet-ter health. These are lack oftime, poor taste of healthy prod-ucts, and confusing technicaldetails of healthy products exag-gerated by the inability to makea choice among the variousoptions. 72 per cent of surveyrespondents cite lack of time

while 66 per cent cite the poortaste of healthy items to be theirbiggest obstacle.

The survey respondents (100per cent) correctly identified thedifference between healthy andjunk foods indicating high aware-ness about the ill effects ofunhealthy options. However, abulk — 73 per cent, highlightedthat they would still consumeunhealthy options since they aretasty, convenient and part oftheir daily lifestyle. Taste, thusreigns supreme in the decision tobuy food and a majority stillprefers tasty foods that also havenutritional benefits over healthyfoods.

As per the survey, 70 per centrespondents show a higher incli-

nation than before towardsimproving their health throughdietary changes, whereas nearlyone in four, 26 per cent wouldalso like to make meditation ahigher priority. 65 per cent indi-cate their increased reliance onmedical and nutritional expertsto help achieve their goals. Morethan 60 per cent of Indians havea reduced priority than earliertowards traditional gyms and fit-ness centres, owing to social dis-tancing and avoidance of com-munal areas in COVID-19, andwould prefer to exercise at homeor do alternate physical activitieslike running, cycling or aerobics.

“The survey highlights thatthe myth that diet is secondary toexercise in the health journey, isbeginning to crumble, withrespondents realising the impor-tance of nutrition and prioritis-ing changes in diet over exerciseto achieve better physical andmental health. This is the newnormal,” said Dhruv Bhushan,Cofounder & CEO, Habbit.

He added, “As the pandem-

ic continues to shift consumerhabits towards being morehealth-conscious, there is anopportunity for food and nutri-tion companies to win on tasteand fuel healthier lifestyles.”

“Good nutrition is vital to ahealthy life and is one of the mostsingularly important factors inoverall health. The food we eat lit-erally becomes who we are, andinfluences our physical, mentaland even emotional well-being.Complemented with physicalactivity, it helps to maintain dis-cipline of the body as well as themind. If the body feels good, themind will feel good. The pan-demic has brought the impor-tance of this balance to the cen-tre,” says nutritionist and wellnesscoach Avni Kaul.

The online survey was con-ducted in the last quarter of 2020with 2,428 adults across metrosin India. All respondents are inthe age group of 22-56 years andhave an annual householdincome of more than � 10 lakh.

D$7-&

*� ������ ��������1��$������������������F���������������������� ��������������������� ���� ���� ������

���$������������������������ �,�����������������,� �������� ���&�� &����������������,��������%

���&����������������������������������� �)����������������� �������������������������������)"&�������)�K����������������������������������������(��%���C�����D����5�������%������� ����� ������)�������������������&�%��������������������� ����� �%?�)���������������������������������C����(�������&���%L

?����,� ������������������������������)�� ��������&&�)"�����2��� ������������ ���� ������:�:%��������&������������ ��,������������������%�������(�������������� ���� ���)������)+�����%

������������������������������������������������������(�,������������� ���������������������� �����

K1�C����������������� ���%.����C���������)L��������&�D�&��)������)�K5�����C�������������� �����C�����������%� ����������%L

���� �����)������������������:7�)��� �������������� ���)�����?���)��"�����:7;%

��������������������������������������K������������������������L����&���������5��C��������� %

;7��������� ��������<�=��� ����������������� ���&��$ ������� ��+�#����������� ������.

��������$�;�� �������.>�=��������������.�=������������� ���$������� ��+�#������ ������� �����.���'�����$������������ ���'������$ ������� ���=� �������"�#��'��������� ���&������.����������� >�&���.�=���������������.=�������������� ���$������=� �������"�#��'���� ����������&������.�=����� ��������&���$�����&���������� �������.?@A���������

A�� �������������������������

�� >��#��'� �����<�5 �" ������������������������������������ �����J������,������������������ �������%�

����� �������������������� �����������&�������������� �������� ���%�-�D����������������������������&��� ���������������,�� �%

K0������ ��,���������������R+���������C���������������)L���������&���������J������,�������������������������?�����%

K4�� �����)������S'��C������&������� �)�������RL��������%

"�������&������������������������������:�7%

K5���� ���������������������&%"�(�� ��������(������� �������)L�������%

Last month, Delhi lost one of itsfinest collectors and gallery direc-tors in the world of art — Virender

Kumar of the prestigious Kumar Gallery.For almost 60 years, Virender had beencollecting everything from miniatures toantiquity and specialised in contempo-rary Indian art, especially theProgressives as well as Bengal SchoolMasters.

Among his prodigious collections, hewas one of the main patrons of greatIndian artists like the Progressives as wellas Gopal Ghose and Sohan Qadri. In fact,it is commonly said that he would paysums of money to them each month fora work of art. With galleries in New Yorkand Delhi, his knowledge of both antiq-uities and contemporary art was likenedto being a collector with an epicureaneye. In the 1990s, most of FrancisNewton Souza’s solo shows in Delhi wereheld at the Kumar Gallery. In fact, whenTyeb Mehta moved to Delhi fromLondon, it was Virender who gave hima small place to stay in exchange for awork of art every month.

Over the years, the artist with whomhe became closest was Francis NewtonSouza. In the 1990s, Souza would comeand stay at Yatri Niwas for a month andKumar Gallery would keep his suitereplenished with canvasses, paints andpaper. Souza preferred to come to Delhiduring winter. Two important Souza ret-rospectives were held in 1999 and 2000.Yet another seminal retrospective wasthat of Gopal Ghose in 2015. The SunderNagar Gallery is a quaint and cute spacefor an art show but some of the showswere held at Sainik Farms in the Kumarestate. Yet another historic showing wasKrishen Khanna’s solo as well as a his-toric solo of Prodosh Das Gupta. Mostof the Kumar Gallery buyers were the expat population from the embassies inDelhi.

Then Kumar Gallery would open theyear with an epic celebration series con-sisting of the gallery series and a num-ber of emerging artists. Among these, oneof Virender’s greatest discoveries wasAshok Bhowmick an artist of rare met-tle who creates stunning figurative with

the cross hatching method. Bhowmick’ssolo shows at Kumar Gallery were someof the finest you could ever glimpse interms of composition, depth of visionand expression.

Virender had a deep interest inBuddhism, Jainism as well as the ancientsacred texts of India. As an individual,he was deeply spiritual as well as prac-tical and knew his art. If there was oneperson who Souza trusted it wasVirender Kumar. The Kumar Galleryshows always justified the dynamicnature of the art they reflected. The veryvisuals of each of their shows woulddenote imperial majesty, laden with a cer-tain ingenuity and depth of composition-al clarity in the range of mediums andexpression. One of the finest abstract col-lections in the country could be seenunveiled in chapters during their celebra-tion shows each year. Art for VirenderKumar was about an expressive visionand depth. In his passing away, Indialoses a collector and patron of the artworld who had a passionate desire to col-lect the best.

$��������������������"��)����� ��/.�/��-3$"�)���������������@�����(��(�������������%�0������������)������������������������������������� ���� ���)�����3$" ."��

����������� ���"���$������� �6�� �$�����14131//> 1*�%���������������� ����������������� �� ��������$�����" ������������.����������������������� ������ $�

Page 12: 4YZ_R SfZ]Ud gZ]]RXV Z_ 2cf_RTYR] - Daily Pioneer

���� �%������� ��������� ������� � !"#�$%$!

���� 5��?5"./

Indian pacers MohammedSiraj and Shardul Thakurproduced another inspira-

tional effort in adverse circum-stances but India were set a achallenging target of 328 byAustralia as the Border-Gavaskar Trophy headed

towards an exhilarating finalein the fourth Test here.

The target is a tricky oneand the Indian batsmen wouldget a fair idea whether to go forit by lunch on the final day,which is Tuesday. This wasafter Siraj and Thakur com-bined to share nine wicketswhile dismissing Australia for

294 in their second innings.Siraj (19.5-5-73-5)

punched way above his weightwith his maiden five-wickethaul but couldn’t preventAustralia from posting animposing target for his team inonly 75.5 overs of the secondinnings batting.

At stumps, India were 4

for no loss with Rohit Sharmaand Shubman Gill at thecrease.

The highest target chasedat Brisbane is 236 and that wasseven decades ago which is anindicator why this Australianground can be equated withFort Knox. The home teamhasn’t lost a game here since1988.

Thakur’s dream Test matchalso got better with figures of4/61 and a match haul of sevenwickets. The most poignantmoment was his apparent joywhen he took the catch to helpSiraj pip him to the covetedfive-for landmark.

As Siraj showed thatscuffed red kookaburraacknowledging the 957 peoplein the stands on the first work-ing day of the week, the mostgenerous applause came fromhis partner in crime, whowalked a foot behind himclapping with gusto.

It was the kind of day thatTest aficionados wait eagerly —ebbs and flows keeping every-one on the edge of their seats.

The possibility of rain addsto the excitement and thechanging weather did affect thecontours of Australia skipperTim Paine’s facial expressionswhich exhibited relief anddespair in equal measures.

Among the two captains,Paine is supposed to be theenforcer but this Indian teamhasn’t stopped surprising itsdetractors with a spirit, whichhas made this series one of the

finest played in recent times.If Weather Gods don’t

decide to play the boss, therewill be an official winner butcertainly not a “loser”.

This is the first Indian teamwhich has earned well-wishersin exponential numbers for sol-diering on manfully without anycomplaints.

A bowling attack with lessthan four-Test experience (ifThakur’s debut is discounted)

got 20 wickets without beingover-expensive.

Yes, a Mohammed Shami orJasprit Bumrah’s experiencewould have been invaluablebut their absence showed that interms of temperament, India’snext batch of pacers are game-ready.

Yes, they would make mis-takes but their predecessorsalso made plenty on their wayto glory.

���� 5��?5"./�

An emotional MohammedSiraj struggled to describe

his maiden five-wicket haul inwords but sounded a word ofcaution about the cracks on theGabba surface creating confu-sion in the Indian batsmen’sminds on the final day offourth Test.

Playing in his maiden Testseries, Siraj grabbed 5 for 73 inthe Australian second inningson Monday.

He believed that there area few spots on the surface,from where the ball mightrear up awkwardly when histeam sets out to chase a recordtarget of 328 on Tuesday to winthe four-match series againstAustralia.

“When they bowl, obvi-ously there will be some con-fusion, it will play in the mindof the batsmen that there arecracks on the pitch but ourbatsmen are prepared for this.We will come to know onlytomorrow,” Siraj said at a vir-tual press conference.

When he was asked if hewould be required in pursuit ofthe total, he replied: “If I getopportunity, then I will bat.”

“... But naturally our aim isto win this series, especiallyafter so many injuries, despitewhich our team fought hard inthe first innings,” he said.

The short ball to get rid ofSteve Smith was his favouriteamong the 13 wickets in theseries, along with the dismissalof Marnus Labuschagne.

“In the whole series, I feel

it would be Steve Smith’s wick-et, there was extra bouncefrom the area where I thoughtI will get it. He is the best bats-men in the world and it gaveme a lot of confidence, also thewicket of Labuschagne, itboosted my confidence.”

The 26-year-oldHyderabad pacer thankedskipper Ajinkya Rahane for hisconstant support and encour-agement.

“Also the kind of opportu-nities that the youngsters got,whether it is Natarajan orWashington, all have grabbedthem, every one has perfor-mance.

“I will especially thankAjinkya Rahane for trustingthe youngsters and showingconfidence in me, he was talk-ing me all the time and it gaveme a lot of confidence.”

Having lost his father dur-ing the ongoing tour and beingunable to go back for his lastrites, Siraj had a difficult lasttwo months but in the end, thehard work has reaped divi-dends.

“My dad had wished thathis son would play and theentire world would watch him.I hope he could have beenthere to watch this day. This isbecause of his blessings that Ihave got a five wicket haul inTests. I am speechless andcan’t express my feelings inwords.”

“It was a tough situation,dad’s demise. I got strengthafter talking to mom and myfocus was to realise dad’sdream,” he said.

���� 5��?5"./�

Australian batsman SteveSmith reckons that with

the Gabba track starting to playa few tricks, staying patientwould be imperative for histeam’s bowlers when theydefend an imposing 328 againsta determined India on the lastday of the fourth and final Testhere.

India were 4/0 before thefinal session of the play wassuspended early due to rain onthe fourth day.

“I think the game is in anice place for us. I think thewicket has started to play a fewtricks today, couple of balls shotup,” Smith said at the virtualpost-day press conference.

“So, tomorrow it is justgoing to be about bowling (in)good areas and letting the nat-ural variation of the day fivewicket sort of do its work andhopefully we can hold on to allthe chances,” he added.

The rain factor is alsogoing to be a crucial one on thefinal day but Smith wouldrather focus on controllables.

“Who knows? That is atough question.”

He said the Australianbowlers should remain patientand not go searching for toomuch. “The Indian playershave obviously batted well.Obviously in Sydney, it was 130(overs) or something, obvi-ously it is a different wicket tothat. But for us it is just beingpatient, not searching toomuch, bowling good areas andjust letting it happen,” the pro-lific batsman stressed.

“I think the more you sortof go searching for on thesekind of tracks, then you prob-

ably don’t get the reward. So, itis just about hitting good areasconsistently and letting thenatural variation of the wickettake its course,” he reiterated.

� ��$".!1/?�/��

John Stones scored his firstPremier League goals for

Manchester City in a 4-0 victo-ry over Crystal Palace to help histeam leap up to second in thePremier League.

The defender netted twiceand Ilkay Gundogan andRaheem Sterling also scoredfine goals as City claimed a fifthsuccessive win by overpoweringa Palace side missing WilfriedZaha at the Etihad Stadium.

City moved above Liverpoolafter the champions drew 0-0with Manchester United, whichhas played a game more than its

neighbor.The opening goal came

after some De Bruyne brilliancein the 26th minute. The Belgianbrilliantly controlled a cross-fieldpass from Sterling on the left andinstinctively curled a cross intothe area with the outside of hisright boot.

Stones, in his fifth season atCity, read it perfectly and rose tohead home his first of the night.He temporarily forgot the newprotocols regarding goal celebra-tions as he ran off toward thecorner flag and accepted a hugfrom Ruben Dias and GabrielJesus.

De Bruyne showed more

restraint as he fist-bumped KyleWalker in recognition of whatwas his 100th assist for City.

The second goal arrived 11minutes into second half. It wasall Gundogan’s own work as hewon the ball from AndrosTownsend and then curled ashot into the top corner from theedge of the area.

This time there was a comicelement to the celebrations asGundogan accepted congratu-latory hugs from his team-mates only for Fernandinho tocome along and remind of theneed to keep their distance.After that, fist-bumps seemedto suffice.

De Bruyne fired anothershot narrowly wide before Citygot its third in the 68th. Guaitadid well to keep out a firmheader from Dias but the ballrebounded to Stones, wholashed it back into the netalmost instinctively.

Sterling, making up for thefrustration of a missed penaltyin midweek, wrapped up a finenight’s work for City when hecurled home a free kick fromthe edge of the area in the 88th.

Palace is 13th in the 20-team standings.

� �� �4-A4�

Japanese Prime MinisterYoshihide Suga vowed on

Monday to get the pandemicunder control and hold thealready postponed Olympicsthis summer with ample coro-navirus protection.

In a speech opening a newParliament session, Suga said hisGovernment would revise lawsto make anti-virus measuresenforceable with penalties andcompensation.

Early in the pandemic,Japan was able to keep its viruscaseload manageable with non-binding requests for businesses

to close or operate with socialdistancing and for people to stayhome.

But recent weeks have seenseveral highs in new cases perday, in part blamed on eased atti-tudes toward the anti-virus mea-sures, and doubts are growing asmore contagious variants spreadwhile people wait for vaccinesand the Olympics draw closer.

Suga said his Governmentaimed to start vaccinations asearly as late February.

“In order to restore sense ofsafety, I will get the coronaviruspandemic, which has ragedworldwide and is now severelyaffecting Japan, under control as

soon as possible,” Suga said.“I will stand at the frontline

of the battle while I get the peo-ple’s cooperation.”

Suga pledged to achievethe Olympics as “a proof ofhuman victory against the coro-navirus.”

“We will have full anti-infection measures in place andproceed with preparation witha determination to achieve theGames that can deliver hopeand courage throughout theworld,” he said.

Recent media polls showabout 80% of the Japanese pub-lic think the Olympics will notor should not happen.

�� � $�'".

Inter Milan defeated champi-ons Juventus 2-0 to move

level on points with Serie Aleaders AC Milan on Sunday,boosting their hopes of a firstleague title since 2010.

Arturo Vidal got his headto a Nicolo Barella cross in the12th minute for his first leaguegoal for Inter Milan against hisformer club.

Barella added the secondseven minutes after the break as

Inter claimed a first victory overJuventus since September 2016,ending a series of seven match-es without a win.

“It was a bad defeat, we did-n’t expect it, we couldn’t haveput in a worse performancethan this,” said Juventus coachAndrea Pirlo after his secondleague defeat this season.

“Our attitude was wrong,right from the start. We weretoo passive, fearful, we onlythought about the defensivephase.”

Inter are equal on 40 pointswith local rivals Milan, whotravel to Cagliari, with Juventusseven points behind the top twoin fifth.

“To win against a teamlike Juve you have to touch per-fection,” said Inter coachAntonio Conte after his firstwin in four meetings against theclub he led to the first three oftheir current run of nine con-secutive league titles.

“I’m happy for the ladsbecause these are games thatgive you self-esteem and makeyou understand that we’re onthe right path.

�� �� ?/ �''/

Lionel Messi was sent off forthe first time playing for

Barcelona as Athletic Bilbaostunned the Catalans to win theSpanish Super Cup on Sunday,a dramatic final finishing 3-2after extra-time.

Moments beforeBilbao’s momentous tri-umph was confirmed,Messi threw an arm atAsier Villalibre, who hadearlier scored a 90th-minute equaliser innormal time todeny Barca victo-ry.

AntoineGriezmann’sd o u b l elooked tohave sealedthe trophy butVillalibre inter-vened before InakiWilliams’ fabulous strikethree minutes into extratime proved decisive.

Messi shook off athigh problem to start inSeville and was requiredto play all 120 minutes asBarcelona attempted totake the game to penalties.

Instead, the 33-year-old lost his temper at theend of a combative contest,reacting to a late challengefrom Villalibre by swipinghis hands across the back ofhis opponent.

It meant a first ever red

card for Messi in 753 appear-ances for Barcelona, to go withhis two reds for Argentina in2005 and 2019.

“After so many years infootball, Leo knows perfectlywell when he is fit to play,” saidBarca coach Ronald Koeman.

“We talked and he said hewas in a good place to start. Hehas survived the game, giventhe maximum, nothing more.”

Messi’s anger will takesome of the limelight away

from Bilbao, who hadalready denied the

competition aClasico final by

beating RealMadrid in thesemi onThursday andnow have com-pleted the set.

It means atitle and the per-

fect start forMarcelino Garcia

Toral, who only tookover as coach less thantwo weeks ago.

But there waspraise too for his pre-decessor GaizkaGaritano, who over-

saw this team reachingthe Copa del Rey final

last season, which earnedqualification in the first

place.“This is for Gaizka

Garitano and his coachingstaff as well who brought us

here,” said Williams.

� �� *"''/

Jonny Bairstow and DanLawrence held their nerve in

a 62-run unbroken stand toguide England to a seven-wick-et win over Sri Lanka onMonday on the fifth and finalmorning of the series-openingTest. England ensured it didn’thave any more hiccups in eras-ing the remaining 36 requiredon the last day after Sri Lankahad set up a tricky 74-run tar-get on a turning wicket.

England had slumped to 14-3 late on the fourth evening,included a crucial run-out of itscaptain Joe Root for just 1,before Bairstow and Lawrencecombined to usher the touriststo 76-3.

Bairstow remained unbeat-en on 35 off 65 balls andLawrence, who hit a gritty halfcentury in the first innings ofdebut, finished 21 not out.

Sri Lanka had the chance ofa breakthrough after Englandresumed on 38-3. Bairstow mayhave been out lbw off DilruwarnPerera’s off-spin in the third over,but stand-in captain Dinesh

Chandimal didn’t go for the tele-vision referral.

Bairstow eventually sealedthe victory with a boundarywhen he swept Perera to squareleg.

“To come with little prepand play in the manner we have,has been really impressive,” Rootsaid after receiving his man-of-the-match award.

The England captainpraised the effort of his two spin-ners — Dom Bess and Jack

Leach — who snared 14 wick-ets between them, each bagginga five-wicket haul.

“Brilliant effort, particular-ly with the little cricket they’veplayed recently,” Root said.

“Series like these are alwaystough but without the prep it’stestament to their characters.”

The second Test of the two-match series will also be playedat Galle, starting Friday. Englandswept the series 3-0 when it lasttoured Sri Lanka in 2018.

��������������!������������

��������&� �(���� ���������������������!7�� ������ ��!���������������2���!������������� ��!�� 7+

�)% � ��"' 00%!�!* ��"&%!

�8�,9 "������� 0���������7H;7,;�

�7H,� "������� 0���������7H9;,9�

7H:,8 "������� /������ 7H>�,>8,�����,,���� ��

SUCCESSFUL RUN-CHASE AT GABBA

<���3���5 & ��=9����$����=)>> ��,�3�405$*0�"6( �-7

) ����� ������� ��� ���������E2�9����.+������

�����������)�8� ����$��� ������������� ����$������� �����������/�##�

���� 5��?5"./�

Former Australian captainRicky Ponting feels a drawn

Test series against a severelydepleted India will be a worseresult for the hosts than the lossthey suffered at home in theBorder Gavaskar Trophy twoyears ago.

The injury-ravaged Indianteam has shown great resilienceand grit throughout the currenttour of Australia. In the ongo-ing fourth and final Test, thetourists are without their pre-mier fast bowlers, skipper ViratKohli and a few specialist bats-men. “I think a drawn series willbe worse than the loss a coupleof years ago,” Ponting told crick-

et.Com.Au.“That’s the way I look at it,

considering how hard Indiahave found it going through 20players in a series, (Australia)having (David) Warner back forthe last couple of games, (Steve)Smith back for all them thatthey didn’t have last timearound.

“A draw would not only feellike a loss to them but be aworse result than last series,” headded.

The series is locked 1-1 atthe moment. India need 324runs with all 10 wickets in handon the final day to pull off a his-toric win at the Gabba, while adraw will also see them retainthe trophy.

!�� &�����*���������������������������������B�?��D

����%���$������ �������������� �������� ��3������ �� 5��?5"./

All eyes will be on the weath-er forecast for Brisbane as

the fourth and final Testbetween India and Australiaconcludes at the Gabba onTuesday.

It’s been a hard-foughtseries with the score tied at 1-1 for now. And with Australiagetting bowled-out in their sec-

ond innings late in the third ses-sion on Monday, we’re left withpromises to be an exciting fin-

ish to this India tour.A win or draw will help

India retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, while a win isimperative for Australia.

Rain has already had a bigsay in the fourth Test, with theentire third session of day twobeing washed out and playbeing called off early on dayfour as well.

As per The Weather

Channel, there is a possibly ofheavy rain in Brisbane onTuesday. There could be scat-tered thunderstorms, with a50% chance of rain.

There are more worryingsigns for Australia, who wouldbe keen to get a full day’s play,as AccuWeather has also pre-dicted the possibility of thun-derstorms in Brisbane onTuesday.

!����������������+�?����&�

?�����2�������F2���!�����

�����G8�������� �������� ��������������������� !������ ,��� ��H�

Smith believes Oz are nicely placed

���'���������"��'���$��$�����������������) 2 ' �� �

&�����A �����������������������#����;$����$��� ������$����$���� ������

;� �������#������ ����?Brisbane: Leading pacerMitchell Starc on Mondaygave Australia an injury scareafter he grabbed his ham-string but batting mainstaySteve Smith remained hopefulthat he would pull through adecisive final day in the fourthTest against India here.

Starc looked uncomfort-able during his only over ofIndia’s second innings, butSmith expressed optimismthat the 30-year-old would begood to go on Tuesday.

“I’m sure he’ll get assessedby the medical staff and onething I know about Mitchell ishe’s tough and he’s playedthrough some injuries beforeand got the job done, so hewill be hopefully good to gotomorrow,” said Smith. PTI